public life and began to practice his profession in New York. He put
aside his brilliant and profitable professional work, however, when
war with France seemed imminent, in order to assist Washington in his
plans for the organization of the army. When the war-cloud passed he
resumed the practice of his profession. But his brilliant life was to
come to an early and untimely end. In his political life he made many
antagonists. One of these was Aaron Burr, as brilliant and hot-tempered
as Hamilton, and a man of bold and dangerous ambition.
After a political quarrel, Burr challenged Hamilton to fight a duel.
In theory Hamilton recognized the sin and folly of dueling, but he
was not willing to refuse to fight for fear people would think he was
a coward. Early one morning, July 11, 1804, the two rivals met in a
quiet spot. Hamilton fired into the air, as he had said he would do;
Burr with deadly skill aimed straight at his opponent who fell fatally
wounded. Hamilton left his mourning country the record of a brilliant
public career, the main purpose of which was to strengthen the general
government and to consolidate the Union.
Daniel Boone
The Pioneer of Kentucky
During colonial days, the English settlers occupied the land east of
the Alleghany Mountains. Except on expeditions of war or explorations
and adventure, they did not cross the mountains to the west. During the
latter part of the eighteenth century, the first pioneer went westward
to settle, taking with him his wife and daughter, the first white women
to make their homes in the western land. This pioneer was Daniel Boone.
He was born in Pennsylvania in 1735, and so was three years younger
than George Washington.
Boone’s father moved to North Carolina in 1752 and there Daniel grew
to manhood. His school days were brief and his book-learning was
limited. There was standing many years a tree on which was carved in
rude letters, “D. Boon Cilled A Bar on this tree year 1760.” But he was
expert in the homely, hardy work of the frontier, and in woodcraft;
familiar with the life and habits of the wild things of the wood;
a sure quick shot, a fearless and self-reliant youth. One who knew
him later says he was “honest of heart and liberal--in short, one of
nature’s noblemen. He abhorred a mean action and delighted in honesty
and truth. He never delighted in the shedding of human blood, even that
of his enemies in war. His remarkable quality was an unwavering and
invincible fortitude.”
Boone was an expert hunter and trapper. Like many American
frontiersmen, he wore a dress resembling that of the Indians,--a
buckskin hunting shirt with fringed buckskin leggings and moccasins
of deerskin or buffalo-hide. His inseparable companion was his
long-barrelled rifle.
He went as a wagoner on Braddock’s ill-fated expedition and barely
escaped with his life.
The country west of the mountains had been visited and explored by
several men and parties. Gist, who accompanied Washington on his
mission to the French forts, was one of these early explorers. Another
was John Finley who traded with the Indians on the Red River of
Kentucky. He told Boone about the fertile soil, the abundant game, and
the “salt licks” of the western lands.
After a short hunting trip on the borders, Boone started out, in May,
1769, to explore “the far-famed but little-known land of Kentucky.” He
started with five companions and he spent two years roaming over the
country. The white men were attacked by Indians in the fall of 1769 and
Boone and Stewart were captured. A week later they made their escape,
but were unable to find their friends. Not long after, Boone’s brother
and another frontiersman joined them with a welcome supply of powder
and lead.
Their companions were killed by the Indians, and the Boone brothers
spent some months in the wilderness in a cabin which they built of
poles and bark. For some reason his brother went home, and Daniel Boone
remained for months alone, the only white man in that wilderness which
was the battle-ground of northern and southern Indians. Not even a dog
was there to keep him company, and as food, he had only what his rifle
and fishing-rod could secure.
Undaunted by loneliness or wildness, by lurking beast or hostile
savages, Boone determined to bring his family to this fair and fertile
land. He felt that he had a work to do, “God had appointed him an
instrument for the settlement of the wilderness.” Several families set
out with the Boone brothers, driving their cattle and conveying their
household goods in wagons. They were attacked by Indians and the others
became so discouraged that they turned back.
Boone, however, was undaunted. In 1775, as agent of a North Carolina
company, he founded Boonesborough, a stockade or station near a
salt lick on the Kentucky River. This was near the present site of
Frankfort. Thither came his wife and daughter, the first women pioneers
in Kentucky. The Indians strove to drive back the white men from
their hunting-grounds, and this fort became the center of savage and
relentless warfare.
At one time three little girls, one of whom was Boone’s daughter, were
captured by the Indians. The settlers marched to rescue them, and did
so, it is said, after a long journey and a fierce struggle in which
Boone and a companion were captured.
In 1778, Boone with a small party of men left the settlement to get
a supply of salt. They were surrounded by a large band of Indians
and carried north. Boone was taken as far as the present site of
Detroit. He remained with the savages several months without having an
opportunity to let his family know his fate. Learning that the Indian
warriors were preparing to attack the Kentucky settlements, he managed
to escape and made his way two hundred miles southward, through the
wilderness swarming with enemies, in time to warn the settlements and
to help defend Boonesborough against attack. His family, thinking him
dead, had returned to North Carolina. He followed them and returned
with them to his chosen home a few months later.
For years there was almost constant warfare against the Indians in the
“Dark and Bloody Ground,” as Kentucky was well called. It is said
within seven years--from 1783 to 1790--fifteen hundred whites were
killed or taken captive in Kentucky.
In 1792 Kentucky, which had been a county of Virginia, was made a
state; at this time Boone’s title to his land was found defective. In
his old age he was deprived of his small share of the great country he
had helped to settle and open to the English.
He moved west to the country owned by Spain, and stopped near the
present site of St. Louis. The Spanish governor granted him about eight
thousand acres of land. When this territory was sold to the United
States, his title was upset and he was deprived of this estate also.
This typical American pioneer died in 1820.
Oliver Hazard Perry and Thomas Macdonough
Two Naval Commanders in the War of 1812
The war of 1812 was brought about by the war between the French and
English in Europe. France and England each issued orders forbidding
trade with the other. Both claimed the right to confiscate all vessels
that engaged in trade with its rival. The English claimed also the
right to search American vessels for British seamen; and they seized
hundreds of men, many of whom were not English seamen at all but
Americans.
In order to avoid war, instead of resisting these unjust demands at
once, the United States passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American
vessels to sail to any foreign country; this act occasioned discontent
and was soon repealed; only trade with England was forbidden. The
English impressments of American seamen continued until finally America
had to fight for her rights. War was declared, June 18, 1812. Most of
the American victories in this war were won at sea. The most famous of
the naval commanders was Perry.
Oliver Hazard Perry was the descendant of an English Quaker, who came
to America about the middle of the seventeenth century to enjoy the
free exercise of his religion. He went first to Plymouth where Quakers
were disliked; finally he purchased a tract of land in Roger Williams’
Rhode Island colony and settled there. Here his descendants remained
and here Oliver Hazard Perry was born in 1785. His father served in the
American navy during the Revolution and became so fond of the sea that
he continued his voyages as captain of a merchant-vessel.
Oliver was sent first to a school near his home. A few years later his
parents moved from South Kingston to Newport to give their children the
advantage of better schools. The war between England and France was now
going on, and it seemed at this time as if America would be drawn into
war against France. President Adams, therefore, resolved to establish
a navy. Captain Perry was given command of a vessel called the General
Greene, the business of which was to defend American merchant-vessels
trading with the West Indies. Oliver, now thirteen, begged his father
to let him enter the navy. Permission was granted, and Oliver became a
midshipman on his father’s vessel.
After danger of war with France was over, young Perry still continued
in the navy. His next service was in the Mediterranean against the
Barbary States. These states,--Tunis, Algiers, Tripoli, and Morocco--on
the north coast of Africa, had for hundreds of years made a business
of piracy. They captured vessels, and used or sold the stores and sold
the crews into slavery. America, like England and other countries, for
years bribed them not to molest its vessels. At last the Americans
determined, instead of paying tribute, longer, to send a fleet to the
Barbary coast and force the pirates to respect the American flag.
Oliver Perry was on a ship sent in 1802. The fleet cruised about and
did little fighting and his ship was recalled to America in 1803.
The most daring deed of the war was performed by a young American
lieutenant, Stephen Decatur. An American ship, the Philadelphia, had
fallen into the hands of the Barbary pirates and Lieutenant Decatur
went into the harbor with a few men in a boat and set fire to the
vessel to prevent its being manned by the Tripolitans. The Barbary
ruler finally made a treaty of peace with the United States. In the
war Perry had had no special opportunity to distinguish himself, but he
had proved himself brave and efficient.
When the war against England began in 1812, it seemed that American
chances for sea victory were small. England, the mistress of the seas,
had a large, well-equipped navy; the American fleet was far inferior
in numbers and in size. But the Americans had brave seamen who won
some brilliant victories. One of the greatest of these was that of the
American vessel the Constitution over the English Guerriére.
The command of the Great Lakes was very important; being on the
boundary between the United States and the English colony of Canada,
they controlled the entrance to each country. When the war opened, the
English had a naval force on the Great Lakes, the Americans had none. A
fleet could not be made ready without delay, and an American army under
General Hull was sent to invade Canada. General Hull surrendered the
fort at Detroit without attempting to defend it, and the English took
also Fort Dearborn, on the site of Chicago.
To protect the northern coast, Lieutenant Oliver Perry was sent to
build a fleet on Lake Erie and to fight the British there. This was
a great undertaking. There was no railroad or canal connecting the
western with the eastern part of New York. Nails, sails, guns, powder,
shot, and supplies of all kinds had to be carried on ox wagons along
the rough roads and on boats up the streams. Perry did not lose time
bemoaning the difficulty of the task. The very day that he received his
orders he started carpenters to the lake; having arranged about men and
supplies, he himself set forth in the depth of winter. In the spring,
followed men bringing needed stores. In a few months Perry had a little
fleet built of trees which were standing in the forest the summer
before. “Give me men,” he wrote, “and I will acquire both for you and
for myself honor and glory on this lake, or die in the attempt.”
In September, 1813, the American ships sailed forth and the English
fleet, which was about equal in men and guns, made ready to attack.
Lieutenant Perry hoisted a flag bearing the words, “Don’t give up
the ship,” the dying speech of brave Captain Lawrence for whom the
flag-ship was named. The English attacked gallantly, and Perry’s
ship was so injured that “hammered out of his own ship,” he had
to go in a row-boat to the Niagara. With him he took his flag and
Captain Lawrence’s brave words waved as a signal from the Niagara.
The Americans raked the English decks with a deadly broadside. The
British fought bravely till their ships were crippled and most of their
officers and many of their men were wounded. Then the whole squadron
was surrendered,--the first time that this fate ever befell the
British in a naval battle.
In honor of Captain Lawrence, Perry was determined that the surrender
should take place on the Lawrence, so he returned to that vessel and
there received the swords of the British officers. On the back of an
old letter he wrote his famous dispatch to General Harrison: “We have
met the enemy and they are ours--two ships, two brigs, one schooner,
and one sloop. Yours with very great respect and esteem, O. H. Perry.”
This battle of Lake Erie prevented the English and French invasion of
the United States and made it possible for the Americans to invade
Canada. Perry was made captain, then the highest rank in the American
navy. This ended his service in the war of 1812.
In 1816 Captain Perry was sent against the Algerian pirates who were
again troublesome. The ruler finally signed a treaty of peace and Perry
returned without having had to fight. Two years later, in 1819, he was
ordered to Venezuela to protest against seizures of American vessels
and to present claims for losses. He succeeded in his mission, but he
did not live to return home, dying of yellow fever on his thirty-fourth
birthday, August 23, 1819. His body was brought home in a war-vessel
and buried with military honors at Newport, Rhode Island.
Another hero of the war of 1812 was Thomas Macdonough, “the hero of
Lake Champlain,” who won a decisive victory against odds of men, guns,
and ships. Thomas Macdonough was born in Delaware and entered the navy
when he was sixteen.
In 1803 he sailed on the frigate Philadelphia bound for Tripoli.
At Gibraltar he was left in charge of a captured Moorish ship. The
Philadelphia, as you know, was taken by the Tripolitans; its crew was
kept in close confinement nearly two years. Macdonough served on board
the Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, and he was
one of the seventy men who captured and destroyed the Philadelphia,
which Admiral Nelson declared to be “the most bold and daring act of
the age.” For his gallantry on this occasion, Macdonough was made
lieutenant.
In 1810 he made a voyage in the merchant-service; at Liverpool he was
impressed and carried on board a British vessel, but he managed to make
his escape in the clothes of an English officer.
In 1812 Lieutenant Macdonough, then twenty-six years old, was put in
command of the naval force on Lake Champlain. You remember the old plan
of the British under Burgoyne for the invasion of New York. A similar
plan was now devised by the British and eleven thousand soldiers were
collected at the end of Lake Champlain to invade New York by way of
the lake. The English had built a fleet to convey this army. The
Americans had at the time, in 1814, only a force of about two thousand
men at Plattsburg, New York, and on the lake Lieutenant Macdonough’s
fleet of fourteen vessels, with eighty-six guns and eight hundred and
eighty-two men.
This fleet protected Plattsburg and it was necessary to destroy
it before General Prevost, the British commander, could make the
land attack. The British fleet, consisting of sixteen vessels with
ninety-two guns and nine hundred and thirty-seven men, advanced to
the attack early on the morning of September 11, 1814. Macdonough in
Plattsburg Bay awaiting the enemy. The shot of the British vessel
shattered a hen-coop on board Macdonough’s vessel; a game cock, thus
suddenly released, jumped on a gun, flapped his wings, and crowed. “The
men laughed and cheered; and immediately afterwards Macdonough himself
fired the first shot from one of the long guns.”
During the battle Macdonough worked like a common sailor at the guns
and directed the movements of his fleet with a quick eye for every
point of advantage. His ship was twice set on fire, and one by one his
guns were disabled; the damage inflicted on the British was still more
severe and some of their vessels were captured; in two and a half hours
their crippled fleet had to withdraw. The American fleet was so injured
that Lieutenant Macdonough was unable to pursue the retreating enemy.
But General Prevost was forced to retire without attacking Plattsburg
and the invasion of New York had to be given up.
From his battleship, Macdonough sent the message: “The Almighty has
been pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake Champlain in the
capture of one frigate, one brig, and two sloops of war of the enemy.
T. Macdonough.” For this victory he was made captain.
After the war of 1812, Captain Macdonough was sent on several cruises.
In 1825 on account of ill-health he obtained permission to leave the
Mediterranean where he was stationed and return to the United States.
But he did not live to reach his native shores, dying at sea, November
10, 1825. His body was brought home and buried with military honors.
Marquis de Lafayette
A French Patriot
One of the notable figures of the eighteenth century was a French
nobleman who aided in the struggle for freedom in two countries,
America and France. This book can give only a brief sketch of his
efforts in behalf of the American patriots. By the death of his father
and mother, the Marquis de Lafayette in his youth became master of
large estates and great wealth.
But he did not settle down to a calm and selfish enjoyment of these.
He heard of the struggles of the American colonists against the
oppression of the English king and his generous heart was inspired with
interest and sympathy. Later, he said, “The moment I heard of America
I loved her: the moment I knew she was fighting for freedom, I burned
with desire of bleeding for her; and the moment I shall be able to
serve her at any time or in any part of the world, will be the happiest
one of my life.”
He was only eighteen, lately married to a young and beautiful lady
of rank and wealth equal to his own. But he turned from the gay and
luxurious court; despite the opposition of the government, he left
France and made his way to America to aid the colonists in their fight
for freedom.
He went to Philadelphia; there he was coldly received by Congress which
hesitated to give the young foreigner the position to which he was
entitled by his rank and by the promise of the American commissioner in
France. A less enthusiastic patriot might have taken offence. Lafayette
only wrote to Congress: “After the sacrifice I have made I have the
right to exact two favors; one is, to serve at my own expense, the
other is, to serve at first as a volunteer.”
His generosity was not unrewarded. Congress made him major-general; he
was soon attached to the staff of Washington and between the two there
grew to be the warmest friendship. Lafayette suffered many hardships in
the patriot cause. He was wounded in the battle of Brandywine while
leading his troops; he bore without a murmur the privations of Valley
Forge, and fought gallantly in the battle of Monmouth.
In 1779 Lafayette went to France for a few months; it was largely
through his influence that land and naval forces were sent to the
aid of America. France formed an alliance with America and aided the
patriots chiefly because she hated England and wished revenge for the
loss of her northern colonies. The young French officer, however, was
inspired by love for the cause of freedom.
In 1781 he was sent in command of twelve hundred New England soldiers
to help the Virginians against the invading Cornwallis who had about
five thousand men. “The boy cannot escape me,” said Cornwallis when
he heard of Lafayette’s approach. But “the boy” managed to keep out
of reach, until he was so reinforced that when he offered battle
Cornwallis withdrew. It was now Lafayette’s turn to pursue and
Cornwallis’s to retreat. At Yorktown the British were hemmed in by
the American army under Lafayette on one side and the French fleet on
the other, until Washington’s forces came up. The siege and capture
of Yorktown followed, and Lafayette who had contributed largely to
the success of the campaign was publicly thanked by Washington. In
December, 1781, the young nobleman returned to his home in France.
A few years later the French began their struggle for liberty, the
famous French Revolution. The Marquis de Lafayette drew up a famous
“declaration of rights,” modeled after the Declaration of Independence,
and drew his sword again in the cause of the people. The great French
prison, the Bastile, regarded as the stronghold of tyranny, was taken,
and its key was sent by Lafayette to Washington.
Lafayette wanted freedom but not license for his countrymen, and he
lost favor with the violent republican party. At last, sick of anarchy
in the name of liberty, he left France, intending to come to America.
He was seized by the Austrian authorities, and for five years was kept
in close and cruel imprisonment.
In 1824 Lafayette, an old and broken man who had been deprived of
wealth and property, came to visit the young republic for which he had
fought. He was received as the nation’s guest, the people’s friend; he
went from Boston to New Orleans, welcomed and honored at every turn. He
made a pilgrimage to Mount Vernon to visit the tomb of his “great good
friend,” Washington. In Boston he laid the corner-stone of the Bunker
Hill monument. Congress voted him a grant of two hundred thousand
dollars and an American vessel was sent to convey him home. The United
States joined France in lamenting the death of this great patriot in
1834.
Some American Improvements and Inventions
Franklin, the first great typical American, was interested in
science,--not so much the abstract principles as the practical
application of those principles so as to increase the comfort and
well-being of people. This was true, also, of Jefferson, another great
typical American. From those days to the present time, this practical
turn has been characteristic of American talent. Sometimes it has been
said in reproach that America stands for progress in material ways,
that her men of science care, not for abstract truth, but for its
market value.
Let us remember, however, that whenever a great cause or principle has
needed support, Americans have always risen to the occasion. Material
progress and business ability are good things, if only we do not
overestimate their value in comparison with others.
In so large a country as America, the question of methods of travel
and means of transportation was of course important from the first.
Water-ways were the natural and most convenient mode of communication.
If you will look on a map of the colonies, you will see how the
settlements clung to water-lines--ocean, lake, and river.
Before the Revolution, men went to and fro as they had done for
hundreds even thousands of years. On the water they traveled by slow
boats, propelled by oars or sails. On the land they journeyed on foot,
or horseback, or in rude vehicles, over roads which were generally
rough and bad and often dangerous.