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diff --git a/18127.txt b/18127.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf7dbdd --- /dev/null +++ b/18127.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9645 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Beginner's American History, by D. H. +Montgomery + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Beginner's American History + + +Author: D. H. Montgomery + + + +Release Date: April 5, 2006 [eBook #18127] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY*** + + +E-text prepared by Ron Swanson + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 18127-h.htm or 18127-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/1/2/18127/18127-h/18127-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/1/2/18127/18127-h.zip) + + + + + +THE BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY + +by + +D. H. MONTGOMERY + +Author of the Leading Facts of History Series + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD. A Statue in the +Harbor of New York City, given to the American People by the People +of France. (Copyright by Charles T. Root.)] + + + + +Boston. U.S.A. +Published by Ginn & Company +1893 +Copyright, 1892, +by D. H. Montgomery +All Rights Reserved. +Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston, U.S.A. +Presswork by Ginn & Co., Boston, U.S.A. + + + + + +D.H.M. +TO +S.K.K. + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE. + +This little book is intended by the writer as an introduction to his +larger work entitled _The Leading Facts of American History_. + +It is in no sense an abridgment of the larger history, but is +practically an entirely new and distinct work. + +Its object is to present clearly and accurately those facts and +principles in the lives of some of the chief founders and builders +of America which would be of interest and value to pupils beginning +the study of our history. Throughout the book great care has been +taken to relate only such incidents and anecdotes as are believed +to rest on unexceptionable authority. + +The numerous illustrations in the text are, in nearly every case, +from drawings and designs made by Miss C. S. King of Boston. + +In the preparation of this work for the press--as in that of the +entire _Leading Facts of History Series_--the author has been +especially indebted to the valuable assistance rendered in +proofreading by Mr. George W. Cushing of Boston. + +DAVID H. MONTGOMERY, +CAMBRIDGE, MASS. + + + + +CONTENTS. + PARAGRAPH + I. COLUMBUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + II. JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT . . . . . . . . 21 + III. BALBOA, PONCE DE LEON, and DE SOTO . . . 28 + IV. SIR WALTER RALEIGH . . . . . . . . . . . 32 + V. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH . . . . . . . . . . . 37 + VI. CAPTAIN HENRY HUDSON . . . . . . . . . . 52 + VII. CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH . . . . . . . . . 62 + VIII. LORD BALTIMORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 + IX. ROGER WILLIAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 + X. KING PHILIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 + XI. WILLIAM PENN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 + XII. GENERAL JAMES OGLETHORPE . . . . . . . . 102 + XIII. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN . . . . . . . . . . . 109 + XIV. GEORGE WASHINGTON . . . . . . . . . . . 123 + XV. DANIEL BOONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 + XVI. GENERAL JAMES ROBERTSON . . . . . . . . 156 + XVII. GOVERNOR JOHN SEVIER . . . . . . . . . . 156 + XVIII. GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK . . . . . . 161 + XIX. GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM . . . . . . . . . . 169 + XX. ELI WHITNEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 + XXI. THOMAS JEFFERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 + XXII. ROBERT FULTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 + XXIII. GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON . . . . . 201 + XXIV. GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON . . . . . . . . . 206 + XXV. PROFESSOR SAMUEL F. B. MORSE . . . . . . 220 + XXVI. GENERAL SAM HOUSTON . . . . . . . . . . 229 + XXVII. CAPTAIN ROBERT GRAY . . . . . . . . . . 233 +XXVIII. CAPTAIN J. A. SUTTER . . . . . . . . . . 236 + XXIX. ABRAHAM LINCOLN . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 + +A SHORT LIST OF BOOKS +INDEX + + +LIST OF LARGE MAPS. + PARAGRAPH + I. Map Illustrating the Early Life of Washington . . . . . . 127 + II. Map of the Revolution (northern states) . . . . . . . . . 135 + III. Map of the Revolution (southern states) . . . . . . . . . 140 + IV. The United States at the close of the Revolution . . . . 187 + V. The United States after the Purchase of Louisiana (1803) 188 + VI. The United States after the Purchase of Florida (1819) . 218 + VII. The United States after the Acquisition of Texas (1845) . 230 +VIII. The United States after the Acquisition of Oregon (1846) 235 + IX. The United States after the Acquisition of California + and New Mexico (1848) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 + X. The United States after the Gadsden Purchase (1853) . . . 240 + XI. The United States after the Purchase of Alaska (1867) + See Map of North America (giving a summary of the + territorial growth of the United States) . . . . . . . 240 + +NOTE.--In these maps it has been thought best to give the boundaries +of the thirteen original states as they now exist; and to show the +outlines of other states before they were organized and admitted. + + +LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. + PARAGRAPH + I. The Statue of Liberty . . . . . . . . . . . . ._Frontispiece_ + II. An Indian Attack on a Settlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 +III. Paul Revere's Ride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 + IV. Battle of New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 + V. Niagara Suspension Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 + VI. Mount Hood, Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 +VII. Mirror Lake, California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 + + + + +THE BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY + + + + +_The paragraph headings, following the paragraph numbers, will be +found useful for topical reference, and, if desired, as questions; +by simply omitting these headings, the book may be used as a reader._ + +_Teachers who wish a regular set of questions on each section will +find them at the end of the section. Difficult words are defined or +pronounced at the end of the numbered paragraph where they first +occur; reference to them will be found in the index._ + + + + +CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS +(1436-1506).[1] + + +1. Birth and boyhood of Columbus.--Christopher Columbus,[2] the +discoverer of America, was born at Genoa,[3] a seaport of Italy, more +than four hundred and fifty years ago. His father was a +wool-comber.[4] Christopher did not care to learn that trade, but +wanted to become a sailor. Seeing the boy's strong liking for the +sea, his father sent him to a school where he could learn geography, +map-drawing, and whatever else might help him to become some day +commander of a vessel. + +[Illustration: COLUMBUS AS A BOY. (From the statue in the Museum of +Fine Arts, Boston.)] + +[Footnote 1: These enclosed dates under a name show, except when +otherwise stated, the year of birth and death.] + +[Footnote 2: Christopher Columbus (Kris'tof-er Ko-lum'bus).] + +[Footnote 3: Genoa (Jen'o-ah); see map in paragraph 21.] + +[Footnote 4: Wool-comber: before wool can be spun into thread and +woven into cloth the tangled locks must be combed out straight and +smooth; once this was all done by hand.] + + +2. Columbus becomes a sailor.--When he was fourteen Columbus went +to sea. In those days the Mediterranean[5] Sea swarmed with war-ships +and pirates. Every sailor, no matter if he was but a boy, had to stand +ready to fight his way from port to port. + +In this exciting life, full of adventure and of danger, Columbus grew +to manhood. The rough experiences he then had did much toward making +him the brave, determined captain and explorer[6] that he afterwards +became. + +[Footnote 5: Mediterranean (Med'i-ter-ra'ne-an).] + +[Footnote 6: Explorer: one who explores or discovers new countries.] + + +3. Columbus has a sea-fight; he goes to Lisbon.--According to some +accounts, Columbus once had a desperate battle with a vessel off the +coast of Portugal. The fight lasted, it is said, all day. At length +both vessels were found to be on fire. Columbus jumped from his +blazing ship into the sea, and catching hold of a floating oar, +managed, with its help, to swim to the shore, about six miles away. + +He then went to the port of Lisbon.[7] There he married the daughter +of a famous sea-captain. For a long time after his marriage Columbus +earned his living partly by drawing maps, which he sold to commanders +of vessels visiting Lisbon, and partly by making voyages to Africa, +Iceland, and other countries. + +[Footnote 7: Lisbon: see map in paragraph 21.] + + +4. What men then knew about the world.--The maps which Columbus made +and sold were very different from those we now have. At that time +not half of the world had been discovered.[8] Europe, Asia, and a +small part of Africa were the chief countries known. The maps of +Columbus may have shown the earth shaped like a ball, but he supposed +it to be much smaller than it really is. No one then had sailed round +the globe. No one then knew what lands lay west of the broad Atlantic; +for this reason we should look in vain, on one of the maps drawn by +Columbus, for the great continents of North and South America or for +Australia or the Pacific Ocean. + +[Illustration: The light parts of this map show how much of the world +was then well-known; the white crosses show those countries of +Eastern Asia of which something was known.] + +[Footnote 8: See map in this paragraph.] + + +5. The plan of Columbus for reaching the Indies by sailing +west.--While living in Lisbon, Columbus made up his mind to try to +do what no other man, at that time, dared attempt,--that was to cross +the Atlantic Ocean. He thought that by doing so he could get directly +to Asia and the Indies, which, he believed, were opposite Portugal +and Spain. If successful, he could open up a very profitable trade +with the rich countries of the East, from which spices, drugs, and +silk were brought to Europe. The people of Europe could not reach +those countries directly by ships, because they had not then found +their way round the southern point of Africa. + +[Illustration: This map shows how Columbus (not knowing that America +lay in the way) hoped to reach Asia and the East Indies by sailing +west.] + + +6. Columbus tries to get help in carrying out his plans.--Columbus +was too poor to fit out even a single ship to undertake such a voyage +as he had planned. He asked the king of Portugal to furnish some money +or vessels toward it, but he received no encouragement. At length +he determined to go to Spain and see if he could get help there. + +On the southern coast of Spain there is a small port named Palos.[9] +Within sight of the village of Palos, and also within plain sight +of the ocean, there was a convent,[10]--which is still +standing,--called the Convent of Saint Mary. + +One morning a tall, fine-looking man, leading a little boy by the +hand, knocked at the door of this convent and begged for a piece of +bread and a cup of water for the child. The man was Columbus,--whose +wife was now dead,--and the boy was his son. + +It chanced that the guardian of the convent noticed Columbus standing +at the door. He liked his appearance, and coming up, began to talk +with him. Columbus frankly told him what he was trying to do. The +guardian of the convent listened with great interest; then he gave +him a letter to a friend who he thought would help him to lay his +plans before Ferdinand and Isabella,[11] the king and queen of Spain. + +[Footnote 9: Palos (Pa'los); see map in paragraph 12.] + +[Footnote 10: Convent: a house in which a number of people live who +devote themselves to a religious life.] + +[Footnote 11: Isabella (Iz-ah-bel'ah).] + + +7. Columbus gets help for his great voyage.--Columbus left his son +at the convent, and set forward on his journey full of bright hopes. +But Ferdinand and Isabella could not then see him; and after waiting +a long time, the traveller was told that he might go before a number +of learned men and tell them about his proposed voyage across the +Atlantic. + +After hearing what Columbus had to say, these men thought that it +would be foolish to spend money in trying to reach the other side +of the ocean. + +People who heard what this captain from Lisbon wanted to do began +to think that he had lost his reason, and the boys in the streets +laughed at him and called him crazy. Columbus waited for help seven +years; he then made up his mind that he would wait no longer. Just +as he was about leaving Spain, Queen Isabella, who had always felt +interested in the brave sailor, resolved to aid him. Two rich +sea-captains who lived in Palos also decided to take part in the +voyage. With the assistance which Columbus now got he was able to +fit out three small vessels. He went in the largest of the +vessels--the only one which had an entire deck--as admiral[12] or +commander of the fleet. + +[Footnote 12: Admiral (ad'mi-ral).] + + +8. Columbus sails.--Early on Friday morning, August 3d, 1492, +Columbus started from Palos to attempt to cross that ocean which men +then called the "Sea of Darkness,"--a name which showed how little +they knew of it, and how much they dreaded it. + +We may be pretty sure that the guardian of the convent was one of +those who watched the sailing of the little fleet. From the upper +windows of the convent he could plainly see the vessels as they left +the harbor of Palos. + +[Illustration: COLUMBUS LEAVING PALOS, AUGUST 3D, 1492.] + + +9. What happened on the first part of the voyage.--Columbus sailed +first for the Canary Islands, because from there it would be a +straight line, as he thought, across to Japan and Asia. He was obliged +to stop at the Canaries[13] more than three weeks, in order to make +a new rudder for one of his vessels and to alter the sails of another. + +At length all was ready, and he again set out on his voyage toward +the west. When the sailors got so far out on the ocean that they could +no longer see any of the islands, they were overcome with fear. They +made up their minds that they should never be able to get back to +Palos again. They were rough men, used to the sea, but now they bowed +down their heads and cried like children. Columbus had hard work to +quiet their fears and to encourage them to go forward with the voyage +which they already wanted to give up. + +[Footnote 13: Canaries (Ka-na'rez); see map in paragraph 12.] + + +10. What happened after they had been at sea many days.--For more +than thirty days the three ships kept on their way toward the west. +To the crew every day seemed a year. From sunrise to sunset nothing +was to be seen but water and sky. At last the men began to think that +they were sailing on an ocean which had no end. They whispered among +themselves that Columbus had gone mad, and that if they kept on with +him in command they should all be lost. + +Twice, indeed, there was a joyful cry of Land! Land! but when they +got nearer they saw that what they had thought was land was nothing +but banks of clouds. Then some of the sailors said, Let us go to the +admiral and tell him that we must turn back. What if he will not listen +to us? asked others; Then we will throw him overboard and say when +we reach Palos that he fell into the sea and was drowned. + +But when the crew went to Columbus and told him that they would go +no further, he sternly ordered them to their work, declaring that +whatever might happen, he would not now give up the voyage. + + +11. Signs of land.--The very next day such certain signs of land were +seen that the most faint-hearted took courage. The men had already +noticed great flocks of land-birds flying toward the west, as if to +guide them. Now some of the men on one vessel saw a branch of a +thorn-bush float by. It was plain that it had not long been broken +off from the bush, and it was full of red berries. + +But one of the crew on the other vessel found something better even +than the thorn-branch; for he drew out of the water a carved +walking-stick. Every one saw that such a stick must have been cut +and carved by human hands. These two signs could not be doubted. The +men now felt sure that they were approaching the shore, and what was +more, that there were people living in that strange country. + + +12. Discovery of land.--That evening Columbus begged his crew to keep +a sharp lookout, and he promised a velvet coat to the one who should +first see land. All was now excitement; and no man closed his eyes +in sleep that night. + +Columbus himself stood on a high part of his ship, looking steadily +toward the west. About ten o'clock he saw a moving light; it seemed +like a torch carried in a man's hand. He called to a companion and +asked him if he could see anything of the kind; yes, he, too, plainly +saw the moving light, but presently it disappeared. + +Two hours after midnight a cannon was fired from the foremost vessel. +It was the glad signal that the long-looked-for land was actually +in sight. There it lay directly ahead, about six miles away. + +[Illustration: Map showing the direction in which Columbus sailed +on his great voyage across the ocean.] + +Then Columbus gave the order to furl sails, and the three vessels +came to a stop and waited for the dawn. When the sun rose on Friday, +October 12th, 1492, Columbus saw a beautiful island with many trees +growing on it. That was his first sight of the New World. + + +13. Columbus lands on the island and names it; who lived on the +island.--Attended by the captains of the other two vessels, and by +their crews, Columbus set out in a boat for the island. When they +landed, all fell on their knees, kissed the ground for joy, and gave +thanks to God. Columbus named the island San Salvador[14] and took +possession of it, by right of discovery, for the king and queen of +Spain. + +[Illustration: LANDING OF COLUMBUS.] + +He found that it was inhabited by a copper-colored people who spoke +a language he could not understand. These people had never seen a +ship or a white man before. They wore no clothing, but painted their +bodies with bright colors. The Spaniards made them presents of +strings of glass beads and red caps. In return they gave the Spaniards +skeins of cotton yarn, tame parrots, and small ornaments of gold. + +After staying here a short time Columbus set sail toward the south, +in search of more land and in the hope of finding out where these +people got their gold. + +[Footnote 14: San Salvador (San Sal-va-dor'): meaning the Holy +Redeemer or Saviour.] + + +14. Columbus names the group of islands and their people.--As +Columbus sailed on, he saw many islands in every direction. He +thought that they must be a part of the Indies which he was seeking. +Since he had reached them by coming west from Spain, he called them +the West Indies, and to the red men who lived on them he gave the +name of Indians. + + +15. Columbus discovers two very large islands; his vessel is wrecked, +and he returns to Spain in another.--In the course of the next six +weeks Columbus discovered the island of Cuba. At first he thought +that it must be Japan, but afterward he came to the conclusion that +it was not an island at all, but part of the mainland of Asia. + +Next, he came to the island of Hayti,[15] or San Domingo.[16] Here +his ship was wrecked. He took the timber of the wreck and built a +fort on the shore. Leaving about forty of his crew in this fort, +Columbus set sail for Palos in one of the two remaining vessels. + +[Footnote 15: Hayti (Ha'ti).] + +[Footnote 16: San Domingo (San Do-min'go); see map in paragraph 17.] + + +16. Columbus arrives at Palos; joy of the people; how Ferdinand and +Isabella received him.--When the vessel of Columbus was seen +entering the harbor of Palos, the whole village was wild with +excitement. More than seven months had gone by since he sailed away +from that port, and as nothing had been heard from him, many supposed +that the vessels and all on board were lost. Now that they saw their +friends and neighbors coming back, all was joy. The bells of the +churches rang a merry peal of welcome; the people thronged the +streets, shouting to each other that Columbus, the great navigator, +had crossed the "Sea of Darkness" and had returned in safety. + +The king and queen were then in the city of Barcelona,[17] a long +distance from Palos. To that city Columbus now went. He entered it +on horseback, attended by the proudest and richest noblemen of Spain. +He brought with him six Indians from the West Indies. They were gaily +painted and wore bright feathers in their hair. Then a number of men +followed, carrying rare birds and plants, with gold and silver +ornaments, all found in the New World. These were presents for the +king and queen. Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus with great +honor. When he had told them the story of his wonderful voyage, they +sank on their knees and gave praise to God; all who were present +followed their example. + +[Illustration: COLUMBUS RECEIVED BY THE KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN.] + +[Footnote 17: Barcelona (Bar-se-lo'na); see map in paragraph 12.] + + +17. The last voyages of Columbus.--Columbus made three more voyages +across the Atlantic. He discovered more islands near the coast of +America, and he touched the coast of Central America and of South +America, but that was all. He never set foot on any part of what is +now the United States, and he always thought that the land he had +reached was part of Asia. He had found a new world, but he did not +know it: all that he knew was how to get to it and how to show others +the way. + +[Illustration: The light parts of this map show how much of America +Columbus discovered. (The long island is Cuba; the large one to the +right is San Domingo.)] + + +18. Columbus in his old age.--The last days of this great man were +very sorrowful. The king was disappointed because he brought back +no gold to amount to anything. The Spanish governor of San Domingo +hated Columbus, and when he landed at that island on one of his +voyages, he arrested him and sent him back to Spain in chains. He +was at once set at liberty; but he could not forget the insult. He +kept the chains hanging on the wall of his room, and asked to have +them buried with him. + +Columbus was now an old man; his health was broken, he was poor, in +debt, and without a home. Once he wrote to the king and queen, saying, +"I have not a hair upon me that is not gray, my body is weak, and +all that was left to me ... has been taken away and sold, even to +the coat which I wore." + +Not long after he had come back to Spain to stay, the queen died. +Then Columbus felt that he had lost his best friend. He gave up hope, +and said, "I have done all that I could do: I leave the rest to God." + + +19. His death and burial.--Columbus died full of disappointment and +sorrow--perhaps it would not be too much to say that he died of a +broken heart. + +He was at first buried in Spain; then his body was taken up and carried +to San Domingo, where he had wished to be buried. Whether it rests +there to-day, or whether it was carried to Havana[18] and deposited +in the cathedral or great church of that city, no one can positively +say. But wherever the grave of the great sailor may be, his memory +will live in every heart capable of respecting a brave man; for he +first dared to cross the "Sea of Darkness," and he discovered +America. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS. (In the Cathedral of Havana, +Cuba.)] + +[Footnote 18: Havana (Ha-van'ah): a city of Cuba.] + + +20. Summary.--In 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to +find a direct way across the Atlantic to Asia and the Indies. He did +not get to Asia; but he did better; he discovered America. He died +thinking that the new lands he had found were part of Asia; but by +his daring voyage he first showed the people of Europe how to get +to the New World. + + +When and where was Columbus born? What did he do when he was fourteen? +What about his sea-fight? What did he do in Lisbon? How much of the +world was then known? How did Columbus think he could reach Asia and +the Indies? Why did he want to go there? What did he try to do in +Portugal? Why did he go to Spain? Where did he first go in Spain? +How did Columbus get help at last? When did he sail? What happened +on the first part of the voyage? What happened after that? What is +said about signs of land? What about the discovery of land? What did +Columbus name the island? What did he find on it? What is said of +other islands? What is said of the return of Columbus to Spain? What +about the last voyages of Columbus? Did he ever land on any part of +what is now the United States? What about his old age? What is said +of his death and burial? + + + + +JOHN CABOT[1] +(Lived in England from 1472-1498). + + +21. John Cabot discovers the _continent_ of North America.--At the +time that Columbus set out on his first voyage across the Atlantic +in 1492, John Cabot, an Italian merchant, was living in the city of +Bristol,[2] England. When the news reached that city that Columbus +had discovered the West Indies, Cabot begged Henry the Seventh, king +of England, to let him see if he could not find a shorter way to the +Indies than that of Columbus. The king gave his consent, and in the +spring of 1497 John Cabot, with his son Sebastian,[3] who seems to +have been born in Bristol, sailed from that port. They headed their +vessels toward the northwest; by going in that direction they hoped +to get to those parts of Asia and the Spice Islands which were known +to Europe, and which Columbus had failed to reach. + +[Illustration: Map showing the city of Venice, Italy, where John +Cabot had lived.] + +Early one bright morning toward the last of June, 1497, they saw land +in the west. It was probably Cape Breton[4] Island, a part of Nova +Scotia.[5] John Cabot named it "The Land First Seen." Up to this time +Columbus had discovered nothing but the West India Islands, but John +Cabot now saw the continent of North America; no civilized man[6] +had ever seen it before. There it lay, a great, lonely land, shaggy +with forests, with not a house or a human being in sight. + +[Illustration: Map showing Nova Scotia.] + +[Footnote 1: Cabot (Cab'ot).] + +[Footnote 2: See map in paragraph 62.] + +[Footnote 3: Sebastian (Se-bast'yan).] + +[Footnote 4: Breton (Bret'on).] + +[Footnote 5: Nova Scotia (No'vah Sko'she-a).] + +[Footnote 6: The Northmen: an uncivilized people of Norway and +Denmark discovered the continent of North America about five hundred +years before Cabot did. Nothing came of this discovery, and when +Cabot sailed, no one seems to have known anything about what the +Northmen had done so long before.] + + +22. John Cabot takes possession of the country for the king of +England.--Cabot went on shore with his son and some of his crew. In +the vast, silent wilderness they set up a large cross. Near to it +they planted two flag-poles, and hoisted the English flag on one and +the flag of Venice,[7] the city where John Cabot had lived in Italy, +on the other. Then they took possession of the land for Henry the +Seventh. It was in this way that the English came to consider that +the eastern coast of North America was their property, although they +did not begin to make settlements here until nearly a hundred years +later. + +[Illustration: LANDING OF THE CABOTS.] + +[Footnote 7: Venice (Ven'is).] + + +23. John Cabot and his son return to Bristol.--After sailing about +the Gulf of St. Lawrence without finding the passage through to Asia +for which they were looking, the voyagers returned to England. + +The king was so pleased with what John Cabot had discovered that he +made him a handsome present; and when the captain, richly dressed +in silk, appeared in the street, the people of Bristol would "run +after him like mad" and hurrah for the "Great Admiral," as they called +him. + + +24. What the Cabots carried back to England from America.--The Cabots +carried back to England some Indian traps for catching game and +perhaps some wild turkeys--an American bird the English had then +never seen, but whose acquaintance they were not sorry to make. They +also carried over the rib of a whale which they had found on the beach +in Nova Scotia. + +Near where the Cabots probably lived in Bristol there is a famous +old church.[8] It was built long before the discovery of America, +and Queen Elizabeth said that it was the most beautiful building of +its kind in all England. In that church hangs the rib of a whale. +It is believed to be the one the Cabots brought home with them. It +reminds all who see it of that voyage in 1497 by which England got +possession of a very large part of the continent of North America. + +[Footnote 8: The church of St. Mary Redcliffe.] + + +25. The second voyage of the Cabots; how they sailed along the eastern +shores of North America.--About a year later the Cabots set out on +a second voyage to the west. They reached the gloomy cliffs of +Labrador[9] on the northeastern coast of America, and they passed +many immense icebergs. They saw numbers of Indians dressed in the +skins of wild beasts, and polar bears white as snow. These bears were +great swimmers, and would dive into the sea and come up with a large +fish in their claws. As it did not look to the Cabots as if the polar +bears and the icebergs would guide them to the warm countries of Asia +and the Spice Islands, they turned about and went south. They sailed +along what is now the eastern coast of the United States for a very +long distance; but not finding any passage through to the countries +they were seeking, they returned to England. + +[Illustration: Map showing how much of the continent of North America +was discovered by the Cabots.] + +The English now began to see what an immense extent of land they had +found beyond the Atlantic. They could not tell, however, whether it +was a continent by itself or a part of Asia. Like everybody in Europe, +they called it the New World, but all that name really meant then +was simply the New Lands across the sea. + +[Footnote 9: Labrador (Lab'ra-dor).] + + +26. How the New World came to be called America.--But not many years +after this the New World received the name by which we now call it. +An Italian navigator whose first name was Amerigo[10] made a voyage +to it after it had been discovered by Columbus and the Cabots. He +wrote an account of what he saw, and as this was the first printed +description of the continent, it was named from him, AMERICA. + +[Footnote 10: Amerigo (A-ma-ree'go): his full name was Amerigo +Vespucci (A-ma-ree'go Ves-poot'chee), or, as he wrote it in Latin, +Americus Vespucius.] + + +27. Summary.--In 1497 John Cabot and his son, from Bristol, England, +discovered the mainland or continent of North America, and took +possession of it for England. The next year they came over and sailed +along the eastern coast of what is now the United States. + +An Italian whose first name was Amerigo visited the New World +afterward and wrote the first account of the mainland which was +printed. For this reason the whole continent was named after him, +AMERICA. + + +Who was John Cabot? What did he try to do? Who sailed with him? +What land did they see? Had Columbus ever seen it? What did Cabot +do when he went on shore? What is said of his return to Bristol? What +did the Cabots carry back to England? What is said about the second +voyage of the Cabots? How did the New World come to be called America? + + + + +PONCE DE LEON,[1] BALBOA,[2] AND DE SOTO[3] +(Period of Discovery, 1513-1542). + + +28. The magic fountain; Ponce de Leon discovers Florida; Balboa +discovers the Pacific Ocean.--The Indians on the West India Islands +believed that there was a wonderful fountain in a land to the west +of them. They said that if an old man should bathe in its waters, +they would make him a boy again. Ponce de Leon, a Spanish soldier +who was getting gray and wrinkled, set out to find this magic fountain, +for he thought that there was more fun in being a boy than in growing +old. + +He did not find the fountain, and so his hair grew grayer than ever +and his wrinkles grew deeper. But in 1513 he discovered a land bright +with flowers, which he named Florida.[4] He took possession of it +for Spain. + +The same year another Spaniard, named Balboa, set out to explore the +Isthmus of Panama.[5] One day he climbed to the top of a very high +hill, and discovered that vast ocean--the greatest of all the oceans +of the globe--which we call the Pacific. + +[Footnote 1: Ponce de Leon (Pon'thay day La-on') or, in English, Pons +de Lee'on. Many persons now prefer the English pronunciation of all +these Spanish names.] + +[Footnote 2: Balboa (Bal-bo'ah).] + +[Footnote 3: De Soto (Da So'to).] + +[Footnote 4: Florida: this word means flowery; the name was given +by the Spaniards because they discovered the country on Easter Sunday, +which they call Flowery Easter.] + +[Footnote 5: Panama (Pan-a-mah').] + + +29. De Soto discovers the Mississippi.--Long after Balboa and Ponce +de Leon were dead, a Spaniard named De Soto landed in Florida and +marched through the country in search of gold mines. + +In the course of his long and weary wanderings, he came to a river +more than a mile across. The Indians told him it was the Mississippi, +or the Great River. In discovering it, De Soto had found the largest +river in North America; he had also found his own grave, for he died +shortly after, and was secretly buried at midnight in its muddy +waters. + +[Illustration: BURIAL OF DE SOTO.] + + +30. The Spaniards build St. Augustine;[6] we buy Florida in +1819.--More than twenty years after the burial of De Soto, a Spanish +soldier named Menendez[7] went to Florida and built a fort on the +eastern coast. This was in 1565. The fort became the centre of a +settlement named St. Augustine. It is the oldest city built by white +men, not only in what is now the United States, but in all North +America. + +[Illustration: OLD SPANISH GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE. (Called the +"City Gate.")] + +In 1819, or more than two hundred and fifty years after St. Augustine +was begun, Spain sold Florida to the United States. + +[Footnote 6: St. Augustine (Sant Aw'gus-teen').] + +[Footnote 7: Menendez (Ma-nen'deth).] + + +31. Summary.--Ponce de Leon discovered Florida; another Spaniard, +named Balboa, discovered the Pacific; still another, named De Soto, +discovered the Mississippi. In 1565 the Spaniards began to build St. +Augustine in Florida. It is the oldest city built by white men in +the United States or in all North America. + + +What is said about a magic fountain? What did Ponce De Leon do? What +is said about Balboa? What about De Soto? What did Menendez do in +Florida? What is said of St. Augustine? + + + + +SIR WALTER RALEIGH[1] +(1552-1618). + + +32. Walter Raleigh sends two ships to America; how the Indians +received the Englishmen.--Although John Cabot discovered the +continent of North America in 1497 and took possession of the land +for the English,[2] yet the English themselves did not try to settle +here until nearly a hundred years later. + +Then (1584) a young man named Walter Raleigh, who was a great favorite +of Queen Elizabeth's, sent out two ships to America. The captains +of these vessels landed on Roanoke[3] Island, on the coast of what +is now the state of North Carolina. They found the island covered +with tall red cedars and with vines thick with clusters of wild grapes. +The Indians called this place the "Good Land." They were pleased to +see the Englishmen, and they invited them to a great feast of roast +turkey, venison,[4] melons, and nuts. + +[Illustration: Map showing Roanoke Island.] + +[Footnote 1: Raleigh (Raw'li).] + +[Footnote 2: See paragraph 22.] + +[Footnote 3: Roanoke (Ro-a-nok').] + +[Footnote 4: Venison (ven'i-zon or ven'zon): deer meat.] + + +33. Queen Elizabeth names the country Virginia; first settlers; what +they sent Walter Raleigh.--When the two captains returned to England, +Queen Elizabeth--the "Virgin Queen," as she was called--was +delighted with what she heard of the "Good Land." She named it +Virginia in honor of herself. She also gave Raleigh a title of honor. +From that time he was no longer called plain Walter Raleigh or Mr. +Raleigh, but Sir Walter Raleigh. + +Sir Walter now (1585) shipped over emigrants[5] to settle in Virginia. +They sent back to him as a present two famous American plants--one +called Tobacco, the other the Potato. The queen had given Sir Walter +a fine estate in Ireland, and he set out both the plants in his garden. +The tobacco plant did not grow very well there, but the potato did; +and after a time thousands of farmers began to raise that vegetable, +not only in Ireland, but in England too. As far back then as that +time--or more than three hundred years ago--America was beginning +to feed the people of the Old World. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST PIPE OF TOBACCO. (Raleigh's servant thought +his master was on fire.)] + +[Footnote 5: Emigrants: persons who leave one country to go and +settle in another. Thousands of emigrants from Europe now land in +this country every month.] + + +34. The Virginia settlement destroyed.--Sir Walter spent immense +sums of money on his settlement in Virginia, but it did not succeed. +One of the settlers, named Dare, had a daughter born there. He named +her Virginia Dare. She was the first English child born in America. +But the little girl, with her father and mother and all the rest of +the settlers, disappeared. It is supposed that they were either +killed by the Indians or that they wandered away and starved to death; +but all that we really know is that not one of them was ever seen +again. + + +35. Last days of Sir Walter Raleigh.--After Queen Elizabeth died, +King James the First became ruler of England. He accused Sir Walter +of trying to take away his crown so as to make some one else ruler +over the country. Sir Walter was sent to prison and kept there for +many years. At last King James released him in order to send him to +South America to get gold. When Sir Walter returned to London without +any gold, the greedy king accused him of having disobeyed him because +he had fought with some Spaniards. Raleigh was condemned to death +and beheaded. + +But Sir Walter's attempt to settle Virginia led other Englishmen to +try. Before he died they built a town, called Jamestown, on the coast. +We shall presently read the history of that town. The English held +Virginia from that time until it became part of the United States. + + +36. Summary.--Sir Walter Raleigh sent over men from England to +explore the coast of America. Queen Elizabeth named the country they +visited Virginia. Raleigh then shipped emigrants over to make a +settlement. These emigrants sent him two American plants, Tobacco +and the Potato; and in that way the people of Great Britain and +Ireland came to like both. Sir Walter's settlement failed, but his +example led other Englishmen to try to make one. Before he was +beheaded they succeeded. + + +What is said about Walter Raleigh? What is said about the Indians? +What name did Queen Elizabeth give to the country? What did she do +for Walter Raleigh? What did Sir Walter then do? What American plants +did the emigrants send him? What did he do with those plants? What +happened to the Virginia settlement? What is said of the last days +of Sir Walter Raleigh? Did Sir Walter's attempt to settle Virginia +do any good? + + + + +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH +(1579-1631). + + +37. New and successful attempt to make a settlement in Virginia; +Captain John Smith.--One of the leaders in the new expedition sent +out to make a settlement in Virginia, while Raleigh was in prison, +was Captain John Smith. He began life as a clerk in England. Not +liking his work, he ran away and turned soldier. After many strange +adventures, he was captured by the Turks and sold as a slave. His +master, who was a Turk, riveted a heavy iron collar around his neck +and set him to thrashing grain with a big wooden bat like a ball-club. +One day the Turk rode up and struck his slave with his riding-whip. +This was more than Smith could bear; he rushed at his master, and +with one blow of his bat knocked his brains out. He then mounted the +dead man's horse and escaped. After a time he got back to England; +but as England seemed a little dull to Captain Smith, he resolved +to join some emigrants who were going to Virginia. + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.] + + +38. What happened to Captain Smith on the voyage; the landing at +Jamestown; what the settlers wanted to do; Smith's plan.--On the way +to America, Smith was accused of plotting to murder the chief men +among the settlers so that he might make himself "King of Virginia." +The accusation was false, but he was put in irons and kept a prisoner +for the rest of the voyage. + +In the spring of 1607 the emigrants reached Chesapeake[1] Bay, and +sailed up a river which they named the James in honor of King James +of England; when they landed they named the settlement Jamestown for +the same reason. Here they built a log fort, and placed three or four +small cannon on its walls. Most of the men who settled Jamestown came +hoping to find mines of gold in Virginia, or else a way through to +the Pacific Ocean and to the Indies, which they thought could not +be very far away. But Captain Smith wanted to help his countrymen +to make homes here for themselves and their children. + +[Illustration: Map showing Jamestown.] + +[Footnote 1: Chesapeake (Ches'a-peek).] + + +39. Smith's trial and what came of it; how the settlers lived; the +first English church; sickness; attempted desertion.--As soon as +Captain Smith landed, he demanded to be tried by a jury[2] of twelve +men. The trial took place. It was the first English court and the +first English jury that ever sat in America. The captain proved his +innocence and was set free. His chief accuser was condemned to pay +him a large sum of money for damages. Smith generously gave this money +to help the settlement. + +As the weather was warm, the emigrants did not begin building log +cabins at once, but slept on the ground, sheltered by boughs of trees. +For a church they had an old tent, in which they met on Sunday. They +were all members of the Church of England, or the Episcopal Church, +and that tent was the first place of worship that we know of which +was opened by Englishmen in America. + +When the hot weather came, many fell sick. Soon the whole settlement +was like a hospital. Sometimes three or four would die in one night. +Captain Smith, though not well himself, did everything he could for +those who needed his help. + +When the sickness was over, some of the settlers were so discontented +that they determined to seize the only vessel there was at Jamestown +and go back to England. Captain Smith turned the cannon of the fort +against them. The deserters saw that if they tried to leave the harbor +he would knock their vessel to pieces, so they came back. One of the +leaders of these men was tried and shot; the other was sent to England +in disgrace. + +[Footnote 2: Jury: a number of men, generally twelve, selected +according to law to try a case in a court of law; in criminal cases +they declare the person accused to be either guilty or not guilty.] + + +40. The Indians of Virginia.--When the Indians of America first met +the white men, they were very friendly to them; but this did not last +long, because often the whites treated the Indians very badly; in +fact, the Spaniards made slaves of them and whipped many of them to +death. But these were the Indians of the south; some of the northern +tribes were terribly fierce and a match for the Spaniards in cruelty. + +The Indians at the east did not build cities, but lived in small +villages. These villages were made up of huts, covered with the bark +of trees. Such huts were called wigwams. The women did nearly all +the work, such as building the wigwams and hoeing corn and tobacco. +The men hunted and made war. Instead of guns the Indians had bows +and arrows. With these they could bring down a deer or a squirrel +quite as well as a white man could now with a rifle. They had no iron, +but made hatchets and knives out of sharp, flat stones. They never +built roads, for they had no wagons, and at the east they did not +use horses; but they could find their way with ease through the +thickest forest. When they came to a river they swam across it, so +they had no need of bridges. For boats they made canoes of birch bark. +These canoes were almost as light as paper, yet they were very strong +and handsome, and they + + "floated on the river + Like a yellow leaf in autumn, + Like a yellow water-lily."[3] + +In them they could go hundreds of miles quickly and silently. So every +river and stream became a roadway to the Indian. + +[Illustration: BUILDING A WIGWAM.] + +[Footnote 3: Longfellow's _Hiawatha_ (Hiawatha's Sailing).] + + +41. Captain Smith goes in search of the Pacific; he is captured by +Indians.--After that first long, hot summer was over, some of the +settlers wished to explore the country and see if they could not find +a short way through to the Pacific Ocean. Captain Smith led the +expedition. The Indians attacked them, killed three of the men, and +took the captain prisoner. To amuse the Indians, Smith showed them +his pocket compass. When the savages saw that the needle always +pointed toward the north they were greatly astonished, and instead +of killing their prisoner they decided to take him to their chief. +This chief was named Powhatan.[4] He was a tall, grim-looking old +man, and he hated the settlers at Jamestown, because he believed that +they had come to steal the land from the Indians. + +[Illustration: POCKET COMPASS.] + +[Footnote 4: Powhatan (Pow-ha-tan').] + + +42. Smith's life is saved by Pocahontas;[5] her marriage to John +Rolfe.[6]--Smith was dragged into the chief's wigwam; his head was +laid on a large, flat stone, and a tall savage with a big club stood +ready to dash out his brains. Just as Powhatan was about to cry +"strike!" his daughter Pocahontas, a girl of twelve or thirteen, ran +up, and, putting her arms round the prisoner's head, she laid her +own head on his--now let the Indian with his uplifted club strike +if he dare.[7] + +Instead of being angry with his daughter, Powhatan promised her that +he would spare Smith's life. When an Indian made such a promise as +that he kept it, so the captain knew that his head was safe. Powhatan +released his prisoner and soon sent him back to Jamestown, and +Pocahontas, followed by a number of Indians, carried to the settlers +presents of corn and venison. + +Some years after this the Indian maiden married John Rolfe, an +Englishman who had come to Virginia. They went to London, and +Pocahontas died not far from that city. She left a son; from that +son came some noted Virginians. One of them was John Randolph. He +was a famous man in his day, and he always spoke with pride of the +Indian princess, as he called her. + +[Footnote 5: Pocahontas (Po-ka-hon'tas).] + +[Footnote 6: Rolfe (Rolf).] + +[Footnote 7: On Pocahontas, see List of Books at the end of this +book.] + + +43. Captain Smith is made governor of Jamestown; the gold-diggers; +"Corn, or your life."--More emigrants came over from England, and +Captain Smith was now made governor of Jamestown. Some of the +emigrants found some glittering earth which they thought was gold. +Soon nearly every one was hard at work digging it. Smith laughed at +them; but they insisted on loading a ship with the worthless stuff +and sending it to London. That was the last that was heard of it. + +The people had wasted their time digging this shining dirt when they +should have been hoeing their gardens. Soon they began to be in great +want of food. The captain started off with a party of men to buy corn +of the Indians. The Indians contrived a cunning plot to kill the whole +party. Smith luckily found it out; seizing the chief by the hair, +he pressed the muzzle of a pistol against his heart and gave him his +choice,--"Corn, or your life!" He got the corn, and plenty of it. + +[Illustration: "CORN, OR YOUR LIFE!"] + + +44. "He who will not work shall not eat."--Captain Smith then set +part of the men to planting corn, so that they might raise what they +needed. The rest of the settlers he took with him into the woods to +chop down trees and saw them into boards to send to England. Many +tried to escape from this labor; but Smith said, Men who are able +to dig for gold are able to chop; then he made this rule: "He who +will not work shall not eat." Rather than lose his dinner, the laziest +man now took his axe and set off for the woods. + + +45. Captain Smith's cold-water cure.--But though the choppers worked, +they grumbled. They liked to see the chips fly and to hear the great +trees "thunder as they fell," but the axe-handles raised blisters +on their fingers. These blisters made the men swear, so that often +one would hear an oath for every stroke of the axe. Smith said the +swearing must be stopped. He had each man's oaths set down in a book. +When the day's work was done, every offender was called up; his oaths +were counted; then he was told to hold up his right hand, and a can +of cold water was poured down his sleeve for each oath. This new style +of water cure did wonders; in a short time not an oath was heard: +it was just chop, chop, chop, and the madder the men got, the more +the chips would fly. + + +46. Captain Smith meets with an accident and goes back to England; +his return to America; his death.--Captain Smith had not been +governor very long when he met with a terrible accident. He was out +in a boat, and a bag of gunpowder he had with him exploded. He was +so badly hurt that he had to go back to England to get proper treatment +for his wounds. + +He returned to America a number of years later, explored the coast +north of Virginia, and gave it the name of New England, but he never +went back to Jamestown again. He died in London, and was buried in +a famous old church in that city.[8] + +[Footnote 8: The church of St. Sepulchre: it is not very far from +St. Paul's Cathedral.] + + +47. What Captain Smith did for Virginia.--Captain John Smith was in +Virginia less than three years, yet in that short time he did a great +deal. First, he saved the settlers from starving, by making the +Indians sell them corn. Next, by his courage, he saved them from the +attacks of the savages. Lastly, he taught them how to work. Had it +not been for him the people of Jamestown would probably have lost +all heart and gone back to England. He insisted on their staying, +and so, through him, the English got their first real foothold in +America. But this was not all; he wrote two books on Virginia, +describing the soil, the trees, the animals, and the Indians. He also +made some excellent maps of Virginia and of New England. These books +and maps taught the English people many things about this country, +and helped those who wished to emigrate. For these reasons Captain +Smith has rightfully been called the "Father of Virginia." + +[Illustration: A SETTLER'S LOG CABIN.] + + +48. Negro slaves sent to Virginia; tobacco.--About ten years after +Captain Smith left Jamestown, the commander of a Dutch ship brought +a number of negro slaves to Virginia (1619), and sold them to the +settlers. That was the beginning of slavery in this country. Later, +when other English settlements had been made, they bought slaves, +and so, after a time, every settlement north as well as south owned +more or less negroes. The people of Virginia employed most of their +slaves in raising tobacco. They sold this in England, and, as it +generally brought a good price, many of the planters[9] became quite +rich. + +[Footnote 9: Planter: a person who owns a plantation or large farm +at the South; it is cultivated by laborers living on it; once these +laborers were generally negro slaves.] + + +49. Bacon's war against Governor Berkeley;[10] Jamestown +burned.--Long after Captain Smith was in his grave, Sir William +Berkeley was made governor of Virginia by the king of England. He +treated the people very badly. At last a young planter named Bacon +raised a small army and marched against the governor, who was in +Jamestown. The governor, finding that he had few friends to fight +for him, made haste to get out of the place. Bacon then entered it +with his men; but as he knew that, if necessary, the king would send +soldiers from England to aid the governor in getting it back, he set +fire to the place and burned it. It was never built up again, and +so only a crumbling church-tower and a few gravestones can now be +seen where Jamestown once stood. Those ruins mark the first English +town settled in America. + +[Illustration: THE BURNING OF JAMESTOWN.] + +[Footnote 10: Berkeley (Berk'li).] + + +50. What happened later in Virginia; the Revolution; Washington; +four presidents.--But though Jamestown was destroyed, Virginia kept +growing in strength and wealth. What was better still, the country +grew in the number of its great men. The king of England continued +to rule America until, in 1776, the people of Virginia demanded that +independence should be declared. The great war of the Revolution +overthrew the king's power and made us free. The military leader of +that war was a Virginia planter named George Washington. + +After we had gained the victory and peace was made, we chose +presidents to govern the country. Four out of six of our first +presidents, beginning with Washington, came from Virginia. For this +reason that state has sometimes been called the "Mother of +Presidents." + + +51. Summary.--In 1607 Captain John Smith, with others, made the first +lasting settlement built up by Englishmen in America. Through +Captain Smith's energy and courage, Jamestown, Virginia, took firm +root. Virginia was the first state to demand the independence of +America, and Washington, who was a Virginian, led the war of the +Revolution by which that independence was gained. + + +What can you tell about Captain John Smith before he went to Virginia? +What happened to him on his way to Virginia? What is said about the +landing of the settlers in Virginia? What did they want to do? What +did Captain Smith want to do? What about Captain Smith's trial? What +is said about the church in Jamestown? What happened to the settlers? +What did some of them try to do? Who stopped them? Tell what you can +about the Indians. What kind of houses did they live in? Did they +have guns? Did they have iron hatchets and knives? Did they have +horses and wagons? What kind of boats did they have? What happened +to Captain Smith when he went in search of the Pacific? What did +Pocahontas do? What is said about her afterward? What about the +gold-diggers? How did Captain Smith get corn? What did he make the +settlers do? What is said about Captain Smith's cold-water cure? Why +did Captain Smith go back to England? What three things did he do +for Virginia? What about his books and maps? What is said of negro +slaves? What about tobacco? What about Governor Berkeley and Mr. +Bacon? What happened to Jamestown? What did the war of the Revolution +do? Who was its great military leader? Why is Virginia sometimes +called the "Mother of Presidents"? + + + + +CAPTAIN HENRY HUDSON +(Voyages from 1607 to 1611). + + +52. Captain Hudson tries to find a northwest passage to China and +the Indies.--When Captain John Smith sailed for Virginia, he left +a friend, named Henry Hudson, in London, who had the name of being +one of the best sea-captains in England. + +While Smith was in Jamestown, a company of London merchants sent out +Captain Hudson to try to discover a passage to China and the Indies. +When he left England, he sailed to the northwest, hoping that he could +find a way open to the Pacific across the North Pole or not far below +it. + +If he found such a passage, he knew that it would be much shorter +than a voyage round the globe further south; because, as any one can +see, it is not nearly so far round the top of an apple, near the stem, +as it is round the middle. + +[Illustration: Map showing how Captain Hudson hoped to reach Asia +by sailing northwest from England.] + +Hudson could not find the passage he was looking for; but he saw +mountains of ice, and he went nearer to the North Pole than any one +had ever done before. + + +53. The Dutch hire Captain Hudson; he sails for America.--The Dutch +people in Holland had heard of Hudson's voyage, and a company of +merchants of that country hired the brave sailor to see if he could +find a passage to Asia by sailing to the northeast. + +He set out from the port of Amsterdam,[1] in 1609, in a vessel named +the _Half Moon_. After he had gone quite a long distance, the sailors +got so tired of seeing nothing but fog and ice that they refused to +go any further. + +Then Captain Hudson turned his ship about and sailed for the coast +of North America. He did that because his friend, Captain Smith of +Virginia, had sent him a letter, with a map, which made him think +that he could find such a passage as he wanted north of Chesapeake +Bay. + +[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 62.] + + +54. Captain Hudson reaches America and finds the "Great +River."--Hudson got to Chesapeake Bay, but the weather was so stormy +that he thought it would not be safe to enter it. He therefore sailed +northward along the coast. In September, 1609, he entered a beautiful +bay, formed by the spreading out of a noble river. At that point the +stream is more than a mile wide, and he called it the "Great River." +On the eastern side of it, not far from its mouth, there is a long +narrow island: the Indians of that day called it Manhattan Island. + + +55. The tides in the "Great River"; Captain Hudson begins to sail +up the stream.--One of the remarkable things about the river which +Hudson had discovered is that it has hardly any current, and the tide +from the ocean moves up for more than a hundred and fifty miles. If +no fresh water ran in from the hills, still the sea would fill the +channel for a long distance, and so make a kind of salt-water river +of it. Hudson noticed how salt it was, and that, perhaps, made him +think that he had at last actually found a passage which would lead +him through from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was delighted with +all he saw, and said, "This is as beautiful a land as one can tread +upon." Soon he began to sail up the stream, wondering what he should +see and whether he should come out on an ocean which would take him +to Asia. + +[Illustration: Map showing the Great River.] + + +56. Hudson's voyage on the "Great River"; his feast with the +Indians.--At first he drifted along, carried by the tide, under the +shadow of a great natural wall of rock. That wall, which we now call +the Palisades,[2] is from four hundred to six hundred feet high; it +extends for nearly twenty miles along the western shore of the river. + +[Illustration: THE PALISADES.] + +Then, some distance further up, Captain Hudson came to a place where +the river breaks through great forest-covered hills, called the +Highlands. At the end of the fifth day he came to a point on the +eastern bank above the Highlands, where the city of Hudson now stands. +Here an old Indian chief invited him to go ashore. Hudson had found +the Indians, as he says, "very loving," so he thought he would accept +the invitation. The savages made a great feast for the captain. They +gave him not only roast pigeons, but also a roast dog, which they +cooked specially for him: they wanted he should have the very best. + +These Indians had never seen a white man before. They thought that +the English captain, in his bright scarlet coat trimmed with gold +lace, had come down from the sky to visit them. What puzzled them, +however, was that he had such a pale face instead of having a red +one like themselves. + +At the end of the feast Hudson rose to go, but the Indians begged +him to stay all night. Then one of them got up, gathered all the arrows, +broke them to pieces, and threw them into the fire, in order to show +the captain that he need not be afraid to stop with them. + +[Footnote 2: Palisades: this name is given to the wall of rock on +the Hudson, because, when seen near by, it somewhat resembles a +palisade, or high fence made of stakes or posts set close together, +upright in the ground.] + + +57. Captain Hudson reaches the end of his voyage and turns back; +trouble with the Indians.--But Captain Hudson made up his mind that +he must now go on with his voyage. He went back to his ship and kept +on up the river until he had reached a point about a hundred and fifty +miles from its mouth. Here the city of Albany now stands. He found +that the water was growing shallow, and he feared that if the _Half +Moon_ went further she would get aground. It was clear to him, too, +that wherever the river might lead, he was not likely to find it a +short road to China. + +On the way down stream a thievish Indian, who had come out in a canoe, +managed to steal something from the ship. One of the crew chanced +to see the Indian as he was slyly slipping off, and picking up a gun +he fired and killed him. After that Hudson's men had several fights +with the Indians. + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN HUDSON ON THE GREAT RIVER.] + + +58. Hudson returns to Europe; the "Great River" is called by his name; +his death.--Early in October the captain set sail for Europe. Ever +since that time the beautiful river which he explored has been called +the Hudson in his honor. + +The next year Captain Hudson made another voyage, and entered that +immense bay in the northern part of America which we now know as +Hudson Bay. There he got into trouble with his men. Some of them +seized him and set him adrift with a few others in an open boat. +Nothing more was ever heard of the brave English sailor. The bay which +bears his name is probably his grave. + + +59. The Dutch take possession of the land on the Hudson and call it +New Netherland; how New Netherland became New York.--As soon as the +Dutch in Holland heard that Captain Hudson had found a country where +the Indians had plenty of rich furs to sell, they sent out people +to trade with them. Holland is sometimes called the Netherlands; that +is, the Low Lands. When the Dutch took possession of the country on +the Hudson (1614), they gave it the name of New Netherland,[3] for +the same reason that the English called one part of their possessions +in America New England. In the course of a few years the Dutch built +(1615) a fort and some log cabins on the lower end of Manhattan Island. +After a time they named this little settlement New Amsterdam, in +remembrance of the port of Amsterdam in Holland from which Hudson +sailed. + +After the Dutch had held the country of New Netherland about fifty +years, the English (1664) seized it. They changed its name to New +York, in honor of the Duke of York, who was brother to the king. The +English also changed the name of New Amsterdam to that of New York +City. + +[Footnote 3: New Netherland: this is often incorrectly printed New +Netherlands.] + + +60. The New York "Sons of Liberty" in the Revolution; what Henry +Hudson would say of the city now.--More than a hundred years after +this the young men of New York, the "Sons of Liberty," as they called +themselves, made ready with the "Sons of Liberty" in other states +to do their full part, under the lead of General Washington, in the +great war of the Revolution,--that war by which we gained our freedom +from the rule of the king of England, and became the United States +of America. + +The silent harbor where Henry Hudson saw a few Indian canoes is now +one of the busiest seaports in the world. The great statue of Liberty +stands at its entrance.[4] To it a fleet of ships and steamers is +constantly coming from all parts of the globe; from it another fleet +is constantly going. If Captain Hudson could see the river which +bears his name, and Manhattan Island now covered with miles of +buildings which make the largest and wealthiest city in America, he +would say: There is no need of my looking any further for the riches +of China and the Indies, for I have found them here. + +[Footnote 4: In her right hand Liberty holds a torch to guide vessels +at night.] + + +61. Summary.--In 1609 Henry Hudson, an English sea-captain, then in +the employ of the Dutch, discovered the river now called by his name. +The Dutch took possession of the country on the river, named it New +Netherland, and built a small settlement on Manhattan Island. Many +years later the English seized the country and named it New York. +The settlement on Manhattan Island then became New York City; it is +now the largest and wealthiest city in the United States. + + +Who was Henry Hudson? What did he try to find? What did the Dutch +hire him to do? Where did he go? What did he call the river he +discovered? What is said about that river? Tell what you can of +Hudson's voyage up the river. What is said about the Indians? Why +did Hudson turn back? What did he do then? What is the river he +discovered called now? What happened to Captain Hudson the next year? +What did the Dutch do? What did they name the country? Why? What did +they build there on Manhattan Island? Who seized New Netherland? What +name did they give it? What is said of the "Sons of Liberty"? What +would Hudson say if he could see New York City now? + + + + +CAPTAIN MYLES[1] STANDISH +(1584-1656). + + +62. The English Pilgrims in Holland; why they left England.--When +the news of Henry Hudson's discovery of the Hudson River reached +Holland, many Englishmen were living in the Dutch city of Leyden.[2] +These people were mostly farmers who had fled from Scrooby[3] and +neighboring villages in the northeast of England. They called +themselves Pilgrims, because they were wanderers from their old +homes. + +The Pilgrims left England because King James would not let them hold +their religious meetings in peace. He thought, as all kings then did, +that everybody in England should belong to the same church and +worship God in the same way that he did.[4] He was afraid that if +people were allowed to go to whatever church they thought best that +it would lead to disputes and quarrels, which would end by breaking +his kingdom to pieces. Quite a number of Englishmen, seeing that they +could not have religious liberty at home, escaped with their wives +and children to Holland; for there the Dutch were willing to let them +have such a church as they wanted. + +[Illustration: Map of England and Holland] + +[Footnote 1: Myles (Miles): Standish himself wrote it Myles.] + +[Footnote 2: Leyden (Li'den): see map in this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 3: Scrooby (Skroo'bi): see map in this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 4: There were some people in England who thought much as +the Pilgrims did in regard to religion, but who did not then leave +the Church of England (as the Pilgrims did). They were called +Puritans because they insisted on making certain changes in the +English mode of worship, or, as they said, they wished to _purify_ +it. Many Puritans came to New England with Governor Winthrop in 1630; +after they settled in America they established independent churches +like the Pilgrims.] + + +63. Why the Pilgrims wished to leave Holland and go to America.--But +the Pilgrims were not contented in Holland. They saw that if they +staid in that country their children would grow up to be more Dutch +than English. They saw, too, that they could not hope to get land +in Holland. They resolved therefore to go to America, where they +could get farms for nothing, and where their children would never +forget the English language or the good old English customs and laws. +In the wilderness they would not only enjoy entire religious freedom, +but they could build up a settlement which would be certainly their +own. + + +64. The Pilgrims, with Captain Myles Standish, sail for England and +then for America; they reach Cape Cod, and choose a governor +there.--In 1620 a company of Pilgrims sailed for England on their +way to America. Captain Myles Standish, an English soldier, who had +fought in Holland, joined them. He did not belong to the Pilgrim +church, but he had become a great friend to those who did. + +About a hundred of these people sailed from Plymouth,[5] England, +for the New World, in the ship _Mayflower_. Many of those who went +were children and young people. The Pilgrims had a long, rough +passage across the Atlantic. Toward the last of November (1620) they +saw land. It was Cape Cod, that narrow strip of sand, more than sixty +miles long, which looks like an arm bent at the elbow, with a hand +like a half-shut fist. + +[Illustration: Map of Cape Cod and part of New England.] + +Finding that it would be difficult to go further, the Pilgrims +decided to land and explore the cape; so the _Mayflower_ entered Cape +Cod Harbor, inside the half-shut fist, and then came to anchor. + +Before they landed, the Pilgrims held a meeting in the cabin, and +drew up an agreement in writing for the government of the settlement. +They signed the agreement, and then chose John Carver for governor. + +[Footnote 5: Plymouth (Plim'uth).] + + +65. Washing-day; what Standish and his men found on the Cape.--On +the first Monday after they had reached the cape, all the women went +on shore to wash, and so Monday has been kept as washing-day in New +England ever since. Shortly after that, Captain Myles Standish, with +a number of men, started off to see the country. They found some +Indian corn buried in the sand; and a little further on a young man +named William Bradford, who afterward became governor, stepped into +an Indian deer-trap. It jerked him up by the leg in a way that must +have made even the Pilgrims smile. + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN DEER-TRAP.] + +[Illustration: BRADFORD CAUGHT.] + + +66. Captain Standish and his men set sail in a boat for a blue hill +in the west, and find Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Harbor; landing from +the _Mayflower_.--On clear days the people on board the _Mayflower_, +anchored in Cape Cod Harbor, could see a blue hill, on the mainland, +in the west, about forty miles away. To that blue hill Standish and +some others determined to go. Taking a sail-boat, they started off. +A few days later they passed the hill which the Indians called +Manomet,[6] and entered a fine harbor. There, on December 21st, +1620,--the shortest day in the year,--they landed on that famous +stone which is now known all over the world as Plymouth Rock. + +Standish, with the others, went back to the _Mayflower_ with a good +report. They had found just what they wanted,--an excellent harbor +where ships from England could come in; a brook of nice +drinking-water; and last of all, a piece of land that was nearly free +from trees, so that nothing would hinder their planting corn early +in the spring. Captain John Smith of Virginia[7] had been there +before them, and had named the place Plymouth on his map of New +England. The Pilgrims liked the name, and so made up their minds to +keep it. The _Mayflower_ soon sailed for Plymouth, and the Pilgrims +set to work to build the log cabins of their little settlement. + +[Illustration: THE _Mayflower_ IN PLYMOUTH HARBOR.] + +[Footnote 6: Manomet (Man'o-met).] + +[Footnote 7: See paragraph 46.] + + +67. Sickness and death.--During that winter nearly half the Pilgrims +died. Captain Standish showed himself to be as good a nurse as he +was a soldier. He, with Governor Carver and their minister, Elder +Brewster, cooked, washed, waited on the sick, and did everything that +kind hearts and willing hands could to help their suffering friends. +But the men who had begun to build houses had to stop that work to +dig graves. When these graves were filled, they were smoothed down +flat so that no prowling Indian should count them and see how few +white men there were left. + + +68. Samoset,[8] Squanto,[9] and Massasoit[10] visit the +Pilgrims.--One day in the spring the Pilgrims were startled at seeing +an Indian walk boldly into their little settlement. He cried out in +good English, "Welcome! Welcome!" This visitor was named Samoset; +he had met some sailors years before, and had learned a few English +words from them. + +The next time Samoset came he brought with him another Indian, whose +name was Squanto. Squanto was the only one left of the tribe that +had once lived at Plymouth. All the rest had died of a dreadful +sickness, or plague. He had been stolen by some sailors and carried +to England; there he had learned the language. After his return he +had joined an Indian tribe that lived about thirty miles further west. +The chief of that tribe was named Massasoit, and Squanto said that +he was coming directly to visit the Pilgrims. + +In about an hour Massasoit, with some sixty warriors, appeared on +a hill just outside the settlement. The Indians had painted their +faces in their very gayest style--black, red, and yellow. If paint +could make them handsome, they were determined to look their best. + +[Footnote 8: Samoset (Sam'o-set).] + +[Footnote 9: Squanto (Skwon'to).] + +[Footnote 10: Massasoit (Mas'sa-soit').] + + +69. Massasoit and Governor Carver make a treaty of friendship; how +Thanksgiving was kept; what Squanto did for the Pilgrims.--Captain +Standish, attended by a guard of honor, went out and brought the chief +to Governor Carver. Then Massasoit and the governor made a solemn +promise or treaty, in which they agreed that the Indians of his tribe +and the Pilgrims should live like friends and brothers, doing all +they could to help each other. That promise was kept for more than +fifty years; it was never broken until long after the two men who +made it were in their graves. + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN STANDISH AND MASSASOIT.] + +When the Pilgrims had their first Thanksgiving, they invited +Massasoit and his men to come and share it. The Indians brought +venison and other good things; there were plenty of wild turkeys +roasted; and so they all sat down together to a great dinner, and +had a merry time in the wilderness. + +Squanto was of great help to the Pilgrims. He showed them how to catch +eels, where to go fishing, when to plant their corn, and how to put +a fish in every hill to make it grow fast. + +After a while he came to live with the Pilgrims. He liked them so +much that when the poor fellow died he begged Governor Bradford to +pray that he might go to the white man's heaven. + + +70. Canonicus[11] dares Governor Bradford to fight; the palisade; +the fort and meeting-house.--West of where Massasoit lived, there +were some Indians on the shore of Narragansett Bay,[12] in what is +now Rhode Island. Their chief was named Canonicus, and he was no +friend to Massasoit or to the Pilgrims. Canonicus thought he could +frighten the white men away, so he sent a bundle of sharp, new arrows, +tied round with a rattlesnake skin, to Governor Bradford: that meant +that he dared the governor and his men to come out and fight. Governor +Bradford threw away the arrows, and then filled the snake-skin up +to the mouth with powder and ball. This was sent back to Canonicus. +When he saw it, he was afraid to touch it, for he knew that Myles +Standish's bullets would whistle louder and cut deeper than his +Indian arrows. + +[Illustration: ARROWS BOUND WITH SNAKE-SKIN.] + +But though the Pilgrims did not believe that Canonicus would attack +them, they thought it best to build a very high, strong fence, called +a palisade, round the town. + +[Illustration: THE PALISADE BUILT ROUND PLYMOUTH.] + +They also built a log fort on one of the hills, and used the lower +part of the fort for a church. Every Sunday all the people, with +Captain Standish at the head, marched to their meeting-house, where +a man stood on guard outside. Each Pilgrim carried his gun, and set +it down near him. With one ear he listened sharply to the preacher; +with the other he listened just as sharply for the cry, Indians! +Indians! But the Indians never came. + +[Footnote 11: Canonicus (Ka-non'i-kus).] + +[Footnote 12: Narragansett (Nar'a-gan'set): see map, paragraph 84.] + + +71. The new settlers; trouble with the Indians in their neighborhood; +Captain Standish's fight with the savages.--By and by more emigrants +came from England and settled about twenty-five miles north of +Plymouth, at what is now called Weymouth. The Indians in that +neighborhood did not like these new settlers, and they made up their +minds to come upon them suddenly and murder them. + +Governor Bradford sent Captain Standish with a few men, to see how +great the danger was. He found the Indians very bold. One of them +came up to him, whetting a long knife. He held it up, to show how +sharp it was, and then patting it, he said, "By and by, it shall eat, +but not speak." Presently another Indian came up. He was a big fellow, +much larger and stronger than Standish. He, too, had a long knife, +as keen as a razor. "Ah," said he to Standish, "so this is the mighty +captain the white men have sent to destroy us! He is a little man; +let him go and work with the women."[13] + +The captain's blood was on fire with rage; but he said not a word. +His time had not yet come. The next day the Pilgrims and the Indians +met in a log cabin. Standish made a sign to one of his men, and he +shut the door fast. Then the captain sprang like a tiger at the big +savage who had laughed at him, and snatching his long knife from him, +he plunged it into his heart. A hand-to-hand fight followed between +the white men and the Indians. The Pilgrims gained the victory, and +carried back the head of the Indian chief in triumph to Plymouth. +Captain Standish's bold action saved both of the English settlements +from destruction. + +[Footnote 13: See Longfellow's _The Courtship of Miles Standish_. +This quotation is truthful in its rendering of the _spirit_ of the +words used by the Indian in his insulting speech to Standish; it +should be understood, however, that the poem does not always adhere +closely either to the chronology, or to the exact facts, of history.] + + +72. What else Myles Standish did; his death.--But Standish did more +things for the Pilgrims than fight for them; for he went to England, +bought goods for them, and borrowed money to help them. + +He lived to be an old man. At his death he left, among other things, +three well-worn Bibles and three good guns. In those days, the men +who read the Bible most were those who fought the hardest. + +Near Plymouth there is a high hill called Captain's Hill. That was +where Standish made his home during the last of his life. A granite +monument, over a hundred feet high, stands on top of the hill. On +it is a statue of the brave captain looking toward the sea. He was +one of the makers of America. + +[Illustration: MYLES STANDISH'S KETTLE, SWORD, AND PEWTER DISH.] + +[Illustration: COPY OF MYLES STANDISH'S SIGNATURE.] + + +73. Governor John Winthrop founds[14] Boston.--Ten years after the +Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, a large company of English people under +the leadership of Governor John Winthrop came to New England. They +were called Puritans,[15] and they, too, were seeking that religious +freedom which was denied them in the old country. One of the vessels +which brought over these new settlers was named the _Mayflower_. She +may have been the very ship which in 1620 brought the Pilgrims to +these shores. + +Governor Winthrop's company named the place where they settled +Boston, in grateful remembrance of the beautiful old city of +Boston,[16] England, from which some of the chief emigrants came. +The new settlement was called the Massachusetts Bay[17] Colony,[18] +Massachusetts being the Indian name for the Blue Hills, near Boston. +The Plymouth Colony was now often called the Old Colony, because it +had been settled first. After many years, these two colonies were +united, and still later they became the state of Massachusetts. + +[Footnote 14: Founds: begins to build.] + +[Footnote 15: See footnote 4 in paragraph 62.] + +[Footnote 16: Boston, England; see map in paragraph 62.] + +[Footnote 17: Massachusetts Bay; see map in paragraph 84.] + +[Footnote 18: Colony: here a company of settlers who came to America +from England, and who were subject to the king of England, as all +the English settlers of America were until the Revolution.] + + +74. How other New England colonies grew up; the Revolution.--By the +time Governor Winthrop arrived, English settlements had been made +in Maine, New Hampshire, and later (1724), in the country which +afterward became the state of Vermont. Connecticut and Rhode Island +were first settled by emigrants who went from Massachusetts. + +When the Revolution broke out, the people throughout New England took +up arms in defence of their rights. The first blood of the war was +shed on the soil of Massachusetts, near Boston. + + +75. Summary.--The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, New England, in 1620. +One of the chief men who came with them was Captain Myles Standish. +Had it not been for his help, the Indians might have destroyed the +settlement. In 1630, Governor John Winthrop, with a large company +of emigrants from England, settled Boston. Near Boston the first +battle of the Revolution was fought. + + +Why did some Englishmen in Holland call themselves Pilgrims? Why had +they left England? Why did they now wish to go to America? Who was +Myles Standish? From what place in England, and in what ship, did +the Pilgrims sail? What land did they first see in America? What did +they do at Cape Cod Harbor? What did the Pilgrims do on the Cape? +Where did they land on December 21st, 1620? What happened during the +winter? What is said of Samoset? What about Squanto? What about +Massasoit? What did Massasoit and Governor Carver do? What about the +first Thanksgiving? What is said about Canonicus and Governor +Bradford? What did the Pilgrims build to protect them from the +Indians? What is said about Weymouth? What did Myles Standish do +there? What else did Myles Standish do besides fight? What is said +of his death? What did Governor John Winthrop do? What did the people +of New England do in the Revolution? Where was the first blood shed? + + + + +LORD BALTIMORE +(1580-1632). + + +76. Lord Baltimore's settlement in Newfoundland; how Catholics were +then treated in England.--While Captain Myles Standish was helping +build up Plymouth, Lord Baltimore, an English nobleman, was trying +to make a settlement on the cold, foggy island of Newfoundland. + +Lord Baltimore had been brought up a Protestant, but had become a +Catholic. At that time, Catholics were treated very cruelly in +England. They were ordered by law to attend the Church of England. +They did not like that church any better than the Pilgrims did; but +if they failed to attend it, they had to take their choice between +paying a large sum of money or going to prison. + +Lord Baltimore hoped to make a home for himself and for other English +Catholics in the wilderness of Newfoundland, where there would be +no one to trouble them. But the unfortunate settlers were fairly +frozen out. They had winter a good share of the year, and fog all +of it. They could raise nothing, because, as one man said, the soil +was either rock or swamp: the rock was as hard as iron; the swamp +was so deep that you could not touch bottom with a ten-foot pole. + + +77. The king of England gives Lord Baltimore part of Virginia, and +names it Maryland; what Lord Baltimore paid for it.--King Charles +the First of England was a good friend to Lord Baltimore; and when +the settlement in Newfoundland was given up, he made him a present +of an immense three-cornered piece of land in America. This piece +was cut out of Virginia, north of the Potomac[1] River. + +The king's wife, who was called Queen Mary, was a French Catholic. +In her honor, Charles named the country he had given Lord Baltimore, +Mary Land, or Maryland. He could not have chosen a better name, +because Maryland was to be a shelter for many English people who +believed in the same religion that the queen did. + +[Illustration: TWO INDIAN ARROWS.] + +All that Lord Baltimore was to pay for Maryland, with its twelve +thousand square miles of land and water, was two Indian arrows. These +he agreed to send every spring to the royal palace of Windsor[2] +Castle, near London. + +[Illustration: PART OF WINDSOR CASTLE.] + +The arrows would be worth nothing whatever to the king; but they were +sent as a kind of yearly rent. They showed that, though Lord Baltimore +had the use of Maryland, and could do pretty much as he pleased with +it, still the king did not give up all control of it. In Virginia +and in New England the king had granted all land to companies of +persons, and he had been particular to tell them just what they must +or must not do; but he gave Maryland to one man only. More than this, +he promised to let Lord Baltimore have his own way in everything, +so long as he made no laws in Maryland which should be contrary to +the laws of England. So Lord Baltimore had greater privileges than +any other holder of land in America at that time. + +[Footnote 1: Potomac (Po-to'mak): see map, paragraph 140.] + +[Footnote 2: Windsor (Win'zor).] + + +78. Lord Baltimore dies; his son sends emigrants to Maryland; the +landing; the Indians; St. Mary's.--Lord Baltimore died before he +could get ready to come to America. His eldest son then became Lord +Baltimore. He sent over a number of emigrants; part of them were +Catholics, and part were Protestants: all of them were to have equal +rights in Maryland. In the spring of 1634, these people landed on +a little island near the mouth of the Potomac River. There they cut +down a tree, and made a large cross of it; then, kneeling round that +cross, they all joined in prayer to God for their safe journey. + +[Illustration: THE LANDING IN MARYLAND.] + +A little later, they landed on the shore of the river. There they +met Indians. Under a huge mulberry-tree they bargained with the +Indians for a place to build a town, and paid for the land in hatchets, +knives, and beads. + +The Indians were greatly astonished at the size of the ship in which +the white men came. They thought that it was made like their canoes, +out of the trunk of a tree hollowed out, and they wondered where the +English could have found a tree big enough to make it. + +The emigrants named their settlement St. Mary's, because they had +landed on a day kept sacred to the Virgin Mary.[3] The Indians gave +up one of their largest wigwams to Father White, one of the priests +who had come over, and he made a church of it. It was the first English +Catholic Church which was opened in America. + +[Illustration: Map of Maryland and Virginia.] + +The Indians and the settlers lived and worked together side by side. +The red men showed the emigrants how to hunt in the forest, and the +Indian women taught the white women how to make hominy, and to bake +johnny-cake before the open fire. + +[Footnote 3: March 25th: Annunciation or Lady Day.] + + +79. Maryland the home of religious liberty.--Maryland was different +from the other English colonies in America, because there, and there +only, every Christian, whether Catholic or Protestant, had the right +to worship God in his own way. In that humble little village of St. +Mary's, made up of thirty or forty log huts and wigwams in the woods, +"religious liberty had its only home in the wide world." + +But more than this, Lord Baltimore generously invited people who had +been driven out of the other settlements on account of their religion +to come and live in Maryland. He gave a hearty welcome to all, whether +they thought as he did or not. Thus he showed that he was a noble +man by nature as well as a nobleman by name. + + +80. Maryland falls into trouble; the city of Baltimore built.--But +this happy state of things did not last long. Some of the people of +Virginia were very angry because the king had given Lord Baltimore +part of what they thought was their land. They quarrelled with the +new settlers and made them a great deal of trouble. + +Then worse things happened. Men went to Maryland and undertook to +drive out the Catholics. In some cases they acted in a very shameful +manner toward Lord Baltimore and his friends; among other things, +they put Father White in irons and sent him back to England as a +prisoner. Lord Baltimore had spent a great deal of money in building +up the settlement, but his right to the land was taken away from him +for a time, and all who dared to defend him were badly treated. + +St. Mary's never grew to be much of a place, but not quite a hundred +years after the English landed there a new and beautiful city was +begun (1729) in Maryland. It was named Baltimore, in honor of that +Lord Baltimore who sent out the first emigrants. When the +Revolutionary War broke out, the citizens of Baltimore showed that +they were not a bit behind the other colonies of America in their +spirit of independence. + + +81. Summary.--King Charles the First of England gave Lord Baltimore, +an English Catholic, a part of Virginia and named it Maryland, in +honor of his wife, Queen Mary. A company of emigrants came out to +Maryland in 1634. It was the first settlement in America in which +all Christian people had entire liberty to worship God in whatever +way they thought right. That liberty they owed to Lord Baltimore. + + +Who was Lord Baltimore, and what did he try to do in Newfoundland? +How were Catholics then treated in England? What did the king of +England give Lord Baltimore in America? What did the king name the +country? What was Lord Baltimore to pay for Maryland? What did the +king promise Lord Baltimore? What did Lord Baltimore's son do? When +and where did the emigrants land? What did they call the place? What +is said about the Indians? Of what was Maryland the home? Why did +some of the people of Virginia trouble them? What is said of the city +of Baltimore? What is said of the Revolution? + + + + +ROGER WILLIAMS +(1600-1684). + + +82. Roger Williams comes to Boston; he preaches in Salem and in +Plymouth; his friendship for the Indians.--Shortly after Governor +John Winthrop and his company settled Boston,[1] a young minister +named Roger Williams came over from England to join them. + +[Illustration: THE CHURCH IN WHICH ROGER WILLIAMS PREACHED IN SALEM. +IT IS STILL STANDING.] + +Mr. Williams soon became a great friend to the Indians and while he +preached at Salem,[2] near Boston, and at Plymouth, he came to know +many of them. He took pains to learn their language, and he spent +a great deal of time talking with the chief Massasoit[3] and his men, +in their dirty, smoky wigwams. He made the savages feel that, as he +said, his whole heart's desire was to do them good. For this reason +they were always glad to see him and ready to help him. A time came, +as we shall presently see, when they were able to do quite as much +for him as he could for them. + +[Footnote 1: See paragraph 73.] + +[Footnote 2: Salem (Sa'lem).] + +[Footnote 3: See paragraph 68.] + + +83. Who owned the greater part of America? what the king of England +thought; what Roger Williams thought and said.--The company that had +settled Boston held the land by permission of the king of England. +He considered that most of the land in America belonged to him, +because John Cabot[4] had discovered it. + +But Roger Williams said that the king had no right to the land unless +he bought it of the Indians, who were living here when the English +came. + +Now the people of Massachusetts were always quite willing to pay the +Indians a fair price for whatever land they wanted; but many of them +were afraid to have Mr. Williams preach and write as he did. They +believed that if they allowed him to go on speaking out so boldly +against the king that the English monarch would get so angry that +he would take away Massachusetts from them and give it to a new +company. In that case, those who had settled here would lose +everything. For this reason the people of Boston tried to make the +young minister agree to keep silent on this subject. + +[Footnote 4: See paragraph 22.] + + +84. A constable is sent to arrest Roger Williams; he escapes to the +woods, and goes to Mount Hope.--But Mr. Williams was not one of the +kind to keep silent. Then the chief men of Boston sent a constable +down to Salem with orders to seize him and send him back to England. +When he heard that the constable was after him, Mr. Williams slipped +quietly out of his house and escaped to the woods. + +There was a heavy depth of snow on the ground, but the young man made +up his mind that he would go to his old friend Massasoit, and ask +him to help him in his trouble. + +[Illustration: Map showing Roger Williams's route from Salem to +Mount Hope.] + +Massasoit lived near Mount Hope, in what is now Rhode Island, about +eighty miles southwest from Salem. There were no roads through the +woods, and it was a long, dreary journey to make on foot, but Mr. +Williams did not hesitate. He took a hatchet to chop fire-wood, a +flint and steel to strike fire with,--for in those days people had +no matches,--and, last of all, a pocket-compass to aid him in finding +his way through the thick forest. + +[Illustration: Striking fire with flint and steel. The sparks were +caught on some old, half-burnt rag, and were then blown to a blaze.] + +All day he waded wearily on through the deep snow, only stopping now +and then to rest or to look at his compass and make sure that he was +going in the right direction. At night he would gather wood enough +to make a little fire to warm himself or to melt some snow for drink. +Then he would cut down a few boughs for a bed, or, if he was lucky +enough to find a large, hollow tree, he would creep into that. There +he would fall asleep, while listening to the howling of the wind or +to the fiercer howling of the hungry wolves prowling about the woods. + +[Illustration: ROGER WILLIAMS WADING THROUGH THE SNOW.] + +At length, after much suffering from cold and want of food, he managed +to reach Massasoit's wigwam. There the big-hearted Indian chief gave +him a warm welcome. He took him into his poor cabin and kept him till +spring--there was no board bill to pay. All the Indians liked the +young minister, and even Canonicus,[5] that savage chief of a +neighboring tribe, who had dared Governor Bradford to fight, said +that he "loved him as his own son." + +[Footnote 5: Canonicus: see paragraph 70.] + + +85. Roger Williams at Seekonk;[6] "What cheer, friend?"--When the +warm days came, in the spring of 1636, Mr. Williams began building +a log hut for himself at Seekonk, on the east bank of the Seekonk +River. But he was told that his cabin stood on ground owned by the +people of Massachusetts; so he, with a few friends who had joined +him, took a canoe and paddled down stream to find a new place to build. + +[Illustration: Map of Rhode Island.] + +"What cheer, friend? what cheer?" shouted some Indians who were +standing on a rock on the western bank of the river. That was the +Indian way of saying How do you do, and just then Roger Williams was +right glad to hear it. He landed on what is now called "What Cheer +Rock,"[7] and had a talk with the red men. They told him that there +was a fine spring of water round the point of land a little further +down. He went there, and liked the spot so much that he decided to +stop. His friend Canonicus owned the land, and he gladly let him have +what he needed. Roger Williams believed that a kind Providence had +guided him to this pleasant place, and for this reason he named it +PROVIDENCE. + +Providence was the first settlement made in America which set its +doors wide open to every one who wished to come and live there. Not +only all Christians, but Jews, and even men who went to no church +whatever, could go there and be at peace. This great and good work +was done by Roger Williams. Providence grew in time to be the chief +city in the state of Rhode Island. When the Revolution began, every +man and boy in the state, from sixteen to sixty, stood ready to fight +for liberty. + +[Footnote 6: Seekonk (See'konk).] + +[Footnote 7: "What Cheer Rock" is on the east side of the city of +Providence.] + + +86. Summary.--Roger Williams, a young minister of Salem, +Massachusetts, declared that the Indians, and not the king of England, +owned the land in America. The governor of Massachusetts was afraid +that if Mr. Williams kept on saying these things the king would hear +of it and would take away the land held by the people of Boston and +the other settlements. He therefore sent a constable to arrest the +young minister and put him on board a ship going back to England. +When Mr. Williams knew this, he fled to the Indian chief, Massasoit. +In 1636 Roger Williams began building Providence. Providence was the +first settlement in America which offered a home to all men without +asking them anything whatever about their religious belief. + + +Who was Roger Williams? What is said about him and the Indians? Who +did Mr. Williams think first owned the land in America? How did many +of the people of Massachusetts feel about Mr. Williams? What did the +chief men of Boston do? What did Mr. Williams do? Describe his journey +to Mount Hope. What did Massasoit do for Mr. Williams? What did Mr. +Williams do at Seekonk? What happened after that? Why did he name +the settlement Providence? What is said of Providence? What about +the Revolution? + + + + +KING PHILIP +(Time of the Indian War, 1675-1676). + + +87. Death of Massasoit; Wamsutta[1] and Philip; Wamsutta's sudden +death.--When the Indian chief Massasoit[2] died, the people of +Plymouth lost one of their best friends. Massasoit left two sons, +one named Wamsutta, who became chief in his father's place, and the +other called Philip. They both lived near Mount Hope, in Rhode +Island. + +The governor of Plymouth heard that Wamsutta was stirring up the +Indians to make war on the whites, and he sent for the Indian chief +to come to him and give an account of himself. Wamsutta went, but +on his way back he suddenly fell sick, and soon after he reached home +he died. His young wife was a woman who was thought a great deal of +by her tribe, and she told them that she felt sure the white people +had poisoned her husband in order to get rid of him. This was not +true, but the Indians believed it. + +[Footnote 1: Wamsutta (Wam-sut'ta).] + +[Footnote 2: Massasoit: see paragraph 68.] + + +88. Philip becomes chief; why he hated the white men; how the white +men had got possession of the Indian lands.--Philip now became chief. +He called himself "King Philip." His palace was a wigwam made of bark. +On great occasions he wore a bright red blanket and a kind of crown +made of a broad belt ornamented with shells. King Philip hated the +white people because, in the first place, he believed that they had +murdered his brother; and next, because he saw that they were growing +stronger in numbers every year, while the Indians were becoming +weaker. + +[Illustration: THE BELT WHICH KING PHILIP WORE FOR A CROWN.] + +When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massasoit, Philip's father, +held all the country from Cape Cod back to the eastern shores of +Narragansett Bay; that is, a strip about thirty miles wide. The white +settlers bought a small piece of this land. After a while they bought +more, and so they kept on until in about fifty years they got nearly +all of what Massasoit's tribe had once owned. The Indians had nothing +left but two little necks of land, which were nearly surrounded by +the waters of Narragansett Bay. Here they felt that they were shut +up almost like prisoners, and that the white men watched everything +that they did. + + +89. How King Philip felt; signs of the coming war; the "Praying +Indians"; the murder.--King Philip was a very proud man--quite as +proud, in fact, as the king of England. He could not bear to see his +people losing power. He said to himself, if the Indians do not rise +and drive out the white men, then the white men will certainly drive +out the Indians. Most of the Indians now had guns, and could use them +quite as well as the whites could; so Philip thought that it was best +to fight. + +The settlers felt that the war was coming. Some of them fancied that +they saw the figure of an Indian bow in the clouds. Others said that +they heard sounds like guns fired off in the air, and horsemen riding +furiously up and down in the sky, as if getting ready for battle. + +But though many Indians now hated the white settlers, this was not +true of all. A minister, named John Eliot, had persuaded some of the +red men near Boston to give up their religion, and to try to live +like the white people. These were called "Praying Indians." One of +them who knew King Philip well told the settlers that Philip's +warriors were grinding their hatchets sharp for war. Soon after, this +"Praying Indian" was found murdered. The white people accused three +of Philip's men of having killed him. They were tried, found guilty, +and hanged. + + +90. Beginning of the war at Swansea;[3] burning of Brookfield.--Then +Philip's warriors began the war in the summer of 1675. Some white +settlers were going home from church in the town of Swansea, +Massachusetts; they had been to pray that there might be no fighting. +As they walked along, talking together, two guns were fired out of +the bushes. One of the white men fell dead in the road, and another +was badly hurt. + +[Illustration: Map of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.] + +The shots were fired by Indians. This was the way they always fought +when they could. They were not cowards, but they did not come out +boldly, but would fire from behind trees and rocks. Often a white +man would be killed without even seeing who shot him. + +At first the fighting was mainly in those villages of Plymouth Colony +which were nearest Narragansett Bay; then it spread to the valley +of the Connecticut River and the neighborhood. Deerfield, +Springfield, Brookfield,[4] Groton,[5] and many other places in +Massachusetts were attacked. The Indians would creep up stealthily +in the night, burn the houses, carry off the women and children +prisoners if they could, kill the rest of the inhabitants, take their +scalps home and hang them up in their wigwams. + +[Illustration: AN ATTACKING INDIAN.] + +At Brookfield the settlers left their houses, and gathered in one +strong house for defence. The Indians burned all the houses but that +one, and did their best to burn that, too. They dipped rags in +brimstone, such as we make matches of, fastened them to the points +of their arrows, set fire to them, and then shot the blazing arrows +into the shingles of the roof. When the Indians saw that the shingles +had caught, and were beginning to flame up, they danced for joy, and +roared like wild bulls. But the men in the house managed to put out +the fire on the roof. Then the savages got a cart, filled it with +hay, set it on fire, and pushed it up against the house. This time +they thought that they should certainly burn the white people out; +but just then a heavy shower came up, and put out the fire. A little +later, some white soldiers marched into the village, and saved the +people in the house. + +[Footnote 3: Swansea (Swon'ze).] + +[Footnote 4: See map in this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 5: Groton (Graw'ton).] + + +91. The fight at Hadley; what Colonel[6] Goffe[7] did.--At Hadley, +the people were in the meeting-house when the terrible Indian +war-whoop[8] rang through the village. The savages drove back those +who dared to go out against them, and it seemed as if the village +must be destroyed. Suddenly a white-haired old man, sword in hand, +appeared among the settlers. No one knew who he was; but he called +to them to follow him, as a captain calls to his men, and they obeyed +him. The astonished Indians turned and ran. When, after all was over, +the whites looked for their brave leader, he had gone; they never +saw him again. Many thought that he was an angel who had been sent +to save them. But the angel was Colonel Goffe, an Englishman, who +was one of the judges who had sentenced King Charles the First to +death during a great war in England. He had escaped to America; and, +luckily for the people of Hadley, he was hiding in the house of a +friend in that village when the Indians attacked it. + +[Illustration: INDIAN ATTACK ON A SETTLEMENT. The building on the +right is a block-house, or fort made of hewn logs. These block-houses +were built as places of refuge for the settlers, in case of an attack +on the town by the Indians.] + +[Footnote 6: Colonel (kur'nel): the chief officer of a regiment of +soldiers.] + +[Footnote 7: Goffe (Gof): and see List of Books at the end of this +book.] + +[Footnote 8: War-whoop (war-hoop): a very loud, shrill cry made by +the Indians when engaged in war, or as a shout of alarm.] + + +92. How a woman drove off an Indian.--In this dreadful war with the +savages there were times when even the women had to fight for their +lives. In one case, a woman had been left in a house with two young +children. She heard a noise at the window, and looking up, saw an +Indian trying to raise the sash. Quick as thought, she clapped the +two little children under two large brass kettles which stood near. +Then, seizing a shovel-full of red-hot coals from the open fire, she +stood ready, and just as the Indian thrust his head into the room, +she dashed the coals right into his face and eyes. With a yell of +agony the Indian let go his hold, dropped to the ground as though +he had been shot, and ran howling to the woods. + +[Illustration: WOMAN THROWING COALS.] + + +93. The great swamp fight; burning the Indian wigwams; what the Chief +Canonchet[9] said.--During the summer and autumn of 1675 the Indians +on the west side of Narragansett Bay[10]took no open part in King +Philip's War. But the next winter the white people found that these +Indians were secretly receiving and sheltering the savages who had +been wounded in fighting for that noted chief. For that reason, the +settlers determined to raise a large force and attack them. The +Indians had gathered in a fort on an island in a swamp. This fort +was a very difficult place to reach. It was built of the trunks of +trees set upright in the ground. It was so strong that the savages +felt quite safe. + +Starting very early in the morning, the attacking party waded fifteen +miles through deep snow. Many of them had their hands and feet badly +frozen. One of the chief men in leading the attack was Captain +Benjamin Church of Plymouth; he was a very brave soldier, and knew +all about Indian life and Indian fighting. In the battle, he was +struck by two bullets, and so badly wounded that he could not move +a step further; but he made one of his men hold him up, and he shouted +to his soldiers to go ahead. The fight was a desperate one, but at +length the fort was taken. The attacking party lost more than two +hundred and fifty men in killed and wounded; the Indians lost as many +as a thousand. + +After the battle was over, Captain Church begged the men not to burn +the wigwams inside the fort, for there were a great number of old +men and women and little Indian children in the wigwams. But the men +were very mad against the savages, and would not listen to him. They +set the wigwams on fire, and burned many of these poor creatures to +death. + +Canonchet, the chief of the tribe, was taken prisoner. The settlers +told him they would spare his life if he would try to make peace. +"No," said he, "we will all fight to the last man rather than become +slaves to the white men." He was then told that he must be shot. "I +like it well," said he. "I wish to die before my heart becomes soft, +or I say anything unworthy of myself." + +[Footnote 9: Canonchet (Ka-non'chet).] + +[Footnote 10: See map in paragraph 90.] + + +94. Philip's wife and son are taken prisoners; Philip is shot; end +of the war.--The next summer Captain Church, with a lot of "brisk +Bridgewater lads" chased King Philip and his men, and took many of +the Indians prisoners. Among those then taken captive were King +Philip's wife and his little boy. When Philip heard of it, he cried +out, "My heart breaks; now I am ready to die." He had good reason +for saying so. It was the custom in England to sell such prisoners +of war as slaves. Following this custom, the settlers here took this +boy, the grandson of that Massasoit[11] who had helped them when they +were poor and weak, and sold him with his mother. They were sent to +the Bermuda Islands,[12] and there worked to death under the hot sun +and the lash of the slave-driver's whip. + +Not long after that, King Philip himself was shot. He had been hunted +like a wild beast from place to place. At last he had come back to +see his old home at Mount Hope[13] once more. There Captain Church +found him; there the Indian warrior was shot. His head and hands were +cut off,--as was then done in England in such cases,--and his head +was carried to Plymouth and set up on a pole. It stood there twenty +years. + +King Philip's death brought the war to an end. It had lasted a little +over a year; that is, from the early summer of 1675 to the latter +part of the summer of 1676. In that short time the Indians had killed +between five and six hundred white settlers, and had burned thirteen +villages to ashes, besides partly burning a great many more. The war +cost so much money that many people were made poor by it; but the +strength of the Indians was broken, and they never dared to trouble +the people of Southern New England again. + +[Footnote 11: See paragraph 68.] + +[Footnote 12: Bermuda (Ber-mu'dah): the Bermuda Islands are in the +Atlantic, north of the West India Islands and east of South Carolina; +they belong to Great Britain.] + +[Footnote 13: See map in paragraph 84.] + + +95. Summary.--In 1675 King Philip began a great Indian war against +the people of Southeastern New England. His object was to kill off +the white settlers, and get back the land for the Indians. He did +kill a large number, and he destroyed many villages, but in the end +the white men gained the victory. Philip's wife and child were sold +as slaves, and he was shot. The Indians never attempted another war +in this part of the country. + + +Who was Wamsutta? What happened to him? Who was "King Philip"? Why +did he hate the white men? What did he say to himself? What is said +about the "Praying Indians"? What happened to one of them? What was +done with three of Philip's men? Where and how did the war begin? +To what part of the country did it spread? Tell about the Indian +attack on Brookfield. What happened at Hadley? Tell how a woman drove +off an Indian. Tell all you can about the Great Swamp Fight. What +is said about Canonchet? What is said of King Philip's wife and son? +What happened to King Philip himself? What is said about the war? + + + + +WILLIAM PENN +(1644-1718). + + +96. King Charles the Second gives William Penn a great piece of land, +and names it Pennsylvania.--King Charles the Second of England owed +a large sum of money to a young Englishman named William Penn. The +king was fond of pleasure, and he spent so much money on himself and +his friends that he had none left to pay his just debts. Penn knew +this; so he told His Majesty that if he would give him a piece of +wild land in America, he would ask nothing more. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM PENN AT THE AGE OF 22.] + +Charles was very glad to settle the account so easily. He therefore +gave Penn a great territory[1] north of Maryland[2] and west of the +Delaware River. This territory was nearly as large as England. The +king named it Pennsylvania, a word which means Penn's Woods. At that +time the land was not thought to be worth much. No one then had +discovered the fact that beneath Penn's Woods there were immense +mines of coal and iron, which would one day be of greater value than +all the riches of the king of England. + +[Footnote 1: Territory: any very large extent of land.] + +[Footnote 2: See map in paragraph 97.] + + +97. William Penn's religion; what he wanted to do with his American +land.--Penn belonged to a religious society called the Society of +Friends; to-day they are generally spoken of as Quakers. They are +a people who try to find out what is right by asking their own hearts. +They believe in showing no more signs of respect to one man than to +another, and at that time they would not take off their hats even +to the king himself. + +[Illustration: Map of eastern Pennsylvania and surroundings.] + +Penn wanted the land which had been given him here as a place where +the Friends or Quakers might go and settle. A little later the whole +of what is now the state of New Jersey was bought by Penn and other +Quakers for the same purpose. We have seen[3] that neither the +Pilgrims nor the Catholics had any real peace in England. The Quakers +suffered even more still; for oftentimes they were cruelly whipped, +thrown into dark and dirty prisons where many died of the bad +treatment they received. William Penn himself had been shut up in +jail four times on account of his religion; and though he was no +longer in such danger, because the king was his friend, yet he wanted +to provide a safe place for others who were not so well off as he +was. + +[Footnote 3: See paragraphs 62 and 76.] + + +98. Penn sends out emigrants to Pennsylvania; he gets ready to go +himself; his conversation with the king.--Penn accordingly sent out +a number of people who were anxious to settle in Pennsylvania. The +next year, 1682, he made ready to sail, himself with a hundred more +emigrants. Just before he started, he called on the king in his palace +in London. The king was fond of joking, and he said to him that he +should never expect to see him again, for he thought that the Indians +would be sure to catch such a good-looking young man as Penn was and +eat him. 'But, Friend Charles,' said Penn, 'I mean to buy the land +of the Indians, so they will rather keep on good terms with me than +eat me.' 'Buy their lands!' exclaimed the king. 'Why, is not the whole +of America mine?' 'Certainly not,' answered Penn. 'What!' replied +the king; 'didn't my people discover it?[4] and so haven't I the right +to it?' 'Well, Friend Charles,' said Penn, 'suppose a canoe full of +Indians should cross the sea and should discover England, would that +make it theirs? Would you give up the country to them?' The king did +not know what to say to this; it was a new way of looking at the matter. +He probably said to himself, These Quakers are a strange people; they +seem to think that even American savages have rights which should +be respected. + +[Footnote 4: Referring to the discovery of the American continent +by the Cabots, sent out by Henry the Seventh of England, see paragraph +22.] + + +99. Penn founds[5] the city of Philadelphia; his treaty[6] with the +Indians; his visit to them; how the Indians and the Quakers got on +together.--When William Penn reached America, in 1682, he sailed up +the broad and beautiful Delaware River for nearly twenty miles. There +he stopped, and resolved to build a city on its banks. He gave the +place the Bible name of Philadelphia,[7] or the City of Brotherly +Love, because he hoped that all of its citizens would live together +like brothers. The streets were named from the trees then growing +on the land, and so to-day many are still called Walnut, Pine, Cedar, +Vine, and so on. + +Penn said, "We intend to sit down lovingly among the Indians." On +that account, he held a great meeting with them under a +wide-spreading elm. The tree stood in what is now a part of +Philadelphia. Here Penn and the red men made a treaty or agreement +by which they promised each other that they would live together as +friends as long as the water should run in the rivers, or the sun +shine in the sky. + +[Illustration: PENN MAKING THE TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.] + +Nearly a hundred years later, while the Revolutionary War was going +on, the British army took possession of the city. It was cold, winter +weather, and the men wanted fire-wood; but the English general +thought so much of William Penn that he set a guard of soldiers round +the great elm, to prevent any one from chopping it down. + +Not long after the great meeting under the elm, Penn visited some +of the savages in their wigwams. They treated him to a dinner--or +shall we say a lunch?--of roasted acorns. After their feast, some +of the young savages began to run and leap about, to show the +Englishman what they could do. When Penn was in college at Oxford +he had been fond of doing such things himself. The sight of the Indian +boys made him feel like a boy again; so he sprang up from the ground, +and beat them all at hop, skip, and jump. This completely won the +hearts of the red men. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF WILLIAM PENN. (On the Tower of the new City +Hall, Philadelphia.)] + +From that time, for sixty years, the Pennsylvania settlers and the +Indians were fast friends. The Indians said, "The Quakers are honest +men; they do no harm; they are welcome to come here." In New England +there had been, as we have seen,[8] a terrible war with the savages, +but in Pennsylvania, no Indian ever shed a drop of Quaker blood. + +[Footnote 5: Founds: begins to build.] + +[Footnote 6: Treaty: an agreement; and see paragraph 69.] + +[Footnote 7: See Rev. i. 11 and iii. 7.] + +[Footnote 8: See paragraph 90.] + + +100. How Philadelphia grew; what was done there in the Revolution; +William Penn's last years and death.--Philadelphia grew quite fast. +William Penn let the people have land very cheap, and he said to them, +"You shall be governed by laws of your own making." Even after +Philadelphia became quite a good-sized town, it had no poor-house, +for none was needed; everybody seemed to be able to take care of +himself. + +When the Revolution began, the people of Pennsylvania and of the +country north and south of it sent men to Philadelphia to decide what +should be done. This meeting was called the Congress. It was held +in the old State House, a building which is still standing, and in +1776 Congress declared the United States of America independent of +England. In the war, the people of Delaware and New Jersey fought +side by side with those of Pennsylvania. + +William Penn spent a great deal of money in helping Philadelphia and +other settlements. After he returned to England he was put in prison +for debt by a rascally fellow he had employed. He did not owe the +money, and proved that the man who said that he did was no better +than a thief. Penn was released from prison; but his long confinement +in jail had broken his health down. When he died, the Indians of +Pennsylvania sent his widow some beautiful furs, in remembrance of +their "Brother Penn," as they called him. They said that the furs +were to make her a cloak, "to protect her while passing through this +thorny wilderness without her guide." + +[Illustration: WILLIAM PENN'S GRAVE AT JORDANS'S MEETING-HOUSE, +ENGLAND.] + +About twenty-five miles west of London, on a country road within +sight of the towers of Windsor Castle,[9] there stands a Friends' +meeting-house, or Quaker church. In the yard back of the +meeting-house William Penn lies buried. For a hundred years or more +there was no mark of any kind to show where he rests; but now a small +stone bearing his name points out the grave of the founder of the +great state of Pennsylvania. + +[Footnote 9: Windsor Castle: see paragraph 77.] + + +101. Summary.--Charles the Second, king of England, owed William +Penn, a young English Quaker, a large sum of money. In order to settle +the debt, the king gave him a great piece of land in America, and +named it Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woods. Penn wished to make a home +for Quakers in America; and in 1682 he came over, and began building +the city of Philadelphia. When the Revolution broke out, men were +sent from all parts of the country to Philadelphia, to hold a meeting +called the Congress. In 1776, Congress declared the United States +independent. + + +To whom did King Charles the Second owe a large sum of money? How +did he pay his debt? What did the king name the country? What does +the name mean? What has been found there? What is said about the +Friends or Quakers? What did Penn want the land here for? How were +the Quakers then treated in England? What did Penn do in 1682? Tell +what the king said to Penn and what Penn replied. What city did Penn +begin to build here? What does Philadelphia mean? What did Penn and +the Indians do? What did the English general do about the great elm +in the Revolution? Tell about Penn's dinner with the Indians. Did +the Indians trouble the Quakers? What is said of the growth of +Philadelphia? What was done there in the Revolution? Tell what you +can about Penn's last days. Where is he buried? + + + + +GENERAL JAMES OGLETHORPE[1] +(1696-1785). + + +102. The twelve English colonies in America; General Oglethorpe +makes a settlement in Georgia.--We have seen[2] that the first real +colony or settlement made in America by the English was in Virginia +in 1607. By the beginning of 1733, or in about a hundred and +twenty-five years, eleven more had been made, or twelve in all. They +stretched along the seacoast, from the farthest coast of Maine to +the northern boundary of Florida, which was then owned by the +Spaniards.[3] + +The two colonies farthest south were North Carolina and South +Carolina. In 1733 James Oglethorpe, a brave English soldier, who +afterward became General Oglethorpe, came over here to make a new +settlement. This new one, which made just thirteen[4] in all, was +called Georgia in honor of King George the Second, who gave a piece +of land for it, on the seacoast, below South Carolina. + +[Illustration: Map of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.] + +[Footnote 1: Oglethorpe (O'gel-thorp).] + +[Footnote 2: See paragraph 37.] + +[Footnote 3: Because the Spaniards had settled it in 1565; see +paragraph 30.] + +[Footnote 4: These thirteen colonies or settlements were: First, the +four New England colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, +Connecticut, and Rhode island; Maine was then part of Massachusetts, +and Vermont was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York). Secondly, +four middle colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, with +Delaware). Thirdly, five southern colonies (Maryland, Virginia, +North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).] + + +103. What it was that led General Oglethorpe to make this new +settlement.--General Oglethorpe had a friend in England who was cast +into prison for debt. There the unfortunate man was so cruelly +treated that he fell sick and died, leaving his family in great +distress. + +The General felt the death of his friend so much that he set to work +to find out how other poor debtors lived in the London prisons. He +soon saw that great numbers of them suffered terribly. The prisons +were crowded and filthy. The men shut up in them were ragged and +dirty; some of them were fastened with heavy chains, and a good many +actually died of starvation. + +General Oglethorpe could not bear to see strong men killed off in +this manner. He thought that if the best of them--those who were +honest and willing to work--could have the chance given them of +earning their living, that they would soon do as well as any men. +It was to help them that he persuaded the king to give the land of +Georgia. + + +104. Building the city of Savannah; what the people of Charleston, +South Carolina, did; a busy settlement; the alligators.--General +Oglethorpe took over thirty-five families to America in 1733. They +settled on a high bank of the Savannah[5] River, about twenty miles +from the sea. The general laid out a town with broad, straight, +handsome streets, and with many small squares or parks. He called +the settlement Savannah from the Indian name of the river on which +it stands. + +[Illustration: SAVANNAH, AS GENERAL OGLETHORPE LAID IT OUT IN 1733.] + +The people of Charleston, South Carolina, were glad to have some +English neighbors south of them that would help them fight the +Spaniards of Florida, who hated the English, and wanted to drive them +out. They gave the newcomers a hundred head of cattle, a drove of +hogs, and twenty barrels of rice. + +The emigrants set to work with a will, cutting down the forest trees, +building houses, and planting gardens. There were no idlers to be +seen at Savannah: even the children found something to do that was +helpful. + +Nothing disturbed the people but the alligators. They climbed up the +bank from the river to see what was going on. But the boys soon taught +them not to be too curious. When one monster was found impudently +prowling round the town, they thumped him with sticks till they +fairly beat the life out of him. After that, the alligators paid no +more visits to the settlers. + +[Footnote 5: Savannah (Sa-van'ah).] + + +105. Arrival of some German emigrants; "Ebenezer";[6] "blazing" +trees.--After a time, some German Protestants, who had been cruelly +driven out of their native land on account of their religion, came +to Georgia. General Oglethorpe gave them a hearty welcome. He had +bought land of the Indians, and so there was plenty of room for all. +The Germans went up the river, and then went back a number of miles +into the woods; there they picked out a place for a town. They called +their settlement by the Bible name of Ebenezer,[7] which means "The +Lord hath helped us." + +There were no roads through the forests, so the new settlers "blazed" +the trees; that is, they chopped a piece of bark off, so that they +could find their way through the thick woods when they wanted to go +to Savannah. Every tree so marked stood like a guide-post; it showed +the traveller which way to go until he came in sight of the next one. + +[Illustration: THE "BLAZED" TREES.] + +[Footnote 6: Ebenezer (Eb-e-ne'zer).] + +[Footnote 7: See I Sam. vii. 12.] + + +106. Trying to make silk; the queen's American dress.--The settlers +hoped to be able to get large quantities of silk to send to England, +because the mulberry-tree grows wild in Georgia, and its leaves are +the favorite food of the silkworm.[8] At first it seemed as if the +plan would be successful, and General Oglethorpe took over some +Georgia silk as a present to the queen of England. She had a handsome +dress made of it for her birthday; it was the first American silk +dress ever worn by an English queen. But after a while it was found +that silk could not be produced in Georgia as well as it could in +Italy and France, and so in time cotton came to be raised instead. + +[Footnote 8: Silkworm: a kind of caterpillar which spins a fine, soft +thread of which silk is made.] + + +107. Keeping out the Spaniards; Georgia powder at Bunker Hill; +General Oglethorpe in his old age.--The people of Georgia did a good +work in keeping out the Spaniards, who were trying to get possession +of the part of the country north of Florida. Later, like the settlers +in North Carolina and South Carolina, they did their part in helping +to make America independent of the rule of the king of England. When +the war of the Revolution began, the king had a lot of powder stored +in Savannah. The people broke into the building, rolled out the kegs, +and carried them off. Part of the powder they kept for themselves, +and part they seem to have sent to Massachusetts; so that it is quite +likely that the men who fought at Bunker Hill may have loaded their +guns with some of the powder given them by their friends in Savannah. +In that case the king got it back, but in a somewhat different way +from what he expected. + +General Oglethorpe spent the last of his life in England. He lived +to a very great age. Up to the last he had eyes as bright and keen +as a boy's. After the Revolution was over, the king made a treaty +or agreement, by which he promised to let the United States of America +live in peace. General Oglethorpe was able to read that treaty +without spectacles. He had lived to see the colony of Georgia which +he had settled become a free and independent state. + + +108. Summary.--In 1733 General James Oglethorpe brought over a +number of emigrants from England, and settled Savannah, Georgia. +Georgia was the thirteenth English colony; it was the last one +established in this country. General Oglethorpe lived to see it +become one of the United States of America. + + +At the beginning of 1733 how many English colonies were there in +America? Who was General Oglethorpe? What did he do? Why was the new +settlement called Georgia? Tell what happened to a friend of General +Oglethorpe's. What did he wish to do for the poor debtors? What is +said about the settlement of Savannah? What about the German +emigrants and Ebenezer? What about raising silk? What good work did +the people of Georgia do? What about Georgia powder in the +Revolution? What is said of General Oglethorpe in old age? + + + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN +(1706-1790). + + +109. Growth of Philadelphia; what a young printer was doing for +it.--By the year 1733, when the people of Savannah[1] were building +their first log cabins, Philadelphia[2] had grown to be the largest +city in this country,--though it would take more than seventy such +cities to make one as great as Philadelphia now is. + +Next to William Penn,[3] the person who did the most for Philadelphia +was a young man who had gone from Boston to make his home among the +Quakers. He lived in a small house near the market. On a board over +the door he had painted his name and business; here it is: + +[Illustration: "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PRINTER" BUSINESS SIGN.] + +[Footnote 1: See paragraph 104.] + +[Footnote 2: See paragraph 99.] + +[Footnote 3: See paragraph 96.] + + +110. Franklin's newspaper and almanac;[4] how he worked; standing +before kings.--Franklin was then publishing a small newspaper, +called the _Pennsylvania Gazette_.[5] To-day we print newspapers by +steam at the rate of two or three hundred a minute; but Franklin, +standing in his shirtsleeves at a little press, printed his with his +own hands. It was hard work, as you could see by the drops of sweat +that stood on his forehead; and it was slow as well as hard. The young +man not only wrote himself most of what he printed in his paper, but +he often made his own ink; sometimes he even made his own type.[6] +When he got out of paper he would take a wheelbarrow, go out and buy +a load, and wheel it home. To-day there are more than three hundred +newspapers printed in Philadelphia; then there were only two, and +Franklin's was the better of those two. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN AT A PRINTING PRESS.] + +[Illustration: A TYPE. (The Letter B.)] + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN WHEELING A LOAD OF PAPER.] + +Besides this paper he published an almanac, which thousands of people +bought. In it he printed such sayings as these: "_He who would +thrive[7] must rise at five_," and "_If you want a thing well done, +do it yourself._" But Franklin was not contented with simply printing +these sayings, for he practised them as well. + +Sometimes his friends would ask him why he began work so early in +the morning, and kept at it so many hours. He would laugh, and tell +them that his father used to repeat to him this saying of Solomon's: +"_Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before +kings; he shall not stand before mean men._"[8] + +At that time the young printer never actually expected to stand in +the presence of a king, but years later he met with five; and one +of them, his friend the king of France, gave him his picture set round +with diamonds. + +[Footnote 4: Almanac (al'ma-nak).] + +[Footnote 5: Gazette (ga-zet'): a newspaper.] + +[Footnote 6: Type: the raised metal letters used in printing are made +by melting lead and some other metals together and pouring the +mixture into molds.] + +[Footnote 7: Thrive: to get on in business, to prosper.] + +[Footnote 8: See Prov. xxii. 29.] + + +111. Franklin's boyhood; making tallow candles; he is apprenticed[9] +to his brother; how he managed to save money to buy books.--Franklin's +father was a poor man with a large family. He lived in Boston, and made +soap and candles. Benjamin went to school two years; then, when he was +ten years old, his father set him to work in his factory, and he never +went to school again. He was now kept busy filling the candle-molds +with melted grease, cutting off the ends of the wicks, and running +errands. But the boy did not like this kind of work; and, as he was +very fond of books, his father put him in a printing-office. This +office was carried on by James Franklin, one of Benjamin's brothers. +James Franklin paid a small sum of money each week for Benjamin's +board; but the boy told him that if he would let him have half the +money to use as he liked, he would board himself. James was glad to do +this. Benjamin then gave up eating meat, and, while the others went out +to dinner, he would stay in the printing-office and eat a boiled +potato, or perhaps a handful of raisins. In this way, he saved up a +number of coppers every week; and when he got enough laid by, he would +buy a book. + +But James Franklin was not only a mean man, but a hot-tempered one; +and when he got angry with his young apprentice,[10] he would beat +and knock him about. At length the lad, who was now seventeen, made +up his mind that he would run away, and go to New York. + +[Footnote 9: Apprenticed: bound by a written agreement to learn a +trade of a master, who is bound by the same agreement to teach the +trade.] + +[Footnote 10: Apprentice: one who is apprenticed to a master to learn +a trade. See footnote 9.] + + +112. Young Franklin runs away; he goes to New York, and then to +Philadelphia.--Young Franklin sold some of his books, and with the +money paid his passage to New York by a sailing-vessel--for in those +days there were no steamboats or railroads in America. When he got +to New York, he could not find work, so he decided to go on to +Philadelphia. + +He started to walk across New Jersey to Burlington, on the Delaware +River, a distance of about fifty miles; there he hoped to get a +sail-boat going down the river to Philadelphia. Shortly after he set +out, it began to rain hard, and the lad was soon wet to the skin and +splashed all over with red mud; but he kept on until noon, then took +a rest, and on the third day he reached Burlington and got passage +down the river. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN WALKING IN THE RAIN.] + + +113. Franklin's Sunday walk in Philadelphia; the rolls; Miss Read; +the Quaker meeting-house.--Franklin landed in Philadelphia on +Sunday morning (1723). He was tired and hungry; he had but a single +dollar in the world. As he walked along, he saw a bake-shop open. +He went in and bought three great, puffy rolls for a penny[11] each. +Then he started up Market Street, where he was one day to have his +newspaper office. He had a roll like a small loaf of bread tucked +under each arm, and he was eating the other as though it tasted good +to him. As he passed a house, he noticed a nice-looking young woman +at the door. She seemed to want to laugh; and well she might, for +Franklin appeared like a youthful tramp who had been robbing a +baker's shop. The young woman was Miss Deborah[12] Read. A number +of years later Franklin married her. He always said that he could +not have got a better wife. + +[Illustration: Map of Franklin's route from Boston to Philadelphia.] + +Franklin kept on in his walk until he came to the Delaware. He took +a hearty drink of river water to settle his breakfast, and then gave +away the two rolls he had under his arm to a poor woman with a child. +On his way back from the river he followed a number of people to a +Quaker meeting-house. At the meeting no one spoke. Franklin was tired +out, and, not having any preacher to keep him awake, he soon fell +asleep, and slept till the meeting was over. He says, "This was the +first house I was in, or slept in, in Philadelphia." + +[Footnote 11: Penny: an English coin worth two cents.] + +[Footnote 12: Deborah (Deb'o-rah).] + + +114. Franklin finds work; he goes back to Boston on a visit; he learns +to stoop.--The next day the young man found some work in a +printing-office. Six months afterward he decided to go back to Boston +to see his friends. He started on his journey with a good suit of +clothes, a silver watch, and a well-filled purse. + +While in Boston, Franklin went to call on a minister who had written +a little book[13] which he had been very fond of reading. As he was +coming away from the minister's house, he had to go through a low +passage-way under a large beam. "Stoop! Stoop!" cried out the +gentleman; but Franklin did not understand him, and so hit his head +a sharp knock against the beam. "Ah," said his friend, as he saw him +rubbing his head, "you are young, and have the world before you; +_stoop_ as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps." +Franklin says that this sensible advice, which was thus beat into +his head, was of great use afterward; in fact, he learned then how +to stoop to conquer. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN LEARNING TO STOOP.] + +[Footnote 13: The name of this book, written by the Rev. Cotton Mather, +was _Essays to do Good_.] + + +115. Franklin returns to Philadelphia; he goes to London; water +against beer.--Franklin soon went back to Philadelphia. The governor +of Pennsylvania then persuaded him to go to London, telling him that +he would help him to get a printing-press and type to start a +newspaper in Philadelphia. + +When Franklin reached London, he found that the governor was one of +those men who promise great things, but do nothing. Instead of buying +a press, he had to go to work in a printing-office to earn his bread. +He stayed in London more than a year. At the office where he worked +the men were great beer-drinkers. One of his companions bought six +pints a day. He began with a pint before breakfast, then took another +pint at breakfast, then a pint between breakfast and dinner, then +a pint at dinner, then a pint in the afternoon, and, last of all, +a pint after he had done work. Franklin drank nothing but water. The +others laughed at him, and nicknamed him the "Water-American"; but +after a while they had to confess that he was stronger than they were +who drank so much strong beer. + +The fact was that Franklin could beat them both at work and at play. +When they went out for a bath in the Thames,[14] they found that their +"Water-American" could swim like a fish; and he so astonished them +that a rich Londoner tried to persuade him to start a swimming-school +to teach his sons, but Franklin had stayed in England long enough, +and he now decided to go back to Philadelphia. + +[Footnote 14: Thames (Tems). London is on the river Thames.] + + +116. Franklin sets up his newspaper; "sawdust pudding."--After his +return to America, Franklin labored so diligently that he was soon +able to set up a newspaper of his own. He tried to make it a good +one. But some people thought that he spoke his mind too freely. They +complained of this to him, and gave him to understand that if he did +not make his paper to please them, they would stop taking it or +advertising in it. + +Franklin heard what they had to say, and then invited them all to +come and have supper with him. They went, expecting a feast, but they +found nothing on the table but two dishes of corn-meal mush and a +big pitcher of cold water. That kind of mush was then eaten only by +very poor people; and because it was yellow and coarse, it was +nicknamed "sawdust pudding." + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN EATING "SAWDUST PUDDING."] + +Franklin gave everybody a heaping plateful, and then, filling his +own, he made a hearty supper of it. The others tried to eat, but could +not. After Franklin had finished his supper, he looked up, and said +quietly, "My friends, any one who can live on 'sawdust pudding' and +cold water, as I can, does not need much help from others." After +that, no one went to the young printer with complaints about his paper. +Franklin, as we have seen,[15] had learned to stoop; but he certainly +did not mean to go stooping through life. + +[Footnote 15: See paragraph 114.] + + +117. Franklin's plan of life; what he did for Philadelphia.--Not many +young men can see their own faults, but Franklin could. More than +that, he tried hard to get rid of them. He kept a little book in which +he wrote down his faults. If he wasted half an hour of time or a +shilling of money, or said anything that he had better not have said, +he wrote it down in his book. He carried that book in his pocket all +his life, and he studied it as a boy at school studies a hard lesson. +By it he learned three things,--first, to do the right thing; next, +to do it at the right time; last of all, to do it in the right way. + +As he was never tired of helping himself to get upward and onward, +so, too, he was never tired of helping others. He started the first +public library in Philadelphia, which was also the first in America. +He set on foot the first fire-engine company and the first military +company in that city. He got the people to pave the muddy streets +with stone; he helped to build the first academy,--now called the +University of Pennsylvania,--and he also helped to build the first +hospital. + + +118. Franklin's experiments[16] with electricity; the wonderful +bottle; the picture of the king of England.--While doing these things +and publishing his paper besides, Franklin found time to make +experiments with electricity. Very little was then known about this +wonderful power, but a Dutchman, living in the city of Leyden[17] +in Holland, had discovered a way of bottling it up in what is called +a Leyden Jar. Franklin had one of these jars, and he was never tired +of seeing what new and strange thing he could do with it. + +He contrived a picture of the king of England with a movable gilt +crown on his head. Then he connected the crown by a long wire with +the Leyden Jar. When he wanted some fun he would dare any one to go +up to the picture and take off the king's crown. Why that's easy +enough, a man would say, and would walk up and seize the crown. But +no sooner had he touched it than he would get an electric shock which +would make his fingers tingle as they never tingled before. With a +loud Oh! Oh! he would let go of the crown, and start back in utter +astonishment, not knowing what had hurt him. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN PLAYING A JOKE WITH THE KING'S CROWN.] + +[Footnote 16: Experiments: here an experiment is a trial made to +discover something unknown. Franklin made these experiments or +trials with electricity and with thunder clouds in order to find out +what he could about them.] + +[Footnote 17: Leyden: see map in paragraph 62.] + + +119. The electrical kite.--But Franklin's greatest experiment was +made one day in sober earnest with a kite. He believed that the +electricity in the bottle, or Leyden Jar, was the same thing as the +lightning we see in a thunder-storm. He knew well enough how to get +an electric spark from the jar, for he had once killed a turkey with +it for dinner; but how could he get a spark from a cloud in the sky? + +He thought about it for a long time; then he made a kite out of a +silk handkerchief, and fastened a sharp iron point to the upright +stick of the kite. One day, when a thunder-storm was seen coming up, +Franklin and his son went out to the fields. The kite was raised; +then Franklin tied an iron key to the lower end of the string. After +waiting some time, he saw the little hair-like threads of the string +begin to stand up like the bristles of a brush. He felt certain that +the electricity was coming down the string. He put his knuckle close +to the key, and a spark flew out. Next, he took his Leyden Jar and +collected the electricity in that. He had made two great discoveries, +for he had found out that electricity and lightning are the same thing +and he had also found how to fill his bottle directly from the clouds: +that was something that no one had ever done before. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN FLYING A KITE.] + + +120. Franklin invents the lightning-rod; _Doctor_ Franklin.--But +Franklin did not stop at that. He said, If I can draw down electricity +from the sky with a kite-string, I can draw it still better with a +tall, sharp-pointed iron rod. He put up such a rod on his house in +Philadelphia; it was the first lightning-rod in the world. Soon other +people began to put them up: so this was another gift of his to the +city which he loved. Every good lightning-rod which has since been +erected to protect buildings has been a copy of that invented by +Franklin. + +People now began to talk, not only in this country but in Europe, +about his electrical experiments and discoveries. The oldest college +in Scotland[18] gave him a title of honor and called him Doctor--a +word which means a learned man. From this time, Franklin the printer +was no longer plain Mr. Franklin, but Dr. Franklin. + +Dr. Franklin did not think that he had found out all that could be +found out about electricity; he believed that he had simply made a +beginning, and that other men would discover still greater things +that could be done with it. Do you think he was mistaken about that? + +[Footnote 18: The University of St. Andrews.] + + +121. Franklin in the Revolutionary War; Franklin and the map of the +United States.--When the war of the Revolution broke out, Dr. +Franklin did a great work for his country. He did not fight battles +like Washington, but he did something just as useful. First, he +helped write the Declaration of Independence, by which we declared +ourselves free from the rule of the king of England; next, he went +to France to get aid for us. We were then too poor to pay our soldiers; +he got the king of France to let us have money to give them. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN'S CANE AND WASHINGTON'S REVOLUTIONARY SWORD. +(Preserved in the Patent Office, Washington.)] + +Franklin lived to see the Revolution ended and America free. When +he died, full of years and of honors, he was buried in Philadelphia. +Twenty thousand people went to his funeral. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN'S GRAVE IN CHRIST CHURCH BURIAL-GROUND, +PHILADELPHIA.] + +If you wish to see what the country thinks of him, you have only to +look at a large map of the United States, and count up how many times +you find his name on it. You will find that more than two hundred +counties and towns are called FRANKLIN. + + +122. Summary.--Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston nearly two +hundred years ago. He went to Philadelphia when he was seventeen. +He started a newspaper there, opened the first public library, and +did many other things to help the city. He discovered that lightning +and electricity are the same thing, and he invented the lightning-rod +to protect buildings. In the Revolution, he got large sums of money +from the king of France to pay our soldiers and to help Washington +fight the battles which ended in making America free. + + +What had Philadelphia grown to be by 1733? Who did a great deal for +Philadelphia? Tell what you can about Franklin's newspaper. What +else did he publish? What sayings did he print in his almanac? What +saying of Solomon's did Franklin's father use to repeat to him? Did +he ever stand in the presence of any kings? Tell what you can about +Franklin as a boy. Where did he live? What did he do? How did he save +money to buy books? Why did he run away? Where did he go? Tell what +you can about Franklin's landing in Philadelphia? How did Franklin +look to Miss Read? Where did Franklin find work? What happened to +him when he went back to Boston on a visit? Why did Franklin go to +London? What did he do there? What did they nickname him in the +printing-office? What did Franklin do after he returned to +Philadelphia? Tell the story of the "sawdust pudding." Tell about +Franklin's plan of life. What did he do for Philadelphia? What +experiments did Franklin make? What about the picture of the king? +Tell the story of the kite. What two things did he find out by means +of this kite? What did he invent? What title did a college in Scotland +now give him? Did Franklin think that anything more would be +discovered about electricity? What two things did Franklin do in the +Revolution? What is said of his funeral? How many counties and towns +in the United States are now called by his name? + + + + +GEORGE WASHINGTON +(1732-1799). + + +123. A Virginia boy; what he became; what he learned at school; his +writing-books.--In 1732, when Franklin was at work on his newspaper, +a boy was born on a plantation[1] in Virginia who was one day to stand +higher even than the Philadelphia printer. + +[Illustration: STONE MARKING WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE; THE HOUSE IS +NO LONGER STANDING.] + +That boy when he grew up was to be chosen leader of the armies of +the Revolution; he was to be elected the first president of the United +States; and before he died he was to be known and honored all over +the world. The name of that boy was George Washington. + +Washington's father died when George was only eleven years old, +leaving him, with his brothers and sisters, to the care of a most +excellent and sensible mother. It was that mother's influence more +than anything else which made George the man he became. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S SIGNATURE AT THE AGE OF 12.] + +George went to a little country school, where he learned to read, +write, and cipher. By the time he was twelve, he could write a clear, +bold hand. In one of his writing-books he copied many good rules or +sayings. Here is one:-- + +[Illustration: "Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark +of celestial fire called conscience."[2]] + +[Footnote 1: Plantation: George Washington was born on a plantation +(or large estate cultivated by slaves) on Bridges Creek, a small +stream emptying into the Potomac. See map in paragraph 127. Not long +after George's birth (February 22, 1732), his father moved to an +estate on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg. See map +in paragraph 127 for this place and Mount Vernon.] + +[Footnote 2: Celestial: heavenly, divine.] + + +124. Washington's sports and games; playing at war; "Captain +George."--But young Washington was not always copying good sayings; +for he was a tall, strong boy, fond of all out-door sports and games. +He was a well-meaning boy, but he had a hot temper, and at times his +blue eyes flashed fire. In all trials of strength and in all deeds +of daring, George took the lead; he could run faster, jump further, +and throw a stone higher than any one in the school. + +When the boys played "soldier," they liked to have "Captain George" +as commander. When he drew his wooden sword, and shouted Come on! +they would all rush into battle with a wild hurrah. Years afterward, +when the real war came, and George Washington drew his sword in +earnest, some of his school companions may have fought under their +old leader. + + +125. The great battle with the colt, and what came of it.--Once, +however, Washington had a battle of a different kind. It was with +a high-spirited colt which belonged to his mother. Nobody had ever +been able to do anything with that colt, and most people were afraid +of him. Early one morning, George and some of his brothers were out +in the pasture. George looked at the colt prancing about and kicking +up his heels. Then he said: "Boys, if you'll help me put a bridle +on him, I'll ride him." The boys managed to get the colt into a corner +and to slip on the bridle. With a leap, George seated himself firmly +on his back. Then the fun began. The colt, wild with rage, ran, jumped, +plunged, and reared straight up on his hind legs, hoping to throw +his rider off. It was all useless; he might as well have tried to +throw off his own skin, for the boy stuck to his back as though he +had grown there. Then, making a last desperate bound into the air, +the animal burst a blood-vessel and fell dead. The battle was over, +George was victor, but it had cost the life of Mrs. Washington's +favorite colt. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S HOME WHEN A BOY.] + +When the boys went in to breakfast, their mother, knowing that they +had just come from the pasture, asked how the colt was getting on. +"He is dead, madam," said George; "I killed him." "Dead!" exclaimed +his mother. "Yes, madam, dead," replied her son. Then he told her +just how it happened. When Mrs. Washington heard the story, her face +flushed with anger. Then, waiting a moment, she looked steadily at +George, and said quietly, "While I regret the loss of my favorite, +I rejoice in my son, who always speaks the truth." + + +126. Washington goes on a visit to Mount Vernon; he makes the +acquaintance of Lord Fairfax.--George's eldest brother, Lawrence +Washington, had married the daughter of a gentleman named +Fairfax,[3] who lived on the banks of the Potomac. Lawrence had a +fine estate a few miles above, on the same river; he called his place +Mount Vernon. When he was fourteen, George went to Mount Vernon to +visit his brother. + +Lawrence Washington took George down the river to call on the +Fairfaxes. There the lad made the acquaintance of Lord Fairfax, an +English nobleman who had come over from London. He owned an immense +piece of land in Virginia. Lord Fairfax and George soon became great +friends. He was a gray-haired man nearly sixty, but he enjoyed having +this boy of fourteen as a companion. They spent weeks together on +horseback in the fields and woods, hunting deer and foxes. + +[Footnote 3: Fairfax. This was the Hon. William Fairfax; he was +cousin to Lord Fairfax, and he had the care of Lord Fairfax's land.] + + +127. Lord Fairfax hires Washington to survey[4] his land; how +Washington lived in the woods; the Indian war-dance.--Lord Fairfax's +land extended westward more than a hundred miles. It had never been +very carefully surveyed; and he was told that settlers were moving +in beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains,[5] and were building log-cabins +on his property without asking leave. By the time Washington was +sixteen, he had learned surveying; and so Lord Fairfax hired him to +measure his land for him. Washington was glad to undertake the work; +for he needed the money, and he could earn in this way from five to +ten dollars a day. + +[Illustration: Map illustrating Washington's early life.] + +Early in the spring, Washington, in company with another young man, +started off on foot to do this business. They crossed the Blue Ridge +Mountains, and entered the Valley of Virginia, one of the most +beautiful valleys in America. + +The two young men would work all day in the woods with a long chain, +measuring the land. When evening came, Washington would make a map +of what they had measured. Then they would wrap themselves up in their +blankets, stretch themselves on the ground at the foot of a tree, +and go to sleep under the stars. + +Every day they shot some game--squirrels or wild turkeys, or perhaps +a deer. They kindled a fire with flint and steel,[6] and roasted the +meat on sticks held over the coals. For plates they had clean chips; +and as clean chips could always be got by a few blows with an axe, +they never washed any dishes, but just threw them away, and had a +new set for each meal. + +While in the Valley they met a band of Indians, who stopped and danced +a war-dance for them. The music was not remarkable,--for most of it +was made by drumming on a deer-skin stretched across the top of an +old iron pot,--but the dancing itself could not be beat. The savages +leaped into the air, swung their hatchets, gashed the trees, and +yelled till the woods rang. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON SEES AN INDIAN WAR-DANCE.] + +When Washington returned from his surveying trip, Lord Fairfax was +greatly pleased with his work; and the governor of Virginia made him +one of the public surveyors. By this means he was able to get work +which paid him handsomely. + +[Footnote 4: Survey: to find out the form, size, and position of a +piece of land by measuring it in certain ways.] + +[Footnote 5: See map in this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 6: Flint and steel: see picture in paragraph 84.] + + +128. Washington at the age of twenty-one; the French in the west; +the governor of Virginia sends Washington to see the French +commander.--By the time Washington was twenty-one he had grown to +be over six feet in height. He was straight as an arrow and tough +as a whip-lash. He had keen blue eyes that seemed to look into the +very heart of things, and his fist was like a blacksmith's +sledgehammer. He knew all about the woods, all about Indians, and +he could take care of himself anywhere. + +At this time the English settlers held the country along the seashore +as far back as the Alleghany Mountains.[7] West of those mountains +the French from Canada were trying to get possession of the land. +They had made friends with many of the Indians, and they hoped, with +their help, to be able to drive out the English and get the whole +country for themselves. + +In order to hold this land in the west, the French had built several +forts[8] south of Lake Erie, and they were getting ready to build +some on the Ohio River. The governor of Virginia was determined to +put a stop to this. He had given young Washington the military title +of major;[9] he now sent Major Washington to see the French commander +at one of the forts near Lake Erie. Washington was to tell the +Frenchman that he had built his forts on land belonging to the English, +and that he and his men must either leave or fight. + +Major Washington dressed himself like an Indian, and attended by +several friendly Indians and by a white man named Gist,[10] who knew +the country well, he set out on his journey through what was called +the Great Woods. + +The entire distance to the farthest fort and back was about a thousand +miles. Washington could go on horseback part of the way, but there +were no regular roads, and he had to climb mountains and swim rivers. +After several weeks' travel he reached the fort, but the French +commander refused to give up the land. He said that he and his men +had come to stay, and that if the English did not like it, they must +fight. + +[Footnote 7: Alleghany (Al'le-ga'ni): see map in paragraph 127. (It +is also spelled Allegheny.)] + +[Footnote 8: Forts: see map in paragraph 127.] + +[Footnote 9: Major (ma'jer): an officer in the army next above a +captain, but below a colonel.] + +[Footnote 10: Gist (Jist).] + + +129. The journey back; the Indian guide; how Washington found his +way through the woods; the adventure with the raft.--On the way back, +Washington had to leave his horses and come on foot with Gist and +an Indian guide sent from the fort. This Indian guide was in the pay +of the French, and he intended to murder Washington in the woods. +One day he shot at him from behind a tree, but luckily did not hit +him. Then Washington and Gist managed to get away from him, and set +out to go back to Virginia by themselves. There were no paths through +the thick forest; but Washington had his compass with him, and with +that he could find his way just as the captain of a ship finds his +at sea. When they reached the Alleghany River they found it full of +floating ice. They worked all day and made a raft of logs. As they +were pushing their way across with poles, Washington's pole was +struck by a big piece of ice which he says jerked him out into water +ten feet deep. At length the two men managed to get to a little island, +but as there was no wood on it, they could not make a fire. The weather +was bitterly cold, and Washington, who was soaked to the skin, had +to take his choice between walking about all night, or trying to sleep +on the frozen ground in his wet clothes. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON AND GIST ON THE RAFT.] + + +130. Major Washington becomes Colonel Washington; Fort Necessity; +Braddock's defeat.--When Major Washington got back to Virginia, the +governor made him colonel. With a hundred and fifty men, Colonel +Washington was ordered to set out for the west. He was to "make +prisoners, kill or destroy," all Frenchmen who should try to get +possession of land on the Ohio River. He built a small log fort, which +he named Fort Necessity.[11] Here the French attacked him. They had +five men to his one. Colonel Washington fought like a man who liked +to hear the bullets whistle past his ears,--as he said he did,--but +in the end he had to give up the fort. + +Then General Braddock, a noted English soldier, was sent over to +Virginia by the king to drive the French out of the country. He +started with a fine army, and Washington went with him.[12] He told +General Braddock that the French and the Indians would hide in the +woods and fire at his men from behind trees. But Braddock paid no +attention to the warning. On his way through the forest, the brave +English general was suddenly struck down by the enemy, half of his +army were killed or wounded, and the rest put to flight. Washington +had two horses shot under him, and four bullets went through his coat. +It was a narrow escape for the young man. One of those who fought +in the battle said, "I expected every moment to see him fall"--but +he was to live for greater work. + +[Illustration: FALL OF GENERAL BRADDOCK ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.] + +[Footnote 11: Fort Necessity: see map in paragraph 127.] + +[Footnote 12: See map of Braddock's march in paragraph 127.] + + +131. End of the war with the French; what the king of England wanted +to do; how the people here felt toward him.--The war with the French +lasted a number of years. It ended by the English getting possession +of the whole of America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi +River. All this part of America was ruled by George the Third, king +of England. The king now determined to send over more soldiers, and +keep them here to prevent the French in Canada from trying to get +back the country they had lost. He wanted the people here in the +thirteen colonies[13] to pay the cost of keeping these soldiers. But +this the people were not willing to do, because they felt that they +were able to protect themselves without help of any kind. Then the +king said, If the Americans will not give the money, I will take it +from them by force,--for pay it they must and shall. This was more +than the king would have dared say about England; for there, if he +wanted money to spend on his army, he had to ask the people for it, +and they could give it or not as they thought best. The Americans +said, We have the same rights as our brothers in England, and the +king cannot force us to give a single copper against our will. If +he tries to take it from us, we will fight. Some of the greatest men +in England agreed with us, and said that they would fight, too, if +they were in our place. + +[Footnote 13: Thirteen colonies: see footnote 4 at the end of +paragraph 102.] + + +132. The king determines to have the money; the tea-ships, and the +"Boston tea-party."--But George the Third did not know the Americans, +and he did not think that they meant what they said. He tried to make +them pay the money, but they would not. From Maine to Georgia, all +the people were of one mind. Then the king thought that he would try +a different way. Shiploads of tea were sent over to New York, Boston, +Philadelphia, and Charleston, If the tea should be landed and sold, +then every man who bought a pound of it would have to pay six cents +more than the regular price. That six cents was a tax, and it went +into the king's pocket. The people said, We won't pay that six cents. +When the tea reached New York, the citizens sent it back again to +England. They did the same thing at Philadelphia. At Charleston they +let it be landed, but it was stored in damp cellars. People would +not buy any of it any more than they would buy so much poison, so +it all rotted and spoiled. At Boston they had a grand "tea-party." +A number of men dressed themselves up like Indians, went on board +the tea-ships at night, broke open all the chests, and emptied the +tea into the harbor. + +[Illustration: THE BOSTON "TEA-PARTY."] + + +133. The king closes the port of Boston; Congress meets at +Philadelphia; the names American and British; what General Gage +tried to do.--The king was terribly angry; and orders were given that +the port of Boston should be closed, so that no ships, except the +king's war-ships, should come in or go out. Nearly all trade stopped +in Boston. Many of the inhabitants began to suffer for want of food, +but throughout the colonies the people tried their best to help them. +The New England towns sent droves of sheep and cattle, New York sent +wheat, South Carolina gave two hundred barrels of rice; the other +colonies gave liberally in money and provisions. Even in England much +sympathy was felt for the distressed people of Boston, and in London +a large sum of money was raised to help those whom the king was +determined to starve into submission. + +The colonies now sent some of their best men to Philadelphia to +consider what should be done. As this meeting was made up of those +who had come from all parts of the country, it took the name of the +General or Continental Congress.[14] + +About this time, too, a great change took place; for the people +throughout the country began to call themselves Americans, and to +speak of the English troops that the king sent over here as British +soldiers. + +In Boston General Gage had command of these soldiers. He knew that +the Americans were getting ready to fight, and that they had stored +up powder and ball at Concord,[15] about twenty miles from Boston. +One night he secretly sent out a lot of soldiers to march to Concord +and destroy what they found there. + +[Footnote 14: Congress: this word means a meeting or assembly of +persons. The General or Continental Congress was an assembly of +certain persons sent usually by all of the thirteen American colonies +to meet at Philadelphia or Baltimore, to decide what should be done +by the whole country. The first Congress met in 1774, or shortly +before the Revolution began, and after that from time to time until +near the close of the Revolution.] + +[Footnote 15: Concord (Con'cord).] + + +134. Paul Revere;[16] the fight at Lexington and Concord; Bunker +Hill.--But Paul Revere, a Boston man, was on the watch; and as soon +as he found out which way the British were going, he set off at a +gallop for Lexington, on the road to Concord. All the way out, he +roused people from their sleep, with the cry, "The British are +coming!" + +[Illustration: PAUL REVERE'S RIDE.] + +When the king's soldiers reached Lexington, they found the Americans, +under Captain Parker, ready for them. Captain Parker said to his men, +"Don't fire unless you are fired on; but if they want a war, _let +it begin here_." The fighting did begin there, April 19th, 1775; and +when the British left the town on their way to Concord, seven +Americans lay dead on the grass in front of the village church. At +Concord, that same day, there was still harder fighting; and on the +way back to Boston, a large number of the British were killed. + +The next month, June 17th, 1775 a battle was fought on Bunker Hill +in Charlestown, just outside of Boston. General Gage thought the +Yankees wouldn't fight, but they did fight, in a way that General +Gage never forgot; and though they had at last to retreat because +their powder gave out, yet the British lost more than a thousand men. +The contest at Bunker Hill was the first great battle of the +Revolution; that is, of that war which overturned the British power +in America, and made us a free people. Many Englishmen thought the +king was wrong. They would not fight against us, and he was obliged +to hire a large number of German soldiers to send to America. These +Germans had to fight us whether they wanted to or not, for their king +forced them to come. + +[Footnote 16: Revere (Re-veer').] + + +135. Colonel Washington at Mount Vernon; Congress makes him General +Washington, and sends him to take command of the American army.--At +the time the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, Colonel George +Washington was living very quietly at Mount Vernon. His brother +Lawrence had died, and Mount Vernon was now his home. Washington was +very well off: he had a fine estate and plenty of slaves to do the +work on it; but when he died, many years later, he took good care +to leave orders that all of his slaves should be set free as soon +as it could be done. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON.] + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON TAKING COMMAND OF THE AMERICAN ARMY AT +CAMBRIDGE.] + +Congress now made Colonel Washington general, and sent him to +Cambridge, a town just outside of Boston, to take command of the +American army. It was called the Continental Army because it was +raised, not to fight for the people of Massachusetts, but for all +the Americans on the continent, north and south. Washington took +command of the army under a great elm, which is still standing. There, +six months later, he raised the first American flag.[17] + +[Illustration: THE NORTHERN STATES IN THE REVOLUTION.] + +[Footnote 17: See a picture of this and the other flags of the +Revolution in paragraph 142.] + + +136. American sharpshooters;[18] Washington's need of cannon and +powder; the attack on Canada; the British driven out of Boston.--Men +now came from all parts of the country to join the Continental Army. +Many of them were sharpshooters. In one case an officer set up a board +with the figure of a man's nose chalked on it, for a mark. A hundred +men fired at it at long distance, and sixty hit the nose. The +newspapers gave them great praise for their skill and said, "Now, +General Gage, look out for _your_ nose." + +[Illustration: "NOW, GENERAL GAGE, LOOK OUT FOR _your_ NOSE."] + +Washington wanted to drive General Gage and the British soldiers out +of Boston, but for months he could not get either cannon or powder. +Benjamin Franklin said that we should have to fight as the Indians +used to, with bows and arrows. + +While Washington was waiting, a number of Americans marched against +the British in Canada; but the cold weather came on, and they nearly +starved to death: our men would sometimes take off their +moccasins[19] and gnaw them, while they danced in the snow to keep +their bare feet from freezing. + +At last Washington got both cannon and powder. He dragged the cannon +up to the top of some high land overlooking Boston harbor. He then +sent word to General Howe, for Gage had gone, that if he did not leave +Boston he would knock his ships to pieces. The British saw that they +could not help themselves, so they made haste to get on board their +vessels and sail away. They never came back to Boston again, but went +to New York. + +[Footnote 18: Sharpshooters: men who can fire and hit a small mark +with a bullet at a long distance.] + +[Footnote 19: Moccasins (mok'ka-sins): Indian shoes made of +deerskin.] + + +137. The Declaration of Independence; "Down with the king!" +Washington is driven from New York and across the Delaware +River.--Washington got to New York first. While he was there, +Congress,[20] on the 4th of July, 1776, declared the United States +_independent_--that is, entirely free from the rule of the king of +England. There was a gilded lead statue of King George the Third on +horseback in New York. When the news of what Congress had done reached +that city, there was a great cry of "Down with the king!" That night +some of our men pulled down the statue, melted it up, and cast it +into bullets. + +[Illustration: "DOWN WITH THE KING!"] + +The next month there was a battle on Long Island,[21] just across +from New York City; the British gained the victory. Washington had +to leave New York, and Lord Cornwallis, one of the British generals, +chased him and his little army clear across the state of New Jersey. +It looked at one time as though our men would all be taken prisoners, +but Washington managed to seize a lot of small boats on the Delaware +River[22] and get across into Pennsylvania: as the British had no +boats, they could not follow. + +[Footnote 20: Congress: see footnote 14 in paragraph 133.] + +[Footnote 21: See map in paragraph 135.] + +[Footnote 22: See map in paragraph 135.] + + +138. Washington's victory at Trenton, New Jersey.--Lord Cornwallis +left fifteen hundred German soldiers at Trenton on the Delaware. He +intended, as soon as the river froze over, to cross on the ice and +attack Washington's army. But Washington did not wait for him. On +Christmas night (1776) he took a large number of boats, filled them +with soldiers, and secretly crossed over to New Jersey.[23] The +weather was intensely cold, the river was full of floating ice, and +a furious snow-storm set in. Many of our men were ragged and had only +old broken shoes. They suffered terribly, and two of them were frozen +to death. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE RIVER.] + +The Germans at Trenton had been having a jolly Christmas, and had +gone to bed, suspecting no danger. Suddenly Washington, with his men, +rushed into the little town, and almost before they knew what had +happened, a thousand Germans were made prisoners. The rest escaped +to tell Lord Cornwallis how the Americans had beaten them. When +Washington was driven out of New York, many Americans thought he +would be captured. Now they were filled with joy. The battle of +Trenton was the first battle won by the Continental Army. + +[Footnote 23: See map in paragraph 135.] + + +139. Our victory at Princeton, New Jersey; the British take +Philadelphia; winter at Valley Forge; Burgoyne beaten; the king of +France agrees to help us.--Washington took his thousand prisoners +over into Pennsylvania. A few days later he again crossed the +Delaware into New Jersey. While Cornwallis was fast asleep in his +tent, he slipped round him, got to Princeton,[24] and there beat a +part of the British army. Cornwallis woke up and heard Washington's +cannon. "That's thunder," he said. He was right; it was the thunder +of another American victory. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON ON HORSEBACK.] + +But before the next winter set in, the British had taken the city +of Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. Washington's +army was freezing and starving on the hillsides of Valley Forge,[25] +about twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia. + +But good news was coming. The Americans had won a great victory at +Saratoga, New York,[26] over the British general, Burgoyne.[27] Dr. +Franklin was then in Paris. When he heard that Burgoyne was beaten, +he hurried off to the palace of the French king to tell him about +it. The king of France hated the British, and he agreed to send money, +ships, and soldiers to help us. When our men heard that at Valley +Forge, they leaped and hurrahed for joy. Not long after that the +British left Philadelphia, and we entered it in triumph. + +[Footnote 24: Princeton: see map in paragraph 135.] + +[Footnote 25: Valley Forge: see map in paragraph 135.] + +[Footnote 26: Saratoga: see map in paragraph 135.] + +[Footnote 27: Burgoyne (Bur'goin).] + + +140. The war at the South; Jasper; Cowpens; Greene and +Cornwallis.--While these things were happening at the north, the +British sent a fleet of vessels to take Charleston, South Carolina. +They hammered away with their big guns at a little log fort under +command of Colonel Moultrie. In the battle a cannon-ball struck the +flag-pole on the fort, and cut it in two. The South Carolina flag +fell to the ground outside the fort. Sergeant[28] William Jasper +leaped down, and, while the British shot were striking all around +him, seized the flag, climbed back, fastened it to a short staff, +and raised it to its place, to show that the Americans would never +give up the fort. The British, after fighting all day, saw that they +could do nothing against palmetto logs[29] when defended by such men +as Moultrie and Jasper; so they sailed away with such of their ships +as had not been destroyed. + +[Illustration: SERGEANT JASPER AND THE FLAG.] + +Several years later, Charleston was taken. Lord Cornwallis then took +command of the British army in South Carolina. General Greene, of +Rhode Island, had command of the Americans. He sent Daniel Morgan +with his sharpshooters to meet part of the British army at +Cowpens;[30] they did meet them, and sent them flying. Then +Cornwallis determined to either whip General Greene or drive him out +of the state. But General Greene worried Cornwallis so that at last +he was glad enough to get into Virginia. He had found North and South +Carolina like two hornets' nests, and the further he got away from +those hornets, the better he was pleased. + +[Illustration: THE SOUTHERN STATES IN THE REVOLUTION.] + +[Footnote 28: Sergeant (sar'jent): a military officer of low rank.] + +[Footnote 29: Palmetto logs: the wood of the palmetto tree is very +soft and spongy; the cannon-balls, when they struck, would bury +themselves in the logs, but would neither break them to pieces nor +go through them.] + +[Footnote 30: Cowpens: see map in this paragraph.] + + +141. Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold; Lafayette; Cornwallis shuts +himself up in Yorktown.--When Lord Cornwallis got into Virginia he +found Benedict Arnold waiting to help him. Arnold had been a general +in the American army; Washington gave him the command of the fort +at West Point, on the Hudson River,[31] and trusted him as though +he was his brother. Arnold deceived him, and secretly offered to give +up the fort to the British. We call a man who is false to his friends +and to his country a traitor: it is the most shameful name we can +fasten on him. Arnold was a traitor; and if we could have caught him, +we should have hanged him; but he was cunning enough to run away and +escape to the British. Now he was burning houses and towns in Virginia, +and doing all that he could--as a traitor always will--to destroy +those who had once been his best friends. He wanted to stay in +Virginia and assist Cornwallis; but that general was a brave and +honorable man: he despised Arnold, and did not want to have anything +to do with him. + +A young nobleman named Lafayette[32] had come over from France on +purpose to help us against the British. Cornwallis laughed at him +and called him a "boy"; but he found that General Lafayette was a +"boy" who knew how to fight. The British commander moved toward the +seacoast; Lafayette followed him; at length Cornwallis shut himself +up with his army in Yorktown.[33] + +[Footnote 31: West Point: see map in paragraph 135.] + +[Footnote 32: Lafayette (Lah-fay-et').] + +[Footnote 33: Yorktown: see map in paragraph 140.] + + +142. Washington marches against Yorktown, and takes it and the army +of Cornwallis.--Washington, with his army, was then near New York +City, watching the British there. The French king had done as he +agreed, and had sent over warships and soldiers to help us; but so +far they had never been able to do much. Now was the chance. Before +the British knew what Washington was about, he had sent the French +war-ships down to Yorktown to prevent Cornwallis from getting away +by sea. Then, with his own army and some French soldiers besides, +Washington quickly marched south to attack Yorktown by land. + +When he got there he placed his cannon round the town, and began +battering it to pieces. For more than a week he kept firing night +and day. One house had over a thousand balls go through it. Its walls +looked like a sieve. At last Cornwallis could not hold out any longer, +and on October 19th, 1781, his army came out and gave themselves up +as prisoners. + +The Americans formed a line more than a mile long on one side of the +road, and the French stood facing them on the other side. The French +had on gay clothes, and looked very handsome; the clothes of +Washington's men were patched and faded, but their eyes shone with +a wonderful light--the light of victory. The British marched out +slowly, between the two lines: somehow they found it pleasanter to +look at the bright uniforms of the French, than to look at the eyes +of the Americans. + +[Illustration: THE FLAGS OF THE REVOLUTION.[34]] + +[Footnote 34: The flag with the large crosses on it, on the left, +is the English flag at the time of the American Revolution. The flag +on the right is that which Washington raised at Cambridge, +Massachusetts, January 2d, 1776. He simply took the English flag, +and added thirteen stripes to represent the union of the thirteen +English colonies. The flag in the centre, with its thirteen stars +and thirteen stripes representing the thirteen states, is the first +American _national_ flag. It was adopted by Congress June 14th, 1777, +not quite a year after we had declared ourselves independent of Great +Britain. Beneath this flag is Washington's coat of arms with a Latin +motto, meaning "The event justifies the deed." It is possible that +the stars and stripes on our national flag came from the stars and +stripes (or bars) on this ancient coat of arms, which may be seen +on the tombstone of one of the Washington family, buried in 1583, +in the parish church at Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England.] + + +143. How the news of the taking of Yorktown was carried to +Philadelphia; Lord Fairfax.--People at a distance noticed that the +cannon had suddenly stopped firing. They looked at each other, and +asked, "What does it mean?" All at once a man appears on horseback. +He is riding with all his might toward Philadelphia, where Congress +is. As he dashes past, he rises in his stirrups, swings his cap, and +shouts with all his might, "Cornwallis is taken! Cornwallis is +taken!" Then it was the people's turn to shout; and they made the +hills ring with, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" + +[Illustration: "CORNWALLIS IS TAKEN!"] + +Poor Lord Fairfax,[35] Washington's old friend, had always stood by +the king. He was now over ninety. When he heard the cry, "Cornwallis +is taken!" it was too much for the old man. He said to his negro +servant, "Come, Joe; carry me to bed, for I'm sure it's high time +for me to die." + +[Footnote 35: See paragraph 126.] + + +144. Tearing down the British flag at New York; Washington goes back +to Mount Vernon; he is elected President; his death; Lafayette visits +his tomb.--The Revolutionary War had lasted seven years,--terrible +years they were, years of sorrow, suffering, and death,--but now the +end had come, and America was free. When the British left New York +City, they nailed the British flag to a high pole on the wharf; but +a Yankee sailor soon climbed the pole, tore down the flag of England, +and hoisted the stars and stripes in its place. That was more than +a hundred years ago. Now the English and the Americans have become +good friends, and the English people see that the Revolution ended +in the way that was best for both of us. + +[Illustration: HOISTING THE STARS AND STRIPES AT NEW YORK.] + +When it was clear that there would be no more fighting, Washington +went back to Mount Vernon. He hoped to spend the rest of his life +there. But the country needed him, and a few years later it chose +him the first President of the United States. + +[Illustration: PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S COACH.] + +Washington was made President in New York City, which was the capital +of the United States at that time. A French gentleman who was there +tells us how Washington, standing in the presence of thousands of +people, placed his hand on the Bible, and solemnly swore that with +the help of God he would protect and defend the United States of +America. + +[Illustration: PRESIDENT WASHINGTON TAKING THE OATH.] + +Washington was elected President twice. When he died many of the +people in England and France joined America in mourning for him; for +all men honored his memory. + +Lafayette came over to visit us many years afterward. He went to Mount +Vernon, where Washington was buried. There he went down into the +vault, and, kneeling by the side of the coffin, covered his face with +his hands, and shed tears of gratitude to think that he had known +such a man as Washington, and that Washington had been his friend. + +[Illustration: LAFAYETTE AT WASHINGTON'S COFFIN.] + + +145. Summary.--George Washington, the son of a Virginia planter, +became the leader of the armies of the United States in the war of +the Revolution. At the close of the war, after he had made America +free, he was elected our first President. His name stands to-day +among those of the greatest men in the history of the world. + + +When and where was George Washington born? What did he learn at +school? What did he write in one of his writing-books? Tell about +his sports and games at school. What is said of "Captain George"? +Tell the story about the colt. What did George's mother say? Tell +about George's visit to his brother and to the Fairfaxes. What is +said of Lord Fairfax? What did he hire Washington to do? Tell about +his surveying and his life in the woods. Tell about the Indian +war-dance. What did the governor of Virginia do when Washington +returned? What is said of Washington at the age of twenty-one? Tell +about his journey to the French forts and his return. What is said +about the Indian guide? What about the raft? What did the governor +of Virginia do when Washington returned? What did the governor order +him to do? What about Fort Necessity? Tell about General Braddock, +and about what happened to Washington. What is said about the end +of the war? What did King George the Third determine to do? What did +the king want the Americans to do? How did they feel? What did the +king say? What did the Americans say to that? What did some of the +greatest men in England say? What did the king then try to do? Tell +about the tea-ships. What happened in Boston? What was done to +Boston? What help did the people of Boston get? What did the colonies +now do? What did the people now begin to call themselves? What did +they call the English troops? + +Who commanded the British soldiers in Boston? What did he do? What +about Paul Revere? What did Captain Parker of Lexington say to his +men? What happened at Lexington and at Concord? Tell about the battle +of Bunker Hill. What did many Englishmen refuse to do? Where was +Colonel Washington living? What did Congress do? Where did +Washington take command of the army? Tell about the sharpshooters. +Tell about the march to Canada. How did Washington take Boston? Where +did the British go? Where did Washington go? What did Congress do +on July 4th, 1776? What happened in New York? What about the battle +of Long Island? What did Cornwallis do? Tell about the victory at +Trenton. What happened at Princeton? What city did the British take? +Where was Washington's army? What happened at Saratoga? What did the +king of France do? What happened at the south? Tell about Sergeant +Jasper. What is said about General Greene? What did Cornwallis do? +Where did he go? What is said about Benedict Arnold? What about +Lafayette? Where did Cornwallis shut himself up with his army? What +did Washington do? Tell about the surrender of Cornwallis. How was +the news carried to Philadelphia? What is said of Lord Fairfax? How +long had the war lasted? What was done at New York? What is said of +General Washington after the war? Tell how he was made President. +What happened when he died? What is said of Lafayette? + + + + +DANIEL BOONE +(1734-1820). + + +146. Daniel Boone; what the hunters of the west did; Boone's life +in North Carolina.--Before Washington began to fight the battles of +the Revolution in the east, Daniel Boone and other famous hunters +were fighting bears and Indians in what was then called the west. +By that war in the woods, these brave and hardy men helped us to get +possession of that part of the country. + +Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania.[1] His father moved to North +Carolina,[2] and Daniel helped him cut down the trees round their +log cabin in the forest. He ploughed the land, which was thick with +stumps, hoed the corn that grew up among those stumps, and then,--as +there was no mill near,--he pounded it into meal for "johnny-cake." +He learned how to handle a gun quite as soon as he did a hoe. The +unfortunate deer or coon that saw young Boone coming toward him knew +that he had seen his best days, and that he would soon have the whole +Boone family sitting round him at the dinner-table. + +[Illustration: BOONE POUNDING CORN.] + +[Footnote 1: He was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.] + +[Footnote 2: He settled near Wilkesboro, on the banks of the Yadkin +River. See map in paragraph 150.] + + +147. Boone's wanderings in the western forests; his bear tree.--When +Daniel had grown to manhood, he wandered off with his gun on his +shoulder, and crossing the mountains, entered what is now the state +of Tennessee. That whole country was then a wilderness, full of +savage beasts and still more savage Indians; and Boone had many a +sharp fight with both. + +More than a hundred and thirty years ago, he cut these words on a +beech-tree, still standing in Eastern Tennessee,[3]--"D. Boon +killed a bar on (this) tree in the year 1760." You will see if you +examine the tree, on which the words can still be read, that Boone +could not spell very well; but he could do what the bear minded a +good deal more,--he could shoot to kill. + +[Illustration: BOONE'S BEAR TREE.] + +[Footnote 3: The tree is still standing on the banks of Boone's Creek, +near Jonesboro, Washington County, Tennessee.] + + +148. Boone goes hunting in Kentucky; what kind of game he found there; +the Indians; the "Dark and Bloody Ground."--Nine years after he cut +his name on that tree, Boone, with a few companions, went to a new +part of the country. The Indians called it Kentucky. There he saw +buffalo, deer, bears, and wolves enough to satisfy the best hunter +in America. + +This region was a kind of No Man's Land, because, though many tribes +of Indians roamed over it, none of them pretended to own it. These +bands of Indians were always fighting and trying to drive each other +out, so Kentucky was often called the "Dark and Bloody Ground." But, +much as the savages hated each other, they hated the white men, or +the "pale-faces," as they called them, still more. + + +149. Indian tricks; the owls.--The hunters were on the lookout for +these Indians, but the savages practised all kinds of tricks to get +the hunters near enough to shoot them. Sometimes Boone would hear +the gobble of a wild turkey. He would listen a moment, then he would +say, That is not a wild turkey, but an Indian, imitating that bird; +but he won't fool me and get me to come near enough to put a bullet +through my head. + +One evening an old hunter, on his way to his cabin, heard what seemed +to be two young owls calling to each other. But his quick ear noticed +that there was something not quite natural in their calls, and what +was stranger still, that the owls seemed to be on the ground instead +of being perched on trees, as all well-behaved owls would be. He crept +cautiously along through the bushes till he saw something ahead which +looked like a stump. He didn't altogether like the looks of the stump. +He aimed his rifle at it, and fired. The stump, or what seemed to +be one, fell over backward with a groan. He had killed an Indian, +who had been waiting to kill him. + + +150. Boone makes the "Wilderness Road," and builds the fort at +Boonesboro'.--In 1775 Boone, with a party of thirty men, chopped a +path through the forest from the mountains of Eastern Tennessee to +the Kentucky River,[4] a distance of about two hundred miles. This +was the first path in that part of the country leading to the great +west. It was called the "_Wilderness Road_." Over that road, which +thousands of emigrants travelled afterward, Boone took his family, +with other settlers, to the Kentucky River. There they built a fort +called Boonesboro'. That fort was a great protection to all the first +settlers in Kentucky. In fact, it is hard to see how the state could +have grown up without it. So in one way, we can say with truth that +Daniel Boone, the hunter, fighter, and road-maker, was a +state-builder besides. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING BOONE'S "WILDERNESS ROAD."] + +[Footnote 4: See map in this paragraph.] + + +151. Boone's daughter is stolen by the Indians; how he found +her.--One day Boone's young daughter was out, with two other girls, +in a canoe on the river. Suddenly some Indians pounced on them and +carried them off. + +One of the girls, as she went along, broke off twigs from the bushes, +so that her friends might be able to follow her track through the +woods. An Indian caught her doing it, and told her that he would kill +her if she did not instantly stop. Then she slyly tore off small bits +of her dress, and dropped a piece from time to time. + +Boone and his men followed the Indians like bloodhounds. They picked +up the bits of dress, and so easily found which way the savages had +gone. They came up with the Indians just as they were sitting down +round a fire to eat their supper. Creeping toward them behind the +trees as softly as a cat creeps up behind a mouse, Boone and his men +aimed their rifles and fired. Two of the Indians fell dead, the rest +ran for their lives, and the girls were carried back in safety to +the fort. + + +152. Boone is captured by Indians; they adopt him as a son.--Later, +Boone himself was caught and carried off by the Indians. They +respected his courage so much that they would not kill him, but +decided to adopt him; that is, take him into the tribe as one of their +own people, or make an Indian of him. + +They pulled out all his hair except one long lock, called the +"scalp-lock," which they left to grow in Indian fashion. The +squaws[5] and girls braided bright feathers in this lock, so that +Boone looked quite gay. Then the Indians took him down to a river. +There they stripped him, and scrubbed him with all their might, to +get his white blood out, as they said. Next, they painted his face +in stripes with red and yellow clay, so that he looked, as they +thought, handsomer than he ever had before in his life. When all had +been done, and they were satisfied with the appearance of their new +Indian, they sat down to a great feast, and made merry. + +[Footnote 5: Squaws: Indian women.] + + +153. Boone escapes, but the Indians find him again; what a handful +of tobacco dust did.--After a time Boone managed to escape, but the +Indians were so fond of him that they could not rest till they found +him again. One day he was at work in a kind of shed drying some tobacco +leaves. He heard a slight noise, and turning round saw four Indians +with their guns pointed at him. "Now, Boone," said they, "we got you. +You no get away this time." "How are you?" said Boone, pleasantly; +"glad to see you; just wait a minute till I get you some of my +tobacco." He gathered two large handfuls of the leaves: they were +as dry as powder and crumbled to dust in his hands. Coming forward, +as if to give the welcome present to the Indians, he suddenly sprang +on them and filled their eyes, mouths, and noses with the stinging +tobacco dust. The savages were half choked and nearly blinded. While +they were dancing about, coughing, sneezing, and rubbing their eyes, +Boone slipped out of the shed and got to a place of safety. The Indians +were mad as they could be, yet they could hardly help laughing at +Boone's trick; for cunning as the red men were, he was more cunning +still. + +[Illustration: BOONE'S FORT, AT BOONESBORO', KENTUCKY.] + + +154. Boone's old age; he moves to Missouri; he begs for a piece of +land; his grave.--Boone lived to be a very old man. He had owned a +good deal of land in the west, but he had lost possession of it. When +Kentucky began to fill up with people and the game was killed off, +Boone moved across the Mississippi into Missouri. He said that he +went because he wanted "more elbow room" and a chance to hunt buffalo +again. + +He now begged the state of Kentucky to give him a small piece of land, +where, as he said, he could "lay his bones." The people of that state +generously helped him to get nearly a thousand acres; but he appears +to have soon lost possession of it. If he actually did lose it, then +this brave old hunter, who had opened up the way for such a multitude +of emigrants to get farms at the west, died without owning a piece +of ground big enough for a grave. He is buried in Frankfort, Kentucky, +within sight of the river on which he built his fort at Boonesboro'. + + +155. Summary.--Daniel Boone, a famous hunter from North Carolina, +opened up a road through the forest, from the mountains of Eastern +Tennessee to the Kentucky River. It was called the "Wilderness Road," +and over it thousands of emigrants went into Kentucky to settle. +Boone, with others, built the fort at Boonesboro', Kentucky, and went +there to live. That fort protected the settlers against the Indians, +and so helped that part of the country to grow until it became the +state of Kentucky. + + +Tell about Daniel Boone. How did he help his father? Where did he +go when he became a man? What did he cut on a beech tree? Where did +he go after that? What is said of the Indians in Kentucky? Tell about +Indian tricks. Tell about the two owls. Tell about the Wilderness +Road. What is said of the fort at Boonesboro'? Tell how Boone's +daughter and the other girls were stolen by the Indians. What +happened next? Tell how Boone was captured by the Indians and how +they adopted him. Tell the story of the tobacco dust. What did Boone +do when he became old? What did Kentucky get for him? Where is he +buried? + + + + +GENERAL JAMES ROBERTSON AND GOVERNOR JOHN SEVIER[1] +(1742-1814; 1745-1815). + + +156. Who James Robertson was; Governor Tryon; the battle of +Alamance.[2]--When Daniel Boone first went to Kentucky (1769) he had +a friend named James Robertson, in North Carolina[3] who was, like +himself, a mighty hunter. The British governor of North Carolina at +that time was William Tryon. He lived in a palace built with money +which he had forced the people to give him. They hated him so for +his greed and cruelty that they nicknamed him the "Great Wolf of North +Carolina." + +At last many of the settlers vowed that they would not give the +governor another penny. When he sent tax-collectors to get money, +they drove them back, and they flogged one of the governor's friends +with a rawhide till he had to run for his life. + +The governor then collected some soldiers and marched against the +people in the west. A battle was fought near the Alamance River. The +governor had the most men and had cannon besides, so he gained the +day. He took seven of the people prisoners and hanged them. They all +died bravely, as men do who die for liberty. + +[Footnote 1: Sevier (Se-veer'): he was born in Rockingham County, +Virginia.] + +[Footnote 2: Alamance River (Al'a-mance): see map in paragraph 150.] + +[Footnote 3: Robertson was born in Brunswick County, Virginia; he +emigrated to North Carolina and settled in the neighborhood of +Raleigh. See map in paragraph 150.] + + +157. James Robertson leaves North Carolina and goes west.--After the +battle of Alamance James Robertson and his family made up their minds +that they would not live any longer where Governor Tryon ruled. They +resolved to go across the mountains into the western wilderness. +Sixteen other families joined Robertson's and went with them. It was +a long, hard journey; for they had to climb rocks and find their way +through deep, tangled woods. The men went ahead with their axes and +their guns; then the older children followed, driving the cows; last +of all came the women with the little children, with beds, pots, and +kettles packed on the backs of horses. + +[Illustration: ROBERTSON WITH HIS PARTY CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS +ON THEIR WAY TO TENNESSEE.] + + +158. The emigrants settle on the Watauga River[4] in +Tennessee.--When the little party had crossed the mountains into +what is now the state of Tennessee, they found a delightful valley. +Through this valley there ran a stream of clear sparkling water +called the Watauga River; the air of the valley was sweet with the +smell of wild crab-apples. + +On the banks of that stream the emigrants built their new homes. Their +houses were simply rough log huts, but they were clean and +comfortable. When the settlers put up these cabins, they chopped down +every tree near them which was big enough for an Indian to hide behind. +They knew that they might have to fight the savages; but they had +rather do that than be robbed by tax-collectors. In the wilderness +Governor Tryon could not reach them--they were free; free as the deer +and the squirrels were: that one thought made them contented and +happy. + +[Footnote 4: Watauga River (Wa-taw'ga): see map in paragraph 150.] + + +159. John Sevier goes to settle at Watauga; what he and Robertson +did.--The year after this little settlement was made John Sevier went +from Virginia to Watauga, as it was called. He and Robertson soon +became fast friends--for one brave man can always see something to +respect and like in another brave man. Robertson and Sevier hunted +together and worked together. + +After a while they called a meeting of the settlers and agreed on +some excellent laws, so that everything in the log village might be +done decently and in order; for although these people lived in the +woods, they had no notion of living like savages or wild beasts. In +course of time President Washington made James Robertson General +Robertson, in honor of what he had done for his country. + +Out of this settlement on the Watauga River grew the state of +Tennessee. A monument in honor of John Sevier stands in Nashville, +a city founded by his friend Robertson. Sevier became the first +governor of the new state. + +[Illustration: THE SEVIER MONUMENT.] + + +160. Summary.--James Robertson, of North Carolina, and John Sevier, +of Virginia, emigrated across the mountains to the western +wilderness. They settled on the Watauga River, and that settlement, +with others made later, grew into the state of Tennessee, of which +John Sevier became the first governor. + + +What friend did Boone have in North Carolina? Tell about Governor +Tryon. What happened on the Alamance River? Where did Robertson and +others go? Where did they settle? Why did they like to be there? Tell +about John Sevier. What did he and Robertson do? What did Washington +do for Robertson? What state grew out of the Watauga settlement? What +did Sevier become? Where is his monument? + + + + +GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK +(1752-1818). + + +161. The British in the west; their forts; hiring Indians to fight +the settlers.--While Washington was fighting the battles of the +Revolution in the east, the British in the west were not sitting still. +They had a number of forts in the Wilderness,[1] as that part of the +country was then called. One of these forts was at Detroit,[2] in +what is now Michigan; another was at Vincennes,[3] in what is now +Indiana; a third fort was at Kaskaskia,[4] in what is now Illinois. + +[Illustration: Map showing the Forts at Detroit, Kaskaskia, and +Vincennes, with the line of Clark's march.] + +Colonel Hamilton, the British commander at Detroit, was determined +to drive the American settlers out of the west. In the beginning of +the Revolution the Americans resolved to hire the Indians to fight +for them, but the British found that they could hire them better than +we could, and so they got their help. The savages did their work in +a terribly cruel way. Generally they did not come out and do battle +openly, but they crept up secretly, by night, and attacked the +farmers' homes. They killed and scalped the settlers in the west, +burned their log cabins, and carried off the women and children +prisoners. The greater part of the people in England hated this sort +of war. They begged the king not to hire the Indians to do these +horrible deeds of murder and destruction. George the Third was not +a bad-hearted man; but he was very set in his way, and he had fully +made up his mind to conquer the "American rebels," as he called them, +even if he had to get the savages to help him do it. + +[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 187.] + +[Footnote 2: Detroit (De-troit'): for these forts see map in this +paragraph.] + +[Footnote 3: Vincennes (Vin-senz').] + +[Footnote 4: Kaskaskia (Kas-kas'ki-a).] + + +162. George Rogers Clark gets help from Virginia and starts to attack +Fort Kaskaskia.--Daniel Boone had a friend in Virginia named George +Rogers Clark,[5] who believed that he could take the British forts +in the west and drive out the British from all that part of the country. +Virginia then owned most of the Wilderness. For this reason Clark +went to Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, and asked for help. The +governor liked the plan, and let Clark have money to hire men to go +with him and try to take Fort Kaskaskia to begin with. + +Clark started in the spring of 1778 with about a hundred and fifty +men. They built boats just above Pittsburg[6] and floated down the +Ohio River, a distance of over nine hundred miles. Then they landed +in what is now Illinois, and set out for Fort Kaskaskia.[7] + +[Footnote 5: George Rogers Clark was born near Monticello, Virginia. +See map in paragraph 140.] + +[Footnote 6: Pittsburg: see map in paragraph 140.] + +[Footnote 7: Fort Kaskaskia: see map in paragraph 161.] + + +163. The march to Fort Kaskaskia; how a dance ended.--It was a hundred +miles to the fort, and half of the way the men had to find their way +through thick woods, full of underbrush, briers, and vines. The +British, thinking the fort perfectly safe from attack, had left it +in the care of a French officer. Clark and his band reached Kaskaskia +at night. They found no one to stop them. The soldiers in the fort +were having a dance, and the Americans could hear the merry music +of a violin and the laughing voices of girls. + +Clark left his men just outside the fort, and, finding a door open, +he walked in. He reached the room where the fun was going on, and +stopping there, he stood leaning against the door-post, looking on. +The room was lighted with torches; the light of one of the torches +happened to fall full on Clark's face; an Indian sitting on the floor +caught sight of him; he sprang to his feet and gave a terrific +war-whoop. The dancers stopped as though they had been shot; the +women screamed; the men ran to the door to get their guns. Clark did +not move, but said quietly, "Go on; only remember you are dancing +now under Virginia, and not under Great Britain." The next moment +the Americans rushed in, and Clark and his "Long Knives," as the +Indians called his men, had full possession of the fort. + +[Illustration: CLARK LOOKING ON AT THE DANCE.] + + +164. How Fort Vincennes was taken; how the British got it back again; +what Francis Vigo[8] did.--Clark wanted next to march against Fort +Vincennes, but he had not men enough. There was a French Catholic +priest[9] at Kaskaskia, and Clark's kindness to him had made him our +friend. He said, I will go to Vincennes for you, and I will tell the +French, who hold the fort for the British, that the Americans are +their real friends, and that in this war they are in the right. He +went; the French listened to him, then hauled down the British flag +and ran up the American flag in its place. + +The next year the British, led by Colonel Hamilton of Detroit, got +the fort back again. When Clark heard of it he said, "Either I must +take Hamilton, or Hamilton will take me." Just then Francis Vigo, +a trader at St. Louis, came to see Clark at Kaskaskia. Hamilton had +held Vigo as a prisoner, so he knew all about Fort Vincennes. Vigo +said to Clark, "Hamilton has only about eighty soldiers; you can take +the fort, and I will lend you all the money you need to pay your men +what you owe them." + +[Footnote 8: Vigo (Vee-go).] + +[Footnote 9: The priest was Father Gibault (Zhe-bo').] + + +165. Clark's march to Fort Vincennes; the "Drowned Lands."--Clark, +with about two hundred men, started for Vincennes. The distance was +nearly a hundred and fifty miles. The first week everything went on +pretty well. It was in the month of February, the weather was cold, +and it rained a good deal, but the men did not mind that. They would +get wet through during the day; but at night they built roaring log +fires, gathered round them, roasted their buffalo meat or venison, +smoked their pipes, told jolly stories, and sang jolly songs. + +But the next week they got to a branch of the Wabash River.[10] Then +they found that the constant rains had raised the streams so that +they had overflowed their banks; the whole country was under water +three or four feet deep. This flooded country was called the "Drowned +Lands": before Clark and his men had crossed them they were nearly +drowned themselves. + +[Footnote 10: See map in paragraph 161.] + + +166. Wading on to victory.--For about a week the Americans had to +wade in ice-cold water, sometimes waist deep, sometimes nearly up +to their chins. While wading, the men were obliged to hold their guns +and powder-horns above their heads to keep them dry. Now and then +a man would stub his toe against a root or a stone and would go +sprawling headfirst into the water. When he came up, puffing and +blowing from such a dive, he was lucky if he still had his gun. For +two days no one could get anything to eat; but hungry, wet, and cold, +they kept moving slowly on. + +[Illustration: MEN WADING WITH GUNS OVER THEIR HEADS.] + +The last part of the march was the worst of all. They were now near +the fort, but they still had to wade through a sheet of water four +miles across. Clark took the lead and plunged in. The rest, shivering, +followed. A few looked as though their strength and courage had given +out. Clark saw this, and calling to Captain Bowman,--one of the +bravest of his officers,--he ordered him to kill the first man who +refused to go forward. + +At last, with numbed hands and chattering teeth, all got across, but +some of them were so weak and blue with cold that they could not take +another step, but fell flat on their faces in the mud. These men were +so nearly dead that no fire seemed to warm them. Clark ordered two +strong men to lift each of these poor fellows up, hold him between +them by the arms, and run him up and down until he began to get warm. +By doing this he saved every one. + + +167. Clark takes the fort; what we got by his victory; his +grave.--After a long and desperate fight Clark took Fort Vincennes +and hoisted the Stars and Stripes over it in triumph. The British +never got it back again. Most of the Indians were now glad to make +peace, and to promise to behave themselves. + +By Clark's victory the Americans got possession of the whole western +wilderness up to Detroit. When the Revolutionary War came to an end, +the British did not want to give us any part of America beyond the +thirteen states on the Atlantic coast. But we said, The whole west, +clear to the Mississippi, is ours; we fought for it; we took it; we +hoisted our flag over its forts, and _we mean to keep it_. We did +keep it. + +There is a grass-grown grave in a burial-ground in Louisville, +Kentucky, which has a small headstone marked with the letters G. R. +C., and nothing more; that is the grave of General George Rogers Clark, +the man who did more than any one else to get the west for us--or +what was called the west a hundred years ago. + +[Illustration: CLARK'S GRAVE.] + + +168. Summary.--During the Revolutionary War George Rogers Clark of +Virginia, with a small number of men, captured Fort Kaskaskia in +Illinois, and Fort Vincennes in Indiana. Clark drove out the British +from that part of the country, and when peace was made, we kept the +west--that is, the country as far as the Mississippi River--as part +of the United States. Had it not been for him and his brave men, we +might not have got it. + + +What did the British have in the west? Where were three of those +forts? Who hired the Indians to fight? How did they fight? What did +most of the people in England think about this? What is said of George +the Third? What friend did Daniel Boone have in Virginia? What did +Clark undertake to do? Tell how he went down the Ohio. Tell how he +marched on Fort Kaskaskia. What happened when he got there? What did +Clark say to the people in the fort? How was Fort Vincennes taken? +What did the British do the next year? Tell about Francis Vigo. What +did Clark and his men start to do? How far off was Fort Vincennes? +Tell about the first part of the march. What lands did they come to? +Tell how the men waded. How did Clark save the lives of some of the +men? Did Clark take the fort? What did the Americans get possession +of by this victory? What happened at the end of the Revolutionary +War? What did we say? What is said of the grave at Louisville, +Kentucky? What did Clark get for us? + + + + +GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM +(1738-1824). + + +169. What General Putnam did for Washington, and what the British +said of Putnam's work.--When the British had possession of Boston +in the time of the Revolution, Washington asked Rufus Putnam,[1] who +was a great builder of forts, to help him drive them out. Putnam set +to work, one dark, stormy night, and built a fort on some high land[2] +overlooking Boston Harbor. + +[Illustration: PUTNAM'S FORT. General Washington looking at the +British Ships in Boston Harbor.] + +When the British commander woke up the next morning, he saw the +American cannon pointed at his ships. He was so astonished that he +could scarcely believe his eyes. "Why," said he, "the rebels have +done more in one night than my whole army could have done in a week." +Another officer, who had command of the British vessels, said, "If +the Americans hold that fort, I cannot keep a ship in the harbor." + +Well, we know what happened. Our men did hold that fort, and the +British had to leave Boston. Next to General Washington, General +Rufus Putnam was the man who made them go; for not many officers in +the American army could build such a fort as he could. + +[Footnote 1: Rufus Putnam was born in Sutton, Massachusetts.] + +[Footnote 2: Dorchester Heights: now South Boston.] + + +170. General Putnam builds the _Mayflower_; goes down the Ohio River +and makes the first settlement in Ohio.--After the war was over, +General Putnam started with a company of people from New England, +to make a settlement on the Ohio River. In the spring of 1788 he and +his emigrants built a boat at a place just above Pittsburg.[3] They +named this boat the _Mayflower_,[4] because they were Pilgrims going +west to make their home there. + +[Illustration: EMIGRANTS IN THE _Mayflower_.] + +At that time there was not a white settler in what is now the state +of Ohio. Most of that country was covered with thick woods. There +were no roads through those woods, and there was not a steamboat or +a railroad either in America or in the world. If you look on the map[5] +and follow down the Ohio River from Pittsburg, you will come to a +place where the Muskingum joins the Ohio. At that place the +_Mayflower_ stopped, and the emigrants landed and began to build +their settlement. + +[Footnote 3: Pittsburg: see map in paragraph 140.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mayflower_: see paragraph 64.] + +[Footnote 5: See map in paragraph 140.] + + +171. What the settlers named their town; the first Fourth of July +celebration; what Washington said of the settlers.--During the +Revolutionary War the beautiful Queen Mary of France was our firm +friend, and she was very kind and helpful to Dr. Franklin when he +went to France for us. A number of the emigrants had fought in the +Revolution, and so it was decided to name the town Marietta,[6] in +honor of the queen. + +When the Marietta settlers celebrated the Fourth of July, Major Denny, +who commanded a fort just across the river, came to visit them. He +said, "These people appear to be the happiest folks in the world." +President Washington said that he knew many of them and that he +believed they were just the kind of men to succeed. He was right; +for these people, with those who came later to build the city of +Cincinnati, were the ones who laid the foundation of the great and +rich state of Ohio. + +[Footnote 6: The queen's full name in French was Marie Antoinette; +the name Marietta is made up from the first and the last parts of +her name.] + + +172. Fights with the Indians; how the settlers held their town; +Indian Rock; the "Miami[7] Slaughter House."--But the people of +Marietta had hardly begun to feel at home in their little settlement +before a terrible Indian war broke out. The village of Marietta had +a high palisade[8] built round it, and if a man ventured outside that +palisade he went at the risk of his life; for the Indians were always +hiding in the woods, ready to kill any white man they saw. When the +settlers worked in the cornfield, they had to carry their guns as +well as their hoes, and one man always stood on top of a high stump +in the middle of the field, to keep a bright lookout. + +[Illustration: INDIAN ROCK.] + +There is a lofty rock on the Ohio River below Marietta, which is still +called Indian Rock. It got its name because the Indians used to climb +up to the top and watch for emigrants coming down the river in boats. +When they saw a boat, they would fire a shower of bullets at it, and +perhaps leave it full of dead and wounded men to drift down the river. +In the western part of Ohio, on the Miami River, the Indians killed +so many people that the settlers called that part of the country by +the terrible name of the "Miami Slaughter House." + +[Footnote 7: Miami (Mi-am'i).] + +[Footnote 8: See picture of a palisade in paragraph 70.] + + +173. What General Wayne did.--But President Washington sent a man +to Ohio who made the Indians beg for peace. This man was General +Wayne; he had fought in the Revolution, and fought so furiously that +he was called "Mad Anthony Wayne." The Indians said that he never +slept, and named him "Black Snake," because that is the quickest and +boldest snake there is in the woods, and in a fight with any other +creature of his kind he is pretty sure to win the day. General Wayne +won, and the Indians agreed to move off and give up a very large part +of Ohio to the white settlers. After that there was not much trouble, +and emigrants poured in by thousands. + + +174. Summary.--In 1788 General Rufus Putnam, with a company of +emigrants, settled Marietta, Ohio. The town was named in honor of +Queen Mary of France, who had helped us during the Revolution. It +was the first town built in what is now the state of Ohio. After +General Wayne conquered the Indians that part of the country rapidly +increased in population. + + +What did General Rufus Putnam do for Washington? Where did General +Putnam go in 1788? What is said of Ohio at that time? Where did the +_Mayflower_ stop? What is said of Queen Mary of France? What did the +settlers name their town? What did Washington say about the settlers? +What did these people do? What is said about the Indians? What about +Indian Rock? What was the country on the Miami River called? What +is said about General Wayne? What did the Indians call him? Why did +they give him that name? What did the Indians agree to do? What +happened after that? + + + + +ELI WHITNEY +(1765-1825). + + +175. The name cut on a door.--Near Westboro', Massachusetts,[1] +there is an old farm-house which was built before the war of the +Revolution. Close to the house is a small wooden building; on the +door you can read a boy's name, just as he cut it with his pocket-knife +more than a hundred years ago.[2] Here is the door with the name. +If the boy had added the date of his birth, he would have cut the +figures 1765; but perhaps, just as he got to that point, his father +appeared and said rather sharply: Eli, don't be cutting that door. +No, sir, said Eli, with a start; and shutting his knife up with a +snap, he hurried off to get the cows or to do his chores.[3] + +[Illustration: WOODEN DOOR CARVED WITH "ELI WHITNEY."] + +[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 135.] + +[Footnote 2: The house is no longer standing, and the door has +disappeared.] + +[Footnote 3: Chores: getting in wood, feeding cattle, etc.] + + +176. What Eli Whitney used to do in his father's little workshop; +the fiddle.--Eli Whitney's father used that little wooden building +as a kind of workshop, where he mended chairs and did many other small +jobs. Eli liked to go to that workshop and make little things for +himself, such as water-wheels and windmills; for it was as natural +for him to use tools as it was to whistle. + +Once when Eli's father was gone from home for several days, the boy +was very busy all the while in the little shop. When Mr. Whitney came +back he asked his housekeeper, "What has Eli been doing?" "Oh," she +replied, "he has been making a fiddle." His father shook his head, +and said that he was afraid Eli would never get on much in the world. +But Eli's fiddle, though it was rough-looking, was well made. It had +music in it, and the neighbors liked to hear it: somehow it seemed +to say through all the tunes played on it, "_Whatever is worth doing, +is worth doing well._" + + +177. Eli Whitney begins making nails; he goes to college.--When Eli +was fifteen, he began making nails. We have machines to-day which +will make more than a hundred nails a minute; but Eli made his, one +by one, by pounding them out of a long, slender bar of red-hot iron. +Whitney's hand-made nails were not handsome, but they were strong +and tough, and as the Revolutionary War was then going on, he could +sell all he could make. + +After the war was over the demand for nails was not so good. Then +Whitney threw down his hammer, and said, "I am going to college." +He had no money; but he worked his way through Yale College, partly +by teaching and partly by doing little jobs with his tools. A +carpenter who saw him at work one day, noticed how neatly and +skilfully he used his tools, and said, "There was one good mechanic +spoiled when you went to college." + + +178. Whitney goes to Georgia; he stops with Mrs. General Greene; the +embroidery frame.--When the young man had completed his course of +study he went to Georgia to teach in a gentleman's family. On the +way to Savannah he became acquainted with Mrs. Greene, the widow of +the famous General Greene[4] of Rhode Island. General Greene had done +such excellent fighting in the south during the Revolution that, +after the war was over, the state of Georgia gave him a large piece +of land near Savannah. + +Mrs. Greene invited young Whitney to her house; as he had been +disappointed in getting the place to teach, he was very glad to accept +her kind invitation. While he was there he made her an embroidery +frame. It was much better than the old one that she had been using, +and she thought the maker of it was wonderfully skilful. + +[Footnote 4: General Greene: see paragraph 140.] + + +179. A talk about raising cotton, and about cotton seeds.--Not long +after this, a number of cotton-planters were at Mrs. Greene's house. +In speaking about raising cotton they said that the man who could +invent a machine for stripping off the cotton seeds from the plant +would make his fortune. + +For what is called raw cotton or cotton wool, as it grows in the field, +has a great number of little green seeds clinging to it. Before the +cotton wool can be spun into thread and woven into cloth, those seeds +must be pulled off. + +[Illustration: POD OF THE COTTON PLANT WHEN RIPE AND OPEN. On the +right a seed with the wool attached; on the left the seed after the +wool has been picked off.] + +At that time the planters set the negroes to do this. When they had +finished their day's labor of gathering the cotton in the cotton +field, the men, women, and children would sit down and pick off the +seeds, which stick so tight that getting them off is no easy task. + +[Illustration: NEGROES GATHERING COTTON IN THE FIELD.] + +After the planters had talked awhile about this work, Mrs. Greene +said, "If you want a machine to do it, you should apply to my young +friend, Mr. Whitney; he can make anything." "But," said Mr. Whitney, +"I have never seen a cotton plant or a cotton seed in my life"; for +it was not the time of year then to see it growing in the fields. + + +180. Whitney gets some cotton wool; he invents the cotton-gin; what +that machine did.--After the planters had gone, Eli Whitney went to +Savannah and hunted about until he found, in some store or warehouse, +a little cotton wool with the seeds left on it. He took this back +with him and set to work to make a machine which would strip off the +seeds. + +He said to himself, If I fasten some upright pieces of wire in a board, +and have the wires set very close together, like the teeth of a comb, +and then pull the cotton wool through the wires with my fingers, the +seeds, being too large to come through, will be torn off and left +behind. He tried it, and found that the cotton wool came through +without any seeds on it. Now, said he, if I should make a wheel, and +cover it with short steel teeth, shaped like hooks, those teeth would +pull the cotton wool through the wires better than my fingers do, +and very much faster. + +[Illustration: WHITNEY'S FIRST CONTRIVANCE FOR PULLING OFF THE +COTTON SEEDS.] + +He made such a wheel; it was turned by a crank; it did the work +perfectly; so, in the year 1793, he had invented the machine the +planters wanted. + +Before that time it used to take one negro all day to clean a single +pound of cotton of its seeds by picking them off one by one; now, +Eli Whitney's cotton-gin,[5] as he called his machine, would clean +a thousand pounds in a day. + +[Footnote 5: Gin: a shortened form of the word _engine_, meaning any +kind of a machine.] + + +181. Price of common cotton cloth to-day; what makes it so cheap; +"King Cotton."--To-day nothing is much cheaper than common cotton +cloth. You can buy it for ten or twelve cents a yard, but before +Whitney invented his cotton-gin it sold for a dollar and a half a +yard. A hundred years ago the planters at the south raised very little +cotton, for few people could afford to wear it; but after this +wonderful machine was made, the planters kept making their fields +bigger and bigger. At last they raised so much more of this plant +than of anything else, that they said, "Cotton is king." It was Eli +Whitney who built the throne for that king; and although he did not +make a fortune by his machine, yet he received a good deal of money +for the use of it in some of the southern states. + +[Illustration: CARRYING COTTON TO THE COTTON-GIN.] + +Later, Mr. Whitney built a gun-factory near New Haven, Connecticut, +at a place now called Whitneyville; at that factory he made thousands +of the muskets which we used in our second war with England in 1812. + +[Illustration: THE "STAR SPANGLED BANNER."[6]] + +[Footnote 6: In the war of 1812 the British war-ships attacked Fort +McHenry, one of the defences of Baltimore. Francis Scott Key, a +native of Maryland, who was then detained on board a British +man-of-war, anxiously watched the battle during the night; before +dawn the firing ceased. Key had no means of telling whether the +British had taken the fort until the sun rose; then, to his joy, he +saw the American flag still floating triumphantly above the +fort--that meant that the British had failed in their attack, and +Key, in his delight, hastily wrote the song of the _Star Spangled +Banner_ on the back of a letter which he had in his pocket. The song +was at once printed, and in a few weeks it was known and sung from +one end of the United States to the other.] + + +182. Summary.--About a hundred years ago (1793), Eli Whitney of +Westboro', Massachusetts, invented the cotton-gin, a machine for +pulling off the green seeds from cotton wool, so that it may be easily +woven into cloth. That machine made thousands of cotton-planters and +cotton manufacturers rich, and by it cotton cloth became so cheap +that everybody could afford to use it. + + +What name did a boy cut on a door? What did Eli make in that workshop? +What did he make while his father was away? What did his father say? +What did Eli's fiddle seem to say? What did Eli make next? How did +he make his nails? Where did he go after he gave up making nails? +When he left college where did he go? What lady did he become +acquainted with? What did he make for her? What did the +cotton-planters say? What must be done to raw cotton before it can +be made into cloth? Who did this work? What did Mrs. Greene say to +the planters? What did Mr. Whitney say? What did he do? Tell how he +made his machine. What did he call it? How many pounds of cotton would +his cotton-gin clean in a day? How much could one negro clean? What +is said about the price of cotton cloth? What did the planters say +about cotton? Who built the throne for King Cotton? What did Mr. +Whitney build at Whitneyville? What did he make there? + + + + +THOMAS JEFFERSON +(1743-1826) + + +183. How much cotton New Orleans sends to Europe; Eli Whitney's work; +who it was that bought New Orleans and Louisiana for us.--To-day the +city of New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, sends +more cotton to England and Europe than any other city in America. + +If you should visit that city and go down to the riverside, you would +see thousands of cotton bales[1] piled up, and hundreds of negroes +loading them on ocean steamers. It would be a sight you would never +forget. + +[Illustration: LOADING COTTON AT NEW ORLEANS.] + +Before Eli Whitney[2] invented his machine, we sent hardly a bale +of cotton abroad. Now we send so much in one year that the bales can +be counted by millions. If they were laid end to end, in a straight +line, they would reach clear across the American continent from San +Francisco to New York, and then clear across the ocean from New York +to Liverpool, England. It was Eli Whitney, more than any other man, +who helped to build up this great trade. But at the time when he +invented his cotton-gin, we did not own New Orleans, or, for that +matter, any part of Louisiana or of the country west of the +Mississippi River. The man who bought New Orleans and Louisiana for +us was Thomas Jefferson. + +[Footnote 1: A bale or bundle of cotton is usually somewhat more than +five feet long, and it generally weighs from 400 to 550 pounds. The +cotton crop of this country in 1891 amounted to more than 8,650,000 +bales; laid end to end, in a straight line, these bales would extend +more than 8000 miles.] + +[Footnote 2: 2 See paragraph 180.] + + +184. Who Thomas Jefferson was; Monticello;[3] how Jefferson's slaves +met him when he came home from Europe.--Thomas Jefferson was the son +of a rich planter who lived near Charlottesville in Virginia.[4] When +his father died, he came into possession of a plantation of nearly +two thousand acres of land, with forty or fifty negro slaves on it. + +There was a high hill on the plantation, which Jefferson called +Monticello, or the little mountain. Here he built a fine house. From +it he could see the mountains and valleys of the Blue Ridge for an +immense distance. No man in America had a more beautiful home, or +enjoyed it more, than Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's slaves thought +that no one could be better than their master. He was always kind +to them, and they were ready to do anything for him. Once when he +came back from France, where he had been staying for a long time, +the negroes went to meet his carriage. They walked several miles down +the road; when they caught sight of the carriage, they shouted and +sang with delight. They would gladly have taken out the horses and +drawn it up the steep hill. When Jefferson reached Monticello and +got out, the negroes took him in their arms, and, laughing and crying +for joy, they carried him into the house. Perhaps no king ever got +such a welcome as that; for that welcome was not bought with money: +it came from the heart. Yet Jefferson hoped and prayed that the time +would come when every slave in the country might be set free. + +[Illustration: JEFFERSON'S HOME AT MONTICELLO.] + +[Footnote 3: Monticello (Mon-ti-cel'lo).] + +[Footnote 4: See map in paragraph 140.] + + +185. Thomas Jefferson hears Patrick Henry speak at +Richmond.--Jefferson was educated to be a lawyer; he was not a good +public speaker, but he liked to hear men who were. Just before the +beginning of the Revolutionary War (1775), the people of Virginia +sent men to the city of Richmond to hold a meeting in old St. John's +Church. They met to see what should be done about defending those +rights which the king of England had refused to grant the Americans. + +One of the speakers at that meeting was a famous Virginian named +Patrick Henry. When he got up to speak he looked very pale, but his +eyes shone like coals of fire. He made a great speech. He said, "We +must fight! I repeat it, sir,--we must _fight!_" The other Virginians +agreed with Patrick Henry, and George Washington and Thomas +Jefferson, with other noted men who were present at the meeting, +began at once to make ready to fight. + +[Illustration: "WE MUST FIGHT!"] + + +186. Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence; how +it was sent through the country.--Shortly after this the great war +began. In a little over a year from the time when the first battle +was fought, Congress asked Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and +some others to write the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson +really wrote almost every word of it. He was called the "Pen of the +Revolution"; for he could write quite as well as Patrick Henry could +speak. + +The Declaration was printed and carried by men mounted on fast horses +all over the United States. When men heard it, they rang the church +bells and sent up cheer after cheer. General Washington had the +Declaration read to all the soldiers in his army, and if powder had +not been so scarce, they would have fired off every gun for joy. + +[Illustration: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.] + + +187. Jefferson is chosen President of the United States; what he said +about New Orleans.--A number of years after the war was over +Jefferson was chosen President of the United States; while he was +President he did something for the country which will never be +forgotten. + +Louisiana and the city of New Orleans, with the lower part of the +Mississippi River, then belonged to the French; for at that time the +United States only reached west as far as the Mississippi River. Now +as New Orleans stands near the mouth of that river, the French could +say, if they chose, what vessels should go out to sea, and what should +come in. So far, then, as that part of America was concerned, we were +like a man who owns a house while another man owns one of the doors +to it. The man who has the door could say to the owner of the house, +I shall stand here on the steps, and you must pay me so many dollars +every time you go out and every time you come in this way. + +[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States at the +close of the Revolution, and also when Jefferson became President +(1801).] + +Jefferson saw that so long as the French held the door of New Orleans, +we should not be free to send our cotton down the river and across +the ocean to Europe. He said we must have that door, no matter how +much it costs. + + +188. Jefferson buys New Orleans and Louisiana for the United +States.--Mr. Robert R. Livingston, one of the signers of the +Declaration of Independence, was in France at that time, and +Jefferson sent over to him to see if he could buy New Orleans for +the United States. Napoleon Bonaparte[5] then ruled France. He said, +I want money to purchase war-ships with, so that I can fight England; +I will sell not only New Orleans, but all Louisiana besides, for +fifteen millions of dollars. That was cheap enough, and so in 1803 +President Jefferson bought it. + +[Illustration: Map showing how much larger President Jefferson made +the United States by buying Louisiana in 1803. (The Oregon country +is marked in bars to show that the ownership of it was disputed; +England and the United States both claimed it.)] + +If you look on the map[6] you will see that Louisiana then was not +simply a good-sized state, as it is now, but an immense country +reaching clear back to the Rocky Mountains. It was really larger than +the whole United States east of the Mississippi River. So, through +President Jefferson's purchase, we added so much land that we now +had more than twice as much as we had before, and we had got the whole +Mississippi River, the city of New Orleans, and what is now the great +city of St. Louis besides. + +[Footnote 5: Napoleon Bonaparte (Na-po'le-on Bo'na-part).] + +[Footnote 6: See map in this paragraph, and compare map in paragraph +187.] + + +189. Death of Jefferson; the words cut on his gravestone.--Jefferson +lived to be an old man. He died at Monticello on the Fourth of July, +1826, just fifty years, to a day, after he had signed the Declaration +of Independence. John Adams, who had been President next before +Jefferson, died a few hours later. So America lost two of her great +men on the same day. + +Jefferson was buried at Monticello. He asked to have these words, +with some others, cut on his gravestone:-- + +Here Lies Buried +THOMAS JEFFERSON, +Author of the Declaration of American Independence. + + +190. Summary.--Thomas Jefferson of Virginia wrote the Declaration +of Independence. After he became President of the United States, he +bought Louisiana for us. The purchase of Louisiana, with New Orleans, +gave us the right to send our ships to sea by way of the Mississippi +River, which now belonged to us. Louisiana added so much land that +it more than doubled the size of the United States. + + +Before Whitney invented his cotton-gin how much cotton did we send +abroad? How much do we send from New Orleans now? Did we own New +Orleans or Louisiana when Whitney invented his cotton-gin? Who +bought them for us? Who was Thomas Jefferson? What is said about +Monticello? Tell how Jefferson's slaves welcomed him home. For what +profession was Jefferson educated? Tell about Patrick Henry. What +did he say? What did Washington and Jefferson do? What did Jefferson +write? What was he called? How was the Declaration sent to all parts +of the country? What was Jefferson chosen to be? To whom did New +Orleans and Louisiana then belong? How far did the United States then +extend towards the west? What could the French say? What were we like? +What did Jefferson say? Did we buy it? How much did we pay? How large +was Louisiana then? How much land did we get? What else did we get? +When did Jefferson die? What other great man died on the same day? +What words did Jefferson have cut on his gravestone at Monticello? + + + + +ROBERT FULTON +(1765-1815). + + +191. What Mr. Livingston said about Louisiana; a small family in a +big house; settlements in the west; the country beyond the +Mississippi River.--Even before we bought the great Louisiana +country, we had more land than we then knew what to do with; after +we had purchased it, it seemed to some people as though we should +not want to use what we had bought for more than a hundred years. +Such people thought that we were like a man with a small family who +lives in a house much too large for him; but who, not contented with +that, buys his neighbor's house, which is bigger still, and adds it +to his own. + +If a traveller in those days went across the Alleghany Mountains[1] +to the west, he found some small settlements in Ohio, Kentucky, and +Tennessee, but hardly any outside of those. What are now the great +states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were then a +wilderness; and this was also true of what are now the states of +Alabama and Mississippi. + +If the same traveller, pushing forward, on foot or on horseback,--for +there were no steam cars,--crossed the Mississippi River, he could +hardly find a white man outside what was then the little town of St. +Louis. The country stretched away west for more than a thousand miles, +with nothing in it but wild beasts and Indians. In much of it there +were no trees, no houses, no human beings. If you shouted as hard +as you could in that solitary land, the only reply you would hear +would be the echo of your own voice; it was like shouting in an empty +room--it made it seem lonelier than ever. + +[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 140.] + + +192. Emigration to the west, and the man who helped that +emigration.--But during the last hundred years that great empty land +of the far west has been filling up with people. Thousands upon +thousands of emigrants have gone there. They have built towns and +cities and railroads and telegraph lines. Thousands more are going +and will go. What has made such a wonderful change? Well, one man +helped to do a great deal toward it. His name was Robert Fulton. He +saw how difficult it was for people to get west; for if emigrants +wanted to go with their families in wagons, they had to chop roads +through the forest. That was slow, hard work. Fulton found a way that +was quick, easy, and cheap. Let us see who he was, and how he found +that way. + + +193. Robert Fulton's boyhood; the old scow; what Robert did for his +mother.--Robert Fulton was the son of a poor Irish farmer in +Pennsylvania.[2] He did not care much for books, but liked to draw +pictures with pencils which he hammered out of pieces of lead. + +Like most boys, he was fond of fishing. He used to go out in an old +scow, or flat-bottomed boat, on a river near his home. He and another +boy would push the scow along with poles. But Robert said, There is +an easier way to make this boat go. I can put a pair of paddle-wheels +on her, and then we can sit comfortably on the seat and turn the wheels +by a crank. He tried it, and found that he was right. The boys now +had a boat which suited them exactly. + +[Illustration: ROBERT FULTON'S PADDLE-WHEEL SCOW.] + +When Robert was seventeen, he went to Philadelphia. His father was +dead, and he earned his living and helped his mother and sisters, +by painting pictures. He staid in Philadelphia until he was +twenty-one. By that time he had saved up money enough to buy a small +farm for his mother, so that she might have a home of her own. + +[Footnote 2: Fulton was born in Little Britain (now called Fulton) +in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. See map in paragraph 135.] + + +194. Fulton goes to England and to France; his iron bridges; his +diving-boat, and what he did with it in France.--Soon after buying +the farm for his mother, young Fulton went to England and then to +France. He staid in those countries twenty years. In England Fulton +built some famous iron bridges, but he was more interested in boats +than in anything else. + +While he was in France he made what he called a diving-boat. It would +go under water nearly as well as it would on top, so that wherever +a fish could go, Fulton could follow him. His object in building such +a boat was to make war in a new way. When a swordfish[3] attacks a +whale, he slips round under him and stabs the monster with his sword. +Fulton said, 'If an enemy's war-ship should come into the harbor to +do mischief, I can get into my diving-boat, slip under the ship, +fasten a torpedo[4] to it, and blow the ship "sky high."' + +[Illustration: FULTON'S DIVING-BOAT. (Going under water to fasten +a torpedo on the bottom of a vessel.)] + +Napoleon Bonaparte liked nothing so much as war, and he let Fulton +have an old vessel to see if he could blow it up. He tried it, and +everything happened as he expected: nothing was left of the vessel +but the pieces. + +[Footnote 3: Swordfish: the name given to a large fish which has a +sword-like weapon, several feet in length, projecting from its upper +jaw.] + +[Footnote 4: Torpedo: here a can filled with powder, and so +constructed that it could be fastened to the bottom of a vessel.] + + +195. What Fulton did in England with his diving-boat; what he said +about America.--Then Fulton went back to England and tried the same +thing there. He went out in his diving-boat and fastened a torpedo +under a vessel, and when the torpedo exploded, the vessel, as he said, +went up like a "bag of feathers," flying in all directions. + +[Illustration: WHAT THE TORPEDO DID.] + +The English people paid Fulton seventy-five thousand dollars for +showing them what he could do in this way. Then they offered to give +him a great deal more--in fact, to make him a very rich man--if he +would promise never to let any other country know just how he blew +vessels up. But Fulton said, 'I am an American; and if America should +ever want to use my diving-boat in war, she shall have it first of +all.' + + +196. Fulton makes his first steamboat.--But while Fulton was doing +these things with his diving-boat, he was always thinking of the +paddle-wheel scow he used to fish in when a boy. I turned those +paddle-wheels by a crank, said he, but what is to hinder my putting +a steam engine into such a boat, and making it turn the crank for +me? that would be a steamboat. Such boats had already been tried, +but, for one reason or another, they had not got on very well. Robert +R. Livingston was still in France, and he helped Fulton build his +first steamboat. It was put on a river there; it moved, and that was +about all. + + +197. Robert Fulton and Mr. Livingston go to New York and build a +steamboat; the trip up the Hudson River.--But Robert Fulton and Mr. +Livingston both believed that a steamboat could be built that would +go, and that would keep going. So they went to New York and built +one there. + +In the summer of 1807 a great crowd gathered to see the boat start +on her voyage up the Hudson River. They joked and laughed as crowds +will at anything new. They called Fulton a fool and Livingston +another. But when Fulton, standing on the deck of his steamboat, +waved his hand, and the wheels began to turn, and the vessel began +to move up the river, then the crowd became silent with astonishment. +Now it was Fulton's turn to laugh, and in such a case the man who +laughs last has a right to laugh the loudest. + +[Illustration: FULTON'S STEAMER LEAVING NEW YORK FOR ALBANY.] + +Up the river Fulton kept going. He passed the Palisades;[5] he passed +the Highlands;[6] still he kept on, and at last he reached Albany, +a hundred and fifty miles above New York. + +Nobody before had ever seen such a sight as that boat moving up the +river without the help of oars or sails; but from that time people +saw it every day. When Fulton got back to New York in his steamboat, +everybody wanted to shake hands with him--the crowd, instead of +shouting fool, now whispered among themselves, He's a great man--a +very great man, indeed. + +[Footnote 5: See map in paragraph 55.] + +[Footnote 6: See map in paragraph 55.] + + +198. The first steamboat in the west; the Great Shake.--Four years +later Fulton built a steamboat for the west. In the autumn of 1811 +it started from Pittsburg[7] to go down the Ohio River, and then down +the Mississippi to New Orleans. The people of the west had never seen +a steamboat before, and when the Indians saw the smoke puffing out, +they called it the "Big Fire Canoe." + +On the way down the river there was a terrible earthquake. In some +places it changed the course of the Ohio so that where there had been +dry land there was now deep water, and where there had been deep water +there was now dry land. One evening the captain of the "Big Fire +Canoe" fastened his vessel to a large tree on the end of an island. +In the morning the people on the steamboat looked out, but could not +tell where they were; the island had gone: the earthquake had carried +it away. The Indians called the earthquake the "Big Shake": it was +a good name, for it kept on shaking that part of the country, and +doing all sorts of damage for weeks. + +[Footnote 7: Pittsburg: see map in paragraph 135.] + + +199. The "Big Fire Canoe" on the Mississippi; the fight between steam +and the Great River; what steamboats did; Robert Fulton's +grave.--When the steamboat reached the Mississippi, the settlers on +that river said that the boat would never be able to go back, because +the current is so strong. At one place a crowd had gathered to see +her as she turned against the current, in order to come up to the +landing-place. An old negro stood watching the boat. It looked as +if in spite of all the captain could do she would be carried down +stream, but at last steam conquered, and the boat came up to the shore. +Then the old negro could hold in no longer: he threw up his ragged +straw hat and shouted, 'Hoo-ray! hoo-ray! the old Mississippi's just +got her master this time, sure!' + +Soon steamboats began to run regularly on the Mississippi, and in +the course of a few years they began to move up and down the Great +Lakes and the Missouri River. Emigrants could now go to the west and +the far west quickly and easily: they had to thank Robert Fulton for +that. + +Robert Fulton lies buried in New York, in the shadow of the tower +of Trinity Church. There is no monument or mark over his grave, but +he has a monument in every steamboat on every great river and lake +in America. + +[Illustration: TOWER OF TRINITY CHURCH.] + + +200. Summary.--In 1807 Robert Fulton of Pennsylvania built the first +steamboat which ran on the Hudson River, and four years later he built +the first one which navigated the rivers of the west. His boats helped +to fill the whole western country with settlers. + + +What did Mr. Livingston say about Louisiana? What did such people +think we were like? What would a traveller going west then find? What +is said of the country west of the Mississippi? Who helped emigration +to the west? What did he find? Tell about Robert Fulton as a boy. +Tell about his paddle-wheel scow. What did Robert do for his mother? +Where did he go? How long did he stay abroad? Tell about his +diving-boat. What did he do with it in France? What in England? What +did the English people offer him? What did Fulton say? Where did +Fulton make and try his first steamboat? Tell about the steamboat +he made in New York. How far up the Hudson did it go? Tell about the +first steamboat at the west. What did the Indians call it? What +happened on the way down the Ohio River? Tell about the steamboat +on the Mississippi River. What is said of steamboats at the west? +What about emigrants? Where is Fulton buried? Where is his monument? + + + + +GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON +(1773-1841). + + +201. War with the Indians; how the Indians felt about being forced +to leave their homes; the story of the log.--The year 1811, in which +the first steamboat went west, a great battle was fought with the +Indians. The battle-ground was on the Tippecanoe[1] River, in what +is now the state of Indiana. + +[Illustration: Map of Indiana and the Tippecanoe River.] + +The Indians fought because they wanted to keep the west for +themselves. They felt as an old chief did, who had been forced to +move many times by the white men. One day a military officer came +to his wigwam to tell him that he and his tribe must go still further +west. The chief said, General, let's sit down on this log and talk +it over. So they both sat down. After they had talked a short time, +the chief said, Please move a little further that way; I haven't room +enough. The officer moved along. In a few minutes the chief asked +him to move again, and he did so. Presently the chief gave him a push +and said, Do move further on, won't you? I can't, said the general. +Why not? asked the chief. Because I've got to the end of the log, +replied the officer. Well, said the Indian, now you see how it is +with us. You white men have kept pushing us on until you have pushed +us clear to the end of our country, and yet you come now and say, +Move on, move on. + +[Illustration: "MOVE ON."] + +[Footnote 1: Tippecanoe (Tip-pe-ka-noo'): see map in this +paragraph.] + + +202. What Tecumseh[2] and his brother, the "Prophet,"[3] tried to +do.--A famous Indian warrior named Tecumseh determined to band the +different Indian tribes together, and drive out the white men from +the west. + +Tecumseh had a brother called the "Prophet," who pretended he could +tell what would happen in the future. He said, The white traders come +here, give the Indians whiskey, get them drunk, and then cheat them +out of their lands. Once we owned this whole country; now, if an +Indian strips a little bark off of a tree to shelter him when it rains, +a white man steps up, with a gun in his hand, and says, That's my +tree; let it alone, or I'll shoot you. + +Then the "Prophet" said to the red men, Stop drinking +"fire-water,"[4] and you will have strength to kill off the +"pale-faces" and get your land back again. When you have killed them +off, I will bless the earth. I will make pumpkins[5] grow to be as +big as wigwams, and the corn shall be so large that one ear will be +enough for a dinner for a dozen hungry Indians. The Indians liked +to hear these things; they wanted to taste those pumpkins and that +corn, and so they got ready to fight. + +[Footnote 2: Tecumseh (Te-kum'seh).] + +[Footnote 3: Prophet (prof'et): one who tells what will happen in +the future.] + +[Footnote 4: Fire-water: the Indian name for whiskey.] + +[Footnote 5: Pumpkins (pump'kins).] + + +203. Who William Henry Harrison was; the march to Tippecanoe; the +"Prophet's" sacred beans; the battle of Tippecanoe.--At this time +William Henry Harrison[6] was governor of Indiana territory. He had +fought under General Wayne[7] in his war with the Indians in Ohio. +Everybody knew Governor Harrison's courage, and the Indians all +respected him; but he tried in vain to prevent the Indians from going +to war. The "Prophet" urged them on at the north, and Tecumseh had +gone south to persuade the Indians there to join the northern tribes. + +[Illustration: GOVERNOR HARRISON TALKING WITH THE "PROPHET."] + +Governor Harrison saw that a battle must soon be fought; so he started +with his soldiers to meet the Indians. He marched to the Tippecanoe +River, and there he stopped. + +While Harrison's men were asleep in the woods, the "Prophet" told +the Indians not to wait, but to attack the soldiers at once. In his +hand he held up a string of beans. These beans, said he to the Indians, +are sacred.[8] Come and touch them, and you are safe; no white man's +bullet can hit you. The Indians hurried up in crowds to touch the +wonderful beans. + +Now, said the "Prophet," let each one take his hatchet in one hand +and his gun in the other, and creep through the tall grass till he +gets to the edge of the woods. The soldiers lie there fast asleep; +when you get close to them, spring up and at them like a wild-cat +at a rabbit. + +The Indians started to do this, but a soldier on guard saw the tall +grass moving as though a great snake was gliding through it. He fired +his gun at the moving grass; with a yell up sprang the whole band +of Indians, and rushed forward: in a moment the battle began. + +Harrison won the victory. He not only killed many of the Indians, +but he marched against their village, set fire to it, and burned it +to ashes. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.] + +After that the Indians in that part of the country would not listen +to the "Prophet." They said, He is a liar; his beans didn't save us. + +The battle of Tippecanoe did much good, because it prevented the +Indian tribes from uniting and beginning a great war all through the +west. Governor Harrison received high praise for what he had done, +and was made a general in the United States army. + +[Footnote 6: William Henry Harrison was born in Berkeley, Charles +City County, Virginia, about twenty-five miles below Richmond. His +father, Governor Harrison of Virginia, was one of the signers of the +Declaration of Independence.] + +[Footnote 7: See paragraph 173.] + +[Footnote 8: Sacred: something holy, or set apart for religious +uses.] + + +204. Tecumseh takes the "Prophet" by the hair; the War of 1812; +General Harrison's battle in Canada; President Harrison.--When +Tecumseh came back from the south, he was terribly angry with his +brother for fighting before he was ready to have him begin. He seized +the "Prophet" by his long hair, and shook him as a terrier[9] shakes +a rat. Tecumseh then left the United States and went to Canada to +help the British, who were getting ready to fight us. + +The next year (1812) we began our second war with England. It is +called the War of 1812. One of the chief reasons why we fought was +that the British would not let our merchant ships alone; they stopped +them at sea, took thousands of our sailors out of them, and forced +the men to serve in their war-ships in their battles against the +French. + +[Illustration: THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON IN FLAMES IN THE WAR OF +1812.] + +In the course of the War of 1812 the British burned the Capitol at +Washington; but a grander building rose from its ashes. General +Harrison fought a battle in Canada in which he defeated the British +and killed Tecumseh, who was fighting on the side of the English. + +[Illustration: THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON AS IT NOW +APPEARS.] + +Many years after this battle, the people of the west said, We must +have the "Hero of Tippecanoe" for President of the United States. +They went to vote for him with songs and shouts, and he was elected. +A month after he had gone to Washington, President Harrison died +(1841), and the whole country was filled with sorrow. + +[Footnote 9: Terrier (ter'ri-er): a kind of small hunting-dog.] + + +205. Summary.--In 1811 General Harrison gained a great victory over +the Indians at Tippecanoe, in Indiana. By that victory he saved the +west from a terrible Indian war. In the War of 1812 with England +General Harrison beat the British in a battle in Canada, and killed +Tecumseh, the Indian chief who had made us so much trouble. Many years +later General Harrison was elected President of the United States. + + +Where was a great battle fought with the Indians in 1811? How did +the Indians feel about the west? Tell the story of the log. What did +Tecumseh determine to do? Tell about the "Prophet." Who was William +Henry Harrison? Tell about the battle of Tippecanoe. Tell about the +sacred beans. What did the Indians say about the "Prophet" after the +battle? What good did the battle of Tippecanoe do? What did Tecumseh +do when he got back? Where did he then go? What happened in 1812? +Why did we fight the British? What did General Harrison do in Canada? +What did the people of the west say? How long did General Harrison +live after he became President? + + + + +GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON +(1767-1845). + + +206. Andrew Jackson and the War of 1812; his birthplace; his school; +wrestling-matches;[1] firing off the gun.--The greatest battle of +our second war with England--the War of 1812--was fought by General +Andrew Jackson. + +He was the son of a poor emigrant who came from the North of Ireland +and settled in North Carolina.[2] When Thomas Jefferson wrote the +Declaration of Independence in 1776, Andrew was nine years old, and +his father had long been dead. He was a tall, slender, freckled-faced, +barefooted boy, with eyes full of fun; the neighbors called him +"Mischievous little Andy." + +He went to school in a log hut in the pine woods; but he learned more +things from what he saw in the woods than from the books he studied +in school. + +He was not a very strong boy, and in wrestling some of his companions +could throw him three times out of four; but though they could get +him down without much trouble, it was quite another thing to keep +him down. No sooner was he laid flat on his back, than he bounded +up like a steel spring, and stood ready to try again. + +He had a violent[3] temper, and when, as the boys said, "Andy got +mad all over," not many cared to face him. Once some of his playmates +secretly loaded an old gun almost up to the muzzle, and then dared +him to fire it. They wanted to see what he would say when it kicked +him over. Andrew fired the gun. It knocked him sprawling; he jumped +up with eyes blazing with anger, and shaking his fist, cried out, +"If one of you boys laughs, I'll kill him." He looked as though he +meant exactly what he said, and the boys thought that perhaps it would +be just as well to wait and laugh some other day. + +[Illustration: ANDY AND THE GUN.] + +[Footnote 1: Wrestling (res'ling).] + +[Footnote 2: He settled in Union County, North Carolina, very near +the South Carolina line. See map in paragraph 140. Mecklenburg Court +House is in the next county west of Union County.] + +[Footnote 3: Violent: fierce, furious.] + + +207. Tarleton's[4] attack on the Americans; how Andrew helped his +mother.--When Andrew was thirteen, he learned what war means. The +country was then fighting the battles of the Revolution. A British +officer named Tarleton came suddenly upon some American soldiers +near the place where young Jackson lived. Tarleton had so many men +that the Americans saw that it was useless to try to fight, and they +made no attempt to do so. The British should have taken them all +prisoners; but, instead of that, they attacked them furiously, and +hacked and hewed them with their swords. More than a hundred of our +men were left dead, and a still larger number were so horribly wounded +that they could not be moved any distance. Such an attack was not +war, for war means a fair, stand-up fight; it was murder: and when +the people in England heard what Tarleton had done, many cried Shame! + +There was a little log meeting-house near Andrew's home, and it was +turned into a hospital for the wounded men. Mrs. Jackson, with other +kind-hearted women, did all she could for the poor fellows who lay +there groaning and helpless. Andrew carried food and water to them. +He had forgotten most of the lessons he learned at school, but here +was something he would never forget. + +[Footnote 4: Tarleton (Tarl'ton).] + + +208. Andrew's hatred of the "red-coats";[5] Tarleton's soldiers meet +their match.--From that time, when young Jackson went to the +blacksmith's shop to get a hoe or a spade mended, he was sure to come +back with a rude spear, or with some other weapon, which he had +hammered out to fight the "red-coats" with. + +Tarleton said that no people in America hated the British so much +as those who lived where Andrew Jackson did. The reason was that no +other British officer was so cruel as "Butcher Tarleton," as he was +called. Once, however, his men met their match. They were robbing +a farm of its pigs and chickens and corn and hay. When they got through +carrying things off, they were going to burn down the farm-house; +but one of the "red-coats," in his haste, ran against a big hive of +bees and upset it. The bees were mad enough. They swarmed down on +the soldiers, got into their ears and eyes, and stung them so terribly +that at last the robbers were glad to drop everything and run. If +Andrew could have seen that battle, he would have laughed till he +cried. + +[Illustration: THE BEES BEAT THE "RED-COATS."] + +[Footnote 5: Red-coats: this nickname was given by the Americans to +the British soldiers because they wore bright red coats.] + + +209. Dangerous state of the country; the roving bands.--Andrew knew +that he and his mother lived in constant danger. Part of the people +in his state were in favor of the king, and part were for liberty. +Bands of armed men, belonging sometimes to one side, and sometimes +to the other, went roving about the country. When they met a farmer, +they would stop him and ask, 'Which side are you for?' If he did not +answer to suit them, the leader of the party would cry out, Hang him +up! In an instant one of the band would cut down a long piece of wild +grapevine, twist it into a noose, and throw it over the man's head; +the next moment he would be dangling from the limb of a tree. +Sometimes the band would let him down again; sometimes they would +ride on and leave him hanging there. + + +210. Playing at battle; what Tarleton heard about himself.--Even the +children saw and heard so much of the war that was going on that they +played at war, and fought battles with red and white corn,--red for +the British and white for the Americans. + +At the battle of Cowpens[6] Colonel William Washington[7] fought on +the American side, and Tarleton got badly whipped and had to run. +Not long afterward he happened to see some boys squatting on the +ground, with a lot of corn instead of marbles. They were playing the +battle of Cowpens. A red kernel stood for Tarleton, and a white one +for Colonel Washington. The boys shoved the corn this way and that; +sometimes the red would win, sometimes the white. At last the white +kernel gained the victory, and the boys shouted, "Hurrah for +Washington--Tarleton runs!" + +Tarleton had been quietly looking on without their knowing it. When +he saw how the game ended, he turned angrily away. He had seen enough +of "the little rebels,"[8] as he called them. + +[Footnote 6: Cowpens: see paragraph 140.] + +[Footnote 7: Colonel William Washington was a relative of General +George Washington.] + +[Footnote 8: Rebels: this was the name which the British gave to the +Americans because we had been forced to take up arms to overthrow +the authority of the English king, who was still lawfully, but not +justly, the ruler of this country. Had he been a just and upright +ruler, there would probably have been no rebellion against his +authority at that time.] + + +211. Andrew is taken prisoner by the British; "Here, boy, clean those +boots"; the two scars.--Not long after our victory at Cowpens, Andrew +Jackson was taken prisoner by the British. The officer in command +of the soldiers had just taken off his boots, splashed with mud. +Pointing to them, he said to Andrew, Here, boy, clean those boots. +Andrew replied, Sir, I am a prisoner of war, and it is not my place +to clean boots. The officer, in a great passion, whipped out his sword +and struck a blow at the boy. It cut a gash on his head and another +on his hand. Andrew Jackson lived to be an old man, but the marks +of that blow never disappeared: he carried the scars to his grave. + +[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON AND THE OFFICER'S BOOTS.] + + +212. The prisoners in the yard of Camden jail; seeing a battle through +a knot-hole.--Andrew was sent with other prisoners to Camden, South +Carolina,[9] and shut up in the jail-yard. There many fell sick and +died of small-pox. + +One day some of the prisoners heard that General Greene--the greatest +American general in the Revolution, next to Washington--was coming +to fight the British at Camden. Andrew's heart leaped for joy, for +he knew that if General Greene should win he would set all the +prisoners at liberty. + +General Greene, with his little army, was on a hill in sight Of the +jail, but there was a high, tight board fence round the jail-yard, +and the prisoners could not see them. With the help of an old razor +Andrew managed to dig out a knot from one of the boards. Through that +knot-hole he watched the battle. + +Our men were beaten in the fight, and Andrew saw their horses, with +empty saddles, running wildly about. Then the boy turned away, sick +at heart. Soon after that he was seized with the small-pox, and would +have died of it if his mother had not succeeded in getting him set +free. + +[Footnote 9: Camden: see map in paragraph 140.] + + +213. Mrs. Jackson goes to visit the American prisoners at Charleston; +Andrew loses his best friend; what he said of her.--In the summer +Mrs. Jackson made a journey on horseback to Charleston, a hundred +and sixty miles away. She went to carry some little comforts to the +poor American prisoners, who were starving and dying of disease in +the crowded and filthy British prison-ships in the harbor. While +visiting these unfortunate men she caught the fever which raged among +them. Two weeks later she was in her grave, and Andrew, then a lad +of fourteen, stood alone in the world. + +Years afterward, when he had risen to be a noted man, people would +sometimes praise him because he was never afraid to say and do what +he believed to be right; then Jackson would answer, "_That_ I learned +from my good old mother." + + +214. Andrew begins to learn a trade; he studies law and goes west; +Judge Jackson; General Jackson.--Andrew set to work to learn the +saddler's trade, but gave it up and began to study law. After he +became a lawyer he went across the mountains to Nashville, Tennessee. +There he was made a judge. There were plenty of rough men in that +part of the country who meant to have their own way in all things; +but they soon found that they must respect and obey Judge Jackson. +They could frighten other judges, but it was no use to try to frighten +him. Seeing what sort of stuff Jackson was made of, they thought that +they should like to have such a man to lead them in battle. And so +Judge Andrew Jackson became General Andrew Jackson. When trouble +came with the Indians, Jackson proved to be the very man they needed. + + +215. Tecumseh and the Indians of Alabama; Tecumseh threatens to stamp +his foot on the ground; the earthquake; war begins.--We have already +seen how the Indian chief Tecumseh[10] went south to stir up the red +men to make war on the white settlers in the west. In Alabama he told +the Indians that if they fought they would gain a great victory. I +see, said Tecumseh to them, that you don't believe what I say, and +that you don't mean to fight. Well, I am now going north to Detroit. +When I get there I shall stamp my foot on the ground, and shake down +every wigwam you have. It so happened that, shortly after Tecumseh +had gone north, a sharp shock of earthquake was felt in Alabama, and +the wigwams were actually shaken down by it. When the terrified +Indians felt their houses falling to pieces, they ran out of them, +shouting, "Tecumseh has got to Detroit!" + +These Indians now believed all that Tecumseh had said; they began +to attack the white people, and they killed a great number of them. + +[Footnote 10: Tecumseh: see paragraph 203.] + + +216. Jackson conquers the Indians; the "Holy Ground"; Weathersford +and Jackson; feeding the starving.--General Jackson marched against +the Indians and beat them in battle. The Indians that escaped fled +to a place they called the "Holy Ground.", They believed that if a +white man dared to set his foot on that ground he would be struck +dead as if by a flash of lightning. General Jackson and his men +marched on to the "Holy Ground," and the Indians found that unless +they made peace they would be the ones who would be struck dead by +his bullets. + +[Illustration: GENERAL JACKSON AND THE INDIAN CHIEF.] + +Not long after this, a noted leader of the Indians, named +Weathersford, rode boldly up to Jackson's tent. "Kill him! kill him!" +cried Jackson's men; but the general asked Weathersford into his tent. +"You can kill me if you want to," said he to Jackson, "but I came +to tell you that the Indian women and children are starving in the +woods, and to ask you to help them, for they never did you any harm." +General Jackson sent away Weathersford in safety, and ordered that +corn should be given to feed the starving women and children. That +act showed that he was as merciful as he was brave. + + +217. The British send war-ships to take New Orleans; the great battle +and the great victory.--These things happened during our second war +with England, or the War of 1812. About a year after Jackson's victory +over the Indians the British sent an army in ships to take New +Orleans. + +General Jackson now went to New Orleans, to prevent the enemy from +getting possession of the city. + +About four miles below the city, which stands on the Mississippi +River,[11] there was a broad, deep ditch, running from the river into +a swamp. Jackson saw that the British would have to cross that ditch +when they marched against the city. For that reason he built a high +bank on the upper side of the ditch, and placed cannon along the top +of the bank. + +Early on Sunday morning, January 8th, 1815, the British sent a rocket +whizzing up into the sky; a few minutes afterward they sent up a +second one. It was the signal that they were about to march to attack +us. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.] + +Just before the fight began General Jackson walked along among his +men, who were getting ready to defend the ditch. He said to them, +"Stand to your guns; see that every shot tells: give it to them, +boys!" The "boys" did give it to them. The British soldiers were brave +men; they had been in many terrible battles, and they were not afraid +to die. They fought desperately; they tried again and again to cross +that ditch and climb the bank, but they could not do it. The fire +of our guns cut them down just as a mower cuts down the tall grain +with his scythe.[12] In less than half an hour the great battle was +over; Jackson had won the victory and saved New Orleans. We lost only +eight killed; the enemy lost over two thousand.[13] We have never +had a battle since with England; it is to be hoped that we never shall +have another, for two great nations[14] like England and America, +that speak the same language, ought to be firm and true friends. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL JACKSON AT NEW ORLEANS.] + +[Footnote 11: See map in paragraph 218.] + +[Footnote 12: Scythe (sithe).] + +[Footnote 13: Killed and wounded.] + +[Footnote 14: Nations: a nation is a people born in the same country +and living under the same government; as the American nation, the +French nation, the English nation.] + + +218. We buy Florida; General Jackson made President of the United +States; the first railroad.--After the battle of New Orleans General +Jackson conquered the Indians in Florida, and in 1819 we bought that +country of Spain, and so made the United States much larger on the +south.[15] This was our second great land purchase.[16] + +[Illustration: The light parts of this map show the extent of the +United States in 1819, after we had bought and added Florida. The +black and white bars in the northwest show that the ownership of the +Oregon country was still in dispute between the United States and +Great Britain.] + +Ten years after we got Florida General Jackson became President of +the United States. He had fought his way up. Here are the four steps: +first the boy, "Andy Jackson"; then "Judge Jackson"; then "General +Jackson"; last of all, "President Jackson." + +Shortly after he became the chief ruler of the nation the first steam +railroad in the United States was built (1830). From that time such +roads kept creeping further and further west. The Indians had +frightened the white settlers with their terrible war-whoop. Now it +was their turn to be frightened, for the locomotive whistle[17] could +beat their wildest yell. They saw that the white man was coming as +fast as steam could carry him, and that he was determined to get +possession of the whole land. The greater part of the Indians moved +across the Mississippi; but the white man kept following them and +following the buffalo further and further across the country, toward +the Pacific Ocean; and the railroad followed in the white man's +track. + +[Illustration: THE GREAT STEEL RAILROAD BRIDGE ACROSS THE +MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT ST. LOUIS. (Built by Captain Eads, and completed +in 1874.)] + +[Illustration: NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE.] + +[Footnote 15: See map in this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 16: For our first land purchase see paragraph 188.] + +[Footnote 17: The first steam railroad built in the United States +extended from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, a distance +of twelve miles. It was opened in 1830. It forms a part of the +Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.] + + +219. Summary.--Andrew Jackson of North Carolina gained a great +victory over the Indians in Alabama and also in Florida. In 1815, +in our second war with England, General Jackson whipped the British +at New Orleans, and so prevented their getting possession of that +city. A few years later we bought Florida of Spain. + +After General Jackson became President of the United States the first +steam-railroad was built in this country. Railroads helped to settle +the west and build up states beyond the Mississippi. + + +Who fought the greatest battle of the War of 1812? Tell about Andrew +Jackson's boyhood. Tell the story of the gun. Tell about Tarleton. +What did Mrs. Jackson do? What did Andrew do? What did Andrew use +to do at the blacksmith shop? + +Tell about Tarleton's men and the bees. What did bands of armed men +use to do in the country where Andrew lived? Tell about playing at +battle. What did Tarleton say? Tell about Andrew and the boots. Tell +how he saw a battle through a knot-hole. Tell how Andrew's mother +died. What did he say about her? Tell about Andrew Jackson as a judge. +Why was he made a general? Tell about Tecumseh and the Alabama Indians. +After General Jackson had beaten the Indians, where did they go? What +is said about the "Holy Ground." What about Jackson and Weathersford? +Tell about the great battle of New Orleans. Who gained the victory? +When did we buy Florida? What were the four steps in Andrew Jackson's +life? What is said about railroads? + + + + +PROFESSOR MORSE +(1791-1872). + + +220. How they sent the news of the completion of the Erie Canal to +New York City; Franklin and Morse.--The Erie Canal, in the state of +New York, connects the Hudson River at Albany with Lake Erie at +Buffalo. It is the greatest work of the kind in America, and was +completed many years ago. When the water was let into the canal from +the lake, the news was flashed from Buffalo to New York City by a +row of cannon, about five miles apart, which were fired as rapidly +as possible one after the other. The first cannon was fired at Buffalo +at ten o'clock in the morning; the last was fired at New York at +half-past eleven. In an hour and a half the sound had travelled over +five hundred miles. Everybody said that was wonderfully quick work; +but to-day we could send the news in less than a minute. The man who +found out how to do this was Samuel F. B. Morse. + +[Illustration: HOW THEY FLASHED THE NEWS OF THE COMPLETION OF THE +ERIE CANAL IN 1825.] + +We have seen how Benjamin Franklin[1] discovered, by means of his +kite, that lightning and electricity are the same. Samuel Morse was +born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, about a mile from Franklin's +birthplace, the year after that great man died. He began his work +where Franklin left off. He said to himself, Dr. Franklin found out +what lightning is; I will find out how to harness it and make it carry +news and deliver messages.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See paragraph 119.] + +[Footnote 2: Messages: a message is any word sent by one person to +another.] + + +221. Morse becomes a painter; what he thought might be done about +sending messages.--When Samuel Morse was a little boy, he was fond +of drawing pictures, particularly faces; if he could not get a pencil, +he would scratch them with a pin on the furniture at school: the only +pay he got for making such pictures was some smart raps from the +teacher. After he became a man he learned to paint. At one time he +lived in France with several other American artists. One day they +were talking of how long it took to get letters from America, and +they were wishing the time could be shortened. Somebody spoke of how +cannon had been used at the time of the opening of the Erie Canal. +Morse was familiar with all that; he had been educated at Yale College, +and he knew that the sound of a gun will travel a mile while you are +counting five; but quick as that is, he wanted to find something +better and quicker still. He said, Why not try lightning or +electricity? That will beat sound, for that will go more than a +thousand miles while you are counting _one_. + + +222. What a telegraph[3] is; a wire telegraph; Professor Morse +invents the electric telegraph.--Some time after that, Mr. Morse set +sail for America. On the way across the Atlantic he was constantly +talking about electricity and how a telegraph--that is, a machine +which would write at a distance--might be invented. He thought about +this so much that he could not sleep nights. At last he believed that +he saw how he could make such a machine. + +[Illustration: ONE KIND OF TELEGRAPH.] + +Suppose you take a straight and stiff piece of wire as long as your +desk and fasten it in the middle so that the ends will swing easily. +Next tie a pencil tight to each end; then put a sheet of paper under +the point of each pencil. Now, if you make a mark with the pencil +nearest to you, you will find that the pencil at the other end of +the wire will make the same kind of mark. Such a wire would be a kind +of telegraph, because it would make marks or signs at a distance. +Mr. Morse said: I will have a wire a mile long with a pencil, or +something sharp-pointed like a pencil, fastened to the further end; +the wire itself shall not move at all, but the pencil shall, for I +will make electricity run along the wire and move it. Mr. Morse was +then a professor or teacher in the University of the City of New York. +He put up such a wire in one of the rooms of the building, sent the +electricity through it, and found that it made the pencil make just +the marks he wanted it should; that meant that he had invented the +_electric telegraph_; for if he could do this over a mile of wire, +then what was to hinder his doing it over a hundred or even a thousand +miles? + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR MORSE AT WORK MAKING HIS TELEGRAPH.] + +[Footnote 3: Telegraph (tel'e-graf): this name is made up of two +Greek words, the first of which means _far off_, and the second _to +write_.] + + +223. How Professor Morse lived while he was making his +telegraph.--But all this was not done in a day, for this invention +cost years of patient labor. At first, Mr. Morse lived in a little +room by himself: there he worked and ate, when he could get anything +to eat; and slept, if he wasn't too tired to sleep. Later, he had +a room in the university. While he was there he painted pictures to +get money enough to buy food; there, too (1839), he took the first +photograph ever made in America. Yet with all his hard work there +were times when he had to go hungry, and once he told a young man +that if he did not get some money he should be dead in a week--dead +of starvation. + +[Illustration: A COPY OF THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH MADE IN AMERICA. (The +tower of the Church of the Messiah, in New York. The church is no +longer standing.)] + + +224. Professor Morse gets help about his telegraph; what Alfred Vail +did.--But better times were coming. A young man named Alfred Vail[4] +happened to see Professor Morse's telegraph. He believed it would +be successful. He persuaded his father, Judge Vail, to lend him two +thousand dollars, and he became Professor Morse's partner in the work. +Mr. Vail was an excellent mechanic, and he made many improvements +in the telegraph. He then made a model[5] of it at his own expense, +and took it to Washington and got a patent[6] for it in Professor +Morse's name. The invention was now safe in one way, for no one else +had the right to make a telegraph like his. Yet, though he had this +help, Professor Morse did not get on very fast, for a few years later +he said, "I have not a cent in the world; I am crushed for want of +means." + +[Footnote 4: Alfred Vail: he was the son of Stephen Vail (commonly +known as Judge Vail), owner of the Speedwell iron-works, near +Morristown, New Jersey. Judge Vail built the engines of the +_Savannah_, the first steamship which crossed the Atlantic.] + +[Footnote 5: Model: a small copy or representation of something. +Professor Morse made a small telegraph and sent it to Washington, +to show what his large telegraph would be like.] + +[Footnote 6: Patent: a written or printed right given by the +government at Washington to an inventor to make something; as, for +instance, a telegraph or a sewing-machine. The patent forbids any +one except the inventor, or holder of the patent, from making such +a machine, and so he gets whatever money comes from his work. In order +to get a patent, a man must send a model of his invention to be placed +in the Patent Office at Washington.] + + +225. Professor Morse asks Congress to help him build a telegraph +line; what Congress thought.--Professor Morse now asked Congress to +let him have thirty thousand dollars to construct a telegraph line +from Washington to Baltimore. He felt sure that business men would +be glad to send messages by telegraph, and to pay him for his work. +But many members of Congress laughed at it, and said they might as +well give Professor Morse the money to build "a railroad to the moon." + +Week after week went by, and the last day that Congress would sit +was reached, but still no money had been granted. Then came the last +night of the last day (March 3d, 1843). Professor Morse stayed in +the Senate Chamber[7] of Congress until after ten o'clock; then, +tired and disappointed he went back to his hotel, thinking that he +must give up trying to build his telegraph line. + +[Footnote 7: Senate Chamber: Congress (or the body of persons chosen +to make the laws of the United States) is divided into two +classes,--Representatives and Senators; they meet in different +rooms or chambers in the Capitol at Washington.] + + +226. Miss Annie Ellsworth brings good news.--The next morning Miss +Annie G. Ellsworth met him as he was coming down to breakfast. She +was the daughter of his friend who had charge of the Patent Office +in Washington. She came forward with a smile, grasped his hand, and +said that she had good news for him, that Congress had decided to +let him have the money. Surely you must be mistaken, said the +professor, for I waited last night until nearly midnight, and came +away because nothing had been done. But, said the young lady, my +father stayed until it was quite midnight, and a few minutes before +the clock struck twelve Congress voted[8] the money; it was the very +last thing that was done. + +Professor Morse was then a gray-haired man over fifty. He had worked +hard for years and got nothing for his labor. This was his first great +success. He doesn't say whether he laughed or cried--perhaps he felt +a little like doing both. + +[Footnote 8: Voted: here this word means given or granted.] + + +227. The first telegraph line built; the first message sent; the +telegraph and the telephone[9] now.--When, at length, Professor +Morse did speak, he said to Miss Ellsworth, "Now, Annie, when my line +is built from Washington to Baltimore, you shall send the first +message over it." In the spring of 1844 the line was completed, and +Miss Ellsworth sent these words over it (they are words taken from +the Bible): "_What hath God wrought!_"[10] + +[Illustration: WHAT THE BIRDS THINK TELEGRAPH WIRES WERE PUT UP FOR.] + +For nearly a year after that the telegraph was free to all who wished +to use it; then a small charge was made, a very short message costing +only one cent. On the first of April, 1845, a man came into the office +and bought a cent's worth of telegraphing. That was all the money +which was taken that day for the use of forty miles of wire. Now there +are about two hundred thousand miles of telegraph line in the United +States, or more than enough to reach eight times round the earth, +and the messages sent bring in over seventy thousand dollars every +day; and we can telegraph not only clear across America, but clear +across the Atlantic Ocean by a line laid under the sea. Professor +Morse's invention made it possible for people to write by +electricity; but now, by means of the telephone, a man in New York +can talk with his friend in Philadelphia, Boston, and many other +large cities, and his friend listening at the other end of the wire +can hear every word he says. Professor Morse did not live long enough +to see this wonderful invention, which, in some ways, is an +improvement even on his telegraph. + +[Illustration: HOW A MESSAGE BY TELEGRAPH IS SENT.[11]] + +[Footnote 9: Telephone (tel'e-fone): this name is made up of two +Greek words, the first of which means _far off_, and the second, _a +voice or sound_. The telephone was invented by Professor Alexander +G. Bell of Boston; he completed it in 1876. Professor Bell now lives +in Washington.] + +[Footnote 10: See Num. xxiii. 23.] + +[Footnote 11: When the button at Chicago is pressed down, the +electricity passing over the wire to Denver presses the point there +down on the paper, and so makes a dot or dash which stands for a letter +on the roll of paper as it passes under it. In this way words and +messages are spelled out. The message on the strip of paper above +is the question, _How is trade?_] + + +228. Summary.--Professor Morse invented the Electric Telegraph. He +received much help from Mr. Alfred Vail. In 1844 Professor Morse and +Mr. Vail built the first line of telegraph in the United States, or +in the world. It extended from Washington to Baltimore. The telegraph +makes it possible for us to send a written message thousands of miles +in a moment; by the telephone, which was invented after Professor +Morse's death, we can talk with people who are several hundreds of +miles away and hear what they say in reply. + + +Tell how they sent the news of the completion of the Erie Canal. What +did Samuel Morse say to himself? Tell about Morse as a painter. What +did he want to find? What was he talking about on his voyage back +to America? What is a telegraph? How can you make a small wire +telegraph? What did Professor Morse make? How did he live? What did +he do in 1839? How did he get help about his telegraph? What did he +ask Congress to do? What did some men in Congress say? What news did +Miss Annie Ellsworth bring him? What was the first message sent by +telegraph in 1844? How many miles of telegraph are there now in the +United States? Is there a telegraph line under the sea? What is said +about the telephone? + + + + +GENERAL SAM HOUSTON +(1793-1863) + + +229. Sam Houston and the Indians; Houston goes to live with the +Indians.--When General Jackson whipped the Indians in Alabama,[1] +a young man named Sam Houston[2] fought under Jackson and was +terribly wounded. It was thought that the brave fellow would +certainly die, but his strong will carried him through, and he lived +to make himself a great name in the southwest. + +Although Houston fought the Indians, yet, when a boy, he was very +fond of them, and spent much of his time with them in the woods of +Tennessee. + +Long after he became a man, this love of the wild life led by the +red men in the forest came back to him. While Houston was governor +of Tennessee (1829) he suddenly made up his mind to leave his home +and his friends, go across the Mississippi River, and take up his +abode with an Indian tribe in that part of the country. The chief, +who had known him as a boy, gave him a hearty welcome. "Rest with +us," he said; "my wigwam is yours." Houston stayed with the tribe +three years. + +[Illustration: SAM HOUSTON.] + +[Footnote 1: See paragraph 216.] + +[Footnote 2: Sam Houston (Hew'ston): he always wrote his name Sam +Houston; he was born near Lexington in Rockbridge County, Virginia.] + + +230. Houston goes to Texas; what he said he would do; the murders +at Alamo[3]; the flag with one star; what Houston did; Texas added +to the United States; our war with Mexico.--At the end of that time +he said to a friend, "I am going to Texas, and in that new country +I will make a man of myself." Texas then belonged to Mexico; and +President Andrew Jackson had tried in vain to buy it as Jefferson +bought Louisiana. Houston said, "I will make it part of the United +States." About twenty thousand Americans had already moved into +Texas, and they felt as he did. + +War broke out between Texas and Mexico, and General Sam Houston led +the Texan soldiers in their fight for independence. He had many noted +American pioneers[4] and hunters in his little army: one of them was +the brave Colonel Travis[5] of Alabama; another was Colonel Bowie[6] +of Louisiana, the inventor of the "bowie knife"; still another was +Colonel David Crockett of Tennessee, whose motto is a good one for +every young American--"Be sure you're right, then--_go ahead_." +These men were all taken prisoners by the Mexicans at Fort Alamo--an +old Spanish church in San Antonio--and were cruelly murdered. + +Not long after that General Houston fought a great battle near the +city which is now called by his name.[7] The Mexicans had more than +two men to every one of Houston's; but the Americans and Texans went +into battle shouting the terrible cry "_Remember the Alamo!_" and +the Mexicans fled before them like frightened sheep. Texas then +became an independent state, and elected General Houston its +president. The people of Texas raised a flag having on it a single +star. For this reason it was sometimes called, as it still is, the +"Lone Star State." + +[Illustration: THE "LONE STAR" FLAG.] + +Texas was not contented to stand alone; she begged the United States +to add her to its great and growing family of states. This was done[8] +in 1845. But, as we shall presently see, a war soon broke out (1846) +between the United States and Mexico, and when that war was ended +we obtained a great deal more land at the west. + +[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States after we +added Texas in 1845. The black and white bars show that the ownership +of the Oregon country was still in dispute between the United States +and Great Britain.] + +[Footnote 3: Alamo (Al'a-mo).] + +[Footnote 4: Pioneers: those who go before to prepare the way for +others; the first settlers in a country are its pioneers.] + +[Footnote 5: Travis (Tra'vis).] + +[Footnote 6: Bowie (Bow'e).] + +[Footnote 7: See map in this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 8: See map in this paragraph.] + + +231. General Sam Houston in the great war between the North and the +South; what he said.--We have seen the part which General Sam Houston +took in getting new country to add to the United States. He lived +in Texas for many years after that. When, in 1861, the great war broke +out between the North and the South, General Houston was governor +of the state. He withdrew from office and went home to his log cabin +in Huntsville. He refused to take any part in the war, for he loved +the Union,--that is, the whole country, North and South +together,--and he said to his wife, "My heart is broken." Before the +war ended he was laid in his grave.[9] + +[Footnote 9: General Houston was buried at Huntsville, about eighty +miles northwest of the city of Houston, Texas.] + + +232. Summary.--General Sam Houston of Tennessee led the people of +Texas in their war against Mexico. The Texans gained the victory, +and made their country an independent state with General Houston as +its president. After a time Texas was added to the United States. +We then had a war with Mexico, and added a great deal more land at +the west. General Houston died during the war between the North and +the South. + + +Tell about Sam Houston and the Indians. Where did Houston go after +he became governor of Tennessee? Where did Houston go next? What did +he say he would do about Texas? What was David Crockett's motto? What +is said about Fort Alamo? What about the battle with the Mexicans? +What did Texas become? To what office was Houston elected? What is +said of the Texas flag? When was Texas added to the United States? +What war then broke out? What did we get by that war? What is said +of General Houston in the great war between the North and the South? + + + + +CAPTAIN ROBERT GRAY +(1755-1806). + + +233. Captain Gray goes to the Pacific coast to buy furs; he first +carries the Stars and Stripes round the globe.--Not long after the +war of the Revolution had come to an end some merchants of Boston +sent out two vessels to Vancouver[1] Island, on the northwest coast +of America. The names of the vessels were the _Columbia_ and the _Lady +Washington_, and they sailed round Cape Horn into the Pacific. +Captain Robert Gray went out as commander of one of these vessels.[2] +He was born in Rhode Island[3] and he had fought in one of our +war-ships in the Revolution. + +Captain Gray was sent out by the Boston merchants to buy furs from +the Indians on the Pacific coast. He had no difficulty in getting +all he wanted, for the savages were glad to sell them for very little. +In one case a chief let the captain have two hundred sea-otter skins +such as are used for ladies' sacks, and which were worth about eight +thousand dollars, for an old iron chisel. After getting a valuable +cargo of furs, Captain Gray sailed in the _Columbia_ for China, where +he bought a quantity of tea. He then went to the south, round the +Cape of Good Hope, and keeping on toward the west he reached Boston +in the summer of 1790. He had been gone about three years, and he +was the first man who carried the American flag clear round the globe. + +[Illustration: A SEA-OTTER.] + +[Footnote 1: Vancouver (Van-koo'ver): part of it is seen north of +Portland, Or., paragraph 234.] + +[Footnote 2: He commanded the _Lady Washington_ at first, and +afterward the _Columbia_.] + +[Footnote 3: Tiverton, Rhode Island.] + + +234. Captain Gray's second voyage to the Pacific coast; he enters +a great river and names it the Columbia; the United States claims +the Oregon country; we get Oregon in 1846.--Captain Gray did not stay +long at Boston, for he sailed again that autumn in the _Columbia_ +for the Pacific coast, to buy more furs. He stayed on that coast a +long time. In the spring of 1792 he entered a great river and sailed +up it a distance of nearly thirty miles. He seems to have been the +first white man who had ever actually entered it. He named the vast +stream the Columbia River, from the name of his vessel. It is the +largest American river which empties into the Pacific Ocean south +of Alaska.[4] + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN GRAY EXPLORING THE COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON.] + +Captain Gray returned to Boston and gave an account of his voyage +of exploration; this led Congress to claim the country through which +the Columbia flows[5] as part of the United States. + +[Illustration: MOUNT HOOD, OREGON.] + +After Captain Gray had been dead for forty years we came into +possession, in 1846, of the immense territory then called the Oregon +Country. It was through what he had done that we got our first claim +to that country which now forms the states of Oregon and Washington. + +[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States after we +added the Oregon Country in 1846.] + +[Illustration: EMIGRANTS ON THEIR WAY TO OREGON FIFTY YEARS AGO.] + +[Footnote 4: The Yukon River in Alaska is larger than the Columbia.] + +[Footnote 5: The discovery and exploration of a river usually gives +the right to a claim to the country watered by that river, on the +part of the nation to which the discoverer or explorer belongs.] + + +235. Summary.--A little over a hundred years ago (1790) Captain +Robert Gray of Rhode Island first carried the American flag round +the world. In 1792 he entered and named the Columbia River. Because +he did that the United States claimed the country--called the Oregon +Country--through which that river runs. In 1846 we added the Oregon +Country to our possessions; it now forms the two states of Oregon +and Washington. + + +Tell about Captain Gray's voyage to the Pacific coast. What did he +buy there? What did he first carry round the globe? Tell about his +second voyage. What did he do in 1792? What happened after Captain +Gray returned to Boston? What happened in 1846? What two states were +made out of the Oregon Country? + + + + +CAPTAIN SUTTER[1] +(1803-1880). + + +236. Captain Sutter and his fort; how the captain lived.--At the time +when Professor Morse sent his first message by telegraph from +Washington to Baltimore (1844), Captain J. A. Sutter, an emigrant +from Switzerland, was living near the Sacramento River in California. +California then belonged to Mexico. The governor of that part of the +country had given Captain Sutter an immense piece of land; and the +captain had built a fort at a point where a stream which he named +the American River joins the Sacramento River.[2] People then called +the place Sutter's Fort, but to-day it is Sacramento City, the +capital of the great and rich state of California. + +In his fort Captain Sutter lived like a king. He owned land enough +to make a thousand fair-sized farms; he had twelve thousand head of +cattle, more than ten thousand sheep, and over two thousand horses +and mules. Hundreds of laborers worked for him in his wheat-fields, +and fifty well-armed soldiers guarded his fort. Quite a number of +Americans had built houses near the fort. They thought that the time +was coming when all that country would become part of the United +States. + +[Illustration: Map of Sutter's Fort area.] + +[Footnote 1: Sutter (Soo'ter).] + +[Footnote 2: See map in this paragraph.] + + +237. Captain Sutter builds a saw-mill at Coloma;[3] a man finds some +sparkling dust.--About forty miles up the American River was a place +which the Mexicans called Coloma, or the beautiful valley. There was +a good fall of water there and plenty of big trees to saw into boards, +so Captain Sutter sent a man named Marshall to build a saw-mill at +that place. The captain needed such a mill very much, for he wanted +lumber to build with and to fence his fields. + +Marshall set to work, and before the end of January, 1848, he had +built a dam across the river and got the saw-mill half done. One day +as he was walking along the bank of a ditch, which had been dug back +of the mill to carry off the water, he saw some bright yellow specks +shining in the dirt. He gathered a little of the sparkling dust, +washed it clean, and carried it to the house. That evening after the +men had come in from their work on the mill, Marshall said to them, +"Boys, I believe I've found a gold mine." They laughed, and one of +them said, "I reckon not; no such luck." + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN SUTTER'S SAW-MILL AT COLOMA, WHERE GOLD WAS +FIRST FOUND.] + +[Footnote 3: Coloma (Ko-lo'ma): see map in paragraph 236.] + + +238. Marshall takes the shining dust to Captain Sutter; what he did +with it, and how he felt about the discovery.--A few days after that +Marshall went down to the fort to see Captain Sutter. Are you alone? +he asked when he saw the captain. Yes, he answered. Well, won't you +oblige me by locking the door; I've something I want to show you. +The captain locked the door, and Marshall taking a little parcel out +of his pocket, opened it and poured some glittering dust on a paper +he had spread out. "See here," said he, "I believe this is gold, but +the people at the mill laugh at me and call me crazy." + +Captain Sutter examined it carefully. He weighed it; he pounded it +flat; he poured some strong acid on it. There are three very +interesting things about gold. In the first place, it is very heavy, +heavier even than lead. Next, it is very tough. If you hammer a piece +of iron long enough, it will break to pieces, but you can hammer a +piece of gold until it is thinner than the thinnest tissue paper, +so that if you hold it up you can see the light shining through it. +Last of all, if you pour strong acids on gold, such acids as will +eat into other metals and change their color, they will have no more +effect on gold than an acid like vinegar has on a piece of glass. + +For these and other reasons most people think that gold is a very +handsome metal, and the more they see of it, especially if it is their +own, the better they are pleased with it. + +Well, the shining dust stood all these tests.[4] It was very heavy, +it was very tough, and the sharp acid did not hurt it. Captain Sutter +and Marshall both felt sure that it was _gold_. + +But, strange to say, the captain was not pleased. He wished to build +up an American settlement and have it called by his name. He did not +care for a gold mine--why should he? for he had everything he wanted +without it. He was afraid, too, that if gold should be discovered +in any quantity, thousands of people would rush in; they would dig +up his land, and quite likely take it all away from him. We shall +see presently whether he was right or not. + +[Footnote 4: Tests: here experiments or trials made to find out what +a thing is.] + + +239. War with Mexico; Mexico lets us have California and New Mexico; +"gold! gold! gold!" what happened at Coloma; how California was +settled; what happened to Captain Sutter and to Marshall.--While +these things were happening we had been at war with Mexico for two +years (1846-1848), because Texas and Mexico could not agree about +the western boundary line[5] of the new state. Texas wanted to push +that line as far west as possible so as to have more land; Mexico +wanted to push it as far east as possible so as to give as little +land as she could. This dispute soon brought on a war between the +United States and Mexico. Soon after gold was discovered at Coloma, +the war ended (1848); and we got not only all the land the people +of Texas had asked for, but an immense deal more; for we obtained +the great territory of California and New Mexico, out of which a +number of states and territories have since been made.[6] + +[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States in 1848, +after Mexico let us have California and New Mexico.] + +In May, 1848, a man came to San Francisco holding up a bottle full +of gold-dust in one hand and swinging his hat with the other. As he +walked through the streets he shouted with all his might, "Gold! +gold! gold! from the American River." + +Then the rush for Coloma began. Every man had a spade and a pick-axe. +In a little while the beautiful valley was dug so full of holes that +it looked like an empty honeycomb. The next year a hundred thousand +people poured into California from all parts of the United States; +so the discovery of gold filled up that part of the country with +emigrants years before they would have gone if no gold had been found +there. + +[Illustration: WASHING DIRT TO GET OUT THE GOLD-DUST.] + +Captain Sutter lost all his property. He would have died poor if the +people of California had not given him money to live on. + +Marshall was still more to be pitied. He got nothing by his discovery. +Years after he had found the shining dust, some one wrote to him and +asked him for his photograph. He refused to send it. He said, "My +likeness ... is, in fact, all I have that I can call my own; and I +feel like any other poor wretch:[7] I want _something_ for self." + +[Illustration: MIRROR LAKE, YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.] + +[Footnote 5: Western boundary line: the people of Texas held that +their state extended west as far as the Rio Grande River, but Mexico +insisted that the boundary line was at the Nueces River, which is +much further east.] + +[Footnote 6: Namely: California, Nevada, Utah, and part of Wyoming, +Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.] + +[Footnote 7: Wretch: here a very unhappy and miserable person.] + + +240. How we bought more land; our growth since the Revolution.--Long +before Captain Sutter died, the United States bought from Mexico +another great piece of land (1853), marked on the map by the name +of the Gadsden Purchase.[8] A number of years later (1867) we bought +the territory of Alaska[9] from Russia. + +[Illustration: This map shows the extent of the United States in 1853 +after we had added the land called the Gadsden Purchase, bought from +Mexico; the land is marked on the map, 1853.] + +The Revolution ended something over a hundred years ago; if you look +on the map in paragraph 187, and compare it with the maps which follow, +you will see how we have grown during that time. Then we had just +thirteen states[10] which stretched along the Atlantic, and, with +the country west of them, extended as far as the Mississippi River. + +Next (1803) we bought the great territory of Louisiana (see map in +paragraph 188), which has since been divided into many states; then +(1819) we bought Florida (see map in paragraph 218); then (1845) we +added Texas (see map in paragraph 230); the next year (1846) we added +Oregon territory, since cut up into two great states (see map in +paragraph 234); then (1848) we obtained California and New Mexico +(see map in paragraph 239). Five years after that (1853) we bought +the land then known as the Gadsden Purchase (see first map in this +paragraph); last of all (1867) we bought Alaska (see second map in +this paragraph). + +[Illustration: This map shows the territorial growth of the United +States from the time of the Revolution to the present day.] + +[Illustration: SCENE ON THE COAST OF ALASKA.] + +[Footnote 8: See maps in this paragraph. It was called the Gadsden +Purchase, because General James Gadsden of South Carolina bought it +from Mexico for the United States, in 1853. It included what is now +part of Southern Arizona and N. Mexico.] + +[Footnote 9: Alaska: see second map in this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 10: Thirteen states: see footnote 4 in paragraph 102.] + + +241. "Brother Jonathan's"[11] seven steps.--If you count up these +additions, you will see that, beginning with Louisiana in 1803, and +ending with Alaska in 1867, they make just seven in all. There is +a story of a giant who was so tall that at one long step he could +go more than twenty miles; but "Brother Jonathan" can beat that, for +in the seven steps he has taken since the Revolution he has gone over +three thousand miles. He stands now with one foot on the coast of +the Atlantic and with the other on that of the Pacific. + +[Footnote 11: "Brother Jonathan": a name given in fun to the people +of the United States, just as "John Bull" is to the people of England. + +One explanation of the origin of the name is this: General Washington +had a very high opinion of the good sense and sound judgment of +Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut. At the beginning of the +Revolutionary War, when no one seemed to know where to get a supply +of powder, General Washington said to his officers, "We must consult +Brother Jonathan on this subject." Afterwards when any serious +difficulty arose it became a common saying in the army that "We must +consult Brother Jonathan," and in time the name came to stand for +the American people.] + + +242. Summary.--In January, 1848, gold was discovered at Captain +Sutter's saw-mill at Coloma, California. Soon after that, Mexico let +us have California and New Mexico, and they were added to the United +States. Thousands of people, from all parts of the country, hurried +to California to dig gold, and so that state grew more rapidly in +population than any other new part of the United States ever had in +the same length of time. Before Captain Sutter died we added the +Gadsden Purchase and Alaska. + + +Who was Captain Sutter? Where did he live? Tell how he lived. What +did he begin to build at Coloma? Tell what Marshall found there, and +what was said about it. Tell how Marshall took the shining dust to +Captain Sutter, and what the captain did. What made them both certain +that the dust was gold? Was the captain pleased with the discovery? +What did he think would happen? What is said about our war with +Mexico? What did we fight about? What did we get at the end of the +war? What happened in May, 1848? Then what happened? How many people +went to California? What happened to Captain Sutter? What is said +about Marshall? What land did we buy in 1853? What in 1867? + +How long ago did the Revolution end? How many states did we have then? +[Can any one in the class tell how many we have now?] What land did +we buy in 1803? In 1819? What did we add in 1845? In 1846? In 1848? +What did we buy in 1853? In 1867? How many such additions have we +made in all? What could the giant do? What has "Brother Jonathan" +done? Where is one foot? Where is the other? + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN +(1809-1865). + + +243. The tall man from Illinois making his first speech in Congress; +how he wrote his name; what the people called him.--Not many days +before gold was found at Sutter's saw-mill in California (1848), a +tall, awkward-looking man from Illinois was making his first speech +in Congress. At that time he generally wrote his name + +[Illustration: A. Lincoln.] + +but after he had become President of the United States, he often wrote +it out in full,-- + +[Illustration: Abraham Lincoln.] + +The plain country people of Illinois, who knew all about him, liked +best to call him by the title they had first given him,--"_Honest +Abe Lincoln_," or, for short, "_Honest Abe_." Let us see how he got +that name. + + +244. The Lincoln family move to Indiana; "Abe" helps his father build +a new home; what it was like.--Abraham Lincoln was born on February +12th, 1809, in a log shanty on a lonely little farm in Kentucky.[1] +When "Abe," as he was called, was seven years old, his father, Thomas +Lincoln, moved, with his family, to Indiana;[2] there the boy and +his mother worked in the woods and helped him build a new home. That +new home was not so good or so comfortable as some of our cow-sheds +are. It was simply a hut made of rough logs and limbs of trees. It +had no door and no windows. One side of it was left entirely open; +and if a roving Indian or a bear wanted to walk in to dinner, there +was nothing whatever to stop him. In winter "Abe's" mother used to +hang up some buffalo skins before this wide entrance, to keep out +the cold, but in summer the skins were taken down, so that living +in such a cabin was the next thing to living out-of-doors. + +[Footnote 1: Kentucky: Abraham Lincoln was born on the banks of the +Big South Fork (or branch) of Nolin Creek in Hardin (now La Rue) +County, Kentucky.] + +[Footnote 2: Indiana: the Lincoln family moved to a farm on Little +Pigeon Creek, near Gentryville, in what is now Spencer County, +Indiana.] + + +245. The new log cabin with four sides to it; how the furniture was +made; "Abe's" bed in the loft.--The Lincoln family stayed in that +shed for about a year; then they moved into a new log cabin which +had four sides to it. They seem to have made a new set of furniture +for the new house. "Abe's" father got a large log, split it in two, +smoothed off the flat side, bored holes in the under side and drove +in four stout sticks for legs: that made the table. They had no +chairs,--it would have been too much trouble to make the backs,--but +they had three-legged stools, which Thomas Lincoln made with an axe, +just as he did the table; perhaps "Abe" helped him drive in the legs. + +[Illustration: HOME-MADE FURNITURE.] + +In one corner of the loft of this cabin the boy had a big bag of dry +leaves for his bed. Whenever he felt like having a new bed, all that +he had to do was to go out in the woods and gather more leaves. + +He worked about the place during the day, helping his father and +mother. For his supper he had a piece of cornbread. After he had eaten +it, he climbed up to his loft in the dark, by a kind of ladder of +wooden pins driven into the logs. Five minutes after that he was fast +asleep on his bed of sweet-smelling leaves, and was dreaming of +hunting coons, or of building big bonfires out of brush.[3] + +[Footnote 3: Brush: bushes and limbs of trees.] + + +246. Death of "Abe's" mother; the lonely grave in the woods; what +Abraham Lincoln said of his mother after he had grown to be a man; +what "Abe's" new mother said of him.--"Abe's" mother was not strong, +and before they had been in their new log cabin a year she fell sick +and died. She was buried on the farm. "Abe" used to go out and sit +by her lonely grave in the forest and cry. It was the first great +sorrow that had ever touched the boy's heart. After he had grown to +be a man, he said with eyes full of tears to a friend with whom he +was talking: "God bless my mother; all that I am or ever hope to be +I owe to her." + +[Illustration: "ABE" LEARNING TO USE HIS AXE.] + +At the end of a year Thomas Lincoln married again. The new wife that +he brought home was a kind-hearted and excellent woman. She did all +she could to make the poor, ragged, barefooted boy happy. After he +had grown up and become famous, she said: "Abe never gave me a cross +word or look, and never refused to do anything I asked him: Abe was +the best boy I ever saw." + + +247. The school in the woods; the new teacher; reading by the open +fire; how "Abe" used the fire-shovel.--There was a log schoolhouse +in the woods quite a distance off, and there "Abe" went for a short +time. At the school he learned to read and write a little, but after +a while he found a new teacher, that was--himself. When the rest of +the family had gone to bed, he would sit up and read his favorite +books by the light of the great blazing logs heaped up on the open +fire. He had not more than half a dozen books in all. They were +"Robinson Crusoe," "Pilgrim's Progress," AEsop's[4] Fables, the +Bible, a Life of Washington, and a small History of the United States. +The boy read these books over and over till he knew a great deal of +them by heart and could repeat whole pages from them. + +[Illustration: WRITING BY THE FIRE.] + +Part of his evenings he spent in writing and ciphering. Thomas +Lincoln was so poor that he could seldom afford to buy paper and pens +for his son, so the boy had to get on without them. He used to take +the back of the broad wooden fire-shovel to write on and a piece of +charcoal for a pencil. When he had covered the shovel with words or +with sums in arithmetic, he would shave it off clean and begin over +again. If "Abe's" father complained that the shovel was getting thin, +the boy would go out into the woods, cut down a tree, and make a new +one; for as long as the woods lasted, fire-shovels and furniture were +cheap. + +[Footnote 4: AEsop (E'sop): the name of a noted writer of fables. +Here is one of AEsop's fables: An old frog thought that he could blow +himself up to be as big as an ox. So he drew in his breath and puffed +himself out prodigiously. "Am I big enough now?" he asked his son. +"No," said his son; "you don't begin to be as big as an ox yet." Then +he tried again, and swelled himself out still more. "How's that?" +he asked. "Oh, it's no use trying," said his son, "you can't do it." +"But I will," said the old frog. With that he drew in his breath with +all his might and puffed himself up to such an enormous size that +he suddenly burst. + +Moral: Don't try to be bigger than you can.] + + +248. What Lincoln could do at seventeen; what he was at nineteen; +his strength.--By the time the lad was seventeen he could write a +good hand, do hard examples in long division, and spell better than +any one else in the county. Once in a while he wrote a little piece +of his own about something which interested him; when the neighbors +heard it read, they would say, "The world can't beat it." + +At nineteen Abraham Lincoln had reached his full height. He stood +nearly six feet four inches, barefooted. He was a kind of +good-natured giant. No one in the neighborhood could strike an axe +as deep into a tree as he could, and few, if any, were equal to him +in strength. It takes a powerful man to put a barrel of flour into +a wagon without help, and there is not one in a hundred who can lift +a barrel of cider off the ground; but it is said that young Lincoln +could stoop down, lift a barrel on to his knees, and drink from the +bung-hole. + + +249. Young Lincoln makes a voyage to New Orleans; how he handled the +robbers.--At this time a neighbor hired Abraham to go with his son +to New Orleans. The two young men were to take a flat-boat loaded +with corn and other produce down the Ohio and the Mississippi. It +was called a voyage of about eighteen hundred miles, and it would +take between three and four weeks. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN ON THE FLAT-BOAT GOING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI +RIVER.] + +Young Lincoln was greatly pleased with the thought of making such +a trip. He had never been away any distance from home, and, as he +told his father, he felt that he wanted to see something more of the +world. His father made no objection, but, as he bade his son good +by, he said, Take care that in trying to see the world you don't see +the bottom of the Mississippi. + +The two young men managed to get the boat through safely. But one +night a gang of negroes came on board, intending to rob them of part +of their cargo. Lincoln soon showed the robbers he could handle a +club as vigorously as he could an axe, and the rascals, bruised and +bleeding, were glad to get off with their lives. + + +250. The Lincolns move to Illinois; what Abraham did; hunting +frolics; how Abraham chopped; how he bought his clothes.--Not long +after young Lincoln's return, his father moved to Illinois.[5] It +was a two weeks' journey through the woods with ox-teams. Abraham +helped his father build a comfortable log cabin; then he and a man +named John Hanks split walnut rails, and fenced in fifteen acres of +land for a cornfield. + +[Illustration: THE LOG CABIN IN ILLINOIS WHICH LINCOLN HELPED HIS +FATHER BUILD.] + +That part of the country had but few settlers, and it was still full +of wild beasts. When the men got tired of work and wanted a frolic, +they had a grand wolf-hunt. First, a tall pole was set up in a +clearing;[6] next, the hunters in the woods formed a great circle +of perhaps ten miles in extent. Then they began to move nearer and +nearer together, beating the bushes and yelling with all their might. +The frightened wolves, deer, and other wild creatures inside of the +circle of hunters were driven to the pole in the clearing; there they +were shot down in heaps. + +Young Lincoln was not much of a hunter, but he always tried to do +his part. Yet, after all, he liked the axe better than he did the +rifle. He would start off before light in the morning and walk to +his work in the woods, five or six miles away. There he would chop +steadily all day. The neighbors knew, when they hired him, that he +wouldn't sit down on the first log he came to and fall asleep. Once +when he needed a new pair of trousers, he made a bargain for them +with a Mrs. Nancy Miller. She agreed to make him a certain number +of yards of tow cloth,[7] and dye it brown with walnut bark. For every +yard she made, Lincoln bound himself to split four hundred good +fence-rails for her. In this way he made his axe pay for all his +clothes. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN SPLITTING LOGS FOR RAILS.] + +[Footnote 5: Illinois: he moved to a farm on the North Fork (or +branch) of the Sangamon River, Macon County, Illinois. Springfield, +the capital of the state, is in the next county west.] + +[Footnote 6: Clearing: an open space made in a forest.] + +[Footnote 7: Tow cloth: a kind of coarse, cheap, but very strong cloth, +made of flax or hemp.] + + +251. Lincoln hires out to tend store; the gang of ruffians in New +Salem; Jack Armstrong and "Tall Abe."--The year after young Lincoln +came of age he hired out to tend a grocery and variety store in New +Salem, Illinois.[8] There was a gang of young ruffians in that +neighborhood who made it a point to pick a fight with every stranger. +Sometimes they mauled him black and blue; sometimes they amused +themselves with nailing him up in a hogshead and rolling him down +a hill. The leader of this gang was a fellow named Jack Armstrong. +He made up his mind that he would try his hand on "Tall Abe," as +Lincoln was called. He attacked Lincoln, and he was so astonished +at what happened to him that he never wanted to try it again. From +that time Abraham Lincoln had no better friends than young Armstrong +and the Armstrong family. Later on we shall see what he was able to +do for them. + +[Footnote 8: New Salem is on the Sangamon River, in Menard County, +about twenty miles northwest of Springfield, the capital of +Illinois.] + + +252. Lincoln's faithfulness in little things; the six cents; "Honest +Abe."--In his work in the store Lincoln soon won everybody's respect +and confidence. He was faithful in little things, and in that way +he made himself able to deal with great ones. + +Once a woman made a mistake in paying for something she had bought, +and gave the young man six cents too much. He did not notice it at +the time, but after his customer had gone he saw that she had overpaid +him. That night, after the store was closed, Lincoln walked to the +woman's house, some five or six miles out of the village, and paid +her back the six cents. It was such things as this that first made +the people give him the name of "Honest Abe." + + +253. The Black Hawk War; the Indian's handful of dry leaves; what +Lincoln did in the war.--The next year Lincoln went to fight the +Indians in what was called the Black Hawk War. The people in that +part of the country had been expecting the war; for, some time before, +an Indian had walked up to a settler's cabin and said, "Too much white +man." He then threw a handful of dry leaves into the air, to show +how he and his warriors were coming to scatter the white men. He never +came, but a noted chief named Black Hawk, who had been a friend of +Tecumseh's,[9] made an attempt to drive out the settlers, and get +back the lands which certain Indians had sold them. + +Lincoln said that the only battles he fought in this war were with +the mosquitoes. He never killed a single Indian, but he saved the +life of one old savage. He seems to have felt just as well satisfied +with himself for doing that as though he had shot him through the +head. + +[Footnote 9: Tecumseh: See paragraph 202.] + + +254. Lincoln becomes postmaster and surveyor; how he studied law; +what the people thought of him as a lawyer.--After Lincoln returned +from the war he was made postmaster of New Salem. He also found time +to do some surveying and to begin the study of law. On hot summer +mornings he might be seen lying on his back, on the grass, under a +big tree, reading a law-book; as the shade moved round, Lincoln would +move with it, so that by sundown he had travelled nearly round the +tree. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN READING LAW.] + +When he began to practise law, everybody who knew him had confidence +in him. Other men might be admired because they were smart, but +Lincoln was respected because he was honest. When he said a thing, +people knew that it was because he believed it, and they knew, too, +that he could not be hired to say what he did not believe. That gave +him immense influence. + + +255. The Armstrong murder trial; how Lincoln saved young Armstrong +from being hanged.--But Lincoln was as keen as he was truthful and +honest. A man was killed in a fight near where Lincoln had lived, +and one of Jack Armstrong's[10] brothers was arrested for the murder. +Everybody thought that he was guilty, and felt sure that he would +be hanged. Lincoln made some inquiry about the case, and made up his +mind that the prisoner did not kill the man. + +Mrs. Armstrong was too poor to hire a lawyer to defend her son, but +Lincoln wrote to her that he would gladly do it for nothing. + +When the day of the trial came, the chief witness was sure that he +saw young Armstrong strike the man dead. Lincoln questioned him +closely. He asked him when it was that he saw the murder committed. +The witness said that it was in the evening, at a certain hour, and +that he saw it all clearly because there was a bright moon. Are you +sure? asked Lincoln. Yes, replied the witness. Do you swear to it? +I do, answered the witness. Then Lincoln took an almanac out of his +pocket, turned to the day of the month on which the murder had been +committed, and said to the court: The almanac shows that there was +no moon shining at the time at which the witness says he saw the +murder.[11] The jury was convinced that the witness had not spoken +the truth; they declared the prisoner "Not guilty," and he was at +once set free. + +Lincoln was a man who always paid his debts. Mrs. Armstrong had been +very kind to him when he was poor and friendless. Now he had paid +that debt. + +[Footnote 10: See Jack Armstrong, in paragraph 251.] + +[Footnote 11: The almanac usually gives the time when the moon rises; +and so by looking at any particular day of the month, one can tell +whether there was a moon on that evening.] + + +256. Lincoln and the pig.--Some men have hearts big enough to be kind +to their fellow-men when they are in trouble, but not to a dumb animal. +Lincoln's heart was big enough for both. + +One morning just after he had bought a new suit of clothes he started +to drive to the court-house, a number of miles distant. On the way +he saw a pig that was making desperate efforts to climb out of a deep +mud-hole. The creature would get part way up the slippery bank, and +then slide back again over his head in mire and water. Lincoln said +to himself: I suppose that I ought to get out and help that pig; for +if he's left there, he'll smother in the mud. Then he gave a look +at his glossy new clothes. He felt that he really couldn't afford +to spoil them for the sake of any pig, so he whipped up his horse +and drove on. But the pig was in his mind, and he could think of +nothing else. After he had gone about two miles, he said to himself, +I've no right to leave that poor creature there to die in the mud, +and what is more, I won't leave him. Turning his horse, he drove back +to the spot. He got out and carried half a dozen fence-rails to the +edge of the hole, and placed them so that he could get to it without +falling in himself. Then, kneeling down, he bent over, seized the +pig firmly by the fore legs and drew him up on to the solid ground, +where he was safe. The pig grunted out his best thanks, and Lincoln, +plastered with mud, but with a light heart, drove on to the +court-house. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN AND THE PIG.] + + +257. Lincoln is elected to the state legislature; he goes to +Springfield to live; he is elected to Congress.--Many people in +Illinois thought that they would like to see such a man in the state +legislature[12] helping to make their laws. They elected him; and +as he was too poor at that time to pay so much horse-hire, he walked +from New Salem, a distance of over a hundred miles, to Vandalia,[13] +which was then the capital of the state. + +Lincoln was elected to the legislature many times; later, he moved +to Springfield, Illinois, and made that place his home for the rest +of his life. + +The next time the people elected him to office, they sent him to +Congress to help make laws, not for his state only, but for the whole +country. He had got a long way up since the time when he worked with +John Hanks[14] fencing the cornfield round his father's cabin; but +he was going higher still,--he was going to the top. + +[Footnote 12: Legislature: persons chosen by the people of a state +or country to make its laws.] + +[Footnote 13: Vandalia (Van-da'li-a).] + +[Footnote 14: John Hanks: see paragraph 250.] + + +258. The meeting for choosing a candidate[15] for President of the +United States; the two fence-rails; the Chicago meeting; Abraham +Lincoln elected President of the United States.--In the spring of +1860 a great convention, or meeting, was held in one of the towns +of Illinois. Lincoln was present at that convention. The object of +the people who had gathered there was to choose a candidate that they +would like to see elected President of the United States. A number +of speeches had been made, when a member of the convention rose and +said that a person asked the privilege of making the meeting a present. +It was voted to receive it. Then John Hanks and one of his neighbors +brought in two old fence-rails and a banner with these words painted +on it:-- + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN, +THE RAIL CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY +IN 1860. +TWO RAILS FROM A LOT OF 3000 +MADE IN 1830 +BY JOHN HANKS AND ABE LINCOLN. + +The rails were received with cheer after cheer, and Lincoln was +chosen candidate. About a week after that a much greater meeting was +held in Chicago, and he was chosen there in the same way. The next +November Abraham Lincoln, "the Illinois rail-splitter," was elected +President of the United States. He had reached the top. There he was +to die. + +[Footnote 15: Candidate (can'di-date): a person who seeks some +office, such as that of governor or president, or a person who is +recommended by a party for such an office. The people in favor of +the candidate vote for him; and if he gets a sufficient number of +votes, he is elected.] + + +259. The great war between the North and the South; why a large part +of the people of the South wished to leave the Union.--In less than +six weeks after Lincoln actually became President, in the spring of +1861, a terrible war broke out between the North and the South. The +people of South Carolina fired the first gun in that war. They, +together with a great part of the people of ten other southern states, +resolved to leave the Union.[16] They set up an independent +government called the Confederate States of America, and made +Jefferson Davis its president. + +The main reason why so many of the people of the South wished to +withdraw from the United States was that little by little the North +and the South had become like two different countries. + +At the time of the Revolution, when we broke away from the rule of +England, every one of the states held negro slaves; but in the course +of eighty years a great change had taken place. The negroes at the +North had become free, but those of the South still remained slaves. +Now this difference in the way of doing work made it impossible for +the North and the South to agree about many things. + +They had come to be like two boys in a boat who want to go in opposite +directions. One pulls one way with his oars, the other pulls another +way, and so the boat does not get ahead. + +At the South most of the people thought that slavery was right, and +that it helped the whole country; at the North the greater part of +the people were convinced that it was wrong, and that it did harm +to the whole country. + +But this was not all. The people who held slaves at the South wanted +to add to the number. They hoped to get more of the new country west +of the Mississippi River for slave states, so that there might always +be at least as many slave states in the Union as there were free states. +But Abraham Lincoln like most of the people at the North believed +that slavery did no good to any one. He and his party were fully +determined that no slaves whatever should be taken into the +territories west of the Mississippi River, and that every new state +which should be added should be entirely free. + +For this reason it happened that when Lincoln became President most +of the slave states resolved to leave the Union, and, if necessary, +to make war rather than be compelled to stay in it. + +[Footnote 16: Union: several years after the close of the +Revolutionary War, by which we gained our independence of Great +Britain, the people of the thirteen states formed a new government. +That new government bound all the states together more strongly than +before, thus making, as was then said, "a more _perfect union_." + +In 1861 eleven of the southern states endeavored to withdraw from +the Union; this attempt brought on the war.] + + +260. The North and the South in the war; President Lincoln frees the +slaves; General Grant and General Lee; peace is made.--The North had +the most men and the most money to fight with, but the people of the +South had the advantage of being able to stay at home and fight on +their own ground. + +The war lasted four years (1861-1865). Many terrible battles were +fought; thousands of brave men were killed on both sides. During the +war President Lincoln gave the slaves their freedom in all the states +which were fighting against the Union, and those in the other slave +states got their freedom later. After a time General Grant obtained +the command of all the armies of the North, and General Lee became +the chief defender of the South. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF LINCOLN WRITING THE EMANCIPATION +PROCLAMATION WHICH GAVE THE SLAVES THEIR FREEDOM, IN FAIRMOUNT PARK, +PHILADELPHIA.] + +[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL GRANT IN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO.] + +[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL LEE, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.] + +The last battles were fought around Richmond, Virginia, between +these two great generals. When the Southern soldiers saw that it was +useless to attempt to fight longer, they laid down their arms, and +peace was made--a peace honorable to both sides. + + +261. The success of the North preserves the Union and makes all slaves +free; the North and the South shake hands; murder of President +Lincoln.--The success of the North in the war preserved the Union, +and as all negro laborers were now free, there was no longer any +dispute about slavery. The North and the South could shake hands and +be friends, for both were now ready to pull in the same direction. + +The saddest thing at the close of the war was the murder of President +Lincoln by a madman named Booth. Not only the people of the North +but many of those at the South shed tears at his death, because they +felt that they had an equal place in his great heart. He loved both, +as a true American must ever love his whole country. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT OVER THE GRAVE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, AT +SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.] + + +262. Summary.--Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, became President of the +United States in 1861. He was elected by a party in the North that +was determined that slaves should not be taken into free states or +territories, and that no more slave states should be made. On this +account most of the slave-holding states of the South resolved to +withdraw from the Union. A great war followed, and President Lincoln +gave the slaves their freedom. The North succeeded in the war, and +the Union was made stronger than ever, because the North and the South +could no longer have any dispute over slavery. Both sides now shook +hands and became friends. + + +Who was the tall man in Congress from Illinois? What did the people +of his state like to call him? When was Abraham Lincoln born? Where +was he born? To what state did his father move? Tell about "Abe's" +new home. Tell about the new cabin and its furniture. Tell about +"Abe's" bed. What is said about the boy's mother? What did "Abe" do? +What did he say after he became a man? What did Thomas Lincoln's new +wife say about "Abe"? Tell about "Abe's" going to school; about his +new teacher; about his books. What did he use to write on? What is +said of Abraham Lincoln at seventeen? What about him when he was +nineteen? Tell about his voyage to New Orleans. + +Tell about his moving to Illinois. What did Abraham Lincoln and John +Hanks do? Tell about the hunting frolics. Tell how Lincoln chopped +in the woods. What kind of a bargain did he make for a new pair of +trousers? What did Abraham Lincoln hire out to do in New Salem? Tell +about the gang of ruffians. What is said of Jack Armstrong? Why did +Lincoln get the name of "Honest Abe"? Tell about the Black Hawk War. +What did Lincoln do in that war. + +After he returned from the Black Hawk War, what did Lincoln do? Tell +how he used to read law. What did people think of him after he began +to practise law? Tell about the Armstrong murder trial. Tell about +Lincoln and the pig. To what did the people of Illinois elect Lincoln? +Did they ever elect him to the state legislature again? Then where +did they send him? Was he going any higher? + +Tell about the great meeting in one of the towns of Illinois in 1860. +Can any one in the class repeat what was on the banner? What happened +at Chicago? What the next November? What happened in the spring of +1861? Who fired the first gun in the war? What was done then? + +Tell why so many people in the South wished to leave the Union? What +is said about negro slaves at the time of the Revolution? What +happened in the course of eighty years? What had the North and the +South come to be like? How did most of the people at the South feel +about slavery? How did most of the people at the North feel about +it? What did the people who held slaves at the South want to do? What +did most of the people at the North think about this? What is said +about Abraham Lincoln and his party? How did most of the people of +the slave states feel when Lincoln became President? + +What is said about the North and the South in the war? How long did +the war last? What is said about it? What did President Lincoln do +for the slaves? After a time what general got the command of all the +armies of the North? Who became the chief defender of the South? Where +were the last battles fought? What did the South do at last? What +happened then? What did the success of the North do? What is said +about slavery? What could the North and the South do? What was the +saddest thing which happened at the close of the war? How did the +North and the South feel about President Lincoln? + + + + +SINCE THE WAR. + + +263. How the North and the South have grown since the war; the great +West.--Since the war the united North and South have grown and +prospered[1] as never before. At the South many new and flourishing +towns and cities have sprung up. Mines of coal and iron have been +opened, hundreds of cotton-mills and factories have been built, and +long lines of railroads have been constructed. + +At the West changes equally great have taken place. Cities have risen +up in the wilderness, mines of silver and gold have been opened, and +immense farms and cattle ranches[2] produce food enough to feed all +America. Three great lines of railroads have been built which connect +with railroads at the East, and stretch across the continent from +the Atlantic to the Pacific. Into that vast country beyond the +Mississippi hundreds of thousands of industrious people are moving +from all parts of the earth, and are building homes for themselves +and for their children. + +[Illustration: THE MEETING OF THE ENGINES FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST +AFTER THE LAST SPIKE WAS DRIVEN[3] ON THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST +RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC IN 1869.] + +[Illustration: PILING SILVER BRICKS. (From the silver mines in +Colorado.)] + +[Illustration: HOW THEY USED TO SHOOT BUFFALO IN THE FAR WEST.] + +[Illustration: INDIANS ATTACKING A STAGE-COACH IN THE FAR WEST FORTY +YEARS AGO; BEFORE THE FIRST PACIFIC RAILROAD WAS BUILT.] + +[Footnote 1: Prospered: to prosper is to succeed, to get on in life, +to grow rich.] + +[Footnote 2: Ranches (ran'chez): farms at the West for raising horses +and cattle, or sheep.] + +[Footnote 3: The last spikes (one of gold from California, one of +silver from Nevada, and one made of gold, silver, and iron from +Arizona) were driven just as the clock struck twelve (noon) on May +10th, 1869, at Promontory Point, near Salt Lake, Utah. Every blow +of the hammer was telegraphed throughout the United States.] + + +264. Celebration of the discovery of America by Columbus; the +unfinished pyramid; making history.--Four hundred years have gone +by since the first civilized man crossed the ocean and found this +new world which we call America. We are now about to celebrate that +discovery made by Columbus, not only in the schools throughout the +country, but by a great fair--called the "World's Columbian +Exposition"--to be held at Chicago; and we shall invite all who will +to come from all parts of the globe and join us in the celebration. + +[Illustration: FIRST GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES.] + +[Illustration: SECOND GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES.] + +On one of the two great seals[4] of the United States a pyramid is +represented partly finished. That pyramid stands for our country. +It shows how much has been done and how much still remains to be done. +The men whose lives we have read in this little book were all builders. +Little by little they added stone to stone, and so the good work grew. +Now they have gone, and it is for us to do our part and make sure +that the pyramid, as it rises, shall continue to stand square, and +strong, and true. + +[Footnote 4: Seals: the first great seal, having the eagle and the +Latin motto "_E Pluribus Unum_," meaning "_Many in One_,"--or one +nation made up of many states,--was adopted June 20, 1782. The spread +eagle signifies strength; the thirteen stars above his head, and the +thirteen stripes on the shield on his breast, represent the thirteen +original states; the olive branch, held in the eagle's right talon, +shows that America seeks peace, while the bundle of arrows in his +left talon shows that we are prepared for war. This seal is used in +stamping agreements or treaties made by the United States with other +nations, and also for other important papers. + +The second great seal, adopted at the same time, was never used. It +was intended for stamping the wax on a ribbon attached to a treaty +or other important paper, thus making a hanging seal. The Latin motto +"_Annuit Coeptis_," above the all-seeing eye looking down with favor +on the unfinished pyramid, means "_God has favored the Work_." The +date MDCCLXXVI, or 1776, marks the Declaration of Independence. The +Latin motto at the bottom, "_Novus Ordo Seclorum_," means "_A New +Order of Ages_"--or a new order of things, such as we have in this +New World of America.] + + +What is said about the North and the South since the war? Tell about +the growth of the South. What is said about the West? What about +railroads? What about people going west? + +How long is it since Columbus discovered America? What is said about +the celebration of that discovery? What is said about one of the great +seals of the United States? What does the unfinished pyramid stand +for? What does it show us? What is said of the men whose lives we +have read in this book? Is anything left for us to do? + + + + +A SHORT LIST OF BOOKS OF REFERENCE +(_For the Use of Teachers._) + + +This brief list is arranged alphabetically. It consists, with a few +exceptions, of small, one-volume biographies; all of which are +believed to be of acknowledged merit. + +A much fuller reference list will be found in the appendix to the +author's larger work, entitled _The Leading Facts of American +History_. + + +Balboa: Irving's Companions of Columbus, and Winsor's America, Vol. +II. + +Baltimore, Lord: William H. Browne's Lords Baltimore;[3] G. W. +Burnap's Baltimore.[1] + +Boone, Daniel: C. B. Hartley's Boone (including Boone's +autobiography); J. M. Peck's Boone;[1] and see the excellent sketch +of Boone's life in Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, Vol. +I. + +Cabot (John and Sebastian): J. F. Nicholls's Cabot; C. Hayward's +Cabot.[1] + +Clark, George Rogers: see Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the +West, Vol. II. + +Columbus: Irving's Columbus, abridged edition; Charles K. Adams's +Columbus;[3] Edward Everett Hale's Columbus. + +De Leon: Irving's Companions of Columbus, and Winsor's America, Vol. +II. + +De Soto: see Winsor's America, Vol. II. + +Franklin, Benjamin: D. H. Montgomery's Franklin (autobiography and +continuation of life);[2] John T. Morse's Franklin.[7] + +Fulton, Robert: J. Renwick's Fulton;[1] R. H. Thurston's Fulton;[3] +Thos. W. Knox's Fulton.[4] + +Gray, Robert: see H. H. Bancroft's Pacific States, Vol. XXII. + +Harrison, William Henry: H. Montgomery's Harrison; S. J. Burr's +Harrison. + +Houston, Sam: Henry Bruce's Houston;[3] C. E. Lester's Houston. + +Hudson, Henry: H. R. Cleveland's Hudson.[1] + +Jackson, Andrew: James Parton's Jackson; W. G. Sumner's Jackson.[7] + +Jefferson, Thomas: James Schouler's Jefferson;[3] John T. Morse, +Jr.'s Jefferson.[7] + +Lincoln, Abraham: Carl Schurz's Lincoln; Isaac N. Arnold's Lincoln; +Noah Brooks's Lincoln;[4] J. G. Holland's Lincoln; F. B. Carpenter's +Six Months at the White House with Lincoln. + +Morse, Samuel F. B.: S. I. Prime's Morse; Denslow and Parke's Morse +(Cassell). + +Oglethorpe, James Edward: Bruce's Oglethorpe;[3] W. B. O. Peabody's +Oglethorpe.[1] + +Penn, William: G. E. Ellis's Penn;[1] W. H. Dixon's Penn; J. +Stoughton's Penn. + +Philip, King: H. M. Dexter's edition of Church's King Philip's War +(2 vols.); Richard Markham's King Philip's War. + +NOTE.--The story of Colonel Goffe's appearance at Hadley during the +Indian attack on that town rests on tradition. Some authorities +reject it; but Bryant and Gay say (History of the United States, II., +410): "There is no reason for doubting its essential truth." + +Putnam, Rufus: see H. B. Carrington's Battles of the Revolution, +Rufus King's History of Ohio, and Bancroft's United States. + +Raleigh, Walter: L. Creighton's Raleigh; E. Gosse's Raleigh; W. M. +Towle's Raleigh.[8] + +Robertson, James: see Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, +Vol. I. + +Sevier John: see Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, Vol. +I. + +Smith, John: G. S. Hillard's Captain John Smith;[1] C. D. Warner's +Smith.[6] + +NOTE.--The truth of the story of Pocahontas has been denied by Mr. +Charles Deane and some other recent writers; but it appears never +to have been questioned until Mr. Deane attacked it in 1866 in his +notes to his reprint of Captain John Smith's _True Relation or Newes +from Virginia_. Professor Edward Arber discusses the question in his +Introduction (pp. cxv.-cxviii.) to his excellent edition of Smith's +writings. He says, "To deny the truth of this Pocahontas incident +is to create more difficulties than are involved in its acceptance." +See, too, his sketch of the life of Captain Smith in the +_Encyclopaedia Britannica_. + +Standish, Myles: see J. A. Goodwin's Pilgrim Republic, and Alexander +Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims. + +Sutter, John A.: see H. H. Bancroft's Pacific States, Vol. XVIII. + +Washington, George: John Fiske's Irving's Washington and his +Country;[2] E. E. Hale's Washington;[4] Horace E. Scudder's +Washington.[5] + +Whitney, Eli: Denison Olmsted's Whitney. + +Williams, Roger: W. R. Gammell's Williams;[1] H. M. Dexter's +Williams. + +Winthrop, John: Joseph H. Twichell's Winthrop.[3] + +[Footnote 1: In Sparks's _Library of American Biography_: Little, +Brown & Co., Boston.] + +[Footnote 2: In _Classics for Children Series_: Ginn & Co., Boston.] + +[Footnote 3: In _Makers of America Series_: Dodd, Mead & Co., New +York.] + +[Footnote 4: In _Boys' and Girls' Library of American Biography_: +G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.] + +[Footnote 5: In the _Riverside Library for Young People_: Houghton, +Mifflin & Co., Boston.] + +[Footnote 6: In _Lives of American Worthies_: Henry Holt & Co., New +York.] + +[Footnote 7: In _The American Statesmen Series_: Houghton, Mifflin +& Co., Boston.] + +[Footnote 8: In _The Heroes of History Series_: Lee & Shepard, +Boston.] + + + + +INDEX. + +(_With pronunciation of difficult words._) +The numbers refer to paragraphs. + + +Admiral (Ad'mi-ral) (note), 7. + +Alamance (Al'a-mance), battle of, 156. + +Alamo (Al'a-mo), battle of, 230. + +Alaska purchased, 240. + +America, Northmen discover (note), 21. + Columbus discovers, 12. + Cabot's voyage to, 21. + name of, given, 26. + Spaniards settle in, 30. + English settle in, 33, 37. + independence of, declared, 137. + See United States. + +Americans, name of, 133. + +Amerigo (A-ma-ree'go), see Vespucci, 26. + +Apprentice (note), 111. + +Armstrong, Jack, 251, 255. + murder trial, 255. + +Arnold, Benedict, 141. + +Atlantic called the "Sea of Darkness," 8. + crossed by the Northmen (note), 21. + crossed by Columbus, 8. + +Augustine, St. (Aw'gus-teen'), founded, 30. + + +Bacon's war in Virginia, 49. + +Balboa (Bal-bo'ah) discovers the Pacific, 28. + +Baltimore founded, 80. + in the Revolution, 80. + +Baltimore, Lord, in Newfoundland, 76. + Maryland granted to, 77. + power of, 77. + son of, settles Maryland, 78. + grants religious liberty in Maryland, 79. + is persecuted, 80. + summary of, 81. + +Battle, playing at, 210. + +Battle of Alamance (Al'a-mance), 156. + Alamo (Al'a-mo), 230. + Bunker Hill, 134. + Camden, 212. + Concord, 134. + Cowpens, 140, 210. + Fort Moultrie, 140. + Lexington, 134. + Long Island, 137. + New Orleans, 217. + Princeton, 139. + Saratoga, 139. + Tippecanoe, 203. + Trenton, 138. + Vincennes (Vin-senz'), 167. + Yorktown, 142. + +Battles of the Civil War, 260. + with Indians, see Indians and War. + +Bees, the, and the "Red-Coats," 208. + +Berkeley, governor of Virginia, 49. + +Black Hawk War, 253. + +"Blazing" trees, 105. + +Boone, Daniel, birth and boyhood of, 146. + how he could handle a gun, 147. + his bear tree, 147. + goes to Kentucky, 148. + makes the "Wilderness Road," 150. + builds a fort, 150. + his daughter stolen by Indians, 151. + he is captured and adopted by Indians, 152. + his escape, 153. + how he used tobacco dust, 153. + his old age, 154. + goes to Missouri, 154. + Kentucky helps him, 154. + grave of, 154. + summary of, 155. + +Boston founded, 73. + name of, 73. + "Tea Party," 132. + port of, closed, 133. + British driven from, 136, 169. + +Bowie (Bow'e), Colonel, 230. + +Braddock's defeat, 130. + +Bradford, William, caught in trap, 65. + +Bradford, Governor, 65. + and Canonicus, 70. + +Brewster, Elder, 67. + +British, the name, 133. + +Brookfield burnt by Indians, 90. + +"Brother Jonathan," 241. + origin of name (note), 241. + +Brush (note), 245. + + +Cabot (Cab'ot), John and Sebastian, 21. + discover continent of America, 21. + take possession of, for England, 22. + return to Bristol, 23. + what they carried back, 24. + second voyage of, 25. + how much of America they discovered, 25. + summary of, 27. + +California, Captain Sutter in, 236. + gold discovered in, 237. + effects of discovery of gold, 239. + acquisition of, 239. + emigration to, 239. + +Camden, battle of, 212. + +Canal, Erie, opened, 220. + +Candidate (note), 258. + +Canonchet (Ka-non'chet) braves death, 93. + +Canonicus (Ka-non'i-kus) sends challenge to Bradford, 70. + and Roger Williams, 84, 85. + +Cape Cod, arrival of Pilgrims at, 64. + explored by Pilgrims, 65. + +Capitol, the, burned, 204. + rebuilt, 204. + +Carolina, North, Governor Tryon in, 156. + battle of Alamance in, 156. + the Revolution in, 207. + South, see Charleston. + +Carver chosen governor, 64. + his kindness to the sick, 67. + makes treaty with Massasoit, 69. + +Catholics cruelly treated in England, 76. + colony of, in Newfoundland, 76. + colony of, in Maryland, 77. + give equal religious rights to Protestants, 78, 79. + persecuted in Maryland, 80. + first English Church of, in America, 78. + +Charles II. and Penn, 96, 98. + +Charleston helps Georgia, 104. + in the Revolution, 140. + secedes, 259. + begins the Civil War, 259. + +Chicago, Columbian Exposition at, 264. + +Church, Captain Benjamin, 93. + +Church, the first English Protestant, in America, 39. + first English Catholic, in America, 78. + +Civil War, the, 259, 260. + causes of the, 259. + battles of the, 260. + Grant and Lee in the, 260. + Lincoln in the, 260. + result of the, 261. + +Clark, George Rogers, birth of (note), 162. + expedition against Fort Kaskaskia, 162. + march against, 163. + takes the fort, 163. + is helped by a Catholic priest, 164. + gets Fort Vincennes, 164. + loses the fort, 164. + Vigo offers help to, 164. + marches against Fort Vincennes, 165. + in the "Drowned Lands," 165. + wading to victory, 166. + takes Fort Vincennes, 167. + results of the victory, 167. + grave of, 167. + summary of, 168. + +Clearing (note), 250. + +Coloma (Ko-lo'ma), gold discovered at, 237. + +Colonel (kur'nel) (note), 91. + +Colonies, the thirteen (note), 102. + +Colony (note), 73. + +Columbian Exposition, the, 264. + +Columbus, birth and boyhood of, 1. + becomes a sailor, 2. + has a sea-fight, 3. + goes to Lisbon, 3. + his maps of the world, 4. + plan for reaching Indies, 5. + goes to Spain for help, 7. + his reception at the convent, 6. + leaves his son at the convent, 7. + gets help for his voyage, 7. + sails from Palos, 8. + voyage of, 9-11. + discovers land, 12. + names it, 13. + discovers large islands, 15. + returns to Spain, 16. + his reception in Spain, 16. + last voyages of, 17. + his sorrowful old age, 18. + sent back to Spain in chains, 18. + his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, 18. + death and burial, 19. + summary of, 20. + celebration of his discovery of America, 264. + +Compass, Smith's use of the, 41. + Roger Williams', 84. + Washington's use of, 129. + +Concord, battle of, 134. + +Congress, meeting of the first, 100, 133. + makes Washington commander-in-chief, 135. + declares independence, 100, 137. + meaning of word (note), 133, 225. + votes money for first telegraph lines, 226. + +Convent of St. Mary at Palos, 6. + +Convent (note), 6. + +Cornwallis, Lord, in the Revolution, 137-142. + his pursuit of Washington, 137. + and Arnold, 141. + surrender of, 142. + +Cotton, how it grows, 179. + seeds of, 179. + price of, 181. + effect of cotton-gin on, 181. + export of, 183. + size of bales (note), 183. + +Cotton-gin, invention of, 180. + effect of the, 181. + +Cowpens, battle of, 140, 210. + +Crockett, David, motto of, 230. + + +Declaration of Independence made, 100, 137. + written by Jefferson, 186. + Franklin has part in, 121. + sent throughout the country, 186. + +De Leon, pronunciation of name (note), 28. + discovers Florida, 28. + +De Soto, pronunciation of name (note), 28. + discovers the Mississippi, 29. + +Detroit, Fort, 161. + +Discovery, right of (note), 234. + +"Drowned Lands," the, 165. + + +Earthquake, great, of 1811, 198. + +Ebenezer (Eb-e-ne'zer), settlement of, 105. + name of, 105. + +Electricity, Franklin's experiments in, 118, 119. + +Eliot, Rev. John, 89. + +Elizabeth, Queen, names Virginia, 33. + +Ellsworth, Miss Annie, 226, 227. + +Elm, the treaty, at Philadelphia, 99. + the Washington, at Cambridge, 135. + +Emigrants (note), 33. + +Experiments (note), 118. + +Explorer (note), 2. + + +Fable of the Frog (note), 247. + +Fairfax estate, 126. + Lord, and Washington, 126. + his land, 127. + hires Washington to survey, 127. + death of, 143. + +Father Gibault (Zhe-bo'), 164. + White, 78, 80. + +Ferdinand and Isabella, 6, 7, 16. + +Flag, first American, 135. + the British (note), 142. + torn down at New York, 144. + U.S., origin of (note), 142. + carried round the world, 233. + "Star Spangled Banner" (note), 181. + of Texas, 230. + Jasper saves the, 140. + +Flint and steel, 84. + +Florida, discovery of, 28. + name of (note), 28. + settlement of, 30. + Indian war in, 218. + purchase of, 30, 218. + +Fort, Boone's, 150. + Detroit, 161. + Indian, 93. + Jamestown, 38. + Kaskaskia, 161-163. + Manhattan, 59. + McHenry (note), 181. + Moultrie, 140. + Necessity, 130. + Plymouth, 70. + St. Augustine, 30. + Sutter's, 236. + Vincennes, 161, 164-167. + +Fortifications on Dorchester Heights, 169. + at New Orleans, 217. + +Forts, British, at the West, 161. + French, at the West, 128. + +Founds (note), 73. + +Fountain, the magic, 28. + +Franklin, Benjamin, boyhood of, 111. + works for his father, 111. + is apprenticed to his brother, 111. + boards himself, 111. + is badly treated, 111. + runs away, 112. + his walk across New Jersey, 112. + lands in Philadelphia, 113. + buys some rolls, 113. + sees Miss Read, 113. + goes to a Quaker meeting, 113. + gets work in a printing-office, 114. + goes to Boston on a visit, 114. + learns to stoop, 114. + returns to Philadelphia, 115. + goes to London, 115. + called the "Water American," 115. + returns to Philadelphia, 116. + sets up a newspaper, 110, 116. + his "sawdust pudding," 116. + his almanac, 110. + his sayings, 110. + his plan of life, 117. + what he did for Philadelphia, 109, 117. + experiments with electricity, 118, 119. + his electrical picture, 118. + his electrical kite, 119. + his discoveries in electricity, 119. + invents the lightning-rod, 120. + receives title of Doctor, 120. + services in the Revolution, 121. + thinks we must fight with bows and arrows, 136. + gets help for us from France, 121. + his funeral, 121. + counties named for him, 121. + summary of, 122. + +Friends (or Quakers), religion of, 97. + persecuted in England, 97. + go to Pennsylvania, 98. + friendly relations with the Indians, 99. + See William Penn. + +Fulton, Robert, birth and boyhood of, 193. + his paddle-wheel scow, 193. + care of his mother, 193. + goes to England and France, 194. + builds iron bridges, 194. + his diving-boat, 194. + torpedo experiments in France, 194. + torpedo experiments in England, 195. + England's offer of money, 195. + his reply, 195. + builds his first steamboat, 196. + returns to America, 197. + builds steamboat here, 197. + trip up the Hudson, 197. + builds steamboat for the West, 198. + what he did for Western emigration, 199. + his grave, 199. + summary of, 200. + + +Gadsden Purchase, the, 240. + +Gage, General, in Boston, 133, 134. + his nose, 136. + leaves Boston, 136. + +Genoa (Jen'o-ah) (note), 1. + +George II. and Georgia, 102. + +George III., resolves to tax Americans, 131. + sends over taxed tea, 132. + closes port of Boston, 133. + hires German soldiers, 134. + his statue pulled down, 137. + his character, 161. + +Georgia, name of, 102. + settlement of, 102. + Savannah, 104. + Ebenezer, 105. + silk raised in, 106. + keeps out Spaniards, 107. + in the Revolution, 107. + summary of, 108. + +Gibault (Zhe-bo'), Father, 164. + +Gin, the cotton, 180, 181. + name of (note), 180. + +Goffe, Colonel, at Hadley, 91, and note in A Short List of Books. + +Gold, discovered in California, 237. + tested by Sutter, 238. + carried to San Francisco, 239. + excitement over, 239. + effect of discovery of, 239. + +Grant, General, 260. + +Gray, Captain, voyage to the Pacific, 233. + carries American flag around the world, 233. + names the Columbia River, 234. + helps us to get Oregon, 234. + summary of, 235. + +Greene, General (Revolution), 140, 178, 212. + +Greene, Mrs. General, 178, 179. + + +Hadley, Indian attack on, 91. + Goffe at, 91, and note in A Short List of Books. + +Hamilton, Colonel, 161, 164. + +Hanks, John, and Lincoln, 250, 257, 258. + +Harrison, General, birthplace of (note), 203. + governor of Indiana Territory, 203. + marches against the Indians, 203. + gains victory of Tippecanoe, 203. + beats the British, 204. + elected President, 204. + death of, 204. + summary of, 205. + +Henry, Patrick, speech of, 185. + sends Clark to take British forts, 162. + +Henry VII., sends Cabot on voyage of discovery, 21. + claims part of North America, 22. + +Holland, gives Pilgrims a refuge, 62. + takes possession of the country on the Hudson, 59. + +Houston (Hew'ston), Sam, birthplace of (note), 229. + in war with Indians, 229. + governor of Tennessee, 229. + goes to live with the Indians, 229. + goes to Texas, 230. + fights for Texas, 230. + is made president of Texas, 230. + in the Civil War, 231. + death of, 231. + summary of, 232. + +Howe, General, driven from Boston, 136. + +Hudson, Henry, first voyage of, 52. + hired by the Dutch, 53. + sails for America, 53. + discovers the "Great River," 54. + what he said about the country, 55. + voyage up the river, 56. + is feasted by the Indians, 56. + what the Indians thought of him, 56. + has fight with Indians, 57. + sails for Europe, 58. + Hudson River is named for him, 58. + death of, in Hudson Bay, 58. + what he would think of New York now, 60. + summary of, 61. + +Hudson River described, 55, 56. + named, 58. + Dutch settle on the, 59. + + +Illinois, Clark's conquest of, 162, 163. + +Independence, see Declaration of Independence. + +Indians, Columbus names the, 14. + described, 13. + welcome the English, 32. + of Virginia, 40. + how they lived, 40. + and Captain Smith, 41, 42. + feast Henry Hudson, 56. + make treaty with Pilgrims, 69. + help the Pilgrims, 69. + challenge Pilgrims to fight, 70. + Standish's fight with the, 71. + help the settlers of Maryland, 78. + Roger Williams defends rights of, 83. + how they helped Williams, 84, 85. + great war with, in N. E., 90-94. + Penn defends rights of, to land, 98. + make treaty with Penn, 99. + friendly to the Quakers, 99. + war dance of, 127. + and Daniel Boone, 148-153. + their tricks and stratagems, 149. + capture Boone's daughter, 151. + capture Boone and adopt him, 152. + in the Revolution, 161, 167. + war in Ohio, 172, 173. + what they called the steamboat, 198. + forced to move West, 201, 218. + story of the log, "move on," 201. + victory of Harrison over, 203. + victory of Jackson over, 216, 229. + Sam Houston goes to live with the, 229. + move west of the Mississippi, 218. + See Canonchet, Canonicus, Black Hawk, King Philip, Massasoit, + Pocahontas, Powhatan, Samoset, Squanto, Tecumseh, "The + Prophet," Wamsutta, Weathersford. + +Indian treaty with Pilgrims, 69. + with Penn, 99. + +Indian wars, King Philip's War, 90-94. + in Kentucky, 148. + at the West, in the Revolution, 161. + in Ohio, 172, 173. + in Illinois, 253. + in Indiana, 203. + in Alabama, 215, 216. + in Florida, 218. + Black Hawk War, 253. + + +Jackson, Andrew, birth and boyhood of, 206. + and the gun, 206. + and Tarleton, 207. + his mother, 207. + his hatred of the British, 208. + dangers exposed to, 209. + taken prisoner, 211. + and the boots, 211. + sees a battle through a knot-hole, 212. + death of his mother, 213. + what he said of her, 213. + begins to learn a trade, 214. + studies law, 214. + goes to Tennessee, 214. + becomes judge, 214. + becomes general, 214. + fights the Indians, 216. + interview with Weathersford, 216. + wins the great battle of New Orleans, 217. + conquers Indians in Florida, 218. + elected President, 218. + four steps in life of, 218. + summary of, 219. + +James I., Jamestown named for, 38. + denies religious liberty to his subjects, 62, 73. + +Jamestown settled, 38. + burned, 49. + +Jasper, Sergeant, how he saved the flag, 140. + +Jefferson, Thomas, birth of, 184. + home at Monticello, 184. + beloved by his slaves, 184. + desires to free, 184. + hears Patrick Henry speak, 185. + writes Declaration of Independence, 186. + elected President, 187. + what he said about New Orleans and Louisiana, 187. + buys Louisiana, 188. + his death, 189. + inscription on his tombstone, 189. + summary of, 190. + +"Jonathan, Brother," 241. + origin of name (note), 241. + +Jury trial, first in America, 39. + +Jury (note), 39. + + +Kaskaskia (Kas-kas'ki-a) Fort, 161-163. + +King Philip, son of Massasoit, 87. + becomes chief, 88. + how he dressed and lived, 88. + his hatred of the whites, 88. + determines to make war 89. + Indians attack Swansea, 90. + attack other towns, 90. + burn Brookfield, 90. + attack Hadley 91. + bravery shown by a woman 92. + the great swamp fight, 93. + Canonchet taken, 93. + Philip's wife and son taken, 94. + wife and son sold into slavery, 94. + Philip shot, 94. + destruction caused by the war, 94. + cost of the war, 94. + Indian power broken, 94. + summary of, 95. + + +Lafayette (Lah-fay-et'), helps us in the Revolution, 141. + pursues Cornwallis, 141. + at the tomb of Washington, 144. + +Land acquired by the United States, see Territory and United States. + +Lee, General, in the Civil War, 260. + +Legislature (note), 257. + +Lexington, battle of, 134. + +Leyden (Li'den), Holland, 62. + +Leyden jar, 118, 119. + +Liberty, religious, in Maryland, 78-80. + religious, in Rhode Island, 85. + religious, none formerly in England, 62, 76, 97. + +Liberty, Sons of, in the Revolution, 60. + +Liberty, statue of, 60. + +Lincoln, Abraham, birth and boyhood of, 244. + how he lived, 244, 245. + death of his mother, 246. + what he said of her, 246. + what his step-mother said of him, 246. + at school, 247. + teaches himself at home, 247. + what he read, 247. + how he used the fire-shovel, 247. + description of, at seventeen, 248. + his strength, 248. + goes to New Orleans, 249. + moves to Illinois, 250. + splits rails, 250. + hunting frolics, 250. + tends store at New Salem, 251. + is attacked by Jack Armstrong, 251. + his faithfulness in little things, 252. + called "Honest Abe," 243, 252. + in the Black Hawk War, 253. + becomes postmaster and surveyor, 254. + studies law, 254. + begins to practise law, 254. + respected by all men, 254. + in Armstrong murder trial, 255. + how he saved the pig, 256. + goes to the Legislature, 257. + goes to Congress, 243, 257. + chosen candidate for President, 258. + elected President, 258. + his election brings on the Civil War, 259. + emancipates the slaves, 260. + murdered by Booth, 261. + grief of the nation at his death, 261. + summary of, 262. + +Louisiana, purchase of, 188. + original extent of, 188. + + +Major (note), 128. + +Manhattan Island, 54, 59, 60. + +Marietta, Ohio, settled, 170. + name of, 171. + what Washington said of, 171. + and the Indians, 172. + summary of, 174. + +Marshall finds gold in California, 237. + his poverty, 239. + +Maryland, name of, 77. + granted to Lord Baltimore, 77. + rent of, 77. + settlement of, 78. + first Catholic church in America in, 78. + home of religious liberty, 79. + trouble with Virginia, 80. + Catholics of, badly treated, 80. + Baltimore city founded, 80. + in the Revolution, 80. + summary of, 81. + +Massachusetts, name of, 73. + settlement of, 73. + in the Revolution, 74. + +Massasoit (Mas-sa-soit'), makes treaty with the Pilgrims, 69. + kindness of, to Roger Williams, 84. + King Philip, his son, 87. + +_Mayflower_, voyage of the, 64, 66, 73. + Ohio boat so named, 170. + +Messages (note), 220. + +Mexico, war with, 239. + territory obtained from, 239. + +Miami (Mi-am'i), Ohio, 172. + +Mississippi, De Soto discovers the, 29. + belonged to France, 187. + we get possession of the, 188. + first steamboat on the, 198, 199. + +Moccasins (note), 136. + +Model (note), 224. + +Monticello, described, 184. + +Morgan's sharpshooters, 140. + +Morse, Samuel F. B., birth and boyhood of, 220. + becomes a painter, 221. + goes to France, 221. + thinks of using electricity to send messages, 221. + returns to America, 222. + invents electric telegraph, 222. + his poverty, 223. + takes the first photograph in America, 223. + gets assistance from Mr. Vail, 224. + obtains patent for the telegraph, 224. + receives help from Congress, 225, 226. + and Miss Annie Ellsworth, 226, 227. + builds line of telegraph, 227. + the first message sent, 227. + how a message is sent (note), 227. + the first year of telegraphy, 227. + summary of, 228. + +Moultrie, Colonel, 140. + Fort, 140. + +Mount Vernon, Washington at, 126, 135, 144. + + +Nation (note), 217. + +Negroes, see Slaves. + +New Amsterdam, 59. + +New England, name of, 46. + first settlements in, 66, 73, 74. + +New Netherland, name of, 59. + seized by the English, 59. + +New Orleans, owned by the French, 187. + purchase of, 188. + battle of, 217. + cotton exported from, 183. + +New Salem, Illinois, 251. + +Newspaper, Franklin's, 110, 116. + +New York, name of, 59. + +New York City, name, 59. + in the Revolution, 60, 137, 144. + +North and South in the Civil War, 259, 260. + +Northmen discover America (note), 21. + + +Oglethorpe (O'gel-thorp), General, who he was, 102. + and prisoners for debt, 103. + gets grant of Georgia, 102, 103. + object of settling Georgia, 103. + builds Savannah, 104. + welcomes German settlers, 105. + attempts to produce silk, 106. + sends silk as present to the queen of England, 106. + keeps out the Spaniards, 107. + in his old age, 107. + summary of, 108. + +Ohio, first settlement in, 170. + Indian wars in, 172, 173. + +Ohio River, first steamboat on, 198. + +Oregon, how we got our claim to, 234. + added to the United States, 234, 240. + + +Pacific, Balboa discovers the, 28. + +Pacific Railroad completed (note), 263. + +Pacific railroads, the three, 263. + +Palisade, 70. + +Palisades of the Hudson (note), 56. + +Palmetto logs (note), 140. + +Palos, convent at, 6. + Columbus sails from, 8. + reception at, 16. + +Parker, Captain, at Lexington, 134. + +Patent (note), 224. + +Penn, William, receives grant of Pennsylvania, 96. + belongs to the Society of Friends or Quakers, 97. + his religion, 97. + sends emigrants to Pennsylvania, 98. + his conversation with Charles II., 98. + founds Philadelphia, 99. + his treaty with the Indians, 99. + visits the Indians, 99. + his treaty elm protected by a British officer, 99. + said the people should make their own laws, 100. + goes back to England, 100. + the victim of a dishonest agent, 100. + goes to prison for debt, 100. + death of, 100. + love of the Indians for him, 100. + Indians send a present to his widow, 100. + grave of, 100. + summary of, 101. + +Pennsylvania, named by Charles II., 96. + granted to William Penn, 96. + natural wealth of, 96. + in the Revolution, 100. + +Philadelphia, founded, 99. + name of, 99. + prosperity of, 100, 109. + what Franklin did for, 117. + in the Revolution, 100. + first Continental Congress meets in, 100. + Declaration of Independence made in, 100. + +Philip, King, see King Philip. + +Photograph, first, in America, 223. + +Pilgrims, the, in Holland, 62. + name of, 62. + persecuted in England, 62. + why they wished to leave Holland, 63. + sail for America, 64. + Captain Myles Standish goes with them, 64. + number of the, 64. + make a compact of government, 64. + elect John Carver first governor, 64. + land on the Cape, 65. + washing-day, 65. + explore the Cape, 65. + land on Plymouth Rock, 66. + settle in Plymouth, 66. + why they chose that place, 66. + name of, 66. + sickness and death, 67. + meet Indians, 68. + make treaty with Massasoit, 69. + their first Thanksgiving, 69. + Canonicus dares them to fight, 70. + Governor Bradford's reply, 70. + build a fort, 70. + build a palisade, 70. + fight the Indians at Weymouth, 71. + what Myles Standish did for the Pilgrims, 71, 72. + summary of, 75. + See Myles Standish. + +Pioneers (note), 230. + +Pittsburg, 162, 170, 198, and see map, 127. + +Plantation (note), 123. + +Planter (note), 48. + +Plymouth, the Pilgrims settle, 66. + natural advantages of, 66. + name of, 66. + See Pilgrims. + +Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims land on, 66. + +Pocahontas (Po-ka-hon'tas), saves Smith's life, 42, and note in A + Short List of Books. + marries Rolfe, 42. + her descendants, 42. + +Ponce de Leon, see De Leon. + +Potato, the, sent to England, 33. + Raleigh plants it in Ireland, 33. + +Powder, lack of, in Revolution, 136. + sent from Savannah to Bunker Hill, 107. + +Powhatan (Pow-ha-tan') and Captain John Smith, 42. + +Prison-ships, British, 213. + +"Prophet," the, and Tecumseh, 202, 204. + at the battle of Tippecanoe, 203. + his sacred beans, 203. + Indians say he is a liar, 203. + Tecumseh takes him by the hair, 204. + +Prophet (note), 202. + +Providence, name of, 85. + settled, 85. + religious liberty in, 85. + +Puritans (note), 62. + settle Boston, 73. + +Putnam, General Rufus, services in the Revolution, 169. + builds fortifications at Dorchester Heights, 169. + builds the _Mayflower_, 170. + settles Marietta, Ohio, 170. + summary of, 174. + + +Quakers, see Friends. + + +Railroad, the first, in America, 218, and note, 218. + growth of railroads, 218. + first Pacific (note), 263. + the three Pacific railroads, 263. + +Raleigh (Raw'li), Sir Walter, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, 32. + sends exploring expedition to America, 32. + receives title of honor, 33. + sends settlers to Virginia, 33. + receives tobacco and potato plants from Virginia, 33. + plants them in Ireland, 33. + spends a great deal of money on his Virginia colony, 34. + fails to establish a settlement, 34. + last days of, 35. + is beheaded, 35. + power of his example, 35. + summary of, 36. + +Ranches (note), 263. + +Rebels (note), 210. + +Red-coats (note), 208. + +Religious liberty, none in England, 62. + in Maryland, 79. + in Rhode Island, 85. + +Religious persecution in England, 62, 76, 97. + of Catholics, 76, 80. + of Pilgrims, 62. + of Puritans, 73. + of Quakers, 97. + +Revere's (Re-veer'), Paul, ride, 134. + +Revolution, the, cause of, 131. + first blood shed in, 134. + progress of, 132-143. + Declaration of Independence, 137. + battles of, see Battles. + end of, 144, 145. + See Washington. + +Revolution, the, in Delaware, 100. + Georgia, 107. + Maryland, 80. + Massachusetts, 74, 134-136, 169. + New England, 74. + New Jersey, 100, 138, 139. + New York, 60, 137, 139, 144. + North Carolina, 107, 140, 156, 207-213. + Pennsylvania, 100, 139. + Rhode Island, 85. + South Carolina, 107, 140, 207-213. + Virginia, 50, 141, 142, 185, 186. + in the West, 161-167. + +Rhode Island settled, 85. + religious liberty in, 85. + in the Revolution, 85. + +Robertson, James, birthplace of (note), 156. + his home in North Carolina, 156. + emigrates to Watauga, Tennessee, 158. + and Sevier, 159. + what he did for the new settlement, 159. + Washington makes him general, 159. + summary of, 160. + + +Sacramento, Sutter's Fort at, 236. + +Sacred (note), 203. + +Salem, Roger Williams' church at, 82. + +Samoset (Sam'o-set) and the Pilgrims, 68. + +San Salvador (Sal'va-dor), Columbus names, 13. + +Saratoga, battle of, 139. + +Savannah settled, 104. + in the Revolution, 107. + +Seal, great, of United States, 264 and note. + +Seekonk, Roger Williams at, 85. + +Senate Chamber (note), 225. + +Sergeant (Sar'jent) (note), 140. + +Sevier (Se-veer'), John, born in Virginia (note), 156. + emigrates to Watauga, Tennessee, 159. + and Robertson, 159. + what he did for Watauga, 159. + becomes first governor of Tennessee, 159. + summary of, 160. + +Sharpshooters in the Revolution, 136, 140. + +Silk, attempt to produce, in Georgia, 106. + sent to England, 106. + the Queen has a dress made of it, 106. + +Silkworm (note), 106. + +Slaves, negro, first brought to Virginia, 48. + employed in raising tobacco, 48. + planters grow rich by, 48. + all the colonies buy, 48, 259. + Washington's, 135. + Jefferson beloved by his, 184. + Jefferson's feeling in regard to, 184. + how employed on cotton, 179. + and the cotton-gin, 180. + gradually freed at the North, 259. + their condition unchanged at the South, 259. + feeling at the South about, 259. + feeling at the North about, 259. + question of holding, divides the states, 259. + Lincoln in regard to increasing number of, 259, 260. + and the Civil War, 259, 260. + freed by President Lincoln, 260. + effect of emancipation of, on the Union, 261. + +Smith, John, early life and adventures of, 37. + sold as a slave, 37. + starts for Virginia, 37. + arrested on the voyage on a false charge, 38. + is tried and acquitted, 39. + court grants him damages, 39. + what he hoped to do in Virginia, 38. + what he did for the sick, 39. + prevents desertion, 39. + goes in search of the Pacific, 41. + is captured by Indians, 41. + how he used his pocket compass, 41. + brought before Powhatan, 41. + Pocahontas saves his life, 42, and note in A Short List of Books. + made governor of Jamestown, 43. + his opinion of the gold-diggers, 43. + compels Indians to let settlers have corn, 43. + makes all the settlers work, 44. + his cold-water cure for swearing, 45. + meets with a terrible accident, 46. + goes back to England, 46. + returns and explores country north of Virginia, 46. + names it New England, 46. + death and burial of, 46. + what he did for Virginia, 47. + his books and maps, 47. + is called the "Father of Virginia," 47. + writes Captain Henry Hudson, 53. + summary of, 51. + +South, the, in the Civil War, 260. + great progress of, since the war, 263. + +Spaniards settle Florida, 30. + are kept out of Georgia, 107. + +Squanto (Skwon'to), how he helped the Pilgrims, 68, 69. + +Squaws (note), 152. + +Standish, Myles, an English soldier in Holland, 64. + goes to America with the Pilgrims, 64. + explores Cape Cod, 65. + lands at Plymouth Rock, 66. + was nurse as well as soldier, 67. + goes to meet Massasoit, 69. + feared by the Indians, 70. + escorts the Pilgrims to church, 70. + has a fight with the Indians, 71. + saves Plymouth from attack by Indians, 71. + what else he did for the Pilgrims, 72. + what he left at his death, 72. + his monument, 72. + summary of, 75. + +Steamboat, Fulton's, on the Hudson, 197. + first at the West, 198, 199. + effect of, on emigration, 199. + +St. Mary's, settlement at, 78. + +Survey (note), 127. + +Sutter (Soo'ter), John A., his fort in California, 236. + founds Sacramento, 236. + lives like a king, 236. + begins to build saw-mill at Colona, 237. + Marshall brings him gold-dust to test, 238. + is convinced that gold has been found, 238. + how he felt at the discovery, 238. + loses his property, 239. + is pensioned by California, 239. + summary of, 242. + +Swansea (Swon'ze) attacked by Indians, 90. + +Swordfish (note), 194. + + +Tarleton (Tarl'ton), cruelty of, 207. + called "Butcher Tarleton," 208. + his soldiers and the bees, 208. + is beaten at Cowpens, 210. + what he hears from the children, 210. + +Taxation of America by George III., 131. + chief cause of the Revolution, 131. + +Tea, taxed, sent to America, 132. + destruction of, 132. + "Boston Tea Party," 132. + +Tecumseh (Te-kum'seh) excites the Indians to war, 202, 215. + takes the "Prophet" by the hair, 204. + fights for the British in Canada, 204. + is killed, 204. + +Telegraph, meaning of the word (note), 222. + what it is, 222. + electric, invented by Morse, 222. + Vail's work on, 224. + patented by Morse, 224. + Congress grants money to build line, 225, 226. + first message over, 227. + business of, in 1845, 227. + business of, to-day, 227. + how messages are sent by (note), 227. + Atlantic, 227. + See Samuel F. B. Morse. + +Telephone, meaning of the word (note), 227. + what it is, 227. + when invented (note), 227. + use of, to-day, 228. + +Tennessee, first settlement of, 158, 159. + See James Robertson and John Sevier. + +Terrier (note), 204. + +Territory added to the United States since the Revolution, 240; and + see United States. + +Tests (note), 238. + +Texas, forms part of Mexico, 230. + we try to buy it, 230. + Houston goes to, 230. + massacre of Americans at Fort Alamo, 230. + war of independence, 230. + flag of, 230. + annexed, 230. + dispute with Mexico about boundary, 239. + Mexican war and, 239. + and the Civil War, 231. + summary of, 232. + +Tippecanoe, battle of, 203. + +Tobacco sent from Virginia to Sir Walter Raleigh, 33. + he plants it in Ireland, 33. + value of, to Virginia, 48. + +Torpedo (note), 194. + Fulton's experiments with torpedoes, 194, 195. + +Tow cloth (note), 250. + +Travis (Tra'vis), Colonel, in Texas, 230. + +Treaty, Indian, with Pilgrims, 69. + with William Penn, 99. + (note), 99. + +Tryon, Governor, in North Carolina, 156. + oppression by, 156. + called the "Great Wolf of North Carolina," 156. + at battle of Alamance, 156. + + +Union (note), 259. + the South resolves to withdraw from the, 259. + strengthened by result of the Civil War, 261. + +United States, independence of, declared, 186. + War of the Revolution, see Revolution. + more perfect Union formed (note), 259. + extent of, at the close of the Revolution, 187. + acquires Louisiana (1803), 188. + acquires Florida (1819), 218. + acquires Texas (1845), 230. + acquires Oregon (1846), 234. + acquires California and New Mexico (1848), 239. + acquires Gadsden Purchase (1853), 240. + acquires Alaska (1867), 240. + extent of, to-day, 240. + War of 1812, 204, 217. + War of, with Mexico, 239. + the Civil War, 259. + growth since the War, 263, 264. + and "World's Columbian Exposition," 264. + great seal of, 264. + what we can do for, 264. + + +Vail, Alfred, and Morse's telegraph, 224. + +Venison (note), 32. + +Vespucci, Amerigo (A-ma-ree'go Ves-poot'chee), 26. + and name America, 26. + +Vigo (Vee'go) helps Clark, 164. + +Vincennes (Vin-senz'), Fort, 161, 164-167. + +Virginia, Raleigh's expedition to, 32. + named by Elizabeth, 33. + first settlement in, 33. + first English child in America born in, 34. + failure of first settlement, 34. + tobacco and potato sent from, 33. + permanently settled at Jamestown, 38. + first English church in, 39. + first jury trial in, 39. + Captain Smith made governor of, 43. + books about, 47. + slaves sent to, 48. + tobacco, cultivation of, 48. + prosperity of, 48. + Berkeley and Bacon's war in, 49. + Jamestown burned, 49. + growth of, 50. + makes ready to fight for its rights, 185. + first demands independence of America, 50. + in the Revolution, see Revolution. + owns extensive western possessions, 162. + George Washington and, 50. + the "Mother of Presidents," 50. + summary of, 51. + in the Civil War, 260. + +Virginia Dare, birth of, 34. + +Voted (note), 226. + + +Wamsutta, death of, 87. + +War, Bacon's, in Virginia, 49. + King Philip's, in New England, 89-94. + of the Revolution, see Revolution. + with the British in the West, 161-167. + with Indians in the West, 161. + with Indians in Ohio, 173. + with Indians in Indiana, 203. + with Indians in Illinois, 253. + the Black Hawk, 253. + with Indians in Alabama, 215, 216. + with Indians in Florida, 218. + of 1812 (note), 181, 204, 217. + cause of, of 1812, 204. + of Texan independence, 230. + with Mexico, 239. + cause of Mexican, 239. + the Civil, 259, 260. + cause of the Civil, 259. + +War-whoop (war-hoop) (note), 91. + +Washington, George, birth and boyhood of, 123-125. + at school, 123. + playing at war, 124. + battle with the colt, 125. + what he owed to his mother, 123. + visits Mount Vernon, 126. + makes acquaintance of Lord Fairfax, 126. + surveys Lord Fairfax's land, 127. + life in the woods, 127. + sees an Indian war-dance, 127. + is made public surveyor, 127. + appearance of, at twenty-one, 128. + receives title of major, 128. + governor of Virginia sends him to order off the French, 128. + journey through the wilderness, 128, 129. + narrow escape of, 129. + receives title of colonel, 130. + goes with Braddock's expedition, 130. + tries to hold Fort Necessity, 130. + goes to Mount Vernon to live, 135. + his slaves, 135. + made commander-in-chief in the Revolution, 135. + takes command of army, 135. + raises first American flag, 135 and (note) 142. + drives British from Boston, 136, 169. + goes to New York, 137. + chased by Cornwallis, 137. + retreats across the Delaware, 137. + victory of Trenton, 138. + victory of Princeton, 139. + at Valley Forge, 139. + enters Philadelphia, 139. + marches against Yorktown, 142. + takes Yorktown, 142. + his coat-of-arms (note), 142. + goes back to Mount Vernon, 144. + elected President, 144. + takes oath of office, 144. + Lafayette visits his tomb, 144. + summary of, 145. + +Washington, Lawrence, at Mount Vernon, 126. + death of, 135. + Colonel William, 210 and note. + +Washington, the Capitol at, burned, 204. + rebuilt, 204. + +Watauga (Wa-taw'ga), settlement of, 158. + +Wayne, General, in Ohio, 173. + +Weathersford and General Jackson, 216. + +West, the, in the Revolution, 161. + conquest of, 161-167. + at treaty of peace with England, 167. + settlement of, 150, 157, 170. + acquisition of country west of the Mississippi, see United States. + effects of steamboat navigation on, 199, 200. + effects of railroads on, 218. + rapid growth of, 263. + See Boone, Clark, Robertson, Sevier, Jefferson, Houston, Gray, + Sutter. + +Weymouth, Standish fights Indians at, 71. + +What Cheer Rock, Providence, 85. + +White, Father, in Maryland, 78, 80. + +Whitney, Eli, birth and boyhood of, 175. + cuts his name on a door, 175. + makes a fiddle, 176. + makes nails, 177. + goes to Yale College, 177. + his skill with tools, 177. + goes to Georgia, 178. + stops with Mrs. General Greene, 178. + makes her an embroidery frame, 178. + has a talk about cotton and cotton-seeds, 179. + invents the cotton-gin, 180. + effect of his invention, 181, 183. + builds a gun-factory, 181. + makes muskets for War of 1812, 181. + summary of, 182. + +Wilderness, the Great, 161. + +"Wilderness Road," Boone makes the, 150. + +Williams, Roger, comes to Boston, 82. + preaches in Salem and Plymouth, 82. + is very friendly to the Indians, 82. + declares that they own the land, 83. + Boston authorities attempt to arrest, 84. + escapes and goes to Massasoit, 84. + his journey through the wilderness, 84. + reception by Massasoit, 84. + builds a cabin at Seekonk, 85. + leaves Seekonk, 85. + greeted by the Indians, 85. + Canonicus lets him have land, 85. + settles Providence, 85. + grants religious liberty to all settlers, 85. + summary of, 86. + +Winthrop, Governor John, settles Boston, 73. + +Wool-comber (note), 1. + +World, knowledge of, before Columbus discovered America, 4. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + +MONTGOMERY'S +LEADING FACTS OF American History. + +Within the first fifteen months after issue, the publishers were +obliged to go to press with the +... 295,000th copy ... + +It was almost immediately adopted for exclusive use in the State of +Indiana, and by such cities as Chicago, Ill., Philadelphia, Pa., +Boston, Mass., Providence, R.I., Hartford, Conn., Columbus and +Cleveland, O., Burlington, Vt., Nashua, N.H., Lynn, Mass., and +numberless others. + +IT IS CERTAINLY THE BEST. + + + + +LEADING FACTS OF HISTORY SERIES. +By D. H. MONTGOMERY. + +THE LEADING FACTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. +With numerous Illustrations, Maps, and Tables. Mailing Price, $1.10; +Introduction Price, $1.00. + +THE LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. +(Revised Edition.) With numerous Maps and Tables. Mailing Price, +$1.25; Introduction Price, $1.12. + +THE LEADING FACTS OF FRENCH HISTORY. +With numerous Maps and Tables. Mailing Price, $1.25; Introduction +Price, $1.12. + +BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY. +With numerous Maps and Illustrations. Mailing Price, $.70; +Introduction Price, $.60. + +GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. + + + + +_The Leading Facts of American History_. +By D. H. MONTGOMERY, author of _The Leading Facts of History Series_. +12mo. Half morocco. xii + 359 pages, besides colored maps and +full-page illustrations, with an Appendix of 67 pages. Mailing price, +$1.15; for introduction, $1.00. + +Few text-books have met with such immediate recognition as this. +Though published late in the summer of 1890, it was, within a few +months, adopted by such cities as Philadelphia, Chicago, Providence, +R.I., Burlington, Vt., Lynn, Mass., by counties, and by numberless +institutions. It seems to be regarded by the best judges as, on the +whole, the best school history of the United States yet published. +It was written and not simply compiled. The author did not take it +for granted that a history of our country must be a perfunctory work +made up from previous histories and merely iterating an old set of +facts, ideas, and stories. The book is a panorama of the leading +events of our history, with their causes and results clearly traced. +Attention has been given to all the departments of American life and +activity. It describes the development of the American people. The +author's broad and liberal sympathies saved him from sectarian, +sectional, or partisan views. The style is full of life, and the words +can all be understood by the pupils for whom the book is designed. + +P. V. N. Myers, _author of General History, etc._: I have read it +carefully, and with great interest. It is in every way admirable. + +George A. Walton, _Agent Mass. State Board of Education_: It is as +interesting as romance. It is instructive, especially on matters +pertaining to the customs of the people, and to their methods of +advancing their welfare. With these excellences, it must prove also +a book that will teach. + + +_The Beginner's American History_. +By D. H. MONTGOMERY, author of _The Leading Facts of History Series_. +12mo. Cloth. 220 pages. Fully illustrated with new maps and pictures. +Mailing price, 70 cents; for introduction, 60 cents. + +This book tells the story of the nation in thirty biographies of its +most representative men. It is entirely free from sectional or other +bias, and its beautiful make-up renders it doubly attractive to its +young students. (See _Common School Catalogue_.) + + +_The Leading Facts of English History_. +By D. H. MONTGOMERY. New edition. Rewritten and enlarged, with Maps +and Tables. 12mo. Cloth. 478 pages. Mailing Price, $1.25; +Introduction Price, $1.12. + +The former edition has been rewritten, as it had become evident that +a work on the same plan, but more comprehensive, and better suited +to prevailing courses and methods of class-work, would be still more +heartily welcomed. + +Important events are treated with greater fulness, and the relation +of English History to that of Europe and the world is carefully shown. +References for further study are added. + +The text is in short paragraphs, each with a topical heading in bold +type for the student's use. The headings may be made to serve the +purpose of questions. By simply passing them over, the reader has +a clear, continuous narrative. + +The treatment of each reign is closed with a brief summary of its +principal points. Likewise, at the end of each period there is a +section showing the condition of the country, and its progress in +Government, Religion, Military Affairs, Learning and Art, General +Industry, Manners and Customs. These summaries will be found of the +greatest value for reference, review, and fuller study; but when the +book is used for a brief course, or for general reading, they may +be omitted. An appendix gives a Constitutional Summary. + +No pains have been spared to make the execution of the work equal +to its plan. Vivid touches here and there betray the author's mastery +of details. Thorough investigation has been made of all points where +there was reason to doubt traditional statements. The proof-sheets +have been carefully read by two experienced high-school teachers, +and also by two college professors of history. + +The text is illustrated with fourteen maps, and supplemented +with full genealogical and chronological tables. + +It is believed that this book will be acknowledged superior-- +1. In _interest_. +2. In _accuracy_. +3. In judicious selection of _matter_. +4. In _conciseness_ combined with _adequacy_. +5. In _philosophical_ insight free from speculation or theorizing. +6. In _completeness_. +7. In _availability_ as a practical class-room book. + +A FEW REPRESENTATIVE OPINIONS. + +Hon. E. J. Phelps, _recently United States Minister to Great +Britain_: In my opinion, the author has done extremely well a +much-needed work, in presenting in so terse, clear, and available +form the principal points in that greatest of all histories, the +common property and most useful study of the English-speaking race. + +Professor Goldwin Smith: The book, besides being very attractive in +appearance, seems to be very suitable for the purpose in view, viz., +to present school pupils with a clear and intelligent idea of the +main facts of English history in connection with the social and +industrial development of the nation. + +Elisha B. Andrews, _President of Brown University_: I do not remember +to have seen any book before which sets forth the leading facts of +English History so succinctly, and at the same time so interestingly +and clearly. + +A. L. Perry, _Prof. of Political Economy, Williams College_: I have +never seen anything at all equal to it for the niche it was intended +to fill. + +J. B. Clark, _Prof. of History, Smith College_: I especially like +its introduction of matter relating to the life of the people, in +a way that seems to make the narrative less dry, rather than more +so, as so often happens. + +Jas. F. Colby, _Prof. of Law and Political Science, Dartmouth +College_: Its title is a true description of its contents. Its author +shows sense of proportion, and wisely gives prominence to economic +facts and the development of constitutional principles. + +P. V. N. Myers, _Prof. in Univ. of Cincinnati_: The book was an +admirable one as first issued, but the careful revision and the +addition of maps and tables have added greatly to its value. In my +judgment it is by far the best English History for schoolroom use +now before the public. + +W. F. Allen, _late Prof. of History, University of Wis., Madison_: +As I have said in relation to the earlier edition, the author has +succeeded in an unusual degree in telling the story of English +History in an interesting and suggestive manner, keeping clear of +the prevailing fault of loading his pages with unessential names and +dates. + +F. B. Palmer, _Principal of State Normal School, Fredonia, N.Y._: +I have not examined anything that seems to me equal to it for a class +in English History. + +John Fiske, _Prof. of History, Washington University_: It seems to +me excellent. + +Frances A. Cooke, _Teacher of History, Penn Charter School, +Philadelphia, Pa._: My verdict on Montgomery's History is +unqualified approval. I have not seen a text-book upon English +History so well adapted to school use. + +C. B. Gilbert, _Supt. Pub. Schools, St. Paul, Minn._: In many +respects I consider it the best text-book on English History for high +schools that I have seen. Its arrangement is excellent, its style +clear and very attractive. + +Frank E. Plummer, _Prin. of High School, Des Moines, Ia._: I examined +it very carefully, and pronounce it the best English History for +high-school use of any with which I am familiar. + + +_The Leading Facts of French History_. +By D. H. MONTGOMERY, Author of _The Leading Facts of English History_, +_English History Reader_, etc. 12mo. Cloth. vi + 321 pages, with +fourteen black and colored maps, and full tables. Mailing Price, +$1.25; for Introduction, $1.12. + +The object of this volume is to present, within the moderate compass +of two hundred and ninety-two pages, the most important events of +the history of France, selected, arranged, and treated according to +the soundest principles of historical study, and set forth in a clear +and attractive narrative. + +The respective influences of the Celtic race, and of the Roman and +the German conquest and occupation of Gaul are clearly shown. + +Charlemagne's work and the subsequent growth of feudal institutions +are next considered. + +The breaking up of the feudal system, with the gradual consolidation +of the provinces into one kingdom, and the development of the +sentiment of nationality, are traced and illustrated. + +The growth of the absolutism of the crown, the interesting and +important relations of France to America, and the causes of the +French Revolution, are fully presented. + +The career of Napoleon and its effects on France and Europe are +carefully examined. + +Finally, a sketch is given of the stages of the historical progress +of France in connection with the state of the Republic to-day. + +G. W. Knight, _Prof. of History, Ohio State University_: I do not +know another book which, in anything like the same space, conveys +for youthful students so good a notion of French events. + +A. H. Fetterolf, _Pres. of Girard College_: I like it very much. It +is an excellent book and I trust soon to have it used in Girard +College. + +Edward G. Bourne, _Prof. of History, Adelbert College_: I have no +hesitation in pronouncing it the best French history of its scope +that I have seen. It is clear and accurate, and shows unusual skill +in the selection of matter as well as judgment in emphasizing the +political significance of events. + +The Nation, _New York_: It is a marked advance on any available work +of its scope. The author has shown competent judgment in the choice +of his facts and his style is clear and interesting. The proportions +are well observed, and the political significance of events is given +due prominence in his treatment. So far as we have noticed, unusual +accuracy has been achieved. + + +_Reference History of the United States_. +By HANNAH A. DAVIDSON, M.A., Teacher of History, Belmont School, +California. 12mo. Cloth. xii + 190 pages. By mail, 90 cents; for +introduction, 80 cents. + +This book, which is designed expressly for schools of advanced +grade, high schools, academies, and seminaries, is an attempt to +connect history teaching more closely in method and matter with the +teaching and study of history in the college and the university. In +the best institutions the study of history is no longer the study +of a text-book. The library is the workshop, the best books that have +been written are the tools; the teacher is the guide, and the pupil's +mind must do the work. + +The objects of the method of instruction outlined in this book are +two: First, to help the pupil acquire discipline, and to train him +in those methods of work which he ought to use throughout his college +course; second, to give the pupil a sufficiently broad and reliable +knowledge of facts to serve as a basis for his future study of +constitutional history, politics, etc., and to put these facts into +such due relation to each other and to commonly accepted opinions +that they will not have to be re-adjusted when broader knowledge has +been acquired. + +The subject is divided into a series of topics; under each topic +questions are asked; and after each question references to the best +accessible authorities are given in abbreviated form, though in such +a way as to be immediately understood. A space is left after each +set of references for additional ones to be inserted by the student. + +The work was used for three years in manuscript by boys in the fourth +year below the Freshman class of our best universities; that is to +say, at the same time with Latin and Geometry or Algebra. + +Oliver Emerson Bennett, _Chauncy Hall School, Boston_: I consider +it a valuable and useful addition to my library, and a great +assistance in my daily work. + +New York Independent: This is a first-rate guide for the student of +United States History. It puts him on the right lines, shows him what +to read, and gives him intelligent guidance and direction all through. +It is hardly possible that a student following this guide should fail +to come out with a broad and critical command of the subject. + + + + +THE BEST HISTORIES. + + +MYERS'S +Eastern Nations and Greece.--Introduction price, $1.00. With full +maps, illustrations, and chronological summaries. + +"Far more interesting and useful than any other epitome of the kind +which I have seen."--_Professor Beckwith, Trinity College_. + + +ALLEN'S +Short History of the Roman People.--Introduction price, $1.00. With +full maps, illustrations, and chronological synopsis. + +"An admirable piece of work."--_Professor Bourne, Adelbert +College_. + + +MYERS AND ALLEN'S +Ancient History for Schools and Colleges.--Introduction price, +$1.50. This consists of Myers's Eastern Nations and Greece and +Allen's Rome bound together. + + +MYERS'S +History of Rome.--Introd. price, $1.00. With full maps, +illustrations, tables, and chronological summaries. This, bound +with Myers's Eastern Nations and Greece, is MYERS'S Ancient History. +Price, $1.50. + + +MYERS'S +Mediaeval and Modern History.--Introduction price, $1.50. With a +full series of colored maps. + +"Sure to be liked by teachers and pupils and by the general +reader."--_Professor Snow, Washington University_. + + +MYERS'S +General History.--Introduction price, $1.50. With full maps, +illustrations, tables, and summaries. + +"The best text-book in universal history for beginners that we are +acquainted with."--_Professor Stearns, University of Wisconsin_. + + +MONTGOMERY'S +Leading Facts of English History.--Introduction price, $1.12. With +full maps and tables. + +"I have never seen anything at all equal to it for the niche it was +intended to fill."--_Professor Perry, Williams College_. + + +MONTGOMERY'S +Leading Facts of French History.--Introduction price, $1.12. With +full maps and tables. + +"It is a marked advance an any available work of its scope."--_The +Nation_. + + +MONTGOMERY'S +Leading Facts of American History. With full maps, illustrations, +summaries of dates, topical analyses, tables, etc. + +"The best school history that has yet appeared."--_Principal Rupert, +Boys' High School, Pottstown, Pa_. + + +EMERTON'S +Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages.--Introduction price, +$1.12. With colored maps, original and adapted. + +"An admirable guide to both teachers and pupils in the tangled period +of which it treats."--_Professor Fisher, Yale College_. + + +And many other valuable historical books. + +Ginn & Company, Publishers, Boston, New York, Chicago, and London. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY*** + + +******* This file should be named 18127.txt or 18127.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/1/2/18127 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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