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diff --git a/32402.txt b/32402.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..167ec93 --- /dev/null +++ b/32402.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6726 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of Our Country, Edited by Jesse +Lyman Hurlbut + + +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 Story of Our Country + Every Child Can Read + + +Editor: Jesse Lyman Hurlbut + +Release Date: May 16, 2010 [eBook #32402] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY*** + + +E-text prepared by Emmy, Tor Martin Kristiansen, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page +images generously made available by Internet Archive +(http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 32402-h.htm or 32402-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32402/32402-h/32402-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32402/32402-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/storyofourcountr00hurl + + + + + +THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY + +Every Child Can Read + +Edited by + +REV. JESSE LYMAN HURLBUT, D.D. + +Illustrated + + +[Illustration: STEAM SHOVEL AT WORK IN CULEBRA CUT, PANAMA CANAL.] + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +The John C. Winston Co. +Philadelphia + +Copyright, 1910, By +The John C. Winston Co. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PAGE + A Talk with the Young Reader 9 + + + CHAPTER I + + COLUMBUS, THE GREAT SAILOR + + Bold Sailors of the Northern Countries--The + Northmen--Columbus the Little Boy--Columbus + and the Egg--He Crosses the Atlantic, Braves + the Sea and Discovers New Land 15 + + + CHAPTER II + + THREE GREAT DISCOVERERS + + John and Sebastian Cabot--Balboa Discovers the + Pacific--The Fountain of Youth and Ponce de + Leon--The Naming of America 27 + + + CHAPTER III + + THREE EARLY HEROES + + The Story of John Smith and First English + Settlement--Miles Standish and the Pilgrims--Roger + Williams, the Hero Preacher 36 + + + CHAPTER IV + + HOW THE DUTCH AND QUAKERS CAME TO AMERICA + Captain Hudson and His Ship, the _Half Moon_--The + Trip up the Hudson--Adventures with the + Indians--William Penn and the Quakers--How They + Settled on the Delaware River 48 + + + CHAPTER V + + THE CAVALIER COLONIES OF THE SOUTH + + The Cavaliers and Lords of England--They Settle + in Virginia--The Catholics Come to Maryland--Strange + Form of Government in Carolina--Paupers Settle + Georgia--An Old Spanish Town in Florida 59 + + + CHAPTER VI + + THE RED MEN, HOW THEY LIVED AND WERE TREATED + + They Were the First Americans--Their Strange Customs + and Manners--How They Followed a Trail--How they + Fought--Indian Massacres 70 + + + CHAPTER VII + + ROYAL GOVERNORS AND LOYAL CAPTAINS + + How the Governor was Treated in Connecticut--The + Charter Oak--An Exciting Time in Virginia 81 + + + CHAPTER VIII + + OLD TIMES IN THE COLONIES + + When a Tallow Candle Gave the Light--Old-Time + Houses--The Story of the Famous Hunter, and How + he Escaped from the Indians 91 + + + CHAPTER IX + + A HERO OF THE COLONIES + + Two Boys who Crossed the Mountains--Their Adventures + with the Indians--George Washington, the + Surveyor--Messenger to the French--An Old-Time Hero 101 + + + CHAPTER X + + THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR + + The Acadians--Their Home in Nova Scotia--Their + Sufferings--The Story of Evangeline--Why the Indians + Helped the French--The Story of a Cruel War 112 + + + CHAPTER XI + + THE CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION + + How the Trouble Began--The Americans Object to Paying + Taxes on Various Articles--The Famous Boston Tea + Party--Battle of Lexington--Declaration of + Independence 121 + + + CHAPTER XII + + FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM + + Washington the Commander-in-Chief--Bunker Hill--The + Wonderful Christmas--The Americans Succeed--They + Meet Defeat--"Molly Stark a Widow"--Help from France 133 + + + CHAPTER XIII + + PAUL JONES, THE NAVAL HERO OF THE REVOLUTION + + Old-Time Warships--A Daring Deed--A Great Sea Fight--The + British Captain Surrenders 143 + + + CHAPTER XIV + + MARION, THE SWAMP FOX + + How the War Went in the South--The Patriots Hard to + Find--The British Officers Eat Sweet Potatoes--Jack + Davis' Adventure--General Greene and his Famous + Retreat--Cornwallis Surrenders--The War at an End 153 + + + CHAPTER XV + + THE VOYAGE OF OUR SHIP OF STATE + + How the People Rule--Illustrated by a Story--Our First + Trial and Failure--Making a New Form of Government--A + Nation of Thirteen States--The President--The + Congress--The Judges 162 + + + CHAPTER XVI + + THE END OF A NOBLE LIFE + + Washington the First President--Beloved by + Everyone--Benjamin Franklin's Last Hours--The Kind + of Money They Used--How the Quarrel was + Settled--Washington Dies 170 + + + CHAPTER XVII + + THE STEAMBOAT AND THE COTTON GIN + + The Power of Steam--Is a Boat Like a Duck--Who + Thought of the First Steamboat--The Cotton Gin + and How it Saves Labor--Where the Cotton Grows 176 + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + THE ENGLISH AND AMERICANS FIGHT AGAIN + + How We Came to Quarrel with England--Protecting + the American Sailor--Interesting Land + Battles--Adventures at Sea--Peace is Made Again 184 + + + CHAPTER XIX + + HOW THE VICTIMS OF THE ALAMO WERE AVENGED + + How General Santa Anna Got into Trouble--Massacre + of the Alamo--The Famous Samuel Houston--War with + Mexico--The City of Mexico--Santa Anna is Defeated + and United States is Victorious 193 + + + CHAPTER XX + + HOW SLAVERY LED TO WAR + + Black and White Slaves--First Slaves Brought to + America in 1619--Why the Slaves were Used in the + South--Why the North did not Believe in Slavery--What + the word Abolitionist Means--John Brown and Harper's + Ferry 201 + + + CHAPTER XXI + + HOW LINCOLN BECAME PRESIDENT + + The Ruler of the Republic--The President Chosen from + the People--Why the People Liked Him--Lincoln's School + Days--The North and South Differ--Lincoln, the Great + War President 208 + + + CHAPTER XXII + + THE GREAT CIVIL WAR + + What Civil War is--Where the War was Fought--Battle of + Bull Run--"Stonewall" Jackson--General Ulysses S. + Grant and How He Came to Command the Army--His + "Unconditional Surrender" Message--Battle of + Gettysburg 215 + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + WAR ON SEA AND LAND + + Fight Between the "Cheesebox" and the Ram--How the + Monitor Won the Fight--The Battle "Above the + Clouds"--Battle of the Wilderness--Sherman's March + to the Sea--Richmond Surrenders and the War Closes 225 + + + CHAPTER XXIV + + THE WASTE OF WAR AND THE WEALTH OF PEACE + + What is Seen on the Picture of History--A Reign of + Peace in America--The Ocean Cable and the + Railroad--Alaska and its Treasures--The Burning + of Chicago and other Disasters--Edison and His + Work--The Triumphs of Electricity 234 + + + CHAPTER XXV + + THE MARVELS OF INVENTION + + Professor Morse, the Famous Inventor--His Struggles + and His Success--The First Message--Telephone and + Other Inventions of Electricity--New Ideas in + Machinery and the Comfort they Bring 242 + + + CHAPTER XXVI + + HOW THE CENTURY ENDED FOR THE UNITED STATES + + The Nation's Birthplace--Centennial Exhibition and + Columbian World's Fair--Our People's Progress--The + Indians--Trouble in Cuba--War with Spain--Santiago + and its Fleet--Dewey at Manila 253 + + + CHAPTER XXVII + + HOW A HUNTER BECAME PRESIDENT + + Assassination of President McKinley--Theodore + Roosevelt's Great Ride--His Election by the + People--The Panama Canal--Roosevelt Declines + Re-election and Goes to Africa 266 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + STEAM SHOVEL AT WORK IN CULEBRA CUT, PANAMA CANAL _Frontispiece_ + + PAGE + COLUMBUS AND THE EGG 25 + + WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE 137 + + THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS 191 + + THE STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC 199 + + THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AND THEIR FAMOUS AEROPLANE 242 + + CUSTER'S LAST FIGHT 258 + + ROOSEVELT SURPRISED BY A GIANT HIPPOPOTAMUS 266 + + + + +A TALK WITH THE YOUNG READER ABOUT THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY + + +IF any of the readers of this book should have the chance to take a +railroad ride over the vast region of the United States, from the +Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of +Mexico, they would see a wonderful display of cities and towns, of +factories and farms, and a great multitude of men and women actively at +work. They would behold, spread out on every side, one of the busiest +and happiest lands the sun shines upon. Here and there, amid the miles +on miles of farms, they might see a forest, here and there a wild beast, +here and there a red-faced Indian, one of the old people of the land; +but these would be almost lost in the rich and prosperous scene. + +If our young traveler knew nothing of history he might fancy that it had +been always this way, or that it had taken thousands of years for all +those cities to be built and these great fields to be cleared and +cultivated. Yet if he had been here only three hundred years ago he +would have seen a very different sight. He could not then have gone over +the country by railroad, for such a thing had never been thought of. He +could not have gone by highroad, for there was not a road of any kind in +the whole length and breadth of the land. Nowhere in this vast country +would he have seen a city or town; nowhere a ploughed field, a +farmhouse, or a barn; nowhere a horse, cow, or sheep; nowhere a man with +a white or a black face. Instead of great cities he would have seen only +clusters of rude huts; instead of fertile farms, only vast reaches of +forest; instead of tame cattle, only wild and dangerous beasts; instead +of white and black men, only red-skinned savages. + +Just think of it! All that we see around us is the work of less than +three hundred years! No doubt many of you have read in fairy tales of +wonderful things done by the Genii of the East, of palaces built in a +night, of cities moved miles away from their sites. But here is a thing +as wonderful and at the same time true, a marvel wrought by men instead +of magical beings. These great forests have fallen, these great fields +have been cleared and planted, these great cities have risen, these +myriads of white men have taken the place of the red men of the wild +woods, and all within a period not longer than three times the life of +the oldest men now living. Is not this as wonderful as the most +marvelous fairy tale? And is it not better to read the true tale of how +this was done than stories of the work of fairies and magicians? Let us +forget the Genii of the East; men are the Genii of the West, and the +magic of their work is as great as that we read of in the fables of the +"Arabian Nights." + +The story of this great work is called the "History of the United +States." This story you have before you in the book you now hold. You do +not need to sit and dream how the wonderful work of building our noble +nation was done, for you can read it all here in language simple enough +for the youngest of you to understand. Here you are told how white men +came over the seas and found beyond the waves a land none of them had +ever seen before. You are told how they settled on these shores, cut +down the trees and built villages and towns, fought with the red men and +drove them back, and made themselves homes in the midst of fertile +fields. You are told how others came, how they spread wider and wider +over the land, how log houses grew into mansions, and villages into +cities, and how at length they fought for and gained their liberty. + +Read on and you will learn of more wonderful things still. The history +of the past hundred years is a story of magic for our land. In it you +will learn of how the steamboat was first made and in time came to be +seen on all our rivers and lakes; of how the locomotive was invented and +railroads were built, until they are now long enough in our country to +go eight times round the earth; of the marvels of the telegraph and +telephone--the talking wire; of the machines that rumble and roar in a +thousand factories and work away like living things, and of a multitude +of marvels which I cannot begin to speak of here. + +And you will learn how men kept on coming, and wars were fought, and new +land was gained, and bridges were built, and canals were dug, and our +people increased and spread until we came to be one of the greatest +nations on the earth, and our cities grew until one of them was the +largest in the world except the vast city of London. All this and more +you may learn from the pages of this book. It is written for the boys +and girls of our land, but many of their fathers and mothers may find it +pleasant and useful to read. + +There are hundreds who do not have time to read large histories, which +try to tell all that has taken place. For those this little history will +be of great service, in showing them how, from a few half-starved +settlers on a wild coast, this great nation has grown up. How men and +women have come to it over the seas as to a new Promised Land. How they +have ploughed its fields, and gathered its harvests, and mined its iron +and gold, and built thousands of workshops, and fed the nations with +the food they did not need for themselves. Year by year it has grown in +wealth, until now it is the richest country in the world. Great it is, +and greater it will be. But I need say no more. The book has its own +story to tell. I only lay this beginning before you as a handy +stepping-stone into the history itself. By its aid you may cross the +brook and wander on through the broad land which lies before you. + + + + +THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +COLUMBUS, THE GREAT SAILOR + + +IF any of my young readers live in Chicago they will remember a +wonderful display in that city in 1893. Dozens of great white buildings +rose on the shore of the lake, as beautiful as fairy palaces, and filled +with the finest of goods of all kinds, which millions of people came to +see. + +Do you know what this meant? It was what is called a World's Fair, and +was in honor of a wonderful event that took place four hundred years +before. + +Some of you may think that white men have always lived in this country. +I hope you do not all think so, for this is not the case. A little more +than four hundred years ago no white man had ever seen this country, and +none knew that there was such a country on the face of the earth. + +It was in the year 1492, that a daring sailor, named Christopher +Columbus, crossed a wide ocean and came to this new and wonderful land. +Since then men have come here by the millions, and the mighty nation of +the United States has grown up with its hundreds of towns and cities. +In one of these, which bears the name of Chicago, the grand Columbian +World's Fair was held, in honor of the finding of America by the great +navigator four hundred years before. + +This is what I have set out to tell you about. I am sure you will all be +glad to know how this broad and noble land, once the home of the wild +red men, was found and made a home for the white people of Europe. + +Some of you may have been told that America was really discovered more +than four hundred years before Columbus was born. So it was. At that +time some of the bold sailors of the northern countries of Europe, who +made the stormy ocean their home, and loved the roll of the waves, had +come to the frozen island of Iceland. And a ship from Iceland had been +driven by the winds to a land in the far west which no man had ever seen +before. Was this not America? + +Soon after, in the year 1000, one of these Northmen, named Leif Ericson, +also known as Leif the Lucky, set sail for this new land. There he found +wild grapes growing, and from them he named it Vinland. This in our +language would be called Wineland. + +After him came others, and there was fighting with the red men, whom +they called Skrellings. In the end the Northmen left the country, and +before many years all was forgotten about it. Only lately the story has +been found again in some old writings. And so time went on for nearly +five hundred years more, and nothing was known in Europe about the land +beyond the seas. + +Now let us go from the north to the south of Europe. Here there is a +kingdom called Italy, which runs down into the Mediterranean Sea almost +in the shape of a boot. On the western shore of this kingdom is a famous +old city named Genoa, in which many daring sailors have dwelt; and here, +long ago, lived a man named Columbus, a poor man, who made his living by +carding wool. + +This poor wool-carder had four children, one of whom (born about 1436) +he named Christopher. Almost everybody who has been at school in the +world knows the name of this little Italian boy, for he became one of +the most famous of men. + +Many a boy in our times has to help his father in his shop. The great +Benjamin Franklin began work by pouring melted tallow into moulds to +make candles. In the same way little Columbus had to comb wool for his +father, and very likely he got as tired of wool as Franklin did of +candles. + +The city he lived in was full of sailors, and no doubt he talked to many +of them about life on the wild waters, and heard so many stories of +danger and adventure that he took the fancy to go to sea himself. + +At any rate we are told that he became a sailor when only fourteen +years old, and made long and daring voyages while he was still young. +Some of those were in Portuguese ships down the coast of Africa, of +which continent very little was known at that time. He went north, too; +some think as far as Iceland. Who knows but that he was told there of +what the Northmen had done? + +Columbus spent some time in the island of Madeira, far out in the +Atlantic ocean, and there the people told him of strange things they had +seen. These had come over the seas before the west winds and floated on +their island shores. Among them were pieces of carved wood, and canes so +long that they would hold four quarts of wine between their joints. And +the dead bodies of two men had also come ashore, whose skins were the +color of bronze or copper. + +These stories set Columbus thinking. He was now a man, and had read many +books of travel, and had studied all that was then known of geography. +For a time he lived by making maps and charts for ship captains. This +was in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal, where he married and settled +down and had little boys of his own. + +At that time some of the most learned people had odd notions about the +earth. You may have seen globes as round as an orange, with the +countries laid out on them. But the people then had never seen such a +globe, and the most of them thought that the earth was as flat as a +table, and that any one who sailed too far over the ocean would come to +the edge of the earth and fall off. + +This seems very absurd, does it not? But you must remember that people +then knew very little about the earth they lived on, and could not +understand how people could keep on a round globe like flies on a ball +of glass. + +But there were some who thought the earth to be round, and Columbus was +one of these. + +At that time silk and spices and other rich goods were brought from +China and India, thousands of miles to the east, by caravans that +traveled overland. Columbus thought that by sailing west, over the broad +Atlantic, he would come to these far countries, just as a fly may walk +around the surface of an orange, and come to the place it started from. + +The more Columbus thought about this, the more certain he became that he +was right. He was so sure of it that he set out to try and make other +people think the same way. He wanted ships with which to sail across the +unknown seas to the west, but he had no money of his own to buy them +with. + +Ah! what a task poor Columbus now had. For years and years he wandered +about among the kings and princes of Europe, but no one would believe +his story, and many laughed at him and mocked him. + +First he tried Genoa, the city where he was born, but the people there +told him he was a fool or had lost his senses. + +Then he went to the king of Portugal. This king was a rascal, and tried +to cheat him. He got his plans from him, and sent out a vessel in +secret, hoping to get the honor of the discovery for himself. But the +captain he sent was a coward and was scared by the rolling waves. He +soon came back, and told the king that there was nothing to be found but +water and storm. King John, of Portugal, was very sorry afterward that +he had tried to rob Columbus of his honor. + +Columbus was very angry when he heard what the king had done. He left +Portugal for Spain, and tried to get the king and queen of that country +to let him have ships and sailors. But they were at war with a people +called the Moors, and had no money to spare for anything but fighting +and killing. + +Columbus stayed there for seven long years. He talked to the wise men, +but they made sport of him. "If the earth is round," they said, "and you +sail west, your ships will go down hill, and they will have to sail up +hill to come back. No ship that was ever made can do that. And you may +come to places where the waters boil with the great heat of the sun; and +frightful monsters may rise out of the sea and swallow your ships and +your men." Even the boys in the street got to laughing at him and +mocking him as a man who had lost his wits. + +After these many years Columbus got tired of trying in Spain. He now set +out for France, to see what the king of that country would do. He sent +one of his brothers to England to see its king and ask him for aid. + +He was now so poor that he had to travel along the dusty roads on foot, +his little son going with him. One day he stopped at a convent called La +Rabida, to beg some bread for his son, who was very hungry. + +The good monks gave bread to the boy, and while he was eating it the +prior of the convent came out and talked with Columbus, asking him his +business. Columbus told him his story. He told it so well that the prior +believed in it. He asked him to stay there with his son, and said he +would write to Isabella, the queen of Spain, whom he knew very well. + +So Columbus stayed, and the prior wrote a letter to the queen, and in +the end the wandering sailor was sent for to come back to the king's +court. + +Queen Isabella deserves much of the honor of the discovery of America. +The king would not listen to the wandering sailor, but the queen +offered to pledge her jewels to raise the money which he needed for +ships and sailors. + +Columbus had won. After years and years of toil and hunger and +disappointment, he was to have ships and sailors and supplies, and to be +given a chance to prove whether it was he or the wise men who were the +fools. + +But such ships as they gave him! Why, you can see far better ones every +day, sailing down your rivers. Two of them did not even have decks, but +were like open boats. With this small fleet Columbus set sail from +Palos, a little port in Spain, on the 3d of August, 1492, on one of the +most wonderful voyages that has ever been known. + +Away they went far out into the "Sea of Darkness," as the Atlantic ocean +was then called. Mile after mile, day after day, on and on they went, +seeing nothing but the endless waves, while the wind drove them steadily +into the unknown west. + +The sailors never expected to see their wives and children again. They +were frightened when they started, and every day they grew more scared. +They looked with staring eyes for the bleak fogs or the frightful +monsters of which they had been told. At one place they came upon great +tracts of seaweed, and thought they were in shallow water and would be +wrecked on banks of mud. Then the compass, to which they trusted, +ceased to point due north and they were more frightened than ever. Soon +there was hardly a stout heart in the fleet except that of Columbus. + +The time came when the sailors grew half mad with fear. Some of them +made a plot to throw Columbus overboard and sail home again. They would +tell the people there that he had fallen into the sea and been drowned. + +It was a terrible thing to do, was it not? But desperate men will do +dreadful things. They thought one man had better die than all of them. +Only good fortune saved the life of the great navigator. + +One day a glad sailor called his comrades and pointed over the side. A +branch of a green bush was floating by with fresh berries on it. It +looked as if it had just been broken off a bush. Another day one of them +picked from the water a stick which had been carved with a knife. Land +birds were seen flying over the ships. Hope came back to their hearts. +They were sure now that land must be near. + +October 11th came. When night fell dozens of men were on the lookout. +Each wanted to be the first to see land. About 10 o'clock that night, +Columbus, who was looking out over the waves, saw a light far off. It +moved up and down like a lantern carried in a man's hand. + +Hope now grew strong. Every eye looked out into the darkness. About two +o'clock in the morning came the glad cry of "Land! Land!" A gun was +fired from the leading vessel. One of its sailors had seen what looked +like land in the moonlight. You may be sure no one slept any more that +night. + +When daylight came the joyful sailors saw before them a low, green +shore, on which the sunlight lay in beauty; men and women stood on it, +looking in wonder at the ships, which they thought must be great +white-winged birds. They had never seen such things before. We can +hardly think what we would have done if we had been in their place. + +When the boats from the ships came to the shore, and Columbus landed, +clad in shining armor, and bearing the great banner of Spain, the simple +natives fell to the ground on their faces. They thought the gods had +come from heaven to visit them. + +Some of the red-skinned natives wore ornaments of gold. They were asked +by signs where they had got this gold, and pointed south. Soon all were +on board again, the ships once more spread their sails, and swiftly they +flew southward before the wind. + +Day by day, as they went on, new islands arose, some small, some large, +all green and beautiful. Columbus thought this must be India, which +he had set out to find, and he called the people Indians. He never +knew that it was a new continent he had discovered. + +[Illustration: COLUMBUS AND THE EGG.] + +The month of March of the next year came before the little fleet sailed +again into the port of Palos. The people hailed it with shouts of joy, +for they had mourned their friends as dead. + +Fast spread the news. When Columbus entered Barcelona, where the king +and queen were, bringing with him new plants, birds and animals, strange +weapons, golden ornaments, and some of the red-skinned natives, he was +received as if he had been a king. He was seated beside the king; he +rode by his side in the street; he was made a grandee of Spain; all the +honors of the kingdom were showered on him. + +We here recall the incident of Columbus and the egg. A dinner was given +in his honor and many great men were there. The attention Columbus +received made some people jealous. One of them with a sneer asked +Columbus if he did not think any one else could have discovered the +Indies. In answer Columbus took an egg from a dish on the table and +handing it to the questioner asked him to make it stand on end. + +After trying several times the man gave it up. Columbus, taking the egg +in his hand, tapping it gently on one end against the top of the table +so as to break the shell slightly, made it balance. + +"Any one could do that," said the man. "So any one can discover the +Indies after I have shown him the way," said Columbus. + +It was his day of pride and triumph. Poor Columbus was soon to find out +how Spain treated those who had given to it the highest honor and the +greatest riches. Three times again he sailed to the New World, and once +a base Spanish governor sent him back to Spain with chains upon his +limbs. Those chains he kept hanging in his room till he died, and asked +that they should be buried with him. + +They who had once given him every honor, now treated him with shameful +neglect. He who had ridden beside the king and dined with the highest +nobles of Spain, became poor, sad and lonely. + +He died in 1506, fourteen years after his great discovery. + +Then Spain, which had treated him so badly, began to honor his memory. +But it came too late for poor Columbus, who had been allowed to die +almost like a pauper, after he had made Spain the richest country in +Europe. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THREE GREAT DISCOVERERS + + +VERY likely some of the readers of this book have asked their fathers or +mothers how Spain came to own the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, whose +people they treated so badly that the United States had to go to war a +few years ago and take these islands from Spain. Of course, you all know +how the battleship _Maine_ was blown up in the harbor of the city of +Havana, and nearly all its brave sailors went to the bottom and were +drowned. That was one reason why we went to war. If you should ask me +that question, I would say that these were some of the islands which +Columbus found, when he sailed into those sunny seas four centuries ago. +They were settled by Spaniards, who killed off all their people and have +lived on them ever since. There they have raised sugar cane, and +tobacco, and coffee, and also oranges and bananas and all kinds of fine +fruits. + +They might have kept on owning these islands and raising these fruits +for many years to come, if they had not been so cruel to the people that +they rose against them, and with the help of the United States +Government the islands were taken from Spain. + +When Columbus told the nobles and people of Spain of his wonderful +discovery, and showed them the plants and animals, the gold and other +things, he had found on these far-off islands, it made a great +excitement in that country. + +You know how the finding of gold in Alaska has sent thousands of our own +people to that cold country after the shining yellow metal. In the same +way the gold which Columbus brought back sent thousands of Spaniards +across the wide seas to the warm and beautiful islands of which the +great sailor told them, where they hoped to find gold like stones in our +streets. + +Dozens of ships soon set sail from Spain, carrying thousands of people +to the fair lands of the west, from which they expected to come back +laden with riches. At the same time two daring sailors from England, +John Cabot and his son Sebastian, crossed the ocean farther north, and +found land where the Northmen had found it five hundred years before. In +the seas into which the Cabots sailed, great fish were so plentiful that +the ships could hardly sail through them, and bears swam out in the +water and caught the fish in their mouths. That was certainly a queer +way of fishing. + +When the Cabots came back and told what they had seen, you may be sure +the daring fishermen of Europe did not stay long at home. Soon numbers +of their stout little vessels were crossing the ocean, and most of them +came back so full of great codfish that the water almost ran over their +decks. + +Do you not think these fishermen were wiser than the Spaniards, who went +everywhere seeking for gold, and finding very little of it? Gold is only +good to buy food and other things; but if these can be had without +buying they are better still. At any rate, the hardy fishermen thought +so, and they were more lucky in finding fish than the Spaniards were in +finding gold. + +Thus the years passed on, and more and more Spaniards came to the +islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (which is now known as Hayti or San +Domingo). And some of them soon began to sail farther west in search of +new lands. Columbus, in his last voyage, reached the coasts of South +America and Central America and other Spanish ships followed to those +new shores. + +I might tell you many wonderful things about these daring men. One of +them was named Balboa, whose story you will be glad to hear, for it is +full of strange events. This man had gone to the island of Hispaniola to +make his fortune, but he found there only bad fortune. He had to work on +a farm, and in time he became so poor and owed so much money that it +seemed as if he could never get out of debt. In fact he was in sad +straits. + +No doubt the people who had lent him money often asked him to pay it +back again, and Balboa, who got into a worse state every day, at length +took an odd way to rid himself of his troubles. A ship was about to set +sail for the west, and the poor debtor managed to get carried aboard it +in a barrel. This barrel came from his farm and was supposed to contain +provisions, and it was not till they were far away from land that it was +opened and a living man was found in it instead of salt beef or pork. + +When the captain saw him he was much astonished. He had paid for a +barrel of provisions, and he found something which he could not well +eat. He grew so angry at being cheated that he threatened to leave +Balboa on a desert island, but the poor fellow got on his knees and +begged so hard for his life that the captain at length forgave him. But +he made him work to pay his way, and very likely used the rope's end to +stir him up. + +Of course you have learned from your geographies where the Isthmus of +Darien (now called Panama) is, that narrow strip of land that is like a +string tying together the great continents of North and South America. +It was to the town of Darien, on this isthmus, that the ship made its +way, and here Balboa made a surprising discovery. Some of the Indian +chiefs told him of a mighty ocean which lay on the other side of the +isthmus, and that beyond that ocean was the wonderful land of gold which +the Spaniards wished to find. + +What would you have done if you had been in Balboa's place, and wanted +gold to pay your debts? Some of you, I think, would have done what he +did. You would have made your way into the thick forest and climbed the +rugged mountains of the isthmus, until, like Balboa, you got to the top +of the highest peak. And, like him, you would have been filled with joy +when you saw in the far distance the vast Pacific ocean, its waves +glittering in the summer sun. + +Here was glory; here was fortune. The poor debtor had become a great +discoverer. Before his eyes spread a mighty ocean, its waves beating on +the shore. He hurried with his men down the mountain sides to this +shining sea, and raised on its shores the great banner of Spain. And +soon after he set sail on its waters for Peru, the land of gold. But he +did not get very far, for the stormy weather drove him back. + +Poor Balboa! he was to win fame, but not fortune, and his debts were +never to be paid. A jealous Spanish governor seized him, condemned him +as a traitor, and had his head cut off in the market place. And so ended +Balboa's dream of gold and glory. I could tell you of other wonderful +adventures in these new lands. There is the story of Cortez, who found +the great kingdom of Mexico, and conquered it with a few hundred +Spaniards in armor of steel. And there is the story of Pizarro, who +sailed to Peru, Balboa's land of gold, and won it for Spain, and sent +home tons of silver and gold. But these stories have nothing to do with +the history of the United States, so we must pass them by and go back to +the early days of the country in which we dwell. + +The first Spaniard to set foot on what is now the United States was an +old man named Ponce de Leon, who was governor of Porto Rico. If he had +lived until now he would have been on our soil while on that island, for +it now belongs to the United States. But no one had dreamed of our great +republic four hundred years ago. + +At that time there was a fable which many believed, which said that +somewhere in Asia was a wonderful Fountain of Youth. It was thought that +everybody who bathed in its waters would grow young again. An old man in +a moment would become as fresh and strong as a boy. De Leon wanted youth +more than he did gold, and like all men at that time he thought the land +he was in was part of Asia, and might contain the Fountain of Youth. He +asked the Indians if they knew of such a magic spring. The red men, who +wanted to get rid of the Spaniards, by whom they had been cruelly +treated, pointed to the northwest. + +So, in the year 1513, old Ponce de Leon took ship and sailed away in +search of the magic spring. And not many days passed before, on Easter +Sunday, he saw before him a land so bright with flowers that he named it +"Flowery Easter." It is still called Florida, the Spanish word for +"flowery." + +I am sure none of my young readers believe in such a Fountain of Youth, +and that none of you would have hunted for it as old De Leon did. Up and +down that flowery land he wandered, seeking its wonderful waters. He +found many sparkling springs, and eagerly drank of and bathed in their +cool, liquid waves, but out of them all he came with white hair and +wrinkled face. In the end he gave up the search, and sailed away, a sad +old man. Some years afterwards he came back again. But this time the +Indians fought with the white men, and De Leon was struck with an arrow, +and hurt so badly that he soon died. So he found death instead of youth. +Many people go to Florida in our own days in search of health, but Ponce +de Leon is the only man who ever went there to find the magical Fountain +of Youth. + +About twenty-five years afterwards another Spaniard came to Florida. It +was gold and glory he was after, not youth. This man, Fernando de Soto, +had been in Peru with Pizarro, and helped him to conquer that land of +gold. He now hoped to find a rich empire for himself in the north. + +So with nine ships and six hundred brave young men he sailed away from +his native land. They were a gay and hopeful band, while their bright +banners floated proudly from the mastheads, and waved in the western +winds. Little did they dream of what a terrible fate lay before them. + +I think you will say that De Soto deserved a bad fate when I tell you +that he brought bloodhounds to hunt the poor Indians, and chains to +fasten on their hands and feet. That was the way the Spaniards often +treated the poor red men. He brought also two hundred horses for his +armed men to ride, and a drove of hogs to serve them for fresh meat. And +in the ships were great iron chests, which he hoped to take back full of +gold and other precious things. + +For two long years De Soto and his band traveled through the country, +fighting Indians, burning their houses and robbing them of their food. +But the Indians were brave warriors, and in one terrible battle the +Spaniards lost eighty of their horses and many of their men. + +In vain De Soto sought for gold and glory. Not an ounce of the yellow +metal was found; no mighty empire was reached. He did make one great +discovery, that of the vast Mississippi River. But he never got home to +tell of it, for he died on its banks, worn out with his battles and +marches, and was buried under its waters. His men built boats and +floated down the great river to the Gulf of Mexico. Here, at length, +they found Spanish settlements. But of that brave and gallant band half +were dead, and the rest were so nearly starved that they were like +living skeletons. + +We must not forget that humble Italian traveler and explorer, Amerigo +Vespucci, who in 1499, saw the part of South America where lies the +island of Trinidad. He afterwards reached the coast of Brazil. Some +years later, when maps were made of the country he had visited, some one +called it _America_. In later years this name was used for the whole +continent. So what should have been called Columbia came to be called +America. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THREE EARLY HEROES + + +WHAT do you think of Captain John Smith, the hero of Virginia? Was he +not a man to dream of, a true hero? Why, I feel half ashamed to say +anything about him, for every one of you must know his story. I am sure +all those who love good stories of adventure have read about him. + +John Smith was not the kind of man to work at a trade. He ran away from +home when a boy, and became a wanderer over the earth. And a hard life +he had of it. At one place he was robbed, and at another place was +shipwrecked. Once he leaped overboard from a ship and swam ashore. Once +again he fought with three Turks and killed all of them without help. +Then he was taken prisoner, and sold as a slave to a cruel Turk, who put +a ring round his neck and made him work very hard. + +One day his master came out where he was at work and struck him with his +whip. He soon found that John Smith was a bad man to whip. He hit the +Turk a hard blow with the flail he was using, and killed him on the +spot. Then he ran away, got to Russia, and in time made his way back to +England. But England was too quiet a place for him. A ship was about to +cross the sea to America and he volunteered to go in it. He had not half +enough of adventure yet. Some people think that Captain Smith bragged a +little, and did not do all he said. Well, that may be so. But it is +certain that he was a brave and bold man, and just the man to help +settle a new country where there were savage red men to deal with. + +The English were in no hurry in sending out settlers to the New World +which Columbus had discovered. While the Spaniards were seeking gold and +empires in the south, and the French were catching fish and exploring +the rivers and lakes in the north, all the English did was to rob the +Spanish ships and settlements, and to bring them negroes from Africa for +slaves. + +But the time came, a hundred years after America was discovered, when +some of the English tried to form a settlement on the coast of North +Carolina. Poor settlers! When the next ship came out they were all gone. +Not a soul of them could be found. Nothing was left but some letters +they had cut into the bark of a tree. What became of them nobody ever +knew. Likely enough they wandered away and were killed by the Indians. + +Nothing more was done until the year 1607, when the ship in which +Captain John Smith had taken passage sailed up a bright and beautiful +river in Virginia. It was the month of May, and the banks were covered +with flowers. + +The colonists thought this a very good place to live in, so they landed +and began to look around them. The river they called the James, and the +place they named Jamestown. But instead of building a town and preparing +for the future, as sensible men would have done, they began to seek for +gold, and soon they were in no end of trouble. In a short time their +food was all eaten. Then some of them were taken sick and died. Others +were killed by the Indians. It looked as if this colony would come to +grief as did the former one. + +So it would if it had not been for Captain Smith. He was only one man +among a hundred, but he was worth more than all the rest of the hundred. +He could not keep still, but hustled about, here, there and everywhere. +Now he was exploring the country, sailing up the rivers or up the broad +Chesapeake Bay. Now he was talking with the Indians, getting food from +them for the starving colonists. Now he was doing his best to make the +men build houses and dig and plant the ground. You can see that John +Smith had enough to keep him busy. He had many adventures with the +Indians. At one time he was taken prisoner by them and was in terrible +danger of being killed. But he showed them his pocket compass, and when +they saw the needle always pointing north, they thought there must be +magic in it. They were still more surprised when he sent one of them +with a letter to his friends. They did not understand how a piece of +paper could talk, as his paper seemed to do. + +But all this was not enough to save his life. The great chief Powhatan +looked on him as the leader of these white strangers who had settled in +his land. He wanted to get rid of them, and thought that if he killed +the man of the magic needle and the talking paper they would certainly +be scared and go away. + +So Captain Smith was tied hand and foot, and laid on the ground with his +head on a log. And a powerful Indian stood near by with a great war club +in his hand. Only a sign from Powhatan was needed, and down would come +that club on the white man's head, and it would be all over with the +brave and bold John Smith. + +Alas! poor Captain Smith! There was no pity in Powhatan's eyes. The +burly Indian twisted his fingers about the club and lifted it in the +air. One minute more and it might be all over with the man who had +killed three Turks in one fight. But before that minute was over a +strange thing took place. A young Indian girl came running wildly toward +him, with her hair flying and her eyes wet with tears. And she flung +herself on the ground and laid her head on that of the bound prisoner, +and begged the chief to give him his life. + +It was Pocahontas, the pretty young daughter of Powhatan. She pleaded so +pitifully that the chief's heart was touched, and he consented that the +captive should live, and bade them take the bonds from his limbs. + +Do you not think this a very pretty story? Some say that it is not true, +but I think very likely it is. At any rate, it is so good that it ought +to be true. Afterwards this warm-hearted Indian princess married one of +the Virginians named John Rolfe and was taken to London and shown to the +Queen. I am sorry to have to say that poor Pocahontas died there and +never saw her native land again. + +Captain Smith got safely back to Jamestown. But his troubles were not at +an end, for the colonists were as hard to deal with as the Indians. Some +of them had found a kind of yellow stuff which they were sure was gold. +They loaded a ship with this and sent it to England, thinking that they +would all be rich. But the yellow stuff proved to be what is known as "a +fool's gold," and worth no more than so much sand. Instead of becoming +rich, they were laughed at as great fools. + +After a while Smith was made governor, and he now tried a new plan to +make the men work. He told them that if they did not work they should +not eat. None of them wanted to starve, and they knew that John Smith +meant just what he said, so they began to build houses and to dig the +ground and plant crops. But some of them grumbled and some of them +swore, and it was anything but a happy family. + +Captain Smith did not like this swearing, and he took a funny way to +stop it. When the men came home at night each one who had sworn had a +can of cold water poured down his sleeve for every time he had done so. +Did any of my readers ever try that? If they did they would know why the +men soon quit grumbling and swearing. All was beginning to go well in +the colony when Captain Smith was hurt by some gunpowder that took fire +and went off. He was hurt so badly that he had to go back to England. +After that all went ill. + +As soon as their governor was gone the lazy men quit working. The +profane men swore worse than before. They ate up all their food in a +hurry, and the Indians would bring them no more. Sickness and hunger +came and carried many of them to the grave. Some of them meddled with +the Indians and were killed. There were five hundred of them when winter +set in; but when spring came only sixty of them were alive. And all +this took place because one wise man, Captain John Smith, was hurt and +had to go home. + +The whole colony would have broken up if ships had not come out with +more men and plenty of food. Soon after that, the people began to plant +the ground and raise tobacco, which sold well in England. Many of them +became rich, and the little settlement at Jamestown in time grew into +the great colony of Virginia. + +This ends the story of the hero of Jamestown. Now let us say something +about the hero of Plymouth. In the year 1620, thirteen years after Smith +and his fellows sailed up the James River, a shipload of men and women +came to a place called Plymouth, on the rocky coast of New England. It +was named Plymouth by Captain Smith, who had been there before. A +portion of the rock on which they first stepped, is still preserved and +surrounded by a fence. + +These people are known as Pilgrims. They had been badly treated at home +because they did believe in the teachings of the Church of England, and +they had come across the stormy sea to find a place where they could +worship God in their own way, without fear of being put in prison. + +With them came a soldier. He was named Captain Miles Standish. He was a +little man, but he carried a big sword, and had a stout heart and a hot +temper. While the Pilgrims came to work and to pray, Captain Standish +came to fight. He was a different man from Captain Smith, and would not +have been able to deal with the lazy folks at Jamestown. But the +Pilgrims were different also. They expected to work and live by their +labor, and they had no sooner landed on Plymouth Rock than they began to +dig and plant, while the sound of the hammer rang merrily all day long, +as they built houses and got ready for the cold winter. But after all +their labor and carefulness, sickness and hunger came, as they had come +to Jamestown, and by the time the winter was over, half the poor +Pilgrims were dead. + +The Indians soon got to be afraid of Captain Standish. They were afraid +of the Pilgrims, too, for they found that these religious men could +fight as well as pray. One Indian chief, named Canonicus, sent them a +bundle of arrows with a snake's skin tied round it. This was their way +of saying that they were going to fight the Pilgrims and drive them from +the country. But Governor Bradford filled the snake skin with powder and +bullets and sent it back. When Canonicus saw this he was badly scared, +for he knew well what it meant. He had heard the white men's guns, and +thought they had the power of using thunder and lightning. So he made up +his mind to let the white strangers alone. + +But the Pilgrims did not trust the red men. They put cannon on the roof +of their log church, and they walked to church on Sunday like so many +soldiers on the march, with guns in their hands and Captain Standish at +their head. And while they were listening to the sermon one man stood +outside on the lookout for danger. + +At one time some of the Indians made a plot to kill all the English. A +friendly Indian told Captain Standish about it, and he made up his mind +to teach them a lesson they would remember. He went to the Indian camp +with a few men, and walked boldly into the hut where the plotting chiefs +were talking over their plans. When they saw him and the men with him, +they tried to frighten them. One of them showed the captain his knife +and talked very boldly about it. + +A big Indian looked with scorn on the little captain. "Pah, you are only +a little fellow, if you are a captain," he said. "I am not a chief, but +I am strong and brave." + +Captain Standish was very angry, but he said nothing then. He waited +until the next day, when he met the chiefs again. Then there was a +quarrel and a fight, and the little captain killed the big Indian with +his own knife. More of the Indians were slain, and the others ran for +the woods. That put an end to the plot. + +There is one funny story told about Captain Standish. His wife had died, +and he felt so lonely that he wanted another; so he picked out a pretty +young woman named Priscilla Mullins. But the rough old soldier knew more +about fighting than about making love, and he sent his young friend, +John Alden, to make love for him. + +John told Priscilla's father what he had come for, and the father told +Priscilla what John had told him. The pretty Priscilla had no fancy for +the wrinkled old soldier. She looked at her father. Then she looked at +John. Then she said: "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" + +John did speak for himself, and Priscilla became his wife. As for the +captain, he married another woman, and this time I fancy he "spoke for +himself." + +Miles Standish lived to be 70 years old, and to have a farm of his own +and a house on a high hill near Plymouth. This is called Captain's Hill, +and on it there is now a stone shaft a hundred feet high, with a statue +of bold Captain Standish on its top. + +We have now our third hero to speak of, Roger Williams. He was not a +captain like the others, but a preacher; but he was a brave man, and +showed in his way as much courage as either of the captains. + +The Pilgrims were quickly followed by other people, who settled at +Boston and other places around Massachusetts Bay until there were a +great many of them. These were called Puritans. They came across the +seas for the same reason as the Pilgrims, to worship God in their own +way. + +But they were as hard to live with as the people at home, for they +wanted to force everybody else into their way. Some Quakers who came to +Boston were treated very badly because they had different ways from the +Puritans. And one young minister named Roger Williams, who thought every +man should have the right to worship as he pleased, and said that the +Indians had not been treated justly, had to flee into the woods for +safety. + +It was winter time. The trees were bare of leaves and the ground was +white with snow. Poor Roger had to wander through the cold woods, making +a fire at night with his flint and steel, or sometimes creeping into a +hollow tree to sleep. + +Thus he went on, half frozen and half starved, for eighty long miles, to +the house of Massasoit, an Indian chief who was his friend. The good +chief treated him well, for he knew, like all the Indians, what Roger +Williams had tried to do for them. When spring time came, Massasoit gave +his guest a canoe and told him where to go. So Roger paddled away till +he found a good place to stop. This place he called Providence. A large +city now stands there, and is still called Providence. + +Roger Williams had some friends with him, and others soon came, and +after a few years he had quite a settlement of his own. It was called +Rhode Island. Such a settlement as that at Plymouth, at Boston, and at +Providence, was called "a colony." + +He took care that the Indians should be treated well, and that no one +should do them any harm, so they grew to love the good white man. And he +said that every man in his colony should worship God in the way he liked +best, and no one should suffer on account of his manner of worship. + +It was a wonderful thing in those days, when there were wars going on in +Europe about religion or the manner of worship, and everybody was +punished who did not believe in the religion of the state. + +Do you not think that Roger Williams was as brave a man as John Smith or +Miles Standish, and as much of a hero? He did not kill any one. He was +not that kind of a hero. But he did much to make men happy and good and +to do justice to all men, and I think that is the best kind of a hero. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DUTCH AND THE QUAKERS COME TO AMERICA + + +I WONDER how many of my readers have ever seen the great city of New +York. I wonder still more how many of them knew that it is the largest +city in the world except London. But we must remember that London is ten +times as old, so it can well afford to be larger. + +Why, if you should go back no farther than the time of your +great-grandfather you would find no city of New York. All you would see +would be a sort of large village on Manhattan Island, at the mouth of +the Hudson River. And if you went back to the time of your grandfather's +great-grandfather, I fancy you would see nothing on that island but +trees, with Indian wigwams beneath them. Not a single white man or a +single house would you see. + +In the year 1609, just two years after Captain Smith sailed into the +James River, a queer-looking Dutch vessel came across the ocean and +began to prowl up and down the coast. It was named the "Half Moon." It +came from Holland, the land of the Dutch, but its captain was an +Englishman named Henry Hudson, who had done so many daring things that +men called him "the bold Englishman." + +What Captain Hudson would have liked to do was to sail across the United +States and come out into the Pacific Ocean, and so make his way to the +rich countries of Asia. Was not that a funny notion? To think that he +could sail across three thousand miles of land and across great ranges +of mountains! + +But you must not think that Captain Hudson was crazy. Nobody then knew +how wide America was. For all they knew, it might not be fifty miles +wide. Captain John Smith tried to get across it by sailing up James +River. And Captain Hudson fancied he might find some stream that led +from one ocean to the other. + +So on he went up and down the coast looking for an opening. And after a +while the "Half Moon" sailed into a broad and beautiful bay, where great +trees came down to the edge of the water and red men paddled about in +their canoes. Captain Hudson was delighted to see it. "It was," he said, +"as pleasant with grass and flowers as he had ever seen, and very sweet +smells." + +This body of water was what we now call New York Bay. A broad and swift +river runs into it, which is now called Hudson River, after Henry +Hudson. The bold captain thought that this was the stream to go up if he +wished to reach the Pacific Ocean. So, after talking as well as he could +with the Indians in their canoes, and trading beads for corn, he set his +sails again and started up the splendid river. Some of the Indians came +on board the "Half Moon," and the Dutch gave them brandy, which they had +never seen or tasted before. Soon they were dancing and capering about +the deck, and one of them fell down so stupid with drink that his +friends thought he was dead. That was their first taste of the deadly +"fire water" of the whites, which has killed thousands of the red men +since then. + +Captain Hudson and the Dutch no doubt thought that this was great fun. +People often do much harm without stopping to think. But on up the river +went the "Half Moon." + +At some places they saw fields of green corn on the water's edge. +Farther on were groves of lofty trees, and for miles great cliffs of +rock rose like towers. It was all very grand and beautiful. + +"It was a very good land to fall in with," said Captain Hudson, "and a +pleasant land to see." + +As they sailed on and on, they came to mountains, which rose on both +sides the river. After passing the mountains, the captain went ashore to +visit an old chief, who lived in a round house built of bark. The +Indians here had great heaps of corn and beans. But what they liked +best was roast dog. They roasted a dog for Captain Hudson and asked him +to eat it, but I do not know whether he did so or not. And they broke +their arrows and threw them into the fire, to show that they did not +mean to do harm to the white men. + +After leaving the good old chief the Dutch explorers went on up the +river till they reached a place about 150 miles above the sea, where the +city of Albany now stands. Here the river became so narrow and shallow +that Captain Hudson saw he could not reach the Pacific by that route, so +he turned and sailed back to the sea again. + +A sad fate was that of Captain Hudson, "the bold Englishman." The next +year he came again to America. But this time he went far to the north +and entered the great body of water which we call Hudson Bay. He thought +this would lead to the Pacific, and he would not turn back, though the +food was nearly all gone. At last the crew got desperate, and they put +the captain and some others into an open boat on the wide waters, and +turned back again. Nothing more was ever heard of Captain Hudson, and he +must have died miserably on that cold and lonely bay. + +But before his last voyage he had told the Dutch people all about Hudson +River, and that the Indians had many fine furs which they would be glad +to trade for beads, and knives, and other cheap things. The Dutch were +fond of trading, and liked to make a good bargain, so they soon began to +send ships to America. They built a fort and some log huts on Manhattan +Island, and a number of them stayed there to trade with the red men. +They paid the Indians for the island with some cheap goods worth about +twenty-four dollars. I do not think any of you could guess how many +millions of dollars that island is worth now. For the great city of New +York stands where the log huts of the Dutch traders once stood, and +twenty-four dollars would hardly buy as much land as you could cover +with your hand. + +The country around is now all farming land, where grain and fruit are +grown, and cattle are raised. But then it was all woodland for hundreds +of miles away, and in these woods lived many foxes and beavers and other +fur-bearing animals. These the Indians hunted and killed, and sold their +furs to the Dutch, so that there was soon a good trade for both the red +and the white men. The Dutch were glad to get the furs and the Indians +were as glad to get the knives and beads. More and more people came from +Holland, and the town grew larger and larger, and strong brick houses +took the place of the log huts, and in time there was quite a town. + +Men were sent from Holland to govern the people. Some of these men were +not fit to govern themselves, and the settlers did not like to have +such men over them. One of them was a stubborn old fellow named Peter +Stuyvesant. He had lost one of his legs, and wore a wooden leg with +bands of silver around it, so that he was called "Old Silver Leg." + +While he was governor an important event took place. The English had a +settlement in Virginia and another in New England, and they said that +all the coast lands belonged to them, because the Cabots had been the +first to see them. The Cabots came from Italy, but they had settled in +England, and sailed in an English ship. + +So one day a small fleet of English vessels came into the bay, and a +letter was sent on shore which said that all this land belonged to +England and must be given up to them. The Dutch might stay there, but +they would be under an English governor. Old Peter tore up the letter +and stamped about in a great rage on his silver leg. But he had treated +the people so badly that they would not fight for him, so he had to give +up the town. + +The English called it New York, after the Duke of York, the king's +brother. It grew and grew till it became a great and rich city, and sent +ships to all parts of the world. Most of the Dutch stayed there, and +their descendants are among the best people of New York to-day. Not +long after these English ships came to New York Bay, other English ships +came to a fine body of water, about 100 miles farther south, now called +Delaware Bay. Into this also runs a great stream of fresh water, called +Delaware River, as wide as the Hudson. I think you will like to learn +what brought them here. + +No doubt you remember what I said about some people called Quakers, who +came to Boston and were treated very badly by the Puritans. Did any of +my young readers ever see a Quaker? In old times you would have known +them, for they dressed in a different way from other people. They wore +very plain clothes and broad-brimmed hats, which they would not take off +to do honor to king or noble. To-day they generally dress more like the +people around them. + +If they were treated badly in Boston they were treated worse in England. +Thieves and highwaymen had as good a time as the poor Quakers. Some of +them were put in jail and kept there for years. Some were whipped or put +in the stocks, where low people called them vile names and threw mud at +them. Indeed, these quiet people, who did no harm to any one, but were +kind to others, had a very hard time, and were treated more cruelly than +the Pilgrims and the Puritans. + +Among them was the son of a brave English admiral, who was a friend of +the king and his brother, the Duke of York. But this did not save him +from being put in prison for preaching as a Quaker and wearing his hat +in court. + +This was William Penn, from whom Pennsylvania was named. You may well +fancy that the son of a rich admiral and the friend of a king did not +like being treated as though he were a thief because he chose to wear a +hat with a broad brim and to say "thee" and "thou," and because he would +not go to the king's church. + +What is more, the king owed him money, which he could not or would not +pay. He had owed this money to Admiral Penn, and after the admiral died +he owed it to his son. + +William Penn thought it would be wise to do as the Pilgrims and Puritans +had done. There was plenty of land in America, and it would be easy +there to make a home for the poor Quakers where they could live in peace +and worship God in the way they thought right. This they could not do in +England. + +Penn went to the king and told him how he could pay his debt. If the +king would give him a tract of land on the west side of the Delaware +River, he would take it as payment in full for the money owing to his +father. + +King Charles, who never had money enough for his own use, was very glad +to pay his debts in this easy way. He told Penn that he could have all +the land he wanted, and offered him a tract that was nearly as large as +the whole of England. This land belonged to the red men, but that did +not trouble King Charles. It is easy to pay debts in other people's +property. All Penn was asked to pay the king was two beaver skins every +year and one-fifth of all the gold and silver that should be mined. As +no gold or silver was ever mined the king got nothing but his beaver +skins, which were a kind of rent. + +What do any of my young readers know about the Delaware River? Have any +of you seen the wide, swift stream which flows between the states of +Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and runs into the broad body of water known +as Delaware Bay? On its banks stands the great city of Philadelphia, in +which live more than a million people, and where there are thousands of +busy workshops and well-filled stores. This large and fine city came +from the way the king paid his debt. King Charles was not a good man, +but he did one thing that had a good ending. + +There were white men there before the Quakers came. Many years earlier a +number of people from Sweden had come and settled along the river. Then +the Dutch from New York said the land was theirs, and took possession of +the forts of the Swedes. Then the English of New York claimed the land +as theirs. Then Quakers came and settled in New Jersey. Finally came +William Penn, in a ship called by the pretty name of the "Welcome," and +after that the land was governed by the Quakers or Friends, though the +Swedes stayed there still. + +We have something very pleasant to say about good William Penn. He knew +very well that King Charles did not own the land, and had no right to +sell it or give it away. So he called the Indians together under a great +elm tree on the river bank, and had a long talk with them, and told them +he would pay them for all the land he wanted. This pleased the red men +very much, and ever afterwards they loved William Penn. + +Do you not think it must have been a pretty scene when Penn and the +Quakers met the Indian chiefs under the great tree--the Indians in their +colored blankets and the Quakers in their great hats? That tree stood +for more than a hundred years afterwards, and when the British army was +in Philadelphia during the war of the Revolution their general put a +guard around Penn's treaty tree, so that the soldiers should not cut it +down for firewood. The tree is gone now, but a stone monument marks +where it stood. A city was laid out on the river, which Penn named +Philadelphia, a word which means Brotherly Love. I suppose some +brotherly love is there still, but not nearly so much as there should +be. + +Streets were made through the woods, and the names of the trees were +given to these streets, which are still known as Chestnut, Walnut, Pine, +Cherry, and the like. People soon came in numbers, and it is wonderful +how fast the city grew. Soon there were hundreds of comfortable houses, +and in time it grew to be the largest in the country. + +The Indians looked on in wonder to see large houses springing up where +they had hunted deer, and to see great ships where they had paddled +their canoes. But the white men spread more and more into the land, and +the red men were pushed back, and in time none of them were left in +Penn's woodland colony. This was long after William Penn was dead. + +But while Penn's city was growing large and rich, he was becoming poor. +He spent much money on his province and got very little back. At last he +became so poor that he was put in prison for debt, as was the custom in +those days. In the end he died and left the province to his sons. The +Indians sent some beautiful furs to his widow in memory of their great +and good brother. They said these were to make her a cloak "to protect +her while she was passing without her guide through the stormy +wilderness of life." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CAVALIER COLONIES OF THE SOUTH + + +VIRGINIA has often been called the Cavalier colony. Do any of you know +why, or who the Cavaliers were? Perhaps I had better tell you. They were +the lords and the proud people of England. Many of them had no money, +but they would do no work, and cared for nothing but pleasure and +fighting. There were plenty of working people in that country, but there +were many who were too proud to work, and expected others to work for +them, while they hoped to live at ease. + +Some of this kind of men came out with John Smith, and that is why he +had so much trouble with them. The Puritans and the Quakers came from +the working people of England, and nobody had to starve them to make +them work, or to pour cold water down their sleeves to stop them from +swearing. + +While religious people settled in the North, many of the proud Cavalier +class, who cared very little about religion, came to the South. So we +may call the southern settlements the Cavalier colonies, though many of +the common people came there too, and it was not long before there was +plenty of work. + +The first to come after John Smith and the Jamestown people were some +shiploads of Catholics. You should know that the Catholics were treated +in England even worse than the Puritans and the Quakers. The law said +they must go to the English Church instead of to their own. If they did +not they would have to pay a large sum of money or go to prison. Was not +this very harsh and unjust? + +The Catholics were not all poor people. There were rich men and nobles +among them. One of these nobles, named Lord Baltimore, asked the King +for some land in America where he and his friends might dwell in peace +and have churches of their own. This was many years before William Penn +asked for the same thing. The King was a friend of Lord Baltimore and +told him he might have as much land as he could make use of. So he chose +a large tract just north of Virginia, which the King named Maryland, +after his wife, Queen Mary, who was a Catholic. All Lord Baltimore had +to pay for this was two Indian arrows every year, and a part of the gold +and silver, if any were found. This was done to show that the King still +kept some claim to Maryland, and did not give away all his rights. + +And now comes a story much the same as I have told you several times +already. A shipload of Catholics and other people came across the ocean +to the new continent which Columbus had discovered many years before. +These sailed up the broad Chesapeake Bay. You may easily find this bay +on your maps. They landed at a place they called St. Mary's, where there +was a small Indian town. As it happened, the Indians at this town had +been so much troubled by fighting tribes farther north that they were +just going to move somewhere else. So they were very glad to sell their +town to the white strangers. + +All they wanted for their houses and their corn fields were some +hatchets, knives and beads, and other things they could use. Gold and +silver would have been of no value to them, for they had never seen +these metals. The only money the Indians used was round pieces of +seashell, with holes bored through them. Before these people left their +town they showed the white men how to hunt in the woods and how to plant +corn. And their wives taught the white women how to make hominy out of +corn and how to bake johnny-cakes. So the people of Maryland did not +suffer from hunger like those of Virginia and New England, and they had +plenty to eat and lived very well from the start. + +This was in the year 1634, just about the time Roger Williams went to +Rhode Island. Lord Baltimore did the same thing that Roger Williams did; +he gave the people religious liberty. Every Christian who came to +Maryland had the right to worship God in his own way. Roger Williams +went farther than this, for he gave the same right to Jews and all other +people, whether they were Christians or pagans. + +It was not long before other people came to Maryland, and they began to +plant tobacco, as the people were doing in Virginia. Tobacco was a good +crop to raise, for it could be sold for a high price in England, so that +the Maryland planters did very well, and many of them grew rich. But +religious liberty did not last there very long, and the Catholics were +not much better off than they had been in England. All the poor people +who came with Lord Baltimore were Protestants. Only the rich ones were +Catholics. Many other Protestants soon came, some of them being Puritans +from New England, who did not know what religious liberty meant. + +These people said that the Catholics should not have the right to +worship in their own churches, even in Maryland, and they went so far +that they tried to take from Lord Baltimore the lands which the king had +given him. There was much fighting between the Catholics and the +Protestants. Now one party got the best of it, and now the other. In +the end the province was taken from Lord Baltimore's son; and when a new +king, named King William, came to the throne, he said that Maryland was +his property, and that the Catholics should not have a church of their +own or worship in their own way in that province. Do you not think this +was very cruel and unjust? It seems so to me. It did not seem right, +after Lord Baltimore had given religious liberty to all men, for others +to come and take it away. But the custom in those days was that all men +must be made to think the same way, or be punished if they didn't. This +seems queer now-a-days, when every man has the right to think as he +pleases. + +In time there was born a Lord Baltimore who became a Protestant, and the +province was given back to him. It grew rich and full of people, and +large towns were built. One of these was named Baltimore, after Lord +Baltimore, and is now a great city. And Washington, the capital of the +United States, stands on land that was once part of Maryland. But St. +Mary's, the first town built, has gone, and there is hardly a mark left +to show where it stood. + +Maryland, as I have said, lies north of Virginia. The Potomac River runs +between them. South of Virginia was another great tract of land, +reaching all the way to Florida, which the Spaniards then held. Some +French Protestants tried to settle there, but they were cruelly +murdered by the Spaniards, and no one else came there for many years. + +About 1660 people began to settle in what was then called "the +Carolinas," but is now called North Carolina and South Carolina. Some of +these came from Virginia and some from England, and small settlements +were made here and there along the coast. One of these was called +Charleston. This has now grown into a large and important city. + +There were some noblemen in England who thought that this region might +become worth much money, so they asked the king, Charles II., to give it +to them. This was the same king who gave the Dutch settlement to the +Duke of York and who afterwards gave Pennsylvania to William Penn. He +was very ready to give away what did not belong to him, and told these +noblemen that they were welcome to the Carolinas. There were eight of +these men, and they made up their minds that they would have a very nice +form of government for their new province. So they went to a famous man +named John Locke, who was believed to be very wise, and asked him to +draw up a form of government for them. + +John Locke drew up a plan of government which they thought very fine, +but which everybody now thinks was very foolish and absurd. I fancy he +knew more about books than he did about government. He called it the +"Grand Model," and the noble lords thought they had a wonderful +government indeed. There were to be earls, and barons, and lords, the +same as in Europe. No one could vote who did not hold fifty acres. The +poorer people were to be like so many slaves. They could not even leave +one plantation for another without asking leave from the lord or baron +who owned it. + +What do you think the people did? You must not imagine they came across +the ocean to be made slaves of. No, indeed! They cared no more for the +"Grand Model" than if it was a piece of tissue paper. They settled where +they pleased, and would not work for the earls and barons, and fought +with the governors, and refused to pay the heavy taxes which the eight +noble owners asked. + +In time these noblemen got so sick of the whole business that they gave +their province back to the king. It was then divided into two colonies, +known as North Carolina and South Carolina. As for the lords and barons, +nobody heard of them any more. + +The people of the Carolinas had other things beside the Grand Model of +government to trouble them. There were savage Indians back in the +country who attacked them and killed many of them. And there were +pirates along the coast who attacked ships and killed all on board. But +rice and indigo were planted, and afterwards cotton, and much tar and +turpentine were got from the pine trees in North Carolina, and as the +years went on these colonies became rich and prosperous, and the people +began to have a happy time. + +I hope none of my young readers are tired of reading about kings and +colonies. I am sure they must have enjoyed reading about John Smith and +Miles Standish and William Penn and the rest of the great leaders. At +any rate, there is only one more colony to talk about, and then we will +be through with this part of our story. This is the colony of Georgia, +which lies in the tract of land between South Carolina and Florida. + +I am sure that when you are done reading this book you will be glad that +you did not live two or three hundred years ago. To-day every one can +think as he pleases, and do as he pleases, too, if he does not break the +laws. And the laws are much more just and less cruel than they were in +former times. Why, in those days, every man who owed money and could not +pay it might be put in prison and kept there for years. He could not +work there and earn money to pay his debts, and if his friends did not +pay them he might stay there till he died. As I have told you, even the +good William Penn was put in prison for debt, and kept there till his +friends paid the money. + +There were as many poor debtors in prison as there were thieves and +villains. Some of them become sick and died, and some were starved to +death by cruel jailers, who would not give them anything to eat if they +had no money to pay for food. One great and good man, named General +James Oglethorpe, visited the prisons, and was so sorry for the poor +debtors he saw there, that he asked the king to give him a piece of land +in America where he could take some of these suffering people. + +There was now not much land left to give. Settlements had been made all +along the coast except south of the Carolinas, and the king told General +Oglethorpe that he could have the land which lay there, and could take +as many debtors out of prison as he chose. He thought it would be a good +thing to take them somewhere where they could work and earn their +living. The king who was then on the throne was named King George, so +Oglethorpe called his new colony Georgia. + +It was now the year 1733, a hundred years after Lord Baltimore had come +to Maryland. General Oglethorpe took many of the debtors out of prison, +and very glad they were to get out, you may be sure. He landed with them +on the banks of a fine river away down South, where he laid out a town +which he named Savannah. + +The happy debtors now found themselves in a broad and beautiful land, +where they could prove whether they were ready to work or not. They were +not long in doing this. Right away they began to cut down trees, and +build houses, and plant fields, and very soon a pretty town was to be +seen and food plants were growing in the fields. And very happy men and +women these poor people were. + +General Oglethorpe knew as well as William Penn that the land did not +belong to the king. He sent for the Indian chiefs and told them the land +was theirs, and offered to pay them for it. They were quite willing to +sell, and soon he had all the land he wanted, and what is more, he had +the Indians for friends. + +But if he had no trouble with the Indians, he had a good deal with the +Spaniards of Florida. They said that Georgia was a part of Florida and +that the English had no right there. And they sent an army and tried to +drive them out. + +I fancy they did not know that Oglethorpe was an old soldier, but he +soon showed them that he knew how to fight. He drove back their armies +and took their ships; and they quickly made up their minds that they had +better let the English alone. There was plenty of land for both, for the +Spaniards had only one town in Florida. This was St. Augustine. + +Before long some Germans came from Europe and settled in the new +colony. People came also from other parts of Europe. Corn was planted +for food, and some of the colonists raised silkworms and made silk. But +in the end, cotton came to be the chief crop of the colony. + +General Oglethorpe lived to be a very old man. He did not die till long +after the American Revolution. Georgia was then a flourishing state, and +the little town he had started on the banks of the Savannah River was a +fine city, with broad streets, fine mansions, and beautiful shade trees. +I think the old general must have been very proud of this charming city, +and of the great state which owed its start to him. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE RED MEN, HOW THEY LIVED AND WERE TREATED + + +NOW that you have been told about the settlement of the colonies, it is +well to recall how many of them there were. Let us see. There were the +Pilgrim and Puritan settlements of New England, Roger Williams's +settlement in Rhode Island, the Dutch settlement in New York, the Quaker +one in Pennsylvania, the Catholic settlement in Maryland, the Cavalier +ones in Virginia and the Carolinas, and the Debtor settlement in +Georgia. Then there were some smaller ones, making about a dozen in all. + +These stretched all along the coast, from Canada, the French country in +the north, to Florida, the Spanish country in the south. The British +were a long time in settling these places, for nearly 250 years passed +after the time of Columbus before General Oglethorpe came to Georgia. + +While all this was going on, what was becoming of the native people of +the country, the Indians? I am afraid they were having a very hard time +of it. The Spaniards made slaves of them, and forced them to work so +terribly hard in the mines and the fields that they died by thousands. +The French and the English fought with them and drove them away from +their old homes, killing many of them. + +And this has gone on and on ever since, until the red men, who once +spread over all this country, are now kept in a very small part of it. +Some people say there are as many of them as there ever were. If that is +so, they can live on much less land than they once occupied. + +What do you know about these Indians? Have you ever seen one of them? +Your fathers or grandfathers have, I am sure, for once they were +everywhere in this country, and people saw more of them than they liked; +but now we see them only in the Wild West shows or the Indian schools, +except we happen to go where they live. Do you not want to know +something about these oldest Americans? I have been busy so far talking +about the white men and what they did, and have had no chance to tell +you about the people they found on this continent and how they treated +them. I think I must make this chapter an Indian one. + +Well, then, when the Spanish came to the south, and the French to the +north, and the Dutch and the Swedes and the British to the middle +country, they found everywhere a kind of people they had never seen +before. Their skin was not white, like that of the people of Europe, +nor black like that of the Africans, but of a reddish color, like that +of copper, so that they called them red men. They had black eyes and +hair, and high cheek-bones, and were not handsome according to our +ideas; but they were tall and strong, and many of them very proud and +dignified. + +These people lived in a very wild fashion. They spent much of their time +in hunting, fishing, and fighting. They raised some Indian corn and +beans, and were fond of tobacco, but most of their food was got from +wild animals killed in the woods. They were as fond of fighting as they +were of hunting. They were divided into tribes, some of which were +nearly always at war with other tribes. They had no weapons but stone +hatchets and bows and arrows, but they were able with these to kill many +of their enemies. People say that they were badly treated by the whites, +but they treated one another worse than the whites ever did. + +The Indians were very cruel. The warriors shaved off all their hair +except one lock, which was called the scalp lock. When one of them was +killed in battle this lock was used to pull off his scalp, or the skin +of his head. They were very proud of these scalps, for they showed how +many men they had killed. + +When they took a prisoner, they would tie him to a tree and build a +fire round him and burn him to death. And while he was burning they +would torture him all they could. We cannot feel so much pity for the +Indians when we think of all this. No doubt the white men have treated +them very unjustly, but they have stopped all these terrible cruelties, +and that is something to be thankful for. In this country, where once +there was constant war and bloodshed, and torturing and burning of +prisoners, now there is peace and kindness and happiness. So if evil has +been done, good has come of it. + +At the time I am speaking of, forests covered much of this great +continent. They spread everywhere, and the Indians lived under their +shade, and had wonderful skill in following animals or enemies through +their shady depths. They read the ground much as we read the pages of a +book. A broken twig, a bit of torn moss, a footprint which we could not +see, were full of meaning to them, and they would follow a trail for +miles through the woods where we would not have been able to follow it a +yard. Their eyes were trained to this kind of work, but in time some of +the white men became as expert as the Indians, and could follow a trail +as well. + +The red men lived mostly in little huts covered with skins or bark, +which they called wigwams. Some of the tribes lived in villages, where +there were large bark houses. But they did not stay much in their +houses, for they liked better to be in the open air. Now they were +hunting deer in the woods, now fishing or paddling their bark canoes in +the streams, now smoking their pipes in front of their huts, now dancing +their war dances or getting ready to fight. + +The men did nothing except hunting and fighting. The women had to do all +other work, such as cooking, planting and gathering corn, building +wigwams, and the like. They did some weaving of cloth, but most of their +clothes were made of the skins of wild animals. + +In war times the warriors tried to make themselves as ugly as they +could, painting their faces in a horrid fashion and sticking feathers in +their hair. They seemed to think they could scare their enemies by ugly +faces. + +I have spoken of the tribes of the Indians. Some of these tribes were +quite large, and were made up of a great number of men and women who +lived together and spoke the same language. Each tribe was divided up +into clans, or small family-like groups, and each clan had its sachem, +or peace-chief. There were war-chiefs, also, who led them to battle. The +sachems and chiefs governed the tribes and made such laws as they had. + +Every clan had some animal which it called its totem, such as the wolf, +bear, or fox. They were proud of their totems, and the form of the +animal was tattooed on their breast; that is, it was picked into the +skin with needles. All the Indians were fond of dancing, and their war +dances were as fierce and wild as they could make them. + +The tribes in the south were not as savage as those in the north. They +did more farming, and had large and well-built villages. Some of them +had temples and priests, and looked upon the sun as a god. They kept a +fire always burning in the temple, and seemed to think this fire was a +part of their sun-god. They had a great chief who ruled over the tribe, +and also a head war-chief, a high-priest, and other rulers. + +In the far west were Indians who built houses that were almost like +towns, for they had hundreds of rooms. A whole tribe could live in one +of these great houses, sometimes as many as three thousand people. Other +tribes lived in holes in the sides of steep rocks, where their enemies +could not easily get at them. These are called Cliff-dwellers. And there +were some who lived on top of high, steep hills, which were very hard to +climb. These Indians raised large crops of corn and other plants. + +Do you think, if you had been an Indian, you would have liked to see +white people coming in ships across the waters and settling down in your +country as if they owned it? They did not all pay for the land they +took, like William Penn and General Oglethorpe. The most of them acted +as if the country belonged to them, and it is no wonder the old owners +of the country did not like it, or that there was fierce fighting +between the white and the red men. + +Do you remember the story of Canonicus and the snake skin, and that of +Miles Standish and the chiefs? There was not much fighting then, but +there was some soon after in Connecticut, whither a number of settlers +had come from Boston and others from England. Here there was a warlike +tribe called the Pequots, who became very angry on seeing the white men +in their country. + +They began to kill the whites whenever they found them alone. Then the +whites began to kill the Indians. Soon there was a deadly war. The +Pequots had made a fort of trunks of trees, set close together in the +ground. They thought they were safe in this fort, but the English made +an attack on it, and got into it, and set fire to the Indian wigwams +inside. The fight went on terribly in the smoke and flame until nearly +all the Pequots were killed. Only two white men lost their lives. This +so scared the Indians that it was forty years before there was another +Indian war in New England. + +I have told you about the good chief Massasoit, who was so kind to Roger +Williams. He was a friend to the white men as long as he lived, but +after his death his son Philip became one of their greatest enemies. + +Philip's brother was taken sick and died after he had been to Plymouth, +and the Indians thought that the people there had given him poison. +Philip said that they would try to kill him next, and he made up his +mind to fight them and drive them out of the country. The Indians had +guns now, and knew how to use them, and they began to shoot the white +people as they went quietly along the roads. + +Next they began to attack the villages of the whites. They would creep +up at night, set the houses on fire, and shoot the men as they came out. +The war went on for a long time in this way, and there were many +terrible fights. + +At one place the people, when they saw the Indians coming, all ran to a +strong building called a blockhouse. The Indians came whooping and +yelling around this, and tried to set it on fire by shooting arrows with +blazing rags on their points. Once the roof caught fire, but some of the +men ran up and threw water on the flames. + +Then the Indians got a cart and filled it with hay. Setting this on +fire, they pushed it up against the house. It looked as if all the white +men and women and children would be burned alive. The house caught fire +and began to blaze. But just then came a shower of rain that put out the +fire, and the people inside were saved once more. Before the Indians +could do anything further some white soldiers came and the savages all +ran into the woods. + +There were other wonderful escapes, but many of the settlers were +killed, and Philip began to think he would be able to drive them out of +the country, as he wished to do. He was called King Philip, though he +had no crown except a string of wampum,--or bits of bored shell strung +together and twined round his head,--and no palace better than a bark +hut, while his finest dress was a red blanket. It took very little to +make an Indian king. The white men knew more about war than the Indians, +and in the end they began to drive them back. One of their forts was +taken, and the wigwams in it were set on fire, like those of the +Pequots. A great many of the poor red men perished in the flames. + +The best fighter among the white men was Captain Church. He followed +King Philip and his men to one hiding place after another, killing some +and taking others prisoners. Among the prisoners were the wife and +little son of the Indian king. + +"It breaks my heart," said Philip, when he heard of this. "Now I am +ready to die." + +He did not live much longer. Captain Church chased him from place to +place, till he came to Mount Hope, in Rhode Island, where Massasoit +lived when Roger Williams came to him through the woods. Here King +Philip was shot, and the war ended. It had lasted more than a year, and +a large number had been killed on both sides. It is known in history as +King Philip's War. + +There were wars with the Indians in many other parts of the country. In +Virginia the Indians made a plot to kill all the white people. They +pretended to be very friendly, and brought them meat and fish to sell. +While they were talking quietly the savages drew their tomahawks or +hatchets and began to kill the whites. In that one morning nearly three +hundred and fifty were killed, men, women, and little children. + +Hardly any of the settlers were left alive, except those in Jamestown, +who were warned in time. They now attacked the Indians, shooting down +all they could find, and killing a great many of them. + +This was after the death of Powhatan, who had been a friend to the +whites. About twenty years later, in 1644, another Indian massacre took +place. After this the Indians were driven far back into the country, and +did not give any more trouble for thirty years. The last war with them +broke out in 1675. + +The Dutch in New York also had their troubles with the Indians. They +paid for all the lands they took, but one of their governors was +foolish enough to start a war that went on for two years. A worse +trouble was that in North Carolina, where there was a powerful tribe +called the Tuscaroras. These attacked the settlers and murdered numbers +of them. But in the end they were driven out of the country. + +The only colonies in which the Indians kept friendly for a long time +were Pennsylvania and Georgia. We know the reason of this. William Penn +and General Oglethorpe were wise enough to make friends with them at the +start, and continued to treat them with justice and friendliness, so +that the red men came to love these good men. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ROYAL GOVERNORS AND LOYAL CAPTAINS + + +DO any of my young readers know what is meant by a Charter? "Yes," I +hear some of you say. "No," say others. Well, I must speak to the "No," +party; the party that doesn't know, and wants to know. + +A charter is a something written or printed which grants certain rights +or privileges to the party to whom it is given. It may come from a king +or a congress, or from any person in power, and be given to any other +person who wishes the right to hold a certain property or to do some +special thing. + +Do you understand any better now? I am sorry I can not put it in plainer +words. I think the best way will be to tell you about some charters +which belong to American history. You should know that all the people +who crossed the ocean to make new settlements on the Atlantic Coast had +charters from the king of England. This was the case with the Pilgrims +and the Puritans, with Roger Williams, William Penn, Lord Baltimore, and +the others I have spoken about. + +These charters were written on parchment, which is the skin of an +animal, made into something like paper. The charters gave these people +the right to settle on and own certain lands, to form certain kinds of +government, and to do a variety of things which in England no one could +do but the king and the parliament. + +The colonies in New England were given the right to choose their own +governors and make their own laws, and nobody, not even the king, could +stop them from doing this. The king had given them this right, and no +other king could take it away while they kept their charters. + +Would you care to be told what took place afterwards? All kings, you +should know, are not alike. Some are very mild and easy, and some are +very harsh and severe. Some are willing for the people to have liberty, +and some are not. The kings who gave the charters to New England were of +the easy kind. But they were followed by kings of the hard kind, who +thought that these people beyond the sea had too much liberty, and who +wished to take away some of it. + +Charles II., who gave some of these charters, was one of the easy kings, +and did not trouble himself about the people in the colonies. James II., +who came after him, was one of the hard kings. He was somewhat of a +tyrant, and wanted to make the laws himself, and to take the right to do +this from the people. After trying to rob the people of England of +their liberties, he thought he would do the same thing with the people +of America. "Those folks across the seas are having too good a time," he +thought. "They have too many rights and privileges, and I must take some +of them away. I will let them know that I am their master." + +But they had their charters, which gave them these rights; so the wicked +king thought the first thing for him to do was to take their charters +away from them. Then their rights would be gone, and he could make for +them a new set of laws, and force them to do everything he wished. + +What King James did was to send a nobleman named Sir Edmund Andros to +New England to rule as royal governor. He was the agent of the king, and +was to do all that the king ordered. He began by undertaking to rob the +people of their charters. You see, even a tyrant king did not like to go +against the charters, for a charter was a sacred pledge. + +Well, the new governor went about ordering the people to give him their +charters. One of the places to which he went was Hartford, Connecticut, +and there he told the officers of the colony that they must deliver up +their charter; the king had said so, and the king's word must be obeyed. + +If any of you had lived in Connecticut in those days I know how you +would have felt. The charter gave the people a great deal of liberty, +and they did not wish to part with it. I know that you and I would have +felt the same way. But what could they do? If they did not give it up +peacefully, Governor Andros might come again with soldiers and take it +from them by force. So the lawmakers and officials were in a great fret +about what they should do. + +They asked Governor Andros to come to the State-house and talk over the +matter. Some of them fancied they could get him to leave them their +charter, though they might have known better. There they sat--the +governor in the lofty chair of state, the others seated in a half circle +before him. There was a broad table between them, and on this lay the +great parchment of the charter. Some of those present did a great deal +of talking. They told how good King Charles had given them the charter, +and how happy they had been under it, and how loyal they were to good +King James, and they begged Governor Andros not to take it from them. +But they might as well have talked to the walls. He had his orders from +the king and was one of the men who do just what they are told. + +While the talk was going on a strange thing happened. It was night, and +the room was lit up with a few tallow candles. Of course you know that +these were the best lights people had at that time; gas or the electric +light had never been heard of. And it was before the time of matches. +The only way to make a light in those days was by the use of the flint +and steel, which was a very slow method indeed. + +Suddenly, while one of the Hartford men was talking and the governor was +looking at him in a tired sort of way, all the lights in the room went +out, and the room was in deep darkness. Everybody jumped up from their +chairs and there was no end of bustle and confusion, and likely enough +some pretty hard words were said. They had to hunt in the dark for the +flint and steel; and then there came snapping of steel on flint, and +falling of sparks on tinder, so that it was some time before the candles +were lit again. + +When this was done the governor opened his eyes very wide, for the table +was empty, the charter was gone. I fancy he swore a good deal when he +saw that. In those days even the highest people were given to swearing. +But no matter how much he swore, he could not with hard words bring back +the charter. It was gone, and nobody knew where. Everybody looked for +it, right and left, in and out, in drawers and closets, but it was +nowhere to be found. Very likely the most of them did not want to find +it. At any rate, the governor had to go away without the charter, and +years passed before anybody saw it again. + +Do you not wish to know what became of it? We are told that it had been +taken by a bold young soldier named Captain Wadsworth. While all the +people in the room were looking at the one who was making his speech, +the captain quickly took off his cloak and gave it a quick fling over +the candles, so that in a moment they were all put out. Then he snatched +up the charter from the table and slipped quietly out of the room. While +they were busy snapping the flint and steel, he was hurrying down the +street towards a great oak tree which was more than a hundred years old. +This tree was hollow in its heart, and there was a hole in its side +which opened into the hollow. Into this hole Captain Wadsworth pushed +the charter, and it fell into the hollow space. I do not think any of us +would have thought of looking there for it. I know nobody did at that +time, and there it lay for years, until the tyrant King James was driven +from the throne and a new king had taken his place. Then it was joyfully +brought out, and the people were ever so glad to see it again. + +The old tree stood for many years in the main street of the town, and +became famous as the Charter Oak. The people loved and were proud of it +as long as it stood. But many years ago the hoary old oak fell, and now +only some of its wood is left. This has been made into chairs and boxes +and other objects which are thought of great value. + +Do you not think that Captain Wadsworth was a bold and daring man, and +one who knew just what to do in times of trouble? If you do not, I fancy +you will when I have told you another story about him. + +This took place after the charter had been taken from the oak and +brought to the statehouse again. At this time there was a governor in +New York named Fletcher, who claimed that the king had given him the +right to command the militia, or citizen soldiers, of Connecticut. So he +came to Hartford, where Captain Wadsworth was in command, and where the +people did not want any stranger to have power over them. He told the +captain what he had come for, and that he had a commission to read to +the soldiers. + +The militia were called out and drawn up in line in the public square of +the town, and Governor Fletcher came before them, full of his +importance. He took out of his pocket the paper which he said gave him +the right to command, and began to read it in a very proud and haughty +manner. But he had not read ten words when Captain Wadsworth told the +drummers to beat their drums, and before you could draw your breath +there was such a rattle and roll of noise that not a word could be +heard. + +"Silence!" cried Fletcher. "Stop those drums!" The drums stopped, and he +began to read again. + +"Drum!" ordered Wadsworth in a loud tone, and such a noise began that a +giant's voice would have been drowned. + +"Silence!" again shouted Fletcher. He was very red in the face by this +time. + +"Drum, I say!" roared the captain. + +Then he turned to the governor and said, laying his hand on his sword, +"I command these men, Governor Fletcher, and if you interrupt me again I +will make the sun shine through you in a minute." And he looked as if he +meant what he said. All the governor's pomp and consequence were gone, +and his face turned from red to pale. He hastily thrust the paper back +into his pocket, and was not long in leaving Hartford for New York. No +doubt he thought that Connecticut was not a good place for royal +governors. + +Suppose I now tell you the story of another royal governor and another +bold captain. This was down in Virginia, but it was long after Captain +Smith was dead and after Virginia had become a large and prosperous +colony. + +The king sent there a governor named Berkeley, who acted as if he was +master and all the people were his slaves. They did not like to be +treated this way; but Berkeley had soldiers under his command, and they +were forced to obey. While this was going on the Indians began to murder +the settlers. The governor ought to have stopped them, but he was +afraid to call out the people, and he let the murders go on. + +There was a young man named Nathaniel Bacon who asked Governor Berkeley +to let him raise some men to fight the Indians. The governor refused. +But this did not stop brave young Bacon, for he called out a force of +men and drove off the murdering savages. + +Governor Berkeley was very angry at this. He said that Bacon was a +traitor and ought to be treated like one, and that the men with him were +rebels. Bacon at once marched with his men against Jamestown, and the +haughty governor ran away as fast as he could. + +But while Bacon and his men were fighting the Indians again, Governor +Berkeley came back and talked more than ever about rebels and traitors. +This made Bacon and the people with him very angry. To be treated in +this way while they were saving the people from the Indian knife and +tomahawk was too bad. They marched against Jamestown again. This time +the governor did not run away, but prepared to defend the place with +soldiers and cannon. + +But they did not fire their guns. Bacon had captured some of the wives +of the principal men, and he put them in front of his line as he +advanced. The governor did not dare bid his soldiers to fire on these +women, so he left the town again in a hurry, and it was taken by the +Indian fighters. + +Bacon made up his mind that Governor Berkeley should not come back to +Jamestown again. He had the town set on fire and burned to the ground. +Some of the men with him set fire to their own houses, so that they +should not give shelter to the governor and his men. That was the end of +Jamestown. It was never rebuilt. Only ashes remained of the first +English town in America. To-day there is only an old church tower to +show where it stood. + +We cannot tell what might have happened if brave young Bacon had lived. +As it was, he was taken sick and died. His men now had no leader, and +soon scattered. Then the governor came back full of fury, and began to +hang all those who opposed him. He might have put a great many of them +to death if the king had not stopped him and ordered him back to +England. This was King Charles II., whose father had been put to death +by Cromwell. He was angry at what Governor Berkeley had done, and said: + +"That old fool has hung more men in that naked land than I did for the +murder of my father." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +OLD TIMES IN THE COLONIES + + +WHAT a wonderful change has come over this great country of ours since +the days of our grandfathers! Look at our great cities, with their grand +buildings, and their miles of streets, with swift-speeding electric +cars, and thousands of carriages and wagons, and great stores lit by +brilliant electric lights, and huge workshops filled with rattling +wheels and marvelous machines! And look at our broad fields filled with +cattle or covered by growing crops, and divided by splendid highways and +railroads thousands of miles in length! Is it not all very wonderful? + +"But has it not always been this way?" some very young persons ask. "I +have lived so many years and have never seen anything else." + +My dear young friend, if you had lived fifty or sixty years, as many of +us older folks have, you would have seen very different things. And if +we had lived as long ago as our grandfathers did, and then come back +again to-day, I fancy our eyes would open wider than Governor Andros's +did when he saw that the charter was gone. + +In those days, as I told you, when any one wanted to make a light, he +could not strike a match and touch it to a gas jet as we do, but must +hammer away with flint and steel, and then had nothing better than a +home-made tallow candle to light. Why, I am sure that many of you never +even saw a pair of snuffers, which people then used to cut off the +candle wick. + +Some of you who live in old houses with dusty lofts under the roof, full +of worm-eaten old furniture, have, no doubt, found there odd-looking +wooden frames and wheels, and queer old tools of various kinds. +Sometimes these wheels are brought down stairs and set in the hall as +something to be proud of. And the old eight-day clocks stand there, too, +with their loud "tick-tack," buzzing and ticking away to-day as if they +had not done so for a hundred years. The wheels I speak of are the old +spinning wheels, with which our great-grandmothers spun flax into +thread. This thread they wove into homespun cloth on old-fashioned +looms. All work of this kind used to be done at home, though now it is +done in great factories; and we buy our clothes in the stores, instead +of spinning and weaving and sewing them in the great old kitchens before +the wood-fire on the hearth. + +Really, I am afraid many of you do not know how people lived in the old +times. They are often spoken of as the "good old times." I fancy you +will hardly think so when I have told you something more about them. +Would you think it very good to have to get up in a freezing cold room, +and go down and pump ice-cold water to wash your face, and go out in the +snow to get wood to make the fire, and shiver for an hour before the +house began to warm up? That is only one of the things you would not +find pleasant. I shall certainly have to stop here and tell you about +how people lived in old times, and then you can say if you would like to +go back to them. + +Would any boy and girl among you care to live in a little one-story +house, made of rough logs laid one on another, and with a roof of +thatch--that is, of straw or reeds, or anything that would keep out the +rain? Houses, I mean, with only one or two rooms, and some of them with +chimneys made of wood, plastered with clay on the inside so that they +could not be set on fire. These were the oldest houses. Later on people +began to build larger houses, many of which were made of brick or stone. +But I am afraid there was not much comfort in the best of them. They had +no stoves, and were heated by great stone fireplaces, where big logs of +wood were burned. They made a bright and cheerful blaze, it is true, but +most of the heat went roaring up the wide chimney, and only a little of +it got out into the room. In the winter the people lived in their +kitchens, with the blazing wood-fire for heat and light, and at bed-time +went shivering off to ice-cold rooms. Do you think you would have +enjoyed that? + +They had very little furniture, and the most of what they had was rude +and rough, much of it chopped out of the trees by the farmer's axe. Some +of the houses had glass windows--little diamond-shaped panes, set in +lead frames--but most of them had nothing but oiled paper, which kept +out as much light as it let in. + +All the cooking was done on the great kitchen hearth, where the pots +were hung on iron cranes and the pans set on the blazing coals. They did +not have as many kinds of food to cook as we have. Mush and milk, or +pork and beans, were their usual food, and their bread was mostly made +of rye or cornmeal. The boys and girls who had nice books they wanted to +read often had to do so by the light of the kitchen fire; but I can tell +you that books were very scarce things in those days. + +If any of us had lived then I know how glad we would have been to see +the bright spring time, with its flowers and warm sunshine. But we might +have shivered again when we thought of next winter. Of course, the +people had some good times. They had Thanksgiving-day, when the table +was filled with good things to eat, and election-day and training-day, +when they had outdoor sports. And they had quilting and husking-parties, +and spinning bees, and sleigh-rides and picnics and other amusements. A +wedding was a happy time, and even a funeral was followed by a great +dinner. But after all there was much more hard work than holiday, and +nearly everybody had to labor long and got little for it. They were +making themselves homes and a country, you know, and it was a very +severe task. We, to-day, are getting the good of their work. + +Down South people had more comfort. The weather was not nearly so cold, +so they did not have to keep up such blazing fires or shiver in their +cold beds. Many of the rich planters built themselves large mansions of +wood or brick, and brought costly furniture from England, and lived in +great show, with gold and silverware on their sideboards and fine +coaches drawn by handsome horses when they went abroad. + +In New York the Dutch built quaint old houses, of the kind used in +Holland. In Philadelphia the Quakers lived in neat two-storied houses, +with wide orchards and gardens round them, where they raised plenty of +fruit. When any one opened a shop, he would hang out a basket, a wooden +anchor, or some such sign to show what kind of goods he had to sell. + +In New England Sunday was kept in a very strict fashion, for the people +were very religious. It was thought wicked to play, or even to laugh, on +Sunday, and everybody had to go to church. All who did not go were +punished. And, mercy on us, what sermons they preached in those cold old +churches, prosing away sometimes for two hours at a time! The boys and +girls had to listen to them, as well as the men and women, and you know +how hard it is now to listen for one hour. + +If they got sleepy, as no doubt they often did, and went off into a +snooze, they were soon wide awake again. For the constable went up and +down the aisles with a long staff in his hand. This had a rabbit's foot +on one end of it and a rabbit's tail on the other. If he saw one of the +women asleep he would draw the rabbit's tail over her face. But if a boy +took a nap, down would come the rabbit's foot in a sharp rap on his +head, and up he would start very wide awake. To-day we would call that +sort of sermons cruelty to children, and I think it was cruelty to the +old folks also. + +Do you think those were "good old times"? I imagine some of you will +fancy they were "bad old times." But they were not nearly so bad as you +may think. For you must bear in mind that the people knew nothing of +many of the things we enjoy. They were used to hard work and plain food +and coarse furniture and rough clothes and cold rooms, and were more +hardy and could stand more than people who sleep in furnace-heated rooms +and have their tables heaped with all kinds of fruits and vegetables and +meats. + +But there was one thing that could not have been pleasant, and that was, +their being afraid all the time of the Indians, and having to carry +muskets with them even when they went to church. All around them were +the forests in which the wild red men roamed, and their cruel yell might +be heard at any time, or a sharp arrow might whiz out from the thick +leaves. + +The farm-houses were built like forts, and in all the villages were +strong buildings called blockhouses, to which everybody could run in +times of danger. In these the second story spread out over the first, +and there were holes in the floor through which the men could fire down +on the Indians below. But it makes us tremble to think that, at any +time, the traveler or farmer might be shot down by a lurking savage, or +might be seized and burned alive. We can hardly wonder that the people +grew to hate the Indians and to kill them or drive them away. + +There was much game in the woods and the rivers were full of fish, so +that many of the people spent their time in hunting and fishing. They +got to be as expert in this as the Indians themselves, and some of them +could follow a trail as well as the most sharp-sighted of the red men. + +Some of you may have read Fenimore Cooper's novels of Indian life, and +know what a wonderful hunter and Indian trailer old Natty Bumppo was. +But we do not need to go to novels to read about great hunters, for the +life of Daniel Boone is as full of adventure as that of any of the +heroes of Indian life. + +Daniel Boone was the most famous hunter this country has ever known. He +lived much later than the early times I am talking about, but the +country he lived in was as wild as that found by the first settlers of +the country. When he was only a little boy he went into the deep woods +and lived there by himself for several days, shooting game and making a +fire to cook it by. He made himself a little hut of boughs and sods, and +lived in it like an Indian, and there his father and friends found him +when they came seeking him in the woods. + +Years afterwards he crossed the high mountains of North Carolina and +went into the great forest of Kentucky, where only Indians and wild +animals lived. For a long time he stayed there by himself, with the +Indians hunting and trying to kill him. But he was too wide awake for +the smartest of them all. + +One time, when they were close on his trail, he got away from them by +catching hold of a loose grape-vine and making a long swinging jump, and +then running on. When the Indians came to the place they lost the marks +of his footprints and gave up the chase. At another time when he was +taken prisoner he got up, took one of their guns, and slipped away from +them without one of them waking up. + +Many years afterwards, when he and others had built a fort in Kentucky, +and brought out their wives and children, Boone's daughters and two +other girls were carried off by Indians while they were out picking wild +flowers. + +Boone and other hunters were soon on their trail, and followed it by the +broken bushes and bits of torn dress which the wide-awake young girls +had left behind them. In this way they came up to the Indians while they +were eating their supper, fired on them, and then ran up and rescued the +girls. These young folks did not go out of the fort to pick wild flowers +after that. + +Once Daniel Boone was taken prisoner, and would have been burned alive +if an old woman had not taken him for her son. The Indians painted his +face and made him wear an Indian dress and live with them as one of +themselves. But one day he heard them talking, and found that they were +going to attack the fort where all his friends were. Then he slipped +out of the village and ran away. He had a long journey to make and the +Indians followed him close. But he walked in the water to hide his +footsteps, and lived on roots and berries, for fear they would hear his +gun if he shot any game. In the end he got back safe to the fort. He +found it in bad condition, but he set the men at work to make it strong, +and when the Indians came they were beaten off. + +Daniel Boone lived to be a very old man, and kept going farther west to +get away from the new people who were coming into the Kentucky forest. +He said he wanted "elbow room." He spent all the rest of his life +hunting, and the Indians looked on him as the greatest woodsman and the +most wonderful hunter the white men ever had. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A HERO OF THE COLONIES + + +DO you not think there are a great many interesting stories in American +history? I have told you some, and I could tell you many more. I am +going to tell you one now, about a brave young man who had a great deal +to do with the making of our glorious country. But to reach it we will +have to take a step backward over one hundred and fifty years. That is a +pretty long step, isn't it? It takes us away back to about the year +1750. But people had been coming into this country for more than a +hundred and fifty years before that, and there were a great many white +men and women in America at that time. + +These people came from Spain and France and Great Britain and Holland +and Germany and Sweden and other countries besides. The Spaniards had +spread through many regions in the south; the French had gone west by +way of the Great Lakes and then down the Mississippi River; but the +British were settled close to the ocean, and the country back of them +was still forest land, where only wild men and wild beasts lived. That +is the way things were situated at the time of the story which I now +propose to tell. + +The young man I am about to speak of knew almost as much about life in +the deep woods as Daniel Boone, the great hunter, of whom I have just +told you. Why, when he was only sixteen years old he and another boy +went far back into the wild country of Virginia to survey or measure the +lands there for a rich land-holder. + +The two boys crossed the rough mountains and went into the broad valley +of the Shenandoah River, and for months they lived there alone in the +broad forest. There were no roads through the woods and they had to make +their own paths. When they were hungry they would shoot a wild turkey or +a squirrel, or sometimes a deer. They would cook their meat by holding +it on a stick over a fire of fallen twigs, and for plates they would cut +large chips from a tree with their axe. + +All day long they worked in the woods, measuring the land with a long +chain. At night they would roll themselves in their blankets and go to +sleep under the trees. If the weather was cold they gathered wood and +made a fire. Very likely they enjoyed it all, for boys are fond of +adventure. Sometimes a party of Indians would come up and be very +curious to know what these white boys were doing. But the Indians were +peaceful then, and did not try to harm them. One party amused the young +surveyors by dancing a war dance before them. A fine time they had in +the woods, where they stayed alone for months. When they came back the +land-holder was much pleased with their work. + +Now let us go on for five years, when the backwoods boy-surveyor had +become a young man twenty-one years of age. If we could take ourselves +back to the year 1753, and plunge into the woods of western +Pennsylvania, we might see this young man again in the deep forest, +walking along with his rifle in hand and his pack on his back. He had +with him an old frontiersman named Gill, and an Indian who acted as +their guide through the forest. + +The Indian was a treacherous fellow. One day, when they were not +looking, he fired his gun at them from behind a tree. He did not hit +either of them. Some men would have shot him, but they did not; they let +him go away and walked on alone through the deep woods. They built a +fire that night, but they did not sleep before it, for they were afraid +the Indian might come back and try to kill them while they were +sleeping. So they left it burning and walked on a few miles and went to +sleep without a fire. + +A few days after that they came to the banks of a wide river. You may +find it on your map of Pennsylvania. It is called the Allegheny River, +and runs into the Ohio. It had been frozen, for it was winter time; but +now the ice was broken and floating swiftly down the stream. + +What were they to do? They had to get across that stream. The only plan +they could think of was to build a raft out of logs and try to push it +through the ice with long poles. This they did, and were soon out on the +wild river and among the floating ice. + +It was a terrible passage. The great cakes of ice came swirling along +and striking like heavy hammers against the raft, almost hard enough to +knock it to pieces. One of these heavy ice cakes struck the pole of the +young traveler, and gave him such a shock that he fell from the raft +into the freezing cold water. He had a hard enough scramble to get back +on the raft again. + +After a while they reached a little island in the stream and got ashore. +There was no wood on it and they could not make a fire, so they had to +walk about all night to keep from freezing. The young man was wet to the +skin, but he had young blood and did not suffer as much as the older man +with him. When morning came they found that the ice was frozen fast +between the island and the other shore, so all they had to do was to +walk across it. + +These were not the only adventures they had, but they got safe back to +Virginia, from which they had set out months before. + +Do you want to know who this young traveler was? His name was George +Washington. That is all I need say. Any one who does not know who George +Washington was is not much of an American. But quite likely you do not +guess what he was doing in the woods so far away from his home. He had +been sent there by the governor of Virginia, and I shall have to tell +you why. + +But first you must go back with me to an earlier time. The time I mean +is when the French were settling in Canada along the St. Lawrence River, +and going west over the lakes, and floating in canoes down the +Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Wherever they went they built +forts and claimed the country for their king. At the same time the +English were settling along the Atlantic shores and pushing slowly back +into the country. + +You should know that the French and the English were not the best of +friends. They had their wars in Europe, and every time they got into war +there they began to fight in America also. This made terrible times in +the new country. The French had many of the Indians on their side, and +they marched through the woods and attacked some of the English towns, +and the cruel Indians murdered many of the poor settlers who had done +them no harm. There were three such wars, lasting for many years, and a +great many innocent men, women and children, who had nothing to do with +the wars in Europe, lost their lives. That is what we call war. It is +bad enough now, but it was worse still in those days. + +The greatest of all the wars between the French and the English was +still to come. Between the French forts on the Mississippi and the +English settlements on the Atlantic there was a vast forest land, and +both the French and the English said it belonged to them. In fact, it +did not belong to either of them, but to the Indians; but the white men +never troubled themselves about the rights of the old owners of the +land. + +While the English were talking the French were acting. About 1750 they +built two or three forts in the country south of Lake Erie. What they +wanted was the Ohio River, with the rich and fertile lands which lay +along that stream. Building those forts was the first step. The next +step would be to send soldiers to the Ohio and build forts there also. + +When the English heard what the French were doing they became greatly +alarmed. If they did not do something very quickly they would lose all +this great western country. The governor of Virginia wished to know what +the French meant to do, and he thought the best way to find out was to +ask them. So he chose the young backwoods surveyor, George Washington, +and sent him through the great forest to the French forts. + +Washington was very young for so important a duty. But he was tall and +strong and quick-witted, and he was not afraid of any man or anything. +And he knew all about life in the woods. So he was chosen, and far west +he went over plain and mountain, now on horseback and now on foot, +following the Indian trails through the forest, until at last he came to +the French forts. + +The French officers told him that they had come there to stay. They were +not going to give up their forts to please the governor of Virginia. And +Washington's quick eye saw that they were getting canoes ready to go +down the streams to the Ohio River the next spring. This was the news +the young messenger was taking back to the governor when he had his +adventures with the Indian and the ice. + +If any of you know anything about how wars are brought on, you may well +think there was soon going to be war in America. Both parties wanted the +land, and both were ready to fight to get it, and when people feel that +way fighting is not far off. + +Indeed, the spring of 1754 was not far advanced before both sides were +on the move. Washington had picked out a beautiful spot for a fort. +This was where the two rivers which form the Ohio come together. On +that spot the city of Pittsburg now stands; but then it was a very wild +place. + +As soon as the governor heard Washington's report he sent a party of men +in great haste to build a fort at that point. But in a short time a +larger party of French came down the Allegheny River in canoes and drove +the English workmen away. Then they finished the fort for themselves and +called it Fort Duquesne. + +Meanwhile Washington was on his way back. A force of four hundred +Virginians had been sent out under an officer named Colonel Frye. But +the colonel died on the march, and young Washington, then only +twenty-two years old, found himself at the head of a regiment of +soldiers, and about to start a great war. Was it not a difficult +position for so young a man? Not many men of that age would have known +what to do, but George Washington was not an ordinary man. + +While the Virginians were marching west, the French were marching south, +and it was not long before they came together. A party of French hid in +a thicket to watch the English, and Washington, thinking they were there +for no good, ordered his men to fire. They did so, and the leader of the +French was killed. This was the first shot in the coming war. + +But the youthful commander soon found that the French were too strong +for him. He built a sort of fort at a place called Great Meadows, and +named it Fort Necessity. It was hardly finished before the French and +Indians came swarming all around it and a severe fight began. + +The Virginians fought well, but the French were too strong, and fired +into the fort till Washington had to surrender. This took place on July +4, 1754, just twenty-two years before the American Declaration of +Independence. Washington and his men were allowed to march home with +their arms, and the young colonel was very much praised when he got +home, for everybody thought he had done his work in the best possible +way. + +When the news of this battle crossed the ocean there was great +excitement in England and France, and both countries sent soldiers to +America. Those from England were under a general named Braddock, a man +who knew all about fighting in England, but knew nothing about fighting +in America. And what was worse, he would let nobody tell him. Washington +generously tried to do so, but he got snubbed by the proud British +general for his pains. + +After a while away marched General Braddock, with his British soldiers +in their fine red coats. Washington went with him with a body of +Virginians dressed in plain colony clothes. On and on they went, through +the woods and over the mountains, cutting down trees and opening a road +for their wagons, and bravely beating their drums and waving their +flags. At length they came near Fort Duquesne, the drums still beating, +the flags still flying, the gun barrels glittering in the bright +sunshine. + +"Let me go ahead with my Virginians," said Washington. "They know all +about Indian fighting." + +"That for your Indians!" said Braddock, snapping his fingers. "They will +not stay in their hiding places long when my men come up." + +Soon after they came into a narrow place, with steep banks and thick +bushes all around. And suddenly loud Indian war-whoops and the crack of +guns came from those bushes. Not a man could be seen, but bullets flew +like hail-stones among the red-coats. The soldiers fired back, but they +wasted their bullets on the bushes. Washington and his men ran into the +woods and got behind trees like the Indians, but Braddock would not let +his men do the same, and they were shot down like sheep. At length +General Braddock fell wounded, and then his brave red-coats turned and +ran for their lives. Very likely not a man of them would have got away +if Washington and his men had not kept back the French and Indians. + +This defeat was a bad business for the poor settlers, for the savage +redskins began murdering them on all sides, and during all the rest of +the war Washington was kept busy fighting with these Indians. Not till +four years afterwards was he able to take Fort Duquesne from the French. + +Then another body of men was sent through the woods and over the +mountains to capture this fort. But their general did as Braddock had +done before him, spending so much time cutting a highroad through the +woods that the whole season passed away and he was ready to turn and +march back. Then Washington, who was with him, asked permission to go +forward with his rangers. The general told him to go and he hurried +through the woods and to the fort. When he came near it the French took +to their boats and paddled off down the river, so that Washington took +the fort without firing a shot. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR AND THE STORY OF THE ACADIANS + + +HAVE any of my young readers read the beautiful poem of "Evangeline," +written by the poet Longfellow? Very likely it is too old for you, +though the time will come when you will read it and enjoy it greatly. +Evangeline was a pretty and pious woman who lived in a French settlement +called Acadia, on the Atlantic coast. You will not find this name on any +of your maps, but must look for Nova Scotia, by which name Acadia is now +known. The story of Evangeline tells us about the cruel way in which the +poor Acadians were treated by the English. It is a sad and pathetic +story, as you will see when you have read it. + +It was one of the wicked results of the war between the French and the +English. There were many cruel deeds in this war, and the people who +suffered the most were those who had the least to do with the fighting. +In one place a quiet, happy family of father, mother and children, +living on a lonely farm, and not dreaming of any danger, suddenly hear +the wild war-whoop of the Indians, and soon see their doors broken open +and their house blazing, and are carried off into cruel captivity--those +who are not killed on the spot. In another place all the people of a +village are driven from their comfortable homes by soldiers and forced +to wander and beg their bread in distant lands. And all this takes place +because the kings of England and France, three thousand miles away, are +quarreling about some lands which do not belong to either of them. If +those who brought on wars had to suffer for them they would soon come to +an end. But they revel and feast in their splendid palaces while poor +and innocent people endure the suffering. The war that began in the +wilds of western Pennsylvania, between the French and Indians and the +English lasted seven years, from 1754 to 1761. During that time there +were many terrible battles, and thousands of soldiers were killed, and +there was much suffering and slaughter among the people, and burning of +houses, and destruction of property, and horrors of all sorts. + +It is called the French and Indian War, because there were many Indians +on the side of the French. There were some on the side of the English, +also. Indians are very savage and cruel in their way of fighting, as you +already know. I shall have to tell you one instance of their love of +bloodshed. One of the English forts, called Fort William Henry, which +stood at the southern end of Lake George, had to surrender to the +French, and its soldiers were obliged to march out and give up their +guns. + +There were a great many Indians with the French, and while the prisoners +stood outside the fort, without a gun in their hands, the savage men +attacked them and began to kill them with knives and tomahawks. The +French had promised to protect them, but they stood by and did nothing +to stop this terrible slaughter, and many of the helpless soldiers were +murdered. Others were carried off by the Indians as prisoners. It was +the most dreadful event of the whole cruel war. + +I must now ask you to look on a map of the State of New York, if you +have any. There you will find the Hudson River, and follow it up north +from the city of New York, past Albany, the capital of the state, until +it ends in a region of mountains. Near its upper waters is a long, +narrow lake named Lake George, which is full of beautiful islands. North +of that is a much larger lake named Lake Champlain, which reaches up +nearly to Canada. + +The British had forts on the Hudson River and Lake George and the French +on Lake Champlain, and also between the two lakes, where stood the +strong Fort Ticonderoga. It was around these forts and along these +lakes that most of the fighting took place. For a long time the French +had the best of it. The British lost many battles and were driven back. +But they had the most soldiers, and in the end they began to defeat the +French and drive them back, and Canada became the seat of war. But let +me tell you the story of the Acadians. + +Acadia was a country which had been settled by the French a long, long +time before, away back in 1604, before there was an English settlement +in America. Captain John Smith, you know, came to America in 1607, three +years afterwards. Acadia was a very fertile country, and the settlers +planted fields of grain and orchards of apples and other fruits, and +lived a very happy life, with neat houses and plenty of good food, and +in time the whole country became a rich farming land. + +But the British would not let these happy farmers alone. Every time +there was trouble with the French, soldiers were sent to Acadia. It was +captured by the British in 1690, but was given back to France in 1697, +when that war ended. It was taken again by the British in the war that +began in 1702, and this time it was not given back. Even its name of +Acadia was taken away, and it was called Nova Scotia, which is not +nearly so pretty a name. + +Thus it was that, when the new war with France began, Acadia was held +as a province of Great Britain. To be sure the most of its people were +descended from the old French settlers and did not like their British +masters, but they could not help themselves, and went on farming in +their old fashion. They were ignorant, simple-minded countrymen, who +looked upon France as their country, and were not willing to be British +subjects. + +That is the way with the French. It is the same to-day in Canada, which +has been a colony of Great Britain for nearly a century and a half. The +descendants of the former French still speak their old language and love +their old country, and now sometimes fight the British with their votes +as they once did with their swords. + +The British did not hold the whole of Acadia. The country now called New +Brunswick, which lies north of Nova Scotia, was part of it, and was +still held by the French. In 1755 the British government decided to +attempt the capture of this country, and sent out soldiers for that +purpose. Fighting began, but the French defended themselves bravely, and +the British found they had a hard task to perform. + +What made it worse for them was that some of the Acadians, who did not +want to see the British succeed, acted as spies upon them, and told the +French soldiers about their movements, so that the French were +everywhere ready for them. And the Acadians helped the French in other +ways, and gave the British a great deal of trouble. + +This may have been wrong, but it was natural. Every one feels like +helping his friends against his enemies. But you may be sure that it +made the British very angry, and in the end they took a cruel +resolution. This was to send all the Acadians away from their native +land to far-off, foreign countries. It was not easy to tell who were +acting as spies, so the English government ordered them all to be +removed. They were told they might stay if they would swear to be true +subjects of the king of England, but this the most of them would not do, +for they were French at heart, and looked on King Louis of France as +their true and rightful ruler. + +Was not this very cruel? There were hundreds of boys and girls like +yourselves among these poor Acadians, who had happy homes, and loved to +work and play in their pretty gardens and green fields, and whose +fathers and mothers did no harm to any one. But because a few busy men +gave news to the French, all of these were to be torn from their +comfortable homes and sent far away to wander in strange lands, where +many of them would have to beg for bread. It was a heartless act, and +the world has ever since said so, and among all the cruel things the +British have done, the removal of the Acadians from their homes is +looked upon as one of the worst. + +When soldiers are sent to do a cruel thing they are very apt to do it in +the most brutal fashion. The Acadians did not know what was to be done. +It was kept secret for fear they might run away and hide. A large number +of soldiers were sent out, and they spread like a net over a wide +stretch of country. Then they marched together and drove the people +before them. The poor farmers might be at their dinners or working in +their fields, but they were told that they must stop everything and +leave their homes at once, for they were to be sent out of the country. +Just think of it! What a grief and terror they must have been in! + +They were hardly given time to gather the few things they could carry +with them, and on all sides they were driven like so many sheep to the +seaside town of Annapolis, to which ships had been brought to carry them +away. More than six thousand of these unhappy people, old and young, +men, women and little ones, were gathered there; many of them weeping +bitterly, many more with looks of despair on their faces, all of them +sad at heart and very likely wishing they were dead. + +Around them were soldiers to keep them from running away. They were made +to get on the ships in such haste that families were often separated, +husband and wife, or children and their mothers, being put on different +ships and sent to different places. And for fear that some of them might +come back again their houses were burned and their farms laid waste. +Many of them went to the French settlements in Louisiana, and others to +other parts of America. Poor exiles! they were scattered widely over the +earth. Some of them in time came back to their loved Acadia, but the +most of them never saw it again. It was this dreadful act about which +Longfellow wrote in his poem of Evangeline. + +Now I must tell you how the French and Indian War ended. The French had +two important cities in Canada, Montreal and Quebec. Quebec was built on +a high and steep hill and was surrounded by strong walls, behind which +were more than eight thousand soldiers. It was not an easy city to +capture. + +A large British fleet was sent against it, and also an army of eight +thousand men, under General Wolfe. For two or three months they fired at +the city from the river below, but the French scorned them from their +steep hill-top. At length General Wolfe was told of a narrow path by +which he might climb the hill. One dark night he tried it, and by +daybreak a large body of men had reached the hill-top, and had dragged +up a number of cannon with them. + +When the French saw this they were frightened. They hurried out of the +city, thinking they could drive the English over the precipice before +any more of them got up. They were mistaken in this. The English met +them boldly, and in the battle that followed they gained the victory and +Quebec fell into their hands. + +General Wolfe was mortally wounded, but when he was told that the French +were in flight, he said: "God be praised! I die happy." + +Montcalm, the French general, also fell wounded. When he knew that he +must die he said: "So much the better; I shall not live to see the +surrender of Quebec." + +The next year Montreal was taken, and the war ended. And in the treaty +of peace France gave up all her colonies in America. England got Canada +and Spain got Louisiana. All North America now belonged to two nations, +England and Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION + + +I SHOULD be glad to have some of you take a steamboat ride up the broad +Hudson River, past the city of New York, and onward in the track of the +"Half Moon," Henry Hudson's ship. If you did so, you would come in time +to the point where this ship stopped and turned back. Here, where Hudson +and his Dutch sailors saw only a great spread of forest trees, +stretching far back from the river bank, our modern travelers would see +the large and handsome city of Albany, the capital of the State of New +York. + +This is one of the hundreds of fine cities which have grown up in our +country since Henry Hudson's time. A hundred and fifty years ago it was +a small place, not much larger than many of our villages. But even then +it was of importance, for in it was taken the first step towards our +great Union of States. I shall have to tell you what this step was, for +you will certainly want to know. + +Well, at the time I speak of there was no such thing as an American +Union. There were thirteen colonies, reaching from New Hampshire down +to Georgia. But each of these was like a little nation of its own; each +had its own government, made its own laws, and fought its own fights. +This was well enough in one way, but it was not so well in another. At +one time the people had the Indians to fight with, at another time the +French, and sometimes both of these together, and many of them thought +that they could do their fighting better if they were united into one +country. + +So in the year 1754 the colonies sent some of their best men to Albany, +to talk over this matter, and see if a union of the colonies could not +be made. This is what I meant when I said that the first step towards +the American Union was taken at Albany. + +Of these men, there is only one I shall say anything about. This man's +name you should know and remember, for he was one of the noblest and +wisest men that ever lived in this country. His name was Benjamin +Franklin. Forty years before this time he was a little Boston boy at +work in his father's shop, helping him make candles. Afterwards he +learned how to print, and then, in 1723, he went to Philadelphia, where +he soon had a shop and a newspaper office, and in time became rich. + +There was nothing going on that Franklin did not take part in. In his +shop he bound books, he made ink, he sold rags, soap, and coffee. He was +not ashamed of honest work, and would take off his coat and wheel his +papers along the street in a wheelbarrow. He started many institutions +in Philadelphia which are now very important. Among these there are a +great university, a large hospital, and a fine library. No doubt you +have read how he brought down the lightning from the clouds along the +string of a kite, and proved that lightning is the same thing as +electricity. And he took an active part in all the political movements +of the time. That is why he came to be sent to Albany in 1754, as a +member of the Albany Convention. + +Franklin always did things in ways that set people to thinking. When he +went to Albany he took with him copies of a queer picture which he had +printed in his newspaper. This was a snake cut into thirteen pieces. +Under each piece was the first letter of the name of a colony, such as +"P" for Pennsylvania. Beneath the whole were the words "Unite or die." + +That was like Franklin; he was always doing something odd. The cut-up +snake stood for the thirteen divided colonies. What Franklin meant was +that they could not exist alone. A snake is not of much account when it +is chopped up into bits, but it is a dangerous creature when it is +whole. He proposed that there should be a grand council of all the +colonies, a sort of Congress, meeting every year in Philadelphia, which +was the most central large city. Over them all was to be a +governor-general appointed by the king. This council could make laws, +lay taxes, and perform other important duties. + +That is enough to say about Franklin's plan, for it was not accepted. It +was passed by the convention, it is true, but the king would not have it +and the colonies did not want it; so the snake still lay stretched out +along the Atlantic in thirteen pieces. Then came the great war with the +French of which I have told you. After that was over, things came to +pass which in the end forced the colonies to combine. Thus Franklin's +plan, or something like it, was in time carried out, but for many years +the country was in a terrible state. This is what I am now going to tell +you about. + +You should know that the war with the French cost the king and the +colonies a great deal of money. The king of England at that time was +named George. He was an obstinate man, but not a very wise one, as you +will think when you have learned more about him. One thing he wanted to +do was to send soldiers to America to keep the French from getting back +what they had lost, and he asked the people to pay these soldiers. He +also asked them to send him money to pay the governors and judges whom +he had chosen to rule over them. But the people thought they could take +care of themselves, and did not want British soldiers. And they +preferred to pay the governors and judges themselves as they had always +done, and did not want King George to do it for them. So they would not +send him the money he asked for. + +Some of you may think this was very mean in the Americans, after all the +British had done to help them in their war with the French. But they +knew very well what they were about. They thought that if they gave the +king a dollar to-day he might want five dollars to-morrow, and ten +dollars the next day. They judged it best not to begin with the dollar. +Kings, you should know, do not always make the best use of money that is +given them by their people. + +And that was not all. The people in the colonies did not like the way +they had been treated by the English. They had mountains full of iron, +but the king would not let them make this iron into tools. They had +plenty of wool, but he would not let them weave it into cloth. They must +buy these and other things in England, and must keep at farming; but +they were not allowed to send their grain to England, but had to eat it +all at home. They could not even send goods from one colony to another. +Thus they were to be kept poor that the rich English merchants and +manufacturers might grow rich. + +These were some of the things the American people had to complain of. +There were still other things, and a good many of the Americans had very +little love for the English king and people. They felt that they were in +a sort of slavery, and almost as if they had ropes on their hands and +chains on their feet. + +When King George was told that the Americans would not send him money he +was very angry. I am afraid he called them bad names. They were a low, +ignorant, ungrateful set, he said, and he would show them who was their +master. He would tax them and get money from them in that way. So the +English Parliament, which is a body of lawmakers like our Congress, came +together and passed laws to tax the Americans. + +The first tax they laid is what is called a stamp tax. I fancy you know +very well what that is, for we have had a stamp tax in this country more +than once, when the government was in need of money. Everybody who wrote +a bank check, or made any legal paper, or sent away an express package, +had to buy a stamp from the government and put it on the paper; and +stamps had to be used on many other things. + +But there is this difference. Our people were quite willing to buy these +stamps, but they were not willing to buy the stamps which the British +government sent them in 1765. Why? Well, they had a good reason for it, +and this was that they had nothing to do with making the law. The +English would not pay any taxes except those made by the people whom +they elected to Parliament, and the Americans said they had the same +right. They were not allowed to send any members to Parliament, so they +said that Parliament had no right to tax them. Their own legislatures +might vote to send the king money, but the English Parliament had no +right to vote for them. + +When the king found that the Americans would not use his stamps he tried +another plan. He laid a tax on tea and some other goods. He thought that +our people could not do without tea, so he sent several shiploads across +the ocean, expecting them to buy it and pay the tax. But he soon found +that the colonists had no more use for taxed tea than for stamps. They +would not even let the captains bring their tea on shore, except at +Charleston, and there it was packed in damp cellars, where it soon +rotted. A ship sent to Annapolis was set on fire and burned to the +water's edge with the tea in it. + +But the most stirring event took place at Boston. There one night, while +the tea-ship lay at a wharf in the harbor, a number of young men dressed +like Indians rushed on board with a loud war-whoop and began to break +open the tea-chests with their hatchets and pour the tea into the +harbor. This was the famous "Boston tea-party." + +Americans liked tea, but not tea with an English tax on it. They boiled +leaves and roots and made some sort of tea out of them. It was poor +stuff, but they did not pay any tax. And they would not buy any cloth or +other goods brought from England. If the king was angry and stubborn +they were angry and stubborn, too, and every day they grew more angry, +until many of them began to think that they would be better off without +a king. They were not the kind of people to be made slaves of easily by +King George or any other king. + +When the king heard of the "Boston tea-party" he was in a fury. He would +make Boston pay well for its tea, he said. So he sent soldiers there, +and he gave orders that no ships should go into or out of Boston harbor. +This stopped most of the business of the town, and soon the poor people +had no work to do and very little to eat. But they had crowded meetings +at Faneuil Hall, where Samuel Adams and John Hancock and other patriots +talked to them of their rights and wrongs. It began to look as if war +would soon come. + +The time had come at last for a union of the colonies. What Franklin had +failed to do at Albany in 1754 was done at Philadelphia in 1774. A +meeting was held there which was called a Congress, and was made up of +some of the best men of the country sent from the colonies. One of these +was George Washington, who had lived on his farm at Mount Vernon since +the end of the French War. + +Congress sent a letter to the king, asking him to give the people of +this country the same rights that the people of England had. There was +no harm in this, I am sure, but it made the king more obstinate still. I +have said he was not a wise man. Most people say he was a very foolish +one, or he would have known that the people of the colonies would fight +for their rights if they could not get them in peace. + +All around Boston the farmers and villagers began to collect guns and +powder and to drill men into soldiers. These were called "minute men," +which meant that they would be ready to fight at a minute's notice, if +they were asked to. When people begin to get ready in this way, war is +usually not far off. + +One night at Boston a man named Paul Revere stood watching a distant +steeple till he saw a light suddenly flash out through the darkness. +Then he leaped on his horse and rode at full speed away. That light was +a signal telling him that British soldiers were on the march to Concord +twenty miles away, to destroy some powder and guns which had been +gathered there for the use of these "minute men." + +Away rode Revere through the night, rousing up the people and shouting +to them that the British soldiers were coming. He was far ahead of the +soldiers, so that when they reached the village of Lexington, ten miles +from Boston, the people were wide awake, and a party of minute men was +drawn up on the village green. The soldiers were ordered to fire on +these men, and some of them fell dead. Those were the first shots in a +great war. It was the 19th of April, 1775. + +The British marched on to Concord, but the farmers had carried away most +of the stores and buried them in the woods. Then the red-coats started +back, and a terrible march they had of it. For all along the road were +farmers with guns in their hands, firing on the troops from behind trees +and stone walls. Some of the soldiers got back to Boston, but many of +them lay dead in the road. The poor fellows killed at Lexington were +terribly avenged. + +Far and wide spread the news, and on all sides the farmers left their +plows and took down their rifles, and thousands of them set out along +the roads to Boston. Soon there were twenty thousand armed men around +the town, and the British were shut up like rats in a trap. The American +people were in rebellion against the king and war had begun. + +It was to be a long and dreadful war, but it led to American liberty, +and that was a thing well worth fighting for. While the people were +laying siege to Boston, Congress was in session at Philadelphia, talking +about what had best be done. One good thing they did was to make George +Washington commander-in-chief of the army and send him to Boston to +fight the British there. They could not have found a better soldier in +all America. + +The next good thing took place a year later. This was the great event +which you celebrate with fireworks every 4th of July. Congress decided +that this country ought to be free, and no longer to be under the rule +of an English king. So a paper was written by a member from Virginia +named Thomas Jefferson, with the help of Benjamin Franklin and some +others. The paper is known by the long name of "Declaration of +Independence." It declared that the American colonies were free from +British rule, and in future would take care of themselves. It was on the +4th of July, 1776, that this great paper was adopted by Congress, and on +that day the Republic of the United States of America was born. That is +why our people have such a glad and noisy time every 4th of July. + +Everywhere the people were full of joy when they heard what had been +done. In the state house at Philadelphia rang out the great bell on +which the words, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the +inhabitants thereof." In New York the statue of King George was pulled +down and thrown into the dust of the street. The people did not know +what dark days lay before them, but they were ready to suffer much for +the sake of liberty, and to risk all they had, life and all, for the +freedom of their native land. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM + + +ANY of my readers who are true, sound-hearted Americans, and I am sure +all of them are that, would have been glad to see how the New England +farmers swarmed around Boston in April, 1775. Some of them had fought in +the French War, and brought with them their old rusty muskets, which +they knew very well how to use. And most of them were hunters and had +learned how to shoot. And all of them were bold and brave and were +determined to have a free country. The English red-coat soldiers in +Boston would soon find that these countrymen were not men to be laughed +at, even if they had not been trained in war. + +One morning the English woke up and rubbed their eyes hard, for there, +on a hill that overlooked the town, was a crowd of Americans. They had +been at work all night, digging and making earthworks to fight behind, +and now had quite a fort. The English officers did not like the look of +things, for the Americans could fire from that hill--Bunker Hill, they +called it--straight down into the town. They must be driven away or +they would drive the troops away. + +I can tell you that was a busy and bloody day for Boston. The great +war-ships in the harbor thundered with their cannon at the men on the +hill. And the soldiers began to march up the hill, thinking that the +Yankees would run like sheep when they saw the red-coats coming near. +But the Yankees were not there to run. + +"Don't fire, boys, till you see the whites of their eyes," said brave +General Prescott. + +So the Yankee boys waited till the British were close at hand. Then they +fired and the red-coats fell in rows, for the farmers did not waste +their bullets. Those that did not fall scampered in haste down the hill. +It was a strange sight to see British soldiers running away from Yankee +farmers. + +After a while the British came again. They were not so sure this time. +Again the Yankee muskets rattled along the earthworks, and again the +British turned and ran--those who were able to. + +They could never have taken that hill if the farmer soldiers had not run +out of powder. When the red-coats came a third time the Yankees could +not fire, and had to fight them with the butts of their guns. So the +British won the hill; but they had found that the Yankee farmers were +not cowards; after that time they never liked to march against American +earthworks. + +Not long after the battle of Bunker Hill General Washington came to +command the Americans, and he spent months in drilling and making +soldiers out of them. He also got a good supply of powder and muskets +and some cannon, and one dark night in March, 1776, he built a fort on +another hill that looked down on Boston. + +I warrant you, the British were alarmed when they looked up that hill +the next morning and saw cannon on its top and men behind the cannon. +They would have to climb that hill as they had done Bunker Hill, or else +leave Boston. But they had no fancy for another Bunker Hill, so they +decided to leave. They went on board their ships and sailed away, and +Washington and his men marched joyfully into the town. That was a great +day for America, and it was soon followed by the 4th of July and the +glorious Declaration of Independence. Since that 4th of July no king has +ever ruled over the United States. + +We call this war the American Revolution. Do you know what a revolution +is? It means the doing away with a bad government and replacing it with +a better one. In this country it meant that our people were tired of the +rule of England and wished to govern themselves. They had to fight hard +for their freedom, it is true, but it was well worth fighting for. + +The war was a long and dreadful one. It went on for seven long years. At +one time everything seemed lost; at other times all grew bright and +hopeful. And thus it went on, up and down, to the end. I cannot tell you +all that took place, but I will give you the important facts. + +After the British left Boston, they sailed about for a time, and then +they came with a large army to New York. Washington was there with his +soldiers to meet them, and did his best, but everything seemed to go +wrong. First, the Americans were beaten in battle and had to march out +of New York and let the British march in. Then Washington and his ragged +men were obliged to hasten across the State of New Jersey with a strong +British force after them. They were too weak to face the British. + +When they got to the Delaware River the Americans crossed it and took +all the boats, so that the British could not follow them. It was now +near winter time, and both armies went into winter quarters. They faced +each other, but the wide river ran between. + +You may well think that by this time the American people were getting +very down-hearted. Many of them thought that all was lost, and that +they would have to submit to King George. The army dwindled away and no +new soldiers came in, so that it looked as if it would go to pieces. It +was growing very dark for American liberty. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE.] + +But there was one man who did not despair, and that man was George +Washington. He saw that something must be done to stir up the spirits of +the people, and he was just the man to do it. It was a wonderful +Christmas he kept that year. All Christmas day his ragged and hungry +soldiers were marching up their side of the Delaware, and crossing the +river in boats, though the wind was biting cold, and the air was full of +falling snow, and the broken ice was floating in great blocks down the +river; but nothing stopped the gallant soldiers. All Christmas night +they marched down the other side of the river, though their shoes were +so bad that the ground became reddened by blood from their feet. Two of +the poor fellows were frozen to death. + +At Trenton, a number of miles below, there was a body of German +soldiers. These had been hired by King George to help him fight his +battles. That day they had been eating a good Christmas dinner while the +hungry Americans were marching through the snow. At night they went to +bed, not dreaming of danger. + +They were wakened in the morning by shots and shouts. Washington and his +men were in the streets of the town. They had hardly time to seize +their guns before the ragged Yankees were all around them and nearly all +of them were made prisoners of war. + +Was not that a great and glorious deed? It filled the Americans with new +hope. In a few days afterwards, Washington defeated the British in +another battle, and then settled down with his ragged but brave men in +the hills of New Jersey. He did not go behind a river this time. The +British knew where he was and could come to see him if they wanted to. +But they did not come. Very likely they had seen enough of him for that +winter. + +The next year things went wrong again for Washington. A large British +army sailed from New York and landed at the head of Chesapeake Bay. Then +they marched overland to Philadelphia. Washington fought a battle with +them on Brandywine Creek, but his men were defeated and the British +marched on and entered Philadelphia. They now held the largest cities of +the country, Philadelphia and New York. + +While the British were living in plenty and having a very good time in +the Quaker city, the poor Americans spent a wretched and terrible winter +at a place called Valley Forge. The winter was a dismally cold one, and +the men had not half enough food to eat or clothes to wear, and very +poor huts to live in. They suffered dreadfully, and before the spring +came many of them died from disease and hardship. + +Poor fellows! they were paying dearly for their struggle for liberty. +But there was no such despair this winter as there had been the winter +before, for news came from the north that warmed the soldiers up like a +fire. Though Washington had lost a battle, a great victory had been +gained by the Americans at Saratoga, in the upper part of New York +state. + +While General Howe was marching on Philadelphia, another British army, +under General Burgoyne, had been marching south from Canada, along the +line of Lake Champlain and Lake George. But Burgoyne and his men soon +found themselves in a tight place. Food began to run short and a +regiment of a thousand men was sent into Vermont to seize some stores. +They were met by the Green Mountain boys, led by Colonel Stark, a brave +old soldier. + +"There are the red-coats," said the bold colonel. "We must beat them +to-day, or Molly Stark is a widow."[1] + +Beat them they did. Only seventy men got back to Burgoyne. All the rest +were killed or captured. + +Another force, under Colonel St. Leger, marched south from Oswego, on +Lake Ontario. A large body of Indians was with him. This army stopped to +besiege a fort in the wilderness, and General Arnold marched to help the +fort. + +The way Arnold defeated St. Leger was a very curious one. He sent a +half-witted fellow into the Indian camp with the tale that a great +American force was coming. The messenger came running in among the +savages, with bullet-holes in his clothes. He seemed half scared to +death, and told the Indians that a vast host was coming after him as +thick as the leaves on the trees. + +This story frightened the Indians and they ran off in great haste +through the woods. When the British soldiers saw this they fell into +such a terror that they took to their heels, leaving all their tents and +cannon behind them. The people in the fort did not know what it meant, +till Arnold came up and told them how he had won a victory without +firing a shot, by a sort of fairy story. + +All this was very bad for Burgoyne. The Indians he brought with him +began to leave. At length he found himself in a terrible plight. His +provisions were nearly gone, he was surrounded by the Americans, and +after fighting two battles he retreated to Saratoga. Here he had to +surrender. He and all his army became prisoners to the Americans. + +We cannot wonder that this warmed up the Americans like a fire. It +filled the English with despair. They began to think that they would +never win back the colonies. + +One thing the good news did was to get the French to come to the help of +the Americans. Benjamin Franklin was then in Paris, and he asked the +king to send ships and men and money to America. The French had no love +for the British, who had taken from them all their colonies in America, +so they did as Franklin wished. + +There are two more things I wish to tell you in this chapter, one good +and one bad. When the British in Philadelphia heard that the French were +coming to help the Americans, they were afraid they might be caught in a +trap. So they left in great haste and marched for New York. Washington +followed and fought a battle with them, but they got away. After that +Washington's army laid siege to New York, as it had formerly done to +Boston. + +That was the good thing. The bad thing was this. General Benedict +Arnold, who had defeated St. Leger and his Indians, and who was one of +the bravest of the American officers, turned traitor to his country. He +had charge of West Point, a strong fort on the Hudson River, and tried +to give this up to the British. But he was found out and had to flee for +his life. Major Andre, a British officer, who had been sent to talk with +Arnold, was caught by three American scouts on his way back to New York. +They searched him for papers, and found what they wanted hidden in his +boot. Poor Andre was hung for a spy, but the traitor Arnold escaped. But +he was hated by the Americans and despised by the British, and twenty +years afterwards he died in shame and remorse. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] All the accounts agree that Colonel Stark spoke of his wife as +"Molly Stark." But it has been found that his wife's name was Elizabeth; +so he may have said "Betty Stark." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PAUL JONES, THE NAVAL HERO OF THE REVOLUTION + + +WE are justly proud of our great war-ships, with their strong steel +sides and their mighty guns, each of which can hurl a cannon-ball miles +and miles away. And such balls! Why, one of them is as heavy as a dozen +of you tied together, and can bore a hole through a plate of solid steel +as thick as your bodies. + +Such ships and such guns as these had not been dreamed of in the days of +the Revolution. Then there were only small wooden vessels, moved by +sails instead of steam, and a cannon-ball that weighed twenty-four +pounds was thought very heavy. Six and twelve-pound balls were common. +And to hit a ship a mile away! It was not to be thought of. I tell you, +in those days ships had to fight nearly side by side and men to fight +face to face. To be a mile away was as good as being a hundred miles. + +But for all this there was some hard fighting done at sea in the +Revolutionary War, in spite of the small ships and little guns. They +fought closer together, that was all. Boast as we may about the +wonderful work done by our ships at Santiago and Manila in the Spanish +War, we have better right to be proud of the deeds of our great naval +hero of the Revolutionary War, with his rotten old ship and poor little +guns, but with his stout heart behind them all. + +This hero was the sturdy John Paul Jones, one of the boldest and bravest +men that ever stood on a ship's deck. And his great sea fight has never +been surpassed in all the history of naval war. I cannot tell you the +story of the Revolution without telling about the great ocean victory of +the bold-hearted Paul Jones. + +Ships poor enough were those we had to fight with. A little fleet of +seven or eight small vessels, whose heaviest guns threw only nine-pound +balls, and the most of them only six-pound. You could have thrown these +yourself with one hand, though not so far. These were all we had at +first to fight more than seventy British ships, with guns that threw +eighteen-pound balls, and some still heavier. Do you not think it looked +like a one-sided fight? + +But the Americans had one great advantage. They had not many merchant +ships and not much to lose upon the seas. On the other hand, the ocean +swarmed with the merchant ships of England, and with the store ships +bringing supplies of guns and powder and food to the armies on shore. +Here were splendid prizes for our gallant seamen, and out of every port +sailed bold privateers, or war-ships sent out by their owners, and not +by the government, sweeping the seas and bringing in many a richly-laden +craft. + +Some of the best fighting of the war was done by these privateers. While +they were hunting for merchant ships they often came across war-ships, +and you can be sure they did not always run away. No, indeed; they were +usually ready to fight, and during the war no less than sixteen +war-vessels were captured by our ocean rovers. On the other hand, the +British privateers did not capture a single American war-ship. As for +merchant vessels, our privateers brought them in by the dozens. One +fleet of sixty vessels set out from Ireland for the West Indies, and out +of these thirty-five were gobbled up by our privateers, and their rich +stores brought into American ports. During the whole war the privateers +took more than seven hundred prizes. I might go on to tell you of some +of their hard fights, but I think you would rather read the story of +Paul Jones, the boldest and bravest of them all, the terror of the seas +to the British fleet. + +Paul Jones, you should know, was born in Scotland. But he made America +his home. And as he was known to be a good sailor, he was appointed +first lieutenant of the "Alfred," the flagship of our small fleet. He +had the honor to be the first man to raise a flag on an American +man-of-war, and that is something to be proud of. This took place on the +"Delaware," at Philadelphia, about Christmas, 1775. + +It was an important event for the fleet was just being sent out. At a +given signal Lieutenant Jones grasped the halliards, and hauled up to +the mizzen topmast a great flag of yellow silk. As it unfurled to the +breeze cannon roared and crowds on the shore lustily cheered. In the +centre of the flag was seen the figure of a green pine tree, and under +this a rattlesnake lay coiled, with the warning motto, "Don't tread on +me!" + +This was the famous rattlesnake flag. Another flag was raised on which +were thirteen stripes, in turns red and white, and in the corner the +British union jack. We then had the stripes but not the stars. They were +to come after the Declaration of Independence and the union of the +states. + +In August, 1776, Congress made Paul Jones captain of the brig +"Providence," and he soon showed what kind of a man he was. He came +across a fleet of five vessels, and made up his mind to capture the +largest of them, which he thought to be a fine merchant ship. He got +pretty close up before he learned his mistake. It was the British +frigate "Solebay," strong enough to make mince-meat of his little brig. +There was nothing for it but to run, and Captain Jones made haste to +get away, followed by the "Solebay." But the Briton gained on the +American, and after a four-hours' run the frigate was less than a +hundred yards away. It might at any minute sink the daring little +"Providence" by a broadside. + +But Paul Jones was not the man to be caught. Suddenly the helm of the +brig was put hard up, as sailors say, and the little craft turned and +dashed across the frigate's bow. As it did so the flag of the republic +was spread to the breeze, and a broadside from the brig's guns swept the +frigate's deck. Then, with all sail set, away dashed the "Providence" +before the breeze. As soon as the British got back their senses they +fired all their guns at the brig. But not a ball hit her, and with the +best of the wind she soon left the "Solebay" far behind. + +And now I must tell the story of Paul Jones' greatest fight. In its way +it was the greatest sea-fight ever known. It was fought with a fleet in +which Jones sailed from a French port, for Congress had found what a +hero they had in their Scotch sailor, and now they made him commodore of +a fleet. + +The flagship of this fleet was a rotten old log of a ship, which had +sailed in the East India merchant service till its timbers were in a +state of dry rot. It was a shapeless tub of a vessel, better fitted to +lie in port and keep rabbits in than to send out as a battle-ship. Paul +Jones named it the "Bon Homme Richard," which, in English means "Poor +Richard." This was a name used by Benjamin Franklin for his almanac. + +It was not until the summer of 1779 that Jones was able to set sail. His +ship had thirty-six guns, such as they were, and he had with him three +other ships under French officers--the "Alliance," the "Pallas," and the +"Vengeance." Among his crew were a hundred American sailors, who had +just been set free from English prisons. And his master's mate, Richard +Dale, a man of his own sort, had just escaped from prison in England. + +Away they went, east and west, north and south, around the British +isles, seeking for the men-of-war which should have swarmed in those +seas, but finding only merchant vessels, a number of which were captured +and their crews kept as prisoners. But the gallant commodore soon got +tired of this. He had come out to fight, and he wanted to find something +worth fighting. At length, on September 23d, he came in view of a large +fleet of merchant ships, forty-two in all, under the charge of two +frigates, the "Serapis," of forty-two guns, and the "Countess of +Scarborough," of twenty-two smaller guns. + +Commodore Jones left the smaller vessel for his consorts to deal with, +and dashed away for the "Serapis" as fast as the tub-like "Bon Homme +Richard" could go. The British ship was much stronger than his in number +and weight of guns, but he cared very little for that. The "Serapis" had +ten 18-pound cannon in each battery, and the "Bon Homme Richard" only +three. And these were such sorry excuses for cannon that two of them +burst at the first fire, killing and wounding the most of their crews. +After that Jones did all his fighting with 12 and 8-pound guns; that is, +with guns which fired balls of these weights. + +It was night when the battle began. Soon the 18-pounders of the +"Serapis" were playing havoc with the sides of the "Bon Homme Richard." +Many of the balls went clear through her and plunged into the sea +beyond. Some struck her below the water level, and soon the rotten old +craft was "leaking like a basket." + +It began to look desperate for Jones and his ship. He could not half +reply to the heavy fire of the English guns, and great chasms were made +in the ship's side, where the 18-pound balls tore out the timbers +between the port holes. + +Captain Pearson of the "Serapis" looked at his staggering and leaking +enemy, and thought it about time for the battle to end. + +"Have you surrendered?" he shouted across the water to Commodore Jones. + +"I have not yet begun to fight," was the famous answer of the brave Paul +Jones. + +Surrender, indeed! I doubt if that word was in Paul Jones' dictionary. +He would rather have let his vessel sink. The ships now drifted +together, and by Jones' order the jib-boom of the "Serapis" was lashed +to his mizzen-mast. This brought the ships so close side by side that +the English gunners could not open their ports, and had to fire through +them and blow them off. And the gunners on both sides had to thrust the +handles of their rammers through the enemy's port holes, in order to +load their guns. + +Affairs were now desperate. The "Bon Homme Richard" was on fire in +several places. Water was pouring into her through a dozen rents. It +seemed as if she must sink or burn. Almost any man except Paul Jones +would have given up the fight. I know I should, and I fancy most of you +would have done the same. But there was no give up in that man's soul. + +One would think that nothing could have been worse, but worse still was +to come. In this crisis the "Alliance," one of Jones' small fleet, came +up and fired two broadsides into the wounded flagship, killing a number +of her crew. Whether this was done on purpose or by mistake is not +known. The French captain did not like Commodore Jones, and most men +think he played the traitor. + +And another bad thing took place. There were two or three hundred +English prisoners on the "Bon Homme Richard," taken from her prizes. One +of the American officers, thinking that all was over, set these men +free, and they came swarming up. At the same time one of the crew tried +to haul down the flag and he cried to the British for quarter. Paul +Jones knocked him down by flinging a pistol at his head. He might sink +or burn--but give up the ship? never! + +The tide of chance now began to turn. Richard Dale, the master's mate, +told the English prisoners that the vessel was sinking, and set them at +work pumping and fighting the fire to save their lives. And one of the +marines, who was fighting on the yard-arms, dropped a hand grenade into +an open hatch of the "Serapis." It set fire to a heap of gun cartridges +that lay below, and these exploded, killing twenty of the gunners and +wounding many more, while the ship was set on fire. This ended the +fight. The fire of the marines from the mast-tops had cleared the decks +of the "Serapis" of men. Commodore Jones aided in this with the +9-pounders on his deck, loading and firing them himself. Captain Pearson +stood alone, and when he heard the roar of the explosion he could bear +the strain no longer. He ran and pulled down the flag, which had been +nailed to the mast. + +"Cease firing," said Paul Jones. + +The "Serapis" was his. Well and nobly had it been won. + +Never had there been a victory gained in such straits. The "Bon Homme +Richard" was fast settling down into the sea. Pump as they would, they +could never save her. Inch by inch she sank deeper. Jones and his +gallant crew boarded the "Serapis," and at nine o'clock the next morning +the noble old craft sank beneath the ocean waves, laden with honor, and +with her victorious flag still flying. The "Serapis" was brought safely +into port. + +Captain Pearson had fought bravely, and the British ministry made him a +knight for his courage. + +"If I had a chance to fight him again I would make him a lord," said +brave Paul Jones. + +Never before or since has a victory been won under such desperate +circumstances as those of Paul Jones, with his sinking and burning ship, +his bursting guns, his escaped prisoners, and his treacherous consort. +It was a victory to put his name forever on the annals of fame. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MARION THE SWAMP FOX AND GENERAL GREENE + + +FAR away back in old English history there was a famous archer named +Robin Hood, who lived in the deep woods with a bold band of outlaws like +himself. He and his band were foes of the nobles and friends of the +poor, and his name will never be forgotten by the people of England. + +No doubt you have read about the gallant archer. No man of his time +could send an arrow so straight and sure as he. But we need not go back +for hundreds of years to find our Robin Hood. We have had a man like him +in our own country, who fought for us in the Revolution. His name was +Francis Marion, and he was known as the "Swamp Fox"; for he lived in the +swamps of South Carolina as Robin Hood did in the forests of England, +and he was the stinging foe of the oppressors of the people. + +I have already told you about the war in the North, and of how the +British, after doing all they could to overthrow Washington and conquer +the country, found themselves shut up in the city of New York, with +Washington like a watch-dog outside. + +When the British generals found that the North was too hard a nut to +crack, they thought they would try what they could do in the South. So +they sent a fleet and an army down the coast, and before long they had +taken the cities of Savannah and Charleston, and had their soldiers +marching all over Georgia and South Carolina. General Gates, the man to +whom Burgoyne surrendered, came down with a force of militia to fight +them, but he was beaten so badly that he had to run away without a +soldier to follow him. You can imagine that the British were proud of +their success. They thought themselves masters of the South, and fancied +they had only to march north and become masters there, too. + +But you must not think that they were quite masters. Back in the woods +and the swamps were men with arms in their hands and with love of +country in their hearts. They were like wasps or hornets, who kept +darting out from their nests, stinging the British troops, and then +darting back out of sight. These gallant bands were led by Marion, +Sumter, Pickens, and other brave men; but Marion's band was the most +famous of them all, so I shall tell you about the Swamp Fox and what he +did. + +I fancy all of my young friends would have laughed if they had seen +Marion's band when it joined General Gates' army. Such scarecrows of +soldiers they were! There were only about twenty of them in all, some of +them white and some black, some men and some boys, dressed in rags that +fluttered in the wind, and on horses that looked as if they had been fed +on corncobs instead of corn. + +Gates and his men did laugh at them, though they took care not to laugh +when Marion was at hand. He was a small man, with a thin face, and +dressed not much better than his men. But there was a look in his eye +that told the soldiers he was not a safe man to laugh at. + +Marion and his men were soon off again on a scout, and after Gates and +his army had been beaten and scattered to the winds, they went back to +their hiding places in the swamps to play the hornet once more. + +Along the Pedee River these swamps extended for miles. There were +islands of dry land far within, but they could only be reached by narrow +paths which the British were not able to find. Only men who had spent +their lives in that country could make their way safely through this +broad stretch of water plants and water-soaked ground. + +Marion's force kept changing. Now it went down to twenty men, now up to +a hundred or more. It was never large, for there was not food or +shelter for many men. But there were enough of them to give the British +plenty of trouble. They had their sentries on the outlook, and when a +party of British or Tories went carelessly past out would spring +Marion's men, send their foes flying like deer, and then back they would +go before a strong body of the enemy could reach them. + +These brave fellows had many hiding places in the swamps and many paths +out of them. To-day they might strike the British in one place and +to-morrow in another many miles away. Small as their force was they gave +the enemy far more trouble than Gates had done with all his army. +Marion's headquarters was a tract of land known as Snow's Island, where +a creek ran into the Pedee. It was high and dry, was covered with trees +and thickets, and was full of game. And all around it spread the soaking +swamp, with paths known only to the patriot band. Among all their hiding +places, this was their chosen home. + +You may be sure that the British did their best to capture a man who +gave them so much trouble as Marion. They sent Colonel Wemyss, one of +their best cavalry officers, to hunt him down. Marion was then far from +his hiding place and Wemyss got on his trail. But the Swamp Fox was hard +to catch. He lead the British a lively chase, and when they gave it up +in despair he followed them back. He came upon a large body of Tories +and struck them so suddenly that hardly a man of them escaped, while he +lost only one man. Tories, you should know, were Americans who fought on +the British side. + +The next man who tried to capture Marion was Colonel Tarleton, a hard +rider and a good soldier, but a cruel and brutal man. He was hated in +the South as much as Benedict Arnold was in the North. There is a good +story told about how he was tricked by one of Marion's men. One day as +he and his men were riding furiously along they came up to an old +farmer, who was hoeing in his field beside the road. + +"Can you tell me what became of the man who galloped by here just ahead +of us?" asked one of them. "I will give you fifty pounds if you put me +on his track." + +"Do you mean the man on a black horse with a white star in its +forehead?" asked the farmer. + +"Yes, that's the fellow." + +"He looked to me like Jack Davis, one of Marion's men, but he went past +so fast that I could not be sure." + +"Never mind who he was. What we want to know is where to find him." + +"Bless your heart! he was going at such a pace that he couldn't well +stop under four or five miles. I'm much afeard I can't earn that fifty +pounds." + +On rode the troop, and back into the woods went the farmer. He had not +gone far before he came to a black horse with a white star in its +forehead. This he mounted and rode away. The farmer was Jack Davis +himself. + +That was the kind of men Tarleton had to deal with, and you may be sure +that he did not catch any of them. He had his hunt, but he caught no +game. + +While Marion was keeping the war alive in South Carolina, an army was +gathering under General Greene, who was, next to Washington, the best of +the American generals. With him were Daniel Morgan, a famous leader of +riflemen, William Washington, a cousin of the commander-in-chief, and +Henry Lee, or "Light-horse Harry," father of the famous General Lee of +the Civil War. + +General Greene got together about two thousand men, half armed and half +supplied and knowing nothing about war, so that he had a poor chance of +defeating the trained British soldiers. But he was a Marion on a larger +scale, and knew when to retreat and when to advance. I must tell you +what he did. + +In the first place Morgan the rifleman met the bold Colonel Tarleton and +gave him a sound flogging. Tarleton hurried back to Lord Cornwallis, the +British commander in the South. Cornwallis thought he would catch Morgan +napping, but the lively rifleman was too wide-awake for him. He hurried +back with the prisoners he had taken from Tarleton, and crossed the +Catawba River just as the British came up. That night it rained hard, +and the river rose so that it could not be crossed for three days. + +General Greene now joined Morgan, and the retreat continued to the +Yadkin River. This, too, was crossed by the Americans and a lucky rain +again came up and swelled the river before the British could follow. +When the British got across there was a race for the Dan River on the +borders of Virginia. Greene got there first, crossed the stream, and +held the fords or crossing-place against the foe. Cornwallis by this +time had enough of it. Provisions were growing scarce, and he turned +back. But he soon had Greene on his track, and he did not find his march +a very comfortable one. + +Here I must tell you an interesting anecdote about General Greene. Once, +during his campaign, he entered a tavern at Salisbury, in North +Carolina. He was wet to the skin from a heavy rain. Steele, the +landlord, knew him and looked at him in surprise. + +"Why, general, you are not alone?" he asked. + +"Yes," said the general, "here I am, all alone, very tired, hungry, and +penniless." + +Mrs. Steele hastened to set a smoking hot meal before the hungry +traveler. Then, while he was eating, she drew from under her apron two +bags of silver and laid them on the table before him. + +"Take these, general," she said. "You need them and I can do without +them." + +You may see that the women as well as the men of America did all they +could for liberty, for there were many others like Mrs. Steele. + +I have told you that General Greene was one of the ablest of the +American leaders, and you have seen how he got the best of Cornwallis in +the retreat. Several times afterwards he fought with the British. He was +always defeated. His country soldiers could not face the British +veterans. But each time he managed to get as much good from the fight as +if he had won a victory, and by the end of the year the British were +shut up in Charleston and Savannah, and the South was free again. + +Where was Cornwallis during this time? Greene had led him so far north +that he concluded to march on into Virginia and get the troops he would +find there, and then come back. There was fighting going on in Virginia +at this time. General Arnold, the traitor, was there, fighting against +his own people. Against him was General Lafayette, a young French +nobleman who had come to the help of the Americans. + +I suppose some of you have read stories of how a wolf or some other +wild animal walked into a trap, from which it could not get out again. +Lord Cornwallis was not a wild animal, but he walked into just such a +trap after he got to Virginia. When he reached there he took command of +Arnold's troops. But he found himself not yet strong enough to face +Lafayette, so he marched to Yorktown, near the mouth of York River, +where he expected to get help by sea from New York. Yorktown was the +trap he walked into, as you will see. + +France had sent a fleet and an army to help the Americans, and just then +this fleet came up from the West Indies and sailed into the Chesapeake, +shutting off Yorktown from the sea. At the same time Washington, who had +been closely watching what was going on, broke camp before New York and +marched southward as fast as his men could go. Before Cornwallis could +guess what was about to happen the trap was closed on him. In the bay +near Yorktown was the strong French fleet; before Yorktown was the army +of American and French soldiers. + +There was no escape. The army and the fleet bombarded the town. A week +of this was enough for Lord Cornwallis. He surrendered his army, seven +thousand strong, on October 19, 1781, and the war was at an end. America +was free. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE VOYAGE OF OUR SHIP OF STATE + + +HAVE any of my young readers ever been to Europe? Likely enough some of +you may have been, for even young folks cross the ocean now-a-days. It +has come to be an easy journey, with our great and swift steamers. But +in past times it was a long and difficult journey, in which the ship was +often tossed by terrible storms, and sometimes was broken to pieces on +the rocks or went to the bottom with all on board. + +What I wish to say is, that those who come from Europe to this country +leave countries that are governed by kings, and come to a country that +is governed by the people. In some of the countries of Europe the people +might almost as well be slaves, for they have no vote and no one to +speak for them, and the man who rules them is born to power. Even in +England, which is the freest of them all, there is a king and queen and +a House of Lords who are born to power. The people can vote, but only +for members of the House of Commons. They have nothing to do with the +monarch or the lords. + +Of course you all know that this is not the case in our country. Here +every man in power is put there by the votes of the people. As President +Lincoln said, we have a government "of the people, by the people, and +for the people." + +We did not have such a government before the 4th of July, 1776. Our +country was then governed by a king, and, what was worse, this king was +on the other side of the ocean, and cared nothing for the people of +America except as money bags to fill his purse. But after that 4th of +July we governed ourselves, and had no king for lord and master; and we +have got along very well without one. + +Now you can see what the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution +meant. With the Declaration we cut loose from England. Our ship of state +set out on its long voyage to liberty. The Declaration cut the chain +that fastened this great ship to England's shores. The Revolution was +like the stormy passage across the ocean waves. At times it looked as if +our ship of state would be torn to pieces by the storms, or driven back +to the shores from which it set sail; but then the clouds would break +and the sun shine, and onward our good ship would speed. At length it +reached the port of liberty, and came to anchor far away from the land +of kings. + +This is a sort of parable. I think every one of you will know what it +means. The people of this country had enough of kings and their ways, +and of being taxed without their consent. They made up their minds to be +free to tax and govern themselves. It was for this they fought in the +Revolution, and they won liberty with their blood. + +And now, before we go on with the history of our country, it will be +wise to stop and ask what kind of government the Americans gave +themselves. They had thrown overboard the old government of kings. They +had to make a new government of the people. I hope you do not think this +was an easy task. If an architect or builder is shown a house and told +to build another like that, he finds it very easy to do. But if he is +shown a heap of stone and bricks and wood and told to build out of them +a good strong house unlike any he has ever seen, he will find his task a +very hard one, and may spoil the house in his building. + +That was what our people had to do. They could have built a king's +government easily enough. They had plenty of patterns to follow for +that. But they had no pattern for a people's government, and, like the +architect and his house, they might spoil it in the making. The fact is, +this is just what they did. Their first government was spoiled in the +making, and they had to take it down and build it over again. + +This was done by what we call a Convention, made up of men called +"delegates" sent by the several states. The Convention met in +Philadelphia in 1787 for the purpose of forming a Constitution; that is, +a plan of government under which the people should live and which the +states and their citizens should have to obey. + +This Convention was a wonderful body of statesmen. Its like has not +often been seen. The wisest and ablest men of all the states were sent +to it. They included all the great men--some we know already, +Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams and many others of fine +ability. For four months these men worked in secret. It was a severe +task they had to perform, for some wanted one thing and some another, +and many times it looked as if they would never agree; but at length all +disputes were settled and their long labors were at an end. + +General Washington was president of the Convention, and back of the +chair on which he sat the figure of the sun was painted on the wall. +When it was all over, Benjamin Franklin pointed to this painting and +said to those who stood near him: + +"Often while we sat here, troubled by hopes and fears, I have looked +towards that figure, and asked myself if it was a rising or a setting +sun. Now I know that it is the rising sun." + +The rising sun indeed it was, for when the Convention had finished its +work it had formed the noble Constitution under which we now live, the +greatest state paper which man has ever formed. + +But I fancy you want to know more about the noble framework of +government built by the wise men of the Convention of 1787. + +After the Union was formed there were thirteen states still, but each of +these had lost some of its old powers. The powers taken from the states +were given to the general government. Every state had still the right to +manage its own affairs, but such things as concerned the whole people +were managed by the general government. + +What were these things? Let us see. There was the power to coin money, +to lay taxes, to control the post-office, and to make laws for the good +of the whole nation. And there was the power to form an army and navy, +to make treaties with other countries, and to declare war if we could +not get on in peace. + +Under the Confederation which was formed during the Revolutionary War, +the states could do these things for themselves; under the Constitution +they could do none of these things, but they could pass laws that +affected only themselves, and could tax their own people for state +purposes. + +I have spoken several times of the general government. No doubt you wish +to know what this government was like. Well, it was made up of three +bodies, one of which made laws for the people, the second considered if +these laws agreed with the Constitution, the third carried out these +laws, or put them in force. + +The body that made the laws was named the Congress of the United States. +It consisted of two sections. One was called the Senate, and was made up +of two members from each state. As we have now more than forty-five +states the Senate at present has more than ninety members. The other +section was called the House of Representatives, and its members were +voted for directly by the people. The members of the Senate were voted +for by the legislatures of the states, who had been elected by the +people. + +All the laws were to be made by Congress, but not one of them could +become a law until it was approved by the President. If he did not +approve of a law, he vetoed it, that is, he returned it without being +signed with his name, and then it could not be enforced as a law until +voted for by two-thirds of the members of Congress. + +It was the duty of the President to execute or carry out the laws. He +took the place of the king in other countries. But he was not born to +his position like a king, but had to be voted for by the people, and +could stay in office for four years only. Then he, or some one else, had +to be voted for again. + +Next to the President was the Vice-President, who was to take his place +if he should die or resign. While the President was in office the +Vice-President had nothing to do except to act as presiding officer of +the Senate. What we call the Cabinet are persons chosen by the President +to help him in his work. You must understand that it takes a number of +leading men and a great many men under these to do all the work needed +to carry on our government. + +The third body of our government was called the Supreme Court. This was +made up of some of the ablest lawyers and judges of the country. They +were not to be voted for, but to be chosen by the President and then +approved by the Senate. The duty of the Supreme Court is to consider any +law brought to its notice and decide if it agrees with the Constitution. +If the Court decides that a law is not constitutional, it ceases to be +of any effect. + +This is not so very hard to understand, is it? The President and +Congress elected by the people; the Supreme Court and Cabinet selected +by the President; the Constitution the foundation of our government; and +the laws passed by Congress the building erected on the foundation. + +Its great feature is that it is a republic--a government "of the people, +by the people, and for the people." Ours is not the first republic. +There have been others. But it is the greatest. It is the only one that +covers half a continent, and is made up of states many of which are +larger than some of the kingdoms of Europe. For more than a hundred +years the Constitution made in 1787 has held good. Then it covered +thirteen states and less than four million people; now it covers more +than forty-five states and eighty million people. Then it was very poor, +and had a hard struggle before it; now it is very rich and prosperous. +It has grown to be the richest country in the world and one of the +greatest. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE END OF A NOBLE LIFE + + +EVERY four years a great question arises in this country, and all the +states and their people are disturbed until this question is settled. +Even business nearly stops still, for many persons can think of nothing +but the answer to this question. + +Who shall be President? That is the question which at the end of every +four years troubles the minds of our people. This question was asked for +the first time in 1789, after the Constitution had been made and +accepted by the states, but this time the people found it a very easy +question to answer. + +There were several men who had taken a great part in the making of our +country, and who might have been named for President. One of these was +Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Another of +them was Benjamin Franklin, who got France to come to our aid, and did +many other noble things for his country. But none of them stood so high +in the respect and admiration of the people as George Washington, who +had led our armies through the great war, and to whom, more than to any +other man, we owed our liberty. + +This time, then, there was no real question as to whom should be +President. Washington was the man. All men, all parties, settled upon +Washington. No one opposed him; there was no man in the country like +him. He was unanimously elected the first President of the United +States. + +In olden times, when a victorious general came back to Rome with the +splendid spoils brought from distant countries, the people gave him a +triumph, and all Rome rose to do him honor and to gaze upon the splendor +of the show. Washington had no splendid spoils to display. But he had +the love of the people, which was far better than gold and silver won in +war; and all the way from his home at Mount Vernon to New York, where he +was to take the office of President, the people honored him with a +triumph. + +Along the whole journey, men, women and children crowded the roadside, +and waited for hours to see him pass. That was before the day of +railroads, and he had to go slowly in his carriage, so that everybody +had a fine chance to see and greet him as he went by. Guns were fired as +he passed through the towns; arches of triumph were erected for his +carriage to go under; flowers were strewn in the streets for its wheels +to roll over; cheers and cries of greeting filled the air; all that the +people could do to honor their great hero was done. + +On the 30th of April, 1789, Washington took the oath of office as the +first President of our country and people. He stood on the balcony of a +building in front of Federal Hall, in which Congress met, and in the +street before him was a vast multitude, full of joy and hope. When he +had taken the oath cannon roared out, bells were rung in all the +neighboring steeples, and a mighty shout burst from the assembled +multitude: + +"Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" + +This, I have said, was in New York. But Philadelphia was soon chosen as +the seat of government, and the President and Congress moved to that +city the next year. There they stayed for ten years. In the year 1800 a +new city, named Washington, on the banks of the Potomac, was made the +capital of our country, and in that city Congress has met ever since. + +I must say something here about another of the great men of +Revolutionary times, Alexander Hamilton. He was great in financial or +money matters, and this was very important at that time, for the +money-affairs of the country were in a sad state. + +In the Revolution our people had very little money, and that was one +reason why they had so much suffering. Congress soon ran out of gold and +silver, so it issued paper money. This did very well for a time, and in +the end a great deal of paper money was set afloat, but people soon +began to get afraid of it. There was too much money of this kind for so +poor a country. The value of the Continental currency, as it was called, +began to go down, and the price of everything else to go up. In time the +paper money lost almost all its value. + +Such was the money the people had at the end of the Revolution. It was +not good for much, was it? But it was the only kind of money Congress +had to pay the soldiers with or to pay the other debts of the +government. The country owed much more money than it could pay, so that +it was what we call bankrupt. Nobody would trust it or take its paper in +payment. What Alexander Hamilton did was to help the country to pay its +debts and to bring back its lost credit, and in doing that he won great +honor. + +Hamilton came to this country from the West Indies during the +Revolution. He was then only a boy, but he soon showed himself a good +soldier, and Washington made him an officer on his staff and one of his +friends. He often asked young Hamilton for advice, and took it, too. + +Hamilton was one of the men who made the Constitution, and when +Washington became President he chose him as his Secretary of the +Treasury. That is, he gave him the money affairs of the government to +look after. Hamilton was not afraid of the load of debt, and he soon +took off its weight. He asked Congress to pay not only its own debt, but +that of the states as well, and also to make good all the paper money. +Congress did not like to do this, but Hamilton talked to the members +till he persuaded them to do so. + +Then he set himself to pay it. He laid a tax on whiskey and brandy and +on all goods that came into the country. He had a mint, which is a +building where money is coined from metal, and a national bank built in +Philadelphia. He made the debt a government fund or loan, on which he +agreed to pay interest, and to pay off the principal as fast as +possible. It was not long before all the fund was taken up by those who +had money, and the country got back its lost credit, for the taxes began +to bring in much money. + +Washington was President for eight years. That made two terms of four +years each. Many wished to make him President for a third term, but he +refused to run again. Since then no one has been made President for more +than two terms. + +George Washington had done enough for his country. He loved his home, +but he had little time to live there. When he was only a boy he was +called away to take part in the French and Indian War. Then, after +spending some happy years at home, he was called away again to lead the +army in the Revolutionary War. Finally, he served his country eight +years as President. + +He was now growing old and wanted rest, and he went back with joy to his +beloved home at Mount Vernon, hoping to spend there the remainder of his +days. But trouble arose with France, and it looked as if there would be +a new war, and Washington was asked to take command of the army again. +He consented, though he had had enough of fighting; but fortunately the +war did not come, so he was not obliged to abandon his home. + +He died in December, 1799, near the end of the century of which he was +one of the greatest men. The news of his death filled all American +hearts with grief. Not while the United States exists will the name of +Washington be forgotten or left without honor. His home and tomb at Mt. +Vernon are visited each year by thousands of patriotic Americans. As was +said of him long ago by General Henry Lee, he was and is, "first in war, +first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE STEAMBOAT AND THE COTTON GIN + + +I THINK you must now have learned a great deal about the history of your +country from the time Columbus crossed the ocean till the year 1800, the +beginning of the Nineteenth century. You have been told about discovery, +and settlement, and wars, and modes of life, and government, and other +things, but you must bear in mind that these are not the whole of +history. The story of our country is broad and deep enough to hold many +other things beside these. For instance, there is the story of our great +inventors, to whom we owe so much. I propose in this chapter to tell you +about some of those who lived near the year 1800. + +First, I must ask you to go back with me to a kitchen in Scotland many +years ago. On the open hearth of that kitchen a bright fire blazed, and +near by sat a thoughtful-faced boy, with his eyes fixed on the +tea-kettle which was boiling away over the fire, while its lid kept +lifting to let the steam escape. His mother, who was bustling about, no +doubt thought him idle, and may have scolded him a little. But he was +far from idle; he was busy at work--not with his hands, but with his +brain. The brain, you know, may be hard at work while the body is doing +nothing. + +How many of you have seen the lid of a kettle of boiling water keeping +up its clatter as the steam lifts it and puffs out into the air? And +what thought has this brought into your mind? Into the mind of little +James Watt, the Scotch boy, it brought one great thought, that of power. +As he looked at it, he said to himself that the steam which comes from +boiling water must have a great deal of force, if a little of it could +keep the kettle lid clattering up and down; and he asked himself if such +a power could not be put to some good use. + +Our Scotch boy was not the first one to have that thought. Others had +thought the same thing, and steam had been used to move a poor sort of +engine. But what James Watt did when he grew up, was to invent a much +better engine than had ever been made before. It was a great day for us +all when that engine was invented. Before that time men had done most of +the work of the world with their hands, and you may imagine that the +work went on very slowly. Since that time most of the world's work has +been done with the aid of the steam-engine, and one man can do as much +as many men could do in the past. You have seen the wheels rolling and +heard the machines rattling and the hammers clanging in our great +factories and workshops. And I fancy most of you know that back of all +these is the fire under the boilers and the steam in the engine, the +mighty magician which sets all these wheels and machines at work and +changes raw material into so many things of use and beauty. + +Now let us come back to our American inventors. I have spoken about the +steam engine because it was with this that most of them worked. They +thought that if horses could drag a wagon over the ground and the wind +could drive a vessel through the water, steam might do the same thing, +and they set themselves to see in what way a carriage or a boat could be +moved by a steam engine. + +Very likely you have all heard about Robert Fulton and his steamboat, +but you may not know that steamboats were running on American waters +years before that of Fulton was built. Why, as long ago as 1768, before +the Revolutionary War, Oliver Evans, one of our first inventors, had +made a little boat which was moved by steam and paddle-wheels. Years +afterwards he made a large engine for a boat at New Orleans. It was put +in the boat, but there came a dry season and low water, so that the boat +could not be used, and the owners took the engine out and set it to work +on a sawmill. It did so well there that it was never put back in the +boat; so that steamboat never had a chance. + +Oliver Evans was the first man to make a steamboat, but there were +others who thought they could move a boat by steam. Some of these were +in Europe and some in America. Down in Virginia was an inventor named +Rumsey who moved a boat at the speed of four miles an hour. In this boat +jets of water were pumped through the stern and forced the boat along. +In Philadelphia was another man named John Fitch, who was the first man +to make a successful steamboat. His boat was moved with paddles like an +Indian canoe. It was put on the Delaware River, between Philadelphia and +Trenton in 1790, and ran for several months as a passenger boat, at the +speed of seven or eight miles an hour. Poor John Fitch! He was +unfortunate and in the end he killed himself. + +I am glad to be able to tell you a different story of the next man who +tried to make a steamboat. His name was Robert Fulton. He was born in +Pennsylvania, and as a boy was very fond of the water, he and the other +boys having an old flatboat which they pushed along with a pole. Fulton +got tired of this way of getting along, and like a natural-born inventor +set his wits to work. In the end he made two paddle-wheels which hung +over the sides and could be moved in the water by turning a crank and +so force the boat onward. The boys found this much easier than the pole, +and likely enough young Fulton thought a large vessel might be moved in +the same way. + +He knew all about what others had done. He had heard how Rumsey moved +his boat by pumping water through the stern, and Fitch by paddling it +along. And he had seen a boat in Scotland moved by a stern paddle-wheel. +I fancy he had not forgotten the side paddle-wheel he made as a boy to +go fishing with, for when he set out to invent his steamboat this is the +plan he tried. + +Fulton made his first boat in France, but he had bad luck there. Then he +came to America and built a boat in New York. While he was at work on +this boat in America, James Watt, of whom I have already told you, was +building him an engine in England. He wanted the best engine that he +could get, and he thought the Scotch inventor was the right man to make +it. + +While Fulton was working some of the smart New Yorkers were laughing. +They called his boat "Fulton's Folly," and said it would not move faster +than the tide would carry it. But he let them laugh and worked on, and +at last, one day in 1807, the new boat, which he named the "Clermont," +was afloat in the Hudson ready for trial. Hundreds of curious people +came to see it start. Some were ready to laugh again when they saw the +boat, with its clumsy paddle-wheels hanging down in the water on both +sides. They were not covered with wooden frames as were such wheels +afterwards. + +"That boat move? So will a log move if set adrift," said the people who +thought themselves very wise. "It will move when the tide moves it, and +not before." But none of them felt like laughing when they saw the +wheels begin to turn and the boat to glide out into the stream, moving +against the tide. + +"She moves! she moves!" cried the crowd, and nobody said a word about +"Fulton's Folly." + +Move she did. Up the Hudson she went against wind and current, and +reached Albany, one hundred and forty-two miles away, in thirty-two +hours. This was at the rate of four and a half miles an hour. It was not +many years before steamboats were running on all our rivers. + +That is all I shall say here about the steamboat, for there is another +story of invention I wish to tell you before I close. This is about the +cotton fibre, which you know is the great product of the Southern +States. + +The cotton plant when ripe has a white, fluffy head, and a great bunch +of snow-white fibres, within which are the seeds. In old times these had +to be taken out by hand, and it was a whole day's work for a negro to +get the seeds out of a pound of the cotton. This made cotton so dear +that not much of it could be sold. In 1784 eight bags of it were sent to +Liverpool, and the custom-house people there seized it for duties. They +said it must have been smuggled from some other country, for the United +States could not have produced such a "prodigious quantity." + +A few years afterwards a young man named Eli Whitney went South to teach +in a private family, but before he got there some one else had his +situation, and he was left with nothing to do. Mrs. Greene, the widow of +General Greene, who fought so well in the Revolution, took pity on him +and gave him a home in her house. He paid her by fixing up things about +her house. She found him so handy that she asked him if he could not +invent a machine to take the seeds out of the cotton. Whitney said he +would try, and he set himself to work. It was not long before he had a +machine made which did the work wonderfully well. This machine is known +as the "cotton-gin," or cotton engine, for gin is short for engine. On +one side of it are wires so close together that the seeds cannot get +through. Between them are circular saws which catch the cotton and draw +it through, while the seeds pass on. + +The machine was a simple one, but it acted like magic. A hundred negroes +could not clean as much cotton in a day as one machine. The price of +cotton soon went down and a demand for it sprang up. In 1795, when the +cotton gin was made, only about 500,000 pounds of cotton were produced +in this country. By 1801 this had grown to 20,000,000 pounds. Now it has +grown to more than 12,000,000 bales, of nearly 500 pounds each. This is +sold to foreign countries and is worked in our own mills at home, being +made into millions of yards of cloth of many kinds to clothe the people +of the earth. All this comes from the work of Eli Whitney's machine. And +the seed taken from the cotton is pressed for the oil it contains, so +that from a year's crop we get nearly 150,000,000 gallons of useful +oil. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE ENGLISH AND AMERICANS FIGHT AGAIN + + +FOR years before and after the year 1800 all Europe was filled with war +and bloodshed. Most of my readers must have heard of Napoleon Bonaparte, +one of the greatest generals that ever lived, and one of the most cruel +men. He was at the head of the armies of France, and was fighting all +Europe. England was his greatest enemy and fought him on land and sea, +and this fighting on the sea made trouble between England and the United +States. + +The English wanted men for their war-vessels and said they had a right +to take Englishmen wherever they could find them. So they began to take +sailors off of American merchant vessels. They said that these men were +deserters from the British navy, but the fact is that many of them were +true-born Americans; and our people grew very angry as this went on year +after year. + +What made it worse was the insolence of some of the British captains. +One of them went so far as to stop an American war-vessel, the +"Chesapeake," and demand part of her crew, who, he said, were British +deserters. When Captain Barron refused to give them up the British +captain fired all his guns and killed and wounded numbers of the +American crew. The "Chesapeake" had no guns fit to fire back, so her +flag had to be pulled down and the men to be given up. + +You may well imagine that this insult made the American blood boil. +There would have been war at that time if the British government had not +owned that it was wrong and offered to pay for the injury. A few years +afterwards the insult was paid for in a different way. Another proud +British captain thought he could treat Americans in the same saucy +fashion. The frigate "President" met the British sloop-of-war "Little +Belt," and hailed it, the captain calling through his trumpet, "What +ship is that?" + +Instead of giving a civil reply the British captain answered with a +cannon shot. Then the "President" fired a broadside which killed eleven +and wounded twenty-one men on the "Little Belt." When the captain of the +"President" hailed again the insolent Briton was glad to reply in a more +civil fashion. He had been taught a useful lesson. + +The United States was then a poor country, and not in condition to go to +war. But no nation could submit to such insults as these. It is said +that more than six thousand sailors had been taken from our merchant +ships, and among these were two nephews of General Washington, who were +seized while they were on their way home from Europe, and put to work as +common seamen on a British war-vessel. + +At length, on June 18, 1812, the United States declared war against +Great Britain. It had put up with insults and injuries as long as it +could bear them. It did not take long to teach the haughty British +captains that American sea-dogs were not to be played with. The little +American fleet put to sea, and before the end of the year it had +captured no less than five of the best ships in the British navy and had +not lost a single ship in return. I fancy the people of England quit +singing their proud song, "Britannia rules the waves." + +Shall I tell you the whole story of this war? I do not think it worth +while, for there is much of it you would not care to hear. The war went +on for two years and a half, on sea and land, but there were not many +important battles, and the United States did not win much honor on land. +But on the sea the sailors of our country covered themselves with glory. + +Most of the land battles were along the borders of Canada. Here there +was a good deal of fighting, but most of it was of no great account. At +first the British had the best of it, and then the Americans began to +win battles, but it all came to an end about where it began. Neither +side gained anything for the men that were killed. + +There was one naval battle in the north that I must tell you about. On +Lake Erie the British had a fleet of six war-vessels, and for a time +they had everything their own way. Then Captain Oliver Perry, a young +officer, was sent to the lake to build a fleet and fight the British. + +When he got there the stuff for his ships was growing in the woods. He +had to cut down trees and build ships from their timber. But he worked +like a young giant, and very soon had some vessels built and afloat. He +found some also on the lake, and in a wonderfully short time he had a +fleet on the lake and was sailing out to find the British war-ships. + +The fleets met on September 10, 1813. The Americans had the most +vessels, but the British had the most guns, and soon they were fighting +like sea-dragons. The "Lawrence," Captain Perry's flagship, fought two +of the largest British ships till it was nearly ready to sink, and so +many of its crew were killed and wounded that it had only eight men left +fit for fighting. What do you think the brave Perry did then? He leaped +into a small boat and was rowed away, with the American flag floating in +his hand, though the British ships were firing hotly at him. + +When he reached the "Niagara," another of his ships, he sprang on board +and sailed right through the enemy's fleet, firing right and left into +their shattered vessels. The British soon had enough of this, and in +fifteen minutes more they gave up the fight. + +"We have met the enemy and they are ours," wrote Perry to General +Harrison. He was a born hero of the waves. + +Now I think we had better take a look out to sea and learn what was +going on there. We did not have many ships, but they were like so many +bulldogs in a flock of sheep. The whole world looked on with surprise to +see our little fleet of war-vessels making such havoc in the proud +British navy which no country in Europe had ever been able to defeat. + +In less than two months after war was declared the frigate "Essex" met +the British sloop-of-war "Alert" and took it in eight minutes, without +losing a man. The "Essex" was too strong for the "Alert," but six days +afterwards the "Constitution" met the "Guerriere," and these vessels +were nearly the same in size. But in half an hour the "Guerriere" was +nearly shot to pieces and ready to sink, and had lost a hundred of her +men. The others were hastily taken off, and then down went the proud +British frigate to the bottom of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. + +All the island of Great Britain went into mourning when it learned how +the Americans had served this good ship. There was soon more to mourn +for. The American sloop "Wasp" captured the British sloop "Frolic." The +frigate "United States" captured the frigate "Macedonian." The +"Constitution" met the "Java" and served it the same way as it had done +the "Guerriere." In two hours the "Java" was a wreck. Soon after the +sloop "Hornet" met the ship "Peacock" and handled her so severely that +she sank while her crew was being taken off. + +Later on the British won two battles at sea, and that was all they +gained during the whole war. On the water the honors stayed with the +Americans. + +There was one affair in which the British won great dishonor instead of +honor. In July, 1814, a strong British fleet sailed up Chesapeake Bay, +with an army of nearly five thousand men on board. These were landed and +marched on the city of Washington, the capital of the young republic. + +Their coming was a surprise. There were few trained soldiers to meet +this army, and those were not the days of railroads, so that no troops +could be brought in haste from afar. Those that gathered were nearly all +raw militia, and they did not stand long before the British veterans who +had fought in the wars with Napoleon. They were soon put to flight, and +the British army marched into our capital city. + +There they behaved in a way that their country has ever since been +ashamed of. They set fire to the public buildings and burned most of +them to the ground. The Capitol, the President's house, and other +buildings were burned, and the records of the government were destroyed. +Then, having acted like so many savages, the British hurried away before +the Americans could get at them for revenge. That was a victory, I +fancy, which the British do not like to read about. + +They had been so successful at Washington that they thought they would +try the same thing with another city. This time they picked out New +Orleans, which was so far away from the thickly settled part of the +country that they fancied it would be an easy matter to capture it. In +this they made a great mistake, as you will soon see. + +There was a general in the South who was not used to being defeated. +This was Andrew Jackson, one of our bravest soldiers, who had just won +fame in a war with the Indians of Georgia. He was a man who was always +ready to fight and this the English found when they marched on New +Orleans. There were twelve thousand of them, and Jackson, who had been +sent there to meet them, only had half that many. And the British were +trained soldiers, while the Americans were militia. But most of them +were men of the backwoods, who knew how to shoot. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.] + +Some of you may have heard that Jackson's men fought behind cotton +bales. That is not quite true, but he was in such a hurry in building +his breastworks that he did put in them some bales of cotton taken from +the warehouses. The British, who were in as great a hurry, built a +breastwork of sugar hogsheads which they found on the plantations. But +the cannon balls soon set the cotton on fire and filled the air with +flying sugar, so the bales and the hogsheads had to be pulled out. It +was found that cotton and sugar, while good enough in their place, were +not good things to stop cannon balls. + +Soon the British marched against the American works, and there was a +terrible fight. + +"Stand to your guns, my men," said Jackson to his soldiers. "Make every +shot tell. Give it to them." + +Many of the men were old hunters from Tennessee, some of whom could hit +a squirrel in the eye, and when they fired the British fell in rows. Not +a man could cross that terrible wall of fire, and they fought on until +twenty-six hundred of them lay bleeding on the field, while only eight +Americans were killed. + +That ended the battle. The men were not born who could face a fire like +that. It ended the war also, and it was the last time Americans and +Englishmen ever fought each other. Jackson became the hero of the +country, and he was finally elected President of the United States. I +cannot say that he was well fitted to be President. He was a very +obstinate man, who always wanted to have his own way, and that is better +in a soldier than in a President. But he was one who loved his country, +and when one of the states of the South sought to secede from the Union, +Jackson, though he was a son of the South himself, quickly gave the +seceders to understand that he was a general as well as a President, and +that no state should leave the ranks of the Union while he marched at +its head. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HOW THE VICTIMS OF THE ALAMO WERE REVENGED + + +I HAVE told you the story of more than one war. I shall have to tell you +now about still another in which the Americans fought the Mexicans in +Texas. + +I suppose you know that Texas is one of our states, and the largest of +them all. That is, it is largest in square miles; not in number of +people. In former times it was part of Mexico, and was a portion of what +is called Spanish America. But there came to be more Americans in it +than Spaniards. People kept going there from the United States until it +was much more of an American than a Spanish country. + +General Santa Anna, who was at the head of the Mexican government at the +time I speak of, was somewhat of a tyrant, and he tried to rule the +people of Texas in a way they would not submit to. Then he ordered them +to give up all their guns to his soldiers, but instead of that they took +their guns and drove the Mexican soldiers away. After that there was +war, as you might well suppose, for a Mexican army was sent to punish +the Texans. + +I wish now to tell you about what happened to some very brave Americans. +There were only one hundred and seventy-five of them, and they were +attacked by General Santa Anna with an army of several thousand men. But +they were commanded by Colonel Travis, a brave young Texan, and among +them was the famous David Crockett, a great hunter, and Colonel James +Bowie, who invented the terrible "bowie-knife," and other bold and +daring men who had settled in Texas. They had made a fort of an old +Spanish building called the Alamo. + +The kind of men I have named do not easily give up. The Mexicans poured +bomb-shells and cannon balls into their fort, battering down the walls +and killing many of them, but they fought on like tigers, determined to +die rather than surrender. At length so many of them were dead that +there were not enough left to defend the walls, and the Mexican soldiers +captured the Alamo. The valiant Crockett kept on fighting, and when he +fell, the ground before him was covered with Mexican dead. Then Santa +Anna ordered his soldiers to shoot down all that were left. That is what +is called the "Massacre of the Alamo." + +It was not long before the Americans had their revenge. Their principal +leader was a bold and able man named Samuel Houston. He had less than +eight hundred men under him, but he marched on the Mexicans, who had +then about eighteen hundred men. + +"Men, there is the enemy," said brave General Houston. "Do you wish to +fight?" + +"We do," they all shouted. + +"Charge on them, then, for liberty or death! Remember the Alamo!" + +"Remember the Alamo!" they cried, as they rushed onward with the courage +of lions. + +In a little time the Mexicans were running like frightened deer, and the +daring Texans were like deer hounds on their tracks. Of the eighteen +hundred Mexicans all but four hundred were killed, wounded, or taken +prisoners, while the Americans lost only thirty men. They had well +avenged the gallant Travis and the martyrs of the Alamo. + +The cruel Santa Anna was taken prisoner. He had only one sound leg, and +the story was that he was caught with his wooden leg stuck fast in the +mud. Many of the Texans wanted to hang him for his murders at the Alamo, +but in the end he was set free. + +All this took place in 1835. Texas was made an independent country, the +"Lone Star Republic," with General Houston for President. But its people +did not want to stand alone. They were American born and wished to +belong to the United States. So this country was asked to accept Texas +as a state of the Union. Nine years after it was accepted as one of the +American states. + +Perhaps some of my readers may think that this story has much more to do +with the history of Mexico than that of the United States. But the +taking of Texas as a state was United States history, and so was what +followed. You know how one thing leads to another. Mexico did not feel +like giving up Texas so easily, and her rulers said that the United +States had no right to take it. It was not long before the soldiers of +the two countries met on the border lands and blood was shed. There was +a sharp fight at a place called Palo Alto, and a sharper one at a place +called Resaca de la Palma. In both of them the Mexicans were defeated. + +Congress then declared war against Mexico, and very soon there was hard +fighting going on elsewhere. General Zachary Taylor, a brave officer, +who had fought the Seminole Indians in Florida, led the American troops +across the Rio Grande River into Mexico, and some time afterwards +marched to a place called Buena Vista. He had only five thousand men, +while Santa Anna was marching against him with twenty thousand--four to +one. General Taylor's army was in great danger. Santa Anna sent him a +message, asking him to surrender if he did not want his army cut to +pieces; but Rough and Ready, as Taylor's men called him, sent word back +that he was there to fight, not to surrender. + +The battle that followed was a desperate one. It took place on February +23, 1847. The Mexican lancers rode bravely against the American lines +and were driven back at the cannon's mouth. For ten long hours the +fighting went on. The Mexicans gained the high ground above the pass and +put the American troops in danger. Charge after charge was made, but +like bulldogs the Yankee soldiers held their ground. On came the dashing +Mexican lancers, shouting their war-cry of "God and Liberty," and +charging a battery commanded by Captain Bragg. The lancers captured some +of the guns and drove the soldiers back. Captain Bragg sent a messenger +in haste to General Taylor, saying that he must have more men or he +could not hold his ground. + +"I have no more men to send you," said Rough and Ready. "Give them a +little more grape, Captain Bragg." + +The cannon were loaded with grape-shot and fired into the ranks of the +enemy, cutting great gaps through them. Again and again they were loaded +and fired, and then the fine Mexican cavalry turned and fled. They could +not stand any more of Captain Bragg's grape. + +That night both armies went to sleep on the field of battle. But when +the next day dawned the Mexicans were gone. Santa Anna had led them +away during the night and General Taylor had won the greatest victory of +the war. He received a noble reward for it, for the following year he +was elected President of the United States. + +The next thing done in this war was an attempt to capture the city of +Mexico, the capital of the country. The easiest way to get there was by +sea, for it was a long journey by land, so a fleet was got ready and an +army sent south on the Gulf of Mexico. This army was led by General +Winfield Scott, who had fought against the British in the War of 1812. + +Onward they sailed till they came before the seaport city of Vera Cruz. +This had a strong fort, which was battered for four days by the American +cannon, when its walls were so shattered that the Mexicans gave it up. +In this way a good starting-point was gained. + +But I would have you all know that the Americans had no easy road before +them. The city of Mexico lies in the center of the country on land that +is as high as many mountains, and the way to it from the coast goes +steadily upward, and has many difficult passes and rough places, where a +small force might stop an army. + +[Illustration: THE STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC.] + +If the Mexicans had known their business and had possessed good generals +I am afraid the Americans might never have gotten up this rugged +road. The Mexicans had men enough but they wanted able leaders. At one +of the passes, named Cerro Gordo, Santa Anna waited with 15,000 men. The +Americans had only 9,000. It looked as if they might have to turn back. + +What did they do? Why, they managed to drag a battery to the top of a +steep hill that overlooked the pass. And while these guns poured their +shot down on the astonished Mexicans the army attacked them in front. In +a few hours they were in full flight. Five generals, and 3,000 men were +taken prisoners, and Santa Anna himself came so near being taken that he +left his cork leg behind. Do you not think a general ought to have two +good legs when he has to run as often as Santa Anna had? + +Onward they marched until not very far away lay the beautiful city of +Mexico. But here and there along the road were strong forts, and Santa +Anna had collected a large army, three times as large as that of the +Americans. You may see that General Scott had a very hard task before +him. But there is one way to get past forts without fighting; which is, +to go around them. This is what General Scott did. He marched to the +south, and soon he was within ten miles of the capital without a battle. + +August 20th was a great day for the American army. That day our brave +troops fought like heroes, and before night they had won five +victories. One of these was on a steep hill called Churubusco, which +they charged up in the face of the Mexican guns. Then on they went, and +in a short time the old city, the most ancient in America, was in their +hands. That ended the war. When peace was made the United States claimed +the provinces of New Mexico and California, which had been captured by +our soldiers, but for which Mexico was paid a large sum. No one then +dreamed how rich the provinces were in silver and gold. Not long after +the gold of California was discovered, and that country, which had been +feebly held by a few Mexicans, was quickly filled by an army of +gold-seekers. Since then it has proved one of the richest parts of the +earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +HOW SLAVERY LED TO WAR + + +ALL of my young readers must know what a wonderful age this is that we +live in, and what marvelous things have been done. Some of you, no +doubt, have read the stories of magic in the "Arabian Nights +Entertainments," and thought them very odd, if not absurd. But if any +one, a hundred years ago, had been told about the railroad, the +telegraph, the photograph, the phonograph, vessels that run beneath the +surface of the water, and ships that sail in the air, I fancy they would +have called all this nonsense and "Arabian Nights" magic. Why, think of +it, a trolley car is as magical, in its way, as Aladdin's wonderful +lamp. + +But while you know much about these things, there has been one great +step of progress which, I fancy, you know or think very little about. I +do not mean material but moral progress, for you must bear in mind that +while the world has been growing richer it has also been growing better. + +A hundred years ago many millions of men were held as slaves in America +and Europe. Some of these were black and some were white, but they +could be bought and sold like so many cattle, could be whipped by their +masters, and had no more rights than so many brute beasts. + +To-day there is not a slave in Europe or America. All these millions of +slaves have been set free. Do you not think I am right in saying that +the world has grown better as well as richer? Why, fifty years ago there +were millions of slaves in our own country, and now there is not one in +all the land. Is not that a great gain to mankind? But it is sad to +think that this slavery gave rise to a terrible war. I shall have to +tell you about this war, after I have told you how slavery brought it +on. + +In the early part of this book you read of how white men first came to +this country. I have now to tell you that black men were brought here +almost as soon. In 1619, just twelve years after Captain John Smith and +the English colonists landed at Jamestown, a Dutch ship sailed up the +James River and sold them some negroes to be held as slaves. + +You remember about Pocahontas, the Indian girl who saved the life of +Captain John Smith. She was afterwards married to John Rolfe, the man +who first planted tobacco in Virginia. John Rolfe wrote down what was +going on in Virginia, and it was he who told us about these negroes +brought in as slaves. This is what he wrote: + +"About the last of August came in, a Dutch marine-of-war, that sold us +20 Negars." + +These twenty "Negars," as he called them, grew in numbers until there +were four million negro slaves in our country in 1860, when the war +began. There are twice that many black people in the country to-day, but +I am glad to be able to say that none of them are slaves. Yet how sad it +is to think that it cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, and +misery to multitudes of families, to set them free. + +"Where did all these black men come from?" I am sure I hear some young +voice asking that question. Well, they came from Africa, the land of the +negroes. In our time merchant ships are used to carry goods from one +country to another. In old times many of these ships were used in +carrying negroes to be sold as slaves. The wicked captains would steal +the poor black men in Africa, or buy them from the chiefs, who had taken +them prisoners in war. Some of them filled their ships so full of these +miserable victims that hundreds of them died and were thrown overboard. +Then, when they got to the West Indies or to the shores of our country, +they would sell all that were left alive to the planters, to spend the +rest of their lives like oxen chained to the yoke. + +It was a very sad and cruel business, but people then thought it right, +and some of the best men took part in it. That is why I say the world +has grown better. We have a higher idea of right and wrong in regard to +such things than our forefathers had. + +Slaves were kept in all parts of the country, in the North as well as +the South. There were more of them in the South than in the North, for +they were of more use there as workers in the tobacco and rice and +cotton fields. Most of those in the North were kept as house servants. +Not many of them were needed in the fields. + +The North had not much use for slaves, and in time laws were passed, +doing away with slavery in all the Northern states. Very likely the same +thing would have taken place in the South if it had not been for the +discovery of the cotton-gin. I have told you what a change this great +invention made. Before that time it did not pay to raise cotton in our +fields. After that time cotton grew to be a very profitable crop, and +the cultivation of it spread wider and wider until it was planted over a +great part of the South. + +This made a remarkable change. Negroes were very useful in the cotton +fields, and no one in the South now thought of doing away with slavery. +After 1808 no ships could bring slaves to this country, but there were a +great many here then, and many others were afterwards born and grew up +as slaves, so that the numbers kept increasing year after year. + +There were always some people, both in the North and the South, who did +not like slavery. Among them were Franklin and Washington and Jefferson +and other great men. In time there got to be so many of these people in +the North that they formed what were called Anti-slavery Societies. Some +of them said that slavery should be kept where it was and not taken into +any new states. Others said that every slave in the United States ought +to be set free. + +This brought on great excitement all over the country. The people in the +North who believed in slavery were often violent. Now and then there +were riots. Buildings where Anti-slavery meetings were held were burned +down. One of the leaders of the Abolitionists, as the Anti-slavery +people were called, was dragged through the streets of Boston with a +rope tied round his body, and would have been hanged if his friends had +not got him away. + +But as time went on the Abolitionists grew stronger in the North. Many +slaves ran away from their masters, and these were hidden by their white +friends until they could get to Canada, where they were safe. All +through the South and North people were excited. + +I do not think many of our people expected the cruel war that was +coming. If they had they might have been more careful what they said and +did. But for all that, war was close at hand, and two things helped to +bring it on. + +There had been fighting in Kansas, one of the territories that was to be +made into a state, and among the fighters was an old man named John +Brown, who thought that God had called him to do all he could for the +freedom of the slaves. + +Some people think that John Brown was not quite right in his brain. What +he did was to gather a body of men and to take possession of Harper's +Ferry, on the Potomac River, where there was a government army. He +thought that the slaves of Virginia would come to his aid in multitudes +and that he could start a slave war that would run all through the +South. + +It was a wild project. Not a slave came. But some troops came under +Colonel Robert E. Lee, and Brown and his party were forced to surrender. +Some of them were killed and wounded and the others taken prisoners. +John Brown and six others were tried and hanged. But the half-insane old +man had done his work. That fight at Harper's Ferry helped greatly to +bring on the war. + +I said there were two things. The other was the election of Abraham +Lincoln as President. + +For a long time, as I have told you, the Abolitionists, or people +opposed to slavery, were few in number. When they grew more numerous +they formed a political party, known as the Anti-slavery Party. In 1856 +a new party, called the Republican Party, was formed and took in all the +Abolitionists. It was so strong that in the election of that year eleven +states voted for its candidate, John C. Fremont, the man who had taken +California from Mexico. + +In 1860 Abraham Lincoln, a western orator of whom I shall soon tell you +more, was the candidate of the Republican Party, and in the election of +that year this new party was successful and Lincoln was elected +President of the United States. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HOW LINCOLN BECAME PRESIDENT + + +I SHOULD like to tell you all about one of the greatest and noblest men +who ever lived in our country, and give you his story from the time he +was born until the time he died. But that would be biography, and this +is a book of history. Biography is the story of a man; history is the +story of a nation. So I cannot give you the whole life of Abraham +Lincoln, but only that part of it which has to do with the history of +our country. + +Nations, you should know, are divided into monarchies and republics. In +a monarchy the ruler is called a king, or some other name which means +the same thing. And when a king dies his son takes his place as king. +The king may be noble and wise, or he may be base and foolish; he may be +a genius, or he may be an idiot, without any sense at all; he may be +kind and just, or he may be cruel and unjust; but for all that he is +king. There may be some good points in letting a man be born king, but +you can see that there are many bad ones. The history of the nations +has often shown this, as you may have seen in what we have said of some +of the English kings who had to do with America. + +In a republic the ruler--who is called president instead of king--is not +born to his office, but is chosen by the people; and he cannot rule the +nation all his life, but only for a few years. In that way the best and +wisest man in the nation may be chosen as its ruler. We do not always +get the best man in the United States; but that is the fault of the +people, it is not the fault of the plan. There is one thing sure, we +never get a fool or an idiot, as kingdoms sometimes do. + +There are times when we do choose our best and wisest man, and everybody +thinks we did so when we made Abraham Lincoln President. As I have told +you, as soon as he was made President a great war began between the two +halves of our people. It is not so easy to rule in war as in peace, and +I must say that poor Lincoln had a very hard time of it. But he did the +best he could, and people say now that no man in our nation could have +done better. Abraham Lincoln stands next to George Washington among the +great and noble men of America. + +There is one more thing it is well to know. It is not only the rich and +proud that we choose to be our Presidents. Many of them have begun life +as poor boys, and none of them began poorer than "honest Abe Lincoln," +as the people he lived among called him. He well deserved this name, for +he was always good and honest. + +No doubt there are many poor boys among my readers, but I do not believe +that any of you are as poor as was little Abe Lincoln, or have had as +hard a life. So you see that while a king must have a king or great +noble for father, a President may be the son of the poorest laborer. Any +one of my young readers, if he can bring himself strongly to the notice +of the people, may become President, and I should not wonder at all if +some one among you should do so in future times. + +I told you that I would not speak about Abraham Lincoln's early life, +but I see that I shall have to do so. He was born in a mean little +log-cabin in the back woods a hundred years ago, in the year 1809. His +father could not read and did not like to work, and the poor little +fellow had hardly enough to eat. + +His mother loved him, but she could do little for him, and she died when +he was only eight years old. Then his father married a second wife. She +was a good woman, and she did all she could for the poor, forlorn little +boy. But it did not look much then as if this ragged and hungry little +chap would become President of the United States. + +There was one good thing about little Abe, he had a great love for +books. He went to school only long enough to learn to read and write, +but he borrowed and read all the books he could get. When he found he +could not go to school he studied at home. He had no slate or pencil, so +he studied arithmetic by the light of the kitchen fire, working out the +problems on the back of a wooden fire shovel. When this was full he +would scrape it off smooth and begin again. In this way the boy got to +be the best scholar in all the country around him. How many of you would +have worked as hard as he did to get an education? Yet it was this kind +of work that made him President. + +Lincoln knew how to make use of his learning. He was always a good +talker, and he grew to be one of the best public speakers of his times. +He became so well known and so well respected that at length he was sent +to Congress. Lincoln did not believe that slavery was a good thing for +the country, and was sure it was a wrong thing in itself. So he joined +the Republican Party, which had just been formed. + +There was another fine speaker in Illinois named Douglas, who had +different ideas about slavery from Lincoln and was a member of the +Democratic Party. Lincoln and Douglas went about Illinois making +speeches to the people, and great crowds came to hear them, for they +were two of the best speakers in the country. Everywhere people were +talking about Lincoln and Douglas and saying what able men they were. + +In 1860 came the time when a new President was to be chosen, and out of +all the political leaders of the country these two men from far-west +Illinois were selected--Douglas by those who were in favor of slavery +and Lincoln by those who opposed slavery. When election day came round +and the votes were counted, Abraham Lincoln, the rail splitter, was +found to be elected President of the United States. + +The people of the South were in a terrible state of mind when they found +that a Republican, a man opposed to slavery, was elected President. They +could not tell what would take place. The Abolitionists who were against +slavery were in power and might pass laws that would rob them of all +their slaves. For years they had been fighting the North in +Congress--fighting by words, I mean. Now they determined to leave the +Union, and to fight with swords and guns if the North would not let them +go in peace. One by one the Southern States passed resolutions to go out +of the Union. And on all sides they collected powder and balls and other +implements of war, for their leaders felt sure they would have to fight. +But Lincoln hoped the states would not quarrel. He begged them not to. +But if they did it was his duty to do what the people had put him there +for. He had been elected President of the United States, and he must do +all he could to keep these states united. + +It was on the 4th of March, 1861, that Abraham Lincoln became President. +By the middle of April the North and South were at war. Both sides had +their soldiers in the field and fighting had begun. The South wanted to +take Washington, and the North to keep it, and soon a fierce battle was +fought at a place called Bull Run, a few miles south of Washington. + +The Southern States formed a Union of their own, which was called the +Southern Confederacy. They chose Richmond, the capital of Virginia, for +the capital of the Confederacy, and chose Jefferson Davis for their +President. Davis had fought bravely as a soldier at the battle of Buena +Vista, in Mexico. And he had been long in Congress, where he showed +himself an able lawmaker. So the South chose him as their best man for +President. + +The war was half over before President Lincoln did anything about +slavery. He was there to save the Union, not to free the slaves. But the +time came when he found that freeing the slaves would help him in saving +the Union. When this time came--it was on the 1st of January, 1863--he +declared that all the slaves should be free. It was a great thing for +this country, for it was clear that there could be no peace while +slavery remained. + +But the war went on more fiercely than ever, and it was not until April, +1865, that it came to an end. The South was not able to fight any longer +and had to give up, and the Union was saved. It was saved without +slavery, which was a very good thing for both North and South, as we +have since found out. + +But good and true Abraham Lincoln did not live to learn what the country +gained by the war, for just after it ended he was killed by a wicked and +foolish man, who thought he would avenge the South by shooting the +President. + +It was a terrible deed. The whole country mourned for its noblest man, +slain in the hour of victory. The South as well as the North suffered by +his death, for he was too just a man to oppress those who had been +beaten in war, and in him all the people, North and South, lost their +best and ablest friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE GREAT CIVIL WAR + + +I HAVE no doubt that some of the young folks who read this book will +want to hear the story of the great war that was spoken of in the last +chapter. Some of the boys will, at any rate. The girls do not care so +much about war, and I am glad of this, for I think the world would be +much better off if there were no wars. + +Well, I suppose I shall have to tell the boys something about it. The +girls can skip it, if they wish. To tell the whole story of our Civil +War would take a book five times as large as this, so all I can do is to +draw a sort of outline map of it. A civil war, you should know, means a +war within a nation, where part of a people fight against the other +part. A war between two nations is called a foreign war. + +When our Civil War broke out we had thirty-three states--we have more +than forty-five to-day. Eleven of these states tried to leave the Union +and twenty-two remained, so that the Union states were two to one +against the non-Union. But the Union states had more than twice the +people and had ten times the wealth, so that, as you may see, the war +was a one-sided affair. It was nearly all fought in the South, whose +people suffered greatly for their attempt to leave the Union. Many of +them lost all they had and became very poor. + +There were three fields or regions in which this war took place. One of +these was a narrow region, lying between Washington and Richmond, the +two capital cities. But small as it was, here the greatest battles were +fought. Both sides were fighting fiercely to save their capitals. + +The second region of the war was in the West. This was a vast region, +extending from Kentucky and Missouri down to the Gulf of Mexico. Here +there were many long, weary marches and much hard fighting and great +loss of life. The third region was on the ocean and rivers, where +iron-clad ships first met in battle, and where some famous combats took +place. + +Over these three regions a million and more of men struggled for years, +fighting with rifle and cannon, with sword and bayonet, killing and +wounding one another and causing no end of misery in all parts of the +land. For the people at home suffered as much as the men on the +battle-field, and many mothers and sisters were heartbroken when word +came to them that their dear sons or brothers had been shot down on the +field of blood. War is the most terrible thing upon the earth, though +men try to make it look like a pleasant show with their banners and +trumpets and drums. + +As soon as the news of the war came there was a great coming and going +of soldiers, and beating of drums, and fluttering of banners, and making +of speeches, and thousands marched away, some to Washington and some to +Richmond, and many more to the strongholds of the West. Mothers wept as +they bade good-by to their sons, whom they might never see again. And +many of the soldier-boys had sad hearts under their brave faces. Soon +hundreds of these poor fellows were falling dead and wounded on fields +of battle, and then their people at home had good reason to weep and +mourn. + +I have told you about the battle of Bull Run, south of Washington, the +first great battle of the war. Here the Southern army gained the +victory, and the people of the South were full of joy. But Congress now +called for half a million of men and voted half a billion of dollars. +Both sides saw that they had a great war before them. + +Bull Run was the only severe battle in 1861, but in 1862 both the North +and the South had large armies, and there was much hard fighting in the +East and the West. + +I must tell you first of the fighting in Virginia. General George B. +McClellan was in command of the Union army there. He led it down close +to Richmond, which he hoped to capture. There was a sharp fight at a +place called Fair Oaks, where General Joseph Johnston, the Confederate +general, was wounded. General Robert E. Lee took his place. They could +not have picked out a better man, for he proved himself to be one of the +greatest soldiers of modern times. + +The Confederates had another fine general named Thomas J. Jackson. He +was called "Stonewall" Jackson, because, in the battle of Bull Run, some +one had said: + +"Look at Jackson! There he stands like a stone wall!" + +General Lee and Stonewall Jackson were not the men to keep quiet. In a +short time they drove McClellan back after a hard fight lasting a whole +week, and then made a sudden march to the north. Here was another Union +army, on the old battle-field of Bull Run. A dreadful battle followed; +men fell by thousands; in the end the Union army was defeated and forced +back towards Washington. + +General Lee knew that he could not take Washington, so he marched away +north, waded his men across the Potomac River, and entered the state of +Maryland. This was a slave state, and he hoped many of the people would +join his army. But the farmers of Maryland loved the Union too well for +that, so General Lee got very few of them in his ranks. + +Then he went west, followed by General McClellan, and at a place called +Antietam the two armies met; and there was fought the bloodiest battle +of the war. They kept at it all day long and neither side seemed beaten. +But that night General Lee and his men waded back across the Potomac +into Virginia, leaving McClellan master of the field. There was one more +terrible battle in Virginia that year, in which General Burnside, who +after McClellan commanded the Union army, tried to take the city of +Fredericksburg, but was defeated and his men driven back with a dreadful +loss of life. + +Both armies now rested until the spring of 1863, and then another +desperate battle was fought. General Hooker had taken General Burnside's +place, and thought he also must fight a battle, but he did not dare to +try Fredericksburg as Burnside had done, so he marched up the river and +crossed it into a rough and wild country known as the Wilderness. + +General Lee hurried there to meet him and the two armies came together +at a place called Chancellorsville. They fought in the wild woods, where +the trees in some places were so thick that the men could not see one +another. But Stonewall Jackson marched to the left through the woods +and made a sudden attack on the right wing of the Union army. + +This part of the army was taken by surprise and driven back. Hooker's +men fought all that day and the next, but they could not recover from +their surprise and loss, and in the end they had to cross the river back +again. General Lee had won another great victory. But Stonewall Jackson +was wounded and soon died, and Lee would rather have lost the battle +than to lose this famous general. + +Do you not think the North had a right to feel very much out of heart by +this time? The war had gone on for two years, and the Union army had +been defeated in all the great battles fought in Virginia. The only +victory won was that at Antietam in Maryland. They had been beaten at +the two battles of Bull Run, the seven days' fight at Richmond, and the +battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, while the battle of +Antietam had been won with great loss of life. + +But there was soon to be a victory that would make up for more than one +defeat. Shortly after the fight at Chancellorsville General Lee broke +camp and marched north with the greatest speed. The Union army followed +as fast as they could march, for there was danger of Baltimore or even +Philadelphia being taken. Both armies kept on until they reached the +town of Gettysburg, in the south of Pennsylvania. Here was fought the +greatest battle of the war. It lasted for three days, the 1st, 2d and 3d +of July, 1863. + +The loss of life on both sides was dreadful. But the Confederates lost +the most men and lost the battle besides. They tried in vain to break +through the Union lines, and in the end they were forced to retreat. On +the 4th of July General Lee sadly began his backward march, and the +telegraph wires carried all through the North the tidings of a great +victory. This was the turning point in the war. Six months before, +President Lincoln had proclaimed the freedom of the slaves, and the +armies were now fighting to make his word good. Negroes after this were +taken into the Union ranks, that they might help in the fight for their +own liberty. + +I wish to say just here that the people of the North bore the defeats in +Virginia better than you would think. They had good reason to, for while +they had been losing battles in the East they had been winning battles +in the West. So one helped to make up for the other. If you will follow +me now to the West we will see what was taking place there. + +The North did not have to change its generals as often in the West as in +the East, for it soon found a good one; and it was wise enough to hold +on to him. This was General Ulysses S. Grant, who is now honored as one +of the greatest generals of the world's history. + +Grant was only a captain at first. Then he was made a colonel, and was +soon raised to the rank of general. He met the Confederates first at +Belmont, Missouri. Here he was defeated, and had to take his men aboard +river-boats to get them away. That was his first and nearly his last +defeat. + +The Confederates had built two strong forts in Kentucky which they named +Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. General Grant marched against them with an +army and Commodore Foote steamed against them with a fleet of iron-clad +steamboats. Fort Henry was taken by the fleet before Grant could get to +it. Then he marched across country to Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland +River. He attacked this fort so fiercely that the Confederates tried to +get out of it but did not succeed. Then they proposed to surrender, and +asked him what terms he would give them. + +"No terms except an immediate and unconditional surrender," he said. "I +propose to move immediately on your works." + +This settled the matter. They surrendered--fifteen thousand in all. +After that many said that U. S. Grant stood for "Unconditional +Surrender" Grant. + +I cannot tell you about all the fights that took place in the West, but +there was a terrible battle at a place called Pittsburg Landing, which +lasted two days, and in which Grant came very near being defeated. There +was a severe one at Murfreesboro on the last day of the year, and +another three days afterwards. Grant was not there, but Bragg, the +Confederate General, was defeated. + +The Confederates had an important stronghold on the Mississippi River at +the city of Vicksburg, where they had many forts and a large number of +cannon. General Sherman tried to capture these forts but was driven +back. Then General Grant tried it and found it a very hard task. + +The country was all swamp and creeks which no army could get through, so +Grant at last marched south on the other side of the river, and then +crossed over and marched north again. He had to fight every step of his +way, and to live on the food his men could carry, for he had cut loose +from the North. But he soon reached the city and began a long siege. The +Confederates held out until all their food was gone, and until they had +eaten up nearly all their horses and mules. Then they surrendered. +Twenty-seven thousand men were taken prisoners. + +This took place on the 4th of July, 1863, the same day that General Lee +marched away from the field at Gettysburg. That was one of the greatest +Fourths of July this country had ever seen, for with it the last chance +of the South was lost. General Lee had lost many thousands of his hardy +veterans, men whom he could never replace. And in the fighting around +Vicksburg and the capture of that city nearly fifty thousand more fell +on the battle-field or were taken prisoners. It was a loss which the +leaders of the Southern army bitterly felt. Fighting kept on for two +years more, but they would have been wiser to give up then and save all +the death and misery that came to them afterwards. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +WAR ON SEA AND LAND + + +I HAVE told you part of the story of how our people fought on land. Now +suppose we take a look at the water, and see how they fought there. Have +any of you heard of the wonderful battle between the "Monitor" and the +"Merrimac"? If you have you will be sure to remember it, for it is one +of the strangest stories in the history of war. In the lower part of +Chesapeake Bay is what I may call a pocket of water named Hampton Roads, +into which the James River flows. Here, in the month of March, 1862, lay +a fleet of war-vessels. These were not the kind of ships-of-war which we +see now-a-days. They were wooden vessels, such as were used in former +wars, but which would be of no more use than floating logs against the +sea-monsters of to-day. + +Something strange was soon to happen to these proud ships. On the 8th of +March there came into the waters of the bay a very odd looking craft. It +was a ship, but instead of a deck it had a sloping roof made of iron +bars. It looked something like a house gone adrift. I fancy the people +in the wooden ships must have been a little scared when they saw it +coming, for they had never seen a war-vessel with an iron roof before. + +They might well be scared, for they soon found that their cannon were of +no more use than pea-shooters against this queer craft. The cannon-balls +bounded off from her sides like so many peas. On came the monster and +struck one of the ships with her iron beak, tearing a great hole in its +side. Down into the waters sunk the gallant ship, with all on board. And +there it lay with its flag flying like a flag above a grave. Another +ship, the "Congress," was driven on the mud and had to give up the +fight. + +There were three more ships in the fleet, but it was now near night, and +so the "Merrimac," as the iron monster was called, steamed away. Her +captain thought it would be an easy thing to settle with them the next +morning, and very likely the people on them did not sleep well that +night, for they could not forget what had happened to the "Congress" and +the "Cumberland," and felt sure their turn was to come next. + +But, as the old saying goes, "There is many a slip between cup and lip." +The "Merrimac" was to learn the truth of this. For when she came grimly +out the next day, expecting to sink the rest of the fleet and then steam +up to the city of Washington and perhaps burn that, her captain found +before him the queerest thing in the shape of a ship he had ever seen. +It was an iron vessel that looked like "a cheese box on a raft." All +that could be seen was a flat deck that came just above the water, and +above this a round tower of iron, out of which peeped two monsters of +cannon. + +This strange vessel had come into Hampton Roads during the night, and +there it lay ready to do battle for the Union. It was a new style of +war-ship that had been built in New York and was called the "Monitor." + +The "Merrimac" soon had enough to keep herself busy, and was forced to +let the wooden fleet alone. For four long hours these two iron monsters +battered each other with cannon balls. Such a fight had never been seen +before. It was the first time two iron-clad ships had met in war. + +I cannot say that either ship was hurt much. The balls could not get +through the iron bars and plates and glanced off into the water. But the +"Merrimac" got the worst of it, and in the end she turned and hurried +back to Norfolk, from which place she had come. The "Monitor" waited for +her, but she never came out again. Soon afterwards the Confederates left +Norfolk and sunk their iron ship, and that was the last of the +"Merrimac." + +When the news of this wonderful sea-fight got to Europe the kings and +ministers of war read it with alarm. They saw they had something to do. +Their wooden war-vessels were out of date, and they went to work in a +hurry to build iron-clad ships. To-day all the great nations of the +earth have fleets of steel-covered ships-of-war, and the United States +has some of the best and strongest of this kind of ships. + +All through the war there were battles of iron-clads. On the western +rivers steamboats were plated with iron and attacked the forts on shore. +And along the coast iron-clad vessels helped the wooden ships to +blockade the ports of the South. More vessels like the "Monitor" were +built in the North, and a number somewhat like the "Merrimac" were built +in the South. I cannot say that any of them did much good either North +or South. + +A great naval battle was fought in the Mississippi, which led to the +capture of New Orleans, and another was fought in the Bay of Mobile, on +the Gulf of Mexico. Here there were some strong forts and a powerful +iron-clad ship. Admiral Farragut sailed into the bay with a fleet of +wooden ships and several iron vessels like the "Monitor." When he went +past the forts he stood in the rigging of his ship, with his spy-glass +in his hand. He did not seem to care anything for cannon-balls. He took +the forts, and since then Farragut has been one of our great naval +heroes. + +There was one Confederate privateer, the "Alabama," which caused +terrible loss to the merchants of the North. It took in all sixty-five +vessels, which were set on fire and burned. In June, 1864, the "Alabama" +was met near the coast of France by the frigate "Kearsarge," and a +furious battle took place. For two hours they fought, and then the +"Alabama" sagged down into the water and sank to the bottom of the sea. +She had done much harm to the North, but her career was at an end. + +Now let us turn back to the war on land and see what was going on there. +I have told you the story of the fighting up to the great 4th of July, +1863, when Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant and General Lee +marched away from Gettysburg. That is where we dropped the threads which +we have now to take up again. + +After Grant had taken Vicksburg and opened the Mississippi from St. +Louis to its mouth, he set out for the town of Chattanooga, which is in +Tennessee just north of Georgia. Here there had been a great battle in +which the Confederate army won the victory, and the Union troops were +shut up in Chattanooga with very little to eat. + +Grant was not there long before there came a change. General Bragg, the +Confederate commander, had his army on the summits of two mountains +named Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. These were defended by +strong forts. But the Union troops charged up the mountain sides in the +face of the fire of rifles and cannon and soon had possession of the +forts. General Bragg's army was defeated with great loss. This was one +of the most brilliant victories of the war. The battle of Lookout +Mountain has been called "the battle above the clouds." + +Everybody now saw that General Grant was much the best general on the +Union side, and President Lincoln made him commander-in-chief of all the +armies in the field. Grant at once laid his plans to have the armies all +work together. General Sherman was left in command of the army of the +West and Grant came to Virginia to fight General Lee. + +In the green month of May, 1864, all the armies were set in motion, and +North and South came together for the last great struggle of the war. + +Grant led his men into the Wilderness where General Hooker and his army +had been sadly defeated the year before. Lee was there to meet him, and +a great battle was fought in the depth of the woods and thickets. It +lasted two whole days, but neither side won. + +Then Grant marched towards Richmond and Lee hurried down to head him +off. Several hard battles were fought, the last being at Cold Harbor, +near Richmond. Here the Union army lost terribly. Ten thousand men were +killed and wounded, while the Confederates, who were behind strong +earthworks, lost only a thousand. + +General Grant saw he could not reach Richmond that way, so he crossed +the James River and began a siege of Petersburg and Richmond. This siege +lasted nine months, both sides digging instead of fighting till great +heaps of earth were thrown up, on whose tops were hundreds of cannon. + +General Grant kept his men very busy, as you may see. But General +Sherman's men were just as busy. He marched south from Chattanooga, and +fought battle after battle until he had gone far into Georgia and +captured the important city of Atlanta. General Hood, the Confederate +commander, then made a rapid march to Tennessee, thinking that Sherman +would follow him. But Sherman did not move. The brave General Thomas was +there to take care of Hood and his army. + +"Let him go; he couldn't please me better," said Sherman. + +What Sherman did was to cut loose from the railroads and telegraphs and +march his whole army into the center of Georgia. For a whole month the +people of the North heard nothing of him. His sixty thousand men might +be starving for food, or might all be killed, so far as was known. It +was November when they started and it was near Christmas when they were +heard of again. + +They had lived on the country and destroyed railroads and stores, and at +length they came to the sea at the city of Savannah. Three daring scouts +made their way in a boat down the river by night and brought to the +fleet the first news of Sherman's march. No doubt you have heard the +song "Marching through Georgia." That was written to describe Sherman's +famous march. + +The South was now getting weaker, and weaker, and most men saw that the +war was near its end. It came to an end in April, 1865. Grant kept +moving south till he got round the Confederate earthworks at Petersburg, +and Lee was forced to leave Richmond in great haste. + +The Union army followed as fast as it could march, and the cavalry rode +on until it was ahead of the Confederates. Then General Lee saw that he +was surrounded by an army far stronger than his own. He could fight no +longer. His men were nearly starved. To fight would be to have them all +killed. So on the 9th of April he offered his sword to General Grant, +and the long and bloody war was at an end. + +No one was gladder of this than President Lincoln, who had done so much +to bring it about. Poor man! five days afterwards he was shot in a +theatre at Washington by an actor named John Wilkes Booth. This was done +out of revenge for the defeat of the South. But the people of the South +did not approve of this act of murder, and in Abraham Lincoln they lost +one whom they would have found a good friend. + +Booth was followed and killed, but his death could not bring back to +life the murdered President, whom the people loved so warmly that they +mourned for him as if he had been, like Washington, the Father of his +Country. It was a terrible crime, and it turned the joy which the people +felt, at the end of the war, into the deepest sorrow and grief. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE WASTE OF WAR AND THE WEALTH OF PEACE + + +LET us suppose that the history of the whole world is spread out before +us like a picture, and that we are looking down on it. What will we see? +Well, we will see places where a terrible storm seems to have swept over +the picture, and left only darkness and ruin in its track. And we will +see other places where the sun seems to have poured down its bright +beams, and all is clear and bright and beautiful. The dark places are +those of war; the bright places are those of peace. All through history +there have been times when men have gone out to kill and burn and do all +the harm they could; and there have been other times when they stayed at +home to work, and build up what war had cast down, and bring plenty and +happiness to the nations. + +In the picture of our own history we see such dark and bright places. +And the darkest of them all is the terrible Civil War, the story of +which you have just read. For in this war our people fought against and +killed one another, and all the harm was done at home, instead of in +foreign lands. The war was a dreadful one. Hundreds of thousands of our +people were killed or wounded, and the ground in hundreds of places was +red with blood. Houses, barns and factories were burned, railroads were +torn up, ships were sunk, growing crops were trampled into the earth. +And last of all came that horrid murder of our good and great President +Lincoln, one of the best and noblest men who ever sat in the +presidential chair. Such is war--the most frightful thing we can think +of or talk about. Some of my young friends may like to play soldier; but +if they should grow up and get to be real soldiers they would find out +what war means. Now, if we look again at the picture of our history, we +shall see a great bright space of peace following the dark space of the +Civil War. That is what I wish to tell you about now--the reign of +peace, when everybody was busy at work in building up what had been torn +down by the red hand of war, and our country grew faster than it had +ever grown before. + +There is one thing I must say here. I have told you that slavery was the +cause of the war. If there had been no slaves in the country there would +have been no war. And the one good thing the war did for us was to get +rid of the slaves. President Lincoln declared that all the slaves should +be free, and since that time there has not been a slave in the land. So +we can never have a war for that cause again. + +When the war was done, the soldiers marched back to their homes. Their +old battle-flags, rent and torn by bullets, were put away as valued +treasures; their rusty rifles, which had killed thousands of men, were +given back to the government; they took up their axes, they went into +the fields with their ploughs, they entered the workshops with their +tools, and soon they were all at work again, as if they had never seen a +field of battle. + +This took place long before any of my young readers were born. But there +are many old soldiers living who took part in it, and when you see the +veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, marching with their ragged +flags and battle-scarred faces, it may bring to you some vision of what +they have seen, and make you think of the fallen comrades they left +behind, dead or bleeding upon the battle-field. + +During your short lives there has been no war which came near to us in +our homes. The angel of peace has spread her white wings over our land, +and plenty and prosperity have been the rule. None of our young folks +have known what it is for an army of soldiers to march past their homes, +destroying and burning, and leaving ashes and ruins where there had been +happy homes and fertile fields. But in the past of our country this +happened to many as young as you, and they were glad that their lives +were left them, after everything else was gone. + +Let us put the thought of war out of our minds, and go on to see what +took place under the blessed reign of peace. The first thing of which I +shall tell you was one of the most wonderful of all. You know how the +telegraph wires spread over the country until they were many thousands +of miles in length. In the next chapter you may read how the electric +telegraph was invented. In the year after the war ended a still greater +thing was done. A telegraph cable was laid under the ocean from Europe +to America. This had been done before, but it had proved a failure. The +new cable was a success, and since then a man in London has been able to +talk with a man in New York as if he were not a hundred yards away. Of +course, I do not mean with his voice, but with the click of the +telegraph instrument. + +The year after that a great addition was made to the United States. +There was a large region in the north, known as Russian America, which +Russia offered to sell to this country for seven million dollars. Many +people talked about this as some of their forefathers had talked about +the purchase of Louisiana by President Jefferson. They said that it was +a land of ice and snow which Russia wanted to get rid of, and that it +would be of no use to anybody. But it was bought for all that, and it +has proven a very good bargain. + +This country we now call Alaska. We get there all the sealskins from +which the rich and warm cloaks of the ladies are made. And most of the +canned salmon, which some of you think very good food, come from Alaska. +That country is rich in furs and fish and timber; and that is not all, +for it is rich in gold. Millions of dollars worth of gold are obtained +there every year. It has been something like California, whose gold was +not found till Americans got there to dig. + +These are not the only things that took place in the years after the +war. Railroads were being built in all directions. East and west, north +and south, they went, and travel became easier than it had been before. +The greatest thing done in this way was the building of a railroad +across the mountains and the plains to San Francisco, on the far Pacific +coast, three thousand miles away from the Atlantic shores. Before that +time men who wanted to go to California had to drag along over thousands +of miles in slow wagon trains and spend weeks and months on the road. +Now they could go there in less than a week. It was the longest railroad +that the world had ever seen, up to that time. + +While all this was going on, people were coming to this country in +great multitudes, crossing the ocean to find new homes in our happy +land. They did not have to come in slow sailing ships as in former +times, but were brought here in swift steamships, that crossed the seas +almost as fast as the iron horse crossed the land. All these new people +went to work, some in the cities and some in the country, and they all +helped to make our nation rich and powerful. + +But you must not think that everything went well, and that we had no +dark days. Every country has its troubles, even in times of peace. War +is not the only trouble. Great fires break out, storms sweep over the +land, earthquakes shake down cities, and many other disasters take +place. Of all these things, fire, when it gets beyond control, is the +most terrible; and it is of a frightful fire that I wish to speak. + +About the year 1831 a small fort stood near the shore of Lake Michigan, +and around this a few pioneer families had built their homes, which were +only rude log houses. In 1871, forty years afterwards, the fort and the +huts had long been gone and a large city stood at that place. Its growth +had been wonderful. Only forty years old and already it was one of the +great cities of the country. This was the famous city of Chicago, which +has grown more rapidly than any other great city ever known. + +One night in October a dreadful thing took place in this city. A cow +kicked over a lamp in a stable. The straw on the floor took fire, and in +a minute the blaze shot up into the air. The people ran for water, but +they were too slow, and in a few minutes the whole stable was in flames. +You may think that this was not of much account, but there happened to +be a gale of wind, and soon great blazing fragments were flying through +the air and falling on roofs squares away. It was not long before there +was a terrible fire over almost the entire city. + +Chicago at that time was mostly built of wood, and the fire spread until +it looked as if the whole great city would be burnt to ashes. For two +days it kept on burning until the richest part of the city had gone up +in smoke and flame. Many people were burned to death in the streets and +two hundred million dollars worth of property was destroyed. It was the +most frightful fire of modern times. But Americans do not stop for fire +or water. The city was built up again, far handsomer than before, and it +is now one of the greatest cities, not only of this country, but of the +world. + +This was not the only disaster which came upon the country. In 1886 +there was a frightful earthquake in South Carolina, that shook down a +great part of the city of Charleston. And in 1889 there was a terrible +flood that swept away the young city of Johnstown, in Pennsylvania, and +drowned more than two thousand people. And there were tornadoes, or wind +storms, in the west that blew down whole towns as you might blow down a +house of cardboard with your breath. And there were great strikes and +riots that were almost like war, and various other troubles. But all +these could not stop the growth of the country. Every year it became +richer. New people came, new factories were built, new fields were +farmed, and the United States seemed like a great hive of industry, and +its people like so many bees, working away, day by day, and gathering +wealth as bees gather honey. + +It not only got many of the old articles of wealth, but it found many +new ones also. Never was there a country with so many inventors or men +that have made things new and useful to everybody, and never were there +more wonderful inventions. I have told you about some of our inventors; +I shall have to speak of some more of them. There were hundreds of men +busily at work at inventing new machines and tools, new things to help +everybody--the farmer, the merchant, the workman in the factory, and the +cook in the kitchen. It went on so that there was not much done by hand, +as in old times, but nearly everything was done by machine. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MARVELS OF INVENTION + + +IT is not a pleasant thing to go hungry for twenty-four hours and to go +many days without half enough to eat. I think all my readers will agree +with me in this. I fancy none of you would like to find an empty table +before you when the dinner bell rings. But this is a thing that has +happened to many inventors; and one of these was Samuel F. B. Morse, to +whose genius we owe the electric telegraph. + +You know about the invention of the steamboat, the locomotive, the +cotton-gin and various other early inventions; but there have been many +later inventions, and one of the most important of these is the +telegraph, which tells us every day what is taking place over the whole +world. + +Professor Morse was a New York artist who studied painting in Europe, +and in the year 1832 took passage home in the ship "Sully." One day a +talk went on in the cabin of the ship. Dr. Jackson, one of the +passengers, told how some persons in Paris had sent an electric current +through several miles of wire in less than a second of time. + +[Illustration: THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AND THEIR FAMOUS AEROPLANE.] + +"If that is the case," said Morse, "why could not words and sentences be +sent in the same way?" + +"That's a good idea. It would be a great thing if we could send news as +fast as lightning," said one of the passengers. + +"Why can't we?" said Morse; "I think we can do it." + +Very likely the rest of the passengers soon forgot all about that +conversation, but Morse did not. During the remainder of the voyage he +was very quiet and kept much to himself. He was thinking over what he +had heard. Before the ship had reached New York he had worked out a plan +of telegraphing. He proposed to carry the wire in tubes underground, and +to use an alphabet of dots and dashes, the same that is used by +telegraphers to-day. + +When he went on shore Morse said to the captain: "Captain, if you should +hear of the telegraph one of these days as the wonder of the world, +remember that the discovery was made on board the good ship 'Sully.'" + +"If I can make it go ten miles without stopping, I can make it go round +the world," he said to a passenger. + +But it is easier to think out a thing than to put it in practice. Poor +Morse was more than ten years in working out his plans and getting +people to help him in them. He got out of money and was near starving, +but he kept at it. After three years he managed to send a message +through seventeen hundred feet of wire. He could read it, but his +friends could not, and no one was ready to put money in such a scheme. +They looked at it as a toy to amuse children. Then he went to Europe and +tried to get money there, but he found the people there as hard to +convince as those in America. + +"No one is in such a hurry for news as all that," they said. "People +would rather get their news in the good old way. Your wires work, Mr. +Morse, but it would take a great deal of money to lay miles of them +underground, and we are not going to take such chances as that with our +money." + +Mr. Morse next tried to get Congress to grant him a sum of money. He +wanted to build a wire from Baltimore to Washington and show how it +would work. But it is never easy to get money from Congress, and he kept +at it for five years in vain. + +It was the 3d of March, 1843. At twelve o'clock that night the session +of Congress would end. Morse kept about the Senate chamber till nearly +midnight, in hopes his bill would pass. Then he gave it up in despair +and went to his boarding house. He was sure his little bill would not be +thought of in the crowd of business before Congress and was greatly +depressed in consequence. + +He came down to breakfast the next morning with a very sad face, hardly +knowing how he was to pay his board and get home. He was met by a young +lady, Miss Annie Ellsworth, who came to him with a smile. + +"Let me congratulate you, Mr. Morse," she said. + +"For what, my dear friend?" + +"For the passage of your bill." + +"What!" he said, in great astonishment; "the passage of my bill?" + +"Yes; do you not know of it?" + +"No; it cannot be true!" + +"You came home too early last night, Mr. Morse. Your bill has passed, +and I am happy to be the first to bring you the good news." + +"You give me new life, Miss Ellsworth," he said. "For your good news I +promise you this: when my telegraph line is laid, you shall have the +honor of selecting the first message to be sent over it." + +Congress had granted only thirty thousand dollars. It was not much, but +Morse went actively to work. He wanted to dig a ditch to lay his pipe +in, through which the wire was to run. He got another inventor to help +him, Ezra Cornell, who afterwards founded Cornell University. Mr. +Cornell invented a machine which dug the ditch at a great rate, laid the +pipe, and covered it in. In five minutes it laid and covered one hundred +feet of pipe. + +But Cornell did not think the underground wire would work. + +"It will work," said Morse. "While I have been fighting Congress, men +have laid short lines in England which work very well. What can be done +there can be done here." + +For all that, it would not work. A year passed and only seven thousand +dollars of the money were left, and all the wires laid were of no use. + +"If it won't go underground we must try and coax it to go over-ground," +said Morse. + +Poles were erected; the wire was strung on glass insulators; it now +worked to a charm. On May 11, 1844, the Whig National Convention at +Baltimore nominated Henry Clay for President, and the news was sent to +Washington in all haste by the first railroad train. But the passengers +were surprised to find that they brought stale news; everybody in +Washington knew it already. It had reached there an hour or two before +by telegraph. That was a great triumph for Morse. The telegraph line was +not then finished quite to Baltimore. When it reached there, on May +24th, the first message sent was one which Miss Ellsworth had chosen +from the Bible, "What hath God wrought?" God had wrought wonderfully +indeed, for since then the electric wire has bound the ends of the earth +together. + +If I should attempt to tell you about all our inventors I am afraid it +would be a long story. There is almost no end to them, and many of them +invented wonderful machines. I might tell you, for instance, about +Thomas Blanchard, who invented the machine by which tacks are made, +dropping them down as fast as a watch can tick. This is only one out of +many of his inventions. One of them was a steamboat to run in shallow +water, and which could go hundreds of miles up rivers where Fulton's +steamboat would have run aground. + +Then there was Cyrus McCormick, who invented the reaping machine. When +he showed his reaper at the London World's Fair in 1851, the newspapers +made great fun of it. The London "Times" said it was a cross between a +chariot, a wheelbarrow and a flying-machine. But when it was put in a +wheat-field and gathered in the wheat like a living and thinking +machine, they changed their tune, and the "Times" said it was worth more +than all the rest of the Exhibition. This was the first of the great +agricultural machines. Since then hundreds have been made, and the +old-fashioned slow hand-work in the fields is over. McCormick made a +fortune out of his machine. I cannot say that of all inventors, for many +of them had as hard a time as Morse with his telegraph. Two of them, +Charles Goodyear and Elias Howe, came as near starving as Professor +Morse. + +All the rubber goods we have to-day we owe to Charles Goodyear. Before +his time India-rubber was of very little use. It would grow stiff in the +winter and sticky in the summer, and people said it was a nuisance. What +was wanted was a rubber that would stand heat and cold, and this +Goodyear set himself to make. + +After a time he tried mixing sulphur with the gum, and by accident +touched a red-hot stove with the mixture. To his delight the gum did not +melt. Here was the secret. Rubber mixed with sulphur and exposed to heat +would stand heat and cold alike. He had made his discovery, but it took +him six years more to make it a success, and he never made much money +from it. Yet everybody honors him to-day as a great inventor. + +Elias Howe had as hard a time with the sewing machine. For years he +worked at it, and when he finished it nobody would buy it or use it. He +went to London, as Morse had done, and had the same bad luck. He had to +pawn his model and patent papers to get home again. His wife was very +sick, and he reached home only in time to see her die. + +Poor fellow! life was very dark to him then. His invention had been +stolen by others, who were making fortunes out of it while he was in +need of bread. Friends lent him money and he brought suit against these +robbers, but it took six years to win his rights in the courts. In the +end he grew rich and gained great honor from his invention. + +There has been no man more talked of in our time than Thomas A. Edison. +All of you must have heard of him. He went into business when he was +only twelve years old, selling newspapers and other things on the cars, +and he was so bright and did so well that he was able to send his +parents five hundred dollars a year. When he was sixteen he saved the +child of a station-master from being run over by a locomotive, and the +father was so grateful that he taught him how to telegraph. He was so +quick in his work that he become one of the best telegraph operators in +the United States. + +After he grew up Edison began to invent. He worked out a plan by which +he could send two messages at once over one wire. He kept at this till +he could send sixteen messages over a wire, eight one way and eight the +other. He made money out of his inventions, but the telegraph companies +made much more. Instead of sending fifty or sixty words a minute, he +showed them how they could send several thousand words a minute. + +Then he began experimenting with the electric light. He did not invent +this, but he made great improvements in it. The electric light could be +made, but it could not be controlled and used before Edison taught +people how to keep it in its little glass bulb. How brilliantly the +streets, the stores, and many of the houses are now lit up by +electricity. All from Edison's wonderful discoveries. + +Then there was the telephone, or talking telegraph, which many of you +may have used yourselves. That was not known before 1876; but people now +wonder how they ever got along without it. It is certainly very +wonderful, when you have to speak with somebody a mile or a hundred +miles away, to ring him up and talk with him over the telephone wire as +easily as if you were talking with some one in the next room. The +telephone, as I suppose you know, works by electricity. It is only +another form of the telegraph. The telephone was not invented by Edison, +but by another American named Alexander Bell. But Edison improved it. He +added the "transmitter," which is used in all telephones, and is very +important indeed. So we must give credit first to Bell and second to +Edison for the telephone. + +Edison's most wonderful invention is the phonograph. This word means +"sound writer." One of you may talk with a little machine, and the sound +of your voice will make marks on a little roll of gelatine or tinfoil +within. Then when the machine is set going you may hear your own voice +coming back to you. Or by the use of a great trumpet called a megaphone, +it may be heard all over a large room. + +The wonderful thing is that the sound of a man's voice may be heard long +after he is dead. If they had possessed the phonograph in old times we +might be able to hear Shakespeare or Julius Caesar speaking to-day. Very +likely many persons who live a hundred or two hundred years from now may +hear Edison's voice coming out of one of his own machines. Does not this +seem like magic? + +In every way this is a wonderful age of invention. Look at the trolley +car, shooting along without any one being able to see what makes it +move. Look at the wheels whirling and lights flashing and stoves heating +from electric power. Steam was the most powerful thing which man knew a +century ago. Electricity has taken its place as the most powerful and +marvelous thing we know to-day. More wonderful than anything I have said +is the power we now have of telegraphing without wires, and of +telephoning in the same way. Thus men can now stand on the shore and +talk with their friends hundreds of miles away on the broad sea. + +Such are some of the inventions which have been made in recent times. If +you ask for more I might name the steam plow, and the typewriter, and +the printing machine, and the bicycle, and the automobile, and the +air-ship, and a hundred others. But they are too many for me to say +anything about, so I shall have to stop right here. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +HOW THE CENTURY ENDED FOR THE UNITED STATES + + +VERY likely many of my young readers live in the city of Philadelphia, +which was founded by William Penn more than two hundred years ago on the +banks of the broad Delaware River, and where now many more than a +million people make their homes. And many of you who do not live there, +but who love your country and are proud of its history, are likely to go +there some time during your lives, to visit the birthplace of your noble +nation. + +Have you ever thought that the United States, as an independent nation, +was born in Philadelphia? In that city stands the stately Independence +Hall, in which the Declaration of Independence was made and signed. You +may see there the famous old bell, which rang out "Liberty throughout +the land!" And you may stand in the room in which our grand Constitution +was formed. So Philadelphia should be a place of pilgrimage to all +true-hearted Americans, who wish to see where their country was born. + +It was such a place of pilgrimage in the year 1876. Then from every part +of our country, from the North, the South, the West and the East, our +people made their way in thousands towards that great city, which was +then the proud center of all American thought. A hundred years had +passed from the time the famous Declaration was signed, and the +Centennial Anniversary which marked the one hundredth year after this +great event was being celebrated in the city which may be called the +cradle of the American nation. + +A grand exhibition was held. It was called a "World's Fair," for +splendid objects were sent to it from all parts of the world, and our +own country sent the best of everything it had to show, from Maine to +California. On the broad lawns of Fairmount Park many handsome buildings +were erected, all filled with objects of use or beauty, and more than +ten million people passed through the gates, glad to see what America +and the world had to show. + +If you wish to know what our own country showed, I may say that the most +striking things were its inventions, machines that could do almost +everything which the world wants done. And the newest and most wonderful +of all these things was the telephone. This magical invention was shown +there to the people for the first time, and the first voice shouted +"Hallo!" over the talking wire. + +In the years that followed centennial celebrations became common. In +1881 the centennial anniversary of the surrender of Cornwallis was +celebrated at Yorktown. In 1882 the bi-centennial (the two hundredth +anniversary) of the landing of William Penn was celebrated at +Philadelphia. A vessel that stood for the old ship "Welcome" sailed up +the stream, and a man dressed like the famous old Quaker landed and was +greeted by a number of men who took the part of Indian chiefs. + +In 1887 Philadelphia had another grand anniversary, that of the signing +of the Constitution of the United States, which was celebrated by +magnificent parades and processions, while the whole city was dressed in +the red, white and blue. In 1889 New York celebrated the next grand +event in the history of the nation, the taking of the oath by +Washington, our first President. + +The next great anniversary was that of the discovery of America by +Columbus, four hundred years before. This was celebrated by a +wonderfully splendid exhibition at Chicago, the most beautiful that the +world had ever seen. Columbus landed in October, 1492, and the buildings +were dedicated in October, 1892, but the exhibition did not take place +till the next year. Those who saw this exhibition will never forget it, +and very likely some of my readers were among them. Its buildings were +like fairy palaces, so white and grand and beautiful; and at night, when +it was lit up by thousands of electric lights, the whole place looked +like fairy land. The world will not soon see anything more beautiful. + +I cannot tell of all the exhibitions. There were others, at New Orleans, +Atlanta, and other cities, but I think you will be satisfied with +hearing about the large ones. The Centennial at Philadelphia set the +fashion. After that, cities all over the country wanted to have their +great fairs, and many of the little towns had their centennial +celebrations, with music and parades, speeches and fireworks. + +During all this time the country kept growing. People crossed the ocean +in millions. Our population went up, not like a tree growing, but like a +deer jumping. In 1880 we had 50,000,000 people. In 1900 we had half as +many more. Just think of that! Over 25,000,000 people added in twenty +years! How many do you think we will have when the youngest readers of +this book get to be old men and women? I am afraid to guess. + +As our people increased in number they spread more widely over the +country. Railroads were built everywhere, steamboats ran on all the +streams, telegraphs and telephones came near to every man's front door, +the post-offices spread until letters and newspapers and packages were +carried to the smallest village in the land. Nobody wanted to stay at +home, in the old fashion. People thought nothing of a journey across the +continent or the ocean. Wherever they were, they could talk with their +friends by letter or telegraph, and they could go nowhere that the +newspaper could not follow them. + +So the waste places of the country began rapidly to fill up. If you have +ever seen an old-time map of our country you must have noticed places in +the West marked "great desert," or "unknown territory," or by some such +name. But people made their way into these unknown regions and filled +them up. First they went with their families and household goods in +great wagons. Then they went far more swiftly in railroad trains. Here +they settled down and began farming; farther on, where there was not +rain enough to farm, they raised cattle and sheep on the rich grasses; +still farther, in the mountain regions, they set to work mining, getting +gold, silver, copper, iron and coal from the hard rocks. + +Cities grew up where the Indian and the buffalo had roamed. The factory +followed the farmer; the engine began to puff its steam into the air, +the wheels to turn, the machines to work, goods of all kinds to be +made. The whole country became like a great hive of workers, where +everybody was busy, and thousands of the people grew rich. + +But all this great western country was not given up to the farmer, the +miner and the wood-chopper. There were places which nature had made +beautiful or wonderful or grand, and these were kept as places for all +the people to visit. One of these was the beautiful Yosemite Valley, in +California; another was the wonderful Yellowstone Park, with its +marvelous spouting springs; others were the groves of giant trees; still +others were great forests, from which the government told the +wood-choppers to keep out, for the woods had been set aside for the good +or the pleasure of all the people of the land. + +Some of you may ask, what became of the old people of the country--the +Indians, who were spread all over the West? There were hundreds of +tribes of them, and many of them were bold and brave, and when they saw +the white men pushing into their country they fought fiercely for their +homes. But they could not stand before the guns of the pioneers and the +cannon of the soldiers, and in time they were all forced to submit. Then +places were set aside for them and they were made to live in them. The +Indians were not always treated well. They were robbed and cheated in a +hundred ways. But that, I hope, is all over now, for they are being +well cared for and educated, and they seem likely, before many years, to +become good and useful citizens of our country. + +[Illustration: CUSTER'S LAST FIGHT.] + +Now I have another story to tell. Our Civil War, which you have read +about, ended in 1865. For thirty-three years after that--one-third of a +century--we were at peace at home and abroad, and our country had the +wonderful growth of which you have just read. Then, in 1898, almost at +the end of the century, war came again. By good luck, it was not a big +war this time, and it was one I can tell you about in a few words. + +It was pity and charity that brought us into this war. South of Florida +is the large and fertile island of Cuba, which had long belonged to +Spain, and whose people had been very badly treated. At length they said +they could stand it no longer, so they took their guns, left their +homes, and went to war with the soldiers of Spain. For two years they +fought bravely. Their old men, and their women and children, who had +stayed at home, helped them all they could; so the Spaniards drove these +from their homes into the cities, and left them there with hardly +anything to eat. Thousands of these poor wretches starved to death. + +You may be sure that our people thought this very wicked. They said that +it ought to be stopped; but Spain would not do what they wished. Then +they sent food to the starving people. Some of it got to them and some +of it was used by others. Everybody in our country felt very badly to +see this terrible affair going on at our very doors, and the government +was told that it ought to take some action. What the government did was +to send one of its war-vessels, the "Maine," to the harbor of Havana, +the capital of Cuba. + +Then something took place that would have made almost any country go to +war. One dark night, while the "Maine" floated on the waters of the +harbor, and nearly all her crew were fast asleep in their berths, a +terrible explosion was heard under her, and the good vessel was torn +nearly in half. In a minute she sank into the muddy bottom of the +harbor, and hundreds of her sleeping crew were drowned. Only the captain +and some of the officers and men escaped alive. + +I fancy all of you must know how angry our people felt when they heard +of this dreadful event. You were angry yourselves, no doubt, and said +that the Spaniards had done this and ought to be punished by having Cuba +taken from them. I do not think there were many Americans who did not +feel like taking revenge for our poor murdered sailors. + +War soon came. In April, 1898, the Congress declared war against Spain +and a strong fleet of iron-clad ships was sent to Cuba. An army was +gathered as quickly as possible, and the soldiers were put on board +ship and sailed away to the south. There was a Spanish fleet in the +harbor of Santiago de Cuba and an American fleet outside keeping the +ships of Spain like prisoners in the harbor; so the soldiers were sent +to that place, and it was not long before an army was landed and was +marching towards the city of Santiago. I am glad to say that the +fighting did not last very long. There was a bold charge up hill by the +Rough Riders and others in the face of the Spanish guns, and the Spanish +army was driven back to the city. Here they were shut up and soon +surrendered, and the war in Cuba was at an end. + +But the iron-clad ships in the harbor were not given up. On the 3d of +July a brave dash for liberty was made. They came out at full speed +where our great ships lay waiting, and soon there was one of the +strangest fights that had ever been seen. The Spanish ships rushed +through the waters near the coast, firing as they fled. After them came +the American ships at full speed, firing as they followed. But not many +of the Spanish halls touched the American ships, while the great guns of +the Americans raked the Spaniards fore and aft. + +Soon some of their ships were on fire and had to be run ashore. In an +hour or two the chase was at an end and the fine Spanish fleet was sunk +and burning, with hundreds of its crew killed, while on the American +ships only one man had been killed. It was a wonderful flight and fight. +I should tell you more about it, only that I have another story of the +same kind to relate. + +Far away from Cuba, on the other side of the world, in the broad Pacific +Ocean, near the coast of China, is a great group of islands called the +Philippines, which had long belonged to Spain. Here, in the harbor of +Manila, the capital of the islands, was a Spanish fleet. There was an +American fleet in one of the harbors of China, under the command of +Commodore George Dewey. And as soon as war had been declared Dewey was +ordered to go to Manila and sink or take the Spanish fleet. + +Dewey was a man who thought it his duty to obey orders. He had been told +to sink or take the Spanish fleet, and that was what he meant to try his +best to do. Over the waters sped his ships, as swiftly as steam could +carry them, and into the harbor of Manila they went at midnight while +deep darkness lay upon the waters. It was early morning of the 1st of +May when the American ships rounded up in front of the city and came in +sight of the Spanish fleet. This lay across the mouth of a little bay +with forts to guard it on the land at each side. + +It was a great danger which Commodore Dewey and his bold followers +faced. Before them lay the Spanish ships and the forts. There were +torpedo boats which might rush out and sink them. There were torpedoes +under the waters which might send the flagship itself to the bottom. +Some men would have stopped and felt their way, but George Dewey was not +that kind of a man. Without stopping for a minute after his long journey +from China, he dashed on with the fleet and ordered his men to fire. +Soon the great guns were roaring and the air was full of fire and smoke. + +Round and round went the American ships, firing as they passed. Every +shot seemed to tell. It was not long before some of the Spanish ships +were blazing, while hardly a ball had touched an American hull. After an +hour or two of this hot work Dewey drew out and gave his men their +breakfast. Then back he came and finished the job. When he was done, the +whole Spanish fleet was sunk and burning, with hundreds of its men dead +and wounded, while not an American ship was badly hurt and not an +American sailor was killed. There had hardly been so one-sided a battle +since the world began. + +There, I have, as I promised, told you in few words the story of the +war. Soon after a treaty of peace was signed and all was at an end. The +brave Dewey was made an admiral and was greatly honored by the American +people. + +If you should ask me what we gained from the war, I would answer that we +gained in the first place what the war was fought for, the freedom of +Cuba from the cruel rule of Spain. But we did not come out of it without +something for ourselves. We obtained the fertile island of Porto Rico in +the West Indies and the large group of the Philippine Islands, near the +coast of Asia. These last named came as the prize of Dewey's victory, +but I am sorry to say that there was a war with the people themselves +before the United States got possession. During the war with Spain we +obtained another fine group of islands, that known as Hawaii, in the +Pacific Ocean. You can see from this that our country made a wide spread +over the seas at the end of the nineteenth century. The winning of all +these islands was an event of the greatest importance to the United +States. It gave this country a broad foothold on the seas and a new +outlook over the earth. Some of the proud nations of Europe had looked +on this country as an American power only, with no voice in world +affairs. But when Uncle Sam set his left foot on the Hawaiian Islands, +in the Central Pacific, and his right foot on the Philippine Islands, +near the coast of Asia, these powers of Europe opened their eyes and +began to get new ideas about the great republic of the West. It was +plain that the United States had become a world power, and that when +the game of empire was to be played the western giant must be asked to +take a hand. + +This was seen soon after, when China began to murder missionaries and +try to drive all white people from its soil. For the first time in +history the United States joined hands with Europe in an Old World +quarrel, and it was made evident that the world could not be cut up and +divided among the powers without asking permission from Uncle Sam. But +fortunately Uncle Sam wants to keep out of war. + +And now we are near the end of our long journey. We have traveled +together for more than four hundred years, from the time of Columbus to +the present day, looking at the interesting facts of our country's +history, and following its growth from a tiny seed planted in the +wilderness to a giant tree whose branches are beginning to overshadow +the earth. We have read about what our fathers did in the times that are +no more. We have learned something of what has been taking place during +our own lives. There is a new history before us in which we shall live +and act and of which our own doings will form part. A new century, the +twentieth, has opened before us, and it only remains to tell what our +country has done in the few years that have passed of this century. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +HOW A HUNTER BECAME PRESIDENT + + +I THINK it very likely that all, or nearly all, who read this book were +born before the new century--the one we call the twentieth--began. It is +a young century still. Yet there has been time enough for many things to +take place in the country we call our own. Some of these you may +remember. Others many of you were too young to know much about. So it is +my purpose here to bring the story of our country up to the present +time. + +[Illustration: ROOSEVELT SURPRISED BY A GIANT HIPPOPOTAMUS.] + +I have not said much about our Presidents, but there was a President +elected in the first year of the twentieth century of whom I must speak, +since his election led to a dreadful event. In the following year (1901) +a beautiful exhibition was held at Buffalo, New York. It was called the +Pan American Exhibition, and was intended to show what the nations of +America had done in the century just closed. + +I shall say little about the splendid electrical display, the fountains +with their colored lights, the shining cascades, the glittering domes +and pinnacles, the caverns and grottoes, and all the other brilliant +things to be seen, for I have to speak of something much less pleasant, +the dark deed of murder and treachery which took place at this +exhibition. + +President McKinley came to Buffalo early in September to see the fine +display and let the people see him, and on the 6th he stood with smiling +face while many hundreds of visitors passed by and shook hands with him. +In the midst of all this there came a loud, sharp sound. A pistol had +been fired. The President staggered back, with pallid face. Men shouted; +women screamed; a crowd rushed towards the spot; the man who held the +pistol was flung to the floor and hundreds surged forward in fury. "He +has shot our President! Kill him! Kill him!" they cried. The guards had +a hard fight to keep the murderer from being torn to pieces by the +furious throng. + +The man who had shot the President belonged to a society called +Anarchists, who hate all rulers and think it their duty to kill all +kings and presidents. Poor, miserable wretch! he suffered the death he +deserved. But his shot had reached its mark, and after a week of fear +and hope, President McKinley died. He was mourned by all the people as +if each of them had lost a member of his or her own family. + +You probably know that when a President dies the Vice-President takes +his place. McKinley's Vice-President was a capable man named Theodore +Roosevelt. He was very fond of tramping through the wilds and of hunting +wild beasts. At the time we speak of, when the news of the death of +President McKinley was sent abroad, Vice-President Roosevelt was off on +a long tramp through the Adirondack Mountains of New York, perhaps +hoping to shoot a deer, or possibly a bear. + +When the news came, no one knew where he was, and dozens of the +mountain-climbers were sent out to find him. As they spread out and +pushed forward, the crack of rifles could be heard on all sides and +megaphones were used to send their voices far through the mountain +defiles. But hour after hour passed and the shades of evening were at +hand, and still no answer came; no sign of Roosevelt and his party could +be traced. Finally, when they were near the high top of Mount Marcy, +answering shots and shouts were heard, and soon the hunting party came +in sight. + +When Mr. Roosevelt was told the news they brought--that the President +was at the point of death--he could hardly believe it; for the last news +had said that he was likely to get well. He knew now that he must get to +Buffalo as soon as he could, so that the country should not be without a +President, and he started back for the clubhouse from which he had set +out at a pace that kept the others busy to keep up with him. + +Night had fallen when he reached the clubhouse, but there was to be no +sleep for him that night. A stagecoach, drawn by powerful horses, waited +his coming, and in very few minutes he was inside it, the coachman had +drawn his reins and cracked his whip, and away went the horses, plunging +into the darkness of the woods that overhung the road. + +That was one of the great rides in our history. You would have said so +if you had been there to see. There were thirty-five miles to be made +before the nearest railroad station could be reached. The road was rough +and muddy, for a very heavy thunderstorm had fallen that day. Darkness +overhung the way, made more gloomy by the thick foliage of the trees. +Here and there they stopped for a few minutes to change horses, and then +plunged on at full speed again. What thoughts were in the mind of the +solitary passenger whom fate was about to make President of the great +United States, during that dark and dismal night, no one can tell. +Fortune had built for him a mighty career and he was hastening to take +up the reins of government, soon to be dropped by the man chosen to hold +them. + +Alden's Lane was reached at 3:15 in the morning and the horses were +again changed. The road now before them was the worst of all, for it was +very narrow in places and had deep ravines on either side, while heavy +forest timber shut it in. But the man who handled the horses knew his +road and felt how great a duty had been placed in his hands, and at 5:22 +that morning, when the light of dawn was showing in the east, the coach +dashed up to the railroad station at North Creek. Here a special train, +the locomotive puffing out steam, lay waiting for its distinguished +passenger. + +News of greater weight now greeted the traveler. He was told that the +President was dead. He had passed away at Buffalo three hours before. +The man who landed as Vice-President on that solitary platform, was now +President of the United States. Only the oath of office was needed to +make him such. + +Disturbed in mind by the thrilling news, the traveler of the night +stepped quickly into the car that waited for him, and the engine darted +away through the dawn of the new day. Speed, speed, speed, was the +thought in the mind of the engineer, and over the track dashed the iron +horse and its single car, often at a rate of more than a mile a minute. +Hour after hour passed by as they rushed across the state. At 1:40 in +the afternoon the train came rattling into Buffalo, and its passenger +leaped to the platform and made all haste to the house of Ainsley +Wilcox, one of his special friends. There, that afternoon, he was sworn +into office as President of the United States, and the scene we have +described came to an end, one of the most dramatic among those in our +country's history. Never before had a man been sought in the depths of a +mountain wilderness and ridden through rain and gloom a whole night +long, to be told at the end that he had become the ruler of one of the +greatest nations on the earth! + +I have told you that Theodore Roosevelt was fond of hunting. While he +was President he had to leave the wild animals alone, but he did another +kind of hunting, which was to hunt for dishonesty and fraud among the +great business concerns of the country. He said that every man ought to +have an equal chance to make a living, and he had laws passed to help in +this. + +This kind of hunting made him very popular among the people, which was +shown by his being elected President by a large majority when the time +came for the next Presidential election. He also won much fame by +helping to put an end to the dreadful war between Russia and Japan, and +men everywhere began to speak of him as the greatest of living rulers. + +While Mr. Roosevelt was President several things took place which are +worth speaking about. One was the building of the Panama canal to +connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is not yet finished, but +when it is done it will be the greatest canal on the earth. A second +thing was the splendid World's Fair held at St. Louis in 1904, in memory +of the purchase from France of the great Louisiana country a century +before. Two years later the large city of San Francisco was destroyed by +earthquake and fire, with great loss of life and property. + +One thing more must be spoken of, for with this President Roosevelt had +much to do. This was to have great dams built on the mountain streams of +the West, so as to bring water to millions of acres of barren lands and +make them rich and fertile. Also, to save the forests, nearly +200,000,000 acres of forest land were set aside as the property of the +nation and kept from the axes of the woodcutters. + +The time for another Presidential election came In 1908, but Mr. +Roosevelt would not run for the office again. I fancy he was tired of it +and wanted to do some real hunting, for he soon set out for Africa, the +land of the largest and fiercest animals on the earth. Here is the +elephant, the rhinoceros, the lion, the wild buffalo and other savage +beasts, and he spent a year in killing these animals and in keeping them +from killing him. I have no doubt you would like to read of the exciting +time he had in this great hunting trip, but I must stop here and leave +it untold, for it is no part of the Story of Our Country. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The list of illustrations listed the photograph of the Steam Shovel at +Work as being the frontispiece. The book itself placed the photograph +between pages 182 and 183. As there is no reference to Panama or the +Steam Shovel in this chapter, it was moved to the front to be the +frontispiece as listed. + +Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. + +Page 16, "Northman" changed to "Northmen" (Northmen, named Leif) + +Page 31, "siezed" changed to "seized" (governor seized him) + +Page 38, "Chespeake" changed to "Chesapeake" (the broad Chesapeake) + +Page 142, "Andre" changed to "Andre" (Major Andre, a) + +Page 171, "who" changed to "whom" (to whom should be) + +Page 217, "Virgnia" changed to "Virginia" (fighting in Virginia) + +Page 270, "traveller" changed to "traveler" to match rest of book's +usage (greeted the traveler) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY*** + + +******* This file should be named 32402.txt or 32402.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/4/0/32402 + + + +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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