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diff --git a/35742.txt b/35742.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..802172c --- /dev/null +++ b/35742.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8829 @@ +Project Gutenberg's American Leaders and Heroes, by Wilbur Fisk Gordy + +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: American Leaders and Heroes + A preliminary text-book in United States History + +Author: Wilbur Fisk Gordy + +Release Date: April 1, 2011 [EBook #35742] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN LEADERS AND HEROES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + [Illustration: PAUL REVERE AROUSING THE INHABITANTS ALONG THE + ROAD TO LEXINGTON.] + + + + AMERICAN LEADERS + AND HEROES + + A PRELIMINARY TEXT-BOOK IN + UNITED STATES HISTORY + + BY + + WILBUR F. GORDY + + + PRINCIPAL OF THE NORTH SCHOOL, HARTFORD, CONN.; AUTHOR OF + "A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS"; AND + CO-AUTHOR OF "A PATHFINDER IN AMERICAN HISTORY" + + _WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS_ + + NEW YORK + CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS + 1907 + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY + CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS + + [Illustration] + + + + +PREFACE + + +In teaching history to boys and girls from ten to twelve years old +simple material should be used. Children of that age like action. They +crave the dramatic, the picturesque, the concrete, the personal. When +they read about Daniel Boone or Abraham Lincoln they do far more than +admire their hero. By a mysterious, sympathetic process they so identify +themselves with him as to feel that what they see in him is possible for +them. Herein is suggested the ethical value of history. But such ethical +stimulus, be it noted, can come only in so far as actions are translated +into the thoughts and feelings embodied in the actions. + +In this process of passing from deeds to the hearts and heads of the +doers the image-forming power plays a leading part. Therefore a special +effort should be made to train the sensuous imagination by furnishing +picturesque and dramatic incidents, and then so skilfully presenting +them that the children may get living pictures. This I have endeavored +to do in the preparation of this historical reader, by making prominent +the personal traits of the heroes and leaders, as they are seen, in +boyhood and manhood alike, in the environment of their every-day home +and social life. + +With the purpose of quickening the imagination, questions "To the Pupil" +are introduced at intervals throughout the book, and on almost every +page additional questions of the same kind might be supplied to +advantage. "What picture do you get in that paragraph?" may well be +asked over and over again, as children read the book. If they get clear +and definite pictures, they will be likely to see the past as a living +present, and thus will experience anew the thoughts and feelings of +those who now live only in their words and deeds. The steps in this +vital process are imagination, sympathy, and assimilation. + +To the same end the excellent maps and illustrations contribute a +prominent and valuable feature of the book. If, in the elementary stages +of historical reading, the image-forming power is developed, when the +later work in the study of organized history is reached the imagination +can hold the outward event before the mind for the judgment to determine +its inner significance. For historical interpretation is based upon the +inner life quite as much as upon the outward expression of that life in +action. + +Attention is called to the fact that while the biographical element +predominates, around the heroes and leaders are clustered typical and +significant events in such a way as to give the basal facts of American +history. It is hoped, therefore, that this little volume will furnish +the young mind some conception of what our history is, and at the same +time stimulate an abiding interest in historical and biographical +reading. + +Perhaps it is needless to say that the "Review Outline" may be used in +many ways. It certainly will furnish excellent material for language +work, oral or written. In so using it pupils may well be encouraged to +enlarge the number of topics. + +I wish to acknowledge my obligations to Professor William E. Mead, of +Wesleyan University, who has read the manuscript and made invaluable +suggestions; also to my wife, whose interest and assistance have done +much to give the book whatever of merit it may possess. + + WILBUR F. GORDY. + +HARTFORD, CONN., May 1, 1901. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, 1 + II. HERNANDO DE SOTO AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, 22 + III. SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND THE FIRST ENGLISH ATTEMPTS TO + COLONIZE AMERICA, 31 + IV. JOHN SMITH AND THE SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN, 42 + V. NATHANIEL BACON AND THE UPRISING OF THE PEOPLE IN + VIRGINIA IN 1676, 55 + VI. MILES STANDISH AND THE PILGRIMS, 64 + VII. ROGER WILLIAMS AND THE PURITANS, 81 + VIII. WILLIAM PENN AND THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA, 92 + IX. CAVELIER DE LA SALLE AND THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI + VALLEY, 103 + X. GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE BOY SURVEYOR AND YOUNG SOLDIER, 116 + XI. JAMES WOLFE, THE HERO OF QUEBEC, 136 + XII. PATRICK HENRY AND THE STAMP ACT, 146 + XIII. SAMUEL ADAMS AND THE BOSTON TEA PARTY, 156 + XIV. PAUL REVERE AND THE BATTLE OF CONCORD AND LEXINGTON, 165 + XV. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND AID FROM FRANCE, 175 + XVI. GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE VIRGINIA PLANTER AND THE + REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER, 189 + XVII. NATHANIEL GREENE, THE HERO OF THE SOUTH, AND FRANCIS + MARION, THE "SWAMP FOX," 211 + XVIII. DANIEL BOONE, THE KENTUCKY PIONEER, 222 + XIX. THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE, 234 + XX. ROBERT FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT, 246 + XXI. ANDREW JACKSON, THE UPHOLDER OF THE UNION, 253 + XXII. DANIEL WEBSTER, THE DEFENDER AND EXPOUNDER OF THE + CONSTITUTION, 264 + XXIII. SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE AND THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH, 273 + XXIV. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE LIBERATOR OF THE SLAVES, 282 + XXV. ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT AND THE CIVIL WAR, 302 + XXVI. SOME LEADERS AND HEROES IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN, 314 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + Christopher Columbus, 1 + The Santa Maria, 7 + The Nina, 8 + The Pinta, 9 + The Triumphal Return of Columbus to Spain, 13 + An Indian Stone Maul, 20 + Hernando De Soto, 22 + De Soto Discovering the Mississippi, 25 + Sir Walter Raleigh, 31 + Queen Elizabeth, 35 + Entrance to Raleigh's Cell in the Tower, 38 + Tower of London, 39 + An Indian Pipe, 40 + John Smith, 42 + John Smith and the Indians, 45 + Indian Weapons, 46 + Ruins of Jamestown, 47 + Apache's War-club, 50 + Sioux Indian Bow and Arrow with Stone Point, 50 + Navajo Sling, 51 + A Pappoose Case, 51 + Tobacco Plant, 56 + Loading Tobacco, 57 + The Burning of Jamestown, 61 + Miles Standish, 64 + The Mayflower, 70 + A Matchlock Gun, 74 + A Group of Pilgrim Relics, 75 + Pilgrims Returning from Church, 77 + Brewster's and Standish's Swords, 79 + Roger Williams on his Way to Visit the Chief of the Narragansett + Indians, 83 + A Block House, 84 + Roger Williams's Meeting-House, 85 + A Puritan Fireplace, 87 + William Penn, 92 + William Penn's Famous Treaty with the Indians, 95 + Penn's Slate-roof House, Philadelphia, 98 + A Belt of Wampum Given to Penn by the Indians, 99 + Cavelier De La Salle, 103 + Long House of the Iroquois, 104 + The Murder of La Salle by his Followers, 113 + George Washington, 116 + Washington's Birthplace, 117 + Washington Crossing the Alleghany River, 119 + The Death of Braddock, 129 + James Wolfe, 136 + General Montcalm, 139 + The Death of Wolfe, 141 + Patrick Henry, 146 + George III., 149 + St. John's Church, Richmond, 152 + Samuel Adams, 156 + Faneuil Hall, Boston, 160 + The Old South Church, Boston, 161 + The "Boston Tea Party," 163 + Paul Revere, 165 + The Old North Church, 168 + Stone in Front of the Harrington House, Lexington, Marking + the Line of the Minute-Men, 170 + The Retreat of the British from Concord, 172 + Benjamin Franklin, 175 + Franklin in the Streets of Philadelphia, 180 + Franklin Experimenting with Electricity, 184 + Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin, 186 + George Washington, 189 + Washington's Coach, 190 + A Stage Coach of the Eighteenth Century, 191 + Washington's Retreat through New Jersey, 199 + Winter at Valley Forge, 204 + Washington's Home--Mount Vernon, 208 + Nathaniel Greene, 211 + Lord Cornwallis, 215 + General Francis Marion, 218 + Marion and His Men Swooping Down on a British Camp, 219 + Daniel Boone, 222 + Indian Costume (Female), 224 + Indian Costume (Male), 225 + Daniel Boone in his Cabin, 228 + A Hand Corn Mill, 229 + A Wigwam, 231 + Indian Implements, 232 + Thomas Jefferson, 234 + Monticello, 237 + Thomas Jefferson at Work upon the First Draft of the Declaration + of Independence, 238 + Robert Fulton, 246 + A Pack Horse, 247 + A Flat Boat, 248 + The Clermont, 251 + Andrew Jackson, 253 + Andrew Jackson's Cradle, 254 + A Spinning Wheel, 255 + Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, 261 + Daniel Webster, 264 + Marshfield--Home of Daniel Webster, 271 + S. F. B. Morse, 273 + Telegraph and Railroad, 280 + Abraham Lincoln, 282 + Lincoln's Birthplace, 283 + Lincoln Studying, 287 + Slaves on a Cotton Plantation, 299 + Ulysses S. Grant, 302 + The Meeting of Generals Grant and Lee at Appomattox, 310 + The McLean House, 311 + General R. E. Lee, 312 + The Wreck of the Maine, 316 + Admiral Dewey, 318 + President MCKinley, 319 + "Escolta," Manila's Main Street, 320 + + + + +LIST OF MAPS + + + PAGE + Places of Interest in Connection with Columbus's Earlier Life, 3 + The First Voyage of Columbus, and Places of Interest in + Connection with his Later Voyages, 11 + Routes Traversed by De Soto and De Leon, 27 + Cabot's Route. Land Discovered by him Darkened, 33 + Section where Raleigh's various Colonies were Located, 37 + Jamestown and the Surrounding Country, 48 + The Pilgrims in England and Holland, 67 + The Pilgrim Settlement, 72 + The Rhode Island Settlement, 88 + The Pennsylvania Settlement, 97 + Map Showing Routes of Cartier, Champlain, and La Salle, also + French and English Possessions at the Time of the Last + French War, 107 + The English Colonies and the French Claims in 1754, 121 + The French in the Ohio Valley, 123 + Quebec and Surroundings, 138 + Paul Revere's Ride, 167 + Franklin's Journey from New York to Philadelphia, 178 + Map Illustrating the Battle of Long Island, 196 + Map Illustrating the Struggle for the Hudson River and the + Middle States, 201 + Map Showing the War in the South, 213 + The Kentucky Settlement, 223 + Map of Louisiana Purchase: also United States in 1803, 242 + Map Illustrating Two of Andrew Jackson's Campaigns, 258 + Map of the United States showing the Southern Confederacy, + the Slave States that did not Secede, and the Territories, 297 + Map Illustrating Campaigns in the West in 1862-63, 307 + The United States Coast and the West Indies, 315 + Portion of the Coast of China and the Philippine Islands, 325 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of America + +[1436-1506] + +[Illustration: Christopher Columbus.] + + +From very early times there existed overland routes of trade between +Europe and Asia. During the Middle Ages traffic over these routes +greatly increased, so that by the fifteenth century a large and +profitable trade was carried on between the West and the East. Merchants +in Western Europe grew rich through trade in the silks, spices, and +precious stones that were brought by caravan and ship from India, China, +and Japan. But in 1453 the Turks conquered Constantinople, and by +frequent attacks upon Christian vessels in the Mediterranean made the +old routes unsafe. A more practicable one became necessary. + +Already in the early part of the fifteenth century Portuguese +sea-captains had skirted the western coast of Africa, and by the close +of the century others of their number had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, +in their search for a water route to the Indies. But Spain, at that +time the most powerful nation of Europe, adopted a plan quite different +from that of the Portuguese. What this plan was and how it was carried +out, we can best understand by an acquaintance with the life and work of +the great sea-captain and navigator, Christopher Columbus. + +More than four hundred and fifty years ago there lived in the city of +Genoa a poor workingman, who made his living by preparing wool for the +spinners. Of his four sons, the eldest was Christopher, born in 1436. +Young Christopher was not, so far as we know, very different from most +other boys in Genoa. He doubtless joined in their every-day sports, +going with them to see the many vessels that sailed in and out of that +famous sea-port, and listening for hours to the stories of sailors about +distant lands. + +But he did not spend all his time in playing and visiting the wharves, +for we know that he learned his father's trade, and in school studied, +among other things, reading, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and +map-drawing. We can easily believe that he liked geography best of all, +since it would carry his imagination far out over the sea and to lands +beyond the sea. In map-drawing he acquired such skill that when he +became a man he could earn his living, when occasion demanded, by making +maps and charts. + +Beyond these facts little is known about the boyhood and youth of +Columbus. Very likely much of his early life was spent upon the sea, +sailing on the Mediterranean and along the west coast of Africa. Once +he went as far north as England and perhaps even farther, but of this we +are not certain. + +In the course of many voyages he heard much of the work done by +Portuguese sailors and discoverers, for Portugal was at that time one of +the greatest sea-powers of the world. As Lisbon, the capital of +Portugal, was naturally a centre for sea-faring men, and as it was also +the home of his brother Bartholomew, Columbus, at the age of about +thirty-five, went there to live. + +[Illustration: Places of Interest in Connection with Columbus's Earlier +Life.] + +Columbus was a man of commanding presence. He was large, tall, and +dignified in bearing, with a ruddy complexion and piercing blue-gray +eyes. By the time he was thirty his hair had become white, and fell in +wavy locks about his shoulders. Although his life of hardship and +poverty compelled him to be plain and simple in food and dress, he +always had the air of a gentleman, and his manners were pleasing and +courteous. But he had a strong will, which overcame difficulties that +would have overwhelmed most men. + +While at Lisbon, Columbus married a woman far above him in social +position, and went with her to live on a little island of the Madeiras, +where her family had business interests. Meanwhile he was turning over +in his mind schemes for a future voyage to the countries of the Far +East. His native city, Genoa, had grown rich in trading in the silks, +spices, and precious stones of the Indies, but the journey overland was +dangerous, and a water route was much desired. + +This need the Portuguese had felt along with the rest of Europe, and for +a long time Portuguese sea-captains had been slowly but surely finding +their way down the west coast of Africa, in search of a passage around +the southern cape. This route would be easier and cheaper than the old +one through the Mediterranean and across Asia. But Columbus thought out +a more daring course, by which he planned to sail directly west from the +Canary Islands, across the Atlantic Ocean, expecting at the end of his +voyage to find the far-famed Indies. + +Columbus was so full of his plan that it became the great thought of his +life. A water route which would safely bring the wealth of the East to +the doors of Europe would be the greatest discovery of the age. +Moreover, his ambition was spurred by the thrilling account of a noted +traveller, Marco Polo, who two centuries before had brought back from +far-off China wonderful tales of golden palaces, of marvellous rivers +crossed by marble bridges, and of countless treasures of gold, silver, +and jewels. + +About 1484 Columbus laid his scheme before King John of Portugal. The +king would not promise his assistance, but he borrowed hints from the +charts of Columbus, and sent men of his own to learn whether they could +reach land by sailing west. Meeting with stormy weather, and fearing the +unknown expanse of ocean, the sailors soon put back to port, and brought +word that there was no land to be seen. + +When Columbus heard what the king had done he was very indignant, and at +once quitted Portugal for Spain. The future appeared gloomy enough to +the poor navigator without a helping friend. With bitter memories he +shook off the dust of Lisbon, and, leading by the hand his little son +Diego, four or five years old, trudged wearily on his journey. Columbus +took Diego to the home of the boy's aunt, who lived not far from Palos, +and, leaving him in her care, went in search of the king and queen of +Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. + +The king and queen were at that time so much occupied in driving the +Moors out of Spain that Columbus found difficulty in securing a hearing. +When at last he was permitted to unfold his plans to a council of +learned men they ridiculed him, because, forsooth, he said that the +world was round like a globe,[1] and people lived on the opposite side +of the earth. "Such a thing," they declared, "is absurd, for if people +live on the other side of the earth their heads must be down. Then, too, +if it rains there the rain falls upward; and trees, if they grow there, +must grow upside down." + + [1] The belief that the world was round was by no means new, + as learned men before Columbus's day had reached the same + conclusion. But only a comparatively small number of people + held such a view of the shape of the earth. + +Some of the learned men, however, agreed with Columbus, and thought the +carrying out of his plan by the aid of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella +would bring honor and countless wealth to Spain. But their authority was +not sufficient to affect those who believed Columbus to be a crazy +dreamer or a worthless adventurer. + +Month after month, year after year, Columbus cherished his ambitious +scheme, encouraged by the few friends who were ready to use their +influence for him. He followed the king and queen from place to place, +as they moved their camp in the course of the war, and he sometimes +fought bravely in the Spanish army. But in face of scorn and ridicule he +never gave up hope of success. These were days of great trial, when even +the boys in the streets tapped their foreheads as he passed by, and +pointed their fingers at him with a peculiar smile. + +[Illustration: THE SANTA MARIA.] + +In the autumn of 1491 Columbus made up his mind to leave Spain and try +his fortune in France. So he went to the home of Diego's aunt, and once +more taking his boy with him, started on foot out of the country which +had so little befriended him. We can easily picture him, pale and +wayworn, his clothes threadbare, his long white hair streaming over his +shoulders. The travellers had gone but a short distance when they +stopped at the gate of the Convent of St. Mary, which was only a mile +and a half from Palos, to beg bread and water for the boy. At this +moment the good prior of the convent happened to pass by. He was a man +of learning and, on conversing with Columbus, became much interested in +his story, and arranged a meeting of other learned men, among them the +well-known sea-captain, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who lived in Palos. The +plans of Columbus appealed so strongly to this sea-captain that he +promised not only to furnish money for an expedition, but to accompany +it himself. + +[Illustration: The Nina.] + +Moreover, the prior, who had been father-confessor to Isabella, won her +over to the sailor's cause. The queen sent what would now be nearly +$1,200[2] to Columbus, and summoned him back to Court. Supplying himself +with a mule and suitable clothing, Columbus, with lightened heart, +sought the queen's presence. She approved his plan, but Columbus +demanded so great a reward for his services as leader of the expedition +that the queen refused to come to any agreement with him, and let him +go. + + [2] The sum sent was 20,000 maravedis of Spanish money. + +Columbus in disgust mounted his mule, and started once more for France. +At this juncture, however, one of the queen's advisers hurried into her +presence, and put the case so earnestly that she sent a swift courier, +who overtook Columbus in a mountain pass not far away, and brought him +back. An agreement was soon reached, and Columbus accepted his +commission with tears of joy. + +[Illustration: The Pinta.] + +He at once went to Palos to get men and vessels for the expedition. But +here he met with serious difficulties. Sailors called the Atlantic Ocean +the Sea of Darkness, and believed that it contained frightful +sea-monsters, ready to dash in pieces all vessels that might come within +reach. Moreover, we must remember that the vessels in those days were +not safe against storms like the great ships of our day. To venture out +upon this trackless sea signified to sailors almost certain death. +Hence, they were unwilling to sail, and a royal decree had to be issued +to compel them. Even then it became necessary to release criminals from +prisons to supply the number required for the expedition. + +The three caravels that were at length got ready for the perilous +expedition westward in search of the Indies were not larger than many of +the fishing-boats of to-day. The largest of the three--the flagship of +Columbus--was called the Santa Maria. The other two were the Pinta and +the Nina ("Baby"). The Santa Maria alone had a deck covering the entire +hold of the vessel. + +At last all was ready, and a half-hour before sunrise on Friday morning, +August 3, 1492, this little fleet, with one hundred and twenty men and +provisions for a year, sailed out of the port of Palos. It was a +sorrowful hour for the poor sailors, who felt that they had looked upon +their homes and their friends for the last time. Columbus steered for +the Canaries, where he delayed three weeks to repair the rudder of the +Pinta. + +On September 6th he set sail again. When once out of sight of land the +sailors, overcome with fear, cried and sobbed like children. But new +trials awaited them. At the end of a week the compass needle no longer +pointed to the North Star, and this strange fact filled the +superstitious sailors with alarm. + +Great was their consternation when a few days later the vessels entered +vast stretches of sea-weed. At first the little fleet easily ploughed +its way through this mass of floating green, but at the end of three +days, on account of a light wind, the vessels moved more slowly. In +their dismay the sailors feared that the vessels might never get +through this immense sea of grass, but might have to lie there and rot, +or, perhaps, escaping this danger, run upon rocks and shoals lying just +beneath the grass and be broken in pieces. Though they were in the midst +of obstacles apparently insurmountable, they were also in the path of +the trade winds that steadily bore them onward. But in their terror, the +sailors imagined they could never return because the wind would not +allow them to sail in the opposite direction. When the wind began to +blow from the southwest they were once more relieved of their fears. + +[Illustration: The First Voyage of Columbus, and places of interest in +connection with his Later Voyages.] + +After many days all hearts were gladdened by the sight of birds, which +indicated that land was near. It was an idle hope. Again and again some +eager-eyed sailor shouted "land," but found later that he was looking at +distant clouds. + +The crews were in despair. Now in the belt of trade-winds that were +steadily blowing them farther and farther from home and friends they +cried in dismay: "We can never return to Spain. We are lost! What shall +we do?" They begged Columbus to turn back. They became angry when he +refused, and declared he was crazy and was leading them all to +destruction. They even plotted to throw him overboard some night and say +that he fell into the sea while looking at the stars. Columbus felt that +dangers were growing thick about him, but he never faltered in his +purpose. His strong will and his abiding faith in success kept him +stanch in face of difficulties that would have caused an ordinary mind +to give way. + +On October 11th unmistakable signs of land appeared. A thorn branch with +berries on it, a reed, and a carved stick came floating by. New life +stirred in every heart, and the sailors looked eagerly in every +direction for land. + +The king and queen had promised a reward equal to nearly $600 of our +present money to the sailor who should be the first to see land. +Columbus had promised in addition a velvet cloak. Accordingly, all were +on the alert to catch the first glimpse of land, and kept on the watch +during the entire night after the appearance of the thorn-branch and +carved stick. + +About ten o'clock Columbus himself saw in the distance a light, which +looked like a torch in the hands of some one moving along the shore. +About two o'clock next morning, Friday, October 12th--or October 21st, +according to our present method of reckoning time--a sailor on the Pinta +saw, about five miles off, a low strip of land. This was an island of +the Bahama Group. Just ten weeks had elapsed since the voyage began at +Palos, and with intense eagerness Columbus and his men awaited the +coming of daylight. + +[Illustration: The Triumphal Return of Columbus to Spain.] + +At dawn the boats were lowered, and all went on shore. Columbus, +dressed in a rich robe of scarlet, carried the royal standard. His +followers also bore banners, on each of which was a brilliant green +cross with the letters F. and Y.--the Spanish initials for Ferdinand and +Isabella--on each side. Above the letters were crosses. Columbus threw +himself, kneeling, upon the ground. He wept for joy, and, kissing the +earth, took possession of the land in the name of the king and queen of +Spain. The sailors now fell upon their knees at Columbus's feet. They +kissed his hands, and begged him to forgive them for their evil thoughts +toward him. + +At first the natives, whom Columbus called Indians because he thought he +was in the East Indies, fled to the woods in fear of the Spaniards; but +later they returned and worshipped the white men as beings from the sky. +They thought the vessels were great birds and the sails wings. The +Spaniards at once began to trade with the Indians, giving them such +trifles as tiny bells, red caps, and glass beads, in exchange for tame +parrots, cotton yarn, and a few small ornaments of gold, such as the +natives wore in their noses. + +According to the interesting description of the natives that Columbus +wrote in his journal, they were very poor, dark-skinned, and naked. All +of them seemed to be young and of strong build, with coarse black hair +hanging long behind, but cut short over their foreheads. Their bodies +were painted with various colors and in all manner of ways. The men +carried sticks, pointed with fish-bones, for javelins, and moved their +canoes with paddles that looked like wooden shovels. + +The canoes, made out of single trunks of trees, were in some cases large +enough to carry forty men. The dwellings, which were clustered together +in groups of twelve to fifteen, were shaped like tents and had high +chimneys. Inside the tents, hanging between posts, were nets used as +beds and called "hammocks." + +Columbus called the island upon which he had landed San Salvador (Holy +Saviour). He wrote of the new country: "I know not where first to go, +nor are my eyes ever weary of gazing at the beautiful verdure. The +singing of the birds is such that it seems as if one would never desire +to depart hence. There are flocks of parrots that obscure the sun, and +other birds of many kinds, large and small, entirely different from +ours; trees, also, of a thousand species, each having its particular +fruit, and all of marvellous flavor." + +Columbus sailed along the coast of Cuba and Hayti, landing here and +there, and sent parties inland to find out what they could about the +land and its people. Everywhere he was on the lookout for the cities of +Asia--those wonderful cities of wealth and beauty described in such +glowing colors by Marco Polo. He never doubted that he was in the land +he had sought,--the East Indies. + +On Christmas morning (December 25, 1492), while it was still dark, as he +was cruising along the shores of Hayti (or Hispaniola), the Santa Maria +went aground on a sand-bar, where the waves soon knocked her to pieces. +As the Pinta had already deserted, there now remained but one ship, the +Nina. This little vessel was too small to accommodate all the men, and +forty of the number, wishing to stay where they were, decided to build a +fort out of the timbers of the wrecked vessel and put her guns in the +fort for their defence. These men had provisions for a year, and +constituted the first Spanish colony in the New World. + +On January 4, 1493, the Nina sailed for Spain. All went well with the +sailors until February 12th, when a great storm suddenly threatened to +break the frail vessel into pieces. Poor Columbus! His heart grew faint +within him. Had he and his men endured such peril and hardship to perish +unknown in the sea? Would the world never know of their great +achievement? + +In his anxiety he wrote on parchment two separate accounts of his +discovery, which he sealed and addressed to Ferdinand and Isabella. He +then wrapped each in a cloth and, enclosing them in large cakes of wax, +put them into barrels. One of these barrels he flung into the sea, and +the other he kept on deck. The Nina passed safely through the storm, +however, and on March 15th, after an absence of nearly seven and a half +months, cast anchor in the harbor of Palos. + +The successful voyager lost no time in reaching Barcelona, where he was +received by the king and queen with triumphal honors. Everybody was +ready to praise the man who had become so famous. There was a great +procession in his honor in the streets of Barcelona. Leading this street +parade were six Indians whom Columbus had brought back with him. These +were smeared with paint, decked with feathers of tropical birds, and +ornamented with bits of gold. Following them came men carrying stuffed +and live birds of brilliant plumage, and the skins of different animals, +all products of the New Land. Columbus rode on horseback, attended by +many of Spain's great men, mounted on horses. + +When the procession reached the house in which King Ferdinand and Queen +Isabella were, Columbus went into the room where they sat on the throne. +They did him the honor to rise as he entered, and when he knelt to kiss +their hands, they again honored him, by bidding him rise and sit, like +an equal, in their presence. + +The poor sailor, once despised as an idle dreamer, had become a +distinguished personage, honored alike by kings and princes and people. +It was no longer necessary to force men by royal decree to sail with the +great admiral. Many were now eager to go where they might reap wealth +and honor. + +In September, 1493, Columbus again sailed, this time with a fleet of +seventeen vessels and fifteen hundred men. Many of the latter were young +men of noble birth, and belonged to families of wide influence. All +supposed they were going to the East Indies, the land of jewels and +spices and precious metals. With the purpose of founding a colony, +Columbus took with him not only horses, mules, and cattle, but vines, +vegetables, and seeds of many kinds. + +When the fleet reached the island of Hayti, and the place where he had +in the previous winter left the little colony of forty men, he found +that the fort and provisions had been destroyed, and that eleven corpses +had been buried near by; but not one of the forty men was ever again +seen alive. After building a little town, called Isabella in honor of +the queen, Columbus began exploring by land and sea. He found much that +was beautiful and interesting, but much more that was disappointing. +Moreover, the Indians were sometimes unfriendly, and his own men were +often unruly and treacherous. At length, after four years of varying +fortune, he started home, and after a long, hard voyage, during which +provisions gave out, he and his men, weak with hunger, finally reached +Spain in June. He was kindly received, and was promised more ships for +another voyage. + +In May, 1498, with six vessels and two hundred men besides the sailors, +Columbus started on a third voyage, this time directing his course more +to the south than he had done before. He landed on an island which he +named Trinidad, and then sailed along the northern coast of South +America. + +He was not well, however, and in August turned his course for Santo +Domingo, where he found things were going badly. Trouble with the +Indians had arisen, and even more serious trouble in the colony itself +had broken out. For two years Columbus struggled to set things right. +But he was not successful as a colonizer. Besides, many people were +beginning to lose faith in him because he did not get expected treasures +for Spain. Many others were jealous of his fame, and plotted to ruin +him. At length an official was sent from Spain to Hayti to look into the +situation. When he reached the island he confiscated Columbus's +property, put him in chains, and sent him as a prisoner to the country +from which he had but recently sailed with high honor. + +In Spain the people were in sympathy with the admiral in his disgrace; +so too was the queen, who sent money and summoned him to court. She +received him there with tears in her eyes, and he broke down and wept at +her feet. + +In 1502 Columbus started on a fourth voyage, sailing along the eastern +coast of Central America. But he was not able to accomplish much, and +finally suffered shipwreck on the island of Jamaica, where he spent a +year of misery. At last he set out for home, arriving there only a short +time before Queen Isabella, his only protector, died. + +Poor, sick, and discouraged, Columbus dragged out a weary life for +eighteen months longer. He died in Spain of a broken heart, May 20, +1506, in utter ignorance of the greatness of his discovery. So little +appreciated was he that the city annals make no mention of his death. It +remained for succeeding generations to lift his name from obscurity and +to give faithful acknowledgment of his achievements in the advance of +human progress. + +[Illustration: An Indian Stone Maul.] + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE DESIRE FOR A WATER ROUTE BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE INDIES. + THE TURKS CONQUER CONSTANTINOPLE. + THE PORTUGUESE ROUND THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. + EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. + HE GOES TO LISBON. + HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER. + TRADE WITH THE FAR EAST. + A WATER ROUTE TO THE INDIES. + MARCO POLO'S STORIES OF THE FAR EAST. + KING JOHN TAKES ADVANTAGE OF COLUMBUS. + COLUMBUS GOES TO SPAIN. + THE WISE MEN RIDICULE HIM AS A CRAZY DREAMER. + AT THE CONVENT OF ST. MARY; THE PRIOR AND THE SEA-CAPTAIN. + QUEEN ISABELLA GIVES COLUMBUS A HEARING. + THE SAILORS' FEARS; THE LITTLE FLEET. + COLUMBUS SETS SAIL AT LAST. + NEW TRIALS FALL UPON HIM. + THE SAILORS IN DESPAIR; COLUMBUS IN DANGER. + THE GREAT DISCOVERY. + COLUMBUS LANDS. + THE PEOPLE COLUMBUS FOUND. + THE NEW COUNTRY. + COLUMBUS EXPLORES THE NEW COUNTRY. + THE FIRST SPANISH COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD. + BACK TO SPAIN. + HONORS SHOWERED UPON COLUMBUS. + HE SAILS ON HIS SECOND VOYAGE. + HE FINDS MANY DISAPPOINTMENTS AND HARDSHIPS. + HE MAKES OTHER VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. + HE DIES OF A BROKEN HEART. + + +TO THE PUPIL. + + 1. Find on the map all the countries and places named in this + chapter, and trace the first voyage of Columbus. + + 2. Can you picture to yourself the following: Columbus and Diego + on the road together; Columbus, mounted on a mule, on his way to + France; the landing of Columbus on reaching San Salvador; and the + street parade in Barcelona? + + 3. Using the topics in the book, write from memory the account of + the first voyage. + + 4. Select as many words in this chapter as you can telling what + kind of man Columbus was. What do you admire in his character? + + 5. What was Columbus trying to do? Why? What great thing did he + do? When? + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Hernando De Soto and the Discovery of the Mississippi + +[1500-1542] + +[Illustration: Hernando De Soto.] + + +After the discovery of the New World by Columbus, the Spaniards, who had +no other thought than that he had found a new way to India, dreamed +eagerly of its marvellous wealth, and were impatient to be off to the +land where they believed fortunes awaited them. So zealous were they, in +their mad search for gold and adventure, that many were willing to leave +home and friends for years. + +The most brilliant of these explorers were Cortez, the conqueror of +Mexico, and Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru, both of whom carried back to +Spain many million dollars' worth of gold and silver. With Pizarro was a +young man named Hernando De Soto, whose adventurous life is full of +interest, and whose important discovery of the Mississippi River has +given him a prominent place in the history of our country. + +He was born about 1500, of a poor but noble family. In his youth he +excelled in athletic sports, and possessed unusual skill in horsemanship +and in fencing. Taking a leading part in all the dangerous exploits in +the New World, he not only won fame, but went back to Spain after many +years' absence a rich man. + +While Cortez and Pizarro had been conquering Mexico and Peru, other +Spaniards had been seeking their fortune in Florida.[3] Thus far these +men had brought back no gold and silver, but their faith in the mines of +the interior was so great that De Soto wished to conquer and explore the +country. Having already won great influence by his achievements, he +secured the favor of the king, who made him governor of the island of +Cuba, and appointed him leader of an expedition to conquer and occupy +Florida. He was to take men enough with him to build forts and plant a +colony, so as to hold the country for Spain. + + [3] De Leon discovered this land in the full bloom of an Easter + Sunday (1513). In token of the day and the flowers he named + it Pascua Florida. + +De Soto had no difficulty in getting followers to join him in this +enterprise. Young men from noble families flocked to his standard from +all parts of Spain, and as he knew that dangers and hardships awaited +them he was careful to select from the large numbers the strongest men. + +De Soto's company included richly dressed nobles and warriors in +glittering armor. It was a gala day when they sailed out of port with +banners flying and cannon booming, and not a young man of them but felt +proud to sail on so grand an expedition. After arriving in Cuba, De Soto +spent some time there, and then leaving his wife to govern the island, +set out to explore Florida. His expedition was an imposing one, +comprising nine vessels, six hundred men, and about two hundred and +twenty-five horses. In May, 1539, the whole force landed at Tampa Bay, +on the western coast of Florida. + +They had not advanced far into the interior when De Soto fell in with a +Spaniard named Ortiz, who had accompanied Narvaez in a previous +expedition some ten or eleven years before. According to his story, the +Indians had captured him, and only forbore to kill him because an Indian +girl had begged for his life. Ortiz had lived with the Indians so many +years that he had become very much like one himself; but we can imagine +his joy at seeing white men once more. The Spaniards were equally +rejoiced because they knew how serviceable their countryman would be as +a guide and interpreter. + +[Illustration: DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI] + +The advantage of this good-fortune was soon counteracted, however, by De +Soto's unfriendliness to the Indians. He was not only indifferent to +their pleasure and sufferings, but even seemed to enjoy torturing and +killing them. It was his custom upon arriving at an Indian settlement to +demand food for his men and horses, and upon his departure to carry off +with him the head chief as guide and hostage, not releasing him until +the next tribe was reached. Indian men and squaws were forced into +service as porters for the Spanish baggage; and thus enslaved, often +with chains and with iron collars about their necks, they were compelled +to do all sorts of menial work. It is not strange that after such +treatment the Indians lost all confidence in De Soto. They not only +learned to hate him and the Spaniards but longed to be revenged upon +them. In return for the cruelties inflicted they purposely led the +Spaniards astray, and left untried no treachery which would serve to +destroy the pale-faced strangers. + +In May, 1540, an Indian princess, rowed by her followers in a canopied +canoe, came across a stream to meet De Soto. When she landed, her +followers carried her in a litter, from which she alighted and +approached him. She gave him presents of shawls and skins, and a string +of pearls which she took from around her neck. In return for these acts +of courtesy De Soto made her a prisoner, and kept her going about on +foot with him until she escaped. + +This is but an instance of the cruelty which made enemies of all the +Indians with whom the Spaniards came in contact. No doubt Indian runners +were sent hundreds of miles in many directions to tell the various +tribes of the inhuman deeds of the white men. No doubt these tribes +combined in a desperate effort to destroy De Soto and all his men. How +nearly they succeeded in their plan can be told in a few lines. + +In the autumn of 1540 the Spaniards came to the tribe of a giant +chieftain whose slaves held over him, as he sat upon cushions on a +raised platform, a buckskin umbrella stained red and white. He was +sullen in the presence of the richly dressed Spaniards on their prancing +steeds, but allowed De Soto to carry him a prisoner to the next Indian +town, as the other head chiefs had done. + +[Illustration: Routes Traversed by De Soto and De Leon.] + +This town was called Mavilla, an Indian word from which we get the name +Mobile for the city and river in Alabama. As the Spaniards approached +this town Indians came out to meet them, their faces showing signs of +displeasure and evil intent. Fearing nothing, however, De Soto, attended +by about a dozen of his men, rode boldly inside the town, which was +surrounded with a palisade. + +The giant chieftain then asked for a release that he might return to his +own people, and on being refused went into a house in which many Indian +warriors were concealed. When De Soto ordered him to come out he +refused. In the excitement that followed, a Spaniard cut down with his +sword an Indian warrior standing near by. Then, in wild fury, hundreds +of dusky warriors rushed like madmen out of the house to the attack, and +soon shot down five of De Soto's body-guard. Of course he had to flee +for his life. But before he could reach the main force outside the town +he fell to the ground two or three times, struck by Indian arrows. + +It was the beginning of a terrible battle, in which the Spaniards, +although outnumbered, had the advantage because of their horses, swords, +firearms, and superior training. Finally, from the outside, they closed +the gates to the town, and set fire to the Indian buildings. The Indians +fought with desperation, but they either fell, cut down by Spanish +swords, or rushed in mad fury to perish in the flames. When night came, +only three Indian warriors remained alive. Two of these fought until +they were killed, and the last unfortunate one hanged himself on a tree +with his bow-string. The Spaniards said they killed at least 2,500 +Indians, but they lost in killed and wounded about a third of their own +number. It was a dearly bought victory. + +Nor was Indian craftiness the only source of trouble for the Spaniards. +De Soto's men had to travel through thick forests with no road except +the narrow path made by wild animals or the trail made by the Indian +hunter. They spent many laborious days in picking their way through +dense underbrush and miry swamps, stopping here and there to make rafts +to carry them across the numerous streams. Often without food and on the +point of starving, they were obliged to feed upon native dogs, and were +sometimes reduced to berries, nuts, bear-oil, and wild honey. + +In spite of hunger, disease, death, and many other misfortunes, however, +De Soto in his mad search for gold threaded his way through the tangled +forests until, in the spring of 1541, about two years after landing at +Tampa Bay, he reached the bank of the Mississippi River. After spending +months in making boats, he at length crossed the mighty stream, and then +continued his march in a northerly and westerly direction, going, it +would seem, as far as the site of what is now Little Rock, the capital +of Arkansas. + +Marching southeast, probably to the banks of the Washita, he spent a +winter so severe that many of the party, including Ortiz, died. + +About the middle of April, 1542, the Spaniards, travel-spent and sick at +heart, reached the mouth of the Red River, where De Soto, discouraged +and broken in spirit, was taken ill with fever and soon died. At first +his followers buried his body near the town where they were staying, but +when the Indians began with some suspicion to examine the ground under +which he lay, the Spaniards in the darkness of night took up the body, +wrapped it in blankets made heavy with sand, and sadly lowered it into +the waters of the mighty river which it was De Soto's chief honor to +have discovered. After many more hardships the wretched survivors of +this unhappy company, numbering not many more than half of those who +landed at Tampa Bay, found their way to a Spanish colony in Mexico. Thus +ended in disaster the expedition which sailed with such hope of wealth +and renown. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + SPANISH THIRST FOR GOLD AND ADVENTURE. + DE SOTO'S EARLY LOVE OF SPORTS AND DANGEROUS EXPLOITS. + DE SOTO PLANS TO EXPLORE AND COLONIZE FLORIDA. + PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION. + DE SOTO SETS OUT ON HIS VOYAGE. + HE FALLS IN WITH ORTIZ. + DE SOTO'S CRUEL TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. + THE INDIAN PRINCESS. + THE PLAN TO DESTROY DE SOTO AND HIS MEN. + THE GIANT CHIEFTAIN. + DE SOTO IN DANGER. + A TERRIBLE BATTLE. + DE SOTO DISCOVERS THE MISSISSIPPI. + DIFFICULTIES AND SUFFERINGS. + MORE TROUBLES FOR THE SPANIARDS. + DE SOTO'S DEATH. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Find on the map Mexico, Peru, Porto Rico, Cuba, Florida, + Mobile the Mississippi River, and the Washita River. + + 2. Draw a map in which you will indicate De Soto's route. + + 3. Tell in your own words the story of this wretched march + through the forests. + + 4. Make a mental picture of De Soto's meeting with the Indian + princess; of De Soto and his body-guard in Mavilla; of the burial + of De Soto's body by night. + + 5. What did De Soto accomplish? When? + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Sir Walter Raleigh and the First English Attempts to Colonize America + +[1552-1618] + +[Illustration: Sir Walter Raleigh.] + + +Only five years after Columbus made his discoveries in the West India +Islands, John Cabot sailed from England in search of a short northwest +passage to Asia. Directing his course across the northern part of the +Atlantic Ocean, he landed somewhere on the eastern coast of North +America, perhaps on the shores of Labrador. His son sailed in the +following year along the coast from Nova Scotia down as far as North +Carolina. By reason of these discoveries and explorations, England laid +claim to North America. + +Nearly a hundred years passed before England took any further steps +toward getting a foothold in America. In the meantime Spain, by means of +her naval power, had conquered Mexico and Peru, and planted colonies at +various points in the New World. + +The precious metals collected by Spanish explorers in Mexico and Peru +had furnished the money with which Spain was enabled to carry on her +expeditions as well as the almost continuous wars with other European +powers. Some people think that Spain took out of these two countries +gold and silver to an amount that would now equal five thousand million +dollars. + +At this time England had not so strong a navy as she has to-day, and the +Spanish King hoped because of her weakness to conquer England and make +her a dependency of Spain. Of course this roused the English people, and +they determined to thwart the ambitious scheming of the Spanish King. + +Although England had not a fighting navy, English seamen were alert to +capture Spanish vessels and rob them of their gold and silver. To seize +these prizes, such bold sea-captains as Drake and Hawkins roamed the +sea, burning and plundering Spanish fleets and Spanish settlements along +the coast of Mexico and South America. + +Conspicuous among these daring sea-rovers and explorers was Sir Walter +Raleigh, one of the most distinguished Englishman of his time. He was +born in a town near the sea-coast in Devonshire, England, in 1552, his +father and mother both being of high social rank. + +In this town lived many old sailors, who could tell the wide-awake boy +stirring tales of seafaring life and of bloody fights with Spaniards. +Walter was a patriotic boy, and therefore soon learned to hate Spain, +because of her insolence toward the English people. As he became older +and learned more of the power of Spain, especially that which came +through possessions in the New World, he was envious for his country's +sake and wished her to become Spain's rival in wealth. + +[Illustration: Cabot's Route. Land discovered by him darkened.] + +When Walter was old enough, he was sent to Oxford University, where he +became an earnest student. But at seventeen he put aside his studies and +went to France to join the Huguenot army.[4] After remaining there for +about six years, he returned to England and served for a short time in +the English army, fighting against Spain and Austria in the Netherlands. +Later he went as captain of a hundred men to Ireland, and there proved +himself a brave soldier. + + [4] The Huguenots were French Protestants, who were then at war + with the Catholics in France. + +Returning again to England, by a simple act of courtesy he won the +admiration of the powerful queen Elizabeth. It happened in this way. On +one occasion, when with her attendants she was about to cross a muddy +road, Raleigh stood looking on. Noticing that the queen hesitated for an +instant, he took from his shoulder his beautiful velvet cloak and +gallantly spread it in her pathway. The queen, greatly pleased with +this delicate attention, took Raleigh into her Court and in time +bestowed upon him much honor. She not only made him a knight, but +presented him with costly gifts and estates, and showered upon him +offices of rank and dignity. The brave knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, +became a man of great wealth and influence. + +As a courtier his dress was rich and dazzling. He wore a hat with a +pearl band and a black jewelled feather. His shoes, which were tied with +white ribbons, were studded with gems worth six thousand six hundred +gold pieces. He had also a suit of silver armor that glittered with +diamonds and other precious stones. + +This splendor did not seem so much out of place in those days as it +would now, for much display and ceremony were customary in court life. +Queen Elizabeth, with her ten hundred and seventy-five dresses and +mantles, ornamented with lace, embroidery, and jewels, and with her +eighty wigs of various colors, set a gorgeous example which her +courtiers were delighted to follow. + +But Raleigh was not satisfied with the glamour of court life. He was +eager to achieve glory for England and if possible to elevate her upon +the ruins of her enemy, Spain. + +It was his desire to build up a new England for the glory of the old, +and to that end he secured from Queen Elizabeth a charter for planting a +colony in America. He therefore fitted out two vessels which were to +sail to the land north of Florida, then occupied by Spain, and bring +back reports of the country. + +The captains of these vessels arrived in Pamlico Sound, and landed on an +island which they found rich in grapes and woods and abounding in deer +and other game. The explorers received kind treatment from the Indians, +two of whom accompanied the voyagers to England on their return. Queen +Elizabeth was so pleased with the good reports from the new country that +she called it Virginia in honor of herself--the Virgin Queen. + +[Illustration: Queen Elizabeth.] + +The next year, 1585, Raleigh sent out to Virginia seven vessels and one +hundred colonists, under his cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, and Ralph +Lane. They landed on Roanoke Island, and made a settlement there, but +the colony was not prosperous. At the outset, by unwise and cruel +treatment they made enemies of the natives. It is related that, an +Indian having stolen a silver cup from one of the colonists, the +Englishmen burned an entire village and ruined the corn belonging to its +people. Such punishment was out of all proportion to the petty offence. +It is not surprising, therefore, that from that time the settlers found +the Indians unfriendly. + +Very soon Grenville sailed back to England, leaving the colony in charge +of Ralph Lane. The colonists instead of building houses and tilling the +soil to supply food, were bent upon finding gold. Hence they listened +with eager interest to a story that the Indians told of the Roanoke +River. According to this story, the river flowed out of a fountain in a +rock so near the ocean that in time of storm the waves dashed over into +the fountain. The river, the Indians said, flowed near rich mines of +gold and silver, in a country where there was a town with walls made of +pearls. Lane and his followers foolishly started up the river in a vain +search for this wonderful land. They encountered many difficulties, +including hostile attacks by Indians, and suffered so much from lack of +food that they had to eat the flesh of their own dogs. + +But despite these hardships, they made their way back to Roanoke Island, +reaching it just in time to save the colony from destruction by the +Indians. A little later Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet of twenty-three +vessels, appeared off the coast. He had come on his way home from the +West Indies, where he had been plundering the Spanish settlements, and +cheerfully consented to take the destitute and homesick colonists back +to England. A few days after their departure Grenville arrived with +fresh supplies, and found the settlement deserted. Leaving a garrison of +fifteen men, with provisions for two years, to hold possession, he then +sailed back to England. + +Although the settlement did not succeed, this effort to plant a colony +was not wholly fruitless, for the colonists took to England on their +return three products which gave to the people a somewhat different idea +of the real wealth of the new lands. These were not precious metals, but +products of the soil, namely, tobacco, the white potato, and Indian +corn. + +[Illustration: Section where Raleigh's various colonies were located.] + +The discovery of the tobacco plant introduced into England the custom of +smoking, and a curious story is told of it in connection with Sir Walter +Raleigh, who soon learned to smoke. One day his servant, who knew +nothing of the new custom, came into his master's room and found him +smoking from a silver pipe. Believing Raleigh was on fire, the faithful +servant hastily dashed a mug of ale at him to quench the flames and +rescue him from death. + +The wealth that lay hidden in the soil was yet unknown, and no one felt +any enthusiasm over the new colony of Virginia. Most men would by this +time have lost hope. But Raleigh was not daunted. Two years later he +made a second attempt to plant a colony in the New World, this time +sending over three ships, with a hundred and fifty settlers, including +seventeen women. John White was appointed governor of the colony. These +settlers had the fore-thought to carry with them farming implements to +use in tilling the soil. When they landed on Roanoke Island they found +no trace of the fifteen men left there two years before by Sir Richard +Grenville. The new settlers had not been on the island long before they +were in need of help from England, and begged Governor White to return +home for provisions and more settlers. White at first refused to leave +them, but finally consented. A warm interest in the feeble settlement +and love for his little granddaughter, born soon after the settlers +arrived, persuaded him to yield. This little girl, the first white girl +born in America, was named after the new country, Virginia, her full +name being Virginia Dare. + +[Illustration: Entrance to Raleigh's Cell in the Tower.] + +When Governor White left the settlement he expected to return +immediately, but upon reaching England he found his countrymen greatly +excited over the coming invasion of the much-dreaded "Spanish Armada." +Everybody was astir, and Raleigh was aroused to his fullest energy in +preparation to meet the hated foe. + +But, notwithstanding this, he found time to fit out two small vessels +for Governor White. Although they sailed, trouble with the Spaniards +compelled their return to England, and not until two years later, when +the Spanish Armada had been defeated, did Governor White sail again for +Virginia, this time as a passenger in a West Indiaman. He landed on +Roanoke Island as before, but there remained of the settlement only some +chests of books, some maps, and some firearms, all of which had been +ruined by the Indians. + +Upon bidding Governor White farewell, the colonists had agreed to carve +on a tree the name of the place to which they would go if they should +decide to leave Roanoke Island. They were also to carve above the name a +cross if they were in serious trouble. Governor White found the word +CROATOAN cut in capital letters on a large tree, but he found no cross. +Before White could sail to Croatoan, which was an island not far away, +he had to return to England because the captain of the vessel, having +encountered stormy weather, refused to sail further. What became of the +lost colonists is still a mystery. It is possible that the Indians +either killed them or captured and enslaved them. + +Raleigh sent out other expeditions in search of the lost colony, but +without success. He had already spent a sum equal to more than a million +dollars in trying to plant this colony, and now felt that he must give +up all hope of accomplishing his purpose. + +[Illustration: Tower of London.] + +But this was only one of his many disappointments. Because he was a +favorite of the queen and had been a successful man he had many enemies +who were jealous of his good fortune. Men of power envied him and tried +to weaken his influence and do him injury. As his failures increased, +his popularity diminished and he at length became bitter in spirit. + +On the death of Queen Elizabeth, James I. became king and, not favoring +Raleigh, at length threw him into prison on a charge of treason. After +an imprisonment of twelve years in the Tower of London, Sir Walter was +beheaded. Just as he was about to lay his head upon the block, he felt +the keen edge of the axe, saying, "This is a sharp medicine, but a sound +cure for all diseases." Although he failed to carry out the great desire +of his heart, Raleigh gave the English people some definite ideas in +regard to the value of the New World as a place for colonizing--ideas +which before many years found expression in the settlement of Jamestown. + +[Illustration: An Indian Pipe.] + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + JOHN CABOT DISCOVERS THE MAINLAND OF NORTH AMERICA. + ENGLAND AND SPAIN UNFRIENDLY TO EACH OTHER. + ENGLISH SEA CAPTAINS CAPTURE SPANISH VESSELS. + SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S FAMILY AND EDUCATION. + RALEIGH THE SOLDIER. + HE WINS THE FAVOR OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. + RALEIGH'S DRESS; DISPLAY IN COURT LIFE. + HE SENDS TWO VESSELS TO AMERICA. + HIS FIRST COLONY LANDS ON ROANOKE ISLAND. + A VAIN SEARCH FOR GOLD. + TIMELY ARRIVAL OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. + THREE AMERICAN PRODUCTS TAKEN TO ENGLAND. + AN AMUSING STORY ABOUT RALEIGH. + RALEIGH'S SECOND ATTEMPT TO PLANT A COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD. + GOVERNOR WHITE RETURNS TO ENGLAND. + HE SAILS TWO YEARS LATER FOR VIRGINIA. + CROATOAN. + RALEIGH IMPRISONED AND BEHEADED. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Tell in your own language what was done by John Cabot and his + son. + + 2. Why did Raleigh when a boy hate Spain? + + 3. Write an account of the failure of Raleigh's first and second + colonies, and give their dates. + + 4. What did Raleigh try to do? What did he succeed in doing? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +John Smith and the Settlement of Jamestown + +[1579-1631] + +[Illustration: John Smith.] + + +About twenty years after the failure of Raleigh's attempt to plant a +settlement in America, another effort was made by a body of merchants +and wealthy men called the London Company. Their purpose was to discover +gold, of which Englishmen were then dreaming, just as the Spaniards had +dreamed years before when they sailed under the leadership of Columbus, +Pizarro, Cortez, and De Soto. As a beginning for the new colony, which +was destined to be the first permanent English settlement in America, +the London Company sent out one hundred and five men, who set sail from +London on New Year's day, 1607, in three frail vessels. They were not +sturdy, self-reliant men such as give strength to a new enterprise. On +the contrary, about half of them were "gentlemen," who felt themselves +above working with their hands. They were coming to America to pick up +a fortune, and then return to England to live at ease the rest of their +lives. As we shall see, such colonists were unfit for the rough and +rugged life which awaited them in the wild woods of a new country. + +Instead of sailing straight across the Atlantic they took a very much +longer route, directing their course down the coast of France and Spain +to the Canaries and from these islands to the West Indies. Here they +stopped a long time. The result was that they were about four months on +the tiresome voyage, and had used up nearly all their provisions before +reaching their journey's end. + +This was but a beginning of their troubles. Their purpose had been to +land on the deserted site of Raleigh's colony, Roanoke Island, but, a +violent storm having driven them out of their course, they entered +Chesapeake Bay, naming the headlands on either side Cape Charles and +Cape Henry, after the king's sons. Pushing on, they found a quiet harbor +which they fittingly called Point Comfort. After resting here they +sailed up the river and named it the James, after James I., King of +England. + +They were delighted with the country, for it was the month of May and +the banks of the river were luxuriant with beautiful trees, shrubbery, +and many-colored flowers. Fifty miles from the mouth of the James the +voyagers landed on a peninsula, which they chose as the place of +settlement because it was within easy reach of the sea. + +At once they set to work building dwellings, and a fort in which to +defend themselves against unfriendly Indians. The dwellings at first +consisted of rude cabins roofed with sage or bark, tents made of old +sails, and holes dug in the ground. An old sail served for the roof of +their first church, and a plank nailed up between two trees for a +pulpit. + +They did well to found their Church so early, for they soon had need of +its consolations. The intense heat of July and August and the sultry +atmosphere hanging over the swamps and marshes bred disease, and caused +many of the colonists to fall ill of fever. Sometimes three or four died +in a single night. To make matters worse, food was so scarce that each +settler's daily portion was reduced to a half-pint of mouldy wheat and +the same quantity of barley. And, as if these afflictions from climate, +scanty food, bad water, and loss of friends were not enough, the Indians +kept the wretched settlers in constant terror of their lives. Each man +had to take his turn "every third night" lying on the damp, bare ground +to watch against attack, although at times there were not five men +strong enough to carry guns. Their condition was indeed pitiable. Those +in health were not sufficient to nurse the sick, and during the summer +about half of the settlers died. + +[Illustration: John Smith and the Indians. + +When Smith fully grasped the situation he threatened the Indians with +death, and then finding himself surrounded by hundreds of hostile +warriors, he boldly seized Powhatan's brother by the scalp-lock, put a +pistol to his breast, and cried, "Corn, or your life!"] + +All must have perished but for the bravery and strength of one man, John +Smith, who for several years kept the struggling colony alive by his +personal authority and wise treatment of the Indians. Born in England +in 1579, he was at the time of the settlement of Jamestown twenty-eight +years old. While but a boy he was left an orphan, and was early +apprenticed to a trade; but he had such a longing for adventure that he +soon ran away and went to the Continent to seek his fortune. + +From that time his life, according to his own story, was full of +stirring incidents, only a few of which we can tell here. While +travelling through France he was robbed and left helpless in a forest on +the highway, where he would have died from exposure and lack of food but +for the kindly aid of a peasant who chanced to find and rescue him. +Going to Marseilles he took passage on a ship with some pilgrims bound +eastward on a journey to the Holy Land. During the voyage a severe storm +arose, which greatly alarmed the pilgrims, and, believing that in some +mysterious way their strange passenger was the cause of their +misfortune, they threw him overboard. Smith managed to save himself from +the sea, however, and a little later fought in a war against the Turks, +three of whose mighty warriors he slew in single combat. Afterward he +was captured and enslaved by the Turks, but he seemed to lead a charmed +life, and with his usual good-fortune again made his escape. + +[Illustration: Chipped flint arrow heads.] + +[Illustration: Stone Axe.] + +[Illustration: Indian Weapons.] + +In 1604 he returned to England, at the age of twenty-five, in time to +join the expedition to Virginia. With such a training as Smith had +received in his many strange adventures, he was well equipped for the +various difficulties that had to be met in the unsettled life of the new +colony in the forests of Virginia. + +[Illustration: Ruins of Jamestown.] + +When the cool weather of the autumn set in, the general health of all +improved and food became abundant, for the streams were alive with +swans, geese, ducks, and various kinds of fish, while game and garden +supplies were plentiful. + +As soon as affairs were in a promising condition, Smith started one very +cold December day on a journey of exploration. He sailed up the +Chickahominy River in search of the South Sea, as the Pacific Ocean was +then called. This was generally believed to be just beyond the +mountains. When the stream had become too shallow for the barge, Smith +with his four companions, two men and two Indian guides, continued his +journey in a canoe. Landing near what is now called White Oak Swamp, he +left the white men in charge of the canoe, and with one Indian pushed +his way into the forest. Soon they were set upon by a band of two +hundred Indian warriors, but Smith so bravely defended himself that he +killed two of the warriors, and held out against the entire force until +he sank in the mire and had to surrender. Having tied their prisoner to +a tree, the Indians were about to shoot him with an arrow when he +aroused their curiosity by showing them his pocket-compass and by asking +that he might write a letter to his friends at Jamestown. Granting the +request, they delivered the letter and brought back the articles for +which it called. They were greatly amazed that the white man was able to +make paper talk, and, believing him to be a superior being, they spared +his life. + +[Illustration: Jamestown and the Surrounding Country.] + +Smith became much interested in the life of the Indians, and left an +account of their customs and habits. According to his description, some +of them lived in rude dwellings made of boughs of trees, some in huts, +and others in wigwams a hundred feet or so in length, which served for +a number of families. The warriors painted their bodies in many colors, +and decorated themselves with beads, feathers, shells, pieces of copper, +and rattles. What clothing they wore was made of skins, and their +weapons were bows and arrows and clubs. + +The Indians had many kinds of horrible dances, in the course of which +they yelled and shrieked as if suffering the most painful torture. The +squaws carried the burdens, built the wigwams, and performed the various +necessary duties; and the men did the hunting, the fishing, the smoking, +and especially the fighting. + +The Indians took Smith to many of their villages, leading him finally +into the presence of Powhatan, who lived in one of the long wigwams +mentioned above, on the north bank of the York River, about fifteen +miles from Jamestown. + +The old chief was tall and stalwart, with a round fat face and thin gray +hair hanging down his back. Dressed in a robe of raccoon skins, he sat +before the fire on a sort of bench covered with mats, with a young +maiden sitting on each side; at his right and left stood the warriors, +and close to the wall on either side a row of squaws. + +Presently one of the squaws brought to Smith some water in a wooden +bowl, and another a bunch of feathers upon which to wipe his hands. Then +followed a step in the proceedings that must have caused even a stout +heart to quake. Having placed two stones upon the ground, the grim +warriors seized Smith, laid his head upon the stones, and stood ready to +slay him with clubs. But just at that moment the chief's little +daughter, Pocahontas, about ten years old, fell upon Smith's body, threw +her arms around his neck, and begged her father to spare his life. +Powhatan's heart was so touched that he released Smith and allowed him +to return three days later to Jamestown. + +[Illustration: Apache's War-club.] + +In the summer of 1609 Smith started out on another expedition in search +of the Pacific. He sailed as before by way of Chesapeake Bay, exploring +far up the Potomac. It is needless to say that he did not reach the +Pacific, but he covered a distance of about three thousand miles, and +made a map of his explorations, which is considered remarkable for its +accuracy. + +[Illustration: Sioux Indian Bow and Arrow with Stone Point.] + +In the autumn Captain Newport came from England with orders from the +London Company to crown Powhatan. Along with the crown the company sent +gifts, consisting of a bed, a basin, a pitcher, and a scarlet robe. +Powhatan gave token of his appreciation of the gifts by sending in +return to King James a pair of his moccasins and one of his raccoon-skin +blankets, but refused to kneel in receiving the crown, so that Smith +and Newport had to lean on his shoulders to force him down. + +[Illustration: Navajo Sling.] + +The crowning of Powhatan was intended to win his favor, but the +compliment did not make the shrewd old chief altogether friendly to the +white strangers. For he noticed that their numbers were increasing, and +he feared that their coming might in the end bring harm to himself and +his people. He therefore planned to get rid of the Englishmen by +refusing them corn, and in the following winter declined to supply them, +asking in a hostile way when they were going home. + +The settlers sadly missed his friendly aid, for the rats that had come +over in the vessels had played havoc with their provisions, and they +were greatly in need of corn, venison, and game, such as Powhatan had +furnished the previous year. + +[Illustration: A Pappoose Case.] + +But Smith, who knew so well how to manage the Indians, was equal to the +occasion. He used smooth words if they served his purpose; if not, he +used threats or even force. Bent upon gaining their good-will, or at +least determined to secure corn, Smith sailed down the James, around +Point Comfort, and up the York River with about forty men to Powhatan's +home. The old chief pretended to be friendly, but Smith learned from an +Indian informer that the wily savage was planning to murder him and his +men. Little Pocahontas, also, came to Smith in the darkness of night and +told him of the plot, thus proving herself, as on many other occasions, +to be a true friend to the white men. Indeed, it has been said that by +her timely aid the Jamestown settlement was saved from ruin. + +When Smith fully grasped the situation he threatened the Indians with +death, and then, finding himself surrounded by hundreds of hostile +warriors, he boldly seized Powhatan's brother by the scalp-lock, put a +pistol to his breast, and cried, "Corn or your life!" The Indians, awed +by Smith's fearlessness, no longer held out, but brought him corn in +abundance. + +From the first Smith had been the natural leader of the colony, and in +time was made president of the council. He found the men of his own race +almost as difficult to manage as the Indians. They were so lazy that +Smith was obliged to make a law by which he declared, "He that will not +work shall not eat." The law proved to be a good one, and the idlers +were soon busy making glass, felling trees, and preparing tar, pitch, +and soap-ashes. But they hated rough labor, and were very apt to swear +when it hurt their hands. To put an end to the swearing, Smith required +each man to keep a record of his oaths, and for every offence ordered a +can of cold water poured down the sleeve of the uplifted right arm of +the culprit. By such discipline the settlement was soon put into +excellent working order. + +If Smith could have remained at the head of the colony, everything might +have continued to go well. But one day, while out in a boat, he was +wounded so severely by the explosion of some gunpowder that he was +obliged to return to England for treatment. This accident happened in +October, 1609. Five years later he returned to Virginia and explored the +coast to the north, making a map of the region, and naming it New +England. He not only wrote an account of his own life, but also several +books on America. He died in 1632, at the age of fifty-three years. +Without his leadership, the weak and puny colony at Jamestown must have +perished before the end of its first year. But his resolution and +courage held it together until it received from England the help needed +to put it on a firm footing. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE LONDON COMPANY SENDS TO AMERICA A COLONY IN SEARCH OF GOLD. + THE EMIGRANTS SET SAIL. + THE LONG, ROUNDABOUT VOYAGE. + THE COLONISTS MAKE A SETTLEMENT AT JAMESTOWN IN 1607. + THEIR DWELLINGS AND THEIR CHURCH. + FEVER, HUNGER, AND INDIANS. + JOHN SMITH SAVES THE SETTLEMENT FROM RUIN. + HIS EARLY ADVENTURES. + HE GOES UP THE CHICKAHOMINY RIVER IN SEARCH OF THE PACIFIC. + THE INDIANS CAPTURE SMITH. + THEY SPARE-HIS LIFE. + LIFE AMONG THE INDIANS OF VIRGINIA. + SMITH IS TAKEN TO POWHATAN. + LITTLE POCAHONTAS SAVES JOHN SMITH'S LIFE. + HIS EXPLORATIONS. + THE CROWNING OF POWHATAN. + HE PLANS TO GET RID OF THE WHITE MEN. + HE REFUSES THEM CORN. + THE FRIENDLY AID OF POCAHONTAS. + "CORN OR YOUR LIFE!" + SMITH MADE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. + HIS RETURN TO ENGLAND. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Describe the Jamestown settlers. Can you form a mental picture + of their first dwellings? + + 2. Write an account of Smith's capture by the Indians and of his + later experiences with them. + + 3. What do you admire in Smith? In Pocahontas? What do you think + of Powhatan? + + 4. Trace on your map Smith's voyages and explorations. + + 5. When was Jamestown settled? + + + + +CHAPTER V + +Nathaniel Bacon and the Uprising of the People in Virginia in 1676 + +[1647-1676] + + +When Smith returned to England he left the colony without a leader. At +once the Indians, who had been held in check by fear of Smith, began to +rob and plunder the settlement, and at the same time famine and disease +aided in the work of destruction. Dogs, horses, and even rats and mice +were in demand for food, and while at its worst the famine compelled the +suffering colonists to feed upon the bodies of their own dead. + +At the close of that terrible winter, known ever since as the "Starving +Time," barely sixty of the five hundred men whom Smith had left in the +colony survived. The future promised nothing, and the wretched remnant +of sufferers were about to leave Virginia for their fatherland when an +English vessel hove in sight on the James. Greatly to their relief and +joy Lord Delaware had arrived with a company of men and much-needed +supplies. This was in June, 1610. + +[Illustration: Tobacco Plant.] + +By reason of ill-health Lord Delaware soon returned to England, leaving +Sir Thomas Dale in control of the colony. He was even more firm and +vigorous than Smith had been in dealing with the worthless men who made +the greater part of the colony. Some of the most unruly were flogged, +some were branded with hot irons, and one man was sentenced to death by +starvation. + +Holding down the lawless by the arm of the law, Dale was also able to +introduce reform. Before he took charge of affairs in Virginia there was +a common storehouse from which everybody, whether idle or industrious, +could get food. When the good-for-nothing settlers found out that they +could thus live upon the products of others' labor, they would do +nothing themselves, but held back, throwing all the work upon thirty or +forty men. Dale, appreciating the evil of this system, gave to every man +his own plot of land. Out of what he raised each was obliged to put into +the common storehouse two and a half barrels of corn; the rest of his +crop he could call his own. By this plan the idlers had to work or +starve, and the thrifty were encouraged to work harder, because they +knew they would receive the benefit of their labor. + +[Illustration: Loading Tobacco.] + +Soon after the new system was put in practice the settlers discovered +that great profits resulted from raising tobacco. The soil and climate +of Virginia were especially favorable to its growth, and more money +could be made in this way than in any other. But since tobacco quickly +exhausted the soil, much new land was needed to take the place of the +old, and large plantations were necessary. Every planter tried to select +a plantation on one of the numerous rivers of Virginia, so that he could +easily take his tobacco down to the wharf, whence a vessel would carry +it to Europe. + +For a long time the planters were very prosperous through their tobacco +culture, some even becoming wealthy. But a turn of fortune made things +bad for them. The Navigation Laws were passed, which required them to +send all their tobacco to England in English vessels. These laws also +required that the planters should buy from England all the European +goods that might be needed, and should bring them over to Virginia in +English vessels. + +The effect was to compel the colonist to sell his tobacco at whatever +price English merchants were willing to pay, and to buy his goods at +whatever price the English merchant saw fit to charge. Moreover, England +laid heavy taxes on colonial trade, and when, after a while, the price +of tobacco fell, the planter received small return for his labor. + +But these grievous trade regulations were not all that vexed the +colonist. He had troubles at home even more irritating than the +impositions of England. In 1660 Sir William Berkeley, a narrow-minded, +selfish man, became Governor of Virginia. This polished cavalier, fond +of the pleasures of the table and of good company, cared far more for +his seventy horses than for the plain people whose welfare was entrusted +to him. He cared so little indeed for the rights and wishes of the +people, that he refused, for sixteen years after he became governor, to +let a new assembly be elected. Having found in 1660 a set of pliant +followers, he kept them in office by adjourning the assembly from year +to year. + +Although such conduct was hard to excuse, the people were forbearing +until a great evil fell upon the settlement. The Indians began to invade +the frontier, and used the firebrand, scalping-knife, and tomahawk with +such fearful effect that three hundred settlers were killed and their +homes burned. The people begged Governor Berkeley to send troops to +punish the Indians; but he refused because he was carrying on a +profitable trade in furs with the offenders. At length, five hundred +men, in a frenzy of rage at their wrongs, urged Nathaniel Bacon, a +wealthy, educated planter, to lead them against their red foes. + +Bacon was at this time only twenty-eight years old. Tall and graceful in +person, this young man was also brave and generous. He had sympathy with +the plain people, over whom he exerted great influence, and when at +length the Indians killed an overseer and favorite servant on one of his +large plantations, he was willing to join with the people and be their +leader against the common foe. After trying in vain to get a commission +from Governor Berkeley, Bacon put himself at the head of five hundred +troops, and without a commission marched boldly against the Indians. +These he defeated with very little loss. + +In the meantime, with a force of his own soldiers, Berkeley followed +after Bacon, whom he called a rebel and traitor. Before he could reach +the young leader, however, Berkeley had to return to Jamestown to put +down an uprising of the people. Nor did he succeed in restoring quiet +until he agreed to an election of a new assembly to which Bacon himself +was chosen a delegate. + +On Bacon's return from his attack upon the Indians he became the idol of +the people. In their devotion to him and fear for his safety, thirty men +armed with guns accompanied him on his sloop down the James River as he +went to meet with the assembly at Jamestown. But this force was not +large enough to prevent Berkeley's followers from capturing Bacon and +taking him before the angry governor. + +On the advice of a friend, Bacon agreed to apologize to the governor, +with the understanding, as seems probable, that the latter should grant +him the desired commission. But the trouble between the two men was by +no means settled. That very night Bacon's friends warned him of a plot +against his life. Under cover of darkness, therefore, he took horse, and +found safe shelter among his followers. But he speedily returned to +Jamestown at the head of five hundred troops, where he forced Berkeley +to grant him a commission, and compelled the legislature to pass laws +that were favorable to the interests of the people. Then hearing that +the Indians were again beginning to burn and murder on the border, he +marched against them. + +While he was gone Berkeley called out the militia, with the intention of +overpowering Bacon upon his return, but on learning the governor's +purpose the troops refused to fight and went back to their homes. Sick +with the sense of failure, Governor Berkeley now sought a place of +safety across Chesapeake Bay in Accomac County. + +[Illustration: The Burning of Jamestown.] + +Bacon once more occupied Jamestown, but for a third time found it +necessary to march against the Indians. While he was gone Berkeley, who +had succeeded in raising a troop of one thousand men, came back and took +possession of the capital. Although Bacon's men were tired out with +fighting the Indians, they promptly gathered at his call, and attacked +Berkeley with such vigor that the poor governor was glad to escape again +to his retreat in Accomac County. + +When Bacon got control of Jamestown, then a mere village of some sixteen +to eighteen houses, he burned it to prevent its falling into Berkeley's +hands. The people's leader had been successful, and had risked his life +and his fortune for the common rights. But the strain of the past four +or five months in the malarial swamps broke down his health, and after a +short illness, he died of fever at the home of a friend, in October, +1676. It is not known where he was buried. His friends were obliged to +hide his body, because they feared that, according to the custom of the +times, Berkeley might seize it and have it hanged. + +With Bacon's death the rebellion lost its heart and soul. Berkeley +brutally punished Bacon's friends, some twenty of whom he put to death. +This displeased the English king, who summoned the governor to return to +England, where he soon afterward died a broken-hearted man. + +Bacon's Rebellion, as this uprising of Virginians in 1676 has been +rightly called, although it seemed to fail, was not without large +influence for good. For it strengthened the liberty-loving spirit of the +people, and prepared them for that greater movement in behalf of their +rights that took place one hundred years later. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE "STARVING TIME." + LORD DELAWARE ARRIVES. + DALE DOES AWAY WITH THE COMMON STOREHOUSE. + TOBACCO AND THE PLANTATION. + THE NAVIGATION LAWS INJURE THE PLANTERS. + BERKELEY ACTS LIKE A TYRANT. + THE INDIANS USE THE FIREBRAND AND THE TOMAHAWK WITH TELLING EFFECT. + NATHANIEL BACON LEADS A FORCE AGAINST THE INDIANS. + HE IS ELECTED TO THE ASSEMBLY. + HIS CAPTURE AND ESCAPE. + HE GETS HIS COMMISSION. + HE ATTACKS BERKELEY AT JAMESTOWN. + HIS DEATH. + A STRIKING RESULT OF BACON'S REBELLION. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What important thing was done by Sir Thomas Dale? + + 2. What were the Navigation Laws, and how did they affect the + planters? + + 3. Describe Berkeley. What do you admire in Bacon? + + 4. Write a paragraph on each of the following topics: Bacon leads + a force against the Indians; Bacon elected to the assembly; his + capture and escape; he gets his commission; he attacks Berkeley + at Jamestown. + + 5. Review the following dates: 1492, 1541, and 1607. Add to these + 1676. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Miles Standish and the Pilgrims + +[1584-1656] + +[Illustration: Miles Standish.] + + +Only thirteen years after Jamestown was settled, a colony of Englishmen, +very different in character from the gold hunters of Virginia, landed on +the Massachusetts coast. These men came not to seek fortunes but rather +to establish a community with high ideals of political and religious +life. With them they brought their wives and children, and a +determination to build for themselves permanent homes in the new world. +Before tracing their fortunes in America, let us glance backward a few +years and see them as they were in their English homes. + +At the present time people can choose their own church and worship as +they please, but it was not always so, even in England. In that country, +during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, there was much religious +disturbance, and many people were punished because they would not +worship as the law required. There were Englishmen who, while loving +the English Church, wished to make its services more simple or, as they +said, purify its forms and ceremonies. These people were for this reason +called _Puritans_. Others disliked the ceremonial and doctrines of the +Church so much that they wished to form a separate body and worship +after their own ideas. These were called _Separatists_, or +_Independents_. + +The Separatists met for service on the Lord's Day in the home of William +Brewster, one of their chief men, in the little village of Scrooby. For +a year they tried to keep together and worship as an independent body. +But as the laws of England required that all should worship in the +Established Church, they found they could not do this without being +hunted down, thrown into prison, and sometimes beaten and even hanged. + +They endured these persecutions as long as they could, and then some of +them decided to leave their own land and seek a home in Holland, where +they would be free to worship God as they pleased. James I, then King of +England, being unwilling that they should go, they had much difficulty +in carrying out their plan, but in 1608 they escaped and went to +Amsterdam. From Amsterdam they went to Leyden, and finally from Leyden +to America, by way of England. By reason of their wanderings they became +known later as Pilgrims. + +Since they were poor people, the Pilgrims were obliged to accept any +work that would enable them to make a living. In Leyden many found +employment in the manufacture of woollen goods. Here they were +prosperous enough and enjoyed freedom of worship, but were unwilling to +remain with the Dutch, fearing that their children would forget English. +For, although England had been unkind to them, they cherished their +native language, customs, and habits of life. + +They had heard much about the English colony in Virginia, and the +association of their own people in a free land appealed strongly to +their English hearts. To Virginia therefore they decided to go, +believing that there they could worship in peace and harmony and bring +up their children in sturdy English thought and feeling. + +But it is often easier to plan than to accomplish, and so it was with +these home-yearning Pilgrims. Having decided to leave Holland, they +found practical difficulties to be overcome, the most serious of which +were King James's opposition to their going to America and lack of funds +for the long and expensive journey. He permitted them to sail, however, +and agreed not to disturb them in America so long as they pleased him. +After getting the king's consent and borrowing money on hard terms, +these earnest men and women made ready to sail for their new home in the +forest wilds of America. + +They embarked in the Speedwell, at Delft Haven, a port twelve miles from +Leyden, and sailed for Southampton, on the south coast of England. Here +they joined some friends who had made ready another vessel, the now +historic Mayflower. But a brief delay was occasioned by lack of money. +In order to secure the necessary amount, about four hundred dollars, it +was necessary to sell some of their provisions, including much of the +butter. Funds being secured, the two vessels at last put to sea, but +twice returned on account of a leak in the Speedwell. Finally, deeming +that vessel unseaworthy, one hundred and two Pilgrims, including men, +women, children, and servants, took passage in the Mayflower, sailing +from Plymouth, September 16, 1620. + +[Illustration: The Pilgrims in England and Holland.] + +After a most trying and tempestuous voyage lasting over nine weeks, land +was sighted, November 19, 1620, but instead of arriving off the coast of +Virginia, as they had planned, the storm-beaten voyagers found +themselves in what is now the harbor of Provincetown. Before landing +they entered into a solemn agreement to make and obey such laws as +should be needful for the good of the colony. John Carver was chosen +governor. + +Not being able on account of the shallow water to get the Mayflower to a +point where they could step ashore, the men had to carry the women in +their arms and wade several rods, though the weather was so cold that +their clothing, wet from the ocean spray, froze stiff. Once on land, +they fell upon their knees and thanked God for bringing them in safety +through the many furious storms. Then immediately the women set to work +lighting fires, boiling water, and washing clothing, while the men stood +on guard to repel the Indians in case they might make an attack. + +It soon became clear that Cape Cod was an unfit place for a settlement, +and an exploring party, with Miles Standish as military leader, was +selected to look for a more suitable one. + +As military leader Miles Standish at once became conspicuous in the life +of the colony. He was born in Lancashire, England, in 1584, of a noble +family, but was in some way deprived of his estates. Going to the +Continent he became a valiant and daring soldier in the Netherlands. +Feeling a deep interest in the cause of the Pilgrims, he joined them +when they sailed for America in the Mayflower, and made their fortunes +his own. + +Small of stature, quick-witted, hot-tempered, and ready to brave any +danger, this stout-hearted man was a fitting leader for the little +Pilgrim army of something like a score of men who were obliged to defend +themselves and their families against wild beasts and unfriendly +Indians. + +Many of the Pilgrim soldiers wore armor to protect themselves against +Indian arrows. In some instances this armor consisted of a steel helmet +and iron breastplates, and in others of quilted coats of cotton wool. +Like Miles Standish, some of the soldiers had swords at their sides, and +all carried either flintlock or matchlock muskets so big and heavy that, +before they could fire them off, they had to rest them upon supports +stuck into the ground for the purpose. + +Standish's daring little band of soldiers explored some of the coast on +the day the Mayflower anchored. The next Wednesday after landing they +started out a second time in search of a suitable place for settlement. +As they skirted the coast, landing here and there, they saw and heard +Indians, who fled at their approach. + +Soon they came upon some mounds, out of which they dug bows and arrows +and other utensils. These, however, they replaced, because they believed +the mounds to be Indian graves. In a rude and deserted house they also +found an iron kettle. Digging into still another mound these +home-hunters were delighted to discover large baskets filled with ears +of Indian corn--red, white, and yellow. As they were sorely in need of +food after their long voyage, they took with them some of the corn, for +which they were careful to pay the Indians later. + +An amusing incident occurred on this otherwise serious journey. Before +they got back to the Mayflower, William Bradford, who afterward became +the second governor of the Plymouth Colony, met with an accident that +must have caused even the stern Pilgrim soldiers to smile. Picking his +way through the underbrush of the wood he stepped unwittingly into a +deer-trap, and was suddenly jerked up into the air, where he dangled by +one leg until his friends released him, none the worse for the ludicrous +occurrence. + +[Illustration: The Mayflower.] + +After spending more than three weeks in vain efforts to find a place for +settlement, a party of ten picked men, including Governor Carver, +William Bradford, and Captain Miles Standish, set out on the afternoon +of December 16th, in the midst of a driving storm, for another search. +It was so cold that the spray, falling upon them, soon covered their +clothing with coats of ice, but the voyagers, though suffering terribly, +pushed courageously forward. + +At the close of the next day, having anchored in a creek, they +constructed a barricade, not only as a protection from the bitter +weather, but as a means of defence against the Indians. This three-sided +barricade, made of boughs, stakes, and logs, was about as high as a man, +and was open on the leeward side. Within this shelter they lighted a big +fire, which they kept roaring all night long. Then lying down around it, +with their feet toward the burning logs, they wrapped their cloaks +closely about them and fell asleep beneath the trees and the open sky, +one man always keeping guard. + +Next morning they were astir early, ready for the stubborn work of +another day. Some of them had carried their muskets down to the shore, +leaving them there to be put aboard the boat a little later, and were +returning to breakfast when the shout "Indians!" followed by a shower of +arrows, greeted them. The woods seemed full of red warriors, whose +blood-curdling war-whoops must have struck fear to the hearts of the +small band of explorers. However, the white men bravely stood their +ground, and with cool arm and steady hand so terrified the savages that +they soon took to their heels. + +Once out to sea again the Pilgrims encountered a furious gale that +threatened to swamp their frail boat. All day long they were tossed +about on the storm-swept sea, and just before dark an immense wave +almost filled the boat and carried off the rudder. A little later a +fierce gust of wind broke the mast into three pieces. Then without mast +or rudder the dauntless men struggled at the oars until morning when +they reached land and found themselves on an island which they named +Clarke's Island, in honor of the Mayflower's mate. + +[Illustration: The Pilgrim Settlement.] + +Some further explorations revealed a suitable place for settlement. It +had a good harbor, a stream of excellent drinking water near by, and at +a little distance from the shore a stretch of high ground affording a +good location for a fort. In addition to these advantages there was a +large field of cleared land on which the Indians had raised corn. Much +cheered with their discovery the explorers returned with their report. + +After as little delay as possible, the Pilgrims landed[5] on the spot +chosen for their new home,--the spot which John Smith had several years +before named Plymouth. At once they set to work with heroic energy, some +felling trees, some sawing, some splitting, and some carrying logs to +the places of building. + + [5] According to tradition, the Pilgrims, in landing, stepped on a + small granite bowlder, since known as Plymouth Rock. The date of + landing, December 21, is called Forefathers' Day. + +They first erected a rude log-house, twenty feet square, which would +serve for a common storehouse, for shelter, and for other purposes, and +began the building of five separate private dwellings. They built also a +hospital and a meeting-house. + +The houses were all alike in form and size. After cutting down trees and +sawing logs of suitable length, the men dragged them by hand along the +ground--for there were no horses or other beasts of burden--and laid +them one upon another, thus forming the walls. Probably the chimneys and +fireplaces were of stone, the crevices being plastered with mortar made +by mixing straw and mud, and oil paper taking the place of glass for +windows. At the best, these log-houses were poor makeshifts for +dwellings in the severe winter weather along the bleak New England +coast. + +For furnishing these simple homes, the Pilgrims had brought over such +articles as large arm-chairs, wooden settles, high-posted beds, +truckle-beds for young children, and cradles for babies. Every home had +also its spinning-wheel. The cooking was done in a big fireplace. Here +the housewife baked bread in large ovens, roasted meat by putting it on +iron spits which they had to keep turning in order to cook all sides of +the roast alike, and boiled various kinds of food in large kettles hung +over the fire. + +As there were no friction matches in those days, it was the custom to +kindle a fire by striking sparks with a flint and steel into dry +tinder-stuff. Having once started a fire,--which was no easy +matter,--they had to be very careful not to let it go out, and for that +reason covered the coals at bedtime with ashes. + +In the place of candles or lamps, pitch-pine knots furnished light at +night. We can well imagine the Pilgrim boys and girls resting on the +settles in the evening, and reading by the blaze from the huge +fireplace. + +In this first winter lack of good food and warm clothing, exposure to +the cold, and various kinds of hardship bred disease in the little +colony. At one time only seven men were well enough to take care of the +sick and suffering. One of these seven was the fearless soldier, Miles +Standish. He now became a tender nurse, and joined with William Bradford +and Elder Brewster in making fires, washing clothes, cooking food, and +in other plain household duties. + +[Illustration: A Matchlock Gun.] + +By spring about half of the colonists, including Governor Carver and +Rose Standish, wife of Captain Miles Standish, had died. Notwithstanding +all the sufferings, however, not one of the Pilgrims went back on the +Mayflower when she sailed for England. But so weak had the colony become +through loss of able-bodied men, that corn was planted on the graves to +keep the Indians from learning how many had died. + +One day in early spring, the Pilgrims were startled by the sudden +appearance of an Indian, Samoset by name, who cried in English, +"Welcome, Englishmen." A week later he returned with a friend, named +Squanto,[6] who had formerly lived at Plymouth with other Indians, all +of whom had been swept away by a plague. + + [6] Squanto had been taken to England by some white men in 1614. + +Squanto was glad to get back to his old home once more. He afterward +came to live with the Pilgrims, acting as their messenger and +interpreter and showing them how to hunt and how to catch fish. From him +they learned how to plant corn. Putting one or two herring as a +fertilizer in every hill, they would watch for a while to prevent the +wolves from digging up and eating the fish, and in due time would have +an abundant return. + +[Illustration: A Group of Pilgrim Relics.] + +About a week after Samoset's first appearance, he returned and announced +the approach of Massasoit, an Indian chief living at Mount Hope, some +forty miles southwest of Plymouth. Captain Miles Standish marched out +with his men to escort the Indian chief to meet Governor Carver in an +unfinished house. The Pilgrims had spread upon the floor a green mat, +which they covered with cushions for the chief and the governor. When +the chief, who was a man of fine presence and dignified bearing, was +seated upon the cushions, Governor Carver was escorted to the place of +meeting by the Pilgrim soldiers, amid the beating of drums and the +blowing of trumpets. After the governor had kissed the chief's hand, the +two men agreed to be friends and keep peace between the white men and +the red. The friendship thus romantically begun lasted for more than +fifty years. Before Massasoit's departure the Pilgrims gave him two +skins and a copper necklace. + +As summer came on the condition of the Pilgrims improved. There was much +less sickness, and food was more easily obtained. On the arrival of +autumn the corn and barley planted by the Pilgrims yielded a good +return, and ducks, geese, wild turkeys, and deer could be secured by +hunting. When Massasoit with ninety men came to see the Pilgrims in the +autumn, the Indians brought some deer and the Pilgrims furnished food +from their supplies, so that a three days' feast was held. This was the +first celebration of the New England Thanksgiving. + +But not all of the Indian neighbors were so friendly as Massasoit and +his tribe. Canonicus, chief of the Narragansetts, sent to Plymouth an +insolent greeting in the form of a number of arrows tied with a snake's +skin. The Pilgrims on their part stuffed the snake's skin full of powder +and bullets, and in defiance sent it back to Canonicus. So deeply +impressed were the Indians by this fearless act that they let the whites +alone. + +Believing it wise to be prepared against Indian attacks, however, the +Pilgrims surrounded the settlement with palisades, and erected on +"Burial Hill" a building, on the flat roof of which cannon were placed, +the room downstairs serving as a meeting-house. + +[Illustration: Pilgrims Returning from Church.] + +Energetic in practical affairs, they were equally zealous in religious +observance; for they were very regular in their church attendance. Their +Sabbaths began with sundown on Saturday and lasted until sundown on +Sunday. The beating of a drum on Sunday morning was the signal for the +men to meet at the door of Captain Miles Standish's house, from which +they marched three abreast, followed by their governor in a long robe, +with the minister on his right and Miles Standish on his left. + +After the men came the women, then the children, and last of all the +servants. On entering the church they sat in order of rank, the old men +in one part of the church, the young men in another, mothers with their +little children in a third, young women in a fourth, and the boys in a +fifth. + +The services lasted all the morning; then, after an intermission for +lunch at noon, they began again and continuing all the afternoon. But on +the coldest days of winter only foot-stoves were used to heat the +meeting-house. Nor was this the only discomfort the Pilgrims had in +their church worship. For even these good people found it sometimes hard +to remain awake during the long services. And it was the duty of the +constable to see that all kept their eyes open. If this official saw a +boy asleep he rapped him with the end of a wand; if he saw a woman +nodding he brushed her gently with a hare's foot, which was on the other +end of the wand. + +The Pilgrims held their town meetings in the meeting-house, where they +held their religious services. At town meetings all the men wore their +hats. In voting they used corn and beans, a grain of corn meaning yes +and a bean meaning no. + +Such was the life of the little company of true-hearted men and women at +Plymouth. Small in number as they were, they remained brave in spirit, +amid surroundings which tested all their powers of endurance. For +several years Miles Standish did valiant service there, and then went to +live at Duxbury, where he was soon joined by some of his Pilgrim +friends, among whom was John Alden. Here the good captain remained the +rest of his life, except when he was needed as military leader by the +colony. He died many years later,--in 1656,--leaving behind him a good +name with the Pilgrims and the rest of the world. + +[Illustration: Brewster's and Standish's Swords.] + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE ENGLISHMEN WHO SETTLED IN NEW ENGLAND. + PURITANS AND SEPARATISTS. + THE SEPARATISTS ESCAPE TO HOLLAND. + THE PILGRIMS LEAVE HOLLAND FOR AMERICA. + DIFFICULTIES IN THEIR WAY. + THE VOYAGE OF THE MAYFLOWER. + MILES STANDISH MADE MILITARY LEADER. + THE STOUT-HEARTED CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH. + THE GRIM PILGRIM SOLDIERS. + CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH HEADS A SECOND EXPLORING PARTY. + INDIAN MOUNDS; BRADFORD IN THE DEER-TRAP. + A DANGEROUS EXPEDITION. + A NIGHT IN THE WOODS; INDIANS. + A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE ON THE STORM-SWEPT SEA. + A SUITABLE PLACE FOR SETTLEMENT. + LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS AT PLYMOUTH. + THE BUSY BUILDERS OF LOG-HOUSES. + IN THE HOMES OF THE PILGRIMS. + THE SUFFERING PILGRIMS. + SAMOSET; SQUANTO; MASSASOIT VISITS THE PILGRIMS. + A THANKSGIVING FEAST. + INDIAN ENEMIES. + THE PILGRIMS AT CHURCH SERVICES. + THE MEETING-HOUSE. + DEATH OF CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What do you admire in the character of Miles Standish, and + what did he do for the Pilgrims at Plymouth? + + 2. Trace on the map the wanderings of the Pilgrims. + + 3. Write an account of the "Dangerous Expedition" of the ten + picked men who set out on December 16th, in search of a place for + settlement. Picture to yourself the following: the party lying by + the big fire under the trees with the barricade about them; the + Pilgrims on their way to church; and Massasoit entertained by + Governor Carver. + + 4. Describe a Pilgrim dwelling and its furniture. + + 5. Compare the Pilgrims with the Jamestown settlers. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Roger Williams and the Puritans + +[1599-1683] + + +For years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth (1620) their +number grew so slowly that by 1630 the population was only three +hundred. After that year they began to increase more rapidly, by reason +of neighboring settlements made by the Puritans at various places on the +Massachusetts coast. + +We have already seen that the Puritans in England were dissatisfied with +the English Church, and that they wished to purify some of its forms and +beliefs. But they did not succeed in their purpose because the Stuart +Kings of England, James I. and Charles I., bitterly opposed the Puritan +movement. For a long time the Puritans held their meetings secretly in +such out-of-the-way places as private houses and barns. At length, +encouraged by the success of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, they decided to +leave their homes in old England and try to form a new England across +the Atlantic. + +These Puritans were not, like the Pilgrims, poor men of little +influence, for some of them had been educated at Oxford or Cambridge, +some were wealthy, and some were connected with distinguished families. +All were of sterling character, ready to undergo hardship for the sake +of their religion. + +In 1628, therefore, some of the leading Puritans formed a trading +company and, having bought a tract of land in America from the Plymouth +Company, sent out settlers to occupy it. The first settlement was at +Salem with Endicott as leader. Two years later eleven vessels sailed +with nearly 1,000 Puritans, bringing with them horses, cattle, and +stores of various kinds. They located at Boston, Dorchester, +Charlestown, and other towns near Boston. John Winthrop, their leader, +was the first governor. + +Each of these settlements constituted a township, which usually included +an area of from forty to sixty square miles. Within this tract settlers +lived in villages, in the centre of which stood their meeting-house, +used not only for a place of worship but for all kinds of public +meetings. Near the meeting-house stood the block-house. This was a rude, +strongly built structure, where the people of the village could take +refuge in case of attack from Indians. + +Extending through each village was a long street, and on either side of +it stood the settlers' dwellings with their small farms stretching back +in the rear. These dwellings, which in early years were only log huts, +afterward gave place to high-roofed frame houses. All were simple, +solid, and neat. + +[Illustration: Roger Williams on his Way to Visit the Chief of the +Narragansett Indians.] + +Upon entering one of these early Puritan homes we should find two +principal rooms, the "best room" and the kitchen. In the kitchen the +thing of special interest to us would be the fireplace, large enough for +a back-log five or six feet long and two or three feet thick. In this +great fireplace a Puritan housewife could roast an entire sheep. As +stoves were unknown in these olden days, all cooking was done at this +open fire, and it was by such firesides that the Puritan boys and girls +used to spend the long winter evenings. While the logs blazed the mother +and daughters would knit, or spin, or quilt, and the father would read +his Bible or smoke his pipe. At this family hearth there was also much +good cheer in cider-drinking, nut-cracking, and story-telling, +especially when the family was fortunate enough to have a stranger +present as a guest. At such times the children were always good +listeners. + +[Illustration: Block House] + +But much as it was prized, a visit from a stranger was a rare +occurrence, for as there were no carriages or public conveyances of any +kind, long journeys were seldom made. When travelling by land the +settlers sometimes went on foot and sometimes on horseback. In the +latter case the men sat in front and the women on a pillion behind. For +carrying supplies, sleds were used in winter and ox-carts in summer. + +Since travel was so difficult, there was very little communication +between distant villages unless they happened to touch upon the sea. But +frequently this was not the case, for many of the settlements, following +the courses of rivers, extended inland rather than along the coast. + +When a stranger did appear, however, he was always welcome, for he was +sure to bring some bit of news from the world outside. Perhaps, if he +had travelled through the woods, he might tell of some dangerous +adventure with wild beasts or Indians. If in midwinter he dared to make +the journey, he might tell how he spent a cold night in some deserted +wigwam, into which he had been driven by howling wolves. Such thrilling +chapters from the book of every-day life were of special interest to +people whose experience was very narrow and monotonous. For in those +days there were no newspapers and few books. + +We should make a great mistake, however, were we to imagine that the +Puritans did not value books and reading. They appreciated reading and +education so much that every town was required to have a school. As a +consequence of this excellent system, there were very few people who +could not read and write. + +[Illustration: Roger Williams's Meeting-House.] + +The study of the Bible was an important feature in all this school +training, and absorbed much of the thought of the Puritan mind, +especially on the Sabbath. The Puritan Sabbath, which began at sunset on +Saturday and ended at sunset on Sunday, was largely given up to church +worship. All work and travel, not absolutely necessary, were suspended, +and no playing on a musical instrument was allowed. Two instances will +illustrate the severity of the Puritan ideas of Sabbath observation. The +first is that of two lovers, who were brought to trial because they +were seen sitting together on the Lord's Day under an apple-tree. The +second tells us of a Boston sea-captain who was put into the public +stocks for two hours because he kissed his wife on the Sabbath Day upon +the doorsteps of his house. He had just returned after a two years' +absence on a sea-voyage. + +In all this strictness about Sabbath observance, the Puritans were +wholly sincere. To them purity of religion was the supreme interest of +life. They had left their old homes in England that they might worship +according to their own belief in a community under the control of +Puritan ideas. + +But it was no easy matter for them to arrange the affairs of Church and +State just as they wished, even in this new Puritan commonwealth. For +they found some of the settlers unwilling to believe and act in +accordance with Puritan ideas of right and wrong. + +One of these troublesome persons was a young man who came with his bride +to Salem in 1631. This young man was Roger Williams. He was born in +England in 1599. An Englishman of influence secured for the clever lad a +scholarship in the Charter-House school, from which young Roger later +went to Cambridge University. Having become a Puritan, Roger Williams, +like so many others of his faith, found it wise to leave England. He +came to America in order that he might escape religious persecution and +enjoy religious freedom. + +On reaching New England he went to Salem, and was there appointed a +minister of the church. After a very short time he left Salem, and went +with his family to Plymouth. Remaining there for two years, he became +deeply interested in the Indians, and began the difficult task of +learning their language. He wrote afterward, "God was pleased to give me +a painful, patient spirit to lodge with them in their filthy, smoky +holes to gain their tongue." + +In this way he acquired a good knowledge of the Indians, whom he learned +to love and who learned to love him. Little did he realize that this +warm friendship would in after years save not only his own life but also +the lives of many other Puritans. + +[Illustration: A Puritan Fireplace.] + +While winning the friendship of the Indians, Roger Williams incensed the +Puritans by saying in strong language that they had no just claim to the +lands they were living on. He said that the King had no right to grant +to any company these lands, because they had never belonged to him. The +Indians, and only the Indians, owned them. It is needless to say that +such arguments made many bitter enemies for the youthful preacher. + +Of course he could not continue in this severe criticism of matters so +important to the Puritan heart without losing many of his friends. The +wrath of the Puritans at length became so great that they tried him in +court and banished him from Massachusetts. As he became ill about this +time, however, he was told that he might remain in the colony through +the winter if he would not preach. But as soon as he grew better his +friends, who were very fond of him, began to spend much time in talking +with him at his home in Salem, where he now lived. The Puritans, fearing +his influence, determined to send him at once to England. + +[Illustration: The Rhode Island Settlement.] + +When the heroic young minister heard of this, he hastily said good-by to +his wife and two children--one of whom was a little girl two years old +and the other a baby--and looked for safety in the home of his old +friend Massasoit, living near Mount Hope, seventy or eighty miles away. + +The outlook was dreary enough. It was midwinter (January, 1636), and the +snow was lying deep upon the ground. As there was no road cut through +the forest, Roger Williams had to depend upon his compass for a guide. +To keep himself from freezing, he carried with him a hatchet to chop +kindling wood, and a flint and steel to kindle it into flame. Thus +fitted out, he started, though still weak from his recent illness, with +a staff in his hand and a pack on his back, to look for his dusky +friend, Massasoit. This long journey in the bitter weather of a New +England winter was indeed a trying experience to the lonely traveller. +He wrote long afterward, "Steering my course, in winter snow, I was +sorely tossed for one fourteen weeks in a bitter winter season, not +knowing what bed or bread did mean." Having found Massasoit, he spent +much of the winter in the wigwam kindly furnished him by the Indian +chief. + +In the spring he began to erect buildings at Seekonk on land given him +by the Indians. But his friend, Governor Winthrop, having secretly sent +him word that Seekonk was in the territory belonging to the +Massachusetts colony, he decided to go elsewhere. + +Accordingly, he and five of his friends rowed down the river and, +landing at a place pointed out by the Indians as having a spring of good +water, made a settlement, which they called Providence, in token of +God's watchful care over them. This was the beginning of Rhode Island, a +colony where all men, whatever their religious belief might be, were +welcome. Men who had been persecuted elsewhere on account of their +religion were glad to go to Rhode Island, where they were allowed to +worship as they pleased. And thus it soon grew to be a prosperous +settlement. + +Roger Williams was a man of pure and noble soul. He did not seem to bear +any grudge against the people of Massachusetts. For when, in 1637, the +Pequots tried to get the Narragansett Indians to join them in a general +uprising against the whites, and especially against those living in +Massachusetts, he did all he could to frustrate their plans. At this +time he set out one stormy day in his canoe to visit Canonicus, chief of +the Narragansetts, and succeeded, at the risk of his life, in preventing +the union of the two tribes against the whites. + +He died in 1683 at the age of eighty-four years. Although his judgment +was not always wise, his motives were upright. In his struggle with the +Puritans he was ahead of his age, which was not yet ready for such +advanced ideas of religious toleration. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + SMALL NUMBER OF PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH. + THE PURITANS DECIDE TO GO TO AMERICA. + THEY ARE PEOPLE OF INFLUENCE IN ENGLAND. + THE PURITAN SETTLERS IN MASSACHUSETTS. + THE NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. + THE MEETING-HOUSE; THE BLOCK-HOUSE; THE GREAT FIREPLACE. + MODES OF TRAVEL. + THE STRANGER WELCOMED. + EDUCATION. + PURITAN IDEAS OF SABBATH OBSERVANCE AND RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. + ROGER WILLIAMS COMES TO NEW ENGLAND. + HE WINS THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE INDIANS. + HE MAKES PURITAN ENEMIES. + THE PURITANS BANISH ROGER WILLIAMS. + HE ESCAPES IN MIDWINTER. + A LONELY JOURNEY THROUGH THE FOREST. + ROGER WILLIAMS MAKES A SETTLEMENT AT PROVIDENCE. + HE PREVENTS THE NARRAGANSETTS FROM JOINING THE PEQUOTS IN THEIR WAR. + DEATH OF ROGER WILLIAMS. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Picture to yourself the New England village; also the big + fire-place with the Puritan family gathered about the blazing + fire at night. + + 2. What do you admire in Roger Williams? How did he make many + Puritan enemies? + + 3. Write an account of his midwinter journey through the woods. + + 4. Tell how he befriended the people of Massachusetts at the + outbreak of the Pequot War. + + 5. How did the people of Providence feel about religious freedom? + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +William Penn and the Settlement of Pennsylvania + +[1644-1718] + +[Illustration: William Penn.] + + +The Pilgrims and Puritans were not the only people who had to suffer +persecution in England because they did not believe in the doctrines and +forms of worship of the Established Church. Under the leadership of +George Fox there sprang up (about 1669) a peculiar religious sect called +by themselves Friends and by others Quakers. These people were severely +punished on account of their religious ideas. + +The central doctrine of their creed was that they were in all things led +by the "inner light," as they called conscience, which revealed to them +the will of God. Believing that all men were equal before the law, the +Quaker always kept his hat on in public places as a sign of equality, +refusing to uncover even in the presence of royalty. Other peculiar +tenets of the Quakers were their unwillingness to take an oath in court; +to go to war; to pay taxes in support of war; the use of "thee" and +"thou" in addressing one another; and, as a protest against the rich and +elegant dress of their time, the wearing of plain clothes of sober +colors. + +Their disdain of familiar customs made them appear very eccentric, and +their boldness of speech and action frequently brought upon them the +punishment of the law. But they were fearless in their defiance, and +even eager to suffer for the sake of their religious belief, some being +fined, some cast into prison, some whipped, and some put to death. Not +only in England, but in Massachusetts also, they were treated like +criminals. The Puritan fathers hated and feared them so much that they +banished Quakers from their colony, and even put some of them to death +on account of their views on religion and government. But, as always, +persecution only seemed to spread the faith, and soon this derided and +abused sect included eminent converts. + +Among the most prominent was William Penn, who was born in London in +1644, the son of Sir William Penn, a wealthy admiral in the British +Navy. Conspicuous service to his country had won him great esteem at +Court, and he naturally desired to give his son the best possible +advantages. + +At the early age of sixteen, young William was sent to Oxford, where his +studious habits and fine scholarship soon distinguished him. He became +proficient in Greek and Latin, and learned to speak with ease the modern +languages, French, German, Italian, and Dutch. Devoting a part of his +time to athletics, he became a skilful oarsman and a leader in various +out-door sports. + +While he was at Oxford, Penn heard Thomas Loe, a travelling Quaker, +preach. The new doctrines, as expounded by Loe, took so deep a hold upon +him, that he refused to attend the religious services of his college.[7] +For this irregularity he was fined, together with some of his companions +who were of the same mind. Disregarding the reproof, these conscientious +young men even refused to wear the required college gown, and committed +a yet graver offence against their college by tearing off the gowns from +some of their fellow-students. + + [7] Oxford University is composed of a number of colleges. The one + Penn attended was Christ Church College. + +By reason of these bold and unruly proceedings the college authorities +expelled Penn in disgrace. His father was very angry at what he deemed +his son's folly, and knowing that neither rebuke nor persuasion was +likely to swerve the young man from his purpose, Admiral Penn decided to +send William to Paris, with the hope that in the gay life of the French +capital he might forget his Quaker ideas. + +Penn was now a strongly built young man of eighteen, with large eyes and +long dark hair falling in curls about his shoulders. For a brief time he +gave himself up to the fashionable social life of Paris. Later he +engaged in study at school for something like a year, and then spent +another year in travelling through France and Italy. When he returned to +England after two years' absence, he was a cultivated young gentleman, +very different from the sober youth who on leaving Oxford had been +called by his companions "a Quaker or some other melancholy thing." + +[Illustration: WILLIAM PENN'S FAMOUS TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.] + +The following year, however, Penn's gay spirits were disturbed by the +awful plague that fell upon London. The Admiral, noting the serious look +and manner of his son, again sent him from home--this time to +Ireland--for diversion. While Penn was in Ireland an insurrection broke +out, and he volunteered as a soldier. Military life evidently appealed +to him, for he caused a portrait of himself to be painted, in full +armor. + +While still serving as a soldier, Penn learned that the Quaker, Thomas +Loe, was preaching near by, and went to hear him once more. The Quaker +ideas now took complete possession of him, and he embraced the new +religion with his whole heart. A little later, when he was arrested in a +Quaker meeting-house and thrown into prison, his father was indignant +because William had brought upon his family such humiliating disgrace. + +After William's release from prison, however, the stern old Admiral in +his great love for his son said he would forgive his peculiar customs if +only he would remove his hat to his father, to the King, or to the Duke +of York. But on praying over the matter, Penn said he could not do it. +One day, on meeting the King, he had the boldness to stand with his hat +on in the royal presence. Instead of getting angry, the fun-loving King +Charles laughed and took off his own hat. "Why dost thou remove thy +hat, friend Charles?" said William Penn. "Because," answered the King, +"wherever I am it is customary for one to remain uncovered." + +But the Admiral's patience was by this time exhausted. He drove his +wilful son from his presence, and told him to begone for all time. +Fortunately for William, his mother begged for him, and so did others +who recognized the earnest and sincere purpose of the young Quaker. His +father therefore forgave him once more, and allowed him to return home. + +[Illustration: The Pennsylvania Settlement.] + +From this time on William Penn used his influence--which was by no means +small--in behalf of the persecuted Quakers; but he had to suffer the +consequences of his own fearlessness. Many times was he thrown into +prison, there to remain, it might be, for months. Yet even in prison he +spent his time in writing books and pamphlets, explaining and defending +the Quaker religion. Indeed, his labors were unceasing, so firm was his +faith in Quaker ideas. + +Soon his power for doing good was immensely increased. In 1670 his +father died and left him a princely fortune which, true to his generous +nature, he determined to use for the good of others, and especially for +the good of the despised and persecuted Quakers. + +The Crown owed Penn's father about L16,000, which the King, with his +extravagant habits, was not likely to pay for many a day. William Penn, +therefore, decided to ask the King to pay the debt not in money but in +land. The good-natured Charles, thinking this was an easy way to cancel +the obligation, readily granted to William Penn an extensive tract of +land lying on the west side of the Delaware River. + +[Illustration: Penn's Slate-roof House, Philadelphia.] + +Penn wished his new possession to be called Sylvania, or Woodland, but +the King insisted upon calling it Pennsylvania, in honor of Penn's +father. Upon receiving his grant, Penn at once sent word to the Quakers +that in Pennsylvania they could find a home and a resting-place from +their troubles. + +Penn's leading aim was to plant a self-governing colony, whose people +should have justice and religious freedom. Hundreds of Quakers eagerly +took advantage of the favorable opportunity which Penn thus offered to +them. During the year 1681, when the first settlement was planted in +Pennsylvania, something like 3,000 of them sailed for the Delaware +River. The next year Penn himself sailed for America, although he left +his wife and children behind. + +He selected the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers as the +site for his city, and called it Philadelphia, or the City of Brotherly +Love, in token of the spirit which he hoped might prevail throughout his +colony. He laid out the city most carefully, giving the streets such +names as Pine, Cedar, Mulberry, Walnut, and Chestnut, after the trees he +found growing there. + +When the first settlers came to Philadelphia, some of them lived in +caves which they dug in the high river-banks. The first houses, built of +logs, were very simple, containing only two rooms and having no floor +except the earth. Philadelphia grew so fast, however, that by 1684 it +had 357 houses, many of which were three stories high, with cellars and +balconies. + +[Illustration: A Belt of Wampum Given to Penn by the Indians.] + +As we might expect from a man of his even temper and unselfish spirit, +Penn treated the Indians with kindness and justice, and won their +friendship from the first. Although he held the land by a grant from the +King of England, still he wished to satisfy the natives by paying them +for their claims to the land. Accordingly, he called a council under the +spreading branches of a now famous elm-tree, where he met the red men as +friends, giving them knives, kettles, axes, beads, and various other +things in exchange for the land. He declared that he was of the same +flesh and blood as they; and highly pleased, the Indians in return +declared that they would live in love with William Penn as long as the +sun and moon should shine. + +Penn paid the Indians friendly visits, ate their roasted acorns and +hominy, and joined them in their sports. One day while they were leaping +and jumping in his presence, he suddenly "sprang up and beat them all." + +Penn soon returned to England, but many years later (1699) he came back +to Pennsylvania with his wife and one daughter. As he was very wealthy, +he had two homes, one in the city and another in the country. His +country home, which was northeast of the city on the Delaware River, +cost him $35,000. In this house were elegant furnishings, and here, in +his large dining-hall, Penn lavishly entertained Englishmen, Swedes, +Indians, negroes, and passing strangers who called at his door. We are +told that his table was so bountiful that at one of his feasts the +guests ate a hundred roast turkeys. The grounds about his country home +were magnificent, containing various kinds of fruits and flowers, and in +his stables were many horses. + +But notwithstanding these material blessings, Penn's life was not +without trials and disappointments, which it is needless to dwell upon. +Owing to his warm friendship for King James, he was suspected of +plotting in his favor after the King was forced to leave England in +1688. He was therefore more than once arrested, but in every case he +was set free for lack of evidence against him. Many years later, on his +refusal to pay a false claim made by his steward, he was thrown into +prison, where his health was broken by confinement. He died in 1718. His +life had been a hard struggle, but it had been successful, and had come +to an honorable close. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE QUAKERS AND THEIR PECULIAR IDEAS. + PUNISHMENT OF THE QUAKERS IN ENGLAND AND IN MASSACHUSETTS. + WILLIAM PENN'S FATHER, ADMIRAL PENN. + WILLIAM PENN AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY. + HE TURNS QUAKER. + ADMIRAL PENN SENDS HIS SON TO PARIS. + WILLIAM PENN RETURNS TO ENGLAND. + HE BECOMES A SOLDIER IN IRELAND. + HE IS THROWN INTO PRISON. + THE STUBBORN YOUNG QUAKER. + PENN'S MOTHER BEGS FOR HIM. + THE KING'S GRANT TO WILLIAM PENN. + THE QUAKERS SETTLE IN PENNSYLVANIA. + THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE. + PENN'S KIND AND JUST TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. + HIS HOME LIFE. + HIS LAST DAYS. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Give some of the peculiar ideas of the Quakers. + + 2. Why was Penn thrown into prison? In what ways did he give + evidence of his stubbornness? + + 3. Why did he wish to settle Pennsylvania? Imagine the scene when + under the elm-tree Penn met the Indians and made a treaty with them. + + 4. Tell something about his home life. + + 5. What do you admire in Penn's character? + + 6. When did the Quakers settle Pennsylvania? + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +Cavelier De La Salle and the French in the Mississippi Valley + +[1643-1687] + +[Illustration: Cavelier De La Salle.] + + +The same year in which William Penn laid out Philadelphia and there made +a treaty with the Indians, a noted Frenchman sailed down the Mississippi +River, exploring it in the interests of France. This man was Robert +Cavelier, Better known as La Salle, who, like many of his countrymen, +was trying, just as the Spaniards and Englishmen had tried, to find or +do something in America that would not only bring glory to his own name, +but also wealth and honor to his fatherland. We have now to consider the +work of the French in America. + +In 1534 Cartier, a French explorer, discovered the St. Lawrence, and +sailed up the river as far as an Indian village on the present site of +Montreal. He took possession of Canada in the name of the French King, +and his favorable reports led to several unsuccessful attempts to plant +settlements there. + +More than seventy years after the discovery of the St. Lawrence, another +French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, sailed up the noble river. Much +impressed with the great beauty of the St. Lawrence Valley and its +wealth of forests and furs, he longed to bring all this vast new country +under the control of France. In 1608 he planted the first permanent +French settlement in Canada, at Quebec, and the following year +discovered the lake which bears his name. + +Although Champlain loved his country and desired to increase its glory +and power, he made an unfortunate blunder, which proved fatal to the +best interests of France in the New World. In planting the settlement at +Quebec, in 1608, he found that the neighboring tribes of Algonquin +Indians were bitter enemies of the Mohawks, one of the Five Nations, or +Iroquois, who lived in New York. + +[Illustration: Long House of the Iroquois.] + +The Algonquins begged him to join them in an attack upon the Mohawks, +and he unwisely consented. Having gone up Lake Champlain with a +canoe-party of sixty Indians, he landed near the site of Ticonderoga to +fight a battle with two hundred hardy Mohawk warriors. Champlain, clad +in light armor and gun in hand, advanced at the head of his war-party +and, shooting into the ranks of the astonished Mohawks, who stood in +battle array, brought to the earth two of their chiefs. The others fled +in terror and confusion, while their enemies, Champlain's dusky allies, +yelled with joy, and filled the woods with their terrible warwhoops. + +From that day, however, the Iroquois were the bitter enemies of the +French, and this enmity seriously interfered with the successful +carrying out of French plans. Having control of the St. Lawrence River, +France greatly desired to get control of the Mississippi River as well. +Once securing possession of these two great streams, she would come into +possession of the wealth of the North American Continent. + +But the Iroquois Indians were strongly posted in the Mohawk River +Valley, and thus held the key to the situation. In this way they blocked +the path of the French, who wished to reach the Ohio and the Mississippi +through Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. So the French were driven to seek a +route farther north, a route which was much longer and more difficult. +It would be well for you to trace on your map this roundabout way, which +extended up the Ottawa River into Georgian Bay, through Lake Huron and +Lake Michigan, across into the Illinois River, and through that into the +Mississippi. + +In the same year that Champlain made the Iroquois bitter enemies of the +French, Henry Hudson won their lasting friendship for the Dutch. About +the time the Frenchman was fighting in the battle against the Mohawks at +Ticonderoga, Hudson, with a crew of twenty men in the Half Moon, was +sailing up the river that now bears his name. Instead of finding the +short passage to the Pacific, for which he was searching in the +interests of the Dutch, he discovered the great water-way to the +interior. Having received just treatment from him, the Iroquois Indians +became his friends and the friends of the Dutch settlers and traders +that came later. + +From that time, in fact, these Iroquois Indians were as ready to sell +their furs to the Dutch and to the English, who in 1664 took New York +away from the Dutch, as they were to oppose the French and compel them +to go many hundred miles out of their way in the tedious explorations in +search of the Mississippi. + +This toilsome work of exploration was largely accomplished by the Jesuit +missionaries. Fearless in their heroic efforts to advance their faith, +they suffered all sorts of hardships, many being put to death, in their +earnest struggle to bring religious truth to the ignorant red men of the +woods. In their journeys through the forests and over the lakes, these +Jesuit Fathers made many valuable discoveries and explorations which +they carefully recorded in their journals. + +It was one of these missionaries, Father Marquette, who succeeded in +reaching the waters of the Mississippi. Attended by Joliet and five +other Frenchmen, he went, in 1673, as far down the mighty river as the +mouth of the Arkansas. This was sixty-five years after Champlain made +his settlement at Quebec. + +[Illustration: Map Showing Routes of Cartier, Champlain, and La Salle, +also French and English Possessions at the Time of the Last French +War.] + +But the most important of all the French explorations were made by the +daring and tireless La Salle. He was born in France in 1643, and +belonged to an old and rich family. Strong in mind and character, he +received a good education, and became an earnest Catholic. With a heart +ready to brave any danger in the achievement of glory for himself and +for France, this young man at the age of twenty-three sailed for Canada. + +His plans, as finally worked out, were twofold: (1) To build forts and +trading centres at various points along the St. Lawrence, the Great +Lakes, and the Mississippi; and (2) to plant a colony at the mouth of +the Mississippi. Wishing to get control of the rich fur trade for +France, his forts and his colony would help to protect and further this +trade, which could be carried on more easily by way of the Mississippi, +than by way of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. For along the +latter route lay the hostile Iroquois, who were friendly to the Dutch +and the English; and, moreover, the St. Lawrence was ice-bound nearly +one-half of the year. + +Early in August, 1679, after long and weary efforts spent in +preparation, La Salle launched on the Niagara River above the Falls, his +little vessel, the Griffin, of forty tons burden, which was to bear him +through the lakes on his way to the Mississippi. + +Nearly a year before starting, La Salle had sent up the lakes fifteen +men to trade for furs. He expected them to have ready, against the time +of his arrival, a cargo of furs to be sent back to Canada. For La Salle +needed a great deal of money with which to buy provisions, ammunition, +and tools, and to pay his men for their services. Besides, he wished to +get cables, anchors, and rigging for a new vessel to be built on the +Illinois River, for the purpose of making his expedition to the mouth of +the Mississippi. The expected cargo of furs, taken back and sold in +Canada, would give him the money he needed to carry out his plans. + +Having arrived at the head of Lake Huron, therefore, he collected the +cargo awaiting him, loaded the Griffin with furs, and on September 18, +1679, despatched it in charge of six men to Niagara. La Salle himself +pushed on to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, where he built a fort, +and waited long and anxiously for the Griffin's return. But he waited in +vain, for he never heard from his vessel again. It was a great loss and +a keen disappointment. After waiting long he continued his way, careworn +and weary, with eight canoes and a party of thirty-three men. + +They rowed up the St. Joseph in search of the carrying-place leading to +the head-waters of the Illinois River. On landing, La Salle started off +alone to look for the pathway. In the midst of a blinding snow-storm he +lost his bearings in the dense forest, and wandered until about two +o'clock in the morning, when he found himself once more at the river, +and fired his gun as a signal to the party. + +Then his eyes caught the welcome sight of a fire burning in the woods. +Believing he was near his friends, he quickened his steps, only to find +himself mistaken. Near the fire, under a tree, was a bed of dried grass +which was still warm, and showed plainly that a man had but a few +minutes before been lying there. Very likely the man was an Indian, who +had been frightened off by the sound of the gun. La Salle carefully +placed brush for a sort of barricade on each side of the newly found +bed, and then lay down by the blazing fire and slept till daybreak. He +did not find his friends until four o'clock next afternoon. + +On rejoining his party they made their way down the Illinois River, +until their eyes fell upon some Indian wigwams on the forest-covered +bank. The Indians, being friendly, received the Frenchmen with generous +hospitality. They urged La Salle not to go down the Mississippi. They +indeed said so much of the danger of the journey that six of La Salle's +followers deserted, and another tried to poison him. These were sad days +for La Salle and, like all his days, were beset with troubles and +dangers. To protect himself from attack during the winter, he now +planned the building of a fort which he called Crevecoeur, the French +word for heartbreak, surely a fitting name. + +Up to this time the iron-willed La Salle had not given up hope of +hearing from the Griffin, but now he decided that his vessel was lost. +There was but one thing to do. He must make an overland journey to +Canada, 1,500 miles away, to get supplies for his expedition down the +Mississippi. It was a dangerous undertaking. But on March 1, 1680, with +an Indian hunter and four Frenchmen, the dauntless explorer started in +two canoes. + +The season was the worst in the year for such a journey. The ground was +covered with melting snow, and the rivers in many places were frozen +with ice, too thick to be broken by the boats. Much of the time the +party had to pull the canoes on rough sleds overland or carry them on +their shoulders until, a few days after starting, they hid them in the +woods and pushed forward on foot to the head of Lake Michigan. + +Reaching that point, it was now necessary for them to thread their +toilsome way through the deep forests of Southern Michigan to the head +of Lake Erie. For three days the undergrowth was so thick with thorns +that it tore their clothing into shreds, and scratched their faces until +they were covered with blood. Another three days were spent in wading, +sometimes up to their waists, in the mud and water of the flood-covered +marshes. At night they would take off their clothing and, covering their +bodies with blankets, lie down to sleep on some dry hillock. One frosty +night their clothes froze so stiff that in the morning they had to be +thawed by the fireside before they could be put on. Amid such exposure +some of the men fell sick, and thus delayed the party. But early in May, +at the end of sixty-five days, they reached Canada. + +As soon as he could arrange his affairs in Canada, La Salle again +returned to the Illinois River and reached its mouth. But owing to fresh +disappointments, he had to make still another journey through the +wilderness to the base of his supplies on the St. Lawrence. + +Not until February 6, 1682, two years and a half after he first started +out in the Griffin, and after three attempts to build a suitable vessel +for the journey, did he float out upon the waters of the Mississippi to +explore it; and at last he was obliged to make the journey in canoes. +This time his party included fifty-four people--eighteen Indian +warriors, ten squaws, three Indian children, and twenty-three Frenchmen. +On reaching the mouth of the river he planted a column bearing the arms +of France, and then, with imposing ceremonies, took possession of the +great Mississippi Valley in the name of the French King, Louis XIV., +after whom he named the country Louisiana. + +By building forts and trading centres along his route, La Salle had +carried out the first part of his plan. He now resolved to go to France +and get men for a colony which he wished to plant at the mouth of the +Mississippi, and thus carry out the second part. + +Having succeeded in France in fitting out this colony, he sailed with +four vessels early in July, 1684, in search of the Mississippi River by +way of the Gulf of Mexico. With his usual bad fortune, however, he +missed its mouth and landed at Matagorda Bay, 400 miles to the west. +Then followed many disasters, among which were loss of vessels and +supplies, lack of food, sickness and death, and attacks by unfriendly +Indians. For two years the wretched little colony struggled for life. La +Salle was in sore distress. He knew he had many enemies among his men +who would gladly take his life, but he hoped for help from France. No +help came. It was plain to La Salle that he could save the suffering +colony only by making his way to Canada. He therefore started out on +January 12, 1687, with a party of seventeen men and five horses, on +another long and dangerous journey through the dense forests--this time +from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. + +[Illustration: The Murder of La Salle by his Followers.] + +Travelling north, the party crossed the Brazos River and toiled onward +to the Trinity River. But La Salle's men were tired of travelling +through the forests, and some of them were thirsting for his blood. They +were waiting only for a suitable opportunity to carry out their +murderous purpose. On the morning of March 19th they lay in ambush, and +shot him dead as he approached, probably not far from the Trinity River. + +La Salle's life was one of storm and peril; but he was as fearless as a +lion. Ambitious for himself and for his country, he had room for little +else in his life, His repeated failures brought criticism and lack of +confidence from men who had loaned him large sums of money, and these +criticisms hardened his spirit. Many enemies making him suspicious, he +seemed to lose sympathy with his men, and became harsh in his treatment +of them. But he did a great work for France, a work which entitles him +to be regarded as one of the most remarkable of all the explorers of +America. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE COMING OF THE FRENCH TO AMERICA. + CARTIER DISCOVERS THE ST. LAWRENCE. + CHAMPLAIN EXPLORES FOR FRANCE. + CHAMPLAIN'S FATAL GUNSHOT. + THE IROQUOIS BECOME BITTER ENEMIES OF THE FRENCH. + THE IROQUOIS FORCE THE FRENCH TO SEEK A ROUNDABOUT ROUTE TO THE + MISSISSIPPI RIVER. + HENRY HUDSON WINS FOR THE DUTCH THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE IROQUOIS. + VALUABLE WORK OF THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES. + FATHER MARQUETTE GOES DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI. + THE DARING AND TIRELESS LA SALLE. + HIS TWOFOLD PLANS. + HIS VOYAGE TO LAKE MICHIGAN IN THE GRIFFIN. + THE GRIFFIN SAILS BACK TO CANADA WITH A CARGO OF FURS. + LA SALLE LOST IN THE FOREST. + WITH FRIENDLY INDIANS ON THE BANKS OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER. + SAD DAYS FOR LA SALLE. + HE DECIDES TO MAKE AN OVERLAND JOURNEY TO CANADA. + TRAVEL IN THE DEEP FORESTS. + LA SALLE AT LAST REACHES THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI. + HE GOES TO FRANCE. + HIS COLONY FAILS. + A LONG JOURNEY BEGUN. + LA SALLE MURDERED BY HIS MEN. + HIS CHARACTER AND HIS WORK. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What did Champlain accomplish? When? Why did the Iroquois + become bitter enemies of the French and warm friends of the Dutch? + + 2. What were La Salle's twofold plans? Trace his route through the + lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi. + + 3. Picture him lost in the forest, and spending the night alone. + + 4. Describe his overland journey to Canada. + + 5. How did his colony suffer? What do you admire in La Salle's + character? + + 6. What do the following dates mean: 1492, 1541, 1607, 1629, 1676, + 1682? + + + + +CHAPTER X + +George Washington, the Boy Surveyor and Young Soldier + +[1732-1799] + +[Illustration: George Washington.] + + +As a pioneer in leading the way along the Ohio and the Mississippi, La +Salle did much for France. He hoped to do far more. His cherished dream +was to build up in this vast and fertile territory an empire for France. +But the French King foolishly feared that planting colonies in America +would take too many of his subjects out of France, and refused to do +that which might have made his new possessions secure. The opportunity +thus neglected was seized fifty years later by the hardy English +settlers who pushed westward across the Alleghany Mountains. This +movement brought on a struggle between the two nations, a few events of +which are important to mention. + +You will remember that two years after the coming of John Smith to +Jamestown, Champlain sailed up the St. Lawrence and settled Quebec for +the French. You will also recall that the French explorers, priests, +and traders had been gradually making their way into the heart of the +continent, by way of the Great Lakes, until at last La Salle glided down +to the mouth of the Mississippi, and took possession of the land in the +name of the French King. This was in 1681, the year the Quakers were +settling Pennsylvania and fifty-two years before the settlement of +Georgia, the youngest of the thirteen original colonies. + +Just one year before this last settlement there was born in Westmoreland +County, Va., a boy who was to play a large part in the history not only +of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, but of the whole country. This boy +was George Washington. He was born on February 22, 1732, in an +old-fashioned Virginia farm-house, near the Potomac River, on what was +known as Bridge's Creek Plantation. The house had four rooms on the +ground floor, with an attic of long sloping roofs and an enormous brick +chimney at each end. + +[Illustration: Washington's Birthplace.] + +George's father was a wealthy planter, owning land in four counties, +more than 5,000 acres in all. Some of his lands were on the banks of the +Rappahannock River, near which he had money invested in iron-mines. To +this plantation the family removed when George was seven years old, the +new home being nearly opposite Fredericksburg, then a small village. + +Here he was sent to a small school and taught by a man named Hobby, a +sexton of the church and tenant of George's father. It was a simple sort +of training the boy received from such a school-master. He learned a +little reading, a little writing, and a little ciphering, but that was +about all. Later in life he became a fairly good penman, writing a neat +round hand; but he never became a good speller. + +When George was eleven years old his father died, leaving to him the +home where they lived on the Rappahannock, and to his brother Lawrence +the great plantation on the Potomac afterward called Mount Vernon. +Lawrence went to live at Mount Vernon, while George remained with his +mother at the house opposite Fredericksburg. + +Now left without a father, George received his home training from his +mother. Fortunate, indeed, was he to have such a mother to teach him; +for she was kind, firm, and had a strong practical sense. She loved her +son, and he deeply appreciated her fond care of him. Some of George's +youthful letters to his mother are full of interest. After the manner of +the time he addressed her formally as "Honored Madam," and signed +himself "Your dutiful son." + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE ALLEGHANY RIVER] + +Nor was his mother the only strong and wholesome influence over his home +life. His eldest brother, Lawrence, played an important part in shaping +his character. According to the custom of those days, Lawrence, as the +eldest son of a Virginia planter, would inherit the bulk of his father's +estate. He was therefore sent to an excellent school in England, to +receive the training which would fit him to be a gentleman and a leader +in social life. For learning was not held in such high esteem as ability +to look after the business of a large plantation and take a leading part +in the public life of the county and the colony. + +With such a training Lawrence returned from England, a young man of +culture and fine manners and well fitted to be a man of affairs. From +this time on George, now only seven or eight years old, looked up to his +brother, fourteen years his senior, with cordial admiration. Lawrence +became George's model of manhood, and returned his younger brother's +devotion with a tender love. + +Soon after the death of his father, the boy went to live with his +brother Augustine on the Bridge's Creek Plantation, in order to have the +advantages of a good school there. Many of his copy-books and books of +exercises, containing such legal forms as receipts, bills and deeds, as +well as pictures of birds and faces, have been preserved. In these books +there are, also, his rules of conduct, maxims which he kept before him +as aids to good behavior. The following are a few of them: + +"Every action in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those +present. + +"When a man does all he can, though it succeeds not well, blame not him +that did it. + +"Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your +promise. + +"Speak not evil of the absent: for it is unjust. + +"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire +called conscience." + +[Illustration: The English Colonies and the French Claims in 1754.] + +In George's school-days he heard many stories about wars with the +Indians and about troubles between the English and the French colonies. +Moreover, his brother Lawrence had been a soldier in the West Indies in +a war between England and Spain, from which he had returned full of +enthusiasm about what he had felt and seen. It was at this time that +Lawrence changed the name of his plantation on the Potomac to Mount +Vernon, in honor of Admiral Vernon, under whose command he had fought. + +Catching his brother's military spirit, George organized his boy friends +into little military companies, and, as their commander, drilled them, +paraded them, and led them in their sham battles in the school-yard. + +Naturally the boys looked to him as leader, for he was strong in mind +and body, and fond of athletic sports. It is said that no boy of his age +was his match in running, leaping, wrestling, and pitching quoits. His +athletic skill expressed itself also in his fearless horsemanship. The +story is told that he once mounted a colt that had successfully resisted +all attempts to remain on his back. But George held on until the +spirited animal, in a frenzy of effort to throw off the persistent young +rider, reared, broke a blood-vessel, and fell dead. His keen enjoyment +of a spirited horse, and of hunting in the freedom of woods and fields +for such game as foxes, deer, and wild-cats, lasted to a late period of +his life. + +George's good qualities were not confined to out-door sports requiring +skill and physical strength alone. He was a manly boy, stout-hearted and +truthful. All the boys trusted him because they knew he was fair-minded, +and often called upon him to settle their disputes. + +But we must not think of him as a perfect boy, finding it easy always to +do the right thing. George Washington had his faults, as some of the +rest of us have. For instance, he had a quick temper which he found it +hard to control. In fact, he found this a harder thing to do than many +brave deeds for which he became famous in his manhood. + +The humdrum quiet of a Virginia plantation did not satisfy this alert +boy longing for a life of action. He had heard from Lawrence about life +on a war-vessel, and had also seen, year after year, the annual return +to the plantation wharf of the vessel that carried a cargo of tobacco to +England and brought back in exchange such goods as the planter needed. + +[Illustration: The French in the Ohio Valley.] + +Eager for a change of surroundings, he made all his plans to go to sea. +The chest containing his clothing had been packed and sent down to the +wharf, but at the last moment he yielded to his mother's persuasion, and +gave up his cherished plan of becoming a sailor-boy. He was then +fourteen years old. + +Returning to school, George continued to be careful and exact in all his +work, his motto being "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing +well." He was also methodical, and herein lay one of the secrets of his +ability to accomplish so much when he came to manhood. + +His love of out-door sport gave him a natural bent for surveying, to +the study of which he applied himself diligently. He soon became +proficient enough to command confidence in his ability as a trustworthy +surveyor. + +In the autumn of his sixteenth year he went to live with his brother +Lawrence on the Mount Vernon plantation, where he spent much of his time +in surveying. Here he met a man who exerted a large influence on his +later life. This man was Lord Fairfax, a tall, courtly, white-haired +English gentleman of about sixty years of age, who was living at +Belvoir, a large plantation a few miles from Mount Vernon. + +At this time George was a shy, awkward youth, somewhat overgrown for his +age, with long arms, and a tall, large frame. But in his serious face +there was a sign of quiet self-control and firm purpose. + +The provincial youth of fifteen and the cultured English lord of sixty, +though so far apart in age and experience, soon became close friends. +They were much together. Sometimes they would spend the morning in +surveying, and start out in the afternoon on their horses for a gay time +in fox-hunting. They doubtless talked freely to each other, and as Lord +Fairfax had seen much of the best English life and had read some of the +best English books, he was an interesting companion to his earnest and +thoughtful young friend. + +This warm friendship soon had a practical turn. Lord Fairfax owned an +immense tract of country in the Shenandoah Valley--by some said to be as +much as one-fifth of the present State of Virginia. Wishing to learn +more about it and observing George to be exceedingly careful and +accurate in his surveying, he decided to send him over the Blue Ridge +into the wild region to find out and report to him something about the +lands there. + +He was to have only one companion, George William Fairfax, who was the +eldest son of Lord Fairfax's cousin, and was then about twenty-two years +old. About the middle of March, 1748, when George Washington was barely +sixteen years old, these two young fellows started out together on +horseback, to travel through the forest a distance of 100 miles before +they reached the Shenandoah Valley. They carried guns in their hands, +for until their return about a month later they would have to depend +mainly upon hunting for their supply of food. The account which George +himself has left enables us to picture them riding alone through the +forest with no road except perhaps, at times, a path made by Indians or +wild animals. + +After reaching the wild country they had to live in the most primitive +fashion. For instance, Washington tells of a night in a woodman's cabin +when he had nothing but a mat of straw for his bed, with but a single +blanket for cover, and that alive with vermin. He wrote in his diary: "I +made a promise to sleep so no more, choosing rather to sleep in the open +air before the fire." + +Again, in a letter to a friend, he says: "I have not slept above three +or four nights in a bed, but, after walking a good deal all day, I have +lain down before the fire upon a little hay, straw, fodder, or a +bear-skin, with man, wife and children, like dogs and cats; and happy is +he who gets the berth nearest the fire." + +Sometimes they tried life in a tent. Once in a storm the tent was blown +over, and at another time the smoke from the fire drove the occupants +out of doors. One night, according to the same diary, "we camped in the +woods, and after we had pitched our tent, and made a large fire, we +pulled out our knapsacks to recruit ourselves. Every one was his own +cook. Our spits were forked sticks; our plates were large chips." As for +bread, most of the time, if not all, they had none, and they drank only +pure water from running streams. + +On another occasion they fell in with a war-party of painted warriors +whom Washington and his friend Fairfax fearlessly joined, all gathering +about a huge fire built under the trees. As the great logs blazed in the +midst of the dark forest, the Indians joined in one of their wild, weird +dances. They leaped to and fro, whooped and shrieked like mad beings, +while one of their companions thumped upon a drum made by drawing a +deer-skin across a pot filled with water, and another rattled a gourd +containing shot and decorated with a horse's tail, "to make it look +fine." + +It was a strange experience which these two youths had that month. But +Washington was well paid, earning from $7 to $21 a day. On the return of +the young surveyor to Mount Vernon his employer, Lord Fairfax, was so +much pleased with the report that he secured his appointment as public +surveyor. For the next three years George lived the life of a surveyor, +spending much of his time with Lord Fairfax at his wilderness home, +Greenway Court, not far from Winchester. + +During this time George was gaining valuable knowledge of the forest, +and becoming so intimate with Indian life that, as people said, he came +to walk like an Indian. His life in the woods developed fearlessness, +patience, and self-reliance, qualities which, joined to his ability and +character, inspired men's confidence and established his leadership. +Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, appointed him an officer in the State +militia, with the rank of major. And as an officer, his influence +continued to increase. + +Some two years afterward his brother Lawrence died and left the Mount +Vernon estate to his daughter, with George Washington as guardian. On +her death, a little later, Washington became owner of the immense +plantation at Mount Vernon, and hence a wealthy man. + +Fortune had favored him, and he might have chosen to enter upon a life +of ease, but events soon occurred which called into action all his +heroic qualities. The strife between the English and the French for +control in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys was advancing rapidly toward +war. + +The French had long considered this territory their own. We recall that +La Salle had explored it, and attempted to plant colonies here. For +many years, French explorers, priests, and traders had toiled on, +patiently pushing their way through the forests, and planting stronghold +after stronghold. At length, pressing closer on the English border, they +began to build forts between Lake Erie and the head of the Ohio. For the +English also had their eyes on the fertile valley of the Ohio, and were +beginning to occupy it. + +At once a company composed largely of Virginia planters was organized +for the purpose of making settlements in the Ohio Valley. Before they +could do much, however, the French had boldly advanced far into +territory claimed by England. + +The people of Virginia in alarm, said, "This advance must stop. What can +be the plans of the French? How many are already in the forts lying +between Lake Erie and the Ohio River?" Governor Dinwiddie and other +Virginia gentlemen grew excited as they asked such questions. They +decided, therefore, to send out to the French commander in the fort near +Lake Erie, a trusty messenger who should ask by what right the French +were invading a country belonging to England. This messenger was also to +find out what he could about the forces of the French in that vicinity, +and about their plans. Moreover, he was to make a strong effort to win +over to the English the Indians, whose friendship the French were trying +to gain. As a suitable man for this dangerous enterprise, all eyes +turned to George Washington, still only twenty-one years of age. + +[Illustration: THE DEATH OF BRADDOCK.] + +The journey of 1,000 miles through trackless forests, in the bitter cold +of Winter, did not offer a cheerful outlook. But on October 30, 1753, +with seven companions, including an Indian and a French interpreter, +George Washington started from Williamsburg. Stopping at Fredericksburg +to bid good-by to his mother, he went on by way of Alexandria to +Winchester, the familiar spot where he had spent many happy days with +Lord Fairfax. Here he got horses and various supplies needed for his +journey. + +From Winchester the little band of men moved forward to Will's Creek +(now Cumberland, Md.), and then plunged boldly into the forest. From +that time on, the difficulties of the journey were wellnigh +overwhelming; but by perseverance in climbing lofty mountains and in +swimming rivers swollen by heavy rains, the end of their journey was at +last reached. + +On receiving an answer from the French commander, who promised nothing, +Washington started back home. The horses soon proved too weak to make +much headway through the dense forests and deep snow, and it seemed best +to push on without them. He also left behind him all of his party except +a trusty woodsman. Then putting on an Indian costume with a heavy cloak +drawn over it, he strapped upon his back the pack containing his papers +and, gun in hand, started off. A little later they were joined by an +Indian guide, who soon gave evidence of his treachery by suddenly +turning and discharging his gun at Washington. + +Washington had another narrow escape from death. He had expected on +reaching the Alleghany River to cross on the ice, but to his dismay he +found the ice broken up and the stream filled with whirling blocks. +There was no way of getting over except on a raft which he and his +companion had to make with a single hatchet. Having at last finished it, +they pushed off, and then began a desperate struggle with the current +and, great blocks of floating ice. Washington, in trying to guide the +raft with a pole, was thrown violently into the water. By catching hold +of one of the raft logs he recovered himself, and by heroic effort +succeeded in reaching an island nearby. Here the travellers suffered +through a night of intense cold, not daring to kindle a fire for fear of +the Indians. + +On January 16th they reached Williamsburg, where Washington delivered to +Governor Dinwiddie the unsatisfactory letter he had brought from the +French commander. Although the result of the expedition was not what the +Virginians had hoped for, Washington had so well succeeded in carrying +out his perilous mission that he was highly praised for his effort. + +The defiant answer of the French commander made it seem probable to the +people of Virginia that war would follow. Therefore a company of men was +sent out to build a fort at the place where the Alleghany and +Monongahela rivers unite to form the Ohio. Washington's quick eye had +noted the importance of this site, afterward known as the "Gateway of +the West." + +In the meantime Washington was drilling men for service, and in April he +set out with the rank of lieutenant-colonel with two companies for the +frontier. He had not gone very far when he learned that the French had +driven off with a large force the men who had been sent to the head of +the Ohio to build a fort; but he continued his march. When a little +later the approach of a small body of French was reported, the +Virginians surprised them, killing, wounding, or capturing all but one. +Colonel Washington was in the thickest of the fight, and wrote in a +letter, "I heard the bullets whistle and, believe me, there is something +charming in the sound." + +After this fight, which began the war, Washington returned to Great +Meadows, and, learning that a large body of French were marching against +him, hastily threw up rough earthworks, which he called Fort Necessity. +When attacked soon after by two or three times his own number, the brave +young colonel did not shrink. For nine hours, in a heavy downpour of +rain, he and his sturdy followers stood up to their knees in mud and +water in the trenches. Being so greatly outnumbered, his troops were of +course defeated, but the House of Burgesses gave their commander a vote +of thanks in recognition of his bravery. + +The war now began in bitter earnest, and England promptly sent over +troops, with General Braddock in command. When on reaching Virginia he +heard of Colonel Washington, Braddock appointed him a member of his +staff. Colonel Washington soon discovered that General Braddock was not +the man to handle an army in woodland warfare. He would gladly have +advised him, but the haughty British general would hear no suggestions +from a colonial officer. + +With 2,000 soldiers, General Braddock marched against the French, +stationed at Fort Duquesne at the head of the Ohio. On the morning of +July 9th, when the army was only eight miles from the fort, it was +suddenly attacked by the French and Indians, who lay in ambush in the +thick forest. The English soldiers, standing in solid masses, were shot +down by squads, but the Virginians fought from behind trees in true +Indian fashion. + +Braddock, who has been rightly called a gallant bull-dog, rode madly to +and fro, giving orders to his men, but in vain. He shortly fell from his +horse, with a mortal wound. The manly figure of Colonel Washington was a +conspicuous mark for the enemy's guns. Two horses fell under him; four +bullets tore through his clothing; but he escaped injury. + +The result was a sore defeat for the English army. It lost 700 men out +of 2,000, and three-fourths of its officers. Nothing but retreat could +be thought of. The brave but narrow-minded Braddock had made an enormous +and expensive blunder. + +After Braddock's defeat Washington was given command of the Virginia +troops. Later in the war he led an expedition against Fort Duquesne, as +Braddock had done. But on hearing of his approach the French fled. The +war having subsided in the Ohio Valley, Washington resigned his +commission, returned to Mount Vernon, and soon afterward married Mrs. +Martha Custis, a rich young widow. + +We have seen him first as a robust lad, then as a fearless woodsman, and +later as a brave soldier. We will leave him for a while at Mount Vernon, +where in the refined society of old Virginia he came to be equally well +known as a high-bred gentleman. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + LA SALLE'S DREAM. + THE FRENCH AND THE ENGLISH COLONIES. + GEORGE WASHINGTON'S EARLY HOME. + HIS SCHOOL-TRAINING. + GEORGE AND HIS MOTHER. + INFLUENCE UPON GEORGE OF HIS BROTHER LAWRENCE. + GEORGE'S RULES OF CONDUCT. + THE BOY SOLDIER. + THE YOUNG ATHLETE. + THE FAIR-MINDED, TRUTHFUL BOY. + GEORGE'S SELF-CONTROL. + HIS LONGING TO BECOME A SAILOR BOY. + EXACTNESS AND METHOD IN WORK. + THE YOUNG SURVEYOR. + THE SHY, AWKWARD YOUTH AND LORD FAIRFAX. + SURVEYING IN THE FORESTS OF THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. + LIFE IN THE WOODS; AN INDIAN DANCE. + WITH LORD FAIRFAX AT GREENWAY COURT. + WASHINGTON, THE YOUNG SOLDIER. + WASHINGTON BECOMES A WEALTHY PLANTER. + THE FRENCH ADVANCE INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. + WASHINGTON'S PERILOUS JOURNEY. + THE RETURN ON FOOT; TWO NARROW ESCAPES. + WASHINGTON IN THE FIGHT THAT BEGINS THE WAR. + HIS DEFEAT AT GREAT MEADOWS. + A MEMBER OF BRADDOCK'S STAFF. + BRADDOCK'S CRUSHING DEFEAT. + WASHINGTON RETIRES TO MOUNT VERNON. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Write on the following topics, using a paragraph for each: + George Washington's early home; his school-training; George and + his mother; the boy soldier; the young athlete; the truthful boy. + + 2. It would be well for you to commit to memory George's rules of + conduct. + + 3. Give an account of the young surveyor's life in the woods out + in the Shenandoah Valley. Imagine the two young fellows riding + alone through the forest, and the scene in the woods when the + Indians danced by the huge fire. + + 4. Trace on your map Washington's perilous journey to the French + forts. What was the purpose of this journey? Travel in + imagination with Washington on his return to Williamsburg, and + tell, in the first person, some of your experiences. + + 5. What do you think of General Braddock? In what way was he + defeated? This was one of the battles of the Last French War. + What caused this war? + + 6. Find as many words as you can that describe George Washington. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +James Wolfe, the Hero of Quebec + +[1727-1759] + +[Illustration: James Wolfe.] + + +We have just seen how the English and the French struggled to get +control of the Ohio Valley. But the fighting in the Last French War was +not confined to this region. Many of the battles were fought to secure +control of two waterways. One of these was the route to Canada, +including Lakes George and Champlain, and the other was the St. Lawrence +River. Indeed, the crowning feature of the Last French War was the +heroic effort made by a young English general to capture Quebec. + +This young general was James Wolfe. He was born in the southeastern part +of England in 1727. From his father, who was an officer in the English +army, he inherited a love for the soldier's life. But in all the trials +and dangers to which he was exposed in his short and stormy career, he +continued to be a devoted son, his love for his mother being especially +tender and sincere. With her he kept up a regular correspondence, in +which he freely expressed his inmost thoughts and feelings. + +When only sixteen years of age he was sent to Flanders as an adjutant in +a regiment of the English army. Here, by faithful and thorough work, he +won promotion and soon, through bravery and skill, received an +appointment as brigadier-general. At the age of thirty-two he was sent +to America to assist in an expedition to Louisburg, and played a large +part in the capture of that stronghold. + +He presented an awkward figure. At that time he was tall and slender, +with long limbs, narrow shoulders, and red hair tied in a queue behind. +His face was plain, with receding chin and forehead, and up-turned nose. +But his keen, bright eyes, full of energy and fearlessness, gave him an +attractive countenance and revealed a heroic nature. + +His health was never robust. As a child he was delicate, and as a youth +he had frequent attacks of illness. But his resolute will and his high +ideals enabled him to do what others of a different mould would never +have attempted. He was governed, too, by an overmastering sense of duty, +which was his most striking trait. + +Although at times extremely impatient, his tenderness and frankness of +nature easily won enduring friendships. His soldiers loved him so dearly +that they were willing to follow him through any dangers to victory or +death. + +After the capture of Louisburg, Wolfe was so worn by the demands upon +his strength that he returned to England and went to Bath for treatment. +At this time he met Miss Katherine Lowther, to whom he soon became +engaged. + +[Illustration: Quebec and Surroundings.] + +But he was not long to remain inactive, for his country needed him. The +great William Pitt, who had now become the head of affairs in England, +saw in this fearless young general a fitting leader for a dangerous and +difficult enterprise. This was an expedition against Quebec, the +strongest and most important position held by the French in America. + +The French army at Quebec, commanded by General Montcalm, numbered more +than 16,000 men, consisting of Frenchmen, Canadians, and Indians. But +some were boys of fifteen, and others old men of eighty. Here they +awaited Wolfe, whose army numbered 9,000. + +By June 21, 1759, Wolfe's fleet lay at anchor in the north channel of +the island of Orleans, not far below Quebec. Then began a time of trial +and discouragement to the young commander, who vainly looked for a point +from which he might hope to make a successful attack. + +In the meantime his soldiers were suffering from intense heat and +drenching rains. Much sickness was the natural result. Wolfe, anxious +with doubt, himself fell a victim to a burning fever. But he would not +give up. He said to his physician, "I know perfectly well you cannot +cure me. But pray make me up so that I can be without pain for a few +days, and able to do my duty. That is all I want." Although racked with +pain, he went from tent to tent among his men, trying to encourage them. + +During several weeks there was fighting now and then in the neighborhood +of Quebec. On July 31st Wolfe's troops made a determined attack upon the +French on the heights just north of the Montmorency River. The English +advanced, in the face of a heavy, blinding rain, with great heroism, but +were forced to retire without having gained a foothold. + +[Illustration: General Montcalm.] + +Thus the summer wore on near to its close. In desperation, Wolfe decided +upon a bold move. He determined to sail up the river, land above Quebec, +scale the steep and rugged cliffs there, and compel the French to fight +a battle or surrender the city. + +The most serious difficulty was to find a way to scale the cliffs. At +last one day came a glimmer of hope. For looking through a telescope +from the south side of the river, the resolute young commander +discovered a narrow path leading up the frowning heights not far from +the town. "Here," he quickly decided, "I will land my men." + +Promptly, eagerly, he began to lay his plans. On the morning of +September 7th, in order to conceal from Montcalm their real purpose, the +British, in gay red uniforms, embarked and sailed up and down the St. +Lawrence, as if looking for a landing-place. On September 12th, the +fatal time set for decisive action, some of the English vessels, with a +large body of troops on board, hovered about the shore below Quebec, as +if to force a landing there. Montcalm was completely deceived. The ruse +had succeeded. + +Meanwhile the main body of English troops, which was to make ready a +landing, was quietly anchored in the river above Quebec. Twenty-four +brave men volunteered as leaders to scale the cliffs. These men took +their places in the foremost boat. + +At two o'clock in the morning Wolfe gave the order to advance. It was a +starlit night, but as there was no moon, it was dark enough to conceal +the movements of the English. For two hours the long procession of boats +filled with soldiers floated silently down the river. The brave young +Wolfe, calm and masterful, was in one of the foremost boats. Fully +expecting to be killed in the coming battle, he had, earlier in the +evening, given to an old school-friend the portrait of his betrothed, +Miss Lowther, which he had long worn about his neck. He said to his +friend, "Give this to Miss Lowther, if I am killed." + +[Illustration: THE DEATH OF WOLFE.] + +We can imagine the strain upon Wolfe's feelings during the two hours in +which the boats floated downstream. Perhaps it was to relieve this +strain that he repeated in a quiet voice Gray's "Elegy in a Country +Churchyard." He seemed to dwell with peculiar feeling upon the last line +in the following stanza: + + The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, + And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, + Await alike the inevitable hour, + The paths of glory lead but to the grave. + +On coming to the end of the poem, he said, "Gentlemen, I would rather +have written those lines than take Quebec." + +When they had almost reached their landing-place they heard a sudden +call from a French sentry, "_Qui vive!_" "_France_," replied one of +Wolfe's officers, who spoke French. "_A quel regiment?_" "_De la +Reine_," was the reply, and thinking the boats were under the control of +Frenchmen carrying provisions to Montcalm, the sentry let them pass. +Later when challenged by another sentry, the same English officer said +in French: "Provision-boats. Don't make a noise--the English will hear +us." + +At length they came to the spot since called Wolfe's Cove, and there +landed. The twenty-four volunteers clambered up the path in the darkness +and, reaching the top, surprised the small number of Frenchmen stationed +there, and quickly overpowered them. It was with much difficulty that +Wolfe's army succeeded, by seizing hold of trees and bushes, in getting +to the top with muskets, cannons, and supplies. + +At daybreak, Wolfe chose as the field of battle the Plains of Abraham, +a high stretch of land extending along the river just above the town. + +The brave Montcalm, in doubt and perplexity, had spent a sleepless night +pacing to and fro. When told of the landing of the English troops he +rode up from his camp to see what was going on. Amazed at the "silent +wall of red" presented by the English army drawn up in battle array, he +said, "This is a serious business." + +Wolfe, anxious but calm, rode to and fro, inspiring his soldiers with +confidence. "Victory or death" was their watchword, for in case of +failure retreat was impossible. + +By ten o'clock the French were in line of battle, ready for the onset. +With loud shouts, they rushed upon the English. But the latter, waiting +quietly until the enemy was only forty paces away, met them with a +withering fire that strewed the ground with dead and dying men. While +the French were wavering, the English fired another deadly volley, and +then with victorious shouts rushed headlong upon the confused ranks. + +The fighting was stubborn and furious, and Wolfe was in the thickest of +the fray. While he was leading a charge, a bullet tore through his +wrist. Quickly wrapping his handkerchief about the wound, he dashed +forward until he was for the third time struck by a bullet, this time +receiving a mortal wound. Four of his men bore him in their arms to the +rear, and wished to send for a surgeon; but Wolfe said, "There's no +need; it's all over with me." A little later, hearing someone cry "They +run; see how they run!" he asked, "Who runs?" "The enemy, sir. Egad, +they give way everywhere!" Then said Wolfe in his last moments, "Now, +God be praised. I will die in peace." + +Montcalm, too, died like a hero. Shot through the body, he was supported +on either side as he passed through the town; but when he heard cries of +distress and pity from his friends and followers, he said, "It's +nothing, it's nothing; don't be troubled for me, good friends." Being +told that he could not live many hours, he exclaimed, "Thank God, I +shall not live to see Quebec surrendered." A few days later Quebec came +into the hands of the English. Its fall meant the loss to France of all +her possessions in North America except two small islands for +fishing-stations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. + +The treaty of peace at the end of the war, called the Last French +War,[8] was signed at Paris in 1763. By this treaty France ceded to +Spain all the territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky +Mountains; also the town of New Orleans, controlling the navigation of +the Mississippi. To England she gave Canada and all the territory east +of the Mississippi. Thus by a single final blow did Wolfe so weaken the +hold of the French upon North America, as to compel them to give up +practically all they had there. + + [8] This war has sometimes been called the Old French War, and + sometimes the French and Indian War. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE CROWNING FEATURE OF THE LAST FRENCH WAR. + WOLFE'S LOVE FOR HIS MOTHER. + THE YOUNG SOLDIER. + WOLFE'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE. + HIS CHARACTER. + WOLFE SENT ON AN EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC. + HIS TRIALS AND DIFFICULTIES. + HE DISCOVERS A STEEP PATHWAY. + HE DECEIVES MONTCALM. + HIS ARMY FLOATS DOWN THE RIVER. + THE ENGLISH REACH THE ROCKY HEIGHTS. + "VICTORY OR DEATH!" + THE CLASH OF BATTLE. + WOLFE AND MONTCALM RECEIVE MORTAL WOUNDS. + THE FRENCH SURRENDER QUEBEC. + END OF THE LAST FRENCH WAR. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. How did Wolfe look, and what were his most striking personal + traits? + + 2. What were his trials and difficulties at Quebec? + + 3. Picture his army floating down the river on the way to the + battle-field; also the soldiers climbing the steep heights. + + 4. Describe the battle, going in imagination with Wolfe at the + head of his men. + + 5. Why was the capture of Quebec by the English so important? + + 6. Are you forming the habit of looking up on your map all the + places mentioned in the text? If you wish to become strong in + history, such a habit will be invaluable. + + 7. Remember that the Last French War began in 1756 and ended in + 1763. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +Patrick Henry and the Stamp Act + +[1736-1799] + +[Illustration: Patrick Henry.] + + +With the fall of Quebec, France lost her hold of nearly all the +territory in North America that she had acquired through the energy and +heroism of her explorers. England profited by this loss, but England +herself had soon to meet with a misfortune far heavier--the loss of all +her colonies east of the Alleghanies and along the Atlantic coast. Very +soon after the close of the Last French War, she began, under the lead +of the dull-witted King George, to treat them with so much injustice and +oppression that in self-defence they were driven to take up arms for the +security of their rights as a free-born people. The result was the +American Revolution, which began in 1775 and ended in 1783. How this +Revolution came to be, is one of the most interesting chapters in our +history. Let us now trace the course of events leading to its outbreak. + +After the close of the Last French War, England was heavily in debt. As +this debt had been incurred largely in defence of the English colonies +in America, George III., King of England, believed that the colonies +should help to carry the burden. Moreover, as he intended to send them a +standing army for their protection, he deemed it wise to levy upon them +a tax for its support. + +Parliament, therefore, which was composed largely of the King's friends, +ready to do his bidding, passed a law called the Stamp Act. This +required the colonists to use stamps upon their newspapers and upon +legal documents, the price of stamps ranging from a half-penny to twelve +pounds. The King thought this tax would be just because it would fall +upon all the colonists alike. + +But the colonists were of a different mind; for England had not fought +the Last French War so much to defend them as to protect her own trade. +Besides, they had already paid a reasonable share of the war expenses, +and had furnished a fair proportion of soldiers for battle. They had +always given their share toward the expenses of their defence, and were +still willing to do so. If the King would ask them for a definite sum, +they would raise it through their Colonial Assemblies. But they strongly +objected to any English tax. + +These Colonial Assemblies were composed of men who represented the +colonists and made laws for the colonists. Therefore the colonists were +willing to pay any taxes levied by the Assemblies. As free-born +Englishmen they objected to paying taxes levied by Parliament, which did +not represent them. Parliament might levy taxes upon the people of +England, whom it did represent. But only the Colonial Assemblies could +tax the colonists, because they alone represented the colonists. In +other words, as James Otis in a stirring speech had declared, there must +be "No taxation without representation." + +George III. could not understand the feelings of the colonists, and he +had no sympathy with their views. His mother had said to him when he was +crowned, "George, be King," and this advice had pleased him. For he was +wilful, and desired to have his own way as a ruler. Thus far he had +shown little respect for the British Parliament, and he felt even less +for Colonial Assemblies. Certainly if he was to rule in his own way in +England, he must compel the obedience of the stubborn colonists in +America. The standing army which the King wished to send to America was +designed not so much to protect the colonies as to enforce the will of +the King, and this the colonists knew. They therefore opposed with +bitter indignation the payment of taxes levied for the army's support. + +Patrick Henry was one of many who were willing to risk everything in +their earnest struggle against the tyrannical schemes of King George. +Patrick Henry was born in 1736 in Hanover County, Va. His father was a +lawyer of much intelligence, and his mother belonged to a fine old +Welsh family. As a boy, Patrick's advantages at school were meagre, and +even these he did not appreciate. Books were far less attractive to him +than his gun and fishing-rod. With these he delighted to wander through +the woods searching for game, or to sit on the bank of some stream +fishing by the hour. When out-door sports failed, he found delight at +home in his violin. + +[Illustration: George III.] + +When he was fifteen years old, his father put him into a country store, +where he remained a year. He then began business for himself, but he +gave so little attention to it that he soon failed. He next tried +farming, and afterward storekeeping again, but without success. + +At length he decided to practise law, and after six months' study +applied for admission to the bar. Although he had much difficulty in +passing the examination, he had at last found a vocation which suited +him. He did well in his law practice; but we must pass over this part of +his life in order that we may go with him to Williamsburg. He went there +in 1765, soon after the passage of the Stamp Act by the English +Parliament, to attend the session of the Virginia House of Burgesses, of +which he had been elected a member. + +We get a vivid picture of our hero at this period of his career as he +rides on horseback toward Williamsburg, carrying his papers in his +saddle-bags. John Esten Cooke says of him: "He was at this time just +twenty-nine, tall in figure, but stooping, with a grim expression, small +blue eyes which had a peculiar twinkle, and wore a brown wig without +powder, a 'peach-blossom coat,' leather knee-breeches, and yarn +stockings." + +There was great excitement in Williamsburg, and it was a time of grave +doubt. What should be done about the Stamp Act? Should the people of +Virginia tamely submit to it and say nothing? Should they urge +Parliament to repeal it? or should they cry out against it in open +defiance? + +Most of the members were wealthy planters, men of dignity and influence. +These men spoke of England as the "Mother" of the colonies, and were so +loyal in their attachment that the idea of war was hateful to them. +Certainly, the thought of separation from England they could not +entertain for a moment. + +But Patrick Henry was eager for prompt and decisive action. Having +hastily written, on a blank leaf taken from a law-book, a series of +resolutions, he rose and offered them to the assembly. One of these +resolutions declared that the General Assembly of the colony had the +sole right and power of laying taxes in the colony. + +A hot debate followed, in the course of which Patrick Henry, ablaze with +indignation, arose and addressed the body. His speech closed with these +thrilling words: "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, +and George the Third--" "Treason! Treason!" shouted voices from the +stormy assembly. Pausing a moment in a fearless attitude, the young +orator calmly added, "may profit from their example. If this be treason +make the most of it." The resolutions were passed. + +It was a great triumph for the young orator, who now became the "idol of +the people." As he was going out of the door at the close of the +session, one of the plain people gave him a slap on the shoulder, +saying, "Stick to us, old fellow, or we are gone!" + +The note of defiance sounded by Patrick Henry at this time vibrated +throughout America, and encouraged the colonists to unite against the +oppressive taxation imposed upon them through the influence of the +stubborn and misguided King George. + +But the English people as a whole did not support the King. Many of +them, among whom were some of England's wisest statesmen, believed he +was making a great mistake in trying to tax the Americans without their +consent. Said William Pitt, in a stirring speech in the House of +Commons: "Sir, I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions[9] of +people so dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit +to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of all the +rest." + + [9] This number is too large. Two millions is nearer the truth. + +In the ten years following the passage of the Stamp Act, events in +America moved rapidly. Some of these we shall learn more about a little +later. It is sufficient here to say that the colonial merchants refused +to import goods so long as the Stamp Act was in effect; that their +action caused the merchants, manufacturers, and ship-owners in England +to lose money heavily; that these merchants and ship-owners at once +begged Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act; and that Parliament did +repeal it one year after its passage. + +[Illustration: St. John's Church, Richmond.] + +Ten years after Patrick Henry's eloquent speech at Williamsburg against +the Stamp Act, the people of Virginia were again deeply aroused; for +King George, acting through Parliament, had sent 3,000 soldiers to +Boston to force her unruly people and those of Massachusetts to obey +certain of his commands. Virginia having given her hearty support to the +people of Massachusetts, the royal Governor of Virginia drove the +Colonial Assembly away from Williamsburg. But the people of Virginia, +resolute in defence of their rights, elected a convention of their +leading men, who met at old St. John's Church in Richmond, a church +which is yet standing. Excitement was widespread, and thoughtful men +grew serious at the war-cloud growing blacker every hour. + +Virginians had already begun to make preparations to fight if they must. +But many still hoped that the disagreements between the Americans and +King George might be settled, and therefore believed that they should +act with great caution. Patrick Henry thought differently. He was +persuaded that the time had come when talk should give place to prompt, +energetic, decisive action. The war was at hand. It could not be +avoided. The Americans must fight, or tamely submit to be slaves. + +Believing these things with all the intensity of his nature, he offered +a resolution that Virginia should at once prepare to defend herself. +Many of the leading men stoutly opposed this resolution as rash and +unwise. + +At length Patrick Henry arose, his face pale and his voice trembling +with deep emotion. Soon his stooping figure became erect. His eyes +flashed fire. His voice rang out like a trumpet. As he continued, men +leaned forward in breathless interest, thrilled by his magical words: + +"We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and +to the God of Hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we +are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall +we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be +when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be +stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and +inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying +supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until +our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if +we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed +in our power.... There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery! Our +chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! +The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! + +"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, +peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale +that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of +resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we +here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life +so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains +and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may +take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!" + +This wonderful speech made a deep impression not only in Virginia but +throughout the colonies. The next month the war began at Lexington and +Concord. A little later Patrick Henry was made commander-in-chief of the +Virginia forces, and later still was elected Governor of Virginia. + +At the age of fifty-eight he retired to an estate in Charlotte County, +called "Red Hill," where he lived a simple and beautiful life. He died +in 1799. His influence in arousing the people of Virginia and of the +other colonies to a sense of their rights as freemen cannot easily be +measured. Without doubt his impassioned oratory played a most important +part in shaping the course of events which resulted in the Revolutionary +War. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. + GEORGE THE THIRD'S PLAN TO TAX THE COLONIES IN SUPPORT OF A + STANDING ARMY. + THE STAMP ACT. + THE COLONISTS OBJECT TO THE STAMP ACT; "NO TAXATION WITHOUT + REPRESENTATION." + GEORGE THE THIRD'S DESIRE FOR PERSONAL POWER. + FONDNESS OF PATRICK HENRY FOR OUT-DOOR SPORTS. + HE FAILS AS A STOREKEEPER. + PATRICK HENRY AS A LAWYER. + HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. + HIS GREAT SPEECH OPPOSING THE STAMP ACT. + ENGLISH OPPOSITION TO TAXING THE AMERICANS WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. + REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. + PATRICK HENRY'S DEFIANT SPEECH IN ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. + HIS INFLUENCE AND LATER LIFE. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What was the Stamp Act and what was its purpose? Why did the + colonists object to it? + + 2. Describe George the Third. What did his mother mean when she + said to him, "George, be King"? + + 3. What was his personal appearance when he went to Williamsburg + to attend the session of the House of Burgesses? + + 4. How did William Pitt feel about American taxation? + + 5. Can you form a mental picture of Patrick Henry as he made his + great speech in St. John's Church? Do you not think it would be + profitable for you to memorize this speech? At any rate, you + might well learn to read it so as to bring out its meaning. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Samuel Adams and the Boston Tea Party + +[1722-1803] + +[Illustration: Samuel Adams.] + + +We have just seen how the people of Virginia, under the leadership of +Patrick Henry, arose against King George's pet measure, the Stamp Act. +But the Virginians were not alone in the feeling of opposition to the +English King. Just as brave and liberty-loving were the Massachusetts +people, with Samuel Adams as their leader. + +He was born in Boston in 1722. His father was a well-to-do man, who +filled a large place in the community. Of Samuel Adams's boyhood we know +little, but as far as we can learn he was a studious, in-door sort of +lad, with little fondness for sport of any kind. His father wished him +to be a clergyman, but he preferred to study law. Since, however, his +mother did not approve, he gave that up for a business life, eventually +joining his father in the malt business. + +When the excitement over the Stamp Act began, Samuel Adams was +forty-two years old. He was of medium size, with gray hair and keen gray +eyes. Although his hands were tremulous, as if with age, his health was +vigorous. Like Patrick Henry, he had but little aptitude for business. +So we need not be surprised to learn that in time he lost about all the +property his father had left him. + +In fact, Samuel Adams soon gave up all kinds of private business, +devoting his time and strength to public life. As a result he and his +family had to live on the very small salary which he received as clerk +of the Assembly of Massachusetts. Poor as he was, however, no man could +be more upright. The British tried to buy him, but found him the very +soul of honor. In what way he gave expression to his interest in the +public welfare can be briefly told. + +As we have already seen, King George, much against his will, had to +submit to the repeal of the Stamp Act by Parliament. But he was not +satisfied. He could never carry out his selfish scheme of personal +government in England and in America if he allowed the stubborn +colonists to have their way in this matter. + +In 1767, therefore, through his tool, Townshend, Parliament levied new +port duties on a few articles, including glass, lead, paper, and tea. +These new taxes were hateful to the colonists because they were levied +by Parliament, and because the money thus raised was to be used to their +disadvantage in various ways: For example, some of it was to pay for +maintaining in America a small English army. This army, the colonists +believed, the King would use to compel them to do as he willed. + +The opposition to the new taxes was just as bitter as it had been +against the Stamp Act. Samuel Adams felt that only slaves would submit +to such high-handed oppression. He urged the people of Boston and +Massachusetts to join in refusing to import any goods from England as +long as the new taxes were imposed by Parliament. They did so agree, and +thus inflicted great injury upon English merchants, as they had done two +or three years before. + +Of course these merchants suffered heavy losses, and again begged for a +repeal. But the dull-witted King could not understand the Americans. +Thus far he had not been able to coerce them; he now made a shrewd +attempt to outwit them. + +Influenced by him, Parliament took off all the new taxes except the one +on tea. "There must be one tax to keep the right to tax," he said. If he +could only succeed in getting the Americans to submit to paying any +tax--no matter how small--that Parliament might levy, he would carry his +point. He therefore urged not only the removal of all taxes except the +one on tea, but also made arrangements whereby Americans could buy their +taxed tea cheaper than it could be bought in England and cheaper even +than they could smuggle it from Holland, as they had been doing. No +doubt the King had great faith in this foolish scheme. "Of course," he +argued, "the Americans will buy their tea where they can buy it +cheapest, and then we will have them in a trap." But this was a huge +blunder, as we shall now see. + +The East India Company arranged to ship cargoes of tea to Boston, New +York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. When the tea arrived, the people in +New York and Philadelphia refused to let it land, and in Charleston they +stored it in damp cellars, where it spoiled. But in Boston, where the +Tory Governor, Hutchinson, was determined to fight a hard battle for the +King, there was a most exciting time. The result was the famous "Boston +Tea Party." + +It was a quiet Sunday morning, on the 28th of November, 1773, when the +Darmouth, one of the three tea-ships on the way to Boston, sailed into +the harbor.[10] The people were attending service in the various +churches. "The Darmouth is in!" spread like wildfire, and soon the +streets were astir with people, Sunday though it was, in old Puritan +Boston. + + [10] The other two ships arrived a few days later. + +Fearing that the tea might be landed, the committee of correspondence +quickly got together and secured a promise from Benjamin Rotch, the +owner of the Darmouth, that the tea should not be landed before Tuesday. +On Monday morning an immense town meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, the +"Cradle of Liberty." Five thousand men were present. But Faneuil Hall +proving too small, the crowd had to make its way to the Old South +Church. In addressing the meeting Samuel Adams asked, "Is it the firm +resolution of this body that the tea shall not only he sent back, but +that no duty shall be paid thereon?" With a great shout the men answered +"Yes." + +Samuel Adams and the people of Boston and the surrounding towns were +determined that the tea should not be landed. Governor Hutchinson was +equally determined that it should be. The advantage was with the +Governor, for according to law the vessels could not return to England +with the tea unless they got a clearance from the collector of customs +or a pass from himself. + +[Illustration: Faneuil Hall, Boston.] + +But neither the collector of customs nor Governor Hutchinson would yield +an inch. For nineteen days the struggle continued, growing daily more +bitter. With a stubborn purpose to prevent the landing of the tea even +if they had to fight, the Boston people appointed men, armed with +muskets and bayonets, some to watch the tea-ships by day and some by +night. Six couriers were to be ready to mount their horses, which they +kept saddled and bridled, and speed into the country to give the alarm +to the people. Sentinels were stationed in the church-belfries to ring +the bells, and beacon-fires were ready to be lighted on the surrounding +hilltops. + +The morning of December 16th had come. If the tea should remain in the +harbor until the morrow--the twentieth day--the revenue officer would be +empowered by law to land it by force. Men, talking angrily and shaking +their fists with excitement, were thronging into the streets of Boston +from surrounding towns. By ten o'clock over 7,000 had assembled in the +Old South Church and in the streets outside. + +They were waiting for the coming of Benjamin Rotch, who had gone to see +if the collector would give him a clearance. Rotch came in and told the +angry crowd that the collector refused to give the clearance. The people +told him that he must get a pass from the Governor. Fearing for his +personal safety, the poor man started out to find Governor Hutchinson +who had purposely retired to his country home at Milton. Then the +meeting adjourned for the morning. + +[Illustration: The Old South Church, Boston.] + +At three o'clock a great throng of eager men again crowded into the Old +South Church and the streets outside to wait for the return of Rotch. It +was a critical moment. "If the Governor refuses to give the pass, shall +the revenue officer be allowed to seize the tea and land it to-morrow +morning?" Many anxious faces showed that men were asking themselves this +momentous question. + +But while, in deep suspense, the meeting waited and deliberated, John +Rowe said, "Who knows how tea will mingle with salt water?" A whirlwind +of applause swept through the assembly and the masses outside the +church. As daylight deepened into darkness, candles were lighted. +Shortly after six Benjamin Rotch entered the church and, with pale face, +said, "The Governor refuses to give a pass." An angry murmur arose, but +the crowd soon became silent, when Samuel Adams arose and said, "This +meeting can do nothing more to save the country." + +This was plainly a concerted signal. In an instant a war-whoop sounded, +and forty or fifty "Mohawks," or men dressed as Indians, who were +waiting outside, dashed past the door and down Milk Street toward +Griffin's Wharf, where the tea-ships were lying at anchor. It was bright +moonlight, and everything could be plainly seen. Many men stood on shore +and watched the "Mohawks" as they broke open 342 chests, and poured the +tea into the harbor. There was no confusion. All was done in perfect +order. + +The "Boston Tea Party," of which Samuel Adams was the prime mover, was a +long step toward the Revolution. Samuel Adams was at this time almost or +quite alone in his desire for Independence, and he has well been called +the "Father of the Revolution." But his influence for the good of +America continued far beyond the time of the "Boston Tea Party." Up to +the last his patriotism was earnest and sincere. He died in 1803, at the +age of eighty-one years. Not as an orator, like Patrick Henry, but as a +man of action, like Lincoln and Washington, had he a powerful influence +over men. His was truly a life of distinguished service to his country. + +[Illustration: The "Boston Tea Party."] + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE FEELING OF MASSACHUSETTS PEOPLE. + SAMUEL ADAMS IN BUSINESS AND IN PUBLIC LIFE. + A MAN TO BE TRUSTED. + KING GEORGE'S NEW SCHEME OF TAXATION. + BITTER OPPOSITION TO THE NEW TAXES. + THE KING'S SHREWD ATTEMPT TO OUTWIT THE AMERICANS. + TAXED TEA ARRIVES IN AMERICA. + A HUGE TOWN MEETING. + A BITTER STRUGGLE WITH GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON OVER THE TEA. + OVER 7,000 EXCITED MEN IN THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH. + THE GOVERNOR REFUSES TO GIVE ROTCH A PASS. + THE "MOHAWKS" AND THE "TEA PARTY"; ADMIRAL MONTAGUE. + SAMUEL ADAMS THE "FATHER OF THE REVOLUTION." + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What were King George's new taxes? What was their three-fold + purpose? + + 2. Why were all the taxes repealed except the one on tea? In what + way did the King try to entrap the Americans? + + 3. Tell about the bitter struggle over landing the tea. + + 4. Can you form mental pictures of the following: The throng of + excited men in and about the Old South Church, awaiting the + return of Benjamin Rotch; and the party of "Mohawks" on their way + down Milk Street to the harbor? + + 5. What was the great work of Samuel Adams? What do you admire in + his character? Compare him with Patrick Henry. Have you definite + pictures of the personal appearance of these men? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Paul Revere and the Battle of Concord and Lexington + +[1735-1818] + +[Illustration: Paul Revere.] + + +After the "Boston Tea Party," affairs became more serious than ever in +Massachusetts. As a punishment to the rebellious colonists for daring to +oppose their royal master, the English authorities closed the port of +Boston to all trade, and made General Gage military governor of +Massachusetts. + +One of the first acts of the new Governor was to dismiss the Colonial +Assembly, thus depriving the people of their right to make laws, and +subjecting them wholly to the will of the King. The colonists felt this +to be an outrage upon free government, and immediately organized a new +governing body which they called a Provincial Congress. With John +Hancock as its president and Samuel Adams as its leading spirit, this +congress began at once to make rapid preparations for war. It called for +an army of 20,000 men who were to be ready, at a minute's notice, to +march to any point of danger. These first soldiers of the Revolution, +thus hastily mustered, were called "minute-men." + +Meanwhile General Gage, who was in command of 3,000 British troops in +Boston, had received orders from England to seize John Hancock and +Samuel Adams as traitors. General Gage knew that Hancock and Adams were +staying for a while with a friend in Lexington. He had learned also +through his spies that the minute-men had collected some cannon and +military stores in Concord, eighteen miles from Boston. The British +General planned, therefore, to send a body of troops to arrest the two +leaders at Lexington, and then to push on and destroy the stores at +Concord. + +Although he acted with the greatest secrecy, he was not alert enough to +keep his plans from the watchful minute-men. Gage's failure was brought +about by one of these minute-men, Paul Revere, whose famous "midnight +ride" was one of the exciting episodes of the Revolution. + +Paul Revere was born in Boston, in 1735, in what is now called the north +end of the town. He followed his father's trade, and became a goldsmith. +To this occupation he added copper-plate engraving, and not only +produced prints of many current events, but engraved plates for money +issued by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. + +He had taken an active part in the "Boston Tea Party," and in 1774, with +about thirty other young patriots, formed a society to spy out the +British plans. Always on the watch, these young men at once made known +any suspicious movement to such leaders as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, +and Dr. Joseph Warren. + +On the evening of April 18, 1775, Revere and his friends reported to Dr. +Warren certain unusual movements of troops and boats, and their belief +that General Gage was about to carry out his plan of capturing Adams and +Hancock and of destroying the military stores at Concord. + +[Illustration: Paul Revere's Ride.] + +Dr. Warren quickly summoned William Dawes and Paul Revere, and +despatched them on horseback to Lexington and Concord, to give the +alarm. He sent them by different routes, hoping that one at least might +escape capture by British patrols, with whom Gage had carefully guarded +all the roads leading from Boston. + +Dawes was soon making his way across Boston Neck, while Paul Revere went +home and put on his riding suit for his long night-ride. Then, leaving +orders for a lantern-signal to be hung in the belfry of the Old North +Church, to indicate by which route the British forces were advancing, +"one if by land and two if by sea," he rowed across the Charles River, +passing near the British war-vessels lying at anchor. + +On the opposite bank he soon got ready a fleet horse. There he stood, +bridle in hand, watching to catch sight of the signal lights. At eleven +o'clock two lights gleamed out from the belfry, and told him that the +British troops were crossing the Charles River on their march through +Cambridge. + +Leaping into his saddle he sped like the wind toward Lexington. Suddenly +two British officers sprang out to capture him; but quickly turning his +horse, he dashed into a side path, and soon outdistanced his pursuers. +Ten minutes later he arrived at Medford. + +Then at every house along the road, he stopped and shouted, "Up and arm! +Up and arm! The regulars are out! The regulars are out!" + +When he reached Lexington it was just midnight. Eight minute-men, +guarding the house where Adams and Hancock were sleeping, warned him not +to disturb the household by making so much noise. "Noise!" cried Paul +Revere. "You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are out!" + +[Illustration: The Old North Church.] + +William Dawes soon joined Paul Revere, and after a few minutes spent in +taking refreshments they rode off together toward Concord accompanied by +Dr. Prescott. About half way there they met some mounted British +officers, who called to them to halt. Prescott managed to escape by +making his horse leap a stone wall, and rode in hot haste toward +Concord, which he reached in safety; but Paul Revere and William Dawes +both fell into the hands of the British. + +In the meantime, the British troops, numbering 800 men, under +Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, were on their way to Lexington. But they had +not gone far before they were made aware, by the ringing of +church-bells, the firing of signal guns, the beating of drums, and the +gleaming of beacon-fires from the surrounding hilltops, that the +minute-men knew of their movements. Colonel Smith, disturbed by these +signs of threatening storm, sent Major Pitcairn ahead with a picked body +of light infantry, in the hope that they might reach Lexington before +the town could be aroused. He then sent back to Boston for +reinforcements. + +The British commander had reason to be disturbed, for the alarm-signals +were calling to arms thousands of patriots ready to die for their +rights. Hastily wakened from sleep, men snatched their old muskets from +over the door and, bidding a hurried good-by to wife and children, +started for the meeting-places long since agreed upon. + +Just as the sun was rising, Major Pitcairn marched into Lexington, where +he found forty or fifty minute-men ready to dispute his advance. +"Disperse, ye rebels: disperse!" he cried. But they would not disperse. +Pitcairn ordered his men to fire, and eighteen of the minute-men fell +dead or wounded, before the remainder sullenly retired to wait for a +hand in the struggle later in the day. + +Before the arrival of Pitcairn the British officers who had captured +Revere and Dawes returned with them to Lexington, where, commanding +Revere to dismount, they let him go. Running off at full speed to the +house where Samuel Adams and John Hancock were staying, he recounted +what had happened, and then guided them across the fields to a place of +safety at Woburn. On their way they heard the guns firing on Lexington +Common, and the sound stirred the soul of Adams, who exclaimed with +enthusiasm, "Oh, what a glorious morning is this!" + +[Illustration: Stone in Front of the Harrington House, Lexington, +Marking the Line of the Minute-Men.] + +From Lexington, Colonel Smith hastened to Concord, arriving there at +seven o'clock in the morning, about six hours after Dr. Prescott had +given the alarm. The British could not find the military stores, most of +which the people of Concord had hidden, but they cut down the liberty +pole, set fire to the court-house, spiked a few cannon, and emptied some +barrels of flour. + +About 200 of them stood guard at the North Bridge, while a body of +minute-men gathered on a hill beyond. When the minute-men had increased +to 400 they advanced upon the British, and brought on a fight which +resulted in loss of life on each side. Then continuing their advance +they crossed the bridge, and forced the British to withdraw into the +town. + +By noon Colonel Smith could see that by reason of the ever-increasing +body of minute-men, swarming into Concord from every direction, it would +be unwise to delay his return to Boston. His men had marched eighteen +miles with little or no food for fourteen hours, and were tired and +hungry. + +But when the British started back on their return march, the minute-men +followed and began a deadly attack. It was an irregular fight. The +minute-men, trained to woodland warfare, slipped from tree to tree, shot +down the tired British soldiers, and then retreated only to return and +repeat the annoying attack. The wooded country through which they +marched favored this kind of fighting. + +But even in the open country every stone wall and hill, every house and +barn, seemed to the exhausted British troops to bristle with the guns of +minute-men. The retreating army pushed wearily forward, fighting as +bravely as possible, but on the verge of confusion and panic. + +When they reached Lexington Common, at two o'clock, they met 1,200 fresh +troops under Lord Percy, whose timely arrival saved the entire force +from capture. The dismayed British troops, half-dead with exhaustion, +entered the square Lord Percy had formed for their protection, and fell +upon the ground, "with their tongues hanging out of their mouths like +those of dogs after a chase." + +[Illustration: THE RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM THE CONCORD.] + +After resting for an hour, the British again took up their march to +Boston. The minute-men, increasing in numbers every moment, kept up the +same kind of running attack that they had made upon the British between +Concord and Lexington. A British officer, in speaking of the minute-men, +said, "they seemed to have dropped from the clouds." The condition of +the British soldiers was pitiable until, late in the day, they got under +the protection of the guns of the war-vessels in Boston Harbor. + +The British had failed. They had been driven back, almost in a panic, to +Boston, with a loss of nearly 300 men. The Americans had not lost 100. +It was a great day for the patriots, for they had not only defeated the +regular troops, but they had tested their own strength and given fresh +inspiration to their cause. Farmers, mechanics, men in all walks of +life, now flocked to the army. Within a few days the Americans, 16,000 +strong, were surrounding the British in Boston. + +The Americans, eager to drive them out of Boston, threw up breastworks +on Bunker Hill, which overlooked the town. But the next day--June +17th--after they had twice driven the redcoats down the hill--they had +to retreat because their powder had given out. This was the battle of +Bunker Hill, in which the British lost in killed and wounded 1,000 men; +the Americans, 450. + +Although Paul Revere took part in no important battle, he was active in +the patriot cause, and became lieutenant-colonel of a Boston regiment of +artillery. After the war he returned to his old business, and +established a foundry in which church-bells and bronze cannon were cast. +He died in Boston in 1818, eighty-three years of age, held in high +esteem by his countrymen. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + PUNISHMENT FOR THE "BOSTON TEA PARTY." + THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS AND THE "MINUTE-MEN." + PAUL REVERE AND OTHER PATRIOTIC YOUNG MEN SPY OUT THE BRITISH PLANS. + PAUL REVERE STARTS ON HIS "MIDNIGHT RIDE." + HE SPREADS THE ALARM. + SIGNS OF THE THREATENING STORM. + THE FIGHT AT LEXINGTON. + PAUL REVERE ACTS AS GUIDE TO ADAMS AND HANCOCK. + THE BRITISH AT CONCORD; THE FIGHT AT THE NORTH BRIDGE. + THE BRITISH RETREAT FROM CONCORD TO LEXINGTON. + LORD PERCY'S TIMELY ARRIVAL. + THE BRITISH DRIVEN BACK TO BOSTON. + PAUL REVERE AFTER THE REVOLUTION. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What were Gage's secret plans, and how did Paul Revere and his + band of patriots try to thwart them? + + 2. Draw a map, locating Boston, Medford, Lexington, and Concord. + + 3. Impersonating Paul Revere, write an account of the famous + "midnight ride." + + 4. Imagine yourself as a boy living in Concord at the time of the + battle, and tell your experiences. + + 5. Describe the retreat of the British. + + 6. When did this battle take place? + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +Benjamin Franklin and Aid from France + +[1706-1790] + +[Illustration: Benjamin Franklin.] + + +American independence, the beginnings of which we have just been +considering, was accomplished after a long struggle. Many brave men +fought on the battle-field, and many who never shouldered a musket or +drew a sword exerted a powerful influence for the good of the patriot +cause. One of these men was Benjamin Franklin. + +He was born in Boston in 1706, the fifteenth child in a family of +seventeen children. His father was a candle-maker and soap-boiler. +Intending to make a clergyman of Benjamin, he sent him, at eight years +of age, to a grammar-school, with the purpose of fitting him for +college. The boy made rapid progress, but before the end of his first +school-year his father took him out on account of the expense, and put +him into a school where he would learn more practical subjects, such as +writing and arithmetic. The last study proved very difficult for him. + +Two years later, at the age of ten, he had to go into his father's shop. +Here he spent his time in cutting wicks for the candles, filling the +moulds with tallow, selling soap in the shop, and acting the part of +errand-boy. + +Many times he had watched the vessels sailing in and out of Boston +Harbor, and often in imagination had gone with them on their journeys. +Now he longed to become a sailor, and, quitting the drudgery of the +candle-shop, to roam out over the sea in search of more interesting +life. But his father wisely refused to let him go. His fondness for the +sea, however, took him frequently to the water, and he learned to swim +like a fish and to row and sail boats with great skill. In these sports, +as in others, he became a leader among his playmates. + +With all his dislike for the business of candle-making and soap-boiling, +and with all his fondness for play, he was faithful in doing everything +that his father's business required. His industry, together with his +liking for good books and his keen desire for knowledge, went far toward +supplying the lack of school-training. He spent most of his leisure in +reading, and devoted his savings to collecting a small library. + +His father, noting his bookish habits, decided to apprentice Benjamin to +his older brother, James, a printer in Boston. Benjamin was to serve +until he was twenty-one and to receive no wages until the last year. In +this position he was able to see more of books, and made good use of +his opportunities. Often he would read, far into the night, a borrowed +book that had to be returned in the morning. He also wrote some verses +and peddled them about the streets, until his father discouraged him by +ridiculing his efforts. + +About this time, in order to get money for books, he told his brother +that he would be willing to board himself on half the money the board +had been costing. To this his brother agreed, and Benjamin lived on a +very meagre diet. Remaining in the printing-office at noon, he ate such +a simple lunch as a biscuit or slice of bread and a bunch or two of +raisins. As a meal like this required but little time, young Franklin +could spend most of the noon hour in reading. By living thus he easily +saved half of what his brother allowed him, and at once spent his +savings in books. + +This youth was never idle, because he put a high value upon time; he was +never wasteful of money, because he knew the easiest way to make money +was to save what he had. These were qualities which helped Benjamin +Franklin to get on in the world. + +But during this period of his life he had great hardships to bear, for +his brother was a stern taskmaster, and was so hot-tempered that he +would sometimes beat Benjamin cruelly. No doubt the young apprentice was +sometimes at fault. Be that as it may, the two brothers had so many +disagreements that Benjamin determined to run away and seek his fortune +elsewhere. + +Having sold some of his books to get a little money, at the age of +seventeen, he secured a passage on board a sloop for New York. Upon his +arrival, friendless and almost penniless, he began to visit the +printing-offices in search of work. But failing to find any, and being +told that he would be more likely to succeed in Philadelphia, he decided +to go to that city. + +[Illustration: Franklin's Journey from New York to Philadelphia.] + +To-day, the journey from New York to Philadelphia, a distance of ninety +miles, can be made in two hours. But, of course, in Franklin's time +there were no railroads, and it was a more difficult undertaking. + +He first had to go by a sail-boat from New York to Amboy, on the New +Jersey coast. On the way a storm came up, which tore the sails and drove +the boat to the Long Island shore. All night Franklin lay in the hold, +while the waves dashed angrily over the boat. At length, after thirty +hours, during which he was without food or water, he was landed at +Amboy. + +As he had no money to spare for coach hire, he started to walk, along +rough country roads, the fifty miles across New Jersey to Burlington. +For over two days he trudged along in a downpour of rain. At the end of +his first day's journey he was so wet and mud-spattered, and had such +an appearance of neglect, that on reaching an inn, there was talk of +arresting him for a runaway servant. + +Having arrived at Burlington, he was still twenty miles from +Philadelphia, and boarded a boat for the remainder of his journey. As +there was no wind, the passengers had to take turns at the oars, and in +this way they continued down the Delaware until midnight. Then fearing +they might pass the town in the darkness--streets not being lighted in +those days--they landed, made a fire out of some fence-rails, and waited +for morning. + +The next day, which was Sunday, they reached Philadelphia, and young +Franklin, poorly clad and travel-soiled, with only a little money in his +pocket, was making his way alone through the streets of Philadelphia. +But he was cheerful and full of hope. His health was strong, and he was +hungry for his breakfast. Going to a baker's shop he bought three large +rolls, and, his pockets being already stuffed with shirts and stockings, +he tucked one roll under each arm, and walked up Market Street eating +the third. His ludicrous appearance afforded much amusement to a certain +Deborah Read, who stood at the door of her father's house as he passed +by. Little did she think that this strange-looking fellow would one day +become the greatest man in Philadelphia and even in Pennsylvania. Little +did she think that one day, not many years after that morning she would +become his wife. Both these things came to pass. + +Having eaten as much as he wished, he continued up the street, giving +the two other rolls to a woman and a child who had come on the boat with +him. + +In a short time he found work with one of the two master-printers in +Philadelphia. One day, while at work in the printing-office, he received +a call from Sir William Keith, Governor of Pennsylvania. Governor +Keith's attention had been directed to this seventeen-year-old youth by +Franklin's brother-in-law, and he called on this occasion to urge him to +start a printing-press of his own. + +[Illustration: Franklin in the Streets of Philadelphia.] + +When Franklin said he had not the money to buy a printing-press and +type, the Governor offered to write a letter for Franklin to take to his +father in Boston, asking him to furnish the loan. The following spring +Franklin took the letter to his father, but the father refused to lend +him the money. + +Upon Franklin's return to Philadelphia Governor Keith advised him to go +to England to select the printing-press and other things necessary for +the business outfit, promising to provide funds. Franklin took him at +his word, and sailed for London, expecting to secure the money upon his +arrival there. But the faithless Governor failed to keep his word, and +Franklin was again stranded in a strange city. + +Without friends and without money he once more found work in a +printing-office, where he remained during the two years of his stay in +London. Here, in his manliness and strength, he was very different from +the printers with whom he worked. They spent much of their money in +beer-drinking, and when Franklin refused to drink with them, they made +fun of him, by calling him a water-American. But the young man who had +lived upon a simple diet in order to buy books was not disturbed by such +taunts. + +After two years he returned to Philadelphia, where, four years later, he +married Miss Read. In the meantime he had set up in the printing +business for himself, but in so doing had to carry a heavy debt. He +worked early and late to pay it off, sometimes making his own ink and +casting his own type. He would also at times go with a wheel-barrow to +bring to the printing-office the paper he needed. + +His wife assisted him by selling stationery in his shop as well as by +saving in the household, where the furnishings and food were very +simple. Franklin's usual breakfast was milk and bread, which he ate out +of a wooden porringer with a pewter spoon. In time, when their money was +more plentiful, his wife gave him a China bowl and a silver spoon. On +observing how hard Franklin worked, people said, "There is a man who +will surely succeed. Let us help him." + +In all these years of struggle Franklin was cheerful and light-hearted. +This was no doubt largely owing to his natural disposition, but in part +also to his healthful reading habits, which took him into a world +outside of himself. No matter where he was or what the stress of his +business, he found time to read and improve himself. He also adopted +rules of conduct, some of which, in substance, are: Be temperate; speak +honestly; be orderly about your work; do not waste anything; never be +idle; when you decide to do anything, do it with a brave heart. + +Some of the wisest things Franklin ever said appeared in his Almanac, +which he called "Poor Richard's Almanac." Beginning when he was +twenty-six years of age, he published it yearly for twenty-five years, +building up a very large circulation. It contained many homely maxims, +which are as good to-day as they were in Franklin's time. Here are a few +of them: + + "God helps them that help themselves." + + "Early to bed and early to rise, + Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." + + "There are no gains without pains." + + "One to-day is worth two to-morrows." + + "Little strokes fell great oaks." + + "Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee." + +Franklin always had a deep interest in the public welfare. He started a +subscription library in Philadelphia and established an academy, which +finally grew into the University of Pennsylvania. Having a decidedly +practical turn of mind, he had great influence in organizing a better +police force and a better fire department. He invented the Franklin +stove, which soon became popular because it was so much better than the +open fireplace. But the most wonderful thing he ever did was proving +that lightning was the same thing as electricity. + +Before he made this discovery, men of science had learned how to store +up electricity in what is called a Leyden jar. But Franklin wished to +find out something about the lightning which flashed across the clouds +during a thunder-storm. Therefore, making a kite out of silk and +fastening to it a small iron rod, he attached to the kite and to the +iron rod a string made of hemp. + +One day when a thunder-cloud was coming up he went out with his little +son and took his stand under a shelter in the open field. At one end of +the hempen string was fastened an iron key, and to this was tied a +silken string, which Franklin held in his hand. As electricity will not +run through silk, by using this silken string he protected himself +against the electric current. + +[Illustration: Franklin Experimenting with Electricity.] + +When the kite rose high into the air, Franklin watched intently to see +what might follow. After a while the fibres of the hempen string began +to move, and then, putting his knuckles near the key, Franklin drew +forth sparks of electricity. He was delighted, for he had proved that +the lightning in the clouds was the same thing as the electricity that +men of science could make with machines. + +It was a great discovery and made Benjamin Franklin famous. From some of +the leading universities of Europe he received the title of _Doctor_, +and he was now recognized as one of the great men of the world. + +Franklin rendered his country distinguished public services, only a few +of which we can here mention. More than twenty years before the outbreak +of the Revolution, he perceived that the principal source of weakness +among the colonies was their lack of union. With this great weakness in +mind, Franklin proposed, in 1754, at a time when the French were +threatening to cut off the English from the Ohio Valley, his famous +"Plan of Union." Although it failed, it prepared the colonies for union +in the struggle against King George and the English Parliament. + +Ten years after proposing the "Plan of Union" Franklin was sent to +England, at the time of the agitation over the Stamp Act, to make a +strenuous effort to prevent its passage. He was unsuccessful in +accomplishing his mission, but later did much toward securing the repeal +of the Stamp Act. + +Returning from England two weeks after the battle of Lexington and +Concord, he immediately took a prominent part in the Revolution. He was +one of the five appointed as a committee to write the Declaration of +Independence, and during the discussion over that remarkable State +paper, it was he that said, "Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or +assuredly we shall all hang separately." + +[Illustration: Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin] + +After the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, he +was sent to France to secure aid for the American cause. The French +people gave him a cordial reception. There were feasts and parades in +his honor, crowds followed him on the streets, and his pictures were +everywhere displayed. The simplicity and directness of this white-haired +man of seventy years charmed the French people, and won for him a warm +place in their hearts. On one of the great occasions a very beautiful +woman was appointed to place a crown of laurel upon his white locks, +"and to give the old man two kisses on his cheeks." All this was a +sincere expression of admiration and esteem. He did very much to secure +from France the aid which that country gave to us. He indeed rendered to +his country services[11] whose value may well be compared with those of +Washington. + + [11] Franklin was one of the three commissioners to make a treaty + with England at the close of the Revolution. The two other + commissioners were John Adams and John Jay. They were all men + of remarkable ability, and their united effort secured a + treaty of peace highly favorable to their country. But, as + in many other brilliant political achievements in which + Franklin took part, his delicate tact was a strong force. + +Franklin left France in 1785, after having ably represented his country +for ten years. All France was sorry to have him leave. Since it was hard +for him to endure the motion of a carriage, the King sent one of the +Queen's litters in which he was carried to the coast. He also bore with +him a portrait of the King of France "framed in a double circle of four +hundred and eight diamonds." + +Although in his last years he had to endure much idleness and pain, yet +he was uniformly patient and cheerful, loving life to the end. He died +in 1790, at the age of eighty-four, one of the greatest of American +statesmen and heroes. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + FRANKLIN'S SCHOOL-LIFE. + BENJAMIN IN HIS FATHER'S SHOP. + HIS FONDNESS FOR THE SEA. + BOOKISH HABITS. + FRANKLIN BOARDS HIMSELF. + HE RUNS AWAY FROM HOME. + HIS JOURNEY FROM NEW YORK TO PHILADELPHIA. + IN A PRINTING-OFFICE AGAIN. + HIS MANLINESS. + IN BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF. + ECONOMY AND SIMPLICITY IN LIVING. + "POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC." + FRANKLIN'S PUBLIC SPIRIT. + HIS GREAT DISCOVERY. + FRANKLIN THE STATESMAN. + HIS "PLAN OF UNION." + FRANKLIN IN FRANCE. + HIS LAST YEARS. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Give an account of Franklin's bookish habits, and of his + experiences on the journey from Boston to Philadelphia, when he + ran away from home. + + 2. How do you explain the success in life of this poor boy? In + making your explanation think of all his strong traits of + character and of all his good habits. + + 3. What simple ways of living did Franklin adopt when he was + trying hard to pay his debts? + + 4. Memorize the "Rules of Conduct" and the six homely maxims. + + 5. Tell about Franklin's experiment with the kite. What great + discovery did he make at this time? + + 6. What did Franklin have to do with the following: the Stamp + Act; the Declaration of Independence; securing aid from France? + + 7. How was he treated by the French people and their King? + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +George Washington the Virginia Planter and the Revolutionary Soldier + +[1732-1799] + +[Illustration: George Washington.] + + +We left George Washington at Mount Vernon, his extensive plantation on +the Virginia bank of the Potomac River. After his marriage with Mrs. +Custis, who had large property of her own, Washington became a man of +much wealth. He was at one time one of the largest landholders in +America. As a manager of all this property, he had much to do. Let us +delay our story a little to get a glimpse of the life led by him and +other Virginia planters of his time. + +The plantations were scattered along the rivers, sometimes many miles +apart, with densely wooded stretches of land lying between. Each planter +had his own wharf whence vessels, once a year, carried away his tobacco +to England, and brought back in exchange whatever manufactured goods he +required. + +Nearly all his needs could be supplied at his wharf or on his +plantation. His slaves included not only workers in large +tobacco-fields, but such skilled workmen as millers, weavers, tailors, +wheelwrights, coopers, shoemakers, and carpenters. Washington said to +his overseers, "Buy nothing that you can make within yourselves." +Indeed, each plantation was a little world in itself. Hence towns +containing shops with goods and supplies of various kinds did not spring +up much in Virginia. + +The mansion of the planter, built of brick or wood and having at either +end a huge chimney, was two stories high, with a large veranda outside +and a wide hall-way inside. Near by were the storehouses, barns, +workshops, and slave quarters. These last consisted of simple wooden +cabins surrounded by gardens, where the negroes raised such things as +vegetables and water-melons for their own use. In fact, the mansion and +all the buildings clustered about it looked like a village. Here we +could have seen, at all hours of the day, swarms of negro children +playing happily together. + +The planter spent most of his time in the open air, with his dogs and +his horses. Washington gave to his horses rather fanciful names, such as +Ajax, Blueskin, Valiant, and Magnolia, and to his dogs, Vulcan, +Sweetlips, Ringwood, Forrester, and Rockwood. Out-door recreations +included fishing, shooting, and horse-racing. + +[Illustration: Washington's Coach.] + +Although life on the plantation was without luxury, there was everywhere +a plain and homely abundance. Visitors were sure to meet a cordial +welcome. It was no uncommon thing for a planter to entertain an entire +family for weeks, and then to pay a similar visit in return with his own +family. Social life absorbed much of Washington's time at Mount Vernon, +where visitors were nearly always present. The planter, often living +many miles away from any other human habitation, was only too glad to +have a traveller spend the night with him and give news of the outside +world. Such a visit was somewhat like the coming of the newspaper into +our homes to-day. + +[Illustration: A Stage Coach of the Eighteenth Century.] + +We must remember that travelling was no such simple and easy matter then +as it is now. As the planters in Virginia usually lived on the banks of +one of the many rivers, the simplest method of travel was by boat, up or +down stream. There were cross-country roads, but these at best were +rough, and sometimes full of roots and stumps. Often they were nothing +more than forest paths. In trying to follow such roads the traveller at +times lost his way and occasionally had to spend a night in the woods. +But with even such makeshifts for roads, the planter had his lumbering +old coach to which, on state occasions, he harnessed six horses and +drove in great style. + +Washington was in full sympathy with this life, and threw himself +heartily into the work of managing his immense property. He lived up to +his favorite motto, "If you want a thing done, do it yourself." He kept +his own books, and looked with exactness after the smallest details. + +He was indeed one of the most methodical of men, and thus accomplished a +marvellous amount of work. By habit an early riser, he was often up +before daylight in winter. On such occasions he kindled his own fire and +read or worked by the light of a candle. At seven in summer and at eight +in winter he sat down to a simple breakfast, consisting of two cups of +tea, and hoe-cakes made of Indian meal. After breakfast he rode on +horseback over his plantation to look after his slaves, often spending +much of the day in the saddle superintending the work. At two he ate +dinner, early in the evening he took tea, and at nine o'clock went to +bed. + +As he did not spare himself, he expected faithful service from everyone. +But to his many slaves he was a kind master, and he took good care of +the sick or feeble. It may be a comfort to some of us to learn that +Washington was fonder of active life than of reading books, for which he +never seemed to get much time. But he was even less fond of public +speaking. Like some other great men, he found it difficult to stand up +before a body of people and make a speech. After his term of service in +the French and Indian War he was elected to the House of Burgesses, +where he received a vote of thanks for his brave military services. +Rising to reply, Washington stood blushing and stammering, without being +able to say a word. The Speaker, equal to the occasion, said with much +grace, "Sit down, Mr. Washington, your modesty equals your valor, and +that surpasses the power of any language to express." + +While for many years after the close of the Last French War this modest, +home-loving man was living the life of a high-bred Virginia gentleman, +the exciting events which finally brought on the Revolution were +stirring men's souls to heroic action. It was natural, in these trying +days, that his countrymen should look for guidance and inspiration to +George Washington, who had been so conspicuous a leader in the Last +French War. + +He represented Virginia at the first meeting of the Continental Congress +in 1774, going to Philadelphia in company with Patrick Henry and others. +He was also a delegate from his colony at the second meeting of the +Continental Congress in May, 1775. On being elected by this body +Commander-in-Chief of the American army, he at once thanked the members +for the election, and added, "I do not think myself equal to the command +I am honored with." He also refused to receive any salary for his +services, but said he would keep an account of the expenses he might +incur, in order that these might be paid back to him. + +On the 21st of June Washington set out on horseback from Philadelphia, +in company with a small body of horsemen, to take command of the +American army around Boston. Not long after starting they met a +messenger bringing in haste the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill. +Washington eagerly asked, "Did the Americans stand the fire of the +regular troops?" "Yes," was the proud answer. "Then," cried Washington, +gladly, "the liberties of the country are safe!" + +Three days later, about four o'clock on Sunday afternoon, he reached New +York, where he met with a royal welcome. Riding in an open carriage +drawn by two white horses, he passed through the streets, escorted by +nine companies of soldiers on foot. Along the route the people, old and +young, received him with enthusiasm. At New Haven the Yale College +students came out in a body, keeping step to the music of a band of +which Noah Webster, the future lexicographer, then a freshman, was the +leader. On July 2d, after arriving at the camp in Cambridge, Washington +received an equally enthusiastic welcome from the soldiers. + +Next day General Washington rode out on horseback and, under the famous +elm still standing near Harvard University, drew his sword and took +command of the American army. He was then forty-three years old, with a +tall, manly form and a noble face. He was good to look at as he sat +there, a perfect picture of manly strength and dignity, wearing an +epaulet on each shoulder, a broad band of blue silk across his breast, +and a three-cornered hat with the cockade of liberty in it. + +Now came the labor of getting his troops into good condition for +fighting battles, for his army was one only in name. These untrained men +were brave and willing, but without muskets and without powder, they +were in no condition for making war on a well-equipped enemy. + +Moreover, the army had no cannon, without which it could not hope to +succeed in an attack upon the British troops in Boston. By using severe +measures, however, Washington soon brought about much better discipline. +But with no powder and no cannon, he had to let the autumn and the +winter slip by before making any effort to drive the British army out of +Boston. When cannon and other supplies were at last brought down from +Ticonderoga on sledges drawn by oxen, the alert American General +fortified Dorchester Heights, which overlooked the city, and forced the +English commander to sail away with all his army. + +Washington believed that the next movement of the British would be to +get control of the Hudson River and the Middle States. So he went +promptly to New York in order to defend it against attack. But still his +army was weak in numbers as well as in provisions, equipment, and +training. + +Washington had only about 18,000 men to meet General Howe, who soon +arrived off Staten Island with a large fleet and 30,000 men. Not knowing +where the British General would strike first, Washington had to be on +his guard at many points. He had to prepare a defence of a line of +twenty miles. He also built, on opposite sides of the Hudson River just +above New York, Forts Lee and Washington. + +When Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island, had been fortified, General +Putnam went with half the army to occupy them. On August 27th General +Howe, with something like 20,000 men, attacked a part of these forces +and defeated them. If he had continued the battle by marching at once +against the remainder, he might have captured all that part of +Washington's army under Putnam's command. He might, also, have captured +Washington himself, who, during the heat of the battle, had crossed over +to Long Island. + +[Illustration: Map Illustrating the Battle of Long Island.] + +If Howe had done this, he might have ended the war at one stroke. But +his men had fought hard at the end of a long night-march and needed +rest. Besides, he thought it would be easy enough to capture the +Americans without undue haste. For how could they escape? Soon the +British vessels would sail up and get between them and New York, when, +of course, escape for Washington and his men would be impossible. This +all seemed so clear to the easy-going General Howe that he gave his +tired men a rest after the battle on the 27th. On the 28th a heavy rain +fell, and on the 29th a dense fog covered the island. + +But before midday of the 29th some American officers riding down toward +the shore, noticed an unusual stir in the British fleet. Boats were +going to and fro, as if carrying orders. "Very likely," said these +officers to Washington, "the English vessels are to sail up between New +York and Long Island, to cut off our retreat." As that was also +Washington's opinion, he secured all the boats he could find for the +purpose of trying to make an escape during the night. + +It was a desperate undertaking. There were 10,000 men, and the width of +the river at the point of crossing was nearly a mile. It would seem +hardly possible that such a movement could, in a single night, be made +without discovery by the British troops, who were lying in camp but a +short distance away. The night must have been a long and anxious one for +Washington, who stayed at his post of duty on the Long Island shore +until the last boat of the retreating army had pushed off. The escape +was a brilliant achievement and saved the American cause. + +But this was only the beginning of Washington's troubles in this +memorable year, 1776. As the British now occupied Brooklyn Heights, +which overlooked New York, the Americans could not hold that place, and +in a short time they had to withdraw, fighting stubbornly as they slowly +retreated. Washington crossed over to the Jersey side of the Hudson, and +left General Charles Lee with half the army at North Castle. The +British captured Forts Lee and Washington, with 3,000 men, inflicting a +severe loss upon the American cause. The outlook was gloomy, but more +trying events were to follow. + +In order to prevent the British from capturing Philadelphia, Washington +put his army between them and that city. The British began to move upon +him. Needing every soldier that he could get, he sent orders to General +Lee to join him. Lee refused to move. Again and again Washington urged +Lee to come to his aid. Each time Lee disobeyed. We now know that he was +a traitor, secretly hoping that Washington might fail in order that he +himself, who was second in command, might become Commander-in-Chief of +the American army. + +Lee's disobedience placed Washington in a critical position. In order to +save his army from capture, Washington had to retreat once more, this +time across New Jersey toward Philadelphia. As the British army, in +every way superior to Washington's, was close upon the Americans, it was +a race for life. Sometimes the rear-guard of the Americans was just +leaving a burning bridge when the van of the British army could be seen +approaching. But by burning bridges and destroying food supplies +intended for the British, Washington so delayed them that they were +nineteen days in marching about sixty miles. + +Nevertheless the situation for the Americans was still desperate. To +make matters worse, Washington saw his army gradually melting away by +desertion. When he reached the Delaware River it numbered barely 3,000 +men. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S RETREAT THROUGH NEW JERSEY.] + +Having collected boats for seventy miles along the Delaware, Washington +succeeded in safely crossing it a little above Trenton, on December 8th. +As the British had no boats, they were obliged to wait until the river +should freeze, when they intended to cross in triumph and make an easy +capture of Philadelphia. + +To most people, in England and in America alike, the early downfall of +the American cause seemed certain. General Cornwallis--who in May of +this year had joined the British army in America--was so sure that the +war would soon come to an end, that he had already packed some of his +luggage and sent it aboard ship, with the intention of returning to +England at an early day. + +But Washington had no thought of giving up the struggle. Far from being +disheartened, he confronted the gloomy outlook with all his energy and +courage. Fearless and full of faith in the patriot cause, he watched +with vigilance for an opportunity to turn suddenly upon his +over-confident enemy and strike a heavy blow. + +[Illustration: Map Illustrating the Struggle for the Hudson River and +the Middle States.] + +Such an opportunity shortly came to him. The British General had +carelessly separated his army into several divisions and scattered them +at various points in New Jersey. One of these divisions, consisting of +Hessians, was stationed at Trenton. Washington's quick eye noted this +blunder of the British General, and he resolved to take advantage of it +by attacking the Hessians at Trenton on Christmas night. Having been +re-enforced, he now had an army of 6,000 and was therefore in a better +condition to risk a battle. With 2,400 picked men he got ready to cross +the Delaware River at a point nine miles above Trenton. There was snow +on the ground, and the weather was bitterly cold. As the soldiers +marched to the place of crossing, some of them with feet almost bare +left bloody footprints along the route. + +At sunset the troops began to cross. It was a terrible night for such an +undertaking. Angry gusts of wind, and great blocks of ice swept along by +the swift current, threatened every moment to dash in pieces the frail +boats. From the Trenton side of the river, General Knox, who had been +sent ahead by Washington, loudly shouted to let the struggling boatmen +know where to land. Ten hours were consumed in the crossing. Much longer +must the time have seemed to Washington, as he stood in the midst of the +wild storm, his heart full of mingled anxiety and hope. + +It was not until four o'clock in the morning that the troops were ready +to march upon Trenton, nine miles away. As they advanced, a fearful +storm of snow and sleet beat upon the already weary men. But they pushed +forward, and surprised the Hessians at Trenton soon after sunrise, +easily capturing them after a short struggle. + +Washington had brought hope to every patriot heart. The British were +amazed at the daring feat, and Cornwallis decided to make a longer stay +in America. He soon advanced with a superior force against Washington, +and at nightfall, January 2, 1777, took his stand on the farther side of +a small creek. "At last," said Cornwallis, "we have run down the old +fox, and we will bag him in the morning." + +But Washington was too sly a fox for Cornwallis to bag. During the night +he led his army around Cornwallis's camp, and pushing on to Princeton +defeated the rear-guard, which had not yet joined the main body. He then +retired in safety to his winter quarters among the hills about +Morristown. During this fateful campaign Washington had handled his army +in a masterly way. He had begun with defeat and had ended with victory. + +In 1777 the British planned to get control of the Hudson River, and thus +cut off New England from the other States. In this way they hoped so to +weaken the Americans as to make their defeat easy. Burgoyne was to march +from Canada, by way of Lake Champlain and Fort Edward, to Albany, where +he was to meet not only a small force of British under St. Leger from +the Mohawk Valley, but also the main army of 18,000 men, under General +Howe, which was expected to sail up the Hudson from New York. The +British believed that this plan would be easily carried out and would +soon bring the war to a close. + +[Illustration: WINTER AT VALLEY FORGE. + +The Relief.] + +And this might have happened if General Howe had not failed to do his +part. Instead of going up to meet and help Burgoyne, however, he tried +first to march across New Jersey and capture Philadelphia. But when he +reached Morristown, he found Washington in a stronghold where he dared +not attack him. As Washington would not come out and risk an encounter +in the open field, and as Howe was unwilling to continue his advance +with the American army threatening his rear, he returned to New York. +Still desirous of reaching Philadelphia, however, he sailed a little +later, with his army, to Chesapeake Bay. The voyage took him two months. + +When at length he advanced toward Philadelphia, he found Washington +ready to dispute his progress at Brandywine Creek. There a battle was +fought, resulting in the defeat of the Americans. But Washington handled +his army with such skill that Howe spent two weeks in reaching +Philadelphia, only twenty-six miles away. + +When Howe arrived at the city he found out that it was too late to send +aid to Burgoyne, who was now in desperate straits. Washington had +spoiled the English plan, and Burgoyne, failing to get the much-needed +help from Howe, had to surrender at Saratoga (October 17, 1777) his +entire army of 6,000 regular troops. This was a great blow to England, +and resulted in a treaty between France and America. After this treaty, +France sent over both land and naval forces, which were of much service +to the American cause. + +At the close of 1777 Washington retired to a strong position among the +hills at Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill River, about twenty miles +northwest of Philadelphia. Here his army spent a winter of terrible +suffering. Most of the soldiers were in rags, only a few had +bed-clothing, and many had not even straw to lie upon at night. Nearly +3,000 were barefoot. More than this, they were often for days at a time +without bread. It makes one heartsick to read about the sufferings of +these patriotic men during this miserable winter. But despite all the +bitter trials of these distressing times, Washington never lost faith in +the final success of the American cause. + +A beautiful story is told of this masterful man at Valley Forge. When +"Friend Potts" was near the camp one day, he heard an earnest voice. On +approaching he saw Washington on his knees, his cheeks wet with tears, +praying to God for help and guidance. When the farmer returned to his +home he said to his wife: "George Washington will succeed! George +Washington will succeed! The Americans will secure their independence!" +"What makes thee think so, Isaac?" inquired his wife. "I have heard him +pray, Hannah, out in the woods to-day, and the Lord will surely hear his +prayer. He will, Hannah; thee may rest assured He will." + +We may pass over without comment here the events between the winter at +Valley Forge and the Yorktown campaign, which resulted in the surrender +of Cornwallis with all his army. Even when not engaged in fighting +battles, Washington was the soul of the American cause, which could +scarcely have succeeded without his inspiring leadership. But there is +yet one more military event--the hemming in of Cornwallis at +Yorktown,--for us to notice briefly before we take leave of Washington. + +When at the close of his fighting with General Greene in the South, +Cornwallis marched northward to Yorktown, Washington, with an army of +French and American troops, was encamped on the Hudson River. He was +waiting for the coming of a French fleet to New York. On its arrival he +expected to attack the British army there by land, while the fleet +attacked it by sea. + +Upon hearing that the French fleet was on its way to the Chesapeake, +Washington thought out a brilliant scheme. This was to march his army as +quickly and as secretly as possible to Yorktown, a distance of 400 +miles, there to join Lafayette and to co-operate with the French fleet +in the capture of Cornwallis. The scheme succeeded so well that +Cornwallis surrendered his entire army of 8,000 men on October 19, 1781. + +This was the last battle of the war, although the treaty of peace was +not signed until 1783. By that treaty the Americans won their +independence from England. The country which they could now call their +own extended from Canada to Florida, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the +Mississippi River. + +Washington, tired of war, was glad to become a Virginia planter once +more. But he was not permitted to live in quiet. After his retirement +from the army his home became, as he himself said, a well-resorted +tavern. Two years after the close of the Revolution he wrote in his +diary: "Dined with only Mrs. Washington, which I believe is the first +instance of it since my retirement from public life." + +When, on the formation of the Constitution of the United States, the +American people looked about for a President, all eyes naturally turned +to George Washington. He was elected without opposition and was +inaugurated at New York, then the capital of the United States, on April +30, 1789. + +[Illustration: Washington's Home--Mount Vernon.] + +His life as President was one of dignity and elegance. It was his custom +to pay no calls and accept no invitations, but between three and four +o'clock on every Tuesday afternoon he held a public reception. On such +occasions he appeared in court-dress, with powdered hair, yellow gloves +in his hand, a long sword in a scabbard of white polished leather at +his side, and a cocked hat under his arm. Standing with his right hand +behind him, he bowed formally as each guest was presented to him. + +After serving two terms as President with great success he again retired +in 1797 to private life at Mount Vernon. Here he died on December 14, +1799, at the age of sixty-seven, loved and honored by the American +people. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON. + THE PLANTATION IN VIRGINIA. + THE PLANTER'S MANSION AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. + VIRGINIA HOSPITALITY. + MODES OF TRAVEL. + WASHINGTON'S WORKING HABITS. + APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS. + GENERAL WASHINGTON AND HIS ARMY. + THE BRITISH DRIVEN FROM BOSTON. + WASHINGTON GOES TO NEW YORK. + BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. + WASHINGTON'S ESCAPE FROM LONG ISLAND. + THE TRAITOR LEE DISOBEYS WASHINGTON. + WASHINGTON RETREATS ACROSS NEW JERSEY. + A GLOOMY OUTLOOK. + A TERRIBLE NIGHT FOLLOWED BY A GLORIOUS VICTORY. + THE BRITISH PLANS IN 1777. + GENERAL HOWE FAILS TO DO HIS PART. + BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER; AID FROM FRANCE. + WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. + THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS; TREATY OF PEACE. + WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. By all means make constant use of your map. + + 2. Write on the following topics: the plantation, the planter's + mansion, Virginia hospitality, modes of travel. + + 3. What was Washington's favorite motto? What were his working + habits? + + 4. Describe Washington at the time when he took command of the + army. What was the condition of this army? + + 5. Tell about Washington's troubles and his retreat across New + Jersey? + + 6. Imagine yourself one of Washington's soldiers on the night of + the march against the Hessians at Trenton, and relate your + experiences. Try to form vivid pictures before you tell the + story. + + 7. What were the British plans for 1777, and in what way did + General Howe blunder in carrying out his part? + + 8. Describe the sufferings of the soldiers at Valley Forge. + + 9. Give a short account of Washington. + + 10. What were the leading causes of the Revolution? Its most + striking result? + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Nathaniel Greene, the Hero of the South, and Francis Marion, the "Swamp +Fox" + +[1742-1786] + +[Illustration: Nathaniel Greene.] + + +We have rapidly glanced at the course of the Revolution so far as +Washington was concerned in it. But we should fail to understand the +connection of events were we to pass over without mention the work of +the brilliant general, Nathaniel Greene, who by common consent is +regarded as a military leader second to Washington alone. + +As already noted, the first fighting in the Revolution was in New +England. Failing there, the British generals vainly tried to get control +of the Hudson River and the Middle States. + +Their attention was now turned to the South, where there were many +Tories who would give material support to the King's forces. George the +Third had great hopes of conquering all the Southern States, and holding +them at the end of the struggle as English territory, even though the +Americans should succeed in keeping possession of New England and the +Middle States. + +Beginning in Georgia in 1778, the British captured Savannah, but not +until 1780 did they undertake the serious business of conquering the +South. In May of that year General Lincoln, the American commander of +the Southern army, surrendered his entire force at Charleston, and in +the following August, General Gates, at the head of a second American +army, suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Camden. The outlook +for the patriot cause appeared dark. One thing was certain. An able +military leader must take charge of the Americans, or the British would +soon overcome all opposition. Washington had great faith in General +Greene's ability, and without hesitation selected him for this important +task. + +Nathaniel Greene was born in Warwick, R. I., in 1742. His father, a +Quaker preacher on Sundays and a blacksmith and miller on week days, +brought up his son in the strictest Quaker principles, and trained him +to work in the field, in the mill, and at the forge. Nathaniel was +robust and athletic, a leader in outdoor sports. From an early age he +was studious in his habits, and in his manhood, when the troubles with +England seemed to threaten war, he eagerly turned his attention to the +study of military tactics. + +In 1774 Greene took an active part in organizing, in Rhode Island, a +military company called the Kentish Guards, in which he at once enrolled +himself as a private. In order to procure a musket it was necessary for +him to make a trip to Boston where, in his Quaker costume of +drab-colored clothes and broad brimmed hat, he was a picturesque and +interested observer of the British regulars taking their customary +drill. On his return he brought with him not only a musket, which he +concealed under some straw in his wagon, but also a British deserter to +drill his company. + +On the news of the battle of Bunker Hill a brigade of three regiments +was raised in Rhode Island, and Greene was placed at its head with the +rank of brigadier-general. With this brigade he at once marched to +Boston, and when Washington arrived to take command of the American +troops, General Greene had the honor of welcoming him in behalf of the +army. + +[Illustration: Map Showing the War in the South.] + +At this time Greene was thirty-three years old, six feet tall, with a +strong, vigorous body and a frank, intelligent face. He speedily won the +friendship and confidence of Washington, who afterward placed him in +positions of great responsibility. Throughout the entire war General +Greene was actively engaged, and in all his campaigns he showed +remarkable energy and promptness. It was natural that a general so able +should be sought in 1780 as commander of the American army in the South. + +When General Greene reached the Carolinas (December 2, 1780), he found +the army in a forlorn condition. There was but one blanket for every +three soldiers, and there were not enough provisions in camp to last +three days. The men were disheartened because they had suffered defeat, +rebellious because they were unpaid, and sick because they were unfed. +They camped in rude huts made of fence rails, corn-stalks, and +brushwood. + +But by his masterly way of doing things Greene soon inspired the +confidence of officers and soldiers alike. A story is told that well +illustrates the faith his men had in their general. Once he saw a +bare-footed sentry and said to him, "How you must suffer from cold!" "I +do not complain," the sentry answered, not aware that he was addressing +his commander. "I know I should fare well if our general could procure +supplies." + +Not long after taking command of the army he sent General Morgan with +900 picked men toward the mountains in the Carolinas to threaten the +British posts there, while he himself, with the remainder of the army, +took a position nearer the coast on the Pedee River. General Cornwallis, +in command of the British army in the South, detached Tarleton to march +against Morgan. Early on the morning of January 17, 1781, after a hard +night march, Tarleton, over-confident of success, attacked Morgan at +Cowpens. But the Americans repelled the attack with vigor and won a +brilliant victory. The British lost 230 killed and wounded and 600 +prisoners, almost their entire force. + +Cornwallis was deeply chagrined, for he had expected that Tarleton would +crush the American force. He now planned to march rapidly across the +country and defeat Morgan before Greene's army could unite with him. But +Morgan, feeling certain that Cornwallis would make a strenuous effort to +overwhelm him and rescue the 600 prisoners, marched with all possible +speed in a northeasterly direction, with the purpose of crossing the +Catawba River before Cornwallis could overtake him. + +[Illustration: Lord Cornwallis.] + +Moreover, when Greene heard the glorious news of the American victory, +he knew that there was great danger that Morgan's force would fall into +the hands of Cornwallis. He therefore planned not only to prevent such a +catastrophe, but also to lead Cornwallis far away from his base of +supplies at Wilmington on the coast, to a place where his own force +united with Morgan's might fight a winning battle. + +With these plans in mind, having ordered General Huger to march rapidly +with the army in a northerly direction, Greene himself, with a small +guard, swiftly rode a distance of 150 miles across the rough country to +Morgan's army. On the last day of January he reached it in the Catawba +Valley, and began to direct its movements. + +In the meantime Cornwallis, with desperate energy, was pressing in +pursuit. For the next ten days it was a race for life, with the odds in +favor of Cornwallis. But Greene was exceedingly alert and masterful. The +Catawba had been safely crossed, but Cornwallis might overtake the +Americans before they could cross the Yadkin. To make all possible +provision for a speedy crossing, Greene sent men ahead to see that boats +should be collected on this river, ready for use when he should need +them. He also had the fore-thought to carry with his army boats mounted +on wheels. When crossing a river these boats would carry the wheels, and +in advancing across the country the wheels would carry the boats. + +Having taken these precautions, Greene sent Morgan forward toward +Salisbury, while he himself waited for a force of militia that was to +guard fords on the Catawba in order to delay Cornwallis. But while +waiting he heard that the militia had been scattered. When this +unfortunate news reached him, he started upon a solitary ride through +the heavy mud and drenching rain in search of Morgan's force. When +Greene alighted at the Salisbury Inn, which had been turned into a +hospital for the soldiers, the army physician greeted him, asking how +he was. "Fatigued, hungry, alone, and penniless," he answered. The +landlady, Mrs. Elizabeth Steele, on hearing the reply, brought out two +bags of money, the savings of many a hard day's labor. She said, "Take +these, you will need them, and I can do without them." + +In this famous retreat of 200 miles through the Carolinas the Americans +forded three rivers, whose waters, swollen by recent rains soon after +the Americans had crossed, checked the British in their pursuit. Greene +crossed the last of these rivers, the Dan, with the two parts of his +army now united, just in time to escape Cornwallis. + +In all this time of trial and uncertainty General Greene received +valuable aid from partisan leaders in the South. One of the most noted +of these was Francis Marion, who was born near Georgetown, S.C., in +1732. Although as a child, he was extremely delicate, he grew strong +after his twelfth year. In his mature years he was short and slight in +frame, but strong and hardy in constitution. + +When the British began to swarm into South Carolina he raised and +drilled a company of his neighbors and friends known as "Marion's +Brigade." These men, without uniforms, without tents, and without pay, +were among the bravest and best of the Revolutionary soldiers. Old saws +beaten at the country forge furnished them with sabres, and pewter mugs +and dishes supplied material for bullets. The diet of these men was +simple. Marion, their leader, usually ate hominy and potatoes, and +drank water flavored with a little vinegar. + +The story is told that one day a British officer entered the camp with a +flag of truce. After the conference, Marion, with his usual delicate +courtesy, invited him to dinner. We may imagine the officer's surprise +when, seated at a log used for a table, they were served to a dinner +consisting of roasted sweet potatoes handed to them on pieces of bark. +The British officer was still more surprised to learn that at times +Marion's men were not fortunate enough to have even potatoes. + +[Illustration: General Francis Marion.] + +"Marion's Brigade" of farmers and hunters seldom numbered more than +seventy, and often less than twenty. With this very small force he +annoyed the British beyond measure by rescuing prisoners and by +capturing supply-trains, foraging parties, and outposts. One day a scout +brought in the report that a party of ninety British with 200 prisoners +were on the march for Charleston. Waiting for the darkness to conceal +his movements, Marion with thirty men sallied out, swooped down upon the +British camp, captured, the entire force, and rescued all the American +prisoners. + +It was the custom of Marion's men when hard pressed by a superior force +to scatter, each one for himself, and, dashing headlong into the dense, +dark swamps, to meet again at the well-known hiding-place. Even while +the British were in search of them they sometimes darted out just as +suddenly as they had disappeared, and surprised another British party +near at hand. Well did Marion deserve the name of "Swamp Fox," given him +by the British. + +[Illustration: Marion and His Men Swooping Down on a British Camp.] + +With the aid of such partisan leaders, and by the skilful handling of +his army, Greene was more than a match for Cornwallis. On receiving +reinforcements from Virginia Greene turned upon his enemy at Guilford +Court House, N. C., where he fought a losing battle. But although +defeated, he so crippled the British army that Cornwallis was obliged +to retreat to the coast to get supplies for his half-famished men before +marching northward into Virginia. In this long and trying campaign +Greene had completely outwitted Cornwallis. + +At the close of the war, as he passed through Philadelphia on his way +home, the people received him with great enthusiasm. In 1785 he moved +with his family to a plantation which the State of Georgia had given +him. Here he lived in quiet and happiness less than a year, when he died +of sunstroke at the age of forty-four. His comrade, Wayne, who was with +him at the time of his death, said of him: "He was great as a soldier, +great as a citizen, immaculate as a friend.... I have seen a great and +good man die." + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE BRITISH ATTEMPT TO GET CONTROL IN THE SOUTH. + DARK OUTLOOK FOR THE AMERICANS. + YOUNG GREENE A LEADER IN OUT-DOOR SPORTS. + GREENE MADE BRIGADIER-GENERAL. + HE TAKES COMMAND IN THE SOUTH. + GENERAL GREENE AND HIS ARMY. + THE BATTLE OF COWPENS. + GREENE'S PLANS. + HIS ALERTNESS AND FORESIGHT. + A FAMOUS RETREAT. + PARTISAN LEADERS. + FRANCIS MARION AND HIS MEN. + MARION'S METHODS: THE "SWAMP FOX." + GREENE OUTWITS CORNWALLIS. + GENERAL GREENE AFTER THE WAR. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Why did the British wish to get control of the South? + + 2. How did Greene look? What do you admire in his character? + + 3. What was the condition of his army when he took command of it + in the South? + + 4. What was the "race for life"? How did it result? + + 5. Describe Francis Marion and tell all you can about his habits. + + 6. Tell the story of Marion and the British officer. + + 7. What were Marion's methods of annoying the British? + + 8. Are you constantly trying to form mental pictures as you read? + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +Daniel Boone, the Kentucky Pioneer + +[1735-1820] + +[Illustration: Daniel Boone.] + + +You will recall that at the beginning of the Last French War in 1756 the +English colonies lived almost entirely between the Alleghany Mountains +and the Atlantic Ocean. Such continued to be their narrow boundaries up +to the beginning of the Revolutionary War. To understand how, at the end +of this war, the western boundary had been extended to the Mississippi, +we must turn our attention to those early western pioneers, the +backwoodsmen, who rendered very important services to their country. + +One of the most noted of these pioneers was Daniel Boone. He was born in +Bucks County, Pa., in 1735. Caring little for books, he spent most of +his time in hunting and fishing. The woods were his special delight, and +naturally he became an expert rifleman. + +The story is told that when a small boy he wandered one day into the +forest some distance from home, and built himself a rough shelter of +logs. There he would spend days at a time with only his rifle and game +for company. The rifle served to bring down the game, and this he cooked +over a fire of logs. A prince might have envied his dreamless slumber as +he lay on a bed of leaves with the skin of a wild animal for covering. +This free, wild life trained him for his future career as a fearless +hunter and woodsman. + +[Illustration: The Kentucky Settlement.] + +When Daniel was about thirteen years old his father moved to North +Carolina and settled on the Yadkin River, where Daniel grew to manhood. +After his marriage at the age of twenty, he built him a hut in the +solitude of the wilderness, far removed from other settlers' homes. + +But Boone was restless. For years he looked with eager eyes toward the +rugged mountains on the west and to the country beyond. Day by day, his +desire to visit this wild unknown region increased, until he could no +longer restrain it. By the time he was twenty-five he had begun his +explorations and had pushed his way as far as Boone's Creek, which is a +branch of the Watauga River in Eastern Tennessee. Near this creek there +yet stands a beech-tree with the inscription: "D. Boon cilled a bar on +(this) tree in the year 1760." + +Nine years after this date Daniel Boone, in company with five other men, +started out on May 1st to cross the Alleghany Mountains. For five weeks +the bold travellers picked their way through the pathless woods. But +when in June they reached Kentucky, they were rewarded for all the +hardships they had endured. For here was a beautiful country with an +abundance of game, including deer, bears, and great herds of bison. + +[Illustration: Indian Costume (Female).] + +They promptly put up a shelter made of logs and open on one side. The +floor of this camp, as it was called, was the earth, covered with leaves +and hemlock twigs. + +Six months after their arrival Boone and a man named Stewart had an +unpleasant experience. While off on a hunting expedition, they were +captured by an Indian party. For seven days the dusky warriors carefully +guarded their prisoners. But on the seventh night, having gorged +themselves with the game killed during the day, the Indians fell into a +sound sleep. Boone, while pretending to be asleep, had been watching his +opportunity. So when the right moment came he quietly arose, awoke +Stewart, and the two crept stealthily away until out of hearing of the +Indians. Then, leaping to their feet, they bounded away like deer, +through the dark woods toward their camp. This they found deserted, and +what had become of their friends they never learned. + +Some weeks later Boone was pleasantly surprised by the appearance at the +camp of his brother, Squire Boone, and a companion. The four men lived +together without special incident, until one day Stewart was surprised +and shot by some Indians. Stewart's death so terrified the man who had +accompanied Squire Boone, that he gave up the wilderness life and +returned to his home. + +[Illustration: Indian Costume (Male).] + +Boone and his brother remained together in the forest for three months +longer, but their ammunition getting low, on May 1st Squire Boone +returned to North Carolina for a fresh supply and for horses. Daniel was +thus left alone, 500 miles from home. His life was in constant peril +from wild beasts and Indians. He dared not sleep in his camp, but +resorted at night to a canebrake or some other hiding-place, where he +lay concealed, not even kindling a fire lest its light might betray him. +During these months of solitary waiting for his brother, Boone endured +many privations. He had neither salt, sugar, nor flour, his sole food +being game brought down by his rifle. But the return of his brother, in +July, with the expected provisions, brought him much good cheer. + +After two years of this experience in the wilderness, Daniel Boone +returned to his home on the Yadkin to make preparations for removal. By +September, 1773, he had sold his farm and was ready to go with his +family to settle in Kentucky. His enthusiastic reports of the fertile +country he had been exploring found eager listeners, and when his party +was ready to start it included, besides his wife and children, five +families and forty men, with a sufficient number of horses and cattle. +Unhappily they were attacked on their way by Indians, and six men, one +of them Boone's eldest son, were killed. Discouraged by this setback the +party returned to the nearest settlement, and for a while longer the +migration westward was postponed. + +But it was Boone's unflinching purpose to settle in the beautiful +Kentucky region. It had already become historic, for the Indians called +it a "dark ground," a "bloody ground," and an old Indian Chief had +related to Boone how many tribes had hunted and fought on its disputed +territory. + +None of the Indians held an undisputed claim to the land. Nevertheless a +friend of Boone, Richard Henderson, and other white men made treaties +with the powerful Cherokees, who allowed them to settle here. As soon +as it became certain that the Cherokees would not interfere, Henderson +sent Boone in charge of thirty men to open a pathway from the Holston +River, over Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky River. This is still known as +the Wilderness Road, along which so many thousand settlers afterward +made their way. + +On reaching the Kentucky River, Boone and his men set to work to build a +fort on the left bank of the stream. This fort they called +Boonesborough. Its four stout walls consisted in part of the outer sides +of log cabins and in part of a stockade, some twelve feet high, made by +thrusting into the ground stout pieces of timber pointed at the top. +There were loop-holes in all the cabins, and a loop-holed block-house at +each corner of the fort. + +Daniel Boone, the leader of this settlement, was a man of interesting +personality. He was a tall, slender backwoodsman, with muscles of iron +and a rugged nature that enabled him to endure great hardship. Quiet and +serious, he possessed courage that never shrank in the face of danger. +Men had confidence in him because he had confidence in himself. +Moreover, his kind heart and tender sympathies won lasting friendships. +He usually though not always dressed like an Indian. A fur cap, a +fringed hunting shirt, and leggings and moccasins, all made of skins of +wild animals, made up his ordinary costume. + +[Illustration: Daniel Boone in his Cabin.] + +If we should go in imagination into Daniel Boone's log cabin out in the +clearing not far from the fort, we should find it a simple home with +rude furnishings. A ladder against the wall was the stairway by which +the children reached the loft. Pegs driven into the wall held the scanty +family wardrobe, and upon a rough board, supported by four wooden legs, +was spread the family meal. + +There was an abundance of plain and simple food. Bear's meat was a +substitute for pork, and venison for beef. As salt was scarce, the beef +was not salted down or pickled, but was jerked by drying in the sun or +smoking over the fire. Corn was also an important article of diet. When +away from home to hunt game or to follow the war trail, sometimes the +only food which the settler had was the parched corn he carried in his +pocket or wallet. Every cabin had its hand-mill for grinding the corn +into meal and a mortar for beating it into hominy. The mortar was made +by burning a hole into the top of a block of wood. + +[Illustration: A Hand Corn Mill.] + +A pioneer boy found his life a busy and interesting one. While still +young he received careful training in imitating the notes and calls of +birds and wild animals. He learned how to set traps, and how to shoot a +rifle with unerring aim. At twelve years of age he became a +fort-soldier, with port-hole assigned to him for use in case of an +Indian attack. He received careful training, also, in following an +Indian trail and in concealing his own when on the warpath. For expert +knowledge of this kind was necessary in the midst of dangers from unseen +foes that were likely to creep stealthily upon the settlers at all +times whether they were working in the clearings or hunting in the +forest. + +After building the fort, Boone returned to his home in North Carolina +for his family. Some months after the family reached Boonesborough, +Boone's daughter with two girl friends was one day floating in a boat +near the river-bank. Suddenly five Indians darted out of the woods and, +seizing the three girls, hurried away with them. When in their flight +the Indians observed the eldest of the girls breaking twigs and dropping +them in their trail, they threatened to tomahawk her unless she stopped +it. But watching her chance, she from time to time tore off strips of +her dress, and dropped them as guides to the pursuing whites. + +As soon as possible after hearing of the capture Boone, with seven other +men from the fort, started upon the trail of the Indians and kept up the +pursuit until, early on the second morning, they discovered the Indians +sitting around a fire cooking breakfast. Suddenly the whites, firing a +volley, killed two of the Indians and frightened the others so badly +that they beat a hasty retreat, leaving the girls uninjured. + +Early in 1778, Boone and twenty nine other men were captured and carried +off by a party of Indian warriors. At that time the Indians in that part +of the country were fighting on the English side in the Revolution, and +as they received a ransom for any Americans they might hand over to the +English, they took Boone and the other men of his party to Detroit. + +Although the English offered $500 for Boone's ransom the Indians +refused to let him go. They admired him so much that they took him to +their home, and with due ceremony adopted him into their tribe. Having +plucked out all his hair except a tuft on the top of his head, they +dressed this with feathers and ribbons as a scalp-lock. Next they threw +him into the river and gave his body a thorough scrubbing in order to +wash out all the white blood. Then, daubing his face with paint in true +Indian fashion, they looked upon him with huge satisfaction as one of +themselves. + +[Illustration: A Wigwam.] + +Boone remained with them several months, during which he made the best +of the life he had to lead. But when he heard that the Indians were +planning an attack upon Boonesborough, he determined to escape if +possible and give his friends warning. His own words tell the story in a +simple way: "On the 16th of June, before sunrise, I departed in the most +secret manner, and arrived at Boonesborough on the 20th after a journey +of 160 miles, during which I had but one meal." He could not get any +food because he dared not use his gun, nor would he build a fire for +fear of discovery by his foes. He reached the fort in safety, where he +was of great service in beating off the attacking party. + +But this is only one of the many hairbreadth escapes of the fearless +backwoodsman. Once while in a shed looking after some tobacco, four +Indians with loaded guns appeared at the door. They said: "Now, Boone, +we got you. You no get away any more. You no cheat us any more." In the +meantime, Boone had gathered up in his arms a number of dry tobacco +leaves, and with the dust of these suddenly filled the Indians' eyes and +nostrils. Then while they were coughing, sneezing, and rubbing their +eyes, he made good his escape. + +[Illustration: Indian Implements] + +But from all his dangerous adventures Boone came out safely, and for +years remained the leader of the settlement at Boonesborough. He was +certainly a masterful leader in that early pioneer life in Kentucky. +The solitude of the wilderness never lost its charm for him even to the +last of his long life. He died in 1820, eighty-five years old. It has +been said that but for him the settlement in Kentucky could not have +been made for many years. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + WESTERN PIONEERS AND PATRIOTS. + BOONE'S FONDNESS FOR LIFE IN THE WOODS. + HE GOES TO KENTUCKY. + HIS SOLITARY LIFE IN THE FOREST. + HE PLANTS A SETTLEMENT IN KENTUCKY. + BOONESBOROUGH. + PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER OF DANIEL BOONE. + HIS LOG CABIN. + FOOD OF THE BACKWOODSMEN. + LIFE OF THE PIONEER BOY. + BOONE'S DAUGHTER CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS. + HIS ADOPTION BY AN INDIAN TRIBE. + BOONE'S IMPORTANT WORK. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Try to form a picture of Boone alone in the woods in his + boyhood, and then tell the story of what he did. + + 2. Do the same with Boone alone in the Kentucky forest after + his brother had left him. + + 3. What do you admire in Boone's character? How did he dress? + Describe his log cabin. Give some facts about the Kentucky + settlers' diet. + + 4. Tell something about the life of the pioneer boy. + + 5. Give an account of Boone's adoption into an Indian tribe. + + 6. What was Boone's great work? + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase + +[1743-1826] + +[Illustration: Thomas Jefferson.] + + +Through the achievements of early pioneers and settlers, of whom Daniel +Boone is the type, the region lying between the Alleghany Mountains and +the Mississippi River came into the possession of the United States. In +a very different way did the territory lying between the Mississippi +River and the Rocky Mountains become a part of the national domain. It +was acquired not by exploration or settlement, but by purchase, and the +man most intimately associated with this purchase was Thomas Jefferson. + +He was born in 1743 near Charlottesville, Va., on a plantation of nearly +2,000 acres. From his father, a man of great physical strength and +energy, Thomas inherited a hardy constitution. As a boy he lived an +out-of-door life, sometimes hunting for deer, wild turkeys, and other +game, sometimes swimming or paddling his boat in the river near his +home, and sometimes riding one of his father's horses. A skilful and a +daring rider, he remained to the end of his long life fond of a fine +horse. + +When he was five years of age he entered school, and thus early began +his life-long habit of reading and study. Even in his younger boyhood +days he was known among his playmates for industry and thoroughness. + +At seventeen he entered William and Mary College, at Williamsburg, Va. +Although Williamsburg was a village of only 1,000 people, it was the +State capital, and represented the most aristocratic and refined social +life of the colony. As a young college student Jefferson received the +full advantage of this good society, and at the same time studied very +hard, sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day. But for his strong body +and sound health he must have broken down under such a severe strain. + +Being simple, refined, and gentle in manner, with a cheerful disposition +and rare intelligence, he easily won and kept warm friends. One of these +was the rollicking, fun-loving Patrick Henry, who with his jokes and +stories kept everyone about him in good humor. He and Jefferson were, in +their youth, the best of friends, and spent many an hour in playing +their violins together. + +While in college at Williamsburg Jefferson, according to a description +left of him as he appeared at that time, was six feet two and one-half +inches tall, with a slender frame, a freckled face, sandy hair, +hazel-gray eyes, and large feet and hands. He stood erect, straight as +an arrow, a perfect picture of health and vigorous young manhood. + +It was during the last of his five-year stay at Williamsburg that +Jefferson, then twenty-two-years old, stood one day at the door of the +court-house earnestly listening to his friend Patrick Henry as he +delivered his famous speech. The impassioned words of the great orator, +bitterly denouncing the Stamp Act, made a deep impression upon young +Jefferson's fervid nature. They fell as seed in good soil, and a few +years later yielded harvest in the cause of liberty. + +These two men, devoted friends as they were, had many traits in common. +Both were earnest patriots and fought in the same cause. But unlike +Patrick Henry Thomas Jefferson was a poor speaker. His power expressed +itself rather through his writing, and with such grace and strength that +he has rightly been called "The Pen of the Revolution." + +At twenty-nine years of age he married a beautiful young widow of +twenty-three. After the wedding festivities, he and his bride started +out in a four-horse carriage to drive to his home, Monticello, more than +100 miles away. It was in the month of January, and a heavy snow-storm +overtook them, compelling them to abandon the carriage and continue the +journey over the rough mountain roads on horseback. + +When at last they reached Monticello, tired and hungry, it was so late +that the slaves had gone to their quarters for the night. The house was +dark and the fires all out, but the bride and groom quickly kindled a +fire, hunted up refreshments, and made the empty rooms ring with their +songs and merriment. Thus with joyous hearts did they begin a +long-continued and happy married life in their beautiful home, +Monticello. + +Both Jefferson and his wife inherited wealth. When he was married, he +owned 5,000 acres of land and fifty-two slaves, and a year later his +wife's father died and left her 40,000 acres of land and 135 slaves. + +[Illustration: Monticello.] + +He became strongly attached to his mountain home and his life there as a +planter, taking great interest in laying out and cultivating the +grounds, and in introducing many new varieties of plants and trees. + +But he was too public-spirited to be lost in his private interest. In +the year following his marriage, the famous "Boston Tea Party" emptied +the chests of taxed tea into Boston Harbor. Then followed such stirring +events as the Boston Port Bill, the first meeting of the Continental +Congress, and the battles of Lexington and Concord; and finally the +crisis, when the brave men of the Continental Congress, having decided +that the time had come for the American people to declare themselves +free and independent of England, appointed a committee of five to draw +up the Declaration of Independence. + +[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON AT WORK UPON THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE +DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.] + +Jefferson was one of this committee and, as he had distinguished himself +for literary ability, it fell to him to write the first draft of this +great state paper. Congress spent a few days in making some unimportant +changes in Jefferson's draft, but left it practically as he had written +it. On July 4, 1776, all the members of the Continental Congress signed +the Declaration of Independence in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, a +hall which is yet standing. + +One of the striking things that Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of +Independence was that "all men are created equal." He was always +democratic in feeling, trying to do what he could for the interest of +rich and poor alike. There was a law in Virginia requiring that the +owner of land should hand it down to his eldest son. In its place he got +a law passed which would permit all the children of a family to share in +the land owned by their father. Another law in Virginia required that +people should pay taxes for the support of the religious denomination, +or church, known as the Established Church. As Jefferson believed this +law unfair, he secured the passage of one which provided that nobody +should be compelled to pay taxes for the support of any church. + +But Jefferson showed his sympathy for the rights of others quite as much +in his private as in his public life, and won the personal attachment of +his numerous household. His letters to his little daughters were full +of loving advice, and their letters to him breathed the spirit of +genuine affection. When, after the close of the Revolution, Franklin +returned from his mission as minister to France, Jefferson was sent to +take his place. On his return to Monticello at the end of five years, +his slaves went miles to meet him and give him a hearty welcome home. +They wished to take the horses from the carriage, that they might draw +it themselves; and when, arriving at the house, Jefferson alighted, they +bore him proudly upon their shoulders, while they laughed and cried for +joy because "Massa" had come home again. + +Jefferson was truly polite, because he had warm sympathy for others, +especially for the poor and the needy. Once when he and his grandson +were out riding together they met a negro who bowed to them. The young +man paid no attention to the negro, but Jefferson politely returned the +bow, saying, "Do you permit a negro to be more of a gentleman than +yourself?" thus teaching the young man a useful lesson. + +After filling many of the highest offices in the country, Thomas +Jefferson became the third President of the United States in 1801. He +had looked on with serious misgivings at some of the ceremonies and +formalities in the executive mansion while Washington was President. He +loved Washington, but he did not think that the President of the United +States should be coldly formal and hold himself aloof from the people +quite as much as Washington did. He believed in "republican +simplicity," which he began to practise on the very day he was +inaugurated. + +On that occasion he went on foot to the capitol, clothed in his +every-day dress, and attended by some of his political friends. It +became his custom later when going up to the capitol on official +business to ride on a horse, which he tied with his own hands to a fence +near by, before entering. He declined to hold weekly levees, as had been +the custom, but instead opened his house to all on the fourth of July +and the first of January. In these ways he was carrying out his +convictions that the President should be simple in dress and manner, or, +in other words, should live in "republican simplicity." + +Many acts of Jefferson prove that he was an able statesman; but one of +the greatest things he did, while President in the years 1801-1809, was +the purchase of Louisiana. Do not think of this territory as the State +of Louisiana. It was far more than this, for it included all the country +lying between the Mississippi River on the east and the Rocky Mountains +on the west, and extending from Canada on the north to Texas on the +south. + +In 1763, at the close of the Last French War, France gave up all this +vast region to Spain. But in 1800, Napoleon forced Spain to give it up +to France. When the Americans learned that Louisiana had again become +French territory they were alarmed, as the country that held Louisiana +could control the mouth of the Mississippi, and stop all American goods +passing down through the river. As a consequence, American settlers +living west of the Alleghanies would not be able to find a ready outlet +to the world for their products. Then, too, France might plant a strong +colony in Louisiana and thus give the American people untold trouble. + +[Illustration: Map of Louisiana Purchase; also United States in 1803.] + +Accordingly, President Jefferson sent Monroe to France to aid in +securing New Orleans and a stretch of territory in Louisiana lying on +the east bank of the Mississippi. By getting that territory, the +Americans would own the entire east bank of the river, and could +therefore control their own trade. + +The Americans approached Napoleon at a fortunate time; for he was +greatly in need of money to aid him in his war with England. Besides, he +feared that England might seize Louisiana with her fleet. He therefore +gladly sold us for $15,000,000 all the immense territory of Louisiana. + +By carefully looking at your map you will get some idea of its vast +extent. It was much larger than all the rest of the territory which we +held before this purchase was made. Jefferson himself, perhaps, hardly +realized how great a thing he was doing for his country when he made the +purchase. + +At the end of his term of office as President, Jefferson retired to +private life in his much-loved home of Monticello. Famous not only for +his statesmanship, but for his learning, he was called the "Sage of +Monticello," and was visited by people from far and near. The number of +his guests was enormous, his housekeepers sometimes finding it +necessary to provide fifty beds for them. + +Of course all this entertaining was a great burden, and the expense of +it almost ruined him financially. But his life moved happily on. Always +busy with some useful work, he took a deep interest in education, and +was the founder of the University of Virginia, in which he felt a just +pride. + +On July 4, 1826, just fifty years after the signing of the Declaration +of Independence, this great man breathed his last, at the ripe age of +eighty-three. On the tombstone which marks his grave at Monticello is +this inscription, written by his own hand: "Here was buried Thomas +Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statutes of +Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of +Virginia." It was such things as these--things that touched the freedom +of all men--that he sought to further, and in so doing found his +greatest satisfaction. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY. + THE OUT-DOOR LIFE OF YOUNG THOMAS JEFFERSON. + SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LIFE. + JEFFERSON'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE. + "THE PEN OF THE REVOLUTION." + JEFFERSON'S HAPPY HOME LIFE. + A WEALTHY PLANTER AT MONTICELLO. + JEFFERSON WRITES THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. + HIS "REPUBLICAN SIMPLICITY." + NAPOLEON SELLS US LOUISIANA; ITS VAST EXTENT. + THE "SAGE OF MONTICELLO." + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Tell about Jefferson's youthful friendship for Patrick Henry. + + 2. How did Jefferson look when he was in college? + + 3. Describe Jefferson's happy home life. How did he show his + interest in the people? How did his slaves regard him? + + 4. What is meant by his "republican simplicity"? + + 5. When and why did Jefferson purchase Louisiana? + + 6. Draw a map of Louisiana. + + 7. What do you admire in Jefferson's character? + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +Robert Fulton and the Steamboat + +[1765-1815] + +[Illustration: Robert Fulton.] + + +After the purchase of Louisiana thousands of settlers joined the +ever-swelling tide of westward migration which had been set in motion by +the early pioneers. These frontiersmen had made their way across the +mountains either by the forest trail, leading with them their +pack-horses or, a little later, by the rough road cut through the +forest, their household goods packed in a strong wagon drawn by oxen or +horses. + +Already this difficult method had given place to the flat boat, which, +though safer and more convenient, was still unsatisfactory except when +it floated down stream. In the early years of this century, therefore, +the increasing demands of migration and traffic turned many inventive +minds to the problem of applying steam-power to river navigation, in the +hope of accomplishing a speedier means of travel and transportation. +The first to achieve success in inventing and bringing into practical +use a steam-driven boat was Robert Fulton. + +Robert Fulton was born of poor parents in 1765, in Little Britain, Pa. +His father having died when the boy was only three years old, his mother +took charge of his education. She taught him herself until he was eight +and then sent him to school. But he had no liking for books, and made +slow progress. Drawing and mechanical devices absorbed his interest, and +nothing gave him greater delight than to visit the shops of mechanics +and there with his own hands to work out his new ideas. + +It is said that Robert came into school late one morning, and upon being +reproved by his teacher explained that he had been at a shop beating a +piece of lead into a pencil. At the same time he exhibited the pencil +and remarked: "It is the best that I have ever used." Upon examining it +the school-master was so well pleased that he praised Robert's effort, +and in a short time nearly all the pupils were using the same sort of +pencil. + +[Illustration: A Pack Horse.] + +His ingenious ideas found expression in other ways. For example, it was +the custom of his town to celebrate the Fourth of July by an +illumination with candles; but one year candles being scarce, the +citizens were requested to omit the usual display. Robert was at this +time only thirteen years old, and like other boys of his age, full of +Fourth of July patriotism which had to be expressed in some +extraordinary way. So he set his busy brain to work, and having bought +gunpowder and pasteboard, produced some home-made sky-rockets which +greatly astonished the community by their mid-air explosions. Such +fireworks were at that time entirely new to the people of the town. + +[Illustration: A Flat Boat.] + +Another illustration of his inventive gift belongs to his boyhood days. +He and one of his playmates used to go out fishing in a flat boat which +they propelled by the use of long poles. Getting tired of this method of +navigation, Robert made two crude paddle-wheels, one for each side of +the boat, connecting them by a sort of double crank, which the boys +united in turning. They could then easily propel the boat in their +fishing trips to various parts of the lake, and keenly enjoyed this +novel and easy way of going a-fishing. + +While still young Robert won the warm regard of a great painter, +Benjamin West, whose father was an intimate friend of Robert's father. +Very likely this friendship turned Robert's mind strongly toward +painting. At all events, the desire to become an artist took so strong +a hold upon him that at the age of seventeen he went to Philadelphia and +devoted his time to drawing and painting. Here he remained three years +and painted with such skill that he not only supported himself, but sent +money to his old home, and saved $400, with which he bought a little +home for his mother. + +In time his interest in art led him to go to London, where he studied +under Benjamin West. But very soon he became interested in trying to +improve canal navigation and in working out various mechanical +appliances. + +This love for invention finally diverted his attention very largely from +painting, and led him to the work which made him famous. When about +thirty years old he went to Paris to experiment with a diving-boat, an +invention of his own, intended to carry cases of gunpowder under water. +This machine was not successful, but by the spring of 1801, a little +more than three years after his first effort, he had constructed another +diving-boat, and went with it to Brest where he gave it a successful +trial. With three companions he descended twenty-five feet below the +surface of the water and remained for one hour. In 1805 he tested it +again in England where, with a torpedo of 170 pounds, he blew up a +vessel of 200 tons. + +For the invention of the torpedo-boat, the world is indebted to Fulton, +but for the first successful steamboat it owes him a debt of deeper +gratitude. Before leaving Paris, Fulton became acquainted with Robert +R. Livingston, who was at that time the American minister to France. Mr. +Livingston had long felt an interest in steamboat navigation, and was +willing to supply Fulton the necessary money. A steamboat, constructed +at Paris, was finished by the spring of 1803, and the day for its trial +trip was at hand, when, early one morning the boat broke in two parts +and sunk to the bottom of the river. The frame had been too weak to +support the weight of the heavy machinery. On receiving the news, Fulton +hastened to the scene of his misfortune and began at once the work of +raising the boat. For twenty-four hours, without food or rest, and +standing up to his waist in the cold water, he labored with his men +until he succeeded in raising the machinery and in placing it in another +boat. But the exposure to which he submitted himself brought on a lung +trouble from which he never fully recovered. + +Having discovered the defects of the machinery Fulton returned in 1806 +to America, where, with money furnished by his friend Livingston, he +began to construct another steamboat which he called the Clermont, after +the name of Livingston's home on the Hudson. This boat was 130 feet long +and 18 feet wide, with a mast and a sail, and on each side a wheel 15 +feet in diameter, fully exposed to view. + +One morning in August, 1807, a throng of expectant people gathered on +the banks of the North River at New York, to see the trial of the +Clermont. Everybody was looking for failure. People had all along +spoken of Fulton as a crack-brained dreamer, and had called the Clermont +"Fulton's Folly." "Of course the thing would not move." "That any man +with common-sense might know," they said. So while Fulton was waiting to +give the signal to start, these wiseacres were getting ready to jest at +his failure. + +[Illustration: The Clermont.] + +Finally, at the signal, the Clermont moved slowly, and then stood +perfectly still. "Just what I have been saying," said one onlooker with +emphasis. "I knew the boat would not go," said another. "Such a thing is +impossible," said a third. But they spoke too soon, for after a little +adjustment of the machinery, the Clermont steamed proudly up the Hudson. + +As she continued her journey, all along the river, people who had come +from far and near stood watching the strange sight. When the boatmen and +sailors on the Hudson, heard the clanking machinery and saw the great +sparks of fire and the volumes of dense, black smoke rising out of the +funnel, they thought the Clermont was a sea-monster. In their +superstitious dread, some of them went ashore, some jumped into the +river, and some fell on their knees in fear, believing the day of +judgment to be at hand. One old Dutchman told his wife that he had seen +the devil coming up the river on a raft. + +The trip of 150 miles from New York to Albany was made in thirty-two +hours. Success had at last rewarded this man of strong common-sense, +quiet modesty, and iron will. The Clermont was the first steamboat of +practical use ever invented. From that time men saw the immeasurable +advantage to trade of steam navigation on lakes and rivers. + +This was Fulton's last work of great public interest. He died in 1815, +having rendered an untold service to the industrial welfare of his +country and the world. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE PACK-HORSE, THE FLAT BOAT, AND THE NEW PROBLEM. + ROBERT FULTON AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL. + HIS FOURTH OF JULY SKY ROCKETS. + A NEW METHOD OF NAVIGATION. + FULTON'S FONDNESS FOR DRAWING AND PAINTING. + HE INVENTS THE DIVING-BOAT. + FULTON AND LIVINGSTON. + A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. + "FULTON'S FOLLY" AND HER TRIP UP THE HUDSON. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Give an account of Fulton's life at school, and his youthful + inventions. + + 2. Tell about his experience with the diving-boat. + + 3. What serious accident happened to his boat? + + 4. Imagine yourself on the Clermont at the time of its trial + trip, and give an account of the journey from New York to + Albany. + + 5. What do you admire in the character of Robert Fulton? + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Andrew Jackson, the Upholder of the Union + +[1767-1845] + +[Illustration: Andrew Jackson.] + + +Only four years after the Clermont made its successful trip up the +Hudson, the first steamboat on the Ohio was launched at Pittsburg. This +boat was the forerunner of numerous steam-driven craft which swarmed the +extensive network of rivers west of the Alleghany Mountains. A fresh +impulse was given to westward migration, for settlers could now easily +and cheaply reach the fertile lands of the Mississippi Valley, and, +having raised an abundant crop, could successfully send the surplus to +the Eastern markets. Under conditions so favorable the West grew in +population with marvellous rapidity. + +Wealth went hand in hand with the increase of population, and greatly +strengthened the influence of the people of the West in the affairs of +the country. By 1829, one of their number became the sixth President of +the United States. This was Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee. + +Andrew Jackson was born in Union County, N. C., in 1767, of poor +parents, who about two years before had come from Ireland. In a little +clearing in the woods, they had built a rude log hut and settled down to +hard work. + +But Andrew's father soon died, and his mother went with her children to +live in her brother's home, where she spun flax to earn money. She was +very fond of little Andrew and hoped some day to make a minister of him. +With this in view she sent him to school where he learned reading, +writing, and a little ciphering. But he cared so little for study that +he made small advancement, and in fact never learned to spell well nor +to write the English language with ease or even correctness. + +He found great pleasure in hunting and in rough-and-tumble sports, +excelling in running, jumping, and wrestling. Although not robust, he +was wiry and energetic, and when a stronger boy threw him to the ground, +he was so agile that he always managed to regain his feet. + +[Illustration: Andrew Jackson's Cradle.] + +As a school-boy Andrew was a bare-footed, freckle-faced lad, with +slender frame, bright blue eyes, and reddish colored hair. Full of life +and fun, he became known as "Mischievous Andy." Andy was brave and ready +to champion the weaker and smaller boys, but sometimes he became +overbearing and at other times his quick temper got him into trouble. +One day his companions, wishing to play a practical joke upon him, +secretly overloaded a gun, and dared Andy to shoot it. The fearless +little fellow, seizing the gun, shot it off, and was kicked violently +upon his back. But quickly jumping up, his eyes blazing with anger, he +shouted, "If any of you boys laugh, I'll kill him." The boys did not +laugh. + +[Illustration: A Spinning Wheel.] + +While he was yet a lad the Revolution broke out, and there was severe +fighting between the Americans and the British near his home. His love +of action, which up to that time had expressed itself in out-of-door +sports, now took a more serious turn. War became a passion with him, and +from this time he could not visit the local blacksmith's shop without +hammering into shape some form of weapon. Once while fiercely cutting +weeds with a scythe he was heard repeating these words: "Oh, if I were a +man, how I would sweep down the British with my grass blade!" + +In the course of a few years young "Andy" had real British soldiers to +fight; for he was only thirteen when he was made a prisoner of war. One +day soon after his capture, a British officer ordered him to clean his +muddy boots. The fiery youth flashed back: "Sir, I am not your slave. I +am your prisoner, and as such I refuse to do the work of a slave." +Incensed at this reply, the brutal officer struck the boy a cruel blow +with his sword. Andrew saved himself from the brunt of the blow, but +received two severe wounds, the scars and the bitter memory of which he +carried through life. + +These indignities were but a beginning. He was transferred to the prison +pen about Camden jail, some forty miles away, where without shelter and +almost without food, he suffered from heartless exposure. In a weak and +half-starved condition, his wounds yet unhealed, he fell a victim to +small-pox. Hearing of his wretched plight, Andrew's mother secured his +release and took him home with her. Andrew struggled for months with a +severe illness. Before he had entirely recovered, his mother died +leaving him quite alone in the world. + +But these hardships passed, and some years later Andrew decided to +become a lawyer. After studying law for a while, at twenty-one he +crossed the mountains with an emigrant party into the backwoods region +of Tennessee. Now grown to manhood, he was six feet and one inch tall, +slender, straight, and graceful, with a long slim face and thick hair +falling over a forehead beneath which looked out piercing blue eyes. + +When he reached Nashville, the destination of his party, his experience +was, in a large measure, the same as that of Daniel Boone in the wilds +of Kentucky. When the women of the settlement went out to pick berries, +and when the men hoed corn in the clearings, some of the settlers, gun +in hand, with watchful eyes stood guard against attack from stealthy +Indians. + +To the dangers belonging to backwoods life, Jackson was greatly exposed. +The court-houses in which, as public prosecutor, he had to try cases, +were in some instances hundreds of miles apart. In going from one to +another he journeyed alone, and sometimes had to remain alone in the +woods for twenty nights in succession. In periods of unusual danger, he +dared not light a fire or even shoot a deer for fear of Indians. + +But in the midst of all these dangers he escaped harm, and by his energy +and business ability achieved success as a lawyer. In time he acquired +the means to become a large land-owner. After his marriage he built a +house which he called The Hermitage, on a plantation of 1,100 acres, +about eleven miles from Nashville. + +Here Jackson lived with his wife, whom he loved with a deep and abiding +affection. They kept open house for visitors, and entertained large +numbers of guests at a time, treating rich and poor with like +hospitality. His warm heart and generous nature were especially shown in +his own household, where he was kind to all, including his slaves. +Having no children he adopted two, one of whom was an Indian baby-boy +who had lost his mother. Of these children, Jackson was very fond. + +Indeed, childlike simplicity was always one of his striking traits. Not +even when he became a noted man did he give up smoking his corn-cob +pipe. But we must not think of him as a faultless man, for besides being +often rough in manner and speech he had a violent temper which got him +into many serious troubles; among them were some foolish duels. + +[Illustration: Map Illustrating Two of Andrew Jackson's Campaigns.] + +After one of his duels, with a ball in his shoulder and his left arm in +a sling, he went to lead an army of 2,500 men in an attack upon the +Creek Indians, who had risen against the whites in Alabama. These +Indians had captured Fort Mimms, which was in Southern Alabama, about +forty miles north of Mobile, and had massacred 500 men, women, and +children seeking shelter there. Although Jackson was weak from a long +illness, he marched with vigor against the Creeks. In the campaign he +endured much hardship, increased by the difficulty of feeding his 2,500 +men in a wild country, where they almost starved for lack of food. + +Under such conditions Jackson had to exercise much firmness and tact to +keep his army from deserting and returning home. The following incident +is told to show in what way he won the confidence and love of his men: +"A soldier, gaunt and woe-begone, approached the general one morning, +while he was sitting under a tree eating, and begged for some food, as +he was nearly starving. 'It has always been a rule with me,' replied +Jackson, 'never to turn away a hungry man when it was in my power to +relieve him, and I will most cheerfully divide with you what I have.' +Putting his hand into his pocket, he drew forth a few acorns, saying: +'This is the best and only fare that I have.'" But in spite of all his +drawbacks, Jackson conquered the Creeks, and thus broke for all time the +power of the Indians south of the Ohio River. + +Not long afterward he was sent at the head of an army, with the rank of +major-general, to defend New Orleans against an attack of the British +who hoped to get control of the lower Mississippi and all the southern +part of what was then known as the Louisiana Territory. When Jackson +went down to New Orleans he was in such extremely poor health that he +was hardly able to sit on his horse. Nevertheless he worked night and +day with unflagging energy, arming his men and encouraging them to meet +the over-confident British foe. + +The British army consisted of 12,000 veterans fresh from victories over +the great Napoleon. Naturally enough they despised the American +backwoodsmen. Their confidence seemed reasonable, for they numbered +twice as many as the Americans. + +On January 8, 1815, the British made a vigorous assault on the American +lines. But they were mowed down with such terrible slaughter that at the +end of twenty-five minutes, they were forced to retreat with a loss of +2,600 men in killed and wounded. The Americans lost only twenty-one. The +resolute courage and unwearied action of "Old Hickory," as Jackson was +fondly called by his men, had won a signal victory. Through his military +reputation Jackson soon became very popular. His honesty and patriotism +took a strong hold on the people, and in due time he was elected +President of the United States. + +A man of passionate feeling, he loved his friends and hated his enemies +with equal intensity. Moreover, he did not seem to think that a man +could disagree with him, especially in political matters, and still be +his friend. So when he became President he at once began to turn out of +office those who held government positions, and put into their places +men of his own political party who had helped to bring about his +election. Thus was introduced into our national civil service the +"spoils system." + +We can readily imagine that such a man, so warm-hearted, and yet so +intolerant, would make many friends and many enemies. But no one doubted +his sincerity, especially in matters pertaining to the welfare of his +country. His absolute fairness and his high sense of duty are well +illustrated by his dealings with the Nullification Act. By reason of a +high tariff, passed for the protection of manufacturers in the North, +South Carolina declared that she would not allow any such law to be +enforced in that State. This declaration was called the Nullification +Act. + +[Illustration: JACKSON AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.] + +Jackson himself did not favor a high tariff, but he was firm in his +purpose that whatever law Congress passed should be enforced in every +State in the Union. When, therefore, he heard of the action of South +Carolina, he rose to the full height of his executive authority. The +news came to him as he was quietly smoking his corn-cob pipe. In a flash +of anger he cried aloud, "The Union! It must and shall be preserved! +Send for General Scott!" Troops were speedily sent to compel obedience, +and South Carolina withdrew her opposition. + +In 1837, at the end of his term of office as President of the United +States, he went to his old home, The Hermitage, where he once more took +up the life of a hospitable planter. He was now nearly seventy years +old, and a constant sufferer from disease. With his usual stubborn will, +however, he battled for several years longer. He died in 1845, at the +age of seventy-eight, one of the most striking figures in American +history. His prompt and decisive action in compelling South Carolina to +obey the tariff laws did much to strengthen the Union, for it prepared +the nation to ward off the greater danger of secession, in which South +Carolina took the lead, twenty-eight years later. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + RAPID GROWTH AND INFLUENCE OF THE WEST. + ANDREW JACKSON'S EARLY HOME A RUDE LOG HUT. + "MISCHIEVOUS ANDY" AT SCHOOL. + "ANDY" AND THE BRITISH OFFICER. + JACKSON'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE. + LIFE AT NASHVILLE; BACKWOODS DANGERS. + HOME LIFE AT THE HERMITAGE. + JACKSON CONQUERS THE CREEK INDIANS. + HE WINS THE CONFIDENCE OF HIS MEN. + HE DEFEATS THE BRITISH AT NEW ORLEANS. + JACKSON AND THE UNION. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Explain the rapid growth of the West. + + 2. Give an account of Jackson's experience in the Revolution. + + 3. What sort of a man was he in his home life? + + 4. What and where was The Hermitage? + + 5. What were his most prominent traits of character? + + 6. Tell about the Battle of New Orleans. + + 7. What did Jackson do for the Union? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Daniel Webster, the Defender and Expounder of the Constitution + +[1782-1852] + +[Illustration: Daniel Webster.] + + +Andrew Jackson's stern rebuke of the nullification movement was a timely +one, for there existed in the South a widespread feeling that the Union +was not supreme over the States. In the North, on the contrary, the +Union was regarded as superior to the States and qualified to enforce +any law passed by Congress unless the Supreme Court should declare such +law unconstitutional. Which point of view was correct? The answer to +that momentous question involved a long and bitter struggle between the +two parts of the Union. The great statesman who set forth the northern +view was Daniel Webster. + +He was born among the hills of New Hampshire, in Salisbury (now +Franklin), in 1782, the son of a poor farmer and the ninth of ten +children. + +As Daniel was a frail child, not able to work much on the farm, his +parents permitted him to spend much time in fishing, hunting, and +roaming at will over the hills. Thus he came into close touch with +nature, and gained much knowledge which was useful to him in later +years. It was his good fortune to have as a companion on these out-door +excursions an old English soldier and sailor then living in a small +house on the Webster farm. The two friends, so far apart in age, were +good comrades, and were often seen walking together along the streams. +The old soldier entertained his young listener with many thrilling tales +of adventure on land and sea, and the boy read to his friend from books +which the old man liked well. + +Daniel's father had also been a soldier, having served in Indian wars +and in the Revolution, and related many interesting experiences to his +son. One which always appealed to young Daniel was the account of a +meeting, years before, with General Washington at the time when Arnold +was found to be a traitor. In this interview Washington had taken +Webster's hand and, looking seriously into his face, had said, "Captain +Webster, I believe I can trust you." This expression of confidence by +the general to his subordinate stirred the boy's imagination. + +In these ways did his patriotism receive a great stimulus. An incident +which occurred when he was only eight years old illustrates the +seriousness of his mind. Having seen at a store near his home a small +cotton handkerchief with the Constitution of the United States printed +on it, he gathered up his small earnings to the amount of twenty-five +cents and eagerly secured the treasure. From this remarkable copy he +learned the Constitution word for word, so that he could repeat it from +beginning to end. + +Of course this was an unusual thing for an eight-year-old boy to do, but +the boy himself was unusual. He spent much of his time poring over +books. They were few in number, but of good quality, and he read them +over and over again until he made them a part of himself. It was a +pleasure to him to memorize fine poems also, and noble selections from +the Bible, for he learned easily and remembered well what he learned. In +this way he stored his mind with the highest kind of truth. + +Naturally his father was proud of his boy and longed to give him a good +education. One day, when Daniel was only thirteen years old, they were +at work together in the hay-field, when a college-bred man, also a +member of Congress, stopped to speak with Mr. Webster. When the stranger +had gone his way Mr. Webster expressed to his son deep regret that he +himself was not an educated man, adding that because of his lack of +education he had to work hard for a very small return. + +"My dear father," said Daniel, "you shall not work. Brother and I will +work for you, and will wear our hands out, and you shall rest." Then +Daniel, whose heart was tender and full of deep affection, cried +bitterly. + +"My child," said Mr. Webster, "it is of no importance to me. I now live +but for my children. I could not give your elder brothers the advantage +of knowledge, but I can do something for you. Exert yourself, improve +your opportunities, learn, learn, and when I am gone you will not need +to go through the hardships which I have undergone, and which have made +me an old man before my time." + +These words show the earnest purpose of the father. The next year the +boy, now fourteen, was sent to Phillips Exeter Academy. The principal +began Daniel's examination by directing him to read a passage in the +Bible. The boy's voice was so rich and musical and his reading so +intelligent that he was allowed to read the entire chapter and then +admitted without further questioning. This was only one illustration of +his marvellous power as a reader. Teamsters used to stop at the home +farm in order to hear that "Webster boy," as they called Daniel, read or +recite poetry or verses of Scripture. + +The boys he met at the academy were mostly from homes of wealth and +culture. Some of them were rude and laughed at Daniel's plain dress and +country manners. Of course the poor boy, whose health was still weak and +who was by nature shy and independent, found such treatment hard to +bear. + +But he studied well, and soon commanded respect because of his high +rank. One of his school duties, however, he found impossible to perform, +and that was to stand before the school and declaim. He would carefully +memorize and practise his declamation, but, when called on to speak, he +could not rise from his seat and go upon the platform. During the nine +months of his stay in the academy, he failed to overcome his deficiency +in declaiming. + +After leaving this school he studied for six months under Dr. Woods, a +private tutor, who prepared him to enter Dartmouth, at the age of +fifteen. + +Although he proved himself to be a youth of great mental power, he did +not take high rank in scholarship. But he continued to read widely and +thoughtfully, and acquired much valuable knowledge which he used with +great clearness and force in conversation or debate. While in Dartmouth, +he overcame his inability as a declaimer, and gave striking evidence of +the oratorical power for which he afterward became so famous. + +After spending two years in Dartmouth, Daniel begged his elder brother +Ezekiel to join him there. But Ezekiel was needed at home, for their +father, who was now sixty years old, was in poor health and had even at +that age to work hard to feed and clothe his family. He had found it +necessary to mortgage the farm to send Daniel to college. How could he +send Ezekiel, too? It seemed foolish to think of doing so. But when +Daniel urged such a course and agreed to help by teaching, the matter +was arranged. + +After graduation Daniel taught for a year and earned the money he had +promised Ezekiel. The following year he studied law and in due time was +admitted to the bar. As a lawyer he was very successful, his income +sometimes amounting to $20,000 in a single year. But he could not +manage his money affairs well, and no matter how large his income he was +always in debt. This unfortunate state of affairs was owing to a +reckless extravagance, which he displayed in many ways. + +Indeed, Webster was a man of such large ideas that of necessity he did +all things on a large scale. It was vastness that appealed to him. And +this dominating force in his nature explains his idea of nationality and +his opposition to State Rights. He was too large in his views of life to +limit himself to his State at the expense of his country. To him the +Union stood first and the State second, and to make the Union great and +strong became a ruling passion in his life. + +Webster's magnificent reach of thought and profound reverence for the +Union is best expressed in his speeches. The most famous one is his +brilliant "Reply to Hayne." + +Senator Hayne, of South Carolina, had delivered an able speech, in which +he put the authority of the State before that of the Union, and said +that the Constitution supported that doctrine. Webster, then a senator +from Massachusetts, had but one night to prepare an answer. But he knew +the Constitution by heart, for he had been a close student of it since +the days of childhood, when he had learned it from the cotton +handkerchief. + +Senator Hayne's masterly speech caused many people to question whether +even Daniel Webster could answer his arguments, and New England men +especially, fearing the dangerous doctrine of State Rights, awaited +anxiously the outcome. When, therefore, on the morning of January 26, +1830, Mr. Webster entered the Senate Chamber to utter that memorable +reply, he found a crowd of eager men and women waiting to hear him. + +"It is a critical moment," said a friend to Mr. Webster, "and it is +time, it is high time, that the people of this country should know what +this Constitution _is_." + +"Then," said Webster, "by the blessing of Heaven they shall learn, this +day, before the sun goes down what I understand it to be." + +Nationality was Webster's theme, his sole purpose being to strengthen +the claims of the Union. For four hours he held his audience spellbound +while he set forth with convincing logic the meaning of the +Constitution. The great orator won an overwhelming victory. Not only +were many of his hearers in the Senate chamber that day convinced, but +loyal Americans all over the country were inspired with more earnest +devotion to the Union. His last words "Liberty and Union! one and +inseparable, now and forever" electrified his countrymen and became a +watchword of national progress. + +Webster's power as an orator was enhanced by his remarkable physique. +His striking personal appearance made a deep impression upon everyone +that saw or heard him. One day when he was walking through one of the +streets of Liverpool a navvy said of him, "There goes a king!" On +another occasion Sydney Smith exclaimed, "Good heavens! he is a small +cathedral by himself." He was nearly six feet tall. He had a massive +head, a broad, deep brow, and great coal-black eyes, which once seen +could never be forgotten. + +To the day of his death he showed his deep affection for the flag, the +emblem of that Union which had inspired his noblest efforts. During the +last few weeks of his life, troubled much with sleeplessness, he used to +watch the stars, and while thus occupied his eyes would often fall upon +a small boat of his which floated in plain view of his window. On this +boat he had a ship lantern so placed that in the darkness he could see +the Stars and Stripes flying there. The flag was raised at six in the +evening and kept flying until six in the morning to the day of Daniel +Webster's death, which took place in September, 1852. On looking at the +dead face a stranger said: "Daniel Webster, the world without you will +be lonesome." + +[Illustration: Marshfield--Home of Daniel Webster.] + +Although we need not be blind to his faults, we may indeed count him +among the greatest of Americans. For he did much to make the Union +strong. He filled many high positions and had a wonderful influence in +all the affairs of the nation. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + YOUNG WEBSTER'S FONDNESS FOR HUNTING AND FISHING. + THRILLING TALES OF ADVENTURES. + DANIEL'S READING HABITS; HIS RICH, MUSICAL VOICE. + WEBSTER IN COLLEGE. + DANIEL WEBSTER AS A LAWYER. + HIS NOBLE IDEAS OF THE UNION. + SENATOR HAYNE'S MASTERLY SPEECH. + DANIEL WEBSTER'S OVERWHELMING VICTORY FOR THE UNION. + HIS STRIKING PERSONAL APPEARANCE. + HIS DEVOTION TO THE FLAG OF HIS COUNTRY. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What do the following topics suggest to you concerning the + boyhood experiences of Daniel Webster; Daniel and the old English + soldier and sailor; Daniel's reading habits; his power as a + reader; his deficiency in declamation? + + 2. What was Daniel Webster's idea of the Union? Tell what you can + about "Webster's Reply to Hayne." + + 3. What picture have you of Webster's personal appearance? What + is there in Webster's character that you admire? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +Samuel Finley Breese Morse and the Electric Telegraph + +[1791-1872] + +[Illustration: S. F. B. Morse.] + + +Great as was the power of the steamboat and the railroad in quickening +the social life of mankind, of still greater influence in binding +together remote communities was the invention of the electric telegraph. +The steamboat and the railroad made travel and transportation easier, +and frequent intercourse by letters and newspapers possible; but the +electric telegraph enabled men to flash their thoughts thousands of +miles in a few seconds. The inventor of this wonderful mechanism was +Samuel Finley Breese Morse. + +He was born, in 1791, in a house standing at the foot of Breed's Hill, +Charlestown, Mass. His father was a learned minister who, as Daniel +Webster said, "was always thinking, always writing, always talking, +always acting"; and his mother a woman of noble character, who inspired +her son with manly purpose. + +When Finley was only four years of age he was sent to a school kept by +an elderly woman known as "Old Ma'am Rand." She was lame, but nowise +halting in discipline, for she kept near at hand a long rattan stick by +means of which, when necessary, she could quickly reach her pupils in +any part of the room. + +He did not remain long under "Old Ma'am Rand's" tuition, for when he was +seven he went to school at Andover, and still later entered Phillips +Academy in the same town. At fourteen he entered Yale College, where +from the first he was a thoughtful and diligent student. + +Very soon Finley's two brothers joined him at college. As their father +was poor, the boys had to help themselves along. Finley turned to +account his talent for drawing. He made considerable money by painting +on ivory likenesses of his classmates and professors, receiving for a +miniature $5, and for a profile $1. + +At the end of his college course he made painting his chosen profession, +and planned to get the best instruction for his life work. + +Having made a friend of the great artist, Washington Allston, Morse went +with him to London, and there studied under Benjamin West who, as you +remember, was Robert Fulton's teacher. Morse was at this time a young +man of modest, gentle, and sunny manner, and easily won the affection of +his new teacher. + +West held his pupils to high standards, as the following instance shows. +Upon one occasion, after spending much time in making what he +considered to be a finished drawing, Morse laid it before West for +criticism. Upon careful examination the master praised it highly, and +then added: + +"Very well, sir, very well; go on and finish it." + +"It is finished," was Morse's reply. + +"Oh, no," said Mr. West, "look here, and here, and here," pointing to +defects in the drawing. + +After spending another week upon it, Morse took it to his teacher. Again +Mr. West praised it and added: + +"Very well, indeed, sir; go on and finish it." + +"Is it not finished?" Morse asked with surprise and disappointment in +his voice. + +"Not yet," said his critic. + +Morse spent three or four days more in trying to perfect the work, and +again handed it to his teacher, who, after again praising it, said: + +"Well, sir, go and finish it." + +"I cannot finish it," said Morse, by this time thoroughly disheartened. + +"Well," replied Mr. West, "I have tried you long enough. Now, sir, you +have learned more by this drawing than you would have accomplished in +double the time by a dozen half-finished beginnings. It is not numerous +drawings, but the _character of one_, which makes a thorough +draughtsman. _Finish_ one picture, sir, and you are a painter." + +After four years of study, Morse returned to Boston. But in the +meantime, like Fulton, he had gradually turned his thought from +painting to invention. His energies were now, for many years, divided +between the two. + +During these years Morse had to depend for a livelihood mainly upon +drawing and painting. He travelled through New Hampshire and Vermont, +and even as far as South Carolina, everywhere painting miniatures on +ivory, and establishing his reputation as an artist. + +In 1829 he went once more to Europe for study and remained three years; +but upon his return, although painting occupied much of his time, his +career as an artist ended. His change of vocation turned upon an +incident of his voyage home. + +On the ocean steamer the conversation at dinner one day was about recent +experiments with electricity. The special question of inquiry was this: +"Does the length of wire make any difference in the velocity of the +electric current passing through it?" One of the men present, Dr. +Jackson, said that so far as experiments yet indicated, electricity +passed through any length of wire in an instant. + +"Then," said Morse, "thought can be transmitted hundreds of miles +instantaneously by means of electricity. For if electricity will go ten +miles without stopping, I can make it go around the globe." What a +wonderful idea, in an instant to send thought thousands of miles and +make a record of it there! That is what the telegraph was to do! + +When once the possibility of this great achievement entered Morse's +mind it took complete possession of him, and he could think of nothing +else through the busy days and sleepless nights that followed. His +note-book was ever at hand to outline the new instrument and to jot down +the signs in sending messages. + +In a short time he had worked out on paper the whole scheme of +transmitting thought over long distances by means of electricity. And +now began twelve toilsome years of struggle to devise machinery for his +invention. To provide for his three motherless children, Morse had to +devote to painting much time that he otherwise would have spent in +perfecting the mechanical appliances for his telegraph. His progress +therefore was slow and painful, but he persistently continued in the +midst of discouraging conditions. + +His brothers, who owned a building in New York on the corner of Nassau +and Beekman Streets, allowed Morse to have a room on the fifth floor. +Here he toiled day and night, sleeping little and eating the simplest +and scantiest food. Indeed, so meagre was his fare, consisting mainly of +crackers and tea, that he bought his provisions at night lest his +friends might discover his need. + +During this time of hardship he kept starvation from his door by giving +lessons in painting to a few pupils. On a certain occasion, Morse said +to one of them, who owed him a quarter's tuition: "Well, Strothers, my +boy, how are we off for money?" + +"Professor," said the young fellow, "I'm sorry to say I have been +disappointed, but I expect the money next week." + +"Next week!" cried his needy teacher, "I shall be dead by next week." + +"Dead, sir?" rejoined Strothers. + +"Yes, dead by starvation," was the emphatic answer. + +"Would $10 be of any service?" asked the pupil, now impressed with the +seriousness of the situation. + +"Ten dollars would save my life," was the answer of the poor man, who +had been without food for twenty-four hours. You may be sure that +Strothers promptly handed him the money. + +But in spite of heavy trials and many discouragements he had by 1837 +finished a machine which he exhibited in New York. Among those present +was a gifted and inventive young man by the name of Alfred Vail. Greatly +impressed, he told Morse that he believed the telegraph would be +successful, and later he joined Morse in a business compact. + +Alfred Vail's father and brother were wealthy men, the owners of large +iron and brass mills, and he himself was skilful in working brass. Morse +was therefore glad to accept him as a partner, especially on account of +his good financial backing. Young Vail was full of hope and enthusiasm, +and was of great assistance in devising suitable apparatus for the +telegraph. + +But in spite of this substantial and timely aid, a patent was not +secured until 1840. Then followed a tedious effort to induce the +government at Washington to adopt and apply the invention. Finally, +after much delay, the House of Representatives passed a bill +"appropriating $30,000 for a trial of the telegraph." As you may know, a +bill cannot become a law unless the Senate also passes it, but the +Senate did not seem inclined to favor this one. Many people believed +that the whole idea of the telegraph was rank folly. They regarded Morse +and the telegraph very much as people had regarded Fulton and the +steamboat, and ridiculed him as a crazy-brained fellow. + +Up to the evening of the last day of the session the bill had not been +considered by the Senate. Morse sat anxiously waiting in the Senate +chamber until nearly midnight, when, believing there was no longer any +hope, he withdrew and went home with a heavy heart. + +Imagine his surprise, therefore, next morning, when a young woman, Miss +Annie G. Ellsworth, congratulated him at breakfast on the passage of his +bill. At first he could scarcely believe the good news, but when he +found that Miss Ellsworth was telling him the truth his joy was +unbounded, and he promised her that she should choose the first message. + +By the next year (1844) a telegraph line, extending from Baltimore to +Washington, was ready for use. On the day appointed for trial Morse met +a party of friends in the chamber of the Supreme Court, at the +Washington end of the line, and sitting at the instrument which he had +himself placed for trial, the happy inventor sent the message, as +dictated by Miss Ellsworth, "What hath God wrought!" + +The telegraph was a great and brilliant achievement, and brought to its +inventor well-earned fame. Morse married a second time and lived in a +beautiful home on the Hudson, where, with instruments on his table, he +could easily communicate with distant friends. Simple and modest in his +manner of life, he was a true-hearted, kindly Christian man. He was fond +of flowers and of animals. The most remarkable of his pets was a tame +flying-squirrel that would sit on his master's shoulders, eat out of his +hand, and go to sleep in his pocket. + +[Illustration: Telegraph and Railroad.] + +In his prosperity, honors were showered upon him by many countries. At +the suggestion of the French Emperor, representatives from many +countries of Europe met at Paris to determine upon some suitable +testimonial to Morse as a world benefactor. These delegates voted him +$80,000 as an expression of appreciation for his great invention. Before +his death, also, a statue to his memory was erected in Central Park, +New York. + +In 1872 this noble inventor, at the ripe age of eighty-one, breathed his +last. The sincere expression of grief from all over the country gave +evidence of the place he held in the hearts of the people. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. + THE YOUNG ARTIST AND HIS TEACHER. + MORSE GOES TO YALE COLLEGE. + HIS SUCCESS IN DRAWING. + WITH THE PAINTER WEST IN LONDON. + MORSE'S INTEREST IN INVENTION. + TWELVE YEARS OF BITTER STRUGGLE. + THE STORY OF MORSE AND YOUNG STROTHERS. + MORSE'S SCHEME DEBATED IN CONGRESS. + SUCCESS AT LAST. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What was the new problem? + + 2. Tell the story of Morse and the painter, Mr. West. + + 3. How was the idea of the telegraph suggested to Morse? + + 4. Give an account of Morse's trials and sufferings. + + 5. What honors were showered upon him? + + 6. Describe Morse. What do you admire in his character? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +Abraham Lincoln the Liberator of the Slaves + +[1809-1865] + +[Illustration: Abraham Lincoln.] + + +While Morse had been patiently struggling toward the completion of his +invention, the nation had been growing more and more tense in its +contest over slavery and State rights. As an outcome of the bitter +feeling in 1846, two years after the fulfilment of Morse's scheme, +Congress declared war against Mexico. + +The Southern slaveholders hoped by this war to gain from their weak +neighbor territory favorable for the extension of slavery. For slavery +had long since been dying out in the States east of the Mississippi and +north of the Mason and Dixon Line and the Ohio. On the south of this +natural boundary line the soil and climate were adapted to the +cultivation of rice, cotton, sugar, and tobacco. These four staples of +the South called for large plantations and an abundance of cheap labor +always subject to the bidding of the planter. Slavery satisfied these +conditions, and therefore slavery seemed necessary to the prosperity of +the South. + +It was because the soil and climate north of this natural boundary line +did not favor the use of slaves that slavery gradually died out in the +North. The result was that in one section of the Union, the South, there +was a pressing demand for slavery; and in the other, the North, there +was none. As time wore on, it became evident that the North was growing +in population, wealth, and political influence much faster than the +South. Observing this momentous fact, the slaveholders feared that in +the course of years Congress might pass laws unfriendly to slavery. +Hence, their stubborn purpose to struggle for the extension of slavery +as far as possible into the territory west of the Mississippi. + +[Illustration: Lincoln's Birthplace.] + +But in the North so powerful did the opposition to the spread of slavery +to new States become, that by 1855 there was a great political party +that had such opposition as its leading principle. One of its ablest and +most inspiring leaders was Abraham Lincoln. He was born in Kentucky, +February 12, 1809. The rough log cabin in which he first saw the light +was the wretched home of a father too lazy and shiftless to work, and so +ignorant that he is said not to have learned his letters until taught +by his wife. Little Abe's only playmates were his sister Sarah, two +years older than himself, and his cousin, Dennis Hanks, who lived in the +Lincoln home. + +When Abe was seven years old the family moved to Indiana, and settled +about fifteen miles north of the Ohio River. The journey to their new +home was very tedious and lonely, for they had in some places to cut a +roadway through the forest. + +Having arrived safely in November, all set vigorously to work to provide +a shelter against the winter. Young Abe was healthy, rugged, and active, +and from early morning till late evening he worked with his father, +chopping trees and cutting poles and boughs for their "camp." This +"camp" was a mere shed, only fourteen feet square, and open on one side. +It was built of poles lying upon one another, and had a thatched roof of +boughs and leaves. As there was no chimney, there could be no fire +within the enclosure, and it was necessary to keep one burning all the +time just in front of the open side. + +In this rough abode the furniture was of the scantiest and rudest sort, +very much like what we have already observed in Boone's cabin. For +chairs there were the same kind of three-legged stools, made by +smoothing the flat side of a split log, and putting sticks into +auger-holes underneath. The tables were of the same simple fashion, +except that they stood on four legs instead of three. + +The crude bedsteads in the corners of the cabin were made by sticking +poles in between the logs at right angles to the wall, the outside +corner where the logs met being supported by a crotched stick driven +into the ground. Upon this framework, shucks and leaves were heaped for +bedding, and over all were thrown the skins of wild animals for a +covering. Pegs driven into the wall served as a stairway to the loft, +where there was another bed of leaves. Here little Abe slept. + +In the space in front of the open side of the cabin, hanging over the +fire, was a large iron pot, in which the rude cooking was done. These +backwoods people knew nothing of dainty cookery, but they brought keen +appetites to their coarse fare. The principal vegetable was the ordinary +white potato, and the usual form of bread was "corn-dodgers," made of +meal and roasted in the ashes. Wheat was so scarce that flour bread was +reserved for Sunday mornings. But generally there was an abundance of +game, such as deer, bears, and wild turkeys, many kinds of fish from the +streams close by, and in summer wild fruits from the woods. + +During this first winter in the wild woods of Indiana little Abe must +have lived a lonely life. But it was a very busy one. There was much to +do in building the cabin which was to take the place of the "camp," and +in cutting down trees and making a clearing for the corn-planting of the +coming spring. Besides, Abe helped to supply the table with food, for he +had already learned to use the rifle, and to hunt and trap animals. +These occupations took him into the woods, and we must believe, +therefore, in spite of all the hardships of his wilderness life, that he +spent many happy hours. + +If we could see him as he started off with his gun, or as he chopped +wood for the fires, we should doubtless find his dress somewhat +peculiar. He was a tall, slim, awkward boy, with very long legs and +arms. In winter he wore moccasins, trousers, and shirt of deerskin, and +a cap of coonskin with the tail of the animal hanging down behind so as +to serve both as ornament and convenience in handling the cap. On a cold +winter day, such a furry costume might look very comfortable if +close-fitting, but we are told that Abe's deerskin trousers, after +getting wet, shrunk so much that they became several inches too short +for his long, lean legs. As for stockings, he tells us he never wore +them until he was "a young man grown." + +But although this costume seems to us singular, it did not appear so to +his neighbors and friends, for they were used to seeing boys dressed in +that manner. The frontiersmen were obliged to devise many contrivances +to supply their lack of manufactured things. For instance, they all used +thorns for pins, bits of stone for buttons, and home-made soap and +tallow-dipped candles. Candles, indeed, were a luxury much of the time, +and in Abe's boyhood, he was obliged in the long winter evenings to read +by the light of the wood fire blazing in the rude fireplace of the log +cabin. + +[Illustration: Lincoln Studying.] + +Great as had been his privations in this Indiana home, Abe had now to +suffer a more grievous loss in the death of his mother. The rough life +of the forest and the exposure of the open cabin had been too much for +her delicate constitution. Before she died she said to her boy: +"Abraham, I am going away from you, and you will never see me again. I +know that you will always be good and kind to your sister and father. +Try to live as I have taught you, and to love your Heavenly Father." +Many years later Lincoln said, "All that I am, or I hope to be, I owe to +my angel mother." + +A year after this sad event, his father brought home a second wife, who +became a devoted friend to the motherless boy. Energetic, thrifty, and +intelligent, this woman, who had been accustomed to better things than +she found in her new home, insisted that the log cabin should be +supplied with a door, a floor, and windows, and she at once began to +make the children "look a little more human." + +Abraham Lincoln's schooling was brief--not more than a year in all. Such +schools as he attended were nothing like the graded schools of to-day. +The buildings were rough log cabins with the earth for floor and oiled +paper for windows. Desks were unknown, the little school-house being +furnished with rude benches made of split logs, after the manner of the +stools and tables in the Lincoln home. The teachers were ignorant men, +who taught the children a little spelling, reading, writing, and +ciphering. While attending the last school, Abe had to go daily a +distance of four and a half miles from his home. + +In spite of this meagre schooling, however, the boy, by his +self-reliance, resolute purpose, and good reading habits, acquired the +very best sort of training for his future life. He had but few books at +his home, and found it impossible in that wild country to find many in +any other homes. Among those which he read over and over again, while a +boy, were the Bible, "AEsop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe," "Pilgrim's +Progress," a History of the United States, and "Weems's Life of +Washington." + +His step-mother said of him: "He read everything he could lay his hands +on, and when he came across a passage that struck him, he would write it +down on boards, if he had no paper, and keep it before him until he +could get paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, commit it to memory +and repeat it." + +His step-brother said: "When Abe and I returned to the house from work, +he would go to the cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, take down a +book, sit down, cock his legs up as high as his head, and read." When +night came he would find a seat in the corner by the fireside, or +stretch out at length on the floor, and write or work sums in arithmetic +on a wooden shovel, using a charred stick for a pencil or pen. When he +had covered the shovel, he would shave off the surface and begin over +again. + +Having borrowed a copy of the "Life of Washington" on one occasion, he +took it to bed with him in the loft and read until his candle gave out. +Then before going to sleep, he tucked the book into a crevice of the +logs in order that he might have it at hand as soon as daylight would +permit him to read the next morning. But during the night a storm came +up, and the rain beat in upon the book, wetting it through and through. +With heavy heart Lincoln took it back to its owner, who told him that +it should be his if he would work three days to pay for it. Eagerly +agreeing to do this, the boy carried his new possession home in triumph. +This book had a marked influence over his future. + +Until he was twenty his father hired him out to all sorts of work, at +which he sometimes earned $6 a month and sometimes thirty-one cents a +day. Just before he came of age his family, with all their possessions +packed in a cart drawn by four oxen, moved again toward the West. For +two weeks they travelled across the country into Illinois, and finally +made a new home on the banks of the Sangamon River, a stream flowing +into the Ohio. The tiresome journey was made in the month of March along +muddy roads and over swollen streams, young Lincoln driving the oxen. + +On reaching the end of the journey, Abraham helped his father to build a +hut and to clear and fence ten acres of land for planting. Shortly after +this work was done he bargained with a neighbor, Mrs. Nancy Miller, to +split 400 rails for every yard of brown jeans needed to make him a pair +of trousers. As Lincoln was tall, three and one-half yards were needed, +and he had to split 1,400 fence rails--a large amount of work for a pair +of trousers. + +From time to time he had watched the boats carrying freight up and down +the river, and had wondered where the vessels were going. Eager to know +by experience the life of which he had dreamed, he determined to become +a boatman. He was hungry for knowledge, and with the same earnestness +and energy with which he had absorbed the great thoughts of his books, +he now applied himself to learn the commerce of the river and the life +along its banks. When an opportunity presented, he found employment on a +flat boat that carried corn, hogs, hay, and other farm produce down to +New Orleans. On one of his trips he chanced to attend a slave auction. +Looking on while one slave after another was knocked down to the highest +bidder, his indignation grew until at length he cried out, "Boys, let's +get away from this; if I ever get a chance to hit that thing" (meaning +slavery), "I'll hit it hard." Little did he think then what a blow he +would strike some thirty years later. + +Tiring at length of his long journeys to New Orleans, he became clerk in +a village store at New Salem. Many stories are told of Lincoln's honesty +as displayed in his dealings with the people in this village store. It +is said that on one occasion a woman in making change overpaid him the +trifling sum of six cents. When Lincoln found out the mistake he walked +three miles and back that night to give the woman her money. + +He was now six feet four inches tall, a giant in strength, and a skilful +wrestler. Much against his will--for he had no love of fighting--he +became the hero of a wrestling match with a youth named Armstrong, who +was the leader of the rough young fellows of the place. Lincoln defeated +Armstrong, and by his manliness won the life-long friendship of his +opponent. + +At times throughout his life he was subject to deep depression, which +made his face unspeakably sad. But as a rule he was cheerful and merry, +and on account of his good stories was in great demand in social +gatherings and at the cross-roads grocery stores. At such times, when +the social glass passed around, he always declined it, never indulging +in strong liquor of any kind, nor in tobacco. + +Lincoln was as kind as he was good-natured. His step-mother said of him: +"I can say, what scarcely one mother in a thousand can say, he never +gave me a cross word or look, and never refused in fact or appearance to +do anything I asked him." He was tender-hearted too, as the following +incident shows: + +Riding along the road one day with a company of men, Lincoln was missed +by his companions. One of them, going to look for him, found that +Lincoln had stopped to replace two young birds that had been blown out +of their nest. He could not ride on in any peace of mind until he had +restored these little ones to their home in the tree-branches. + +In less than a year the closing of the village store in which Lincoln +was clerk left him without employment. He therefore enlisted as a +volunteer for the Black Hawk War, which had broken out about this time, +and went as captain of his company. On returning from this expedition, +he opened a grocery store as part owner, but in this undertaking he soon +failed. Perhaps the reason for his failure was that his interest was +centred in other things, for about this time he began to study law. + +For a while after closing his store he served the Government as +postmaster in New Salem, where the mail was so scanty that he could +carry it in his hat and distribute it to the owners as he happened to +meet them. + +He next tried surveying, his surveyor's chain, according to report, +being a trailing grapevine. Throughout all these years Lincoln was +apparently drifting almost aimlessly from one occupation to another. But +whatever he was doing his interest in public affairs and his popularity +were steadily increasing. In 1834 he sought and secured an election to +the State Legislature. It is said that he tramped a distance of a +hundred miles with a pack on his back when he went to the State Capitol +to enter upon his duties as law-maker. + +About four years after beginning to study law, he was admitted to the +bar and established himself at Springfield, Ill. From an early age he +had been fond of making stump speeches, and now he turned what had been +a pleasant diversion to practical advantage in the progress of his +political life. In due time he was elected to Congress, where his +interest in various public questions, especially that of slavery, became +much quickened. + +On this question his clear head and warm heart united in forming strong +convictions that had great weight with the people. He continued to grow +in political favor, and in 1858 received the nomination of the +Republican party for the United States Senate. Stephen A. Douglas was +the Democratic nominee. Douglas was known as the "Little Giant," on +account of his short stature and great power as an orator. + +The debates between the political rivals challenged the admiration of +the whole country. Lincoln argued with great power against the spread of +slavery into the new States. Although unsuccessful in securing a seat in +the Senate, he won a recognition from his countrymen that led to his +election as President two years later. In 1860 the Republican National +Convention, which met at Chicago, nominated "Honest Old Abe, the +Railsplitter," as its candidate for President, and elected him in the +same autumn. + +The burning political question before the people at this time, as for +many years before, related to the extension of slavery into the +Territories. The South was eager to have more States come into the Union +as slave States, while the North wished that slavery should be confined +to the States where it already existed. + +Before the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, Mason and Dixon +Line and the Ohio River formed the dividing line between the free States +on the north and the slave States on the south. But after that purchase +there was a prolonged struggle to determine whether the new territory +should be slave or free. + +It was thought that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 would forever settle +the trouble, but such was not the case. It broke out again, as bitter as +ever, about the Mexican Cession, which became ours as a result of the +Mexican War. Again it was hoped that the Compromise of 1850 would bring +an end to the struggle. But even after this second compromise, the +agitation over slavery continued to become more and more bitter until +Mr. Lincoln's election, when some of the Southern States threatened to +secede, that is, withdraw from the Union. These States claimed the right +to decide for themselves whether or not they should remain in the Union. +On the other hand, the North declared that no State could secede from +the Union without the consent of the other States. + +Before Lincoln was inaugurated, seven of the Southern States had +seceded. The excitement was everywhere intense. Many people felt that a +man of larger experience than Lincoln should now be at the head of the +Government. They doubted the ability of this plain man of the people, +this awkward backwoodsman, to lead the destinies of the nation in these +hours when delicate and intricate diplomacy was needed. But, little as +they knew it, he was well fitted for the work that lay before him. + +While on his way to Washington for inauguration, his friends learned of +a plot to assassinate him when he should pass through Baltimore. To save +him from violence, therefore, they prevailed upon him to change his +route and make the last part of his journey in secret. + +In a few weeks the Civil War had begun. We cannot here pause for full +accounts of all Lincoln's trials and difficulties during this fearful +struggle that began in 1861 and ended in 1865. His burdens were almost +overwhelming, but, like Washington, he believed that "right makes might" +and must prevail. + +When he became President he declared that the Constitution gave him no +power to interfere with slavery in the States where it existed. But as +the war continued, he became certain that the slaves, by remaining on +the plantations and producing food for the Southern soldiers, were a +great aid to the Southern cause, and thus threatened the Union. He +therefore determined, as commander-in-chief of the Union armies, to set +the slaves free in all territory whose people were fighting against the +Union. He took this step as a military necessity. + +The famous state paper, in which Lincoln declared that the slaves were +free in all the territory of the seceded States whose people were waging +war against the Union, was called the Emancipation Proclamation. This he +issued on January 1, 1863, and thus made good his word, "If ever I get a +chance to strike that thing" (meaning slavery), "I'll strike it hard." + +[Illustration: SLAVES ON A COTTON PLANTATION.] + +On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered his army to General Grant at +Appomattox Court House. By this act the war came to a close. Great was +the rejoicing everywhere. But suddenly the universal joy was changed +into universal sorrow. Five days after Lee's surrender Lincoln went with +his wife and some friends to see a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington. +In the midst of the play, a half-crazed actor, who was familiar with the +theatre, entered the President's box, shot him in the back of the head, +jumped to the stage, and, shouting "Sic semper tyrannis!" (So be it +always to tyrants), rushed through the wing to the street. There he +mounted a horse in waiting for him, and escaped, but was promptly hunted +down and killed in a barn where he lay in hiding. The martyr-President +lingered some hours, tenderly watched by his family and a few friends. +When on the following morning he breathed his last, Secretary Stanton +said with truth, "Now he belongs to the ages." A noble life had passed +from the field of action; and the people deeply mourned the loss of him +who had wisely and bravely led them through four years of heavy trial +and anxiety. + +Wise and brave as the leadership of Abraham Lincoln was, however, the +drain of the Civil War upon the nation's strength was well-nigh +overwhelming. Nearly 600,000 men lost their lives in this murderous +struggle, and the loss in wealth was not far short of $8,000,000,000. + +But the war was not without its good results also. One of these, +embodied later in the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, set free +forever all the slaves in the Union; and another swept away for all time +the evils of State rights, nullification, and secession. Webster's idea +that the Union was supreme over the States had now become a fact which +could never again be a subject of dispute. The Union was "one and +_inseparable_." + +[Illustration: Map of the United States showing the Southern +Confederacy, the Slave States that did not Secede, and the +Territories.] + +The immortal words that Lincoln uttered as part of his Second Inaugural +are worthy of notice, for in their sympathy, tenderness, and beautiful +simplicity they reveal the heart of him who spoke them. This inaugural +address was delivered in Washington on March 4, 1865, only about six +weeks before Lincoln's assassination. It closed with these words: + +"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the +right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the +work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who +shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan--to do all +which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves +and with all nations." + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + THE MEXICAN WAR. + CONFLICT OVER THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY. + ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN HIS KENTUCKY HOME. + THE LINCOLN FAMILY MOVES TO INDIANA. + THE FURNITURE AND THE FOOD OF THE BACKWOODS PEOPLE. + LITTLE ABE'S BUSY LIFE. + HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. + BACKWOODS MAKESHIFTS. + HIS SCHOOL LIFE; HIS READING HABITS. + ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS A BOATMAN. + "HONEST ABE." + HIS PHYSICAL STRENGTH. + HIS KINDNESS AND SYMPATHY. + HE IS ELECTED TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE. + THE GREAT DEBATE WITH STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. + ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT. + HE ISSUES THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. + HIS ASSASSINATION. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Explain the conflict between the North and the South over the + extension of slavery. + + 2. Form mental pictures of the following: the "camp"; the + furniture and the food of the backwoods people; and Abraham + Lincoln's personal appearance. + + 3. What were his reading habits? + + 4. Imagine yourself with Lincoln when he saw the slave auction in + New Orleans, and tell what you see. + + 5. Tell, in your own words, what you have learned of his honesty, + sympathy, and kindness. + + 6. The greatest act of Abraham Lincoln's life was the issuing of + the Emancipation Proclamation. What was this? + + 7. What do you admire in the character of Abraham Lincoln? + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +Ulysses Simpson Grant and the Civil War + +[1822-1885] + +[Illustration: Ulysses S. Grant.] + + +In tracing the leading events in the remarkable career of the +martyr-President, we have had occasion to refer briefly to the causes +and results of the Civil War. It was a struggle that tested the manhood +quite as much as the resources of the warring sections, and each side +might well be proud of the bravery and military skill displayed by its +officers and soldiers. Certainly each side had among its generals some +of the greatest military leaders of all time. One of these, who is by +common consent regarded as the ablest general that led Northern troops +in battle, was Ulysses Simpson Grant. + +He was born in a humble dwelling at Point Pleasant, O., in April, 1822. +The year following his birth the family removed to Georgetown, O., where +they lived many years. + +The father of Ulysses was a farmer and manufacturer of leather. The boy +did not like the leather business, but was fond of the various kinds of +farm work. When only seven years old he hauled all the wood which was +needed in the home and at the leather factory, from a forest, a mile +from the village. As he was too small to load and unload the wood, the +men did that for him. + +From the age of eleven to seventeen, according to his own story as told +in his "Personal Memoirs," he ploughed the soil, cultivated the growing +corn and potatoes, sawed fire-wood for his father's store, and did any +other work that would naturally fall to the lot of a farmer's boy. He +had his recreations, also, including fishing, swimming in the creek not +far from his home, skating in winter, and driving about the country +winter and summer. + +Young Grant liked horses, and early became a skilful rider. Lincoln told +a story of him which indicates not only his expert horsemanship, but his +"bull-dog grit" as well. One day when he was at a circus the manager +offered a silver dollar to anybody who could ride a certain mule around +the ring. Several persons, one after another, mounted the animal only to +be thrown over its head. Young Ulysses was among those who offered to +ride, but like the others he was unsuccessful. Then pulling off his +coat, he got on the animal again. Putting his legs firmly around the +mule's body, and seizing him by the tail, Ulysses rode triumphantly +around the ring, amid the cheers of the expectant crowd. + +Although he cared little for study, his father wished to give him all +the advantages of a good education, and secured for him an appointment +at West Point. This was indeed a rare opportunity for thorough training +in scholarship, but Ulysses was rather indifferent to it. He had a +special aptitude for mathematics, and became an expert horseman, but +with these exceptions, he took little interest in the training received +at this famous military school, his rank being only twenty-first in a +class of thirty-nine. + +After graduation he wished to leave the army and become an instructor in +mathematics at West Point. But as the Mexican War broke out about that +time he entered active service. Soon he gave striking evidence of that +fearless bravery for which he was to become so noted on the +battle-fields of the Civil War. + +It fell to his lot to deliver a message which necessitated a dangerous +ride. He says of it: "Before starting I adjusted myself on the side of +my horse farthest from the enemy, and with only one foot holding to the +cantle of the saddle and an arm over the neck of the horse exposed, I +started at full run. It was only at the street crossings that my horse +was under fire, but there I crossed at such a flying rate that generally +I was past and under cover of the next block of houses before the enemy +fired. I got out safely without a scratch." + +Shortly after the close of the war Grant was married. Six years later he +resigned from the army and went with his family to live on a farm near +St. Louis. Although he worked hard, he found it up-hill work to support +his family, and was eventually compelled by bad health to give up +farming. He next tried the real estate business, but without success. At +last, his father offered him a place in his leather and hardware store, +where Grant worked as clerk until the outbreak of the Civil War. + +With the news that the Southern troops had fired upon the flag at Fort +Sumter, Grant's patriotism was aroused. Without delay he rejoined the +army and at once took an active part in the preparations for war. First +as colonel and then as brigadier-general, he led his troops. At last he +had found a field of action in which he quickly developed his powers as +a leader. + +The first of his achievements was the capture of Forts Henry and +Donelson, the centre of a strong Confederate line of defence, extending +from Columbus to Cumberland Gap. At Fort Donelson he received the +surrender of nearly 15,000 prisoners, and by his great victory compelled +the Confederates to abandon two of their most important strongholds, +Columbus and Nashville. + +After the loss of Fort Donelson the Confederates fell back to a second +line of defence, extending from Memphis through Corinth to Chattanooga. +The Confederate army took position at Corinth; General Grant's army at +Pittsburg Landing, eighteen miles away. Here, early on Sunday morning, +April 6, 1862, Grant was attacked by Johnston, and his men were driven +back a mile and a half toward the river. It was a fearful battle, +lasting until nearly dark. Not until after midnight was Grant able to +rest, and then as he sat in the rain leaning against the foot of a tree, +he slept a few hours before the renewal of battle on Monday morning. +With reinforcements he was able on the second day to drive the enemy off +the field and win a signal victory. + +By this battle Grant broke the second Confederate line of defence. +Although the Confederates fought bravely and well to prevent the +Northern troops from getting control of the Mississippi River, by the +close of 1862 they had lost every stronghold except Port Hudson and +Vicksburg. In 1863, General Grant put forth a resolute effort to capture +Vicksburg, and after a brilliant campaign laid siege to the city. For +seven weeks the Confederate army held out. Meanwhile the people of +Vicksburg found shelter in caves and cellars, their food at times +consisting of rats and mule flesh. But on July 4, 1863, the day +following General Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, General Pemberton, with an +army numbering about 32,000 men, surrendered Vicksburg to General Grant. +Four days later Port Hudson was captured, and thus the last stronghold +of the Mississippi came under control of the North. + +General Grant's success was in no small measure due to his dogged +perseverance. While his army was laying siege to Vicksburg a Confederate +woman, at whose door he stopped to ask a drink of water, inquired +whether he expected ever to capture Vicksburg. "Certainly," he replied. +"But when?" was her next question. Quickly came the answer: "I cannot +tell exactly when I shall take the town, but _I mean to stay here till I +do, if it takes me thirty years_." + +[Illustration: Map Illustrating Campaigns in the West in 1862-63.] + +General Grant having by his effective campaign won the confidence of the +people, President Lincoln in 1864 made him lieutenant-general, thus +placing him in command of all the Northern forces. In presenting the new +commission, Lincoln addressed General Grant in these words: "As the +country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you." General +Grant made answer: "I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now +devolving upon me; and I know that if they are met, it will be due to +those armies, and above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads +both nations and men." + +Early in May, 1864, Grant entered upon his final campaign in Virginia, +and while he marched with his army "On to Richmond," General Sherman, in +Georgia, pushed with his army "On to Atlanta" and "On to the sea." Both +generals were able, and both had able opponents. Grant crossed the +Rapidan and entered the Wilderness, where Lee's army contested every +foot of his advance. In the terrible fighting that followed Grant's +losses were severe, but, with "bull-dog grit," to use Lincoln's phrase, +he pressed on, writing to the President his stubborn resolve, "I propose +to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." + +It did take all summer and more, for Grant found it impossible to +capture Richmond by attacking it from the northern side. He therefore +transferred his army across the James River, and attacked the city from +the south; but at the end of the summer Lee still held out. + +Nor did Lee relinquish his position until April 2, 1865, when he was +compelled to retreat toward the west. Grant pursued him closely for a +week, during which Lee's troops suffered great privation, living mainly +on parched corn and the young shoots of trees. Aware that the Southern +cause was hopeless, the distinguished leader of the Confederate armies, +after a most brilliant retreat, decided that the time had come to give +up the struggle. + +While suffering from a severe sick headache, General Grant received a +note from Lee saying that the latter was now willing to consider terms +of surrender. It was a remarkable occasion when the two eminent generals +met on that Sunday morning, in what is known as the McLean house, +standing in the little village of Appomattox Court House. Grant writes +in his "Personal Memoirs": "I was without a sword, as I usually was when +on horseback on the field, and wore a soldier's blouse for a coat, with +the shoulder-straps of my rank to indicate to the army who I was.... +General Lee was dressed in a full uniform which was entirely new, and +was wearing a sword of considerable value--very likely the sword which +had been presented by the State of Virginia.... In my rough travelling +suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a lieutenant-general, +I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, +six feet high and of faultless form. + +[Illustration: THE MEETING OF GENERALS GRANT AND LEE AT APPOMATTOX.] + +The result of the interview was the surrender of General Lee with his +entire army of 26,000 men. General Grant at this time gave striking +evidence of his great kindness of heart and fine delicacy of feeling. He +issued orders that all the Confederates who owned horses and mules +should be allowed to take them home. "They will need them for the spring +ploughing," he said. He spared the vanquished troops the humiliation of +marching out and stacking their arms in token of surrender, and even +stopped the firing of salutes by his men. Never, indeed, did General +Grant appear more truly great than on the occasion of Lee's surrender. +Thus ended the military career of the greatest general that the North +produced during the Civil War. + +While in the army he seemed to have marvellous powers of endurance. He +said of himself: "Whether I slept on the ground or in a tent, whether I +slept one hour or ten in the twenty-four, whether I had one meal, or +three or none, made no difference. I could lie down and sleep in the +rain without caring." + +[Illustration: The McLean House] + +His appearance did not indicate his robust health. He was only five feet +eight inches tall, round-shouldered, and not military in bearing or +walk. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a musical voice. He was of a +sunny disposition and singularly pure soul, never having been known in +all his life to speak an unclean word or tell an objectionable story. +Quiet and simple in manner, he never became excited even in the heat of +battle, but always kept himself cool and collected, ready for the +severest ordeal that he might have to face. + +[Illustration: General R. E. Lee.] + +It need hardly be said that at the close of the war he had a warm place +in the hearts of his countrymen. Wherever he went people flocked to see +him. But like Washington and Jefferson, he found speech-making most +difficult. At one time, in the presence of friends, General Grant's +young son Jesse, mounted a haystack and said, "I'll show you how papa +makes a speech. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very glad to see you: I +thank you very much. Good-night.'" All present were greatly amused +except Grant, who was much embarrassed, feeling that his little son's +effort verged too closely upon the truth. + +Grant was elected President of the United States in 1868, and served two +terms. Upon retiring from the Presidency he made a tour around the +world, and was everywhere received by rulers and people alike with great +honor and distinction. + +During his last days he suffered much from an incurable disease, which +became a worse enemy than he had ever found on the field of battle. +After nine months' of struggle he died at Mount McGregor, near Saratoga, +on July 23, 1885. His body was laid to rest in Riverside Park, on the +Hudson, where in 1897 a magnificent monument was erected to his memory. +Like Lincoln and Washington, he will ever live in the hearts of his +countrymen. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + YOUNG ULYSSES S. GRANT FOND OF FARM WORK. + AN INSTANCE OF HIS "BULL-DOG GRIT." + GRANT GOES TO WEST POINT. + HIS BRAVERY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. + HE TRIES FARMING AND BUSINESS. + THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR. + THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. + GENERAL GRANT CAPTURES VICKSBURG. + GENERAL LEE'S SURRENDER. + GENERAL GRANT'S KINDNESS AND DELICACY OF FEELING. + HIS PERSONALITY. + HIS TOUR AROUND THE WORLD; HIS LAST DAYS. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. Tell as much as you can about the boyhood of Grant. + + 2. What can you say of his record in the Mexican War? + + 3. Give an account of his capture of Vicksburg. + + 4. Picture the scene of the interview which took place when Lee + surrendered. + + 5. What can you tell about Grant's personality? About his ability + as a speech-maker? + + 6. What traits in Grant's character do you admire? + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +Some Leaders and Heroes in the War with Spain + +[1898-1899] + + +Thus far we have directed our attention to the prominent events in +American history centring about certain leaders and heroes. In so doing +we have in every chapter given emphasis to the achievements of some one +man. But in all these cases there were many other men that received no +mention by name, and yet their co-operation was necessary to the success +of the leader in working out his plans. + +This is no doubt true of all times and countries, but it is eminently +true of our own country, whose history is full of striking instances of +individual heroism and devotion to the flag. We shall find no better +example of patriotic daring than in the late war with Spain--a war which +exhibited to us and to the world the strong and manly qualities of +American life and character. It seems fitting, therefore, that we should +in this closing chapter briefly consider a few of the recent events +that help us to understand what manner of people we have come to be, +and what we are able to accomplish in time of earnest endeavor. + +[Illustration: The United States Coast and the West Indies. + +Distances are given in geographical or sea miles, sixty miles in a +degree of latitude.] + +From the very beginning of her dominion in Cuba, Spain ruled the people +there with extreme cruelty and oppression. Again and again did the +Cubans, driven to desperation by unjust treatment, rise in rebellion, +without success. But in 1895 they organized an uprising that Spain +strove in vain to put down. In the last extremity of her power, she sent +over as governor-general a man who tried to starve the Cubans into +submission. A large part of the population lived in the country, and +furnished the Cuban troops with food and recruits. The Spanish +commander's brutal method was to drive these country people into the +towns and cities, burning their homes, and destroying everything that +might be of use to feed and support the fighting Cubans. But the Cubans +were determined to win their independence or die in the attempt. + +[Illustration: The Wreck of the Maine.] + +As the war continued, and this inhuman policy of starvation grew more +brutal, the horror and indignation of the United States were aroused. +Our Government tried to induce Spain to stop her barbarous methods, but +while the attempt was still in progress an event took place which +greatly embittered the feeling of Americans against Spain. On the night +of February 15, 1898, one of our battle-ships, the Maine, was blown up +in the harbor of Havana, and 266 of our sailors were killed. Many +believed that this awful deed was the work of Spanish officials; and +this conviction deepened when a careful investigation was made by a +court of naval inquiry. In all parts of this country the excitement of +the people increased until they were ready to go to war with Spain if +she would not change her policy toward Cuba. + +But Spain was so stubborn that President McKinley, after trying in every +possible way to prevent hostilities, was obliged to say in a message +that "the war in Cuba must stop"; and on April 25, 1898, Congress took +the momentous step of declaring war. + +Our Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Long, lost no time in sending a despatch +to Commodore Dewey,--who was in command of an American fleet of six +war-vessels at Hong-Kong,--directing him to proceed at once to the +Philippine Islands and capture or destroy the Spanish fleet stationed +there. + +Two days later Commodore Dewey's fleet was steaming southward toward +Manila Bay, in search of the Spanish squadron of ten war-vessels and two +torpedo-boats. It was extremely important that these ships of war should +be captured or destroyed before they could make their way to our Pacific +coast and attack American cities. + +On the night preceding May 1st our fleet entered Manila Bay. The supreme +moment in the life of Commodore Dewey, now in his sixty-second year, had +come. He was 7,000 miles from home and in hostile waters. Without even a +pilot to guide his fleet as it moved slowly but boldly into the bay, he +knew well that he might be going into a death-trap. Two torpedoes +exploded just in front of the flag-ship Olympia, which was in the lead, +but the fearless commander did not swerve from his course. + +[Illustration: Admiral Dewey.] + +Drawn up at the entrance of Bakor Bay, not far from Manila, was the +Spanish fleet, protected on either side by strong shore batteries. When +about three miles distant Commodore Dewey quietly said to the captain of +the Olympia, "If you are ready, Gridley, you may fire." Spanish shells +had already filled the air all about the American fleet, but as the +Spanish gunnery was exceedingly poor it did little serious damage. +During the battle the American fleet steamed forward in single file, the +Olympia in the lead. After going for some distance toward Manila the +ships swung round and returned, firing terrible broadsides into the +Spanish fleet as they passed. Five times they followed the course in +this way, each time drawing nearer to the enemy's position, and each +time pouring in a more furious and deadly fire. + +At seven o'clock the Spanish flagship dashed boldly out, as if with the +purpose of running down the Olympia. But the American war-vessels +concentrated their fire upon her so that she had to turn back. As she +was swinging around, the Olympia hurled a shell which raked her deck, +killing or wounding her captain and sixty of her sailors. About this +time two Spanish torpedo-boats darted out toward the American fleet, and +one of them, with the evident purpose of blowing her up, headed for the +Olympia. But a well-aimed shell exploded upon the deck of the +torpedo-boat, and sank it to the bottom of the sea. + +At the end of two hours, it being plain that the Spanish fleet was +nearly done for, Commodore Dewey decided to give his tired men a rest. +He therefore withdrew his fleet from the scene of battle, and gave his +brave sailors some breakfast. Three hours later he renewed the fight, +which ended with the destruction of the entire Spanish fleet. Although +1,200 Spaniards were killed or wounded, not one American was killed and +only eight were wounded. None of Dewey's war-vessels received serious +injury. The battle was a brilliant exhibition of superb training and +seamanship on the part of the American sailors, whose rapid and accurate +handling of the guns was marvellous. + +[Illustration: President McKinley] + +The people were electrified with joy when the news of the glorious +achievement in Manila Bay was cabled to America. On May 9th, Congress +voted that ten thousand dollars ($10,000) should be spent in securing a +sword for Commodore Dewey and medals for all his men, and President +McKinley promptly appointed him a rear-admiral. Before the middle of +August an army of 15,000 troops, under General Merritt, was sent to +Manila to unite with the fleet under Admiral Dewey in capturing the +city. Manila surrendered on August 13th. + +With the destruction of the Spanish fleet at Manila, within a week after +Congress declared war, all danger of attack from Spanish war-vessels +upon our Pacific coast was at an end. But there was grave fear that the +Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera might attack the large and wealthy +cities upon our Atlantic coast. Shortly after the war began, this fleet +was reported to have left the Cape Verde Islands and to have directed +its course toward Cuban waters. + +[Illustration: "Escolta," Manila's Main Street.] + +At once Americans began to put serious questions which nobody could +answer. "Where is Cervera going?" they asked. "Will he try to break the +blockade which an American fleet under Admiral Sampson is keeping up on +the northern coast of Cuba? Will he try to intercept and destroy the +battle-ship Oregon?[12] Or, will he bring havoc and destruction upon us +by sailing straight for some great Atlantic seaport?" Americans looked +anxious and worried as they considered these questions. + + [12] The American battle-ship Oregon was then on her famous trip + from San Francisco, by way of Cape Horn, to join Admiral + Sampson's fleet. + +But the uncertainty did not long continue, for soon it was learned by +cable that Cervera had stopped at Martinique, and later at a small +island off the coast of Venezuela, whence he had speedily steamed +northward toward Cuba. We now know that he went to Santiago harbor, +which he thought would prove a good hiding-place while his fleet took on +board coal and other supplies. Shortly after Cervera's arrival at +Santiago an American fleet under Commodore Schley discovered him, and +blockaded the harbor in order to prevent his escape. It was extremely +important to keep him "bottled up" there until an American army might +come down and capture Santiago and the Spanish army which held the +place. This capture accomplished, Cervera would have to fight either in +the harbor or out on the open sea. But there was still some anxiety lest +he might on some dark, stormy night manage to steal out and make his +escape. + +One reason why Cervera went into the Santiago harbor was that the +entrance was very narrow and well protected by headlands surmounted by +batteries. At its narrowest place, the channel was not much more than a +hundred yards wide. If, therefore, the American war-vessels should +attempt to enter the harbor they would have to enter in single file, and +the foremost one would possibly be blown up by the Spanish torpedoes, +many of which were planted in the channel. The sinking of a single +vessel in the channel would block the way for all the rest. + +With these facts in mind Admiral Sampson planned to obstruct the +entrance to Santiago harbor to prevent the Spanish fleet from getting +out. Lieutenant Hobson, a young man of twenty-eight, worked out the plan +of sinking the collier Merrimac across the channel; and to him the +important task of carrying it out was assigned. Torpedoes were so +arranged on the sides of the Merrimac that their explosion would shatter +her bottom and sink her in the channel. + +There was serious difficulty in selecting the small number of brave, +cool-headed men who were to accompany Lieutenant Hobson in this perilous +enterprise, for several hundred American sailors were eager to go, even +though they knew that in so doing they were running serious risk of +capture or death. But such was the heroic temper of the American sailors +that many of them begged for an opportunity of rendering this loyal +service. + +On the night appointed for the daring feat, the Merrimac did not get +well started before the morning light began to appear in the eastern +sky, so that Admiral Sampson recalled the expedition. + +After a long, nervous day of waiting, the next morning, June 3d, the +Merrimac started off a second time. The vessel moved stealthily forward +with its eager, silent crew, but before the place of sinking could be +reached the Spaniards discovered her. Suddenly from the forts and the +war-vessels in the harbor a storm of shot and shell beat in pitiless +fury about the Merrimac. But she pressed forward. When the moment came +for her to be swung across the channel Hobson found that the rudder of +the ship had been shot away, so that she could not be swung about +according to the plan. He therefore had to be content with sinking her +_along_ instead of _across_ the channel. + +When the torpedoes exploded and she went down, her crew of eight men, +struggling for life in the seething waters, managed to reach a float +which they had brought with them on the deck of the collier. To this +float they clung, hanging on with their hands, for they dared not expose +their bodies as targets to Spanish soldiers on land or to Spanish +sailors in the launches that were trying to find out what had happened. +For some hours Hobson and his men remained in this uncomfortable +position, shivering with the cold. At length Hobson hailed an +approaching launch to which he swam. He was pulled in by an elderly man, +with the exclamation, "You are brave fellows." This was Admiral Cervera, +who treated the prisoners, Lieutenant Hobson and his crew, with great +kindness. With the rest of the world he admired the courageous spirit of +the "brave fellows" who had given so much in the service of their +country. + +During the remainder of June, the American fleet kept watch at the +harbor entrance. Before the end of the month an American army of 15,000 +men was ready to advance through a tropical forest upon the Spanish +defences outside of Santiago. On July 1st the Americans made a vigorous +attack upon these outworks, and won a glorious victory. + +It looked to Cervera as if he might be compelled to surrender his fleet +without striking a blow. Although he was likely to suffer defeat in a +battle, there was nothing to gain by remaining in the harbor. So he +decided to dash boldly out, in a desperate effort to escape. When at +about half-past nine of that quiet Sunday morning (July 3d) the foremost +Spanish war-vessel was seen heading at full speed out of the harbor, the +American sailors sent up a shout, "The Spanish fleet is coming out!" and +leaped forward to their places at the guns. As at Manila, the battle was +one-sided. The superior seamanship and gunnery of the Americans enabled +them quickly to win a victory as brilliant as that won by Dewey and his +men. Every Spanish vessel was destroyed, 600 Spaniards were killed, and +1,300 captured. Not one American ship was seriously injured, while but +one American was killed and one badly wounded. About the middle of July +Santiago and a Spanish army of 22,000 men surrendered to the Americans. + +Although this ended the serious fighting of the war, the treaty of peace +was not ratified by the United States Senate until February 6, 1899. In +accordance with this treaty Spain gave up Cuba and ceded Porto Rico to +the United States; and she also ceded to us the Philippine Islands, in +return for which we agreed to pay her $20,000,000. + +But some of the most striking results of the war with Spain received no +mention in the terms of the treaty. From the beginning of the struggle, +Spain doubtless hoped that one or more of the Great Powers of Europe +might intervene in her behalf. Some of them, with ill-concealed dislike +for the United States, were quite ready to interfere in Spain's +interests. But England refused to take any part in the movement. Her +friendly attitude toward us in this struggle has done much to bring the +two countries into closer sympathy with each other. A reflection of this +good-will toward England was especially evident at the time of Queen +Victoria's death in January, 1901. + +[Illustration: Portion of the Coast of China and the Philippine +Islands.] + +But, after all, one of the most striking results of the war with Spain +has been the bringing of the various sections of our own country into +closer sympathy and union. It is safe to say that never before have the +North, the South, the East, and the West felt so closely bound together +in thought and feeling. Let us hope that with noble ideals of the high +destiny that awaits us, we shall go forward to greater achievements than +we have yet known in our history. + + +REVIEW OUTLINE + + SPAIN'S CRUEL RULE IN CUBA. + THE BLOWING UP OF THE BATTLE-SHIP MAINE. + COMMODORE DEWEY HEADS HIS FLEET FOR THE PHILIPPINES. + THE DANGEROUS ENTERPRISE. + THE GLORIOUS VICTORY. + SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT ADMIRAL CERVERA'S PLANS. + HIS FLEET "BOTTLED UP." + THE DARING FEAT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON AND HIS MEN. + THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. + THE TREATY OF PEACE. + FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN OUR COUNTRY AND ENGLAND. + CLOSER SYMPATHY AND UNION OF THE NORTH, THE SOUTH, THE EAST, AND + THE WEST. + + +TO THE PUPIL + + 1. What is a hero? Whom do you most admire of all the heroes you + have read about in this book? + + 2. Why did Commodore Dewey go with his fleet to the Philippines? + + 3. Imagine yourself with him, and give an account of the battle. + + 4. What did Lieutenant Hobson and his men do? Impersonating + Hobson, give an account of the daring feat. + + 5. What caused the war with Spain? What were its most striking + results? + + 6. What do you admire in the character of Admiral Dewey? What, + in the American sailors in the war with Spain? + + 7. What do the following dates signify: 1492, 1607, 1620, + 1775-1783, 1861-1865, 1898? + + + + +INDEX + + + Adams, Samuel, 156; + in public life, 157; + opposes tax on tea, 158-162 + + + Bacon, Nathaniel, 55; + marches against the Indians, 59; + his struggle with Berkeley, 60-62 + + Boone, Daniel, 222; + goes to Kentucky, 224; + at Boonesborough, 227; + captured by Indians, 230 + + "Boston Tea Party," 158-163 + + Braddock, General, 132, 133 + + Bradford, Governor, 69, 70, 74 + + Bunker Hill, battle of, 173 + + Burgoyne, General, 203-205 + + + Cabot, John, 31 + + Cartier, 103 + + Carver, Governor, 70, 74-76 + + Cervera, Admiral, 320-324 + + Champlain, 104 + + Civil War, 295, 298 + + Clermont, the, 250-252 + + Columbus, Christopher, 1; + at Lisbon, 4; + goes to Spain, 5; + first voyage, 10; + in the New World, 12-15; + other voyages, 17-20 + + Concord, battle of, 170-173 + + Continental Congress, 193 + + Cornwallis, General, 200-203, 206, 207, 214-220 + + Cortez, 22, 23 + + Cowpens, battle of, 214, 215 + + + Dale, Sir Thomas, 56 + + Dawes, William, 167-170 + + Declaration of Independence, 186, 239 + + De Leon, 23 + + De Soto, Hernando, 22; + lands in Florida, 24; + his trials and difficulties, 26-28; + discovers the Mississippi, 29 + + Dewey, Admiral, 317-319 + + Dinwiddie, Governor, 128, 131 + + Douglas, Stephen A., 293, 294 + + Drake, Sir Francis, 36 + + + Elizabeth, Queen, 33-35 + + + Fairfax, Lord, 124-127 + + Faneuil Hall, 159, 160 + + Ferdinand, King, 6 + + Franklin, Benjamin, 175; + in his brother's printing-office, 176; + goes to Philadelphia, 179; + in London, 181; + "Poor Richard's Almanac," 182; + his great discovery, 184; + "Plan of Union," 185; + in France, 186 + + French War, Last, 128-133, 136-144 + + Fulton, Robert, 246; + his boyhood, 247; + invents a torpedo boat, 249; + the Clermont, 250-252 + + + Gage, General, 166, 167 + + Gates, General, 212 + + George III., 146-152 + + Grant, Ulysses S., 302; + his boyhood and youth, 303; + in Civil War, 305-309; + captures Lee's army, 309-311 + + Greene, Nathaniel, 211; + a Quaker boy, 212; + joins the army, 213; + in the South, 214-220 + + Griffin, the, 108-110 + + + Hancock, John, 165-168, 170 + + Henry, Patrick, 146; + early life, 148; + opposes Stamp Act, 150; + his great speech, 153 + + Hobson, Lieutenant, 322 + + Howe, General, 195-197, 203-205 + + Hudson, Henry, 105 + + Hutchinson, Governor, 159-162 + + + Indians, 14, 15, 17, 48, 49 + + Iroquois, 104-106 + + Isabella, Queen, 6, 8 + + + Jackson, Andrew, 253; + his boyhood, 254; + goes to Nashville, 256; + conquers the Creeks, 258; + at battle of New Orleans, 259; + as President, 260 + + James I., 65, 66 + + Jefferson, Thomas, 234; + at college, 235; + as President, 240; + the Louisiana Purchase, 241-243 + + Jesuit Missionaries, 106 + + + La Salle, 103; + his plans, 108; + his explorations, 109-112; + his colony, 112; + his assassination, 114 + + Lee, General, his surrender, 296, 309-311 + + Lincoln, Abraham, 282; + in Kentucky and Indiana, 283-289; + goes to Illinois, 290; + debates with Douglas, 294; + Emancipation Proclamation, 296; + his assassination, 296 + + Long Island, battle of, 196 + + + Mckinley, President, 317-319 + + Maine, the, 316 + + Manila, 317 + + Marion, Francis, 217-219 + + Marquette, Father, 106 + + Massasoit, 75, 76 + + Merrimac, the, 319-322 + + Mimms, Fort, massacre at, 258 + + Montcalm, General, 138-140, 143, 144 + + Morgan, General, 214-216 + + Morse, Samuel F. B., 273; + studies painting, 274; + invents the telegraph, 276-280 + + + Narvaez, 24 + + Navigation Laws, 58 + + New Orleans, battle of, 259, 260 + + Nullification, 260 + + + Old North Church, 167, 168 + + Old South Church, 159, 161 + + Olympia, the, 316 + + Ortiz, 24 + + + Penn, William, 92; + turns Quaker, 94; + his settlement in Pennsylvania, 98; + his Indian treaty, 99; + his country home, 100 + + Pilgrims, 65-79 + + Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 305 + + Pizarro, 22, 23 + + Plymouth, landing at, 72 + + Pocahontas, 50, 52 + + Powhatan, 49-52 + + Puritans, 65, 81-88 + + + Quakers, 92-101 + + Quebec, capture of, 142-144 + + + Raleigh, Sir Walter, 31; + in France, 33; + his first colony, 35; + second colony, 37-39; + in the Tower of London, 40 + + Revere, Paul, 165; + on his "midnight ride," 167-170 + + + Sampson, Admiral, 322 + + Santiago, fighting near, 322-324 + + Schley, Commodore, 321 + + Secession, 295 + + Slavery, 282, 283, 294, 296 + + Smith, John, 42; + early life, 46; + in Virginia, 47-53; + relations with the Indians, 47-52; + explores New England coast, 53 + + South Carolina, 261, 262 + + Stamp Act, 147-151 + + Standish, Miles, 64; + military leader of the Pilgrims, 68; + explores coast, 69-71; + at Plymouth, 72-79 + + State Rights, 269 + + + Tariff, 261, 262 + + Telegraph, the electric, 276-280 + + Tobacco, 57, 58 + + Trenton, battle of, 200-202 + + + Valley Forge, suffering at, 205, 206 + + Vicksburg, capture of, 306 + + + Warren, Dr. Joseph, 167 + + Washington, George, 116; + at home and school, 117-124; + the young surveyor, 124-127; + his journey to the French forts, 130; + at Great Meadows, 132; + with Braddock, 132; + at Mount Vernon, 189-193; + as General, 193-207; + as President, 208 + + Washington, Lawrence, 118-121 + + Webster, Daniel, 264; + his boyhood and youth, 265-268; + his "Reply to Hayne," 269; + his last days, 271 + + West, Benjamin, 274, 275 + + Williams, Roger, 81; + goes to Salem, 86; + driven into exile, 88; + his settlement at Providence, 89 + + Wolfe, James, 136; + his youth, 136; + at Quebec, 138-144 + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. + +2. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest +paragraph break. + +3. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of a paragraph in +which they are referenced. + +4. Obvious punctuation errors have been silently corrected. + +5. The word Crevecoeur uses an oe ligature in the original. + +6. The following misprints have been corrected: + "Wahington" corrected to "Washington" (page 190) + "Breeze" corrected to "Breese" (page 273) + "1809-1861" corrected to "1809-1865" (page 282) + +7. 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