diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:28:28 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:28:28 -0700 |
| commit | 08ea7228664b139047ea9bcac76bfacf2e623ddf (patch) | |
| tree | 914319a9f2ee164403117c95fa69fadcdc1e7512 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6896.txt | 14894 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6896.zip | bin | 0 -> 306609 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 14910 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6896.txt b/6896.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..709af17 --- /dev/null +++ b/6896.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14894 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brief History of the United States +by John Bach McMaster + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: A Brief History of the United States + +Author: John Bach McMaster + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6896] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 9, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII, with some ISO-8859-1 characters + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE U.S. *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES + +BY +JOHN BACH McMASTER + +[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON. Painted by Rembrandt Peale.] + + + + +PREFACE + + +It is not too much to assert that most of our countrymen acquire at school +all the knowledge they possess of the past history of their country. In +view of this fact it is most desirable that a history of the United States +for elementary schools should present not only the essential features of +our country's progress which all should learn, but also many things of +secondary consequence which it is well for every young American to know. + +In this book the text proper consists of the essentials, and these are +told in as few words as truth and fairness will permit. The notes, which +form a large part of the book, include the matters of less fundamental +importance: they may be included in the required lessons, or may be +omitted, as the teacher thinks proper; however, they should at least be +read. Some of the notes are outline biographies of men whose acts require +mention in the text and who ought not to be mere names, nor appear +suddenly without any statement of their earlier careers. Others are +intended to be fuller statements of important events briefly described or +narrated in the text, or relate to interesting events that are of only +secondary importance. Still others call attention to the treatment of +historical personages or events by our poets and novelists, or suggest +passages in standard histories that may be read with profit. Such +suggested readings have been chosen mostly from books that are likely to +be found in all school libraries. + +Much of the machinery sometimes used in history teaching--bibliographies, +extensive collateral readings, judgment questions, and the like--have been +omitted as out of place in a brief school history. Better results may be +obtained by having the pupils write simple narratives in their own words, +covering important periods and topics in our history: as, the discovery of +America; the exploration of our coast and continent; the settlements that +failed; the planting of the English colonies; the life of the colonists; +the struggles for possession of the country; the causes of the Revolution; +the material development of our country between certain dates; and other +subjects that the teacher may suggest. The student who can take such broad +views of our history, and put his knowledge in his own words, will acquire +information that is not likely to be forgotten. + +No trouble has been spared in the selection of interesting and authentic +illustrations that will truly illustrate the text. Acknowledgment is due +for permission to photograph many articles in museums and in the +possession of various historical societies. The reproduction of part of +Lincoln's proclamation on page 365 is inserted by courtesy of David McKay, +publisher of Lossing's _Civil War in America_. + +JOHN BACH McMASTER. +UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA + +[Illustration: U. S. BATTLESHIP.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION + I. THE NEW WORLD FOUND + II. THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE PACIFIC DISCOVERED + III. FRANCE AND ENGLAND ATTEMPT TO SETTLE AMERICA + +THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA + IV. THE ENGLISH ON THE CHESAPEAKE + V. THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND + VI. THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES + VII. HOW THE COLONIES WERE GOVERNED + +RIVALS OF THE ENGLISH + VIII. THE INDIANS + IX. THE FRENCH IN AMERICA + X. WARS WITH THE FRENCH + XI. THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM AMERICA + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION + XII. THE QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY + XIII. THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE BEGUN + XIV. THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE SEA + XV. THE WAR IN THE WEST AND IN THE SOUTH + +DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNION + XVI. AFTER THE WAR + XVII. OUR COUNTRY IN 1789 + XVIII. THE NEW GOVERNMENT + XIX. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY, 1789-1805 + XX. THE STRUGGLE FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCE + XXI. RISE OF THE WEST + XXII. THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING + XXIII. POLITICS FROM 1829 TO 1841 + XXIV. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1820 TO 1840 + +THE LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY + XXV. MORE TERRITORY ACQUIRED + XXVI. THE STRUGGLE FOR FREE SOIL + XXVII. STATE OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1840 TO 1860 +XXVIII. THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1863 + XXIX. THE CIVIL WAR, 1863-1865 + XXX. THE NAVY IN THE WAR; LIFE IN WAR TIMES + XXXI. RECONSTRUCTION + +ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT + XXXII. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1860 TO 1880 +XXXIII. A QUARTER CENTURY OF STRUGGLE OVER INDUSTRIAL QUESTIONS, 1872 + TO 1897 + XXXIV. THE WAR WITH SPAIN, AND LATER EVENTS + +APPENDIX + THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE + CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES + TABLE OF STATES + TABLE OF PRESIDENTS + INDEX + + + + +LIST OF COLORED MAPS + + +FRENCH CLAIMS, ETC., IN 1700 +EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, 1754 +BRITISH TERRITORY, 1764 +NORTHERN COLONIES DURING THE REVOLUTION--SOUTHERN COLONIES DURING THE +REVOLUTION +THE UNITED STATES, ABOUT 1783, SHOWING STATE CLAIMS +THE UNITED STATES, 1805 +THE UNITED STATES, 1824 +THE UNITED STATES, 1850 +THE UNITED STATES, 1861 +THE WEST IN 1870 (ALSO 1860 AND 1907) +THE UNITED STATES AND ITS OUTLYING POSSESSIONS + + +[Illustration: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for +which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for +all."] + + + + +COLUMBUS + + + Behind him lay the gray Azores, + Behind the Gates of Hercules; + Before him not the ghost of shores, + Before him only shoreless seas. + The good mate said: "Now we must pray, + For, lo! the very stars are gone. + Brave Admiral, speak; what shall I say?" + "Why say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'" + + "My men grow mutinous day by day; + My men grow ghastly wan and weak." + The stout mate thought of home; a spray + Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. + "What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, + If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" + "Why you shall say at break of day, + 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'" + + They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, + Until at last the blanched mate said: + "Why, now not even God would know + Should I and all my men fall dead. + These very winds forget their way, + For God from these dread seas is gone, + Now speak, brave Admiral; speak and say"-- + He said, "Sail on! sail on! and on!" + + They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: + "This mad sea shows its teeth to-night. + He curls his lips, he lies in wait + With lifted teeth, as if to bite! + Brave Admiral, say but one good word; + What shall we do when hope is gone?" + The words leapt like a leaping sword: + "Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!" + + Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, + And peered through darkness. Ah, that night + Of all dark nights! And then a speck-- + A light! A light! A light! A light! + It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! + It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. + He gained a world; he gave that world + Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!" + +--Joaquin Miller. + +Copyrighted and published by The Whitaker & Ray Wiggin Co. San Francisco, +California. Used by permission. + + + + +A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES + + +CHAPTER I + +THE NEW WORLD FOUND + + +The New World, of which our country is the most important part, was +discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. When that great man set sail +from Spain on his voyage of discovery, he was seeking not only unknown +lands, but a new way to eastern Asia. Such a new way was badly needed. + +THE ROUTES OF TRADE.--Long before Columbus was born, the people of Europe +had been trading with the far East. Spices, drugs, and precious stones, +silks, and other articles of luxury were brought, partly by vessels and +partly by camels, from India, the Spice Islands, and Cathay (China) by +various routes to Constantinople and the cities in Egypt and along the +eastern shore of the Mediterranean. There they were traded for the copper, +tin, and lead, coral, and woolens of Europe, and then carried to Venice +and Genoa, whence merchants spread them over all Europe. [1] The merchants +of Genoa traded chiefly with Constantinople, and those of Venice with +Egypt. + +THE TURKS SEIZE THE ROUTES OF TRADE.--While this trade was at its height, +Asia Minor (from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean) was conquered by the +Turks, the caravan routes across that country were seized, and when +Constantinople was captured (in 1453), the trade of Genoa was ruined. +Should the Turkish conquests be extended southward to Egypt (as later they +were), the prosperity of Venice would likewise be destroyed, and all +existing trade routes to the Orient would be in Turkish hands. + +[Illustration: THE KNOWN WORLD IN 1490; ROUTES TO INDIA.] + +THE PORTUGUESE SEEK A NEW ROUTE.--Clearly an ocean route to the East was +needed, and on the discovery of such a route the Portuguese had long been +hard at work. Fired by a desire to expand Portugal and add to the +geographical knowledge of his day, Prince Henry "the Navigator" sent out +explorer after explorer, who, pushing down the coast of Africa, had almost +reached the equator before Prince Henry died. [2] His successors continued +the good work, the equator was crossed, and in 1487 Dias passed the Cape +of Good Hope and sailed eastward till his sailors mutinied. Ten years +later Vasco da Gama sailed around the end of Africa, up the east coast, +and on to India, and brought home a cargo of eastern products. A way to +India by water was at last made known to Europe. [3] + +[Illustration: A CARAVEL, A SHIP OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.] + +COLUMBUS PLANS A ROUTE.--Meanwhile Christopher Columbus [4] planned what +he thought would be a shorter ocean route to the East. He had studied all +that was known of geography in his time. He had carefully noted the +results of recent voyages of exploration. He had read the travels of Marco +Polo [5] and had learned that off the coast of China was a rich and +wonderful island which Polo called Cipango. He believed that the earth is +a sphere, and that China and Cipango could be reached by sailing about +2500 miles due westward across the Atlantic. + +COLUMBUS SEEKS AID.--To make others think so was a hard task, for nearly +everybody believed the earth to be flat, and several sovereigns were +appealed to before one was found bold enough to help him. He first applied +to the king of Portugal, and when that failed, to the king and queen of +Spain. [6] When they seemed deaf to his appeal, he sent his brother to +England, and at last, wearied with waiting, set off for France. Then Queen +Isabella of Spain was persuaded to act. Columbus was recalled, [7] ships +were provided with which to make the voyage, and on Friday, the 3d of +August, 1492, the _Santa Maria_ (sahn'tah mah-ree'ah), the _Pinta_ +(peen'tah), and the _Niņa_ (neen'yah) set sail from Palos (pah'los), on +one of the greatest voyages ever made by men. [8] + +[Illustration: THE COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA.] + +THE VOYAGE WESTWARD.--The little fleet went first to the Canary Islands +and thence due west across the Sea of Darkness, as the Atlantic was +called. The voyage was delightful, but every sight and sound was a source +of new terror to the sailors. An eruption of a volcano at the Canaries was +watched with dread as an omen of evil. They crossed the line of no +magnetic variation, and when the needle of the compass began to change its +usual direction, they were sure it was bewitched. They entered the great +Sargasso Sea and were frightened out of their wits by the strange expanse +of floating vegetation. They entered the zone of the trade winds, and as +the breeze, day after day, steadily wafted them westward, the boldest +feared it would be impossible to return. When a mirage and flights of +strange birds raised hopes that were not promptly realized, the sailors +were sure they had entered an enchanted realm. [9] + +[Illustration: SEA MONSTERS DRAWN ON OLD MAPS.] + +LAND DISCOVERED.--Columbus, who was above such fear, explained the unusual +sights, calmed the fears of the sailors, hid from them the true distance +sailed, [10] and steadily pursued his way till unmistakable signs of land +were seen. A staff carved by hand and a branch with berries on it floated +by. Excitement now rose high, and a reward was promised to the man who +first saw land. At last, on the night of October 11, Columbus beheld a +light moving as if carried by hand along a shore. A few hours later a +sailor on the _Pinta_ saw land distinctly, and soon all beheld, a few +miles away, a long, low beach. [11] + +[Illustration: ANCIENT VIKING SHIP FOUND BURIED IN NORWAY.] + +THE VOYAGE AMONG THE ISLANDS.--Columbus thought he had found one of the +islands of the Indies, as the southern and eastern parts of Asia were +called. Dressed in scarlet and gold and followed by a band of his men +bearing banners, he landed, fell on his knees, and having given thanks to +God, took possession for Spain and called the island San Salvador (sahn +sahl-va-dor'), which means Holy Savior. The day was October 12, 1492, and +the island was one of the Bahamas. [12] + +After giving red caps, beads, and trinkets to the natives who crowded +about him, Columbus set sail to explore the group and presently came in +sight of the coast of Cuba, which he at first thought was Cipango. Sailing +eastward, landing now and then to seek for gold, he reached the eastern +end of Cuba, and soon beheld the island of Haiti; this so reminded him of +Spain that he called it Hispaniola, or Little Spain. + +THE FIRST SPANISH COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD.--When off the Cuban shore, the +_Pinta_ deserted Columbus. On the coast of Haiti the _Santa Maria_ was +wrecked. To carry all his men back to Spain in the little _Nina_ was +impossible. Such, therefore, as were willing were left at Haiti, and +founded La Navidad, the first colony of Europeans in the New World. [13] +This done, Columbus sailed for home, taking with him ten natives, and +specimens of the products of the lands he had discovered. + +THE VOYAGE HOME.--The _Pinta_ was overtaken off the Haitian coast, but a +dreadful storm parted the ships once more, and neither again saw the +other till the day when, but a few hours apart, they dropped anchor in the +haven of Palos, whence they had sailed seven months before. As the news +spread, the people went wild with joy. The journey of Columbus to +Barcelona was a triumphal procession. At Barcelona he was received with +great ceremony by the king and queen, and soon afterward was sent back +with many ships and men to found a colony and make further explorations in +the Indies. + +[Illustration: THE WEST INDIES--SHOWING THE DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS.] + +OTHER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS.--In all Columbus made four voyages to the New +World. On the second (1493) he discovered Porto Rico, Jamaica, and other +islands. On the third (1498) he saw the mainland of South America at the +mouth of the Orinoco River. [14] On the fourth (1502-4) he sailed along +the shores of Central America. Returning to Spain, he died poor, +neglected, and broken-hearted in 1506. [15] + +COLUMBUS BELIEVED HE REACHED THE INDIES.--To his dying day Columbus was +ignorant of the fact that he had led the way to a new continent. He +supposed he had reached the Indies. The lands he discovered were therefore +spoken of as the Indies, and their inhabitants were called Indians, a name +given in time to the copper-colored natives of both North and South +America. + +SPAIN'S CLAIM TO NEW-FOUND LANDS.--One of the first results of the +discoveries of Columbus was an appeal to the Pope for a bull securing to +Spain the heathen lands discovered; for a bull had secured to Portugal the +discoveries of her mariners along the coast of Africa. Pope Alexander VI +accordingly drew a north and south line one hundred leagues west of the +Cape Verde Islands, and gave to Spain all she might discover to the west +of it, reserving to Portugal all she might discover to the east. A year +later (1494) Spain and Portugal by treaty moved the "Line of Demarcation" +to three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands (map, +p. 20), and on this agreement, approved by the Pope, Spain rested her +claim to America. + + +SUMMARY + +1. For many centuries before the discovery of America, Europe had been +trading with the far East. + +2. The routes of this trade were being closed by the Turks. + +3. Columbus believed a new route could be found by sailing due westward +from Europe. + +4. After many years of fruitless effort to secure aid to test his plan, he +obtained help from Spain. + +5. On his first voyage westward Columbus discovered the Bahama Islands, +Cuba, and Haiti; on his later voyages, various other lands about the +Caribbean Sea. + +6. In the belief that he had reached the Indies, the lands Columbus found +were called the Indies, and their inhabitants Indians. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] In the Middle Ages, when food was coarse and cookery poor, cinnamon +and cloves, nutmeg and mace, allspice, ginger, and pepper were highly +prized for spicing ale or seasoning food. But all these spices were very +expensive in Europe because they had to be brought so far from the distant +East. Even pepper, which is now used by every one, was then a fit gift +from one king to another. Camphor and rhubarb, indigo, musk, sandalwood, +Brazil wood, aloes wood, all came from the East. Muslin and damask bear +the names of eastern cities whence they were first obtained. In the +fifteenth century the churches, palaces, manor houses, and homes of rich +merchants were adorned with the rugs and carpets of the East. + +[2] Prince Henry was the fourth son of John I, king of Portugal. In 1419 +he established his home on Cape St. Vincent, gathered about him a body of +trained seamen, and during forty years sent out almost every year an +exploring expedition. His pilots discovered the Azores and the Madeira +Islands. He died in 1460. His great work was training seamen. Many men +afterward famous as discoverers and navigators, as Dias (dee'ahss), Da +Gama (dah gah'ma), Cabral (ca-brahl'), Magellan, and Columbus, served +under Henry or his successors. + +In those days there were neither steamships nor such sailing vessels as we +have. For purposes of exploration the caravel was used. It was from 60 to +100 feet long, and from 18 to 25 feet broad, and had three masts from the +heads of which were swung great sails. Much of the steering was done by +turning these sails. Yet it was in such little vessels that some of the +most famous voyages in history were made. + +[3] These voyages were possible because of the great progress which had +recently been made in the art of navigation. The magnetic compass enabled +seamen to set their course when the sun and stars could not be seen. The +astrolabe (picture, p. 35) made it possible roughly to estimate distances +from the equator, or latitude. These instruments enabled mariners to go on +long voyages far from land. Read the account of the Portuguese voyages in +Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. I, pp. 294-334. + +[4] Christopher Columbus was a native of Genoa, Italy, where he was born +about 1436. He was the son of a wool comber. At fourteen he began a +seafaring life, and between voyages made charts and globes. About 1470 he +wandered to Portugal, went on one or two voyages down the African coast, +and on another (1477) went as far north as Iceland. Meantime (1473) he +married a Portuguese woman and made his home at the Madeira Islands; and +it was while living there that he formed the plan of finding a new route +to the far East. + +[5] In 1271 Marco Polo, then a lad of seventeen, was taken by his father +and uncle from Venice to the coast of Persia, and thence overland to +northwestern China, to a city where Kublai Khan held his court. They were +well received, and Marco spent many years making journeys in the khan's +service. In 1292 they were sent to escort a royal bride for the khan from +Peking (in China) to Tabriz, a city in Persia. They sailed from China in +1292, reached the Persian coast in 1294, and arrived safely at Tabriz, +whence they returned to Venice in 1295. In 1298 Marco was captured in a +war with Genoa, and spent about a year in prison. While thus confined he +prepared an account of his travels, one of the most famous books of the +Middle Ages. He described China (or Cathay, as it was then called), with +its great cities teeming with people, its manufactures, and its wealth, +told of Tibet and Burma, the Indian Archipelago with its spice islands, of +Java and Sumatra, of Hindustan,--all from personal knowledge. From hearsay +he told of Japan. In the course of the next seventy-five years other +travelers found their way to Cathay and wrote about it. Thus before 1400 +Europe had learned of a great ocean to the east of Cathay, and of a +wonderful island kingdom, Cipan'go (Japan), which lay off its coast. All +this deeply interested Columbus, and his copy of Marco Polo may still be +seen with its margins full of annotations. + +[6] These sovereigns were just then engaged in the final struggle for the +expulsion of the Moors from Spain, so they referred the appeal to the +queen's confessor, who laid it before a body of learned men. This council +of Salamanca made sport of the idea, and tried to prove that Columbus was +wrong. If the world were round, they said, people on the other side must +walk with their heads down, which was absurd. And if a ship should sail to +the undermost part, how could it come back? Could a ship sail up hill? + +[7] On the way to France Columbus stopped, by good luck, at the monastery +of La Rabida (lah rah'bee-dah), and so interested the prior, Juan Perez +(hoo-ahn' pa'rath), in his scheme, that a messenger was sent to beg an +interview for Perez with the queen of Spain. It was granted, and so well +did Perez plead the cause of his friend that Columbus was summoned to +court. The reward Columbus demanded for any discoveries he might make +seemed too great, and was refused. Thereupon, mounting his mule, he again +set off for France. Scarcely had he started when the royal treasurer +rushed into the presence of the queen and persuaded her to send a +messenger to bring Columbus back. Then his terms were accepted. He was to +be admiral of all the islands and countries he might discover, and have a +part of all the gems, gold, and silver found in them. + +[8] The vessels were no larger than modern yachts. The _Santa Maria_ +was single-decked and ninety feet long. The Pinta and Niņa (picture, p. +11) were smaller caravels, and neither was decked amidships. In 1893 +reproductions of the three vessels, full size and as exact as possible, +were sent across the sea by Spain, and exhibited at the World's Fair in +Chicago. + +[9] The ideas of geography held by the unlearned of those days are very +curious to us. They believed that near the equator was a fiery zone where +the sea boiled and no life existed; that hydras, gorgons, chimeras, and +all sorts of horrid monsters inhabited the Sea of Darkness; and that in +the Indian Ocean was a lodestone mountain that could draw nails out of +ships. Because of the way in which ships disappeared below the horizon, it +was believed that they went down hill, and that if they went too far they +could never get back. + +[10] The object of Columbus was not to let the sailors know how far they +were from home. + +[11] Columbus was not the first European to reach the New World. About six +hundred years earlier, Vikings from Norway settled in Iceland, and from +the Icelandic chronicles we learn that about 986 A.D. Eric the Red planted +a colony in Greenland. His son, Leif Ericsson, about 1000 A.D., led a +party south-westward to a stony country which was probably the coast of +Labrador or Newfoundland. Going on southward, they came at last to a spot +where wild grapes grew. To this spot, probably on the New England coast, +Leif gave the name Vinland, spent the winter there, and in the spring went +back to Greenland with a load of timber. The next year Leif's brother +sailed to Vinland and passed two winters there. In later years others +went, but none remained long, and the land was soon forgotten. Iceland and +Greenland were looked upon as part of Europe; and the Vikings' discoveries +had no influence on Columbus and the explorers who followed him. Read +Fiske's _Discovery of America_ Vol. I, pp. 148-255; and Longfellow's +_Skeleton in Armor_. + +[12] Nobody knows just which of the Bahamas Columbus discovered. Three of +the group--Cat, Turks and Watling--each claim the honor. At present +Watling is believed to have been San Salvador. A good account of the +voyage is given in Irving's _Life and Voyages of Columbus_, Vol. I, +Book iii, and in Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. I, pp. 408-442. + +[13] When Columbus on his second voyage returned to Hispaniola, he found +that every one of the forty colonists had perished. They had been killed +by the natives. + +[14] Despite the great thing he did for Spain. Columbus lost favor at +court. Evil men slandered him; his manner of governing the new lands was +falsely represented to the king and queen; a new governor was sent out, +and Columbus was brought back in chains. Though soon released, he was +never restored to his rights. + +[15] Columbus was buried at Valladolid, in Spain, but in 1513 his body was +taken to a monastery at Seville. There it remained till 1536, when it was +carried to Santo Domingo in Haiti. In 1796 it was removed and buried with +imposing ceremonies at Havana in Cuba. In 1898, when Spain was driven from +Cuba, his bones were carried back to Seville. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE PACIFIC DISCOVERED + + +THE ATLANTIC COAST LINE EXPLORED.--Columbus having shown the way, English, +Spanish, and Portuguese explorers followed. Some came in search of China +or the Spice Islands; some were in quest of gold and pearls. The result +was the exploration of the Atlantic coast line from Labrador to the end of +South America. + +SOME FAMOUS VOYAGES.--In 1497 John Cabot, sailing from England, reached +Newfoundland, which he believed to be part of China. [1] In 1498 John +Cabot and his son Sebastian, while in search of the Spice Islands, sailed +along the coast from Newfoundland to what is now South Carolina. [2] + +[Illustration: RECORD OF PAYMENT OF JOHN CABOT'S PENSION FOR 1499. [3] +Photographed from the original accounts of the Bristol customs collectors, +now in Westminster Abbey, London.] + +[Illustration: DISCOVERY ON THE EAST COAST OF AMERICA.] + +Before 1500 Spaniards in search of gold, or pearls, or new lands had +explored the coast line from Central America to Cape St. Roque. [4] + +In 1500 Cabral, while on his way from Portugal to India by Da Gama's route +(p. 11), sailed so far westward that he sighted the coast of the country +now called Brazil. Cabral went on his way; but sent back a ship to the +king of Portugal with the news that the new-found land lay east of the +Line of Demarcation. The king dispatched (1501) an expedition which +explored the coast southward nearly as far as the mouth of the Plata +River. + +SOME RESULTS OF THESE VOYAGES.--The results of these voyages were many and +important. They furnished a better knowledge of the coast; they proved the +existence of a great mass of land called the New World, but still supposed +to be a part of Asia; they secured Brazil for Portugal, and led to the +naming of our continent. + +WHY THE NEW WORLD WAS CALLED AMERICA.--In the party sent by the king of +Portugal to explore the coast of Brazil, was an Italian named Amerigo +Vespucci (ah-ma'ree-go ves-poot'chee), or Americus Vespucius, who had +twice before visited the coast of South America. Of these three voyages +and of a fourth Vespucius wrote accounts, They were widely read, led to +the belief that he had discovered a new or fourth part of the world, and +caused a German professor of geography to suggest that this fourth part +should be called America. The name was applied first to what is now +Brazil, then to all South America, and finally also to North America, when +it was found, long afterward, that North America was part of the new +continent and not part of Asia. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST PRINTED SUGGESTION OF THE NAME AMERICA. [5] Part +of a page from Waldseemüller's book _Cosmographie Introductio_, printed in +1507, now in the Lenox Library, New York.] + +BALBOA DISCOVERS THE PACIFIC.--The man who led the way to the discovery +that America was not part of Asia was Balbo'a. [6] He came to the eastern +border of Panama (1510) with a band of Spaniards seeking gold. There they +founded the town of Darien and in time made Balboa their commander. He +married the daughter of a chief, made friends with the Indians, and heard +from them of a great body of water across the mountains. This he +determined to see, and in 1513, with Indian guides and a party of +Spaniards, made his way through dense and tangled forests and from the +summit of a mountain looked down on the Pacific Ocean, which he called the +South Sea. Four days later, standing on the shore, he waited till the +rising tide came rolling in, and then rushing into the water, sword in +hand, he took possession of the ocean in the name of Spain. [7] + +[Illustration: SPANISH HELMET AND SHIRT OF MAIL FOUND IN MEXICO. +Now in Essex Hall, Salem, Mass.] + +THE PACIFIC CROSSED; THE PHILIPPINES DISCOVERED.--The Portuguese meantime, +by sailing around Africa, had reached the Spice Islands. So far beyond +India were these islands that the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan +took up the old idea of Columbus, and maintained that they could be most +easily reached by sailing west. To this proposition the king of Portugal +would not listen; so Magellan persuaded the king of Spain to let him try; +and in 1519 set sail with five small ships. He crossed the Atlantic to the +mouth of the Plata, and went south till storms and cold drove him into +winter quarters. [8] In August, 1520 (early spring in the southern +hemisphere), he went on his way and entered the strait which now bears his +name. One of the ships had been wrecked. In the strait another stole away +and went home. The three remaining vessels passed safely through, and out +into an ocean so quiet compared with the stormy Atlantic that Magellan +called it the Pacific. Across this the explorers sailed for five months +before they came to a group of islands which Magellan called the Ladrones +(Spanish for _robbers_) because the natives were so thievish. [9] Ten +days later they reached another group, afterward named the Philippines. +[10] + +On one of these islands Magellan and many of his men were slain. [11] Two +of the ships then went southward to the Spice Islands, where they loaded +with spices. One now started for Panama, but was forced to return. The +other sailed around Africa, and in 1522 reached Spain in safety. It had +sailed around the world. The surviving captain was greatly honored. The +king ennobled him, and on his coat of arms was a globe with the motto "You +first sailed around me." + +[Illustration: MAGELLAN'S SHIP THAT SAILED AROUND THE WORLD.] + +RESULTS OF THE VOYAGE.--Of all the voyages ever made by man up to that +time, this of Magellan and his men was the greatest. It gave positive +proof that the earth is a sphere. It revealed the vast width of the +Pacific. It showed that America was probably not a part of Asia, and +changed the geographical ideas of the time. [12] + +THE COAST OF FLORIDA EXPLORED.--What meantime had happened along the coast +of North America? In 1513 Ponce de Leon [13] (pon'tha da la-on'), a +Spaniard, sailed northwest from Porto Rico in search of an island which +the Indians told him contained gold, and in which he believed was a +fountain or stream whose waters would restore youth to the old. In the +season of Easter, or Pascua Florida, he came upon a land which he called +Florida. Ponce supposed he had found an island, and following the coast +southward went round the peninsula and far up the west coast before going +back to Porto Rico. [14] + +[Illustration: SPANISH EXPLORATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA TO 1600.] + +THE GULF COAST EXPLORED.--In 1519 another Spaniard, Pineda (pe-na'da), +sailed along the Gulf coast from Florida to Mexico. On the way he entered +the mouth of a broad river which he named River of the Holy Spirit. It was +long supposed that this river was the Mississippi; but it is now claimed +to have been the Mobile. Whatever it was, Pineda spent six weeks in its +waters, saw many Indian towns on its banks, traded with the natives, and +noticed that they wore gold ornaments. + +THE EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ.--Pineda's story of Indians with gold ornaments +so excited Narvaez (nar-vah'eth) that he obtained leave to conquer the +country, and sailed from Cuba with four hundred men. Landing on the west +coast of Florida, he made a raid inland. When he returned to the coast the +ships which were sailing about watching for him were nowhere to be seen. +After marching westward for a month the Spaniards built five small boats, +put to sea, and sailing near the shore came presently to where the waters +of the Mississippi rush into the Gulf. Two boats were upset by the surging +waters. The others reached the coast beyond, where all save four of the +Spaniards perished. + +FOUR SPANIARDS CROSS THE CONTINENT.--After suffering great hardships and +meeting with all sorts of adventures among the Indians, the four +survivors, led by Cabeza de Vaca (ca-ba'tha da vah'ca), walked across what +is now Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico to a little Spanish town +near the Pacific coast. They had crossed the continent. [15] + +NEW MEXICO EXPLORED.--Cabeza de Vaca had wonderful tales to relate of +"hunchback cows," as he called the buffalo, and of cities in the interior +where gold and silver were plentiful and where the doorways were studded +with precious stones. [16] Excited by these tales, the Spanish viceroy of +Mexico sent Fray Marcos to gather further information. [17] Aided by the +Indians, Marcos made his way over the desert and came at last to the +"cities," which were only the pueblos of the Zuņi (zoo'nyee) Indians in +New Mexico. The pueblos were houses several stories high, built of stone +or of sun-dried brick, and each large enough for several hundred Indians +to live in. But Marcos merely saw them at a distance, for one of his +followers who went in advance was killed by the Zuņi, whereupon Marcos +fled back to Mexico. + +[Illustration: PUEBLO, WOODEN PLOW, AND OX CART.] + +THE SPANIARDS REACH KANSAS.--Marcos's reports about the seven cities of +Cibola (see'bo-la), as he called them, aroused great interest, and +Corona'do was sent with an army to conquer them. Marching up the east +coast of the Gulf of California and across Arizona, Coronado came at last +to the pueblos and captured them one by one. He found no gold, but did see +doorways studded with the green stones of the Rocky Mountains. Much +disappointed, he pushed on eastward, and during two years wandered about +over the plains of our great Southwest and probably reached the center of +what is now Kansas. [18] + +DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI.--As Coronado was making his way home, an +Indian woman escaped from his army, and while wandering about fell in with +a band of Spaniards belonging to the army of De Soto. [19] + +De Soto, as governor of Cuba, had been authorized to conquer and hold all +the territory that had been discovered by Narvaez. He set out accordingly +in 1539, landed an army at Tampa Bay, and spent three years in wandering +over Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. In the spring of 1542 he +crossed the Mississippi River and entered Arkansas, and it was there that +one of his bands met the Indian woman who escaped from Coronado's army. In +Arkansas De Soto died of fever, and was buried in the Mississippi River. +His followers then built a few boats, floated down the river to the Gulf, +and following the coast of Texas came finally to the Spanish settlements +in Mexico. + +THE FRENCH ON THE COAST.--Far to the northeast explorers of another +European nation by this time were seeking a foothold. When John Cabot came +home from his first voyage to the Newfoundland coast, he told such tales +of cod fisheries thereabouts, that three small ships set sail from England +to catch fish and trade with the natives of the new-found isle. Portuguese +and Frenchmen followed, and year after year visited the Newfoundland +fisheries. No serious attempt was made to settle the island. What Europe +wanted was a direct westward passage through America to Cathay. This John +Verrazano, an Italian sailing under the flag of France, attempted to find, +and came to what is now the coast of North Carolina. There Verrazano +turned northward, entered several bays along the coast, sailed by the +rock-bound shores of Maine, and when off Newfoundland steered for France. + +THE FRENCH ON THE ST. LAWRENCE.--Verrazano was followed (1534) by Jacques +Cartier (zhak car-tya'), also in search of a passage to Cathay. Reaching +Newfoundland (map, p. 114), Cartier passed through the strait to the north +of it, and explored a part of the gulf to the west. A year later he came +again, named the gulf St. Lawrence, and entered the St. Lawrence River, +which he thought was a strait leading to China. Up this river he sailed +till stopped by the rapids which he named Lachine (Chinese). Near by was a +high hill which he called Mont Real (re-ahl'), or Mount Royal. At its base +now stands the city of Montreal. [20] From this place the French went back +to a steep cliff where now stands the city of Quebec, and, it is believed, +spent the winter there. The winter was a terrible one, and when the ice +left the river they returned to France (1536). + +[Illustration: INDIAN LONG HOUSE.] + +Not discouraged, Cartier (1541) came a third time to plant a colony on the +river. But hunger, mutiny, and the severity of the winter brought the +venture to naught. [21] + +NO SETTLEMENTS IN OUR COUNTRY.--From the first voyage of Columbus to the +expeditions of De Soto, Coronado, and Cartier, fifty years had passed. The +coast of the new continent had been roughly explored as far north as +Labrador on the east and California on the west. The Spaniards in quest of +gold and silver mines had conquered and colonized the West Indies, Mexico, +and parts of South America. Yet not a settlement had been made in our +country. Many rivers and bays had been discovered; two great expeditions +had gone into the interior; but there were no colonies on the mainland of +what is now the United States. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The voyage of Columbus led to many other voyages, prompted chiefly by a +hope of finding gold. They resulted in the exploration of the coast of +America, and may be grouped according to the parts explored, as follows:-- + +2. The Atlantic coast of North America was explored (1497-1535) by Cabot +(for England)--from Newfoundland to South Carolina. Ponce de Leon (for +Spain)--peninsula of Florida. Verrazano (for France)--from North Carolina +to Newfoundland. Cartier (for France)--Gulf of St. Lawrence. + +3. The Gulf and Caribbean coasts of North America were explored (1502- +1528) for Spain by Columbus--Central America. Ponce de Leon--west coast of +Florida. Pineda--from Florida to Mexico. Narvaez expedition--from Florida +to Texas. + +4. The Atlantic coast of South America was explored (1498-1520) by +Columbus--mouth of the Orinoco. Other explorers for Spain--whole northern +coast. Cabral (for Portugal)--part of eastern coast. Vespucius (for +Portugal)--eastern coast nearly to the Plata River. Magellan (for Spain)-- +to the Strait of Magellan. + +5. The Pacific coast of America was explored (1513-1542) for Spain by +Balboa--part of Panama. Magellan--part of the southwest coast. Pizarro +(note, p. 23)--from Panama to Peru. Cabrillo (note, p. 28)--from Mexico up +the coast of California. + +6. The Spaniards early established colonies in the West Indies, South +America, and Mexico; but fifty years after Columbus's discovery there was +no settlement of Europeans in the mainland part of the United States. +Several Spanish expeditions, however, had explored (1534-1542) large parts +of the interior:--Cabeza de Vaca and his companions walked from Texas to +western Mexico, Coronado wandered from Mexico to Kansas. De Soto wandered +from Florida beyond the Mississippi River. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] This discovery made a great stir in Bristol, the port from which Cabot +sailed. A letter written at the time states, "Honors are heaped upon +Cabot. He is called Grand Admiral, he is dressed in silk, and the English +run after him like madmen." The king gave him Ģ10 and a pension of Ģ20 a +year. A pound sterling in those days was in purchasing power quite the +equal of fifty dollars in our time. + +[2] These voyages of Cabot were not followed up at the time. But in the +days of Queen Elizabeth, more than eighty years later, they were made the +basis of the English claim to a part of North America. + +[3] Bristoll--Arthurus Kemys et Ricardus ap. Meryke collectores custumarum +et subsidiorum regis ibidem a festo Sancti Michaelis Archangeli anno XIIII +mo Regis nunc usque idem festum Sancti Michaelis tunc proximo sequens +reddunt computum de MCCCCXXIIII li. VII S. x d. quadr. De quibus.... Item +in thesauro in una tallia pro Johanne Cabot, xx li. Translation: "Bristol +--Arthur Kemys and Richard ap Meryke, collectors of the king's customs and +subsidies there, from Michaelmas in the fourteenth year of this king's +reign [Henry VII] till the same feast next following render their account +of Ģ1424 7_s._ 10-1/4_d._.... In the treasury is one tally for John Cabot, +Ģ20." + +[4] On one of these voyages the Spaniards saw an Indian village built over +the water on piles, with bridges joining the houses. This so reminded them +of Venice that they called it Venezuela (little Venice), a name afterward +applied to a vast extent of country. + +[5] "But now these parts [Europe, Asia, and Africa] have been more widely +explored, and another fourth part has been discovered by Americus +Vespucius (as will appear in the following pages); so I do not see why any +one should rightly object to calling it Amerige or America, i.e. land of +Americus, after its discoverer Americus, a man of sagacious mind--since +both Europe and Asia are named after women. Its situation and the ways of +its people may be clearly understood from the four voyages of Americus +which follow." + +[6] Vasco Nuņez de Balboa had come from Spain to Haiti and settled down as +a planter, but when (1510) an expedition was about to sail for South +America to plant a colony near Panama, Balboa longed to join it. He was in +debt; so lest his creditors should prevent his going, he had himself +nailed up in a barrel and put on board one of the ships with the +provisions. + +[7] In the course of expeditions along the eastern coast of Mexico, the +Spaniards heard of a mighty king, Montezuma, who ruled many cities in the +interior and had great stores of gold. In 1519 Cor'tes landed with 450 men +and a few horses, sank his ships, and began inland one of the most +wonderful marches in all history. The account of the great things which he +did, of the marvelous cities he conquered, of the strange and horrible +sights he saw, reads like fiction. Six days after reaching the city of +Mexico, he seized Montezuma and made himself the real ruler of the +country; but later the Mexicans rose against him and he had to conquer +them by hard fighting. Read the story of the conquest as briefly told in +Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. II, pp. 245-293. + +The Spaniards also heard rumors of a golden kingdom to the southward where +the Incas ruled. After preliminary voyages of exploration Francisco +Pizarro sailed from Panama in 1531 with 200 men and 50 horses to conquer +Peru. Landing on the coast he marched inland to the camp of the Inca, a +young man who had just seized the throne. The sight of the white strangers +clad in shining armor, wielding thunder and lightning (firearms), and +riding unearthly beasts (horses were unknown to the Indians), caused +wonder and dread in Peru as it had in Mexico. The Inca was made prisoner +and hundreds of his followers were killed. He offered to fill his prison +room with gold as high as he could reach if Pizarro would set him free; +the offer was accepted and in 1533 some $15,000,000 in gold was divided +among the conquerors. The Inca, however, was put to death, and the +Spaniards took possession of the whole country. + +[8] None of Magellan's vessels were as large as the _Santa Maria_, and +three were smaller than the _Niņa_. The sailors demanded that Magellan +return to Spain. When he refused, the captains and crews of three +ships mutinied, and were put down with difficulty. + +[9] Guam, which now belongs to our country, is one of the Ladrones. + +[10] The Spaniards took possession of the Philippines a few years later, +and in 1571 founded Manila. The group was named after Philip II of Spain. +In 1555 a Spanish navigator discovered the Hawaiian Islands; but though +they were put down on the early Spanish charts, the Spaniards did not take +possession of them. Indeed, these islands were practically forgotten, and +two centuries passed before they were rediscovered by the English +explorer, Captain Cook, in 1778. + +[11] Magellan was a very religious man, and after making an alliance with +the king of the island of Cebu, he set about converting the natives to +Christianity. The king, greatly impressed by the wonders the white man +did, consented. A bonfire was lighted, the idols were thrown in, a cross +was set up, and the natives were baptized. This done, the king called on +Magellan to help him attack the chief of a neighboring island; but in the +attack Magellan was killed and his men put to flight. This defeat so +angered the king that he invited thirty Spaniards to a feast, massacred +them, cut down the cross, and again turned pagan. + +[12] Read the account in Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. II, pp. +190-211. + +[13] Juan Ponce de Leon had sailed with Columbus on his second voyage, and +had settled in Haiti. Hearing that there was gold in Porto Rico, he +explored it for Spain, in 1509 was made its governor, and in 1511 founded +the city of San Juan (sahn hoo-ahn'). After he was removed from the +governorship, he obtained leave to search for the island of Bimini. + +[14] He now obtained authority to colonize the supposed island; but +several years passed before he was ready to make the attempt. He then set +off with arms, tools, horses, and two hundred men, landed on the west +coast of Florida, lost many men in a fight with the Indians, and received +a wound of which he died soon after in Cuba. + +[15] The story of this remarkable march across the continent is told in +_The Spanish Pioneers_, by C. F. Lummis. + +[16] There was a tradition in Europe that when the Arabs conquered Spain +in the eighth century, a certain bishop with a goodly following fled to +some islands far out in the Sea of Darkness and founded seven cities. When +the Spaniards came in contact with the Indians of Mexico, they were told +of seven caves from which the ancestors of the natives had issued, and +jumped to the conclusion that the seven caves were the seven cities; and +when Cabeza de Vaca came with his story of the wonderful cities of the +north, it was believed that they were the towns built by the bishop. + +[17] At an Indian village in Mexico, Marcos heard of a country to the +northward where there were seven cities with houses of two, three, and +four stories, and that of the chief with five. On the doorsills and +lintels of the best houses, he was told, were turquoise stones. + +[18] Read _The Spanish Pioneers_, by C. F. Lummis, pp. 77-88, 101-143. The +year that Coronado returned to Mexico (1542) an expedition under Cabrillo +(kah-breel'yo) coasted from Mexico along what is now California. Cabrillo +died in San Diego harbor. + +[19] Hernando de Soto was born about 1500 in Spain, and when of age went +to Panama and thence to Peru with Pizarro. In the conquest of Peru he so +distinguished himself that on returning to Spain he was made governor of +Cuba. + +[20] Landing on this spot, Cartier set forth to visit the great Indian +village of Hochelaga. He found it surrounded with a palisade of tree +trunks set in three rows. Entering the narrow gate, he beheld some fifty +long houses of sapling frames covered with bark, each containing many +fires, one for a family. From these houses came swarms of women and +children, who crowded about the visitors, touched their beards, and patted +their faces. Soon the warriors came and squatted row after row around the +French, for whom mats were brought and laid on the ground. This done, the +chief, a paralyzed old savage, was carried in, and Cartier was besought by +signs to heal him, and when Cartier had touched him, all the sick, lame, +and blind in the village were brought out for treatment. Read Parkman's +_Pioneers of France in the New World_, pp. 187-193. + +[21] As Cartier was on his way home he stopped at the harbor of St. Johns +in Newfoundland, a harbor then frequented by fishermen from the Old World. +There he was met by three ships and 200 colonists under Roberval, who +ordered him to return. But one night Cartier slipped away in the darkness. +Roberval went on to the site of Quebec and there planted his colony. What +became of it is not known; but that it did not last long is certain, and +many years passed before France repeated the attempt to gain a foothold on +the great river of Canada. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FRANCE AND ENGLAND ATTEMPT TO SETTLE AMERICA + + +THE FRENCH IN SOUTH CAROLINA.--After the failure in Canada twenty years +passed away before the French again attempted to colonize. Then (1562) +Admiral Coligny (co-leen'ye), the leader of the Huguenots, or Protestants +of France, sought to plant a colony in America for his persecuted +countrymen, and sent forth an expedition under Ribaut (ree-bo'). These +Frenchmen reached the coast of Florida, and turning northward came to a +haven which they called Port Royal. Here they built a fort in what is now +South Carolina. Leaving thirty men to hold it, Ribaut sailed for France. +Famine, homesickness, ignorance of life in a wilderness, soon brought the +colony to ruin. Unable to endure their hardships longer, the colonists +built a crazy boat, [1] put to sea, and when off the French coast were +rescued by an English vessel. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE SOUTH.] + +THE FRENCH IN FLORIDA.--Two years later (1564) Coligny tried again, and +sent forth a colony under Laudonničre (lo-do-ne-air'). It reached the +coast of Florida, and a few miles up the St. Johns River built a fort +called Caroline in honor of the French King Charles. The next year there +came more colonists under Ribaut. [2] + +[Illustration: FORT CAROLINE. From an old print.] + +THE SPANIARDS FOUND ST. AUGUSTINE.--Now it so happened that just at this +time a Spaniard named Menendez (ma-nen'deth) had obtained leave to conquer +and settle Florida. Before he could set off, news came to Spain that the +French were on the St. Johns River, and Menendez was sent with troops to +drive them out. He landed in Florida in 1565 and built a fort which was +the beginning of St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement on the +mainland part of the United States. Ribaut at once sailed to attack it. +But while he was at sea Menendez marched overland, took Fort Caroline, and +put to death every man there, save a few who made good their escape. [3] + +SPAIN HOLDS AMERICA.--More than seventy years had now parsed since +Columbus made his great voyage of discovery. Yet, save some Portuguese +settlements in Brazil, the only European colonies in America were Spanish. +From St. Augustine, around the Gulf of Mexico, down South America to the +Strait of Magellan and up the west coast to California, save the foothold +of Portugal, island and mainland belonged to Spain. And all the rest of +North America she claimed. + +ENGLISH ATTACKS ON SPAIN IN THE NEW WORLD.--So far in the sixteenth +century England had taken little or no part in the work of discovery, +exploration, and settlement. Her fishermen came to the Banks of +Newfoundland; but not till 1562, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, did the +contact of England with the New World really begin. Then it was that Sir +John Hawkins, one of England's great "sea kings," went to Africa, loaded +his ships with negroes, sold them to planters in Haiti, and came home with +hides and pearls. Such trade for one not a Spaniard was against the law of +Spain. But Hawkins cared not, arid came again and again. When foul weather +drove him into a Mexican port, the Spaniards sank most of his ships, but +Hawkins escaped with two vessels, in one of which was Francis Drake. [4] + +Smarting under defeat, Drake resolved to be avenged. Fitting out a little +squadron at his own cost, without leave of the queen, Drake (1572) sailed +to the Caribbean Sea, plundered Spanish towns along the coast, captured +Spanish ships, and went home loaded with gold, silver, and merchandise. +[5] + +DRAKE SAILS AROUND THE GLOBE.--During this raid on the Spanish coast Drake +marched across the Isthmus of Panama and looked down upon Balboa's great +South Sea. As he looked, he resolved to sail on it, and in 1577 left +England with five ships on what proved to be the greatest voyage since +that of Magellan. He crossed the Atlantic, sailed down the coast of South +America, and entered the Strait of Magellan. There four ships deserted, +but Drake went on alone up the west coast, plundering towns and capturing +Spanish vessels. To return the way he came would have been dangerous, for +Spanish cruisers lay in wait. Drake, therefore, went on up the coast in +search of a passage through the continent to the Atlantic. Coasting as far +as southern Oregon and finding no passage, Drake turned southward, entered +a harbor, repaired his ship, and then started westward across the Pacific. +He touched at the Philippines, visited the Spice Islands, came home by way +of the Cape of Good Hope, and won the glory of being the first Englishman +to sail around the globe. [6] + +[Illustration: DRAKE'S ASTROLABE. Now in Greenwich Hospital, London.] + +THE ENGLISH IN THE FAR NORTH.--While Drake was on his voyage around the +world, Martin Frob'isher discovered Hudson Strait, [7] and Sir Humphrey +Gilbert failed in an attempt to plant a colony somewhere in America. The +failure was disheartening. But the return of Drake laden with spoil +aroused new interest in America, and (in 1583) Gilbert led a colony to +Newfoundland. Disaster after disaster overtook him, and while he was on +his way home with two vessels (all that were left of five), one with +Gilbert on board went down at sea. [8] + +THE ENGLISH ON ROANOKE ISLAND.--The work of colonization then passed to +Sir Walter Raleigh, a half-brother of Gilbert. He began by sending out a +party of explorers who sailed along the coast of North Carolina and +brought back such a glowing description of the country that the queen +named it Virginia and Raleigh chose it for the site of a colony. [9] + +In 1585, accordingly, a party of men commanded by Ralph Lane were landed +on Roanoke Island (map, p. 44). But the site proved to be ill chosen, and +the Indians were hostile. The colonists were poorly fitted to live in a +wilderness, and were almost starving when Drake, who stopped at Roanoke +(1586) to see how they were getting on, carried them back to England. [10] + +[Illustration: RALEIGH'S PIPES.] + +THE LOST COLONY.--Not long after Drake sailed away with the colonists, a +party of recruits arrived with supplies. Finding the island deserted, +fifteen men remained to hold the place in the queen's name, and the rest +returned to England. Not disheartened by these reverses, Raleigh summoned +some men of influence to his aid, and (in 1587) sent out a third party of +settlers, both men and women, in charge of John White. This party was to +stop at Roanoke Island, pick up the fifteen men there, and then go on to +Chesapeake Bay. But for some reason the settlers were left on the island +by the convoy, and there they were forced to stay. [11] + +[Illustration: INDIANS IN A DUGOUT CANOE. Part of a drawing by John +White.] + +White very soon went back to England for help, in the only ship the +colonists had. War with Spain prevented his return for several years, and +then only the ruins of the settlement were found on the island. [12] + +[Illustration: ENGLISH DRESS, SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Contemporary portrait of +Raleigh and his son, by Zuccaro.] + +SPAIN ATTACKS ENGLAND.--The war which prevented White from promptly +returning to Roanoke began in 1585. The next year, with twenty-five ships, +Drake attacked the possessions of Spain in America, and burned and +plundered several towns. In 1587 he "singed the beard of the king of +Spain" by burning a hundred vessels in the harbor of the Spanish city of +Cadiz. + +Enraged by these defeats, King Philip II of Spain determined to invade +England and destroy that nest of sea rovers. A great fleet known as the +Invincible Armada, carrying thirty thousand men, was assembled and in 1588 +swept into the English channel. There the English, led by Raleigh, [13] +Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, Lane, and all the other great sea kings, met +the Armada, drove it into the North Sea, and captured, burned, and sank +many of the ships. The rest fled around Scotland, on whose coast more were +wrecked. Less than half the Armada returned to Spain. [14] + +THE ENGLISH EXPLORE THE NEW ENGLAND COAST.--The war lasted sixteen years +longer (till 1604). Though it delayed, it did not stop, attempts at +colonization. In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold, with a colony of thirty-two +men, sailed from England, saw the coast of Maine, turned southward, named +Cape Cod and the Elizabeth Islands, [15] and after a short stay went home. +The next year Martin Pring came with two vessels on an exploring and +trading voyage; and in 1605 George Weymouth was sent out, visited the +Kennebec River in Maine, and brought back a good report of the country. + +THE VIRGINIA CHARTER OF 1606.--Peace had now been made with Spain; England +had not been forced to stop her attempts to colonize in America; the +favorable reports of Gosnold, Pring, and Weymouth led to the belief that +colonies could be successfully planted; and in 1606 King James I chartered +two commercial companies to colonize Virginia, as the Atlantic seaboard +region was called. + +To the first or London Company was granted the right to plant a colony +anywhere along the coast between 34° and 41° of north latitude (between +Cape Fear River and the Hudson). To the second or Plymouth Company was +given the right to plant a colony anywhere between 38° and 45° (between +the Potomac River and the Bay of Fundy). Each company was to have a tract +of land one hundred miles square--fifty miles along the coast each way +from the first settlement and one hundred miles inland; and to prevent +overlapping, it was provided that the company last to settle should not +locate within one hundred miles of the other company's settlement. + +[Illustration: VIRGINIA.] + +THE COLONY ON THE KENNEBEC.--The charter having been granted, each company +set about securing emigrants. To get them was not difficult, for in +England at that day there were many people whose condition was so +desperate that they were glad to seek a new home beyond the sea. [16] In a +few months, therefore, the Plymouth Company sent out its first party of +colonists; but the ship was seized by the Spaniards. The next year (1607) +the company sent out one hundred or more settlers in two ships. They +landed in August at the mouth of the Kennebec River, and built a fort, a +church, a storehouse, and fifteen log cabins. These men were wholly unfit +for life in a wilderness, and in December about half went home in the +ships in which they came. The others passed a dismal winter, and when a +relief ship arrived in the spring, all went back, and the Plymouth +Company's attempt to colonize ended in failure. + +THE COLONY ON THE JAMES.--Meanwhile another band of Englishmen (one +hundred and forty-three in number) had been sent out by the London Company +to found a colony in what is now Virginia. They set sail in December, +1606, in three ships under Captain Newport, and in April, 1607, reached +the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. Sailing westward across the bay, the ships +entered a river which was named the James in honor of the king, and on the +bank of this river the party landed and founded Jamestown (map, p. 44). +With this event began the permanent occupation of American soil by +Englishmen. At this time, more than a hundred years after the voyages of +Columbus, the only other European settlers on the Atlantic coast of the +United States were the Spaniards in Florida. + +[Illustration: RUINS AT JAMESTOWN. Church tower as it looks to-day.] + + +SUMMARY + +1. The Huguenots tried to found French colonies on the coast of South +Carolina (1562) and of Florida (1564); but both attempts failed. + +2. In 1565 all America, save Brazil, either was in Spanish hands, or was +claimed by Spain and not yet occupied. + +3. During the next twenty years English sailors began to fight Spaniards, +Drake sailed around the globe, Frobisher explored the far north, and Sir +Humphrey Gilbert attempted to plant a colony in Newfoundland. + +4. Gilbert's half-brother Raleigh then took up the work of colonization, +but his attempts to plant a colony at Roanoke Island ended in failure. + +5. The attacks of English buccaneers on the American colonies of Spain led +to a war (1585-1604), in which the most memorable event was the defeat of +the Spanish Armada. + +6. After the war two companies were chartered to plant English colonies in +America. The Plymouth Company's colony was a failure, but in 1607 the +London Company founded Jamestown. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The forests supplied the trees for timbers. The seams were calked with +the moss that hung in clusters from the branches, and then smeared with +pitch from the pines. The Indians made them a rude sort of rope for +cordage, and for sails they sewed together bedding and shirts. On the +voyage home they ate their shoes and leather jerkins. Read Kirk Munroe's +_Flamingo Feather_. + +[2] These men were adventurers, not true colonists, and little disposed to +endure the toil, hunger, and dreariness of a life in the wilderness. It +was not long, therefore, before the boldest of them seized two little +vessels and sailed away to plunder Spaniards in the West Indies. Famine +drove them into Havana, where to save their necks they told what was going +on in Florida. Sixty-six mutineers presently seized two other vessels and +turned buccaneers. But the survivors were forced to return to Fort +Caroline, where the leaders were put to death. + +[3] Some of these and many others, who were shipwrecked with Ribaut, +afterward surrendered and were killed. As Florida was considered Spanish +territory the French had no right to settle there, so the French king did +nothing more than protest to Spain. Read the story of the French in +Florida as told by Parkman, in _Pioneers of France in the New World_, +pp. 28-162. + +[4] Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. I, pp. 19-20. + +[5] Read Kingsley's _Westward Ho!_ and Barnes's _Drake and his Yeomen_. On +returning to England in 1573, Drake reached Plymouth on a Sunday, during +church time. So great was the excitement that the people left the church +during the sermon, in order to get sight of him. + +[6] On his return in 1580 Queen Elizabeth knighted Drake on his own deck. +A chair made from the timbers of his vessel (the _Golden Hind_) is now at +Oxford. Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. I, pp. 26-28. + +[7] In 1576 Frobisher, when in search of a northwest passage to China, +made his way through Arctic ice to the bay which now bears his name. Two +more voyages were made to the far north in search of gold. + +[8] The ships were overtaken off the Azores by a furious gale. Gilbert's +vessel was a very little one, so he was urged to come aboard his larger +consort; but he refused to desert his companions, and replied, "Do not +fear; heaven is as near by water as by land." + +[9] Queen Elizabeth had declared she would recognize no Spanish claim to +American territory not founded on discovery and settlement. Raleigh was +authorized, therefore, to hold by homage heathen lands, not actually +possessed and inhabited by Christian people, which he might discover +within the next six years. + +[10] The colonists took home some tobacco, which at that time was greatly +prized in England. When Columbus reached the island of Cuba in 1492, two +of his followers, sent on an errand into the interior, met natives who +rolled certain dried leaves into tubes, and, lighting one end with a +firebrand, drew the smoke into their bodies and puffed it out. This was +the first time that Europeans had seen cigars smoked. The Spaniards +carried tobacco to Europe, and its use spread rapidly. There is a story to +the effect that a servant entering a room one morning and seeing smoke +issuing from Raleigh's mouth, thought he was on fire and dashed water in +his face. + +[11] On Roanoke Island, August 18, 1587, a girl was born and named +Virginia. She was the granddaughter of Governor White and the daughter of +Eleanor and Ananias Dare, and the first child of English parents born on +the soil of what is now the United States. + +[12] The settlers had agreed that if they left Roanoke before White +returned, the name of the place to which they went should be cut on a +tree, and a cross added if they were in distress. When White returned the +blockhouse was in ruins, and cut on a tree was the name of a near-by +island. A storm prevented the ship going thither, and despite White's +protests he was carried back to England. What became of the colony, no man +knows. + +[13] Raleigh was an important figure in English history for many years +after the failure of his Roanoke colony. When Queen Elizabeth died (1603), +he fell into disfavor with her successor, King James I. He was falsely +accused of treason and thrown into prison, where he remained during twelve +years. There he wrote his _History of the World_. After a short period of +liberty, Raleigh was beheaded. As he stood on the scaffold he asked for +the ax, and said, "This is a sharp medicine, but a sound cure for all +diseases." + +[14] Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. I, pp. 33-38. + +[15] The Elizabeth Islands are close to the south coast of Massachusetts. +A few miles farther south Gosnold found another small island which he +named Marthas Vineyard. Later explorers by mistake shifted the name +Marthas Vineyard to a large island near by, and the little island which +Gosnold found is now called No Mans Land (map, p. 59). + +[16] The industrial condition of England was changing. The end of the long +war with Spain had thrown thousands of soldiers out of employment; the +turning of plow land into sheep farms left thousands of laborers without +work; manufactures were still in too primitive a state to provide +employment for all who needed it. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ENGLISH ON THE CHESAPEAKE + + +LIFE AT JAMESTOWN.--The colonists who landed at Jamestown in 1607 were all +men. While some of them were building a fort, Captain Newport, with +Captain John Smith and others, explored the James River and visited the +Powhatan, chief of a neighboring tribe of Indians. This done, Newport +returned to England (June, 1607) with his three ships, leaving one hundred +and five colonists to begin a struggle for life. Bad water, fever, hard +labor, the intense heat of an American summer, and the scarcity of food +caused such sickness that by September more than half the colonists were +dead. [1] Indeed, had it not been for Smith, who got corn from the Indians +and directed affairs in general, the fate of Jamestown might have been +that of Roanoke. [2] As it was, but forty were alive when Newport returned +In January, 1608, with the "first supply" of one hundred and twenty men. + +[Illustration: SMITH IN SLAVERY. Picture in one of his books.] + +[Illustration: POWHATAN'S COAT. Now in a museum at Oxford.] + +THE COMPANY'S ORDERS.--Newport was ordered to bring back a cargo. So while +some of the colonists cut down cedar and black walnut trees and made +clapboards, others loaded the ship with glittering sand which they thought +was gold dust. These labors drew the men away from agriculture, and only +four acres were planted with corn. + +In September Newport was back again with the "second supply" of seventy +persons; two of them were women. This time he was ordered to crown the +Powhatan, and to find a gold mine, discover a passage to the South Sea, or +find Raleigh's lost colony. Smith laughed at these orders. But they had to +be obeyed; so several parties went southward in search of the lost colony, +but found it not; Newport went westward beyond the falls of the James in +search of the passage; and the Powhatan was duly crowned and dressed in a +crimson robe. [3] No gold mine could be found, so Newport sailed for +England with a cargo of pitch, tar, and clapboards. + +SMITH RULES THE COLONY.--By this time Smith had become president of the +council for the government of the colony. He decreed that those who did +not work should not eat; and by spring his men had dug a well, shingled +the church, put up twenty cabins, and cleared and planted forty acres of +corn. Yet, despite all he could do, the colony was on the verge of ruin +when in August, 1609, seven ships landed some three hundred men, women, +and children known as the "third supply." [4] + +JAMESTOWN ABANDONED.--And now matters went from bad to worse. The leaders +quarreled; Smith was injured and had to go back to England; the Indians +became hostile; food became scarce; and when at last neither corn nor +roots could be had, the colonists began to suffer the horrors of famine. +During that awful winter, long known as "the starving time," cold, famine, +and the Indians swept away more than four hundred. When Newport arrived in +May, 1610, only sixty famishing creatures inhabited Jamestown. To continue +the colony seemed hopeless; and going on board the ships (June, 1610), the +colonists set sail for England and had gone well down the James when they +met Lord Delaware with three well-provisioned ships coming up. [5] + +JAMESTOWN RESETTLED.--Lord Delaware had come out as governor under a new +charter granted to the London Company in 1609. This is of interest because +it gave to the colony an immense domain of which we shall hear more after +Virginia became a state. This domain extended from Point Comfort, two +hundred miles up and two hundred miles down the coast, and then "up into +the land throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest." + +After the meeting between the departing settlers and the newcomers under +Delaware, the whole band returned to Jamestown and began once more the +struggle for existence. + +PROSPERITY BEGINS.--Delaware, who soon went back to England, left Sir +Thomas Dale in command, and under him the colony began to prosper. +Hitherto the colonists had lived as communists. The company owned all the +land, and whatever food was raised was put into the public granary to be +divided among the settlers, share and share alike. Dale changed this +system, and the old planters were given land to cultivate for themselves. +The effect was magical. Men who were lazy when toiling as servants of the +company, become industrious when laboring for themselves, and prosperity +began in earnest. + +More settlers soon arrived with a number of cows, goats, and oxen, and the +little colony began to expand. When Dale's term as acting governor ended +in 1616, Virginia contained six little settlements besides Jamestown. The +next governor, Yeardley, introduced the cultivation of tobacco, which was +now much used in Europe and commanded a high price. + +[Illustration: VIRGINIA (from 1609 to 1624).] + +THE FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY.--Yeardley was succeeded (1617) by +Argall, who for two years ruled Virginia with a rod of iron. So harsh was +his rule that the company was forced to recall him and send back Yeardley. +Yeardley came with instructions to summon a general assembly, and in July, +1619, the first legislative body in America met in the little church at +Jamestown; eleven boroughs were represented. Each sent two burgesses, as +they were called, and these twenty-two men made the first House of +Burgesses, and had power to enact laws for the colony. [6] + +SLAVERY INTRODUCED.--Another event which makes 1619 a memorable year in +our history was the arrival at Jamestown of a Dutch ship with a cargo of +African negroes for sale. Twenty were bought, and the institution of negro +slavery was planted in Virginia. This seemed quite proper, for there were +then in the colony many white slaves, or bond servants--men bound to +service for a term of years. The difference between one of these and an +African negro slave was that the white man served for a short time, and +the negro during his life. [7] + +A CARGO OF MAIDS.--Yet another event which makes 1619 a notable year in +Virginian history was the arrival of a ship with ninety young women sent +out by the company to become wives of the settlers. The early comers to +Virginia had been "adventurers," that is, men seeking to better their +fortunes, not intending to live and die in Virginia, but hoping to return +to England in a few years rich, or at least prosperous. That the colony +with such a shifting population could not prosper was certain. Virginia +needed homes. The mass of the settlers were unmarried, and the company +very wisely determined to supply them with wives. The ninety young women +sent over in 1619, and others sent later, were free to choose their own +husbands: but each man, on marrying one of them, had to pay one hundred +and twenty pounds of tobacco for her passage to Virginia. + +[Illustration: THE MAIDS ARRIVE IN VIRGINIA.] + +THE CHARTER TAKEN AWAY.--For Virginia the future now looked bright. Her +tobacco found ready sale in England at a large profit. The right to make +her own laws gave promise of good government. The founding of home ties +could not fail to produce increased energy on the part of the settlers. +But trouble was brewing for the London Company. The king was quarreling +with a part of his people, and the company was in the hands of his +opponents. Looking upon it as a "seminary of sedition," King James secured +(1624) the destruction of the charter, and Virginia became a royal +province. [8] + +STATE OF THE COLONY IN 1624.--The colony of Virginia when deprived of its +charter was a little community of some four thousand souls, scattered in +plantations on and near the James River. Let us go back to those times and +visit one of the plantations. The home of the planter is a wooden house +with rough-hewn beams and unplaned boards, surrounded by a high stockade. +Near by are the farm buildings and the cabins of his bond servants. His +books, his furniture, his clothing and that of his family, have all come +from England. So also have the farming implements and very likely the +greater part of his cows and pigs. On his land are fields of wheat and +barley and Indian corn; but the chief crop is tobacco. [9] + +EFFECTS OF TOBACCO PLANTING.--As time passed and the Virginians found that +the tobacco always brought a good price in England, they made it more and +more the chief crop. This powerfully affected the whole character of the +colony. It drew to Virginia a better class of settlers, who came over to +grow rich as planters. It led the people to live almost exclusively on +plantations, and prevented the growth of large towns. Tobacco became the +currency of the colony, and salaries, wages, and debts were paid, and +taxes levied, and wealth and income estimated, in pounds of tobacco. + +FEW ROADS IN VIRGINIA.--As there were few towns, [10] so there were few +roads. The great plantations lay along the river banks. It was easy, +therefore, for a planter to go on visits of business or pleasure in a +sailboat or in a barge rowed by his servants. The fine rivers and the +location of the plantations along their banks enabled each planter to have +his own wharf, to which came ships from England laden with tables, chairs, +cutlery, tools, rich silks, and cloth, everything the planter needed for +his house, his family, his servants, and his plantation, all to be paid +for with casks of tobacco. + +[Illustration: FOUNDATIONS AT JAMESTOWN.] + +GOVERNOR BERKELEY.--Despite the change from rule by the company to rule by +the king, Virginia grew and prospered. When Sir William Berkeley came over +as governor (in 1642), her English population was nearly fifteen thousand +and her slaves three hundred, and many of her planters were men of much +wealth. Berkeley's first term as governor (1642-1652) covered the period +of the Civil War in England. + +CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND.--When King James died (in 1625) he was succeeded by +Charles I, under whom the old quarrel between the king and the people, +which had caused the downfall of the London Company, was pushed into civil +war. In 1642 Charles I took the field, raised the royal standard, and +called all loyal subjects to its defense. The Parliament of England +likewise raised an army, and after varying fortunes the king was defeated, +captured, tried for high treason, found guilty, and beheaded (1649). +England then became a republic, called the Commonwealth. + +THE CAVALIERS.--While the Civil War was raging in England, Virginia +(largely because of the influence of Governor Berkeley) remained loyal to +the king. As the war went on and the defeats of the royal army were +followed by the capture of the king, numbers of his friends, the +Cavaliers, fled to Virginia. After Charles I was beheaded, more than three +hundred of the nobility, gentry, and clergy of England came over in one +year. No wonder, then, that the General Assembly recognized the dead +king's son as King Charles II, and made it treason to doubt his right to +the throne. Because of this support of the royal cause, Parliament +punished Virginia by cutting off her trade, and ordered that steps be +taken to reduce her to submission. A fleet was accordingly dispatched, +reached Virginia early in 1652, and forced Berkeley to hand over the +government to three Parliamentary commissioners. One of them was then +elected governor, and Virginia had almost complete self-government till +1660, when England again became a kingdom, under Charles II. + +MARYLAND, THE FIRST PROPRIETARY COLONY.--When Virginia became crown +property (1624), the king could do with it what he pleased. King Charles I +accordingly cut off a piece and gave it to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. +[11] This Lord Baltimore was a Catholic who had tried in vain to found a +settlement in Newfoundland. He died before the patent, or deed, was drawn +for the land cut off from Virginia, so (1632) it was issued to his son +Cecilius, the second Lord Baltimore. The province lay north of the Potomac +River and was called Maryland. + +[Illustration: MARYLAND BY THE ORIGINAL PATENT.] + +By the terms of the grant Lord Baltimore was to pay the king each year two +arrowheads in token of homage, and as rent was to give the king one fifth +of all the gold and silver mined. This done, he was proprietor of +Maryland. He might coin money, grant titles, make war and peace, establish +courts, appoint judges, and pardon criminals. But he was not allowed to +tax the people without their consent. He had to summon a legislature to +assist him in making laws, but the laws when made did not need to be sent +to the king for approval. + +THE FIRST SETTLERS.--The first settlement was made by a company of about +twenty gentlemen and three hundred artisans and laborers. They were led +and accompanied by two of Lord Baltimore's brothers, and by two Catholic +priests. They came over in 1634 in two ships, the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, +and not far from the mouth of the Potomac founded St. Marys. In February, +1635, they held their first Assembly. To it came all freemen, both +landholders and artisans, and by them a body of laws was framed and +sent to the proprietor (Lord Baltimore) for approval. + +SELF-GOVERNMENT BEGUN.--This was refused, and in its place the proprietor +sent over a code of laws, which the Assembly in its turn rejected. The +Assembly then went on and framed another set of laws. Baltimore with rare +good sense now yielded the point, and gave his brother authority to assent +to the laws made by the people, but reserved the right to veto. Thus was +free self-government established in Maryland. [12] + +TROUBLE WITH CLAIBORNE.--Before Lord Baltimore obtained his grant, William +Claiborne, of Virginia, had established an Indian trading post on Kent +Island in Chesapeake Bay. This fell within the limits given to Maryland; +but Claiborne refused to acknowledge the authority of Baltimore, whereupon +a vessel belonging to the Kent Island station was seized by the +Marylanders for trading without a license. Claiborne then sent an armed +boat with thirty men to capture any vessel belonging to St. Marys. This +boat was itself captured, instead; but another fight soon occurred, in +which Claiborne's forces beat the Marylanders. The struggle thus begun +lasted for years. [13] + +THE TOLERATION ACT.--The year 1649 is memorable for the passage of the +Maryland Toleration Act, the first of its kind in our history. This +provided that "no person or persons whatsoever within this province, +professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be any ways +troubled, molested, or discountenanced for, or in respect to, his or her +religion." + +END OF THE CLAIBORNE TROUBLE.--The nine years that followed formed a +stormy period for Maryland. One of the parliamentary commissioners to +reduce Virginia to obedience (1652, p. 49) was our old friend Claiborne. +He and the new governor of Virginia forced Baltimore's governor to resign, +and set up a Protestant government which repealed the Toleration Act and +disfranchised Roman Catholics. Baltimore bade his deposed governor resume +office. A battle followed, the Protestant forces won, and an attempt was +made to destroy the rights of Baltimore; but the English government +sustained him, the Virginians were forced to submit, and the quarrel of +more than twenty years' standing came to an end. Thenceforth Virginia +troubled Maryland no more. + +GROWTH OF MARYLAND.--The population of the colony, meantime, grew rapidly. +Pamphlets describing the colony and telling how to emigrate and acquire +land were circulated in England. Many of the first comers wrote home and +brought out more men, and were thus enabled to take up more land. +Emigrants who came with ten or twenty settlers were given manors or +plantations. Such as came alone received farms. + +Most of the work on plantations was done by indented white servants, both +convicts and redemptioners. [14] Negro slavery existed in Maryland from +the beginning, but slaves were not numerous till after 1700. + +[Illustration: HAND LOOM. [15]] + +Food was abundant, for the rivers and bay abounded with geese and ducks, +oysters and crabs, and the woods were full of deer, turkeys, and wild +pigeons. Wheat was not plentiful, but corn was abundant, and from it were +made pone, hominy, and hoe-cakes. + +NO TOWNS.--As everybody could get land and therefore lived on manors, +plantations, or farms, there were practically no towns in Maryland. Even +St. Marys, so late as 1678, was not really a town, but a string of some +thirty houses straggling for five miles along the shore. The bay with its +innumerable creeks, inlets, coves, and river mouths, afforded fine water +communication between the farms and plantations; and there were no roads. +As in Virginia, there was no need of shipping ports. Vessels came direct +to manor or plantation wharf, and exchanged English goods for tobacco or +corn. Such farmers or planters as had no water communication packed their +tobacco in a hogshead, with an axle through it, and with an ox or a horse +in a pair of shafts, or with a party of negro slaves or white servants, +rolled it to market. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The struggle of the Jamestown colony for life was a desperate one. For +two years it was preserved by Captain John Smith's skillful leadership, +and the frequent reinforcements and supplies sent over by the London +Company; but in 1610 the settlers started to leave the country. + +2. The arrival of Lord Delaware saved the colony. He brought out news of a +new charter (1609) which greatly extended the domain of the company. + +3. The settlers were now given land of their own, tobacco was grown, more +settlements were planted, and prosperity began. + +4. In 1619 slavery was introduced; a shipload of young women arrived; and +a representative government was established. + +5. In 1624 Virginia became a royal colony. + +6. During the Civil War in England many Cavaliers came to Virginia. + +7. King Charles I cut off a part of Virginia to make (1632) the +proprietary colony of Maryland. The new province was given to Lord +Baltimore, who founded (1634) a colony at St. Marys. + +8. Claiborne, a Virginian, denied the authority of Baltimore, and kept up +a struggle against him for many years. + +9. In both Maryland and Virginia the people lived on large plantations, +and there were few towns. Travel was mostly by water, and there were no +good roads. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. I, pp. 96-98. + +[2] Captain John Smith was born in England in 1580. At an early age he was +a soldier in France and in the Netherlands; then after a short stay in +England he set off to fight the Turks. In France he was robbed and left +for dead, but reached Marseilles and joined a party of pilgrims bound to +the Levant. During a violent storm the pilgrims, believing he had caused +it, threw him into the sea. But he swam to an island, and after many +adventures was made a captain in the Venetian army. The Turks captured him +and sold him into slavery, but he killed his master, escaped to a Russian +fortress, made his way through Germany, France, Spain, and Morocco, and +reached England in time to go out with the London Company's colony. His +career in Virginia was as adventurous as in the Old World. While exploring +the Chickahominy River he and his companions were taken by the Indians. +Lest they should kill him at once Smith showed them a pocket compass with +its quivering needle always pointing north. They could see, but could not +touch it because of the glass. Supposing him a wizard, they took him to +the Powhatan. According to Smith's account two stones were brought and +Smith's head laid upon them, while warriors, club in hand, stood near by +to beat out his brains. But suddenly the chief's little daughter, +Pocahontas, rushed in and laid her head on Smith's to shield him. He was +given his life and sent back to Jamestown. + +[3] Smith and Newport visited the old chief at his village of +Werowocomoco, took off the Powhatan's raccoon-skin coat, and put on the +crimson robe. When they told him to kneel, he refused. Two men thereupon +seized him by the shoulders and forced him to bend his knees, and the +crown was clapped on his head. The Powhatan then took off his old +moccasins and sent them, with his raccoon-skin coat, to his royal brother +in London. + +[4] They were part of a body of some five hundred in nine ships which left +England in June. On the way over a storm scattered the fleet; one ship was +lost, and another bearing the leaders of the expedition was wrecked on the +Bermudas. The shipwrecked colonists spent ten months building two little +vessels, in which they reached Jamestown in May, 1610. + +[5] Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. I, pp. 152-155. + +[6] The governor, the council, and the House of Burgesses constituted the +General Assembly. Any act of the Assembly might be vetoed by the governor, +and no law was valid till approved by the "general court" of the company +at London. Neither was any law made by the company for the colony valid +till approved by the Assembly. After 1660 the House of Burgesses consisted +of two delegates from each county, with one from Jamestown. + +[7] For some years to come the slaves increased in numbers very slowly. So +late as 1671, when the population of Virginia was 40,000, there were but +2000 slaves, while the bond servants numbered 6000. Some of these +indentured servants, as they were called, were persons guilty of crime in +England, who were sent over to Virginia and sold for a term of years as a +punishment. Others--the "redemptioners"--were men who, in order to pay for +their passage to Virginia, agreed to serve the owner or the captain of the +ship for a certain time. On reaching Virginia the captain could sell them +to the planters for the time specified; at the end of the time they became +freemen. + +[8] That is, the unoccupied land became royal domain again, and the king +appointed the governors and controlled the colony through a committee of +his privy council. One unhappy result of the downfall of the London +Company was the defeat of a plan for establishing schools in Virginia. As +early as 1621 some funds were raised for "a public free school," in +Charles City. A tract of land was also set apart in the city of Henricus +for a college, and a rector, or president, was sent out to start it. But +he was killed by the Indians in 1622, and before the company had found a +successor the charter was destroyed. Virginia's first college--William and +Mary--was established at Williamsburg in 1693. + +[9] Read the description of early Virginia in J. E. Cooke's _Virginia_ +(American Commonwealths Series), pp. 141-157; or _Stories of the Old +Dominion_; or Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. I, pp. 223- +232. + +[10] Jamestown was long the chief town of Virginia; but in its best days +the houses did not number more than 75 or 80, and the population was not +more than 250. In 1676 the church, the House of Burgesses, and the +dwellings were burned during Bacon's Rebellion (p. 95). In 1679 the +Burgesses ordered Jamestown "to be rebuilt and to be the metropolis of +Virginia"; but in 1698 the House of Burgesses was again burned and in 1699 +Williamsburg became the seat of government. The ruined church tower (p. +40) is the only structure still standing in Jamestown; but remains of the +ancient graveyard, of a mansion built on the foundations of the old House +of Burgesses, and some foundations of dwellings may also be seen. The site +is cared for by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia +Antiquities. + +[11] George Calvert was the son of a Yorkshire farmer, was educated at +Oxford, and went to Parliament in 1604. Becoming a favorite of King James +I, he was knighted in 1617, and two years later was made principal +Secretary of State. He became a Roman Catholic, although Catholics were +then bitterly persecuted in England. Just before the king died, he +resigned office, and received the title of Lord Baltimore, the name +referring to a town in Ireland. Finding all public offices closed to him +because he was a Catholic, Baltimore resolved to seek a home in America. + +[12] Baltimore ordered that any colonist who came in the _Ark_ or _Dove_ +and brought five men with him should have 2000 acres of land, subject to +an annual rent of 400 pounds of wheat. A settler who came in 1635 could +have the same amount of land if he brought ten men, but had to pay 600 +pounds of wheat a year as rent. Plantations of 1000 acres or more were +manors, and the lord of the manor could hold courts. + +[13] Claiborne's London partners took possession of Kent Island, and +acknowledged the authority of Baltimore; but after the Civil War broke out +in England, Claiborne joined forces with a half pirate named Ingle, and +recovered the island. For two years Ingle and his crew lorded it over all +Maryland, stealing corn, tobacco, cattle, and household goods. Not till +1646, when Calvert received aid from Virginia, was he able to drive out +Claiborne and Ingle, and recover the province. + +[14] The redemptioners, when their time was out and they became freemen, +received a set of tools, clothes, and a year's provisions from their +former masters, and fifty acres from the proprietor of the colony. + +[15] On such looms skilled servants wove much of the cloth used on the +plantation. Similar looms were used in all the colonies. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND + + +NEW ENGLAND NAMED.--While the London Company was planting its colony on +the James River, the Plymouth Company sought to retrieve its failure on +the Kennebec (p. 39). In 1614 Captain John Smith, who had returned to +England from Jamestown, was sent over with two ships to explore. He made a +map of the coast from Maine to Cape Cod, [1] and called the country New +England. The next year Smith led out a colony; but a French fleet took him +prisoner, no settlement was made, and five years passed before the first +permanent English colony was planted in the Plymouth Company's grant--by +the Separatists. + +[Illustration: SMITH'S MAP OF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST.] + +THE SEPARATISTS.--To understand who these people were, it must be +remembered that during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Protestant +Episcopal Church was the Established Church of England, and that severe +laws were passed to force all the people to attend its services. But a +sect arose which wished to "purify" the church by abolishing certain forms +and ceremonies. These people were called Puritans, [2] and were divided +into two sects: + +1. Those Puritans who wished to purify the Church of England while they +remained members of it. + +2. The Independents, or Separatists, who wished to separate from that +church and worship God in their own way. + +The Separatists were cruelly persecuted during Queen Elizabeth's reign, +and afterward. One band of them fled to Holland (in 1608), where they +found peace; but time passed and it became necessary for them to decide +whether they should stay in Holland and become Dutch, or find a home in +some land where they might continue to remain Englishmen. They decided to +leave Holland, formed a company, and finally obtained leave from the +London Company to settle near the mouth of the Delaware River. + +[Illustration: BREWSTER'S CHAIR. Now in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.] + +VOYAGE OF THE MAYFLOWER.--Led by Brewster, Bradford, and Standish, a party +of Pilgrims sailed from Holland in July, 1620, in the ship _Speedwell_; +were joined in England by a party from London in the _Mayflower_; and in +August both vessels put to sea. But the _Speedwell_ proved unseaworthy, +and all put back to Plymouth in England, where some gave up the voyage. +One hundred and two held fast to their purpose, and in September set sail +in the _Mayflower_. The voyage was long and stormy, and November came +before they sighted a sandy coast far to the northeastward of the +Delaware. For a while they strove hard to go southward; but adverse winds +drove them back, and they dropped anchor in Cape Cod Bay. [3] + +THE LANDING.--The land here was within the territory of the Plymouth +Company. The Pilgrims, however, decided to stay and get leave to settle, +but this decision displeased some of them. A meeting, therefore, was held +in the ship's cabin (November 21, 1620), and the "Mayflower compact," +binding all who signed it to obey such government as might be established, +was drawn up and signed by forty-one of the sixty-five men on the vessel. + +This done, the work of choosing a site for their homes began, and for +several weeks little parties explored the coast before one of them entered +a harbor and selected a spot which John Smith had named Plymouth. [4] To +this harbor the _Mayflower_ was brought, and while the men were busy +putting up rude cabins, the women and children remained on the ship. + +THE FIRST WINTER was a dreadful one. The Pilgrims lived in crowded +quarters, and the effects of the voyage and the severity of the winter +sent half of them to their graves before spring. But the rest never +faltered, and when the _Mayflower_ returned to England in April, not +one of the colonists went back in her. By the end of the first summer a +fort had been built on a hill, seven houses had been erected along a +village street leading down from the fort to the harbor, six and twenty +acres had been cleared, and a bountiful harvest had been gathered. Other +Pilgrims came over, the neighboring Indians kept the peace, and the colony +was soon prosperous. + +[Illustration: SITE OF THE FORT AT PLYMOUTH. In the old "burying ground."] + +PLYMOUTH, OR THE OLD COLONY.--As soon as the colony was planted, steps +were taken to buy the land on which it stood. The old Plymouth Company +(pp. 38, 39), organized in 1606, was succeeded in 1620 by a new +corporation called the Council for New England, which received a grant of +all the land in America between 40° and 48° of north latitude. From this +Council for New England, therefore, the Pilgrims bought as much land as +they needed. The king, however, refused to give them a charter, so the +people of Plymouth, or the Old Colony as it came to be called, managed +their own affairs in their own way for seventy years. At first the men +assembled in town meeting, made laws, and elected officers. But when the +growth of the colony made such meetings unwieldy, representative +government was set up, and each settlement sent two delegates to an +assembly. + +[Illustration: GRAVE OF MILES STANDISH, near Plymouth.] + +THE SALEM COLONY.--Shortly after 1620, attempts were made to plant other +colonies in New England. [5] Most of them failed, but some of the +colonists made a settlement called Naumkeag. Among those who watched these +attempts with great interest was John White, a Puritan rector in England. +He believed that the time had come for the Puritans to do what the +Separatists had done. The quarrel between the king and the Puritans was +then becoming serious, and the time seemed at hand when men who wished to +worship God according to their conscience would have to seek a home in +America. White accordingly began to urge the planting of a Puritan colony +in New England. So well did he succeed that an association was formed, a +great tract of land was obtained from the Council for New England, and in +1628 sixty men, led by John Endicott, settled at Naumkeag and changed its +name to Salem, which means "peace." + +THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.--The members of the association next secured +from King Charles I a charter which made them a corporation, called this +corporation The Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England, +and gave it the right to govern colonies planted on its lands. More +settlers with a great herd of cattle were now hurried to Salem, which thus +became the largest colony in New England. + +[Illustration: THE EARLY NEW ENGLAND COLONIES.] + +THE GREAT PURITAN MIGRATION.--The same year (1629) that the charter was +obtained, twelve leading Puritans signed an agreement to head an +emigration to Massachusetts, provided the charter and government of the +company were removed to New England. One of the signers was John Winthrop, +and by him in 1630 nearly a thousand Puritans were led to Salem. Thence +they soon removed to a little three-hilled peninsula where they founded +the town of Boston. More emigrants followed, and before the end of 1630 +seventeen ships with nearly fifteen hundred Puritans reached +Massachusetts. They settled at Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, Dorchester, +Watertown, and Cambridge. + +The charter was brought with them, the meetings of the company were now +held in the colony, and so many of the colonists became members of the +company that Massachusetts was practically self-governing. Before long a +representative government was established in the colony, each town +electing members of a legislature called the General Court. Every town +also had its local government carried on by town meetings; but only church +members were allowed to vote. + +MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.--About two years after the founding of Plymouth, +the Council for New England granted to John Mason and Sir Ferdinando +Gorges (gor'jess) a large tract of land between the rivers Merrimac and +Kennebec. In it two settlements (now known as Portsmouth and Dover) were +planted (1623) on the Piscat'aqua River, and some fishing stations on the +coast farther north. + +In 1629 the province was divided. Mason obtained a patent (or deed) for +the country between the Merrimac and the Piscataqua, and named it New +Hampshire. Gorges received the country between the Piscataqua and the +Kennebec, which was called Maine. + +[Illustration: ENGLISH ARMOR. Now in Essex Hall, Salem.] + +UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS.--The towns on the Piscataqua were small fishing +and fur-trading stations, and after Mason died (1635) they were left to +look out for themselves. With two other New Hampshire towns (Exeter and +Hampton) they became almost independent republics. They set up their own +governments, made their own laws, and owed allegiance to nobody save the +king. Massachusetts, however, claimed as her north boundary an east and +west line three miles north of the source of the Merrimac River. [6] She +therefore soon annexed the four New Hampshire towns, and gave them +representation in her legislature. + +If the claim of Massachusetts was valid in the case of the New Hampshire +towns, it was equally so for those of Maine. But it was not till 1652, +after Gorges was dead and the settlers in Maine (at York, Wells, and +Kittery) had set up a government of their own, that these towns were +brought under her authority. Later (1677), Massachusetts bought up the +claim of the heirs of Gorges, and came into possession of the whole +province. + +[Illustration: ROGER WILLIAMS FLEES TO THE WOODS.] + +RHODE ISLAND.--Among those who came to Salem in the early days of the +Massachusetts Bay Colony, was a Puritan minister named Roger Williams. [7] +But he had not been long in the colony when he said things which angered +the rulers. He held that all religions should be tolerated; that all laws +requiring attendance at church should be repealed; that the land belonged +to the Indians and not to the king; and that the settlers ought to buy it +from the Indians and not from the king. For these and other sayings +Williams was ordered back to England. But he fled to the woods, lived with +the Indians for a winter, and in the following summer founded Providence +(1636). [8] + +And now another disturber appeared in Boston in the person of Anne +Hutchinson, [9] and in a little while she and her followers were driven +away. Some of them went to New Hampshire and founded Exeter (p. 60), while +others with Anne herself went to Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay, and +founded Portsmouth and Newport. + +For a time each of the little towns, Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport, +arranged its own affairs in its own way, but in 1643 Williams obtained +from the English Parliament a charter which united them under the name of +The Incorporation of Providence Plantations on the Narragansett Bay in New +England. + +CONNECTICUT FOUNDED.--Religious troubles did not end with the banishment +of Williams and Anne Hutchinson. Many persons objected to the law +forbidding any but church members to vote or hold office. So in 1635 and +1636 numbers of people, led by Thomas Hooker and others, went out (from +Dorchester, Watertown, and Cambridge) and founded Windsor, Wethersfield, +and Hartford in the Connecticut River valley. Later a party (from Roxbury) +settled at Springfield. For a while these four towns were part of +Massachusetts. But in 1639 Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield adopted a +constitution [10] and founded a republic which they called Connecticut. + +THE NEW HAVEN COLONY.--As the quarrel between the Puritans and the king +was by this time very bitter, the Puritans continued to come to New +England in large numbers. Some of them made settlements on Long Island +Sound. A large band under John Davenport founded New Haven (1638). Next +(in 1639) Milford and Guilford were started, and then (in 1640) Stamford. +In 1643 the four towns joined in a sort of union and took the name New +Haven Colony. + +[Illustration: PURITAN DRESS.] + +THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND.--Thus there were planted in New +England between 1620 and 1643 five distinct colonies, [11] namely: (1) +Plymouth, or the Old Colony, (2) Massachusetts Bay Colony, (3) Rhode +Island, or Providence Plantations, (4) Connecticut, and (5) the New Haven +Colony. + +In 1643 four of them--Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven +--united for defense against the Indians and the Dutch, [12] and called +their league "The United Colonies of New England." This confederation +maintained a successful existence for forty-one years. + +EFFECT OF THE CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND.--When the New England confederation +was formed, the king and the Puritans in old England had come to blows, +and civil war was raging there. During the next twenty years no more +English colonies were planted in America. War at once stopped the stream +of emigrants. The Puritans in England remained to fight the king, and +numbers went back from New England to join the Parliamentary army. For the +next fifteen years population in New England increased slowly. + +TRADE AND COMMERCE.--Life in the New England colonies was very unlike that +in Virginia. People dwelt in villages, cultivated small farms, and were +largely engaged in trade and commerce. They bartered corn and peas, woolen +cloth, and wampum with the Indians for beaver skins, which they sent to +England to pay for articles bought from the mother country. They salted +cod, dried alewives and bass, made boards and staves for hogsheads, and +sent all these to the West Indies to be exchanged for sugar, molasses, and +other products of the tropics. They built ships in the seaports where +lumber was cheap, and sold them abroad. They traded with Spain and +Portugal, England, the Netherlands, and Virginia. + +[Illustration: STONE HAND MILL. Brought from England in 1630 and used for +grinding flour. Now in Essex Hall, Salem, Mass.] + +SCARCITY OF MONEY.--The colonists brought little money with them, and much +of what they brought went back to England to pay for supplies. Buying and +trading in New England, therefore, had to be done largely without gold or +silver. Beaver skins and wampum, bushels of corn, produce, cattle, and +even bullets were used as money and passed at rates fixed by law. [13] In +the hope of remedying the scarcity of money, the government of +Massachusetts ordered that a mint should be set up, and in 1652 Spanish +silver brought from the West Indies was melted and coined into Pine Tree +currency. [14] + +[Illustration: SPINNING WOOL.] + +MANUFACTURES.--That less gold and silver might go abroad for supplies, +home manufactures were encouraged by gifts of money, by exemptions of +property from taxation, and by excusing workmen from military duty. The +cultivation of flax was encouraged, children were taught to spin and +weave, and glass works, salt works, and iron furnaces were started. + +[Illustration: YARN REEL. [15] In Essex Hall, Salem, Mass.] + +On the farms utensils and furniture were generally made in the household. +Almost everything was made of wood, as spoons, tankards, pails, firkins, +hinges for cupboard and closet doors, latches, plows, and harrows. Every +boy learned to use his jack-knife, and could make brooms from birch trees, +bowls and dippers and bottles from gourds, and butter paddles from red +cherry. The women made soap and candles, carded wool, spun, wove, bleached +or dyed the linen and woolen cloth, and made the garments for the family. +They knit mittens and stockings, made straw hats and baskets, and plucked +the feathers from live geese for beds and pillows. + +THE HOUSES.--On the farms the houses of the early settlers were of logs, +or were framed structures covered with shingles or clapboards. The tables, +chairs, stools, and bedsteads were of the plainest sort, and were often +made of puncheons, that is, of small tree trunks split in half. Sometimes +the table would be a long board laid across two X supports. This was "the +board," around which the family sat at meals. [16] In the better houses in +the towns the furniture was of course very much finer. + +THE VILLAGES.--The center of village life was the meetinghouse, or church. +Near by was the house of the minister, the inn or tavern, and the +dwellings of the inhabitants. In early times, if the village was on the +frontier or exposed to Indian attack it was guarded by blockhouses +surrounded by a high stockade. These "garrison houses," as they were +called, were of stone or logs, with the second story projecting over the +first, and had loopholes in place of windows. Most of them have long since +disappeared, but a few still remain, turned into dwellings. Sometimes +there were three or more blockhouses in a village, and to these when the +Indians were troublesome the farmers and their families came each night to +sleep. + +SCHOOLS.-Among the acts passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in +early days were several in regard to education. In 1636 four hundred +pounds [17] was voted for a public school. Two years later, John Harvard, +a former minister, left his library and half his fortune to this school, +and in grateful remembrance it was called Harvard College. Thus started, +the good work went on. Parents and masters were by law compelled to teach +their children and apprentices to read English, know the important laws, +and repeat the orthodox catechism. Another law required every town of +fifty families to maintain a school for at least six months a year, and +every town of two hundred householders a primary and a grammar school, +wherein Latin should be taught. + +[Illustration: FAIRBANKS HOUSE, NEAR BOSTON. As it looks to-day. Built +partly in 1650.] + +PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS.--Though the Puritans suffered persecution in +the Old World, they had not learned to be tolerant. As we have seen, no +man could vote in Massachusetts who was not a member of their church. They +drove out Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, and again and again, in +later times, banished, or fined, imprisoned, and flogged men and women who +wished to worship God in their own way. When two Quaker women arrived +(1656), they were sent away and a sharp law was made against their sect. +[18] But in spite of all persecution, the Quakers kept coming. At last (in +1659-61) three men and a woman were hanged on Boston Common because they +returned after having once been banished. Plymouth and Connecticut also +enacted laws against the Quakers. [19] + +CONNECTICUT CHARTERED (1662).--By this time the days of Puritan rule in +old England were over. In 1660 King Charles II was placed upon the throne +of his father. Connecticut promptly acknowledged him as king, and sent her +governor, the younger John Winthrop, to London to obtain a charter. He +easily secured one (in 1662) which spread the authority of Connecticut +over the New Haven Colony, [20] gave her a domain stretching across the +continent to the Pacific, and established a government so liberal that the +charter was kept in force till 1818. New Haven Colony for a time resisted; +but one by one the towns which formed the colony acknowledged the +authority of Connecticut. + +THE SECOND CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND.--Rhode Island, likewise, proclaimed +the king and sought a new charter. When obtained (in 1663), it defined her +boundaries, and provided for a form of government quite as liberal as that +of Connecticut. It remained in force one hundred and seventy-nine years. + +THE NEW COLONIAL ERA.--From 1640 to 1660 the English colonies in America +had been left much to themselves. No new colonies had been founded, and +the old ones had managed their own affairs in their own way. But with +Charles II a new era opens. Several new colonies were soon established; +and though Rhode Island and Connecticut received liberal charters, all the +colonies were soon to feel the king's control. As we shall see later, +Massachusetts was deprived of her charter; but after a few years she +received a new one (1691), which united the Plymouth Colony, +Massachusetts, and Maine in the one colony of Massachusetts Bay. New +Hampshire, however, was made a separate royal province. + + +SUMMARY + +1. In 1620 a body of Separatists reached Cape Cod and founded Plymouth, +the first English settlement north of Virginia. + +2. Two years later the Council for New England granted land to Gorges and +Mason, from which grew Maine and New Hampshire. + +3. Between 1628 and 1630 a great Puritan migration established the colony +of Massachusetts Bay, which later absorbed Maine and New Hampshire. + +4. Religious disputes led to the expulsion of Roger Williams and Anne +Hutchinson from Massachusetts. They founded towns later united (1643) as +Providence Plantations (Rhode Island). + +5. Other religious disputes led to the migration of people who settled +(1635-36) in the Connecticut valley and founded (1639) Connecticut. + +6. Between 1638 and 1640 other towns were planted on Long Island Sound, +and four of them united (1643) and formed the New Haven Colony. + +7. Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven joined in a league +--the United Colonies of New England (1643-84). + +8. New Haven was united with Connecticut (1662), and Plymouth with +Massachusetts (1691), while New Hampshire was made a separate province; so +that after 1691 the New England colonies were New Hampshire, +Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. + +9. The New England colonists lived largely in villages. They were engaged +in farming, manufacturing, and commerce. + +10. For twenty years, during the Civil War and the Puritan rule in +England, the colonies were left to themselves; but in 1660 Charles II +became king of England, and a new era began in colonial affairs. + +[Illustration: THE CHARTER OAK, HARTFORD, CONN. From an old print.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] On his map Smith gave to Cape Ann, Cape Elizabeth, Charles River, and +Plymouth the names they still retain. Cape Cod he called Cape James. + +[2] The Puritans were important in history for many years. Most of the +English people who quarreled and fought with King James and King Charles +were Puritans. In Maryland it was a Puritan army that for a time overthrew +Lord Baltimore's government (p. 52). + +[3] Read Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 79-82. + +[4] The little boat or shallop in which they intended to sail along the +coast needed to be repaired, and two weeks passed before it was ready. +Meantime a party protected by steel caps and corselets went ashore to +explore the country. A few Indians were seen in the distance, but they +fled as the Pilgrims approached. In the ruins of a hut were found some +corn and an iron kettle that had once belonged to a European ship. The +corn they carried away in the kettle, to use as seed in the spring. Other +exploring parties, after trips in the shallop, pushed on over hills and +through valleys covered deep with snow, and found more deserted houses, +corn, and many graves; for a pestilence had lately swept off the Indian +population. On the last exploring voyage, the waves ran so high that the +rudder was carried away and the explorers steered with an oar. As night +came on, all sail was spread in hope of reaching shore before dark, but +the mast broke and the sail went overboard. However, they floated to an +island where they landed and spent the night. On the second day after, +Monday, December 21, the explorers reached the mainland. On the beach, +half in sand and half in water, was a large bowlder, and on this famous +Plymouth Rock, it is said, the men stepped as they went ashore. + +[5] As to the early settlements read Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, +pp. 90-95. + +[6] The Massachusetts charter granted the land from within three miles +south of the Charles River, to within three miles north of the Merrimac +River, and all lands "of and within the breadth aforesaid" across the +continent. + +[7] Roger Williams was a Welshman, had been educated at Cambridge +University in England, and had some reputation as a preacher before coming +to Boston. There he was welcomed as "a godly minister," and in time was +called to a church in Salem; but was soon forced out by the General Court. +He then went to Plymouth, where he made the friendship of Mas'sasoit, +chief of the Wam-pano'ags, and of Canon'icus, chief of the Narragansetts, +and learned their language. In 1633 he returned to Salem, and was again +made pastor of a church. + +[8] The fate of John Endicott shows to what a result Williams's teaching +was supposed to lead. The flag of the Salem militia bore the red cross of +St. George. Endicott regarded it as a symbol of popery, and one day +publicly cut out the cross from the flag. This was thought a defiance of +royal authority, and Endicott was declared incapable of holding office for +a year. + +[9] Anne Hutchinson held certain religious views on which she lectured to +the women of Boston, and made so many converts that she split the church. +Governor Vane favored her, but John Winthrop opposed her teachings, and +when he became governor again she and her followers were ordered to quit +the colony. + +[10] The first written constitution made in our country, and the first in +the history of the world that was made by the people, for the people. +Other towns were added later, among them Saybrook, which had grown up +about an English fort built in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut. + +[11] Besides New Hampshire, which in 1643 was practically part of +Massachusetts; and Maine, which became so a few years later. + +[12] The Dutch, as we shall see in the next chapter, had planted a colony +in the Hudson valley, and disputed English possession of the Connecticut. + +[13] Students at Harvard College for many years paid their term bills with +produce, meat, and live stock. In 1649 a student paid his bill with "an +old cow," and the steward of the college made separate credits for her +hide, her "suet and inwards." On another occasion a goat was taken and +valued at 30 shillings. Taxes also were paid in corn and cattle. + +[14] The coins were the shilling, sixpence, threepence, and twopence. On +one side of each coin was stamped a rude representation of a pine tree. + +[15] On which the yarn was wound after it was spun. For a picture of the +loom used in weaving, see p. 52. + +[16] On the board were a saltcellar, wooden plates or trenchers, wooden or +pewter spoons, and knives, but no china, no glass. Forks, it is said, were +not known even in England till 1608, and the first ever seen in New +England were at Governor Winthrop's table in 1632. Those who wished a +drink of water drank from a single wooden tankard passed around the table; +or they went to the bucket and used a gourd. + +[17] This was a large sum in those days, and about as much as was raised +by taxation in a year. The General Court which voted the money, it has +been said, was "the first body in which the people, by their +representatives, ever gave their own money to found a place of education." + +[18] The Friends, or Quakers, lived pure, upright, simple lives. They +protested against all forms and ceremonies, and against all church +government. They refused to take any oaths, to use any titles, or to serve +in war, because they thought these things wrong. They were much persecuted +in England. + +[19] Another incident which gives us an insight into the character of +these early times is the witchcraft delusion of 1692. Nearly everybody in +those days believed in witchcraft, and several persons in the colonies had +been put to death as witches. When, therefore, in 1692, the children of a +Salem minister began to behave queerly and said that an Indian slave woman +had bewitched them, they were believed. But the delusion did not stop with +the children. In a few weeks scores of people in Salem were accusing their +neighbors of all sorts of crimes and witch orgies. Many declared that the +witches stuck pins into them. Twenty persons were put to death as witches +before the craze came to an end. + +[20] The New Haven Colony was destroyed as a distinct colony because its +people offended the king by sheltering Edward Whalley and William Goffe, +two of the regicides, or judges who sat in the tribunal that condemned +Charles I. When they fled to New England in 1660, a royal order for their +arrest was sent over after them, and a hot pursuit began. For a month they +lived in a cave, at other times in cellars in Milford, Guilford, and New +Haven; and once they hid under a bridge while their pursuers galloped past +overhead. After hiding in these ways about New Haven for three years they +went to Hadley in Massachusetts, where all trace of them disappears. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES + + +THE COMING OF THE DUTCH.--We have now seen how English colonies were +planted in the lands about Chesapeake Bay, and in New England. Into the +country lying between, there came in 1609 an intruder in the form of a +little Dutch ship called the _Half-Moon_. The Dutch East India Company had +fitted her out and sent Captain Henry Hudson in her to seek a +northeasterly passage to China. Driven back by ice in his attempt to sail +north of Europe, Hudson turned westward, and came at last to Delaware Bay. +Up this the _Half-Moon_ went a little way, but, grounding on the +shoals, Hudson turned about, followed the coast northward, and sailed up +the river now called by his name. He went as far as the site of Albany; +then, finding that the Hudson was not a passage through the continent, he +returned to Europe. [1] + +[Illustration: LANDING OF HUDSON. From an old print.] + +DISCOVERIES OF BLOCK AND MAY.--The discovery of the Hudson gave Holland or +the Netherlands a claim to the country it drained, and year after year +Dutch explorers visited the region. One of them, Adrien Block, (in 1614) +went through Long Island Sound, ascended the Connecticut River as far as +the site of Hartford, and sailed along the coast to a point beyond Cape +Cod; Block Island now bears his name. Another, May, went southward, passed +between two capes, [2] and explored Delaware Bay. The Dutch then claimed +the country from the Delaware to Cape Cod; that is, as far as May and +Block had explored. + +[Illustration: NEW NETHERLAND.] + +THE FUR TRADE.--Important as these discoveries were, they interested the +Dutch far less than the prospect of a rich fur trade with the Indians, and +in a few years Dutch traders had four little houses on Manhattan Island, +and a little fort not far from the site of Albany. From it buyers went out +among the Mohawk Indians and returned laden with the skins of beavers and +other valuable furs; and to the fort by and by the Indians came to trade. +So valuable was this traffic that those engaged in it formed a company, +obtained from the Dutch government a charter, and for three years (1615- +18) enjoyed a monopoly of the fur trade from the Delaware to the Hudson. + +THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY.--When the three years expired the charter +was not renewed; but a new association called the Dutch West India Company +was chartered (1621) and given great political and commercial power over +New Netherland, as the Dutch possessions in North America were now called. +More settlers were sent out (in 1623), some to Fort Orange on the site of +Albany, some to Fort Nassau on the South or Delaware River, some to the +Fresh or Connecticut River, some to Long Island, and some to Manhattan +Island, where they founded the town of New Amsterdam. + +[Illustration: DUTCH MERCHANT (1620).] + +THE PATROONS.--All the little Dutch settlements were forts or strong +buildings surrounded by palisades, and were centers of the fur trade. Very +little farming was done. In order to encourage farming, the West India +Company (in 1629) offered an immense tract of land to any member of the +company who should take out a colony of fifty families. The estate of a +Patroon, as such a man was called, was to extend sixteen miles along one +bank or eight miles along both banks of a river, and back almost any +distance into the country. [3] A number of these patroonships were +established on the Hudson. + +THE DUTCH ON THE CONNECTICUT.--The first attempt (in 1623) of the Dutch to +build a fort on the Connecticut failed; for the company could not spare +enough men to hold the valley. But later the Dutch returned, nailed the +arms of Holland to a tree at the mouth of the river in token of ownership, +and (1633) built Fort Good Hope where Hartford now stands. When the +Indians informed the English of this, the governor of Massachusetts bade +the Dutch begone; and when they would not go, built a fort higher up the +river at Windsor (1633), and another (1635) at Saybrook at the river's +mouth, so as to cut them off from New Amsterdam. The English colony of +Connecticut was now established in the valley; but twenty years passed +before Fort Good Hope was taken from the Dutch. + +DUTCH AND SWEDES ON THE DELAWARE.--The Dutch settlers on the Delaware were +driven off by Indians, but a garrison was sent back to hold Fort Nassau. +Meantime the Swedes appeared on the Delaware. After the organization of +the Dutch West India Company (1623), William Usselinex of Amsterdam went +to Sweden and urged the king to charter a similar company of Swedish +merchants. A company to trade with Asia, Africa, and America was +accordingly formed. Some years later Queen Christina chartered the South +Company, and in 1638 a colony was sent out by this company, the west bank +of the Delaware from its mouth to the Schuylkill (skool'kill) was bought +from the Indians, and a fort (Christina) was built on the site of +Wilmington. The Dutch governor at New Amsterdam protested, but for a dozen +years the Swedes remained unmolested, and scattered their settlements +along the shores of Delaware River and Bay, and called their country New +Sweden. Alarmed at this, Governor Peter Stuyvesant (sti've-sant) of New +Netherland built a fort to cut off the Swedes from the sea. But a Swedish +war vessel captured the Dutch fort; whereupon Stuyvesant sailed up the +Delaware with a fleet and army, quietly took possession of New Sweden, and +made it once more Dutch territory (1655). + +DUTCH RULE.--The rulers of New Netherland were a director general, or +governor, and five councilmen appointed by the West India Company. One of +these governors, Peter Minuit, bought Manhattan (the island now covered by +a part of New York city) from the Indians (1626) for 60 guilders, or about +$24 of our money. [4] + +DEMAND FOR POPULAR GOVERNMENT.--As population increased, the people began +to demand a share in the government; they wished to elect four of the five +councilmen. A long quarrel followed, but Governor Stuyvesant at last +ordered the election of nine men to aid him when necessary. [5] + +POPULATION AND CUSTOMS.--Though most of the New Netherlanders were Dutch, +there were among them also Germans, French Huguenots, English, Scotch, +Jews, Swedes, and as many religious sects as nationalities. + +The Dutch of New Netherland were a jolly people, much given to bowling and +holidays. They kept New Year's Day, St. Valentine's Day, Easter and +Pinkster (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday the seventh week after Easter), May +Day, St. Nicholas Day (December 6), and Christmas. On Pinkster days the +whole population, negro slaves included, went off to the woods on picnics. +Kirmess, a sort of annual fair for each town, furnished additional +holidays. The people rose at dawn, dined at noon, and supped at six. In no +colony were the people better housed and fed. + +[Illustration: DUTCH DOOR AND STOOP.] + +THE HOUSES stood with their gable ends to the street, and often a beam +projected from the gable, by means of which heavy articles might be raised +to the attic. The door was divided into an upper and a lower half, and +before it was a spacious stoop with seats, where the family gathered on +warm evenings. + +Within the house were huge fireplaces adorned with blue or pink tiles on +which were Bible scenes or texts, a huge moon-faced clock, a Dutch Bible, +spinning wheels, cupboards full of Delft plates and pewter dishes, rush- +bottom chairs, great chests for linen and clothes, and four-posted +bedsteads with curtains, feather beds, and dimity coverlets, and +underneath a trundle-bed for the children. A warming pan was used to take +the chill off the linen sheets on cold nights. In the houses of the +humbler sort the furniture was plainer, and sand on the floors did duty +for carpets. + +[Illustration: FOUR-POSTED BED, AND STEPS USED IN GETTING INTO IT. In the +Van Cortland Mansion, New York city.] + +TRADE AND COMMERCE.--The chief products of the colony were furs, lumber, +wheat, and flour. The center of the fur trade was Fort Orange, from which +great quantities of beaver and other skins purchased from the Indians were +sent to New Amsterdam; and to this port came vessels from the West Indies, +Portugal, and England, as well as from Holland. There was scarcely any +manufacturing. The commercial spirit of the Dutch overshadowed everything +else, and kept agriculture at a low stage. + +THE ENGLISH SEIZE NEW NETHERLAND.--The English, who claimed the continent +from Maine to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, regarded the +Dutch as intruders. Soon after Charles II came to the throne, he granted +the country from the Delaware to the Connecticut, with Long Island and +some other territory, to his brother James, the Duke of York. + +In 1664, accordingly, a fleet was sent to take possession of New +Amsterdam. Stuyvesant called out his troops and made ready to fight. But +the people were tired of the arbitrary rule of the Dutch governors, and +petitioned him to yield. At last he answered, "Well, let it be so, but I +would rather be carried out dead." + +NEW YORK.--The Dutch flag was then lowered, and New Netherland passed into +English hands. New Amsterdam was promptly renamed New York; Fort Orange +was called Albany; and the greater part of New Netherland became the +province of New York. [6] + +GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK.--The governor appointed by the Duke of York drew +up a code of laws known later as the Duke's Laws. No provision was made +for a legislature, nor for town meetings, nor for schools. [7] Government +of this sort did not please the English on Long Island and elsewhere. +Demands were at once made for a share in the lawmaking. Some of the people +refused to pay taxes, and some towns to elect officers, and sent strong +protests against taxation without their consent. But nearly twenty years +passed before New York secured a representative legislature. [8] + +EDUCATION.--In the schools established by the Dutch, the master was often +the preacher or the sexton of the Dutch church. Many of the Long Island +towns were founded by New Englanders, who long kept up their Puritan +customs and methods of education. But outside of New York city and a few +other large towns, there were no good schools during the early years of +the New York colony. + +[Illustration: NEW JERSEY, DELAWARE, AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.] + +NEW JERSEY.--Before the Duke of York had possession of his province, he +cut off the piece between the Delaware River and the lower Hudson and gave +it to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley (1664). They named this land +New Jersey, and divided it by the line shown on the map into East and West +Jersey. Lord Berkeley sold his part--West Jersey--to some Quakers, and a +Quaker colony was planted at Burlington. Carteret's portion--East Jersey-- +was sold after his death to William Penn [9] and other Quakers, who had +acquired West Jersey also. In 1702, however, the proprietors gave up their +right to govern, and the two colonies were united into the one royal +province of New Jersey. + +PENNSYLVANIA.--Penn had joined the Friends, or Quakers, when a very young +man. The part he took in the settlement of New Jersey led him to think of +founding a colony where not only the Quakers, but any others who were +persecuted, might find a refuge, and where he might try a "holy +experiment" in government after his own ideas. The king was therefore +petitioned "for a tract of land in America lying north of Maryland," and +in 1681 Penn received a large block of land, which was named Pennsylvania, +or Penn's Woodland. [10] + +[Illustration: CHARLES II AND PENN.] + +PHILADELPHIA FOUNDED.--Having received his charter, Penn wrote an account +of his province and circulated it in England, Ireland, Wales, Holland, and +Germany. In the autumn of 1681 three shiploads of colonists were sent +over. Penn himself came the next spring, and made his way to the spot +chosen for the site of Philadelphia. The land belonged to three Swedish +brothers; so Penn bought it, and began the work of marking out the streets +and building houses. Before a year went by, Philadelphia was a town of +eighty houses. + +PENN AND THE INDIANS.--In dealing with the Indians the aim of Penn was to +make them friends. Before coming over he sent letters to be read to them.. +After his arrival he walked with them, sat with them to watch their young +men dance, joined in their feasts, and, it is said, planned a sort of +court or jury of six whites and six Indians to settle disputes with the +natives. In June, 1683, Penn met the Indians and made a treaty which, +unlike most other treaties, was kept by both parties. + +THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.--As proprietor of Pennsylvania it became +the duty of Penn to provide a government for the settlers, which he did in +the _Frame of Government_. This provided for a governor appointed by +the proprietor, a legislature of two houses elected by the people, judges +partly elected by the people, and a vote by ballot. [11] In 1701 Penn +granted a new constitution which kept less power for his governor, and +gave more power and rights to the legislature and the people. This was +called the _Charter of Privileges_, and it remained in force as long +as Pennsylvania was a colony. + +THE "TERRITORIES," OR DELAWARE.--Pennsylvania had no frontage on the sea, +and its boundaries were disputed by the neighboring colonies. [12] To +secure an outlet to the sea, Penn applied to the Duke of York for a grant +of the territory on the west bank of the Delaware River to its mouth, and +was granted what is now Delaware. This region was also included in Lord +Baltimore's grant of Maryland, and the dispute over it between the two +proprietors was not settled till 1732, when the present boundary was +agreed upon. Penn intended to add Delaware to Pennsylvania, but the people +of these "territories," or "three lower counties," objected, and in 1703 +secured a legislature of their own, though they remained under the +governor of Pennsylvania. + +[Illustration: PENN'S RAZOR, CASE, AND HOT WATER TANK. Now in the +possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.] + +THE PEOPLING OF PENNSYLVANIA.--The toleration and liberality of Penn +proved so attractive to the people of the Old World that emigrants came +over in large numbers. They came not only from England and Wales, but also +from other parts of Europe. In later times thousands of Germans settled in +the middle part of the colony, and many Scotch-Irish (people of Scottish +descent from northern Ireland) on the western frontier and along the +Maryland border. + +As a consequence of this great migration Pennsylvania became one of the +most populous of the colonies. It had many flourishing towns, of which +Philadelphia was the largest. This was a fine specimen of a genuine +English town, and was one of the chief cities in English America. + +Between the towns lay some of the richest farming regions in America. The +Germans especially were fine farmers, raised great crops, bred fine +horses, and owned farms whose size was the wonder of all travelers. The +laborers were generally indentured servants or redemptioners. + +[Illustration: CAROLINA BY THE GRANT OF 1665.] + +CAROLINA.--When Charles II became king in 1660, there were only two +southern colonies, Virginia and Maryland. Between the English settlements +in Virginia and the Spanish settlements in Florida was a wide stretch of +unoccupied land, which in 1663 he granted for a new colony called Carolina +in his honor. [13] + +Two groups of settlements were planted. One in the north, called the +Albemarle Colony, was of people from Virginia; the other, in the south, +the Carteret Colony, was of people from England, who founded Charleston +(1670). John Locke, a famous English philosopher, at the request of the +proprietors drew up a form of government, [14] but it was opposed by the +colonists and never went into effect. Each colony, however, had its own +governor, who was sent out by the proprietors till 1729, when the +proprietors surrendered their rights to the king. The province of Carolina +was then formally divided into two colonies known as North and South +Carolina. + +LIFE IN NORTH CAROLINA.--The people of North Carolina lived on small farms +and owned few slaves. In the towns were a few mechanics and storekeepers, +in whose hands was all the commerce of the colony. They bought and sold +everything, and supplied the farms and small plantations. In the northern +part of the colony tobacco was grown, in the southern part rice and +indigo; and in all parts lumber, tar, pitch, and turpentine were produced. +Herds of cattle and hogs ran wild in the woods, bearing their owner's +brands, to alter which was a crime. + +There were no manufactures; all supplies were imported from England or the +other colonies. There were few roads. There were no towns, but little +villages such as Wilmington, Newbern, and Edenton, the largest of which +did not have a population of five hundred souls. As in Virginia, the +courthouses were the centers of social life, and court days the occasion +of social amusements. Education was scanty and poor, and there was no +printing press in the colony for a hundred years after its first +settlement. + +Much of the early population of North Carolina consisted of indented +servants, who, having served out their term in Virginia, emigrated to +Carolina, where land was easier to get. Later came Germans from the Rhine +country, Scotch-Irish from the north of Ireland, and (after 1745) +Scotchmen from the Highlands. [15] + +SOUTH CAROLINA.--In South Carolina, also, the only important occupation +was planting or farming. Rice, introduced about 1694, was the chief +product, and next in importance was indigo. The plantations, as in +Virginia, were large and lay along the coast and the banks of the rivers, +from which the crops were floated to Charleston, where the planters +generally lived. At Charleston the crops were bought by merchants who +shipped them to the West Indies and to England, whence was brought almost +every manufactured article the people used. Slaves were almost the only +laborers, and formed about half the population. Bond servants were nearly +unknown. Charleston, the one city, was well laid out and adorned with +handsome churches, public buildings, and fine residences of rich merchants +and planters. + +[Illustration: CHARLESTON IN EARLY TIMES. From an old print.] + +THE PIRATES.--During the early years of the two Carolinas the coast was +infested with pirates, or, as they called themselves, "Brethren of the +Coast." These buccaneers had formerly made their home in the West Indies, +whence they sallied forth to prey on the commerce of the Spanish colonies. +About the time Charleston was founded, Spain and England wished to put +them down. But when the pirates were driven from their old haunts, they +found new ones in the sounds and harbors of Carolina, and preyed on the +commerce of Charleston till the planters turned against them and drove +them off. [16] + +GEORGIA CHARTERED.--The thirteenth and last of the English colonies in +North America was chartered in 1732. At that time and long afterward, it +was the custom in England and the colonies to imprison people for debt, +and keep them in jail for life or until the debt was paid. The sufferings +of these people greatly interested James Oglethorpe, a gallant English +soldier, and led him to attempt something for their relief. His plan was +to have them released, provided they would emigrate to America. Others +aided him, and in 1732 a company was incorporated and given the land +between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers from their mouths to their +sources, and thence across the continent to the Pacific. The new colony +was called Georgia, in honor of King George II. + +The site of the new colony was chosen in order that Georgia might occupy +and hold some disputed territory, [17] and serve as a "buffer colony" to +protect Charleston from attacks by the Spaniards and the Indians. + +[Illustration: SCOTTISH HIGHLANDER.] + +THE SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA.--In 1732 Oglethorpe with one hundred and thirty +colonists sailed for Charleston, and after a short stay started south and +founded Savannah (1733). The colony was not settled entirely by released +English debtors. To it in time came people from New England and the +distressed of many lands, including Italians, Germans, and Scottish +Highlanders. Oglethorpe's company controlled Georgia twenty years; but the +colonists chafed under its rule, so that the company finally disbanded and +gave the province back to the king (1752). + +Under the proprietors the people were required to manufacture silk, plant +vineyards, and produce oil. But the prosperity of Georgia began under the +royal government, when the colony settled down to the production of rice, +lumber, and indigo. Importation of slaves was forbidden by the +proprietors, but under the royal government it was allowed. The towns were +small, for almost everybody lived on a small farm or plantation. + + +SUMMARY + +1. While the English were planting the Jamestown colony, the Dutch under +Hudson explored the Hudson River (1609), and a few years later the +Dutchmen May and Block explored also Delaware Bay and the Connecticut +River. + +2. The Dutch fur trade was profitable, and in 1621 the Dutch West India +Company was placed in control of New Netherland. + +3. Settlements were soon attempted and patroonships created; but the chief +industry of New Netherland was the fur trade. + +4. In 1638 a Swedish colony, called New Sweden, was planted on the +Delaware; but it was seized by the Dutch (1655). + +5. The English by this time had begun to settle in New England. This led +to disputes, and in 1664 New Netherland was seized by the English, arid +became a possession of the Duke of York, brother of King Charles II. + +6. Most of the province was called New York; but part of it was cut off +and given to two noblemen, and became the province of New Jersey. + +7. In 1663 and 1665 Charles II made some of his friends proprietors of +Carolina, a province later divided into North and South Carolina. + +8. In 1681 Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn as a proprietary +colony. + +9. In order to obtain the right of access to the sea, Penn secured from +the Duke of York what is now Delaware. + +10. The last of the colonies was Georgia, chartered in 1732. + +11. Education scanty and poor. No printing presses for one hundred years +after first settlement. + +[Illustration: POUNDING CORN.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Henry Hudson was an English seaman who twice before had made voyages +to the north and northeastward for an English trading company. Stopping in +England on his return from America, Hudson sent a report of his discovery +to the Dutch company and offered to go on another voyage to search for the +northwest passage. He was ordered to come to Amsterdam, but the English +authorities would not let him go. In 1610 he sailed again for the English +and entered Hudson Bay, where during some months his ship was locked in +the ice. The crew mutinied and put Hudson, his son, and seven sick men +adrift in an open boat, and then sailed for England. There the crew were +imprisoned. An expedition was sent in search of Hudson, but no trace of +him was found. + +[2] One of these, Cape May, now bears his name; the other, Cape Henlopen, +is called after a town in Holland. + +[3] The first patroonship was Swandale, in what is now the state of +Delaware; but the Indians were troublesome, and the estate was abandoned. +The second, granted to Michael Pauw, included Staten Island and much of +what is now Jersey City; it was sold back to the company after a few +years. The most successful patroonship was the Van Rensselaer (ren'se-ler) +estate on the Hudson near Albany. It extended twenty-four miles along both +banks of the river and ran back into the country twenty-four miles from +each bank. The family still occupies a small part of the estate. + +[4] New Amsterdam was then a cluster of some thirty one-story log houses +with bark roofs, and two hundred population engaged in the fur trade. The +town at first grew slowly. There were no such persecution and distress in +Holland as in England, and therefore little inducement for men to migrate. +Minuit was succeeded as governor by Van Twiller (1633), and he by Kieft +(1638), during whose term all monopolies of trade were abandoned. The fur +trade, heretofore limited to agents of the company, was opened to the +world, and new inducements were offered to immigrants. Any farmer who +would go to New Netherland was carried free with his family, and was given +a farm, with a house, barn, horses, cows, sheep, swine, and tools, for a +small annual rent. + +[5] From these nine men in time came an appeal to the Dutch government to +turn out the company and give the people a government of their own. The +first demand was refused, but the second was partly granted; for in 1653 +New Amsterdam was incorporated as a city with a popular government. + +[6] Read Fiske's _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_, Vol. I, pp. 286-291. In +1673, England and Holland being at war, a Dutch fleet recaptured New York +and named it New Orange, and held it for a few months. When peace was made +(1674) the city was restored to the English, and Dutch rule in North +America was over forever. + +[7] Each town was to elect a constable and eight overseers, with limited +powers. Several towns were grouped into a "riding," over which presided a +sheriff appointed by the governor. In 1683 the ridings became counties, +and in 1703 it was ordered that the people of each town should elect +members of a board of supervisors. + +[8] In 1683 Thomas Dongan came out as governor, with authority to call an +assembly to aid in making laws and levying taxes. Seventeen +representatives met in New York, enacted some laws, and framed a Charter +of Franchises and Privileges. The duke signed this as proprietor in 1684; +but revoked it as King James II. + +[9] William Penn was the son of Sir William Penn, an admiral in the navy +of the Commonwealth and a friend of Charles II. At Oxford young William +Penn was known as an athlete and a scholar and a linguist, a reputation he +maintained in after life by learning to speak Latin, French, German, +Dutch, and Italian. After becoming a Quaker, he was taken from Oxford and +traveled in France, Italy, and Ireland, where he was imprisoned for +attending a Quaker meeting. The father at first was bitterly opposed to +the religious views of the son, but in the end became reconciled, and on +the death of the admiral (in 1670), William Penn inherited a fortune. +Thenceforth all his time, means, and energy were devoted to the interests +of the Quakers. For a short account of Penn, read Fiske's _Dutch and +Quaker Colonies_, Vol. II, pp. 114-118, 129-130. + +[10] Penn intended to call his tract New Wales, but to please the king +changed it to Sylvania, before which the king put the name Penn, in honor +of Penn's father. The king owed Penn's father Ģ16,000, and considered the +debt paid by the land grant. + +[11] All laws were to be proposed by the governor and the upper house; but +the lower house might reject any of them. At the first meeting of the +Assembly Penn offered a series of laws called _The Great Law_. These +provided that all religions should be tolerated; that all landholders and +taxpayers might vote and be eligible to membership in the Assembly; that +every child of twelve should be taught some useful trade; and that the +prisons should be made houses of industry and education. + +[12] Pennsylvania extended five degrees of longitude west from the +Delaware. The south boundary was to be "a circle drawn at twelve miles' +distance from Newcastle northward and westward unto the beginning of the +fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by a straight line +westward." This was an impossible line, as a circle so drawn would meet +neither the thirty-ninth nor the fortieth parallel. Maryland, moreover, +was to extend "unto that part of Delaware Bay on the north which lieth +under the fortieth degree of north latitude." + +Penn held that the words of his grant "beginning of the fortieth degree" +meant the thirty-ninth parallel. The Baltimores denied this and claimed to +the fortieth. The dispute was finally settled by a compromise line which +was partly located (1763-67) by two surveyors, Mason and Dixon. In later +days this Mason and Dixon's line became the boundary between the seaboard +free and slave-holding states. The north boundary of Pennsylvania was to +be "the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of northern latitude," +which, according to Penn's argument in the Maryland case, meant the forty- +second parallel, and on this New York insisted. + +[13] The grant extended from the 31st to the 36th degree of north +latitude, and from the Atlantic to the South Sea; it was given to eight +noblemen, friends of the king. In 1665 strips were added on the north and +on the south, and Carolina then extended from the parallel of 29 degrees +to that of 36 degrees 30 minutes. + +[14] This plan, the _Grand Model_, as it was called, was intended to +introduce a queer sort of nobility or landed aristocracy into America. At +the head of the state was to be a "palatine." Below him in rank were +"proprietaries," "landgraves," "caciques," and the "leetmen" or plain +people. Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. II, pp. +271-276. + +[15] Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. II, pp. +310-319. + +[16] Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. II, pp. +361-369. + +[17] Ever since the early voyages of discovery Spain had claimed the whole +of North America, and all of South America west of the Line of +Demarcation. But in 1670 Spain, by treaty, acknowledged the right of +England to the territory she then possessed in North America. No +boundaries were mentioned, so the region between St. Augustine and the +Savannah River was left to be contended for in the future. England, in the +charter to the proprietors of Carolina (1665), asserted her claim to the +coast as far south as 29°. But this was absurd; for the parallel of 29° +was south of St. Augustine, where Spain for a hundred years had maintained +a strong fort and settlement. The possessions of England really stopped at +the Savannah River, and sixty-two years passed after the treaty with Spain +(1670) before any colony was planted south of that river. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +HOW THE COLONIES WERE GOVERNED + + +GROUPS OF COLONIES.--It has long been customary to group the colonies in +two ways--according to their geographical location, and according to their +form of government. + +Geographically considered, there were three groups: (1) the Eastern +Colonies, or New England--New Hampshire, Massachusetts (including Plymouth +and Maine), Rhode Island, and Connecticut; (2) the Middle Colonies--New +York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; and (3) the Southern +Colonies--Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. (Map, +p. 134.) + +Politically considered, there were three groups also--the charter, the +royal, and the proprietary. (1) The charter colonies were those whose +organization was described in a charter; namely, Massachusetts, +Connecticut, and Rhode Island. (2) The royal colonies were under the +immediate authority of the king and subject to his will and pleasure--New +Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and +Georgia. [1] (3) In the proprietary colonies, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and +Maryland, authority was vested in a proprietor or proprietaries, who owned +the land, appointed the governors, and established the legislatures. + +[Illustration: COLONIAL CHAIR. In the possession of the Concord +Antiquarian Society.] + +THE FIRST NAVIGATION ACT.--It was from the king that the land grants, the +charters, and the powers of government were obtained, and it was to him +that the colonists owed allegiance. Not till the passage of the Navigation +Acts did Parliament concern itself with the colonies. + +The first of these acts, the ordinance of 1651, was intended to cut off +the trade of Holland with the colonies. It provided that none but English +or colonial ships could trade between England and her colonies, or trade +along the coast from port to port, or engage in the foreign trade of the +plantations. + +THE SECOND NAVIGATION ACT was passed in 1660. It provided (1) that no +goods should be imported or exported save in English or colonial ships, +and (2) that certain goods [2] should not be sent from the colonies +anywhere except to an English port. A third act, passed in 1663, required +all European goods destined for the colonies to be first landed in +England. The purpose of these acts was to favor English merchants. + +THE LORDS OF TRADE.--That the king in person should attend to all the +trade affairs of his colonies was impossible. From a very early time, +therefore, the management of trade matters was intrusted to a committee +appointed by the king, or by Parliament during the Civil War and the +Commonwealth. After the restoration of the monarchy (in 1660) this body +was known first as the Committee for Foreign Plantations, then as the +Lords of Trade, and finally (after 1696) as the Lords of the Board of +Trade and Plantations. It was their duty to correspond with the governors, +make recommendations, enforce the Navigation Acts, examine all colonial +laws and advise the king as to which he should veto or disallow, write the +king's proclamations, listen to complaints of merchants,--in short, attend +to everything concerning the trade and government of the colonies. + +THE COLONIAL GOVERNOR.--The most important colonial official was the +governor. In Connecticut and Rhode Island the governor was elected by the +people; in the royal colonies and in Massachusetts (after 1684) he was +appointed by the king, and in the proprietary colonies by the proprietor +with the approval of the king. Each governor appointed by the king +recommended legislation to the assemblies, informed the king as to the +condition of the colony, sent home copies of the laws, and by his veto +prevented the passage of laws injurious to the interests of the crown. +From time to time he received instructions as to what the king wished +done. He was commander of the militia, and could assemble, prorogue +(adjourn), and dismiss the legislature of the colony. + +[Illustration: COLONIAL PARLOR (RESTORATION).] + +THE COUNCIL.--Associated with the governor in every colony was a Council +of from three to twenty-eight men [3] who acted as a board of advisers to +the governor, usually served as the upper house of the legislature, and +sometimes acted as the highest or supreme court of the colony. + +THE LOWER HOUSE of the legislature, or the Assembly,--called by different +names in some colonies, as House of Delegates, or House of Commons,--was +chosen by such of the people as could vote. With the governor and Council +it made the laws, [4] levied the taxes, and appointed certain officers; +but (except in Rhode Island and Connecticut) the laws could be vetoed by +the governor, or disallowed by the king or the proprietor. + +There were many disputes between governor and Assembly, each trying to +gain more power and influence in the government. If the governor vetoed +many laws, the Assembly might refuse to vote him any salary. If the +Assembly would not levy taxes and pass laws as requested by the governor, +he might dismiss it and call for the election of a new one. + +[Illustration: COLONIAL PEWTER DISHES.] + +THE LAWS.--Many of the laws of colonial times seem to us cruel and severe. +A large number of crimes were then punishable with death. For less serious +offenses men and women had letters branded on their foreheads or cheeks or +hands, or sewed on their outer garments in plain sight; or were flogged +through the streets, ducked, stood under the gallows, stood in the +pillory, or put in the stocks. In New England it was an offense to travel +or cook food or walk about the town on the Sabbath day, or to buy any +cloth with lace on it. + +LOCAL GOVERNMENT was of three systems: the town (township) in New England; +the county in the Southern Colonies; and in the Middle Colonies a mixture +of both. + +TOWN MEETING.--The affairs of a New England town were regulated at town +meeting, to which from time to time the freemen were "warned," or +summoned, by the constable. To be a freeman in Massachusetts and +Connecticut a man had to own a certain amount of property and be a member +of a recognized church. If a newcomer, he had to be formally admitted to +freemanship at a town meeting. These meetings were presided over by a +moderator chosen for the occasion, and at them taxes were levied, laws +enacted, and once a year officers were elected. [5] The principal town +officers were the selectmen who managed the town's affairs between town +meetings, the constables, overseers of the poor, assessors, the town +clerk, and the treasurer. + +THE COUNTY.--In the South, where plantations were numerous and where there +were no towns of the New England kind, county government prevailed. The +officers were appointed by the royal governor, formed a board called the +court of quarter sessions, and levied local taxes, made local laws, and as +a court administered justice. + +In the Middle Colonies there were both town and county governments. In New +York, each town (after 1703) elected a supervisor, and county affairs were +managed by a board consisting of the supervisors of all the towns in the +county. In Pennsylvania the county officers were elected by the voters of +the whole county. + +NO REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT.--The colonies sent no representatives to +Parliament. In certain matters that body legislated for the colonies, as +in the case of the Navigation Acts. But unless expressly stated in the +act, no law of Parliament applied to the colonies. Having no +representation in Parliament, the colonies often sent special agents to +London to look after their affairs, and in later times kept agents there +regularly, one man acting for several colonies. [6] + +A UNION OF THE COLONIES.--The idea of uniting the colonies for purposes of +general welfare and common defense was proposed very early in their +history. In 1697 Penn suggested a congress of delegates from each colony. +A little later Robert Livingston of New York urged the grouping of the +colonies into three provinces, from each of which delegates should be sent +to Albany to consider measures for defense. As yet, however, the colonies +were not ready for anything of this sort. + +THE CHARTERS ATTACKED.--The king, on the other hand, had attempted to +unite some of the colonies in a very different way--by destroying the +charters of the northern colonies and putting them under one governor. The +first attack was made by King Charles II, on Massachusetts, and after a +long struggle her charter (p. 58) was taken away by the English courts in +1684. The charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut were next annulled, and +King James II [7] sent over Edmund Andros as governor of New England. + +CONNECTICUT SAVES HER CHARTER.--Andros reached Boston in 1686, and assumed +the government of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. [8] He next ordered +Plymouth, Rhode Island, and Connecticut to submit and accept annexation. +Plymouth and Rhode Island did so, but Connecticut resisted. Andros +therefore came to Hartford (1687), dissolved the colonial government, and +demanded the Connecticut charter. Tradition says that the Assembly met +him, and debated the question till dusk; candles were then lighted and the +charter brought in and laid on the table; this done, the candles were +suddenly blown out, and when they were relighted, the charter could not be +found; Captain Wadsworth of Hartford had carried it off and hidden it in +an oak tree thereafter known as the Charter Oak. + +But Andros ruled Connecticut, and in the following year New York and East +and West Jersey also were placed under his authority. Andros thus became +ruler of all the provinces lying north and east of the Delaware River. [9] +His rule was tyrannical: he abolished the legislatures, and with the aid +of appointed councilmen he made laws and levied taxes as he pleased. + +THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF 1689.--In 1689 King James II was driven from his +throne, William and Mary became king and queen of England, and war broke +out with France. News of these events caused an upheaval in the colonies. +The people in Boston promptly seized Andros and put him in jail; +Connecticut and Rhode Island resumed their charter governments; the +Protestants in Maryland overthrew the government of the proprietor and set +up a new one in the name of William and Mary [10]; and in New York Leisler +raised a rebellion. + +MASSACHUSETTS RECHARTERED.--Massachusetts sent agents to London to ask for +the restoration of her old charter; but instead William granted a new +charter in 1691, which provided that the governor should be appointed by +the king. Plymouth and Maine were united with Massachusetts, but New +Hampshire was made a separate royal colony. The charters of Rhode Island +and Connecticut were confirmed, so that they continued to elect their own +governors. + +[Illustration: THE FORT AT NEW YORK.] + +LEISLER'S REBELLION.--Andros had ruled New York through a deputy named +Nicholson, who tried to remain in control. A rich merchant named Jacob +Leisler denied the right of Nicholson to act, refused to pay duty on some +wine he had imported, and, aided by the people, seized the fort and set up +a temporary government. A convention was then called, a committee of +safety appointed, and Leisler was made commander in chief. Later he +assumed the office of lieutenant governor. When King William heard of +these things, he appointed a new governor, and early in 1691 three ships +with some soldiers reached New York. Leisler at first refused to give up +the fort; but was soon forced to surrender, and was finally hanged for +rebellion. [11] + +BACON'S REBELLION.--Massachusetts and New York were not the first colonies +in which bad government led to uprisings against a royal governor. In +Virginia, during the reign of Charles II, the rule of Governor Berkeley +was selfish and tyrannical. In 1676 the planters on the frontier asked for +protection against Indian attacks, but the governor, who was engaged in +Indian trade, refused to send soldiers; and when Nathaniel Bacon led a +force of planters against the Indians, Berkeley declared him a rebel, +raised a force of men, and marched after him. While Berkeley was away, the +people in Jamestown rose and demanded a new Assembly and certain reforms. +Berkeley yielded to the demands, and was also compelled to give Bacon a +commission to fight the Indians; but when Bacon was well on his way, +Berkeley again proclaimed him a rebel, and fled from Jamestown. + +Bacon, supported by most of the people, now seized the government and sent +a force to capture Berkeley. The governor and his followers defeated this +force and occupied Jamestown. Bacon, who was again on the frontier, +returned, drove Berkeley away, burned Jamestown lest it should be again +occupied, and a month later died. The popular uprising then subsided +rapidly, and when the king's forces arrived (1677) to restore order, +Berkeley was in control. [12] + +GROWTH OF POPULATION.--During the century which followed the restoration +of monarchy (1660) the colonies grew not only in number but also in +population and in wealth. In 1660 there were probably 200,000 people in +the English colonies; by 1760 there were nearly 2,000,000--all east of the +Appalachian watershed. The three great centers were Virginia, +Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Sparse as the population seems to us, +the great march across the continent had begun. [13] + +CITIES AND TOWNS.--The century (1660-1760) had seen the rise of but one +real city in the South--Charleston. Annapolis was a village, Baltimore a +hamlet of a hundred souls, Williamsburg and Norfolk were but towns, and no +place in North Carolina was more than a country village. Philadelphia, +which did not exist in 1660, had become a place of 16,000 people in 1760, +neat, well-built, and prosperous. Near by was German town, and further +west Lancaster, the largest inland town in all the colonies. Between +Philadelphia and New York there were no places larger than small villages. +New York had a population of some 12,000 souls; Boston, the chief city in +the colonies, some 20,000; and in New England were several other towns of +importance. + +LIFE IN THE CITIES.--In the cities and large towns from Boston to +Charleston in 1760 were many fine houses. Every family of wealth had +costly furniture, plenty of silver, china, glass, and tapestry, and every +comfort that money could then buy. The men wore broadcloth, lace ruffles, +silk stockings, and silver shoe buckles, powdered their hair, and carried +swords. The women dressed more elaborately in silks and brocades, and wore +towering head-dresses and ostrich plumes. Shopkeepers wore homespun, +workingmen and mechanics leather aprons. + +[Illustration: COLONIAL SIDEBOARD, WITH KNIFE CASES, CANDLESTICK, +PITCHERS, AND DECANTER. In the possession of the Concord Antiquarian +Society.] + +THINGS NOT IN USE IN 1660.--Should we make a list of what are to us the +everyday conveniences of life and strike from the list the things not +known in 1660, very few would remain. A business man in one of our large +cities, let us suppose, sets off for his place of business on a rainy day. +He puts on a pair of rubbers, takes an umbrella, buys a morning newspaper, +boards a trolley car, and when his place of business is reached, is +carried by an elevator to his office floor, and enters a steam-heated, +electric-lighted room. In 1660 and for many years after, there was not in +any of the colonies a pair of rubbers, an umbrella, a trolley car, a +morning newspaper, an elevator, a steam-heated room, [14] an electric +light. + +[Illustration: COLONIAL FOOT STOVE.] + +The man of business sits down in a revolving chair before a rolltop desk. +In front of him are steel pens, India rubber eraser, blotting paper, +rubber bands, a telephone. He takes up a bundle of typewritten letters, +dictates answers to a stenographer, sends a telegram to some one a +thousand miles away, and before returning home has received an answer. In +1660 there was not in all the land a stenographer, or any of the articles +mentioned; no telephone, no telegraph, not even a post office. + +TRAVEL AND COMMUNICATION.--If business calls him from home, he travels in +comfort in a steamboat or a railway car, and goes farther in one hour than +in 1660 he could have gone in two days, for at that time there was not a +steamboat, nor a railroad, nor even a stagecoach, in North America. Men +went from one colony to another by sailing vessel; overland they traveled +on horseback; and if a wife went with her husband, she rode behind him on +a pillion. The produce of the farms was drawn to the village market by ox +teams. + +[Illustration: TRAVELING IN 1660.] + +NEWSPAPERS AND PRINTING.--In 1660 no newspaper or magazine of any sort was +published in the colonies. The first printing press in English America was +set up at Cambridge in 1630, and was long the only one. The first +newspaper in our country was the _Boston News Letter_, printed in 1704, +and there was none in Pennsylvania till 1719, and none south of the +Potomac till 1732. + +LIBERTY OF THE PRESS did not exist. No book, pamphlet, or almanac could be +printed without permission. In 1685, when a printer in Philadelphia +printed something in his almanac which displeased the Council, he was +forced to blot it out. Another Philadelphia printer, Bradford, offended +the Quakers by putting into his almanac something "too light and airy for +one that is a Christian," whereupon the almanac was suppressed; and for +later offenses Bradford was thrown into jail and so harshly treated that +he left the colony. + +In New York (1725) Bradford started the first newspaper in that colony. +One of his old apprentices, John Peter Zenger, started the second (1733), +and soon called down the wrath of the governor because of some sharp +attacks on his conduct. Copies of the newspaper were burned before the +pillory, Zenger was put in jail, and what began as a trial for libel ended +in a great struggle for liberty of the press; Zenger's acquittal was the +cause of great public rejoicings. [15] + +CHANGES BETWEEN 1660 AND 1760.--By 1760 the conditions of life in the +colonies had changed for the better in many respects. Stagecoaches had +come in, and a line ran regularly between New York and Philadelphia. Post +offices had been established. There were printing presses and newspapers +in most of the colonies, there were public subscription libraries in +Charleston and Philadelphia, and six colleges scattered over the colonies +from Virginia to Massachusetts. + +EDUCATION.--What we know as the public school system, however, did not yet +exist. Children generally attended private schools kept by wandering +teachers who were boarded around among the farmers or village folk; and +learned only to read, write, and cipher. But a few went to the Latin +school or to college, for which they were often prepared by clergymen. + +SPORTS AND PASTIMES.--Amusements in colonial days varied somewhat with the +section of the country and the character of the people who had settled it. +Corn huskings, quilting parties, and spinning bees were common in many +colonies. A house raising or a log-rolling (a piling bee) was a great +occasion for frolic. Picnics, tea parties, and dances were common +everywhere; the men often competed in foot races, wrestling matches, and +shooting at a mark. In New England the great day for such sports was +training day, which came four times a year, when young and old gathered on +the village green to see the militia company drill. + +In New York there were also fishing parties and tavern parties, and much +skating and coasting, horse racing, bull baiting, bowling on the greens, +and in New York city balls, concerts, and private theatricals. In +Pennsylvania vendues (auctions), fairs, and cider pressing (besides +husking bees and house raisings) were occasions for social gatherings and +dances. South of the Potomac horse racing, fox hunting, cock fighting, and +cudgeling were common sports. At the fairs there were sack and hogshead +races, bull baiting, barbecues, and dancing. There was a theater at +Williamsburg and another in Charleston. + +[Illustration: A MILL OF 1691. The power was furnished by the great +undershot water wheel.] + +MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.--Little manufacturing was done in 1760, save +for the household. A few branches of manufactures--woolen goods, felt +hats, steel--which seemed likely to flourish in the colonies were checked +by acts of Parliament, lest they should compete with industries in +England. But shipbuilding was not molested, and in New England and +Pennsylvania many ships were built and sold. + +Land commerce in 1760 was still confined almost entirely to the Indian fur +trade. In sea-going commerce New England led, her vessels trading not only +with Great Britain and the West Indies, but carrying on most of the +coasting trade. In general the Navigation Acts were obeyed; but the +Molasses Act (1733), which levied a heavy duty on sugar or molasses from a +foreign colony, was boldly evaded. The law required that all European +goods must come by way of England; but this too was evaded, and smuggling +of European goods was very common. Tobacco from Virginia and North +Carolina often found its way in New England ships to forbidden ports. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The English colonies were of three sorts--charter, royal, and +proprietary; but before 1660 each managed its affairs much as it pleased. + +2. Charles II and later kings tried to rule the colonies for the benefit +of the crown and of the mother country. They acted through the Lords of +Trade in England and through colonial governors in America. + +3. In 1676 Bacon led an uprising in Virginia against Governor Berkeley's +arbitrary rule. + +4. In 1684 Massachusetts was deprived of her charter, and within a few +years all the New England colonies, with New York and New Jersey, were put +under the tyrannical rule of Governor Andros. + +5. When James II lost his throne, Andros was deposed, and Massachusetts +was given a new charter (1691). + +6. The government of each colony was managed by (1) a governor elected by +the people (Rhode Island, Connecticut) or appointed by the king or by the +proprietor; (2) by an appointed Council; and (3) by an Assembly or lower +house elected by the colonists. + +7. Local government was of three sorts: in New England the township system +prevailed; in the Southern Colonies the county system; and in the Middle +Colonies a mixture of the two. + +8. In 1660-1760 the population increased nearly tenfold; stagecoaches, +post offices, and newspapers were introduced; commerce increased, but +little manufacturing was done. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] New Hampshire after 1679, New York after 1685 (when the Duke of York +became king), New Jersey after 1702, Virginia after 1624, North and South +Carolina after 1729, Georgia after 1752. + +[2] These goods were products of the colonies and were named in the act-- +such as tobacco, sugar, indigo, and furs. There was a long list of such +"enumerated goods," as they were called. + +[3] In the royal colonies they were appointed by the crown; in +Massachusetts, by the General Court; in the proprietary colonies, by the +proprietor. + +[4] In Massachusetts as early as 1634 the General Court consisted of the +governor, the assistants, and two deputies from each town. During ten +years they all met in one room; but a quarrel between the assistants and +the deputies led to their meeting as separate bodies. For an account of +this curious quarrel see Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 106-108. +In Connecticut and Rhode Island also the towns elected deputies. Outside +of New England the delegates to the lower branch of the legislature were +usually elected from counties, but sometimes from important cities or +towns. + +[5] The first government of Plymouth Colony was practically a town +meeting. The first town to set up a local government in Massachusetts was +Dorchester (1633). Thus started, the system spread over all New England. +Nothing was too petty to be acted on by the town meeting. For example, "It +is ordered that all dogs, for the space of three weeks after the +publishing hereof, shall have one leg tied up.... If a man refuse to tye +up his dogs leg and he be found scraping up fish [used for fertilizer] in +the corn field, the owner shall pay l2_s._, besides whatever damage the +dog doth." The proceedings of several town meetings at Providence are +given in Hart's _American History told by Contemporaries_, Vol. II, +pp. 214-219. + +[6] Penn's charter required him to keep an agent in or near London. + +[7] Charles II died in 1685 and was succeeded by his brother, the Duke of +York (proprietor of the colony of New York), who reigned as James II. + +[8] New Hampshire, which had been annexed by Massachusetts in 1641, was +made a separate province in 1679; but during the governorship of Andros it +was again annexed. + +[9] These were Massachusetts (including Maine), New Hampshire, Plymouth, +Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey--eight +in all. The only other colonies then in existence were Pennsylvania +(including Delaware), Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. For an account of +the attack on the New England charters, read Fiske's _Beginnings of New +England_, pp. 265-268. + +[10] The Protestant Episcopal Church of England was established in the +colony (1692), and sharp laws were made against Catholics. From 1691 till +1715 Maryland was governed as a royal province; but then it was given back +to the fifth Lord Baltimore, who was a Protestant. + +[11] Read Fiske's _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_, Vol. II, pp. 199-208. _In +Leisler's Times_, by Elbridge Brooks, and _The Segum's Daughter_, by Edwin +L. Bynner, are two interesting stories based on the events of Leisler's +time. + +[12] Berkeley put so many men to death for the part they bore in the +rebellion that King Charles said, "The old fool has put to death more +people in that naked country than I did here for the murder of my father." +Berkeley was recalled. Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, +Vol. II, pp. 44-95; or the _Century Magazine_ for July, 1890. + +[13] In New Hampshire settlers had moved up the valley of the Merrimac to +Concord. In Massachusetts they had crossed the Connecticut River and were +well on toward the New York border (map, p. 59). In New York settlement +was still confined to Long Island, the valley of the Hudson, and a few +German settlements in the Mohawk valley. In Pennsylvania Germans and +Scotch-Irish had pressed into the Susquehanna valley; Reading had been +founded on the upper Schuylkill, and Bethlehem in the valley of the Lehigh +(map, p. 78). In Virginia population had gone westward up the York, the +Rappahannock, and the James rivers to the foot of the Blue Ridge; and +Germans and Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania had entered the Great Valley +(map, p. 50). In North Carolina and South Carolina Germans, Swiss, Welsh, +and Scotch-Irish were likewise moving toward the mountains. + +[14] Houses were warmed by means of open fireplaces. Churches were not +warmed, even in the coldest days of winter. People would bring foot stoves +with them, and men would sit with their hats, greatcoats, and mittens on. + +[15] Read Fiske's _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_, Vol. II, pp. 248-257. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE INDIANS + + +Wherever the early explorers and settlers touched our coast, they found +the country sparsely inhabited by a race of men they called Indians. These +people, like their descendants now living in the West, were a race with +copper-colored skins, straight, jet-black hair, black eyes, beardless +faces, and high cheek bones. + +MOUNDS AND CLIFF DWELLINGS.--Who the Indians were originally, where they +came from, how they reached our continent, nobody knows. Long before the +Europeans came, the country was inhabited by a people, probably the same +as the Indians, known as mound builders. Their mounds, of many sizes and +shapes and intended for many purposes, are scattered over the Ohio and +Mississippi valleys in great numbers. Some are in the shape of animals, as +the famous serpent mound in Ohio. Some were for defense, some were village +sites, and others were for burial purposes. + +[Illustrations: RUINS OF CLIFF DWELLINGS.] + +In the far West and Southwest, where the rivers had cut deep beds, were +the cliff dwellers. In hollow places in the rocky cliffs which form the +walls of these rivers, in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, are found to- +day the remains of these cliff homes. They are high above the river and +difficult to reach, and could easily be defended. [1] + +[Illustration: TOTEM POLE IN ALASKA.] + +TRIBES AND CLANS.--The Indians were divided into hundreds of tribes, each +with its own language or dialect and generally living by itself. Each +tribe was subdivided into clans. Members of a clan were those who traced +descent from some imaginary ancestor, usually an animal, as the wolf, the +fox, the bear, the eagle. [2] An Indian inherited his right to be a wolf +or a bear from his mother. Whatever clan she belonged to, that was his +also, and no man could marry a woman of his own clan. The civil head of a +clan was a "sachem"; the military heads were "chiefs." The sachem and the +chiefs were elected or deposed, and the affairs of the clan regulated, by +a council of all the men and women. The affairs of a tribe were regulated +by a council of the sachems and chiefs of the clans. [3] + +CONFEDERACIES.--As a few clans were united in each tribe, so some tribes +united to form confederacies. The greatest and most powerful of these was +the league of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, in central New York. [4] It +was composed of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida (o-ni'da), and Mohawk +tribes. Each managed its own tribal affairs, but a council of sachems +elected from the clans had charge of the affairs of the confederacy. So +great was the power of the league that it practically ruled all the tribes +from Hudson Bay to North Carolina, and westward as far as Lake Michigan. +Other confederacies of less power were: the Dakota and Blackfeet, west of +the Mississippi; the Powhatan, in Virginia; and the Creek, the Chickasaw, +and the Cherokee, in the South. + +[Illustration: INDIAN HATCHET AND ARROWHEAD, MADE OF STONE.] + +HUNTING.--One of the chief occupations of an Indian man was hunting. He +devised traps with great skill. His weapons were bows and arrows with +stone heads, stone hatchets or tomahawks, flint spears, and knives and +clubs. To use such weapons he had to get close to the animal, and to do +this disguises of animal heads and skins were generally adopted. The +Indians hunted and trapped nearly all kinds of American animals. + +ANIMALS AND IMPLEMENTS UNKNOWN TO THE INDIANS.--Before the coming of the +Europeans the Indians had never seen horses or cows, sheep, hogs, or +poultry. The dog was their only domesticated animal, and in many cases the +so-called dog was really a domesticated wolf. Neither had the Indians ever +seen firearms, or gunpowder, or swords, nails, or steel knives, or metal +pots or kettles, glass, wheat, flour, or many other articles in common use +among the whites. + +[Illustration: INDIANS IN FULL DRESS.] + +CLOTHING.--Their clothing was of the simplest kind, and varied, of course, +with the climate. The men usually wore a strip of deerskin around the +waist, a hunting shirt, leggings, moccasins on the feet, and sometimes a +deerskin over the shoulders. Very often they wore nothing but the strip +about the waist and the moccasins. These garments of deerskin were cut +with much care, sewed with fish-bone needles and sinew thread, and +ornamented with shells and quills. + +Painting the face and body was a universal custom. For this purpose red +and yellow ocher, colored earths, juices of plants, and charcoal were +used. What may be called Indian jewelry consisted of necklaces of teeth +and claws of bears, claws of eagles and hawks, and strings of sea shells, +colored feathers, and wampum. Wampum consisted of strings of beads made +from sea shells, and was highly prized and used not only for ornament, but +as Indian money. + +[Illustration: WAMPUM.] + +HOUSES.--The dwelling of many Eastern Indians was a wigwam, or tent-shaped +lodge. It was formed of saplings set upright in the ground in the form of +a circle and bent together at their tops. Branches wound and twisted among +the saplings completed the frame, which was covered with brush, bark, and +leaves. A group of such wigwams made a village, which was often surrounded +with a stockade of tree trunks put upright in the ground and touching one +another. + +On the Western plains the buffalo-hunting Indian lived during the summer +in tepees, or circular lodges made of poles tied together at the small +ends and covered with buffalo skins laced together. The upper end of the +tepee was left open to let out the smoke of a fire built inside. In winter +these plains Indians lived in earth lodges. + +FOOD.--For food the Eastern Indians had fish from river, lake, or sea, +wild turkeys, wild pigeons, deer and bear meat, corn, squashes, pumpkins, +beans, berries, fruits, and maple sugar (which they taught the whites to +make). In the West the Indians killed buffaloes, antelopes, and mountain +sheep, cut their flesh into strips, and dried it in the sun. [5] + +[Illustration: INDIAN JAR, OF BAKED CLAY.] + +Fish and meat were cooked by laying the fish on a framework of sticks +built over a fire, and hanging the meat on sticks before the fire. Corn +and squashes were roasted in the ashes. Dried corn was also ground between +stones, mixed with water, and baked in the ashes. Such as knew how to make +clay pots could boil meat and vegetables. [6] + +CANOES.--In moving from place to place the Indians of the East traveled on +foot or used canoes. In the northern parts where birch trees were +plentiful, the canoe was of birch bark stretched over a light wooden +frame, sewed with strips of deerskin, and smeared at the joints with +spruce gum to make it watertight. In the South tree trunks hollowed out by +fire and called dugouts were used. In the West there were "bull boats" +made of skins stretched over wooden frames. For winter travel the Northern +and Western Indians used snowshoes. + +[Illustration: MAKING A DUGOUT.] + +After the Spaniards brought horses to the Southwest, herds of wild horses +roamed the southwestern plains, and in later times gave the plains Indians +a means of travel the Eastern Indians did not have. + +INDIAN TRAILS.--The Eastern Indians nevertheless often made long journeys +for purposes of war or trade, and had many well-defined trails which +answered as roads. Thus one great trail led from the site of Boston by way +of what is now the city of Springfield to the site of Albany. Another in +Pennsylvania led from where Philadelphia stands to the Susquehanna, then +up the Juniata, over the mountains, and to the Allegheny River. There were +thousands of such trails scattered over the country. As the Indians always +traveled in single file, these trails were narrow paths; they were worn to +the depth of a foot or more, and wound in and out among the trees and +around great rocks. As they followed watercourses and natural grades, many +of them became in after times routes used by the white man for roads and +railroads. + +Along the seaboard the Indians lived in villages and wandered about but +little. Hunting and war parties traveled great distances, but each tribe +had its home. On the great plains the Indians wandered long distances with +their women, children, and belongings. + +[Illustrations: WESTERN INDIANS TRAVELING.] + +WORK AND PLAY.--The women did most of the work. They built the wigwam, cut +the wood, planted the corn, dressed the skins, made the clothing, and when +the band traveled, carried the household goods. The brave made bows and +arrows, built the canoe, hunted, fished, and fought. + +Till a child, or papoose, was able to run about, it was carefully wrapped +in skins and tied to a framework of wicker which could be carried on the +mother's back, or hung on the branch of a tree out of harm's way. When +able to go about, the boys were taught to shoot, fish, and make arrows and +stone implements, and the girls to weave or make baskets, and do all the +things they would have to do as squaws. + +For amusement, the Indians ran foot races, played football [7] and +lacrosse, held corn huskings, and had dances for all sorts of occasions, +some of them religious in character. Some dances occurred once a year, as +the corn dance, the thanksgiving of the Eastern tribes; the sun dance of +the plains Indians; and the fish dance by the Indians of the Columbia +River country at the opening of the salmon-fishing season. The departure +of a war party, the return of such a party, the end of a successful hunt, +were always occasions for dances. [8] + +INDIAN RELIGION.--The Indians believed that every person, every animal, +every thing had a soul, or spirit, or manitou. The ceremonies used to get +the good will of certain manitous formed the religious rites. On the +plains it was the buffalo manitou, in the East the manitou of corn, or +sun, or rain, that was most feared. Everywhere there was a mythology, or +collection of tales of heroes who did wonderful things for the Indians. +Hiawatha was such a hero, who gave them fire, corn, the canoe, and other +things. [9] + +WARFARE.--An Indian war was generally a raid by a small party led by a +warrior of renown. Such a chief, standing beside the war post in his +village, would publicly announce the raid and call for volunteers. No one +was forced to go; but those who were willing would step forward and strike +the post with their tomahawks. Among the plains Indians a pipe was passed +around, and all who smoked it stood pledged to go. + +The weapons used in war were like those used in the hunt. Though the +Indians were brave they delighted to fight from behind trees, to creep +through the tall grass and fall upon their enemy unawares, or to wait for +him in ambush. The dead and wounded were scalped. Captive men were +generally put to death with torture; but captive women and children were +usually adopted into the tribe. + +INDIAN WARS IN VIRGINIA.--The first Europeans who came to our shores were +looked on by the Indians as superior beings, as men from the clouds. But +before the settlers arrived this veneration was dispelled, and hostility +took its place. Thus the founders of Jamestown had scarcely touched land +when they were attacked. But Smith brought about an alliance with the +Powhatan, and till after his death there was peace. + +Then (1622), under the lead of Opekan'kano, an attack was made along the +whole line of settlements in Virginia, and in one day more than three +hundred whites were massacred, their houses burned, and much property +destroyed. The blow was a terrible one; but the colonists rallied and +waged such a war against the enemy that for more than twenty years there +was no great uprising. + +But in 1644 Opekankano (then an old and grizzled warrior) again led forth +his tribes, and in two days killed several hundred whites. Once more the +settlers rallied, swept the Indian country, captured Opekankano, and drew +a boundary across which no Indian could come without permission. If he +did, he might be shot on sight. [10] + +EARLY INDIAN WARS IN NEW ENGLAND.--In New England the experience of the +early settlers was much the same. Murders by the Pequot Indians having +become unendurable, a little fleet was sent (1686) against them. Block +Island was ravaged, and Pequots on the mainland were killed and their corn +destroyed. Sassacus, sachem of the Pequots, thereupon sought to join the +Narragansetts with him in an attempt to drive the English from the +country; but Roger Williams persuaded the Narragansetts to form an +alliance with the English, and the Pequots began the war alone. In the +winter (1636-37) the Connecticut River settlements were attacked, several +men killed, and two girls carried off. + +DESTRUCTION OF THE PEQUOTS.--In May, 1637, a force of seventy-seven +colonists from Connecticut and Massachusetts, led by John Mason and John +Underhill, marched to the Pequot village in what is now the southeast +corner of Connecticut. Some Mohicans and Narragansetts went along; but +when they came in sight of the village, they refused to join in the +attack. The village was a cluster of wigwams surrounded by a stockade, +with two narrow openings for entrance. While some of the English guarded +them, the rest attacked the stockade, flung torches over it, and set the +wigwams on fire. Of the four hundred or more Indians in the village, but +five escaped. + +[Illustration: DESTRUCTION OF THE PEQUOTS.] + +KING PHILIP'S WAR.--For thirty-eight years the memory of the destruction +of the Pequots kept peace in New England. Then Philip, a chief of the +Wampanoags, took the warpath (1675) and, joined by the Nipmucks and +Narragansetts, sought to drive the white men from New England. The war +began in Rhode Island, but spread into Massachusetts, where town after +town was attacked, and men, women, and children massacred. Roused to fury +by these deeds, a little band of men from Massachusetts, Plymouth, and +Connecticut in the dead of winter stormed the great swamp fortress of the +Narragansetts, destroyed a thousand Indians, and burned the wigwams and +winter supply of corn. The power of the Narragansetts was broken; but the +war went on, and before midsummer (1676) twenty villages had been attacked +by the Nipmucks. But they, too, were doomed; their fighting strength was +destroyed in two victories by the colonists. In August Philip was shot in +a swamp. These victories ended the war in the south, but it broke out +almost immediately in the northeast, and raged till the summer of 1678. + +During these three years of war New England suffered terribly. Twelve +towns had been utterly destroyed, forty had been partly burned, and a +thousand men, besides scores of women and children, had perished. As for +the New England Indians, their power was gone forever. [11] + +INDIAN WARS IN NEW NETHERLAND.--The Dutch in New Netherland were on +friendly terms with the Iroquois, to whom they sold fire-arms; but the +Tappans, Raritans, and other Algonquin tribes round about New Amsterdam +were enemies of the Iroquois, and with these the Dutch had several wars. +One (1641) was brought on by Governor Kieft's attempt to tax the Indians; +another (1643-45) by the slaughter, one night, of more than a hundred +Indians who had asked the Dutch for shelter from their Mohawk enemies. +Many Dutch farmers were murdered, and a great Indian stronghold in +Connecticut was stormed one winter night and seven hundred Indians killed. +[12] After ten years of peace the Indians rose again, killed men in the +streets of New Amsterdam, and harried Staten Island; and again, after an +outbreak at Esopus, there were several years of war (1658-64). + +IN NORTH CAROLINA some Algonquin tribes conspired with the Tuscarora tribe +of Iroquois to drive the white men from the country, and began horrid +massacres (1711). Help came from South Carolina, and the Tuscaroras were +badly beaten. But the war was renewed next year, and then another force of +white men and Indians from South Carolina stormed the Tuscaroras' fort and +broke their power. The Tuscaroras migrated to New York and were admitted +to the great Iroquois confederacy of the Five Nations, which thenceforth +was known as the Six Nations. [13] + +IN SOUTH CAROLINA.--Among the Indians who marched to the relief of North +Carolina were men of the Yam'assee tribe. That they should turn against +the people of South Carolina was not to be expected. But the Spaniards at +St. Augustine bought them with gifts, and, joined by Creeks, Cherokees, +and others, they began (in 1715) a war which lasted nearly a year and cost +the lives of four hundred white men. They, too, in the end were beaten, +and the Yamassees fled to Florida. + +The story of these Indian wars has been told not because they were wars, +but because they were the beginnings of that long and desperate struggle +of the Indian with the white man which continued down almost to our own +time. The march of the white man across the continent has been contested +by the Indian at every step, and to-day there is not a state in the Union +whose soil has not at some time been reddened by the blood of both. + +WHAT WE OWE TO THE INDIAN.--The contact of the two races has greatly +influenced our language, literature, and customs. Five and twenty of our +states, and hundreds of counties, cities, mountains, rivers, lakes, and +bays, bear names derived from Indian languages. Chipmunk and coyote, +moose, opossum, raccoon, skunk, woodchuck, tarpon, are all of Indian +origin. We still use such expressions as Indian summer, Indian file, +Indian corn; bury the hatchet, smoke the pipe of peace. To the Indians we +owe the canoe, the snowshoe, the toboggan, lacrosse. Squanto taught the +Pilgrims how to plant corn in hills, just as it is planted to-day, and +long before the white man came, the Indians ate hominy, mush, and +succotash, planted pumpkins and squashes, and made maple sugar. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The Indians were divided into tribes, and the tribes into clans. + +2. Each tribe had its own language or dialect, and usually lived by +itself. + +3. Members of a clan traced descent from some common imaginary ancestor, +usually an animal. The civil head of a clan was the sachem; the military +heads were the chiefs. + +4. As the clans were united into tribes, so the tribes were in some places +joined in confederacies. + +5. The chief occupations of Indian men were hunting and waging war. + +6. Their ways of life varied greatly with the locality in which they +lived: as in the wooded regions of the East or on the great plains of the +West; in the cold country of the North or in the warmer South. + +7. The growth of white settlements, crowding back the Indians, led to +several notable wars in early colonial times, in all of which the Indians +were beaten:-- + In Virginia: uprisings in 1622 and in 1644; border war in 1676. + In New England: Pequot War, 1636-37; King Philip's War, 1675-78. + In New Netherland: several wars with Algonquin tribes. + In North Carolina: Algonquin-Tuscarora uprising, 1711-13. + In South Carolina: Yamassee uprising, 1715-16. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Read Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. I, pp. 85-94, 141-146. + +[2] The sign or emblem of this ancestor, called the totem, was often +painted on the clothing, or tattooed on the body. On the northwest coast, +it was carved on a tall pole, made of a tree trunk, which was set up +before the dwelling. + +[3] Scientists have grouped the North American tribes into fifty or more +distinct families or groups, each consisting of tribes whose languages +were probably developed from a common tongue. East of the Mississippi most +of the land was occupied by three groups: (1) Between the Tennessee River +and the Gulf of Mexico lived the Muskho'gees (or Maskoki), including the +Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw tribes. (2) The Iroquois (ir-o-kwoi'), +Cherokee', and related tribes occupied a large area surrounding Lakes Erie +and Ontario, and smaller areas in the southern Appalachians and south of +the lower James River. (3) The Algonquins and related tribes occupied most +of the country around Lakes Superior and Michigan, most of the Ohio +valley, and the Atlantic seaboard north of the James River, besides much +of Canada. + +[4] Read Fiske's _Discovery of America_, vol. I, pp. 72-78. + +[5] The manner of drying was called "jerking." Jerked meat would keep for +months and was cooked as needed. Sometimes it was pounded between stones +and mixed with fat, and was then called pemmican. + +[6] Fire for cooking and warming was started by pressing a pointed stick +against a piece of wood and turning the stick around rapidly. Sometimes +this was done by twirling it between the palms of the hands, sometimes by +wrapping the string of a little bow around the stick and moving the bow +back and forth as if fiddling. The revolving stick would form a fine dust +which the heat caused by friction would set on fire. + +[7] A game of football is thus described: "Likewise they have the exercise +of football, in which they only forcibly encounter with the foot to carry +the ball the one from the other, and spurn it to the goal with a kind of +dexterity and swift footmanship which is the honor of it. But they never +strike up one another's heels, as we do, not accounting that praiseworthy +to purchase a goal by such an advantage." + +[8] One who was with Smith in Virginia has left us this account of what +took place when the Powhatan was crowned (p. 42): "In a fair plain field +they made a fire before which (we were) sitting upon a mat (when) suddenly +amongst the woods was heard ... a hideous noise and shouting. Then +presently ... thirty young women came out of the woods ... their bodies +painted some white, some red, some black, some particolor, but all +differing. Their leader had a fair pair of buck's horns on her head, and +an otter's skin at her girdle, and another at her arm, a quiver of arrows +at her back, a bow and arrows in her hand. The next had in her hand a +sword, another a club ... all horned alike.... These fiends with most +hellish shouts and cries, rushing from among the trees, cast themselves in +a ring about the fire, singing and dancing.... Having spent near one hour +on this masquerade, as they entered in like manner they departed." + +[9] Read Longfellow's _Hiawatha_. + +[10] Thirty-one years later another outbreak occurred, and for months +burning and scalping went on along the border, till the Indians were +beaten by the men under Nathaniel Bacon (p. 94). + +[11] Read Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 128-133, 211-226, +235-236. + +[12] Read Fiske's _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_, Vol. I, pp. 177-180, +183-188. + +[13] Read Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_, Vol. II, pp. 298-304. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FRENCH IN AMERICA + + +While English, Dutch, and Swedes were settling on the Atlantic seaboard of +North America, the French took possession of the St. Lawrence, the Great +Lakes, and the Mississippi. Though the attempt of Cartier to plant a +colony on the St. Lawrence failed (p. 30), the French never lost interest +in that part of the world, and new attempts were made to plant colonies. + +[Illustration: CANADA (NEW FRANCE) AND ACADIA.] + +THE FRENCH IN NOVA SCOTIA.--All failed till De Monts (d'mawng) and +Champlain (sham-plan') [1] came over in 1604 with two shiploads of +colonists. Some landed on the shore of what is now Nova Scotia and founded +Port Royal. The others, led by De Monts, explored the Bay of Fundy, and on +an island at the mouth of a river planted a colony called St. Croix. The +name St. Croix (croy) in time was given to the river which is now part of +the eastern boundary of Maine. One winter in that climate was enough, and +in the spring (1605) the coast from Maine to Massachusetts was explored in +search of a better site for the colony. None suited, and, returning to St. +Croix, De Monts moved the settlers to Port Royal. + +QUEBEC FOUNDED.--This too was abandoned for a time, and in 1607 the +colonists were back in France. Champlain, however, longed to be again in +the New World, and soon persuaded De Monts once more to attempt +colonization. In 1608, therefore, Champlain with two ships sailed up the +St. Lawrence and founded Quebec. Here, as was so often the case, the first +winter was a struggle for life; when spring came, only eight of the +colonists were alive. But help soon reached them, and France at last had +secured a permanent foothold in America. The drainage basin of the St. +Lawrence was called New France (or Canada); the lands near Port Royal +became another French colony, called Acadia. + +EXPLORATION OF NEW FRANCE.--Champlain at once made friends with the +Indians, and in 1609 went with a party of Hurons to help fight their +enemies, the Iroquois Indians who dwelt in central New York. [2] The way +was up the St. Lawrence and up a branch of that river to the lake which +now bears the name of Champlain. On its western shore the expected fight +took place, and a victory, due to the fire-arms of Champlain and his +companions, was won for the Hurons. [3] Later Champlain explored the +Ottawa River, saw the waters of Lake Huron, and crossed Lake Ontario. But +the real work of French discovery and exploration in the interior was done +by Catholic priests and missionaries. + +THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES.--With crucifixes and portable altars strapped +on their backs, these brave men pushed boldly into the Indian country. +Guided by the Indians, they walked through the dense forests, paddled in +birch-bark canoes, and penetrated a wilderness where no white man had ever +been. They built little chapels of bark near the Indian villages, and +labored hard to convert the red men to Christianity. It was no easy task. +Often and often their lives were in danger. Some were drowned. Some were +burned at the stake. Others were tomahawked. But neither cold nor hunger, +nor the dangers and hardships of life in the wilderness, could turn the +priests from their good work. One of them toiled for ten years among the +Indians on the Niagara River and the shores of Lake Huron; two others +reached the outlet of Lake Superior; a fourth paddled in a canoe along its +south shore. + +[Illustration: FRENCH PRIEST AND INDIANS IN BIRCH-BARK CANOE.] + +THE KING'S MAIDENS.--For fifty years after the founding of Quebec few +settlers came to Canada. Then the French king sent over each year a +hundred or more young women who were to become wives of the settlers. [4] +Besides encouraging farming, the government tried to induce the men to +engage in cod fishing and whaling; but the only business that really +nourished in Canada was trading with the Indians for furs. + +THE FUR TRADE.--Each year a great fair was held outside the stockade of +Montreal, to which hundreds of Indians came from the far western lakes. +They brought canoe loads of beaver skins and furs of small animals, and +exchanged them for bright-colored cloth, beads, blankets, kettles, and +knives. + +[Illustration: INDIAN AND FUR TRADER.] + +This great trade was a monopoly. Its profits could not be enjoyed by +everybody. Numbers of hardy young men, therefore, took to the woods and +traded with the Indians far beyond the reach of the king's officers. By so +doing these wood rangers (_coureurs de bois_), as they were called, +became outlaws, and if caught, might be flogged and branded with a hot +iron. They built trading posts at many places in the West, and often +married Indian women, which went a long way to make the Indians friends of +the French. [5] + +THE MISSISSIPPI.--When the priests and traders reached the country about +Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, they heard from the Indians of a great +river called the Mississippi--that is, "Big Water" or "Father of Waters." +Might not this, it was asked, be the long-sought northwest passage to the +Indies? In hopes that it was, Father Marquette (mar-ket'), a priest who +had founded a mission on the Strait of Mackinac (mack'i-naw) between Lakes +Huron and Michigan, and Joliet (zho-le-a'), a trapper and soldier, were +sent to find the river and follow it to the sea. + +[Illustration: FRENCH CLAIMS, MISSIONS, AND TRADING POSTS IN MISSISSIPPI +VALLEY IN 1700] + +They started in the spring of 1673 with five companions in two canoes. +Their way was from the Strait of Mackinac to Green Bay in Wisconsin, up +the Fox River, across a portage to the Wisconsin River, and down this to +the Mississippi, on whose waters they floated and paddled to a place +probably below the mouth of the Arkansas. There the travelers stopped, and +turned back toward Canada, convinced that the great river [6] must flow +not to the Pacific, but to the Gulf of Mexico. + +[Illustration: MARQUETTE AND JOLIET AT A PORTAGE.] + +LA SALLE ON THE MISSISSIPPI, 1682.--The voyage of Marquette and Joliet was +of the greatest importance to France. Yet the only man who seems to have +been fully awake to its importance was La Salle. If the Mississippi flowed +into the Gulf of Mexico, a new and boundless Indian trade lay open to +Frenchmen. But did it flow into the Gulf? That was a question La Salle +proposed to settle; but three heroic attempts were made, and two failures, +which to other men would have been disheartening, were endured, before he +passed down the river to its mouth in 1682. [7] + +LOUISIANA.--Standing on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, La Salle put up a +rude cross, nailed to it the arms of France, and, in the name of the +French king, Louis XIV, took formal possession of all the region drained +by the Mississippi and its branches. He named the country Louisiana. + +La Salle knew little of the extent of the region he thus added to the +possessions of France in the New World. But the claim was valid, and +Louisiana stretched from the unknown sources of the Ohio River and the +Appalachian Mountains on the east, to the unknown Rocky Mountains on the +west, and from the watershed of the Great Lakes on the north, to the Gulf +of Mexico on the south. + +LA SALLE ATTEMPTS TO OCCUPY LOUISIANA, 1682.--But the great work La Salle +had planned was yet to be done. Louisiana had to be occupied. + +A fort was needed far up the valley of the Mississippi to overawe the +Indians and secure the fur trade. Hurrying back to the Illinois River, La +Salle, in December, 1682, on the top of a steep cliff, built a stockade +and named it Fort St. Louis. + +A fort and city also needed to be built at the mouth of the Mississippi to +keep out the Spaniards and afford a place whence furs floated down the +river might be shipped to France. This required the aid of the king. +Hurrying to Paris, La Salle persuaded Louis XIV to help him, and was sent +back with four ships to found the city. + +LA SALLE IN TEXAS, 1684.--But the little fleet missed the mouth of the +river and reached the coast of Texas. There the men landed and built Fort +St. Louis of Texas. Well knowing that he had passed the river, La Salle +left some men at the fort, and with the rest started on foot to find the +Mississippi--but never reached it. He was murdered on the way by his own +men. + +[Illustration: LA SALLE'S HOUSE (CANADA) IN 1900.] + +Of the men left in Texas the Indians killed some, and the Spaniards killed +or captured the rest, and the plans of this great explorer failed utterly. +[8] + +BILOXI.--La Salle's scheme of founding a city near the mouth of the +Mississippi, however, was carried out by other men. Fear that the English +would seize the mouth of the river led the French to act, and in 1699 a +gallant soldier named Iberville (e-ber-veel') built a small stockade and +planted a colony at Bilox'i on the coast of what is now Mississippi. + +NEW ORLEANS FOUNDED.--During fifteen years and more the little colony, +which was soon moved from Biloxi to the vicinity of Mobile (map, p. 134), +struggled on as best it could; then steps were taken to plant a settlement +on the banks of the Mississippi, and (1718) Bienville (be-an-veel') laid +the foundation of a city he called New Orleans. + + +SUMMARY + +1. After many failures, a French colony was planted at Port Royal in +Acadia (Nova Scotia) in 1601; but this was abandoned for a time, and the +first permanent French colony was planted by Champlain at Quebec in 1608. + +2. From these settlements grew up the two French colonies called Acadia +and New France or Canada. + +3. New France was explored by Champlain, and by many brave priests. + +4. Marquette and Joliet reached the Mississippi and explored it from the +Wisconsin to the Arkansas (1673). + +5. Their unfinished work was taken up by La Salle, who went down the +Mississippi to the Gulf (1682), and formally claimed for France all the +region drained by the river and its tributaries--a vast area which he +called Louisiana. + +6. Occupation of the Mississippi valley by the French followed; forts and +trading posts were built, and in 1718 New Orleans was founded. + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN VILLAGE.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Samuel de Champlain (born in 1567) had been a captain in the royal +navy, and had visited the West Indies, Mexico, and the Isthmus of Panama, +across which he suggested a canal should be cut. In 1603 he was offered a +command in a company of adventurers to New France. On this voyage +Champlain went up the St. Lawrence to the site of the Indian town called +Hochelaga by Cartier (p. 30); but the village had disappeared. Returning +to France, he joined the party of De Monts (1604). + +[2] The year 1609 is important in our history. Then it was that Champlain +fought the Iroquois; that the second Virginia charter was granted; and +that Hudson's expedition gave the Dutch a claim to territory in the New +World. + +[3] The fight with the Iroquois took place not far from Ticonderoga. When +the two parties approached, Champlain advanced and fired his musket. The +woods rang with the report, and a chief fell dead. "There arose," says +Champlain," a yell like a thunderclap and the air was full of arrows." But +when another and another gun shot came from the bushes, the Iroquois broke +and fled like deer. The victory was won; but it made the Iroquois the +lasting enemies of the French. Read Parkman's _Pioneers of France in the +New World_, pp. 310-324. + +[4] About 1000 came in eight years. When married, they received each "an +ox, a cow, a pair of swine, a pair of fowls, two barrels of salted meat, +and eleven crowns in money." Read Parkman's _Old Regime in Canada_, +pp. 219-225. + +[5] The fur trade, which was the life blood of Canada, is finely described +in Parkman's _Old Regime in Canada_, pp. 302-315. + +[6] Marquette named the river Immaculate Conception. He noted the +abundance of fish in its waters, the broad prairies on which grazed herds +of buffalo, and the flocks of wild turkeys in the woods. On his way home +he ascended the Illinois River, and crossed to Lake Michigan, passing over +the site where Chicago now stands. Read Mary Hartwell Catherwood's _Heroes +of the Middle West_; also Parkman's _La Salle and the Discovery of the +Great West_, pp. 48-71; and Hart's _American History as told by +Contemporaries_, Vol. I, pp. 136-140. + +[7] In the first attempt he left Fort Frontenac, coasted along the north +shore of Lake Ontario, crossed over and went up the Niagara River, and +around the Falls to Lake Erie. There he built a vessel called the +_Griffin_, which was sailed through the lakes to the northern part of +Lake Michigan (1679). Thence he went in canoes along the shore of Lake +Michigan to the river St. Joseph, where he built a fort (Fort St. Joseph), +and then pushed on to the Illinois River and (near the present city of +Peoria) built another called Fort Crčvecoeur (crav'ker). There he left +Henri de Tonty in charge of a party to build another ship, and went back +to Canada. + +When he returned to the Illinois in 1680, on his second trip, Crčvecoeur +was in ruins, and Tonty and his men gone. In hope of finding them La Salle +went down the Illinois to the Mississippi, but he turned back and passed +the winter on the river St. Joseph. (Read Parkman's description of the +great town of the Illinois and its capture by the Iroquois, in _La Salle +and the Discovery of the Great West_, pp. 205-215.) + +From the St. Joseph, after another trip to Canada, La Salle (with Tonty) +started westward for the third time (late in 1681), crossed the lake to +where Chicago now is, went down the Illinois and the Mississippi, and in +April, 1682, floated out on the waters of the Gulf. + +On his first expedition La Salle was accompanied by Father Hennepin, whom +he sent down the Illinois and up the Mississippi. But the Sioux (soo) +Indians captured Father Hennepin, and took him up the Mississippi to the +falls which he named St. Anthony, now in the city of Minneapolis. + +[8] Read Parkman's _La Salle_, pp. 275-288, 350-355, 396-405. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WARS WITH THE FRENCH + + +KING WILLIAM'S WAR.--When James II was driven from his throne (p. 93), he +fled to France. His quarrel with King William was taken up by Louis XIV, +and in 1689 war began between France and England. The strife thus started +in the Old World soon spread to the New, and during eight years the +frontier of New England and New York was the scene of French and Indian +raids, massacres, and burning towns. + +[Illustration: SCENE OF THE EARLY WARS WITH THE FRENCH.] + +THE FRONTIER.--The frontier of English settlement consisted of a string of +little towns close to the coast in Maine and New Hampshire, and some sixty +miles back from the coast in Massachusetts; of a second string of towns up +the Connecticut valley to central Massachusetts; and of a third up the +Hudson to the Mohawk and up the Mohawk to Schenec'tady. Most of Maine and +New Hampshire, all of what is now Vermont, and all New York north and west +of the Mohawk was a wilderness pierced by streams which afforded the +French and Indians easy ways of reaching the English frontier. + +The French frontier consisted of a few fishing towns scattered along the +shores of Acadia (what is now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and eastern +Maine), arid a few settlements along the St. Lawrence to Fort Frontenac, +just where the river leaves Lake Ontario. + +Between these frontiers in Maine and New Hampshire were the Abenaki (ab- +nahk'ee) Indians, close allies of the French and bitter enemies of the +English; and in New York the Iroquois, allies of the English and enemies +of the French since the day in 1609 when Champlain defeated them (p. 115). +[1] + +THE FRENCH ATTACK THE ENGLISH FRONTIER.--The governor of New France was +Count Frontenac, a man of action, keen, fiery, and daring, a splendid +executive, an able commander, and well called the Father of New France. +Gathering his Frenchmen and Indians as quickly as possible, Frontenac +formed three war parties on the St. Lawrence in the winter of 1689-90: +that at Montreal was to march against Albany; that at Three Rivers was to +ravage the frontier of New Hampshire, and that at Quebec the frontier of +Maine. The Montreal party was ready first, and made its way on snowshoes +to the little palisaded village of Schenectady, passed through the open +gates [2] in a blinding storm of snow, and in the darkness of night +massacred threescore men, women, and children, took captive as many more, +and left the place in ashes. + +[Illustration: THE ATTACK AT SCHENECTADY.] + +The second war party of French and Indians left the St. Lawrence in +January, 1690, spent three months struggling through the wilderness, and +in March fell upon the village of Salmon Falls, laid it in ashes, ravaged +the farms near by, massacred some thirty men, women, and children, and +carried off some fifty prisoners. This deed done, the party hurried +eastward and fell in with the third party, from Quebec. The two then +attacked and captured Fort Loyal (where Portland now stands), and +massacred or captured most of the inhabitants. + +END OF KING WILLIAM'S WAR.--Smarting under the attacks of the French and +Indians, New England struck back. Its fleet, with a few hundred militia +under William Phips, captured and pillaged Port Royal, and for a time held +Acadia. A little army of troops from Connecticut and New York marched +against Montreal, and a fleet and army under Phips sailed for Quebec. But +the one went no farther than Lake Champlain, and Phips, after failing in +an attack on Quebec, returned to Boston. [3] + +For seven years more the French and Indians ravaged the frontier [4] +before the treaty of Ryswick (riz'wick) put an end to the war in 1697. + +QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.--In the short interval of peace which followed, the +French made a settlement at Biloxi, as we have seen, and founded Detroit +(1701). In Europe the French king (Louis XIV) placed his grandson on the +throne of Spain and, on the death of James II, recognized James's young +son as King James III of England. For this, war was declared by England in +1701. The struggle which followed was known abroad as the War of the +Spanish Succession, but in our country as Queen Anne's War. [5] + +Again the frontier from Maine to Massachusetts was the scene of Indian +raids and massacres. Haverhill was laid waste a second time, [6] and +Deerfield in the Connecticut valley was burned. + +THE ATTACK ON DEERFIELD was a typical Indian raid. The village, consisting +of forty-one houses strung along a road, stood on the extreme northwestern +frontier of Massachusetts. In the center of the place was a square wooden +meetinghouse which, with some of the houses, was surrounded by a stockade +eight feet high flanked on two corners by blockhouses. [7] Late in +February, 1704, a band of French and Indians from Canada reached the town, +hid in the woods two miles away, and just before dawn moved quietly across +the frozen snow, rushed into the village, and, raising the warwhoop, beat +in the house doors with ax and hatchet. A few of the wretched inmates +escaped half-clad to the next village, but nine and forty men, women, and +children were massacred, and one hundred more were led away captives. [8] + +END OF QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.--As the war went on, the English colonists twice +attacked Port Royal in vain, but on the third attack in 1710 the place was +captured. This time the English took permanent possession and renamed it +Annapolis in honor of the queen. To Acadia was given the name Nova Scotia. +Encouraged by the success at Port Royal, the greatest fleet ever seen, up +to that time, in American waters was sent against Quebec, and an army of +twenty-three hundred men marched by way of Lake Champlain to attack +Montreal. + +But the fleet, having lost nine ships and a thousand men in the fog at the +mouth of the St. Lawrence, returned to Boston, and the commander of the +army, hearing of this, marched back to Albany. When peace was made by the +treaty of Utrecht (u'trekt) in 1713, France was forced to give up to Great +Britain [9] Acadia, Newfoundland, and all claim to the territory drained +by the rivers that flow into Hudson Bay (map, p. 131). + +THE FRENCH BUILD FORTS IN LOUISIANA.--Thirty-one years now passed before +France and Great Britain were again at war, and in this period France took +armed possession of the Mississippi valley, constructed a chain of forts +from New Orleans to the Ohio, and built Forts Niagara and Crown Point. + +This meant that the French were determined to keep the British out of +Louisiana and New France and confine them to the seacoast. But the French +were also determined to regain Acadia, and on the island of Cape Breton +they built Louisburg, the strongest fortress in America. [10] + +KING GEORGE'S WAR.--Such was the state of affairs when in 1744 Great +Britain and France again went to war. As George II was then king of Great +Britain, the colonists called the strife King George's War. The French now +rushed down on Nova Scotia and attacked Annapolis. It seemed as if the +whole of Nova Scotia would be conquered; but instead the people of New +England sent out a fleet and army and captured Louisburg. [11] + +[Illustration: PLAN OF LOUISBURG, 1745.] + +When peace was made (1748), after two years more of fighting, Great +Britain gave Louisburg back to France. + +THE FRENCH IN THE OHIO VALLEY.--The war ended and no territory lost, the +French at once laid plans to shut the British out of the Ohio valley, +which France claimed because the Ohio River and its tributaries flowed +into the Mississippi. In 1749, therefore, a party of Frenchmen under +Céloron (sa-lo-rawng') were sent to take formal possession of that region. +[12] + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE LEAD PLATES BURIED BY CÉLORON. In the possession +of the Virginia Historical Society.] + +THE BURIED PLATES.--Paddling up the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, these +men carried their canoes around Niagara Falls, coasted along Lake Erie to +a place near Chautauqua Lake, and going overland to the lake went down its +outlet to the Allegheny River. There the men were drawn up, the French +king was proclaimed owner of all the region drained by the Ohio, and a +lead plate was buried at the foot of a tree. The inscription on the plate +declared that the Ohio and all the streams that entered it and the land on +both sides of them belonged to France. + +The party then passed down the Allegheny to the Ohio, and down the Ohio to +the Miami, burying plates from time to time. [13] + +THE FRENCH FORTS.--Formal possession having been taken, the next step of +the French was to build a log fort at Presque Isle (on Lake Erie where the +city of Erie now is), and also Forts Le Boeuf and Venango, on a branch of +the Allegheny. + +THE OHIO COMPANY.--But the English colonists likewise claimed the +Mississippi valley, by virtue of the old "sea to sea" grants, and the same +year that Céloron came down the Allegheny, they also prepared to take +possession of the Ohio valley in a much more serious way. The French were +burying plates and about to build forts; the English were about to plant +towns and make settlements. + +Already in Pennsylvania and Virginia population was pushing rapidly +westward. Already English traders crossed the mountains and with their +goods packed on horses followed the trails down the Ohio valley, going +from village to village of the Indians and exchanging their wares for +furs. + +[Illustration: EARLY FORDS IN THE OHIO VALLEY.] + +Convinced that the westward movement of trade and population was favorable +for a speculation in land, some prominent men in Virginia [14] formed the +Ohio Company, and obtained from the British king a grant of five hundred +thousand acres in the Ohio valley on condition that within seven years a +hundred families should be settled on it and a fort built and garrisoned. + +GOVERNOR DINWIDDIE ALARMED--When, therefore, Governor Dinwiddie of +Virginia heard that the French were building forts on the Allegheny, he +became greatly alarmed, and sent a messenger to demand their withdrawal. +But the envoy, becoming frightened, soon turned back. Clearly a man was +wanted, and Dinwiddie selected George Washington, [15] a young man of +twenty-one and an officer in the Virginia militia. + +WASHINGTON'S FIRST PUBLIC SERVICE.--Washington was to find out the +whereabouts of the French, proceed to the French post, deliver a letter to +the officer in command, and demand an answer. He was also to find out how +many forts the French had built, how far apart they were, how well +garrisoned, and whether they were likely to be supported from Quebec. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT FORT LE BOEUF.] + +Having received these instructions, Washington made his way in the depth +of winter to Fort Le Boeuf, delivered the governor's letter, and brought +back the refusal of the French officer to withdraw. [16] + +FORT DUQUESNE (1754)--Dinwiddie now realized that the French held the +Allegheny, and that if they were to be shut out of the Ohio valley, +something had to be done at once. He therefore sent a party of +backwoodsmen to build a fort at the forks of the Ohio (where Pittsburg now +is). While they were at work, the French came down the Allegheny, captured +the half-built fort, and in place of it erected a larger one which they +named Duquesne (doo-kan'). + +GREAT MEADOWS.--Meantime Washington had been sent with some soldiers to +Wills Creek in western Maryland. When he heard of the capture of the fort, +he started westward, cutting a road for wagons and cannon as he went, and +camped for a time at Great Meadows, in southwestern Pennsylvania. There, +one night, he received word from Half King, a friendly Indian encamped +with his band six miles away, that a French force was hidden near at hand. +Washington with some forty men set off at once for the Indian camp, and +reached it at daylight. A plan of attack was agreed on, and the march +begun. On Washington's approach, the French flew to arms, and a sharp +fight ensued in which the French commander Jumonville [17] and nine of his +men were killed. + +FORT NECESSITY.--At Great Meadows Washington now threw up an intrenchment +called Fort Necessity. Some more men having reached him, he left a few at +the fort and went on westward again. But he had not gone far when word +came that the French were coming to avenge the death of Jumonville. +Washington therefore fell back to the fort, where he was attacked and on +July 4, 1754, was forced to surrender, but was allowed to return to +Virginia with his men. + +All previous wars between France and England had begun in the Old World, +but now a great struggle had begun in the New. + + +SUMMARY + +1. When William and Mary became king and queen of England, war with France +followed. In the colonies this was called King William's War (1689-97). + +2. The French from Canada ravaged the New England frontier and burned +Schenectady in New York. The English colonists captured Port Royal, but +failed to take Montreal and Quebec. + +3. After four years of peace (1697-1701), war between France and England +was renewed. This was called Queen Anne's War (1701-13). + +4. The great event of the war was the conquest of Acadia. Port Royal was +named Annapolis; Acadia was called Nova Scotia. + +5. Thirty-one years of peace followed. During this time the French +occupied the Mississippi valley, and built the fortress of Louisburg on +Cape Breton Island. + +6. During King George's War (1744-48), Louisburg was captured, but it was +returned by the treaty of peace. + +7. France now proceeded to occupy the Ohio valley, and built forts on a +branch of the Allegheny. + +8. The British also claimed the Ohio valley, and started to build a fort +on the site of Pittsburg, but were driven off by the French. + +9. Troops under George Washington, on their way toward the fort, defeated +a small French force, but were themselves captured by the French at Fort +Necessity (July 4, 1754). + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] It was only a few years after this defeat that the Dutch planted their +trading posts on the upper Hudson. They made friends of the Iroquois, and +when the English succeeded the Dutch, they followed the same wise policy, +encouraged the old hatred of the Indians for the French, and inspired more +than one of their raids into Canada. The Iroquois thus became a barrier +against the French and prevented them from coming down the Hudson and so +cutting off New England from the Middle Colonies. + +[2] The inhabitants, mostly Dutch, had been advised to be on their guard, +but they laughed at the advice, kept their gates open, and, it is said, at +one of them put two snow men as mock sentinels. + +[3] It was expected that the plunder of Quebec would pay the cost of the +expedition. Failure added to the debt of Massachusetts, and forced the +colony to issue paper money or "bills of credit." This was the first time +such money was issued by any of the colonies. (For picture of a bill of +credit, see p. 204.) + +[4] They captured, plundered, and burned York, were beaten in an attack on +Wells, burned houses and tomahawked a hundred people at Durham, and burned +the farmhouses near Haverhill. + +[5] Queen Mary died in 1694, and King William in 1702. The crown then +passed to Anne, sister of Mary. The war, therefore, was fought mostly +during her reign. + +[6] Read Whittier's poem _Pentucket_, and his account in prose called +_The Border War of 1708_. + +[7] Formidable as was the fort, the snow of a severe winter had been +suffered to pile in drifts against the stockade till in places it nearly +reached the top, so that the stockade was no longer an obstacle to the +French and Indians. + +[8] Read Parkman's _Half-Century of Conflict_, Vol. I, pp. 52-66. + +[9] Ever since the accession of King James I (1603) England and Scotland +had been under the same king, but otherwise had been independent, each +having its own Parliament. Now, in Queen Anne's reign, the two countries +were united (1707) and made the one country of Great Britain, with one +Parliament. + +[10] It was during these years of peace that Georgia was planted. The +Spaniards at St. Augustine considered this an intrusion into their +territory, and protested vigorously when Oglethorpe established a line of +military posts from the Altamaha to the St. Johns River. When word came +that Great Britain and Spain were at war, Oglethorpe, aided by British +ships, (1740) attacked St. Augustine. He failed to capture the city, and +the Spaniards (1742) invaded Georgia. Oglethorpe, though greatly +outnumbered, made a gallant defense, forced the Spaniards to withdraw, and +(1743) a second time attacked St. Augustine, but failed to take it. + +[11] The expedition was undertaken without authority from the king. The +army was a body of raw recruits from the farms, the shops, lumber camps, +and fishing villages. The commander--Pepperell--was chosen because of his +popularity, and knew no more about attacking a fortress than the humblest +man in the ranks. Of cannon suitable to reduce a fortress the army had +none. Nevertheless, by dint of hard work and good luck, and largely by +means of many cannon captured from the French, the garrison was forced to +surrender. Read Hawthorne's _Grandfather's Chair_, Part ii, Chap. vii; +also Chaps. viii and ix. + +[12] Read Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I, pp. 20-34, for a +comparison of the French and English colonies in America. + +[13] One of these plates was soon found by the Indians and sent to the +governor of Pennsylvania. Two more in recent years were found projecting +from the banks of the Ohio by boys while bathing or at play. + +[14] Among the members of the company were Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, +and two brothers of George Washington. + +[15] George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at Bridges Creek, in +Virginia. At fourteen he thought seriously of going to sea, but became a +surveyor, and at sixteen was sent to survey part of the vast estate of +Lord Fairfax which lay beyond the Blue Ridge. He lived the life of a +frontiersman, slept in tents, in cabins, in the open, and did his work so +well that he was made a public surveyor. This position gave him steady +occupation for three years, and a knowledge of woodcraft and men that +stood him in good stead in time to come. When he was nineteen, his brother +Lawrence procured him an appointment as an adjutant general of Virginia +with the rank of major, a post he held in October, 1753, when Dinwiddie +sent him, accompanied by a famous frontiersman, Christopher Gist, to find +the French. + +[16] On the way home Washington left his men in charge of the horses and +baggage, put on Indian walking dress, and with Christopher Gist set off by +the nearest way through the woods on foot. "The following day," says +Washington, in his account of the journey, "just after we had passed a +place called Murdering town, ... we fell in with a party of French +Indians, who had lain in wait for us. One of them fired at Mr. Gist or me, +not fifteen steps off, but fortunately missed." The next day they came to +a river. "There was no way of getting over but on a raft, ... but before +we were half over we were jammed in the ice.... I put out my setting pole +to try and stop the raft that the ice might pass by, when the rapidity of +the stream threw it with such force against the pole, that it jerked me +out into ten feet of water, but I fortunately saved myself by catching +hold of one of the raft logs." They were forced to swim to an island, and +next day crossed on the ice. Read Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I, +pp. 132-136. + +[17] The French claimed that Jumonville was the bearer of a dispatch from +the commander at the Ohio, that after the Virginians fired twice he made a +sign that he was the bearer of a letter, that the firing ceased, that they +gathered about him and while he was reading killed him and his companions. +Jumonville's death has therefore been called an "assassination" by French +writers. The story rested on false statements made by Indians friendly to +the French. In reality, there is ample proof that Jumonville made no +attempt to deliver any message to Washington. + +[Illustration: EASTERN NORTH AMERICA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH AND +INDIAN WAR.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM AMERICA + + +THE SITUATION IN 1754.--The French were now in armed possession of the +Ohio valley. Their chain of forts bounded the British colonies from Lake +Champlain to Fort Duquesne. Unless they were dislodged, all hope of +colonial expansion westward was ended. To dislodge them meant war, and the +certainty of war led to a serious attempt to unite the colonies. + +By order of the Lords of Trade, a convention of delegates from the +colonies [1] was held at Albany to secure by treaty and presents the +friendship of the Six Nations of Indians; it would not do to let those +powerful tribes go over to the French in the coming war. After treating +with the Indians, the convention proceeded to consider the question +whether all the colonies could not be united for defense and for the +protection of their interests. + +[Illustration: JOIN, OR DIE.] + +FRANKLIN'S PLAN OF UNION.--One of the delegates was Benjamin Franklin. In +his newspaper, the _Philadelphia Gazette_, he had urged union, and he +had put this device [2] at the top of an account of the capture of the +Ohio fort (afterward Duquesne) by the French. At the convention he +submitted a plan of union calling for a president general and a grand +council of representatives from the colonies to meet each year. They were +to make treaties with the Indians, regulate the affairs of the colonies as +a whole, levy taxes, build forts, and raise armies. The convention adopted +the plan, but both the colonial legislatures and the Lords of Trade in +London rejected it. [3] + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN, AT THE AGE OF 70.] + +THE FIVE POINTS OF ATTACK.--The French held five strongholds, which shut +the British out of New France and Louisiana, and threatened the English +colonies. + +1. Louisburg threatened New England and Nova Scotia. + +2. Quebec controlled the St. Lawrence. + +3. Crown Point (and later Ticonderoga), on Lake Champlain, guarded the +water route to New York and threatened the Hudson valley. + +4. Niagara guarded the portage between Lakes Ontario and Erie, and +threatened New York on the west. + +5. Fort Duquesne controlled the Ohio and threatened Pennsylvania and +Virginia. + +The plan of the British was to strengthen their hold on Nova Scotia +(Acadia), and to attack three of the French strongholds--Crown Point, +Niagara, and Fort Duquesne--at the same time. + +ACADIA.--Late in May, 1755, therefore, an expedition set sail from Boston, +made its way up the Bay of Fundy, captured the French forts at the head of +that bay, reduced all Acadia to British rule, and tendered the oath of +allegiance to the French Acadians. This they refused to take, whereupon +they were driven on board ships at the point of the bayonet and carried +off and distributed among the colonies. [4] + +[Illustration: FORTS IN NORTHERN NEW YORK.] + +CROWN POINT.--The army against Crown Point, composed of troops from the +four New England colonies and New York, gathered at Albany, and Forts in +northern New York, under command of William Johnson [5] marched to the +head of Lake George, where it beat the French under Dieskau (dees'kou), +and built Fort William Henry; but it did not reach Crown Point. + +NIAGARA.--A third army, under General Shirley of Massachusetts, likewise +set out from Albany, and pushing across New York reached Oswego, when all +thought of attacking Niagara was abandoned. News had come of the crushing +defeat of Braddock. + +BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT.--Under the belief that neither colonial officers nor +colonial troops were of much account, the mother country at the opening of +the war sent over Edward Braddock, one of her best officers, and two +regiments of regulars. Brad-dock came to Virginia, appointed Washington +one of his aids, and having gathered some provincial troops, set off from +Fort Cumberland in Maryland for Fort Duquesne. The country to be traversed +was a wilderness. No road led through the woods, so the troops were forced +to cut one as they went slowly westward (map, p. 144). + +On July 9, 1755, when some eight miles from Fort Duquesne, those in the +van suddenly beheld what seemed to be an Indian coming toward them, but +was really a French officer with a band of French and Indians at his back. +The moment he saw the British he stopped and waved his hat in the air, +whereupon his followers disappeared in the bushes and opened fire. The +British returned the fire and stood their ground manfully, but as they +could not see their foe, while their scarlet coats afforded a fine target, +they were shot down by scores, lost heart, huddled together, and when at +last Brad-dock was forced to order a retreat, broke and fled. [6] + +Braddock was wounded just as the retreat began, and died as the army was +hurrying back to Fort Cumberland, and lest the Indians should find his +grave, he was buried in the road, and all traces of the grave were +obliterated by the troops and wagons passing over it. From Fort Cumberland +the British marched to Philadelphia, and the whole frontier was left to +the mercy of the French and Indians. + +FRENCH VICTORIES.--War parties were sent out from Fort Duquesne in every +direction, settlement after settlement was sacked, and before November the +Indians were burning, plundering, massacring, scalping within eighty miles +of Philadelphia. During the two following years (1756-57), the French were +all energy and activity, and the British were hard pressed. [7] Oswego and +Fort William Henry were captured, [8] and the New York frontier was +ravaged by the French. + +BRITISH VICTORIES (1758).--And now the tide turned. William Pitt, one of +the great Englishmen of his day, was placed at the head of public affairs +in Great Britain, and devoted himself with all his energy to the conduct +of the war. He chose better commanders, infused enthusiasm into men and +officers alike, and the result was a series of victories. A fleet of +frigates and battleships, with an army of ten thousand men, captured +Louisburg. Three thousand provincials in open boats crossed Lake Ontario, +took Fort Frontenac, and thus cut communication between Quebec and the +Ohio. A third expedition, under Forbes and Washington, marched slowly +across Pennsylvania, to find Fort Duquesne in ruins and the French gone. +[9] + +[Illustration: LETTER WRITTEN BY WASHINGTON'S MOTHER. In the possession of +the Pennsylvania Historical Society] + +VICTORIES OF 1759.--Two of the five strongholds (Louisburg and Fort +Duquesne) were now under the British flag, and the next year (1759) the +three others met a like fate. An expedition under Prideaux (prid'o) and +Sir William Johnson captured Fort Niagara; an army under Amherst took +Ticonderoga and Crown Point; and a fleet and army led by Wolfe, a young +officer distinguished at Louisburg, took Quebec. + +QUEBEC, 1759.--The victory at Quebec was the greatest of the war. The +fortress was the strongest in America, and stood on the crest of a high +cliff which rose from the waters of the St. Lawrence. The French +commander, Montcalm, was a brave and able soldier. But one night in +September, 1759, the British general, Wolfe, led his army up the steep +cliff west of the city, and in the morning formed in battle array on the +Plains of Abraham. A great battle followed. Both Wolfe and Montcalm were +killed; but the British won, and Quebec has ever since been under their +flag. Montreal fell the next year (1760), and Canada was conquered. [10] + +[Illustration: CAPTURE OF QUEBEC] + +SPAIN CEDES FLORIDA TO GREAT BRITAIN.--In the spring of 1761, France made +proposals of peace; but while the negotiation was under way, Spain allied +herself with France, and was soon dragged into the war. The British +thereupon captured Havana and Manila (1762), and thus became for a short +time masters of Cuba and the Philippines. A few weeks later preliminary +articles of peace were signed (November, 1762), and the final (or +definitive) treaty in 1763. Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain in return +for Cuba. News of the capture of the Philippines was not received till +after the preliminary treaty was signed; the islands were therefore +returned without any equivalent. [11] + +THE FRENCH QUIT AMERICA.--By the treaties of 1762 and 1763 France withdrew +from America. + +To Great Britain were ceded (1) all of New France (or Canada), Cape Breton +Island, and all the near-by islands save two small ones near Newfoundland, +and (2) all of Louisiana east of the Mississippi save the city of New +Orleans and a little territory above and below the city. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH TERRITORY AT THE END OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN +WAR.] + +To recompense Spain for her loss in the war, France ceded to her New +Orleans and the neighboring territory, and all of Louisiana west of the +Mississippi. + +THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.--The acquisition of New France made it necessary +for Great Britain to provide for its government. To do this she drew a +line about the part inhabited by whites, and established the province of +Quebec. The south boundary of the new province should be carefully +observed, for it became the northern boundary of New York and New England. + +THE PROCLAMATION LINE.--The proclamation which created the province of +Quebec also drew a line "beyond the sources of the rivers which flow into +the Atlantic from the west and northwest": beyond this line no governor of +any of the colonies was to grant land. This meant that the king cut off +the claims to western lands set forth in the charters of Massachusetts, +Connecticut, Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia. The territory so cut off was +for the present to be reserved for the Indians. + +THE PROVINCES OF EAST AND WEST FLORIDA.--The proclamation of 1763 also +created two other provinces. One called East Florida was so much of the +present state of Florida as lies east of the Apalachicola River. West +Florida was all the territory received from Spain west of the +Apalachicola. [12] + +To Georgia was annexed the territory between the St. Marys River, the +proclamation line, and the Altamaha. + +THE FRONTIER.--British settlements did not yet reach the Allegheny +Mountains. In New York they extended a short distance up the Mohawk River. +In Pennsylvania the little town of Bedford, in Maryland Fort Cumberland, +and in Virginia the Allegheny Mountains marked the frontier (p. 144). + +THE WILDERNESS ROUTES AND FORTS.--Through the wilderness lying beyond the +frontier ran several lines of forts intended to protect routes of +communication. Thus in New York the route up the Mohawk to Oneida Lake and +down Oswego River to Lake Ontario was protected by Forts Stanwix, +Brewerton, and Oswego. From Fort Oswego the route continued by water to +Fort Niagara at the mouth of the river of that name, then along the +Niagara River and by Lake Erie to Presque Isle, then by land to Fort Le +Boeuf, then by river to Fort Pitt. + +[Illustration: WILDERNESS ROUTES AND FORTS.] + +From Fort Pitt two roads led back to the frontier. One leading to the +Potomac valley was that cut from Fort Cumberland by Braddock (in 1755) and +known as Braddock's Road. The other to Bedford on the Pennsylvania +frontier was cut by General Forbes (in 1758). + +Along the shores of the Great Lakes were a few forts built by the French +and now held by the British. These were Sandusky, Detroit, Mackinaw, and +St. Joseph. + +[Illustration: OLD FORT NIAGARA.] + +PONTIAC'S WAR.--Between this chain of forts and the Mississippi River, in +the region given up by France, lived many tribes of Indians, old friends +of the French and bitter enemies of the British. The old enmity was kept +aflame by the French Canadians, who still carried on the fur trade with +the Indians. [13] + +When, therefore, Pontiac, a chief of the Ottawas, in 1762 sent out among +the Indian nations ambassadors with the war belt of wampum, and tomahawks +stained red in token of war, the tribes everywhere responded to the call. +[14] From the Ohio and its tributaries to the upper lakes, and southward +to the mouth of the Mississippi, they banded against the British, and +early in 1763, led by Pontiac, swept down on the frontier forts. Detroit +was attacked, Presque Isle was captured, Le Boeuf and Venango were burned +to the ground, Fort Pitt was besieged, and the frontier of Pennsylvania +laid waste. Of fourteen posts from Mackinaw to Oswego, all but four were +taken by the Indians. It seemed that not a settler would be left west of +the Susquehanna; but a little army under Colonel Bouquet beat the Indians, +cleared the Pennsylvania frontier, and relieved Fort Pitt in 1763; another +army in 1764 passed along the lake shore to Detroit and quieted the +Indians in that region, while Bouquet (1764) invaded the Ohio country, +forced the tribes to submit, and released two hundred white prisoners. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The war which followed the defeat of Washington is known as the French +and Indian War. + +2. Fearing that the French Acadians in Nova Scotia would become +troublesome, the British dispersed them among the colonies. + +3. The strongholds of the French were Louisburg, Quebec, Crown Point, +Niagara, and Fort Duquesne. + +4. The first expedition against Fort Duquesne ended in Braddock's defeat; +expeditions against other strongholds came to naught, and during the early +years of the war the French carried everything before them. + +5. But when Pitt rose to power in England, the tide turned: Louisburg and +Fort Duquesne were captured (in 1758); Niagara, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, +and Quebec were taken (in 1759); and Montreal fell in 1760. + +6. Spain now joined in the war, whereupon Great Britain seized Cuba and +the Philippines. + +7. Peace was made in 1762-63: the conquests from Spain were restored to +her, but Florida was ceded to Great Britain; and France gave up her +possessions in North America. + +8. Canada, Cape Breton, and all Louisiana east of the Mississippi, save +New Orleans and vicinity, went to Great Britain. + +9. New Orleans and Louisiana west of the Mississippi went to Spain. + +10. Great Britain then established the new provinces of Quebec and East +and West Florida, and drew the Proclamation Line. + +11. A great Indian uprising, known as Pontiac's War, followed the peace, +but was quickly put down. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, +Pennsylvania, and Maryland were the only colonies represented. + +[2] There was an old superstition that if a snake were cut into pieces and +the pieces allowed to touch, they would join and the snake would not die. +Franklin meant that unless the separate colonies joined they would be +conquered. + +[3] Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, the youngest son in a family of +seventeen children. He went to work in his father's candle shop when ten +years old. He was fond of reading, and by saving what little money he +could secure, bought a few books and read them thoroughly. When twelve, he +was bound apprentice to a brother who was a printer. At seventeen he ran +away to Philadelphia, where he found work in a printing office, and in +1729 owned a newspaper of his own, which soon became the best and most +entertaining in the colonies. His most famous publication is _Poor +Richard's Almanac_. To this day the proverbs and common sense sayings +of Poor Richard are constantly quoted. Franklin was a good citizen: he +took part in the founding of the first public library in Philadelphia, the +formation of the first fire engine company, and the organization of the +first militia, and he persuaded the authorities to light and pave streets +and to establish a night watch. He is regarded as the founder of the +University of Pennsylvania. Franklin was also a man of science. He +discovered that lightning is electricity, invented the lightning rod, and +wrote many scientific papers. He served in the legislature of +Pennsylvania, and was made postmaster general for the colonies. All these +things occurred before 1754. + +[4] About six thousand were carried off. Nowhere were they welcome. Some +who were taken to Boston made their way to Canada. Such as reached South +Carolina and Georgia were given leave to return; but seven little +boatloads were stopped at Boston. Others reached Louisiana, where their +descendants still live. A few succeeded in returning to Acadia. Do not +fail to read Longfellow's poem _Evangeline_, a beautiful story founded on +this removal of the Acadians. Was it necessary to remove the Acadians? +Read Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I, pp. 234-241, 256-266, 276- +284; read also "The Old French War," Part ii, Chap, viii, in Hawthorne's +_Grandfather's Chair_. + +[5] William Johnson was born in Ireland in 1715, and came to America in +1738 to take charge of his uncle's property in the Mohawk valley. He +settled about twenty miles west of Schenectady, and engaged in the Indian +trade. He dealt honestly with the Indians, learned their language, +attended their feasts, and, tomahawk in hand, danced their dances in +Indian dress. He even took as his wife a sister of Brant, a Mohawk chief. +So great was his influence with the Indians that in 1746 he was made +Commissary of New York for Indian Affairs. In 1750 he was made a member of +the provincial Council, went to the Albany convention in 1754, and later +was appointed a major general. After the expedition against Crown Point he +was knighted and made Superintendent of Indian Affairs in North America. +He died in 1774. + +[6] It is sometimes said that Braddock fell into an ambuscade. This is a +mistake. He was surprised because he did not send scouts ahead of his +army; but the Indians were not in ambush. Braddock would not permit the +troops to fight in Indian fashion from behind trees and bushes, but forced +his men to form in platoons. A part of the regulars who tried to fight +behind trees Braddock beat with his sword and forced into line. Some +Virginians who sought shelter behind a huge fallen tree were mistaken for +the enemy and fired on. In the fight and after it Washington was most +prominent. Twice a horse was shot under him. Four bullets passed through +his clothes. When the retreat began, he rallied the fugitives, and brought +off the wounded Braddock. + +[7] War between France and Great Britain was declared in May, 1756. In +Europe it was known as the Seven Years' War; in America as the French and +Indian. On the side of France were Russia and Austria. On the side of +Great Britain was Frederick the Great of Prussia. The fighting went on not +only in America, but in the West Indies, on the European Continent, in the +Mediterranean, and in India. + +[8] When the colonial troops surrendered Fort William Henry, the French +commander, Montcalm, agreed that they should return to their homes in +safety. But the Indians, maddened by liquor, massacred a large number, and +carried off some six hundred prisoners. Montcalm finally secured the +release of some four hundred. Cooper's novel _The Last of the Mohicans_ +treats of the war about Lake George. + +[9] Instead of using the road cut by Braddock, Forbes chose another route, +(map, p. 144), and spent much time in road making. Late in September he +was still fifty miles from Fort Duquesne, and decided to go into winter +quarters. But the French attacked Forbes and were beaten; and from some +prisoners Forbes learned that the garrison at Fort Duquesne was weak. A +picked force of men, with Washington and his Virginians in the lead, then +hurried forward, and reached the fort to find it abandoned. A new stockade +was built near by, and named Fort Pitt, and the place was named Pittsburg. + +[10] Read Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. II, pp. 280-297. The +fall of Quebec is treated in fiction in Gilbert Parker's _Seats of the +Mighty_. + +[11] When Manila was captured, all private property was saved from plunder +by the promise of a ransom of Ģ1,000,000. One half was paid in money, and +the rest in bills on the Spanish treasury. Spain never paid these bills. + +[12] The north boundary was the parallel of 31°; but in 1764 West Florida +was enlarged, and the north boundary became the parallel of latitude that +passes through the mouth of the Yazoo River. + +[13] They told the Indians that the British would soon be driven out, and +that the Mississippi River and Canada would again be in French hands; that +the British were trying to destroy the Indian race, and for this purpose +were building forts and making settlements. + +[14] Read Parkman's _Conspiracy of Pontiac_; Kirk Munroe's _At War with +Pontiac_. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY + + +The French and Indian War gave the colonists valuable training as +soldiers, freed them from the danger of attack by their French neighbors, +and so made them less dependent on Great Britain for protection. But the +mother country took no account of this, and at once began to do things +which in ten years' time drove the colonies into rebellion. + +CAUSES OF THE QUARREL.--We are often told that taxation without +representation was the cause of the Revolution. It was indeed one cause, +and a very important one, but not the only one by any means. The causes of +the Revolution, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, were many, +and arose chiefly from an attempt of the mother country to (1) enforce the +laws concerning trade, (2) quarter royal troops in the colonies, [1] and +(3) support the troops by taxes imposed without consent of the colonies. + +THE TRADE LAWS were enacted by Parliament between 1650 and 1764 for the +purpose of giving Great Britain a monopoly of colonial trade. By their +provisions-- + +1. No goods were to be carried from any port in Europe to America unless +first landed in England. + +2. Many articles of colonial production, as tobacco, cotton, silk, indigo, +furs, rice, sugar, could not be sent to any country save England; but +lumber, salt fish, and provisions could be sent also to France, Spain, or +other foreign countries. + +3. To help English wool manufacture, the colonists were forbidden to send +their woolen goods or hats to any country whatever, or even from colony to +colony. + +4. To help English iron manufacture, the colonists were forbidden to make +steel. + +5. To help the British West Indies, a heavy duty was laid (in 1733) on +sugar or molasses imported from any other than a British possession. + +SMUGGLING.--Had these laws been rigidly enforced they would have been +severe indeed, but they could not be rigidly enforced. They were openly +violated, and smuggling became so common in every colony [2] that the cost +of collecting the revenue was much more than the amount gathered. + +This smuggling the British government now determined to end. Accordingly, +in 1764, the colonies were ordered to stop all unlawful trade, naval +vessels were stationed off the coast to seize smugglers, and new courts, +called vice-admiralty courts, were set up in which smugglers when caught +were to be tried without a jury. [3] + +A STANDING ARMY.--It was further proposed to send over ten thousand +regular soldiers to defend the colonies against the Indians and against +any attack that might be made by France or Spain. The colonists objected +to the troops on the ground that they had not asked for soldiers and did +not need any. + +[Illustration: BRITISH SOLDIER.] + +THE STAMP ACT.--As the cost of keeping the troops would be very great, it +was decided to raise part of the money needed by a stamp tax which +Parliament enacted in 1765. The Stamp Act applied not only to the thirteen +colonies, but also to Canada, Florida, and the West Indies, and was to +take effect on and after November 1, 1765. [4] + +1. Every piece of vellum or paper on which was written any legal document +for use in any court was to be charged with a stamp duty of from three +pence to ten pounds. + +2. Many kinds of documents not used in court, and newspapers, almanacs, +etc., were to be written or printed only on stamped paper made in England +and sold at prices fixed by law. + +The money raised by the stamp tax was not to be taken to Great Britain, +but was to be spent in the colonies in the purchase of food and supplies +for the troops. + +THE COLONIES DENY THE RIGHT OF PARLIAMENT TO TAX THEM.--But the colonists +cared not for what use the money was intended. "No taxation without +representation," was their cry. They cast no votes for a member of +Parliament; therefore, they said, they were not represented in Parliament. +Not being represented, they could not be taxed by Parliament, because +taxes could lawfully be laid on them only by their chosen representatives. +[5] + +In the opinion of the British people the colonists were represented in +Parliament. British subjects in America, it was held, were just as much +represented in the House of Commons as were the people of Manchester or +Birmingham, neither of which sent a member to the House. Each member of +the House represented not merely the few men who elected him, but all the +subjects of the British crown everywhere. [6] + +THE COLONIES RESIST.--Resistance to the Stamp Act began in Virginia, where +the House of Burgesses passed a set of resolutions written by Patrick +Henry. [7] In substance they declared that the colonists were British +subjects and were not bound to obey any law taxing them without the +consent of their own legislatures. + +[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY ADDRESSING THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY. From an old +print.] + +Massachusetts came next with a call for a congress of delegates from the +colonies, to meet at New York in October. + +THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS, 1765.--Nine of the colonies sent delegates, and +after a session of twenty days the representatives of six signed a +declaration of rights and grievances. + +The declaration of rights set forth that a British subject could not be +taxed unless he was represented in the legislature that imposed the tax; +that Americans were not represented in Parliament; and that therefore the +stamp tax was an attack on the rights of Englishmen and the liberty of +self-government. The grievances complained of were trial without jury, +restrictions on trade, taxation without representation, and especially the +stamp tax. + +THE STAMP DISTRIBUTERS.--In August, 1765, the names of the men in America +chosen to be the distributers or sellers of the stamps and stamped paper +were made public, and then the people began to act. Demands were made that +the distributers should resign. When they refused, the people rose and by +force compelled them to resign, and riots occurred in the chief seaboard +towns from New Hampshire to Maryland. At Boston the people broke into the +house of the lieutenant governor and destroyed his fine library and +papers. + +[Illustration: THE PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL AND WEEKLY ADVERTISER] + +On November 1, 1765, the Stamp Act went into force, but not a stamp or a +piece of stamped paper could be had in any of the thirteen colonies. Some +of the newspapers ceased to be printed, the last issues appearing with +black borders, death's heads, and obituary notices. But soon all were +regularly issued without stamps, and even the courts disregarded the law. +[8] + +[Illustration: LANTERN USED AT CELEBRATION OF THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. +In the Old Statehouse, Boston.] + +THE STAMP ACT REPEALED, 1766.--Meantime the merchants had been signing +agreements not to import, and the people not to buy, any British goods for +some months to come. American trade with the mother country was thus cut +off, thousands of workmen in Great Britain were thrown out of employment, +and Parliament was beset with petitions from British merchants praying for +a repeal of the stamp tax. To enforce the act without bloodshed was +impossible. In March, 1766, therefore, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. +[9] But at the same time it enacted another, known as the Declaratory Act, +in which it declared that it had power to "legislate for the colonies in +all cases whatsoever." + +THE TOWNSHEND ACTS, 1767.--In their joy over the repeal of the Stamp Act, +the colonists gave no heed to the Declaratory Act. But the very next year +Charles Townshend, then minister of finance, persuaded Parliament to pass +several laws since known as the Townshend Acts. One of these forbade the +legislature of New York to pass any more laws until it had made provision +for the royal troops quartered in New York city. Another laid taxes on all +paints, paper, tea, and certain other articles imported into the colonies. +[10] + +THE COLONIES AGAIN RESIST.--None of the new taxes were heavy, but again +the case was one of taxation without representation, so the legislature of +Massachusetts sent a letter to the other colonial legislatures asking them +to unite and consult for the protection of their rights. This letter gave +so great offense to the mother country that Massachusetts was ordered to +rescind her act, and the governors of the other colonies to see that no +notice was taken of it. [11] And now the royal troops for the defense of +the colonies began to arrive. But Massachusetts, North Carolina, and South +Carolina refused to find them quarters, and for such refusal the +legislature of North Carolina was dissolved. + +[Illustration: BOSTON MASSACRE MONUMENT. In Boston Common.] + +THE BOSTON MASSACRE.--At Boston the troops were received with every mark +of hatred and disgust, and for three years were subjected to every sort of +insult and indignity, which they repaid in kind. The troops led riotous +lives, raced horses on Sunday on the Common, played "Yankee Doodle" before +the church doors, and more than once exchanged blows with the citizens. In +one encounter the troops fired on the crowd, killing five and wounding +six. This was the famous "Boston Massacre," and produced over all the land +a deep impression. [12] + +TOWNSHEND ACTS REPEALED, 1770.--Once more the resistance of the colonies-- +chiefly through refusing to buy British goods--was successful, and +Parliament took off all the Townshend taxes except that on tea. This +import tax of three pence a pound on tea was retained in order that the +right of Parliament to tax the colonies might be asserted. But the +colonists stood firm; they refused to buy tea shipped from Great Britain, +but smuggled it from Holland. [13] + +TEA TAX JUGGLE.--By 1773 the refusal to buy tea from the mother country +was severely felt by the East India Company, which had brought far more +tea to Great Britain than it could dispose of. Parliament then removed the +export duty of twelve pence a pound which had formerly been paid in Great +Britain on all tea shipped to the colonies. Thus after paying the three- +pence tax at the American customhouses, the tea could be sold nine pence a +pound cheaper than before. + +THE TEA NOT ALLOWED TO BE SOLD.--The East India Company now quickly +selected agents in the chief seaports of the colonies, and sent shiploads +of tea consigned to them for sale. [14] But the colonists were tempted by +cheap tea; they were determined that Parliament would not tax them. They +therefore forced the agents to resign their commissions, and when the tea +ships arrived, took possession of them. At Philadelphia the ships were +sent back to London. At Charleston the tea was landed and stored for three +years and then seized and sold by the state of South Carolina. At +Annapolis the people forced the owner of a tea ship to go on board and set +fire to his ship; vessel and cargo were thus consumed. At Boston the +people wished the tea sent back to London, and when the authorities +refused to allow this, a party of men disguised as Indians boarded the +ships and threw the tea into the water. [15] + +[Illustration: THROWING THE TEA OVERBOARD, BOSTON.] + +THE INTOLERABLE ACTS.--Parliament now determined to punish the colonies, +and for this purpose enacted five laws called by the colonists the +Intolerable Acts:-- + +1. The port of Boston was shut to trade and commerce till the colony +should pay for the tea destroyed. + +2. The charter of Massachusetts was altered. + +3. Persons who were accused of murder done in executing the laws might be +taken for trial to another colony or to Great Britain. + +4. The quartering of troops on the people was authorized. + +5. The boundaries of the province of Quebec were extended to the Ohio and +Mississippi rivers. As Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia claimed +parts of this territory, they regarded the Quebec Act as another act of +tyranny. [16] + +THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.--Because of the passage of these laws, a +Congress suggested by Virginia and called by Massachusetts met in +Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia in September, 1774, and issued a +declaration of rights and grievances, a petition to the king, and +addresses to the people of Great Britain, to the people of Canada, and to +the people of the colonies. It also called a second Congress to meet on +May 10, 1775, and take action on the result of the petition to the king. + + +SUMMARY + +1. After the French and Indian War Great Britain determined to enforce the +laws of trade. + +2. It also decided that the colonies should bear a part of the cost of +their defense, and for this purpose a stamp tax was levied. + +3. The right of Parliament to levy such a tax was denied by the colonists +on the ground that they were not represented in Parliament. + +4. The attempt to enforce the tax led to resistance, and a congress of the +colonies (1765) issued a declaration of rights and grievances. + +5. The tax was repealed in 1766, but Parliament at the same time asserted +its right to tax. + +6. The Townshend Acts (1767) tried to raise a revenue by import duties on +goods brought into the colonies. At the same time the arrival of the +troops for defense of the colonies caused new trouble; in Boston the +people and the troops came to blows (1770). + +7. The refusal of the colonists to buy the taxed articles led to the +repeal of all the taxes except that on tea (1770). + +8. The colonists still refused to buy taxed tea, whereupon Parliament +enabled the East India Company to send over tea for sale at a lower price +than before. + +9. The tea was not allowed to be sold. In Boston it was destroyed. + +10. As a punishment Parliament enacted the five Intolerable Acts. + +11. The First Continental Congress (1774) thereupon petitioned for +redress, and called a second Congress to meet the next year. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] That is, compel the colonists to furnish quarters--rooms or houses-- +for the troops to live in. Read Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I, +pp. 439-440. + +[2] In order to detect and seize smugglers the crown had resorted to +"writs of assistance." The law required that every ship bringing goods to +America should come to some established port and that her cargo should be +reported at the customhouse. Instead, the smugglers would secretly land +goods elsewhere. If a customs officer suspected this, he could go to court +and ask for a search warrant, stating the goods for which he was to seek +and the place to be searched. But this would give the smugglers warning +and they could remove the goods. What the officers wanted was a general +warrant good for any goods in any place. This writ of assistance, as it +was called, was common in England, and was issued in the colonies about +1754. In 1760 King George II died, and all writs issued in his name +expired. In 1761, therefore, application was made to the Superior Court of +Massachusetts for a new writ of assistance to run in the name of King +George III. Sixty merchants opposed the issue, and James Otis and +Oxenbridge Thacher appeared for the merchants. The speech of Otis was a +famous plea, sometimes called the beginning of colonial resistance; but +the court granted the writ. + +[3] These acts are complained of in the Declaration of Independence. The +king is blamed "For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world," +that is, enforcing the trade laws; again, "He has erected a multitude of +new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people," +that is to say, the vice-admiralty judges and naval officers sworn to act +as customhouse officers and seize smugglers. In doing this duty these +officers did "harass our people." + +[4] While the Stamp Act was under debate in Parliament, Colonel Barré, who +fought under Wolfe at Louisburg, opposed it. A member had spoken of the +colonists as "children planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence, +and protected by our arms." "They planted by your care!" said Barré. "No, +your oppression planted them in America. Nourished by your indulgence! +They grew up by your neglect of them. They protected by your arms! These +Sons of Liberty have nobly taken up arms in your defense." The words "Sons +of Liberty" were at once seized on, and used in our country to designate +the opponents of the stamp tax. Read "The Stamp Act" in Hawthorne's +_Grandfather's Chair_. + +[5] The colonists did not deny the right of Parliament to regulate the +trade of the whole British Empire, and to lay "external taxes"--customs +duties--for the purpose of regulating trade. But this stamp tax was an +"internal tax" for the purpose of raising revenue. + +[6] Parliament was divided then, as now, into two houses--the Lords, +consisting of nobles and clergy, and the Commons, consisting then of two +members elected by each county and two elected by each of certain towns. +Some change was made in the list of towns thus represented in Parliament +before the sixteenth century, but no change had been made since, though +many of them had lost all or most of their population. Thus Old Sarum had +become a green mound; its population had all drifted away to Salisbury. A +member of the Commons, so the story runs, once said: "I am the member from +Ludgesshall. I am also the population of Ludgesshall. When the sheriff's +writ comes, I announce the election, attend the poll, deposit my vote for +myself, sign the return, and here I am." When a town disappeared, the +landowner of the soil on which it once stood appointed the two members. +Such towns were called "rotten boroughs," "pocket boroughs," "nomination +boroughs." + +[7] Patrick Henry was born in Virginia in 1736. As a youth he was dull and +indolent and gave no sign of coming greatness. After two failures as a +storekeeper and one as a farmer he turned in desperation to law, read a +few books, and with difficulty passed the examination necessary for +admittance to the bar. Henry had now found his true vocation. Business +came to him, and one day in 1763 he argued the weak (but popular) side of +a case with such eloquence that he carried court and jury with him, and it +is said was carried out of the courthouse on the shoulders of the people. +He was now famous, and in 1765 was elected to the Virginia House of +Burgesses to represent the county in which he had lived, just in time to +take part in the proceedings on the Stamp Act. His part was to move the +resolutions and support them in a fiery and eloquent speech, of which one +passage has been preserved. Recalling the fate of tyrants of other times, +he exclaimed, "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and +George the Third--." "Treason! treason!" shouted the Speaker. "Treason! +treason!" shouted the members. To which Henry answered, "and George the +Third may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of +it." + +[8] In Canada and the West Indies the stamp tax was not resisted, and +there stamps were used. + +[9] When Parliament was considering the repeal, Benjamin Franklin, then in +London as agent for Pennsylvania and other colonies, was called before a +committee and examined as to the state of colonial affairs; read his +answers in Hart's _American History told by Contemporaries_, Vol. II, +pp. 407-411. Pitt in a great speech declared, "The kingdom has no right to +lay a tax on the colonies, because they are unrepresented in Parliament. I +rejoice that America has resisted." Edmund Burke, one of the greatest of +Irish orators, took the same view. + +[10] In the Declaration of Independence the king is charged with giving +his assent to acts of Parliament "For suspending our own legislatures," +and "For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us," and "For +imposing taxes on us without our consent." + +[11] For refusing to obey, the legislature of Massachusetts was dissolved, +as were the assemblies of Maryland and Georgia for having approved it, and +that of New York for refusing supplies to the royal troops, and that of +Virginia for complaining of the treatment of New York. Read Fiske's +_American Revolution_, Vol. I, pp. 28-36, 39-52. + +[12] The two regiments of British troops in Boston were now removed, on +demand of the people, to a fort in the harbor. The soldiers who fired the +shots were tried for murder and acquitted, save two who received light +sentences. + +[13] One of the vessels sent to stop smuggling was the schooner _Gaspee_. +Having run aground in Narragansett Bay (June, 1772), she was boarded by a +party of men in eight boats and burned. The Virginia legislature appointed +a "committee of correspondence," to find out the facts regarding the +destruction of the _Gaspee_ and "to maintain a correspondence with our +sister colonies." This plan of a committee to inform the other colonies +what was happening in Virginia, and obtain from them accurate information +as to what they were doing, was at once taken up by Massachusetts and +other colonies, each of which appointed a similar committee. Such +committees afterward proved to be the means of revolutionary organization. +Read Fiske's _American Revolution_, Vol. I, pp. 76-80. + +[14] Parliament had given the company permission to do this. The company +had long possessed the monopoly of trade with the East Indies, and the +sole right to bring tea from China to Great Britain. Before 1773, however, +it was obliged to sell the tea in Great Britain, and the business of +exporting tea to the colonies had been carried on by merchants who bought +from the company. + +[15] Read "The Tea Party" in Hawthorne's _Grandfather's Chair_. + +[16] All the Intolerable Acts are referred to in the Declaration of +Independence. See if you can find the references. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE BEGUN + + +LEXINGTON, 1775.--When the second Continental Congress met (May 10, 1775), +the mother country and her colonies had come to blows. + +The people of Massachusetts, fearing that this might happen, had begun to +collect and hide arms, cannon, and powder. General Gage, the royal +governor of Massachusetts and commander of the British troops in Boston, +was told that military supplies were concealed at Concord, a town some +twenty miles from Boston (map, p. 168). Now it happened that in April, +1775, two active patriots, Samuel Adams [1] and John Hancock, were at +Lexington, a town on the road from Boston to Concord. Gage determined to +strike a double blow at the patriots by sending troops to arrest Adams and +Hancock and destroy the military stores. On the evening of April 18, +accordingly, eight hundred regulars left Boston as quietly as possible. +Gage hoped to keep the expedition a secret, but the patriots in Boston, +suspecting where the troops were going, sent off Paul Revere [2] and +William Dawes to ride by different routes to Lexington, rousing the +countryside as they went. As the British advanced, alarm bells, signal +guns, and lights in the villages gave proof that their secret was out. + +[Illustration: JOHN HANCOCK'S BIBLE. Now in the Old Statehouse, Boston.] + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE LANTERNS HUNG IN THE BELFRY. Now in the +possession of the Concord Antiquarian Society.] + +The sun was rising as the first of the British, under Major Pitcairn, +entered Lexington and saw drawn up across the village green some fifty +minutemen [3] under Captain John Parker. "Disperse, ye villains," cried +Pitcairn; "ye rebels, disperse!" Not a man moved, whereupon the order to +fire was given; the troops hesitated to obey; Pitcairn fired his pistol, +and a moment later a volley from the British killed or wounded sixteen +minutemen. [4] Parker then gave the order to retire. + +[Illustration: STONE ON VILLAGE GREEN AT LEXINGTON.] + +THE CONCORD FIGHT.--From Lexington the British went on to Concord, set the +courthouse on fire, spiked some cannon, cut down the liberty pole, and +destroyed some flour. Meantime the minutemen, having assembled beyond the +village, came toward the North Bridge, and the British who were guarding +it fell back. Shots were exchanged, and six minutemen were killed. [5] But +the Americans crossed the bridge, drove back the British, and then +dispersed. + +[Illustration: BOSTON, CHARLESTON, ETC.] + +About noon the British started for Boston, with hundreds of minutemen, who +had come from all quarters, hanging on their flanks and rear, pouring in a +galling fire from behind trees and stone fences and every bit of rising +ground. The retreat became a flight, and the flight would have become a +rout had not reinforcements met them near Lexington. Protected by this +force, the defeated British entered Boston by sundown. By morning the +hills from Charlestown to Roxbury were black with minutemen, and Boston +was in a state of siege. + +When the Green Mountain Boys heard of the fight, they took arms, and under +Ethan Allen [6] surprised and captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain +(map, p. 168). + +THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.--On the day that Fort Ticonderoga was +captured (May 10, 1775), the Continental Congress met at Philadelphia. It +had been created, not to govern the colonies, nor to conduct a war, but +merely to consult concerning the public welfare, and advise what the +colonies should do. But war had begun, Congress was forced to become a +governing body, and after a month's delay it adopted the band of patriots +gathered about Boston, made it the Continental army, and appointed George +Washington (then a delegate to Congress from Virginia) commander in chief. + +Washington accepted the trust, and left Philadelphia June 21, but had not +gone twenty miles when he was met by news of the battle of Bunker Hill. + +BUNKER HILL, JUNE 17,1775.--Since the fight at Lexington and Concord in +April, troops under General Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, and General Burgoyne +had arrived at Boston and raised the number there to ten thousand. Gage +now felt strong enough to seize the hills near Boston, lest the Americans +should occupy them and command the town. Learning of this, the patriots +determined to forestall him, and on the night of June 16 twelve hundred +men under Prescott were sent to fortify Bunker Hill in Charlestown. +Prescott thought best to go beyond Bunker Hill, and during the night threw +up a rude intrenchment on Breeds Hill instead. + +[Illustration: DRUM USED AT BUNKER HILL. Now in the possession of the +Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, Boston.] + +To allow batteries to be planted there would never do, so Gage dispatched +Howe with nearly three thousand regulars to drive away the Americans and +hold the hill. Coming over from Boston in boats, the British landed and +marched up the hill till thirty yards from the works, when a deadly volley +mowed down the front rank and sent the rest down the hill in disorder. + +A little time elapsed before the regulars were seen again ascending, only +to be met by a series of volleys at short range. The British fought +stubbornly, but were once more forced to retreat, leaving the hillside +covered with dead and wounded. Their loss was dreadful, but Howe could not +bear to give up the fight, and a third time the British were led up the +hill. The powder of the Americans was spent, and the fight was hand to +hand with stones, butts of muskets, anything that would serve as a weapon, +till the bayonet charges of the British forced the Americans to retreat. +[7] + +WASHINGTON IN COMMAND.--Two weeks later Washington reached Cambridge and +took formal command of the army. For eight months he kept the British shut +up in Boston, while he gathered guns, powder, and cannon, and trained the +men. + +To the Continental army mean time came troops from Virginia, Maryland, +Pennsylvania, and of course from the four New England colonies, commanded +by men who were destined to rise to high positions during the war. There +was Daniel Morgan of Virginia, with a splendid band of sharpshooters, and +Israel Putnam of Connecticut, John Stark and John Sullivan of New +Hampshire, Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island, Henry Knox of Boston, Horatio +Gates of Virginia, and Benedict Arnold and Charles Lee who later turned +traitors. + +THE HESSIANS.--When King George III heard of the fight at Bunker Hill, he +issued a proclamation declaring the colonists rebels, closed their ports +to trade and commerce, [8] and sought to hire troops from Russia and +Holland. Both refused, whereupon he turned to some petty German states and +hired many thousand soldiers who in our country were called Hessians. [9] + +[Illustration: HESSIAN HAT. Now in Essex Hall, Salem.] + +CANADA INVADED.--Now that the war was really under way, Congress turned +its attention to Canada. It was feared that the British governor there +might take Ticonderoga, enter New York, and perhaps induce the Indians to +harry the New England frontier as they did in the old French wars. In the +summer of 1775, therefore, two expeditions were sent against Canada. One +under Richard Montgomery went down Lake Champlain from Ticonderoga and +captured Montreal. Another under Benedict Arnold sailed from Massachusetts +to the mouth of the Kennebec River, arid forced its way through the dense +woods of Maine to Quebec. There Montgomery joined Arnold, and on the night +of December 31, 1775, the American army in a blinding snowstorm assaulted +the town. Montgomery fell dead while leading the attack on one side of +Quebec, Arnold was wounded during the attack on the other side, and +Morgan, who took Arnold's place and led his men far into the town, was cut +off and captured. Though the attack on Quebec failed, the Americans +besieged the place till spring, when they were forced to leave Canada and +find shelter at Crown Point. + +BOSTON EVACUATED.--During the winter of 1775-76, some heavy guns were +dragged over the snow on sledges from Ticonderoga to Boston. A captured +British vessel provided powder, and in March, 1776, Washington seized +Dorchester Heights, fortified them, and by so doing forced Howe, who had +succeeded Gage in command, to evacuate Boston, March 17. + +WHIGS AND TORIES.--During the excitement over the Stamp Act, the Townshend +Acts, and the tea tax, the people were divided into three parties. Those +who resisted and--finally rebelled were called Whigs, or Patriots, or +"Sons of Liberty." Those who supported king and Parliament were called +Tories or Loyalists. [10] Between these two extremes were the great mass +of the population who cared little which way the struggle ended. In New +York, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas the Tories were numerous and active, +and when the war opened, they raised regiments and fought for the king. + +FIGHTING IN THE CAROLINAS.--In January, 1776, Sir Henry Clinton sailed +from Boston to attack North Carolina, and a force of sixteen hundred +Tories marched toward the coast to aid. But North Carolina had its +minutemen as well as Massachusetts. A body of them under Colonel Caswell +met and beat the Tories at Moores Creek (February 27) and so large a force +of patriots had assembled when Clinton arrived that he did not make the +attack. + +The next attempt was against South Carolina. Late in June, Clinton with +his fleet appeared before Charleston, and while the fleet opened fire on +Fort Moultrie (mol'try) from the water, Clinton marched to attack it by +land. But the land attack failed, the fleet was badly damaged by shot from +the fort, and the expedition sailed away to New York. [11] + +INDEPENDENCE NECESSARY.--Prior to 1776 many of the colonies denied any +desire for independence, [12] but the events of this year caused a change. +After the battle of Moores Creek, North Carolina bade her delegates in +Congress vote for independence. Virginia, in May, ordered her delegates to +propose that the United Colonies be declared free and independent. South +Carolina and Georgia instructed their delegates to assent to any measure +for the good of America. Rhode Island dropped the king's name from state +documents and sheriffs' writs, and town after town in Massachusetts voted +to uphold Congress in a declaration of independence. + +Thus encouraged, Congress, in May, resolved that royal authority must be +suppressed, and advised all the colonies to establish independent +governments. Some had already done so; the rest one by one framed written +constitutions of government, and became states. [13] + +INDEPENDENCE DECLARED.--To pretend allegiance to the king any longer was a +farce. Congress, therefore, appointed Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, +John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to write a declaration +of independence, and on July 2, 1776, resolved: "That these United +Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that +they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all +political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and +ought to be, totally dissolved." [14] This is the Declaration of +Independence. The document we call the Declaration contains the reasons +why independence was declared. It was written by Jefferson, and after some +changes by Congress was adopted on July 4, 1776, [15] and copied were +ordered to be sent to the states. + +[Illustration: THE COMMITTEE ON DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. From an old +print.] + + +SUMMARY + +1. Governor Gage, hearing that the people of Massachusetts were gathering +military stores, sent troops to destroy the stores. + +2. The battles at Lexington and Concord followed, and Boston was besieged. + +3. The militia from the neighboring colonies gathered about Boston. They +were formed into a Continental army by Congress, and Washington was +appointed commander in chief. + +4. The battle of Bunker Hill, meantime, took place (June, 1775). + +5. King George III now declared the colonists rebels, shut their ports, +and sent troops from Germany to subdue them. + +6. An expedition of the patriots for the conquest of Canada failed (1775- +76). + +7. But the British were forced to leave Boston (March, 1776). + +8. British attacks on North Carolina and South Carolina came to naught. + +9. July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF LEXINGTON.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Samuel Adams was born in Boston in 1722, graduated from Harvard +College, and took so active a part in town politics that he has been +called "the Man of the Town Meeting." From 1765 to 1774 he was a member of +the Massachusetts Assembly, and for some years its clerk. He was a member +of the committee sent to demand the removal of the soldiers after the +massacre of 1770, and of that sent to demand the resignations of the men +appointed to receive the tea, and presided over the town meeting that +demanded the return of the tea ships to England. He was a member of the +Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. After +the Revolution he was lieutenant governor and then governor of +Massachusetts, and died in 1803. + +[2] Revere went by way of Charlestown (map, p. 160), first crossing the +river from Boston in a rowboat. As there was danger that his boat might be +stopped by the British warships, two lanterns were shown from the belfry +of the North Church as a signal to his friends in Charlestown; and when he +landed there at midnight, he found the patriots astir, ready to give the +alarm if he had not appeared. Read "Paul Revere's Ride" in Longfellow's +_Tales of a Wayside Inn_. + +[3] In 1774 the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts ordered one quarter +of all the militiamen to be enlisted for emergency service. They came to +be known as minutemen, and in 1775 the Continental Congress recommended +"that one fourth part of the militia in every colony, be selected for +minutemen ... to be ready on the shortest notice, to march to any place +where their assistance may be required." + +[4] Just before the fight began Adams and Hancock left Lexington and set +out to attend the Congress at Philadelphia. + +[5] Read Emerson's _Concord Hymn_; also Cooper's admirable description of +the day's fighting in _Lionel Lincoln_. + +[6] Ethan Allen was born in Connecticut in 1737, and went to Vermont about +1769. Vermont was then claimed by New York and New Hampshire, and when New +York tried to enforce her authority, the settlers in "New Hampshire +Grants" resisted, and organized as the "Green Mountain Boys" with Allen as +leader. At Fort Ticonderoga Allen found the garrison asleep. The British +commandant, awakened by the noise at his door, came out and was ordered to +surrender the fort. "By what authority?" he asked. "In the name of the +Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," said Allen. + +[7] Read Fiske's _American Revolution_, Vol. I, pp. 136-146, and +Holmes's _Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill_. The British lost 1054 +and the Americans 449. Among the British dead was Pitcairn, who began the +war at Lexington. Among the American dead was Dr. Warren, an able leader +of the Boston patriots. While the battle was raging, Charlestown was +shelled and set on fire and four hundred houses burned. Later, in October, +a British fleet entered the harbor of Falmouth (now Portland in Maine), +and burned three fourths of the houses. January 1, 1776, Lord Dunmore, +royal governor of Virginia, set fire to Norfolk, the chief city of +Virginia. The fire raged for three days and reduced the place to ashes. +These acts are charged against the king in the Declaration of +Independence: "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our +towns, and destroyed the lives of our people." + +[8] This is made a charge against the king in the Declaration: "He has +abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection, and +waging war against us." And again, "For cutting off our trade with all +parts of the world." + +[9] The Duke of Brunswick, the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, and four other +princes furnished the men. Their generals were Riedesel (ree'de-zel), +Knyp-hausen (knip'hou-zen), Von Heister, and Donop. The employment of +these troops furnishes another charge against the king in the Declaration: +"He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to +complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny." The first +detachment of German troops landed on Staten Island in New York Bay on +August 15, 1776. Before the war ended, the six petty German princes +furnished 29,867, of whom 12,550 never returned. Some 5000 of these +deserted. + +[10] Before fighting began, the Tories were denounced and held up as +enemies to their country; later their leaders were mobbed, and if they +held office, were forced to resign. After the battle of Bunker Hill, laws +of great severity were enacted against them. They were disarmed, forced to +take an oath of allegiance, proclaimed traitors, driven into exile, and +their estates and property were confiscated. At the close of the war, +fearing the anger of the Whigs, thousands of Tories fled from our country +to Jamaica, Bermuda, Halifax in Nova Scotia, and Canada. Some 30,000 went +from New York city in 1782-83, and upward of 60,000 left our country +during and after the war. + +[11] While the battle was hottest, a shot carried away the flagstaff of +Fort Moultrie. The staff and flag fell outside the fort. Instantly +Sergeant William Jasper leaped down, fastened the flag to the ramrod of a +cannon, climbed back, and planted this new staff firmly on the fort. A +fine monument now commemorates his bravery. + +[12] However, many leaders in New England, as Samuel Adams, John Adams, +and Elbridge Gerry; in Pennsylvania, as Benjamin Rush and Benjamin +Franklin; in Delaware, as Thomas McKean; as Chase of Maryland; Lee, Henry, +Jefferson, Washington, of Virginia; and Gadsden of South Carolina, favored +independence. In this state of affairs Thomas Paine, in January, 1776, +wrote a pamphlet called _Common Sense_, in which independence was strongly +urged. The effect was wonderful. Edition after edition was printed in many +places. "_Common Sense_," says one writer, "is read to all ranks; and as +many as read, so many become converted." + +[13] Rhode Island and Connecticut did not abandon their charters, for in +these colonies the people had always elected their governors and had +always been practically independent of the king. Connecticut did not make +a constitution till 1818, and Rhode Island not till 1842. + +[14] This resolution had been introduced in Congress, in June, by Richard +Henry Lee of Virginia. For a fine description of the debate on +independence read Webster's _Oration on Adams and Jefferson_. Why did +John Dickinson oppose a declaration of independence? Read Fiske's +_American Revolution_, Vol. I, pp. 190-192. + +[15] A few copies signed by Hancock, president of Congress, and Thomson, +the secretary, were made public on July 5; and on July 8 one of these was +read to a crowd of people in the Statehouse yard at Philadelphia. The +common idea that the Declaration was signed at one time is erroneous. The +signing did not begin till August 2. Of those who signed then and +afterward, seven were not members of Congress on July 4, 1776. Of those +signers who were members on July 4, it is known that five were absent on +that day. Seven men who were members of Congress on July 4 were not +members on August 2, and never signed. + +[Illustration: THE NORTHERN COLONIES DURING THE REVOLUTION] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE SEA + + +BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND.--When Howe sailed from Boston (in March, 1776), he +went to Halifax in Nova Scotia. But Washington was sure New York would be +attacked, so he moved the Continental army to that city and took position +on the hills back of Brooklyn on Long Island. + +He was not mistaken, for to New York harbor in June came General Howe, and +in July Clinton from his defeat at Charleston, and Admiral Howe [1] with +troops from England. Thus reinforced, General Howe landed on Long Island +in August, and drove the Americans from their outposts, back to Brooklyn. +[2] Washington now expected an assault, but Howe remembered Bunker Hill +and made ready to besiege the Americans, whereupon two nights after the +battle Washington crossed with the army to Manhattan Island. [3] + +WASHINGTON'S RETREAT.--Washington left a strong force under Putnam in the +heart of New York city, and stationed his main army along Harlem Heights. +Howe crossed to Manhattan and landed behind Putnam, [4] who was thus +forced to leave his guns and tents, and flee to Harlem Heights, where Howe +attacked Washington the next day and was repulsed. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF HARLEM HEIGHTS. Tablet on a Columbia College +building, New York city.] + +So matters stood for nearly a month, when Howe attempted to go around the +east end of Washington's line, and thus forced him to retreat to White +Plains. Baffled in an attack at this place, Howe went back to New York and +carried Fort Washington by storm, taking many prisoners. + +Washington meantime had crossed the Hudson to New Jersey, leaving General +Charles Lee with seven thousand men in New York state. He now ordered Lee +to join him [5]; but Lee disobeyed, and Washington, closely pursued by the +British, retreated across New Jersey. + +THE VICTORY AT TRENTON, DECEMBER 26, 1776.--On the Pennsylvania side of +the Delaware River, Washington turned at bay, and having at last received +some reënforcements, he recrossed the Delaware on Christmas night in a +blinding snowstorm, marched nine miles to Trenton, surprised a body of +Hessians, captured a thousand prisoners, and went back to Pennsylvania. + +Washington now proposed to follow up this victory with other attacks. But +a new difficulty arose, for the time of service of many of the Eastern +troops would expire on January 1. These men were therefore asked to serve +six weeks longer, and were offered a bounty of ten dollars a man. + +[Illustration: MORRIS'S STRONG BOX. Now in the possession of the +Pennsylvania Historical Society.] + +ROBERT MORRIS SENDS MONEY.--Many agreed to serve, but the paymaster had no +money. Washington therefore pledged his own fortune, and appealed to +Robert Morris at Philadelphia. [6] "If it be possible, Sir," he wrote, "to +give us assistance, do it; borrow money while it can be done, we are doing +it upon our private credit." Morris responded at once, and on New Year's +morning, 1777, went from house to house, roused his friends from their +beds to borrow money from them, and early in the day sent fifty thousand +dollars. + +BATTLE OF PRINCETON, JANUARY 3, 1777.--Washington crossed again to +Trenton, whereupon Lord Cornwallis hurried up with a British army, and +shut in the Americans between his forces and the Delaware. But Washington +slipped out, went around Cornwallis, and the next morning attacked three +British regiments at Princeton and beat them. He then took possession of +the hills at Morristown, where he spent the rest of the winter. + +THE ATTEMPT TO CUT OFF NEW ENGLAND.--The British plan for the campaign of +1777 was to seize Lake Champlain and the Hudson River and so cut off New +England from the Middle States. To carry out this plan, (1) General +Burgoyne was to come down from Canada, (2) Howe was to go up the Hudson +from New York and join Burgoyne at Albany, and (3) St. Leger was to go +from Lake Ontario down the Mohawk to Albany. [7] + +ORISKANY.--Hearing of the approach of St. Leger, General Herkimer of the +New York militia gathered eight hundred men and hurried to the relief of +Fort Stanwix. Near Oriskany, about six miles from the fort, he fell into +an ambuscade of British and Indians, and a fierce hand-to-hand fight +ensued, till the Indians fled and the British, forced to follow, left the +Americans in possession of the field, too weak to pursue. + +Just at this time the garrison of the fort made a sortie against part of +the British army, captured their camp, and carried a quantity of supplies +and their flags [8] back to the fort. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST NATIONAL FLAG.] + +When news of Oriskany reached Schuyler, the patriot general commanding in +the north, he called for a volunteer to lead a force to relieve Fort +Stanwix. Arnold responded, and with twelve hundred men hurried westward, +and by a clever ruse [9] forced St. Leger to raise the siege and flee to +Montreal. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. From an old print.] + +BENNINGTON.--Burgoyne set out in June, captured Ticonderoga, and advanced +to the upper Hudson. As he came southward, the sturdy farmers of Vermont +and New York began to gather on his flank, and collected at Bennington +many horses and large stores of food and ammunition. As Burgoyne needed +horses, he sent a force of Hessians to attack Bennington. But Stark, with +his Green Mountain Boys and New Hampshire militia, met the Hessians six +miles from town, surrounded them on all sides, beat them, and took seven +hundred prisoners and quantities of guns and some cannon (August 16). + +SARATOGA.--These defeats were serious blows to Burgoyne, around whose army +the Americans had been gathering. He decided, however, to fight, crossed +the Hudson, and about the middle of September attacked the Americans at +Bemis Heights, and again on the same ground early in October. [10] He was +beaten in both battles and on October 17 was forced to surrender at +Saratoga. + +BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE.--What, meantime, had Howe been doing? He should have +pushed up the Hudson to join Burgoyne. But he decided to capture +Philadelphia before going north, and having put his army on board a fleet, +he started for that city by sea. Not venturing to enter the Delaware, he +sailed up Chesapeake Bay and two weeks after landing found Washington +awaiting him on Brandywine Creek, where (September 11, 1777) a battle was +fought and won by the British. Among the wounded was Marquis de Lafayette, +[11] who earlier in the year had come from France to offer his services to +Congress. + +PHILADELPHIA OCCUPIED.--Two weeks later Howe entered Philadelphia in +triumph. [12] Congress had fled to Lancaster, and later went to York, +Pennsylvania. Washington now attacked Howe at Germantown (just north of +Philadelphia), but was defeated and went into winter quarters at Valley +Forge, where the patriots suffered greatly from cold and hunger. [13] + +[Illustration: AT VALLEY FORGE.] + +RESULT OF THE CAMPAIGN.--The year's campaign was far from a failure. [14] +The surprise at Trenton and the victory at Princeton showed that +Washington was a general of the first rank. The defeats at Brandywine and +Germantown did not dishearten the army. The victory at Saratoga was one of +the decisive campaigns of the world's history; for it ruined the plans of +the British [15] and secured us the aid of France. + +HELP FROM FRANCE, 1778.--In 1776 Congress commissioned Benjamin Franklin, +Arthur Lee, and Silas Deane to go to France and seek her help. France, +smarting under the loss of Louisiana and Canada (1763), would gladly have +helped us; but not till the victories at Trenton, Princeton, Oriskany, and +Saratoga could she feel sure of the ability of the Americans to fight. +Then the French king recognized our independence, and in February, 1778, +made with us a treaty of alliance and went to war with Great Britain. + +The effect of the French alliance was immediate. France began to fit out a +fleet and army to help us. Hearing of this, Clinton, who had succeeded +Howe in command at Philadelphia, left that city with his army and started +for New York. + +[Illustration: CHURCH NEAR MONMOUTH BATTLEFIELD, BUILT IN 1752.] + +MONMOUTH, JUNE 28, 1778.--Washington decided to pursue, and as Clinton, +hampered by an immense train of baggage, moved slowly across New Jersey, +he was overtaken by the Americans at Monmouth. Charles Lee [16] was to +begin the attack, and Washington, coming up a little later, was to +complete the defeat of the enemy. But Lee was a traitor, and having +attacked the British, began a retreat which would have lost the day had +not Washington come up just in time to lead a new attack. The battle raged +till nightfall, and in the darkness Clinton slipped away and went on to +New York. + +Washington now crossed the Hudson, encamped at White Plains, and during +three years remained in that neighborhood, constantly threatening the +British in New York. [17] + +BEGINNING OF THE NAVY.--More than three years had now passed since the +fight at Lexington, and here let us stop and review what the Americans had +been doing at sea. At the outset, the colonists had no warships at all. +Congress therefore (in December, 1775) ordered thirteen armed vessels to +be built at once, bought merchant ships to serve as cruisers, and thus +created a navy of thirty vessels before the 4th of July, 1776. [18] + +Eight of the cruisers were quickly assembled at Philadelphia, and early in +January, 1776, Esek Hopkins, commander in chief, stepped on board of one +of them and took command. As he did so, Lieutenant John Paul Jones hoisted +a yellow silk flag on which was the device of a pine tree and a coiled +rattlesnake and the motto "Don't tread on me." This was the first flag +ever displayed on an American man-of-war. Ice delayed the departure of the +squadron; but in February it put to sea, went to the Bahama Islands, +captured the forts on the island of New Providence, and carried off a +quantity of powder and cannon. + +CAPTAIN BARRY.--Soon afterward another cruiser, the sixteen-gun brig +_Lexington_, Captain John Barry, [19] fell in with a British armed +vessel off the coast of Virginia, and after a sharp engagement captured +her. She was the first prize brought in by a commissioned officer of the +American navy. + +THE CRUISERS IN EUROPE.--In 1777 the cruisers carried the war into British +ports and waters, across the Atlantic. The _Reprisal_ (which had carried +Franklin to France), under Captain Wilkes, in company with two other +vessels, sailed twice around Ireland, made fifteen prizes, and alarmed the +whole coast. [20] Another cruiser, the _Revenge_, scoured British waters, +and when in need of repairs boldly entered a British port in disguise and +refitted. + +In 1778 John Paul Jones, [21] in the _Ranger_, sailed to the Irish +Channel, destroyed four vessels, set fire to the shipping in a British +port, fought and captured a British armed schooner, sailed around Ireland +with her, and reached France in safety. + +The next year (1779) Jones, in the _Bonhomme Richard_ (bo-nom' re-shar'), +fell in with the British frigate _Serapis_ off the east coast of Great +Britain, and on a moonlight night fought one of the most desperate battles +in naval history and won it. + +[Illustration: GOLD MEDAL GIVEN TO JONES. [22]] + +THE FRIGATES.--Of the thirteen frigates ordered by Congress in 1775, only +four remained by the end of 1778. Some were captured at sea, some were +destroyed to prevent their falling into British hands, and one blew up +while gallantly fighting. Of the cruisers bought in 1775, only one +remained. Other purchases at home and abroad were made, but three frigates +were captured and destroyed at Charleston in 1779, and by the end of the +year our navy was reduced to six vessels. During the war 24 vessels of the +navy were lost by capture, wreck, or destruction. The British navy lost +102. + +THE PRIVATEERS.--So far we have considered only the American navy--the +warships owned by the government. Congress also (March, 1776) issued +letters of marque, or licenses to citizens to fit out armed vessels and +make war on British ships armed or unarmed; and the sea soon swarmed with +privateers fitted out, not only by citizens but also by the states. The +privateers were active throughout the war, and took hundreds of prizes. + + +SUMMARY + +1. After the British left Boston, Washington moved his army to Long +Island, where he was attacked by the British and driven up the Hudson to +White Plains. + +2. Later in the year (1776), Washington crossed the Hudson and retreated +through New Jersey to Pennsylvania; then he turned about, won the battles +of Trenton (December 26, 1776) and Princeton (January 3, 1777), and spent +the rest of the winter in New Jersey. + +3. The British plan for the campaign of 1777 was to cut off New England +from the Middle States; Burgoyne was to come down from Canada and meet +Howe, who was to move up the Hudson. + +4. Burgoyne lost several battles, and was forced to surrender at Saratoga +(October 17, 1777). + +5. Howe put off going up the Hudson till too late; instead, he defeated +Washington at Brandywine Creek (September 11, 1777), and captured +Philadelphia. Washington then attacked Howe at Germantown, was defeated, +and spent the winter at Valley Forge. + +6. After Burgoyne's surrender, France recognized our independence +(February, 1778) and joined us in the war. + +7. Fearing a French attack on New York, the British left Philadelphia +(June, 1778); Washington followed and fought the battle of Monmouth; but +the British went on to New York, and for three years Washington remained +near that city. + +8. Congress, in December, 1775, created a little navy; but some of these +vessels never got to sea; others under Hopkins and Barry won victories +during 1776. + +9. In 1777 the cruisers were sent to British waters and under Wilkes and +others harried British coasts. + +10. In 1778 Paul Jones sailed around Ireland and in 1779 he won his great +victory in the _Bonhomme Richard_. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Admiral Howe now wrote to Washington, offering pardon to all persons +who should desist from rebellion; he addressed the letter to "George +Washington, Esq.," and sent it under flag of truce. The messenger was told +there was no one in the army with that title. A week later another +messenger came with a paper addressed "George Washington, Esq. etc. etc." +This time he was received; and when Washington declined to receive the +letter, explained that "etc. etc." meant everything. "Indeed," said +Washington, "they might mean anything." He was determined that Howe should +recognize him as commander in chief of the Continental army, and not treat +him as the leader of rebels. + +[2] Many of the prisoners taken in this and other battles were put on +board ships anchored near Brooklyn. Their sufferings in these "Jersey +prison ships" were terrible, and many died and were buried on the beach. +From these rude graves their bones from time to time were washed out. At +last in 1808 they were taken up and decently buried near the Brooklyn navy +yard, and in 1873 were put in a vault in Washington Park, Brooklyn. + +[3] While Washington was near New York, a young man named Nathan Hale +volunteered to enter the British lines on Long Island to procure +information greatly needed. As he was returning he was recognized by a +Tory kinsman, was captured, tried as a spy, and hanged. His last words +were: "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." + +[4] When Howe, marching across Manhattan Island, reached Murray Hill, Mrs. +Lindley Murray sent a servant to invite him to luncheon. The army was +halted, and Mrs. Murray entertained Howe and his officers for two hours. +It was this delay that enabled Putnam to escape. + +[5] Charles Lee was in general command at Charleston during the attack on +Fort Moultrie, and when he joined Washington at New York, was thought a +great officer. Lee was jealous, hoped to be made commander in chief, and +purposely left Washington to his fate. Later Lee crossed to New Jersey and +took up his quarters at Basking Ridge, not far from Morristown, where the +British captured him (December 13, 1776). + +[6] Robert Morris was born at Liverpool, England, but came to Philadelphia +as a lad and entered on a business career, and when the Revolution opened, +was a man of means and influence. He signed the non-importation agreement +of 1765, and signed the Declaration of Independence, and at this time +(December, 1776) was a leading member of Congress. A year later, when the +army was at Valley Forge, he sent it as a gift a large quantity of food +and clothing. In 1781 Morris was made Superintendent of Finance, and in +order to supply the army in the movement against Yorktown, lent his notes +to the amount of $1,400,000. In 1781 he founded the Bank of North America, +which is now the oldest bank in our country. After the war Morris was a +senator from Pennsylvania. He speculated largely in Western lands, lost +his fortune, and from 1798 to 1802 was a prisoner for debt. He died in +1806. + +[7] Read the story of Jane McCrea in Fiske's _American Revolution_, Vol. +I, pp. 277-279. + +[8] These flags were hoisted on the fort and over them was raised the +first flag of stars and stripes ever flung to the breeze. Congress on June +14, 1777, had adopted our national flag. The flag at Fort Stanwix was made +of pieces of a white shirt, a blue jacket, and strips of red flannel. The +day was August 6. + +[9] The story runs that several Tory spies were captured and condemned to +death, but one named Cuyler was spared by Arnold on condition that he +should go to the camp of St. Leger and say that Burgoyne was captured and +a great American army was coming to relieve Fort Stanwix. Cuyler agreed, +and having cut what seemed bullet holes in his clothes, rushed into the +British camp, crying out that a large American army was at hand, and that +he had barely escaped with life. The Indians at once began to desert, the +panic spread to the British, and the next day St. Leger was fleeing toward +Lake Ontario. + +[10] The second battle is often called the battle of Stillwater. Shortly +before this Congress removed Schuyler from command and gave it to Gates, +who thus reaped the glory of the whole campaign. In both battles Arnold +greatly distinguished himself. He won the first fight and was wounded in +the second. + +[11] Lafayette was a young French nobleman who, fired by accounts of the +war in America, fitted out a vessel, and despite the orders of the French +king escaped and came to Philadelphia, and offered his services to +Congress. With him were De Kalb and eleven other officers. Two gallant +Polish officers, Pulaski and Kosciusko, had come over before this time. +Kosciusko had been recommended to Washington by Franklin, then in France; +he was made a colonel in the engineer corps and superintended the building +of the American fortifications at Bemis Heights. After the war he returned +to Poland, and long afterward led the Poles in their struggle for liberty. + +[12] An interesting novel on this period of the war is Dr. S. W. +Mitchell's _Hugh Wynne_. + +[13] At Valley Forge Baron Steuben joined the army. He was an able German +officer who had seen service under Frederick the Great of Prussia, and had +been persuaded by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs to come to +America and help to organize and discipline the army. He landed in New +Hampshire late in 1777, and spent the dreadful winter at Valley Forge in +drilling the troops, teaching them the use of the bayonet, and organizing +the army on the European plan. After the war New York presented Steuben +with a farm of 16,000 acres not far from Fort Stanwix. There he died in +1794. + +[14] Certain officers and members of Congress plotted during 1777 to have +Washington removed from the command of the army. For an account of this +Conway Cabal read Fiske's American Revolution, Vol. II, pp. 34-43. + +[15] Great Britain now sent over commissioners to offer liberal terms of +peace,--no taxes by Parliament, no restrictions on trade, no troops in +America without consent of the colonial assemblies, even representation in +Parliament,--but the offer was rejected. Why did the commissioners fail? +Read Fiske's American Revolution, Vol. II, pp. 4-17, 22-24. + +[16] Lee had been exchanged for a captured British general, and came to +Valley Forge in May. From papers found after his death we know that while +a prisoner he advised Howe as to the best means of conquering the states. +For his conduct in the battle and insolence to Washington after it, Lee +was suspended from the army for one year, but when he wrote an insolent +letter to Congress, he was dismissed from the army. + +[17] A French fleet of twelve ships, under Count d'Estaing, soon arrived +near New York. It might perhaps have captured the British fleet in the +harbor; but without making the attempt D'Estaing went on to Newport to +attempt the capture of a British force which had held that place since +December, 1776. Washington sent Greene and Lafayette with troops to assist +him, the New England militia turned out by thousands, and all seemed ready +for the attack, when a British fleet appeared and D'Estaing went out to +meet it. A storm scattered the vessels of the two squadrons, and D'Estaing +went to Boston for repairs, and then to the West Indies. + +[18] Six of the thirty never got to sea, but were captured or destroyed +when the British took New York and Philadelphia. Our navy, therefore, may +be considered at the outset to have consisted of 24 vessels, mounting 422 +guns. Great Britain at that time had 112 war vessels, carrying 3714 guns, +and 78 of these vessels were stationed on or near our coast. + +[19] John Barry was a native of Ireland. He came to America at thirteen, +and at twenty-five was captain of a ship. At the opening of the war he +offered his services to Congress, and in February, 1776, was given command +of the _Lexington_. After his victory Barry was transferred to the +28-gun frigate _Effingham_, and in 1777 (while blockaded in the Delaware), +with 27 men in four boats captured and destroyed a 10-gun schooner and +four transports. For this he was thanked by Washington. When the British +captured Philadelphia, Barry took the _Effingham_ up the river to save +her; but she was burned by the British. At different times Barry commanded +several other ships, and in 1782, in the _Alliance_, fought the last +action of the war. In 1794 he was senior captain of the navy, with the +title of commodore. He died in 1803. + +[20] When these ships returned to France with the prizes, the British +government protested so vigorously that the _Reprisal_ and the _Lexington_ +were seized and held till security was given that they would leave France. +The prizes were ordered out of port, were taken into the offing, and then +quietly sold to French merchants. The _Reprisal_ on her way home was lost +at sea. The _Lexington_ was captured and her men thrown into prison. They +escaped by digging a hole under the wall, and were on board a vessel in +London bound for France, when they were discovered and sent back to +prison. A year later one of them, Richard Dale, escaped by walking past +the guards in daylight, dressed in a British uniform. He never would tell +how he got the uniform. + +[21] John Paul, Jr., was born in Scotland in 1747. He began a seafaring +life when twelve years old and followed it till 1773, when he fell heir to +a plantation in Virginia on condition that he should take the name of +Jones. Thereafter he was known as John Paul Jones. In 1775 Jones offered +his services to Congress, assisted in founding our navy, and in December, +1775, was commissioned lieutenant. He died in Paris in 1792, but the +whereabouts of his grave was long unknown. In 1905, however, the United +States ambassador to France (Horace Porter) discovered the body of Jones, +which was brought with due honors to the United States and deposited at +the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Porter's account of how the body was found +may be read in the _Century Magazine_ for October, 1905. Jones is the +hero of Cooper's novel called _The Pilot_. + +[22] The wording on the medal may be translated as follows: "The American +Congress to John Paul Jones, fleet commander--for the capture or defeat of +the enemy's ships off the coast of Scotland, Sept. 23, 1779." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE WAR IN THE WEST AND IN THE SOUTH + + +THE WEST.--After Great Britain obtained from France the country between +the mountains and the Mississippi, the British king, as we have seen (p. +143), forbade settlement west of the mountains. But the westward movement +of population was not to be stopped by a proclamation. The hardy +frontiersmen gave it no heed, and, passing over the mountains of Virginia +and North Carolina, they hunted, trapped, and made settlements in the +forbidden land. + +[Illustration: THE WEST DURING THE REVOLUTION.] + +TENNESSEE.--Thus, in 1769, William Bean of North Carolina built a cabin on +the banks of the Watauga Creek and began the settlement of what is now +Tennessee. The next year James Robertson and many others followed and +dotted the valleys of the Holston and the Clinch with clearings and log +cabins. These men at first were without government of any sort, so they +formed an association and for some years governed themselves; but in 1776 +their delegates were seated in the legislature of North Carolina, and next +year their settlements were organized as Washington county in that state. +Robertson soon (1779) led a colony further west and on the banks of the +Cumberland founded Nashboro, now called Nashville. + +[Illustration: INDIAN ATTACKING A FRONTIERSMAN.] + +KENTUCKY.--The year (1769) that Bean went into Tennessee, Daniel Boone, +one of the great men of frontier history, entered what is now Kentucky. +Others followed, and despite Indian wars and massacres, Boonesboro, +Harrodsburg, and Lexington were founded before 1777. These backwoodsmen +also were for a time without any government; but in December, 1776, +Virginia organized the region as a county with the present boundaries of +Kentucky. [1] + +GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.--In the country north of the Ohio were a few old +French towns,--Detroit, Kaskaskia, Vincennes,--and a few forts built by +the French and garrisoned by the British, from whom the Indians obtained +guns and powder to attack the frontier. Against these forts and villages +George Rogers Clark, a young Virginian, planned an expedition which was +approved by Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia. Henry could give him +little aid, but Clark was determined to go; and in 1778, with one hundred +and eighty men, left Pittsburg in boats, floated down the Ohio to its +mouth, marched across the swamps and prairies of south-western Illinois, +and took Kaskaskia. + +Vincennes [2] thereupon surrendered; but was soon recaptured by the +British general at Detroit with a band of Indians. But Clark, after a +dreadful march across country in midwinter, attacked the fort in the dead +of night, captured it, and then conquered the country near the Wabash and +Illinois rivers, and held it for Virginia. [3] + +SPAIN IN THE WEST.--The conquest was most timely; for in 1779 Spain joined +in the war against Great Britain, seized towns and British forts in +Florida, and in January, 1781, sent out from St. Louis a band of Spaniards +and Indians who marched across Illinois and took possession of Fort St. +Joseph in what is now southwestern Michigan, occupied it, and claimed the +Northwest for Spain. + +THE SOUTH INVADED.--Near the end of 1778, the British armies held strong +positions at New York and Newport, and the French fleet under D'Estaing +was in the West Indies. The British therefore felt free to strike a blow +at the South. A fleet and army accordingly sailed from New York and +(December 29, 1778) captured Savannah. Georgia was then overrun, was +declared conquered, and the royal governor was reestablished in office. +[4] + +[Illustration: THE SOUTHERN COLONIES DURING THE REVOLUTION] + +THE AMERICANS REPULSED AT SAVANNAH.--Governor Rutledge of South Carolina +now appealed to D'Estaing, who at once brought his fleet from the West +Indies; and Savannah was besieged by the American forces under Lincoln and +the French under D'Estaing. After a long siege, an assault was made on the +British defenses (October, 1779), in which the brave Pulaski was slain and +D'Estaing was wounded. The French then sailed away, and Lincoln fell back +into South Carolina. + +BRITISH CAPTURE CHARLESTON.--Hearing of this, Sir Henry Clinton and Lord +Cornwallis sailed with British troops from New York (December, 1779) to +Savannah. Thence the British marched overland to Charleston. Lincoln did +all he could to defend the city, but in May, 1780, was compelled to +surrender. South Carolina was then overrun by the British, and Clinton +returned to New York, leaving Cornwallis in command. + +PARTISAN LEADERS.--South Carolina now became the seat of a bitter partisan +war. The Tories there clamored for revenge. That no man should be neutral, +Cornwallis ordered everyone to declare for or against the king, and sent +officers with troops about the state to enroll the royalists in the +militia. The whole population was thus arrayed in two hostile parties. The +patriots could not offer organized opposition; but little bands of them +found refuge in the woods, swamps, and mountain valleys, whence they +issued to attack the British troops and the Tories. Led by Andrew Pickens, +Thomas Sumter, and Francis Marion whom the British called the Swamp Fox, +they won many desperate fights. [5] + +CAMDEN.--Congress, however, had not abandoned the South. Two thousand men +under De Kalb were marching south before the surrender of Charleston. +After it, a call for troops was made on all the states south of +Pennsylvania, and General Gates, then called "the Hero of Saratoga," was +sent to join De Kalb and take command. The most important point in the +interior of South Carolina was Camden, and against this Gates marched his +troops. But he managed matters so badly that near Camden the American army +was beaten, routed, and cut to pieces by the British under Cornwallis +(August 16, 1780). [6] + +[Illustration: WAYNE'S CAMP KETTLE. Now in possession of the Pennsylvania +Historical Society.] + +THE WAR IN THE NORTH.--What meantime had happened in the North? The main +armies near New York had done little fighting; but the British had made a +number of sudden raids on the coast. In 1779 Norfolk and Portsmouth in +Virginia, and New Haven and several other towns in Connecticut had been +attacked, and ships and houses burned. In New York, Clinton captured Stony +Point; but Anthony Wayne led a force of Americans against the fort, and at +dead of night, by one of the most brilliant assaults in the world's +military history, recaptured it (July, 1779). [7] + +[Illustration: AT WEST POINT: LOOKING UP THE HUDSON.] + +TREASON OF ARNOLD.--Stony Point was one of several forts built by order of +Washington to defend the Hudson. The chief fort was at West Point, the +command of which, in July, 1780, was given to Arnold. When the British +left Philadelphia in 1778, Arnold was made military commander there, and +so conducted himself that he was sentenced by court-martial to be +reprimanded by Washington. This censure, added to previous unfair +treatment by Congress, led him to seek revenge in the ruin of his country. +To bring this about he asked for the command of West Point, and having +received it, offered to surrender the fort to the British. + +Clinton's agent in the matter was Major John André (an'dra), who one day +in September, 1780, came up the river in the British ship _Vulture_, went +ashore, and at night met Arnold near Stony Point. Morning came before the +terms [8] of surrender were arranged, and the _Vulture_ having been fired +on dropped down the river out of range. + +WEST POINT SAVED.--Thus left within the American lines, André crossed the +river to the east shore, and started for New York by land, but was stopped +by three Americans, [9] searched, and papers of great importance were +found in his stockings. Despite an offer of his watch and money for his +release, André was delivered to the nearest American officer, was later +tried by court-martial, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged as a spy. + +The American officer to whom André was delivered, not suspecting Arnold, +sent the news to him as well as to Washington. Arnold received the message +first; knowing that Washington was at hand, he at once procured a boat, +was rowed down the river to the _Vulture_, and escaped. From then till the +end of the war he served as an officer in the British army. + +The disasters at Charleston and Camden, and the narrow escape from +disaster at West Point, made 1780 the most disheartening year of the war. + +KINGS MOUNTAIN.--But the tide quickly turned. After his victory at Camden, +Cornwallis began to invade North Carolina, and sent Colonel Ferguson into +the South Carolina highlands to enlist all the Tories he could find. As +Ferguson advanced into the hill country, the backwoodsmen and mountaineers +rallied from all sides, and led by Sevier, Shelby, and Williams, +surrounded him and forced him to make a stand on the summit of Kings +Mountain, October 7, 1780. Fighting in true Indian fashion from behind +every tree and rock, they shot Ferguson's army to pieces, killed him, and +forced the few survivors to surrender. This victory forced Cornwallis to +put off his conquest of North Carolina. + +COWPENS.--General Greene was now sent to replace Gates in command of the +patriot army in the South. He was too weak to attack Cornwallis, but by +dividing his army and securing the aid of the partisan bands he hoped to +annoy the British with raids. Morgan, who commanded one of these +divisions, was so successful that Cornwallis sent Tarleton with a thousand +men against him. Morgan offered battle on the grounds known as the +Cowpens, and there Tarleton was routed and three fourths of his men were +killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF THE COWPENS.] + +THE GREAT RETREAT.--This victory won, Morgan set off to join Greene, with +Cornwallis himself in hot pursuit. When Greene heard the news, he +determined to draw the British general far northward and then fight him +wherever he would be at most disadvantage. [10] The retreat of the +American army was therefore continued to the border of Virginia. + +GUILFORD COURT HOUSE.--Having received reinforcements, Greene turned +southward and offered battle at Guilford Court House (March 15, 1781). A +desperate fight ensued, and when night came, Greene retired, leaving the +British unable to follow him. Cornwallis had lost one quarter of his army +in killed and wounded. He was in the midst of a hostile country, too weak +to stay, and unwilling to confess defeat by retreating to South Carolina. +Thus outgeneraled he hurried to Wilmington, where he could be aided by the +British fleet. + +[Illustration: LAFAYETTE MONUMENT. Washington, D.C.] + +Greene followed for a time, and then turned into South Carolina, drove the +British out of Camden, and by the 4th of July had reconquered half of +South Carolina. Late in August, he forced the British back to Eutaw +Springs, where (September 8, 1781) a desperate battle was fought. [11] The +British troops held their ground, but on the following night they set off +for. Charleston, where they remained until the end of the war. [12] + +YORKTOWN.--From Wilmington Cornwallis marched to southeastern Virginia, +where a British force under Benedict Arnold joined him. He then set off to +capture Lafayette, who had been sent to defend Virginia from Arnold. But +Lafayette retreated to the back country, till reinforcements came. When +Cornwallis could drive him no farther, the British army retreated to the +coast, and fortified itself at Yorktown. + +In August Washington received word that a large French fleet under De +Grasse was about to sail from the West Indies to Chesapeake Bay. He saw +that the supreme moment had come. Laying aside his plan for an attack on +New York, he hurried southward, marched his army to the head of Chesapeake +Bay, and then took it by ships to Yorktown. [13] The French fleet was +already in the bay. Some French troops had joined Lafayette, and +Cornwallis was already surrounded when Washington arrived. The siege was +now pressed with overwhelming force, and Cornwallis surrendered on October +19, 1781. + +END OF THE WAR.--Swift couriers carried the news to Philadelphia, where, +at the dead of night, the people were roused from sleep by the watchman +crying in the street, "Past two o'clock and Cornwallis is taken." In the +morning Congress received the dispatches and went in solemn procession to +a church to give thanks to God. + +When the British prime minister, Lord North, heard the news, he exclaimed, +"All is over; all is over!" The king alone remained stubborn, and for a +while insisted on holding Georgia, Charleston, and New York. But his +advisers in time persuaded him to yield, and (November 30, 1782) a +preliminary treaty, acknowledging the independence of the United States, +was signed at Paris. [14] The final treaty was not signed till September +3, 1783. [15] + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT NEWBURGH. From an old print.] + +In November the Continental army was disbanded, and in December, at +Annapolis, where Congress was sitting, Washington formally surrendered his +command, and went home to Mount Vernon. [16] + + +SUMMARY + +1. Despite the king's proclamation in 1763, frontiersmen soon crossed the +mountains and settled in what is now Kentucky and Tennessee. + +2. In the region north of the Ohio were a few British forts, some of which +George Rogers Clark captured in 1778 and 1779; but Fort St. Joseph in +Michigan was captured by the Spanish. + +3. At the end of 1778 the British began an attack on the Southern states +by capturing Savannah. + +4. Georgia was then overrun. The Americans, aided by a French fleet, +attacked Savannah and were repulsed (1779). + +5. In 1780, reënforced by a fleet and army from New York, the British +captured Charleston and overran South Carolina. The Americans under Gates +were badly beaten at Camden; but a British force was destroyed at Kings +Mountain. + +6. In the same year Benedict Arnold turned traitor, and sought in vain to +deliver West Point to the British. + +7. In the following year (1781) our arms were generally victorious. Morgan +won the battle of the Cowpens; Greene outgeneraled Cornwallis and then +reconquered South Carolina. At the end of the year Charleston and Savannah +were the only Southern towns held by the British. + +8. Cornwallis marched into Virginia, and fortified himself at Yorktown. +There Washington, aided by a French army and fleet, forced him to +surrender (1781). + +9. Peace was made next year, our independence was acknowledged, and by the +end of 1783 the last British soldiers had left the country. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE AT MOUNT VERNON.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] About this time the settlers on the upper Ohio River (in what is now +West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania) became eager for statehood. +Both Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed their allegiance. They asked +Congress, therefore, for recognition as the state of Westsylvania, the +fourteenth province of the American Confederacy. Congress did not grant +their prayer. + +[2] Read Thompson's _Alice of Old Vincennes_. + +[3] Farther east, meantime, a band of savages led by Colonel John Butler +swept down from Fort Niagara, entered Wyoming Valley in northeastern +Pennsylvania, near the site of Wilkes-Barre, and perpetrated one of the +most awful massacres in history (July 4, 1778). (Read Campbell's poem +_Gertrude of Wyoming_). A little later another band, led by a son of +Butler, burned the village of Cherry Valley in New York, and murdered many +of the inhabitants--men, women, and children. Cruelties of this sort could +not go unpunished. In the summer of 1779, therefore, General Sullivan with +an army invaded the Indian country in central New York, burned forty +Indian villages, destroyed their crops, cut down their fruit trees, and +brought the Indians to the verge of famine. + +[4] Congress now put Lincoln in command in the South; but when he marched +into Georgia, the British set off to attack Charleston, sacking houses and +slaughtering cattle as they went. This move forced Lincoln to follow them, +and having been joined by Pulaski, he compelled the British to retreat. + +[5] Four novels by Simms,--_The Partisan_, _Mellichampe_, _Katharine +Walton_, and _The Scout_,--and _Horseshoe Robinson_, by Kennedy, are +famous stories relating to the Revolution in the South. Read Bryant's +_Song of Marion's Men_. + +[6] A large number of men were killed, and a thousand taken prisoners. +Among the dead was De Kalb. Among the living was Gates, who fled among the +first and made such haste to escape that he covered two hundred miles in +four days. + +[7] The purpose of the attack on Stony Point was to draw the British from +Connecticut. The capture had the desired result, and Stony Point was then +abandoned. The fort stood on a rocky promontory with the water of the +Hudson River on three sides. On the fourth was a morass crossed by a +narrow road which at high tide was under water. The country between the +British forces in New York and the American army on the highlands of the +Hudson was known as the neutral ground, and is the scene of Cooper's great +novel _The Spy_. + +[8] The British were to come up the river and attack West Point. Arnold +was to man the defenses in such a way that they could easily be taken, one +at a time, and so afford an excuse for surrendering them, with the three +thousand men under Arnold's command. + +[9] The names of André's captors were John Paulding, David Williams, and +Isaac Van Wart. Congress gave each a medal and a pension for life. + +[10] To accomplish this Greene sent the greater part of his army northward +under General Huger, while he with a small guard hurried across country, +and took command of Morgan's army. And now a most exciting chase began. +Cornwallis destroyed his heavy baggage that he might move as rapidly as +possible, and vainly strove to get near enough to Greene to make him +fight. Greene with great skill kept just out of reach and for ten days +lured the British farther and farther north. At Guilford Court House +Greene and Morgan were joined by the main army. Cornwallis then proclaimed +North Carolina conquered, and called on all Loyalists to join him. + +[11] Two good works relating to these events are _The Forayers_ and +_Eutaw_, by Simms. + +[12] While these things were happening in the South, a French army of 6000 +men under Rochambeau arrived at Newport (1780), from which the British had +withdrawn in 1779. There, for a while, the French fleet was blockaded by +the British, and the troops remained to aid the fleet in case of +necessity. The next year, however, this army marched across Connecticut +and joined Washington's forces (July, 1781), and preparations were begun +for an attack on New York. + +[13] When Clinton realized that Washington was on the way to Yorktown, he +sent Arnold on a raid into Connecticut, in hope of forcing Washington to +return. Early in September Arnold attacked New London, carried one of its +forts by storm, and set tire to the town, but was driven off by the +minutemen. + +[14] Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin (our minister in France), John +Adams (in Holland), John Jay (in Spain), Thomas Jefferson, and Henry +Laurens to negotiate the treaty. Jefferson's appointment came too late for +him to serve; the other four signed the treaty of 1782, and Franklin, +Adams, and Jay signed the treaty of 1783. + +[15] After the surrender of Cornwallis, Washington returned with his army +to the Hudson and made his headquarters at Newburgh. In April, 1783, a +cessation of war on land and sea was formally proclaimed, and the British +prepared to leave New York. Charleston and Savannah were evacuated in +1782, but November 25, 1783, came before the last British soldier left New +York. When the troops under Washington entered New York city, they found a +British flag nailed to the staff, the halyards gone, and the staff soaped. +A sailor climbed the pole by nailing on cleats, pulled down the British +flag, and reeved new halyards. The stars and stripes were then raised and +saluted with thirteen guns. + +[16] Washington refused to be paid for his services. Actual expenses +during the war were all he would take, and these amounted to about +$70,000. + +[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES ABOUT 1783 SHOWING STATE CLAIMS TO +WESTERN LANDS] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AFTER THE WAR + + +OUR BOUNDARIES.--By the treaty of 1783 our country was bounded on the +north by a line (very much as at present) from the mouth of the St. Croix +River in Maine to the Lake of the Woods; on the west by the Mississippi +River; and on the south by the parallel of 31° north latitude from the +Mississippi to the Apalachicola, and then by the present south boundary of +Georgia to the sea. [1] + +But our flag did not as yet wave over every part of the country within +these bounds. Great Britain, claiming that certain provisions in the +treaty had been violated, held the forts from Lake Champlain to Lake +Michigan and would not withdraw her troops. [2] Spain, having received the +Floridas back from Great Britain by a treaty of 1783, held the forts at +Memphis, Baton Rouge, and Vicksburg, and much of what is now Alabama and +Mississippi. [3] + +A CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.--From 1775 to 1781 the states were governed, so far +as they had any general government, by the Continental Congress. During +these years there was no written document fixing the powers of Congress +and limiting the powers of the states. While the war was going on, +Congress submitted a plan for a general government, called Articles of +Confederation and Perpetual Union; but nearly four years passed before all +the states accepted it. The delay was caused by the refusal of Maryland to +approve the Articles unless the states having sea-to-sea charters would +give to Congress, for the public good, the lands they claimed beyond the +mountains. [4] + +Congress therefore appealed to the states to cede their Western lands. If +they would do this, Congress promised to sell the lands, use the money to +pay the debts of the United States, and cut the region into states and +admit them into the Union at the proper time. New York, Connecticut, and +Virginia at last agreed to give up their lands northwest of the Ohio +River, and on March 1, 1781, the Maryland delegates signed the Articles +and by so doing put them in force. [5] + +THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION.--In the government set up by the Articles +of Confederation there was no President of the United States, no Supreme +Court, no Senate. Congress consisted of a single body to which each state +sent at least two delegates, and might send any number up to seven. The +members were elected annually, were paid by the states they represented, +could not serve more than three years in six, and might be recalled at any +time. Each state cast one vote, and nine affirmative votes were necessary +to carry any important measure. Congress could make war and peace, enter +into treaties with foreign powers, coin money, contract debts in the name +of the United States, and call upon each state for its share of the +general expenses. + +THE STATES CEDE LANDS.--Although three states had tendered their Western +lands when Maryland signed the Articles, the conditions of cession were +not at once accepted by Congress, and some time passed before the deeds +were delivered. By the year 1786, however, the claims northwest of the +Ohio had been ceded by New York, Virginia, [6] Massachusetts, and +Connecticut. [7] South of the Ohio, what is now West Virginia and Kentucky +still belonged to Virginia. North Carolina offered what is now Tennessee +to Congress in 1784, [8] but the conditions were not then accepted, and +that territory was not turned over to Congress till 1790. The long, narrow +strip of western land owned by South Carolina was ceded to Congress in +1787. South of this was a strip owned by Georgia, and farther south lands +long in dispute between Georgia and Spain and Congress. Georgia did not +accept her present western limits till 1802. + +MIGRATION WESTWARD.--Into the country west of the mountains the people +were moving in three great streams. One from New England was pushing out +along the Mohawk valley into central New York; another from Pennsylvania +and Virginia was pouring its population into Kentucky; the third from +North Carolina was overrunning Tennessee. + +[Illustration: A SETTLER'S LOG CABIN.] + +For this movement the hard times which followed the Revolution were +largely the cause. Compared with our time, the means of making a +livelihood were few and far less remunerative. Great mills and factories +each employing thousands of persons had no existence. The imports from +Great Britain far surpassed in value our exports; the difference was +settled in specie (coin) taken from the country. The people were poor, and +as land in the West was cheap, they left the East and went westward. + +ROUTES TO THE OHIO VALLEY.--New England people bound to the Ohio valley +went through Connecticut to Kingston, New York, on across New Jersey to +Easton, Pennsylvania, and thence to Bedford, where they struck the road +cut years before by the troops of General Forbes, and by it went to +Pittsburg (p. 194). Settlers from Maryland and Virginia went generally to +Fort Cumberland in Maryland, and then on by Brad dock's Road to Pittsburg, +or turned off and reached the Monongahela at Redstone, or the Ohio at +Wheeling (map, p. 201). + +Such was the rush to the Ohio valley that each spring and summer hundreds +of boats and arks left Pittsburg and Wheeling or Redstone, and floated +down the Ohio to Maysville, Louisville, and other places in Kentucky. [9] +The flatboat was usually twelve feet wide and forty feet long, with high +sides and a flat or slightly arched top, and was steered, and when +necessary was rowed, by long oars or sweeps. Some were arranged to carry +cattle as well as household goods. + +[Illustration: OHIO RIVER FLATBOAT OF ABOUT 1840. The boat is like those +used in earlier times.] + +THE OHIO COMPANY OF ASSOCIATES.--Meanwhile, some old soldiers of New +England and New Jersey who had claims for bounty lands, [10] organized the +Ohio Company of Associates, and in 1787 sent an agent (Manasseh Cutler) to +New York, where Congress was sitting, and bade him buy a great tract of +land northwest of the Ohio, on which they might settle. + +[Illustration: THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.] + +THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.--When Cutler reached New York, he found Congress +debating a measure of great importance. This was an ordinance for the +government of the Northwest Territory, including the whole region from the +Lakes to the Ohio, and from Pennsylvania to the Mississippi. When passed, +this famous Ordinance of 1787 provided-- + +1. That until five thousand free white males lived in the territory, the +governing body should be a governor and three judges appointed by +Congress. + +2. That when there were five thousand free white men in the territory, +they might elect a legislature and send a delegate to Congress. + +3. That slavery should not be permitted in the territory, but that +fugitive slaves should be returned. + +4. That the territory should in time be cut up into not more than five, or +less than three, states. + +5. That when the population of each division numbered sixty thousand, it +should be admitted into the Union on the same footing as the original +states. + +OHIO SETTLED.--After the ordinance was passed, Cutler bought five million +acres of land north of the Ohio River, and in the winter of 1787-88 a +party of young men sent out by the Ohio Company made their way from New +England to a branch of the Monongahela River. There they built a great +boat, and when the ice broke up, floated down the Ohio to the lands of the +Ohio Company, where they erected a few log huts and a fort of hewn timber +which they called Campus Martius. The little settlement was called +Marietta. [11] + +Farther down the Ohio, on land owned by John Cleve Symmes and associates, +Columbia and Losantiville, afterward called Cincinnati, were founded in +1788. + +STATE BOUNDARIES.--The old charters which led to the conflicting claims to +land in the West, caused like disputes in the East. Massachusetts claimed +a strip of country embracing western New York, and did not settle the +dispute till 1786. [12] A similar dispute between Connecticut and +Pennsylvania was settled in 1782. [13] New York claimed all Vermont as +having once been part of New Netherland; but Vermont was really an +independent republic. [14] In Kentucky the people were insisting that +their country be separated from Virginia and made a state. + +TROUBLE WITH SPAIN.--Congress had trouble in trying to secure from foreign +nations fair treatment for our commerce, and was involved in a dispute +over the navigation of the Mississippi. Spain owned both banks at the +mouth of the river, and denied the right of Americans to go in or out +without her consent. The Spanish minister who came over in 1785 was ready +to make a commercial treaty if the river was closed to navigation for +twenty-five years, and the Eastern states were quite ready to agree to it. +But the people of Kentucky and Tennessee threatened to leave the Union if +cut off from the sea, and no treaty was made with Spain till 1795. + +THE WEAKNESS OF THE CONFEDERATION.--The question of trade and commerce +with foreign powers and between the states was very serious, and the +weakness of Congress in this and other matters soon wrecked the +Confederation. + +1. In the first place, the Articles of Confederation gave Congress no +power to levy taxes of any kind. Money, therefore, could not be obtained +to pay the debts of the United States, or the annual cost of government. +[15] + +2. Congress had no power to regulate the foreign trade. As there were few +articles manufactured in the country, china, glass, cutlery, edged tools, +hardware, woolen, linen, and many other articles of daily use were +imported from Great Britain. As Great Britain took little from us, these +goods were largely paid for in specie, which grew scarcer and scarcer each +year. Great Britain, moreover, hurt our trade by shutting our vessels out +of her West Indies, and by heavy duties on American goods coming to her +ports in American ships. [16] Congress, having no power to regulate trade, +could not retaliate by treating British ships in the same way. + +3. Congress had no power to regulate trade between the states. As a +consequence, some of the states laid heavy duties on goods imported from +other states. Retaliation followed, and the safety of the Union was +endangered. + +4. Congress did not have sole power to coin money and regulate the value +thereof. There were, therefore, nearly as many kinds of paper money as +there were states, and the money issued by each state passed in others at +all sorts of value, or not at all. This hindered interstate trade. + +5. Congress could not enforce treaties. It could make treaties with other +countries, but only the states could compel the people to observe them, +and the states did not choose to do so. + +[Illustration: NEW HAMPSHIRE COLONIAL PAPER MONEY. Similar bills were +issued by the states before 1789.] + +CONGRESS ASKS FOR MORE POWER.--Of the defects in the Articles of +Confederation Congress was fully aware, and it asked the states to amend +the Articles and give it more authority. [17] To do this required the +assent of all the states, and as the consent of thirteen states could not +be obtained, the additional powers were not given to Congress. + +This soon brought matters to a crisis. With no regulation of trade, the +purchase of more and more goods from British merchants made money so +scarce that the states were forced to print and issue large amounts of +paper bills. In Massachusetts, when the legislature refused to issue such +currency, the debtors rose and, led by a Revolutionary officer named +Daniel Shays, prevented the courts from trying suits for the recovery of +debts. The governor called out troops, and several encounters took place +before a bitter winter dispersed the insurgents. [18] + +THE ANNAPOLIS TRADE CONVENTION.--In this condition of affairs, Virginia +invited her sister states to send delegates to a convention at Annapolis +in 1786. They were to "take into consideration the trade and commerce of +the United States." Five states sent delegates, but the convention could +do nothing, because less than half the states were present, and because +the powers of the delegates were too limited. A request was therefore made +by it that Congress call a convention of the states to meet at +Philadelphia and "take into consideration the situation of the United +States." + +THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.--Congress issued the call early in 1787, +and delegates from twelve states [19] met at Philadelphia and framed the +Constitution of the United States. Washington was made president of the +convention, and among the members were many of the ablest men of the time. +[20] + +[Illustration: INVITATION SENT BY WASHINGTON, AS PRESIDENT OF THE +CONVENTION. In the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.] + +THE COMPROMISES.--In the course of the debates in the convention great +difference of opinion arose on several matters. + +The small states wanted a Congress of one house, and equality of state +representation. The great states wanted Historical a Congress of two +houses, with representation in proportion to population. This difference +of opinion was so serious that a compromise was necessary, and it was +agreed that in one branch (House of Representatives) the people should be +represented, and in the other (Senate) the states. + +The question then arose whether slaves should be counted as population. +The Southern delegates said yes; the Northern, no. It was finally agreed +that direct taxes and representatives should be apportioned according to +population, and that three fifths of the slaves should be counted as +population. This was the second compromise. + +The convention agreed that Congress should regulate foreign commerce. But +the Southern members objected that by means of this power Congress might +pass navigation acts limiting trade to American ships, which might raise +freights on exports from the South. Many Northern members, on the other +hand, wanted the slave trade stopped. These two matters were therefore +made the basis of another compromise, by which Congress could pass +navigation acts, but could not prohibit the slave trade before 1808. + +THE CONSTITUTION RATIFIED.--When the convention had finished its work +(September 17, 1787), the Constitution [21] was sent to the old +(Continental) Congress, which referred it to the states, and the states, +one by one, called on the people to elect; delegates to conventions to +ratify or reject the new plan of government. In a few states it was +accepted without any demand for changes. In others it was vigorously +opposed as likely to set up too strong a government. In Massachusetts, New +York, and Virginia adoption was long in doubt. [22] + +By July, 1788, eleven states had ratified, and the Constitution was in +force as to these States. [23] + +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT.--The Continental Congress then +appointed the first Wednesday in January, 1789, as the day on which +electors of President should be chosen in the eleven states; the first +Wednesday in February as the day on which the electors should meet and +vote for President; and the first Wednesday in March (which happened to be +the 4th of March) as the day when the new Congress should assemble at New +York and canvass the vote for President. + +[Illustration: FEDERAL HALL, ON WALL STREET, NEW YORK. From an old print.] + +WASHINGTON THE FIRST PRESIDENT.--When March 4 came, neither the Senate nor +the House of Representatives had a quorum, and a month went by before the +electoral votes were counted, and Washington and John Adams declared +President and Vice President of the United States. [24] + +Some time now elapsed before Washington could be notified of his election. +More time was consumed by the long journey from Mount Vernon to New York, +where, on April 30, 1789, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall, he took +the oath of office in the presence of a crowd of his fellow-citizens. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The treaty of peace defined the boundaries of our country; but Great +Britain continued to hold the forts along the north, and Spain to occupy +the country in the southwest. + +2. Seven of the thirteen states claimed the country west of the mountains. + +3. The other six, especially Maryland, denied these claims, and this +dispute delayed the adoption of the Articles of Confederation till 1781. + +4. By the year 1786 the lands northwest of the Ohio had been ceded to +Congress. + +5. In 1787, therefore, Congress formed the Northwest Territory. + +6. Certain states, meantime, were settling disputes as to their boundaries +in the east. + +7. We had trouble with Spain over the right to use the lower Mississippi +River, and with Great Britain over matters of trade. + +8. Six years' trial proved that the government of the United States was +too weak under the Articles of Confederation. + +9. In 1787, therefore, the Constitution was framed, and within a year was +ratified by eleven states. + +10. In 1789 Washington and Adams became President and Vice President, and +government under the Constitution began. + +[Illustration: LIBERTY BELL.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Both France and Spain had tried to shut us out of the Mississippi +valley. Read Fiske's Critical Period of American History, pp. 17-25. + +[2] By the treaty of 1783 Congress provided that all debts due British +subjects might be recovered by law, and that the states should be asked to +pay for confiscated property of the Loyalists. But the states would not +permit the recovery of the debts nor pay for the property taken from the +Loyalists. Great Britain, by holding the forts along our northern +frontier, controlled the fur trade and the Indians, and ruled the country +about the forts. These were Dutchman's Point, Point au Fer, Oswegatchie, +Oswego, Niagara, Erie, Detroit, Mackinaw. + +[3] To understand her conduct we must remember that in 1764, shortly after +the French and Indian War, Great Britain made 32° 28' north latitude +(through the mouth of the Yazoo, p. 143) the north boundary of West +Florida; and although Great Britain in her treaty with us made 31° the +boundary between us and West Florida, Spain insisted that it should be 32° +28'. Spain's claim to the Northwest, founded on her occupation of Fort St. +Joseph (p. 183), had not been allowed; she was therefore the more +determined to expand her claims in the South. + +[4] The states claiming such lands by virtue of their colonial charters +were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and +Georgia. New York had acquired the Iroquois title to lands in the West. +Her claim conflicted with those of Virginia, Connecticut, and +Massachusetts. The claims of Connecticut and Massachusetts covered lands +included in the Virginia claim--Maryland denied the validity of all these +claims, for these reasons: (1) the Mississippi valley belonged to France +till 1763; (2) when France gave the valley east of the Mississippi to +Great Britain in 1763, it became crown land; (3) in 1763 the king drew the +line around the sources of the rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, and +forbade the colonists to settle beyond that line (p. 143). + +[5] The Articles were not to go into effect till every state signed. +Maryland was the thirteenth state to sign. + +[6] Virginia reserved ownership of a large tract called the Virginia +Military Lands. It lay in what is now Ohio between the Scioto and Little +Miami rivers (map, p. 201), and was used to pay bounties to her soldiers +of the Revolution. + +[7] Connecticut reserved the ownership (and till 1800 the government) of a +tract 120 miles long, west of Pennsylvania. Of this "Western Reserve of +Connecticut," some 500,000 acres were set apart in 1792 for the relief of +persons whose houses and farms had been burned and plundered by the +British. The rest was sold and the money used as a school fund. + +[8] When the settlers on the Watauga (pp. 181, 182) heard of this, they +became alarmed lest Congress should not accept the cession, and forming a +new state which they called Franklin, applied to Congress for admission +into the Union. No attention was given to the application. North Carolina +repealed the act of cession, arranged matters with the settlers, and in +1787 the Franklin government dissolved. + +[9] The favorite time for the river trip was from February to May, when +there was high water in the Ohio and its tributaries the Allegheny and +Monongahela. Then the voyage from Pittsburg to Louisville could be made in +eight or ten days. An observer at Pittsburg in 1787 saw 50 flatboats +depart in six weeks. Another man at Fort Finney counted 177 passing boats +with 2700 people in eight months. + +[10] In order to encourage enlistment in the army, Congress had offered to +give a tract of land to each officer and man who served through the war. +The premium in land, or gift, over and above pay, was known as land +bounty. + +[11] Read McMaster's History of the People of the U. S., Vol. I, pp. 505- +519. All the land bought by the Ohio Company was not for its use. A large +part was for another, known as the Scioto Company, which sent an agent to +Paris and sold the land to a French company. This, in turn, sold in small +pieces to Frenchmen eager to leave a country then in a state of +revolution. In 1790, accordingly, several hundred emigrants reached +Alexandria, Virginia, and came on to the little square of log huts, with a +blockhouse at each corner, which the company had built for them and named +Gallipolis. Most of them were city-bred artisans, unfit for frontier life, +who suffered greatly in the wilderness. + +[12] The land was included in the limits laid down in the charter of +Massachusetts; but that charter was granted after the Dutch were in actual +possession of the upper Hudson. In 1786 a north and south line was drawn +82 miles west of the Delaware. Ownership of the land west of that line +went to Massachusetts; but jurisdiction over the land, the right to +govern, was given to New York. + +[13] Connecticut, under her sea-to-sea grant from the crown, claimed a +strip across northern Pennsylvania, bought some land there from the +Indians (1754), and some of her people settled on the Susquehanna in what +was known as the Wyoming Valley (1762 and 1769). The dispute which +followed, first with the Penns and then with the state of Pennsylvania, +dragged on till a court of arbitration appointed by the Continental +Congress decided in favor of Pennsylvania. + +[14] Because of Champlain's discovery of the lake which now bears his name +(p. 115), the French claimed most of Vermont; on their early maps it +appears as part of New France, and as late as 1739 they made settlements +in it. About 1750 the governor of New Hampshire granted land in Vermont to +settlers, and the country began to be known as "New Hampshire Grants"; but +in 1763 New York claimed it as part of the region given to the Duke of +York in 1664. This brought on a bitter dispute which was still raging +when, in 1777, the settlers declared New Hampshire Grants "a free and +independent state to be called New Connecticut." Later the name was +changed to Vermont. But the Continental Congress, for fear of displeasing +New York, never recognized Vermont as a state. + +[15] Each state was bound to pay its share of the annual expenses; but +they failed or were unable to do so. + +[16] Why would not Great Britain make a trade treaty with us? Read Fiske's +_Critical Period_, pp. 136-142; also pp. 142-147, about difficulties +between the states. + +[17] Congress asked for authority to do three things: (1) to levy taxes on +imported goods, and use the money so obtained to discharge the debts due +to France, Holland, and Spain; (2) to lay and collect a special tax, and +use the money to meet the annual expenses of government; and (3) to +regulate trade with foreign countries. + +[18] The story of Shays's Rebellion is told in fiction in Bellamy's _Duke +of Stockbridge_. Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, +Vol. I, pp. 313-326. + +[19] All the states except Rhode Island. + +[20] One had written the Albany Plan of Union; some had been members of +the Stamp Act Congress; some had signed the Declaration of Independence, +or the Articles of Confederation; two had been presidents and twenty-eight +had been members of Congress; seven had been or were then governors of +states. In after times two (Washington and Madison) became Presidents, one +(Elbridge Gerry) Vice President, four members of the Cabinet, two Chief +Justices and two justices of the Supreme Court, five ministers at foreign +courts, and many others senators and members of the House of +Representatives. One, Franklin, has the distinction of having signed the +Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France (1778), +the treaty of peace with Great Britain (1783), and the Constitution of the +United States, the four great documents in our early history. + +[21] Every student should read the Constitution, as printed near the end +of this book or elsewhere, and should know about the three branches of +government, legislative, executive, and judicial; the powers of Congress +(Art. I, Sec. 8), of the President (Art. I, Sec. 7; Art. II, Secs. 2 and +3), and of the United States; courts (Art. III); the principal powers +forbidden to Congress (Art. I, Sec. 9) and to the states (Art. I, Sec. +10); the methods of amending the Constitution (Art. V); the supremacy of +the Constitution (Art. VI). + +[22] To remove the many objections made to the new plan, and enable the +people the better to understand it, Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote a +series of little essays for the press, in which they defended the +Constitution, explained and discussed its provisions, and showed how +closely it resembled the state constitutions. These essays were called +_The Federalist_, and, gathered into book form (in 1788), have become +famous as a treatise on the Constitution and on government. Those who +opposed the Constitution were called Anti-Federalists, and they wrote +pamphlets and elaborate series of letters in the newspapers, signed by +such names as Cato, Agrippa, A Countryman. They declared that Congress +would overpower the states, that the President would become a despot, that +the Courts would destroy liberty; and they insisted that amendments should +be made, guaranteeing liberty of speech, freedom of the press, trial by +jury, no quartering of troops in time of peace, liberty of conscience. +Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. I, pp. +490-491; 478-479. + +[23] Because the Constitution provided that it should go into force as +soon as nine states ratified it. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not +ratify till some months later, and, till they did, were not members of the +new Union. + +[24] In three of the eleven states then in the Union (Pennsylvania, +Maryland, and Virginia) the presidential electors were chosen by vote of +the people. In Massachusetts the voters in each congressional district +voted for two candidates, and the legislature chose one of the two, and +also two electors at large. In New Hampshire also the people voted for +electors, but none receiving a majority vote, the legislature made the +choice. Elsewhere the legislatures appointed electors; but in New York the +two branches of the legislature fell into a dispute and failed to choose +any. Washington received the first vote of all the 69 electors, and Adams +received 34 votes, the next highest number. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +OUR COUNTRY IN 1789 + + +THE STATES.--When Washington became President, the thirteen original +states of the Union [1] were in many respects very unlike the same states +in our day. In some the executive was called president; in others +governor. In some he had a veto; in others he had not. In some there was +no senate. To be a voter in those days a man had to have an estate worth a +certain sum of money, [2] or a specified annual income, or own a certain +number of acres. [3] + +Moreover, to be eligible as governor or a member of a state legislature a +man had to own more property than was needed to qualify him to vote. In +many states it was further required that officeholders should be +Protestants, or at least Christians, or should believe in the existence of +God. + +The adoption of the Constitution made necessary certain acts of +legislation by the states. They could issue no more bills of credit; +provision therefore had to be made for the redemption of those +outstanding. They could lay no duties on imports; such as had laid import +duties had to repeal their laws and abolish their customhouses. All +lighthouses, beacons, buoys, maintained by individual states were +surrendered to the United States, and in other ways the states had to +adjust themselves to the new government. + +[Illustration: CONTINENTAL PAPER MONEY.] + +THE NATIONAL DEBT.--Each of the states was in debt for money and supplies +used in the war; and over the whole country hung a great debt contracted +by the old Congress. Part of this national debt was represented by bills +of credit, loan-office certificates, lottery certificates, and many other +sorts of promises to pay, which had become almost worthless. This was +strictly true of the bills of credit or paper money issued in great +quantities by the Continental Congress. [4] Besides this domestic debt +owed to the people at home, there was a foreign debt, for Congress had +borrowed a little money from Spain and a great deal from France and +Holland. On this debt interest was due, for Congress had not been able to +pay even that. + +THE MONEY OF THE COUNTRY.--The Continental bills having long ceased to +circulate, the currency of the country consisted of paper money issued by +individual states, and the gold, silver, and copper coins of foreign +countries. These passed by such names as the Joe or Johannes, the +doubloon, pistole, moidore, guinea, crown, dollar, shilling, sixpence, +pistareen, penny. A common coin was the Spanish milled dollar, which +passed at different ratings in different parts of the country. [5] +Congress in 1786 adopted the dollar as a unit, divided it into the half, +quarter, dime, half dime, cent, and half cent, and ordered some coppers to +be minted; but very few were made by the contractor. + +[Illustration: SETTLED AREA IN 1790.] + +POPULATION.--Just how many people dwelt in our country before 1790 can +only be guessed at. In that year they were counted for the first time, and +it was then ascertained that they numbered 3,929,000 (in the thirteen +states) of whom 700,000 were slaves. All save about 200,000 dwelt along +the seaboard, east of the mountains; and nearly half were between +Chesapeake Bay and Florida. + +The most populous state was Virginia; after her, next in order were +Massachusetts (including Maine), Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New +York. + +The most populous city was Philadelphia, after which came New York, +Boston, Charleston, and Baltimore. + +LIFE IN THE CITIES.--What passed for thriving cities in those days were +collections of a thousand or two houses, very few of which made any +pretension to architectural beauty, ranged along narrow streets, none of +which were sewered, and few of which were paved or lighted even on nights +when the moon did not shine. During daylight a few constables kept order. +At night small parties of men called the night watch walked the streets. +Each citizen was required to serve his turn on the watch or find a +substitute or pay a fine. He had to be a fireman and keep in his house +near the front door a certain number of leather fire buckets with which at +the clanging of the courthouse or market bell he would run to the burning +building and take his place in the line which passed the full buckets from +the nearest pump to the engine, or in the line which passed the empty +buckets from the engine back to the pump. Water for household use or for +putting out fires came from private wells or from the town pumps. There +were no city water works. + +[Illustration: EARLY FIRE ENGINE.] + +Lack of good and abundant water, lack of proper drainage, ignorance of the +laws of health, filthy, unpaved streets, spread diseases of the worst +sort. Smallpox was common. Yellow fever in the great cities was of almost +annual occurrence, and often raged with the violence of a plague. + +LACK OF CONVENIENCES.--Few appliances which increase comfort, or promote +health, or save time or labor, were in use. Not even in the homes of the +rich were there cook stoves or furnaces or open grates for burning +anthracite coal, or a bath room, or a gas jet. Lamps and candles afforded +light by night. The warming pan, the foot stove (p. 97), and the four- +posted bedstead (p. 76), with curtains to be drawn when the nights were +cold, were still essentials. The boy was fortunate who did not have to +break the ice in his water pail morning after morning in winter. Clocks +and watches were luxuries for the rich. The sundial was yet in use, and +when the flight of time was to be noted in hours or parts, people resorted +to the hour glass. Many a minister used one on Sundays to time his +preaching by, and many a housewife to time her cooking. [6] + +[Illustration: HOUR GLASS. In Essex Hall, Salem.] + +No city had yet reached such size as to make street cars or cabs or +omnibuses necessary. Time was less valuable than in our day. The merchant +kept his own books, wrote all business letters with a quill pen, and +waited for the ink to dry or sprinkled it with sand. There were no +envelopes, no postage stamps, no letter boxes in the streets, no +collection of the mails. The letter written, the paper was carefully +folded, sealed with wax or a wafer, addressed, and carried to the post +office, where postage was paid in money at rates which would now seem +extortionate. A single sheet of paper was a single letter, and two sheets +a double letter on which double postage was paid. Three mails a week +between Philadelphia and New York, and two a week between New York and +Boston, were thought ample. The post offices in the country towns +consisted generally of a drawer or a few boxes in a store. + +[Illustration: QUILLS AS SOLD FOR MAKING PENS. In Essex Hall, Salem.] + +NEWSPAPERS could not be sent by mail, and there were few to send. Though +the first newspaper in the colonies was printed in Boston as early as +1704, the first daily newspaper in our country was issued in Philadelphia +in 1784. Illustrated newspapers, trade journals, scientific weeklies, +illustrated magazines, [7] were unknown. Such newspapers as existed in +1789 were published most of them once a week, and a few twice, and were +printed by presses worked by hand; and no paper anywhere in our country +was issued on Sunday or sold for as little as a penny. + +BOOKS.--In no city in 1790 could there have been found an art gallery, a +free museum of natural history, a school or institute of any sort where +instruction in the arts and sciences was given. There were many good +private libraries, but hardly any that were open to public use. Books were +mostly imported from Great Britain, or such as were sure of a ready sale +were reprinted by some American publisher when enough subscribers were +obtained to pay the cost. Of native authors very few had produced anything +which is now read save by the curious. [8] + +SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.--In education great progress had been made. There +were as yet no normal schools, no high schools, no manual training +schools, and, save in New England, no approach to the free common school +of to-day. There were private, parish, and charity schools and academies +in all the states. In many of these a small number of children of the +poor, under certain conditions, might receive instruction in reading, +writing, and arithmetic. But as yet the states did not have the money with +which to establish a great system of free common schools. + +[Illustration: AN OLD-TIME PRIVATE CARRIAGE.] + +Money in aid of academies and colleges was often raised by lotteries. +Indeed, every one of the eight oldest colleges of that day had received +such help. [9] In each of these the classes were smaller, the course of +instruction much simpler, and the graduates much younger than to-day. In +no country of that time were the rich and well-to-do better educated than +in the United States, [10] and it is safe to say that in none was primary +education--reading, writing, and arithmetic--more diffused among the +people. [11] + +TRAVEL.--To travel from one city to another in 1789 required at least as +many days as it now does hours. [12] The stagecoach, horseback, or private +conveyances were the common means of land travel. The roads were bad and +the large rivers unbridged, and in stormy weather or in winter the delays +at the ferries were often very long. Breakdowns and upsets were common, +and in rainy weather a traveler by stagecoach was fortunate if he did not +have to help the driver pull the wheels out of the mud. [13] + +THE INNS AND TAVERNS, sometimes called coffeehouses or ordinaries, at +which travelers lodged, were designated by pictured signs or emblems hung +before the door, and were given names which had no relation to their uses, +as the Indian Head, the Crooked Billet, the Green Dragon, the Plow and +Harrow. In these taverns dances or balls were held, and sometimes public +meetings. To those in the country came sleigh-ride parties. From them the +stagecoaches departed, and before their doors auctions were often held, +and in the great room within were posted public notices of all sorts. + +[Illustration: SIGN OF THE INDIAN HEAD TAVERN, NEAR CONCORD, MASS. Now in +the possession of the Concord Antiquarian Society.] + +THE SHOPS were designated in much the same way as the inns, not by street +numbers but by signs; as the Lock and Key, the Lion and the Glove, the +Bell in Hand, the Golden Ball, the Three Doves. One shop is described as +near a certain bake-house, another as close by the townhouse, another as +opposite a judge's dwelling. The shop was usually the front room of a +little house. In the rear or overhead lived the tradesman, his family, and +his apprentice. + +METHODS OF BUSINESS.--For his wares the tradesman took cash when he could +get it, gave short credit with good security when he had to, and often was +forced to resort to barter. Thus paper makers took rags for paper, brush +makers exchanged brushes for hog's bristles, and a general shopkeeper took +grain, wood, cheese, butter, in exchange for dry goods and clothing. + +Few of the modern methods of extending business, of seeking customers, of +making the public aware of what the merchant had for sale, existed, even +in a rude state. There were no commercial travelers, no means of +widespread advertising. When an advertisement had been inserted in a +newspaper whose circulation was not fifteen hundred copies, when a +handbill had been posted in the markets and the coffeehouses, the means of +reaching the public were exhausted. + +THE WORKINGMAN.--What was true of the merchant was true of men in every +walk in life. Their opportunities were few, their labor was hard, their +comforts of life were far inferior to what is now within their reach. In +every great city to-day are men, women, and boys engaged in a hundred +trades, professions, and occupations unknown in 1790. The great +corporations, mills, factories, mines, railroads, the steamboats, rapid +transit, the telegraph, the telephone, the typewriter, the sewing machine, +the automobile, the postal delivery service, the police and fire +departments, the banks and trust companies, the department stores, and +scores of other inventions and business institutions of great cities, now +giving employment to millions of human beings, have been created since +1790. + +The working day was from sunrise to sunset, with one hour for breakfast +and another for dinner. Wages were about a third what they are now, and +were less when the days were short than when they were long. The +redemptioner was still in demand in the Middle States. In the South almost +all labor was done by slaves. + +SLAVERY.--In the North slavery was on the decline. While still under the +crown, Virginia and several other colonies had attempted to check slavery +by forbidding the importation of more slaves, but their laws for this +purpose were disallowed by the king. After 1776 the states were free to do +as they pleased in the matter, and many of them stopped the importation of +slaves. Moreover, before Congress shut slavery out of the Northwest +Territory, the New England states and Pennsylvania had either abolished +slavery outright or provided for its extinction by gradual abolition laws. +[14] + +INDUSTRIES.--In New England the people lived on their own farms, which +they cultivated with their own hands and with the help of their children, +or engaged in codfishing, whaling, lumbering, shipbuilding, and commerce. +They built ships and sold them abroad, or used them to carry away the +products of New England to the South, to the ports of France, Spain, +Russia, Sweden, the West Indies, and even to China. To the West Indies +went horses, cattle, lumber, salt fish, and mules; and from them came +sugar, molasses, coffee, indigo, wines. From Sweden and Russia came iron, +hemp, and duck. + +The Middle States produced much grain and flour. New York had lost much of +her fur trade because of the British control of the frontier posts; but +her exports of flour, grain, lumber, leather, and what not, in 1791, were +valued at nearly $3,000,000. The people of Pennsylvania made lumber, +linen, flour, paper, iron; built ships; carried on a prosperous commerce +with foreign lands and a good fur trade with the Indians. + +[Illustration: TRADING CANOE.] + +In Maryland and Virginia the staple crop was still tobacco, but they also +produced much grain and flour. North Carolina produced tar, pitch, resin, +turpentine, and lumber. Some rice and tobacco were raised. Great herds of +cattle and hogs ran wild. In South Carolina rice was the most important +crop. Indigo, once an important product, had declined since the +Revolution, and cotton was only just beginning to be grown for export. +From the back country came tar, pitch, turpentine, and beaver, deer, and +bear skins for export. + +THE FUR TRADE.--The region of the Great Lakes, where the British still +held the forts on the American side of the boundary, was the chief seat of +the fur trade. Goods for Indian use were brought from England to Montreal +and Quebec, and carried in canoes to Oswego, Niagara, Detroit, Mackinaw, +Sault Ste. Marie (map, p. 194), and thence scattered over the Northwest. +[15] + + +SUMMARY + +1. In 1789 the states had governments less democratic than at present; in +general only property owners could vote and hold office. + +2. The states were all in debt, and Congress had incurred besides a large +national debt. + +3. The population was less than 4,000,000, mostly on the Atlantic +seaboard. + +4. Cities were few and small, without street cars, pavements, water works, +gas or electric lights, public libraries or museums, letter carriers, or +paid firemen. Everywhere many of the common conveniences of modern life +were unknown. + +5. Travel was slow and tiresome, because there were no railroads, +steamboats, or automobiles. + +6. Occupations were far fewer than now, wages lower, and hours of labor +longer. Slavery had been abolished, or was being gradually stopped, in New +England and Pennsylvania, but existed in all the other states; and in the +South nearly all the labor was done by slaves. + +7. New Englanders were engaged in farming, fishing, lumbering, and +commerce; the Middle States produced much wheat and flour, and also +lumber; the South chiefly tobacco, rice, and tar, pitch, and turpentine. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The states ratified the Constitution on the dates given below:-- + + 1. Delaware......... Dec. 7, 1787 + 2. Pennsylvania..... Dec. 12,1787 + 3. New Jersey....... Dec. 18, 1787 + 4. Georgia.......... Jan. 2, 1788 + 5. Connecticut...... Jan. 9, 1788 + 6. Massachusetts.... Feb. 7, 1788 + 7. Maryland......... April 28, 1788 + 8. South Carolina... May 23, 1788 + 9. New Hampshire.... June 21, 1788 + 10. Virginia........ June 26, 1788 + 11. New York........ July 26, 1788 + 12. North Carolina.. Nov. 21, 1789 + 13. Rhode Island.... May 29, 1790 + +[2] In New Jersey any "person" having a freehold (real estate owned +outright or for life) worth Ģ50 might vote. In New York each voter had to +have a freehold of Ģ20, or pay 40 shillings house rent and his taxes. In +Massachusetts he had to have an estate of Ģ60, or an income of Ģ3 from his +estate. + +[3] In Maryland 50 acres; in South Carolina 50 acres or a town lot; in +Georgia Ģ10 of taxable property. + +[4] When Congress was forced to assume the conduct of the war, money was +needed to pay the troops. But the Congress then had no authority to tax +either the colonies or the people, so (in 1775-81) it issued bills of +credit, or Continental money, of various denominations. A loan office was +also established in each state, and the people were asked to loan Congress +money and receive in return loan-office certificates bearing interest and +payable in three years. But little money came from this source; and the +people refused to take the bills of credit at their face value. The states +then made them legal tender, that is, made them lawful money for the +payment of debts. But as they became more and more plentiful, prices of +everything paid for in Continental money rose higher and higher. From an +old bill of January, 1781, it appears that in Philadelphia a pair of boots +cost $600 in paper dollars; six yards of chintz, $900; eight yards of +binding, $400; a skein of silk, $10; and butter, $20 a pound. In Boston at +the same time sugar was $10 a pound; beef, $8; and flour, $1575 a barrel. +To say of anything that it was "not worth a continental" was to say that +it was utterly worthless. + +[5] In New England it was valued at six shillings; in New York at eight; +in Pennsylvania at seven and six pence; in South Carolina and Georgia at +four shillings and eight pence. + +[6] The hour glass consisted of two small glass bulbs joined by a small +glass tube. In one bulb was as much fine sand as in the course of an hour +could run through the tube into the other bulb. At auctions when ships or +real estate were for sale it was common to measure time by burning an inch +or more of candle; that is, the bidding would go on till a certain length +of candle was consumed. + +[7] The _Massachusetts Magazine_ was illustrated with occasional +engravings of cities and scenery; but it was not what we know as an +illustrated magazine. Read a description of the newspapers of this time in +McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. I, pp. 35-38. + +[8] Franklin is still the most popular of colonial writers. His +autobiography, his _Way to Wealth_, and many of his essays are still +republished and widely read. The poetry of Philip Freneau, of John +Trumbull, and Francis Hopkinson is still read by many; but it was in +political writing that our countrymen excelled. No people have ever +produced a finer body of political literature than that called forth by +the Revolution. Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, +Vol. I, pp. 74-80. + +[9] Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, +Brown, and Dartmouth. In a lottery "drawn" in 1797 for the benefit of +Brown University, 9000 tickets were sold at $6 each--a total of $54,000. +Of this, $8000 was kept by the university, and $46,000 distributed in 3328 +prizes--2000 at $9 each, 1000 at $12 each, and the rest from $20 to $4000. + +[10] In the convention which framed the Constitution twenty of the fifty- +five men were college graduates. Five were graduates of Princeton, three +of Harvard, three of Yale, three of William and Mary, two of Pennsylvania, +one of King's (now Columbia), and one each of Oxford, Edinburgh, and +Glasgow. + +[11] The writings of men who were not college graduates--Washington, +Franklin, Dickinson, and many others--speak well for the character of the +early schools. + +[12] The journey from Boston to New York by land consumed six days, but +may now be made in less than six hours. New York was a two days' journey +from Philadelphia, but the distance may now be traversed in two hours. + +[13] One pair of horses usually dragged the stage eighteen miles, when a +fresh team was put on, and if no accident happened, the traveler would +reach an inn about ten at night. After a frugal meal he would betake +himself to bed, for at three the next morning, even if it rained or +snowed, he had to make ready, by the light of a horn lantern or a farthing +candle, for another ride of eighteen hours. + +[14] In 1777 Vermont forbade the slavery of men and women. In 1780 +Pennsylvania passed a gradual abolition act. Massachusetts by her +constitution declared "All men are born free and equal," which her courts +held prohibited slavery. New Hampshire in her constitution made a similar +declaration with a like result. In 1784 Connecticut and Rhode Island +adopted gradual abolition laws, providing that children born of a slave +parent after a certain date should be free when they reached a certain +age, and that their children were never to be slaves. These were states +where slaves had never been much in demand, and where the industries of +the people did not depend on slave labor. + +[15] The departure of a fleet of canoes from Quebec or Montreal was a fine +sight. The trading canoe of bark was forty-five feet long, and carried +four tons of goods. The crew of eight men, with their hats gaudy with +plumes and tinsel, their brilliant handkerchiefs tied around their +throats, their bright-colored shirts, flaming belts, and gayly worked +moccasins, formed a picture that can not be described. When the axes, +powder, shot, dry goods, and provisions were packed in the canoes, when +each voyager had hung his votive offering in the chapel of his patron +saint, a boatman of experience stepped into the bow and another into the +stern of each canoe, the crew took places between them, and at the word +the fleet glided up the St. Lawrence on its way to the Ottawa, and thence +on to Sault Ste. Marie, to Grand Portage (near the northeast corner of +what is now Minnesota), or to Mackinaw. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE NEW GOVERNMENT + + +FIRST ACTS OF CONGRESS.--During Washington's first term of office as +President (1789-93), the time of Congress was largely taken up with the +passage of laws necessary to put the new government in operation, and to +carry out the plan of the Constitution. + +[Illustration: DESK USED BY WASHINGTON WHILE PRESIDENT. In the possession +of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.] + +Departments of State, Treasury, and War were established; a Supreme Court +was organized with a Chief Justice [1] and five associates; three Circuits +(one for each of the three groups of states, Eastern, Middle, and +Southern) and thirteen District Courts (one for each state) were created, +and provision was made for all the machinery of justice; and twelve +amendments to the Constitution were sent out to the states, of which ten +were ratified by the requisite number of states and became a part of the +Constitution. [2] + +At the second session of Congress provision was made, in the Funding +Measure, for the assumption of the Continental and state debts incurred +during the war for independence. [3] The District of Columbia as the +permanent seat of government was located on the banks of the Potomac, [4] +and the temporary seat of government was moved from New York to +Philadelphia, there to remain for ten years. + +NEW STATES.--The states of North Carolina and Rhode Island, having at last +ratified the Constitution, sent representatives and senators to share in +the work of Congress during this session. + +The quarrel between New York and Vermont having been settled, Vermont was +admitted in 1791; and Virginia having given her consent, the people of +Kentucky were authorized to form a state constitution, and Kentucky +entered the Union in 1792. [5] + +THE NATIONAL BANK AND THE CURRENCY.--The funding of the debt (proposed by +Hamilton) was the first great financial measure adopted by Congress. [6] +The second (1791) was the charter of the Bank of the United States with +power to establish branches in the states and to issue bank notes to be +used as money. The third (1792) was the law providing for a national +coinage and authorizing the establishment of a United States mint for +making the coin. [7] It was ordered that whoever would bring gold or +silver to the mint should receive for it the same weight of coins. This +was free coinage of gold and silver, and made our standard of money +bimetallic, or of two metals; for a debtor could choose which kind of +money he would pay. + +[Illustration: HAMILTON'S TOMB, NEW YORK CITY.] + +THE REVENUE LAWS.--Other financial measures of Washington's first term +were the tariff law, which levied duties on imported goods, wares, and +merchandise, the excise or whisky tax, and the law fixing rates of postage +on letters. [8] + +THE RISE OF PARTIES.--As to the justice and wisdom of the acts of Congress +the people were divided in their opinions. Those who approved and +supported the administration were called Federalists, and had for leaders +Washington, John Adams, Hamilton, Robert Morris, John Jay, and Rufus King; +those who opposed the administration were the Anti-Federalists, or +Republicans, whose great leaders were Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Gerry, +Gallatin, and Randolph. + +The Republicans had opposed the funding and assumption measures, the +national bank, and the excise. They complained that the national debt was +too large, that the salaries of the President, Congressmen, and officials +were too high, and that the taxes were too heavy; and they accused the +Federalists of a fondness for monarchy and aristocracy. + +Washington opened each session of Congress with a speech just as the king +opened Parliament, and each branch of Congress presented an answer just as +the Lords and Commons did to the king. Nobody could go to the President's +reception without a card of invitation. The judges of the Supreme Court +wore gowns as did English judges. The Senate held its daily sessions in +secret, and shut out reporters and the people. All this the Anti- +Federalists held to be unrepublican. + +[Illustration: LADY WASHINGTON'S RECEPTION. From an old print.] + +THE ELECTION OF 1792.--When the time came, in 1792, to elect a successor +to Washington, there were thus two political parties. Both parties +supported Washington for President; but the Republicans tried hard, though +in vain, to defeat Adams for Vice President. + +OPPOSITION TO THE GOVERNMENT by no means ended with the formation of +parties and votes at the polls. The Assembly of Virginia condemned the +assumption of the state debts. North Carolina denounced assumption and the +excise law. In Maryland a resolution declaring assumption dangerous to the +rights of the states was lost by the casting vote of the Speaker. The +right of Congress to tax pleasure carriages was tested in the Supreme +Court, which declared the tax constitutional. When that court decided +(1793) that a citizen of one state might sue another state, Virginia, +Connecticut, and Massachusetts called for a constitutional amendment to +prevent this, and the Eleventh Amendment was proposed by Congress (1794) +and declared in force in 1798. The tax on whisky caused an insurrection in +Pennsylvania. + +THE WHISKY INSURRECTION.--The farmers around Pittsburg were largely +engaged in distilling whisky, refused to pay the tax, and drove off the +collectors. Congress thereupon (1794) enacted a law to enforce the +collection, but when the marshal arrested some of the offenders, the +people rose, drove him away, and by force of arms prevented the execution +of the law. Washington then called for troops from Pennsylvania, New +Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, and these marching across the state by a +mere show of force brought the people to obedience. Leaders of the +insurrection were arrested, tried, and convicted of treason, but were +pardoned by Washington. [9] + +THE INDIAN WAR.--Still farther west, meantime, a great battle had been +fought with the Indians. The succession of boats loaded with emigrants +floating down the Ohio, and the arrivals of settlers north of the river at +Marietta, Gallipolis, and Cincinnati, had greatly excited the Indians. The +coming of the whites meant the destruction of game and of fur-bearing +animals, and the pushing westward of the Indians. This the red men +determined to resist, and did so by attacking boats and killing emigrants, +and in January, 1790, they marched down on the settlement called Big +Bottom (northwest of Marietta) and swept it from the face of the earth. + +Washington sent fifteen hundred troops from Kentucky and Pennsylvania +against the Indians in the autumn of 1790. Led by Colonel Harmar, the +troops burned some Indian supplies and villages, but accomplished nothing +save to enrage the Indians yet more. Washington thereupon put General St. +Clair in command, and in the autumn of 1791 St. Clair set off to build a +chain of forts from Cincinnati to Lake Michigan; but the Indians surprised +him and cut his army to pieces. + +[Illustration: TERRITORY CEDED BY THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE.] + +Anthony Wayne was next placed in command, and two years were spent in +careful preparation before he began his march across what is now the state +of Ohio. At the Falls of the Maumee (August, 1794) he met and beat the +Indians so soundly that a year later, by the treaty of Greenville, a +lasting peace was made with the ten great nations of the Northwest. + +NEUTRALITY.--Washington's second term of office was a stormy time in +foreign as well as in domestic affairs. In February, 1793, the French +Republic declared war on Great Britain, and so brought up the question, +Which side shall the United States take? Washington said neither side, and +issued a proclamation of neutrality, warning the people not to commit +hostile acts in favor of either Great Britain or France. The Republicans +(and many who were Federalists) grew angry at this and roundly abused the +President. France, they said, is an old friend; Great Britain, our old +enemy. France helped win independence and loaned us money and sent us +troops and ships; Great Britain attempted to enslave us. We were bound to +France by a treaty of alliance and a treaty of commerce; we were bound to +Great Britain by no treaty of any kind. To be neutral, then, was to be +ungrateful to France. [10] As a result the Federalists were called the +British party, and they, in turn, called the Republicans the French party +or Democrats. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S COACH.] + +GREAT BRITAIN SEIZES OUR SHIPS.--To preserve neutrality under such +conditions would have been hard enough, but Great Britain made it harder +still by seizing American merchant ships that were carrying lumber, fish, +flour, and provisions to the French West Indies. [11] + +Our merchants at once appealed to Congress for aid, and the Republicans +attempted to retaliate on Great Britain in a way that might have brought +on war. In this they failed, but Congress laid an embargo for a short +time, preventing all our vessels from sailing to foreign ports; and money +was voted to build fortifications at the seaports from Maine to Georgia, +and for building arsenals at Springfield (Mass.) and Carlisle (Pa.), and +for constructing six frigates. [12] + +Washington did not wish war, and with the approval of the Senate sent +Chief-Justice John Jay to London to make a treaty of friendship and +commerce with Great Britain. + +JAY'S TREATY, when ratified (1795), was far from what was desired. But it +provided for the delivery of the posts on our northern frontier, its other +provisions were the best that could be had, and it insured peace. For this +reason among others the treaty gave great offense to the Republicans, who +wanted the United States to quarrel with Great Britain and take sides with +France. They denounced it from one end of the country to the other, burned +copies of it at mass meetings, and hanged Jay in effigy. For the same +reason, also, France took deep offense. + +TREATY WITH SPAIN.--Our treaty with Great Britain was followed by one with +Spain, by which the vexed question of the Mississippi was put at rest. +Spain agreed to withdraw her troops from all her posts north of the +parallel of 31 degrees. She also agreed that New Orleans should be a port +of deposit. This was of great advantage to the growing West, for the +farmers, thereafter, could float their bacon, flour, lumber, etc. down the +Ohio and the Mississippi to New Orleans and there sell it for export to +the West Indies or Europe. + +[Illustration: LAST PAGE OF THE AUTOGRAPH COPY OF WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL +ADDRESS. In the Lenox Library, New York.] + +THE ELECTION OF 1796.--Washington, who had twice been elected President, +now declined to serve a third time, and in September, 1796, announced his +determination by publishing in a newspaper what is called his _Farewell +Address_. [13] There was no such thing as a national party convention +in those days, or for many years to come. The Federalists, however, by +common consent, selected John Adams as their candidate for President, and +most of them supported Thomas Pinckney for Vice President. The Republicans +put forward Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr and others. The French +minister to our country used his influence to help the Republican +candidates; [14] but when the election was over, it turned out that Adams +[15] was chosen President and Jefferson Vice President. Pinckney, the +Federalist candidate for Vice President, was defeated because he failed to +receive the votes of all the Federalist electors. [16] + +THE X. Y. Z. AFFAIR.--The French Directory, a body of five men that +governed the French Republic, now refused to receive a minister whom +Washington had just sent to that country (Charles G. Pinckney). This +deliberate affront to the United States was denounced by Adams in his +first message to Congress; but he sent to Paris a special commission +composed of two Federalists and one Republican, [17] in an earnest effort +to keep the peace. These commissioners were visited by three agents of the +Directory, who told them that before a new treaty could be made they must +give a present of $50,000 to each Director, apologize for Adams's +denunciation of France, and loan a large sum (practically pay tribute +money) to France. + +In reporting this affair to Congress the Secretary of State concealed the +names of the French agents and called them Mr. X, Mr. Y, and Mr. Z. This +gave the affair the name of the X. Y. Z. Mission. + +PREPARATION FOR WAR WITH FRANCE (1798).--The reading of the dispatches in +Congress caused a great change in feeling. The country had been insulted, +and Congress, forgetting politics, made preparations for war. An army was +raised and Washington made lieutenant general. The Navy Department was +created and the first Secretary of the Navy appointed. Ships were built, +purchased, and given to the government; and with the cry, "Millions for +defense, not a cent for tribute," the people offered their services to the +President, and labored without pay in the erection of forts along the +seaboard. Then was written by Joseph Hopkinson, of Philadelphia, and sung +for the first time, our national song _Hail, Columbia_! [18] + +THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS.--In preparing for war, Congress had acted +wisely. But the Federalists, whom the trouble with France had placed in +control of Congress, also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which +aroused bitter opposition. + +The Alien Acts were (1) a law requiring aliens, or foreigners, to live in +our country fourteen years before they could be naturalized and become +citizens; (2) a law giving the President power, for the next two years, to +send out of the country any alien he thought to be dangerous to the peace +of the United States; and (3) the Alien Enemies Act for the expulsion, in +time of war, of the subjects of the hostile government. + +The Sedition Act provided for the punishment of persons who acted, spoke, +or wrote in a seditious manner, that is, opposed the execution of any law +of the United States, or wrote, printed, or uttered anything with intent +to defame the government of the United States or any of its officials. + +Adams did not use the power given him by the second Alien Act; but the +Sedition Act was rigorously enforced with fines and imprisonment. Such +interference with the liberty of the press cost Adams much of his +popularity. + +THE VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS.--The Republicans were greatly +excited by the Alien and Sedition Acts, and at the suggestion of Jefferson +resolutions condemning them as unconstitutional [19] and hence "utterly +void and of no force" were passed by the legislatures of Kentucky and +Virginia. + +[Illustration: THE ENTERPRISE.] + +Seven states answered with resolutions declaring the acts constitutional. +Whereupon, in the following year (1799), Kentucky declared that when a +state thought a law of Congress unconstitutional, that state might veto or +nullify it, that is, forbid its citizens to obey it. This doctrine of +nullification, as we shall see, was later of serious importance. + +THE NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE.--Meantime, the little navy which had been so +hastily prepared was sent to scour the seas around the French West Indies, +and in a few months won many victories. [20] The publication of the X. Y. +Z. letters created almost as much indignation in France as in our country, +and forced the Directory to send word that if other commissioners came, +they would be received. Adams thereupon appointed three; but when they +reached France the Directory had fallen from power, Napoleon was ruling, +and with him a new treaty was concluded in 1800. + +[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON.] + +THE ELECTION OF 1800.--The cost of this war made new taxes necessary, and +these, coupled with the Alien and Sedition Acts, did much to bring about +the defeat of the Federalists. Their candidates for the presidency and +vice presidency were John Adams and Charles C. Pinckney. The Republicans +nominated Jefferson [21] and Aaron Burr, and won. Unfortunately Jefferson +and Burr each received the same number of votes, so it became the duty of +the House of Representatives to determine which should be President. When +the House elects a President, each state, no matter how many +representatives it may have, casts one vote. There were then sixteen +states [22] in the Union. The votes of nine, therefore, were necessary to +elect. But the Federalists held the votes of six, and as the +representatives of two more were equally divided, the Federalists thought +they could say who should be President, and tried hard to elect Burr. +Finally some of them yielded and allowed the Republicans to make Jefferson +President, thus leaving Burr to be Vice President. + +PRESIDENT JEFFERSON.--The inauguration took place on March 4, 1801, at +Washington, to which city the government was removed from Philadelphia in +the summer of 1800. [23] Everywhere the day was celebrated with bell +ringing, cannonading, dinners, and parades. The people had triumphed; "the +Man of the People" was President. Monarchy, aristocracy, and Federalism, +it was said, had received a deathblow. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The first Congress under the Constitution passed laws establishing the +executive departments and the United States courts, and other laws +necessary to put the new government in operation. + +2. The debts incurred during the Revolution were assumed and funded, and +the permanent seat of government (after 1800) was located on the Potomac. + +3. Import and excise duties were laid, a national bank was chartered, and +a mint was established for coining United States money. + +4. In Washington's second term as President (1793-97) there was war +between Great Britain and France, and it was with difficulty that our +government succeeded in remaining neutral. + +5. Treaties were made with Great Britain and Spain, whereby these powers +withdrew from the posts they held in our country, the right of deposit at +New Orleans was secured, and peace was preserved. + +6. A five years' Indian war in the Northwest Territory was ended by +Wayne's victory (1794) and the treaty of Greenville (1795). + +7. The people of western Pennsylvania resisted the excise tax on whisky, +but their insurrection was easily suppressed by a force of militia. + +8. Differences on questions of domestic and foreign policy had resulted in +the growth of the Federalist and Republican parties, but party +organization was imperfect. In 1796 Adams (Federalist) was elected +President, and Jefferson (Republican) Vice President. + +9. The British treaty and the election of Adams gave offense to the French +government, which made insulting demands upon our commissioners sent to +that country. A brief naval war in the French West Indies was ended by a +treaty made by a new French government in 1800. + +10. The passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts brought out protests +against them in what are called the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of +1798-99, one of which claimed the right of a state to nullify an act of +Congress which it deemed unconstitutional. + +11. In the next presidential election (1800) the Republicans were +successful; but as Jefferson and Burr had each the same number of votes, +the House of Representatives had to decide which should be President and +which Vice President. After a long contest Jefferson was given the higher +office, as the Republicans had wished. + +[Illustration: A SILHOUETTE, A KIND OF PORTRAIT OFTEN MADE BEFORE 1840. In +the possession of the Concord Antiquarian Society.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Washington appointed John Jay the first Chief Justice, and gave the +newly created secretaryships of State, Treasury, and War to Thomas +Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Henry Knox respectively. These men were +intended to be heads of departments; but Washington soon began to consult +them and the Attorney General on matters of state and thus made them also +a body of advisers known as "the Cabinet." All the Secretaries and the +Postmaster General and the Attorney General are now members of the +Cabinet. + +[2] These ten amendments form a sort of "bill of rights," and were +intended to remove objections to the Constitution by those who feared that +the national government might encroach on the liberties of the people. + +[3] For the different kinds of debt, see p. 211. The Continental money was +funded at $1 in government stock for $100 in the paper money; but the +other forms of debt were assumed by the government at their face value. +All told,--state debts, foreign debt, loan-office certificates, etc.,-- +these obligations amounted to about $75,000,000. To pay so large a sum in +cash was impossible, so Congress ordered interest-bearing stock to be +given in exchange for evidence of debt. + +[4] As first laid out, the District of Columbia was a square ten miles on +a side, and was partly in Virginia and partly in Maryland. But the piece +in Virginia many years later (1846) was given back to that state. + +[5] After these two states were admitted each was given a star and a +stripe on the national flag. Until 1818 our flag thus had fifteen stars +and fifteen stripes, no further change being made as new states were +admitted. In 1818 two stripes were taken off, the number of stars was made +the same as the number of states, and since then each new state has been +represented by a new star. + +[6] Alexander Hamilton was born in 1757 on the island of Nevis, one of the +British West Indies. He was sent to New York to be educated, and entered +King's College (now Columbia University). There he became an ardent +patriot, wrote pamphlets in defense of the first Congress, and addressed a +public meeting when but seventeen. He was captain of an artillery company +in 1776, one of Washington's aids in 1777-81, distinguished himself at +Yorktown, and (in 1782) went to Congress. He was a man of energy, +enthusiasm, and high ideals, was possessed of a singular genius for +finance, and believed in a vigorous national government. As Secretary of +the Treasury, Hamilton proposed not only the funding and assumption plans, +but the national bank and the mint. + +[7] The coins were to be the eagle or ten-dollar piece, half eagle, and +quarter eagle of gold; the dollar, half, quarter, dime, and half dime of +silver; and the cent and half cent of copper. The mint was established at +once at Philadelphia, and the first copper coin was struck in 1793. But +coinage was a slow process, and many years passed before foreign coins +ceased to circulate. The accounts of Congress were always kept in dollars +and cents. But the states and the people used pounds, shillings, pence, +and Spanish dollars, and it was several years before the states, by law, +required their officers to levy taxes and keep accounts in dollars and +cents (Virginia in 1792, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in 1795, New York +and Vermont in 1797, New Jersey in 1799). + +[8] A single letter in those days was one written on a single sheet of +paper, large or small, and the postage on it was 6 cents for any distance +under 30 miles, 8 cents from 30 to 60, 10 cents from 60 to 100, and so on +to 450 miles, above which the rate was 25 cents. In all our country there +were but 75 post offices, and the revenue derived from them was about +$100,000 a year. + +[9] Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. II, pp. +189-204. + +[10] Good feeling toward France led the Republicans to some funny +extremes. To address a person as Sir, Mr., Mrs., or Miss was unrepublican. +You should say, as in France, Citizen Jones, or Citizeness Smith. Tall +poles with a red liberty cap on top were erected in every town where there +were Republicans; civic feasts were held; and July 14 (the anniversary of +the day the Bastile of Paris fell in 1789) was duly celebrated. + +[11] When Great Britain drove French ships from the sea, France threw open +the trade with the French West Indies to other ships. But Great Britain +had laid down a rule that no neutral could have in time of war a trade +with her enemy it did not have in time of peace. Our merchants fell under +the ban of Great Britain for this reason. + +[12] These frigates were not built. They were really intended for use +against the Barbary powers (Morocco, Tunis, Algiers, Tripoli) that were +plundering our Mediterranean commerce. These nations of northern Africa +had long been accustomed to prey upon European ships and sell the crews +into slavery. To obtain protection against such treatment the nations of +southern Europe paid these pirates an annual tribute. Some of our ships +and sailors were captured, and as we had no navy with which to protect our +commerce, a treaty was made with Algiers (1795) which bound us to pay a +yearly tribute of "twelve thousand Algerine sequins in maritime stores." +We shall see what came of this a few years later. + +[13] In the Farewell Address, besides giving notice of his retirement, +Washington argued at length against sectional jealousy and party spirit, +and urged the promotion of institutions "for the general diffusion of +knowledge." He disapproved of large standing armies ("overgrown military +establishments"), and earnestly declared that our true policy is "to steer +clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world," +especially European nations. Washington died at Mount Vernon, December 14, +1799. + +[14] He called on all French citizens living in the United States to wear +on their hats the French tricolor (blue, white, and red) cockade, and of +course all the Republican friends of France did the same and made it their +party badge. He next published in the newspapers a long letter in which he +said, in substance, that unless the United States changed its policy +toward France it might expect trouble. This meant that unless a Republican +President (Jefferson) was elected, there might be war between the two +countries. + +[15] John Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1735. He graduated +from Harvard College, studied law, and in 1770 was one of the lawyers who +defended the soldiers that were tried for murder in connection with the +famous "Boston Massacre." He was sent to the First and Second Continental +Congresses, and was a member of the committee appointed to frame the +Declaration of Independence, and of the committee to arrange treaties with +foreign powers. He was for a time associated with Franklin in the ministry +to France; in 1780 went as minister to Holland; and in 1783 was one of the +signers of the treaty of peace with Great Britain. In 1785 he was +appointed the first United States minister to Great Britain; and in 1789- +97 was Vice President. + +[16] Adams received 71 votes, Jefferson 68, Pinckney 59, Burr 30, and nine +other men also received votes. Under the original Constitution the +electors did not vote separately for President and Vice President. Each +cast one ballot with two names on it; the man receiving the most votes (if +a majority of the number of electors) was elected President, and the man +receiving the next highest number was elected Vice President. Thus it +happened that while the Federalists elected the President, the Republicans +elected the Vice President. + +[17] The Federalists were John Marshall and Charles C. Pinckney. Elbridge +Gerry was the Republican member. + +[18] Read the account of the popular excitement in McMaster's _History +of the People of the U. S._, Vol. II, pp. 376-387. + +[19] That is, condemning them on the ground that the Constitution did not +give Congress power to make such laws. The Virginia and Kentucky +Resolutions are printed in full in MacDonald's Select Documents, 1776- +1861, pp. 149-160. + +[20] One squadron that captured a number of vessels was under the command +of Captain John Barry. Another squadron under Captain Truxtun captured +sixty French privateers. The _Constellation_ took the French frigate +_Insurgente_ and beat the _Vengeance_, which escaped; the _Enterprise_ +captured eight privateers and recaptured four American merchantmen; and +the _Boston_ captured the _Berceau_. During the war eighty-four armed +French vessels were taken by our navy. + +[21] Thomas Jefferson was born on a Virginia plantation April 13, 1743, +attended William and Mary College, studied law, and in 1769 became a +member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He rose into notice as a +defender of colonial rights, was sent to the Second Continental Congress, +and in 1776 wrote the Declaration of Independence. Between 1776 and 1789 +he was a member of the Virginia legislature, governor of Virginia, member +of Congress (1783-1784), and minister to France (1784-1789). He was a +strict constructionist of the Constitution; he wrote the original draft of +the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, had great faith in the ability of the +people to govern themselves, and dreaded the growth of great cities and +the extension of the powers of the Supreme Court. He and John Adams died +the same day, July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of +the Declaration of Independence. + +[22] Tennessee, the sixteenth, was admitted in 1796. + +[23] A story is current that on inauguration day Jefferson rode unattended +to the Capitol and tied his horse to the fence before entering the Senate +Chamber and taking the oath of office. The story was invented by an +English traveler and is pure fiction. The President walked to the Capitol +attended by militia and the crowd of supporters who came to witness the +end of the contested election, and was saluted by the guns of a company of +artillery as he entered the Senate Chamber and again as he came out. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY, 1789-1805 + + +PROSPERITY.--Twelve years had now elapsed since the meeting at New York of +the first Congress under the Constitution, and they had been years of +great prosperity. + +When Washington took the oath of office, each state regulated its trade +with foreign countries and with its neighbors in its own way, and issued +its own paper money, which it made legal tender. Agriculture was in a +primitive stage, very little cotton was grown, mining was but little +practiced, manufacture had not passed the household stage, transportation +was slow and costly, and in all the states but three banks had been +chartered. [1] + +With the establishment of a strong and vigorous government under the new +Constitution, and the passage of the much-needed laws we have mentioned, +these conditions began to pass away. Now that the people had a government +that could raise revenue, pay its debts, regulate trade with foreign +nations and between the states, enforce its laws, and provide a uniform +currency, confidence returned. Men felt safe to engage in business, and as +a consequence trade and commerce revived, and money long unused was +brought out and invested. Banks were incorporated and their stock quickly +purchased. Manufacturing companies were organized and mills and factories +started; a score of canals were planned and the building of several was +begun; [2] turnpike companies were chartered; lotteries [3] were +authorized to raise money for all sorts of public improvements,--schools, +churches, wharves, factories, and bridges; and speculation in stock and +Western land became a rage. + +NEW INDUSTRIES.--It was during the decade 1790-1800 that Slater built the +first mill for working cotton yarn; [4] that Eli Terry began the +manufacture of clocks as a business; that sewing thread was first made in +our country (at Pawtucket, R.I.); that Jacob Perkins began to make nails +by machine; that the first broom was made from broom corn; that the first +carpet mill and the first cotton mill were started; that Eli Whitney +invented the cotton gin; and that the first steamboat went up and down the +Delaware. + +[Illustration: A TERRY CLOCK.] + +THE COTTON GIN.--Before 1790 the products of the states south of Virginia +were tar, pitch, lumber, rice, and indigo. But the destruction of the +indigo plants by insects year after year suggested the cultivation of some +other crop, and cotton was tried. To clean it of its seeds by hand was +slow and costly, and to remove the difficulty Eli Whitney of +Massachusetts, then a young man living in Georgia, invented a machine +called the cotton gin. [5] Then the cultivation of cotton became most +profitable, and the new industry spread rapidly in the South. + +[Illustration: MODEL OF WHITNEY'S COTTON GIN. In the National Museum, +Washington.] + +THE STEAMBOAT.--The idea of driving boats through water by machinery moved +by steam was an old one. Several men had made such experiments in our +country before 1790. [6] But in that year John Fitch put a steamboat on +the Delaware and during four months ran it regularly from Philadelphia to +Trenton. He was ahead of his time and for lack of support was forced to +give up the enterprise. + +[Illustration: MODEL OF FITCH'S STEAMBOAT. In the National Museum, +Washington.] + +THE NEW WEST.--In the western country ten years had wrought a great +change. Good times in the commercial states and the Indian war in the West +had done much to keep population out of the Northwest Territory from 1790 +to 1795. But from the South population had moved steadily over the +mountains into the region south of the Ohio River. The new state of +Kentucky (admitted in 1792) grew rapidly in population. + +North Carolina, after ratifying the Constitution, again ceded her Western +territory, and out of this and the narrow strip ceded by South Carolina, +Congress (1790) made the "Territory of the United States south of the +river Ohio." But population came in such numbers that in 1796 the North +Carolina cession was admitted as the state of Tennessee. + +In the far South, after Spain accepted the boundary of 31°, Congress +established the territory of Mississippi (1798), consisting of most of the +southern half of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama. Four years +later Georgia accepted her present boundaries, and the territory of +Mississippi was then enlarged, so as to include all the Western lands +ceded by South Carolina and Georgia (map, p. 242). + +CLEVELAND.--Jay's treaty, by providing for the surrender of the forts +along the Great Lakes, opened that region to settlement, and in 1796 Moses +Cleveland led a New England colony across New York and on the shore of +Lake Erie laid out the town which now bears his name. Others followed, and +by 1800 there were thirty-two settlements in the Connecticut Reserve. + +DETROIT.--The chief town of the Northwest was Detroit. Wayne, who saw it +in 1796, described it as a crowded mass of one- and two-story buildings +separated by streets so narrow that two wagons could scarcely pass. Around +the town was a stockade of high pickets with bastions and cannon at proper +distances, and within the stockade "a kind of citadel." The only entrances +were through two gates defended by blockhouses at either end of a street +along the river. Every night from sunset to sunrise the gates were shut, +and during this time no Indian was allowed to remain in the town. + +INDIANA TERRITORY.--After Wayne's treaty with the Indians, five years +brought so many people into the Northwest Territory that in 1800 the +western part was cut off and made the separate territory of Indiana. [7] +Not 6,000 white people then lived in all its vast area. + +The census of 1800 showed that more than 5,000,000 people then dwelt in +our country; of these, nearly 400,000 were in the five Western states and +territories--Kentucky, Tennessee, Northwest, Indiana, Mississippi. + +PUBLIC LAND ON CREDIT.--The same year (1800) in which Congress created the +territory of Indiana, it changed the manner of selling the public lands. +Hitherto the buyer had been obliged to pay cash. After 1800 he might buy +on credit, paying one quarter annually. The effect of this was to bring +settlers into the West in such numbers that the state of Ohio was admitted +in 1803, and the territory of Michigan formed in 1805. [8] + +[Illustration: SETTLED AREA IN 1810.] + +FRANCE ACQUIRES LOUISIANA.--For yet another reason the year 1800 is a +memorable one in our history. When the French Minister of Foreign Affairs +heard that Spain (in 1795) had agreed that 31° north latitude should be +the dividing line between us and West Florida, he became alarmed. He +feared that our next step would be to acquire West Florida, and perhaps +the country west of the Mississippi. To prevent this he asked Spain to +give Louisiana back to France as France had given it to Spain in 1762 (see +page 143); France would then occupy and hold it forever. Spain refused; +but soon after Napoleon came into power the request was renewed in so +tempting a form that Spain yielded, and by a secret treaty returned +Louisiana to France in 1800. + +[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES, 1805.] + +THE MISSISSIPPI CLOSED TO OUR COMMERCE.--The treaty for a while was kept +secret; but when it became known that Napoleon was about to send an army +to take possession of Louisiana, a Spanish official at New Orleans took +away the "right of deposit" at that city and so prevented our citizens +from sending their produce out of the Mississippi River. This was a +violation of the treaty with Spain, and the settlers in the valley from +Pittsburg to Natchez demanded the instant seizure of New Orleans. Indeed, +an attempt was made in Congress to authorize the formation of an army of +fifty thousand men for this very purpose. + +[Illustration: THE CABILDO, CITY HALL OF NEW ORLEANS.] + +LOUISIANA PURCHASED, 1803.--But President Jefferson did not want war; +instead, he obtained the consent of Congress to offer $2,000,000 for West +Florida and New Orleans. Monroe was then sent to Paris to aid Livingston, +our minister, in making the purchase, and much to their surprise Napoleon +offered to sell all Louisiana. [9] After some hesitation the offer was +accepted. The price was $15,000,000, of which $11,250,000 was paid to +France and $3,750,000 to citizens of our country who had claims against +France. [10] + +THE BOUNDARIES OF LOUISIANA.--The splendid territory thus acquired had +never been given definite bounds. But resting on the discoveries and +explorations of Marquette, Joliet, and La Salle, Louisiana was understood +to extend westward to the Rio Grande and the Rocky Mountains, and +northward to the sources of the rivers that flowed into the Mississippi. +Whether the purchase included West Florida was doubtful, but we claimed +it, so that our claim extended eastward to the Perdido River. + +THE TERRITORY OF ORLEANS.--The country having been acquired, it had to be +governed. So much of it as lay west of the Mississippi and south of 33° +north latitude, with the city of New Orleans and the region round about +it, was made the new territory of Orleans. The rest of the purchase west +of the Mississippi was called the territory of Louisiana (map, p. 242). + +LOUISIANA EXPLORED.--When the Louisiana purchase was made in 1803, most of +the country was an unknown land. But in 1804 an exploring party under +Meriwether Lewis and William Clark [11] went up the Missouri River from +St. Louis, spent the winter of 1804-5 in what is now North Dakota, crossed +the Rocky Mountains in the summer of 1805, and went down the Columbia to +the Pacific. After passing a winter (1805-6) near the coast, the party +started eastward in the spring, recrossed the mountains, and in the autumn +reached St. Louis. + +ST. LOUIS was then a little frontier hamlet of maybe a thousand people of +all sorts--French, Spanish, American, negro slaves, and Indians. The +houses were built on a bottom or terrace at the foot of a limestone cliff +and arranged along a few streets with French names. The chief occupation +of the people was the fur trade, and to them the reports brought back by +Lewis and Clark were so exciting that the St. Louis Fur Company was +organized to hunt and trap on the upper Missouri. + +[Illustration: BRANDING IRON USED BY LEWIS.] + +REFORMS IN THE STATES.--During the years which had passed since the +adoption of the Federal Constitution, great political reforms had been +made. The doctrine that all men are born politically equal was being put +into practice, and the states had begun to reform their old constitutions +or to adopt new ones, abolishing religious qualifications for +officeholders or voters, [12] and doing away with the property +qualifications formerly required of voters. [13] Some states had reformed +their laws for punishing crime, had reduced the number of crimes +punishable with death from fifteen or twenty to one or two, and had +abolished whipping, branding, cutting off the ears, and other cruel +punishments of colonial times. The right of man to life, liberty, and the +pursuit of happiness was more fully recognized than ever before. + +REFORMS IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.--When the Republican party came into +power in 1801, it was pledged to make reforms "to put the ship of state," +as Jefferson said, "on the Republican tack." About a third of the +important Federalist office-holders were accordingly removed from office, +the annual speech at the opening of Congress was abolished, and the +written message introduced--a custom followed ever since by our +Presidents. Internal taxes were repealed, the army was reduced, [14] the +cost of government lessened, and millions of dollars set aside annually +for the payment of the national debt. + +That there might never again be such a contested election as that of 1800, +Congress submitted to the states an amendment to the Constitution +providing that the electors should vote for President and Vice President +on separate ballots, and not as theretofore on the same ballot. The states +promptly ratified, and as the Twelfth Amendment it went into force in 1804 +in time for the election of that year. + +JEFFERSON REËLECTED.--The Federalist candidates for President and Vice +President in 1804 were Charles C. Pinckney and Rufus King; but the +Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton, [15] were +elected by a very large majority. + +BURR KILLS HAMILTON.--Vice-President Burr, who had consented to be a +candidate for the presidency in 1801 (p. 235) against Jefferson, had never +been forgiven by his party, and had ever since been a political outcast. +His friends in New York, however, nominated him for governor and tried to +get the support of the Federalists, but Hamilton sought to prevent this. +After Burr was defeated he challenged Hamilton to a duel (July, 1804) and +killed him. + +BURR'S CONSPIRACY.--Fearing arrest for murder, Burr fled to Philadelphia +and applied to the British minister for British help in effecting "a +separation of the western part of the United States from that which lies +between the Atlantic and the mountains"; for he believed the people in +Orleans territory were eager to throw off American rule. After the end of +his term as Vice President (March 4, 1805) Burr went west and came back +with a scheme for conquering a region in the southwest, enlisted a few men +in his enterprise, assembled them at Blennerhassets Island in the Ohio +River (a few miles below Marietta), and (in December, 1806) started for +New Orleans. The boats with men and arms floated down the Ohio, entered +the Mississippi, and were going down that river when General James +Wilkinson, a fellow-conspirator, betrayed the scheme to Jefferson. Burr +was arrested and sent to Virginia, charged with levying war against the +United States, which was treason, and with setting on foot a military +expedition against the dominions of the king of Spain, which was a "high +misdemeanor." Of the charge of treason Burr was acquitted; that of high +misdemeanor was sent to a court in Ohio for trial, and came to naught. +[16] + +[Illustration: BURR'S GRAVE AT PRINCETON, N. J.] + + +SUMMARY + +1. With the establishment of government under the Constitution, confidence +was restored and prosperity began. + +2. Banks were chartered by the states, some roads and canals were +constructed, and money was gathered by lotteries for all sorts of public +improvements. + +3. New industries were started, and the cotton gin and other machines were +invented. + +4. The defeat of the Indians, the removal of the British and Spanish from +our Western country, and the sale of public land on credit encouraged a +stream of emigrants into the West. + +5. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio entered the Union, and the territories of +Mississippi, Indiana, and Michigan were organized. + +6. The cession of Louisiana to France in 1800, and the closing of the +Mississippi River to Americans, led to the purchase of Louisiana in 1803. + +7. This great region was organized into the territories of Orleans and +Louisiana; and the width of the continent from St. Louis to the mouth of +the Columbia was explored by Lewis and Clark. + +8. Many reforms were made in the state and national governments tending to +make them more democratic. + +9. In 1804 Jefferson was reelected President, but Burr was not again +chosen Vice President. Having engaged in a plan for conquering a region in +the southwest (1806), Burr was arrested for treason, but was not +condemned. + +[Illustration: PIONEER HUNTER.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Read "Town and Country Life in 1800," Chap. xii in McMaster's +_History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. II. + +[2] The Middlesex from Boston to Lowell; the Dismal Swamp in Virginia; the +Santee in South Carolina. + +[3] In those days lotteries for public purposes were not thought wrong. +The Continental Congress and many state legislatures used them to raise +revenue. Congress authorized one to secure money with which to improve +Washington city. Faneuil Hall in Boston and Independence Hall in +Philadelphia were aided by lotteries. Private lotteries had been forbidden +by many of the colonies. But the states continued to authorize lotteries +for public purposes till after 1830, when one by one they forbade all +lotteries. + +[4] Parliament in 1774 forbade any one to take away from England any +drawing or model of any machine used in the manufacture of cotton goods. +No such machines were allowed in our country in colonial times. In 1787, +however, the Massachusetts legislature voted six tickets in the State Land +Lottery to two Scotchmen named Burr to help them build a spinning jenny. +About the same time Ģ200 was given to a man named Somers to help him +construct a machine. The models thus built were put in the Statehouse at +Boston for anybody to copy who wished, and mills were soon started at +Worcester, Beverly, and Providence. But it was not till 1790, when Samuel +Slater came to America, that the great English machines were introduced. +Slater was familiar with them and made his from memory. + +[5] Eli Whitney was born in 1765, and while still a lad showed great skill +in making and handling tools. After graduating from Yale College, he went +to reside in the family of General Greene, who had been given a plantation +by Georgia. While he was making the first cotton gin, planters came long +distances to see it, and before it was finished and patented some one +broke into the building where it was and stole it. In 1794 he received a +patent, but he was unable to enforce his rights. After a few years, South +Carolina bought his right for that state, and North Carolina levied a tax +on cotton gins for his benefit. But the sum he received was very small. + +[6] James Rumsey, as early as 1785, had experimented with a steamboat on +the Potomac, and about the same time John Fitch built one in Pennsylvania, +and succeeded so well that in 1786 and in 1787 one of his boats made trial +trips on the Delaware. Later in 1787 Rumsey ran a steamboat on the Potomac +at the rate of four miles an hour. + +[7] Not the Indiana of to-day, but the great region including what is now +Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and half of Michigan and Minnesota. The +settlements were Mackinaw, Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, Cahokia, Belle +Fontaine, L'Aigle, Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, Fort Massac, and +Vincennes. Notice that most of these names are of French origin. The +governor was William H. Harrison, afterward a President. + +[8] In 1809 Illinois territory was created from the western part of +Indiana territory. When the census was taken in 1810, nearly 1,000,000 +people were living west of the Appalachians. + +[9] Read the scene between Napoleon and his brothers over the sale of +Louisiana, as told in Adams's _History of the U. S._, Vol. II, pp. 33-39. + +[10] The transfer of Louisiana to France took place on November 30, 1803, +and the delivery to us on December 20. Our commissioners William C. C. +Claiborne and James Wilkinson met the French commissioner Laussat (lo- +sah') in the hall of the Cabildo (a building still in existence, p. 243), +presented their credentials, received the keys of the city, and listened +to Laussat as he proclaimed Louisiana the property of the United States. +This ceremony over, the commissioners stepped out on a balcony to witness +the transfer of flags. The tricolor which floated from the top of a staff +in the Place d'Armes (now Jackson Square) was drawn slowly down and the +stars and stripes as slowly raised till the two met midway, when both were +saluted by cannon. Our flag was then raised to the top of the pole, and +that of France lowered and placed in the hands of Laussat. One hundred +years later the anniversary was celebrated by repeating the same ceremony. +The Federalists bitterly opposed the purchase of Louisiana. Read +McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. II, pp. 629-631. For +descriptions of life in Louisiana, read Cable's _Creoles of Louisiana_, +_The Grandissimes_, and _Strange True Stories of Louisiana_. + +[11] Both Lewis and Clark were Virginians and experienced Indian fighters. +On their return Lewis was made governor of the upper Louisiana territory, +later called Missouri territory; and died near Nashville in 1809. Clark +was likewise a governor of Missouri territory and later a Superintendent +of Indian Affairs; he died at St. Louis in 1838. He was a younger brother +of George Rogers Clark. + +[12] Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina, Georgia. + +[13] In Pennsylvania all free male taxpayers could vote. Georgia and +Delaware gave the suffrage to all free white male taxpayers. In Vermont +and Kentucky there had never been a property qualification. + +[14] In 1802, however, there was founded the United States Military +Academy at West Point. + +[15] Clinton was born in 1739, took an active part in Revolutionary +affairs, was chosen governor of New York in 1777, and was reflected every +election for eighteen years. He was the leader of the popular party in +that state, was twice chosen Vice President of the United States, and died +in that office in 1812. + +[16] Burr's trial was conducted (in a circuit court) with rigid +impartiality by Chief-Justice John Marshall, one of the greatest judges +our country has known. As head of the Supreme Court for thirty-four years +(1801-35), he rendered many decisions of lasting influence. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE STRUGGLE FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCE + + +WAR WITH TRIPOLI.--In his first inaugural Jefferson announced a policy of +peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations; but unhappily he was not +able to carry it out. Under treaties with Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis, we +had paid tribute or made presents to these powers, to prevent them from +attacking our ships. In 1800, however, when Adams sent the yearly tribute +to Algiers, the ruler of Tripoli demanded a large present, and when it did +not come, declared war. Expecting trouble with this nest of pirates, +Jefferson in 1801 sent over a fleet which was to blockade the coast of +Tripoli and that of any other Barbary power that might be at war with us. +But four years passed, and Tripoli was five times bombarded before terms +of peace were dictated by Captain Rodgers under the muzzles of his guns +(1805). [1] + +GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE.--While our contest with Tripoli was dragging +along, France and Great Britain again went to war (1803), and our neutral +rights were again attacked. British cruisers captured many American ships +on the ground that they were carrying on trade between the ports of France +and her colonies. + +Napoleon attacked British commerce by decrees which closed the ports of +Europe to British goods, declared a blockade of the British Isles, and +made subject to capture any neutral vessels that touched at a British +port. Great Britain replied with orders in council, blockading the ports +of France and her allies, and requiring all neutral vessels going to a +closed port to stop at some British port and pay tribute. [2] + +As Great Britain ruled the sea, and Napoleon most of western Europe, these +decrees and orders meant the ruin of our commerce. Against such rules of +war our government protested, claiming the right of "free trade," or the +"freedom of the seas,"--the right of a neutral to trade with either +belligerent, provided the goods were not for use in actual war (as guns, +powder, and shot). + +OUR SAILORS IMPRESSED.--But we had yet another cause of quarrel with Great +Britain. She claimed that in time of war she had a right to the services +of her sailors; that if they were on foreign ships, they must come home +and serve on her war vessels. She denied that a British subject could +become a naturalized American; once a British subject, always a British +subject, was her doctrine. She stopped our vessels at sea, examined the +crews, and seized or "impressed" any British subjects found among them-- +and many American sailors as well. Against such "impressment" our +government set up the claim of "sailors' rights"--denying the right of +Great Britain to search our ships at sea or to seize sailors of any +nationality while on board an American vessel. + +THE ATTACK ON THE CHESAPEAKE.--Before 1805 Great Britain confined +impressment to the high seas and to her own ports. After 1805 she carried +it on also off our coasts and in our ports. Finally, in 1807, a British +officer, hearing that some British sailors were among the crew of our +frigate _Chesapeake_ which was about to sail, only partly equipped, +from the Washington navy yard, ordered the _Leopard_ to follow the +_Chesapeake_ to sea and search her. This was done, and when Commodore +Barron refused to have his vessel searched, she was fired on by the +_Leopard_, boarded, searched, and one British and three American +sailors were taken from her deck. [3] + +[Illustration: THE CHESAPEAKE SURRENDERS TO THE LEOPARD.] + +CONGRESS RETALIATES.--It was now high time for us to strike back at France +and Great Britain. We had either to fight for "free trade and sailors' +rights," or to abandon the sea and stop all attempts to trade with Europe +and Great Britain. Jefferson chose the latter course. Our retaliation +therefore consisted of + + 1. The Long Embargo (1807-9). + 2. The Non-intercourse Act (1809). + 3. Macon's Bill No. 2 (1810). + 4. The Declaration of War (1812). + +THE LONG EMBARGO.--Late in December, 1807, at the request of Jefferson, +Congress laid an embargo and cut off all trade with foreign ports. [4] The +restriction was so sweeping and the damage to farmers, planters, +merchants, shipowners, and sailors so great, that the law was at once +evaded. More stringent laws were therefore enacted, till at last trade +along the coast from port to port was made all but impossible. Defiance to +the embargo laws became so general [5] that a Force Act (1809) was passed, +giving the President authority to use the army and navy in enforcing +obedience. This was too much, and such a storm of indignation arose in the +Eastern states that Congress repealed the embargo laws (1809) and +substituted + +THE NON-INTERCOURSE ACT.--This forbade commerce with Great Britain and +France, but allowed it with such countries as were not under French or +British control. If either power would repeal its orders or decrees, the +President was to announce this fact and renew commerce with that power. + +Just at this time the second term of Jefferson ended, [6] and Madison +became President (March 4, 1809). [8] + +THE ERSKINE AGREEMENT(1809).--And now the British minister, Mr. Erskine, +offered, in the name of the king, to lift the orders in council if the +United States would renew trade with Great Britain. The offer was +accepted, and the renewal of trade proclaimed. But when the king heard of +it, he recalled Erskine and disavowed the agreement, and Madison was +forced to declare trade with Great Britain again suspended. + +MACON'S BILL NO. 2.--Non-intercourse having failed, Congress in 1810 tried +a new experiment, and by Macon's Bill No. 2 (so-called because it was the +second of two bills introduced by Mr. Macon) restored trade with France +and Great Britain. At the same time it provided that if either power would +withdraw its decrees or orders, trade should be cut off with the other +unless that power also would withdraw them. + +Napoleon now (1810) pretended to recall his decrees, but Great Britain +refused to withdraw her orders in council, whereupon in 1811 trade was +again stopped with Great Britain. + +THE DECLARATION OF WAR.--And now the end had come. We had either to submit +tamely or to fight. The people decided to fight, and in the elections of +1810 completely changed the character of the House of Representatives. A +large number of new members were elected, and the control of public +affairs passed from men of the Revolutionary period to a younger set with +very different views. Among them were two men who rose at once to +leadership and remained so for nearly forty years to come. One was Henry +Clay of Kentucky; [9] the other was John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. +Clay was made speaker of the House of Representatives, and under his lead +the House at once began preparations for war with Great Britain, which was +formally declared in June, 1812. The causes stated by Madison in the +proclamation were (1) impressing our sailors, (2) sending ships to cruise +off our ports and search our vessels, (3) interfering with our trade by +orders in council, and (4) urging the Indians to make war on the Western +settlers. + +THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.--That the British had been tampering with the +Indians was believed to be proved by the preparation of many of the Indian +tribes for war. From time to time some Indian of great ability had arisen +and attempted to unite the tribes in a general war upon the whites. King +Philip was such a leader, and so was Pontiac, and so at this time were the +twin brothers Tecumthe and the Prophet. The purpose of Tecumthe was to +unite all the tribes from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico in a +general war, to drive the whites from the Mississippi valley. After +uniting many of the Northern tribes he went south, leaving his brother, +the Prophet, in command. But the action of the Prophet so alarmed General +Harrison, [10] governor of Indiana territory, that he marched against the +Indians and beat them at the Tippecanoe (1811). [11] + +[Illustration: VICINITY OF THE TIPPECANOE RIVER.] + +MADISON REËLECTED.--As Madison was willing to be a war President the +Republicans nominated him for a second term of the presidency, with +Elbridge Gerry [12] for the vice presidency. The Federalists and those +opposed to war, the peace party, nominated DeWitt Clinton for President. +Madison and Gerry were elected. [13] + +THE WAR OPENS.--The war which now followed, "Mr. Madison's War" as the +Federalists called it, was fought along the edges of our country and on +the sea. It may therefore be considered under four heads:-- + + 1. War on land along the Canadian frontier. + 2. War on land along the Atlantic seaboard. + 3. War on land along the Gulf coast. + 4. War on the sea. + +Scarcely had the fighting begun when news arrived that Great Britain had +recalled the hated orders in council, but she would not give up the right +of search and of impressment, so the war went on, as Madison believed that +cause enough still remained. + +[Illustration: WAR OF 1812.] + +FIGHTING ON THE FRONTIER, 1812.--The hope of the leaders of the war party, +"War Hawks" as the Federalists called them, was to capture the British +provinces north of us and make peace at Halifax. Three armies were +therefore gathered along the Canadian frontier. One under General Hull was +to cross at Detroit and march eastward. A second under General Van +Rensselaer was to cross the Niagara River, join the forces under Hull, +capture York (now Toronto), and then go on to Montreal. The third under +General Dearborn was to enter Canada from northeastern New York, arid meet +the other troops near Montreal. The three armies were then to capture +Montreal and Quebec and conquer Canada. + +But the plan failed; Hull was driven out of Canada, and surrendered at +Detroit. Van Rensselaer did not get a footing in Canada, and Dearborn went +no farther than the northern boundary line of New York. + +FIGHTING ON THE FRONTIER, 1813.--The surrender of Hull filled the people +with indignation, and a new army under William Henry Harrison was sent +across the wilds of Ohio in the dead of winter to recapture Detroit. But +the British and Indians attacked and captured part of the army at +Frenchtown on the Raisin River, where the Indians massacred the prisoners. +They then attacked Fort Meigs and Fort Stephenson, but were driven off. + +BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.--Meantime a young naval officer, Oliver Hazard Perry, +was hastily building at Erie (Presque Isle) a little fleet to attack the +British, whose fleet on Lake Erie had been built just as hurriedly. The +fight took place near the west end of the lake and ended in the capture of +all the British ships. [14] It was then that Perry sent off to Harrison +those familiar words "We have met the enemy and they are ours." [15] + +BATTLE OF THE THAMES.--This signal victory gave Perry command of Lake Erie +and enabled him to carry Harrison's army over to Canada, where, on the +Thames River, he beat the British and Indians and put them to flight. [16] +By these two victories of Perry and Harrison we regained all that we had +lost by the surrender of Hull. On the New York frontier neither side +accomplished anything decisive in 1813, though the public buildings at +York (now Toronto) were destroyed, and some villages on both sides of the +Niagara River were burned. + +FIGHTING ON THE FRONTIER, 1814.--Better officers were now put in command +on the New York frontier, and during 1814 our troops under Jacob Brown and +Winfield Scott captured Fort Erie and won the battles of Chippewa and +Lundys Lane. But in the end the British drove our army out of Canada. + +Further eastward the British gathered a fleet on Lake Champlain and sent +an army to attack Plattsburg, but Thomas Macdonough utterly destroyed the +fleet in Plattsburg Bay, and the army was repulsed. + +FIGHTING ALONG THE SEABOARD.--During 1812 and 1813 the British did little +more than blockade our coast from Rhode Island to New Orleans, leaving all +the east coast of New England unmolested. [17] But in 1814 the entire +coast was blockaded, the eastern part of Maine was seized and occupied, +and Stonington in Connecticut was bombarded. + +WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE ATTACKED.--A fleet entered Chesapeake Bay and +landed an army which marched to Washington, burned the Capitol, the +President's house, the Treasury Building, and other public buildings, [18] +and with the aid of the fleet made a vain attack on Baltimore. + +It was during the bombardment of a fort near Baltimore that Francis Scott +Key, temporarily a prisoner with the British, wrote _The Star-spangled +Banner_. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF THE CAPITOL AFTER THE FIRE.] + +FIGHTING ALONG THE GULF COAST.--After the repulse at Baltimore the British +army was carried to the island of Jamaica to join a great expedition +fitting out for an attack on New Orleans. It was November before the fleet +bearing the army set sail, and December when the troops landed on the +southeast coast of Louisiana and started for the Mississippi. On the banks +of that river, a few miles below New Orleans, they met our forces under +General Andrew Jackson drawn up behind a line of rude intrenchments, +attacked them on the 8th of January, 1815, and were badly beaten. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. From an old print.] + +THE SEA FIGHTS.--The victories won by the army were indeed important, but +those by the navy were more glorious still. In years before the war +British captains laughed at our little navy and called our ships "fir- +built things with a bit of striped bunting at their mastheads." These fir- +built things now inflicted on the British navy a series of defeats such as +it had never before suffered from any nation. + +[Illustration: NAVAL CANNON OF 1812.] + +Before the end of 1812 the frigate _Constitution,_ "Old Ironsides" as she +is still popularly called, [19] beat the _Guerričre_ (gar-e-ar') so badly +that she could not be brought to port; the little sloop _Wasp_ almost shot +to pieces the British sloop _Frolic_; [20] the frigate _United States_ +brought the _Macedonian_ in triumph to Newport (R.I.); [21] and the +_Constitution_ made a wreck of the _Java_. + +[Illustration: CUTLASS.] + +In 1813 the _Hornet_, Commander James Lawrence, so riddled the British +sloop _Peacock_ that after surrendering she went down carrying with her +nine of her own crew and three of the _Hornet's_. The brig _Enterprise_, +William Burrows in command, fought the British brig _Boxer_, Captain +Blythe, off Portland harbor, Maine. Both commanders were killed, but the +Boxer was taken and carried into Portland, where Burrows and Blythe, +wrapped in the flags they had so well defended, were buried in the Eastern +Cemetery which overlooks the bay. + +THE CHESAPEAKE CAPTURED.--But we too met with defeats. When Lawrence +returned home with the _Hornet_, he was given command of the _Chesapeake_, +then fitting out in Boston harbor, and while so engaged was challenged by +the commander of the British frigate _Shannon_ to come out and fight. He +went, was mortally wounded, and a second time the _Chesapeake_ struck to +the British. As Lawrence was carried below he cried out, "Don't give up +the ship--keep her guns going--fight her till she sinks"; but the British +carried her by boarding. + +The brig _Argus_, while destroying merchantmen off the English coast, +was taken by the British brig _Pelican_. [22] + +PEACE.--Quite early in the war Russia tendered her services as mediator +and they were accepted by us. Great Britain declined, but offered to treat +directly if commissioners were sent to some neutral port. John Quincy +Adams, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin, James A. Bayard, and Jonathan Russell +were duly appointed, and late in December, 1814, signed a treaty of peace +at Ghent. Nothing was said in it about impressment, search, or orders in +council, nor indeed about any of the causes of the war. + +Nevertheless the gain was great. Our naval victories made us respected +abroad and showed us to be the equal of any maritime power. At home, the +war aroused a national feeling, did much to consolidate the Union, and put +an end to our old colonial dependence on Europe. Thenceforth Americans +looked westward, not eastward. + +THE HARTFORD CONVENTION.--News of the treaty signed in December, 1814, did +not reach our country till February, 1815. [23] Had there been ocean +steamships or cables in those days, two famous events in our history would +not have happened. The battle of New Orleans would not have been fought, +and the report of the Hartford Convention would not have been published. +The Hartford Convention was composed of Federalist delegates from the New +England states, [24] met in December, 1814, and held its sessions in +secret. But its report proposed some amendments to the United States +Constitution, state armies to defend New England, and the retention of a +part of the federal taxes to pay the cost. Congress was to be asked to +agree to this, arid if it declined, the state legislatures were to send +delegates to another convention to meet in June, 1815. [25] When the +commissioners to present these demands reached Washington, peace had been +declared, and they went home, followed by the jeers of the nation. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The war with Tripoli (1801-5) ended in victory for our navy. + +2. The renewal of war between France and Great Britain involved us in more +serious trouble. + +3. When France attacked British commerce by decrees, Great Britain replied +with orders in council (1806-7). In these paper blockades we were the +chief sufferers. + +4. Great Britain claimed a right to take her subjects off American ships, +and while impressing many British sailors into her navy, she impressed +many Americans also. + +5. She sent vessels of war to our coast to search our ships, and in 1807 +even seized sailors on board an American ship of war, the +_Chesapeake_. + +6. Congress retaliated with several measures cutting off trade with France +and Great Britain; these failing, war on Great Britain was declared in +1812. + +7. War on land was begun by attempts to invade Canada from Detroit, +Niagara, and northeastern New York. These attempts failed, and Detroit was +captured by the British. + +8. In 1813 Perry won a great naval victory on Lake Erie; and the American +soldiers, after a reverse at Frenchtown, invaded Canada and won the battle +of the Thames. + +9. In 1814 the Americans won the battles of Chippewa and Lundys Lane, but +were later driven from Canada. A British invasion of New York met disaster +at Plattsburg Bay. + +10. Along the seaboard the British blockaded the entire coast, seized the +eastern part of Maine, took Washington and burned the public buildings, +and attacked Baltimore. + +11. Later New Orleans was attacked, but in 1815 Jackson won a signal +victory and drove the British from Louisiana. + +12. On the sea our vessels won many ship duels. + +13. Peace was made in 1814, just as the New England Federalists were +holding their Hartford Convention. The war resulted in strengthening the +Union and making it more respected. + +[Illustration: FLINTLOCK MUSKET, SUCH AS WAS USED IN THE WAR OF 1812.] + +[Illustration: MODERN MILITARY CARBINE.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] During the war, in 1803, the frigate _Philadelphia_ ran on the rocks +in the harbor of Tripoli, and was captured by the Tripolitans. The +Americans then determined to destroy her. Stephen Decatur sailed into the +harbor with a volunteer crew in a little vessel disguised as a fishing +boat. The Tripolitans allowed the Americans to come close, whereupon they +boarded the _Philadelphia_, drove off the pirate crew, set the vessel +on fire, and escaped unharmed. + +[2] The French decrees and British orders in council were as follows: (1) +Napoleon began (1806) by issuing a decree closing the ports of Hamburg and +Bremen (which he had lately captured) and so cutting off British trade +with Germany. (2) Great Britain retaliated with an order in council (May, +1806), blockading the coast of Europe from Brest to the mouth of the river +Elbe. (3) Napoleon retaliated (November, 1806) with the Berlin Decree, +declaring the British Isles in a state of blockade, and forbidding English +trade with any country under French control. (4) Great Britain issued +another order in council (November, 1807), commanding her naval officers +to seize any neutral vessel going to any closed port in Europe unless it +first touched at a British port, paid duty, and bought a license to trade. +(5) Napoleon thereupon (December, 1807) issued his Milan Decree, +authorizing the seizure of any neutral vessel that had touched at any +British port and taken out a license. Read Adams's _History of the U. S._, +Vol. III, Chap. 16; Vol. IV, Chaps. 4, 5, 6; McMaster's _History of the +People of the U. S._, Vol. III, pp. 219-223, 249-250, 272-274. + +[3] The British sailor was hanged at Halifax. The three Americans were not +returned till 1812. Read Maclay's _History of the Navy_, Vol. I, pp. 305- +308. + +[4] The Federalists ridiculed the embargo as the "terrapin-policy"; that +is, the United States, like a terrapin when struck, had pulled its head +and feet within its shell instead of fighting. They reversed the letters +so that they read "o-grab-me," and wrote the syllables backward so as to +spell "go-bar-'em." + +[5] Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. III, +pp. 279-338. + +[7] The people would gladly have given him a third term. Indeed, the +legislatures of eight states invited him to be a candidate for reflection. +In declining he said, "If some termination to the services of the Chief +Magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his +office, nominally four years, will in fact become for life; and history +shows how easily that degenerates into an inheritance." The examples of +Washington and Jefferson established an unwritten law against a third term +for any President. + +[8] James Madison was born in Virginia in 1751, and educated partly at +Princeton. In 1776 he was a delegate to the Virginia convention to frame a +state constitution, was a member of the first legislature under it, went +to Congress in 1780-83, and then returned to the state legislature, 1784- +87. He was one of the most important members of the convention that framed +the United States Constitution. After the adoption of the Constitution, he +led the Republican party in Congress (1789-97). He wrote the Virginia +Resolutions of 1798, and in 1801-9 was Secretary of State under Jefferson. +As the Republican candidate for President in 1808, he received 122 +electoral votes against 47 for the Federalist candidate Charles C. +Pinckney. He died in 1836. + +[9] Henry Clay, the son of a Baptist minister, was born in Virginia in +1777 in a neighborhood called "the Slashes." One of his boyhood duties was +to ride to the mill with a bag of wheat or corn. Thus he earned the name +of "the Mill Boy of the Slashes," which in his campaigns for the +presidency was used to get votes. His education was received in a log- +cabin schoolhouse. At fourteen he was behind the counter in a store at +Richmond; but finally began to read law, and in 1797 moved to Kentucky to +"grow up with the country." There he prospered greatly, and in 1803 was +elected to the state legislature, in 1806 and again in 1809-10 served as a +United States senator to fill an unexpired term, and in 1811 entered the +House of Representatives. From then till his death, June 29, 1852, he was +one of the most important men in public life; he was ten years speaker of +the House, four years Secretary of State, twenty years a senator, and +three times a candidate for President. He was a great leader and an +eloquent speaker. He was called "the Great Pacificator" and "the Great +Compromiser," and one of his sayings, "I had rather be right than be +President," has become famous. + +[10] William Henry Harrison was a son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of +the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Virginia in 1773, served +in the Indian campaigns under St. Clair and Wayne, commanded Fort +Washington on the site of Cincinnati, was secretary of the Northwest +Territory, and then delegate to Congress, and did much to secure the law +for the sale of public land on credit. He was made governor of Indiana +Territory in 1801, and won great fame as a general in the War of 1812. + +[11] Tecumthe's efforts in the South led to a war with the Creeks in 1813- +14. These Indians began by capturing Fort Mims in what is now southern +Alabama, and killing many people there; but they were soon subdued by +General Andrew Jackson. Read Edward Eggleston's _Roxy_; and Eggleston +and Seelye's _Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet_. + +[12] Gerry was a native of Massachusetts and one of the delegates who +refused to sign the Constitution when it was framed in 1787. As a leading +Republican he was chosen by Adams to represent his party on the X. Y. Z. +Mission. As governor of Massachusetts he signed a bill rearranging the +senatorial districts in such wise that some towns having Federalist +majorities were joined to others having greater Republican majorities, +thus making more than a fair proportion of the districts Republican. This +political fraud is called Gerrymandering. Gerry died November 23, 1814, +the second Vice President to die in office. + +[13] Eighteen states cast electoral votes at this election (1812). The +electors were chosen by popular vote in eight states, and by vote of the +legislature in ten states, including Louisiana (the former territory of +Orleans), which was admitted into the Union April 8, 1812. The admission +of Louisiana was bitterly opposed by the Federalists. For their reasons, +read a speech by Josiah Quincy in Johnston's _American Orations_, Vol. I, +pp. 180-204. + +[14] Perry's flagship was named the _Lawrence_, after the gallant +commander of the _Chesapeake_, captured a short while before off +Boston. As Lawrence, mortally wounded, was carried below, he said to his +men, "Don't give up the ship." Perry put at the masthead of the _Lawrence_ +a blue pennant bearing the words "Don't give up the ship," and fought two +of the largest vessels of the enemy till every gun on his engaged side was +disabled, and but twenty men out of a hundred and three were unhurt. Then +entering a boat with his brother and four seamen, he was rowed to the +_Niagara_, which he brought into the battle, and with it broke the enemy's +line and won. + +[15] The story of the naval war is told in Maclay's _History of the Navy_, +Part Third; and in Roosevelt's _Naval War of 1812_. + +[16] In this battle the great Indian leader Tecumthe was killed. + +[17] In New England the ruin of commerce made the war most unpopular, and +it was because of this that the British did not at first blockade the New +England coast. British goods came to Boston, Salem, and other ports in +neutral ships, or in British ships disguised as neutral, and great +quantities of them were carried in four-horse wagons to the South, whence +raw cotton was brought back to New England to be shipped abroad. The +Republicans made great fun of this "ox-and-horse-marine." + +[18] For a description of the scenes in Washington, read McMaster's +_History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. IV, pp. 138-147; or Adams's +_History of the U. S._, Vol. VIII, pp. 144-152; or _Memoirs of Dolly +Madison_, Chap. 8. + +[19] Read Holmes's poem _Old Ironsides_. + +[20] This battle was fought on a clear moonlight night and was full of +dramatic incidents. A storm had lashed the sea into fury and the waves +were running mountain high. Wave after wave swept the deck of the _Wasp_ +and drenched the sailors. The two sloops rolled till the muzzles of their +guns dipped in the sea; but both crews cheered heartily and fought on +till, as the _Wasp_ rubbed across the bow of the _Frolic_, her jib boom +came in between the masts of the _Wasp_. A boarding party then leaped upon +her bowsprit, and as they ran down the deck were amazed to see nobody save +the man at the wheel and three wounded officers. As the British were not +able to lower their flag, Lieutenant Biddle of the _Wasp_ hauled it down. +Scarcely had this been done when the British frigate _Poictiers_ came in +sight, and chased and overhauled the _Wasp_ and captured her. + +[21] Of all the British frigates captured during the war, the _Macedonian_ +was the only one brought to port. The others were shot to pieces and sank +or were destroyed soon after the battle. The _Macedonian_ arrived at +Newport in December, 1812. When the lieutenant bearing her flag and +dispatches reached Washington, he was informed that a naval ball was being +held in honor of the capture of the _Guerričre_ and another ship, and that +their flags were hanging on the wall. Hastening to the hotel, he announced +himself and was quickly escorted to the ballroom, where, with cheers and +singing, the flag of the _Macedonian_ was hung beside those of the other +two captured vessels. + +[22] In October, 1812, the frigate _Essex_, Captain Porter in command, +sailed from Delaware Bay, cruised down the east and up the west coast of +South America, and captured seven British vessels. But she was captured +near Valparaiso by the British frigates _Cherub_ and _Phoebe_ in March, +1814. In January, 1815, the _President_, Commodore Decatur, was captured +off Long Island by a British squadron of four vessels. In February the +_Constitution_, Captain Stewart, when near Madeira, captured the _Cyane_ +and the _Levant_. + +[23] Some idea of the difficulty of travel and the transmission of news in +those days may be gained from the fact that when the agent bearing the +treaty of peace arrived at New, York February 11, 1815, an express rider +was sent post haste to Boston, at a cost of $225. + +[24] The states of Vermont and New Hampshire sent no delegates to this +convention; but three delegates were appointed by certain counties in +those states. When Connecticut and Rhode Island chose delegates, a +Federalist newspaper published in Boston welcomed them in an article +headed "Second and Third Pillars of a New Federal Edifice Reared." Despite +the action of the Hartford Convention, the fact remains that Massachusetts +contributed more than her proportionate share of money and troops for the +war. + +[25] The report is printed in MacDonald's _Select Documents_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +RISE OF THE WEST + + +TRADE, COMMERCE, AND THE FISHERIES.--The treaty of 1814 did not end our +troubles with Great Britain. Our ships were still shut out of her West +Indian ports. The fort at Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia River, +had been seized during the war and for a time was not returned as the +treaty required. The authorities in Nova Scotia claimed that we no longer +had a right to fish in British waters, and seized our fishing vessels or +drove them from the fishing grounds. We had no trade treaty with Great +Britain. In 1815, therefore, a convention was made regulating trade with +Great Britain and her East Indian colonies, but not with her West Indies; +[1] in 1817, a very important agreement limited the navies on the Great +Lakes; [2] and in 1818 a convention was made defending our fishing rights +in British waters. [3] + +BANKS AND THE CURRENCY.--But there were also domestic affairs which +required attention. When the charter of the Bank of the United States (p. +224) expired in 1811, it was not renewed, for the party in power denied +that Congress had authority to charter a bank. A host of banks chartered +by the states thereupon sprang up, in hope of getting some of the business +formerly done by the national bank and its branches. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST BANK OF THE UNITED STATES.] + +In three years' time one hundred and twenty new state banks were created. +Each issued bank notes with a promise to exchange them for specie (gold or +silver coin) on demand. In 1814, however, nearly all the banks outside of +New England "suspended specie payment"; that is, refused to redeem their +notes in specie. Persons having gold and silver money then kept it, and +the only money left in circulation was the bank notes--which, a few miles +away from the place of issue, would not pass at their face value. [4] + +Business and travel were seriously interfered with, and in order to +provide the people with some kind of money which would pass at the same +value everywhere, Congress in 1816 chartered a second Bank of the United +States, [5] very much like the first one, for a period of twenty years. + +MANUFACTURES AND THE TARIFF.--Before the embargo days, trade and commerce +were so profitable, because of the war in Europe, that manufactures were +neglected. Almost all manufactored articles--cotton and woolen goods, +china, glass, edge tools, and what not--were imported, from Great Britain +chiefly. + +But the moment our foreign trade was cat off by the embargo, manufactures +sprang up, and money hitherto put into ships and commerce was invested in +mills and factories. Societies for the encouragement of domestic +manufactures were started everywhere. To wear American-made clothes, walk +in American-made shoes, write on American-made paper, and use American- +made furniture were acts of patriotism which the people publicly pledged +themselves to perform. Thus encouraged, manufactories so throve and +flourished that by 1810 the value of goods made in our country each year +was $173,000,000. + +When trade was resumed with Great Britain after the war, her goods were +sent over in immense quantities. This hurt our manufacturers, and +therefore Congress in 1816 laid a tariff or tax on imported manufactures, +for the purpose of keeping the price of foreign goods high and thus +protecting home manufactures. + +PROSPERITY OF THE COUNTRY.--Despite the injury done by British orders, +French decrees, the embargo, non-intercourse, and the war, the country +grew more prosperous year by year. Cities were growing, new towns were +being planted, rivers were being bridged, colleges, [6] academies, +schools, were springing up, several thousand miles of turnpike had been +built, and over these good roads better stagecoaches drawn by better +horses carried the mail and travelers in quicker time than ever before. + +ROUTES TO THE WEST.--Goods for Pittsburg and the West could now leave +Philadelphia every day in huge canvas-covered wagons drawn by four or six +horses, and were only twenty days on the road. The carrying trade in this +way was very great. More than twelve thousand wagons came to Pittsburg +each year, bringing goods worth several millions of dollars. From New York +wares and merchandise for the West went in sloops up the Hudson to Albany, +were wagoned to the falls of the Mohawk, where they were put into +"Schenectady boats," which were pushed by poles up the Mohawk to Utica. +Thence they went by canal and river to Oswego on Lake Ontario, in sloops +to Lewiston on the Niagara River, by wagon to Buffalo, by sloop to +Westfield on Lake Erie, by wagon to Chautauqua Lake, and thence by boat +down the lake and the Allegheny River to Pittsburg. + +[Illustration: ROUTES FROM PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK TO THE WEST.] + +THE STEAMBOAT.--The growth of the country and the increase in travel now +made the steamboat possible. Before 1807 all attempts to use such boats +had failed. [7] But when Fulton in that year ran the _Clermont_ from +New York to Albany and back, practical steam navigation began. In 1808 a +line of steamboats ran up and down the Hudson. In 1809 there was one on +the Delaware, another on the Raritan, and a third on Lake Champlain. In +1811 a steamboat went from Pittsburg to New Orleans, and in 1812 there +were steam ferryboats between what is now Jersey City and New York, and +between Philadelphia and Camden. [8] + +[Illustration: AN EARLY FERRYBOAT.] + +By the use of the steamboat and better roads it was possible in 1820 to go +from New York to Philadelphia between sunrise and sunset in summer, and +from New York to Boston in forty-eight hours, and from Boston to +Washington in less than five days. + +THE RUSH TO THE WEST.--After the peace in 1815 came a period of hard +times. Great Britain kept our ships out of her ports in the West Indies. +France, Spain, and Holland did their own trading with their colonies. +Demands for our products fell off, trade and commerce declined, thousands +of people were thrown out of employment, and another wave of emigration +started westward. Nothing like it had ever before been known. People went +by tens of thousands, building new towns and villages, clearing the +forests, and turning the prairies into farms and gardens. Some went in +wagons, some on horseback; great numbers even went on foot, pushing their +children and household goods in handcarts, in wheelbarrows, in little box +carts on four small wheels made of plank. [9] + +Once on the frontier, the pioneer, the "mover," the "newcomer," would +secure his plot of land, cut down a few trees, and build a half-faced +camp,--a shed with a roof of sapling and bark, and one side open,--and in +this he would live till the log cabin was finished. + +THE LOG CABIN.--To build a log cabin the settler would fell trees of the +proper size, cut them into logs, and with his ax notch them half through +at the ends. Laid one on another these logs formed the four sides of the +cabin. Openings were left for a door, one window, and a huge fireplace; +the cracks between the logs were filled with mud; the roof was of hewn +boards, and the chimney of logs smeared on the inside with clay and lined +at the bottom with stones. Greased paper did duty for glass in the window. +The door swung on wooden hinges and was fastened with a wooden latch on +the inside, which was raised from the outside by a leather string passed +through a hole in the door. Some cabins had no floor but the earth; in +others the floor was of puncheons, or planks split and hewn from trunks of +trees and laid with the round side down. [10] + +[Illustration: CORN-HUSK MOP.] + +PIONEER LIFE.--If the farm were wooded, the first labor of the settler was +to grub up the bushes, cut down the smaller trees, and kill the larger +ones by cutting a girdle around each near the roots. When the trees were +felled, the neighbors would come and help roll the logs into great piles +for burning. From the ashes the settler made potash; for many years potash +was one of the important exports of the country. + +In the land thus cleared and laid open to the sun the pioneer planted his +corn, flax, wheat, and vegetables. The corn he shelled on a gritter, and +ground in a handmill, or pounded in a wooden mortar with a wooden pestle, +or carried on horseback to some mill perhaps fifteen miles away. + +Cooking stoves were not used. Game was roasted by hanging it by a leather +string before an open fire. All baking was done in a Dutch oven on the +hearth, or in an out oven built, as its name implies, out of doors. [11] + +Deerskin in the early days, and later tow linen, woolens, jeans, and +linseys, were the chief materials for clothing till store goods became +common. [12] The amusements of the pioneers were like those of colonial +days--shooting matches, bear hunts, races, militia musters, raisings, log +rollings, weddings, corn huskings, and quilting parties. + +[Illustration: BREAKING FLAX.] + +FIVE NEW STATES.--The first effect of the emigration to the West was such +an increase of population there that five new states were admitted in five +years. They were Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), +Alabama (1819), Missouri (1821). As Louisiana (1812) and Maine (1820) had +also been admitted by 1821, the Union then included twenty-four states +(map, p. 279). + +POWER OF THE WEST.--A second result of this building of the West was an +increase in its political importance. The West in 1815 sent to Congress 8 +senators and 28 members of the House; after 1822 it sent 18 senators out +of 48, and 47 members of the House out of 213. + +[Illustration: TRADING WITH A RIVER MERCHANT.] + +TRADE OF THE WEST.--A third result was a straggle for the trade of the +West. Favored by the river system, the farmers of the West were able to +float their produce, on raft and flatboat, to New Orleans. Before the +introduction of the steamboat, navigation up the Mississippi was all but +impossible. Flatboats, rafts, barges, broadhorns, with their contents, +were therefore sold at New Orleans, and the money brought back to +Pittsburg or Wheeling and there used to buy the manufactures sent from the +Eastern states. But now a score of steamboats went down and up the +Mississippi and the Ohio, stopping at Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, +Natchez, and a host of smaller towns, loaded with goods obtained at +Pittsburg and New Orleans. [13] Commercially the West was independent of +the East. The Western trade of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore was +seriously threatened. + +THE ERIE CANAL.--So valuable was this trade, and so important to the East, +that New York in 1817 began the construction of the Erie Canal from Albany +to Buffalo, and finished it in 1825. [14] The result, as we shall see in a +later chapter, was far-reaching. + +SLAVERY.--A fourth result of the rush to the West was the rise of the +question of slavery beyond the Mississippi. + +Before the adoption of the Constitution, as we have seen, slavery was +forbidden or was in course of abolition in the five New England states, in +Pennsylvania, and in the Northwest Territory. Since the adoption of the +Constitution gradual abolition laws had been adopted in New York (1799) +and in New Jersey (1804). [15] Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, +Mississippi, and Alabama came into the Union as slave-holding states; and +Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois (besides Vermont) as free states. So in 1819 +the dividing line between the eleven free and the eleven slave states was +the south boundary line of Pennsylvania (p. 81) and the Ohio River. + +SLAVERY BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI.--By 1819 so many people had crossed the +Mississippi and settled on the west bank and up the Missouri that Congress +was asked to make a new territory to be called Arkansas and a new state to +be named Missouri. + +Whether the new state was to be slave or free was not stated, but the +Missourians owned slaves and a settlement of this matter was important for +two reasons: (1) there were then eleven slave and eleven free states, and +the admission of Missouri would upset this balance in the Senate; (2) her +entrance into the Union would probably settle the policy as to slavery in +the remainder of the great Louisiana Purchase. The South therefore +insisted that Missouri should be a slave-holding state, and the Senate +voted to admit her as such. The North insisted that slavery should be +abolished in Missouri, and the House of Representatives voted to admit her +as a free state. As neither would yield, the question went over to the +next session of Congress. + +MAINE.--By that time Maine, which belonged to Massachusetts, had obtained +leave to frame a constitution, and applied for admission as a free state. +This afforded a chance to preserve the balance of states in the Senate, +and Congress accordingly passed at the same time two bills, one to admit +Maine as a free state, and one to authorize Missouri to make a proslavery +constitution. + +THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE, 1820.--The second of these bills embodied the +Missouri Compromise, or Compromise of 1820, which provided that in all the +territory purchased from France in 1803 and lying north of the parallel +36° 30' there never should be slavery, except in Missouri (map p. 279). +[16] + +This Compromise left a great region from which free states might be made +in future, and very little for slave states. We shall see the consequences +of this by and by. + +EXPLORATION OF THE WEST.--West of Missouri the country was still a +wilderness overrun by Indians, and by buffalo and other wild animals. Many +believed it to be almost uninhabitable. Pike, who (1806-7) marched across +the plains from St. Louis to the neighborhood of Pikes Peak and on to the +upper waters of the Rio Grande, and Long, who (1820) followed Pike, +brought back dismal accounts of the country. Pike reported that the banks +of the Kansas, the Platte, and the Arkansas rivers might "admit of a +limited population," but not the plains. Long said the country west of +Council Bluffs "is almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course +uninhabitable by people depending on agriculture," and that beyond the +Rockies it was "destined to be the abode of perfect desolation." + +[Illustration: BUFFALO RUNNING AWAY FROM A PRAIRIE FIRE.] + +THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.--This started the belief that in the West was a +great desert, and for many years geographers indicated such a desert on +their maps. It covered most of what is now Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, +and parts of Texas, Colorado, and South Dakota. One geographer (1835) +declared, "a large part maybe likened to the Great Sahara or African +Desert." + +THE NORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY.--When Louisiana was purchased in 1803 no +boundary was given it on the north or west. + +By treaty with Great Britain in 1818, the 49th parallel was made our +northern boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky +Mountains. [17] + +THE OREGON COUNTRY.--The country west of the sources of the Missouri River +and the Rocky Mountains, the region drained by the Columbia, or as it was +sometimes called, the Oregon River, was claimed by both Great Britain and +the United States. As neither would yield, it was agreed that the Oregon +country should be held jointly for a time. [18] + +THE SPANISH BOUNDARY.--South of Oregon and west of the mountains lay the +possessions of Spain, with which country in 1819 we made a treaty, fixing +the western limits of the Louisiana Purchase. We began by claiming as far +as the Rio Grande, and asking for Florida. We ended by accepting the line +shown on the map, p. 278, and buying Florida. [19] + + +SUMMARY + +1. The treaty of peace in 1814 left several issues unsettled; it was +therefore followed by a trade treaty with Great Britain, an agreement to +limit naval power on the northern lakes, and (1818) a treaty about +fisheries in British waters. + +2. The suspension of specie payments by the state banks during the war +caused such disorder in the currency that a national bank was chartered to +regulate it. + +3. The embargo, by cutting off importation of British goods, encouraged +home manufactures. Heavy importations after the war injured home +manufactures, and to help them Congress enacted a protective tariff law. + +4. Despite commercial troubles and the war, the people were prosperous. +New towns were founded, travel was improved, the steamboat was introduced, +and the West grew rapidly. + +5. After 1815 a great wave of population poured over the West. + +6. Seven new states were admitted between 1812 and 1821. + +7. A struggle for the trade of the growing West led to the building of the +Erie Canal. + +8. A struggle over slavery led to the Missouri Compromise (1820). + +9. By treaties with Great Britain and Spain, boundaries of the Louisiana +Purchase were established, Florida was purchased, and the Oregon country +was held jointly with Great Britain. + +[Illustration: AN OLD STAGECOACH.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] A serious quarrel over the West Indian trade now arose and was not +settled till 1830. Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, +Vol. V, pp. 483-487. + +[2] The agreement of 1817 provided that each power might have one armed +vessel on Lake Ontario, two on the upper lakes, and one on Lake Champlain. +Each vessel was to have but one eighteen-pound cannon. All other armed +vessels were to be dismantled and no others were to be built or armed. In +Europe such a water boundary between two powers would have been guarded by +strong fleets and forts and many armed men. + +[3] The fishery treaty provides (1) that our citizens may _forever_ catch +and dry fish on certain parts of the coasts of Newfoundland and of +Labrador; (2) that they may not catch fish within three miles of any other +of the coasts of the British dominions in America; (3) that our fishermen +may enter the harbors on these other coasts for shelter, or to obtain +water, or wood, or to repair damages, "and for no other purpose whatever." + +[4] As to the straits to which people were put for small change, read +McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. IV, pp. 297-298. + +[5] This bank had branches in the various states, and specie could be had +for its notes at any branch. Hence its notes passed at their face value +over all the country, and became, like specie, of the same value +everywhere. Authority to charter the bank was found in the provision of +the Constitution giving Congress power to "regulate the currency." + +[6] Thirty-nine of our colleges, theological seminaries, and universities +were founded between 1783 and 1820. + +[7] For Rumsey and Fitch, see p. 239. William Longstreet in 1790 tried a +small model steamboat on the Savannah River; and in 1794 Elijah Ormsbee at +Providence and Samuel Morey on Long Island Sound, in 1796 John Fitch on a +pond in New York city, in 1797 Morey on the Delaware, in 1802 Oliver Evans +at Philadelphia, and in 1804 and 1806 John Stevens at Hoboken, +demonstrated that boats could be moved by steam. But none had made the +steamboat a practical success. + +[8] The state of New York gave Fulton and his partner, Livingston, the +sole right to use steamboats on the waters of the state. This monopoly was +evaded by using teamboats, on which the machinery that turned the paddle +wheel was moved by six or eight horses hitched to a crank and walking +round and round in a circle on the deck. Teamboats were used chiefly as +ferryboats. Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. IV, +pp. 397-407. + +[9] Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. IV, pp. +381-394. All the great highways to the West were crowded with bands of +emigrants. In nine days 260 wagons bound for the West passed through one +New York town. At Easton, in Pennsylvania, on a favorite route from New +England (map, p. 194), 511 wagons accompanied by 3066 persons passed in a +month. A tollgate keeper on another route reported 2000 families as having +passed during nine months. From Alabama, whither people were hurrying to +settle on the cotton lands, came reports of a migration quite as large. +When the census of 1820 was taken, the returns showed that there were but +75 more people in Delaware in 1820 than there were in 1810. In the city of +Charleston there were 24,711 people in 1810 and 24,780 in 1820. In many +states along the seaboard the rate of increase of population was less +during the census period 1810-20 than it had been before, because of the +great numbers who had left for the West. + +[10] If the newcomer chose some settlement for his home, the neighbors +would gather when the logs were cut, hold a "raising," and build his cabin +in the course of one day. Tables, chairs, and other furniture were +generally made by the settler with his own hands. Brooms and brushes were +of corn husks, and many of his utensils were cut from the trunks of trees. +"I know of no scene more primitive," said a Kentucky pioneer, "than such a +cabin hearth as that of my mother's. In the morning a buckeye backlog, a +hickory forestick, resting on stones, with a johnny cake on a clean ash +board, set before the fire to bake; a frying pan with its long handle +resting on a splint-bottom chair, and a teakettle swung from a log pole, +with myself setting the table, or turning the meat. Then came the blowing +of the conch-shell for father in the field, the howling of old Lion, the +gathering around the table, the blessing, the dull clatter of pewter +spoons on pewter dishes, and the talk about the crops and stock." + +[11] For an account of the social conditions in 1820, read McMaster's +_History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. IV, Chap, xxxvii; also +Eggleston's _Circuit Rider_, Cooper's _Prairie_, and _Recollections of +Life in Ohio_, by W. C. Howells. + +[12] A story is told of an early settler who was elected to the +territorial legislature of Illinois. Till then he had always worn buckskin +clothes, but thinking them unbecoming a lawmaker, he and his sons gathered +hazel nuts and bartered them at the crossroads store for a few yards of +blue strouding, out of which the women of the settlement made him a coat +and pantaloons. + +[13] On the Ohio River floated odd craft of many sorts. There were timber +rafts from the mountain streams; pirogues built of trunks of trees; +broadhorns; huge pointed and covered hulks carrying 50 tons of freight and +floating downstream with the current and upstream by means of poles, +sails, oars, or ropes; keel boats for upstream work, with long, narrow, +pointed bow and stern, roofed, manned with a crew of ten men, and +propelled with setting poles; flatboats which went downstream with the +pioneer never to come back--flat-bottomed, box-shaped craft manned by a +crew of six, kept in the current by oars 30 feet long called "sweeps" and +a steering oar 50 feet long at the stern. Those intended to go down the +Mississippi were strongly built, roofed over, and known as "Orleans +boats." "Kentucky flatboats" for use on the Ohio were half roofed and +slighter. Mingled with these were arks, galleys, rafts, and shanty boats +of every sort, and floating shops carrying goods, wares, and merchandise +to every farmhouse and settlement along the river bank. Now it would be a +floating lottery office, where tickets were sold for pork, grain, or +produce; now a tinner's establishment, where tinware was sold or mended; +now a smithy, where horses and oxen were shod and wagons mended; now a +factory for the manufacture of axes, scythes, and edge tools; now a dry- +goods shop fitted up just as were such shops in the villages, and filled +with all sorts of goods and wares needed by the settlers. + +[14] This canal was originally a ditch 4 feet deep, 40 feet wide, and 363 +miles long. The chief promoter was De Witt Clinton. The opponents of the +canal therefore called it in derision "Clinton's big ditch," and declared +that it could never be made a success. But Clinton and his friends carried +the canal to completion, and in 1825 a fleet of canal boats left Buffalo, +went through the canal, down the Hudson, and out into New York Bay. There +fresh water brought from Lake Erie in a keg was poured into the salt water +of the Atlantic. + +[15] It was once hoped that Southern states also would in time abolish +slavery; but as more and more land was devoted to cotton raising in the +South, the demand for slave labor there increased. The South came to +regard slavery as necessary for her prosperity, and to desire its +extension to more territory. + +[16] Meantime Arkansas (1819) had been organized as a slave-holding +territory. As Missouri had to make a state constitution and submit it to +Congress she did not enter the Union till 1821. The Compromise line 36° +30' was part of the south boundary of Missouri and extended to the 100th +meridian. Missouri did not have the present northwestern boundary till +1836; compare maps on pp. 279 and 331. On the Compromise read the speech +of Senator Rufus King, in Johnston's _American Orations_, Vol. II, pp. 33- +62; and that of Senator Pinckney, pp. 63-101. + +[17] By the treaty with Great Britain in 1783 a line was to be drawn from +the Lake of the Woods _due west_ to the Mississippi. This was impossible, +but the difficulty was ended by the treaty of 1818. From the +northwesternmost point of the Lake of the Woods a line (as the treaty +provides) is drawn due south to the 49th parallel. This makes a little +knob on our boundary. + +[18] We claimed it because in 1792 Captain Gray, in the ship _Columbia_, +discovered the river, entered, and named it after his ship; because in +1805-6 Lewis and Clark explored both its main branches and spent the +winter near its mouth; and because in 1811 an American fur-trading post, +Astoria, was built on the banks of the Columbia near its mouth. Great +Britain claimed a part of it because of explorations under Vancouver +(1792), and occupation of various posts by the Hudson's Bay Company. At +first Oregon was the country drained by the Columbia River. Through our +treaty with Spain, in 1819, part of the 42d parallel was made the southern +boundary. In 1824, by treaty with Russia, the country which then owned +Alaska, 54° 40' became the northern boundary. The Rocky Mountains were +understood to be the eastern limit. + +[19] What is called the purchase of Florida consisted in releasing Spain +from all liability for damages of many sorts inflicted on our citizens +from 1793 to the date of the treaty, and paying them ourselves; the sum +was not to exceed $5,000,000. + +[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES IN 1824.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING + + +THE PARTY ISSUES.--The issues which divided the Federalists and the +Republicans from 1793 to 1815 arose chiefly from our foreign relations. +Neutrality, French decrees, British orders in council, search, +impressment, the embargo, non-intercourse, the war, were the matters that +concerned the people. Soon after 1815 all this changed; Napoleon was a +prisoner at St. Helena, Europe was at peace, and domestic issues began to +be more important. + +THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING.--The election of 1816, however, was decided +chiefly on the issues of the war. James Monroe, [1] the Republican +candidate for President, was elected by a very large majority over Rufus +King. During Monroe's term domestic issues were growing up, but had not +become national. They were rather sectional. Party feeling subsided, and +this was so noticeable that his term was called "the Era of Good Feeling." +In this condition of affairs the Federalist party died out, and when +Monroe was renominated in 1820, no competitor appeared. [1] The +Federalists presented no candidate. + +POLITICAL EVENTS.--The chief political events of Monroe's first term +(1817-21), as we have seen, were the admission of several new states, the +Compromise of 1820, and the treaties of 1818 and 1819, with Great Britain +and Spain. The chief political events of his second term (1821-25) were: a +dispute over the disposition of public lands in the new states; [3] a +dispute over the power of Congress to aid the building of roads and +canals, called "internal improvements"; the recognition of the +independence of South American colonies of Spain; the announcement of the +Monroe Doctrine; the passage of a new tariff act; and the breaking up of +the Republican party. + +THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS.--In 1808 Napoleon invaded Spain, drove out +the king, and placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. Thereupon +many of the Spanish colonies in America rebelled and organized themselves +as republics. When Napoleon was sent to St. Helena, the Spanish king (who +was restored in 1814) brought back most of the colonies to their +allegiance. La Plata, however, rebelled, and was quickly followed by the +others. In 1822 President Monroe recognized the independence of La Plata +(Argentina), Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and Central America. + +THE HOLY ALLIANCE.--The king of Spain, unable to conquer the revolted +colonies, applied for aid to the Holy Alliance which was formed by Russia, +Prussia, Austria, and France for the purpose of maintaining monarchical +government in Europe. For a while these powers did nothing, but in 1823 +they called a conference to consider the question of restoring to Spain +her South American colonies. But the South American republics had won +their independence from Spain, and had been recognized by us as sovereign +powers; what right had other nations to combine and force them back again +to the condition of colonies? In his annual message (December, 1823), the +President therefore took occasion to make certain announcements which have +ever since been called the Monroe Doctrine. [4] + +[Illustration: AN OLD-TIME SOFA.] + +THE MONROE DOCTRINE.--Referring to the conduct of the Holy Alliance, he +said-- + +1. That the United States would not meddle in the political affairs of +Europe. + +2. That European governments must not extend their system to any part of +North and South America, nor in any way seek to control the destiny of any +of the nations of this hemisphere. + +As Russia had been attempting to plant a colony on the coast of +California, which was then a part of Mexico, the President announced (as +another part of the doctrine)-- + +3. That the American continents were no longer open for colonization by +European powers. + +[Illustration: AN OLD-TIME PIANO.] + +THE TARIFF OF 1824.--Failure of the tariff of 1816 to shut out British +manufactures, the hard times of 1819, and the general ruin of business led +to a demand for another tariff in 1820. To this the cotton states were +bitterly opposed. In the South there were no manufacturing centers, no +great manufacturing industries of any sort. The planters sold their cotton +to the North and (chiefly) to Great Britain, from which they bought almost +all kinds of manufactured goods they used. Naturally, they wanted low +duties on their imported articles; just enough tax to support the +government and no more. + +In the North, especially in towns now almost wholly given up to +manufactures, as Lynn and Lowell and Fall River and Providence and Cohoes +and Paterson and others; in regions where the farmers were raising sheep +for wool; in Pennsylvania, where iron was mined; and in Kentucky, where +the hemp fields were, people wanted domestic manufactures protected by a +high tariff. + +The struggle was a long one. At each session of Congress from 1820 to 1824 +the question came up. Finally in 1824 a new tariff for protection was +enacted despite the efforts of the South and part of New England. + +BREAKING UP OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.--Though the three questions of +internal improvements, the tariff, and the use of the public lands led to +bitter disputes, they did less to break up the party harmony than the +action of the leaders. After the second election of Monroe the question of +his successor at once arose. The people of Tennessee nominated Andrew +Jackson; South Carolina named the Secretary of War, Calhoun; Kentucky +wanted Henry Clay, who had long been speaker of the House of +Representatives; the New England states were for John Quincy Adams, the +Secretary of State. Finally the usual party caucus of Republican members +of Congress nominated Crawford of Georgia, the Secretary of the Treasury. + +THE ELECTION OF 1824-25.--The withdrawal of Calhoun from the race for the +presidency left in it Adams, Clay, Crawford, and Jackson, representing the +four sections of the country--Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest. +As no one had a majority of the electoral votes, it became the duty of the +House of Representatives to elect one from the three who had received the +highest votes. [5] They were Jackson, Adams, and Crawford. The House chose +Adams, [6] who was duly inaugurated in 1825. [7] The electoral college had +elected Calhoun Vice President. [8] + +THE CHARGE OF CORRUPTION.--The friends of Jackson were bitterly +disappointed by his defeat. He was "the Man of the People," had received +the highest number of electoral votes (though not a majority), and ought, +they said, to have been elected by the House. That he had not been elected +was due, they claimed, to a bargain: Clay was to urge his friends to vote +for Adams; if elected, Adams was to make Clay Secretary of State. No such +bargain was ever made. But after Adams became President he appointed Clay +Secretary of State, and then the supporters of Jackson were convinced that +the charge was true. + +RISE OF THE NEW PARTIES.--The legislature of Tennessee, therefore, at once +renominated Jackson, and about him gathered all who, for any reason, +disliked Adams and Clay, all who were opposed to the tariff and internal +improvements, or wanted "a man of the people" for President. They were +called Jackson men, or Democratic Republicans. + +Adams, it was well known, would also be renominated, as the candidate of +the supporters of the tariff and internal improvements. They were the +Adams men, or National Republicans. Thus was the once harmonious +Republican party broken into fragments, out of which grew two distinctly +new parties. + +[Illustration: LETTER WRITTEN BY JACKSON, THEN A SENATOR.] + +THE TARIFF OF 1828.--The act of 1824 not proving satisfactory to the +growers and manufacturers of wool, a new tariff law was enacted in 1828. +So many and so high were the duties laid that the opponents of protection +named the law the Tariff of Abominations. To the cotton states it was +particularly hateful, and in memorials, resolutions, and protests they +declared that a tariff for protection was unconstitutional, unjust, and +oppressive. They made threats of ceasing to trade with the tariff states, +and talked of nullifying, or refusing to obey the law, and even of leaving +the Union. + +THE ELECTION OF 1828.--Great as was the excitement in the South over this +new tariff law, it produced little effect in the struggle for the +presidency. The campaign had really been going on for three years past and +would have ended in the election of Jackson had the tariff never existed. +"Old Hickory," the "Hero of New Orleans," the "Man of the People," was +more than ever the favorite of the hour, and though his party was anti- +tariff he carried states where the voters were deeply interested in the +protection of manufactures. Indeed, he received more than twice the number +of electoral votes cast for Adams. [9] + + +SUMMARY + +1. After the election of Monroe (1816) the Federalist party died out, the +old party issues disappeared, and Monroe's term is known as the Era of +Good Feeling. + +2. The South American colonies of Spain, having rebelled, formed +republics, and were recognized by the United States. To prevent +interference with them by European powers, especially by the Holy +Alliance, Monroe announced the doctrine now known by his name (1823). + +3. The growth of the West and the rise of new states brought up the +question of internal improvements at national expense. + +4. The growth of manufactures brought up the question of more protection +and a new tariff. In 1824 a new tariff law was enacted, in spite of the +opposition of the South, which had no manufactures and imported largely +from Great Britain. + +5. These issues, which were largely sectional, and the action of certain +leaders, split the Republican party, and led to the nomination of four +presidential candidates in 1824. + +6. The electors failed to choose a President, but did elect a Vice +President. Adams was then elected President by the House of +Representatives. + +7. A new tariff was enacted in 1828, though the South opposed it even more +strongly than the tariff of 1824. + +8. In 1828 Jackson, one of the candidates defeated in 1824, was elected +President. + +[Illustration: A CONESTOGA WAGON, SUCH AS WAS IN USE ABOUT 1825.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] James Monroe was a Virginian, born in 1758; he entered William and +Mary College, served in the Continental army, was a member of the Virginia +Assembly, of the Continental Congress for three years, and of the Virginia +convention that adopted the Federal Constitution in 1788. He strongly +opposed the adoption of the Constitution. As United States senator (1790- +94), he opposed Washington's administration; but was sent as minister to +France (1794-96). In 1799-1802 Monroe was governor of Virginia, and then +was sent to France to aid Livingston in the purchase of Louisiana; was +minister to Great Britain 1804-6, and in 1811-17 was Secretary of State, +and in 1814-15 acted also as Secretary of War. In 1817-25 he was +President. He died in 1831. + +[2] Monroe carried every state in the Union and was entitled to every +electoral vote. But one elector did not vote for him, in order that +Washington might still have the honor of being the only President +unanimously elected. + +[3] In the new Western states were great tracts which belonged to the +United States, and which the Western states now asked should be given to +them, or at least be sold to them for a few cents an acre. The East +opposed this, and asked for gifts of Western land which they might sell so +as to use the money to build roads and canals and establish free schools. + +[4] Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. V, pp. +28-54. + +[5] Jackson had 99 votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. The +Constitution (Article XII of the amendments) provides that if no person +have a majority of the electoral votes, "then from the persons having the +highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as +President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by +ballot, the President." + +[6] By a vote of 13 states, against 7 for Jackson, and 4 for Crawford. + +[7] John Quincy Adams was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767, went +with his father John Adams to France, and spent several years abroad; then +graduated from Harvard, studied law, and was appointed by Washington +minister to the Netherlands and then to Portugal, and in 1797 to Prussia. +He was a senator from Massachusetts in 1803-8. In 1809 Madison sent him as +minister to Russia, where he was when the war opened in 1812. Of the five +commissioners at Ghent he was the ablest and the most conspicuous. In 1815 +Madison appointed him minister to Great Britain, and in 1817 he came home +to be Secretary of State under Monroe. In 1831 he became a member of the +House of Representatives and continued as such till stricken in the House +with paralysis in February, 1848. + +[8] John Caldwell Calhoun was born in South Carolina in 1782, entered Yale +College in 1802, studied law, and became a lawyer at Abbeville, South +Carolina, in 1807. In 1808 he went to the legislature, and in 1811 entered +Congress, and was appointed chairman of the committee on foreign +relations. As such he wrote the report and resolutions in favor of war +with Great Britain. At this period of his career he favored a liberal +construction of the Constitution, and supported the tariff of 1816, the +charter of the Second Bank of the United States, and internal +improvements. He was Secretary of War in Monroe's Cabinet, and was Vice +President from 1825 until 1832, when he resigned and entered the Senate, +where he remained most of the time till his death in 1850. + +[9] This election is noteworthy also as the first in which nearly all the +states chose electors by popular vote. Only two of the twenty-four states +made the choice by vote of the legislature; in the others the popular vote +for Jackson electors numbered 647,276 and that for Adams electors 508,064. +A good book on presidential elections is _A History of the Presidency_, by +Edward Stanwood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +POLITICS FROM 1829 TO 1841 + + +In many respects the election of Jackson [1] was an event of as much +political importance as was the election of Jefferson. Men hailed it as +another great uprising of the people, as another triumph of democracy. +They acted as if the country had been delivered from impending evil, and +hurried by thousands to Washington to see the hero inaugurated and the era +of promised reform opened. [2] + +THE NEW PARTY.--Jackson treated the public offices as the "spoils of +victory," and within a few weeks hundreds of postmasters, collectors of +revenue, and other officeholders were turned out, and their places given +to active workers for Jackson. This "spoils system" was new in national +politics and created immense excitement. But it was nothing more than an +attempt to build up a new national party in the same way that parties had +already been built up in some of the states. [3] + +JACKSON AS PRESIDENT.--In many respects Jackson's administration was the +most exciting the country had yet experienced. Never since the days of +President John Adams had party feeling run so high. The vigorous +personality of the President, his intense sincerity, his determination to +do, at all hazards, just what he believed to be right, made him devoted +friends and bitter enemies and led to his administration being often +called the Reign of Andrew Jackson. The questions with which he had to +deal were of serious importance, and on the solution of some of them hung +the safety of the republic. + +[Illustration: GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON.] + +THE SOUTH CAROLINA DOCTRINE.--Such a one was the old issue of the tariff. +The view of the South as set forth by the leaders, especially by Calhoun +of South Carolina, was that the state ought to nullify the Tariff Act of +1828 because it was unconstitutional. [4] Daniel Webster attacked this +South Carolina doctrine and (1830) argued the issue with Senator Hayne of +South Carolina. The speeches of the two men in the Senate, the debate +which followed, and the importance of the issue, make the occasion a +famous one in our history. That South Carolina would go so far as actually +to carry out the doctrine and nullify the tariff did not seem likely. But +the seriousness of South Carolina alarmed the friends of the tariff, and +in 1832 Congress amended the act of 1828 and reduced the duties. + +SOUTH CAROLINA NULLIFIES THE TARIFF.--This did not satisfy South Carolina. +The new tariff still protected manufactures, and it was protection that +she opposed; and in November, 1832, she adopted the Ordinance of +Nullification, which forbade any of her citizens to pay the tariff duties +after February 1, 1833. + +When Congress met in December, 1832, the great question was what to do +with South Carolina. Jackson was determined the law should be obeyed, [5] +sent vessels to Charleston harbor, and asked for a Force Act to enable him +to collect the revenue by force if necessary. [6] + +THE GREAT DEBATE.--In the course of the debate on the Force Act, Calhoun +(who had resigned the vice presidency and had been elected a senator from +South Carolina) explained and defended nullification and contended that it +was a peaceable and lawful remedy and a proper exercise of state rights. +Webster [7] denied that the Constitution was a mere compact, declared that +nullification and secession were rebellion, and upheld the authority and +sovereignty of the Union. [8] + +[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF DANIEL WEBSTER.] + +THE COMPROMISE OF 1833.--Clay meantime came forward with a compromise. He +proposed that the tariff of 1832 should be reduced gradually till 1842, +when all duties should be twenty per cent on the value of the articles +imported. As such duties would not be protective, Calhoun and the other +Southern members accepted the plan, and the Compromise Tariff was passed +in March, 1833. [10] To satisfy the North arid uphold the authority of the +government, the Force Act also was passed. But as South Carolina repealed +the Ordinance of Nullification there was never any need to use force. + +FIRST NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS.--In the midst of the excitement +over the tariff, came the election of 1832. Since 1824, when the +Republican party was breaking up, presidential candidates had been +nominated by state legislatures and caucuses of members of state +legislatures. But in 1831 the Antimasons [11] held a convention at +Baltimore, nominated William Wirt and Amos Ellmaker for President and Vice +President, and so introduced the national nominating convention. + +The example thus set was quickly followed: in December, 1831, a national +convention of National Republicans nominated Clay (then a senator) for +President, and John Sergeant for Vice President. In May, 1832, a national +convention of Jackson men, or Democrats as some called them, nominated +Martin Van Buren for Vice President. There was no need to renominate +Jackson, for in a letter to some friends he had already declared himself a +candidate, and many state legislatures had made the nomination. He was +still the idol of the people and was re-elected by a greater majority than +in 1828. + +THE BANK ATTACKED.--One of the issues in the campaign was the recharter of +the Bank of the United States, whose charter was to expire in 1836. +Jackson always hated that institution, had attacked it in his annual +messages, and had vetoed (1832) a recharter bill passed (for political +effect) by Clay and his friends in Congress. + +REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS.--Jackson therefore looked upon his reflection as +a popular approval of his treatment of the bank. He continued to attack +it, and in 1833 requested the Secretary of the Treasury, William Duane, to +remove the deposits of government money from the bank and its branches. +When Duane refused, Jackson turned him out of office and put in Roger B. +Taney, who made the removal. [12] + +The Senate passed resolutions, moved by Clay, censuring the President for +this action; but Senator Benton of Missouri said that he would not rest +till the censure was expunged. Expunging now became a party question; +state after state instructed its senators to vote for it, and finally in +1837 the Senate ordered a black line to be drawn around the resolutions +and the words "Expunged by order of the Senate" to be written across them. + +RISE OF THE WHIG PARTY.--The hatred which the National Republicans felt +for Jackson was intense. They accused him of trying to set up a despotic +government, and, asserting that they were contending against the same kind +of tyranny our forefathers fought against in the War of Independence, they +called themselves Whigs. In the state elections of 1834 the new name came +into general use, and thenceforth for many years there was a national Whig +party. + +THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT.--The Missouri Compromise was supposed to have +settled the issue of slavery. But its effect was just the reverse. +Antislavery agitators were aroused. The antislavery newspapers grew more +numerous and aggressive. New antislavery societies were formed and old +ones were revived and became aggressive, and in 1833 delegates from many +of them met at Philadelphia and formed the American Antislavery Society. +[13] + +ANTISLAVERY DOCUMENTS.--The field of work for the anti-slavery people was +naturally the South. That section was flooded with newspapers, pamphlets, +pictures, and handbills intended to stir up sentiment for instant +abolition of slavery and liberation of the slaves. + +[Illustration: SLAVE QUARTERS ON A SOUTHERN PLANTATION.] + +Against this the South protested, declared such documents were likely to +cause slaves to run away or rise in insurrection, and called on the North +to suppress them. + +PROSLAVERY MOBS.--To stop their circulation by legal means was not +possible; so attempts were made to do it by illegal means. In many +Northern cities, as Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Utica, and elsewhere, +mobs broke up the antislavery meetings. In Charleston, South Carolina, the +postmaster seized some antislavery documents and the people burned them. +At Cincinnati the newspaper office of James G. Birney was twice sacked and +his presses destroyed (1836). Another at Alton, Illinois, was four times +attacked, and the owner, Elijah Lovejoy, was at last killed by the mob +while protecting his press. + +THE RIGHT OF PETITION.--Not content with this, the pro-slavery people +attempted to pass a bill through Congress (1836) to exclude antislavery +documents from the mails, and even attacked the right of petition. The +bill to close the mails to antislavery documents failed. But the attempt +to exclude antislavery petitions from the House of Representatives +succeeded: a "Gag Rule" was adopted which forbade any petition, +resolution, or paper relating in any way to slavery or the abolition of +slavery to be received, and this was in force down to 1844. [14] + +OUR COUNTRY OUT OF DEBT.--Despite all this political commotion our country +for years past had prospered greatly. In this prosperity the government +had shared. Its income had far exceeded its expenses, and by using the +surplus year by year to reduce the national debt it succeeded in paying +the last dollar by 1835. + +THE SURPLUS.--After the debt was extinguished a surplus still remained, +and was greatly increased by a sudden speculation in public lands, so that +by the middle of 1836 the government had more than $40,000,000 of surplus +money in the banks. + +What to do with the money was a serious question, and all sorts of uses +were suggested. But Congress decided that from the surplus as it existed +on January 1, 1837, $5,000,000 should be subtracted and the remainder +distributed among the states in four installments. [15] + +THE ELECTION OF VAN BUREN.--When the time came to choose a successor to +Jackson, a Democratic national convention nominated Martin Van Buren, with +Richard M. Johnson for Vice President. The Whigs were too disorganized to +hold a national convention; but most of them favored William Henry +Harrison for President. Van Buren was elected (1836); but no candidate for +Vice President received a majority of the electoral vote. The duty of +choosing that officer therefore passed to the United States Senate, which +elected Richard M. Johnson. + +THE ERA OF SPECULATION.--On March 4, 1837, Van Buren [16] entered on a +term made memorable by one of the worst panics our country has +experienced. From 1834 to 1836 was a period of wild speculation. Money was +plentiful and easy to borrow, and was invested in all sorts of schemes by +which people expected to make fortunes. Millions of acres of the public +land were bought and held for a rise in price. Real estate in the cities +sold for fabulous prices. Cotton, timber lands in Maine, railroad, canal, +bank, and state stocks, and lots in Western towns which had no existence +save on paper, all were objects of speculation. + +[Illustration: NEW YORK MERCHANT, 1837.] + +PANIC OF 1837.--Money used for these purposes was borrowed largely from +the state banks, and much of it was the surplus which the government had +deposited in the banks. When, therefore, in January, 1837, the government +drew out one quarter of its surplus to distribute among the states, the +banks were forced to stop making loans and call in some of the money they +had lent. This hurt business of every sort. Quite unexpectedly the price +of cotton fell; this ruined many. Business men failed by scores, and the +merchants of New York appealed to Van Buren to assemble Congress and stop +the further distribution of the surplus. Van Buren refused, and the banks +of New York city suspended specie payment, that is, no longer redeemed +their notes in gold and silver. Those in every other state followed, and a +panic swept over the country. [17] + +THE NEW NATIONAL DEBT.--With business at a standstill, the national +revenues fell off; and the desperate financial state of the country forced +Van Buren to call Congress together in September. By that time the third +installment of the surplus had been paid to the states, and times were +harder than ever. To mend matters Congress suspended payment of the fourth +installment, and authorized the debts of the government to be paid in +treasury notes. This put our country again in debt, and it has ever since +remained so. + +POLITICAL DISCONTENT.--As always happens in periods of financial distress, +hard times bred political discontent. The Whigs laid all the blame on the +Democrats, who, they said, had destroyed the United States Bank, and by +their reckless financial policy had caused the panic and the hard times. +Whether this was true or not, the people believed it, and various state +elections showed signs of a Whig victory in 1840. [18] + +THE LOG-CABIN CAMPAIGN.--The Whigs in their national convention nominated +William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. The Democrats renominated Van +Buren, but named no one for the vice presidency. The antislavery people, +in hopes of drawing off from the Whig and Democratic parties those who +were opposed to slavery, and so making a new party, nominated James G. +Birney. + +The Whig convention did not adopt a platform, but an ill-timed sneer at +Harrison furnished just what they needed. He would, a Democratic newspaper +said, be more at home in a log cabin drinking cider than living in the +White House as President. The Whigs hailed this sneer as an insult to the +millions of Americans who then lived, or had once lived, or whose parents +had dwelt in log cabins, and made the cabin the emblem of their party. Log +cabins were erected in every city, town, and village as Whig headquarters; +were mounted on wheels, were drawn from place to place, and lived in by +Whig stump speakers. Great mass meetings were held, and the whole campaign +became one of frolic, song, and torchlight processions. [19] The people +wanted a change. Harrison was an ideal popular candidate, and "Tippecanoe +[20] and Tyler too" and a Whig Congress were elected. + +DEATH OF HARRISON; TYLER PRESIDENT (1841).--As soon as Harrison was +inaugurated, a special session of Congress was called to undo the work of +the Democrats. But one month after inauguration day Harrison died, and +when Congress assembled, Tyler [21] was President. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The inauguration of Jackson was followed by the introduction of the +"spoils system" into national politics. + +2. The question of nullification was debated in the Senate by Webster and +Hayne. Under Calhoun's leadership, South Carolina nullified the tariff of +1832. Jackson asked for a Force Act; but the dispute was settled by the +Compromise of 1833. + +3. Jackson vigorously opposed the Bank of the United States, and after his +reëlection he ordered the removal of the government deposits. + +4. This period is notable in the history of political parties for (1) the +introduction of the national nominating convention, (2) the rise of the +Whig party, (3) the formation of the antislavery party. + +5. Slavery was now a national issue. An attempt was made to shut +antislavery documents out of the mails, and antislavery petitions were +shut out of the House of Representatives. + +6. Financially, Jackson's second term is notable for (1) the payment of +the national debt, (2) the growth of a great surplus in the treasury, (3) +the distribution of the surplus among the states. + +7. The manner of distributing the surplus revenue among the states +interrupted a period of wild speculation and brought on the panic of 1837. + +8. Van Buren, who succeeded Jackson as President, called a special session +of Congress; and the fourth installment of the surplus was withheld. + +9. Financial distress, hard times, and general discontent led to a demand +for a change; and the log-cabin, hard-cider campaign that followed ended +with the election of Harrison (1840). + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Andrew Jackson was born in Waxhaw, North Carolina, 1767, but always +considered himself a native of South Carolina, for the place of his birth +was on the border of the two states. During the Revolution a party of +British came to the settlement where Jackson lived. An officer ordered the +boy to clean his boots, and when Jackson refused, struck him with a sword, +inflicting wounds on his head and arm. Andrew and his brothers were taken +prisoners to Camden. His mother obtained his release and shortly after +died while on her way to nurse the sick prisoners in Charleston. Left an +orphan, Jackson worked at saddlery, taught school, studied law, and went +to Tennessee in 1788; was appointed a district attorney, in 1796 was the +first representative to Congress from the state of Tennessee, and in 1797 +became one of its senators. In 1798-1804 he was one of the judges of the +Tennessee supreme court. His military career began in 1813-14, when he +beat the Indians in the Creek War. In 1814 he was made a major general, in +1815 won the battle of New Orleans, and in 1818 beat the Seminoles in +Florida. He was the first governor of the territory of Florida. He died in +June, 1845. Read the account of Jackson's action in the Seminole War and +the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, in McMaster's _History of the +People of the U. S._, Vol. IV, pp. 439-456. + +[2] The inauguration was of the simplest kind. Uncovered, on foot, +escorted by the committee in charge, and surrounded on both sides by gigs, +wood wagons, hacks full of women and children, and followed by thousands +of men from all parts of the country, Jackson walked from his hotel to the +Capitol and on the east portico took the oath of office. A wild rush was +then made by the people to shake his hand. With difficulty the President +reached a horse and started for the White House, "pursued by a motley +concourse of people, riding, running helter-skelter, striving who should +first gain admittance." So great was the crowd at the White House that +Jackson was pushed through the drawing room and would have been crushed +against the wall had not his friends linked arms and made a barrier about +him. The windows had to be opened to enable the crowd to leave the room. + +[3] Editors of newspapers that supported Jackson were given office or were +rewarded with public printing, and a party press devoted to the President +was thus established. To keep both workers and newspapers posted as to the +policy of the administration, there was set up at Washington a partisan +journal for which all officeholders were expected to subscribe. The +President, ignoring his secretaries, turned for advice to a few party +leaders whom the Adams men nicknamed the "Kitchen Cabinet." + +[4] Calhoun maintained (1) that the Constitution is a compact or contract +between the states; (2) that Congress can only exercise such power as this +compact gives it; (3) that when Congress assumes power not given it, and +enacts a law it has no authority to enact, any state may veto, or nullify, +that law, that is, declare it not a law within her boundary; (4) that +Congress has no authority to lay a tariff for any other purpose than to +pay the debts of the United States; (5) that the tariff to protect +manufactures was therefore an exercise of power not granted by the +Constitution. This view of the Constitution was held by the Southern +states generally. But as the two most ardent expounders of it were Hayne +and Calhoun, both of South Carolina, it was called the South Carolina +doctrine. + +[5] On the anniversary of Jefferson's birthday, April 13, 1830, a great +dinner was given in Washington at which nullification speeches were made +in response to toasts. Jackson was present, and when called on for a toast +offered this: "Our Federal Union, it must be preserved." + +[6] Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. VI, pp. +153-163. + +[7] Daniel Webster was born in New Hampshire in 1782, graduated from +Dartmouth, studied law, wrote some pamphlets, and made several Fourth of +July orations, praising the Federal Constitution and denouncing the +embargo. In 1813 he entered Congress as a representative from New +Hampshire, but lost his seat by removing to Boston in 1816. In 1823 +Webster returned to Congress as a representative from one of the +Massachusetts districts, rose at once to a place of leadership, and in +1827 entered the United States Senate. By this time he was famous as an +orator. Passages from his speeches were recited by schoolboys, and such +phrases as "Our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country," +"Thank God, I, I also, am an American," "Independence _now_, and +Independence forever!" passed into everyday speech. In his second reply to +Hayne of South Carolina, defending and explaining the Constitution (p. +290), he closed with the words "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one +and inseparable." In 1836 he received the electoral vote of Massachusetts +for the presidency. He was a senator for many years, was twice Secretary +of State, and died in October, 1852. + +[9] Read the speeches of Calhoun in Johnston's _American Orations_, +Vol. I, pp. 303-319. + +[10] Shortly before February 1, 1833, the day on which nullification was +to go into effect, the South Carolina leaders met and suspended the +Ordinance of Nullification till March 3, the last day of the session of +Congress. This, of course, they had no power to do. The state authorities +did not think it wise to put the ordinance in force till they saw what +Congress would do with the tariff. + +[11] In 1826 a Mason named William Morgan, living at Batavia, in western +New York, threatened to reveal the secrets of masonry. But about the time +his book was to appear, he suddenly disappeared. The Masons were accused +of having killed him, and the people of western New York denounced them at +public meetings as members of a society dangerous to the state. A party +pledged to exclude Masons from public office was quickly formed and soon +spread into Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New England, where it became very +strong. + +[12] This so-called removal consisted in depositing the revenue, as it was +collected, in a few state banks, the "pet banks,"--instead of in the +United States Bank as before,--and gradually drawing out the money on +deposit with the United States Bank. Read an account of the interviews of +Jackson with committees from public meetings in McMaster's _History of +the People of the U. S._, Vol. VI, pp. 200-204. + +[13] The principles of this new society, formulated by William Lloyd +Garrison, were: (1) that each state had a right to regulate slavery within +its boundaries; (2) that Congress should stop the interstate slave trade; +(3) that Congress should abolish slavery in the territories and in the +District of Columbia; (4) that Congress should admit no more slave states +into the Union. + +[14] Read Whittier's poem _A Summons_--"Lines written on the adoption +of Pinckney's Resolutions." + +[15] The surplus on January 1, 1837, was $42,468,000. The amount to be +distributed therefore was $37,468,000. Only three installments (a little +over $28,000,000) were paid. For the use the states made of the money, +read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. VI, pp. 351- +358. + +[16] Martin Van Buren was born in New York state in 1782, studied law, +began his political career at eighteen, and held several offices before he +was sent to the state senate in 1812. From 1815 to 1819 he was attorney +general of New York, became United States senator in 1821, and was +reflected in 1827; but resigned in 1828 to become governor of New York. +Jackson appointed him Secretary of State in 1829; but he resigned in 1831 +and was sent as minister to Great Britain. The appointment was made during +a recess of the Senate, which later refused to confirm the appointment, +and Van Buren was forced to come home. Because of this "party persecution" +the Democrats nominated him for Vice President in 1832, and from 1833 to +1837 he had the pleasure of presiding over the body that had rejected him. +He died in 1862. + +[17] Specie payment was resumed in the autumn of 1838; but most of the +banks again suspended in 1839, and again in 1841. Read the account of the +panic in McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. VI, pp. +398-405. + +[18] Financial distress was not the only thing that troubled Van Buren's +administration. During 1837 many Canadians rebelled against misrule, and +began the "Patriot War" in their country. One of their leaders enlisted +aid in Buffalo, and seized a Canadian island in the Niagara River. The +steamer _Caroline_ was then run between this island and the New York +shore, carrying over visitors, and, it was claimed, guns and supplies. +This was unlawful, and one night in December, 1837, a force of Canadian +government troops rowed over to the New York shore, boarded the +_Caroline_, and destroyed her; it was a disputed question whether she +was burned and sunk, or whether she was set afire and sent over the Falls. +The whole border from Vermont to Michigan became greatly excited over this +invasion of our territory. Men volunteered in the "Patriot" cause, +supplies and money were contributed, guns were taken from government +arsenals, and raids were made into Canada. Van Buren sent General Scott to +the frontier, did what he could to preserve peace and neutrality, and thus +made himself unpopular in the border states. There was also danger of war +over the disputed northern boundary of Maine. State troops were sent to +the territory in dispute, along the Aroostook River (1839; map, p. 316); +but Van Buren made an unpopular agreement with the British minister, +whereby the troops were withdrawn and both sides agreed not to use force. + +[19] In the West, men came to these meetings in huge canoes and wagons of +all sorts, and camped on the ground. At one meeting the ground covered by +the people was measured, and allowing four to the square yard it was +estimated about 80,000 attended. Dayton, in Ohio, claimed 100,000 at her +meeting. At Bunker Hill there were 60,000. In the processions, huge balls +were rolled along to the cry, "Keep the ball a-rolling." Every log cabin +had a barrel of hard cider and a gourd drinking cup near it. On the walls +were coon skins, and the latch-string was always hanging out. More than a +hundred campaign songs were written and sung to popular airs. Every Whig +wore a log-cabin medal, or breastpin, or badge, or carried a log-cabin +cane. Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. VI, +pp. 550-588. + +[20] The battle fought in 1811, meaning Harrison, the victor in that +battle. See note on p. 254. + +[21] John Tyler was born in Virginia in 1790 and died in 1862. At twenty- +one he was elected to the legislature of Virginia, was elected to the +House of Representatives in 1821, and favored the admission of Missouri as +a slave state. In 1825 he became governor of Virginia, and in 1827 was +elected to the United States Senate. There he opposed the tariff and +internal improvements, supported Jackson, but condemned his proclamation +to the milliners, voted for the censure of Jackson, and when instructed by +Virginia to vote for expunging, refused and resigned from the Senate in +1836. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1820 TO 1840 + + +POPULATION.--When Harrison was elected in 1840, the population of our +country was 17,000,000, spread over twenty-six states and three +territories. Of these millions several hundred thousand had come from the +Old World. No records of such arrivals were kept before 1820; since that +date careful records have been made, and from them it appears that between +1820 and 1840 about 750,000 immigrants came to our shores. They were +chiefly from Ireland, England, and Germany. [1] + +[Illustration: SETTLED AREA IN 1840.] + +West of the mountains were over 6,000,000 people; yet but two Western +states, Arkansas (1836) and Michigan (1837), had been admitted to the +Union since 1821; and but two new Western territories, Wisconsin and Iowa, +had been organized. This meant that the Western states already admitted +were filling up with population. [2] + +[Illustration: A PUBLIC SCHOOL OF EARLY TIMES.] + +THE PUBLIC LANDS.--The rise of new Western states brought up the +troublesome question, What shall be done with the public lands? [3] The +Continental Congress had pledged the country to sell the lands and use the +money to pay the debt of the United States. Much was sold for this +purpose, but Congress set aside one thirty-sixth part of the public domain +for the use of local schools. [4] As the Western states made from the +public domain had received land grants for schools, many of the Eastern +states about 1821 asked for grants in aid of their schools. The Western +states objected, and both then and in later times asked that all the +public lands within their borders be given to them or sold to them for a +small sum. After 1824 efforts were made by Benton and others to reduce the +price of land to actual settlers. [5] But Congress did not adopt any of +these measures. After 1830, when the public debt was nearly paid, Clay +attempted to have the money derived from land sales distributed among all +the states. The question what to do with the lands was discussed year +after year. At last in 1841 (while Tyler was President) Clay's bill became +a law with the proviso that the money should not be distributed if the +tariff rates were increased. The tariff rates were soon increased (1842), +and but one distribution was made. + +THE INDIANS.--Another result of the filling up of the country was the +crowding of the Indians from their lands. They had always been regarded as +the rightful owners of the soil till their title should be extinguished by +treaty. Many such treaties had been made, ceding certain areas but +reserving others on which the whites were not to settle. But population +moved westward so rapidly that it seemed best to set apart a region beyond +the Mississippi and move all the Indians there as quickly as possible. [6] +In 1834, therefore, such a region, an "Indian Country," was created in +what was later called Indian Territory, and the work of removal began. + +In the South this proved a hard matter. In Georgia the Creeks and +Cherokees refused for a while to go, and by so doing involved the federal +government in serious trouble with Georgia and with the Indians. In 1835 +an attempt to move the Seminoles from Florida to the Indian Country caused +a war which lasted seven years and cost millions of dollars. [7] + +INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.--Another issue with which the growth of the West +had much to do was that of government aid to roads, canals, and railroads. +Much money was spent on the Cumberland Road; [18] but in 1817 Madison +vetoed a bill appropriating money to be divided among the states for +internal improvements, and from that time down to Van Buren's day the +question of the right of Congress to use money for such purposes was +constantly debated in Congress. [9] + +[Illustration: THE NATIONAL ROAD.] + +THE STATES BUILD CANALS AND ROADS.--All this time population was +increasing, the West was growing, interstate trade was developing, new +towns and villages were springing up, and farms increasing in number as +the people moved to the new lands. The need of cheap transportation became +greater and greater each year, and as Congress would do nothing, the +states took upon themselves the work of building roads and canals. + +What a canal could do to open up a country was shown when the Erie Canal +was finished in 1825 (see p. 273). So many people by that time had settled +along its route, that the value of land and the wealth of the state were +greatly increased. [10] The merchants of New York could then send their +goods up the Hudson, by the canal to Buffalo, and then to Cleveland or +Detroit, or by Chautauqua Lake and the Allegheny to Pittsburg, for about +one third of what it cost before the canal was opened (maps, pp. 267, +279). Buffalo began to grow with great rapidity, and in a few years its +trade had reached Chicago. In 1839 eight steamboats plied between these +two towns. + +A TRIP ON A CANAL PACKET.--Passengers traveled on the canal in packet +boats, as they were called. The hull of such a craft was eighty feet long +and eleven feet wide, and carried on its deck a long, low house with flat +roof and sloping sides. In each side were a dozen or more windows with +green blinds and red curtains. When the weather was fine, passengers sat +on the roof, reading, talking, or sewing, till the man at the helm called +"Low bridge!" when everybody would rush down the steps and into the cabin, +to come forth once more when the bridge was passed. Walking on the roof +when the packet was crowded was impossible. Those who wished such exercise +had to take it on the towpath. Three horses abreast could drag a packet +boat some four miles an hour. + +[Illustration: LOCKS ON THE ERIE CANAL, ROCKPORT, N.Y.] + +WESTERN ROUTES.--Aroused by the success of the Erie Canal, Pennsylvania +began a great highway from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. As planned, it was +to be part canal and part turnpike over the mountains. But before it was +completed, railroads came into use, and when finished, it was part +railroad, part canal. Not to be outdone by New York and Pennsylvania, the +people of Baltimore began the construction (1828) of the Baltimore and +Ohio Railroad, the first in the country for the carriage of passengers and +freight. [11] Massachusetts, alarmed at the prospect of losing her trade +with the West, appointed (1827) a commission and an engineer to select a +route for a railroad to join Boston and Albany. Ohio had already commenced +a canal from Cleveland to the Ohio. [12] + +EARLY RAILROADS.--The idea of a public railroad to carry freight and +passengers was of slow growth, [13] but once it was started more and more +miles were built every year, till by 1835 twenty-two railroads were in +operation. The longest of them was only one hundred and thirty-six miles +long; it extended from Charleston westward to the Savannah River, opposite +Augusta. These early railroads were made of wooden beams resting on stone +blocks set in the ground. The upper surface of the beams, where the wheels +rested, was protected by long strips or straps of iron spiked to the beam. +The spikes often worked loose, and, as the car passed over, the strap +would curl up and come through the bottom of the car, making what was +called a "snake head." + +[Illustration: AN EARLY RAILROAD.] + +What should be the motive power, was a troublesome question. The horse was +the favorite; it sometimes pulled the car, and sometimes walked on a +treadmill on the car. Sails were tried also, and finally locomotives. [14] + +Locomotives could not climb steep grades. When a hill was met with, the +road had to go around it, or if this was not possible, the engine had to +be taken off and the cars pulled up or let down an inclined plane by means +of a rope and stationary engine. [15] + +A TRIP ON AN EARLY RAILROAD.--A traveler from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, +in 1836, would set off about five o'clock in the morning for what was +called the depot. There his baggage would be piled on the roof of a car, +which was drawn by horses to the foot of an inclined plane on the bank of +the Schuylkill. Up this incline the car would be drawn by a stationary +engine and rope to the top of the river bank. When all the cars of the +train had been pulled up in this way, they would be coupled together and +made fast to a little puffing, wheezing locomotive without cab or brake, +whose tall smokestack sent forth volumes of wood smoke and red-hot +cinders. At Lancaster (map, p. 267) the railroad ended, and passengers +went by stage to Columbia on the Susquehanna, and then by canal packet up +that river and up the Juniata to the railroad at the foot of the +mountains. + +[Illustration: HANDBILL OF A PHILADELPHIA TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, OF +1835.] + +The mountains were crossed by the Portage Railroad, a series of inclined +planes and levels somewhat like a flight of steps. At Johnstown, west of +the Alleghenies, the traveler once more took a canal packet to Pittsburg. +[16] + +THE WEST BUILDS RAILROADS AND CANALS.--Prior to 1836 most of the railroads +and canals were in the East. But in 1836 the craze for internal +improvements raged in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, and in each an +elaborate system of railroads and canals was planned, to be built by the +state. Illinois in this way contracted a debt of $15,000,000; Indiana, +$10,000,000, and Michigan, $5,000,000. + +But scarcely was work begun on the canals and railroads when the panic of +1837 came, and the states were left with heavy debts and unfinished public +works that could not pay the cost of operating them. Some defaulted in the +payment of interest, and one even repudiated her bonds which she had +issued and sold to establish a great bank. + +THE MAILS.--As the means of transportation improved, the mails were +carried more rapidly, and into more distant parts of the country. By 1837 +it was possible to send a letter from New York to Washington in one day, +to New Orleans in less than seven days, to St. Louis in less than five +days, and to Buffalo in three days; and after 1838 mail was carried by +steamships to England in a little over two weeks. + +[Illustration: THE SAVANNAH.] + +OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.--In the month of May, 1819, the steamship +_Savannah_ left the city of that name for Liverpool, England, and reached +it in twenty-five days, using steam most of the way. She was a side- +wheeler with paddle wheels so arranged that in stormy weather they could +be taken in on deck. [17] + +No other steamships crossed the Atlantic till 1838, when the _Sirius_ +reached New York in eighteen days, and the _Great Western_ in sixteen +days from England. Others followed, in 1839 the Cunard line was founded, +and regular steam navigation of the Atlantic was established. + +EXPRESS.--Better means of communication made possible another convenience, +of which W. F. Harnden was the originator. He began in 1839 to carry +packages, bundles, money, and small boxes between New York and Boston, +traveling by steamboat and railroad. At first two carpetbags held all he +had to carry; but his business increased so rapidly that in 1840 P. B. +Burke and Alvin Adams started a rival concern which became the Adams +Express Company. + +[Illustration: CARPETBAG.] + +MECHANICAL DEVELOPMENT.--The greater use of the steamboat, the building of +railroads, and the introduction of the steam locomotive, were but a few +signs of the marvelous industrial and mechanical development of the times. +The growth and extent of the country, the opportunities for doing business +on a great scale, led to a demand for time-saving and labor-saving +machinery. + +One of the characteristics of the period 1820-40, therefore, is the +invention and introduction of such machinery. Boards were now planed, and +bricks pressed, by machine. It was during this period that the farmers +began to give up the flail for the thrashing machine; that paper was +extensively made from straw; that Fairbanks invented the platform scales; +that Colt invented the revolver; that steel pens were made by machine; and +that a rude form of friction match was introduced. [18] + +Anthracite coal was now in use in the large towns and cities, and grate +and coal stoves were displacing open fires and wood stoves, just as gas +was displacing candles and lamps. + +THE CITIES AND TOWNS.--The increase of manufacturing in the northeastern +part of the country caused the rise of large towns given up almost +exclusively to mills and factories and the homes of workmen. [19] The +increase of business, trade, and commerce, and the arrival of thousands of +immigrants each year, led to a rapid growth of population in the seaports +and chief cities of the interior. This produced many changes in city life. +The dingy oil lamps in the streets, lighted only when the moon did not +shine, were giving way to gas lights. The constable and the night watchman +with his rattle were being replaced by the policeman. Such had been the +increase in population and area of the chief cities, that some means of +cheap transportation about the streets was needed, and in 1830 a line of +omnibuses was started in New York city. So well did it succeed that other +lines were started; and three years later omnibuses were used in +Philadelphia. + +[Illustration: NEW YORK OMNIBUS, 1830. From a print of the time.] + +THE WORKINGMAN.--The growth of manufactures and the building of works of +internal improvement produced a demand for workmen of all sorts, and +thousands came over, or were brought over, from the Old World. The +unskilled were employed on the railroads and canals; the skilled in the +mills, factories, and machine shops. + +As workingmen increased in number, trades unions were formed, and efforts +were made to secure better wages and a shorter working day. In this they +succeeded: after a long series of strikes in 1834 and 1835 the ten-hour +day was adopted in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and in 1840, by order of +President Van Buren, went into force "in all public establishments" under +the federal government. + +THE SOUTH.--No such labor issues troubled the southern half of the +country. There the laborer was owned by the man whose lands he cultivated, +and strikes, lockouts, questions of wages, and questions of hours were +unknown. The mills, factories, machine shops, the many diversified +industries of the Northern states were unknown. In the great belt of +states from North Carolina to the Texas border, the chief crop was cotton. +These states thus had two common bonds of union: the maintenance of the +institution of negro slavery, and the development of a common industry. As +the people of the free states developed different sorts of industry, they +became less and less like the people of the South, and in time the two +sections were industrially two separate communities. The interests of the +people being different, their opinions on great national issues were +different and sectional. + +REFORMS.--As we have seen, a great antislavery agitation (p; 293) occurred +during the period 1820-40. It was only one of many reform movements of the +time. State after state abolished imprisonment for debt, [20] lessened the +severity of laws for the punishment of crime, extended the franchise, [21] +or right to vote, reformed the discipline of prisons, and established +hospitals and asylums. So eager were the people to reform anything that +seemed to be wrong, that they sometimes went to extremes. [22] The +antimasonic movement (p. 292) was such a movement for reform; the Owenite +movement was another. Sylvester Graham preaching reform in diet, Mrs. +Bloomer advocating reform in woman's dress, and Joseph Smith, who founded +Mormonism, were but so many advocates of reform of some sort. + +Owen believed that poverty came from individual ownership, and the +accumulation of more money by one man than by another. He believed that +people should live in communities in which everything--lands, houses, +cattle, products of the soil--are owned by the community; that the +individual should do his work, but be fed, housed, clothed, educated, and +amused by the community. Owen's teachings were well received, and Owenite +communities were founded in many places in the West and in New York, only +to end in failure. [23] + +MORMONISM had better fortune. Joseph Smith, its founder, published in 1830 +the _Book of Mormon_, as an addition to the Bible. [24] A church was +next organized, missionaries were sent about the country, and in 1831 the +sect moved to Kirtland in Ohio, and there built a temple. Trouble with +other sects and with the people forced them to move again, and they went +to Missouri. But there, too, they came in conflict with the people, were +driven from one county to another, and in 1839-40 were driven from the +state by force of arms. A refuge was then found in Illinois, where, on the +banks of the Mississippi, they founded the town of Nauvoo. In spite of +their wanderings they had increased in number, and were a prosperous +community. [25] + +[Illustration: PACK ANIMALS.] + +THE GREAT WEST EXPLORED.--During the twenty years since Major Long's +expedition, the country beyond the Missouri had been more fully explored. +In 1822 bands of merchants at St. Louis began to trade with Santa Fe, +sending their goods on the backs of mules and in wagons, thus opening up +what was known as the Santa Fe trail. One year later a trapper named +Prevost found the South Pass over the Rocky Mountains, and entered the +Great Salt Lake country. [26] This was the beginning, and year after year +bands of trappers wandered over what was then Mexican territory but is now +part of our country, from the Great Salt Lake to the lower Colorado River, +and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. [27] + +[Illustration: THE FAR WEST IN 1840.] + +Between 1830 and 1832 Hall J. Kelley attempted to found a colony in +Oregon, but failed, as did another leader, Nathaniel J. Wyeth. [28] Wyeth +tried again in 1834, but his settlements were not permanent. A few fur +traders and missionaries to the Indians had better fortune; but in 1840 +most of the white men in the Oregon country were British fur traders. It +was not till 1842 that the tide of American migration began to set +strongly toward Oregon; but within a few years after that time the +Americans there greatly outnumbered the British. + + +SUMMARY + +1. In 1840 the population of the country was 17,000,000, of whom more than +a third dwelt west of the Allegheny Mountains. + +2. For twenty years there had been much discussion about the disposition +of the public lands; but Congress did not give up the plan of selling them +for the benefit of the United States. + +3. As population increased, the Indians were pushed further and further +west. Some went to the Indian Country peaceably. In Georgia and Florida +they resisted. + +4. As Congress would not sanction a general system of federal +improvements, the states built canals and railroads for themselves. + +5. The success of those in the East encouraged the Western states to +undertake like improvements. But they plunged the states into debt. + +6. The period was one of great mechanical development, and many inventions +of world-wide use date from this time. + +7. The growth of manufactures produced great manufacturing towns, and the +increase of artisans and mechanics led to the formation of trades unions. + +8. The unrest caused by the rapid development, of the country invited +reforms of all sorts, and many--social, industrial, and political--were +attempted. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] In the early thirties much excitement was aroused by the arrival of +hundreds of paupers sent over from England by the parishes to get rid of +them. But when Congress investigated the matter, it was found not to be so +bad as represented, though a very serious evil. + +[2] Life in the West at this period is well described in Eggleston's +_Hoosier Schoolmaster_ and _The Graysons_. + +[3] The credit system of selling lands (p. 241) was abolished in 1820, +because a great many purchasers could not pay for what they bought. + +[4] The public domain is laid off in townships six miles square. Each +township is subdivided into 36 sections one mile square, and the sixteenth +section in each township was set apart in 1785 for the use of schools in +the township. This provision was applied to new states erected from the +public domain down to 1848; in states admitted after that time both the +sixteenth and the thirty-sixth sections have been set apart for this +purpose. In addition to this, before 1821, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, +Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana had each received two entire townships +for the use of colleges and academies. + +[5] After the Indian title to land was extinguished, the land was surveyed +and offered for sale at auction. Land which did not sell at auction could +be purchased at private sale for $1.25 an acre. Benton proposed that land +which did not sell at private sale within five years should be offered at +50 cents an acre, and if not sold, should be given to any one who would +cultivate it for three years. + +[6] An attempt to remove the Indians in northern Illinois and in Wisconsin +led to the Black Hawk War in 1832. The Indians had agreed to go west, but +when the settlers entered on their lands, Black Hawk induced the Sacs and +Foxes to resist, and a short war was necessary to subdue them. + +[7] The leader was Osceola, a chief of much ability, who perpetrated +several massacres before he was captured. In 1837 he visited the, camp of +General Jesup under a flag of truce, and was seized and sent to Fort +Moultrie, near Charleston, where he died. His followers were beaten (1837) +in a hard-fought battle by Colonel Zachary Taylor, but kept up the war +till 1842. + +[8] When Ohio was admitted (p. 241), Congress promised to use a part of +the money from the sale of land to build a road joining the Potomac and +Ohio rivers. Work on the National Road, as it was called, was started in +1811. It began at Cumberland on the Potomac and reached the Ohio at +Wheeling. But Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois demanded that the road be +extended, and in time it was built through Columbus and Indianapolis to +Vandalia. Thence it was to go to Jefferson City in Missouri; but a dispute +arose as to whether it should cross the Mississippi at Alton or at St. +Louis, and work on it was stopped. + +[9] Jackson vetoed several bills for internal improvements, and the +hostility of his party to such a use of government money was one of the +grievances of the Whigs. + +[10] For a description of life in central New York, read _My Own Story_, +by J. T. Trowbridge. + +[11] The first railroad in our country was used in 1807, at Boston, to +carry earth from a hilltop to grade a street. Others, only a few miles +long, were soon used to carry stone and coal from quarry and mine to the +wharf--in 1810 near Philadelphia, in 1826 at Quincy (a little south of +Boston), in 1827 at Mauchchunk (Pennsylvania). All of these were private +roads and carried no passengers. + +[12] While the means of travel were improving, the inns and towns even +along the great stage routes had not improved. "When you alight at a +country tavern," said a traveler, "it is ten to one you stand holding your +horse, bawling for the hostler while the landlord looks on. Once inside +the tavern every man, woman, and child plies you with questions. To get a +dinner is the work of hours. At night you are put into a room with a dozen +others and sleep two or three in a bed. In the morning you go outside to +wash your face and then repair to the barroom to see your face in the only +looking glass the tavern contains." Another traveler complains that at the +best hotel in New York there was neither glass, mug, cup, nor carpet, and +but one miserable rag dignified by the name of towel. + +[Illustration: MANSION HOUSE, 39 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, IN 1831.] + +[13] As early as 1814 John Stevens applied to New Jersey for a railroad +charter, and when it was granted, he sought to persuade the New York Canal +Commission to build a railroad instead of a canal. In 1823 Pennsylvania +granted Stevens and his friends a charter to build a railroad from +Philadelphia to the Susquehanna. In 1825 Stevens built a circular road at +Hoboken and used a steam locomotive to show the possibility of such a +means of locomotion. But all these schemes were ahead of the times. + +[14] The friends of canals bitterly opposed railroads as impractical. +Snow, it was said, would block them for weeks. If locomotives were used, +the sparks would make it impossible to carry hay or other things +combustible. The boilers would blow up as they did on steamboats. Canals +were therefore safer and cheaper. Read McMaster's _History of the People +of the U. S._, Vol. VI, pp. 87-89. + +[15] Almost all the early roads used this device. There was one such +inclined plane at Albany; another at Belmont, now in Philadelphia; a third +on the Paterson and Hudson Railroad near Paterson; and a fourth on the +Baltimore and Ohio. When Pennsylvania built her railroad over the +Allegheny Mountains, many such planes were necessary, so that the Portage +Railroad, as it was called, was a wonder of engineering skill. + +[16] The state built the railroads, like the canals, as highways open to +everybody. At first no cars or motive power, except at the inclined +planes, were supplied. Any car owner could carry passengers or freight who +paid the state two cents a mile for each passenger and $4.92 for each car +sent over the rails. After 1836 the state provided locomotives and charged +for hauling cars. + +[17] The captain of a schooner, seeing her smoke, thought she was a ship +on fire and started for her, "but found she went faster with fire and +smoke than we possibly could with all sails set. It was then that we +discovered that what we supposed a vessel on fire was nothing less than a +steamboat crossing the Western Ocean." In June, when off the coast of +Ireland, she was again mistaken for a ship on fire, and one of the king's +revenue cutters was sent to her relief and chased her for a day. + +[18] A common form was known as the loco-foco. In 1835 the Democratic +party in New York city was split into two factions, and on the night for +the nomination of candidates for office one faction got possession of the +hall by using a back door. But the men of the other faction drove it from +the room and were proceeding to make their nominations when the gas was +cut off. For this the leaders were prepared, and taking candles out of +their pockets lit them with loco-foco matches. The next morning a +newspaper called them "Loco-Focos," and in time the name was applied to a +wing of the Democratic party. + +[19] Good descriptions of life in New England are Lucy Larcom's _New +England Girlhood_; T. B. Aldrich's _Story of a Bad Boy_; and E. E. Hale's +_New England Boyhood_. + +[20] Read Whittier's _Prisoner for Debt_. + +[21] In Rhode Island many efforts to have the franchise extended came to +naught. The old colonial charter was still in force, and under it no man +could vote unless he owned real estate worth $134 or renting for $7 a +year, or was the eldest son of such a "freeman." After the Whig victory in +1840, however, a people's party was organized, and adopted a state +constitution which extended the franchise, and under which Thomas W. Dorr +was elected governor. Dorr attempted to seize the state property by force, +and establish his government; but his party and his state officials +deserted him, and he was arrested, tried, found guilty of treason, and +sentenced to life imprisonment. He was finally pardoned, and in 1842 a +state constitution was regularly adopted, and the old charter abandoned. + +[22] In New York many people were demanding a reform in land tenure. One +of the great patroonships granted by the Dutch West India Company (p. 72) +still remained in the Van Rensselaer family. The farmers on this vast +estate paid rent in produce. When the patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer, +died in 1839, the heir attempted to collect some overdue rents; but the +farmers assembled, drove off the sheriff, and so compelled the government +to send militia to aid the sheriff. The Anti-rent War thus started dragged +on till 1846, during which time riots, outrages, some murders, and much +disorder took place. Again and again the militia were called out. In the +end the farmers were allowed to buy their farms, and the old leasehold +system was destroyed. Cooper's novels _The Redskins_, _The Chainbearer_, +and _Satanstoe_ relate to these troubles. So also does Ruth Hall's +_Downrenter's Son_. + +[23] Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. V, pp. 90- +97. + +[24] Joseph Smith asserted that in a vision the angel of the Lord told him +to dig under a stone on a certain hill near Palmyra, New York, and that on +doing so he found plates of gold inscribed with unknown characters, and +two stones or crystals, on looking through which he was enabled to +translate the characters. + +[25] Read McMaster's _History of the People of the U. S._, Vol. VI, +pp. 102-107; 454-458. + +[26] In 1824 W. H. Ashley led a party from St. Louis up the Platte River, +over the mountains, and well down the Green River, and home by Great Salt +Lake, the South Pass, the Big Horn, the Yellowstone, and the Missouri. In +1826 Ashley and a party went through the South Pass, dragging a six-pound +cannon, the first wheeled vehicle known to have crossed the mountains +north of the Santa Fe trail, The cannon was put in a trading post on Utah +Lake. + +[27] In 1826 Jedediah Smith with fifteen trappers went from near the Great +Salt Lake to the lower Colorado River, crossed to San Diego, and went up +California and over the Sierra Nevada to Great Salt Lake. In 1827, with +another party, Smith went over the same ground to the lower Colorado, +where the Indians killed ten of his men and stole his property. With two +companions Smith walked to San Jose, where the Mexicans seized him. At +Monterey (mon-te-rá) an American ship captain secured his release, and +with a new band of followers Smith went to a fork of the Sacramento River. +While Smith and his party were in Oregon in 1828, the Indians massacred +all but five of them. The rest fled and Smith went on alone to Fort +Vancouver, a British fur-trading post on the Columbia River. Up this river +Smith went (in the spring of 1829) to the mountains, turned southward, and +in August, near the head waters of the Snake River, met two of his +partners. Together they crossed the mountains to the source of the Big +Horn, and then one went on to St. Louis. Early in 1830 he returned with +eighty-two men and ten wagons. This was the first wagon train on the +Oregon trail. + +[28] Wyeth had joined Kelley's party; but finding that it would not start +for some time, he withdrew, and organized a company to trade in Oregon, +and early in 1832, with twenty-nine companions, left Boston, went to St. +Louis, joined a band of trappers of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, and +went with them to a great Indian fair on the upper waters of the Snake +River. There some of his companions deserted him, as others had done along +the way. With the rest Wyeth reached Fort Vancouver, where the company +went to pieces, and in 1833 Wyeth returned to Boston. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +MORE TERRITORY ACQUIRED + + +TYLER AND THE WHIGS QUARREL.--When Congress (in May, 1841) first met in +Tyler's term, Clay led the Whigs in proposing measures to carry out their +party principles. But Tyler vetoed their bill establishing a new national +bank. The Whigs then made some changes to suit, as they supposed, his +objections, and sent him a bill to charter a Fiscal Corporation; but this +also came back with a veto; whereupon his Cabinet officers (all save +Daniel Webster, Secretary of State) resigned, and the Whig members of +Congress, in an address to the people, read him out of the party. Later in +his term Tyler vetoed two tariff bills, but finally approved a third, +known as the Tariff of 1842. For these uses of the veto power the Whigs +thought of impeaching him; but did not. + +[Illustration: THE DISPUTED MAINE BOUNDARY.] + +WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY.--When Tyler's cabinet officers resigned, Webster +remained in order to conclude a new treaty with Great Britain, [1] by +which our present northeastern boundary was fixed from the St. Croix to +the St. Lawrence. Neither power obtained all the territory it claimed +under the treaty of 1783, but the disputed region was divided about +equally between them. [2] + +Soon after the treaty was concluded Webster resigned the secretaryship of +state, and the rupture between Tyler and the Whigs was complete. + +THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.--The great event of Tyler's time was the decision +to annex the republic of Texas. + +[Illustration: THE ALAMO.] + +In 1821 Mexico secured her independence of Spain, and about three years +afterward adopted the policy of granting a great tract of land in Texas to +anybody who, under certain conditions, and within a certain time, would +settle a specified number of families on the grant. To colonize in this +way at once became popular in the South, and in a few years thousands of +American citizens were settled in Texas. + +For a while all went well; but in 1833 serious trouble began between the +Mexican government and the Texans, who in 1836 declared their +independence, founded the republic of Texas, [3] and sought admission into +our Union as a state. Neither Jackson nor Van Buren favored annexation, so +the question dragged on till 1844, when Tyler made with Texas a treaty of +annexation and sent it to the Senate. That body refused assent. + +[Illustration: THE WAR WITH MEXICO.] + +THE DEMOCRATS AND TEXAS.--The issue was thus forced. The Democratic +national convention of 1844 claimed that Texas had once been ours, [4] and +declared for its "reannexation." To please the Northern Democrats it also +declared for the "reoccupation" of Oregon up to 54° 40'. This meant that +we should compel Great Britain to abandon all claim to that country, and +make it all American soil. + +The Democrats went into the campaign with the popular cries, "The +reannexation of Texas;" "The whole of Oregon or none;" "Texas or +disunion"--and elected Polk [5] after a close contest. + +TEXAS ANNEXED; OREGON DIVIDED.--Tyler, regarding the triumph of the +Democrats as an instruction from the people to annex Texas, urged Congress +to do so at once, and in March, 1845, a resolution for the admission of +Texas passed both houses, and was signed by the President. [6] The +resolution provided also that out of her territory four additional states +might be made if Texas should consent. The boundaries were in dispute, but +in the end Texas was held to have included all the territory from the +boundary of the United States to the Rio Grande and a line extending due +north from its source. + +After Texas was annexed, notice was served on Great Britain that joint +occupation of Oregon must end in one year. The British minister then +proposed a boundary treaty which was concluded in a few weeks (1846). The +line agreed on was the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the +Strait of Juan de Fuca (hoo-ahn' da foo'ca), and by it to the Pacific +Ocean (compare maps, pp. 278 and 330). + +WAR WITH MEXICO.--Mexico claimed that the real boundary of Texas was the +Nueces (nwâ'sess) River. When, therefore, Polk (in 1846) sent General +Zachary Taylor with an army to the Rio Grande, the Mexicans attacked him; +but he beat them at Palo Alto (pah'lo ahl'to) and again near by at Resaca +de la Palma (ra-sah'ca da lah pahl'ma), and drove them across the Rio +Grande. When President Polk heard of the first attack, he declared that +"Mexico has shed American blood upon American soil.... War exists,... and +exists by the act of Mexico herself." Congress promptly voted men and +money for the war. + +MONTEREY.--Taylor, having crossed the Rio Grande, marched to Monterey and +(September, 1846) attacked the city. It was fortified with strong stone +walls in the fashion of Old World cities; the flat-roofed houses bristled +with guns; and across every street was a barricade. In three days of +desperate fighting our troops forced their way into the city, entered the +buildings, made their way from house to house by breaking through the +walls or ascending to the roofs, and reached the center of the city before +the Mexicans surrendered the town. + +NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA.--Immediately after the declaration of war, +Colonel Stephen W. Kearny with a force of men set off (June, 1846) by the +old Santa Fe trail and (August 18) captured Santa Fe without a struggle, +established a civil government, declared New Mexico annexed to the United +States, and then started to take possession of California. But California +had already been conquered by the Americans. In June, 1846, some three +hundred American settlers, believing that war was imminent and fearing +they would be attacked, revolted, adopted a flag on which was a grizzly +bear, and declared California an independent republic. Fremont, who had +been exploring in California, came to their aid (July 5), and two days +later Commodore Sloat with a naval force entered Monterey and raised the +flag there. In 1847 (January 8, 9) battles were fought with the Mexicans +of California; but the Americans held the country. + +BUENA VISTA.--Toward the close of 1846 General Winfield Scott was put in +command of the army in Mexico, and ordered Taylor to send a large part of +the army to meet him at Vera Cruz (vâ'ra kroos). Santa Anna, hearing of +this, gathered 18,000 men and at Buena Vista, in a narrow valley at the +foot of the mountains, attacked Taylor (February 23, 1847). The battle +raged from morning to night. Again and again the little American army of +5000 seemed certain to be overcome by the 18,000 Mexicans. But they fought +on desperately, and when night came, both armies left the field. [7] + +[Illustration: GENERAL TAYLOR AT BUENA VISTA. From an old print.] + +THE MARCH TO MEXICO.--Scott landed at Vera Cruz in March, 1847, took the +castle and city after a siege of fifteen days, and about a week later set +off for the city of Mexico, winning victory after victory on the way. The +heights of Cerro Gordo were taken by storm, and the army of Santa Anna was +beaten again at Jalapa (ha-lah'pa). Puebla (pwâ'bla) surrendered at +Scott's approach, and there he waited three months. But on August 7 Scott +again started westward with 10,000 men, and three days later looked down +on the distant city of Mexico surrounded by broad plains and snow-capped +mountains. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL, MEXICO.] + +Then followed in quick succession the victory at Contreras (kôn-trâ'ras), +the storming of the heights of Churubusco, the victory at Molino del Rey +(mô-lee'no del râ') the storming of the castle of Chapultepec' perched on +a lofty rock, and the triumphal entry into Mexico (September 14). [8] + +THE TERMS OF PEACE (1848).--The republic of Mexico was now a conquered +nation and might have been added to our domain; but the victors were +content to retain Upper California and New Mexico--the region from the Rio +Grande to the Pacific, and from the Gila River to Oregon (compare maps, +pp. 318, 330). For this great territory we paid Mexico $15,000,000, and in +addition paid some $3,500,000 of claims our citizens had against her for +injury to their persons or property. [9] + +[Illustration: MONUMENT ON MEXICAN BOUNDARY.] + +SHALL THE NEWLY ACQUIRED TERRITORY BE SLAVE SOIL OR FREE?--The treaty with +Mexico having been ratified and the territory acquired, it became the duty +of Congress to provide the people with some American form of government. +There needed to be American governors, courts, legislatures, customhouses, +revenue laws, in short a complete change from the Mexican way of +governing. To do this would have been easy if it had not been for the fact +that (in 1827) Mexico had abolished slavery. All the territory acquired +was therefore free soil; but the South wished to make it slave soil. The +question of the hour thus became, Shall New Mexico and California be slave +soil or free soil? [10] + +THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1848.--So troublesome was the issue that the +two great parties tried to keep it out of politics. The Democrats in their +platform in 1848 said nothing about slavery in the new territory, and the +Whigs made no platform. This action of the two parties so displeased the +antislavery Whigs and Wilmot Proviso Democrats that they held a +convention, formed the Free-soil party, [11] nominated Martin Van Buren +for President, and drew away so many New York Democrats from their party +that the Whigs carried the state and won the presidential election. [12] +On March 5, 1849 (March 4 was Sunday), Taylor [13] and Fillmore [14] were +inaugurated. + +[Illustration: DEMOCRATIC CARTOON IN CAMPAIGN OF 1848] + +GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.--By this time the question of slavery in the new +territory was still more complicated by the discovery of gold in +California. Many years before this time a Swiss settler named J. A. Sutter +had obtained a grant of land in California, where the city of Sacramento +now stands. In 1848 James W. Marshall, while building a sawmill for Sutter +at Coloma, some fifty miles away from Sutter's Fort, discovered gold in +the mill race. Both Sutter and Marshall attempted to keep the fact secret, +but their strange actions attracted the attention of a laborer, who also +found gold. Then the news spread fast, and people came by hundreds and by +thousands to the gold fields. [15] Later in the year the news reached the +East, and when Polk in his annual message confirmed the rumors, the rush +for California began. Some went by vessel around Cape Horn. Others took +ships to the Isthmus of Panama, crossed it on foot, and sailed to San +Francisco. Still others hurried to the Missouri to make the overland +journey across the plains. [16] By August, 1849, some eighty thousand gold +hunters, "forty-niners," as they came to be called, had reached the mines. +[17] + +[Illustration: A ROCKER.] + +THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.--As Congress had provided no government, and as +scarcely any could be said to exist, the people held a convention, made a +free-state constitution, and applied for admission into the Union as a +state. + +ISSUES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH.--The election of Taylor, and +California's application for statehood, brought on a crisis between the +North and the South. + +Most of the people in the North desired no more slave states and no more +slave territories, abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the +District of Columbia, and the admission of California as a free state. + +The South opposed these things; complained of the difficulty of capturing +slaves that escaped to the free states, and of the constant agitation of +the slavery question by the abolitionists; and demanded that the Mexican +cession be left open to slavery. + +Since 1840 two slave-holding states, Florida and Texas (1845), and two +free states, Iowa (1846) and Wisconsin (1848), had been admitted to the +Union, making fifteen free and fifteen slave states in all; and the South +now opposed the admission of California, partly because it would give the +free states a majority in the Senate. + +THE COMPROMISE OF 1850.--At this stage Henry Clay was again sent to the +Senate. He had powerfully supported two great compromise measures--the +Missouri Compromise of 1820, and the Compromise Tariff of 1833. He +believed that the Union was in danger of destruction; but that if the two +parties would again compromise, it could be saved. + +To please the North he now proposed (1) that California should be admitted +as a free state, and (2) that the slave trade (buying and selling slaves), +but not the right to own slaves, should be abolished in the District of +Columbia. To please the South he proposed (1) that Congress should pass a +more stringent law for the capture of fugitive slaves, and (2) that two +territories, New Mexico and Utah, should be formed from part of the +Mexican purchase, with the understanding that the people in them should +decide whether they should be slave soil or free. This principle was +called "squatter sovereignty," or "popular sovereignty." + +[Illustration: CLAY ADDRESSING THE SENATE IN 1850. From an old engraving.] + +Texas claimed the Rio Grande as part of her west boundary. But the United +States claimed the part of New Mexico east of the Rio Grande, and both +sides seemed ready to appeal to arms. Clay proposed that Texas should give +up her claim and be paid for so doing. + +During three months this plan was hotly debated, [18] and threats of +secession and violence were made openly. But in the end the plan was +accepted: (1) California was admitted, (2) New Mexico and Utah were +organized as territories open to slavery, (3) Texas took her present +bounds (see maps, pp. 318, 330) and received $10,000,000, (4) a new +fugitive slave law [19] was passed, and (5) the slave _trade_ was +prohibited in the District of Columbia. These measures together were +called the Compromise of 1850. + +DEATH OF TAYLOR.--While the debate on the compromise was under way, Taylor +died (July 9, 1850) and Fillmore was sworn into office as President for +the remainder of the term. + + +SUMMARY + +1. Congress in 1841 passed two bills for chartering a new national bank, +but President Tyler vetoed both. The Whig leaders then declared that Tyler +was not a Whig. + +2. The next year the Webster-Ashburton treaty settled a long-standing +dispute over the northeastern boundary. + +3. In 1844 the Democrats declared for the annexation of Texas and Oregon, +and elected Polk President. Congress then quickly decided to admit Texas +to the Union. + +4. War with Mexico followed a dispute over the Texas boundary. In the +course of it Taylor won victories at Monterey and Buena Vista; Scott made +a famous march to the city of Mexico; and Kearny marched to Santa Fe and +on to California. + +5. Peace added to the United States a great tract of country acquired from +Mexico. Meanwhile, the Oregon country had been divided by treaty with +Great Britain. + +6. The acquisition of Mexican territory brought up the question of the +admission of slavery, for the territory was free soil under Mexican rule. + +7. The opponents of extension of the slave area formed the Free-soil party +in 1848, and drew off enough Democratic votes so that the Whigs elected +Taylor and Fillmore. + +8. Meanwhile gold had been discovered in California, and a wild rush for +the "diggings" began. + +9. The people in California formed a free-state constitution and applied +for admission to the Union. + +10. The chief political issues now centered around slavery, and as they +had to be settled, lest the Union be broken, the Whigs and Democrats +arranged the Compromise of 1850. + +11. This made California a free state, but left the new territories of +Utah and New Mexico open to slavery. + +[Illustration: OLD ADOBE RANCH HOUSE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Besides the long-standing dispute over the Maine boundary, two other +matters were possible causes of war with Great Britain. (1) Her cruisers +had been searching our vessels off the African coast to see if they were +slavers. (2) In the attack on the _Caroline_ (p. 297) one American was +killed, and in 1840 a Canadian, Alexander McLeod, was arrested in New +York and charged with the murder. Great Britain now avowed responsibility +for the burning of the _Caroline_, and demanded that the man should +be released. McLeod, however, was tried and acquitted. + +[2] Two other provisions of the treaty were of especial importance. (1) In +order to stop the slave trade each nation was to keep a squadron (carrying +at least eighty guns) cruising off the coast of Africa. (2) It was agreed +that any person who, charged with the crime of murder, piracy, arson, +robbery, or forgery, committed in either country, shall escape to the +other, shall if possible be seized and given up to the authorities of the +country which he fled. + +[3] A war between Mexico and Texas followed, and was carried on with great +cruelty by the Mexicans. Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, having +driven some Texans into a building called the Alamo (ah'la-mo), in San +Antonio, carried it by storm and ordered all of its defenders shot. A band +of Texans who surrendered at Goliad met the same fate. In 1836, however, +General Samuel Houston (hu'stun) beat the Mexicans in the decisive battle +of San Jacinto. The struggle of the Texans for independence aroused +sympathy in our country; hundreds of volunteers joined their army, and +money, arms, and ammunition were sent them. Read A. E. Barr's novel +_Remember the Alamo_. + +[4] Referring to our claim between 1803 and 1819 (p. 276) that the +Louisiana Purchase extended west to the Rio Grande. + +[5] James K. Polk was born in North Carolina in 1795, but went with his +parents to Tennessee in 1806, where in 1823 he became a member of the +legislature. From 1824 to 1839 he was a member of Congress, and in 1839 +was elected governor of Tennessee. Polk was the first presidential "dark +horse"; that is, the first candidate whose nomination was unexpected and a +surprise. In the Democratic national convention at Baltimore the contest +was at first between Van Buren and Cass. Polk's name did not appear till +the eighth ballot; on the ninth the convention "stampeded" and Polk +received every vote. When the news was spread over the country by means of +railroads and stagecoaches, many people would not believe it till +confirmed by the newspapers. The Whigs nominated Henry Clay; and the +Liberty party, James G. Birney. Tyler also was renominated by his friends, +but withdrew. + +[6] Read Whittier's _Texas_. + +[7] In the course of the fight a son of Henry Clay was killed, and +Jefferson Davis, afterward President of the Confederate States of America, +was wounded. At one stage of the battle Lieutenant Crittenden was sent to +demand the surrender of a Mexican force that had been cut off; but the +Mexican officer in command sent him blindfolded to Santa Anna. Crittenden +thereupon demanded the surrender of the entire Mexican army, and when told +that Taylor must surrender in an hour or have his army destroyed, replied, +"General Taylor never surrenders." Read Whittier's _Angels of Buena +Vista_. + +[8] The war was bitterly opposed by the antislavery people of the North as +an attempt to gain more slave territory. Numbers of pamphlets were written +against it. Lincoln, then a member of Congress, introduced resolutions +asking the President to state on what spot on American soil blood had been +shed by Mexican troops, and James Russell Lowell wrote his famous +_Biglow Papers_. + +[9] Five years later (1853), by another treaty with Mexico, negotiated by +James Gadsden, we acquired a comparatively small tract south of the Gila, +called the Gadsden Purchase (compare maps, pp. 330, 352). The price was +$10,000,000. The purchase was made largely because Congress was then +considering the building of a railroad to the Pacific, and because the +route likely to be chosen went south of the Gila. + +[10] As early as 1846 the North attempted to decide the question in favor +of freedom. Polk had asked for $2,000,000 with which to settle the +boundary dispute with Mexico, and when the bill to appropriate the money +was before the House, David Wilmot moved to add the proviso that all +territory bought with it should be free soil. The House passed the Wilmot +Proviso, but the Senate did not; so the bill failed. The following year +(1847) a bill to give Polk $3,000,000 was introduced, and again the +proviso was added by the House and rejected by the Senate. Then the House +gave way, and passed the bill; but the acquisition of California and New +Mexico by treaty left the question still unsettled. + +[11] Their platform declared: (1) that Congress has no more power to make +a slave than to make a king; (2) that there must be "free soil for a free +people"; (3) that there must be "no more slave states, no more slave +territories"; (4) that "we inscribe on our banner, 'Free soil, free +speech, free labor, and freemen.'" + +[12] The Liberty party nominated John P. Hale of New Hampshire, but he +withdrew in favor of Van Buren. The Liberty party was thus merged in the +Free-soil party, and so disappeared from politics. The Democratic +candidates for President and Vice-President were Lewis Cass and William O. +Butler. + +[13] Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784, was taken to Louisville, +Kentucky, while still a child, and grew up there. In 1808 he entered the +United States army as a lieutenant, and by 1810 had risen to be a captain. +For a valiant defense of Fort Harrison on the Wabash, he was made a major. +He further distinguished himself in the Black Hawk and Seminole wars. In +the Mexican War General Taylor was a great favorite with his men, who +called him in admiration "Old Rough and Ready." Before 1848 he had taken +very little interest in politics. He was nominated because of his record +as a military hero. + +[14] Millard Fillmore was born in central New York in 1800, and at +fourteen was apprenticed to a trade, but studied law at odd times, and +practiced law at Buffalo. He served three terms in the state assembly, was +four times elected to Congress, and was once the Whig candidate for +governor. In 1848 he was nominated for the vice presidency as a strong +Whig likely to carry New York. + +[15] Laborers left the fields, tradesmen the shops, and seamen deserted +their ships as soon as they entered port. One California newspaper +suspended its issue because editor, typesetters, and printer's devil had +gone to the gold fields. In June the Star stopped for a like reason, and +California was without a newspaper. Some men made $5000, $10,000, and +$15,000 in a few days. California life in the early times is described in +Kirk Munroe's _Golden Days of '49_, and in Bret Harte's _Luck of Roaring +Camp_ and _Tales of the Argonauts_. + +[16] Those who crossed the plains suffered terribly, and for many years +the wrecks of their wagons, the bones of their oxen and horses, and the +graves of many of the men were to be seen along the route. This route was +from Independence in Missouri, up the Platte River, over the South Pass, +past Great Salt Lake, and so to "the diggings." + +[17] Some miners obtained gold by digging the earth, putting it into a tin +pan, pouring on water, and then shaking the pan so as to throw out the +muddy water and leave the particles of gold. Others used a box mounted on +rockers and called a "cradle" or "rocker." + +[18] Read the speeches of Calhoun and Webster in _Johnston's American +Orations_, Vol. II. Webster's speech gave great offense in the North. +Read McMaster's _Daniel Webster_, pp. 314-324, and Whittier's poem +_Ichabod_. The debate and its attendant scenes are well described in +Rhodes's _History of the U. S._, Vol. I, pp. 104-189. + +[19] The fugitive slave law gave great offense to the North. It provided +that a runaway slave might be seized wherever found, and brought before a +United States judge or commissioner. The negro could not give testimony to +prove he was not a fugitive but had been kidnapped, if such were the case. +All citizens were "commanded," when summoned, to aid in the capture of a +fugitive, and, if necessary, in his delivery to his owner. Fine and +imprisonment were provided for any one who harbored a fugitive or aided in +his escape. The law was put in execution at once, and "slave catchers," +"man hunters," as they were called, "invaded the North." This so excited +the people that many slaves when seized were rescued. Such rescues +occurred during 1851 at New York, Boston, Syracuse, and at Ottawa in +Illinois. Read Wilson's _Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America_, +Chap. 26. + +In the midst of this excitement Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe published her +story of _Uncle Tom's Cabin_. Mrs. Stowe's purpose was "to show the +institution of slavery truly just as it existed." The book is rather a +picture of what slavery might have been than of what slavery really was; +but it was so powerfully written that everybody read it, and thousands of +people in the North who hitherto cared little about the slavery issue were +converted to abolitionism. + +[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES IN 1850.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE STRUGGLE FOR FREE SOIL + + +THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1852.--The Compromise of 1850 was thought to +be a final settlement of all the troubles that had grown out of slavery. +The great leaders of the Whig and Democratic parties solemnly pledged +themselves to stand by the compromise, and when the national conventions +met in 1852, the two parties in their platforms made equally solemn +promises. + +The Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce [1] of New Hampshire for +President, and declared they would "abide by and adhere to" the +compromise, and would "resist all attempts at renewing, in Congress or out +of it, the agitation of the slavery question." The Whigs selected Winfield +Scotland declared the compromise to be a "settlement in principle" of the +slavery question, and promised to do all they could to prevent further +agitation of it. The Free-soilers nominated John P. Hale of New Hampshire. +The refusal of the Whig party to stand against the compromise drove many +Northern voters from its ranks. Pierce carried every state save four and, +March 4, 1853, was duly inaugurated. [2] + +THE SLAVERY QUESTION NOT SETTLED.--But Pierce had not been many months in +office when the quarrel over slavery was raging once more. In January, +1854, Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois introduced into the Senate a bill to +organize a new territory to be called Nebraska. Every foot of it was north +of 36° 30' and was, by the Compromise of 1820 (p. 274), free soil. But an +attempt was made to amend the bill and declare that the Missouri +Compromise should not apply to Nebraska, whereupon such bitter opposition +arose that Douglas recalled his bill and brought in another. [3] + +KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT.--The new bill provided for the creation of two +territories, one to be called Kansas and the other Nebraska; for the +repeal of the Missouri Compromise, thus opening the country north of 36° +30' to slavery; and for the adoption of the doctrine of popular +sovereignty. + +The Free-soilers, led by Salmon P. Chase, William H. Seward, and Charles +Sumner, tried hard to defeat the bill. But it passed Congress, and was +signed by the President (1854). [4] + +[Illustration: GOVERNOR'S MANSION, KANSAS, IN 1857. Contemporary drawing.] + +THE STRUGGLE FOR KANSAS.--And now began a seven years' struggle between +the Free-soilers and the proslavery men for the possession of Kansas. Men +of both parties hurried to the territory. [5] The first election was for +territorial delegate to Congress, and was carried by the proslavery party +assisted by hundreds of Missourians who entered the territory, voted +unlawfully, and went home. The second election was for members of the +territorial legislature. Again the Missourians swarmed over the border, +and a proslavery legislature was elected. Governor Reeder set the +elections aside in seven districts, and in them other members were chosen; +but the legislature when it met turned out the seven so elected and seated +the men rejected by the governor. The proslavery laws of Missouri were +adopted, and Kansas became a slave-holding territory. + +THE TOPEKA CONSTITUTION.--Unwilling to be governed by a legislature so +elected, looking on it as illegal and usurping, the free-state men framed +a state constitution at Topeka (1855), organized a state government, and +applied to Congress for admission into the Union as a state. The House of +Representatives voted to admit Kansas, but the Senate would not consent, +and (July 4, 1856) United States troops dispersed the legislature when it +attempted to assemble under the Topeka constitution. Kansas was a slave- +holding territory for two years yet before the free-state men secured a +majority in the legislature, [6] and not till 1861 did it secure admission +as a free state. + +PERSONAL LIBERTY LAWS.--In the East meantime the rapidly growing feeling +against slavery found expression in what were called personal liberty +laws, which in time were enacted by all save two of the free states. Their +avowed object was to prevent free negroes from being sent into slavery on +the claim that they were fugitive slaves; but they really obstructed the +execution of the fugitive slave law of 1850. + +Another sign of Northern feeling was the sympathy now shown for the +Underground Railroad. This was not a railroad, but a network of routes +along which slaves escaping to the free states-were sent by night from one +friendly house to another till they reached a place of safety, perhaps in +Canada. + +[Illustration: RECEPTION AT THE WHITE HOUSE, IN 1858. Contemporary +drawing.] + +BREAKING UP OF OLD PARTIES.--On political parties the events of the four +years 1850-54 were serious. The Compromise of 1850, and the vigorous +execution of the new fugitive slave law, drove thousands of old line Whigs +from their party. The deaths of Clay and Webster in 1852 deprived the +party of its greatest leaders. The Kansas-Nebraska bill completed the +ruin, and from that time forth the party was of small political +importance. The Democratic party also suffered, and thousands left its +ranks to join the Free-soilers. Out of such elements in 1854-56 was +founded the new Republican party. [7] + +THE CAMPAIGN OF 1856.--At Philadelphia, in June, 1856, a Republican +national convention nominated John C. Fremont for President. The Democrats +nominated James Buchanan. A remnant of the Whigs, now nicknamed "Silver +Grays," indorsed Fillmore, who had been nominated by the American, or +"Know-nothing," party. [8] The Free-soilers joined the Republicans. +Buchanan was elected. [9] + +DRED SCOTT DECISION, 1857.--Two days after the inauguration of Buchanan, +the Supreme Court made public a decision which threw the country into +intense excitement. A slave named Dred Scott had been taken by his owner +from Missouri to the free state of Illinois and then to Minnesota, made +free soil by the Compromise of 1820. When brought back to Missouri, Dred +Scott sued for freedom. Long residence on free soil, he claimed, had made +him free. The case finally reached the Supreme Court of the United States, +which decided against him. [10] But in delivering the decision, Chief- +Justice Taney announced: (1) that Congress could not shut slavery out of +the territories, and (2) that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was +unconstitutional and void. + +THE TERRITORIES OPEN TO SLAVERY.--This decision confirmed all that the +South had gained by the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Compromise of 1850, +and also opened to slavery Washington and Oregon, which were then free +territories. + +If the court supposed that its decision would end the struggle, it was +much mistaken. Not a year went by but some incident occurred which added +to the excitement. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN'S LAW OFFICE IN SPRINGFIELD.] + +LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE.--In 1858 the people of Illinois were to elect a +legislature which would choose a senator to succeed Stephen A. Douglas. +The Democrats declared for Douglas. The Republicans nominated Abraham +Lincoln, [11] and as the canvass proceeded the two candidates traversed +the state, holding a series of debates. The questions discussed were +popular sovereignty, the Dred Scott decision, and the extension of slavery +into the territories, and the debates attracted the attention of the whole +country. Lincoln was defeated; but his speeches gave him a national +reputation. [12] + +JOHN BROWN AT HARPERS FERRY.--In 1859 John Brown, a lifelong enemy of +slavery, went to Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with a little band of followers, +to stir up an insurrection and free the slaves. He was captured, tried for +murder and treason, and hanged. The attempt was a wild one; but it caused +intense excitement in both the North and the South, and added to the +bitter feeling which had long existed between the two sections. [13] + +THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1860.--The Democrats were now so divided on +the slavery issues that when they met in convention at Charleston, South +Carolina, in 1860, the party was rent in twain, and no candidates were +chosen. Later in the year the Northern wing nominated Stephen A. Douglas +for President. The Southern delegates, at a convention of their own, +selected John C. Breckinridge. + +Another party made up of old Whigs and Know-nothings nominated John Bell +of Tennessee. This was the Constitutional Union party. The Republicans +[14] named Abraham Lincoln and carried the election. [15] + + +SUMMARY + +1. The Compromise of 1850 was supposed to settle the slavery issues, and +the two great parties pledged themselves to support it. + +2. But the issues were not settled, and in 1854 the organization of Kansas +and Nebraska reopened the struggle. + +3. The Kansas-Nebraska bill and the contest over Kansas split both the +Whig party and the Democratic party, and by the union of those who left +them, with the Free-soilers, the Republican party was made, 1854-56. + +4. In 1857 the Supreme Court declared the Missouri Compromise +unconstitutional, and opened all territories to slavery. + +5. In 1858 this decision and other slavery issues were debated by Lincoln +and Douglas. + +6. This debate made Lincoln a national character, and in 1860 he was +elected President by the Republican party. + +[Illustration: SCHOOLHOUSE IN THE MOUNTAINS, USED BY BROWN AS AN ARSENAL. +Contemporary drawing.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Franklin Pierce was born in New Hampshire in 1804, and died in 1869. +He began his political career in the state legislature, went to Congress +in 1833, and to the United States Senate in 1837. In the war with Mexico, +Pierce rose from the ranks to a brigadier generalship. He was a bitter +opponent of anti-slavery measures; but when the Civil War opened he became +a Union man. + +[2] The electoral vote was, for Pierce, 254; for Scott, 42. The popular +vote was, for Pierce, 1,601,474; for Scott, 1,386,580; for Hale, 155,667. + +[3] Stephen A. Douglas was born in Vermont in 1813, went west in 1833, was +made attorney-general of Illinois in 1834, secretary of state and judge of +the supreme court of Illinois in 1840, a member of Congress in 1843, and +of the United States Senate in 1847. He was a small man, but one of such +mental power that he was called "the Little Giant." He was a candidate for +the presidential nomination in the Democratic conventions of 1852 and +1856, and in 1860 was nominated by the Northern wing of that party. He was +a Union man. + +[4] For popular opinion on the Kansas-Nebraska bill, read Rhodes's +_History of the U. S._, Vol. I, pp. 461-470. + +[5] Proslavery men from Missouri and other Southern states founded +Atchison, Leavenworth, Lecompton, and Kickapoo, in the northeastern part +of Kansas. Free-state men from the North founded Lawrence, Topeka, +Manhattan, Osawatomie, in the east-central part of the territory. + +[6] In 1856 border war raged in Kansas, settlers were murdered, property +destroyed, and the free-state town of Lawrence was sacked by the +proslavery men. In 1857 the proslavery party made a slave-state +constitution at Lecompton and applied for admission, and the Senate (1858) +voted to admit Kansas under it; but the House refused. In 1859 the Free- +soilers made a second (the Wyandotte) constitution, under which Kansas was +admitted into the Union (1861). + +[7] The breaking up of old parties over the slavery issues naturally +brought up the question of forming a new party, and at a meeting at Ripon +in Wisconsin in 1854, it was proposed to call the new party Republican. +After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, a thousand citizens of +Michigan signed a call for a state convention, at which a Republican state +party was formed and a ticket nominated on which were Whigs, Free-soilers, +and Anti-Nebraska Democrats. Similar "fusion tickets," as they were +called, were adopted in eight other states. The success of the new party +in the elections of 1854, and its still greater success in 1855, led to a +call for a convention at Pittsburg on Washington's Birthday, 1856. There +and then the national Republican party was founded. + +[8] The American party was the outcome of a long-prevalent feeling against +the election of foreign-born citizens to office. At many times and at many +places this feeling had produced political organizations. But it was not +till 1852 that a secret, oath-bound organization, with signs, grips, and +passwords, was formed and spread its membership rapidly through most of +the states. As its members would not tell its principles and methods, and +professed entire ignorance of them when questioned, the American party was +called in derision "the Know-nothings." Its success, however, was great, +and in 1855 Know-nothing governors and legislatures were elected in eight +states, and heavy votes polled in six more. + +[9] The electoral vote was, for Buchanan, 174; for Frémont, 114; for +Fillmore, 8. The popular vote was, for Buchanan, 1,838,169; for Frémont, +1,341,264; for Fillmore, 874,534. James Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania +in 1791, was educated at school and college, studied law, served in the +state legislature, was five times elected to the House of Representatives, +and three times to the Senate. In the Senate he was a warm supporter of +Jackson, and favored the annexation of Texas under Tyler. He was Secretary +of State under Polk, and had been minister to Great Britain. + +[10] The Chief Justice ruled that no negro whose ancestors had been +brought as slaves into the United States could be a citizen; Scott +therefore was not a citizen, and hence could not sue in any United States +court. + +[11] Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, February 12, 1809, and while +still a child was taken by his parents to Indiana. The first winter was +spent in a half-faced camp, and for several years the log cabin that +replaced it had neither door nor wood floor. Twelve months' "schooling" +was all he ever had; but he was fond of books and borrowed Aesop's +_Fables_, _Robinson Crusoe_, and Weems's _Life of Washington_, the book in +which first appeared the fabulous story of the hatchet and the cherry +tree. At nineteen Lincoln went as a flatboatman to New Orleans. In 1830 +his father moved to Illinois, where Lincoln helped build the cabin and +split the rails to fence in the land, and then went on another flatboat +voyage to New Orleans. He became a clerk in a store in 1831, served as a +volunteer in the Black Hawk War, tried business and failed, became +postmaster of New Salem, which soon ceased to have a post office, +supported himself as plowman, farm hand, and wood cutter, and tried +surveying; but made so many friends that in 1834 he was sent to the +legislature, and reelected in 1836, 1838, and 1840. He now began the +practice of law, settled in Springfield, was elected to Congress in 1846, +and served there one term. + +[12] For a description of the Lincoln-Douglas debate of 1858, read +Rhodes's _History of the U. S._, Vol. II, pp. 314-338. + +[13] Many persons regarded Brown as a martyr. Read Whittier's _Brown of +Ossawatomie_, or Stedman's _How Old Brown took Harper's Ferry_. Read, +also, Rhodes's _History of the U. S._, Vol. II, pp. 383-398. + +[14] The platform of the Republicans adopted in 1860 (at Chicago) sets +forth: (1) that the party repudiates the principles of the Dred Scott +decision, (2) that Kansas must be admitted as a free state, (3) that the +territories must be free soil, and (4) that slavery in existing states +should not be interfered with. + +[15] The electoral vote was, for Lincoln, 180; for Douglas, 12; for +Breckinridge, 72; for Bell, 39. The popular vote was, for Lincoln, +1,866,452; for Douglas, 1,376,957; for Breckinridge, 849,781; for Bell, +588,879. Lincoln received no votes at all in ten Southern states. The +popular votes were so distributed that if those for Douglas, Breckinridge, +and Bell had all been cast for one of the candidates, Lincoln would still +have been elected President (by 173 electoral votes to 130). + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +STATE OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1840 TO 1860 + + +POPULATION.--In the twenty years which had elapsed since 1840 the +population of our country had risen to over 31,000,000. In New York alone +there were, in 1860, about as many people as lived in the whole United +States in 1789. + +Not a little of this increase of population was due to the stream of +immigrants which had been pouring into the country. From a few thousand in +1820, the number who came each year rose gradually to about 100,000 in the +year 1842, and then went down again. But famine in Ireland and hard times +in Germany started another great wave of immigration, which rose higher +and higher till (1854) more than 400,000 people arrived in one year. Then +once more the wave subsided, and in 1861 less than 90,000 came. + +[Illustration: SETTLED AREA IN 1860.] + +NEW STATES AND TERRITORIES.--Though population was still moving westward, +few of our countrymen, before the gold craze of 1849, had crossed the +Missouri. Those who did, went generally to Oregon, which was organized as +a territory in 1848 and admitted into the Union as a state in 1859. By +that time California (1850) and Minnesota (1858) had also been admitted, +so that the Union in 1860 consisted of thirty-three states and five +territories. Eighteen states were free, and fifteen slave-holding. The +five territories were New Mexico, Utah, Washington (1853), Kansas, and +Nebraska (small map, p. 394). + +CITY LIFE.--About one sixth of the population in 1860 lived in cities, of +which there were about 140 of 8000 or more people each. Most of them were +ugly, dirty, badly built, and poorly governed. The older ones, however, +were much improved. The street pump had given way to water works; gas and +plumbing were in general use; many cities had uniformed police; [1] but +the work of fighting fires was done by volunteer fire departments. Street +cars (drawn by horses) now ran in all the chief cities, omnibuses were in +general use, and in New York city the great Central Park, the first of its +kind in the country, had been laid out. Illustrated magazines, and weekly +papers, Sunday newspapers, and trade journals had been established, and in +some cities graded schools had been introduced. [2] + +SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.--In the country the district school for boys and +girls was gradually being improved. The larger cities of the North now had +high schools as well as common schools, and in a few instances separate +high schools for girls. Between 1840 and 1860 eighty-two sectarian and +twenty non-sectarian colleges were founded, and the Naval Academy at +Annapolis was opened. Not even the largest college in 1860 had 800 +students, and in but one (University of Iowa, 1856) were women admitted to +all departments. + +LITERATURE.--Public libraries were now to be found not only in the great +cities, but in most of the large towns, and in such libraries were +collections of poetry, essays, novels, and histories written by American +authors. Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, Poe, Bryant, and Whittier among +poets; Hawthorne, Irving, Cooper, Simms, and Poe among writers of fiction; +Emerson and Lowell among essayists, were read and admired abroad as well +as at home. Prescott, who had lately (1859) died, had left behind him +histories of Spain in the Old World and in the New; Parkman was just +beginning his story of the French in America; Motley had published his +_Rise of the Dutch Republic_, and part of his _History of the United +Netherlands_; Hildreth had completed one _History of the United States_, +and Bancroft was still at work on another. + +Near these men of the first rank stood many writers popular in their day. +The novels of Kennedy, and the poetry of Drake, Halleck, and Willis are +not yet forgotten. + +OCCUPATIONS.--In the Eastern states the people were engaged chiefly in +fishing, commerce, and manufacturing; in the Middle states in farming, +commerce, manufacturing, and mining. To the great coal and iron mines of +Pennsylvania were (1859) added the oil fields. That petroleum existed in +that state had long been known; but it was not till Drake drilled a well +near Titusville (in northwestern Pennsylvania) and struck oil that enough +was obtained to make it marketable. Down the Ohio there was a great trade +in bituminous coal, and the union of the coal, iron, and oil trades was +already making Pittsburg a great city. In the South little change had +taken place. Cotton, tobacco, sugar, and the products of the pine forests +were still the chief sources of wealth; mills and factories hardly +existed. The West had not only its immense farms, but also the iron mines +of upper Michigan, the lead mines of the upper Mississippi and in +Missouri, the copper mines of the Lake Superior country, and the lumber +industry of Michigan and Wisconsin. Through the lakes passed a great +commerce. California was the great gold-mining state; but gold and silver +had just been discovered near Pikes Peak, and in what is now Nevada. + +THE MORMONS.--Utah territory in 1860 contained forty thousand white +people, nearly all Mormons. These people, as we have seen, when driven +from Missouri, built the city called Nauvoo in Illinois. Their leaders now +introduced the practice of polygamy, and in various ways opposed the state +authorities. In 1844 they came to blows with the state; the leaders were +arrested, and while in jail Joseph Smith and his brother were murdered by +a mob. Brigham Young then became head of the church, and in the winter of +1846 the Mormons, driven from Nauvoo, crossed the Mississippi and began a +long march westward over the plains to Great Salt Lake, then in Mexico. +There they settled down, and when the war with Mexico ended, they were +again in the United States. When Utah was made a territory in 1850, +Brigham Young was appointed its first governor. [3] + +[Illustration: FORT UNION, BUILT IN 1829 BY THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.] + +THE FAR WEST.--Before 1850 each new state added to the Union had bordered +an some older state; but now California and Oregon were separated from the +other states by wide stretches of wilderness. The Rocky Mountain highland +and the Great Plains, however, were not entirely uninhabited. Over them +wandered bands of Indians mounted on fleet ponies; white hunters and +trappers, some trapping for themselves, some for the great fur companies; +and immense herds of buffalo, [4] and in the south herds of wild horses. +The streams still abounded with beaver. Game was everywhere, deer, elk, +antelope, bears, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, and on the streams wild +ducks and geese. Here and there were villages of savage and merciless +Indians, and the forts or trading posts of the trappers. Every year bands +of emigrants crossed the plains and the mountains, bound to Utah, +California, or Oregon. + +PROPOSED RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC.--In 1842 John C. Fremont, with Kit +Carson as guide, began a series of explorations which finally extended +from the Columbia to the Colorado, and from the Missouri to California and +Oregon (map, p. 314). [5] Men then began to urge seriously the plan of a +railroad across the continent to some point on the Pacific. In 1845 Asa +Whitney [6] applied to Congress for a grant of a strip of land from some +point on Lake Michigan to Puget Sound, and came again with like appeals in +1846 and 1848. By that time the Mexican cession had been acquired, and +this with the discovery of gold in California gave the idea such +importance that (in 1853) money was finally voted by Congress for the +survey of several routes. Jefferson Davis, as Secretary of War, ordered +five routes to be surveyed and (in 1855) recommended the most southerly; +and the Senate passed a bill to charter three roads. [7] Jealousy among +the states prevented the passage of the bill by the House. In 1860 the +platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties declared for such a +railroad. + +MECHANICAL IMPROVEMENT.--During the period 1840-60 mechanical improvement +was more remarkable than in earlier periods. The first iron-front building +was erected, the first steam fire engine used, wire rope manufactured, a +grain drill invented, Hoe's printing press with revolving type cylinders +introduced, and six inventions or discoveries of universal benefit to +mankind were given to the world. They were the electric telegraph, the +sewing machine, the improved harvester, vulcanized rubber, the photograph, +and anaesthesia. + +[Illustration: MORSE AND HIS FIRST TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENT.] + +THE TELEGRAPH.--Seven years of struggle enabled Samuel F. B. Morse, helped +by Alfred Vail, to make the electric telegraph a success, [8] and in 1844, +with the aid of a small appropriation by Congress, Morse built a telegraph +line from Baltimore to Washington. [9] Further aid was asked from Congress +and refused. [10] The Magnetic Telegraph Company was then started. New +York and Baltimore were connected in 1846, and in ten years some forty +companies were in operation in the most populous states. + +[Illustration: HOWE'S FIRST SEWING MACHINE.] + +THE SEWING MACHINE; THE HARVESTER.--A man named Hunt invented the +lockstitch sewing machine in 1834; but it was not successful, and some +time elapsed before his idea was taken up by Elias Howe, who after several +years of experiment (1846) made a practical machine. People were slow to +use it, but by 1850 he had so aroused the interest of inventors that seven +rivals were in the field, and to their joint labors we owe one of the most +useful inventions of the century. From the household the sewing machine +passed into use in factories (1862), and to-day gives employment to +hundreds of thousands of people. + +[Illustration: EARLY HARVESTER. From an old print.] + +What the sewing machine is to the home and the factory, that is the reaper +to the farm. After many years of experiment Cyrus McCormick invented a +practical reaper and (1840) sought to put it on the market, but several +more years passed before success was assured. To-day, greatly improved and +perfected, it is in use the world over, and has made possible the great +grain fields, not only of our own middle West and Northwest, but of +Argentina, Australia, and Russia. + +VULCANIZED RUBBER; PHOTOGRAPHY; ANAESTHESIA.--The early attempts to use +India rubber for shoes, coats, caps, and wagon covers failed because in +warm weather the rubber softened and emitted an offensive smell. To +overcome this Goodyear labored year after year to discover a method of +hardening or, as it is called, vulcanizing rubber. Even when the discovery +was made and patented, several years passed before he was sure of the +process. In 1844 he succeeded and gave to the world a most useful +invention. + +[Illustration: A DAGUERREOTYPE, IN METAL CASE, 1843.] + +In 1839 a Frenchman named Daguerre patented a method of taking pictures by +exposing to sunlight a copper plate treated with certain chemicals. The +exposure for each picture was some twenty minutes. An American, Dr. John +W. Draper, so improved the method that pictures were taken of persons in a +much shorter time, and photography was fairly started. + +Greater yet was the discovery that by breathing sulphuric ether a person +can become insensible to pain and then recover consciousness. The glory of +the discovery has been claimed for Dr. Morton and Dr. Jackson, who used it +in 1846. Laughing gas (nitrous oxide) was used as an ansesthetic before +this time by Dr. Wells of Hartford. + +TRANSPORTATION IMPROVED.--In the country east of the Mississippi some +thirty thousand miles of railroad had been built, and direct communication +opened from the North and East to Chicago (1853) and New Orleans (1859). +For the growth of railroads between 1850 and 1861 study the maps on pp. +331, 353. [11] At first the lines between distant cities were composed of +many connecting but independent roads. Thus between Albany and Buffalo +there were ten such little roads; but in 1853 they were consolidated and +became the New York Central, and the era of the great trunk lines was +fairly opened. + +On the ocean, steamship service between the Old World and the New was so +improved that steamships passed from Liverpool to New York in less than +twelve days. + +Better means of transportation were of benefit, not merely to the traveler +and the merchant, but to the people generally. Letters could be carried +faster and more cheaply, so the rate of postage on a single letter was +reduced (1851) from five or ten cents to three cents, [12] and before 1860 +express service covered every important line of transportation. + +THE ATLANTIC CABLE.--The success of the telegraph on land suggested a bold +attempt to lay wires across the bed of the ocean, and in 1854 Cyrus W. +Field of New York was asked to aid in the laying of a cable from St. Johns +to Cape Ray, Newfoundland. But Field went further and formed a company to +join Newfoundland and Ireland by cable, and after two failures succeeded +(1858). During three weeks all went well and some four hundred messages +were sent; then the cable ceased to work, and eight years passed before +another was laid. Since then many telegraph cables have been laid across +the Atlantic; but it was not till 1903 that the first was laid across the +Pacific. + +FOREIGN RELATIONS.--We have seen how during this period our country was +expanded by the annexation of Texas (1845) and by two cessions of +territory from Mexico (1848 and 1853). But this was not enough to satisfy +the South, and attempts were made to buy Cuba. Polk (1848) offered Spain +$100,000,000 for it. Filibusters tried to capture it (in 1851), and Pierce +(1853) urged its annexation. With this end in view our ministers to Great +Britain, France, and Spain met at Ostend in Belgium in 1854 and issued +what was called the Ostend Manifesto. This set forth that Cuba must be +annexed to protect slavery, and if Spain would not sell for a fair price, +"then by every law, human and divine, we shall be justified in wresting it +from Spain if we possess the power." Buchanan also (1858) urged the +purchase of Cuba; but in vain. + +CHINA AND JAPAN.--More pleasing to recall are our relations with China and +Japan. Our flag was first seen in China in 1784, when the trading vessel +_Empress of China_ reached Canton. Washington (1790) appointed a consul to +reside in that city, the only one in China, then open to foreign trade; +but no minister from the United States was sent to China till Caleb +Gushing went in 1844. By him our first treaty was negotiated with China, +under which five ports were opened to American trade and two very +important concessions secured: (1) American citizens charged with any +criminal act were to be tried and punished only by the American consul. +(2) All privileges which China might give to any other nation were +likewise to be given to the United States. + +At that time Japan was a "hermit nation." In 1853, however, Commodore M. +C. Perry went to that country with a fleet, and sent to the emperor a +message expressing the wish of the United States to enter into trade +relations with Japan. Then he sailed away; but returned in 1854 and made a +treaty (the first entered into by Japan) which resulted in opening that +country to the United States. Other nations followed, and Japan was thus +opened to trade with the civilized world. + + +SUMMARY + +1. Between 1840 and 1860 the population increased from 17,000,000 to +31,000,000. + +2. During this period millions of immigrants had come. + +3. As population continued to move westward new states and territories +were formed. + +4. In one of these new territories, Utah, were the Mormons who had been +driven from Illinois. + +5. The rise of a new state on the Pacific coast revived the old demand for +a railroad across the plains, and surveys were ordered. + +6. East of the Mississippi thousands of miles of railroads were built, and +the East, the West, and the far South were connected. + +7. This period is marked by many great inventions and discoveries, +including the telegraph, the sewing machine, and the reaper. + +8. It was in this period that trade relations were begun with China and +Japan. + +[Illustration: MODERN HARVESTER.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] All the large cities were so poorly governed, however, that they were +often the scenes of serious riots, political, labor, race, and even +religious. + +[2] An unfriendly picture of the United States in 1842 is Dickens's +_American Notes_, a book well worth reading. + +[3] Several non-Mormon officials were sent to Utah, but they were not +allowed to exercise any authority, and were driven out. The Mormons formed +the state of Deseret and applied for admission into the Union. Congress +paid no attention to the appeal, and (1857) Buchanan appointed a new +governor and sent troops to Utah to uphold the Federal authority. Young +forbade them to enter the territory, and dispatched an armed force that +captured some of their supplies. In the spring of 1858 the President +offered pardon "to all who will submit themselves to the just authority of +the Federal Government," and Young and his followers did so. + +[4] An interesting account of the buffalo is given in A. C. Laut's The +Story of the Trapper_, pp. 65-80. Herds of a hundred thousand were common. +As many as a million buffalo robes were sent east each year in the +thirties and forties. + +[5] John C. Fremont was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1813, and in 1842 +was Lieutenant of Engineers, United States Army. In 1842 he went up the +Platte River and through the South Pass. The next year he passed southward +to Great Salt Lake, then northwestward to the Columbia, then southward +through Oregon to California, and back by Great Salt Lake to South Pass in +1844. In 1845 he crossed what is now Nebraska and Utah, and reached the +vicinity of Monterey in California. The Mexican authorities ordered him +away; but he remained in California and helped to win the country during +the war with Mexico. Later, he was senator from California, Republican +candidate for President in 1856, and an army general during the Civil War. + +[6] Whitney asked for a strip sixty miles wide. So much of the land as was +not needed for railroad purposes was to be sold and the money used to +build the road. During 1847-49 his plan was approved by the legislatures +of seventeen states, and by mass meetings of citizens or Boards of Trade +in seventeen cities. + +[7] One from the west border of Texas to California; another from the west +border of Missouri to California; and a third from the west border of +Wisconsin to the Pacific in Oregon or Washington. + +[8] In 1842 Morse laid the first submarine telegraph in the world, from +Governors Island in New York harbor to New York city. It consisted of a +wire wound with string and coated with tar, pitch, and india rubber, to +prevent the electric current running off into the water. It was laid on +October 18, and the next morning, while messages were being received, the +anchor of a vessel caught and destroyed the wire. + +[9] The wire was at first put in a lead tube and laid in a furrow plowed +in the earth. This failed; so the wire was strung on poles. One end was in +the Pratt St. Depot, Baltimore, and the other in the Supreme Court Chamber +at Washington. The first words sent, after the completion of the line, +were "What hath God wrought." Two days later the Democratic convention +(which nominated Polk for President) met at Baltimore, and its proceedings +were reported hourly to Washington by telegraph. + +[10] Morse offered to sell his patent to the government, but the +Postmaster General reported that the telegraph was merely an interesting +experiment and could never have a practical value, so the offer was not +accepted. + +[11] The use of vast sums of money in building so many railroads, together +with overtrading and reckless speculation, brought on a business panic in +1857. Factories were closed, banks failed, thousands of men and women were +thrown out of employment, and for two years the country suffered from hard +times. + +[12] It was not till 1883 that the rate was reduced to two cents. Before +the introduction of the postage stamp, letters were sent to the post +offices, and when the postage had been paid, they were marked "Paid" by +the officials. When the mails increased in volume in the large cities, +this way of doing business consumed so much time that the postmasters at +St. Louis and New York sold stamps to be affixed to letters as evidence +that the postage had been paid. The convenience was so great that public +opinion forced Congress to authorize the post office department to furnish +stamps and require the people to use them (1847). + +[Illustration: MAP OF EASTERN UNITED STATES IN 1861.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1863 + + +[Illustration: NEWSPAPER BULLETIN POSTED IN THE STREETS OF CHARLESTON.] + +THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.--After Lincoln's election, the cotton +states, one by one, passed ordinances declaring that they left the Union. +First to go was South Carolina (December 20, 1860), and by February 1, +1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had +followed. On February 4 delegates from six of these seven states met at +Montgomery, Alabama, framed, a constitution, [1] established the +"Confederate States of America," and elected Jefferson Davis [2] and +Alexander H. Stephens provisional President and Vice President. Later they +were elected by the people. + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Photograph of 1856.] + +[Illustration: JEFFERSON DAVIS.] + +LINCOLN'S POLICY.--President Buchanan did nothing to prevent all this, and +such was the political situation when Lincoln was inaugurated (March 4, +1861). His views and his policy were clearly stated in his inaugural +address: "I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the +institution of slavery in the states where it exists.... No state on its +own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union.... The Union is +unbroken, and to the extent of my ability I shall take care that the laws +of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states.... In doing this +there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it +be forced upon the national authority.... The power confided in me will be +used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the +government." + +FORT SUMTER CAPTURED.--Almost all the "property and places" belonging to +the United States government in the seven seceding states had been seized +by the Confederates. [3] But Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor was still in +Union hands, and to this, Lincoln notified the governor of South Carolina, +supplies would be sent. Thereupon the Confederate army already gathered in +Charleston bombarded the fort till Major Anderson surrendered it (April +14, 1861). [4] + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE BATTERIES THAT BOMBARDED FORT SUMTER.] + +THE WAR OPENS.--With the capture of Fort Sumter the war for the Union +opened in earnest. On April 15 Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand +militia to serve for three months. [5] Thereupon Virginia, North Carolina, +Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded and joined the Confederacy. The capital of +the Confederacy was soon moved from Montgomery to Richmond, Virginia. + +In the slave-holding states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri +the Union men outnumbered the secessionists and held these states in the +Union. When Virginia seceded, the western counties refused to leave the +Union, and in 1863 were admitted into the Union as the state of West +Virginia. + +THE DIVIDING LINE.--The first call for troops was soon followed by a +second. The responses to both were so prompt that by July 1, 1861, more +than one hundred and eighty thousand Union soldiers were under arms. They +were stationed at various points along a line that stretched from Norfolk +in Virginia up the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River to Harpers Ferry, and +then across western Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. South of this +dividing line were the Confederate armies. [6] + +Geographically this line was cut into three sections: that in Virginia, +that in Kentucky, and that in Missouri, + +[Illustration: STONE BRIDGE OVER BULL RUN. Crossed by many fleeing Union +men.] + +BULL RUN.--General Winfield Scott was in command of the Union army. Under +him and in command of the troops about Washington was General McDowell, +who in July, 1861, was sent to drive back the Confederate line in +Virginia. Marching a few miles southwest, McDowell met General Beauregard +near Manassas, and on the field of Bull Run was beaten and his army put to +flight. [7] The battle taught the North that the war would not end in +three months; that an army of raw troops was no better than a mob; that +discipline was as necessary as patriotism. Thereafter men were enlisted +for three years or for the war. + +General George B. McClellan [8] was now put in command of the Union Army +of the Potomac, and spent the rest of 1861, and the early months of 1862, +in drilling his raw volunteers. + +[Illustration: DRIVING BACK THE CONFEDERATE LINE IN THE WEST.] + +CONFEDERATE LINE IN KENTUCKY DRIVEN BACK, 1862.--In Kentucky the +Confederate line stretched across the southern part of the state as shown +on the map. Against this General Thomas was sent in January, 1862. He +defeated the Confederates at Mill Springs near the eastern end. In +February General U. S. Grant and Flag-Officer Foote were sent to attack, +by land and water, Forts Donelson and Henry near the western end of the +line. Foote arrived first at Fort Henry on the Tennessee and captured it. +Thereupon Grant marched across country to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, +and after three days' sharp fighting forced General Buckner to surrender. +[9] + +[Illustration: ULYSSES S. GRANT.] + +SHILOH OR PITTSBURG LANDING.--The Confederate line was now broken, and +abandoning Nashville and Columbus, the Confederates fell back toward +Corinth in Mississippi. The Union army followed in three parts. + +1. One under General Curtis moved to southwestern Missouri and won a +battle at Pea Ridge (Arkansas). + +2. Another under General Pope on the banks of the Mississippi aided Flag- +Officer Foote in the capture of Island No. 10. [10] The fleet then passed +down the river and took Fort Pillow. + +3. The third part under Grant took position very near Pittsburg Landing, +at Shiloh, [11] where it was attacked and driven back. But the next day, +being strongly reënforced, General Grant beat the Confederates, who +retreated to Corinth. General Halleck now took command, and having united +the second and third parts of the army, took Corinth and cut off Memphis, +which then surrendered to the fleet in the river. + +BRAGG'S RAID.--And now the Confederates turned furiously. Their army under +General Bragg, starting from Chattanooga, rushed across Tennessee and +Kentucky toward Louisville, but after a hot fight with General Buell's +army at Perryville was forced to turn back, and went into winter quarters +at Murfreesboro. [12] + +[Illustration: NORTHERN CAVALRYMAN. A war-time drawing published in 1869.] + +There Bragg was attacked by the Union forces, now under General Rosecrans, +was beaten in one of the most bloody battles of the war (December 31, +1862, and January 2, 1863), and was forced to retreat further south. + +NEW ORLEANS, 1862.--Both banks of the Mississippi as far south as the +Arkansas were by this time in Union hands. [13] South of that river on the +east bank of the Mississippi the Confederates still held Vicksburg and +Port Hudson (maps, pp. 353, 368). But New Orleans had been captured in +April, 1862, by a naval expedition under Farragut; [14] and the city was +occupied by a Union army under General Butler. [15] + +[Illustration: WAR IN THE EAST, 1862.] + +THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN, 1862.--In the East the year opened with great +preparation for the capture of Richmond, the Confederate capital. + +1. Armies under Fremont and Banks in the Shenandoah valley were to prevent +an attack on Washington from the west. + +2. An army under McDowell was to be ready to march from Fredericksburg to +Richmond, when the proper time came. + +3. McClellan was to take the largest army by water from Washington to Fort +Monroe, and then march up the peninsula formed by the York and James +rivers to the neighborhood of Richmond, where McDowell was to join him. + +Landing at the lower end of the peninsula early in April, McClellan moved +northward to Yorktown, and captured it after a long siege. McClellan then +hurried up the peninsula after the retreating enemy, and on the way fought +and won a battle at Williamsburg. [16] + +THE SHENANDOAH CAMPAIGN, 1862.--It was now expected that McDowell, who had +been guarding Washington, would join McClellan, but General T. J. Jackson +[17] (Stonewall Jackson), who commanded the Confederate forces in the +Shenandoah, rushed down the valley and drove Banks across the Potomac into +Maryland. This success alarmed the authorities at Washington, and McDowell +was held in northern Virginia to protect the capital. Part of his troops, +with those of Banks and Fremont, were dispatched against Jackson; but +Jackson won several battles and made good his escape. + +[Illustration: THOMAS J. JACKSON.] + +END OF PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.--Though deprived of the aid of McDowell, +General McClellan moved westward to within eight or ten miles of Richmond; +but the Confederate General J. E. Johnston now attacked him at Fair Oaks. +A few weeks later General R. E. Lee, [18] who had succeeded Johnston in +command, was joined by Jackson; the Confederates then attacked McClellan +at Mechanicsville and Gaines Mill and forced him to retreat, fighting as +he went (June 26 to July 1), to Harrisons Landing on the James River. +There the Union army remained till August, when it went back by water to +the Potomac. + +[Illustration: ROBERT E. LEE.] + +LEE'S RAID; BATTLE OF ANTIETAM, 1862.--The departure of the Union army +from Harrisons Landing left General Lee free to do as he chose, and +seizing the opportunity he turned against the Union forces under General +Pope, whose army was drawn up between Cedar Mountain and Fredericksburg, +on the Rappahannock River. Stonewall Jackson first attacked General Banks +at the western end of the line at Cedar Mountain, and beat him. Jackson +and Lee then fell upon General Pope on the old field of Bull Run, beat +him, and forced him to fall back to Washington, where his army was united +with that of McClellan. [19] This done, Lee crossed the Potomac and +entered Maryland. McClellan attacked him at Antietam Creek (September, +1862), where a bloody battle was fought (sometimes called the battle of +Sharpsburg). Lee was beaten; but McClellan did not prevent his recrossing +the Potomac into Virginia. [20] + +FREDERICKSBURG, 1862.--McClellan was now removed, and General A. E. +Burnside put in command. The Confederates meantime had taken position on +Marye's Heights on the south side of the Rappahannock, behind +Fredericksburg. The position was impregnable; but in December Burnside +attacked it and was repulsed with dreadful slaughter. The two armies then +went into winter quarters with the Rappahannock between them. + +THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.--Ever since the opening of the year 1862, +the question of slavery in the loyal states and in the territories had +been constantly before Congress. In April Congress abolished slavery in +the District of Columbia and set free the slaves there with compensation +to the owners. In June it abolished slavery in the territories and freed +the slaves there without compensation to the owners, and in July +authorized the seizure of slaves of persons then in rebellion. + +In March Lincoln had asked Congress to help pay for the slaves in the +loyal slave states, if these states would abolish slavery; but neither +Congress nor the states adopted the plan. [21] Lincoln now determined, as +an act of war, to free the slaves in the Confederate states, and when the +armies of Lee and McClellan stood face to face at Antietam, he decided, if +Lee was beaten, to issue an emancipation proclamation. Lee was beaten, and +on September 22, 1862, the proclamation came forth declaring that on +January 1, 1863, "all persons held as slaves" in any state or part of a +state then "in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, +thenceforth, and forever free." The Confederate states did not return to +their allegiance, and on January 1, 1863, a second proclamation was +issued, declaring the slaves within the Confederate lines to be free men. + +[Illustration: PART OF THE AUTOGRAPH COPY OF LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION OF +JANUARY 1, 1863.] + +1. Lincoln _did not abolish slavery anywhere_. He emancipated certain +slaves. + +2. His proclamation did not apply to the loyal slave states--Delaware, +Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri. + +3. It did not apply to such Confederate territory as the Union armies had +conquered; namely, Tennessee, seven counties in Virginia, and thirteen +parishes in Louisiana. + +4. Lincoln freed the slaves by virtue of his authority as commander in +chief of the Union armies, "and as a fit and necessary war measure." + + +SUMMARY + +1. In 1860 and 1861 seven cotton states seceded, formed the Confederate +States of America, and elected Jefferson Davis President. + +2. The capture of Fort Sumter (April, 1861) and Lincoln's call for troops +were followed by the secession of four more Southern states. + +3. In 1861 an attempt was made to drive back the Confederate line in +Virginia; but this ended in disaster at the battle of Bull Run. + +4. In 1862 the Peninsular Campaign failed, Pope was defeated at Bull Run, +Lee's invasion of Maryland was ended by the battle of Antietam, and +Burnside met defeat at Fredericksburg. + +5. In the West in 1862 the Confederate line was forced back to northern +Mississippi, and New Orleans was captured. Great battles were fought at +Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Perryville, and Murfreesboro. + +6. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln declared free the slaves in the +states and parts of states held by the Confederates. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The constitution of the Confederacy was the Constitution of the United +States altered to suit conditions. The President was to serve six years +and was not to be eligible for reëlection; the right to own slaves was +affirmed, but no slaves were to be imported from any foreign country +except the slave-holding states of the old Union. The Congress was +forbidden to establish a tariff for protection of any branch of industry. +A Supreme Court was provided for, but was never organized. + +[2] Jefferson Davis was born in 1808, graduated from the Military Academy +at West Point in 1828, served in the Black Hawk War, resigned from the +army in 1835, and became a cotton planter in Mississippi. In 1845 he was +elected to Congress, but resigned to take part in the Mexican War, and was +wounded at Buena Vista. In 1847 lie was elected a senator, and from 1853 +to 1857 was Secretary of War. He then returned to the Senate, where he was +when Mississippi seceded. He died in New Orleans in 1889. + +[3] Property of the United States seized by the states was turned over to +the Confederate government. Thus Louisiana gave up $536,000 in specie +taken from the United States customhouse and mint at New Orleans. + +[4] Read "Inside Sumter in '61" in _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, +Vol. I, pp. 65-73. + +[5] Read "War Preparations in the North" in _Battles and Leaders of the +Civil War_, Vol. I, pp. 85-98; on pp. 149-159, also, read "Going to the +Front." + +[6] An interesting account of "Scenes in Virginia in '61" may be found in +_Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. I, pp. 160-166. + +[7] "The Confederate army was more disorganized by victory than that of +the United States by defeat," says General Johnston; and no pursuit of the +Union forces was made. "The larger part of the men," McDowell telegraphed +to Washington, "are a confused mob, entirely disorganized." None stopped +short of the fortifications along the Potomac, and numbers entered +Washington. Read _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. I, pp. +229-239. "I have no idea that the North will give it up," wrote Stephens, +Vice President of the Confederacy. "Their defeat will increase their +energy." He was right. + +[8] George Brinton McClellan was born in Philadelphia in 1826, graduated +from West Point, served in the Mexican War, and resigned from the army in +1857, to become a civil engineer, but rejoined it at the opening of the +war. In July, 1861, he conducted a successful campaign against the +Confederates in West Virginia, and his victories there were the cause of +his promotion to command the Army of the Potomac. After the battle of +Antietam (p. 363) he took no further part in the war, and finally resigned +in 1864. From 1878 to 1881 he was governor of New Jersey. He died in 1885. + +[9] Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in Ohio in 1822, and at seventeen entered +West Point, where his name was registered Ulysses S. Grant, and as such he +was ever after known. He served in the Mexican War, and afterward engaged +in business of various sorts till the opening of the Civil War, when he +was made colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Regiment, and then commander +of the district of southeast Missouri. When General Buckner, who commanded +at Fort Donelson, wrote to Grant to know what terms he would offer, Grant +replied: "No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be +accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." This won for +Grant the popular name "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. + +Andrew H. Foote was born in Connecticut in 1806, entered the navy at +sixteen, and when the war opened, was made flag officer of the Western +navy. His gunboats were like huge rafts carrying a house with flat roof +and sloping sides that came down to the water's edge. The sloping sides +and ends were covered with iron plates and pierced for guns; three in the +bow, two in the stern, and four on each side. The huge wheel in the stern +which drove the boat was under cover; but the smoke stacks were +unprotected. Foote died in 1863, a rear admiral. + +[10] The islands in the Mississippi are numbered from the mouth of the +Ohio River to New Orleans. + +[11] Read _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. I, pp. 465-486. + +[12] Farther west the Confederates attacked the Union army at Corinth +(October 4), but were defeated by General Rosecrans. + +[13] In January, 1862, the Confederate line west of the Mississippi +stretched from Belmont across southern Missouri to Indian Territory; but +Grant drove the Confederates out of Belmont; General Curtis, as we have +seen, beat them at Pea Ridge (in March), and when the year ended, the +Union army was in possession of northern Arkansas. + +[14] David G. Farragut was born in 1801, and when eleven years old served +on the _Essex_ in the War of 1812. When his fleet started up the +Mississippi River, in 1862, he found his way to New Orleans blocked by two +forts, St. Philip and Jackson, by chains across the river on hulks below +Fort Jackson, and by a fleet of ironclad boats above. After bombarding the +forts for six days, he cut the chains, ran by the forts, defeated the +fleet, and went up to New Orleans, and later took Baton Rouge and Natchez. +For the capture of New Orleans he received the thanks of Congress, and was +made a rear admiral; for his victory in Mobile Bay (p. 379) the rank of +vice admiral was created for him, and in 1866 a still higher rank, that of +admiral, was made for him. He died in 1870. + +[15] When it was known in New Orleans that Farragut's fleet was coming, +the cotton in the yards and in the cotton presses was hauled on drays to +the levee and burned to prevent its falling into Union hands. The capture +of the city had a great effect on Great Britain and France, both of whom +the Confederates hoped would intervene to stop the war. Slidell, who was +in France seeking recognition for the Confederacy as an independent +nation, wrote that he had been led to believe "that if New Orleans had not +been taken and we suffered no very serious reverses in Virginia and +Tennessee, our recognition would very soon have been declared." Read +_Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. II, pp. 14-21,91-94. + +[16] The story of the march is interestingly told in "Recollections of a +Private," in _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. II, pp. 189-199. + +[17] Thomas J. Jackson was born in West Virginia in 1824, graduated from +West Point, served in the Mexican War, resigned from the army, and till +1861 taught in the Virginia State Military Institute at Lexington. He then +joined the Confederate army, and for the firm stand of his brigade at Bull +Run gained the name of "Stonewall." + +[18] Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia in 1807, a son of "Light Horse" +Harry Lee of the Revolutionary army. He was a graduate of West Point, and +served in the Mexican War. After Virginia seceded he left the Union army +and was appointed a major general of Virginia troops, and in 1862 became +commander in chief. At the end of the war he accepted the presidency of +Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), and died in +Lexington, Virginia, in 1870. + +[19] Part of McClellan's army had joined Pope before the second battle of +Bull Run. + +[20] Read "A Woman's Recollections of Antietam," in _Battles and Leaders +of the Civil War_, Vol. II, pp. 686-695; also O. W. Holmes's _My Hunt +after "The Captain_." + +[21] West Virginia and Missouri later (1863) provided for gradual +emancipation, and Maryland (1864) adopted a constitution that abolished +slavery. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE CIVIL WAR, 1863-1865 + + +THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN, 1863.--After the defeat at Fredericksburg, +Burnside was removed, and General Hooker put in command of the Army of the +Potomac. "Fighting Joe," as Hooker was called, led his army of 130,000 men +against Lee and Jackson, and after a stubborn fight at Chancellorsville +(May 1-4, 1863) was beaten and fell back. [1] In June Lee once more took +the offensive, rushed down the Shenandoah valley to the Potomac River, +crossed Maryland, and entered Pennsylvania with the Army of the Potomac in +hot pursuit. On reaching Maryland General Hooker was removed and General +Meade put in command. + +[Illustration: WAR IN THE EAST, 1863-65.] + +On the hills at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the two armies met, and there +(July 1-3) Lee attacked Meade. The struggle was desperate. About one +fourth of the men engaged were killed or wounded. But the splendid valor +of the Union army prevailed, and Lee was beaten and forced to return to +Virginia, where he remained unmolested till the spring of 1864. [2] The +battle of Gettysburg ended Lee's plan for carrying the war into the North, +and from the losses on that field his army never fully recovered. [3] + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. Contemporary drawing.] + +[Illustration: THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN.] + +[Illustration: GRANT'S HEADQUARTERS NEAR VICKSBURG. From a recent +photograph.] + +VICKSBURG, 1863.--In January, 1863, the Confederates held the Mississippi +River only from Vicksburg to Port Hudson. The capture of these two towns +would complete the opening of the river. Grant, therefore, determined to +capture Vicksburg. The town stands on the top of a bluff which rises +straight and steep from the river, and had been so strongly fortified on +the land side that to take it seemed impossible. Grant, having failed in a +direct advance through Mississippi, cut a canal across a bend in the +river, on the west bank, hoping to divert the waters and get a passage by +the town. This, too, failed; and he then decided to cross below Vicksburg +and attack by land. To aid him, Admiral Porter ran his gunboats past the +town on a night in April and carried the army across the river. Landing on +the east bank, Grant won a victory at Port Gibson, and hearing that J. E. +Johnston was coming to help Pemberton, pushed in between them, beat +Johnston, and turning against Pemberton drove him into Vicksburg. After a +siege of seven weeks, in which Vicksburg suffered severely from +bombardment and famine, Pemberton surrendered the town and army July 4, +1863. + +In less than a week (July 9) Port Hudson surrendered, the Mississippi was +opened from source to mouth, and the Confederacy was cut in two. + +[Illustration: WAR IN THE WEST, 1863-65, AND ON THE COAST.] + +CHICKAMAUGA, 1863.--While Grant was besieging Vicksburg, Rosecrans forced +a Confederate army under Bragg to quit its position south of Murfreesboro, +and then to leave Chattanooga and retire into northern Georgia. There +Bragg was reënforced, and he then attacked Rosecrans in the Chickamauga +valley (September 19 and 20, 1863), where was fought one of the most +desperate battles of the war. The Union right wing was driven from the +field, but the left wing under General Thomas held the enemy in check and +saved the army from rout. By his firmness Thomas won the name of "the Rock +of Chickamauga." + +CHATTANOOGA.--Rosecrans now went back to Chattanooga. Bragg followed, and, +taking position on the hills and mountains which surround the town on the +east and south, shut in the Union army and besieged it. Hooker was sent +from Virginia with more troops, Sherman [4] brought an army from +Vicksburg, Rosecrans was replaced by Thomas, and Grant was put in command +of all. Then matters changed. The troops under Thomas (November 23) seized +some low hills at the foot of Missionary Ridge, east of Chattanooga. +Hooker (November 24) carried the Confederate works on Lookout Mountain, +southwest of the town, in a fight often called "the Battle above the +Clouds." Sherman (November 24 and 25) attacked the northern end of +Missionary Ridge. Thomas (November 25) thereupon carried the heights of +Missionary Ridge, and drove off the enemy. Bragg retreated to Dalton in +northwestern Georgia, where the command of his army was given to General +J. E. Johnston. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.] + +[Illustration: CHARGING UP MISSIONARY RIDGE.] + +THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN, 1864.--The Confederates had now but two great armies +left. One under Lee was lying quietly behind the Rappahannock and Rapidan +rivers, protecting Richmond; the other under J. E. Johnston [5] was at +Dalton, Georgia. The two generals chosen to lead the Union armies against +these forces were Grant and Sherman. Grant (now lieutenant general arid in +command of all the armies) with the Army of the Potomac was to drive Lee +back and take Richmond. Sherman with the forces under Thomas, McPherson, +and Schofield was to attack Johnston and enter Georgia. The Union soldiers +outnumbered the Confederates. + +[Illustration: JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.] + +MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA.--On May 4, 1864, accordingly, Sherman moved +forward against Johnston, flanked him out of Dalton, and drove him, step +by step, through the mountains to Atlanta. Johnston's retreat forced +Sherman to weaken his army by leaving guards in the rear to protect the +railroads on which he depended for supplies; Johnston intended to attack +when he could fight on equal terms. But his retreat displeased Davis, and +at Atlanta he was replaced by General Hood, who was expected to fight at +once. + +In July Hood made three furious attacks, was repulsed, and in September +left Atlanta and started northward. His purpose was to draw Sherman out of +Georgia, but Sherman sent Thomas with part of the army into Tennessee, and +after following Hood for a while, [6] turned back to Atlanta. + +After partly burning the town, Sherman started for the seacoast in +November, tearing up the railroads, burning bridges, and living on the +country as he went. [7] In December Fort McAllister was taken and Savannah +occupied. + +[Illustration: RAIL TWISTED AROUND POLE BY SHERMAN'S MEN. In the +possession of the Long Island Historical Society.] + +GRANT AND LEE IN VIRGINIA, 1864.--On the same day in May, 1864, on which +Sherman set out to attack Johnston in Georgia, the Army of the Potomac +began the campaign in Virginia. General Meade was in command; but Grant, +as commander in chief of all the Union armies, directed the campaign in +person. Crossing the Rapidan, the army entered the Wilderness, a stretch +of country covered with dense woods of oak and pine and thick undergrowth. +Lee attacked, and for several days the fighting was almost incessant. But +Grant pushed on to Spottsylvania Court House and to Cold Harbor, where +bloody battles were fought; and then went south of Richmond and besieged +Petersburg. [8] + +EARLY'S RAID, 1864.--Lee now sought to divert Grant by an attack on +Washington, and sent General Early down the Shenandoah valley. Early +crossed the Potomac, entered Maryland, won a battle at the Monocacy River, +and actually threatened the defenses of Washington, but was forced to +retreat. [9] + +[Illustration: PHILLIP H. SHERIDAN.] + +To stop these attacks Grant sent Sheridan [10] into the valley, where he +defeated Early at Winchester and at Fishers Hill and again at Cedar Creek. +It was during this last battle that Sheridan made his famous ride from +Winchester. [11] + +THE SITUATION EARLY IN 1865.--By 1865, Union fleets and armies had seized +many Confederate strongholds on the coast. In the West, Thomas had +destroyed Hood's army in the great battle of Nashville (December, 1864). +In the East, Grant was steadily pressing the siege of Petersburg and +Richmond, and Sherman was making ready to advance northward from Savannah. +The cause of the Confederacy was so desperate that in February, 1865, +Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States, was sent +to meet Lincoln and Secretary Seward and discuss terms of peace. Lincoln +demanded three things: the disbanding of the Confederate armies, the +submission of the seceded states to the rule of Congress, and the +abolition of slavery. The terms were not accepted, and the war went on. + +SHERMAN MARCHES NORTHWARD, 1865.--After resting for a month at Savannah, +Sherman started northward through South Carolina, (February 17) entered +Columbia, the capital of the state, and forced the Confederates to +evacuate Charleston. To oppose him, a new army was organized and put under +the command of Johnston. But Sherman pressed on, entered North Carolina, +and reached Goldsboro in safety. + +THE SURRENDER OF LEE, 1865.--Early in April, Lee found himself unable to +hold Richmond and Petersburg any longer. He retreated westward. Grant +followed, and on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, +seventy-five miles west of Richmond. [12] + +FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY.--The Confederacy then went rapidly to pieces. +Johnston surrendered to Sherman near Raleigh on April 26; Jefferson Davis +was captured at Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10, and the war on land was +over. [13] + +REFLECTION OF LINCOLN.--While the war was raging, the time again came to +elect a President and Vice President. The Republicans nominated Lincoln +and Andrew Johnson. The Democrats selected General McClellan and George H. +Pendleton. Lincoln and Johnson were elected and on March 4, 1865, were +inaugurated. + +DEATH OF LINCOLN.--On the night of April 14, the fourth anniversary of the +day on which Anderson marched out of Fort Sumter, while Lincoln was seated +with his wife and some friends in a box at Ford's Theater in Washington, +he was shot by an actor who had stolen up behind him. [14] The next +morning he died, and Andrew Johnson became President. + + +SUMMARY + +1. In 1863, Lee repulsed an advance by Hooker's army, and invaded +Pennsylvania, but was defeated by Meade at Gettysburg. + +2. In the West, Grant took Vicksburg, and the Mississippi was opened to +the sea. The Confederates defeated Rosecrans at Chickamauga, but were +defeated by Grant and other generals at Chattanooga. + +3. In 1864, Grant moved across Virginia, after much hard fighting, and +besieged Petersburg and Richmond, and Sherman marched across Georgia to +Savannah. + +4. In 1865, Sherman marched northward into North Carolina, and Grant +forced Lee to leave Richmond and surrender. + +5. In 1864, Lincoln was reëlected. + +6. In April, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated and Johnson became President. + +[Illustration: SHARPSHOOTER'S RIFLE USED IN THE CIVIL WAR. With telescope +sight. Weight, 32 lb.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Jackson was mortally wounded by a volley from his own men, who mistook +him and his escort for Union cavalry, in the dusk of evening of the second +day at Chancellorsville. His last words were: "Let us cross over the river +and rest under the shade of the trees." + +[2] Read "The Third Day at Gettysburg" in Battles and Leaders of the Civil +War, Vol. III, pp. 369-385. The field of Gettysburg is now a national park +dotted with monuments erected in memory of the dead, and marking the +positions of the regiments and spots where desperate fighting occurred. +Near by is a national cemetery in which are interred several thousand +Union soldiers. Read President Lincoln's beautiful Gettysburg Address. + +[3] With the exception of a small body of regulars, the Union armies were +composed of volunteers. When it became apparent that the war would not end +in a few months, Congress passed a Draft Act: whenever a congressional +district failed to furnish the required number of volunteers, the names of +able-bodied men not already in the army were to be put into a box, and +enough names to complete the number were to be drawn out by a blindfolded +man. In July, 1863, when this was done in New York city, a riot broke out +and for several days the city was mob-ruled. Negroes were killed, property +was destroyed, and the rioters were not put down till troops were sent by +the government. + +[4] William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Ohio in 1820, graduated from West +Point, and served in the Seminole and Mexican wars. He became a banker in +San Francisco, then a lawyer in Kansas, in 1860 superintendent of a +military school in Louisiana, and then president of a street car company +in St. Louis. In 1861 he was appointed colonel in the regular army. He +fought at Bull Run, was made brigadier general of volunteers, and was +transferred to the West, where he rose rapidly. After the war, Grant was +made general of the army, and Sherman lieutenant general; and when Grant +became President, Sherman was promoted to the rank of general. He was +retired in 1884 and died in 1891 at New York. + +[5] Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born in Virginia in 1807, graduated from +West Point, and served in the Black Hawk, Seminole, and Mexican wars. When +the Civil War opened, he joined the Confederacy, was made a major general, +and with Beauregard commanded at the first battle of Bull Run. Johnston +was next put in charge of the operations against McClellan (1862); but was +wounded at Fair Oaks and succeeded by Lee. In 1863 he was sent to relieve +Vicksburg, but failed. In 1864 he was put in command of Bragg's army after +its defeat, and so became opposed to Sherman. + +[6] Early in October Hood had reached Dallas on his way to Tennessee. From +Dallas he sent a division to capture a garrison and depots at Allatoona, +commanded by General Corse. Sherman, who was following Hood, communicated +with Corse from the top of Kenesaw Mountain by signals; and Corse, though +greatly outnumbered, held the fort and drove off the enemy. On this +incident was founded the popular hymn _Hold the Fort, for I am Coming_. + +[7] To destroy the railroads so they could not be quickly rebuilt, the +rails, heated red-hot in fires made of burning ties, were twisted around +trees or telegraph poles. Stations, machine shops, cotton bales, cotton +gins and presses were burned. Along the line of march, a strip of country +sixty miles wide was made desolate. + +[8] While the siege of Petersburg was under way, a tunnel was dug and a +mine exploded under a Confederate work called Elliott's Salient (July 30, +1864). As soon as the mass of flying earth, men, guns, and carriages had +settled, a body of Union troops moved forward through the break thus made +in the enemy's line. But the assault was badly managed. The Confederates +rallied, and the Union forces were driven back into the crater made by the +explosion, where many were killed and 1400 captured. + +[9] On October 19, 1864, St. Albans, a town in Vermont near the Canadian +border, was raided by Confederates from Canada. They seized all the horses +they could find, robbed the banks, and escaped. A little later the people +of Detroit were excited by a rumor that their city was to be raided on +October 30. Great preparations for defense were made; but no enemy came. + +[10] Philip H. Sheridan was born at Albany, New York, in 1831, graduated +from West Point, and was in Missouri when the war opened. In 1862 he was +given a command in the cavalry, fought in the West, and before the year +closed was made a brigadier and then major general for gallantry in +action. At Chattanooga he led the charge up Missionary Ridge. After the +war he became lieutenant general and then general of the army, and died in +1888. + +[11] Sheridan had spent the night at Winchester, and as he rode toward his +camp at Cedar Creek, he met such a crowd of wagons, fugitives, and wounded +men that he was forced to take to the fields. At Newtown, the streets were +so crowded he could not pass through them. Riding around the village, he +met Captain McKinley (afterward President), who, says Sheridan, "spread +the news of my return through the motley throng there." Between Newtown +and Middletown he met "the only troops in the presence of and resisting +the enemy.... Jumping my horse over the line of rails, I rode to the crest +of the elevation and ... the men rose up from behind their barricade with +cheers of recognition." When he rode to another part of the field, "a line +of regimental flags rose up out of the ground, as it seemed, to welcome +me." With these flags was Colonel Hayes (afterward President). Hurrying to +another place, he came upon some divisions marching to the front. When the +men "saw me, they began cheering and took up the double-quick to the +front." Crossing the pike, he rode, hat in hand, "along the entire line of +infantry," shouting, "We are all right.... Never mind, boys, we'll whip +them yet. We shall sleep in our quarters to-night." And they did. Read +_Sheridan's Ride_ by T. Buchanan Read. + +[12] Read _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. IV, pp. 729-746. + +[13] On the flight of Davis from Richmond, read _Battles and Leaders of +the Civil War_, Vol. IV, pp. 762-767; or the _Century Magazine_, +November, 1883. + +[14] After firing the shot, the assassin waved his pistol and shouted +"_Sic semper tyrannis_"--"Thus be it ever to tyrants" (the motto of +the state of Virginia) and jumped from the box to the stage. But his spur +caught in an American flag which draped the box, and he fell and broke his +leg. Limping off the stage, he fled from the theater, mounted a horse in +waiting, and escaped to Virginia. There he was found hidden in a barn and +shot. The body of the Martyr President was borne from Washington to +Springfield, by the route he took when coming to his first inauguration in +1861. Read Walt Whitman's poem _My Captain_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE NAVY IN THE WAR; LIFE IN WAR TIMES + + +THE SOUTHERN COAST BLOCKADE.--The naval war began with a proclamation of +Davis offering commissions to privateers, [1] and two by Lincoln (April 19 +and 27, 1861), declaring the coast blockaded from Virginia to Texas. + +[Illustration: SINKING THE PETREL. Contemporary drawing.] + +The object of the blockade was to cut off the foreign trade of the +Southern states, and to prevent their getting supplies of all sorts. But +as Great Britain was one of the chief consumers of Southern cotton, and +was, indeed, dependent on the South for her supply, it was certain that +unless the blockade was made effective by many Union ships, cotton would +be carried out of the Southern ports, and supplies run into them, in spite +of Lincoln's proclamation. + +[Illustration: CARTOON PUBLISHED IN 1861.] + +RUNNING THE BLOCKADE.--This is just what was done. Goods of all sorts were +brought from Great Britain to the city of Nassau in the Bahama Islands +(map, p. 353). There the goods were placed on board blockade runners and +started for Wilmington in North Carolina, or for Charleston. So nicely +would the voyage be timed that the vessel would be off the port some night +when the moon did not shine. Then, with all lights out, the runner would +dash through the line of blockading ships, and, if successful, would by +daylight be safe in port. The cargo landed, cotton would be taken on +board; and the first dark night, or during a storm, the runner, again +breaking the blockade, would steam back to Nassau. + +THE TRENT AFFAIR.--Great Britain and France promptly acknowledged the +Confederate States as belligerents. This gave them the same rights in the +ports of Great Britain and France as our vessels of war. Hoping to secure +a recognition of independence from these countries, the Confederate +government sent Mason and Slidell to Europe. These two commissioners ran +the blockade, went to Havana, and boarded the British mail steamship +_Trent_. Captain Wilkes of the United States man-of-war _San Jacinto_, +hearing of this, stopped the _Trent_ and took off Mason and Slidell. +Intense excitement followed in our country and in Great Britain, [2] which +at once demanded their release and prepared for war. They were released, +and the act of Wilkes was disavowed as an exercise of "the right of +search" which we had always resisted when exercised by Great Britain, and +which had been one of the causes of the War of 1812. + +THE CRUISERS.--While the commerce of the Confederacy was almost destroyed +by the blockade, a fleet of Confederate cruisers attacked the commerce of +the Union. + +The most famous of these, the _Florida_, _Alabama_, _Georgia_, and +_Shenandoah_ [3] were built or purchased in Great Britain for the +Confederacy, and were suffered to put to sea in spite of the protests of +the United States minister. Once on the ocean they cruised from sea to +sea, destroying every merchant vessel under our flag that came in their +way. + +[Illustration: SHELL LODGED IN THE STERN POST OF THE KEARSARGE. Now in the +Ordnance Museum, Washington Navy Yard.] + +One of them, the _Alabama_, sailed the ocean unharmed for two years. +She cruised in the North Atlantic, in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean +Sea, off the coast of Brazil, went around the Cape of Good Hope, entered +the China Sea, came again around the Cape of Good Hope, and by way of +Brazil and the Azores to Cherbourg in France. During the cruise she +destroyed over sixty merchantmen. At Cherbourg the _Alabama_ was found by +the United States cruiser _Kearsarge_, and one Sunday morning in June, +1864, the two met in battle off the coast of France, and the Alabama was +sunk. [4] + +OPERATIONS ALONG THE COAST.--Besides blockading the coast, the Union navy +captured or aided in capturing forts, cities, and water ways. The forts at +the entrance to Pamlico Sound and Port Royal were captured in 1861. +Control of the waters of Pamlico and Albemarle [5] sounds was secured in +1862 by the capture of Roanoke Island, Elizabeth City, Newbern, and Fort +Macon (map, p. 369). In 1863 Fort Sumter was battered down in a naval +attack on Charleston. In 1864 Farragut led his fleet into Mobile Bay (in +southern Alabama), destroyed the Confederate fleet, captured the forts at +the entrance to the bay, and thus cut the city of Mobile off from the sea. +In 1865 Fort Fisher, which guarded the entrance to Cape Fear River, on +which was Wilmington, fell before a combined attack by land and naval +forces. + +ON THE INLAND WATERS.--On the great water ways of the West the notable +deeds of the navy were the capture of Fort Henry on the Tennessee by +Foote's flotilla (p. 358), the capture of New Orleans by Farragut (p. +361), and the run of Porter's fleet past the batteries at Vicksburg (p. +368). + +[Illustration: ONE OF PORTER'S GUNBOATS PASSING VICKSBURG.] + +THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC .--But the most famous of all the naval +engagements was that of the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_ in 1862. When the +war opened, there were at the navy yard at Norfolk, Virginia, a quantity +of guns, stores, supplies, and eleven vessels. The officer in command, +fearing that they would fall into Confederate hands, set fire to the +houses, shops, and vessels, and abandoned the place. One of the vessels +which was burned to the water's edge and sunk was the steam frigate +_Merrimac_. Finding her hull below the water line unhurt, the Confederates +raised the _Merrimac_, turned her into an ironclad ram, renamed her +_Virginia_, and sent her forth to destroy a squadron of United States +vessels at anchor in Hampton Roads (at the mouth of the James River). + +[Illustration: MERRIMAC AND MONITOR.] + +Steaming across the roads one day in March, 1862, the _Merrimac_ rammed +and sank the _Cumberland_, [6] forced the _Congress_ to surrender, and set +her on fire. This done, the _Merrimac_ withdrew, intending to resume the +work of destruction on the morrow; for her iron armor had proved to be +ample protection against the guns of the Union ships. But the next +morning, as she came near the _Minnesota_, the strangest-looking craft +afloat came forth to meet her. Its deck was almost level with the water, +and was plated with sheets of iron. In the center of the deck was an iron- +plated cylinder which could be revolved by machinery, and in this were two +large guns. This was the _Monitor_ [7] which had arrived in the Roads the +night before, and now came out from behind the _Minnesota_ to fight the +_Merrimac_. During four hours the battle raged with apparently no result; +then the _Merrimac_ withdrew and the _Monitor_ took her place beside the +_Minnesota_. [8] This battle marks the doom of wooden naval vessels; all +the nations of the world were forced to build their navies anew. + +FINANCES OF THE WAR.--Four years of war on land and sea cost the people of +the North an immense sum of money. To obtain the money Congress began +(1861) by raising the tariff on imported articles; by taxing all incomes +of more than $800 a year; and by levying a direct tax, which was +apportioned among the states according to their population. [9] But the +money from these sources was not sufficient, and (1862) an internal +revenue tax was resorted to, and collected by stamp duties. [10] Even this +tax did not yield enough money, and the government was forced to borrow on +the credit of the United States. Bonds were issued, [11] and then United +States notes, called "greenbacks," were put in circulation and made legal +tender; that is, everybody had to take them in payment of debts. [12] + +MONEY IN WAR TIME.--After the government began to issue paper money, the +banks suspended specie payment, and all gold and silver coins, including +the 3, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent pieces, disappeared from circulation. The +people were then without small change, and for a time postage stamps and +"token" pieces of brass and copper were used instead. In March, 1863, +however, Congress authorized the Issue of $50,000,000 in paper fractional +currency. [13] Both the greenbacks and the fractional currency were merely +promises to pay money. As the government did not pay on demand, coin +commanded a premium; that is, $100 in gold or silver could be exchanged in +the market (down till 1879) for more than $100 in paper money. + +NATIONAL BANKS.--Besides the paper money issued by the government there +were in circulation several thousand different kinds of state bank notes. +Some had no value, some a little value, and others were good for the sums +(in greenbacks) expressed on their faces. In order to replace these notes +by a sound currency having the same value everywhere, Congress (1863) +established the national banking system. Legally organized banking +associations were to purchase United States bonds and deposit them with +the government. Each bank so doing was then entitled to issue national +bank notes to the value of ninety per cent [14] of the bonds it had +deposited. Many banks accepted these terms; but it was not till (1865) +after Congress taxed the notes of state banks that those notes were driven +out of circulation. + +COST OF THE WAR.--Just what the war cost can never be fully determined. +Hundreds of thousands of men left occupations of all sorts and joined the +armies. What they might have made had they stayed at home was what they +lost by going to the front. Every loyal state, city, and county, and +almost every town and village, incurred a war debt. The national +government during the war spent for war purposes $3,660,000,000. To this +must be added the value of our merchant ships destroyed by Confederate +cruisers; the losses in the South; and many hundred millions paid in +pensions to soldiers and their widows. + +The loss in the cities and towns burned or injured by siege and the other +operations of war, and the loss caused by the ruin of trade and commerce +and the destruction of railroads, farms, plantations, crops, and private +property, can not be fully estimated, but it was very great. + +The most awful cost was the loss of life. On the Union side more than +360,000 men were killed, or died of wounds or of disease. On the +Confederate side the number was nearly if not quite as large, so that some +700,000 men perished in the war. Many were young men with every prospect +of a long life before them, and their early death deprived their country +of the benefit of their labor. + +DISTRESS IN THE SOUTH.--In the North the people suffered little if any +real hardship. In the South, after the blockade became effective, the +people suffered privations. Not merely luxuries were given up, but the +necessaries of life became scarce. Thrown on their own resources, the +people resorted to all manner of makeshifts. To get brine from which salt +could be obtained by evaporation, the earthen floors of smokehouses, +saturated by the dripping of bacon, were dug up and washed, and barrels in +which salt pork had been packed were soaked in water. Tea and coffee +ceased to be used, and dried blackberry, currant, and raspberry leaves +were used instead. Rye, wheat, chicory, chestnuts roasted and ground, did +duty for coffee. The spinning wheel came again into use, and homespun +clothing, dyed with the extract of black-walnut bark, or with wild indigo, +was generally worn. As articles were scarce, prices rose, and then went +higher and higher as the Confederate money depreciated, like the old +Continental money in Revolutionary times. In 1864 Mrs. Jefferson Davis +states that in Richmond a turkey cost $60, a barrel of flour $300, and a +pair of shoes $150. No little suffering was caused for want of medicines, +[15] woolen goods, blankets, [16] shoes, paper, [17] and in some of the +cities even bread became scarce. [18] To get food for the army the +Confederate Congress (1863) authorized the seizure of supplies for the +troops and payment at fixed prices which were far below the market rates. +[19] + +Some men made fortunes by blockade running, smuggling from the North, and +speculation in stocks. Dwellers on the great plantations, remote from the +operations of the contending armies, suffered not from want of food; but +the great body of the people had much to endure. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The operations of the navy comprised (1) the blockade of the coast of +the Confederate States, (2) the capture of seaports, (3) the pursuit and +capture of Confederate cruisers, and (4) aiding the army on the western +rivers. + +2. A notable feature in the naval war was the use of ironclad vessels. +These put an end to the wooden naval vessels, and revolutionized the +navies of the world. + +3. The cost of the war in human life, money, and property destroyed was +immense, and can be stated only approximately. + +4. In the South, as the war progressed, the hardships endured by the mass +of the people caused much suffering. + +[Illustration: LOADING A NAVAL CANNON IN THE CIVIL WAR. Contemporary +drawing.] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The first Confederate privateer to get to sea was the _Savannah_. She +took one prize and was captured. Another, the _Beauregard_, was taken +after a short cruise. A third, the _Petrel_, mistook the frigate St. +Lawrence for a merchantman and attempted to take her, but was sunk by a +broadside. After a year the blockade stopped privateering. + +[2] Captain Wilkes was congratulated by the Secretary of the Navy, thanked +by the House of Representatives, and given a grand banquet in Boston; and +the whole country was jubilant. The British minister at Washington was +directed to demand the liberation of the prisoners and "a suitable apology +for the aggression," and if not answered in seven days, or if unfavorably +answered, was to return to London at once. + +[3] Early in the war an agent was sent to Great Britain by the Confederate +navy department to procure vessels to be used as commerce destroyers. The +_Florida_ and _Alabama_ were built at Liverpool and sent to sea unarmed. +Their guns and ammunition were sent in vessels from another British port. +The _Shenandoah_ was purchased at London (her name was then the _Sea +King_) and was met at Madeira by a tender from Liverpool with men and +guns. On her way to Australia, the _Shenandoah_ destroyed seven of our +merchantmen. She then went to Bering Sea and in one week captured twenty- +five whalers, most of which she destroyed. This was in June, 1865, after +the war was over. In August a British ship captain informed the commander +of the _Shenandoah_ that the Confederacy no longer existed. The +_Shenandoah_ was then taken to Liverpool and delivered to the British +government, which turned her over to the United States. + +[4] Read _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. IV, pp. 600-614. + +[5] In 1864 a Confederate ironclad ram, the _Albemarle_, appeared on +the waters of Albemarle Sound. As no Union war ship could harm her, +Commander W. B. Gushing planned an expedition to destroy her by a torpedo. +On the night of October 27, with fourteen companions in a steam launch, he +made his way to the ram, blew her up with the torpedo, and with one other +man escaped. His adventures on the way back to the fleet read like +fiction, and are told by himself in _Battles and Leaders of the Civil +War_, Vol. IV, pp. 634-640. + +[6] The hole made in the Cumberland by the Merrimac was "large enough for +a man to enter." Through this the water poured in so rapidly that the +sick, wounded, and many who were not disabled were carried down with the +ship. After she sank, the flag at the masthead still waved above the +water. Read Longfellow's poem _The Cumberland_. + +[7] The _Monitor_ was designed by John Ericsson, who was born in Sweden in +1803. After serving as an engineer in the Swedish army, he went to +England; and then came to our country in 1839. He was the inventor of +the first practical screw propeller for steamboats, and by his invention +of the revolving turret for war vessels he completely changed naval +architecture. His name is connected with many great inventions. He died in +1889. + +[8] When the Confederates evacuated Norfolk some months later, the +_Merrimac_ was blown up. The _Monitor_, in December, 1862, went down in a +storm at sea. + +[9] As the right of a State to secede was not acknowledged, this direct +tax of $20,000,000 was apportioned among the Confederate as well as among +the Union states. The Confederate states, of course, did not pay their +share. + +[10] Deeds, mortgages, bills of lading, bank checks, patent medicines, +wines, liquors, tobacco, proprietary articles, and many other things were +taxed. Between 1862 and 1865 about $780,000,000 was raised in this way. + +[11] Between July 1, 1861, and August 31, 1865, bonds to the amount of +$1,109,000,000 were issued and sold. + +[12] The Legal Tender Act, which authorized the issue of greenbacks, was +enacted in 1862, and two years later $449,000,000 were in circulation. The +greenbacks could not be used to pay duties on imports or interest on the +public debt, which were payable in specie. + +[13] This paper fractional currency consisted of small paper bills in +denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 cents. Read the account in +Rhodes's _History of the U. S._, Vol. V, pp. 191-196. + +[14] In 1902 changed to one hundred per cent. + +[15] When Sherman was in command at Memphis, a funeral procession was +allowed to pass beyond the Union lines. The coffin, however, was full of +medicines for the Confederate army. + +[16] Blankets were sometimes made of cow hair, or long moss from the +seaboard, and even carpets were cut up and sent as blankets to the army. + +[17] The newspapers of the time give evidence of the scarcity of paper. +Some are printed on half sheets, a few on brown paper, and some on note +paper. + +[18] Riots of women, prompted by the high prices of food, occurred in +Atlanta, Mobile, Richmond, and other places. + +[19] Read "War Diary of a Union Woman in the South," in the Century +Magazine, October, 1889; Rhodes's _History of the U. S._, Vol. V, pp. +348-384. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +RECONSTRUCTION + + +THREE ISSUES.--After the collapse of the Confederacy, our countrymen were +called on to meet three issues arising directly from the war:-- + +1. The first was, What shall be done to destroy the institution of +slavery? [1] + +2. The second was, What shall be done with the late Confederate states? +[2] + +3. The third had to do with the national debt and the currency. + +THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT.--When the war ended, slavery had been abolished +in Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia, by gradual or immediate +abolition acts, and in Tennessee by a special emancipation act. In order +that it might be done away with everywhere Congress (in January, 1865) +sent out to the states a Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, +declaring slavery abolished throughout the United States. In December, +1865, three fourths of the states having ratified, it became part of the +Constitution, and slavery was no more. + +RECONSTRUCTION.--After the death of Lincoln, the work of reconstruction +was taken up by his successor, Johnson. [3] He recognized the governments +established by loyal persons in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, and +Louisiana. For the other states he appointed provisional governors and +authorized conventions to be called. These conventions repudiated the +Confederate debt, repealed the ordinances of secession, and ratified the +Thirteenth Amendment. + +This done, Johnson considered these states as reconstructed and entitled +to send senators and representatives to Congress. But Congress thought +otherwise and would not admit their senators and representatives. Johnson +then denied the right of Congress to legislate for the states not +represented in Congress. He vetoed many bills which chiefly affected the +South, and in the summer of 1866 made speeches denouncing Congress for its +action. + +THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT.--One measure which President Johnson would have +vetoed if he could, was a Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution which +Congress proposed in 1866. Ten of the former Confederate states rejected +it, as did also four of the Union states. Congress, therefore, in March, +1867, passed over the veto a Reconstruction Act setting forth what the +states would have to do to get back into the Union. One condition was that +they must ratify the Fourteenth Amendment; when they had done so, and +_when the amendment had become a part of the Constitution_, they were +to be readmitted. + +SOUTHERN STATES READMITTED.--Six states--North Carolina, South Carolina, +Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas--submitted, and the amendment +having become a part of the Constitution, they were (1868) declared again +in the Union. Tennessee had been readmitted in 1866. Virginia, Mississippi +and Texas were not readmitted till 1870, and Georgia not till 1871. + +THE DEBT AND THE CURRENCY.--The financial question to be settled included +two parts: What shall be done with the bonds (p. 381)? and What shall be +done with the paper money? As to the first, it was decided to pay the +bonds as fast as possible, [4] and by 1873 some $500,000,000 were paid. As +to the second, it was at first decided to cancel (instead of reissuing) +the greenbacks as they came into the treasury in payment of taxes and +other debts to the government. But after the greenbacks in circulation had +been thus reduced (from $449,000,000) to $356,000,000, Congress ordered +that their cancellation should stop. + +JOHNSON IMPEACHED.--The President meantime had been impeached. In March, +1867, Congress passed (over Johnson's veto) the Tenure of Office Act, +depriving him of power to remove certain officials. He might suspend them +till the Senate examined into the cause of suspension. If it approved, the +officer was removed. If it disapproved, he was reinstated. [5] + +Johnson soon disobeyed the law. In August, 1867, he asked Secretary-of-War +Stanton to resign, and when Stanton refused, suspended him. The Senate +disapproved and reinstated Stanton. But Johnson then removed him and +appointed another man in his place. For this act, and for his speeches +against Congress, the House impeached the President, and the Senate tried +him, for "high crimes and misdemeanors." He was not found guilty. [6] + +[Illustration: REPUBLICAN CARTOON OF 1868. "Blood will tell: The great +race for the presidential sweepstakes, between the Western War Horse U. S. +Grant and the Manhattan Donkey."] + +GRANT ELECTED PRESIDENT, 1868.--In the midst of Johnson's quarrel with +Congress the time came to elect his successor. The Democratic party +nominated Horatio Seymour. The Republicans chose Ulysses S. Grant and +elected him. + +Grant's first term is memorable because of the adoption of the Fifteenth +Amendment; the restoration to the Union of the last four of the former +Confederate states, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas; the +disorder in the South; and the character of our foreign relations. + +THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.--Encouraged by their success at the polls, the +Republicans went on with the work of reconstruction, and (in February, +1869) Congress sent out the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. + +By the Fourteenth Amendment the states were left (as before) to settle for +themselves who should and who should not vote. But if any state denied or +in any way abridged the right of any portion of its male citizens over +twenty-one years old to vote, Congress was to reduce the number of +representatives from that state in Congress in the same proportion. But +now by the Fifteenth Amendment each state was forbidden to deprive any man +of the right to vote because of his "race, color, or previous condition of +servitude." In March, 1870, the amendment went into force, having been +ratified by a sufficient number of states. + +CARPETBAG RULE.--President Grant began his administration in troubled +times. The Reconstruction Act had secured the negro the right to vote. +Many Southern states were thereby given over to negro rule. Seeing this, a +swarm of Northern politicians called "carpetbaggers" went south, made +themselves political leaders of the ignorant freedmen, and plundered and +misgoverned the states. In this they were aided by a few Southerners who +supported the negro cause and were called "scalawags." But most of the +Southern whites were determined to stop the misgovernment; and, banded +together in secret societies, called by such names as Knights of the White +Camelia, and the Ku-Klux-Klan, they terrorized the negroes and kept them +from voting. [7] + +FORCE ACT.--Such intimidation was in violation of the Fifteenth Amendment. +Congress therefore enacted the "Ku-Klux Act," or Force Act (1871), which +prescribed fine and imprisonment for any one convicted of hindering or +attempting to hinder a negro from voting, or his vote when cast from being +counted. + +RISE OF THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS.--The troubles which followed the +enforcement of this act led many to think that the government had gone too +far, and a more liberal treatment of the South was demanded. Many +complained that the civil service of the government was used to reward +party workers, and that fitness for office was not duly considered. There +was opposition to the high tariff. These and other causes now split the +Republican party in the West and led to the formation of the Liberal +Republican party. + +[Illustration: CARTOON OF 1862. "Say, Missus [Mexico], me and these other +gents 'ave come to nurse you a bit." [8]] + +FOREIGN RELATIONS.--Our foreign relations since the close of the Civil War +present many matters of importance. In 1867 Alaska [9] was purchased from +Russia for $7,200,000. At the opening of the war France sent troops to +Mexico, overthrew the government, and set up an empire with Maximilian, +Archduke of Austria, as emperor. This was a violation of the Monroe +Doctrine (p. 282). When the war was over, therefore, troops were sent to +the Rio Grande, and a demand was made on France to recall her troops. The +French army was withdrawn, and Maximilian was captured by the Mexicans and +shot. These things happened while Johnson was President. + +SANTO DOMINGO.--In 1869 Grant negotiated a treaty for the annexation of +the negro republic of Santo Domingo, and urged the Senate to ratify it. +When the Senate failed to do so, he made a second appeal, with a like +result. + +ALABAMA CLAIMS.--In 1871 the treaty of Washington was signed, by which +several outstanding subjects of dispute with Great Britain were submitted +to arbitration. (1) Chief of these were the Alabama claims for damage to +the property of our citizens by the Confederate cruisers built or +purchased in Great Britain. [10] The five [11] arbitrators met at Geneva +in 1872 and awarded us $15,500,000 in gold as indemnity. (2) A dispute +over the northeastern fisheries [12] was referred to a commission which +met at Halifax and awarded Great Britain $5,500,000. (3) The same treaty +provided that a dispute over a part of the northwest boundary should be +submitted to the emperor of Germany as arbitrator. He decided in favor of +our claim, thus confirming our possession of the small San Juan group of +islands, in the channel between Vancouver and the mainland. + +CUBA.--In 1868 the people of Cuba rebelled against Spain, proclaimed a +republic, and began a war which lasted nearly ten years. American ships +were seized, our citizens arrested; American property in Cuba was +destroyed or confiscated; and our ports were used to fit out filibusters +to aid the Cubans. Because of these things and the sympathy felt in our +country for the Cubans, Grant made offers of mediation, which Spain +declined. As the war continued, the question of giving the Cubans rights +of belligerents, and recognizing their independence, was urged on +Congress. + +While these issues were undecided, a vessel called the Virginius, flying +our flag, was seized by Spain as a filibuster, and fifty-three of her +passengers and crew were put to death (1873). War seemed likely to follow; +but Spain released the ship and survivors, and later paid $80,000 to the +families of the murdered men. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The end of the Civil War brought up several issues for settlement. + +2. Out of the negro problem came the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth +amendments to the Constitution. + +3. Out of the issue of readmitting the Confederate states into the Union +grew a serious quarrel with President Johnson. + +4. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act over Johnson's veto (1867), and +by 1868 seven states were back in the Union. + +5. Johnson's intemperate speeches and his violation of an act of Congress +led to his impeachment and trial. He was not convicted. + +6. Johnson was succeeded by Grant, in whose administration the remaining +Southern states were readmitted to the Union; but the condition of the +South, under carpetbag government, became worse than ever, and led to the +passage of the Force Act. + +7. Our foreign relations after the end of the war are memorable for the +purchase of Alaska, the withdrawal of the French from Mexico, the treaty +with Great Britain for the settlement of several old issues, the attempt +of Grant to purchase Santo Domingo, and the Virginius affair with Spain. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] A closely related question was, What shall be done for the negroes set +free by the Emancipation Proclamation? During the war, as the Union armies +occupied more and more of Confederate territory, the number of freedmen +within the lines grew to hundreds of thousands. Many were enlisted as +soldiers, others were settled on abandoned or confiscated lands, and +societies were organized to aid them. In 1865, however, Congress +established the Freedmen's Bureau to care for them. Tracts of confiscated +land were set apart to be granted in forty-acre plots, and the bureau was +to find the negroes work, establish schools for them, and protect them +from injustice. + +[2] When the eleven Southern states passed their ordinances of secession, +they claimed to be out of the Union. As to this there were in the North +three different views. (1) Lincoln held that no state could secede; that +the people of the seceding states were insurgents or persons engaged in +rebellion; that when the rebellion was crushed in any state, loyal persons +could again elect senators and representatives, and thus resume their old +relations to the Union. (2) Others held that these states had ceased to +exist; that nothing but their territory remained, and that Congress could +do what it pleased with this territory. (3) Between these extremes were +most of the Republican leaders, who held that these states had lost their +rights under the Constitution, and that only Congress could restore them +to the Union. + +[3] Andrew Johnson was born in North Carolina in 1808. He never went to +school, and when ten years old was apprenticed to a tailor. When eighteen, +he went to Tennessee, where he married and was taught to read and write by +his wife. He was a man of ability, was three years alderman and three +years mayor of Greenville, was three times elected a member of the +legislature, six times a member of Congress, and twice governor of +Tennessee. When the war opened, he was a Democratic senator from +Tennessee, and stoutly opposed secession. In 1862 Lincoln made him +military governor of Tennessee. In 1875 he was again elected United States +senator, but died the same year. + +[4] Some of these bonds (issued after March, 1863) contained the provision +that they should be paid "in coin." But others (issued in 1862) merely +provided that the interest should be paid in coin. Now, greenbacks were +legal tender for all debts except duties on imports and interest on the +bonds. A demand was therefore made that the early bonds should be paid in +greenbacks; also that all government bonds (which had been exempted from +taxation) should be taxed like other property. This idea was so popular in +Ohio that it was called the "Ohio idea," and its supporters were nicknamed +"Greenbackers." To put an end to this question Congress (1869) provided +that all bonds should be paid in coin. + +[5] This Tenure of Office Act was afterward repealed (partly in 1869, and +partly in 1887). + +[6] There have been eight cases of impeachment of officers of the United +States. The House begins by sending a committee to the Senate to impeach, +or accuse, the officer in question. The Senate then organizes itself as a +court with the Vice President as the presiding officer, and fixes the time +for trial. The House presents articles of impeachment, or specific charges +of misconduct, and appoints a committee to take charge of its side of the +case. The accused is represented by lawyers, witnesses are examined, +arguments made, and the decision rendered by vote of the senators. When a +President is impeached, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides in +place of the Vice President. + +[7] Read _A Fool's Errand_, by A. W. Tourgée, and _Red Rock_, by Thomas +Nelson Page--two interesting novels describing life in the South during +this period. + +[8] When France first interfered in Mexican affairs, it was in conjunction +with Great Britain and Spain, on the pretext of aiding Mexico to provide +for her debts to these powers. But when France proceeded to overthrow the +Mexican government, Great Britain and Spain withdrew. + +[9] Soon after the purchase a few small Alaskan islands were leased to a +fur company for twenty years, and during that time nearly $7,000,000 was +paid into the United States treasury as rental and royalty. Besides seals +and fish, much gold has been obtained in Alaska. + +[10] The cruisers were the _Alabama_, _Sumter_, _Shenandoah_, _Florida_, +and others (p. 378). We claimed that Great Britain had not done her duty +as a neutral; that she ought to have prevented their building, arming, or +equipping in her ports and sailing to destroy the commerce of a friendly +nation, and that, not having done so, she was responsible for the damage +they did. We claimed damages for (1) private losses by destruction of +ships and cargoes; (2) high rates of insurance paid by citizens; (3) cost +of pursuing the cruisers; (4) transfer of American merchant ships to the +British flag; (5) prolongation of the war because of recognition of the +Confederate States as belligerents, and the resulting cost to us. Great +Britain denied that 2, 3, 4, and 5 were subject to arbitration, and it +looked for a while as if the arbitration would come to naught. The +tribunal decided against 2, 4, and 5 on principles of international law, +and made no award for 3. + +[11] One was appointed by the President, one by Great Britain, one by the +King of Italy, one by the President of the Swiss Confederation, and one by +the Emperor of Brazil. In 1794-1904 there were fifty-seven cases submitted +to arbitration, of which twenty were with Great Britain. + +[12] The question was, whether the privilege granted citizens of the +United States to catch fish in the harbors, bays, creeks, and shores of +the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward +Island was more valuable than the privilege granted British subjects to +catch fish in harbors, bays, creeks, and off the coast of the United +States north of 39°. The commission decided that it was. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1860 TO 1880 + + +THE WEST.--In 1860 the great West bore little resemblance to its present +appearance. The only states wholly or partly west of the Mississippi River +were Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas. Louisiana, Texas, California, +and Oregon. Kansas territory extended from Missouri to the Rocky +Mountains. Nebraska territory included the region from Kansas to the +British possessions, and from Minnesota and Iowa to the Rocky Mountains. +New Mexico territory stretched from Texas to California, Utah territory +from the Rocky Mountains to California, and Washington territory from the +mountains to the Pacific. + +[Illustration: SCENE IN A MINING TOWN. Deadwood, Dakota, in the '70's.] + +GOLD AND SILVER MINING.--One decade, however, completely changed the West. +In 1858 gold was discovered on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, +near Pikes Peak; gold hunters rushed thither, Denver was founded, and in +1861 Colorado was made a territory. Kansas, reduced to its present limits, +was admitted as a state the same year, and the northern part of Nebraska +territory was cut off and called Dakota territory (map, p. 352). + +In 1859 silver was discovered on Mount Davidson (then in western Utah), +and population poured thither. Virginia City sprang into existence, and in +1861 Nevada was made a territory and in 1864, with enlarged boundaries, +was admitted into the Union as a state. + +[Illustration: THE WEST.] + +Precious metals were found in 1862 in what was then eastern Washington; +the old Fort Boise of the Hudson's Bay Company became a thriving town, +other settlements were made, and in 1863 the territory of Idaho was +organized. In the same year Arizona was cut off from New Mexico. + +Hardly had this been done when gold was found on the Jefferson fork of the +Missouri River. Bannack City, Virginia City, and Helena were founded, and +in 1864 Montana was made a territory. [1] + +In 1867 Nebraska became a state, and the next year Wyoming territory was +formed. + +OVERLAND TRAILS.--When Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861, no railroad +crossed the plains. The horse, the stagecoach, the pack train, the prairie +schooner, [2] were the means of transportation, and but few routes of +travel were well defined. The Great Salt Lake and California trail, +starting in Kansas, followed the north branch of the Platte River to the +mountains, crossed the South Pass, and went on by way of Salt Lake City to +Sacramento. Over this line, once each week, a four-horse Concord coach [3] +started from each end of the route. + +From Independence in Missouri another line of coaches carried the mail +over the old Santa Fe trail to New Mexico. + +The great Western mail route began at St. Louis, went across Missouri and +Arkansas, curved southward to El Paso in Texas, and then by way of the +Gila River to Los Angeles and San Francisco; the distance of 2729 miles +was covered in twenty-four days. [4] + +[Illustration: OVERLAND MAIL COACH STARTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO FOR THE +EAST IN 1858. Contemporary drawing.] + +PONY EXPRESS.--This was too slow for business men, and in 1860 the stage +company started the Pony Express to carry letters on horseback from St. +Joseph to San Francisco. Mounted on a swift pony, the rider, a brave, +cool-headed, picked man, would gallop at breakneck speed to the first +relay station, jump on the back of another pony and speed away to the +second, mount a fresh horse and be off for a third. At the third station +he would find a fresh rider mounted, who, the moment the mail bags had +been fastened to his horse, would ride off to cover his three stations in +as short a time as possible. The riders left each end of the route twice a +week or oftener. The total distance, about two thousand miles, was passed +over in ten days. [5] + +In the large cities of the East free delivery of letters by carriers was +introduced (1863), the postal money order system was adopted (1864), and +trials were made with postal cars in which the mail was sorted while _en +route_. + +THE TELEGRAPH.--Meanwhile Congress (in June, 1860) incorporated the +Pacific Telegraph Company to build a line across the continent. By +November the line reached Fort Kearny, where an operator was installed in +a little sod hut. By October, 1861, the two lines, one building eastward +from California, and the other westward from Omaha, reached Salt Lake +City. The charge for a ten-word message from New York to Salt Lake City +was 87.50. + +When the telegraph line was finished, the work of the Pony Express ended, +and all letters went by the overland stage line, whose coaches entered +every large mining center, carrying passengers, express matter, and the +mail. [6] + +OVERLAND FREIGHT.--The discovery of gold in western Kansas, in 1858, and +the founding of Denver, led to a great freight business across the plains. +Flour, bacon, sugar, coffee, dry goods, hardware, furniture, clothing, +came in immense quantities to Omaha, St. Joseph, Atchison, Leavenworth, +there to be hauled to the "diggings." Atchison became a trade center. +There, in the spring of 1860, might have been seen hundreds of wagons, and +tons of goods piled on the levee, and warehouses full of provisions, +boots, shoes, and clothing. From it, day after day, went a score of +prairie schooners drawn by horses, mules, or oxen. [7] + +THE RAILROAD.--The idea of a railroad over the plains was, as we have +seen, an old one; but at last, in 1862, Congress chartered two railroad +companies to build across the public domain from the Missouri River to +California. One, the Union Pacific, was to start at Omaha and build +westward. The other, the Central Pacific, was to start in California and +build eastward till the two met. Work was begun in November, 1865, and in +May, 1869, the two lines were joined at Promontory Point, near Salt Lake +City. + +As the railroad progressed, the overland coaches plied between the ends of +the two sections, their runs growing shorter and shorter till, when the +road was finished, the overland stagecoach was discontinued. + +THE HOMESTEAD LAW.--When the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads +were chartered, they were given immense land grants; [8] but in the same +year (1862) the Homestead Law was enacted. Under the provisions of this +law a farm of 80 or 160 acres in the public domain might be secured by any +head of a family or person twenty-one years old who was a citizen of our +country or had declared an intention to become such, provided he or she +would live on the farm and cultivate it for five years. [9] Between 1863 +and 1870, 103,000 entries for 12,000,000 acres were made. This showed that +the people desired the land, and was one reason why no more should be +given to corporations. + +NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.--In 1864 Congress had chartered a railroad for +the new Northwest, and had given the company an immense land grant. But +building did not begin till 1870. All went well till 1873, when a great +panic swept over the country and the road became bankrupt. It then +extended from Duluth to Bismarck. Two years later the company was +reorganized, and the road was finished in 1883. [10] + +WHEAT FIELDS OF DAKOTA.--During the panic certain of the directors of the +road bought great tracts of land from the company, paying for them with +the railroad bonds. On some of these lands in the valley of the Red River +of the North an attempt was made to raise wheat in 1876. It proved +successful, and the next year a wave of emigration set strongly toward +Dakota. In 1860 there were not 5000 people in Dakota; in 1870 there were +but 14,000, mostly miners; in 1880 there were 135,000. + +PRAIRIE HOMES.--These newcomers--homesteaders, as they were often called-- +broke up the prairie, planted wheat, raised sheep and cattle, and lived at +first in a dugout, or hole dug in the side of a depression in the prairie. +This was roofed (about the level of the prairie) with thick boards covered +with sods. After a year or two in such a home the settler would build a +sod house. The walls, two feet thick, were made of sods cut like great +bricks from the prairie. The roof would be of boards covered with shingles +or oftener with sods, and the walls inside would sometimes be whitewashed. +Near watercourses a few settlers found enough trees to make log cabins. + +[Illustration: LOG CABIN WITH SOD ROOF.] + +THE RANCHES.--Stretching across the country from Montana and Dakota to +Arizona lay the grass region, the great ranch country, where herds of +cattle grazed and were driven to the railroads to be taken to market. In +later years this became also the greatest sheep-raising and wool-producing +region in the Union. + +BUFFALOES AND INDIANS.--With the building of the railroads and the coming +of the settlers the reckless slaughter of the buffalo and the crowding of +the Indians began. [11] To-day the buffalo is as rare an animal in the +West as in the East; and after many wars and treaties with the Indians, +they now hold less than one hundredth of the land west of the Mississippi. + +[Illustration: CUSTER'S FIGHT.] + +MECHANICAL PROGRESS.--The period 1860 to 1880 was one of great mechanical +and industrial progress. During this time dynamite and the barbed-wire +fence were introduced; the compressed-air rock drill, the typewriter, the +Westinghouse air brake, the Janney car coupler, the cable car, the trolley +systems, the electric light, the search light, electric motors, the Bell +telephone, the phonograph, the gas engine, and a host of other inventions +and mechanical devices were invented. To satisfy the demands of trade and +commerce, great works of engineering were undertaken, such as twenty years +before could not have been attempted. The jetties constructed by James B. +Eads in the South Pass at the mouth of the Mississippi, to force that +river to keep open its own channel; the steel-arch railroad bridge built +by Eads across the Mississippi at St. Louis; the Roebling suspension +bridges over the Ohio at Cincinnati and over the East River at New York; +and the successful laying of the Atlantic cable (1866) by Cyrus W. Field, +are a few of the great mechanical triumphs of this period. + +INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.--Industries once carried on in the household or in +small factories were conducted on a large scale by great corporations. The +machine for making tin cans made possible the canning industry. The self- +binding harvester and reaper made possible the immense grain fields of the +West. The production and refining of petroleum became an industry of great +importance. The great flour mills of Minneapolis, the iron and steel mills +of Pennsylvania, the packing houses of Chicago and Kansas City, and many +other enterprises were the direct result of the use of machinery. + +[Illustration: STEEL MILL.] + +RISE OF GREAT CORPORATIONS.--Trades and occupations, industries of all +sorts, began to concentrate and combine, and large corporations took the +place of individuals and small companies. In place of many little +railroads there were now trunk lines. [12] In place of many little +telegraph companies, express companies, and oil companies there were now a +few large ones. + +[Illustration: SETTLED AREA IN 1880.] + +IMMIGRATION.--This industrial development, in spite of machinery, could +not have been so great were it not for the increase in population, wealth, +the facilities of transportation, and the great number of workingmen. +These were largely immigrants, who came by hundreds of thousands year +after year. From about 90,000 in 1862, the number who came each year rose +to more than 450,000 in 1873; and then fell to less than 150,000 in 1878. +The population of the whole country in 1880 was 50,000,000, of whom more +than 6,500,000 were of foreign birth. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The discovery of gold and silver near the Rocky Mountains in 1858 and +later brought to that region many thousand miners. + +2. Their presence in that wild region made local government necessary, and +by 1868 seven new territories were formed (Colorado, Dakota, Nevada, +Idaho, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming), and one of them (Nevada, 1864) was +admitted into the Union as a state. + +3. Means of communication with California and the far West were improved. +First came the Pony Express, then the telegraph, and finally the railroad. + +4. The construction of the railroad across the middle of the country was +followed by the building of another near the northern border. + +5. Railroad building, the Homestead Law, and the success of the Dakota +wheat farms, led to the rapid development of the new Northwest. + +6. Quite as noticeable is the mechanical and industrial progress of the +country, the rise of great corporations, and the flood of immigrants that +came to our shores each year. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] For descriptions of the wild life in the new Northwest in the pioneer +days read Langford's Vigilante Days and Ways. + +[2] A large wagon with a white canvas top. + +[3] A kind of heavy coach, so called because first manufactured at +Concord, New Hampshire. + +[4] When the war opened and Texas seceded, this route was abandoned, and +after April, 1861, letters and passengers went from St. Joseph by way of +Salt Lake City to California. + +[5] All letters had to be written on the thinnest paper, and no more than +twenty pounds' weight was allowed in each of the two pouches. The trail +was infested with "road agents" (robbers), and roving bands of Indians +were ever ready to murder and scalp; but in summer and winter, by day and +night, over the plains and over the mountains, these brave men made their +dangerous rides, carrying no arms save a revolver and a knife. Each letter +had to be inclosed in a ten-cent stamped envelope and have on it in +addition for each half ounce five one-dollar stamps of the Pony Express +Company. The story of the Pony Express is told in Henry _Inman's Great +Salt Lake Trail_, Chap. viii. + +[6] As the government had no post offices in the mining camps, the stage +company became the postmasters, delivered the letters, and charged twenty- +five cents for each. Sometimes the owner of a little store in a remote +mountain camp would act as postmaster, and charge a high price for sending +letters to or bringing them from the nearest stage station. One such used +a barrel for the letter box, and sent the mail once a month. A hole was +cut in the head of the barrel, and beside it was posted a notice which +read: "This is a Post Office. Shove a quarter through the hole with your +letter. We have no use for stamps as I carry the mail." + +[7] The lighter articles went in wagons drawn by four or six horses or +mules, the heavier in great wagons drawn by six and eight yoke of oxen, +which made the trip to Denver in five weeks. The cost of provisions +brought in this way was very great. Thus in 1865, in Helena, Montana, +flour sold for $85 a sack of one hundred pounds. Potatoes cost fifty cents +in gold a pound, and coal oil, at Virginia City, $10 in gold a gallon. +Board and lodgings rose in proportion, and it was not uncommon to see +posted in the boarding houses such notices as this: "Board with bread at +meals, $32; board without bread, $22." Read Hough's _The Way to the +West_, pp. 200-221. + +[8] Every other section in a strip of land twenty miles wide along the +entire length of the railroad. The government had always been liberal in +granting land to aid in the construction of roads, canals, and railroads, +and between 1827 and 1860 had given away for such purposes 215,000,000 +acres. Had these acres been in one great tract it would have been seven +times as large as Pennsylvania. In 1862 Congress also added to its grants +for educational purposes (p. 301) by giving to each state from 90,000 to +990,000 acres of public land in aid of a college for teaching agriculture +and the mechanical arts. + +[9] For conditions on which land could be secured before this, see p. 302. + +[10] The history of the railroads across the continent is told in Cy. +Warman's _Story of the Railroad_; for the Northern Pacific, read pp. +179-196. + +[11] White men eager for land invaded the Indian reservations; acts of +violence were frequent, and shameful frauds were perpetrated by the agents +of the government. The Indians, in retaliation, killed settlers and ran +off horses, mules, and cattle. There were uprisings of the Sioux in +Minnesota (1862) and in Montana (1866); but the worst offenders were the +Apaches of Arizona, and against them General Crook waged war in 1872. +Toward the close of 1872 the Modocs left their reservation in Oregon, took +refuge in the Lava Beds in northern California, and defied the troops sent +to drive them back. General Canby and several others were treacherously +murdered at a conference (1873), and a war of several months' duration +followed before the Modocs were forced to surrender. In 1874 the Cheyennes +(she-enz'), enraged at the slaughter of the buffaloes by the whites, made +cattle raids, and more fighting ensued. An attempt to remove the Sioux to +a new reservation led to yet another war in 1876, in which Lieutenant- +Colonel Custer and his force of 262 men were massacred in Montana. Read +Longfellow's poem _The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face_. + +[12] Thus (1869) the New York Central (from Albany to Buffalo) and the +Hudson River (from New York to Albany) were combined and formed one +railroad under one management from New York to Buffalo. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A QUARTER CENTURY OF STRUGGLE OVER INDUSTRIAL QUESTIONS, 1872 TO 1897 + + +THE NATIONAL LABOR PARTY.--The changed industrial conditions of the period +1860-80 affected politics, and after 1868 the questions which divided +parties became more and more industrial and financial. The rise of the +national labor party and its demands shows this very strongly. Ever since +1829 the workingman had been in politics in some of the states, and had +secured many reforms. But no national labor congress was held till 1865, +after which like congresses were held each year till 1870, when a national +convention was called to form a "National Labor-Reform Party." + +The demands of the party thus formed (1872) were for taxation of +government bonds (p. 387); repeal of the national banking system (p. 382); +an eight-hour working day; exclusion of the Chinese; [1] and no land +grants to corporations (p. 398). At every presidential election since this +time, nominations have been made by one or more labor parties. + +THE PROHIBITION PARTY.--Another party which first nominated presidential +candidates in 1872 was that of the Prohibitionists. After much agitation +of temperance reform, [2] efforts were made to prohibit the sale of liquor +entirely, and between 1851 and 1855 eight states adopted prohibitory laws. +Then the movement subsided for a while, but in 1869 it began again and in +that year the National Prohibition Reform party was founded. In 1872 its +platform called for the suppression of the sale of intoxicating liquor, +and for a long series of other reforms. Every four years since that time +the Prohibition party has named its candidates. + +GRANT REFLECTED.--In 1872 no great importance was attached to either of +these parties (the Labor and the Prohibition). The contest lay between +General Grant, the Republican candidate for President, and Horace Greeley, +[3] the Liberal Republican nominee (p. 390), who was supported also by +most of the Democrats. Grant was elected by a large majority. + +THE PANIC OF 1873.--Scarcely had Grant been reinaugurated when a serious +panic swept over the country. The period since the war had been one of +great prosperity, wild speculation, and extraordinary industrial +development. Since 1869 some 24,000 miles of railroad had been built. But +in the midst of all this prosperity, the city of Chicago was almost +destroyed by fire (1871), [4] and the next year a large part of the city +of Boston was burned. This led to a demand for money to rebuild them. Many +speculative enterprises failed. The railroads that were being built ahead +of population, in order to open up new lands, could not sell their bonds, +and when a banker who was backing one of the railroads failed, the panic +started. Thousands of business men failed, and the wages of workingmen +were cut down. + +THE SPECIE PAYMENT ACT.--The cry was then raised for more money, and (in +1874) Congress attempted to increase, or "inflate," the amount of +greenbacks in circulation from $356,000,000 to $400,000,000. Grant vetoed +the bill. What shall be done with the currency? then became the question +of the hour. Paper money was still circulating at less than its face value +as measured in coin. To make it worth face value, Congress (1875) decided +to resume specie payment; that is, the fractional currency was to be +called in and redeemed in 10, 25, and 50 cent silver pieces; and after +January 1, 1879, all greenbacks were to be redeemed in specie. + +POLITICAL PARTIES IN 1876. [5]--This policy of resumption of specie +payment did not please everybody. A Greenback party was formed, which +called for the repeal of the Specie Payment Act and for the issue of more +greenbacks. That the presidential election would be close was certain, and +this certainty did much to lead the Democratic and Republican parties to +take up some of the demands of the Prohibition, Liberal Republican, and +Labor parties. Thus both the Democratic and Republican parties called for +no more land grants to corporations, and for the exclusion of the Chinese. + +[Illustration: MEMORIAL HALL, PHILADELPHIA.] + +THE ELECTION OF 1876.--The Republican candidate for President was +Rutherford B. Hayes; [6] the Democratic candidate was Samuel J. Tilden. +The admission of Colorado in August, 1876, made thirty-eight states, +casting 369 electoral votes. A candidate to be elected therefore needed at +least 185 electoral votes. So close was the contest that the election of +Hayes was claimed by exactly 185 votes. This number included the votes of +South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon, in each of which a dispute +was raging as to whether Republican or Democratic electors were chosen. +Both sets claimed to have been elected, and both met and voted. + +ELECTORAL COMMISSION.--The electoral votes of the states are counted in +the presence of the House and Senate. The question then became, Which of +these duplicate sets shall Congress count? To determine the question an +electoral commission of fifteen members was created. [7] It decided that +the votes of the Republican electors In the four states should be counted, +and Hayes was therefore declared elected. [8] + +END OF CARPETBAG GOVERNMENTS.--The inauguration of Hayes was followed by +the recall of United States troops from the South, and the downfall of +carpetbag governments in South Carolina and Louisiana. During the first +half of Hayes's term the. Democrats had control of the House of +Representatives, and during the second half, of the Senate as well. As a +result, proposed partisan measures either failed to pass Congress, or were +vetoed by the President. + +THE YEAR 1877 was one of great business depression. A strike on the +Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the summer of 1877 spread to other +railroads and became almost an industrial insurrection. Traffic was +stopped, millions of dollars' worth of freight cars, machine shops, and +other property was destroyed, and in the battles fought around Pittsburg +many lives were lost. [9] Failures were numerous; in 1878 more business +men failed than in the panic year 1873. + +SILVER COINAGE.--For much of this business depression the financial policy +of the government was blamed, and when Congress assembled in 1877, this +policy was at once attacked. An attempt to repeal the act for resuming +specie payment (p. 408) was made, but failed. [10] Another measure, +however, concerning silver coinage, was more successful. + +Congress had dropped (1873) the silver dollar from the list of coins to be +made at the mint. [11] Soon afterward the silver mines of Nevada began to +yield astonishingly, and the price of silver fell. This led to a demand +(by inflationists and silver-producers) that the silver dollar should +again be coined; and in 1878 Congress passed (over Hayes's veto) the +Bland-Allison Act, which required the Secretary of the Treasury to buy not +less than $2,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 worth of silver bullion each +month and coin it into dollars. [12] + +"THE CHINESE MUST GO."--Another act vetoed by Hayes was intended to stop +the coming of Chinese to our country. In 1877 an anti-Chinese movement was +begun in San Francisco by the workingmen led by Dennis Kearney. Open-air +meetings were held, and the demand for Chinese exclusion was urged so +vigorously that Congress (1879) passed an act restricting Chinese +immigration. Hayes vetoed this as violating our treaty with China, but +(1880) negotiated a new treaty which provided that Congress might regulate +the immigration of Chinese laborers. + +THE ELECTION OF 1880; DEATH OF GARFIELD.--In 1880 there were again several +parties, but the contest was between the Republicans with James A. +Garfield [13] and Chester A. Arthur as candidates for President and Vice +President, and the Democrats with Winfield S. Hancock and William H. +English as leaders. + +Garfield and Arthur were elected, and on March 4, 1881, were duly +inaugurated. Four months later, as the President stood in a railway +station in Washington, a disappointed office seeker shot him in the back. +After his death (September 19, 1881) Chester A. Arthur became President. +[14] + +IMPORTANT LAWS, 1881-85.--All parties had called for anti-Chinese +legislation. The long-desired act was accordingly passed by Congress, +excluding the Chinese from our country for a period of twenty years. +Arthur vetoed it as contrary to our treaty with China. An act "suspending" +the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years was then passed and +became law; similar acts have been passed from time to time since then. + +The Republicans (and Prohibitionists) had demanded the suppression of +polygamy in Utah and the neighboring territories. Another law (the Edmunds +Act, 1882) was therefore enacted for this end. [15] + +The murder of Garfield aroused a general demand for civil service reform. +The Pendleton Act (1883) was therefore enacted to secure appointment to +office on the ground of fitness, not party service. [16] + +[Illustration: THE CRUISER BOSTON.] + +THE NEW NAVY.--After the close of the Civil War our navy was suffered to +fall into neglect and decay. The thirty-seven cruisers, all but four of +which were of wood; the fourteen single-turreted monitors built during the +war; the muzzle-loading guns, belonged to a past age. By 1881 this was +fully realized and the foundation of a new and splendid navy was begun by +the construction of three unarmored cruisers--the _Atlanta_, _Boston_, and +_Chicago_. Once started, the new navy grew rapidly, and in the course of +twelve years forty-seven vessels were afloat or on the stocks. [17] + +NEW REFORMS DEMANDED.--Meantime the wonderful development of our country +caused a demand for further reforms. The chief employers of labor were +corporations and capitalists, many of whom abused the power their wealth +gave them. They were accused of importing laborers under contract and +thereby keeping wages down, of getting special privileges from +legislatures, and of combining to fix prices to suit themselves. In the +campaign of 1884, therefore, these issues came to the front, and demands +were made for (1) legislation against the importation of contract labor, +(2) regulation of interstate commerce, especially as carried on by +railways, (3) government ownership of telegraphs and railways, (4) +reduction of the hours of labor, (5) bureaus to collect and spread +information as to labor. + +[Illustration: GROVER CLEVELAND.] + +THE ELECTION OF 1884.--The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine for +President; the Democrats, Grover Cleveland. [18] The nomination of Blaine +gave offense to many Republicans; they took the name of Independents and +supported Cleveland, who was elected. + +IMPORTANT LAWS, 1885-89. [19]--As the two great parties, Democratic and +Republican, had each favored the passage of certain laws demanded by the +labor parties, these reforms were now obtained. + +1. An Anti-Contract-Labor Law (1885) forbade any person, company, or +corporation to bring aliens into the United States under contract to +perform labor or service. + +2. An Interstate Commerce Act (1887) provided for a commission whose duty +it is to see that all charges for the carriage of passengers or freight +are reasonable and just, and that no unfair special rates are made for +favored shippers. + +3. A Bureau of Labor was established and put in charge of a commissioner +whose duty it is to "diffuse among the people of the United States useful +information on subjects connected with labor." Such bureaus or departments +already existed in many of the states. + +THE SURPLUS.--These old issues disposed of, the continued growth and +prosperity of our country brought up new ones. For some time past the +revenue of the government had so exceeded its expenses that on December 1, +1887, there was a surplus of $50,000,000 in the treasury. Six months later +this had risen to $103,000,000. + +[Illustration: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.] + +Three plans were suggested for disposing of the surplus. Some thought it +should be distributed among the states as in 1837. Some were for buying +government bonds and so reducing the national debt. Others urged a +reduction of the annual revenue by cutting down the tariff rates. The +President in his message in 1887 asked for such a reduction, and in 1888 +the House passed a new tariff bill which the Senate rejected. + +THE CAMPAIGN OF 1888.--In the campaign of 1888, therefore, the tariff +issue came to the front. The Democrats renominated Grover Cleveland for +President, and called for a tariff for revenue only, and for no more +revenue than was needed to pay the cost of economical government. The +Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison [20] on a platform favoring a +protective tariff, and elected him. + +NEW STATES.--Both the great parties had called for the admission of new +states. Just before the end of Cleveland's term, therefore, an enabling +act was passed for North and South Dakota, Washington, and Montana, which +were accordingly admitted to the Union a few months later (1889). Idaho +and Wyoming were admitted the following year (1890), and Utah in 1896. + +NEW LAWS OF 1890.--The administration of affairs having again passed to +the Republican party, it enacted the McKinley Tariff Law, which slightly +raised the average rate of duties; the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, forbidding +combinations to restrain trade; and a new financial measure which also +bore the name of Senator Sherman. The law (p. 409) requiring the purchase +and coinage of at least $2,000,000 worth of silver bullion each month did +not satisfy the silver men. They wanted a free-coinage law, giving any man +the privilege of having his silver coined into dollars (p. 224). As they +had a majority of the Senate, they passed a free-coinage bill, but the +House rejected it. A conference followed, and the so-called Sherman Act +was passed, increasing the amount of silver to be bought each month by the +government. [21] + +THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF 1890.--The effect of the increased tariff +rates, the Sherman Act, and large expenditures by Congress was at once +apparent, and in the congressional election of 1890 the Republicans were +beaten. The Democratic minority in the House of Representatives was turned +into a great majority, and in both House and Senate appeared members of a +new party called the Farmers' Alliance. [22] + +PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1892.--The success of the Alliance men in the +election of 1890, and the conviction that neither the Democrats nor the +Republicans would further all their demands, led to a meeting of Alliance +and Labor leaders in May, 1891, and the formation of "the People's Party +of the United States of America." In 1892 this People's Party, or the +Populists, as they were called, nominated James B. Weaver for President, +cast a million votes, and secured the election of four senators and eleven +representatives in Congress. The Republicans renominated Harrison for +President. But the Democrats secured majorities in the House and the +Senate, and elected Cleveland. [23] + +THE PANIC OF 1893.--When Cleveland's second inauguration took place, March +4, 1893, our country had already entered a period of panic and business +depression. Trade had fallen off. Money was hard to borrow. Foreigners who +held our stocks and bonds sought to sell them, and a great amount of gold +was drawn to Europe. So bad did business conditions become that the +President called Congress to meet in special session in August to remedy +matters. + +The silver dollars coined by the government were issued and accepted by +the government at their face value, and circulated on a par with gold, +although the price of silver bullion had fallen so low that the metal in a +silver dollar was worth less than seventy cents. Many people believed the +business panic was due to fears that the government could not much longer +keep the increasing volume of silver currency at par with gold. Therefore +Congress repealed part of the Sherman Act of 1890, so as to stop the +purchase of more silver. + +THE WILSON TARIFF.--The business revival which the majority of Congress +now expected, did not come. Failures continued; mills remained closed, +gold continued to leave the country, and government receipts were +$34,000,000 less than expenditures when the year ended. By the close of +the autumn of 1893, hundreds of thousands of people were out of employment +and many in want. In this condition of affairs Congress met in regular +session (December, 1893). The Democrats were in control of both branches, +and were pledged to revise the tariff. A bill was therefore passed, +cutting down some of the tariff rates (the Wilson Act). [24] + +Nobody expected that the revised tariff would yield enough money to meet +the expenses of the government. One section of the law therefore provided +that all yearly incomes above $4000 should be taxed two per cent. Though +Congress had levied an income tax thirty years before, its right to do so +was now denied by many, and the Supreme Court decided (1895) that the +income tax was unconstitutional. [25] + +AUSTRALIAN BALLOT.--One great reform which must not go unnoticed was the +introduction of the Australian or secret ballot. The purpose of this +system of voting, first used in Australia, is to enable the voter to +prepare his ballot in a booth by himself and deposit it without any one +knowing for whom he votes. The system was first used in our country in +Massachusetts and in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1888. So successful was it +that ten states adopted it the next year, and by 1894 it was in use in all +but seven of the forty-four states. + +NEGROES DISFRANCHISED.--Six of the seven were Southern states where +negroes were numerous. After the fall of the carpetbag governments, +illegal means were often used to keep negroes from the polls and prevent +"negro domination" in these states. Later legal methods were tried +instead: the payment of taxes, and sometimes such an educational +qualification as the ability to read, were required of voters; but the +laws were so framed as to exclude many negroes and few whites. Mississippi +was the first state to amend her constitution for this purpose (1890), and +nearly all the Southern states have followed her example. [26] + +THE FREE COINAGE ISSUE.--Now that the treasury had ceased to buy silver, +the demand for the free coinage of silver was renewed. The Republicans in +their national platform, in 1896, declared against it, whereupon thirty- +four delegates from the silver states (Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, +Colorado, Utah, and Nevada) left the convention. The Democratic party +declared for free coinage, [27] but many Democrats ("gold Democrats") +thereupon formed a new party, called the National Democratic, and +nominated candidates on a gold-standard platform. Both the great parties +were thus split on the issue of free coinage of silver. + +THE CAMPAIGN OF 1896.--The Republican party nominated William McKinley +[28] for President. The Democrats named William J. Bryan, and he was +indorsed by the People's party and the National Silver party. [29] The +campaign was most exciting. The country was flooded with books, pamphlets, +handbills, setting forth both sides of the silver issue; Bryan and +McKinley addressed immense crowds, and on election day 13,900,000 votes +were cast. McKinley was elected. + +THE DINGLEY TARIFF.--The excitement over silver was such that in the +campaign the tariff question was little considered. But the Republicans +were pledged to a revision of the tariff, and accordingly (July, 1897) the +Dingley Bill passed Congress and was approved by the President. Thus in +the course of seven years the change of administration from one party to +the other had led to the passage of three tariff acts--the McKinley +(1890), the Wilson (1894), and the Dingley (1897). + +FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS.--It is now time to review our foreign relations +during this period. Twice since 1890 they had brought us apparently to the +verge of war. + +THE CHILEAN INCIDENT.--In 1891, while the United States ship _Baltimore_ +was in the port of Valparaiso, Chile, some sailors went on shore, were +attacked on the streets, and one was killed and several wounded. Chile +offered no apology and no reparation to the injured, but instead sent an +offensive note about the matter. Harrison, in a message to Congress +(1892), plainly suggested war. But the offensive note was withdrawn, a +proper apology was made, and the incident ended. + +THE SEAL FISHERIES.--Great Britain and our country were long at variance +over the question of ownership of seals in Bering Sea. Our purpose was to +protect them from extermination by certain restrictions on seal fishing. +To settle our rights in the matter, a court of arbitration was appointed +and met in Paris in 1893. The decision was against us, but steps were +taken to protect the seals from extermination. [30] + +[Illustration: HAWAIIAN BOATS WITH OUTRIGGERS.] + +HAWAII.--Just before Harrison retired from office a revolution in the +Hawaiian Islands drove the queen from the throne. A provisional government +was then established, commissioners were dispatched to Washington, and a +treaty for the annexation of Hawaii to the United States was drawn up and +sent to the Senate. President Cleveland recalled the treaty and sought to +have the queen restored. But the Hawaiians in control resisted and in 1894 +established a republic. + +VENEZUELA.--For many years there was a dispute over the boundary line +between British Guiana and Venezuela, and in 1895 it seemed likely to +involve Venezuela in a war with Great Britain. Our government had tried to +bring about a settlement by arbitration. Great Britain refused to +arbitrate, and denied our right to interfere. President Cleveland insisted +that under the Monroe Doctrine we had a right, and in December, 1895, +asked Congress to authorize a commission to investigate the claims of +Great Britain. This was done, and great excitement at once arose at home +and in Great Britain. But Great Britain and Venezuela soon submitted the +question to arbitration. + + +SUMMARY + +1. The wonderful industrial growth of our country between 1860 and 1880 +brought up for settlement grave industrial and financial questions. + +2. The failure of the two great parties to take up these questions at +once, caused the formation of many new parties, such as the National +Labor, the Prohibition, the Liberal Republican, and the People's party. + +3. Some of their demands were enacted into laws, as the silver coinage +act, the exclusion of the Chinese, the anti-contract-labor and interstate +commerce acts, the establishment of a national labor bureau, and the +antitrust act. + +4. In 1890-97 the tariff was three times revised by the McKinley, Wilson, +and Dingley acts. + +5. In the political world the most notable events were the contested +election of 1876-77; the recall of United States troops from the South, +and the fall of carpetbag governments; the assassination of Garfield; and +the two defeats of the national Republican ticket (1884 and 1892). + +6. In the financial world the chief events were the panics of 1873 and +1893, the resumption of specie payment (1879), and the free-silver issue. + +7. In the world at large we had trouble with Chile, Hawaii, and Great +Britain. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] After the discovery of gold in California, Chinamen, called coolies, +came to that state in considerable numbers. But they attracted little +attention till 1852, when the governor complained that they were sent out +by Chinese capitalists under contract, that the gold they dug was sent to +China, and that they worked for wages so low that no American could +compete with them. Attempts were then made to stop their importation, +especially by heavy taxes laid on them. But the courts declared such +taxation illegal, and appeals were then made to Congress for relief. No +action was taken; but in 1868 an old treaty with China was amended, and to +import Chinamen without their free consent was made a penal offense. This +did not prevent their coming, so the demand was made for their exclusion +by act of Congress. + +[2] In the early years of the nineteenth century liquor was a part of the +workingman's wages. Every laborer on the farm, in the harvest field, every +sailor, and men employed in many of the trades, as carpenters and masons, +demanded daily grog at the cost of the employer. About 1810 a temperance +movement put an end to much of this. But intemperance remained the curse +of the workingman down to the days of Van Buren and Tyler, when a greater +temperance movement began. + +[3] Horace Greeley was born in New Hampshire in 1811, and while still a +lad learned the trade of printer. When he went to New York in 1831, he was +so poor that he walked the streets in search of work. During the Harrison +campaign in 1840 he edited the Log Cabin, a Whig newspaper, and soon after +the election founded the New York Tribune. In 1848 he was elected a member +of Congress. He was one of the signers of the bond which released +Jefferson Davis from imprisonment after the Civil War. Greeley overexerted +himself in the campaign of 1872, and died a few weeks after the election. + +[4] The fire is said to have been started by a cow kicking over a lamp in +a small barn. Nearly 2200 acres were burned over, some 17,450 buildings +consumed, 200 lives were lost, and 98,000 people made homeless. + +[5] The close of the first century of our national independence was the +occasion of a great exposition in Philadelphia--the first of many that +have been held in our country on centennial anniversaries of great events +in our history. The Philadelphia exposition was first planned as a mammoth +fair for the display of the industries and arts of the United States; but +Congress having approved the idea, all foreign nations were invited to +take part, and thirty-three did so. The main building covered some twenty +acres and was devoted to the display of manufactures. The exposition +occupied also four other large buildings devoted to machinery, +agriculture, etc., of which Horticultural Hall and Memorial Hall are still +standing. + +[6] Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Ohio in 1822, and after graduating +from Kenyon College and the Harvard Law School settled at Fremont, Ohio, +but soon moved to Cincinnati. At the opening of the war he joined the +Union army and by 1865 had risen to the rank of brevet major general. +While still in the army, he was elected to Congress, served two terms, and +was then twice elected governor of Ohio. In 1875 he was elected for a +third term. He died in 1893. + +[7] The commission consisted of five senators, five representatives, and +five justices of the Supreme Court; eight were Republicans, and seven +Democrats. + +[8] By 185 electoral votes against 184 for Tilden. The popular vote at the +election of 1876 was (according to the Republican claim): for Hayes, +4,033,768; for Tilden, 4,285,992; for Peter Cooper (Greenback-Labor or +"Independent"), 81,737; for Green Clay Smith (Prohibition), 9522. + +[9] The strikers' grievances were reduction of wages, irregular +employment, irregular payment of wages, and forced patronage of company +hotels. There were riots at Baltimore, Chicago, Reading, and other places +besides Pittsburg; state militia was called out to quell the disorder; and +at the request of the state governors, United States troops were sent to +Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. + +[10] Specie payment was accordingly begun on January 1, 1879, and then for +the first time since greenbacks were made legal tender they were accepted +everywhere at par with coin. By the provisions of other laws, the amount +of greenbacks kept in circulation was fixed at $346,681,000. + +[11] The price of silver in 1872 was such that the 412-1/2 grains in the +dollar were worth $1.02 in gold money. The silver dollar was worth more +as silver bullion than as money, and was therefore little used as money. +This dropping of the silver dollar from the list of coins, or ceasing to +coin it, was called the "demonetization of silver." + +[12] To carry any number of these "cart-wheel dollars" in the pocket would +have been inconvenient, because of their size and weight. Provision was +therefore made that the dollars might be deposited in the United States +treasury and paper "silver certificates" issued against them. Get +specimens of different kinds of paper money, read the words printed on a +silver certificate, and compare with the wording on a greenback (United +States note) and on a national bank note. + +[13] James A. Garfield was born in Ohio in 1831. While still a lad. he +longed to be a sailor, and failing in this, he became a canal boatman. +After a little experience as such he went back to school, supporting +himself by working as a carpenter and teaching school. In 1854 he entered +the junior class of Williams College, graduated in 1856, became a teacher +in Hiram Institute, was elected to the Ohio senate in 1859, and joined the +Union army in 1861. In 1862 he was elected to Congress, took his seat in +December, 1863, and continued to be a member of the House of +Representatives till 1881. + +[14] Chester Alan Arthur was born in Vermont in 1830, graduated from Union +College, became (1853) a lawyer in New York city, and was (1871-78) +customs collector of the port of New York. In 1880 he attended the +national Republican convention as a delegate from New York, and was one of +the 302 members of that convention who voted to the last for the +renomination of Grant. After Grant was defeated and Garfield nominated, +Arthur was named for the vice presidency, in order to appease the +"Stalwarts," as the friends of Grant were called. + +[15] When this failed to accomplish its purpose, Congress (1887) enacted +another law providing heavy penalties for polygamy. The Mormon Church then +declared against the practice. + +[16] The murder of Garfield led also to a new presidential succession law. +The old law provided that if both the President and the Vice President +should die, the office should be filled temporarily by the president +_pro tem_ of the Senate, or if there were none, by the speaker of the +House of Representatives. But one Congress expired March 4, 1881, and the +next one did not meet and elect its presiding officers till December; so +if Arthur had died before then, there would have been no one to act as +President. A new law passed in 1886 provides that if both the presidency +and the vice presidency become vacant, the presidency shall pass to the +Secretary of State, or, if there be none, to the Secretary of the +Treasury, or, if necessary, to the Secretary of War, Attorney General, +Postmaster General, Secretary of the Navy, or Secretary of the Interior. + +[17] In 1881, Lieutenant A. W. Greely was sent to plant a station in the +Arctic regions. Supplies sent in 1882 and 1883 failed to reach him, and +alarm was felt for the safety of his party. In 1884 a rescue expedition +was sent out under Commander W. S. Schley. Three vessels were made ready +by the Navy Department, and a fourth by Great Britain. After a long search +Greely and six companions were found on the point of starvation and five +were brought safely home. During their stay in the Arctic, they had +reached a point within 430 miles of the north pole, the farthest north any +white man had then gone. + +[18] Grover Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837. In 1841 his father, +a Presbyterian minister, removed to Onondaga County, New York, where +Grover attended school and served as clerk in the village store. Later he +taught for a year in the Institute for the Blind in New York city; but +soon began the study of law, and settled in Buffalo. He was assistant +district attorney of Erie County, sheriff and mayor of Buffalo, and in +1882, as the Democratic candidate for governor of New York, carried the +state by 192,000 plurality. Both when mayor and when governor he was noted +for his free use of the veto power. + +[19] In 1885 the Bartholdi statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was +formally received at New York. It was a gift from the people of France to +the people of America. A hundred thousand Frenchmen contributed the money +for the statue, and the pedestal was built with money raised in the United +States. An island in New York harbor was chosen for the site, and there +the statue was unveiled in October, 1886. The top of Liberty's torch is +365 feet above low water. + +In September, 1886, a severe earthquake occurred near Charleston, South +Carolina, the vibrations of which were felt as far away as Cape Cod and +Milwaukee. In Charleston most of the houses were made unfit for +habitation, many persons were killed, and some $8,000,000 worth of +property was destroyed. + +[20] Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of President William Henry Harrison, +was born at North Bend, Ohio, in 1833. He was educated at Miami +University, studied law, settled at Indianapolis, and when the war opened, +was reporter to the supreme court of Indiana. Joining the volunteers as a +lieutenant, he was brevetted brigadier general before the war ended. In +1881 he became a senator from Indiana. He died in 1901. + +[21] This required the Secretary of the Treasury to buy each month +4,500,000 ounces of silver, pay for it with treasury notes, and redeem the +notes on demand in coin. After July 1, 1891, the silver so purchased need +not be coined, but might be stored and silver certificates issued against +it. + +[22] Soon after the war the farmers in the great agricultural states had +formed associations under such names as the Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, +Patrons of Industry, Agricultural Wheel, Farmers' Alliance, and others. +About 1886 they began to unite, and formed the National Agricultural Wheel +and the Farmers' Alliance and Cooperative Union. In 1889 these and others +were united in a convention at St. Louis into the Farmers' Alliance and +Industrial Union. + +[23] The electoral vote was: for Cleveland, 277; Harrison, 145; Weaver, +22. The popular vote was: Democratic, 5,556,543; Republican, 5,175,582; +Populist, 1,040,886; Prohibition, 255,841; Socialist Labor, 21,532. + +[24] Cleveland objected to certain features of the bill, and refused to +sign it; but he did not veto it. By the Constitution, if the President +neither signs a bill nor returns it with his veto within ten days (Sunday +excepted) after he receives it, the bill becomes a law without his +signature, provided Congress has not meanwhile adjourned. If Congress +adjourns before the ten-day limit expires and the President does not sign, +then the bill does not become a law, but is "pocket vetoed." + +[25] Because Congress had made the tax uniform--the same on incomes of the +same amount everywhere--instead of fixing the total amount to be raised +and dividing it among the states according to population, as required by +the Constitution in the case of direct taxes. + +[26] The franchise has been slightly narrowed in some Northern states by +educational qualifications; but, on the other hand, in four states it has +been extended to women on the same terms as men--in Wyoming (since 1869), +Colorado (since 1893), Utah (since 1895), and Idaho (since 1896). In +nearly half the states, women can now vote in school elections. In Kansas +they vote also in municipal elections. + +[27] They demanded "the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold +at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1"; that is, that out of one pound of +gold should be coined as many dollars as out of sixteen pounds of silver. + +[28] William McKinley was born in Ohio in 1843, attended Allegheny College +for a short time, then taught a district school, and was a clerk in a +country post office. When the Civil War opened, he joined the army as a +private in a regiment in which Hayes was afterwards colonel, served +through the war, and was brevetted major for gallantry at Cedar Creek and +Fishers Hill. The war over, he became a lawyer, entered politics in Ohio, +and was elected a member of seven Congresses. From 1892 to 1896 he was +governor of Ohio. + +[29] The Gold Democrats nominated John M. Palmer; and the Prohibitionists, +the National party, and the Socialist Labor party also named candidates. +But none of these parties cast so many as 150,000 popular votes or secured +any electoral votes. + +[30] We contended that we had jurisdiction in Bering Sea; that the seals +rearing their young on our islands in that sea were our property; that +even though they temporarily went far out into the Pacific Ocean they were +under our protection. Our revenue cutters had therefore seized Canadian +vessels taking seals in the open sea. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE WAR WITH SPAIN, AND LATER EVENTS + + +THE CUBAN REBELLION.--In February, 1895, the Cubans, for the sixth time in +fifty years, rose in rebellion against Spain, and attempted to form a +republic. These proceedings concerned us for several reasons. American +trade with Cuba was interrupted; American money invested in Cuban mines, +railroads, and plantations might be lost; our ports were used by the +Cubans in fitting out military expeditions which our government was forced +to stop at great expense; the cruelty with which the war was waged aroused +indignation. During the summer of 1897 the suffering of Cuban non- +combatants was so great that our people began to send them food and +medical aid. + +[Illustration: CUBA AND PORTO RICO.] + +DESTRUCTION OF THE MAINE.--While our people were engaged in this humane +work, our battleship _Maine_, riding at anchor in the harbor of Havana, +was blown up (February 15, 1898) and two hundred and sixty of her sailors +killed. War was now inevitable, and on April 19 Congress adopted a +resolution demanding that Spain should withdraw from Cuba, and authorizing +the President to compel her to leave if necessary. [1] Spain at once +severed diplomatic relations, and (April 21, 1898) war began. + +THE BATTLE AT MANILA BAY.--A fleet which had assembled at Key West sailed +at once to blockade Havana and other ports on the coast of Cuba. Another +under Commodore Dewey sailed from Hongkong to attack the Spanish fleet in +the Philippine Islands. Dewey found it in Manila Bay, where on the morning +of May 1, 1898, he attacked and destroyed it without losing a man or a +ship. The city of Manila was then blockaded, and General Merritt with +twenty thousand men was sent across the Pacific to take possession of the +Philippines. + +BLOCKADE OF CERVERA'S FLEET.--Meantime a second Spanish fleet, under +Admiral Cervera (thair-va'ra), sailed from the Cape Verde Islands. Acting +Rear-Admiral Sampson, with ships which had been blockading Havana, and +Commodore Schley, with a "flying squadron," went in search of Cervera, +who, after a long hunt, was found in the harbor of Santiago on the south +coast of Cuba, and at once blockaded. [2] + +[Illustration: THE PHILIPPINES.] + +THE MERRIMAC.--The entrance to Santiago harbor is long, narrow, and +defended by strong forts. In an attempt to make the blockade more certain, +Lieutenant Hobson and a volunteer crew of seven men took the collier (coal +ship) _Merrimac_ well into the harbor entrance and sank her in the +channel (June 3). [3] The little band were made prisoners of war and in +time were exchanged. + +[Illustration: A FIELD GUN NEAR SANTIAGO.] + +BATTLES NEAR SANTIAGO.--As the fleet of Cervera could not be attacked by +water, it was decided to capture Santiago and so force him to run out. +General Shafter with an army was therefore sent to Cuba, and landed a few +miles from the city (June 22, 23), and at once pushed forward. On July 1 +the Spanish positions on two hills, El Caney (el ca-na') and San Juan +(sahn hoo-ahn'), were carried by storm. [4] + +The capture of Santiago was now so certain that, on July 3, Cervera's +fleet dashed from the harbor and attempted to break through the blockading +fleet. A running sea fight followed, and in a few hours all six of the +Spanish vessels were shattered wrecks on the coast of Cuba. Not one of our +ships was seriously damaged. + +Two weeks later General Toral (to-rahl') surrendered the city of Santiago, +the eastern end of Cuba, and a large army. + +PORTO RICO.--General Miles now set off with an army to capture Porto Rico. +He landed on the south coast (August 1) near Ponce (pon'tha), and was +pushing across the island when hostilities came to an end. + +PEACE.--Meanwhile, the French minister in Washington asked, on behalf of +Spain, on what terms peace would be made. President McKinley stated them, +and on August 12 an agreement, or protocol, was signed. This provided (1) +that hostilities should cease at once, (2) that Spain should withdraw from +Cuba and cede Porto Rico and an island in the Ladrones to the United +States, and (3) that the city and harbor of Manila should be held by us +till a treaty of peace was signed and the fate of the Philippines settled. +[5] + +The treaty was signed at Paris, December 10, 1898, and went into force +upon its ratification four months later. Spain agreed to withdraw from +Cuba, and to cede us Porto Rico, Guam (one of the Ladrone Islands), and +the Philippines. Our government agreed to pay Spain $20,000,000. + +HAWAII, meanwhile, had steadily been seeking annexation to the United +States. Many causes prevented it; but during the war with Spain the +possibility of our holding the Philippines gave importance to the Hawaiian +Islands, and in July, 1898, they were annexed. In 1900 they were formed +into the territory of Hawaii. About the same time several other small +Pacific islands were acquired by our country. [6] + +PORTO RICO AND CUBA.--For Porto Rico, Congress provided a system of civil +government which went into effect May 1, 1900, and made the island a +dependency, or colony--a district governed according to special laws of +Congress, but not forming part of our country. [7] + +[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES AND ITS OUTLYING POSSESSIONS.] + +When Spain withdrew from Cuba, our government took control, and after +introducing many sanitary reforms, turned the cities over to the Cubans. +The people then elected delegates to a convention which formed a +constitution, and when this had been adopted and a president elected, our +troops were withdrawn, and (May 20, 1901), the Cubans began to govern +their island. + +[Illustration: A PHILIPPINE MARKET.] + +WAR IN THE PHILIPPINES.--When our forces entered Manila (August, 1898), +native troops under Aguinaldo (ahg-ee-nahl'do), who had revolted against +Spanish rule, held Luzon [8] and most of the other islands. Aguinaldo now +demanded that we should turn the islands over to his party, and when this +was refused, attacked our forces in Manila. War followed; but in battle +after battle the native troops were beaten and scattered, and in time +Aguinaldo was captured. The group of islands is now governed as a +dependency. + +WAR IN CHINA.--The next country with which we had trouble was China. Early +in 1900 members of a Chinese society called the Boxers began to kill +Christian natives, missionaries, and other foreigners. The disorder soon +reached Peking, where foreign ministers, many Europeans, and Americans +were besieged in the part of the city where they were allowed to reside. +Ships and troops were at once sent to join the forces of Japan and the +powers of Europe in rescuing the foreigners in Peking. War was not +declared; but some battles were fought and some towns captured before +Peking was taken and China brought to reason. [9] + +[Illustration: SETTLED AREA IN 1900.] + +THE CENSUS OF 1900.--At home in 1900 our population was counted for the +twelfth time in our history and found to be 76,000,000. This census did +not include the population of Porto Rico, Guam, or the Philippines. In New +York the population exceeded that of the whole United States in 1810; in +Pennsylvania it was greater than that of the whole United States in 1800, +and Ohio and Illinois each had more people than the whole country in 1790. + +IMMIGRATION.--In 1879 (p. 403) a great wave of immigration began and rose +rapidly till nearly 800,000 foreigners came in one year, in 1882. Then the +wave declined, but for the rest of the century every year brought several +hundred thousand. In 1900 another great wave was rising, and by 1905 more +than 1,000,000 immigrants were coming every year. For some years these +immigrants have come mostly from southern and eastern Europe. + +GROWTH OF CITIES.--Most remarkable has been the rapid growth of our +cities. In 1790 there were but 6 cities of over 8000 inhabitants each in +the United States, and their total population was but 131,000. In 1900 +there were 545 such cities, and their inhabitants numbered 25,000,000-- +about a third of the entire population; 38 of these cities had each more +than 100,000 inhabitants. By 1906 our largest city, New York, had more +than 4,000,000 people, Chicago had passed the 2,000,000 mark, and +Philadelphia had about 1,500,000. + +THE NEW SOUTH.--The census of 1900 brought out other facts of great +interest. For many years after 1860 the South had gone backward rather +than forward. From 1880 to 1900 her progress was wonderful. In 1880 she +was loaded with debt, her manufactures of little importance, her railways +dilapidated, her banks few in number, and her laboring population largely +unemployed. In 1900 her cotton mills rivaled those of New England. Since +1880 her cotton crop has doubled, her natural resources have begun to be +developed, and coal, iron, lumber, cottonseed oil, and (in Texas and +Louisiana) petroleum have become important products. Alabama ranks high in +the list of coal-producing states, and her city of Birmingham has become a +great center of the iron and steel industry. Atlanta and many other +Southern cities are now important manufacturing centers. + +With material prosperity came ability to improve the systems of public +schools. Throughout the South separate schools are maintained for white +and for negro children; and great progress has been made in both. + +THE ELECTION OF 1900.--One of the signs of great prosperity in our country +has always been the number of political parties. In the campaign for the +election of President and Vice President in 1900 there were eleven +parties, large and small. But the contest really was between the +Republicans, who nominated William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, and +the Democrats, who nominated William J. Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson, +indorsed by the Populist and Silver parties. + +[Illustration: THEODORE ROOSEVELT.] + +MCKINLEY ASSASSINATED.--McKinley and Roosevelt were elected, and duly +inaugurated March 4, 1901. In that year a great Pan-American Exposition +was held at Buffalo, and while attending it in September, McKinley was +shot by an anarchist who, during a public reception, approached him as if +to shake hands. Early on the morning of September 14 the President died, +and Vice-President Roosevelt [10] succeeded to the presidency. + +THE CHINESE.--In President Roosevelt's first message to Congress +(December, 1901) lie dealt with many current issues. One of his requests +was for further legislation concerning Chinese laborers. The Chinese +Exclusion Act accordingly was (1902) applied to our island possessions, +and no Chinese laborer is now allowed to enter one of them, nor may those +already there go from one group to another, or come to any of our states. + +IRRIGATION.--Another matter urged on the attention of Congress by the +President was the irrigation [11] of arid public lands in the West in +order that they might be made fit for settlement. Great reservoirs for the +storage of water should be built, and canals to lead the water to the arid +lands should be constructed at government expense, the land so reclaimed +should be kept for actual settlers, and the cost repaid by the sale of the +land. Congress in 1902 approved the plan, and by law set aside the money +derived from the sale of public land in thirteen states and three +territories as a fund for building irrigation works. The work of +reclamation was begun the next year, and by 1907 eight new towns with some +10,000 people existed on lands thus watered. + +ISTHMIAN CANAL ROUTES.--The project of a canal across the isthmus +connecting North and South America, was more than seventy-five years old. +But no serious attempt was made to cut a water way till a French company +was organized in 1878, spent $260,000,000 in ten years, and then failed. +Another French company then took up the work, and in turn laid it down for +want of funds. So the matter stood when the war with Spain brought home to +us the great importance of an isthmian canal. Then the question arose, +Which was the better of two routes, that by Lake Nicaragua, or that across +the isthmus of Panama? [12] Congress (1899) sent a commission to consider +this, and it reported that both routes were feasible. Thereupon the French +company offered to sell its rights and the unfinished canal for +$40,000,000, and Congress (1902) authorized the President to buy the +rights and property of the French company, and finish the Panama Canal; +or, if Colombia would not grant us control of the necessary strip of land, +to build one by the Nicaragua route. + +[Illustration: PANAMA CANAL ZONE.] + +THE PANAMA CANAL TREATY.--In the spring of 1903, accordingly, a treaty was +negotiated with Colombia for the construction of the Panama Canal. Our +Senate ratified, but Colombia rejected, the treaty, whereupon the province +of Panama (November, 1903) seceded from Colombia and became independent +republic. + +Our government promptly recognized the new republic, and a treaty with it +was ratified (February, 1904) by which we secured the right to dig the +canal. The property of the French company was then purchased, and a +commission appointed to superintend the work of construction. [13] + +THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY.--By our treaty of purchase of Alaska, its boundaries +depended on an old treaty between Russia and Great Britain. When gold was +discovered in Canada in 1871, a dispute arose over the boundary, and it +became serious when gold was discovered in the Klondike region in 1896. +Our claim placed the boundary of southeastern Alaska thirty-five miles +inland and parallel to the coast. Canada put it so much farther west as to +give her several important ports. The matter was finally submitted to +arbitration, and in 1903 the decision divided the land in dispute, but +gave us all the ports. [14] + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1904.--The campaign of 1904 was opened by the +nomination by the Republican party of Theodore Roosevelt and Charles W. +Fairbanks. The Democrats presented Alton B. Parker and Henry G. Davis, and +in the course of the summer seven other parties--the People's, the +Socialist, the Socialist Labor, the Prohibition, the United Christian, the +National Liberty, and the Continental--nominated candidates. Roosevelt and +Fairbanks were elected. [15] + +OKLAHOMA.--Among the demands of the Democratic party in 1904 was that for +the admission of Oklahoma and Indian Territory as one state, and of New +Mexico and Arizona as separate states. In 1906 Congress authorized the +people of Oklahoma [16] and Indian Territory to frame a constitution, and +if it were adopted by vote of the people, the President was empowered to +proclaim the state of Oklahoma a member of the Union, which was done in +1907. The same act authorized the people of New Mexico and Arizona to vote +separately on the question whether the two should form one state to be +called Arizona. At the election (in November, 1906) a majority of the +people of New Mexico voted for, and a majority of the people of Arizona +against, joint statehood, so the two remained separate territories. + +PURE FOOD AND MEAT INSPECTION LAWS.--At the same session of Congress +(1906) two other wise and greatly needed laws were enacted. For years past +the adulteration of food, drugs, medicines, and liquors had been carried +on to an extent disgraceful to our country. The Pure Food Act, as it is +called, was passed to prevent the manufacture of "adulterated or +misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and +liquors" in the District of Columbia and the territories, or the +transportation of such articles from one state to another. Foods and drugs +entering into interstate commerce must be correctly labeled. + +The meat inspection act requires that all meat and food products intended +for sale or transportation as articles of interstate or foreign commerce, +shall be inspected by officials of the Department of Agriculture and +marked "inspected and passed." All slaughtering, packing, and canning +establishments must be inspected and their products duly labeled. + +INTERVENTION IN CUBA.--As the year 1906 drew to a close, we were once more +called on to intervene in affairs in Cuba. The elections of 1905 in that +island had been followed by the revolt of the defeated party, and the +appearance of armed bands which threatened the chief towns and even +Havana. An attempt to bring about an understanding with the rebels was +repudiated by President Palma, who declared martial law and called a +meeting of the Cuban congress, which body gave him supreme power. + +President Roosevelt, under our treaty with Cuba, was bound to maintain in +that island a government able to protect life and property. Secretary-of- +War Taft was therefore sent to Havana to examine into affairs, and while +he was so engaged President Palma resigned, and the Cuban congress did not +elect a successor. Secretary Taft then assumed the governorship of the +island and held it till October, when Charles Magoon was appointed +temporary governor. [17] + +PANIC OF 1907.--The wonderful prosperity which our country had enjoyed for +some years past came to a sudden end in the fall of 1907. Distrust of +certain banks led to a run on several in New York city. When they were +forced to stop paying out money, a panic started and spread over the +country, business suffered, and hard times came again. + +THE ELECTION OF 1908.--During the summer of 1908 seven parties nominated +candidates for President and Vice President. They were the Republican, +Democratic, Prohibition, Populist, Socialist, Socialist Labor, and +Independence. The Republicans nominated William H. Taft and James S. +Sherman; and the Democrats, William J. Bryan and John W. Kern. Taft [18] +and Sherman were elected. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM H. TAFT.] + +Early in 1909 Taft visited the Canal Zone, with eminent engineers, to +investigate the condition of the half-finished Panama Canal. He was +inaugurated President on March 4. In the selection of his cabinet +officers, and in his public addresses, he showed a determination to avoid +sectionalism and narrow partisanship. One of his first acts as President +was to convene Congress in special session beginning March 15, for the +purpose of framing a new tariff act. + + +SUMMARY + +1. Our foreign relations since 1898 have been most important. In 1898 +there was a short war with Spain. + +2. The chief events of the war were the battle of Manila Bay, the sinking +of the _Merrimac_, the battles near Santiago, the destruction of Cervera's +fleet, the invasion of Porto Rico, and the capture of Manila. + +3. Peace brought us the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Guam, and forced +Spain to withdraw from Cuba. + +4. Cuba for awhile remained under our flag; but in 1902 we withdrew, and +Cuba became a republic. Later events forced us to intervene in 1906. + +5. In 1900 events forced us into a short war in China. + +6. In 1898 Hawaii was annexed, and in 1900 was organized as a territory; +in 1903 our dispute with Great Britain over the Alaskan boundary was +settled; and in 1904 a treaty with Panama gave us the right to dig the +Panama Canal. + +7. Prominent among domestic affairs since 1898, are the assassination of +President McKinley (1901); the Irrigation Act of 1902; the pure food and +meat inspection laws of 1906; and the admission of the state of Oklahoma. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] At the same time it was resolved, "That the United States hereby +disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, +jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification +thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to +leave the government and control of the island to its people." + +[2] When the _Maine_ was destroyed, the battleship _Oregon_, then on the +Pacific coast, was ordered to the Atlantic seaboard. Making her way +southward through the Pacific, she passed the Strait of Magellan, steamed +up the east coast of South America, and after the swiftest long voyage +ever made by a battleship, took her place in the blockading fleet. + +[3] The storm of shot and shell from the forts carried away some of the +_Merrimac's_ steering gear, so that Hobson was unable to sink the vessel +at the spot intended. The channel was still navigable. Read the article by +Lieutenant Hobson in the _Century Magazine_ for December, 1898 to March, +1899. + +[4] Among those who distinguished themselves in this campaign were General +Joseph Wheeler, an ex-Confederate cavalry leader; and Lieutenant-Colonel +Theodore Roosevelt, with his regiment of volunteers called "Rough Riders." + +[5] The city of Manila was captured through a combined attack by Dewey's +fleet and Merritt's army, August 13, before news of the protocol had been +received. + +[6] Our flag was raised over Wake Island early in 1899. Part of the Samoa +group, including Tutuila (too-too-e'la) and small adjacent islands, was +acquired in 1900 by a joint treaty with Great Britain and Germany; these +islands are 77 square miles in area and have 6000 population. Many tiny +islands in the Pacific, most of them rocks or coral reefs, belong to us; +but they are of little importance, except the Midway Islands, which are +occupied by a party of telegraphers in charge of a relay in the cable +joining our continent with the Philippines. + +[7] Porto Rico is a little smaller than Connecticut, but has a population +of about one million, of whom a third are colored. The civil government +consists of a governor, an executive council of 11 members, and a House of +Delegates of 35 members elected by the people. The island is represented +at Washington by a resident commissioner. + +[8] The Philippine group numbers about two thousand islands. The land area +is about equal to that of New England and New York; that is, 115,000 +square miles. Luzon, the largest, is about the size of Kentucky. A census +taken in 1903 gave a population of 7,600,000, of whom 600,000 were +savages. For several years the Philippines were governed by the President, +first through the army, and then through an appointed commission. This +commission, with Judge William H. Taft as president, began its duties in +June of 1900; but by act of Congress (July 1, 1902) a new plan of +government has been provided for. This includes a governor and a +legislature of two branches, one the Philippine commission of eight +members, and the other an assembly chosen by the Filipinos. + +[9] In 1898 the emperor of Russia invited many of the nations of the world +to meet and discuss the reduction of their armies and navies. Delegates +from twenty-six nations accordingly met at the Hague (in Holland) in May, +1899, and there discussed (1) disarmament, (2) revision of the laws of +land and naval war, (3) mediation and arbitration. Three covenants or +agreements were made and left open for signature by the nations till 1900. +One forbade the use in war of deadly gases, of projectiles dropped from +balloons, and of bullets made to expand in the human body. The second +revised the laws of war, and the third provided for a permanent court of +arbitration at the Hague, before which cases may be brought with the +consent of the nations concerned. + +[10] Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York in 1858, graduated from +Harvard University in 1880, and from 1882 to 1884 was a member of the +legislature of New York. In 1886 he was the candidate of the Republican +party for mayor of New York city and was defeated. In 1889 he was +appointed a member of the United States Civil Service Commission, but +resigned in 1895 to become president of the New York city police board. In +1897 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, but when the war +with Spain opened, resigned and organized the First United States Cavalry +Volunteers, popularly known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Of this regiment +he was lieutenant colonel and then colonel, and after it was mustered out +of service, was elected governor of New York in the autumn of 1898. He is +the author of many books on history, biography, and hunting, besides +essays and magazine articles. + +[11] Before this time many small areas had been irrigated by means of +works constructed by individuals, by companies, and by local governments. + +[12] In 1825 Central America invited us to build a canal by way of Lake +Nicaragua, and from that time forth the question was often before +Congress. In Jackson's time a commissioner was sent to examine the +Nicaragua route and that across the isthmus of Panama. After Texas was +annexed we made a treaty with New Granada (now Colombia), and secured "the +right of way or transit across the isthmus of Panama upon any modes of +communication that now exist, or that may be hereafter constructed." After +the Mexican war, the discovery of gold in California, and the expansion of +our territory on the Pacific coast, the importance of a canal was greatly +increased. But Great Britain stepped in and practically seized control of +the Nicaragua route. A crisis followed, and in 1850 we made with Great +Britain the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, by which each party was pledged never +to obtain "exclusive control over the said ship canal." When (in 1900) we +practically decided to build by the Nicaragua route, and felt we must have +exclusive control, it became necessary to abrogate this part of the +Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty was therefore made, by +which Great Britain gave up all claim to a share in the control of such a +canal, and the United States guaranteed that any isthmian canal built by +us should be open to all nations on equal terms. + +[13] In accordance with our rights under the treaty, Congress (April, +1904) authorized the President, as soon as he had acquired the property of +the canal company and paid Panama $10,000,000, to take possession of the +"Canal Zone," a strip ten miles wide (five miles on each side of the +canal) stretching across the isthmus and extending three marine miles from +low water out into the ocean at each end. On April 22, 1904, the property +of the canal company was transferred at Paris, and on May 9 the company +was paid $40,000,000; Panama had already been paid her $10,000,000, and on +May 19 General Davis, president of the Canal Commission, issued a +proclamation announcing the beginning of his administration as governor of +the Canal Zone. + +[14] Another event of 1903 was the addition of a ninth member to the +Cabinet,--the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The Secretary of +Agriculture (1889) was the eighth member. + +[15] By 336 electoral votes against 140 for Parker and Davis. The popular +vote was: Republican, 7,623,486; Democratic, 5,077,971; Socialist, +402,283; Prohibition, 258,536; Populist, 117,183; Socialist Labor, 31,249: +all others combined, less than 10,000. + +[16] The central portion of Indian Territory was opened for settlement on +April 22, 1889, when a great rush was made for the new lands. Other areas +were soon added, and in 1890 Oklahoma territory was organized. It included +the western half of the Indian Territory shown on p. 394. + +[17] Another event of 1906 was a great earthquake in western California +(April 18). Many buildings in many places were shaken down, and most of +San Francisco was destroyed by fires which could not be put out because +the water mains were broken by the earthquake. Hundreds of persons lost +their lives, and the property loss in San Francisco alone was estimated at +$400,000,000. + +[18] William Howard Taft was born in Ohio, September 15, 1857, graduated +from Yale, studied law, became judge of the Superior Court of Ohio, and +United States Circuit Judge (6th Circuit). After the war with Spain, Judge +Taft was made president of the Philippine Commission, and in 1901 first +civil governor of the Philippine Islands. In 1904 he was appointed +Secretary of War, an office which he resigned after his nomination for the +Presidency. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brief History of the United States +by John Bach McMaster + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE U.S. *** + +This file should be named 6896.txt or 6896.zip + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +https://gutenberg.org or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/6896.zip b/6896.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d1c1ff --- /dev/null +++ b/6896.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3ddedc --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #6896 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6896) |