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 skating on a pond in the
Common. The soldiers having disturbed them in their sports,
complaints were made to the inferior officers, who only ridiculed
their petition. At last a number of the largest boys waited on
General Gage. "What!" said Gage, "have your fathers sent you here
to exhibit the rebellion they have been teaching you?" "Nobody sent
us," answered the leader, with flashing eye; "we have never injured
your troops, but they have trampled down our snow-hills and broken
the ice of our skating-pond. We complained, and they called us
young rebels, and told us to help ourselves if we could. We told
the captain, and he laughed at us. Yesterday our works were
destroyed for the third time, and we will bear it no longer." The
British commander could not restrain his admiration. "The very
children," said he, "draw in a love of liberty with the air they
breathe. Go, my brave boys, and be assured, if my troops trouble
you again, they shall be punished."]
ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE (June 28).--Early in the summer an English
fleet appeared off Charleston, and opened fire on Fort Moultrie.
[Footnote: This fort was built of palmetto logs, which are so soft
that balls sink into them without splitting the wood. Here floated
the first republican flag in the South. In the early part of the
action the staff was struck by a ball, and the flag fell outside
the fort. Sergeant Jasper leaped over the breastwork, caught up the
flag, and springing back, tied it to a sponge-staff (an instrument
for cleaning cannon after a discharge), and hoisted it again to its
place. The next day Governor Rutledge offered him a sword and a
lieutenant's commission. He refused, saying, "I am not fit for the
company of officers; I am only a sergeant."]
So fearful was the response from Moultrie's guns, that at one time
every man but Admiral Parker was swept from the deck of his vessel.
General Clinton, who commanded the British land troops, tried to
attack the fort in the rear, but the fire of the southern riflemen
was too severe. The fleet was at last so badly shattered that it
withdrew and sailed for New York. This victory gave the colonists
great delight, as it was their first encounter with the boasted
"Mistress of the Seas."
The simple-hearted Sergeant Jasper died grasping the banner
presented to his regiment at Fort Moultrie. D'Estaing refused to
give further aid; thus again deserting the Americans when help was
most needed.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (July 4, 1776).--During the session of
Congress this summer, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, moved that
"_The United Colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent
states._" This was passed by a majority of one colony. A
committee was appointed to draw up a DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
At two o'clock on the fourth of July, its report was adopted.
[Footnote: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger
Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, composed this committee.]
[Footnote: During the day the streets of Philadelphia were crowded
with people anxious to learn the decision. In the steeple of the
old State House was a bell on which, by a happy coincidence, was
inscribed, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof." In the morning, when Congress assembled, the
bell-ringer went to his post, having placed his boy below to
announce when the Declaration was adopted, that his bell might be
the first to peal forth the glad tidings. Long he waited, while the
deliberations went on. Impatiently the old man shook his head and
repeated, "They will never do it! They will never do it!" Suddenly
he heard his boy clapping his hands and shouting, "Ring! Ring!"
Grasping the iron tongue, he swung it to and fro, proclaiming the
glad news of liberty to all the land. The crowded streets caught up
the sound. Every steeple re-echoed it. All that night, by shouts,
and illuminations, and booming of cannon, the people declared their
joy.]
CAMPAIGN NEAR NEW YORK.--General Howe, after evacuating Boston,
went to Halifax, but soon set sail for New York. Thither also came
Admiral Howe, his brother, with reinforcements from England, and
General Clinton from the defeat at Fort Moultrie. The British army
was thirty thousand strong. Washington, divining Howe's plans, now
gathered all his forces at New York to protect that city. He had,
however, only about seven thousand men fit for duty.
[Footnote: Parliament authorized the Howes to treat with the
insurgents. By proclamation they offered pardon to all who would
return to their allegiance. This document was published by
direction of Congress, that the people might see what England
demanded. An officer was then sent to the American camp with a
letter addressed to "George Washington, Esq." Washington refused to
receive it. The address was afterward changed to "George
Washington, &c., &c." The messenger endeavored to show that this
bore any meaning which might be desired. But Washington understood
the sophistry and refused any communication which did not
distinctly recognize his position as commander of the American
army.]
BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND (Aug. 27).--The British army landed on the
southwest shore of Long Island. General Putnam, with about nine
thousand men, held a fort at Brooklyn and defences on a range of
hills south of the city. The English advanced in three divisions.
Two of these attacked the defences in front, while General Clinton,
by a circuitous route, gained the rear. The patriots were fighting
gallantly, when, to their dismay, they heard firing behind them.
They attempted to escape, but it was too late. Out of five thousand
Americans engaged, two thousand were lost.
[Footnote: Many of the captives were consigned to the Sugar House
on Liberty Street, and the prison-ships in Wallabout Bay. Their
hard lot made the fate of those who perished in battle to be
envied. During the course of the war, over 11,000 American
prisoners died in these loathsome hulks. Their bodies were buried
in the beach, whence, for years after, they were washed out from
the sand by every tide. In 1808, the remains of these martyrs were
interred with suitable ceremonies near the Navy Yard, Brooklyn;
and, in 1878, they were finally placed in a vault at Washington
Park.]
(Map opposite p. 120.)
Had Howe attacked the fort at Brooklyn immediately, the Americans
would have been destroyed. Fortunately he delayed for the fleet to
arrive. For two days the patriots lay helpless, awaiting the
assault. On the second night after the battle, there was a dense
fog on the Brooklyn side, while in New York the weather was clear.
At midnight the Americans moved silently down to the shore and
crossed the river. In the morning, when the sun scattered the fog,
Howe was chagrined to find his prey escaped.
[Footnote: The Americans embarked at a place near the present
Fulton Ferry. A woman sent her negro servant to the British to
inform them of the movements of the Americans. He was captured by
the _Hessians_, who were Germans from Hesse Cassel, hired to
fight by the British government. These, not being able to
understand a word of English, detained him until the morning. His
message was then too late.]
WASHINGTON'S RETREAT.--The British, crossing to New York, moved to
attack Washington, who had taken post on _Harlem Heights_. Finding the
American position too strong, Howe moved up the Sound in order to gain
the rear. Washington then withdrew to _White Plains_. Here Howe came
up and defeated a part of his army. Washington next retired into a
fortified camp at _North Castle_. Howe, not daring to attack him,
returned to New York and sent the Hessians to take _Fort Washington_,
which they captured after a fierce resistance (Nov. 16).
[Footnote: Washington desiring to gain some knowledge of Howe's
movements, sent Captain Nathan Hale to visit the English camps on
Long Island. He passed the lines safely, but on his way back was
recognized by a tory relative, who arrested him. He was taken to
Howe's headquarters, tried, and executed as a spy. No clergyman was
allowed to visit him; even a Bible was denied him, and his farewell
letters to his mother and sister were destroyed. The brutality of
his enemies did not, however, crush his noble spirit, for his last
words were, "I regret only that I have but one life to give to my
country."]
FLIGHT THROUGH NEW JERSEY.--Washington had now retired into New
Jersey in order to prevent the British from marching against
Philadelphia. Cornwallis, with six thousand men, hurried after him,
and for three weeks pursued the flying Americans. Many of the
patriots had no shoes, and left their blood-stained foot-prints on
the frozen ground. Oftentimes the van of the pursuing army was in
sight of the American rear-guard. At last Washington reached the
Delaware, and all the boats having been secured, crossed into
Pennsylvania. Howe resolved to wait until the river should freeze
over, and then capture Philadelphia, meanwhile quartering his
troops in the neighboring villages.
[Footnote: During this retreat, Washington repeatedly sent orders
to General Lee, who was then at North Castle, to join him. Lee
hesitated, and at last moved very slowly. Five days after this,
while quartered in a small tavern at Baskingridge, remote from his
troops, he was taken prisoner by the English cavalry. His capture
was considered a great misfortune by the Americans, who thought him
the best officer in the army. The British were greatly rejoiced,
and declared they had taken the "American Palladium."]
CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.--It was a time of deep despondency. The
patriot army was a mere handful of ragged, disheartened fugitives.
Many people of wealth and influence went over to the enemy. New
York and Newport--the second city in size in New England--were
already in the hands of the British, and they were likely soon to
seize Philadelphia.
BATTLE OF TRENTON.--Washington thought it time to strike a daring
blow. On Christmas night, in a driving storm of sleet, amid
drifting ice, that threatened every moment to crush the boats, he
crossed the Delaware with twenty-four hundred picked men, fell upon
the Hessians at Trenton, in the midst of their festivities,
captured one thousand prisoners, slew their leader, and safely
escaped back to camp, with the loss of only four men--two killed
and two frozen to death. (Map opposite p. 120.)
[Illustration: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE.]
[Footnote: Hunt, a trader with friends and foes, a neutral, had
invited Rall, the Hessian commander, to a Christmas supper.
Card-playing and wine-drinking were kept up all night long. A
messenger came in haste, at early dawn, with a note to the colonel.
It was sent by a tory to give warning of the approach of the
American forces. The negro servant refused admittance to the
bearer. Knowing its importance, he bade the negro to take the note
directly to the officer. The servant obeyed, but the colonel,
excited by wine and the play, thrust it unopened into his pocket.
Soon the roll of drums was heard, and before the pleasure-loving
officer could reach his quarters the Americans were in pursuit of
his fleeing soldiers.]
[Footnote: Before leaving Trenton, Washington and Greene visited
the dying Hessian. It had been a time of splendid triumph to the
American commander, but as he stood by the bedside, the soldier was
lost in the Christian, and the victorious general showed himself in
that hour only a sympathizing friend.]
_The effect_ of this brilliant feat was electrical. The fires
of patriotism were kindled afresh. New recruits were received, and
the troops whose term of enlistment was expiring, agreed to remain.
Howe was alarmed, and ordered Cornwallis, who was just setting sail
for England, to return and prepare for a winter's campaign.
* * * * *
1777.
BATTLE OF PRINCETON (Jan. 3).--Washington soon crossed the Delaware
again, and took post at Trenton. Just before sunset Cornwallis came
up. His first onset being repulsed, he decided to wait till
morning. Washington's situation was now most critical. Before him
was a powerful army, and behind, a river full of floating ice. That
night, leaving his camp-fires burning to deceive the enemy, he
swept by country roads around the British, fell upon the troops
near Princeton, routed them, took three hundred prisoners, and by
rapid marches reached Morristown Heights in safety. Cornwallis
heard the firing and hurried to the rescue, but he was too late.
The victory was gained, and the victors were beyond pursuit.
These exploits won for Washington universal praise, and he was
declared to be the saver of his country.
[Footnote: Washington had forty cannon. At night-fall the ground
was so soft that he could not move them; but, while the council was
in session, the wind changed, and in two hours the roads were as
hard as pavement. Erskine urged Cornwallis to attack the Americans
that night, but he said he could "catch the fox in the morning." On
the morrow the fires were still burning, but the army was gone.
None knew whither the patriots had fled. But at sunrise there was a
sound of firing in the direction of Princeton. The report of the
cannon through the keen frosty air could be distinctly heard, but
Cornwallis believed it to be distant thunder. Erskine, however,
exclaimed, "To arms, general! Washington has outgeneraled us. Let
us fly to the rescue at Princeton!"]
[Footnote: Frederick the Great of Prussia is said to have declared
that the achievements of Washington and his little band, during the
six weeks following Christmas, were the most brilliant recorded on
the pages of military history.]
CAMPAIGN IN PENNSYLVANIA--Howe, having spent the next summer at New
York, where he was closely watched by Washington, finally took the
field, and manoeuvred to force the patriot army to a general fight.
Finding the "American Fabius" too wary for him, he suddenly
embarked eighteen thousand men on his brother's fleet, and set
sail. Washington hurried south to meet him. The patriot army
numbered only 11,000, but when Washington learned that the British
had arrived in the Chesapeake, he resolved to hazard a battle for
the defence of Philadelphia.
[Illustration: MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE.]
BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE (Sept. ll).--The Americans took position at
Chad's Ford, on the Brandywine. Here they were attacked in front
while Cornwallis stole around in the rear, as Clinton did in the
battle of Long Island. Sullivan, Sterling, La Fayette, Wayne, and
Count Pulaski, in vain performed prodigies of valor. The patriots
were routed, Philadelphia was taken, and the British army went into
quarters there and at Germantown.
[Footnote: La Fayette's full name was Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves
Gilbert Motier, Marquis de la Fayette. At a banquet in honor of the
brother of the English king, he first heard the Declaration of
Independence. He was won by its arguments, and from that time
joined his hopes and sympathies to the American cause. Yet, how was
he to aid it? The French nobility, though disliking England, did
not endorse the action of her colonies. He was not yet twenty years
of age, he had just married a woman whom he tenderly loved, his
prospects at home for honor and happiness were bright, to join the
patriot army would take him from his native land, his wife, and all
his coveted ambitions, and lead him into a struggle that seemed as
hopeless as its cause was just. Yet his zeal for America overcame
all these obstacles. Other difficulties now arose. His family
objected, the British minister protested, the French king withheld
his permission. Still undaunted, he purchased a vessel fitted it
out at his own expense, and, escaping the officers sent to detain
him, crossed the ocean. As soon as he landed at Charleston, he
hastened to Philadelphia, and offering himself to Congress asked
permission to serve as a volunteer without pay. A few days after,
his acquaintance with Washington began, and it soon ripened into a
tender and intimate friendship. His valor won for him a commission
as major-general before he was twenty-one.]
[Footnote: The British army was sadly demoralized by the
festivities of their winter quarters. Franklin wittily said, "Howe
has not taken Philadelphia so much as Philadelphia has taken Howe."]
BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN (Oct. 4)--Washington would not let the enemies
of his country rest in peace. A few weeks after they had settled
down for the winter, he made a night march, and at sunrise fell
upon their troops at Germantown. At first the attack was
successful, but a few companies of British desperately defending a
stone house caused delay. The co-operation of the different
divisions was prevented by a dense fog, which also hid the
confusion of the enemy, so that the Americans retreated just at the
moment of victory.
[Footnote: One thousand of his men were barefoot at this time.]
CONCLUSION OF THE CAMPAIGN IN PENNSYLVANIA.--After these battles,
Howe turned his attention to the forts on the Delaware, which
prevented his bringing supplies up to Philadelphia. The gallant
defenders were soon forced by a severe bombardment to evacuate.
Washington now retired to Valley Forge for winter quarters.
CAMPAIGN AT THE NORTH.--While the British had been thus successful
in Pennsylvania, their victories were more than counterbalanced by
defeats at the North. An attempt to cut off New England from New
York by an expedition along the old traveled French and Indian war
route up Lake Champlain, ended in disaster.
[Footnote: Besides the capture of Burgoyne's army, of which we
shall now speak, several minor events occurred during the year,
which, though of little importance in themselves, served to
encourage the people.--(1.) Howe sent General Tryon with two
thousand men to destroy the American stores at Danbury, Conn. He
accomplished his work, and then set fire to the town. The next day
he began his retreat, plundering the people and devastating the
country on his way. But the militiamen under Wooster, Arnold, and
Silliman, handled his forces so roughly that they were glad to
reach their boats. General Wooster, who was mortally wounded in the
pursuit, was nearly seventy years of age, but fought with the vigor
of youth. Two horses were shot under Arnold, and he received the
fire of a whole platoon at a distance of thirty yards, yet escaped
uninjured.--(2.) Colonel Meigs avenged the burning of Danbury. With
about two hundred men he crossed in whale-boats to Long Island,
destroyed a great quantity of stores, including twelve ships at Sag
Harbor, took ninety prisoners, and escaped without losing a man.
--(3.) The Americans were extremely anxious to offset the capture
of General Lee, especially as they had no prisoner of equal rank to
exchange for him. At this time, General Prescott, who held command
in Rhode Island, finding himself surrounded by ships and a superior
British force, became very negligent. Accordingly Colonel Barton
formed a plan to capture him. Dexterously avoiding the enemy's
vessels, he rowed ten miles in whale-boats and with about forty
militia landed near Prescott's quarters. Seizing the astonished
sentinel who guarded his door, they hurried off the half-dressed
general. A soldier escaping from the house gave the alarm, but the
laughing guard assured him he had seen a ghost. They soon, however,
found it to be no jesting matter, and vainly pursued the exultant
Barton. This capture was very annoying to Prescott, as he had just
offered a price for Arnold's head, and his tyrannical conduct had
made him obnoxious to the people. General Howe readily parted with
Lee in exchange for Prescott. ]
[Illustration: CAMPAIGNS IN THE NORTH
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.]
[Illustration: CAMPAIGNS IN THE SOUTH.
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR]
BURGOYNE'S INVASION.--In June, Burgoyne marched south from Canada
with an army of ten thousand British and Indians. Forts Crown
Point, Ticonderoga, and Edward, and the supplies at Whitehall,
successively fell into his hands. General Schuyler, with the small
force at his command, could only obstruct his path through the
wilderness by felling trees across the road, and breaking down
bridges. The loss of so many strongholds caused general alarm.
Lincoln--with the Massachusetts troops, Arnold--noted for his
headlong valor, and Morgan--with his famous riflemen, were sent to
check Burgoyne's advance. Militiamen gathered from the neighboring
States, and an army was rapidly collected and drilled. So much
dissatisfaction, however, arose with Schuyler that he was
superseded by Gates just as he was ready to reap the results of his
well-laid schemes. With noble-minded patriotism he made known to
Gates all his plans, and generously assisted him in their
execution. The army was now stationed at Bemis's Heights, where
fortifications were thrown up under the direction of Kosciusko
(kos-se-us'-ko).
[Footnote: This general was a Pole of noble birth. While in France
he formed the acquaintance of Franklin, who recommended him to
Washington. He came to America and offered himself "to fight as a
volunteer for American independence." "What can you do?" asked the
commander. "Try me," was Kosciusko's laconic reply. Washington was
greatly pleased with him, and made him his aid. He became a colonel
in the engineer corps, and superintended the construction of the
works at West Point. After the war he returned home and led the
Poles in their struggles for independence. At Cracow is a mound of
earth, 150 feet high, raised in his memory. It is composed of earth
brought from the battle-fields on which the Poles fought for
liberty. In the new world, his name is perpetuated by a monument at
West Point.]
[Footnote: The outrages of the Indians along the route led many to
join the army. None of their bloody acts caused more general
execration than the murder of Jane McCrea. This young lady was the
betrothed of a Captain Jones of the British army. She lived near
Fort Edward in the family of her brother, who, being a whig,
started for Albany on Burgoyne's approach. But she, hoping to meet
her lover, lingered at the house of a Mrs. McNeil, a staunch
loyalist, and a cousin of the British general, Fraser. Early one
morning the house was surprised by Indians, who dragged out the
inmates and hurried them away toward Burgoyne's camp. Mrs. McNeil
arrived there in safety. A short time after, another party came in
with fresh scalps, among which she recognized the long glossy hair
of her friend. The savages, on being charged with her murder,
declared that she had been killed by a chance shot from a pursuing
party; whereupon they had scalped her to secure the bounty. The
precise truth has never been known. Captain Jones possessed himself
of the sad memento of his betrothed, and resigned. The government
refusing his resignation, he deserted, and for more than fifty
years lived remote from society, a heart-broken man.]
BURGOYNE'S DIFFICULTIES.--In the meantime, before Gates took
command, two events occurred which materially deranged the plans of
Burgoyne.
1. St. Leger had been sent to take Fort Schuyler, thence to ravage
the Mohawk Valley and join Burgoyne's army at Albany. General
Arnold being dispatched to relieve that fort, accomplished it by a
stratagem. A half-witted tory boy who had been taken prisoner, was
promised his freedom, if he would spread the report among St.
Leger's troops that a large body of Americans was close at hand.
The boy, having cut holes in his clothes, ran breathless into the
camp of the besiegers, showing the bullet-holes and describing his
narrow escape from the enemy. When asked their number, he
mysteriously pointed upward to the leaves on the trees. The Indians
and British were so frightened that they fled precipitately,
leaving their tents and artillery behind them.
[Footnote: Fort Stanwix, on the site of Rome, N. Y., in 1776 was
named after Gen. Schuyler.]
[Illustration: THE ALARM AT FORT SCHUYLER.]
2. Burgoyne sent a detachment under Colonel Baum to seize the
supplies the Americans had collected at Bennington, Vt. General
Stark with the militia met him there. As Stark saw the British
lines forming for the attack, he exclaimed, "There are the
red-coats; we must beat them today, or Molly Stark is a widow." His
patriotism and bravery so inspired his raw troops that they
defeated the British regulars and took about six hundred prisoners.
[Footnote: One old man had five sons in the patriot army at
Bennington. A neighbor, just from the field, told him that one had
been unfortunate. "Has he proved a coward or a traitor?" asked the
father. "Worse than that," was the answer, "he has fallen, but
while bravely fighting" "Ah," said the father, "then I am
satisfied."]
THE TWO BATTLES OF SARATOGA (Sept. 19 and Oct. 7).--Disappointed in
his expectation of supplies and reinforcements from both these
directions, Burgoyne now moved southward and attacked Gates's army
at Bemis's Heights near Saratoga. The armies surged to and fro
through the day, like the ebbing and flowing of the tide. The
strife did not cease until darkness closed over the battle-field.
For two weeks afterward, both armies lay in camp fortifying their
positions, and each watching for an opportunity to take the other
at a disadvantage.
[Footnote: The British camp was kept in continual alarm. Officers
and soldiers were constantly dressed and ready for action. One
night, twenty young farmers residing near the camp, resolved to
capture the enemy's advance picket-guard. Armed with
fowling-pieces, they marched silently through the woods until they
were within a few yards of the picket. They then rushed out from
the bushes, the captain blowing an old horse-trumpet and the men
yelling. There was no time for the sentinel's hail. "Ground your
arms, or you are all dead men!" cried the patriot captain. Thinking
that a large force had fallen upon them, the picket obeyed. The
young farmers led to the American camp, with all the parade of
regulars, over thirty British soldiers.]
Burgoyne, finding that his provisions were low and that he must
either fight or fly, again moved out to attack the Americans.
Arnold, who had been unjustly deprived of his command since the
last battle, maddened by the sight of the conflict, rushed into the
thickest of the fight. Gates, fearing that he might win fresh
laurels, ordered Major Armstrong to recall him, but he was already
out of reach. He had no authority to fight, much less to direct;
but, dashing to the head of his old command, where he was received
with cheers, he ordered a charge on the British line. Urging on the
fight, leading every onset, delivering his orders in person where
the bullets flew thickest, he forced the British to their camp.
Here the Hessians, dismayed by these terrific attacks, fired one
volley and fled. Arnold, having forced an entrance, was wounded in
the same leg as at Quebec (p. 112), and borne from the field, but
not until he had won a victory while Gates stayed in his tent. . .
[Footnote: So fierce was the battle, that a single cannon was taken
and retaken five times. Finally, Colonel Cilly leaped upon it, waved
his sword, and "dedicating the gun to the American cause," opened
it upon the enemy with their own ammunition.]
[Footnote: General Fraser was the mind and soul of the British
army. Morgan soon saw that this brave man alone stood between the
Americans and victory. Calling to him some of his best men, he
said, "That gallant officer is General Fraser. I admire and honor
him; but he must die. Stand among those bushes and do your duty."
In five minutes Fraser fell, mortally wounded.]
_Effects of these Battles_.--Burgoyne now fell back to Saratoga.
Hemmed in on all sides, there was no hope of escape. Indians and
tories were constantly deserting. Provisions were low and water was
scarce, as no one, except the women, dared to go to the river for it.
The American batteries commanded the British camp. While a council of
war, held in Burgoyne's tent, was considering the question of
surrender, an 18-lb. cannon-ball passed over the table around which
the officers sat. Under these circumstances the decision was quickly
made. The entire army, nearly six thousand strong, laid down their
arms, and an American detachment marched into their camp to the tune
of Yankee Doodle. General Burgoyne handed his sword to General Gates,
who promptly returned it.
A shout of joy went up all over the land at the news of this
victory. From the despair caused by the defeats of Brandywine and
Germantown, the nation now rose to the highest pitch of confidence.
1778.
WINTER IN VALLEY FORGE.--The winter passed in Valley Forge was the
gloomiest period of the war. The continental paper money was so
depreciated in value that an officer's pay would not keep him in
clothes. Many, having spent their entire fortune in the war, were
now compelled to resign, in order to get a living. The men were
encamped in cold, comfortless huts, with little food or clothing.
Barefooted, they left on the frozen ground their tracks in blood.
Few had blankets, and straw could not be obtained. Soldiers, who
were enfeebled by hunger and benumbed by cold, slept on the bare
earth. Sickness followed. With no change of clothing, no suitable
food, and no medicines, death was the only relief. Amid this
terrible suffering the fires of patriotism burned brightly.
Washington felt that his cause was just, and inspired all around
him with his sublime faith.
[Footnote: During this winter Washington was quartered at the house
of Isaac Potts. One day, while Potts was on his way up the creek
near by, he heard a voice of prayer. Softly following its
direction, be soon discovered the General upon his knees, his
cheeks wet with tears. Narrating the incident to his wife, he added
with much emotion, "If there is any one to whom the Lord will
listen, it is George Washington, and under such a commander, our
independence is certain."--Besides all the perils of want and
famine which he shared with his soldiers, Washington was called
upon to suffer from envy and calumny. General Conway, a cunning,
restless intriguer, formed a cabal of officers against Washington.
Their plan was to wound his feelings so that he would resign. In
that event Gates, whose reputation was very high, would succeed to
the command. Pennsylvania sent to Congress a remonstrance censuring
Washington. The same was done by members from Massachusetts.
Fortunately, the army and the best citizens knew the inspiration of
the movement to be jealousy, and their indignation was unbounded.
Neither Conway nor Adams dared show himself among the soldiers, and
the attack recoiled on the heads of its instigators--Soon after
this, England sent commissioners with liberal proposals, which,
before the war commenced, would have been accepted; but that day
was now past. Next bribery was tried. Among those approached was
General Reed of Pennsylvania. He was offered ten thousand guineas
and distinguished honors if he would exert his influence to effect
a reconciliation. "I am not worth purchasing," said the honest
patriot, "but such as I am, the king of Great Britain is not rich
enough to buy me."]
[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE.]
AID FROM FRANCE.--In the spring the hearts of all were gladdened by
the news that, through the efforts of Franklin, France had
acknowledged the Independence of the United States, and that a
fleet was on its way to help them in their struggle for
independence.
[Footnote: Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, 1706, N S; died in
Philadelphia, 1790. His father was a soap and candle maker, with
small means, and Benjamin, being the youngest of seventeen
children, had little opportunity to gratify his desire for
knowledge. By abstaining from meat for two years, he managed to buy
a few books, which he diligently studied. At seventeen years of age
he landed in Philadelphia with a silver dollar and a shilling in
copper. As, with his extra shirts and stockings stuffed in his
pockets, he walked along the streets, eating the roll of bread
which served for his breakfast, his future wife stood at her
father's door and smiled at his awkward appearance, little dreaming
of his brilliant future, or of its interest to her. He soon
obtained employment as a printer. Being induced by false
representations to go to England, he found himself almost penniless
in a strange land. With his usual industry he went to work, and
soon made friends and a good living. Returning to Philadelphia he
established a newspaper, and in 1732 commenced to publish "Poor
Richard's Almanac," which for twenty years was quite as popular in
Europe as in America. Its common-sense proverbs and useful hints
are household words to this day. Retiring from business with a fine
fortune, he devoted himself chiefly to science. His discoveries in
electricity are world-renowned. (See Steele's New Physics, pp. 228,
251.) Franklin was an unflinching patriot. While in England he
defended the cause of liberty with great zeal and ability. He
helped to draft the Declaration of Independence, and was one of its
signers. Having been appointed ambassador to France, he first
invested all his ready money, $15,000, in the continental loan, a
practical proof of his patriotism, since its repayment was
extremely improbable. His influence at the French court was
unbounded. He was revered for his wit, his genius, his dignity, and
his charming conversation. He became to the American cause in the
old world what Washington was in the new. On his return he was
elected president of Pennsylvania for three successive years. He
gave the whole of his salary, $30,000, to benevolent objects. In
his eighty-second year, he was a member of the Constitutional
Convetion. At his death twenty thousand persons assembled to do
honor to his memory.]
[Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN]
BATTLE OF MONMOUTH (June 28).--Howe having returned to England,
Clinton succeeded him. The British government, alarmed by the
sending of the French fleet, ordered Clinton to concentrate his
forces at New York. Washington rapidly followed the English across
New Jersey and overtook them at Monmouth. General Lee, who
conducted the attack, ordered a retreat. The men, entangled in a
swamp, were becoming demoralized as they retired from the field,
when Washington, riding up, bitterly rebuked Lee, by his personal
presence rallied the men, and sent them back against the enemy. The
fight lasted all that long sultry day. In the darkness of night
Clinton stole away with his men to New York.
[Footnote: Charles Lee, for his conduct at Monmouth, and his
disrespectful letters to Washington, and afterward to Congress, was
dismissed from the army. He retired to his estate in Virginia,
where he lived in a rude house whose only partitions were chalk
marks on the floor--an improvement upon walls on which he prided
himself--surrounded by his dogs, his only intimate companions.]
[Footnote: During the day an artilleryman was shot at his post. His
wife, Mary Pitcher, while bringing water to her husband from a
spring, saw him fall and heard the commander order the piece to be
removed from the field. Instantly dropping the pail, she hastened
to the cannon, seized the rammer, and with great skill and courage
performed her husband's duty. The soldiers gave her the nickname of
Major Molly. Congress voted her a sergeant's commission with
half-pay through life.]
CAMPAIGN IN RHODE ISLAND.--A combined attack on Newport was
arranged to be made by the French fleet under D'Estaing
(da-es-tang), and the American army under General Sullivan. Soon
after the French entered Narraganset Bay, Howe arrived off the
harbor with the English fleet. D'Estaing went out to meet him. A
storm came on, which so shattered both fleets that they were
compelled to put back for repairs. General Sullivan, being thus
deserted, retreated just in time to escape Clinton, who came up
from New York with reinforcements. The French gave no further aid
during the year.
THE WYOMING MASSACRE.--In July, a band of tories and Indians under
Butler, entered the beautiful valley of the Wyoming. Most of the
able-bodied men had gone to the war. The old men and the boys armed
for the defence. The women and children fled for refuge to a fort
near the present site of Wilkesbarre. Taking counsel of their
courage, and their helpless mothers, wives, and children, a handful
of men sallied out to meet the invaders, but were quickly defeated.
All that night the Indians tortured their prisoners in every way
that savage cruelty could devise. The fort having been surrendered
on promise of safety, Butler did his best to restrain his savage
allies, but in vain. By night the whole valley was ablaze with
burning dwellings, while the people fled for their lives through
the wilderness.
* * * * *
1779.
CAMPAIGN AT THE SOUTH.--At the close of the preceding autumn the
scene of conflict was transferred to Georgia. Savannah and Augusta
were captured, and soon the entire State was conquered (map opp. p.
121). The British governor being restored, England could once more
boast of a royal province among the colonies. Prevost now led the
British against Charleston, S.C. He had scarcely summoned the city
when he heard that Lincoln, his dreaded foe, was after him with the
militia, and he was glad to escape back to Savannah. In September,
D'Estaing joined Lincoln in an attack upon that city. After a
severe bombardment an unsuccessful assault was made, in which a
thousand lives were lost. Count Pulaski was mortally wounded.
[Footnote: Count Pulaski was a Polish patriot who, having lost his
father and brothers in the hopeless defence of his country, and
being himself outlawed, had come to fight for the freedom of
America. At first he served as a volunteer. He fought valiantly at
the battle of Brandywine. During the second year he commanded an
independent corps of cavalry, lancers, and light infantry, called
"Pulaski's Legion," with which he did effectual service. He was
buried in the Savannah River. The corner-stone of a monument raised
to his memory in Savannah, was laid by La Fayette while visiting
that city during his triumphal progress through the United States.]
[Footnote: The British, discouraged by their failure to subdue the
eastern and middle States, during the remainder of the war put
forth their principal strength at the South.]
CAMPAIGN AT THE NORTH.--Clinton did little except to send out
predatory parties. Norwalk, Fairfield, and New Haven, Conn., were
either burned or plundered. Tryon, who commanded the Connecticut
expedition, boasted of his clemency in leaving a single house
standing on the New England coast.
[Footnote: General Putnam was at Horse Neck when Tryon was in the
vicinity. Hastily gathering a few militia, he annoyed the British
as long as possible, and then, compelled to flee before the enemy's
overwhelming force, his men hid themselves in the adjacent swamp,
while he, spurring his spirited horse over a precipice, descended a
zigzag path, where the British dragoons did not dare to follow.]
THE CAPTURE OF STONY POINT by General Wayne, with only eight
hundred men, was one of the most brilliant exploits of the war. The
countersign, which, curiously enough, was "The fort is ours," was
obtained from a negro who was in the habit of selling strawberries
at the fort. He guided them in the darkness to the causeway leading
over the flooded marsh around the foot of the hill, on which the
fort was situated. The unsuspicious sentinel, having received the
countersign, was chatting with the negro, when he was suddenly
seized and gagged. Wayne's men passed over the causeway and reached
the base of the hill undiscovered. Forming in two divisions, with
unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, they commenced the ascent of
the steep and narrow path which led to the top. They had nearly
reached the picket before they were discovered. Fire was at once
opened upon them. Wayne was wounded, but commanded his aids to
carry him that he might die at the head of the column. The rush of
his men was irresistible. An instant more, and a deafening shout
told that the fort was won. The British lost in killed, wounded,
and prisoners, six hundred men.
[Illustration: GIVING THE COUNTERSIGN AT STONY POINT.]
GENERAL SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION.--The atrocities of the Indians had
kept the inhabitants of the Wyoming and Mohawk valleys in continued
terror. In the summer, General Sullivan led an expedition into the
Genesee country. Near Elmira, N. Y., he fought a fierce battle with
the Indians and their tory allies. The latter being defeated, fled
in dismay, while Sullivan marched to and fro through that beautiful
region, laying waste their corn-fields, felling their orchards, and
burning their houses.
[Footnote: The Indians, in the fertile country of the Cayugas and
Senecas, had towns and villages regularly laid out, framed houses,
some of them well finished, painted, and having chimneys, and broad
and productive fields, with orchards of apple, pear, and peach
trees.]
NAVAL EXPLOITS.--No American successes caused more annoyance to the
British than those of the navy. In 1775, Washington fitted out
several vessels to cruise along the New England coast as
privateers. In the same year Congress established a naval
department. Swift sailing vessels, manned by bold seamen, infested
every avenue of commerce. Within three years they captured five
hundred ships. They even cruised among the British isles, and,
entering harbors, seized and burned ships lying at English wharves.
Paul Jones is the most famous of these naval heroes. While cruising
with a squadron of five vessels off the northeast coast of England,
he met the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough convoying a
fleet of merchantmen. At half-past seven in the evening of
September 23, he laid his own vessel, the Bon Homme Richard,
alongside the Serapis, and a desperate struggle ensued. In the
midst of the engagement he lashed the ships together.
[Footnote: Jones had given this name (Goodman Richard) to his ship
in honor of Dr. Franklin, whose sayings as "Poor Richard" he warmly
admired.]
[Footnote: At this point the contest had been raging an hour, and
the ships had twice fallen foul of each other. The first time, the
Serapis hailed the Richard, asking if she had "struck her colors."
"I have not yet begun to fight," was the reply of Jones.]
The crews then fought hand to hand. The Richard was old and rotten.
Water poured into the hold. Three times both vessels were on fire.
At ten o'clock the Serapis surrendered. Meanwhile the Pallas, one
of his companions, captured the Countess of Scarborough, but the
other ships rendered him no aid. Indeed, the Alliance, Captain
Landis, repeatedly fired into the Richard, hoping to force Jones to
surrender, that Landis might then capture the Serapis and retake
the Richard. As Jones's vessel was already in a sinking condition,
he transferred his crew to the captured frigate, and sailed for the
Texel.
1780.
CAMPAIGN AT THE SOUTH.--Georgia having been subdued, the war was
now renewed in South Carolina. Charleston was attacked by land and
sea. General Lincoln, after enduring a siege of forty days and a
terrible bombardment, was forced to surrender. Marauding
expeditions were sent out which soon overran the whole State.
Clinton returned to New York, leaving Cornwallis in command.
[Footnote: One of these, under the command of the brutal Tarleton,
at _Waxhaw Creek_, over took a body of four hundred Continental troops
and a small party of cavalry under Colonel Buford. The British gave no
quarter, and after the Americans surrendered, mercilessly maimed and
butchered the larger portion of them.]
BATTLE AT CAMDEN (Aug. 16).--General Gates, "the conqueror of
Burgoyne," now taking command of the troops at the South, marched
to meet the enemy under Cornwallis near Camden. Singularly, both
generals had appointed the same time to make a night attack. While
marching for this purpose, the advance guards of the two armies
unexpectedly encountered each other in the woods. After some sharp
skirmishing, the armies waited for day. At dawn Cornwallis ordered
a charge. The militia, demoralized by the fighting in the night,
fled at the first fire, but De Kalb, with the continental regulars,
stood firm. At last he fell, pierced with eleven wounds. His brave
comrades for a time fought desperately over his body, but were
overwhelmed by numbers. The army was so scattered that it could not
be collected. A few of the officers met Gates eighty miles in the
rear with no soldiers. All organized resistance to British rule now
ceased in the South.
[Footnote: Lee met Gates on his way to join the southern army. His
well-worded caution, "Beware your northern laurels do not turn to
southern willows," seems almost prophetic of the Camden disaster.]
PARTISAN CORPS.--The Carolinas were full of tories. Many of them
joined the British army; others organized companies that
mercilessly robbed and murdered their whig neighbors. On the other
hand there were patriot bands which rendezvoused (ren-da-vood) in
swamps, and sallied out as occasion offered. These partisan corps
kept the country in continual terror. Marion, Sumter, Pickens, and
Lee, were noted patriot leaders. Their bands were strong enough to
cut off British detachments, and even successfully attack small
garrisons. The cruel treatment which the whigs received from the
British drove many to this partisan warfare. The issue of the
contest at the South was mainly decided by these bold citizen
soldiers.
[Footnote: A British officer sent to negotiate concerning an
exchange of prisoners, dined with Marion. The dinner consisted of
roasted potatoes. Surprised at this meagre diet, he made some
inquiries, when he found that this was their customary fare, and
that the patriot general served without pay. This devotion to the
cause of liberty so affected the officer that he resigned his
commission, thinking it folly to fight such men.]
[Footnote: At _Hanging Rock_ (Aug. 6) Sumter gained a victory
over a strong body of British and tories. He began the action with
only two rounds of ammunition, but soon supplied himself from the
fleeing tories. Frequently, in these contests, a portion of the
bands would go into a battle without guns, arming themselves with
the muskets of their comrades as they fell. At _King's Mountain_ (Oct.
7) a large body of independent riflemen, each company under its own
leader, attacked Ferguson, who had been sent out to rally the tories
of the neighborhood. Ferguson and one hundred and fifty of his men
were killed, and the rest taken prisoners.]
[Footnote: An event which occurred in Charleston aroused the
bitterest resentment. When that city was captured by the British,
Colonel Isaac Hayne, with others, was paroled, but was afterwards
ordered into the British ranks. At this time his wife and several
of his children lay at the point of death with small-pox. The
choice was given him to become a British subject or to be placed in
close confinement. Agonized by thoughts of his dying family, he
signed a pledge of allegiance to England, with the assurance that
he should never be required to fight against his countrymen. Being
afterward summoned by Lord Rawdon to join the British army, he
considered the pledge annulled, and raised a partisan band. He was
captured, and without being allowed a trial, was condemned to
death. The citizens of Charleston vainly implored pardon for him.
Lord Rawdon allowed him forty-eight hours in which to take leave of
his orphan children, at the end of which time he was hanged.]
[Illustration: SUMTER.]
CONTINENTAL MONEY had now been issued by Congress to the amount of
$200,000,000. At this time it was so much depreciated that $40 in
bills were worth only $1 in specie. A pair of boots cost $600 in
continental currency. A soldier's pay for a month would hardly buy
him a dinner. To make the matter worse, the British had flooded the
country with counterfeits, which could not be told from the
genuine. Many persons refused to take continental money. The
sufferings of the soldiers and the difficulty of procuring supplies
may be readily imagined.
[Footnote: In this crisis, Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, sent
three million rations. Soldiers' relief associations were organized
by the women of that city. They made twenty-two hundred shirts,
each inscribed with the name of the lady who sewed it.]
The Pennsylvania regiments in camp at Morristown, claiming that
their time had expired, demanded their discharge. At last, 1,300
strong, they set out for Princeton to secure redress at the point
of the bayonet, but a committee of Congress succeeded in satisfying
them.
[Footnote: Clinton's agents went among the troops offering large
rewards for desertion. The emissaries mistook their men, for the
soldiers gave them up as spies.]
[Illustration: CONTINENTAL MONEY.]
ARNOLD'S TREASON.--The English did little at the North, and the
condition of Washington's army prevented his making any movement.
Meanwhile the cause of liberty suffered a terrible blow from one
who had been its gallant defender. General Arnold, whose bravery at
Quebec and Saratoga had awakened universal admiration, was
stationed at Philadelphia while his wound was healing. He there
married a tory lady and lived in great extravagance. By various
acts of oppression, he rendered himself so odious that on one
occasion he was publicly mobbed. Charges being preferred against
him, he was convicted and sentenced to be reprimanded by the
commander-in-chief. Washington performed the duty very gently and
considerately; but Arnold, stung by the disgrace, and desperate in
fortune, resolved to gratify both his revenge and love of money by
betraying his country. He accordingly secured from Washington the
command of West Point, at that time the most important post in
America. He then proposed to Clinton, with whom he had previously
corresponded, to surrender it to the British. The offer was
accepted, and Major Andre appointed to confer with him. Andre
ascended the Hudson, and, on the night of September 21, went ashore
from the English ship Vulture to meet the traitor. Morning dawned
before they had completed their plans. In the meantime, fire having
been opened on the Vulture, she had dropped down the river. Andre,
now left within the American lines, was obliged to make his way
back to New York by land. He had reached Tarrytown in safety, when,
at a sudden turn in the road, his horse's reins were seized, and
three men sprang before him. His manner awakening suspicion, they
searched him, and finding papers which seemed to prove him a spy,
they carried him to the nearest American post. Arnold was at
breakfast, when he received a note announcing Andre's capture. He
called aside his wife and told her of his peril. Terrified by his
words, she fainted. Kissing his boy, who lay asleep in the cradle,
Arnold darted out of the house, mounted a horse, by an unfrequented
path reached the river, jumped into his boat, and was rowed to the
Vulture. He received, as the reward of his treachery, 6,315 pounds,
a colonelcy in the English army, and the contempt of everybody. The
very name, "Arnold the Traitor," will always declare his infamy.
Andre was tried and hung as a spy. Every effort was made to save
him, and his fate awakened universal sympathy.
[Footnote: The names of these men were Paulding, Van Wart, and
Williams. Andre offered them his horse, watch, purse, and any sum
they might name, if they would release him. The incorruptible
patriots declared that they would not let him go for ten thousand
guineas. Congress voted to each of them a silver medal and a
pension for life.]
[Footnote: Arnold was thoroughly despised by the British officers,
and often insulted. Many stories are told illustrative of English
sentiment toward him. A member of Parliament, about to address the
House of Commons, happening, as he rose, to see Arnold in the
gallery, said, pointing to the traitor, "Mr. Speaker, I will not
speak while that man is in the House." George the Third introduced
Arnold to Earl Barcarras, one of Burgoyne's officers at Bemis's
Heights. "Sire," said the proud old Earl as he turned from Arnold,
refusing his hand, "I know General Arnold, and abominate traitors."
When Talleyrand was about to come to America, he sought letters of
introduction from Arnold, but received the reply, "I was born in
America; I lived there to the prime of my life; but, alas! I can
call no man in America my friend."]
1781.
THE WAR AT THE SOUTH.--General Greene, who was appointed to succeed
General Gates, found the army to consist of only two thousand
half-clothed, half-starved men. A part of his force, under Morgan,
was attacked (January 17) at _Cowpens_ by Tarleton. The militia
fleeing, the continentals fell back to secure a better position. The
British mistook this for a retreat and were rushing on in confusion,
when the continentals suddenly faced about, poured in a deadly fire at
only thirty yards distance, and drove them in utter rout. Tarleton
fled to Cornwallis, who set out in hot haste, eager to punish the
victors and recapture the prisoners. Morgan started for Virginia, and
crossed the Catawba just before Cornwallis appeared in sight. Night
came on, and with it rain, which raised the river so high as to keep
the impatient Cornwallis waiting three days.
[Footnote: Colonel William A. Washington, in a personal combat in
this battle, wounded Tarleton. Months afterward, the British
officer while conversing with Mrs. Jones, a witty American lady,
sneeringly said, "That Colonel Washington is very illiterate. I am
told that he cannot write his name." "Ah, Colonel," replied she,
"you bear evidence that he can make his mark." Tarleton expressing,
at another time, his desire to see Colonel Washington, the lady
replied, "Had you looked behind you at Cowpens, you might have had
that pleasure."]
GREENE'S RETREAT.--General Greene now joined Morgan, and conducted
the retreat. At the Yadkin, just as the Americans had reached the
other side, it began to rain. When Cornwallis came up, the river
was so swollen that he could not cross. He, however, marched up the
stream, effected a passage, and was soon in full pursuit again. Now
came a race, on parallel roads, thirty miles per day, for the fords
of the Dan. Greene reached them first, and Cornwallis gave up the
chase. This signal deliverance of Greene's exhausted army awoke
every pious feeling of the American heart, and was a cause for
general thanksgiving.
[Footnote: During this retreat, General Greene, after a hard day's
ride in the rain, alighted at the door of Mrs. Elizabeth Steele, in
Salisbury, N. C., announcing himself as, "fatigued, hungry, cold,
and penniless." Quickly providing the honored guest with a warm
supper before a cheerful fire, this patriotic woman brought forth
two small bags of specie, her earnings for years. "Take these," she
said; "you will want them, and I can do without them." "Never,"
says his biographer, "did relief come at a more needy moment; the
hero resumed his dangerous journey that night with a lightened
heart." Another story illustrative of the patriotism of the
Southern women is told of Mrs. Motte. The British had taken
possession of her house, fortified and garrisoned it. On Colonel
Lee's advance, she furnished him a bow and arrows, by means of
which fire was thrown upon the shingled roof. Her mansion was soon
in flames. The occupants, to save their lives, surrendered.]
CAMPAIGN CLOSED.--Having rested his men, Greene again took the
field, harassing the enemy by a fierce partisan warfare. At
_Guilford Court-House_ (March 15) he hazarded a battle. The
militia fled again at the first fire, but the continental regulars
fought as in the time of De Kalb. The Americans at last retired,
but the British had bought their victory so dearly that Cornwallis
also retreated. Greene again pursuing, Cornwallis shut himself up
in Wilmington. Thereupon Greene turned his course to South
Carolina, and with the aid of Marion, Sumter, Lee, and Pickens,
nearly delivered this State and Georgia from the English. In the
battle of _Eutaw Springs_ (Sept. 8) the forces of the enemy
were so crippled that they retired toward Charleston. Cornwallis,
refusing to follow Greene into South Carolina, had already gone
north into Virginia, and though a fierce partisan warfare still
distracted the country, this engagement closed the long and
fiercely fought contest at the South.
[Footnote: Congress voted the highest honors to General Greene,
who, by his prudence, wisdom, and valor, had, with such
insignificant forces and miserable equipments, achieved so much for
the cause of liberty. He never gained a decided victory, yet his
defeats bad all the effect of successes, and his very retreats
strengthened the confidence of his men and weakened that of the
enemy.]
[Footnote: At the battle of Eutaw, Manning, a noted soldier of
Lee's legion, was in hot pursuit of the flying British, when he
suddenly found himself surrounded by the enemy and not an American
within forty rods. He did not hesitate, but seizing an officer by
the collar, and wresting his sword from him by main force, kept his
body as a shield while he rapidly backed off under a heavy fire
from the perilous neighborhood. The frightened British officer when
thus summarily captured, began immediately to enumerate his titles:
"I am Sir Henry Barry, deputy adjutant-general, captain in 52d
regiment," &c., &c. "Enough," interrupted his captor; "you are just
the man I was looking for."]
THE WAR AT THE NORTH.--The traitor Arnold, burning with hatred, led
an expedition into Virginia. He conducted the war with great
brutality, burning private as well as public property. La Fayette
was sent to check him, but with his small force could accomplish
little. Cornwallis, arriving from the South, now took Arnold's
place, and continued this marauding tour through the country.
Clinton, however, fearing Washington, who seemed to threaten New
York, directed Cornwallis to keep near the sea-coast so as to be
ready to help him. Cornwallis, accordingly, after having destroyed
ten million dollars worth of property, fortified himself at
Yorktown.
[Footnote: Many of La Fayette's men having deserted, he set forth
the baseness of such conduct, and then offered to all who desired
it, a permit to go home. Not a man accepted, nor was there after
this a single case of desertion. One soldier, not being able to
walk, hired a cart that he might keep up with his comrades. Shoes,
linen, and many other necessaries were provided at La Fayette's
expense. The generosity of this general and the devotion of his
soldiery seemed to vie with each other.]
SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.--It was arranged to attack Cornwallis at this
place by the combined American and French forces. Washington, by a
feint on New York, kept Clinton in the dark regarding his plans
until he was far on his way south with the continental army.
[Footnote: During the preceding winter Robert Morris sent to the
starving army several thousand barrels of flour. He now furnished
nearly everything required for this expedition, issuing his own
notes to the amount of $1,400,000. It is sad to know that this
patriot, so often the resource of Washington, lost his fortune in
his old age, and was confined in prison for debt.]
[Footnote: Washington, at this time, visited Mount Vernon which he
had not seen since he left it to attend the Continental Congress in
1775. Six years and a half had nearly elapsed, yet he remained only
long enough to fulfill a military engagement.]
[Footnote: Clinton sent Arnold on a pillaging tour into Connecticut
in order to force Washington to return. He, however, was not to be
diverted from his great enterprise, and left New England to take
care of herself. New London was pillaged and burned, Arnold
watching the fire from a church steeple. At Fort Griswold, the
commander and half the garrison were butchered. After this fort had
been taken, a British officer entering asked, "Who commands here?"
"I did," said Colonel Ledyard, as he advanced to surrender his
sword, "but you do now." With fiendish malignity, the officer
seized the weapon and thrust it into the bosom of the brave
colonel.]
On the 28th of September, the joint forces, twelve thousand strong,
took up their position before Yorktown. Batteries were opened upon
the city, and the vessels in the harbor fired by red-hot shells.
Two redoubts were carried; one by the Americans, the other by the
French. The most hearty good-will prevailed. The patriots slept in
the open air that their allies might use their tents. Breaches
having been made in the walls, Cornwallis saw no hope of escape and
capitulated (Oct. 19).
[Footnote: Governor Nelson commanded the battery that fired first
upon the British. Cornwallis and his staff were at that time
occupying the governor's fine stone mansion. The patriot pointed
one of his heaviest guns directly toward his house, and ordered the
gunner to fire upon it with vigor. The British could not make even
the home of the noble Nelson a shield against his patriotic
efforts. The house still bears the scars of the bombardment.]
THE SCENE OF THE SURRENDER was most imposing. The army was drawn up
in two lines, extending over a mile--the Americans on one side with
General Washington at the head, and the French on the other with
Count Rochambeau (ro-shong-bo). The captive army, about seven
thousand in number, with slow step, shouldered arms, and cased
colors, marched between them. A prodigious crowd, anxious to see
Cornwallis, had assembled, but the haughty general, vexed and
mortified at his defeat, feigned illness, and sent his sword by
General O'Hara.
[Footnote: With a fine delicacy of feeling, Washington directed the
sword to be delivered to General Lincoln, who, eighteen months
before, had surrendered at Charleston.]
[Illustration: THE SURRENDERED ARMY AT YORKTOWN]
_The Effect_.--Both parties felt that this surrender virtually
ended the war. Joy pervaded every patriot heart. All the hardships
of the past were forgotten in the thought that America was free.
The news reached Philadelphia at two o'clock A.M. The people were
awakened by the watchman's cry, "Past two o'clock and Cornwallis is
taken." Lights flashed through the houses, and soon the streets
were thronged with crowds eager to learn the glad news. Some were
speechless with delight. Many wept, and the old door-keeper of
Congress died of joy. Congress met at an early hour, and that
afternoon marched in solemn procession to the Lutheran church to
return thanks to Almighty God.
All hope of subduing America was now abandoned by the people of
England, and they loudly demanded the removal of the ministers who
still counselled war. The House of Commons voted that whoever
advised the king to continue hostilities should be considered a
public enemy.
[Footnote: On Sunday noon, November 25, 1781, the British Cabinet
received intelligence of the defeat. When Lord North, the prime
minister of Great Britain, heard the disastrous news, he was
greatly excited. With looks and actions indicating the deepest
distress, he again and again exclaimed, "O God! it is all over."]
DIFFICULTIES OF THE COUNTRY AND ARMY.--The situation of the United
States at this time was perilous. Commerce had been destroyed by
the war. The currency was worthless. War had been the main business
of the country for eight years, and trade, manufactures, and
agriculture, had been neglected. Villages had been burned, ships
destroyed, and crops laid waste. The British held Charleston over a
year, and Savannah and New York about two years after the surrender
at Yorktown. George III was obstinate, and war might be resumed.
Yet the American army was in almost open rebellion. The soldiers,
afraid they should be disbanded and sent home without pay,
petitioned Congress, but received no satisfaction. The treasury was
empty. At this crisis Washington was invited to become king. The
noble patriot was shocked at the proposal, and indignantly spurned
it. A paper having been circulated advising violent measures,
Washington addressed a meeting of the officers, and besought them
not to mar their fair record of patriotic service by any rash
proceedings. His influence prevailed, both with the army and with
Congress, and the difficulties were amicably settled.
[Footnote: As he rose he took off his spectacles to wipe them,
saying, "My eyes have grown dim in the service of my country, but I
have never doubted her justice."]
PEACE DECLARED.--A treaty was signed at Paris (September 3, 1783)
acknowledging the independence of the United States. Soon after,
the army was disbanded. Washington bade his officers an affecting
farewell, and retired to Mount Vernon, followed by the thanksgiving
of a grateful people.
WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT.--During the war the thirteen States had
agreed upon Articles of Confederation, but they conferred little
power on Congress. It could recommend, but not enforce; it could
only advise action, leaving the States to do as they pleased.
Bitter jealousy existed among the several States, both with regard
to one another and to a general government. The popular desire was
to let each State remain independent, and haye no national
authority. A heavy debt had been incurred by the war. Congress had
no money and could not levy taxes. It advised the States to pay,
but they were too jealous of Congress to heed its requests. "We
are," said Washington, "one nation to-day, and thirteen to-morrow."
In New England, large bodies of men assembled, refusing to pay
their taxes and openly threatening to overturn the government. This
insurrection, known as _Shays's Rebellion_, from the name of
its leader, was put down by the militia under General Lincoln.
CONSTITUTION ADOPTED.--Under these circumstances, many of the best
men of the land felt the need of a stronger national government. A
convention was called in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of
Confederation. Washington was chosen president. After much
deliberation.
[Footnote: The new constitution met with the most violent
opposition. The people were divided into two parties--the
_Federalists_ and the _anti-Federalists_. The former
favored the constitution and sought to increase the powers of the
national government, and thus strengthen the Union at home and
abroad. The latter wished the authority to rest with the States,
opposed the constitution, were jealous of Congress, and feared too
much national power lest a monarchy might be established. The
nation was agitated by the most earnest and thoughtful as well as
the most virulent speeches on both sides. Within the year (1788)
nine States had ratified the constitution. This was the number
necessary to make it binding. Rhode Inland was not represented in
the convention, and did not accept the constitution until 1790.]
During the next Epoch we shall notice the growth of the country
under the wise provisions of this constitution.
Summary of the History of the Third Epoch,
arranged in Chronological Order.
1765. The Stamp Act passed, March 8,
1766. The Stamp Act repealed by Parliament, March 18,
1767. A tax imposed on tea, &c., June 29,
1768. The British troops arrived at Boston, September 27,
1770. Boston Massacre, March 5,
All duties except on tea repealed, April 12,
1773. The tea thrown overboard in Boston Harbor, Dec. 16,
1774. "Boston Port Bill" passed, March 31,
First Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, Sept. 5,
1775. Battle of Lexington, April 19,
Ticonderoga taken by Allen and Arnold, May 10,
Crown Point taken, May 12,
Washington elected commander-in-chief, June 15,
Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17,
Washington took command of the troops before Boston,
July 2,
Montreal surrendered to Montgomery, November 13,
Battle of Quebec--Montgomery killed, December 31,
1776. Boston evacuated by the British troops under Lord Howe,
March 17,
Attack on Fort Moultrie, June 28,
Declaration of Independence, July 4,
Battle of Long Island, August 27,
Battle of White Plains, October 28,
Fort Washington taken, November 16,
Washington's retreat through New Jersey, November
and December,
Battle of Trenton, December 26,
1777. Battle of Princeton, January 3,
Murder of Miss McCrea, July 27,
Battle of Bennington, August 16,
Battle of Brandywine, September 11,
First battle of Saratoga, September 19,
Philadelphia captured by the British, September 25,
Battle of Germantown, October 4,
Second battle of Saratoga, October 7,
Surrender of Burgoyne, October 17,
1778. American Independence acknowledged by France, Feb. 6
Battle of Monmouth, June 28
Massacre of Wyoming, July 3
French fleet arrived in Narraganset Bay, July 29
British captured Savannah, Ga., December 29
1779. Stony Point captured by General Wayne, July 15
Sullivan defeated the tories and Indians near Elmira,
N. Y., August 29
Paul Jones's victory, September 23
Savannah besieged by the Americans and the French,
September and October
D'Estaing and Lincoln repulsed at Savannah, October 9
1780. Charleston surrendered to the British, May 12
Battle of Hanging Rock, S. C., August 6
Battle of Camden, August 16
Andre executed, October 2
Battle of King's Mountain, October 7
1781. Richmond burned by Arnold, January 5
Battle of the Cowpens, January 17
Greene's celebrated retreat, January and February
Battle of Guilford Court House, March 15
Battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8
Surrender of Cornwallis, October 19
1783. Savannah evacuated by the British, July 11
Treaty of Peace signed at Paris, September 3
New York evacuated by the British, November 25
Washington resigned his commission, December 23
1787. Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts
Constitution of the United States adopted in Convention,
September 17
1788. Constitution adopted by nine States
* * * * *
REFERENCES FOR READING.
Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution.--Spencer's History of
the United States--Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolution.--Grace
Greenwood's Forest Tragedy.--Campbell's Gertrude of Wyoming (Poem).
--Halleck's Wyoming (Poem).--Simms's Life of Marion; also his
Series of Historical Tales.--Bryant's Song of Marion's Men and
Seventy-Six (Poems).--Magoon's Orators of American Revolution.
--Headley's Washington and his Generals.--Wirt's Life of Patrick
Henry.--G. W. Greene's Historical View of American Revolution and
Life of General Greene.--Parton's Life of Benjamin
Franklin--Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride and Pulaski's
Banner (Poems).--Headley's Life of La Fayette--Hawthorne's
Ticonderoga (Twice Told Tales)--Mrs Ellet's Women of the American
Revolution--Watson's Camp Fires of the Revolution--Raymonds Women
of the South--Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolution--Lee's
War in the Southern Department--Drake's American Flag
(Poem)--Streets Concord, Bennington, and American Independence
(Poems)--Dwight's Columbia (Poem)--Washington's Farewell
Address--The Declaration of Independence (see Appendix)--Sears's
History of the American Revolution--Freneau's Poems--Life of
General Joseph Reed, by Wm. B. Reed--Cooper's novels (The Spy, The
Pilot and Lionel Lincoln)--Motley's Horton's Hope and Paulding's
Old Continental (novel)--Winthrop Sargent's Life of Andre and
Loyalist Poetry of the Revolution--Moore's Songs and Ballads and
Diary of the Revolution--Whittier's Rangers (Poem)--Hawthorne's
Septimius Felton (Fiction)--Winthrop's Edwin Brothertoft
(fiction)--Barnes's Brief History of France--Barnes's Popular
History of United States--Harper's Magazine, vol 50, p 777, Art The
Concord Fight, vol 51, p 230, Art, Echoes of Bunker Hill vol 53 p
1, Art, Virginia in the Revolution vol 55, 511 Art, Battle of
Benmngton--Atlantic Monthly, vol 37, p. 466, Art, The Siege of
Boston--Martin's Civil Government
TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED STATES (see Map of VIth
Epoch)--The Treaty with Great Britain (Sept 3, 1783) fixed the
boundaries of the United States as the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of
Mexico the Mississippi River, and the Great Lakes From this
however, was to be excluded Florida, which belonged to Spain and
the part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi. The Thirteen
Colonies occupied only a narrow strip along the Atlantic sea-board.
Pennsylvania was a frontier State, with Pittsburg as an advanced
military post. The interior of the continent as far as the
Mississippi was called the Wilderness. These broad lands belonged
to the States individually, since the original English grants
extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific (See second note, p 40)
They were finally generously given up to the general government of
the young confederacy (See second note, p 194, and article on
Public Lands, _Harper's Magazine_ vol 42, p 219) In 1787, the
great legion north of the Ohio was organized into the Northwestern
Territory (See notes, p 201) This was slowly settled. As late as
1819 even the Terntory of Michigan was thought to be a "worthless
waste" The Province of Louisiana was purchased of France in 1803 (p
156) Little was known of the country thus acquired, and that same
year it was said "The Missouri has been navigated for 2500 miles,
there appears a probability of a communication by this channel with
the Western Ocean" The famous expedition under the command of
Captains Lewis and Clarke (see Barnes's Popular History of United
States, p 360) in 1804-5 gave the first accurate information
concerning this vast territory. Florida was purchased of Spain (p
173) by a treaty proposed Feb 22, 1819 though not signed by the
King of Spam until Oct 20,1820, while the United States did not
obtain full possession before July 17,1821. (These facts account
for the different dates assigned to this purchase in the various
histories.) The treaty with Spain which secured Florida, _also
relinquished all Spanish authority over the region west of the
Rocky Mountain, claimed by the United States as belonging to the
Louisiana purchase, but not previously acknowledged by Spain._
This is of special importance since many maps giving the Spanish
version, extend Louisiana only to the Rocky Mountains (the map of
the VIth Epoch is based on the one in the United States Census of
1870). In the beginning of the war of 1812, a strip of coast about
fifty miles wide lying between Florida and Louisiana, considered by
Spain as a part of Florida had been taken by the United States
under the claim that it also belonged to the Louisiana purchase.
Texas was annexed in 1845 (p 205, and also _Scribner's Magazine_, vol
16 p 868). The Mexican cession of 1848 gave the United States
California and several other States (p 206-8). Alaska, the latest
acquisition, was purchased in 1867.
EPOCH IV.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATES.
* * * * *
From 1787--the Adoption of the Constitution,
To 1861--the Breaking Out of the Civil War.
* * * * *
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. (FIRST PRESIDENT--TWO TERMS 1789-1797)
WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION (April 30, 1789).--In the choice of the
first President of the United States, all hearts turned
instinctively to Washington. With deep regret, he left his quiet
home at Mount Vernon for the tumults of political life. His journey
to New York was a continual ovation. Crowds of gayly-dressed people
bearing baskets and garlands of flowers, and hailing his appearance
with shouts of joy, met him at every village. On the balcony of old
Federal Hall, New York City, he took the oath to support the
Constitution of the United States. Difficulties beset the new
government on every hand. The treasury was empty, and the United
States had no credit. The Indians were hostile. Pirates from the
Barbary States attacked our ships, and American citizens were
languishing in Algerine dungeons. Spain refused us the navigation
of the Mississippi. England had not yet condescended to send a
minister to our government, and had made no treaty of commerce with
us. We shall see how wisely Washington and his cabinet met these
difficulties.
[Footnote: New York was only temporarily the capital. At the second
session of Congress the seat of government was transferred to
Philadelphia, where it was to remain for ten years, and then (1800)
be removed to the District of Columbia, a tract of land ten miles
square ceded for this purpose by Maryland and Virginia. Here a city
was laid out in the midst of a wilderness, containing only here and
there a small cottage. In 1800 it had eight thousand inhahitants.
The "Father of his country" laid the cornerstone of the capitol
(1793). The part of this District on the Virginia side of the
Potomac was (1846) ceded hack to that State.]
[Footnote: George Washington was born February 22, 1732; died
December 14, 1799. Left fatherless at eleven years of age, his
education was directed by his mother, a woman of strong character,
who kindly, but firmly, exacted the most implicit obedience. Of
her, Washington learned his first lessons in self-command. Although
bashful and hesitating in his speech, his language was clear and
manly. Having compiled a code of morals and good manners for his
own use, he rigidly observed all its quaint and formal rules.
Before his thirteenth year he had copied forms for all kinds of
legal and mercantile papers. His manuscript school-books, which
still exist, are models of neatness and accuracy. His favorite
amusements were of a military character; he made soldiers of his
playmates, and officered all the mock parades. Grave, diffident,
thoughtful, methodical, and strictly honorable, such was Washington
in his youth. He inherited great wealth, and the antiquity of his
family gave him high social rank. On his Potomac farms he had
hundreds of slaves, and at his Mount Vernon home he was like the
prince of a wide domain, free from dependence or restraint. He was
fond of equipage and the appurtenances of high life, and although
he always rode on horseback, his family had a "chariot and four,"
with "black postilions in scarlet and white livery." This generous
style of living, added perhaps to his native reserve, exposed him
to the charge of aristocratic feeling. While at his home, he spent
much of his time in riding and hunting. He rose early, ate his
breakfast of corn-cake, honey, and tea, and then rode about his
estates; his evenings he passed with his family around the blazing
hearth, retiring between nine and ten. He loved to linger at the
table, cracking nuts and relating his adventures. In personal
appearance, Washington was over six feet in height, robust,
graceful, and perfectly erect. His manner was formal and dignified.
He was more solid than brilliant, and had more judgment than
genius. He had great dread of public life, cared little for books,
and possessed no library. A consistent Christian, he was a regular
attendant and communicant of the Episcopal Church. A firm advocate
of free institutions, he still believed in a strong government and
strictly enforced laws. As President, he carefully weighed his
decisions, but, his policy once settled, pursued it with steadiness
and dignity, however great the opposition. As an officer, he was
brave, enterprising, and cautious. His campaigns were rarely
startling, but always judicious. He was capable of great endurance.
Calm in defeat, sober in victory, commanding at all times, and
irresistible when aroused, he exercised equal authority over
himself and his army. His last illness was brief, and his closing
hours were marked by his usual calmness and dignity. "I die hard,"
said he, "but I am not afraid to go." Europe and America vied in
tributes to his memory. Said Lord Brougham, "Until time shall be no
more, a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and
virtue will be derived from the veneration paid to the immortal
name of Washington." Washington left no children. It has been
beautifully said, "Providence left him childless that his country
might call him Father."]
[Illustration:
JEFFERSON. KNOX. RANDOLPH. HAMILTON. WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON'S CABINET.]
[Footnote: Three executive departments were now established--the
Department of Foreign Affairs (now the Department of State), the
Department of War, and the Department of the Treasury. The heads of
these departments were called Secretaries, and, with the
Attorney-General, formed the President's cabinet.]
[Footnote: _Questions on the Geography of the Fourth Epoch_--Names of
places in italic letter may be found on map, Epoch VI. Locate New York
Philadelphia Baltimore _Boston Washington_ Detroit York St Johns
Montreal Plattsburg Fort Schlosser Sackett's Harbor Frenchtown
Chappewa _Stonington_ New Orleans _Charleston_ Sacramento San
Francisco _Palmyra_ Santa Fe _Nauvoo Mount Vernon_ Queenstown
Heights Chrysler's Field Horseshoe Bend Lundy's Lane
Locate Fort Malden Fort Erie Fort Meigs Fort Stephenson Fort Mimms
(Mims) Fort McHenry _Fort King_ Fort Brown
Describe the Maumee River Hudson River Tippecanoe River Niagara
River St Lawrence River Raisin River Thames River _Columbia
River_ Rio Grande River Nueces River Locate Sandusky Bay Lake
Champlain _Tampa Bay_
Locate Palo Alto Point Isabel Resaca de la Palma Matamoras Monterey
Buena Vista Vera Cruz Puebla Cerro Gordo The Cordilleias Contieras
Mexico _Cuba Havana_]
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--Finances.-By the advice of Alexander Hamilton,
secretary of the treasury, Congress agreed to assume the debts
contracted by the States during the Revolution, and to pay the
national debt in full. To provide funds, taxes were levied on
imported goods and the distillation of spirits. A mint and a
national bank were established at Philadelphia. By these measures
the credit of the United States was put upon a firm basis.
[Footnote: The credit of these plans belongs to Hamilton. Daniel
Webster has eloquently said of him, "He smote the rock of the
national resources, and abundant streams of revenue burst forth. He
touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its
feet."]
_Whisky Rebellion_ (1794).--Great opposition was made to raising money
by taxation. In western Pennsylvania it was agreed that no tax should
be paid on whisky. The rioters were so numerous and so thoroughly
organized that fifteen thousand of the militia were ordered out to
subdue them. Finding the government in earnest, the malcontents laid
down their arms.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER HAMILTON]
_Indian Wars_.--Two armies sent against the Indians of the
northwest were defeated. At last General Wayne--"Mad Anthony"--was
put in command. Little Turtle, the Indian chief, now advised peace,
declaring that the Americans had "a leader who never slept." But
his counsel was rejected, and a desperate battle was fought on the
Maumee (Aug. 20, 1794). Wayne routed the Indians, chased them a
great distance, laid waste their towns for fifty miles, and at last
compelled them to make a treaty whereby they gave up all of what is
now Ohio and part of Indiana.
[Footnote: He told them, it is said, that if they ever violated
this agreement he would rise from his grave to fight them. He was
long remembered by the western Indians.]
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_England_.--Hardly had the war closed when
complaints were made in England that debts could not be collected
in America. On the other hand the Americans charged that the
British armies had carried off their negroes, that posts were still
held on the frontier, and that our seamen were impressed. Chief
Justice Jay was sent as envoy extraordinary to England. He
negotiated a treaty, which was ratified by the Senate (1795), after
violent opposition.
[Footnote: This treaty enforced the payment of the English debts,
but did not in turn forbid the impressment of American seamen. Its
advocates were threatened with personal violence by angry mobs.
Hamilton was stoned at a public meeting. Insults were offered to
the British minister, and Jay was burned in effigy. The more quiet
people expressed their indignation by passing resolutions
condemning the action of the Senate.]
_Spain and Algiers_.--The same year a treaty was made with Spain,
securing to the United States the free navigation of the Mississippi,
and fixing the boundary of Florida, still held by that nation. Just
before this, a treaty had been concluded with Algiers, by which our
captives were released and the Mediterranean commerce was opened to
American vessels.
_France_.--The Americans warmly sympathized with France, and
when war broke out between that country and England, Washington had
great difficulty in preserving neutrality. He saw that the true
American policy was to keep free from all European alliances. Genet
(je-nay), the French minister, relying on the popular feeling, went
so far as to fit out, in the ports of the United States, privateers
to prey on British commerce. He also tried to arouse the people
against the government. At length, at Washington's request, Genet
was recalled. But, as we shall see, the difficulty did not end.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--During the discussion of these various
questions two parties had arisen. Jefferson, Madison, and Randolph
became leaders of the republican party, which opposed the United
States Bank, the English treaty, and the assumption of the State
debts. Hamilton and Adams were the leaders of the federalist party,
which supported the administration.
[Footnote: John Randolph of Roanoke was not prominent in the
republican party until a later administration, being elected
representative in 1799. He was a descendant of Pocahontas, of which
fact he often boasted, and was noted for his keen retorts, reckless
wit, and skill in debate. His tall, slender, and cadaverous form,
his shrill and piping voice, and his long, skinny fingers--pointing
toward the object of his invective--made him a conspicuous speaker.
For thirty years, says Benton, he was the "political meteor" of
Congress.]
[Footnote: The federalists favored the granting of power to the
general government, which they thought should be made strong. The
republicans, fearing lest the republic should become a monarchy and
the President a king, opposed this idea and advocated State rights.
In this election the republicans were accused of being friends of
France, and the federalists of being attached to Great Britain and
its institutions. The republicans declared themselves to be the
only true friends of the people, and stigmatized all others as
aristocrats and monarchists.]
Washington having declined to serve a third term, now issued his
famous farewell address. So close was the contest between the rival
parties that Adams, the federalist candidate, was elected President
by a majority of only two electoral votes over Jefferson, the
republican nominee.
* * * * *
ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: John Adams was born 1735; died 1826. He was a member of
the first and the second Congress, and nominated Washington as
commander-in-chief. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of
Independence, but Adams secured its adoption in a three-days
debate. He was a tireless worker, and had the reputation of having
the clearest head and firmest heart of any man in Congress. In his
position as President he lost the reputation he had gained as
Congressman. His enemies accused him of being a bad judge of men,
of clinging to old unpopular notions, and of having little control
over his temper. They also ridiculed his egotism, which they
declared to be inordinate. He lived, however, to see the prejudice
against his administration give place to a juster estimate of his
great worth and exalted integrity. As a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention he was honored as one of the fathers of
the republic. Adams and Jefferson were firm friends during the
Revolution, but political strife alienated them. On their return to
private life they became reconciled. They died on the same day--the
fiftieth anniversary of American independence. Adams's last words
were, "Thomas Jefferson still survives." Jefferson was, however,
already lying dead in his Virginia home. Thus, by the passing away
of these two remarkable men, was made memorable the 4th of July,
1826.]
(SECOND PRESIDENT: 1797-1801)
Domestic Affairs.--_Alien and Sedition Laws._--Owing to the violent
denunciations of the government by the friends and emissaries of
France, the _alien and sedition_ laws were passed. Under the former,
the President could expel from the country any foreigner whom he
deemed injurious to the United States; under the latter, any one
libelling Congress, the President, or the government, could be fined
or imprisoned. This was a most unpopular measure, and excited the
bitterest feeling.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_France_.--French affairs early assumed a
serious aspect. Our flag was insulted, our vessels were captured,
and our envoys were refused audience by the French Directory unless
a bribe should be paid. The news of this insult aroused the nation,
and the friends of France were silenced. Orders were issued to
raise an army, of which Washington was appointed
commander-in-chief. Hostilities had commenced on the sea, when
Napoleon became the First Consul of France and the war was happily
arrested.
[Footnote: Charles C. Pinckney--our envoy to France--is reported to
have indignantly replied, "Millions for defence, but not one cent
for tribute."]
POLITICAL PARTIES.--An intense party feeling prevailed during the
entire administration. The unpopularity of the alien and sedition
laws, especially, reduced the vote for Adams, the federal candidate
for re-election, and the republican nominee, Jefferson, became the
next President.
* * * * *
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: Thomas Jefferson was born 1743; died 1826. "Of all the
public men who have figured in the United States," says Parton, "he
was incomparably the best scholar and the most variously
accomplished man." He was a bold horseman, a skilful hunter, an
elegant penman, a fine violinist, a brilliant talker, a superior
classical scholar, and a proficient in the modern languages. On
account of his talents he was styled "The Sage of Monticello." That
immortal document, the Declaration of Independence, was, with the
exception of a few words, entirely his work. He was an ardent
supporter of the doctrine of State rights, and led the opposition
to the federalists. After he became President, however, he found
the difficulty of administering the government upon that theory.
"The executive authority had to be stretched until it cracked, to
cover the purchase of Louisiana;" and he became convinced on other
occasions that the federal government, to use his own expression,
must "show its teeth." Like Washington, he was of aristocratic
birth, but his principles were intensely democratic. He hated
ceremonies and titles; even "Mr" was distasteful to him. These
traits were the more remarkable in one of his superior birth and
education, and peculiarly endeared him to the common people. Coming
into power on a wave of popularity, he studiously sought to retain
this favor. There were no more brilliant levees or courtly
ceremonies as in the days of Washington and Adams. On his
inauguration day he dressed in plain clothes, rode unattended down
to Congress, dismounted, hitched his horse, and went into the
chamber to read his fifteen-minutes inaugural. Some of the
sentences of that short but memorable address have passed into
proverbs. The unostentatious example thus set by the nation's
President was wise in its effects. Soon the public debt was
diminished, the treasury was replenished, and the army and navy
were reduced. A man of such marked character necessarily made
bitter enemies, but Jefferson commanded the respect of even his
opponents, while the admiration of his friends was unbounded. The
last seventeen years of his life were passed at Monticello, near
the place of his birth. By his profuse hospitality, he had, long
before his death, spent his vast estates. He died poor in money,
but rich in honor. His last words were, "This is the fourth day of
July."]
(THIRD PRESIDENT--TWO TERMS: 1801-1809.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Purchase of Louisiana_ (1803).--The most
important event of Jefferson's administration was the purchase of
Louisiana from Napoleon. Over one million square miles of land and
the full possession of the Mississippi were obtained for $15,000,
000 (see map, VIth Epoch).
[Footnote: This territory (p. 90) was ceded back to France in 1800.
From it we have since carved five States, four Territories, and
parts of three States and three Territories.]
_Aaron Burr_, the Vice-President, was Alexander Hamilton's
bitter rival, both in law and in politics, and at last challenged
him to a duel. Hamilton accepted. The affair took place at
Weehawken (July 11, 1804). Hamilton fell at the first fire, on the
very spot where his eldest son had been killed shortly before, in
the same manner. His death produced the most profound sensation.
Burr afterward went west and organized an expedition with the
avowed object of forming a settlement in northern Mexico. Being
suspected, however, of a design to break up the Union and found a
separate confederacy beyond the Alleghanies, he was arrested and
tried (1807) on a charge of treason. Although acquitted for want of
proof, he yet remained an outcast.
[Footnote: While awaiting his trial, Burr was committed to the
common jail. There, among its wretched inmates, stripped of all his
honors, lay the man who once lacked but a single vote to make him
President of the United States.]
[Footnote: Closely connected with Burr's conspiracy is the romantic
story of Blennerhassett. He and his beautiful wife. Having settled
on an island in the Ohio Kiver, they had transformed the wilderness
into a garden of beauty, and every luxury and refinement which
wealth or culture could procure clustered about their homes. Into
this paradise came Burr, winning their confidence, and engaging
them in his plans. On his downfall, Biennerhassett as arrested.
When finally acquitted everything had been sold, the grounds turned
into a hemp field, and the mansion into a store-house.]
_Fulton's Steamboat_.--The year 1807 was made memorable by the
voyage from New York to Albany of Robert Fulton's steamboat, the
Clermont. For years the Hudson could boast of having the only
steamboat in the world.
[Illustration: THE FIRST STEAMBOAT]
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--
_War with Tripoli_.--The Barbary States, of which Tripoli is
one, for many years sent out cruisers which captured vessels of all
Christian nations, and held their crews as slaves until ransomed.
The United States, like the European nations, was accustomed to pay
annual tribute to these pirates to secure exemption from their
attacks. The Bashaw of Tripoli became so haughty that he declared
war (1801) against the United States. Jefferson sent a fleet which
blockaded the port and repeatedly bombarded the city of Tripoli.
The frightened Bashaw was at last glad to make peace.
[Footnote: During this blockade a valiant exploit was performed by
Lieutenant Decatur. The frigate Philadelphia had unfortunately
grounded and fallen into the enemy's hands. Concealing his men
below he entered the harbor with a small vessel which he warped
alongside the Philadelphia, in the character of a ship in distress.
As the two vessels struck, the pirates first suspected his design.
Instantly he leaped aboard with his men, swept the affrighted crew
into the sea, set the ship on fire, and amid a tremendous cannonade
from the shore escaped without losing a man.]
_England and France_.--During this time England and France
were engaged in a desperate struggle. England tried to prevent
trade with France, and, in turn, Napoleon forbade all commerce with
England. As the United States were neutral, they did most of the
carrying trade of Europe. Our vessels thus became the prey of both
the hostile nations. Besides, England claimed the right of stopping
American vessels on the high seas, to search for seamen of English
birth, and press them into the British navy. The feeling, already
deep, was intensified when the British frigate Leopard fired into
the American frigate Chesapeake, off the coast of Virginia.
The American vessel, being wholly unprepared for battle, soon
struck her colors. Four of the crew, three being Americans by
birth, were taken, on the pretence that they were deserters.
Jefferson immediately ordered all British vessels of war to quit
the waters of the United States. Though England disavowed the act,
no reparation was made. An embargo was then laid by Congress on
American vessels, forbidding them to leave port. This was so
injurious to our commerce that it was removed, but all intercourse
either with England or France was forbidden.
[Footnote: The American doctrine was that a foreigner naturalized
became an American citizen; the British, Once an Englishman always
an Englishman]
[Illustration: MONTICELLO, THE HOME OF JEFFERSON]
POLITICAL PARTIES.--While the country was in this feverish state,
Jefferson's second term expired. James Madison, the republican
candidate, who was closely in sympathy with his views, was elected
as his successor by a large majority. The republicans were
generally in favor of a war with England. The federalists, however,
were a strong minority, and throughout this administration bitterly
opposed the war policy of the republicans.
* * * * *
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: James Madison was born in Virginia in 1751; died 1836.
Entering Congress in 1789, he became one of the strongest advocates
of the Constitution, and did much to secure its adoption. From his
political principles he was obliged, though reluctantly, to oppose
Washington's administration, which he did in a courteous and
temperate manner. He led his party in Congress, where he remained
till 1797. The next year he drafted the famous "1798-99
Resolutions," enunciating the doctrine of State rights, which, with
the accompanying "Report" in their defence, have been the great
text-book of the democratic party. He was Secretary of State to
Jefferson. After his Presidential services, he retired from public
station. Madison's success was not so much the result of a great
national ability as of intense application and severe accuracy. His
mind was strong, clear, and well-balanced, and his memory was
wonderful. Like John Quincy Adams, he had laid up a great store of
learning, which he used in the most skilful manner. He always
exhausted the subject upon which he spoke. "When he had finished,
nothing remained to be said." His private character was spotless.
His manner was simple, modest, and uniformly courteous to his
opponents. He enjoyed wit and humor, and told a story admirably.
His sunny temper remained with him to the last. Some friends coming
to visit him during his final illness, he sank smilingly back on
his couch, saying: "I always talk better when I _lie_." It
has been said of him: "It was his rare good fortune to have a whole
nation for his friends."]
(FOURTH PRESIDENT--TWO TERMS: 1809-1817.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Battle of Tippecanoe_ (November 7, 1811).
--British emissaries had been busy arousing the Indians to war.
Tecumseh, a famous chief, seized the opportunity to form a
confederacy of the northwestern tribes. General Harrison having
been sent against them with a strong force, was treacherously
attacked by night near the Tippecanoe. The Indians, however, were
routed with great slaughter.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_England_.--This war greatly aroused the
people of the West against England. The impressment of our seamen
and the capture of our ships continued. The British government went
so far as to send war vessels into our waters to seize our ships as
prizes. The American frigate President having hailed the British
sloop-of-war Little Belt, received a cannon-shot in reply. The fire
was returned, and the sloop soon disabled; a civil answer was then
returned. The British government refusing to relinquish its
offensive course, all hope of peace was abandoned. Finally (June
19th, 1812), war was formally declared against Great Britain.
[Footnote: Madison, whose disposition was very pacific, hesitated
so long, that one of the federalists declared in Congress that "he
could not be kicked into a fight." This expression passed into a
proverb.]
SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1812-14.
SURRENDER OF DETROIT (August 16).--As in the previous wars, it was
determined to invade Canada. General William Hull accordingly
crossed over from Detroit and encamped on Canadian soil. While
preparing to attack Fort Malden (mahl-den), he learned that the
enemy were gathering in great force, and had already captured Fort
Mackinaw. He, therefore, retreated to Detroit. The British under
General Brock and the Indians under Tecumseh followed thither, and
landing, advanced at once to assault the fort at that place. The
garrison was in line, and the gunners were standing with lighted
matches awaiting the order to fire, when Hull, apparently unnerved
by the fear of bloodshed, ordered the white flag--a table-cloth--to
be raised. Amid the tears of his men, it is said, and without even
stipulating for the honors of war, he surrendered not only Detroit,
with its garrison and stores, but the whole of Michigan.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN HEIGHTS (October 13).--Late in summer, another
attempt was made to invade Canada. General Van Rensselaer
(ren'-se-ler) finding that his men were eager for a fight, sent a
small body across the Niagara River to attack the British at
Queenstown Heights. The English were driven from their position,
and General Brock was killed. General Van Rensselaer now returned
to the American shore to bring over the rest of the army; but the
militia denying the constitutional right of their commander to take
them out of the State, refused to embark. Meantime their comrades
on the Canadian shore, thus basely abandoned, after a desperate
struggle, were compelled to surrender.
NAVAL VICTORIES.--These signal disgraces by land were in striking
contrast to the successes on the sea.
_Constitution and Guerriere_ (August 19).--The fight off the
coast of Massachusetts, between the American frigate Constitution
(popularly called Old Ironsides) and the Guerriere (gayre-e-ayre)
is memorable. The latter vessel opened fire first. Captain Isaac
Hull refused to answer until he had brought his ship into the exact
position he desired, when he poured broadside after broadside into
his antagonist, sweeping her deck, shattering her hull, and cutting
her masts and rigging to pieces. The Guerriere soon became
unmanageable, and was forced to surrender. She was so badly injured
that she could not be brought into port; while the Old Ironsides,
in a few hours, was ready for another fight.
[Footnote: "Captain Hull sent an officer to take possession of the
Guerriere. When he arrived alongside, he demanded of the commander
of the English frigate if he had struck. Dacres was extremely
reluctant to make this concession in plain terms, but, with a
shrewdness which would have done honor to a Yankee, endeavored to
evade the question. 'I do not know that it would be prudent to
continue the engagement any longer,' said he. 'Do I understand you
to say that you have struck?' inquired the American lieutenant.
'Not precisely,' returned Dacres; 'but I don't know that it will be
worth while to fight any longer.' 'If you cannot decide, I will
return aboard,' replied the Yankee, 'and we will resume the
engagement.' 'Why, I am pretty much _hors de combat_ already,'
said Dacres; 'I have hardly men enough left to work a gun, and my
ship is in a sinking condition.' 'I wish to know, sir,'
peremptorily demanded the American officer, 'whether I am to
consider you as a prisoner of war or an enemy. I have no time for
further parley.' 'I believe there is now no alternative. If I
could fight longer, I would with pleasure; but I--must
surrender--myself--_a prisoner of war!_'"]
[Footnote: Nephew of General Hull. His bravery retrieved the name
from its disgrace.]
_Frolic and Wasp_ (October 13).--The next noted achievement
was the defeat of the English brig Frolic by the sloop-of-war Wasp,
off the coast of North Carolina. When the former was boarded by her
captors, her colors were still flying, there being no one to haul
them down. The man at the helm was the only sailor left on deck
unharmed.
Other victories followed. Privateers scoured every sea, inflicting
untold injury on the British commerce. During the year over three
hundred prizes were captured.
[Illustration: Capture of the Frolic.]
_The Effect of these Naval Victories_ was to arouse enthusiasm
and inspire confidence. Volunteer corps were rapidly formed.
Madison was re-elected, thus stamping his war policy with the
popular approval.
1813.
PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN.--Three armies were raised: (I) the Army of
the Centre, under General Dearborn, on the Niagara River; (2) the
Army of the North, under General Hampton, along Lake Champlain; and
(3) the Army of the West, under General Harrison, of Tippecanoe
fame. All three were ultimately to invade Canada. Proctor was the
British general, and Tecumseh had command of his Indian allies.
[Footnote: When the British heard that Dearborn had sailed away
from Sackett's Harbor with the fleet, they immediately made an
attack on that place. They were bravely repulsed by General Brown
and a few regulars.]
THE ARMIES OF THE CENTRE AND NORTH did but little. General Dearborn
attacked York, General Pike gallantly leading the assault.
Unfortunately, in the moment of success the magazine blew up,
killing Pike and making sad havoc among his men. Dearborn did
nothing, and soon after resigned. General Wilkinson, his successor,
was directed to descend the St. Lawrence in boats, and join General
Hampton in an attack on Montreal. At Chrysler's Field he repulsed
the British, but owing to a disagreement with General Hampton he
returned. (Map opp. p. 160.) General Hampton went north as far as
St. John's, where he was defeated by the British. He then made the
best of his way back to Plattsburg, where, in the winter, he was
joined by General Winchester's men. Thus ingloriously ended the
campaign of these two armies.
ARMY OF THE WEST.--A detachment of General Harrison's men was
captured at Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, by Proctor, who then
besieged Harrison himself at Fort Meigs (megz). Repulsed here,
Proctor stormed Fort Stephenson, garrisoned by only one hundred and
fifty men under Major Croghan, a young man of twenty-one. Beaten
again, he returned to Malden. As yet, however, the British held
Michigan and threatened Ohio, and the Americans had been as
unsuccessful this year as they were the preceding, when a glorious
triumph on Lake Erie gave a new aspect to the campaign.
[Footnote: This party was stationed on the Maumee, under General
Winchester. Having learned that the people of Frenchtown feared an
attack from the Indians, he allowed his military judgment to yield
to his humanity, and marched to their relief. He defeated the
enemy, but was soon attacked by a body of fifteen hundred British
and Indians under Proctor. Winchester, being captured in the course
of the battle, agreed to the surrender of his men under the solemn
promise that their lives and property should be safe. Proctor,
however, immediately returned to Maiden with the British, leaving
no guard over the American wounded. Thereupon the Indians, maddened
by liquor and the desire for revenge, mercilessly tomahawked many,
set fire to the houses in which others lay, and carried the
survivors to Detroit, where they were dragged through the streets
and offered for sale at the doors of the inhabitants. Many of the
women of that place gave for their ransom every article of value
which they possessed. The troops were Kentuckians, and the war-cry
of their sons was henceforth "Remember the Raisin."--The great
object of the Indians in battle was to get scalps, Proctor paying a
regular bounty for every one. They were therefore loth to take
prisoners. Proctor, brutal and haughty, was a fit leader under a
government that would employ savages in a civilized warfare.]
PERRY'S VICTORY (September 10).--When Captain Perry, then only
twenty-seven years old, was assigned the command of the flotilla on
Lake Erie, the British were undisputed masters of the lake, while
his fleet was to be, in part, made out of the trees in the forest.
By indefatigable exertion he got nine vessels, carrying fifty-four
guns, ready for action, when the British fleet of six vessels and
sixty-three guns bore down upon his little squadron.
[Footnote: Perry had never seen a naval battle, while Captain
Barclay, the British commander, was one of Nelson's veterans, and
had lost an arm in the service.]
Perry's flag-ship, the Lawrence, engaged two of the heaviest
vessels of the enemy, and fought them till but eight of his men
were left. He helped these to fire the last gun, and then leaping
into a boat bore his flag to the Niagara. He had to pass within
pistol-shot of the British, who turned their guns directly upon
him; and though he was a fair mark for every shot, he escaped
without injury. Breaking through the enemy's line, and firing right
and left, within fifteen minutes after he mounted the deck of the
Niagara the victory was won. Perry at once wrote to General
Harrison, "_We have met the enemy, and they are ours._" This
laconic despatch produced intense excitement throughout the
country. Upon the result of this battle depended, as we shall see,
important issues.
[Footnote: From its mast-head floated a blue pennant, bearing the
words of the dying Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship." (See p. 166)]
BATTLE OF THE THAMES.--Proctor and Tecumseh were at Maiden with
their motley array of British and Indians, two thousand strong,
waiting to lay waste the frontier. Harrison, at Sandusky Bay, was
nearly ready to invade Canada, and at the news of this victory
pushed across the lake. Landing at Maiden, which he found deserted,
Harrison hotly pursued the flying enemy and overtook them on the
_River Thames_ (temz). Having drawn up his troops, he ordered
Colonel Johnson, with his Kentucky horsemen, to charge the English
in front. Dashing through the forest, they broke the enemy's line,
and forming in their rear, prepared to pour in a deadly fire. The
British surrendered, but Proctor escaped by the swiftness of his
horse. Johnson then pushed forward to attack the Indians. In the
heat of the action, a bullet, said to have been fired by Johnson
himself, struck Tecumseh. With his death the savages lost all hope,
and fled in confusion.
_Effect._--This victory, with Perry's, relieved Michigan, gave
control of Lake Erie, and virtually decided the war. General
Harrison returned amid the plaudits of the nation.
NAVAL BATTLES.--The American navy achieved some brilliant successes
during the year, but was not uniformly victorious.
_Chesapeake and Shannon_.--Captain Lawrence, of the Hornet,
having captured the British brig Peacock, on his return was placed
in command of the Chesapeake, the ill-starred frigate which struck
her flag to the Leopard off the coast of Virginia. While refitting
his vessel at Boston, a challenge was sent him to fight the
Shannon, then lying off the harbor. Lawrence, although part of his
crew were discharged, and the unpaid remainder were almost
mutinous, consulted only his own heroic spirit, and at once put to
sea. The action was brief. A hand-grenade bursting in the
Chesapeake's arm-chest, the enemy took advantage of the confusion,
and boarded the vessel. A scene of carnage ensued. Lawrence,
mortally wounded, was carried below. As he left the deck he
exclaimed, "_Don't give up the ship_." But the feeble crew
were soon overpowered, and the colors hauled down.
WAR WITH THE CREEKS.--Tecumseh had been (1811) among the Alabama
Indians, and had aroused them to take up arms against the
Americans. They accordingly formed a league (1813), and fell upon
_Fort Mimms_, massacring the garrison and the defenceless
women and children. (Map opp. p. 160.) Volunteers flocked in from
all sides to avenge this horrid deed. Under General Jackson they
drove the Indians from one place to another, until they took refuge
on the _Horseshoe Bend_, where they fortified themselves for
the last battle (March 27, 1814). The soldiers, with fixed
bayonets, scaled their breastwork. The Creeks fought with the
energy of despair, but six hundred of their number were killed, and
those who escaped were glad to make peace on any terms.
[Footnote: An event occurred on Jackson's march which illustrates
his iron will. For a long time his soldiers suffered extremely from
famine, and at last they mutinied. General Jackson rode before the
ranks. His left arm, shattered by a ball, was disabled, but in his
right he held a musket. Sternly ordering the men back to their
places, he declared he would shoot the first who advanced. No one
stirred, and soon all returned to their duty.]
RAVAGES ON THE ATLANTIC COAST.--Early in the spring the British
commenced devastating the southern coast. Admiral Cockburn,
especially, disgraced the British navy by conduct worse than that
of Cornwallis in the Revolution. Along the Virginia and Carolina
coast he burned bridges, farm-houses, and villages; robbed the
inhabitants of their crops, stock, and slaves; plundered churches
of their communion services, and murdered the sick in their beds.
[Footnote: New England was spared because of a belief that the
northern States were unfriendly to the war and would yet return to
their allegiance to Great Britain.]
[Illustration: MILLER AT LUNDY'S LANE]
1814.
Battle of Lundy's Lane (July 25).--The American army, under General
Brown, crossed the Niagara River once more, and for the last time
invaded Canada. Fort Erie having been taken, General Winfield
Scott, leading the advance, attacked the British at _Chippewa_
(July 5), and gained a brilliant victory. A second engagement was
fought at _Lundy's Lane_, opposite Niagara Falls. (Map opp. p.
160.) Here, within sound of that mighty cataract, occurred one of
the bloodiest battles of the war. General Scott had only one
thousand men, but he maintained the unequal contest until dark. A
battery, located on a height, was the key to the British position.
Calling Colonel Miller to his side, General Brown asked him if he
could take it. "I'll try, sir," was the fearless reply. Heading his
regiment, he steadily marched up the height and secured the coveted
position. Three times the British rallied for its re-capture, but
as many times were hurled back. At midnight they retired from the
field. This victory, though glorious to the American army, was
barren of direct results.
BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN (September ll).--All but fifteen hundred
of the troops at Plattsburg had gone to reinforce General Brown.
Prevost, the commander of the British army in Canada, learning this
fact, took twelve thousand veteran soldiers, who had served under
Wellington, and marched against that place. As he advanced to the
attack, the British fleet on Lake Champlain assailed the American
squadron under Commodore McDonough.
[Footnote: One of his vessels he had built in twenty days, from
trees growing on the bank of the lake.]
The attacking squadron was nearly annihilated. The little army in
Plattsburg, by their vigorous defence, prevented Prevost from
crossing the Saranac River. When he found that his ships were lost,
he fled precipitately, leaving his sick and wounded, and large
quantities of military stores.
RAVAGES ON THE ATLANTIC COAST.--The British blockade extended this
year to the north. Commerce was so completely destroyed that the
lamps in the light-houses were extinguished as being of use only to
the English. Several towns in Maine were captured. Stonington,
Conn., was bombarded. Cockburn continued his depredations along the
Chesapeake. General Ross marched to Washington (Aug. 24) and burned
the capitol, the Congressional library, and other public buildings
and records, with private dwellings and storehouses. He then sailed
around by sea to attack Baltimore. The army having disembarked
below the city (Sept. 12), moved against it by land, while the
fleet bombarded Fort McHenry from the river. The troops, however,
met with a determined resistance, and, as the fleet had made no
impression on the fort, soon retired to their ships.
[Footnote: While the British troops were marching toward Baltimore,
General Ross rode forward with a part of his staff, to reconnoitre.
Two mechanics, who were in a tree watching their advance, fired
upon them, and Ross fell mortally wounded. The two patriots were
instantly shot.]
[Footnote: During the bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis S. Key.
an American detained on board of an English vessel, wrote the
national song, "The Star Spangled Banner."]
The greatest excitement was produced by these events. Every seaport
was fortified; the militia were organized, and citizens of all
ranks labored with their own hands in throwing up defences. Bitter
reproaches were cast upon the administration because of its mode of
conducting the war. Delegates from New England States met at
Hartford (December 15) to discuss this subject. The meeting was
branded with odium by the friends of the administration, and to be
called a "Hartford Convention Federalist" was long a term of
reproach.
PEACE, as afterward appeared, was made even before the convention
adjourned. The treaty was signed at Ghent, December 24. Before,
however, the news had reached this country, a terrible, and, as it
proved, unnecessary battle had been fought in the South.
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS (January 8, 1815).--A powerful fleet and a
force of twelve thousand men, under General Pakenham, undertook the
capture of New Orleans. General Jackson, anticipating this attempt,
had thrown up intrenchments several miles below the city. The
British advanced steadily, in solid columns, heedless of the
artillery fire which swept their ranks, until they came within
range of the Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen, when they wavered.
Their officers rallied them again and again. General Pakenham fell
in the arms of the same officer who had caught General Ross as he
fell at Baltimore.
[Footnote: Jackson at first made his intrenchments in part of
cotton-bales, but a red-hot cannon-ball having fired the cotton and
scattered the burning fragments among the barrels of gunpowder, it
was found necessary to remove the cotton entirely. The only defence
of the Americans in this battle was a bank of earth, five feet
high, and a ditch in front.]
[Footnote: The British were tried and disciplined troops, while
very few of the Americans had ever seen fighting. Besides, the
British were nearly double their number. But our men were
accustomed to the use of the rifle, and were the best marksmen in
the world.]
Neither discipline nor bravery could prevail. General Lambert, who
succeeded to the command, drew off his men in the night, hopelessly
defeated, after a loss of over two thousand; while the American
loss was but seven killed and six wounded.
[ILLUSTRATION: BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.]
RESULTS OF THE WAR.--The treaty left the question of impressment
unsettled, yet it was tacitly understood, and was never revived.
The national debt was $127,000,000, but within twenty years it was
paid from the ordinary revenue. The United States had secured the
respect of European nations, since our navy had dared to meet, and
often successfully, the greatest maritime power in the world. The
impossibility of any foreign ruler gaining a permanent foothold on
our territory was shown. The fruitless invasion of Canada by the
militia, compared with the brave defence of their own territory by
the same men, proved that the strength of the United States
consisted in defensive warfare. Extensive manufactories were
established to supply the place of the English goods cut off by the
blockade. This branch of industry continued to thrive after peace,
though for a time depressed by the quantity of English goods thrown
on the market. The immediate evils of the war were apparent: trade
ruined, commerce gone, no specie to be seen, and a general
depression. Yet the wonderful resources of the country were shown
by the rapidity with which it entered upon a new career of
prosperity.
[Footnote: The Algerines had taken advantage of the war with
England to renew their depredations on American commerce. Decatur,
in May, 1815, was sent with a squadron to right matters in that
quarter. Proceeding to Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, he obtained the
liberation of American prisoners, and full indemnity for all
losses, with pledges for the future. The United States was the
first nation effectually to resist the demands of the Barbary
pirates for tribute.]
POLITICAL PARTIES.--When Madison's term of office expired, the
federalist party had been broken up by its opposition to the war.
James Monroe, the Presidential candidate of the republican party,
was almost unanimously elected. He was generally beloved, and all
parties united in his support.
MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION.
Monroe's administration was one of general prosperity. After the
ravages of war, the attention of all was turned to the development
of the internal resources of the country and to the building up of
its industries.
[Footnote: James Monroe was born 1758; died 1831. As a soldier
under General Washington, he bore a brave record, and especially
distinguished himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and
Monmouth. Afterward, he studied law, and entered political life.
Having been sent by Washington as Minister to France, he showed
such marked sympathy with that country as to displease the
President and his cabinet, who were just concluding a treaty with
England, and wished to preserve a strictly neutral policy; he was
therefore recalled. Under Jefferson, who was his warm friend, he
was again sent to France (1803), when he secured the purchase of
Louisiana. He is said to have always taken particular pride in this
transaction, regarding his part in it as among the most important
of his public services. Soon after his inauguration as President,
he visited all the military posts in the north and east, with a
view to a thorough acquaintance with the capabilities of the
country in the event of future hostilities. This tour was a great
success. He wore a blue military coat of homespun, light--colored
breeches, and a cocked hat, being the undress uniform of a
Revolutionary officer. The nation was thus reminded of his former
military services. This, with his plain and unassuming manners,
completely won the hearts of the people, and brought an
overwhelming majority to the support of the administration. Monroe
was a man more prudent than brilliant, who acted with a single eye
to the welfare of his country. Jefferson said of him: "If his soul
were turned inside out, not a spot would be found on it." Like that
loved friend, he died "poor in money, but rich in honor;" and like
him also, he passed away on the anniversary of the independence of
the country he had served so faithfully.]
(FIFTH PRESIDENT--TWO TERMS: 1817-1825.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. _The Missouri Compromise_.--When the admission of
Missouri as a State was proposed, a violent discussion arose as to
whether it should be free or slave. Through the efforts of Henry Clay,
it was admitted as a slave state (1821), under the compromise that
slavery should be prohibited in all other territories west of the
Mississippi and north of parallel 36 degrees 30 minutes--the southern
boundary of Missouri.
[Footnote: The question of slavery was already one of vast
importance. At first slaves were owned in the northern as well as
the southern States. But at the North, slave labor was
unprofitable, and it had gradually died out; while at the South it
was a success, and hence had steadily increased. In 1793, Eli
Whitney, of Connecticut, invented the cotton-gin, a machine for
cleaning cotton from the seed, an operation before performed by
hand, and very expensive. (Read Barnes's Pop. Hist, of the U. S., p
346.) This gave a new impulse to cotton-raising. Sugar and tobacco,
also great staples of the South, were cultivated exclusively by
slave labor.]
_La Fayette's Visit_ to this country (1824) as "the nation's
guest" was a joyous event. He traveled through each of the
twenty-four States, and was everywhere welcomed with delight. His
visit to the tomb of Washington was full of affectionate
remembrance. He was carried home in a national vessel, the
Brandywine, named in honor of the battle in which La Fayette first
drew his sword in behalf of the colonies.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_Florida_.--By a treaty (1819), Spain now ceded
Florida to the United States. (See p. 146.)
_Monroe Doctrine_.--In one of President Monroe's messages he
advocated a principle since famous as the _Monroe Doctrine_.
He declared that any attempt by a European nation to gain dominion
in America would be considered by the United States as an
unfriendly act.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--Divisions now became apparent in the great
party which had twice so triumphantly elected Monroe as President.
The whig party, as it came to be called in Jackson's time, was
forming in opposition to the republican--thenceforth known as the
democratic party. The whigs were in favor of a protective tariff,
and a general system of internal improvements; the democrats
opposed these. No one of the four candidates obtaining a majority
of votes, the election went to the House of Representatives, where
John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, was chosen.
[Footnote: John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay were the champions of
the whigs; Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun, of the democrats. In
1834, the democrats began to be called "Locofocos," because, at a
meeting in Tammany Hall, the lights having been put out, were
relighted with locofoco matches, which several, expecting such an
event, had carried in their pockets.]
[Footnote: A _protective tariff_ is a duty imposed on imported goods
for the purpose of encouraging their manufacture at home. By _internal
improvements_ are meant the improving of the navigation of rivers, the
building of bridges and railroads, the dredging of harbors, etc.]
J. Q. ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: John Quincy Adams was born in Massachusetts, 1767; died
1848. He was a man of learning, of blameless reputation and
unquestioned patriotism, yet as a President he was hardly more
successful than his father. This was, doubtless, owing greatly to
the fierce opposition which assailed him from the friends of
disappointed candidates, who at once combined to weaken his
measures and prevent his re-election. Their candidate was Andrew
Jackson, a man whose dashing boldness, energy, and decision
attracted the popular masses, and hid the more quiet virtues of
Adams. To add to his perplexities, a majority of the House, and
nearly one-half of the Senate, favored the new party, his own
Vice-President, John C. Calhoun, being the candidate of the
opposition, and of course committed to it. To stem such a tide was
a hopeless effort. In two years Adams was returned to Congress,
where he remained until his death, over sixteen years afterward.
Ten years of public service were thus rendered after he had passed
his "threescore years and ten," and so great was his ability in
debate at this extreme age, that he was called "the old man
eloquent." Like his father, he was a wonderful worker, and his mind
was a complete storehouse of facts. He lived economically, and left
a large estate. He was the congressional advocate of anti-slavery,
and a bitter opponent of secret societies. His fame increased with
his age, and he died a trusted and revered champion of popular
rights. He was seized with paralysis while occupying his seat in
Congress, after which he lingered two days in partial
unconsciousness. His last words were--"This is the last of earth; I
am content."]
(SIXTH PRESIDENT: 1825-1829)
[Illustration: THE FIRST RAILROAD TRAIN.]
This was a period of great national prosperity. During this term
the first railroad in the United States was completed, and the Erie
Canal opened. The debt was fast diminishing, and there was a
surplus of $5,000,000 in the treasury. A protective tariff, known
as the "American System," reached its height. It was popular at the
east, but distasteful to the south.
[Footnote: The southern States, devoted to agricultural pursuits,
desired to have foreign goods brought to them as cheaply as
possible; while the eastern States, engaged in manufactures, wished
to have foreign competition shut off by heavy duties.]
Adams was a candidate for re-election, but Andrew Jackson, the hero
of New Orleans, and the democratic nominee, was chosen. The
principle of a protective tariff was thus rejected by the people.
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: Andrew Jackson was born 1767; died 1845. He was of
Scotch-Irish descent. His father died before he was born, leaving
his mother very poor. As a boy, Andrew was brave and impetuous,
passionately fond of athletic sports, but not at all addicted to
books. His life was crowded with excitement and adventure. At
fourteen, being captured by the British, he was ordered to clean
the commander's boots. Showing the true American spirit in his
refusal, he was sent to prison with a wound on head and arm. Here
he contracted the smallpox, which kept him ill for several months.
Soon after his mother had effected his exchange, she died of
ship-fever while caring for the imprisoned Americans at Charleston.
Left destitute, young Jackson tried various employments, but
finally settled down to the law, and in 1796 was elected to
Congress. His imperious temper and inflexible will supplied him
with frequent quarrels. He first distinguished himself as a
military officer in the war against the Creek Indians. His dashing
successes in the war of 1812 completed his reputation, and
ultimately won him the Presidency. His nomination was at first
received in many States with ridicule, as, whatever might be his
military prowess, neither his temper nor his ability recommended
him as a statesman. His re-election, however, proved his popular
success as President. His chief intellectual gifts were energy and
intuitive judgment. He was thoroughly honest, intensely
warm-hearted, and had an instinctive horror of debt. His moral
courage was as great as his physical, and his patriotism was
undoubted. He died at the "Hermitage," his home near Nashville,
Tennessee.--Jackson and Adams were born the same year, yet how
different was their childhood. One born to luxury and travel, a
student from his earliest years, and brilliantly educated; the
other born in poverty, of limited education, and forced to provide
for himself. Yet they were destined twice to compete with each
other for the highest place in the nation. Adams, the first time
barely successful, was unfortunate in his administration; Jackson,
triumphing the second, was brilliant in his Presidential career.]
(SEVENTH PRESIDENT--TWO TERMS: 1829-1837.)
President Jackson commenced his administration with an inflexible
honesty that delighted all, but with a sturdiness of purpose that
amazed both friends and foes. He surrounded himself at once by his
political friends, thus establishing the now popular principle of
"rotation in office."
[Footnote: "During the first year of his administration, there were
nearly seven hundred removals from office, not including
subordinate clerks. During the forty years preceding, there had
been but sixty-four."]
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Nullification_.--South Carolina (1832)
passed a Nullification ordinance declaring the tariff law "null and
void," and that the State would secede from the Union if force
should be employed to collect any revenue at Charleston. President
Jackson acted with his accustomed promptness. He issued a
proclamation announcing his determination to execute the laws, and
ordered troops, under General Scott, to Charleston.
[Footnote: John C. Calhoun and Robert Y. Hayne were the prominent
advocates of the doctrine of "State rights," which declared that a
State could set aside an act of Congress. During this struggle
occurred the memorable debate between Webster and Hayne, in which
the former, opposing secession, pronounced those words familiar to
every school-boy, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and
inseparable." Calhoun's public life extended over forty years. He
was one of the most celebrated statesmen of his time. As a speaker
he was noted for forcible logic, clear demonstration, and earnest
manner. He rejected ornament, and rarely used illustration.
Webster, his political antagonist, said of him, "He had the
indisputable basis of all high character, unspotted integrity, and
honor unimpeached. Nothing grovelling, low, or meanly selfish came
near his head or his heart."]
In the mean time Henry Clay's celebrated "Compromise Bill" was
adopted by the Senate. This measure offering a gradual reduction of
the tariff, was accepted by both sides and quiet restored.
[Footnote: Alexander H. Stephens says: "To do this, Clay had to
break from his old political friends, while he was offering up the
darling system of his heart on the altar of his country. No one can
deny that he was a patriot--every inch of him. When he was
importuned not to take the course he did, and assured that it would
lessen his chances for the Presidency, he nobly replied, 'I would
rather be right than President'--a sentiment worthy to be the motto
of every young patriot in our land."]
[Illustration: BANK OF THE UNITED STATES (now the Custom House).]
_Bank of the United States_.--During his first term, Jackson
vetoed a bill renewing the charter of the United States Bank. After
his re-election by an overwhelming majority, considering his policy
sustained by the people, he ordered (1833) the public money to be
removed from its vaults. The bank thereupon contracted its loans,
money became scarce, and people being unable to pay their debts,
commercial distress ensued. Jackson's measure excited violent
clamor, but he was sustained by the democratic majority in the
House of Representatives.
_Speculations_.--When the public money, which had been withdrawn from
the Bank of the United States, was deposited in the local banks, it
became easy to borrow money. Speculation extended to every branch of
trade but especially to western lands. New cities were laid out in the
wilderness. Fabulous prices were charged for building lots, which
existed only on paper. Scarcely a man could be found who had not his
pet project for realizing a fortune. The bitter fruits of these hot-
house schemes were gathered in Van Buren's time.
[Illustration: Andrew Jackson]
_Indian Troubles_. 1. broke out in the Northwest Territory (1832). The
Sacs and Foxes had some time before sold their lands to the United
States, but when the settlers came to take possession, the Indians
refused to leave. After some skirmishes they were driven off, and
their leader, the famous Black Hawk, was captured. 2. _THE FLORIDA
WAR_ (1835) with the Seminoles grew out of an attempt to remove them,
in accordance with a treaty, to lands west of the Mississippi.
Osceola, the chief of the Seminoles, was so defiant, that General
Thompson, the government agent, put him in irons. Dissembling his
wrath, Osceola consented to the treaty. But no sooner was he released
than, burning with indignation, he plotted a general massacre of the
whites. General Thompson was shot and scalped while sitting at dinner,
under the very guns ol Fort King. The same day Major Dade, with over
one hundred men, was waylaid near the _Wahoo Swamp_. All but four were
killed, and these afterward died of their wounds.
[Footnote: Osceola, in October, 1837, visited the camp of General
Jessup, under a flag of truce. He was there seized and sent to Fort
Moultrie, where he died the following year.]
After several battles the Indians retreated to the everglades of
southern Florida, in whose tangled swamps they hoped to find a safe
retreat. They were, however, pursued into their hiding-places by
Colonel Taylor, and beaten in a hard-fought battle (Okechobee, Dec.
25, 1837), but were not fully subdued until 1842.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_France._--The French government had promised to pay
$5,000,000 for damages to our commerce during Napoleon's wars. This
agreement not being kept, Jackson urged Congress to make reprisals on
French ships. The mediation of England secured the payment of the debt
by France, and thus averted the threatened war.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The democratic candidate, Martin Van Buren, was
chosen President. The people thus supported the policy of
Jackson--no United States Bank and no Protective Tariff. General
Harrison was the whig candidate.
[Footnote: No Vice-President being chosen by the people, Colonel R.
M. Johnson was selected by the Senate. ]
VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION
[Footnote: Martin Van Buren was born 1782; died 1862. He early took
an interest in politics, and in 1818 started a new organization of
the democratic party of New York, his native State, which had the
power for over twenty years. In 1831 he was appointed minister to
England, whither he went in September, but when the nomination came
before the Senate in December, it was rejected, on the ground that
he had sided with England against the United States, on certain
matters, and had carried party contests and their results into
foreign negotiations. His party regarded this as extreme political
persecution, and the next year elected him to the Vice-Presidency.
He thus became the head of the Senate which a few months before
condemned him, and where he now performed his duties with "dignity,
courtesy, and impartiality." ]
(EIGHTH PRESIDENT: 1837-1841.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Crisis of_ 1837.--The financial storm
which had been gathering through the preceding administration, now
burst with terrible fury. The banks contracted their circulation.
Business men could not pay their debts. Failures were every-day
occurrences, and the losses in New York city alone, during March
and April, exceeded $100,000,000. Property of all kinds declined in
value. Eight of the States failed, wholly or in part. Even the
United States government could not pay its debts. Consternation
seized upon all classes. Confidence was destroyed, and trade stood
still.
[Footnote: As a President, Van Buren was the subject of much
partisan censure. The country was passing through a peculiar
crisis, and his was a difficult position to fill with satisfaction
to all. That he pleased his own party is proved from the fact of
his re-nomination in 1840 against Harrison. In 1848 he became the
candidate of the "free democracy," a new party advocating
anti-slavery principles. After this he retired to his estate in
Kinderhook, N. Y, where he died.]
[Footnote: The direct causes of this were (1) the specie circular,
which was issued by Jackson in 1836, just at the close of his last
term, directing that payments for public lands should be made in
gold and silver. The gold and silver was soon gathered into the
United States treasury. (2) The surplus public money, amounting to
about $28,000,000, which was ordered by Congress to be withdrawn
from the local banks and distributed among the States. The banks
could not meet the demand. (3) During the season of high prices and
speculation, when fortunes were easily made, there had been heavy
importations of European goods, which had to be paid for in gold
and silver. Thus the country was drained of its specie. (4) A
terrible fire in the city of New York on the night of Dec. 16,
1835, which had burned 600 valuable stores, and property to the
amount of $18,000,000.]
[Footnote: At the present time the public money is kept in the
United States treasury at Washington, and in sub-treasuries. This
was Van Buren's favorite idea, and only adopted by Congress at the
close of his term. It was called the Sub-Treasury Bill, and was
used as a great argument againbt Van Buren's re-election. It was
repealed during Tyler's administration, but re-enacted under Polk.]
[Illustration: THE BIRTHPLACE OF MARTIN VAN BUREN]
Foreign Affairs.-_The "Patriot War" _(1837-8).--The Canadian
rebellion against England, at this time, stirred the sympathies of
the American people. Meetings were held, volunteers offered, and
arms contributed. The President issued a proclamation refusing the
protection of the United States government to any who should aid
the Canadians, and sent General Scott to the frontier to preserve
the peace.
[Footnote: A body of American sympathizers having taken possession
of Navy Island in Niagara River, had hired a steamer, called the
Caroline, to convey their provisions and war materials. On the
night of December 29, 1837, a party of British troops attempted to
seize this vessel at Schlosser. A desperate fight ensued; but the
ship was, at last, set on fire and left to drift over the Falls.
This event caused great excitement at the time.]
_The Northeast Boundary_ between Maine and New Bruns--wick had
never been settled. The people of that region threatened to take up
arms to support their respective claims. For some time there was
great peril of a war with England. During Tyler's administration
the difficulty was adjusted by what is known as the Ashburton
treaty (1842), which was negotiated between the United States and
Great Britain; Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton acting as
commissioners.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The financial difficulties caused a change in
political feeling, and for the time weakened the confidence of the
people in the wisdom of the democratic policy. Van Buren failed of
a re-election, and General Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, the
whig nominee, was chosen President by an immense majority.
* * * * *
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: William Henry Harrison was born in 1773; died 1841 He
distinguished himself during the war of 1812, especially in the
battle of the Thames. His military reputation made him available as
a Presidential candidate. His character was unimpeachable, and the
chief slur cast upon him by his opponent was that he had lived in a
"log cabin" with nothing to drink but "hard cider." His friends
turned this to good account. The campaign was noted for immense
mass-meetings, long processions, song-singing, and great
enthusiasm. "Hard cider" became a party watch-word, and "log
cabins" a regular feature in the popular parades. Harrison was
elected by a large majority, and great hopes were entertained of
his administration. Though advanced in years, he gave promise of
endurance. But "he was beset by office-seekers; he was anxious to
gratify the numerous friends and supporters who flocked about him;
he gave himself incessantly to public business; and at the close of
the month he was on a sick-bed." His illness was of eight-days
duration. His last words were, "The principles of the government; I
wish them carried out. I ask nothing more."
John Tyler was born 1790; died 1862. He was in early life a great
admirer of Henry Clay, and is said to have wept with sorrow when
the whigs in convention rejected his favorite candidate for the
Presidency, and selected Harrison. He was nominated Vice-President
by a unanimous vote, and was a great favorite with his party. In
the popular refrain, "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," the people sung
praises to him as heartily as to Harrison himself. The death of
Harrison and the succession of Tyler, was the first instance of the
kind in our history.
Tyler's administration was not successful. He opposed the measures
of his party, and made free use of the veto power. His former
political friends denounced him as a renegade, to which he replied
that he had never professed to endorse the measures which he
opposed. The feeling increased in bitterness, and all his cabinet
finally resigned. He was, however, nominated for the next
Presidency by a convention composed chiefly of office-holders; he
accepted, but finding no popular support, soon withdrew. In 1861 he
became the presiding officer of the peace convention in Washington.
All efforts at reconciliation proving futile, he renounced his
allegiance to the United States and followed the Confederate
fortunes. He died in Richmond where he was in attendance as a
member of the Confederate Congress.]
(NINTH AND TENTH PRESIDENTS: 1841-1845.)
General Harrison had scarcely entered upon the duties of his office
and selected his cabinet, when he died. John Tyler, the
Vice-President, in accordance with the Constitution of the United
States, became President. He was elected as a whig, but did not
carry out the favorite measures of his party.
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_United States Bank_.--The whigs,
immediately upon coming into power, passed a bill to establish a
United States Bank, but it was vetoed by Tyler, to the great
disgust of the men who had elected him.
_The Suffrage Difficulties_, commonly known as "Dorr's
Rebellion," grew out of efforts to secure a more liberal
constitution in the State of Rhode Island. The charter granted by
Charles II was still in force. It limited the right of suffrage to
those holding a certain amount of property, and fixed very
unequally the number of deputies in the Assembly from the different
towns. In 1841, a new constitution was adopted, the vote being
taken in mass conventions, and not by the legal voters, according
to the charter. Under this constitution, T. W. Dorr was elected
governor. The old government still went on, treating his election
as illegal. He attempted to seize the State arsenal, but, finding
it held by the militia, gave up the attempt. Dorr was afterward
arrested, convicted of treason, and sentenced to imprisonment for
life; but was finally pardoned. Meanwhile, a liberal constitution
having been legally adopted, went into operation (1843).
_Anti-Rent Difficulties_ (1844).--The tenants on some of the
old "patroon" estates in New York refused to pay the rent. It was
very light, but was considered illegal. The anti-renters, as they
were called, assumed the disguise of Indians, tarred and feathered
those tenants who paid their rents, and even killed officers who
served warrants upon them. The disturbances were suppressed only by
a military force (1846).
[Footnote: The rent consisted of only "a few bushels of wheat,
three or four fat fowls, and a day's work with horses and wagon,
per year,"]
[Illustration: VIEW OF NAUVOO.]
_The Mormons._--A religious sect called Mormons had settled at
Nauvoo, Ill. (1840). Here they had built a city of several thousand
inhabitants, and laid the foundation of a costly temple. Having
incurred the enmity of the people about them, their leader, Joseph
Smith, was taken from the custody of the authorities, to whom he
had entrusted himself, and killed. A mob bombarded the city for
three days, and finally (September, 1845) drove out the
inhabitants, who fled to Iowa.
[Footnote: Joseph Smith, while living at Palmyra, N. Y., claimed to
have had a supernatural revelation, by which he was directed to a
spot where he found buried a series of golden plates covered with
inscriptions, which he translated by means of two transparent
stones (Urim and Thummim) found with them. The result was the Book
of Mormon, said to be the history of a race favored by God, who
occupied this continent at a remote period of antiquity. The
Mormons accept the Holy Bible as received by all Christian people,
but believe the Book of Mormon to be an additional revelation, and
also that their chief or prophet receives direct inspiration from
God. They practice plural marriage, or polygamy, claiming that the
Scriptures justify, while one of their revelations directly
commands it. After the death of Smith and their expulsion from
Nauvoo, a company under the leadership of Brigham Young crossed the
Rocky Mountains, and settled near Great Salt Lake, in Utah. They
were followed by others of their sect, and, after great sufferings,
succeeded in subduing the barren soil, and establishing a
prosperous colony. They founded Salt Lake City, where they erected
a large temple for worship. Their prophet, Brigham Young, who died
August 19, 1877, is still remembered by his followers with the
greatest reverence.]
Foreign Affairs.-_Annexation of Texas_.-The Texans, under
General Sam. Houston, having won their independence from Mexico,
applied (April, 1844) for admission into the Union. Their petition
was at first rejected by Congress, but being endorsed by the people
in the fall elections, it was accepted before the close of Tyler's
administration.
[Footnote: There were two reasons why this measure was warmly
discussed--(1). Mexico claimed Texas, although that country had
maintained its independence for nine years, and had been recognized
by several European nations as well as by the United States.
Besides, Texas claimed the Rio Grande (reo-granday), while Mexico
insisted upon the Nueces (nway-ses) River as the boundary line
between Texas and Mexico. The section of country between these
rivers was therefore disputed territory. Thus the annexation of
Texas would bring on a war with Mexico. (2). Texas held slaves.
Thus, while the South urged its admission, the North as strongly
opposed it.]
_Northwest Boundary_.-The northeast boundary question had
scarcely been settled, when the northwest boundary came into
dispute. It was settled during Polk's administration, by
compromise, fixing the boundary line at 49 degrees instead of 54
degrees 40 minutes as claimed by the United States.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The question of the annexation of Texas went
before the people for their decision. The democrats, who favored
its admission, nominated James K. Polk, who, after a close contest,
was elected President. The whigs, who opposed its admission, had
nominated Henry Clay.
[Footnote: The announcement of Polk's nomination was the first news
ever sent by magnetic telegraph. It was transmitted from Baltimore
to Washington, May 29 1844 over a line built with $30,000
appropriated by Congress to test Professor Morse's invention This
was the grandest event of this administration and it had largely
influenced the civilization and prosperity of the country. Thus the
steamboat and the magnetic telegraph were the first fruits of
American liberty and industry (Read Barnes's Popular History of the
United States pp. 360 and 442)]
[Illustration: ASHLAND, THE HOME OF HENRY CLAY]
[Footnote: Henry Clay was a man whom the nation loved, but signally
failed to honor. Yet his fame and reputation remain far above any
distinction which mere office can give, and unite with them an
affection which stands the test of time. Respected by his opponents
he was almost idolized by his friends. In this he somewhat
resembled Jefferson, but, unlike him, he had not in his early years
the advantages of a liberal education. His father, a Baptist
minister of very limited means, died when Henry was five years old
and at fifteen he was left to support himself. Meantime he had
received what little tuition he had, in a log-cabin school house
from very indifferent teachers. With a rare tact for making
friends, ready talent waiting to be instructed, and a strong
determination seeking opportunities, he soon began to show the
dawnings of the power which afterward distinguished him. He said,
"I owe my success in life to one single fact, namely that at an
early age I commenced, and continued for some years, the practice
of daily reading and speaking the contents of some historical or
scientific book. These off-hand efforts were sometimes made in a
corn field, at others, in the forest, and not unfrequently in some
distant barn, with the horse and ox for my only auditors. It is to
this that I am indebted for the impulses that have shaped and
molded my entire destiny." Rising rapidly by the force of his
genius, he soon made himself felt in his State and in the nation.
He was peculiarly winning in his manners. An eminent and stern
political antagonist once refused an introduction to him expressly
on the ground of a determination not to be magnetized by personal
contact as he "had known other good haters" of Clay to be "United
with this suavity was a wonderful will and an inflexible honor."
His political adversary but personal admirer John C. Breckenridge,
in an oration pronounced at his death, uttered these words--"If I
were to write his epitaph I would inscribe as the highest eulogy on
the stone which shall mark his resting place 'Here lies a man who
was in the public service for fifty years, and never attempted to
deceive his countrymen.'"]
JAMES K. POLK'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: James K. Polk was born 1795; died 1849. He was one of
the most conspicuous opposers of the administration of J. Q. Adams,
and a warm supporter of Jackson. In 1839, having served fourteen
years in Congress, he declined a re-election and was chosen
governor of Tennessee. His Presidential nomination, in connection
with that of George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania, as Vice-President,
had the effect of uniting the democratic party, which had been
disturbed by dissensions between the friends and opponents of
Martin Van Buren. The Mexican war, which was strongly opposed in
many States, the enactment of a tariff based on a revenue principle
instead of a protective one, and the agitation caused by the
"Wilmot proviso" (see p. 190), all conspired to affect his
popularity before the end of his term. He had, however, previously
pledged himself not to be a candidate for re-election. He died
about three months after his retirement from office.]
(ELEVENTH PRESIDENT: 1845-1849.)
WAR WITH MEXICO. 1846-7.
I. GENERAL TAYLOR'S ARMY.
CAMPAIGN ON THE RIO GRANDE.--General Taylor having been ordered
with his troops into the disputed territory, advanced to the Rio
Grande and built Fort Brown. Returning from Point Isabel, whither
he had gone for supplies, on the plains of _Palo Alto_ (pah-lo
ahl'-to) he met six thousand Mexicans, under General Arista
(ah-rees-tah), drawn up across the road. (Map opp. p. 161.) Though
they outnumbered his little army three to one, he routed them with
a loss of but nine men killed. The next afternoon he met them again
at _Resaca de la Palma_ (ray-sah-kah day lah pahl'-mah),
posted in a deep ravine through which the road ran, flanked by
thickets. Their artillery held Taylor's men in check for a time,
when Captain May, charging with his cavalry in the face of a
murderous fire, captured the guns, and with them their commander,
General La Vega (lah-vay-gah), just in the act of firing a gun. The
infantry now rushed forward and drove the enemy, who fled across
the Rio Grande in utter rout.
INVASION OF MEXICO.
--_Capture of Monterey_ (Sept 24).--General Taylor, with about
six thousand men, advanced upon Monterey (mon-tay-ray). This city,
surrounded by mountains and almost impassable ravines, was strongly
fortified, and its streets were barricaded and defended by a
garrison of ten thousand men. A grand assault was made on the city.
To avoid the deadly fire from the windows, roofs, and barricades,
the troops entered the buildings and dug their way through the
stone walls from house to house, or passed from roof to roof. They
came at last within one square of the Grand Plaza, when the city
was surrendered. The garrison was allowed to march out with the
honors of war.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA]
_Battle of Buena Vista_ (bway'-nah vees'-tah) (February 23,
1847).--Santa Anna, the Mexican general, learning that the flower
of Taylor's command had been withdrawn to aid General Scott,
determined to crush the remainder. The little American army took
post at Buena Vista, a narrow mountain pass with hills on one side
and a ravine on the other.
Here they were attacked by Santa Anna with twenty thousand of the
best troops of Mexico. The battle lasted from early morning till
dark. In the final desperate encounter, our infantry being
overwhelmed by numbers, Bragg's artillery was ordered to the
rescue. Without any infantry support he dashed up to within a few
yards of the crowded masses of the enemy. A single discharge made
them waver. "A little more grape, Captain Bragg," shouted Taylor. A
second and a third discharge followed, when the Mexicans broke and
fled in disorder. During the night, Santa Anna drew off his
defeated army.
General Taylor's work was now done. His army was intended only to
hold the country already gained, while General Scott penetrated to
the capital from Vera Cruz (va-rah krooss).
[Footnote: Several anecdotes are told of General Taylor in
connection with this battle. The day before the principal attack,
the Mexicans fired heavily on our line. A Mexican officer, coming
with a message from Santa Anna, found Taylor sitting on his white
horse with one leg over the pommel of his saddle. The officer asked
him "what he was waiting for?" He answered, "For Santa Anna to
surrender." After the officer's return a battery opened on Taylor's
position, but he remained coolly surveying the enemy with his
spy-glass. Some one suggesting that "Whitey" was too conspicuous a
horse for the battle, he replied that "the old fellow had missed
the fun at Monterey, and he should have his share this time." Mr.
Crittenden having gone to Santa Anna's headquarters was told if
General Taylor would surrender, he should be protected. Mr.
Crittenden replied, "General Taylor never surrenders." This became
a favorite motto during the election of 1848. The anecdote told
concerning Capt. Bragg is disputed, but has become historical
(Barnes's Pop. His. U. S., p. 454).]
II. GENERAL KEARNEY'S ARMY.
CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA.--General Kearney (keer-ne)
was directed to take the Spanish provinces of New Mexico and
California. Starting from Fort Leaven worth (June, 1846), a journey
of about a thousand miles brought him to Santa Fe. Unfurling here
the United States flag he continued his march toward California
(map opp. p. 161). On his way, however, he learned from Kit Carson,
the noted hunter, that he was too late. The winter before, Captain
John C. Fremont, with a company of sixty men, had been engaged in
surveying a new route to Oregon. Hearing that the Mexican
commandant intended to expel the American settlers, he went to
their rescue, although he was not aware that war had broken out
between the United States and Mexico. With greatly inferior
numbers, he was victor over the Mexicans in every conflict. By the
help of Commodores Sloat and Stockton, and also General Kearney,
who came in time to aid in the last battle, the entire country was
conquered.
[Footnote: Colonel Doniphan, with one thousand men, the main body
of General Kearney's command, marched over a thousand miles through
a hostile country, from Santa Fe to Saltillo, having on the way
fought two battles and conquered the province and city of Chihuahua
(che-wah-wah). At the end of their term of service he marched his
men back to New Orleans and discharged them. They had been
enlisted, taken three thousand miles, and disbanded, all in a year.]
III. GENERAL SCOTT'S ARMY.
CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ (March 29, 1847).--General Winfield Scott
landed an army, twelve thousand strong, without opposition, and
forthwith drew his siege-lines among the shifting sand-hills and
chaparral thickets about Vera Cruz (map opp. p. 161). After a
fierce bombardment of four days, the city and the strong castle of
San Juan de Ulloa (sahn hoo-ahn' da ool-yo'-ah) were surrendered.
MARCH TO MEXICO.--_Battle of Cerro Gordo_ (April 18).--A week
afterward the army took up its march for the capital. At the
mountain pass of Cerro Gordo, the enemy were strongly fortified. A
road was cut around the base of the mountain through the forest,
and cannon were dragged up the precipice by ropes, to the rear of
the position. Thence a plunging fire was opened simultaneously with
an assault in front. The Mexicans fled in such haste that Santa
Anna only escaped on his wheel-mule, leaving behind him his wooden
leg.
The city of Puebla (pweb-lah), next to Mexico in importance,
surrendered without resistance. Here Scott waited three months for
reinforcements.
_Battles before Mexico_.--With eleven thousand men the march
was resumed (August 7), and in three days the army reached the
crest of the Cordilleras, where the magnificent valley of Mexico
lay stretched before them. In the midst was the city, surrounded by
fertile plains and cloud-capped mountains. But the way thither was
guarded by thirty thousand men and strong fortifications. Turning
to the south to avoid the strongest points, by a route considered
impassable, the army came before the intrenched camp of
_Contreras_, within fourteen miles of Mexico (Aug. 19). The
next morning this was taken, the troops having moved to their
positions in darkness so intense that, to avoid being separated,
they had to touch each other as they marched. The same day the
height of _Churubusco_ was stormed, numerous batteries were
captured, and the defences laid bare to the causeways leading to
the very gates of the city. An armistice and fruitless negotiations
for peace delayed the advance until General Scott found that the
Mexicans were only improving the time in strengthening their works.
Once more (September 8) our army moved to the assault. The attack
was irresistible. The formidable outworks were taken one by one. At
last the castle of _Chapultepec_ (cha-pool-te-pek), situated
on a high rock commanding the city, was stormed. The next day
(September 14) the army entered the city, and the stars and stripes
waved in triumph over the palace of the Montezumas.
PEACE.--The fall of the capital virtually closed the war. A treaty
was concluded February 2, 1848. The United States gained the vast
territory reaching south to the Gila (ghee-lah), and west to the
Pacific (maps of IVth and VIth Epochs).
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_The Wilmot Proviso_.--Texas, the prize of
the war, became at once the bone of contention. David Wilmot
offered in Congress (August, 1846) a bill forbidding slavery in any
territory which should be acquired. This measure, though lost,
excited violent debate in and out of Congress, and became the great
feature of the fall election.
_Discovery of Gold in California_.--A workman in digging a
mill-race in the Sacramento valley (February, 1848) discovered
shining particles of gold. A further search proved that the soil
for miles around was full of the precious metal. The news flew in
every direction. Emigration began from all parts of America, and
even from Europe and Asia. In eighteen months one hundred thousand
persons had gone from the United States to this El Dorado, where a
fortune was to be picked up in a few days. Thousands made their way
across the desert, amid privations which strewed the route with
skeletons. The bay of San Francisco was soon surrounded by an
extemporized city of shanties and booths. All ordinary employments
were laid aside. Ships were deserted by their crews, who ran to the
mines, sometimes, it is said, headed by their officers. Soon
streets were laid out, houses erected, and from this Babel, as if
by magic, grew up a beautiful city. For a time, lawlessness reigned
supreme. But, driven by the necessity of events, the most
respectable citizens took the law into their own hands, organized
vigilance committees, and administered a rude but prompt justice
which soon restored order.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--Three parties now divided the suffrages of the
people. The whigs nominated General Taylor for President; the
democrats, Lewis Cass; and the free-soilers, who were opposed to
the extension of slavery, Martin Van Buren. The personal popularity
of General Taylor, on account of his many sterling qualities and
his brilliant victories in the Mexican war, made him the favorite
candidate, and he was elected.
[Illustration: GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR]
* * * * *
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784 Soon after
his birth his parents removed to Kentucky. His means of education
were extremely scanty, and until he was twenty-four years of age he
worked on his father's plantation. Madison, who was a relative and
at that time Secretary of State, then secured for him an
appointment in the army as lieutenant. From this he rose by regular
and rapid degrees to a major-generalship. Palo Alto, Resaca de la
Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista, won him great applause. He was
the hero of a successful war, and the soldiers admiringly called
him "Old Rough and Ready." Many whig leaders violently opposed his
nomination. Daniel Webster called him "an ignorant frontier
colonel." The fact that he was a slaveholder was warmly urged
against him. He knew nothing of civil affairs, and had taken so
little interest in politics that he had not voted in forty years.
His nomination caused a secession from the whigs, resulting in the
formation of the free-soil party; yet he maintained his popularity
as President, and was one of the most esteemed who have filled that
office. He died July 9, 1850, at the Presidential mansion, after an
illness of five days.]
(TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH PRESIDENTS: 1849-1853)
General Taylor, like General Harrison, died soon after his
elevation to the Presidency. Millard Fillmore, Vice-President,
succeeded him.
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--Slavery questions were the great political topic
of this administration. When California applied for admission to
the Union as a free State, all these subjects were brought to a
focus. A hot debate ensued, and for awhile it seemed as if the
Union would be rent asunder. At this terrible crisis Henry Clay,
the "Great Pacificator," came forward, and, with his wonderful
eloquence, urged the necessity of mutual compromise and
forbearance. Daniel Webster warmly seconded this effort at
conciliation.
[Illustration: DANIEL WEBSTER, HENRY CLAY, JOHN C. CALHOUN
CLAY ADDRESSING CONGRESS.]
[Footnote: When Daniel Webster, the great American statesman and
jurist, was fourteen years old, he first enjoyed the privilege of a
few months' schooling at an academy. The man whose eloquence was
afterward to stir the nation, was then so shy that he could not
muster courage to speak before the school. He says, "Many a piece
did I commit and rehearse in my own room, over and over again; yet
when the day came, when my name was called, and I saw all eyes
turned toward me, I could not raise myself from my seat." In other
respects, however, he gave decided promise of his future eminence.
One year after, his father resolved to send him to college--a dream
he had never dared to cherish. "I remember the very hill we were
ascending through deep snow, in a New England sleigh, when my
father made known this purpose to me. I could not speak. How could
he, I thought, with so large a family, and in such narrow
circumstances, think of incurring so great an expense for me? A
warm glow ran all over me, and I laid my head on my father's
shoulder and wept."--Having finished his collegiate education and
entered his profession, he at once rose to eminence. Elected to
Congress, in his maiden speech he "took the House and country by
surprise." By rapid strides he placed himself at the head of
American orators. His speeches are masterpieces, and may well be
the study of every aspirant for distinction. It was a
disappointment to many of Webster's friends, as it was, perhaps, to
himself, that he was never called to the Presidential chair. But,
like Clay, although he might have honored that position, he needed
it not to enhance his renown. His death, which occurred in 1852,
called out, it is said, more orations, discourses, and sermons,
than had any other except that of Washington.]
_The Compromise of 1850_.--The Omnibus Bill, Clay's measure,
was adopted as the best solution of the problem. It proposed (1)
that California should come in as a free State; (2) that the
Territories of Utah and New Mexico should be formed without any
provision concerning slavery; (3) that Texas should be paid $10,
000,000 to give up its claim on the Territory of New Mexico; (4)
that the slave trade should be prohibited in the District of
Columbia, and (5) that a _Fugitive Slave Law_ should be
enacted providing for the return to their owners of slaves escaping
to a free State.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_Invasion of Cuba_.--About six hundred
adventurers, "fillibusters," undertook to effect the annexation of
Cuba to the United States. The attempt ended in utter defeat, and
in the execution, at Havana, of Lopez, the leader.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The democratic and whig parties both declared
that they stood by the provisions of the Omnibus Bill. The
free-soil party was outspoken against it. Franklin Pierce, the
Presidential nominee of the democratic party, was elected by a
large majority of votes over General Scott, the whig candidate.
* * * * *
PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: Franklin Pierce was born 1804; died 1869. He had barely
attained the requisite legal age when he was elected to the Senate.
He there found such men as Clay, Webster, Calhoun, Thomas H.
Benton, and Silas Wright. Nathaniel Hawthorne says in his biography
of Mr. Pierce: "With his usual tact and exquisite sense of
propriety, he saw that it was not the time for him to step forward
prominently on this highest theatre in the land. He beheld these
great combatants doing battle before the eyes of the nation, and
engrossing its whole regards. There was hardly an avenue to
reputation save what was occupied by one or another of those
gigantic figures." During Mr. Tyler's administration, he resigned.
When the Mexican war broke out, he enlisted as a volunteer, but
soon rose to the office of brigadier-general. He distinguished
himself under General Scott, against whom he afterward successfully
ran for the Presidency, and upon whom, during his administration,
he conferred the title of lieutenant-general. Pierce opposed
anti-slavery measures in every shape. He, however, espoused the
national cause at the opening of the Civil War.]
(FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1853-1857.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Kansas-Nebraska Bill_.--The Compromise
Bill of 1850 produced only a lull in the slavery excitement. It
burst out anew when Stephen A. Douglas brought forward (1853) his
famous bill organizing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and
advocating the doctrine of "squatter sovereignty;" i. e., the right
of the inhabitants of each Territory to decide for themselves
whether the State should come into the Union free or slave. This
bill being a virtual repudiation of the Missouri Compromise,
excited the most intense feeling. It, however, became a law (May,
1854).
[Footnote: During the discussion, which was exciting almost beyond
precedent, Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, made some severe
reflections upon Senator Butler, of South Carolina. For this he was
assailed by Preston S. Brooks, a nephew of Senator Butler and a
South Carolina representative, and so severely injured that for
three years he could not resume his seat. Mr. Brooks was censured
for this act, but, having resigned his seat, was immediately
returned without opposition.]
[Footnote: The public lands have often threatened the peace of the
nation. (1.) The question of their ownership was one of the
greatest obstacles to the Union of the States. In 1781, New York
was the first to present her western territory to the general
government. Virginia followed her example in 1784, donating tho
great Northwestern Territory--a princely domain, which, if
retained, would have made her the richest of the States; she
reserved only 3,700,000 acres in Ohio, which she subsequently sold
in small tracts to settlers. Massachusetts, in 1785, relinquished
her claim, retaining a proprietary right over large tracts in New
York. Connecticut, in 1786, did the same, and from the sale of her
lands in Ohio laid the foundation of her school fund of $2,000,000.
Georgia and the Carolinas gave up their right to territory from
which have since been carved the States of Tennessee, Mississippi,
and Alabama. (2.) Since these lands became the property of the
general government, a most perplexing question has been, Shall they
be free? Upon it has hinged largely the politics of the country.
The admission of Missouri, Texas, California, and Kansas has each
been the signal for the reopening of this vexed question.--Though
the public lands have been the cause of intestine strife, they have
been a great source of national wealth. Their sale has brought
large sums into the treasury. They have been given to settlers as a
stimulus to emigration. They have been granted to endow colleges
and schools, to build railroads, to reward the soldiers and support
their widows and orphans. In every township to be incorporated
hereafter in the great west, a portion of the land must be reserved
for school purposes. By the Homestead Act of 1862, any citizen may
secure one hundred and sixty acres.]
_"Border Warfare." _--The struggle was now taken from Congress
to Kansas. A bitter contest arose between the pro-slavery and
anti-slavery men--the former anxious to secure the State for
slavery; the latter, for freedom. Each party sent bodies of armed
emigrants to the Territory and civil war ensued. Bands of "armed
men" crossed over from Missouri, took possession of the polls, and
controlled the elections. Houses were attacked and pillaged, and
men murdered in cold blood. For several years Kansas was a scene of
lawless violence.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_Mexico._--Owing to the inaccuracy of the
map used in the treaty between the United States and Mexico, a
dispute arose with regard to the boundary line. General Gadsden
negotiated a settlement whereby Mexico was paid $10,000,000, and
the United States secured the region (map, Epoch VI) known as the
"Gadsden purchase."
_Japan._--Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan (1854) excited
great attention. He negotiated a treaty which gave to the merchants
of the United States two ports of entry in that exclusive country.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The compromises of 1820 and 1850 being now
abolished, the slave question became the turning-point of the
election. New party lines were drawn to meet this issue. The whig
party ceased to exist. The republican party, absorbing all who
opposed the extension of slavery, nominated John C. Fremont, who
received the vote of eleven States. The democratic party, retaining
its organization, nominated James Buchanan, who was elected
President.
[Footnote: A third party, called the Know-Nothing or American
party, was organized to resist the influence of foreigners. It
carried the vote of only one State, Maryland. Its motto was
"America for Americans." The party aroused bitter feelings, but had
a transient existence. (Read list of Political Parties, Barnes's
Pop. Hist., p. 654.)]
BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: James Buchanan was born 1791; died 1868. The
"bachelor-President" was sixty-six years old when he was called to
the executive chair. He had just returned to his native country,
after an absence of four years as minister to England. Previously
to that he had been well known in public life, having been
Representative, Senator, and Secretary of State. As Senator in
Jackson's time, he heartily supported his administration. With Van
Buren, he warmly advocated the idea of an independent treasury (see
p. 179), against the opposition of Clay, Webster, and others. Under
Tyler, he was urgently in favor of the annexation of Texas, thus
again coming into conflict with Clay and Webster. He cordially
agreed with them, however, in the compromise of 1850 (see p. 193),
and urged the people to adopt it. Much was hoped from his election,
as he avowed the object of his administration to be "to destroy any
sectional party, whether North or South, and to restore, if
possible, that national fraternal feeling between the different
States that had existed during the early days of the Republic." But
popular passion and sectional jealousy were too strong to yield to
pleasant persuasion. We shall see in the text how the heated nation
was drawn into the horrors of civil war. When Mr. Buchanan's
administration closed, the fearful conflict was close at hand. He
retired to his estate in Pennsylvania, where he died.]
(FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1857-1861.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.
_Dred Scott_
[Footnote: Scott and his wife were slaves belonging to a surgeon in
the United States army. They were taken into and resided in
Illinois and at Fort Snelling, in territory from which, by the
ordinance of 1787, slavery was forever excluded. Afterward they
were carried into Missouri, where they and their children were held
as slaves. They claimed freedom on the ground that, by the act of
their master, they had been taken into free territory. The decision
of the court against their claims created an intense excitement
throughout the country.]
_Decision_.--The Supreme Court of the United States (1857),
through Chief-Justice Taney, declared that slave-owners might take
their slaves into any State in the Union without forfeiting
authority over them. At the North, this was considered as removing
the last barrier to the extension of slavery, and as changing it
from a local to a national institution; at the South, only as a
right guaranteed them by the Constitution, whereby they should be
protected in the possession of their property in every State.
_The Fugitive Slave Law_ had intensified the already heated
controversy, and the subject of slavery now absorbed all others.
The provision which commanded every good citizen to aid in the
arrest of fugitives was especially obnoxious to the North.
Disturbances arose whenever attempts were made to restore runaways
to their masters. Several of the northern States passed "Personal
Liberty" bills, securing to fugitive slaves, when arrested, the
right of trial by jury.
_John Brown_, a man who had brooded over the exciting scenes
through which he had passed in Kansas until he thought himself
called upon to take the law into his own hands, seized upon the
United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry (1859), and proclaimed
freedom to the slaves in the vicinity. His feeble band was soon
overpowered by United States troops, and Brown himself hanged as a
traitor. Though it was soon known that in his wild design he had
asked counsel of no one, yet at the time the Southern feeling was
aroused to frenzy, his act being looked upon as significant of the
sentiments of the North.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The fall elections again turned on the question
of slavery. The democratic party divided, and made two nominations
for President: Stephen A. Douglas, who favored squatter
sovereignty, and John C. Breckinridge, who claimed that slavery
could be carried into any territory. The republican party nominated
Abraham Lincoln, who held that while slavery must be protected
where it was, it ought not to be carried into free territory.
Lincoln was elected.
[Footnote: The "Union" party put up John Bell, of Tennessee. Their
motto was, "The Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the
Laws."]
[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.]
THE SOUTH SECEDES.--Throughout the fall campaign the Southern
leaders had threatened to secede if Mr. Lincoln were elected.
[Footnote: This was not a sudden movement on their part. The
sectional difference between the North and the South had its source
in the difference of climate, which greatly modified the character
and habits of the people; also, while the agricultural pursuits and
staple products of the South made slave labor profitable, the
mechanical pursuits and the more varied products of the North made
it unprofitable. These antagonisms, settled first by the Missouri
Compromise of 1820, reopened by the tariff of 1828, bursting forth
in the nullification of 1832, pacified by Clay's compromise tariff,
increased through the annexation of Texas and the consequent war
with Mexico, irritated by the Wilmot Proviso, lulled for a time by
the compromise of 1850, awakened anew by the "squatter sovereignty"
policy of 1853, roused to fury by the agitation in Kansas, spread
broadcast by the Dred Scott decision, the attempted execution of
the Fugitive Slave Law and the John Brown raid, had now reached a
point where war was the only remedy. The election of Lincoln was
the pivot on which the result turned. The cause ran back through
thirty years of controversy to the difference in climate, in
occupation, and in the habit of life and thought. Strange to say,
each section misunderstood the other. The Southern people believed
the North to be so engrossed in money-making and so enfeebled by
luxury that it could send to the field only mercenary soldiers, who
would easily be beaten by the patriotic Southerners. They said,
"Cotton is King;" and believed that England and France were so
dependent upon them for that staple, that their republic would be
recognized and defended by those European powers. On the other
hand, the Northern people did not believe that the South would dare
to fight for slavery when it had 4,000,000 slaves exposed to the
chances of war. They thought it to be all bluster, and hence paid
little heed to the threat of secession or of war. Both sides sadly
learned their mistake, only too late.]
They now declared that it was time to leave a government which had
fallen into the hands of their avowed enemies. Since the time of
Calhoun they had been firm believers in the doctrine of State
rights, which taught that a State could leave the Union whenever it
pleased. In December (1860) South Carolina led off, and soon after
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas passed
ordinances of secession. In February (1861) delegates from these
States met at Montgomery, Ala, and formed a government called the
"Confederate States of America". Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi,
was chosen President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia,
Vice-President. United States forts, arsenals, customhouses, and
ships were seized by the States in which they were situated.
Buchanan did nothing to prevent the catastrophe. General Scott
urged action, but the regular army was small, and the troops were
widely scattered. The navy had been sent to distant ports. The
Cabinet largely sympathized with the secessionists. Numerous
unsuccessful efforts were made to effect a compromise.
[Illustration: JEFFERSON DAVIS]
It was the general expectation that there would be no war, and the
cry, "No coercion," was general. Yet affairs steadily drifted on
toward war.
[Footnote: Even the New York Tribune declared--"Whenever any
considerable section of our Union shall deliberately resolve to go
out, we shall resist all coercive measures to keep them in."]
[Illustration: FORT SUMTER]
FORT SUMTER--All eyes were now turned on Fort Sumter. Here Major
Anderson kept the United States flag flying in Charleston harbor.
He had been stationed in Fort Moultrie (map, p. 280), but fearing
an attack, had crossed over (December 26) to Fort Sumter, a
stronger position. The South Carolinians, looking upon this as a
hostile act, took possession of the remaining forts, commenced
erecting batteries, and prepared to reduce Fort Sumter. Major
Anderson was compelled by his instructions to remain a quiet
spectator of these preparations. The Star of the West, an unarmed
steamer, bearing troops and supplies to the fort, was fired upon
and driven back. The Southern leaders declared that any attempt to
relieve Fort Sumter would be a declaration of war. The government
seemed paralyzed with fear. All now waited for the new President.
STATES ADMITTED DURING THE FOURTH EPOCH.
The number of States increased during this epoch from thirteen to
thirty-four. The following is the order in which they were
received:
VERMONT, the fourteenth State, and the first under the
Constitution, was admitted to the Union March 4, 1791. It was so
called from its principal range of mountains (_verd_, green,
and _mont_, mountain). Champlain discovered and explored much
of it in 1609. The first settlement was made in 1724, in the
present town of Brattleborough, where Fort Dummer was erected. The
region was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York (see p. 110).
In 1777, the inhabitants declared the "New Hampshire grants" an
independent State, under the title "New Connecticut, alias
Vermont." In 1791, however, New York consented to relinquish her
claim on the payment of $30,000, and Vermont was accordingly
admitted into the Union.
KENTUCKY, the fifteenth State, was admitted to the Union June 1,
1792. The name, "dark and bloody ground," had its origin in the
fierce conflicts which took place between the whites and the
Indians. Daniel Boone, a famous hunter, for two years rambled
through the forests of this region, delighted with its scenery and
the abundance of game. After many thrilling adventures and narrow
escapes from the Indians, he established a fort at Boonesborough,
and removed his family thither in June, 1775. This was the first
permanent settlement in the State, then a part of Virginia, from
which it was not separated till 1790.
TENNESSEE, the sixteenth State, was admitted to the Union June 1,
1796. It was named from the river Tennessee, the "river with the
great bend." It is thought that DeSoto, in his wanderings, visited
the spot where Memphis now stands. The first permanent settlement
in the State was at Fort Loudon, thirty miles from the present site
of Knoxville, in 1756. In 1780, James Robertson crossed the
mountains with a party, and located where Nashville now stands, but
which was then a wilderness. In 1789, North Carolina gave up her
claim on the region, and the next year it was joined with Kentucky
to form an independent territory. It received a distinct
territorial government two years before it became a State.
[Footnote: This was the first permanent English settlement south of
Pennsylvania and west of the Alleghanies.] was at Fort Loudon,
thirty miles from the present site of Knoxville, in 1756. In 1780,
James Robertson crossed the mountains with a party, and located
where Nashville now stands, but which was then a wilderness. In
1789, North Carolina gave up her claim on the region, and the next
year it was joined with Kentucky to form an independent territory.
It received a distinct territorial government two years before it
became a State.
OHIO, the seventeenth State, was admitted to the Union November 29,
1802. It was so called from the river of that name, signifying the
"beautiful river." The first explorations were made by the French,
under LaSalle, about 1680. The first permanent settlement was at
Marietta, in 1788. It was the first State carved out of the great
Northwestern Territory.
[Footnote: This territory was created in 1787, and included all the
public land north of the Ohio. It embraced the present States of
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of
Minnesota. It was a part of New France before the French authority
ceased in 1763. The British held possession for twenty years, when
the country was ceded to the United States (see Map of VIth Epoch,
and p. 146)]
LOUISIANA, the eighteenth State, was admitted to the Union April 8,
1812. The territory was named in honor of Louis XIV, king of
France. The French explored the river Mississippi to the sea in
1682 (see p. 34), but their first settlement was made by Iberville
at Biloxi, near its mouth, in 1699. New Orleans was founded in
1718.
[Footnote: The colony was granted to the great Mississippi Company,
organized by John Law, at Paris, for the purpose of settling and
deriving profit from the French possessions in North America. When
this bubble burst, the French crown resumed the country. (See Brief
History of France, p. 176.)]
The territory was ceded to Spain in 1762, but in 1800 was receded
to France. When the United States purchased it (see p. 155),
Louisiana included all the region north and west between the
Mississippi and the Pacific (except those portions then occupied by
Spain: see California) and north to the British possessions. In
1804, this region was divided into two parts--the territory of
Orleans, which included the present State of Louisiana, and the
district of Louisiana, which comprised the remainder. The former
was admitted to the Union as Louisiana, and the name of the latter
changed to Missouri.
INDIANA, the nineteenth State, was admitted to the Union December
11, 1816. The name is derived from the word Indian. The exact date
of the first settlement is undetermined. When Ohio was taken from
the Northwestern Territory, the remainder was called Indiana. It
was reduced to its present limits in 1809, and was the second State
admitted from the Northwestern Territory. After the Indian
difficulties which hindered its early development had subsided, its
growth was very rapid. Between 1810 and 1820, its population
increased five hundred per cent.
MISSISSIPPI, the twentieth State, was admitted to the Union
December 10, 1817. It is named from the Mississippi River, the
"Great Father of Waters." De Soto was the first European who
traversed this region. In 1700, Chevalier de Tonty, with a party of
Canadian French, ascended the river to the Natchez country, where
they selected a site for a fort and called it Rosalie. A settlement
called St. Peters was made in 1703, on the Yazoo. In 1728, the
Indians swept every vestige of civilization from the present limits
of the State. Under the French governors who followed, fierce and
bloody wars were waged with the Natchez, Chickasaw, and Choctaw
Indians. In 1763, Louisiana east of the Mississippi, including a
part of what is now Mississippi and Alabama, was ceded to the
British, and became a part of Georgia. The Mississippi Territory
was created in 1798, and lands were afterward added until it
embraced the present States of Mississippi and Alabama. The latter
became a separate Territory in March, 1817.
ILLINOIS, the twenty-first State, was admitted to the Union
December 3, 1818. Its name is derived from its principal river,
signifying "River of men." Its first settlements were made by La
Salle.
[Footnote: That enterprising traveler, after exploring the Illinois
River, built a small fort which he called Crevecoeur (krave-kur),
and left it in command of the Chevalier de Tonty. Three years
afterward he returned with some Canadians and founded Kaskaskia,
Cahokia, and other towns, which early became flourishing, though
the settlers, in manners and habits, were assimilated to the
Indians.]
After the States of Ohio and Indiana, and the Territory of Michigan
had been taken from the Northwestern Territory, the remainder was
styled the Illinois Territory, and comprised the present States of
Illinois, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota. The settlement of
this Territory was greatly impeded by Indian hostilities. The
massacre at Fort Chicago, August 15, 1812, and the Black Hawk war,
are instances of the dangers and trials which beset the pioneer.
The great prosperity of the State dates from the year 1850, when
munificent grants of land were made to the Central Railroad. The
prairie wilderness was rapidly settled, and towns and cities sprang
up as by magic.
ALABAMA, the twenty-second State, was admitted to the Union
December 14, 1819. Its name is of Indian origin, and signifies
"Here we rest." It was originally a part of Georgia. (See
Mississippi.) The fierce contests with the Creek Indians, ended by
Jackson, gave to the State a vast and fertile region. The first
settlement was made by Bienville on Mobile Bay, in 1702. Nine years
afterward, the present site of Mobile was occupied. Mobile was the
original seat of the French colonization in Louisiana, and for many
years the capital. Having been ceded to Great Britain and then to
Spain, in 1813 it was surrendered to General Wilkinson, and has
since remained in the possession of the United States (p. 146).
MAINE, the twenty-third State, was admitted to the Union March 15,
1820. (See p. 60.)
MISSOURI, the twenty-fourth State, was admitted to the Union August
10, 1821. Its name is derived from its principal river, and means
"Muddy water." Its oldest town, St. Genevieve, was founded in 1755.
St. Louis was settled nine years after, but was not incorporated as
a town until 1809; its first newspaper was published in 1808, and
the first steamboat arrived at its wharf in 1817. The District of
Louisiana was organized as Louisiana Territory in 1805, with St.
Louis as its capital. When Louisiana became a State, the name of
the Territory was changed to Missouri.
ARKANSAS, the twenty-fifth State, was admitted to the Union June
15, 1836. It took its name from a now extinct tribe of Indians. It
was discovered and settled by the French under Chevalier de Tonty,
as early as 1685. It followed the fate of the other portions of
Louisiana. On the admission of the State of Missouri, Arkansas was
organized as a Territory, including the present State and a part of
Indian Territory.
MICHIGAN, the twenty-sixth State, was admitted to the Union January
26, 1837. The name is of Indian origin, signifying "Great Lake." It
was early visited by missionaries (see p. 33) and fur traders.
Detroit was founded in 1701 by Cadillac. This region, first a part
of the Northwestern Territory, then of Indiana Territory, was
organized as a separate Territory in 1805. The country north of the
present States of Indiana and Illinois was annexed to Michigan in
1818. The act of admission gave the State its present boundaries.
FLORIDA, the twenty-seventh State, was admitted to the Union March
3, 1845. The Spanish word _florida_, means "blooming" (see p.
27). Its early visitors, Ponce de Leon, De Narvaez, and De Soto,
its first settlement at St. Augustine, its history under the
Spaniards, and the Seminole war, have been incidentally described.
It was organized as a Territory March 3, 1819.
TEXAS, the twenty-eighth State, was admitted to the Union December
27, 1845. It was explored by De Leon and La Salle. The latter,
intending to found a French settlement at the mouth of the
Mississippi, sailed by it unawares, and, landing at Matagorda Bay,
built Fort St. Louis on the Lavaca. The Spaniards afterward
explored and partially settled the country, establishing missions
at various points. These did not prosper, however, and the region
was populated mainly by roving bands of Indians. Civil war had
impoverished the few settlers who were unable to flee from the
country, and Galveston was nearly deserted, when, in 1820, Moses
Austin, a native of Connecticut, obtained from the Spanish
authorities in Mexico a grant of land. Emigration from the United
States was encouraged, and in 1830 there were twenty thousand
Americans in Texas. The jealousy of Mexico being excited, acts of
oppression followed, and in 1835 the Texans were driven to declare
their independence. After a year of severe fighting and alternating
victories, Santa Anna was conquered.
[Footnote: Santa Anna, with four thousand men, having attacked the
Alamo, a fort garrisoned by only one hundred and seventy-two men,
every one of that gallant few died at his post except seven, who
were killed while asking for quarter. Here David Crockett, the
famous hunter, who had volunteered to fight with the Texans for
their liberty, fell, pierced with wounds, but surrounded by the
corpses of those whom he had cut down ere he was overpowered. In
the battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna, with fifteen hundred men,
was defeated by eight hundred, under General Sam. Houston (See
Barnes's Popular History of the United States, p. 445.)]
The next year (1837) Texas sought admission into the Union. In 1844
the question was revived. The last act of Tyler's administration
was to sign a bill for its admission. This bill was ratified by a
convention of the State, July 5th of the same year.
IOWA, the twenty-ninth State, was admitted to the Union December
28, 1846. Its name is of Indian origin, signifying "Drowsy ones."
Julien Dubuque, a Canadian Frenchman, obtained, in 1788, a large
tract of land, including the present site of Dubuque. He there
built a fort and traded with the Indians till 1810. The first
permanent settlement was made at Burlington in 1833, by emigrants
from Illinois. The same year, Dubuque was founded. This Territory
belonged to the Louisiana tract and partook of its fortunes. It was
successively a part of Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin
Territories, but was organized separately in 1838. It then included
all of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, but when admitted
as a State was reduced to its present limits.
WISCONSIN, the thirtieth State, was admitted to the Union May 29,
1848. Its name is derived from its principal river, and signifies
"The gathering of the waters." It was explored by French
missionaries and traders as early as 1639. Green Bay was founded in
1745. This region was also a part of the Northwestern Territory. It
was comprised in the Territory of Illinois, then of Michigan, and
in 1836 became a separate Territory.
CALIFORNIA, the thirty-first State, was admitted to the Union
September 9, 1850 (see p. 190). Sir Francis Drake, in 1579, sailed
along its coast, naming it New Albion, and visited San Francisco
harbor (see p. 35). In 1769, the Spaniards established the mission
of San Diego (de-a'-go), and in 1776 (the year of the Declaration
of Independence), one at San Francisco.
[Footnote: In 1835, a shanty owned by one Richardson was the only
human habitation and the vast bay was a solitude The first survey
of streets and town lots was in 1839 The principal trade was in
exporting hides and that was small. In 1846 an American man of war
entered the harbor and took possession in the name of the United
States. The town was known as Yerba Buena (good herb) until 1847
when it was changed to its present name. About that time it had a
population of four hundred and fifty nine. The discovery of gold in
1848 gave the city its first start toward its present distinction.
Within eighteen months following December 1849, the city lost by
fire $16,000,000 of property though its population did not exceed
thirty thousand. Such however, was the enterprise of its citizens
that these tremendous losses scarcely interrupted its growth or
prosperity. Its magnificent harbor and its railroad communications
give it an extensive commerce on the Pacific Coast.]
[Illustration: SAN FRANCISCO BAY
PACIFIC OCEAN,
THE GOLDEN GATE.
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO]
In 1803, they had eighteen missions with over fifteen thousand
converts, and the entire government of the country was in the hands
of the Franciscan monks. The Mexican revolution, in 1822, overthrew
the Spanish power in California, and in a few years the Franciscans
were stripped of their wealth and influence. In 1831, the white
population did not exceed five thousand. From 1843 to 1846, many
emigrants from the United States settled in California, and, under
the leadership of Fremont and others, wrested the country from
Mexico (see p. 188). By the treaty at the close of the Mexican war,
Upper California was ceded to the United States. It embraced about
450,000 square miles, comprising what is now known as California,
Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Colorado and New Mexico. (Maps
of IVth and VIth Epochs.)
MINNESOTA, the thirty-second State, was admitted to the Union May
11, 1858. It is so called from the river of that name, and
signifies "Cloudy water." In 1680, La Salle and Hennepin penetrated
this region. Other travelers followed, and within the present
century the whole country has been thoroughly explored. Fort
Snelling was established in 1819. St. Paul was settled in 1846 by
emigrants from the East. The Territory of Minnesota was organized
in 1849, with the Missouri and White rivers for its western
boundary, thus embracing nearly twice the area of the present
State. At this time its population was less than five thousand,
consisting of whites and half-breeds settled about the various
missions and trading-posts. In 1851, the Sioux ceded a large tract
of land to the United States. After this, the population increased
so rapidly that in six years Minnesota applied for admission into
the Union.
OREGON, the thirty-third State, was admitted to the Union February
14, 1859. It is said to derive its name from the Spanish
_oregano_, wild marjoram, abundant on its coast. It constituted a part
of the Louisiana purchase, though for a long time little was known of
this portion of that vast territory. In 1792, Captain Gray, of Boston,
entered the river to which he gave the name of his ship, the Columbia.
On his return, he made such a flattering report that there was a
general desire to know more of the country. In 1804, the year after
the Louisiana purchase, Jefferson sent an exploring party, under the
command of Captain Lewis and Lieutenant Clark, which followed the
Missouri to its source and descended the Columbia to the Pacific. The
history of their adventures is one of the most romantic of the
century. An extensive fur-trade soon began. Fort Astoria was built in
1811 by the American Fur Company, of which John Jacob Astor was a
prominent member. Hunters and trappers in the employ of American and
British companies roamed over the whole region. Fort Vancouver was
occupied by the Hudson Bay Company, a British organization, till 1860.
In 1839, the first American emigration set toward this region. The
danger of war which had seriously threatened its dawning prosperity
was averted when the northwest boundary was settled by the treaty
of 1846. In 1848, it was organized as a Territory, and included all
the possessions of the United States west of the Rocky Mountains.
In 1850, Congress granted three hundred and sixty acres to every
man, and the same to his wife, on condition of residence on the
land for four years. Eight thousand claims were made for farms. In
1853, Washington Territory was organized north of Columbia River.
When Oregon was admitted as a State, it was reduced to its present
limits.
KANSAS, the thirty-fourth State, was admitted to the Union January
29, 1861. The name is of Indian origin, and is said to mean "Smoky
water." This region was also a part of the Louisiana purchase.
After the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and
Minnesota had been carved from it, there was left a vast,
unoccupied tract at the west, which was organized by the Kansas and
Nebraska Act of 1854. The history of the strife which decided
whether it should be slave or free has been narrated.
Summary of the History of the Fourth Epoch,
arranged in Chronological Order.
1789. Washington inaugurated, April 30
1791. Vermont admitted to the Union, March 4
1792. Kentucky admitted to the Union, June 1
Discovery of Columbia River by Captain Gray, May 11
1793. Difficulties with Genet
1794. The Indians defeated by Wayne, August 20
Whisky insurrection
1795. Jay's treaty ratified, June 24
1796. Tennessee admitted to the Union, June 1
1797. John Adams inaugurated, March 4
1799. Washington died at Mount Vernon, December 14
1800. Capitol removed to Washington
Treaty with France, September 30
1801. Thomas Jefferson inaugurated, March 4
War declared by United States against Tripoli, June 10
1802. Ohio admitted to the Union, November 29
1803. Louisiana purchased from France, April 30
Fleet sent against Tripoli
1804. Lieut. Decatur destroyed frigate Philadelphia, Feb. 15
Hamilton killed by Burr, July 11
1805. Treaty of peace with Tripoli, June 3
1807. The Chesapeake fired into by the Leopard, June 22
Embargo on American ships, December 22
Fulton first ascended the Hudson, September 14
1809. James Madison inaugurated, March 4
1811. Action between the President and the Little Belt, May 16
Battle of Tippecanoe, November 7
1812. Louisiana admitted to the Union, April 8
War declared against England, June 19
Hull invaded Canada, July 12
Mackinaw surrendered, July 17
Detroit surrendered, August 16
The Constitution captured the Guerriere, August 19
Battle of Queenstown, October 13
The Wasp captured the Frolic, October 13
1813. Battle of Frenchtown, January 22
Capture of York, April 27
Siege of Fort Meigs, May 1
Sackett's Harbor attacked, May 29
American frigate Chesapeake captured by the Shannon, June 1
1813. Battle of Fort Stephenson, Ohio, August 2,
Massacre of Fort Mimms, August 30,
Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10,
Battle of the Thames, October 5,
Battle of Chrysler's Field, November 11,
1814. Battle of Horse-shoe Bend (Tohopeka), March 27,
Battle of Chippewa, July 5,
Battle of Lundy's Lane, July 25,
Washington captured by the British, August 24,
Battle of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain, September 11,
Bombardment of Fort McHenry, September 13,
Hartford Convention, December 15,
Treaty of Peace, December 24,
1815. Battle of New Orleans, January 8,
War with Algiers,
1816. Indiana admitted to the Union, December 11,
1817. James Monroe inaugurated, March 4,
Mississippi admitted to the Union, December 10,
1818. Illinois admitted to the Union, December 3,
1819. Alabama admitted to the Union, December 14,
Florida purchased of Spain, February 22,
1820. Missouri Compromise passed, March 3,
Maine admitted to the Union, March 15,
1821. Missouri admitted to the Union, August 10,
1824. Visit of La Fayette, August 15,
1825. John Quincy Adams inaugurated, March 4,
1826. Adams and Jefferson died, July 4,
1829. Jackson inaugurated, March 4,
1832. Black Hawk War,
Nullification in South Carolina,
1835. Dade's massacre by the Seminoles, December 28,
1836. Arkansas admitted to the Union, June 15,
1837. Michigan admitted to the Union, January 26,
Martin Van Buren inaugurated, March 4,
Battle of Okechobee, Seminoles routed by Taylor, Dec. 25,
1837-8. The "Patriot War"--Canada,
1841. Wm. H. Harrison inaugurated, March 4,
President Harrison died, April 4,
John Tyler inaugurated, April 6,
1842. Dorr's Rebellion,
1845. Florida admitted to the Union, March 3,
James K. Polk inaugurated, March 4
Texas admitted to the Union, December 27,
1846. Battle of Palo Alto, May 8,
Battle of Resaca de la Palma, May 9,
Congress declared war against Mexico, May 11,
Monterey captured, September 24,
Iowa admitted to the Union, December 28,
1847. Battle of Buena Vista, February 23,
Vera Cruz captured, March 29,
Battle of Cerro Gordo, April 18,
Battle of Contreras, August 20,
Capture of Chapultepec, September 13,
Mexico surrendered, September 14,
1848. Treaty of peace with Mexico, February 2,
Gold discovered in California, February,
Wisconsin admitted to the Union, May 29,
1849. General Taylor inaugurated, March 5,
1850. General Taylor died, July 9,
Millard Fillmore inaugurated, July 16,
California admitted to the Union, September 9,
1853. Franklin Pierce inaugurated, March 4,
1854. Commodore Perry's treaty with Japan, March,
Kansas-Nebraska Bill passed, May,
1857. James Buchanan inaugurated, March 4,
1858. Minnesota admitted to the Union, May 11,
1859. Oregon admitted to the Union, February 14,
1860. South Carolina seceded from the Union, December 20,
1861. Steamer Star of the West fired upon, January 9,
Kansas admitted into the Union as a State, January 29,
Southern Confederacy formed at Montgomery, Feb. 4,
* * * * *
REFERENCES FOR READING.
_Lossing's Field Book of the War of_ 1812.--_Lewis and
Clarke's Journal_.--_Mackenzie's Life of Paul Jones_.
--_Parton's Life of Jackson; also of Aaron Burr_.--_Cooper's
History of the American Navy_.--_Irving's Astoria_.
--_Powell's Life of Taylor_.--_Fremont's Explorations_.
--_Benton's_ 30 _Years View of Public Affairs_.
--_Street and Reid's Osceola_ (_Poem_).--_Ripley's War
with Mexico_.--_Hull's Military and Civil Life_.
--_Parker's Historic Americans_.--_Lossing's Eminent
Americans_.--_McPherson's Political History of the United
States_.--_Tome's Battles of America by Sea and Land_.
--_Lowell's Bigelow Papers_.--_The Exiles of Florida, by
Giddings_.--_Jay's Mexican War and Dawson's American
Battle-fields_.--"_The Mississippi Scheme_" _in Mackay's
Popular Delusions_.--_Mrs. John Adams's Correspondence_.
--_Headley's Second War with England_.--_Whittier's Angel of
Buena Vista_ (_Poetry_).--_Randall's and Tucker's Lives
of Jefferson_.--_Griswold's Court of Washington_.
--_Clarke's Campaign of_ 1812.--_Ingersoll's Second War with
Great Britain_--_Wilson's Sketches of Illustrious
Soldiers_.--_Martin's Civil Government_ (_Constitution of
U. S._).
EPOCH V.
THE CIVIL WAR.
From 1861--Inauguration of Lincoln,
To 1865--Surrender of Lee's Army.
LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, February 12, 1809;
died in Washington, April 15, 1865. His father was unable to read
or write, and his own education consisted of one-year's schooling.
When he was eight years old his father moved to Indiana, the family
floating down the Ohio on a raft. When nineteen years of age, the
future President hired out as a hand on a flat-boat at $10 per
month, and made a trip to New Orleans. On his return he accompanied
the family to Illinois, driving the cattle on the journey. Having
reached their destination he helped them to build a cabin, and to
split rails to enclose the farm. He was now in succession a
flat-boat hand, clerk, captain of a company of volunteers in the
Black Hawk War, country store-keeper, postmaster, and surveyor, yet
he managed to get a knowledge of law by borrowing books at an
office before it closed at night, returning them at its opening in
the morning. On being admitted to the bar, he rapidly rose to
distinction. At twenty-five he was sent to the Legislature, and was
thrice re-elected. Turning his attention to politics, he soon
became a leader. He was sent to Congress; he canvassed the State,
haranguing the people daily on great national questions; and, in
1858, he was candidate for Senator, a second time, against Stephen
A. Douglas. The two rivals stumped the State together. The debate,
unrivalled for its statesmanship, logic, and wit, won for Lincoln a
national reputation, but he lost the election in the Legislature,
his party being in the minority. After his accession to the
Presidency, his history, like Washington's, is identified with that
of his country. He was a tall, ungainly man, little versed in the
refinements of society, but gifted by nature with great common
sense, and everywhere known as "Honest Abe." Kind, earnest,
sympathetic, faithful, democratic, he was anxious only to serve his
country. His wan, fatigued face, and his bent form, told of the
cares he bore, and the grief he felt. His only relief was when,
tossing aside for a moment the heavy load of responsibility, his
face would light up with a humorsome smile, while he narrated some
incident whose irresistible wit and aptness to the subject at hand,
convulsed his hearers, and rendered "Lincoln's stories" household
words throughout the nation.]
(SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1861-1865)
[Illustration]
[Footnote: _Questions on the Geography of the Fifth Epoch_. --Locate
the following places noted as battle-fields. Names of places in italic
letters, as well as the Battles before Richmond, may be found on
pages--and--. Philippi. Big Bethel. Boonville (Booneville). Carthage.
Rich Mountain. Bull Run. Wilson's Creek. Hatteras Inlet. Lexington,
Mo. Ball's Bluff. Belmont. Port Royal. Mill Spring. Fort Henry.
Roanoke Island. Fort Donelson. Pea Ridge. New Berne (Newberne).
Winchester. Pittsburg Landing. Island No. 10. Fort Pulaski. Fort
Jackson. Fort Macon. Beaufort. Yorktown. Williamsburg. Corinth. _Fair
Oaks._ Mechanicsville. _Gaines's Mill_. _Malvern Hill_. Cedar
Mountain. South Mountain. Antietam. Fredericksburg. Holly Springs.
Murfreesboro. Galveston. Fort Sumter (see map, p--). Chancellorsville.
Vicksburg. Gettysburg. Port Hudson. Chickamauga. Chattanooga.
Knoxville. Fort de Russy. Sabine Cross Roads. Fort Pillow. Wilderness.
_Bermuda Hundred_. Spottsylvania Court House. Resaca. Dallas. _Cold
Harbor_. Lost Mountain. Petersburg. Atlanta. Mobile. Fort Gaines. Fort
Morgan. Cedar Creek. Fort McAlister (or McAllister). Nashville.
Savannah. Fort Fisher. Columbia. Goldsboro. Fort Steadman. Five Forks.
Appomattox Court House. (The battles above are named in chronological
order)]
INAUGURATION.--Rumor of a plan to assassinate Lincoln impelled him
to come to Washington in disguise. He was inaugurated March 4,
1861, surrounded by troops under the command of General Scott.
CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY--All was now uncertainty. The southern
officers in the army and navy of the United States were daily
resigning, and linking their fortunes with the Confederate cause.
There was still, however, a strong Union sentiment at the South.
Many prominent men in both sections hoped that war might be
averted. The Federal authorities feared to act, lest they should
precipitate civil strife. In striking contrast to this indecision
was the marked energy of the new Confederate government. It was
gathering troops, voting money and supplies, and rapidly preparing
for the issue.
CAPTURE OF FORT SUMTER (April 14).--Finding that supplies were to
be sent to Fort Sumter, General Peter G. T. Beauregard
(bo-re-gard), who had command of the Confederate troops at
Charleston, called upon Major Anderson to surrender. Upon his
refusal, fire was opened from all the Confederate forts and
batteries.
[Footnote: The first gun of the war was fired at half-past four
o'clock Friday morning, April 12, 1861.]
This "strange contest between seventy men and seven thousand,"
lasted for thirty-four hours, no one being hurt on either side. The
barracks having been set on fire by the shells, the garrison worn
out, suffocated, and half-blinded, were forced to capitulate. They
were allowed to retire with the honors of war, saluting their flag
before hauling it down.
_The Effect_ of this event was electrical. It unified the
North and also the South. The war spirit swept over the country
like wild-fire. Party lines vanished. The Union men at the South
were borne into secession, while the republicans and democrats at
the North combined for the support of the government, Lincoln
issued a requisition for seventy-five thousand troops. It was
responded to by three hundred thousand volunteers, the American
flag, the symbol of Revolutionary glory and of national unity,
being unfurled throughout the North. The military enthusiasm at the
South was equally ardent. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and
Tennessee, which had before hesitated, joined the Confederacy.
Virginia troops seized the United States armory at Harper's Ferry,
and the Navy Yard at Norfolk.
[Footnote: Here were foundries, ship-yards, machine shops, two
thousand cannon, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of
gunpowder, great quantities of shot and shell, and twelve ships of
war. The ships were scuttled or fired, but vast stores, which were
of inestimable value at the beginning of the war, fell into the
Confederate hands.]
Richmond, Va., was made the Confederate capital. Troops from the
extreme South were rapidly pushed into Virginia, and threatened
Washington. A regiment of Massachusetts militia hurrying to the
defence of the national capital, was attacked in the streets of
Baltimore, and several men were killed. Thus the first blood shed
in the civil war was on April 19, the anniversary of Lexington and
Concord.
[Footnote: A Union soldier who was shot in this affray, turned
about, saluted the flag, and exclaiming, "All hail the stars and
stripes!" fell lifeless.]
THE WAR IN VIRGINIA.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS AND ALEXANDRIA
Were seized (May 24) by the national troops. This protected
Washington from any immediate danger of attack.
[Footnote: Alexandria is on the southern side of the Potomac, eight
miles below Washington. Arlington Heights are directly opposite the
capital.]
[Footnote: Alexandria was occupied by Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth
and his Zouaves. After the capture, seeing the Confederate flag
still flying from the roof of a hotel, he went up and took it down.
As he descended, he was shot at the foot of the stairs, by the
landlord, Jackson, who in turn fell at the hands of private
Brownell.]
FORTRESS MONROE Was now garrisoned by a heavy force under General
B. F. Butler.
[Footnote: This is located at the entrance of the Chesapeake, and
is the most formidable fortification in the United States. It
covers over sixty acres of ground, and is nearly a mile in circuit.
Its walls are of granite, thirty-five feet high. Its garrison, at
this time, consisted of a small body of artillerists, under General
Dimick.]
[Footnote: At Hampton, which had been occupied by the Confederates,
some negroes were captured who had been employed in building
fortifications. Butler declared them "contraband of war," and this
gave rise to the popular term, "Contrabands."]
An expedition made soon after against _Big Bethel_ was
singularly mismanaged. On the route the troops fired into each
other by mistake, and when they came to attack the Confederate
defences, they were repulsed with loss.
[Footnote: In this attack, Major Theodore Winthrop, who had
achieved some literary reputation, was killed; as was, also,
Lieutenant Greble, who gave great promise as an officer.]
WESTERN VIRGINIA adhered to the Union, and was ultimately formed
into a separate State. The Confederates, however, occupied it in
force. The Federals, under General George B. McClellan, afterward
commander of the Potomac army, defeated them at _Philippi, Rich
Mountain_, and _Carrick's Ford_, thus wresting the entire
State from their control. Shortly afterward, Governor Wise and
General Floyd (President Buchanan's Secretary of War) led a
Confederate force into that region; but Floyd was suddenly attacked
by General Rosecrans at _Carnifex Ferry_, and, Wise failing to
support him, was compelled to retreat. General Robert E. Lee,
McClellan's future antagonist on the Potomac, having been repulsed
at _Cheat Mountain_ (September 14), now came to the rescue.
Nothing decisive being effected, the Confederate government
recalled their forces. The only Union victories of this year were
achieved in this region (map opp. p.223).
BATTLE OF BULL RUN (July 21).--The Northern people, seeing so many
regiments pushed forward to Washington, were impatient for an
advance. The cry, "On to Richmond!" became too strong to be
resisted. General Irvin McDowell, in command of the Army of the
Potomac, moved to attack the main body of the Confederates, who
were strongly posted under Beauregard at Bull Run.
[Footnote: This is near Manassas Junction about twenty-seven miles
from Alexandria]
After a sharp conflict the Confederates were driven from the field.
They were rallied, however, by General T. J. Jackson and others, on
a plateau in the rear. While the Federal troops were struggling to
drive them from this new position, at the crisis of the battle,
seventeen hundred men, under Kirby Smith, rushing across the fields
from Manassas Station, struck the Union flank and poured in a cross
fire. The effect was irresistible. McDowell's men fled. As the
fugitives converged toward the bridge in the rear, a shell burst
among the teamsters' wagons, a caisson was overturned, and the
passage choked. The retreat now became a panic-stricken rout.
Traces were cut, cannon abandoned, mounted men went plunging
through the struggling mass, and soldiers threw away their guns and
ran streaming over the country, many never stopping till they were
safe across the Long Bridge at Washington.
[Footnote: General Bee, as he rallied his men shouted 'There's
Jackson standing like a stone wall' "From that time" says Draper
"the name he had received in a baptism of fire displaced that he
had received in a baptism of water and he was known as Stonewall
Jackson."]
[Illustration: STONEWALL JACKSON AT BULL RUN]
[Footnote: These troops composed a part of General Johnston's
command at Winchester. General Patterson, with twenty thousand men,
had been left to watch him, and prevent his joining Beauregard.
Johnston was too shrewd for his antagonist, and, slipping out of
his hands, reached Bull Run in time to decide the battle.]
_The Effect_ of this defeat was momentous. At first the Northern
people were chagrined and disheartened. Then came a renewed
determination. They saw the real character of the war, and no longer
dreamed that the South could be subdued by a mere display of military
force. They were to fight a brave people--Americans--who were to be
conquered only by a desperate struggle. Congress voted $500,000,000
and five hundred thousand men. General McClellan, upon whom all eyes
were turned, on account of his brilliant campaign in Western Virginia,
was appointed to the command of the Army of the Potomac.
[Footnote: Soon after, General Scott, weighed down by age, retired
from active service, and General McClellan became General-in-Chief
of all the armies of the United States.]
BALL'S BLUFF (October 21).--About two thousand Federals, who had
crossed the Potomac at Ball's Bluff on a reconnoitering expedition,
were attacked by the Confederates, and forced down the slippery,
clayey bluff, fifty to one hundred and fifty feet high, to the
river below. The two old scows in which they came were soon sunk,
and, in trying to escape, many were drowned, some were shot, and
scarcely half their number reached the other bank Colonel Baker,
United States Senator from Oregon, was among the killed.
[Footnote: December 20, General E. O. C. Ord, having gone out on a
foraging excursion to _Dranesville_, in a severe skirmish
routed the Confederates. This little victory greatly encouraged the
people at the North, who had been disheartened by the disastrous
affair of Ball's Bluff.]
THE WAR IN MISSOURI.
This State was largely Union. The Convention had declined to pass
an ordinance of secession; yet there was a strong effort made by
Governor Jackson to preserve, at least, an armed neutrality.
Captain Lyon foiled this attempt. He broke up Camp Jackson, saved
the United States arsenal at St. Louis, and defeated Colonel
Marmaduke at _Booneville_ (June 17). General Sigel (se-gel),
however, having been defeated by the Confederates in an engagement
at _Carthage_ (July 5), Lyon, now General, found that he must
either fight the superior forces of Generals McCulloch and Price,
or else abandon that part of the State. He chose the former course.
At the head of about five thousand he attacked more than twice that
number at _Wilson's Creek_ (August 10). He fell, gallantly
leading a bayonet charge. His men were defeated. Colonel Mulligan
was forced to surrender Lexington after a brave defence. General
John C. Fremont now assumed charge, and drove Price as far south as
Springfield. Just as he was preparing for battle, he was replaced
by General Hunter, who took the Union army back to St. Louis.
Hunter was soon superseded by General Halleck, who crowded Price
south to Arkansas. Later in the fall, General Grant made an
unsuccessful attack upon a Confederate force which had crossed over
from Kentucky and taken post at _Belmont_ (map opp. p. 222).
[Footnote: The Confederates, in their final assault, fought behind
a movable breastwork, composed of hemp-bales, which they rolled
toward the fort as they advanced.]
[Footnote: Kentucky, like Missouri, had tried to remain neutral,
but was unsuccessful. Soon both Confederate and Union troops were
encamped on her soil, and the State was ravaged by hostile armies.
In all the border States affairs were in a most lamentable
condition. The people were divided in opinion, and enlisted in both
armies. As the tide of war surged to and fro, armed bands swept
through the country, plundering and murdering those who favored the
opposite party.]
Early in the war, Davis issued a proclamation offering to
commission privateers. In reply, Lincoln declared a blockade of the
Southern ports. At that time there was but one efficient vessel on
the Northern coast, and only forty-two ships in the United States
navy; but at the close of the year there were two hundred and
sixty-four.
[Footnote: The Savannah was the first privateer which got to sea,
but this vessel was captured after having taken only a single
prize. The Petrel, also from Charleston, bore down upon the United
States frigate St. Lawrence, which the captain mistook for a
merchant ship; his vessel was sunk by the first broadside of his
formidable antagonist. The Sumter, under Captain Semmes, captured
and burned a large number of Federal ships, but, at last, it was
blockaded in the Bay of Gibraltar by a Union gunboat, and, being
unable to escape, was sold.]
Two joint naval and military expeditions were made during the year.
The first captured the forts at _Hatteras Inlet_, N. C. The
second, under Commodore Dupont and General Thomas W. Sherman, took
the forts at _Port Royal Entrance_, S. C., and Tybee island,
at the mouth of the Savannah. Port Royal became the great depot for
the Union fleet.
[Footnote: During this engagement the ships described a circle
between the forts, each vessel delivering its fire as it slowly
sailed by, then passing on, and another taking its place. The line
of this circle was constantly changed to prevent the Confederates
from getting the range of the vessels.]
THE TRENT AFFAIR.--England and France had acknowledged the
Confederate States as _belligerents_, thus placing them on the
same footing with the United States. The Southern people having,
therefore, great hopes of foreign aid, appointed Messrs. Mason and
Slidell commissioners to those countries. Escaping through the
blockading squadron, they took passage at Havana on the British
steamer Trent. Captain Wilkes, of the United States steamer San
Jacinto, followed the Trent, took off the Confederate envoys, and
brought them back to the United States. This produced intense
excitement in England. The United States government, however,
promptly disavowed the act and returned the prisoners.
[Illustrations: ADVANCE UPON ATLANTA.
SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA.
CAMPAIGNS IN KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE, ETC.
CAMPAIGNS IN MISSOURI. RED RIVER EXPEDITION, ETC.]
[Illustration]
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR.--The Confederates had
captured the large arsenals at Harper's Ferry and Norfolk. They had
been successful in the two great battles of the year--Bull Run and
Wilson's Creek; also in the minor engagements at Big Bethel,
Carthage, Lexington, Belmont, and Ball's Bluff. The Federals had
saved Fort Pickens* and Fortress Monroe, and had captured the forts
at Hatteras Inlet and Port Royal. They had gained the victories of
Philippi, Rich Mountain, Booneville, Carrick's Ford, Cheat Mountain,
Carnifex Ferry, and Dranesville. They had saved to the Union Missouri,
Maryland, and West Virginia. Principally, however, they had thrown the
whole South into a state of siege--the armies on the north and west by
land, and the navy in the east by sea, maintaining a vigilant blockade.
[Footnote: This fort was situated near Pensacola. Lieutenant
Slemmer, seeing that an attack was about to be made upon him,
transferred his men from Fort McRae, an untenable position, to Fort
Pickens, an almost impregnable fortification, which he held until
reinforcements arrived.]
1862.
THE SITUATION.--The national army now numbered 500,000; the
Confederate, about 350,000. During the first year there had been
random fighting; the war henceforth assumed a general plan. The
year's campaign on the part of the North had three main objects:
(1) the opening of the Mississippi; (2) the blockade of the
Southern ports; and (3) the capture of Richmond.
[Illustration: VIEW OF RICHMOND, VA.]
THE WAR IN THE WEST.
The Confederates here held a line of defence with strongly
fortified posts at Columbus, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Bowling
Green, Mill Spring, and Cumberland Gap. It was determined to pierce
this line near the centre, along the Tennessee River. This would
compel the evacuation of Columbus, which was deemed impregnable,
and open the way to Nashville (map opp p 222).
CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON.--Accordingly, General Giant
with his army, and Commodore Foote with his gunboats, moved from
Cairo (kay'-ro) upon Fort Henry.
[Footnote: As a part of the general movement, in January General
Thomas had advanced against _Mill Spring_ and on the 19th
driven out the Confederate force at that place, with the loss of
General Zolhcoffer (tsol'le ko-fer) a favorite Southern leader]
A bombardment (Feb. 6) from the gunboats reduced the place in about
an hour. The land troops were to cut off the retreat; but as they
did not arrive in time, the garrison escaped to Fort Donelson. The
fleet now went back to the Ohio, and ascended the Cumberland, while
Grant crossed to co-operate in an attack on Fort Donelson. The
fight lasted three days.
[Footnote: For four nights of inclement winter weather, amid snow
and sleet, with no tents, shelter, fire, and many with no blankets,
these hardy western troops maintained their position. The wounded
suffered intensely, and numbers of them froze to death as they lay
on the icy ground.]
The fleet was repulsed by the fire from the fort, and Commodore
Foote seriously wounded. Grant, having been reinforced till he had
nearly thirty thousand men, defeated the Confederates in an attempt
to cut their way out, and captured a part of their intrenchments.
As he was about to make the final assault, the fort was surrendered
(Feb. 16), with about fifteen thousand men.
[Footnote: When General Buckner, commander of the fort, wrote to
General Grant, offering capitulation, Grant replied that no terms
would be received except an "unconditional surrender," and that he
"proposed to move immediately upon their works." These expressions
have been much quoted, and U. S. Grant has been often said to
signify "Unconditional Surrender Grant."]
_Effect of these Victories_.--As was expected, Columbus and
Bowling Green were evacuated, while General Buell at once occupied
Nashville. The Confederates fell back to Corinth, the great
railroad centre for Mississippi and Tennessee, where their forces
were gradually collected under the command of Generals Albert
Sidney Johnston and Beauregard. The Union army ascended the
Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing. Grant was placed in command, and
General Buell ordered to reinforce him.
The next movement was to capture the Memphis and Charleston
railroad, thus cutting off Memphis and securing another section of
the Mississippi Eiver.
BATTLE OF SHILOH (April 6, 7).--The Confederates determined to rout
Grant's army before the arrival of Buell. On Sunday morning, at
daylight, moving out of the woods in line of battle, they suddenly
fell on the Union camps.
[Footnote: On the very heels of the pickets, who rushed in to give
the alarm, came the shells, and then, pouring at double-quick from
the woods, the regular lines of battle. Whether or not this attack
was a surprise, has been one of the mooted questions of the war. Le
Comte de Paris said, "The surprise was complete and unquestionable;
the Union commanders sought in vain to excuse themselves;" and it
was currently stated at the time that so unexpected was the attack
that many of the "men were bayoneted in their beds." On the other
hand, General Sherman asserts that his "troops were in line of
battle and ready" before the engagement began, and he personally
assures the writer that after the battle he offered in vain a
reward for the body of any person killed by a bayonet-wound.
General Grant, also, denies that the attack was a surprise to him,
and declares that so well satisfied was he with the result of the
first day's struggle, that at night he gave orders for a forward
movement early in the morning.]
On the one side were the Southern dash, daring, and vigor; on the
other, the Northern firmness and determination. The Federals slowly
yielded, but for twelve hours obstinately disputed every inch of
the way. At last, pushed to the very brink of the river, Grant
massed his artillery, and gathered about it the fragments of
regiments for the final stand. The Confederates, to meet them, had
to cross a deep ravine, where, struggling through the mud and
water, they melted away under the fire of cannon and musketry from
above, and the shells from the gunboats below. Pew reached the
slippery bank beyond. At the same time, Buell's advance came
shouting on the field. The tide of battle was stayed. The
Confederates fell back. They possessed, however, all the
substantial fruits of victory. They had taken the Union camps,
three thousand prisoners, thirty flags, and immense stores; but
they had lost their commander, General Albert Sidney Johnston, who
fell in the heat of the action (map opp. p. 222).
The next morning the tide turned. Buell's army had come, and fresh
troops were poured on the wearied Confederates. Beauregard,
obstinately resisting, was driven from the field. He retreated,
however, in good order, and, unmolested, returned to Corinth.
General Halleck now assumed command, and by slow stages followed
the Confederates. Beanregard, finding himself outnumbered,
evacuated Corinth, and Halleck took possession (May 30).
ISLAND NO. 10.--The Confederates, on retreating from Columbus, fell
back to Island No. 10. There they were bombarded by Commodore Foote
for three weeks, with little effect. General Pope, crossing the
Mississippi in the midst of a fearful rain-storm, took the batteries
on the opposite bank, and prepared to attack the fortifications in
the rear. The garrison, seven thousand strong, surrendered (April 7)
the very day of the conflict at Shiloh.
[Footnote: The islands in the Mississippi are numbered in order
from the mouth of the Ohio to New Orleans.]
[Footnote: Pope, with his army, was on the Missouri side of the
river. He could not cross, as the Confederate batteries were
planted on the opposite shore. A canal was therefore dug through
Donaldson's Point. It was twelve miles long and fifty feet wide.
Part of the distance was among heavy timber, where the trees had to
be cut off four feet below the surface of the water. Yet the work
was accomplished in nineteen days. Through this canal steamboats
and barges were safely transferred below the newly-made island,
while the two largest gunboats ran the batteries. Under their
protection Pope crossed the river.]
[Illustration: DONALDSON'S POINT, AND ISLAND NO 10.]
_The Effects_ of the desperate battle at Shiloh were now fully
apparent. The Union gunboats moved down the river and (May 10)
defeated the Confederate iron-clad fleet. On the evacuation of
Corinth, Fort Pillow was abandoned. The gunboats, proceeding,
destroyed the Confederate flotilla in front of Memphis, took
possession of that city, and secured the Memphis and Charleston
railroad. The great State of Kentucky and all Western Tennessee had
been wrenched from the Confederacy.
[Footnote: Besides the results here named, the concentration of
troops at Corinth had absorbed the troops from the South. Thus New
Orleans, as we shall see hereafter, fell an easy prey to Farragut.]
[Footnote: Gen. Halleck having been called to Washington as
General-in-Chief of the armies of the United States, General Grant
was appointed to the command of this army.]
The Union army now held a line running from Memphis, through
Corinth, nearly to Chattanooga, toward which point General Buell
was steadily pushing his troops. We shall next consider the efforts
made by the Confederates to break through this line of investment.
At this time they were concentrated under Bragg at Chattanooga,
Price at Iuka, and Van Dorn at Holly Springs.
BRAGG'S EXPEDITION.--The first movement was made by General Bragg,
who with rapid marches, hastened toward Louisville. General Buell
fell back to Nashville, where he found out his enemy's plan. Now
commenced a race between them of three hundred miles. Buell came
out one day ahead. He was heavily reinforced to the number of one
hundred thousand men. Bragg then fell back, Buell slowly following.
[Footnote: At Frankfort, Bragg was joined by the part of his army
under Kirby Smith, who had marched from Knoxville, routed a Union
force under General Manson at Richmond, Ky., inflicting a loss of
six thousand, and had then moved north as far as Cynthiana. There
he threatened to attack Cincinnati, but was repelled by the
extensive preparation made by General Lew Wallace]
At _Perryville_ (October 8), Bragg fiercely turned upon Buell,
and a desperate battle was fought. In the darkness, however, Bragg
retreated, and finally escaped, though his wagon train extended a
distance of forty miles. At this juncture (October 31), General
Buell was superseded by General Rosecrans.
BATTLES OF IUKA AND CORINTH (September 19, October 4).--Every one
of Grant's veterans who could possibly be spared had been sent
north to help Buell. Price and Van Dorn, taking advantage of the
opportunity, were manoeuvring to get possession of Corinth. Grant,
thinking that he could capture Price and then get back to Corinth
before Van Dorn could reach it from Holly Springs, ordered
Rosecrans to move upon Iuka. Through some mistake, Rosecrans failed
to occupy Price's line of retreat, and after a severe conflict
(Sept. 19), the latter escaped. Thereupon the two Confederate
generals joined their forces, and attacked Rosecrans in his
intrenchments at Corinth. The Confederates exhibited brilliant
courage, but were defeated, and pursued forty miles with heavy
loss.
[Footnote: The Texas and Missouri troops made a heroic charge upon
Fort Robinette. They advanced to within fifty yards of the
intrenchments, received a shower of grape and canister without
flinching, and were driven back only when the Ohio brigade poured a
full volley of musketry into their ranks. They were then rallied by
Colonel Rogers, of the Second Texas, who, at their head, led them
to a fresh charge up through the abattis, when, with the colors in
his hand, he sprang upon the embankment and cheered on his men. An
instant more and he fell, with five brave fellows who had dared to
leap to his side in this desperate assault. The Union troops
admiringly buried his remains, and neatly rounded off the little
mound where they laid the hero to rest.]
BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO (December 31, January 2).--Rosecrans, on
assuming command of Buell's army, concentrated his forces at
Nashville. Thence he marched to meet Bragg, who, with a heavy
column moving north on a second grand expedition, had already
reached Murfreesboro (map opp. p. 222). Both generals had formed
the same plan for the approaching contest.
[Footnote: This coincidence reminds one of the battle of Camden
(see p. 133). The plan was to mass the strength on the left, and
with that to fall upon and crush the enemy's right. The advantage
clearly lay with the army which struck first. Bragg secured the
initiative, and Rosecrans's only course was to give up all thought
of an attack and to save his right and centre from a rout.]
As the Union left was crossing Stone River to attack the
Confederate right, the strong Confederate left fell heavily on the
weak Union right. At first the onset was irresistible. But Gen.
Sheridan was there, and by his consummate valor held his ground
until Rosecrans could recall the left, replant his batteries, and
establish a new line. Upon this fresh front the Confederates
charged four times, but were driven back with very great loss. Two
days after, Bragg renewed the attack, but being unsuccessful,
retreated. This was one of the bloodiest contests of the war, the
loss being one-fourth of the number engaged.
_The Effect of this Battle_.--The attempt of the Confederates
to recover Kentucky was now abandoned. The way was open for another
Union advance on Chattanooga. Bragg's force was reduced from an
offensive to a defensive attitude.
FIRST VICKSBURG EXPEDITION.--While Rosecrans was repelling this
advance of Bragg, an expedition against Vicksburg had been planned
by Grant. He was to move along the Mississippi Central Railroad,
while Sherman was to descend the river from Memphis with the
gunboats under Porter. In the meantime, however, by a brilliant
cavalry dash, Van Dorn destroyed Grant's depot of supplies at Holly
Springs. This spoiled the whole plan. Sherman, ignorant of what had
happened, pushed on, landed up the Yazoo River, and made an attack
at Chickasaw Bayou (bi-yoo), north of Vicksburg. After suffering a
bloody repulse, and learning of Grant's misfortune, he fell back.
The capture of Arkansas Post (Jan. 11, 1863) by a combined army and
naval force, closed the campaign of 1862 on the Mississippi Eiver.
THE WAR IN MISSOURI.--In February, General Curtis pushed General
Price out of Missouri into Arkansas. The Confederates, by great
exertion, increased their army to twenty thousand--General Van Dorn
now taking command. General Curtis, in a desperate battle, totally
defeated him at _Pea Ridge_ (March 7, 8). During the rest of
the war no important battles were fought in this State.
[Footnote: Some four or five thousand Indians had joined the
Confederate army, and took part in this battle. They were difficult
to manage, says Pollard, in the deafening roar of the artillery,
which drowned their loudest war-whoops. They were amazed at the
sight of guns which ran around on wheels; annoyed by the falling of
the trees behind which they took shelter; and, in a word, their
main service was in consuming rations.]
[Footnote: The next year, Quantrell, a noted guerrilla, with three
hundred men, entered Lawrence, Kansas, plundered the bank, burned
houses, and murdered one hundred and forty persons. Before a
sufficient force could be gathered, he escaped.]
THE WAR ON THE SEA AND THE COAST.
CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS (April 25).--The effort to open the
Mississippi was not confined to the north. Early in the spring,
Captain Farragut, with a fleet of forty-four vessels, carrying
eight thousand troops under General Butler, attempted the capture
of New Orleans, which commands the mouth of the river. The
mortar-boats, anchored along the bank under the shelter of the
woods, threw thirteen-inch shells into Forts Jackson and St. Philip
for six days and nights, with little effect.
[Footnote: To conceal the vessels, they were dressed out with leafy
branches, which, except by close observation, rendered them
undistinguishable from the green woods. The direction had been
accurately calculated, so that the gunners did not need to see the
points towards which they were to aim. So severe was the
bombardment that "windows at the Balize, thirty miles distant, were
broken. Fish, stunned by the explosion, lay floating on the surface
of the water."]
Farragut then boldly resolved to carry the fleet past the defences
to New Orleans. A chain supported on hulks and stretched across the
river closed the channel. An opening broad enough to admit the
passage of the gunboats having been cut through this obstruction,
at three o'clock in the morning (April 24) they advanced, and
poured grape and canister into the forts at short range, receiving
in return heavy volleys from the forts and batteries on shore.
[Footnote: The vessels were made partly iron-clad by looping two
layers of chain cables over their sides, and their engines were
protected by bags of sand, coal, etc.]
After running a fearful gauntlet of shot, shell, and the flames of
fire-rafts, they next encountered the Confederate fleet of thirteen
armed steamers, including the steam-battery Louisiana and the
iron-plated ram Manassas. After a desperate struggle twelve of the
Confederate flotilla were destroyed. The fleet then steamed up to
New Orleans, which lay helpless under the Union guns. The forts
being now threatened in the rear by the army, soon surrendered.
Captain Farragut afterward ascended the river, took possession of
Baton Rouge and Natchez, and, running the batteries at Vicksburg,
joined the Union fleet above.
[Footnote: Steamers, ships, vast quantities of cotton, etc., were
burned by the order of the governor of Louisiana, and the military
commander of the Confederate States, to prevent their falling into
Federal hands. Pollard says: "No sooner had the Federal fleet
turned the point and come within sight of the city, than the work
of destruction commenced. Vast columns of smoke darkened the face
of heaven and obscured the noonday sun; for five miles along the
levee fierce flames darted through the lurid atmosphere. Great
ships and steamers wrapped in fire floated down the river,
threatening the Federal vessels with destruction. Fifteen thousand
bales of cotton, worth one million and a half of dollars, were
consumed. About a dozen large river steamboats, twelve or fifteen
ships, a great floating battery, several unfinished gunboats, the
immense ram Mississippi, and the docks on the other side of the
river, were all embraced in the fiery sacrifice."]
[Illustration: VIEW OF NEW ORLEANS.]
BURNSIDE'S EXPEDITION AGAINST ROANOKE ISLAND
Was an important step toward the enforcement of the blockade. The
Confederate forts were captured, and the ships destroyed.
Newbern--an excellent seaport--Elizabeth City, and, finally, Fort
Macon, at the entrance to Beaufort harbor, were taken. Thus all the
coast of North Carolina, with its intricate network of water
communication, fell into the Union hands.
[Footnote: Roanoke Island, the scene of Raleigh's colonization
scheme, was the key to the rear defences of Norfolk "It unlocked
two sounds, eight rivers, four canals, and two railroads" It
controlled largely the transmission of supplies to that region
afforded an excellent harbor and a convenient rendezvous for ships,
and exposed a country to attack]
FLORIDA AND GEORGIA EXPEDITIONS.--After its capture in the autumn
of 1861, Port Royal became the base of operations against Florida
and Georgia. Fernandina, Fort Clinch, Jacksonville, Darien, and St.
Augustine, were taken. Fort Pulaski, also, was reduced after a
severe bombardment, and thus the port of Savannah was closed. At
the end of the year every city of the Atlantic sea-coast, except
Savannah and Charleston, was held by the Federal armies.
THE MERRIMAC AND THE MONITOR.--About noon, March 8, the
long-looked-for iron-clad Merrimac, convoyed by a fleet of small
vessels, steamed into Hampton Roads. Steering directly for the
sloop-of-war Cumberland, whose terrific broadsides glanced
harmlessly "like so many peas" from the Merrimac's iron roof, she
struck her squarely with her iron beak, making a hole large enough
for a man to enter. The Cumberland, with all on board, went down.
[Footnote: As the Cumberland sank, the crew continued to work their
guns until the vessel plunged beneath the sea. Her flag was never
struck, but floated above the water from the mast-head after she
had gone down. ]
[Footnote: When the United States navy-yard at Norfolk was given
up, the steam-frigate Merrimac, the finest in the service, was
scuttled. The Confederates afterward raised this vessel, razed the
deck, and added an iron prow and a sloping roof made of railroad
iron. The ship thus prepared looked not unlike a great house sunk
in the water to the eaves. The Federals knew that the Merrimac was
fitting for battle, and her coming was eagerly expected. ]
Warned by the fate of the Cumberland, the captain of the frigate
Congress ran his vessel ashore, but the Merrimac, taking a position
astern, fired shells into the frigate till the helpless crew were
forced to surrender. At sunset, the Merrimac returned to Norfolk,
awaiting, the next day, an easy victory over the rest of the Union
fleet. All was delight and anticipation among the Confederates; all
was dismay and dismal foreboding among the Federals. That night the
Monitor arrived in harbor.
[Footnote: This "Yankee cheese-box," as it was nicknamed at the
time, was the invention of Captain Ericsson. It was a hull, with
the deck a few inches above the water, and in the centre a curious
round tower made to revolve slowly by steam power, thus turning in
any direction the two guns it contained The upper part of the hull,
which was exposed to the enemy's fire, projected several feet
beyond the lower part, and was made of thick white oak, covered
with iron plating six inches thick on the sides and two inches on
deck]
Though of but nine hundred tons burden, she prepared to meet her
adversary of five thousand. Early in the morning the Merrimac
appeared, moving toward the steam-frigate Minnesota. Suddenly, from
under her lee, the Monitor darted out, and hurled at the monster
two one hundred and sixty-eight pound balls. Startled by the
appearance of this unexpected and queer-looking antagonist, the
Merrimac poured in a broadside, such as the night before had
destroyed the Congress, but the balls rattled harmlessly off the
Monitor's turret, or broke and fell in pieces on the deck.
[Illustration: NAVAL DUEL BETWEEN THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC]
Then began the battle of the iron ships. It was the first of the
kind in the world. Close against each other, iron rasping on iron,
they exchanged their heaviest volleys. Five times the Merrimac
tried to run down the Monitor, but her huge beak only grated over
the iron deck, while the Monitor glided out unharmed. Despairing of
doing anything with her doughty little antagonist, the Merrimac now
steamed back to Norfolk.
[Footnote: As the Merrimac drew off she hurled a last shot, which,
striking the Monitor's pilot-house, broke a bar of iron nine by
twelve inches, seriously injuring the eyes of the gallant
commander, Lieutenant Worden, who was at that moment looking out
through a narrow slit and directing the fire of his guns]
_The Effect_ of this contest can hardly be overestimated. Had
the Merrimac triumphed, aided by other iron vessels then preparing
by the Confederacy, she might have destroyed the rest of the Union
fleet in Hampton Roads, reduced Fortress Monroe, prevented the
Peninsular campaign (see below), steamed up the Potomac and
terrified the capital, sailed along the coast and broken up the
blockade, swept through the shipping at New York, opened the way
for foreign supplies, made an egress for cotton, and perhaps
secured the acknowledgment of the Confederacy by European nations.
On this battle hinged the fate of the war.
THE WAR IN THE EAST.
THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.-Kichmond was here the objective point. It
having been decided to make the advance by way of the Peninsula,
the Army of the Potomac was carried in transports down the river
from Washington. Landing at Fortress Monroe about one hundred
thousand strong (April 4), they marched toward Yorktown.
[Footnote: Previous to this (March 10), McClellan made an advance
toward Manassas, where the Confederates had remained intrenched
since McDowell's defeat. The fortifications, which were evacuated
on his approach, were found to be quite insignificant, and to be
mounted partly with "Quaker guns," _i. e._, logs shaped and
painted to imitate artillery. This incident excited much ridicule
through the country.]
_Siege of Yorktown_.--At this place, General Magruder, with
only about five thousand men, by his masterly skill maintained so
bold a front along a line thirteen miles in length, that McClellan
was brought to a stop. Heavy guns were ordered from Washington, and
a regular siege was begun. As McClellan was ready to open fire,
Magruder, having delayed the Union army a month, quietly retired.
When the movement was discovered, a vigorous pursuit was commenced.
[Footnote: On the evacuation of Yorktown--the Confederate forces
being concentrated for the defence of Richmond-Norfolk was
abandoned, the Navy Yard burned, and the Merrimac, the pride of the
South, blown up. United States troops from Fortress Monroe took
possession of the city, and gunboats sailed up James River as far
as Fort Darling. Here a plunging fire from the bluff forbade
further advance.]
[Illustration: MAP OF THE PENINSULA]
_Battle of Williamsburg_ (May 5).--The Confederate rearguard,
now reinforced from Johnston's army at Richmond, stopped in the
forts at _Williamsburg_ to gain time for the baggage train and
a fierce battle at once ensued.
[Footnote: This was General Joseph E. Johnston, who so unexpectedly
brought his men to take part in the battle of Bull Run (p. 220). He
was wounded in the battle of Seven Pines, but appeared again in two
campaigns against Sherman (pp. 257, 272). General Albert Sidney
Johnston was killed in the battle of Shiloh (p. 226).]
General Hooker, "Fighting Joe," with his division, maintained the
contest for nine hours. Other troops at last arrived on the bloody
field, and, Williamsburg having been evacuated in the night, the
pursuit was continued to within seven miles of Richmond.
_Richmond Threatened_.--There was a great panic in that city,
and the Confederate Congress hastily adjourned. Everything looked
like an immediate attack, when McClellan discovered that a
Confederate force was at _Hanover Court House_. This
threatened his communications by rail with White House Landing, and
also with General McDowell, who, with thirty thousand men, was
marching from Fredericksburg to join him. General Fitz John Porter,
after a sharp skirmish, captured Hanover Court House. The army
looked now hourly for McDowell's aid in the approaching great
contest. "McClellan's last orders at night were that McDowell's
signals were to be watched for and without delay reported to him"
But General Johnston was too shrewd to permit this junction. He
accordingly ordered General Jackson to move up the Shenandoah
Valley and threaten Washington.
_Jackson in the Shenandoah._--Stonewall Jackson having been
reinforced by General Ewell's division of ten thousand men, hurried
down the valley after Banks at Strasburg. The Union troops fell
back, and by tremendous exertion--"marching thirty-five miles in a
single day"--succeeded in escaping across the Potomac. Great was
the consternation in Washington. The President took military
possession of all the railroads. The governors of the Northern
States were called upon to send militia for the defence of the
capital. Fremont at Franklin, Banks at Harper's Ferry, and McDowell
at Fredericksburg, were ordered to capture Jackson. It was high
time for this dashing leader to be alarmed. He rapidly retreated,
burning the bridges as he passed. Fremont brought him to bay at
_Cross Keys_ (June 8), but was hurled off. Shields struck at
him at _Port Republic_, the next day, but was driven back five
miles, while Jackson made good his escape from the Shenandoah
Valley, having burned the bridges behind him.
[Footnote: When the Federal forces took possession of the bridge
over the Shenandoah, Jackson and his staff were on the south side,
his army being on the north side. It is said that "he rode toward
the bridge, and rising in his stirrups, called sternly to the
Federal officer commanding the artillery placed to sweep it: 'Who
ordered you to post that gun there, sir? Bring it over here!'" The
bewildered officer bowed, limbered up his piece, and prepared to
move. Jackson and his staff seized the lucky moment and dashed
across the bridge before the gun could be brought to bear upon
them.]
_The Effect_ of this adroit movement was evident. With fifteen
thousand men, Jackson had occupied the attention of three
major-generals and sixty thousand men, prevented McDowell's
junction, alarmed Washington, and saved Richmond.
_Battle of Fair Oaks_ (May 31, June l).--While these stirring
events had been going on in the Shenandoah Valley, McClellan had
pushed his left wing across the Chickahominy. A terrible storm had
flooded the swamps, turned the roads to mud, and converted the
Chickahominy Creek into a broad river. Johnston seized the
opportunity to fall with tremendous force upon the exposed wing. At
first, the Confederates swept all before them, but General Sumner
throwing his men across the tottering bridges over the
Chickahominy, checked the column which was trying to seize the
bridges and thus separate the two portions of the army. General
Johnston was severely wounded. Night put an end to the contest. In
the morning, the Confederates renewed the attack, but the loss of
their general was fatal, and they were repulsed in great disorder.
_The Union Army Checked_.--General Lee, who now took command
of the Confederate army, was anxious to assume the offensive.
[Footnote: Robert Edward Lee was born in Stratford, Virginia, Jan.
19, 1807; died in Lexington, Oct. 12, 1870. His father, Henry Lee,
was the celebrated "Light-horse Harry" of Revolutionary fame.
Robert early evinced a love for a military life, and during his
West Point course became noted for his devotion to his studies. In
the Mexican war he was Scott's chief engineer, and was thrice
brevetted for his services. When Virginia seceded, he threw in his
fortunes with his native State, although Scott had already
intimated his intention of nominating him as his successor. Lee was
immediately appointed major-general of the Virginia forces, and was
soon after designated to fortify Richmond. The wonderful success he
achieved in the Seven-Days fight made "Uncle Robert," as he was
familiarly called, the most trusted of the Confederate leaders. For
three years he baffled every attempt to take Richmond, which fell
only with the government of which it was the capital, and the army
and general which were its defence. General Lee was handsome in
face and figure, a graceful rider, grave and silent in
deportment--just the bearing to captivate a soldier; while his deep
piety, truth, sincerity, and honesty won the hearts of all.]
General Stuart led off (June 12) with a bold cavalry raid, in which
he seized and burned supplies along the railroad leading to White
House, made the entire circuit of the Union army, and returned to
Richmond in safety. McClellan also meditated an advance, and Hooker
had pushed his pickets within sight of the Richmond steeples.
At this moment, there came news of the "same apparition which had
frightened Banks" in the Shenandoah. Stonewall Jackson had appeared
near Hanover Court House, and threatened the Union communications
with White House. There was no longer any thought of moving on
Richmond. Hooker was recalled. McClellan resolved to "change his
base" of supply from the York River to the James.
[Illustration: GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE.]
_The Seven-Days Battles_.--The very morning McClellan came to
this decision, and ere the flank movement had commenced, Lee,
massing his strength on his left, fell upon the Union right at
_Mechanicsville_ (June 26). Having repulsed this attack, at
dawn the troops retired to _Gaines's Mill_, where by the most
desperate exertions Porter held the bridges across the Chickahominy
until night, and then, burning them, withdrew to the south bank.
That night (June 28) Lee detected McClellan's movement, and
instantly started columns along the roads that intersected the line
of retreat. Magruder struck the Federal flank (June 29) at
_Savage's Station_. The Union troops maintained their position
till night, and then continued the movement. Longstreet and Hill
encountered the line of march as it was passing _Frazier's
Farm_ (June 30), but could not break it. During the darkness,
the Union troops, worn out by the constant marching or fighting and
the terrible heat and dust, collected at _Malvern_. On an
elevated plateau rising in the form of an amphitheatre, on whose
sloping sides were arranged tier upon tier of batteries, with
gunboats protecting the left, the broken fragments of the splendid
Army of the Potomac made their last stand (July 1). Here Lee
received so bloody a check that he pressed the pursuit no further.
The Union troops retired undisturbed to Harrison's Landing.
_The Effect_ of this campaign was a triumph for the
Confederates. The Union retreat had been conducted with skill, the
troops had shown great bravery and steadiness, the repulse at
Malvern was decided, and Lee had lost probably twenty thousand men;
yet the siege of Richmond had been raised, ten thousand prisoners
captured, immense stores taken or destroyed, and the Union army was
now cooped up on James Kiver, under the protection of the gunboats.
The discouragement at the North was as great as after the battle of
Bull Run. Lincoln called for a levy of three hundred thousand
troops.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST POPE.--Richmond being relieved from present peril,
Lee threatened to march his victorious army against Washington.
General Pope, who commanded the troops for the defence of that
city, was stationed at the Rapidan. General McClellan was directed
to transfer his army to Acquia Creek (see map), and put it under
the command of General Pope. Lee, now relieved from all fear for
Richmond, immediately massed his troops against Pope to crush him
before the Army of the Potomac could arrive.
[Footnote: In the meantime Jackson attacked Banks at _Cedar
Mountain_ (August 9) and defeated him after a bloody battle,
but, unable to maintain his position, fell back on Lee's advancing
army. Pope, seeing the fearful odds against which he was to
contend, took post behind the Rappahannock.]
Pope being held in check by the main army in front, General Jackson
was sent around Pope's right wing to flank him. Passing through
Thoroughfare Gap he reached the railroad at Bristoe's Station, in
the rear of Pope's army (August 26). General Pope, seeing an
opportunity while Lee's army was thus divided to cut it up in
detail, turned upon Jackson. But the Army of the Potomac not
promptly reinforcing him, his plans failed, and instead of "bagging
" Jackson's division, he was compelled, with only forty thousand
men, to fight the entire Confederate army on the old battlefield of
Bull Run. Exhausted, cut off from supplies, and overwhelmed by
numbers, the shattered remains of the Union forces were glad to
take refuge within the fortifications of Washington.
[Footnote: During the pursuit by Lee's forces, an engagement took
place at _Chantilly_ (September 1). It cost the Union army two
able officers--Generals Stevens and Kearney. The latter, especially,
was devotedly loved by his soldiers. On the battlefield, brandishing
his sword in his only hand, and taking the reins in his teeth, he had
often led them in the most desperate and irresistible charges.]
_The Effect_.--In this brief campaign the Union army lost thirty
thousand men and vast supplies, while the way to Washington
was opened to the Confederates. The Capital had not been in such
peril since the war began. Without, was a victorious army; within,
were broken battalions and no general.
INVASION OF MARYLAND.--Flushed with success, Lee now crossed the
Potomac and entered Maryland, hoping to secure volunteers and
incite an insurrection.
[Footnote: This was Sept. 5, the very day that Bragg entered
Kentucky on his great raid.]
McClellan, who had been restored to the command of the Army of the
Potomac, reorganized the shapeless mass and set out in pursuit. On
the way he found a copy of Lee's order of march. Learning from this
that Lee had divided his forces, and that but a portion remained in
his front, he hastened in pursuit.
[Footnote: Lee had sent Jackson with twenty-five thousand men
against _Harper's Ferry_. That redoubtable leader quickly
carried the heights which overlook the village, forced Colonel
Miles, with eleven thousand men, to surrender, and then hastened
back to take part in the approaching contest.]
Overtaking the Confederate rear at _South Mountain_, and
forcing the passes, the Union army poured into the valley beyond
(map opp. p. 223).
_Battle of Antietam_ (September 17).--Lee, perceiving his
mistake, fell back across Antietam (An-te'-tam) Creek and hurried
off couriers to hasten the return of his scattered corps.
Fortunately for him, McClellan delayed his attack a day, and in the
meantime Jackson had returned. At early dawn, Hooker fell upon the
Confederate left, while Burnside, as soon as affairs looked
favorable there, was to carry the bridge and attack their right.
The Union army was over eighty thousand strong, and the Confederate
but half that number. The Union advance was impetuous, but the
Confederate defence was no less obstinate. Hooker was wounded, and
his corps swept from the field. Both sides were reinforced.
Burnside advanced, but too late to relieve the pressure on the
Union right. Night ended this bloody fight. The morning found
neither commander ready to assail his opponent. That night, Lee
retired unmolested across the Potomac.
[Footnote: During this invasion the Confederate soldiers had
endured every privation; one-half were in rags, and thousands
barefooted had marked their path with crimson. Yet shoeless,
hatless, and ragged, they had marched and fought with a heroism
like that of the Revolutionary times. But they met their equals at
Antietam. Jackson's and Hooker's men fought until both sides were
nearly exterminated, and when the broken fragments fell back, the
windrows of dead showed where their ranks had stood.]
Six weeks after, the Union army crossed into Virginia.
_The Effect_ of this indecisive battle was that of a Union
victory. The North was saved from invasion, and Washington from any
danger of attack. Lincoln now determined to issue the Emancipation
Proclamation, declaring freedom to all the slaves in the seceded
States.
[Footnote: Lincoln prepared the original draft in the July
preceding, when the Union forces were in the midst of reverses.
Carpenter repeats President Lincoln's words thus: "I put the draft
of the proclamation aside, waiting for a victory. Well, the next
news we had was of Pope's disaster at Bull Run. Things looked
darker than ever. Finally came the week of the battle of Antietam.
I determined to wait no longer. The news came, I think, on
Wednesday, that the advantage was on our side. I was then staying
at the Soldier's Home. Here I finished writing the second draft of
the proclamation; came up on Saturday; called the Cabinet together
to hear it, and it was published the following Monday. _I made a
solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was driven back from
Maryland I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to
the slaves._"]
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.--General dissatisfaction being expressed
at the slowness with which McClellan pursued the retreating army,
General Burnside was appointed his successor. Crossing the
Rappahannock on pontoon bridges at Fredericksburg, he attempted
(December 13) to storm the works in the rear of the town. The
Confederates, intrenched behind a long stone wall, and on heights
crowned with artillery, easily repulsed the repeated assaults of
the Union troops. Night mercifully put an end to the fruitless
massacre. The Federal loss was over twelve thousand, nearly half of
whom fell before the fatal stone wall.
[Footnote: This solid stone wall, four feet high, completely
sheltered the troops, while they poured a murderous fire upon the
attacking party. In the assault, Meagher's Irish troops especially
distinguished themselves, leaving two-thirds of their number on the
field of their heroic action. The London Times's correspondent, who
watched the battle from the heights, speaking of their desperate
valor, says: "Never at Fontenoy, Albuera, nor at Waterloo, was more
undoubted courage displayed by the sons of Erin than during those
six frantic dashes which they directed against the almost
impregnable position of their foe. That any mortal man could have
carried the position, defended as it was, it seems idle for a
moment to believe. But the bodies which lie in dense masses within
forty-eight yards of the muzzles of Colonel Walton's guns are the
best evidence what manner of men they were who pressed on to death
with the dauntlessness of a race which has gained glory on a
thousand battle-fields, and never more richly deserved it than at
the foot of Marye's Heights, on the 18th day of December, 1862."]
The survivors drew back into the city, and the next night passed
quietly across the bridges to their old camping-ground.
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR.--The Confederates had
gained the victories of Jackson in the Shenandoah; of Lee in the
Peninsular campaign and those against Pope; Bragg's great raid in
Kentucky; and the battles of Cedar Mountain, Chickasaw Bluff, and
Fredericksburg.
The Federals had taken Forts Henry, Donelson, Pulaski, Macon,
Jackson, St. Philip, and Island No. 10; had opened the Mississippi
to Vicksburg, occupied New Orleans, Roanoke Island, Newberne,
Yorktown, Norfolk, and Memphis; had gained the battles of Pea
Ridge, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, South Mountain, Antietam, Iuka,
Corinth, and Murfreesboro, and had checked the career of the
Merrimac. The marked successes were mainly at the West and along
the coast; while in Virginia, as yet, defeats had followed
victories so soon as to hide their memory.
THE SIOUX WAR.
In the midst of this civil strife, the Sioux (soo) Indians became
dissatisfied with the Indian traders, and the nonpayment of the
money due them. Bands of warriors under Little Crow and other
chiefs perpetrated horrible massacres in Minnesota, Iowa, and
Dakota. Over seven hundred whites were slain, and many thousands
driven from their homes. Col. Sibley, after a month's pursuit of
the savages, routed them, and took five hundred prisoners.
Thirty-nine were hung on one scaffold, at Mankato, Minn.
1863.
THE SITUATION.--The plan of the war was the same as in the
preceding year, but included also the occupation of Tennessee. The
Federal army was about seven hundred thousand strong; the
Confederate, not more than half that number. The Emancipation
Proclamation was issued at the opening of the year.
THE WAR IN THE WEST.
THE SECOND EXPEDITION AGAINST VICKSBURG.--Grant continued his great
task of opening the Mississippi. After several weeks of fruitless
effort against Vicksburg upon the north, he marched down the west
side of the river, while the gunboats, running the batteries,
passed below the city and ferried the army across. Hastening
forward, he defeated the Confederate advance under Pemberton, at
_Port Gibson_ (May 1).
[Footnote: The running of the batteries with transports was
considered so hazardous that the officers would not order their
crews to take the risk, but called for volunteers. So many privates
offered, that they were compelled to draw lots. One boy, drawing a
lucky number, was offered $100 for his chance, but refused it, and
lived to tell the story. The gauntlet of batteries extended eight
miles. The first gunboat crept silently down in the shadow of the
trees which lined the bank. The Confederates at Vicksburg
discovering the movement, kindled a bonfire which lighted up the
whole scene, and made the other vessels a fair target for their
gunners.]
[Illustration: VICINITY OF VICKSBURG.]
Learning that Gen. Jos. E. Johnston was coming to Pemberton's
assistance, he rapidly pushed between them to Jackson, that, while
holding back Johnston with his right hand, with his left he might
drive Pemberton into Vicksburg, and thus capture his whole army.
Pursuing this design, he defeated Johnston at _Jackson_ (May
14), and then, turning to the west, drove Pemberton from his
position at _Champion Hills_ (May 16); next at _Big Black
River_ (May 17); and in seventeen days after crossing the
Mississippi, shut up Pemberton's army within the works at
Vicksburg. Two desperate assaults upon these having failed, the
Union troops began to throw up intrenchments. Mines and
countermines were now dug. Not one of the garrison could show his
head above the works without being picked off by the watchful
riflemen. A hat, held above a port-hole, in two minutes was pierced
with fifteen balls. Shells reached all parts of the city, and the
inhabitants burrowed in caves to escape the iron storm. The
garrison, worn out by forty-seven days of toil in the trenches,
surrendered on the 4th of July.
_The Effect_.--This campaign cost the Confederates five battles, the
cities of Vicksburg and Jackson, thirty-seven thousand prisoners, ten
thousand killed and wounded, and immense stores. On the fall of
Vicksburg, Port Hudson, which had been besieged by General Banks for
many weeks, surrendered.
[Footnote: To escape the fiery tempest which constantly swept over
Port Hudson, and to provide for the safety of their magazines, the
garrison dug deep recesses in the bluffs, approached by steps cut
out of the earth. An eye-witness says: "As we rode along the
earthworks inside, after the siege, it was curious to mark the
ingenious ways in which they had burrowed holes to shelter
themselves from shell and from the intolerable rays of the sun;
while at work, they must have looked like so many rabbits popping
in and out of their warrens."]
The Mississippi was now open to the Gulf, and the Confederacy cut
in twain. One great object of the North was accomplished.
THE WAR IN TENNESSEE AND GEORGIA.
Rosecrans, after the battle of Murfreesboro, made no formal
movement until June, With sixty thousand men, he then marched
against Bragg. By threatening his communications, he compelled
Bragg to evacuate Chattanooga (Sept. 8).
[Footnote: One objection which Rosecrans opposed to a forward
movement was his inferiority in cavalry. This was removed in July,
when General John H. Morgan, with about four thousand Confederate
cavalry, crossed the Ohio at Brandenburg, swept around Cincinnati,
and struck the river again near Parkersburg. During his entire
route, he was harassed by militia. At this point he was overtaken
by his pursuers, while gunboats in the river prevented his
crossing. Nearly the entire force was captured. Morgan escaped, but
was finally taken and confined in the penitentiary at Columbus.
Four months afterward, he broke jail and reached Richmond in
safety.]
[Footnote: General Bragg had here an opportunity to be shut up in
Chattanooga, as Pemberton had been in Vicksburg; but, a more acute
strategist, he knew the value of an army in the field to be greater
than that of any fortified city.]
Rosecrans pushed on in pursuit of Bragg, whom he supposed to be in
full retreat. Bragg, however, having received powerful
reinforcements, turned upon his pursuers so suddenly that they
narrowly escaped being cut up in detail, while scattered along a
line forty miles in length. The Union forces rapidly concentrated,
and the two armies met on the Chickamauga.
[Footnote: In the Indian language, the "River of Death"--an ominous
name!]
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA (Sept. 19, 20).--The first-day's fight was
indecisive. About noon of the second day, the Federal line became
broken from the movement of troops to help the left wing, then hard
pressed. Longstreet seized the opportunity, pushed a brigade into
the gap, and swept the Federal right and centre from the field. The
rushing crowd of fugitives bore Rosecrans himself away. In this
crisis of the battle all depended on the left, under Thomas. If
that yielded, the army would be utterly routed. All through the
long afternoon the entire Confederate army surged against it. But
Thomas held fast.
[Footnote: Thomas was thenceforth styled the "Rock of Chickamauga."
He was in command of men as brave as himself. Col. George, of the
Second Minnesota, being asked, "How long can you hold this pass?"
replied, "Until the regiment is mustered out of service."]
At night he deliberately withdrew to Chattanooga, picking up five
hundred prisoners on the way. The Union army, however, defeated in
the field, was now shut up in its intrenchments. Bragg occupied the
hills commanding the city, and cut off its communications. The
garrison was threatened with starvation.
[Footnote: "Starvation had so destroyed the animals that there were
not artillery horses enough to take a battery into action. The
number of mules that perished was graphically indicated by one of
the soldiers of the army of the Tennessee: 'The mud was so deep
that we could not travel by the road, but we got along pretty well
by stepping from mule to mule as they lay dead by the way.'"
--_Draper_.]
[Illustration: VICINITY OF CHATTANOOGA.]
BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA
[Footnote: In the Cherokee language, "The Hawk's Nest."]
(Nov. 24, 25).--Grant having been appointed successor to Rosecrans,
immediately hastened to Chattanooga. Affairs soon wore a different
look. Hooker came with two corps from the Army of the Potomac; and
Sherman hastened by forced marches from Iuka, two hundred miles
away.
[Footnote: Thomas held command after Rosecrans left, and Grant was
afraid he might surrender before reinforcements could reach him,
and therefore telegraphed him to hold fast. The characteristic
reply was, "I will stay till I starve."]
[Footnote: Twenty-three thousand strong, they were carried by rail
from the Rapidan, in Virginia, to Stevenson, in Alabama, eleven
hundred and ninety-two miles, in seven days. The Confederates did
not know of the change of base until Hooker appeared in front.]
Communications were re-established. Thomas made a dash and seized
Orchard Knob (Nov. 23). The following day Hooker charged the
fortifications on Lookout Mountain, His troops had been ordered to
stop on the high ground, but, carried away by the ardor of the
attack, they swept over the crest, driving the enemy before them.
[Footnote: It was a beautiful day. The men had on their best
uniforms, and the bands discoursed the liveliest music. The hills
were crowded with spectators. The Confederates on Lookout Mountain
and Missionary Ridge could see every movement. Bragg's pickets
stood leaning on their muskets watching Thomas's columns drawn up
as if on parade. Suddenly the Union line broke into a double-quick,
and the review was turned into a battle.]
[Footnote: The first day the Confederate left rested on Lookout
Mountain, there two thousand four hundred feet high; the right,
along Missionary Ridge-so called because, many years ago, Catholic
missionaries had Indian schools upon it; and the centre, in the
valley between. The second day their army simply occupied
Missionary Ridge, in the centre of their former line, in front of
Grant at Orchard Knob.--On Lookout Mountain, Hooker met with so
feeble a resistance, that Grant is reported to have declared the
so-called "battle above the clouds" to be "all poetry, there having
been no action there worthy the name of battle."]
Through the mist that filled the valley, the anxious watchers below
caught only glimpses of this far-famed "battle above the clouds."
The next morning Hooker advanced on the south of Missionary Ridge.
Sherman during the whole time had been heavily pounding away on the
northern flank. Grant, from his position on Orchard Knob,
perceiving that the Confederate line in front of him was being
weakened to repel these attacks on the flanks, saw that the
critical moment had come, and launched Thomas's corps on its
centre.
[Footnote: The signals for the attack had been arranged: six
cannon-shots, fired at intervals of two seconds. The moment
arrived. "Strong and steady the order rang out: 'Number one, fire!
Number two, fire! Number three, fire!'" "It seemed to me," says
Taylor, "like the tolling of the clock of destiny. And when at
'Number six, fire!' the roar throbbed out with the flash, you
should have seen the dead line, that had been lying behind the
works all day, come to resurrection in the twinkling of an eye, and
leap like a blade from its scabbard."]
The orders were to take the rifle-pits at the foot of Missionary
Ridge, then halt and re-form; but the men forgot them all, carried
the works at the base, and then swept on up the ascent. Grant
caught the inspiration, and ordered a grand charge along the whole
front. Up they went, over rocks and chasms, all lines broken, the
flags far ahead, each surrounded by a group of the bravest. Without
firing a shot, and heedless of the tempest hurled upon them, they
surmounted the crest, captured the guns, and turned them on the
retreating foe.
[Illustration: CHARGING UP MISSIONARY RIDGE.]
That night the Union camp-fires, glistening along the heights about
Chattanooga, proclaimed the success of this, the most brilliant of
Grant's achievements and the most picturesque of all the battles of
the war.
_The Effects_ of this campaign were the utter rout of Bragg's
army, the resignation of that general, and the possession of
Chattanooga by the Union forces. This post gave control of East
Tennessee, and opened the way to the heart of the Confederacy. It
became the doorway by which the Union army gained easy access to
Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
THE WAR IN EAST TENNESSEE.
While Rosecrans was moving on Chattanooga, Burnside, being relieved
of the command of the Army of the Potomac, was sent into East
Tennessee, where he met with great success. In the meantime the
Confederate President Davis visited Bragg, and thinking Chattanooga
was sure to be captured, sent Longstreet with his corps to the
defence of Tennessee. His men were in a deplorable state--hungry,
ragged, and tentless; but under this indefatigable leader, they
shut up Burnside's force in the works at Knoxville. Meanwhile,
Grant, in the moment of his splendid triumph at Chattanooga,
ordered Sherman's torn, bleeding, barefoot troops over terrible
roads one hundred miles to Burnside's relief. Longstreet, in order
to anticipate the arrival of these reinforcements, made a desperate
assault upon Burnside (November 29), but it was as heroically
repulsed. As Sherman's advance guard reached Knoxville (December
4), Longstreet's troops filed out of their works in retreat.
THE WAR IN THE EAST.
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE (May 2, 3).--Burnside, after the defeat
at Fredericksburg, was succeeded by General Hooker (January 26).
The departure of Longstreet from his force, leaving Lee only sixty
thousand to oppose to the Potomac army of over one hundred
thousand, offered a favorable opportunity for an attack.
Accordingly, Sedgwick was left to carry the intrenchments at
Fredericksburg, while the main body crossed the Rappahannock some
miles above, and took position in the wilderness near
Chancellorsville (map 4, opp. p. 223). Lee, relying on the dense
woods to conceal his movements, risked the perilous chance of
dividing his army in the presence of a superior enemy. While he
kept up a show of fight in front, Jackson, by a detour of fifteen
miles, got to the rear with twenty thousand men, and, suddenly
bursting out of the dense woods, routed the Union right. That
night, Hooker took a new position; but by constant attacks through
the next day, Lee gradually forced the Union line from the field of
battle, and captured Chancellor House.
[Footnote: A pillar on the veranda of this house, against which
Hooker was leaning, being struck by a cannon-ball, that general was
stunned, and for an hour, in the heat of the fight, the Union army
was deprived of its commander.]
As he was preparing for a final grand charge, word was received
that Sedgwick had crossed the Rappahannock, taken Fredericksburg,
and had fallen on his rear. Drawing back, he turned against this
new antagonist, and by severe fighting that night and the following
day, compelled him to recross the river. Lee then went to seek
Hooker, but he was already gone. The Army of the Potomac was soon
back on its old camping ground opposite Fredericksburg.
[Footnote: In this battle the South was called to mourn the death
of Stonewall Jackson, whose magical name was worth to their cause
more than an army. In the evening after his successful onslaught
upon the flank of the Union line, while riding back to camp from a
reconnoissance at the front, he was fired upon by his own men, who
mistook his escort for federal cavalry.]
LEE'S SECOND INVASION OF THE NORTH.--Lee; encouraged by his
success, now determined to carry the war into the Northern States,
and dictate terms of peace in Philadelphia or New York.
[Footnote: The Union disasters which had happened since the
beginning of the year encouraged this hope. Galveston, Texas, had
been retaken by General Magruder, whereby not only valuable stores
had been acquired, but a sea-port had been opened, and the Union
cause in that State depressed. Burnside had been checked in his
victorious career in Tennessee (p. 250). The naval attack on
Charleston had proved a failure (p. 254). An attempt to capture
Fort McAlister had met with no success. Rosecrans had made no
progress against Bragg. Banks had not then taken Port Hudson.
Vicksburg still kept Grant at bay. The Army of the Potomac had been
checked at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and at one time two
hundred soldiers per day were deserting its ranks. The term of
service of forty thousand men had expired, and the total Union
strength was now only eighty thousand. The cost of the war was
enormous, and a strong peace party had arisen at the North. The
draft was very unpopular. Indeed, during Lee's invasion, a riot
broke out in New York to resist it; houses were burned, negroes
were pursued in the streets, and, when captured, were beaten, and
even hung, for three days the city was a scene of outrage and
violence.]
With the finest army the South had ever sent forth, the flower of
her troops, carefully equipped and confident of success, he rapidly
moved down the Shenandoah, crossed the Potomac, and advanced to
Chambersburg. The Union army followed along the east side of the
Blue Ridge and South Mountains. Lee, fearing that Meade, who now
commanded the Federals, would strike through some of the passes and
cut off his communications with Richmond, turned east to threaten
Baltimore, and thus draw off Meade for its defence.
[Illustration: VICINITY OF GETTYSBURG]
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG (July l-3).--_First Day._--The Confederate
advance unexpectedly met the Union cavalry just westward from
Gettysburg, on the Chambersburg road.
[Footnote: Neither general had planned to have the fight at this
place; Lee had intended not to fight at all, except a defensive
battle, and Meade proposed to make the contest at Pipe Creek, about
fifteen miles southeast from Gettysburg. The movement of cavalry
which brought on this great battle, was only a screen to conceal
the Union army marching towards Meade's desired
battle-field--_Draper._]
Reinforcements came up on both sides, but the Federal troops were
finally forced back, and, becoming entangled in the streets of the
village, lost many prisoners. All that night the troops kept
arriving and taking their positions by moonlight, to be ready for
the contest which they saw was now close at hand.
[Footnote: The Union line was upon a fish-hook-shaped ridge about
six miles long, with Culp's Hill at the barb, Cemetery Ridge along
the side, and Little Round Top and Round Top, two eminences, at the
eye. The Confederate line was on Seminary Ridge, at a distance of
about a mile and a half. The Union troops lay behind rock ledges
and stone walls, while the Confederates were largely hidden in the
woods. In the valley between, were fields of grain and pastures
where cattle were feeding all unconscious of the gathering storm.]
_Second Day._--In the afternoon, Longstreet led the first
grand charge against the Union left, in order to secure Little
Round Top. General Sickles, by mistake, had here taken a position
in front of Meade's intended line of battle. The Confederates, far
out-flanking, swung around him, but as they reached the top of the
hill they met a brigade which Warren had sent just in time to
defeat this attempt. Sickles was, however, driven back to Cemetery
Ridge, where he stood firm. Ewell, in an attack on the Federal
right, succeeded in getting a position on Culp's Hill.
[Footnote: Lee, encouraged by these successes, resolved to continue
the fight. The Confederate victories, however, were only apparent.
Sickles had been forced into a better position than at first, and
the one which Meade had intended he should occupy; while Ewell was
driven out of the Union works early the next morning.]
_Third Day._--At one o'clock P. M., Lee suddenly opened on
Cemetery Ridge with one hundred and fifty guns. For two hours the
air was alive with shells.
[Footnote: It is customary in battle to demoralize the enemy before
a grand infantry charge, by concentrating upon the desired point a
tremendous artillery fire.]
Then the cannonade lulled, and out of the woods swept the
Confederate double battle-line, over a mile long, and preceded by a
cloud of skirmishers. A thrill of admiration ran along the Union
ranks, as, silently and with disciplined steadiness, that
magnificent column of eighteen thousand men moved up the slope of
Cemetery Ridge. A hundred guns tore great gaps in their front.
Infantry volleys smote their ranks. The line was broken, yet they
pushed forward. They planted their battle-flags on the breastworks.
They bayoneted the cannoneers at their guns. They fought, hand to
hand, so close that the exploding powder scorched their clothes.
Upon this struggling mass the Federals converged from every side.
No human endurance could stand the storm. Out of that terrible fire
whole companies rushed as prisoners into the Union lines, while the
rest fled panic-stricken from the field.
[Footnote: At the very moment when the last charge was being
repulsed, Pemberton was negotiating for the surrender of Vicksburg
to Grant. This was the turning point of the war. From that time the
Confederacy began to wane.]
The Federal loss in the three-days fight was twenty-three thousand;
the Confederate was not officially reported, but probably much
exceeded that number. Meade slowly followed Lee, who re-crossed the
Potomac, and took position back of the Rapidan.
_The Effect_ of this battle was to put an end to the idea of a
Northern invasion. Lee's veterans who went down in the awful
charges of Gettysburg could never be replaced.
THE WAR ON THE SEA AND THE COAST.
ATTACK ON CHARLESTON (April 7).--Such was the confidence felt in
the ability of the iron-clads to resist cannonballs, that Admiral
Dupont determined to run the fortifications at the entrance to
Charleston, and force his way up to the city. The attempt was a
disastrous failure.
[Footnote: The Keokuk was sunk and nearly all the vessels were
seriously injured. The officers declared that the strokes of the
shots against the iron sides of their ships were as rapid as the
ticks of a watch.]
General Gillmore now took charge of the Union troops, and, landing
on Morris Island, by regular siege approaches and a terrible
bombardment captured Fort Wagner and reduced Fort Sumter to a
shapeless mass of rubbish (map, p. 280). A short time after, a
party of sailors from the Union fleet essayed to capture it by
night, but its garrison, upstarting from the ruins, drove them back
with great loss.
[Footnote: In a marsh west of Morris Island, piles were driven in
the mud twenty feet deep, and a platform made on which was placed
an eight-inch rifled Parrot gun, which was nicknamed the "Swamp
Angel." It threw shells five miles into Charleston, but burst on
the thirty-sixth round. The bombardment of the city was afterward
continued from the other batteries.]
[Footnote: Two unsuccessful charges were made on this fort. In one,
the 54th regiment, Colonel Shaw, bore a prominent part. It was the
first colored regiment organized in the free States. In order to be
in season for the assault it had marched two days through heavy
sands and drenching storms. With only five minutes rest it took its
place at the front of the attacking column. The men fought with
unflinching gallantry, and planted their flag on the works; but
their colonel, and so many of the officers were shot, that what was
left of the regiment was led off by a boy--Lt. Higginson. No
measure of the war was more bitterly opposed than the project of
arming the slaves. It was denounced at the North, and the
Confederate Congress passed a law which threatened with death any
white officer captured while in command of negro troops, leaving
the men to be dealt with according to the laws of the State in
which they were taken. Yet, so willing were the negroes to enlist,
and so faithful did they prove themselves in service, that in
December, 1863, over fifty thousand had been enrolled, and before
the close of the war that number was quadrupled.]
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR--The Confederates had
gained the great battles of Chickamauga and Chancellorsville,
seized Galveston, and successfully resisted every attack on
Charleston.
The Federals had gained the battles before Vicksburg, and at
Chattanooga and Gettysburg. They had captured the garrisons of
Vicksburg and Port Hudson. The Mississippi was patrolled by
gunboats, and the supplies from the West were entirely cut off from
the Confederate army. Arkansas, East Tennessee, and large portions
of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, had been won for the Union.
1864.
THE SITUATION.--In March, General Grant was made Lieutenant-General
in command of all the forces of the United States. Heretofore the
different armies had acted independently. They were now to move in
concert, and thus prevent the Confederate forces from aiding each
other. The strength of the South lay in the armies of Lee in
Virginia, and Jos. E. Johnston in Georgia. Grant was to attack the
former, Sherman the latter, and both were to keep at work,
regardless of season or weather. While the army of the Potomac was
crossing the Rapidan (May 4), Grant, seated on a log by the
road-side, penciled a telegram to Sherman to start.
[Illustration:
CROSSING THE RAPIDAN--GRANT'S TELEGRAM.]
THE WAR IN TENNESSEE AND GEORGIA.
ADVANCE UPON ATLANTA.--Sherman, with one hundred thousand men, now
moved upon Johnston, who, with nearly fifty thousand, was stationed
at Dalton, Ga. (map opp. p. 222). The Confederate commander,
foreseeing this advance, had selected a series of almost
impregnable positions, one behind the other, all the way to
Atlanta. For one hundred miles there was continued skirmishing
among mountains and woods, which presented every opportunity for
such a warfare. Both armies were led by profound strategists.
Sherman would drive Johnston into a stronghold, and then with
consummate skill outflank him, when Johnston with equal skill would
retreat to a new post and prepare to meet his opponent again.
[Footnote: When either party stopped for a day or two, it fortified
its front with an abattis of felled trees and a ditch with a
head-log placed on the embankment The head-log was a tree twelve or
fifteen inches in diameter resting on small cross-sticks, thus
leaving a space of four or five inches between the log and the
dirt, through which the guns could be pointed.]
[Illustration: AN IMPROMPTU FORTIFICATION.]
At _Dalton, Resaca, Dallas,_ and _Lost_ and _Kenesaw Mountains_ bloody
battles were fought. Finally, Johnston retired to the intrenchments of
Atlanta (July 10).
CAPTURE OF ALANTA.--Davis, dissatisfied with this Fabian policy,
now put Hood in command. He attacked the Union army three times
with tremendous energy, but was repulsed with great slaughter.
Sherman, thereupon re-enacting his favorite flank movement, filled
his wagons with fifteen-days rations, dexterously shifted his whole
army on Hood's line of supplies, and thus compelled the evacuation
of the city.
[Footnote: During this campaign, Sherman's supplies were brought up
by a single line of railroad from Nashville, a distance of three
hundred miles, and exposed throughout to the attacks of the enemy.
Yet so carefully was it garrisoned and so rapidly were bridges
built and breaks repaired, that the damages were often mended
before the news of the accident had reached camp. Sherman said that
the whistle of the locomotive was quite frequently heard on the
camp-ground before the echoes of the skirmish-fire had died away.]
_The Effect_.--This campaign during four months of fighting
and marching, day and night, in its ten pitched battles and scores
of lesser engagements, cost the Union army thirty thousand men, and
the Confederate, thirty-five thousand. Georgia was the workshop,
storehouse, granary and arsenal of the Confederacy. At Atlanta,
Rome, and the neighboring towns were manufactories, foundries, and
mills, where clothing, wagons, harnesses, powder, balls, and cannon
were furnished to all its armies. The South was henceforth cut off
from these supplies.
HOOD'S INVASION OF TENNESSEE.--Sherman now longed to sweep through
the Atlantic States. But this was impossible as long as Hood, with
an army of forty thousand, was in front, while the cavalry under
Forrest was raiding along his railroad communications toward
Chattanooga and Nashville. With unconcealed joy, therefore, Sherman
learned that Hood was to invade Tennessee.
[Footnote: Hood's expectation was that Sherman would follow him
into Tennessee, and thus Georgia be saved from invasion. Sherman
had no such idea. "If Hood will go there," said he, "I will give
him rations to go with." Now was presented the singular spectacle
of these two armies, which had been so lately engaged in deadly
combat, marching from each other as fast as they could go.]
Relieved of this anxiety, he at once prepared his army for its
celebrated "March to the Sea."
_Battle of Nashville_ (December 15, 16)--Hood crossed the
Tennessee, and after severe fighting, driving Schofield's army
before him, shut up General Thomas within the fortifications at
Nashville. For two weeks little was done.
[Footnote: Great disappointment was felt at the North over the
retreat to Nashville, and still more at Thomas's delay in that
city. Grant ordered him to move, and had actually started to take
charge of his troops in person, when he learned of the splendid
victory his slow but sure general had achieved.]
When Thomas was fully ready, he suddenly sallied out on Hood, and
in a terrible two-days battle drove the Confederate forces out of
their intrenchments into headlong flight. The Union cavalry
thundered upon their heels with remorseless energy. The infantry
followed closely behind. The entire Confederate army, except the
rear-guard, which fought bravely to the last, was dissolved into a
rabble of demoralized fugitives, who at last escaped across the
Tennessee.
_The Effect_.--For the first time in the war an army was destroyed.
The object which Sherman hoped to obtain when he moved on Atlanta was
accomplished by Thomas, three hundred miles away. Sherman could now go
where he pleased with little danger of meeting a foe. The war at the
West, so far as any great movements were concerned, was finished.
SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA.--Breaking loose from his communications
with Nashville, and burning the city of Atlanta, Sherman started
(Nov. 16), with sixty thousand men, for the Atlantic coast (map
opp. p. 222). The army moved in four columns, with a cloud of
cavalry under Kilpatrick, and skirmishers in front to disguise its
route, stormed Fort McAlister, and captured Savannah.
[Footnote: The ubiquity of the cavalry movements of the war is
remarkable. In February preceding, Kilpatrick, who now opened up
the way for Sherman's march through Georgia, made a dash with the
cavalry of the Army of the Potomac to rescue the Union prisoners at
Richmond. He got within the defences of the city, but not fully
appreciating his success, withdrew, while Colonel Ulric Dahlgren,
who headed a cooperating force, through the ignorance or treachery
of his guide, lost his route, was surrounded by the enemy, and fell
in an attempt to cut his way out. Great damage was done to
railroads and canals near Richmond. These various raids had little
effect, however, upon the issue of the contest, though they served
to provoke the bitter enmity of both sides.]
[Footnote: A feint which Sherman made toward Augusta led to a
concentration at that city of all the cavalry and militia called
out to dispute his progress. The real direction of his march was
not discovered until he had entered the peninsula between the
Savannah and Ogeechee rivers.]
[Footnote: The first news received at the North from Sherman was
brought by three scouts, who left the Union army just as it was
closing in on Savannah. They hid in the rice swamps by day and
paddled down the river by night. Creeping past Fort McAlister
undiscovered, they were picked up by the Federal gunboats.]
[Footnote: Sherman sent the news of its capture with twenty-five
thousand bales of cotton and one hundred and fifty cannon, to
President Lincoln, as a Christmas present to the nation.]
_The Effect_ of this march can hardly be over-estimated. A
fertile region, sixty miles wide and three hundred long, was
desolated; three hundred miles of railroad were destroyed; the
eastern portion of the already-sundered Confederacy was cut in
twain; immense supplies of provisions were captured, and the
hardships of war brought home to those who had hitherto been exempt
from its actual contact.
THE WAR IN VIRGINIA.
BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS (May 5, 6).--After crossing the Rapidan,
the Union army plunged into the Wilderness. While the columns were
toiling along the narrow roads, they were suddenly attacked by the
Confederate army.
[Footnote: This was near the old battle-ground of Chancellorsville,
and just a year and two days after that fierce fight.]
The dense forest forbade all strategy. There was none of the pomp
or glory of war, only its horrible butchery. The ranks simply
dashed into the woods. Soon came the patter of shots, the heavy
rattle of musketry, and then there streamed back the wreck of the
battle--bleeding, mangled forms, borne on stretchers. In those
gloomy shades, dense with smoke, this strangest of battles, which
no eye could follow, marked only by the shouts and volleys, now
advancing, now receding, as either side gained or lost, surged to
and fro. The third day, both armies, worn out by this desperate
struggle, remained in their intrenchments. Neither side had been
conquered. Grant had lost twenty thousand men, and Lee ten
thousand. It was generally supposed that the Federals would retire
back of the Rapidan. Grant thought differently. He quietly gathered
up his army and pushed it by the Confederate right flank toward
Spottsylvania Court House.
BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA (May 8-12).--Lee detected the movement, and
hurried a division to head off the Union advance. When Grant
reached the spot, he found the Confederate army planted right
across the road, barring his progress. Five days of continuous
manoeuvring and fighting, having given little advantage, Grant
concluded to try the favorite movement of the year, and turn Lee's
right flank again.
[Footnote: During this time the sharpshooters on both sides, hidden
in the trees, were busy picking off officers. On the 9th, General
Sedgwick was superintending the placing of a battery in the front.
Seeing a man dodging a ball, he rebuked him, saying, "Pooh! they
can't hit an elephant at this distance." At that moment he was
himself struck, and fell dead.]
[Footnote: On the morning of the 12th, Hancock's corps, hidden by a
dense fog, charged upon the Confederate line, broke the abattis,
surrounded a division, and took three thousand prisoners, including
two generals. So complete was the surprise, that the officers were
captured at breakfast. Lee, however, rallied, and the fighting was
so fierce to regain this lost position, that "a tree eighteen
inches in diameter was cut in two by the bullets which struck it.
Ten thousand men fell on each side. Men in hundreds, killed and
wounded together, were piled in hideous heaps, some bodies, which
had lain for hours under the concentric fire of the battle, being
perforated with wounds. The writhing of the wounded beneath the
dead moved these masses at times; while often a lifted arm or a
quivering limb told of an agony not quenched by the Lethe of death
around."]
[Footnote: It was during this terrible battle that Grant sent his
famous despatch, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it
takes all summer."]
BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR (June 3).--Lee, however, moving on the inner
and shorter line, reached the _North Anna_ first. Here some
severe fighting occurred, when, Grant moving to flank again, Lee
slipped into the intrenchments of Cold Harbor. At daybreak a
general assault was made. "Twenty minutes after the first shot was
fired, ten thousand Union men were stretched writhing on the sod or
still and calm in death, while the enemy's loss was little over one
thousand." The army, weary of this useless slaughter, refused to
continue the attack.
[Footnote: Grant had arranged, in the general plan of the campaign,
for three co-operative movements to attract the attention and
divide the strength of the Confederate army before Richmond: 1.
General Sigel, with ten thousand men, was to advance up the
Shenandoah Valley and threaten the railroad communication with
Richmond. He was, however, totally routed at _New Market_ (May
15). General Hunter, who superseded him, defeated the Confederates
at _Piedmont_ (June 5), but pushing on to Lynchburg with about
twenty thousand men, he found it too strong, and prudently retired
into West Virginia. 2. On the night that the Army of the Potomac
crossed the Rapidan, General Butler, with thirty thousand men,
ascended the James River, under the protection of gunboats, and
landed at Bermuda Hundred. After some trifling successes, he was
surprised in a dense fog by Beauregard, and driven back into his
defences with considerable loss. Beauregard then threw
intrenchments across the narrow strip which connects Bermuda
Hundred with the main land, and, as Grant tersely said,
"hermetically sealed up" the Union force from any further advance.
3. General Sheridan, while the army was at Spottsylvania, passed in
the rear of the Confederate position, destroyed miles of railroad,
recaptured four hundred prisoners _en route_, and defeated a
cavalry force with the loss of their leader, General J. E. B.
Stuart, the best cavalry officer in the South.]
[Illustration: GRANT'S CAMPAIGN AROUND RICHMOND.]
ATTACK ON PETERSBURG.--Grant now rapidly pushed his army over the
James, and fell upon Petersburg; but here again Lee was ahead, and
the works could not be forced. Grant was therefore compelled to
throw up intrenchments and sit down in front of the Confederate
lines. The campaign now resolved itself into a siege of Richmond,
with Petersburg as its advanced post.
_The Effect_.--The campaign had cost the Union army at least
seventy thousand men, and the Confederates about forty thousand.
[Footnote: The above statement of losses is founded upon the
generally-accepted authorities; but Grant has lately asserted that
his total loss was only about 39,000, while Southern writers place
Lee's at 18,000.]
The weakened capabilities of the South were now fairly pitted
against the almost exhaustless resources of the North. Grant's plan
was to keep constantly hammering Lee's army, conscious that it was
the last hope of the Confederacy. The idea of thus annihilating an
army was terrible, yet it seemed the only way of closing the awful
struggle.
THE SIEGE OF RICHMOND continued until the spring campaign of 1865.
It was marked by two important events:
1. _Mine Explosion_ (July 30).--From a hidden ravine in front
of Petersburg, a mine had been dug underneath a strong Confederate
fort. Just at dawn, the blast of eight thousand pounds of powder
was fired. Several cannon, the garrison of three hundred men, and
huge masses of earth, were thrown high in air. The Federal guns
opened fire at once along the entire line. An assaulting column
rushed forward, but stopped in the crater produced by the
explosion. The Confederates, rallying from their confusion,
concentrated from every side and poured shot and shell upon the
struggling mass of men huddled within the demolished fort. To
retreat was only less dangerous than to stay, yet many of the
soldiers jumped out of this slaughter-pen and ran headlong back to
the Union lines. The Federals lost about four thousand men in this
ill-starred affair.
2. _Attack upon the Weldon Railroad_ (August 18).--By threatening
Richmond upon the north, Grant induced Lee to move troops to that city
from Petersburg. The opportunity was at once seized, and the Weldon
Railroad captured. Lee, aware of the great importance of that means of
communication with the South, for several days made most desperate
attempts for its recovery. They were, however, unsuccessful, and the
Union lines were permanently advanced to this point.
[Footnote: An attempt was made by Grant to take this road when he
first swung south of Richmond, but he was repulsed with a loss of
nearly four thousand men. That this event was not mentioned in the
military report, and has not received a specific name, shows the
enormous proportions the war had assumed, and how changed it was
from the time when Big Bethel and Ball's Bluff were esteemed
important battles.]
EARLY'S RAID.--Hunter's retreat (p. 262) having laid open the
Shenandoah Valley, Lee took advantage of it to threaten Washington,
hoping thus to draw off Grant from the siege of Richmond. General
Early, with twenty thousand men, accordingly hurried along this
oft-traveled route. Defeating General Wallace at _Monocacy River_, he
appeared before _Fort Stevens_, one of the defences of Washington
(July 10). Had he rushed by forced marches, he might have captured the
city; but he stopped a day. Reinforcements having now arrived, he was
compelled to retreat, and, laden with booty, he rapidly recrossed the
Potomac. Not being pursued, he returned, and sent a party of cavalry
into Pennsylvania. They entered Chambersburg, and, on failing to
obtain a ransom of $500,000, set fire to the village, and escaped
safely back into the Shenandoah.
[Illustration: RESCUE OF THE UNION FLEET
IN THE RED RIVER (Note, p 265)]
SHERIDAN'S CAMPAIGN--Sheridan was now put in command of all the
troops in this region. He defeated Early at _Winchester_ and
_Fisher's Hill_, and in a week destroyed half his army, and
sent the rest "whirling up the valley of the Shenandoah."
[Footnote: In order to prevent any further raids upon Washington
from this direction, Sheridan devastated the valley so thoroughly
that it was said that "if a crow wants to fly down the Shenandoah,
he must carry his provisions with him."]
Early was quickly reinforced, and returning during Sheridan's
absence, surprised his army at _Cedar Creek_ (October 19), and
drove it in confusion. Sheridan arrived at this critical moment,
ordered an immediate advance, and attacking the Confederates, now
busy plundering the captured camp, routed them with great
slaughter.
[Footnote: Early's attack was made under cover of a dense fog and
the darkness of the early morning. The Union troops were driven
four miles. General Wright, their commander, though wounded, still
remained on the field, and managed to get his troops into a new
position in the rear. Sheridan heard the cannonading thirteen miles
away, at Winchester. Knowing the importance of his presence, he put
spurs to his coal-black steed, and never drew rein until, his horse
covered with foam, he dashed upon the battle-field. Riding down the
lines, he shouted, "Turn, boys, turn; we're going back." Under the
magnetism of his presence, the fugitives followed him back to the
fight and victory.]
_The Effect_.--This campaign of only a month was one of the most
brilliant of the war. Sheridan lost seventeen thousand men, but he
virtually destroyed Early's army. This was the last attempt to
threaten Washington.
RED RIVER EXPEDITION.
[Footnote: Troops having been sent from Vicksburg to join the Red
River expedition, West Tennessee and Kentucky were left exposed to
attack from the Confederates. Forrest, with five thousand men,
captured Union City, Tenn., with its garrison of about five hundred
troops, occupied Hickman, and advanced rapidly upon Paducah, Ky.
This, protected by the gunboats, maintained so stout a defence,
that Forrest retired. Moving south, he next fell upon _Fort
Pillow_ (April 12). His men crept along under shelter of a
ravine until very near, and then charged upon the intrenchments.
Rushing into the fort, they raised the cry "No quarter!" "The
Confederate officers," says Pollard, "lost control of their men,
who were maddened by the sight of negro troops opposing them," and
an indiscriminate slaughter followed.]
A joint naval and land expedition, under the command of General
Banks, was sent up the Red River in the hope of destroying the
Confederate authority in that region and in Texas (map opp. p.
222). Fort de Russy was taken (March 14), whence Banks moved on
toward Shreveport. The line of march became extended a distance of
nearly thirty miles along a single road. At _Sabine Cross
Roads_ (April 8) the Confederate forces, under General Dick
Taylor, attacked the advance, and a miniature Bull Run retreat
ensued. The Union troops, however, rallied at _Pleasant Hill_,
and the next day, reinforcements coming up from the rear, they were
able to repulse the Confederates. The army thereupon returned to
New Orleans, and Banks was relieved of the command.
[Footnote: Porter, who commanded the gunboats in the Red River,
hearing of Banks's retreat, attempted to return with his fleet, but
the river fell so rapidly that this became impossible. It was
feared that it would be necessary to blow up the vessels to prevent
their falling into the enemy's hands, when, by the happy suggestion
of Colonel Bailey, formerly a Wisconsin lumberman, they were saved.
He constructed a series of wing-dams below the rapids, and when the
water rose, the boats were safely floated over. This skilful
expedient was almost the only relieving feature of the campaign,
which was believed by some to have been undertaken simply as a
gigantic cotton speculation in behalf of certain parties, who
seemed to be more intent on gathering that staple than on
conserving the interests of the Union cause. The failure was,
therefore, at the North a source of great mortification and
reproach.]
_The Effect_.--This campaign was a great Confederate triumph.
Banks lost five thousand men, eighteen guns, and large supplies.
[Footnote: General Steele, who commanded in Arkansas, had moved
from Little Rock to cooperate in this advance, but on nearing
Shreveport, learned of Banks's retreat. He immediately turned
around, and with great difficulty and severe fighting, managed to
escape back to Little Rock. This disaster enabled ihe Confederates
to recover half of the State.]
THE WAR ON THE SEA AND ON THE COAST.
THE EXPEDITION AGAINST MOBILE (August 5) was under the command of
Admiral Farragut. That he might oversee the battle more distinctly,
he took his position in the maintop of his flag-ship--the Hartford.
The vessels, lashed together in pairs for mutual assistance, in an
hour fought their way past the Confederate forts, and engaged the
iron-clad fleet beyond (map, p. 280). After a desperate resistance,
the great iron ram Tennessee was taken, and the other vessels were
captured or put to flight. The forts were soon after reduced, and
the harbor was closed to blockade runners.
[Footnote: The city of Mobile was not captured until the next year,
when Generals Granger's, Steele's, and A. J. Smith's commands,
making a force of about forty-five thousand men, were collected for
this purpose by Gen. Canby. The forts were gallantly defended by
General Maury, but were taken within less than two weeks. The city
itself was evacuated April 11. The Union troops entered the next
day, ignorant that Lee had surrendered three days before, and that
the Confederacy was dead.]
THE EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER, which defended the harbor of
Wilmington, N. C., was commanded by Commodore Porter. It consisted
of seventy vessels and a land force under General Butler. After a
fierce bombardment (December 24, 25) Butler decided that the fort
could not be taken by assault, and the army returned to Fortress
Monroe. Commodore Porter, dissatisfied with the result, lay off the
place, and asked for a second trial. The same troops, with fifteen
hundred additional men, were sent back under General Terry.
Protected by a terrible fire from the fleet, a column of sailors
and one of soldiers worked their way, by a series of trenches,
within two hundred yards of the fort. At the word, the former
leaped forward on one side and the latter on another. The sailors
were repulsed, but the soldiers burst into the fort. The
hand-to-hand fight within lasted for hours. Late at night the
garrison, hemmed in on all sides, surrendered (January 15, 1865).
One knows not which to admire the more, the gallantry of the attack
or the heroism of the defence. In such a victory is glory, and in
such a defeat, no disgrace.
THE BLOCKADE was now so effectual that the prices of all imported
goods in the Confederate States were fabulous.
[Footnote: Flour brought, in Confederate currency, $40 per barrel;
calico, $30 per yard; coffee, $50 per pound; French gloves, $150
per pair; and black pepper, $300 per pound. Dried sage, raspberry,
and other leaves were substituted for the costly tea. Woolen
clothing was scarce and the army depended largely on captures of
the ample Federal stores. "Pins were so rare that they were picked
up with avidity in the streets." Paper was so expensive that
matches could no longer be put in boxes. Sugar, butter, and white
bread became luxuries even for the wealthy. Salt being a necessity,
was economized to the last degree, old pork and fish barrels being
soaked and the water evaporated so that not a grain of salt might
be wasted. Women appeared in garments that were made of cloth
carded, woven, spun, and dyed by their own hands. Large thorns were
fitted with wax heads and made to serve as hair-pins. Shoes were
manufactured with wooden soles to which the uppers were attached by
means of small tacks. As a substitute for the expensive gas, the
"Confederate candle" was used. This consisted of a long wick coated
with wax and resin, and wound on a little wooden frame, at the top
of which was nailed a bit of tin. The end of the wick being passed
through a hole in the tin, was lighted and uncoiled as needed.]
Led by the enormous profits of a successful voyage, foreign
merchants were constantly seeking to run the gauntlet. Their swift
steamers, making no smoke, long, narrow, low, and of a mud color,
occasionally escaped the vigilance of the Federal squadron. During
the war, it is said, over fifteen hundred blockade runners were
taken or destroyed. With the capture of Fort Fisher, the last
Confederate port of entry was sealed.
[Illustration: THE ALABAMA]
CONFEDERATE CRUISERS had now practically driven the American
commerce from the ocean. They were not privateers, like those named
on p. 222, for they were built in England and manned by British
sailors, and were only officered and commissioned by the
Confederate government. They sailed to and fro upon the track of
American ships, plundering and burning, or else bonding them for
heavy sums. The _Alabama_ was the most noted of these British
steamers. Against the urgent remonstrances of the United States
Minister at the Court of England, she was allowed to sail although
her mission was well known. An English captain took her to the
Azores, where other English vessels brought her arms, ammunition,
and the Confederate Captain Semmes with additional men. Putting out
to sea, he read his commission and announced his purpose. After
capturing over sixty vessels, he sailed to Cherbourg, France. While
there, he sent out a challenge to the national ship-of-war
_Kearsarge_ (keer'-sarj). This was accepted, and a battle took
place off that harbor. Captain Winslow, of the Kearsarge, so
manoeuvred that the Alabama was compelled to move round in a
circular track, while he trained his guns upon her with fearful
effect. On the seventh rotation, the Confederate vessel ran up the
white flag and soon after sank. Captain Winslow rescued a part of
the sinking crew, and others were picked up, at his request, by the
Deerhound, an English yacht; but this vessel steamed off to the
British coast with those she had saved, among whom was Captain
Semmes.
THE SANITARY AND CHRISTIAN COMMISSIONS were "splendid examples of
organized mercy," furnished by the people of the North. They
devised and provided every possible comfort for the sick and
wounded, besides distributing religious reading to every soldier in
the field. Ambulances, stretchers, hot coffee, postage-stamps,
paper and envelopes, prayer-meetings, medicines, Christian
burial--no want of body or soul was overlooked. "Homes" and "Lodges
" for men on sick leave; for those not yet under or just out of the
care of the government, or who had been left by their regiments,
were instituted. "Feeding Stations" for the tired and hungry were
established, and even "Homes for the Wives, Mothers, and Children
of Soldiers" who had come to visit their sick or wounded. On every
flag-of-truce boat were placed clothing, medicines, and cordials
for the prisoners who had been exchanged. With boundless mercy,
they cared for all while living, and gave Christian burial and
marked graves to the dead. Over seventeen millions of dollars in
money and supplies were expended by these two Commissions.
POLITICAL AFFAIRS.--At the North, there was much dissatisfaction
with the conduct of the war. The debt had become about $2,000,000,
000. In July of this year, paper money reached its greatest
depreciation, and it required two dollars and ninety cents in
greenbacks to buy one dollar in gold. It was at the time of Grant's
repulse from Cold Harbor and of Early's raid. Yet, in the midst of
these discouragements, Abraham Lincoln was renominated by the
republican party. George B. McClellan was the democratic candidate;
he stood firmly for the prosecution of the war, and the maintenance
of the Union, but was not in full sympathy with the policy of the
administration. He carried only three States. Lincoln had a popular
majority of over four hundred thousand.
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE WAR.--
The Confederates had gained the battles of Olustee,
[Footnote: This battle ended an expedition fitted out by General
Gilmore, at Hilton Head, S. C, to recover Florida. After some
success his troops, under General Seymour, advanced to
_Olustee_, where (February 20) they met a disastrous defeat
and were forced to relinquish much they had gained. The men were
afterwards taken to Virginia to engage in more important work.]
Sabine Cross Roads, the Wilderness, Bermuda Hundred, Spottsylvania,
New Market, Cold Harbor, and Monocacy; had defeated the expeditions
into Florida and the Red River country, the two attacks upon
Petersburg, and one against Fort Fisher, and yet held Grant at bay
before Richmond. They had, however, lost ground on every side. Of
the States east of the Mississippi, only North and South Carolina
were fully retained. Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia,
Georgia and Florida were overrun by the Union armies. The Federals
had gained the battles of Pleasant Hill, Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw,
Atlanta, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek and Nashville. They
had captured Fort de Russy, the forts in Mobile harbor, and Fort
McAlister, and had taken Atlanta and Savannah. Sherman had swept
across Georgia; Sheridan had devastated the Shenandoah, driving its
defenders before him; Thomas had annihilated Hood's army; Grant
held Lee firmly grasped at Richmond, and the navy swept the entire
coast.
1865.
THE SITUATION.--The plan of the campaign was very simple. The end
of the war was clearly at hand. Sherman was to move north from
Savannah against Johnston, and then join Grant in the final attack
upon Lee. Sheridan, with ten thousand troopers, had swept down from
the Shenandoah, cut the railroads north of Richmond, and taken his
place in the Union lines before Petersburg. Wilson, with thirteen
thousand horsemen, rode at large through Alabama and Georgia, and
at Macon held a line of retreat from Virginia westward. Stoneman,
with five thousand cavalry from Tennessee, poured through the
passes of the Alleghanies and waited in North Carolina for the
issue in Virginia.
[Illustration: SHERMAN'S MARCH.]
SHERMAN'S MARCH THROUGH THE CAROLINAS.--In the meantime Sherman had
given his troops only a month's rest in Savannah. Early in
February, they were put in motion northward. There was no waiting
for roads to dry nor for bridges to be built, but the troops swept
on like a tornado. Rivers were waded, and one battle was fought
while the water was up to the shoulders of the men. The army, sixty
thousand strong, moved in four columns, with a front of more than
fifty miles. Cavalry and foragers swarmed on the flanks. Before
them was terror; behind them were ashes.
COLUMBIA was captured (February 17), and Charleston, thus
threatened in the rear, was evacuated the next day.
[Footnote: The cotton stored in the city was scattered through the
streets and destroyed by fire. The flames quickly spread to the
houses adjoining. All efforts to subdue the conflagration were
unsuccessful, and a large portion of the city was destroyed.]
[Footnote: General Hardee, on leaving, inflicted a terrible injury.
He set fire to every shed and warehouse in which cotton was stored.
The flames spread to a quantity of powder in the depot, which
exploded with fearful destruction. Two hundred lives were lost. In
spite of the efforts of the Union troops, a vast amount of private
property was involved in the general devastation. The ravages which
the war had made were well illustrated by the appearance of this
city after its evacuation. An eye-witness says: "No pen, no pencil,
no tongue can do justice to the scene; no imagination can conceive
the utter wreck, the universal ruin, the stupendous desolation.
Ruin, ruin, ruin, above and below, on the right hand and on the
left-ruin, ruin, ruin, everywhere and always, staring at us from
every paneless window, looking out at us from every shell-torn
wall, glaring at us from every battered door, pillar, and veranda,
crouching beneath our feet on every sidewalk. Not Pompeii, nor
Herculaneum, nor Tadmor, nor the Nile, has ruins so saddening, so
plaintively eloquent."]
In this emergency, Johnston was again called to the command of the
Confederate forces. He gathered their scattered armies and
vigorously opposed Sherman's advance. After fierce engagements at
_Averysboro_ and _Bentonville_ (March 15, 18), he was driven back, and
Raleigh was captured (April 13).
SIEGE OF RICHMOND.--Lee's position was fast becoming desperate. His
only hope lay in getting out of Richmond and joining with Johnston.
Their united armies might prolong the struggle. Grant was
determined to prevent this, and compel Lee to surrender, as he had
forced Pemberton to do.
ATTACK ON FORT STEADMAN (March 25).--Lee determined to attack
Grant's right, in order to hide his plan of retreat, and especially
in the hope that Grant would send troops from the left to succor
the threatened point. In that case, he would slip out, with the
main body of his army, by the nearest road southward, which ran
close by the Union left. The assault was made on Fort Steadman, but
it was a signal failure. Three thousand out of five thousand
engaged in the attempt were lost. To make matters worse, a Union
assault followed directly afterward, and a portion of the
Confederate outer defences was captured. Thus Grant's grip was only
tightened. He had made no change in the position of his troops, and
this sortie neither hastened nor delayed the grand, final attack.
BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS (April l).--This movement began Wednesday
morning, March 29. Sheridan with his cavalry--nine thousand
sabres--and heavy columns of infantry, pushed out from Grant's left
wing to get around in Lee's rear. Cloaking his plan by a thick
screen of cavalry, to conceal the movements of his infantry, he
threw a heavy force behind the Confederate position at _Five Forks_.
Assailed in front and rear, the garrison was overwhelmed, and five
thousand men were taken prisoners.
[Footnote: Five Forks is situated twelve miles southwest from
Petersburg. (See map opposite p. 223, and of VIth Epoch.)]
_The Effect_ of this brilliant affair was at once to render Lee's
position untenable. His right was turned, and his rear threatened.
CAPTURE OF PETERSBURG AND RICHMOND (April 2, 3).--The next morning,
at four o'clock, the Union army advanced in an overwhelming assault
along the whole front. By noon, the Confederate line of
intrenchments before which the Army of the Potomac had lain so
long, was broken, and thousands of prisoners were captured.
[Footnote: Generals Lee and A. P. Hill were at the former's
headquarters, within the city, discussing the prospects of the day.
Suddenly General Lee, listening, said to Hill: "General, your men
are giving way." Instantly Hill was mounted and dashing down the
road. As he was spurring his steed, he caught a glimpse of two or
three blue coats with rifles leveled at him. "Throw down your
arms!" he authoritatively cried. For an instant the men hesitated,
but the next moment they fired, and General Hill fell dead.]
That night Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated. The next morning
the Union troops took possession of the Confederate capital, the
coveted goal of the Army of the Potomac for four long bloody years.
[Footnote: Sunday, the day before, the Confederate President,
Davis, was at church, when a note was handed him by a messenger. It
was from Leo, informing him that the Confederate army was about to
leave Richmond. His pallid face and unsteady footsteps, as he
passed out, betrayed the news. Pollard says: "Men, women, and
children rushed from the churches, passing from lip to lip news of
the impending fall of Richmond. . . . It was late in the afternoon
when the signs of evacuation became apparent to the incredulous.
Suddenly, as if by magic, the streets became filled with men,
walking as though for a wager, and behind them excited negroes with
trunks, bundles, and luggage of every description. All over the
city, it was the same--wagons, trunks, bandboxes, and their owners,
a mass of hurrying fugitives filling the streets. Night came, and
with it confusion worse confounded. There was no sleep for human
eyes in Richmond that night. About the hour of midnight, hundreds
of barrels of liquor were rolled into the street, and the heads
knocked in, by order of the City Council, to prevent a worse
disorder. As the work progressed, some straggling soldiers managed
to get hold of a quantity of the liquor. From that moment law and
order ceased to exist." By order of General Ewell, the four
principal tobacco warehouses, in different parts of the city, were
fired, and soon the flames became unmanageable. "Morning broke upon
a scene such as those who witnessed it can never forget. The roar
of an immense conflagration sounded in their ears; tongues of flame
leaped from street to street; and in this baleful glare were to be
seen, as of demons, the figures of busy plunderers, moving,
pushing, rioting through the black smoke, bearing away every
conceivable sort of plunder."]
LEE'S SURRENDER.--Meanwhile, Lee, having only the wreck of that
proud array with which he had dealt the Union army so many crushing
blows, hurried west, seeking some avenue of escape. Grant urged the
pursuit with untiring energy. Sheridan, "with a terrible daring
which knew no pause, no rest," hung on his flanks. Food now failed
the Confederates and they could get only the young shoots of trees
to eat. If they sought a moment's repose, they were awakened by the
clatter of pursuing cavalry. Lee, like a hunted fox, turned hither
and thither; but at last Sheridan planted himself squarely across
the front. Lee ordered a charge. His half-starved troops, with a
rallying of their old courage, obeyed. But the cavalry moving
aside, as a curtain is drawn, revealed dense bodies of infantry in
battle line. The Civil War was about to end in one of its bloodiest
tragedies, when the Confederate advance was stopped. General Grant
had already sent in a note demanding the surrender of the army. Lee
accepted the terms; and, April 9th, eight thousand men--the remains
of the Army of Virginia--laid down their arms near Appomattox Court
House, and then turned homeward, no longer Confederate soldiers,
but American citizens.
[Footnote: The officers and men were allowed to go home on their
paroles not to take up arms against the United States until
exchanged, and the former to retain their private baggage and
horses. After the surrender had been concluded, General Lee said
that he had forgotten to mention that many of his soldiers rode
their own horses. Grant at once replied that such should keep their
horses to aid them in their future work at home--That the two
armies so fiercely opposed for four years could have parted with no
words but those of sympathy and respect was an assured presage of a
day when all the wounds of the restored Union should be fully
healed.]
_The Effect_.--This closed the war. The other Confederate
armies--Johnston's, Dick Taylor's, and Kirby Smith's--promptly
surrendered. Jefferson Davis fled southward, hoping to escape, but
was overtaken near Irwinsville, Georgia (May 11), and sent a
prisoner to Fortress Monroe.
[Footnote: The last fight of the war happened near Brazos Santiago,
Texas, May 13. A small expedition sent out to surprise a
Confederate camp was overtaken, on its return, by a larger force
and defeated with a loss of eighty men.]
COST OF THE WAR.--In the Union armies probably three hundred
thousand men were killed in battle or died of wounds or disease,
while doubtless two hundred thousand more were crippled for life.
If the Confederate armies suffered as heavily, the country thus
lost one million able-bodied men. The Union debt, Jan. 1, 1866, was
nearly $2,750,000,000. At one time, the daily expenses reached the
sum of $3,500,000. During the last year of the war, the expenses
were greater than the entire expenditures of the government from
Washington to Buchanan. The Confederate war debts were never paid,
as that government was overthrown.
ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN.--In the midst of the universal rejoicings
over the advent of peace, on the evening of April 14 the
intelligence was flashed over the country that Lincoln had been
assassinated. While seated with his wife and friends in his box at
Ford's Theatre, he was shot by John Wilkes Booth who insanely
imagined he was ridding his country of a tyrant.
[Footnote: Booth stealthily entered the box, fastened the door,
that he might not be followed, shot the President, then--waving his
pistol shouted "Sic Semper Tyrannis" (so be it always to tyrants),
and leaped to the stage in front As he jumped, the American flag
draped before the box--mute avenger of the nation's chief--caught
his spur and, throwing him heavily, broke his leg The assassin,
however escaped from the house in the confusion, mounted a horse
which was waiting for him, and fled into Maryland He was at length
overtaken in a barn, here he stood at bay The building was fired to
drive him out, but, being determined to defend himself against
arrest, he was shot by one of the soldiers The accomplices of Booth
were arrested, tried and convicted. Herold, Payne, Atzerott and Mrs
Surratt were hanged, Arnold, Mudd and McLaughlin imprisoned for
life and Spangler was sentenced for six years]
[Footnote: A nearly fatal attempt was also made at the same time
upon William H Seward, Secretary of State, who was lying sick in
his bed at home]
[Illustration: THE WHITE HOUSE OR EXECUTIVE MANSION
(The Official Residence of the President)]
About the unconscious body of the President gathered the most
prominent men of the nation, who mourned and watched, waiting in
vain for some sign of recognition until the next morning, when he
died. The funeral was held on the 19th. It was a day of mourning
throughout the land. In most of the cities and towns funeral
orations were pronounced. The body was borne to Springfield over
the same route along which Lincoln had come as President elect to
Washington. The procession may be said to have extended the entire
distance. The churches, principal buildings, and even the engines
and cars were draped in black. Almost every citizen wore the badge
of mourning.
STATES ADDED DURING THIS EPOCH.--_West Virginia_, the thirty-fifth
State, was admitted to the Union June 20, 1863. During the Civil War,
this portion of Virginia remaining loyal, it was incorporated as a
separate State.
_Nevada_, the thirty-sixth State, was admitted to the Union
October 31, 1864. Its name was derived from the range of mountains
on the west, the Sierra Nevada, a Spanish title, signifying
"Snow-covered mountains." It was the third State carved out of the
territory acquired by the Mexican war, Texas being the first, and
California the second. Its first settlement was at Carson City. It
is one of the richest mineral States in the Union.
Summary of the History of the Fifth Epoch,
arranged in Chronological Order.
1861. Abraham Lincoln inaugurated President of United States,
March 4,
Fort Sumter fired upon, April 12,
Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers, April 15,
Confederates seized Harper's Ferry, April 18,
Massachusetts troops fired upon in Baltimore, April 19,
Confederates seized Norfolk Navy Yard, April 20,
Battle of Philippi, Va., June 3,
" Big Bethel, Va., June 10,
" Booneville, Mo., June 17,
" Carthage, Mo., July 5,
1861. Battle of Rich Mountain, Va., July 11,
" Carrick's Ford, Va., July 14,
Confederate Congress assembled at Richmond, Va., July 20,
Battle of Bull Run, Va., July 21,
" Wilson's Creek, Mo., August 10,
Forts at Hatteras Inlet, N. C., captured, August 29,
Battle of Carnifex Ferry, Va., September 10,
" Lexington, Mo., September 20,
" Ball's Bluff, Va., October 21,
Port Royal, S. C., taken, November 7,
Battle of Belmont, Mo, November 7,
Seizure of Mason and Slidell, November 8,
Skirmish of Dranesville, Va., December 20,
1862. Battle of Mill Spring, Ky., January 19,
Fort Henry, Tenn., taken, February 6,
Roanoke Island, N. C., taken, February 8,
Fort Donelson, Tenn., taken, February 16,
Battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., March 7,8,
" of the Monitor and the Merrimac, March 9,
Newberne, N. C., taken, March 14,
Battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), Tenn., April 6,7,
Island No. 10 captured, April 7,
Fort Pulaski, Ga., captured, April 11,
New Orleans captured, April 25,
Beaufort, S. C, captured, April 25,
Yorktown, Va., taken, May 4,
Battle of Williamsburg, Va., May 5,
Norfolk, Va., surrendered, May 10,
Corinth, Miss., taken, May 30,
Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines, Va., May 31, June 1,
Lee assumed command of the Confederate armies, June 3,
Memphis, Tenn., surrendered, June 6,
Seven-Days battles, June 25-July 1,
Battle of Cedar Mountain, Va., August 9,
Second Battle of Bull Run, Va., August 29,
Battle of Richmond, Ky., August 30,
" Chantilly, Va., September 1,
" South Mountain, Md., September 14,
Harper's Ferry surrendered, September 15,
Battle of Antietam, Md., September 17,
" Iuka, Miss., September 19,
" Corinth, Miss., October 4,
" Perryville, Ky., October 8,
1862. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 13,
First attack on Vicksburg, Miss., December 29,
Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn., December 31 and January
2, 1863,
1863. Emancipation Proclamation, January 1,
Arkansas Post taken, January 11,
Fort Sumter, S. C., bombarded by fleet, April 7,
Grant's campaign before Vicksburg, May 1-17,
Battle of Chancellorsville, Va., May 2, 3,
West Virginia admitted to the Union, June 20,
Battle of Gettysburg, Penn., July 1-3,
Vicksburg, Miss., surrendered, July 4,
Port Hudson surrendered, July 8,
Draft Riot in New York City, July 13-16,
Fort Wagner, S. C., taken, September 7,
Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., September 19, 20,
" Chattanooga, Tenn., November 24, 25,
Siege of Knoxville, Tenn., raised, December 4,
1864. Battle of Olustee, Fla, February 20,
Grant made Lieutenant-General, March 3,
Fort de Russy captured, March 14,
Fort Pillow, Tenn., captured, April 12,
Butler landed at Bermuda Hundred, May 5,
Battle of Wilderness, Va., May 5, 6,
" Spottsylvania, Va., May 8-12,
" Resaca, Ga., May 14, 15,
" New Market, Va., May 15,
" Dallas, May 25-28,
" Cold Harbor, Va., June 3,
" Lost Mountain, Ga., June 15-17,
Battle between the Kearsarge and the Alabama, June 19,
Battle of Kenesaw Mt., Ga., June 27,
" Monocacy, Md., July 9,
Battles before Atlanta, Ga., July 20, 22, 28,
Chambersburg, Pa., burned, July 30,
Mine explosion, Petersburg, Va., July 30,
Farragut entered Mobile Bay, Ala., August 5,
Weldon Railroad seized, August 18,
Atlanta, Ga., taken, September 2,
Battle of Winchester, Va., September 19,
" Fisher's Hill, Va., September 22,
" Cedar Creek, Va., October 19,
Nevada admitted to the Union, October 31,
Fort McAlister, Ga, taken, December 13,
1864. Battle of Nashville, Tenn., December 15, 16,
1865. Fort Fisher, N. C., taken, January 15,
Columbia, S. C., taken, February 17,
Charleston, S. C., taken, February 18,
Battles of Averysboro and Bentonsville, N. C., Mar 15, 18,
Attack on Fort Steadman, Va., March 25,
Battle of Five Forks, Va., April 1,
Petersburg and Richmond taken, April 2, 3,
Lee's army surrendered, April 9,
President Lincoln assassinated, April 14,
Johnston's army surrendered, April 26,
Jefferson Davis captured May 11,
* * * * *
REFERENCES FOR READING.
_Draper, Greeley, Stephens, Abbott, Pollard, Lossing and Headley
on the Civil War--Nichol's Story of the Great March and The
Sanctuary (a novel)--Swinton's Army of the Potomac and Twelve
Decisive Battles--Dabney's Life of Stonewall Jackson--Badeau's
Military History of General Grant--Headley's Farragut and Our Naval
Commanders--Coffin's Days and Nights on the Battle Field--Boynton's
American Navy--Still's History of the Sanitary
Commission--Johnston's Narrative of Military Operations--Moore's
Rebellion Record and Ballads and Grant White's Poetry of the Civil
War--Harper's Pictorial History of the War--Duyckinck's History and
Lives of Eminent Americans--Mrs Childs's Romance of the
Republic--Esten Cook's Surrey of Eagle's Nest and Mohun
(novels)--Harrington's Inside--Gilmore's Among the Guerrillas and
Down in Tennessee--W. G. Simms's War Poetry of the South--Laura
Redden's Idyls of Battle and Richardson's Field, Dungeon, and
Escape--Hotchkiss & Allan's Battle Fields of Virginia--Early's Army
of Northern Virginia--Whittier's In War Time (Poem)--Cooke's Life
of General Robert E. Lee--Memoirs of Gen W. T. Sherman--Barnes's
Popular Hist of United States _
[Illustration: LINCOLN'S EARLY HOME IN ILLINOIS]
EPOCH VI.
RECONSTRUCTION AND PASSING EVENTS.
From 1865--Close of the Civil War,
To--The Present Date.
JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, N. C., December 29,
1808. When only ten years of age, he was bound apprentice to a
tailor of that city. Never having been at school a day in his life,
he yet determined to secure an education. From a fellow-workman he
learned the alphabet, and from a friend something of spelling.
Thenceforth, after working ten to twelve hours per day at his
trade, he spent two or three every night in study. In 1826, he went
West to seek his fortune, with true filial affection carrying with
him his mother, who was dependent on his labor for support. After
his marriage at Greenville, Tenn., he continued his studies under
the instruction of his wife, pursuing his trade as before by day.
His political life commenced with his election as alderman. He was
successively chosen mayor, member of legislature, Presidential
elector, State senator, twice governor, and thrice U.S. senator.]
[Footnote: _Questions on the Geography of the Sixth Epoch.
_-Locate Raleigh. Heart's Content, and St. John's, Newfoundland
(see map, Epoch II). Alaska St. Albans, Vt. Buffalo, Mt. Pleasant,
O, (map. Epoch V). West Point. Chicago. Boston. Duluth. Puget's
Sound. San Francisco. Klamath Lava Beds, Oregon.]
(SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1865-1869.)
THE death of Lincoln produced no disorder, and within three hours
thereafter the Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, quietly assumed the
duties of the Presidency.
DISBANDING OF THE ARMY.--At the close of the war the two armies
numbered a million and a half of soldiers. Within six months they
had nearly all returned home. Thus the mightiest hosts ever called
to the field by a republic went back without disturbance to the
tranquil pursuits of civil life. In a few months there was nothing
to distinguish the soldier from the citizen, except the
recollection of his bravery. Other nations prophesied that such a
vast army could not be disbanded peaceably. The republic, by this
final triumph of law and order, proved itself the most stable
government in the world.
[Footnote: A grand review of the armies of Grant and Sherman, two
hundred thousand strong, took place in the presence of the
President and his Cabinet. For twelve hours this triumphal
procession, thirty miles long, massed in solid column twenty men
deep, rolled through the broad avenues of the Capital.]
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Reconstruction Policy of the President.
_--Johnson recognized the State governments that had been formed
in Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana during the war,
under the protection of the Union army. In the other States, he
appointed provisional governors, and authorized the calling of
conventions to form loyal governments. These conventions
accordingly met, repealed the ordinances of secession, repudiated
the Confederate war debt, and ratified the amendment which Congress
had offered abolishing slavery. On these conditions, Johnson
claimed that the States, having never been legally out of the
Union, should be restored to all their rights in the Union. All
restrictions on commerce with the South had been previously removed
(April 29, 1865). A month later, Johnson issued a proclamation of
amnesty and pardon to all engaged in secession, except certain
classes, on condition of taking the oath of allegiance to the
United States. In 1868 (July 4) full pardon was granted to all not
under indictment for treason, and afterward this was extended to
all without exception.
[Footnote: Many of the persons thus excluded obtained pardons from
the President by personal application. One complaint against him
was the readiness with which he granted such pardons.]
_The Thirteenth Amendment_, abolishing slavery, having been
ratified by the States, was declared (December 18, 1865) duly
adopted as a part of the Constitution of the United States.
_Public Debt._--The annual interest on the war debt was now
over one hundred and thirty millions of dollars. The revenue from
duties on imported goods, taxes on manufactures, incomes, etc., and
from the sale of revenue stamps, was over three hundred millions of
dollars. This provided not only for the current expenses of the
government and the payment of interest, but also for the gradual
extinguishment of the debt. It is a striking evidence of the
abundant resources of the country that, in 1866, "before all the
extra troops called out by the war had been discharged, the debt
had been diminished more than thirty-one millions of dollars."
_Reconstruction Policy of Congress._--On the assembling of
Congress, decided grounds were taken against the policy of the
President. It was claimed that Congress alone had power to
prescribe the conditions for the re-admission of the seceded
States. His proclamation and orders were treated as of no value.
The Freedmen's Bureau, the Civil Rights, and the Tenure-of-Office
bills were passed over the President's veto.
[Footnote: The first provided for the establishment of a department
of the national government for the care and protection of the
freedmen, _i. e._, the emancipated slaves, and also of the
destitute whites at the South. The second bill guaranteed to the
negroes the rights of citizenship. The third made the consent of
the Senate necessary to the removal by the President of any person
from a civil office.]
_The Seceded States Admitted._--Tennessee promptly ratified
the Fourteenth Amendment and was restored to her former position in
the Union. The other provisional governments having refused to do
so, a bill was passed (March 2, 1867) placing those States under
military rule. The generals in command caused a registry of voters
to be made, and elections to be held for conventions to remodel the
State constitutions. After a bitter and protracted struggle,
governments were established in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, and their
representatives admitted (June 24, 1868) over the President's veto,
to Congress, after an unrepresented period of seven years.
[Footnote: As a requisite demanded by Congress for holding office,
every candidate was obliged to swear that he had not participated
in the secession movement Since few Southerners could take this
"iron-clad oath," as it was termed, most of the representatives
were Northern men who had gone South after the war, and were,
therefore, called "carpet-baggers."]
_Impeachment of the President._--The constantly-increasing
hostility between the President and Congress came to an issue when
the former attempted to remove Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
This being considered a violation of the Tenure-of-Office bill, the
impeachment of the President was at last ordered (February 24,
1868). After a long and tedious trial he was acquitted, the
two-thirds majority necessary for conviction lacking one vote.
_The Fourteenth Amendment_ proposed by Congress, guaranteeing
equal civil rights to all, regardless of race or color, and basing
representation in each State on the number of voters, was adopted
July 28, 1868.
_The Indian War_ along the Southwest having, in 1865-6, increased so
as to demand active measures for its suppression, General Sheridan was
ordered thither. Black Kettle and a large body of his warriors being
surprised and slain by a charge of Custer's cavalry (1868) in the
battle of the Wacheta (wah-che'-tah), hostilities ceased.
_The French in Mexico._--While the United States were absorbed
in the civil war, Napoleon III., emperor of France, took advantage
of the opportunity to secure a foothold in America. By the
assistance of the French army, the imperialists of Mexico defeated
the liberals, and Maximilian, archduke of Austria, was chosen
emperor. The United States government protested against the
measure, but was unable to enforce the "Monroe doctrine." When the
American people were relieved from the pressure of civil strife,
they turned their attention to the Mexicans hopelessly struggling
for liberty, and the United States government demanded of Napoleon
the recall of the French troops. Maximilian, deprived of foreign
aid, was defeated, and, falling into the hands of the Mexican
liberals, was shot June 19, 1867. This ended the dream of French
dominion on this continent.
_Laying of the Atlantic Cable_.--While these great political
events were happening, science had achieved a peaceful triumph
whose importance far transcended the victories of diplomatic or
military skill. A telegraphic cable eighteen hundred and sixty-four
miles in length had been laid from Valentia Bay, Ireland, to
Heart's Content, Newfoundland.
[Footnote: The success of this enterprise was due to the energy of
Cyrus W. Field. In 1856, the line was finished from New York to St.
John's, Newfoundland, a distance of over one thousand miles. A
company was then formed with a capital of about $1,750,000. A cable
was made, but in an attempt to lay it (August, 1857), the cable
parted. A second attempt, in June, 1858, failed after repeated
trials. A third effort, in July was successful. A message was sent
from the Queen of England to the President, and a reply
transmitted. A celebration was held in New York in honor of the
event, but on that very day (September 1) the cable ceased to work.
The time and money spent seemed a total loss. Mr. Field alone was
undismayed. The company was revived, $3,000,000 were subscribed,
and a new cable was manufactured. In July, 1865, the Great Eastern
commenced laying this cable, but in mid-ocean it parted and sank to
the bottom. Again Mr. Field went to work, raised a new company with
a capital of $3,000,000, and made a third cable. The Great Eastern
sailed with this in June, 1866, and successfully accomplished the
feat. To make the triumph more complete, the vessel sailed back to
the very spot where the cable of 1865 had parted, and, dropping
grappling-irons, caught the lost cable, brought it to the surface,
and, splicing it, laid the remaining portion. The two cables were
found to work admirably. A despatch has been sent across the ocean
by a battery made in a gun-cap.]
[Illustration: THE GREAT EASTERN LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE]
The two continents were thus brought into almost instant
communication.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_Purchase of Alaska_ (October, 1867).--Through the
diplomacy of William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Alaska was
purchased of Russia for $7,200,000 in gold. It contains about 500,000
square miles, but is principally valuable for its harbors, furs, and
fisheries.
_Fenian Excitement_.--The Fenians, a secret society organized
for the purpose of delivering Ireland from British rule, crossed
the Canadian frontier at Buffalo, N. Y., and St. Albans, Vt., in
large numbers. President Johnson issued a proclamation declaring
the movement a violation of our neutrality, and sent thither
General Meade to execute the laws. After some skirmishing with
British troops, the expedition returned.
_Treaty with China_ (1868).--An embassy from the Chinese Empire, under
charge of Anson Burlingame, visited the United States.
[Footnote: Burlingame had been the United States minister to the
Chinese government for six years. During this time he had rendered
himself so popular, that, at the end of his term of service, Prince
Kung, the Chinese Regent, requested him to go on this special
mission to foreign courts. After visiting the United States, he
went to England, France, and Russia. He died at St. Petersburg
within a month after his arrival there.]
It was an event of much importance, and the first of its kind in
the history of that exclusive nation. A treaty was perfected
guaranteeing liberty of conscience to Americans in China, and
certain commercial privileges of great value.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The republican party nominated General Ulysses
S. Grant, of Illinois, for President, and Schuyler Colfax, of
Indiana, for Vice-President. The democratic party nominated Horatio
Seymour, of New York, and General Frank P. Blair, of Missouri.
Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas were not allowed to vote. As the
other Southern States had been "reconstructed," had granted negro
suffrage, and enforced a strict registry law, they were permitted
to participate in the election. Grant and Colfax were elected.
GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION.
[Footnote: Hiram Ulysses Grant was born at Mount Pleasant, Ohio,
April 27,1822. He was unwilling to follow his father's trade, which
was that of a tanner, and, at seventeen, an appointment to West
Point was secured for him. His name having been wrongly registered,
Grant vainly attempted to set the matter right, but finally
accepted his "manifest destiny," assumed the change thus forced
upon him, and thenceforth signed himself "Ulysses Simpson," the
latter being his mother's family name. Two years after completing
his four-years course as cadet, the Mexican War broke out, in which
Grant conducted himself with great gallantry, receiving especial
mention and promotion. After this, he retired to civil life, where
he remained until the opening of the war in 1861. He was then
appointed to command a company of volunteers. Having taken it to
Springfield, he became aid to Gov. Yates, and was finally
commissioned as colonel of the 21st Illinois regiment. His military
and political career was henceforth a part of the country's
history. After the close of his presidential terms, he made the
tour of the world. During this extended journey, he was everywhere
received with marked enthusiasm and honor, and his dignified and
consistent conduct shed lustre upon the country he represented.]
(EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT--TWO TERMS: 1869-1877.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Pacific Railroad_.--The year 1869 was made
memorable by the opening of this road, which completed the union
between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The traveler can now pass
from New York to San Francisco, a distance of about 3,400 miles, in
less than a week. This great highway has linked the West to the
East by iron bands, has carried thousands of pioneers into the
hitherto wild country along its route, developed fresh sources of
industry and mines of wealth, and opened the United States to the
silks, teas, and spices of Asia. American ingenuity has solved the
problem which foiled Columbus and the olden navigators. It has made
for itself a route to India.
[Footnote: Already other roads across the continent are
constructing. The Northern Pacific has its eastern terminus on Lake
Superior, and its western will be on Puget Sound. Though far to the
north, yet in Oregon there is no winter weather, but only a rainy
season, as in California. In portions of Dakota, Idaho, and
Montana, cattle range the natural-grass pastures during the whole
winter; while, in Washington Territory, roses blossom the year
around. For the construction of this road public lands have been
given by Congress, to the amount of over 80,000,000 acres, which is
considerably in excess of the total area of the six New England
States. The length of this road will be 1,800 miles, with a branch
of 200 miles to Portland, Oregon. The Southern Pacific is to extend
from Shreveport, La., to San Diego, Cal., a distance of 1,514
miles. This will run through a country so mild as to avoid the
necessity of the "snow-sheds" which form so singular a feature of
the Central Pacific.]
[Illustration: ULYSSES S GRANT]
_The Fifteenth Amendment_, which guarantees to all the right
of suffrage, irrespective of "race, color, or previous condition of
servitude," having been ratified by the requisite number of States,
was formally announced as a part of the Constitution, by Hamilton
Fish, Secretary of State, March 30, 1870.
_Prosperity of the Country._--The nation rapidly recovered
from the effects of war. The price of gold fell to 110, and the
national debt was reduced $204,000,000 during the first two years
of this administration. A general amnesty to all connected with the
Civil War was proclaimed, and the bitter feelings engendered by
fraternal strife fast melted away. The South, devastated and
scourged by the march of contending armies, accustomed herself to
the novel conditions of free labor, rebuilt her railroads,
cultivated her fields, and repaired the ravages of war. The census
of 1870 showed that the population of the United States was over
thirty-eight millions, an increase of about seven millions, while
the manufacturing establishments of the country had nearly, if not
quite, doubled in number and value during the preceding decade.
_Fires_.--l. A great fire broke out in Chicago, Sunday night,
October 8, 1871. For two days it raged with tremendous violence,
devastating 3,000 acres. 25,000 buildings were burned, $200,000,000
worth of property was destroyed, and 100,000 persons were rendered
homeless. Contributions for the sufferers were taken in nearly all
parts of the world, and over $7,500,000 were raised. 2. During the
same fall, wide-spread conflagrations raged in the forests of
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. Entire villages were consumed.
1,500 people perished in Wisconsin alone. 3. An extensive fire
occurred in Boston November 9, 1872. It swept over sixty acres in
the center of the wholesale trade of that city, and destroyed $70,
000,000 worth of property.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_Treaty of Washington_.--The refusal of the
English government to pay the damages to American commerce caused
by the Alabama and other Confederate cruisers (p. 268) produced
bitter feeling, and even threatened war. A high commission,
composed of distinguished statesmen and jurists from both
countries, accordingly met in Washington, and arranged the basis of
a treaty between the United States and Great Britain, settling this
and other causes of dispute. According to its provisions, the claim
for losses was submitted to a board of arbitrators, who, having
convened at Geneva, Switzerland, awarded the United States $15,500,
000 in gold.
[Illustration: HON. HAMILTON FISH, JUSTICE NELSON,
EARL GREY, PROF. BERNARD, GEN. SCHENCK,
ATTY.-GEN. WILLIAMS, LORD TENTERDEN, SIR JOHN MACDONALD.
THE HIGH JOINT COMMISSION IN SESSION.]
The difficulty with regard to the Northwestern boundary between the
United States and British America was submitted to the Emperor of
Germany, and was decided in favor of the United States. Thus
happily all danger of war was averted, and the great principle of
the settlement of disputes by peaceful arbitration rather than by
the sword was finally established.
_Proposed Annexation of Santo Domingo._
[Footnote: The island of Santo Domingo is the "New World's classic
land." Here Columbus founded the first white colony on this side of
the Atlantic, and transporting hither animals, trees, shrubs,
vines, and grains, so to speak, grafted the old world upon the new.
Hither, also, flocked the bold, adventurous, ambitious Spanish
multitude (see p. 26). Great cities sprung up, rivaling the
majestic proportions of Moorish capitals. Magnificent enterprises
were set on foot and prospered. Here Ponce de Leon renewed his
ambition, and set forth afresh on an expedition to Porto Rico, and
thence to Florida, in search of the Fountain of Youth (see p. 26).
"A century before Henry Hudson sailed up the noble river that
perpetuates his name--more than a century before the Puritans
landed at Plymouth Rock--the city of Santo Domingo was a rich and
populous center of industry and trade. Some of its palaces and
churches still remain, massive and splendid; among them, the great
cathedral begun in 1514 and finished in 1540." But the Spanish
policy of greed and oppression gradually undermined itself. In
1795, when Santo Domingo was ceded to France, it was "abandoned to
such a degree that it was a mere wilderness, devoted to the grazing
of cattle." Yet, in spite of past tyranny, of neglect, and the
knowledge that they had been "sold like a herd of cattle" to a
foreign master, the Dominicans were loyal to Spain, and when
Napoleon I. took possession of Madrid in 1808, they indignantly
rose in arms, overpowered the French garrisons, and made themselves
masters of their own country. They then rehoisted the Spanish flag,
and in 1814, by the treaty of Paris, Santo Domingo was formally
restored to that country. Meanwhile, the few years of interval had
taught them some of the pleasures of liberty, and the seed then
implanted grew rapidly. In 1821, they severed their connection with
the mother country, but only to be absorbed by the more thriving
and populous Hayti. In 1844, the Dominican Republic declared itself
free and independent. Great Britain, France, Spain, Denmark,
Holland, and Sardinia formally recognized it, and sent
representatives to its capital. After seventeen years of struggle
against European intrigue and Haytien aggression, it again lapsed
into a Spanish dependency. Its story for the next four years is
successively one of oppression, of revolt, of bloody wars, and of
ultimate success. The Spanish fleet took final leave in 1865, and
left the brave Dominicans to their well-earned freedom.]
This republic, comprising a large part of the island of Hayti,
applied for admission to the United States. A commission of eminent
men, appointed by the President to visit the island and examine its
condition, reported favorably. The measure, however, was rejected
by Congress.
_"The Virginius." _--In 1868, Cuba attempted to throw off the
Spanish yoke. Great sympathy was felt in the United States for the
patriots, and repeated efforts were made to send them aid. In spite
of the vigilance of the authorities, the Virginius, loaded with men
and supplies, escaped from port in the fall of this year. While
still on the high seas, and flying the American flag, she was
captured by the Spanish war steamer Tornado and carried into
Santiago. Many of her crew and passengers were summarily shot. The
United States consul at that port protested in vain. President
Grant interfered with a strong hand. The Virginius was thereupon
released, and suitable apologies were made for the insult offered
to the United States flag.
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The liberal republican party, consisting of
republicans opposed to the administration, nominated Horace Greeley
of New York for the presidential term commencing 1873 The
democratic party endorsed this nomination. The republicans
renomimated President Grant, who was elected
[Footnote: Horace Greeley was born at Amherst, N. H., February 3,
1811. At two years of age, he began to study the newspapers given
him for amusement; and at four, could read anything placed before
him, At six, he was able to spell any word in the English language
was somewhat versed in geography and arithmetic and had read the
entire Bible. His passion for books increased with his years, and
at an early age he determined to be a printer. At fifteen he
entered the office of the Northern Spectator at East Poultney, Vt.
His wages were forty dollars a year, the greater part of which was
saved and sent to his father, then struggling in poverty upon a
farm in Pennsylvania. The Spectator having failed in 1831 Greeley
went to New York. He landed with ten dollars and a scanty outfit
tied in a handkerchief. Franklin like, he traversed the streets in
search of work--a long stooping, stockingless figure in linen
roundabout short trousers and drooping hat, with his out grown
cotton wristbands made to meet with twine. Diligence, integrity and
ability won him a ready rise when employment was at last secured.
Ten years later he founded the New York Tribune. He served in
Congress in 1848-49 where he was known for his opposition to the
abuses of the mileage system. When civil war seemed imminent, he
advocated a peaceable division of the country but after it opened
he urged a vigorous prosecution of hostilities. At the close of the
war, he pleaded for immediate conciliation and was a signer of the
bail bond which restored Jefferson Davis to liberty after two years
imprisonment in Fortress Monroe.
Horace Greeley was pure, simple and conscientious in character He
had a peculiar disregard for dress and neglected many of the
courtesies of society, but he was a true gentleman at heart and
possessed rare gifts in conversation. He was fond of agriculture
and spent his leisure days on his farm at Chappaqua. Just before
the close of the presidential canvass his wife died and this
together with the desertion of friends and the excitement of the
contest unsettled his mimd. He was carried to a private asylum
where he died November 39,1872.]
[Illustration: HORACE GREELEY FOUNDER OF THE TRIBUNE]
GRANT'S SECOND TERM--DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--The _Modoc Indians_
having refused to stay upon their reservation in Oregon, troops
were sent against them The savages thereupon retreated to their
fastnesses in the Lava Beds. The peace commissioners, hoping to
arrange the difficulty, held a conference with the chiefs. In the
midst of the council, the Indians treacherously slew General Canby
and Rev. Dr. Thomas and wounded Mr. Meachem. The Modocs were then
bombarded in their stronghold, and finally forced to surrender.
Captain Jack and several of the leaders of the band were executed
at Fort Klamath, October 3, 1873.
_The Credit Mobilier_ was a company organized for the purpose
of building the Pacific Railroad. The undertaking proved a
profitable one, and enormous dividends were paid. An investigation
developed the startling fact that various high officers of the
government had accepted presents of stock, the value of which
necessarily depended largely upon their official action.
_Railroad Panic._--In the autumn of 1873, Jay Cooke & Co.,
bankers of Philadelphia, having engaged too extensively in railroad
schemes, failed. A financial crisis ensued, and hundreds of
prominent firms all over the Union were involved in ruin. A settled
stringency of the money market and a stagnation of business
followed.
_Centennial Anniversaries._--The year 1875, being the hundredth
anniversary of the first year of the Revolutionary War, was marked by
various centennial observances. April 19, the battles of Lexington and
Concord were celebrated with patriotic pride. May 20, the citizens of
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, honored the memory of those who,
at Charlotte, signed a Declaration of Independence only ten days after
the capture of Ticonderoga. June 17 witnessed, at Bunker Hill, an
unprecedented gathering from all parts of the country, Northern and
Southern soldiers vying in devotion to the flag of the Union.
_The Centennial Exhibition._--To commemorate the signing of
the Declaration of Independence, an exhibition of the arts and
industries of all nations was held at Philadelphia, during the
summer of 1876. The beautiful grounds of Fairmount Park were the
scene of this imposing display. The principal edifices were the
Main Exhibition Building, the Memorial Hall, the Machinery Hall,
the Horticultural and Agricultural Buildings, and the Woman's
Pavilion. The first named covered an area of over twenty-six acres
In addition to these structures, there were more than two hundred
smaller buildings scattered over the extensive grounds. The
exhibition opened May 10, and lasted six months. The average daily
attendance was about 61,000 persons.
[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDING
AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION]
[Footnote: See Barnes's Hundred Years of American Independence, a
supplement to which is entirely devoted to the Centennial
Exhibition.]
_War with the Sioux_ (1877)
[Footnote: The Black Hills which are in Dakota and Wyoming belonged
to the Sioux Reservation But gold having been found there bands of
miners began to prospect on the Indian domain, a bill was
introduced into Congress to extinguish the Indian title to a
portion of the Black Hill region and finally a new treaty as
negotiated But the unwillingness of the Indians to leave the
encroachments of the whites and the advent of surveyors and troops
all combined to provoke hostilities]
The Sioux Indians having refused to go upon the reservation
assigned them by treaty and committed many atrocities, a force of
regular troops was sent against them. General Custer led the
advance with the Seventh Cavalry, while General Terry moved up the
Big Horn to attack them in the rear. On the 25th of June, General
Custer suddenly came upon the enemy. Without waiting for support,
he detached Colonel Reno with four companies to fall upon the back
of the Indian village, while he immediately charged the savages in
front with the remainder of his command. A desperate conflict
ensued. General Custer, his two brothers, his nephew, and every one
of his men were killed. Colonel Keno was surrounded, but held his
ground on the bluffs until reinforcements arrived. The Indians were
soon beaten on every hand, and by the following spring were so
scattered as to be comparatively harmless.
[Illustration: GROUP OF SIOUX INDIANS.]
POLITICAL PARTIES.--The republican party nominated General
Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, for President, and Wm. A. Wheeler, of
New York, for Vice-President. The democratic party chose Samuel J.
Tilden, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. The
independent greenback party selected Peter Cooper, of New York, and
Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio. This presidential campaign was so hotly
contested between the republicans and the democrats, and such
irregularities were charged against the elections in Oregon, South
Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, that both these parties claimed
the victory. In order to settle the dispute, Congress agreed to
refer the contested election returns to a _Joint Electoral
Commission_, composed of five senators, five representatives,
and five judges of the Supreme Court.
[Illustration: RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.]
[Footnote: The Senators chosen were Messrs. Bayard, Edmunds,
Frelinghuysen, Morton, and Thurman. The Representatives were
Messrs. Abbott, Garfield, Hoar, Hunton, and Payne. The Associate
Justices of the Supreme Court selected were Messrs. Bradley,
Clifford, Field, Miller, and Strong.]
This body decided that 185 electoral votes had been cast for Hayes
and Wheeler, and 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. The republican
candidates were therefore declared to be elected.
[Footnote: The principal political questions which agitated the
country during this campaign were, (1) the Southern policy of the
government, and (2) the civil service reform. It was held on one
side that negroes and republicans at the South were intimidated by
force and prevented from voting, and that the presence of the
United States troops was necessary to the preservation of the
rights of the citizens, free discussion, a free ballot, and an
enforcement of the laws. It was asserted, on the other side, that
the use of the troops for such purposes was unconstitutional; that
the intimidation was only imaginary, or could be readily controlled
by the local authorities; and that the presence of the military
provoked violence and was a constant insult and menace to the
States. President Jackson, as we have seen (p. 175), introduced
into our politics the principle of "rotation in office." This
policy steadily gained favor until Marcy's maxim, "To the victors
belong the spoils," became the commonly-accepted view; and after
every important election, the successful party was accustomed to
fill even the menial offices of government with its favorites.
Under such a system, the qualification of the applicant was of much
less importance than the service he had done the party. Hayes
promised to make "no dismissal except for cause, and no promotion
except for merit."]
HAYES'S ADMINISTRATION.
(NINETEENTH PRESIDENT: 1877-1881.)
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_U. S. Troops at the South Withdrawn_.
--President Hayes's Southern policy was one of conciliation. The
troops which had hitherto sustained the republican State
governments in South Carolina and Louisiana were withdrawn, and
democratic officials at once took control of the local affairs.
_A Railroad Strike_ was inaugurated by workmen on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the summer of 1877. The cause was a
reduction of wages by the managers of the different roads in the
country. Seventy trains were stopped near Martinsburg, W. Va., and
the blockade was raised only by the arrival of regular troops. The
strike, however, rapidly extended to nearly all the principal
railroads in the Northern States. Travel was suspended, and
business came to a standstill. A tumult occurred in Baltimore,
which was suppressed with some bloodshed. There was a terrible riot
at Pittsburg, Pa., and cars, buildings, and an immense amount of
property were destroyed, the loss of the Pennsylvania Railroad
being estimated at $3,000,000. The troops at last quelled the
disturbance, but at the cost of about one hundred lives. There were
alarming riots also at Hornellsville, N. Y., at Chicago, Ill., at
Louisville, Ky., and at Reading, Pa. These were suppressed, in
part, by regular troops, but the militia generally proved reliable,
and the citizen soldiery in this perilous crisis merited the
gratitude of the republic. Quiet was finally restored, but the coal
regions of Pennsylvania remained for a long time in disorder.
[Illustration: THE SILVER DOLLAR (1878)]
_"Bland Silver Bill" _--In 1873, Congress demonetized silver,
and made gold the sole standard of our currency. Opposition to this
measure gradually arose, and in December, 1877, a bill was
introduced into Congress making silver a legal tender in payment of
debts. This measure, after having been amended, was passed (Feb.
21, 1878).
_Fishery Award_ (1878).--Difficulties having arisen between
the United States and Great Britain concerning the fisheries of the
Northeastern coast, the matter was referred, by the Treaty of
Washington (p. 289), to a commission for adjudication. This body
sat at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and awarded Great Britain the sum of
$5,500,000.
_The Yellow Fever_ broke out in New Orleans during the summer
of 1878, and spread northward along the Mississippi into Missouri
and Tennessee. Over 20,000 cases, with 7,000 deaths, were reported.
_The Resumption_ of specie payments (Jan. 1, 1879) through the
entire country, brought gold and silver once more into general
circulation.
_Indian Difficulty_ (1879).--The Ute Indians at the White River
agency, dissatisfied by the encroachments of the miners and
the non-payment of money promised by the government, took up arms,
massacred the white men at the agent's station, and also Major
Thornburgh, who, with a small force, was marching to subdue the
revolt. The U. S. troops were hurried thither, and peace was once
more restored. The women and children were found to have been saved
by a friendly chief.
STATES ADMITTED DURING THIS EPOCH.--_Nebraska_, the thirty-seventh
State, was admitted to the Union March 1, 1867. The name signifies
"water valley." _Colorado_, the thirty-eighth State, was received
March 3, 1875. Its constitution, however, was not ratified by the
people until July 1, 1876; whence it is known as the "Centennial
State." This region was explored by Coronado in 1540, while De Soto
was rambling over the site of the future Gulf States.
[Illustration: UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.]
QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
These questions are placed at the close of the work rather than at
the foot of each page, in order to compel a more independent use of
the book. As far as possible, topical recitations should be
encouraged. On naming the subject of a paragraph, the pupil should
be expected to tell all he knows about it. A little patience and
practice in this method will achieve wonderful results. The
following pages often present topical questions in the hope of
gradually leading the pupil to this system of study. The figures
refer to the pages of the book.
INTRODUCTION.
9. From what continent did the first inhabitants of America
probably come? How did they get here? (At that time it is probable
that Behring Strait was not cut through, and the two continents
were connected.) What remains of these people are found? Where do
they occur?
10. What proof is there of their antiquity? Describe the ruins at
Newark, Ohio. The mound at St. Louis. The embankment in Adams
County, Ohio. Are earth-works permanent? Describe the ruins in
South America. Who were the mound-builders?
11. What became of them? Who succeeded them? How did the Indians
compare with them? What do you say of the number of the Indians?
Where most numerous? Were there any blacksmiths, carpenters, etc.,
among them?
12-13. Were they a progressive people? In what were they skilled?
How did they regard labor? 12. Describe the life of their women.
14-16. The Indian disposition. His power of endurance. His
religion. Did he have any idea of God? What policy should be
pursued toward the Indian? Who were the Northmen? What traditions
about their having discovered and settled America? Are these
stories credible? Are there any remains of this people now
existing? Were their discoveries of any value? At what date does
the history of this country begin? Name the subjects and limits of
the six epochs into which this history is divided.
FIRST EPOCH.
19. What was the state of geographical knowledge in Europe in the
fifteenth century? Why could not sailors have crossed the ocean
before as well as then? Why were books of travel more abundant
then? Why so eagerly read?
20. By what route were the goods from the East obtained? What was
the problem of that day? Columbus's idea? What facts strengthened
his view? (See p. 21.) Tell something of his life.
21. Why did he seek assistance? Before whom did he lay his plan?
How was it received? Did the king treat him fairly? To whom did
Columbus apply next? How was he regarded? What reply was made him?
22. What did Columbus's friends do for him? What offer did Queen
Isabella make? Were her jewels sold? What new trouble assailed
Columbus? What vessels composed his fleet? Give some of the
incidents of the voyage.
23 Did Columbus waver? (There seems to be no truth in the common
statement that he promised to turn back, if he did not discover
land in three days.) Describe the discovery of land. The landing.
When and where was this? What region did Columbus think he had
reached? What was the result? For what did he search? What other
islands did he discover?
24. Describe his reception on his return. How many subsequent
voyages did Columbus make? What settlement did he make? (p. 289.)
Did he discover the main-land? Did he know that he had found a new
continent? Where is Columbus's tomb? How was the continent named?
25. What was the plan of John Cabot? What discoveries did he make?
Did his discoveries antedate those of Columbus? Where and when is
it probable the American continent was discovered? What discoveries
did Sebastian Cabot make? Did England improve them? Of what value
were they?
26. What four nations explored the territory of the future United
States? What portion of the continent did each explore? What was
the feeling in Spain? What effect was produced? Why did Ponce de
Leon come to the new world?
27. What land did he discover? Why did he so name it? What success
did he meet? What discovery did Balboa make? Describe the
expedition of De Narvaez. Its fate. Of De Soto. Of De Ayllon.
28. What region did De Soto traverse? Did he make any valuable
discoveries? What river was his burial place? When? What became of
his companions?
29. When, where, and by whom was the first town in the United
States founded? Meaning of the word California in the sixteenth
century? Why did Cortez explore that region? Who made the first
voyage along the Pacific coast? Which is the second oldest town in
the United States? When and by whom founded? What was the great
wish of maritime nations?
30. What was the extent of the Spanish possessions in the new
world? Who was the first French navigator to reach the continent?
When? What name did he give it? Who discovered the River St.
Lawrence? Why did he so name it? _Ans._ From the name of the
day on which it was discovered. Why was Montreal so named? Describe
the attempt to plant a colony of convicts. Why did this fail?
31. Who were the Huguenots? What was Coligny's plan? Who led the
first expedition? Fate of the colony? The second expedition?
Amusing story of the longevity of the Indians?
32. Fate of the colony? What French navigator was the next to
ascend the St. Lawrence? How did he find things at Hochelaga? When,
where, and by whom was the first permanent French settlement made
in America? How much land was granted?
33. When, where, and by whom was the first permanent French
settlement made in Canada? What journey did Champlain make? What
discoveries? The consequence of his trip? Who explored the
Mississippi valley? What relics of them remain? Tell something of
their heroism. Of Father Marquette. Of his death.
34. Of La Salle. What were the results of French enterprise? How
did it compare with English enterprise? When did the English awake
to the importance of American discovery? Who made the first attempt
to carry out Cabot's plan?
35. What success did he have? Was the discovery of gold profitable?
What discovery did Sir Francis Drake make?
36. What was the view of Sir Humphrey Gilbert? His fate? Who
adopted his plan? Give some account of Sir Walter Raleigh. Why was
Virginia so named? Where did Raleigh plant his first colony? Give
its history.
37. What did the colonists introduce into England on their return?
Story told of Raleigh's smoking? Give the history of the second
colony. What kept the interest in America alive? How did Gosnold
shorten the voyage across the Atlantic?
38. What discoveries did Gosnold make? Captain Pring? Results of
these explorations? What was South Virginia? North Virginia? Where,
when, and by whom was the first English settlement made in the
United States? What became of the colony sent out the same year by
the Plymouth company? Tell some of the provisions of the charter
granted to these companies. What is a charter? _Ans_. A
document which confers the title to certain land, and, not unlike a
constitution, defines the form of government, and secures to the
people certain rights and privileges.
39. Who entered New York harbor next after Verrazani? Was Hudson a
Dutchman? (His given name was Henry, not Heindrich, as often
stated.) What river did he discover? What claim did the Dutch found
on this discovery? What name did they give to the region? State the
claims of these four nations, and the settlements they had made.
40. Why were these claims conflicting? Had these nations any idea
of the extent of the country? Which nation ultimately secured the
whole region? Which centuries were characterized by explorations,
and which century by settlements? Name the permanent settlements
which were made at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
SECOND EPOCH.
45. Name the thirteen colonies. Were they united during this epoch?
46. What was the character of the Virginia colonists? What was
their success? Describe the services of John Smith. Give some of
the incidents of his life.
47. What was his theory of founding a colony? Tell the story of his
capture by the Indians.
48. What change in the government of the colony was made by the
second charter? Was it based on the principle of self-government?
Why did Smith leave? What was its effect on the colony? Tell
something of the "Starving Time."
49. How did relief come? What change was made by the third charter?
Describe the marriage of Pocahontas. Her visit to England. Where
was the first legislative body held?
50. When was the first constitution given? Of what value were these
charters? Give some particulars of the prosperity of the colony. Of
the culture of tobacco. Of the purchase of wives. When and how was
slavery introduced? Why?
61. Why did the Indians now become hostile? Give some account of
the massacre. Its result. What new change was made in the
government? Cause? What was the Navigation Act? Why was it
oppressive? What was the conduct of the assembly?
52. What division arose among the people? Give the history of
Bacon's rebellion. Was Bacon a patriot or a rebel? What was the
conduct of Berkeley? What curious fact illustrates the ruling
sentiment of Massachusetts and of Virginia at that time? What
coincidence between this event and the Revolution?
53. Describe John Smith's explorations at the north. What authority
was granted to the Council of New England? What became of the
Plymouth Company? Give some account of the landing of the Pilgrims.
Who were the Puritans? What was the difference between the Puritans
and the Pilgrims? Why did the Pilgrims come to this country? When?
54. What was their character? What story is told to illustrate
their piety? Describe their sufferings. What is "Plymouth Rock"?
What do you mean by Dec. 11, O.S. and Dec. 21, N.S.? Why did not
the Indians disturb them?
55. What Indians visited them in the spring? How did Governor
Bradford reply to Canonicus's threat? Tell about the scarcity of
food. How did the plan of working in common succeed?
56. Did they have any more privileges than the Jamestown colonists?
Who settled about Massachusetts Bay? Why was this colony popular?
Who founded Salem? Boston? Did the Puritans tolerate other
Churches? Why not? Give an account of the difficulty with Roger
Williams.
67. Where did he go? What settlement did he found? Why did Mrs.
Hutchinson become obnoxious? State the treatment of the Quakers.
What union of the colonies was now formed? What was its object?
What Indian chiefs befriended Massachusetts and Virginia in their
early history? (The grandson of Massasoit was sold as a slave in
the West Indies.)
58. Give an account of King Philip's war. Of the "swamp fight." Of
the attack on Hadley. How did the colonists protect themselves?
59. How was the war finally ended? How did the Navigation Act
affect Massachusetts? Did the Puritans obey it? What change now
took place in the government? Give some account of Andros's rule.
What action did the colonists take? What form of government was
finally imposed upon them?
60. Give an account of the Salem witchcraft. What is a "witch"? Was
this delusion common at that time? What two colonies were
intimately united to Massachusetts? What was Laconia?
61. Give an account of the early settlement of New Hampshire. Of
Maine. What is said of the claims made upon the land by the heirs
of these proprietors? Why are these States so named? Who obtained a
grant of the territory now embraced in Connecticut? Who claimed
this region?
62. Give an account of the early settlement at Windsor. Hartford.
Saybrook. How were the Narraganset Indians kept from joining the
Pequods against the whites? Describe the attack upon the Pequod
fort.
63. What three colonies were formed in Connecticut? What
peculiarities in the government of each? How were they combined
into one colony? Why was the charter so highly prized? What story
is told of Andros's visit?
64. What colony was established the same year that Hooker went to
Hartford? What exiles settled Rhode Island? Why was the island so
called? What fact illustrates Williams's generosity?
65. What was his favorite idea? Why was not the colony allowed to
join the New England Union? How was a charter secured? What was its
character? Give an account of the settlement of New York by the
Dutch. Who were the "patroons"?
60. What was the character of the history of New York under its
four Dutch governors? Who was the ablest of them? How much
territory did he claim? How did he settle the boundary lines? Tell
something of the growth of liberty among the people.
67. Describe old Peter's reluctance to surrender to the English.
Why was the colony named New York? Were the people pleased with the
English rule? Was the English occupation permanent? Was civil
liberty secured under Andros? Dongan? What course did the Duke of
York take when he became King of England? Tell how Captain Leisler
came to assume the government. Of his trial and execution.
68. In what colony was New Jersey formerly embraced? Who first
settled it? When, to whom, and by whom was the land granted? Where
and by whom was the first English settlement made? Why so called?
How divided? Who settled the different parts?
69. How did New Jersey come to be united to New York? To be made a
separate royal province? Where and by whom was the first settlement
in Delaware made? In Pennsylvania? Who was the founder of
Pennsylvania? Give some account of William Penn. Of the Quakers.
70. How did Penn come to obtain a grant of this region? Why was it
so named? What was Delaware styled? How did Penn settle the
territory? What city did he found? Meaning of the name? Rapidity of
its growth? What was the "Great Code"? Was religious toleration
granted?
71. Give an account of Penn's treaty with the Indians. In what
spirit did Penn treat the colony?
72. How came Delaware to be separated from Pennsylvania? Was this
separation total? How did Pennsylvania secure the title to its
soil? With what intent did Lord Baltimore secure a grant of land in
America? When was the first settlement made? Why was Maryland so
named? What class of people generally settled this country?
73. What advantage did the Maryland charter confer? What was the
"Toleration Act"? How did religious toleration vary in the
colonies? Give an account of Claiborne's rebellion. Of the
difficulties between the Catholics and the Protestants.
74. What territory was granted to Lord Clarendon? By whom was the
Albemarle colony settled? What course did the proprietors take? By
whom was the Carteret colony settled? What location did they
select? What do you say of the rapidity of its growth?
75. Who were the Huguenots? What beneficial influence did they have
on the colony? What was the "Grand Model"? How was it unfitted for
a new country? How was it received? What were the relations between
the proprietors and settlers? How were the difficulties ended? How
came Carolina to be divided?
76. By what coincidence is Georgia linked with Washington? With
what intention was this colony planned? Character of the settlers?
Restrictions of the trustees? Result?
77. How many inter-colonial wars were there? If you include the
Spanish war? Duration of King William's war? Cause? Describe the
Indian attacks upon the colonists. Tell the story of Mrs. Dustin.
78. What attacks were made by the colonists in return? Were they
successful? What was the result of the war?
79. Length of Queen Anne's war? Cause? Where was the war mainly
fought? Effect upon New England? What attack by the colonists at
the south? At the north? Tell the story of Mrs. Williams.
80. Result of the war? Length of King George's war? Cause?
Principal event? Give an account of the capture of Louisburg. Of
the Spanish war.
81. Result of the war? Length of the French and Indian war? Cause?
Occasions of quarrel?
82. Give an account of Washington's journey to Lake Erie. His
return. Result of his journey.
83. What did the French do in the spring? The Virginia troops under
Washington? Fate of Jumonville? Give an account of the capture of
Fort Necessity by the French. Who fired the first gun of this war?
Name the five objective points of this war.
84. Why were they so obstinately attacked and defended? Give an
account of the defeat of General Braddock. Character of Braddock.
Conduct of Washington.
85. Give an account of the second expedition. Who finally captured
the fort? What city now occupies its site? What was the principal
cause of the easy capture of the fort? What success did the English
meet in Acadia? What cruel act disgraced their victory? What
attempt was made on Louisburg? Who finally captured it?
86. Describe the battle of Lake George. Who earned the glory of
this victory and who got it? Tell the story of Dieskau's death. The
fate of Fort William Henry. Describe the attack on Fort Ticonderoga
by Abercrombie.
87. When were both forts captured? Describe the two attempts to
capture Niagara. Who forced it to surrender? In what year did these
successes occur? Describe the difficulties which General Wolfe met
in his attack on Quebec.
88, 89. How did he overcome them? Describe the battle on the Plains
of Abraham. What was the result of the battle? The conditions of
peace?
90. Cause of Pontiac's war? Result? Fate of Pontiac? What
stratagems did the Indians use? Effects of the French and Indian
war?
91. How did the British officers treat the colonial officers?
Condition of the colonies? How many kinds of government? Name and
define each.
92. How many colleges? Did the English government support
educational interests? Condition of agriculture? Manufactures?
93 Commerce? Was money plenty? Were there many books or papers? How
did the people travel?
94. Tell something about the first public conveyance. Condition of
morals in New England. Name some peculiar customs. Some rigid laws.
Who was entitled to the prefix Mr.? What were common people called?
Laws with regard to drinking? Using tobacco?
95. Tell something of the habits of the people in New York. What
customs familiar to us are of Dutch origin? How did the style of
living at the south differ from that at the north?
96. Describe a southern plantation. What is said of Mount Vernon
flour? Of the luxurious living? State of education in New England?
Tell something of the support given to schools.
97. Of the founding of Yale College. Of their town meetings. Of the
state of education in the middle colonies. How were the ministers'
salaries met?
98. What was the state of education in the southern colonies?
Provision made for public worship? Give some idea of the early
Virginia laws concerning worship.
THIRD EPOCH.
101. How did England treat the colonies? Give some illustrations.
102. What was the tendency of this course of conduct? What was the
direct cause of war? What were Writs of Assistance? The Stamp Act?
Tell the story of Patrick Henry.
103 What efforts were made to resist the law? What effect did they
have on the English government? Was this permanent? What was the
Mutiny Act? Why was it passed?
104. How was it received by the colonists? Tell about the Boston
Massacre. When? The Boston Tea Party. Why was the tea thrown
overboard? For what is Faneuil Hall noted? What did the English now
do?
106, 107. What parties were formed? What action did the colonists
take? When and where was the "First Continental Congress" held?
What action did it take? When and where was the first blood
spilled? Describe how the battle of Lexington occurred.
108,109. Effects of this battle. Tell how the battle of Bunker Hill
occurred. Describe it. Tell something of "Old Put."
110. Effect of the battle. Describe the death of General Warren.
Give some account of Ethan Alien. Why were the New Hampshire Grants
so called? Describe the capture of Ticonderoga.
111. Meeting of Second Continental Congress. Its action. What was
the condition of the army? What expedition was undertaken against
Canada?
112. Describe the attack upon Quebec. Its end. How were the British
forced to leave Boston?
113. How had they treated the Boston people? The Boston boys?
Describe the attack on Fort Moultrie. Its effect. Tell the story of
Sergeant Jasper.
114. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? How many
colonies voted for it? Tell the story of the old "liberty bell,"
How did the campaign near New York occur? Describe the battle of
Long Island.
115. What decided it in favor of the English? By what providential
circumstance did the Americans escape? What were the prison ships?
Who were the Hessians? Tell the story of Nathan Hale.
116, 117. What battles occurred while Washington was falling back?
Describe his retreat through New Jersey. How did he escape? What
general was captured by the enemy? What was the condition of the
country? Describe the battle of Trenton. Tell the story of Rall.
118. The effect of this battle. Name the battles of 1776 in order.
Describe the battle of Princeton. What providential circumstance
favored the attack?
119. How did the battle of Brandywine occur? Describe it. What
decided it in favor of the English? What previous battle did it
resemble? Give some account of La Fayette.
120, 121. Describe the battle of Germantown. Why did the Americans
fail? How did the campaign in Pennsylvania close? What disastrous
attempt was made by the British at the north? Describe the burning
of Danbury, the capture of General Prescott, and the murder of Jane
McCrea. What events attended General Burgoyne's march south? What
measures were taken to check his advance?
122. Who succeeded General Schuyler? What was Schuyler's conduct?
What events deranged Burgoyne's plans? How was the siege of Fort
Schuyler (Stanwix) raised? Tell something of Kosciusko.
123. Of the battle of Bennington. For what incident is it noted?
124 Describe the first battle of Saratoga. The second battle. Who
was the hero of the fight? How did General Fraser die? Tell some
incidents of the campaign.
125. Effect of these fights? Name the battles of 1777 in order.
Describe the sufferings at Valley Forge.
126. How could the soldiers endure such misery? What news came in
the spring? Story told of Washington by Mr. Potts? Tell something
of the Conway cabal. What story is told of General Reed?
127. What caused the battle of Monmouth to happen? Describe its
prominent incident. Tell the history of Benjamin Franklin.
128. Tell the story of Mary Pitcher. What became of General Lee?
What campaign was now planned by the aid of the French? How did it
turn out? Describe the Wyoming massacre. What poem has been written
upon this event? _Ans._ Campbell's Gertrude of Wyoming. Name
the battles of 1778 in order.
129. Why was the war now transferred to the south? How did the
campaign open? Describe the attack on Savannah. Who were killed?
Tell something of Count Pulaski. Was the French aid of great value?
130. What characterized the campaign at the north? Tell the story
of General Putnam. Describe the capture of Stony Point.
131. General Sullivan's expedition. What do you say of the naval
successes?
132. Describe the contest between the Bon Homme Richard and the
Serapis. What colony was conquered by the British during this year?
Name the principal battles of 1779 in order.
133. What city was now captured? What followed? How did the battle
of Camden occur? Describe it. What was its result? Tell something
of the famous partisan warfare of those times.
134. Name some leaders. Story of Marion. Some partisan victories.
Death of Colonel Hayne. Effect of this independent warfare. Tell
something of the depreciation of the continental money.
135. What mutiny occurred? Tell the story of Arnold's treason.
136. Of Andre's capture and fate. Of Arnold's escape and reward. In
what estimation was he held? Name the principal events of 1780.
137. Condition of the army at the south? Who now took command?
Describe the battle of the Cowpens. Describe Greene's celebrated
retreat. How many times did the rain save him?
138. By what two battles was the contest at the south closed? Were
the English or Americans victorious? Give anecdotes illustrative of
the patriotism of the women. Character of General Greene.
139. Where did Cornwallis go after the failure of his southern
campaign? What kind of war did he wage in Virginia? Why did he
retire to Yorktown? What plan did Washington now adopt?
140. Describe the siege. Its result. The surrender. The effect. On
what plundering tours did Arnold go? Story told of Governor Nelson?
Name the principal battles of 1781 in order.
141. How was the news of Cornwallis's surrender received?
142. Was all peril to our liberties over? What was the condition of
the country? What base offer was made to Washington? How did he
pacify the army? When was peace signed? What was the result? What
course did Washington take?
143. Tell something of the weakness of the government. What held
the colonies together? Cause of Shays's rebellion? What need was
felt? How was it met? When was the Constitution adopted? What
parties arose? How soon was the Constitution ratified? How many
States were necessary? When did the new government go into
operation?
FOURTH EPOCH.
147, 148. Limits of this epoch? Its characteristic idea? Who was
the first President of the United States? When and where was he
inaugurated? Where was the capital? Name its changes. What was the
popular feeling toward Washington? Give some account of
Washington's life and character.
151. What difficulties beset the government? What departments were
established? Name the members of the first Cabinet. What financial
measures were adopted? By whose advice?
152. What did Webster say of Hamilton? Give an account of the
whisky rebellion. Of the Indian war at the northwest. What
difficulty arose with England?
153. How was it settled? How was the treaty received in this
country? What treaty was made with Spain? Algiers? What was the
popular feeling toward France? Why was Genet recalled? What parties
now arose? Who were the leaders of each? Their views? Tell
something of Randolph.
154. Who was elected second President? Tell something of Adams's
life. What were the alien and sedition laws? Why were they passed?
155. How were they received? How did the French difficulty look
during this administration? How was it terminated? What reply did
Pinckney make to the base offer of the French Directory? State of
party feeling? Who was elected third President? Why was not Adams
re-elected? What was the important event of Jefferson's
administration? Why?
156. Tell something of Jefferson's life and character. Tell how
Hamilton was killed. What became of Burr?
157. Tell something of Fulton's invention. Of the war with Tripoli,
Of Lieutenant Decatur's exploit.
158. What difficulty now arose with England and France? What is the
American doctrine? Was the impressment of seamen general?
159. What was the issue of the next political campaign? Who was
elected fourth President? Views of the federalists? Give an account
of Madison's life and character. Of the battle of Tippecanoe.
Effect of this Indian war. State how the breach with England
widened.
160. Difficulty between the President and Little Belt. When was war
declared? How long did the war last? What was the opening event of
the war of 1812? Describe the surrender of Detroit.
161. The battle of Queenstown Heights. How did the naval and the
land warfare compare? Describe the fight between the Constitution
and Guerriere.
162. Between the Frolic and Wasp. How many prizes were captured by
privateers? What are privateers?
163. Effect of these victories? Name the battles of 1812 in order.
Plan of the campaign of 1813. What did the armies of the centre and
north do? What did the British do? What reverse happened to a part
of General Harrison's command? Describe this rout. Tell something
of Proctor's brutality.
164. Describe the three attacks made by Proctor. In which was he
successful? Describe Perry's victory on Lake Erie.
165. What gallant exploit was performed by Perry? What issues
depended on this fight? Describe the battle of the Thames. What
celebrated Indian was killed? Effect of these victories? Who gained
great credit?
166. Describe the battle between the Chesapeake and the Shannon.
What were Lawrence's dying words? Who used them in battle? What
Indian difficulties occurred? How did General Jackson avenge the
massacre of Fort Minims? Story told of Jackson?
167. What ravages were committed by Admiral Cockburn? Why was New
England spared? Name the principal battles of 1813 in order. What
movement was made by General Brown? What general led the advance?
168. What battles ensued? Describe the battle of Lundy's Lane. What
story is told of Colonel Miller? What battle took place in New York
State? How did that happen? Describe it.
169. Describe the ravages made by the British on the Atlantic
coast. Attack on Washington. On Baltimore. Result of these events.
The Hartford Convention. What put an end to these fears? Why was
the battle of New Orleans unnecessary?
170. Describe this battle. How did it happen that raw militia
defeated English veterans?
171. Results of this war? Effect upon the federalist party? Who was
elected fifth President?
172. Was Monroe a popular man? Give some account of his life and
character. What was the characteristic of his administration? What
was the Missouri Compromise? Cause of it?
173. Give an account of La Fayette's visit. What territory was
gained by treaty? What famous doctrine advanced by Monroe? What
political changes now took place? What party was arising? Its
principles? Principles of the democratic party? Champions of each
party? Which party absorbed most of the old federalists? Why? Who
was elected sixth President? How?
174. Give some account of the life and character of John Quincy
Adams. Of his administration. Was it popular? How was the
protective tariff received? Who was elected seventh President?
175. Account of the life and character of Jackson. Contrast him
with John Quincy Adams. What principle did he introduce? What was
the nullification ordinance? How did Jackson act?
176. How did Clay pacify? What celebrated debate took place? What
is said of Calhoun? Of Clay's patriotism? What action did Jackson
take concerning the United States bank? Its effect?
177. How did speculation become rife? Give an account of the Black
Hawk war. The Seminole war. What is said of Osceola? His fate?
178. Difficulty with France? How was it settled? Who were the
Presidential candidates? What were their principles? Who was
elected eighth President? Give an account of the life and character
of Van Buren. Of the crisis of 1837.
179. Its effect on trade. Of the patriot war. Of Van Buren's
Sub-Treasury Bill, Story of the steamer Caroline.
180. What was the northeast boundary question? How was it settled?
What was the Ashburton treaty? Who was elected ninth President? Who
was his opponent? Give an account of the life and character of
Harrison. What was the cause of his sudden death? Who succeeded
him?
181. Was Tyler's administration successful? Did he remain true to
his party? What course did he take with regard to the United States
Bank? Give an account of Dorr's rebellion.
182,183. Of the anti rent difficulties. Of the Mormons. Of the
origin and early history of this sect. Of the annexation of Texas.
Why was this measure warmly opposed? How was the northwestern
boundary question settled?
184. Who were the Presidential candidates? Give an account of Clay.
Who was elected eleventh President?
185. Give an account of the life of Polk, What war now broke out?
Give an account of Taylor's campaign on the Rio Grande.
186. Describe the capture of Monterey. The battle of Buena Vista.
187. What battles had Taylor fought? By what incident or
peculiarity can you recollect each one? Stories told of Taylor?
Account of Kearney's expedition.
188. Describe the conquest of California. Who was the hero of this
exploit? Give an account of Colonel Doniphan's expedition. Capture
of Vera Cruz. Battle of Cerro Gordo.
189. What city now surrendered? Describe the battles before Mexico.
The result.
190. When was peace concluded? What did the United States gain by
the war? What was the Wilmot proviso? Give an account of the
discovery of gold in California.
191. Of the vigilance committees. Of the political parties. Who was
elected twelfth President? Give an account of the life and
character of Taylor. How long was he President? Who succeeded him?
What questions agitated the people?
192. Why were these now awakened? Effect? What course did Clay
take? Webster? Give some account of Webster.
193. What was the Compromise of 1850? What did it propose? By what
name is it commonly known? Give an account of the fillibusters. Of
the political parties. Who was elected fourteenth President?
194. Give an account of the life of Pierce. Of the Kansas-Nebraska
bill. What is squatter sovereignty? Tell how the public lands have
threatened the peace of the country. How they have enhanced its
prosperity.
195. How did the contest arise in Kansas? Its result? Cause of
Brook's assault on Sumner? What was the Gadsden purchase? Give an
account of the treaty with Japan. What political parties now arose?
196. Who was elected fifteenth President? Give some account of
Buchanan's life. Of the Know-Nothing party. Of the Dred Scott
decision.
197. How was this regarded at the North and at the South? Why was
the Fugitive Slave law obnoxious? What were Personal Liberty bills?
Give an account of the John Brown affair. What was the question of
the elections? Who were nominated for the Presidency? Who was
elected sixteenth President?
198. Give an account of the secession of the South on the election
of Lincoln. Give a history of the gradual growth of this movement.
199. When and where was the Confederate government formed? Who were
elected President and Vice-President? What action was taken?
Condition of the country? Give an account of the condition of
affairs at Fort Sumter.
200. Was any attempt made by the United States authorities to
relieve it? For what did the nation wait?
No questions are given upon the new States admitted to the Union
during this epoch, as each class will naturally commit only that
which concerns its own State, and will wish to add to the facts
given here those obtained from other sources.
FIFTH EPOCH.
215. Give an account of Lincoln's inauguration. Of his early
history. Of the condition of the country.
216. Was war a necessity? What precipitated this issue? When was
the first gun of the Civil War fired? Give an account of the
capture of Fort Sumter.
217. Effect of this event? What action did the North take? The
South? When and where was the first blood shed? What valuable
stores were seized? How did the war in Virginia open?
218. How was Fortress Monroe protected from capture? Give an
account of the Big Bethel affair. Of the war in Western Virginia.
Origin of the term "Contrabands."
219. How did the battle of Bull Run take place? Describe it. By
what peculiarity can you recollect it? Its date? How did Jackson
receive the name of "Stonewall"?
220. Give an account of the retreat. Its effect. Of the battle at
Ball's Bluff. Who now took command of the Union troops?
221. Give an account of the war in Missouri. What battles were
fought? What leaders on each side? What Union general who afterward
became celebrated? Condition of affairs in the border States?
222. What step did Davis take? Number of vessels in the Union navy?
What naval expeditions were made? What places captured? What was
the peculiarity of the attack on the Port Royal forts? Describe the
Trent affair.
223. Give a general review of the first year of the war. Describe
the preservation of Fort Pickens. Situation at the opening of 1862.
What was the plan of the campaign?
224. What was the Confederate line of defence at the West? Union
plan of attack? Where was the first attack? Describe the capture of
Fort Henry.
225. Fort Donelson. Story told of General Grant. Effect of these
victories. What was the next movement? Describe the battle of
Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing.
226. By what peculiarity can you recollect it? How did the battle
turn on the second day?
227. How was Corinth captured? Describe the taking of Island No.
10. What were the effects of the Shiloh battle?
228. What line was now held by the Union army? Where were the
Confederates located? What movements did they make to break through
the Union lines? Describe Bragg's expedition. Was it successful?
Cause of the battles of Iuka and Corinth? Result?
229. How was Bragg's second expedition stopped? Describe the battle
of Murfreesboro. What was its effect? What coincidence?
230. What was Grant's plan for an expedition against Vicksburg? Was
it successful? What event closed the Mississippi campaign? What
battle was fought in Missouri? Condition of the State? What
massacre occurred in Kansas?
231,232. Describe the capture of New Orleans by Farragut.
Burnside's expedition against Roanoke Island. What was the
importance of Roanoke Island?
233,234. What places in Florida were captured? Describe the battle
between the Monitor and the Merrimac. Its results.
235. Object of the war in the East? What campaign was undertaken?
Who was the commanding general? Describe the siege of Yorktown.
236. The battle of Williamsburg. What checked McClellan's advance?
What battle ensued? Its result? What was now the expectation of the
Union army?
237. How did General Joseph E. Johnston thwart General McClellan's
plan? Give an account of Jackson in the Shenandoah. Effect of this
movement. Story told of Jackson.
238. Describe the battle of Fair Oaks. How was the Union advance on
Richmond checked? Who now took command of the Confederate army?
What plan did McClellan form?
239. Describe the seven-days battles. In what way was the retreat
conducted? With what battle did it close?
240. Effect of this campaign? Feeling at the North? Why did Lee now
march North? Who took command of the Union army before Washington?
Describe Lee's campaign against Pope.
241. Its effect. What plan did Lee now adopt? Who assumed command
of the army of the Potomac? Describe McClellan's movements in
pursuit. On what expedition was Jackson sent?
242. Describe the battle of Antietam. Its effect.
243. The battle of Fredericksburg. Give a review of the second year
of the war.
244. What Indian conflict at the West? What was the situation at
the beginning of the year 1863? What movement did Grant make
against Vicksburg?
245. Describe this campaign. Its result. The effect.
246. The movements of Rosecrans in Tennessee and Georgia. General
Morgan's raid.
247-249. The battle of Chickamauga. By what event can you recollect
it? Describe the situation at Chattanooga. The battle of Lookout
Mountain. Attack on Missionary Ridge. Its effect.
250. The siege of Knoxville. The battle of Chancellorsville.
251. Lee's second invasion of the North.
252-254. The battle of Gettysburg--first day, second day, third
day. Its effect. The attack on Charleston. What two contemporaneous
events? What was the "swamp angel"? What do you say of the negro
troops? Of their charge on Fort Wagner?
255. Give a general review of the third year of the war. State the
situation at the beginning of the year 1864. Grant's plan.
256, 257. Describe Johnston's plan of defence. How did Sherman
drive him from these positions? Name the battles. Who succeeded
Johnston in command? What followed? How did Sherman capture
Atlanta? The effect?
258. What prevented Sherman's advance into Georgia? How was he
relieved of this difficulty? Where did Hood go? What befell him. in
Tennessee? Describe the battle of Nashville. Its effect.
259. Describe Shennan's march to the sea. Its effect. Kilpatrick's
raid to Richmond.
260. Describe the battle of the Wilderness. By what peculiarity was
it distinguished? Its result? Describe the battle of Spottsylvania
Court House.
261. Its result. Describe the battle of Cold Harbor. What famous
despatch did Grant send?
262. Describe the attack on Petersburg. The effect of this
campaign. The three co-operative expeditions. The mine explosion.
263. The attack on the Weldon Railroad. Why did Lee send Early into
the Shenandoah Valley? Describe Early's raid.
264. What Union general was now sent to this region? Describe
Sheridan's campaign. His ride from Winchester. His devastation of
the country.
265 The effect of his campaign. Describe the Red River expedition.
The rescue of Porter's fleet. The massacre at Fort Pillow.
266. The attack on Mobile by Farragut. First expedition against
Fort Fisher.
267. The second expedition. Capture of the fort. Effectiveness of
the blockade. Blockade runners.
268. Give an account of the Confederate cruisers. Of the battle
between the Alabama and the Kearsarge.
269. Of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. Of political
affairs.
270. Who was elected President? Give a general review of the fourth
year of the war.
271. Describe the situation at the opening of the year 1865.
Sherman's march through the Carolinas.
272. Its result. What was the situation at Richmond? Describe the
attack on Fort Steadman. Why was it made?
273. Its effect? Describe the battle of Five Forks. Its effect. The
capture of Petersburg and Richmond.
274. The pursuit of Lee. His surrender.
275, 276. The terms. Its effect. Fate of Davis. The cost of the
war. The assassination of Lincoln.
277. What State was added during this epoch?
SIXTH EPOCH.
281. Who became President on the death of Lincoln? Give an account
of the life of Johnson. What was the size of the two armies at the
close of the war? What did their peaceful discharge prove?
282. What do you mean by "reconstruction"? What was the
reconstruction policy of Johnson? What is the Thirteenth Amendment?
283. What was the condition of the public finances? What was the
reconstruction policy of Congress? Result of this clashing between
Congress and the President? On what conditions were the seceded
States finally readmitted to their former position in the Union?
284. Why was Johnson impeached? Its result? What is the Fourteenth
Amendment? What Indian war now arose? How was it terminated? Give
an account of the French interference in Mexico. How did it end?
285. Give an account of the laying of the Atlantic cable.
286. What territory was added to the United States? Of what value?
Give an account of the Fenian excitement in 1866.
287. Of the treaty with China. What State was admitted soon after
the close of the Civil War? Who were the Presidential candidates?
Who was elected eighteenth President?
288. Give an account of the Pacific Railroad, and its value to the
country. What new railroad is building? What is the climate in the
far north along the Mississippi Valley and the Pacific coast?
Extent of the public lands granted? What is the Fifteenth
Amendment?
289-292. What was the population of the United States in 1870? Was
the country recovering from the effects of the war? What great
fires happened in '71 and '72? What difficulty arose with England?
What was the High Commission? Give some account of Santo Domingo,
and its application to be annexed to the United States. What
difficulty occurred with Cuba? What candidates for the presidency
were nominated in 1873? Who was chosen? Give some account of Horace
Greeley.
293-295. Describe the contest with the Modoc Indians. What was the
Credit Mobilier? What was the cause of the "Panic of '73"? Name the
Centennial observances of '75. Describe the Centennial Exhibition
at Philadelphia. Give an account of the "Custer Massacre." Who were
nominated for the presidency in '77?
296. What was the Joint Electoral Commission? What questions
agitated the country at that time?
297,298. Name and describe the principal events of President
Hayes's administration.
HISTORICAL RECREATIONS.
1. In what battle was Molly Stark the watchword?
2. What battle occurred when both armies were marching
to make a night attack upon each other?
3. What battles have resulted in the destruction or
surrender of an entire army?
4. What general rushed into battle without orders and won it?
5. What trees are celebrated in our history?
6. In what battle did Washington bitterly rebuke the
commanding-general, and himself rally the troops to battle?
7. What three ex-Presidents died on the 4th of July?
8. What cities have undergone a siege?
9. Contrast the characters of Washington and Jefferson.
10. By whom and on what occasion were the words used,
"Millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute"?
11. Give the coincidences in the lives of the three
great statesmen--Webster, Clay, and Calhoun.
12. After whom ought this continent to have been named?
13. What celebrated philosopher, when a boy, went without
meat to buy books?
14. How did a half-witted boy once save a fort from capture?
15. Name the retreats famous in our history.
16. When did a fog save our army?
A rain?
17. When did a stone house largely decide a battle?
A stone wall?
18. What general was captured through his carelessness,
and exchanged for another taken in a similar way?
19. What battles have been decided by an attack in the rear?
20. Who said, "I would rather be right than be President"?
21. When has an unnecessary delay cost a general a victory?
22. Name the events in our history which seem to you providential.
23. What general died at the moment of victory?
24. Name some defeats which had all the effect of victories.
25. Of what general was this said to be always true?
26. When was the Mississippi River the western boundary of the
United States? The Rocky Mountains?
27. What territory has the United States acquired by purchase?
By conquest? By annexation?
28. What Vice-Presidents were afterward elected Presidents?
29. What navigator shortened the voyage across the Atlantic?
30. What tea party is celebrated in our history?
31. Who was President from 1787 (the adoption of the Constitution)
to 1789?
32. How many attacks have been made on Quebec?
33. Who said, "I am not worth purchasing, but such as I am the king
of England is not rich enough to buy me"?
34. Which is the longer, the Atlantic Cable or the Pacific
Railroad?
35. Why were the River St. Lawrence, Florida, St. Augustine, etc.,
so named?
36. What naval commander captured his antagonist as his own vessel
was sinking?
37. How many expeditions have been made into Canada?
38. What battle was preceded by prayer?
39. What do the French names in the Mississippi valley indicate?
40. What do the names New York, New England, New Hampshire,
Georgia, Carolina, etc., indicate?
41. When has the question of the public lands threatened the Union?
42. Who, in a frail canoe, on a stormy night, visited an Indian
wigwam to save the lives of his enemies?
43. In what battle did the Continentals gain the victory by falling
back and then suddenly facing about upon the enemy?
44. How many times has Fort Ticonderoga been captured?
45. Why were Davis's Strait, Baffin's Bay, Hudson River,
Frobisher's Strait, etc., so named?
46. What do the names San Salvador, Santa Cruz, Vera Cruz,
La Trinidad, etc., indicate?
47. In what battles had the opposing generals formed the same plan?
48. What Presidents died in office?
49. What father and son were Presidents?
50. What administrations have been most popular?
51. Who fired the first gun in the French and Indian war?
52. What battle was fought and gained without a commanding officer?
53. How many rebellions have occurred in our history?
54. Who was called the "Great Pacificator"? Why?
55. What was the "Nullification Act"?
56. How many of our Presidents have been military men?
57. Why did not Webster and Clay become Presidents?
58. Who was "Rough and Ready"?
59. Who was the "Sage of Monticello"?
60. What noted events occurred on April 19th?
61. In whose administration was the largest number of States
admitted to the Union?
62. In which administrations were none?
63. By whom and under what circumstances was the expression used,
"Give me liberty or give me death"?
64. What general arose from a sick-bed to lead his troops into a
battle in which he was killed?
65. What five ex-Presidents died in the decade between
1860 and 1870?
66. Where is the "Cradle of Liberty"?
67. What historical memories cluster around Santo Domingo?
68. How long did each of our five great wars last--
(1) the French and Indian war;
(2) the Revolutionary war;
(3) the war of 1812;
(4) the Mexican war; and
(5) the Civil war?
69. State the cause of each of these wars.
70. Name the prominent generals who acquired celebrity in each.
71. Name the principal battles of each.
72. Name the results of each.
73. What fort was carried by a midnight assault?
74. What general escaped by riding down a steep precipice?
75. Who drafted the Declaration of Independence?
76. Who secured its adoption in the Convention?
77. Name the Presidents in chronological order.
78. How many of our Presidents were Virginians?
79. Who was the "bachelor President"?
80. State to what party each President belonged.
81. How many of our Presidents were poor boys?
82. What were the principles of the whigs? The democrats?
83. What party adopted the views of the old federalists
on the United States Bank, etc.?
84. How many Presidents have served two terms?
85. What battle was fought after peace was declared?
86. On what issue was Polk elected President?
87. Contrast John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
88. On what mountains have battles been fought?
89. Who used the expression, "We have met the enemy, and
they are ours"?
90. Whose dying words were, "Don't give up the ship"?
91. When was a general blown up by a magazine, in the moment
of victory?
92. What Indian chiefs formed leagues against the whites?
93. What celebrated statesman was killed in a duel?
94. What States were named from mountain ranges?
95. What important contemporaneous events can you name? 96. Was
Washington ever wounded in battle?
97. What was meant by saying that "Clay was in the succession"?
98. In what battle did Washington show the most brilliant generalship?
99. What officer lost his life because he neglected to open a note?
100. What army retreated at the moment of victory because the fog
was so dense that it did not see how successful it was?
101. How many States were named from their principal rivers?
102. Name some celebrated foreigners who have fought for us.
103. What rendered Valley Forge memorable?
104. How did Harrison gain his popularity? Taylor?
105. Give some account of the United States Bank.
106. In what war was Lincoln a captain and Davis a lieutenant?
107. What colonel, when asked if he could take a battery, replied,
"I'll try, sir"?
108. Of what President was it said that "if his soul were turned
inside out, not a spot could be found upon it"?
109. What town and army were surrendered without firing a shot?
110. For how many years was the Revolutionary War carried on mainly
at the North? At the South?
111. Who was "Poor Richard"?
112. Who were the "Green Mountain Boys"?
113. What colony was founded as a home for the poor?
114. What persecuted people settled the different colonies?
115. What colonies are named after a king or a queen?
116. What religious toleration was granted in the different
colonies?
117. Which colonies early enjoyed the greatest liberty?
118. Which colony took the Bible as its guide?
119. In what battle was the left wing, when separated from the main
body by a river, attacked by an overwhelming force of the enemy?
The right wing?
120. In what battle did both generals mass their strength on the
left wing, expecting to crush the enemy's right?
121. How many invasions of the North did Lee make?
122. What victories induced him to attempt each of these invasions?
123. By what battle was each invasion checked?
124. How many invasions of Kentucky did Bragg make?
125. How was each stopped?
126. For how many years have the United States been involved in
war?
127. What object did Penn, Lord Baltimore, and Oglethorpe each have
in founding a colony in the new world?
128. What President was impeached?
129. What ex-Vice-President was tried for treason?
130. Name the four prominent battles fought by General Taylor.
131. What noted expressions of General Taylor became favorite
mottoes? Of General Grant?
132. What President vetoed the measures of the party which elected
him to office?
133. Of what statesman was it said that "he was in the public
service fifty years, and never attempted to deceive his
countrymen"?
134. Who is said to have used the words, "A little more grape,
Captain Bragg"?
135. From what States have Presidents been elected?
136. Give the number and names from each State.
137. What battle did General Gates win? What battle did he lose?
138. What battles did Washington win? What battles did he lose?
139. What President elect came to Washington in disguise?
140. Give a brief history of the slavery question.
141. When were slaves introduced into this country?
142. Name the generals who commanded the army of the Potomac.
143. Name the principal battles fought by
McClellan--Rosecrans--Bragg--Lee--Hooker--Sheridan--Grant--
Sherman--Beauregard--Meade--Pope--Buell--Taylor--Scott--
Thomas--Johnston.
111. Describe the "March to the Sea."
145. What two battles were fought in the "Wilderness"?
146. What was the "Missouri Compromise"? The "Compromise of 1850"?
147. What is "squatter sovereignty"? Who was its author?
148. Of whom was it said that "he touched the dead corpse of public
credit, and it sprang upon its feet"?
149. What were the "alien and sedition laws"?
150. Who was the "old man eloquent"?
151. When was the first railroad constructed? The first steamboat?
The first magnetic telegraph?
152. When was the Erie Canal opened? The Pacific Railroad?
153. What President introduced "rotation in office"?
154. Why, in the Missouri Compromise, was 36 degrees 30 minutes
taken as the boundary between the slave and the free States?
155. What "is the Monroe Doctrine"?
156. Who was the inventor of the cotton-gin?
157. What is a "protective tariff"?
158. What is meant by "Reconstruction"?
159. What Presidents were not elected to that office by the people?
160. To what party did Henry Clay belong? J. Q. Adams? Thomas
Jefferson? John C. Calhoun? Andrew Jackson? Daniel Webster?
Stephen
A. Douglas? Alexander Hamilton? George Washington?
161. What President had not voted for forty years?
162. What two distinguished generals of the same name served in the
Confederate army? Name the battles fought by each.
163. What was the "Dred Scott decision"?
164. What was the "Kansas-Nebraska Bill"?
165. Give an account of the principal parties which have arisen
since the Constitutional Convention of 1787?
166. Who were the "Silver Greys"? The "Hunkers"? The "Barnburners"?
The "Woolly-Heads"? The "Free Soilers"? The "Know-Nothings"? The
"Anti-Renters"? The "Unionists"?
167. Give an account of the different attempts to lay the Atlantic
cable.
168. Give a history of the difficulty between President Johnson and
Congress.
169. What nations settled the different States?
170. How many amendments have been made to the Constitution?
171. What was the "Hartford Convention"?
172. What are "State rights"?
173. What was the Secretary of State formerly called?
174. Tell some stories illustrating the patriotism of the women of
the Revolution.
175. Give an account of the Public Lands.
176. What State was admitted to the Union first after the original
thirteen?
177. Who are the "Mormons"?
178. For what is Ethan Allen noted?
179. What battles have been fought in Virginia? South Carolina?
Louisiana? New York? Massachusetts? New Jersey? Maryland?
Pennsylvania? Georgia? Michigan?
180. What was the "Fugitive Slave Law"?
181. Name some unsuccessful candidates for the Presidency.
182. For what is John Brown noted?
183. Who were the "Filibusters"?
184. Give an account of Farragut's most celebrated exploits.
185. Why was "Stonewall" Jackson so called?
186. Give an account of Butler's military career.
187. What was the most prominent event of Jefferson's
administration? Jackson's? Monroe's?
188. What treaties are celebrated in our history?
189. What President was once a tailor's apprentice?
190. What was the object of the "American party"?
191. What was the "Gadsden purchase"?
192. Name the various difficulties which have arisen with England.
193. What was the "Wilmot Proviso"?
194. What President followed Washington--Taylor--Jefferson--
Lincoln--J. Q. Adams--Pierce?
195. Who was President in 1812--1832--1846--1850--1861?
196. Describe the operations of the Confederate cruisers during the
Civil War. Of the "blockade runners."
197. What distinguished generals have been unsuccessful candidates
for the Presidency? Successful candidates?
198. Why did the French in Canada extend their explorations
westward to the Mississippi rather than southward into New York?
199. What was the "Trent affair"?
200. Name and describe some important naval engagements.
201. In what battle did the defeated general leave his wooden leg?
202. What was the "O grab me Act"?
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
* * * * *
THE following preamble and specifications, known as the Declaration
of Independence, accompanied the resolution of Richard Henry Lee,
which was adopted by Congress on the 2d day of July, 1776. This
declaration was agreed to on the 4th, and the transaction is thus
recorded in the Journal for that day:
"_Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself
into a committee of the whole, to take into their further
consideration the Declaration; and, after some time, the president
resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that the committee
have agreed to a Declaration, which they desired him to report. The
Declaration being read, was agreed to as follows:_"
A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of
nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident--that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent
of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter
or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its
foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and
happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long
established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such government, and to provide new guards for their future
security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies,
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their
former systems of government. The history of the present king of
Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations,
all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute
tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to
a candid world.
1. He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
2. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his
assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly
neglected to attend to them.
3. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right
of representation in the Legislature--a right inestimable to them,
and formidable to tyrants only.
4. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their public
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance
with his measures.
5. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing,
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
6. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to
cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers,
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for
their exercise; the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to
all the dangers of invasions from without, and convulsions within.
7. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for
that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of
foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration
hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
8. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
9. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
10. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither
swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their
substance.
11. He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies,
without the consent of our Legislatures.
12. He has affected to render the military independent of, and
superior to, the civil power.
13. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction
foreign to our constitutions, and unacknowledged by our laws;
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
14. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
15. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these
States;
16. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
17. For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
18. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by
jury;
19. For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended
offences;
20. For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and
enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and
fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these
colonies;
21. For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments;
22. For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
23. He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his
protection, and waging war against us.
24. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
25. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny,
already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the
head of a civilized nation.
26. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the
executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves
by their hands.
27. He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress
in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered
only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a
free people.
Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren.
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We
have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and
settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common
kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been
deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must,
therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our
separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind--enemies
in war; in peace, friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America,
in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of
the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and
by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly
publish and declare that these united colonies are, and of right
ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved
from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political
connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and
ought to be, totally dissolved, and that, as free and independent
States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract
alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things
which independent States may of right do. And for the support of
this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our
fortunes, and our sacred honor.
The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed, and
signed by the following members:
JOHN HANCOCK.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
JOSIAH BARTLETT,
WILLIAM WHIPPLE,
MATTHEW THORNTON.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
SAMUEL ADAMS,
JOHN ADAMS,
ROBERT TREAT PAINE,
ELBRIDGE GERRY.
RHODE ISLAND.
STEPHEN HOPKINS,
WILLIAM ELLERY.
CONNECTICUT.
ROGER SHERMAN,
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON,
WILLIAM WILLIAMS,
OLIVER WOLCOTT.
NEW YORK.
WILLIAM FLOYD,
PHILIP LIVINGSTON,
FRANCIS LEWIS,
LEWIS MORRIS.
NEW JERSEY.
RICHARD STOCKTON,
JOHN WITHERSPOON,
FRANCIS HOPKINSON,
JOHN HART,
ABRAHAM CLARK.
PENNSYLVANIA.
ROBERT MORRIS,
BENJAMIN RUSH,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
JOHN MORTON,
GEORGE CLYMER,
JAMES SMITH,
GEORGE TAYLOR,
JAMES WILSON,
GEORGE ROSS.
DELAWARE.
CAESAR RODNEY,
GEORGE READ,
THOMAS M'KEAN.
MARYLAND.
SAMUEL CHASE,
WILLIAM PACA,
THOMAS STONE,
CHARLES CARROLL, of Carrollton.
VIRGINIA.
GEORGE WYTHE,
RICHARD HENRY LEE,
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
THOMAS NELSON, JUN.,
FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE,
CARTER BRAXTON.
NORTH CAROLINA.
WILLIAM HOOPER,
JOSEPH HEWES,
JOHN PENN.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
EDWARD RUTLEDGE,
THOMAS HEYWARD, JUN.,
THOMAS LYNCH, JUN.,
ARTHUR MIDDLETON.
GEORGIA.
BUTTON GWINNETT,
LYMAN HALL,
GEORGE WALTON.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
WE, the People of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity,
provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do
ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of
America.
ARTICLE I.--Legislative Department.
SECTION I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate
and House of Representatives.