A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS GHLIN AND VAN TYNE Class L Book. , 9 7 r> PREFACE The aim of the authors in writing this book has been to present what seemed to them the main historical developments in American history, the knowledge of which will enable the pupil to understand the social, political, and economic institutions which he finds about him in this land wherein he lives. In doing this we have tried to use simple language, to show clearly the relation of one fact to another, and to keep the story constantly moving forward. We have sought to interest not by the selection of the merely entertaining facts which are often the things of least value, but by choice of the facts that have meant something in our growth as a nation. This is first of all a text-book and not a story-book. We make no apology for the omission of many of the "yarns" of American his- tory. If history is worth teaching at all, it is worth teaching as causal, vital, meaning history. We heartily approve of reading his- tory for mere pleasure. History is, we believe, in many of its high- est literary forms, most delightful and valuable "mere reading," but for serious study there are certain essentials which should not be disguised or palliated by facts which are only entertaining, and not essentially significant. We have tried to include only such historical facts and problems as may be easily understood by the child of school age, and we have intentionally omitted some traditional school-book lore which, in our opinion, might well be left to oblivion. Many pupils will never study their country's history again, and there is so much which they, as American citizens, ought surely to know, that in a text like this all unmeaning events must be sacrificed. By means of this eimi nation V vi PREFACE we have secured space for fuller explanation and interpretation of really important events. The literature suggested for reading out- side of the text will assist in encouraging the pupil to search for and to report upon any events or problems which are here omitted, but which appear to the teacher to be of interest and importance. We are far from sure that we have always chosen our facts wisely and are humble enough to be more than tolerant of the differing empha- sis which any well trained teacher may lay upon the various phases of American history. Suggestions, criticisms and corrections will be thrice welcome, for only through such friendly cooperation can we hope to bring this little book toward the goal of perfection. The manuscript of this volume has been carefully examined and criticised by various persons engaged in teaching in the schools, and we wish here to acknowledge our indebtedness for their helpful sug- gestions. Special acknowledgements of service are due to: Mr. A. C. Shong, Principal of the West Division High School, Milwau- kee; Mr. A. J. Gerson, Principal of the Robert Morris Public School, Philadelphia; Mr. Gilbert P. Randle, Superintendent of City Schools, Mattoon, 111.; and Miss Edith S. Patten, of the State Normal School, DeKalb, 111. Acknowledgment is also due to Mr. R. T. Haines Halsey for per- mission to reproduce two Revolutionary cartoons from his collection; to the Lenox Library, New York City, for permission to reproduce from many prints; to the Alabama State Department of Archives for the cartoon on page 379; and to the Museum of the Peabody Academy of Science for a photograph of the model of the Constitu- tion that is in their possession. Andrew C. McLaughlin. Claude Halstead Van Tyne, CONTENTS PERIOD OF DISCOVERY AND DIVISION OF COLONIZING FIELDS CHAPTER PAGE I. — How THE Old World got Ready to Discover the New 1 II. — Columbus Seeks the East and Finds a New World 8 III. — How THE People of Europe Came to Know What the New World was Like .... 14 IV. — The Beginnings of Spanish Colonization . . 25 V. — The Beginnings of French Settlement . 30 VI. — The Great English Seaman -of the Seventeenth Century 36 PERIOD OF ENGLISH COLONIZATION AND STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY IN NORTH AMERICA VII. — The English Colonize Virginia .... 41 VIII.— The Pilgrims 50 IX. — The Founding of Massachusetts Bay ... 57 X. — Rhode Island and Connecticut. — The Confeder- ation 66 XI. — New Netherland, Delaware, and New Jersey . 74 XII. — The Quaker Colony: Pennsylvania ... 84 XIII. — Other Colonies in the South: Maryland, the Carolinas, Georgia 90 XIV. — The Rel.\tions Between England and hePv Colonies 101 XV. — France and England Struggle for North America Ill XVI. — Life in the Colonies 122 vii viii CONTENTS PERIOD OF POLITICAL REVOLUTION AND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE CHAPTER PAGE XVII. — Causes of the American Revolution . . 138 XVIII. — War Begins in New England .... 152 XIX. — Independence and Confederation . 161 XX. — Campaigns Ending in Burgoyne's Sur- render 168 XXI. ^French Alliance and Western Conquest 175 XXII.— The End of the War 184 PERIOD OF THE RISE OF A STRONG GOV- ERNMENT PARTY AND OF REACTION XXIII. — Disorder Teaches its Lesson of Danger.— The Constitution is Framed and Adopted . 194 XXIV. — The Nation When Washington Became President 205 XXV. — Starting the New Government. — The Fed- eralist 214 XXVI. — Foreign Troubles and Domestic Factions 226 PERIOD OF JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY AND THE GROWTH OF A TRUE AMERI- CAN SPIRIT XXVII. — Jeffersonian Democracy and American Ex- pansion 231 XXVIII. — The Struggle to Secure American Rights Without War 237 XXIX.— The War of 1812 244 XXX. — The Westward Movement and the "Monroe Doctrine" 254 XXXI. — New Parties and the Tariff .... 266 XXXII.— The Country in 1830 273 CONTENTS IX PERIOD OF THE RISE OF POLITICAL POWER IN THE WEST AND THE AN TI SLAV FRY MOVEMENT CHAPTER PAGE XXXIII. — Jackson and the Banks. — The Nullifica- tion Trouble 282 XXXIV. — Jacksonian Democrats CJive Way to the Whigs 290 XXXV. — Slavery and Antislavery .... 295 XXXVI. — Texas and the Mexican War . . . 303 XXXVII. — Slavery and the New Territory . . .311 XXXVIII. — Western Settlement and Slavery . .319 PERIOD OF CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION XXXIX.— Secession.— Civil War Begins. . . .329 XL. — Conditions in North and South . 336 XLI. — Preparation for War and the Attitude of Europe 340 XLII. — The Field of War and the Early Campaigns 345 Xlilll. — Fighting in the West 350 XLI v.— Campaigns of 1863-65 356 XLV. — Political Crisis. — The End of the War . 367 XLVI. — Reconstruction 373 RECENT HISTORY AND THE RISE OF GREAT INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS XLVII. — The Reconstructed Nation. — Its New Prob LEMS XLVIII. — Party Differences. — Social Unrest . XLIX.— The War With Spain .... L. — Industrial Development: Transport.\tion — The Great West and the New South LI. — Industrial Development: Agriculture LII. — New Industrial Conditions ... LIII. — Recent Political History 384 394 399 405 412 419 424 X CONTENTS APPENDIX PAGE Important Dates in United States History ... i Questions vii The Presidents and Vice Presidents .... xxviii Population and Area of States xxix Territories and Other Political Bodies . . . xxix Population of Continental United States by Decades . xxx The "Mayflower" Compact xxxi The Declaration of Independence xxxii Constitution of the United States . ... . . xxxvi INDEX li MAPS The World as Known to Europeans at the Middle of the loth Century . . . Old Trade Routes to the East The Four Voyages of Columbus . The Da Vinci Map (1515 or lolG) The Route of Magellan Early Explorations in the New World Relief Map of the United States . Earl}' French Discoveries and Settlements French Settlements and Water Routes in the Interior Territory Granted by the Charter of 1606 Land Granted by Charter to the Virginia Company in 1609 Rhode Island Settlements Extent of Settlements in New England in 1660 European Possessions in 1650 (colored) .... The Hudson River, Delaware, and Pennsylvania Settlements Maryland The Carolinas and Georgia The Dominion of New England under Andros . Relief Map of the Northeastern Colonies .... Relief Map of the Southern Colonies European Claims before 1755 (colored) . . facing 116 The French and Indian War, Western Campaigns . .118 The French and Indian War, Northern and Eastern Cam- paigns 119 Colonial Governments Distinguished (colored) . . .131 Central North America 1763-1783 (colored) . . facing 1-44 Boston and its Vicinity in 1776 The Early Campaigns of the Revolution 3 6 12 13 16 17 23 30 34 42 46 68 71 79 83 92 100 107 111 112 155 172 xii MAPS PAGE 182 191 Clark's Campaign in the West The Campaigns in the South, War of the Revohition The United States at the End of the Revolutionary War (colored) 192 The Northwest Territory 199 Distribution of the Population in 1790 206 Routes from Philadelphia and Virginia to Pittsburg and the Ohio 212 Map Showing Spanish Control of the JNIoutii of the Mississippi 225 Central North America after the Louisiana Purchase (colored) fficifiy 234 Routes of Lewis and Clark and Pike 235 Field of Campaigns in the West, War of 1812 . . .246 Field of Campaigns in the North and East, War of 1812 . 250 The Region about Wasliington and Baltimore .... 251 The Cumberland Road 259 The Erie Canal 260 Free and Slave Areas after 1820 263 Map of the Election of 1824 269 Distribution of th(> Population in 1830 274 Field of the War with Mexico 307 The Oregon Country . . ' 309 Acquisition of Territory in the West 310 Chart Showing Increase of Immigration by Decades . . 321 Charleston Harbor 334 The United States in 1861 (colore-1) .... facing 334 Railroads in the United States in 1860 338 The Relation of Nassau to the Blockaded Ports of the South . 343 The Ignited States East of the Mississippi 345 Field of the Eastern Campaigns of the Civil War . 349 Field of the Western Campaigns of the Civil War . . . 352 Historical Sketch of the CiVil War 362 Field of the Last Campaigns of the Ci\-il War and the Line of Sherman's March 365 Map of the Election of 1870 384 Map of the Election of 1896 398 Field of the Cainpaigns in Cuba 402 Territorial Growth of the United States (colored) . facing 404 MAPS Xlll PAGE Trails to the West and Routes of Pacific Railroads . . 408 The World, Showing tlic United States and its Dejicndcncies and the Changes that will be Effected in the World's Trade Routes by the Panama Canal 427 Distribution of the Population in 1910 429 A HISTORY OP TTTE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS I PERIOD OF DISCOVERY AND DIVISION OF COLONIZING FIELDS CHAPTER I HOW THE OLD WORLD GOT READY TO DISCOVER THE NEW 1. Ignorance of Geography Five Hundred Years Ago. — Five hundred years ago the wisest men of Europe knew less about the geography of the earth than is now known by the schoolboy. They knew little more than was known by the geographer who lived in the days of the Apostle Paul. The Mediterranean^ Sea was still the center of the world's business and interest as it had been fifteen hundred years before. The outline of Europe was fairly well known, but of Africa, stretching away to the southward into the tropics and beyond, little was known save the northern coast. Men still relied on the map of Ptolemy, a geographer of the second century, who had merely guessed at the shape and size of the great southern continent. Australia and America had never been heard of, and Asia was a land of great empires, still largely a land of myth and fancy, uath an outline on the maps that we could hardly recognize to-day. 2. Pear of the Great Sea.— These three parts of the world — Europe, Asia, and Africa — vaguely known even to the » Mediterranean means "the middle of the earth." 1 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY Terrors of the Sea of Darkness As pictured by a sixteenth century illustrator. learned, were thought to be encircled by a vast mysterious sea — "the Sea of Darkness," as men called it five hundred years ago. Ships dared not venture far out upon its wa- ters, for it was supposed to be haunted \)y dan- gerous monsters of the deep; and out far away, the fearsome sail- ors thought, lay the edge of the world, where the sea grew gum- like and sluggish, and the water became heavy against the oar, where no waves were raised by the wind, and where even to breathe the air was impossi])le. 3. A Flat Earth. — Some of the wiser men of early days had believed that the earth is round, ])ut in the fifteenth century, the time of which we are speaking, this belief in a round world was confined to a very few men of learning; the sailors and men of everyday business were largely ruled by these fanci- ful notions, by these mysteries of an unknown earth and the terrors of an unknown sea. To make voyages far out to the westward on this terrible Sea of Darkness seemed beyond human powers. Though men at the l^eginning of the fifteenth century knew little of the big world, and though their notions of geography were not much truer than those held a thousand years before, new ideas were soon to come. 4. The Crusaders. — To understand these changes and this new impulse we must know something about things which had been happening during several hundred years jjefore the fifteenth century. These things had been altering the CHANGES IN THE OLD WORLD 3 way men lived and even the way they thought. In the ninth century hordes of barbarous Turks took possession of large parts of Asia Minor and seized upon the places in Palestine that were sacred to the Christians of Europe. Army after army was sent from Europe to fight the Turks in the Holy Land and to regain the sacred places from their hands. These crusades, ^ as the wars were called, these two hundred years (1096 to 1300) of effort to conquer the Turks, awakened new interest in the East and increased the desire for Eastern goods. Men were more eager than ever for the pearls and ivory, the perfumes and the spices, silks and beau- 1»'MA*X//'/''lll'!^//'y/"''/7/'i!/ ""7, rfyn/rz/MW / >/ /Z 1 /'Wf'////^^//7Wm>, 9^M°^ -) The World as Known to Europeans at the Middle of the 15th Century tiful cashmere shawls which traders brought out of the " Golden East." 5. Tales of the Par East — In the two centuries after the Crusades (1096-1300), trade with Asia was brisk and vigorous. Europe was coming to be more and more depend- ent on the spices and other commodities of the East. There came, too, at this time, new tales of the wealth and wonders of Asia. Marco Polo, an Italian who had spent nearly thirty years in the Far East, returning to Europe, wrote a book telling marvelous stories of Cathay, or China, and Cipangu, or Japan. The King of Japan, he said, lived in * Crusade, "a war for the cross," from Latin crux, a cross. 2 4 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY a palace roofed with gold; ^ the floor was of slabs of gold two fingers thick. Another book, " The Travels of Sir John Mandeville," much more widely read, was filled with fanciful and weird stories. It told of golden birds that clapped their wings by magic, of golden vines laden with costly jewels, of a fountain of youth where one might drink and be forever young. 6. New Interests. — With such tales as these, the longing for the wealth and wonders of the East grew stronger. The minds of men were preparing for great tasks that were to change the world. The Crusades had stirred the thoughts of men as never before. In the Dark Ages ^ the common man had tilled the soil in ignorance; the nobleman or the knight amused himself in his castle or led his followers to battle; book learning was largely confined to a few men, and they often spent their days in considering what seem to us silly questions, such as: " How many angels can stand on the point of a needle? " and "Is it a greater crime to kill a thou- sand men than to mend a beggar's shoe on Sunday? " But now learned men began to talk and think of things more full of meaning. 7. Discovery and Inventions. — One man, the great Coper- nicus, had begun the studies which led him to discover that the earth on which he stood was a vast planet whirling in space with other planets about the sun. Another in- vented the art of printing by movable blocks, and hence- forward it was not necessary to write laboriously by hand each copy of a book, for many might be printed at little cost. A few skilled hands also left off making curious orna- ments for church furniture or for the armor of knights, and turned their attention to perfecting instruments that told the sailor his whereabouts at sea, or to the improvement of ^ " The Travels of Marco Polo " appears on the whole to be a truthful account of what he had himself seen. Of Japan he knew only from the tales of others. 2 As the centuries before the Crusades were called. CHANGES IN THE OLD WORLD 5 paper, on which Ijooks could be printed and letters written. Gunpowder was coming into use, and this meant a new kind of warfare ; bows and arrows and spears gave way to guns and cannon.^ 8. The Turks Block the Way to the East. — At the end of the fourteenth century there came a new need for exploration and discovery. The result of the Cru- sades had been not only to awaken new interest in the East, but to hold back, for a time, the spread of the Turks. The Italian cities, espe- cially Genoa and Venice, carried on a thriving trade with Asia. But in the fourteenth century the Ottoman Turks, the same race that now holds Constantinople, came into the region of the trade routes ^ and began slowly to spread over wide areas in 1 Against the cannon the armor of the knight did not give him safety, nor were even his castle walls secure, as they had been against the spears and arrows. A simple farmer with a gun could now kill the greatest lord clad in armor. The king of the land, aided by workmen and tradesmen, could beat down the castles of the knights and extend the royal power. The kings of Portugal, Spain, France, and England, for this reason as well as for others, became rich and powerful. Thus they were able to give aid to brave and earnest men who wished to explore the earth and who had neither money nor ships for the purpose. - These routes led from India and China through the Black Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea to Venice and Genoa. See map on page 6. An Early Printing Shop 6 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY Europe and Asia.^ The routes from Europe to India and China were blocked, and though traffic was not altogether broken up, there was danger that in time Europe would be completely cut off from the Far East. 9. Henry the Navigator. — ^^In the face of these dangers, the enterprising men of Europe were not idle. The new Nurthei'n or Genoese Route Middle Eonte Southern or Venetian Roitte Old Trade Routes to the East Over these routes with boat and caravan the Europeans had traveled for centuries in search of the silks, spices, and other treasures of the East. conditions, of which we have spoken, the zeal for a wider and better knowledge of the world, were making themselves felt, and men were turning to new tasks. Among the famous men of the day was the son of the King of Portugal, now known as Prince Henry, the Navigator. He gathered about him bold sailors and trained them well; he helped them to learn the arts they needed. He taught them to trust the devices which made it safe to sail the seas v/here there is no other guide than the sun and stars. He helped them to rely on the astrolabe and on the compass, the They gradually spread westward and took Constantinople in 1453. CHANGES IN THE OLD WORLD An Early Compass wonderful needle which always tries to point toward the north. Under his guidance, and moved by his courageous spirit, mariners made long voyages down the coast of Africa, pressing ever farther southward. Not in his life- time did his captains pass the southern point of the continent; but soon after his death, Diaz, more steadfast than the rest, rounded the Cape of Good Hope (1486), and a decade later Vasco da Gama, starting in 1497, passing the Cape, pushed northward and sailed into a harbor on the coast of India. The Portuguese could justly boast that "new lands, new seas, new worlds, even new constellations have been dragged from darkness into the light of day." 10. The Great Work of the Portuguese. — The most im- portant result of Henry's work was to banish imaginary terrors of the deep and to train up a body of sea- men who dared to sail the ocean even beyond the sight of land. Henry's sailors proved that there was no flaming zone at the equator, as men had imagined, barring the way to the south. Even the Sea of Darkness did not seem so pitiless and terrible as men had fancied for ages. 11. To Find the East by Sailing West. — As we have seen, the marin- ers of Portugal sought the way to the East by sailing southward, and before 1500 they found the way to India by sea around the south of Africa. But before this southern way to India was found, yet more An Astrolabe This is the instrument that was used by navigators, at the time of Columbus, to obtain altitudes of the sun and stars above tho horizon. 8 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY wonderful voyages had been made. We have seen how Europe had long stood with her back to th(; Atlantic look- ing with greedy eyes toward Asia, until the Turks seized the trade routes thither. Now, under the leadership of a daring man, attempts were to be made to reach the coveted riches of the East by sailing westward out into the wide Atlantic, and around the earth to Asia. The Turks might bar the routes eastward to India and China, but the way westward still lay open if only men were brave and wise enough to turn that way. Suggested Headings Histories: (Crusades and Marco Polo) Fiske, Discovery of Amer- ica, I, 270-276, 280-284. Brooks, Story of Marco Polo. (Da Gama) Hale, Stories of Discovery, 34-58. Higginson, American Explorers. Sources: (Marco Polo) Old South Leaflets, No. 32. CHAPTER II COLUMBUS SEEKS THE EAST AND FINDS A NEW WORLD 12. Christopher Columbus. — The man who was to try the great feat of discovering the East by sailing westward was Christopher Columbus, an Italian. Born in Genoa, the son of a poor wool weaver, he had gone to sea at an early age and had learned the art of navigation. In some way, too, he had studied Latin, for he could read the learned books of the day. Travels and geography pleased him most, and we know that he pored over volumes that told of the strange lands of the world. It was in Portugal, his son tells us, that Columbus first began to think that, if men could sail so far southward, they might sail westward and find China and India in the western ocean,^ PVom " The Travels of Marco ^ Vignaud, an eminent investigator, does not believe this. Not until after Columbus' second voyage, says Vignaud, did he think he had reached the Indies, and at first he set out merely to find new islands and new lands. For the present we choose to keep the old story. COLUMBUS FINDS A NEW WORLD Polo " he learned that there was a sea east of China, and in another book, called " The Picture of the World," he read that " between the end of Spain and the beginning of India the sea is small and can be sailed over in a few days." Wise men had believed for ages that the world is round, and Columbus accepted this belief. He had himself sailed into the north and as far south as Guinea, and had seen proof s ^ that the earth is round. 13. Tales of the West- ern Ocean. — Stories of lands in the western ocean had long been told, and these may have strongly influenced Co- lumbus as he bent over his books on geography or heard the accounts of Portuguese discoveries on the coast of Africa. It is at least not unlike- ly that, in times past, storm-driven vessels had actually touched lands on the western side of the Atlantic; but in those early days, when there was no printing, the tales of poor and obscure sailors, even if believed when first reported, were soon for- gotten. In fact, we now know that nearly five hundred years before the time of Columbus, a Norse sailor, Leif, son of Eric the Red, sailed southward from Greenland and found the coast of a new land, which he called " Vinland the good," for he found grapes there. This land where grapes grew was doubtless North America; but the discovery of the new continent made little or no impression on the world of the * Some of the proofs which you find mentioned in your geographies. Christopher Columbus From the earliest engraved likeness. 10 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY year 1000, and, though the stor}'^ was told and retold from father to son in far-away Iceland, Columbus probably never heard of Vinland or the adventurous voyages of the Northmen. 14. A Voyage to the West. — When Columbus put together the ideas of a round earth, a narrow sea between China and Europe, and the rumors of lands seen by storm-driven sailors, he was sure he could sail west from Spain and reach the marvelous Indies. He failed, however, even with sayings of great geographers and travelers, to convince the King of Portugal, of whom he first asked aid; but after long years of perse- verance in his search for help, he won the interest of Queen Isabella of Spain. In hope that Columbus would bring back the gold and other treas- ures of the East, a royal order was issued to the people of Pa- los, a seaport of Spain, to provide two ships and wages for the crews to undertake the new and perilous voyage. Three vessels ^ were at last secured and manned with such seamen as could be hired or forced to enter on what seemed a foolhardy venture. In August, 1492, the little fleet set sail for the Canary Islands, and thence went out upon the track- less waters of the Sea of Darkness. 1 Pinta, Santa Maria, and Niiia were the names. ---- - t:i 1 ^^ %i^li s "j 4 Wi V N s SI~f ~ ^ ~^= --; 5= rSr^ Columbus' Flag Ship, the Santa Maria This picture is of the model sent over by Spain to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893. COLUMBUS FINDS A NEW WORLD 11 15. On the Sea of Darkness. — The ships were small and not very trustworthy for ocean travel; the dangers to be met seemed great and fearful because they were unknown. The sailors were frightened from the first; and, as the days went by and no land appeared, they grumbled and threatened until only with difficulty could Columbus persuade them to go on. He told them " it was useless to complain, as he had come to go to the Indies, and he would keep on till he found them, with the aid of our Lord." It was this faith and courage that won the day. After more than a month of westward sailing, signs of land began to appear — a tuft of grass, a piece of wood that some man had carved, land birds flying over the ship. 16. Land Discovered. — On the morning of October 12, 1492, land itself was seen. It proved to be a small coral island of the Bahamas, and Columbus claimed it for the King and Queen of Spain, naming it San Salvador. He naturally supposed it was an outlying island near the coast of Asia. The naked, copper-colored natives, their bodies painted black and white and red, hardly tallied with Marco Polo's pictures of the silken-garbed Chinese and Japanese; but Columbus, believing himself near India, a name then loosely applied to the whole East, called the people Indians. When he heard of Cuba, he beheved that it was Japan, and that not far away were the great cities of China, one with its twelve thousand stone bridges and one with its hundred pepper ships a year, as Marco Polo had described them. When he sailed to the coast of Cuba, he believed he had found the mainland, but when he sought the Great Khan, the mighty Eastern emperor, he found only a village of naked barbarians. The only thing the natives could do for the white strangers was to teach them " to draw smoke from the leaves of a plant rolled into a tube and lighted at one end.-' These tubes were called " tobaccos." 17. Columbus Believed He Had Pound Asia. — Columbus expected to find gold, precious stones, perfumes, valuable 12 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY woods, and rich fabrics ; and though he did not find them, he did not yield to discouragement or think he had not found the Golden East. He sailed to another island, Haiti, which he called La Isla Espanola, " the Spanish Island," and there he saw again, not riches or the palaces of China but only swarms of naked savages. He had the misfortune to lose The Four Voyages of Columbus This map shows how much of the New World was visited by its discoverer. one of his ships, and as another was unseaworth}', he left part of his men on the island and sailed back to Spain. 18. His Success Proclaimed in Europe.— Upon the re- turn of Columbus after a stormy voyage, he was received with great joy and pomp by the Spanish king and queen. The tale of his discovery was heralded far and wide. One of his letters, telling the story, was printed in different coun- tries and circulated throughout Europe within a year — for now, with the aid of printing, a great achievement could easily be made known. Tales of new and strange sights greatly interested men, but they were chiefly pleased be- COLUMBUS FINDS A NEW WORLD 13 cause they believed that Columbus had found a new way to the treasures of the East. 19. Disappointment. — Columbus went on three more voyages, but search as he might, he could not find the wealth of Asia or the marvelous cities of China. Little by little his reputation as a great discoverer departed, and after his return from his fourth voyage he lived in obscurity The Da Vinci Map (1515 or 1516) One of the earliest maps on which the word "America" appeared. and died almost unnoticed. We know that he had found a new world and had won undying fame; he himself believed to the end that he had reached the Orient, and he died in disappointment because he had not found the riches and the splendors he had expected. 20. Amerigo Vespucci. — Why the new world was not named after Columbus is a curious story. Among the many 14 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY explorers who hastened thither was Amerigo Vespucci. He wrote about his voyage along the South American coast, and said the land was a " New World " — not meaning that it was a part detached from Asia, but that it was not the part formerly known. Columbus never claimed to have found anything but the Indies — a part of Asia. Therefore, when the account of Amerigo or Americus came to a certain teacher of geography who was printing a book with a map showing this new part of the world, it seemed right to him to call the new land America. Later many map makers placed this name on South America, though they were still uncertain as to whether it was part of Asia. Everybody came in time to call it America. Hence, with no ill inten- tion, Columbus was robbed of the glory of having the new world named after him. Suggested Eeadings Histories: Wright, Stories of American History, (Columbus) 38- 60, (Norsemen) 27-37. (Columbus) J. Lang, CJiildren's Heroes Series; F. A. Ober, Columbus, the Discoverer; McMurry, Pioneers on Land and Sea; T. B. Lawler, The Story of Columbus and Magel- lan; Brooks, The True Story of Christopher Columbus. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I. No. 16. Old South Leaflets, No. 31. American History Leaflets, No. 3. Fiction: Longfellow, Skeleton in Armor. CHAPTER III HOW THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE CAME TO KNOW WHAT THE NEW WORLD WAS LIKE 21. The New World Gradually "Uncovered." — We must not think that as soon as Columbus had discovered the New World, men knew all about this strange land. Only gradually was it " uncovered " by the journeys of daring men who were bold enough to sail across the sea, and afterwards de- scribed what they found there. Let us see how Spanish and French explorers made the new world known. LEARNING TO KNOW THE NEW WORLD 15 22. Stories of Riches. — When the new land was dis- covered, men had at first no great wish to go there to hve. So httle were the dreams of riches reaUzed in the early 3'^ears, that the disappointed Spaniards nicknamed Columbus " Admiral of Mosquito Land." But soon stories came back of great riches to be found which tempted men to go and seek their fortunes. One Spanish explorer reported that while ex- ploring in the newly discovered land he had been rowed in a native canoe the paddle handles of which were inlaid with pearls. The Indians of the Bahamas told the Spaniards of a land to the north where might be found a spring or river whose waters would make an old man young. These stories and the Spaniards' desire to get rich without labor, drew many men to America, looking ever for waters floored with pearls, mines of metals, and fountains of eternal youth. The chief result of this search for fortune was to teach the Europeans much of the geography of America. 23. Balboa Beholds the Pacific. — The guess of Vespucci that South America was a new part of the world was made more certain when, in 1513, Balboa, a Spaniard fleeing from his debts, led a small party through the dense tangle of the forests to the high ridge of the Panama isthnms and saw to the south the mighty Pacific, which he called the South Sea. But it was not until 1522 that Europe learned of a fact which should have made it sure that America was a new world, far to the east of the Indies. In that year returned one of the ships with which Ferdinand Magellan had set out in 1519 to find a passage south of America to the Indian Spice Islands. 24. Magellan Sails around the World. — Magellan had sailed from Spain to the South American coast, along that to the straits now named after him, and through them to the vast ocean which he called the Pacific, because of the quiet waters and fair winds which favored him. He at last reached the Philippine Islands and was there killed by the natives, but one of his ships went on around Africa and back 16 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY to Spain. That the world was round was now proven by the act of saiUng around it. Magellan's courage in sailing over an utterly unknown ocean twice as wide as the Atlantic, in the face of terrifying dangers, has made historians rank him The Route of Magellan as the greatest navigator of all time, and his voyage the greatest deed of man upon the sea. 25. The Land of Flowers. — One of the first explorations in what is now the United States was made by Ponce de Leon, a brave Spanish officer. The King of Spain gave him a charter (1512) to colonize and rule a certain island north of the Bahamas. De Leon was tempted in that direction because the " fountain of youth " was thought to be in some island there. The old warrior neared the shores of a new land, which looked so fair with its mass of green foliage, that he named it Florida in honor of the Easter season ^ in which he found it. Thinking it an island, he sailed around its southern end and along its western coast. When he failed to find the youth-restoring waters or the island his charter described, he returned and got a new patent to colonize the " island " of Florida. On his coming again to the flowery shores, he was wounded in a fight ^dth the Indians. He returned to Cuba to die, and there, as ^The Spanish for Easter season is Pascua Florida, or "Flowering Easter." Early Explorations in the New World 18 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY the Spanish epitaph reads, repose " the bones of the vahant Lion whose deeds surpass the greatness of his name." 26. Voyages Along the Eastern Coast.— When once the Spaniards had touched the southern coast of what is now the United States, they soon learned the outline of the eastern and southern shores of the continent. Already, John Cabot, saihng in 1497, with the permission of Henry VII., King of England, had come upon the eastern coast of America, north of Nova Scotia. Pineda tried all the way from Florida to Mexico to get through the great wall of the continent to the spices and jewels of India. Gomez, another Spaniard, sailed along the whole eastern coast of the present United States, 27. Earliest Spanish Colonization in the South. — In this w^ay the Spaniards traced out the long coast of North Amer- ica from Newfoundland to Mexico. The expedition of Gomez added much to European knowledge of American geography, but no settlements were made, for the ex- plorers were disappointed in not finding riches. In the south the eager gold hunter met better fortune. Cortes, a Spanish adventurer, conquered Mexico (1519-1521), a great empire rich in precious metals; and Pizarro (1531), seized the treasures of the Peruvians. Thus Spanish enterprise was in large measure called away to the southward. In the islands of the Caribbean, in Mexico, and in Peru they founded an immense and profitable empire. 28. Narvaez and Cabe9a de Vaca. — As great glory and riches had come to Cortes from his conquest of Mexico, another Spanish adventurer, Narvaez, hoped to find like fortune in the country north of the Gulf of Mexico. He set out with five ships and six hundred people, and on Good Friday, 1528, landed near Tampa Bay, Florida. Eight years later four survivors of this ill-fated expedition appeared on the west coast of Mexico, sixteen Imndred miles distant from the starting point. Cabega de Vaca one of the four who lived through those terrible years, has told the story of their wanderings. The little army was early LEARNING TO KNOW THE NEW WORLD 19 cut in twain. Finally, when all save fifteen of De Vaca's band had perished, they fell in with Indians who made them medicine men.^ Three thousand people occasionally fol- lowed them at a time. They had to breathe upon and bless the food and drink of each, and were bothered to death giving permission to the natives to do what they asked to do, often most foolish and simple things. As healers, traders, or slaves they passed five weary years. When at last the four survivors were again among Spaniards, Cabega declared that " Florida was the richest country of the world." He thus roused false hopes which led to famous adventures and explorations. 29. De Soto. — Hernando de Soto next tried to find the land of gold. He landed at Tampa Bay (May, 1539) with a small army of men and horses,^ toiled along the marshy coast of Florida to Apalache, and wintered there. Then, in the spring, he marched to the north, and for two years and more wandered about, but found nowhere gold and silver and precious stones. Two years from the time of starting he came upon the " great river." " If a man stood still on the other side, it could not be discerned whether he were a man or not," said one who related these adventures. " There came down the river continually many trees and timber." It was the Mississippi, the great river, which, with its tribu- tary streams, drains the central basin of the new continent. Back and forth many times across this river De Soto went, searching for some rich land like Peru or Mexico. At last, when his army was much reduced, he fell sick and died. Wrapped in mantles filled with sand, his body was thrown into the river which he had discovered. After many more trials and difficulties, the surviving men, barely one half of those that started, managed to reach Mexico, four years and a summer after the time of their ' Indian doctors. 2 Six hundred and twenty men and two hundred and twenty-three horses. 3 20 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY departure. The greatest reward of this toil and s-uffering was the finding of the mighty stream which rolls for nearly three thousand miles through the heart of our con- tinent and drains one of the richest regions of the earth. 30. Coronado and the Great Southwest.— While De Soto was in the Mississippi Valley, Coronado was making a like search in what we now call the great Southwest — Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. The Spaniards of Mexico re- The Cave Dwellings of Puye The kind of homes that Coronado found in the Southwest. membered an old legend of Seven Cities, said to be on an island in the Atlantic. Thinking that this country which they so vaguely knew might be the island, the ruler of New Spain sent a friar, Marcos by name, to explore. He re- turned frightened but filled with stories of a great city which he had seen from afar off. Francisco de Coronado now set out with some three hundred Spaniards and eight hundred Indians to conquer the golden empire that seemed to lie in the region north of Mexico (1540). 31. Indians and Buffaloes but no Seven Cities. — Coronado must have been a very strange sight with his gilded arms and LEARNING TO KNOW THE NEW WORLD 21 with a waving plume on the headpiece of his armor as he led his foot soldiers and friars and cavaliers across the plains, through the mountain defiles, and into the rude villages of the natives; for although he was lured on by- stories of canoes with golden eagles on their prows, and of a great lord who took his nap under a tree hung with little golden bells that made drowsy music as they swung in the air, he found only wandering savages, or, at best, Indians who lived in queer mud houses called pueblos. Many strange things were seen, especially the immense herds of buffaloes, " such a multitude that they are numberless." Amidst the savage tribes Coronado wandered, coming upon the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and other natural won- ders, but no rich cities or lands of gold. 32. The Spaniards Come to Know America. — Neither De Soto nor Coronado found the riches he sought, but their journeys were not useless or fruitless. Much was learned about the geography of a large part of what is now our country, and the stories of their perilous journeys helped to make the men of Europe acquainted with the new world. 33. French Explorers. — While these Spaniards were ex- ploring the southern part of what is now the United States, the French king, the hated rival of the Spanish king, sent his own explorers to America. French fishermen had already begun to come in little fleets of boats to fish for cod off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1^34 Cartier, a French sailor, entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The following year, tempted by the hope of reaching India, he sailed up the river to the cliffs that were later crowned by the city of Quebec, and then pushed on to Montreal. Here he was forced to pass the winter. Those who survived the cold and sickness returned to France in the spring. As the French learned later, Cartier had discovered the great northern gateway to the Mississippi Valley and the region of the Great Lakes. Almost at once the French king 22 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY claimed the land round about the St. Lawrence River, but the discovery really unfolded far greater possibilities. Nearly a million square miles of land, lying between the Alleghanies and the Rocky Mountains, and rich in nearly everything that civilized man desires, lay open to the French if they would but follow that river to the Great Lakes, and thence make easy portages to the tributaries of the Mis- sissippi River. 34. The Great Continent to Be Settled. — Thus, before the middle of the sixteenth century the coast of America was fairly well explored, though men, long after that, hoped they could find a way through it to the East they longed to reach. Of the interior of the continent something was now known. It was found to be of vast extent, with wide rivers and extensive forests. East of the Mississippi most of the country was covered with heavy woods; in the west were great plains stretching away to the foothills of the then unknown mountains — the same long range that passed down through Mexico and along near the western coast of South America. The Mississippi Valley, though not rich in the treasures which the Spaniards looked for, was a beautiful and fertile country, destined to be the center of a powerful empire. 35. The Indians.— The land was but thinly populated. The Indians, as the natives were called because the early explorers believed that they had found India, were copper-colored, had high cheek bones, small eyes, sr and coarse black hair. , o ^ Indian Stone Ax They lived m houses of bark or of skins stretched on poles. In the great Southwest they lived in large mud or adobe houses. Their clothing was of skins or furs. They made tools of stone, shells, bones, or deer horns. They navigated the streams and lakes with canoes cleverly made of bark or from a single log that was 24 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY hollowed out with fire. In a rude and simple way they raised maize, or Indian corn, as we call it. For ornaments they wore beads, feathers, animals' teeth and claws, and they stained their faces. They lived in villages, were divided into widely sepa- rated tribes, were governed in peace i_ by leaders called sachems and led by chiefs in war. They delighted in fighting, and, like all savages, took joy in torturing their enemies. 36. The Bar- riers to the White Man's Advance. — In the peopling of this new land the white men met two difficul- ties: first, the natural barriers — the mountains and the forests; second, the Indians who owned the lands and who naturally objected when the white man entered the country and acted as if the land were his. The story of this battle with the forests, the mountains, and the Indians is an important part of our history. But for that struggle, of which we shall hear much as our story advances, Americans would have been more like Europeans than they are, for the America of to-day is peopled, for the most part, by men and women whose fore- fathers came from Europe. Strings of Wampum Indian War Club Indian Calumet OR Peace Pipe Suggested Eeadings Histories: (Cartier) Parkman, Pioneers of France, 210-227. (Ma- gellan) Hale, Stories of Discovery, 59-85. Fiske, Discovery of THE BEGINNINGS OF SPANISH COLONIZATION 25 America, II, (Magellan) 184, 188-189, 190-207, (Cortes) 245-255, (Pizarro) 391-408, (De Soto) 390, 398, 509. Starr, American In- dians. Judd, Wigwam Stories. Ober, (1) Cortes, Conqueror of Mexico, (2) Ferdinand De Soto and the Invasion of Florida, (3) Balboa, (4) Jua^i Ponce de Leon, (5) Magellan. McMurry, Pioneers on Land and Sea. Wintcrburn, The Spanish in the Southwest. But- terworth, Story of Magellan. Griffis, Romance of Discovery. Sources: Hart, Source Book, 6-8, 9-11. American History Leaf- lets, No. 13. Old South Leaflets. I, Nos. 17, 20; II, Nos. 34, 35, 36, 39. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I, Xos. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. King, De Soto in the Land of the Floridas. CHAPTER IV THE BEGINNINGS OF SPANISH COLONIZATION 37. Why Men Came to the New World.— We have al- ready seen that a desire to know the world and its resources had led to many important discoveries; but if men were to leave Europe, the old world, and move to the new, there must be some strong reason — either a hard, wretched life at home or golden prospects abroad. If there were so many people in the old country that there was not enough work and food for all, or if some men persecuted others, the persons who could not live in comfort would go to the new land if they were able. Thus, as we shall see, it was the hope of betterment, of getting on in the world, that brought men across the Atlantic to the new continent. 38. Religious Disputes in Europe. — In considering the settlement of America we must know that in the old world there were disputes and differences about religion. Through- out the Middle Ages there had been one Church in west- ern Europe, and all people belonged to that Church and ac- cepted its doctrine. The Pope was the head of the Church and no one denied his leadership. But soon after the dis- covery of America, when so many new things were being done and so many old opinions about the world were changing, there came to pass what is called the Reformation, or some- 26 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY times the " Protestant Revolt." ^ A great discussion arose between the followers of the Pope and the Protestants, as those were called that protested against things they did not believe or like. The struggle spread from one country to another, and soon the whole of Europe was discussing re- ligion — often with much ill feeling. For a hundred years and more religious disputes and frequent wars occupied in large measure the interest and energy of the people of Europe. 39. Spain First in the New World. — Spain was not so much distracted and disturbed by the ill feeling and dis- putes in religion as were some of the other countries of Europe. Perhaps for this reason, because her people were not turned against each other in religious strife, she was better prepared than others to begin the settlement of Amer- ica. At all events, she had founded settlements and taken possession of a wide empire in America before the other nations of Europe began to send out their people to found American colonies. 40. The Spanish Bring European Comforts. — The first Spanish settlements were made in the West Indies. Colum- bus himself, when returning from his first voyage, left seeds for sowing, tools and arms, skilled workmen, a physician, and a tailor. On coming again to the new world he brought soldiers, missionaries, laborers, knights, and courtiers. His ships were laden with horses, sheep, cows, goats, pigs, and chickens. The natives were living in America without these things, but Europeans wanted the foods and comforts to which they were accustomed. Rich as the new world was, it was very poor in food plants and domestic animals. The Spaniards thought it necessary to bring with them vege- tables, wheat, and barley — even the vine and fruit trees, oranges, lemons, melons, and sugar cane.- 'The year 1519 may be taken as the beginning of the Reformation. 'America gave to Europe only one domestic animal, the turkey. In the vegetable kingdom the most noted things that came from America are quinine, potatoes, and tobacco. THE BEGINNINGS OF SPANISH COLONIZATION 27 41. Growth of Spanish Possessions. — Columbus, on his second voyage, landed upon the coast of Haiti, and there he found fertile soil, good building stone, and clay for bricks and tiles. His men there set at work upon the new town of Isabella. Streets and a square were laid out, and good public buildings — a storehouse, a church, a hospital, and a fort — were built, all of stone. Thus Spain began her work of A Fleet of Spanish Treasure Ships building a colonial empire — a work she was to carry on for three hundred years. During the first century after Colum- bus' discovery, from one thousand to fifteen hundred Spaniards emigrated to America each year. Soon Spain could boast that the sun never set upon her possessions, for she established her power not alone in America but across the Pacific in the Philippine Islands. 42. Spain Gets Precious Metals from America.— By using the labor of the Indians in the mines and on the great plantations, Spain was able to draw from her American colonies great riches. While bringing silver and gold and the products of plantations from America to Spain, the Span- ish ships were often set upon and robbed by the seamen of other nations — especially the English. The growth of this piracy led to the custom of sending great fleets under a naval escort. Every j'ear two great fleets set sail from Spain — one to the islands and one to the mainland. Upon 28 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY the arrival of the latter fleet at the Isthmus of Panama, long droves of mules might be seen wending their way across the Isthmus loaded with boxes of gold and silver to be taken to Spain. In the pubUc market place of the port an English friar saw " heapes of silver wedges " which " lay like heapes of stones in the street without any fear or suspicion of being lost." 43. Spain Claims the Whole of North America.— From the treasures and fertile lands of the West Indies, Mexico, and Peru, the Spanish king was getting very rich. He might have been content, and have left the rest of America to other nations. But in 1493, soon after Columbus' dis- covery, Pope Alexander VI, assuming the right to settle the disputes of nations, tried to mark off the newly discovered lands, assigning one part to Portugal, the other to Spain. The next year a division was made by treaty (see map on p. 17). Portugal was to keep Brazil, while Spain had the rest of America.^ The Spaniards, although they did not colonize North America, tried to keep other nations out, and the French colonists were the first to suffer from this policy. 44. French Protestants Try to Settle America. — The French kings had been so busy with wars in Italy for many years after the discovery of America that they had little time or money to give to colonizing. Then there arose in France a party called the Huguenots, who were opposed to Catholicism, and who kept the Catholic kings occupied try- ing to overthrow them. By 1562 this quarrel between Catholics and Huguenots broke into civil war, lasting over thirty years. When this war began, Coligny, the leader of the Huguenots, sent Ribaut, a gallant seaman, to seek a site for a colony in America where Huguenots might live free from persecution (1562). 45. The Settlement Is Destroyed. — At Port Royal, on the coast of what is now South Carolina, Ribaut left some of his 1 To this day Brazil uses the Portuguese language and the rest of South America uses Spanish. THE BEGINNINGS OF SPANISH COLONIZATION 29 men while he returned for more colonists. Those who re- mained endured their life for a year, and then in an ill-made boat with sails of shirts and sheets they drifted toward France. When nearly dead they were rescued by an English ship. A new French expe- dition found Ribaut's men gone, but they planted a new colony on the "River of May," now St. John's River. The Spaniards un- der Menendez sailed to destroj^ it — partly to keep the land for Spain and partly to drive out the enemies of the Catholics. On this expedition Menen- dez founded St. Augustine (1565), the oldest town in the United States. He surprised the Huguenot colonists and put most of them to the knife. Thus ended the early French attempts to found a colony on the At- lantic coast. When the sixteenth century closed, no per- manent settlement save the feeble Spanish outpost at St. Augustine had been made on the Atlantic coast of what is now the United States. Oldest House in St. Augustine Suggested Readings Histories: Parkinan, Pioneers of France in the New World, Chaps. VII and VIII. Prescott, Conqueat of Mexico and Conquest of Peru. Bourne, Spain in America, Chaps. XVII-XX. 30 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY CHAPTER V THE BEGINNINGS OF FRENCH SETTLEMENT 46. Spain Loses Her Early Advantage. — Early in the seventeenth century other nations besides Spain were ready to take part in the settlement of North America. Spain had, as we shall presently learn, lost command of the sea and could no longer keep other nations from the northern parts of the new world where she had no colonies. She had so long neglected her home industries, while depend- ing on the riches of Peru and Mexico, that she was almost ruined by her un- successful wars, not only with England ^ but with the Spanish provinces, the Netherlands. England and France, on the other hand, had grown stronger. 47. Founding of Port Royal. — France was the first to take advantage of the weakness of Spain. Henry IV, who was a really great and far-seeing ruler, wished to build up a French colonial empire. He granted land in America to Sieur de Monts. The colonists sent out by De Monts sailed into the Bay of Fundy, and (July, 1604) settled on an island in the St. Croix River. Later they crossed over the Bay of Fundy to a more sheltered spot. The new settlement was named Port Royal, and the land round about, Acadia. 1 See Chapter VI, pp. 37-40. Early French Discoveries and Settlements THE BEGINNINGS OF FRENCH SETTLEMENT 31 48. Champlain, the Founder of Canada.— One of the colonists, the energetic Champlain, restlessly voyaged up and down the coast, drawing maps and keeping an account of all he saw. Later he wrote of these things in a graceful way that would have made him famous, even if he had done no more. But he became the real founder of New France \bitation DEr dVTBECa The First Settlement at Quebec From a drawing by Champlain. Storehouse. B. Dovecote. C. Armory and quarters for the work- men. D. Quarters for the workmen. E. Dial. F. Forge and quar- ters for the workmen. G. Gallery. H. Apartment of Champlain. I. Entrance to the buildings, guarded by a drawbridge. L. Walk, ten feet in width. M. Moat. N. Platform for cannon. O. Cham- plain's garden. P. Kitchen. Q. Space between the moat and the river. R. St. Lawrence River. when he sailed up the St. Lawrence, and, where lofty cliffs frown upon the river, founded the town of Quebec (1608). At the latter place he lived for years as chief trader with the Indians. 32 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY 49. Iroquois Indians Become Foes of the French.— Un- fortunately for France, Champlain went with an Indian war party, in 1609, to a beautiful lake, which he named for himself, and there with his firearms he drove away a band of Iroquois Indians. The savages with their bows and arrows could do nothing, of course, against the terrible weapons of the whites. This attack, with another which he later made upon the Iroquois, caused them ever after to be the enemies of the French. Great results followed from this fact, for to go from the St. Lawrence Valley, where the French settled, to the Hudson River and the Atlantic coast, one must pass through the land of the Iroquois. At a later time, when the French wished to drive the English away from the settlements the English had made on the Atlantic coast, the Iroquois, fierce and crafty, and ever mindful of their hostility to French- men, were a barrier and served as a protection to the English coast settle- ments. 50. French Missionaries and Traders. — France, though unable with safety to explore southward, could and did push back along the St. Lawrence and Ot- tawa rivers and the Great Lakes. French missionaries came to the American wil- derness and suffered starvation, torture, and death in the effort to convert the Indians to Christianity.^ American history has no braver heroes, more zealous or more unselfish, than the black- A French Missionary Priest 1 Many of these brave missionaries were Jesuits, or members of the Society of Jesus, a religious society founded by Ignatius Loj'ola. Their work in America is told by Francis Parkman in his " Jesuits in America." The story of Isaac Jogues and his suffering is one of the thrilling stories of history. For part of it see Hart, " American History Told by Con- temporaries," I, 129. THE BEGINNINGS OF FRENCH SETTLEMENT 33 robed priests who escaped one torment only to hasten to another in the hope of saving a heathen soul. The mission stations which these men built along the shores of the Great Lakes, and the fur-traders' posts, founded here and there, carried French influence ever deeper into the continent. Champlain's blunder was not repeated, and the French, with a tact unknown to the English, always tried to make friends with the Indians, whom they flattered and treated with great ceremony. Indian women became the wives of Frenchmen, who then took up the Indian way of living, wearing Indian dress and dwelling in wigwams. Their children often became, as did many of the more venturesome Frenchmen, the famous coureurs de hois, or rangers of the woods, who guided the fur-traders' canoes along the rivers and across the portages to the very heart of the wilderness. Following them came the priests and the soldiers, building mission houses and forts which strengthened the French hold upon America. During all of the seventeenth century this work continued. 51. La Salle, the Man of Iron. — The greatest of all these great Frenchmen was La Salle, one of the boldest explorers America has known. If ever man had a will of iron, this tireless Frenchman had. Danger and hardships only made him the firmer. The story of his adventures will always re- main the wonder of man.^ To aid in his work of discovery A COUREUR DE BoiS ' La Salle's bodily endurance was as marvelous as his courage. At one time in the dreariest winter season, leaving a company on the Illinois River, he started with a few companions across the country for Montreal. He made rafts to cross the swollen streams, and occasion- ally a canoe was needed. He plodded along over the prairie and 34 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY he built a ship, but it was lost in a storm. Another ship bringing money for his venture was wrecked. The garrison of one of his forts deserted, and Indian allies for whose friendship he had toiled hard and long were attacked and destroyed by their enemies. Yet he never lost heart, and, at last, after four years of grim perseverance, he embarked upon the Mississippi, and floated down the river to the Gulf French Settlements and Water Routes in the Interior of Mexico (April, 1682). " The brackish water changed to brine and the breeze grew fresh with the salt of the sea." Near the mouth of the river was " performed the ceremony of planting the cross and raising the arms of France." In the name of His Majesty Louis XIV, La Salle " took possession through forests till he reached Niagara. Leaving there his last wearied companion, he pushed on to Montreal. "During sixty-five days he had toiled almost incessantly, traveling, by the course he took, about a thousand miles through a country beset with every form of peril and obstruction" — the most arduous journey ever made by a Frenchman in America. THE BEGINNINGS OF FRENCH SETTLEMENT 35 of that river and of all rivers that enter into it, and of all the country watered by them." Thus France, by right of discovery, became possessed of the great system of waterways which, with the numerous easy portages — where canoes could be _..=.=_ carried from one river to another — made it possible for Frenchmen to penetrate all the vast wilderness lying between the Alleghanies and Rockies. A leaden plate inscribed with the arms of France and the discoverer's name was buried in the earth at the mouth of the Mississippi. 52. New France — Louisiana and Can- ada. — Leaden plates, however, would not suffice to preserve French rights. Set- tlements must be made. The first, in Louisiana, as the country at the mouth of the Mississippi was called,^ was made Part of a Leaden in 1699. Mobile and New Orleans were founded soon after (1701, 1718). Mean- The while small groups of Frenchmen settled on the upper branches of the main stream in Indiana and Illinois, and to this day the Western river valleys and the lake region are full of French names, ^ though many have been changed by the later English settlers. At the very beginning of the eighteenth century Cadillac founded Detroit (1701); forts at other points of military advantage seemed to assure France's hold on the Mississippi Valley. Thus New France was founded with its two heads, as Park- man wrote, one in the canebrakes of Louisiana and the other in the snows of Canada. ,.flsii Vf 'hi. : M k'Rli^flV' RE; CVO- . Plate French buried these plates at the river mouths that they discovered, to mark their claim to all the land drained by the rivers. ' In honor of Louis XIV, King of France. The settlement was at Biloxi Bay. - Joliet, Vincennes, Marquette, Detroit, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Louis,, Duluth, New Orleans. 4 36 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY Suggested Readings Histories: Parkman, Pioneers of France in the New World, (Cham- plain) 236-242, 446, (Quebec) 324-338, (Iroquois) 339-352. Drake, Making of the Great West, 75-85. Fiske, New France and New Eng- land, (Cliamplain) 58-71, 89-93, (La Salle) 109-132, (Missions) 98-109. (La Salle) Wright, Stories of American History, 316-330. (Champlain) McMurry, Pioneers on Land and Sea. McMurry, Pio- neers of the Blississippi Valley. Thwaites, Father Marquette. Sources: Hart, Source Book, (Champlain) 14-17, (La Salle) 96- 98. Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries, II, 140-144. CHAPTER VI THE GREAT ENGLISH SEAMEN OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 53. The Rise of England, — Though Spain was strong enough to keep the French Huguenots from setthng on the Atlantic coast, she could not long maintain her hold upon the northern continent, for England was year by year be- coming a great and powerful nation. When America was discovered, England was in many ways behind the other European countries in wealth and power, but during the sixteenth century the English people grew strong and self- reliant. From the beginning of history, while the Mediter- ranean Sea was the center of European trade, the British Isles had been a somewhat out-of-the-way place, but now that the nations of Europe began to look westward for trade rather than eastward, the English people held a place of real advantage. 54. English Interest in America. — England, just before the discovery of America, had been exhausted by a civil war known as the '' War of the Roses," which had left her little strength for colonization. In the reign of Elizabeth (1558- 1603), however. Englishmen began to look toward America. Though little attention was paid at the time to Cabot's dis- GREAT ENGLISH SEAMEN 37 coveries, which so closely followed those of Columbus, yet they were now thought to give England rights in the un- known lands over tlie sea. 55. The "Sea Dogs." — A race of daring seamen then began to range the seas. The stories of their deeds read like pirate tales. They seem to us very strange men, re- ligious as monks, yet bold, murderous, and crafty as robbers. John Hawkins, one of the most famous, ordered his men to " serve God daily " and " to keep good company," but he did not hesitate to enslave African negroes. With his slaves he would sail to the West Indies. The Spaniards there were forbidden by their king to buy from Englishmen, but Hawkins would bring his ships' guns to bear upon the Spanish towns and compel them to buy. Then with " gold, silver, pearls, and other jewels great store," he would return to England, to be the envy of less fortunate adven- turers. 56. Francis Drake. — Even more famous than Hawkins was Francis Drake, who became such a terror to the Spaniards that for a hun- dred years he was known among them as " The Dragon." On one voyage, when Drake was with Hawkins, the Spaniards at- tacked their ships — treacherously, as Hawkins claimed — and the treachery was never forgotten. On several plundering voyages Drake took fearful vengeance. He was a most in- teresting hero; he dined and supped to the music of violins; his table service was silver, richly gilt ; he loved every luxury, especially perfumes given him by the queen. His men revered and yet stood in great awe of him, for they feared while they loved him; of all his followers no one would dare to be seated Sir Francis Drake 38 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY or to put on his hat in the presence of the commander unless leave to do so were repeatedly given. 57. Drake's Voyage Around the World.— In 1577 Drake started upon a raid which became his famous voyage around the world. His daring plan was to sail through the Straits of Magellan and attack the Spanish settlements and treasure ships on the west coast of South America. This he did, and from one ship he took 1,500 bars of silver, from another 26 tons of silver and 80 pounds of gold. His men took every- thing upon which they could lay their hands, ashore or by sea, even to the silver chalice in a village church. Drake then sailed north, hoping to find a northerly passage around America. After giving that up, he repaired his ship, prob- ably near what is now San Francisco harbor, and sailed west across the Pacific. In 1580 he reached England after passing through the Spice Islands and around the Cape of Good Hope to the Atlantic Ocean. Queen Elizabeth knighted Drake upon the deck of his ship, the Golden HiJid. 58. Who Shall Rule the Sea. — The queen thus rewarded Drake because he was the first Englishman to sail around the world; but she also seemed to approve of his robbing the Spanish treasure ships. Spain and England were supposed to be at peace, yet these hardy English sailors were ruin- ing Spanish commerce. Spain depended largely upon the gold and silver from the mines of Peru to build her navy that ruled the seas, and without a strong navy her colonies and other riches might slip from her grasp. If her navy were beaten she could not prevent England from placing colonies on the Atlantic coast. The time had come, then, for a mighty struggle between England and Spain. 59. English Try to Make Settlements. — As this great struggle was coming on, some adventurous Englishmen made voyages to America to find places suitable for settlement. On one of these voyages Sir Humphrey Gilbert lost his GREAT ENGLISH SEAMEN 39 lifc.^ His kinsman, Sir Walter Raleigh, ^ a royal favorite, took up the task. Raleigh never saw America's shore, but he planned expeditions and furnished money, seeking in vain to found colonies. A colony was actually placed (1585) on Roanoke Island, in Virginia, but the settlers found no gold, and when their food failed they were glad to return to England with Drake, who passed that way. The only thing that came of this attempt was that potatoes, and the dried tobacco leaves, which the Indians had taught the English to smoke, were brought to England. A later colony, settled in 1587 on Roanoke Island, fared worse, for the settlers, men, women, and children, were never after to be found. 60. The Defeat of the Invincible Armada. — The attacks of Hawkins and Drake and the attempts to settle America were maddening to the King of Spain, and one need not won- der. Into dungeons he flung English sailors " laden with irons, without sight of sun or moon." At last the Spanish king could bear no more, and he planned to send a fleet against England, whence came the " sea dogs," as the English sailors were called. Drake delayed the time of sailing by dashing into the Spanish harbor and burning the provision ships. In 1588 the '' Invincible Armada," as the great Spanish fleet was called, appeared in the British Chan- nel. The Spanish ships were greater in number than the English ships, but the English guns were heavier, and the " sea dogs," with better made ships, surpassed the Spaniards in seamanship. Hawkins and Drake, and others who had > Before his bark was swallowed up, he was heard to say: "We are as near Heaven by sea as by land" — words that must have been in- spiring to the old English sea rovers. ^ Raleigh was one of the most interesting and charming men of his day. He is said first to have won the favor of Elizabeth by his prompt gallantry in throwing his handsome cloak over a mud puddle that the queen might pass over dry-shod. He had a bright wit and an able mind. He loved England and he planned great things for her in the new world, but he was unfortunate in his plans for colonization. 40 PERIOD OF DISCOVERY fought the Spanish too long to fear them, kept cool heads, and fired true. 61. England Can Found Colonies Without Fear of Spain. — What Drake ^ and his men failed to do, storms com- pleted, and only about fifty of the one hundred and thirty or more ships returned to Spain. Within a few years the sea The Spanish Armada and the English Fleet in the Channel From an old tapestry in the House of Lords. power of England was established. Englishmen might now found American colonies in safety. To-day North America is largely controlled by the English and other related races, South America, by the Spanish and Portuguese. Suggested Readings Histories: Fiske, Old Virgmia and her 'Neighhors, I, 15-28; (Gil- bert and Raleigh) I, 28-40. (Drake) Hale, Stories of Discovery, S6-106. McMurry, Pioneers on Land and Sea. Bolton, Famous Voyagers. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I, 158. Fiction: Longfellow, Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 1 When Drake died he was buried at sea, and an EngUsh poet wrote: "The waves became his winding sheet, The waters were his tomb ; But for his fame, the ocean sea was not sufficient room." If we call a man great by what he accomplished, we must call Drake great. It has well been said that the English navy and the English empire go back to Sir Francis Drake. II PERIOD OF ENGLISH COLONIZATION AND STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY IN NORTH AMERICA CHAPTER VII THE ENGLISH COLONIZE VIRGINIA 62. Trading Companies of the Sixteenth Century. — Dur- ing the century in which Frenchmen were pushing westward, Enghshmen were settling along the Atlantic coast. Raleigh's attempt at settlement failed because the task seemed too great for a single man. It was a big undertaking and needed the wealth and the energy of many men. In our day one man does not try to build a railroad or to w^ork a great mine, but many men unite in a corporation into which all put their money and their brains. So, during the sixteenth century, Englishmen and Dutchmen and Frenchmen who wanted to trade in far off lands, like Russia or Africa or the East Indies, formed companies in which each man bought a certain share. The company secured a charter^ from the king in return for a certain part of the profits which he was to receive. It was natural, therefore, in 1606, that " sundry knights, gen- tlemen, merchants, and Qther adventurers " of Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, and London, wishing to colonize America, should form a company, and seek a charter from King James, then reigning in England. 63. Reasons for English Settlements in America. — There were at this time many reasons why Englishmen should try to plant colonies in America. First, the gradual changing in England of plowlands ^ into sheep farms had taken away 'A permission to do business under the king's protection. ' Lands under cultivation and on which grains or other farm prod- ucts were grown. 41 42 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA work to which many men were used. One shepherd could watch sheep ranging over a large piece of land which for- merly it had taken many men to plow and sow and reap. It took a long while to learn a trade, and there were no great factories in which men might find employment running the machines. Many men, therefore, were out of the only work that they could do — tilling the soil. The wars also were over for a time, and soldiers, who often followed war as k trade, were out of employment and wanted adventure. As a result of all this idleness, there were many crimes. If the idle men could be coaxed off to America, it would prevent England's being overcrowded, and the colonists could earn money for themselves and for those who pro- vided money to take them over. Finally, the colonists expected to find gold and precious stones, just as the Span- iards had done. From voyages lately made,^ men had returned with promises of gold and tales of a warm climate suited to raising nutmegs, and these stories set England agog with interest in America. 64. The English King Grants a Charter. — The king was so eager to get English colonies in America that he made two companies of the men asking for a charter. There was one of London merchants known as the London Company, and one of the men from the western parts of England known Territory Granted by the Charter OF 160G 1 Gosnold, Pring, and Weymouth ventured in the years 1602-5. THE ENGLISH COLONIZE VIRGINIA 43 as the Plymouth Company. ^ The king meant to be Hberal as to the government he provided for them, but at best the charter left the company at the mercy of the king and the colonists at the mercy of the company. Both companies made haste to fit out ships and gather stores and settlers. The western men, or the Plymouth Com- pany, founded a settlement (1607) at the mouth of the Kennebec River, in Maine, but abandoned it after a hard winter. The London Company was, as we shall see, more fortunate. 65. The Pounding of Jamestown, 1607. — In the spring of 1607 the London Company's ships sailed with settlers for the new world, and in May of 1607 they entered the wide mouth of the river, which was called the James in honor of the English king. Ashore, they found, as they wrote, " all the ground bespread with many sweet and delicate flowers of divers col- ors and kinds." Heaven and earth, they thought, " had never agreed better to frame a place for man's habita- tion." 66. The Settlers Suffer and are Discouraged. — They found it not wholly a paradise, however, for there came " savages creeping from the Hills like Beares, with their Bowes in their Mouthes," but after they felt the '' sharpness " of the white man's shot, they fled " with great noise." But the colonists' own weakness was their worst enemy. " Because they found not English cities," wrote one of their leaders, " nor such fair houses, nor their accustomed dainties, with feather beds and down pillows, taverns and ale houses in every breath- ing place, neither such plenty of gold and silver as . . . they expected, they had little or no care but to pamper their bel- ' These grants of land provided by the charter, extended 100 miles in from the coast and were to be bounded by the parallels of latitude showTi in the map. The king provided that in the land between the parallels of 38° and 41° neither company should make a settlement nearer than one hundred miles to one already established in this same zone by the other company. 44 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA lies ... or procure their means to return for England; for the country was to them a misery, a ruin, a death." 67. Men Hunt for Gold and Many Die. — Such men as these were ill fitted to fell trees, plant corn, and build homes in the forest. Indeed, many of them probably never intended to stay in America, but came expecting to pick up gold and silver along the shores. As the site of their town they chose a marshy peninsula reeking with malaria. Hovels and The Landing at Jamestown From a painting by John G. Chapman. ragged tents and even caves or dugouts served as dwellings. Instead of preparing to live, men hunted for gold. " Our drink was water, our lodgings castles in the air," wrote one of the wisest of them. Living on worm-eaten barley from the ship and lying upon the bare ground soon brought on " burning fevers." Death came to many, and the half -sick living men could only drag out the bodies of the dead "like dogs." When half were dead the rest were saved by the Indians who sold them game and corn for trinkets and gewgaws. 68. John Smith. — At first the leaders of the colonists were quite unfit to rule, but with the hard times the abler men THE ENGLISH COLONIZE VIRGINIA 45 gained control. INIost prominent was that bold adventurer, John Smith, who hecame president of their council. He had led a most marvelous life if half of his stories are true. According to these tales, he had been a soldier in nearly every country of Europe. He had killed and beheaded three Turks in sin- gle combat. Later he had been enslaved, made love to a beautiful lady, and ended his enslavement by killing his mas- ter with a flail and escaping to Russia in disguise. Thence he wandered all the way to Morocco, and came to England in time to go out with the Virginia colonists.^ It is needless to say that most historians shake their heads very gravely over these stories. 69. ' ' He Who Will Not Work Shall Not Eat. ' '—It was John Smith's self-reliance and boldness, nevertheless, that saved the colony. More colonists had come at the end of the first winter, and they were worse than the first. They were idle fellows, chiefly from the streets and jails of London. To these and all the rest Smith declared: "You must obey this now for a law: that he who will not work shall not eat." It was the best law possible for such a time and place. It would hardly have been necessary except for the foolish plan of the London Company not to give land to each man to work for himself, but to have all work and share alike. The lazy men, of course, were quite willing to let others do the work as long as they could eat of the common stores. Even the men of energy would not work very hard, for they could thus add nothing to their own property. When Smith left the colony, in 1609, so little work was done that " starving times " came upon them. Men lived " by roots, herbs, acorns, walnuts, berries, . . . even the very skins of their horses." So ter- rible was the loss of life that of the first thousand settlers ' There, according to his own story, he very soon had a wonderful adventure. When captured by the Indians and about to be slain, he was saved by Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan, the chief of the tribe. The Indian maiden Pocahontas really existed and married one John Rolfe, a colonist. 46 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA in Virginia, less than one hundred lived to tell of their troubles. 70. The New Charter. — Meanwhile the London Company- got a new charter (1609), by the provisions of which a gov- ernor, Avho was a sort of busi- ness manager, was added to the council in Virginia. The company's land was, by the new charter, made to extend four hun- dred miles along the coast and "up into the land through- out ^ from sea to sea, west and northwest." 71. Reforms. Land Granted by Charter to the Virginia Company in 1609 — There came now one Sir Thomas Dale to rule the colonists, and he ruled with a rod of iron. He enforced Smith's rule by whipping those who would not work, and he wisely began to break down the old system of holding all prop- erty in common. He gave three acres of land to each of the old colonists, and let them have time to work for themselves. This change was helpful, for men were willing to work for themselves. A few years later women were brought over, and then men came to have real homes here. With homes and wives and families, men were willing to stay in America. ' Many years later this wording of the grant gave Virginia a chance to claim all the land northwest of the Ohio River and led to many disputes. THE ENGLISH COLONIZE VIRGINIA 47 72. The First American Legislature. — Through the efforts of Sir Edwin Sandys and other hberal members of the com- pany, the people of Virginia were at last given a share in making the laws. By 1619 eleven settlements were estab- lished in Virginia. Of these, each was to elect two men to sit in a " House of Burgesses " and give its assent to the laws made by the company in England. The cruel and tyrannical rule of one man like Dale was no longer possible, for the government was now more nearly by the people and for the people. This first representative legislature was elected by the settlers, and it met in the church at James- town (1G19). Here was the real though humble beginning of American government, and, though very much simpler, it was something like the government we now have. Few events in all history are more important than this gathering of free representatives in the little church in the Virginia wilderness. 73. England and Representative Government. — It was perfecth' natural that Englishmen should set up such a gov- ernment, for from time out of mind there had been represen- tative government in England. As early as the thirteenth century the king had asked that men be sent as representa- tives to a great national assembly that came to be called a Parliament. Finally, the kings could get no money unless Parliament would agree to tax the people for it. This often vexed the kings sorely, but they could not get rid of Parlia- ment . 74. The London Company Loses Its Charter. — King James liked neither the members of the company which owned Vir- ginia nor their liberal way of governing their colonists. After an Indian massacre which took place in Virginia in 1622, the government charged the company with neglecting to care for the settlers' safety. The charter was declared void, the com- pany came to an end, and the province (1624) became the king's own, and was ruled by his chosen governor. In the following year (1625) King James died, and as his son Charles 48 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA paid less attention to the colonists, their prosperity was not injured by the change of method in their government. They even kept their assembly as before. 75. Tobacco Begins Virginia's Prosperity.— The colony had by this time become so strongly rooted that it could en- dure misfortunes which earher might have ruined it. The tobacco, which the colonists found growing wild, they had at last learned to dry and prepare for smoking, and a better va- A MoDEKxX Tobacco Field riety was early transplanted from the West Indies. Euro- pean people began to use it in large quantities, although in far-away Russia the Czar decreed that smokers should lose their noses, and King James ^ proclaimed that the use of tobacco tended " to a general and new corruption both of Men's Bodies and Manners." But, in spite of kings, men wanted it, and Virginians could raise it. Every effort had been made in the first years of the colony to turn the colo- nists' attention to silk culture, and the production of wine or of cotton, but as soon as the colonists were sure that gold ' He wrote what he called "A Counter-Blast to Tobacco," and spoke of it as "this filthy novelty" whose smoke nearest resembles "the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless." THE ENGLISH COLONIZE VIRGINIA 49 and pearls and spices were not to be found in Virginia, they settled down to the sober, money-making business of tobacco raising. Even the margins of Jamestown's broad streets were planted with it. 76. Indentured Servants and Negro Slaves. — Virginia lacked but one thing to complete its prosperity and that was labor. Every means was tried to get workmen. England had plenty of paupers, vagabonds, and criminals,^ and these the king sent over to get rid of them cheaply. Imprisonment for debt was common, and, to escape prison, men could sell themselves or their labor for a number of years. Debtors were sometimes glad to work their way to freedom in Virginia. Villainous sea captains kidnaped men and boys and sold them in America. Some poor people, tempted by advertisements full of false pictures of the fortunes to be gained in Amer- ica, sold their labor to pay their passage, taking the chance of finding a kind or an evil master. By laboring for some years, these indentured servants earned their freedom. These servants did not become such a source of evil as did the negro slaves brought to Virginia in 1619 by a Dutch trading vessel. After some twenty-five years negro labor was used more and more, and negro slavery became fixed in this and other southern colonies. 77. Virginia Becomes a Permanent Colony. — Thus, as we have seen, the English race had been safely planted and had taken root on American soil. The early days of folly and its terrible results were past. Rule by a tyrant governor had yielded to rule by the people who were to be governed. Fe- verish search for gold and trust in luck was replaced by dili- gent labor for the slow but sure profits of a good farm. Laborers had been secured, and the owners of land might now take time for some of the less practical concerns of life — social ' Unlicensed peddlers, jugglers, and tinkers, and University students begging without a certificate were regarded as vagabonds, and many were imprisoned for what seem to us very small offenses; these men were not always really bad or vicious. 50 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA intercourse, political discussion, and the reading of books. Men of Virginia were still Englishmen in their manners and customs, but the forest and the new life that encompassed them were working silent changes. At least they no longer thought of returning to England. Soon there were children who knew only the vast forests, the newly cleared fields, and the quiet rivers that flowed to the sea which separated them from the land of their forefathers. Suggested Readings Histories: Johnson, Boys' Life of Captain John Smith. Cooke, Stories of the Old Dominion. Chandler, Makers of Virginia History. Fiske, Old Virginia and Her Neighbors, I. Coffin, Old Times in the Colonies. Bass, Stories of Pioneer Life. Sources: Hart, Source Book, 11-14. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I, 218-225, 229-233, 237-241. CHAPTER VIII THE PILGRIMS 78. The Puritans. — The Virginia colony was founded be- cause there were English business men who wished to extend British trade and commerce to the new world. The next English colony was to have a very different beginning. Re- ligion and not business was its seed. To understand this it should be recalled that the Reformation ^ had a peculiar result in England. The English part of the great world- embracing Catholic Church merely took as its head the King of England instead of the Pope. Further than this neither the English kings nor most of their subjects wished to go. The method of worshiping, the ceremonies in church, the wearing of the cap and the surplice, the use of the sign of the cross, and of the ring in marriage, were kept as in former days. But there were people who wished that " all, even the slightest vestiges," of the old forms of worship should be re- ' See Chapter IV, pp. 25, 26. THE PILGRIMS 51 moved from the Church. Certain old prayers, hymns, and saints' days annoyed them and they wanted these reUcs of the old worship given up. Many there were, too, that came to disagree on more serious matters with the leaders of the great national Church. All who wished these changes from the service of the established church were called Puritans. 79. The Nonconformists and Separatists. — Among the Puritans there were several groups. One group did not like the bishops or the prayer book of the Church of England or the way of appointing or paying ministers; but they wished to stay in the Church and reform it. They were called the Nonconformists, because they would not conform to the rules of the Church they attended. The second group dis- liked the same things as the Nonconformists, but they went further. They did not want all the congregations of England united into a national church, but they thought that each church should be complete in itself, independent of all other churches — merely " under the government of God and Christ." They would not stay within the English Church hoping for reform, but would break away. They were therefore called Separatists. Both groups were persecuted by Queen Elizabeth and King James, but the second group suffered most of all. 80. The Plight to Holland. — A congregation of these Separatists used to meet in the house of Elder Brewster, postmaster and innkeeper in " the meane townlet of Scrooby " on the great northern road from London to Edinburgh. Richard Clifton and John Robinson, who had been driven from their former pastorates, preached to them in spite of the threat of King James that he would harry all Puritans " out of the land, or else do worse." The Scrooby congregation was made up of just common country people, plowmen and reapers, but they were fired by a great idea, to which they were steadfast. With a devoted leader they were destined to do America a great service. In John Robinson thej'^ found their inspiration. Even his enemy owned that he was " the 52 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA most learned, polished, and modest spirit that ever separated from the Church of England." When the Scrooby folk were " hunted and persecuted on every side," as one of their num- ber wrote, " so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bit- ings in comparison of these which now came upon them," they " were faine to flie and leave their houses," ^ and to fol- low their noble leader to Amsterdam in Holland. 81. Discontent in Holland. — Holland was then a place of refuge for all oppressed — "a cage of unclean birds," "the great mingle mangle of religion," as its enemies called it.^ Therefore, there were many other refugees in Amsterdam, and Robinson and Brewster found so much religious dispute^ that they moved with their people to Leyden. After settling there, " it was not long," Bradford tells us, " before they saw the grimme and grisly face of povertie coming upon them like an armed man." From farming, to which they were used, they had to turn to mechanical labor. Not only they but their children must work, barely to live, and thus were the children being robbed of the strength which would make them vigorous men and women. Finally, the worried parents turned their thoughts on " some of those vast and un- peopled countries of America." At least they could not be worse off there, they thought, and their children would grow up to be English and not Dutch. 82. The Pilgrims Sail to America. — From the Virginia Company these Pilgrims — for so we call these wander- ' These quotations are from William Bradford, who was long the Governor of Plymouth and wrote an interesting history of the settle- ment. 'These hard names were given because Holland allowed just what we now allow everywhere all over our country. Now we may say or print what opinions we have on religion. We may go to church or stay at home, and help support the minister or not, but in the days of Brew- ster the government made rules about such things and people had to obey. 3 Over silly questions as to whether or not the parson's wife should wear whalebone in her bodice, etc. THE PILGRIMS 53 ers from Scrooby — obtained a right to settle in Vir- ginia. On very hard conditions they secured money of some London merchants. From the king, whose interfer- ence they feared, they could obtain only the intimation that he would " wink at their practices." Still, they argued, there was little use of a more definite promise, for if later he should " desire to wrong them, though they had a seal as broad as the house floor " it would not save them from the king's tyranny, and so they decided to run the risk and to go. The members of the congregation at Leyden who de- cided to go had a short passage to Southampton in England, and were there joined by others. In September, 1620, after many delays, one hundred and two brave souls set sail from Plymouth on board the Mayflower. The sea was rough and stormy, and they were driven by autumn gales until the cap- tain lost his reckoning. They intended to go to Virginia, but when they first sighted land, it was the low, sandy shore of Cape Cod. They tried to sail southward to the land that had been granted them by the London Compa,ny, but dan- gerous shoals frightened them back, and they anchored thankfully in the harbor formed by the hook at the end of Cape Cod (November, 1620). 83. The Famous Mayflower Compact. — They were north of the land granted to the London Company, and they had no legal right to settle there. But they felt that they could not go south through the dangerous winter storms, and they resolved to stay and later to get permission to remain. Some of the strangers among them — for a few were not of the Leyden company — now refused to obey the Pilgrim leaders, who got their only right to rule from the London Company. The Pilgrims, therefore, drew up a compact, which nearly all signed, agreeing to obey such just and equal laws as the sign- ers — the "civil body politic," as the quaint phrase ran — might make. Thus the Pilgrim leaders secured the help of the law- abiding men in making the unruly ones obey commands. This "Mayflower Compact" was not a frame of govern- 54 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA merit like our national or state constitution, but was a simple agreement among the members of a company. And yet on this simple agreement and promise they formed their AifmiYMr Facsimile of Some of the Signatures on the Mayflower Compact colony and raised their little state on the edge of the American continent. 84. The Founding of Plymouth. — Having settled the question of government, they explored the shores of Cape Cod Bay for a month. After a party led by Captain Miles Standish ^ had discovered Plymouth harbor, they decided to found their colony on that shore. There was much suffer- ing before spring. The cold and lack of good food and of warm houses brought death to over half the Pilgrim band ; at times there were but six or seven sound persons who could attend the sick or dying. In spite of their terrible suffering the Pilgrims did not wish to go back to England, > Who figures as a soldier hero in Longfellow's poem " The Court- ship of Miles Standish." THE PILGRIMS 55 and when the Mayflower sailed in April not one of the colonists returned with her.^ They began rather to plant corn, to make " lawe and order " for themselves, to set nets for fish, in short, to stay and make their living on the lonely shore of the continent. The Puritan Colony and the Puri- tan Church in America were begun. 85. Great Difficulties Overcome. — The place where the Pil- grims settled proved to be an ancient piece of ground once tilled by Indians. A plague had destroyed the tribe which had lived there. One of the Indians who lived in the neighborhood came in the spring offering to teach them how to plant their corn.^ His friendship and a treaty they soon made with Massasoit, a neighboring chief, enabled them to live at peace, and keep the wolf of hunger from the door.* Yet for a time they barely grew enough food for all, because the lazy ones would not work as long as what was grown must go into a common stock out of which each was to be fed. This fact bred discontent and indifference here as in Virginia, and at length a small piece of land was given to each head of a family that he might till it for himself. Living then be- came easier, and gradually the people grew out of poverty and into comfort. They fished and traded for furs, paid their ' " O strong hearts and true. Not one went back in the Mayflower, No, not one looked back, who had set his hand to the ploughing. Long in silence they watched the receding sail of the vessel, Much endeared to them all, as something living and human." — Longfellow's " The Courtship of Miles Standish." 2 This Indian, Squanto, helped the whites greatly. He directed them how to set their corn, says Bradford, where to take fish, and to procure other commodities, . . . and never left them till he died. He showed them that they must get fish to put in the hills of corn, because the land was lean and worn out. ' They had to present a brave front to the Indians also, as they did in the famous case when an Indian chief sent a messenger to Plymouth with a rattlesnake skin wrapped about a bundle of arrows. It was a challenge to fight, and Bradford, the governor, filled the skin with powder and bullets and sent it back. The chief did not care so much about fighting after that. 56 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA debt to the London merchants, and finally became owners of the land where they had settled. 86. The Pilgrims Govern Themselves. — They managed their own affairs as they chose, for their form of government was, as we have said, merely the outgrowth of the Mayflower Compact. They chose their own governor, they passed their own laws, and, though they did not deny that they were sub- jects of the English king, he did not trouble himself about A Pilgrim Meeting House and Fort them — humble fishermen, farmers and fur traders on the coast of America, who were making no disturbance and finding their own living. Thus they reared their little colony and found their way to prosperity and peace. Suggested Headings Histories: Nina Moore-Tiffany, Pilgrims and Puritans. Drake, Making of Neio England, 149-15.5. Eggleston, Beginners of the Nation. Fiske, Beginnings of New England. Glascock, Stories of Cohimhia, 69-81. Higginson, American Explorers, 311-337. Sources: Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries, I, 167- 170, 187-190, 34.5-3.59. Fiction: Longfellow, The Courtship of Miles Standish. Hawthorne, Grandfather's Chair, 10-26. THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 57 CHAPTER IX THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 87. Pljrmouth a Light to the Nation. — We have thus seen how the httle band of Pilgrims founded a self-supporting set- tlement on the New England shore, and how, despite hard- ships, they won a living from the land and grew in strength. We must now trace the growth of a larger and more pow- erful settlement that was made a few miles to the north of Plymouth, a settlement that prospered marvelously and was the center for the building up of much of New England. 88. Settlements along the Coast and Granting of the Massachusetts Charter. — Even while Plymouth was strug- gling through its early years of trial, settlements were made here and there along the coast. A solitary settler would build a hut and try to find a living; or fishermen that had come across the stormy north Atlantic would found stations on the coast, dreary outposts where they could dry their fish and refit their vessels. One of these stations was founded on Cape Ann, and John White, a Puritan preacher of England, appears to have been interested in the place, hop- ing to surround the fishermen and settlers with whole- some Christian influences. He enlisted the help of some wealthy Englishmen and secured a grant of land from the Council for New England, who owned all that northern country.' Soon afterwards these men and others obtained a charter from the king. Under the direction of this company, known as the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, a great movement began for the settlement of the New World. 89. Harsh Government in England: Migration to New England. — To understand the meaning of this movement, we ' The New England Council was a company which had taken the place of the Plymouth Company (see pp. 42-4.3). It granted a strip of land through to the "South Sea" between a line drawn three miles south of the Charles River and a Une three miles north of the Merrimac. 58 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA must know something of English conditions that caused it. There had been many objections to the rule of James I; but when he died, in 1625, and his son Charles came to the throne, new troubles set in. The new king had high notions of his own powers, and was intent on doing much as he chose without regard for the wishes of the Eng- lish people. He began almost at once to quarrel with the House of Commons, and acted as if the only business of the House was to provide him with money and to let him do as he wished. The House did not weakly yield to his commands, for among its members were men of strong and lofty patriotism, men like Sir John Eliot,^ whose zeal for liberty and whose noble courage led them to resist unlawful authority to the end. In 1629 Charles dissolved Parliament and for the next eleven years ruled without any. These were fateful years for England. Men were cruelly punished for one reason or another." During these eventful years thousands of persons, alm.ost in despair of liberty in Eng- land, sailed for New England to build up Puritan com- monwealths on the new continent. It means much in American history that these men came to America, in part, at least, as a protest against a government in ^ Eliot was one of England's great men, whose name should be held in memory. Thrust into the Tower of London because of his valiant opposition to the king, he died there, a martyr to the cause of liberty. - Some of these punishments were very shocking. It is a noteworthy fact that now we do not like even to read about such things; thus far has the world moved from days of cruelty. See what the Constitu- tion of the United States says about cruel and unusual punishments. Amendment VIII. The Flag of New England The flag was bright blue with a white square in which was a red cross. In the upper left-hand corner was a globe. THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 59 which they could not trust. Their own principles of liberty grew stronger in tlu^ free air of a new world. 90. The Charter.— Just as Charles dismissed his Parlia- ment and prepared to rule alone, the movement for the set- tlement of New England began in earnest. At the end of March, 1629, the charter to the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay was granted. It provided for a governor and eighteen assistants and for meetings of a general court composed of the members of the company.'^ 91. The Leaders Decide to Come across the Ocean. — There was little in the wording of the charter to show that this company was to be different from the one that had founded Virginia, but in tlie summer of 1629 an important difference ap- peared. The governor of the com- pany proposed that the method of ruling the settlers from Eng- land ' should ])e given up. Why not transfer the government of the company to the New World? This scheme was thought over by the leaders, and some of them, coming together at Cambridge, in England, considered the "greatness of the work" and " God's glory and the Church's good." They then decided to go to the Ncav World them- selves. 92. The Puritan Leaders. — These leaders were men of education and refinement. They were not poor or misera- ' To hold the land which had been granted bj^ the Council for New England, some men were sent out under John Endicott, "a fit instru- ment to begin this wilderness work, of courage bold, undaunted, yet sociable and of a cheerful spirit, loving and austere." ^ By choosing officers and sending them to Massachusetts, and by sending over orders and laws. A Typical Puritan Leader From a statue by Augustus St. Gaudens. 60 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA ble; and to offer for the Church's sake to move off into the American wilderness was a sign of their earnest and serious conviction. Chief among them was John Winthrop, a de- voted Puritan, a scholar, a wise and skillful man of affairs, a gentle but determined spirit.^ 93. The Great Migration. — Winthrop was elected gov- ernor, and in the spring of 1630 he set sail with a large com- pany. Other vessels followed and in the course of the next few years, while Charles was ruling without a Parliament in England, while men were being taxed without their own con- sent, while Puritans were being harried and persecuted, thousands fled to New England. This was a great migra- tion. Many of the settlers left comfortable homes in Eng- land for log cabins in the American wilderness ; some of them were graduates of the great English universities; not a few held places of distinction in English society. But fleeing from their misgoverned country, they carried with them to the New World principles of liberty and justice. 94. Boston is Founded, — Within a few months from the first migrations, little settlements began to be founded in the neighborhood of Boston harbor. The peninsula, "very un- even, abounding in small hollows and swamps, covered with blueberries and other bushes," was chosen by Winthrop as a place of residence, and here he and his followers " began to build their houses against winter; and this place was called Boston." 95. The People in Groups.— Thus, at the very begin- ning, the Massachusetts settlers gathered in little groups, and the town became one of the most significant things ^ It must have been very hard for Winthrop to go, for he had a com- fortable home in England and he loved his native land. We have his reasons, for he wrote them out, perhaps to convince himself: he could, bj' going, carry the Gospel to America; England was overcrowded, so that man "the most precious of all creatures, is here more vile and bare than the earth we tread upon" and children were counted as mere burdens; in America, God prepared a great continent for the use of man. THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 61 in New England life. A settler did not go off into the forest, make a clearing, build a house, and live with his family far from others of his kind.' From the beginning, settle- ments were made as were these first about Boston harbor. The houses were not far apart; they were ranged along the village street. A man's plowland and meadow were likely to be some little distance from his house. Each one had the right to feed his cows in the common pasture and to get his wood from the forest. The settlers went to the church, which was the center of Puritan life. Living thus together and interested in the management of roads and fields, in church and in schools, they found many matters to talk over together, and they met in town meeting for the pur- pose. There they discussed the town's needs, decided mat- ters of common interest, chose men to look after the fields and fences, levied taxes, elected school teachers, and, in short, did the scores of things that their simple, active life together demanded. 96. The Town the Unit. — The town, therefore, was more than a number of houses or a group of people. It became the unit of political and social life of the New England colo- nies." We must picture to ourselves the growth of this region by the establishment year by year of new bodies of settlers, building their houses, their churches, and their schools, preparing to live and worship together. ' That is the way the great West was built up, but not New England. ^ It is generally difficult for Western or Southern pupils to get a clear idea of the New England town, because "town" means to them a group of houses and a number of people. Sometimes large cities in the West are referred to in common speech as towns; sometimes the town means a little wayside hamlet, where a few houses are clustered around a schoolhouse, a country store and perhaps a church. The New England town, in its early day and now, in some measure, corre- sponds with the township as it exists in Michigan, Wisconsin, and many other Western states. The early New England settlers, as a rule, settled in groups, and that fact is important. Their houses were placed in the "home lots" that abutted on the main street, they were all, or 62 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA 97. Reasons for Group Settlements. — There were a good many reasons for this group method of settlement in New England. There were at the North no long branching rivers,, as in Virginia, that formed natural highways to the interior; nor did tobacco growing tempt men to till large tracts of land. The intense interest in religious life led men to settle not far from the church. As early as 1635 a Massa- chusetts law ordered that no dwelling house should be built above half a mile from the meeting house on any new plantation. 98. The Government of the Colony. — When John Win- throp came over from England as governor, bringing with him the charter of the company, it followed that the govern- ment of the company was transferred to Massachusetts. Its officers were here on the ground instead of being three thousand miles across the water ^; here they might try to manage the settlements of which they were a part. Very few of the settlers were freemen, or, as we should say, mem- bers of the company ; and yet the company had, by the char- ter, the title to the land and the right to govern all the rest of the people. Intent as the leaders were in their purpose of building up a " Bible commonwealth," they did not insist on keeping all power in their hands, but admitted others as free- men and thus widened the membership of the compan3\ In order to be certain, however, that the purposes of the com- pany were not destroyed, it was declared that no one should be admitted to membership unless he were a church member. Thus, Massachusetts remained for years what the founders designed it to be, a Puritan community, guarded and watched nearly all, within easy reach of the church and the school. But a person might be a member of the town though he lived some distance away from the hamlet. He would still have his say about the com- mons and the bridges, and he would help to lay the taxes and choose the selectmen, who guarded the interests of the town when the town meeting w.as not in session. ' As the officers of the Virginia Company had been. THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 03 over by the clergy, the religious teachers, and sturdy church- men. 99. Representation. — To make the rules governing a body of business men suit the needs of a commonwealth or politi- cal body was a matter of some trouble. At first a large part of the business was done by the governor and assistants, but soon after the increase in the membership of the company a system of representation was devised.' Henceforth laws were passed by the general court composed of the governor, assistants, and two deputies from each town.^ 100. A Stray Pig — and a Legislature. — In 1644 a dispute arose over a very trivial matter. A poor widow and a rich man each claimed the ownership of a stray pig. The widow was quite as sure that the pig was hers as the rich man was that the pig belonged to him. The people took sides; and when the matter came before the legislature the deputies, on the whole, sided with the widow; the assistants voted the other way. The pig controversy finally broke the legisla- ture, or general court, into two houses' — the deputies and assistants — and thus made it resemble the British Parlia- ment, with its Lords and Commons, to which all English- men were used. 101. The Bible Commonwealth Has no Patience with Frivolity. — Amid all the trials of building homes in the wilderness and making laws for their needs, the leaders of ' Watertown, when taxed without representation, had declared that they did not wish to pay money thus, "lest it bring them and their- children into bondage." ^ Of course the people who had the right to vote in the town for representatives were those admitted to membership in the company, and these must be church members. ' In the colonies of which we shall study there came to be, in general, two house?, and in this way the colonists were preparing the way for the forms of our state governments. There is a story told of Washington's pouring his tea from cup to saucer to cool it and saying that the action illustrated the value of two houses in a legislature. Do you see what lie meant? 64 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA Massachusetts did not forget their purpose to found a Bible Commonwealth. The ministers and religious teachers were the most influential men in the colony, and the churches were The Pillory and Stocks Used by the colonists to punish even slight offenses. supported by taxation. The laws were often founded upon the Bible, a book which men studied with sacred earnestness. Display in dress appeared to many as dangerous and dreadful, and even mirth was often frowned upon. Regulations were made against wearing lace, against short sleeves and slashed doub- lets. One wom- an was deeply affected because a certain good man had his band "some- thing stiffened with starch."^ And yet we must not suppose that all were sinless and upright. Crime was not uncommon, ' In Plymouth a maidservant "was threatened with banishment from the colony as a common vagrant." Her crime was that she had smiled in church. The Ducking Stool It was the custom to tie "common scolds" into this chair and dip them repeatedly in the water. THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 65 though the guilty were punished severely. The whipping post and the branding iron were in frequent use.' 102. The People Become Congregationalists. — When they left England the Puritans that settled Boston were not Separatists hke the Pilgrims; but after a time they practically From the oldest known print of Harvard College; engraved in 1726. gave up connection with the English Church and took the name Congregational. Each little body of believers man- aged its own affairs without directions from any superior body. But the church and state affairs were long connected, for the people wished a Puritan state, and the leaders did not hesitate to make life uncomfortable for those who held beliefs not in accord with their own. ' In April, 1634, John Lee was whipped for calling Mr. Ludlowe "false hearted knave." Notice that Ludlowe was a "Mr." and doubt- less Lee but a common "goodman" of a lower social rank. In 1033 another man was fined £10 for drunkenness and ordered to stand with a white sheet of paper pinned to his back with "Drunkard" written on it. This did not cure him, for the next year we find that he was forced to wear the letter "D" about his neck for a twelvemonth. 66 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA 103. Common Schools; Harvard College. — The Puritan faith was based upon the Bible, and the men of New England desired a learned ministry to explain the Scriptures to the peo- ple. When the scholars that had come from England died, there must be others to fill their places. Since it was a de- vice of " that old deluder Satan to keep men from the knowl- edge of the Scriptures " by " persuading them from the use of tongues," it was decided to found a college where young men could be educated. The Puritan fathers voted money from the public funds to start a college (1636). Two years later John Harvard in his will left the half of his estate, less than £500, and all his library for this purpose. Other gifts fol- lowed; the state gave one year's rent of a ferry, and at one time each family gave a peck of corn. The college was named Harvard and grew to be one of the world's greatest uni- versities. Moreover, a law was early passed ordering that in every village of fifty families there must be a school to teach reading and writing, and in every town of one hundred families a schoolmaster must be hired to teach a grammar school.^ Suggested Readings Histories: Brooks, Stories of the Old Bay State. Drake, Making of Neio England, 155-160, 172-184, 214-218. Coffin, Old Times in the Colonies, 152-170. Fiske, Beginnings of New England. Eggles- ton, Beginners of the Nation. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I, 190- 199, 366-382. CHAPTER X RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT.— THE CONFEDERATION 104. Roger Williams, an Uneasy Reformer. — Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony had been founded by * This making education a matter of law is of much interest in the light of the fact that now the great majority of pupils in America are in public schools. RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT 67 people fleeing from persecution. New colonies were soon started in New England by those who could not get on hap- pily with the Puritans of the Bay Colony. Discord was started by Roger Williams, a lovable, pure-hearted j^oung man, who was very fond of speaking his mind. He disputed with the Puritan rulers, asserting that church and state ought to be separate, that the civil rulers had no right to punish men who did not obey the church.^ He argued, too, that all laws compelling men to attend church should be repealed. The power of the civil officers should reach only the bodies and goods of men, he said, and not their thoughts and beliefs. If these things were to be allowed there would be entire freedom of worship, toleration of all religious beliefs. 105. Roger Williams is Ban- ished. — Sensible as toleration seems to us to-day, it is no won- der that the Massachusetts rulers were alarmed at Williams' ideas. A man of the seventeenth century said, "It is Satan's policy to plead for an indefinite and boundless toleration," and that was the general thought of his age. In no country in the world at that time, 'except perhaps Holland, could a man safely talk Copyriiht, Detroit Photographic Co. Monument to Roger Williams Providence, R. I. ' Almost nothing but church-going was allowed on Sunday and Sabbath-breaking was a grave offense punished by the civil ofRcers. By the old way of reckoning, Sabbath began with sunset on Saturday and ended with sunset on Sunday. For twenty-four hours all was quiet. 6 68 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA as Williams talked. In Spain he would have been burned at the stake; in England the pillory or a prison, and the loss of the offender's ears would have been his punishment. Besides, the daring young minister did not stop with a plea for toleration, but at a time when the king was talking of seizing the colony's charter, Wilhams declared that " King James had told a solemn public lie " by saying in the colony's charter that he had discovered the lands that he was grant- ing. It was a sin, he said, to take the lands from the king, they should instead buy them of the Indians. The rulers of Massachusetts, therefore, partly to prevent heresy from rising in their midst and partly to save the col- ony from the king's anger, resolved that Williams must leave. Not wishing to be sent to England, he fled to the woods (1636), where he wandered for fourteen weeks in a bitter winter season, "not knowing," as he tells us, " what bread or meat did mean." 106. Providence is Founded. — A few miles south of the line of the Massachusetts colony Wil- liams " bought " ^ some land of the Indians. There with four companions he founded the town of Providence. Here, he said, everyone should worship God as he or she saw fit. Providence should be a refuge for the " most Jewish, Pagan, and anti-Christian consciences." Its government was a ' He did not know the Indian custom of letting lands for a season, and he was much surprised later when the Indian sachems came to his trading post and took his goods. He did not understand that they were only taking more pay for the continued use of their lands. Rhode Island Settlements RHODE. ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT 69 simple democracy where the majority ruled. It had power only in civil, not in religious matters. For this principle, which has become one of the rocks in the foundation of our repubhc, Roger Williams, the " champion of soul liberty," should be forever remembered. 107. A Woman of Nimble Wit. — Soon there came from Massachusetts other exiles, Anne Hutchinson and her follow- ers. The leader, a woman "of a nimble wit and active spirit" had also been teaching strange doctrines in Boston, doctrines so vague, indeed, that the most acute minds can scarcely understand them to-day. So tactful had she been, however, that she had won the love of many, and the church was. divided into factions for and against her. But the hos- tile rulers overcame and banished her. 108. Providence Plantations. — Anne Hutchinson drew with her to Rhode Island some of the best people of Massa- chusetts. With the aid of Williams they got, for "forty fathoms of white beads," the island of Aquidneck, or Rhode Island (1637-38). There they founded two towns, Ports- mouth at the north and Newport at the south. After a few years, as a result of Williams' efforts in London, these settle- ments and Providence were allowed to unite as the Providence Plantations. Their liberal charter permitted the people to rule themselves by such a government "as by the voluntary consent of all or the greatest part of them shall be found most serviceable to their estate and condition." 109. Williams Draws the Line between Freedom and Anarchy. — The great freedom allowed in the new colony drew to it manj' men of strange ideas about government as well as religion. Some wanted their own way in everything, and Williams had to show them where liberty ceased to be a vir- tue and became a danger. "A true picture of a common- wealth," he wrote, " is a ship at sea, with many hundred souls . . . whose weal and woe is common." These might be Catholics, Jews, Turks, and Protestants, and none should be driven to come to the ship's prayers or kept from their 70 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA own. But the captain of the ship ought to direct its course, make the seamen work, and the passengers pay their fare. He could not allow men to preach and write that there ought to be no officers, no laws or orders. Those who thus endan- ger the welfare of all the people, the commander should judge and punish. Thus admirably Williams drew the line between religious freedom and political anarchy. 110. A "Hankering Mind" for the Fertile Valley.— We have seen Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson driven out of Massachusetts; but there were others that did not like the close union of church and state, nor the intolerant rulers who allowed only church members to vote. Moreover, many "had a hankering mind" after the fertile Connecticut val- leys. Beginning with the year of Williams' banishment (1635) numerous people from Dorchester, Watertown, and Newton settled Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford. Overland, through the forests they went with their wives, children, and household goods. Mrs. Hooker, the wife of the eloquent preacher, one of the leaders of the migration, was carried in a horse litter. 111. The Westward Movement, 1635. — Her party drove 160 cattle " and fed on their milk by the way." They were the first of those pilgrims toward the setting sun who later were to be numbered by the millions, and who were to carry English speech and English habits over mountains and plains and river valleys to the edge of the Pacific over three thou- sand miles away. The never-ceasing search for fertile lands, easy to buy, has been one of the main causes of our country's growth. 112. The "Fundamental Orders." — Thomas Hooker, the leader of the migration to Hartford, had political ideas that stood midway between those of Winthrop and Williams. He thought that " a general council chosen by all " should do the business which concerns all. In harmony with his views the settlers of the three towns drew up and adopted (1638-39) the " Fundamental Orders." The form of government thus RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT 71 provided for was much like tiiat of Massachusetts, but the right to vote did not depend on church membership. These Orders have been called " the first truly political written con- stitution in history." Perhaps it is not exactly right to call them a constitution at all; certainly they differ much from our modern constitutions. But this was the first time in his- / ■"% y V, ,,1, ■io.„..,/iwon , , \ C.Cod M .„.„,.« Y-'-'-x.^ .r ^^'^-^\ Monomoy Pt. Extent of the Settlements in New England in 1660 tory that men had planned a government for themselves and put in writing the main principles and methods of govern- ment. 113. New Haven; the Connecticut Charter, 1662. — While the three Connecticut towns were providing for civil govern- ment, a new colony was being formed on Long Island Sound, whose sheltered shore had harbors which early invited set- tlements. The most important of these settlements was 72 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA New Haven, to which came John Davenport and a company of London merchants (1638) . ^ In 1662 the towns on the Con- necticut got a charter from the king and the New Haven colony found itself joined with them. Together they formed the colony of Connecticut. Under the charter the people were self-governing. They managed their own affairs and chose their own officers. The charter appeared so good to them and so well suited to their needs that they kept and lived by its terms for one hundred and fifty years. 114. New Hampshire and Maine: Wilderness Settle- ments. — North of Massachusetts were formed little set- tlements that later became New Hampshire and Maine. People went to those northern wilds from the older New England colony, some because they did not like the laws and the church government of Massachusetts, others that they might get new farms or found little fishing villages, whence they might go out upon the sea to catch cod and mackerel. 115. The New England Confederation. — The Connecticut settlements were from the first annoyed by the Indians. In 1636 a real war broke out with the Pequot Indians. One hundred Connecticut and Massachusetts soldiers went against them, surprised them in their fort, and but five out of four hundred Indians escaped the shots of the white men and the burning wigwams. That tribe was utterly destroyed; but the Indian danger still remained. There was danger, more- over, that the French might come from Canada to attack the outlying settlements on the Hudson. Dutch fur traders, too, had settled along the Hudson, trading with the Indians, and trying to keep the Englishmen out of the Connecticut valley. Against these dangers the English king could give his colonists little aid. To protect themselves, therefore, against these dangers, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Plym- ^ In 1635, a fort, Saybrook, had been erected at the mouth of the Connecticut to keep the fur trade from the Dutch. THE CONFEDERATION 73 outh, and New Haven formed (1643) a " firm and perpetual league of friendship."' 116. King Philip's War. All of the resources of this union were needed, when (1675) " King Philip," a famous Indian chief, tried to destroy the English settlements and thus save his hunting grounds. After two years of desperate strug- gle, Philip was slain, and the Indian power was forever broken in that region. 117. New England Colonies Not Members of Confedera- tion. — Several parts of New England were not asked to take part in the Confederation. The Puritan leaders would have no more to do with Rhode Island '' than necessity or human- ity may require." They felt somewhat the same toward the new colonies which had been formed to the north. The Puri- tans of Massachusetts, though they later made Maine a part of their province, now scorned union with it, because one poor village had made a tailor its mayor, and had allowed a man once driven from Massachusetts to become its minister. Rhode Island and New Hampshire were not taken into the Confederation. 118. The Foreshadowing of Union. — The perpetual league of friendship lasted for forty years. Much of the time it had little to do, but it doubtless gave the colonies confidence, and it strengthened them against the Dutch and the Indians. This simple union has some slight resemblance to our present great union of states. AVe alwaj^s look back upon it, there- fore, with interest. Perhaps we can say that this feeble con- federation was a promise of the greater, stronger union to come in later days, when troul)le and danger threatened the colonies of the continent. 119. The Quakers Are Punished. — In some ways the most painful story in the history of early New England is the story of how Massachusetts treated the Quakers. The Puritans believed that these people were bad and lawless, and statutes ' After New Haven was made part of Connecticut, there were, of course, but three members of the league. 74 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA were passed against them, forbidding them to come into the colony or providing for their banishment. Though some of the early Quakers were, as we should say, " queer " and foolish in their actions, the sect as a whole simply preached that each man should follow his own conscience. But Massachusetts would have none of them or their preaching. Some of them were punished, and thereafter went away and stayed away. Others refused to keep out of the colony and four of them were hanged (1660) . One of these was a woman, Marj^ Dyer. At the very gallows she was offered her release if she would stay away from Massachusetts, but she bravely said: "In obedience to the will of the Lord I came, and in His will I abide faithful to the death." 120. Massachusetts Grows Weary of Cruelty. — This could not go on; the people had had enough of the gallows, and the persecution stopped. New England had seen the end of putting men to death for such reasons as brought punishment to the Quakers. Suggested Readings Histories: Fasett, Colonial Life in Ne^o Hampshire. Eggleston, Beginners of the Nation, 212-215, 316-32G. Drake, Making of New England, 241-243. Fiske, Beginnings of Neiv England, 122-128, 134- 137. Fisher, Colonial Era, 123-132. Wright, Stories of American History, 267-291. Pratt, Early Colonies. Sources: Old South Leaflets, Nos. 8, 93. Hart, Sonree Book, 52- 54. Hart, Anieriean History Told by Contemporaries, I, 414-415, 430-434. Fiction: Hawthorne, Grandfather^ s Chair, 27, 28. CHAPTER XI NEW NETHERLAND, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY 121. Holland, a Small but Powerful Nation. — We must now go back some years to see the rise of a colony planted by the Dutch nation. While England was building up two strong centers of colonization, one in Virginia and the other in New England, Holland was seeking to establish settle- NEW NETHERLAND, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY 75 Flag of the Dutch East India Com- pany The stripes were, in or- der, from the top, yel- low, white, and blue. monts on the Hudson and the Delaware, and, indeed, to occupy the country at least as far east as the Connecticut. Holland was then a strong and sturdy nation. The Dutch sailors had shown great bravery in fighting Spain; and now, in the early part of the seven- teenth century, Holland was a sea power strong enough to be respected by all nations. Holding the little corner of western Europe, much of which she had wrested from the sea, she sent out her fleets of merchantmen to carry the trade of Europe. 122. Henry Hudson. — From Am- sterdam, the great Dutch commercial city, the merchant ships went to every sea, but the chief source of the merchants' wealth was the East Indies. The way there lay through seas guarded by the Portuguese, who claimed the sole right to use the pas- sage around the Cape of Good Hope, because they first discovered it. The • Dutch East India Company sent Henry Hudson, an English sailor, to find a shorter and less dangerous route by which they might bring home from India their silks and gems and spices. In his famous ship, the Half Moon, he tried first to go around the north of Europe, but dis- couraged by ice and storm, he turned westward toward America. Touch- ._^,s- ■^^ifS' i: ^iti>i>& The Halj Moon in the Hudson River 76 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA ing first the coast of Maine, he sailed south to the Chesa- peake, thence north to the Delaware River; and in August of 1609 he entered what is now New York Harbor. 123. Hudson Sails Up the Great River. — The mighty river which flowed from the north seemed to offer a route to the East. The discoverer sailed eagerly up the stream, ad- miring the beauty of the Palisades and the Catskills.^ It was not strange that he thought this a passage to the western ocean, for the water was salt a great distance up the river and the tide flowed as far as the present site of Albany- There, where the water freshened, he stopped, and returned to Holland^ to tell of the " River of Mountains," and, what the merchants cared more about, that furs could be bought there for beads, knives, and other trinkets. 124. The Dutch Company Wants Fur and Sets up Trad- ing Posts. — To the Dutch East India Company Hudson's voyage seemed a failure, but other merchants were attracted by the talk of furs. In Europe, at that time, only very rich men, kings and dukes and bishops, could buy furs, so great was their cost. The Indians of America, on the other hand, who killed fur-bearing animals, the ' beaver and otter, on almost every hunt, were ready to sell beautiful skins for a few beads or trinkets. Dutch merchants began to send ships to the great new river, and they set up forts or trading posts, built of logs — one on Manhattan Island, called Fort Amster- dam, and one where Albany now is, called Fort Orange. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was formed with a charter from the Holland Government.' This company car- ^ Hudson, clad in a red coat, gold-laced, had a formal meeting with the Indians on Manhattan Island and offered brandy to them. One who drank was staggered by the "strong water," as he called it. Alcohol proved to be poison to the Indians, and in later years more Indians, perhaps, died from its effects than from the guns of white men. ^ Hudson came later to America under an English flag. In Hudson Bay his men turned him adrift and he perished in the cold and ice. ' Its chief object was to loot the Spanish treasure ships as they re- turned from the West Indies. NEW NETHERLAXD, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY 77 ried on trade with Indians along the North and South rivers, as they called the Hudson and the Delaware. In 1626 their governor^ "bought," for a few dollars' worth of brass buttons, ribbons, and red cloth, the island upon which New York City has grown, which now a billion dollars would not buy. There a little settlement grew up, known as New Amsterdam. 125. New Netherland and the Patroons. — Among other things that the charter bound the company to do was to ~i> 'tfirt iMiUV cAin/lerdoM/ a£ 2c7JiaiuiAhtn9 The Earliest Published View of Xew Amsterdam " advance the peopling of those fruitful and unsettled parts " known as New Netherland.^ Traders did not come to set- tle for life but to make money to take home. The company planned, therefore, to send over farmers, who, being forbidden to deal in furs, would settle upon the land and cultivate it. But there must be some plan to tempt them to come. ' See p. 68 (note), where Indian sales of land are explained. ' Netherland was another name for Holland, and just as New Eng- land was named after old England, so New Netherland got its name. 78 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA Such a plan was made. Vast estates were given to men who would bring over colonists/ Over this land the patroon, as the owner was called, had the right to rule, and to share in what his tenants produced. At once certain rich men hastened to take advantage of this tempting offer. And, as years went on, large estates arose on the banks of the Hudson. The patroon's big house, with its decorated rooms and its European furniture, told of his A Patroon's House on the Hudson wealth. From the plainer houses of his tenants there came each year on " rent day " a long line of farmers with wagon- loads of produce, the share of the patroon. A great feast was prepared, where all ate and drank, and then they turned home to toil for another year. Most fortunate of all the ' Anyone who would take fifty colonists to New Netherland and pay the costs, should be given lands extending 16 miles along one side of the Hudson River (or 8 miles on both sides) running back as far "as the situation will admit." The patroon, as the owner was called, must provide horses, cattle, and tools, and furnish a school- master and minister. NEW NETHERLAXD, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY 71) patroons was one Van Rensselaer, a diamond merchant, whose lands about Fort Orange made his descendants rich and powerful. 126. Delaware, a Swedish Colony. — Patroons settled on the Delaware as well as on the Hudson River. Here, how- ever, the settlers quarreled with the In-orld. My prison shall be my grave before I budge a jot." 88 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA begun the erection of the stately town of Philadelphia (which is the Greek for " brotherly love "), whose convenient check- erboard plan has needed little change to this day. 139. Penn Makes Peace with the Indians. — That the town and colony might not be plagued with Indians, Penn sent for the chiefs of that region — so tradition has it — and under a great elm, while smoking the pipe of peace, he bar- gained with them for the sale of a large tract of their land. The House in Philadelphia in which Penn Lived, 1699-1701 To his agents Penn commanded : " Be tender of offending the Indians. . . . Make a friendship and league with them." As a result of this care, and the fortunate fact that the tribes of that region were not so fierce and warlike as those to the north, peace long reigned, and the Indians left the colony to grow unmolested. 140. Welsh and German Settlers. — Freedom, safety, and prosperity all tempted men to come to Pennsylvania, and to this colony came not only Englishmen but men of other nations as well. Many of the early settlers were THE QUAKER COLONY: PENNSYLVANIA 89 Welsh/ A year or two after the founding of the colony, there came from the Rhine country in Germany a company of MennonitesMed by their pastor, right-minded, hard-work- ing folk who welcomed the chance to live and work and wor- ship in a free land. They settled in Germantown, a little north of Penn's new city. Greater migrations followed from other parts of the fatherland, until it must have seemed as if Pennsylvania was to be German and not English. 141. The Hardy Scotch-Irish.— About the year 1700 the Scotch-Irish began to come to America, more coming to Penn- sylvania than elsewhere.' They and their children became the bold and resistless pioneers whom we shall see pushing ever deeper into the forests, and over mountains and plains, head- ing the march of American civilization to the Pacific Ocean. In Pennsylvania the greater number pressed on past Phila- delphia, past the German settlements, and on the Western frontier made homes for themselves in the woods. 142. The Quakers and Education.— In a commonwealth where there was so much equality and regard for the poor man as in Pennsylvania, one would expect to find public schools, supported by taxes. In the schools, however, which were opened in Philadelphia when the city was not a year old' the parents had to pay four shillings a term for each child learning to read, and eight shillings if writing and arith- metic were added. No colleges like Harvard were founded. This difference from the New England school system was due to the differing beliefs of the Puritans and Quakers. The Puritans valued the learning to be obtained at college, because it would enable a man to understand every verse of the Bible. ' Notice the Welsh names on the map of Pennsylvania: Merion, Bryn Mawr, Radnor, Llanrwst. - A sect opposed to taking oaths, to mihtary service, and to infant baptism. They Hved in commvmities and very simply. ' Fiske, in his " Dutch and Quaker Colonies," estimates that between 1730 and 1770, 500,000 came to America. ' They were for boys and girls together, a new thing in those days. 90 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA They must have ministers so trained that they could explain it to the less educated. The Quakers thought that a boy needed only to know how to read, for God would put in his heart the true meaning of all that he found in the Bible. The Quakers were in no hurry for colleges, therefore, but were satisfied with schools. They did, however, have a printing press two years after Penn's coming, and in time published the first daily newspaper in the United States. Suggested Readings Histories: Walton and Brumbaugh, Stories of Pennsylvania. Hodge, 'WiUiaiii I'cnn. Brooks, Century Book of the American Colonies. Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Colonies, .II, 114-117, 147-152. Thwaites, Colo)iies. 215-217. Eggleston, Household History, 58-62. Dixon, IVilliain Pcnn. Sources: Liberty Bell Leaflets, Kos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Hart, Amer- ican History Told by Contemporaries, I, 554-558. Hart, Source Readers, No. I, 49. CHAPTER XIII OTHER COLONIES IN THE SOUTH: MARYLAND, THE CAROLINAS, GEORGIA 143. Lord Baltimore, Founder of Maryland. — Virginia was hardly well founded before another colony was established in the neighborhood. In 1632 Cecil Calvert, who had in- herited from his" father, George Calvert, the title of Lord Baltimore and a large tract of land north of the Potomac River, made preparations to bring settlers to this province granted by the king to his father. By the terms of the charter which was given him, Baltimore was made Lord Proprietor; he was given not only the land but the right to rule over it; he was a sort of king in his American dominion. Though the English king gave so much land and so much power into Baltimore's hands, there was one important check upon his power: he could make laws only SOUTHERN COLONIES 91 with the consent of the freemen or landholders of the prov- ince/ 144. A Refuge for Catholics. — Doubtless Lord Baltimore had many reasons for wishing to found a new colony; cer- tainly one of them was to give refuge to Catholics, for he was a Catholic himself and must have had much compassion for his fellow-churchmen. At that time, in England, those that did not worship by the forms of the Church of England were in danger of punishment. Roman Catholics were fined, cast into loathsome prisons, and even tortured; no one might attend a Catholic school or read a Catholic book; no one holding that faith was allowed to own a sword or gun, hold a public office, or, when dead, be buried in the parish church- yard. 145. The Voyage of the Ark and the Dove. — In 16.33 over 200 men and women set sail in the Ark and the Dove for Bal- timore's new colony, which was named Maryland in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles of Eng- land. Of these colonists some were Protestant and some were Catholic; but the voyage was passed without unseemly quarrels, and together they began at the little place they called St. Mary's, the founding of a new commonwealth (1634). Toleration of different religions thus grew up in IVIaryland as the custom of the land; and a few years after the first settlement the colonists passed the famous Toler- ation Act (1649), which permitted freedom of worship to all. It marks a great step in the history of peaceful living in ' We have seen that Virginia was founded by a company, and that from 1624 on, the king appointed the governor. That is to say, in 1624 Virginia became a royal colony. Now in Maryland we find one man in charge; the king by a charter gave him power. So we call Maryland a proprietary colonj'. There were other proprietary colonies — New York under James, Duke of York, and Pennsylvania, as well as others. In the Carolinas, of which we shall presently speak, there were a number of proprietors, who for a time held the colonists and tried to rule them. 92 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA this world — this readiness of men to respect one another's beliefs/ 146. The People Gradually Gain Power. — Though Balti- more had much power, he could not, as we have seen, make laws without the consent of the colonists. It was, therefore, necessary for him to call an assembly, and thus ere long a Maryland The outer dotted line shows the original boundary and the inner line shows the boundary agreed upon with Pennsylvania in 1767. The southern line of Pennsjdvania is Mason and Dixon's line. representative body much like the house of burgesses in Mr- ginia was established. There were a good many quarrels between the people, on the one hand, and the governor, who ^ It is well to remember that almost everywhere in Europe there was bitter feeling on religious matters; from 1618 to 1648 was fought the Thirty Years' War, in part a result of bitter religious hatred, one of the most awful wars that has ever cursed humanity. We should notice that it was during these thirty j^ears that Maryland was founded and, as we have seen, Rhode Island also. One dislikes to admit that in later years Maryland passed laws that were unfair to the Catholics; but these early years of good feeling and good sense were not all wasted. SOUTHERN COLONIES 93 was the representative of the proprietor, on the other.^ But gradually, as the years went by, the people, by their assembly, gained more and more power; the proprietor and the gov- ernor, whom he appointed, had to do in most respects as the people wished. 147. Tobacco and the Plantation. — At an early day Maryland, like Virginia, gave itself up to tobacco raising. Some corn and wheat were raised, and oc- casionally other things, but the great product was tobacco. All the efforts of the proprietor of ]\Iaryland and of the men that governed Vir- ginia to compel the building of towns where there would be shops, taverns, warehouses, and wharves failed. The population was scattered along the great water- ways, and the plantation, with its wide fields and its pleasant gardens, fronted generally on some river or bay. Sea-going ships sailed up to the planter's wharf, brought him goods from England, took on a cargo of tobacco, and sailed away again. It was easy to roll down the hogsheads of tobacco to the wharf and exchange them for the tables, brooms, or wooden bowls made in England, made perhaps out of wood cut in the forests of the colony. Even when the plantations were not on any of the deep rivers or bays the planter could ' There was also a serious quarrel with a Virginian, William Clai- borne, who had a fur-trading post in Baltimore's territory and who gave it up only after making a great deal of trouble. Loading Tobacco at the Planter's own Wharf 94 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA bring his crop to the vessels down the httle streams in light boats, and in this way could easily exchange his crop for the English goods he wanted.^ New England farmers, earning a hard living on their rugged soil, had no such great crop to send abroad, and they might spin, weave, whittle, and saw; but in the colonies of the South men were so busy rais- ing tobacco that they had no time for arts and crafts. 148. Virginia and A Southern Planter's Home Maryland Have Coun- ties. — At a very early time, in addition to the general government of the whole colony, counties were established in both Virginia and Maryland.^ These counties were much like the shires or counties of England, and the officers of the counties were much like those of the English counties. The chief officers ' The pupil by a glance at the map on p. 92 will see that Virginia and Maryland are indented with bays and threaded by great rivers and little streams. These waterways and the rich soil, good for tobacco raising, account for the absence of cities and towns in colonial times. In later days, when Thomas Jefferson in Revolutionary times went to the capital of the colony, Williamsburg, he had never before seen more than a dozen houses together. Patrick Henry had had the same experience. • The earliest divisions in Maryland were manors. These were like the old manors of England — a relic of ages gone by — for there was an idea that in this new country the early institutions of England could be reproduced. It is certainly interesting to think that, as the counties of America were made in imitation of the old English shires, so there existed for a time in Maryland these old manors and hundreds that take us back many centuries into the very dawn of English history. Such a fact makes us realize that all our institutions of government and our political habits were not made in a day. We owe these to the past. SOUTHERN COLONIES 95 were the county lieutenant, a sheriff, and justices. All of these were appointed by the governor, and were the agents, not of the people of the county, but of the general government of the colony. Thus, in the South, management of local affairs was in the hands of a few people, generally the big plantation owners, and they cherished this power and were proud of it ; they were, as a general thing, able men and well fitted for their duties. But we should notice that the situa- tion was quiet different from that in the colonies established at the North, in some of which the people elected all the officers, from the governor down. 149. The Beginnings of North Carolina. — The land south of Virginia was not peopled for fifty years and more after the settlement at Jamestown. A few people wandered away from the older settlement in to the great forest region to the South; some people from the English island, Barbadoes, set- tled at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Such were the beginnings of North Carolina; but they did not offer much encouragement for the speedy settlement and upbuilding of this great and fertile region. 150. The Beginnings of South Carolina. — In 1663 Charles II granted to some of his favorites — dukes and earls and knights — a vast tract of land south of Virginia, over which the proprietors were given power like that given to Lord Baltimore. They soon set about colonizing their land, especially the southern portions of it. In 1670 two shiploads of immigrants settled on the west shore of the Ashley River. This was the beginning of South Carolina. Ten years later the chief settlement was moved to the present site of Charleston. Almost from the beginning the colony was prosperous and vigorous. 151. Many Nations Come to the Carolinas. — The settlers in \'irginia and Maryland were mostly Englishman; but to the Carolinas came people from different nations. French Protestants, called Huguenots — fleeing from persecutions, stealing away by night lest the)' be hanged for trying to 96 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA go — left France arid came to this new, attractive country in hopes of finding peace and of making a living. Some of South Carolina's most famous men of later years were chil- dren or grandchildren of these fugitive Huguenots.^ Sturdy Hollanders and hardy Scotch-Irish also came. After a time there came, too, the most interesting of all, the plaided and bare-kneed Scotch Highlanders, bold fellows who had re- sisted the power of the English king, and now came to Amer- ica to find new homes in the wilderness. Liberty-loving Swiss and industrious Germans settled along the sea coast; and the eighteenth century had not far advanced when Ger- mans and Scotch-Irish from Virginia and the North found their way into the back countrj^ of the Carolinas by way of the valleys of the Appalachian Mountains. The settlement of the Carolinas is an interesting illustration of the saying that the settlement of the new world is the story of the persecu- tions of the old world. 152. The "Grand Model." — Probably people would not have come in such numbers to settle the Carolinas if the proprietors had been successful in carrying out their plans. They tried hard to set up a system of government in the col- onies that was very ill suited to the people's needs. They drew up a scheme, a sort of plan of government, known as the ''Grand Model," ^ which provided for the division of the land into great estates. They would divide the people up into grades and classes; some were to be great landowners, to be " landgraves " or " caciques," and others were to be " leet men," or common people, forevermore. The proprietors might as well have saved their time and paper, for to America, the * Henry Laurens and General Marion, for example, of whom we may read in the story of the Revolution. It has been said with some reason that, in proportion to their number, the Huguenots have produced more distinguished men than any other class of people coming to America. ' Also called the "Fundamental Constitutions," and sometimes mockingly spoken of as the "Grand Muddle." John Locke, a great English philosopher, seems to have prepared this scheme, but perhaps only under the direction of the proprietors or some of them. SOUTHERN COLONIES 97 land of opportunity, men came to better their condition and not to settle down to be " leet men for all generations." ' The colonists soon made it plain that they would not be bothered by this absurd plan, and, though the proprietors with surpris- ing obstinacy insisted on it, it was never really enforced. The people finally got the right not only to buy land for themselves but to make their own laws. The experiment with the " Grand Model ' was a fine example of the way in which American surroundings forced men to get along with- out the fine distinctions that separated the people of Europe into classes. Here men demanded a share in the govern- ment. 153. The Carolinas Royal Colonies, 1720, 1729. — The Carolinas, on the whole, prospered, especially South Caro- lina. Early in the eighteenth century the people could no longer stand the rule of the proprietors and of the governors who were sent from England. South Carolina rebelled (1719) and in the following year became a royal colony, or one whose governor was appointed by the king. As for North Carolina, the people there were in one uprising after another, and in 1729 they, too, were relieved of proprietary rule and came directly under the Crown, having a governor chosen by the king. 154. North Carolina Not So Prosperous as Virginia. — The two colonies were very different from each other. North Carolina had vast pine forests from which the settlers made pitch, tar, and turpentine. They cut timber and made lumber, they had farms and raised tobacco; but there were few of the fine large plantations with stately mansion houses, such as w^ere found along the wide, beautiful rivers of Vir- ' For men sitting quietly in their libraries in old England, three thousand miles away from the palmetto groves of the Carolinas, to make' a cast-iron social system and try to force it on the free people of a new wild country was the height of follj'. If we learn anything from history it is that governments and habits of life grow slowly, and great ends are gained only by much toil and long effort. 98 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA ginia. Much of the land was not very fertile, the settlers as a rule were poor, and while they raised good tobacco on their scattered plantations, there was neither the comfort nor the elegance that came, as the years went by, to the people of Virginia. 155. South Carolina Prospers Greatly. — South Carolina, on the other hand, had rich soil, and, above all, a fine seaport. Along the coast were great stretches of swampy land, and before the settlements were very old, the planters had learned to make use of them. A captain of a vessel brought from far- away Madagascar a bag of rice. It was planted and throve amazingly. From the few pounds came thousands and at last millions of pounds, until rice became one of South Caro- lina's chief products, as it is to-day. Indigo, too, began to be raised in large quantities. For tilling the rice swamps negro slaves were brought from the West Indies or fresh from Africa, and, as it was thought that white men could not endure the hot, tiresome toil, slaves were imported in ever greater numbers. Be- fore long there were more negroes than white peo- ple in South Carolina. 156. How the Planter Enjoyed Life in Charles- ton. — Charleston was the center of the life of the colony, and it became a beautiful, prosperous town, with fine streets and large, hospitable homes, where the owners of the big plantations lived with some display and with considerable jollity. During the summer months the planters gathered from all the country round in this bright little town by the sea to avoid the heat and mosquitoes of the rice swamps and the inland plantations. Many lived A Charleston Home of Colonial Times SOUTHERN COLONIES 99 in the town the whole year and enjoyed themselves with balls and horse races and various sports, while their over- seers managed their plantations and kept their hundreds of slaves at work. Vessels from England came into the har- bor and brought English goods, and the people knew little of the settlements that were founded in the North, be- cause between them and the northern colonies lay the extended forests of North Carolina, almost pathless, while the route by sea was dangerous and uninviting because of the fierce storms that raged off Hatteras. 157. Need of a "Buffer" Colony. — Long after the Caro- linas had become thriving colonies, the Spaniards, who kept a hold upon Florida by means of the fort and settlement at St. Augustine, continued to watch jealously the progress of English settlement southward. A new colony south of the settled regions of the Carolinas would be helpful to the English as a sort of military outpost against the Spaniards, and this was one of the reasons for founding Georgia, but there was a nobler motive. 158. Oglethorpe Plans to Help Poor Debtors. — It was the idea of General James Oglethorpe, a brave, generous, and hu- mane soldier, to found there a refuge for debtors. He had been sent by Parliament to examine the English prisons, and had found them in a most wretched state. By the English law of that time a man who could not pay his debts, whether because of dishonesty, shiftlessness, or sickness, was thrown into prison. There he stayed, whether ill or well, until some one paid his debts, for he had no way of earning money, and the fees which the jailer was allowed to ask grew into a new debt.^ Jails were pitiful places in that day, where food and care were both wretched, and much cruelty was permitted. Surely, the kind-hearted statesman thought, if he could pay the debts of these poor fellows, set them free, and get them and their families to America, where honest toil was always ' The jails were well filled in Oglethorpe's time, for a great fraud, the "South Sea Bubble," had ruined many honest people. 100 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA rewarded, they would be glad to take the risks on the Eng- lish frontier. 159. Georgia Founded, 1733. — A charter was secured from King George II (1732) which made Oglethorpe and twenty- one others trustees to hold the land "for the poor." The colony was called Georgia in honor of the king. So much money was given by Parliament and private persons to furnish col- onists with passage and tools that plenty of men offered to go out with Oglethorpe when he set sail in 1732. The colo- nists settled on the Sav- annah River (1733) and named the new town Savannah.^ So success- ful was this military outpost that before Oglethorpe finally left his colony, the Spaniards of Florida had been so beaten that they let the Southern colonies alone. Charitable as the founders of Georgia were, they made some rules which caused discontent among the settlers. It was a provision of the charter that the trustees should make all the laws, but this left the people as helpless as children, and denied them that fine political education which self- The Carolinas and Georgia ' The more shiftless of the debtors did not do very well, but soon there came some Austrians from the beautiful Tyrolese town of Salz- burg, and these thrifty people did much for the success of the colony. The settlement was strengthened as a military outpost by a company of Scotch Highlanders, sturdy fighters, who were a great help when Spain tried to destroy the new settlement. When Oglethorpe came to them they received him "in martial style, with broad swords, targets, and firearms." ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES 101 government gives. The trustees also forbade negro slavery. But the Georgia settlers soon found that without laborers they could not raise the Southern products as cheaply as the Carolinians ; and the easiest way to get laborers was to bring in slaves. John and Charles Wesley' who came to Geor- gia to preach to the Indians, agreed with the trustees, but George Whitefield, the famous preacher who partly sup- ported an orphan asylum by the proceeds of slave labor, earnestly argued for the wishes of the colonists. At last the buying of slaves (1750) was permitted. When finally the land laws were changed so that larger tracts of land might be acquired, content was restored. In 1752 Georgia became a royal province. Suggested Readixgs Histories: Alderman, A Brief History of \orth Carolina. Mc- Carkle, Old Time Stories of the Old ^orth State. Harris, Stories of Georgia. Chappelle, Georgia History Stories. Means, Palmetto Stories (S. C). Massey and Wood, The Story of Georgia. Passano, Maryland. Fiske, Old Virginia and Her Neighbors, I, 255-274; II, 276-297, 308-324, 33.3-336. Cooper, James Oglethorpe. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I, 252- 257, 261-271, 110-114. Hart, Source Headers, No. I, 23-48. CHAPTER XIV THE RELATIONS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES 160. The Colonies Affected by English Conditions. — While England was planting her colonies from Maine to Georgia along the Atlantic coast, events were happening in the home land which were to have great influence upon the future of America. The colonies were, after all, a part of the ' John Wesley, later, in England, was the founder of the Methodist Church. 102 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA British Empire, and therefore were deeply affected by changes in English politics.^ 161. King Charles and Parliament Quarrel. — Many Puri- tans, it will be recalled, left England because they despaired of getting King Charles to respect their rights. As long as he could get on without Parliament, as he was doing at the time so many Puritans fled to America, there was no control- ling him; but at last (1640) he had to call the people's representatives to- gether, because he needed money and hoped they would vote it to him. Then Parliament took matters in its own hands, and there came an open rupture between king and Parliament. Thereupon, the people of England took sides, some upholding the king and some opposing him. Those English- men who were faithful to the king were called Royalists or Cavaliers,^ and they began war upon Parliamen- tarians or Roundheads,^ as the Parlia- ment followers were called. With an army of "honest, godly men," wonderfully disciplined by the great Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell, the Parliament party after a long struggle destroyed the king's army at Naseby (1G45). 162. Cromwell and the Commonwealth. — ^A faction of the Roundhead party which was independent* in religion now ' Those events of English historj- which are most important for our study have been told up to the time when the Puritans came to Massa- chusetts Bay, and with that time we resume them. ^ Because as a rule they were nobles, gentry, and landowners. ' Because as Puritans they cut their hair close, and did not wear it in long curls, as the more stylish people did. The Roundheads were people of the towns, manufacturers, merchants, and artisans. * That is, they were not Episcopalians, nor even moderate Puritans who wished to stay in the EjHSCopal Church and "purify" it, but were . separatists like the Pilgrims of the Plymouth colony. Oliver Cromwell ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES 103 took control of the government. This party tried the king for treason and beheaded him (1649). After a faihire to set up a really democratic republic, such as some of their party had already established in Rhode Island and Connecticut, the question as to how England should be ruled was decided by making Cromwell "Lord Protector" of the Common- wealth. This did away with royal government, but did not secure a truly democratic one where the people really ruled. 163. Virginia Faithful to the King. — While these great changes were going on in England, it was not possible that her colonies should be unaffected. Virginia, where there were many large land owners, and whither many Cavaliers, or king's friends, fled, was, on the whole, friendly to the king. Its assembly passed a resolution, when they heard of his death, in which they lamented the loss of "the most excellent and now undoubtedly sainted king." They even refused at first to obey Parliament. But when Cromwell was able to turn from his many other tasks and to send a fleet to Virginia, the rebellious colonists surren- dered without a blow. Though most of the Royalists of high rank preferred going to France to escape from Cromwell's power, yet a stead}'' stream of Englishmen, most of them Cavaliers of the lower rank, now flowed into Virginia. 164. New England Practices Self-Government. — In Puri- tan New England the (effect of the struggle in the mother country was very different. Immigration almost ceased with the Vjeginning of the war between the king and Parliament. Puritans were needed at home, and none but Puritans had any inducement to come to New England. But there were other results of great moment. From the opening of the -.J^ A Typical Cavalier 104 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA struggle until the end of Cromwell's rule (16-12-60), New England governed itself and thus got into the habit of inde- pendence. Cromwell's time, therefore, was a period in which New England made great progress in its advance toward political liberty. 165. Cromwell, a Great Ruler. — Taking up English politi- cal history again, we find that Cromwell did much to make the English nation the greatest commercial power in the world, for he was a man of great ability, of tireless indus- try, and of great courage. Cromwell, by his dealings with foreign nations and by increasing British naval strength, laid the foundation of England's great colonial empire,^ wherein the American colonies had so important a position. But Cromwell's powers depended altogether on his own great- ness as a man. At his death his son succeeded to the exalted place, but, being a weaker man, he was soon overthrown, and Charles II, son of Charles I, was called to the throne of England (1660). This was called "the Restoration." 166. Charles II (1660-85) ; James II (1685-88) ; The Revo- lution of 1688. — Charles II was wise enough not to go far in opposing the people's wishes. He used to say that he did not care to go on his travels again. But his brother, James II, who at Charles' death succeeded to the throne (1685), was intolerant and obstinate. The people came to dislike him thoroughly, for they distrusted him. As a result. King James was finally driven from his kingdom, and William of Orange, who had married James' daughter Mary, was called by Parliament to reign with her over Eng- land. This fixed the right of the people's representatives to decide the question of who should be king. At this time King William's approval was secured to a " Bill of Rights "— a written statement of the rights of the people and of Parlia- ment. With this " Revolution of 1688" began a new era ' Which to-day is the greatest possessed by any country in the world. ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES 105 ^^ in English political history — an era in which Parliament held the real control of the government. 167. Connecticut and Rhode Island Get Charters. — These English events had some important effects in America aside from the general increase of English liberty. Charles II had hardly regained his throne (1660) before he turned his attention to the colonies. He could not forget that two of the judges who condemned his father to death had fled to New Haven, and there they were sheltered and saved from pursuing royal officers. This colony, therefore, the king annexed against its will to Connecticut, but at the same time, curiously enough, he gave Connecticut and Rhode Island most liberal charters, long dearly valued by these colonies. 168. Massachusetts Loses Her Charter. — For nearly twenty years, on the other hand, there was danger that Massachusetts would lose her charter, and finally such was the result. Near the end of Charles' reign (1684), the charter of the great Puritan commonwealth was taken away, and it no longer enjoyed the measure of self-government of former times. New Hampshire, which had been under the control of Mas- sachusetts, was made a royal province, the first in New England. 169. Charles Forgets the Loyal Virginians. — This disre- gard of colonial rights by Charles II extended to loyal Vir- ginia as well as to Puritanical Massachusetts. In 1673 he granted all Virginia to two of' his disreputable court favor- ites, Arlington and Culpepper, and the Virginians had to buy them ofT as best they could. In these same years the Virgin- ian legislature was in the control of men who were corrupt and self-seeking, while the royal governor, Berkeley, who had Charles II 106 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA ruled many years, was harsh in his treatment of the colonists if they did not do as he wished. The owners of big plan- tations got all the power, and the poorer people had little to say in the government. 170 Bacon's Rebellion, 1676. — ^When matters were at their worst in Virginia the Indians arose, and Berkeley did nothing to protect the people.^ Thereupon, young Nathan- iel Bacon, at the head of a band of frontiersmen, the poorer farmers back from the seaboard, defeated the Indians, much to the disgust of Governor Berkeley, who was a born aristocrat, and who thought the common people ought to fol- low, not lead, even in fighting Indians. Berkeley regarded Bacon as a rebel, and his followers were called " the scum of the country." The long struggle which now ensued between Bacon's followers and the governor's forces was a revolt of the poor farmers on the frontier against the power of the rich planters nearer the coast. When, after Bacon's death, the revolt failed, Berkeley punished the surviving rebels so se- verely that Charles II declared : " The old fool has hanged more men in that naked country than I did here for the mur- der of my father." The failure of the rebellion marks the triumph of the planters, of Virginia's aristocracy, in govern- ment and society. 171. England Plans to Unite the Colonies. — By the time of the reign of James II (1685-88) the desire of the English government to rule the colonies more strictly had become a very real danger to their liberty. It was hard for the men in the king's council in England to look after so many colonies, and especially hard to make the colonies obey the Navigation Acts, the laws about trading with foreign nations. The English authorities, therefore, proposed that the Northern colonies at least be united; and in the ' It was said that because the governor's income depended upon the duties received for the exported furs, he cared more for the welfare of the fur-trading Indians than for his colonists. "No bullets can pierce beaver skins," the angry Virginians used to say. ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES 107 reign of James II a governor-general of all New England was appointed. 172. Andres, Governor- GeneraL — The new governor-gen- eral was Sir Edmund Andros, a soldier, bluff, coarse, and hot- tempered. Acting under royal instructions, he took all politi- cal power from the people. So great was his influence over the council which was appointed to aid him, and the judges whom he appointed, that in fact he alone made laws, applied them in the courts, and executed them. Thus there was in New England no check upon his absolute power. All the dearly- won English practices of freedom and self-govern- ment were set aside. 173. The Dominion of New England. — Gradu- ally Andros extended his royal master's tyranny from New England to New York and New Jer- sey, and the deadly des- potism was creeping on southward, when there came to America the news of the overthrow of James II and the " Glorious Revolution " (1688) which set Wil- liam and Mary on the throne. At once the New England militia poured into Bos- ton, seized Andros and his agents and threw them into prison. Thus ended the attempt to wipe out colonial self-govern- ment. 174. Massachusetts Gets a New Charter, 1691. — Later, in 1691, a new charter called the Province Charter was given to Massachusetts. This did not leave the people as independ- ent as Connecticut, but left them less under royal control The Dominion of New England Under Andros 108 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA than the people of Virginia. Their governor was appointed by the king, but his council was elected by the repre- sentatives of the people and approved by the governor. Plymoutli was made a part of Massachusetts, whose control over Maine was also recognized. 175. The Revolution in New York. — In New York the news of the revolution was joyfully received, and Andros' agent there was driven out. The revolt (1689) was led by Jacob Leisler, an able and energetic German merchant, who was rash and careless as to the way of getting reforms but honest in his desire to destroy the old tyranny. He enjoyed the power which now fell into his hands, and when King William sent a new governor, Leisler put oE the surrender of his power until compelled by force. He was thereupon tried and sentenced to hang as a traitor. The governor, under the influence of drink, it is said, signed the order for his execu- tion. With this terrible injustice ended the life of one of the best American friends of England's " Glorious Revolution." 176. The Navigation Acts, 1651, 1672, etc. — During these years (1651, 1672, etc.) England passed a number of laws whose purpose was to increase British customs revenues and benefit her merchants. Colonial trade could by these laws be carried on only in English or colonial ships. The products of the colonies must be brought to England before being carried to other countries, and goods from other coun- tries must pass through English ports before being taken to the colonies. Thus England was made a great bargain counter for trade between Europe and the American colonies. 177. The Laws Not Always Enforced. — These regulations sometimes hampered and annoyed the colonies, and there was more or less smuggling; it was easy to enter some small bay or river where were no king's officers, and there unload goods, which then might be hauled to the nearest town. A law passed in 1733, which was intended to compel the colo- nists to deal with the planters of the English West Indies ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES 109 rather than those of the French islands, was much the hardest to enforce and was, in fact, nearly a dead letter.' 178. The Colonists Struggle for Rights. — All through the colonial time the colonists struggled for certain political privi- leges which they had learned to value, and for the rights promised them in their charters. This struggle is most clearly seen in the relations between the royal governors and the colonial legislatures. Colonial governors, appointed by the king or the proprietors,^ were almost always quarreling with the legislatures, which were elected by the people, and better understood their feelings and wishes. The bad feeling between governor and legislature was made worse because the king often sent as governors, needy courtiers, who wanted as much money and as little trouble as possible. 179. The Colonists Oppose the Governors. — The governors strove to have the legislatures make permanent grants of sal- aries, but the colonial lawmakers saw that it was better to grant the salary from year to year, and thus be able to with- hold it in case the governor refused to approve some colonial measure which was desired. Sometimes great privileges were gained in this way, and thus the royal power tended to grow weaker while the colonial power waxed strong. At times the colonial legislatures used their power rather foolishly, as in Pennsylvania, when Indians, urged by the French, were lay- ing waste the frontier, and the assembly refused to grant money to the governor to repel the attacks. The stubborn lawmakers said " they had rather the French should conquer them than give up their privileges." ' The Northern colonists took their fish and lumber to the French West Indies and brought back molasses and sugar. They made rum from the molasses and took it to Africa to exchange for slaves -and brought the slaves to America. This was a profitable business, but one fraught with unhappiness for America. People did not then look with disfavor on rum nor did they loathe slavery. ' Except in Connecticut and Rhode Island, where the people elected their own governors. 110 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA 180. The Important Facts To Be Remembered. — In the relations of the colonies to the mother country from the founding of Virginia to the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury there are certain facts important to notice. (1) The general conduct of the colonies was carefully watched by the English Government. (2) The governors sent by the king or the proprietors were given careful orders what to do or not to do, but they found the colonial legislatures stubborn and not afraid to resist. The governor might veto the legisla- ture's acts, but it would then refuse him his salary, and his need often made it the master. (3) Almost the only limit to the colonial legislature's power was the loyalty of the colonists to the king, whose personal right to rule they ac- knowledged. If he disallowed a colonial act, even after the governor had approved it, they submitted, though they often grumbled very ominously. Furthermore, (4) the colonists admitted the right of Parliament to make laws for all parts of the British Empire in matters of trade. Finally, (5) when England was at war, her enemies were looked upon as the colonies' enemies. In the case of the one great enemy and rival, France, the colonial fear of its growing power in America was one of the strongest bonds which kept the colo- nies dependent upon England. They needed her protection Suggested Eeadings Histories: Cheyney, ScJiool History of England. Andrews, TJisio of England. Roberts, A'eio York, 178-214. Fisher, Colonial Erj 149-164. Coffin, Old Times in the Colonies, 265-270. Fiske, Begin nings of 'Neio England, 267-278. Elson, History of United States, 120-127. Sources: Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries. I, 542-547. STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 111 CHAPTER XV FRANCE AND ENGLAND STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 181. The English Between the Mountains and the Coast. — In spite of the fact that Enghsh colonists had settled all along the Atlantic coast of North America, it was not at all sure at the beginning of the eighteenth century that Eng- lish-speaking peoples would control the land which is now the United States. In what is now Florida and Texas, the Spanish had a foothold, while France, for reason- which will be shown, had extended itspower througl i all of Canada, the Great Lake region, and the Mis- sissippi basin. In the next place, there was a great physical barrier which prevented a movemeni westward. Back of these English colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia lay the Appalachian system of mountains, not a single high range, but a series of ranges, fold after fold covered with dense forests, extending like a wall many miles deep. If men would cross it, they must make a long, hard journey, passing through one gap in the first range, only to find another wall along which they must travel to another gap. Before they could get out on the other side, they must travel many weary miles of narrow mountain paths, often compelled to cut their way through the forest. Relief 2vL\p of the Northeastern Colonies Showing the mountain ranges that pre- vented movement westward. 112 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA 182. The French and Indians Block the Westward Move- ment. — For the English colonist there was one great gateway in this wall. He could go up the Hudson to Albany, and thence up the Mohawk River and over a low ridge to Lake Erie; but if the Iroquois suffered him to go that way, the French and their Indian allies strongly objected.^ Other Indian tribes at the south end of the Appalachian system prevented men from going safely around the mountains which there break down into low hills. Thus the English colon- ists were hemmed in along the seacoast, while, as the story of the explorations of Marquette and La Salle showed us, the French, going behind that wall by way of the St. Lawrence River, had traveled far and wide over much of the country drained by the Mississippi River and the great streams flowing into it. 183. Strength of the English Settlements. — But there was another effect of the great mountain wall, more important, but not so easily seen. Since the English were in the early days barred from the fur trade of the vast Mississippi basin, they took more to commerce and farming and trades, which led them to found villages and cities. They built schoolhouses and churches, and made their way back from the sea slowly as population increased and more land was Relief Map of the Southern Colonies Showing the low, fertile coastal plains and the ranges that blocked westward movement. ' The French held the friendship of the Algonquins, who were deadly enemies of the Iroquois. STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 113 needed/ Where they did go, they settled, plowing up the hunting grounds of the Indians and driving them farther away instead of making friends of the red men as the French did in the Great Lake Region and in the great basin beyond the Alleghenics. 184. The French Are Scattered. — The Frenchmen trading with the Indians were lured on into the continent by the far-stretching waterways. Paddling their bark canoes, they penetrated the farthest reaches of the Great Lake Region and went even beyond along the upper waters of the Mis- sissippi Valley. Here and there they built a log fort to guard the country and to keep the fur trade for themselves, but they built few towns. Ever, with remarkable courage, pushing on into new regions, they claimed all this Western land for France. Their settlements were not closely knit together; their roads and highways were the streams and lakes of the great West. 185. Lack of Self-Government Among French Colonies. — The little settlements in Canada and Louisiana were not much like the English colonies of the coast. The French people in the new world, as in Europe, had no part in governing them- selves; they had no chance to gain the strength that comes with self-reliance and practice in self-government. From France came orders and laws, and the men of New France lis- tened to the voice of distant authority rather than to their own good counsels. 186. Relations Between England and France. — These, then, were the differences between the English and French settlements in America at a time when the two nations began to struggle in both Europe and America for the mastery. In Europe, the French and English were rivals, but not until near the end of the seventeenth century was there open war. ' Of course men like the early settlers of New England came for homes, and not to wander and trade; even if they had not been barred from the West, they probably would have built more compact settle- ments than did the French. 114 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA When by the " Glorious Revolution " of 1688 James II was driven from England, William of Orange was called from Hol- land to be the English king. Then war broke out between France and England, for William was the avowed enemy of Louis XIV and was strongly opposed to the development of French power. Of course the war spread to America, where the subjects of the two kings were already rivals, especially in the matter of the fur trade, and where each nation looked with suspicion on the growth of the other. 187. King William's War, 1689-97.— The first of the series of struggles which at last decided who should own North America was known in the colonies as King William's War (1689-97), since it was in his reign that the war began. The people of New England and New York alone suffered, as only along the western and northern borders of the colonies had the two nations yet come in contact. The French^ with their Indian allies attacked Schenectady in New York. In the night, through the storm and darkness, they crept stealthily past the guards, and within two hours nearly all the men, women, and children of the town were slain or hurried away as prisoners. Like destruction reached some New Eng- land towns. The New Englanders, on their part, seized Port Royal, a French stronghold in Acadia, but when the war was ended (1697) it was returned to France, and thus noth- ing was gained by this bloodshed. 188. Queen Anne's War, 1701-13. — Within a few years, in the reign of Queen Anne, the war was on again. Again the New England frontier bled, and the pioneers quailed at the sound of the Indian war whoop. Again the New Eng- landers seized Port Royal, and this time England held it and all Acadia at the close of the war (1713).^ In the treaty of ' The French Government sent the able soldier Count Frontenac to lead the French forces in America. ^ The name Port Royal was now changed to Annapolis, and Acadia to Nova Scotia. STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 115 peace at Utrecht, England's claims to Newfoundland were also acknowledged. 189. King George's War, 1744-48. — A period of peace now foMow(Hl (1713-44), during which France built, on Cape Breton Island, the powerful fortress of Louisburg, so strong that it was said women could defend it. They had already built a chain of military posts from New Orleans to Montreal to keep the English out of the Mississippi \'alley. When war broke out again and the commander of Louisburg burned a little New England fishing village as his first hostile act, the English colonists were so indignant that they set out to capture the impregnable fortress. A lawyer made the plan, and with " a merchant for general, and farmers, fishermen, and mechanics for soldiers " they actually succeeded in doing what few military men would have attempted. They be- sieged in such a strange, irregular way that "panic seized upon us," a Frenchman wrote. Again the colonists had fought and bled in vain, however, for England, to get a little land in Hindustan, gave Louisburg back to the French. Thus, to the chagrin of the New Englanders, closed what was known as King George's War (1748). 190. The French Plan to Hold the Mississippi Valley. — Before another struggle should come, the French set about connecting their settlements on the lower Mississippi with those of New France on the St. Lawrence. French explorers passed the watershed between Lake Erie and the Allegheny River (1749) and came down the Ohio, burying at the river mouths leaden plates whereon was inscribed the claim of France to the river and the lands drained by it.^ They soon saw that leaden bullets were more important than leaden plates, and Duquesne, the Governor of Canada, began to ' France based her claims on the fact that she had discovered the Mississippi and explored its tributaries — she chiimed the land drained by all the rivers flowing into it. "The French king might as well claim all the lands that drink French brandy," said an indignant Englishman. 116 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA build forts, one where the city of Erie now stands and two on the Allegheny. He hoped thus to stop the English trad- ers and settlers, who were beginning to cross the Appalachian range through the passes which Nature had cut from the Po- tomac River to the head of the Ohio River, where Pittsburg now stands. The point was long known as the " Gateway of the West," because through it the settlers of the West must pass as they journeyed from the Atlantic seaboard. 191. The Virginians Push Westward. — It was in Virginia that this westward movement of the English had begun. The energetic governor, Alexander Spotswood (1710-22), had led an exploring expedition over the Blue Ridge into the Shenandoah Valley, which awoke an interest in the western region. Later, in the second quarter of the eighteenth cen- tury, Virginian pioneers set their eager faces toward the fer- tile fields in the smiling mountain valleys west of them. Be- hind them on the tide-water rivers ^ they left the planters "dressing richly, living on large estates, riding in coaches, and attending the Church of England," while the hardy set- tlers cleared new land, erected new houses and churches, and built a new Virginia at the very outposts of civilization. It was these men who later led in the great westward move- ment across the plains and mountains to the Pacific coast. Their early advance had aroused the interest of some wealthy Virginians (1749), who secured from the English Government a grant of half a million acres near the head of the Ohio River, wherein to plant a settlement and to trade in furs. From the Potomac to a point on the Monongahela they caused a trail sixty miles long to be blazed." Virginia thus opened a way to the Ohio basin, to which her charter gave her a claim. ' Rivers flowing into the Atlantic, up which the ocean tide swept as far as the first falls. ^ Nemacolin's Path, later Washington's Road, then Braddock's Road, and at last Cumberland Pike. STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 117 192. Washington Carries a Message to the French. — Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia, watched the French build- ing forts to secure the Allegheny River, and at last sent a pro- test by a messenger of whose future fame no one then even dreamed. George Washington, the messenger, was already worthy of the trust, because of the courage, honesty, and good sense which he had shown in his work as a surveyor.^ He had met the dangers of the forest, and, moreover, held the position of adjutant general in the Virginia militia. It was known that he always did what was given him to do in the best way he knew how, and such a man was needed for a dan- gerous journey of nearly a thousand miles through a dense, unbroken forest. Through the wilderness buried in the win- ter's snow, felling trees to bridge the creeks, and making a raft to cross the Allegheny River, Washington, with one com- panion, pushed straight on and delivered the governor's mes- sage to the French commander near Niagara. 193. The Beginning of the French and Indian War, 1754-63. — The French would not heed the warning, but rather hastened to build Fort Duquesne, where Pittsburg now stands. Thereupon Dinwiddle sent Washington with a small force to drive them away. He found them so strong that he built a few miles to the southward a fort called Fort Necessity. Here the French attacked him and forced him to surrender (July 4, 1754), but allowed him to return to Virginia. The great struggle for the Mississippi Valley was begun. 194. The Albany Congress ; Franklin's Plan of Union. — The American governors, thinking anxiousl}^ about the war, and knowing how unprepared they were to meet it, discussed various ways of getting the colonies to act together. In 1754 a congress of delegates from a number of the colonies met at Albany, N. Y., and there Benjamin Franklin presented ' He had been a big, strong, active boy, afraid of nothing, and loving out-of-door life. He had once planned to go to sea and become a sea captain. 118 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA a plan of union. It was submitted by the congress to the colonial governments and also to the king's council in Eng- land, but it was adopted by neither colonies nor council. It is chiefly noteworthy because it was the real beginning of an effort to unite the colonies. At this congress the English colonies renewed their pledges of friendship with the Iro- quois, who, since the days of Champlain, had been ene- mies of the French. This greatly strengthened the colo- nies for the coming struggle. Sir William Johnson, whom the Iroquois had adopted, was very influential in gaining their aid. 195. Braddock's Defeat, 1755. — The Enghsh Government sent General Braddock to America with a small army of red-coated British regu- lars. Though both com- mander and troops might have made a good figure in some European war, they were quite unfit, as we shall see, for fighting Indians in the woods. Braddock gave little heed to the good ad- vice of Washington, who marched with him, lead- ing three companies of Virginians ; but when the French and Indians am- bushed the little army not far from Fort Du- quesne, it was the wary Virginians that saved the army from complete destruction (1755). Braddock was fatally wounded, and died lamenting that he had refused to let his red-coated soldiers break ranks and fight from behind trees in the Indian fashion. Washington led the The French and Indian War Showing the field of the western campaigns. STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 119 survivors safely back to Virginia, and the great valley was left for a time in French possession. 196. War Between England and France. — The English wars with the French which we have studied hitherto were European wars that spread to America. The war which George Washington opened at Fort Necessity was an Amer- ican war which spread to Eu- rope. France and England were soon hotly engaged. At first the French were victorious in America. The English Govern- ment sent weak, inefficient gen- erals, and met defeat. In 1757, however, there came a change. William Pitt entered the British Cabinet and took charge of the war. One of the greatest statesmen that the world has ever seen now directed England's plans.^ 197. English Defeat is Followed by Victory. — Hope now took the place of despondency; most of the weak generals were recalled and able commanders were sent in their places. Victories followed at once. In 1758, Amherst and W^olfe took Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island. Forl)es, with Wash- ington, captured Fort Duqucsne, and the name was changed to Fort Pitt " in honor of the great war minister. On Lake Ontario, Fort Frontenac was captured, and when Sir William ' "England has at last produced a man," said Frederick the Great. Pitt was full of confidence. "I am sure that I can save this country and that nobody else can," he declared. ^ Later became Pittsburg. The French and Indian War Showing the field of the northern and eastern campaigns. 120 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA Johnson captured Niagara and rebuilt Fort Oswego, the French communications with the Mississippi by way of the Ohio were broken. The Enghsh failed at first to take Ticonderoga, but in the following year Amherst t.ook it and Crown Point, and the way to Canada by Lake Champlain was laid open. Except by the way of the St. Lawrence Valley, this Champlain route was the only way of approach The Fortress of Quebec from the River From a recent photograph. This picture shows the apparent inaccessi- hiUty of the heights which Wolfe stormed. to Canada, which was shielded from New England at all other points by thick and almost impassable forests. 198. General Wolfe Takes Quebec. — One great task re- mained if French power was to be destroj^ed in America. Quebec, the strongest American fortress, was the key to the Avhole St. Lawrence Valley, and it was commanded by the noble Montcalm, one of the ablest of the French generals. General Wolfe, a skillful and daring young English com- mander, was chosen for the task of capturing it. The fortress of Quebec stood at the top of a very high hill. To climb the heights in the face of the enemy was thought impossible. Af- ter three months of fruitless effort to entice the French to an open fight, Wolfe conceived the plan of scaling the high bluffs by way of a ravine which gave a footing. By this plan the STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 121 English hoped to reach the level highland l^ehind the fort, called the Plains of Abraham. At night, with three thousand five hundred men, Wolfe succeeded, and Montcalm, sur- prised, was obhged to give battle. Both Wolfe and ]\Iont- calm were killed, the French were beaten, and Quebec fell (September, 1759) into the hands of the English.^ Mon- treal was captured in the following year by General Amherst. 199. The End of the War; Results.— The fall of Quebec was one of the greatest events in history, for with it fell French power in America. The struggle soon ended on this side of the Atlantic, and when the war ended in Europe (by the Treaty of Paris, 1763), Canada and the land claimed by the French east of the Mississippi River were given up by France to England. At the same time New Orleans and all French claims west of the Mississippi, known as Louis- iana, were ceded to Spain, because she had aided France in the w^ar and had thereby lost Florida to the English. England now became the greatest colonial power in the world. " This," said a great Englishman, " has been the most glorious war and the most triumphant peace that England ever knew." It was indeed a most important vic- tory, because England became possessed of the eastern part of the great Mississippi valley, and her coast colonies were made safe. 200. The Conspiracy of Pontiac. — Though the war with the French was finished, many of the Indians were discontented and cherished resentment against England. Pontiac, an able Ottawa chief, plotted to take revenge upon the English, ' "England blazed with bonfires," Parkman says. "In one spot alone all was dark and silent, for here a widowed mother mourned for a loving and devoted son, and the people forebore to profane her grief with the clamor of their rejoicings." There is an interesting story told of Wolfe in the hard hours of sus- pense before the actual climb to the Plains of Abraham began. He repeated to those about him the verses of Gray's beautiful poem " Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." "Gentlemen," he said, "I would rather have written those words than take Quebec to-morrow." 122 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA and raised up the western tribes against them. In 1763 he attacked Detroit, and continued to besiege the place for months. The Enghsh forces at length overcame him; but, as we shall see, for thirty years and more the Indians were a peril to American settlers in the eastern half of the Mis- sissippi Valley. Suggested Eeadings Histories: Parkman, The Struggle for a Continent (ed. P. Edgar). Fiske, New France and New England, 98-132, 249-256, 258-359. Roosevelt, Winning of the West, I, 25-48. Cooke, Stories of the Old Dominion, 94-139. Wilson, Life of Wasltington. Morris, Half Hours with American History. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I, No. 41: II. 320-322, 346-349. Fiction: Hawthorne, GrandfatJicr's Chair, 140-1G9. CHAPTER XVI LIFE IN THE COLONIES 201. Peculiarities of American Speech. — We are now ready for a study of some of the main features of colonial life, comparing them at times with English conditions. It is worth while to note at the beginning that even the speech of the colonists changed a little from what it was in England. Names for the new objects, actions, and experiences of the new world were introduced. The first Englishmen to see America had talked of Indian kings and dukes and of their palaces, but this was so absurd that men came in time to use the Indian words sachem and sagamore, and to call the wretch- ed bark houses of the Indians, wigwams, not palaces. " Like Adam in the newly made world," says Eggleston, the colo- nists gave names " to the fowls of the air and to every beast of the field." Often this was done in the simplest way, as in the case of the bluebird, the mocking bird, catbird, canvas- back duck, and the black bear. The native American grain LIFE IN THE COLONIES 123 they called Indian corn/ and for its blossom they invented " silk " and " tassel." In the case of the squash the colonists only used the last syllable of the very long Indian word. This making of a new language went on in another way. The mingling of men from various countries and from all parts of England resulted in each taking from or giving to the other some peculiar word or phrase. The American dia- lect came, as a result, to differ from any particular dialect used in England. 202. Americans That Were Like Englishmen. — After sev- eral generations there came to he marked differences in the way the masses of the people lived in England and in America. Of the more than a million and a half people living in the colo- nies, only the wealthy planters of the South and the people in the few large cities" lived like Englishmen. There in the houses of the rich one might find solid oak and mahogany fur- niture imported from England, and silver plate and sparkling wines brought from Europe.^ The owners imitated English gentlemen with their velvet coats ruffled with lace, white silk stockings below their knee breeches, and their shoes with buckles of silver. Men with long powdered hair which they twisted in a queue and tied with a black ribbon danced stately English dances with elegant ladies gowned in bro- caded silk dresses stiff enough to stand erect without their owners. But these people were not typical Americans. 203. Life of the Common People. — The small farmers, the fishermen and the fur traders, dwelling in the wilderness or the small fishing or farming village, lived a very different life. If they had grown too prosperous to live in the dugouts, bark ' Indian dishes prepared from the new grain made necessary the Indian names hominy, pone, and succotash. - The h^rgcst had only 20,000 people. ' Yet with all these luxuries they lacked many comforts we now have. They had no stoves, no gas, no kerosene, no telephones, no matches, no typewriters, no rubber coats or shoes, no sewing-machines, and no water-pipes in their houses. 124 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA wigwams, or log cabins such as the first settlers had used, they might dwell in a house built of huge timbers, covered with rough, unpainted clapboards. There were no stoves or furnaces in that day, but in the center of the house was a great fireplace where on a wintry night blazed the logs which the pru- dent farmer had chopped and hauled from the forest. There was no coal to keep a steady fire all night, or handy friction match to light it if it died out. The ])enches, stools, and tables were rough and homemade, and the beds were made soft with moss or the down of the cat-tail. This furniture, as well as all the nails and spikes and hinges in the house, the farmer and his sons made for themselves. Their food, brought to the table on trenchers or trays, was eaten in the early days from pewter or wooden dishes, but in later colonial times chinaware came into use. The cooking was done over open fires, in pots or kettles hung from a crane or an iron bar in the chimney, or in brick ovens, and the fare was simple, indeed, among the common people. Thus they were housed and fed. For clothing the farmer's wife and daughter spun from the wool of their own sheep the stout ''homespun" which was made up in the rough-patterned clothing that made such an odd figure of the common man in colonial days. A Corner of a Colonial Kitchen LIFE IN THE COLONIES 125 204. The Social Ranks. — Because so large a part of the American people were "men of the woods," equally poor and equally uncultured, there was, except in the South, much equality in their social relations; yet they could not wholly rid themselves of the old-world notion that a man's first duty was to those above him in station — the king, the magis- trate, and other social superiors. The social distinctions were, however, different from those found in Europe, for the colonial laws did not set one man above another and give him special privileges because of the fortune of birth. There were no dukes and lords and bishops, though there was a social rank preserved by kinds of dress, by the respect shown to the upper class by the lower, and by the order in which people were seated in church.^ People of different so- cial ranks were rarely allowed to marry. Sons of ministers, lawyers, governors, and judges might not as a rule, marry daughters of far- mers, mechanics, or shop- keepers. In New Eng- land before 1649 few men were allowed to use the prefix Mi-., but were ad- dressed merely as " Goodman So-and-so." In Harvard College catalogues the names of students were arranged according to the social rank of their parents. Never- theless, the conditions in America tended to do away with The Kind of Fire Engine Used BY THE Colonists ■ This order was decided by weighing the offices men held in town or church or trainband (militia). In Virginia and Maryland emblems of rank were sometimes placed on the pews of the governor, or the great families of the parish. 126 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA even such slight distinctions/ Only in Virginia, where the great plantations were usually handed down, as in England, to the eldest son, and among the descendants of the lordly Dutch patroons of New York, was there much resem- blance to English aristocracy. 205. The Three Sections.— The colonists not only differed in many matters from England, but each colony had customs and interests peculiar to itself, and the whole area of English settlements might be divided into three groups: (1) The eastern or New England colonies.^ (2) The middle colo- nies.^ (3) The southern colonies.* These local and sec- tional differences were due to two main causes. The first cause was the great difference between the climate and soil of the most northern and most southern colonies. The average yearly temperature of Maine is about that of south- ern Norway, while Georgia's climate nearly resembles that of north Africa. New England's rugged soil offered no such opportunity to the large planter as did the fertile river valleys of Virginia, or the rich coast and sea island district of South Carolina and Georgia. The occupations of men in the two sections were, as a matter of course, widely different. 206. Means of Communication. — The second cause of local peculiarities was the lack of easy means of travel. There not only were no railroad tracks, with mighty engines dragging great trains a thousand miles in a day, but there were not even roads good enough to encourage travel by stage- ' These distinctions of social rank were gradually giving way under the influence of American life; for where land was cheap and oppor- tunities for rising in the world were plentiful, it was difficult to keep any lines of social difference. Benjamin Franklin, for example, the son of a poor tallow chandler in Boston, left his birthplace for Philadelphia, acquired property, educated himself, and became one of the great men of the day. ' New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. ' New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. * Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carohna, and Georgia. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 127 |feSs._ ■M Traveling in Colonial Days coach. It was in 175G that the first stagecoach, taking three days for the trip, ran between New York and Philadelphia, two of the largest cities of America. In the back country the ways were mere bridle paths, and the little travel men cared to under- take was done on horseback. Most of the co- lonial travel was done by sea, but there were no steamboats, and sailijig up and down the rivers and along a dangerous coast was difficult and perilous. The modern mail service and the daily newspaper, aided by the telegraph and the telephone, had not yet come to make neighbors of men dwelling hundreds of miles apart. The postman on horseback, riding perhaps thirty miles a day, carried what few letters and papers men could afford to pay for. Because of all this, people as a rule stayed at home, ignorant of the way men lived even in the nearest colony, and keep- ing to their own manners and cus- toms. We shall see the effect of these facts when it becomes necessary for the colonies to act together. 207. Industry in New England. — As a result of the different climate and soil, the occupations of men in New Colonial Tavern Sign England would seem strange to a man from the South. New England- ers could raise no great crops of tobacco or rice, so they cut down trees, built ships, and sailed out upon the sea 128 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA for whale or cod or mackerel. New England merchants, tak- ing cargoes of fish, flour, salt meats, and staves for barrels, sailed to the West India islands, whence they brought back sugar and molasses, or Spanish dollars with which to buy the goods they needed from England. Also they traded along the American coast, or sailed to England with lumber and furs, and brought back the manufactured goods, which the colonists had not yet begun to make in America. Some paper and beaver hats were made and leather was tanned, but manufacturing was chiefly confined to homemade things for family use.^ Farmers there were, too, in New England, but except in the Connecticut Valley they made little more than a living from the rugged soil. 208. Industry in the Middle Colonies. — The middle colo- nies had less interest in fishing and trading than the New Englanders, but far more in farming. In New York the early Dutch traders had made friends of the Iroquois, and the fur trade with the Indians, thus made possible, was long a source of great wealth. The farms along the Hudson and on Long Island were also profitable, but it was the Pennsyl- vania farms that outrivaled those of any other part of the colonies in the production of cattle, grain, flour, and other provisions for both colonial and European markets. Lumber, too, was cut in large quantities, and the fur trade throve on the frontier. But for English laws forbidding them, manu- factures might have been started, and, even as it was, flour mills dotted the land, and iron and paper were notable products. 209. Industry of the South. — South of Pennsylvania stretched a farming country of a different kind. There were no cities, and few large towns. Straggling villages, with tobacco warehouses, were about all the traveler saw, ex- cept the great seaport Charleston, whence the staple crops were shipped and where the planters gathered for social ' Manufactures which competed with EngHsh manufactures were for- bidden by law. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 129 life. Large plantations in Maryland and Virginia produced tobacco as the chief crop/ Farther south, in the Carolinas and Georgia, the chief crops were rice and indigo, raised on large plantations where numerous negro slaves were the pride of the great planter, who gave little heed to manufacturing, shipbuilding, and trade. 210. Negro Slavery and Southern Conditions. — The rich soil and warm climate of the Southern States lent themselves to raising great staple crops — rice, cotton, indigo, or tobacco — and since i | negroes could best endure the heat and unhealthy conditions on the sea islands and low coastal plains, they had seemed a necessity if the land was to be developed. Since they were mere barbarians when brought from Africa to America, there appeared to be no way to control them except to place them under an absolute master, or, in other words, to enslave them. Thus it was that throughout the planta- tion region where negro labor was most useful, the institution of slav- ery grew with rapid strides, while north of that region the number of slaves did not increase, though every colony had A House Slave of Washington's Day Sketched from life. ' The great plantations of Virginia were like villages, where nearly everything was done that the Ufe of the plantation demanded. Many things were brought from Europe or the North; but a big planter had among his slaves tanners, shoemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, coop- ers, and weavers; cotton and wool were spim, cloth was woven, clothes were cut and made. The plantation under an able owner was a hive of industry. The stately mansion, the beautiful long avenue of ap- proach, the workshops, the lovely gardens, the shining negro cabins, the wide-stretching tobacco fields, the negroes singing at their work — such is the picture of the plantation at its best. 130 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA a few at least.^ We shall, indeed, see that slavery died out in the North, while year by year it fastened its evil influ- ence upon the South, until men became blind to its moral wrong." 211. Government of Colonies. — In spite of the sectional dif- ferences that we have seen, and the varying interests of each colony, the colonies were all bound together by their common political beliefs, based on the principles of English freedom. Though in 1760 the colonies were divided into (1) charter colonies,^ (2) proprietary colonies,* and (3) royal colonies,^ yet each had a legislature elected by the people, who thus had much influence in the making of the laws which governed them. Every colony was much in earnest in this matter of making its own laws, and, in spite of king or royal governor, managed usually to have its own way. The tendency of these laws was toward greater freedom for each individual man than could be found in England or any European country. 212. Local Government. — The difference in local govern- ' The slave could do the same task day after day fairly well, but he was of Uttle use where the industry was diversified and every hour had its new problem. As a result of this and the cost of clotliing a slave in the colder regions, slavery disappeared in the North. - When slavery was first introduced into the South in colonial days, few men in the world thought it wrong, and by the time the world thought it wrong it had become so important to the planters that they defended it. ' Connecticut and Rhode Island. * Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. ^ Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. In the first, the king practically made a contract with the colonists which limited the share of each — king and people — to the government of the colony. In the second, some man, called the proprietary, re- ceived a large tract of land from the kmg, and by charter could sell land, set up a government, and appoint governors. In the third, the king appointed the governors and told them how he wanted the colonists ruled. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 131 ment which has been noted — the township system of New England, the county system of the South, and the mixture of Colonial Governments Distinguished the two in the middle colonies — did not affect the political spirit of the several sections, but resulted only in the better political training of the average man in New England than 132 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA in the South.' Although the county officers of the southern colonies were chosen by the royal governor, yet they were chosen from the neighborhood, from among the prominent planters with an aptitude for rule, and they were no less zealous than the New England mechanic or farmer to pre- serve the colonial liberties. On the whole, the American colonists had much more influence upon their government than did Englishmen. Though Americans seemed to have much the same political system that existed in England, yet the changed conditions had partly forced them and partly permitted them to advance faster in political growth. 213. Religion in New England. — The importance of relig- ion varied in the several sections. In New England of early colonial times it was thought the duty of the Church to create a perfect Christian Society and that the State must use its power to furnish the right conditions for such society. Hence the State must punish idolatry, blasphemy, Sabbath- breaking, and all other offenses against religion. For this reason it was that a Harvard student who had spoken lightly of the Holy Ghost was publicly beaten, and a grace was said before and after the punishment. To-day we leave matters of religious and moral instruction to the Church, while the State regulates man's conduct in secular affairs. 214. Religious Peculiarities of the Puritans. — Puritans laid great stress upon the observance of the Sabbath. The consecrated time began at sunset Saturday evening. " We should rest from labor, much more from play," wrote Cotton in his catechism "Milk for Babes." Eating an apple or cracking a nut was by some thought an evil. In Boston the gate of the city was shut and the ferry guarded that none might go forth on the Sabbath. Not even on the hottest Sabbath day might one take air on Boston Commons. All must rest. Everybody must go to church, and as it was not ' Because every little while all freemen came together to discuss politics in the town meeting. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 133 the custom even in winter to heat the house of worship, devo- tion alone warmed the good Puritan fathers. One of them wrote of a Sabbath when the bread froze on the communion table, " yet John Tuckerman was baptized. At 6 o'clock my ink freezes so that I can hardly write by a good fire in my wife's chamber. Yet was very comfortable at meeting." It is little wonder that such men were sturdy doers of what they thought right. ^ 215. Religion in the South. — -In Virginia and the South there was no such intense religious life. Physical difficulties were in the way of religious observances. Where the water- side settlements, with the forest behind, were thinly strung out along the rivers and creeks, and where some plantations had neither exit nor entrance by land, the pioneers were obliged to go to church by sailing or paddling in sloop or dug- out. As some of the parishes were thirty miles or more in shore length, attendance on church depended somewhat upon the weather. Planters went to service when it was con- venient, and Sunday was not a rigorous Puritan Sabbath, but a day of leisure, of sport, and social pleasures. Vir- ginia also had the misfortune, because she favored the Angli- can Church, to have her clergy sent to her from England, and for a time there came a race " such as wore Black Coats, and could babble in the pulpit, roar in a tavern . . . and rather by their dissoluteness destroy, than feed, their flocks." ' Some doubted whether women ought to sing in church, thiniving that only godly men — not "carnal men and pagans" — should join in public singing. A scruple against music books resulted in musical notation being forgotten for a time in New England. Pleasure on the Sabbath was thought wrong, and church music was therefore opposed because it "bewitched the mind with syrenes sounds." The Puri- tans scrupled against giving heathen names to children, and New England records abound with curious Hebrew names, as well as nouns and verbs and participles like Love, Hope, Unite, Seaborn, Preserved, Wait-still, and Humility. Neither would they use pagan names for days, months, or seasons. New England produced many fine, noble men, and their descendants found good use for their "New England conscience" in many a later struggle to better the lot of mankind. 134 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA 216. Colonial Ignorance and Superstition. — It is hard for us to realize how ignorant and superstitious were most of the early colonists of America. The first comers thought the stars to be flames without weight hung in the heavens to light mankind, and that countless angels kept the world going around. Hornets were thought to come from the decaying bodies of horses, and honey bees from cattle. The colonial doctors were ignorant, and their patients more so. The par- ish priest, or the justice of the peace, was likely also to be the doctor, and his remedies were curious medicines, often made of ridiculous substances like pulverized butterflies, crickets, or grasshoppers, and were thought to cure because they dis- gusted. The doctors were quite unable to cope with the dis- eases which swept the colonies — " small pocks," " ship fever," " yellow fever," " break-bone fever," and '' ague." Barbers were often the only surgeons and they tried to cure many dis- eases by letting blood. There was then no ether or chloro- form, nor did the surgeons have any of the fine instruments now used in surgery. Many of the above beliefs and strange customs were passing away in the eighteenth century. 217. Salem Witchcraft. — Everywhere there was supersti- tion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but in America the belief in the meddling of evil spirits was, per- haps, made stronger by life in the coast settlements between the wide sea and the mysterious forest filled with beasts and Indians. It was not strange, therefore, that there was in Sa- lem, in 1692, a cruel persecution of witches in which nineteen persons were hanged. These unfortunates were accused of making bargains with Satan, and with his power tormenting their enemies by sticking pins in them. Or perhaps the witches rode in air on broomsticks, or took part in a " Devil's Sabbath," and acted in other absurd orgies. Dur- ing the same century in Europe there had been thousands of such persecutions of people believed to have dealt with evil spirits, and men in America had less reason to be wise in such matters than men in Europe. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 135 218. Colonial Schools. — But, as we have already seen/ the beginnings had been made in America of a school system which after two centuries of struggle was to remove such ignorance and make even the average man too wise to be thus deceived. The impulse to establish public schools had started in England. The wave of zeal for founding new Latin schools reached its flood about the time that emigration to America began, and the impulse was felt in all the early colo- I ^U Mon. May hath xxxi days. ^-frugal Ifioughl, In an Acre of Land ate 43 jr^o i^uare feet, m 100 Acrej are 43 joooo fguate feet ; TwentyPountlj will buy ipoAeres of thePropiJetOr. 3" lol, are^Soopence ; "by which divide tlie Nuttj- ber of Feet »n loo Acrei ; and you will iind that OTie penny will buy 907 fJjuare Feet ; or a I«Ot 0^ JO Fe e f f^ uare. Save your Pe net/. pleafknt. 4paybreak ^ >6 now expert -;- 1/ 5 thunder and rain. £^ogation. 4 j6 8 Tciu tn ay io 4 f^ 8 more happy ihan 4 ^4 8 I> fife 3 morn. 4/38 Trinces^ if you 4 J3 8 -will le more t>ir~ 4 52 ^fUOHS. BlNe^y J) 7 day, at noon. 51 4- 50 8 Facsimile of Part of a Page of Poor Richard's Almanac nies. Besides the New England schools, the Dutch started good schools in New York, and in New Jersey, after 1700, every county supported a school by taxation. Some public schools were early started in Philadelphia. Of these, the Penn Charter School (1689), the most famous, survives to-day. In the country towns of Pennsylvania the good German pastors taught the children of their own flocks. In the South public schools were few because the people lived far apart. In 10 ' P. 65. 136 THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA early days Governor Berkeley, thanked God that there were no free schools or newspapers in Virginia. He saw how they would help the poor man rise to power, and he did not wish that. A few schools sustained by gifts of rich men did spring up, however, both in Virginia and in South Caro- lina, but the wealthy planters usually had private tutors in their families. Some sent their sons to English colleges. There was but one college (William and Mary) in the South, while in the North there was at least one to each colony.^ 219. Colonial Books. — Most of the few books found in America were brought from England. The books written in the colonies were chiefly pious, like the " Bay Psalm Book" (1640), dreary verses without rhyme or rhythm. An- other was Cotton Mather's " Magnalia," confusing and tedious beyond description. A popular book with children was the " New England Primer," with doggerel verses like, " In Adam's Fall, We sinned all," " Zaccheus he Did climb the Tree Our Lord to see." Among the illustrations was a picture of a man burning at the stake because he did not believe in the estabhshed church. In the middle of the eighteenth century a famous book that came once a year into the family was Benjamin Frank- lin's " Poor Richard's Almanac." Besides the calendar of days and months, this almanac contained pieces of good ad- vice suited to simple folk of that day.^ " Little strokes fell great oaks" taught the lesson of perseverance, and "It is ' Harvard in Massachusetts, Yale in Connecticut, Brown in Rhode Island, Dartmouth in New Hampshire, Kings in New York, Princeton in New Jersey, and University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania. ^ See them summed up in Franklin's " Way to Wealth." LIFE IN THE COLONIES 137 hard for an empty bag to stand upright " taught the need of thrift. " If you will not hear Reason, be warned that she will surely rap your knuckles." This almanac, published by the greatest of colonial printers, was one of the most suc- cessful publications of that day. 220. Colonial Newspapers. — Besides this almanac Franklin published one of the best of colonial newspapers, but not the first, for the first issue of the Boston Neios Letter (1704) was printed before he was born. In the day when there was no cable, telegraph, telephone, or fast train to carry the mails, and when a printing press took a day to do what our presses can do in a minute, the newspaper was quite different from our modern dailies. The first daily paper, the Pennsylvania Packet, was a source of wonder in its day. Humble as was the colonial press, it was freer in the expression of opinion than any other press of the world. Free speech was seriously threatened but once in America. In 1732 Peter Zenger, a New York editor, found fault with Governor Cosby, and was therefore imprisoned and brought to trial. A Phila- delphia Quaker lawyer pleaded his case, declaring in his speech, " It is not the cause of a poor printer of New York alone, which the jury is now trying. It is the cause of liberty! " Zenger was acquitted in spite of every effort of the governor to convict him. Suggested Readings Histories: Lodge, HJiort History of the English Colonies. Eg- gleston, Household History, 91-113. Fiske, Xeic France and Xeio England, 133-196. Eggleston, The Transit of Civilization. Sciulder, Men and Manners One Hundred Yea7-s Ago. Earle, Stage Coach and Tavern Days, Two Centuries of Costume, and Home Life in Colonial Days. Stockton, Buccaneers and Pirates. Sources: Hart. Source Book, 88-119. Hart, American History Told l^y Contemporaries, I, Nos. 138, 149; II. Nos. 16, 17, 18, 82, 83, 84, 85, 94, 95, 105, 106, 107. Hart, Source Readers, No. I, 201-223; No. II, 1-69. Ill PERIOD OF POLITICAL REVOLUTION AND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE CHAPTER XVII CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 221. England's Great Problem. — The study of American colonial life up to 1763, and a few comparisons with English life of that period reveal some truths that might well have worried the British statesmen who now had the task of ruling a great empire instead of little England — girt by " the four seas." The colonists had come to have interests different from England's in trade and industry, and their life in the wilderness gave them new ideas of government, new ideas as to how men should live, and a feeling of independence, due to isolation — three thousand miles of ocean rolling between the colony and mother country. If the rulers of England hoped to keep America in the empire they must be as wise as ever men had been. Good feeling between England and America could alone keep them united, while dissatisfaction would make impossible any union save by force, and that could not last. 222. American Conditions. — After the triumph of Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, the English colonists felt more sure than before that they could get along without England's mil- itary aid, for the French foes were gone and the Indian ene- mies were weakened. Besides, the colonies had worked to- gether and had learned their common interests as never before. Larger numbers of colonists were pushing back from the coast, some even beyond the mountains, and these, feeling more rarely England's controlling hand, feared and heeded it less. The colonists, it is true, gloried much in the name of Englishmen at this time, when England was 138 CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 139 at the height of her power, but they had been angered by the sneers of some of the EngUsh officers at the colonial soldiers, who, though they had fought well, had not fought in the regular European way. These slight weaknesses in the bonds which held the colonies to the home land were in- creased by the difference in the interests of each. 223. English Way of Looking at Colonists. — England was, on the whole, more generous to her colonies than were other nations to theirs, but she did not give much weight to colonial interests when they conflicted with those of the home country. Englishmen approved of this treat- ment, for the colonist who had left England to face the perils of the American wilds was looked upon as an inferior. As Benjamin Franklin said: " Every man in England seems to jostle himself into the throne with the king and talks about 'our subjects' in America." 224. The British Control of American Trade. — Acting upon the theory that colonies existed only to enrich the country that founded them, Parliament began to regulate the American trade so as to give all its profits to British merchants. Colonial trade was made to pass through Great Britain. The American must, as a rule, ship his to- bacco, rice, or indigo to a British port, where he must buy of an English merchant any desired foreign product, such as the French silks and Chinese teas, which no colonial merchant was allowed to buy direct from France or China. Again, British manufacturers wanted to sell their goods in America, and in order to keep this market for them the Americans were for- bidden to make such goods as Englishmen wished to sell. Even the English farmers were " protected " by putting high customs duties upon American wheat, rye, peas, beans, and ojts exported to England. ToMid English planters in the West Indies, Parliament passeMthe Sugar Act (1733), which sought to force Amer- \canj0mi\sts to buy sugar and molasses of English planters ler than from the Spanish or French. This act caused 140 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE much irritation and would have been very harmful to the New England traders but for the fact that it was not strictly enforced. Smugghng was so common that even a leading Boston merchant is known as " the Prince of Smugglers." ^ 225. Writs of Assistance. — Smuggling became particu- larly offensive during the war with France, when the thrifty colonists carried on an illegal trade with the enemy. Smug- gling was so common that it was hard to get witnesses who would testify against an offender or who would tell where he had secreted the smuggled goods. An ordinary writ or war- rant giving an officer the right to search a special house men- tioned in the writ was of no avail, so " writs of assistance " were resorted to. These gave the officers a right to search where they would — to invade any house, in spite of the old saying " An Englishman's house is his castle." A test case came up in the Massachusetts courts to find whether such writs were legal (1761). The brilliant colonial lawyer James Otis — " A flame of fire," " Isaiah and Ezekiel united," as John Adams said of him — argued against the writs, declar- ing that Parliament could not legalize tyranny." In a purely legal view he was not right, but the immense popularity of Otis' argument showed what Americans believed, and a wise statesman would not have acted against their wishes. 226. The " Parson's Cause." — Not in New England alone was the " fierce spirit of liberty " shown. The Virginians had made a law providing for the payment of clergymen's salaries and all debts in money instead of tobacco, as formerly.' This the king had vetoed. When the veto was ' These regulations, up to the time of which we are speaking (1760- 1775), did not injure America much or cause much ill-feeling. But when England tried to tax the colonists, the colonists naturally said, "You are managing the trade of the whole empire for your benefit, why tax us in addition?" - He said that such acts "had cost one king of England his head and another his throne." ' Tobacco was high that year and worth more than the money offered in its place. CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 141 unheeded, a clergyman brought suit to get his salary in accord with the king's wishes. Against the " parson " in the trial was Patrick Henry, a gay, unprosperous, and hitherto unknown country lawyer, who made his reputation by declar- ing with marvelous eloquence that there was a limit to the legal control which the king might exert over colonial law- making. A king, by vetoing a law for the good of his people, argued Henry, " degenerates into a tyrant, and forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience." To avoid trouble with the king the case was decided in favor of the " parson," but the jury gave him only one penny damages, and there were no more suits in Virginia. Eloquent young orators, both in Virginia and Massachusetts, had now declared against unlim- ited control of the colonies.^ 227. The "Imperial Policy." — Such defiance should have been a warning against any further interference in colonial affairs, but, in the face of this lesson, the ministers of the new king, George III, made plans that were sure to enrage the colonists. New officers with more powers were to en- force the colonial trade laws, and there was to be supported in America a regular army large enough to defend the colonies against Indians and foreign foes. 228. The Stamp Act. — To pay part of this great increase of expense, the Prime Minister, Grenville, caused Parliament (March, 1765) to pass a colonial stamp act like one in force in England. By its terms all licenses to marry, all deeds of property, all bonds or bills of sale and other legal docu- ments had to be written on stamped paper, costing from one cent to fifty dollars, or they were not legal. It would bring A Colonial Stamp ' That the people's will, not kingly sanction, makes a law valid, was Henry's declaration, startling in that day, though commonplace now. 142 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE the tax collector to every door in the colonies, and yet the consent of Americans was not asked nor were their repre- sentatives given any part in making the law 229. Stamp Act Congress. — The wrath of the colonists when the news came to America was hot, indeed. In the Virginia House of Burgesses sat young Patrick Henry, just elected, and very impatient with the calm ways of the older members. Tearing a leaf from an old law book, he ThurO^, Ofl.l».3,, ijfij THE WBMB. u9f. PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL; AMD WEEKLY ADVERTISER EXFIRINO; In Hopes of a Kefurrection to Life again. □AMfonyiolM oWigKl| lo acquaint my Be«* Act. i»rMiVllcjb«ob. ligaCorjr upon US «ft«r| ti.tru-jiifjf""'^^-] ivu// tlwPutonwroruwFspeniiMUe+o l^ieartheSiffthen, has thought it cipedienl >STOp awhtle, inortkr tjdeJiberaic.whe- 1 1 her any M*thod« can be Jbund to elude the I Chains forged for li5i and eicape the iniup- IportaUe Slavery . which it is hopedt from lihelsA Rcprefentalions now made againa I that A^ Tney t>« elfefle^ Mean v>hi]e; f my Sublcnbert -many of whom, have keen )ong behind Hand, that thej -wotild immediately Difeharge their refpeaivft Ar- rears that 1 Tnay be able, not only to fuppott myfelf Airing the Interval, but be better prepared lo proceed again with tliis fapcfv whenever an opesing jor that Fnrper* tpfean, which I tepo will be foon. "WILLIAM BRADfOBB A Newspaper Broadside Published the Day before the Stamp Act Went inT'o Effect wrote some fiery resolutions to the effect that the colonial assembly alone had the right to lay taxes on the colony of Virginia. With burning words, we are told, he denounced the tyranny, ending with the famous phrases, " Caesar and Tarquin had each his Brutus, Charles I, his Cromwell, and George IH" — "Treason! treason!" shouted the Speaker — " may profit by their example," Henry finished slowly, add- ing, " If this be treason, make the most of it." The radical resolutions were carried, and Henry's daring CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 143 found an echo nearly everywhere. The Massachusetts rep- resentatives called for a general congress of the colonies. Nine colonies responded, and the Stamp Act Congress/ as it was called, addressed memorials to the king and a " Declaration of Rights and Grievances of the Colonists in America." ' 230. Stamp Act Riots.— Unhappily, not every protest was so dignified. Throughout America tax collectors' houses were rifled, their lives threatened, and their records and stamps burned so that there was no legal paper even for the most impor- tant documents. Flags were hung at half mast, shops shut, and news- papers were issued with a death's head where a stamp should have been. In New York the " Sons of Liberty " were organized. They and other colonists dressed in homespun to avoid buying clothes made in England. This refusal to buy English goods aroused British merchants to demand the repeal of the offensive act. 231. Repeal of Stamp Act. — When the British Parliament found that it had tried, as Burke said, to shear a wolf instead of a lamb, it Itegan seriously to examine the wisdom of the ' The congress was held in New York, in October, 1765. The people early learned that in union was strength; but many lessons had to be learned before they saw clearly how to form a lasting union. " The important declarations were that (1) the colonists were en- titled to all the rights and liberties of subjects born in England; (2) the colonists, like other Englishmen, should be taxed only by their own representatives, but the colonists could not be represented in Parlia- ment; (.3) it was unconstitutional for the colonists to have their property given to the king by any but their own legislatures; (4) trial by jury and the right of petition are privileges of every British subject. ' Qy^?U^ny4^'^ 144 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE Stamp Act. The advice of Benjamin Franklin, the famous American printer then in England on colonial business, was sought. Franklin had won world-wide fame by bringing electricity down from the clouds by means of a kite and string, and he had gained great respect from all men. When examined at the bar of the House of Commons, he sought to point out how hopeless was the task of taxing the colonies against their will.^ The great English statesman Pitt dared to say, '' I rejoice that America has resisted." " If they had yielded," he said, " it would have been an ill omen for English libert^^" ^ At last, chiefly as a result of the complaints of British merchants, the Stamp Act was repealed. Bonfires and votes of thanks greeted this action both in America and England. The Sons of Liberty ceased to meet and all seemed quiet. 232. Taxation Without Representation. — The great objec- tion raised by the Americans was that they were taxed by Parliament without being represented in it, but the idea of representation common in England was such that America's objection seemed foolish. The English believed that a rep- resentative from any part of England represented the whole nation. The colonial idea was that the voter and the repre- sentative voted for must be residents of the same district. The voters of any district had the right to send one of their own citizens to any assembly if they were to be really repre- sented. In America, as a rule, new towns or counties sent new representatives to the colonial assembly. In England, only the old towns which had long had the right sent representatives, and few Englishmen saw how unfair ' " What used to be the pride of the Americans? " he was asked. " To indulge in the fashions and manufacture of Great Britain," he answered. " What is now their pride?" "To wear their old clothes over again till they can make new ones." - " Three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest." CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 145 this was. They asked onlj^ that there be "no taxation except that voted by the House of Commons," and they thought America was represented as much as Birmingham and other EngUsh cities which had grown up in recent years and which sent no representatives to Parliament. The Americans denied this and pointed out that in England the interests of men who elected representatives and those who did not were the same, because all dwelt in the same land, while in far-off America there were manj^ men with interests that English members of the House of Commons could not understand.^ 233. Townshend Act — With the repeal of the Stamp Act was passed a " Declaratory Act " asserting Parliament's right to make laws for the colonies " in all cases whatsoever." This threat did not worrj' the colonists, until in 1767 Charles Townshend took advantage of it to raise more taxes in America. He thought, or seemed to think, from what the colonists had said about internal taxation, like the Stamp Tax, that they would not object to taxes collected at the seaports in form of customs duties on articles like tea, paints, paper, glass, and lead. The substitution of external for internal taxation in the bill which Parliament now passed was only a thin sugar coating over the bitter pill inside, for " Avrits of assistance " were again legalized, and the revenue from the taxation was to be used to remove the governors and judges from popular control by pajdng their salaries. The colonists were quick to show their re- sentment. 234. Samuel Adams. — In Massachusetts a great revolu- tionary leader now came to the front. Samuel Adams, " the man of the town meeting " — for there he had hitherto done his most effective work for American liberty — was now clerk of the Massachusetts Assembly. He was a great • Americans did not ask the right to send members to the EngUsh Parliament; they claimed that as they did not send members, they ought not to be taxed save in their own assembly. 146 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE leader. His tools were men, and he was intimate with all classes, from the rough watermen of Boston to the ministers. Though gray, with palsied hand and a trembling voice, he was tactful and cool, a very " Colossus " in debate.^ He now urged the Assembly to send out addresses, and a circular letter of his writing was sent to the other colonial assemblies urging united action against the Townshend acts. The king demanded that the letter be recalled and that other assem- blies refuse to receive it, but his command was defied. More- over, many bound themselves, like Samuel Adams, " to eat nothing, drink nothing, wear nothing " coming from Eng- land until the hateful duties were removed. 235. Efforts to Stop Rebellion Make It Worse.— The king and his obedient ministers now thought that they must crush what they considered to be a spirit of rebellion. Their first mistake was to threaten to remove to England for trial, per- sons charged with treason. The sacred right of an Englishman to be tried by a jury of his neighbors was endangered, and Virginia's legislature boldly declared such removal would be " derogatory to the rights of British subjects." A second mistake was the sending to America of an inadequate force of soldiers, which only irritated and did not cow the colonists. In Boston, whither troops were sent after a riot which fol- lowed the seizure of John Hancock's sloop Liberty on a charge of smuggling, the people were offended by the sound of fife and drum on Sunday and by quarrels between soldiers and citizens. 236. The " Boston Massacre."— At last (1770), during such a conflict, forty or fifty men armed with sticks and stones surrounded a small force of red-coated British soldiers and shouted " Lobsters ! Bloody backs ! " The alarmed soldiers fired into the mob, killing five and wounding six. At once drums were beaten and church bells rung, and at the town ^ He wrote much for the newspapers, and was feared by his enemies, for "every dip of his pen stings hke a horned snake," said one who suffered. CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 147 meeting next day Samuel Adams demanded and secured the removal of all the soldiers to an island in Boston Bay.^ The " Boston Massacre " was, in the colonists' eyes, the result of substituting military for civil government, and they never forgave the foolish statesmen who were really to be blamed for making such a fatal quarrel possible. 237. Committees of Correspondence. — Samuel Adams now persuaded the Boston town meeting to appoint a committee The Boston Massacre From an etching by Paul Revere. to write to and receive letters from other towns where com- mittees were soon formed on the Boston model. These " Committees of Correspondence " could not be dissolved or browbeaten as might the colonial assembly, and they proved most useful in binding together the men who were resisting the British Government and leading a revolution against it. ' The soldiers that fired were tried later by a Boston jury, and de- fended by John Adams and Josiah Quincy. They were acquitted, save two, who were lightly punished. 148 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE These committees, working in every town, urged men on, set war itself in motion, and, when the royal government w^as at last overthrown, kept social order in many cases until a new government was created. 238. The "Gaspee Affair" and Intercolonial Committees. — This method of getting men to act together was soon ex- tended, for a system of intercolonial committees of corre- spondence came into existence. This was the result of an attack upon an English revenue cutter, the Gaspee. Some Rhode Island men seized and burned this vessel while it was aground in Narragansett Bay (1772). The English Govern- ment, in anger, appointed a commission to find out the cul- prits, threatening to send them to England for trial. To watch the work of the "Gaspee Commission," Virginia's Assembly appointed a Committee of Correspondence, which induced other colonies to choose like committees to cor- respond with it and with each other. Now all the colo- nies could act in unison — the nerves of revolution soon ran through all the American political body. 239. The Tea Act. — How well this system of communi- cation would work was soon shown. The Townshend meas- ures had been repealed (1770) because of the clamor of British merchants when Americans refused to buy in Eng- land. But, though the tax on other articles was repealed, the tax on tea was left. The Americans were still taxed without representation, and though the tax was small, the principle was a great one. The colonists refused to buy tea, and the British Government decided to find out how far the Americans were sincere as to the principle involved. It was arranged that the East India Company might ship tea to the colonists at a price so low that even with the duty added it might still be purchased cheaper than ever before. 240. The " Boston Tea Party " and the " Five Intolerable Acts." — America was not to be bribed. Shiploads of tea sent to Charlestown and Philadelphia were seized or sent back to England. In Boston, a mass meeting demanded the CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 149 return of the tea ships that sailed into the harbor. The royal officers refused, and, peaceful means failing, a band of men disguised as Indians threw the tea overboard, and the next morning it lay like seaweed on the harbor beach/ The Colonists and the Tax Collector Facsimile of a contemporary British cartoon. This violent act, so costly to the East India Company, was viewed with great anger in England, and in retaliation Par- liament passed what are known as the " Intolerable Acts.^ ' Ninety thousand dollars worth of tea was destroyed. ^ One act put an end to Massachusetts' charter. Another closed the port of Boston, so that not even hay from Charlestown could be brought in. A third provided for trying in England British soldiers 150 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE When the news reached America that Boston was to be punished, the sympathy of every colony was carried thither as fast as horse and rider could take the news from town to town. Soon clothes, sheep, rice, and everything need- ful were being hurried to the relief of Boston. George Washington, far away in Virginia, offered to equip a thou- sand men with his own money and hurry them to the rehef of Boston. Patrick Henry again electrified the Vir- ginia leaders by his daring prophecy, " We must fight. I repeat it, sir, we must fight." 241. First Continental Congress. — Alarmed lest they be next attacked, all the other colonies, urged on by Virginia and New York, resolved to hold a congress in which colonial leaders might talk matters over and decide upon a common action. In September (1774) the First Continental Con- gress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. From Virginia came her greatest leaders — George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee. From Pennsylvania came John Dickinson, whose famous "Farmer's Letters," which had set forth the wrongs of the colonists, made all curious to see the writer. From Massachusetts came the " Brace of Adamses " — Samuel and John — who were regarded in Eng- land as arch traitors, leaders of the American rebellion. John Jay, whose fame was to grow brighter every year, came from New York. The greatest Americans, except Franklin and Jefferson, sat in that first meeting for common action. Slowly the colonists had learned the lesson of unit- ing for strength.^ who committed offenses in America. A fourth forced the colonists to feed and shelter the soldiers sent to punish them. Finally, the Quebec act was passed uniting with that province some western land claimed by Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, thus offending them all. ■ First, the New England Confederation; next, the meeting of colonial delegates at Albany (1754) for mutual defense, and then the Stamp Act Congress had gradually taught what might be done by union. Now all the colonies except Georgia — and part of her colonists were sympathetic — had met to aid each other in keeping their liberties. CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 151 242. Declaration of Rights. — The members of the Con- gress were cahn, thoughtful men for the most part, and they did not mean to fight if solemn protest and peaceful measures would avail. They drew up various addresses, and also a Declaration of Rights, asserting their right to life, liberty, and property, their right to tax themselves, and their right to petition for redress of grievances. 243. "Articles of Association." — The delegates then bound the citizens of all the colonies " under the sacred ties of Vir- tue, Honor, and Love of our Country," to buy no more British goods.^ Finally, the Congress declared it to be the duty of all the colonies to support Boston in resisting Brit- ish efforts to punish its people. As a newspaper of the time said, " One soul animates three millions of brave Americans, though extended over a long tract of three thousand miles." 244. Loyalists. — This was not quite true, for there were many people in America who did not approve of the Conti- nental Congress or its measures. They honestly believed that union with Great Britain was for America's best good, and feared that the present struggle would end in breaking the bond. Many prosperous and contented men, many law- yers, doctors, and men of high social rank were alarmed at what seemed to them the madness of the " mob." The Crown officers and their relatives and friends were sure to be found among these " Tories," as the Loyalists were called. 245. Pitt and Burke. — But if Americans were divided, so were Englishruen. Pitt and Burke and some of the greatest of English statesmen were eager to conciliate America Pitt thought that " for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia." Be- hind Pitt and Burke stood many thousands of Englishmen eager to be friends with America, but the king and his minis- ' The Committees of Correspondence everywhere were ordered to denounce as an enemy "to the liberties of this country" any man who refused to join this association. 11 152 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE ters, with the governing power in their own hands, were stub- bornly resolved to bring America to her knees, crush rebel- lion, and rule as they chose. As a result, when next they heard from Boston, they learned that war had begun. Suggested Readings Histories: Fiske. History of the American Revolution, I. Eggles- ton, Household History, 148-158. Cooke, Stories of the Old Do- minion, 102-218. Tyler, Patrick Henry. Hosmer, Samuel Adams. Van Tyne. Loyalists, ch. I. Sloane, French War and the Revolution, 116-202. ^lagill, Stories from Virginia History. Sources: Hart, Source Readers, No. II, 153-180. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, II, Nos. 131, 133, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 148, 151, 152, 158. (Otis' and Henry's Speeches) American Orations. Old South Leaflets, No. 68. Mace, Working Manual of American History, 139-184. Fiction: Longfellow, Paul Revere's Ride. Holmes, Ballad of the Boston Tea Party. Hawthorne, Grandfather's Chair, 182-239. CHAPTER XVIII WAR BEGINS IN NEW ENGLAND 246. General Gage Sent to Boston. — There is little use try-* ing to learn whose fault it was that the war began, for, as we have seen, such a long train of events led to disagreement between England and America, that we should have to go back and back to the very founding of the colonies. As in most quarrels, the blame for beginning is laid by each party on the other. It is enough for us to know that when Parliament decided to punish Boston, the king sent General Gage there to rule with British soldiers. So resentful were the colonists of this intrusion that carpenters would not work for him, farm- ers would not sell to him, and only by sending to London could he get supplies. The Massachusetts Legislature refused to do his will, changed itself into a " Provincial Congress,"^ ' Under this name they thought of themselves as getting their power from the people and not from the king. WAR BEGINS IN NEW ENGLAND 153 Si and created a " committee of safety," which was to collect guns and powder and shot, and form companies of " minute- men " ^ to defend the people's liberties, if Gage menaced them. 247. Battle of Lexington. — When Gage sent out British troops to seize the powder and shot stored at Concord, and, if possible, to seize the patriot leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, at , Lexington," the minutemen on the road knew that the troops were com- ing. Trusty riders like Paul Revere, warned by Hghts hung in the Old North Church, had carried the news through the night. As the British soldiers, who had left Boston at mid- night, neared Lexington in the early morning of April 19, 1775, Adams and Hancock stole away across the fields, but on the village green stood a line of Massachusetts militiamen. They held their ground bravely as the British troops " rushed on shouting and huz- zaing previous to the firing." Be- fore the smoke of the first volley cleared away, the little American band fled, leaving their dying companions. 248. Battle of Concord. — From Lexington the British " redcoats " marched to Concord, seven miles farther on. Though beaten back by the " embattled farmers " at Con- cord bridge, they spiked some cannon, and threw some powder and balls into the river. Retreating then toward Boston, the hot day and the long march made them eager for rest, but by this time they had stirred up a hornet's nest. A MiNUTEMAN From a monument in Lex- ington, Massachusetts. ' Militiamen who were to be ready on the minute to spring to arms. - There was talk of having the heads of the two "rebels" exhibited in London soon. 154 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE From behind every hedge and tree, stone fence, or hillock, came the deadly fire of the enraged farmers. The march became a retreat, the retreat a flight, and when, on their headlong way to Boston, they met reinforcements under Lord Percy, " their tongues were hanging out like dogs." Two hundred and seventy-three dead or wounded " redcoats " marked the crimson trail from Concord to Boston.^ Only J^^Sa/^ i.a&)?l: Qyfr^fpff;'/^ -', ^f ''m : C-c.-^ ^ S- From an etching by Doolittle, copied from a drawing made after the battle. under the guns of the British warships did the wretched survivors dare throw their tired bodies down to rest. Bj^ the next morning Boston was a besieged town, and from all New England men were hurrying to the camp fires of the be- siegers. War had at last come. 249. Siege of Boston. — It was a strange army that had gathered there like maddened hornets about Gage's regi- ments in Boston. The variety of dress was really funny, for * The American loss was 93. WAR BEGINS IX NEW ENGLAND 155 uniforms like those of British regulars were to be seen side by- side with tlie hunting shirts of bacivwoodsnien, and even the blankets of savages. One could not tell an officer from a pri- vate by the uniform, and often not by his actions. All New Cambridge '^''^'-^fo^^^^J ' ^ : y CASTLE. t^Cairle' %Z "/{ Haibor Boston and its Vicinity in 1776. England had poured out, but each colonial band of militia had its own leader. John Stark led the New Hampshire men ; Israel Putnam, reputed to have slain a wolf in the animal's very den, had left his plow to lead the Connecticut minute- men; and Nathaniel Greene, a Rhode Island blacksmith, led the men from his colon3\ Though all wanted to help Boston, yet it was a question whether all would work together. 250. Second Continental Congress.— To this question the colonies seemed to be answering '' yes," for even while the minutemen were gathering about Boston, the Whigs, or Pa- triots, everywhere in America^ were electing delegates to a Second Continental Congress, for which the first had pro- vided before adjourning. Tt was a stormy election in some colonies, for the Whigs set upon the Tories and were in turn attacked. ' Except in Georgia, where the Loyalists were too strong. 156 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 251. Persecution of the Tories. — When men spoke against Congress or the rights of the colonies, Whig committees pub- lished their names to make them infamous, or confined them in jails until they recanted; they could not buy or sell, or hire labor, or get millers to grind their corn. Mobs tarred and feathered them, or chased them to the woods and swamps. One was tied upon a tavern sign in company with Tarrixg a Loyalist Facsimile of a contemporary French cartoon. a dead wild cat. Their effigies were hanged and burned, and their coaches pulled to pieces, while fine estates, where was " every beauty of art, or nature, every elegance," which it had cost years to perfect, were laid waste. It was a sad pic- ture that America presented in those bitter days. Though the country must have been almost equally divided, Jhe Whigs were most active, and succeeded in electing a Congress which was bent upon defending " American liberties," or, in other words, forcing England to take back all her taxing laws and harsh measures. WAR BEGINS IN NEW ENGLAND 157 252. Power of the Congress. — When Congress met, May 10, 1775, the members meant to go slowly. They would humbly petition the king again,' and ask him to prevent war by recalling his soldiers and repealing the unjust laws, but meanwhile the English army was not to be allowed to gain any advantage. Without money, without laws, and without power to form a government, Congress did what it could to defend the colonies from harm. Its power lay in the fact that every true Whig in the land stood ready to act as Con- gress directed. It began work with great care, but was car- ried on and on until it found itself the directing head of the American people at war with the powerful British Government. 253. Ethan Allen Takes Ticonderoga. — The delegates had hardly gathered in Philadelphia from the distant colonies north and south, when they were asked to approve an act of offensive war. A band of New Englanders, under Ethan Allen of Vermont, had marched to Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain and surprised it at night. Allen, marching to the room of the sleeping commander, demanded surrender of the fort " in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."^ There was nothing else to do and the fort was surrendered (IMay 10, 1775). 254. Congress Acts. — Reluctant as Congress was, it must go on. It needed money and it was forced to print paper money or bills of credit, which were paid out for guns, powder, and balls, and for food for the army about Boston. It needed a swift means of sending letters from colony to col- ony and it created a post office. It needed an army — and after a time a navy — and it devised a plan for each. Finally, Congress created the office of commander-in-chief of the Con- ' This "olive branch of peace," as the petition was called, was not received, however, and the refusal of it angered America the more. - So Allen afterwards declared. He had no right to demand the fort in the name of the Continental Congress, for his commission was from Connecticut. 158 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE tinental Armies, and, in the wisest act of all, chose George Washington, of Virginia, to fill the office. 255. George Washington. — While one reason for choosing Washington was that he was a Southerner, and choosing him George Washington After a painting made by Peale in 1772. It shows Washington in the uniform of a British colonial colonel. would bind the South to New England's fortunes, there were better reasons. The new commander must not only lead the soldiers but he must gain the love and devotion of the whole people. This Washington was fitted to do. He had already WAR BEGINS IN NEW ENGLAND 159 won renown as a leader in the French and Indian War. His stalwart figure and his composed and dignified manner awed men, but gave them confidence in him. A resolutely closed mouth and a firm chin told of his perfect moral and physical courage. When he believed in a course, he followed it — single- minded, just, firm, and patient to the end. For him defeat was only a reason for exertion. For such a struggle as was before America, fortune could not have sent a more perfect leader. He won men's hearts from the very first by the modest way in which he accepted command, and by refus- ing to accept any pay for serving his country. 256. Bunker Hill. — Before Washington was twenty miles on his way to Boston, he learned that a battle had been fought there. Learning that the Americans had behaved bravely, he said, " Then the liberties of the country are safe." Gradually the whole story came to him. General Gage had seen the " Yankees " building a fort on Breed's Hill,^ overlooking Boston, and fearful lest they should fire down on Boston, making it hot even for " redcoats," had decided to drive them away. He saw Colonel Prescott on the earthworks and asked a Loyalist if that man could fight. " Yes, to the last drop of his blood," was the reply. The British troops were ordered to the attack (June 17th, 1775). The line of red-coated Englishmen came steadily up the hill, its quiet, orderl}^ advance watched by the provincials behind the earthworks. " Don't fire," went the word along the American lines, " till you can see the whites of their eyes." Then the volley was poured into the brave red line. Twice the British came steadily up the hill and fell back only to leave behind them windrows of dead and wounded com- rades, mowed down by the deadly " Yankee " fire. But British pluck triumphed, and when the line came the third time, it pushed on over the earthworks, where the desperate ' Bunker Hill had at first been selected, and though there was a cbanpe to Breed's Hill, the battle became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. 160 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE minutemen, whose powder was gone, fought with clubs and stones and the butts of their muskets. The Patriots re- treated with some loss, and the British had won; but all that night the chaises and chariots that went to the Boston wharves to bring home the British dead and wounded filed slowly through the streets of Boston. A few more hills bought at that price would ruin the British cause. 257. British and American Chances of Winning-. — It now dawned upon the British that it was not so foolish of the Americans to fight as it might seem. True, the British Isles had five times as many people, and the British Government had a great standing army, a great navy, and vast military stores, while America had almost nothing in readiness. But, on the other hand, to transport troops and all their equipment three thousand miles would cost England much. Moreover, few as the Americans were — about two and one half millions — many could shoot with deadly accuracy. The backwoods- men, farmers, and hunters had tough sinews and unyielding courage. Then, too, the Americans would fight, as a rule, on the defensive, in a rough country, whose hills and bridgeless rivers and tangled wilderness they knew better than the British. The war would be " an ugly job," England's great- est general declared. 258. Boston Captured. — When Washington reached his army, he found it disorganized, lacking in guns and powder, wanting in discipline, and torn by jealousies among the of- ficers. Everybody wanted to be first. Washington rebuked one fault-finder, saying that "every post ought to be deemed honorable in which a man can serve his country." Gradu- ally the mob was drilled into an army. By springtime Washington was ready for action. ]\Iarch 4, 1776, he seized Dorchester Heights, which overlooked Bos- ton from the south as Breed's Hill did from the north. " Re- doubts were raised," wrote a British officer, " as if by the genii belonging to Aladdin's wonderful lamp." General Howe, who had supplanted Gage, did not care to repeat the INDEPENDENCE AND CONFEDERATION 161 Bunker Hill experience, so he hurriedly embarked his army with nine hundred frightened Loyalists and sailed away to Nova Scotia. 259. Montgomery and Arnold Fail to Take Quebec. — America would have been wild with joy but for news that had lateh' come of the failure of an attack on Canada. Richard Montgomery, with two thousand men, had gone by the way of Lake Champlain against Montreal. He took that city and , then advanced down the St. Lawrence to attack Quebec, the citadel of British power in Canada. To aid him, the brave Benedict Arnold, with eleven hundred men, had made a terri- ble march ^ through the Maine forests, and arrived at Quebec with half his original army. In a blinding snowstorm, De- cember 31, 1775, the two leaders made the attack, but brav- ery was in vain — Montgomery was killed, Arnold wounded, and Quebec lost. During the rest of the winter and the spring Arnold retreated step by step, all of the dreary way out of Canada, and in June stood at bay near Lake Cham- plain. Suggested Readings Histories: (Washington) Lodge and Roosevelt, Hero Tales from American History. Collins. A History of Terniont. Fiske, American Ix'evohition. I. Coffin, Boys of '7(1. 17-Sl. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, II, Nos. 11)1. 102. 170. 171, 166-16J). Fiction: Hawthorne, Grandfather's Chair, 239-272. CHAPTER XIX INDEPENDENCE AND CONFEDERATION 260. Growth of Bitterness Against England. — Until about the time of the capture of Bo:>ton, Americans had hoped that the king would grant them their rights, and that the colonists would go on living as loyal subjects of the "good King ' They had nearly died of starvation, and were often glad to dig roots in the forest to keep life in their bodies. 162 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE George." Independence was not seriously thought of except by a very few men, hke Samuel Adams. Great men and good patriots like Washington ^ and Franklin were loath to think of such an outcome of the quarrel. But with every battle men's anger against the British ministry grew. The king's efforts to restore order in America only caused the rebellion to spread more widely. Besides declaring the colonists reb- els, George III hired German soldiers to fight them. In addition to these offenses one of his ship captains burned Falmouth, a Maine town. 261. "Tom" Paine Attacks Kingship and Dependence. — Americans were held back from the idea of seceding or sepa- rating from the British Empire by their old habit of thinking that a king ruled by divine right, by their belief that the Brit- ish constitution was the freest in the world, and by their love of " Old England," the early home of many and, at least, the home of their forefathers. Now there appeared early in 1776 a most remarkable pamphlet by Thomas Paine, an English- man who had but just come from England." He saw what held men back, and in living phrases, that made even the dullest men think, he ridiculed the divine right of kings. They were chosen at first, he wrote, because of a " ruffianly preemi- nence." A king is only a " sceptered savage," a -' royal brute." How absurd is their hereditary descent ! Do we choose an hereditary wise man or poet, he asked. Govern- ment is a necessary evil, he cried. Why have the worst form — a king ? Then Paine pointed out how absurd it was to have a continent governed by an island, and said Heaven meant America to be free from England, because it had placed the countries so far apart. With such arguments, some of which seem curious enough now, he aroused all America to look with favor on independence. ' Washington said that even when he took command of the army, he abhorred the idea of independence. - It was called " Common Sense." He found Americans, he said, ready to be "led by a thread and governed by a reed." INDEPENDENCE AND CONFEDERATION 163 262. Steps Toward Independence. — John and Samuel Adams, meanwhile, were working hard in Congress to get that body to declare independence as its object. They made prog- ress to that end by getting Congress to advise (1) disarm- ing of the Loyalists; (2) opening the American ports to all nations except England; and (3) that new governments be set up in the several colonies to keep order now that the royal governors had fled. Against the final step of declaring in- dependence the delegates from the middle states ^ set their faces, because the people of that region were slow to embrace the idea. One by one, however, the states instructed their delegates to favor independence.^ Finally, on June 7th, Richard Henry Lee proposed a resolution to that end. This was bitterly opposed by some very able men, but after three weeks' delay Congress resolved, July 2, 1776, " that these f nited Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and inde- pendent states." John Adams wrote joyously to his wife, " The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable in the history of America. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from this time forward forever." 263. Declaration of Independence. — The reason we cele- brate the fourth instead of the second of July is that most men thought more about the day Congress voted to accept a declaration' drawn up by Thomas Jefferson'' explaining to the world the reasons for. making the resolution of inde- pendence. Jefferson's mind was full of the American ideas about government, so that he did little more than to write ' New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. - Those already in favor waited for the others, because, as Franklin is reported to have said, "We must all hang together or we shall all hang separately." ' The Declaration was not signed (except by the President of Con- gress, Hancock, and the Secretary, Thomson) until August 2, 1776, and one member did not sign until 1781. * Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson had been chosen to draw this up, but Jefferson did the work. 164 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE clearly and in living, harmonious phrases, what all freedom- loving Americans believed — " that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien- able rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pur- suit of happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." But the English Government had not heeded these great principles, ^ and therefore, the Decla- dTicUr^x^^ l^ ^'ly.^.rJux:^ j}L UM7ED S'T^T£5 f^— f"°" ^^ ^ 1 /iMir, -r- i ^( ^^ ^n '^HiTT ' ' ;f(fij ] . r tJKctA. t/rn.ft-tZ. ffwm.'to riiC. i/iiiilii 1 1 . iij ii i lY"]' 1 1 The Declaration of Independence Facsimile of the first paragraph in Jefferson's handwriting. ration asserted, it was right for America to free herself from that government and to set up a new one. 264. The Danger of Independence. — Among the Whigs, or Patriots, the news was joyfully received. Some thought- less people went too far and did foolish things, like burning an effigy of the king or burning his portrait in a public square. In New York City the American soldiers pulled down a leaden statue of George III and melted it into bullets. Many, however, saw the matter more seriously, and trem- bled at the thought of separation from Great Britain. The Tories — especially those who were not merely pensioners of the king but true lovers of their country — feared that if America freed herself, " that unfortunate land would be ' A list of twenty-seven grievances was given, some of which seem unreasonable now, but others constituted real wrongs. INDEPENDENCE AND CONFEDERATION 165 the scene of bloody discord and desolation for ages." They thought that only England's power kept the colonies from fighting one another, each for its own interests. But for a time the colonies all worked together, did the will of Con- gress, and tried to make a plan of confederation which would keep them always united in defending America against the rest of the world. They were a long while in agreeing upon a ?..^J"'31.: immm^ risa,a .^j| '^^--^4..£^^r'?-'f^-.;:-Y Independence Hall in the Time of the Revolution From a contemporary drawing. plan of union, but meanwhile each state created a new gov- ernment and a constitution to regulate it. 265. John Adams Urges New State Governments. — This making of goverrmaents by the people was a new thing in the world's history. To get free from England was a hard task, but to free America from European modes of government and set up a rule by the people would be one of the grandest achievements in human history. The man who had the most ideas as to the way these new governments should be formed was John Adams. His work in these days won him the hon- orable title of the '' Statesman of the American Revolution." Though not an orator, he was a great debater, for he per- 166 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE fectly understood what he wanted, and with undaunted firm- ness forced men to his views. 266. The People Make Their Own Governments. — Some colonies had temporary governments, and Connecticut and Rhode Island decided to get along with their old colonial charters, modified a little; but nine of the new states made new constitutions, which have been the models for all Ameri- can constitutions since that time. The people, as John Adams said, " erected the whole building with their own hands." The work was done by a convention, a body of men chosen for the purpose. When the new, written consti- tution was made for the state, the government was in all re- spects supposed to be bound by it. 267. Bills of Rights. — The government, Americans thought, was only the servant of the people, who had the real power. Therefore, it was customary to put a " bill of rights," or scattered clauses having the same purpose, in each constitution. This bill was a statement of things which the government could not do; it was, in other words, a list of the rights of man, which could not be taken away, such as freedom of speech, right to worship whom and how one chose, and right to trial by jury.^ Englishmen had wrung some of these rights, one by one, from unwilling kings, but Americans looked upon themselves as the rulers, and they withheld their rights from any interference by their ser- vant, the government. 268. The Kind of Government. — The main object of the other parts of the constitutions was to describe the form of government, largely an imitation of the old colonial charters or the English form of government. Each constitution pro- vided for a legislature, a governor, and judges. In all but two states the legislature was to have an upper and a lower house. In fixing the mode of electing legislators and gov- ' Look up the bill of rights in your state constitution. Nearly every state has such a bill. INDEPENDENCE AND CONFEDERATION 167 ernors, the constitution makers were not so democratic as we have since become, for they allowed only property owners or taxpayers to vote, while in some of the states only property owners and men who held certain religious ideas could hold office. Men were to be allowed to hold office only for short terms of one or two years, lest they become tyrants and forget to feel as the people felt. 269. Articles of Confederation. — While the states were thus making their new governments, their delegates in the Continental Congress were trying to agree upon some plan of alliance, some league of friendship, which would help Amer- ica to stand firm among the nations of the world. There were so many jealousies that, at times, the delegates were ready to give up in despair; but after nearly a year and a half their plan, " The Articles of Confederation," was ready (1777). Then the state legislatures had each to approve it, and over three years passed before every state had ap- proved. When it was finally accepted, it provided for so poor a union and so weak a central government that it was doomed to fail. It provided that: (1) the states were to be sovereign, free, and independent; (2) each state was to have one vote in Congress ; (3) taxes were to be divided among the several states according to the value of land in each, but Con- gress could only ask for the money, and not collect it from the people; (4) Congress could direct war and make peace. The real power was left with the states, and Congress could only ask them " please " to do this or that. As long as the war lasted Congress had some power, because it was to the interest of each state to obey in order to get free from Great Britain. How necessary united efforts were, we shall see as we turn now to study the course of the war itself, which had gone on while the politicians were solving the problems we have just considered. Suggested Eeadixgs Histories: Van Tyne, American Revolution, 61-87, 136-156, 198- 202. Fiske, Americati Revolution, I, 191-197. 12 168 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE Sources: Hart, Source Book, 147-149. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, II, Nos. 186, 187, 188, 189. Hart, Source Readers, No. II, 172-180. CHAPTER XX CAMPAIGNS ENDING IN BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER 270. The British Attack and Are Repulsed in the South. — • All the work of making new state governments and the Arti- cles of Confederation would go for nothing if America failed to defeat the British armies. The first important news that reached Washington after Howe sailed away from Boston was that a British fleet, carrying an army commanded by General Clinton, had appeared off the coast of North Caro- lina, and then, June, 1776, had gone on to attack Charleston. Washington sent to South Carolina's aid General Lee, a showy, vainglorious man, who had been a soldier since boy- hood, who had fought against the Turks, and who seemed a great hero to the simple-minded Americans of that day. He only found fault and made trouble, however, and Charleston was saved by General Moultrie, who succeeded in driving off the whole British force.^ 271. British Plan to Sever Colonies at the Hudson River. - — Soon after Howe abandoned Boston, Washington left there to go to New York, for he rightly guessed that the next main attack would be upon New York City. England's plan was to cut the chain of thirteen colonies by holding the line of the ' The sand bars off the harbor compelled ships to sail by the end of SuUivan's Island, and there Moultrie built a fort of sand and palmetto logs. Lee sneered at this home-made fort, but cannon balls fell harm- less upon it, and though the British fleet sailed boldly in, the ships were so riddled by shot from the fort that their commanders were glad to order retreat. Meanwhile Clinton had landed 2,000 men on a sand bank, but, while vainly trying to wade ashore, they were driven nearly wild by mosquitoes, and they were glad to escape and sail away. Later the whole expedition joined General Howe. CAMPAIGNS ENDING IN BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER 169 Hudson River. New England seemed to lead the rebellion, and if it could be cut off from the other colonies, resistance might soon die out there. Washington hurried to New York and fortified the city.^ He need not have hurried, for Howe did not appear until early in July, when with fair wind and rapid tide his ships sailed up the narrows between Staten Island and Long Island, setting the city in an uproar. Alarm guns were fired, and everything was in the " height of bustle." 272. Battle of Long Island and Washington's Escape.— It was the end of August before Howe began his campaign. Then he landed on Long Island to drive the Americans from their forts on Brooklyn Heights. He skillfully cut in two the American army that came to meet him, and it appeared as if the whole American army would be surrounded and taken. But fortunately the night was stormy and the next morn- ing was foggy and Washington got some Massachusetts fish- ermen to row the American army back to New York (August, 1776). A few shots at the rear guard was the only consola- tion the outwitted British could get. Washington with- drew from New York City, where he might have been penned up, and never again did he let Howe put him in so tight a place. 273. Arnold Prevents British Coming Down the Hudson. — Howe now hoped to hear of the success of Carleton, who was to come from Canada by way of Lake Champlain and meet Howe coming up the Hudson. When the two armies should join, the colonies would be severed as the British had planned. But the fierce energy and courage of Bene- dict Arnold saved America from this terrible blow. To meet Carleton's overpowering fleet on Lake Champlain, Arnold built out of the standing timber of the forest a little fleet with which he gave the British seven hours of desperate fighting. Then in the mists of the night, sailing or rowing as he could, Arnold escaped to Ticonderoga. Carleton re- ' Lying at the lower end of Manhattan Island and then having only 20,000 inhabitants. 170 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE turned to Canada. This battle not only prevented Carleton from joining Howe, but, as we shall see, delayed the next year's campaign, and thus saved the American cause. Upon this petty conflict the fate of a great nation depended. 274. Washington's Retreat Across New Jersey. — IVIean- while Washington retreated up the Hudson. He checked the British in a battle at White Plains, but when they captured Fort Wash- ington, he saw that there was no hope of his regaining any ground near New York. Defeat disheart- ened the American soldiers, and they went off, Washington wrote, " almost by whole regiments, by half ones, and by companies at a time." Step by step the dwindling army retreated, first across the Hud- son and then through New Jersey, until at last a little band of only 3,000 men stood wdth their devoted chief on the bank of the Delaware. Seizing every boat for miles up and down the river, Washington got his army across to Pennsylvania just as Howe's advance guard arrived on the Jersey shore. Then came the news that General Charles Lee, who had traitorously refused to bring his part of the army to Washington's aid,^ had been captured by the British. Because of Lee's experience as a soldier in Europe, this seemed another terrible loss, but was really good fortune, since we now know that he was a traitor. Every, prospect was dark. Philadelphia seemed about to fall into British hands, and Congress, after giving Washington sole direction of the war, fled to Baltimore. ' Lee had been left east of the Hudson to guard the Highlands. Washington's Uniform Now in the National Museum, Washington. CAMPAIGNS ENDING IN BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER 171 275. British Think War is Over. — Lord Howe thought Washington's army was worn out. Leaving CornwalUs with the troops, he went back to New York to enjoy Christmas, and hear men call him Caesar, who came and saw and con- quered. But Washington would not give up. With bounties and promises he had raised his army to 6,000 men, and undaunted by past defeat, he planned to cross the Delaware into New Jersey and surprise the British at Trenton. 276. The " Old Fox " Defeats the British.— Only the part of the army which Washington led succeeded in crossing. The raging snowstorm and the river filled with ice dismayed the others. The snow changed to sleet and rain, but the lit- tle army marched nine miles and entered Trenton pellmell, surprising the Hessian garrison ^ and throwing them into the utmost confusion. " The hurry, fright, and confusion of the enemy," said a witness, " was not unlike that which it will be when the last trump shall sound." With a thousand prisoners the Patriots recrossed the river, and then crossed back again into New Jersey. Cornwallis started out from Princeton to " bag the old fox," as he called Washington, but, instead, the " old fox " doubled and near Princeton bagged three of CornwaUis' own regiments.^ Within a short time a large part of New Jersey was retaken from the British. But the most important result of the action was the renewed courage given to America. The statesmen of Europe began to believe that America would succeed. British scorn, too, was changed to a wholesome respect. 1 These were the German soldiers whose hiring by George III had so enraged the Americans. - Washington was at this time greatly aided in keeping his little army together by Robert Morris. The soldiers had had no pay, the time of their enlistment had expired, and they threatened to go home. Wash- ington wrote Morris of the state of affairs, and the rich patriot raised the money among his friends to keep the army together. His great service deserves to be forever remembered. 172 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE Washington's Route 1 1 1 1 1 f Burgoyne's " — Howe's " St.Leger's " The Early Campaigns of the Revolution. 277. The Brit- ish Plan to Con- quer America. — The rest of the winter was passed by Wash- ington at Morris- town, which was so near New York that he could be ready for any move of the British there. During the win- ter the British ministry in Lon- don again made their plans with the old purpose of cutting the colonies in two along the Hud- son. Three ar- mies were to meet at Albany — one setting out from Oswego on Lake Ontario was to come down the Mo- hawk, another from Canada was to go up Lake Cham- plain, cross the watershed, and CAMPAIGNS ENDING IN BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER 173 come down the upper Hudson, and Lord Howe was to come up from New York to Albany. To succeed in meeting as was planned, the three armies must work in harmony, but the two armies from Canada had to move through an almost trackless wilderness, where no human being could foresee the obstructions or tell how far an army could march in a given time. Moreover, the orders for the three armies were to go out from London and through carelessness Howe's orders were never sent. He should have known enough to go to Albany, but he did not. 278. Beginning of Burgoyne's Campaign. — General Bur- goyne was given command of the British army^ which was to come by the Champlain route. At first he was alarmingly successful. He took Ticonderoga and then advanced upon Fort Edward, but General Philip Schuyler, a skillful general, who had Washington's confidence, caused trees to be felled across his road and much delayed his march. Slowest of all came the supply wagons, and Burgoyne became so fearful of starvation that he sent a motley force of one thousand Ger- mans, British, and Indians to seize some stores at Benning- ton. But the New England farmers gathered under John Stark, encircled the force and captured it after two hours' fighting. Then the New England militia, fired with the idea of capturing Burgoyne's whole army, came flocking in and began to hang like a gathering storm upon Burgoyne's left. 279. St. Leger Repulsed on the Mohawk. — Burgoyne now hoped that the army under General St. Leger, which was to come down the Mohawk, might come to his aid. But St. Leger was having trouble of his own. In a swamp near Oriskany some of St. Leger's Tories and Indians had am- buscaded a Patriot army under General Herkimer, but after a fierce struggle with knife, hatchet, and bayonet, unrivaled in its savage horror, the Indians fled. St. Leger still had strength, with his Tories, however, to besiege Fort Stanwix; but Benedict Arnold coming up from the ' About 9,000 men, who started about June 1, 1777. 174 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE Mohawk Valley to the rescue, caused the British army to bo so terrified by a false report of the size of his army that it broke up and fled. What had become of the complacent and leisurely Howe? 280. Philadelphia Takes Howe. — Common sense ought to have told Howe to go north to meet Burgoyne, but the idea of capturing the " rebel capital," as he called Philadelphia, lured him southward. Washington stood in his way, so he set out by sea, and, curiously enough, went all the way around to Chesapeake Bay, and up to Elkton.^ Thence he marched across country, and having beaten the Americans badly at Brandywine Creek ^ (September, 1777), he captured Phila- delphia in spite of Washington, who had come down from the north to resist Howe's progress. It really didn't matter much, for Congress simply loaded its papers on a wagon and went off to sit at Lancaster. Franklin jokingly said that Philadelphia had taken Howe. Washington, however, tried to drive the British out, and attacked part of the ene- my's army early one morning in Germantown, just out of Philadelphia. A dense fog spoiled the American plan, and again Washington's army was beaten. Nevertheless, Wash- ington had kept Howe so busy that he could not go to Bur- goyne or send him aid, and that was more important than winning a battle. 281. Burgoyne Surrenders. — At the north, meanwhile, Burgoyne's situation grew more desperate each day. Con- gress almost saved him at the last moment by putting the incapable General Gates in the place of General Schuyler,' but, as it proved, the Americans won in spite of Gates. Sev- eral battles took place, the British fighting desperately, while the Americans, under the leadership of Arnold,* were * This lost him nearly a month's time. See map on p. 172. = Howe had 18,000 to Washington's 11,000 men. ' Schuyler's enemies had made false representations to Congress. * Gates would not lead the men, and Arnold, though an under officer and without Gates' approval, did so. THE FRENCH ALLIANCE AND WESTERN CONQUEST 175 courageous and obstinate. Burgoyne saw that he could not go on. He began his retreat, but was surrounded near Saratoga. He there surrendered 6,000 men, all that was left of his army; for, besides his losses in battle, the Germans had deserted " in shoals " to the Americans. 282. Effect of the Battle of Saratoga. — The effect of this surrender was immense; the line of the Hudson was saved, the British plan of war was spoiled, and the king was so im- pressed with the military success of America that he con- sented to send three peace commissioners, who offered the Americans peace and anything thej' wanted except inde- pendence. Neither Congress nor the states, however, would listen to the offers of the men sent by the king to tempt America. The rebellion that had at first been a pygmy had now become a giant. Suggested Readings Histories: Todd, In Okie Xeiv Yorke. Harper, Decisive Battles of America (ed. Hitchcock) . Fiske, American Ke volution, I. Van Tyne, Avierica^i Revolution, 157-174. Wilson, Life of Washington. (Prince- ton and Trenton) Lodge, Life of Washington. Brooks, Century Books of the American Ret'olution. Creasy, Fifteen Decisive Battles. Scudder, Life of Washington. Drake, Burgoyne's Invasion. Wister, Seven Ages of Washington. Baldwin, Four Great Americans. Frost, Heroes of the Revolution. Soutlnvorth, Builders of our Country, IL Sources: Hart, Source Readers, No. II. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, II, Nos. 193-198. CHAPTER XXI THE FRENCH ALLIANCE AND WESTERN CONQUEST 283. French Reasons for Helping America. — That France should join America in a war upon England had seemed probable from the first. England and France had long been enemies. Many bitter wars had been fought between them but none more bitter than that for the ownership of America, which was decided in England's favor when Wolfe captured 176 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE Quebec. From that hour French statesmen watched for a time when England should be weakened and when France might avenge her shame and regain her power. 284. Secret Aid from the French. — Hardly was the revolt of the English colonies begun when France began to furnish America with secret aid. Everything that America most needed was sent — gunpowder, shot and shell, clothing, and Facsimile of a British Cartoon of the French Alliance The Rattlesnake (America) is saying: "Monsieur be pleased to accept the Frogs, I just have kill'd them in the Bogs." The Frenchman replies: "I give you thanks my good Ally, Some will make Soup, the rest a Fry." muskets for thousands of men. Some Frenchmen came to fight. Most famous and helpful of them all was the noble young Lafayette, who at his own expense fitted out his own ship and came to America to help her win independence. The greatest need, however, was the aid of the French navy, for as long as England controlled the sea, she could not be wholly beaten. But a navy cannot be secretly lent, so Con- gress determined to make every effort to draw France into an open alliance. To this end Benjamin Franklin was sent to France. Braving the terrors of a wintry sea, this man, sev- enty years of age, crossed the Atlantic in a small ship, and December 18, 1776, arrived in Paris. FRENCH ALLIANCE AND WESTERN CONQUEST 177 285. Franklin's Diplomacy and the Treaty with France.— Franklin's appearance in France was greeted with the great- est enthusiasm. Everybody knew about him. From the nobles and philosophers to the meanest peasant or the scul- lion in the kitchen, all had heard of the discoverer of electric- ity in the clouds, the writer of "Poor Richard's Almanac," and all thought him a friend to human kind. He appeared as an apostle of liberty from the land already famed for its freedom. Paris lost its head over him. He was crowned with laurels and he grew weary of sitting for busts and portraits. Amid the lace and embroidery, the powder and the perfume of the French court, walked this simple farmer figure with brown coat, round hat, and unpowdered hair. He i made himself agreeable to everybody, espe- cially to the king. Franklin praised the king for the aid he had given, but urged him to go further. At last, when the news came of Burgoyne's defeat, the king con- sented, and a treaty was drawn up (Feb- ruary, 1778) in which France agreed to a military and political alliance with the United States.^ 286. The Winter at Valley Forge.— This encouragement was needed, for the winter just past had been a dark time for lovers of America. After the battle of Germantown, Washington had retired for the winter to Valley Forge. There his soldiers suffered every want, partly because Congress could not get money from the people, and partly because unfit men in the army-supply department neglected their work. Nearl}^ 3,000 of Washington's men were unfit for duty because they were barefoot, and some were even naked. Horses starved to death and men yoked to wagons A Soldier of Congress From a drawing made by an offi- cer during the war. * This was the only treaty of alliance ever made by the United States. 178 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE brought some relief to starving comrades, who lay in huts or wigwams of twisted boughs. At evening the cry would go up from the soldiers, " No meat, no meat." Yet, '' naked and starving as they are," wrote Washington, " we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiers." He marveled that they had not mutinied. Some, indeed, deserted, but it was little wonder, for, as a Tory wrote, in Washington's camp the soldier had thirteen kings ^ and no bread, and it seemed better to serve one king and have plenty of bread. 287. The Conway Cabal. — Nothing but the devoted and patient spirit of Washington kept the army together. Yet this man who held all others to the task did not please every one. He retreated too much, it was said, and he failed when Gates, "the hero of Saratoga," succeeded. Some dis- contented men, led by a disgruntled general named Conway, put their heads together to overthrow Washington and put the weak and talentless Gates in his place. Washington's manliness and frankness uncovered the whole plot, and the " Conway Cabal " fell to pieces. A lesser man than Wash- ington would have resigned and let things go to the dogs, but he had a faithfulness that could not be driven from its task by jealousy or resentment. It is this trait that gives him a unique and solitary place among the world's heroes. 288. Steuben Drills the American Soldiers. — Some good came out of this terrible winter at Valley Forge, however, for there Baron Steuben, a brave German, who had been a soldier under Frederick the Great, earned his title of " drill- master of the American Revolution." He could not make the Patriots braver soldiers, but he could teach them the use of their weapons. Hitherto they had either left their bayo- nets at home or used them to toast beefsteak — if they had any — but Steuben drilled them until they could make a bayonet charge equal to that of the best British soldiers. ' Referring to the thirteen states. FRENCH ALLIANCE AND WESTERN CONQUEST 179 289. British Retreat from Philadelphia. — While Washing- ton's army was passing such a wretched winter at Valley Forge, the British army in Philadelphia, not a day's journey distant, lived in luxury and passed a merry winter. But by spring the British had discovered that there was nothing to be gained by holding the " rebel capital," and Sir Henry Clinton, who had been sent to take Howe's place, evacuated the city. His army began the march across New Jersey toward New York. Washington was after him at once, and at Monmouth made an attack which might have crushed Clinton but for the treachery and cowardice of General Lee.^ Steuben's well-trained soldiers saved the day by a fine bayonet charge, but the l^attle was a drawn one, and the Brit- ish army marched safely on to New York. Thus ended the British campaign for the control of the middle states. Howe had chased Washington out of New York, but Washington had chased Clinton back in, and the struggle ended where it began. 290. British and Tories Try to "Wear Out" the Ameri- cans. — Now that the great plan of the British for conquer- ing America and capturing the " rebel " army had failed, their war methods degenerated into an effort to wear out the Americans by raids, by attacks on their frontiers, and by burning their seaports. IMuch of that work was done by Loyalists, who either formed " Tory " bands of their own or joined the regular British army. 291. Raids on the Frontier.— It greatly embittered the hate of the Patriots for the Loyalists that they took part in two fearful massacres of frontier settlers. Into the beautiful Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania swept a mur- derous band of Indians, led by a Tory ranger. Colonel John Butler (1778) . They burned and slew and tortured until the name of the loveh' valley to this day suggests surpassing horror. Cherry Vallej' in central New York was likewise ' He had been received back from the British by exchange. 180 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE devastated. This aroused Congress to send General Sulli- van, who defeated the Tory forces at Newtown, though they returned and carried on their reign of terror until the war closed. In the far west the British commander at Detroit urged the Indians in his neighborhood to make raids on the settlements lately made in Kentucky.^ That we may bet- ter understand the nature of these settlements and the In- dian hatred of them we must take up the story of the English A Pioneer Train. colonists' movement across the mountains, where we left it while speaking of the causes of the French and Indian War. 292. The Westward Movement Through the AUeghanies. — We have seen how Virginia had been the first to push west- ward along the pathways that Nature had made. The trail of the deer and the bison to the salt lick became first the trail of the hunter, then the path of the fur trader, and at last the rough road over which the pioneer, moving westward to the ' Colonel Hamilton, the British commander, was known as the "hair- buying general" because, it was said, he paid the Indians for scalps. FRENCH ALLIANCE AND WESTERN CONQUEST 181 vacant back lands, toiled with rude wagons and ever-ready rifle. Scotch-Irishmen and Germans from Pennsylvania, pushing westward for fertile and vacant lands, had en- tered the trough of the Great Valley between the Blue Ridge and the AUeghanies, and following the path of least resist- ance, had turned southward, settling the Shenandoah Valley and the plateau lands of western North and South Carolina. By 1768 they had passed from the valleys of rivers flowing oceanward to the upper valleys of rivers flowing westward into the Tennessee and Mississippi. 293. Boone and Robertson. — Before the first battle of the Revolution was fought, the famous hunter Daniel Boone had ventured into "the country of Kentucke," while James Rob- ertson and his neighbors from North Carolina had begun a settlement of the fertile lands on the Watauga, now in Ten- nessee. A little later Boone led the hardy pioneers to a beautiful region, now known as the "Blue Grass " country in Kentucky. As the Indians had made hunting grounds of Kentucky and Tennessee, there were no Indian towns, and besides, the fertility and pleasing climate and numerous salt springs ^ tempted the home-seeking pioneer. Both the Ken- tucky and Tennessee settlements grew rapidly, a great wedge, so to speak, driven into the Indian country. Just as Captain John Smith and his fellows in Virginia, and the Pilgrims in New England, had made the entering wedge for English civ- ilization on the Atlantic coast of America, so Boone and Rob- ertson and their fellows began the English settlement of the Mississippi Valley, which is now the home of so large a part of the American people. 294. Indian Attacks on the Western Settlers. — The Indi- ans saw with unrest the coming of the fanning pioneer; he came not for a day, like the fur trader, but to build his home and to stay. Enraged by the invading pioneers, the South- ' Such springs were very necessary as a source of salt after men left the seaside, the principal source of salt in early days. 182 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE ern Indians rose first and attacked the Watauga settlement which had just begun in that region, but James Robertson and John Sevier defeated and cowed them (1776). In the next year there came from north of the Ohio raid after raid upon the Kentucky settlements. The Indians were urged on, as we have seen, by the British commander at Detroit. The terrors of savage warfare drove many of the Kentuck- ians from their rude cabins and log forts until only a few hun- dred remained. Of these the greatest was George Rogers Clark, a daring hunter and a born leader of men. He saw that the British influenced the Indians through the French who still remained in the fur-trading posts of the Northwest, especially at Kaskaskia and Vincennes.^ Securing a com- mission and money from the Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry, he got together a band of sturdy fight- ers, and set out to take the French towns and to save the West. 295. George Rogers Clark.— The little force floated down the Ohio in flatboats, and from near its mouth marched to Kaskaskia. Surprising the place, they easily took it, thus securing the respect of the Indians of that region, who called Clark the "Big Knife Chief." Hearing that Colonel Hamilton with Tories and Indians was holding Vincennes,^ Clark started overland to take it. It was a terrible march over bog " The first on the Mississippi and the second on the Wabash. - The French inhabitants had raised the American flag under persuasion from a messenger of Clark's. As to this journey, read Churchill's charming story " The Crossing." The account in Roosevelt's " Winning of the West " is fascinating. Clark's Campaign in the West. FRENCH ALLIANCE AND WESTERN CONQUEST 183 and flooded lowlands. Sometimes the men were neck deep in icy water; they had to camp on a hillock in drizzling rain, and shiver without food or fire until morning. Yet they wallowed on, breaking the thin ice of streams, and keeping up courage by song and threat and jibe. At last the town came in sight. By a ruse, Clark deceived the enemy as to the size of his force, and Colonel Hamilton surrendered, Febru- ary, 1779. Clark's bravery was rewarded when, in the treaty of peace (1782), all of this rich land was ceded to the United States. 296. Stony Point and "Mad Anthony" Wayne.— While these events were happening in the West, the British in New York, aided by Loyalist refugees, were continuing the war of desolation and making marauding expeditions. Almost the only attempt at a regular campaign was the taking of Stony Point, upon the Hudson, June, 1779, as if to try again to split the colonies along that line. A month later " Mad Anthony " Wayne retook this fort from the British by a val- iant bayonet charge at midnight. 297. Persecution of the Loyalists. — All of the marauding raids, which were the chief features of the war in 1778 and 1779, were laid to Tory hate, and the Whigs, resolving to have an eye for an eye, increased their persecutions. The Loyalists who remained at home among the Patriots were fined, imprisoned, and banished, and even put to death.^ The estates of those who had fled were confiscated. The many fine men who were thus banished were a serious loss to America. It is from a study of this struggle between Whigs and Tories that we see the American Revolution to have been a civil war in America as well as a war between England and her rebellious colonies. * Besides legal action against them, there was the mob with tar and feathers, which some escaped only by flight and weeks of skulking in the woods or swamps, only to reach the British exhausted and penniless. 13 184 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE Suggested Readings Histories: (Boone, Sevier, Clark) McMurry, Pioneers of the Missis- sippi ^'aUey. Lodge and Roosevelt, Hero Tales from American His- tory. More, Benjamin Franklin. Ford, The Many Hided Franklin. Baldwin, Four Great Americans. (Franklin) Williams, Borne ^Suc- cessful Americans. Fiske, American Revolution, II. Y an Tyne, Amer- ican Revolution. Roosevelt, Winning of the West, II, 1-12, 68-84. ^\'ils()n, Life of Washingtoii. Stepping Stones of American History. Sources: Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries, II, Nos. 199, 201. Hart, Source Readers, No. II. CHAPTER XXII THE END OF THE WAR 298. The French Alliance. — After the signing of the French treaty, France gave money openly to Congress, but for a time did not aid much with the army she sent to America. How- ever, she persuaded Spain to help her fight their old enemy, and by attacks on England and the West Indies kept the British busy. She helped, too, in fitting out American ships. 299. Paul Jones and America's Navy. — The war had scarce begun when Congress felt the need of a navy to enable Amer- ica to cope with England, whose navy was the most powerful in the world. But for privateers^ with " letters of marque and reprisal"" from Congress or the states, America would have made a sorry figure on the seas. After the alliance, France aided some of the boldest of our American seamen with ships and money, that they might do some real damage to English commerce. The most famous American so aided was Captain John Paul Jones, who with the ship Ranger had spread terror among the British seaports. In 1779 the French Government fitted him out with five vessels, his flagship being the Bon Homme Richard. With crews made up of men from a dozen nations, many of them rascals who feared nobody but ' Privately owned vessels fitted out to prey on the enemy's commerce. ' Without these letters the seamen could be seized and hanged as pirates if they captured the ships of another nation. THE END OF THE WAR 185 the daring Paul Jones, he preyed on the British coasts, until his name became a terror to English seamen. 300. Battle Between the Serapis and the Bon Homme Richard. — Off Flamborough Head the Richard came upon the Sera- pis, an English frig- ate. They closed in one of the bloodiest naval fights of history, Jones even lashing the British vessel to his flagship that there might be no escape. Both ships were afire, the Richard^Wing, with water and the decks covered with dead and dying,^ when the Brit- ish captain surren- dered. The defeat was a severe blow to a proud nation that claimed to '' rule the waves." All the world talked of the heroic Paul Jones, and then began America's rise as a sea power. 301. Dark Days in America. — It was well that America had this cheering news, because, for a time thereafter, her ' The British captain, it is said, asked Jones, whose ship seemed to be sinking, whether he had struck his flag. "I haven't yet begun to fight," Jones answered. Portrait of Paul Jones Drawn from life by ' the Citizen Renaud," and published as the frontispiece of rare French memoirs of .Jones. 186 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE outlook grew steadily blacker. The winter of 1779-80 was one of suffering for the American army. The situation was " the most distressing of any since the beginning of the war," wrote Washington in January, 1780. " For a fort- night past the troops, both officers and men, have been perish- ing for want. They have been alternately without bread or meat the whole time " — sometimes without either. There was every^vhere a weariness of war. 302. The Evils of Paper Money. — It was little wonder men were tired of war, for many who were least able were suffering The Paper Money of Congress. because of the state of money matters. With an army and navy and post office and ambassadors to be supported, Con- gress did what the colonies had long been in the habit of doing — issued paper money. Why tax when the printer could turn out bushels of money ? Such magic did not work after a few months, for people doubted whether Congress could ever redeem the paper. Merchants could change prices, and so THE END OF THE WAR 187 they charged more to make up for the lower value of the money. Prices began to look absurd. Samuel Adams, who always was poor, could now wear a suit and hat worth $2,000, and his tea^ cost him $90 per ' pound — in paper money. Congress tried to rid itself of the mill- stone of paper money by getting loans from France, loans from the American people, and finally asked the states to send flour, hay, and pork to the army, as if to a donation party. All schemes failed and paper money became a joke. Men talked of papering houses with it. 303. Arnold's Treason. — When the gloom over these mat- ters was at its worst, came the heartbreaking news that the brilliant General Arnold had become a traitor. All of his bravery and energy in the American cause had been ignored by the American Congress, Continental Coins. and his patriotism gave way at last to offers from the British of a rich reward if he would betray an impor- tant fort on the Hudson. Washington trusted Arnold perfectly, and at his re- quest gave him command at West Point. The British sent IVIajor Andre to ar- range secretly with Arnold the plan of surrender, but Andre was captured while return- ing, and his papers exposed the whole plot. Arnold escaped to the British, but Andre was hanged as a spy (October 2, i\/i,yi/ii'' The House at Tappan in which Andre was Imprisoned. ' On which he had refused to pay threepence taxes. 188 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 1780). Washington was in despair. " Whom can we trust now? " he cried, when he learned of Arnold's treason. The misguided man not onlj^ betrayed his country, but was false to his commander, who had been his friend. Because of ,... 5 /.. . <;<-^ • "?66_ . tl. 1 *1 tei /.-?!../> . FACtel.MlLE OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY Wa.SHINGTO^s TeLLING OF Arnold's Treason. that his character is, as Franklin said, " on the gibbet, and will hang there in chains for all ages." 304. War in the South. — But dark as all things were for America, the light was even then about to break. Two years THE END OF THE WAR 189 before Arnold's treason the British had turned their attention toward the South. King George, thinking half a loaf better than none, hoped to keep the southern half of his colonies at least. The new plan worked well at first. Savannah was captured by General Clinton (1778), and then Charleston fell (1780). Clinton then sailed back north, leaving Lord Cornwallis to subdue the whole State of South Carolina. 305. Marion and Sumter. — About the only resistance Cornwallis met was from small bands of men led by the Pa- triot leaders, Andrew Pickens, Francis Marion, and Thomas Sumter. But for them, Cornwallis complained, South Car- olina would be at peace. They kept the little flame of rebel- lion burning by swooping down from the woods and moun- tain valleys in desperate attacks upon the British and their Loyalist allies. 306. Gates' Defeat. — Hearing of the brave, unaided fight these men were making, Congress sent Gates, the " hero of Saratoga," to help them. He gathered a small army about him, which was badly beaten at Camden (August 16, 1780) as a result of his stupidity. His own flight^ he described as being " carried far to the rear by the rush of the fleeing militia." 307. King's Mountain.— After the battle of Camden, the British leader, Cornwallis, sent Colonel Ferguson to enlist Loyalists, who were thought to be numerous in the highlands of South Carolina. Soon, however, Ferguson's band of a thousand men was surrounded on King's IMountain (Oc- tober, 1780), by frontiersmen from the new settlements beyond the Alleghanies. The steady, ruthless advance of these Western Indian hunters, dodging from tree to tree on the mountain side, was more than Tory heart could stand, and when Ferguson, their leader, fell, the white flag was raised, and seven hundred Tories surrendered. 308. Greene Turns the Tide. — The affair at King's IMoun- tain put a little heart into the Patriots. Except for that, the ' He fled 200 miles in two and one half days. 190 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE year's work had been a failure. In the spring of 1781 General Greene, who had been sent to take Gates' place, gathered the Southern militia about him. Two important battles were lost by Greene, one at Cowpens and one at Guilford Court House (March, 1781), but in both he turned defeat into ad- vantage, and by the autumn he had the British penned up in Charleston. Though he had lost nearly every battle, he had practically won the campaign. 309. Cornwallis Pursues Lafayette.— In despair of really defeating Greene, Cornwallis turned toward Virginia to aid Arnold, now fighting on the side of the British, in the capture of Lafaj^ette, to whom Washington had intrusted an army there. From the sea to the mountains and back again Corn- wallis chased Lafayette, declaring the " boy " ^ could not escape, but yet unable to trap him. Tired out at last, Corn- wallis fortified Yorktown, and Lafayette settled down to watch him. 310. British Surrender at Yorktown.— At last the moment had come for the French to render a great service. An army under Rochambeau, sent from France in 1780 to aid Wash- ington, was at Newport, R. I. A French fleet was coming up from the West Indies. Here was the chance, and Washing- ton seized it. Rochambeau's army was sent for. It joined Washington's army, and the whole force marched rapidly southward. Hastily a British fleet was sent to Cornwallis' aid, but already the French admiral, De Grasse, was guard- ing the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. The British fleet was beaten off by the French fleet, and the united French and American armies when they came to Lafayette's aid so pressed and bombarded Cornwallis that on October 17, 1781, he sur- rendered. His soldiers marched out and laid down their arms to the tune " The World's Turned Upside Down." 311. Lord North Resigns. — The messenger, who brought the news to Lord North that Cornwallis' army was taken, says that North threw up his hands in despair. " It's all ' He was then twenty-three years old. THE END OF THE WAR 191 L.L.MITCSCNI.OQmN.V. Field of the Campaigns in the South. 192 WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE over," he exclaimed, and so it was. The loss of Cornwallis' army alone would not have forced England to let her colonies go, but she now had not a friend among the European pow- ers. A party in Parliament had long been willing to grant American independence, and finally a motion, whose object was to end the war, was carried (February 27, 1782). Less than a month later Lord North resigned. The English Whig party now came into power, eager for peace with America. THE END OF THE WAR 193 312. A Treaty of Peace.— The American Congress sent John Ja}', Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams to meet the English peace commissioners, and after many disputes terms of peace were agreed upon. The treaty was signed at Paris in September, 1783. It provided that (1) Great Britain should acknowledge the independence of the United States; (2) the territory of the new nation was to extend from the Great Lakes to the thirty-first parallel of lati- tude, and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi; (3) citi- zens of the United States might fish in the Nova Scotian and Canadian waters as they had done when British sul)jects. At the same time Spain and France ended their war with England; and, as Spanish soldiers had conquered Florida, that part of America was ceded to Spain. The British kept Canada and Nova Scotia. Thus Spanish territory, Florida and Louisiana, bounded the United States on the south and west; and British territory on the north and northeast. 313. Results of the Revolution. — America was now free to grow naturally in her own way. She could try a government by the body of the people, instead of by a king, and might try local self-government. She could abolish legal distinc- tions between man and man, and seek to give every man an equal opportunity. America became a haven for the lovers of liberty in all countries, and the tide of migration set toward America as soon as the Revolution ended. As Franklin said during the war, " We are fighting for the dignity and happi- ness of human nature. Glorious it is for the Americans to be called by Providence to this post of honor." Suggested Readings Histories: (King's ^Mountain) Lodge and Roosevelt, Talcs from AmeT-ican History. Seawcll. Ticclvc Great Saval Captains. Fiske, American Revolution, II. Van Tyne, American Revolution. Abbot, Paul Jones and Blue Jackets of '76. Brooks, True Htory of Lafayette. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, II, Xos. 216, 214, 212, 208, 204. IV PERIOD OF THE RISE OF A STRONG GOVERN- MENT PARTY, AND OF REACTION CHAPTER XXIII DISORDER TEACHES ITS LESSON OF DANGER.— THE CONSTITUTION IS FRAMED AND ADOPTED 314. The New Problem of Peace.— To win independence from England had been the task of eight long and weary years of war. But when the treaty was signed, the young nation faced new troubles and fresh problems. The states that had once been colonies, fearing their inability to fight the war to a finish except in union, had entered into " a firm league of friendship," and had formed Articles of Confedera- tion. But it was a serious question whether, after the pres- sure of war was removed, the states would really live in friendliness. If the war was to bring its best results, men must be ready to obey reasonable laws, and the states must help their common interests by doing faithfully what was rightfully expected of them. The debt rolled up by the war must be paid, and Americans must give to the world an example of a free people living in peace and honesty and striving good-naturedly for prosperity. 315. Weakness of Congress.— By the Articles of Confeder- ation a number of important duties were given to Congress, which was made up of delegates sent from the states. Each state had as much power in Congress as had any other, and it required nine states to pass laws or resolutions concerning many of the most important matters. The delegates looked often only to the interests of their own states, and it was hard to secure agreement. Moreover, Congress had been given no power to compel obedience if a state or the people re- fused to do as Congress wanted them to do. It was early 194 THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION 195 seen by men like Washington that such a form of government — if wo can call it a government — could not last long. 316. Money is Badly Needed. — In a short time Congress was in sore straits for money. The states turned a deaf ear to the clamor of Congress for relief. Robert Morris, who had done valiant service in raising money during the Revolution, was for a time Superintendent of Finance. His reports on the condition of the Treasury were pitiful. He declared that he had no desire to remain a " minister of injustice," and soon he resigned (1784). After Morris left office, things were, if possible, in a worse condition than before. Money had been borrowed in Europe to carry on the war, and the interest on this debt had to be met; but Congress received scarcely sufficient money to pay the running expenses of the government, even when it was doing little or nothing. 317. Men Refuse to Add to the Powers of Congress. — Congress tried to get the states so to amend the Articles of Confederation that it could with its own officers collect customs duties on goods imported from abroad. But the attempt failed. The states, having heretofore collected all revenues, disliked to yield any power to Congress. What was the use of fighting in the Revolution, thought many a simple-minded man, if we are now to be taxed by a body like Congress? Why not have left the power in Parliament and be done with it? He ought to have said : What was the use of fighting, if, when the war is over, men are to refuse to do their duty, pay their debts, and obey a government which is trying to guard their interests and their country's good name? 318. Troubles with Foreign Nations.— Congress was much troubled by questions that arose with foreign nations. For England, saying that America had not honorably carried out the treaty of peace, refused to give up, on the north- ern frontier, a line of forts running from Lake Champlain to Mackinaw. Spain did not like the United States, and she refused to admit our claim to a large portion of the 196 THE RISE OF STRONG GOVERNMENT Southwest or to suffer the Western settlers freely to navigate the Mississippi to the Gulf. But most trying of all was the fact that the Barbary pirates of northern Africa, learning that America was no longer protected by English gunboats, seized our seamen and held them in captivity, demanding a ransom quite beyond the slender purse of Congress. It was plain that the Congress of the Confederation needed to have the power, not only to raise money, but to compel obedience, and to support the dignity of a strong nation. 319. The States Suspect One Another. — To make matters worse and more threatening, the states appeared daily to be more suspicious of one another. They did not know one another very well, and ignorance is often a fertile soil for dislike. To the New Englander the men of the Southern plantations appeared strange beings, and the men of the South could not see that the interests of the trading " Yankees " were their interests too. 320. Congress Needs Power to Regulate Trade.— By the Articles of Confederation, Congress was not given authority to regulate commerce. It could not, therefore, pass a navi- gation act favoring nations that favored us, nor could it exclude from our harbors the ships of countries that did not allow us privileges. Some of the states passed laws that bore heavily on the trade of the neighboring states, and the con- sequence was that the states quarreled and were distrustful of one another. It was soon evident to the wisest men in the land that to some central authority must be given the right to regulate trade with foreign nations and from state to state. 321. All Kinds of Money Are in Circulation. — The currency of the country was in a bad state. Various kinds of foreign coins were in circulation — Portuguese Johanneses, English and French crowns, Spanish dollars, and many others.^ Paper ' The coin most commonly used appears to have been the Spanish milled dollar. This was the "piece of eight," which all readers of Stevenson's "Treasure Island "will remember was the watchword of Captain Flint, the pirate's parrot. THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION 197 money was freely counterfeited, and hard money was so " clipped " and " sheared " that Washington complained that if an end were not put to the practice a pistareen would be made " into five quarters," and a man forced to carry scales in his pocket to weigh every piece that was offered. 322. Paper Money Makes Matters Worse, 1786. — The con- fusion caused by such uncertainties was bad enough, but conditions were made worse by demands that the states set their printing presses to work and print paper money. Gold and silver had taken wings and flown to the other side of the Atlantic, it was said. So seven states passed acts providing for paper money, and thus added to the hard times and confusion. Creditors wanted to be paid in gold or silver money that had good value everywhere, and not in paper money, for its value might speedily disappear as had the value of the paper money Congress had issued during the war. In some of the states, business was now badly de- ranged and even at a standstill.^ 323. Shays' Rebellion, 1786.— In the general uneasiness men began to grumble against governors and to cry out against courts and lawyers. They wanted to find a way to get on without paying debts. Discontent among the people on these subjects showed itself in its worst form in Massa- chusetts, where a dangerous insurrection broke out. Its leader was one Daniel Shays. The state troops were called out, and the rebellion was finally put down; but such an uprising filled wise men with fear for the future. " There are combustibles in every state," wrote Washington, "which a spark might set fire to." Men began to wonder whether their newly won independence was to mean disorder and failure. ' Paper money had been issued during the Revolution and to some extent in colonial days. The bills of the Continental Congress came to be a huge joke. A barber in Philadelphia papered his shop with the money, and a crowd of men paraded the streets of the Quaker town ac- companied by a dog decorated from head to tail with paper dollars. 198 THE RISE OF STRONG GOVERNMENT 324. Western Land Claims. — While things seemed to be going from bad to worse in the general affairs of the Union, Congress managed to settle one set of difficulties admirably and to perform one great act. There had been for a long time much discussion and some unfriendly feeling about the ownership of the great West.^ Six of the states — New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland — had no claim to the Western country, but the other states, asserting that their early charters gave them the title,^ claimed lands extending to the Mississippi. Finally, the states claiming land north and west of the Ohio River surrendered their claims to the Union; and Congress passed an act, the Ordinance of 1787, for the govern- ment of this region, known as the " Northwest Territory." 325. The Ordinance of 1787. — This was a very important act for many reasons. It was the basis of the system by which the government in the future was to manage new Western territory; it provided not that these Western communities should permanently l)e held as colonies, but that they should, in time, be formed into distinct republican states and become members of the Federal Union ; it declared that there should not be slavery in this old Northwest, and thus dedicated the region to freedom; it announced that " religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind,, schools and the means of education should forever be encouraged." When we consider the rapidity with which the new West was to be peopled, we can hardly overestimate the importance of the ' When, during the war, the Articles of Confederation were presented to the states, Maryland refused to accept them because she feared the large states which claimed land beyond the mountains. Three of these states-r-Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York — finally said they would give up their claims, and Maryland then signed the articles. Virginia gave up her claims to land north of the Ohio. See map on p. 192. ^ New York's claim rested mainly on a treaty with the Iroquois Indians. THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION 199 '^,,Ls.,L^^\v^^^^^^ J bill. He was persuaded * « ^^ ^^^Sm^ -M to yield, however; the treaty was signed, and thus he became, for the moment, at least, a broad constructionist like Ham- ilton. 394. Lewis and Clark Go Westward, 1804-6.— A large part of this great purchase was unexplored, and Jefferson, with money voted by Congress, soon sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark ^ to learn what he had bought. From St. Louis they paddled their boats for sixteen hundred miles up the muddy Mis- souri or marched along the shore. Part of the time on the Signing the Louisiana Purchase Treaty rrom a tablet in St. Louis, sculptured by Karl Bitter. Livingston is seated, Monroe is standing behind him, and Marbois, the French representative, is signing the treaty. Brother of General George Rogers Clark. CJ -y Tj 5a -^ £ 3 - JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY 235 upper river they were guided by tiie Indian " Bird Woman," as they called her. When at last the river became a trick- ling stream, they left it and, after riding and marching across the mountain divide, came to a westward flowing river. This they followed to its mouth, where the lifting of a fog which hung over the waters revealed the river roll- ing seaward " in waves like small mountains." It proved to be the Columbia River, which Captain Gray, in a Boston Routes of Lewis and Clark and Pike. ship, had entered in 1792. This second discovery strength- ened the claim which the United States was later to make upon the Oregon territory through which the Columbia fiows.^ These discoveries and John Jacob Astor's fur-trad- ing post, set up there in 1811, gave us in time a sea front on the Pacific, most important for our future relations with Asia. 395. Fulton Makes the Steamboat a Success, 1807.— Soon after the purchase of Louisiana came the invention of the steamboat, which gave the American people a means to ' In the meanwhile, Zebulon Pike had explored Kansas and Colorado and given the nation some idea of what had been bought in that direc- tion. 236 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT conquer this great wilderness region. Years before (1790) John Fitch had experimented with steam as a means of driving boats, but certain success came only in 1807 when Robert Fulton's boat, the Clermont, made its way at the rate of four miles an hour against the current of the Hudson River. On the trial day many came to jeer, and when a defect stopped the boat for a moment they cried " Fail- ure!" To every- one's surprise, how- ever, it soon started again, steaming away toward Al- bany. Within four years there was such a boat on the Ohio and Missis- sippi, and in 1818 the Walk-in-the-Water voyaged from Buffalo to Detroit, on Lake Erie. This saving of human toil in the navigation of rivers and lakes was of vast impor- tance in the peopling of the great West. Sailing boats and fiatboats, poled by weary men, would have been a poor means for establishing the trade and commerce of the West. Fulton's Steamboat, the Clermont. Suggested Readings Histories: Hosmer, Short History of the Mississippi Valley. Roosevelt, Winning of the West, vol. iv, ch. vii. McMurry, Pio- neers of the Bocky Mountains. Kingsley, The Story of Lewis and Clark. Hart, Formation of the Union, 176-180, 185-187. Scliouler, Thomas Jefferson. Coffin, Building of the Nation. Sparks, Expan- sion of the American People, 381-384. Wright, Stories of American Progress, 104-120. Sources: Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries, III, 367-372, 381-384. THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN RIGHTS 237 CHAPTER XXVIII THE STRUGGLE TO SECURE AMERICAN RIGHTS WITHOUT WAR 396. The Twelfth Amendment. — Before the election of 1804 an amendment to the Constitution was adopted to prevent the danger that arose in 1800 when Burr, whom the people never intended should be anything but Vice President, came very near election to the presidency. The new amend- ment provided that each elector should vote for President and Vice President on separate ballots. The rest of the old clmnsy system was kept, and we have it to this day.^ 397. Jefferson Reelected in 1804. — Under this new con- stitutional provision Jefferson was elected President and George Clinton, Vice President. Of the 176 electoral votes, there were only 14 against Jefferson. The Federalist Party was already very weak, and dr'ew the little life it had from New England. 398. The Barbary Pirates. — Jefferson's second adminis- tration was one long struggle to preserve American rights against the attacks of other nations, especially France and England. During his first administration there had been trouble with the Mohammedan states of northern Africa, whose deys and beys and pashas, as their rulers were called, used to make piratical attacks upon vessels trading on the Mediterranean Sea. It had come to be a custom of nations to pay a yearly tribute to secure their ships from this robbery. So the United States did at first, but our seeming weakness tempted the piratical princes to demand more and more until Jefferson rebelled and sent in place of gold ' The old method of apportioning electors among the states was kept, and as even the smallest state has three electors, it may have more weight in an election than its population warrants. Presidents have more than once been elected by a majority of the electors, although having only a minority of the people who voted. 238 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT some American war vessels, which soon taught the pirates to , behave themselves. 399. Affairs in Europe. — But these Mohammedan rulers were not alone in scorning American rights. Christian rulers also pressed hard upon them. This is explained by the state of affairs in Europe. The French Revolution, which caused Washington and Adams so much anxiety, had changed its character when Napoleon Bonaparte gained control of the French Government. At first he was made Consul and then Emperor of the French. He entered upon a career of mili- tary successes without parallel in history. On the Continent of Europe he became supreme, but England, protected by the British Channel and aided by her powerful navy, became just as supreme on the ocean. No French or other continental vessel was safe upon the seas, and American traders were getting rich carrying to France the products she needed, and especially those of her own West Indian islands. 400. " A Den of Pirates and a Den of Thieves."— England soon claimed that this trade was " war in disguise " — that Americans were helping France as much as if they fought in French armies. So English vessels began to seize American vessels engaged in this trade.^ Napoleon, unable to avenge this with his armies, issued a decree shutting British ships out of all European ports where his power extended. England struck back with an order blockading French ports, and Napoleon, without a ship safe upon the sea, decreed a block- ade of Great Britain. He seized in French ports as prizes all American ships which had touched in English ports. Then England issued further " Orders in Council," as they were called, against neutral commerce. As Jefferson wrath- fully said, England had become " a den of pirates, and France, a den of thieves." It seemed as if such disregard of ^ Within six months over 100 vessels were seized, often by British men-of-war cruising up and down the American coast. The most vexatious times were from 1S06 to 1812. THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN RIGHTS 239 our nation's rights would compel Jefferson to make war upon England or France, or perhaps ])oth. 401. The English Impress American Seamen.— There was still another quarrel with England. She had always held the doctrine that " once an Englishman always an Englishman," * and that when England was at war she could demand the service of her citizens wherever they might be. Now she needed every available man for her immense navy, but so poor was the pay on British ships, so hard the service, and so cruel were many of her captains, that her sailors often deserted and came to American ships, where the pay and treatment were reputed the best in the world. These men the British claimed the right to seize and impress into their service. British men-of-war were actually stationed off New York Harbor to stop " Yankee ships " and to seize men, just as likely to be real Americans as deserting British tars, who were then forced into a kind of slavery on English ships. It is true that Americans often supplied British deserters with false papers to prove American citizenship, but that was for the two governments to settle. To leave insolent captains to take the law into their own hands was to invite war, 402. Jefferson Seeks Peace. — Jefferson so hated the bar- barity of war that he tried to devise some other means to save America from insult. He sent an unavailing embassy to England, and got money from Congress for a flotilla of little gunboats to defend the coast." At last the firing upon the American frigate Chesapeake by the British vessel Leop- ard and the seizure from the Chesapeake's deck of three ' Other countries had then the same idea as to their citizens. They might come to the United States to Hve, but still they were subjects of the king under whose rule they were born. - Great fun the Federalists had over Jefferson's toj' gunboats that could be drawn up on land when not needed and guarded by a single sailor. New England did not want war with England, but if she was to fight she wanted the "wooden walls of Columbia," the sides of a big sound frigate. 240 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT American seamen, in a way most insulting to the national dignity/ forced Jefferson to a more desperate measure, though he still avoided war. 403. The Embargo, 1807 and 1808.— Because he believed that France and England must have American food products or starve, Jefferson asked Congress for an Embargo, a way of making an enemy suffer which few men had heard of outside of " Gulliver's Travels." Congress, ever obedient to Jefferson's will, passed the act. Every American vessel was thereby for- bidden to sail out of the home ports. Even coast- ing and fishing vessels were soon obliged to give bonds not to go to foreign ports. Commerce was tied to Jefferson's apron strings, men cried; ships rotted at the wharves, it was said; and sailors, ropemakers sailmakers, traders, and all who depended upon sea trade, were in danger of ruin. From New England there were protests and even threats of seceding from the Union. The Embargo did not accomplish much except to anger the people of America. It did, indeed, annoy England, but did not bring her to terms. 404. JefEerson Glad to Leave the Burden of Office. — Jefferson's policy of peaceful war was, on the whole, a failure. He gave up office in 1809, glad to be relieved of the heavy Cartoon of the Embargo Act. ' Three men had been killed and eighteen wounded by the Leopard's broadsides. People were greatly excited — Jefferson ordered all British war vessels out of American waters, and forbade any citizen to supply them with provisions and water. The British admiral was ordered out of our waters by his government, and after a time the American seamen were offered back, but the right of impressment was still claimed. THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN RIGHTS 241 burden. James Madison and George Clinton were nominated by the Republicans in 1808 and elected President and Vice President. 405. Non-intercourse, 1809. — Before IVIadison entered on his administration Congress repealed the Eml)argo, and in its place a Non-intercourse act was passed applying only to England and France and the countries immediately dependent on them. This helped American commerce some- what, for our ships could trade with the lands that were still independent of Napoleon, and from these states goods found their way to other countries. Moreover, when a ship did succeed in getting a cargo into a European port, she could sell it for so much that traders could afford to lose a vessel now and then to English and French cruisers. 406. Madison's Efforts for a Treaty Fail. — Madison began his administration with rather hopeful prospects. Many had confidence in the man whose wisdom had won for him the title " Father of the Constitution," and who had been Secretary of State for eight critical years. He set about at once trying to get a favorable treaty from England. All went well with the generous English minister, Erskine. So good a treaty was drawn up that IVIadison suspended non- intercourse with England without waiting for the treaty to be ratified, and soon a throng of grain-laden vessels spread their sails and turned their prows toward European ports. But the British Government disowned Erskine's treaty, re- called him, and sent a stubborn, wrong-headed man named Jackson, who wrote home that Madison and his Secretary of State, Monroe, were a " despicable set " and accused them of lying. Of course there was no dealing with him, and non- intercourse again stopped all trade with England. 407. The Macon Bill.— It began to be plain, even to the most peaceable men, that war with either France or England was bound to come. Napoleon devised new decrees to make legal the seizure of American vessels, and thousands of dol- lars' worth of American property was confiscated in French 242 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT ports. America was not strong enough to fight both the " den of thieves " and the " den of pirates," so Congress passed a famous bill — the Macon Bill No. 2 (May 1, 1810) — which it was hoped would decide which was to be our real enemy and which our friend. Intercourse was thereby renewed with both Great Britain and France, but if one or the other put a stop to the seizure of American ships the Congress would declare non-inter- course with the unfriendly one. Napoleon now declared his love for the Americans, and with his usual cunning ordered that Amer- ican vessels were not to be seized after November 1st — if England would do likewise, or if America would cause her rights to he re- spected by England. He had really dodged the issue, but Mad- ison, not a suspicious man, thought France had come to terms, and he got Congress to pass another act for non-inter- France in reality was about as It was more plain Tecumseh course with Great Britain. bad as before and England felt abused. than ever that war must come. 408. Tecumseh and the " Prophet " ; Tippecanoe.— Mean- while other evils happening in the United States were laid at the door of the English. Indian war broke out on the northwest frontier, caused partly by the steady advance of settlers into the Indiana Territory. The Indians had sold much of their land to our government, and Tecumseh, a great leader of the Indians, foresaw that more grants would soon be wanted. He and his brother, the " Prophet," formed the grand plan of an Indian confederation to extend along the frontier and bar the Western progress of the white man. As a result of this agitation there was some violence THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN RIGHTS 243 by the Indians. To destroy this confederation the Governor of Indiana Territory, WiUiam Henry Harrison, gathered an army, partly of regular soldiers and partly of frontiersmen. They marched to the Indian rallying place, and near the Creek Tippecanoe, where it enters the Wabash, the Indians attacked and were routed (1811). 409. A War Party in Congress. — There was a feeling, probably in a measure justified, that the Indians were counting on English support. This seemed to be one more cause for war with England, but the peaceful Madison still held back. New men in Congress began now to push him on to the struggle he dreaded. Henry Clay, a Kentuckian, thirty-four years of age, patriotic, angry at the insults to America, and zealous for his country's honor, became Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position which he soon made one of great power.^ Clay and others like him came from the Western regions, where there was no ocean com- merce, and where there were few interests to be hurt by war. Such men could think more of honor and less of the losses which a war would entail. Another young man of abiUty was John C. Calhoun, just beginning a brilliant career of forty years of public life. He came from South Carolina, where men met insult with instant challenge. The South as well as the restless West was impatient with a dallying policy of peace. Young men like these, whose advent marked a new generation of American statesmen, became leaders of a war party. 410. The Declaration of War, 1812.— Madison was at last induced to say in a message that the British Government was really making war on the United States. (1) They had im- pressed American seamen, and that in a most insulting way. (2) English warships stationed along our coast had hurt our commerce. (3) English blockades of European ports had ' His power of appointing the members of the many committees gives the Speaker a power to guide lawmaking by choosing men who think his way. 244 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT greatly injured our trade. (4) English intrigues with the Western Indians had led to Indian wars on our frontiers. In view of these things he advised a declaration of war. All Congress needed was the word and (June 18, 1812) war was declared.^ To make war on England, however, was, in fact, to join Napoleon, her implacable enemy, so that the world witnessed the strange alliance of James Madison, lover of peace, and Napoleon Bonaparte, the genius of war. Suf;GESTP:D Eeadixgs Histories: Schouler, Thomas Jefferson. Hart, Formation of the Union, 191-200. McMaster, History of the People of the United States, III, 240-246, 257-2G9, 279-307. Wright, Stories of American Progress, 121-129. Sources: Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries, III, Nos. 108, 116-119. Hart, Source Readers, Xo. Ill, 81-173. CHAPTER XXIX THE WAR OF 1812 411. Military Strength of England and America. — With a popular cry for "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights" the struggle began. Certain important conditions under which the war was fought must be remembered. Three thousand miles of sea lay between America and the home of her enemy. The English had a thousand warships, while our government owned a dozen or so. American troops could not under such conditions be sent against the islands of Great Britain, but Canada, a British possession, lay at our door, seemingly open to our attacks. England had nearly three times the population of America, but she had, with Napoleon, another greater war upon her hands, and, besides, her armies must ' Two days before, the British ministry had declared the withdrawal of their Orders in Council. A cablegram would have saved a war, but, alas! there was no cable. THE WAR OF 1812 245 come to America to protect Canada. Her armies were better trained and her people would stand greater taxation than the Americans. Finally, the Americans were not united, for New England was opposed to war, fearing that it would be the ruin of her much-vexed but profitable trade. 412. Plans of War.— It was the plan of the ambitious young leaders in Congress, the " War Hawks," to seize Canada and, as they said, to dictate an honorable peace at Quebec or Halifax. On paper their plan was masterly. It was to be a war of action, not of delay. General Hull was to take Detroit and then, joining other armies in the East, they were all to march in triumph on Montreal and Quebec. We can afford now to laugh at our forefathers, who, without a well-drilled army, without supplies, and without roads to march over, expected to perform this difficult maneuver as if on a parade ground. Of course they failed. 413. Hull's Surrender. — Hull, on getting his orders, was with his army in the settled part of Ohio. Two hundred miles of forest lay between him and Detroit, and he had to cut a road as he marched. Arriv- ing in Detroit, he crossed to Cana- da, expecting the Canadians to flock to his standard to gain freedom " from the British yoke," but they did not flock at all. The Indians, too, were in league with the British and were valuable allies during the whole of the war. In his alarm Hull crossed back to Detroit, where the British advanced upon him, and, terrified by the increasing dangers, he surrendered without firing a gun. Fort Dearborn and its Vicinity in 1812 This is the site of the present great city of Chicago. 246 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT 414. Land Campaign Fails in 1812.— With Hull's fall, the previous surrender of iVlackinaw, and the destruction of Fort Dearborn ^ by the Indians, Michigan passed into Brit- ish hands. The Eastern armies at Niagara and in the Champlain country accomplished nothing,^ and the land campaign of 1812 was a dismal failure. 415. Plans for 1813.— In the following year there were desperate attempts to retake Detroit. General Winchester, with some brave Kentucky volunteers, advanced as far as Field of the Campaigns in the West, War of 1812 the River Raisin, but General Proctor, with British soldiers and Indians, beat them, and the Indians brutally treated the wounded. General Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, was, however, able to hold his own in northern Ohio, which the British had invaded; and he hoped, if Lake Erie could be gained, to retake Detroit. 416. Perry's Victory. — To that end American enterprise was equal. Commodore Oliver H. Perry, using green timber ' Now the site of Chicago. ^ Bad roads, poor supplies, and worse discipline were the causes of failure. THE WAR OF 1812 247 Perry's Battle Flag from the forest, scraps of iron, wagon tires, hinges, and broken tools, built a fleet of vessels, poor indeed, but as good as those of the enemy. He found the British fleet and gave it battle. When his flagship, the Lawrence, was disabled, he caused his seamen to row him amidst the fury of battle to another vessel, and the fight went on. Soon the British sur- rendered (September 10, 1813), and Perry sent his famous dispatch, " We have met the enemy and they are ours." American troops could now be sent again to Detroit. An army under Harrison marched there, took the place, crossed into Canada, and defeated a British army on the RiverThames ^ (October 5) . 417. Other Naval Battles. ^Perry's victory was a severe blow to the British pride. And there were other victories. It was an English boast that Britannia ruled the waves, and that on the seas " not a sail, but by permission, spreads." Yet the Americans in the first year of the war, with a " few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of outlaws," as the English papers said, fought a series of sea duels that broke the sacred spell of British naval power. The American ship Constitution, under Captain HuU,^ met the Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia (August, 1812), and in half an hour the English frigate was " a helpless hulk in the trough of a heavy sea, rolling the muzzles of her guns under." From this news England received a sensation, said one of her statesmen, only "equaled by the most violent convulsion of nature." In a half hour the Constitution had won the respect of the world for the American navy. Nor was that the end. The American ship Wasp captured the British brig Frolic in a fight which, in a few minutes, left the brig a shattered hulk with ' Tecumseh was killed here. " Nephew of the general who surrendered Detroit. 248 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT but one unwounded man on her decks. Soon the Constitution, which came to be known as " Old Ironsides," and was now under Captain Wilham Bainbridge's command, captured the British frigate Java ojff the coast of Brazil. The frigate United States, under Captain Decatur, took the British ship Macedonian. 418. Fame of the American Navy.— It seemed for a time that American ships would prove her best defense, but the number of British ships was too overwhelming. The Chesapeake was cap- tured by the British Shannon, and in the fight the American captain, Lawrence, who as com- mander of the Hornet had defeated the British sloop Peacock in fifteen min- utes, was beaten and mortally wounded (June, 1813); his brave last words still ring in the ears of American seamen This victory brought cheer to the British, and it was some comfort to them that in the case of every one of their late defeats the American ships had heavier guns, or a greater tonnage, or more men. But the differences were slight, and the British navy had been used to giving greater odds than these. The truth was that the American ships were the best built of their time; their crews were skillful in handling the guns and were the cleverest seamen on the ocean. 419. Privateers Worry England. — When, at last, nearly all The Constitution From the model presented to the Peabody Academy of Science by Commodore Isaac Hull. — "Don't give up the ship.' ' "Fight the ship until she is sunk," seem to have been his real words, and the others are the words of the boy who took his message on deck. THE WAR OF 1812 249 the American warships ^ were bottled up by the exertions of England's vast naval force, the vessels owned by private individuals still escaped to sea and preyed upon England's immense commerce. Swarming upon the ocean and off the British bays and harbors, they captured more than twenty- five hundred British ships,^ a most vexing loss to the "mis- tress of the seas." One Captain Boyle audaciously pro- claimed in London a blockade of the whole British coast.- The terror of English merchants was measured by the high freight rates and high insurance on all vessels putting to sea. And all this was the work of a " few petty fly-by-nights," as a London paper said. While this privateering was not fatal to British commerce, it was so annoying that the merchant class of England began, after a time, to favor peace. 420. Bad Management of the War. — The patriotic Ameri- can finds more pleasure in the story of the war upon the sea than in the tale of trial and disaster on land. The war was not skillfully planned by the President and his advisers at Washington, nor were the plans well carried out by the generals in the field during the first two years of the war. Madison, who was reelected President in 1812, did not choose his Cabinet very wisely; the conduct of the war was, therefore, in weak and inefficient hands. The governors of New England refused to send militia out of their states at the President's call, and thus the region from which a large proportion of the soldiers and money must be drawn was openly opposed to the war. Bounties failed to get soldiers for the regular army, and a draft would have been resisted. 421. The End of European Wars Aids the British.— The ' The Constitution, blockaded for a time, escaped to do fell damage and win further victories. The Essex was in the Pacific Ocean taking many British prizes and actually living off the enemy, as did Drake in Elizabeth's time. But she was finally overpowered and taken. - Many American ships were seized by British cruisers, and American commerce was nearly ruined, but that might have been foreseen, while the British losses were unexpected, and therefore the more appalling. 17 250 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT years 1812 and 1813 passed with nothing done by the American armies in New York/ By that time the whole situation in Europe had changed. The hitherto unconquered Napoleon had invaded Russia, but had been compelled by a terrible winter to beat a disastrous retreat, and then to fight for two years against overwhelming odds, until he was forced to give up all he had gained outside of France and to abdicate his imperial office. Many of the veteran soldiers ,1: O N T A f^ Field of Campaigns in the North and East, War of 1812 that England had kept in Europe were now free for the war in America. But before their arrival better officers were placed in command of the American armies — General Brown, General Macomb, Colonel Winfield Scott, and Colonel Ripley — and a few victories were gained. 422. The War on the Canadian Border.— General Brown entered Canada, fought brilliant battles at Chippewa, and at Lundy's Lane captured British guns and resisted charge ' An attack was made (1813) on York (now Toronto) and it was taken and burned, but no other advantage was gained. THE WAR OF 1812 251 after charge of Britisli veterans, though obHged to give way at the last. The same bravery was shown by Maeoml), when a strong army of veterans under the British general, Prevost, attacked Plattsburg, where the American army was intrenched. Prevost was repulsed, while McDonough, on the lake (Sep- tember 11, 1814), met a much stronger British fleet, and within three hours, against fearful odds, forced the enemy to haul down their flags and beat a hasty re- treat with but a fragment of their fleet. This put an end to British invasion by way of Lake Champlain; but the American invasion of Canada had also been prevented, so honors were even. 423. The Burning of Washington. — Meanwhile, the Brit- ish had harried the Atlantic coast, blockading the ports and plundering the coast towns. Coming up the Potomac they landed an army near Washington, and meeting with but feeble resistance, entered the city (August, 1814), from which 'v~, the President and all -r >-r-s=-„ ^=^^:5:^='=sa.-= the officers of govern- ment had fled in panic. ^^- - In revenge for the 1 1 \ burning of York (To- ronto), the invaders burned the Capitol, the White House, and other public build- ings, and then hur- ried away. Both nations regretted the vandalism of their soldiers when it was too late. In a like attempt upon Bal- The Region about Wash- ington AND Baltimore .-J.& Fort McHenry and its Vicinity 252 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT timore the British were beaten off with heavy loss. An all- night bombardment of Fort McHenry, which protected Bal- timore, failed, and the "star-spangled banner" was still waving in the morning/ 424. Andrew Jackson Wins at New Orleans. — The Brit- ish now turned to an attack upon New Orleans. If they could take that and command the mouth of the Mississippi, they might detach the western states from the Union, so eager were those states for free navigation of the river. General Pakenham, an officer who had fought under Wellington,'^ came with an army of 10,000 veterans to the mouth of the Missis- sippi. They hoped for an easy conquest, but they were met by a new American military hero, Andrew Jackson, who had crushed the power of the Creek Indians in a battle at Horse- shoe Bend, on the Alabama. Hearing of the British invasion, he had come to New Orleans' defense with an army of 5,000 men, some of whom were Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen. At a very narrow place, Jackson built breastworks just behind a dry canal, and there awaited the British onslaught. A brave and determined attack they made, too, but the deadly fire of the American riflemen killed most of their commanders, and after terrible losses ^ they retreated, beaten. This bloody battle, glorious as it was for the Americans, might have been prevented had there been an Atlantic cable, for two weeks before at Ghent, in Belgium, a treaty had been made between England and America to end the war. 425. The Treaty of Peace.— As early as January, 1814, the United States had sent commissioners^ to make peace ' It was his joy on seeing the flag still in place that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star- Spangled Banner." A few weeks later the song was on thousands of American lips. ■ The British general who had just been successful in Spain, and who was soon to defeat the great Napoleon at Waterloo. ' The Americans were so protected that their loss was small — about seventy men. ^ Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, Albert Gallatin, James Asheton Bayard, and Jonathan Russell — a very strong group of men. THE WAR OF 1812 253 if possible. It was easy to see why America was tired of the war; but England was, too, for British merchants were plead- ing with their government for relief from the evils of Yankee privateering. Moreover, the British were not gaining much in America, and to conquer it seemed an unending task. With the stopping of the war in Europe, the British need for sailors was lessened, and impressment stopped. Since there was nothing to fight for, both nations wanted peace. In the treaty drawn up at Ghent, nothing was said about the things which were the real causes of the war.^ On those matters the agents of the two governments could not agree, ])ut a peace, leaving matters as they were before the war, was wished by both, and a treaty was finally signed. 426. The Hartford Convention.— The peace came none too soon, for malcontents in New England had at last, in 1814, brought about a convention at Hartford, where it was feared disunion would be advocated. Moderate men took the lead, however, who were content with resolutions asking for certain amendments to the Constitution which would check the powers of the National Government. With these resolutions and a proposal to let New England have the duties collected in its ports to use for its own defense, deputies from the Hartford Convention appeared in Washington just as peace was announced. They saw the folly of their errand, and hurried home to conceal forever, if possible, their connection with the Convention. It had been a Federalist affair, and that party then and there received its deathblow. As a party it soon ceased to exist, though its principles survived, to be embraced by the next strong- government party. 427. Results of the War.— Of the War of 1812 one feels like asking with Little Peterkin, '' what good came of it at last? " Some thirty thousand men had been lost and about ^ Impressment was, after all, a thing of the past, and no clause in the treaty was needed to put an end to it. England never attempted it again. 254 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT two hundred millions of dollars had been spent on wasteful war. America's shipping was almost destroyed and trade had suffered great losses, and yet no principle for which she had fought was settled. However, the people of America had gained in self-respect. They began to think of the United States as a nation able to stand alone. They faced about and no longer looked over the sea with the old eager interest in what England and France were doing. They strove after the war to find how best to sell their public lands, how to improve their highways of trade, how to pro- tect the new manufactures which had started up during the war, and how to develop the great Western domain toward which men were turning. The world's respect for the United States had increased, too, so that writers were warranted in calling the struggle "the second War of Independence." Suggested Readings Histories: Roosevelt and Lodge, Hero Talcs from American His- tory. Barnes, The Hero of Erie. Tomlinson, War of 1S12. Seawell, Twelve Great Naval Captains. Roosevelt, Naval War of 1812. Sehurz, Henry Clay. Gay, James Madison. Coflfin, Building of the Nation. Beebe, Four American Naval Heroes. Sources: Hart, Source Book, 218-220. Hart, Source Readers, Xo. Ill, 192-195, 217-255. Hart, American History Told hy Contempo- raries, III, Nos. 123-129. CHAPTER XXX THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT AND THE "MONROE DOCTRINE " 428. James Monroe and the "Era of Good Feeling." — At the close of the War of 1812 the United States en- tered upon a period wherein political conflicts ]:)etween great parties were not foremost among historic events. The " Era of Good Feeling" men called the years of 1815-24. James Monroe was elected President in 1816 without much ado, THE WESTWARD MOVEiMENT 255 and four years later he was reelected with but a single electoral vote against him. Yet he was not a very great man like Washington, whose nobility of character won all men to him. He was only a gallant officer of the lower rank in the Revolution, a fairly good diplomat who happened to have a hand in the Louisiana Purchase, and only an ordinary Secretary of State under Madison, but he was the choice of the Republican Party leaders, Madison and Jefferson; and there was as yet no party raised up to take the place of the old Federalist Party. 429. Manufactures and the Tariff.— But if in the years just after the war there were no great struggles between parties, there were questions of much moment over which nien fought in Congress. One of these was the question of a tariff to protect the American manufactures. We have seen how cotton manufactures had begun to grow in New England (p. 209). This growth and that of many other manufactures was assisted by the Embargo (1807), which kept our trading vessels at home and turned the foreign ships, laden with clothes and hardware and other daily needs of Americans, from our ports. The war also stopped most of our trade with England; and, at the same time, the need of money to pay our armies made necessary a high tariff on goods imported from other countries. It began then to pay ^ to make goods in America, because the prices could be raised very high before reaching the price which European merchants were obliged to ask in order to get back the duties they had paid in American ports. Men with money began to invest it in factories rather than in ships. Mills began to go up where paper, iron products, and cotton and woolen goods might be made by a number of workmen gathered in one building. 430. Manufactures Injured by End of War. — All these new industries prospered until suddenly the war with ' Even though the American laborer had to be paid higher wages than the European, and the American machines were cruder. 256 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT England ended; there was peace in England/ and the English began to send over great quantities of goods, selling at so low a price as to ruin the sale of American-made goods. Mills closed down and a cry went up for a tariff high enough to protect American " infant manufactures." 431. Tariff and the South.— Ever since 1789 there had been a tariff of some kind upon imported goods, and there seemed good reasons for raising it. Congress answered the cry for a higher tariff by passing the act of 1816, setting up a rate which seems very low to us, but which was thought amply protective then. Even South Carolina, a planters' State, with no factories of any kind, voted under Calhoun's leader- ship in favor of the tariff, for it was thought cotton manu- factures might spring up there. The South did not yet realize that ignorant negro slaves could not be used in a factory with delicate machinery. Randolph, of Virginia, warned them of their mistake. " Will you, as planters," he asked, " consent to be taxed, in order to hire another man — in the North — to set up a spinning jenny? " ^ 432. The Westward Movement. — Before the tariff began to benefit American manufactures, and at the time when mills were closing down and throwing men out of work, there was a great rush of emigrants to the West. There men could secure cheap land ^ and get a start in the world. For years swarms of land-hungry people had pushed beyond the mountains (p. 212). Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), Ohio (1803), and Louisiana (1812) had been admitted to the Union, and now, after the war, four states were ad- mitted in as many years — Indiana (1816), Ilhnois (1818), Mississippi (1819), and Alabama (1819). * After the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. ^ Implying that the Southerners could not hope to set up cotton mills themselves. ^ In 1800 Congress voted to divide government lands into small tracts and sell at "$2 an acre, i down and 4 years' time to pay the remainder." THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT 257 433. Cause of the Rush to the West.— The close of the great European wars caused a great increase in the migration from Europe to America. A more important cause for the westward movement was hard times in the East, which drove unemploj'ed men westward at the same time that the old attractions of cheap and fertile lands were drawing them hither. Good land in the river bottoms of Kentucky and Tennessee, rich timber lands in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and the fine prairie lands of Illinois tempted men to settle. All was well watered and suited to grazing.^ In the vicinity of Pittsburg, coal and iron mining began to furnish labor for men who sought employment. 434. Three Streams of Migration. — Toward these attrac- tions of the Mississippi Valley, emigrants were advancing in three main streams. The men from the far East used the Mohawk Valley, the great natural gateway to the land west of the Appalachian system. The Middle State men went through southern Pennsylvania by way of Bedford to Pittsburg, and thence down the Ohio, or up the Potomac to Fort Cumberland, and thence to the Monongahela. The Southerners passed from the upper Roanoke to the Holston and down the Tennessee, or else turned aside at Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. Some of these Southern emigrants went to Alabama or Mississippi territory by the easy level country south of the Appalachians. 435. Reasons for East to West Roads. — But ])y any of these routes there were many difficulties — mountains, swamps, sands, and unbridged streams — so that after the settlers were once over they did not care to encounter such trials again. The surplus products of the Western farmers, therefore, went down the Western rivers — first by flatboat and later by steamboat — into the IMississippi and on to the ' The cattle raisers were the first to go to a new region where there was good grass, for they could drive their surplus cattle back on the hoof to the Eastern markets. 258 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT Gulf/ Thus, merchants on the Atlantic coast lost the Western trade. These merchants all became eager to get some means of transportation across the mountains cheap enough to make it easier to send Western products — potash, lumber, hides, and grain — eastward, and to buy W^estern Traxsportixg Fkkk.ht by Flatboat necessities — hardware, clothing, and farm tools — from the East. Companies of private investors built a few roads at first on which they collected tolls from all who used them, but these did not suffice, and a great road from east to west was proposed which only the National Government appeared ' The steamboat at first actually separated the East from the West, for men could carry goods on Western rivers down to the Gulf and back more cheaply than any wagon could carry them over the Alleghanies to the East and the Atlantic ports. THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT 259 rich enough to huM. After much discussion in Congress, such a road was begun in 1811 at national expense. It began at Cumberland on the Potomac, and by 1820 a substantial road had been completed as far as Wheeling on the Ohio. This National Road became the great highway to the West, for at Wheeling travelers could take a steamboat for Pitts- burg, Cincinnati, St. Louis, or New Orleans. In later years this road was carried on nearly to the Mississippi. 436. Sights on the Trails to the West.— Birkbeck, a traveler over this road in 1817 said: '' We are seldom out of sight, as The Cumberland Road we travel on this grand track toward the Ohio, of family groups behind and before us. ... A small wagon (so light that you might almost carry it, yet strong enough to bear a good load of bedding, utensils, and provisions, and a swarm of young citizens, and to sustain marvelous shocks in its passage over these rocky heights) with two small horses, sometimes a cow or two, comprises their all; excepting a little store of hard-earned money for the land office of the district. . . . The wagon has a tilt, or cover, made of a sheet, or perhaps a blanket. The family are seen before, behind, or within the vehicle according to the road or the weather, ... A cart and single horse frequently afford the means of transfer, sometimes a horse and a pack saddle. Often the back of the poor pilgrim bears all his effects, and his wife follows naked-footed." This picture repeated a thousand times tells us vividly the homely story of the westward movement. 260 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT 437. The Erie Canal.— The great Cumberland Road, however, did not cheapen transportation enough between East and West. Water connection only, it was thought, would be able to rival the Mississippi. De Witt Chnton, of New York, saw that a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River would make New York City the commercial port of all the region of the Great Lakes and turn the trade from New Orleans. It was hard to in- duce the state lawmakers to spend millions^ of dollars on a ''big ditch," as some said with a sneer, but Clinton succeeded in winning the interest of the people and the respect of the Leg- islature. So in 1817 the work began, and in 1825 boats could pass from near Buffalo to New York City. 438. Results of Canal Building. — The cost of carrying one ton of wheat from Lak(^ Erie to the sea fell from $120 to $19. New York City sprang at once to the forefront of American cities.^ The lands of the farmers along the canal rose to three times their former value. Pennsylvania and states southward made desperate efforts with new roads and ' The first cost was seven iDillions, and repairs cost one hundred millions, but the tolls alone paid for it all. = New York's population in 1S20 was 124,000; in 1830 it was 203,000. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 261 canals ' to regain the Western trade, but New York with its Erie Canal was too favorably placed by nature and could not be outrivaled. 439. Missouri Question.— The bettering of the highwaj-s between East and West helped increase the Western popu- A Lock on the Erie Canal From an early print. lation. Soon after the war men pushed even beyond the Mississippi into Missouri and Arkansas. By 1819 the settlers in Missouri, who were chiefly Southerners, asked to be admitted as a .state in the Union. There were .so many slave- holders there that it was known that they w^ould draw up a constitution favoring slavery, and in Congress many North- ern men objected to admitting Mi.ssouri as a slave state.* Southern statesmen favored this, however, and almost for the first time it was seen V)y all that slavery was separated from freedom by a geographical line. The alarm " rang ' Thp Chesapeake and Ohio Canal wa.s a marA-cI of engineering skill, but could not rival the p]rie Canal in usefulness. 262 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT out," as Jefferson said, " like a fire bell in the night," for here was prophecy of war between North and South. 440. Forces Which Arrayed Slavery against Freedom.— How this arraying of freedom against slavery had come about we have already seen in part (p. 129). Slavery had existed at one time in all the original states, but it was not profitable in the North, least of all in New England, and not enough so to make it desirable in the Middle States. A farm hand on a little New England farm must use so many differ- ent tools, and turn his hand from one crop to another so frequently, that ignorant slave labor did not answer. As manufacturing grew, the slaves were even less use- ful, and those which were not freed were sold to the Southern planters. In the South, on the great cotton, rice, or tobacco plantations, there were but few tools and few changes of the kind of labor — just a monoto- nous repeating of the same motions which the most ignorant slave could soon learn. 441. The Cotton Gin Fastens Slavery on the South.— Then the invention of the cotton gin^ (1793) made profitable the raising of short-fiber cotton, which was the onlj^ kind ' And the slightly earher invention of machinery for spinning and weaving the cotton fiber. When a slave separated the seed from the fiber by hand, the long-fibered variety was the only kind that yielded a sufficient quantity so that its sale would pay for the labor expended and still leave some profit. A Cotton Field THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 263 that could be raised on the uplands back from the coast, and the cotton-growing area was extended from the seaboard far into the interior. Raising cotton with the aid of slaves had, by that time, become a habit, and the more cotton Free and Slave Areas After 1820 planting there was the more slaves were wanted. Thus it was that slavery gradually disappeared from the Northern States, where it did not pay, and with equal steps grew more important in the South, where it seemed to enrich the slave- holders. 442. The Missouri Compromise. — Of the original thirteen states, seven were now free and six slave,^ while of the nine states later admitted, four were free and five slave. The free and slave sections thus had an equal representation in the Senate. If Missouri, with a constitution allowing slavery, were admitted alone, the slave states would have two senators ' Some of the states indicated on the map as "Free States" were not wholly free at the date given, but "gradual emancipation" was making them so. 264 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT more than the free states.^ Moreover, the Louisiana terri- tory might be carved up into more slave states, for no ordinance protected it from slavery as the Ordinance of 1787 protected the old Northwest. In the midst of the controversy, Maine asked to be admitted as a state, and the eagerness of some New England members to get statehood for her made compromises possible. Missouri was admitted as a slave state, but from the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36° 30' slavery was forever prohibited. Maine came into the Union as a free state. Thus North and South patched up a peace, a " dirty bargain " as Randolph called it, but this was only the first appearance of the great question, whether the institution of slavery was to be allowed to expand to the western territories. 443. The Buying of Florida. — While slavery was gaining a western extension in Missouri, it also gained a new area in Florida. Florida belonged to Spain,^ but that weak nation only half governed it, and it was a place of refuge for runaway negroes, hostile or mischievous Indians, and bad white men, who not infrequently came back into American territory to do some deed of thieving or violence. Cattle were stolen, and men and women and children murdered. General Jack- son was sent to bring the marauders to terms. This he did with his usual thoroughness. He marched into the Spanish territory, punished the Indians, seized a Spanish fort (April, 1818), and even put to death two Englishmen who were charged with being spies. He greatly exceeded his rightful authority, but it was plain that Spanish rule was hopelessly weak. Spain was now ready to sell, and we purchased Florida ' The North, with its varied industries to attract the European immigrants, had grown faster than the South, and had 105 representa- tives in the House to 81 slave-state members, so the struggle was for power in the Senate. ^ The United States had taken possession of what was called West Florida, claiming it as part of the Louisiana Purchase. THE MONROE DOCTRINE 265 for five million dollars (1819). It was 1821 before the treaty was fully ratified by both nations. 444. Spain's Colonies and the " Holy Alliance."— Florida was one of the last of ^Spain's possessions in America. All her South and Central American colonies had rebelled, one after another. Poor, weak Spain, though unwilling to grant the liberties demanded, could not hold the colonies whose struggle was strengthened by able leaders like Bolivar and San Martin. The kings of four European countries ^ had formed what they called the " Holy Alliance " to help each other put down rebellions, then so common in Europe. They planned to send their united fleets and armies across the seas to set up Spain's power again in her American colonies. The people of the United States, however, who had themselves rebelled, had great sympathy for the South American colonies and wished to recognize their independ- ence. Besides, our people feared lest sometime European armies might be sent here to overthrow our free institutions. 445. Necessity for Action. — It was plain that we must speak out plainly in opposition to the interference of Europe; we could not stand by and see the armies of monarchs over- throw the free governments of the Southern Continent. There was another difficulty. Russia was making claims to a large portion of the Pacific coast and acting as if the Ameri- can continent in the west was still open to colonization, as it had been two centuries before. This difficulty had also to be met. 446. The Monroe Doctrine.— Urged on by John Quincy Adams, who was Monroe's Secretary of State, the President, in December, 1823, said, in his message to Congress, certain things which it was hoped the European rulers would read and ponder. (1) America is no longer open to colonization — a warning to Russia; (2) we have not interfered with the affairs of Europe and we do not intend to interfere; (3) we do ' Russia, Prussia, Austria, and France. 18 266 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT not expect Europe to interfere with our affairs on this side of the water, and, if the kings of Europe should try to over- throw the new, free, independent governments of South America, we should consider this a mark of " unfriendly disposition toward the United States." That was much the same as saying: '' If you send your troops to South America, we will have to join in the fight." England, it was known, felt with us. Russia therefore promised not to colonize south of the present southern point of Alaska (54° 50'), and the Holy Alliance let Spain's colonies alone. At various times before this our statesmen had openly said that we wished to keep free from the troubles of Europe — remember, for example, Washington's farewell address, and Jefferson's inaugural address. But the Monroe Doctrine was the complement to the earlier statement, the mate to it, one might say — " If we keep from bothering you, you must keep from bothering us." Suggested Readings Histories: (Eli Whitney) Sherman Williams, Some Successfid Americans. Musick, Stories of Missouri. Renohls, Makers of Ar-kan- sas History. Hart, Formation of the Union, 233-244. Schurz, Henry Clay, I. American Statesmen Series, James Monroe, 152-174. Amer- ican Statesmen Series, John Quincy Adams, 130-138. Hale, Stories of Inventions. Sparks, Expansion of the American People, 211-248. Sources: Hart, A7nerican History Told by Contemporaries, III, Nos. 130, 135-148. Hart, Source Book, 234-240. CHAPTER XXXI NEW PARTIES AND THE TARIFF 447. Splitting of Republican Party. — As Monroe's second term neared its close (1824) and the time for presenting new candidates approached, the era of political good feeling suddenly ended. There was still onlj^ one great party — the Republican — but it was split into factions, each with its NEW PARTIES AND THE TARIFF 267 leader, and each anxious to keep the old party name. Though at least one of the leaders had ideas of government which were more like Hamilton's than like Jefferson's, yet none dared take the ill-omened name of Federalist. Men rallied, therefore, about the names of men rather than about the names of parties. Those who favored John Quincy Adams or Henry Clay, two of the candidates, knew that their candidate would favor a liberal construction of the Consti- tution and the building of roads and canals at the expense of the National Government. About Andrew Jackson rallied, first, those who admired his military successes or his frontier traits, and, secondly, those who thought he would favor strict construction of the Constitution and States' Rights. 448. The Party Splits on Sectional Lines. — Besides these reasons for clinging to one or the other candidate were cer- tain reasons based on the interests of the section where a man lived. The South favored John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, and W. H. Crawford, of Georgia, because they would favor Southern interests. Clay and Jackson, too, found great favor in the West, simply as heroes of that sec- tion, in just the way Adams drew many supporters from his section. New England. 449. Sectional Interests. — By the time of the election of 1824 these sectional interests had become well marked. New England, once chiefly interested in commerce and fish- ing, was coming to use the power of falling water in her short, rapid rivers for manufacturing cotton and woolen goods. New England, therefore, wanted a tariff wall to protect her infant manufactures. In New York the farmers of the Mohawk and Hudson valleys, and the merchants of the great seaport. New York City, wanted their interests looked after. In Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, the other central states, there was a great area of small farms, but there was also a rapidly growing interest in the manu- facturing of iron.^ South of the Pennsylvania line there was * The great coal fields had just begun to be developed. 268 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT -^% Weighing Cotton in the Field almost no interest but that of the great plantations raising tobacco, rice, and cotton. Here, too, there was much dis- content, because in Virginia the tobacco fields were worn out, their original fertility gone, and in South Carolina the price of cotton was falling, due to greatly increasing produc- tion/ Finally, the states west of the mountains and the west- ern parts of the ^JiMs, Middle States ^ ^ ^ '^^ were made up of wide -scattered farming districts needing " in- ternal improve- ments" — good roads through the forests, canals, and well- dredged rivers — to help them carry their products to market.^ These sec- tional interests affected national politics for some time to come, and were plainly seen in the campaign of 1824. 450. The Election of 1824.— After much political scheming, the election was held. The chosen electors then met in their various states and cast their ballots for the candidate they were pledged to elect. Ninety-nine voted for Jackson, eighty-four for Adams, forty-one for Crawford, and thirty- seven for Clay. Since none had received a majority of all the votes cast, the choice, as the Constitution provides, was left to the House of Representatives. By law the House must choose one of the first three candidates, so Clay was therefore out of the contest. Since Adams and Clay believed in about the same kind of government, Clay's friends were urged by him to vote for Adams. By this means Jackson was de- ' See influences of the cotton gin, p. 210. ' Since they were too poor to pay for such expensive public works themselves, they wanted the general government to pay for them. NEW PARTIES AND THE TARIFF 269 feated, to the great disappointment of himself and the West. Jackson's friends declared that the " will of the people " had been defied.' 451. The " Corrupt-Bargain " Cry. — The wrath of Jackson and his followers was increased when Adams made Clay his Secretary of State. There had been a " deal," they asserted, and Clay, the " Judas of the West," had sold his influence to Adams for the office. This cry, false as it was, ruined ;§--!§?■!.) -Adams Si Jackson. ...90 Crawford zt Clay 3T Map of the Election of 1824 Adams' whole administration. It seems a shame that one of the best-trained, most able, and most honest men that ever held the President's office was prevented by mere party hate from serving his country as he was able. 452. New Parties. — The people during the years 1824- 1828 were divided into "Jackson men" and "Adams men." The fact was that two parties were forming out of ' Of course there was no way of knowing whether it had or not. Jackson had more votes than anybody else, but if Clay and Crawford had not been in the race, all people voting for them might have voted for Adams. 270 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT the old Republican Party, and before the end of Adams' term the friends of liberal construction and of the tariff began, with Clay as their real leader, to call themselves the National Republicans. In later years they came to be known as Whigs. In some ways they were like the old Federalists, but they did not take the high tone of Hamilton toward the plain people. The strict-con- structionists and followers of Jackson called themselves Dem- ocratic Republicans, and ere- long were commonly known as Democrats. 453. Manhood Suffrage. — Besides this splitting of the Republican Party into two parties, other great political changes took place in this era (1820-30). One of them had begun in Jefferson's time, and was practically complete by the close of Adams' term (1828). This was the change from the old property or tax qualifications to " manhood suffrage " — a man was to vote simply because he was a man. In Washington's time most of the eastern states had allowed no one to vote who did not own a certain amount of property or pay a certain amount of rent. But the new western states did not thus restrict the right to vote; and the eastern states, in part from Western example, gradually adopted manhood suffrage. 454. "Down with King Caucus." — The Jacksonian de- mocracy, for so we may call the political spirit which seemed to rule political action after 1820, also began to fight for another reform — the right of the people to name their own candidates for office. Since 1800, nominations NEW PARTIES AND THE TARIFF 271 for the presidency had been made by the congressional caucus. The members of Congress belonging to each party would meet, decide upon a candidate, and announce his name to the country. Thus the people had nothing to say as to whom they would have for a candidate. Only great and successful politicians and men in favor with congressmen could hope for office. A man of the people, like Andrew Jackson, had had no chance. Thus there arose a cry, " Down with King Caucus," and the western states led in the overthrow. There men had grown self-reliant in their struggle to develop a new country, and they had no patience with airs of superiority. One man was no better than another, they held, and they wanted a President who was a man of the people. In 1824 Crawford was nominated by the congres- sional caucus; but that was the last one ever held for this purpose. State legislatures and state conventions nominated for a time, and then the national nomination convention came into use (1882). 455. "Adams Who Can Write, and Jackson Who Can Fight." — In 1828 Adams and Jackson were again candidates. The hardy frontier warrior, " Old Hickory," as men loved to call Jackson, had lived in a log cabin, had fought the Indians, was the " Hero of New Orleans," and had led the simple life of the backwoods. He was one of the plain people, and their hearts were set on his election, especially since his failure in 1824.^ Against him was John Quincy Adams, a man with few friends, too high-minded and honorable to use his office of President to increase the number of politicians who would work for him." For the first time in our history the great mass of the people began to take interest in a campaign. " Jackson is one of us," said many a man who before this had let politics alone, and he huzzaed ' A couplet of the time shows the sentiment. It ran: "John Quincy Adams who can write, and Andrew Jackson who can fight." ' He would not remove his enemies from office, or appoint his friends, or make promises. 272 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT himself hoarse over the fact that Adams did not get a vote south of the Potomac or west of the Alleghanies, and that Jackson was elected. 456. The Tariff Controversies. — Rough and uncultured as Andrew Jackson was, he was strong of will and had a warm place in the people's hearts. Before Adams' term ended and Jackson's began, a great contest had begun in Congress, which was soon to try the strength of the National Government in its relations with a state; and it was well that a man with the confidence of the people was President when the crisis came. The cause of this struggle was the tariff. 457. The " Tariff of Abominations."— The very first Congress (1789) had laid a low-tariff duty, but its main purpose was to raise money to run the government. After the War of 1812, however, there had been, as we have seen, an appeal to Congress for a tariff high enough to keep out European goods, and thus leave the home market to the new American manufactures. Congress passed such an act, but it did not make the rate high enough, and in 1824 a new law, urged by Henry Clay,^ was passed, raising the duties still higher. By this time the Southern statesmen opposed the high tariff, because there were no manufactures in the South, and protection did the South no good. Four years later still another act was passed. It was so bad in some ways that it came to be known as The "Tariff of Abominations." It pleased nobody. 458. North and South Disagree About the Tariff. — Against this ill-made tariff bill there came protests from many quarters, but most important was that from John C. Calhoun, representing the interests of South Carolina.^ The pro- tective tariff law was unconstitutional, he said, and such a law might be nullified by a state. In other words, the ' He argued for what he called the "American system," i. e., a plan to make America self-supporting. ^ Randolph had declared that the bill was to " rob and plunder one half of the Union (the Southern) for the benefit of the residue." THE COUNTRY IN 1830 273 state might forbid the United States customs officers to collect the tariff within the state limits. If that were true, there would be an end to all effective government at Wash- ington, and we should go back to the troublous times of the Confederation period. By the time Andrew Jackson was inaugurated, all thinking men were worried and fearful of this menace to the strength of the National Government. Suggested Readings Histories: (II. Clay) Williams, Some Successfid Anie7-icans. Hart, Formation of the Union, 246-251, 260-262. Wilson, Division and lieunion, 17-18. American Statesmen Series, Benry Clay, John Quincy Adams. Wright, Industrial Evolution of the United States, 144-152. Sparks, Men Who Made the Nation. CHAPTER XXXir THE COUNTRY IN 1830 459. New Men and New Enterprises. — In order that we may understand the events of the administration of President Jackson, we need to take a general view of the country about 1830, and to compare it with the United States of Washing- ton's time. We shall find it a different country, ruled by different men. The places of Washington, Hamilton, Adams, and Jefferson had been taken by Jackson, Clay, Calhoun, and Webster. We must notice that the two statesmen who most influenced the people — Jackson and Clay — came from west of the Appalachian Mountains. If the West did not actually rule the East, the East no longer determined the destinies of the West. Moreover, the bustle and hurry of the West had seized upon ever^'body. The sleepy times, when America had gazed lazily toward Europe, had fully changed, and America was proud — too proud, as travelers agreed — of her own enterprise and prosperity. A new race seemed to have spread through all the wide domain. 274 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT 460. Growth of Territory and Population. — In 1789 there were about four millions of people in the United States, the great majority dwelling within about sixty miles of the At- lantic seashore. By 1830 there were thirteen millions of people, who spread from the Atlantic seaboard, with its man- ufactures and commerce, into the land beyond the Missis- sippi. Even far away in the Rocky Mountains, the fur traders mingled with the Indians. The traveler toward the west, leaving the old seacoast states, passed through a vast area of farm and grazing land, where far- mer and ranchman strove for a living and dreamed of riches. Since the earliest adventurer had pushed beyond the Alle- ghanies, the forest farms with their log cabins had become villages with frame houses, and here and there a modest town had become a thriving city. The Indians and the forests had given way, they and other barriers receding ever farther toward the west. The buy- ing of Louisiana and Florida had more than doubled the size of the United States, but population had more than kept pace with the expanding territory.^ 461. Growth of Cities and Its Results.— In this growth the cities of the East had especially shared. In New York City, the thirty-three thousand inhabitants who might have seen Washington inaugurated, had become by 1830 over ' In 1789 the United States embraced 800,000 square miles, but in 1830 the area was 2,000,000 square miles. See map facing p. 234. Distribution of Population in 1830 THE COUNTRY IN 1830 275 two hundred thousand. It was now seen that with her magnificent harbor, and with the Hudson River and the Erie Canal offering lines of connection with the interior, New York City was to be one of the great cities of the world. In other places good water power had caused the rise of large manufacturing towns whither laboring men flocked. The large size of some of these cities made the problem of feeding and warming large numbers of people living in small areas a very important one. Wood, burned in open fire- places, became too dear, and gave way to the hard coal, or anthracite, lately found in Pennsylvania; and this needed a new kind of stove in which it might be burned. From coal, too, gas was made, and then the streets were lighted, and people that could afTord it gave up the tallow dip or the sperm- oil lamp. In the larger cities men were forced to live so far from their business that omnibus ^ lines and then horse cars^ running on iron tracks came into use. 462. Marvelous Growth of the West.— While the East was showing some growth, especially in the cities, a more astonishing growth of population was seen in the western states, and in the western parts of eastern states like Vir- ginia, New York, and Pennsylvania. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio had, in the ten years preceding 1830, added a million and a half people to the previous population. Indiana and Illinois had more than doubled their population. In a little over a generation Ohio's " fresh, untouched, unbounded . . . wilderness " had become a populous state with more people than Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. The ' Omnibus is the Latin word meaning "for all" or "for everybody." ' First used in New York in 1832. An Early Horse Car 276 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT West now had more votes in the House of Representa- tives than any other section, and it was plain that its poUtical leaders and their ideals would compel attention if not actually rule. Only a few years before, the forests of the West had opened their gates to the poor, the discontented, and the downtrodden, and now their children were prepared to gov- ern the nation.^ 463. Life on the Frontier.— What had changed these men of the " Western World," and made them different from the Americans of the Atlantic seaboard, was the life they led on the rough frontier. First they had experienced the trying journey through forests, over mountains, and down streams to the lonely spot in the woods — the one hundred and sixty acres which they had "taken up" at the government land office.^ There, in a hastih^ built *' half-faced camp," or open shed of poles,^ the family lived until trees could be cut for the log cabin, the universal home of the backwoodsman. Meantime, the trees were " girdled " by cutting an encircling notch which stopped the sap and killed the foliage. Then, in ground thus laid open to the sun, the corn and potatoes * Presidents Jackson, Harrison, Polk, Taylor, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, McKinley, and Taft have come from the country beyond the Appalachians — "The West." ■ The government had at first sold large tracts of land to companies, which then sold to actual settlers. Then for a time the government sold small tracts to settlers and trusted them until they could pay, but about 1820 the wiser plan was adopted of selling at a low price — $2 per acre or thereabouts — for cash to actual settlers. ' In such a camp lived Lincoln, the future President, when his father left Kentucky and, crossing the Ohio on a raft, came to Indiana. A Frontier Log Cabin THE COUNTRY IN 1830 277 and wheat were planted. So far were the settlers from any place where furniture, tools, or food were sold, that, ex- cept for the few things brought with them, all must be made from the forest. Brooms were made of corn husks; chairs and tables were hewn from the trees. 464. Men Become Self- Dependent. — These condi- tions matle men inventive, resourceful, and independ- ent. On the rough frontier no one was rich and few were very poor; every one was judged by his success, and not by his family tree. A shrewd man, who chose land wisely, was often fol- lowed by others; he might then cut his land into town lots, name the town for him- self,^ and, as the owner of the first store or mill, become the foremost man of the village. Men like this were the leaders of the frontier. 465. The Need for Railroads. — With this rising, active, and thriving society west of the Alleghany Mountains, the merchants and manufacturers of the East grew ever more eager for close relations. To get their trade New York had built the Erie Canal, and Pennsylvania had tried in vain to rival this "big ditch" with almost impossible canal schemes and an inclined or "portage" railroad to climb over the mountains. It was little wonder, therefore, that the states outrivaled by New York turned eagerly to consider the Homemade Implements Frontiersman ' Look on the map and see how many western towns are evidently named after men who first dwelt there. 278 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT Method of Transporting Freight Before THE Time of the Railroad idea of railroads with wagons drawn by a steam engine, like the one George Stephenson had lately made in England.^ 466. The Earliest Railroads.— Already there had been some use of wooden rails, over which wagons with flanged wheels were drawn by horses or driven by sails. In 1827 Massachusetts, eager to get some of the benefits of the Erie Canal, planned a rail- road from the seaport of Boston to Albany, on the Hudson River. This was used by every one who had a wagon with flanged wheels. In 1828 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was begun. As Charles Carroll, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, opened the work by driving the first spade into the ground, he said: "I consider this among the most important acts of my life, second only to that of signing the Declaration of Independence." Could he have foreseen the immense influence the railroad and the locomotive were to have on our nation, binding it together and making its unity possible, he need not have hesitated to say that it was the greatest event in which he had taken a prominent part. 467. Steam Locomo- tives. — Steam locomo- tives were first success- fully used in South Carolina in 1831. there was much doubt as to the One of the First Steam Engines But even after that railroad's success at * As early as 1814 he had made his first engine, "PuflBng Billy," but not till 1825 could he be said to have fully succeeded. THE COUNTRY IN 1830 279 first; steam engines went well only on level ground, and many improvements were needed to make the roads safe. Railway Travel in 1831 Year after year, however, trains went a little faster; locomo- tives, rails, and roadbeds became a little better and travel noSTON AND WORCESTER RAIL ROAD- THE Passenger Cars witl continue to run daily from ihe Drpol near Washington street, lo Newton, al 6 and 10 o'clock, A.M. and at 3i o'clock, P. M- and Returning, leave Newion at 7 and a quarter past 1 1, A.M. and a quarter before 5, P.M. Tickets tor the passage either way may be had at the Ticket Office, No.Cl7, Washingion street ; price 3ii cents each ;»iid lor the return passage, of the Master of the Cara, Newton. By order ofthe President and Directors. a 29 epistf FA WfLLIAMS, Clerk. Advertisement of the First Passenger Train in Massachusetts, May, 1834 became easier and safer. ^ In 1834 the first long railroad was completed. It extended one hundred and thirty-seven ' By 1831 a speed of fifteen miles an hour had been reached. When a line was opened from Albany to Schenectady, there was a dinner with speeches; among the sentiments applauded was this: "The Buffalo Railroad — may we soon breakfast in Utica, dine in Rochester, and sup with our friends on Lake Erie." 280 GROWTH OF AMERICAN SPIRIT miles, from Charleston, S. C, to a town near Augusta, Ga. Men then came to understand those living far from them, and the West was gradually bound to the East. The customs and ways of thinking of the one became known to the other, and both were better for this. 468. Social Reforms. — In these days, too, came many social reforms. Men felt more kindly toward those who were unfortunate. Free schools sprang up everywhere; asylums and homes were built for homeless old folks, for the insane, and for orphan children. Imprisonment for debt was partly abolished. Even criminals were looked upon with more charity. Prisons were cleansed of their dirt and filth, and better food and care were given the prisoners. No longer were they branded on cheek and forehead to disgrace them, and the pillory and stocks were done away with. Instead of being kept in idleness and whipped for the vicious habits that came from this, prisoners were set to work learn- ing trades which made an honest life possible. In many ways people became more humane, and more practical. 469. Schools and Colleges.— With the coming of more leisure to the people of the United States, more time was given to learning and culture. The schools of the land grew steadily better. In the West, where there were large tracts of public lands, the government gave one-thirty-sixth part in each state to support education.^ In the larger towns high schools were added to the elementary grades, and then normal schools were set up to prepare teachers to meet the growing demand. In the East the colleges improved their methods, began teaching the sciences as well as literature and the arts, and drew many more students than of old. ' One section in each township was given for education. Nothing in our history is more important than this beginning and the growth of free pubhc education. In 1837, with the admission of Michigan into the Union, came also plans for a state wide system of education, in- cluding the common school and the university, a system now common in all the great West. THE COUNTRY IN 1830 281 470. "Who Reads an American Book?" — There arose also a real American literature. No longer could the English wit ask, " Who reads an American book? " The practical literature of the older days — like Franklin's " Poor Richard's Almanac," and the political pamphlets, such as *' The Fed- erahst" — was supplemented by genuine pure literature. Cooper's Indian and scout stories, Irving's legends and his humorous history of New York, and Bryant's simple poetry began to please not only Americans but Englishmen as well. In Jackson's time some of America's greatest literary men began to delight all true lovers of books. Longfellow and Poe, Emerson and Holmes, Lowell and Hawthorne were writ- ing the most charming verse and prose, while Bancroft, Motley, and Prescott began to write history which was worthy of the scholars of any land. In Jackson's adminis- tration, therefore, Americans began to be proud of being Americans and to feel sufficient unto themselves. Suggested Readings Histories: Howells, Stories of Ohio. Thomson, Stories of Indiana. Wright, Stories of American Progress, 179-194. Sources: Hart. American History Told by Contemporaries, III, Nos. 165-167, 155. 19 Thbeshing Grain with a Flail VI PERIOD OF THE RISE OF POLITICAL POWER IN THE WEST AND THE ANTI- SLAVERY MOVEMENT CHAPTER XXXIII JACKSON AND THE BANKS.— THE NULLIFICATION TROUBLE 471. Jackson's Inauguration. — When Andrew Jackson came to Washington for his inauguration, the plain people, especially those of the West, felt that they were at last really in possession of the government. " A monstrous crowd swept down on Washington to see the ceremony. They really seemed to think that the country was saved from some dreadful danger." The mob upset the pails of orange punch, broke the glasses, and in their muddy boots stood upon the " damask-covered chairs to see the old hero." Adams, the " aristocrat," was turned out, and Jackson, the " man of the people," was welcomed in. 472. Jackson, the Typical Westerner.— There was, indeed, something lovable about this tall and spare man, with his great mane of hair and his courteous, military bearing. Honest and upright, frank and cordial, his ways were simple, and he always strove to please the people, among whom his life was spent and to whose aid he had come when danger threatened them. Like them, he quarreled and fought duels, loved his friends and hated his enemies. Unfortunately, too, he was sometimes under the influence of men who were none too good and knew how to inflame his prejudices; they could smoke and chat with him, and get more of their own way than the men of his Cabinet. 473. Removals from Office. — In the crowd which came to the Capitol were thousands of seekers after office, cam- 282 ANDREW JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 283 paign " workers," asking for reward. Jackson could not say, " No," to his friends, and only by turning out those already in office could he satisfy the demand. Within a year over seven hundred men were turned out, many of them faithful and honest, and with long training for their work. In their places Jackson put those who had fought for his election, no matter whether they were fitted for the office or not. His close friends worked with him " to scrape the OODictm "BE ,^c« 0- M= '-^ A Cartoon of Jackson's Administration Jackson clearing the kitchen.' barnacles clean off the ship of state," as one said. " To the victors belong the spoils," they answered to those who pro- tested. 474. The "Spoils System" and The "Gerrymander."— The " Spoils System " was already well established in some ' This cartoon depicts Jackson's violent methods for which his admin- iptration became notorious. All men who opposed him were regarded by him as his personal enemies. 284 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY of the states. Nor was this the only evil which had gained a place in state politics. In Massachusetts, in 1812, the Republicans were so afraid that the Federalists would have a majority in the next state senate ^ that they, while they held their power, created by law some new senatorial dis- tricts which were so oddly formed as to unite places with Federal majorities to places with still larger Republican majorities and thus save the district to the Republicans. This act was signed by Gov- ernor Gerry. It is said that the artist Stuart added claws, wings, and a beak to a map of such a district and asked an editor standing by how that would do for a salamander. " Better say a Gerrymander," answered the editor. What- ever the origin of the name, the trick drew attention in other states, and was imitated not only then, but is used to In Jackson's day it was freely used along with the "Spoils System" to bolster up the party in power. 475. The Tariff Vexes the South.— Though the removal of so many faithful public servants by Jackson caused some debate in Congress, yet the one subject which would not down was the tariff. By 1829 the South — both on the seaboard and in the interior — had become one great cotton- growing region. The North, too, in addition to its commerce and manufacturing, was given to agriculture, but it raised not one great staple like cotton, but varied products, wheat, corn, vegetables, and fruits. Moreover, all Southern labor was slave, and unsuited to manufacturing. The tariff, The "Gerrymander" this day. '■ The Federalists were sure to elect the governor and a majority in the House of Representatives. ANDREW JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 285 protecting manufactures as it did, while it pleased the North, sorely annoyed the South, lest it should bring them " poverty and utter desolation," Her statesmen seized upon the first excuse to attack the North — especially New England — for its sectional greed in this matter of protection. 476. The Debate Between Webster and Hayne.— In 1830 there was a great debate in the Senate. Daniel Welister led the Union side and Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, defended the State Rights idea. Hayne stated in a brilliant speech the arguments of Cal- houn,^ and to him Webster replied before an audience "so excited, so eager, and so sym- pathetic " that he was spurred to the greatest effort of his life.^ From that day he was the greatest of American orators. On this occasion men "listened as to one inspired," and went ^.. away convinced that Webster ^1:^'^^^^^ ^<^^Z^^^ was " by far the greatest man in Congress." Never had the American people been so awakened to the glory of the Union; Webster's beautiful sentiments rang in men's ears long years after his great oration closed with the words " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." 477. Arguments of Hayne and Webster. — Against Hayne's declaration that the states were sovereign, or all-powerful, ' That the states were sovereign, and nullification, constitutional. ^ Webster was very impressive at all times. "Good Heavens," said a famous Englishman, "he is a small cathedral by himself!" George Ticknor said on one occasion, "I never was so excited by public speaking in my life. Three or four times I thought my temples would burst with the gush of blood. " 286 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY and that the National Government was a mere creature of the states, Webster declared that the Constitution was " the people's constitution, the people's government; made by the people, and answerable to the people." The people, he declared, have made the Constitution " the supreme law." Not a state, but the Supreme Court of the United States alone, could declare a national law unconstitutional. Whether Hayne or Webster was right theoretically, men argue to this day, but this much was certain — that the people of the North had begun to think as Webster thought, and year by year thereafter their faith grew until the " Union idea " ruled north of the Mason and Dixon line. 478. The Supreme Court. — It was of great advantage to Webster that he could call attention to the Supreme Court as the final judge, for the Court stood high in the respect and affection of the people. The feeling was in part due to the great work of John Marshall, the Chief Justice (1801-35), who was a very able man, one of the greatest judges that the world has ever seen. 479. Nullification in South Carolina. — But the Southern States, especially those along the coast, were having hard times, probably the result of the increase in production and the fall in the price of cotton.^ These hard times were laid wholly at the door of the protective tariff, which doubtless did bear more heavily upon the agricultural South than upon the varied industries of the North. When, therefore, in 1832, Congress passed a new tariff act, South Carolina determined to nullify it. A state convention declared the act null and void, and the state prepared to prevent the enforcement of the act within its limits. Jackson had had some little sympathy with State Rights, but when the doctrine was developed by Calhoun and » In 1811, 80,000,000 lbs.; in 1821, 127,000,000 lbs.; in 1826, 33.3,- 000,000 lbs. The price was in 1816, 30 cts.; in 1820, 17 cts.; in 1824, 14| cts.; in 1827, 9 cts. ANDREW JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 287 Hayne, and when they tried to put it into practice, his natural patriotism and common sense revolted. " General Dale," he said to a friend, " if this thing goes on, our countrj'" will be like a bag of meal with both ends open. Pick it up in the middle or either end, and it will run out. I must tie the bag and save the country." When he turned to Congress for more power in the matter they passed the " Force Bill," or " Bloody Bill," as its enemies called it, giving Jackson the power he wished. At the same time, moreover, Henry Clay came forward with a compromise tariff which met favor in the South. Congress adopted it, and thus war was averted. South Carolina had its way, but it learned a lesson from Jackson's firmness which it was some time in forgetting. 480. The Election of 1832.— While this struggle over nullification and the tariff was going on, Jackson was encour- aged in the stand he had taken by the outcome of the elec- tion of 1832. The National Republicans met in Baltimore and named as their candidate for the presidency, Henry Clay, the idolized orator and defender of the protective tariff.^ Jackson's followers also held a convention, naming him and Van Buren as their candidates. They won an overwhelming victory which Jackson looked upon as proof that the people approved all he had done. 481. The Bank of the United States.— One of the things which Jackson had been doing was trying to destroy the United States Bank, which had been chartered in 181 G as the only bank in the country in which the government held stock and with which it deposited its money. The state banks did not like it; they were jealous of it; they called it a ''hydra-headed foreign shaving shop."^ Especially in ' Nominating conventions were now held (see p. 271). A platform later (May, 1832) adopted by the convention of the "young men" of the party was the first national party platform. ^ Because much of the bank stock was owned by Englishmen, and it discounted bills — " shaving " oflf a little as its pay for running the risk. 288 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY the West, where Andrew Jackson had always lived, it was hated because it hurt the " wild-cat " banks — state banks which issued paper money regardless of their ability to redeem it in gold. So Jackson, who had always heard " the Bank " denounced as a " moneyed monopoly," was hostile to it, especially, perhaps, because Clay defended it. 482. Jackson Destroys the Bank. — Jackson, moreover, disliked the Bank because its stockholders and managers were his political enemies.^ He determined to destroy it, and, as a result, thousands of enemies of the Bank looked upon Jackson as a sort of democratic St. George killing the financial dragon. " Champion of the j^ellow boys," they called him, the driver out of " Old Nick's Money," ^ or " Clay's rags," as they called the Bank's currency. When Congress passed a law renewing the Bank's charter which would expire in 1836, Jackson vetoed the law. Then hap- pened the election of 1832, and Jackson's great victory. At once he took means to have the United States deposits withdrawn from the Bank as fast as they were needed to pay the nation's expenses. There were then no vaults be- longing to the government for storing the money; Jackson, therefore, ordered the government revenues thereafter to be placed in certain state banks, called by his critics " pet banks." 483. Harmful Results of "Pet Banks."— Jackson's pohcy of putting the public money in " pet banks " — many of which were in the West^had the bad effect of increasing the wild speculations in Western lands and the mad schemes for improvements which were already a real danger to sound business. Men with no money in hand borrowed recklessly of " pet banks " to buy land whose rapid rise in value might make them rich. Companies and states borrowed from the " Jackson "trembled for the purity of our elections" while this bank continued to exist. "Yes," he said, "I had rather be in the desert of Sahara dying of thirst than drink from such a fountain of corruption." ^ Nicholas Biddle, president of the United States Bank. ANDREW JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 289 BOKN TO COMMAND. banks to build railroads and canals which ran through trackless wilds between places which some time might become thriving towns. Plans were made for cities in the woods or on the unbroken prairie. Into these schemes the " pet banks " poured the government's money or their own paper bills, and each day they made smoother the road to speculation and final ruin. 484. Distribution of Surplus and Specie Payment.— The gov- ernment lands went like hot cakes/ and the money paid therefor, together with the great sums taken in at the ports for tariff duties, paid off the national debt with a rush, and a great surplus began to pile up in the " pet banks " where the na- tion's money was de- posited. When the nation had too much money, the natural thing to do was to stop collecting tariff duties, but nol)od3' dared meddle with the com- promise tariff for fear of stirring up sectional hate again, so a curious plan was invented to get rid of the gathering surplus. Congress decided that the surplus should be loaned to the states. On this unwise plan three payments were made. The * Immigrants were coming into the country and many of them went West to buy lands. In 1820-29 over 110,000 people came in, and in the next ten years 500,000. See diagram, p. 321. JONG AJSDREW THE FIB ST. A Contemporary Cartoon of Jackson 290 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY money for this distribution was drawn from the " pet banks, '^ which then had to stop lending money and ask repayment. The borrowers could not pay, and ruin menaced the West. Just then Jackson issued his famous " Specie Circular " to the United States land officers, ordering them to accept only gold and silver^ in payment for public land. This discredited the paper-money issues of hundreds of banks, and final ruin fell upon them and their customers. But Jackson's " reign " was over before the deluge came. In 1836 Van Buren, " the mistletoe pohtician,"^ as his enemies called him, was elected President largely through Jackson's influence. Suggested Eeadings Histories: McMaster, Daniel ^Ye'bstcr. Wilson. Division and Re- union. Schurz, Henry Clay, II. Brown, Andrew Jaekson. (Political Depravity of the Fathers) McMaster, With the Fathers. Frost, Old Hickory. Barton, Four American Patriots. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, III, Nos. 158-163. CHAPTER XXXIV JACKSONIAN DEMOCRATS GIVE WAY TO THE WHIGS 485. " Panic of 1837."— It was a bad time to be President of the United States, for the banks failed, the mills and mines closed, and thousands of men and women, thrown out of work, could not buy food, when as a result of poor harvests (1835-36) the price of flour rose to eleven dollars per barrel, and bread riots terrified the cities; and everybody turned to the government and cried for help. Though the " Panic of 1837 " was partly due to Jackson's financial follies, yet ' And certain land certificates, but not bank paper money. ^ Because he was nourished by the sap of the hickory tree, the Jack- eon emblem. JACKSONIAN DEMOCRATS GIVE WAY TO WHIGS 291 the people, because of their wild speculations, were much to blame, and it was right that they should suffer and learn. So Van Buren very wisely decided, and he turned to the problem of how to save the government itself from losses. 486. The " Little Magician " and the Independent Treas- ury Bill.— The great question was what to do with the government money. Clay and Webster wanted a new United States Bank, but Van Buren was too firm a disciple of Jackson to listen to such a scheme. In spite of the ill opinion held by Van Buren's enemies — who called him the " Little Magician " because of his clever political maneuvers, and the " Kinderhook ^ Fox " because of his slyness — the Presi- dent was really a sensible statesman, and he wanted to set up what is known as an " Independent Treasury." In other words he proposed that the government should keep its own money in vaults, instead of putting it into banks. Many people had no patience with this plan, and it was not until Van Buren's term was nearly ended (1840) that the Independent Treasury bill was passed.^ 487. "Democrats" and "Whigs." — During the long opposition of Clay and Webster, leaders of the National Republicans, to Jackson and his favorite, Van Buren, the two parties had changed their names. The Jackson party, or Democratic Republicans, dropped the last part of their name and became plain Democrats. The National Repub- licans, while opposing what they called the tyranny of Jackson, the nation's executive, had the happy thought to call themselves Whigs, after the party in England which for gener.ations had opposed the growth of the powers of their executive, and perhaps, too, after the patriot party of the Revolution. So, by taking the popular name Whig, and by nominating in 1840 a popular Western hero. General * Kinderhook was Van Buren's home in New York. ^ Although the act was repealed for a time it was again passed, and this system is in use to-day. 292 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY WARD 1. William Henry Harrison/ the Whigs fairly outbid the Democratic Party for the favor of the " common people." As Harrison's running mate in the presidential race the Whigs chose John Tyler, of Virginia, 488. The "Log Cabin Campaign" Won by "Old Tip."— Though Van Buren had really been a wise Presi- dent, he had had the misfortune to rule during hard times, and was un- justly blamed for not making them better. In the campaign of 1840, therefore, after Van Buren was renom- inated by his party, there arose a crj^, " Turn out little Van." Then a Demo- cratic paper made the mistake of jeer- ing at Harrison's simple life and tastes.^ He would, it sneered, be more at home " in a log cabin, drinking hard cider and skinning coons, than living in the White House." At once the Whigs made the " log cabin " their party emblem, placed log cabins on wheels or built them on the village commons all over the land; they set up a cider barrel at the entrance, and nailed a coon skin on the door. This made a great appeal to the farmers, and at that time a majority of Americans were farm bred. Monster mass meetings of fifty to a hundred thousand people gathered to hear speeches denouncing the rich Van Buren, the " little aristocrat," NIW EN&LANT) CONVEKHCW A Badge Worn Dur- ing THE Log Cabin Campaign ' He had been defeated for President in 1836, but the times had changed. ' Wilham Henry Harrison was the son of Benjamin Harrison, of Vir- ginia, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The son moved West, gained renown in the battle of Tippecanoe, and set- tled among the Western people. JACKSONIAN DEMOCRATS GIVE WAY TO WHIGS 293 who gave great parties and who had never known honest toil.' When the canvassing ended, the log-cabin candidate and " Tyler too " were elected, getting nearly all of the electoral votes.'' 489. Harrison Dies and Tyler Takes His Place.— But " Old Tip " did not " guard the ship " very long. A horde of office seekers swooped down on Washington to share the spoils taken from the Democratic Party, which now lost control of the government for the first time since Jackson set up the " Spoils System." The good-hearted President was worn out with the pleas of office seekers, and in weakened health he caught cold and died, just one month after his inauguration. John Tyler, the first Vice President thus to succeed the elected President, at once took the oath of office. In principles and sympathies he was a Democrat ' and the Whigs, who nominated him to get the Southern vote for their ticket, had never dreamed that he would become President. 490. Tyler Versus the Whigs.— The Whigs had hoped while they controlled the government to use the nation's money for internal improvements, canals and roads, to protect manufactures by a high tariff and to set up again the United States Bank, but here was Tyler, their President by an act of Providence, opposed to them all. He refused * A favorite song was about " The ball that's rolling on for Tippecanoe and Tyler too; And with them we will beat little Van, Van, Van : Van, oh, he is a used up man, And with them we will beat little Van." ' A taunting song, "Farewell, dear Van, You're not our man; To guard the ship We'll try old Tip. " expressed the popular joy when Van Buren left the White House. ' He had not taken sides with the Democrats because he disliked Jackson and his measures. 294 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY to sign a new bill for a Bank of the United States, and he vetoed two tariff bills. At last the Whig leaders and Tyler agreed upon a new tariff, the Act of 1842, but patience was exhausted, and the members of Tyler's Cabinet resigned — except Webster, who kept his place that he might finish a treaty of great moment for the peaceful relations of the United States and England. 491. Webster-Ashburton Treaty.— The two governments were as near war as they ever had been since the War of 1812. Ever since the close of the Revolution (1783) there had been a dispute over the boundary line between Maine and New Brunswick. In 1838 Maine tried to seize the disputed lands by military force (the Aroostook War). This and other troubles seriously menaced the peace of the two nations. The cooler and wiser heads, however, arranged to have Daniel Webster, our Secretary of State, and Lord Ashburton, a well-disposed Englishman, meet and settle the dispute. This they did, giving a httle and taking a little, until they arranged the boundary as it is to-day. They agreed also to return criminals escaping from one country to the other, and to aid each other in checking the slave trade, which still existed on the west coast of Africa. Thus important questions were settled, not by Avar but by peaceful agreement. 492. Tyler and Whigs Quarrel.— Tyler and the Whig leaders in Congress quarreled so much during the rest of his term ^ that little lawmaking was done. But now a question was coming forward, by the side of which quarrels over tariffs and banks looked small indeed — the question of annex- ing Texas, a part of the empire of Mexico — the question of adding more slave territory to the Union. This became a burning issue. In order to understand it fully we must go back a few years and study the growth of a new movement — ' At the end of two years the Democratic Party secured a majority in the House of Representatives, so there was a Whig Senate, a Demo- cratic House, and a President who was neither Whig nor Democrat. SLAVERY AND ANTISLAVERY 295 the antislavery movement — which by Tyler's time had taken everybody's attention, and never ceased its work until the outcome of a great war set all the slaves free. Suggested Readings Histories: Wilson, Division and Reunion. McMaster, Webster. Schurz, Henry Clay, II. American Statesmen Series, Van Buren. CHAPTER XXXV SLAVERY AND ANTISLAVERY 493. Slavery as Viewed in Olden Times. — Slavery grew up in the colonies, as you will remember, simply because it seemed the only way to get enough labor where so much was needed. Little heed was given to the evils of slavery by most men, and only here and there a thoughtful man opposed the growing institution. Richard Baxter (1678) wrote: " To go as pirates and catch up poor negroes, and to make them slaves and sell them is one of the worst kinds of thiev- ery in the world "; but not many agreed with him. It was chiefly among the Quakers that there was objection to slavery, for they held that " liberty was the natural right of all men equally." 494. Slavery and "The Rights of Man."— When we leave the colonial times and reach the American Revolution we find that men began to see how inconsistent slavery was with the ideas of human rights. Several Northern states before 1800, abolished slavery or gradually freed the slaves. While many wise statesmen in the South — Jefferson and Madison and others — saw the evils of slavery, yet the slaves were too useful and were too large a part of the Southern wealth to be readily given up. In the Continental Congress the Southern statesmen united with the Northern to keep slavery out of the Northwest Territory,^ and in the ^ By the Ordinance of 1787, reenacted in 1789 by the new Congress. 296 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY Constitutional Convention the Southern men agreed to allow the new Congress to stop the slave trade after twenty- years. In 1807, a law prohibiting the slave trade after January 1, 1808, was passed by both Northern and Southern votes. But the cotton gin and resulting growth and extension of cotton raising was making the negro so valuable, that soon the South began to oppose all laws against slavery. 495. Slavery Pushes Westward.— The rich cotton planters who had lived near the Atlantic seacoast began, soon after 1800, to push into the back country, taking their slaves with them to the higher lands of the interior. Then the poor farmers of the back country, who had no slaves, and could not get along where slaves were, sold their lands to the rich planters and moved at first into Kentucky and Tennessee, and later even into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. While the Northern frontiersmen were spread- ing north of the Ohio and on westward, the Southern poor emigrant began to cut out clearings along the rivers that flowed to the Gulf and to the lower Mississippi. After 1820 they pushed even farther on into Texas, where grants of land were obtained from the Mexican Government. Close behind these log-cabin pioneers came the slaveholding planter in his family carriage, with his train of slaves and hunting dogs. Again, the poor farmer had to give way, unable to refuse the higher prices offered for his lands, and he was pushed back from the more fertile lands in the "black belt" to the pine hills and barrens on either side. The kid-gloved planter and the horny- Slave Quarters on a Southern Plantation SLAVERY AND ANTISLAVERY 297 handed pioneers could not mingle. Thus, a region in the cen- ter of the Gulf States and along the Lower Mississippi had been added to the cotton-planting and slaveholding area. 496. Slavery Becomes More Cruel. — With the growth of this new western slave land, the old life of the slaves changed. The kind old masters common in Virginia, who lived among their slaves and who grew too fond of them to abuse them, were not so often found. The sort of master who was willing to live amidst the rude conditions in the West was there to make money, to drive his slaves with lash and threat. Owners sometimes never saw their slaves, but hired an over- seer, who, all too often, was cruel-hearted and bent on money- making. Then, too, the old, outworn plantations of Virginia began to sell slaves to the planters of Alabama and Missis- sippi, and one of the worst sides of slavery came much into view — the breaking up of families and selling of husband and wife and children to different masters. 497. Early Ideas as to Freeing the Slaves.— As the character of slavery grew worse, there arose, in the South itself, men who agitated against slaveholding. They had little effect, however, and it was claimed that they only made the negroes dangerous by putting the idea of freedom into their heads. If masters were induced to free their slaves, the freedmen, it was argued, became a menace to society. A few slave uprisings,^ which seemed to result from anti- slavery preaching, made the Southern planters very angry with all agitators. Almost the only scheme for freeing the negroes which the planters would tolerate was that of the Colonization Society. In 1822 a settlement, later called Liberia, was made on the coast of Africa. To this settle- ment free negroes were sent at the expense of the society, but the cost was so great, and the process of ridding America of negroes so slow, that few kept any faith in it. ' The Gabriel insurrection in Virginia in 1800, the Vesey plot in 1822 in Charleston, and the Nat Turner rebellion in Virginia in 1831 20 ■298 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY 498. Beginnings of the Movement Against Slavery.— It was evident that the forces which would destroy slavery must come from the North, where slaves were not a paying investment. The Northern Quakers had long been opposed to slavery; but as slavery gradually disappeared from the Northern States, the early antislavery societies gradually ^^,^ Facsimile of a Heading of Garrison's "Liberator" grew less active and by 1829 had almost ceased to exist. In 1821, however, Benjamin Lundy began to preach and plead for freedom. " Within a few months," wrote a friend, " he has traveled about twenty-four hundred miles, of which upward of sixteen hundred were performed on foot ! During this time he has held nearly fifty public meetings." At last he made a convert of William Lloyd Garrison, and in him the great cause of antislavery found its leader. 499. William Lloyd Garrison.— In 1831 Garrison founded The Liberator. He declared his purpose to free the slaves: " I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation. I am in earnest — ^I will not equivo- cate — I will not retreat a single inch — and / will he heard.'^ He soon got attention by his very unfairness. He never could see but one side to the question. To him the slaveholder was a robber and a murderer. He even refused to acknowledge the National Government because it allowed slavery, and he denounced the Constitution as " a covenant SLAVERY AND ANTISLAVERY 299 with death and an agreement with hell," i. e., with slavery. A friend saw in his beautiful countenance and clear eye that resolute spirit which makes the martyr. An enemy saw in his work " a crime as great as that of poisoning the waters of life to a whole community." Friend and enemy, however, had to listen to him. 500. An Era of Reform. — Yet even Garrison might have been unable to arouse men's consciences had it not been that his work began at a time when reform was abroad in the land. Public sympathy had already been awakened in regard to the poor and even the criminal. During the twenties and thirties most of the states passed laws to re- lease poor debtors who could pay nothing, but who had been sent to First Modern Prison in the United States Erected at Philadelphia in 1830. prison for debts sometimes only of a few dollars. Brutal treat- ment of prisoners in loathsome prisons was beginning to be intolerable. It began to be seen that an effort to reform was better than a spirit of vengeance. The first modern prison was finished about 1830 at Philadelphia. Here were separate cells instead of a common prison room where a hardened criminal might corrupt men guilty of some slight offenses and who might easily be led to better ways. More attention began to be paid to the causes of crime, and a great temper- ance reform movement was afoot. Thousands joined the " Washington societies " and stopped using liquors, though their use had before been almost the universal custom. 501. Various Kinds of Reforms. — The insane — to whose cause Dorothea Dix was especially devoted — and the blind, and the dumb began to receive attention. Hospitals, 300 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY asylums, and institutions began to be established for their care. Even the heathen were the objects of sj^mpathy, and mission societies were formed for the first time. The education of the common people got greater attention, and under the leadership of Horace Mann — " who preached the gospel of the alphabet and sang the praises of the primer all the day long " — better schoolhouses, books, and teachers began to be provided. State universities, too, began to care for higher education. Michigan hardly began her career as a state (1837) before she founded a university. About 1830, under the leadership of Frances Wright, a strong movement began for " Women's Rights." 502. Reform Societies. — Certain companies of men and women began also to try social reforms by experiments in what was called community life.^ " Not a leading man but has a draft of a new community in his waistcoat pocket," wrote Emerson. Robert Owen, a Scotchman, founded on the lower Wabash, in Indiana, " The New Harmonj^ Community of Equality." Here they sought to end sin and poverty by bringing up the children of the community in ideal sur- roundings. They soon failed to get along peacefully, as did many other societies who tried to ape them. Another more aristocratic society was the " Brook Farm " community in New England, in which Hawthorne, Ripley, Alcott, and others tried to live ideal lives — to " go to Heaven in a swing," as Emerson described it. 503. Mormonism.^ Besides these communities there were many new religious sects, of which the most remarkable was that of the Mormons, founded by Joseph Smith, of Palmyra, New York (1829). Smith published the Book of Mormon, an inspired book, as he declared, and soon drew after him thousands of followers. Their practices brought persecution upon them, and they retreated gradually ' That is, without separate homes for each family, but with large common lodgings and eating houses. SLAVERY AND ANTISLAVERY 301 westward^ until in 1846 they went to the arid region of Utah. 504. Antislavery Literature.— As a result of all this agi- tation of the pu])lie mind and the growing behef that a man was responsible for his neighbors' sins, there was a public conscience to which the Abolition- ists might appeal. One after another strong men grew interested in the movement. The poet Whittier began to give his talents to the cause and stirred men's hearts with verses like the "Slave Mother's Fare- well."' Longfellow, too, lent a poet's aid, and most effective of all, Wen- dell Phillips appealed with a " silver tongue " to the great principles of human liberty. 505. Antislavery Arguments. — The antislavery writers and orators argued that slavery kept the negro debased; that to keep a negro a slave he was kept ignorant. The Southern laws proved this, for they forbade his education, lest he be- come dangerous. Yet he was a man in spite of his black skin, Garrison said, and was entitled to the same rights as a white man. A})olition!sts pointed out the natural tendency to cruelty, and the bad effect on negro morals of breaking up ' To Kirtland, Ohio, then to Missouri, then to Nauvoo, 111., and finally to Utah. " "Gone, gone — sold and gone, To the rice fields dank and lone. From Virginia's hills and waters; Woe is me, my stolen daughters." The Mormon Temple at XArvoo, III. From an early print. 302 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY families by selling husband, wife, or child to another master. Slavery was bad even for the master, it was urged, for it put the master under dreadful temptations when it gave him the power of life and death and torture. It was even bad econ- omy, for slaves were wasteful, destroyed tools, and in spite of the lash did only two thirds as much work as freemen. 506. Defense of Slavery. — The answer of the defenders of slavery was that when the negro, who in body and mind was inferior to the white man, was brought from Africa, where for a thousand years he had made no progress, he was saved from a barbarous life with few comforts, fraught with constant dangers, and subject to hideous superstitions. Once in America, if left free and to his own caprice, he would soon die, for he did not know how to use tools, or to do steady work, or to cure himself if ill. The slave was happiest when fed and cared for, they asserted. Slavery was a good thing, it was said, for a country ruled by the people, because it set the master free from toil and gave him time to perform his political duties.^ At least, the slavery defenders would con- clude, the institution is now fastened upon the South, and all agitation against it is perilous to us; our slaves may be stirred up to rise and murder us all. 507. Persecution of Abolitionists.— When the Southern planters cried out against the Abolitionist, many at the North S3^mpathized with them. An antislavery meeting in Boston (1835) was broken up; Garrison was led through the streets with a rope about his body, and the mob tried to kill him. Elijah Lovejoy, an Abolition editor in Illinois (1837), was murdered by a mob. Negro schools were broken up and the buildings destroyed. All this persecution only drew attention to the cause, and the Abolition movement grew as the martyrs gained public sympathy. ' They also quoted the Scriptures in defense of slavery. " Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. " Abra- ham bought and held slaves. St. Paul sent a fugitive slave home to his master. TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR 303 508. Congress and Antislavery. — Fearful of the effect of abolitionist teaching on the slaves, the South called upon Congress to forbid the post offices to carry The Liberator or other Abolition papers in the mails. They went further and tried to get Congress to refuse to receive petitions sent by Aliolition societies urging the abolition of slavery in the Dis- trict of Columbia. Though the right of petition had ever been a sacred right of freemen, and was secured to Americans by an amendment to the Constitution, yet " gag resolutions " were passed which kept petitions from being discussed in Congress or printed. John Quincy Adams, " the old man eloquent," as he came to be called, made a noble fight, one of the noblest in our history, against these tyrannous rules. Petitions poured in and the brave old man kept the matter before Congress until at last it gave way. In this way many who had hitherto taken no interest in the antislavery move- ment were now enlisted in its defense, because they were interested in freedom of the press and right of petition. Suggested Headings Histories: (J. Q. Adams) Lodge and Roosevelt, Hero Tales from Amniccui History. Wilson, Division and Reunion. Morse, Life of John Quiney Adams, 243-307. Garrison, WiUiam Lloyd Garrison. Rhodes, History of the United States, I. Sources: Hart. American History Told by Contemporaries, III, Xos. 170, 171, 173, 174-178, 179, 183. Hart, Source Book, 248-263. CHAPTER XXXVI TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR 509. Texas Secedes from Mexico.— While the North and the South were becoming more and more set by the ears because of the slavery question, there arose an opportunity to annex a large territory sure to become a cotton-raising, slaveholding region. The old Spanish possessions in the southwest, 304 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY '/ The Alamo which had won independence from Spain in 1821, had set up as a new republic, the United States of Mexico. Texas, one of the provinces of Mexico, lying along our southwest border, had early at- tracted Americans. When Moses Austin got a large land grant therein from Mexico, many Americans set- tled there. They did not get along well with Mexico, and about 1833 they went into open rebellion.^ At last (1836) the Mexicans under Santa Anna, then Presi- dent, were defeated at San Jacinto by the Texans under Sam Houston, a settler from Tennessee. The Texans set up a republic, and, as was natural, where so many of the settlers were Americans, they sought admis- sion to the American Union. 510. Shall Texas Be Annexed?— From the beginning of Texan indepen- dence (1836) this question of annexa- tion was now and again considered; but the matter was not seriously taken up till after Tyler came to the presidential chair. He favored annex- ation. In the campaign of 1844 the Texan question was widely discussed. 511. Early History of Oregon. — Another territorial ques- tion arose, too, side by side with the Texan question. It was the question whether Great Britain or the United States The Lone Star Flag OF Texas ^ At first they were unsuccessful, and a small band of Texans in an old fort, known as the "Alamo," were brutally massacred. From that time the cry of the Texans was, "Remember the Alamo." TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR 305 should permanently hold the Oregon territory, a name given to the vast region west of the Rocky Mountain crest and lying between Spanish or Mexican California and the Russian Alaska. Its northern border was 54° 40'. Both England and America claimed ownership, and, since 1818, had held it in joint occupation. For many years explorers, trappers, and fur traders had been the sole white inhabitants, but of late, missionaries to the Indians, like the famous Marcus Whitman, had induced settlers to immigrate thither. From western Missouri, with long trains of wagons, immigrants had set out across the plains, reaching Oregon only after fearful hardships. 512. Election of 1844; " Reannexation of Texas" and " 54-40 or Fight."— At the same time, therefore, that the Democrats nominated James K. Polk, of Tennessee, they declared in their platform that " our title to the whole of Oregon is clear," and they urged the " reannexation of Texas." ^ The Whig Party nominated Henry Clay, but in their platform said nothing about Texas. Clay should wisely have kept silent also, especially as he was not decided either way. But the cries of the Democrats of the South, " Texas or Disunion," and of the North, " The Whole of Oregon or None," " Fifty-four Forty or Fight," seemed to be gaining voters, and Clay wrote a letter which the newspapers her- , aided the length and breadth of the land. He would annex Texas " without dishonor, without war," with " common consent," and " upon just and fair terms." ^ This was fatal, for many Whigs, opposed to slavery and to the annexa- tion of Texas, now voted for James G. Birney, candidate of a new party, the Liberty Party. This party had few votes, but in New York it got just enough to prevent Clay's getting the ■ Their idea being that we once bought Texas (1803) from Napoleon. The fact is that in 1819, when we bought Florida from Spain, we gave up any claim we might have had. - One of Clay's followers, bitterly disappointed, declared that he hoped the next Whig candidate would not know how to read or write. 306 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY electoral vote of the state. Losing that, he lost the election, and Polk was chosen President. 513. Texas Annexed by Joint Resolution. — Tyler, who would still be President until March 4, 1845, took the election as a decision of the people for annexation. He pressed Congress to act. A treaty would not do, for that needed a two-thirds vote of the Senate, so a new method was taken. The two houses passed a joint resolution for the admission of Texas (March 1, 1845). 514. War Declared on Mexico. — After the coming of Polk to the presidency, Texas accepted the terms of admis- sion and in December, 1845, was finally declared admitted. Mexico protested, for she still claimed the new state as her province. She also disputed the southern boundary of Texas. A United States army had been hurried to Texas. Polk ordered General Taylor to the banks of the Rio Grande in the territory claimed by Mexico. There the Mexicans attacked, and Polk, reporting the affair to Congress, declared, " Mexico has invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil." With blind patriotism, Congress voted money to make war on Mexico.^ 515. Three Important Campaigns. — There were three main features of the IVIexican War. First, there was General Taylor's march across the Rio Grande toward ]\Ionterey. Second, General Scott began a campaign at Vera Cruz, which ended in the capture of the City of Mexico. Finally, California was seized by the American armies. 516. Taylor's Brilliant Victories. — Taylor had two pur- poses: he would defend the Rio Grande so that the Mexi- * There is still room for question as to whether we were right in fight- ing Mexico, and scholars differ. Our patience was certainly sorely tried, but a little fairness, a little more patience, and a little more generosity might have made war unnecessary. Polk's method of blaming Mexico reminds one of the soldier who came into camp with a dead sheep over his shoulder, though foraging was forbidden. "No sheep can bite me and live," he said. TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR 307 cans could not attack Texas, and then he would advance into Mexico, carrying terror to the Mexicans. He beat their armies at Palo Alto and Rcsaco de la Palma (May 8, 9, 1846), and seized Matamoros on the Mexican side of the river. Delaying there to make full preparation, he pushed on at last toward Monterey, strongly fortified and defended \ ^ (li.ii.l.'iMUi.f- HiJalL-..* |,^|X«^,.^tno Gordo ^ \ ■*v_ -.-,.,.. MEXICO' ■ ' ■ ' ^V-iaCruz Field of the War with Mexico by a large Mexican force. After three days of constant fighting from street to street and house to house, the city was surrendered. In the winter following, a large part of Taylor's army was ordered to the aid of General Scott, and the Mexicans under Santa Anna saw their chance. AtBuena Vista they attacked Taylor with four times his numbers (Feb- ruary, 1847), but were beaten back with terrible slaughter. This was Taylor's last battle in a campaign of unusual glory. 308 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY 517. Scott Takes the City of Mexico.— General Win- field Scott, meanwhile, had captured, with the aid of the navy, the castle and city of Vera Cruz, on the eastern coast, and, like Cortes three hundred or more years before, started westward to seize the ancient capital of the Aztecs. Though constantly opposed by several times his numbers and though disease thinned his ranks, Scott pushed grimly on. He stormed the Cerro Gordo heights one day (April 18th), took Jalapa the next, and Perote three days later. Then with slower advance he pressed on until, August 10th, he saw the City of Mexico. On every side of it were marshes, and only over narrow causeways could it be reached. One after another the strongholds were captured, and with but six thousand fighting men remaining, Scott entered the City of Mexico in triumph (September 14th), after one of the most remarkable marches in the world's history. 518. Kearney and Fremont Take California.— Far to the north, meanwhile. Colonel Stephen W. Kearney was making a march which was to add New Mexico to American territory. Leaving Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri River, he crossed to the Arkansas and pushed southwest to Santa F^, which he took August 18, 1846. Pressing on to California — a name given the Mexican territory on the Pacific coast — he found that already in the hands of his countrymen. There had been a number of American settlers in this region who, at the first word of war with Mexico, set up a republic.^ The new state was supported by Commodore Stockton, who appeared with a small fleet on the Pacific coast, and by John C. Fremont, " The Pathfinder," who had led an exploring expedition thither in 1845, and who was now on hand with a small but effective military force. 519. Treaty of Peace with Mexico. — When the treaty of peace was made (1848) at the little town of Guadalupe 'The "Bear Republic," as it was called, because of the flag they raised with the image of a grizzly bear. TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR 309 Hidalgo, Mexico was forced to cede the great northern region and, of course, to give up her claim to Texas or any part of it.' Though Mexico was at our mercy, the American Government had enough regard for the world's opinion to pay $15,000,000 in cash, and, furthermore, to agree to pay to Amer- ican citizens $3,500,- 000, which they claimed from Mexico for damages and sums owed them by Mexi- cans. Because of a dis- pute as to the southern bounds of the cession, the United States later (1853) paid $10,000,- 000 for a strip of land between the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. This we call the Gadsden Pur- chase, after James Gadsden, who made the agreement. 520. Oregon Se- cured by Treaty. — While President Polk was fighting the Mexi- can War, to make good the pledge of his party to annex Texas, he was compelled to settle the Oregon matter also. The British Government was ready to fight ' The land acquired in 1848 and the land taken into the Union as Texas, together cover an area as large as several European states — about 922,000 square miles — more than Austria, France, Spain, and the German Empire combined. The Oregon Country Showing the claims of Great Britain and the United States and the lines established by various treaties. 310 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY rather than give up all of Oregon, though it offered to divide along the forty-ninth parallel. This line was finally accepted, and a treaty was signed (1846) which gave us ? ^^^ ■^e^^% 5. 1- -j'^'Jk i>:f/ ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY ^ IN THE WEST 1803-53 The line marked XY was undetermined and in dispute and partly on this account the GADSDEN PURCHASE was made undisputed right, not to all of Oregon, but to all of it lying south of a line drawn along the forty-ninth parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast. Thus another splendid region was added to our immense territory. SLAVERY AND THE NEW TERRITORY 311 521. The Wilmot Proviso. — Even before those vast regions of California and New Mexico were ours disputes arose between North and South as to whether the soil should be free or slave. It was generally agreed that Texas should be slave and Oregon free, but, at the very suggestion that more of Mexico's domain was to be acquired, David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, sprang to his feet in the House of Representa- tives and offered a resolution to keep slavery out of it. A bill was before the House (1846) to give the President $2,000,000— evidently that he might buy land from Mexico. Thinking, as Lowell expressed it in the " Biglow Papers," that, " They jest want this Californy so's to lug new slave states in," Wilmot moved a proviso that none of the territory to be bought with this money should be open to slavery. The proviso was not then adopted, but the principle that new United States lands should not be open to slavery came up again and again. Abraham Lincoln, while a representa- tive in Congress (1847-49), voted forty-two times in vain for that principle. This question became the great issue in the election of 1848. Suggested Readings Histories: (Fremont) McMurry, Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains. Davis. Under Six Fhifis, The Htorij of Texas. Wright, Stories of American Progress, 241-2-47. Elson, Side Lights on American His- tory, I. Wilson, Division and Reunion. CHAPTER XXXVII SLAVERY AND THE NEW TERRITORY 522. Whig and Democratic Nominations (1848). — The two groat parties would have kept the slavery question out of politics in 1848 had that been possible. The Whig con- vention nominated for President, General Taylor,* the ' He was a citizen of Louisiana, and in order to please Northern voters, Millard Fillmore, of New York, was named for Vice President. 312 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY " Victor of Buena Vista," and relied upon the popularity of a military hero without taking the trouble to draw up a platform. The Democrats nominated Lewis Cass, of Michigan, who had gained fame as a governor on the frontier, and as a Cabinet member and minister to France. 523. Squatter Sovereignty. — Though the Democrats said nothing about slavery in their platform, their candidate, Cass, had lately declared that the people of each territory should decide for themselves whether they would have slavery or not. This doctrine, " Squatter Sovereignty," pleased the politicians, for it seemed to save quarreling about the matter in Congress— a struggle dangerous to both parties. Besides, the doctrine seemed to emphasize the good old democratic principle of local self-government.^ 524. "Free Soil Party"; Taylor and Fillmore Elected.— Many Whigs and Democrats did not like all this dodging of the great question of slavery; so, joining with the old Liberty Party in a convention held at Buffalo, they formed a " Free Soil Party." Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams were their candidates. In their platform they declared: (1) That Congress could no more make a slave than a king; (2) that there must be " free soil for a free people "; (3) that there should be ''no more slave states, no more slave territories." Their campaign cry was, " Free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men." The cause of freedom, however, was not yet strong enough to win. Taylor and Fillmore won the election, but, even before the inauguration, events happened which brought forward the slavery ques- tion clamoring for settlement. 525. Gold Discovered in California. — Before Mexico had finished the act of ceding California to us, a man named ' Cass belonged to the same generation as Webster. Men of that age, devoted to the Union, were not ready to struggle fiercely against slavery and the South. So Cass was called a " Dough-face " by the anti- slavery men, and " a Northern man with Southern principles." SLAVERY AND THE NEW TERRITORY 313 Marshall, while digging a mill race for one Sutter, found some yellow grains which were tested and found to be gold. No care could keep the secret, and as the news spread, a mad race for the gold fields began. Towns on the Pacific coast became empty. Ships that came into San Francisco Harbor were abandoned by all the sailors, and for months lay helpless for y,^::^ ,.rW|f»^ M Early Processes of Washing Gold in the West want of hands; stores closed; soldiers deserted the United States barracks, and everybody sought the gold fields.^ 526. The " Forty-Niners."— News traveled so slowly in those days that the East did not become assured of the gold finds until Polk's message to Congress declared the truth. Spite of the great distance, the lack of railroads, and the terrors of the arid plains, rugged mountains, and fierce ' It is a very instructive fact that, after all the fever about gold, the real wealth of California, as men soon learned, was in her rich soil and beautiful climate. There was more wealth in the golden orange and golden wheat than in the golden metal. 21 314 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY Indian tribes, thousands were soon on their way across the plains in covered wagons, going, as a rule, in long trains, strong enough to resist Indian attacks/ By the end of 1849 there were eighty thousand gold seekers in California — ^ , . " Forty- Niners," as they were called. No government was as yet provided, and for a time the many reck- less adventurers were held in check only by rough methods,^ among which lynching was all too common. Urged by President Taylor, the better class of pioneers strove to get a real government. In November, 1849, a convention was called, which made a constitution forbidding slavery,* and Congress was asked to admit California into the Union, 527. Problems for Congress (1849-50). — When Congress met in December, 1849, there was a whole bundle of hard problems to solve. (1) The North wanted California ad- mitted as a free state, and the South objected. (2) South- ern slaveholders wanted the right to take their slaves into any part of the new region ceded by Mexico, and the Prospecting, 1855 From a contemporary illustration in Harper's Magazine. ' Others went by ship around South America, or to the Panama Isthmus, crossing which, they were taken up by ships on the other side and hurried to the CaHfornia coast. "^ The kind of law which was found is illustrated by some claim notices. "Notis — to all and everybody. This is my claim 50 ft. on the Gulch, cordin to Clear Creek Dist. Law backed up by shot-gun amendments. T.Hall." ^ Although there were many Southerners among the " Forty-Niners, " yet all were there to dig for gold, and they did not want slaveholders to mine with slave labor, because free whites would not work with them. SLAVERY AND THE NEW TERRITORY 315 North objected. (3) The North wanted Congress to use its constitutional right to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and the South objected. (4) The South demanded a new fugitive slave law ^ because the old one could not be enforced in the free states, but the North objected. So violent was the feeling that on one side there were Southerners eager to take their states out of the Union and set up a slave confed- eracy, while at the North were Abolitionists eager to found a free republic and to cut off the slave section of the Union. 528. Clay Suggests a Compromise.— For the moment men seemed, as Webster had said years before, " to hang over the precipice of disunion," trying to see if they could " fathom the depth of the abyss below." At a dinner in South Caro- lina one of the toasts was " A Southern Confederacy," and a convention to discuss it was planned by nine states. In this crisis Henry Clay, already known as the '' Compromiser" or the " Peacemaker," offered a plan which it was hoped would please both North and South and bring about a " union of hearts." Let the North have its way as to a free state in California, he urged. Join with them also in making a law to abolish the slave trade, the buying and selling of negroes, in the District of Columbia.^ The South, he pleaded, ought, in return, to have its way as to a new stringent fugitive slave law. There is no use in banishing slavery by law from the new western territory; let us form territorial government, he said, and let that question take care of itself.' 529. A Great Debate. — A famous debate arose at once in Congress. Clay defended his plan in one of the greatest ' A law providing for the return of slaves, who had fled to free states, into the hands of their masters in the slave states. ' This would, of course, abolish slavery in the District. ' There was another quarrel over land claimed by Texas, which Con- gress proposed to include in the territory of New Mexico. Clay said, let Texas yield the claim in return for money to be paid by Congress to Texas. 316 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY speeches of his Hfe. Calhoun, in defense of the South, pleaded for the saving of " equality " between the sections. Webster, who saw how great the danger of disunion really was, made a great plea for the preservation of the Union by the means of compromise. He urged the North not to offend the South by forbidding slavery in New Mexico, for in so arid a region the plantation with its slave system could never thrive. " I would not," he declared, " take pains to reaffirm an ordinance of nature nor to reenact the will of God." In a word, nature had forbidden slavery there, why should man? 530. Seward and the " Higher Law "; Death of Taylor. — William H. Seward, of New York, who was henceforth to be one of the greatest defenders of Free Soil, spoke against the Compromise. Territories, he said, were free not only by the Constitution, but by a " higher law," the law of justice and humanity. After all the speeches, the scheme could not be passed as a whole. Each part was voted upon separately, however, and each was passed. The total result became known as the " Compromise of 1850." In the midst of the struggle President Taylor died and Vice President Fillmore took his place. 531. Fugitive Slave Act. — The Compromise measure, which least pleased the people of the North was the Fugitive Slave Act. The Constitution had provided for the return of runaway slaves to their masters, and Congress (1793) had passed an act to prescribe the way it should be done. By 1850, however, state judges in the North could no longer be relied upon to do the duty imposed upon them by the law. The new act (1850), therefore, gave the power to the United States officers, " Commissioners," to decide whether a negro claimed by a slaveholder was a slave or not. The negro could not testify. By the terms of the law all good citizens must aid in the capture of a fugitive slave, if requested, and anyone who helped him to escape could be fined and im- prisoned. SLAVERY AND THE NEW TERRITORY 317 532. The " Slave Catchers " and " Personal Liberty Laws." — At once many "slave catchers" or " man hunter.s" has- tened to the North and seized negroes who had escaped slavery years before. The sight of such attempts enraged many people who never had given heed before to the slavery question. There were soul-stirring scenes. Men of refine- ment and patriotism found themselves lawbreakers, for The Execution of the Fugitive Slavt; Law From a contemporary Northern cartoon. they could not stand by and see a poor, appealing black fellow carried off to slavery; they were ready in their anger to break down jail doors and hurry away a fugitive to safety. " Personal Liberty Laws," pa.ssed in several states (1820-40) to prevent negroes being returned to slavery, were allowed to remain on the law books in spite of the national law. 533. The " Underground Railroad."— In addition to this resistance to the national law as to fugitive slaves, the Abohtionists redoubled their efforts to aid runaway slaves. For years certain men had banded together for the purpose of helping slaves to escape to Canada by guiding them from place to place, by night or in disguise, along what came to be 318 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY known as the " Underground Railroad." It was only under- ground in the sense of being secret, and it was not a single road but a very network of roads, all leading to freedom. Some fifty thousand slaves had thus escaped in about fifty years, but among so many this had little effect upon the total number of slaves in the South. It only irritated the slaveholders and served to make slavery more hateful to Northern men, who met the escaped slaves and heard their sad stories, often greatly exaggerated. 534. " Uncle Tom's Cabin." — While excitement was at its height, there appeared Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's " Uncle Tom's Cabin." " Eva " and " Topsy " and " Uncle Tom" roused many a laugh and called forth many a tear, for hundreds of thousands read the story, both in the North and in the South. Southerners said it was not true, and perhaps it was rather a picture of what slavery might be than what it was. It told both the pleasant and the sad things about slave life. The Northern people, however, noticed most the sorrowful picture of human beings whipped and sold and hunted. Everybody's imagination was aroused as never before. That story and the Fugitive Slave Law brought more Northern people than before to believe that slavery must not be allowed to go farther into the new states and territories. SuGGES'iED Readings Histories: Sexton, Stories of California. Wilson, Division and Reunion. American Statesmen Series, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William H. Seward, Ahraham Lincoln. Elson, Side Lights on Amer- ican History. Brown, Stephen A. Douglas. IMcLaughlin, Lewis Cass. Brooks, Century Book of Famous Americans. Rogers, The True Henry Clay. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, IV, 75-83. WESTERN SETTLEMENT AND SLAVERY 319 CHAPTER XXXVIII WESTERN SETTLEMENT AND SLAVERY 535. The Election of 1852.— In 1852 President Fillmore's term was drawing to an end, and a new election was due. The two great parties, Whig and Democratic, tried to believe that the Compromise of 1850 had put an end to the slavery- quarrel. The Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce, of whom nobody knew very much, and in their platform said they would resist all efforts in or out of Congress to agitate the slavery question. The Whigs, having twice won with famous soldiers as their leaders, tried again with General Scott as their candidate. They, too, declared that they would hold to the Compromise, but so many of their party in the North were angry over the Fugitive Slave Act, and displeased with " Old Fuss and Feathers," as Scott was nicknamed, that twenty-seven states went Democratic and only four Whig. President Pierce was inaugurated March 4, 1853. 536. New Inventions and Their Effects, — The year after Pierce became President a great exhibition was held in New York in a vast building of glass and iron called the " Crystal Palace." A thoughtful man might there have seen much that would make clear Avhy there were so many differences between the North and the South, much which would de- cide who would win in the great struggle so fatefully coming on. Most of the new inventions there shown were helping the manufacturer and The Crystal Palace in New Yokk, 1855 From a contemporary print. 320 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY the farmer of the North rather than the planter of the South. There were steam printing presses, power looms, planing machines, sewing machines — all best used by the free white laborer of the North. The reapers and mowers, but lately invented, were there to show how the white farmer's labor was made easier. Even where the Southern planter raised grains, the ignorant slave laborer could not make use of this intricate machinery. 537. The Horse Reaper Aids Westward Movement. — The horse reaper, which meant so much to the Northern farmer, had been invented by Cyrus H. McCormick in 1831, but did not come into general use until about 1845. Ten years later it was estimated that it added fifty-five millions of dollars yearly to our coun- try's wealth.^ It enabled farmers to cultivate so much larger farms that the edge of civilization was moved westward at the rate of fifty miles a year by its use. This rapid settlement of the West by Free State men was all-important then, for it was these men who gave strength to the North for the great conflict to preserve the Union. 538. Immigration. — One need not wonder long whence came all the settlers to people this western region; one has but to note that between 1820 and 1829 one hundred and ten thousand immigrants came from Europe, and five hundred thousand in the next ten years. A great number IfPI'iv // An Early McCormick Reaper in Use * The cost of bread was cheapened and the whole human race thus benefited. WESTERN SETTLEMENT AND SLAVERY 321 1821-1830 1831-1840 1841-1850 ,1851-1860 I J 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000' 500,000 / / 1 / / / / hastened westward to find homes on the cheap and fertile lands of the frontier. In 1842 one hundred thousand men, women, and children came to our shores. Nor was that the highest mark, for in 1846 there was a potato famine in Ireland, and, as potatoes were the chief food there, starvation drove many thousands to America. Then there was a great political up- heaval in Germany (1848), and many who fought in vain for free government there, fied to America to enjoy its free institutions.^ In 1854 there came a stream of four hundred and twenty-eight thou- sand people. 539. Why the Immigrants Went to the North. — Nearly all these people came to the Northern States because the climate there was more like that to which they were accustomed, and because there was a greater variety of things to do in the North. The laborer who had learned a trade in Europe, or had learned there to run a factory machine, or to raise fruit and grain was much more likely to find employment among the varied industries of the North than upon the great cotton plantations of the South . Most of the cities were in the North, and many of the immigrants who had lived in cities in Europe naturally sought the cities in America. Finally, the laborer preferred to work among freemen and not among slaves. 540. The "Know-Nothing Party."— There was some op- position to foreigners and to their having a right to vote. ' Steam navigation was making the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean much easier and quicker, and it no longer had the terrors which it had when the passage took a month instead of ten days. Chart Showing Increase OF Immigration by Decades 322 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY The so-called " Know-Nothing " Party, aiming to preserve America for Americans, came into existence (1854), rose for a time to the highest importance, and then disappeared. It called itself the " American Party," or the " Order of the Star-Spangled Banner." It loved silly secret watchwords and signs; it pretended to be in a dreadful fright about American liberties. About the liberty of the black man it had nothing to say. When asked questions about the party, a member was apt to say, " I don't know." So they were called " Know-Nothings." ^ 541. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill.^The westward march of population made it seem wise to give a territorial government to the region lying to the west of the states of Missouri and lowa^ and the territory of Minnesota. All this vast area was promised to freedom by the Missouri Compromise (1820). In 1854 Stephen A. Douglas,^ of Illinois, a powerful debater and a man of immense vigor of will and action, brought into the Senate a bill to organize a new territory in this western region, to be called Nebraska. At once the old slavery issue arose like the genie of the bottle in the " Ara- bian Nights," affrighting both North and South, and it was never again conjured back into the old bottle of compromise. The bill was soon changed so as to provide for two terri- tories — Kansas and Nebraska. By this bill the Missouri Compromise was repealed, and the question of slavery was to be left to the people in the territories themselves. It was declared to be the purpose of the bill " not to legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor exclude it therefrom; but ' When one accosted a "brother," he said, "What time?" The reply- was, "Time for work." Then the first would say "Are you?" and the second would answer, "We are. " Then they could talk. If one wished to know the purpose of a meeting he would say, "Have you seen Sam to-day?" ^ Admitted in 1846 as a free state. ' A typical western man, believing in the right of the frontiersmen to rule the lands they had opened up with so much trouble and hardships. WESTERN SETTLEMENT AND SLAVERY 323 to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regu- late their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." Congress and the people of the United States were to sit idly by and watch the struggle. Before there was a vote on Douglas' bill a fierce debate went on in Congress. The old leaders, Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, were now dead, but in their places were new men, less disposed to compromise, and eager to battle for their ideas of right. 542. Debate and Passage of Kansas-Nebraska Bill.— Vigorous fearless champions of antislavery, like Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, denounced the bill as a gross violation of faith of the agreement between North and South in 1820. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, a pohshed orator and a fierce hater of slavery, was glad that the day of doubt was gone; now men must choose to defend slavery or to struggle for freedom. Seward, of New York, dared the slaveholders to come on and fight for the soil of Kansas: " God give the victory to the side that is strong in numbers as it is in right! " Douglas, urged on by Jefferson Davis, the foremost champion of the slaveholders, carried the bill on to its passage with a force that explained why men called him the " Little Giant." ^ The final vote was in favor of the bill. The North was so enraged that many men who never had been aroused before came out for freedom. 543. "Bleeding Kansas." — At once there arose in Kansas, where settlement had l^egun, a long struggle between the Free Soil immigrants from the North and the slaveholding pioneers from the South.^ At the first election hundreds of Missourians, with music and banners, pistols, rifles, and " He had a coarsely dramatic way. In debate he would tear off his collar and tie and speak with a vehemence that overbore all opposition. - Free State men founded Lawrence, Topeka, and Ossawatomie, while slavery men founded Atchison, Leavenworth, Lecompton. Lines were so strictly drawn that "people spoke of an antislavery colt or a proslavery cow." 324 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY knives, hurried over the border to outvote the Free Soilers. A traveler saw some of them returning, four wagon loads, " and in them were six men. A pole about five feet high stuck bolt upright at the front of the wagon; across the stick at right angles was tied a bowie knife, a black cambric flag with a death's head daubed on it in white paint, and a Border Ruffians Invading Kansas From a contemporary print. long streamer of beautiful glossy Missouri hemp floated from the pole," the S3^mbols of Missouri ruffians returning from Kansas. On the other hand, companies of Northerners armed with Sharpe's rifles hurried to meet the crusaders from the South. This was " Squatter Sovereignty." For statesmanlike debate in Congress was substituted brutal conflict. There was robbery and murder by both WESTERN SETTLEMENT AND SLAVERY 325 sides.^ In a single year two hundred persons were killed and two million dollars in property was destroyed. " Bleeding Kansas," as Sumner called it, gave a fine object lesson of " popular sovereignty." At first the slaveholders won the elections, organized a slave territory, and adopted the laws of Missouri, slave code and all. 544. Free Soil Finally Wins.— But the Free State men refused to be governed by such laws. They convened at Topeka, drew up a constitution, and asked Congress to admit Kansas as a free state. This Congress did not then do; but it was already plain that slavery was no match for freedom when it came to peopling new territory. By 1858 the Free Soil men were in control of the territorial government. In 1861 Kansas became a state in the Union. 545. Formation of the Republican Party. — Both the Whig and the Democratic parties were much hurt by the failure of their efforts to stop the slavery wrangle. The failure of compromise and the resentment felt against the Fugitive Slave Law disgusted thousands of Northern Whigs, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act finished the party's ruin. The Democratic Party, too, lost many thousands of Northern voters, who went over to the ranks of the Free Soilers. Out of these great numbers of discontented voters from the old parties, there was formed a party pledged to oppose the extension of slavery. Its rallying cry was, " No more slave territory." In Michigan ^ the party was called the Republi- can Party and the name was soon widely accepted; in 1856 it was organized as a national party in a great convention at Pittsburg. 546. The Presidential Election. — The Republican Party nominated for President, John C. Fremont, who had won ' John Brown was the leader of the Northern force when they avenged the burning of the free town Lawrence by the massacre of the slave- state men at Ossawatomie. " It was a "fusion party" made up of Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers, and, as such, put tickets in the field in eight other states. 326 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY fame as a " pathfinder " in the far West. The party declared against the extension of slavery and said Congress could and must stop it. The Democrats nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, and declared their approval of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This made their candidate and platform popular in the South. Buchanan was elected, but the Republicans alarmed their opponents by their strength, for they carried all but five of the nonslaveholding states. 547. The Dred Scott Decision. — Hardly had Buchanan been inaugurated before the Supreme Court stirred the country to its very depths by its decision in the case of a slave named Dred Scott, who had sued his master for assault and battery. He claimed that he was free because his master had taken him into a free state and also into territory where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise. Some Abolitionists took up his cause and gave money for his legal expenses. The Court declared that Scott, being a negro, could not be a citizen and could not, therefore, sue as such in the Federal courts. This was sufficient ground for dismissing the suit without more ado, but in the vain hope of quieting the slavery quarrel Chief Justice Taney went on to say that the Missouri Compromise was unlawful, and never had been g- lawful. Slave owners, the Court said, had the right to take their slaves into the territories ; Con- gress could not stop them. If this was true, what was to become of the Republican Party doctrine that Congress could and must keep slavery out of the ter- ritories? But it was too late for even the Supreme Court to awe men into silence on the slavery question. The Birthplace of Lincoln WESTERN SETTLEMENT AND SLAVERY 327 548. Lincoln-Douglas Debates. — The real situation was made clear by a great debate between Abraham Lincoln ' and Douglas. Both were candidates for the senatorship in Illinois, and in a series of public speeches they debated the slavery question. Douglas was considered the ablest debater in the A Scene at One of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates land, but he found his match in Lincoln. Douglas tried to ride two horses at once, but Lincoln showed that they were going in different directions; Douglas could not cling to his pet doctrine of " Squatter Sovereignty " and accept at the ' Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but moved with his parents to Indiana, and thence to Illinois. Poverty drove him to the hardest kind of work, but he seized every moment at the plow or by the fireside for study. He became a lawyer, and served one term as a Congressman. He early learned to hate slavery, and declared that no man had a right to govern another man, white or black, without that man's consent. 328 THE WEST AND ANTISLAVERY same time the doctrine of the Dred Scott decision. Lincoln was not elected Senator; but the people of the whole land, who had been reading the morning papers with breathless interest, knew, when these speeches were over, that out on the Illinois prairie was a man with a conscience, who could think straight, speak straight, and look facts in the face. 549. John Brown's Raid. ^During the debate Lincoln had said that the nation could not long exist half slave and half free; it must be either one or the other. Moreover, agitation, he declared, " will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed." As if to make good his prophecy, both North and South were soon raised to the highest pitch of excitement by a raid on Harper's Ferry, a government arsenal in Virginia (1859). John Brown, one of the most violent Abolitionists, who had taken part in the bloody struggle in Kansas, took into his head the mad, but heroic, scheme of inciting the slaves to revolt. He believed that if they knew there was a place in the Southern mountain district whither they might flee, they would do so by the thousands. How little he knew of the poor black or of his help- lessness! Finally, Brown and a few companions one night crossed the long bridge from Maryland, seized the arsenal, took refuge in an old fire-engine house, and prepared for the'.r great work of rescue. They did not have to wait long. Virginia was instantly aroused, the conspirators were seized, and Brown and several others were hanged. Most rational men of the North deeply lamented Brown's faults but no one could deny his devoted bravery. The South, always in fear of a negro rebellion, was now convinced, or nearly so, that it was impossible to save slavery and stay in the LTnion. Suggested Readings Histories: (McCormick) Williams, Some Successful Americans. Wriglit, Stories of American Progress. Johnson, Life of Stephen A. Doucjlas. Elson, Side Lights on American History, 294-309. Bolton, Famous Americans. Sources: Hart, Source Book. 284-296. Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries, TV, 104-118. VII PERIOD OF CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION CHAPTER XXXIX SECESSION.— CIVIL WAR BEGINS 550. The Democratic Party Divides. — While both sections were wrought up to intense distrust of each other, the pres- idential campaign of 1860 took place. The Northern and Southern Democrats had managed to hold together up to this time, but in convention at Charleston they split. The Northern faction of the party, led by Douglas, would not go as far as the South wanted to go in the way of demanding protection for slavery in the territories. 551. Presidential Candidates. — As there was no reconciling the Southern element to the views of the Northern faction, in the end each named a candidate. Douglas was the Northern candidate and J. C. Breckinridge the Southern. A new party of moderate, cautious men, whose strength lay in the border states, nominated Governor John Bell, of Tennessee, and, expressing their purpose in their party name, the Constitutional Union Party, asked men to end the slavery quarrel and to make their chief aim the saving of the Union. 552. Republicans Nominate Abraham Lincoln. — The Re- publican convention at Chicago was most dramatic. It was held in an immense hall with thousands of onlookers. Three leaders, Seward, Chase, and Lincoln, battled for the nomina- tion. In the midst of a mad outburst of excitement Lincoln was nominated, because he was what politicians call an " availa])le man," and not because men realized the grandeur of his character, his fine common sense, or his deep insight into the truth. Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for Vice President. 23 329 330 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION 553. The Election. — Thus, with four candidates in the field, the presidential contest was bitterly fought. Lin- coln carried every free state but two,^ and thus secured 180 electoral votes out of the total of 303. The South, as we can see now, was in no special danger. Lincoln was not in favor of trying to do away with slavery within the slave states. Moreover, the Republicans did not have a majority in either House of Congress, and so, even if they wished, could not do A Cartoon of the Campaign of 1860 much. But the South was angry. Anger had been grow- ing for thirty years, and the Southern people resented the feeling of the Republicans toward slavery. " Lincoln is a mere sectional President," they said. They believed that there was no safety for them in the Union. They, therefore, prepared to leave. 654. Secession of South Carolina. — South Carolina, which thirty years before had tried to nullify a law of Congress, ' Massachusetts and New Jersey. SECESSION.— CIVIL WAR BEGINS 331 was the first state to act. When Lincohi's election was certain, the Legislature called a convention to decide whether South Carolina would secede from the Union. The conven- tion met in Charleston, and December 20th adopted the declaration " that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other states ... is hereby dissolved." There was great joy throughout the city. The chimes and bells of the churches were rung. A cannon called " Old Secession " thundered the news. As the streets filled with people, all faces wore smiles. Old men ran and shouted in the streets; palmetto flags, the South Carolina colors, were flung to the breeze, and all was done to show the people's feeling that this was another Declaration of Independence like that of 1776. 555. Other States Follow South Carolina.— Before the end of the winter Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas passed like ordinances of secession. A plan of compromise was offered in Congress by Senator Crittenden, of Kentucky, but the terms were rejected by both sides; South- ern senators and rep- resentatives began to leave their seats, some with defiant, some with regretful, speeches. 556. Confederate States of America. — Then six of the South- ern States sent delegates to Montgomery, Ala., where a constitution was formed, and the " Confederate States of America" were organized with Jefferson Davis, President, ^^Z' '■"^ The State House at Montgomery, Ala., 1860 The building in which the Confederate Government was organized. 332 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION and Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President.^ It was de- clared that the foundations of the new government were laid, that its cornerstone rested upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man.^ 657. Buchanan Does Nothing. — Meanwhile PresidentBuchanan had done nothing to stem the tide of secession. He was long under the influence of the Southern members of his Cabinet, and when they were gone he sought only to delay action until Lin- coln's inauguration. 558. Many Willing to Let South Go. — Horace Greeley, the great newspaper man, said the South had a clear moral right to form an independent nation if it chose. General Scott, commander of the armies, wanted to let " the erring sisters depart in peace," and Seward seems to have thought likewise. The Abolitionists were glad the South was out of the Union, for that rid the North of responsibility for slavery. The true spirit of most Northern people was yet to be seen. 559. Lincoln Reasons with the South. — From his home in Illinois, Lincoln had anxiously watched all these events, unable to do anything until his inauguration on March 4, 186L As that day drew near, he set out for Washington, speaking wisely to many thousands on the way, though, to avoid threatened assassination, he traveled in disguise from Philadelphia to Washington. In a wise and moderate inau- gural address he let both North and South know his policy. He first assured the South that he did not propose to inter- ' Later they were elected by the people of the South. * Stephens, like some other Southerners, had strongly opposed seces- sion. When Georgia was considering the matter he declared secession the "height of madness." SECESSION.— CIVIL WAR BEGINS 333 fere with slavery in the states where it existed. " No state," he declared, " upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union." " The Union is unbroken," he said, and " to the extent of my ability I shall take care . . . that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states." " In doing this," he said, " there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority." In closing he seemed to plead with the South. " In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. . . . You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. . . . we are not enemies, but friends." The Bo.mbaudment of Fort Sumter From a contemporary print. 560. Fort Sumter Captured by the South.— Already many forts and customhouses and other government prop- erty had been seized by Southern authorities, because Buchanan had done nothing to prevent it. In Charleston Harbor, Fort Sumter was held by a Union force under Major 334 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION \ , d^r r> Castle Pinckncy Ft.JIoultrie^ LSumter Anderson, but it was poorly equipped and Lincoln decided to send supplies. Thereupon, by order of Jefferson Davis, nineteen batteries opened fire upon Anderson's heroic band of one hundred and twenty-eight men. Soon the fort was afire, and the walls tumbling about the soldiers, who could only fire a gun now and then to show that they were still unconquered. When all was done that man could do, Anderson surrendered, and marched out (April 14th) with flying flags and beating drums. Charleston and all the Confederacy re- joiced. Lincoln saw his duty clearly; without a moment's delay he called for seventy-five thousand volunteers. 561. 300,000 Men Rise to Save the Union. — The war was begun. It was astounding to see the re- sponse to the President's call. The answer was quick and hearty; ^ men saw only the insult to the Stars and Stripes, the attack on the Union. Not to fight slaveholders did men seize the sword and bayonet, but to fight men who were seeking to destroy the Union. There was an end to the talk about letting the " erring sisters go in peace." Douglas and other Northern Democrats promised Lincoln their heartiest aid in preserving ' Within two days the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment was on the way to Washington. As it passed through New York City a witness said, "We saw the heads of armed men, the gleam of their weapons, the reg- imental colors, all moving on pageant-like; but naught could we hear save that hoarse, heavy surge — one general acclaim, one wild shout of joy and hope, one endless cheer, rolling up and down, from side to side, above, below, to right, to left. " This was typical of the feeling every- where. CHJiKLKSTON V( HAKBOR SECESSION.— CIVIL WAR BEGINS 335 The Confederate C apitol at Richmond the Union. Men met in city and town and on the four corners to pledge their lives for the Union. Fife and drum and stars and stripes aroused the patriotism of all. Colleges were emptied; factories lost half their workmen, as the war spirit kindled. Three hundred thousand men were under arms within three months. 562. The South Rushes to Arms. — The South, too, was now eager for the struggle. The enlist- ing of men and the offers of money matched the activity at the North. " The flower of the Southern youth, the prime of Southern manhood, are collected in the camps of Virginia," wrote one witness. " North Carolina is ablaze from one extremit}^ to the other," said another. They felt all the zeal of the patriots of 1776, for in their minds liberty was the end they sought. 563. New States Enter Confederacy. — Amidst the excite- ment four more states seceded — Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, making eleven in all. When Virginia seceded, the Confederate Capitol was moved to Richmond, because it was near to Washington, around which the strug- gle was sure to rage. 564. Border States Remain in Union. — There Avas thus far one damper on the success of the seceding states. The Union men in the slaveholding border states, Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri, were greater in number than the Secessionists, and Lincoln's wisdom and forbear- ance kept them in the Union. The western part of Virginia, The Flag of the Confederacy 336 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION too, was little interested in slavery, because it was largely a mountain region. It broke away from Virginia, and later became a separate state — West Virginia. Suggested Readings Histories: Wilson, Division and Reunion. Nicolay, Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln. (Lincoln) Lodge and Roosevelt, Hero Tales from American History. Sparhawk, Life of Lincoln for Boys. Coffin, Drum Beat of the Nation. Sources: Hart. Source Book, 299-312. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, IV, 216-224. CHAPTER XL CONDITIONS IN NORTH AND SOUTH 665. Population of North and South. — Before entering upon the story of the terrible war between the North and South, it will help us to understand the events better if we measure their relative strength and resources. The popula- tion of the whole country was over 31,000,000, of which 19,000,000 lived in the free states and 12,000,000 in the slave states. Added to the free states' superior numbers there were several millions of people in border slave states which remained in the Union.^ 566. Dependence of the South.— Yet mere numbers were not the only difference. In the North, where most of the cities were found, there were many rapidly growing manu- facturing towns, while in the South there were no manu- facturing towns and little commerce." " From the rattle with which the nurse tickled the ear of the child to the ' Added to these were the people of East Tennessee and West Vir- ginia, so that there were about 22,100,000 people in the states and parts of states which supported the Union and 8,900,000 in the opposing section. Of the latter, 3,500,000 were slaves. ■ Of 107 cotton mills only eight were in the South. Of 158 cities of over 8,000 inhabitants, 137 were in states which stayed in the Union, twenty-one in the Confederacy. CONDITIONS IN NORTH AND SOUTH 337 shroud for the dead," declared a Southern speaker, " every- thing that the Southerners used came from the North." Though the South was so wholly given to the farming, or, rather, the plantation industry, the planters in the cotton districts did not even raise all their own food, but bought great stores of corn and hay products from the Northwest. This dependence upon the North and the outside world was a source of weakness in time of war. 667. Effects of Building Railroads. — The North was now better prepared to fight in a civil war than she had been even ten years before. The northern states east of the Mississippi were now bound together by railroads (see p. 338). Troops could thus be rapidly transported from one section of the country to the other. In respect to business interests the East and West were more closely connected than ever before and better prepared to fight a common fight. 568. Development of Resources. — In many ways the North was better able than the South to get along without the other section. Besides the Northern farms which raised all the varied food products, there were vast resources which were already being developed. There were great iron mines and copper mines in northern Michigan; and Pennsylvania had just discovered that she was rich not only in coal and iron, but in petroleum, which gushed as if from great geysers when a hole was drilled in the earth. The Ohio River bore an ever-growing fiatboat trade in bituminous coal, mined in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. On the Great Lakes men had begun to carry the white pine of Michigan and Wisconsin to readj^ markets. There was silver in Colo- rado and Nevada. Lead mines had been discovered in Missouri. The South, too, had hidden resources of this sort, but so engrossed had she been in the raising of cotton, that all other sources of wealth were neglected. 669. Schools and Education in North and South. — Another advantage the North had was in the education of the labor- ing class. As the census returns showed, the percentage 338 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION of those unable to read and write was far higher in the South than in the North, even if the negro slaves were not counted. The slaveholding families looked after the edu- G U I F OF MEXICOS;'^ Railroads in the United States, 1860 cation of their children by a private tutor system, or by sending them either North or abroad for college training. In public schools, however, the South was far behind the North, and the labor on which the South was built was CONDITIONS IN NORTH AND SOUTH 339 uneducated labor, the labor of ignorant blacks. In the North, on the other hand, the country and district schools were ever being bettered, and most of the Northern cities had added high schools to the older common schools; over a hundred colleges ' were founded in the twenty years pre- ceding the war. 570. Northern Conditions Shown by the Number of Great Writers. — In the North the larger cities and many of the larger towns had public libraries. These were stored in the main with the works of English authors, but America, too, had its literature. Parkman was turning out his charm- ing history of the French in America, while Motley wrote his fascinating " Rise of the Dutch Republic." Prescott had told the romantic story of the Aztecs and Peruvians. Lowell's and Emerson's essays were becoming classics for all English-reading peoples. Holmes was widely enjoyed. Whittier, Poe, Bryant, and Longfellow delighted many read- ers of poetry, while Cooper, Irving, Hawthorne, and Poe pleased the lovers of fiction. The patriotic influence of these native writers was felt in the length and breadth of the North, but in the South a very small number of plant- ers' families read them. 571. The Telegraph and its Value to Each Section. — The inventive genius of the North, meanwhile, had made possible the operation of the long lines of railroad which, as we have seen, had been built within the last twenty years. Samuel F. B. Morse _ _^._^_.,. demonstrated in 1844 that a sim- "" ' " ■" ^SlJsg^^S! pie device would enable one to send ^^^ ^^^^"^ Telegraph , , . , , T , . Instrument messages between widely distant points by means of an electric current passing through a wire.^ This was the electric telegraph, and by means of it many ' Eighty-two sectarian colleges and twenty nonsectarian. ' Look in the encyclopedia for the exact nature of the early telegraph. 340 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION trains could be controlled from a single office. Like Puck, the telegraph could put a girdle around the earth in forty minutes. It could run ahead of any train, and by its warn- ing save collisions — all too common in the early days of the railroad. All this made possible the running of many trains where only one dared run before.^ One can readily see also what a great difference the telegraph would make in war time, because of the rapidity with which commands might be sent to armies. Suggested Readings Histories: (Telegraph) Mowry, American Inventions and Ini^entors. Coman, Industrial History of the United States. Wilson, Dinsion and Reunion. Trowbridge, Samuel F. B. Morse. Doubleday, Stories of Inventors. CHAPTER XLI PREPARATION FOR WAR AND THE ATTITUDE OF EUROPE 572. Military Training North and South. — When the Southerners fired on the flag flying from Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, thousands of Northerners, as we have seen, leaped to the defense of the Union. But these men were without military training, except in some cases a militia training, which was far from adequate. Some cities sent well-trained militia companies, but the greater number of the volunteers who arrived in camp had neither experience under fire nor the habits that come of military drill. In most cases even their leaders had little military training, for the graduates of West Point were kept in the regular army and not distributed among the volunteers. Some of the officers trained at West Point went over to ' The Atlantic cable was laid through the efforts of Cyrus W. Field in 1858, but ceased to work after three weeks, and was not success- fully laid again until 1866, after the war. PREPARATION FOR WAR 341 the Confederate cause. Of these the greatest was Robert E. Lee, reputed the ablest officer in the army, a noble character, whose motives for joining the Southern cause were pure and high/ Davis, the President of the Con- federacy, was also a West Pointer and a veteran of the Mexican War. It was little wonder, therefore, that the South with such leaders and with a people used to firearms, to out-of-door life, and to the riding of horses^ should be the first really prepared for war and the first to win victories. 673. Getting the Money with which to Fight. — In the long run, the North was sure to have a vast advantage with its almost exhaustless resources. At once the North began to draw upon these. A new tariff law was passed and, as the war went on, the rates were raised again and again. Many new taxes were laid ere long; but they did not furnish enough money. Congress therefore (1862) turned at last to " legal tender notes," paper money which tradesmen and all must accept, though the paper would be worthless if the Government should fall. In 1863 the Government devised a system of national banks which were given the right to issue bank bills by buying United States bonds. Scheme as it would, however, the treasury had to borrow ' He was offered the command of the Northern armies, but believing that honor called him to share the fate of his state, he left his beauti- ful home at Arlington and joined the Confederate forces. - A matter of great importance when cavalry was needed in a country where the most effective war could be carried on by that means. 342 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION repeatedly in order to meet the vast expenditures of the war. Yet, in spite of ever-growing taxes and excises, the Northern people bore with patience all their burdens in their patriotic desire to save the Union. 574. The Navy and the Blockade. — One of the greatest expenses at the very first was the buying or building of a navy to blockade all the Southern coast from Virginia to Texas, and recapture the forts and ports seized by the seceding states. Lincoln and his advisers saw at once how much it would weaken the South to drive from its ports all ships bringing the manufactured goods which were sorely needed' or seeking to buy and take away the great quantities of cotton and tobacco which the South wished to sell. With this purpose Lincoln proclaimed to all the world (April 19 and 27, 1861) that the Southern ports were blockaded. The navy department began buy- ing tugboats, ferryboats, ocean liners, everything that would float, and in a marvelously short time the blockade was in force, ever closing its toils more tightly about the South until this " anaconda" method of strangling the Confederacy began to make it suffer. 575. Blockade Runners. — One of the greatest hopes of the Confederacy was that England, in her desire to get cotton for her extensive cotton mills,' would aid the South in the war. " Cotton is King " was the Southern cry. In other words, it would rule England's conduct, and perhaps that of France, too, which also had great cotton manufac- tures. At first, however, English aid went no further than winking at a forbidden trade with Southern ports, carried on by vessels of great speed, long and low, painted a dull gray, and with smokestacks which might be lowered to the deck. ' The South had no machine shops, gun factories, or any factory of military suppHes, but did have 4,700,000 bales of cotton to give in ex- change for such supplies. ' These employed thousands of men, and the prosperity of parts of England depended on them; starvation would threaten if mills closed. PREPARATION FOR WAR 343 These vessels were used to evade the Government blockaders on dark or stormy nights, and to carry cotton to the British GVLF OF MEXICO Typical Blockade Runner port of Nassau in the West Indies, returning on some moon- less and starless night with the manufactured things the South so much needed/ Clever as the blockade runners were, however, some fifteen hundred vessels were captured or de- stroyed by the Union navy during the war. 576. The " Trent Affair."— The Confederate government in its eagerness to get England and France to step in and help, sent two agents. Mason and Slidell, to urge intervention. Having escaped to Havana, they took passage (November, 1861) on the TreJit, a British mail steamer. An American vessel, the San Jacinto, stopped the Trent and took Mason and Slidell prisoners, doing just the thing America had always denied England's right to do.^ Yet Americans • So effective became the blockade before the war ended that the South suffered for want of clothing, paper, salt, coffee, medicines, and even guns with which to fight. - Remember the complaint against England in the years before the War of 1812. The Relation of Nassau TO THE Blockaded Ports OF the South 344 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION were so delighted with the seizure of Mason and Slidell that our Government was almost afraid to displease the nation by giving up the prisoners. Moreover, England prepared for war instead of asking for her rights in a conciliatory way. With great moral courage Lincoln declared that we must stick to American principles of International Law, and the two Confederate prisoners were given up to England. One war at a time, Lincoln said, was enough on his hands, and besides, justice and principle both favored his decision. 577. England's Attitude Toward the War.— This " Trent affair " made clear to Lincoln and the North that the ruling class of England hoped that the South would win. Even before our new minister, Charles Francis Adams, arrived in England, the government there acknowledged the bellig- erency of the Confederacy.^ This was very offensive to the United States Government. The English Government might have interfered to stop the war or fully recognized the South as a nation had it not been for the strong senti- ment in favor of the North among the English common people, especially the cotton-mill employees, who believed that the rights of free labor were involved in the American struggle. During most of the war, the menace of European interference hung like a cloud over Lincoln's government. Suggested Readings Histories: (Diplomacy) Adams, Life of Charles Francis Adams, Soley, Blockade and the Cruisers. Hart, Life of Chase. Wilson, Division and Reunion. Soley, Sailor Boys of '61. Dodd. Life of Jefferson Davis. ' By issuing a "proclamation of neutrality" as if two independent nations were at war. France took the same step. This gave the Con- federacy a right to insist that its citizens captured in war should not be treated as rebels, but as prisoners of war. That is, they could not be tried in the United States courts for treason and, if convicted, be hanged; but must be kept in prisons and exchanged for Northerners similarly taken by the armies of the Confederacy. THE FIELD OF WAR AND EARLY CAMPAIGNS 345 CHAPTER XLII THE FIELD OF WAR AND THE EARLY CAMPAIGNS 578. Advantages in the Field of War. — As the volunteers of both the Northern and Southern armies were hurried to the front, it was seen that each army would try to pre- vent the other's passing either of two great natural lines of defense— the Ohio and the Potomac rivers. It was also plain that there would be two great fields of war — one east and one west of the Appalachian system of mountains. If the South was to be invaded in the west, the Ohio, the Cum- berland, and the Tennes- see rivers could each be used by the Confederates as a line of defense. More- over, the many unsettled areas in the South and the lack of good roads there, either east or west of the Alleghanies, would seri- ously impede the advanc- ing Northern armies. On the other hand, the South must hold the Mississippi River or lose the aid of Texas and Arkansas and Louisiana. Most important of" all, it must defend and hold Virginia. The capital of the Confederacy was located at Richmond, and was thus not only the seat of government of the Confederacy, but its military headquarters. 579. The Bull Run Campaign. — It would ha\'e been wise for the Northern army, made up of so many untrained soldiers, to drill and put off actual fighting as long as pos- 23 The United States East of the Mississippi Showing the field of the Civil War. 346 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION sible. The clamor from the North, however, urging " on to Richmond," overcame the wisdom of General Scott, who was in command of the Union army, and General McDowell, who commanded the troops about Washington. The Northern army (July, 1861), crossing the Potomac, marched upon the Confederates, who were drawn up near Bull Run Creek at Manassas Junction. McDowell attacked the Con- federates, and at first with some success; but when the reenforcements came to the enemy, the Union army, undis- ciplined and unexperienced, became panic-stricken and started pellmell back to Washington, crowding the roads, a hurrying, panting stream of fugitives.^ It was a day of fantastic uniforms; and a strange sight it must have been to see this flying host, many wearing the Zouave uniform, with their legs in gaudy red or yellow bags and their heads in fez caps or turbans, like so many pirates. 580. McClellan and His Work.— Bad as this defeat and disaster was, it was worth while, for it woke the North to the serious problem before them. Lincoln turned now to General George B. McClellan, who had just been successful in a campaign of no great importance in West Virginia.'^ He took command of the Union army before Washington, drilling the soldiers from autumn to spring with great skill, until in March, 1862, the Army of the Potomac was a splendid body of trained soldiers. The men admired McClellan greatly. Because of his small stature, magnetic manner, and great self-confidence they called him the " Little Napoleon." Though he failed, as we shall see, it is by no means sure that more experience would not have made him a great general. As Sheridan said, his fault was he " never went out to lick anybody, but always thought first of keeping from getting licked." * The Confederates did not pursue, for they were as much disorgan- ized by victory as the Federals by defeat. ' General Scott was too old to be longer regarded as an acting leader, though called Lieutenant General. THE FIELD OF WAR AND EARLY CAMPAIGNS 347 581. Plan of McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. — While McClellan was getting ready to fight, the Confederate Government gathered a great army to defend Richmond. It was commanded by Generals Joseph E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas J. Jackson.' Between this army be- fore Richmond and McClellan's army before Washington were several rivers like the Rappahannock, and a great stretch of almost unbroken wilderness. Lincoln wanted McClellan to march straight toward Richmond and thus always keep his army between the enemy and Washington. McClellan wished to avoid a struggle at the rivers and in the forests by taking his troops in ships to the peninsula between the James and York rivers. As this exposed Washington, a small army had to be retained for its defense. 582. A New Naval Terror. — McClellan's first need was a sure control of the Potomac and Chesapeake, and this was won by one of the most dramatic contests of the war. The Confederates early in the war (April, 1861) had seized Norfolk with its shipyards. The Federals had tried to destroy everything of value, but the hull of the old frigate Merrimac was raised by the Confederates, who ingeniously protected the deck and exposed parts of the vessel with iron, and renamed it the Virginia. When it was fitted with a ram and with steam engines to propel it, this first effective armored ship set out on an errand of destruc- tion (March, 1862). It steamed to Fortress Monroe and destroyed two wooden frigates. Three more frigates lay at its mercy; but it had time enough, and steamed away for some repairs. It was plain that the day of oak-ribbed and white-sailed war vessels was past. 583. The First Battle between Ironclads. — Lincoln and the North were in despair; but like a hero in a drama, the ' Known as "Stonewall" Jackson because of a remark that he stood with liis soldiers like a stone wall resisting the Union attack at Bull Run. 348 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION preserver of the Union's naval power appeared that very day at Fortress Monroe. The httle Monitor, " a cheese box on a raft," a floating iron fort invented by John Ericsson, con- fronted the Merrimac when it leisurely returned to finish The First Battle between Ironclads The Monitor and the Merrimac, March 9, 1862. its work of destruction. The two iron monsters bombarded each other in vain for five hours, and when the disgusted Merrimac steamed away, its victorious career was over. 584. McClellan's Advance and Retreat. — It was now safe to transfer McClellan's army by water to the peninsula be- tween the James and York rivers. Slowly he advanced up that peninsula toward Richmond, until by the end of May he was but ten miles away. On May 31st McClellan attacked Johnston at Fair Oaks and on the second day of battle forced the Confederate army back. McClellan was so near that the fall of Richmond seemed certain, but General Robert E. Lee had taken Johnston's place ^ and, calling Jackson from the Shenandoah Valley, he began the terrible series of attacks known as the Seven Days' Bat- * Johnston was wounded at Fair Oaks. THE FIELD OF WAR AND EARLY CAMPAIGNS 349 tie/ which forced McClellan to retire to the James. Here on the last of the seven days, at Malvern Hill, the forces of Lee and Jackson were beaten off. In August, IMcClellan slowly and skillfully withdrew his army to Fortress Monroe. 585. The Second Battle of Bull Run.— Command of the Union troops in northern Virginia was now given to General Pope. He marched south from Washington, but was met by Lee and badly beaten on the old field of Bull Run. The whole campaign was a failure; Lee had outgeneraled Pope, and the one consola- tion that the North had was Pope's truth- ful report after de- feat: "The troops are in good heart, and marched off the field without the least hurry or con- fusion. Their con- duct was very fine." 586. Battle of An- tietam. — Again Mc- Clellan was put in full command of the Army of the Poto- mac and at once pre- pared to meet Lee, who had crossed the Potomac to invade Maryland. McClel- lan was now com- Field of the Eastern Campaigns pelled to defend Washington as Lee had a few months earlier defended Rich- mond. At Antietam Creek, McClellan attacked the strongly ' June 26th to July 2d, 1862. 350 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION posted Confederate army, and the two armies joined in one of the fiercest battles of the war. The Union loss was about 12,000 men; the Confederates lost about 11,000; and Lee had to give up the invasion of Maryland. Lincoln thought Lee's army should not have been allowed to escape, and when he made good his retreat into Virginia, McClellan was removed from command and General Burnside was put in his place. 587. Fredericksburg.— Burnside was all too well aware of the criticism of McClellan for not fighting vigorously, and when he found Lee in a strong position on the heights which rise steeply behind Fredericksburg, on the southern bank of the Rappahannock, he began an impossible assault. His men had to cross the river and climb the hill facing a murderous fire which mowed them down by thousands. When human endurance failed, they turned back across the river, having lost nearly 13,000 men to but 4,000 of the enemy. Burnside was removed and " Fighting Joe " Hooker placed in command of the army. The invasion of Virginia and the conquest of the South looked like an impossible task at the close of 1862. Suggested Readings Histories: Lodge and Roosevelt, Hero Tales from American His- tory. Wilson, Division and Reunion. Fiske, Mississippi Valley in the Civil War. Coffin, Marching to Victory, Battles ami Leaders of the Civil War. Dodge, Bird's Eye Vieiv of Our Civil War. Sources: Hart, Source Book. Hart, American History Told hy Contemporaries. Hart, Source Readers, No. IV. CHAPTER XLIII FIGHTING IN THE WEST 588. Attitude of Western Border States.— While the Northern and Southern armies were struggling in the East about Richmond and Washington, a like struggle was going FIGHTING IN THE WEST 351 on in the West for the possession of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers and the Mississippi. During 1861, fighting was sharp in Missouri between the two factions of the state, one for secession, one against. A convention at last voted by a large majority to keep the state in the Union, and Union armies helped to keep it so. Lincoln, in his attitude toward slavery, had taken great care not to offend the people of Missouri and he took the same care in Ken- tucky. With great tact he won that state to favor the Union cause and at last, by the fall of 1861, the Union party there was in full control of the Kentucky government. Only then did Union troops take upon themselves the task of driving out the Confedeyate army. 589. The Situation in the West. — At the end of 1861 Generals Halleck and Buell commanded the Union troops in the West. Under Halleck, and stationed at Cairo, was Gen- eral U. S. Grant, who had been trained at West Point and had fought in the Mexican War. A quiet, modest, little man, he had real genius. Planning his work carefully, he fought his men obstinately, coolly, and with great skill. These leaders began to move their troops in the winter, aiming to open the river routes which led to the southwest. A glance at the map will show what an advantage the rivers were to the Northern forces in their invasion of the southwestern states. Troops could be conveyed up and down these rivers easily and rapidly, and their supplies could be quickly brought to them. Seeing this advantage, the National Government made great efforts to fit out gunboats that would be of service on the e western waters. 590. Efforts to Recover Kentucky, — Early in 1862 a plan was made to take eastern Kentucky from the Confederates. To that end the Northern government planned to attack Forts Henry and Donelson, the former on the Tennessee, the latter on the Cumberland River. By taking these the Confederate line could be broken at the center. Flag Officer Foote, with a number of gunboats, carried up the Tennessee 352 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION an army of seventeen thousand men. These troops were under command of General Grant. The usefulness of the new gunboat was thus put to the test. 591. Forts Henry and Donelson (February, 1862).— After the army was landed, the boats attacked Fort Henry, but their task was short, as most of the Confederate force had been withdrawn to Fort Donelson, eleven miles distant. Grant then marched his army to the Cumberland, where Field op the Western Campaigns of the Civil War he attacked Fort Donelson with a force five thousand short of the enemy's. More troops soon came to his aid, how- ever, and the gunboats, too, were soon on hand to strengthen his attack. The effort of the garrison to escape by breaking through the Union line failed. When assaulted by the Union troops, the fort surrendered. The Union victory was an important one, for the main line of the Confederate defense was broken. Early in the spring New Madrid and FIGHTING IN THE WEST 353 Island No. 10, Confederate posts on the Mississippi River, were taken by Flag Officer Foote and General Pope. New Orleans was also captured by Admiral Farragut. 592. Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing. — Following the victory at Donelson, the main body of Grant's army, nearly forty thousand men, was at Pittsburg Landing on the Ten- nessee, while General Buell was marching across the country to its aid. A strong Confederate army was gathered at Corinth, Mississippi. Suddenly, before Buell arrived, the Confederate troops attacked Grant. The battle began on Sunday morning (April 6, 1862) and raged furiously the whole day, the Union forces being driven back about a mile during the day. Before the next morning the tables were turned by the arrival of Buell, and the Confederates were driven in confusion from the field. 593. Memphis Taken.— The Federal army then took Corinth and the second chief line of the Confederate defense was broken. Next Memphis fell, and Union gunboats could push down the Mississippi as far as Vicksburg. The victories of the Western army cheered loyal hearts of the North as no other events of the war had done. 594. What Is to be Done with Slavery ? — The campaign of 1863, however, was to bring new hope to the nation. But before relating the military events of that year we should notice some political events that gave new character and meaning to the war. When the flag was fired upon, the North had rushed to arms with the one thought that the Union must be preserved. But as the months went by it was felt by many that slavery, which had driven the two sec- tions apart, must be done away with as the result of the war. 595. Lincoln and Slavery.— President I-incoln hated slavery and hoped for the day when the nation should be rid of it. At first, however, he avoided any act that would make the war seem to be an attack upon slavery. He understood, as few did, how strong a race prejudice there was in the Jilflpth against the negro. That must be con- 354 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION sidered as well as the feeling in favor of emancipation. The border states, too, must be regarded, and this region was, of course, opposed to abolition. Slavery, Lincoln clearly saw, could be abolished only by saving the Union, and he bent everything to that end. Day by day he held back the excited abolition sentiment, telling everybody that first the Union must be preserved. 596. Negro Slaves "Contraband of War."— But events were taking place which would make the freeing of the slaves the reasonable thing for Lincoln to do. Early in the war many slaves had escaped to the Union lines, and when a Confederate demanded his runaway slaves as his legal right under the Fugitive Slave Act, the Union General Butler refused on the ground that the slaves were " contra- band of war." ^ Lincoln liked this idea, and Butler's prac- tice became the common one. Then Lincoln got Congress to agree to furnish money to help pay for the loss, if any state would abolish slavery; and he urged the border slave states to provide for gradual emancipation on this plan. They refused, however, to listen or to take a single step to that end. But the antislavery sentiment grew apace in the North, pressing Lincoln to act. 597. Emancipation Proclamation. — The President pa- tiently bided his time. About midsummer (1862), however, he drew up a draft of a proclamation for emancipation, which he soon after read to his Cabinet. He did not ask the members' opinions. The measure was a war measure, he said, and he, as commander in chief, would shoulder the whole responsibility. It was a notable scene. There sat a quiet man, bred in such poverty as we can scarcely dream of — a man without schooling, who from the simple life among the plain people of the great valley had learned lessons of faith and justice — a clean, clear soul that saw the truth ' Many things useful to the enemy, supplies, ammunition, etc., are called contraband of war, and such material may be seized and confis- cated. FIGHTING IN THE \\TEST 355 bravely and knew his duty. In a few brief sentences, he told his intention to strike the shackles from four million slaves, to do alone the greatest act done on the American continent since the days of the Federal Convention. ^^Zcti (Tr cHA-t^ixytxa^tk^ ho-^iX^ c^n, J'iSU)^ jLAai kjt.o^*'^ <£ nt, it was thought wise to nominate a War Democrat — some one who had belonged to the Democratic Party before the war, but who ■was now working with the Republicans to preserve the Union. The choice of the convention, therefore, fell upon Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee. A platform calling for the • complete suppression of the rebellion announced " that as slavery was the cause and now constitutes the strength of this rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere hostile to the principles of republican governnuMit, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the republic." 623. The Democratic Platform.— The Democratic Party nominated General George B. McClellan for the presidency. The party platform insisted that " immediate elTorts be made for a cessation of hostiliti(\s with a view to an ultimate convention of all the states, or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal union of the states." 624. Lincoln Elected. — During the presidential campaign the Ixepublicans- felt that everything was at stake. In the midst of the political struggle, Sherman won his great victory over Hood at Atlanta. His telegram, " Atlanta is ' Lincoln's jirpatncss is nowhere better shown than by his making Chase Cliiof .Tustioo after hv gave up the secret aryshij) of th(> treasury. - Perhaps we might more i)rop(>rly call them the Union Party, for there were many who, after the danger of disunion was over, went back into the Democratic Party. POLITICAL CRISIS.— THE END OF THE WAR 309 ours, and fairly won," gave new courage and great joy. Lincoln was elected l)y a large majority. 625. Thirteenth Amendment Proposed. — It will be re- membered that the Emancipation Proclamation was only a war measure — like any other confiscation of property — and it freed only such slaves as lived in those parts of the South then at war with the National Government. It did not destroy slavery in the other Southern states. A vote on the question of submitting a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery everywhere was taken in Congress early in 1864, but failed. After the election, however, abolition got new strength and the resolution for the amendment was carried. Lincoln rejoiced that the " great job " was ended, as he expressed it in his homely way. 626. Slavery Ended. — Still, however, the ratification by three fourths of the states was needed' and that was finally secured. The amendment provided that " neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Thus, the country was forever rid of the great evil of slavery. The hope of the future was for fellow feeling between North and South, now that one of the worst causes of enmity and division was to be no more. 627. Lee in Great Danger.^ While giving our attention to political matters, we have delayed the story of the military events of the winter and spring of 1865. When Sherman left Savannah and marched North through the Carolinas, he was harassed by the Confederates under Johnston, but his advance was not seriously hindered. Grant, meanwhile, held Lee at Richmond and Petersburg. The Confederates grew daily weaker, and the end seemed near at hand. Lee ' This was done in the course of the year. In December, 1865, a proclamation was issued declaring that the Thirteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution. 370 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION had a plan to push southward and unite with Johnston, hoping thus to crush Sherman before Grant could get to his aid. Grant, handling his immense army with great ability, watched with caution and anxiety, while Lee, fighting deliberately and with his usual skill, sought to escape the deadly toils of the Union army winding ever more closely about Richmond. 628. Lee Surrenders to Grant. — At length, by a night march (April 2-3, 1865) Lee shpped away. Grant entered Richmond and then began a hot pursuit. The brave Con- federates, ragged, starving, and disheartened, made their t-v,. ^il-*-e*. «<^-^C-v-^ /-^S^^^ -^-r^c^ Facsimile of the Last Lines of Grant's Letter to Lee way westward, harassed at every step by the jDursuing Union cavalry. The only escape was by way of the narrow strip of land between the Appomattox and James rivers. When Sheridan's cavalry planted themselves across that route Lee's army was surrounded. On the 9th of April Lee surrendered. Grant, generous and wise, granted terms deserved by a brave foe. The Confederates were released on parole, " not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged"; the POLITICAL CRISIS.— THE END OF THE WAR 371 officers and men were to return to their homes,* "not to be disturbed by the United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they reside." Grant's generosity gave to the North a timely lesson of wise self-restraint in the hour of victory. Johnston surrendered to Sherman at Durham, North Carolina, on the 26th of April. 629. End of the War.— The greatest civil war in history was at an end. The North, in order to crush the South, had been forced to raise an army as large as the fabulous host of Xerxes. The South had fought with a spirit, a heroism, and a courage that causes us to forget the quarrel and prompts us only to remember with pride that the men of both sections are now brethren of a common country. Grant's words in addressing his former comrades in arms were wisely chosen: " Let them hope for perpetual peace and harmony with that enemy whose manhood, however mis- taken the cause, drew forth such Herculean deeds of valor." 630. Hard Times in the South.— The efforts of the South to sustain the war had been heroic. We must recall that they had few factories of any kind. The very arms with which they fought had to be smuggled through the blockade or wearily brought across Texas from Mexico, and day by day the inclosing toils of the Union army and navy made that more difficult. Gold and silver money was almost unknown and borrowing was practically impossible. Paper money, issued by the million dollars, " payable six months after the close of the war," fell down, dov»n, in value as the prospects of the Confederacy grew dimmer. In May, 1864, a clerk in Richmond entered these prices in his diary, " Boots, two hundred dollars; pantaloons, one hundred dollars; . . . flour, two hundred and seventy-five dollars per barrel; . . . bacon, nine dollars per pound; . . . ' Lee's farewell to his brave soldiers, "whose very rags are a shining honor," was pathetic in its simplicity. "Men," he said, "we have fought through the war together. I have done the best I could for you. " 372 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION potatoes, twenty-five dollars per bushel; . . . wood, fifty dollars per cord." ^ 631. The Slavery Burden too Great for the South.— Thus it was through actual want that the South was beaten — not because the people could not fight, nor because they were not willing to bear hardships. History has few examples of such brave constancy as that shown by Lee's men in the fearful campaign of 1864-65, when Grant's terrific hammer- ing must have convinced them that they could not long hold out. Southern women at home on the plantations suffered terrible privations w^th heroic fortitude. It was not lack of bravery, skill, or determination that defeated the South. It was slavery, an institution which had been abandoned by every other equally civilized part of the world. 632. Cost of Preserving the Union. — The Union was saved, but the oost was enormous. Over three hundred thousand Northern men gave up their lives for their country.^ The loss of the South can have been but little less. From all causes, the nation lost nearly a million of able-bodied men. 633. Conditions in the South.— At the close of the war there were over a million men receiving pay in the Northern army. The total national debt at the end of the war was $2,844,649,626. Yet we do not get an idea of the real cost of these four years of destruction, until we remem- ber that hundreds of thousands of men were taken from pro- ductive work, to spend their energies in killing their fellows. This sacrifice of the North to preserve the Union and the Government was great, but the sacrifice of the South was greater. She, in behalf of slavery and her constitutional principles, offered up her very life. When the ' General Gordon, of the Confederate army, used to tell of offering a soldier $1,000 for a fine horse he was leading. "Not by a jugful," re- plied the soldier, "I just paid $200 for having him curried." ^ This does not count the men who died at home as a result of wounds received in battle, or as a result of exposure. RECONSTRUCTION 373 ■vvar ended the whole Southern country was desolate. Men and women who had been reared in luxury were reduced to poverty. Virginia had been a battlefield for four terrible years, and other states fared but little better. When South- ern soldiers sought their homes, they were met by want and desolation. If the buildings had not been destroyed they were sadly out of repair, the cattle had been driven off by invading armies, the horses and mules had been killed in battle, and what money the South had was worthless. Only courage equal to that displayed in war could enable them to take up the struggle for a livelihood. 634. Disbanding the Army.— When the Union army of a million soldiers was disbanded, the men went quietly back to the farm, the counting house, or the workshop. Within a few weeks this huge army was absorbed back into the body of the people. AH the world wondered that there was no violence, no hcense, no rioting. The volunteer soldier showed his sense and self-restraint bj^ becoming an ordinary citizen once more. Suggested Readings See Readings suggested for Chapter XLIV. CHAPTER XLVI RECONSTRUCTION 635. The Assassination of Lincoln. — Just at the moment when the wise and large-hearted I^incoln could have been of the greatest service to the nation so torn by war, he was murdered b}' Wilkes Booth while sitting in a box at Ford's Theater (April 14, 1865). The man who planned his death hoped to plunge the nation's affairs into confusion, and thus give the Confederacy a last chance for life. It was the worst of folly; for as many great Southern leaders saw,^ ' The Southerners lamented Lincoln's death, for they had learned that there was no hate or malice in him, and that once they were back 374 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION the South needed Lincoln's mercy and self-control in the hour of her defeat. Lincoln's place was at once taken by Andrew Johnson, the Vice- President, and public busi- ness went on as before, ex- cept that Lincoln, the pru- dent-tongued man who did not lose his temper, was ex- changed for Johnson who was both passionate and hasty of speech. 636. How Was the South to Get Back into the Union? — From the mourn- ful thought of Lincoln's untimely end the country turned back to the great question of what should be done with the conquered South and its people. How should the Govern- ment treat the white men who had fought to destroy the Union? What should be done to provide for the welfare of the freed negroes who had never known any more than do children what it was to care for themselves? There were other questions that troubled men greatly; they did not know, for example, whether a Southern state that had tried to secede was still a state or not. Some men, indeed, insisted that by the attempt at secession the state became a territory and was fully under the control of the Federal Government. in the Union he would be their friend. Indeed, Lincoln only recently had said, "Let us strive to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." Abraham Lincoln From the last portrait taken before hi.s assassination. RECONSTRUCTION 375 Lincoln had thought there was no use in raising these ques- tions. The Southern states, he said, were out of the "proper practical relations with the Union " and the thing to do was to restore that ' ' proper practical relation " as quickly as possible. 637. Lincoln's Plan. — As early as December, 1863, Lin- coln had sent forth a proclamation in which he offered pardon to all persons, except a few leaders of rebellion, who would swear their allegiance to the United States and obedience to the Constitution and the Emancipation Proc- lamation. When one tenth of the voters in a Southern state had been thus pardoned, and had set up a loyal govern- ment, republican in form, Lincoln proposed to look upon this government as the lawful state government. Congress, however, had, under the Constitution, the right to refuse to receive senators or representatives sent from such a state to Washington. Though several states were thus " recon- structed," Northern opinion was against this mild treatment of seceded states. Yet a man loved and trusted as was Lincoln might have led the people to his view. 638. Johnson's Way of Treating the Problems. — When Johnson became President, he took up the same plan of reconstruction, but as he had himself been a "poor white" of the Tennessee mountain region, he hated the rich planters, and in his proclamation of pardon (May, 1865) he shut out the old Southern leaders so that the poor whites might form the new state governments. Though Johnson hated slavery and slave owners, he had the common Southern contempt for negroes. When some of the reorganized Southern states passed " vagrancy " or " labor-contract " laws to compel the freedman to work, he was little con- cerned, though the North looked upon this forced labor as not unlike slavery. Congress had already (March, 1865), created by law a Freedmen's Bureau which was to find work for the negroes, save them from starvation, protect them from injustice, and set up schools for them. Johnson had little sympathy with this bureau. 376 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION 639. Struggle between Johnson and Congress. — When Congress met in December, 1865, with a RepubUcan ma- jority, it refused to admit senators and representatives from the reconstructed states.^ This angered Johnson, and when Congress passed a law to give more power to the Freedmen's Bureau, he vetoed it. In July Congress passed another bill to increase the power of the bureau and to give the army power to force obedience to it. This biU Johnson also vetoed. Meanwhile, a Civil Rights BiU to protect the freedmen by putting them under the care of the Federal Government was passed, vetoed, and repassed by a two thirds vote which overrode the President's veto. From that time on. Congress and the President were at war. In three years Johnson vetoed twenty-one bills, of which Con- gress passed fifteen over his veto. 640. Fourteenth Amendment. — To prevent a future Con- gress from taking away the rights secured by the Civil Rights Act, the two Houses proposed the Fourteenth Amend- ment to the Constitution. This aimed: (1) to prevent the states from abridging the rights of citizens either white or black; (2) to cut down the representation in Congress of any state which denied the right of voting to any male citizen twenty-one years old, except for taking part in the rebelHon;^ (3) to exclude certain leaders of the Confed- eracy from office; (4) to guarantee the debt of the United States, while all debts incurred by the South in support of rebellion were declared null and void. Except Tennes- see, every Southern state refused to accept this amend- ment. Onlj^ after the most strenuous efforts of Congress was it finally carried. 641. The Plans of Congress. — Congress would not give * Members from the Southern states, it was thought, might defeat the will of the Northern members in the work of guarding the negroes' rights and punishing the leaders of rebellion. ^ Congress did not wish in 1867 to give suffrage to the negro. But it did wish to cut down the representation of Democratic states. » RECONSTRUCTION 377 up its purpose, as expressed in the Fourteenth Amendment. In March, 1867, therefore, a Tenure of Office Act was passed over Johnson's veto with the aim of keeping in office men who favored Congress and were opposed to the President. A Reconstruction Act, also vetoed, was passed in spite of Johnson, and later was amended and made more vigorous. In its final form, it organized the seceded states,^ except Tennessee," into military districts, each ruled by a military officer in command of soldiers enough to execute his orders. While thus ruled the states were to frame new constitutions, giving the right to vote to all men, white or black, who for one year had been residents and who had not taken part in the rebellion.' The new voters might elect a new legisla- ture which must ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. Then and only then could their senators and representatives be admitted to Congress. 642. Stevens and Sumner. — The leader in this revengeful legislation was Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, who from his first entrance into Congress (1849) had been the deadly enemy of slavery. His wit and readiness and singleness of purpose made him one of the greatest debaters who ever sat in Congress. He had no sympathy with an opponent, but thought all on the other side were scoun- drels. He was bent on vengeance against the slaveholders and " rebels." He favored negro suffrage because, as he said openly, it would " continue the Republican ascendency." All the negroes, he was sure, would vote for the party which had freed the slaves. To attain his end he bent all the power of a keen and logical mind and a sarcastic tongue, which everyone dreaded. Sumner, in quite another way, led in the Senate toward the same goal as Stevens in the House. 643. Results of the Vengeful Policy. — The terrible result of this vindictive policy, so foreign to the one Lincoln would ' Including those reconstructed by Lincoln and Johnson. ^ Excepted because it had assented to the Fourteenth Amendment. ' This took the right to vote away from all the old leaders of the South. 25 378 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION have pursued, was that for a few years the South was ruled by the lowest and most ignorant of men. Many teachers had been sent South in the wake of the Federal armies to edu- cate the negroes/ Many of the members of the Union League, established in the North during the war, also came South,^ and began to admit to their secret councils negro members who were controlled b}^ white leaders. These white leaders and teachers began to instruct the black freedmen to avoid the Southern whites as natural enemies, and to look to the Northern whites as friends. The Southern whites were now chiefly Democrats, because they wished to oppose the Republicans. The negroes were taught to hate the Demo- crats and to look to the Republican Party for promised favors, social rights, and a division of the property of South- ern whites which was to be confiscated. " Forty acres and a mule " were to be given every negro, the rumor ran.^ Ne- groes were trained in military drill often after dark, to the terror of the whites. By these means the negroes were induced to vote the Republican ticket, and under the recon- struction laws the political power fell wholly into their hands and those of the "carpetbaggers,"^ as the white leaders from the North were called. 644. Slaves of Yesterday, Rulers To-day.— To under- stand the sinister meaning of this political control, we must remember that up to the time of the war the negro slaves had little or no education, no experience of any kind in politics. They had never cared for themselves, but had been cared for like children. They had never bought for ' This work was under the control of the Freedmen's Bureau. - Many Southern whites in the mountain districts also joined this league. The league was originally organized to work for the preser- vation of the Union, but its high purpose became in time corrupted. ^ Rascally sharpers swindled many negroes by selling them tri- colored stakes with which to stake off their forty acres. * This name was given in contempt because it was said that these men carried all their possessions in carpetbags. The Southern white men who aided the " carpetbaggers" were called "scalawags." RECONSTRUCTION 379 themselves even a pair of shoes, and even their daily food had been provided for them. Now, with Httle or no training these men, but a day removed from slavery and often misled by unprincipled " carpetbaggers," became the rulers of the South. Men without a dollar of taxable property passed The Pate of the Carpetbagger and the Scalawag From a cartoon in an Alabama paper, September 1, 1S68. the laws taxing the rich planters to such an extent that tax= ation became confiscation. They furnished the statehouse with $1,000 mirrors, $200 clocks, richly decorated cuspidors, $200 crimson plush sofas. Thej^ furnished themselves with the finest liquors and cigars.^ For their sweethearts they purchased — with state funds — jewelry and parasols, ladies* hoods, and even hooks and eyes. War itself had hardly been so destructive of the rights of property holders as was this aping of government. 645. The South Seeks Escape from Rule by Former Slaves. — The white men of the South, unable to act in the open ' In one session the South CaroUna Legislature spent $125,000 for "refreshments." 380 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION because the negro politicians were protected by the United States soldiers, resorted to secret means of frightening the negro voters. The Ku Klux Klan was organized, every member of which swore by the terrible oath of the Invisible Em- pire, or the White Brotherhood, or Pale Faces, to "forever maintain and contend that intelligent white men shall govern this country."^ Masked men in hideous disguises, with horns and wings and ghostly trappings, rode through the night threatening the negroes, whipping and even shooting their white leaders. As this practice grew, Congress passed the Force Acts (1870-71) in a vain effort to quell this intimidation by trials in United States courts and by the use of soldiers. Johnson Impeached.— Meanwhile, the quarrel between President Johnson and Congress had led to an attempt to deprive Johnson of his office. He was accused of refusing to carry out the laws of Congress which his inauguration oath bound him to execute. Especially did he refuse to obey the Tenure of Office Act, which required the Senate's assent to removals from office. Without their consent he removed his Secretary of War, Stanton, for disobedience to him, and thereupon the House of Repre- sentatives, following the form provided by the Constitu- tion, impeached the President, and his trial was held in the Senate with Chief Justice Chase presiding. There were a number of charges, ]:iut the test vote was taken on the. A Member of the Ku Klux Klan 646. President * The officers of the Ku Klux Klan consisted of a Grand Wizard of the Empire and his ten Genii; a Grand Dragon of the Realm and his eight Hydras; a Grand Titan of the Dominion and his six Furies; a Grand Giant of the Province and his four Goblins; a Grand Cyclops of the den and his four Night Hawks; a Grand Mage, a Grand Monk, a Grand Scribe, a Grand Exchequer, a Grand Turk, and a Grand Sentinel. RECONSTRUCTION 381 strongest case relating to the removal of Stanton. The necessary two-thirds vote required by the Constitution for impeachment failed. A change of a single vote, how- ever, would have established the dangerous precedent of removing a President because he quarreled with Congress. 647. Election of 1868.— While the President and Congress were thus wrestling for supremacy, the election of 1868 was deciding who was to be Johnson's successor. Horatio Sey- mour was nominated by the Democrats, and General Grant by the Republicans. The latter's great military fame gave him great advantage. He was elected, having two hundred and fourteen electoral votes to eighty for Seymour. 648. The Fifteenth Amendment. — Just before Grant's inauguration the Republicans, taking courage from their victory, sent out to the states for approval, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, The last amendment had left the states still empo ered to say who should or should not vote,^ but the ne ; one provided that the right of a citizen of the United States to vote should not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. In March, 1870, it v ent into force. The three Southern states, Virginia, Texas, and Mississippi, which had not yet been reconstructed, were admitted to the Union only on the condition of accepting this amend- ment. The Union was at last (1869) complete after the long years of disunion. 649. The French Driven from Mexico.— Before leaving Johnson's administration we must note two important matters in our relations with other nations. Napoleon III, the French Emperor, had taken advantage of the American war to defy the Monroe Doctrine and set up French power in America. He sent troops to Mexico, overthrew the government, and set up Maximilian, an Austrian prince, ■ If they chose to lose part of their representatives in Congress by not letting the negroes vote they might do so. 382 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION as emperor. When the war was over, the Union govern- ment informed the French that the sooner they left the better. Troops were sent to the Rio Grande and Grant and Sheridan would gladly have marched in and driven out the intruders. The French were wise and withdrew, but ^Maximilian stayed and was seized and shot by the Mexicans. This put an end to French occupation and warded off the danger of war with France. 650. The Purchase of Alaska.— In 1867 Alaska was purchased from Russia for $7,200,000. At first Alaska's only value seemed to be the seals upon its shores, and many men could not imagine why Secretary Seward wished to make the treaty, or the Senate to ratify it. We now see that the country is a valuable one; the recent gold discov- eries have alone far more than justified the purchase. 651. Grant's Diplomatic Record. — During Grant's ad- ministration there were several diplomatic events of im- portance. In 1871 the Treaty of Washington settled three disputes with Great Britain. (1) The chief of these was a settlement of the Alabama Claims. During the war, it will be recalled, a number of cruisers, the most famous being the Alabama, were built, or refitted and supplied with coal in British ports, while that government made no proper efforts to stop this violation of British neutrality. The cruisers preyed upon and destroyed millions of dollars' worth of American property on the seas. By the terms of the Treaty of Washington five judges were chosen, who met at Geneva, and after receiving the evidence, awarded the United States $15,500,000 in gold to repay damages. (2) The same treaty referred a dispute over the fisheries on our north- eastern shore to a commission which met at Halifax. In this ease the judges awarded Great Britain $5,500,000. (3) A third dispute, which concerned the Oregon boundary, was left to the Emperor of Germany as arbitrator. He decided in favor of our claim, giving us the San Juan group of islands between Vancouver and the mainland. RECONSTRUCTION 383 652. Grant Reelected.— By 1872 there was a strong feeling among many liepublicans that Congress was going too far in its severe treatment of the South. These men formed the Liberal Republican Party and nominated for President, Horace Greeley, an old-time antislavery man, and the editor of the most influential Republican newspaper in the land. The Democrats accepted the nominee as their own. But Grant was reelected, carrying all but six states, and he continued in office till March 4, 1877. 653. Evil Days in Grant's Second Term,— Grant's second administration was chiefly remarkable for: (1) the great panic of 1873, during which the business of the country was thrown into much confusion and there was great suf- fering among the poor; (2) continuance of the difficulties in the South, where in some of the states negro or " carpet- bag " governments were supported by the national govern- ment, and the white people were indignant, restless, and bitter; and (3) the fact that several cases of corruption among the officials of the government were discovered. It was evident that men must try to forget the old quar- rel and work for more honest government and higher ideals. Grant was not dishonest; some one has justly said that if he had tried to tell a lie he would not have known how to do it. But during the war and in the days of anxiety and ill feeling that followed, a few men who talked loudly of patri- otism had got into office and tried to fill their own pockets instead of serving the public. Suggested Readings Histories: (Lincoln) Williams, Some Successful Americans. Wil- son, Division and Reunion. McCall, Thaddeus Stevens. Storey, Charles Sumner. Andrews, Last Quarter of a Century, I. Wilson, Ulysses S. Grant. (For the Teacher) Dunning, Reconstruction. Sources: Hart, American History Told ly Contemporaries, IV. Hart, Source Book, 127-134. VIII RECENT HISTORY AND THE RISE OF GREAT INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS CHAPTER XLVII THE RECONSTRUCTED NATION.— ITS NEW PROBLEMS 654. The Tilden and Hayes Election. — The candidates for the presidency in 1876 were Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and Samuel J. Tilden, of New York. Hayes was a Republican and a quiet man of ability and simple honesty. Tilden, a lawyer of renown, had made himself favorably I Tilden (Dem.) iSi \4'''i \ 'lUsiiuted 22 4 Map of the Election of 1876 known by the war he had made on the Tweed Ring, a wicked company of officeholders in his own state. When the vote was counted it was found that Tilden had one hundred and eighty-four votes. If the electoral votes of South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, and a disputed vote in Oregon 384 THE RECONSTRUCTED NATION 385 were cast for Hayes, the latter would have one hundred and eighty-five — a majority of one. From each of the three Southern states where the "carpetbag" government had created bitter partisan hate, there were two sets of electors, both asserting they were chosen properly and each declaring the other dishonest. The country was excited, but not really alarmed, for it was believed there was enough good sense in the land to settle the trouble. 655. A Commission Favors Hayes.— Congress saw that an unusual step was necessary. A commission to decide the matter was therefore appointed, made up of five Sena- tors, five Representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court. The commission decided in favor of Hayes, each member voting as his party's interest dictated. Tilden, with wise and admirable patriotism, quietly accepted his defeat. Even if, as many men still think, injustice was done, such a peaceful settlement of a dispute was a great victory for free government. 656. New Issues. — With the coming of Hayes to the presidential chair the country entered on a new stage of its life. There were, of course, no violent breaks with the past; men who were then living did not feel that they had passed from one era to another — such times of sudden change do not come in human history. But as we look back now over the events of the time, we see that the old issues were rapidly passing away; the political questions that grew out of the Civil War were nearly gone. The land was about to engage in new enterprises, and, in the course of a genera- tion, to startle the world by the vast growth of business, and by the use of new inventions and discoveries, so im- portant in their effect upon our daily life that they nearly equal in significance the invention of the steam engine. 657. What a Century Had Wrought. — In the centennial year, 1S7G, a great exposition was held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence had been passed 386 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS one hundred years before.^ The United States of the Revolution contained about 2,500,000 people; one hundred years later there were over 50,000,000, and the republic, no longer a row of ill-connected states along the Atlantic seaboard, was made up of states and organized territories stretching across the continent. In 1776 the country was engaged in a war for the maintenance of what it believed to be its rights. Whether it would succeed in winning inde- pendence no one could tell; whether, if once independent, it could carry out its principles of freedom was questioned. Now at the end of its first century it could point to success- ful popular government; it had passed through the greatest civil war in history; slavery, though at enormous sacrifice of life and treasure, had been put away. The land was united, prosperous, hopeful, and determined. 658. The Exposition.— The exposition brought people together from all over the land and appears to have had a marked effect in encouraging travel. For the visitor at Philadelphia "the world was brought together in a small compass." " For the first time," says one writer, " thousands saw Chinese carpenters at work in truly antipodal manner, drank Paraguayan mate or tea, marveled at the many uses of gutta-percha, examined the wooden clocks from the Black Forest, were amused by the figures clad in peasant costumes from Sweden and from China, discussed a new floor covering known as ' linoleum,' and wondered at the cunning workmanship and artistic invention of the almost unknown Japanese."^ 659. The Progress of Invention. — Before long a system of lighting by electricity was discovered. The arc lamp was invented, giving a strong and brilliant light for the streets, ' The later expositions at Chicago, 1893, at St. Louis, 1904, were much larger, much more beautiful than the one at Philadelphia. But the Centennial Exposition had great effect and enabled the people for the first time to see themselves and look out upon the world. ^ Sparks, " National Development," p. 10. THE RECONSTRUCTED NATION 387 parks, and large buildings. Edison, after patient toil and ingenious effort, invented the incandescent lamp — the hollow airless bulb in which there is a fine filament made from fibre that glows without being consumed/ The telephone and the phonograph came into use — the former now so common and indispensable that we can scarcely realize that such a short time ago we relied solely on the mails or the leisurely messenger lad, or sent our own boys from their play with urgent notes to our neighbors or the doctor. Electric railways were built in many cities. It was apparent that at last we had discovered a means of rapid transportation that would displace all others. It was peculiarly fitting that here in America these marvelous inventions should be made; for here Franklin, the first American scientist to gain the world's attention, drew the lightning from the cloud and proved that the flashes in the sky were but terrific electrical discharges. It is hard to realize, too, that before the time of the Centennial Exposition few Americans had seen a bicycle, except in the form of the old - fashioned velocipede. At the exposition there was shown a bicycle made abroad, a curious affair with a huge front wheel five feet or so in diameter and a small hind wheel about one fifth that size. The rider sat aloft, astride the big wheel and almost directly above its axle, at the imminent peril of taking a " header " over the handle bars. Some eight years later the " safety " bicycle, now so common, was invented. * The arc light is made by sending a current of electricity through two carbon sticks held a short distance from each other. The ends of the carbon sticks are heated to incandescence. Ax Old Velocipede and a High- wheel Bicycle 388 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 660. Hayes' Great Aim.— Returning to our political history, we must bear in mind that Hayes was not known very well when he was made President, and men did not know what to expect from him. He was of a modest and gentle disposition, but his clear head and sound conscience enabled him to see the right and to do it quietly. One thing he had close at heart, was to put an end as best he could to the continuing ill feeling between North and South. As long as Federal troops remained at the South, watching over elections and interfering, or ready to interfere, with local matters, the Southern people must feel that they w^ere, in a measure, held in bondage and were not given the right to full self-government. The very presence of the troops was an irritation. Soon after his inauguration the President ordered the withdrawal of the army from the public buildings of these states. 661. The End of Reconstruction. — This was the end of Reconstruction. There was still much to be done to bring North and South together in a feeling of friendship and trust. The South still faced the grave difficulties that came from the change in her whole labor system; she had to deal with four million black freedmen; her tasks required wisdom and courage. But she could now rely upon herself and attack her new problems unhampered by the presence of the Northern army. 662. The " Greenback" Trouble.— One of the relics of the war was the " greenback," the paper money that had been issued to defray the expenses of the Government. This money had fallen in value, because people feared that the Government would never be able to redeem the paper in gold and silver, the ordinary money of the world. If one is sure that he can send his paper money to the bank or the treasury and get specie (gold and silver) for it, he is content to use it and not send it. But if he knows he cannot get specie for it, and if he distrusts the Government's power ever to pay in specie, he does not prize his piece of paper very highly. At THE RECONSTRUCTED NATION 389 one time in 1864, a paper dollar would buy only two fifths as much as a gold dollar would buy.' In the election of 1876 there had been a Greenback Party, advocating the use of unredeemable paper permanently as the money of the country. They had fortunately been defeated. 663. Specie Payment. — The war debt was being reduced, and there was no real cause for anxiety about the country's finances. In Grant's second term Congress had declared that on January 1, 1879, the country would pay every man that so desired gold or silver for his paper money. Some people doubted for a time the ability of the Government to bring this about; but when the day came, though the Government was ready to pay, no paper was presented for redemption. If people knew they could get gold they did not want it. And thus the vast sums of paper money were made good; the country stood by its promises honestly. 664. The Railway Strike of 1877; The Labor Problem.— Of all the events of Hayes' time, the one we remember best, perhaps, is the great railway strike of 1877, for this was the first great strike in our history, the dramatic beginning of a series of struggles between laborers and their employers. The trouble was caused by cutting down the wages of workmen on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; but it was not confined to that road. It spread through fourteen states. The situation in Pittsburg was especially bad. In that city alone, prop- erty to the value of $10,000,000 was destroj'^ed. Peace was finally restored and the railroads went on with their business quietly. But the terrible experiences of those days showed what serious trials were in store, if employers and workingmen could not learn to respect each other's needs and to work in har- mony. This was the first time in our history that the great body of men in this country faced with anxiety the perplex- ■ We now have paper that buys just as much as gold does. But its value is maintained by the fact that it can be exchanged for gold if any- body really demands it. 390 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS ities of the labor problem. How could the rights of both sides be secured? Would workmen treat capital and prop- erty with consideration? Would capitalists give the work- men a chance to improve their condition and to move upward to better living? Men wondered and doubted. From that day to this labor has been organizing, and to The Railway Strike of 1877 Rioters stopping a train on the Erie R.R. From a contemporary illus- tration in Leslie's Weekly. meet its growing power, capital, too, has organized, and the problem of the relations of capital and labor has become ever more complex. 665. The Tariff as a Campaign Issue.— In 1880 the Re- publicans nominated James A. Garfield, of Ohio, for the presidency; and the Democrats nominated Winfield S. Hancock, the hero — one of the heroes — of Gettysburg. Garfield was elected. The two parties now differed plainly and clearly on the tariff. The Republicans stood for a high duty for the protection of American manufactures; the Democrats demanded a tariff for revenue, not for pro- THE RECONSTRUCTED NATION 391 tection — just high enough to pay the expenses of govern- ment. Garfield became President March 4, 1881.^ 666. Garfield and Patronage. — He faced trouble at the very beginning He appointed, as Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, who was an able man and one who for some years had had great popularity in his party. The appointment of Blaine, however, irritated Roscoe Conkling, Senator from New York. The two men disliked each other heartily. It had long been customary for the President to consult the Senators from a particular state before making any im- portant appointments to office in the state; the appoint- ments had, in fact, been practically made by the Senators. When Garfield refused to be dictated to by Mr. Conkling, the latter, together with his colleague, Senator Piatt, re- signed from the Senate, and appealed for vindication to the Legislature, which, however, refused to reelect them. 667. Civil Service Problems. — This quarrel may appear a trivial matter; but there was great excitement about it at the time. One might actually have thought the Republic was in danger. In truth, it brought home to thinking citizens the reality of a serious fact — the fact that quarrels arose not over vital principles deeply affecting the life of the Republic, but over offices and salaries. People therefore thought more carefully than before as to whether such con- tests were worth while, and whether our political life would not be cleaner and sounder if the offices were not scattered about so freely at the beginning of every President's term as they had been from the days of Jackson." ' The new President was a man of ability and vigor. Like so many- men that had arisen to high office in America, he had begun life in pov- erty and had overcome difficulties by energy and courage. ^ There is a good story of Lincoln who, one day during the most anxious days of the Civil War when the fate of the land hung in the balance, was seen by one of his friends to be much preoccupied and ap- parently cast down. The friend said: "I hope, Mr. President, you have not received bad news from the front." "Oh, no," said Lincoln. "It's the postmastership at Brownsville." 392 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 668. Garfield Assassinated. — This petty quarreling now took a tragic turn. On the morning of July 2d, 1881, as the President was entering the railway station at Washington, he was shot. The assassin was a fanatic who had come to Washington as an office-seeker and ap- peared to have been much wrought up, perhaps temporarily deranged, by his fa lure to get office. Garfield lingered, battling bravely and hopefully for fife, till September 19th. His death was a great shock to the people. Twice within twenty years the chief magistrate of the nation had been killed, and in this latter instance the crime could not be attributed to the excitement and enmity begotten by civil war. Even in free, prosperous America, rulers, the faithful servants of the people, were in danger. 669. Arthur Becomes President. — The Vice President, Chester A. Arthur, became President. He had not held high official position before assuming the vice presidency, and little was known of his fitness for the new duties that came so unexpectedly It was soon apparent, however, that he was a man of character and strength. His admin- istration was dignified and able. 670. The Civil Service Acts. — The tragedy of President Garfield's death, coming as the awful climax of petty dis- putes over appointments to office, called attention sharply to the follies of the " Spoils System." President Arthur strongly recommended change, and in 1883 a civil service act was passed. It empowered the President to provide for com- petitive examinations, as a means of selecting persons for clerical positions in the Government. Provision was also made for a civil service commission, charged with the duty of supervising the new system. From that day to this the plan has been gradually developed, until now a very large proportion of the civil officers of the Government are ap- pointed after test examinations, and hold their positions during good behavior. 671. Cleveland Elected President. — For the election of THE RECONSTRUCTED NATION 393 1884 the Democrats nominated for the presidency Grover Cleveland, of New York; the Repubhcans, James G. Blaine, of Maine. The campaign was one of great interest. Though Blaine was the idol of a large portion of his party, there were some to whom he did not appeal. Some Republicans refused to support him, and were disdainfully called " Mug- wumps," a name that came into common use to designate a non-partisan or an independent voter. They held the balance of power in New York, and, as a result, Cleveland carried the state and was elected. Thus, after having failed since the election of Buchanan to win the presidential election, the Democrats were once again successful. 672. Labor Problems. — During Cleveland's administra- tion there were new labor troubles of a serious character. Everywhere labor unions were forming and the number of members was rapidly increasing. The Knights of Labor, which had been established some years before, became now of national importance. By 1886 it was said to have five hundred thousand members, and erelong, many thousands more. The most important strike was one against the Gould system of railroads in Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois. At one time six thousand miles of road could not be used. There was striking and rioting in other portions of the country. 673. Anarchy and Free Speech. — In Chicago a small group of men, taking advantage of such liberty of speech and thought as would have been allowed them nowhere else in the world, had for some time been advocating lawlessness and violence. In IVIay, 1886, a mass meeting was held in Haymarket Square, where speeches were made by violent anarchists. When the police endeavored to disperse the crowd some one threw a bomb, shots were fired, and when the smoke cleared away it was found that over sixty of the police were killed or wounded. Some of the anarchists were arrested, brought before the courts, given every oppor- tunity to prove their innocence, but were found guilty and executed. Here was a new problem for free government — 26 394 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS how to allow free speech and at the same time prevent vio- lence and wicked incitement to murder. 674. Presidential Succession. — Among other important laws passed by Congress during these years was one making provision for succession to the presidency in case of the death or disability of both the President and Vice President. In such an emergency the Secretary of State would succeed, and, if the necessity should arise, other members of the Cabinet were authorized to assume the presidential duties.^ 675. The Tariff. — The question of the tariff was now one of great interest, and party lines were more sharply drawn on this question. The Democrats, under Cleveland's leadership, opposed the protective tariff as an unwise and burdensome tax, bearing most heavily on the poor; the Re- publicans as strongly defended protection, claiming that without it American factories could not be kept up or high wages be paid to workmen. Suggested Readings Histories: Andrews, Last Quarter of a Century. Wilson, Dimsion and Reunion. Elson, Side Lights on American History, II. Sources: Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, IV. Hart, Source Book. CHAPTER XLVIII PARTY DIFFERENCES.— SOCIAL UNREST 676. Harrison Elected. — In 1888 the candidates for the presidency were Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison. The latter, the Republican candidate, was elected. His administration was not eventful. A measure known as the McKinley Bill, greatly increasing the tariff duties, was ' The order of succession of Cabinet officers to the presidency was the order of their establishment, as follows: (1) The Secretary of State; (2) The Secretary of the Treasury; (3) The Secretary of War; (4) The Attorney General; (5) The Postmaster General; (6) The Secretary of the Navy; (7) The Secretary of the Interior. PARTY DIFFERENCES.— SOCIAL UNREST 395 passed, and the question of a high protective tariff became more clearly than ever, if possible, the question of dispute between parties. 677. The Coinage of Silver.— Congress passed an act known as the Sherman Act, providing for Government purchase of silver in large quantities each month. It was to be paid for by notes issued for the purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury and called silver certificates. The Govern- ment thus became the owner of an ever-increasing mass of uncoined silver and became debtor for a growing sum represented by the notes issued. It was evident, therefore, that the time might come when the Government could pay only in silver, and, as silver had been given up as the standard of value by most civilized countries, this condition was thought by many to involve serious danger to our business and general prosperity. 678. Cleveland Elected, 1892.— In the election of 1892 the contest was between the same candidates as four years earlier. The principles dividing the parties were much the same as before. The Republicans praised a tariff for pro- tection; the Democrats denounced Republican protection as " a fraud, a robbery of the great majority of the American people for the benefit of the few." Both parties favored the use of both gold and silver as standard money. The People's party, or the Populists, demanded the free coinage of silver at the rate of sixteen to one/ the ownership of railroads and telegraphs by the Government, and other measures thought to be helpful to the masses of the people. In this election Cleveland was chosen, bringing success for the second time to his party. ' This meant that if a person could take ten ounces of gold to the mint and have it coined into dollars, one could likewise take 160 ounces of silver and have it coined into the same number of dollars as the first person received for his gold bullion. In other words, gold and silver bullion were to be freely coined by the Government, and the silver bul- lion was to be counted as worth one sixteenth of a like amount of gold. 396 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 679. The Hawaiian Islands.— In the latter part of President Harrison's administration there was a revolution in the Hawaiian Islands. The native queen was deposed and the government passed into the hands of men who were of American or English parentage. The new rulers estab- lished a government and asked for annexation to the United States. A treaty for this purpose was speedily made and submitted to the Senate for approval. This treaty had not been finally ratified when Cleveland came to the pres- idency (March 4, 1893) and he withdrew the treaty from the Senate. It did not appear to him that the Americans had acted with fairness and impartiality at the time of the revolution. 680. Hawaiian Islands Are Annexed, 1898.— Five years later when the national attention was fixed on other matters, Hawaii was quietly annexed. The annexation of California forty years before had determined that America should be a Pacific as well as an Atlantic power, and the possession of Hawaii was another step toward making the United States an influential power in the Orient — in China and Japan. 681. The Panic of 1893.— Hardly was Cleveland's second administration well under way when there began one of the most disastrous panics in our history. It is difficult to explain in a word the causes and conditions that led to it. Men had been rushing ahead wildly, spending money freely, beginning new enterprises, getting into debt, expecting that they would rapidly turn hopes into money or shares in some big plan into actual cash in the bank. But soon a few began to hold back and fear for consequences; money became " tight " or difficult to obtain; then the houses of cards toppled, and men whose whole fortune was invested in hopes and who had risked their all in some big schemes that depended for success on others lending them money, found themselves poor, if not hopeless. 682. Suffering Ensues. — The silver question added to the trouble. Business men feared that the country would PARTY DIFFERENCES— SOCIAL UNREST 397 be obliged to redeem all its obligations in silver and that, many thought, meant disaster. The Sherman Act as to the coinage of silver was repealed. But that gave little, if any, visible relief. The Federal Government actually had to borrow money, and there was general gloom and much suffering. Before winter set in (1893), it was estimated that eighty thousand people in New York, one hundred and twenty thousand people in Chicago, and sixty thousand people in Philadelphia were out of work and threatened by cold and starvation. 683. The Great Strike of 1894.— During the next year matters were made worse by strikes, especially among rail- way men. The strikers were, moreover, joined by reckless lawbreakers, who are always the real enemies of both employers and workmen. In Chicago, mobs gathered in the railway yards, burned hundreds of cars, interfered with the movements of trains, and imperiled life and property. President Cleveland ordered troops to the city and the rioters were held in check. 684. The Labor Problem. — With the coming of peace — for peace finally came — there was a chance for men calmly to realize the danger of such uprisings. It was plain that there was danger in the power which a few labor leaders held in their hands, for without the ordinary restraints of rulers they could control the action of many thousands of men; it was just as plain that there was grievous wrong on the other side, wrong that must be righted if there were to be social rest. Many men probably realized better than ever before the need of being just. They saw how great are the tasks of maintaining law and order in a free country. They realized that the root of successful self-government is self-control. 685. The Campaign of 1896: the Silver Question. — As the campaign of 189G approached, it was evident that the Democratic Party was divided against itself. Mr. Cleveland and those that were with him did not believe in the silver 398 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS policy that was now advocated by many men of his party.^ The demand for the free coinage of silver was taken up by the Democratic convention, which nominated William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, for the Presidency. Some of Map of the Election of 1896 the party, calling themselves Gold Democrats, refused to follow Mr. Bryan's leadership and nominated candidates of their own; but the great masses of the party entered en- thusiastically into the campaign and were ably led by Mr. ' The gold men did not believe that the Government should freely coin silver at the rate of 16 to 1. At that time the silver in a silver dollar was worth only about fifty cents; if the amount coined was lim- ited, and if the Government stood ready to pay all debts in gold, then the silver dollars would be received at their face value. But if the silver policy were adopted and there was unlimited coinage of silver, it could not be expected that silver would pass for more than it was actually worth. We would be paying our debts in fifty-cent dollars, said the gold men, and that is, they declared, dishonest. The silver men claimed, on the other hand, that the offer of the Government to coin freely would at once raise the price of silver, and make a silver dollar worth one hundred cents in the markets of the world. THE WAR WITH SPAIN 399 Bryan, a man of ideals and of great sincerity, who was gifted with unusual powers of persuasive speech. 686. A Campaign of Education. — The Republicans nomi- nated William McKinley and declared in favor of gold and the tariff. The contest, hotly waged during the summer of 1896, was one of the most im- portant and interesting in our history. The people of the whole nation talked of politics, coinage, and money; and this alone made the campaign im- portant, because one of the great benefits of a free govern- ment is that it tempts the com- mon man to think and to speak and to act on matters of interest to all. McKinley was elected.^ z^L7yk^/^^<^^^'^ Suggested Readings Histories: Wilson, Dimsion and Reunion, of a Century. Coman, Industrial History. Andrews, Last Quarter CHAPTER XLIX THE WAR WITH SPAIN 687. The Cuban Rebellion.— President McKinley 's ad- ministration was scarcely begun (1897) when it was plain that we might have war. For some years past, conditions in Cuba had been causing anxiety. The native Cubans, trying to throw off the rule of Spain, were in rebellion and * The new President was a man of great personal charm with an un- usual faculty for winning men. His long career in Congress well fitted him for the practical duties of his new office. 400 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS were fighting with a hardihood and patience which were admirable. Our people were naturally in sympathy with the rebels, and even those who did not allow their sym- pathies to move them could not help remembering that many times in the last fifty years the Cuban question had caused trouble and perplexity. They began to think that we should not be relieved as long as Spain held the island. 688. Americans Sympathize with the Cubans. — The meth- ods used by Spain to put down the Cuban rebellion ap- peared to be cruel, and even if reports about them were exaggerated, the stories stirred many Americans to resent- ment. So decided were the Cubans not to yield, that they persevered in penury and want while large parts of the island were laid waste, and when complete ruin stared them in the face. The insurgents themselves, in fact, had done much to desolate the land and to make it valueless to Spain. We were obliged to police our shores to prevent " filibus- terers " carrying aid to the rebels and increasing the evils. The situation was a delicate one and it was evident before the beginning of 1898 that any unfortunate incident might hurry us into a war with Spain. 689. The Maine Blown up; War Declared. — On February 15, 1898, such an incident occurred. The United States battleship Maine, riding peacefully at anchor in the harbor of Havana, was blown up. She sank within a few minutes, carrying with her two hundred and fifty officers and men. Great excitement prevailed in this country. Many supposed the destruction of the battleship was the deliberate work of Spanish officials, and they believed the insult and the injury were unbearable. A careful inquiry by an American board seemed to demonstrate that the ship was not destroyed by an explosion of her own magazines; and though it was not thought that the Spanish Government could be guilty of an act at once foolish and cruel, it was seemingly a Spanish mine, possibly fired by Spanish hands, that had brought THE WAR WITH SPAIN 401 disaster/ Resolutions were passed by Congress in favor of Cuban independence (April 19). This amounted to a declaration of war. At once thousands of men joined the army, raising the cry " Remember the Maine." 690. The Battle of Manila, May 1, 1898.— The first battle occurred in the far-off Philippine Islands. Admiral George Dewey with a small fleet sailed into the harbor of Manila and met the Spanish ships in the harbor. Each commander had nearly the same number of ships — the American six, the Spanish five; but the Americans had much the advantage in strength. The result of the conflict was a signal victory for Dewey and his keen-eyed gunners. No American ship was injured; of their crews seven were slightly wounded. The Spanish ships were all sunk and the loss of life was large." Dewey became the hero of the hour. 691. A Spanish Fleet Blockaded in a Cuban Harbor. — In the mean time steps were taken to blockade the harbor of Havana and preparations were made to meet the enemy's ships that were expected from Spain. Admiral Cervera with a formidable fleet sailed from the Cape Verde Islands at the end of April, and there was much uncertainty as to where he would appear on this side of the Atlantic. There was some fear in the cities of the coast that he would come to bombard them; but the officers of the American navy judged more wisely. They were confident that he would seek a port in the Spanish West Indies, and so it proved. The Spanish fleet, after a slow voyage, anchored in the harbor of Santiago, on the south shore of Cuba. Here they were speedily blockaded by an American squadron in com- mand of Admiral Sampson. ' The investigation, it should be said, was not made until some time after war had actually begun. ' All the American ships were such that the shot of the enemy, had it been well directed, might have done great damage; but the Spaniards could not shoot straight. "There was courage in abundance but no training." 402 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 692. Hobson's Brave Attempt to Seal the Harbor.— The harbor of Santiago was protected by forts, and our Govern- ment decided to send troops to the spot, land them near the town, and take the place, if possible, while the ships under Sampson, posted at the entrance of the harbor, should prevent the escape of the Spanish ships. To keep the Spanish fleet in the harbor a collier loaded with coal was to be sunk in the narrow channel at the entrance. Lieutenant Hobson was given command of the Merrimac and charged with the perilous duty of running her under the guns of the forts and sinking her in the channel.^ The brave attempt was a failure, for she sank too far up the channel to be of service in blocking it. It remained for the fleet to hold the entrance, watching it night and day. 693. The American Army in Cuba. — General Shafter, with a force of some sixteen thousand men, landed near San- tiago in June. On the T L A y T I C OCEAN Santiago dt Cu'oa , •V JAMAICA first of July an attack was made on the defenses of the town and met with some success at San Juan Hill and El Caney. Here it was that Colonel Field of the Campaign in Cuba Roosevelt and a troop of cowboys, known as the " Rough Riders," distinguished themselves. The brave Spaniards fought well and stubbornly. The American army, in many ways ill prepared for service in a tropical climate, ' " Hobson, " says Admiral Chadwick, then in command of Sampson's flagship, "was finally allowed to take the ship in. Many were as eager to go as he, the officers and men volunteering by hundreds. ... It was breaking day when the ship finally started and it became so light that she was recalled and sent on the night following; but her steering gear being shot away, she drifted, before sinking, too far up the channel to block it in any degree." One can scarcely imagine an act requiring more courage, and it is impressive to find that the commanders were actually embarrassed by the number of brave applicants for the task. THE WAR WITH SPAIN 403 showed rare heroism. For days they were ill fed, their clothing was heavy and burdensome, they had to fight through the thick jungle and to face an enemy firing with smokeless powder from a protected place; but they endured with patience and fought with zeal. 694. The Spanish Fleet Destroyed, July 3, 1898.— On the morning of July 3d the Spanish fleet slipped out of the harbor and sought to escape. The American ships, which under Samp- son's wise care had been watching the channel with the utmost caution for weeks, were imme- diately in hot pur- suit, led by Admiral Schley who was present and next in command. The ill-fated Spanish ships were doomed ; one by one they were overtaken and destroyed. The Spaniards lost over five hundred men in killed and wounded; the Americans, one man. The Spanish ships were overmatched, it is true, but their gunners w-ere poor marksmen. 695. The End of the War. — The destruction of Cervera's fleet practically ended the war. The island of Porto Rico was invaded and taken. An army was sent to the Philip- pines to complete Dewey's victory, and in August the town of Manila was taken by assault. Soon after this a treaty was signed at Paris whereby Spain acknowledged the freedom of Cuba. The Philippines, Guam, and Porto Rico were turned over to the United States, who paid to Spain $20,000,000.' 696. The End of the Great Spanish Empire in the New World. — Thus ended the Spanish Empire in the New World One of the Destroyed Spanish Ships ' During the war the Hawaiian Islands were annexed. See p. 396. 404 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS and the far Orient. From the day when Columbus sailed westward on the Sea of Darkness to discover a new way to the Indies, Spain had had a great career. Now all was gone. And yet not all: for though she could no longer claim title to land in the New World, she left behind in the states of Central and South America and in the islands of the Indies the Spanish language and Spanish tra- dition. She had planted civilization and religion in a new continent. 697. America's New Tasks. — New tasks now came to America. (1) Our Government was called upon to take charge of millions of people who did not know our life or our poUtical methods; many of them were not able to know. We had a great colonial task. (2) Moreover, our position in the Far East made it necessary for us to occupy ourselves, as never before, with difficult questions of " world politics," that is to say, questions concerning the desires, the policies, and acts of other nations. (3) We had to maintain a larger army and navy. (4) We must at the same time, if we be true to our past, preserve principles of liberty and treat the people of the colonies with justice. Other results of the war were that the North and South were reunited by fight- ing side by side; our commerce was expanded; and in the estimation of European people, our importance in the world was greatly increased. 698. Summary of Territorial Expansion.— This last ex- pansion of the territory of the United States completes the story of its marvelous growth to our time. Starting with thirteen states stretched along the Atlantic coast, and a territorial possession extending west of these states to the Mississippi River, and south to the thirty-first parallel, the country had expanded by leaps and bounds. In 1803 the warlike ambitions of the great Napoleon had made possible the purchase of Louisiana — a million square miles at one master stroke. Sixteen years later Spain ceded Florida, thus rounding out our possessions east of the INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: TRANSPORTATION 405 Mississippi. In 1845 and 1846 the annexation of Texas, the cessions by Mexico, and the settlement of the dispute with Great Britain concerning the Oregon country spread our domain far away over the crest of the Rockies to the shores of the Pacific. In 1853 the Gadsden Purchase ex- tended our bounds on the Southwest. Fourteen years later, Russia sold us Alaska, half a million square miles not con- tiguous to the solid mass of our former territory. In 1898, for the first time the spirit of expansion carried our flag to the islands of the sea, to Hawaii, and a year later to the Philippines, to Porto Rico, and to Guam. America had at last become a world power, sharing with other great nations the work of regulating the less civilized parts of the globe. Suggested Readings Histories: Elson, Side Lights on American History. Wilson, Divi- sion and Reunion. Andrews, Last Quarter of a Century. Maclay, United States Xavy. Brooks, IFar with Spain. Morris, War icith Spain. CHAPTER L INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT : TRANSPORTATION— THE GREAT WEST AND THE NEW SOUTH 699. Gold and Silver in the Rocky Mountains.— Let us now turn back to see the growth of the country from about the time of the Civil War and especially to notice the marvelous growth of the great West. The earliest settlers in the distracted territories of Kansas and Nebraska were hardly accustomed to their new homes before rumor ran from village to village throughout the land that gold had been found in the neighborhood of Pike's Peak (1859).^ There was a rush for the mountains. Wagon after wagon, with " Pike's Peak or Bust " blazoned on the covers, set out ' In January of that year six quills of gold were brought into Omaha from the mountains. There had been considerable movement into the region the previous year. 406 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS over the plain. Thousands went, but many returned; for while there was some success there was more disap- pointment. This, however, was the beginning of the great mining history of the Rocky Mountains. Silver was found about the same time in the western part of Utah, in a por- tion of that territory which later became Nevada. As years went by there came from Colorado, from Utah, from Ne- vada, from Idaho, from Montana, gold and silver, and lead and copper of immense value. 700. The Steamboat and the Prairie Schooner. — We have seen how large portions of the IVIississippi basin, especially the eastern portions, were settled with the help of the steam- boat. By means of big, flat-bottomed boats, too, a great traffic was carried up and down the main rivers and their tributaries. The country to the west of the Mississippi was entered by a somewhat different mode of transportation. The Missouri is the only river in that region which is navi- gable for any great distance, and that, as one may see by glancing at a map, in the country west of Missouri runs rather north and south than east and west. It was, there- fore, little used by the pioneers moving toward the Pacific. In the days of the first movement into the Far West, before the Civil War, the great prairies were crossed by regular trails; the pack horse or the prairie schooner, therefore, did the work that the flatboat, the canoe, or the steamboat had done in the country east of the Missouri. 701. The Santa F€ Trail.— The first route across the prairies ran from western Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pack trains carrying goods to exchange for Mexican products followed this route even before the annexation of the western country at the end of the Mexican War. It was a long, hard road, six hundred miles or so over the dry plains, but the road was patiently traveled by the frontier merchants with their horses, mules, and huge prairie wagons.^ ' The trail was used for carrying freight back and forth for fifty years before the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad was built. This INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: TRANSPORTATION 407 702. The Oregon Trail. — Even before California was taken (1848), or before the great Northwest was secured as part of the United States (1846), a pass through the mountains had been discovered and a long trail led from Council Bluffs, Iowa, on to the Columbia region and into the heart of the Oregon country. This was the Oregon trail, and hundreds of set- tlers in well-arranged caravans passed over the plains and through the defiles of the mountains to find new homes in the beautiful land beyond — thousands of miles from the farms and cities of the East/ 703. The Salt Lake Trail; the "Pony Express."— In the days before the Civil War a trail also led out to Salt Lake City, where the Mormons had begun their settlements (1847). This was the Great Salt Lake trail. Before 1860 a daily stage was running from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City, and i there was a " pony ex- press " chiefly for the carrying of mail rapidly to and from California. The rapidity of the jour- ney across the plains, through the mountain passes and over the great desert plateaus of the farther West was railroad running from the cities of eastern Kansas and western Missouri into the great Southwest and following much the same line as the old trail, of course, carried the freight which in earlier years had gone by wagon. When in 1880 the engines entered Santa Fe over the iron rails the day of the old trail was over; its deep ruts can still be traced in places, a reminder of days of danger and of romance. ' The journey with these long trains took five months. Small herds of cattle were often driven along. The ponderous oxen dragged the heavy wagons. Great herds of buffalo were encountered on the plains. The road through the mountains was unbelievably rough and hard. The Pony Express 408 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS remarkable. It was a long relay race against time; nearly two thousand miles had to be covered in eight days ; there was no loitering, no turning aside for danger; only a second or two was taken as the precious mail pouch was handed from one rider to another; on they went — one after the other — the mail going forward across the wilderness at the rate of two hundred and fifty miles a day.^ By the time of the Civil War a stagecoach was running across the continent to Sacramento. 704. The Pacific Railroad. — But from the time when California was annexed (1848), men dreamed of a Pacific Trails to the West and Routes of Pacific Railroads railroad; they saw that the two coasts of the continent must some day be bound together by iron bands. Old and * The riders had each a division of from one hundred to one hundred and forty miles and fresh horses about every twenty-five miles. It seems almost incredible that in 1860 one trip from St. Joseph to Denver, six hundred and fifty miles, was made in two days and twenty-one hours. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: TRANSPORTATION 409 young saw visions of the day wiien the steam engine would puff its way through the narrow defiles of the mountains and startle the buffalo and the Indian of the plains. When the Civil War came on, such symbols of union between the West Driving the Last Spike A scene near Ogden, Utah, May 10, 1869 and the East appeared more desirable than ever. Two com- panies were formed — the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. The Government gave aid. The former company built from the West toward the East ; the latter built westward across the plains of Nebraska and over the mountain passes of Wyom- ing. (See map on p. 408.) The two lines met a few miles west of Ogden, Utah, and the last spike was driven May 10, 1869.' The nation thrilled with interest; the dreary, dangerous ' Read Bret Harte's " What the Engine Said " : "What was it the Engines said, Pilots touching — head to head, Facing on the single track Half a world behind each back." 27 410 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS journey across the continent was a thing of the past; the caravan and the pony express were passing into history. 705. The Newer Pacific Roads. — This hne across the con- tinent passed over league after league of unpeopled territory. In a few years men with boundless belief in the West planned other roads. The Southern Pacific, a line from New Orleans to the Pacific Ocean, was finished in 1883. The Santa Fe road was built about the same time into the Southwest. Then a line was finished at the north — the Northern Pacific — a task that called for superb engineering skill, patience, and faith. 706. Homestead Act of 1862. — All of these new avenues to the unpeopled West were of great service in carrying out a land policy entered upon by the government in the second year of the war. In 1862 a Homestead Act was passed pro- viding that any head of a family might become the owner of 160 acres of public land by settling and dwelling upon it for five years. Union soldiers were allowed to deduct from the five years the term of their army service. This law helped people the West, and kept wages up in the East by drawing off the surplus population. 707. The Importance of the Railroad.— The building of railroads was probably the most important event in the history of the West. Without the roads, the country would have slowly grown by the help of the old trails and the prairie schooner; but when the — ^=W^ ""^-^ _ - ^ .-•-■' - ji 1^^^ - SrS^_- _^ "' '- _. ^4 A Modern Steam Locomotive This is the heaviest freight locomotive in the world. Weight of engine and tender, 700,000 pounds. railroads were built, the peopling of the country, the turn- ing of the prairie land into farms, the occupation of the valleys of the mountain region, discovery of new mines, the building up of cities, went on with astonishing quickness. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMExNT: TRANSPORTATION 411 A Modern Electric Locomotive This locomotive has 4,000 horse power. 708. The Great Desert Disappears.— The fathers of the schoolboys of to-day can remember that their geographies which they stucUed as boys at school, had " Great American Desert" running in large letters across a good part of the country beyond the Missouri River, over a region that is now filled with thousands of vil- lages and pros- perous farms. In the nooks and corners of the great mountain ranges where men thought there was nothing but bleakness, are now mining camps, comfortable towns, and prosperous cities. There boys and girls go to good schools, read good books, and do not stop to think that when their fathers were boys the whole surrounding region was as unoccupied and as unknown as w^as Massachusetts when Miles Standish, Priscilla, and John Alden were living in old Plymouth. 709. New States.— In 1880, in all the region north of Utah and of the Union Pacific Railroad, there were only here and there a few settlements. By 1890 the population had grown so that North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington were admitted to the Union as states. The westward expansion, the peopling of the wide prairies and the mountain valleys, the making of self-governing states, where a few years before were unknown stretches of wilder- ness — all this is an important part of American history. Suggested Readings Histories: Paxson, The Last American Frontier. Andrews. The Last Quarter of a Century. Brady, Indian Fights and Indian Fighters. 412 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS CHAPTER LI INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: AGRICULTURE 710. Hardship, Success, and Failure. — The settlement of the great prairie region west of the Mississippi, where now is so much prosperity, where the boy or girl who reads these Hnes may now live in comfort or even luxury, was no easy matter. Settlers one by one took up claims from the Government, or bought a few acres, dared the cold winds of winter, the long dry summers, the want of almost everything, lived in sod houses, broke up the sullen prairie, and planted their crops only per- haps to see them ruined by grasshop- pers or drought. But success came in the end — good crops, ir- rigation ditches to secure the needed water, railroads to carry the surplus crop to market — in short, comfort. And yet with all this success we cannot forget the hardy frontiers- men of the plains who failed; for some there were who failed. For them this was a harsh, cruel experience. 711. Machinery for the Great Western Farms.— The development of the great West has been due, in great measure, to the wonderful inventions of agricultural ma- chinery. The vast prairies offered the best possible oppor- tunity for using machinery, and to-day one feels like saying that in many of , the Western states men manufacture wheat rather than grow it. In some cases they plow the earth with a steam plow. Instead of the old-time harrow, they use a pulverizing harrow, clod crusher, and leveler, so made that A Stea.m Traction Engine with 12 Plows INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: AGRICULTURE 413 Harrowing with a Steam Traction Engine it breaks up the clods, levels the earth, and fits the land at once for sowing. Sometimes a traction engine draws a row of plows, to which is attached a row of harrows, which in turn draw after them drills to sow the seed, and rakes for covering it. A machine of this kind, with sixteen plows in a row, will do as much work in a day as sixteen plowmen with sixty- four horses could do. 712. Harvesting Machinery. — The harvesting machinery for these great farms is not less mar- velous than the rest, for everything is done by machinery. By one continuous operation wheat is cut, threshed, cleaned, and packed into bags. In the olden days (and yet not so very many decades ago) the farmer and his sons went out into the field, cut the grain with their scythes, bound it with their own hands, and stacked it. It was then carried on wagons to the barn, and, as the days went by, it was threshed by the weary beating of the flail. , 713. An Age of Machines.— Of course such complete machinery can be used only on the very large farms; and, even on many of these, horses furnish a large part of the A Modern Harvesting Ma(_hi\h 414 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS power for drawing the multiple plows and other machin- ery.' But on the smaller farms, the corn is planted and often cut by machinery, the grain is mowed and stacked, the potatoes are dug, the cream is separated from the milk, the churning is done — in short, scores of things, that only a few decades ago were performed in the same laborious way as when Columbus discovered America, are now done by some ingenious machine which saves time and patience and labor. 714. New Problems. — Such facts as these should make us see how recent is our present method of living, and how many are the new problems that come since men have learned the use of steam and electricity. We no longer live in an age of tools but in an age of machines and this is true of the life of the farmer as of the life of the city dweller. Thus we find about us new conditions of life quite different from those that existed a few years ago, when every farm was nearly sufficient unto itself, and when we got along without all these elaborate machines. 715. The Old Flour Mill. — In the earlier growth of the Mis- sissippi Valley wheat and corn were sometimes carried to market; much of it went down the long river on the flat- boats. The corn that was used by the farmer's family on the frontier farm of Ohio and Indiana was often beaten into meal by the farmer's son; the corn was put into a hole in a log ^ There is, it appears, some tendency to reduce the size of the largest farms. There is in Oklahoma a farm of over 50,000 acres; 500 miles of barbed wire were used for fencing it. Formerly North Dakota had a farm of over 70,000 acres, but this has been cut up into smaller farms. It has been said that on one of these immense farms men might breakfast at one end of a furrow, dine at the other end, and returning, eat their suppers at the starting point. Some one has figured out that if a farmer should try alone to cultivate such a farm by the old-fashioned methods, he would need sixteen years for plowing, another sixteen years for harrow- ing, and, if he began the job early enough in life, he might get the whole place seeded and, it may be, eat of his grain before reaching three score and ten. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: AGRICULTURE 415 of wood or in a stump and pounded vigorously with a heavy pole, much as the old-time druggists pounded their drugs with pestle and mortar. The grist mill, or flour mill, as we now call it, soon came to help the frontiersman ; dams were built across the streams, and the water turned the wheels and ground the corn and wheat for all the region round/ But after a time these little mills were given up; bigger ones were built in places from which flour could be conveniently shipped by rail. 716. The New Flour Mills.— The great region west of the Mississippi grew with the railroad, and, as we have said, in considerable measure be- cause of the railroad ; the cars were there ready to carry the grain to market. Grain elevators holding hundreds of thousands of bushels were therefore built at the shipping cen- ters Hke Chicago. At Minneapolis and St. Paul — " The Twin Cities " — and at some other places, elevators were put up, and mills were built that turned out thousands of barrels of flour each day. 717. A Story of Almost Magical Growth.— And yet, when A IMoDERN Grain Elevator ' Any boy who has paddled a canoe down the streams of the states east of the Mississippi has seen, time and again, the abandoned dam of the old mill where he must now with some vexation of spirit "carry" his canoe, or risk a glorious shoot through the rapids. These abandoned mill sites illustrate how many kinds of business have in re- cent years left the country and come to center in the cities. 416 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS all is said, it gives us little idea of the immensity of the farming business, as it has developed in the last few years, to give figures to show how many million bushels of wheat are carried by the trains to the enormous elevators of Minneapolis or Chicago; how many miUions of barrels of flour are rolled out of the big flouring mills of the Northwest; how many millions of bushels of corn and tons of hay are raised on Western lands where only a generation ago there were no inhabitants but the prairie dog and the coyote. The story reads like a tale of magic. 718. The Cowboy. — Every boy and girl knows something of the great cattle-raising industry of the West; he has heard of mustangs and bronchos, of cowboys who were sure shots and hard riders, of days of adventure and toil. In fact, the cowboy has been an important personage in American his- tory from the days of the earliest West, when the West indeed was still east of the Appalachian Mountains. The care of cattle has always been one of the tasks of the fron- tier. Even in the earliest days, a hundred years ago, hogs and cattle in great droves were driven many miles to mar- ket — sometimes hundreds of them — from the farms of the Mississippi Valley over the mountains to the older settle- ments. 719. Great Cattle Ranches. — When the great West was opened up and when the railroads were built into the region, cattle raising was done on a large scale. Cattle in immense herds were driven to the railroad and sent to Omaha or Kansas City or Chicago. The beef-packing business became one of the great industries of the land; to-day, the country market often receives its meat from the city packing house; fresh beef goes whirling across the country in refrigerator cars — huge ice boxes on wheels — is hurried aboard the ocean steamers, and carried over the sea to feed the people of Europe 720. The Food Products of America. — While our imagina- tion is stirred by the picture of the great wheat fields plowed INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: AGRICULTURE 417 and sown and reaped by machinery, we cannot leave out of consideration Indian corn — the food on which it might be said America has been built.' The earliest corn fields, where the corn v;as planted in hurried fashion in the half-cleared farms, have given place to wide acres of waving grain, stretch- ing away nearly to the horizon. The corn crop is so large A Chicago Meat-Packing Plant that figures simply daze the mind; but some idea may be gained from the fact that if the crop of a single year were placed in wagons, each holding forty bushels of shelled corn, the line of wagons with horses attached could encircle the the world five times. One cannot help thinking how amazed Captain John Smith and good William Bradford would have been if some fairy had opened their eyes to see ' It almost seems that if it had not been for Indian corn, America could not have been settled in the seventeenth century, so far was it from the base of supplies. The pioneer as he advanced took corn, de- pended on it, and raised it on the prairie or between the stumps, while the farm was getting into condition. 418 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS these great fields and these vast granaries of corn that were to enrich the country they founded. 721. The South Finds New Prosperity.— While the West was growing, the South began to recover from the effects of the war and to reach out for its share of prosperity. In popu- lation the Southern states have not advanced as have the North and West, for foreign immigrants have not yet learned to go in any number to the South ; but there has been steady progress. Cotton, the great crop, is raised in quantities un- heard of before the war, and, what is more, the South instead of shipping all its cotton to England or the North has begun to make its own cotton into cloth. Factories have been built here and there. Even South Carolina, where there were practically no factories before the war, is now dotted with cotton factories, and the hum of the spindle can be heard in many a village. Though the factory does not always bring happiness and peace to the poor white man when he leaves his ill-paid work on the farm and takes up the work as a mill hand, the factory does bring more wealth to the South and gives promise of days of plenty. 722. The South Finds Wealth Beyond the Cotton Field.— Some of the Southern cities, Atlanta and Birmingham and Nashville, have become thriving centers of trade, not at all like the sleepy towns of the old South before the war. The treasures of the earth arc found to be not only rice and sugar and cotton, but coal and iron and oil and lumber. Birming- ham is one of the centers of the iron industry of America. The cotton seed that was formerly thrown away has been found to be useful and profitable. Oil made from the seed is used for many purposes; sometimes, it is said, it masquer- ades on our tables as olive oil fresh from the groves of Italy. The value of the cotton seed and its products alone, in the course of a single year, would pay more than the whole amount of the national debt when Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury. Thus, the South has been making more of her great natural wealth, and year by year has more to sell and NEW INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 419 more to do. Fortunately, in less material ways there has also been progress. Money has gone into education, into schools and colleges, into churches and libraries. There is a great interest in all branches of education. CHAPTER LII NEW INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 723. New Uses for Steel.— In recent years the world has turned to the use of steel. We might call the last quarter of a century the age of steel. At the close of the Civil War less than one half a million tons were made per year in the whole world; thirty-five years later there were seventy times as much, and America produced nearly one half of the Avhole world's output. Steel has come to be used for many purposes — for bridges and ships and cars and buildings. In the cities tower- ing structures are raised, twenty, thirty, and even forty stories high, skeletons of bolted steel. Ships of enormous size are built of steel — ships big enough to give room to whole villages o " people, sh-'ps that can contain within their sides a hundred such crafts as that which bore the adventurous Columbus across the Atlantic, ships that can be driven by their huge throbbing engines through the stormiest water in a few days from New York to Queenstown. 724. The Commerce of the Great Lakes. — The growth of the iron in- dustry, and the wheat and flour industry as well, had the effect of building up the commerce of the Great Lakes till it reached a height that few appear to realize. The total Steel Skeleton of A "Skyscraper" 420 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS weight of the ships on the Great Lakes alone is greater than that of the entire merchant fleet of any nation in the world save Great Britain and Germany. All day and all night long, ship after ship passes through the Soo Canal and the Detroit River bearing the wheat and flour of the Northwest, the iron of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to the ports of New York and Ohio. Coal and other products of the East are carried thus to the North and West. As the lake commerce increased new methods of handling the iron ore were invented — more properly should we say not handling, for the hands have little to do but to guide machines.^ 725. Growth in Popu- lation; the Problem of the Big City. — We have spoken of the rapid growth of the West; the Eastern states and the older cities did not stand still. The older states also grew rapidly. Be- tween 1880 and the end of the century the pop- ulation of the United States was increased by twenty-six million, or by more than there were in the whole country in 1850. Many immigrants entered the country. By the end of the nine- The Modern Ocean Steamship A cross section of the Lusifania, showing the comparative size of Hudson's Half Moon. 1 At the ports of Lake Erie and in Chicago wonderful machines are used: A long steel bridge ^^^th arms is lowered into the hold of a vessel. Along the arms and the bridge runs a sort of trolley train, with great scoops that seize upon the ore, carry tons of it at a time to the surface, and hurry it along to the mountainous stock heap. NEW INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 421 teenth century there were in New York City nearly one hun- dred and seven thousand people from Austria-Hungary, one hundred and fifty-five thousand from Russia, three hundred and twenty-two thousand from Germany. The crowding of A Lake Ore Carrier these poor people into New York and other cities brought new and difficult problems. What was to be done for these people who had come with high hopes to the land of plenty and progress? Sturdy philanthropists took the field and began the battle for better conditions, to secure parks and breathing spaces and places of innocent amusement, to do something for the uplifting of these hordes of new citizens. 726. The Concentration of Business. — The invention of machinery for doing hundreds of things has had some interesting results. It has made, or helped to make, great cities full of stores and factories. The old-fashioned way of making things in the house or at the tinker's shop in the village is given up. Just as we have seen the flour mills leaving the little streams and becoming big mills at great centers, so other industries were in large degree brought together. Even the druggist no longer makes his pills and mixes his powders, for he now buys them ready-made from factories in Detroit or Chicago. 422 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 727. The Big Corporation: The Trust Problem. — There grew up big corporations to manage these big undertakings, pay for all this costly machinery, and sell all the goods. A large part of the business of the country thus passed into the hands of corporations. The change took place chiefly after the Civil War and especially in the last quarter of a century. Moreover, corporations doing the same work often came under one control, that is to say, they formed a " trust," as it was termed. These trusts often had great power and influ- ence, for the man of Dakota or Texas might be affected by what was done by the manufacturer of steel or cloth or machinery a thousand miles away. For many decades people had been accustomed to rely on competition to keep prices down and control business. If many men or many corpora- tions were making the same articles, each would have an inducement to sell more cheaply than his competitor in order to get the business and make the money. But when a great corporation controlled all, or nearly all, of the business in a certain field, what hope was there that prices would be low or goods be well made? Thus the people reasoned about what we call the " Trust Problem," a problem which is still with us and of which we see much in the daily papers. It is one of those problems that has come to us with the more complex life that had its beginning when Watts, playing with the tea kettle, found that steam was strong. 728. The Railroad Problem. —With the growth of the railroads came a problem with which we are still wrestling. In some foreign countries the government owns the roads, in whole or in part; but in America the roads have been allowed to grow without restriction and to develop their own methods. Yet in this country the transportation problem is one of very great importance and of very great difficulty, requir- ing possibly in a peculiar degree the oversight of govern- ment. Men began to complain twenty years ago that rail- roads, for their own gain, would favor one shipper at the expense of his neighbors. Secret and special rates, in- NEW INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 423 stead of equal treatment for all, were grounds of frequent complaint. 729. The Interstate Commerce Commission. — The United States Government has a right to regulate interstate com- merce, that is to say, traffic and intercourse between states.^ In 1887 an interstate commerce law was passed. It was intended to bring about fair treatment to all shippers, and it provided for a commission to oversee the workings of the law. Recently the Commission has been given greater powers (1906-1910). There still remain to-day many difficulties in the management of these vast carrying systems. 730. Marvelous Discoveries and Inventions.— As we look back on the changes of a generation we are struck with the marvels of man's accomplishments. How would Washington and Jefferson have been impressed had they been told that men would get oil out of the ground to make light; that out of the same oil would come gasoline to drive automobiles and motor boats; that whirling wheels would make electricity that would be turned into light and power; that we should be hur- ried across the continent in luxurious cars in four days' time; that men would make clothes and shoes by machinery; that men would actually fly like birds and go through the air faster than a ship can sail; that, though hundreds of miles of tossing waves lie between, ship would talk to ship by wireless telegraphy. Men and women are still living who, as boys and girls, had to scurry away to a neighbor's "to get fire," because the fire which they had banked for the night was out. Modern Americans have not only invented machines: they have pushed on the work of discovery. In 1909 Commander Peary announced to the world his discovery of the North Pole. 731. There Are Other Good Things Besides Money and Machinery.— All of these tales of enormous growth and great wealth should not entirely deceive us. We may be big and even rich without being great. Athens in the days when it * Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 8, CI. 3. 424 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS was the home of the great writers that have enriched the world for two thousand years, and of great artists and build- ers whose works are still the admiration and despair of men, was only a small city by modern standards — perhaps two hundred thousand people; the whole of Attica had not more than one quarter as many people as has Chicago; the whole of Greece is about one half the size of Michigan. Without wealth, however, in these days there cannot be science and study and art. Great libraries and laboratories, public schools and universities must be supported by public taxes or endowed by wealthy men. Thus in the corn crop and the iron factory, in work and wages and products, we see the hope of America's intellectual growth. Libraries are growing in numbers; the number of students in the schools and colleges increases greatly every year; from the labora- tories come new inventions, new knowledge, more intimate acquaintance with Nature and her laws. CHAPTER LIII RECENT POLITICAL HISTORY 732. McKinley's Assassination.— In 1900 Mr. McKinley was again elected to the presidency, his opponent being Mr. Bryan as in the previous election. His second term was hardly more than fairly started when he was assassinated at Buffalo, September 6, 1901. The assassin was an anarchist, a young man who had had his head filled with wild ideas about mending the world's ills by using violence. The Presi- dent was deeply mourned, for the purity and manliness of his character had won the admiration of the nation. 733. Roosevelt Succeeds. — He was immediately succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt, the Vice President. On previous occasions when the Vice Presidents assumed the duties and the title of the presidency there was much questioning as to their fitness for the new duties. So it was with Mr. Roose- RECENT P()LITI(^\L HISTOltV 425 velt though he was not unknown. Soon, however, he con- vinced the nation of his strength and his fitness for office. He showed untiring industry, remarkable mental powers, unusual breadth of interest and sympathy. He was reelected in 1904 l)y an overwhelming vote. 734. Roosevelt's Administration. — There were many important things done in the seven years of Mr. Roosevelt's administration, for he was always eager to act and to do what would build up the nation. He was ably assisted by John Hay,^ Elihu Root, and other mem- bers of an able Cabinet. The /^Je.^r^)Ur^^ >i^**^-<.^ annexation of the Philippines and the uprisings and political changes in China demanded that the United States should take a new and important place in the world's politics. In these duties the country was ably guided by these statesmen. As the events of the Civil War made more clear the need of a railroad to the Pacific, so the Spanish War showed more sharply than before the need of a canal through the Isthmus of Panama." The matter had long been discussed; the time for action was now come. A treaty was made with the little Republic of Panama giving the United States control of a strip of land from ocean to ocean (1903). Money was voted by Congress and the work was begun. It is still being carried ' John Hay was one of the greatest Secretaries of State in our history. His poHcy of downright and out.spoken diplomacy at first startled the diplomats of Europe, who were accustomed to roundabout language and studied sentences. But (hey greatly respected Hay whose frank- ness never was rude. - The Battleship Oregon had slcuincd from San Francisco to Cuba, 15,000 miles at racing speed, to give aid to Sampson. A canal would have saved much of this distance. 28 426 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS on as these lines are written. Tlie task is so great that we cannot hope to see the end for some years to come. 735. Achievements of Roosevelt's Administration.— Of the achievements of President Roosevelt's administrations, these may be briefly mentioned as most significant : (1) The settlement of the coal strike in Pennsylvania in 1902. This The Great Culebra Cut on the Panama Canal was done largely through the personal influence of Mr. Roosevelt, for he had strictly no official right to interfere. The strike lasted long and was very disastrous, but was finally settled by a commission appointed by Mr. Roosevelt for the purpose.^ (2) In 1905, through the mediation of the President, the disastrous war between Japan and Russia was brought to an end. The treaty was signed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.^ (3) Far-reaching plans for irrigating the ^ The strike lasted for months and was felt by almost every house- holder in the land. On September 26th, several schools in New York City were closed that coal might be saved for colder weather. Hard coal sold as high as $2.5 per ton. ^ The United States has heartily favored the principle of International Arbitration. Representatives were sent to the Peace Conference at The Hague (1899) and treaties have been made with other countries to sub- 428 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS dry regions of the West were taken up and carried forward with zeal and knowledge. (4) The nation was reminded that the vast natural resources of the country, especially the forests, were being thoughtlessly wasted. By the eager efforts of Mr. Roosevelt the people were led to take new interest in saving the forest and the stream — perhaps in the long run the most important thing done during the whole administration. (5) A law was passed adding to the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission. (6) A civil government was given to the people of the Philippines under which they were allowed to govern themselves in part. (7) The President was at all times insistent upon a regard for law and the moral code. His speeches on this subject doubtless did much good, and helped to keep alive the conscience of the nation. Efforts were made to enforce the laws against the trusts in cases where laws were thought to have been violated.^ 736. Election of William H. Taft.— In 1908 William H. Taft, of Ohio, was chosen President. Mr. Bryan, Demo- cratic candidate for the third time, was his opponent. Mr. Taft had become prominent as Governor of the Philippines and as Secretary of War under Mr. Roosevelt. Early in this administration Congress took up the Tariff question, for the Republican Party had promised a revision. The law that was passed, the Payne-Aldrich Bill, was not William H. Taft mit certain disputes to an international tribunal at The Hague for arbi- tration. In 1902 Mexico and the United States resorted to The Hague Tribunal to settle a dispute which in olden times would have been settled by force. ' An episode worthy of mention at this time was the terrible earth- quake in California, which destroyed some $400,000,000 worth of prop- ertj' in San Francisco (1906). 430 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS satisfactory to many of those who wished to see lower rates and a thorough overhauHng of the whole matter. Appar- ently as a result of this dissatisfaction, the Democratic party was very generally successful in the elections in the fall of 1910. At the present time, the great questions before the country are the tariff, '' conservation," or saving, of the natural resources, and the trust or corporation problems of which we have already spoken. 737. Changes of a Century. — The nation, as we see it to-day, has grown marvelously since Washington signed the Constitution in 1787. Then there was a row of states along the Atlantic seaboard; life was simple; there was not much wealth; there was no real poverty. Washing- ton and Hamilton and Jefferson were looking forward to the experiment of self-government. To-day the states reach across to the Pacific; there is a population of over ninety million people; the country is the richest in the world and probably the most powerful. Wonderful changes have come through the invention of machines and through science. But in some ways things have not changed. To- day we should feel just as strongly as did the men of the simpler days gone by — that virtue must be the foundation for the republic that will live and prosper. Millions of machines and tens of millions of acres cannot change the first law of human progress — that it is righteousness that exalteth a nation. IMPORTANT DATES IN UNITED STATES HISTOKY looo (?). Norsemen discover America. 1492. Columbus discovers America, October 12th. 1493. The Bull of Demarcation. 1494. The Treaty of Division. 1407. John Cabot touches the main land at the north. 1513. Balboa sees the Pacific Ocean, February. Ponce de Leon goes to Florida. 1519-1521. Cortes conquers Mexico. Magellan's ships voyage around the world. 1524. Verrazano explores the Atlantic coast. 1 527- 1 536. Cabe^a de Vaca explores southern United States. 1531-1532. Piazarro conquers Peru. 1534-1535. Cartier in Canada. 1539-1542. De Soto in southern part of United States. (Discovers Missis.sippi River, 1541.) 1 540- 1 54 1. Coronado explores the Southwest. 1577-1580. Drake in the Pacific. (Sails around the world, 1579.) 1 584- 1 587. Sir Walter Raleigh sends an exploring expedition to the eastern coast of America and attempts a settlement on Roanoke Island. 1604. Acadia settled by the French. 1607. Virginia founded at Jamestown, Maij 13th. 1608. Quebec founded by Champlain. 1609. Champlain's fight with the Iroquois. Hudson enters the Hudson River, September. 1614. New Netherland founded. 1619. Representative government in Virginia. Slavery introduced into Virginia. 1620. Landing at Plymouth, December llth. 1629. Massachusetts Bay Company chartered. 1630. Migration to Massachusetts and founding of Boston. 1632. Maryland charter. 1634. Maryland settled at St. Mary's, March. ii IMPORTANT DATES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY 1635. Connecticut settled. 1636. Rhode Island settled at Providence \)y Roger Williams. 1637. Rhode Island settled by .4nn Hutchinson and others. Pequot War. 1638. New Haven settled. Delaware settled by the Swedes. 1639. "Fundamental Orders" in Connecticut. 1643. New England Confederation formed. 1662. Connecticut obtains charter. 1663. Rhode Island obtains charter. 1663-1665. Carolinas obtain charters.' 1664. New Netherland becomes New York. 1665. New Jersey founded. 1673. Marquette and Joliet in the West. 1681-1682. La Salle explores the Mississippi and claims Louisiana for France. 1681. Pennsylvania charter granted. 1682. Pennsylvania founded. 1688. The English Resvolution. 1 689- 1 697. King William's War. 1691. The second Massachusetts charter granted. 1 702-1 713. Queen Anne's War. 1719-1729. The Carolinas become royal provinces. 1732. The Georgia charter. 1733- Georgia settled. 1734. The trial of Zenger. 1 744- 1 748. King George's War. 1754. Albany Plan of Union. 1754-1763. The French and Indian War. 1755. Braddock's defeat at Fort Duquesne, July 9t.h. 1757- French capture Forts William Henry and Ticonderoga. 1758. English capture Forts Duquesne and Frontenac. 1759- C'apture of Quebec, September \llh. 1 76 1. The Writs of Assistance. 1763. Treaty of Paris. The Parsons' Cause. 1765. The Stamp Act passed. The Stamp Act Congress. 1766. Declaratory Act passed, March 7th. Stamp Act repealed, March ISth. 1767. The Townshend Acts passed, June. 1768. The Massachusetts Circular Letter sent out. 1772. The burning of the Gaspee. IMPORTANT DATES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY 111 1773. Tho Boston Toa Party, December I6th. 1774. Boston Port Jiill goes into effect, June Isl. Th(> (iu(>bco Act passed. The First Continental Congress meets, September FUh. 1775. Battles of Lexington and (Jonc'ord. April \9lh. Second C'ontinental Congress meets, Meiy Wlh. Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17th. 1776. Declaration of Independence signed, July ilh. Battle of Long Island, August 27th. Battle of Trenton, December 26lh. 1777. Battle of Princeton, January '.id. Howe enters hiladelphia, September 26th. Battle of Saratoga and Burgoyne's surrender, October I7th. 1777-1778. Washington's army winters at Valley Forge. 1778. French Treaty of Alliance ratified, February 6th. British leave Philadelphia, June ISth. 1780. Arnold's treason, September. 1781. Battle of Cowpens, January \7th. Ratification of Articles of Confeleration by the last state, March \st. Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Octofier l^th. 1783. Treaty of Peace with England signed, September 3d. 1786. Annapolis Convention, September. 1787. Federal Convention at Philadelphia frames the Constitu- tion. The Northwest Ordinance adopted by Congress, July I'Sth. 1788. Constitution adopted, June 2lst. 1789. Constitution goes into effect, March ith. 1789-1791. First ten amendments to Constitution ratified. 1791. United States Bank established. 1792. United States Mint established. 1793- Whitney invents the cotton gin. 1794. The Jay Treaty ratified, November I9th. 1 798- 1 799. Virginia-Kentucky Resolutions. 1798. Eleventh Amendment to Constitution ratified. 1800. City of Washington becomes the national capital. 1803. Purchase of Louisiana. Treaty signed, April 30th. 1804. Twelfth Amendment to Constitution ratified. Lewis and Clarke E.xpedition. 1807. Fulton steams up the Hudson \n the Clermont, August llth. The Embargo .Vet, December 22d. 181 2- 1 81 5. War with England. 1813. Battle of Lake Erie, September lOlh. iv IMPORTANT DATES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY 1814. Hartford Convention, December. 1815. Battle of New Orleans, January 8th. 1819-1821. Annexation of Florida. 1820. Missouri Compromise Act passed. 1823. Monroe Doctrine published, December 2d. 1829. Beginning of the Spoils System in the National Govern- ment. 1830. Opening of the first steam railway in the United States. 1832. Nullification ordinance passed in South Carolina, Novem- ber I9th. 1835-1837. Abolitionism and Antislavery petitions presented to Congress. 1844. Morse sends the first telegraph message, May 24ance? 5. What great mistake did he make? 6. How did the English, in later years, profit by this mistake? 7. In what ways did the Jesuit missionaries seek to undo his blunder? 8. Tell the wonderful story of La Salle. 9. How did France mark the great waterways of which she gained possession? 10. What settlements were made to guard these possessions? 11, What French names still remain where these settlements were made? VI 1. Show how England, by its geographical position, seemed fitted to lead the European nations in western trade. 2. By whose discoveries did England claim the right to colonize America? 3. Why did Spain QUESTIONS ix begin trading in America so much earlier than England? 4. Tell the story of John Hawkins and of l"'rancis Drake. 5. Was Drake a pirate or not? 6. What did liis voyage around the world mean to England? 7. To Spain? 8. Tell something of England's settlement on Roanoke Island? 9. Why was the Spanish Armada built? 10. Give its historj\ 11. How cUd the fate of the Armada have an effect on American coloni- zation? VII 1. What is meant by the words "company," "share," and "char- ter"? 2. What conditions in England tended to promote an interest in colonial work? 3. Give the purpose of the London and Plymouth Companies. 4. Where did the Plymouth Company attempt a settle- ment? 5. What was the result? 6. Show that the first settlers in Vir- ginia were unfit for colonial life. 7. By what unwise plan did the Ix)ndon Company encourage idleness? 8. Tell the story of John Smith's efforts to save the colony. 9. How did the Company show its approval of Smith's plan in its new charter of 1609? 10. What changes were brought about by the new governor? 11. W^hat was the "House of Burgesses"? 12. Why is it said that our method of government had its origin here in 1619? 13. How do you account for the fact that Virginia so soon had such a form of government? 14. In what way did the king show his disapproval of this plan of government? 15. What did the loss of its charter mean to the London Company? 16. To the colony? 17. What sources of wealth made the permanency of the Virginia colonies an assured fact? VIII 1. The Reformation caused what change in the Catholic church of England? 2. Who were the Puritans? 3. Why were some of the Puritans called Separatists? 4. Describe the people led by John Robinson into Holland. 5. How did their life in Holland differ from that in England? 6. What turned their thoughts toward America? 7. Tell of their difficulties in getting started and of their voyage. 8. How were they disappointed in their landing in America? 9. Why did the Pilgrim leaders not rule by force, instead of getting the ship's com- pany to sign a compact? 10. What qualities in these Pilgrims do you most admire? 11. Show how bravely they met and overcame the diffi- culties of the New World. IX 1. Show that a missionary spirit led to the great movement in the settlement of New England. 2. Mention conditions in England which gave an added impulse to tliis movement. 3. Under what charter was X QUESTIONS the Massachusetts Bay colony foundod? 4. What change in the method of ruUng the settlers brought great men to America? 5. Com- pare these men with those that settled Plymouth and JamestowTi. 6. Tell what you know of John Winthrop and the beginning of Boston. 7. Trace the growth of towns in New England. 8. Describe the town as the unit of political and social hfe. 9. Give some reasons for this growth of towns in New England. 10. By what wise plans did the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Company increase their number? 11. Give the definite purpose for which this colony was founded. 12. Can you find here the beginning of our state government? 13. How did the religious zeal of the leaders hinder the liberty which they had come here to seek? 14. Show that tliis same zeal led to the beginning of our great educational system. X 1. On what principles did Roger Williams differ with the Puritan rulers? 2. How were ideas like his received by the nations of Europe in the seventeenth century? 3 . Give the two cliief reasons for his banish- ment. 4. What does his banishment tell you about the leaders of Massachusetts? 5. Give the great results of his banishment. 6. How was Williams' wisdom further shown in the government of Rhode Island? 7. Tell the story of the founding of the first English colonies in Con- necticut. 8. Compare Hooker's ideas of government with those of Winthrop and of Williams. 9. In what respect do his "Orders" resemble our state or national constitution? 10. For what purposes did men leave Massachusetts and penetrate the wildernesses of New Hampshire and Maine? 11. What led to the New England Confed- eration? 12. Tell of one occasion when it proved of great assistance to the colonists. 13. Why did this Confederation not include all the New England colonies? 14. Explain why this union for the purpose of pro- tection against a common enemy is of special interest to us. 15. What do you know of the Quakers? 16, Can you in any way justify Massa- chusetts in its treatment of them? XI 1. What have you already learned of Holland's position in the matter of religion during the seventeenth century? 2. Define her position in the commercial world. 3. Tell the story of Henry Hudson. 4. For what purpose were Fort Amsterdam and Fort Orange established? 5. Why was the Dutch West India Company formed? 6. Compare the motive of the Dutch (colonists in leaving Holland with that of the Pil- grims and Puritans in leaving England. 7. Describe the patroon's es- tates on the Hudson. 8. How did this plan differ from plantation life in Virginia? 9. Give an account of Sweden's brief attempt at coloniz- QUESTIONS XI ing America. 10. Show that unwise rulers weakened the power of the Dutch until they lost first Connecticut and then New Amsterdam. 11. What was EHgland's plan for the government of the Dutch colonists? 12. How many nationaUtics can you find among the colonists of New Jersey? 13. How do you account for their being there? XII 1. Give the story of George Fox and of William Penn. 2. Name the five great ideas which sent Penn to America. 3. What do we think of those ideas in America to-day? 4. Give Penn's plan of government, and of dealing with the Indians. 5. What qualities were brought into Pennsylvania when the Germans and the Scotch-Irish came? 6. How did the Quaker differ from the Puritan in his opinion of the value of schools? XIII 1. Give the terms of the charter granted to Lord Baltimore. 2. Why did Baltimore desire to found a colony? 3. What is meant by tolera- tion? 4. In what respects was the government of Maryland similar to that of Virginia? 5. How did the establishment of homes in Maryland differ from the group settlements of New England? 6. Show that counties were more naturally formed here than in New England. 7. Who were the first settlers of the Carolinas? 8. Make a list of the various classes of people that came to America to find a refuge from persecutions, and name the colonies to which each came. 9. How did the "Grand Model" and its outcome clearly illustrate the political thought of the New World as compared with that of the Old? 10. What change in the government of the Carolinas came in the early part of the eighteenth century? 11. Compare life and prosperity in the two Carolinas with that in Virginia. 12. Describe Charleston at this time. 13. Why were the Spaniards interested in this southern movement of England's colonies? 14. Show that Georgia is not to be left off a list of colonies which became places of refuge. 15. Read Dickens' "Little Dorrit," and get a picture of England's debtors. 16. When, and by whom was Savannah founded? 17. What caused discontent in Georgia? 18. How was peace restored? XIV 1. Give a brief outline of the history of Charles I and Cromwell. 2. What political changes in England most afifectcd the colonics? 3. How did Virginia show its sympathy with King Charles? 4. What was the result? 5. Show that while Virginia was adding to its numbers, New England was making a growth of far greater importance. 6. 29 Xll QUESTIONS Trace the events in English history immediately following Cromwell's time, 7. What was the "Bill of Rights"? 8. How did Charles II show his interest in the colonies? 9. Which colony suffered the most? Why? 10. Tell what you know of Governor Berkeley. 11. How were the people of Virginia divided? 12. Give the causes and results of Bacon's rebeUion? 13. Why did the EngUsh government wish to unite the colonies? 14. Describe Andros. 15. Name the colonies over which he was made Governor-General. 16. How was his despotism brought to a close? 17. How long had Massachusetts been without a charter? 18. Give the terms of her new charter. 19. Tell the story of Leisler. 20. Define the Navigation Acts. 21. In view of these acts, do you think the colonists were justified in their smuggling? 22. In what ways did the royal governors oppose the colonial legislatures? 23. Review the relations of the colonies to the mother country and mention the important facts to be remembered. XV 1. What great natural wall hindered the westward movement of English colonists? 2. Why did they not use the natural gateways to the Mississippi Valley? 3. Show that the purpose of the English in coming to America differed from that of the French. 4. Explain how this difference in purpose made a difference in their relations with the Indians, as well as with the mother countries. 5. What European events led to King William's war? 6. How were the colonies affected? 7. Mention some of the events of Queen Anne's and King George's wars in America, and the results. 8. What important facts did these wars teach the French? 9. In what respects did Virginia's pioneers in the west differ from her planters in the east? 10. Where did Virginia's claims conflict with the French? 11. For what task did Governor Dinwiddle choose Washington, and why? 12. Describe Washington's journey. 13. Give its results. 14. What was accomphshed in the Albany meeting? 15. Give an account of Braddock's defeat. 16. How did tliis war differ from the other wars mentioned in this chapter? 17. Tell what you can about William Pitt. 18. Mention some of the vic- tories which came to the English as the result of his wise leadership. 19. Describe the taking of Quebec. 20. Give the terms of the Treaty of Paris. 21. Give the causes and results of the conspiracy of Pontiac. XVI 1. Mention some of the words added to the English language by the colonists. 2. Describe the hfe of the colonial aristocrat. 3. Compare the homes of the common people in the colonies with those of the labor- ing people in your vicinity. 4. Mention various ways that social dis- QUESTIONS xiii tinction was shown among the colonists. 5. Give reasons for the division of the English colonies into three groups. 6. Compare the industries of the three sections. 7. Why did slavery become more firmly established in the Southern section? 8. Show that while the local gov- ernments in the colonies differed, yet all agreed in certain points. 9. What have you learned of the relation of Church and State in Puritan New England? 10. Describe the Puritan Sabbath. 11. Why were the Southern colonists less zealous in their religious life? 12. Mention, some of the peculiar beliefs of the colonists. 13. Trace the beginnings of schools in the colonies. 14. What do you think of the books mentioned in the next to the last paragraph of this chapter? 15. What was the cause of Zenger's trial, and what did the result show? XVII 1. Show that the management of England's American colonies de- manded wise statesmanship. 2. W"hy did the colonists feel more independent of England after 1763? 3. Why did the EngHsh consider the colonists their inferiors? 4. By what four regulations did Parlia- ment plan to control American trade? 5. Define the "W^rits of Assist- ance," and tell how they were received in Massachusetts. 6. How did Virginia test the king's power? 7. What was the Stamp Act? 8. Show that it was a much greater grievance than any of the acts previously mentioned in this chapter. 9. How was it received in the different colonies? 10. Quote Patrick Henry and compare his words with, the 3a5angs of James Otis in 1761. 11. Why did British merchants ask Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act? 12. In what respects did Amer- ica's idea of representation differ from England's? 13. What were the Townshend Acts? 14. How did they differ from the Stamp Act? 15. Tell about Samuel Adams. 16. What was written in his circular letter? 17. What two great mistakes were made by the king? 18. Give the cause of the "Boston Massacre." 19. Tell of the great work done by the "Committees of Correspondence." 20. What moved George III to continue the one tax on tea? 21. How did he plan to tempt the colonists? 22. Give a word-picture of the "Boston Tea-Party." 23. How did the "Committees of Correspondence" again prove their value? 24. Mention the great leaders in the First Continental Congress. 25. What was done by this Congress? 26. How were its acts received (a) by the colonies, (b) by England? 27. Quote Pitt's estimate of Congress. XVIII 1. How did Boston receive General Gage? 2. Imagine yourself to be living in Lexington in 1775, and write in your own words the story of that month of April, adding any facts you may know to those given Xiv QUESTIONS here. 3. Describe the besieging army around Boston. 4. What rea- sons have you for beUeving that this struggle between Whigs and Tories was more fierce in some colonies than in others? 5. How did scenes preceding the election influence the actions of the Second Continental Congress? 6. In what way was this Congress led to change its plans? 7. What did it actually do? 8. Show that Washington was the right man to lead this undiscipUned army. 9. Describe the Battle of Bunker Hill. 10. What did this battle teach the British? 11. What did it teach the Americans? 12. How did Washington persuade Howe to go to Nova Scotia? 13. Tell the story of the bravery of Arnold and Montgomery. 14. What would the capture of Quebec have meant? XIX 1. Why were many of the colonists still loyal to King George? 2. Quote some of the arguments by which Paine roused the people to think and speak differently. 3. Give the steps by wliich Congress moved toward the Declaration of Independence. 4. Name the men who were most active in seeming this end, and tell which colony each repre- sented. 5. Tell all you can of Jefferson's history, and show that he was fitted to draw up such a wonderful paper. 6. Can you understand why many of the colonists feared independence? 7. What new problem did the Declaration bring to the colonies? 8. Show how it was solved under the leadership of John Adams. 9. Explain the meaning of a "bill of rights." 10. Outline the general plan of the new state govern- ment, and show how it differs from our present plan. 11. How many years were given to the planning of the Articles of Confederation? 12. Why, then, was the plan doomed to be a failure? XX 1. Tell how Charleston was saved by means of commonplace things. 2. Why did England wish to cut off New England from the other col- onies? 3. Tell how Washington was aided by Nature to outwit Howe on Long Island. 4. What was General Carleton's plan? 5. WTiywasit not carried out? 6. What did the loss of Fort Washington mean to the inexperienced American soldiers? 7. Describe their retreat. 8. Read of Lee's disobedience. 9. How did Congress show its confidence in Washington? 10. Tell of his great victories at Trenton and Princeton, and explain their effect upon the thought of both Europe and America. 11. Draw a map outUning the plan of the British for 1777. 12. Tell how General Schuyler and John Stark made unwelcome interruptions in Burgoyne's part of this plan. 13. Give the history of St. Leger's part in the campaign. 14. WTiy do historians say that Howe made a mistake in capturing Philadelphia at this time? 15. Describe Bur- QUESTIONS XV goyne's final defeat, and name the causes. 16. Explain why the battle of Saratoga is listed as one of the great decisive battles of the world. XXI 1. )ATiy was France America's friend? 2. How w^as the friendship shown? 3. Look up Franklin's early history, and tell the story of this wonderful man. 4. Why should the battle of Saratoga have any influence upon the mind of the French king? 5. Tell of Valley Forge. 6. How did the "Conway Cabal" reveal Washington's greatness? 7. Can you see reasons why people praised Gates and criticised Wasliing- ton? 8. What was Baron Steuben's part in the war? 9. Show the great contrast between the American and the British camps at this time. 10. Describe the battle of Monmouth. 11. How did the British change their tactics in 1778, and what were some of the terrible results? 12. Who were the leaders in the great pioneer movement to the West? 13. Why did this movement excite the Indians? 14. Tell of the bravery of Clark and his followers. 15. Were they a pi^irt of Washington's army? 16. Show that, during 1778 and 1779, America suffered all the horrors of a civil war. XXII 1. In what ways did France continue to help America? 2. Describe America's first naval victory. 3. How did Congress seek to relieve the suffering of Washington's army? 4. With what result? 5. Mention the different occasions when Arnold's courage and energy accomplished great things for America. 6. Name that which changed him from a patriot to a traitor. 7. Tell what you know of the story of his life with the British? 8. Tell what you know of the method of warfare used by Marion, Sumter, and Pickens. 9. Describe the battles of Cam- den and King's Mountain. 10. Why was Gates recalled? 11. Men- tion some of the great battles fought by Greene and Morgan, and give the results of them all. 12. Tell the story of Lafayette. 13. Why was he worthy the attention of two brilliant generals? 14. Show that the French were given honorable positions in the final scenes of this great war. 15. What changes came about in the English government as a result of Cornwallis' surrender? 16. Give reasons for the selection of the three men who were chosen to make a treaty of peace. 17. Give the terms of the treaty. 18. Is Franklin's statement, as quoted here, true of America to-day? Explain. XXIII 1. Show wherein Congress under the Articles of Confederation was weak. 2. \Mio was Robert Morris? 3o Why did he resign at this critical time? 4. Give reasons why the states hesitated to give more XVI QUESTIONS power to Congress. 5. What new difficulties came to America? 6. Prove that a central authority is necessary to control both interstate and foreign commerce. 7. What conditions led directly to Shay's rebeUion? 8. How was this insurrection an eye-opener? 9. \\'hat features in the Ordinance of 1787 still compel men to respect the Con- gress which framed it? 10. Quote Washington's words regarding the need of a central power. 11. Give the purpose and result of the An- napolis convention. 12. Name some of the great men sent as delegates to the Constitutional convention. 13. Why did the work of this con- vention occupy four months? 14. Trace the steps by which the two houses of Congress were established. 15. What were the "slavery compromises"? 16. What conditions made them necessary? 17. Why were the meetings of this convention held in secret? 18. Name the leading points wherein the new plan of government differed from the old. 19. How was it received by the States? XXIV 1. Compare the opportunities opening to the American people at the close of the eighteenth century with those offered to you to-day. 2. Explain why America was at this time "a land of farmers." 3. De- scribe the cities of New York and Philadelphia in Washington's day. 4. Compare the homes of the rich and the poor at this time. 5. Where did America's manufacturing have its beginning? 6. Why did New England lead in both commerce and manufacturing? 7. WTiat inven- tion most interested the South? 8. How did tMs invention tend to separate the North and South? 9. Describe the different modes of travel in these days. 10. How did all this hinder the promotion of a union between states? 11. "WTiat social and political problems also faced the people in their efforts to estabhsh a democratic government? XXV 1. Show how the machinery of the new government was set in motion without political parties. 2. Describe Washington's inaugural journey. 3. Name the departments of government created and the men that Washington appointed to head each of them. 4. Who was the first chief justice? 5. How did the Cabinet come into being? 6. How did Washington maintain the dignity of his office? 7. Why did the people regard the customs officer as a necessary evil? 8. Give Hamilton's plan for paying the national debt. 9. What great discussion arose over his proposal to estabhsh a United States bank? 10. Describe the Whisky Rebellion and its lesson to the states. 11. Show that the policy of the secretary of the treasury brought good results both at home and abroad. 12. Write biographical sketches of Hamilton and Jefferson. 13. How QUESTIONS xvil were their ideas of government opposed to each other? 14. Can you show that both were right? 15. Trace the beginning of pohtical par- ties. 16. What helped men to decide on their party? 17. How can you justify the United States in its refusal to send aid to the French Revo- lutionists? 18. Compare the visit of "Citizen Genet" with Franklin's visit to France during the American Revolution. 19. In what ways did England fail to keep all of her treaty of peace? 20. Tell what you have read of " Mad Anthony " and the Indians. 21. How do you explain the lack of confidence shown by the people at this time toward Wash- ington and his Cabinet? 22. What conditions called for a treaty with Spain? 23. What were the things to note in Washington's "Farewell Address"? XXVI 1. Describe the first presidential campaign with its curious results. 2. What incident in France changed America's sympathy to a feeling of indignation? 3. Tell the story of "X, Y, and Z." 4. How was this story received by the American people? 5. \\Tiy did the peaceful policy of Adams displease Hamilton? 6. Give the three acts by which Con- gress sought to secure greater powers to the government. 7. What was the result of an effort to enforce these laws? 8. How could the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions have been used in later years to prove that Jefferson and Madi.son were the "fathers of nullification and secession"? 9. Show how these laws influenced the next presidential election. 10. Describe the campaign and show that Hamilton was responsible for Jefferson's election. 11. Why was it wise to elect a Republican Presi- dent at this time? XXVII 1. Give reasons for the removal of the capital to Washington. 2. What were Jefferson's plans for relie\4ng the nation of its d?bt? 3. Trace the chain of events which led to the purchase of Louisiana. 4. Why was Napoleon ^dlling to part with his newly acquired treasure? 5. What do you tliink of the price paid for it? 6. \Miy did Jefferson hesitate to sign the treaty which would give us Louisiana? 7. Describe the Lewis and Clark expedition and give its results. 8. What did the invention of the steamboat mean to the pioneers of the West? XXVIII 1. Explain why the people felt the need of the twelfth amendment to the Constitution. 2. Why had Ameiica paid tribute to the Barbary powers for so many years? 3. How did the quarrel between Napoleon and England affect American commerce? 4. How did America become involved in the quarrel between England and France? 5. How did XVlll QUESTIONS England further insult the American navy? 6. "VVTiat did Jefferson hope to gain by the Embargo Act? 7. Why was it a failure? 8. How did the Non-intercourse Act differ from the Embargo? 9. Why did the people beheve in Madison? 10. How was he disappointed in his deal- ings with England? 11. What did Congress hope to gain by the Macon Bill? 12. How did Napoleon play with Madison? 13. Tell the story of Tecumseh, and show reasons why America might hold England responsible for this trouble. 14. Who were Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun? 15. Give the leading points in the warhke mes- sage sent by the President to Congress. 16. How do j'ou explain the change of mind that must have come to the peaceful Madison? XXIX 1. Compare the miUtary strength of England and America in 1812. 2. How did Congress plan for a short war? 3. Describe the events in the land campaign of 1812, and show why they were a failure. 4. Tell of Perry's victory and of General Harrison's successful work. 5. Make a list of the great naval engagements of the war with their results. 6. How did the merchant ships of both nations share in this conflict? 7. Show that Madison was not a model war President. 8. WTiy did New England object to the war? 9. How did European events tend to strengthen England's power? 10. Show that the land battles of 1814 brought no gain to either nation. 11. How did Baltimore escape when Washington was sacked? 12. Explain how it came about that a battle was fought after the treaty of peace had been signed. 13. Explain the success of the battle. 14. Tell what you know of the treaty of Ghent. 15. Why did the Hartford Convention mean the end of the Federalists? 16. Prove that this war brought beneficial results to America. XXX 1. Give a brief history of James Monroe. 2. Account for the rapid growth of the manufacturing industry during his administration. 3. Why did the people demand a higher tariff? 4. What kind of a tariff would have been a benefit to the South? 5. Give reasons for the great western movement in the early part of the nineteenth century? 6. What is said of the three routes most traveled in this movement? 7. Describe the travelers themselves. 8. Where was the Cumberland Road? 9. When was it built? 10. What great scheme was proposed by De Witt Clinton? 11. Show the relation of the Erie Canal to the growth of New York City. 12. Why did the admission of Missouri into the Union present a difficult problem to Congress? 13. Why did slavery increase in the South and not in the North. 14. Name the slave states alreadv in the Union when Missouri demanded admis- QUESTIONS xix sion. 15. Look up the Ordinance of 1787 and tell what advantages it gave to the territories to be made from the Northwest. 16. What was the Missouri Compromise? 17. Justify General Jackson's work in Florida. 18. Show how the "Holy AUiance" led to the pul)lication of the "Monroe Doctrine." 19. Give the three points of this message and prove that they are principles universally accepted to-day. XXXI 1. What ideas of government were held by John Quincy Adams and by Andrew Jackson? 2. Why were Clay and Jackson considered heroes? 3. Show that each section of the Union had its pecuHar interests. 4. How was Adams finally elected? 5. How did factional spirit aflfect his administration? 6. With what result to the RepubUcan Party? 7. Give the names of the new parties. 8. How do you explain the fact that the Western states were first to have "manhood suffrage "? 9. In what year was a national nomination convention first held? 10. How was this to change the old plan for nominating a President? 11. What facts in the history of his time placed Jackson in office? 12. Trace the history of the American tariff. 13. How did the tariff question threaten the Union? XXXII 1. Read this chapter and prove that America had a right to be proud of her enterprise and prosperity. 2. What decided the location of Eastern cities? 3. How was the problem of their Ughting and heating solved? 4. What is said of the marvelous growth in the West? 5. How had Western conditions transformed poor men into frontier leaders and national rulers? 6. Trace the growth of America's railroad system. 7. What advantage had the railroad over the canal as a means of transportation? 8. Prove that Charles CarroU was right in his state- ment as to the importance of railroads. 9, How did social reforms keep pace with other improvements? 10. How was the West enabled to keep pace with the East in the matter of education? 11. What names are associated with America's first real literature? XXXIII 1. How did Jackson's inauguration typify the spirit of the West? 2. Describe the new President. 3. Show the evils of the "Spoils Sj's- tem." 4. Define a "Gerrymander." 5. What discussion led to the debate between Webster and Hayne? 6. Read carefully Webster's speech and tell how he differed from Hayne. 7. Tell something of John Marshall and his work. 8. How did South Carolina Imng the theories of Hayne to a practical test? 9. WTiat was the purpose of the "Force XX QUESTIONS Bill"? 10. How did Clay help to avert war? 11. Define Jackson's position on these questions. 12. What were "wild-cat" banks? 13. Give reasons for Jackson's opposition to the United States Bank. 14. How did he accomplish its destruction? 15. Prove that his plan for disposing of the pubhc money was most unwise. 16. What did he hope to accompUsh by his "Specie Circular"? XXXIV 1. Tell what you know of Van Buren's fitness for the presidential office at such a critical time. 2. Give the causes of the panic of 1837. 3. What was Van Buren's plan for solving the financial problems? 4. What changes were made in party names at this time? 5. Why was the name Whig a popular one? 6. Prove that Van Buren was unjustly criticised. 7. Give reasons for Harrison's popularity. 8. How did his election show the growing power of the common people? 9. Explain the fact that the death of President Harrison left in the presidential chair a man entirely out of sympathy with the party which had elected him. 10. What was the result? 11. Give the terms of the Webster- Ashburton Treaty, and show how it marked an important step in inter- national relations. XXXV 1. Who were the first Americans to oppose slavery? 2. What facts show that the thinking men of the South, as well as of the North, looked upon slavery as an evil? 3. Trace the growth of slavery in the West. 4. How did this growth alter conditions surrounding the life of the slave? 5. What were the Southern ideas concerning the freeing of the slaves? 6. Tell of Garrison and his work. 7. Show that one reform leads to another. 8. Make a Ust of these reform movements which are still aUve, and tell what you tliink has been accomphshed by each. 9. When and where chd INIormonism start? 10. Wliat effect did the reform movement have on the question of slavery? 11. Mention the great writers who lent their influence to the antislavery cause. 12. Give some of their arguments. 13. How were they answered? 14. Show to what extent both sides were right. 15. Where did the agitation first become violent? 16. Define the terms "freedom of press," and "right of petition." 17. Explain the necessity for the noble fight of John Quincy Adams. XXXVI 1. Trace on a map the northern boundary of Mexico previous to 1821. 2. When and how did Texas become separated from Mexico? 3. What was meant by the Oregon territory? 4. Why was it claimed by two nations? 5. How were the Texas and Oregon questions used QUESTIONS XXI in the presidential campaign? 6. Show that Clay caused his own de- feat. 7. How was Texas rushed into the Union? 8. Prove the falsity of Polk's words concerning the origin of war with Mexico. 9. Give the plan of the Mexican War. 10. Tell of Taylor's wonderful campaign. 11. Compare Scott's victories with Taylor's. 12. Which represented the greater difficulties? Which, the greater results? 13. Show that CaHfornia was an easy conquest. 14. Why did the United States feel obliged to pay such a sum for the southwestern territory, after fighting a victorious war for its possession? 15. How was the Oregon question settled without a war? 16. What was the Wilmot Pro\'iso? XXXVII 1. Account for the fact that three parties were in the race for the election of 1848. 2. Give the names of the three men nominated for the Presidency. 3. What principles were advocated by each? 4. When and where did the old Liberty Party originate? 5. ^^^lat was the result of the election? 6. Describe the excited rush for the gold fields. 7. Why did California so soon apply for admission into the Union as a state? 8. Give the four great problems which Congress had to face in December, 1849. 9. By what plan did Clay again seek to make peace? 10. WTiat other great men shared in this discussion? 11. How did Congress finally act? 12. WTiich of these measures was especially displeasing to the North? 13. Why? 14. What were the "Personal Liberty Laws"? 15. How did the people of the North still further show defiance to National law? 16. Can you justify these acts? 17. How did "Uncle Tom's Cabin" appeal to the South, and to the North? XXXVIII 1. ^^^lat did the great Democratic ^^ctory of 1852 show? 2. Men- tion some of the new inventions appearing in Pierce's time. 3. Explain the fact that so many of these were of value to the North, and so few to the South. 4. Tell something of the rate of immigration to America in the first half of the nineteenth century. 5. Why did the immigrants turn to the North and West for homes? 6. What was the Know- nothing Party? 7. Compare the Missouri Compromise with the Kansas- Nebraska Bill. 8. Tell what Chase, Sumner, and Seward said of the Bill. 9. Account for the passage of this Bill. 10. Describe "Squatter Sovereignty" wth its fearful results. 11. Explain the fact that free- soil men outnumbered slaveholders in all the territories. 12. Men- tion all the political parties that came into existence in America between 1790 and 1860. 13. Give the Democratic and Republican platforms for the campaign of 18.56. 14. What was .shown by the election? 15. Re\'iew the principles of the Missouri Compromise and Xxii QUESTIONS of "Squatter Sovereignty," and then tell the significance of the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court. 16. Tell of Abraham Lincoln's early Hfe. 17. What great debates brought him before the public? 18. Tell the story of John Brown. 19. Give your opinion of the value of his life. XXXIX 1. Trace the steps which led to the formation of another political party. 2. Give its name and purpose. 3. Describe the convention in which Lincoln was nominated. 4. Why did his election decide the secession of the Southern states? 5. What did secession mean to the people of South CaroUna? 6. Name the other seceding states. 7. What arguments can you give for or against the theory of secession? 8. How could President Buchanan have checked this movement for secession? 9. What would you have said about it? 10. Give the substance of Lincoln's inaugural message, and show its wisdom. 11. Describe the attack on Fort Sumter. 12. Was Lincoln's prompt call for volunteers in accord wdth the principles laid down in his inaugural address? 13. Prove that the preserving of the Union, rather than the destruction of slavery, moved the North. 14. Explain why the South thought that it had an equally great motive for activity. 15. What new states were added to the Confederacy? 16. What were the border states? XL 1. Review Chapter XXXVIII, and give reasons for the increase in the population of the free states. 2. Contrast the resources of the South with the resources of the North. 3. Prove that the education of the laboring people adds much to the strength of a nation. 4. Make a list of the most noted American authors of this era. 5. Tell some- thing of the value of the telegraph, both to the North and to the South at this time. XLI 1. Compare the volunteers in 1861 with the American soldiers of 1776. 2. Tell something of the mihtary training of the South. 3. What were "legal tender notes"? 4. Explain the national bank sys- tem. 5. Show how both added to the Northern treasury. 6. Give the meaning of a blockade. 7. To what extent was the South depen- dent on its imports and exports? 8. Describe the work of the English- built blockade runners. 9. Explain the mission of Mason and Slidell. 10. When had America strongly insisted on the very principle of Inter- national Law that was broken by the seizure of these men? 11. Why, then, were Americans dehghted ^-ith the news of such an act? 12. QUESTIONS xxill How was England divided in its opinions of the war? 13. What did England's acknowledgment of the belligerency of the South mean to the Confederacy? 14. To the Union? XLII 1. Show what were the natural lines of defense for the South. 2. Give reasons for the cry, "On to Richmond." 3. Describe the battle of Bull Run. 4. How did this defeat bring good results to the North? 5. Which capital was in the greater danger because of its location? 6. Tell what you know of the great generals defending Richmond. 7. Tell the story of the Mcrrimac and Monitor. 8. Why did McClellan not take Richmond? 9. How did the second battle of Bull Run and its results prove the wisdom of Lincoln's advice to McClellan? 10. Tell of the battle of Antietam, and McClellan's removal. 11. ^^'ho was responsible for the terrible mistake of Fredericksburg? 12. Had the North been out-generaled? XLIII 1. In what form was the war carried on in Missouri and Kentucky? 2. With what results? 3. How and where did General Grant begin his part in the Civil War? 4. Why were Forts Henry and Donelson strate- gic points? 5. How was their capture accomplished? 6. Describe the battle of Shiloh. 7. What qualities were displayed by Grant in this battle? 8. What did the capture of Memphis mean? 9. What names are associated with Grant's in tliis Western campaign? 10. How was the purpose of the North changed during the first years of the war? 11. Why did Lincoln hesitate to abolish slavery? 12. Define the term "contraband of war." 13. How did the Emancipation Proclamation reveal Lincoln's greatness? 14. Give the steps wliich preceded its final issue on January 1, 18G3. XLIV 1. Name the three generals who had command of the Army of the Potomac before General Meade. 2. Locate the battle fields on which they led the Union forces. 3. Give Lee's purpose in invading Pennsyl- vania. '4. Tell what you know of the battle of Gettyslnirg. 5. Why is this battle named as one of the great decisive battles in history? 6. What events led to the surrender of Vicksburg? 7. Show the impor- tance of this capture. 8. Locate Chattanooga and Chickamauga. 9. Describe the heroic work of General Thomas at Chickamauga. 10. What do you know of the four generals who led the Union forces to the capture of Chattanooga? 11. Show the work of each in this wonderful xxiv QUESTIONS campaign. 12. Explain the meaning of "drafting." 13. Why was it necessary? 14. How did New York show its opposition to this act of Congress? 15. How many heutenant generals had the American troops known before Grant? 16. Describe the terrible scenes which mark the steps in Grant's "hammering campaign" on the way to Richmond. 17. Compare Grant and Lee, and decide which proved the greater gen- eral. 18. Imagine the meaning of this campaign to the homes of the North and also of the South. 19. Tell the story of Early's cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley. 20. Describe Sheridan's famous ride. 21. Find this described in poetry. 22. Why had the North been unable to enforce the blockade of Mobile? 23. How did the work of Sheridan and Farragut affect Lee's army? 24. Give the significance of the fact that Confederate war vessels were fitted out in British ports. 25. De- scribe the battle between the Alabaina and the Kearsarge. 26. What events were taking place in the West while Grant was moving toward Richmond? 27. Give the purpose of Sherman's march to the sea. 28. Make a list of facts to prove that this march was one of the most wonderful accompUshments of the war. 29. What was General Hood's plan for thwarting Sherman? 30. How did General Thomas prove himself master of the situation? XLV 1. Why did Secretary Chase resign his office? 2. What is meant by a "war democrat"? 3. Give the Democratic platform for the elec- tion of 1864, and compare it with the Republican. 4. Suggest a reason for the nomination of McClellan. 5. Why did Sherman's telegram have any influence on Lincoln's majority? 6. How did Congress, in 1864, show its approval of President Lincoln? 7. What was Sherman's next plan after reacliing Savannah, and how was it carried out? 8. What part had the Union cavalry in forcing Lee to surrender? 9. De- scribe the final scene of the war. 10. What lesson did Grant seek to teach in his hour of victory? 11. Prove that the South suffered far more deeply than the North during the war. 12. Show how bravely both North and South took up their burden at its close. XLVI 1. How did the South look upon Lincoln's death? 2. What grave question did Congress face after the war? 3. By what wise plan had Lincoln sought to answer that question? 4. Show that it was impossible for Johnson to act as Lincoln would have acted. 5. What were some of the bills vetoed by the President? 6. Give reasons for his quarrel with Congress. 7. Give the substance of the fourteenth amendment. 8. How was it received? 9. Give the Reconstruction Act. 10. Tell QUESTIONS XXV something of the leaders in this Congress. 11. Show that its acts were not at all in accord with Lincoln's reconstruction policy. 12. Give their effect upon the politics of the South. 13. Describe this work of the Ku Klux Klan. 14. Tell what you know of an impeachment trial. 15. Why would the removal of President John.son from office have established a dangerous precedent? 16. Name the great generals who have become President, and give their political parties. 17. E.xplain wh}' all the states were willing to sign the fifteenth amendment. 18. What do you think of France's attempt to gain a hold in Mexico during the Civil War? 19. What did her prompt withdrawal after the war show? 20. Show the importance of the purchase of Alaska. 21. W^hat great disputes between the United States and Great Britain were settled by the treaty of Washington? 22. How was each decided? 23. How long was Grant in office, and what are the main facts of his administration? 24. Trace the causes of the panic of 187.3. 25. What other problems demanded the thought of a wise President? XLVII 1. Give the cause of the disputed election of 1876. 2. How did Hayes become President? 3. Under what conditions did the United States celebrate its hundredth anniversary? 4. To what uses had electricity been put by 1876? 5. By what wise and courageous act did President Hayes bring the North and South closer together? 6. For what purpose was " greenback " money first issued? 7. What fact gives value to such money? 8. How was this proven by Congress? 9. Why is the railway strike of 1877 of great significance ? 10. Show the danger of the "strike." 11. 'WTiat party principle elected Garfield? 12. Should the President or the Senate choose Cabinet officers? 13. What great civil problem did the Garfield-Conkling quarrel bring to the people? 14. What important act marks the administration of President Arthur? 15. Ac- count for Cleveland's election. 16. Tell of the Haymarket riot and its lesson to the nation. 17. Give the order of the succession of Cabinet officers to the Presidency. LXVIII 1. TMiat was the Sherman Act? 2. How did it suggest the possibility of a .serious difficulty? 3. Explain the meaning of the platform adopted by the Populists in 1892. 4. Account for Cleveland's election, in 1892, after his defeat of 1888. 5. Explain his position on the Hawaiian question. 6. Was its annexation five years later carried on in a way suited to Am-erican honor? 7. Make a list of the great panics in our history. 8. Give their causes, and show in what respects the panic of 1893 was more serious than the preceding ones. 9. What did the repeal of the Sherman Act show? 10. What great lessons were to be drawn xxvi QUESTIONS from these anxious days? 11. Account for the division in the Demo- cratic party in 1896. 12. Show the importance of the Bryan-Mclvinley campaign. XLTX 1. Tell what you know of the Cuban rebellion. 2. Describe the scene in Havana harbor at the time of the destruction of the Maine. 3. Can you prove that the United States was justified in its action of April 19, 1898? 4. Show that the capture of Manila was the greatest event of the war. 5. Describe events leading to the destruction of Cervera's fleet. 6. How did the land campaigns in Cuba test the courage of the American soldier? 7. Describe the land campaigns of this war. 8. Give the terms of the treaty which ended this war. 9. Briefly trace the history of Spain in the New World, and show the results of Spanish influence still in existence in America. 10. What great opportumties were opened to the Americans through the pos- session of the Phihppines? 11. Tell the facts and dates concerning the territorial expansion of the United States. 1. Tell something of the extent of mines in the Rocky Mountains. 2. Trace on your map the three great trails to the West. 3. What were the dangers peculiar to each of these trails? 4. WTiat fact seems most wonderful to you in connection with this mode of traveUng? 5. When were the great Pacific Railroad fines built? 6. Trace their routes on the map, and see how closely they followed the old trails. 7. Show what transformations were brought about as a result of these railroads. 8. Tell what other nations compare with the United States in the skillful making of self-governing states? 9. Name the new states of 1890. LI 1. By a word picture contrast the life of the Western farmer in the olden days with his fife to-day. 2. Has the introduction of this won- derful agricultural machinery made the farmer less or more independent? 3. Show both the advantage and the disadvantage of the large farm. 4. Give the steps by which the milling industry has been made to meet the demands of the great grain markets of the present day. 5. Trace our meat industry from the work of the cow-boy to the great European markets. 6. Repeat the story of Hiawatha's struggle with Mondamin, and endeavor to span the step from that to the American corn crop of a single year. 7. Show that the introduction of the cotton factory brought prosperity to the crippled South. 8. By what means has the South become financially independent? QUESTIONS xxvii LII 1. Why is this called an age of steel? 2. Show that the number of ships on our Great Lakes is a sign of national prosperity. 3. State figures to show the immense growth of New York City in the nine- teenth century. 4. What great problems are found in our cities, and how are they being solved? 5. Tell something of the gigantic size to wliich the trust problem has grown. 6. Prove by argument that the Government should control the railroads. 7. How, only, may a nation become truly great? LIII 1. Tell what you know of Roosevelt's poUtical career before 1900. 2. How many of those Vice Presidents, who had succeeded to the Presidency, were afterwards elected to the office? 3. Tell in what ways the United States gained in the respect of the Oriental nations during Roosevelt's administration. 4. Make a fist of the other great achieve- ments of his term, and decide which is of the greatest importance. 5. Prove that the United States has bravely faced the truth that with great power comes great responsibiUty. 30 XXViii THE PRESIDENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS Sic B © 03-5 d •2 mm e H o a a ^a S2 to a a «fH M bed's OOWQ fl a £ fl 3 3 3^ o ooa o 53 C3 S^ iH do sIh ^ 2 _a 0) M c C;3 3 Ld o C C3 a = S-3 g-d S o ^ w 5 "W CO t- '' C C C g S JS S-0 a!J3 sa ^ C3 O-s -3 a .2 .2 o'5 2 3 3 S 9 fl ft ftg K g C rt 3 3 3 ft a tf Pirt ftaac ft c ft ^ ^ O ^ QJ O i>i-M-M ■-I ,_, TO r-H ,H CV) ■"! 1-1 •00 >> 00 ^x 777 „ lO 05 C. o 00X03 J gXXX ^ IN,.; x^-'raxxX'H r _"4, 7 b -777 J o xxos ); XiO ^ XXX 3 -•o «5 a s rS a a a »^ O (u t, fc^ (_ 2 t-i 0) OJ Cf m E o .-H CO C5 rt —( rt ,-( 27 OltOtO «D i-iX lO (N 'H O) 05 O •<*i 05 X >0 lO lO C<3 ^ tO X -h X i-l OJiNC^ CO CO-^ ■* O-*c0tJ-X 03XXOOOO t^XX X XX X XXXXXXXX X XX XXXOlOHOOl c^ o CO "-I X t>- iNT).CO1^00 X cCM-^ »o »c;o o xr^oioxoooi o oc^ 'Nooc'5cococcTt< lo o t>.t~t^ t^ t-.r~ i^ t>.t>.t>.t^t^xxt^ X XX xxxxxxx x x • . • a'3 • » J-^ a IS fe.2'Sic'3 ^ & 3 ^^.3a)0^«;, c S Ohpt a . a "^M ^-a g-B o-^ ^ la ffij||-g|;3 iO S-^,<>K>o H M a C3 '^o.so a) O 3 = POPULATION AND AREA OF STATES XXIX POPULATION AND AREA OF STATES Dates. No. Name. Area in Square Miles. ' Population 1910. a r 17S7 1787 1787 1788 1788 1788 1788 1788 1788 1788 1788 1789 < 1790 f 1791 1792 1796 1803 1812 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1836 1837 1845 1845 1846 1848 1850 1858 1859 1861 1863 1864 1867 1876 1889 1889 1889 1889 1890 1890 1896 ^ 1907 Provision Admission 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 for 1910 Delaware 1,960 44,985 7,525 58,9.80 4,845 8,040 9,860 30,170 9,005 40,125 47,620 48,580 1,0.53 9,135 40,000 41,750 40,760 45,420 35,910 46,340 56,000 51,540 29,895 68,735 53,045 57,430 54,240 262,290 55,475 54,450 155,980 79,205 94,560 81,700 24,645 109,740 76,840 103,645 70,195 76,850 145,310 66,880 84,290 97,575 82,190 69,830 122,460 112,920 202,322 Pennsylvania 7 665 111 3 New Jersey 2,537,167 -ti Georgia 2 609 121 » Connecticut 1,114,756 O Massachusetts 3,366,416 Maryland South Carolina 1,295,346 1,515,400 New Hampshire Virginia .... 430,572 2,061,612 6 New York 9,113,614 a North Carolina 2,206,287 •a < Rhode Island Vermont 542,610 355,956 2,289,905 Tennessee 2,184,789 Ohio 4,767,121 1,6.56,388 Indiana . 2,700,876 1,797,114 5,638,591 .\labama .... 2,138,093 Maine 742,371 3,293,335 o 1,574,449 a Michigan 2,810,173 ►J Florida 752,619 o Texas 3,896,542 Iowa 2,224,771 Wisconsin 2,333,860 a Cahfornia 2,377,549 •a Minnesota Oregon 2,075,708 672,765 ."S Kansas 1,690,949 5 West Virginia 1,221,119 81,875 Nebraska 1,192,214 799,024 North Dakota 577,056 South Dakota 583,888 376,053 Washington Idaho 1,141,990 325,594 145,965 Utah 373,351 Oklahoma 1,657,155 327,301 204,354 TERRITORIES AND OTHER POLITICAL BODIES 1791 60 590,884 6,449 3,606 127,853 331,069 1868 63,592 ! 1900 154,001 » 953,243 ' 6,976,574 ' > This is for actual area of land, not including water. « The census of 1900. ' Not the official census of 1900 or 1910, but the official census taken soon after annexation. XXX POPULATION OF UNITED STATES BY DECADES POPULATION OF CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES BY DECADES Census. Total Population. Increase. Percentage of Increase. 1790 1800 3,929,214 5,308,483 7,239,881 9,638,453 12,866,020 17,069,453 23,191,876 31,443,321 38,558,371 50,155,783 62,947,714 75,994,575 91,972,266 1,379^269 1,931,398 2,398,572 3,227,567 4,203,433 6,122,423 8,251,445 7,115,0.50 11,597,412 12,791,931 13,046,861 15,977,691 35.1 1810 36.4 1820 33.1 1830 33.5 1840 32.7 1850 35.9 1860 35.6 1870 22.6 1880 30.1 1890 25.5 1900 20.7 1910 21.0 THE "MAYFLOWER" COMPACT In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are written, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland, king, defender of the faith, «&c., haveing undertaken, for the glorie of God. and advancemente of the Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in the presence of God; and one of another, covenant & combine ourselves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of the ends aforesaid : and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, ordinances, actes, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for the generall good of the Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the 11. of November, in the year of the raigne of our soveraigne lord. King James, of England, France «& Ireland the 18, and of Scotland the fiftie-fourth. Ano. Dom. 1G20. THE DECLAEATION OF INDEPENDENCE In Congress, July 4, 1776. the unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of AMERICA ^ When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of na- ture's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them "to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- ness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and. accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by .abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpa- tions, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colo- nies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former system of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 'The capitals, punctuation, paragraphing, are modern, and not like the original. xxxii THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE XXxiii He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and neces- sary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his as- sent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, un- comfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing,, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and rais- ing the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new oflices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislature. He has affected to render the military independent of. and su- perior to, the civil power. He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction for- eign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States : For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : For imposing taxes on us without our consent : For depriving us. in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury : For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses : For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government and enlarging XXXIV THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instru- ment for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies : For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments : For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mer- cenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en- deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms : our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their leg- islature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. We. therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare. That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent States, they THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE XXXV have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which inde- pendent States may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Provi- dence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. j^^^^^^ Hancock. Tiie foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed and signed by the following members. New Hampshire Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew Thornton. Massachusetts Bay Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine. Elbridge Gerry. Rhode Ishiiid Step. Hopkins, William Ellery. Connecticut Roger Sherman. Sam'el Huntington, Wm. Williams. Oliver Wolcott. Neio York Wm. Floyd. Phil. Livingston. P"'rans. Lewis, Lewis Morris. New Jersey Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Fras. Hopkiuson, John Hart. Abra. Clark. Pennsylvania Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John Morton, Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, Geo. Ross. Delaware Cipsar Rodney, Geo. Read, Tho. M"Kean. Maryland Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca. Thos. Stone, Charles Carroll of Car- rollton. Vinjinia George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Th Jefferson, Benja. Harrison, Thos. Nelson, jr.. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Bra.xton. North Carolina Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. South Carolina Edward Rutledge. Thos. Heyward. Junr., Thomas Lynch, Junr., Arthur Middleton. Georgia Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall. Geo. Walton. CONSTITUTION UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA [Preamble] We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro- vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. ARTICLE I [Legislative Department] Sect. 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Sect. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhab- itant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to serv- ice for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term- of ten years, in such man- ner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES XXXVll not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina tive. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. Sect. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may bo into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the ex- piration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year so that one third may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legis- lature, which shall then fill such vacancies. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the oHice of President of the United States. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside and no person shall be convicted without the concur- rence of two thirds of the members present. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and dis(iualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the LTnited States : but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indict- ment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. Sect. 4. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time by law XXXVlll CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Sect. 5. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may ad- journ from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attend- ance of absent members in such manner, and under such penalties, as each House may provide. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. Sect. G. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a com- pensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, ex- cept treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emolu- ments whereof shall have been inci'eased. during such time : and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. Sect. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall oi*iginate in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such recon- sideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES XXXIX which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be en- tered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it. unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and, before the same shall take effect, shall be ap- proved by him. or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Sect. S. The Congress shall have power, — To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States : but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uni- form throughout the United States ; To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the sev- eral States, and with the Indian tribes ; To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures ; To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States : To establish post-offices and post-roads : To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries ; To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court : To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations ; To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water ; To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years : To provide and maintain a navy ; To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces : To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions : To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia. xl CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of par- ticular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States ; and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings ; — -and To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry- ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. Sect. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such im- portation, not exceeding tea, dollars for each person. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. « No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro- poi-tion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be pub- lished from time to time. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolu- ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. Sect. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- federation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xli No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any im- posts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war. unless actually invaded, or in such imminent dan- ger as will not admit of delay. ARTICLE II [The Executive Department] Sect. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and. together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : — Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress : but no Senator or Representative, or person hold- ing an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. [The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabi- tant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for. arid of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the Presi- dent of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the pres- ence of the Senate and House of Repi-esentatives. open all the certifi- cates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed : and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal num- ber of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest xlii CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES number of votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choo.se from them by ballot the Vice President. — Repealed by Amendment XII.] Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the • Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. The President shall at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Sect. 2. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. He shall have po'n er, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public min- isters, and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law : but the Con- gress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED. STATES xliii they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. Sect. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress in- formation of the state of the Fuion. and recommend to their consid- eration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassadoi's and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. Sect. 4. The President. Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde- meanors. ARTICLE HI [The Judicial Department] Sect. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a com- pensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Sect. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their au- thority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a parly ; to controversies between two or more States, between a State and citi- zens of another State, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations. as the Congress shall make. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be 31 Xliv CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES by jury; and such trial shall be lield in the State where the said crime.-, shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. Sect. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted. ARTICLE IV [Relation of the states to the Federal Government] Sect. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. Sect. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privi- leges and immunities of citizens in the several States. ' A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other <;rime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having juris- diction of the crime. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but •shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. Sect. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the con- sent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property be- longing to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. Sect. 4. The "United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xlv of them afiainst invasion : and on applic-atiou of tlio I.cjiislatnrp. or of the Executive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence. ARTICLE V [How the Constitution Mnij he Amended] The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the a|)plication of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall he valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Con- stitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. ARTICLE VI [Public Debts ; Constitution, the Law of the Land; Oatli of Ofjfiee] All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be tiound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned . and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. ARTICLE VII [How the Constitution Slinll he Ratified and Set Ip] The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall bo snlli- cient for the esiablishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. xlvi CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. [Signed by] Go : Washington. Presidf. and Deputy from Virginia, and by thirty-nine delegates. AMENDMENTS ARTICLE I [Freedom of Spceeli and Religion, and to Assemble] Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re- ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peace- ably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ARTICLE II [The Right to Bear Arms] A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. ARTICLE III [Quartering of Troops] No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a man- ner to be prescribed by law. ARTICLE IV [Saercdness of the Home Secured] The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no wa'"'ants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xlvii ARTICLE V \ Right of Trial hy •fury] No person shall bo held to answer for a capital, or otherwise in- famous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a K>'and jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any i)erson be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. ARTICLE VI [Criminal Cases and the Rights of the Accused] In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and dis- trict wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. ARTICLE VII [The Jury in fruits at Common Laiol In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the com- mon law. ARTICLE VIII [Hail, Pines, and Punishments] Excessive bail shall not be recpiired, nor excessive tines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. ARTICLE IX [Rights Retained hy the People] The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. xlviii CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES ARTICLE X [Rights Reserved to (States} The powers not delegated to the ITnited States by the Constitu- tion, nor proliiljited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. ARTICLE XI [Limitation of Federal Courfs Power] The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. ARTICLE XII [Revision of Electoral Law] The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and A'ice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in dis- tinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President ; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for a.s President, and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted : — the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors ap- pointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the per- .sons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next follo\ying, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xlix President. The person having the greatest numl)er of votes as Vice President shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the \'ice President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a ma- jority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no per.son constitutionally ineligible to the otHce of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States. ARTICLE XIII , [Slavery Prohibited] Sect. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except -as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con- victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by ap- propriate legislation. ARTICLE XIV [Definition of Citizenship] Sect. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the Ignited States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. [Apportionment of Representatives] Sect. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age and citi- zens of the Ignited States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the numbei of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty- one years of age in such State. 1 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Disabilities of Certain Secessionists^ Sect. B. No person shall he a SL-nator or Kepreseutative in Con- gress, or Elector of President and Vice I'resident, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an otlicer of the I'nited States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as .an executive or judicial otiicer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability. [The Union and Confederate Debts] Sect. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States, nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insur- rection or rebellion against the I'nited States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appro- priate legislation, the provisions of this article. ARTICLE XV [Right of >Snffraf/e] Sect. 1. The right of citizens of the United State to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. INDEX Abolitionists. 301, 302. 315. 326, 332. Abraham. Plains of. 121. Acadia (ah-ka'de-ah) , settled. 30; ceded to England. 114. Adams, Charles Francis, 312, 344, 364. Adams, John, 147 (note), 150. 1(53, 165, 166, li;3, 214; Pres- ident, 226-230. Adams, John Quincy. 2.52. 265, 267 : President. 2()S-271 : and antislavery petitions, 303. Adams. Samuel, 145, 146 . 147, 150, 153. 163. Agriculture, in colonial times, 128: in 1790. 206; modern, on great Western farms, 412-119. Alabama, admitted as a state, 256; secedes from Union, .331. Alabama, vessel, 364 ; claims, 382. Alamo (ah'lah-mo), 304. Alaska, purchase of. 382. Albany, settled, 76 ; in Revolu- tion, 172. Albany Congress. 117. IIS. Alexander VI. Pope. 28. Algonquins (al-gon'kins) . 112 (note). Alien and Sedition laws. 228. Allen. Ethan. 157. Alliance. Treaty of, with French, 177. Amendments to Constitution, first ten, 204. 205 (note) ; 12th. 237; 13th. 369; 14th, 376, 377 ; 15th. 381 ; text of. Appen- dix, xlvi-1. America, discovered, 9, 11; named, 14. American Desert, Great, 411. American dialect. 122. 123. Americnn Party. 322. Amherst. General. 119. 120. 121. Amsterdam, Fort, founded. 7enedict. in ('anada. KH ; on Lake Cliami)lain. 169. 170; at l-'ort Stanwix. 173. 174; at Saratoga. 171. 17.5; treason of, 187, 1S8. Aroostook (a-roos'took) War, 294. Arthur, Chester A., President, 392. Articles of Association, 151. lii INDEX Articles of Confederation, HM, 194, 195, 196. Assistants, in Massacliusetts col- ony government. 03. Assumption of state debts, 218. Astor, John Jacob, 235. Astrolabe (as'tro-labe) , 6, 7. Atlanta, taken by Sherman, 365. Atlantic cable, 340 (note). Austin, Moses, 304. A u s t r i a n s , in Georgia. 1 < >0 (note). Automobiles, 423. Bacon, Nathaniel, rebellion, 100. Bahamas, discovered, 11. Bainbridge. Commodore, 248. Balboa (bahl-bo'ah) , 15, 17. Baltimore, Lord, 90, 92. Baltimore, siege of, 251. Bancroft, George, 281. Bank of the United States, founded, 218, 219 ; destroyed by Jackson, 288. Banks, state, issue paper money, 2SS ; " pet," 288, 289 ; na- tional. 341. Barbarv pirates, 190; war with, 237, 238. Battle above the clouds, 359. Baxter, Richard, 295. Bayard, J. A., at Ghent, 252 (note). Bay Psalm Book, 130. " Bear Republic," 308. Beef-packing industry, 416. Bell, Governor John, of Tennes- see, candidate for presidency, 329. Bennington, battle of, 173. Berkeley, Governor, of Virginia, 105, i06, 136. Berkeley. Lord, 83. Bible Commonwealth, 63, 64. Bicycle, 387. Biddle, Nicholas, 288 (note). " Biglow Papers," 311. Bill of Rights. English, 104 ; in state constitutions, 160. Bills of credit. 1.57. Biloxi (bi-lok'se). Bay, settle- ment at. 3.5 (note). " Bird woman," 235. Birmingham, 418. Birney, James G., 305. Blaine, James G., 391, 393. Blockade, of Southern ports, 342, .343. Blockade runners, 342, 343. •• Bloody Bill," 287. Bonhomme Richard (bo-nom're- shahr'), 184, 185. Boone, Daniel, 181. Booth, Wilkes, 373. Border states, 335, 336. Boston, founded, 60 ; port closed, 149 : siege of, 154, 155 ; taken by Washington, 160, 161. Boston massacre, the, 146, 147. Boston Tea Party, 148, 149. Boundaries of U. S., fixed by Treaty of Paris, 184 ; north- eastern, fixed, 294 ; southern, by annexation of Texas, 306 ; northwestern, 382. Boyle, Captain. 249. Braddock, General, defeat of, 118. Braddock's Road, 116 (note). Bradford, William, 52, 55 (note). Bragg, General, 356, 359. Brandywine Creek, battle of, 174. Breckenridge, J. C, candidate for presidencv, 329. Breed's Hill, 159. Brewster, Elder, 51. Brook Farm community, 300. Brooklyn Heights, 169. Brown, General, 250. Brown, John. 325 (note), 328. Brvan, William Jennings, 398, 399, 424. Bryant. William Cullen, 281,339. Buchanan (bu-kan'an). President, 326-332. Buell (bu'el). General, 3.51, 353. Buena Vista (bwa'uah ve'stah), battle, 307. Bull Run, first battle of. 346; second Viattle of, 349. Bunker Hill, battle of, 1.59. Burgesses, House of, 47. Burgoyne (bur-goin'). General, 173, 174, 175. Burke. Edmund, 143, 151. Burnside, General, 350. INDEX liii Burr, Aaron. 2:?0. Business, concentration of, 421. Butler, Colonel .Tohn. 17!». Butler, (ieneral. 'A~>4. Cabeca de Vaea (kah-ha'tha da vali'kah), 17. IS. V.). Cabinet, orifjcin of. 21<;. Cabot. John. 17. IS. "Caciques" (ka-seeks'), !)(!. Cadillac (kah-deel-yak') , ;•;"». Cairo (ka'ro), .'{51. Calhoun. John C. 2415. 2(!7 ; and tariff. 272: and State Rights. 2S(i. 287 ; and Compromise of IS.W. 81(;. California, occupied by Mexicans, 308 ; question of admission to Union. 314 ; admitted, 31G ; gold discovered in, 312, 313. Calvert, Cecil, 00. Calvert, George. 90. Camden, battle, 189. Canada, early settlements in. 30- 33 : ceded to (Ireat Britain. 121. Canals. Erie, 2t)0; Chesapeake and Ohio, 201 (note) ; in I'enn- svlvania. 277 ; Panama, 425- 427. Cape Ann. .57. Cape Cod. 53. 54. Capitol, burned, 251. Carleton, (Jeneral. 100. 170. Carolinas. settlement of. 05. 0(! ; plans for government of. 00 ; become royal colonies. 07. See also North Carolina and South Carolina. Carpenter's Hall. 1.50. "Carpetbaggers." 387 (note). Carroll. Charles. 278. Carteret ( kar'ter-et). Sir (leorge, 83. Cartier (kar-tya'). 17. 21. Cass. Lewis, candidate foi- presi- dency. 312. Catholics, i»ei'secution of. in Eng- land. 01 ; Maryland as refuge for. 01. Cattle-raising. 410. Caucus, nominating. 271. Cavaliers. 102. 103. Cavalry, ITnion, 370. Cedar Creek, battle. 303. Census, 20.5. See also Popula- tion. Centennial Exposition. 385-387. Cerro Oordo (ser'ro gor'do), cap- tured. 308. Cervera (thair-va'rah) . Admiral, 401. 402. Champlain. Samuel de. 31 33. Chancellorsville. battle of, 357. Charles I. of England, 48. 58-60, 102. 103. Charles 11. of England. 80. 104. 10,5. Charleston, founded. 95; colonial life in. 08. 00 ; in the Revolu- tion, 108. 180 ; secession de- clared at. 331. Charter colonies. 130, 131. Chase. Salmon P., 323, 3'29, 307 ; Chief Justice, 308 (note), 381. Chattanooga, battle of. 359. Cherry Vallev, massacre, 179. 180. Chesapeake. 2.39. 248. Chicago. 240 (note) ; exposition. 386 (note) ; beef-packing in- dustry at. 41(i. Chickamauga. battle of, 358. Chippewa, battle, 2.50. Cincinnati. 212. City, problem of the great, 420, 421. Civil Rights Bill, 376. Civil service. 391. 392. Civil War, 334-371 ; cost of. 372. 373. Claiborne (kla'born). William, 93 (note). Clark. George Rogers, campaign of, 182, 183. Clark. William, explores West, 234. 235. Clay. Henry, Speaker of House of Representatives. 243 ; at (Jhent. 252 (note) ; candidate for i)residency. 207. 208. 287. 305; Secretary of State. 2(>0 ; and Tariff of Abominations. 272 : and compromise taj'iff. 287: and Compromise of 18.50, 315. 310. liv INDEX Clermont, 235. Cleveland, Grover, President, 393, 394 ; defeated for presidency, 394; President. 395-397. Clifton, Richard, 51. Clinton, De Witt, 260. Clinton, General Sir Henry, lOS, 179. 189. Clinton, George, Vice President. 237, 241. Coal, becomes used as fnel, 275 ; mines, 337 ; strike, 427. Cold Harbor, battle, 3G1, 3G2. Coligny (ko-leen-ye') , 28. Colleges, in colonial times, G5, (5G ; land grants for, 300 ; in U. S. at time of Civil War, 339. Colonies, life in the, 122-137; begin to feel independent of England, 138. Colonization Societv and Liberia, 297. Colorado, silver in, 337. Columbia River, discovered, 235. Columbns, Christopher, 814. Commerce, British control of co- lonial, 139, 140 ; in 1790, 209 ; effect of Embargo Act on, 240 ; non-intercourse and, 241 ; in- terstate, after War of 1812, 257-2G0; during Civil War, 342, 343 ; on Great Lakes, 419, 420. Committees of Cori'espondence, 147, 148, 151. "Common Sense," 1G2 (note). Compass, G, 7. Compromise of 1850, 31G. " Concessions," the, S3. Concord, battle of, 153. Confederate States of Amei'ica, organized, 331, 332; recognized by foreign nations, 344 (note) ; end of, .'173. Conf(Hleration, Articles of, 1G7, 194-19G. Congregational Church, founded, 05. Congress, Stamp Act, 142, 143; First Continental, 150 ; Second Continental. 155, 15G. 103, 1G4 ; under Articles of Confederation, 1G7, 194-19G; under Constitu- tion, 200-202. Conkling, Roscoe, 391. Connecticut, settled, 70 ; obtains charter, 105 ; government dur- ing Revolution. IGG ; Western land claims, 198. Conservation of natural re- sources, 428, 429. Constitution, framed, 200-203 ; ratified, 204 ; text of. Appen- dix, xxxvi-1. Constitution, vessel. 247, 248. Constitutional Convention, 199- 203. Constitutional Union Party, 329. Constitutions, early state, IGG, 1G7. Continental Congress. See Con- f/ress. Conway Cabal, 178. Cooper, James Fenimore, 281, 339. Copernicus (ko-per'nih-kus), 4. Copper mines, 337, 40G. Corinth, 353. Cornwallis, General, 171, 189, 190. Coronado, Francisco de (frahn- sees'ko da ko-ro-nah'tho), 17, 20, 21. Corporations, 422. " Corrupt Bargain." 2G9. Cortes (kor'tez), 17, 18. Cosby, Governor, and I'eter Zen- ger, 137. Cotton, John, 132. Cotton, increase of cotton-growing area, 209, 210; price falls, 2G8. Cotton gin, 210. 2G2. Counties, in South, 94, 131; of- ficers of, 95, 132. Courrurs de hois (koo-rer' deh bwah'), 33. Courts, national, establislied, 215, 21G. Cowpens, battle, 190. Crawford, W. H., candidate for presidency. 2G7. 2G8, 271. Crittenden, Senator, 331. Cromwell, Oliver, 102-104. Crown Point, taken by Amherst, 120. INDEX Iv Crusades. 2, 3. Crystal Palace, exhibition at, 1310. Cuba. Columbus visits, 11 ; rebel- lion of. 399. 400 : war in, 401- 403. Culpepper, Lord. 10.1. Cumberland Pike. IKJ (note). Cumberland "Road. 2.19. Da Gania (dab sah'mah). Vas- co. 7. Dale. Sir Thomas, 4(). 47. Davenport, John, 72. Davis, Jefferson, and Kansas-\e- braska Bill. ;>2:> ; elected Presi- dent of Confederacy, S.*?! ; orders bombardment of Fort Sumter. 3H4. Dearborn, Fort, 24(). Debt, imprisonment for, 99. Debt, public. Hamilton's plan for paying. 217. 218; at end of Civil War. 372 ; and Four- teenth Amendment. 370. Declaration of Independence, 163, 164 ; text of. Appendix, xxxii- XXXV. Declaration of Rights, l.jl. Declaratory Act, 14,5. De Grasse (deh gras'). Admiral, 190. Delaware, settled by Dutch, J'O.; becomes Swedish colony, 80 ; regained by Dutch, 80; government of. in colonial times,_86 (note) ; border state. 335. Demarcation, IJne of, 17. 28. Democratic Party, origin of. 270; divides on slavery question, 329. Democrats, War, 308. De Monts, 30. Deputies, in Massachusetts, col- ony government. (>.3. Desert, Great American, 411. De Soto. Hernando, 17, 19. Detroit, founded. .3.1 ; besieged by Pontiac, 122; in War of 1S12. 24.1. De Vaca. Cabecja.. See CahcQa dc Vaca. Dewey, Admiral George, 401. Diaz (de'ahz). rounds Cape of (iood Hoi)e, 7. Dickinson, John, 110. 200. Dinwiddle. Governor, of Vir- ginia. 117. District of Columbia, slavery abolished in, ."ILl, .310. Dix. Dorothea. 299. Dominion of New England, 107. Donelson. Fort, 312. Dougan. Thomas. 82. Dorchester, 70. Dorchester Heights, 100. Douglas. Stephen Arnold, and Kansas-Nelnaska Act, 322, 323 : debates with Lincoln, 327, 328 ; candidate for presidency, 329. Dove, 91. Drafting soldiers. 300. Draft riots. 'M'A. Drake, Sir Francis, 37, 38, 39, 40. Dred Scott decision, 320. Ducking stool. 04. Duke of York, 83, 80. Duke's Laws, the, 82. Duquesne (du-kane'). Governor of Canada. Ill, 110. Duquesne. Fort, 117. 119. Dutch, in America, 72, 74-82, 96. Dutch East India Companv. 75, 76. Dutch West India Company, 76, 80. Dyer, Mary. 74. Early, General. 303. Earth, ideas of, in 15th century, 1. 2. Earthquake. San Francisco. 428 (note). East, interest in wealth of. 4 ; Turks block way to. 5 ; trade routes to. 6, 7. East India Company, Dutch, 75, 70 ; and Boston Tea Party, 148, 149. East Jersey. 83. Education, in New England, 01, 00; in Pennsylvania. 89. 90; in colonies. 135, 13(5 ; encour- agement of, 280, 300 ; in North Ivi INDEX and South at time of Civil War, 337-339. Edward. Fort, 173. . El Caney (el kali'na), battle. 402. Election, presidential. See Presi- dential election.^ Electors. 214. -^t--' Electricity, wonders of. 38(). 3S7. Eliot, Sir John, 58. Elizabeth, queen of England, 30, 38, 39. Emancipation Proclamation, 354- 356. Embargo Act. 240. Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 281, 300, 339. Endicott, John, 59. England, explorations in New World, 18 ; rise of power, 36- 38 ; colonizes America, 38, 39, 41-46 ; war with Spain, 39 ; reasons for colonizing America, 41. 42 : religious disputes in, 50. 51, 91 ; Cromwell and com- monwealth, 102, 103 ; Restora- tion, 104; Revolution of 1688, 104 ; extent of colonies. 111 ; wars with France, 113-126. See also Great Britain. " Era of Good Feeling," 254. Ericsson, John. 348. Ericsson, Leif, 9. Erie Canal, 260. Erskine agreement, 241. Essex, 249. Excise Tax. 219. Exposition, Centennial, 385-387 ; Chicago, 386 (note) ; St. Louis, oSC) (note). Falmouth, burned. 162. " Farmer's Letters," 150. Farms, great Western, 412-414. Farragut. Admiral, 353, 364. Federal Hall, 215. Federalist Fartv, 221, 222, 228, 229, 253. Ferguson, Colonel, 189. Fessenden, William Pitt, 368. Filibusters, 400. Fillmore, Millard, elected Vice President, 312 ; President, 313- 318. Fisheries, New England, 127, 128, • 207, 208. Fitch, John, 236. Flatboat, 211, 212, 233, 236, 257- 259. Florida, explored, 16 ; English obtain, 121 ; ceded to Spain, 193; purchased by U. S., 264, 265 ; West, 264 ; secedes from Union. 33L Florida, vessel, 364. Flour mills, colonial, 128 ; mod- ern, 414. 415. Foote, Flag Officer, 351, 352. Force Acts, 380. Force Bill, 287. Fort Amsterdam, founded, 76. Fort Orange, founded, 76. " Forty-niners," 313, 314. Fox, George, 84, 85. France, explorations in New World. 21, 22 ; colonization, 30- 35, 111, 113 ; missionaries, 32, 33 ; progress of exploration in interior, 113 ; wars with Eng- land, 113-121 ; aids U. S., 175- 177, 1.84; Revolution in, 222; war with U. S. on the ocean, 227 ; war with Great Britain, 238, 245 ; recognizes Confeder- ate States, 344 (note) ; and occupation of Mexico, 382. Franchise (right to vote), re- strictions on, in 1790, 213, 214 ; manhood suffrage, 270. Franklin, Benjamin, rise of, 126 ; and Albany Congress, 117, 118; in England, 144 ; in France, 176, 177 ; and Treaty of Paris, 193 ; and Constitutional Con- vention. 200. FrederickslMirg, battle, 350. Freedmen's Bureau, 375, 376. 378 (note). Freedom of press, 303. Free Soil Party, 312, 325. Fremont ( f re-mont' ) , John C, 308, 325. French and Indian War, 117-121. Fries (fres) Rebellion, 232 (note). Frolic, 247. Frontenac (fron-teh-nak') , Count, 114 (note). INDEX Ivii Frontenar, Fort, raptnrod. 11(». Frontier life about l.s:!(). 2T*», 277. Fugitive Slave I.aw. ;{ir», Sl(i, 817. Fulton. Robert. 2?,~t. Fundamental Constitutions, 9(j (note). Fundamental Orders. 70. 71. Fur trade, 33, 72, 70, 128. Gabriel insurrection. 207 (note). Gadsden Purchase, 300. Gage, (General, 152. 153, 159. " Gag resolutions," 303. Gallatin, Albert, at Ghent, 252 (note). Galliopolis, 212 (note). (Jartield. James A., President, 390-392. Garrison, William Lloyd, 297. 298, 302. Gas, used for lighting, 275. Oaspce (gas-pay') Affair, 148. Gates. General, 174, ISO. Genet (zheh-nay'). Citizen, 223. Genoa, 5. George III, of England, 141. 102. 164. Georgia, founded, 100 ; early his- tory of, 100, 101 ; secedes from Union, 331. Georgia, vessel, 304. Germans, settle in Pennsylvania. 89 ; in Carolinas, 90. Germantown, battle. 174. Gerry, Elbridge. 227. " Gerrymander," 284. Gettysburg, battle of, 357, 35S. Ghent (gent). Treaty of, 252, 253. Gilbert, Sir Humphrey. 38. Gold, discoverv of. in California, 313 ; rush for, 313, 314 ; discov- ery of, around Pike's Peak, 405. Gold Democrats, 398. Gomez (go'meth). 17, 18. " (Jrand iModel," 9(>, 07. Grain elevators, 415. Grant, General F. S.. in Civil War, 351-353; 35(;, 358, 359, 361-371 ; President, 382, :{83. Gray, Captain, 235. (ireat American Desert, 411. Great P>ritain, war with Ameri- can colonies, 138-193 ; refuses to give up i)osts on northern frontier, 195. 223 ; Jay treaty with, 224 ; wars with France, 238, 245 : impresses American seamen, 239 ; War of 1812 with IT. S., 244-254 : sympathizes with South in Civil War and recognizes Confederate States, 342-344 ; and Alabama claims, 382. Great I^akes, discovered. 21 ; com- merce of, 337, 419. 420. Great Valley, the, 181. Greeley, Horace, opinion of seces- sion, 332 ; candidate for presi- dency, 383. Greenback, trouble, 388, 389; party, 389. Greene, Nathaniel, General. 155, 190. Grenville, Prime Minister, 141. Guadeloupe Hidalgo (gwah-thah- loo'pa e-dahl'go). Treaty of. 308, 309. Guam (gwahm), ceded to U. S., 403. Guerriere (gar-ryar'), 247. Guilford Court House, battle, 190. Gunboats. Jefferson's, 239. (iunpowder, the invention of, 5. Gustavus Adolphus, 80. Hague Tribunal. 426 (note). " Hail, Columbia." 227. Haiti, discovered, 12. Half Moon, 75. Ilalleck, General, 351. Hamilton, Alexander, and Consti- tutional Convention, 200 ; Sec- retary of Treasury, 216-219 ; sketch of. 220. Hamilton, Colonel, 180 (note). 183. Hamlin, Hannibal, candidate for Vice President. 329. Hancock, Gen. Wiufield S.. can- didate, 390. Hancock, John, 146, 153. Harper's Ferry, 328. Iviii INDEX Harrison, Benjamin, Presidout, 394. Harrison. Gen. William Henry, at Tippecanoe. 243, 240 ; Presi- dent, 292, 293 ; death of. 293. Hartford, founded, 70 ; Dutch fort at, 81. Hartford Convention, 253. Harvard, John, G5. Harvard College, founded. G.j, GO. Hawaiian (hah-wi'yan) Islands, revolution in, 39G ; annexation of, 396. Hawkins, John, .37, 39. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 281, 300, 339. Hay. John. 425. Hayes, Rutherford B.. and elec- tion dispute. 384, 385 ; Presi- dent, 385-390. Haymarket Square, 393. Hayne. Robert Y., 2S.5-2S7. Henrietta Maria, Maryland named for, 91. Henry IV, of France, 30. Henry the Navigator, Prince, G, 7. Henry, Patrick, 94, 141. 142. 1.50. 182. Henry, Fort, 3,52. Herkimer. General, 173. Hessians, 171. Hobson, Lieutenant, 402. Holland. Puritans flee to. 51 : Puritans sail from. 52 ; estab- lishes settlements in America. 74. 75. Holmes. Oliver Wendell. 2S1. 339. Holy Alliance, 2G5, 200. Homestead Act of 18G2. 410. Hood, General, 305, 300. 308. Hooker. General ("Fighting Joe"). 3.50. 357, 3.59. Hooker. Thomas, 70. Hornet, 248. Horse-cars. 275. Horseshoe Bend, battle. 252. House of Burgesses, 47. Houston, Sam. 304. Howe, General William, KiO. 101. 109, 171, 174. Hudson, Henry, 75, 80. Huguenots (hu-geh-nots') , perse- cution of, 28 ; first attempts to settle in America. 28, 29 ; in Carolinas, 94, 95. Hull, General, 24.5. Hutchinson, Anne, 09, 70. Idaho, admitted to I'^nion, 411. Illinois, becomes state, 250; rich prairie lands of, 257. Immigration, between 1820 and 1800, 320, 321 ; later, 420, 421. Impeachment, 381. Impressment, 2.39, 253. Indentured servants, 49. Independence, Declaration of, 103, 104 ; text of. Appendix, xxxii-xxxv. Independence, war for, 182-193. Independent Treasury Bill, 291. India, routes to, 0, 7, 8. Indians, named by Columbus, 11 ; manners and customs of. 22. 24 ; method of letting land, 68 (note) ; Pequots, 72; colonists have trouble with, 72, 73, 100 ; Penn's peace with, 88 ; Iro- quois, 112 ; Algonquins, 112 (note); French and, 113; in Revolution, 180-182 ; attacks on frontier, 224 ; confederation destroved by General Harrison, 242, 243. Indigo, grown in Carolinas. 98. Industries, in colonies, 127-129; modern, 405-424. Intercolonial Committees of Cor- respondence, organized. 148. Internal improvements, 208, 293. Interstate commerce commission, 423, 428. Intolerable Acts, 149. Inventions, shown at Crystal Pal- ace in 1855, 319, 320 ; modern. 423. Iowa, admitted to Union. 322 (note). Iron mines, 337. Iroquois (ir-o-kwoi') . 32, 112, 118. Irrigation, 420, 428. Irving, Washington. 281. 339. Isabella, Queen, aids Columbus, 10. Island No. 10, 353. INDEX lix Jackson, General Andrew, at New Orleans, 252 ; candidate for presidency, 207, 2GS, 271, 272 ; President, 282-290; character of, 2S2. Jackson, General Thomas J. (" Stonewall"), 347, 349. Jalapa ( hah-lah'pah ) , captured, 308. James I, of England. 41, 51, 58. James II, of England, 82, 104, 107. Jamestown, founded, 43. Java, 248. Jay, John, and First Continental Congress, 150 ; and Treaty of Paris. 193 ; Chief Justice, 21G. Jay Treaty, 224. Jefferson, Thomas, 94 ; draws up Declaration of Independence, 103, 104 ; Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 210 ; sketch of, 221 ; Vice President, 220 ; President, 230-240. Jersey, East, 83 ; West. 83. Jesuits, in America. 32 (note). Jogues (zhog), Isaac, 32 (note). Johnson, Andrew, elected Vice President, 308 ; President, 374- 381. Johnson, Sir William, 118-120. Johnston. General Joseph E.. 347, 348, 309, 371. Jones. Captain Paul. 184. 185. Jury, right of trial by. 143 (note). Kansas, border war in. 323-325 ; admitted to Union. 325. Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 322, 323. Kaskasia. 182. Kearney, Colonel Stephen W., 308. Kearsarge, 304. Kentucky, settled, 181 ; country ceded to U. S.. 183; fertile lands of, 257 ; border state, 335 ; in Civil War. 351. 352. Kentucky Resolutions. 229. Key, Francis Scott. 252 (note). Kieft (keft). Governor of New Netherland, 80. King George's War, 115. King Philip's War, 73. 32 King's Mountain, battle, 189. King William's War. 114. Knights of I;abor. 393. "Know Nothing" Party, 321. Knox, Henry, Secretary of AVar, 210. Ku Klux Klan, 380. Labor, unions, 393 ; problem, 389, 390. 397. Labor contract laws, 375. Lafayette (lah-fa-yef) , General, 170, 190. La Isla Espaiiola (la e'lah es- pliau'yo-lah), or Haiti, discov- ered. 12. Lancaster. Congress moves to, 174. " Ijaudgraves," 96. Land oHice. 270. Lands, public. See Puhlic Lands. La Salle (lah sal'), 33. 34. Laurens. Henry. 90 (note). Lawrence, Captain. 248. Lawrence, vessel. 247. Lead, mines, 400. Leaden plates, 35, 11.5. Leavenworth, Fort, 308. Lee, General Charles. 108. 170, 179. Lee, Richard Henry, 1.50, 103. Lee, General Robert E., 341, 347-349, 357, 358, 301, 309- 371. " Leet men," 90. Legal tender notes, 341. Legislature, colonial, 47, 03, 109 ; under Constitution, 200. Leif Ericsson, 9. Leisler (iTs'ler), Jacob, 108. Leopard, 239. Lewis. :\Ieriwether, 234, 235. Leyden. 52. Lexington, battle of. 153. Liberal Republican Party, 383. Liberator, The, 297. Liberia, 297. Liberty, vessel, 146. Liberty Party. 305. Limestone, 212 (note). Lincoln. Abraham, early life. 276 (note). 327 (note) ; in Con- gress, 311 ; debates with Doug- Ix INDEX las, 327. 328 ; nominated for President and elected, 329, 33U ; President. 332-37-4 ; inaugural address, 332, 333 ; and Emanci- pation Proclamation, 353-35G ; political quarrels, 367 ; and plans for reconstructing Soutli. 375 ; assassination of. 373, 374. Literature, in colonies. 136, 137 ; in 1830, 281 ; antislavery, 301 : in North at time of Civil War. 339. Livingston. American Minister to France. 234. Locke, John, 96 (note). Locomotives, steam. 278. 279. Log cabin campaign. 292. London Company. 42—17, 53. Longfellow. Henrv Wadsworth. 281. 301. 339. Long Island, owned by Duke of York, S3 : battle of. 169. Lookout Mountain. 359. Loom, power, 208. Lord Protector, Cromwell made, 103. Louis XIV. of France, 35. Louisburg, fortress of. 115. 119. Louisiana, settled. 35 : ceded to Spain, 121 ; purchased by U. S., 233, 234: becomes a state. 256; secedes from Union. 331. Lovejoy. Elijah. 302. Lowell. James Russell. 281. 311. Loyalists, 151, 163. 179, 183. Lumber trade, in colonial times, 128 ; of Michigan and Wiscon- sin, 337. Lundy. Benjamin, 298. Lundy's Lane, battle. 2.50. 251. McClellan, General George B.. in Civil War. 346-350; candidate for presidency. 368. McCormick reaper. 320. McDowell. General. 346. McDonough. Commodore, 251. Macedonian. 248. McHenry, Fort, 252. Machinery, agricultural. 412-414. ]\IcKinley. William. President. 399-405 ; assassination of, 424. McKinley Bill, 394. Macomb, General, 250, 251. Macon Bill, No. 2, 242. Madison, James, and constitu- tional convention, 200 ; Presi- dent, 241-254. Magellan (mw-jeran), Ferdinand. 15, 16. " Magnalia." 136. Maine, settled, 72, 73 ; admitted as a state, 264 : boundary dis- pute. 294. Maine, battleship. 400. Malvern Hill, battle. 349. Manassas Junction, battle, 346. Manhattan Island, 76, 77. Manhood suffrage, 270. Manila, battle of. 401. Manors. 94 (note). Mann. Horace. 300. Manufactures, forbidden in colo- nies. 128; in 1790, 208; in New England, 208, 267; pro- tection of, 255, 256 ; recent, 412. 418. 419. Marco Polo. 3. Marcos. Friar. 20. Marietta, 212 (note). 213 (note). Marion, General Francis, 9G (note), 189. Marshall. John, 227. 286. Maryland, founded, 91 : early his- tory of, 92-94 ; border state in Civil War, 3.35 ; invaded by Lee, 349, 350. Mason and Dixon's line. 86 (note). 92, 286. Mason and Slidell, incident of. 343. 344. Massachusetts, colony, govern- ment of. (i3. 64 : education in, 6.5; loses charter, 105; gets new charter, 107 ; charter re- pealed. 149 ; forms a provincial Congress. 152 ; claims Western lands. 198. Massachusetts Bay, Governor and Company of, 57 ; charter granted, 59. Massasoit (mas-sa-soif). 55. Matamoros (mat-a-mo'ros) , 307. Mather. Cotton, 136. Maxmilian. in Mexico. 381, 382. Matjflinier. 53. 55. INDEX Ixi Mayflovvpr Compart. r>.'>. '>i. ."»(■>; loxt of, A|ii)('n(lix. xxxi. Mpinphis, paiUiircd. Ij').'}. Menendez ( ina-non'deth ) , 29. Meunonites. S!). Mvrriinac aud Monitor, 'Ml. '.W^. Mt rriiiuu\ collier, 402. ^fexico. Spanish colonize, 2S ; in- dependent of Spain, 304 ; Texas secedes from, .".0.'>, 304 : war with T'. S., ;iOt>-30n: and French occnpation. 3.S2. Mexico, City of, taken, .".OS. Michigan. 2.57 : admitted to T^nion, 300 ; founds university, 300 : luml)er trade of, .'537 ; mines of, 3.'>7. " Milk for Babes," 132. Mill, flour, in colonial times, 12S: development of, 414, 41.">. Minutemen, 153. Missionaries, French, in New World. 32, 33. Missionary Ridge, 359. Mississippi, admitted to TTnion, 286 ; secedes, 331 ; readmitted, 381. Mississippi River, discovery of, 19 ; T^a Salle takes possession of, 34 ; importance of Western trade on, 224, 225. Mississippi Valley. French forts in. 115, 110 ; early settlements, 181. Missouri, asks to l)e admiltcd as State, 261 ; admitted, 264 : bor- der state during Civil War. 335 ; lead mines in. 337 ; votes to remain in Union. 351. Missouri Compromise, 263. 264. 322, 326. Mobile, founded, 35; captured by Farragut, 364. Money, in circulation at end of Revolution, 196, 197. See also Paper Money. Monitor and Mrrrimac, .348. ^lonmouth, battle, 179. Monroe, James, commissioner to France, 234; President, 254- 266. Monroe Doctrine, 265, 26t;. Montana, admitted to Union, 411. Montcalm. General, 120, 121. Monterey (mon-te-ray'), battle, ;!t>7. Montgomery, Richard, H!l. .Moulgomery, Confederate State.s organized at. 331. ^lontreal. founded, 21; ca|)lui<'d by Amherst, 121. Mormon. lionk of, 30U. Mormons. 3(tO, 301, 407. Morris, Robert, 171 (nod-). 19.".. Morristown, Washington winters at. 172. Morse, Samuel F. B., 339. Motley. John L., 281. Aloultrie. (Jeneral. 168. Mt. Vernon. Washington's home, 215. Napoleon Bonaparte. 228, 2.33, 238, 242, 244, 2.50, 252. Napoleon III, 381. Narvaez (nar-vah-eth'), 18. Naseby, battle of, 102. Nashville, battle, 367. Nassau, in West Indies. .34.3. National banks, organized. 341. National Road (Cumberland) ,259. Naturalization Act, 228. Nauvoo. 301 (note). Navigation Acts, 106. 108, 109. Navy, France aids American, 184 ; Paul Jones and, 184. 185: in War of 1812, 247, 248 ; in Civil War, 342; in war with Spain, 401-103. Nebraska, territory. 322. Necessity. Fort. 117. Nemacolin's Path. 116 (note). Neutrality, Proclamation of. 223. Nevada, silver in, 337. New Amsterdam, settlement, 77 ; besieged by English, 81 ; be- comes New York, 82. New England, Council for, 57 ; settlement of. 57-62; early punishments in. 64, 6.5; schools, 6(5. ('At : trouble with Indians, 72; Confederation. 72, 73, 1.5() : Dominion of. 107. " New England Primer." 13(J. Newfoundland. English claims acknowledged, 115. Ixii INDEX New Hampshire, settled, 72 ; made I'o.val province. 105. New Harmony Community. o()0. New Haven, founded. 70: joined with Connecticut. 72. lO-l. New Jersey, settlement of. 82, S3. New Madrid. .3.^2. New Mexico. 308. New Netherlaud. 77-81. New Orleans, founded. 3."> ; place of (lei)osit iKranted at. 22r> ; port closed to Americans. 2.3.3 ; pur- chased from France. 234 ; bat- tle of, 252 ; captured by Farra- gut, 353. Newport, founded, GO. Netvs Letter, first colonial news- paper. 137. Newspaper, first daily, 90, 137 ; colonial, 137. New Sweden, 80. Newton, 70. Newtown, battle, 180. New York, representative self- government in, 82; claims Western lands, 198 (note). New York City, in 1790. 207; first capital of U. S.. 215; af- fected by building of Erie Canal. 200, 201 ; in 1830, 274, 275 ; draft riots, 301. Nicholls, Governor of New York, 82. Nonconformists, 51. Non-intercourse act. 241. North, tariff in, 272. 273. 284, 285, 341 ; population at time, of Civil ^Var. 33(» ; resources of. 3.37 ; railroads in, 337 ; edu- cation in, 337, 338 ; military training of, 340. North, Lord, resigns, 190, 192. North Carolina, beginnings of, 9.5 ; becomes royal colony, 97 ; early industries in, 97 ; joins Confederacy. 335. North Dakota, admitted to Union. 411. North Pole, 423. Northwest Territory, organized, 198. 199. Nova Scotia, discovered, IS. Nullification, 229 ; in South Caro- lina. 286, 287. Ogden, 409. Oglethorpe, General James. 99. Ohio, admitted to Union, 250 ; timber lands of. 257 ; coal mined in. 337. "Old Hickory." 271. "Old Ironsides." 248. " Old Secession." 331. Orange. Fort, founded. 7<'>. " Order of the Star-Spnu'-'led Banner." 322. Orders in Council. 238. 244 (note). Ordinance of 1787, 198. Oregon, early history of. 304. 305 ; secured by treaty. 309. 310; lioundary settled. 383. ()rc(/oii, vessel, 42.5 (note). Oregon trail. 407. Oriskanv (o-ris'ka-ne) . battle of, 173. Osgood. Samuel. 210. O s s a w a t o m i e ( os-a-wat'o-me ) , 325 (note). Otis. James, 140. Owen, Robert, 300. I'acific Ocean, discovered, 15; named, 1-5. Pacific railroads, 408^10. I'aine. Thomas, 1(>2. I'akenham. General. 252. Palo Alto (pah'lo ahl'to), battle. 307. Panama Canal. 42.5-427. Panic, of 1837, 290, 291 ; of 1873, 283 ; of 1893, 396, 397. Paper money, printed by Conti- nental Congress, 157 ; evils of. 186. 187. 197; during Civil ^Var, 341 ; of Confederacy. 371. 373. See also Greenback trouhlcs. Legal tender notes. Paris, Treaty of, 121, 193. Parkman, Francis, 32, 35, 339. Parliament, 47, 58, 63; represen- tation in, 144, 145. " Parson's Cause," the, 140. 141. Patroons, 78, 79. Peacock, 248. INDEX Ixiii Peary. Commauder. 423. Pomberton, (Jcuoral, SaS. Ptuiusular campaign, 347. Ponn. William, S3, eS.^-SS, 90. INnnsylvania. charter granted, St!; boundary disputes. SO (note) ; settled, ST; early gov- ernment, ST ; mines of. 33T. Pequot (pe'kwot) Indians, T2. Percy, I^ord, ].")4. Perote (pa-ro'ta). captured. .308. Pcrrv, Commodore Oliver H., 24't. Personal liberty laws, 31T. Peru, IS. Petersburg. 302. Petition, right ot 143 (note), 303. Petroletim. .3.'>T. Pliila. Pilgrims. r»2-.5G. Pillory, 04. I'inckney. C. C. 220. Pineda ( pe-na'thaii ) . IT. 18. Pitt. William. 119. 144. 1.11. Pittsburg. F(jrt DiKpiesne J)e- comes, 119 (note) ; routes to, 257; mines near, 3.17: railway strike of 1877 at, .381t. Pittsburg Landing, or Siiiloh. battle of, 3.1;^. IMzarro (pe-lliar'o). 17. IN. Plains of Al)faham, 121. Plantation, organization of. 129 (note). Piatt. Senator, 391. Plattsburg, 2.">1. Plymouth, founded, .54 ; govern- ment of colony, .5.5, .56. Plymouth Company, gets char- ter, 43 ; makes settlement in Main<>, 43. I'ocahontas (po-ka-hon'las) . 4.5 (note). Poe, Edgar Allan, 281, 339. I'olk. .Tames K., nominat fd for I'resident, ;U).5 ; President. 3(M!- 311. Polo, .Marco, 3. Ponce de Leon (pon'tlia da la- on'), 10, 17, 18. Pontiac (i)on'te-ak), conspiracy of, 121, 122. Pony exi)ress. 407. " Poor Richard's Alnianar." 135, i:{0. Pope, (leneral. .".49, 3.53. Population, in 1790. 205. 200; in is;',(l. •_'74 ; in 1870, 38(1 ; in ]91(». 429; by decades. Appen- dix. XXX. Poi)uiists, .39.5. Portage railroad, 277. Porto Itico. ceded to U. R., 403. Port Royal (Nova Scotia), founded, .30 ; becomes Annapo- lis. 114 (note). I'ort Royal (S. C), founded, 28; destroyed, 29. Portsmouth, founded, 09; treaty of. 420. Portugal, explorations. 0. 7; gets P.razil, 28. Postal service, in colonies, 127: organized by Continental Con- gress, 157; de])artment created by Congress, 21.5. Powhatan (i»ow-ha-tan'). 45 (note). Prairie schooner. 400. Prescott, Colonel. 159. Prescott, William IL, 281. President, method of electing, 214 : table of I'residents. Ap- jii'iidix. xxviii. Presidential election, first. '-M4 ; of 1792, 222; of 1790. liiV;; of 1800, 230; of 1804, 2:',7 : of Ixiv INDEX 1808, 241; of 1812, 249; of 1810, 254; of 1820, 255; of 1824, 268; of 1828, 271; of 1832, 287; of 1836, 290; of 1840, 292; of 1844, 305; of 1848, 312; of 1852, 319; of 1850, 326; of 1860, 330; of 1864, 368; of 1808, 381; of 1872, 383 ; of 1870. 384, 385 ; of 1880, .390 ; of 1884, 393 ; of 1888, 394; of 1892, 395; of 1890. 399: of 1900, 424; of 1904. 425 ; of 1908, 428. Presidential succession law, 394. Press, freedom of, 303. Prevost (pre-vo'). General, 251. Princeton, battle of, 171. Printing, discovery of, 4. Prisons, conditions of early, 99, 213 ; first modern, in U. S., 299. Privateers, 249; during Civil War, 364. Proctor, General, 240. " Prophet." the, 242, 243. Proprietary colonies. 91, 130, 131. Proprietor, Lord, 90. Protection, 255, 256. 267. See also Tariff. Protestant Revolt, 26. Providence, founded, 68. Providence Plantations, 69. Province Charter, granted to Mas- sachusetts, 107. Provincial Congress, of Massa- chusetts, 1.52. Public lands. 198, 256 (note), 276 (note) ; Homestead Act of 1862, 410. Pueblos, 21. Puritans, 51, 58-00, 07, 74. Putnam, Israel, 155. Quakers, founding of sect, 84 ; beliefs of, 85, 87 ; persecution of, in Massachusetts, 73, 74 ; in New Jersey, 83 ; Penn founds colony for, 88. Quebec, founded, 31 ; captured by Wolfe, 120. 121. Quebec Act, 1.50 (note). Queen Anne's War, 114, 115. Quincy, Josiah, 147 (note). Railroads, earliest, 278-280; in 18(>0. 337, .338; strikes, 389, 393; Pacific, 408-410; impor- tance of, 410 ; problem of reg- ulation of, 422. Raleigh (raw'le). Sir Walter, 39. Randolph, Edward, Attorney- General, 210. Randolph. John, of Virginia, 250, 204, 272. Ranger, 184. Reaper, McCormick, 320. Reconstruction, problem of, 374 ; Lincoln's plan, 375 ; actual process of, 37.5-381. 388. Reconstruction Act, 377. Reformation, the, 2.5, 20, 50. Reform movements, 299-301. Religion, in New England, 04, 132, 133 : in South, 133. Representatives, House of, pro- vided for in Constitution, 201, 202. Republican Party, formed. 222 ; splits, 206. 207, 270 ; new, 325. Resaca de la Palma ( ra-sah'kah da lah pahl'mah), battle, 307. Revere. Paul, 1.5.3. Revolution, American, 152-193. Revolution. French. American sympathy with. 222. 223. Revolution of 1088, 104. Rhode Island, colony, 09, 73 ; given charter. 105 ; government during Revolution, 106. Ribaut (re-bo'), 28. 20. Rice, cultivation of, in South Carolina, 98. Richmond, becomes Confederate capital, 335 ; Grant besieges, 362. 363. Right of petition, 143 (note), 303. Riplev, Colonel, 250. Roads, to West, 211, 212. 257, 258. Roanoke Island, 39. Robertson, James, 181, 182. Rol)inson, John, .51. Rochambeau (ro-shon-bo'). Gen- eral, 190. Rolfe. John, 45 (note). Roosevelt, Colonel Theodore, in INDEX Ixv Cuba, 402 ; succeeds to presi- dencv, 424 ; I'resident, 425- 428. ' Root, Elilni. 42.".. Rosecraiis, (leueral, '.j~>{>, o.j8. Koush Kidei-s, 402. Roundheads, 102. Royal colonies. 91, 1.30, 131. Royalists. See Cavalicrn. Russell. .7., at Ghent. 2.12 (note). Russia, claims larf;e portion of I'acific coast. 205, 2(!(]. Sahhath, observation of. in New KniJCland, 132, 133; iu South, 333. Sachem, 24. St. Augustine, 29, 99. St. Lawrence River, discovered, 21. St. Leger, General. 173. 174. St. Louis Exposition, 3S0 (note). , St. Mary's, founded. 91. Salem witchcraft. 1.34. Salt Lake Citv. 407. Salt Lake trail. 407. Samijson. Admiral. 401, 402. 403. Sandys (san'dis). Sir Edwin. 47. San Erancisco. eartlupiake. 42S (note). San Jacinto (sahn ja-sin'to), bat- tle, 304. fian Jacinto, vessel, 343. San Juan (hoo-ahn') Hill, bat- tle. 402. San Salvador (sahl-vah-thor' I , 11. Santa Anna. 304. 307. Santa Ee (san'tah fa'), taken by Kearney. 308. Santa E^ trail. 400. Santiago (sahn-te-ah'go). battle of. 403. Saratoga, battle of, 175. Savannah, founded. 100; cap- tured by British. 1S9; in Civil War. 3(50. Saybrook. founded. 72 (note), 81. "Scalawags." 378 (note). Sclienectady (ske-nek'tah-de), at- tacked bv Erench and Indians, 114. Schley (sli), Admiral. 403. Schools, in colonies. 135. 13(t ; growth of. 280; in North and South at time of Civil War, 337-.339. See also Education. Schuyler (sky'ler). Gen. I'hilip, 173, 174. Scotch Highlanders, in America, 9ti. 1(J(» (note). Scotch-Irish, in America. 89. 9(>. Scott, G(>neral Winfield. in War of 1812. 250; in ^Mexican War. 307, 308; candidate for presi- dency, 319 ; opinion of seces- sion, .332. Scrooby, 51. Sea dogs. the. 37, 39. Sea of Darkness. 2. Secession, .3.30, 3.'>1. Sedition Act, 228. Senate, provided for in Constitu- tion. 201. Separatists. 51. Scnipi.s (se-ra'pis). 18.5. Seward. William II.. 310. 323, 32!). 332. 382. Seymour. Horatio, candidate for presidency. 381. Shafter. General. 402. Sliainioii, 248. Shay's Rebellion. 197. Shenandoah (shen-an-do'ah) Val- lev. settled, 181 ; Sheridan in, 3tJ3. Sheridan, General Philip. 303. Sherman. General William T., 3.59. ::('m, 300. 308. 3G9, 371. Sherman Act. 395 ; repealed. 397. Shiloh (shi'lo). or Pittsburg Landing, battle of. 353. Silver, coinage of, 395 ; question, .39G-.39S; mines. 400. Slaverv, introduced into colonies, 49. 98. 101 : growth of. in Southern colonies, 129; early sentiments against. 202; causes compromises in Constitution. 202. 203; effect of invention of cotton gin on. 202, 2(53 ; review of. in U. S.. 29.5-297; argu- ments for, .302; Linccdn and, .353, 354 ; Emancipation Proc- lamation, 3.54-350 ; abolished by 13th Amendment, 369. Ixvi INDEX Slaves, "contraband of war," 354. Sliilell, Mason and, 343, 344. Smith, John, 44, 45. Smith, Joseph, 300. Smuggling, 108, 140. Social reforms, 280, 299, 300. " Sons of Liberty," 143, 144. South, tariff in the, 272, 273, 284, 285 ; rushes to arms. 335 ; pop- ulation at time of Civil War, 33(! ; dependence of. 33(!, 337 ; education in, 338, 339 ; military training of, 340, 341 ; hard times during war, 371-373 ; re- construction in, 374-381, 388; the new, 418. South American colonies, and Monroe Doctrine, 205, 26G. South Carolina, beginnings of, 95 ; early history of, 97-99 ; nullification in, 285, 280; se- cedes from TTnion, 330, 331. South Dakota, admitted to Union, 411. Spain, explorations in New World, 10-21 ; colonizes, 18, 25-30 ; wars with England, 30, 39-40; wars with Nether- lands, 30 ; extent of colonies in New World, 111; gets Louisi- ana, 121 ; loses Florida to Eng- land, 121; grants place of de- posit at New Orleans, 225 ; cedes Louisiana to France, 233 ; hold on American colonies weakens, 204, 265 ; trouble with Cuba, 399-401 ; war with U. S., 401^03; summary of influence in New World, 404. Specie Circular, 290. Speculation, 288-290. Spinner, mule, 208. Spinning, in New England, 208, 209. Spinning jennv. 208. Spoils System. 283. 284, 392. Spotswood, Governor Alexander, of Virginia, 11(5. Spottsylvnnia, battle, .'>()!. Squanto (skwan'to), 55 (note). Squatter Sovereignty, 312 ; in Kansas, 324. Stagecoach, travel by, 127. Stamp Act. passed. 141 ; riots, 143; repeal of, 143, 144. Stamp Act Congress, 142, 143, 150. Standish, Miles, 54. Stanton, Secretary of War, 380. Stanwix, Fort, 173. Stark. John. 155, 173. ' Star-Spangled Banner," 252 (note). " Starving times," 45. State Ilights, 286, 287. States, first governments formed, 165, 166 ; powers under Arti- cles of Confederation, 107 ; dates of admission, areas and populations. Appendix, xxix. Steamboat, invention of, 235, 2.36; separates East and West, 258. Steel, growth of the use of. 419. Stephens, Alexander II., elected Vice I'resideut of Confederate States, 332. Stephenson. George. 278. Steuben (stu'ben). Baron, 178. Stevens, Thaddeus, 377. Stocks. 64. Stockton. Commodore, 308. Stony I'oiut. 183. Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 318. Strike, railway, 1877, 3S9 ; rail- way, 1894, 397; coal. 42() ; se- cedes, 335. Tennessee, vessel. 3(54. Tenure of Otfice Act. 377. 38(?. Territorial expansion, 4((4, 4(tr». Territories, areas of, and popula- tion of, Appendix, xxix. Texas, secedes from Mexico, 303, 304 ; question of admission to U. S.. 304, 305 : annexed, .300 : secedes, 331 ; readmitted, 381. Thames, battle, 247. Thirty Years' War. 02 (note). Thomas, General, 358. 350. 300, 306. " Three-fifths Compromise," 203. Ticonderoga, Fort, taken by Am- herst, 120: by Ethan Allen, 157; by Burgoyne, 173. Tilden. Samuel .J., candidate for presidency, 384. .38.5. Til)j)ecanoe. battle. 24.3. Tobacco, use taught Columbus by Indians, 11; source of wealth to colonies, 48, 03. Toleration, urged by Tloger Will- iams. 07; in Maryland. 01. Toleration Act. 01. Tories, 1.51. 150. 104. 170, 18.*',. Toronto (York), burtied, 2.5(» (note). Town, as unit in New England, 00. 01. 02; meeting. 01. 02. Townshend (town'zend) Acts. 14.5. Township, 01, 131. Trade. See Commerce. Travel, in colonial times, 120, 127; in 1700. 21t), 211 ; by flat- boat. 211, 212. 23(5; by trails to Far West. 40(5-408. Treasury, independent. 201. Trent Affair. 343. 344. Trenton, battle. 171. Trial i)y jury. 14.3 (note)- Trust i)i'ol)lem. 422. Turner. Nat, rebellion. 207 (note)- Turks, block routes to East, 5. Tweed ring. 384. Tyler. .Tolui. 20.3-205. " Uncle Tom's Cabin," 318. Underground railroad, 317, 318. T'nion League. 378. Union Party. 3(58 (note). Initcd States, vessel. 248. Utah. IMormons in, 301 (note), 407 ; silver in, 400. Utrecht, Treaty of, 11.5. Vaca, Cabeca de. See Cabeca de Vaca. Vagrancy laws, 375. Valley Forge, army at, 177. 178. Van Burcn, Martin, President, 200. 201; candidate. 312. Van Rensselaer (van ren'seh-ler), 79. Velocipede, 387. Venice, 5. Vera Cruz (va'rah kroos). cap- tured, 308. Verrazano (vor-atz-ah'no) , .30 (map). Vesey plot, 297 (note). Vespucci, Amerigo (ah-mah-re'go ves-poot'chee). 13. 14, 17. Vice President, provision for elec- tion of, 230 (note). Vicksburg, battle of, 358. Vignaud (ve-nyo'), 8 (note). Vincennes (vin-senz'), 182. ^'inland, discovered. 0. \'irginia. colonization of, 39, 4.3- 48; charter of 1000, 4(5; House of Burgesses, 47 ; becomes a permanent colony, 40. .50 ; faith- ful to Charles I. 103 ; Bacon's rcbellioa in, 100 ; westward Ixviii INDEX movemput in, 116 ; Western land claims, lOS (note) ; se- cedes, ',i'i7} ■ readmitted, o81. Tirf/inia, vessel, 347, 348. Virginia and Kentucky Resolu- tions, 229. Walk-in-the-Water. 235. War of 1812. 244-254. " War of the Roses," 36. War with Spain, 401-404. War with Mexico, 306-309. Washington, George, sent by Din- widdle as messenger to French, 117 ; defeated at Fort Neces- sity, 117 ; and First Conti- _ nental Congress, 150 ; com- mander-in-chief of Continental army, 157 ; character of, 158 ; takes Boston, 160, 161 ; cam- paigns in New York, New Jer- sey, and Pennsylvania, 168- 174, 179 : and Conway Cabal, 178; at Valley Forge. 178; at Yorktown, 190; and constitu- tional convention, 200 ; Presi- dent, 214-225. W^ashington (city), made U. S. capital, 231 ; burned, 251. Washington (state), admitted to TJnion, 411. Washington, Treaty of. 382. Washington societies, 299. Wasp, 247. Watauga (wah-tau'ga), settle- ments on, 181 ; Indian attacks on, 182. Wayne, " Mad Anthony," takes Stony Point, 183 ; at Maunee Rapids, 224. Webster, Daniel, debate with Ilavne. 285, 286; Secretary of State. 294. Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 294. Wellington, Duke of, 252. Welsh, in Pennsylvania, 88, 89. Wesley, Charles, 101. Wesley, John, 101. W>st Florida, 264 (note). West India Company, Dutch. 76. W^est Indies, discovered, 11, 12 ; colonized, 26. 27 ; colonial trade with, 108, 109. 128. West Jersey, 83. West, land claims, 198 ; roads to, 211, 212, 257-2.59; growth of, in years preceding 1S30, 275- 277; trails to Far West, 406, 407 ; agriculture in, 412-414. West Virginia formed, 336 ; coal mined in, 337. Westward movement. In 1635, 70 ; in Virginia, 116 ; later, 180, 181; in 1790, 212; after War of 1812, 2.56-2.59. Wethersfield, founded, 70. Whigs, in Revolution, 155, 1.56, 183 ; National Republicans take name, 291. Whisky Rebellion, 219. White, John, 57. White House, burned. 2.51. White Plains, battle of, 170. Whitfield, George. 101. Whitman, Marcus, 305. Whitney, Eli. 210. Whittier, John Greenleaf, 301, 339. Wilderness, battles of, 361. William of Orange, 104, 114. Williams, Roger, 66-70, Wilmot Proviso. 311. Wilson, James, and Constitution- al Convention, 200. Winchester, General. 246, W^indsor, founded, 70. Winthrop, John, 60, 62. Wireless telegraphy, 423. Wisconsin, lumber trade of. 337. Wolfe. General. 119. 120. 121. Women's Rights, 300. Wright. Frances. .300. Writs of Assistance, 140, 145. Wyoming, admitted to Union, 411. Wyoming Valley, massacre, 179. " X. Y. Z." affair, 227. York (Toronto), burned, 250 (note). York, Duke of, 82. Yorktown, battle, 190. Zenger. Peter, trial of, 137. (1) ''^^y^.r (^ '^c MAY 1/ I9il One copy del. to Cat. Div. MAY 1/ 19M LIbKAHY Uh UUINHjMtbb