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A Brief History of the United States

by Joel Dorman Steele · English · Gutenberg #6434 · 720,539 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: A Brief History of the United States

Author: Joel Dorman Steele


        
Release date: September 1, 2004 [eBook #6434]
                Most recently updated: December 29, 2020

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES ***




Produced by Robert Prince, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.





[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HISTORICAL SCENES]

BARNES'S ONE-TERM HISTORY.

A
BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
UNITED STATES

[Illustration: PLYMOUTH ROCK]



       *       *        *       *        *

PREFACE.

       *       *       *       *       *


The experience of all teachers testifies to the lamentable
deficiency in historical knowledge among their pupils; not that
children dislike the incidents and events of history, for, indeed,
they prefer them to the improbable tales which now form the bulk of
their reading, but because the books are "dry." Those which are
interesting are apt to be lengthy, and the mind consequently
becomes confused by the multitude of details, while the brief ones
often contain merely the dry bones of fact, uninviting and unreal.
An attractive book which can be mastered in a single term, is the
necessity of our schools. The present work is an attempt to meet
this want in American histories. In its preparation there has been
an endeavor to develop the following principles:

1. To precede each Epoch by questions and a map, so that the pupil
may become familiar with the location of the places named in the
history he is about to study.

2. To select only the most important events for the body of the
text, and then, by foot-notes, to give explanations, illustrations,
minor events, anecdotes, &c.

3. To classify the events under general topics, which are given in
distinct type at the beginning of each paragraph; thus impressing
the leading idea on the mind of the pupil, enabling him to see at a
glance the prominent points of the lesson, and especially adapting
the book to that large and constantly increasing class of teachers,
who require topical recitations.

4. To select, in the description of each battle, some
characteristic in which it differs from all other battles--its
key-note, by which it can be recollected; thus not only preventing
a sameness, but giving to the pupil a point around which he may
group information obtained from fuller descriptions and larger
histories.

5. To give only leading dates, and, as far as possible, to
associate them with each other, and thus assist the memory in their
permanent retention; experience having proved the committing of
many dates to be the most barren and profitless of all school
attainments.

6. To give each campaign as a whole, rather than to mingle several
by presenting the events in chronological order. Whenever, by the
operations of one army being dependent on those of another, this
plan might fail to show the inter-relation of events, to prevent
such a result by so arranging the campaigns that the supporting
event shall precede the supported one.

7. To give something of the philosophy of history, the causes and
effects of events, and, in the case of great battles, the objects
sought to be attained; thus leading pupils to a thoughtful study of
history, and to an appreciation of the fact that events hinge upon
each other.

8. To insert, in foot-notes, sketches of the more important
personages, especially the Presidents, and thereby enable the
student to form some estimate of their characters.

9. To use language, a clause or sentence of which cannot be
selected or committed as an answer to a question, but such as,
giving the idea vividly, will yet compel the pupil to express it in
his own words.

10. To assign to each Epoch its fair proportion of space; not
expanding the earlier ones at the expense of the later; but giving
due prominence to the events nearer our own time, especially to the
Civil War.

11. To write a National history by carefully avoiding all sectional
or partisan views.

12. To give the new States the attention due to their importance by
devoting space to each one as it is admitted into the Union, and
becomes a feature in the grand national development.

13. To lead to a more independent use of the book, and the adoption
of the topical mode of recitation and study, as far as possible, by
placing the questions at the close of the work, rather than at the
bottom of each page.

14. To furnish, under the title of Historical Recreations, a set of
review questions which may serve to awaken an interest in the class
and induce a more comprehensive study of the book.

Finally--this work is offered to American youth in the confident
belief that as they study the wonderful history of their native
land, they will learn to prize their birthright more highly, and
treasure it more carefully. Their patriotism must be kindled when
they come to see how slowly, yet how gloriously, this tree of
liberty has grown, what storms have wrenched its boughs, what sweat
of toil and blood has moistened its roots, what eager eyes have
watched every out-springing bud, what brave hearts have defended
it, loving it even unto death. A heritage thus sanctified by the
heroism and devotion of the fathers can but elicit the choicest
care and tenderest love of the sons.

[Illustration: MOUNT VERNON]



TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       *       *        *       *        *

INTRODUCTION,

FIRST EPOCH.

EARLY DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS,


SECOND EPOCH.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLONIES,


THIRD EPOCH.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR,


FOURTH EPOCH.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATES,


FIFTH EPOCH.

THE CIVIL WAR,


SIXTH EPOCH.

RECONSTRUCTION AND PASSING EVENTS,

       *       *        *       *        *

APPENDIX.

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE,

HISTORICAL RECREATIONS,

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES,

TABLES,

INDEX,

A SUGGESTION TO TEACHERS

[Entered according to Act of Congress, A. D. 1872, by A. S. Barnes
& Co., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.]

       *       *       *       *       *

The following method of using this work has been successfully
employed by many teachers. At the commencement of the study let
each pupil be required to draw an outline map of North America, at
least 18 x 24 inches in size. This should contain only physical
features, viz., coast-line, mountains, lakes, and rivers. If
desired, they may be marked very faintly at first, and shaded and
darkened when discovered in the progress of the history. As the
pupils advance in the text let them mark on their maps, day by day,
the places discovered, the settlements, battles, political
divisions, etc., with their dates. They will thus see the country
growing afresh under their hand and eye, and the geography and the
history will be indissolubly linked. At the close of the term their
maps will show what they have done, and each name, with its date,
will recall the history which clusters around it.

Recitations and examinations may be conducted by having a map drawn
upon the blackboard with colored crayons, and requiring the class
to fill in the names and dates, describing the historical facts as
they proceed. In turn, during review, the pupil should be able,
when a date or place is pointed out, to state the event associated
with it.

It will be noticed that the book is written on an exact plan and
method of arrangement. The topics of the epochs, chapters, sections
and paragraphs form a perfect analysis; thus, in each Presidential
Administration, the order of subjects is uniform, viz.: Domestic
Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Political Parties--the subsidiary
topics being grouped under these heads. The teacher is therefore
commended _to place on the board the analysis of each Epoch, and
conduct the recitation from that without the use of the book in the
class_.

[Illustration: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES]



INTRODUCTION.

WHO FIRST SETTLED AMERICA?--It was probably first peopled from
Asia, the birth-place of man. In what way this happened, we do not
know. Chinese vessels, coasting along the shore according to the
custom of early voyagers, may have been driven by storms to cross
the Pacific Ocean, while the crews were thankful to escape a watery
grave by settling an unknown country or, parties wandering across
Behring Strait in search of adventure, and finding on this side a
pleasant land, may have resolved to make it their home.

AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.--In various parts of the continent, remains
are found of the people who settled the country in prehistoric
times. Through the Mississippi valley, from the Lakes to the Gulf,
extends a succession of defensive earthworks.

[Footnote: It is a singular fact that banks of earth grassed over
are more enduring than any other work of man. The grassy mounds
near Nineveh and Babylon have remained unchanged for centuries.
Meantime massive buildings of stone have been erected, have served
long generations, and have crumbled to ruin.]

Similar ruins are found in various other sections of the United
States. The largest forest trees are often found growing upon them.
The Indians have no tradition as to the origin of these structures.
They generally crown steep hills, and consist of embankments,
ditches, &c., indicating considerable acquaintance with military
science. At Newark, Ohio, a fortification exists which covers an
area of more than two miles square, and has over two miles of
embankment from two to twenty feet high.

Mounds, seemingly constructed as great altars for religious
purposes or as monuments, are also numerous. One, opposite St.
Louis, covers eight acres of ground, and is ninety feet high. There
are said to be 10,000 of these mounds in Ohio alone.

[Illustration: THE SERPENT MOUND.]

A peculiar kind of earthwork has the outline of gigantic men or
animals. An embankment in Adams County, Ohio, represents very
accurately a serpent 1000 feet long. Its body winds with graceful
curves, and in its wide-extended jaws lies a figure which the
animal seems about to swallow. In Mexico and Peru, still more
wonderful remains have been discovered. They consist not alone of
defensive works, altars, and monuments, but of idols, ruined
temples, aqueducts, bridges, and paved roads.

[Illustration: MOUNDS NEAR LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.]

THE MOUND BUILDERS is the name given to the people who erected the
mounds of North America. They seem to have emigrated to Central
America, and there to have developed a high civilization. They
built cities, wove cotton, worked in gold, silver, and copper,
labored in the fields, and had regular governments.

THE INDIANS who were found on this continent east of the
Mississippi, by the first European settlers, did not exceed 200,000
in number. In Mexico, Peru, and the Indies, however, there was an
immense population. The Indians were the successors of the Mound
Builders, and were by far their inferiors in civilization. We know
not why the ancient race left, nor whence the Indians came. It is
supposed that the former were driven southward by the savage tribes
from the north.



INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS.

[Footnote: This description applies to the Indians inhabiting the
present limits of the United States.]

_Arts and Inventions_.--The Indian has been well termed the
"Red Man of the Forest." He built no cities, no ships, no churches,
no school-houses. He constructed only temporary bark wigwams and
canoes. He made neither roads nor bridges, but followed foot-paths
through the forest, and swam the streams. His highest art was
expended in a simple bow and arrow.

_Progress and Education_.--He made no advancement, but each
son emulated the prowess of his father in the hunt and the fight.
The hunting-ground and the battle-field embraced everything of real
honor or value. So the son was educated to throw the tomahawk,
shoot the arrow, and catch fish with the spear. He knew nothing of
books, paper, writing, or history.

[Footnote: Some tribes and families seem to have been further
advanced than others and to have instructed then children,
especially those young men who hoped to become chiefs, in the
history and customs of their nation.]

[Illustration: INDIAN LIFE.]

_Domestic Life_.--The Indian had no cow, or domestic beast of
burden. He regarded all labor as degrading, and fit only for women.
His squaw, therefore, built his wigwam, cut his wood, and carried
his burdens when he journeyed. While he hunted or fished, she
cleared the land for his corn by burning down the trees, scratched
the ground with a crooked stick or dug it with a clam-shell, and
dressed skins for his clothing. She cooked his food by dropping hot
stones into a tight willow basket containing materials for soup.
The leavings of her lord's feast sufficed for her, and the coldest
place in the wigwam was her seat.

[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF INDIAN HIEROGLYPHICS.]

[Footnote: This cut represents a species of picture-writing
occasionally used by the Indians. Some Indian guides wished to
inform their comrades that a company of fourteen whites and two
Indians had spent the night at that point. Nos. 9, 10 indicate the
white soldiers and their arms; No. 1 is the captain, with a sword;
No. 2 the secretary, with the book; No. 3 the geologist, with a
hammer; Nos. 7, 8 are the guides, without hats; Nos. 11,12 show
what they ate in camp; Nos. 13,14,15 indicate how many fires they
made.]

_Disposition_.--In war the Indian was brave and alert, but cruel and
revengeful, preferring treachery and cunning to open battle. At home,
he was lazy, improvident, and an inveterate gambler. He delighted in
finery and trinkets, and decked his unclean person with paint and
feathers. His grave and haughty demeanor repelled the stranger; but he
was grateful for favors, and his wigwam stood hospitably open to the
poorest and meanest of his tribe.

_Endurance_.--He could endure great fatigue, and in his expeditions
often lay without shelter in the severest weather. It was his glory to
bear the most horrible tortures without a sign of suffering.

[Illustration: ROVING INDIANS OF THE PRESENT TIME.]

_Religion_.--If he had any ideas of a Supreme Being, they were vague
and degraded. His dream of a Heaven was of happy hunting-grounds or of
gay feasts, where his dog should join in the dance. He worshipped no
idols, but peopled all nature with spirits, which dwelt not only in
birds, beasts and reptiles, but also in lakes, rivers and waterfalls.
As he believed that these had power to help or harm men, he lived in
constant fear of offending them. He apologized, therefore, to the
animals he killed, and made solemn promises to fishes that their bones
should be respected. He placed great stress on dreams, and his camp
swarmed with sorcerers and fortune-tellers.

THE INDIAN OF THE PRESENT.--Such was the Indian two hundred years
ago, and such he is to-day. He opposes the encroachments of the
settler, and the building of railroads. But he cannot stop the tide
of immigration. Unless he can be induced to give up his roving
habits, and to cultivate the soil, he is doomed to destruction. It
is to be earnestly hoped that the red man may yet be Christianized,
and taught the arts of industry and peace.

THE NORTHMEN (inhabitants of Norway and Sweden) claim to have been
the original discoverers of America. According to their traditions,
this continent was seen first about the year 1000, by one Biorne,
who had been driven to sea by a tempest. Afterward other
adventurers made successful voyages, established settlements, and
bartered with the natives. _Snorre_, son of one of these
settlers, is said to have been the first child born of European
parents upon our shore.

[Footnote: Snorre was the founder of an illustrious family. One of
his descendants is said to have been _Albert Thorwaldsen_, the
great Danish sculptor of the present century. The beautiful
photographs of Thorwaldsen's "Day," "Night," and "The Seasons,"
which hang in so many American parlors, thus acquire a new interest
by being linked with the pioneer boy born on New England shores so
many centuries ago.]

The Northmen claim to have explored the coast as far south as
Florida. How much credit is to be given to these traditions is
uncertain. Many historians reject them, while others think there
are traces of the Northmen yet remaining, such as the old tower at
Newport, R.I., and the singular inscriptions on the rock at
Dighton, Mass. Admitting, however, the claims of the Northmen, the
fact is barren of all results. No permanent settlements were made,
the route hither was lost, and even the existence of the continent
was forgotten.

[Footnote: See "The Old Mill at Newport" in _Scribner's Magazine_,
March, 1879, and the _Magazine of American History_, September, 1879.]

The true history of this country begins with its discovery by
Columbus in 1492. It naturally divides itself into six great
epochs.



FIRST EPOCH.

EARLY DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS.

This epoch extends from the discovery of America in 1492 to the
settlement at Jamestown, Va., in 1607. During this period various
European nations were exploring the continent, and making widely
scattered settlements.



SECOND EPOCH.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLONIES.

This epoch extends from the settlement at Jamestown, Va., in 1607,
to the breaking out of the Revolutionary War in 1775. During this
period the scattered settlements grew into thirteen flourishing
colonies, subject to Great Britain.



THIRD EPOCH.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

This epoch extends from the breaking out of the Revolutionary War
in 1775, to the adoption of the Constitution in 1787. During this
period the colonies threw off the government of England, and
established their independence.



FOURTH EPOCH.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATES.

This epoch extends from the adoption of the Constitution in 1787,
to the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861. During this period
the States increased in number from thirteen to thirty-four, and
grew in population and wealth until the United States became the
most prosperous nation in the world.



FIFTH EPOCH.

THE CIVIL WAR.

This epoch extends from the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861,
to the surrender of Lee's army in 1865. During this period a
gigantic strife was carried on between the Northern and the
Southern States, the former struggling for the perpetuation of the
Union, and the latter for its division.



SIXTH EPOCH.

RECONSTRUCTION, AND PASSING EVENTS.

This epoch extends from the close of the Civil War to the present
time. During this period the seceding States have been restored to
their rights in the Union, peace has been fully established, and
many interesting events have occurred.



REFERENCES FOR READING.

The following works will be found valuable for reference and
additional information. It is not the intention to give a catalogue
of U. S. Histories and biographies of celebrated Americans, but
simply to name a few works which will serve to interest a class and
furnish material for collateral reading. Bancroft's and Hildreth's
Histories, Irving's Life of Washington, and Sparks's American
Biographies, are supposed to be in every school library, and to be
familiar to every teacher. They are therefore not referred to in
this list. The Lives of the Presidents, the Histories of the
different States, and all works of local value are useful, and
should be secured, if possible. The Magazine of American History
will be found serviceable for reference on disputed points of
American History and Biography. Holmes's American Annals is
invaluable, and the early volumes of the North American Review
contain a great deal of interesting historical matter. The American
Cyclopaedia and Thomas's Dictionary of Biography are exceedingly
serviceable in preparing essays and furnishing anecdotes. With a
little effort a poem, a good prose selection, or a composition on
some historical topic may be offered by the class each day to
enliven the recitation.

_Beamish's Discovery of America by the Northmen.--Bradford's
American Antiquities.--Baldwin's Ancient America.--Squier and
Davis's American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West--Sinding's
History of Scandinavia.-Cattin's North American Indians.
--Thatcher's Indian Biography.--Stone's Life and Times of Red
Jacket, and Life of Brandt--Cooper's Leather Stocking
Tales--Morgan's League of the Iroquois.--Schoolcraft's Memoirs of
Residence Among the Indians, and other works by the same author.
--Foster's Prehistoric Races of the United States of America.
--Bancroft's Native Races--Matthew's Behemoth, a Legend of the
Mound Builders (Fiction).--Lowell's Chippewa Legend (Poetry).
--Whittier's Bridal of Penacook (Poetry).--Jones's Mound-Builders
of Tennesee.--Goodrich's So-called Columbus.--Ancient Monuments in
America, Harper's Magazine, vol._ 21.

[Illustration: A SPANISH CARAVEL.
    (From a drawing attributed to Columbus.)]





EPOCH 1.




EARLY DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS.

[Illustration: BALBOA.]

GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.--The people of
Europe had then never heard of America. About that time, a great
desire for geographical knowledge was awakened. The compass and the
astrolabe--an instrument for reckoning latitude--had been already
invented. Voyagers were no longer compelled to creep along the
shore, but began to strike out boldly into the open sea. The art of
printing had just come into use, and books of travel were eagerly
read.

[Footnote: _Questions on the Geography of the First Epoch_.--In the
accompanying map there are no divisions of the continent, as none
existed at that time. When they are called for in the following
questions, the object is to test the pupil's geographical knowledge.

Locate the West Indies. San Salvador (now called Guanahani,
gwah-nah-hah'-ne, and Cat Island). Cuba. Hispaniola or Hayti
(he-te), name given to the island in 1803 by Dessalines. (See Lipp.
Gazetteer.) Newfoundland. Cape Breton. Roanoke Island. Manhattan
Island.

Describe the Orinoco River. Mississippi River. St. Lawrence River.
James River. Ohio River. Colorado River. Columbia River. St. John's
River (see map for Epoch V).

Where is Labrador? Central America? Florida? Mexico? New Mexico?
California? Oregon? Peru?

Locate St Augustine. Santa Fe (sahn-tah-fay). New York. Montreal.
Quebec. Albany. Jamestown. Port Royal. Isthmus of Darien. Cape
Henry. Cape Charles. Cape Cod. Chesapeake Bay. Hudson Bay.

Marco Polo and other adventurers returning from the East, told
wonderful stories of the wealth of Asiatic cities. Genoa, Florence,
and Venice, commanding the commerce of the Mediterranean, had
become enriched by trade with the East. The costly shawls, spices,
and silks of Persia and India were borne by caravans to the Red
Sea, thence on camels across the desert to the Nile, and lastly by
ship over the Mediterranean to Europe.]

The great problem of the age was how to reach the East Indies by
sea, and thus give a cheaper route to these rich products.

COLUMBUS conceived that _by sailing west he could reach the East
Indies_. He believed the earth to be round, which was then a
novel idea. He, however, thought it much smaller than it really is,
and that Asia extends much further round the world to the east than
it does. Hence, he argued that by going a few hundred leagues west
he would touch the coast of Eastern Asia. He was determined to try
this new route, but was too poor to pay for the necessary ships,
men, and provisions.

[Footnote: Several facts served to strengthen the faith of Columbus
in the correctness of his theory. The Azores and the Cape de Verde
islands were the most westerly lands then known. There had been
washed on their shores by westerly winds, pieces of wood curiously
carved, trees, and seeds of unknown species, and especially the
bodies of two men of strange color and visage.]

[Footnote: Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, 1435. He
was trained for the sea from his childhood. Being the eldest of
four children, and his father a poor wool-comber, much care
devolved upon him. It is said that at thirty his hair was white
from trouble and anxiety. His kind and loving disposition is proved
by the fact that in his poorest days he saved part of his pittance
to educate his young brothers and support his aged father. Columbus
was determined, shrewd, and intensely religious. He believed and
announced himself to be divinely called to "carry the true faith
into the uttermost parts of the earth." Inspired by this thought,
no discouragement or contumely could drive him to despair utterly.
It was eighteen years from the conception to the accomplishment of
his plan. During all this time his life was a marvel of patience,
and of brave devotion to his one purpose. His sorrows were many;
his triumph was brief. Evil men maligned him to Ferdinand and
Isabella. Disregarding their promise that he should be
governor-general over all the lands he might discover, the king and
queen sent out another governor, and by his order Columbus was sent
home in chains! No wonder that the whole nation was shocked at such
an indignity to such a man. It is sad to know that although
Ferdinand and Isabella endeavored to soothe his wounded spirit by
many attentions, they never restored to him his lawful rights. From
fluent promises they passed at last to total neglect, and Columbus
died a grieved and disappointed old man. At his request, his chains
were buried with him, a touching memorial of Spanish ingratitude.]

COLUMBUS AT THE COURT OF PORTUGAL.--He accordingly laid his plan
before King John of Portugal, who, being pleased with the idea,
referred it to the geographers of his court. They pronounced it a
visionary scheme. With a lurking feeling, however, that there might
be truth in it, the king had the meanness to dispatch a vessel
secretly to test the matter. The pilot had the charts of Columbus,
but lacked his heroic courage. After sailing westward from Cape de
Verde islands for a few days, and seeing nothing but a wide waste
of wildly tossing waves, he returned, ridiculing the idea.

COLUMBUS AT THE COURT OF SPAIN.--Columbus, disheartened by this
treachery, betook himself to Spain. During seven long years he
importuned King Ferdinand for a reply. All this while he was
regarded as a visionary fellow, and when he passed along the
streets, even the children pointed to their foreheads and smiled.
At last, the learned council declared the plan too foolish for
further attention. Turning away sadly, Columbus determined to go to
France.

[Footnote: "It is absurd," said those wise men. "Who is so foolish
as to believe that there are people on the other side of the world,
walking with their heels upward, and their heads hanging down? And
then, how can a ship get there? The torrid zone, through which they
must pass, is a region of fire, where the very waves boil. And even
if a ship could perchance get around there safely, how could it
ever get back? Can a ship sail up hill?" All of which sounds very
strange to us now, when hundreds of travelers make every year the
entire circuit of the globe.]

COLUMBUS SUCCESSFUL.--His friends at the Spanish court, at this
juncture, laid the matter before Queen Isabella, and she was
finally won to his cause. The king remained indifferent, and
pleaded the want of funds. The queen in her earnestness exclaimed,
"I pledge my jewels to raise the money." But her sacrifice was not
required. St. Angel, the court treasurer, advanced most of the
money, and the friends of Columbus the remainder,--in all about
$20,000, equal to six times that amount at the present day.
Columbus had succeeded at last.

COLUMBUS'S EQUIPMENT.--Though armed with the king's authority,
Columbus obtained vessels and sailors with the greatest difficulty.
The boldest seamen shrank from such a desperate undertaking. At
last, three small vessels were manned; the Pinta (peen'tah), Santa
Maria (ma-re-ah), and Ninah (ne-nah). They sailed from Palos,
Spain, Aug. 3, 1492.

INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE.--When the ships struck out boldly westward
on the untried sea, and the sailors saw the last trace of land fade
from their sight, many, even of the bravest, burst into tears. As
they proceeded, their hearts were wrung by superstitious fears. To
their dismay, the compass no longer pointed directly north, and
they believed that they were coming into a region where the very
laws of nature were changed. They came into the track of the
trade-wind, which wafted them steadily westward. This, they were
sure, was carrying them to destruction, for how could they ever
return against it? Signs of land, such as flocks of birds and
fresh, green plants, were often seen, and the clouds near the
horizon assumed the look of land, but they disappeared, and only
the broad ocean spread out before them as they advanced. The
sailors, so often deceived, lost heart, and insisted upon returning
home. Columbus, with wonderful tact and patience, explained all
these appearances. But the more he argued, the louder became their
murmurs. At last they secretly determined to throw him overboard.
Although he knew their feelings, he did not waver, but declared
that he would proceed till the enterprise was accomplished.

Soon, signs of land silenced their murmurs. A staff artificially
carved, and a branch of thorn with berries floated near. All was
now eager expectation. In the evening, Columbus beheld a light
rising and falling in the distance, as of a torch borne by one
walking. Later at night, the joyful cry of "_Land!_" rang out
from the Pinta. In the morning the shore, green with tropical
verdure, lay smiling before them.

THE LANDING.--Columbus, dressed in a splendid military suit of
scarlet embroidered with gold, and followed by a retinue of his
officers and men bearing banners, stepped upon the new world,
Friday, Oct. 12, 1492. He threw himself upon his knees, kissed the
earth, and with tears of joy gave thanks to God. He then formally
planted the cross, and took possession of the country in the name
of Ferdinand and Isabella.

The wondering natives, who crowded the shore, gazed on them with
awe. They supposed the ships to be huge white-winged birds, and the
Spaniards to have come from heaven. How sadly and how soon these
simple people were undeceived!

FURTHER DISCOVERIES.--Columbus found the land to be an island,
which he named St. Salvador. He supposed that he had reached the
islands lying off the eastern coast of India, and he therefore
called the dark-hued natives, Indians. Careful inquiries were also
made concerning the rich products of the East, such as spices,
precious stones, and especially gold. The simple people had only a
few golden ornaments. These they readily bartered for hawks' bells.
Cuba, Hayti, and other islands were discovered and visited in the
vain hope of securing Oriental treasures. Columbus even sent a
deputation into the interior of Cuba to a famous chief, supposing
him to be the great king of Tartary!

At last, urged by his crew, he relinquished the search, and turned
his vessels homeward.

HIS RECEPTION, on his return, was flattering in the extreme. The
whole nation took a holiday. His appearance was hailed with shouts
and the ringing of bells. The king and queen were dazzled by their
new and sudden acquisition. As Columbus told them of the beautiful
land he had discovered, its brilliant birds, its tropical forests,
its delicious climate, and above all, its natives waiting to be
converted to the Christian faith, they sank upon their knees, and
gave God thanks for such a signal triumph.

[Illustration: TOMB OF COLUMBUS AT HAVANA]

[Footnote: The body of Columbus was deposited in the Convent of San
Francisco, Valladohd, Spain. It was thence transported, in 1513, to
the Carthusian Monastery of Seville where a handsome monument was
erected, by command of Ferdinand and Isabella with the simple
inscription--"To Castile and Leon, Colon gave a new world." In 1536
his body, and that of his son Diego, were removed to the city of
Saint Domingo, Hayti, and interned in the principal chapel. But
they were not permitted to rest even there, for in 1796 they were
brought to Havana with imposing ceremonies. His final resting place
in the Cathedral is marked by a slab elaborately carved, on which
is inscribed in Spanish,

   "Oh, rest thou, image of the great Colon,
   Thousand centuries remain, guarded in the urn,
   And in the remembrance of our nation."]

SUBSEQUENT VOYAGES.--Columbus afterward made three voyages. In 1498
he discovered the mainland, near the Orinoco River. He never,
however, lost the delusion that it was the eastern coast of Asia,
and died ignorant of the grandeur of his discovery.

HOW THE CONTINENT WAS NAMED.--Americus Vesputius (a-mer-i-cus
ves-pu-she-us), a friend of Columbus, accompanied a subsequent
expedition to the new world. A German named Waldsee-Mueller
published an interesting account of his adventures, in which he
suggested that the country should be called America. This work,
being the first description of the new world, was very popular, and
the name was soon adopted by geographers.

JOHN CAB'-OT, a navigator of Bristol, England, by studying his
charts and globes, decided that since the degrees of longitude
diminish in length as they approach the pole, the shortest route to
India must be by sailing northwest instead of west, as Columbus had
done. He easily obtained royal authority to make the attempt. After
a prosperous voyage, he came in sight of the sterile region of
Labrador, and sailed along the coast for many leagues. This was
_fourteen months before Columbus discovered the continent_.
Cabot supposed that he had reached the territory of the "Great
Cham," king of Tartary. Nevertheless, he landed, planted a banner,
and took possession in the name of the king of England. On his
return home he was received with much honor, was dressed in silk,
and styled the "Great Admiral." The booty which he brought back
consisted of only two turkeys and three savages.

[Footnote: There is a map of Cabot's preserved at Paris, on which
the land he first saw, and named _Prima Vista_, corresponds
with Cape Breton. On it is the date 1494. If this be authentic, it
will give the priority of the discovery of the American continent
to Cabot by four years, and decide that Cape Breton, and not
Labrador nor the Orinoco River, was first seen by European eyes.
Very little is definitely known of John Cabot, and even the time
and place of his birth and death are matters of conjecture.]

SEBASTIAN CABOT continued his father's discoveries. During the same
summer in which Columbus reached the shore of South America,
Sebastian, then a youth of only twenty-one, discovered
Newfoundland, and coasted as far south as Chesapeake Bay. As he
found neither the way to India, nor gold, precious stones, and
spices, his expedition was considered a failure. Yet, by his
discoveries, England acquired a title to a vast territory in the
new world. Though he gave to England a continent, no one knows his
burial-place.

We shall now follow the principal explorations made within the
limits of the future United States, by the SPAINIARDS, FRENCH,
ENGLISH, and DUTCH. The Spaniards explored mainly the southern
portion of North America, the French the northern, and the English
the middle portion along the coast.



SPANISH EXPLORATIONS.

Feeling in Spain.--America, at this time, was to the Spaniard a
land of vague, but magnificent promise, where the simple natives
wore unconsciously the costliest gems, and the sands of the rivers
sparkled with gold. Every returning ship brought fresh news to
quicken the pulse of Spanish enthusiasm. Now, Cortez had taken
Mexico, and reveled in the wealth of the Montezumas; now, Pizarro
had conquered Peru, and captured the riches of the Incas; now,
Magellan, sailing through the straits which bear his name, had
crossed the Pacific, and his vessel returning home by the Cape of
Good Hope, had circumnavigated the globe. Men of the highest rank
and culture, warriors, adventurers, all flocked to the new world.
Soon Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, and Jamaica were settled, and
ruled by Spanish governors. Among the Spanish explorers of the
sixteenth century we notice the following:

PONCE DE LEON (pon'-tha-da-la-on') was a gallant soldier, but an
old man, and in disgrace. He coveted the glory of conquest to
restore his tarnished reputation, and, besides, he had heard of a
magical fountain in this fairy land, where one might bathe and be
young again. Accordingly he equipped an expedition, and sailed in
search of this fabled treasure. On Easter Sunday (_Pascua Florida_, in
Spanish), 1512, he came in sight of a land gay with spring flowers. In
honor of the day, he called it Florida. He sailed along the coast, and
landed here and there, but returned home at last, an old man still,
haying found neither youth, gold, nor glory.

[Footnote: About eight years afterward, De Ayllon (da-ile-yon')
made a kidnapping expedition to what is now known as South
Carolina. Desiring to obtain laborers for the mines and plantations
in Hayti, he invited some of the natives on board his vessels, and,
when they were all below, he suddenly closed the hatches and set
sail. The speculation, however, did not turn out profitably. One
vessel sank with all on board, and many, preferring starvation to
slavery, died on the voyage. History tells us that in 1525, when De
Ayllon went back with the intention of settling the country, the
Indians practised upon him the lesson of cruelty he had taught
them. His men were lured into the interior. Their entertainers,
falling upon them at night, slew the larger part, and De Ayllon was
only too glad to escape with his life.]

BALBOA crossed the Isthmus of Darien the next year, and from the
summit of the Andes beheld the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
Wading into its waters with his naked sword in one hand, and the
banner of Castile (kas-teel) in the other, he solemnly declared
that the ocean, and all the shores which it might touch, belonged
to the crown of Spain forever.

DE NARVAEZ (nar-vah-eth) received a grant of Florida, and (1528)
with 300 men attempted its conquest. Striking into the interior,
they wandered about, lured on by the hope of finding gold. Wading
through swamps, crossing deep rivers by swimming and by rafts,
fighting the lurking Indians who incessantly harassed their path,
and nearly perishing with hunger, they reached at last the Gulf of
Mexico. Hastily constructing some crazy boats, they put to sea.
After six weeks of peril and suffering, they were shipwrecked, and
De Narvaez was lost. Six years afterward, four--the only survivors
of this ill-fated expedition--reached the Spanish settlements on
the Pacific coast.

[Illustration: DE SOTO'S MARCH]

FERDINAND DE SOTO, undismayed by these failures, undertook anew the
conquest of Florida. He set out with 600 choice men, amid the
fluttering of banners, the flourish of trumpets, and the gleaming
of helmet and lance. For month after month this procession of
cavaliers, priests, soldiers, and Indian captives strolled through
the wilderness, wherever they thought gold might be found. They
traversed what is now Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. In the
third year of their wanderings (1541) they emerged upon the bank of
the Mississippi. After another year of fruitless explorations, De
Soto died. (See Map, Epoch I). At the dead of night his followers
sank his body in the river, and the sullen waters buried his hopes
and his ambition. "He had crossed a large part of the continent,"
says Bancroft, "and found nothing so remarkable as his
burial-place." De Soto had been the soul of the company. When he
died, the other adventurers were anxious only to get home in
safety. They constructed boats and descended the river, little over
half of this gallant array finally reaching the settlements in
Mexico.

MELENDEZ (ma-len-deth), wiser than his predecessors, on landing
(1565) forthwith laid the foundations of a colony. In honor of the
day, he named it St. Augustine. _This is the oldest town in the
United States._

[Footnote: Many Spanish remains still exist. Among these is Fort
Marion, once San Marco, which was founded in 1565 and finished in
1755. It is built of coquina--a curious stone composed of small
shells.]



EXPLORATIONS ON THE PACIFIC.

California, in the sixteenth century, was a general name applied to
all the region northwest of Mexico. It is said to have originated
in an old Spanish romance very popular in the time of Cortez, in
which appeared a character called California, queen of the Amazons.
The Mexicans told the Spaniards that most of their gold and
precious stones came from a country far to the northwest. Cortez,
therefore, immediately turned his attention to that direction, and
sent out several expeditions to explore the Californias. All these
adventurers returned empty-handed from the very region where, three
centuries afterward, the world was startled by the finding of an El
Dorado such as would have satisfied the wildest dreams of Cortez
and his credulous followers.

_CABRILLO_ (1542) made the first voyage along the Pacific coast, going
as far north as the present limits of Oregon.

_NEW MEXICO_ was explored and named by Espejo (es-pay'-ho) who (1582)
founded Santa Fe, which is the second oldest town in the United
States. This was seventeen years after the settlement of St.
Augustine.



EXTENT OF THE SPANISH POSSESSIONS.

Spain, at the close of the sixteenth century, held possession not
only of the West Indies, but of Yucatan, Mexico, and Florida.

[Footnote: A writer of that time locates Quebec in Florida, and a
map of Henry II. gives that name to all North America.]

The Spanish explorers had traversed a large portion of the present
Southern States, and of the Pacific coast. All this vast territory
they claimed by the rights of discovery and possession.

[Footnote: The conquests of the new world enriched Spain, which
became the wealthiest and most powerful country in Europe. This
made other nations all the more anxious to find the western passage
to India. The routes by the Cape of Good Hope and by the Straits of
Magellan were long and dangerous. To find the shorter northwestern
route now became the great wish of all maritime nations, and has
been anxiously sought down to the present time.]



FRENCH EXPLORATIONS.

The French were eager to share in the profits which Spain was
acquiring in the new world. Within seven years after the discovery
of the continent, the fisheries of Newfoundland were frequented by
their mariners.

[Footnote: Cape Breton was named by the fishermen in remembrance of
their home in Brittany, France.]

VER-RA-ZA-NI (zah-ne), a Florentine, was the first navigator sent by
the French king to find the new way to the Indies. Sailing westward
from Madeira (1524), he reached land near the present harbor of
Wilmington.

[Footnote: A letter of Verrazani's giving an account of this
voyage, and, until of late, thought to be reliable, is now
considered by many to be a forgery perpetrated by some Italian
anxious to secure for his country the glory of the discovery.]

He supposed this had never been seen by Europeans, although we know
that Cabot had discovered it nearly thirty years before. He coasted
along the shores of Carolina and New Jersey, entered the harbors of
New York and Newport, and returned with the most glowing
description of the new lands he had found. He named the country New
France. This term was afterwards confined to Canada.

CARTIER (kar-te-a) ascended the River St. Lawrence (1535) to the
Indian village of Hochelaga (ho-she-lah-ga) the present site of
Montreal. The town was pleasantly situated at the foot of a lofty
hill which Cartier climbed. Stirred by the magnificent prospect, he
named it Mont Real (Mong Ra-al), Regal Mountain.

[Footnote: Cartier had discovered and named the Gulf and River St.
Lawrence the previous year. In 1541-2, he and Lord Roberval
attempted to plant a colony near Quebec. It was composed chiefly of
convicts and proved a failure.]

JOHN RIBAUT (re-bo) led the first expedition (1562) under the
auspices of Coligny.

[Footnote: Jean Ribaut, as his name is given in Coligny's Ms. and
in his own journal published in 1563, was an excellent seaman.]

[Footnote: Coligny (ko-lon-ye) was an admiral of France, and a
leader of the Huguenots (Hu-ge-nots), as the Protestants were then
called. He had conceived a plan for founding an empire in America.
This would furnish an asylum for his Huguenot friends, and at the
same time advance the glory of the French. Thus religion and
patriotism combined to induce him to send out colonists to the new
world.]

The company landed at Port Royal, S.C. So captivated were they,
that when volunteers were called for to hold the country for
France, so many came forward "with such a good will and joly
corage," wrote Ribaut, "as we had much to do to stay their
importunitie." They erected a fort, which they named Carolina in
honor of Charles IX., king of France. The fleet departed, and this
little band of thirty were left alone on the continent. From the
North Pole to Mexico, they were the only civilized men. Food became
scarce. They tired of the eternal solitude of the wilderness, and
finally built a rude ship, and put to sea. Here a storm shattered
their vessel. Famine overtook them, and, in their extremity, they
killed and ate one of their number. A vessel at last hove in sight,
and took them on board only to carry them captives to England. Thus
perished the colony, but the name still survives.

[Footnote: The most feeble were landed in France. It is said that
Queen Elizabeth while conversing with those sent to England, first
thought of colonizing the new world]

LAUDONNIERE (Lo-don-yare), two years after, built a fort, also
called Carolina, on the St. John's River.

[Footnote: The history of this colony records an amusing story
concerning the long life of the natives. A party visited a chief in
the midst of the wilderness who gravely assured them that he was
the father of five generations, and had lived 250 years. Opposite
him, in the same hut, sat his father, a mere skeleton, whose "age
was so great that the good man had lost his sight, and could speak
one onely word but with exceeding great paine." The credulous
Frenchmen gazed with awe on this wonderful pair, and congratulated
themselves on having come to such a land,--where certainly there
would be no need of Ponce de Leon's fabled fountain.]

Soon the colonists were reduced to the verge of starvation.

[Footnote: Their sufferings were horrible. Weak and emaciated, they
fed themselves with roots, sorrel, pounded fish-bones, and even
roasted snakes. "Oftentimes," says Laudonniere, "our poor soldiers
were constrained to give away the very shirts from their backs to
get one fish. If at any time they shewed unto the savages the
excessive price which they tooke, these villaines would answer them
roughly: 'If thou make so great account of thy merchandise, eat it,
and we will eat our fish;' then fell they out a laughing, and
mocked us with open throat."]

They were on the point of leaving, when they were reinforced by
Ribaut. The French now seemed fairly fixed on the coast of Florida.
The Spaniards, however, claimed the country. Melendez, about this
time, had made a settlement in St. Augustine. Leading an expedition
northward through the wilderness, in the midst of a fearful
tempest, he attacked Fort Carolina and massacred almost the entire
population.

CHAMPLAIN (sham-plane), at the beginning of the seventeenth
century, crossed the Atlantic in two pigmy barks--one of twelve,
the other of fifteen tons--and ascended the St. Lawrence on an
exploring tour. At Hochelaga all was changed. The Indian town had
vanished, and not a trace remained of the savage population which
Cartier saw there seventy years before.

[Footnote: This fact illustrates the frequent and rapid changes
which took place among the aboriginal tribes.]

Champlain was captivated by the charms of the new world, and longed
to plant a French empire and the Catholic faith amid its savage
wilds.

DE MONTS (mong) received a grant of all the territory between the
fortieth and forty-sixth parallels of latitude.

[Footnote: Between the sites of Philadelphia and Montreal.]

This tract was termed _Acadia_, a name afterward confined to
New Brunswick and the adjacent islands, and now to Nova Scotia.
With Champlain, he founded Port Royal, N. S., in 1605. This was
_the first permanent French settlement in America._ It was
three years before a cabin was built in Canada, and two before the
James River was discovered.

CHAMPLAIN RETURNED in 1608, and established a trading post at
Quebec. _This was the first permanent French settlement in
Canada._ The next summer, in his eager desire to explore the
country, he joined a war party of the Hurons against the Iroquois,
or Five Nations of Central New York.

[Footnote: The interference of Champlain with the Indians secured
the inveterate hostility of the Iroquois tribes. Not long after,
they seized the missionaries who came among them, tortured and put
them to death. This cut off any farther explorations toward the
south. The French, therefore, turned their attention toward the
west.]

On this journey he discovered that beautiful lake which bears his
name. Amid discouragements which would have overwhelmed a less
determined spirit, Champlain firmly established the authority of
France on the banks of the St. Lawrence. "The Father of New
France," as he has been termed, reposes in the soil he won to
civilization.

THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES.--The explorers of the Mississippi valley
were mostly Jesuit priests. The French names which they gave still
linger throughout that region. Their hope was to convert the
Indians to the Christian faith. They pushed their way through the
forest with unflagging energy. They crept along the northern shore
of Lake Ontario. They traversed the Great Lakes. In 1668 they
founded the mission of St. Mary, the oldest European settlement in
Michigan. Many of them were murdered by the savages; some were
scalped; some were burned in rosin-fire; some scalded with boiling
water. Yet, as soon as one fell out of the ranks, another sprang
forward to fill the post. We shall name but two of these patient,
indefatigable pioneers of New France.

_FATHER MARQUETTE_ (mar-ket), hearing from some wandering
Indians of a great river which they termed the "Father of Waters,"
determined to visit it. He floated in a birch-bark canoe down the
Wisconsin to the Mississippi (1673), and thence to the mouth of the
Arkansas.

[Footnote: Soon after, while on another expedition, he went ashore
for the purpose of quiet devotion. After waiting long for his
return, his men, seeking him, found that he had died while at
prayer. He was buried near the mouth of the Marquette. Years after,
when the tempest raged, and the Indian was tossing on the angry
waves, he would seek to still the storm by invoking the aid of the
pious Marquette.]

_LA SALLE_ was educated as a Jesuit, but had established a
trading post at the outlet of Lake Ontario. He undertook various
expeditions full of romantic adventure. Inflamed with a desire to
find the mouth of the Mississippi, he made his way (1682) to the
Gulf of Mexico. He named the country Louisiana, in honor of Louis
XIV., king of France.

RESULTS OF FRENCH ENTERPRISE.--Before the close of the seventeenth
century, the French had explored the Great Lakes, the Fox, Maumee,
Wabash, Wisconsin and Illinois Rivers, and the Mississippi from the
Falls of St. Anthony to the Gulf. They had traversed a region
including what is now known as Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi,
Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, the Canadas and Acadia.

[Footnote: As we shall see hereafter, the English at this time
clung to a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast.]

In 1688 it had a population of 11,000.

       *       *        *       *        *



ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS.

We have seen how the Cabots, sailing under an English flag,
discovered the American continent, exploring its coast from
Labrador to Albemarle Sound. Though the English claimed the
northern part of the continent by right of this discovery, yet
during the sixteenth century they paid little attention to it. At
the close of that period, however, maritime enterprise was awakened
and British sailors cruised on every sea. Like the other navigators
of the day, they were eager to discover the western passage to
Asia.

[Illustration: Drake Beholds the Pacific]

FROBISHER made the first of these attempts to go north of America
to Asia--Cabot's plan repeated. He pushed through unknown waters,
threading his perilous way among icebergs, until (1576) he entered
Baffin Bay. Here he heaped a pile of stones, declared the country
an appendage of the British crown, and returned home.

[Footnote: One of the sailors brought back a stone which was
thought to contain gold. A fleet of fifteen vessels was forthwith
equipped for this new El Dorado The northwest passage to Cathay was
forgotten. After innumerable perils incident to Arctic regions, the
ships were loaded with the precious ore and returned. Unfortunately
history neglects to tell us what became of the cargo.]

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE was a famous sailor. In one of his expeditions on
the Isthmus of Panama, he climbed to the top of a lofty tree,
whence he saw the Pacific Ocean. Looking out on its broad expanse,
he resolved to "sail an English ship on those seas." Returning to
England he equipped a squadron. He sailed through the Straits of
Magellan, coasting along the Pacific shore to the southern part of
Oregon. He refitted his ship in San Francisco harbor, and thence
sailing westward, returned home (1579) by the Cape of Good Hope.

[Footnote: He was thus the first Englishman who explored the
Pacific coast, and the second European who circumnavigated the
globe.]

SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT was not a sailor, but he had studied the
accounts of American discoveries, and concluded that instead of
random expeditions after gold and spices, companies should be sent
out to form permanent settlements. His attempts to colonize the new
world, however, ended fatally. Sailing home in a bark of only
ten-tons burden, in the midst of a fearful storm the light of his
little vessel suddenly disappeared. Neither ship nor crew was ever
seen again.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH was a half-brother of Gilbert, and adopted his
views of American colonization. Being a great favorite with Queen
Elizabeth, he easily obtained from her a patent of an extensive
territory, which was named Virginia in honor of Elizabeth, the
Virgin Queen.

[Footnote: Raleigh was not only a man of dauntless courage, but he
also added to a handsome person much learning and many
accomplishments. Meeting Queen Elizabeth one day while she was
walking, he spread his mantle over a wet place in the path for her
to tread upon. She was so pleased with his gallantry that she
admitted him to court, and he continued a favorite during her
entire lifetime. Conversing with her one day upon the singular
properties of tobacco, the new Indian weed which was coming into
use, he assured her that he could tell the exact weight of smoke in
any quantity consumed. The incredulous Queen dared him to a wager.
Accepting it, Raleigh weighed his tobacco, smoked it, and then
carefully weighing the ashes, stated the difference. Paying the
bet, Elizabeth remarked that she "had before heard of turning gold
into smoke, but he was the first who had turned smoke into gold."
This incident illustrates the friendly relations between Raleigh
and the Queen. After her death, he was accused by James I. of
treason, was imprisoned for many years, and at the age of 65 was
executed. On the scaffold he asked for the axe, and feeling the
edge, observed, with a smile, "This is a sharp medicine, but a
sound cure for all diseases." Then composedly laying his bead on
the block, and moving his lips as in prayer, he gave the fatal
signal.]

_Raleigh's first attempt to plant a colony_ was on Roanoke Island. The
settlers made no endeavor to cultivate the soil, but spent most of
their time in hunting for gold and pearls.

[Footnote: They believed the Roanoke River had its head-waters in
golden rocks, by the Pacific Ocean. The walls of a great city near
its fountain were affirmed to be thickly studded with pearls.]

At last they were nearly starved, when Drake, happening to stop
there on one of his exploring tours, took pity on them and carried
them home. They had lived long enough in America to learn the use
of tobacco and the potato. These they introduced into England. The
custom of "drinking tobacco," as it was called, soon became the
fashion.

[Footnote: An amusing story is told of Raleigh while he was
learning to smoke. On entering his study one morning to bring his
master a cup of ale, his servant saw a cloud of smoke issuing from
Sir Walter's mouth. Frantically dashing the liquor in his face, he
rushed down stairs imploring help, for his master would soon be
burnt to ashes!]

_Raleigh's Second Attempt_.--Raleigh, undiscouraged by this
failure, still clung to his colonizing scheme. The next time he
sent out families, instead of single men. John White was appointed
governor of the city of Raleigh, which they were to found on
Chesapeake Bay. A granddaughter of Governor White, born soon after
they reached Roanoke Island, was the first English child born in
America. The governor, on returning to England to secure supplies,
found the public attention absorbed by the threatened attack of the
Spanish Armada. It was three years before he was able to come back.
Meanwhile, his family, and the colony he had left alone in the
wilderness, had perished. How, we do not know. The imagination can
only picture what history has failed to record.

Raleigh had now spent about $200,000, a great sum for that day, on
this American colony; and, disheartened, transferred his patent to
other parties.

TRADING VOYAGES.--Fortunately for American interests, trading
ventures were more profitable than colonizing ones. English vessels
frequented the Banks of Newfoundland, and probably occasionally
visited Virginia.

[Footnote: The English ships were at that time accustomed to steer
southward along the coast of Spain, Portugal, and Africa, as far as
the Canary Islands, then they followed the track of Columbus to the
West India Islands, and thence along the coast of Florida]

Gosnold, a master of a small bark (1602), discovered and named Cape
Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and other neighboring localities. Loading
his vessel with sassafras-root, which was then highly esteemed as a
medicine, he returned home to publish the most favorable reports of
the region he had visited. Some British merchants accordingly sent
out the next year a couple of vessels under Captain Pring. He
discovered several harbors in Maine, and brought back his ships
loaded with furs and sassafras.

[Footnote: northward to the point they wished to reach. Navigators
knew this was a roundabout way, but they were afraid to try the
northern route straight across the Atlantic. Gosnold made the
voyage _directly_ from England to Massachusetts, thus shortening the
route 3,000 miles. This gave a great impulse to colonization, since it
was in effect bringing America 3,000 miles nearer England.]

As the result of these various explorations, many felt an earnest
desire to colonize the new world. James I. accordingly granted the
vast territory of Virginia, as it was called, to two companies, the
London and the Plymouth.

THE LONDON COMPANY, whose principal men resided at London, had the
tract between the thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth degrees of
latitude. This was called South Virginia. They sent out a colony in
1607 under Captain Newport. He made at Jamestown the _first permanent
English settlement in the United States_.

[Footnote: The river was called James, and the town Jamestown, in
honor of the king of England. The headlands received the names of
Cape Henry and Cape Charles from the king's sons; and the deep
water for anchorage "which put the emigrants in good comfort," gave
the name Point Comfort.]

THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY, whose principal men resided in Plymouth, had
the tract between the forty-first and forty-fifth degrees of
latitude. This was called North Virginia.

[Footnote: They sent out a colony under Captain Popham (poo-am), in
the same year with the London Company. He settled at the mouth of
the Kennebec, but the entire party returned home the next spring,
discouraged by the severity of the climate.]

THE CHARTER granted to these companies was the first under which
English colonies were planted in the United States. It is therefore
worthy of careful study. It contained no idea of self-government.
The people were not to have the election of an officer. The king
was to appoint a council which was to reside in London, and have
general control of all the colonies; and also a council to reside
in each colony, and have control of its local affairs. The Church
of England was the established religion. Moreover, for five years,
all the proceeds of the colonial industry and commerce were to be
applied to a common fund, no one being allowed the fruits of his
individual labor.



DUTCH EXPLORATIONS.

During all this time, the Dutch manifested no interest in the new
world. In the beginning of the seventeenth century, however,
Captain Henry Hudson, an English navigator in the Dutch service,
entered the harbor of New York. Hoping to reach the Pacific Ocean,
he afterward ascended the noble river which bears his name (1609).

[Illustration: Henry Hudson]

On this discovery, the Dutch based their claim to the region
extending from the Delaware River to Cape Cod. They gave to it the
name of New Netherland.



EXTENT OF THESE EXPLORATIONS.

1. The Spaniards confined their settlements and explorations to the
West Indies and the adjacent mainland, and in the United States
made settlements only in Florida and New Mexico.

2. The French claimed the whole of New France, and made their first
settlements in Acadia and Canada.

3. The English explored the Atlantic coast at various points, and
claimed this vast territory, which they termed Virginia, having
made their first settlement at Jamestown.

[Footnote: After this time, the English is the only nation that
directly influences the history of the United States. The country
was settled mainly by emigrants from Great Britain, and in the next
epoch all the colonies become dependencies of that empire.]

4. The Dutch laid claim to New Netherland, but made no settlement
till 1613.

The Rival Claims.--These four claims overlapped one another, and
necessarily produced much confusion. While the first few
settlements were separated by hundreds of miles of savage forests,
this was of little account. But as the settlements increased, the
rival claims became a source of constant strife, and were decided
principally by the sword.

[Footnote: It is noticeable that the English grants all extended
westward to the Pacific Ocean, the French southward from the St.
Lawrence to the Gulf, and the Spanish northward to the Arctic
Ocean. None of the European nations had any idea of the immense
territory they were donating.]

Two Centuries of Exploration and One of Settlement.--These
explorations had lasted during the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, and at the close of the sixteenth century, the only
permanent settlements were those of the Spaniards at St. Augustine
and Santa Fe. In the beginning of the seventeenth century,
permanent settlements multiplied. They were made by

The FRENCH at _Port Royal, N S.,_ in _1605_;

The ENGLISH at _Jamestown,_ in _1607_;

The FRENCH at _Quebec,_ in _1608_;

The DUTCH at _New York,_ in _1613_;

The ENGLISH at _Plymouth_, in _1620_.

[Footnote: Here lay the shaggy continent from Florida to the Pole,
outstretched in savage slumber. On the bank of the James River was
a nest of woebegone Englishmen, a handful of fur-traders at the
mouth of the Hudson, and a few shivering Frenchmen among the
snowdrifts of Acadia; while amid still wilder desolation Champlain
upheld the banner of France over the icy rock of Quebec. These were
the advance guard of civilization, the messengers of promise to a
desert continent. Yet, not content with inevitable woes, they were
rent by petty jealousies and miserable quarrels, while each little
fragment of rival nationalities, just able to keep up its own
wretched existence on a few square miles, begrudged to all the rest
the smallest share in a domain which all the nations of Europe
could not have sufficed to fill.--_Parkman._]




Summary of the History of the First Epoch,
arranged in Chronological Order.

1492.    Columbus discovered the New World, October 12
1497.    The Cabots discovered Labrador, July 3
1498.    The Cabots explored the Atlantic Coast
         South America was discovered by Columbus, August 10
         Vasco de Gama sailed round the Cape of Good Hope
           and discovered a passage to India
1512.    Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, April 6
1513.    Balboa saw the Pacific Ocean, September 29
1519-21. Cortez conquered Mexico
1520.    Magellan discovered and sailed through the straits
           which bear his name, into the Pacific Ocean; and his
           vessel returning home by the Cape of Good Hope,
           had made the first circumnavigation of the globe
1524.    Verrazani explored the coast of North America
1528.    Narvaez explored part of Florida
1534-35. Cartier discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and ascended
          the river to Montreal
1539-41. De Soto rambled over the Southern States and in 1541
          discovered the Mississippi River
1540-42. Cabrillo explored California and sailed along the Pacific
           Coast
1541-42. Roberval attempted to plant a colony on the St. Lawrence,
           but failed
1562.    Ribaut attempted to plant a Huguenot colony at Port
           Royal, but failed
1564.    Laudonniere attempted to plant a Huguenot colony
           on the St. John's River. It was destroyed by the
           Spaniards
1565.    Melendez founded a colony at St. Augustine, Florida;
           first permanent settlement in the United States
1576-7.  Frobisher tried to find a northwest passage; entered
           Baffin Bay, and twice attempted to found a colony
           in Labrador, but failed
1578-80. Drake sailed along Pacific Coast to Oregon; wintered
           in San Francisco, and circumnavigated the globe
1582.    Espejo founded Santa Fe; second oldest town in the
           United States
1583.    Gilbert was lost at sea
1583-7.  Raleigh twice attempted to plant a colony in Virginia
1602.    Gosnold discovered Cape Cod, May 14
1605     De Monts established a colony at Port Royal, Nova
         Scotia first permanent French settlement in America
1607     The English settled Jamestown first permanent
           English settlement in America, May 23
1608     Champlain planted a colony at Quebec first permanent
           French settlement in Canada,
1609     Hudson discovered the Hudson River,
         Champlain discovered Lake Champlain,
1613     Settlement of New York by the Dutch,
1620     Pilgrims settled at Plymouth first English settlement
          in New England December 21



REFERENCES FOR READING

Irving's Columbus-Parkman's Pioneers of France Jesuits in North
America, and Discovery of the Great West--Longfellow's Sir Humphrey
Gilbert (Poem)--De Vere's Romance of American History--Abbott's
Biography of Illustrious Men and Women--T. Irving's De Soto in
Florida--Help's Spanish Conquest of America-Biddle's Sebastian
Cabot--Nicholls's John Cabot--Barlow's Vision of Columbus (Poem)
and Poems on Columbus by Samuel Rogers and F R Lowell-Simms's
Damsel of Danen (Poem)--Scibner's Monthly, Nov 1874 art, Pictures
from Florida--Harper's Magazine, Nov etc 1874, art The first
Century of the Republic--Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella
(Columbus)--Hawk's History of North Carolina (Lost Colony of
Roanoke)--Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi
Valley--Wallace's Fair God (Fiction)--Barnes's Popular History of
United States

[Illustration: THE OLD GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA]





EPOCH II.



DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES.

       *       *        *       *        *

From 1607--the Founding of Jamestown,
To   1775--the Breaking out of the Revolution.

This Epoch traces the early history of the thirteen
colonies--Virginia, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, New
York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Georgia. The Cavaliers land
in Virginia, and the Puritans in Massachusetts. Immigration
increases and the settlements multiply along the whole coast. The
colonies, however, still have little history in common. Each by
itself struggles with the wilderness, contends with the Indian, and
develops the principles of liberty.

[Footnote: _Questions on the Geography of the Second Epoch_.--Names of
places in italic letters may be found on the map for Epoch III. Locate
Jamestown. Salem. _Charlestown_. Boston. _Cambridge_. Swanzea.
Providence. Bristol. Hadley. Hatfield. Portsmouth. Dover. Hartford.
Wethersfield. New Haven. Windsor. Saybrook. New York. Albany.
Schenectady. Elizabethtown. Wilminton. Philadelphia. St. Mary's.
Edenton. Charleston. Savannah. Haverhill. Deerfield. St. Augustine.
Quebec. Louisburg.

Locate Fort Venango. Oswego. Presque Isle. Fort Le Boeuf. Crown
Point. Fort Ticonderoga. Fort Niagara. Fort du Quesne. Fort William
Henry. Fort Edward.

Describe the Ohio River. Monongahela River. French Creek. Chowan
River. Ashley River, Cooper River. River St. John. Potomac River.
James River. Hudson River. Connecticut River. Mohawk River.
Delaware River. Kennebec River. Penobscot River. _Mystic River_. Miami
River. St. Lawrence River.

Locate Manhattan Island. Alleghany Mountains. Cape Breton.
Massachusetts Bay. _Albemarle Sound_. Chesapeake Bay.]



VIRGINIA.

THE CHARACTER of the colonists was poorly adapted to endure the
hardships incident to a settlement in a new country. They were
mostly gentlemen by birth, unused to labor. They had no families,
and came out in search of wealth or adventure, expecting, when
rich, to return to England. The climate was unhealthy, and before
the first autumn half of their number had perished.

JOHN SMITH saved the colony from ruin. First as a member of the
council, and afterward as president, his services were invaluable.
He persuaded the settlers to erect a fort and to build log huts for
the winter. He made long voyages, carefully exploring Chesapeake
Bay, securing the friendship of the Indians, and bringing back
boat-loads of supplies. He trained the tender gentlemen till they
learned how to swing the axe in the forest. He declared that "he
who would not work, might not eat." He taught them that industry
and self-reliance are the surest guarantees to fortune.

[Footnote: Captain John Smith was born to adventure. While yet a
boy he leaves his home in Lincolnshire, England, to engage in
Holland wars. After a four-years service he builds a lodge of
boughs in a forest, where he hunts, rides, and studies military
tactics. Next we hear of him on his way to fight the Turks. Before
reaching France he is robbed, and escapes death from want only by
begging alms. Having embarked for Italy, a fearful storm arises;
he, being a heretic, is deemed the cause, and is thrown overboard,
but he swims to land. In the East, a famous Mussulman wishes to
fight some Christian knight "to please the ladies;" Smith offers
himself and slays three champions in succession. Taken prisoner in
battle and sold as a slave, his head is shaved and his neck bound
with an iron ring; he kills his master, arrays himself in the dead
man's garments, mounts a horse and spurs his way to a Russian camp.
Having returned to England, he embarks for the new world. On the
voyage he excites the jealousy of his fellows and is landed in
chains; but his worth becomes so apparent that he is finally made
president of the colony. His marvelous escapes seem now more
abundant than ever. A certain fish inflicts a dangerous wound, but
he finds an antidote and afterward eats part of the same fish with
great relish. He is poisoned, but overcomes the dose and severely
beats the poisoner. His party of fifteen is attacked by
Opechancanough (Op-e-kan-ka-no), brother and successor of Powhatan,
with seven hundred warriors; Smith drags the old chief by his long
hair into the midst of the Indian braves, who, amazed at such
audacity, immediately surrender. He is shockingly burned on a boat
by the explosion of a bag of powder at his side; but he leaps into
the water, where he barely escapes death by drowning. These and
many other wonderful exploits he published in a book after his
return to England. Historians very generally discredit them, and
even the story of his rescue by Pocahontas (p. 48) is considered
very doubtful. His services were, however, of unquestionable value
to Virginia; and his disinterestedness appears from the fact that
he never received a foot of land in the colony his wisdom had
saved. Of his last years we know little. He died near London,
1631.]

Smith's Adventures were of the most romantic character. In one of
his expeditions up the Chickahommy he was taken prisoner by the
Indians. With singular coolness he immediately attempted to
interest his captors by explaining the use of his pocket compass
and the motions of the moon and stars. At last they permitted him
to write a letter to Jamestown. When they found that this informed
his friends of his misfortune, they were filled with astonishment.

They could not understand by what magical art he could make a few
marks on paper express his thoughts. They considered him a being of
a superior order, and treated him with the utmost respect. He was
carried from one tribe to another, and at last brought to the great
chief, Powhatan, by whom he was condemned to die. His head was laid
on a stone, and the huge war-club of the Indian executioner was
raised to strike the fatal blow. Suddenly Pocahantas, the young
daughter of the chief, who had already become attached to the
prisoner, threw herself upon his neck and pleaded for his pardon
(see note, p. 46). The favorite of the tribe was given her desire.
Smith was released, and soon sent home with promises of friendship.
His little protector was often thereafter to be seen going to
Jamestown with baskets of corn for the white men.

[Footnote: This was undertaken by the express order of the company
to seek a passage to the Pacific Ocean and thus to India. Captain
Newport before his return to England made a trip up the James River
for the same purpose but on reaching the falls concluded that the
way to India did not lie in that direction. These attempts which
seem so preposterous to us now show what inadequate ideas then
prevailed concerning the size of this continent.]

[Footnote: His route was over the peninsula, since rendered so
famous by McClellan's campaign.]

[Illustration: SMITH SHOWING HIS COMPASS TO THE INDIANS]

[Footnote: As another evidence of the simplicity of the Indians, it
is said that having seized a quantity of gunpowder belonging to the
colonists, they planted it for seed, expecting to reap a full
harvest of ammunition for the next contest.]

A SECOND CHARTER was now obtained by the company (1609). This
vested the authority in a governor instead of a local council. The
colonists were not consulted with regard to the change, nor did the
charter guarantee to them any rights.

THE "STARVING TIME."--Unfortunately, Smith was disabled by a severe
wound and compelled to return to England. His influence being
removed, the settlers became a prey to disease and famine. Some
were killed by the Indians. Some, in their despair, seized a boat
and became pirates. The winter of 1609-10 was long known as the
Starving Time. In six months they were reduced from 490 to 60. At
last they determined to flee from the wretched place. "None dropped
a tear, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness." The next
morning, as they slowly moved down with the tide, to their great
joy they met their new governor, Lord Delaware, with abundant
supplies and a company of emigrants. All returned to the homes they
had just deserted, and Jamestown colony was once more rescued from
ruin.

THE THIRD CHARTER.--Up to this time the colony had proved a failure
and was publicly ridiculed in London. To quiet the outcry, the
charter was changed (1612). The council in London was abolished,
and the stockholders were given power to regulate the affairs of
the company themselves.

THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS (1613).--The little Indian girl had now
grown to womanhood. John Rolfe, a young English planter, had won
her love and wished to marry her. In the little church at
Jamestown, rough almost as an Indian's wigwam, she received
Christian baptism, and, in broken English, stammered the marriage
vows according to the service of the Church of England.

Three years after, with her husband, she visited London. The
childlike simplicity and winning grace of Lady Rebecca, as she was
called, attracted universal admiration. She was introduced at court
and received every mark of attention. As she was about to return to
her native land with her husband and infant son, she suddenly died.

[Footnote: This son became a man of wealth and distinction. Many of
the leading families of Virginia have been proud to say that the
blood of Pocahontas coursed through their veins.]

FIRST COLONIAL ASSEMBLY.--Governor Yeardley (yard'-le) believed
that the colonists should have "a hande in the governing of
themselves." He accordingly called at Jamestown, June 28, 1619,
_the first legislative body that ever assembled in America_.
It consisted of the governor, council, and deputies, or "burgesses,"
as they were called, chosen from the various plantations, or
"boroughs." Its laws had to be ratified by the company in England,
but, in turn, the orders from London were not binding unless
ratified by the colonial assembly. These privileges were afterward
(1621) embodied in a _written constitution_--the first of the
kind in America. A measure of freedom was thus granted the young
colony, and Jamestown became a nursery of liberty.

PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY.--The old famine troubles had now all
passed. The attempt to work in common had been given up, and each
man tilled his own land and had the avails. Tobacco was an article
of export. The colonists raised it so eagerly that at one time even
the streets of Jamestown were planted with it. Gold-hunting had
ceased, and many of the former servants of the company owned
plantations. Settlements lined both banks of the James for 140
miles. Best of all, young women of good character were brought over
by the company. These sold readily as wives to the settlers. The
price was fixed at the cost of the passage--100 pounds of
tobacco--but they were in such demand that it soon went up to 150
pounds. Domestic ties were formed. The colonists, having homes, now
became Virginians. All freemen had the right to vote. Religious
toleration was enjoyed. Virginia became almost an independent
republic.

[Footnote: In the early life of this colony, particles of mica
glittering in the brook were mistaken for gold dust. "There was no
talk, no hope, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold."
Newport carried to England a shipload of the worthless stuff. Smith
remonstrated in vain against this folly.]

SLAVERY INTRODUCED.--In 1619 the captain of a Dutch trading vessel
sold to the colonists twenty negroes. They were employed in
cultivating tobacco. As their labor was found profitable, larger
numbers were afterward imported.

[Footnote: From this circumstance, small as it seemed at the time,
the most momentous consequences ensued,--consequences that, long
after, rent the republic with strife, and moistened its soil with
blood.]

INDIAN TROUBLES.--After the death of Powhatan, the firm friend of
the English, the Indians formed a plan for the extermination of the
colony. So secretly was this managed that on the very morning of
the massacre (March 22, 1622) they visited the houses and sat at
the tables of those whose murder they were plotting. At a
preconcerted moment they attacked the colonists on all their
widely-scattered plantations. Over three hundred men, women, and
children fell in one day. Fortunately, a converted Indian had
informed a friend whom he wished to save, and thus Jamestown and
the settlements near by were prepared. A merciless war ensued,
during which the colony was reduced from 4,000 to 2,500; but the
Indians were so severely punished that they remained quiet for
twenty years. Then came a fearful massacre of five hundred settlers
(1644), which ended in the natives being expelled from the region.

VIRGINIA A ROYAL PROVINCE.--The majority of the stockholders gladly
granted to the infant colony those rights for which they were
struggling at home. King James, becoming jealous of the company
because of its patriotic sentiments, took away the charter (1624),
and made Virginia a royal province. Henceforth the king appointed
the governor and council, though the colony still retained its
assembly.

A PERIOD OF OPPRESSION.--The British Parliament enforced the
Navigation Act (1660), which ordered that the commerce of the
colony should be carried on in English vessels, and that their
tobacco should be shipped to England. Besides this, their own
assembly was composed mainly of royalists, who levied exorbitant
taxes, refused to go out of office when their term had expired,
fixed their own salary at 250 pounds of tobacco per day, restricted
the right of voting to "freeholders and housekeepers," and imposed
on Quakers a monthly fine of one hundred dollars for absence from
worship in the English Church. Two parties gradually sprung up in
their midst; one, the aristocratic party, was composed of the rich
planters and the officeholders in the colony; the other comprised
the liberty-loving portion of the people, who felt themselves
deprived of their political rights.

[Footnote: It is a curious fact that the royalists who fled from
England in Cromwell's time took refuge in Virginia, and were
hospitably entertained, while the "regicides" (the judges who
condemned Charles I) fled to Massachusetts and were concealed from
their pursuers.]

BACON'S REBELLION.--These difficulties came to a crisis in 1676,
when Governor Berkeley failed to provide for the defence of the
settlements against the Indians. At this juncture, Nathaniel Bacon,
a patriotic young lawyer, rallied a company, defeated the Indians,
and then turned to meet the governor, who had denounced him as a
traitor. During the contest which followed, Berkeley was driven out
of Jamestown and the village itself burned.

[Illustration: The Ruins at Jamestown.]

[Footnote: Going up the James River, just before reaching City
Point, one sees on the right-hand bank the ruins of an old church.
The crumbling tower, with its arched doorways, is almost hidden by
the profusion of shrubbery which surrounds it. Its moss covered
walls, entwined with ivy planted by loving hands which have since
crumbled into dust, look desolately out upon the old churchyard at
its back. Here, pushing aside the rank vines and tangled bushes
which conceal them, one finds a few weather--beaten tombstones A
huge buttomwood tree, taking root below, has burst apart one of
these old slabs and now, with its many fellows spreads its lofty
branches high over the solitary dead. And this is all that remains
of that Jamestown whose struggles we have here recorded.]

In the midst of this success, Bacon died. No leader could be found
worthy to take his place, and the people dispersed. Berkeley
revenged himself with terrible severity. On hearing of the facts,
Charles II. impatiently declared, "He has taken more lives in that
naked country than I did for the murder of my father."

       *       *       *       *       *



MASSACHUSETTS.

THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY made several attempts to explore North
Virginia. Captain John Smith, already so famous in South Virginia,
examined the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, drew a map of it,
and called the country NEW ENGLAND. The company, stirred to action
by his glowing accounts, obtained a new patent (1620) under the
name of the Council for New England. This authorized them to make
settlements and laws, and to carry on trade through a region
reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and comprising over a
million square miles. New England, however, was settled with no
consent of king or council.



PLYMOUTH COLONY.

SETTLEMENT.--_Landing of the Pilgrims._--One stormy day in the
fall of 1620, the Mayflower, with a band of a hundred pilgrims,
came to anchor in Cape Cod harbor. The little company, gathering in
the cabin, drew up a compact, in which they agreed to enact just
and equal laws, which all should obey. One of their exploring
parties landed at Plymouth, as it was called on Smith's chart,
December 21.

[Footnote: The exact number of the pilgrims was 102.]

[Footnote: This was Dec. 11, Old Style. In 1752, eleven days were
added to correct an error in the calendar, thus making this date
the 22d. Only 10 days, however, should have been allowed, and
therefore the correct date is the 21st, New Style.]

Finding the location suitable for a settlement, they all came
ashore, and amid a storm of snow and sleet commenced building their
rude huts.

[Footnote: They were called _Pilgrims_ because of their wanderings.
About seventy years before this time the state religion of England had
been changed from Catholic to Protestant; but a large number of the
clergy and people were dissatisfied with what they thought to be a
half-way policy on the part of the new church, and called for a more
complete purification from old observances and doctrines. For this,
they were called Puritans. They still believed in a state church, that
is, that the _nation_ of England was the _church_ of England; and that
the queen, as the head of both, could appoint church officers and
prescribe the form of religious worship. They, however, wanted a
change, and desired the government to make it to suit them. The
government not only refused, but punished the Puritan clergy for not
using the prescribed form of worship. This led some of them to
question the authority of the government in religious matters. They
came to believe that any body of Christians might declare themselves a
church, choose their own officers, and be independent of all
external authority. When they began to form these local churches,
they separated themselves from the Church of England, and for this
reason are called Separatists and Independents. One of these
churches of Separatists was at Scrooby, in the east of England. Not
being allowed to worship in peace, they fled to Holland (1608),
where they lived twelve years. But evil influences surrounded their
children, and they longed for a land where they might worship God
in their own way and save their families from worldly follies.
America offered such a home. They came, resolved to brave every
danger, trusting to God to shape their destinies.]

[Footnote: The little shallop sent out to reconnoitre before
landing, lost, in a furious storm, its rudder, mast, and sail. Late
at night, the party sought shelter under the lee of a small island.
They spent the next day in cleaning their rusty weapons and drying
their wet garments. Every hour was precious, as the season was late
and their companions in the Mayflower were waiting their return;
but "being ye last day of ye week, they prepared there to keepe ye
Sabbath." No wonder that the influence of such a people has been
felt throughout the country, and that "Forefathers' Rock," on which
they first stepped, is yet held in grateful remembrance.]

THE CHARACTER of the Pilgrim settlers was well suited to the
rugged, stormy land which they sought to subdue. They had come into
the wilderness with their families in search of a home where they
could educate their children and worship God as they pleased. They
were earnest, sober-minded men, actuated in all things by deep
religious principle, and never disloyal to their convictions of
duty.

THEIR SUFFERINGS during the winter were severe. At one time there
were only seven well persons to take care of the sick. Half of the
little band died. Yet when spring came, not one of the company
thought of returning to England.

THE INDIANS, fortunately, did not disturb them. A pestilence had
destroyed the tribe inhabiting the place where they landed. They
were startled, however, one day in early spring by a voice in their
village crying in broken English, "Welcome!" It was the salutation
of Sam'-o-set, an Indian whose chief, Mas-sa-suit, soon after
visited them. The treaty then made lasted for fifty years.
Ca-non'-i-cus, a Narraganset chief, once sent a bundle of arrows,
wrapped in a rattlesnake skin, as a token of defiance. Governor
Bradford returned the skin filled with powder and shot. This
significant hint was effectual.

[Illustration: WELCOME--PLYMOUTH, 1621]

The progress of the Colony was slow. Their harvests were
insufficient to feed themselves and the new-comers. During the
"famine of 1623," the best dish they could set before their friends
was a bit of fish and a cup of water.

[Footnote: As an illustration of their pious content it is said
that Elder Brewster was wont over a meal consisting only of clams
to return thanks to God who "had given them to suck the abundance
of the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sands."]

After four years they numbered only 184. The plan of working in
common having failed here as at Jamestown, land was assigned to
each settler. Abundance ensued. The colony was never organized by
royal charter; therefore they elected their own governor, and made
their own laws. In 1692, Plymouth was united with Massachusetts Bay
colony, under the name of Massachusetts.



MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.

SETTLEMENT.--John Endicott and five associates having obtained a
grant of land about Massachusetts Bay, secured (1628) a royal
charter giving authority to make laws and govern the territory.
This company afterward transferred all their rights to the colony.
It was a popular measure, and many prominent Puritan families
flocked to this land of liberty. Some gathered around Governor
Endicott, who had already started Salem and Charlestown, some
established colonies at Dorchester and Watertown, and one thousand
under Governor Winthrop founded Boston (1630).

RELIGIOUS DISTURBANCES.--The people of Massachusetts Bay, while in
England, were Puritans, but not Separatists. Having come to America
to establish a Puritan Church, they were unwilling to receive
persons holding opinions differing from their own, lest their
purpose should be defeated. They accordingly sent back to England
those who persisted in using the forms of the Established Church,
and allowed only members of their own church to vote in civil
affairs.

_Roger Williams_, an eloquent and pious young minister, taught
that each person should think for himself in all religious matters,
and be responsible to his own conscience alone. He declared that
the magistrates had, therefore, no right to punish blasphemy,
perjury, or Sabbath-breaking. The clergy and magistrates were
alarmed at what they considered a doctrine dangerous to the peace
of the colony, and he was ordered (1635) to be sent to England. It
was in the depth of winter, yet he fled to the forest and found
refuge among the Indians. The next year, Canonicus, the Narraganset
sachem, gave him land to found a settlement, which he gratefully
named _Providence_.

_Mrs. Anne Hutchinson_, during the same year, aroused a violent and
bitter controversy. She claimed to be favored with special revelations
of God's will. These she expounded to crowded congregations of women,
greatly to the scandal of the clergy and people. Finally she also was
banished.

_The Quakers_, about twenty years after these summary measures,
created fresh trouble by their peculiar views. They were fined,
whipped, imprisoned, and sent out of the colony; yet they as
constantly returned, glorying in their sufferings. At last four
were executed. The people beginning to consider them as martyrs,
the persecution gradually relaxed.

A UNION OF THE COLONIES of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven,
and Connecticut, was formed (1643) under the title of THE UNITED
COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND. This was a famous league in colonial
times. The object was a common protection against the Indians and
the encroachments of the Dutch and French settlers.

KING PHILIP'S WAR.--During the life of Massasuit, Plymouth enjoyed
peace with the Indians, as did Jamestown during that of Powhatan.
After Massasoit's death, his son, Philip, brooded with a jealous
eye over the encroachments of the whites. With profound sagacity,
he planned a confederation of the Indian tribes against the
intruders. The first blow fell on the people of Swansea as they
were quietly going home from church on Sunday (July 14, 1675). The
settlers flew to arms, but Philip escaped, and soon excited the
savages to fall upon the settlements high up the Connecticut
valley.

[Footnote: At Hadley the Indians surprised the people on Fast day,
June 12,1676. Seizing their muskets at the sound of the savage
war-whoop, the men rushed out of the meeting-house to fall into
line. But the foe was on every side. Confused and bewildered, the
settlers seemed about to give way, when suddenly a strange old man
with long white beard and ancient garb appeared among them. Ringing
out a quick, sharp word of command, he recalled them to their
senses. Following their mysterious leader, they drove the enemy
headlong before them. The danger passed, they looked around for
their deliverer. But he had disappeared as mysteriously as he had
come. The good people believed that God had sent an angel to their
rescue. But history reveals the secret. It was the regicide Colonel
Goffe. Fleeing from the vengeance of Charles II, with a price set
upon his head he had for years wandered about, living in mills,
clefts of rocks, and forest caves. At last he had found an asylum
with the Hadley minister. From his window he had seen the stealthy
Indians coming down the hill. Fired with desire to do one more good
deed for God's people, he rushed from his hiding-place, led them on
to victory, and then returned to his retreat, never more to
reappear.--One learns with regret that recent research throws great
doubt over the truth of this thrilling story. It is curious to
notice also that there is no proof that Philip possessed any
eloquence or was even present in any fight, though all these
statements have hitherto been made by reliable historians.]

[Illustration: A FORTIFIED HOUSE.]

The colonists fortified their houses with palisades, carried their
arms with them into the fields when at work, and stacked them at
the door when at church. The Narraganset Indians favored Philip,
and seemed on the point of joining his alliance. They had gathered
their winter's provisions, and fortified themselves in the midst of
an almost inaccessible swamp. Fifteen hundred of the colonists
accordingly attacked them in this stronghold. The Indian wigwams
and stores were burned, and one thousand warriors perished. In the
spring the war broke out anew along a frontier of three hundred
miles, and to within twenty miles of Boston. Nowhere fighting in
the open field, but by ambuscade and skulking, the Indians kept the
whole country in terror. Driven to desperation by their atrocities,
the settlers hunted down the savages like wild beasts. Philip was
chased from one hiding-place to another. His family being captured
at last, he fled, broken-hearted, to his old home on Mt. Hope, near
Bristol, E. I., where he was shot by a faithless Indian.

[Illustration: KING PHILIP.]

NEW ENGLAND A ROYAL PROVINCE.--The Navigation Act (p. 51), which we
have seen so unpopular in Virginia, was exceedingly oppressive in
Massachusetts, which possessed a thriving commerce. In spite of the
decree the colony opened a trade with the West Indies. The
royalists in England determined that this bold republican spirit
should be quelled. An English officer who attempted to enforce the
Navigation Act having been compelled to return home, Charles II,
eagerly seized upon the excuse thus offered, and made Massachusetts
a _royal province_. The king died before his plan was completed, but
James II. (1686) declared the charters of all the New England colonies
forfeited, and sent over Sir Edmund Andros, as first royal governor of
New England. He carried things with a high hand. The colonies endured
his oppression for three years, when, learning that his royal master
was dethroned, they rose against their petty tyrant and put him in
jail. With true Puritan sobriety they then quietly resumed their old
form of government. This lasted for three years, when Sir William
Phipps came as royal governor over a province embracing Massachusetts,
Maine, and Nova Scotia. From this time till the Revolution,
Massachusetts remained a royal province.

SALEM WITCHCRAFT (1692).--A strange delusion known as the Salem
witchcraft, produced the most intense excitement. The children of
Mr. Parris, a minister near Salem, performed pranks which could be
explained only by supposing that they were under Satanic influence.
Every effort was made to discover who had bewitched them. An Indian
servant was flogged until she admitted herself to be guilty. Soon
others were affected, and the terrible mania spread rapidly.
Committees of examination were appointed and courts of trial
convened. The most improbable stories were credited. To express a
doubt of witchcraft was to indicate one's own alliance with the
evil spirit. Persons of the highest respectability, clergymen,
magistrates, and even the governor's wife were implicated. At last,
after fifty-five persons had been tortured and twenty hung, the
people awoke to their folly.

[Footnote: A belief in witchcraft was at that time universal. Sir
Matthew Hale, one of the most enlightened judges of England,
repeatedly tried and condemned persons accused of witchcraft.
Blackstone himself, at a later day, declared that to deny
witchcraft was to deny Revelation. Cotton Mather, the most
prominent minister of the colony, was active in the rooting out of
this supposed crime. He published a book full of the most ridiculous
witch stories. One judge, who engaged in this persecution, was
afterward so deeply penitent that he observed a day of fasting in
each year, and on the day of general fast rose in his place in the
Old South Church at Boston, and in the presence of the congregation
handed to the pulpit a written confession acknowledging his error,
and praying for forgiveness.]

       *       *       *       *       *



MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.

THESE COLONIES were so intimately united with Massachusetts that
they have almost a common history. Gorges (gor-jez) and Mason,
about two years after the landing of the Pilgrims, obtained from
the Council for New England the grant of a large tract of land
which lay between the Merrimac and Kennebec Rivers. They
established some small fishing stations near Portsmouth and at
Dover. This patent being afterward dissolved, Mason took the
country lying west of the Piscataqua, and named it New Hampshire;
Gorges took that lying east, and termed it the province of Maine.

[Footnote: To distinguish it from the islands along the coast, this
country had been called the Mayne (main) land, which perhaps gave
rise to its present name. New Hampshire was so called from
Hampshire in England, Mason's home. The settlers of New Hampshire
were long vexed with suits brought by the men into whose hands
Mason's grant had fallen.]

Massachusetts, however, claimed this territory, and to secure it
paid six thousand dollars to the heirs of Gorges. Maine was not
separated from Massachusetts till 1820. The feeble settlements of
New Hampshire also placed themselves under the protection of
Massachusetts. "Three times, either by their own consent or by
royal authority, they were joined in one colony, and as often
separated," until 1741, when New Hampshire became a royal province,
and so remained until the Revolution.

       *       *        *       *        *



CONNECTICUT.

[Footnote: This State is named from its principal river--
(Connecticut being the Indian word for _Long River_).]

SETTLEMENT.--About eleven years after the landing of the Pilgrims,
Lord Say-and-Seal and Lord Brooke obtained from the Earl of Warwick
a transfer of the grant of the Connecticut valley, which he had
secured from the Council for New England. The Dutch claimed the
territory, and before the English could take possession, built a
fort at Hartford, and commenced traffic with the Indians. Some
traders from Plymouth sailing up the river were stopped by the
Dutch, who threatened to fire upon them. But they kept on and
established a post at Windsor (win'-zer). Many people from Boston,
allured by the rich meadow lands, settled near. In the autumn of
1635, John Steele, one of the proprietors of Cambridge, led a
pioneer company "out west," as it was then called, and laid the
foundations of Hartford. The next year the main band, with their
pastor--Thomas Hooker, a most eloquent and estimable man--came,
driving their flocks before them through the wilderness. In the
meantime John Winthrop established a fort at the mouth of the
river, and thus shut out the Dutch. This colony, in honor of the
proprietors, was named Saybrook.

[Footnote: John Winthrop appears in history without blemish. Highly
educated and accomplished, he was no less upright and generous. In
the bloom of life, he left all his brilliant prospects in the old
world to follow the fortunes of the new. When his father had made
himself poor in nurturing the Massachusetts colony, this noble son
gave up voluntarily his own large inheritance to "further the good
work." It was through his personal influence and popularity at
court that the liberal charter was procured from Charles II. which
guaranteed freedom to Connecticut.]

THE PEQUOD WAR.--The colonists had no sooner become settled in
their new home than the Pequod Indians endeavored to persuade the
Narragansets to join them in a general attack upon the whites.
Roger Williams hearing of this, and forgetting all the injuries he
had received, on a stormy night set out in his canoe for the Indian
village. Though the Pequod messengers were present, he prevailed
upon the old Narraganset chief to remain at home. So the Pequods
lost their ally and were forced to fight alone. They commenced by
murdering thirty colonists. Captain Mason, therefore, resolved to
attack their stronghold on the Mystic River. His party approached
the fort at daybreak (June 4, 1637). Aroused by the barking of a
dog, the sleepy sentinel shouted "Owanux! Owanux!" (the Englishmen!
) but it was too late. The troops were already within the
palisades. The Indians, rallying, made a fierce resistance, when
Captain Mason, seizing a firebrand, hurled it among the wigwams.
The flames quickly swept through the encampment. The English
themselves barely escaped. The few Indians who fled to the swamps
were hunted down. The tribe perished in a day.

THE THREE COLONIES.--1. _The New Haven Colony_ was founded (1638) by a
number of wealthy London families. They took the Bible for law, and
only church members could vote. 2. _The Connecticut Colony_, proper,
comprising Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, adopted a written
constitution in which it was agreed to give to all freemen the right
to vote. This was the _first instance in history of a written
constitution framed by the people_. 3. _The Saybrook Colony_ was at
first governed by the proprietors, but was afterward sold to the
Connecticut colony. This reduced the three colonies to two.

[Illustration: THE CHARTER OAK.]

A ROYAL CHARTER was obtained (1662) which united both these
colonies and guaranteed to all the rights upon which the
Connecticut colonists had agreed. This was a precious document,
since it gave them almost independence, and was the most favorable
yet granted to any colony. Twenty-four years after, Governor Andros
marching from Boston over the route where the pious Hooker had led
his little flock fifty years before, came "glittering with scarlet
and lace" into the assembly at Hartford, and demanded the charter.
A protracted debate ensued. The people crowded around to take a
last look at this guarantee of their liberties, when suddenly the
lights were extinguished. On being relighted, the charter was gone.
William Wadsworth had seized it, escaped through the crowd and
hidden it in the hollow of a tree, famous ever after as the
_Charter Oak_. However, Andros pronounced the charter government at an
end. "Finis" was written at the close of the minutes of their last
meeting. When the governor was so summarily deposed in Boston the
people brought the charter from its hiding-place, the general court
reassembled, and the "finis" disappeared.

[Footnote: Another attempt to infringe upon charter rights occurred
in 1693. Governor Fletcher ordered the militia placed under his own
command. Having called them out to listen to his royal commission,
he began to read. Immediately Captain Wadsworth ordered the drums
to be beaten. Fletcher commanded silence, and began again. "Drum,
drum!" cried Wadsworth. "Silence!" shouted the governor. "Drum,
drum, I say!" repeated the captain; and then turning to Fletcher,
with a meaning look, he added: "If I am interrupted again, I will
make the sun shine through you." The governor did not press the
matter.--The story of the Charter Oak is denied by some, who claim
that contemporary history does not mention it, and that probably
Andros seized the charter, while the colonists had previously made
a copy.]



RHODE ISLAND.

[Footnote: An island of a reddish appearance was observed lying in
the bay. This was known to the Dutch as Roode or Red Island. Hence
the name of the island and State of Rhode Island.--_Brodhead_.]

SETTLEMENT. Roger Williams settled Providence Plantation in 1636,
the year in which Hooker came to Hartford. Other exiles from
Massachusetts followed, among them the celebrated Mrs. Hutchinson.
A party of these purchased the island of Aquiday and established
the Rhode Island Plantation. Roger Williams stamped upon these
colonies his favorite idea of religious toleration, i.e., that the
civil power has no right to interfere with the religious opinions
of men.

[Footnote: William Blackstone, being as dissatisfied with the yoke
of the "lords brethren" in Boston as with that of the "lord
bishops" in England, some time before this removed to the banks of
what is now called the Blackstone, near Providence. He, however,
acknowledged the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.]

[Footnote: Persecuted refugees from all quarters flocked to
Providence; and Williams shared equally with all the lands he had
obtained, reserving to himself only two small fields which, on his
first arrival, he had planted with his own hands.]

A CHARTER.--The colonists wished to join the New England Union, but
were refused on the ostensible plea that they had no charter.
Williams accordingly visited England and obtained a charter uniting
the two plantations. On his return the people met, elected their
officers, and (1647) agreed on a set of laws guaranteeing freedom
of faith and worship to all,--"the first legal declaration of
liberty of conscience ever adopted in Europe or America."



NEW YORK.

SETTLEMENT.--Soon after the discovery of the Hudson, as previously
described (p. 39), Dutch ships began to visit the river to traffic
in furs with the Indians. Afterward the West India Company obtained
a grant of New Netherland, and under its patronage permanent
settlements were made at New Amsterdam and also at Fort Orange
(Albany). The company allowed persons who should plant a colony of
fifty settlers to select and buy land of the Indians, which it was
agreed should descend to their heirs forever. These persons were
called "patroons" (patrons) of the manor.

[Footnote: Some huts were built by the Dutch traders on Manhattan
Island in 1613. and a trading-post was established a year or two
after. A fort was completed, in 1615, south of the present site of
Albany. Eight or nine years later, a party of Walloons or
Protestants from Belgian provinces were brought over by the
company. About the same time, Fort Orange was erected, and eighteen
families built their bark huts under its protection. In 1626,
Minuit, the first governor, arrived in New Amsterdam, and purchased
Manhattan Island of the Indians for about $24, nearly 1 mill per
acre.--Some of the old Dutch manors remain to this day. The famous
anti-rent difficulties (p. 182) grew out of such titles.]





EPOCH II.

The history of New York for twenty years is only an account of
Indian butcheries., varied by difficulties with the Swedes on the
Delaware, and the English on the Connecticut.

[Footnote: These disputes arose from the fact that the Dutch
claimed the territory lying between the Delaware and the
Connecticut.]



THE FOUR DUTCH GOVERNORS

These disturbances are monotonous enough in the recital, but
doubtless thrilled the blood of the early Knickerbockers. Peter
Stuyvesant was the last and ablest of the four Dutch governors. He
agreed with Connecticut upon the boundary line, and taking an armed
force, marched upon the Swedes, who at once submitted to him. But
the old Governor hated democratic institutions, and was terribly
vexed in this wise. There were some English in the colony, and they
longed for the rights of self-government which the Connecticut
people enjoyed. They kept demanding these privileges and talking of
them to their Dutch neighbors. At this juncture an English fleet
came to anchor in the harbor, and demanded the surrender of the
town in the name of the Duke of York. Stout-hearted old Peter
pleaded with his council to fight. But in vain. They rather liked
the idea of English rule. The surrender was signed, and at last the
reluctant governor attached his name. In September, 1664, the
English flag floated over Manhattan Island. The colony was named
New York in honor of the proprietor.

[Illustration: THE ENGLISH LANDING AT NEW YORK, 1664]

THE ENGLISH GOVERNORS disappointed the people by not granting them
their coveted rights. A remonstrance against being taxed without
representation was burned by the hangman. So that when, after nine
years of English rule, a Dutch fleet appeared in the harbor, the
people went back quietly under their old rulers. But the next year
peace being restored between England and Holland, New Amsterdam
became New York again. Thus ended the Dutch rule in the colonies.
Andros, who twelve years after played the tyrant in New England,
was the next governor, but he ruled so arbitrarily that he was
called home. Under his successor, Dongan, an assembly of the
representatives of the people was called, by permission of the Duke
of York. This was but a transient gleam of civil freedom, for two
years alter, when the Duke of York became James II., king of
England, he forgot all his promises, forbade legislative
assemblies, prohibited printing-presses, and annexed the colony to
New England. When, however, Andros was driven from Boston,
Nicholson, his lieutenant and apt tool of tyranny in New York, fled
at once. Captain Leisler, supported by the democracy but bitterly
opposed by the aristocracy, thereupon administered affairs very
prudently until the arrival of Governor Sloughter (slaw-ter) who
arrested him on the absurd charge of treason. Sloughter was
unwilling to execute him, but Leisler's enemies, at a dinner party,
made the governor drunk, obtained his signature, and before he
became sober enough to repent, Leisler was no more.

[Footnote: For many years the Atlantic Ocean was infested by
pirates. A little after the events narrated above, William Kidd, a
New York shipmaster, was sent out to cruise against these
sea-robbers. He turned pirate himself and became the most noted of
them all. Returning from his cruise, he was at length captured
while boldly walking in the streets of Boston. He was carried to
England, tried, and hung. His name and deeds have been woven into
popular romance, and the song "My name is Captain Kidd, as I
sailed, as I sailed," is well known. He is believed to have buried
his ill-gotten riches on the coast of Long Island or the banks of
the Hudson, and these localities have been oftentimes searched by
credulous persons seeking for Kidd's treasure.]

From this time till the Revolution, the struggles of the people
with the royal governors for their rights, developed the spirit of
liberty and paved the way for that eventful crisis.

       *       *       *       *       *



NEW JERSEY.

SETTLEMENT.--The present State of New Jersey was embraced in the
territory of New Netherland, and the Dutch made settlements at
several places near New York. Soon after New Netherland passed into
the hands of the Duke of York, he gave the land between the Hudson
and the Delaware to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. In 1664,
a company from Long Island and New England settled at
Elizabethtown, which they named after Carteret's wife. This was the
first permanent English settlement in the State.

[Footnote: This tract was called New Jersey in honor of Carteret,
who had been governor of Jersey island in the English Channel.]

EAST AND WEST JERSEY.--Lord Berkeley sold his share to some English
Quakers. This part was called _West Jersey_. A company of Quakers soon
settled at Burlington. Others followed, and thus West Jersey became a
Quaker colony. Sir George Carteret's portion was called _East Jersey_.
After his death it was sold to William Penn and eleven other Quakers.

[Footnote: It was settled, however, largely by Puritans and Scotch
Presbyterians. The latter having refused to accept the English form
of religion, had been bitterly persecuted. Fleming their native
country they found an asylum in this favored land.]

NEW JERSEY UNITED.--Constant disputes arose out of the land titles.
Among so many proprietors the tenants hardly knew from whom to
obtain their titles for land. The proprietors finally (1702)
surrendered their rights of government to the English crown, and
the whole of New Jersey was united with New York under one
governor, but with a separate assembly. Thirty-six years after, at
the earnest request of the people, New Jersey was set apart as a
distinct royal province.



PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE.

SETTLEMENT.--The first permanent settlement in Delaware was made
(1638) by the Swedes, on a tract which they called New Sweden,
lying near Wilmington. They also made the first settlement in
Pennsylvania, a few miles below Philadelphia. The Dutch
subsequently conquered these settlements, but they continued to
prosper long after the Swedish and Dutch rule had yielded to the
constantly growing English power.

_William Penn_, the founder of Pennsylvania, was a celebrated
English Quaker, He obtained from Charles II. a grant of the land
lying west of the Delaware.

[Footnote: The Quakers, avoiding unmeaning forms, aim to lead
purely spiritual lives. Their usual worship is conducted in solemn
silence, each soul for itself. They take no oath, make no
compliments, remove not the hat to king or ruler, and "thee" and
"thou" both friend and foe. Every day is to them a holy day, and
the Sabbath simply a day of rest. We can readily see how this must
have scandalized the Puritans. William Penn became a Quaker while
in college at Oxford. Refusing to wear the customary student's
surplice, he with others violently assaulted some fellow-students
and stripped them of their robes. For this he was expelled. His
father would not allow him to return home. Afterward relenting, he
sent him to Paris, Cork, and other cities, to soften his Quaker
peculiarities. After several unhappy quarrels, his father proposed
to overlook all else if he would only consent to doff his hat to
the king, the Duke of York, and himself. Penn still refusing, he
was again turned out of doors. He was several times imprisoned for
his religious extremes. On the death of his father, to whom he had
once more been reconciled, he became heir to quite a fortune. He
took the territory which forms Pennsylvania in payment of a debt of
16,000 pounds due his father from the crown.]

This tract Penn named Sylvania, but the king insisted upon calling
it Pennsylvania

[Footenote: Penn offered the secretary who drew up the charter
twenty guineas to leave off the prefix "Penn" This request being
denied, the king was appealed to, who commanded the tract to be
called Pennsylvania] (Penn's woods) in honor of William Penn's
father.

The Duke of York added to this grant the present State of Delaware,
which soon came to be termed the "Three lower counties on the
Delaware." Penn wished to form a refuge for his Quaker brethren,
who were bitterly persecuted in England. He at once sent over large
numbers, as many as two thousand in a single year. The next year he
came himself, and was received by the settlers with the greatest
cordiality and respect.

PHILADELPHIA FOUNDED.--The year following (1683) Penn purchased
land of the Swedes and laid out a city which he named Philadelphia,
signifying _brotherly love_. It was in the midst of the forest, and
the startled deer bounded past the settler who came to survey his new
home. Yet within a year it contained one hundred houses; in two years
numbered over two thousand inhabitants; and in three years gained more
than New York had in half a century.

THE GREAT LAW was a code agreed upon by the legislative body which
Penn called from among the settlers soon after his arrival. It made
faith in Christ a necessary qualification for voting and
office-holding; but also provided that no one believing in
"Almighty God" should be molested in his religious views. The
Quakers, having been persecuted themselves, did not celebrate their
liberty by persecuting others. Penn, himself, surrendered the most
of his power to the people. His highest ambition seemed to be to
advance their interests. He often declared that if he knew anything
more that could make them happier, he would freely grant it.

PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS possesses a romantic interest. He
met them under a large elm tree near Philadelphia.

[Footnote: "We meet," said Penn, "on the broad pathway of good
faith and good will; no advantage shall be taken on either side,
but all shall be openness and love. The friendship between you and
me I will not compare to a chain; for that the rains might rust or
the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man's body
were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood."]

The savages were touched by his gentle words and kindly bearing.
"We will live in love with William Penn and his children," said
they, "as long as the sun and moon shall shine."

[Footnote: This tree was carefully preserved until 1810, when it
was blown down. A monument now marks the spot.]

[Footnote: The simple-minded natives kept the history of this
treaty by means of strings of wampum, and they would often count
over the shells on a clean piece of bark and rehearse its
provisions. "It was the only treaty never sworn to, and the only
one never broken." On every hand the Indians waged relentless war
with the colonies, but they never shed a drop of Quaker blood.]

PENN'S RETURN.--Penn returned to England (1684) leaving the colony
fairly established. His benevolent spirit shone forth in his
parting words, "Dear friends, my love salutes you all."

[Illustration: STATUE OF PENN IN PHILADELPHIA.]

DELAWARE.--The three lower counties on the Delaware being greatly
offended by the action of the council which Penn had left to govern
in his absence, set up for themselves. Penn "sorrowfully" consented
to their action, appointed a deputy governor over them, and
afterward granted them an assembly. Pennsylvania and Delaware,
however, remained under one governor until the Revolution.

PENN'S HEIRS after his death (1718) became proprietors of the
flourishing colony he had established. It was ruled by deputies
whom they appointed, until (1779) the State of Pennsylvania bought
out their claims by the payment of about half a million of dollars.



MARYLAND.

SETTLEMENT.--Lord Baltimore (Cecil Calvert), a Catholic, was
anxious to secure for the friends of his church a refuge from the
persecutions which they were then suffering in England.

[Footnote: His father, George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore,
with this same design had attempted to plant a colony in
Newfoundland. But having failed on account of the severity of the
climate, he visited Virginia. When he found that the Catholics were
there treated with great harshness, he returned to England, took
out a grant of land, and bestowed upon it, in honor of the queen,
Henrietta Maria, the name Maryland. Ere the patent had received the
great seal of the king, Lord Baltimore died. His son, inheriting
the father's noble and benevolent views, secured the grant himself,
and carried out the philanthropic scheme.]

[Footnote: It is curious to observe how largely this country was
peopled in its earlier days by refugees for religious faith. The
Huguenots, the Puritans, the Quakers, the Presbyterians, the
Catholics, the persecuted of every sect and creed, all flocked to
this "home of the free."]

He accordingly obtained from King Charles a grant of land lying
north of the Potomac. The first settlement was made (1634) by his
brother at an Indian village which he called St. Mary's, near the
mouth of the Potomac.

THE CHARTER was very different from that granted to Virginia, since
it gave to all freemen a voice in making the laws. An Assembly,
called in accordance with this provision, passed (1649) the
celebrated _Toleration Act_, which secured to all Christians
liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own
conscience. Maryland, like Rhode Island, became an asylum for the
persecuted.

[Footnote: Two years before, Rhode Island had passed an act
protecting every kind of religious faith and worship. Maryland
extended protection to all forms of Christianity alone.]



CIVIL WARS.

1. _Clayborne's Rebellion_ (1635).--The Virginia colony claimed that
Lord Baltimore's grant covered territory belonging to them. Clayborne,
a member of the Jamestown council, was especially obstinate in the
matter. He had already established two trading posts in Maryland,
which he prepared to defend by force of arms. A bloody skirmish
ensued, in which his party was beaten. He, himself, had fled to
Virginia, on the eve of battle, but being accused of treason, was sent
to England for trial. He was, however, acquitted of this charge. Ten
years afterward he came back, raised a rebellion, and drove Calvert,
then governor of Maryland, out of the colony. The governor returned at
last with a strong force, and Clayborne fled. This ended the contest.

2. _The Protestants and the Catholics_.--The Protestants,
having obtained a majority in the Assembly, made a most ungrateful
use of their power. They refused to acknowledge the hereditary
rights of the proprietor, assailed his religion, excluded Catholics
from the Assembly, and even declared them outside the protection of
the law. Civil war ensued. For years the victory alternated. At one
time two governments, one Protestant, the other Catholic, were
sustained. In 1691, Lord Baltimore was entirely deprived of his
rights as proprietor, and Maryland became a royal province. The
Church of England was established, and the Catholics were again
disfranchised in the very province they had planted. In 1715, the
fourth Lord Baltimore recovered the government, and religious
toleration was again restored. Maryland remained under this
administration until the Revolution.

       *       *       *       *       *



THE CAROLINAS.

SETTLEMENT.--Lord Clarendon and several other noblemen obtained
(1663) from Charles II. a grant of a vast tract south of Virginia,
which was termed in honor of the king, Carolina. Two permanent
settlements were soon made.

[Footnote: This in Latin is Carolus II.]

[Footnote: Both colonies were named after prominent proprietors of
the grant.]

1. The _Albemarle__Colony_. This was a name given to a plantation
which was already settled by people who had pushed through the
wilderness from Virginia. A governor from their own number was
appointed over them. They were then left in quiet to enjoy their
liberties and forget the world.

[Footnote: Except when rent day came. Then they were called upon to
pay to the English proprietors a half-penny per acre.]

2. The _Carteret Colony_ was established (1670) by English
emigrants. They first sailed into the well-known waters where
Ribaut anchored and the fort of Carolina was erected so long
before. Landing, they began a settlement on the banks of the
Ashley, but afterward removed to the "ancient groves covered with
yellow jessamine" which marked the site of the present city of
Charleston. The growth of this colony was rapid from the first.
Thither came shiploads of Dutch from New York, dissatisfied with
the English rule and attracted by the genial climate. The Huguenots
(French Protestants), hunted from their homes, here found a
southern welcome.

[Footnote: In Charleston alone there were at one time as many as
16,000 Huguenots. They added whole streets to the city. Their
severe morality, marked charity, elegant manners and thrifty
habits, made them a most desirable acquisition. They brought the
mulberry and olive, and established magnificent plantations on the
banks of the Cooper. They also introduced many choice varieties of
pears, which still bear illustrious Huguenot names. Their
descendants are eminently honorable, and have borne a proud part in
the establishment of our Republic. Of seven presidents who were at
the head of the Congress of Philadelphia during the Revolution,
three were of Huguenot parentage.]

THE GRAND MODEL was a form of government for the colonies prepared
by Lord Shaftesbury and the celebrated philosopher, John Locke. It
was a magnificent scheme. The wilderness was to be divided into
vast estates, with which hereditary titles were to be granted. But
the model was aristocratic, while the people were democratic. It
granted no rights of self-government, while the settlers came into
the wilderness for the love of liberty. This was not the soil on
which vain titles and empty pomp could flourish. To make the Grand
Model a success, it would have been necessary to transform the
log-cabin into a baronial castle, and the independent settlers into
armed retainers. The attempt to introduce it arousing violent
opposition, it was at length abandoned.

NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA SEPARATED.--The two colonies,--the
northern, or Albemarle, and the southern, or Carteret,--being so
remote from each other, had from the beginning separate governors,
though they remained one province. There was constant friction
between the settlers and the proprietors. The people were jealous.
The proprietors were arbitrary. Rents, taxes, and rights were
plentiful sources of irritation. Things kept on in this unsettled
way until (1729) the discouraged proprietors ceded to the crown
their right of government and seven-eighths of the soil. The two
colonies were separated and they remained royal provinces until the
Revolution.



GEORGIA.

SETTLEMENT.--The same year in which Washington was born (1732),
this last colony of the famous thirteen which were to fight for
independence under him was planned. James Oglethorpe, a
warm-hearted English officer, having conceived the idea of founding
a refuge for debtors burdened by the severe laws of that time,
naturally turned to America, even then the home of the oppressed.
George II. granted him "in trust for the poor" a tract of land
which, in honor of the king, was called Georgia. Oglethorpe settled
at Savannah in 1733.

[Footnote: He made peace with the Indians, conciliating them by
presents and by his kindly disposition. One of the chiefs gave him
in return a buffalo's skin with the head and feathers of an eagle
painted on the inside of it "The eagle," said the chief, "signifies
swiftness; and the buffalo strength. The English are swift as a
bird to fly over the vast seas, and as strong as a beast before
their enemies. The eagle's feathers are soft and signify love; the
buffalo's skin is warm and means protection; therefore love and
protect our families."]

A general interest was excited in England, and many charitable
people gave liberally to promote the enterprise. More emigrants
followed, including, as in the other colonies, many who sought
religious or civil liberty.

[Footnote: The gentle Moravians and sturdy Scotch Highlanders were
among the number, and proved a valuable acquisition to the colony.
The former had fled hither from Austria, for "conscience' sake."
Having founded a little colony among the pine forests of Georgia,
they named it Ebenezer,-taking as their motto "Hitherto hath the
Lord helped us." When John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, came
to America as a missionary with his brother Charles, they were
greatly charmed with the fervent piety of this simple people. The
celebrated George Whitfield afterward founded at Savannah an orphan
asylum, which he supported by contributions from the immense
audiences which his wonderful eloquence attracted. On one occasion
sixty thousand were gathered to hear him, and his open-air meetings
were often attended by from twenty thousand to forty thousand
people.]

The trustees limited the size of a man's farm, did not allow women
to inherit land, and forbade the importation of rum, or of slaves.
These restrictions were irksome, and great discontent prevailed. At
last the trustees, wearied by the complaints of the colonists,
surrendered their charter to the crown. Georgia remained a royal
province till the Revolution.

[Footnote: Rum was obtained in exchange for lumber in the West
Indies. Hence this law prevented that trade and cut off a valuable
source of profit.]

       *       *       *       *       *



INTER-COLONIAL WARS.



I. KING WILLIAM'S WAR. (1689-1697.)

CAUSE.--War having broken out in Europe between England and France,
their colonies in America took up the quarrel. The Indians of
Canada and Maine aided the French, and the Iroquois (Five Nations
of New York) assisted the English.

ATTACKS UPON THE COLONISTS.--War parties of the French and Indians
coming down on their snow-shoes from Canada through the forest in
the depth of winter, fell upon the exposed settlements of New York
and New England, and committed the most horrible barbarities.
Schenectady, unsuspecting and defenceless, was attacked at
midnight. Men, women, and children were dragged from their beds and
tomahawked. The few who escaped, half-naked, made their way through
the snow of that fearful night to Albany.

[Footnote: The histories of the time abound in thrilling stories of
Indian adventure. One day in March, 1697, Haverhill, Mass., was
attacked. Mr. Dustin was at work in the field. Hurrying to his
house, he brought out his seven children, and bidding them "run
ahead," slowly retreated, keeping the Indians back with his gun. He
thus brought off his little flock in safety. His wife, who was
unable to escape with him, was dragged into captivity. The party
who had captured Mrs. Dustin marched many days through the forest,
and at length reached an island in the Merrimac. Here she resolved
to escape. A white boy, who had been taken prisoner before, found
out from his master, at Mrs. Dustin's request, how to strike a blow
that would produce instant death, and how to take off a scalp.
Having learned these facts, in the night she awoke the boy and her
nurse, and arranged their parts The task was soon done Seizing each
a tomahawk, they killed ten of the sleeping Indians; only one
escaped She then scalped the dead bodies, in order to prove her
story when she should reach home, and hastened to the bank, where,
finding a canoe, they descended the river and soon rejoined her
family]

[Illustration: THE INDIAN ATTACK ON SCHENECTADY.]

ATTACKS BY THE COLONISTS.--Aroused by these scenes of savage
ferocity, the colonists organized two expeditions, one under
Governor Phipps of Massachusetts, against Port Royal, Acadia, and
the other a combined land and naval attack on Canada. The former
was successful, and secured, it is said, plunder enough to pay the
expenses of the expedition. The latter was a disastrous failure.

PEACE.--The war lasted eight years. It was ended by the treaty of
Ryswick (riz'-wik), according to which each party held the
territory it had at the beginning of the struggle.



II. QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. (1702-1713.)

CAUSE.--England having declared war against France and Spain,
hostilities broke out between their colonies. The Five Nations had
made a treaty with the French, and so took no part in the contest.
Their neutrality protected New York from invasion. Consequently,
the brunt of the war fell on New England.

ATTACKS ON THE COLONISTS.--The New England frontier was again
desolated. Remote settlements were abandoned. The people betook
themselves to palisaded houses, and worked their farms with their
guns always at hand.

[Footnote: On the last night of February, 1704, while the snow was
four feet deep, a party of about three hundred and fifty French and
Indians reached a pine forest near Deerfield, Mass. They skulked
about till the unfaithful sentinels deserted the morning watch,
when they rushed upon the defenceless slumberers, who awoke from
their dreams to death or captivity. Leaving the blazing village
with forty-seven dead bodies to be consumed amid the wreck, they
then started back with their train of one hundred and twelve
captives. The horrors of that march through the wilderness can
never be told. The groan of helpless exhaustion, or the wail of
suffering childhood, was instantly stilled by the pitiless
tomahawk. Mrs. Williams, the feeble wife of the minister, had
remembered her Bible in the midst of surprise, and comforted
herself with its promises, till, her strength failing, she
commended her five captive children to God and bent to the savage
blow of the war-axe. One of her daughters grew up in captivity,
embraced the Catholic faith, and became the wife of a chief. Years
after she visited her friends in Deerfield. The whole village
joined in a fast for her deliverance, but her heart loved best her
own Mohawk children, and she went back to the fires of her Indian
wigwam.]

ATTACKS BY THE COLONISTS.

1. _At the South_.--South Carolina made a fruitless expedition
against her old enemies at St. Augustine (1702).

[Footnote: Four years after, the French and Spanish in Havana sent
a fleet against Charleston. The people, however, valiantly defended
themselves, and soon drove off their assailants.]

2. _At the North_.--Port Royal was again wrested from the French by a
combined force of English and colonial troops. In honor of the queen,
the name was changed to Annapolis. Another expedition sailed against
Quebec, but many of the ships were dashed upon the rocks in the St.
Lawrence, and nearly one thousand men perished. Thus ended the second
attempt to conquer Canada.

PEACE.-The war lasted eleven years. It was ended by the treaty of
Utrecht (oo-trekt), according to which Acadia was ceded to England.



III. KING GEORGE'S WAR.

[Footnote: This war was immediately preceded by what is known as
the "SPANISH WAR," which grew out of the difficulties then existing
between England and Spain. It was marked by no important event in
the colonies. Governor Oglethorpe invested (1740) St. Augustine
with a force of two thousand men, but the strength of the Spanish
garrison, and the loss by sickness, caused the attempt to be
abandoned. The Spaniards, in their turn, sent (1742) an expedition
against Georgia. By means of a letter which Governor Oglethorpe
caused to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, they were made to
believe that he expected large reinforcements. Being frightened,
they burned the fort they had captured, and fled in haste. The
colonies, also, furnished about four thousand men for an expedition
against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies; but only a few
hundred ever returned from this disastrous enterprise.]



(1744-1748.)

CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG.--War having again broken out between England
and France, the flame was soon kindled in the new world. The only
event of importance was the capture of Louisburg on the island of
Cape Breton, by a combined force of English and colonial troops.
The latter did most of the fighting, but the former took the glory
and the booty. Peace being made in 1748 by the treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle (akes-la-sha-pel), England gave back Louisburg to
the French. The boundaries between the French and English colonies
were left undecided, and so the germ of a new war remained.

[Footnote: Louisburg was called the "Gibraltar of America." Its
fortifications were extensive, and cost upward of $5,000,000. The
siege was conducted in the most unscientific way, the colonial
troops laughing at military terms and discipline. When the place
was captured, they were themselves astonished at what they had
done. The achievement called forth great rejoicing over the
country, especially in New England, and had an influence on the
Revolutionary War, thirty years after. Colonel Gridley, who planned
General Pepperell's batteries in this siege, laid out the American
intrenchments on Bunker Hill. The same old drums that beat the
triumphal entrance of the New Englanders into Louisburg, June 17,
1745, beat at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. "When General Gage was
erecting intrenchments on Boston Neck, the provincials sneeringly
remarked that his mud walls were nothing compared to the stone
walls of old Louisburg."]



IV. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. (1754-1763)

CAUSE.--The English occupied at this time a narrow strip along the
coast one thousand miles in length. It was like a string to the
great bow of the French territory which reached around from Quebec
to New Orleans. Both nations claimed the region west of the
Alleghany Mountains, along the Ohio River. The three previous
inter-colonial wars had engendered bitter hatred, and occasions of
quarrel were abundant. The French had over sixty military posts
guarding the long line of their possessions. They seized the
English surveyors along the Ohio. They broke up a British post on
the Miami.

[Footnote: The claims of the real proprietors, the Indians, were
overlooked by both the English and the French. The Indians, feeling
this, sent to the agent of the Ohio Company the pertinent query,
"Where is the Indian's land? The English claim all on one side of
the river, the French all on the other. Where does our land lie?"]

[Footnote: The Indian allies of the French having captured the
Miami chief who defended his English friends, killed and ate him,
in true savage style.]

They built a fort at Presque Isle (pres-keel) near the present town
of Erie, Penn.; another, Fort le Boeuf (le boof), at the present
town of Waterford; and a third, Fort Venango, about twelve miles
south, on French Creek. These encroachments awakened the liveliest
solicitude on the part of the colonists.

WASHINGTON'S JOURNEY.--Din-wid'-die, lieutenant-governor of
Virginia, accordingly sent a message by George Washington, then a
young man of twenty-one, to the French commander of these forts,
asking their removal. Washington, the very day he received his
credentials, set out on his perilous journey through the wilderness
from Williamsburg to Lake Erie. He found the French officer at Fort
Venango loud and boastful. At Fort le Boeuf the commandant, St.
Pierre (sang-pe-are), treated him with great respect; but, like a
true soldier, refused to discuss theories, and declared himself
under orders which he should obey. It was clear that France was
determined to hold the territory explored by the heroic La Salle
and Marquette. The shore in front of the fort was even then lined
with canoes ready for an intended expedition down the river.
Washington's return through the wilderness, a distance of four
hundred miles, was full of peril. At last he reached home unharmed,
and delivered St. Pierre's reply.

[Illustration: AN INCIDENT OF WASHINGTON'S RETURN.]

[Footnote: The streams were swollen. The snow was falling and
freezing as it fell. The horses gave out, and he was forced to
proceed on foot. With only one companion, he quitted the usual
path, and, with the compass as his guide, struck boldly out through
the forest. An Indian, lying in wait, fired at him only a few paces
off, but missing, was captured. Attempting to cross the Alleghany
on a rude raft, they were caught between large masses of ice
floating down the rapid current of the mid-channel. Washington
thrust out his pole to check the speed, but was jerked into the
foaming water. Swimming to an island, he barely saved his life.
Fortunately, in the morning the river was frozen over, and he
escaped on the ice.]

WAR OPENS.--Early the next spring, the French, at the fork of the
Monongahela and Alleghany, drove off a party of English traders and
erected a fort, which was called Du Quesne (doo-kane). Soon, among
the blackened stumps, corn and barley were growing on the present
site of Pittsburg. In the meantime, a regiment of Virginia troops,
under Colonel Frye, Washington being second in command, had been
sent out to occupy this important point. Learning that the French
had anticipated them, Washington hastened forward with a
reconnoitering party. Jumonville (zhoo-mong-veel), who was hiding
among the rocks with a company of French troops, waiting an
opportunity to attack him, was himself surprised and defeated.

[Footnote: Washington's word of command to "fire!" upon that
skulking foe, on the night of May 28, 1754, was the opening of the
campaign. Washington himself, it is said, fired the first gun of
that long and bloody war.]

On the death of Colonel Frye, soon after, Washington assumed
command. Collecting the troops at the Great Meadows, he erected a
stockade, which he aptly named _Fort Necessity_. Here he was
attacked by a large force of French and Indians, and after a severe
conflict was compelled to capitulate.



THE FIVE OBJECTIVE POINTS OF THE WAR.

1. Fort du Quesne was the key to the region west of the
Alleghanies, and as long as the French held it, Virginia and
Pennsylvania were exposed to Indian attacks.

2. The possession of Louisburg and Acadia threatened New England,
while it gave control over the Newfoundland fisheries. French
privateers harbored there, darted out and captured English ships,
and then returned where they were safe from pursuit.

3. Crown Point and Ticonderoga controlled the route to Canada by
the way of Lake George and Lake Champlain, and also offered a safe
starting-point for French expeditions against New York and New
England.

4. Niagara lay on the portage between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario,
and thus protected the great fur trade of the upper lakes and the
West.

5. Quebec being the strongest fortification in Canada, gave control
of the St. Lawrence, and largely decided the possession of that
province.

We thus see why these points were so persistently attacked by the
English, and so obstinately defended by the French. We shall speak
of them in order.


1. FORT DU QUESNE.

_The First Expedition_ (1755) was commanded by General Braddock,
Washington acting as aide-de-camp. The general was a regular British
officer, proud and conceited. Washington warned him of the dangers of
savage warfare, but his suggestions were received with contempt.

[Footnote: "The Indians," said Braddock, "may frighten continental
troops, but they can make no impression on the king's regulars!"]

The column came within ten miles of the fort, marching along the
Monongahela in regular array, drums beating and colors flying.
Suddenly, in ascending a little slope, with a deep ravine and thick
underbrush on either side, they encountered the Indians lying in
ambush. The terrible war-whoop resounded on every hand. The British
regulars huddled together, and, frightened, fired by platoons, at
random, against rocks and trees. The Virginia troops alone sprang
into the forest and fought the savages in Indian style. Washington
seemed everywhere present. An Indian chief with his braves
especially singled him out.

[Footnote: Fifteen years after, this old Indian chief came "a long
way" to see the Virginia officer at whom he fired a rifle fifteen
times without hitting him, during the Monongahela fight. Washington
never received a wound in battle.]

Four balls passed through his clothes. Two horses were shot under
him. Braddock was mortally wounded and borne from the field. At
last, when the continental troops were nearly all killed, the
regulars turned and fled disgracefully, abandoning everything to
the foe. Washington covered their flight and saved the wreck of the
army from pursuit.

_Second Expedition_ (1758).--General Forbes led the second expedition,
Washington commanding tho Virginia troops. The general lost so much
time in building roads that, in November, he was fifty miles from the
fort. A council of war decided to give up the attempt. But Washington
receiving news of the weakness of the French garrison, urged a forward
movement. He himself led the advance guard, and by his vigilance
dispelled all danger of Indian surprise. The French fired the fort,
and fled at his approach. As the flag of England floated out over the
ruined ramparts, this gateway of the west was named Pittsburg.

[Footnote: This was in honor of William Pitt, prime minister of
England, whose true friendship for the colonies was warmly
appreciated in America. He came into power in 1758, and from that
time the war took on a different aspect.]


2. ACADIA AND LOUISBURG.

1. _Acadia_.--Scarcely had the war commenced, when an attack
was made on Acadia. The French forts at the head of the Bay of
Fundy were quickly taken, and the entire region east of the
Penobscot fell into the hands of the English.

[Footnote: This victory was disgraced by an act of heartless
cruelty. The Acadians were a simple-minded, rural people. They
readily gave up their arms and meekly submitted to their
conquerors. But the English authorities, knowing their sympathy
with the French and coveting their rich farms, drove old and young
on board the ships at the point of the bayonet, and distributed
them among the colonies. Families were broken up, their homes
burned, and, poor exiles, the broken-hearted Acadians met
everywhere only insult and abuse. Longfellow, in his beautiful poem
"Evangeline," has revived in the present generation a warm sympathy
for these people, whose misfortunes he has so pathetically
recorded.]

2. _Louisburg_ (1757).--General Loudoun collected an army at
Halifax for an attack on Louisburg. After spending all summer in
drilling his troops, "he gave up the attempt on learning that the
French fleet contained one more ship than his own!" The next year
Generals Amherst and Wolfe captured the city after a severe
bombardment, and took possession of the entire island.

[Footnote: Abandoning Louisburg, the English made Halifax, as it is
to-day, their rendezvous in that region.]


3. CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA.

1. _Battle of Lake George_.--About the time of Braddock's
expedition, another was undertaken against Crown Point. The French
under Dieskau (de-es-ko) were met near the head of Lake George.

[Footnote: The brave Dieskau was severely wounded. In the pursuit,
a soldier found him leaning against a stump. As he fumbled for his
watch to propitiate his enemy, the soldier thinking him to be
searching for his pistol, shot him.]

[Footnote: Johnson, the English commander, received word of the
approach of the enemy, and sent out Colonel Williams with twelve
hundred men to stop them. In the skirmish Williams was killed. He
was the real founder of Williams College, having by his will, made
while on his way to battle, bequeathed a sum to found a free school
for Western Massachusetts.]

Fortunately, General Johnson, being slightly wounded, early in the
action retired to his tent, whereupon General Lyman, with his
provincial troops, regained the battle then nearly lost. This
victory following closely on the heels of Braddock's disaster,
excited great joy. Johnson was voted knighthood and $25,000; Lyman,
the real victor, received nothing. This battle ended the attempt to
take Crown Point. Johnson loitered away the summer in building a
fort near by, which he called William Henry.

[Footnote: Two years after, Montcalm, the new French general, swept
down from Canada and captured this fort with its garrison, although
Webb was at Fort Edward, fourteen miles below, with six thousand
men lying idly in camp. The victory is noted for an illustration of
savage treachery. The English had been guaranteed a safe escort to
Fort Edward. But they had scarcely left the fort when the Indians
fell upon them to plunder and to slaughter. In vain did the French
officers peril their lives to save their captives from the lawless
tomahawk. "Kill me," cried Montcalm, in desperation, "but spare the
English, who are under my protection." The Indian fury, however,
was implacable, and the march of the prisoners to Fort Edward
became a flight for life.]

In the fall he returned to Albany and disbanded his troops.

2. _Attack on Ticonderoga_.--On a calm Sunday morning, about
four months before the fall of Fort du Quesne, a thousand boats
full of soldiers, with waving flags and strains of martial music,
swept down Lake George to attack Ticonderoga. General Abercrombie
ordered an assault before his artillery came up, and while the
battle raged lay hid away in the rear. A disastrous repulse was the
result.

[Footnote: While the main army was delaying after this failure,
Colonel Bradstreet obtained permission to go against Fort
Frontenac, on the present site of Kingston. Crossing the lake, he
captured the fort and a large quantity of stores intended for Fort
Du Quesne. The loss disheartened the garrison of the latter place,
frightened off their Indian allies, and did much to cause its
evacuation on the approach of the English.]

3. _Capture of both Forts_.--The next year (1759), at the
approach of General Amherst with a large army, both Ticonderoga and
Crown Point were evacuated.


4. NIAGARA.

1. About the time of Braddock's expedition, General Shirley marched
to capture Niagara. But reaching Oswego and learning of that
disastrous defeat, he was discouraged. He simply built a fort and
came home.

[Footnote: The next year that indefatigable general, Montcalm,
crossed the lake from Canada and captured this fort with its
garrison and a large amount of public stores.]

2. Nothing further was done toward the capture of this important
post for four years, when it was invested by General Prideaux
(pre-do). In spite of desperate attempts made to relieve the
garrison, it was at last compelled to surrender (1759). New York
was thus extended to Niagara River, and the West was secured to the
English.

[Footnote: Prideaux was accidentally killed during the siege, but
his successor, Johnson, satisfactorily carried out his plans.]

5. QUEBEC (1759).--The same summer in which Niagara, Crown Point,
and Ticonderoga were occupied by the English, General Wolfe
anchored with a large fleet and eight thousand land troops in front
of Quebec. Opposed to him was the vigilant French general,
Montcalm, with a command equal to his own. The English cannon
easily destroyed the lower city next the river, but the citadel
being on higher ground, was far out of their reach. The bank of the
river, for miles a high craggy wall, bristled with cannon at every
landing-place. For months Wolfe lingered before the city, vainly
seeking some feasible point of attack. Carefully reconnoitering the
precipitous bluff above the city, his sharp eyes at length
discovered a narrow path winding among the rocks to the top, and he
determined to lead his army up this ascent.

[Footnote: It was expected that the two armies engaged in the
capture of these forts would join Wolfe in the attack on Quebec;
but for various reasons they made no attempt to do so, and Wolfe
was left to perform his task alone.]

[Illustration: QUEBEC IN EARLY TIMES]

[Footnote: General Wolfe was a great admirer of the poet Gray. As
he went the rounds for final inspection on the beautiful starlight
evening before the attack, he remarked to those in the boat with
him. "'I would rather be the author of The Elegy in a Country
Churchyard' than to have the glory of beating the French to
morrow," and amid the rippling of the water and the dashing of the
oars he repeated

 "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power
    And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
  Await alike the inevitable hour
    The paths of glory lead but to the grave"]

To distract the enemy's attention, he took his men several miles up
the river. Thence dropping down silently by night with the
ebb-tide, they landed, clambered up the steep cliff, quickly
dispersed the guard, and at day-break stood arrayed in order of
battle on the Plains of Abraham.

[Footnote: Although Wolfe rose from a sick-bed to lead his troops,
he was the first man to land. The shore was lined with French
sentinels. A captain who understood French and had been assigned
this duty, answered the challenge of the sentinel near the landing,
and thus warded off the first danger of alarm.]

Montcalm, astonished at the audacity of the attempt, could scarcely
believe it possible. When convinced of its truth he at once made an
impetuous attack. Wolfe's veterans held their fire until the French
were close at hand, then poured upon them rapid, steady volleys.
The enemy soon wavered. Wolfe, placing himself at the head, now
ordered a bayonet charge. Already twice wounded, he still pushed
forward. A third ball struck him. He was carried to the rear. "They
run! They run!" exclaimed the officer on whom he leaned. "Who run?"
he faintly gasped. "The French," was the reply. "Now God be
praised, I die happy," murmured the expiring hero. Montcalm, too,
was fatally wounded as he was vainly trying to rally the fugitives.
On being told by the surgeon that he could not live more than
twelve hours, he answered, "So much the better. I shall not see the
surrender of Quebec."

Five days afterward (September 18, 1759,) the city and garrison
capitulated.



CLOSE OF THE WAR.

[Footnote: The five points which were especially sought by the
English were now all captured. Canada itself, worn out,
impoverished, and almost in famine, because of the long war, was
ready for peace.]

PEACE.--The next year an attempt was made to re-capture Quebec. But
a powerful fleet arrived from England in time to raise the siege. A
large army marched upon Montreal, and Canada soon submitted. The
English flag now waved over the continent, from the Arctic Ocean to
the Mississippi. Peace was made at Paris in 1763. Spain ceded
Florida to England. France gave up to England all her territory
east of the Mississippi, except two small islands south of
Newfoundland, retained as fishing stations; while, to Spain she
ceded New Orleans, and all her territory west of the Mississippi.

PONTIAC'S WAR.--The French traders and missionaries had won the
hearts of the Indians. When the more haughty English came to take
possession of the western forts, great discontent was roused.
Pontiac, a chief of the Ottawas, Philip-like, formed a
confederation of the tribes against the common foe. It was secretly
agreed to fall at once upon all the British posts. Eight forts were
thus surprised and captured.

[Footnote: Various stratagems were employed to accomplish their
designs. At Maumee, a squaw lured forth the commander by imploring
aid for an Indian woman dying outside the fort. Once without, he
was at the mercy of the ambushed savages. At Mackinaw, hundreds of
Indians had gathered. Commencing a game at ball, one party drove
the other, as if by accident, toward the fort. The soldiers were
attracted to watch the game. At length the ball was thrown over the
pickets, and the Indians jumping after it, began the terrible
butchery. The commander, Major Henry, writing in his room, heard
the war-cry and the shrieks of the victims, and rushing to his
window beheld the savage work of the tomahawk and the
scalping-knife. Amid untold perils he himself escaped. At Detroit,
the plot was betrayed by a squaw, and when the chiefs were admitted
to their proposed council for "brightening the chain of
friendship," they found themselves surrounded by an armed garrison.
Pontiac was allowed to escape. Two days after he commenced a siege
which lasted several months. In payment of the supplies for his
army, he issued birch-bark notes signed with the figure of an
otter. These primitive "government bonds" were promptly paid when
due.]

Thousands of persons fled from their homes to avoid the
scalping-knife. At last the Indians, disagreeing among themselves,
deserted the alliance, and a treaty was signed. Pontiac, still
revengeful, fled to the hunting-grounds of the Illinois. There he
was murdered by a Peorian Indian, while endeavoring to incite
another attack.

EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.--In this war the colonists
spent $16,000,000, and England repaid only $5,000,000. The
Americans lost thirty thousand men, and suffered the untold horrors
of Indian barbarity. The taxes sometimes equaled two-thirds the
income of the tax-payer; yet they were levied by their own
representatives, and they did not murmur. The men of different
colonies and diverse ideas fought shoulder to shoulder, and many
sectional jealousies were allayed. They learned to think and act
independently of the mother country, and thus came to know their
strength. Democratic ideas had taken root, legislative bodies had
been called, troops raised and supplies voted, not by England, but
by themselves. They had become fond of liberty. They knew their
rights and dared maintain them. When they voted money they kept the
purse in their own hands.

The treatment of the British officers helped also to unite the
colonists. They made sport of the awkward provincial soldiers. The
best American officers were often thrust aside to make place for
young British subalterns. But, in spite of sneers, Washington,
Gates, Montgomery, Stark, Arnold, Morgan, Putnam, all received
their training, and learned how, when the time came, to fight even
British regulars.

       *       *       *       *       *



CONDITION OF THE COLONIES.

[Footnote: Read Dames's Popular History of the United States, Chap
4, Colonial Life.]

There were now thirteen colonies. They numbered about 2,000,000
people. The largest cities were Boston and Philadelphia, each
containing about eighteen thousand inhabitants Three forms of
government existed--charter, proprietary, and royal. Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut, had charter governments. Maryland
and Pennsylvania (with Delaware) were proprietary--that is, their
proprietors governed them. Georgia, Virginia, New Hampshire, New
York, New Jersey, and the Carolinas were directly subject to the
crown, the last three being at first proprietary, but afterward
becoming royal. The colonies were all Protestant. The intolerant
religious spirit of early days had moderated, and there had been a
gradual assimilation of manners and customs. They had, in a word,
become Americans. In accordance with the customs of the age, the
laws were still severe. Thus in New England, at one time, twelve
offences were punishable by death, while in Virginia there were
seventeen capital crimes. The affairs of private life were
regulated by law in a manner that would not now be endured. At
Hartford, for example, the ringing of the watchman's bell in the
morning was the signal for every one to rise and in Massachusetts a
scold was sometimes gagged and placed near her door, while for
other minor offences the stocks and pillory were used. The social
prejudices brought over from England still survived in a measure.
Even in New England official positions were monopolized by a few
leading families, and often descended from father to son. The
catalogues of Harvard and Yale were long arranged according to the
rank of the students.

[Illustration: THE STOCKS.]

[Illustration: A SCOLD GAGGED.]

Nine colleges had already been established. These were Harvard,
William and Mary, Yale, Princeton, Columbia (originally called
King's), Brown, Rutger's (then Queen's), Dartmouth, and Hampden
Sidney. Educational interests were not fostered by the English
government. Only one donation was given to found a college in the
colonies--that of William and Mary, an institution named in honor
of these sovereigns.

[Illustration: The pillory.]

Agriculture was the main dependence of the people, though
manufactures, even at this early period, received much attention at
the north. Hats, paper shoes, household furniture, farming
utensils, and the coarser kinds of cutlery were made to some
extent. Cloth weaving had been introduced. Most thrifty people,
however, dressed in homespun. It is said of Mrs. Washington that
she kept running sixteen spinning-wheels. Commerce had steadily
increased--principally, however, as coast trade, in consequence of
the oppressive laws of Great Britain. The daring fishermen of New
England already pushed their whaling crafts far into the icy
regions of the north. Money was for many years very scarce. In 1635
musket-bullets were made to pass in place of farthings, the law
providing that not more than twelve should be given in one payment.

[Illustration: THE WOOLEN SPINNING-WHEEL.]

The first printing press was set up at Cambridge, in 1639. Most of
the books of that day were collections of sermons. The first
permanent newspaper, The Boston News Letter, was published in 1704.
In 1750 there were only seven newspapers. The Federal Orrery, the
first daily paper, was not issued till 1792. There was a public
library in New York, from which books were loaned at four and a
half pence per week.

The usual mode of travel was on foot or horseback. People journeyed
largely by means of coasting sloops. The trip from New York to
Philadelphia occupied three days if the wind was fair. There was a
wagon running bi-weekly from New York across New Jersey.
Conveyances were put on in 1766, which made the unprecedented time
of two days from New York to Philadelphia. They were, therefore,
termed "flying machines."

The first stage route was between Providence and Boston, taking two
days for the trip. A post-office system had been effected by the
combination of the colonies, which united the whole country.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the early postmasters-general. He made
a grand tour of the country in his chaise, perfecting and maturing
the plan. His daughter Sally accompanied him, riding sometimes by
his side in the chaise, and sometimes on the extra horse which he
had with him. It took five months to make the rounds which could
now be performed in as many days. A mail was started in 1672,
between New York and Boston, by way of Hartford; according to the
contract the round trip being made monthly.

[Illustration: OLD-FASHIONED "STAGE WAGON."]

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

1. _The New England_ people were strict in morals. Governor
Winthrop prohibited cards and gaming tables. A man was whipped for
shooting fowl on Sunday. No man was allowed to keep tavern who did
not bear an excellent character and possess property. The names of
drunkards were posted up in the ale houses, and the keepers
forbidden to sell them liquor. By order of the colony of
Connecticut, no person under twenty years of age could use any
tobacco without a physician's order; and no one was allowed to use
it oftener than once a day, and then not within ten miles of any
house.

Articles of dress were also limited or regulated by law. No person
whose estate did not exceed 200 pounds, could wear "gold or silver
lace, or any lace above 2 shillings per yard." The "selectmen" were
required to take note of the "apparel" of the people, especially
their "ribbands and great boots." Only the gentility, including
ministers and their wives, received the prefix _Mr._ and _Mrs._ to
their names. Others, above servitude, were called _Goodman_ and
_Goodwife._

Conduct was shaped by a literal interpretation of the Scriptures.
Simplicity of manners and living was carefully inculcated. At first
the ministers had almost entire control. A church reproof was the
heaviest punishment, and knotty points in theology caused the
bitterest discussion. A pillion was the grandest equipage, and a
plain blue and white gown, with primly starched apron, was the
common attire of the New England dames.

2. _The Middle Colonies_.--The manners of the New York people
were essentially Dutch. Many customs then inaugurated still remain
in vogue. Among these is that of New Year's Day visiting, of which
General Washington said, "New York will in process of years
gradually change its ancient customs and manners, but whatever
changes take place, never forget the cordial observance of New
Year's Day." So, also, to the Dutch we owe our Christmas visit of
Santa Claus, colored eggs at Easter, doughnuts, crullers, and New
Year's cookies. Laws of morality were rigidly enforced, as in New
England. Furniture and equipages were extremely simple. Carpets
were hardly known before 1750, and each housekeeper prided herself
on the purity of her white-sanded floor.

[Illustration: DUTCH MANSION AND COTTAGE IN NEW AMSTERDAM.]

3. _The Southern Colonists_ differed widely from the northern
in habits and style of living. In place of thickly-settled towns
and villages, they had large plantations, and were surrounded by a
numerous household of servants. An estate in those days was a
little empire. The planter had among his slaves men of every trade.
The mansion-house was large, and fitted to the free-hearted, open
handed hospitality of its owner. The negro quarters formed a hamlet
apart, with its gardens and poultry yards. There were large sheds
for curing tobacco, and mills for grinding corn and wheat.
Everything necessary for ordinary use was produced on the
plantation. Their tobacco was put up by their own negroes, and
consigned direct to England. The flour of the Mount Vernon estate
was packed under the eye of Washington himself, and we are told
that barrels of flour bearing his brand, passed in the West India
market without inspection. A style of luxury and refinement already
prevailed. Services of plate, elegant equipages, and liveried
servants were not uncommon. Rich planters vied with one another in
the possession of the finest horses.

[Illustration: FIELD-SPORTS OF THE SOUTH--FOX-HUNTING]

EDUCATION.

1 _The Eastern Colonies_--Next to their religion, the Puritans
prized education. When Boston was but six years old, $2,000 were
appropriated to the seminary at Cambridge, now known as Harvard
University. Some years after, each family gave a peck of corn or a
shilling in cash for its support. Common schools had already been
provided, and in 1647 every town was ordered to have a free school,
and, if it contained over one hundred families, a grammar school.
In Connecticut, any town that did not keep a school for three
months in the year was liable to a fine. In 1700, ten ministers,
having previously so agreed, brought together a number of books,
each saying as he laid down his gift, "I give these books for
founding a college in Connecticut." This was the beginning of Yale
College. It was first established at Saybrook, but in 1716 was
removed to New Haven. It was named from Governor Yale, who
befriended it most generously.

[Illustration: A WEDDING JOURNEY.]

The "town meetings," as they were styled, were of inestimable value
in cultivating democratic ideas. The young and old, rich and poor,
here met on a perfect equality for the discussion of all local
questions. In Hartford, every freeman who neglected to attend the
town meeting was fined sixpence, unless he had a good excuse.

2. _The Middle Colonies_ already had many schools scattered
through the towns. In New York, during the Dutch period, it was
customary for the schoolmaster, in order to increase his earnings,
to ring the church-bell, dig graves, and act as chorister and town
clerk. In the English period, some of the schools were kept by
Dutch masters, who taught English as an accomplishment. As early as
1702, an act was passed for the "Encouragement of a Grammar Free
School in the City of New York." In 1795, George Clinton laid the
foundation of the common-school system of the State, and within
three years nearly 60,000 children were receiving instruction. At
Lewiston, Del, is said to have been established the first girls'
school in the colonies. The first school in Pennsylvania was
started about 1683, where "reading, writing, and casting accounts"
were taught, for eight English shillings per annum. The Orrery
invented by Dr. Rittenhouse, in 1768, is still preserved in
Princeton College. No European institution had its equal.

Churches were established by the various denominations. The Swedes
had a meeting house erected even before the landing of Penn.
Ministers' salaries were met in different ways. In New York the
Dutch dominie was paid sometimes in wampum. The dominie of Albany
on one occasion received one hundred and fifty beaver skins.

3. _The Southern Colonies_ met with great difficulties in
their efforts to establish schools. Though Virginia boasts of the
second oldest college, yet her English governors bitterly opposed
the progress of education. Governor Berkeley, of whose haughty
spirit we have already heard, said, "I thank God there are no free
schools nor printing-presses here, and I hope we shall not have
them these hundred years." The restrictions upon the press were so
great that no newspaper was published in Virginia until 1736, and
that was controlled by the government. Free schools were
established in Maryland in 1696, and a free school in Charleston,
S. C., in 1712. Private schools were early established by the
colonists in every neighborhood.

A farm of one hundred acres was set apart by law for each
clergyman, and also a portion of the "best and first gathered corn"
and tobacco. Absence from church was fined. In Georgia, masters
were compelled to send their slaves to church, under a penalty of 5
pounds.



Summary of the History of the Second Epoch, arranged in
Chronological Order.

1607. Jamestown founded by the London Company. First permanent
      English settlement in America, May 23
1609. Virginia received its second charter, June 2
1610. "Starving Time" in Virginia
1612. Virginia received its third charter, March 22
1613. Pocahontas married Rolfe, April
      Settlement of New York by the Dutch
1614. Smith explored the New England Coast
1615. Culture of tobacco commenced in Virginia
1619. First Colonial Assembly, June 28
      Slavery introduced in the English colony at Jamestown
1620. Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. First permanent English
        settlement in New England, December 21
1622. Indian massacre in Virginia, March 22
      New Hampshire granted to Gorges and Mason, Aug. 10
1623. New Hampshire settled at Dover and Portsmouth
1628. Charter granted to Massachusetts Bay Colony, March 4
1629. New patent for New Hampshire granted to Mason,
        November 7
1630. First house built in Boston, under Governor Winthrop,
        July
1632. Maryland granted to Lord Baltimore, June 20
1634. Maryland settled at St. Mary's;
1633-6. Connecticut settled at Windsor, Hartford, and
        Wethersfield,
1635. Clayborne's rebellion in Virginia and Maryland,
1636. Rhode Island settled at Providence, June,
1637. Pequod War,
1638. New Haven colony founded, April 18,
      Delaware settled near Wilmington by the Swedes, April
1641. New Hampshire united to Massachusetts,
1643. Union of the New England colonies, May 29,
1644. Second Indian massacre in Virginia, April 18,
      Charter granted to Rhode Island.--Providence and Rhode
        Island plantations united, March 14,
1655. Civil war in Maryland,
      New Sweden conquered by the Dutch, October,
1660. Navigation Act, passed in 1651, now enforced,
1662. Charter granted to Connecticut, April 20,
1663. Albemarle Colony formed, March 24,
1664. New Netherland conquered by the English and called New
        York, September,
      New Jersey settled at Elizabethtown,
1670. South Carolina settled on the Ashley River,
1675. King Philip's War,
1676. Bacon's rebellion, April
1679. New Hampshire made a royal province
1680. Charleston, S. C., founded
1682. Pennsylvania settled
      Delaware granted to William Penn by the Duke of York,
        August 31,
1683. Philadelphia founded by William Penn, February,
1686. Andros arrived in Boston as governor of New England,
        December 20,
1689. King William's war,
      Andros seized and sent to England
1690. Schenectady burned by the Indians and the French
1692. Salem witchcraft
      Massachusetts received a new charter, under Phipps, Gov.
1697. Peace of Ryswick terminated King William's war
1702. Queen Anne's war commenced,
      Delaware secured a separate legislative assembly,
1710. Port Royal, N. S., captured by the English and named
        Annapolis,
1713. Queen Anne's war closed by the treaty of Utrecht
1732. Washington born, February 22,
1733. Georgia settled by Oglethorpe at Savannah, February 12,
1739. The Spanish War began,
1744. King George's war began,
1745. Louisburg captured by the English, June 17,
1748. King George's war ended by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle
1753. Washington sent with a letter by Dinwiddie to St. Pierre,
        October 31,
1754. Battle at Gt. Meadows-Ft. Necessity captured by French,
1755. The French driven from Acadia, June,
      Braddock defeated in the Battle of Monongahela, July 9,
      The British defeated Dieskau at Lake George. September 8,
1756. War first formally declared between the English
        and the French, May 17,
      French under Montcalm captured Fort Oswego, Aug. 14,
1757. Fort William Henry surrendered to Montcalm, Aug. 9,
1758. Abercrombie repulsed at Fort Ticonderoga, July 8,
      Louisburg taken by Amherst and Wolfe, July 26,
      Fort Frontenac captured by the colonists, August 27,
      Fort du Quesne taken by the English, November 25,
1759. Ticonderoga and Crown Point abandoned by the French,
      Niagara surrendered to England, July 25,
      Battle of Plains of Abraham--Quebec surrendered,
1760. Montreal surrendered to the English, September 8,
      Pontiac's war,
1763. Peace of Paris,



REFERENCES FOR READING.

Palfrey's History of New England.--Parkman's Conspiracy of Pontiac.
--Neal's History of the Puritans.--Holmes's Robinson of Leyden
(Poem).-Mrs. Hemans's Landing of the Pilgriris (Poem).--Martyn's
Pilgrim Fathers of New England.--Elliott's History of New England.
--Hopkins's Youth of the Old Dominion.--Simms's Smith and
Pocahontas.--Mrs. Sigourney's Pocahontas (Poem).--Longfellow's
Courtship of Miles Standish, and Evangeline (Poems).--Holland's Bay
Path.--Barber's New England.--Irving's Knickerbocker's History of
New York, and King Philip's War (Sketch Book).--Cooper's Last of
the Mohicans--James's Ticonderoga.--Hubbard's History of Indian
Wars in New England.--Hall's Puritans and their Principles.
--Randall's School History of New York--Barber's American
Scenes--Tracy's American Historical Reader--Paulding's Ode to
Jamestown (Poem), and his Dutchman's Fire-Side (a novel)--Street's
Frontenac (a romance)--Mrs Childs's Hobomok (a novel).--Margaret
Smith's Journal (by Whittier).--Harper's Magazine, Vol. 52, p t,
art, Up the Ashley and Cooper (Life in Colony of S. C.)--Sanborn's
History of New Hampshire--Holland's History of Western
Massachusetts.--Greene's History of Rhode Island.





EPOCH III.



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

From 1775--the Breaking out of the War,
To   1787--the Adoption of the Constitution.



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

[Illustration]

REMOTE CAUSES.--England treated the settlers as an inferior class
of people. Her intention was to make and keep the colonies
dependent. The laws were framed to favor the English manufacturer
and merchant at the expense of the colonist. The Navigation Acts
compelled the American farmer to send his products across the ocean
to England, and to buy his goods in British markets. American
manufactures were prohibited.


[Footnote: _Questions on The Geography of The Third Epoch_.

  Locate Boston. Portsmouth. Newport. Philadelphia. Salem.
  Concord. Lexington. Whitehall. Cambridge. New London.
  Charleston. Charlestown. Brooklyn. New York. White Plains.
  North Castle. Cherry Valley. Elizabethtown. Trenton. Princeton.
  Germantown. Albany. Oriskany. Bennington. Yorktown. Monmouth C. H.
  Quebec. Danbury. Savannah. Augusta. Norfolk. Norwalk. Fairfield.
  New Haven. Elmira. Camden. Hanging Rock. Cowpeus. Guilford C. H.
  Wilmington. Eutaw Springs.

  Locate Crown Point. Fort Ticonderoga. Fort Edward. Fort Griswold.
  Fort Moultrie. Fort Washington. West Point. Fort Schuyler (Fort
  Stanwix was named after Gen. Schuyler in 1776, and so in history
  is called by either name). Stony Point. Fort Lee. Fort Mifflin.
  Fort Creek. Catawba River. Yadkin River. Dan River.
  Delaware River.

  Locate Valley Forge. Ninety Six. Dorchester Heights. Morristown.
  King's Mountain. Bemis's Heights. Wyoming.]

Iron works were denounced as "common nuisances." William Pitt, the
friend of America, declared that "she had no right to manufacture
even a nail for a horseshoe."

[Footnote: The exportation of hats from one colony to another was
prohibited, and no hatter was allowed to have more than two
apprentices at a time. The importation of sugar, rum, and molasses,
was burdened with exorbitant duties; and the Carolinians were
forbidden to cut down the pine-trees of their vast forests, in
order to convert the wood into staves, or the juice into turpentine
and tar for commercial purposes. Read Barnes's Popular History of
the United States, p. 134.]

THE DIRECT CAUSE was an attempt to tax the colonies in order to
raise money to defray the expenses of the recent war. As the
colonists were not represented in Parliament they resisted this
measure, declaring that TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY.
The British government, however, was obstinate, and began first to
enforce the odious laws against trade. Smuggling had become very
common, and the English officers were granted

WRITS OF ASSISTANCE, as they were called, or warrants authorizing
them to search for smuggled goods. Under this pretext any petty
custom-house official could enter a man's house or store at his
pleasure. The colonists believed that "every man's house is his
castle," and resisted such power as a violation of their rights.

[Footnote: The matter was brought before a general court, held in
Boston, where James Otis, advocate-general, coming out boldly on
the side of the people, exclaimed, "To my dying day I will oppose,
with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such
instruments of slavery on the one hand and villainy on the other."
"Then and there," said John Adams, who was present, "the trumpet of
the Revolution was sounded."]

THE STAMP ACT (1765), which ordered that stamps bought of the
British government, should be put on all legal documents,
newspapers, pamphlets, &c., thoroughly aroused the colonists.

[Footnote: The assembly of Virginia was the first to make public
opposition to this odious law. Patrick Henry, a brilliant young
lawyer, introduced a resolution denying the right of Parliament to
tax America. He boldly asserted that the king had played the
tyrant; and, alluding to the fate of other tyrants, exclaimed,
"Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and George III."
--here pausing till the cry of "Treason! Treason!" from several
parts of the house had ended, he deliberately added--"may profit by
their examples. If this be treason, make the most of it."--John
Ashe, speaker of the North Carolina Assembly, declared to Governor
Tryon, "This law will be resisted to blood and to death."]

The houses of British officials were mobbed. Prominent loyalists
were hung in effigy. Stamps were seized. The agents were forced to
resign. People agreed not to use any article of British
manufacture.

[Footnote: The newspapers of the day mention many wealthy people
who conformed to this agreement. On one occasion forty or fifty
young ladies, who called themselves "Daughters of Liberty," brought
their spinning-wheels to the house of Rev. Mr. Morehead, in Boston,
and during the day spun two hundred and thirty-two skeins of yarn,
which they presented to their pastor. "Within eighteen months,"
wrote a gentleman at Newport, R.I., "four hundred and eighty-seven
yards of cloth and thirty-six pairs of stockings have been spun and
knit in the family of James Nixon of this town." In Newport and
Boston the ladies, at their tea-drinkings, used, instead of
imported tea, the dried leaves of the raspberry. They called this
substitute Hyperion. The class of 1770, at Cambridge, took their
diplomas in homespun suits.]

Associations, called the "Sons of Liberty," were formed to resist
the law. Delegates from nine of the colonies met at New York and
framed a Declaration of Rights, and a petition to the king and
Parliament. The 1st of November, appointed for the law to go into
effect, was observed as a day of mourning. Bells were tolled, flags
raised at half-mast, and business was suspended,

[Footnote: The name was assumed from the celebrated speech of Barre
on the Stamp Act, in which he spoke of the colonists as "sons of
liberty."]

[Footnote: At Portsmouth, N. H., a coffin inscribed "LIBERTY, aged
CXLV years," was borne to an open grave. With muffled drums and
solemn tread, the procession moved from the State House. Minute
guns were fired till the grave was reached, when a funeral oration
was pronounced and the coffin lowered. Suddenly it was proclaimed
that there were signs of life. The coffin was raised, and the
inscription "Liberty Revived" added. Bells rang, trumpets sounded,
men shouted, and a jubilee ensued.]

Samuel and John Adams, Patrick Henry, and James Otis, by their
stirring and patriotic speeches, aroused the people over the whole
land.

Alarmed by these demonstrations, the English government repealed
the Stamp Act (1766), but still declared its right to tax the
colonies. Soon, new duties were laid upon tea, glass, paper, &c.,
and a Board of Trade was established at Boston, to act
independently of the colonial assemblies.

MUTINY ACT.--Anticipating bitter opposition, troops were sent to
enforce the laws. The "Mutiny Act," as it was called, ordered that
the colonies should provide these soldiers with quarters and
necessary supplies. This evident attempt to enslave the Americans
aroused burning indignation. To be taxed was bad enough, but to
shelter and feed their oppressors was unendurable. The New York
assembly, having refused to comply, was forbidden to pass any
legislative acts. The Massachusetts assembly sent a circular to the
other colonies urging a union for redress of grievances.
Parliament, in the name of the king, ordered the assembly to
rescind its action; but it almost unanimously refused. In the
meantime the assemblies of nearly all the colonies had declared
that Parliament had no right to tax them without their consent.
Thereupon they were warned not to imitate the disobedient conduct
of Massachusetts.

BOSTON MASSACRE.--Boston being considered the hot-bed of the
rebellion, General Gage was sent thither with two regiments of
troops. They entered on a quiet Sabbath morning, and marched as
through a conquered city, with drums beating and flags flying.
Quarters being refused, they took possession of the State House.
The Common was soon crowded with tents. Cannon were planted,
sentries posted, and citizens challenged. Frequent quarrels took
place between the people and the soldiers. One day (March 5, 1770)
a crowd of men and boys, maddened by its presence, insulted the
city guard. A fight ensued, in which two citizens were wounded and
three killed. The bells were rung; the country people rushed in to
the help of the city; and it was with great difficulty that quiet
was at last restored.

[Footnote: The soldiers were tried for murder. John Adams and
Josiah Quincy, who stood foremost in opposition to British
aggression, defended them. All were acquitted except two, who were
found guilty of manslaughter.]

BOSTON TEA PARTY (Dec. 16, 1773).--The government, alarmed by the
turn events had taken, rescinded the taxes, except that on
tea--which was left to maintain the principle. An arrangement was
made whereby tea was furnished at so low a price that with the tax
included it was cheaper in America than in England. This subterfuge
exasperated the patriots. They were fighting for a great principle,
not a paltry tax. At Charleston the tea was stored in damp cellars
where it soon spoiled. The tea-ships at New York and Philadelphia
were sent home. The British authorities refused to let the
tea-ships at Boston return. Upon this an immense public meeting was
held at Faneuil Hall, and it was decided that the tea should never
be brought ashore. A party of men, disguised as Indians, boarded
the vessels and emptied three hundred and forty-two chests of tea
into the water.

[Footnote: Faneuil Hall was the rendezvous of the Revolutionary
spirits of that time--hence it has been called the "Cradle of
Liberty."]

[Footnote: On their way home from the "Boston Tea Party," the men
passed a house at which Admiral Montague was spending the evening.
The officer raised the window and cried out, "Well, boys, you've
had a fine night for your Indian caper. But, mind, you've got to
pay the fiddler yet." "Oh, never mind," replied one of the leaders,
"never mind, squire! Just come out here, if you please, and we'll
settle the bill in two minutes." The admiral thought it best to let
the bill stand, and quickly shut the window.]

[Illustration: FANEUIL HALL]

THE CLIMAX REACHED.--Retaliatory measures were at once adopted by
the English government. General Gage was appointed governor of
Massachusetts. The port of Boston being closed by act of
Parliament, business was stopped and distress ensued. The Virginia
assembly protested against this measure, and was dissolved by the
governor. Party lines were drawn. Those opposed to royalty were
termed _Whigs_, and those supporting it, _Tories_. Everywhere were
repeated the thrilling words of Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty or
give me death." Companies of soldiers, termed "Minute men," were
formed. The idea of a continental union became popular. Gage, being
alarmed, fortified Boston Neck, and seized powder wherever he could
find it. A rumor having been circulated that the British ships were
firing on Boston, in two days thirty thousand minute men were on their
way to the city. A spark only was needed to kindle the slumbering
hatred into the flames of war.

[Footnote: The public feeling in England wan generally against the
colonies. "Every man," wrote Dr. Franklin, "seems to consider
himself as a piece of a sovereign over America; seems to jostle
himself into the throne with the king, and talks of _our_ subjects in
the colonies."]

[Footnote: Marblehead and Salem, refusing to profit by the ruin of
their rival, offered the use of their wharves to the Boston
merchants. Aid and sympathy were received from all sides.
Schoharie, N. Y., sent five hundred and twenty-five bushels of
wheat.]

THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS (Sept. 5, 1774) was held in
Philadelphia. It consisted of men of influence, and represented
every colony except Georgia. As yet few members had any idea of
independence. The Congress simply voted that obedience was not due
to any of the recent acts of Parliament, and sustained
Massachusetts in her resistance. It issued a protest against
standing armies being kept in the colonies without the consent of
the people, and agreed to hold no intercourse with Great Britain.



1775.

BATTLE OF LEXINGTON (April 19).--General Gage, learning that the
people were gathering military stores at Concord, sent eight
hundred men under Col. Smith and Major Pitcairn to destroy them.
The patriots of Boston, however, were on the alert, and hurried out
messengers to alarm the country.

[Footnote: Paul Revere caused two lights to be hung up in the
steeple of Christ Church. They were seen in Charlestown; messengers
set out, and he soon followed on his famous midnight ride. (Read
Longfellow's poem.)]

When the red-coats, as the British soldiers were called, reached
Lexington, they found a company of minute men gathering on the
village green. Riding up, Pitcairn shouted, "Disperse, you rebels;
lay down your arms!" They hesitated. A skirmish ensued, in which
seven Americans--the first martyrs of the Revolution--were killed.

[Illustration: PUTNAM SUMMONED TO WAR.]

The British pushed on and destroyed the stores. But alarmed by the
gathering militia they hastily retreated. It was none too soon. The
whole region flew to arms. Every boy old enough to use a rifle
hurried to avenge the death of his countrymen, From behind trees,
fences, buildings, and rocks, in front, flank and rear, so galling
a fire was poured, that but for reinforcements from Boston, none of
the British would have reached the city alive. As it was, they lost
nearly three hundred men.

_Effects of the Battle_.--The news that American blood had
been spilled flew like wild-fire. Patriots came pouring in from all
sides. Putnam left his cattle yoked in the field, and without
changing his working clothes, mounted his fastest horse, and
hurried to Boston. Soon twenty thousand men were at work building
intrenchments to shut up the British in the city. Congresses were
formed in all the colonies. Committees of safety were appointed to
call out the troops and provide for any emergency. The power of the
royal governors was broken from Massachusetts to Georgia.

[Footnote: Israel Putnam, familiarly known as "Old Put," was born
in Salem, Mass., 1718. Many stories are told of his great courage
and presence of mind. His descent into the wolf's den, shooting the
animal by the light of her own glaring eyes, showed his love of
bold adventure; his noble generosity was displayed in the rescue of
a comrade scout at Crown Point, at the imminent peril of his own
life. He came out of one encounter with fourteen bullet-holes in
his blanket. In 1756, a party of Indians took him prisoner, bound
him to a stake, and made ready to torture him with fire. The flames
were already scorching his limbs, and death seemed certain, when a
French officer burst through the crowd and saved his life. At Fort
Edward, when all others fled, he alone fought back the fire from a
magazine in which were stored three hundred barrels of gunpowder,
protected only by a thin partition. "His face, his hands, and
almost his whole body, were blistered; and in removing the mittens
from his hands, the skin was torn off with them." The British
offered him money and the rank of major-general if he would desert
the American cause; but he could neither be daunted by toil and
danger, nor bribed by gold and honors.]

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL (June 17).--The patriot leader, Gen. Ward,
having learned that the British intended to fortify Bunker Hill,
determined to anticipate them. A body of men, under Col. Prescott,
were accordingly assembled at Cambridge, and, after prayer by the
president of Harvard University, marched to Charlestown Neck.
Breed's Hill was then chosen as a more commanding site than Bunker
Hill. It was bright moonlight, and they were so near Boston that
the sentinel's "All's well," was distinctly heard. Yet so quietly
did they work that there was no alarm. At daylight the British
officers were startled by seeing the redoubt which had been
constructed. Resolved to drive the Americans from their position,
Howe crossed the river with three thousand men, and formed them at
the landing. The roofs and steeples of Boston were crowded with
spectators, intently watching the troops as they slowly ascended
the hill. The patriot ranks lay quietly behind their earthworks
until the red-coats were within ten rods, when Prescott shouted
"Fire!" A blaze of light shot from the redoubt, and whole platoons
of the British fell. The survivors, unable to endure the terrible
slaughter, broke and fled. They were rallied under cover of the
smoke of Charlestown, which had been wantonly fired by Gage.

[Illustration: THE PRAYER BEFORE THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.]

Again they were met by that deadly discharge, and again they fled.
Reinforcements being received, the third time they advanced. Only
one volley smote them, and then the firing ceased. The American
ammunition was exhausted. The British charged over the ramparts
with fixed bayonets. The patriots gallantly resisted with clubbed
muskets, but were soon driven from the field.

[Footnote: General Warren was among the last to leave. As he was
trying to rally the troops, a British officer, who knew him, seized
a musket and shot him. Warren had just received his commission as
major-general, but had crossed Charlestown Neel in the midst of
flying balls, reached the redoubt, and offered himself as a
volunteer. He was buried near the spot where he fell. By his death
America lost one of her truest sons. Gage is reported to have said
that his fall was worth that of five hundred ordinary rebels.]

_The effect_ upon the Americans of this first regular battle
was that of a victory. Their untrained farmer soldiers had put to
flight the British veterans. All felt encouraged, and the
determination to fight for liberty was intensified.

CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA (May 10).--Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold
led a small company of volunteers to surprise this fortress. As
Allen rushed into the sally-port, a sentinel snapped his gun at him
and fled. Making his way to the commander's quarters, Allen, in a
voice of thunder, ordered him to surrender. "By whose authority?"
exclaimed the frightened officer. "In the name of the Great Jehovah
and the Continental Congress!" shouted Allen. No resistance was
attempted. Large stores of cannon and ammunition, just then so much
needed by the troops at Boston, fell into the hands of the
Americans, without the loss of a single man. Crown Point was soon
after as easily taken. (Map opp p. 120.)

[Footnote: Ethan Allen was a native of Connecticut. With several of
his brothers he emigrated to what is now known as Vermont. At that
time a dispute had arisen between the colony of New York, on the
one hand, and the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and
Connecticut, on the other, with reference to the territory. The
governor of New Hampshire, regardless of the claims of New York,
issued grants of land so extensively that the region became known
as the _New Hampshire grants_. New York having obtained a
favorable decision of the courts, endeavored to eject the occupants
of the land. Ethan Allen became conspicuous in the resistance that
ensued. The "Green Mountain Boys" made him their colonel, and he
kept a watchful eye on the officers from New York, who sought by
form of law to dispossess the settlers of farms which had been
bought and made valuable by their own labor. The Revolutionary War
caused a lull in these hostilities, and the Green Mountain Boys
turned their arms upon the common enemy. Allen afterward aided
Montgomery in his Canadian expedition, but, in a fool-hardy attempt
upon Montreal, was taken prisoner and sent to England. After a long
captivity he was released, and returned home. Generous and frank, a
vigorous writer, loyal to his country and true to his friends, he
exerted a powerful influence on the early history of Vermont.]

THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS (May 10) met at Philadelphia in the
midst of these stirring events. It voted to raise twenty thousand
men, and appointed General Washington commander-in-chief. A
petition to the king was also prepared, which he refused to
receive. This destroyed all hope of reconciliation.

[Illustration: RUINS OF FORT TICONTEROGA.]

CONDITION OF THE ARMY--On Washington's arrival before Boston, he
found the army to number but fourteen thousand men. Few of them
were drilled; many were unfit for service; some had left their
farms at the first impulse, and were already weary of the hardships
of war; all were badly clothed and poorly armed, and there were
less than nine cartridges to each soldier. Washington at once made
every exertion to relieve their wants, and in the meantime kept
Gage penned up in Boston.

EXPEDITION AGAINST CANADA--Late in the summer General Montgomery,
leading an army by way of Lake Champlain, captured St. John's and
Montreal, and then appeared before Quebec. Here he was joined by
Colonel Arnold with a crowd of half-famished men, who had ascended
the Kennebec and then struck across the wilderness.

_Attack upon Quebec_.--Their united force was less than one
thousand effective men. Having besieged the city for three weeks it
was at last decided to hazard an assault. In the midst of a
terrible snow-storm they led their forces to the attack. Montgomery
advancing along the river, lifting with his own hands at the huge
blocks of ice, and struggling through the drifts, cheered on his
men. As they rushed forward a rude blockhouse appeared through the
blinding snow. Charging upon it, Montgomery fell at the first fire,
and his followers, disheartened, fled. Arnold, mean while,
approached the opposite side of the city. While bravely fighting he
was severely wounded and borne to the rear. Morgan, his successor,
pressed on the attack, but at last, unable either to retreat or
advance against the tremendous odds, was forced to surrender. The
remnant of the army, crouching behind mounds of snow and ice,
maintained a blockade of the city until spring. At the approach of
British reinforcements the Americans were glad to escape, leaving
all Canada in the hands of England.

       *       *       *       *       *



1776.

EVACUATION OF BOSTON (March 17).--Washington, in order to force the
British to fight or run, sent a force to fortify Dorchester Heights
by night. In the morning the English were once more astonished by
seeing intrenchments which overlooked the city. A storm prevented
an immediate attack; a delay which was well improved by the
provincials. General Howe, who was then in command, remembering the
lesson of Bunker Hill, decided to leave, and accordingly set sail
for Halifax with his army, fleet, and many loyalists. The next day
Washington entered Boston amid great rejoicing. For eleven months
the inhabitants had endured the horrors of a siege and the
insolence of the enemy. Their houses had been pillaged, their shops
rifled, and their churches profaned.

[Footnote: The boys of Boston were wont to amuse themselves in
winter by building snow-houses and by skati

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