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STORIES OF LATER AMERICAN HISTORY
by
WILBUR F. GORDY
Formerly Superintendent of Schools, Springfield, Mass.; Author of "A
History of the United States for Schools," "Elementary History of the
United States," "American Leaders and Heroes," "American Beginnings in
Europe," "Stories of American Explorers," "Colonial Days," and "Stories
of Early American History"
With Maps and Illustrations
[Illustration: Pioneers on the Overland Route, Westward.]
Charles Scribner's Sons
New York Chicago Boston
Copyright, 1915, by Charles Scribner's Sons
PREFACE
This book, like "Stories of Early American History," follows somewhat
closely the course of study prepared by the Committee of Eight, the
present volume covering the topics outlined for Grade V, while the earlier
one includes the material suggested for Grade IV.
It was the plan of that committee to take up in these grades, largely in a
biographical way, a great part of the essential facts of American history;
and with this plan the author, who was a member of that committee, was in
hearty accord. This method, it is believed, serves a double purpose. In
the first place, it is the best possible way of laying the foundation for
the later and more detailed study of United States history in the higher
grammar grades by those pupils who are to continue in school; and in the
second, it gives to that large number of pupils who will leave school
before the end of the sixth grade--which is at least half of all the boys
and girls in the schools of the country--some acquaintance with the
leading men and prominent events of American history.
It is without doubt a great mistake to allow half of the pupils to go out
from our public schools with almost no knowledge of the moral and material
forces which have made this nation what it is to-day. It is an injustice
to the young people themselves; it is also an injury to their country, the
vigor of whose life will depend much upon their intelligent and patriotic
support.
With this conviction, it has been the author's desire to make the story of
the events concrete, dramatic, and lifelike by centring them about
leaders, heroes, and other representative men, in such a way as to appeal
to the imagination and to influence the ideals of the child. In so doing,
he has made no attempt to write organized history--tracing out its
intricate relations of cause and effect. At the same time, however, he has
aimed to select his facts and events so carefully that the spirit of our
national life and institutions, as well as many of the typical events of
American history, may be presented.
It is confidently hoped that the fine illustrations and the attractive
typographical features of the book will help to bring vividly before the
mind of the child the events narrated in the text.
Another aid in making the stories vivid will, it is intended, be found in
"Some Things to Think About." These and many similar questions, which the
teacher can easily frame to fit the needs of her class, will help the
pupil to make real the life of days gone by as well as to connect it with
the present time and with his own life.
In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge my deep obligations to Mr. Forrest
Morgan, of the Watkinson Library, Hartford, and to Miss Elizabeth P. Peck,
of the Hartford Public High School, both of whom have read the manuscript
and have made many valuable criticisms and suggestions.
WILBUR F. GORDY.
HARTFORD, CONN.,
April 15, 1915.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. PATRICK HENRY
II. SAMUEL ADAMS
III. THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON
IV. GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION
V. NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES IN THE SOUTH
VI. JOHN PAUL JONES
VII. DANIEL BOONE
VIII. JAMES ROBERTSON
IX. JOHN SEVIER
X. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
XI. THE NEW REPUBLIC
XII. INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE NEW REPUBLIC
XIII. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
XIV. THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER
XV. THREE GREAT STATESMEN
XVI. THE CIVIL WAR
XVII. FOUR GREAT INDUSTRIES
INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS
Pioneers on the Overland Route, Westward
George III
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry Delivering His Speech in the Virginia House of
Burgesses
William Pitt
St. John's Church, Richmond
Samuel Adams
Patriots in New York Destroying Stamps Intended for Use in
Connecticut
Faneuil Hall, Boston
Old South Church, Boston
The "Boston Tea Party"
Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia
John Hancock
John Hancock's Home, Boston
A Minuteman
Old North Church
Paul Revere's Ride
Monument on Lexington Common Marking the Line of the Minutemen
Concord Bridge
President Langdon, the President of Harvard College, Praying for the
Bunker Hill Entrenching Party on Cambridge Common Just
Before Their Departure
Prescott at Bunker Hill
Bunker Hill Monument
George Washington
Washington, Henry, and Pendleton on the Way to Congress at
Philadelphia
The Washington Elm at Cambridge, under which Washington took Command
of the Army
Sir William Howe
Thomas Jefferson Looking Over the Rough Draught of the Declaration
of Independence
The Retreat from Long Island
Nathan Hale
British and Hessian Soldiers
Powder-Horn, Bullet-Flask, and Buckshot-Pouch Used in the Revolution
General Burgoyne Surrendering to General Gates
Marquis de Lafayette
Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin
Winter at Valley Forge
Nathanael Greene
The Meeting of Greene and Gates upon Greene's Assuming Command
Daniel Morgan
Francis Marion
Marion Surprising a British Wagon-Train
John Paul Jones
Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake
The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis
Daniel Boone
Boone's Escape from the Indians
Boonesborough
Boone Throwing Tobacco into the Eyes of the Indians Who Had Come to
Capture Him
James Robertson
Living-Room of the Early Settler
Grinding Indian Corn
A Kentucky Pioneer's Cabin
John Sevier
A Barbecue of 1780
Battle of King's Mountain
George Rogers Clark
Clark on the Way to Kaskaskia
Clark's Surprise at Kaskaskia
Wampum Peace Belt
Clark's Advance on Vincennes
George Washington
Washington's Home, Mount Vernon
Tribute Rendered to Washington at Trenton
Washington Taking the Oath of Office as First President, at Federal
Hall, New York City
Washington's Inaugural Chair
Eli Whitney
Whitney's Cotton-Gin
A Colonial Planter
A Slave Settlement
Thomas Jefferson
"Monticello," the Home of Jefferson
A Rice-Field in Louisiana
A Flatboat on the Ohio River
House in New Orleans Where Louis Philippe Stopped in 1798
A Public Building in New Orleans Built in 1794
Meriwether Lewis
William Clark
Buffalo Hunted by Indians
The Lewis and Clark Expedition Working Its Way Westward
Andrew Jackson
"The Hermitage," the Home of Andrew Jackson
Fighting the Seminole Indians, under Jackson
Robert Fulton
Fulton's First Experiment with Paddle-Wheels
The "Clermont" in Duplicate at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909
The Opening of the Erie Canal in 1825
The Ceremony Called "The Marriage of the Waters"
Erie Canal on the Right and Aqueduct over the Mohawk River, New York
"Tom Thumb," Peter Cooper's Locomotive Working Model, First Used
near Baltimore in 1830
Railroad Poster of 1843
Comparison of "DeWitt Clinton" Locomotive and Train, the First Train
Operated in New York, with a Modern Locomotive of the New
York Central R.R.
S.F.B. Morse
The First Telegraph Instrument
Modern Telegraph Office
The Operation of the Modern Railroad is Dependent upon the Telegraph
Sam Houston
Flag of the Republic of Texas
David Crockett
The Fight at the Alamo
John C. Frémont
Frémont's Expedition Crossing the Rocky Mountains
Kit Carson
Sutter's Mill
Placer-Mining in the Days of the California Gold Rush
John C. Calhoun
Calhoun's Office and Library
Henry Clay
The Birthplace of Henry Clay, near Richmond
The Schoolhouse in "the Slashes"
Daniel Webster
The Home of Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass.
Henry Clay Addressing the United States Senate in 1850
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's Birthplace
Lincoln Studying by Firelight
Lincoln Splitting Rails
Lincoln as a Boatman
Lincoln Visiting Wounded Soldiers
Robert E. Lee
Lee's Home at Arlington, Virginia
Jefferson Davis
Thomas J. Jackson
A Confederate Flag
J.E.B. Stuart
Confederate Soldiers
Union Soldiers
Ulysses S. Grant
Grant's Birthplace, Point Pleasant, Ohio
General and Mrs. Grant with Their Son at City Point, Virginia
William Tecumseh Sherman
Sherman's March to the Sea
Philip H. Sheridan
Sheridan Rallying His Troops
The McLean House Where Lee Surrendered
General Lee on His Horse, Traveller
Cotton-Field in Blossom
A Wheat-Field
Grain-Elevators at Buffalo
Cattle on the Western Plains
Iron Smelters
Iron Ore Ready for Shipment
MAPS
Boston and Vicinity
The War in the Middle States
The War in the South
Early Settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee
George Rogers Clark in the Northwest
The United States in 1803, after the Louisiana Purchase (Colored)
Jackson's Campaign
Scene of Houston's Campaign
Frémont's Western Explorations
Map of the United States Showing First and Second Secession
Areas (Colored)
Route of Sherman's March to the Sea
The Country Around Washington and Richmond
STORIES OF LATER AMERICAN HISTORY
CHAPTER I
PATRICK HENRY
The Last French War had cost England so much that at its close she was
heavily in debt.
"As England must now send to America a standing army of at least ten
thousand men to protect the colonies against the Indians and other
enemies," the King, George III, reasoned, "it is only fair that the
colonists should pay a part of the cost of supporting it."
The English Parliament, being largely made up of the King's friends, was
quite ready to carry out his wishes, and passed a law taxing the
colonists. This law was called the Stamp Act. It provided that
stamps--very much like our postage-stamps, but costing all the way from
one cent to fifty dollars each--should be put upon all the newspapers and
almanacs used by the colonies, and upon all such legal papers as wills,
deeds, and the notes which men give promising to pay back borrowed money.
[Illustration: George III.]
When news of this act reached the colonists they were angry. "It is
unjust," they said. "Parliament is trying to make slaves of us by forcing
us to pay money without our consent. The charters which the English King
granted to our forefathers when they came to America make us free men just
as much as if we were living in England.
"In England it is the law that no free man shall pay taxes unless they are
levied by his representatives in Parliament. We have no one to speak for
us in Parliament, and so we will not pay any taxes which Parliament votes.
The only taxes we will pay are those voted by our representatives in our
own colonial assemblies."
They were all the more ready to take this stand because for many years
they had bitterly disliked other English laws which were unfair to them.
One of these forbade selling their products to any country but England.
And, of course, if they could sell to no one else, they would have to sell
for what the English merchants chose to pay.
Another law said that the colonists should buy the goods they needed from
no other country than England, and that these goods should be brought over
in English vessels. So in buying as well as in selling they were at the
mercy of the English merchants and the English ship owners, who could set
their own prices.
But even more unjust seemed the law forbidding the manufacture in America
of anything which was manufactured in England. For instance, iron from
American mines had to be sent to England to be made into useful articles,
and then brought back over the sea in English vessels and sold to the
colonists by English merchants at their own price.
Do you wonder that the colonists felt that England was taking an unfair
advantage? You need not be told that these laws were strongly opposed. In
fact, the colonists, thinking them unjust, did not hesitate to break them.
Some, in spite of the laws, shipped their products to other countries and
smuggled the goods they received in exchange; and some dared make articles
of iron, wool, or other raw material, both for their own use and to sell
to others.
"We will not be used as tools for England to make out of us all the profit
she possibly can," they declared. "We are not slaves but free-born
Englishmen, and we refuse to obey laws which shackle us and rob us of our
rights."
So when to these harsh trade laws the Stamp Act was added, great
indignation was aroused. Among those most earnest in opposing the act was
Patrick Henry.
Let us take a look at the early life of this powerful man. He was born in
1736, in Hanover County, Virginia. His father was an able lawyer, and his
mother belonged to a fine old Welsh family.
But Patrick, as a boy, took little interest in anything that seemed to his
older friends worth while. He did not like to study nor to work on his
father's farm. His delight was to wander through the woods, gun in hand,
hunting for game, or to sit on the bank of some stream fishing by the
hour. When not enjoying himself out-of-doors he might be heard playing his
violin.
Of course the neighbors said, "A boy so idle and shiftless will never
amount to anything," and his parents did not know what to do with him.
They put him, when fifteen years old, as clerk into a little country
store. Here he remained for a year, and then opened a store of his own.
But he was still too lazy to attend to business, and soon failed.
[Illustration: Patrick Henry.]
When he was only eighteen years old, he married. The parents of the young
couple, anxious that they should do well, gave them a small farm and a few
slaves. But it was the same old story. The young farmer would not take the
trouble to look after his affairs, and let things drift. So before long
the farm had to be sold to pay debts. Once more Patrick turned to
storekeeping, but after a few years he failed again.
He was now twenty-three years old, with no settled occupation, and with a
wife and family to support. No doubt he seemed to his friends a
ne'er-do-well.
About this time he decided to become a lawyer. He borrowed some law-books,
and after studying for six months, he applied for permission to practise
law. Although he passed but a poor examination, he at last was started on
the right road.
He succeeded well in his law practice, and in a few years had so much
business that people in his part of Virginia began to take notice of him.
In 1765, soon after the Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament, he
was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, a body not unlike
our State Legislature.
PATRICK HENRY'S FIERY SPEECH AGAINST THE STAMP ACT
History gives us a vivid picture of the young lawyer at this time as he
rides on horseback along the country road toward Williamsburg, then the
capital of Virginia. He is wearing a faded coat, leather knee-breeches,
and yarn stockings, and carries his law papers in his saddle-bag. Although
but twenty-nine, his tall, thin figure stoops as if bent with age. He does
not look the important man he is soon to become.
When he reaches the little town of Williamsburg, he finds great
excitement. Men gather in small groups on the street, talking in anxious
tones. Serious questions are being discussed: "What shall we do about the
Stamp Act?" they say. "Shall we submit and say nothing? Shall we send a
petition to King George asking him for justice? Shall we beg Parliament to
repeal the act, or shall we take a bold stand and declare that we will not
obey it?"
Not only on the street, but also in the House of Burgesses was great
excitement. Most of the members were wealthy planters who lived on great
estates. So much weight and dignity had they that the affairs of the
colony were largely under their control. Most of them were loyal to the
"mother country," as they liked to call England, and they wished to obey
the English laws as long as these were just.
[Illustration: Patrick Henry Delivering His Speech in the Virginia House
of Burgesses.]
So they counselled: "Let us move slowly. Let nothing be done in a passion.
Let us petition the King to modify the laws which appear to us unjust, and
then, if he will not listen, it will be time to refuse to obey. We must
not be rash."
Patrick Henry, the new member, listened earnestly. But he could not see
things as these older men of affairs saw them. To him delay seemed
dangerous. He was eager for prompt, decisive action. Tearing a blank leaf
from a law-book, he hastily wrote some resolutions, and, rising to his
feet, he read them to the assembly.
We can easily picture the scene. This plainly dressed rustic with his bent
shoulders is in striking contrast to the prosperous plantation owners,
with their powdered hair, ruffled shirts, knee-breeches, and silver
shoe-buckles. They give but a listless attention as Henry begins in quiet
tones to read his resolutions. "Who cares what this country fellow
thinks?" is their attitude. "Who is he anyway? We never heard his voice
before."
It is but natural that these men, whose judgment has been looked up to for
years, should regard as an upstart this young, unknown member, who
presumes to think his opinion worth listening to in a time of great crisis
like this.
But while they sit in scornful wrath, the young orator's eyes begin to
glow, his stooping figure becomes erect, and his voice rings out with
fiery eloquence. "The General Assembly of Virginia, _and only_ the General
Assembly of Virginia," he exclaims, "has the right and the power of laying
taxes upon the people of this colony."
These are stirring words, and they fall amid a hushed silence. Then the
debate grows hot, as members rise to speak in opposition to his burning
eloquence.
[Illustration: William Pitt.]
But our hero is more than a match for all the distinguished men who
disagree with him. Like a torrent, his arguments pour forth and sweep all
before them. The bold resolutions he presents are passed by the assembly.
It was a great triumph for the young orator. On that day Patrick Henry
made his name. "Stick to us, old fellow, or we're gone," said one of the
plain people, giving him a slap on the shoulder as he passed out at the
close of the stormy session. The unpromising youth had suddenly become a
leader in the affairs of the colony.
Not only in Virginia, but also in other colonies, his fiery words acted
like magic in stirring up the people against the Stamp Act. He had proved
himself a bold leader, willing to risk any danger for the cause of justice
and freedom.
You would expect that in the colonies there would be strong and deep
feeling against the Stamp Act. But perhaps you will be surprised to learn
that even in England many leading men opposed it. They thought that George
III was making a great mistake in trying to tax the colonies without their
consent. William Pitt, a leader in the House of Commons, made a great
speech, in which he said: "I _rejoice_ that America has resisted." He went
on to say that if the Americans had meekly submitted, they would have
acted like slaves.
Burke and Fox, other great statesmen, also befriended us. And the English
merchants and ship owners, who were losing heavily because the Americans
refused to buy any English goods as long as the Stamp Act was in force,
joined in begging Parliament that the act be repealed. This was done the
next year.
Other unjust measures followed, but before we take them up, let us catch
another glimpse of Patrick Henry, ten years after his great speech at
Williamsburg.
ANOTHER GREAT SPEECH BY PATRICK HENRY
The people of Virginia are again greatly aroused. King George has caused
Parliament to send English soldiers to Boston to force the unruly people
of Massachusetts to obey some of his commands, against which they had
rebelled. Virginia has stood by her sister colony, and now the royal
governor of Virginia, to punish her, has prevented the House of Burgesses
from meeting at Williamsburg.
But the Virginians are not so easily kept from doing their duty. With a
grim determination to defend their rights as free men, they elect some of
their leaders to act for them at this trying time.
These meet in Richmond at old St. John's Church, which is still standing.
Great is the excitement, and thoughtful people are very serious, for the
shadows of the war-cloud grow blacker hour by hour.
The Virginians have already begun to make ready to fight if they must. But
many still hope that all disagreements may yet be settled peaceably, and
therefore advise acting with caution.
[Illustration: St. John's Church, Richmond.]
Patrick Henry is not one of these. He believes that the time has come when
talking should give place to prompt, decisive action. The war is at hand.
It cannot be avoided. The colonists must fight or slavishly submit.
So intense is his belief that he offers in this meeting a resolution that
Virginia should at once prepare to defend herself. Many of the leading men
stoutly oppose this resolution as rash and unwise.
At length Patrick Henry rises to his feet, his face pale, and his voice
trembling with deep emotion. Again we see the bent shoulders straighten
and the eyes flash. His voice rings out like a trumpet. As he goes on with
increasing power, men lean forward in breathless interest. Listen to his
ringing words:
"We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to
the God of Hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are
weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be
stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we
are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every
house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we
acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs
and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have
bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of
the means which the God of nature hath placed in our hands.... There is no
retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their
clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and
let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!
"... Gentlemen may cry peace, peace--but there is no peace. The war is
actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our
ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field!
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they
have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price
of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course
others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"
What wonder that the audience sways to his belief!
He was a true prophet, for in less than four weeks the first gun of the
Revolution was fired in the quiet town of Lexington, Massachusetts.
Undoubtedly Patrick Henry's fiery spirit had done much to kindle the flame
which then burst forth.
Not long after this, he was made commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces
(1775), and the next year was elected governor of Virginia.
When the war--in the declaring of which he had taken so active a part--was
over, Patrick Henry retired at the age of fifty-eight (1794), to an estate
in Charlotte County called "Red Hill," where he lived a simple and
beautiful life. He died in 1799.
Without doubt he was one of the most eloquent orators our country has ever
produced, and we should be grateful to him because he used his great gift
in helping to secure the freedom we now enjoy.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What was the Stamp Act? Why did Parliament pass it, and why did the
colonists object to it?
2. What did Patrick Henry mean by saying that the General Assembly of
Virginia, _and only_ the General Assembly of Virginia had the right and
the power of laying taxes upon the people of that colony?
3. Have you in your mind a picture of young Patrick Henry as he rode on
horseback along the country road toward Williamsburg? Describe this
picture as clearly as you can.
4. What did William Pitt think of the Stamp Act? Why did Parliament repeal
it?
5. Can you explain Patrick Henry's power as an orator? When did he make a
great speech in St. John's Church, Richmond?
6. What do you admire in Patrick Henry?
7. Do not fail to locate every event upon your map.