UC-NRLF «*# 7:-:if**% r « / 110 Longitude 10". West 100 IfO W.ofOr VIR(iIN IS — f -1917— ^ \ if Bf. Greeny k-h *5_ t» CLECTIOTrPE CO., SOfTO OUR UNITED STATES A HISTORY BY WILLIAM BACKUS GUITTEAU, Ph.D. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, TOLEDO, OHIO AUTHOR OF "GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN THE UNITED STATES," "PREPAR- ING FOR CITIZENSHIP," ETC. SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO eri Copyright, 1919, by SILVER, BUEDETT AND COMPANY Published October, 1919 PREFACE The momentous events of the last five years have demon- strated conclusively that our history textbooks must be written from a new viewpoint. The story of our national life should not be told as a narrative separate and distinct from that of the rest of the world. The American Revolution, for example, is no longer to be studied as an isolated event, resulting from British injustice. On the contrary, it should be placed in its true light as one phase of a larger revolution against kingly usurpation. In this revolt, Englishmen living in the New World played a leading part, encouraged and sustained by the knowl- edge that their action was approved by many of the foremost British statesmen of the day. So with the War of 1812, which takes on a new aspect when viewed as an' incident in the Napoleonic Wars, rather than as a British-American contest. Throughout this book, therefore, special emphasis has been placed upon the relations of the United States to other countries, in order that the young citizens who study it may realize more fully the importance of our world relations and our world responsibilities. An earnest effort has also been made to give due emphasis to many events, usually neglected, which throw a clearer light on the relations between the United States and Great Britain. Such incidents as the Rush-Bagot agreement of 1817, the divided attitude of the people of Great Britain during the Civil War, and the friendly attitude of the British government during the Spanish-American War are significant events, the narration of which should dispel the old illusion that Britain is our tradi- tional enemy. It is time that our citizens realized that the welfare and the happiness of mankind are largely in the keeping of the great democracies of the world ; and our history teaching should draw closer the bonds of common sympathy and under- 54. W 2 VI PREFACE standing which have recently united our people to these democ- racies and to the newly liberated peoples of Europe. Throughout this volume, the larger emphasis has been placed upon social and industrial history. Such vital topics as the industrial revolution, the westward movement, the rise and control of large corporations, questions of labor, of the tariff, money, and banking, — these have received much more than the usual space. However, in writing the story of our wars, the author has proceeded upon the theory that if the story is worth telling at all, it is worth telling well. Therefore, an ende avor has been made to present a vivid narrative of military cam- paip^is^ rath er than a mere colorless summar y. Teachers will find the story of the campaigns of the Civil War narrated from the geographical point of view, a method of approach which clears away the difficulties of the story when told merely as a chronology of events. Above all, the author has kept in view the dominant pur- pose in present-day teaching of history and government ; that is, the preparation of pupils for intelligent, helpful citizenship through the study of our country's history, its ideals, and institutions. History teaching worthy of the name no longer tolerates the mere recital of facts, dates, and names, or the answering of stereotyped questions at the end of the chapter. Rather, our teachers of history will draw from the events of the past their underlying significance ; and they will relate the past to the present in such a way as to create in the minds of the pupils high ideals of American citizenship and of political conduct. The entire manuscript has been carefully read by my friend, Dr. Herman V. Ames, of the University of Pennsylvania; and I am deeply indebted to him for many helpful criticisms and suggestions. The author will also appreciate any suggestions from those who use this book, especially from the teachers of history, upon whom the success of any textbook so largely depends. William Backus Guitteau. Toledo, Ohio, August 30, 1919. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. II. III. IV. V. PART I DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION (1492-1607) The Way to Cathay 1 The Discovery of a New World ... 9 Spanish and English Explorations ... 20 French and Dutch Explorations ... 32 Early America — The Land and the People 42 PART II COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD (1607-1763) VI. The Old Dominion VII. The Other Southern Colonies VIII. The New England Colonies IX. The Middle Colonies X. The Struggle for a Continent XI. Life in Colonial Times 57 69 78 96 111 126 XII. XIII. XIV. XV. PART III THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1763-1783) The Quarrel with the Mother Country The Dawning of Independence The Campaigns in the Middle States The Closing Years of the Revolution 143 160 175 189 PART IV THE NEW REPUBLIC (1783-1812) XVI. The Critical Period under the Confederation 209 XVII. Making the Federal Constitution . . . 221 XVIII. Setting the New Government in Motion . . 234 XIX. Our Difficult Foreign Relations . . . 244 XX. The Policies of Jefferson ..... 256 Vlll CONTENTS PART V THE RISE OF AMERICAN NATIONALITY (1812-1840) CHAPTER PAGE XXI. The War of 1812 269 XXII. New Tools and New Methods of Production 287 XXIII. Pushing the Frontier Westward . . . 293 XXIV. The Monroe Doctrine and the Missouri Com- promise ........ 305 XXV. New Systems of Transportation . . . 315 XXVI. Jacksonian Democracy 327 XXVII. How Democracy Changed American Life . 341 PART VI SLAVERY AND THE WEST (1840-1860) XXVIII. Our Great Westward Expansion XXIX. Our War with Mexico XXX. Shall the New Territory be Slave or XXXI. The Struggle for Kansas . XXXII. The Crisis of Secession XXXIII. Social and Industrial Growth . 351 . 362 Free? 369 . 383 . 391 . 403 PART VII THE CIVIL WAR (1860-1865) XXXIV. The Appeal to Arms XXXV. The War in the West XXXVI. The War in the East XXXVII. Civil Affairs during the War 415 429 441 456 PART VIII THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER (1865-1918) XXXVIII. Restoring the Broken Union .... 465 XXXIX. Thirty Years of Foreign Affairs, 1865-1895 480 XL. The New West and the New South . . 488 XLI. The Age of Big Business 501 XLII. Political and Economic Reforms . . . 512 XLIII. The War with Spain 525 XLIV. Our Own Times and Its Problems . . . 536 XLV. The Progress of a Half Century, 1865-1915 554 XLVI. Democracy on Trial in the World War . . 569 XLVII. The Turning of the Tide 595 XLVIII. Democracy's Victory and Its Meaning . . 617 CONTENTS IX APPENDIX PAQE Declaration of Independence ...... i Constitution of the United States ..... v Area, Population, and Electoral Votes of the States, 1912 xxiii Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States . xxiv Index xxv LIST OF REFERENCE MAPS The United States and Possessions The World as Europeans Knew It before 1492 Trade Routes to the East . . Toscanelli's Map The Four Voyages of Columbus Famous World Voyages . Spanish Voyages of Exploration and Conquest French and Dutch Explorations Indian Tribes of North America Principal English Grants, 1606-1665 . Early Settlements in Virginia The Other Southern Colonies The New England Colonies New Netherland and New Sweden French Forts and Portage Routes The Ohio Valley Country .... The Middle Colonies during the French and Indian War Colonial North America before the French and War — 1750 Colonial North America after the French and War— 1763 Boston and Vicinity in 1775 Campaigns in the Northern and Middle States The West during the Revolution Campaigns in the Southern States North America at the Close of the Revolution The Westward Movement .... The United States in 1783 Exploring the Great West, 1803-1806 The United States in 1803 The Campaigns in the North, the West, and in Washington ..... Campaigns in the Southwest The Westward Movement, 1820-1835 . The United States in 1820 .... The Route of the National Road, 1812-1840 Transportation Competition for the Western Trade Texas and the Mexican War .... Front cover lining 2 the Indian Facing Indian Facing Facing Facing Vicinity of Facing 5"* 10^. 13 17 ^ 21"" 38^ 48' 59 65 73 91 97 115 118 123 128 128 166 177 191 197 210 213 216 261 264 272 281 300 311 316 320 365 CONTENTS PAGE Oregon and the Mexican Sessions . . . Facing 370 The United States in 1850 379 The United States in 1854 388 Strategy, Blockade, and Restriction of Confederate Territory ........ Facing 422 Campaigns in the West 432 Campaigns in the East 443 Railroad Development in the West 495 The Five German Drives of 1918 598 The Allied Counter-Offensives .... Facing 606 Territorial Changes in Europe .... Facing 630 The World Showing the United States and Possessions Back cover lining (The titles in small capital letters indicate color maps.) xu OUR UNITED STATES A HISTORY CHAPTER I THE WAY TO CATHAY Early Ideas about the Land and the Sea. In the fifteenth century, the common people of Europe knew less about the shape and size of the earth than is known to-day by almost every child. They thought of the earth, not as a great sphere whirling through space, but as a flat plain surrounded on all sides by the ocean. This ocean was the Atlantic, a dark waste of un- explored waters which fancy and superstition filled with all sorts of horrors. There were monster sea-serpents, and ter- rible whirlpools which swallowed up both ships and sailors ; there was a fiery zone at the equator which no man might cross ; there was — so runs the story in the Arabian Nights — a mysterious Island of Lodestone, which drew the nails from the ships and wrecked them. Many centuries before, learned men like Aristotle had asserted their belief that the earth is round ; but as late as the fifteenth century, only the few accepted this idea. Concerning the size of the earth, men were almost as much mistaken as about its shape. European navigators knew only their own continent, and parts of two others — southern Asia, and a narrow strip of Africa. Naturally, they thought of the earth as much smaller than it really is ; for they did not even dream of the existence of North and South America, or Australia. It is hard for us to-day to understand why so little was then known about geography. But these early navigators lacked the means necessary to make long voyages. Their ships were so small that even the boldest sailors 1 2 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION of our own time would hesitate to put to sea in them, much less to venture across the Atlantic. The maps and charts of those days were inaccurate and incomplete, nor did early navigators have that steadfast friend of the sailor, the mariner's compass. 3 But the greatest obstacle of all to early navigation was fear of -3 the unknown, mysterious ocean, — a fear based upon ignorance, like the child's fear of the dark. The World as Europeans Knew it before 1492 The Crusades and the East, 1096-1272. The history of the ancient world centered about the Mediterranean Sea, and throughout the Middle Ages the life of Europe was still grouped about its shores. But at length the nations of Europe began to take more interest in the countries of the East, and became eager to learn more about the people and geography of Asia. This result was due chiefly to the Crusades, or Holy Wars of the Cross. These expeditions were organized by the rulers of Europe in order to rescue the Holy Land and the tomb of Christ from the infidel Turks. The Church favored the movement, and promised salva- tion to those who became soldiers of the Cross. During the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, thousands of Euro- peans took part in the Crusades, and on returning, told their countrymen about the wonderful things they had seen in the East. THE WAY TO CATHAY 3 The Revival of Learning. Another influence that increased Europe's interest in the East was the Revival of Learning, which began in the twelfth century. When the barbarian tribes over- whelmed imperial Rome in 476 a.d., the culture and civiliza- tion of the ancient world became lost to Europe for nearly eight hundred years. The period that followed the downfall of Rome is called the Dark Ages, for during these long centuries the people of Europe were densely ignorant. Science and education could make no headway because of the constant warfare and the disorganized condition of society. But from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, a few European scholars began to study the art and literature of Greece and Rome. The invention of printing (1450) brought about a general increase and spread of knowledge, and Europe began to get the benefit of the achievements of the ancient world in art and letters, as well as in government and law. The stimulus of the new movement was felt in every field of human endeavor. Trade and manufactures increased, and people became eager to travel and learn about other countries. The spirit of enterprise was in the air ; men began to awake to new ideas and to have a new confidence in their own powers. Grad- ually the Dark Ages disappeared before a new age of enlighten- ment and progress. This new era is called the Renaissance or New Birth, because the world seemed to be born again. This intellectual advance made the fifteenth century an age of dis- covery and exploration, a time that could bring forth such men as Columbus and Magellan. Europe in the Fifteenth Century. What kind of country was that Europe which forms the background of our American history ? Not the Europe which we know to-day, teeming with people, divided into strong national states, with many great industries, and a commerce covering every corner of the globe. On the contrary, Europe in the fifteenth century was thinly inhabited, its entire population being under fifty millions, or about equal to that of Great Britain to-day. Agriculture on a primitive scale was everywhere the chief occupation of the people. Manufacturing was in the household stage of develop- a 4 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION ment ; nearly all of its processes were carried on by hand labor, for steam was unknown as a motive power, while mechanical devices were few and crude. Mediterranean commerce had created a few nourishing cities, Venice and Genoa being the chief rivals for trade with the Far East. Paris, too, was a considerable city, but its population was under two hundred thousand. London was merely an overgrown town, Berlin was a fishing village, and Petrograd did not exist at all. As a rule, the people of Europe were not united under strong national governments, but owed allegiance to a large number of petty rulers. Only a few powers, Austria, France, Spain, and England, could be called nations in the sense that we use the word to-day. Government was everywhere monarchical in form, except in Switzerland and in the free cities of Italy and Germany. The powers of the monarch were unlimited except for the important privileges belonging to the Church and the nobles. The people had no voice in their government, and of course no share in education, which was only for the favored few. Their part was to till the soil, to pay the taxes, and to fight the battles of their overlords. But the age of feudalism was passing, and the Revival of Learning brought about a new era in which the people were to have some share in education and in government. In the age of Columbus, western Europe had a single religion, for Protestantism did not have its beginning until early in the sixteenth century. Throughout all western Europe, the Pope or Bishop of Rome was acknowledged as the supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church; while the people of Russia and southeastern Europe belonged to the Greek Catholic Church, with its head at Constantinople. Trade Routes to the East. As a result of the Crusades, Europe looked to Asia for such luxuries as spices, drugs, jewels, rare woods, silks, rugs, and ivory. There were three important trade routes leading to Asia and the Far East. The northern route started from Genoa, and after crossing the Mediterranean to Constantinople, passed through the Black and Caspian seas into China. The southern route started from Venice, passed through the Mediterranean Sea to Alexandria, then by caravan THE WAY TO CATHAY to the Red Sea and on across the Indian Ocean. The middle route began at Antioch and made its way through the Persian Gulf to India. The trade routes were long and difficult, and fraught with danger. Chinese or Malay junks and long-winding caravans brought the products of the Orient to Constantinople, Alexan- dria, or Antioch. At these ports, European merchants bartered Northern Route Used by Genoa Middle Route Southern Route. I'*,-*/ hi/ W'nice Trade Routes to the East with the Arab traders, offering them linens, woolen goods, glass vessels, and wines in exchange for the coveted silks, spices, perfumes, rugs, and porcelains. After the Arabs had taken a rich toll, for their services as middlemen, the Oriental wares were loaded on the Italian trading fleets, to be distributed throughout Europe. The commerce with Asia gave employment to thousands of men, and made Venice and Genoa the wealthiest cities of Europe. European merchants kept in close touch with the " Indies," a vague term used to denote southeastern Asia, 6 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION as well as China and Japan. Cathay (China) was the name given to the farthermost land lying on the border of the great Eastern Ocean. This country took a strong hold on the imagina- tion of the people. It was reported to have a large population, hundreds of wealthy cities, and to abound in all the luxuries of the time. Farther eastward lay Cipango (Japan), an in- distinct island country about which almost nothing was known. Marco Polo and His Travels, 1271-1295. Europe's informa- tion about the Indies came from the reports of a few bold travelers, the most famous of whom was Marco Polo, a Venetian. Marco Polo traveled with his father and uncle, merchants who made a remarkable journey to northern China or Cathay. They remained for twenty years in Peking, returning at last by way of India, the Red Sea and Cairo, then back to Venice by crossing the Mediterranean. Marco Polo afterwards became a political prisoner in Genoa, and to while away the time, wrote the story of his travels. This famous book told of a vast eastern ocean beyond the land of Cathay, an account which seemed to confirm the belief of the older writers that the earth is round, and that this ocean east of China might be the same as that which washed the shores of western Europe. A copy of Polo's book afterwards came into the hands of Christopher Columbus, and helped form his idea of the earth as a sphere. The Turks Cut Off the Trade Routes. In the fifteenth century the Ottoman Turks, whose westward advance was only delayed by the Crusaders, began a desperate move on Constanti- nople. This important city fell into their hands in 1453. The result was to cut off the trade from Genoa to the East by way of the Black Sea route. As the Turks spread their power and influence throughout Asia Minor toward Egypt, the other trade routes were also closed. A new route between Europe and the East must be found. A few thoughtful men began to ask them- selves, " Might not Cathay and the Indies be reached by an ocean route? " Prince Henry the Navigator. Spain and Portugal began to see that their trade would be increased by the discovery of an ocean route to the Far East. Foremost among the men eager to THE WAY TO CATHAY 7 experiment for a new route was Prince Henry the Navigator, of Portugal. Prince Henry was an earnest, devout man, anxious above all to find a route which would divert the trade of the Orient from infidel to Christian countries. He assembled around him students, mariners, and scientific men, and established a school of navigation on lonely Cape St. Vincent, which the ancients had supposed the westernmost limit of the habitable world. Under his direction, Portugal entered upon a glorious period of pioneer work in attempting to find a new sea route. Scientific Inventions. The efforts of Prince Henry and his associates could not have been so successful without the scien- tific inventions just then coming into common use. The compass, by which the ship's direction can be told in all kinds of weather, and the astrolabe, an instrument to determine position with regard to the stars, gave the mariner more confidence ; for the first time he felt that he could sail out of sight of land with comparative safety. Then the invention of paper, and the newly discovered art of printing, were making books of travel and geography more accessible. Finally, the invention of gunpowder gave the explorer added security against such people as he should find who still depended upon spears and arrows. The Portuguese Sail Around Africa to India. Before the old trade routes were entirely closed, the Portuguese had begun the work of finding a new sea route. By the year 1460, Portuguese navigators had visited all the island groups off the coast of Africa, the Madeiras, the Canaries, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands. Many people began to believe that a voyage around the southern point of Africa would bring the mariner to India. Portuguese discoveries made exploration popular, and created a bold school of navigators. Attracted by the slave trade and the lure of a fabled " gold coast," they crept farther and farther down the shore of Africa. At last, in 1487, Bar- tholomew Diaz sailed around the southern extremity of Africa, but failed to reach India because of the furious gales. Diaz named the headland which he had passed the " Stormy Cape " ; but King John of Portugal christened it the Cape of Good Hope, 8 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION because it seemed to promise so much. Among the shipmates of Captain Diaz on his famous voyage was Bartholomew, the younger brother of Christopher Columbus. About ten years later, Vasco da Gama followed up the work of Diaz by crossing the Indian Ocean to Calicut in southern India. This completed the proof of the route to India by the circumnavigation of Africa. Well might the king of Portugal exult over this voyage. The first mariner to reach India by ocean, Da Gama had actually visited Arab cities, bringing back spices, jewels, silks, and tapestries. Under Prince Henry's leadership, Portugal had been the pioneer in exploring the ocean route to the far-famed Indies ; the voyage of Da Gama won for the little kingdom the honor of first reaching the coveted goal. REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS Bassett, J. S., Short History of the United States, pp. 23-27. Becker, C. L., Beginnings of the American People (Riverside Series), pp. 1-12. Channing, Edward, History of the United States, I, ch. I. Cheyney, E. P., European Background of American History (American Nation Series), chs. I-IV. REFERENCES FOR PUPILS Hall, Jennie, Our Ancestors in Europe, pp. 341-349. Hart, A. B., Editor, American Patriots and Statesmen, I, pp. 31-35. Johnson, W. H, French Pathfmders in North America, chs. IV-V. Johnson, W. H, The World's Discoverers, chs. II, VIII-XI. Parkman, Francis, The Struggle for a Continent, pp. 69-82. SPECIAL TOPICS FOR PUPILS 1. Early Ideas about the Earth. Archer, A. B., Stories of Ex- ploration and Discovery, ch. I ; Fiske, John, Discovery of America, I, chs. III-IV; Sparks, E. E., Expansion of the American People, ch. I. 2. The Crusades. Gordy, W. F., American Beginnings in Europe, chs. XIX-XX ; Hall, Jennie, Our Ancestors in Europe, pp. 329-333. 3. Marco Polo. Archer, A. B., Stories of Exploration and Dis- covery, ch. Ill ; Fiske, John, Discovery of America, I, p. 280 ; John- son, W. H., The World's Discoverers, ch. I. CHAPTER II THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW WORLD Christopher Columbus. All this travel toward Asia paved the way for some bold mariner to act on the theory that by sailing to the west, " the Indies in the East might be readily found." The man for this undertaking was Christopher Columbus, the son of a humble woolcomber of Genoa. Born about the year 1446 or 1447, Columbus was a sailor on the Mediterranean at the age of fourteen. He soon became a fearless navi- gator, as well as an expert maker of maps and charts. About the year 1471 Colum- bus went to Lisbon to live. There he married the daugh- ter of one of Prince Henry's navigators, and later made his home on the island of Porto Santo. From this island Columbus sailed on Portuguese ships as far south as Guinea, and north possibly r t i j rni Christopher Columbus as far as Iceland. These r voyages, with his study of maps and charts, helped him form his idea of a western route to India. Columbus was firm in the belief that the earth is round ; so he reasoned that by sailing westward, he could come to China and Japan in the East. Toscanelli's Map. Toscanelli, a native of Florence and the most famous astronomer of his day, shared this belief. Toscanelli wrote letters to Columbus setting forth his ideas about the shape 9 10 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION of the earth, and he may have sent him a copy of a map that he had made. This map showed the shape of the earth as a sphere, and located the eastern countries visited by Marco Polo. Tos- canelli underestimated the size of the earth, and so he placed Japan where the Gulf of Mexico actually is. Neither he nor Columbus dreamed of a continent between Europe and Asia. We know that Columbus made a careful study of Marco Polo's book of travels, for the copy that he used has been preserved, with his own notes written on the margin of the pages. Columbus Seeks Aid. While Diaz was on his way back to Portugal after discovering the Cape of Good Hope route, Columbus was seeking aid for his voyage to the west. He first offered his services to Genoa, then to the king of Portugal, who called him a dreamer. Finally he turned to the rulers of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. The Spanish monarchs were making a final effort to drive the Moors out of Spain, and so had little time for Columbus or his plans. Still they commanded him to argue his cause before a council of learned men at Salamanca. Again was he pronounced a dreamer. " If the earth were round," jeered the skeptics, " the men on the other side of it would have to walk with their heads downward, while rain and snow must fall upward. " For seven long years, Columbus pleaded in vain at the Spanish court. Meantime his brother THE DISCOVERY OP A NEW WORLD 11 Bartholomew, back from the famous Diaz voyage, made an unsuccessful attempt to secure help from King Henry VII of England. At last Columbus gave up hope of securing aid at the Spanish court, and started for France to make the same appeal that Spain had rejected. Shortly after he reached the little town of Palos on the coast of Spain, a messenger arrived from Queen Exact Reproduction of the Santa Maria at the World's Columbian Exposi- tion, 1893, now in Jackson Park, Chicago Isabella to summon him back. After all these years of disap- pointment and failure, Columbus was to have his chance. Queen Isabella herself gave most of the money with which to equip three small sailing vessels, the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta. The vessels themselves were provided by the town of Palos ; the crews consisted of about ninety unwilling men, some of whom were recruits from Spanish jails. Columbus Sails Westward. A little before sunrise on August 3, 1492, the people of Palos watched the three small ships 12 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION start on the world's most famous voyage. The Santa Maria was chosen for the flagship because it was the largest, although only about sixty-five feet over all. The other two vessels were commanded by the Pinzon brothers, wealthy citizens of Palos. The route lay south to the Canaries, island colonies of Spain. From this point, Columbus meant to sail straight across the Atlantic to the fabled Chinese cities of Marco Polo as shown on the Toscanelli map. Six days after leaving Palos the expedition reached the Canaries, and at the end of the first week in September it was fairly launched upon the open sea. Panic terror filled the hearts of the crew as land faded from sight on the eastern horizon, and the dark waste of waters unrolled before their gaze. But added terrors were in store for them. As the ships sailed westward, the compass needle swayed more and more to the northwest, instead of pointing toward the north star. About the middle of September, masses of seaweed were encountered, suggesting hidden shoals and all the old stories of impassable seas. Worst of all, the tradewinds blew steadily from the east, and the wretched sailors feared that there would never be a western wind to carry them home. Discovery of America, 1492. The crew and even some of the officers were on the point of mutiny, almost ready to throw overboard the admiral who steered so relentlessly to- ward the west. While they were plotting, flocks of birds were seen overhead, apparently a promise of land. About two o'clock on the morning of October 12, 1492, the lookout at the masthead of the Pinta joyfully shouted, " Land ahead ! " and the ships soon cast anchor in the harbor of a little island of the Bahama group. The boats were lowered at dawn on the follow- ing day, and Columbus with most of his men went ashore. The first act of the pious admiral was to give thanks to God for the happy ending of his voyage. A host of copper-colored men, women, and children looked on with awe and amazement as Columbus drew his sword and planted the banner of Spain on the land which he claimed for Ferdinand and Isabella. Columbus supposed that he had reached the outlying islands THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW WORLD 13 The Four Voyages of Columbus of India, so he called the natives Indians. This name, based upon a mistaken idea, has always clung to the original inhabit- ants of the New World. Later, still in search of Japan or China, he coasted among the West Indies, visiting Cuba and Haiti. Returning to Spain in January, 1493, the great ad- miral was received with every mark of favor by Ferdinand and Isabella. Later Voyages and Death of Columbus. Columbus made three other voyages to the New World which he still thought to be India. His second voyage was in 1493, when with a splendid fleet of seventeen ships and thirteen hundred men, he sailed to plant a Spanish settlement in Haiti. The colony was unsuccessful ; little gold was found, while starvation and sick- ness cost many lives. The third voyage was made five years later, along the coast of South America. Columbus discovered the mouth of the Orinoco River, and concluded that so large a stream must flow out of a vast continent. On his fourth and last voyage in 1502, he passed along the coast of Honduras. While Columbus was making his later voyages, Vasco da Gama had reached the real Indies by way of the Cape of Good Hope (1498). This Portuguese success overshadowed the costly ex- 14 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION peditions of Columbus, which brought no immediate returns. The admiral had bitter enemies among the Spanish grandees, and on his third voyage they placed him under arrest and sent him home in irons. Although the king and queen promptly ordered his release, they did not restore his former privileges. For example, Columbus was not again permitted to act as governor of the lands that he discovered, as guaranteed under his original compact. When Queen Isabella died, Columbus lost his only protector. His enemies became more powerful, and the last days of his life were passed in sickness and poverty. His sons were jeered at in the streets as " the sons of the Admiral of the Land of Mosquitoes." Columbus died at Valladolid in 1506, probably without knowing that he had discovered a New World. Neg- lected and unhonored at his death, it remained for future ages to give him his just fame. The great achievement of Columbus was due not so much to his true notion of the shape of the earth, as to the heroic spirit which alone made possible his first im- mortal voyage. Other men had reasoned that the earth is a sphere ; Columbus was the first to put his theory to the test of action. The Northmen Visit America. Columbus was by no means the first European to visit the shores of America. Far to the north of Europe, on the Scandinavian peninsula, lived a people whose roving sailors probably reached America as early as 1000 a.d. The Northmen were sturdy, fair-haired warriors, whose chief aim in life was conquest and adventure. Roaming the sea in their long boats, they visited and colonized Iceland and distant Greenland. In one of these voyages from Norway to Greenland, the Norse leader, Leif Ericson, missed his way. According to Norse tradition, he landed upon a strange coast west and south of Greenland, probably either Nova Scotia or some part of New England. The Northmen built huts and spent the winter in this region, which they named Vinland or Wine- land because the wild grapes were so abundant. Several visits to this new coast were made, but the difficulty of the voyage and the hostility of the Indians at last put an end to the expeditions. THE DISCOVERY OP A NEW WORLD 15 Since the Northmen were cut off by sea from the rest of Europe, the story of their voyages was not generally known ; and even if known, the importance of the discovery could not have been appreciated by the ignorant Europeans of the eleventh century. If Columbus made a visit to Iceland, he may have talked with sailors who were familiar with the tales of the Norse sea rovers. Division of the Newly Discovered Lands. With the dis- coveries of Columbus and Vasco da Gama, Spain and Portugal became active rivals for the islands and wealth of the Indies. To prevent disputes between the two nations, Pope Alexan- der VI issued a decree dividing the new discoveries. The Pope drew an imaginary line north and south through the middle of the Atlantic. He announced that all lands west of this line should belong to Spain, while all east of it should belong to Portugal. The two countries afterwards agreed upon a new line, three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. This gave all of the New World to Spain, except the eastern portion of Brazil. Voyages of the Cabots. An active maritime nation like England was not likely to accept this division of the New World between her rivals, Spain and Portugal. Ignoring the Pope's decree, King Henry VII of England authorized an Italian navigator, John Cabot, to explore and take possession of " all newly found ports, countries, and seas, of the East, the West, and of the North.' ' Cabot sailed from Bristol in 1497, with one small ship and eighteen men. After a three months' voyage, during which he probably explored the St. Lawrence River, Cabot returned with the report that he had reached " the territory of the Grand Khan." Like Columbus, Cabot thought that he had found the Indies. John Cabot made a second voyage one year later, perhaps accompanied by his son Sebastian. This voyage is a matter of doubt and dispute, but the expedition may have explored the North American coast from Labrador as far south as Chesapeake Bay. One thing is certain : the account book of the frugal King Henry contains an entry, "To him who found the New Isle, £10." 16 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION ,1 Surely not an excessive reward, for upon the Cabot voyages England afterwards based her claim to the whole of North America. The Naming of America. Another explorer who made at least three voyages to South America was Americus Vespucius, an Italian merchant in the employ first of Spain and later of Portugal . Vespucius wrote interesting letters about his travels, and boldly claimed that he had discov- ered a new world. " I have found," he wrote, "a con- tinent more thickly in- habited by people and ani- mals than is Europe, Asia, or Africa. It might properly be called a new world." In the year 1507, a geographer gave the name America to the southern continent Americus Vespucius which) he ^ Americus had discovered. Gradually the name America was also applied to the northern continent, which at last men learned was not India. Balboa Discovers the Pacific Ocean, 1513. Another famous explorer, Balboa, discovered the Pacific Ocean, which he called the South Sea. Balboa was a bankrupt Spanish planter who, to escape his creditors, joined an expedition to the Isthmus of Panama. While the Spaniards were wrangling with the natives over some fifty pounds of gold, one of the Indians lost patience and rebuked them for their greed, adding : "I will she we you a region flowing with golde where you may satisfie your ravening appetites. . . . When you are passing over these mountaines (poynting with his finger towards the south mountaines) you shall see another sea where they sayle with ships as big as yours. " In search of this land of gold, Balboa started across the Isthmus of Darien (Panama). A difficult march of eighteen 18 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION miles through the dense tropical forest brought him to a moun- tain peak from which he could see a vast expanse of water. Descending to the coast, Balboa waded out into the rising tide and claimed possession for Spain of the u South Sea " and all the shores that it washed. Another honor besides his discovery of the Pacific belongs to Balboa, for it was he who first sug- gested that a canal be dug across the Isthmus of Panama to connect the two oceans. Magellan Sails Around the World. Columbus had searched for a new route to the East, Vespucius and the Cabots had touched on a new continent, and Balboa had found a new ocean. But the vast extent of the newly discovered region was not known until the world voyage of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portu- guese navigator in the employ of Spain. Magellan was a man " small in stature, who did not appear in himself to be much " ; but he made one of the greatest voyages in the history of navigation. It was in September, 1519, that Magellan sailed for the west with five wornout ships and a treacherous crew of some three hundred men. Passing along the coast of South America, he made his way through the straits that bear his name, and suddenly came out into a vast expanse of calm sea. So marked was the contrast to the stormy Atlantic through which he had just passed that he named it the Pacific, that is, the Peaceful Ocean. Day after day, week after week, Magellan held on his course to the Spice Islands of the East. Sickness and starvation reduced his crew, but at last the expedition reached the Philippines. Here the heroic commander was killed in battle with the natives, and few of his followers ever reached home. Only one ship out of five, the Victoria, finally crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and at last, three years out from Spain, sailed with eighteen survivors into the port of San Lucar. Results of Magellan's Voyage. Magellan's voyage had im- portant results, for his ship had sailed around the entire world. It was now settled that the lands discovered by Columbus and other navigators were not islands off the coast of Asia, but were part of an immense continent, a New World in a THE DISCOVERY OP A NEW WORLD 10 western hemisphere. The voyage also proved that the ocean between America and Asia was by far the largest body of water on the globe; and therefore this globe was much larger than Toscanelli and Columbus believed. Since Magellan had found that there was no passage through the continent south of the equator, all further search for this route must be made to the north. The next age of explorers, Spanish, French, English, and Dutch, gave their countrymen clearer ideas about the size of the new continent by tracing its coast line and exploring the adjacent islands. But they found no northwest passage, no fountain of youth, and no cities of gold. REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS Bassett, J. S., Short History of the United States, ch. II. Becker, C. L., Beginnings of the American People, pp. 25-30. Bourne, E. G., Spain in America (American Nation Series), chs. Ill— V, VII, IX. Channing, Edward, History of the United States, I, chs. I— II. SPECIAL TOPICS FOR PUPILS 1. Columbus. Archer, A. B., Stories of Exploration and Dis- covery, chs. VI-VII ; Barstow, C. L., Explorers and Settlers (Century Readings), pp. 15-34 ; Fiske, John, Discovery of America, I, chs. V- VI ; Hall, Jennie, Our Ancestors in Europe, pp. 360-368 ; Hart, A. B., Editor, American Patriots and Statesmen, I, pp. 36-40 ; Halsey, Frank W., Editor, Great Epochs in American History, I, pp. 23-27 ; Johnson, W. H., The World's Discoverers, chs. III-VII. 2. Magellan. Archer, A. B., Stories of Exploration and Discovery f ch. IX ; Fiske, John, Discovery of America, II, ch. VII ; Hall, Jennie, Our Ancestors in Europe, pp. 368-375 ; Halsey, Frank W., Editor, Great Epochs in American History, I, pp. 82-91 ; Johnson, W. H., The World's Discoverers, chs. XII- XVII. CHAPTER III SPANISH AND ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS Spain's Progress in the New World. From the voyage of Columbus until late in the sixteenth century, the history of America is the story of Spanish exploration and conquest. During this period, Spain extended her settlements from the West Indies and Florida around the east and west coasts of South America, and north to the Gulf of California. At first the new continent was regarded as little more than an obstacle in the path of trade with the Indies. But with the discovery of the rich mines of Mexico and Peru, America took on a value of its own. It was the lust for gold that led on the Spanish adven- turers, Ponce de Leon, Cortez, Coronado, and De Soto ; it was the immense treasure from the New World that became the foundation stone of the great Spanish empire of the sixteenth century. This same golden stream at length undermined Spanish character and industry, and led England to enter the lists against Spain in the contest for world empire. The West Indies and Florida. The first permanent Spanish colony in the New World was on the island of Hispaniola or Haiti, where Columbus founded the town of Isabella on the north coast. From Haiti as a center, the Spaniards extended their dominion over Porto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba. They next set out from the West Indies to explore the mainland of North America. The first voyage to the eastern coast of the mainland was made by Ponce de Leon, an aged warrior who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, and who remained to seek his fortune in the New World. In Porto Rico, Ponce de Leon was told of an island to the north where gold abounded, and where there was a wonderful fountain whose waters restored youth to the aged. Ponce de Leon sailed through the Bahamas 20 SPANISH AND ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS 21 Spanish Voyages of Exploration and Conquest in search of this island, and on Easter Sunday, 1513, anchored off the present site of St. Augustine. Florida, or the Land of Flowers, he named the low-lying shore with its mass of green foliage ; then sailing southward along the coast, he rounded the peninsula and went up the west side. The Conquest of Mexico, 1519-1521. The year 1519, fa- mous in the history of exploration because of Magellan's voyage, also saw the conquest of Mexico. This expedition was sent out by the governor of Cuba, and consisted of five hundred men under the command of Hernando de Cortez, the boldest of Spanish explorers. West of the Gulf of Mexico lay the Aztec empire, a military despotism of warlike tribes under the rule of a chief named Montezuma. The country was rich in gold and silver, and the people were skilled in a crude sort of art and architecture. They worked in copper and gold, and built splendid stone temples where human sacrifices played an important part in their worship. One of the Mexican traditions told of a fair god who would come from the east to conquer 22 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION the gods of darkness. Cortez took advantage of this super- stition, and after scuttling his ships to destroy all hope of re- treat, marched upon the capital city of Montezuma's empire. By a mixture of daring and audacity he entered the City of Mexico, made the Aztec ruler a prisoner, and added his empire to the possessions of Spain. Mexico proved to be the richest country found by the Spaniards with the single exception of Peru, whose silver mines were seized by Pizarro about ten years later. Coronado 's Exploration of the Southwest, 1540-1542. Mexico in turn succeeded the West Indies as the starting point of new exploring expeditions. From Mexico, the Spanish leader Coronado marched across the deserts of Arizona until he finally reached New Mexico. Here he found that the " Seven Cities " of which he had heard such wonderful reports were merely Pueblo villages of the Zuni Indians, with their curious, many-roomed houses of mud and stones. There was no gold, and so Coronado continued northward. He discovered the Grand Canon of the Colorado, and pushed on to a point near the center of Kansas. Discouraged at last, Coronado began the march back to Mexico. He had found neither gold nor wealthy kingdoms, but by exploring a vast extent of country, his expedi- tion gave the Spaniards some knowledge of the Southwest. Discovery of the Mississippi, 1541. While Coronado was wandering over what is now the state of Kansas, another Spaniard was exploring the country a few hundred miles toward the southeast. Hernando de Soto, a distinguished soldier and governor of Cuba, was commissioned by the king to conquer and settle the whole region now included in the southern part of the United States. Landing at Tampa Bay with a force of six hundred men, De Soto marched through a part of what is now Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to western Tennessee. Here the expedition came to "a great river, alwaies muddie, down which there came continually manie trees and timbers." It was the Mississippi, the Father of Waters. Cross- ing the river near the present site of Memphis, De Soto con- tinued an uncertain wandering toward the west. Next year the SPANISH AND ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS 23 heroic leader died, and his body, weighted with sand, was buried in the river that he had discovered. His followers managed to build seven rude boats in which they floated down the river to the sea, then along the Gulf Coast to Mexico. Thus ended, more than four years after the start from Tampa Bay, the greatest exploring expedition in the history of North America. St. Augustine, Our Oldest City. The Spanish government sent Menendez, an able but merciless leader, to colonize Florida. He found a colony of French Protestants or Huguenots located near the mouth of the St. John's River. Enraged because the French had made a settlement in what Spain considered her lawful territory, Menendez captured and put to the sword nearly all of the French colonists. He then built a fort, and the settle- ment around it became the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine (1565). Spain's Empire in the New World. By the middle of the sixteenth century, Spanish pathfinders had explored the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to Cape Horn, and the Pacific coast from the Straits of Magellan north to Oregon. They had conquered the empire of the Aztecs in Mexico and that of the Incas in Peru, and the wealth of their mines became the foundation of Spain's power in Europe. The southwestern part of what is now the United States had been visited by Coronado and De Soto ; while other Spanish adventurers had explored the interior of South America. Spain's empire in the New World was organized into two kingdoms : (1) New Spain, comprising the West Indies and the mainland north of the Isthmus of Panama ; and (2) Peru, which included the isthmus and all territory to the south, except Brazil. Spain claimed but did not develop the northern region afterwards settled by Englishmen. The gold of the regions to the south was the lure which drew the Spanish explorers away from the north. Religion and Education — the Spanish Missions. The work of converting the natives to Christianity followed close upon the conquest of their country. The old temples and idols were destroyed, and every town was required to have its church and hospital, besides a school where the Indian children were 24 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION instructed in the Spanish language and in the Roman Catholic religion. In the outlying districts, missions were established where the Indians were taught to read, and trained to peaceful and industrious lives. soon Colonists came to group themselves about the mis- sions, which gradually devel- oped into settle- ments. In this way the missions served both to convert the na- tives, and to form the out- posts of an ad- vancing coloni- zation. The mis- sions spread from California and Texas to Para- guay and Chile; and many places in the southwest- ern part of our country are to- These Missions were established wherever the Indians were to be Christianized. The Indians themselves built day named from the churches under the direction of the Mission Fathers. £h em Though differing in design from each other, the churches ' almost uniformly inclosed courtyards ornamented with Many mstltu- fountains and decorated with trees and shrubbery along ^Jons of higher the cloisters. . learning were es- tablished in Spanish America at a very early date. The first college was founded in the City of Mexico in 1535, and others soon followed. Both in numbers and in the standard of work done, the Mexican colleges of the sixteenth century probably Mission San Luis Rey, near San Diego, California SPANISH AND ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS 25 surpassed those of English America until the nineteenth century. The printing press was introduced in Mexico in 1536 ; imposing public buildings were constructed, such as colleges and hospitals ; while throughout New Spain there were larger and wealthier cities than anywhere in the English colonies. Thus the Spaniards did a great work in giving to a large part of the New World the benefit of their own culture and civilization. Although Spain's colonies finally threw off her rule and became independent, they have kept her language and her religion as a permanent heritage. How Spain Governed Her Empire. Neither Spain nor her colonies knew the meaning of self-government. New Spain and Peru were ruled by viceroys who were the personal repre- sentatives of the Spanish monarch. Their power was nearly absolute, although there was an appointive council to which perplexing questions of government might be referred. Laws for Spanish America were made by the king of Spain through the Council of the Indies. This body was appointed by the king, and had full legislative and judicial powers over the colonies. By the year 1574, one hundred and sixty thousand Spaniards were living in the New World. They had founded two hundred towns and cities, while eight thousand Indian villages were under their rule. Most of the Indians had been converted to a nominal Christianity ; but after their baptism they were shown no mercy by the gold-loving Spaniards. Compelled to work in the mines for six or eight months of each year, the Indians found it impos- sible to pay the tribute exacted by their conquerors. Disease and overwork threatened to exterminate the natives ; and in 1502 Spain began to import the stronger blacks of Africa to take their places. Spain kept a monopoly of the trade with her colonies, for it was taken for granted that they were planted for the benefit of the mother country. Harsh and absolute as was Spain's colonial policy, it did not differ greatly from that of other European nations except that the Spanish system was more strictly enforced. Spain's colonies suffered not so much because the mother country meant to oppress them, as from the unwise laws which sacrificed colonial interests in 26 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION order to protect Spain's manufactures and trade. At times, too, the Spanish colonists were the victims of unscrupulous officials sent over to rule them. The Beginning of Spain's Decline. Spain reached the height of her power in the sixteenth century. The immense treasure from Mexico and Peru made it possible for Charles V and Philip II to carry on long wars, and gave Spain great prestige at the courts of Europe. But the wealth which appeared to be the source of Spain's greatness was in reality the cause of her decay. The treasure from the colonies drew the Spaniards away from sober industrial pursuits, and encouraged the spirit of specula- tion and adventure. Manufactures and agriculture were neglected, and Spain became more and more dependent upon other countries for the necessaries of life. By the year 1560, only about one twentieth of the commodities which Spain exported to her colonies were produced in the mother country. The Rise of England as a World Power. The treasure which enfeebled Spain was promoting England's industries and commerce. English manufacturers were producing a large part of the clothing, furniture, and other supplies used by the Spaniards. With the growth of her industries and of a powerful middle class of artisans and merchants, England's rising power began to threaten the supremacy of Spain. King Henry VIII and later, Queen Elizabeth, built up the English navy, making the vessels larger and stronger, and arming them with heavier guns. Enriched by the treasure won from Spain, England developed a powerful fleet manned by the best sailors in Europe. England had done nothing up to this time to follow up the discoveries of the Cabots, in fact she had allowed their voyages to become almost forgotten. At last the island kingdom began to show an interest in the affairs of the New World. The first clash between Spain and England came when the Spanish king refused to allow any outsiders to trade with the West Indies. Queen Elizabeth won the enmity of Spain by permitting her famous sea captains to harass the West Indies, where they plundered the Spanish settlements and captured the treasure ships bound for Spain. SPANISH AND ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS 27 The Early English " Sea Dogs." John Hawkins was the first English mariner to come into conflict with the Spaniards by interfering with their monopoly of trade in the West Indies. The planters and gold-seekers of New Spain needed cheap labor ; negroes were plentiful in Africa, and Hawkins did not propose to forego the profits on a cargo of slaves merely because Spain claimed a monopoly of the trade with her colonies. After two profitable ventures to Haiti in his good bark, the Jesus, Hawkins met with disaster on the third voyage. His little fleet of nine ships was driven by storm into the harbor of Vera Cruz, where the Spanish commander first promised protection, then made a treacherous attack. Only two of the English ships escaped, one of which was commanded by Francis Drake, a Devonshire lad of twenty years. Drake devoted his life from this time on to privateering, and his name became a terror to the Spaniards. He made many voyages across the Atlantic, plunder- ing the Spanish settlements and galleons. When the Spaniards redoubled their vigilance in the West Indies, Drake determined to raid the unguarded settlements on the Pacific coast. With five ships he sailed along the eastern coast of South America and passed through the Straits of Magellan. Following the coast northward, he plundered the ports of Chile and Peru, and captured many Spanish vessels. Drake lost all of his ships except the Pelican, which he renamed the Golden Hind because of the immense booty of gold and pearls with which it was laden. He knew that he could not return home the way he had come, for the Spaniards were waiting for him along the South American coast and at the Straits of Magellan. So he sailed northward in search of a passage to the Atlantic, finally reach- Sir Francis Drake From an engraving of his time. 28 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION ing Oregon, which he called New Albion. Disappointed at not finding a passage through the continent, Drake turned westward across the Pacific Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and in September, 1580, his weather-beaten and weed-clogged ship sailed into Plymouth Harbor. Soon afterwards Queen Elizabeth came to dinner on board the Golden Hind, and showed her pleasure over Drake's exploit by knighting him in the presence of his men. Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588. Drake's operations added to the glory of England and won him the favor of Queen Elizabeth, but they made the Spaniards more and more hostile. Not only had England become the dreaded enemy of Spain on the sea, but she was aiding the brave little nation of the Nether- lands in its heroic struggle against Spanish tyranny. Moreover, England was the principal Protestant country of Europe, while Philip II was the foremost ruler of a Catholic kingdom. At a time when the Catholic world was enraged at Elizabeth be- cause of her execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, Philip determined to invade and conquer England. In 1588, there appeared in the English Channel the " Invincible Armada," an immense fleet of warships carrying an army of thirty thousand men. The English ships which met the Spanish fleet were smaller but much swifter ; they were armed with heavier guns and manned by the best sailors in the world. Howard, Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Grenville, and other naval heroes were present and joined in the battle. Many of the Spanish vessels were sunk, others were destroyed by storm, and scarcely more than half of the fleet escaped back to Spain. It was a tremendous victory for the power destined to become the " Mistress of the Seas. " The naval power of Spain received a deadly blow, important in American history because from this time on, England could found colonies and conduct explorations without fear of Spain. The First English Settlements. Nearly twenty years before the Great Armada was destroyed, Queen Elizabeth had shown her interest in colonization by granting to Sir Humphrey Gil- bert a patent for trade and settlement in any lands not already held by a Christian prince. Gilbert reached the harbor of SPANISH AND ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS 29 St. John's, Newfoundland, and took possession of the island in the name of his queen. The colony did not prosper, and the brave Gilbert lost his life in a terrific storm on the return voyage. The work begun by Gilbert was carried on by his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, an accomplished courtier who had won his way to the heart of Queen Elizabeth. Raleigh sent to the West Indies an exploring party which captured several Spanish ships, then sailed northward to the shore of what is now North Carolina. The expedition brought back such favorable reports of the region that Elizabeth, in honor of herself as a vir- gin queen, called the coun- try Virginia. Raleigh's " Lost Colony." The next year Raleigh sent a number of settlers to found a colony on Roanoke Island. Disheartened after a year of hardships, they took ad- vantage of Sir Francis Drake's visit to the colony to return with him to Eng- land. Undaunted by this failure, Raleigh sent out another expedition of three ships and one hundred and fifty colonists, among whom were a score of women and children. They intended to settle in the Chesapeake Bay district, but on reaching Roanoke Island the pilot refused to continue the voyage, so a landing was made. Virginia Dare was born here a few days later, the first English child to be born on the soil of the United States. Virginia's grandfather, the leader of the party, was obliged to return to England for supplies, and because of the threatened Spanish invasion could not revisit the colony until four years later. He found the i B T/dMM •. •.'... v A Sir Walter Raleigh at the Age of Thirty From a de Medici print at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts after a painting by Zuccaro. 30 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION island deserted and the fort in ruins ; the only clue to the mystery was the word "Croatoan" carved on a tree. This was the name of a friendly tribe of Indians on an island near by, so it was thought that the colonists might have taken refuge with them. No trace was ever found of little Virginia Dare or the lost colony. Raleigh kept up his interest in America even after his im- prisonment in the Tower of London on a false charge of treason. He was the true parent of English colonization in America, and spent over $200,000 of his own fortune on colonizing expeditions. Later, finding the burden too heavy for one individual, he sold his trading rights in Virginia to a company of merchants. Just before his imprisonment, Raleigh wrote of this country : " I shall yet live to see it an English nation." REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS Bassett, J. S., Short History of the United States, chs. II— III. Becker, C. L., Beginnings of the American People, pp. 30-36. Bourne, E. G., Spain in America, chs. X-XV. Channing, Edward, History of the United States, I, chs. III-V. Hart, A. B., American History Told by Contemporaries, I, ch.TV. Tyler, L. G., England in America (American Nation Series), chs. I— II. REFERENCES FOR PUPILS Drake, S. A., The Making of the Great West, pp. 1-45. Hall, Jennie, Our Ancestors in Europe, pp. 379-388. Johnson, W. H., Pioneer Spaniards in North America, pp. 193-253. Johnson, W. H, The World's Discoverers, chs. XXIII- XXVI. Sparks, E. E., Expansion of the American People, ch. II. SPECIAL TOPICS FOR PUPILS 1. The Conquest of Mexico. Archer, A. B., Stories of Explora- tion and Discovery, ch. X ; Fiske, John, Discovery of America, II, ch. VIII ; Prescott, William H., Conquest of Mexico. 2. De Soto. Gordy, W. F., Stories of Early American History, ch. VII ; Great Epochs of American History, I, pp. 147-155 ; Hig- SPANISH AND ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS 31 ginson, T. W., Book of America?! Explorers, ch. VI ; Parkman, Francis, Struggle for a Continent, pp. 7-10. 3. Sir Francis Drake. Archer, A. B., Stories of Exploration and Discovery, chs. XIII-XIV; Gordy, W. F., Stories of Early American History, ch. IX ; Great Epochs of American History, I, pp. 156-167 ; Johnson, W. H., The World's Discoverers, chs. XXIII- XXVI. Stone Marking the Site of Old Fort Raleigh, the First Settlement of the English Race in America CHAPTER IV FRENCH AND DUTCH EXPLORATIONS The Early French Fishermen. While the Spanish adventur- ers were exploring the West Indies and the southern part of North America, French fishermen had found a profitable in- dustry off the Newfoundland coast. The people of Europe at that time had more than one hundred fast days in the year, and so there was an enormous demand for fish. When John Cabot reported that the waters he had explored were swarming with cod and salmon, the hardy fishermen of western Europe set sail for the banks of Newfoundland. Fishermen from the ports of St. Malo and Dieppe were among the first to reach this region, probably about the year 1504. They built huts along the coast of Newfoundland, made immense hauls of cod off the Grand Banks, and searched the northern waters for seals and whales. These early voyages were of slight geograph- ical importance, but they drew the attention of France to Canada, and paved the way for her future explorations. France Enters on the Work of Exploration, 1524. The king of France finally sent out a Florentine navigator, Verrazano, to discover new lands and to search for a northwest passage to Asia. Verrazano reached the coast of the Carolinas, then sailed northward, exploring Chesapeake Bay, New York harbor, and the New England coast. Ten years later, Jacques Cartier, a master pilot of St. Malo, sailed from France to continue the search for the northwest passage. Cartier went up the St. Lawrence River as far as the present site of Quebec, and found this region " as fair as was ever seen." He sailed on up the St. Lawrence until he reached Lachine Rapids, the head of navi- gation from the sea ; the near-by island mountain he named Mont Royal, or Montreal. Cartier failed to find a northwest passage, 32 *M*~* /^^r'yrT FRENCH AND DUTCH EXPLORATIONS 33 and his settlement at Quebec lasted little more than a year; but France afterwards based her claim to the valley of the St. Lawrence upon his voyage. Samuel de Champlain, the Father of New France. It was reserved for one greater than Cartier to establish French power in the New World. This was the mission of Samuel de Cham- plain, the intrepid explorer who well deserves his title, " the Father of New France." Champlain made his first trip up the St. Lawrence in 1603, follow- ing the route taken by Cartier nearly seventy years before. Later he visited the Isle of St. Croix, and helped to establish at Port Royal the first perma- nent French settlement in North America. Acadia was the name given to this iso- lated peninsula between the Bay of Fundy and the At- lantic ; and with the occupa- tion of Acadia, the land im- mortalized by Longfellow, the history of New France begins. This was in the opening years of the seventeenth century, before the English had come to Jamestown, and before there were any settlements made by Spain. The Founding of Quebec. On his first St. Lawrence voyage, Champlain saw with a soldier's eye that the towering rock of Quebec was an ideal location for a fortress to guard the door of a vast continent. Commissioned as governor of New France, he sailed in 1608 to establish on this lofty cliff the colony destined to become the stronghold of French power in America. It was a splendid site for a colony ; it commanded the Indian traffic of an immense drainage basin, and was well located for sending out Samuel de Champlain From a painting by Th. Hamel, after the Moncornet portrait. in North America except those 34 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION exploring parties into the interior. From Quebec, Champlain led several expeditions up the Saguenay and Ottawa rivers. He also explored the region around Lake Champlain, and reached the shores of Lake Huron while vainly seeking a western water- way through the continent. For many years the few settlers at Quebec endured untold hardships of cold, hunger, and scurvy. The fortress was captured by the English in 1629, when Cham- plain had only sixteen soldiers for its defense ; but it was restored to France three years later. Quebec remained the citadel of New France for a century and a half, until the brave General Wolfe led a British army to the final victory on the Plains of Abraham. Characteristics of French Colonization. Great colonizer as he was, Champlain failed in his efforts to make New France an agricultural country. The company that controlled the colony developed the most obvious source of wealth, the fur trade, but neglected the cultivation of a reluctant soil. Fishermen, trap- pers, soldiers, and roaming adventurers were not the men to lay the sure foundations of a permanent empire. Conquest, explora- tion, missionary zeal, and above all, the fur trade, were the motives of French colonization in America. These aims explain the failure of France in her conflict with the sturdy Englishmen who came with their families to find homes in the western wilderness. Then too, the company which had a. monopoly of French trade in the New World forbade the Huguenots, or French Protestants, to enter Canada. Thus France, like Spain, shut out from her New World possessions the very class of men who would gladly have sought refuge with their families from the intolerance and persecution of the Old World. Champlain and the Iroquois. In spite of his tact, Champlain made one of the most serious mistakes of early colonization. To please the Algonquin Indians of the St. Lawrence region, he consented to join one of their frequent war parties against the Iroquois, a confederacy of Five Nations living in New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. Near the later site of Fort Ticon- deroga, Champlain and his Indian allies easily routed the Iroquois, who were unacquainted with the white man's weapons. FRENCH AND DUTCH EXPLORATIONS 35 In the end it proved a costly victory, for the Iroquois never forgave the French. In revenge for their defeat, Iroquois war- riors made repeated attacks on the Hurons, driving them from their homes to the southern shores of Lake Superior ; and they annihilated the Algonquin tribes of the St. Lawrence Valley. Their war parties raided the French settlements, interrupted the fur trade, and constantly menaced Montreal and even Champlain's Attack on the Iroquois Fort After the original in Champlain's Nouvelle France. Quebec itself. Most important of all, the Iroquois tribes formed a living barrier protecting the Dutch and English settlers, who supplied them with firearms and stirred them up to bloody forays against the common foe. Even the Jesuit missionaries, so successful with the Indians of the north, could not soften these fierce hearts. One of the last acts of Champlain's life was to petition Cardinal Richelieu for men and arms in order that he might repel the merciless attacks of the Iroquois. 36 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION The Discovery of Lake Michigan. Himself the boldest of explorers, Champlain was anxious to learn as much as pos- sible about the inhabitants and country of New France. He decided to train some of his young men in the language of the Canadian Indians, and have them learn Indian life at first hand by living among the different tribes. One Jean Nicolet, who had lived sixteen years with the Indians, was sent by Champlain to investigate the report of a large body of water toward the west. Nicolet penetrated to Lake Michigan and followed its western shore as far as Green Bay, but failed to reach the Mississippi River. The Jesuits in Canada. Jesuit priests, members of the ancient and powerful Order of Jesus, came to the aid of soldier-explorers like Champlain. The aim of the French Jesuits was to convert the whole native population to Christianity, a heroic task which these black-robed priests took up with the zeal of the Cru- sader. The Jesuits led the van of French colonization in Canada ; but when suc- cess seemed almost won, their missions and Indian converts were swept aside by the Iroquois avalanche. Discovery of the Missis- sippi River, 1673. The most famous of these early priests and explorers was Father Marquette, who lived in a Jesuit mission on the Straits of Mackinac. Mar- quette determined to search for the Mississippi River, of which he had heard a vague ac- count from his Indian converts. In company with Louis Joliet, Marquette passed from Lake Michigan into the Fox River, then by a portage to the Wisconsin. The explorers paddled The Statue of Marquette at Marquette, Michigan FRENCH AND DUTCH EXPLORATIONS 37 their canoes down this river to the Mississippi, following its course to the mouth of the Arkansas. Fearing capture by the Spaniards if they went on to the Gulf region, they retraced their course. Marquette had discovered the important fact that the Mississippi did not empty into the South Sea, as had been supposed, and hence did not form a highway across the continent. La Salle Claims Louisiana for France, 1682. At Champlain's death in 1635, France could claim from his explorations and those of his followers the country as far west as Wisconsin. It remained for the greatest of French pathfinders, La Salle, to add the Mississippi Valley to New France. Inspired by Mar- quette's voyage down the Mississippi, La Salle decided to visit the wilderness through which the " Father of Waters " ran its course. He had a vision of a chain of forts and trading stations along all the inland waterways from Quebec to the mouth of the Mississippi, forming a mighty bulwark for the empire of New France. La Salle discovered the Ohio River in 1670; and twelve years later, after many mishaps, the intrepid explorer found his way to the mouth of the Mississippi. He had reached that river by way of Lake Michigan, the Chicago portage, and the Illinois River. La Salle took formal possession of all the vast basin drained by the Mississippi, naming the country Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV, king of France. On returning to Quebec, La Salle learned that he had been deprived of his command, so he went to France to lay his case before the king. Louis XIV listened with delight to the story of his explorations. By way of reward, the king authorized him to plant colonies in Louisiana, and made him governor of the entire region between Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico. La Salle then set sail for Louisiana, intending to enter the Mississippi by way of the Gulf of Mexico. His pilots missed their way, and one of the ships was captured by the Spaniards, while the others took refuge in Matagorda Bay, far to the west of their destination. In desperate plight, La Salle finally set out on horses obtained from the natives, hoping to reach Canada overland and secure reinforcements. But the end of his explora- 38 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION French and Dutch Explorations The Indian settlements at Tadousac and Hochelaga (Montreal) which Car- tier found on his first voyage had disappeared before Champlain's expedition, 1603. The palace and fort built by Cartier at Charlesbourg were located at Cap Rouge, nine miles above Stadacona, which became Quebec, 1608. The rapids of the St. Lawrence above Montreal were named Lachine (La Chine, the French for "China") because the explorers thought the north- west passage had been found. tions was at hand, for on reaching the bank of Trinity River, the great pathfinder was shot from ambush by one of his own mutinous followers. The French Empire in North America. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a greater New France was held together by a chain of forts and trading stations extending along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River. On the Great Lakes the FRENCH AND DUTCH EXPLORATIONS 39 most important post was Detroit, controlling Lake Erie and the tributaries to the Ohio River. New Orleans was founded in 1718 at the mouth of the Mississippi, and soon became an important center of trade. France held secure possession of the St. Lawrence Valley, forming with the Great Lakes a natural highway through the heart of the continent ; and she claimed dominion over the entire Mississippi Basin. The French pos- sessions in North America, to which the general name of New France is given, comprised three geographical divisions : (1) Acadia, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and a part of Maine, with its principal colony at Port Royal. (2) New France proper, the river valley of the St. Lawrence and the country surrounding the Great Lakes. Its central settlement was Quebec. (3) Louisiana, the great basin of the Mississippi River, with its entrance guarded by the fort at New Orleans. The Dutch in Search of a Northwest Passage. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Holland was a sturdy little nation which had won its independence from Spain, and was becoming one of the chief trading nations of Europe. Dutch ships and sailors were found on every sea, although their chief trading center was the East Indies. A large trading company, the Dutch East India Company, was attempting to find a new route to the East either by sailing around the north of Europe, or by means of a northwest passage through the American continent. With this object in view, the company engaged the services of an Englishman, Henry Hudson. In his famous ship, the Half Moon, Hudson visited the coast of Maine, sailed south as far as Virginia, then northward again, exploring Delaware Bay, and at last cast anchor inside of Sandy Hook (1609). After carefully exploring the Narrows, Hudson navigated his ship into the upper bay, then into the mouth of the river that bears his name. He sailed northward for eleven days, delighted with the wonderful scenery of the Hudson, and hoping that he had found a passage to the Pacific Ocean. But the Half Moon could not proceed above the site of modern Albany ; and a boat party which went eight leagues 40 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION farther up the river reported that no open sea lay beyond. Be- fore starting on his return voyage, Hudson invited a party of Indians on board the Half Moon, and " gave them much wine and aqua-vitw, that they were all merrie. In the ende one of them was drunke. " This celebration marked the beginning of friendly relations between the Iroquois and the Dutch in the very year that Champlain and the French incurred their lasting enmity. The Dutch Colony of New Netherland. When Hudson reported to his employers the abundance of fur-bearing animals in the region he had explored, they decided that it would be a good place for trading posts and settlements. So a trading company known as the Dutch West India Company was formed to take control of the territory on the Hudson River. The first settlers came to Manhattan Island in 1623, and a few years later Peter Minuit bought the entire island from the Indians for cloth and trinkets worth about twenty-four dollars. Fort Amsterdam was built on the southern extremity of the island, and became the home of the despotic governors who ruled New Netherland. Some of the settlers went to Fort Orange near the present city of Albany, while others spread southward to Delaware and Connecticut. New Netherland did not prosper as a colony. The Dutch West India Company was interested only in the fur trade, and would not spend the money necessary to develop its colony. Moreover, the Dutch had settled on land that had been granted to the Lon- don and Plymouth companies by James I ; and within half a century, New Netherland was destined to pass under English rule. REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS Bassett, J. S., Short History of the United States, pp. 72-76. Becker, G. L., Beginnings of the American People, pp. 36-40. Channing, Edward, History of the United States, I, ch. IV. Hart, A. B., American History Told by Contemporaries, I, ch. V. Thwaites, R. G., France in America (American Nation Series), chs. I-V. FRENCH AND DUTCH EXPLORATIONS 41 REFERENCES FOR PUPILS Baldwin, James, Discovery of the Old Northwest. Drake, S. A., The Making of the Great West, pp. 85-123. Hart, A. B., Editor, American Patriots and Statesmen, I, pp. 126-130. Johnson, W. H., French Pathfinders in North America, chs. IV, VIII- XIV, XXX-XXXII. SPECIAL TOPICS FOR PUPILS 1. Champlain. Archer, A. B., Stories of Exploration and Dis- covery, ch. XVIII ; Channing, E., and Lansing, M. F., Story of the Great Lakes, ch. II ; Higginson, T. W., Book of American Explorers, ch. XII ; Parkman, Francis, Struggle for a Continent, pp. 83-124 ; Sedfwick, H. D., Samuel de Champlain (Riverside Biographical Series). 2. The Jesuits in America. Channing, E., and Lansing, M. F., Story of the Great Lakes, ch. Ill ; Parkman, Francis, Struggle for a Continent, pp. 130-135, 149-156. 3. La Salle. Channing, E., and Lansing, M. F., Story of the Great Lakes, ch. VI ; Fiske, John, Discovery of America, II, pp. 532-537 ; Gordy, W. F., Stories of Early American History, ch. XIX ; Great Epochs of American History, I, pp. 199-206 ; Parkman, Francis, Struggle for a Continent, pp. 186-222. CHAPTER V EARLY AMERICA — THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE The Climate of North America. The early discoverers and explorers learned that the continent of North America was in general outline a huge triangle, with its base in the arctic region, and its apex in the tropics. This meant that the larger part of its area lay in higher latitudes, ruled by a somewhat severe climate. The first colonists naturally supposed that the climate of North America would be like that part of Europe lying in the same latitude. They could not know that the Gulf Stream carries the heat of the Gulf of Mexico away from North America to warm the shores of western Europe. Since the Massachusetts colonists were in the same latitude as southern France, they were surprised to find a winter climate much like that of Norway and Sweden. These cold winters cost the early settlers intense suffering and many lives. In the long run, this rather severe climate was an advantage ; the people of New England proved no exception to the rule that colder climates are more likely to develop a hardy and vigorous race. Area and Waterways. The vast extent of the new continent was another matter of surprise. The early explorers expected to find a land of about the same size as Europe ; whereas North America with its 8,500,000 square miles of area was more than twice as large as the continent from which they came. This mis- taken notion led to the exploration of rivers like the James, the Hudson, and the St. Lawrence, in search of a northwest passage to Cathay. But although no waterway was found across the continent, there was a splendid network of rivers leading far into the interior. Trappers and fur traders paddled their birch- bark canoes up the courses of these rivers, leading the van of colonization and settlement. Trading posts were usually 42 EARLY AMERICA — THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 43 established at the head of navigation, as at Hartford on the Connecticut, Albany on the Hudson, and Richmond on the James. From these centers, individual traders pushed still farther west, bartering with the Indians for furs. In this way the traders became the pioneers in the westward movement. They explored the unknown regions, discovered the best means of reaching the interior, and told their countrymen what lands were best suited to settlement. Forests and Animal Life. The first European settlers found an almost unbroken sheet of forest along the Atlantic coast, and extending westward to the Mississippi. The dense forest was both a hardship and a blessing. Clearing the land in order to plant crops meant the hardest kind of toil ; at the same time, it meant a bountiful supply of fuel and building material. Masts for all the shipbuilding countries in Europe were soon being cut from the splendid forests of the new continent ; while the New England settlers built ships both for their own use, and for sale in Europe and in the treeless West Indies. Then too, the struggle for existence was made easier by the abundance of forest game, such as deer, elk, wild geese, and turkeys. To the early settlers as to the Indians, the deer was a staple source of food and clothing ; and the beaver, otter, sable, and other fur-bearing animals yielded rich returns to the hunter and trapper. Another animal found in large numbers was the buffalo, which roamed in immense herds over the region between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi. The waters of the North Atlantic teemed with codfish, mackerel, and herring; hence fishing soon became one of New England's chief industries. The Appalachian Barrier and Its Effects. When the first English settlers came to America, they found the Spaniards holding the islands and seas of the south, while the French claimed the St. Lawrence region ; so that the English could occupy only the narrow strip of lowland between the Atlantic coast and the Appalachian Mountains. It was really a matter of good fortune that they were long confined to this narrow strip of territory. With a mountain barrier on the west, and with hostile powers at the north and south, the English colonies 44 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION became of necessity more compactly settled. Their people tilled the soil, built schools and churches, developed repre- sentative governments, and established permanent homes. All this was in sharp contrast with New France, where a few settlers were scattered over a vast area, too large to be suc- cessfully defended. The Routes across the Barrier. More than a century passed after the first settlement at Jamestown before the English Courtesy of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington. Navajo Blanket Weaving colonists began to push westward through the passes of the Appalachian barrier. At the north, the valleys of the Hudson and the Mohawk formed a natural highway through this mountain wall ; but this route was closed to the early settlers by the Iroquois Indians. A second route was through southern Pennsylvania to the Monongahela, and along its course to the Ohio River ; while a third route was by way of the Appalachian Valley to the southwest, and out through the Cumberland EARLY AMERICA — THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 45 Gap or the valley of the Tennessee into the open country beyond. This southern route was much used at first, but when better roads were built, the route through Pennsylvania became the great highway. Soon the city of Pittsburgh, at the junction of the Alleghen}^ and Monongahela rivers, became the gateway of the West. On reaching the Ohio, the settlers could make the rest of their journey by water, following this river or its branches to their new homes. The beginning of the American Revolution found a host of pioneers crossing the Appalachian Mountains into the Mississippi Valley. These frontiersmen found before them the vast interior plains of the continent, stretching west- ward for thousands of miles. There was no other barrier to westward expansion except the lofty Rocky Mountains, and farther toward the Pacific, the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges. The Natives of North America. When Columbus discovered the Bahama Islands, he also discovered a race of men unknown to the world before his time. Later explorers found the Indians, as Columbus named the natives, inhabiting the continent and islands of both North and South America. The Indians were usually tall in stature ; they had high cheek bones, small, deep- set eyes, and long black hair ; their skin was brown or copper colored, so that they are sometimes incorrectly called " Red Men." They did not lead a nomadic life, but occupied fairly definite areas ; such migrations as occurred were usually due to the pressure of stronger tribes, or to the desire to find better hunting grounds. When Columbus first landed, about five hundred thousand Indians were living on the North American continent, one half of whom dwelt east of the Mississippi River. Origin of the Indian Race. Many attempts have been made to explain how a race separate and distinct from any other in the world came to be found in America. Because extensive mounds and earthworks were found in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, it was once thought that an earlier people called the u Mound Builders " used to inhabit the continent. These mounds were sometimes raised embankments, sometimes square or circular inclosures, and sometimes earthworks made 46 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION to resemble an animal that was held in special veneration. We know to-day that the Mound Builders were not a distinct race of people, but were the ancestors of the Indians themselves. At some very early period, North America was probably peopled from Asia, with which our continent was once connected. So our Indians may be descended from men whose earlier home was in Asia. Semi-civilized Indian Peoples. In the days of Columbus, the Indians who had made most progress toward civilization were 3 Hopi Indian Village or Community House Built on the cliff above the Grand Canon, Arizona. Note the blankets being woven on the long frames. the Incas in Peru, the Aztecs in Mexico, and the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona. Both the Incas and the Aztecs built stone houses, using tools of stone ; they mined gold and silver, and worked these metals over into beautiful ornaments. Great skill was also shown in the manufacture of pottery, and in the carving of wood, stone, and shells. The Incas carried on irrigation, and like the natives of Mexico, had a well-organized system of government. At the time of Pizarro's conquest, their empire extended over Bolivia and Ecuador, as well as Peru. The Pueblo Indians lived in the southwestern part of the EARLY AMERICA — THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 47 United States, in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and southern Cal- ifornia. The Spanish word pueblo means town, and this name was given to the natives because they lived in small towns or villages. Their houses were often several stories in height, and were built of adobe, or of stone laid in clay mortar. Some of the pueblos were located in the plains, while others were placed on lofty heights which could be reached only by steep and difficult trails. Of this latter class were the pueblos in the Colorado region, where the cliff dwellers built their homes on the steep sides of the canons. The Indians of Northeastern America. There were three great families of Indians in the region between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean. First, the Algonquin family, which occupied most of the country north of Kentucky, in- cluding all of New England and a large part of Canada. Second, the Iroquois, who lived south and east of lakes Erie and Ontario, in the present states of New York, Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio. Third, the Southern or Muskogee Indians, between the Tennessee River and the Gulf of Mexico. Each of these large groups or families of Indians spoke a common language ; each family included numerous tribes, and the tribes were in turn divided into separate clans. The basis of clan unity was kinship, or descent from the same female an- cestor. Each clan had its totem, usually some animal by whose name it was known, as Wolf, Bear, Fox, or Turtle. Some clans believed that they were descended from this totem, which thus became an object of worship. The clan had two kinds of leaders, a peace ruler or sachem elected by its members, and war chiefs who were chosen because of their individual prowess. There was also a council which included all the adult members of the clan, both men and women. In the same way, the tribe was governed by a tribal council, composed of all the sachems and chiefs within the clan ; while some tribes had a head chief, usually one of the sachems who had shown special gifts of leader- ship. Food and Clothing. Where game was abundant, as in Canada and west of the Mississippi, the Indians depended EARLY AMERICA — THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 49 chiefly on hunting and fishing. Next to fighting, the Indian loved the chase, and he was the most expert of hunters. Wild ducks and geese were shot with the bow and arrow, or decoyed into a net. The Indian could imitate the gobble of the turkey, or the whistle of birds, and he came upon his prey so stealthily as not to be noticed. Venison was sometimes procured by a skillful maneuver called deer stalking. The Indian put on the head and antlers of a deer, and in this disguise was able to steal up close to his prey. Besides fish and game from the forests, the Indians lived on wild fruits, nuts, acorns, and edible roots. Throughout New England and the South, more attention was paid to agriculture. Maize or Indian corn was the chief crop, but there were also fields of beans, pumpkins, squashes, water- melons, and tomatoes. Domestic animals were lacking ; there were no horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, chickens, or even dogs and cats, until after the arrival of the Europeans. The skins of wild animals furnished the Indian with such clothing as he needed. By way of ornament he wore wampum, or strings of beads made from shells ; and sometimes he adorned his head with the glossy feathers of the eagle, one feather for each enemy killed in combat. He often painted his face and body by means of colored earths, either black, red, green, or white, both the color of the paint and the character of the markings having a special meaning. Indian Houses. The houses of the natives varied with the location and the season. In the woodland, they built tent- shaped lodges of sapling. On the western plains, earth lodges were constructed for winter, while the summer residence was a tepee covered with buffalo skins, so light that it could be easily carried about in the quest for game. A better type of Indian dwelling was the long house of the Iroquois, intended to accommodate several families. These houses were built of a framework of upright poles set in the ground, and covered in with bark shingles. The interior was divided into compartments, six or eight feet square, placed on each side of the house and opening into a common passageway down the center. These long houses were inhabited by Indians who belonged to 50 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION the same clan. Each was presided over by a matron whose authority was absolute in household matters, for among all the Indian tribes there was a strict division of labor between the men and the women. The squaws cared for the lodge, prepared the food, made the clothing and household utensils ; while the men devoted themselves to hunting and fishing, and to the manufacture of weapons. The Indian houses were usually grouped together in small villages, which were often entirely surrounded by a stockade of posts as a defense against sudden attack. Indian Warfare. Every Indian boy was trained to become a warrior, for there was almost constant fight- ing among the different tribes. The child's toys were miniature weapons, and the Indian youth soon became skilled in the use of bow and arrow, and in the hurling of the short spear or javelin. The hatchet or tomahawk was another fa- vorite weapon, being es- pecially useful in the hand- to-hand fighting of forest warfare. Among all the tribes, the military virtues of bravery, strength, and skill were held in the highest esteem ; to die in battle was glorious, while the warrior who showed fear was the object of universal contempt. Among many tribes, the warrior's reputation rested upon the number of deeds of special prowess which stood to his credit. The acts which entitled him to dis- tinction were killing and scalping an enemy, being the first to A Pueblo Indian of the Santa Clara Reservation Entering a Kiva or Sanc- tuary Carved Out of the Solid Rock Although Christianized over 300 years, the Pueblos still perform their ancient rites in these underground chambers. EARLY AMERICA — THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 51 touch an enemy in combat, rescuing a wounded companion, and stealing a horse from the enemy's camp. It was a simple matter to inaugurate an Indian campaign. Usually some chief of proven valor would announce his intention of conducting a raid, and call for volunteers to accompany him. Among the better-organized tribes or confederacies, extensive campaigns were decided upon by the tribal or confederate council. Sometimes war would be declared with considerable formality, and notice sent to the enemy by means of wampum belts. Before leaving on the warpath, the warriors would engage Algonquin Stock, Cheyenne Tribe Chief Stump Horn and family, showing travois or primitive vehicle used by many tribes. in a dance to arouse enthusiasm ; and upon returning from a successful raid, a grand scalp dance was held, the women singing the praise of the warriors as they flourished the scalps about. The Indians usually aimed to surprise their foe; they often made their attacks in the dead of night, for to take one's enemy at a disadvantage was regarded as the most skillful kind of cam- paigning. Their warfare was cruel almost beyond belief ; the warrior scalped his dead foe, and wore the scalp as a trophy and proof of his prowess ; the more scalps he could show at his belt, the greater his skill as a warrior. Captives were tortured with every cruelty that human ingenuity could devise in the hope that 52 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION they would display some sign of fear. In the end they were usually killed with the tomahawk or burned at the stake, although sometimes prisoners were enslaved, or adopted as members of the tribe. Indian Religion. As in the case of most primitive peoples, eL the Indian worshiped the world of nature about him. He thought that the earth, the sky, and the waters were peopled with mysterious spirits, or manitous. These spirits were both good and evil ; they controlled his destiny, so he offered prayers and sacrifices to them. When a man became ill, some bad spirit was troubling him; hence the " medicine man " was held in special veneration, because he alone knew what charms would drive out the unruly spirit. These Indian healers had some rude knowledge of medicinal herbs and other simple remedies ; if the patient died in spite of herbs and charms, they explained that it was because the evil spirit was stronger than the spirit which aided the medicine man. There was always one manitou more powerful than the rest, who was the special benefactor and hero of each tribe. His exploits and adventures formed a circle of myths, handed down from generation to generation, like the legends of King Arthur in early British history. The Indians did not have any clear conception of the one Supreme Being, but they did believe in the existence of a future life. The warrior's bow, his arrows, and his dog were carefully buried with him, for the Indian heaven was a happy hunting ground. Religious ceremonials were often elaborate affairs, which included dancing and the chanting of weird music, feasting and fasting, together with such tests of physical endurance as the sun dance. Indian Intellect and Character. Although a simple and unpractical race, the Indian was by no means lacking in intellect. He used a language of his own, filled with glowing phrases and figures of speech; and in simple, unstudied eloquence, he sometimes equalled the greatest orators of any race. The Indians of the plains used a series of gestures which formed an intelligible sign language. The more advanced tribes were able to express their ideas by means of pictures, sometimes Photograph by H. T. Cowling, National Part Booklet, Department of the Interior. Blackfeet Indian Camp on Two Medicine Lake Glacier National Park was once their hunting grounds. 53 54 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION painted on skins, sometimes carved on the rocks, or woven in wampum. The Indian was quick to learn the use of firearms, and became an expert marksman. He had a remarkable genius for military tactics and strategy ; he was brave in battle, but he stalked his enemy like wild game, and never fought in the open if he could attack from ambush. A cruel and vindictive foe, the Indian was also a generous and hospitable friend. He had a rude sense of honor, and usually kept faith when fairly dealt with. As a scout, he was loyal to a trust in the face of hardship or death itself. Washington was guided through the wilderness to Fort Duquesne by a nameless Indian; while Braddock's army was routed because he would not listen to the advice of his native scouts. The Indians and the White Settlers. The white men who first came in contact with the Indians were treated with the utmost reverence. But when the natives learned that they could expect only harsh treatment in return, they became the foes of the settlers. The lands occupied by the different tribes were owned as common property, and the chiefs readily gave up the tribal hunting grounds in exchange for a few trinkets. They thought that the colonists would occupy the land for a short time, after which it would be given back to them. When it was seen that the hunting grounds were being permanently held, the inevitable struggle began. In this conflict, the white men won because they were the stronger race, and because the different tribes were constantly fighting among themselves. But in many cases, friendly Indians saved the settlements from attack, and brought supplies of corn to the starving settlers. The natives obtained from the colonists many new things, such as horses and dogs, cloth, blankets, liquor, and firearms. Horses were especially valuable to tribes like the Sioux, which lived by hunting the buffalo ; and the Indians became the most expert riders in the world. But contact with the white man's civilization was fatal to the children of the forest ; new diseases, such as tuberculosis, swept them away by thousands, while liquor proved an even more deadly scourge. From the Indians, the colonists first learned of maize, the potato, the use of EARLY AMERICA — THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 55 tobacco, and the art of making sugar from the sap of the hard maple. It was the native red man who taught the newcomers the habits of birds and wild animals, the portage paths through the wilderness, and the best methods of hunting. Wampum, which the natives used as money, also served the first settlers as a medium of exchange ; while the Indian's buckskin clothing, his moccasins, snowshoes, and bark canoes have been used by hunters, explorers, and frontiersmen down to the present day. REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS Bogart, E. L., Economic History of the United States, pp. 2-16. Brigham, A. P., Geographic Influences in American History, ch. I. Farrand, L., Basis of American History (American Nation Series). Hart, A. B., American History Told by Contemporaries, II, ch. XVIII. REFERENCES FOR PUPILS Eastman, F., Indian Boyhood. Gordy, W. F., Stories of Early American History, ch. III. Hart, A. B., Source Readers in American History, I, pp. 91-133. Johnson, W. H., French Pathfinders in North America, pp. 3-41. Judd, M. C, Wigwam Stories. Starr, F., American Indians. The New Mexico War Memorial Building, at Santa Fe Built on the site of the historic palace of the Governors (1606), the walls being a part of a prehistoric pueblo. 56 CHAPTER VI THE OLD DOMINION Conditions Favorable to English Colonization. The closing years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth were years of increasing luxury in the mansions of the rich, and of increasing misery in the homes of England's poor. During the sixteenth century, the gold and silver from the New World had increased the circulat- ing medium in western Europe threefold. The result was a sharp rise in prices, together with an increasing demand for such luxuries as chimneys and glass windows, rugs and carpets, linen sheets and silken doublets. Rents were higher than ever before, landowners were prosperous, and a surplus of capital awaited investment in any new enterprise which promised large returns. From Mexico and Peru a stream of gold was pouring into the coffers of Spain ; might not Virginia prove a like source of wealth for England ? The British East India Company was formed in 1600 to develop the far eastern trade ; and many of its members soon became interested in the project for a similar company to colonize Virginia. While the middle and upper classes were growing richer, the poor were growing poorer, another condition which favored colonization. English laborers were in wretched plight, for prices had risen out of all proportion to the increase in wages. In those days, justices of the peace fixed the rate of wages to be paid in each community ; if a laborer refused to work at the established rate, he could be arrested as a vagabond and sent to jail. The increased price of wool in the sixteenth century led to a change from agriculture to sheep raising, especially in the midland counties of England. Thousands of agricultural laborers were thrown out of work ; and many of them found their way to the cities and towns, where they lived in idleness and want. Then too, the closing of the monasteries in the reign of King 57 58 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD Henry VIII had taken away the livelihood of tenants and laborers on the church lands, while also depriving the poor and friendless of a place of refuge. The end of the wars with Spain increased the number of unemployed men. Apparently only the plague remained to relieve the land of its surplus inhabitants. Under these conditions, the " merrie England " of Shakespeare's day was not a merry place for the English laborer. Small wonder that thousands grasped eagerly at the prospect of finding homes in that Virginia described by Ben Jonson as " a land of en- chantment, where gold and silver is more plentifull than copper is with us." Thus in the opening years of the seventeenth century, three conditions in England were favorable to colonization. There was a surplus of capital seeking investment, a surplus of laborers seeking employment, and a keen desire to plant colonies which should furnish raw materials, such as lumber, iron, and copper, in exchange for the products of England's growing manufactures. The Virginia Grant, 1606. The failure of Raleigh's expedi- tions proved that colonization could not be readily carried on by an individual, because of the large expense involved. On the other hand, the success of the East India Company suggested the plan of a similar company of men to undertake the coloniza- tion of Virginia. Accordingly, King James issued a patent or charter which formed two companies for the colonization of North America between the 34th and 45th degrees north lati- tude. The London Company was authorized to plant a settle- ment called the First Colony in some " fit and convenient place " between the 34th and 41st parallels, or between Cape Fear and the mouth of the Hudson River. The Plymouth Company was granted the right to locate a " Second Colony " somewhere between the 38th and 45th parallels, or between the Potomac River and Halifax. Thus the grants to the two companies over- lapped by three degrees. In other words, the land between the Potomac and Hudson rivers (from the 38th to the 41st parallels) was open to settlement by either company, but neither was to plant within one hundred miles of any settlement begun by the other. THE OLD DOMINION 59 Principal English Grants, 1606-1665 34°-41° Areas within which the charter of 1306 granted to the London Company and to the Plymouth 88 "-45° Company, respectively, the right to found a settlement extending one hundred miles along the coast and the same distance inland. Z1X~ +X* "-« Interpretationsof the limit s of the area g ranted by the "Virginia" charter of 1609. The Spanish ambassador protested against this attempt to plant colonies on territory which formed part of the Spanish Indies ; but King James replied that he was not aware that Spain had any claim to Virginia. At the north, the grant was likewise in defiance of the French title to Nova Scotia, where a settlement had already been made at Port Royal. The First Virginia Charter. The plan of government for the new colonies was a very elaborate one. Supreme authority over each colony was vested in a Council for Virginia, appointed by the king from leading men residing in England. A second coun- cil of thirteen members was to reside in the colony and manage its local affairs, subject to the direction of the council in England, which in turn was subject to the king. One important clause of this first Virginia charter declared that the colonists should have all the rights and liberties of English subjects at home. This was in marked contrast to the position of the Spanish and French colonists in the New World, who were regarded as outside the laws and privileges of home dwellers. The English colonist, on the contrary, took with him to the New World all the rights of Englishmen. He carried with him the English common law, with its time-honored safeguards 60 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD of individual liberty. When difficulties afterwards arose between the colonies and the mother country, the colonists appealed to the principles of the common law, and claimed that the king and Parliament were seeking to deprive them of privileges which were their birthright as Englishmen. The Founding of Jamestown, 1607. To the London Company fell the honor of planting the first permanent English settlement on American soil. Three small ships bearing one hundred and five colonists passed the Virginia capes on May 6, 1607, and entered Chesapeake Bay. Ascending the broad river which they named the James in honor of their king, the colonists selected their " seating-place " at a point about thirty miles up the river. It was not a favorable site ; for Jamestown, as the settle- ment was called, was on a low peninsula, with malarial swamps all about. A fort was soon constructed, also a church and store- house ; while in the rear a little street was laid out, along which huts were built. For years the colony had a hard struggle to maintain itself. The Indians were unfriendly from the first, for they no longer regarded the white man as a supernatural being. Exploring for gold was more attractive than planting corn ; but the gold turned out to be worthless iron pyrites, and within a few months, famine and disease carried away nearly one half of the settlers. The London Company was unreasonable in its demands for immediate returns from the colonists, many of whom were gentlemen adventurers unaccustomed to hard work and drawn to Virginia by the lure of gold. Then too, the charter provided for a communistic system; everything the settlers produced was placed in a common stock, and all were fed and clothed from the company's storehouse. The water supply was bad, and fever and ague from the swamps cost many lives. Of three hundred colonists sent over during the first three years, only eighty remained alive at the end of that time. The colony seemed on the verge of ruin. Captain John Smith. Jamestown was saved from this fate by the energy and ability of Captain John Smith, a bold, resourceful man whose gifts of leadership finally made him THE OLD DOMINION 61 President of the Council. Before coming to America, Smith had roamed over many countries of Europe as a soldier of fortune, but here in Virginia he was an example of industry to all. He won the friendship of the neighboring Indian tribes, explored Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and most important of all, put every one to work at planting corn. " He that will not work shall not eat," was the rule en- forced by this strong leader ; and his firmness and energy saved the colony from star- vation. When the London Company complained of the lack of returns from its struggling colony, Smith re- plied that they had com- menced the work of produc- ing tar, glass, soap, and clap- boards, but that all this progressed slowly in a new country. He struck the root of the whole matter when he wrote : " When you send again, I entreat you, send but thirty carpenters, hus- bandmen, gardeners, fisher- men, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of trees' roots, well provided, rather than one thousand of such as we have." The Starving Time. In the summer of 1609, Smith was injured by an explosion of gunpowder, and returned to Eng- land. The starving time followed, a period of misery without parallel in the history of English colonization. When only sixty colonists remained out of the five hundred who had come to Virginia, it was decided to abandon Jamestown. On their way to the sea, the starving settlers met the newly appointed governor, Lord Delaware, bringing men and supplies. So they turned back to the scene of their suffering, and the colony was Captain John Smith Copied from the original engraving in John Smith's History of New England, Virginia, and the Summer Isles, published in 1624. 62 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD saved. Lord Delaware brought with him a new charter that changed the boundaries of Virginia. The colony was to include the territory two hundred miles north and two hundred miles south of Old Point Comfort, and was to extend up into the continent " from sea to sea, west and northwest. " This vague grant was the basis for Virginia's later claim to the country northwest of the Ohio River. Economic and Social Conditions. Lord Delaware was soon succeeded as governor by Sir Thomas Dale, under whose stern rule Virginia began to prosper. Governor Dale gave a private garden of three acres to each settler, putting an end to the plan under which all were fed from a common storehouse. There was now an incentive to work, and famine never again threatened the colony. The colonists gave up hope of finding gold and silver in the forests of Virginia ; but about the year 1616, they found a real source of wealth in the cultivation of tobacco. King James opposed the use of the weed, and wrote against it a Counterblast to Tobacco ; but it was hard to prevent the cultiva- tion of a plant which brought from three to five shillings a pound in the English market. It soon became the staple crop of the colony ; at Jamestown the market place, and even the ■narrow margin of the streets, was set with tobacco. The new crop meant wealth for the planters and prosperity for Virginia. Few women had as yet come to Virginia, and one of the great events of the year 1619 was the arrival of ninety maidens, " young, handsome, and well recommended," sent over by the London Company to become wives of the bachelor planters. No suitor was allowed to claim his bride until he had paid the company one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco for her passage. The establishment of English homes in the colony laid the sure foundation of a future state. Representative Government in Virginia. The year 1619 also marks the beginning of representative government in Virginia. At this time the London Company elected as its treasurer Sir Edwin Sandys, a man who believed in individual liberty and self-government. Through his influence, the governor of Virginia was instructed to hold an election for a legislature or House of The old dominion 6§ Burgesses, to be composed of two representatives from each borough. The first House of Burgesses met in the little church at Jamestown on July 30, 1619. It consisted of the governor and his six councilors, who sat in the front seats with their hats on, and twenty burgesses who sat in the rear. During a session that lasted for six days, laws were passed " against idleness, gaming, drunkenness, and excesse in apparell;" ordering every house- holder to plant corn, mulberry trees, flax, hemp, and grapevines ; and commanding every one to attend divine service on the Sabbath day. This first representative assembly had several important results : (1) From this time on in the history of Virginia, the power of the governor was always somewhat restricted. (2) This idea of the right of the people to make their own laws soon prevailed throughout the English colonies in America, and later became the basis of our present state and national governments. (3) From its small beginnings, the House of Burgesses devel- oped great power and influence. It served in the eighteenth century as a training school for such famous leaders as Patrick Henry, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and George Wash- ington. Servants and Slaves. At first the increasing demand for cheap labor on the tobacco plantations was met by bringing over " indentured " white servants. Many of these had given a bond or indenture, binding themselves to work a certain number of years for planters who had advanced their passage money to Virginia. A less desirable class of indentured servants consisted of criminals and vagabonds, sentenced for various offenses to hard labor in the colony. These white servants formed the greater part of the laboring population of Virginia until the close of the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century, the white servants were rapidly dis- placed by another class of laborers. Probably the first negroes to arrive in Virginia were some twenty in number, brought over by a Dutch man-of-war which entered the James River in 1619. 64 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD The planters gladly purchased the negroes, who were at first held in temporary servitude like the white servants. Gradually the traffic in negroes increased, and by 1661 their condition be- came that of permanent slavery. The colonists of the seven- teenth century saw no harm in enslaving the negro, and doubt- less the Indians of Virginia would also have been made slaves if they had not proved so intractable. Virginia Becomes a Royal Province, 1624. A firm believer in the " Divine Right of Kings/' James I viewed with distrust the growth of popular government in Virginia. He forbade the reelection of the liberal Sandys as treasurer of the London Company, telling its members " to choose the devil if you will, but not Sir Edwin Sandys." A terrible Indian massacre in 1622 cost the lives of three hundred and fifty of the colonists. Using this as a pretext, King James secured from the Chief Justice a decision that the Company's charter was forfeited for mismanagement; and in this way the London Company came to an end. From 1624 until the American Revolution, Virginia remained a royal province, with a governor appointed by the king. Death interfered to prevent King James from carrying out his plan to abolish the House of Burgesses, and his son, King Charles I, allowed this representative body to continue. Thus Virginia furnished the pattern of government sooner or later provided for most of the English colonies. There was a governor and an executive council appointed by the king, and a colonial assembly elected by the people. Virginia's Loyalty to the King. Charles I soon entered upon the long conflict with Parliament which ended in his death on the scaffold in 1649. England then became a Commonwealth in name, although Oliver Cromwell was in fact dictator under the title of " Lord Protector." The Virginia colonists remained loyal to the Stuart cause in these troubled times, and even invited the son of Charles I to take refuge in the colony. Thou- sands of Cavaliers, or supporters of the Royalist cause, came over to Virginia. This immigration increased the aristocratic element in the colony, and made Virginia more devoted than THE OLD DOMINION 65 Early Settlements in Virginia ever to the cause of the king. The colonists at first refused to recognize the Commonwealth government, but a fleet sent over by Parliament compelled them to do so. In return, Virginia was allowed to retain her representative assembly, and the colonists were confirmed in the rights and liberties of free-born persons in England. Affairs at home kept Cromwell busy, and he paid little attention to the distant colony. Upon the death of Cromwell and the restoration of the monarchy in the person of King Charles II, Virginia hastened to recognize his authority. Sir William Berkeley again became governor, and grew more bigoted than ever in his zeal for the king. A new seal for Virginia bearing the old coat of arms of the London Company was adopted ; its motto proudly set forth that Virginia was to rank along with King Charles' other four dominions, namely, England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, as a fifth dominion. The people of Virginia were very proud of this distinction, and always referred to their colony as ' ' The Old Dominion." 66 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD Berkeley's Rule and Bacon's Rebellion. For sixteen years following the Restoration in 1660, Governor Berkeley ruled Virginia with a high hand. He kept the same House of Burgesses in office for many years without reelection, and gave his assent to the large taxes which it placed upon the people. Meantime, the colonists were suffering from a steady fall in the price of tobacco, as well as from heavy taxes and bad government. Virginia was on the verge of revolt in 1675 ; and Berkeley's refusal to put down an Indian uprising, or to permit the colonists to do so, finally led to Bacon's Rebellion. The governor's private interest in the fur trade was probably responsible for his refusal to punish the Indians, who had murdered two settlers on the frontier plantations. Resolving to protect themselves, the men of Charles City County chose a popular young planter named Nathaniel Bacon to lead them against the savages. Berkeley refused to grant Bacon a military commission, and proclaimed his followers a band of rebels ; but Bacon marched into the wilderness with only seventy men, and inflicted a severe defeat upon the Indians. On his return to Jamestown, a conflict between Bacon and the governor ended in the flight of Berkeley and the burning of Jamestown. But in the hour of victory, Bacon died from fever. Berkeley then defeated his followers, and hanged thirteen of them as a warning to all who defied his authority. This cruelty displeased King Charles, who ordered Berkeley back to England. The rebellion rid the colony of its despotic governor, and enabled the Virginians to place their grievances before the king. A new assembly representing the will of the people was chosen, and it was no longer possible for a few men to use the colony for their own profit. But for many years Virginia was ruled by greedy governors, and the colony was heavily taxed for the royal treasury. Restrictions on Colonial Trade. There were forty thousand settlers in Virginia by 1670, including six thousand white servants and two thousand negro slaves. Tobacco was the staple crop, yielding about twelve million pounds annually. The low price of tobacco was partly due to over-production, and partly THE OLD DOMINION 67 to the fact that it could only be exported to English ports where the price was fixed by English merchants. This situation was due to the economic policy known as the Mercantile System, which assumed that colonies were planted to increase the trade and manufactures of the mother country. Parliament in 1651 passed a navigation law aimed at the Dutch, who for forty years had been gaining control of the carrying trade of the world. Thereafter no products were to be brought to the colonies, or carried from the colonies to Europe, except in ships of which the owner and a majority of the crew were Englishmen or colonials. This policy of restriction was carried further by later acts. The chief raw materials exported from the colonies, such as sugar, tobacco, cotton wool, and dyewoods, must first be carried to England ; while all European exports to the colonies must be sent to England and there unloaded, before they could be shipped to America. The object of these laws was to give English manufacturers a monopoly of the colonial market both for the purchase of raw materials and for the sale of their own manufactured products. Staunch loyalist as he was, even Governor Berkeley denounced the Navigation Acts as " mighty and destructive ; for it is not lawfull for us to carry a pipe stave, or a barrel of corn to any place in Europe out of the king's dominions. If this were for His Majesty's service or the good of his subjects, we should not repine, whatever our sufferings are for it ; but on my soul, it is the contrary for both." REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS Bassett, J. S., Short History of the United States, pp. 42-52. Becker, C. L., Beginnings of the American People, pp. 54-80. Channing, Edward, History of the United States, I, chs. VII-VIII. Guitteau, W. B., Government and Politics in the United States, ch. II. Hart, A. B., American History Told by Contemporaries, I, ch. X. Tyler, L. G., England in America, chs. Ill- VI. 68 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD REFERENCES FOR PUPILS Deake, S. A., The Making of Virginia and the Middle Colonies, pp. 1- 65. Gordy, W. F., Stories of Early American History, ch. XI. Hart, A. B., Source Readers in American History, I, pp. 165-199. Hart, A. B., Editor, American Statesmen and Patriots, I, pp. 62-67. Higginson, T. W., Book of American Explorers, ch. XL Long, A. W., American Patriotic Prose, pp. 19-25. Thwaites, R. G., The Colonies (Epochs of American History), pp. 66- 81. From an old painting. Bacon's Quarrel with Governor Berkeley CHAPTER VII THE OTHER SOUTHERN COLONIES Lord Baltimore and His Grant. For many years, Catholics as well as Puritans were persecuted in England because they would not attend the Established Church. Nevertheless, Catholic noblemen often found favor with the Stuart kings, one of whom, Charles I, had married a Catholic princess. So when George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, planned to establish an American colony as a place of refuge for his fellow Catholics, he found the king ready to help him. The London Company forfeited its charter in 1624, making it possible for the king to subdivide Virginia's territory. Accordingly, in 1632 King Charles granted to his friend, Lord Baltimore, about twelve thousand square miles of land lying on both sides of Chesapeake Bay. The territory included in the grant covered the present states of Maryland and Delaware, as well as parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Baltimore died before he could carry out his plans, but his eldest son Cecil, the second Lord Baltimore, took up the work. A New Kind of Colony. The Maryland charter created a new kind of colony. By this charter the king granted his own right to govern to Lord Baltimore, who was to be known as the proprietor or "owner of the colony. As a token of his al- legiance, Lord Baltimore was to send the king yearly two Indian arrow heads, together with one fifth of all the gold and silver that was mined. As proprietor of the colony, Lord Balti- more had almost absolute control. He could declare war, make peace, appoint officials, pardon criminals, and confer titles; and none of these acts had to be confirmed by the king. But Baltimore had to call the colonists to his aid in making the laws, and he could not tax them without their consent. 70 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD The Founding of Maryland, 1633. Lord Baltimore himself never saw the shores of Maryland, yet he proved an energetic and successful proprietor. The first expedition of two hundred colonists sailed for Maryland under the command of Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore's brother, who was to act as governor. The place chosen for the settlement was on a small river named the St. George, in honor of the patron saint of England ; their first town was called St. Mary's. The little settlement prospered from the begin- ning ; there was no starving time here, as in Virginia and at Plymouth. Before the first year was over, the people of Maryland were able to exchange a shipload of corn for a cargo of New England codfish. The settlers were thrifty and industrious ; for Lord Bal- timore took pains to send artisans and laboring men to his colony, instead of adventurers and fine gen- tlemen like the early Vir- ginia settlers. Tobacco be- came the* leading product, and the people lived on large plantations along the waterways, where English ships might come to load. Hence in Maryland, as in Virginia, there were no large towns. Representative Government. The charter gave the colonists the right to help make the laws. All the freemen at first met together for this purpose ; but since the plantations were far apart, the custom grew up of allowing freemen who could not be present to send their proxies to those who could attend. Finally, instead of sending votes by proxy, a representative was chosen Cecil Calvert, the Second Lord Balti- more From an engraving in the New York Public Library. This portrait shows the dress of an English Cavalier. THE OTHER SOUTHERN COLONIES 71 to express the will of the people of each section. By 1650 Maryland had a representative assembly, as well as a governor and his council, all subject to the general control of the pro- prietor of the colony. Religious Toleration. Protestants as well as Catholics came to the colony in large numbers, for Maryland welcomed all who professed faith in Jesus Christ. Lord Baltimore set a noble example to the other colonies by his famous " Toleration Act of 1649 " which declared : " No person or persons whatsoever within this Province professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be in any way molested in respect to his or her religion." The passing of the Toleration Act was partly due to worldly prudence, since the Puritans were in power in England ; but it also reflects the liberal and tolerant spirit of Lord Baltimore. Rhode Island was the only other colony in America founded on the broad principle of religious freedom; to-day this principle is the pride of the entire United States. Maryland's Boundary Quarrel with Virginia. The Virginia colonists were indignant over the grant to Lord Baltimore of territory that had belonged to them. Long years of dispute followed, especially over the ownership of Kent Island where William Claiborne, a Virginian, had established a trading post within the limits of Baltimore's grant. Claiborne was finally driven off by the governor of Maryland, but this did not end the trouble. During the Civil War in England, the Baltimores took sides with King Charles II. Claiborne thought this a good time to be revenged on the Catholic rulers of Maryland. Aided by Maryland Protestants who forgot the kind treatment they had received, his forces seized the town of St. Mary's. The Baltimores were driven from the colony, the Toleration Act was repealed, and the Catholics were persecuted. In the end, the new ruler of England, Oliver Cromwell, restored Lord Baltimore as proprietor, after which religious toleration again prevailed. When James II was driven from the throne of England in 1688, the Protestants of Maryland again rose in revolt. The proprietorship was taken away from the Baltimores, and for 72 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD some years the colony was under the direct control of the English rulers. Maryland, was finally restored in 1715 to the Baltimores, who continued in power until the American Revolu- tion. Nearly a century passed after the first settlement of Maryland before its chief city was founded at the head of Chesapeake Bay, and named Baltimore in honor of the pro- prietor. Early Settlements in North Carolina. The large tract of land lying between Virginia on the north and the Spanish settlements on the south was unoccupied for a long time. The first settlers were adventure-loving Virginians who came to explore the country to the southward. The House of Burgesses issued permits to any colonists who wished to trade with the Indians in this region, and a little group of Virginians settled near the waters of Albemarle Sound. Some men from New England tried to plant a colony at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, but they soon gave up in despair and left the place to be occupied by settlers from Barbados. These were the beginnings of what was to develop into the colony of North Carolina. The Proprietors of the Carolinas. Soon after he came to the throne, King Charles II gave to eight of his favorites the im- mense tract of land south of Virginia in which these settlements were made. These men were to be the proprietors of the colony, like Lord Baltimore in Maryland. So the Carolinas became a proprietary colony, differing from Maryland chiefly in having eight proprietors where Maryland had but one. The pro- prietors were to make laws with the consent of the people of the colony. They could sell lands, collect rents, appoint officials, and grant titles of nobility. The proprietors promptly set to work to make a settlement. The first colonists reached the Caro- lina coast in 1670. They settled on the Ashley River, but afterwards moved to the place where the city of Charleston now stands. Many French Protestants or Huguenots came to Charleston about ten years later. They had been driven from their mother country by religious persecution, and proved thrifty and intelligent settlers. The Other Southern Colonies Near the headwaters of the principal rivers, the colonists established a chain of forts to protect the frontier. General Oglethorpe founded his colony despite Spanish claims to the coast as far north as Charleston. After erect- ing Fort Frederica at the southern extremity of his charter limit, he main- tained small posts at Forts William, St. Andrew, and St. George to combat Spanish claims. 73 74 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD The proprietors planned to govern their colony by an elab- orate constitution unsuited to frontier conditions. It provided for a feudal system, under which a few men were to own the land and govern it without the cooperation of the people. The sturdy Carolina pioneers would not submit to such a plan, and in the end the proprietors granted them a share in the govern- ment, with an elective assembly as in the other colonies. The Carolinas Become Royal Colonies, 1729. The Carolina settlers had to contend against many difficulties. The Spaniards on the south were hostile, as were also the Indian tribes in their midst. Another danger was from the pirates who hovered along the seacoast ; they plundered vessels, levied tribute, and made themselves at home in the Carolina ports. In all of these conflicts, the settlers had almost no support from the pro- prietors, with whom they had a standing quarrel. Finally, the proprietors gave up the task of government, and sold their colony to the king. The territory was then divided into two colonies, North and South Carolina, each with its own governor appointed by the king, and an assembly chosen by the people. The People and Their Industries. North and South Carolina differed from one another in their industries. In South Carolina, rice and indigo were the chief products. The cultivation of rice called for large plantations and slave labor. The planters lived in Charleston, leaving their estates in charge of overseers; and this city soon' became the center of social life in the South. North Carolina relied more upon the export of tar and turpen- tine. Instead of owning large plantations, her settlers lived upon small farms. Slaves were never very numerous in this colony, while in South Carolina they soon outnumbered the white settlers. Large numbers of Quakers made their homes in North Carolina, besides many Scotch-Irish, who were driven to America by the unfriendly laws passed by the British Par- liament. Later, some Germans from Pennsylvania settled in the mountain valleys ; and about 1745, large numbers of Scotch Highlanders came to the colony after their unsuccessful rebel- lion against the English king. THE OTHER SOUTHERN COLONIES 75 Oglethorpe's Plan to Relieve English Debtors. Georgia, the youngest of the English colonies in America, was planted one hundred and twenty-five years after the first settlement at Jamestown. Its founder was General James Edward Oglethorpe, a gallant soldier who had been elected to Parliament. As chairman of a committee to investigate English prisons, Ogle- thorpe found conditions very bad. Honest men were often arrested for a debt of a few dollars which they were unable to pay. They were held in foul jails until their health gave way, while their families were left to struggle as best they could. Deeply moved by what he saw, Oglethorpe suggested the plan of taking the debt- ors out of jail, and sending them to a colony in America where they might begin life over again. Georgia a Barrier Colony. Oglethorpe won the support J , , „ James Edward Oglethorpe of many clergymen as well as members of the nobility for his enterprise. Among the former were John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist religion. He prevailed also upon the merchants of London and upon Parliament to help pay the debts of those who were willing to emigrate to the New World. The English gov- ernment was favorable to the plan, for Oglethorpe proposed to plant his colony south of the Carolinas, to serve as a barrier against the Spanish power in Florida. The new colony was named in honor of King George II ; it included all the land be- tween the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, and extending from their source westward to the Pacific Ocean. The charter created a proprietary government, but the owners were not to 76 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD have such large powers as the proprietors of Maryland or the Carolinas. Slavery was prohibited, and it was decreed that foreigners should have equal rights with Englishmen. Ogle- thorpe was to be the governor, and he promptly placed himself at the head of the first band of settlers. The trustees could not send to Georgia the multitude of people who wished to take advantage of the promise of free passage and free lands. About thirty-five families were finally selected, and early in 1733 they settled at Savannah on lands secured by treaty with the Creek Indians. Augusta was estab- lished two hundred miles up the Savannah River as a frontier trading station, and Fort Frederica was built at the mouth of the Altamaha as an outpost against the Spaniards. The colony did not prosper at first, for the early poverty-stricken refugees were not the men to build up a successful colony. German Protestants and Scotch Highlanders afterwards came over in large numbers, furnishing a more desirable class of settlers. The silk industry was introduced but soon abandoned, for the production of rice and indigo proved more profitable. The trustees gave up their rights in 1752, and from this time on Georgia was a royal colony. Oglethorpe led several expedi- tions against St. Augustine ; but although he failed to capture this post, he was able to defeat an attack by the Spaniards upon Fort Frederica. So until the Revolution, Georgia served its purpose as a barrier between the English colonies and the Spaniards in Florida. REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS Andrews, C. M., Colonial Self -Government (American Nation Series), chs. IX-X. Bassett, J. S., Short History of the United States, pp. 52-58, 81-83, 109-110. Channing, Edward, History of the United States, I, chs. IX, XII. Greene, E. B., Provincial America (American Nation Series), ch. XV. Hart, A. B., American History Told by Contemporaries, I, chs. XI- XIII ; II, chs. V-VI. Tyler, L. G., England in America, chs. VII- VIII. THE OTHER SOUTHERN COLONIES 77 REFERENCES FOR PUPILS Drake, S. A., The Making of Virginia and the Middle Colonies, pp. 66-89. Gordy, W. F., Stories of Early American History, eh. XII. Sparks, E. E., Expa7ision of the American People, chs. IV-V. Thwaites, R. G., The Colonies, pp. 81-111. William and Mary College, Williamsburg The merchants of London pledged the money to found this college. The charter and seal were granted by King William, February 8, 1693, and the original building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the great English architect. CHAPTER VIII THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES Establishing a National Protestant Church » in England. Until late in the reign of King Henry VIII, England remained a Roman Catholic country, loyal to the Pope as supreme head of the church. But when the Pope refused to grant King Henry a divorce, that monarch broke off relations with Rome, and declared himself the supreme head of the Church of Eng- land. This act marked the beginning of Protestantism in England, but at first there was little change from the religious doctrines of the old church. Indeed, three Englishmen out of four were still Catholic at heart when Queen Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry VIII, came to the throne (1558). But the new Church of England made steady progress during Eliza- beth's reign. The Catholic king of Spain sent a mighty fleet against England in 1588, and the Pope declared him the rightful ruler of that country. This united Englishmen in a common cause against the invader; it became more and more difficult for Catholics to continue faithful to their religion and still remain loyal subjects of Queen Elizabeth. Origin and Ideals of the Puritans. Some members of the new Church of England wished to do more than merely deny the authority of the Pope. These reformers, or Puritans as they came to be called, wished to purify the Church of England by doing away with some of its ceremonies. They objected to making the sign of the cross in baptism, they were opposed to the use of the ring in marriage, they disliked the wearing of the surplice by clergymen. Then, too, the Puritans wanted more preaching in the church service, and less reading from the Book of Common Prayer. We must not imagine that the Puritan movement was merely a quibble about religious 78 THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 79 forms. In an age when corruption and immorality were common, the Puritans insisted upon purer living, upon a higher standard of morality* In government, too, the influence of the new movement was felt ; for the Puritans stood for the rights of the people, as opposed to the absurd Stuart doctrine of the ' ' Divine Right ' ' of kings . The reformers at first did not plan on a church of their own, but only to purify the Established Church. But the bitter persecution by Elizabeth and her successor, James I, drove thousands of Puritans out of the church, forcing them to worship by themselves. In time many Puritans became Independents or Separatists ; they wished to separate entirely from the Church of England, and form churches of their own. There ought to be no connection be- tween the churches and the government, said the Separatists. These men had caught a vision of the future, for our Amer- ican government was afterwards founded on this very principle of a complete sepa- ration of church and state. The Separatists Seek Refuge in Holland. To deny that the English king is the supreme head of the church was treason; so the reformers were fined, jailed, and persecuted without mercy. King James said : " I will make the Puritans conform, The Puritan The original statue by Augustus St. Gaudens in Lincoln Park, Chicago. 80 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD or I will harry them out of this land, or worse." The king was as good as his word ; he could not make the Puritans accept his religion, but he forced many of them to seek refuge in foreign lands. This was true of the little band of Separatists who lived at Scrooby, a country village in the north of England. About 1608 this congregation fled to Holland, then the only country in Europe that opened its doors to all Christians of whatever creed. The Scrooby emigrants settled at Leyden, about twenty miles from Amsterdam. They lived there for nearly twelve years, working industriously in the woolen manufactures for which Leyden was famous. Toward the end of this period, the exiles began to think of a second migration. They had been well treated in Holland, but they saw their children marrying into Dutch families, and fast losing their English speech and ways. Then, too, it was hard for them to earn a living at manufacturing, for they were bred to a simple country life. Moreover, the times were stormy in the Netherlands ; the twelve years' truce with Spain was nearing a close, and Holland was making ready for another deadly struggle with her bitter foe. There was but one country where the exiles might worship God in their own churches, and still bring up their children as Englishmen. That place was America. The Pilgrims Come to America. The mild climate and fertile soil of Virginia were known to the Leyden settlers, and they hoped to locate near the Virginia colony. So they asked the London Company for permission to settle somewhere on the Delaware River. The London Company promised them land, but their efforts to secure a charter from James I were in vain. The best they could get from that narrow-minded king was a vague promise that he would not molest them " so long as they lived peaceably." English merchants agreed to lend them the money needed for the voyage. In return, everything produced by the colonists for a period of seven years was to be placed in a common stock, and afterwards divided according to the amount invested by each person. A small ship, the Speedwell, brought part of the Leyden THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 81 congregation to Southampton in July, 1620. Here there was a month of delay ; but at last the Pilgrims, as we may now call them, set sail for America in two small ships. The Speedwell belied her name, for she soon sprung a leak, and the party turned back to Plymouth Harbor. Alone, the May/lower finally started across the Atlantic, with one hundred and two men, women, and children on board. The voyage was a stormy one, lasting for nine dreary weeks. Driven northward out of their Plymouth Rock as It Appears To-day course, the Pilgrims at last saw before them the low sandy coast of Cape Cod. It was far from the Delaware region to which they were bound ; but after a month spent in ex- ploring the coast, a party led by Captain Miles Standish chose Plymouth as the site for their colony (December 21, 1620). This exploring party probably landed on or near the large bowlder since called Plymouth Rock. On December 26, a favorable wind enabled the Mayflower to sail across the bay and cast anchor in Plymouth Harbor. There was no landing of the 82 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD Mayflower company as a whole ; and most of the colonists lived on board the ship during the winter, while cabins were being built on shore. The Mayflower Compact. About a month before their arrival at Plymouth, the little company met in the cabin of the Mayflower, and drew up an agreement for their government. This was necessary because they were about to settle far north of the land granted them by the London Company, a fact which led a few unruly spirits to question the authority of the Pilgrim elders. The "Mayflower Compact" declared first, that those who signed it were loyal subjects of King James of England ; second, that for the general good of the colony, they would make such just and equal laws as might prove necessary, to which every one promised due obedience. As the king of Eng- land repeatedly refused to grant a charter, Plymouth Colony was governed for seventy years under this compact. Each year the men of the colony met together in what was called a " town meeting " to discuss needed laws, to tax themselves, and to elect their governor. Nothing could be more democratic than this plan of local self-government. It was the beginning of the famous town-meeting system that soon spread throughout New England. Life in Plymouth Colony. In the early days of the Pilgrim settlement, there was almost constant hunger. Fish and game were abundant ; but being unused to fishing and hunting as well as to other sports, the Pilgrims starved in the midst of plenty. They planted corn, but the harvest was not large enough. Since there could be no private ownership of land for seven years, there was no reward for the industrious colonist ; every one was fed and clothed from the common stock, without regard to his capacity or industry. Hunger and sickness claimed one half of their number during that first terrible winter. Yet when the Mayflower sailed for England the following spring, not one of the little band went with her. It was soon found necessary to abandon the plan of owning the land in common. A parcel of land was granted to each family for its own use ; as a result, every one set to work THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 83 planting corn. In spite of this new spirit of industry, the dry summer and hot sun made the corn wither and turn brown. In this time of despair, the devout spirit of the Puritan asserted itself. A day was set aside " to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer." The answer was a refreshing rain, and in the end there was a full harvest. " For which mercy," wrote the pious Governor Bradford, " they also set apart a day of thanksgiving." Friendly Relations with the Indians. Brave Cap- tain Miles Standish, whose fame has been sung by Longfellow, was the Pilgrim leader in arms. He was the head of every exploring party, a sure bulwark against Indian attacks. Fortunately for the col- onists, most of the Indians in this region had been swept away by a deadly scourge, probably the small- pox. Then, too, the settlers had the aid of a friendly Indian named Squanto. Once carried captive to England, Squanto knew the white man's language and could act as in- terpreter. He showed the Pilgrims how to plant corn, taught them to hunt and to fish, helped them get furs and other supplies from the natives. In the spring after their arrival, the colonists were honored by a visit from Massasoit, the war chief of a tribe living southward from Plymouth. With Massasoit the Englishmen made a treaty of friendship and alliance. It was agreed that neither the red men nor the white should injure one another; and if any wrong was done, the offender should be punished. This treaty was faithfully kept by both parties for more than half a century. Edward Winslow From the only authentic portrait of Mayflower Pilgrim. 7 /! 3 7 84 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD Government of Plymouth Colony. Other settlers came from Ley den and from England. At first they brought no supplies of any kind, so there were only more hungry mouths to be fed. But the new arrivals did bring willing hands ; they brought, too, the heroic Puritan spirit which neither starvation, nor disease, nor royal persecution could conquer. Slowly but surely these sturdy Pilgrims laid the solid foundation of a permanent colony, the second English colony in America. At the end of the first ten years, there were only three hundred colonists in Ply- Plymouth in 1622 Copyright by A . S. Burbant. Leyden Street with the Common House at the left and Winslow's at the end of the row. All are made of hewn logs, with roofs of thatch and windows of oiled paper. The fireplaces were made of stones laid in clay, and the chimneys stood outside the walls. The stockade with cannon "to flank along the streets" incloses Governor Bradford's house. mouth ; but after the founding of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth gained many settlers from her neighbor. By the year 1643, Plymouth Colony comprised ten towns, with a total population of three thousand settlers. The town of Plymouth, the site of the first settlement, remained the center of the colony. The governor lived here, and here the colonial assembly met ; for as population grew, representative government was in- troduced, as in Virginia. The king had refused to give them a THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 85 charter, but the Pilgrims finally received a grant of land from the " Council for New England." Plymouth had only a short history as a separate colony, for in 1691 it was joined with the larger and more prosperous colony of Massachusetts Bay, whose beginnings we are now to trace. The Divine Right of Kings. When Charles I came to the throne after the death of his father, King James, the people of England began to realize that the Stuart kings would all prove to be tyrants. It had been a favorite maxim of James I that kings ruled by Divine Right ; that is, kings were chosen by God to rule over other men, and their subjects owed them a blind, unquestioning obedience. King Charles did not talk so much about this Divine Right theory, but he put it into practice. When Parliament dared to oppose his will, the king dismissed that body and ruled for eleven years without once consulting the wishes of his people. His chief adviser during this period was the Bishop of London, William Laud, who counseled the king to persecute all persons who would not accept the state religion. Fines, imprisonment, the pillory, torture, — these were the means on which Laud relied to maintain the Established Church, and to crush out freedom of thought. It was an evil day for Dissenters, whether Separatists or Puritans ; and the result was a great exodus of Puritans out of England to the New World. The Massachusetts Bay Company. In 1628 a group of Puritans under the leadership of John Endicott obtained a patent from King Charles giving them certain lands in America. Their grant was only about sixty miles from north to south, lying between the Charles and Merrimac rivers ; but it ex- tended westward to the Pacific Ocean, then thought to be not far from the Hudson River. Endicott, with some fifty or sixty settlers, reached the shore of Massachusetts Bay in September, 1628, and founded the town of Salem. Meantime, other Puritans in England were making ready to join their comrades in Massachusetts. They were anxious to obtain a charter from the king, and the next year, 1629, Charles I chartered the " Governor and Company of Massa- 86 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD chusetts Bay in New England." This charter was a very ^ liberal one. The company could govern the colony almost as it pleased, except that no laws were to be passed contrary to the laws of England. The members were to meet each year for the purpose of electing a governor, a deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants, who had general charge of the company's affairs. Four times a year, members of the company were to meet with these officers in a General Court to make laws for the colony. The meeting place of the company was not mentioned in the charter, but it was soon decided that it should be in Massa- chusetts, where the colony was to be established . In other words, the charter was to be taken to America, and the government of the colony placed in the hands of the colonists themselves. The Great Emigration. About 1630 began the " Great Emi- gration " of sturdy, liberty-loving Puritans from England to the shores of Massachusetts. Besides the tyranny of the 'X, king and the desire to worship in their own churches, other causes swelled the number of emigrants. England was thought to be overcrowded with people; so much so, wrote Win- throp, that " children, . . . especially if they be poor, are counted the greatest burdens, which if things were right would be the chief est earthly blessing. Across the broad Atlantic the Lord has provided a whole continent for the use of man ; why should it longer lie waste without any improvement? " The Puritan leader in this enterprise, now elected governor ■I of the Massachusetts Bay Company, was John Winthrop, an ambitious, scholarly man, who also had good business ability. Winthrop sailed for Massachusetts in 1630, with eleven ships and nine hundred colonists. After some exploration of the coast, he chose Boston as the site for the Puritan colony. The first winter here, like that earlier one at Plymouth, was a time of intense cold and suffering. Before December, hunger and exposure had claimed two hundred of their number as victims. At length supplies and more settlers arrived from England, and the colony began to prosper. Nearly four thousand people were living on or near the shore of Massachusetts Bay by 1634. Besides Boston, the capital of the colony, there were THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 87 some twenty towns or villages, including Charlestown, Dor- chester, Cambridge, Roxbury, Lynn, and Watertown. Government of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The colony was ruled at first by Governor Winthrop, aided by his deputy and the assistants. As the number of people and settlements in- creased, a change was necessary to meet new conditions. When a tax was levied for a fortification at Newtown, the inhabitants of Watertown refused to pay their share on the ground that <^ they were not represented in the General Court. As a result of Watertown 's pro- test, it was decided that each settlement should send ^^ jM j two representatives or dep- uties to meet with the governor and his assistants. The deputies and assistants at first met together, as a single body. But the depu- ties were more democratic than the assistants, with whom they often disagreed. Finally, in 1644 it was ar- ranged that deputies and assistants should meet sep- arately, as an upper and a lower house of the legisla- ture. This was the begin- ning of the two-house plan now followed in all of our state legis- latures, as well as in Congress. Local Town Government. In the meeting house the people came together both to worship God and to transact public business. Here, as at Plymouth, the freemen in town meeting decided what taxes should be levied and by whom paid ; how those who . broke the laws should be punished ; together with many other matters both of public and private concern. The town meeting elected the local officers, the John Winthrop Portrait by Van Dyck in the State House, Boston. 88 COLONIZATION OF THE NEW WORLD selectmen who had charge of the general business of the town ; constables to keep order ; cowherds to take the cattle to the common pasture ; swineherds to drive the swine to their feed- [ ~> ing-place ; a pound keeper to catch stray beasts and keep them safe until claimed by the owner, — a man for each simple duty. s\ Three things should be remembered concerning the town government of Massachusetts : (1) It was democratic, carried on directly by the people themselves ; (2) it regulated every matter of local concern ; (3) it was the type of local government copied throughout New England, and afterwards carried into the West by men from New England. Religious Intolerance. Delegates to the General Court were elected by the freemen who belonged to the Puritan churches, lor in early Massachusetts only church members were permitted to vote or hold office. Smarting under the mem- ory of their recent persecution, the Puritans became persecutors H in turn. Men were fined, whipped, or banished from the colony for speaking against the church or the government. These people had come to America not to establish a colony where every one might worship as he pleased, but to found a Puritan state of which the Puritan church should be the cornerstone. By excluding members of the Church of England from their colony, the Massachusetts Puritans placed themselves in con- flict with King Charles and his advisers, who were striving to crush Puritanism at home. At last the king brought matters to a climax. His judges declared the Massachusetts charter forfeited, and ordered the government of the colony placed in the hands of the king himself. The decree was never carried out. The Civil War in England between Charles I and his Parliament saved the colony from the loss of its charter ; and when the war ended, the House of Stuart no longer ruled England. The Struggle for Freedom of Thought. It was a simple matter to provide by law that only members of the Puritan /church should have a voice in the government of the colony. ^. . It was also easy to punish those who protested against this union of church and state. What the Puritan leaders could not THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 89 do was to prevent men from thinking and saying that this union of church and state was wrong and unjust. The cause of freedom of thought found two famous champions. A quick- witted Welshman, Roger Williams, alarmed the elders by de- claring that church and state ought to be separated, that no one should be compelled to attend religious services, and that it was wrong to require unbelievers to swear an oath of fidelity to the colony. Williams had spent much time among the Indians, teaching them the Word of God. He said that the soil of the New World belonged to them, and that the settlers could obtain a valid title to it only by purchase, instead of by a grant from the king. A serious dispute at once arose. The Puritan leaders feared that the king, who was already inclined to take away their charter, might hear of this bold denial of his authority. Williams was ordered to return to England in 1636 ; but instead of obeying, he fled to the woods and took refuge with his Indian friends. Another dis- senter, Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, was likewise teaching new re- ligious doctrines and boldly criticizing the magistrates. She, too, was banished. The Founding of Rhode Island, 1636. Roger Williams made his way to Narragansett Bay, at the head of which he founded Providence. Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers also fled south, and purchased from the Indians the island which bore the name of Aquedneck. Here two settlements were made, Portsmouth and Newport ; while the town of Warwick was founded soon afterwards. Roger Williams secured from Par- liament a patent uniting the four towns, Providence, Ports- mouth, Newport, and Warwick, under the title of " Providence Plantation in Narragansett Bay in New England/' Rhode