[Illustration: PAUL REVERE.]
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE
BY MRS. HELEN W. PIERSON
WITH FORTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS.
[Illustration: AN ARMORED LOOK-OUT]
NEW YORK
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS
9 Lafayette Place
Copyright, 1883.
By Joseph L. Blamire.
PREFATORY.
In this "Child's History of the United States," it has been
the aim to use words of only one syllable. But it will be seen
that, in a historical work, names must be given of famous men,
of great battles, and of some important measures. It is thought
that parents or teachers can soon familiarize young people with
these names, so that they will read them as readily as the rest.
Titles have been sometimes omitted, and some names which deserve
a place and have it in larger histories, are not found here.
All such omissions have been made from the fear of rendering
the task of reading the book too difficult for many, who, as
they grow older, can add to the list that fame has made illustrious,
and take wider views of the history of this land.
H. W. P.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
How this Land was Found.
CHAPTER II.
The New World.
CHAPTER III.
The Red Men.
CHAPTER IV.
The War that Made us Free.
CHAPTER V.
Three Great Fights.
CHAPTER VI.
First in War--First in Peace.
CHAPTER VII.
The Rest of the War.
CHAPTER VIII.
In Times of Peace.
CHAPTER IX.
New Men and New Laws.
CHAPTER X.
The Slave Trade.
CHAPTER XI.
A New War.
CHAPTER XII.
The War of North and South.
CHAPTER XIII.
Peace Once More.
History of the United States.
CHAPTER I.
HOW THIS LAND WAS FOUND.
[Illustration: IN-DI-ANS HUNTING IN THE SNOW.]
For a long time, in past years, it was not known that the world
was round. If the men in those days had been told that a ship
could start from a port and sail straight on for months and
come round to the same place, it would have made them laugh
as at a good joke. They did not know the real shape of the earth,
but thought it was a flat plane.
In those days our land was the home of the In-di-ans, or red
men, as we call them, from their dark skins. The red man does
not live in a house, but in a sort of tent or hut. The tribes
of red men had all this land for their own when Co-lum-bus was
born. The great woods, the green plains, the bright streams,
were all theirs. They made their wars in a strange and fierce
style, and wore at their belts locks of hair, cut from the heads
of those slain by their hands. These locks, cut from the head
with part of the skin, they call a scalp. It was the pride of
an In-di-an to have scalps hung at his belt. No one had taught
him that this was wrong, and he did not have the Word of God
to show him the right way.
When Co-lum-bus was a mere boy he was fond of the sea and ships.
He would go and watch the waves, and think about how ships were
made, and the best way to sail them. He was born in Gen-oa,
which is by the blue sea; so when he was a small boy he could
watch the white sails come in. Such queer ships they had there,
with strange high prows! As time went on, and he grew of age,
he made trips in these ships, and was in sea-fights, and once
or twice he was in a wreck. So you see he had a chance to grow
strong and brave for the work he had to do.
[Illustration: The Oceian and Islands between Western Europe
and Eastern Asia from the Globus of Martin Behaim 1492.]
What he read in books taught him that the world was round, and
not flat, as was thought in those times. So he knew that if
he could sail west he would come to a new land. He thought of
this a long time, and at last he grew more sure of it, but he
could get no one else to think as he did. He spent ten years
in this way. He was full of plans; but he could get no help
and no gold. He was too poor to do all with no aid from his
friends. At last he went to Spain.
There were a King and Queen there who were kind to Co-lum-bus;
but at first they would not give their gold to help him. They
thought this was a wild dream. At last, with a sad heart, he
made up his mind to turn his back on the court of Spain.
While on his way, a man came to him from Queen Is-a-bel-la.
She had sent him word that she would help him; "that she would
pledge her own gems to give him aid." But she did not have to
do this, as means were found when Co-lum-bus went back to the
court. His heart was made glad; for they gave him a small fleet
of three ships, and on the 3d of August, 1492, the sun rose
on the fleet as it went forth on its way to the new land. All
was strange to the new crew, and they had all sorts of queer
thoughts and fears of the sea. They had not been out of sight
of land in all their lives; and when they saw the deep, dark
sea on all sides, they were full of fear that they would not
see their homes again. The trade-wind which took them west so
fast, would keep them, they thought, from their land when they
had the wish to go back. At last they grew so full of fear,
they swore they would not go on, and Co-lum-bus had hard work
to make them. But soon there were signs of land, and some land
birds flew by the ship; and one of the crew found a branch of
a tree on the waves, which had some fresh red fruit on it.
Oh, how glad they were! Co-lum-bus felt so sure that he was
near land, he gave word for the ships to lie by that night.
No man thought of sleep. They all kept watch on deck to see
this strange new coast for which they had borne so much.
In the night a cry of joy was heard. Co-lum-bus had seen a light
far off, and a shout of "Land! land!" soon came from all sides.
When the sun rose they all saw a green strip of shore some five
miles long. The men fell at the feet of Co-lum-bus and shed
tears of joy. Then they sang a hymn of praise to God, who had
kept them and brought them safe and sound to this new place.
They got out the small boats and put men and arms in them, with
flags, and a band to play a march of joy, and the crews made
their way to the shore. Co-lum-bus, in a rich dress with his
drawn sword in his hand, sprang on the beach, and then the crew
came next. They set up a cross, and all knelt at its foot and
gave thanks for their safe trip. Then Co-lum-bus set up the
flag of Cas-tile and Le-on, and took the new land for the crown
of Spain.
While they stood there with shouts of joy and songs, some strange
dark shapes stole up with soft steps to their side. The crew
thought these men must have come from a new world, as they saw
their dark skins and the gay paint and plumes they wore. Co-lum-bus
gave them the name of In-di-ans, for he thought the new coast
was part of In-dia. He did not know that he had found a new
land. These men with red skins were glad to kiss the feet of
the Span-iards, and change their gold chains and rude rings
for the beads and pins the crew gave to them.
Co-lum-bus spent some time in the new land he had found, and
then he set sail for home to take his friends and the Queen
the great news. A wild storm came on the way home, and Co-lum-bus
thought that all was lost, so he wrote his tale on a cake of
wax and put the cake in a cask and threw it in the sea; so that
if he had gone down in the storm, all that he had found would
not be lost to the world.
But God took care of Co-lum-bus and his crew. They got back
to their homes once more and had a grand time. The King and
Queen gave them a new and fine fleet; and in time they came
back and saw new points of land on which to build homes, and
they found, too, South A-mer-i-ca.
There were some in Spain who did not like Co-lum-bus, for he
had won gold and fame, while they had none. So they told false
tales of him; and when his friend, Queen Is-a-bel-la, died,
he was once brought back from the land he had found in chains.
How sad that was!--was it not? At last he had to die old and
poor, and this land did not have his name. It had no name for
some time; but at last an I-tal-ian, who made a few trips there,
and wrote of what he saw, gave his name to the new world. His
name was A-mer-i-cus Ves-pu-ci-us. That is a hard name for you
to say, but you can all say A-mer-i-ca, and that is the name
of our land.