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Title: The Beginner's American History
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THE BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY
by
D. H. MONTGOMERY
Author of the Leading Facts of History Series
[Frontispiece: LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD. A Statue in the
Harbor of New York City, given to the American People by the People
of France. (Copyright by Charles T. Root.)]
Boston. U.S.A.
Published by Ginn & Company
1893
Copyright, 1892,
by D. H. Montgomery
All Rights Reserved.
Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston, U.S.A.
Presswork by Ginn & Co., Boston, U.S.A.
D.H.M.
TO
S.K.K.
PREFATORY NOTE.
This little book is intended by the writer as an introduction to his
larger work entitled _The Leading Facts of American History_.
It is in no sense an abridgment of the larger history, but is
practically an entirely new and distinct work.
Its object is to present clearly and accurately those facts and
principles in the lives of some of the chief founders and builders
of America which would be of interest and value to pupils beginning
the study of our history. Throughout the book great care has been
taken to relate only such incidents and anecdotes as are believed
to rest on unexceptionable authority.
The numerous illustrations in the text are, in nearly every case,
from drawings and designs made by Miss C. S. King of Boston.
In the preparation of this work for the press--as in that of the
entire _Leading Facts of History Series_--the author has been
especially indebted to the valuable assistance rendered in
proofreading by Mr. George W. Cushing of Boston.
DAVID H. MONTGOMERY,
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
CONTENTS.
PARAGRAPH
I. COLUMBUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT . . . . . . . . 21
III. BALBOA, PONCE DE LEON, and DE SOTO . . . 28
IV. SIR WALTER RALEIGH . . . . . . . . . . . 32
V. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH . . . . . . . . . . . 37
VI. CAPTAIN HENRY HUDSON . . . . . . . . . . 52
VII. CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH . . . . . . . . . 62
VIII. LORD BALTIMORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
IX. ROGER WILLIAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
X. KING PHILIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
XI. WILLIAM PENN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
XII. GENERAL JAMES OGLETHORPE . . . . . . . . 102
XIII. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN . . . . . . . . . . . 109
XIV. GEORGE WASHINGTON . . . . . . . . . . . 123
XV. DANIEL BOONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
XVI. GENERAL JAMES ROBERTSON . . . . . . . . 156
XVII. GOVERNOR JOHN SEVIER . . . . . . . . . . 156
XVIII. GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK . . . . . . 161
XIX. GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM . . . . . . . . . . 169
XX. ELI WHITNEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
XXI. THOMAS JEFFERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
XXII. ROBERT FULTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
XXIII. GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON . . . . . 201
XXIV. GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON . . . . . . . . . 206
XXV. PROFESSOR SAMUEL F. B. MORSE . . . . . . 220
XXVI. GENERAL SAM HOUSTON . . . . . . . . . . 229
XXVII. CAPTAIN ROBERT GRAY . . . . . . . . . . 233
XXVIII. CAPTAIN J. A. SUTTER . . . . . . . . . . 236
XXIX. ABRAHAM LINCOLN . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
A SHORT LIST OF BOOKS
INDEX
LIST OF LARGE MAPS.
PARAGRAPH
I. Map Illustrating the Early Life of Washington . . . . . . 127
II. Map of the Revolution (northern states) . . . . . . . . . 135
III. Map of the Revolution (southern states) . . . . . . . . . 140
IV. The United States at the close of the Revolution . . . . 187
V. The United States after the Purchase of Louisiana (1803) 188
VI. The United States after the Purchase of Florida (1819) . 218
VII. The United States after the Acquisition of Texas (1845) . 230
VIII. The United States after the Acquisition of Oregon (1846) 235
IX. The United States after the Acquisition of California
and New Mexico (1848) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
X. The United States after the Gadsden Purchase (1853) . . . 240
XI. The United States after the Purchase of Alaska (1867)
See Map of North America (giving a summary of the
territorial growth of the United States) . . . . . . . 240
NOTE.--In these maps it has been thought best to give the boundaries
of the thirteen original states as they now exist; and to show the
outlines of other states before they were organized and admitted.
LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
PARAGRAPH
I. The Statue of Liberty . . . . . . . . . . . . ._Frontispiece_
II. An Indian Attack on a Settlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
III. Paul Revere's Ride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
IV. Battle of New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
V. Niagara Suspension Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
VI. Mount Hood, Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
VII. Mirror Lake, California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
THE BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY
_The paragraph headings, following the paragraph numbers, will be
found useful for topical reference, and, if desired, as questions;
by simply omitting these headings, the book may be used as a reader._
_Teachers who wish a regular set of questions on each section will
find them at the end of the section. Difficult words are defined or
pronounced at the end of the numbered paragraph where they first
occur; reference to them will be found in the index._
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
(1436-1506).[1]
1. Birth and boyhood of Columbus.--Christopher Columbus,[2] the
discoverer of America, was born at Genoa,[3] a seaport of Italy, more
than four hundred and fifty years ago. His father was a
wool-comber.[4] Christopher did not care to learn that trade, but
wanted to become a sailor. Seeing the boy's strong liking for the
sea, his father sent him to a school where he could learn geography,
map-drawing, and whatever else might help him to become some day
commander of a vessel.
[Illustration: COLUMBUS AS A BOY. (From the statue in the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston.)]
[Footnote 1: These enclosed dates under a name show, except when
otherwise stated, the year of birth and death.]
[Footnote 2: Christopher Columbus (Kris'tof-er Ko-lum'bus).]
[Footnote 3: Genoa (Jen'o-ah); see map in paragraph 21.]
[Footnote 4: Wool-comber: before wool can be spun into thread and
woven into cloth the tangled locks must be combed out straight and
smooth; once this was all done by hand.]
2. Columbus becomes a sailor.--When he was fourteen Columbus went
to sea. In those days the Mediterranean[5] Sea swarmed with war-ships
and pirates. Every sailor, no matter if he was but a boy, had to stand
ready to fight his way from port to port.
In this exciting life, full of adventure and of danger, Columbus grew
to manhood. The rough experiences he then had did much toward making
him the brave, determined captain and explorer[6] that he afterwards
became.
[Footnote 5: Mediterranean (Med'i-ter-ra'ne-an).]
[Footnote 6: Explorer: one who explores or discovers new countries.]
3. Columbus has a sea-fight; he goes to Lisbon.--According to some
accounts, Columbus once had a desperate battle with a vessel off the
coast of Portugal. The fight lasted, it is said, all day. At length
both vessels were found to be on fire. Columbus jumped from his
blazing ship into the sea, and catching hold of a floating oar,
managed, with its help, to swim to the shore, about six miles away.
He then went to the port of Lisbon.[7] There he married the daughter
of a famous sea-captain. For a long time after his marriage Columbus
earned his living partly by drawing maps, which he sold to commanders
of vessels visiting Lisbon, and partly by making voyages to Africa,
Iceland, and other countries.
[Footnote 7: Lisbon: see map in paragraph 21.]
4. What men then knew about the world.--The maps which Columbus made
and sold were very different from those we now have. At that time
not half of the world had been discovered.[8] Europe, Asia, and a
small part of Africa were the chief countries known. The maps of
Columbus may have shown the earth shaped like a ball, but he supposed
it to be much smaller than it really is. No one then had sailed round
the globe. No one then knew what lands lay west of the broad Atlantic;
for this reason we should look in vain, on one of the maps drawn by
Columbus, for the great continents of North and South America or for
Australia or the Pacific Ocean.
[Illustration: The light parts of this map show how much of the world
was then well-known; the white crosses show those countries of
Eastern Asia of which something was known.]
[Footnote 8: See map in this paragraph.]
5. The plan of Columbus for reaching the Indies by sailing
west.--While living in Lisbon, Columbus made up his mind to try to
do what no other man, at that time, dared attempt,--that was to cross
the Atlantic Ocean. He thought that by doing so he could get directly
to Asia and the Indies, which, he believed, were opposite Portugal
and Spain. If successful, he could open up a very profitable trade
with the rich countries of the East, from which spices, drugs, and
silk were brought to Europe. The people of Europe could not reach
those countries directly by ships, because they had not then found
their way round the southern point of Africa.
[Illustration: This map shows how Columbus (not knowing that America
lay in the way) hoped to reach Asia and the East Indies by sailing
west.]
6. Columbus tries to get help in carrying out his plans.--Columbus
was too poor to fit out even a single ship to undertake such a voyage
as he had planned. He asked the king of Portugal to furnish some money
or vessels toward it, but he received no encouragement. At length
he determined to go to Spain and see if he could get help there.
On the southern coast of Spain there is a small port named Palos.[9]
Within sight of the village of Palos, and also within plain sight
of the ocean, there was a convent,[10]--which is still
standing,--called the Convent of Saint Mary.
One morning a tall, fine-looking man, leading a little boy by the
hand, knocked at the door of this convent and begged for a piece of
bread and a cup of water for the child. The man was Columbus,--whose
wife was now dead,--and the boy was his son.
It chanced that the guardian of the convent noticed Columbus standing
at the door. He liked his appearance, and coming up, began to talk
with him. Columbus frankly told him what he was trying to do. The
guardian of the convent listened with great interest; then he gave
him a letter to a friend who he thought would help him to lay his
plans before Ferdinand and Isabella,[11] the king and queen of Spain.
[Footnote 9: Palos (Pa'los); see map in paragraph 12.]
[Footnote 10: Convent: a house in which a number of people live who
devote themselves to a religious life.]
[Footnote 11: Isabella (Iz-ah-bel'ah).]
7. Columbus gets help for his great voyage.--Columbus left his son
at the convent, and set forward on his journey full of bright hopes.
But Ferdinand and Isabella could not then see him; and after waiting
a long time, the traveller was told that he might go before a number
of learned men and tell them about his proposed voyage across the
Atlantic.
After hearing what Columbus had to say, these men thought that it
would be foolish to spend money in trying to reach the other side
of the ocean.
People who heard what this captain from Lisbon wanted to do began
to think that he had lost his reason, and the boys in the streets
laughed at him and called him crazy. Columbus waited for help seven
years; he then made up his mind that he would wait no longer. Just
as he was about leaving Spain, Queen Isabella, who had always felt
interested in the brave sailor, resolved to aid him. Two rich
sea-captains who lived in Palos also decided to take part in the
voyage. With the assistance which Columbus now got he was able to
fit out three small vessels. He went in the largest of the
vessels--the only one which had an entire deck--as admiral[12] or
commander of the fleet.
[Footnote 12: Admiral (ad'mi-ral).]
8. Columbus sails.--Early on Friday morning, August 3d, 1492,
Columbus started from Palos to attempt to cross that ocean which men
then called the "Sea of Darkness,"--a name which showed how little
they knew of it, and how much they dreaded it.
We may be pretty sure that the guardian of the convent was one of
those who watched the sailing of the little fleet. From the upper
windows of the convent he could plainly see the vessels as they left
the harbor of Palos.
[Illustration: COLUMBUS LEAVING PALOS, AUGUST 3D, 1492.]
9. What happened on the first part of the voyage.--Columbus sailed
first for the Canary Islands, because from there it would be a
straight line, as he thought, across to Japan and Asia. He was obliged
to stop at the Canaries[13] more than three weeks, in order to make
a new rudder for one of his vessels and to alter the sails of another.
At length all was ready, and he again set out on his voyage toward
the west. When the sailors got so far out on the ocean that they could
no longer see any of the islands, they were overcome with fear. They
made up their minds that they should never be able to get back to
Palos again. They were rough men, used to the sea, but now they bowed
down their heads and cried like children. Columbus had hard work to
quiet their fears and to encourage them to go forward with the voyage
which they already wanted to give up.
[Footnote 13: Canaries (Ka-na'rez); see map in paragraph 12.]
10. What happened after they had been at sea many days.--For more
than thirty days the three ships kept on their way toward the west.
To the crew every day seemed a year. From sunrise to sunset nothing
was to be seen but water and sky. At last the men began to think that
they were sailing on an ocean which had no end. They whispered among
themselves that Columbus had gone mad, and that if they kept on with
him in command they should all be lost.
Twice, indeed, there was a joyful cry of Land! Land! but when they
got nearer they saw that what they had thought was land was nothing
but banks of clouds. Then some of the sailors said, Let us go to the
admiral and tell him that we must turn back. What if he will not listen
to us? asked others; Then we will throw him overboard and say when
we reach Palos that he fell into the sea and was drowned.
But when the crew went to Columbus and told him that they would go
no further, he sternly ordered them to their work, declaring that
whatever might happen, he would not now give up the voyage.
11. Signs of land.--The very next day such certain signs of land were
seen that the most faint-hearted took courage. The men had already
noticed great flocks of land-birds flying toward the west, as if to
guide them. Now some of the men on one vessel saw a branch of a
thorn-bush float by. It was plain that it had not long been broken
off from the bush, and it was full of red berries.
But one of the crew on the other vessel found something better even
than the thorn-branch; for he drew out of the water a carved
walking-stick. Every one saw that such a stick must have been cut
and carved by human hands. These two signs could not be doubted. The
men now felt sure that they were approaching the shore, and what was
more, that there were people living in that strange country.
12. Discovery of land.--That evening Columbus begged his crew to keep
a sharp lookout, and he promised a velvet coat to the one who should
first see land. All was now excitement; and no man closed his eyes
in sleep that night.
Columbus himself stood on a high part of his ship, looking steadily
toward the west. About ten o'clock he saw a moving light; it seemed
like a torch carried in a man's hand. He called to a companion and
asked him if he could see anything of the kind; yes, he, too, plainly
saw the moving light, but presently it disappeared.
Two hours after midnight a cannon was fired from the foremost vessel.
It was the glad signal that the long-looked-for land was actually
in sight. There it lay directly ahead, about six miles away.
[Illustration: Map showing the direction in which Columbus sailed
on his great voyage across the ocean.]
Then Columbus gave the order to furl sails, and the three vessels
came to a stop and waited for the dawn. When the sun rose on Friday,
October 12th, 1492, Columbus saw a beautiful island with many trees
growing on it. That was his first sight of the New World.
13. Columbus lands on the island and names it; who lived on the
island.--Attended by the captains of the other two vessels, and by
their crews, Columbus set out in a boat for the island. When they
landed, all fell on their knees, kissed the ground for joy, and gave
thanks to God. Columbus named the island San Salvador[14] and took
possession of it, by right of discovery, for the king and queen of
Spain.
[Illustration: LANDING OF COLUMBUS.]
He found that it was inhabited by a copper-colored people who spoke
a language he could not understand. These people had never seen a
ship or a white man before. They wore no clothing, but painted their
bodies with bright colors. The Spaniards made them presents of
strings of glass beads and red caps. In return they gave the Spaniards
skeins of cotton yarn, tame parrots, and small ornaments of gold.
After staying here a short time Columbus set sail toward the south,
in search of more land and in the hope of finding out where these
people got their gold.
[Footnote 14: San Salvador (San Sal-va-dor'): meaning the Holy
Redeemer or Saviour.]
14. Columbus names the group of islands and their people.--As
Columbus sailed on, he saw many islands in every direction. He
thought that they must be a part of the Indies which he was seeking.
Since he had reached them by coming west from Spain, he called them
the West Indies, and to the red men who lived on them he gave the
name of Indians.
15. Columbus discovers two very large islands; his vessel is wrecked,
and he returns to Spain in another.--In the course of the next six
weeks Columbus discovered the island of Cuba. At first he thought
that it must be Japan, but afterward he came to the conclusion that
it was not an island at all, but part of the mainland of Asia.
Next, he came to the island of Hayti,[15] or San Domingo.[16] Here
his ship was wrecked. He took the timber of the wreck and built a
fort on the shore. Leaving about forty of his crew in this fort,
Columbus set sail for Palos in one of the two remaining vessels.
[Footnote 15: Hayti (Ha'ti).]
[Footnote 16: San Domingo (San Do-min'go); see map in paragraph 17.]
16. Columbus arrives at Palos; joy of the people; how Ferdinand and
Isabella received him.--When the vessel of Columbus was seen
entering the harbor of Palos, the whole village was wild with
excitement. More than seven months had gone by since he sailed away
from that port, and as nothing had been heard from him, many supposed
that the vessels and all on board were lost. Now that they saw their
friends and neighbors coming back, all was joy. The bells of the
churches rang a merry peal of welcome; the people thronged the
streets, shouting to each other that Columbus, the great navigator,
had crossed the "Sea of Darkness" and had returned in safety.
The king and queen were then in the city of Barcelona,[17] a long
distance from Palos. To that city Columbus now went. He entered it
on horseback, attended by the proudest and richest noblemen of Spain.
He brought with him six Indians from the West Indies. They were gaily
painted and wore bright feathers in their hair. Then a number of men
followed, carrying rare birds and plants, with gold and silver
ornaments, all found in the New World. These were presents for the
king and queen. Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus with great
honor. When he had told them the story of his wonderful voyage, they
sank on their knees and gave praise to God; all who were present
followed their example.
[Illustration: COLUMBUS RECEIVED BY THE KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN.]
[Footnote 17: Barcelona (Bar-se-lo'na); see map in paragraph 12.]
17. The last voyages of Columbus.--Columbus made three more voyages
across the Atlantic. He discovered more islands near the coast of
America, and he touched the coast of Central America and of South
America, but that was all. He never set foot on any part of what is
now the United States, and he always thought that the land he had
reached was part of Asia. He had found a new world, but he did not
know it: all that he knew was how to get to it and how to show others
the way.
[Illustration: The light parts of this map show how much of America
Columbus discovered. (The long island is Cuba; the large one to the
right is San Domingo.)]
18. Columbus in his old age.--The last days of this great man were
very sorrowful. The king was disappointed because he brought back
no gold to amount to anything. The Spanish governor of San Domingo
hated Columbus, and when he landed at that island on one of his
voyages, he arrested him and sent him back to Spain in chains. He
was at once set at liberty; but he could not forget the insult. He
kept the chains hanging on the wall of his room, and asked to have
them buried with him.
Columbus was now an old man; his health was broken, he was poor, in
debt, and without a home. Once he wrote to the king and queen, saying,
"I have not a hair upon me that is not gray, my body is weak, and
all that was left to me ... has been taken away and sold, even to
the coat which I wore."
Not long after he had come back to Spain to stay, the queen died.
Then Columbus felt that he had lost his best friend. He gave up hope,
and said, "I have done all that I could do: I leave the rest to God."
19. His death and burial.--Columbus died full of disappointment and
sorrow--perhaps it would not be too much to say that he died of a
broken heart.
He was at first buried in Spain; then his body was taken up and carried
to San Domingo, where he had wished to be buried. Whether it rests
there to-day, or whether it was carried to Havana[18] and deposited
in the cathedral or great church of that city, no one can positively
say. But wherever the grave of the great sailor may be, his memory
will live in every heart capable of respecting a brave man; for he
first dared to cross the "Sea of Darkness," and he discovered
America.
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS. (In the Cathedral of Havana,
Cuba.)]
[Footnote 18: Havana (Ha-van'ah): a city of Cuba.]
20. Summary.--In 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to
find a direct way across the Atlantic to Asia and the Indies. He did
not get to Asia; but he did better; he discovered America. He died
thinking that the new lands he had found were part of Asia; but by
his daring voyage he first showed the people of Europe how to get
to the New World.
When and where was Columbus born? What did he do when he was fourteen?
What about his sea-fight? What did he do in Lisbon? How much of the
world was then known? How did Columbus think he could reach Asia and
the Indies? Why did he want to go there? What did he try to do in
Portugal? Why did he go to Spain? Where did he first go in Spain?
How did Columbus get help at last? When did he sail? What happened
on the first part of the voyage? What happened after that? What is
said about signs of land? What about the discovery of land? What did
Columbus name the island? What did he find on it? What is said of
other islands? What is said of the return of Columbus to Spain? What
about the last voyages of Columbus? Did he ever land on any part of
what is now the United States? What about his old age? What is said
of his death and burial?
JOHN CABOT[1]
(Lived in England from 1472-1498).
21. John Cabot discovers the _continent_ of North America.--At the
time that Columbus set out on his first voyage across the Atlantic
in 1492, John Cabot, an Italian merchant, was living in the city of
Bristol,[2] England. When the news reached that city that Columbus
had discovered the West Indies, Cabot begged Henry the Seventh, king
of England, to let him see if he could not find a shorter way to the
Indies than that of Columbus. The king gave his consent, and in the
spring of 1497 John Cabot, with his son Sebastian,[3] who seems to
have been born in Bristol, sailed from that port. They headed their
vessels toward the northwest; by going in that direction they hoped
to get to those parts of Asia and the Spice Islands which were known
to Europe, and which Columbus had failed to reach.
[Illustration: Map showing the city of Venice, Italy, where John
Cabot had lived.]
Early one bright morning toward the last of June, 1497, they saw land
in the west. It was probably Cape Breton[4] Island, a part of Nova
Scotia.[5] John Cabot named it "The Land First Seen." Up to this time
Columbus had discovered nothing but the West India Islands, but John
Cabot now saw the continent of North America; no civilized man[6]
had ever seen it before. There it lay, a great, lonely land, shaggy
with forests, with not a house or a human being in sight.
[Illustration: Map showing Nova Scotia.]
[Footnote 1: Cabot (Cab'ot).]
[Footnote 2: See map in paragraph 62.]
[Footnote 3: Sebastian (Se-bast'yan).]
[Footnote 4: Breton (Bret'on).]
[Footnote 5: Nova Scotia (No'vah Sko'she-a).]
[Footnote 6: The Northmen: an uncivilized people of Norway and
Denmark discovered the continent of North America about five hundred
years before Cabot did. Nothing came of this discovery, and when
Cabot sailed, no one seems to have known anything about what the
Northmen had done so long before.]
22. John Cabot takes possession of the country for the king of
England.--Cabot went on shore with his son and some of his crew. In
the vast, silent wilderness they set up a large cross. Near to it
they planted two flag-poles, and hoisted the English flag on one and
the flag of Venice,[7] the city where John Cabot had lived in Italy,
on the other. Then they took possession of the land for Henry the
Seventh. It was in this way that the English came to consider that
the eastern coast of North America was their property, although they
did not begin to make settlements here until nearly a hundred years
later.
[Illustration: LANDING OF THE CABOTS.]
[Footnote 7: Venice (Ven'is).]
23. John Cabot and his son return to Bristol.--After sailing about
the Gulf of St. Lawrence without finding the passage through to Asia
for which they were looking, the voyagers returned to England.
The king was so pleased with what John Cabot had discovered that he
made him a handsome present; and when the captain, richly dressed
in silk, appeared in the street, the people of Bristol would "run
after him like mad" and hurrah for the "Great Admiral," as they called
him.
24. What the Cabots carried back to England from America.--The Cabots
carried back to England some Indian traps for catching game and
perhaps some wild turkeys--an American bird the English had then
never seen, but whose acquaintance they were not sorry to make. They
also carried over the rib of a whale which they had found on the beach
in Nova Scotia.
Near where the Cabots probably lived in Bristol there is a famous
old church.[8] It was built long before the discovery of America,
and Queen Elizabeth said that it was the most beautiful building of
its kind in all England. In that church hangs the rib of a whale.
It is believed to be the one the Cabots brought home with them. It
reminds all who see it of that voyage in 1497 by which England got
possession of a very large part of the continent of North America.
[Footnote 8: The church of St. Mary Redcliffe.]
25. The second voyage of the Cabots; how they sailed along the eastern
shores of North America.--About a year later the Cabots set out on
a second voyage to the west. They reached the gloomy cliffs of
Labrador[9] on the northeastern coast of America, and they passed
many immense icebergs. They saw numbers of Indians dressed in the
skins of wild beasts, and polar bears white as snow. These bears were
great swimmers, and would dive into the sea and come up with a large
fish in their claws. As it did not look to the Cabots as if the polar
bears and the icebergs would guide them to the warm countries of Asia
and the Spice Islands, they turned about and went south. They sailed
along what is now the eastern coast of the United States for a very
long distance; but not finding any passage through to the countries
they were seeking, they returned to England.
[Illustration: Map showing how much of the continent of North America
was discovered by the Cabots.]
The English now began to see what an immense extent of land they had
found beyond the Atlantic. They could not tell, however, whether it
was a continent by itself or a part of Asia. Like everybody in Europe,
they called it the New World, but all that name really meant then
was simply the New Lands across the sea.
[Footnote 9: Labrador (Lab'ra-dor).]
26. How the New World came to be called America.--But not many years
after this the New World received the name by which we now call it.
An Italian navigator whose first name was Amerigo[10] made a voyage
to it after it had been discovered by Columbus and the Cabots. He
wrote an account of what he saw, and as this was the first printed
description of the continent, it was named from him, AMERICA.
[Footnote 10: Amerigo (A-ma-ree'go): his full name was Amerigo
Vespucci (A-ma-ree'go Ves-poot'chee), or, as he wrote it in Latin,
Americus Vespucius.]
27. Summary.--In 1497 John Cabot and his son, from Bristol, England,
discovered the mainland or continent of North America, and took
possession of it for England. The next year they came over and sailed
along the eastern coast of what is now the United States.
An Italian whose first name was Amerigo visited the New World
afterward and wrote the first account of the mainland which was
printed. For this reason the whole continent was named after him,
AMERICA.
Who was John Cabot? What did he try to do? Who sailed with him?
What land did they see? Had Columbus ever seen it? What did Cabot
do when he went on shore? What is said of his return to Bristol? What
did the Cabots carry back to England? What is said about the second
voyage of the Cabots? How did the New World come to be called America?
PONCE DE LEON,[1] BALBOA,[2] AND DE SOTO[3]
(Period of Discovery, 1513-1542).
28. The magic fountain; Ponce de Leon discovers Florida; Balboa
discovers the Pacific Ocean.--The Indians on the West India Islands
believed that there was a wonderful fountain in a land to the west
of them. They said that if an old man should bathe in its waters,
they would make him a boy again. Ponce de Leon, a Spanish soldier
who was getting gray and wrinkled, set out to find this magic fountain,
for he thought that there was more fun in being a boy than in growing
old.
He did not find the fountain, and so his hair grew grayer than ever
and his wrinkles grew deeper. But in 1513 he discovered a land bright
with flowers, which he named Florida.[4] He took possession of it
for Spain.
The same year another Spaniard, named Balboa, set out to explore the
Isthmus of Panama.[5] One day he climbed to the top of a very high
hill, and discovered that vast ocean--the greatest of all the oceans
of the globe--which we call the Pacific.
[Footnote 1: Ponce de Leon (Pon'thay day La-on') or, in English, Pons
de Lee'on. Many persons now prefer the English pronunciation of all
these Spanish names.]
[Footnote 2: Balboa (Bal-bo'ah).]
[Footnote 3: De Soto (Da So'to).]
[Footnote 4: Florida: this word means flowery; the name was given
by the Spaniards because they discovered the country on Easter Sunday,
which they call Flowery Easter.]
[Footnote 5: Panama (Pan-a-mah').]
29. De Soto discovers the Mississippi.--Long after Balboa and Ponce
de Leon were dead, a Spaniard named De Soto landed in Florida and
marched through the country in search of gold mines.
In the course of his long and weary wanderings, he came to a river
more than a mile across. The Indians told him it was the Mississippi,
or the Great River. In discovering it, De Soto had found the largest
river in North America; he had also found his own grave, for he died
shortly after, and was secretly buried at midnight in its muddy
waters.
[Illustration: BURIAL OF DE SOTO.]
30. The Spaniards build St. Augustine;[6] we buy Florida in
1819.--More than twenty years after the burial of De Soto, a Spanish
soldier named Menendez[7] went to Florida and built a fort on the
eastern coast. This was in 1565. The fort became the centre of a
settlement named St. Augustine. It is the oldest city built by white
men, not only in what is now the United States, but in all North
America.
[Illustration: OLD SPANISH GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE. (Called the
"City Gate.")]
In 1819, or more than two hundred and fifty years after St. Augustine
was begun, Spain sold Florida to the United States.
[Footnote 6: St. Augustine (Sant Aw'gus-teen').]
[Footnote 7: Menendez (Ma-nen'deth).]
31. Summary.--Ponce de Leon discovered Florida; another Spaniard,
named Balboa, discovered the Pacific; still another, named De Soto,
discovered the Mississippi. In 1565 the Spaniards began to build St.
Augustine in Florida. It is the oldest city built by white men in
the United States or in all North America.
What is said about a magic fountain? What did Ponce De Leon do? What
is said about Balboa? What about De Soto? What did Menendez do in
Florida? What is said of St. Augustine?
SIR WALTER RALEIGH[1]
(1552-1618).
32. Walter Raleigh sends two ships to America; how the Indians
received the Englishmen.--Although John Cabot discovered the
continent of North America in 1497 and took possession of the land
for the English,[2] yet the English themselves did not try to settle
here until nearly a hundred years later.
Then (1584) a young man named Walter Raleigh, who was a great favorite
of Queen Elizabeth's, sent out two ships to America. The captains
of these vessels landed on Roanoke[3] Island, on the coast of what
is now the state of North Carolina. They found the island covered
with tall red cedars and with vines thick with clusters of wild grapes.
The Indians called this place the "Good Land." They were pleased to
see the Englishmen, and they invited them to a great feast of roast
turkey, venison,[4] melons, and nuts.
[Illustration: Map showing Roanoke Island.]
[Footnote 1: Raleigh (Raw'li).]
[Footnote 2: See paragraph 22.]
[Footnote 3: Roanoke (Ro-a-nok').]
[Footnote 4: Venison (ven'i-zon or ven'zon): deer meat.]
33. Queen Elizabeth names the country Virginia; first settlers; what
they sent Walter Raleigh.--When the two captains returned to England,
Queen Elizabeth--the "Virgin Queen," as she was called--was
delighted with what she heard of the "Good Land." She named it
Virginia in honor of herself. She also gave Raleigh a title of honor.
From that time he was no longer called plain Walter Raleigh or Mr.
Raleigh, but Sir Walter Raleigh.
Sir Walter now (1585) shipped over emigrants[5] to settle in Virginia.
They sent back to him as a present two famous American plants--one
called Tobacco, the other the Potato. The queen had given Sir Walter
a fine estate in Ireland, and he set out both the plants in his garden.
The tobacco plant did not grow very well there, but the potato did;
and after a time thousands of farmers began to raise that vegetable,
not only in Ireland, but in England too. As far back then as that
time--or more than three hundred years ago--America was beginning
to feed the people of the Old World.
[Illustration: THE FIRST PIPE OF TOBACCO. (Raleigh's servant thought
his master was on fire.)]
[Footnote 5: Emigrants: persons who leave one country to go and
settle in another. Thousands of emigrants from Europe now land in
this country every month.]
34. The Virginia settlement destroyed.--Sir Walter spent immense
sums of money on his settlement in Virginia, but it did not succeed.
One of the settlers, named Dare, had a daughter born there. He named
her Virginia Dare. She was the first English child born in America.
But the little girl, with her father and mother and all the rest of
the settlers, disappeared. It is supposed that they were either
killed by the Indians or that they wandered away and starved to death;
but all that we really know is that not one of them was ever seen
again.
35. Last days of Sir Walter Raleigh.--After Queen Elizabeth died,
King James the First became ruler of England. He accused Sir Walter
of trying to take away his crown so as to make some one else ruler
over the country. Sir Walter was sent to prison and kept there for
many years. At last King James released him in order to send him to
South America to get gold. When Sir Walter returned to London without
any gold, the greedy king accused him of having disobeyed him because
he had fought with some Spaniards. Raleigh was condemned to death
and beheaded.
But Sir Walter's attempt to settle Virginia led other Englishmen to
try. Before he died they built a town, called Jamestown, on the coast.
We shall presently read the history of that town. The English held
Virginia from that time until it became part of the United States.
36. Summary.--Sir Walter Raleigh sent over men from England to
explore the coast of America. Queen Elizabeth named the country they
visited Virginia. Raleigh then shipped emigrants over to make a
settlement. These emigrants sent him two American plants, Tobacco
and the Potato; and in that way the people of Great Britain and
Ireland came to like both. Sir Walter's settlement failed, but his
example led other Englishmen to try to make one. Before he was
beheaded they succeeded.
What is said about Walter Raleigh? What is said about the Indians?
What name did Queen Elizabeth give to the country? What did she do
for Walter Raleigh? What did Sir Walter then do? What American plants
did the emigrants send him? What did he do with those plants? What
happened to the Virginia settlement? What is said of the last days
of Sir Walter Raleigh? Did Sir Walter's attempt to settle Virginia
do any good?
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH
(1579-1631).
37. New and successful attempt to make a settlement in Virginia;
Captain John Smith.--One of the leaders in the new expedition sent
out to make a settlement in Virginia, while Raleigh was in prison,
was Captain John Smith. He began life as a clerk in England. Not
liking his work, he ran away and turned soldier. After many strange
adventures, he was captured by the Turks and sold as a slave. His
master, who was a Turk, riveted a heavy iron collar around his neck
and set him to thrashing grain with a big wooden bat like a ball-club.
One day the Turk rode up and struck his slave with his riding-whip.
This was more than Smith could bear; he rushed at his master, and
with one blow of his bat knocked his brains out. He then mounted the
dead man's horse and escaped. After a time he got back to England;
but as England seemed a little dull to Captain Smith, he resolved
to join some emigrants who were going to Virginia.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.]
38. What happened to Captain Smith on the voyage; the landing at
Jamestown; what the settlers wanted to do; Smith's plan.--On the way
to America, Smith was accused of plotting to murder the chief men
among the settlers so that he might make himself "King of Virginia."
The accusation was false, but he was put in irons and kept a prisoner
for the rest of the voyage.
In the spring of 1607 the emigrants reached Chesapeake[1] Bay, and
sailed up a river which they named the James in honor of King James
of England; when they landed they named the settlement Jamestown for
the same reason. Here they built a log fort, and placed three or four
small cannon on its walls. Most of the men who settled Jamestown came
hoping to find mines of gold in Virginia, or else a way through to
the Pacific Ocean and to the Indies, which they thought could not
be very far away. But Captain Smith wanted to help his countrymen
to make homes here for themselves and their children.
[Illustration: Map showing Jamestown.]
[Footnote 1: Chesapeake (Ches'a-peek).]
39. Smith's trial and what came of it; how the settlers lived; the
first English church; sickness; attempted desertion.--As soon as
Captain Smith landed, he demanded to be tried by a jury[2] of twelve
men. The trial took place. It was the first English court and the
first English jury that ever sat in America. The captain proved his
innocence and was set free. His chief accuser was condemned to pay
him a large sum of money for damages. Smith generously gave this money
to help the settlement.
As the weather was warm, the emigrants did not begin building log
cabins at once, but slept on the ground, sheltered by boughs of trees.
For a church they had an old tent, in which they met on Sunday. They
were all members of the Church of England, or the Episcopal Church,
and that tent was the first place of worship that we know of which
was opened by Englishmen in America.
When the hot weather came, many fell sick. Soon the whole settlement
was like a hospital. Sometimes three or four would die in one night.
Captain Smith, though not well himself, did everything he could for
those who needed his help.
When the sickness was over, some of the settlers were so discontented
that they determined to seize the only vessel there was at Jamestown
and go back to England. Captain Smith turned the cannon of the fort
against them. The deserters saw that if they tried to leave the harbor
he would knock their vessel to pieces, so they came back. One of the
leaders of these men was tried and shot; the other was sent to England
in disgrace.
[Footnote 2: Jury: a number of men, generally twelve, selected
according to law to try a case in a court of law; in criminal cases
they declare the person accused to be either guilty or not guilty.]
40. The Indians of Virginia.--When the Indians of America first met
the white men, they were very friendly to them; but this did not last
long, because often the whites treated the Indians very badly; in
fact, the Spaniards made slaves of them and whipped many of them to
death. But these were the Indians of the south; some of the northern
tribes were terribly fierce and a match for the Spaniards in cruelty.
The Indians at the east did not build cities, but lived in small
villages. These villages were made up of huts, covered with the bark
of trees. Such huts were called wigwams. The women did nearly all
the work, such as building the wigwams and hoeing corn and tobacco.
The men hunted and made war. Instead of guns the Indians had bows
and arrows. With these they could bring down a deer or a squirrel
quite as well as a white man could now with a rifle. They had no iron,
but made hatchets and knives out of sharp, flat stones. They never
built roads, for they had no wagons, and at the east they did not
use horses; but they could find their way with ease through the
thickest forest. When they came to a river they swam across it, so
they had no need of bridges. For boats they made canoes of birch bark.
These canoes were almost as light as paper, yet they were very strong
and handsome, and they
"floated on the river
Like a yellow leaf in autumn,
Like a yellow water-lily."[3]
In them they could go hundreds of miles quickly and silently. So every
river and stream became a roadway to the Indian.
[Illustration: BUILDING A WIGWAM.]
[Footnote 3: Longfellow's _Hiawatha_ (Hiawatha's Sailing).]
41. Captain Smith goes in search of the Pacific; he is captured by
Indians.--After that first long, hot summer was over, some of the
settlers wished to explore the country and see if they could not find
a short way through to the Pacific Ocean. Captain Smith led the
expedition. The Indians attacked them, killed three of the men, and
took the captain prisoner. To amuse the Indians, Smith showed them
his pocket compass. When the savages saw that the needle always
pointed toward the north they were greatly astonished, and instead
of killing their prisoner they decided to take him to their chief.
This chief was named Powhatan.[4] He was a tall, grim-looking old
man, and he hated the settlers at Jamestown, because he believed that
they had come to steal the land from the Indians.
[Illustration: POCKET COMPASS.]
[Footnote 4: Powhatan (Pow-ha-tan').]
42. Smith's life is saved by Pocahontas;[5] her marriage to John
Rolfe.[6]--Smith was dragged into the chief's wigwam; his head was
laid on a large, flat stone, and a tall savage with a big club stood
ready to dash out his brains. Just as Powhatan was about to cry
"strike!" his daughter Pocahontas, a girl of twelve or thirteen, ran
up, and, putting her arms round the prisoner's head, she laid her
own head on his--now let the Indian with his uplifted club strike
if he dare.[7]
Instead of being angry with his daughter, Powhatan promised her that
he would spare Smith's life. When an Indian made such a promise as
that he kept it, so the captain knew that his head was safe. Powhatan
released his prisoner and soon sent him back to Jamestown, and
Pocahontas, followed by a number of Indians, carried to the settlers
presents of corn and venison.
Some years after this the Indian maiden married John Rolfe, an
Englishman who had come to Virginia. They went to London, and
Pocahontas died not far from that city. She left a son; from that
son came some noted Virginians. One of them was John Randolph. He
was a famous man in his day, and he always spoke with pride of the
Indian princess, as he called her.
[Footnote 5: Pocahontas (Po-ka-hon'tas).]
[Footnote 6: Rolfe (Rolf).]
[Footnote 7: On Pocahontas, see List of Books at the end of this
book.]
43. Captain Smith is made governor of Jamestown; the gold-diggers;
"Corn, or your life."--More emigrants came over from England, and
Captain Smith was now made governor of Jamestown. Some of the
emigrants found some glittering earth which they thought was gold.
Soon nearly every one was hard at work digging it. Smith laughed at
them; but they insisted on loading a ship with the worthless stuff
and sending it to London. That was the last that was heard of it.
The people had wasted their time digging this shining dirt when they
should have been hoeing their gardens. Soon they began to be in great
want of food. The captain started off with a party of men to buy corn
of the Indians. The Indians contrived a cunning plot to kill the whole
party. Smith luckily found it out; seizing the chief by the hair,
he pressed the muzzle of a pistol against his heart and gave him his
choice,--"Corn, or your life!" He got the corn, and plenty of it.
[Illustration: "CORN, OR YOUR LIFE!"]
44. "He who will not work shall not eat."--Captain Smith then set
part of the men to planting corn, so that they might raise what they
needed. The rest of the settlers he took with him into the woods to
chop down trees and saw them into boards to send to England. Many
tried to escape from this labor; but Smith said, Men who are able
to dig for gold are able to chop; then he made this rule: "He who
will not work shall not eat." Rather than lose his dinner, the laziest
man now took his axe and set off for the woods.
45. Captain Smith's cold-water cure.--But though the choppers worked,
they grumbled. They liked to see the chips fly and to hear the great
trees "thunder as they fell," but the axe-handles raised blisters
on their fingers. These blisters made the men swear, so that often
one would hear an oath for every stroke of the axe. Smith said the
swearing must be stopped. He had each man's oaths set down in a book.
When the day's work was done, every offender was called up; his oaths
were counted; then he was told to hold up his right hand, and a can
of cold water was poured down his sleeve for each oath. This new style
of water cure did wonders; in a short time not an oath was heard:
it was just chop, chop, chop, and the madder the men got, the more
the chips would fly.
46. Captain Smith meets with an accident and goes back to England;
his return to America; his death.--Captain Smith had not been
governor very long when he met with a terrible accident. He was out
in a boat, and a bag of gunpowder he had with him exploded. He was
so badly hurt that he had to go back to England to get proper treatment
for his wounds.
He returned to America a number of years later, explored the coast
north of Virginia, and gave it the name of New England, but he never
went back to Jamestown again. He died in London, and was buried in
a famous old church in that city.[8]
[Footnote 8: The church of St. Sepulchre: it is not very far from
St. Paul's Cathedral.]
47. What Captain Smith did for Virginia.--Captain John Smith was in
Virginia less than three years, yet in that short time he did a great
deal. First, he saved the settlers from starving, by making the
Indians sell them corn. Next, by his courage, he saved them from the
attacks of the savages. Lastly, he taught them how to work. Had it
not been for him the people of Jamestown would probably have lost
all heart and gone back to England. He insisted on their staying,
and so, through him, the English got their first real foothold in
America. But this was not all; he wrote two books on Virginia,
describing the soil, the trees, the animals, and the Indians. He also
made some excellent maps of Virginia and of New England. These books
and maps taught the English people many things about this country,
and helped those who wished to emigrate. For these reasons Captain
Smith has rightfully been called the "Father of Virginia."
[Illustration: A SETTLER'S LOG CABIN.]
48. Negro slaves sent to Virginia; tobacco.--About ten years after
Captain Smith left Jamestown, the commander of a Dutch ship brought
a number of negro slaves to Virginia (1619), and sold them to the
settlers. That was the beginning of slavery in this country. Later,
when other English settlements had been made, they bought slaves,
and so, after a time, every settlement north as well as south owned
more or less negroes. The people of Virginia employed most of their
slaves in raising tobacco. They sold this in England, and, as it
generally brought a good price, many of the planters[9] became quite
rich.
[Footnote 9: Planter: a person who owns a plantation or large farm
at the South; it is cultivated by laborers living on it; once these
laborers were generally negro slaves.]
49. Bacon's war against Governor Berkeley;[10] Jamestown
burned.--Long after Captain Smith was in his grave, Sir William
Berkeley was made governor of Virginia by the king of England. He
treated the people very badly. At last a young planter named Bacon
raised a small army and marched against the governor, who was in
Jamestown. The governor, finding that he had few friends to fight
for him, made haste to get out of the place. Bacon then entered it
with his men; but as he knew that, if necessary, the king would send
soldiers from England to aid the governor in getting it back, he set
fire to the place and burned it. It was never built up again, and
so only a crumbling church-tower and a few gravestones can now be
seen where Jamestown once stood. Those ruins mark the first English
town settled in America.
[Illustration: THE BURNING OF JAMESTOWN.]
[Footnote 10: Berkeley (Berk'li).]
50. What happened later in Virginia; the Revolution; Washington;
four presidents.--But though Jamestown was destroyed, Virginia kept
growing in strength and wealth. What was better still, the country
grew in the number of its great men. The king of England continued
to rule America until, in 1776, the people of Virginia demanded that
independence should be declared. The great war of the Revolution
overthrew the king's power and made us free. The military leader of
that war was a Virginia planter named George Washington.
After we had gained the victory and peace was made, we chose
presidents to govern the country. Four out of six of our first
presidents, beginning with Washington, came from Virginia. For this
reason that state has sometimes been called the "Mother of
Presidents."
51. Summary.--In 1607 Captain John Smith, with others, made the first
lasting settlement built up by Englishmen in America. Through
Captain Smith's energy and courage, Jamestown, Virginia, took firm
root. Virginia was the first state to demand the independence of
America, and Washington, who was a Virginian, led the war of the
Revolution by which that independence was gained.
What can you tell about Captain John Smith before he went to Virginia?
What happened to him on his way to Virginia? What is said about the
landing of the settlers in Virginia? What did they want to do? What
did Captain Smith want to do? What about Captain Smith's trial? What
is said about the church in Jamestown? What happened to the settlers?
What did some of them try to do? Who stopped them? Tell what you can
about the Indians. What kind of houses did they live in? Did they
have guns? Did they have iron hatchets and knives? Did they have
horses and wagons? What kind of boats did they have? What happened
to Captain Smith when he went in search of the Pacific? What did
Pocahontas do? What is said about her afterward? What about the
gold-diggers? How did Captain Smith get corn? What did he make the
settlers do? What is said about Captain Smith's cold-water cure? Why
did Captain Smith go back to England? What three things did he do
for Virginia? What about his books and maps? What is said of negro
slaves? What about tobacco? What about Governor Berkeley and Mr.
Bacon? What happened to Jamestown? What did the war of the Revolution
do? Who was its great military leader? Why is Virginia sometimes
called the "Mother of Presidents"?
CAPTAIN HENRY HUDSON
(Voyages from 1607 to 1611).
52. Captain Hudson tries to find a northwest passage to China and
the Indies.--When Captain John Smith sailed for Virginia, he left
a friend, named Henry Hudson, in London, who had the name of being
one of the best sea-captains in England.
While Smith was in Jamestown, a company of London merchants sent out
Captain Hudson to try to discover a passage to China and the Indies.
When he left England, he sailed to the northwest, hoping that he could
find a way open to the Pacific across the North Pole or not far below
it.
If he found such a passage, he knew that it would be much shorter
than a voyage round the globe further south; because, as any one can
see, it is not nearly so far round the top of an apple, near the stem,
as it is round the middle.
[Illustration: Map showing how Captain Hudson hoped to reach Asia
by sailing northwest from England.]
Hudson could not find the passage he was looking for; but he saw
mountains of ice, and he went nearer to the North Pole than any one
had ever done before.
53. The Dutch hire Captain Hudson; he sails for America.--The Dutch
people in Holland had heard of Hudson's voyage, and a company of
merchants of that country hired the brave sailor to see if he could
find a passage to Asia by sailing to the northeast.
He set out from the port of Amsterdam,[1] in 1609, in a vessel named
the _Half Moon_. After he had gone quite a long distance, the sailors
got so tired of seeing nothing but fog and ice that they refused to
go any further.
Then Captain Hudson turned his ship about and sailed for the coast
of North America. He did that because his friend, Captain Smith of
Virginia, had sent him a letter, with a map, which made him think
that he could find such a passage as he wanted north of Chesapeake
Bay.
[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 62.]
54. Captain Hudson reaches America and finds the "Great
River."--Hudson got to Chesapeake Bay, but the weather was so stormy
that he thought it would not be safe to enter it. He therefore sailed
northward along the coast. In September, 1609, he entered a beautiful
bay, formed by the spreading out of a noble river. At that point the
stream is more than a mile wide, and he called it the "Great River."
On the eastern side of it, not far from its mouth, there is a long
narrow island: the Indians of that day called it Manhattan Island.
55. The tides in the "Great River"; Captain Hudson begins to sail
up the stream.--One of the remarkable things about the river which
Hudson had discovered is that it has hardly any current, and the tide
from the ocean moves up for more than a hundred and fifty miles. If
no fresh water ran in from the hills, still the sea would fill the
channel for a long distance, and so make a kind of salt-water river
of it. Hudson noticed how salt it was, and that, perhaps, made him
think that he had at last actually found a passage which would lead
him through from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was delighted with
all he saw, and said, "This is as beautiful a land as one can tread
upon." Soon he began to sail up the stream, wondering what he should
see and whether he should come out on an ocean which would take him
to Asia.
[Illustration: Map showing the Great River.]
56. Hudson's voyage on the "Great River"; his feast with the
Indians.--At first he drifted along, carried by the tide, under the
shadow of a great natural wall of rock. That wall, which we now call
the Palisades,[2] is from four hundred to six hundred feet high; it
extends for nearly twenty miles along the western shore of the river.
[Illustration: THE PALISADES.]
Then, some distance further up, Captain Hudson came to a place where
the river breaks through great forest-covered hills, called the
Highlands. At the end of the fifth day he came to a point on the
eastern bank above the Highlands, where the city of Hudson now stands.
Here an old Indian chief invited him to go ashore. Hudson had found
the Indians, as he says, "very loving," so he thought he would accept
the invitation. The savages made a great feast for the captain. They
gave him not only roast pigeons, but also a roast dog, which they
cooked specially for him: they wanted he should have the very best.
These Indians had never seen a white man before. They thought that
the English captain, in his bright scarlet coat trimmed with gold
lace, had come down from the sky to visit them. What puzzled them,
however, was that he had such a pale face instead of having a red
one like themselves.
At the end of the feast Hudson rose to go, but the Indians begged
him to stay all night. Then one of them got up, gathered all the arrows,
broke them to pieces, and threw them into the fire, in order to show
the captain that he need not be afraid to stop with them.
[Footnote 2: Palisades: this name is given to the wall of rock on
the Hudson, because, when seen near by, it somewhat resembles a
palisade, or high fence made of stakes or posts set close together,
upright in the ground.]
57. Captain Hudson reaches the end of his voyage and turns back;
trouble with the Indians.--But Captain Hudson made up his mind that
he must now go on with his voyage. He went back to his ship and kept
on up the river until he had reached a point about a hundred and fifty
miles from its mouth. Here the city of Albany now stands. He found
that the water was growing shallow, and he feared that if the _Half
Moon_ went further she would get aground. It was clear to him, too,
that wherever the river might lead, he was not likely to find it a
short road to China.
On the way down stream a thievish Indian, who had come out in a canoe,
managed to steal something from the ship. One of the crew chanced
to see the Indian as he was slyly slipping off, and picking up a gun
he fired and killed him. After that Hudson's men had several fights
with the Indians.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN HUDSON ON THE GREAT RIVER.]
58. Hudson returns to Europe; the "Great River" is called by his name;
his death.--Early in October the captain set sail for Europe. Ever
since that time the beautiful river which he explored has been called
the Hudson in his honor.
The next year Captain Hudson made another voyage, and entered that
immense bay in the northern part of America which we now know as
Hudson Bay. There he got into trouble with his men. Some of them
seized him and set him adrift with a few others in an open boat.
Nothing more was ever heard of the brave English sailor. The bay which
bears his name is probably his grave.
59. The Dutch take possession of the land on the Hudson and call it
New Netherland; how New Netherland became New York.--As soon as the
Dutch in Holland heard that Captain Hudson had found a country where
the Indians had plenty of rich furs to sell, they sent out people
to trade with them. Holland is sometimes called the Netherlands; that
is, the Low Lands. When the Dutch took possession of the country on
the Hudson (1614), they gave it the name of New Netherland,[3] for
the same reason that the English called one part of their possessions
in America New England. In the course of a few years the Dutch built
(1615) a fort and some log cabins on the lower end of Manhattan Island.
After a time they named this little settlement New Amsterdam, in
remembrance of the port of Amsterdam in Holland from which Hudson
sailed.
After the Dutch had held the country of New Netherland about fifty
years, the English (1664) seized it. They changed its name to New
York, in honor of the Duke of York, who was brother to the king. The
English also changed the name of New Amsterdam to that of New York
City.
[Footnote 3: New Netherland: this is often incorrectly printed New
Netherlands.]
60. The New York "Sons of Liberty" in the Revolution; what Henry
Hudson would say of the city now.--More than a hundred years after
this the young men of New York, the "Sons of Liberty," as they called
themselves, made ready with the "Sons of Liberty" in other states
to do their full part, under the lead of General Washington, in the
great war of the Revolution,--that war by which we gained our freedom
from the rule of the king of England, and became the United States
of America.
The silent harbor where Henry Hudson saw a few Indian canoes is now
one of the busiest seaports in the world. The great statue of Liberty
stands at its entrance.[4] To it a fleet of ships and steamers is
constantly coming from all parts of the globe; from it another fleet
is constantly going. If Captain Hudson could see the river which
bears his name, and Manhattan Island now covered with miles of
buildings which make the largest and wealthiest city in America, he
would say: There is no need of my looking any further for the riches
of China and the Indies, for I have found them here.
[Footnote 4: In her right hand Liberty holds a torch to guide vessels
at night.]
61. Summary.--In 1609 Henry Hudson, an English sea-captain, then in
the employ of the Dutch, discovered the river now called by his name.
The Dutch took possession of the country on the river, named it New
Netherland, and built a small settlement on Manhattan Island. Many
years later the English seized the country and named it New York.
The settlement on Manhattan Island then became New York City; it is
now the largest and wealthiest city in the United States.
Who was Henry Hudson? What did he try to find? What did the Dutch
hire him to do? Where did he go? What did he call the river he
discovered? What is said about that river? Tell what you can of
Hudson's voyage up the river. What is said about the Indians? Why
did Hudson turn back? What did he do then? What is the river he
discovered called now? What happened to Captain Hudson the next year?
What did the Dutch do? What did they name the country? Why? What did
they build there on Manhattan Island? Who seized New Netherland? What
name did they give it? What is said of the "Sons of Liberty"? What
would Hudson say if he could see New York City now?
CAPTAIN MYLES[1] STANDISH
(1584-1656).
62. The English Pilgrims in Holland; why they left England.--When
the news of Henry Hudson's discovery of the Hudson River reached
Holland, many Englishmen were living in the Dutch city of Leyden.[2]
These people were mostly farmers who had fled from Scrooby[3] and
neighboring villages in the northeast of England. They called
themselves Pilgrims, because they were wanderers from their old
homes.
The Pilgrims left England because King James would not let them hold
their religious meetings in peace. He thought, as all kings then did,
that everybody in England should belong to the same church and
worship God in the same way that he did.[4] He was afraid that if
people were allowed to go to whatever church they thought best that
it would lead to disputes and quarrels, which would end by breaking
his kingdom to pieces. Quite a number of Englishmen, seeing that they
could not have religious liberty at home, escaped with their wives
and children to Holland; for there the Dutch were willing to let them
have such a church as they wanted.
[Illustration: Map of England and Holland]
[Footnote 1: Myles (Miles): Standish himself wrote it Myles.]
[Footnote 2: Leyden (Li'den): see map in this paragraph.]
[Footnote 3: Scrooby (Skroo'bi): see map in this paragraph.]
[Footnote 4: There were some people in England who thought much as
the Pilgrims did in regard to religion, but who did not then leave
the Church of England (as the Pilgrims did). They were called
Puritans because they insisted on making certain changes in the
English mode of worship, or, as they said, they wished to _purify_
it. Many Puritans came to New England with Governor Winthrop in 1630;
after they settled in America they established independent churches
like the Pilgrims.]
63. Why the Pilgrims wished to leave Holland and go to America.--But
the Pilgrims were not contented in Holland. They saw that if they
staid in that country their children would grow up to be more Dutch
than English. They saw, too, that they could not hope to get land
in Holland. They resolved therefore to go to America, where they
could get farms for nothing, and where their children would never
forget the English language or the good old English customs and laws.
In the wilderness they would not only enjoy entire religious freedom,
but they could build up a settlement which would be certainly their
own.
64. The Pilgrims, with Captain Myles Standish, sail for England and
then for America; they reach Cape Cod, and choose a governor
there.--In 1620 a company of Pilgrims sailed for England on their
way to America. Captain Myles Standish, an English soldier, who had
fought in Holland, joined them. He did not belong to the Pilgrim
church, but he had become a great friend to those who did.
About a hundred of these people sailed from Plymouth,[5] England,
for the New World, in the ship _Mayflower_. Many of those who went
were children and young people. The Pilgrims had a long, rough
passage across the Atlantic. Toward the last of November (1620) they
saw land. It was Cape Cod, that narrow strip of sand, more than sixty
miles long, which looks like an arm bent at the elbow, with a hand
like a half-shut fist.
[Illustration: Map of Cape Cod and part of New England.]
Finding that it would be difficult to go further, the Pilgrims
decided to land and explore the cape; so the _Mayflower_ entered Cape
Cod Harbor, inside the half-shut fist, and then came to anchor.
Before they landed, the Pilgrims held a meeting in the cabin, and
drew up an agreement in writing for the government of the settlement.
They signed the agreement, and then chose John Carver for governor.
[Footnote 5: Plymouth (Plim'uth).]
65. Washing-day; what Standish and his men found on the Cape.--On
the first Monday after they had reached the cape, all the women went
on shore to wash, and so Monday has been kept as washing-day in New
England ever since. Shortly after that, Captain Myles Standish, with
a number of men, started off to see the country. They found some
Indian corn buried in the sand; and a little further on a young man
named William Bradford, who afterward became governor, stepped into
an Indian deer-trap. It jerked him up by the leg in a way that must
have made even the Pilgrims smile.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN DEER-TRAP.]
[Illustration: BRADFORD CAUGHT.]
66. Captain Standish and his men set sail in a boat for a blue hill
in the west, and find Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Harbor; landing from
the _Mayflower_.--On clear days the people on board the _Mayflower_,
anchored in Cape Cod Harbor, could see a blue hill, on the mainland,
in the west, about forty miles away. To that blue hill Standish and
some others determined to go. Taking a sail-boat, they started off.
A few days later they passed the hill which the Indians called
Manomet,[6] and entered a fine harbor. There, on December 21st,
1620,--the shortest day in the year,--they landed on that famous
stone which is now known all over the world as Plymouth Rock.
Standish, with the others, went back to the _Mayflower_ with a good
report. They had found just what they wanted,--an excellent harbor
where ships from England could come in; a brook of nice
drinking-water; and last of all, a piece of land that was nearly free
from trees, so that nothing would hinder their planting corn early
in the spring. Captain John Smith of Virginia[7] had been there
before them, and had named the place Plymouth on his map of New
England. The Pilgrims liked the name, and so made up their minds to
keep it. The _Mayflower_ soon sailed for Plymouth, and the Pilgrims
set to work to build the log cabins of their little settlement.
[Illustration: THE _Mayflower_ IN PLYMOUTH HARBOR.]
[Footnote 6: Manomet (Man'o-met).]
[Footnote 7: See paragraph 46.]
67. Sickness and death.--During that winter nearly half the Pilgrims
died. Captain Standish showed himself to be as good a nurse as he
was a soldier. He, with Governor Carver and their minister, Elder
Brewster, cooked, washed, waited on the sick, and did everything that
kind hearts and willing hands could to help their suffering friends.
But the men who had begun to build houses had to stop that work to
dig graves. When these graves were filled, they were smoothed down
flat so that no prowling Indian should count them and see how few
white men there were left.
68. Samoset,[8] Squanto,[9] and Massasoit[10] visit the
Pilgrims.--One day in the spring the Pilgrims were startled at seeing
an Indian walk boldly into their little settlement. He cried out in
good English, "Welcome! Welcome!" This visitor was named Samoset;
he had met some sailors years before, and had learned a few English
words from them.
The next time Samoset came he brought with him another Indian, whose
name was Squanto. Squanto was the only one left of the tribe that
had once lived at Plymouth. All the rest had died of a dreadful
sickness, or plague. He had been stolen by some sailors and carried
to England; there he had learned the language. After his return he
had joined an Indian tribe that lived about thirty miles further west.
The chief of that tribe was named Massasoit, and Squanto said that
he was coming directly to visit the Pilgrims.
In about an hour Massasoit, with some sixty warriors, appeared on
a hill just outside the settlement. The Indians had painted their
faces in their very gayest style--black, red, and yellow. If paint
could make them handsome, they were determined to look their best.
[Footnote 8: Samoset (Sam'o-set).]
[Footnote 9: Squanto (Skwon'to).]
[Footnote 10: Massasoit (Mas'sa-soit').]
69. Massasoit and Governor Carver make a treaty of friendship; how
Thanksgiving was kept; what Squanto did for the Pilgrims.--Captain
Standish, attended by a guard of honor, went out and brought the chief
to Governor Carver. Then Massasoit and the governor made a solemn
promise or treaty, in which they agreed that the Indians of his tribe
and the Pilgrims should live like friends and brothers, doing all
they could to help each other. That promise was kept for more than
fifty years; it was never broken until long after the two men who
made it were in their graves.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN STANDISH AND MASSASOIT.]
When the Pilgrims had their first Thanksgiving, they invited
Massasoit and his men to come and share it. The Indians brought
venison and other good things; there were plenty of wild turkeys
roasted; and so they all sat down together to a great dinner, and
had a merry time in the wilderness.
Squanto was of great help to the Pilgrims. He showed them how to catch
eels, where to go fishing, when to plant their corn, and how to put
a fish in every hill to make it grow fast.
After a while he came to live with the Pilgrims. He liked them so
much that when the poor fellow died he begged Governor Bradford to
pray that he might go to the white man's heaven.
70. Canonicus[11] dares Governor Bradford to fight; the palisade;
the fort and meeting-house.--West of where Massasoit lived, there
were some Indians on the shore of Narragansett Bay,[12] in what is
now Rhode Island. Their chief was named Canonicus, and he was no
friend to Massasoit or to the Pilgrims. Canonicus thought he could
frighten the white men away, so he sent a bundle of sharp, new arrows,
tied round with a rattlesnake skin, to Governor Bradford: that meant
that he dared the governor and his men to come out and fight. Governor
Bradford threw away the arrows, and then filled the snake-skin up
to the mouth with powder and ball. This was sent back to Canonicus.
When he saw it, he was afraid to touch it, for he knew that Myles
Standish's bullets would whistle louder and cut deeper than his
Indian arrows.
[Illustration: ARROWS BOUND WITH SNAKE-SKIN.]
But though the Pilgrims did not believe that Canonicus would attack
them, they thought it best to build a very high, strong fence, called
a palisade, round the town.
[Illustration: THE PALISADE BUILT ROUND PLYMOUTH.]
They also built a log fort on one of the hills, and used the lower
part of the fort for a church. Every Sunday all the people, with
Captain Standish at the head, marched to their meeting-house, where
a man stood on guard outside. Each Pilgrim carried his gun, and set
it down near him. With one ear he listened sharply to the preacher;
with the other he listened just as sharply for the cry, Indians!
Indians! But the Indians never came.
[Footnote 11: Canonicus (Ka-non'i-kus).]
[Footnote 12: Narragansett (Nar'a-gan'set): see map, paragraph 84.]
71. The new settlers; trouble with the Indians in their neighborhood;
Captain Standish's fight with the savages.--By and by more emigrants
came from England and settled about twenty-five miles north of
Plymouth, at what is now called Weymouth. The Indians in that
neighborhood did not like these new settlers, and they made up their
minds to come upon them suddenly and murder them.
Governor Bradford sent Captain Standish with a few men, to see how
great the danger was. He found the Indians very bold. One of them
came up to him, whetting a long knife. He held it up, to show how
sharp it was, and then patting it, he said, "By and by, it shall eat,
but not speak." Presently another Indian came up. He was a big fellow,
much larger and stronger than Standish. He, too, had a long knife,
as keen as a razor. "Ah," said he to Standish, "so this is the mighty
captain the white men have sent to destroy us! He is a little man;
let him go and work with the women."[13]
The captain's blood was on fire with rage; but he said not a word.
His time had not yet come. The next day the Pilgrims and the Indians
met in a log cabin. Standish made a sign to one of his men, and he
shut the door fast. Then the captain sprang like a tiger at the big
savage who had laughed at him, and snatching his long knife from him,
he plunged it into his heart. A hand-to-hand fight followed between
the white men and the Indians. The Pilgrims gained the victory, and
carried back the head of the Indian chief in triumph to Plymouth.
Captain Standish's bold action saved both of the English settlements
from destruction.
[Footnote 13: See Longfellow's _The Courtship of Miles Standish_.
This quotation is truthful in its rendering of the _spirit_ of the
words used by the Indian in his insulting speech to Standish; it
should be understood, however, that the poem does not always adhere
closely either to the chronology, or to the exact facts, of history.]
72. What else Myles Standish did; his death.--But Standish did more
things for the Pilgrims than fight for them; for he went to England,
bought goods for them, and borrowed money to help them.
He lived to be an old man. At his death he left, among other things,
three well-worn Bibles and three good guns. In those days, the men
who read the Bible most were those who fought the hardest.
Near Plymouth there is a high hill called Captain's Hill. That was
where Standish made his home during the last of his life. A granite
monument, over a hundred feet high, stands on top of the hill. On
it is a statue of the brave captain looking toward the sea. He was
one of the makers of America.
[Illustration: MYLES STANDISH'S KETTLE, SWORD, AND PEWTER DISH.]
[Illustration: COPY OF MYLES STANDISH'S SIGNATURE.]
73. Governor John Winthrop founds[14] Boston.--Ten years after the
Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, a large company of English people under
the leadership of Governor John Winthrop came to New England. They
were called Puritans,[15] and they, too, were seeking that religious
freedom which was denied them in the old country. One of the vessels
which brought over these new settlers was named the _Mayflower_. She
may have been the very ship which in 1620 brought the Pilgrims to
these shores.
Governor Winthrop's company named the place where they settled
Boston, in grateful remembrance of the beautiful old city of
Boston,[16] England, from which some of the chief emigrants came.
The new settlement was called the Massachusetts Bay[17] Colony,[18]
Massachusetts being the Indian name for the Blue Hills, near Boston.
The Plymouth Colony was now often called the Old Colony, because it
had been settled first. After many years, these two colonies were
united, and still later they became the state of Massachusetts.
[Footnote 14: Founds: begins to build.]
[Footnote 15: See footnote 4 in paragraph 62.]
[Footnote 16: Boston, England; see map in paragraph 62.]
[Footnote 17: Massachusetts Bay; see map in paragraph 84.]
[Footnote 18: Colony: here a company of settlers who came to America
from England, and who were subject to the king of England, as all
the English settlers of America were until the Revolution.]
74. How other New England colonies grew up; the Revolution.--By the
time Governor Winthrop arrived, English settlements had been made
in Maine, New Hampshire, and later (1724), in the country which
afterward became the state of Vermont. Connecticut and Rhode Island
were first settled by emigrants who went from Massachusetts.
When the Revolution broke out, the people throughout New England took
up arms in defence of their rights. The first blood of the war was
shed on the soil of Massachusetts, near Boston.
75. Summary.--The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, New England, in 1620.
One of the chief men who came with them was Captain Myles Standish.
Had it not been for his help, the Indians might have destroyed the
settlement. In 1630, Governor John Winthrop, with a large company
of emigrants from England, settled Boston. Near Boston the first
battle of the Revolution was fought.
Why did some Englishmen in Holland call themselves Pilgrims? Why had
they left England? Why did they now wish to go to America? Who was
Myles Standish? From what place in England, and in what ship, did
the Pilgrims sail? What land did they first see in America? What did
they do at Cape Cod Harbor? What did the Pilgrims do on the Cape?
Where did they land on December 21st, 1620? What happened during the
winter? What is said of Samoset? What about Squanto? What about
Massasoit? What did Massasoit and Governor Carver do? What about the
first Thanksgiving? What is said about Canonicus and Governor
Bradford? What did the Pilgrims build to protect them from the
Indians? What is said about Weymouth? What did Myles Standish do
there? What else did Myles Standish do besides fight? What is said
of his death? What did Governor John Winthrop do? What did the people
of New England do in the Revolution? Where was the first blood shed?
LORD BALTIMORE
(1580-1632).
76. Lord Baltimore's settlement in Newfoundland; how Catholics were
then treated in England.--While Captain Myles Standish was helping
build up Plymouth, Lord Baltimore, an English nobleman, was trying
to make a settlement on the cold, foggy island of Newfoundland.
Lord Baltimore had been brought up a Protestant, but had become a
Catholic. At that time, Catholics were treated very cruelly in
England. They were ordered by law to attend the Church of England.
They did not like that church any better than the Pilgrims did; but
if they failed to attend it, they had to take their choice between
paying a large sum of money or going to prison.
Lord Baltimore hoped to make a home for himself and for other English
Catholics in the wilderness of Newfoundland, where there would be
no one to trouble them. But the unfortunate settlers were fairly
frozen out. They had winter a good share of the year, and fog all
of it. They could raise nothing, because, as one man said, the soil
was either rock or swamp: the rock was as hard as iron; the swamp
was so deep that you could not touch bottom with a ten-foot pole.
77. The king of England gives Lord Baltimore part of Virginia, and
names it Maryland; what Lord Baltimore paid for it.--King Charles
the First of England was a good friend to Lord Baltimore; and when
the settlement in Newfoundland was given up, he made him a present
of an immense three-cornered piece of land in America. This piece
was cut out of Virginia, north of the Potomac[1] River.
The king's wife, who was called Queen Mary, was a French Catholic.
In her honor, Charles named the country he had given Lord Baltimore,
Mary Land, or Maryland. He could not have chosen a better name,
because Maryland was to be a shelter for many English people who
believed in the same religion that the queen did.
[Illustration: TWO INDIAN ARROWS.]
All that Lord Baltimore was to pay for Maryland, with its twelve
thousand square miles of land and water, was two Indian arrows. These
he agreed to send every spring to the royal palace of Windsor[2]
Castle, near London.
[Illustration: PART OF WINDSOR CASTLE.]
The arrows would be worth nothing whatever to the king; but they were
sent as a kind of yearly rent. They showed that, though Lord Baltimore
had the use of Maryland, and could do pretty much as he pleased with
it, still the king did not give up all control of it. In Virginia
and in New England the king had granted all land to companies of
persons, and he had been particular to tell them just what they must
or must not do; but he gave Maryland to one man only. More than this,
he promised to let Lord Baltimore have his own way in everything,
so long as he made no laws in Maryland which should be contrary to
the laws of England. So Lord Baltimore had greater privileges than
any other holder of land in America at that time.
[Footnote 1: Potomac (Po-to'mak): see map, paragraph 140.]
[Footnote 2: Windsor (Win'zor).]
78. Lord Baltimore dies; his son sends emigrants to Maryland; the
landing; the Indians; St. Mary's.--Lord Baltimore died before he
could get ready to come to America. His eldest son then became Lord
Baltimore. He sent over a number of emigrants; part of them were
Catholics, and part were Protestants: all of them were to have equal
rights in Maryland. In the spring of 1634, these people landed on
a little island near the mouth of the Potomac River. There they cut
down a tree, and made a large cross of it; then, kneeling round that
cross, they all joined in prayer to God for their safe journey.
[Illustration: THE LANDING IN MARYLAND.]
A little later, they landed on the shore of the river. There they
met Indians. Under a huge mulberry-tree they bargained with the
Indians for a place to build a town, and paid for the land in hatchets,
knives, and beads.
The Indians were greatly astonished at the size of the ship in which
the white men came. They thought that it was made like their canoes,
out of the trunk of a tree hollowed out, and they wondered where the
English could have found a tree big enough to make it.
The emigrants named their settlement St. Mary's, because they had
landed on a day kept sacred to the Virgin Mary.[3] The Indians gave
up one of their largest wigwams to Father White, one of the priests
who had come over, and he made a church of it. It was the first English
Catholic Church which was opened in America.
[Illustration: Map of Maryland and Virginia.]
The Indians and the settlers lived and worked together side by side.
The red men showed the emigrants how to hunt in the forest, and the
Indian women taught the white women how to make hominy, and to bake
johnny-cake before the open fire.
[Footnote 3: March 25th: Annunciation or Lady Day.]
79. Maryland the home of religious liberty.--Maryland was different
from the other English colonies in America, because there, and there
only, every Christian, whether Catholic or Protestant, had the right
to worship God in his own way. In that humble little village of St.
Mary's, made up of thirty or forty log huts and wigwams in the woods,
"religious liberty had its only home in the wide world."
But more than this, Lord Baltimore generously invited people who had
been driven out of the other settlements on account of their religion
to come and live in Maryland. He gave a hearty welcome to all, whether
they thought as he did or not. Thus he showed that he was a noble
man by nature as well as a nobleman by name.
80. Maryland falls into trouble; the city of Baltimore built.--But
this happy state of things did not last long. Some of the people of
Virginia were very angry because the king had given Lord Baltimore
part of what they thought was their land. They quarrelled with the
new settlers and made them a great deal of trouble.
Then worse things happened. Men went to Maryland and undertook to
drive out the Catholics. In some cases they acted in a very shameful
manner toward Lord Baltimore and his friends; among other things,
they put Father White in irons and sent him back to England as a
prisoner. Lord Baltimore had spent a great deal of money in building
up the settlement, but his right to the land was taken away from him
for a time, and all who dared to defend him were badly treated.
St. Mary's never grew to be much of a place, but not quite a hundred
years after the English landed there a new and beautiful city was
begun (1729) in Maryland. It was named Baltimore, in honor of that
Lord Baltimore who sent out the first emigrants. When the
Revolutionary War broke out, the citizens of Baltimore showed that
they were not a bit behind the other colonies of America in their
spirit of independence.
81. Summary.--King Charles the First of England gave Lord Baltimore,
an English Catholic, a part of Virginia and named it Maryland, in
honor of his wife, Queen Mary. A company of emigrants came out to
Maryland in 1634. It was the first settlement in America in which
all Christian people had entire liberty to worship God in whatever
way they thought right. That liberty they owed to Lord Baltimore.
Who was Lord Baltimore, and what did he try to do in Newfoundland?
How were Catholics then treated in England? What did the king of
England give Lord Baltimore in America? What did the king name the
country? What was Lord Baltimore to pay for Maryland? What did the
king promise Lord Baltimore? What did Lord Baltimore's son do? When
and where did the emigrants land? What did they call the place? What
is said about the Indians? Of what was Maryland the home? Why did
some of the people of Virginia trouble them? What is said of the city
of Baltimore? What is said of the Revolution?
ROGER WILLIAMS
(1600-1684).
82. Roger Williams comes to Boston; he preaches in Salem and in
Plymouth; his friendship for the Indians.--Shortly after Governor
John Winthrop and his company settled Boston,[1] a young minister
named Roger Williams came over from England to join them.
[Illustration: THE CHURCH IN WHICH ROGER WILLIAMS PREACHED IN SALEM.
IT IS STILL STANDING.]
Mr. Williams soon became a great friend to the Indians and while he
preached at Salem,[2] near Boston, and at Plymouth, he came to know
many of them. He took pains to learn their language, and he spent
a great deal of time talking with the chief Massasoit[3] and his men,
in their dirty, smoky wigwams. He made the savages feel that, as he
said, his whole heart's desire was to do them good. For this reason
they were always glad to see him and ready to help him. A time came,
as we shall presently see, when they were able to do quite as much
for him as he could for them.
[Footnote 1: See paragraph 73.]
[Footnote 2: Salem (Sa'lem).]
[Footnote 3: See paragraph 68.]
83. Who owned the greater part of America? what the king of England
thought; what Roger Williams thought and said.--The company that had
settled Boston held the land by permission of the king of England.
He considered that most of the land in America belonged to him,
because John Cabot[4] had discovered it.
But Roger Williams said that the king had no right to the land unless
he bought it of the Indians, who were living here when the English
came.
Now the people of Massachusetts were always quite willing to pay the
Indians a fair price for whatever land they wanted; but many of them
were afraid to have Mr. Williams preach and write as he did. They
believed that if they allowed him to go on speaking out so boldly
against the king that the English monarch would get so angry that
he would take away Massachusetts from them and give it to a new
company. In that case, those who had settled here would lose
everything. For this reason the people of Boston tried to make the
young minister agree to keep silent on this subject.
[Footnote 4: See paragraph 22.]
84. A constable is sent to arrest Roger Williams; he escapes to the
woods, and goes to Mount Hope.--But Mr. Williams was not one of the
kind to keep silent. Then the chief men of Boston sent a constable
down to Salem with orders to seize him and send him back to England.
When he heard that the constable was after him, Mr. Williams slipped
quietly out of his house and escaped to the woods.
There was a heavy depth of snow on the ground, but the young man made
up his mind that he would go to his old friend Massasoit, and ask
him to help him in his trouble.
[Illustration: Map showing Roger Williams's route from Salem to
Mount Hope.]
Massasoit lived near Mount Hope, in what is now Rhode Island, about
eighty miles southwest from Salem. There were no roads through the
woods, and it was a long, dreary journey to make on foot, but Mr.
Williams did not hesitate. He took a hatchet to chop fire-wood, a
flint and steel to strike fire with,--for in those days people had
no matches,--and, last of all, a pocket-compass to aid him in finding
his way through the thick forest.
[Illustration: Striking fire with flint and steel. The sparks were
caught on some old, half-burnt rag, and were then blown to a blaze.]
All day he waded wearily on through the deep snow, only stopping now
and then to rest or to look at his compass and make sure that he was
going in the right direction. At night he would gather wood enough
to make a little fire to warm himself or to melt some snow for drink.
Then he would cut down a few boughs for a bed, or, if he was lucky
enough to find a large, hollow tree, he would creep into that. There
he would fall asleep, while listening to the howling of the wind or
to the fiercer howling of the hungry wolves prowling about the woods.
[Illustration: ROGER WILLIAMS WADING THROUGH THE SNOW.]
At length, after much suffering from cold and want of food, he managed
to reach Massasoit's wigwam. There the big-hearted Indian chief gave
him a warm welcome. He took him into his poor cabin and kept him till
spring--there was no board bill to pay. All the Indians liked the
young minister, and even Canonicus,[5] that savage chief of a
neighboring tribe, who had dared Governor Bradford to fight, said
that he "loved him as his own son."
[Footnote 5: Canonicus: see paragraph 70.]
85. Roger Williams at Seekonk;[6] "What cheer, friend?"--When the
warm days came, in the spring of 1636, Mr. Williams began building
a log hut for himself at Seekonk, on the east bank of the Seekonk
River. But he was told that his cabin stood on ground owned by the
people of Massachusetts; so he, with a few friends who had joined
him, took a canoe and paddled down stream to find a new place to build.
[Illustration: Map of Rhode Island.]
"What cheer, friend? what cheer?" shouted some Indians who were
standing on a rock on the western bank of the river. That was the
Indian way of saying How do you do, and just then Roger Williams was
right glad to hear it. He landed on what is now called "What Cheer
Rock,"[7] and had a talk with the red men. They told him that there
was a fine spring of water round the point of land a little further
down. He went there, and liked the spot so much that he decided to
stop. His friend Canonicus owned the land, and he gladly let him have
what he needed. Roger Williams believed that a kind Providence had
guided him to this pleasant place, and for this reason he named it
PROVIDENCE.
Providence was the first settlement made in America which set its
doors wide open to every one who wished to come and live there. Not
only all Christians, but Jews, and even men who went to no church
whatever, could go there and be at peace. This great and good work
was done by Roger Williams. Providence grew in time to be the chief
city in the state of Rhode Island. When the Revolution began, every
man and boy in the state, from sixteen to sixty, stood ready to fight
for liberty.
[Footnote 6: Seekonk (See'konk).]
[Footnote 7: "What Cheer Rock" is on the east side of the city of
Providence.]
86. Summary.--Roger Williams, a young minister of Salem,
Massachusetts, declared that the Indians, and not the king of England,
owned the land in America. The governor of Massachusetts was afraid
that if Mr. Williams kept on saying these things the king would hear
of it and would take away the land held by the people of Boston and
the other settlements. He therefore sent a constable to arrest the
young minister and put him on board a ship going back to England.
When Mr. Williams knew this, he fled to the Indian chief, Massasoit.
In 1636 Roger Williams began building Providence. Providence was the
first settlement in America which offered a home to all men without
asking them anything whatever about their religious belief.
Who was Roger Williams? What is said about him and the Indians? Who
did Mr. Williams think first owned the land in America? How did many
of the people of Massachusetts feel about Mr. Williams? What did the
chief men of Boston do? What did Mr. Williams do? Describe his journey
to Mount Hope. What did Massasoit do for Mr. Williams? What did Mr.
Williams do at Seekonk? What happened after that? Why did he name
the settlement Providence? What is said of Providence? What about
the Revolution?
KING PHILIP
(Time of the Indian War, 1675-1676).
87. Death of Massasoit; Wamsutta[1] and Philip; Wamsutta's sudden
death.--When the Indian chief Massasoit[2] died, the people of
Plymouth lost one of their best friends. Massasoit left two sons,
one named Wamsutta, who became chief in his father's place, and the
other called Philip. They both lived near Mount Hope, in Rhode
Island.
The governor of Plymouth heard that Wamsutta was stirring up the
Indians to make war on the whites, and he sent for the Indian chief
to come to him and give an account of himself. Wamsutta went, but
on his way back he suddenly fell sick, and soon after he reached home
he died. His young wife was a woman who was thought a great deal of
by her tribe, and she told them that she felt sure the white people
had poisoned her husband in order to get rid of him. This was not
true, but the Indians believed it.
[Footnote 1: Wamsutta (Wam-sut'ta).]
[Footnote 2: Massasoit: see paragraph 68.]
88. Philip becomes chief; why he hated the white men; how the white
men had got possession of the Indian lands.--Philip now became chief.
He called himself "King Philip." His palace was a wigwam made of bark.
On great occasions he wore a bright red blanket and a kind of crown
made of a broad belt ornamented with shells. King Philip hated the
white people because, in the first place, he believed that they had
murdered his brother; and next, because he saw that they were growing
stronger in numbers every year, while the Indians were becoming
weaker.
[Illustration: THE BELT WHICH KING PHILIP WORE FOR A CROWN.]
When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massasoit, Philip's father,
held all the country from Cape Cod back to the eastern shores of
Narragansett Bay; that is, a strip about thirty miles wide. The white
settlers bought a small piece of this land. After a while they bought
more, and so they kept on until in about fifty years they got nearly
all of what Massasoit's tribe had once owned. The Indians had nothing
left but two little necks of land, which were nearly surrounded by
the waters of Narragansett Bay. Here they felt that they were shut
up almost like prisoners, and that the white men watched everything
that they did.
89. How King Philip felt; signs of the coming war; the "Praying
Indians"; the murder.--King Philip was a very proud man--quite as
proud, in fact, as the king of England. He could not bear to see his
people losing power. He said to himself, if the Indians do not rise
and drive out the white men, then the white men will certainly drive
out the Indians. Most of the Indians now had guns, and could use them
quite as well as the whites could; so Philip thought that it was best
to fight.
The settlers felt that the war was coming. Some of them fancied that
they saw the figure of an Indian bow in the clouds. Others said that
they heard sounds like guns fired off in the air, and horsemen riding
furiously up and down in the sky, as if getting ready for battle.
But though many Indians now hated the white settlers, this was not
true of all. A minister, named John Eliot, had persuaded some of the
red men near Boston to give up their religion, and to try to live
like the white people. These were called "Praying Indians." One of
them who knew King Philip well told the settlers that Philip's
warriors were grinding their hatchets sharp for war. Soon after, this
"Praying Indian" was found murdered. The white people accused three
of Philip's men of having killed him. They were tried, found guilty,
and hanged.
90. Beginning of the war at Swansea;[3] burning of Brookfield.--Then
Philip's warriors began the war in the summer of 1675. Some white
settlers were going home from church in the town of Swansea,
Massachusetts; they had been to pray that there might be no fighting.
As they walked along, talking together, two guns were fired out of
the bushes. One of the white men fell dead in the road, and another
was badly hurt.
[Illustration: Map of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.]
The shots were fired by Indians. This was the way they always fought
when they could. They were not cowards, but they did not come out
boldly, but would fire from behind trees and rocks. Often a white
man would be killed without even seeing who shot him.
At first the fighting was mainly in those villages of Plymouth Colony
which were nearest Narragansett Bay; then it spread to the valley
of the Connecticut River and the neighborhood. Deerfield,
Springfield, Brookfield,[4] Groton,[5] and many other places in
Massachusetts were attacked. The Indians would creep up stealthily
in the night, burn the houses, carry off the women and children
prisoners if they could, kill the rest of the inhabitants, take their
scalps home and hang them up in their wigwams.
[Illustration: AN ATTACKING INDIAN.]
At Brookfield the settlers left their houses, and gathered in one
strong house for defence. The Indians burned all the houses but that
one, and did their best to burn that, too. They dipped rags in
brimstone, such as we make matches of, fastened them to the points
of their arrows, set fire to them, and then shot the blazing arrows
into the shingles of the roof. When the Indians saw that the shingles
had caught, and were beginning to flame up, they danced for joy, and
roared like wild bulls. But the men in the house managed to put out
the fire on the roof. Then the savages got a cart, filled it with
hay, set it on fire, and pushed it up against the house. This time
they thought that they should certainly burn the white people out;
but just then a heavy shower came up, and put out the fire. A little
later, some white soldiers marched into the village, and saved the
people in the house.
[Footnote 3: Swansea (Swon'ze).]
[Footnote 4: See map in this paragraph.]
[Footnote 5: Groton (Graw'ton).]
91. The fight at Hadley; what Colonel[6] Goffe[7] did.--At Hadley,
the people were in the meeting-house when the terrible Indian
war-whoop[8] rang through the village. The savages drove back those
who dared to go out against them, and it seemed as if the village
must be destroyed. Suddenly a white-haired old man, sword in hand,
appeared among the settlers. No one knew who he was; but he called
to them to follow him, as a captain calls to his men, and they obeyed
him. The astonished Indians turned and ran. When, after all was over,
the whites looked for their brave leader, he had gone; they never
saw him again. Many thought that he was an angel who had been sent
to save them. But the angel was Colonel Goffe, an Englishman, who
was one of the judges who had sentenced King Charles the First to
death during a great war in England. He had escaped to America; and,
luckily for the people of Hadley, he was hiding in the house of a
friend in that village when the Indians attacked it.
[Illustration: INDIAN ATTACK ON A SETTLEMENT. The building on the
right is a block-house, or fort made of hewn logs. These block-houses
were built as places of refuge for the settlers, in case of an attack
on the town by the Indians.]
[Footnote 6: Colonel (kur'nel): the chief officer of a regiment of
soldiers.]
[Footnote 7: Goffe (Gof): and see List of Books at the end of this
book.]
[Footnote 8: War-whoop (war-hoop): a very loud, shrill cry made by
the Indians when engaged in war, or as a shout of alarm.]
92. How a woman drove off an Indian.--In this dreadful war with the
savages there were times when even the women had to fight for their
lives. In one case, a woman had been left in a house with two young
children. She heard a noise at the window, and looking up, saw an
Indian trying to raise the sash. Quick as thought, she clapped the
two little children under two large brass kettles which stood near.
Then, seizing a shovel-full of red-hot coals from the open fire, she
stood ready, and just as the Indian thrust his head into the room,
she dashed the coals right into his face and eyes. With a yell of
agony the Indian let go his hold, dropped to the ground as though
he had been shot, and ran howling to the woods.
[Illustration: WOMAN THROWING COALS.]
93. The great swamp fight; burning the Indian wigwams; what the Chief
Canonchet[9] said.--During the summer and autumn of 1675 the Indians
on the west side of Narragansett Bay[10]took no open part in King
Philip's War. But the next winter the white people found that these
Indians were secretly receiving and sheltering the savages who had
been wounded in fighting for that noted chief. For that reason, the
settlers determined to raise a large force and attack them. The
Indians had gathered in a fort on an island in a swamp. This fort
was a very difficult place to reach. It was built of the trunks of
trees set upright in the ground. It was so strong that the savages
felt quite safe.
Starting very early in the morning, the attacking party waded fifteen
miles through deep snow. Many of them had their hands and feet badly
frozen. One of the chief men in leading the attack was Captain
Benjamin Church of Plymouth; he was a very brave soldier, and knew
all about Indian life and Indian fighting. In the battle, he was
struck by two bullets, and so badly wounded that he could not move
a step further; but he made one of his men hold him up, and he shouted
to his soldiers to go ahead. The fight was a desperate one, but at
length the fort was taken. The attacking party lost more than two
hundred and fifty men in killed and wounded; the Indians lost as many
as a thousand.
After the battle was over, Captain Church begged the men not to burn
the wigwams inside the fort, for there were a great number of old
men and women and little Indian children in the wigwams. But the men
were very mad against the savages, and would not listen to him. They
set the wigwams on fire, and burned many of these poor creatures to
death.
Canonchet, the chief of the tribe, was taken prisoner. The settlers
told him they would spare his life if he would try to make peace.
"No," said he, "we will all fight to the last man rather than become
slaves to the white men." He was then told that he must be shot. "I
like it well," said he. "I wish to die before my heart becomes soft,
or I say anything unworthy of myself."
[Footnote 9: Canonchet (Ka-non'chet).]
[Footnote 10: See map in paragraph 90.]
94. Philip's wife and son are taken prisoners; Philip is shot; end
of the war.--The next summer Captain Church, with a lot of "brisk
Bridgewater lads" chased King Philip and his men, and took many of
the Indians prisoners. Among those then taken captive were King
Philip's wife and his little boy. When Philip heard of it, he cried
out, "My heart breaks; now I am ready to die." He had good reason
for saying so. It was the custom in England to sell such prisoners
of war as slaves. Following this custom, the settlers here took this
boy, the grandson of that Massasoit[11] who had helped them when they
were poor and weak, and sold him with his mother. They were sent to
the Bermuda Islands,[12] and there worked to death under the hot sun
and the lash of the slave-driver's whip.
Not long after that, King Philip himself was shot. He had been hunted
like a wild beast from place to place. At last he had come back to
see his old home at Mount Hope[13] once more. There Captain Church
found him; there the Indian warrior was shot. His head and hands were
cut off,--as was then done in England in such cases,--and his head
was carried to Plymouth and set up on a pole. It stood there twenty
years.
King Philip's death brought the war to an end. It had lasted a little
over a year; that is, from the early summer of 1675 to the latter
part of the summer of 1676. In that short time the Indians had killed
between five and six hundred white settlers, and had burned thirteen
villages to ashes, besides partly burning a great many more. The war
cost so much money that many people were made poor by it; but the
strength of the Indians was broken, and they never dared to trouble
the people of Southern New England again.
[Footnote 11: See paragraph 68.]
[Footnote 12: Bermuda (Ber-mu'dah): the Bermuda Islands are in the
Atlantic, north of the West India Islands and east of South Carolina;
they belong to Great Britain.]
[Footnote 13: See map in paragraph 84.]
95. Summary.--In 1675 King Philip began a great Indian war against
the people of Southeastern New England. His object was to kill off
the white settlers, and get back the land for the Indians. He did
kill a large number, and he destroyed many villages, but in the end
the white men gained the victory. Philip's wife and child were sold
as slaves, and he was shot. The Indians never attempted another war
in this part of the country.
Who was Wamsutta? What happened to him? Who was "King Philip"? Why
did he hate the white men? What did he say to himself? What is said
about the "Praying Indians"? What happened to one of them? What was
done with three of Philip's men? Where and how did the war begin?
To what part of the country did it spread? Tell about the Indian
attack on Brookfield. What happened at Hadley? Tell how a woman drove
off an Indian. Tell all you can about the Great Swamp Fight. What
is said about Canonchet? What is said of King Philip's wife and son?
What happened to King Philip himself? What is said about the war?
WILLIAM PENN
(1644-1718).
96. King Charles the Second gives William Penn a great piece of land,
and names it Pennsylvania.--King Charles the Second of England owed
a large sum of money to a young Englishman named William Penn. The
king was fond of pleasure, and he spent so much money on himself and
his friends that he had none left to pay his just debts. Penn knew
this; so he told His Majesty that if he would give him a piece of
wild land in America, he would ask nothing more.
[Illustration: WILLIAM PENN AT THE AGE OF 22.]
Charles was very glad to settle the account so easily. He therefore
gave Penn a great territory[1] north of Maryland[2] and west of the
Delaware River. This territory was nearly as large as England. The
king named it Pennsylvania, a word which means Penn's Woods. At that
time the land was not thought to be worth much. No one then had
discovered the fact that beneath Penn's Woods there were immense
mines of coal and iron, which would one day be of greater value than
all the riches of the king of England.
[Footnote 1: Territory: any very large extent of land.]
[Footnote 2: See map in paragraph 97.]
97. William Penn's religion; what he wanted to do with his American
land.--Penn belonged to a religious society called the Society of
Friends; to-day they are generally spoken of as Quakers. They are
a people who try to find out what is right by asking their own hearts.
They believe in showing no more signs of respect to one man than to
another, and at that time they would not take off their hats even
to the king himself.
[Illustration: Map of eastern Pennsylvania and surroundings.]
Penn wanted the land which had been given him here as a place where
the Friends or Quakers might go and settle. A little later the whole
of what is now the state of New Jersey was bought by Penn and other
Quakers for the same purpose. We have seen[3] that neither the
Pilgrims nor the Catholics had any real peace in England. The Quakers
suffered even more still; for oftentimes they were cruelly whipped,
thrown into dark and dirty prisons where many died of the bad
treatment they received. William Penn himself had been shut up in
jail four times on account of his religion; and though he was no
longer in such danger, because the king was his friend, yet he wanted
to provide a safe place for others who were not so well off as he
was.
[Footnote 3: See paragraphs 62 and 76.]
98. Penn sends out emigrants to Pennsylvania; he gets ready to go
himself; his conversation with the king.--Penn accordingly sent out
a number of people who were anxious to settle in Pennsylvania. The
next year, 1682, he made ready to sail, himself with a hundred more
emigrants. Just before he started, he called on the king in his palace
in London. The king was fond of joking, and he said to him that he
should never expect to see him again, for he thought that the Indians
would be sure to catch such a good-looking young man as Penn was and
eat him. 'But, Friend Charles,' said Penn, 'I mean to buy the land
of the Indians, so they will rather keep on good terms with me than
eat me.' 'Buy their lands!' exclaimed the king. 'Why, is not the whole
of America mine?' 'Certainly not,' answered Penn. 'What!' replied
the king; 'didn't my people discover it?[4] and so haven't I the right
to it?' 'Well, Friend Charles,' said Penn, 'suppose a canoe full of
Indians should cross the sea and should discover England, would that
make it theirs? Would you give up the country to them?' The king did
not know what to say to this; it was a new way of looking at the matter.
He probably said to himself, These Quakers are a strange people; they
seem to think that even American savages have rights which should
be respected.
[Footnote 4: Referring to the discovery of the American continent
by the Cabots, sent out by Henry the Seventh of England, see paragraph
22.]
99. Penn founds[5] the city of Philadelphia; his treaty[6] with the
Indians; his visit to them; how the Indians and the Quakers got on
together.--When William Penn reached America, in 1682, he sailed up
the broad and beautiful Delaware River for nearly twenty miles. There
he stopped, and resolved to build a city on its banks. He gave the
place the Bible name of Philadelphia,[7] or the City of Brotherly
Love, because he hoped that all of its citizens would live together
like brothers. The streets were named from the trees then growing
on the land, and so to-day many are still called Walnut, Pine, Cedar,
Vine, and so on.
Penn said, "We intend to sit down lovingly among the Indians." On
that account, he held a great meeting with them under a
wide-spreading elm. The tree stood in what is now a part of
Philadelphia. Here Penn and the red men made a treaty or agreement
by which they promised each other that they would live together as
friends as long as the water should run in the rivers, or the sun
shine in the sky.
[Illustration: PENN MAKING THE TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.]
Nearly a hundred years later, while the Revolutionary War was going
on, the British army took possession of the city. It was cold, winter
weather, and the men wanted fire-wood; but the English general
thought so much of William Penn that he set a guard of soldiers round
the great elm, to prevent any one from chopping it down.
Not long after the great meeting under the elm, Penn visited some
of the savages in their wigwams. They treated him to a dinner--or
shall we say a lunch?--of roasted acorns. After their feast, some
of the young savages began to run and leap about, to show the
Englishman what they could do. When Penn was in college at Oxford
he had been fond of doing such things himself. The sight of the Indian
boys made him feel like a boy again; so he sprang up from the ground,
and beat them all at hop, skip, and jump. This completely won the
hearts of the red men.
[Illustration: STATUE OF WILLIAM PENN. (On the Tower of the new City
Hall, Philadelphia.)]
From that time, for sixty years, the Pennsylvania settlers and the
Indians were fast friends. The Indians said, "The Quakers are honest
men; they do no harm; they are welcome to come here." In New England
there had been, as we have seen,[8] a terrible war with the savages,
but in Pennsylvania, no Indian ever shed a drop of Quaker blood.
[Footnote 5: Founds: begins to build.]
[Footnote 6: Treaty: an agreement; and see paragraph 69.]
[Footnote 7: See Rev. i. 11 and iii. 7.]
[Footnote 8: See paragraph 90.]
100. How Philadelphia grew; what was done there in the Revolution;
William Penn's last years and death.--Philadelphia grew quite fast.
William Penn let the people have land very cheap, and he said to them,
"You shall be governed by laws of your own making." Even after
Philadelphia became quite a good-sized town, it had no poor-house,
for none was needed; everybody seemed to be able to take care of
himself.
When the Revolution began, the people of Pennsylvania and of the
country north and south of it sent men to Philadelphia to decide what
should be done. This meeting was called the Congress. It was held
in the old State House, a building which is still standing, and in
1776 Congress declared the United States of America independent of
England. In the war, the people of Delaware and New Jersey fought
side by side with those of Pennsylvania.
William Penn spent a great deal of money in helping Philadelphia and
other settlements. After he returned to England he was put in prison
for debt by a rascally fellow he had employed. He did not owe the
money, and proved that the man who said that he did was no better
than a thief. Penn was released from prison; but his long confinement
in jail had broken his health down. When he died, the Indians of
Pennsylvania sent his widow some beautiful furs, in remembrance of
their "Brother Penn," as they called him. They said that the furs
were to make her a cloak, "to protect her while passing through this
thorny wilderness without her guide."
[Illustration: WILLIAM PENN'S GRAVE AT JORDANS'S MEETING-HOUSE,
ENGLAND.]
About twenty-five miles west of London, on a country road within
sight of the towers of Windsor Castle,[9] there stands a Friends'
meeting-house, or Quaker church. In the yard back of the
meeting-house William Penn lies buried. For a hundred years or more
there was no mark of any kind to show where he rests; but now a small
stone bearing his name points out the grave of the founder of the
great state of Pennsylvania.
[Footnote 9: Windsor Castle: see paragraph 77.]
101. Summary.--Charles the Second, king of England, owed William
Penn, a young English Quaker, a large sum of money. In order to settle
the debt, the king gave him a great piece of land in America, and
named it Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woods. Penn wished to make a home
for Quakers in America; and in 1682 he came over, and began building
the city of Philadelphia. When the Revolution broke out, men were
sent from all parts of the country to Philadelphia, to hold a meeting
called the Congress. In 1776, Congress declared the United States
independent.
To whom did King Charles the Second owe a large sum of money? How
did he pay his debt? What did the king name the country? What does
the name mean? What has been found there? What is said about the
Friends or Quakers? What did Penn want the land here for? How were
the Quakers then treated in England? What did Penn do in 1682? Tell
what the king said to Penn and what Penn replied. What city did Penn
begin to build here? What does Philadelphia mean? What did Penn and
the Indians do? What did the English general do about the great elm
in the Revolution? Tell about Penn's dinner with the Indians. Did
the Indians trouble the Quakers? What is said of the growth of
Philadelphia? What was done there in the Revolution? Tell what you
can about Penn's last days. Where is he buried?
GENERAL JAMES OGLETHORPE[1]
(1696-1785).
102. The twelve English colonies in America; General Oglethorpe
makes a settlement in Georgia.--We have seen[2] that the first real
colony or settlement made in America by the English was in Virginia
in 1607. By the beginning of 1733, or in about a hundred and
twenty-five years, eleven more had been made, or twelve in all. They
stretched along the seacoast, from the farthest coast of Maine to
the northern boundary of Florida, which was then owned by the
Spaniards.[3]
The two colonies farthest south were North Carolina and South
Carolina. In 1733 James Oglethorpe, a brave English soldier, who
afterward became General Oglethorpe, came over here to make a new
settlement. This new one, which made just thirteen[4] in all, was
called Georgia in honor of King George the Second, who gave a piece
of land for it, on the seacoast, below South Carolina.
[Illustration: Map of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.]
[Footnote 1: Oglethorpe (O'gel-thorp).]
[Footnote 2: See paragraph 37.]
[Footnote 3: Because the Spaniards had settled it in 1565; see
paragraph 30.]
[Footnote 4: These thirteen colonies or settlements were: First, the
four New England colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and Rhode island; Maine was then part of Massachusetts,
and Vermont was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York). Secondly,
four middle colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, with
Delaware). Thirdly, five southern colonies (Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).]
103. What it was that led General Oglethorpe to make this new
settlement.--General Oglethorpe had a friend in England who was cast
into prison for debt. There the unfortunate man was so cruelly
treated that he fell sick and died, leaving his family in great
distress.
The General felt the death of his friend so much that he set to work
to find out how other poor debtors lived in the London prisons. He
soon saw that great numbers of them suffered terribly. The prisons
were crowded and filthy. The men shut up in them were ragged and
dirty; some of them were fastened with heavy chains, and a good many
actually died of starvation.
General Oglethorpe could not bear to see strong men killed off in
this manner. He thought that if the best of them--those who were
honest and willing to work--could have the chance given them of
earning their living, that they would soon do as well as any men.
It was to help them that he persuaded the king to give the land of
Georgia.
104. Building the city of Savannah; what the people of Charleston,
South Carolina, did; a busy settlement; the alligators.--General
Oglethorpe took over thirty-five families to America in 1733. They
settled on a high bank of the Savannah[5] River, about twenty miles
from the sea. The general laid out a town with broad, straight,
handsome streets, and with many small squares or parks. He called
the settlement Savannah from the Indian name of the river on which
it stands.
[Illustration: SAVANNAH, AS GENERAL OGLETHORPE LAID IT OUT IN 1733.]
The people of Charleston, South Carolina, were glad to have some
English neighbors south of them that would help them fight the
Spaniards of Florida, who hated the English, and wanted to drive them
out. They gave the newcomers a hundred head of cattle, a drove of
hogs, and twenty barrels of rice.
The emigrants set to work with a will, cutting down the forest trees,
building houses, and planting gardens. There were no idlers to be
seen at Savannah: even the children found something to do that was
helpful.
Nothing disturbed the people but the alligators. They climbed up the
bank from the river to see what was going on. But the boys soon taught
them not to be too curious. When one monster was found impudently
prowling round the town, they thumped him with sticks till they
fairly beat the life out of him. After that, the alligators paid no
more visits to the settlers.
[Footnote 5: Savannah (Sa-van'ah).]
105. Arrival of some German emigrants; "Ebenezer";[6] "blazing"
trees.--After a time, some German Protestants, who had been cruelly
driven out of their native land on account of their religion, came
to Georgia. General Oglethorpe gave them a hearty welcome. He had
bought land of the Indians, and so there was plenty of room for all.
The Germans went up the river, and then went back a number of miles
into the woods; there they picked out a place for a town. They called
their settlement by the Bible name of Ebenezer,[7] which means "The
Lord hath helped us."
There were no roads through the forests, so the new settlers "blazed"
the trees; that is, they chopped a piece of bark off, so that they
could find their way through the thick woods when they wanted to go
to Savannah. Every tree so marked stood like a guide-post; it showed
the traveller which way to go until he came in sight of the next one.
[Illustration: THE "BLAZED" TREES.]
[Footnote 6: Ebenezer (Eb-e-ne'zer).]
[Footnote 7: See I Sam. vii. 12.]
106. Trying to make silk; the queen's American dress.--The settlers
hoped to be able to get large quantities of silk to send to England,
because the mulberry-tree grows wild in Georgia, and its leaves are
the favorite food of the silkworm.[8] At first it seemed as if the
plan would be successful, and General Oglethorpe took over some
Georgia silk as a present to the queen of England. She had a handsome
dress made of it for her birthday; it was the first American silk
dress ever worn by an English queen. But after a while it was found
that silk could not be produced in Georgia as well as it could in
Italy and France, and so in time cotton came to be raised instead.
[Footnote 8: Silkworm: a kind of caterpillar which spins a fine, soft
thread of which silk is made.]
107. Keeping out the Spaniards; Georgia powder at Bunker Hill;
General Oglethorpe in his old age.--The people of Georgia did a good
work in keeping out the Spaniards, who were trying to get possession
of the part of the country north of Florida. Later, like the settlers
in North Carolina and South Carolina, they did their part in helping
to make America independent of the rule of the king of England. When
the war of the Revolution began, the king had a lot of powder stored
in Savannah. The people broke into the building, rolled out the kegs,
and carried them off. Part of the powder they kept for themselves,
and part they seem to have sent to Massachusetts; so that it is quite
likely that the men who fought at Bunker Hill may have loaded their
guns with some of the powder given them by their friends in Savannah.
In that case the king got it back, but in a somewhat different way
from what he expected.
General Oglethorpe spent the last of his life in England. He lived
to a very great age. Up to the last he had eyes as bright and keen
as a boy's. After the Revolution was over, the king made a treaty
or agreement, by which he promised to let the United States of America
live in peace. General Oglethorpe was able to read that treaty
without spectacles. He had lived to see the colony of Georgia which
he had settled become a free and independent state.
108. Summary.--In 1733 General James Oglethorpe brought over a
number of emigrants from England, and settled Savannah, Georgia.
Georgia was the thirteenth English colony; it was the last one
established in this country. General Oglethorpe lived to see it
become one of the United States of America.
At the beginning of 1733 how many English colonies were there in
America? Who was General Oglethorpe? What did he do? Why was the new
settlement called Georgia? Tell what happened to a friend of General
Oglethorpe's. What did he wish to do for the poor debtors? What is
said about the settlement of Savannah? What about the German
emigrants and Ebenezer? What about raising silk? What good work did
the people of Georgia do? What about Georgia powder in the
Revolution? What is said of General Oglethorpe in old age?
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
(1706-1790).
109. Growth of Philadelphia; what a young printer was doing for
it.--By the year 1733, when the people of Savannah[1] were building
their first log cabins, Philadelphia[2] had grown to be the largest
city in this country,--though it would take more than seventy such
cities to make one as great as Philadelphia now is.
Next to William Penn,[3] the person who did the most for Philadelphia
was a young man who had gone from Boston to make his home among the
Quakers. He lived in a small house near the market. On a board over
the door he had painted his name and business; here it is:
[Illustration: "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PRINTER" BUSINESS SIGN.]
[Footnote 1: See paragraph 104.]
[Footnote 2: See paragraph 99.]
[Footnote 3: See paragraph 96.]
110. Franklin's newspaper and almanac;[4] how he worked; standing
before kings.--Franklin was then publishing a small newspaper,
called the _Pennsylvania Gazette_.[5] To-day we print newspapers by
steam at the rate of two or three hundred a minute; but Franklin,
standing in his shirtsleeves at a little press, printed his with his
own hands. It was hard work, as you could see by the drops of sweat
that stood on his forehead; and it was slow as well as hard. The young
man not only wrote himself most of what he printed in his paper, but
he often made his own ink; sometimes he even made his own type.[6]
When he got out of paper he would take a wheelbarrow, go out and buy
a load, and wheel it home. To-day there are more than three hundred
newspapers printed in Philadelphia; then there were only two, and
Franklin's was the better of those two.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN AT A PRINTING PRESS.]
[Illustration: A TYPE. (The Letter B.)]
[Illustration: FRANKLIN WHEELING A LOAD OF PAPER.]
Besides this paper he published an almanac, which thousands of people
bought. In it he printed such sayings as these: "_He who would
thrive[7] must rise at five_," and "_If you want a thing well done,
do it yourself._" But Franklin was not contented with simply printing
these sayings, for he practised them as well.
Sometimes his friends would ask him why he began work so early in
the morning, and kept at it so many hours. He would laugh, and tell
them that his father used to repeat to him this saying of Solomon's:
"_Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before
kings; he shall not stand before mean men._"[8]
At that time the young printer never actually expected to stand in
the presence of a king, but years later he met with five; and one
of them, his friend the king of France, gave him his picture set round
with diamonds.
[Footnote 4: Almanac (al'ma-nak).]
[Footnote 5: Gazette (ga-zet'): a newspaper.]
[Footnote 6: Type: the raised metal letters used in printing are made
by melting lead and some other metals together and pouring the
mixture into molds.]
[Footnote 7: Thrive: to get on in business, to prosper.]
[Footnote 8: See Prov. xxii. 29.]
111. Franklin's boyhood; making tallow candles; he is apprenticed[9]
to his brother; how he managed to save money to buy books.--Franklin's
father was a poor man with a large family. He lived in Boston, and made
soap and candles. Benjamin went to school two years; then, when he was
ten years old, his father set him to work in his factory, and he never
went to school again. He was now kept busy filling the candle-molds
with melted grease, cutting off the ends of the wicks, and running
errands. But the boy did not like this kind of work; and, as he was
very fond of books, his father put him in a printing-office. This
office was carried on by James Franklin, one of Benjamin's brothers.
James Franklin paid a small sum of money each week for Benjamin's
board; but the boy told him that if he would let him have half the
money to use as he liked, he would board himself. James was glad to do
this. Benjamin then gave up eating meat, and, while the others went out
to dinner, he would stay in the printing-office and eat a boiled
potato, or perhaps a handful of raisins. In this way, he saved up a
number of coppers every week; and when he got enough laid by, he would
buy a book.
But James Franklin was not only a mean man, but a hot-tempered one;
and when he got angry with his young apprentice,[10] he would beat
and knock him about. At length the lad, who was now seventeen, made
up his mind that he would run away, and go to New York.
[Footnote 9: Apprenticed: bound by a written agreement to learn a
trade of a master, who is bound by the same agreement to teach the
trade.]
[Footnote 10: Apprentice: one who is apprenticed to a master to learn
a trade. See footnote 9.]
112. Young Franklin runs away; he goes to New York, and then to
Philadelphia.--Young Franklin sold some of his books, and with the
money paid his passage to New York by a sailing-vessel--for in those
days there were no steamboats or railroads in America. When he got
to New York, he could not find work, so he decided to go on to
Philadelphia.
He started to walk across New Jersey to Burlington, on the Delaware
River, a distance of about fifty miles; there he hoped to get a
sail-boat going down the river to Philadelphia. Shortly after he set
out, it began to rain hard, and the lad was soon wet to the skin and
splashed all over with red mud; but he kept on until noon, then took
a rest, and on the third day he reached Burlington and got passage
down the river.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN WALKING IN THE RAIN.]
113. Franklin's Sunday walk in Philadelphia; the rolls; Miss Read;
the Quaker meeting-house.--Franklin landed in Philadelphia on
Sunday morning (1723). He was tired and hungry; he had but a single
dollar in the world. As he walked along, he saw a bake-shop open.
He went in and bought three great, puffy rolls for a penny[11] each.
Then he started up Market Street, where he was one day to have his
newspaper office. He had a roll like a small loaf of bread tucked
under each arm, and he was eating the other as though it tasted good
to him. As he passed a house, he noticed a nice-looking young woman
at the door. She seemed to want to laugh; and well she might, for
Franklin appeared like a youthful tramp who had been robbing a
baker's shop. The young woman was Miss Deborah[12] Read. A number
of years later Franklin married her. He always said that he could
not have got a better wife.
[Illustration: Map of Franklin's route from Boston to Philadelphia.]
Franklin kept on in his walk until he came to the Delaware. He took
a hearty drink of river water to settle his breakfast, and then gave
away the two rolls he had under his arm to a poor woman with a child.
On his way back from the river he followed a number of people to a
Quaker meeting-house. At the meeting no one spoke. Franklin was tired
out, and, not having any preacher to keep him awake, he soon fell
asleep, and slept till the meeting was over. He says, "This was the
first house I was in, or slept in, in Philadelphia."
[Footnote 11: Penny: an English coin worth two cents.]
[Footnote 12: Deborah (Deb'o-rah).]
114. Franklin finds work; he goes back to Boston on a visit; he learns
to stoop.--The next day the young man found some work in a
printing-office. Six months afterward he decided to go back to Boston
to see his friends. He started on his journey with a good suit of
clothes, a silver watch, and a well-filled purse.
While in Boston, Franklin went to call on a minister who had written
a little book[13] which he had been very fond of reading. As he was
coming away from the minister's house, he had to go through a low
passage-way under a large beam. "Stoop! Stoop!" cried out the
gentleman; but Franklin did not understand him, and so hit his head
a sharp knock against the beam. "Ah," said his friend, as he saw him
rubbing his head, "you are young, and have the world before you;
_stoop_ as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps."
Franklin says that this sensible advice, which was thus beat into
his head, was of great use afterward; in fact, he learned then how
to stoop to conquer.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN LEARNING TO STOOP.]
[Footnote 13: The name of this book, written by the Rev. Cotton Mather,
was _Essays to do Good_.]
115. Franklin returns to Philadelphia; he goes to London; water
against beer.--Franklin soon went back to Philadelphia. The governor
of Pennsylvania then persuaded him to go to London, telling him that
he would help him to get a printing-press and type to start a
newspaper in Philadelphia.
When Franklin reached London, he found that the governor was one of
those men who promise great things, but do nothing. Instead of buying
a press, he had to go to work in a printing-office to earn his bread.
He stayed in London more than a year. At the office where he worked
the men were great beer-drinkers. One of his companions bought six
pints a day. He began with a pint before breakfast, then took another
pint at breakfast, then a pint between breakfast and dinner, then
a pint at dinner, then a pint in the afternoon, and, last of all,
a pint after he had done work. Franklin drank nothing but water. The
others laughed at him, and nicknamed him the "Water-American"; but
after a while they had to confess that he was stronger than they were
who drank so much strong beer.
The fact was that Franklin could beat them both at work and at play.
When they went out for a bath in the Thames,[14] they found that their
"Water-American" could swim like a fish; and he so astonished them
that a rich Londoner tried to persuade him to start a swimming-school
to teach his sons, but Franklin had stayed in England long enough,
and he now decided to go back to Philadelphia.
[Footnote 14: Thames (Tems). London is on the river Thames.]
116. Franklin sets up his newspaper; "sawdust pudding."--After his
return to America, Franklin labored so diligently that he was soon
able to set up a newspaper of his own. He tried to make it a good
one. But some people thought that he spoke his mind too freely. They
complained of this to him, and gave him to understand that if he did
not make his paper to please them, they would stop taking it or
advertising in it.
Franklin heard what they had to say, and then invited them all to
come and have supper with him. They went, expecting a feast, but they
found nothing on the table but two dishes of corn-meal mush and a
big pitcher of cold water. That kind of mush was then eaten only by
very poor people; and because it was yellow and coarse, it was
nicknamed "sawdust pudding."
[Illustration: FRANKLIN EATING "SAWDUST PUDDING."]
Franklin gave everybody a heaping plateful, and then, filling his
own, he made a hearty supper of it. The others tried to eat, but could
not. After Franklin had finished his supper, he looked up, and said
quietly, "My friends, any one who can live on 'sawdust pudding' and
cold water, as I can, does not need much help from others." After
that, no one went to the young printer with complaints about his paper.
Franklin, as we have seen,[15] had learned to stoop; but he certainly
did not mean to go stooping through life.
[Footnote 15: See paragraph 114.]
117. Franklin's plan of life; what he did for Philadelphia.--Not many
young men can see their own faults, but Franklin could. More than
that, he tried hard to get rid of them. He kept a little book in which
he wrote down his faults. If he wasted half an hour of time or a
shilling of money, or said anything that he had better not have said,
he wrote it down in his book. He carried that book in his pocket all
his life, and he studied it as a boy at school studies a hard lesson.
By it he learned three things,--first, to do the right thing; next,
to do it at the right time; last of all, to do it in the right way.
As he was never tired of helping himself to get upward and onward,
so, too, he was never tired of helping others. He started the first
public library in Philadelphia, which was also the first in America.
He set on foot the first fire-engine company and the first military
company in that city. He got the people to pave the muddy streets
with stone; he helped to build the first academy,--now called the
University of Pennsylvania,--and he also helped to build the first
hospital.
118. Franklin's experiments[16] with electricity; the wonderful
bottle; the picture of the king of England.--While doing these things
and publishing his paper besides, Franklin found time to make
experiments with electricity. Very little was then known about this
wonderful power, but a Dutchman, living in the city of Leyden[17]
in Holland, had discovered a way of bottling it up in what is called
a Leyden Jar. Franklin had one of these jars, and he was never tired
of seeing what new and strange thing he could do with it.
He contrived a picture of the king of England with a movable gilt
crown on his head. Then he connected the crown by a long wire with
the Leyden Jar. When he wanted some fun he would dare any one to go
up to the picture and take off the king's crown. Why that's easy
enough, a man would say, and would walk up and seize the crown. But
no sooner had he touched it than he would get an electric shock which
would make his fingers tingle as they never tingled before. With a
loud Oh! Oh! he would let go of the crown, and start back in utter
astonishment, not knowing what had hurt him.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN PLAYING A JOKE WITH THE KING'S CROWN.]
[Footnote 16: Experiments: here an experiment is a trial made to
discover something unknown. Franklin made these experiments or
trials with electricity and with thunder clouds in order to find out
what he could about them.]
[Footnote 17: Leyden: see map in paragraph 62.]
119. The electrical kite.--But Franklin's greatest experiment was
made one day in sober earnest with a kite. He believed that the
electricity in the bottle, or Leyden Jar, was the same thing as the
lightning we see in a thunder-storm. He knew well enough how to get
an electric spark from the jar, for he had once killed a turkey with
it for dinner; but how could he get a spark from a cloud in the sky?
He thought about it for a long time; then he made a kite out of a
silk handkerchief, and fastened a sharp iron point to the upright
stick of the kite. One day, when a thunder-storm was seen coming up,
Franklin and his son went out to the fields. The kite was raised;
then Franklin tied an iron key to the lower end of the string. After
waiting some time, he saw the little hair-like threads of the string
begin to stand up like the bristles of a brush. He felt certain that
the electricity was coming down the string. He put his knuckle close
to the key, and a spark flew out. Next, he took his Leyden Jar and
collected the electricity in that. He had made two great discoveries,
for he had found out that electricity and lightning are the same thing
and he had also found how to fill his bottle directly from the clouds:
that was something that no one had ever done before.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN FLYING A KITE.]
120. Franklin invents the lightning-rod; _Doctor_ Franklin.--But
Franklin did not stop at that. He said, If I can draw down electricity
from the sky with a kite-string, I can draw it still better with a
tall, sharp-pointed iron rod. He put up such a rod on his house in
Philadelphia; it was the first lightning-rod in the world. Soon other
people began to put them up: so this was another gift of his to the
city which he loved. Every good lightning-rod which has since been
erected to protect buildings has been a copy of that invented by
Franklin.
People now began to talk, not only in this country but in Europe,
about his electrical experiments and discoveries. The oldest college
in Scotland[18] gave him a title of honor and called him Doctor--a
word which means a learned man. From this time, Franklin the printer
was no longer plain Mr. Franklin, but Dr. Franklin.
Dr. Franklin did not think that he had found out all that could be
found out about electricity; he believed that he had simply made a
beginning, and that other men would discover still greater things
that could be done with it. Do you think he was mistaken about that?
[Footnote 18: The University of St. Andrews.]
121. Franklin in the Revolutionary War; Franklin and the map of the
United States.--When the war of the Revolution broke out, Dr.
Franklin did a great work for his country. He did not fight battles
like Washington, but he did something just as useful. First, he
helped write the Declaration of Independence, by which we declared
ourselves free from the rule of the king of England; next, he went
to France to get aid for us. We were then too poor to pay our soldiers;
he got the king of France to let us have money to give them.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN'S CANE AND WASHINGTON'S REVOLUTIONARY SWORD.
(Preserved in the Patent Office, Washington.)]
Franklin lived to see the Revolution ended and America free. When
he died, full of years and of honors, he was buried in Philadelphia.
Twenty thousand people went to his funeral.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN'S GRAVE IN CHRIST CHURCH BURIAL-GROUND,
PHILADELPHIA.]
If you wish to see what the country thinks of him, you have only to
look at a large map of the United States, and count up how many times
you find his name on it. You will find that more than two hundred
counties and towns are called FRANKLIN.
122. Summary.--Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston nearly two
hundred years ago. He went to Philadelphia when he was seventeen.
He started a newspaper there, opened the first public library, and
did many other things to help the city. He discovered that lightning
and electricity are the same thing, and he invented the lightning-rod
to protect buildings. In the Revolution, he got large sums of money
from the king of France to pay our soldiers and to help Washington
fight the battles which ended in making America free.
What had Philadelphia grown to be by 1733? Who did a great deal for
Philadelphia? Tell what you can about Franklin's newspaper. What
else did he publish? What sayings did he print in his almanac? What
saying of Solomon's did Franklin's father use to repeat to him? Did
he ever stand in the presence of any kings? Tell what you can about
Franklin as a boy. Where did he live? What did he do? How did he save
money to buy books? Why did he run away? Where did he go? Tell what
you can about Franklin's landing in Philadelphia? How did Franklin
look to Miss Read? Where did Franklin find work? What happened to
him when he went back to Boston on a visit? Why did Franklin go to
London? What did he do there? What did they nickname him in the
printing-office? What did Franklin do after he returned to
Philadelphia? Tell the story of the "sawdust pudding." Tell about
Franklin's plan of life. What did he do for Philadelphia? What
experiments did Franklin make? What about the picture of the king?
Tell the story of the kite. What two things did he find out by means
of this kite? What did he invent? What title did a college in Scotland
now give him? Did Franklin think that anything more would be
discovered about electricity? What two things did Franklin do in the
Revolution? What is said of his funeral? How many counties and towns
in the United States are now called by his name?
GEORGE WASHINGTON
(1732-1799).
123. A Virginia boy; what he became; what he learned at school; his
writing-books.--In 1732, when Franklin was at work on his newspaper,
a boy was born on a plantation[1] in Virginia who was one day to stand
higher even than the Philadelphia printer.
[Illustration: STONE MARKING WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE; THE HOUSE IS
NO LONGER STANDING.]
That boy when he grew up was to be chosen leader of the armies of
the Revolution; he was to be elected the first president of the United
States; and before he died he was to be known and honored all over
the world. The name of that boy was George Washington.
Washington's father died when George was only eleven years old,
leaving him, with his brothers and sisters, to the care of a most
excellent and sensible mother. It was that mother's influence more
than anything else which made George the man he became.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S SIGNATURE AT THE AGE OF 12.]
George went to a little country school, where he learned to read,
write, and cipher. By the time he was twelve, he could write a clear,
bold hand. In one of his writing-books he copied many good rules or
sayings. Here is one:--
[Illustration: "Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark
of celestial fire called conscience."[2]]
[Footnote 1: Plantation: George Washington was born on a plantation
(or large estate cultivated by slaves) on Bridges Creek, a small
stream emptying into the Potomac. See map in paragraph 127. Not long
after George's birth (February 22, 1732), his father moved to an
estate on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg. See map
in paragraph 127 for this place and Mount Vernon.]
[Footnote 2: Celestial: heavenly, divine.]
124. Washington's sports and games; playing at war; "Captain
George."--But young Washington was not always copying good sayings;
for he was a tall, strong boy, fond of all out-door sports and games.
He was a well-meaning boy, but he had a hot temper, and at times his
blue eyes flashed fire. In all trials of strength and in all deeds
of daring, George took the lead; he could run faster, jump further,
and throw a stone higher than any one in the school.
When the boys played "soldier," they liked to have "Captain George"
as commander. When he drew his wooden sword, and shouted Come on!
they would all rush into battle with a wild hurrah. Years afterward,
when the real war came, and George Washington drew his sword in
earnest, some of his school companions may have fought under their
old leader.
125. The great battle with the colt, and what came of it.--Once,
however, Washington had a battle of a different kind. It was with
a high-spirited colt which belonged to his mother. Nobody had ever
been able to do anything with that colt, and most people were afraid
of him. Early one morning, George and some of his brothers were out
in the pasture. George looked at the colt prancing about and kicking
up his heels. Then he said: "Boys, if you'll help me put a bridle
on him, I'll ride him." The boys managed to get the colt into a corner
and to slip on the bridle. With a leap, George seated himself firmly
on his back. Then the fun began. The colt, wild with rage, ran, jumped,
plunged, and reared straight up on his hind legs, hoping to throw
his rider off. It was all useless; he might as well have tried to
throw off his own skin, for the boy stuck to his back as though he
had grown there. Then, making a last desperate bound into the air,
the animal burst a blood-vessel and fell dead. The battle was over,
George was victor, but it had cost the life of Mrs. Washington's
favorite colt.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S HOME WHEN A BOY.]
When the boys went in to breakfast, their mother, knowing that they
had just come from the pasture, asked how the colt was getting on.
"He is dead, madam," said George; "I killed him." "Dead!" exclaimed
his mother. "Yes, madam, dead," replied her son. Then he told her
just how it happened. When Mrs. Washington heard the story, her face
flushed with anger. Then, waiting a moment, she looked steadily at
George, and said quietly, "While I regret the loss of my favorite,
I rejoice in my son, who always speaks the truth."
126. Washington goes on a visit to Mount Vernon; he makes the
acquaintance of Lord Fairfax.--George's eldest brother, Lawrence
Washington, had married the daughter of a gentleman named
Fairfax,[3] who lived on the banks of the Potomac. Lawrence had a
fine estate a few miles above, on the same river; he called his place
Mount Vernon. When he was fourteen, George went to Mount Vernon to
visit his brother.
Lawrence Washington took George down the river to call on the
Fairfaxes. There the lad made the acquaintance of Lord Fairfax, an
English nobleman who had come over from London. He owned an immense
piece of land in Virginia. Lord Fairfax and George soon became great
friends. He was a gray-haired man nearly sixty, but he enjoyed having
this boy of fourteen as a companion. They spent weeks together on
horseback in the fields and woods, hunting deer and foxes.
[Footnote 3: Fairfax. This was the Hon. William Fairfax; he was
cousin to Lord Fairfax, and he had the care of Lord Fairfax's land.]
127. Lord Fairfax hires Washington to survey[4] his land; how
Washington lived in the woods; the Indian war-dance.--Lord Fairfax's
land extended westward more than a hundred miles. It had never been
very carefully surveyed; and he was told that settlers were moving
in beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains,[5] and were building log-cabins
on his property without asking leave. By the time Washington was
sixteen, he had learned surveying; and so Lord Fairfax hired him to
measure his land for him. Washington was glad to undertake the work;
for he needed the money, and he could earn in this way from five to
ten dollars a day.
[Illustration: Map illustrating Washington's early life.]
Early in the spring, Washington, in company with another young man,
started off on foot to do this business. They crossed the Blue Ridge
Mountains, and entered the Valley of Virginia, one of the most
beautiful valleys in America.
The two young men would work all day in the woods with a long chain,
measuring the land. When evening came, Washington would make a map
of what they had measured. Then they would wrap themselves up in their
blankets, stretch themselves on the ground at the foot of a tree,
and go to sleep under the stars.
Every day they shot some game--squirrels or wild turkeys, or perhaps
a deer. They kindled a fire with flint and steel,[6] and roasted the
meat on sticks held over the coals. For plates they had clean chips;
and as clean chips could always be got by a few blows with an axe,
they never washed any dishes, but just threw them away, and had a
new set for each meal.
While in the Valley they met a band of Indians, who stopped and danced
a war-dance for them. The music was not remarkable,--for most of it
was made by drumming on a deer-skin stretched across the top of an
old iron pot,--but the dancing itself could not be beat. The savages
leaped into the air, swung their hatchets, gashed the trees, and
yelled till the woods rang.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON SEES AN INDIAN WAR-DANCE.]
When Washington returned from his surveying trip, Lord Fairfax was
greatly pleased with his work; and the governor of Virginia made him
one of the public surveyors. By this means he was able to get work
which paid him handsomely.
[Footnote 4: Survey: to find out the form, size, and position of a
piece of land by measuring it in certain ways.]
[Footnote 5: See map in this paragraph.]
[Footnote 6: Flint and steel: see picture in paragraph 84.]
128. Washington at the age of twenty-one; the French in the west;
the governor of Virginia sends Washington to see the French
commander.--By the time Washington was twenty-one he had grown to
be over six feet in height. He was straight as an arrow and tough
as a whip-lash. He had keen blue eyes that seemed to look into the
very heart of things, and his fist was like a blacksmith's
sledgehammer. He knew all about the woods, all about Indians, and
he could take care of himself anywhere.
At this time the English settlers held the country along the seashore
as far back as the Alleghany Mountains.[7] West of those mountains
the French from Canada were trying to get possession of the land.
They had made friends with many of the Indians, and they hoped, with
their help, to be able to drive out the English and get the whole
country for themselves.
In order to hold this land in the west, the French had built several
forts[8] south of Lake Erie, and they were getting ready to build
some on the Ohio River. The governor of Virginia was determined to
put a stop to this. He had given young Washington the military title
of major;[9] he now sent Major Washington to see the French commander
at one of the forts near Lake Erie. Washington was to tell the
Frenchman that he had built his forts on land belonging to the English,
and that he and his men must either leave or fight.
Major Washington dressed himself like an Indian, and attended by
several friendly Indians and by a white man named Gist,[10] who knew
the country well, he set out on his journey through what was called
the Great Woods.
The entire distance to the farthest fort and back was about a thousand
miles. Washington could go on horseback part of the way, but there
were no regular roads, and he had to climb mountains and swim rivers.
After several weeks' travel he reached the fort, but the French
commander refused to give up the land. He said that he and his men
had come to stay, and that if the English did not like it, they must
fight.
[Footnote 7: Alleghany (Al'le-ga'ni): see map in paragraph 127. (It
is also spelled Allegheny.)]
[Footnote 8: Forts: see map in paragraph 127.]
[Footnote 9: Major (ma'jer): an officer in the army next above a
captain, but below a colonel.]
[Footnote 10: Gist (Jist).]
129. The journey back; the Indian guide; how Washington found his
way through the woods; the adventure with the raft.--On the way back,
Washington had to leave his horses and come on foot with Gist and
an Indian guide sent from the fort. This Indian guide was in the pay
of the French, and he intended to murder Washington in the woods.
One day he shot at him from behind a tree, but luckily did not hit
him. Then Washington and Gist managed to get away from him, and set
out to go back to Virginia by themselves. There were no paths through
the thick forest; but Washington had his compass with him, and with
that he could find his way just as the captain of a ship finds his
at sea. When they reached the Alleghany River they found it full of
floating ice. They worked all day and made a raft of logs. As they
were pushing their way across with poles, Washington's pole was
struck by a big piece of ice which he says jerked him out into water
ten feet deep. At length the two men managed to get to a little island,
but as there was no wood on it, they could not make a fire. The weather
was bitterly cold, and Washington, who was soaked to the skin, had
to take his choice between walking about all night, or trying to sleep
on the frozen ground in his wet clothes.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON AND GIST ON THE RAFT.]
130. Major Washington becomes Colonel Washington; Fort Necessity;
Braddock's defeat.--When Major Washington got back to Virginia, the
governor made him colonel. With a hundred and fifty men, Colonel
Washington was ordered to set out for the west. He was to "make
prisoners, kill or destroy," all Frenchmen who should try to get
possession of land on the Ohio River. He built a small log fort, which
he named Fort Necessity.[11] Here the French attacked him. They had
five men to his one. Colonel Washington fought like a man who liked
to hear the bullets whistle past his ears,--as he said he did,--but
in the end he had to give up the fort.
Then General Braddock, a noted English soldier, was sent over to
Virginia by the king to drive the French out of the country. He
started with a fine army, and Washington went with him.[12] He told
General Braddock that the French and the Indians would hide in the
woods and fire at his men from behind trees. But Braddock paid no
attention to the warning. On his way through the forest, the brave
English general was suddenly struck down by the enemy, half of his
army were killed or wounded, and the rest put to flight. Washington
had two horses shot under him, and four bullets went through his coat.
It was a narrow escape for the young man. One of those who fought
in the battle said, "I expected every moment to see him fall"--but
he was to live for greater work.
[Illustration: FALL OF GENERAL BRADDOCK ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.]
[Footnote 11: Fort Necessity: see map in paragraph 127.]
[Footnote 12: See map of Braddock's march in paragraph 127.]
131. End of the war with the French; what the king of England wanted
to do; how the people here felt toward him.--The war with the French
lasted a number of years. It ended by the English getting possession
of the whole of America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi
River. All this part of America was ruled by George the Third, king
of England. The king now determined to send over more soldiers, and
keep them here to prevent the French in Canada from trying to get
back the country they had lost. He wanted the people here in the
thirteen colonies[13] to pay the cost of keeping these soldiers. But
this the people were not willing to do, because they felt that they
were able to protect themselves without help of any kind. Then the
king said, If the Americans will not give the money, I will take it
from them by force,--for pay it they must and shall. This was more
than the king would have dared say about England; for there, if he
wanted money to spend on his army, he had to ask the people for it,
and they could give it or not as they thought best. The Americans
said, We have the same rights as our brothers in England, and the
king cannot force us to give a single copper against our will. If
he tries to take it from us, we will fight. Some of the greatest men
in England agreed with us, and said that they would fight, too, if
they were in our place.
[Footnote 13: Thirteen colonies: see footnote 4 at the end of
paragraph 102.]
132. The king determines to have the money; the tea-ships, and the
"Boston tea-party."--But George the Third did not know the Americans,
and he did not think that they meant what they said. He tried to make
them pay the money, but they would not. From Maine to Georgia, all
the people were of one mind. Then the king thought that he would try
a different way. Shiploads of tea were sent over to New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, and Charleston, If the tea should be landed and sold,
then every man who bought a pound of it would have to pay six cents
more than the regular price. That six cents was a tax, and it went
into the king's pocket. The people said, We won't pay that six cents.
When the tea reached New York, the citizens sent it back again to
England. They did the same thing at Philadelphia. At Charleston they
let it be landed, but it was stored in damp cellars. People would
not buy any of it any more than they would buy so much poison, so
it all rotted and spoiled. At Boston they had a grand "tea-party."
A number of men dressed themselves up like Indians, went on board
the tea-ships at night, broke open all the chests, and emptied the
tea into the harbor.
[Illustration: THE BOSTON "TEA-PARTY."]
133. The king closes the port of Boston; Congress meets at
Philadelphia; the names American and British; what General Gage
tried to do.--The king was terribly angry; and orders were given that
the port of Boston should be closed, so that no ships, except the
king's war-ships, should come in or go out. Nearly all trade stopped
in Boston. Many of the inhabitants began to suffer for want of food,
but throughout the colonies the people tried their best to help them.
The New England towns sent droves of sheep and cattle, New York sent
wheat, South Carolina gave two hundred barrels of rice; the other
colonies gave liberally in money and provisions. Even in England much
sympathy was felt for the distressed people of Boston, and in London
a large sum of money was raised to help those whom the king was
determined to starve into submission.
The colonies now sent some of their best men to Philadelphia to
consider what should be done. As this meeting was made up of those
who had come from all parts of the country, it took the name of the
General or Continental Congress.[14]
About this time, too, a great change took place; for the people
throughout the country began to call themselves Americans, and to
speak of the English troops that the king sent over here as British
soldiers.
In Boston General Gage had command of these soldiers. He knew that
the Americans were getting ready to fight, and that they had stored
up powder and ball at Concord,[15] about twenty miles from Boston.
One night he secretly sent out a lot of soldiers to march to Concord
and destroy what they found there.
[Footnote 14: Congress: this word means a meeting or assembly of
persons. The General or Continental Congress was an assembly of
certain persons sent usually by all of the thirteen American colonies
to meet at Philadelphia or Baltimore, to decide what should be done
by the whole country. The first Congress met in 1774, or shortly
before the Revolution began, and after that from time to time until
near the close of the Revolution.]
[Footnote 15: Concord (Con'cord).]
134. Paul Revere;[16] the fight at Lexington and Concord; Bunker
Hill.--But Paul Revere, a Boston man, was on the watch; and as soon
as he found out which way the British were going, he set off at a
gallop for Lexington, on the road to Concord. All the way out, he
roused people from their sleep, with the cry, "The British are
coming!"
[Illustration: PAUL REVERE'S RIDE.]
When the king's soldiers reached Lexington, they found the Americans,
under Captain Parker, ready for them. Captain Parker said to his men,
"Don't fire unless you are fired on; but if they want a war, _let
it begin here_." The fighting did begin there, April 19th, 1775; and
when the British left the town on their way to Concord, seven
Americans lay dead on the grass in front of the village church. At
Concord, that same day, there was still harder fighting; and on the
way back to Boston, a large number of the British were killed.
The next month, June 17th, 1775 a battle was fought on Bunker Hill
in Charlestown, just outside of Boston. General Gage thought the
Yankees wouldn't fight, but they did fight, in a way that General
Gage never forgot; and though they had at last to retreat because
their powder gave out, yet the British lost more than a thousand men.
The contest at Bunker Hill was the first great battle of the
Revolution; that is, of that war which overturned the British power
in America, and made us a free people. Many Englishmen thought the
king was wrong. They would not fight against us, and he was obliged
to hire a large number of German soldiers to send to America. These
Germans had to fight us whether they wanted to or not, for their king
forced them to come.
[Footnote 16: Revere (Re-veer').]
135. Colonel Washington at Mount Vernon; Congress makes him General
Washington, and sends him to take command of the American army.--At
the time the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, Colonel George
Washington was living very quietly at Mount Vernon. His brother
Lawrence had died, and Mount Vernon was now his home. Washington was
very well off: he had a fine estate and plenty of slaves to do the
work on it; but when he died, many years later, he took good care
to leave orders that all of his slaves should be set free as soon
as it could be done.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON.]
[Illustration: WASHINGTON TAKING COMMAND OF THE AMERICAN ARMY AT
CAMBRIDGE.]
Congress now made Colonel Washington general, and sent him to
Cambridge, a town just outside of Boston, to take command of the
American army. It was called the Continental Army because it was
raised, not to fight for the people of Massachusetts, but for all
the Americans on the continent, north and south. Washington took
command of the army under a great elm, which is still standing. There,
six months later, he raised the first American flag.[17]
[Illustration: THE NORTHERN STATES IN THE REVOLUTION.]
[Footnote 17: See a picture of this and the other flags of the
Revolution in paragraph 142.]
136. American sharpshooters;[18] Washington's need of cannon and
powder; the attack on Canada; the British driven out of Boston.--Men
now came from all parts of the country to join the Continental Army.
Many of them were sharpshooters. In one case an officer set up a board
with the figure of a man's nose chalked on it, for a mark. A hundred
men fired at it at long distance, and sixty hit the nose. The
newspapers gave them great praise for their skill and said, "Now,
General Gage, look out for _your_ nose."
[Illustration: "NOW, GENERAL GAGE, LOOK OUT FOR _your_ NOSE."]
Washington wanted to drive General Gage and the British soldiers out
of Boston, but for months he could not get either cannon or powder.
Benjamin Franklin said that we should have to fight as the Indians
used to, with bows and arrows.
While Washington was waiting, a number of Americans marched against
the British in Canada; but the cold weather came on, and they nearly
starved to death: our men would sometimes take off their
moccasins[19] and gnaw them, while they danced in the snow to keep
their bare feet from freezing.
At last Washington got both cannon and powder. He dragged the cannon
up to the top of some high land overlooking Boston harbor. He then
sent word to General Howe, for Gage had gone, that if he did not leave
Boston he would knock his ships to pieces. The British saw that they
could not help themselves, so they made haste to get on board their
vessels and sail away. They never came back to Boston again, but went
to New York.
[Footnote 18: Sharpshooters: men who can fire and hit a small mark
with a bullet at a long distance.]
[Footnote 19: Moccasins (mok'ka-sins): Indian shoes made of
deerskin.]
137. The Declaration of Independence; "Down with the king!"
Washington is driven from New York and across the Delaware
River.--Washington got to New York first. While he was there,
Congress,[20] on the 4th of July, 1776, declared the United States
_independent_--that is, entirely free from the rule of the king of
England. There was a gilded lead statue of King George the Third on
horseback in New York. When the news of what Congress had done reached
that city, there was a great cry of "Down with the king!" That night
some of our men pulled down the statue, melted it up, and cast it
into bullets.
[Illustration: "DOWN WITH THE KING!"]
The next month there was a battle on Long Island,[21] just across
from New York City; the British gained the victory. Washington had
to leave New York, and Lord Cornwallis, one of the British generals,
chased him and his little army clear across the state of New Jersey.
It looked at one time as though our men would all be taken prisoners,
but Washington managed to seize a lot of small boats on the Delaware
River[22] and get across into Pennsylvania: as the British had no
boats, they could not follow.
[Footnote 20: Congress: see footnote 14 in paragraph 133.]
[Footnote 21: See map in paragraph 135.]
[Footnote 22: See map in paragraph 135.]
138. Washington's victory at Trenton, New Jersey.--Lord Cornwallis
left fifteen hundred German soldiers at Trenton on the Delaware. He
intended, as soon as the river froze over, to cross on the ice and
attack Washington's army. But Washington did not wait for him. On
Christmas night (1776) he took a large number of boats, filled them
with soldiers, and secretly crossed over to New Jersey.[23] The
weather was intensely cold, the river was full of floating ice, and
a furious snow-storm set in. Many of our men were ragged and had only
old broken shoes. They suffered terribly, and two of them were frozen
to death.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE RIVER.]
The Germans at Trenton had been having a jolly Christmas, and had
gone to bed, suspecting no danger. Suddenly Washington, with his men,
rushed into the little town, and almost before they knew what had
happened, a thousand Germans were made prisoners. The rest escaped
to tell Lord Cornwallis how the Americans had beaten them. When
Washington was driven out of New York, many Americans thought he
would be captured. Now they were filled with joy. The battle of
Trenton was the first battle won by the Continental Army.
[Footnote 23: See map in paragraph 135.]
139. Our victory at Princeton, New Jersey; the British take
Philadelphia; winter at Valley Forge; Burgoyne beaten; the king of
France agrees to help us.--Washington took his thousand prisoners
over into Pennsylvania. A few days later he again crossed the
Delaware into New Jersey. While Cornwallis was fast asleep in his
tent, he slipped round him, got to Princeton,[24] and there beat a
part of the British army. Cornwallis woke up and heard Washington's
cannon. "That's thunder," he said. He was right; it was the thunder
of another American victory.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON ON HORSEBACK.]
But before the next winter set in, the British had taken the city
of Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. Washington's
army was freezing and starving on the hillsides of Valley Forge,[25]
about twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia.
But good news was coming. The Americans had won a great victory at
Saratoga, New York,[26] over the British general, Burgoyne.[27] Dr.
Franklin was then in Paris. When he heard that Burgoyne was beaten,
he hurried off to the palace of the French king to tell him about
it. The king of France hated the British, and he agreed to send money,
ships, and soldiers to help us. When our men heard that at Valley
Forge, they leaped and hurrahed for joy. Not long after that the
British left Philadelphia, and we entered it in triumph.
[Footnote 24: Princeton: see map in paragraph 135.]
[Footnote 25: Valley Forge: see map in paragraph 135.]
[Footnote 26: Saratoga: see map in paragraph 135.]
[Footnote 27: Burgoyne (Bur'goin).]
140. The war at the South; Jasper; Cowpens; Greene and
Cornwallis.--While these things were happening at the north, the
British sent a fleet of vessels to take Charleston, South Carolina.
They hammered away with their big guns at a little log fort under
command of Colonel Moultrie. In the battle a cannon-ball struck the
flag-pole on the fort, and cut it in two. The South Carolina flag
fell to the ground outside the fort. Sergeant[28] William Jasper
leaped down, and, while the British shot were striking all around
him, seized the flag, climbed back, fastened it to a short staff,
and raised it to its place, to show that the Americans would never
give up the fort. The British, after fighting all day, saw that they
could do nothing against palmetto logs[29] when defended by such men
as Moultrie and Jasper; so they sailed away with such of their ships
as had not been destroyed.
[Illustration: SERGEANT JASPER AND THE FLAG.]
Several years later, Charleston was taken. Lord Cornwallis then took
command of the British army in South Carolina. General Greene, of
Rhode Island, had command of the Americans. He sent Daniel Morgan
with his sharpshooters to meet part of the British army at
Cowpens;[30] they did meet them, and sent them flying. Then
Cornwallis determined to either whip General Greene or drive him out
of the state. But General Greene worried Cornwallis so that at last
he was glad enough to get into Virginia. He had found North and South
Carolina like two hornets' nests, and the further he got away from
those hornets, the better he was pleased.
[Illustration: THE SOUTHERN STATES IN THE REVOLUTION.]
[Footnote 28: Sergeant (sar'jent): a military officer of low rank.]
[Footnote 29: Palmetto logs: the wood of the palmetto tree is very
soft and spongy; the cannon-balls, when they struck, would bury
themselves in the logs, but would neither break them to pieces nor
go through them.]
[Footnote 30: Cowpens: see map in this paragraph.]
141. Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold; Lafayette; Cornwallis shuts
himself up in Yorktown.--When Lord Cornwallis got into Virginia he
found Benedict Arnold waiting to help him. Arnold had been a general
in the American army; Washington gave him the command of the fort
at West Point, on the Hudson River,[31] and trusted him as though
he was his brother. Arnold deceived him, and secretly offered to give
up the fort to the British. We call a man who is false to his friends
and to his country a traitor: it is the most shameful name we can
fasten on him. Arnold was a traitor; and if we could have caught him,
we should have hanged him; but he was cunning enough to run away and
escape to the British. Now he was burning houses and towns in Virginia,
and doing all that he could--as a traitor always will--to destroy
those who had once been his best friends. He wanted to stay in
Virginia and assist Cornwallis; but that general was a brave and
honorable man: he despised Arnold, and did not want to have anything
to do with him.
A young nobleman named Lafayette[32] had come over from France on
purpose to help us against the British. Cornwallis laughed at him
and called him a "boy"; but he found that General Lafayette was a
"boy" who knew how to fight. The British commander moved toward the
seacoast; Lafayette followed him; at length Cornwallis shut himself
up with his army in Yorktown.[33]
[Footnote 31: West Point: see map in paragraph 135.]
[Footnote 32: Lafayette (Lah-fay-et').]
[Footnote 33: Yorktown: see map in paragraph 140.]
142. Washington marches against Yorktown, and takes it and the army
of Cornwallis.--Washington, with his army, was then near New York
City, watching the British there. The French king had done as he
agreed, and had sent over warships and soldiers to help us; but so
far they had never been able to do much. Now was the chance. Before
the British knew what Washington was about, he had sent the French
war-ships down to Yorktown to prevent Cornwallis from getting away
by sea. Then, with his own army and some French soldiers besides,
Washington quickly marched south to attack Yorktown by land.
When he got there he placed his cannon round the town, and began
battering it to pieces. For more than a week he kept firing night
and day. One house had over a thousand balls go through it. Its walls
looked like a sieve. At last Cornwallis could not hold out any longer,
and on October 19th, 1781, his army came out and gave themselves up
as prisoners.
The Americans formed a line more than a mile long on one side of the
road, and the French stood facing them on the other side. The French
had on gay clothes, and looked very handsome; the clothes of
Washington's men were patched and faded, but their eyes shone with
a wonderful light--the light of victory. The British marched out
slowly, between the two lines: somehow they found it pleasanter to
look at the bright uniforms of the French, than to look at the eyes
of the Americans.
[Illustration: THE FLAGS OF THE REVOLUTION.[34]]
[Footnote 34: The flag with the large crosses on it, on the left,
is the English flag at the time of the American Revolution. The flag
on the right is that which Washington raised at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, January 2d, 1776. He simply took the English flag,
and added thirteen stripes to represent the union of the thirteen
English colonies. The flag in the centre, with its thirteen stars
and thirteen stripes representing the thirteen states, is the first
American _national_ flag. It was adopted by Congress June 14th, 1777,
not quite a year after we had declared ourselves independent of Great
Britain. Beneath this flag is Washington's coat of arms with a Latin
motto, meaning "The event justifies the deed." It is possible that
the stars and stripes on our national flag came from the stars and
stripes (or bars) on this ancient coat of arms, which may be seen
on the tombstone of one of the Washington family, buried in 1583,
in the parish church at Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England.]
143. How the news of the taking of Yorktown was carried to
Philadelphia; Lord Fairfax.--People at a distance noticed that the
cannon had suddenly stopped firing. They looked at each other, and
asked, "What does it mean?" All at once a man appears on horseback.
He is riding with all his might toward Philadelphia, where Congress
is. As he dashes past, he rises in his stirrups, swings his cap, and
shouts with all his might, "Cornwallis is taken! Cornwallis is
taken!" Then it was the people's turn to shout; and they made the
hills ring with, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"
[Illustration: "CORNWALLIS IS TAKEN!"]
Poor Lord Fairfax,[35] Washington's old friend, had always stood by
the king. He was now over ninety. When he heard the cry, "Cornwallis
is taken!" it was too much for the old man. He said to his negro
servant, "Come, Joe; carry me to bed, for I'm sure it's high time
for me to die."
[Footnote 35: See paragraph 126.]
144. Tearing down the British flag at New York; Washington goes back
to Mount Vernon; he is elected President; his death; Lafayette visits
his tomb.--The Revolutionary War had lasted seven years,--terrible
years they were, years of sorrow, suffering, and death,--but now the
end had come, and America was free. When the British left New York
City, they nailed the British flag to a high pole on the wharf; but
a Yankee sailor soon climbed the pole, tore down the flag of England,
and hoisted the stars and stripes in its place. That was more than
a hundred years ago. Now the English and the Americans have become
good friends, and the English people see that the Revolution ended
in the way that was best for both of us.
[Illustration: HOISTING THE STARS AND STRIPES AT NEW YORK.]
When it was clear that there would be no more fighting, Washington
went back to Mount Vernon. He hoped to spend the rest of his life
there. But the country needed him, and a few years later it chose
him the first President of the United States.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S COACH.]
Washington was made President in New York City, which was the capital
of the United States at that time. A French gentleman who was there
tells us how Washington, standing in the presence of thousands of
people, placed his hand on the Bible, and solemnly swore that with
the help of God he would protect and defend the United States of
America.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT WASHINGTON TAKING THE OATH.]
Washington was elected President twice. When he died many of the
people in England and France joined America in mourning for him; for
all men honored his memory.
Lafayette came over to visit us many years afterward. He went to Mount
Vernon, where Washington was buried. There he went down into the
vault, and, kneeling by the side of the coffin, covered his face with
his hands, and shed tears of gratitude to think that he had known
such a man as Washington, and that Washington had been his friend.
[Illustration: LAFAYETTE AT WASHINGTON'S COFFIN.]
145. Summary.--George Washington, the son of a Virginia planter,
became the leader of the armies of the United States in the war of
the Revolution. At the close of the war, after he had made America
free, he was elected our first President. His name stands to-day
among those of the greatest men in the history of the world.
When and where was George Washington born? What did he learn at
school? What did he write in one of his writing-books? Tell about
his sports and games at school. What is said of "Captain George"?
Tell the story about the colt. What did George's mother say? Tell
about George's visit to his brother and to the Fairfaxes. What is
said of Lord Fairfax? What did he hire Washington to do? Tell about
his surveying and his life in the woods. Tell about the Indian
war-dance. What did the governor of Virginia do when Washington
returned? What is said of Washington at the age of twenty-one? Tell
about his journey to the French forts and his return. What is said
about the Indian guide? What about the raft? What did the governor
of Virginia do when Washington returned? What did the governor order
him to do? What about Fort Necessity? Tell about General Braddock,
and about what happened to Washington. What is said about the end
of the war? What did King George the Third determine to do? What did
the king want the Americans to do? How did they feel? What did the
king say? What did the Americans say to that? What did some of the
greatest men in England say? What did the king then try to do? Tell
about the tea-ships. What happened in Boston? What was done to
Boston? What help did the people of Boston get? What did the colonies
now do? What did the people now begin to call themselves? What did
they call the English troops?
Who commanded the British soldiers in Boston? What did he do? What
about Paul Revere? What did Captain Parker of Lexington say to his
men? What happened at Lexington and at Concord? Tell about the battle
of Bunker Hill. What did many Englishmen refuse to do? Where was
Colonel Washington living? What did Congress do? Where did
Washington take command of the army? Tell about the sharpshooters.
Tell about the march to Canada. How did Washington take Boston? Where
did the British go? Where did Washington go? What did Congress do
on July 4th, 1776? What happened in New York? What about the battle
of Long Island? What did Cornwallis do? Tell about the victory at
Trenton. What happened at Princeton? What city did the British take?
Where was Washington's army? What happened at Saratoga? What did the
king of France do? What happened at the south? Tell about Sergeant
Jasper. What is said about General Greene? What did Cornwallis do?
Where did he go? What is said about Benedict Arnold? What about
Lafayette? Where did Cornwallis shut himself up with his army? What
did Washington do? Tell about the surrender of Cornwallis. How was
the news carried to Philadelphia? What is said of Lord Fairfax? How
long had the war lasted? What was done at New York? What is said of
General Washington after the war? Tell how he was made President.
What happened when he died? What is said of Lafayette?
DANIEL BOONE
(1734-1820).
146. Daniel Boone; what the hunters of the west did; Boone's life
in North Carolina.--Before Washington began to fight the battles of
the Revolution in the east, Daniel Boone and other famous hunters
were fighting bears and Indians in what was then called the west.
By that war in the woods, these brave and hardy men helped us to get
possession of that part of the country.
Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania.[1] His father moved to North
Carolina,[2] and Daniel helped him cut down the trees round their
log cabin in the forest. He ploughed the land, which was thick with
stumps, hoed the corn that grew up among those stumps, and then,--as
there was no mill near,--he pounded it into meal for "johnny-cake."
He learned how to handle a gun quite as soon as he did a hoe. The
unfortunate deer or coon that saw young Boone coming toward him knew
that he had seen his best days, and that he would soon have the whole
Boone family sitting round him at the dinner-table.
[Illustration: BOONE POUNDING CORN.]
[Footnote 1: He was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.]
[Footnote 2: He settled near Wilkesboro, on the banks of the Yadkin
River. See map in paragraph 150.]
147. Boone's wanderings in the western forests; his bear tree.--When
Daniel had grown to manhood, he wandered off with his gun on his
shoulder, and crossing the mountains, entered what is now the state
of Tennessee. That whole country was then a wilderness, full of
savage beasts and still more savage Indians; and Boone had many a
sharp fight with both.
More than a hundred and thirty years ago, he cut these words on a
beech-tree, still standing in Eastern Tennessee,[3]--"D. Boon
killed a bar on (this) tree in the year 1760." You will see if you
examine the tree, on which the words can still be read, that Boone
could not spell very well; but he could do what the bear minded a
good deal more,--he could shoot to kill.
[Illustration: BOONE'S BEAR TREE.]
[Footnote 3: The tree is still standing on the banks of Boone's Creek,
near Jonesboro, Washington County, Tennessee.]
148. Boone goes hunting in Kentucky; what kind of game he found there;
the Indians; the "Dark and Bloody Ground."--Nine years after he cut
his name on that tree, Boone, with a few companions, went to a new
part of the country. The Indians called it Kentucky. There he saw
buffalo, deer, bears, and wolves enough to satisfy the best hunter
in America.
This region was a kind of No Man's Land, because, though many tribes
of Indians roamed over it, none of them pretended to own it. These
bands of Indians were always fighting and trying to drive each other
out, so Kentucky was often called the "Dark and Bloody Ground." But,
much as the savages hated each other, they hated the white men, or
the "pale-faces," as they called them, still more.
149. Indian tricks; the owls.--The hunters were on the lookout for
these Indians, but the savages practised all kinds of tricks to get
the hunters near enough to shoot them. Sometimes Boone would hear
the gobble of a wild turkey. He would listen a moment, then he would
say, That is not a wild turkey, but an Indian, imitating that bird;
but he won't fool me and get me to come near enough to put a bullet
through my head.
One evening an old hunter, on his way to his cabin, heard what seemed
to be two young owls calling to each other. But his quick ear noticed
that there was something not quite natural in their calls, and what
was stranger still, that the owls seemed to be on the ground instead
of being perched on trees, as all well-behaved owls would be. He crept
cautiously along through the bushes till he saw something ahead which
looked like a stump. He didn't altogether like the looks of the stump.
He aimed his rifle at it, and fired. The stump, or what seemed to
be one, fell over backward with a groan. He had killed an Indian,
who had been waiting to kill him.
150. Boone makes the "Wilderness Road," and builds the fort at
Boonesboro'.--In 1775 Boone, with a party of thirty men, chopped a
path through the forest from the mountains of Eastern Tennessee to
the Kentucky River,[4] a distance of about two hundred miles. This
was the first path in that part of the country leading to the great
west. It was called the "_Wilderness Road_." Over that road, which
thousands of emigrants travelled afterward, Boone took his family,
with other settlers, to the Kentucky River. There they built a fort
called Boonesboro'. That fort was a great protection to all the first
settlers in Kentucky. In fact, it is hard to see how the state could
have grown up without it. So in one way, we can say with truth that
Daniel Boone, the hunter, fighter, and road-maker, was a
state-builder besides.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING BOONE'S "WILDERNESS ROAD."]
[Footnote 4: See map in this paragraph.]
151. Boone's daughter is stolen by the Indians; how he found
her.--One day Boone's young daughter was out, with two other girls,
in a canoe on the river. Suddenly some Indians pounced on them and
carried them off.
One of the girls, as she went along, broke off twigs from the bushes,
so that her friends might be able to follow her track through the
woods. An Indian caught her doing it, and told her that he would kill
her if she did not instantly stop. Then she slyly tore off small bits
of her dress, and dropped a piece from time to time.
Boone and his men followed the Indians like bloodhounds. They picked
up the bits of dress, and so easily found which way the savages had
gone. They came up with the Indians just as they were sitting down
round a fire to eat their supper. Creeping toward them behind the
trees as softly as a cat creeps up behind a mouse, Boone and his men
aimed their rifles and fired. Two of the Indians fell dead, the rest
ran for their lives, and the girls were carried back in safety to
the fort.
152. Boone is captured by Indians; they adopt him as a son.--Later,
Boone himself was caught and carried off by the Indians. They
respected his courage so much that they would not kill him, but
decided to adopt him; that is, take him into the tribe as one of their
own people, or make an Indian of him.
They pulled out all his hair except one long lock, called the
"scalp-lock," which they left to grow in Indian fashion. The
squaws[5] and girls braided bright feathers in this lock, so that
Boone looked quite gay. Then the Indians took him down to a river.
There they stripped him, and scrubbed him with all their might, to
get his white blood out, as they said. Next, they painted his face
in stripes with red and yellow clay, so that he looked, as they
thought, handsomer than he ever had before in his life. When all had
been done, and they were satisfied with the appearance of their new
Indian, they sat down to a great feast, and made merry.
[Footnote 5: Squaws: Indian women.]
153. Boone escapes, but the Indians find him again; what a handful
of tobacco dust did.--After a time Boone managed to escape, but the
Indians were so fond of him that they could not rest till they found
him again. One day he was at work in a kind of shed drying some tobacco
leaves. He heard a slight noise, and turning round saw four Indians
with their guns pointed at him. "Now, Boone," said they, "we got you.
You no get away this time." "How are you?" said Boone, pleasantly;
"glad to see you; just wait a minute till I get you some of my
tobacco." He gathered two large handfuls of the leaves: they were
as dry as powder and crumbled to dust in his hands. Coming forward,
as if to give the welcome present to the Indians, he suddenly sprang
on them and filled their eyes, mouths, and noses with the stinging
tobacco dust. The savages were half choked and nearly blinded. While
they were dancing about, coughing, sneezing, and rubbing their eyes,
Boone slipped out of the shed and got to a place of safety. The Indians
were mad as they could be, yet they could hardly help laughing at
Boone's trick; for cunning as the red men were, he was more cunning
still.
[Illustration: BOONE'S FORT, AT BOONESBORO', KENTUCKY.]
154. Boone's old age; he moves to Missouri; he begs for a piece of
land; his grave.--Boone lived to be a very old man. He had owned a
good deal of land in the west, but he had lost possession of it. When
Kentucky began to fill up with people and the game was killed off,
Boone moved across the Mississippi into Missouri. He said that he
went because he wanted "more elbow room" and a chance to hunt buffalo
again.
He now begged the state of Kentucky to give him a small piece of land,
where, as he said, he could "lay his bones." The people of that state
generously helped him to get nearly a thousand acres; but he appears
to have soon lost possession of it. If he actually did lose it, then
this brave old hunter, who had opened up the way for such a multitude
of emigrants to get farms at the west, died without owning a piece
of ground big enough for a grave. He is buried in Frankfort, Kentucky,
within sight of the river on which he built his fort at Boonesboro'.
155. Summary.--Daniel Boone, a famous hunter from North Carolina,
opened up a road through the forest, from the mountains of Eastern
Tennessee to the Kentucky River. It was called the "Wilderness Road,"
and over it thousands of emigrants went into Kentucky to settle.
Boone, with others, built the fort at Boonesboro', Kentucky, and went
there to live. That fort protected the settlers against the Indians,
and so helped that part of the country to grow until it became the
state of Kentucky.
Tell about Daniel Boone. How did he help his father? Where did he
go when he became a man? What did he cut on a beech tree? Where did
he go after that? What is said of the Indians in Kentucky? Tell about
Indian tricks. Tell about the two owls. Tell about the Wilderness
Road. What is said of the fort at Boonesboro'? Tell how Boone's
daughter and the other girls were stolen by the Indians. What
happened next? Tell how Boone was captured by the Indians and how
they adopted him. Tell the story of the tobacco dust. What did Boone
do when he became old? What did Kentucky get for him? Where is he
buried?
GENERAL JAMES ROBERTSON AND GOVERNOR JOHN SEVIER[1]
(1742-1814; 1745-1815).
156. Who James Robertson was; Governor Tryon; the battle of
Alamance.[2]--When Daniel Boone first went to Kentucky (1769) he had
a friend named James Robertson, in North Carolina[3] who was, like
himself, a mighty hunter. The British governor of North Carolina at
that time was William Tryon. He lived in a palace built with money
which he had forced the people to give him. They hated him so for
his greed and cruelty that they nicknamed him the "Great Wolf of North
Carolina."
At last many of the settlers vowed that they would not give the
governor another penny. When he sent tax-collectors to get money,
they drove them back, and they flogged one of the governor's friends
with a rawhide till he had to run for his life.
The governor then collected some soldiers and marched against the
people in the west. A battle was fought near the Alamance River. The
governor had the most men and had cannon besides, so he gained the
day. He took seven of the people prisoners and hanged them. They all
died bravely, as men do who die for liberty.
[Footnote 1: Sevier (Se-veer'): he was born in Rockingham County,
Virginia.]
[Footnote 2: Alamance River (Al'a-mance): see map in paragraph 150.]
[Footnote 3: Robertson was born in Brunswick County, Virginia; he
emigrated to North Carolina and settled in the neighborhood of
Raleigh. See map in paragraph 150.]
157. James Robertson leaves North Carolina and goes west.--After the
battle of Alamance James Robertson and his family made up their minds
that they would not live any longer where Governor Tryon ruled. They
resolved to go across the mountains into the western wilderness.
Sixteen other families joined Robertson's and went with them. It was
a long, hard journey; for they had to climb rocks and find their way
through deep, tangled woods. The men went ahead with their axes and
their guns; then the older children followed, driving the cows; last
of all came the women with the little children, with beds, pots, and
kettles packed on the backs of horses.
[Illustration: ROBERTSON WITH HIS PARTY CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS
ON THEIR WAY TO TENNESSEE.]
158. The emigrants settle on the Watauga River[4] in
Tennessee.--When the little party had crossed the mountains into
what is now the state of Tennessee, they found a delightful valley.
Through this valley there ran a stream of clear sparkling water
called the Watauga River; the air of the valley was sweet with the
smell of wild crab-apples.
On the banks of that stream the emigrants built their new homes. Their
houses were simply rough log huts, but they were clean and
comfortable. When the settlers put up these cabins, they chopped down
every tree near them which was big enough for an Indian to hide behind.
They knew that they might have to fight the savages; but they had
rather do that than be robbed by tax-collectors. In the wilderness
Governor Tryon could not reach them--they were free; free as the deer
and the squirrels were: that one thought made them contented and
happy.
[Footnote 4: Watauga River (Wa-taw'ga): see map in paragraph 150.]
159. John Sevier goes to settle at Watauga; what he and Robertson
did.--The year after this little settlement was made John Sevier went
from Virginia to Watauga, as it was called. He and Robertson soon
became fast friends--for one brave man can always see something to
respect and like in another brave man. Robertson and Sevier hunted
together and worked together.
After a while they called a meeting of the settlers and agreed on
some excellent laws, so that everything in the log village might be
done decently and in order; for although these people lived in the
woods, they had no notion of living like savages or wild beasts. In
course of time President Washington made James Robertson General
Robertson, in honor of what he had done for his country.
Out of this settlement on the Watauga River grew the state of
Tennessee. A monument in honor of John Sevier stands in Nashville,
a city founded by his friend Robertson. Sevier became the first
governor of the new state.
[Illustration: THE SEVIER MONUMENT.]
160. Summary.--James Robertson, of North Carolina, and John Sevier,
of Virginia, emigrated across the mountains to the western
wilderness. They settled on the Watauga River, and that settlement,
with others made later, grew into the state of Tennessee, of which
John Sevier became the first governor.
What friend did Boone have in North Carolina? Tell about Governor
Tryon. What happened on the Alamance River? Where did Robertson and
others go? Where did they settle? Why did they like to be there? Tell
about John Sevier. What did he and Robertson do? What did Washington
do for Robertson? What state grew out of the Watauga settlement? What
did Sevier become? Where is his monument?
GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
(1752-1818).
161. The British in the west; their forts; hiring Indians to fight
the settlers.--While Washington was fighting the battles of the
Revolution in the east, the British in the west were not sitting still.
They had a number of forts in the Wilderness,[1] as that part of the
country was then called. One of these forts was at Detroit,[2] in
what is now Michigan; another was at Vincennes,[3] in what is now
Indiana; a third fort was at Kaskaskia,[4] in what is now Illinois.
[Illustration: Map showing the Forts at Detroit, Kaskaskia, and
Vincennes, with the line of Clark's march.]
Colonel Hamilton, the British commander at Detroit, was determined
to drive the American settlers out of the west. In the beginning of
the Revolution the Americans resolved to hire the Indians to fight
for them, but the British found that they could hire them better than
we could, and so they got their help. The savages did their work in
a terribly cruel way. Generally they did not come out and do battle
openly, but they crept up secretly, by night, and attacked the
farmers' homes. They killed and scalped the settlers in the west,
burned their log cabins, and carried off the women and children
prisoners. The greater part of the people in England hated this sort
of war. They begged the king not to hire the Indians to do these
horrible deeds of murder and destruction. George the Third was not
a bad-hearted man; but he was very set in his way, and he had fully
made up his mind to conquer the "American rebels," as he called them,
even if he had to get the savages to help him do it.
[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 187.]
[Footnote 2: Detroit (De-troit'): for these forts see map in this
paragraph.]
[Footnote 3: Vincennes (Vin-senz').]
[Footnote 4: Kaskaskia (Kas-kas'ki-a).]
162. George Rogers Clark gets help from Virginia and starts to attack
Fort Kaskaskia.--Daniel Boone had a friend in Virginia named George
Rogers Clark,[5] who believed that he could take the British forts
in the west and drive out the British from all that part of the country.
Virginia then owned most of the Wilderness. For this reason Clark
went to Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, and asked for help. The
governor liked the plan, and let Clark have money to hire men to go
with him and try to take Fort Kaskaskia to begin with.
Clark started in the spring of 1778 with about a hundred and fifty
men. They built boats just above Pittsburg[6] and floated down the
Ohio River, a distance of over nine hundred miles. Then they landed
in what is now Illinois, and set out for Fort Kaskaskia.[7]
[Footnote 5: George Rogers Clark was born near Monticello, Virginia.
See map in paragraph 140.]
[Footnote 6: Pittsburg: see map in paragraph 140.]
[Footnote 7: Fort Kaskaskia: see map in paragraph 161.]
163. The march to Fort Kaskaskia; how a dance ended.--It was a hundred
miles to the fort, and half of the way the men had to find their way
through thick woods, full of underbrush, briers, and vines. The
British, thinking the fort perfectly safe from attack, had left it
in the care of a French officer. Clark and his band reached Kaskaskia
at night. They found no one to stop them. The soldiers in the fort
were having a dance, and the Americans could hear the merry music
of a violin and the laughing voices of girls.
Clark left his men just outside the fort, and, finding a door open,
he walked in. He reached the room where the fun was going on, and
stopping there, he stood leaning against the door-post, looking on.
The room was lighted with torches; the light of one of the torches
happened to fall full on Clark's face; an Indian sitting on the floor
caught sight of him; he sprang to his feet and gave a terrific
war-whoop. The dancers stopped as though they had been shot; the
women screamed; the men ran to the door to get their guns. Clark did
not move, but said quietly, "Go on; only remember you are dancing
now under Virginia, and not under Great Britain." The next moment
the Americans rushed in, and Clark and his "Long Knives," as the
Indians called his men, had full possession of the fort.
[Illustration: CLARK LOOKING ON AT THE DANCE.]
164. How Fort Vincennes was taken; how the British got it back again;
what Francis Vigo[8] did.--Clark wanted next to march against Fort
Vincennes, but he had not men enough. There was a French Catholic
priest[9] at Kaskaskia, and Clark's kindness to him had made him our
friend. He said, I will go to Vincennes for you, and I will tell the
French, who hold the fort for the British, that the Americans are
their real friends, and that in this war they are in the right. He
went; the French listened to him, then hauled down the British flag
and ran up the American flag in its place.
The next year the British, led by Colonel Hamilton of Detroit, got
the fort back again. When Clark heard of it he said, "Either I must
take Hamilton, or Hamilton will take me." Just then Francis Vigo,
a trader at St. Louis, came to see Clark at Kaskaskia. Hamilton had
held Vigo as a prisoner, so he knew all about Fort Vincennes. Vigo
said to Clark, "Hamilton has only about eighty soldiers; you can take
the fort, and I will lend you all the money you need to pay your men
what you owe them."
[Footnote 8: Vigo (Vee-go).]
[Footnote 9: The priest was Father Gibault (Zhe-bo').]
165. Clark's march to Fort Vincennes; the "Drowned Lands."--Clark,
with about two hundred men, started for Vincennes. The distance was
nearly a hundred and fifty miles. The first week everything went on
pretty well. It was in the month of February, the weather was cold,
and it rained a good deal, but the men did not mind that. They would
get wet through during the day; but at night they built roaring log
fires, gathered round them, roasted their buffalo meat or venison,
smoked their pipes, told jolly stories, and sang jolly songs.
But the next week they got to a branch of the Wabash River.[10] Then
they found that the constant rains had raised the streams so that
they had overflowed their banks; the whole country was under water
three or four feet deep. This flooded country was called the "Drowned
Lands": before Clark and his men had crossed them they were nearly
drowned themselves.
[Footnote 10: See map in paragraph 161.]
166. Wading on to victory.--For about a week the Americans had to
wade in ice-cold water, sometimes waist deep, sometimes nearly up
to their chins. While wading, the men were obliged to hold their guns
and powder-horns above their heads to keep them dry. Now and then
a man would stub his toe against a root or a stone and would go
sprawling headfirst into the water. When he came up, puffing and
blowing from such a dive, he was lucky if he still had his gun. For
two days no one could get anything to eat; but hungry, wet, and cold,
they kept moving slowly on.
[Illustration: MEN WADING WITH GUNS OVER THEIR HEADS.]
The last part of the march was the worst of all. They were now near
the fort, but they still had to wade through a sheet of water four
miles across. Clark took the lead and plunged in. The rest, shivering,
followed. A few looked as though their strength and courage had given
out. Clark saw this, and calling to Captain Bowman,--one of the
bravest of his officers,--he ordered him to kill the first man who
refused to go forward.
At last, with numbed hands and chattering teeth, all got across, but
some of them were so weak and blue with cold that they could not take
another step, but fell flat on their faces in the mud. These men were
so nearly dead that no fire seemed to warm them. Clark ordered two
strong men to lift each of these poor fellows up, hold him between
them by the arms, and run him up and down until he began to get warm.
By doing this he saved every one.
167. Clark takes the fort; what we got by his victory; his
grave.--After a long and desperate fight Clark took Fort Vincennes
and hoisted the Stars and Stripes over it in triumph. The British
never got it back again. Most of the Indians were now glad to make
peace, and to promise to behave themselves.
By Clark's victory the Americans got possession of the whole western
wilderness up to Detroit. When the Revolutionary War came to an end,
the British did not want to give us any part of America beyond the
thirteen states on the Atlantic coast. But we said, The whole west,
clear to the Mississippi, is ours; we fought for it; we took it; we
hoisted our flag over its forts, and _we mean to keep it_. We did
keep it.
There is a grass-grown grave in a burial-ground in Louisville,
Kentucky, which has a small headstone marked with the letters G. R.
C., and nothing more; that is the grave of General George Rogers Clark,
the man who did more than any one else to get the west for us--or
what was called the west a hundred years ago.
[Illustration: CLARK'S GRAVE.]
168. Summary.--During the Revolutionary War George Rogers Clark of
Virginia, with a small number of men, captured Fort Kaskaskia in
Illinois, and Fort Vincennes in Indiana. Clark drove out the British
from that part of the country, and when peace was made, we kept the
west--that is, the country as far as the Mississippi River--as part
of the United States. Had it not been for him and his brave men, we
might not have got it.
What did the British have in the west? Where were three of those
forts? Who hired the Indians to fight? How did they fight? What did
most of the people in England think about this? What is said of George
the Third? What friend did Daniel Boone have in Virginia? What did
Clark undertake to do? Tell how he went down the Ohio. Tell how he
marched on Fort Kaskaskia. What happened when he got there? What did
Clark say to the people in the fort? How was Fort Vincennes taken?
What did the British do the next year? Tell about Francis Vigo. What
did Clark and his men start to do? How far off was Fort Vincennes?
Tell about the first part of the march. What lands did they come to?
Tell how the men waded. How did Clark save the lives of some of the
men? Did Clark take the fort? What did the Americans get possession
of by this victory? What happened at the end of the Revolutionary
War? What did we say? What is said of the grave at Louisville,
Kentucky? What did Clark get for us?
GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM
(1738-1824).
169. What General Putnam did for Washington, and what the British
said of Putnam's work.--When the British had possession of Boston
in the time of the Revolution, Washington asked Rufus Putnam,[1] who
was a great builder of forts, to help him drive them out. Putnam set
to work, one dark, stormy night, and built a fort on some high land[2]
overlooking Boston Harbor.
[Illustration: PUTNAM'S FORT. General Washington looking at the
British Ships in Boston Harbor.]
When the British commander woke up the next morning, he saw the
American cannon pointed at his ships. He was so astonished that he
could scarcely believe his eyes. "Why," said he, "the rebels have
done more in one night than my whole army could have done in a week."
Another officer, who had command of the British vessels, said, "If
the Americans hold that fort, I cannot keep a ship in the harbor."
Well, we know what happened. Our men did hold that fort, and the
British had to leave Boston. Next to General Washington, General
Rufus Putnam was the man who made them go; for not many officers in
the American army could build such a fort as he could.
[Footnote 1: Rufus Putnam was born in Sutton, Massachusetts.]
[Footnote 2: Dorchester Heights: now South Boston.]
170. General Putnam builds the _Mayflower_; goes down the Ohio River
and makes the first settlement in Ohio.--After the war was over,
General Putnam started with a company of people from New England,
to make a settlement on the Ohio River. In the spring of 1788 he and
his emigrants built a boat at a place just above Pittsburg.[3] They
named this boat the _Mayflower_,[4] because they were Pilgrims going
west to make their home there.
[Illustration: EMIGRANTS IN THE _Mayflower_.]
At that time there was not a white settler in what is now the state
of Ohio. Most of that country was covered with thick woods. There
were no roads through those woods, and there was not a steamboat or
a railroad either in America or in the world. If you look on the map[5]
and follow down the Ohio River from Pittsburg, you will come to a
place where the Muskingum joins the Ohio. At that place the
_Mayflower_ stopped, and the emigrants landed and began to build
their settlement.
[Footnote 3: Pittsburg: see map in paragraph 140.]
[Footnote 4: _Mayflower_: see paragraph 64.]
[Footnote 5: See map in paragraph 140.]
171. What the settlers named their town; the first Fourth of July
celebration; what Washington said of the settlers.--During the
Revolutionary War the beautiful Queen Mary of France was our firm
friend, and she was very kind and helpful to Dr. Franklin when he
went to France for us. A number of the emigrants had fought in the
Revolution, and so it was decided to name the town Marietta,[6] in
honor of the queen.
When the Marietta settlers celebrated the Fourth of July, Major Denny,
who commanded a fort just across the river, came to visit them. He
said, "These people appear to be the happiest folks in the world."
President Washington said that he knew many of them and that he
believed they were just the kind of men to succeed. He was right;
for these people, with those who came later to build the city of
Cincinnati, were the ones who laid the foundation of the great and
rich state of Ohio.
[Footnote 6: The queen's full name in French was Marie Antoinette;
the name Marietta is made up from the first and the last parts of
her name.]
172. Fights with the Indians; how the settlers held their town;
Indian Rock; the "Miami[7] Slaughter House."--But the people of
Marietta had hardly begun to feel at home in their little settlement
before a terrible Indian war broke out. The village of Marietta had
a high palisade[8] built round it, and if a man ventured outside that
palisade he went at the risk of his life; for the Indians were always
hiding in the woods, ready to kill any white man they saw. When the
settlers worked in the cornfield, they had to carry their guns as
well as their hoes, and one man always stood on top of a high stump
in the middle of the field, to keep a bright lookout.
[Illustration: INDIAN ROCK.]
There is a lofty rock on the Ohio River below Marietta, which is still
called Indian Rock. It got its name because the Indians used to climb
up to the top and watch for emigrants coming down the river in boats.
When they saw a boat, they would fire a shower of bullets at it, and
perhaps leave it full of dead and wounded men to drift down the river.
In the western part of Ohio, on the Miami River, the Indians killed
so many people that the settlers called that part of the country by
the terrible name of the "Miami Slaughter House."
[Footnote 7: Miami (Mi-am'i).]
[Footnote 8: See picture of a palisade in paragraph 70.]
173. What General Wayne did.--But President Washington sent a man
to Ohio who made the Indians beg for peace. This man was General
Wayne; he had fought in the Revolution, and fought so furiously that
he was called "Mad Anthony Wayne." The Indians said that he never
slept, and named him "Black Snake," because that is the quickest and
boldest snake there is in the woods, and in a fight with any other
creature of his kind he is pretty sure to win the day. General Wayne
won, and the Indians agreed to move off and give up a very large part
of Ohio to the white settlers. After that there was not much trouble,
and emigrants poured in by thousands.
174. Summary.--In 1788 General Rufus Putnam, with a company of
emigrants, settled Marietta, Ohio. The town was named in honor of
Queen Mary of France, who had helped us during the Revolution. It
was the first town built in what is now the state of Ohio. After
General Wayne conquered the Indians that part of the country rapidly
increased in population.
What did General Rufus Putnam do for Washington? Where did General
Putnam go in 1788? What is said of Ohio at that time? Where did the
_Mayflower_ stop? What is said of Queen Mary of France? What did the
settlers name their town? What did Washington say about the settlers?
What did these people do? What is said about the Indians? What about
Indian Rock? What was the country on the Miami River called? What
is said about General Wayne? What did the Indians call him? Why did
they give him that name? What did the Indians agree to do? What
happened after that?
ELI WHITNEY
(1765-1825).
175. The name cut on a door.--Near Westboro', Massachusetts,[1]
there is an old farm-house which was built before the war of the
Revolution. Close to the house is a small wooden building; on the
door you can read a boy's name, just as he cut it with his pocket-knife
more than a hundred years ago.[2] Here is the door with the name.
If the boy had added the date of his birth, he would have cut the
figures 1765; but perhaps, just as he got to that point, his father
appeared and said rather sharply: Eli, don't be cutting that door.
No, sir, said Eli, with a start; and shutting his knife up with a
snap, he hurried off to get the cows or to do his chores.[3]
[Illustration: WOODEN DOOR CARVED WITH "ELI WHITNEY."]
[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 135.]
[Footnote 2: The house is no longer standing, and the door has
disappeared.]
[Footnote 3: Chores: getting in wood, feeding cattle, etc.]
176. What Eli Whitney used to do in his father's little workshop;
the fiddle.--Eli Whitney's father used that little wooden building
as a kind of workshop, where he mended chairs and did many other small
jobs. Eli liked to go to that workshop and make little things for
himself, such as water-wheels and windmills; for it was as natural
for him to use tools as it was to whistle.
Once when Eli's father was gone from home for several days, the boy
was very busy all the while in the little shop. When Mr. Whitney came
back he asked his housekeeper, "What has Eli been doing?" "Oh," she
replied, "he has been making a fiddle." His father shook his head,
and said that he was afraid Eli would never get on much in the world.
But Eli's fiddle, though it was rough-looking, was well made. It had
music in it, and the neighbors liked to hear it: somehow it seemed
to say through all the tunes played on it, "_Whatever is worth doing,
is worth doing well._"
177. Eli Whitney begins making nails; he goes to college.--When Eli
was fifteen, he began making nails. We have machines to-day which
will make more than a hundred nails a minute; but Eli made his, one
by one, by pounding them out of a long, slender bar of red-hot iron.
Whitney's hand-made nails were not handsome, but they were strong
and tough, and as the Revolutionary War was then going on, he could
sell all he could make.
After the war was over the demand for nails was not so good. Then
Whitney threw down his hammer, and said, "I am going to college."
He had no money; but he worked his way through Yale College, partly
by teaching and partly by doing little jobs with his tools. A
carpenter who saw him at work one day, noticed how neatly and
skilfully he used his tools, and said, "There was one good mechanic
spoiled when you went to college."
178. Whitney goes to Georgia; he stops with Mrs. General Greene; the
embroidery frame.--When the young man had completed his course of
study he went to Georgia to teach in a gentleman's family. On the
way to Savannah he became acquainted with Mrs. Greene, the widow of
the famous General Greene[4] of Rhode Island. General Greene had done
such excellent fighting in the south during the Revolution that,
after the war was over, the state of Georgia gave him a large piece
of land near Savannah.
Mrs. Greene invited young Whitney to her house; as he had been
disappointed in getting the place to teach, he was very glad to accept
her kind invitation. While he was there he made her an embroidery
frame. It was much better than the old one that she had been using,
and she thought the maker of it was wonderfully skilful.
[Footnote 4: General Greene: see paragraph 140.]
179. A talk about raising cotton, and about cotton seeds.--Not long
after this, a number of cotton-planters were at Mrs. Greene's house.
In speaking about raising cotton they said that the man who could
invent a machine for stripping off the cotton seeds from the plant
would make his fortune.
For what is called raw cotton or cotton wool, as it grows in the field,
has a great number of little green seeds clinging to it. Before the
cotton wool can be spun into thread and woven into cloth, those seeds
must be pulled off.
[Illustration: POD OF THE COTTON PLANT WHEN RIPE AND OPEN. On the
right a seed with the wool attached; on the left the seed after the
wool has been picked off.]
At that time the planters set the negroes to do this. When they had
finished their day's labor of gathering the cotton in the cotton
field, the men, women, and children would sit down and pick off the
seeds, which stick so tight that getting them off is no easy task.
[Illustration: NEGROES GATHERING COTTON IN THE FIELD.]
After the planters had talked awhile about this work, Mrs. Greene
said, "If you want a machine to do it, you should apply to my young
friend, Mr. Whitney; he can make anything." "But," said Mr. Whitney,
"I have never seen a cotton plant or a cotton seed in my life"; for
it was not the time of year then to see it growing in the fields.
180. Whitney gets some cotton wool; he invents the cotton-gin; what
that machine did.--After the planters had gone, Eli Whitney went to
Savannah and hunted about until he found, in some store or warehouse,
a little cotton wool with the seeds left on it. He took this back
with him and set to work to make a machine which would strip off the
seeds.
He said to himself, If I fasten some upright pieces of wire in a board,
and have the wires set very close together, like the teeth of a comb,
and then pull the cotton wool through the wires with my fingers, the
seeds, being too large to come through, will be torn off and left
behind. He tried it, and found that the cotton wool came through
without any seeds on it. Now, said he, if I should make a wheel, and
cover it with short steel teeth, shaped like hooks, those teeth would
pull the cotton wool through the wires better than my fingers do,
and very much faster.
[Illustration: WHITNEY'S FIRST CONTRIVANCE FOR PULLING OFF THE
COTTON SEEDS.]
He made such a wheel; it was turned by a crank; it did the work
perfectly; so, in the year 1793, he had invented the machine the
planters wanted.
Before that time it used to take one negro all day to clean a single
pound of cotton of its seeds by picking them off one by one; now,
Eli Whitney's cotton-gin,[5] as he called his machine, would clean
a thousand pounds in a day.
[Footnote 5: Gin: a shortened form of the word _engine_, meaning any
kind of a machine.]
181. Price of common cotton cloth to-day; what makes it so cheap;
"King Cotton."--To-day nothing is much cheaper than common cotton
cloth. You can buy it for ten or twelve cents a yard, but before
Whitney invented his cotton-gin it sold for a dollar and a half a
yard. A hundred years ago the planters at the south raised very little
cotton, for few people could afford to wear it; but after this
wonderful machine was made, the planters kept making their fields
bigger and bigger. At last they raised so much more of this plant
than of anything else, that they said, "Cotton is king." It was Eli
Whitney who built the throne for that king; and although he did not
make a fortune by his machine, yet he received a good deal of money
for the use of it in some of the southern states.
[Illustration: CARRYING COTTON TO THE COTTON-GIN.]
Later, Mr. Whitney built a gun-factory near New Haven, Connecticut,
at a place now called Whitneyville; at that factory he made thousands
of the muskets which we used in our second war with England in 1812.
[Illustration: THE "STAR SPANGLED BANNER."[6]]
[Footnote 6: In the war of 1812 the British war-ships attacked Fort
McHenry, one of the defences of Baltimore. Francis Scott Key, a
native of Maryland, who was then detained on board a British
man-of-war, anxiously watched the battle during the night; before
dawn the firing ceased. Key had no means of telling whether the
British had taken the fort until the sun rose; then, to his joy, he
saw the American flag still floating triumphantly above the
fort--that meant that the British had failed in their attack, and
Key, in his delight, hastily wrote the song of the _Star Spangled
Banner_ on the back of a letter which he had in his pocket. The song
was at once printed, and in a few weeks it was known and sung from
one end of the United States to the other.]
182. Summary.--About a hundred years ago (1793), Eli Whitney of
Westboro', Massachusetts, invented the cotton-gin, a machine for
pulling off the green seeds from cotton wool, so that it may be easily
woven into cloth. That machine made thousands of cotton-planters and
cotton manufacturers rich, and by it cotton cloth became so cheap
that everybody could afford to use it.
What name did a boy cut on a door? What did Eli make in that workshop?
What did he make while his father was away? What did his father say?
What did Eli's fiddle seem to say? What did Eli make next? How did
he make his nails? Where did he go after he gave up making nails?
When he left college where did he go? What lady did he become
acquainted with? What did he make for her? What did the
cotton-planters say? What must be done to raw cotton before it can
be made into cloth? Who did this work? What did Mrs. Greene say to
the planters? What did Mr. Whitney say? What did he do? Tell how he
made his machine. What did he call it? How many pounds of cotton would
his cotton-gin clean in a day? How much could one negro clean? What
is said about the price of cotton cloth? What did the planters say
about cotton? Who built the throne for King Cotton? What did Mr.
Whitney build at Whitneyville? What did he make there?
THOMAS JEFFERSON
(1743-1826)
183. How much cotton New Orleans sends to Europe; Eli Whitney's work;
who it was that bought New Orleans and Louisiana for us.--To-day the
city of New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, sends
more cotton to England and Europe than any other city in America.
If you should visit that city and go down to the riverside, you would
see thousands of cotton bales[1] piled up, and hundreds of negroes
loading them on ocean steamers. It would be a sight you would never
forget.
[Illustration: LOADING COTTON AT NEW ORLEANS.]
Before Eli Whitney[2] invented his machine, we sent hardly a bale
of cotton abroad. Now we send so much in one year that the bales can
be counted by millions. If they were laid end to end, in a straight
line, they would reach clear across the American continent from San
Francisco to New York, and then clear across the ocean from New York
to Liverpool, England. It was Eli Whitney, more than any other man,
who helped to build up this great trade. But at the time when he
invented his cotton-gin, we did not own New Orleans, or, for that
matter, any part of Louisiana or of the country west of the
Mississippi River. The man who bought New Orleans and Louisiana for
us was Thomas Jefferson.
[Footnote 1: A bale or bundle of cotton is usually somewhat more than
five feet long, and it generally weighs from 400 to 550 pounds. The
cotton crop of this country in 1891 amounted to more than 8,650,000
bales; laid end to end, in a straight line, these bales would extend
more than 8000 miles.]
[Footnote 2: 2 See paragraph 180.]
184. Who Thomas Jefferson was; Monticello;[3] how Jefferson's slaves
met him when he came home from Europe.--Thomas Jefferson was the son
of a rich planter who lived near Charlottesville in Virginia.[4] When
his father died, he came into possession of a plantation of nearly
two thousand acres of land, with forty or fifty negro slaves on it.
There was a high hill on the plantation, which Jefferson called
Monticello, or the little mountain. Here he built a fine house. From
it he could see the mountains and valleys of the Blue Ridge for an
immense distance. No man in America had a more beautiful home, or
enjoyed it more, than Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's slaves thought
that no one could be better than their master. He was always kind
to them, and they were ready to do anything for him. Once when he
came back from France, where he had been staying for a long time,
the negroes went to meet his carriage. They walked several miles down
the road; when they caught sight of the carriage, they shouted and
sang with delight. They would gladly have taken out the horses and
drawn it up the steep hill. When Jefferson reached Monticello and
got out, the negroes took him in their arms, and, laughing and crying
for joy, they carried him into the house. Perhaps no king ever got
such a welcome as that; for that welcome was not bought with money:
it came from the heart. Yet Jefferson hoped and prayed that the time
would come when every slave in the country might be set free.
[Illustration: JEFFERSON'S HOME AT MONTICELLO.]
[Footnote 3: Monticello (Mon-ti-cel'lo).]
[Footnote 4: See map in paragraph 140.]
185. Thomas Jefferson hears Patrick Henry speak at
Richmond.--Jefferson was educated to be a lawyer; he was not a good
public speaker, but he liked to hear men who were. Just before the
beginning of the Revolutionary War (1775), the people of Virginia
sent men to the city of Richmond to hold a meeting in old St. John's
Church. They met to see what should be done about defending those
rights which the king of England had refused to grant the Americans.
One of the speakers at that meeting was a famous Virginian named
Patrick Henry. When he got up to speak he looked very pale, but his
eyes shone like coals of fire. He made a great speech. He said, "We
must fight! I repeat it, sir,--we must _fight!_" The other Virginians
agreed with Patrick Henry, and George Washington and Thomas
Jefferson, with other noted men who were present at the meeting,
began at once to make ready to fight.
[Illustration: "WE MUST FIGHT!"]
186. Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence; how
it was sent through the country.--Shortly after this the great war
began. In a little over a year from the time when the first battle
was fought, Congress asked Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and
some others to write the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson
really wrote almost every word of it. He was called the "Pen of the
Revolution"; for he could write quite as well as Patrick Henry could
speak.
The Declaration was printed and carried by men mounted on fast horses
all over the United States. When men heard it, they rang the church
bells and sent up cheer after cheer. General Washington had the
Declaration read to all the soldiers in his army, and if powder had
not been so scarce, they would have fired off every gun for joy.
[Illustration: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.]
187. Jefferson is chosen President of the United States; what he said
about New Orleans.--A number of years after the war was over
Jefferson was chosen President of the United States; while he was
President he did something for the country which will never be
forgotten.
Louisiana and the city of New Orleans, with the lower part of the
Mississippi River, then belonged to the French; for at that time the
United States only reached west as far as the Mississippi River. Now
as New Orleans stands near the mouth of that river, the French could
say, if they chose, what vessels should go out to sea, and what should
come in. So far, then, as that part of America was concerned, we were
like a man who owns a house while another man owns one of the doors
to it. The man who has the door could say to the owner of the house,
I shall stand here on the steps, and you must pay me so many dollars
every time you go out and every time you come in this way.
[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States at the
close of the Revolution, and also when Jefferson became President
(1801).]
Jefferson saw that so long as the French held the door of New Orleans,
we should not be free to send our cotton down the river and across
the ocean to Europe. He said we must have that door, no matter how
much it costs.
188. Jefferson buys New Orleans and Louisiana for the United
States.--Mr. Robert R. Livingston, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, was in France at that time, and
Jefferson sent over to him to see if he could buy New Orleans for
the United States. Napoleon Bonaparte[5] then ruled France. He said,
I want money to purchase war-ships with, so that I can fight England;
I will sell not only New Orleans, but all Louisiana besides, for
fifteen millions of dollars. That was cheap enough, and so in 1803
President Jefferson bought it.
[Illustration: Map showing how much larger President Jefferson made
the United States by buying Louisiana in 1803. (The Oregon country
is marked in bars to show that the ownership of it was disputed;
England and the United States both claimed it.)]
If you look on the map[6] you will see that Louisiana then was not
simply a good-sized state, as it is now, but an immense country
reaching clear back to the Rocky Mountains. It was really larger than
the whole United States east of the Mississippi River. So, through
President Jefferson's purchase, we added so much land that we now
had more than twice as much as we had before, and we had got the whole
Mississippi River, the city of New Orleans, and what is now the great
city of St. Louis besides.
[Footnote 5: Napoleon Bonaparte (Na-po'le-on Bo'na-part).]
[Footnote 6: See map in this paragraph, and compare map in paragraph
187.]
189. Death of Jefferson; the words cut on his gravestone.--Jefferson
lived to be an old man. He died at Monticello on the Fourth of July,
1826, just fifty years, to a day, after he had signed the Declaration
of Independence. John Adams, who had been President next before
Jefferson, died a few hours later. So America lost two of her great
men on the same day.
Jefferson was buried at Monticello. He asked to have these words,
with some others, cut on his gravestone:--
Here Lies Buried
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Author of the Declaration of American Independence.
190. Summary.--Thomas Jefferson of Virginia wrote the Declaration
of Independence. After he became President of the United States, he
bought Louisiana for us. The purchase of Louisiana, with New Orleans,
gave us the right to send our ships to sea by way of the Mississippi
River, which now belonged to us. Louisiana added so much land that
it more than doubled the size of the United States.
Before Whitney invented his cotton-gin how much cotton did we send
abroad? How much do we send from New Orleans now? Did we own New
Orleans or Louisiana when Whitney invented his cotton-gin? Who
bought them for us? Who was Thomas Jefferson? What is said about
Monticello? Tell how Jefferson's slaves welcomed him home. For what
profession was Jefferson educated? Tell about Patrick Henry. What
did he say? What did Washington and Jefferson do? What did Jefferson
write? What was he called? How was the Declaration sent to all parts
of the country? What was Jefferson chosen to be? To whom did New
Orleans and Louisiana then belong? How far did the United States then
extend towards the west? What could the French say? What were we like?
What did Jefferson say? Did we buy it? How much did we pay? How large
was Louisiana then? How much land did we get? What else did we get?
When did Jefferson die? What other great man died on the same day?
What words did Jefferson have cut on his gravestone at Monticello?
ROBERT FULTON
(1765-1815).
191. What Mr. Livingston said about Louisiana; a small family in a
big house; settlements in the west; the country beyond the
Mississippi River.--Even before we bought the great Louisiana
country, we had more land than we then knew what to do with; after
we had purchased it, it seemed to some people as though we should
not want to use what we had bought for more than a hundred years.
Such people thought that we were like a man with a small family who
lives in a house much too large for him; but who, not contented with
that, buys his neighbor's house, which is bigger still, and adds it
to his own.
If a traveller in those days went across the Alleghany Mountains[1]
to the west, he found some small settlements in Ohio, Kentucky, and
Tennessee, but hardly any outside of those. What are now the great
states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were then a
wilderness; and this was also true of what are now the states of
Alabama and Mississippi.
If the same traveller, pushing forward, on foot or on horseback,--for
there were no steam cars,--crossed the Mississippi River, he could
hardly find a white man outside what was then the little town of St.
Louis. The country stretched away west for more than a thousand miles,
with nothing in it but wild beasts and Indians. In much of it there
were no trees, no houses, no human beings. If you shouted as hard
as you could in that solitary land, the only reply you would hear
would be the echo of your own voice; it was like shouting in an empty
room--it made it seem lonelier than ever.
[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 140.]
192. Emigration to the west, and the man who helped that
emigration.--But during the last hundred years that great empty land
of the far west has been filling up with people. Thousands upon
thousands of emigrants have gone there. They have built towns and
cities and railroads and telegraph lines. Thousands more are going
and will go. What has made such a wonderful change? Well, one man
helped to do a great deal toward it. His name was Robert Fulton. He
saw how difficult it was for people to get west; for if emigrants
wanted to go with their families in wagons, they had to chop roads
through the forest. That was slow, hard work. Fulton found a way that
was quick, easy, and cheap. Let us see who he was, and how he found
that way.
193. Robert Fulton's boyhood; the old scow; what Robert did for his
mother.--Robert Fulton was the son of a poor Irish farmer in
Pennsylvania.[2] He did not care much for books, but liked to draw
pictures with pencils which he hammered out of pieces of lead.
Like most boys, he was fond of fishing. He used to go out in an old
scow, or flat-bottomed boat, on a river near his home. He and another
boy would push the scow along with poles. But Robert said, There is
an easier way to make this boat go. I can put a pair of paddle-wheels
on her, and then we can sit comfortably on the seat and turn the wheels
by a crank. He tried it, and found that he was right. The boys now
had a boat which suited them exactly.
[Illustration: ROBERT FULTON'S PADDLE-WHEEL SCOW.]
When Robert was seventeen, he went to Philadelphia. His father was
dead, and he earned his living and helped his mother and sisters,
by painting pictures. He staid in Philadelphia until he was
twenty-one. By that time he had saved up money enough to buy a small
farm for his mother, so that she might have a home of her own.
[Footnote 2: Fulton was born in Little Britain (now called Fulton)
in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. See map in paragraph 135.]
194. Fulton goes to England and to France; his iron bridges; his
diving-boat, and what he did with it in France.--Soon after buying
the farm for his mother, young Fulton went to England and then to
France. He staid in those countries twenty years. In England Fulton
built some famous iron bridges, but he was more interested in boats
than in anything else.
While he was in France he made what he called a diving-boat. It would
go under water nearly as well as it would on top, so that wherever
a fish could go, Fulton could follow him. His object in building such
a boat was to make war in a new way. When a swordfish[3] attacks a
whale, he slips round under him and stabs the monster with his sword.
Fulton said, 'If an enemy's war-ship should come into the harbor to
do mischief, I can get into my diving-boat, slip under the ship,
fasten a torpedo[4] to it, and blow the ship "sky high."'
[Illustration: FULTON'S DIVING-BOAT. (Going under water to fasten
a torpedo on the bottom of a vessel.)]
Napoleon Bonaparte liked nothing so much as war, and he let Fulton
have an old vessel to see if he could blow it up. He tried it, and
everything happened as he expected: nothing was left of the vessel
but the pieces.
[Footnote 3: Swordfish: the name given to a large fish which has a
sword-like weapon, several feet in length, projecting from its upper
jaw.]
[Footnote 4: Torpedo: here a can filled with powder, and so
constructed that it could be fastened to the bottom of a vessel.]
195. What Fulton did in England with his diving-boat; what he said
about America.--Then Fulton went back to England and tried the same
thing there. He went out in his diving-boat and fastened a torpedo
under a vessel, and when the torpedo exploded, the vessel, as he said,
went up like a "bag of feathers," flying in all directions.
[Illustration: WHAT THE TORPEDO DID.]
The English people paid Fulton seventy-five thousand dollars for
showing them what he could do in this way. Then they offered to give
him a great deal more--in fact, to make him a very rich man--if he
would promise never to let any other country know just how he blew
vessels up. But Fulton said, 'I am an American; and if America should
ever want to use my diving-boat in war, she shall have it first of
all.'
196. Fulton makes his first steamboat.--But while Fulton was doing
these things with his diving-boat, he was always thinking of the
paddle-wheel scow he used to fish in when a boy. I turned those
paddle-wheels by a crank, said he, but what is to hinder my putting
a steam engine into such a boat, and making it turn the crank for
me? that would be a steamboat. Such boats had already been tried,
but, for one reason or another, they had not got on very well. Robert
R. Livingston was still in France, and he helped Fulton build his
first steamboat. It was put on a river there; it moved, and that was
about all.
197. Robert Fulton and Mr. Livingston go to New York and build a
steamboat; the trip up the Hudson River.--But Robert Fulton and Mr.
Livingston both believed that a steamboat could be built that would
go, and that would keep going. So they went to New York and built
one there.
In the summer of 1807 a great crowd gathered to see the boat start
on her voyage up the Hudson River. They joked and laughed as crowds
will at anything new. They called Fulton a fool and Livingston
another. But when Fulton, standing on the deck of his steamboat,
waved his hand, and the wheels began to turn, and the vessel began
to move up the river, then the crowd became silent with astonishment.
Now it was Fulton's turn to laugh, and in such a case the man who
laughs last has a right to laugh the loudest.
[Illustration: FULTON'S STEAMER LEAVING NEW YORK FOR ALBANY.]
Up the river Fulton kept going. He passed the Palisades;[5] he passed
the Highlands;[6] still he kept on, and at last he reached Albany,
a hundred and fifty miles above New York.
Nobody before had ever seen such a sight as that boat moving up the
river without the help of oars or sails; but from that time people
saw it every day. When Fulton got back to New York in his steamboat,
everybody wanted to shake hands with him--the crowd, instead of
shouting fool, now whispered among themselves, He's a great man--a
very great man, indeed.
[Footnote 5: See map in paragraph 55.]
[Footnote 6: See map in paragraph 55.]
198. The first steamboat in the west; the Great Shake.--Four years
later Fulton built a steamboat for the west. In the autumn of 1811
it started from Pittsburg[7] to go down the Ohio River, and then down
the Mississippi to New Orleans. The people of the west had never seen
a steamboat before, and when the Indians saw the smoke puffing out,
they called it the "Big Fire Canoe."
On the way down the river there was a terrible earthquake. In some
places it changed the course of the Ohio so that where there had been
dry land there was now deep water, and where there had been deep water
there was now dry land. One evening the captain of the "Big Fire
Canoe" fastened his vessel to a large tree on the end of an island.
In the morning the people on the steamboat looked out, but could not
tell where they were; the island had gone: the earthquake had carried
it away. The Indians called the earthquake the "Big Shake": it was
a good name, for it kept on shaking that part of the country, and
doing all sorts of damage for weeks.
[Footnote 7: Pittsburg: see map in paragraph 135.]
199. The "Big Fire Canoe" on the Mississippi; the fight between steam
and the Great River; what steamboats did; Robert Fulton's
grave.--When the steamboat reached the Mississippi, the settlers on
that river said that the boat would never be able to go back, because
the current is so strong. At one place a crowd had gathered to see
her as she turned against the current, in order to come up to the
landing-place. An old negro stood watching the boat. It looked as
if in spite of all the captain could do she would be carried down
stream, but at last steam conquered, and the boat came up to the shore.
Then the old negro could hold in no longer: he threw up his ragged
straw hat and shouted, 'Hoo-ray! hoo-ray! the old Mississippi's just
got her master this time, sure!'
Soon steamboats began to run regularly on the Mississippi, and in
the course of a few years they began to move up and down the Great
Lakes and the Missouri River. Emigrants could now go to the west and
the far west quickly and easily: they had to thank Robert Fulton for
that.
Robert Fulton lies buried in New York, in the shadow of the tower
of Trinity Church. There is no monument or mark over his grave, but
he has a monument in every steamboat on every great river and lake
in America.
[Illustration: TOWER OF TRINITY CHURCH.]
200. Summary.--In 1807 Robert Fulton of Pennsylvania built the first
steamboat which ran on the Hudson River, and four years later he built
the first one which navigated the rivers of the west. His boats helped
to fill the whole western country with settlers.
What did Mr. Livingston say about Louisiana? What did such people
think we were like? What would a traveller going west then find? What
is said of the country west of the Mississippi? Who helped emigration
to the west? What did he find? Tell about Robert Fulton as a boy.
Tell about his paddle-wheel scow. What did Robert do for his mother?
Where did he go? How long did he stay abroad? Tell about his
diving-boat. What did he do with it in France? What in England? What
did the English people offer him? What did Fulton say? Where did
Fulton make and try his first steamboat? Tell about the steamboat
he made in New York. How far up the Hudson did it go? Tell about the
first steamboat at the west. What did the Indians call it? What
happened on the way down the Ohio River? Tell about the steamboat
on the Mississippi River. What is said of steamboats at the west?
What about emigrants? Where is Fulton buried? Where is his monument?
GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
(1773-1841).
201. War with the Indians; how the Indians felt about being forced
to leave their homes; the story of the log.--The year 1811, in which
the first steamboat went west, a great battle was fought with the
Indians. The battle-ground was on the Tippecanoe[1] River, in what
is now the state of Indiana.
[Illustration: Map of Indiana and the Tippecanoe River.]
The Indians fought because they wanted to keep the west for
themselves. They felt as an old chief did, who had been forced to
move many times by the white men. One day a military officer came
to his wigwam to tell him that he and his tribe must go still further
west. The chief said, General, let's sit down on this log and talk
it over. So they both sat down. After they had talked a short time,
the chief said, Please move a little further that way; I haven't room
enough. The officer moved along. In a few minutes the chief asked
him to move again, and he did so. Presently the chief gave him a push
and said, Do move further on, won't you? I can't, said the general.
Why not? asked the chief. Because I've got to the end of the log,
replied the officer. Well, said the Indian, now you see how it is
with us. You white men have kept pushing us on until you have pushed
us clear to the end of our country, and yet you come now and say,
Move on, move on.
[Illustration: "MOVE ON."]
[Footnote 1: Tippecanoe (Tip-pe-ka-noo'): see map in this
paragraph.]
202. What Tecumseh[2] and his brother, the "Prophet,"[3] tried to
do.--A famous Indian warrior named Tecumseh determined to band the
different Indian tribes together, and drive out the white men from
the west.
Tecumseh had a brother called the "Prophet," who pretended he could
tell what would happen in the future. He said, The white traders come
here, give the Indians whiskey, get them drunk, and then cheat them
out of their lands. Once we owned this whole country; now, if an
Indian strips a little bark off of a tree to shelter him when it rains,
a white man steps up, with a gun in his hand, and says, That's my
tree; let it alone, or I'll shoot you.
Then the "Prophet" said to the red men, Stop drinking
"fire-water,"[4] and you will have strength to kill off the
"pale-faces" and get your land back again. When you have killed them
off, I will bless the earth. I will make pumpkins[5] grow to be as
big as wigwams, and the corn shall be so large that one ear will be
enough for a dinner for a dozen hungry Indians. The Indians liked
to hear these things; they wanted to taste those pumpkins and that
corn, and so they got ready to fight.
[Footnote 2: Tecumseh (Te-kum'seh).]
[Footnote 3: Prophet (prof'et): one who tells what will happen in
the future.]
[Footnote 4: Fire-water: the Indian name for whiskey.]
[Footnote 5: Pumpkins (pump'kins).]
203. Who William Henry Harrison was; the march to Tippecanoe; the
"Prophet's" sacred beans; the battle of Tippecanoe.--At this time
William Henry Harrison[6] was governor of Indiana territory. He had
fought under General Wayne[7] in his war with the Indians in Ohio.
Everybody knew Governor Harrison's courage, and the Indians all
respected him; but he tried in vain to prevent the Indians from going
to war. The "Prophet" urged them on at the north, and Tecumseh had
gone south to persuade the Indians there to join the northern tribes.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR HARRISON TALKING WITH THE "PROPHET."]
Governor Harrison saw that a battle must soon be fought; so he started
with his soldiers to meet the Indians. He marched to the Tippecanoe
River, and there he stopped.
While Harrison's men were asleep in the woods, the "Prophet" told
the Indians not to wait, but to attack the soldiers at once. In his
hand he held up a string of beans. These beans, said he to the Indians,
are sacred.[8] Come and touch them, and you are safe; no white man's
bullet can hit you. The Indians hurried up in crowds to touch the
wonderful beans.
Now, said the "Prophet," let each one take his hatchet in one hand
and his gun in the other, and creep through the tall grass till he
gets to the edge of the woods. The soldiers lie there fast asleep;
when you get close to them, spring up and at them like a wild-cat
at a rabbit.
The Indians started to do this, but a soldier on guard saw the tall
grass moving as though a great snake was gliding through it. He fired
his gun at the moving grass; with a yell up sprang the whole band
of Indians, and rushed forward: in a moment the battle began.
Harrison won the victory. He not only killed many of the Indians,
but he marched against their village, set fire to it, and burned it
to ashes.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.]
After that the Indians in that part of the country would not listen
to the "Prophet." They said, He is a liar; his beans didn't save us.
The battle of Tippecanoe did much good, because it prevented the
Indian tribes from uniting and beginning a great war all through the
west. Governor Harrison received high praise for what he had done,
and was made a general in the United States army.
[Footnote 6: William Henry Harrison was born in Berkeley, Charles
City County, Virginia, about twenty-five miles below Richmond. His
father, Governor Harrison of Virginia, was one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence.]
[Footnote 7: See paragraph 173.]
[Footnote 8: Sacred: something holy, or set apart for religious
uses.]
204. Tecumseh takes the "Prophet" by the hair; the War of 1812;
General Harrison's battle in Canada; President Harrison.--When
Tecumseh came back from the south, he was terribly angry with his
brother for fighting before he was ready to have him begin. He seized
the "Prophet" by his long hair, and shook him as a terrier[9] shakes
a rat. Tecumseh then left the United States and went to Canada to
help the British, who were getting ready to fight us.
The next year (1812) we began our second war with England. It is
called the War of 1812. One of the chief reasons why we fought was
that the British would not let our merchant ships alone; they stopped
them at sea, took thousands of our sailors out of them, and forced
the men to serve in their war-ships in their battles against the
French.
[Illustration: THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON IN FLAMES IN THE WAR OF
1812.]
In the course of the War of 1812 the British burned the Capitol at
Washington; but a grander building rose from its ashes. General
Harrison fought a battle in Canada in which he defeated the British
and killed Tecumseh, who was fighting on the side of the English.
[Illustration: THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON AS IT NOW
APPEARS.]
Many years after this battle, the people of the west said, We must
have the "Hero of Tippecanoe" for President of the United States.
They went to vote for him with songs and shouts, and he was elected.
A month after he had gone to Washington, President Harrison died
(1841), and the whole country was filled with sorrow.
[Footnote 9: Terrier (ter'ri-er): a kind of small hunting-dog.]
205. Summary.--In 1811 General Harrison gained a great victory over
the Indians at Tippecanoe, in Indiana. By that victory he saved the
west from a terrible Indian war. In the War of 1812 with England
General Harrison beat the British in a battle in Canada, and killed
Tecumseh, the Indian chief who had made us so much trouble. Many years
later General Harrison was elected President of the United States.
Where was a great battle fought with the Indians in 1811? How did
the Indians feel about the west? Tell the story of the log. What did
Tecumseh determine to do? Tell about the "Prophet." Who was William
Henry Harrison? Tell about the battle of Tippecanoe. Tell about the
sacred beans. What did the Indians say about the "Prophet" after the
battle? What good did the battle of Tippecanoe do? What did Tecumseh
do when he got back? Where did he then go? What happened in 1812?
Why did we fight the British? What did General Harrison do in Canada?
What did the people of the west say? How long did General Harrison
live after he became President?
GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON
(1767-1845).
206. Andrew Jackson and the War of 1812; his birthplace; his school;
wrestling-matches;[1] firing off the gun.--The greatest battle of
our second war with England--the War of 1812--was fought by General
Andrew Jackson.
He was the son of a poor emigrant who came from the North of Ireland
and settled in North Carolina.[2] When Thomas Jefferson wrote the
Declaration of Independence in 1776, Andrew was nine years old, and
his father had long been dead. He was a tall, slender, freckled-faced,
barefooted boy, with eyes full of fun; the neighbors called him
"Mischievous little Andy."
He went to school in a log hut in the pine woods; but he learned more
things from what he saw in the woods than from the books he studied
in school.
He was not a very strong boy, and in wrestling some of his companions
could throw him three times out of four; but though they could get
him down without much trouble, it was quite another thing to keep
him down. No sooner was he laid flat on his back, than he bounded
up like a steel spring, and stood ready to try again.
He had a violent[3] temper, and when, as the boys said, "Andy got
mad all over," not many cared to face him. Once some of his playmates
secretly loaded an old gun almost up to the muzzle, and then dared
him to fire it. They wanted to see what he would say when it kicked
him over. Andrew fired the gun. It knocked him sprawling; he jumped
up with eyes blazing with anger, and shaking his fist, cried out,
"If one of you boys laughs, I'll kill him." He looked as though he
meant exactly what he said, and the boys thought that perhaps it would
be just as well to wait and laugh some other day.
[Illustration: ANDY AND THE GUN.]
[Footnote 1: Wrestling (res'ling).]
[Footnote 2: He settled in Union County, North Carolina, very near
the South Carolina line. See map in paragraph 140. Mecklenburg Court
House is in the next county west of Union County.]
[Footnote 3: Violent: fierce, furious.]
207. Tarleton's[4] attack on the Americans; how Andrew helped his
mother.--When Andrew was thirteen, he learned what war means. The
country was then fighting the battles of the Revolution. A British
officer named Tarleton came suddenly upon some American soldiers
near the place where young Jackson lived. Tarleton had so many men
that the Americans saw that it was useless to try to fight, and they
made no attempt to do so. The British should have taken them all
prisoners; but, instead of that, they attacked them furiously, and
hacked and hewed them with their swords. More than a hundred of our
men were left dead, and a still larger number were so horribly wounded
that they could not be moved any distance. Such an attack was not
war, for war means a fair, stand-up fight; it was murder: and when
the people in England heard what Tarleton had done, many cried Shame!
There was a little log meeting-house near Andrew's home, and it was
turned into a hospital for the wounded men. Mrs. Jackson, with other
kind-hearted women, did all she could for the poor fellows who lay
there groaning and helpless. Andrew carried food and water to them.
He had forgotten most of the lessons he learned at school, but here
was something he would never forget.
[Footnote 4: Tarleton (Tarl'ton).]
208. Andrew's hatred of the "red-coats";[5] Tarleton's soldiers meet
their match.--From that time, when young Jackson went to the
blacksmith's shop to get a hoe or a spade mended, he was sure to come
back with a rude spear, or with some other weapon, which he had
hammered out to fight the "red-coats" with.
Tarleton said that no people in America hated the British so much
as those who lived where Andrew Jackson did. The reason was that no
other British officer was so cruel as "Butcher Tarleton," as he was
called. Once, however, his men met their match. They were robbing
a farm of its pigs and chickens and corn and hay. When they got through
carrying things off, they were going to burn down the farm-house;
but one of the "red-coats," in his haste, ran against a big hive of
bees and upset it. The bees were mad enough. They swarmed down on
the soldiers, got into their ears and eyes, and stung them so terribly
that at last the robbers were glad to drop everything and run. If
Andrew could have seen that battle, he would have laughed till he
cried.
[Illustration: THE BEES BEAT THE "RED-COATS."]
[Footnote 5: Red-coats: this nickname was given by the Americans to
the British soldiers because they wore bright red coats.]
209. Dangerous state of the country; the roving bands.--Andrew knew
that he and his mother lived in constant danger. Part of the people
in his state were in favor of the king, and part were for liberty.
Bands of armed men, belonging sometimes to one side, and sometimes
to the other, went roving about the country. When they met a farmer,
they would stop him and ask, 'Which side are you for?' If he did not
answer to suit them, the leader of the party would cry out, Hang him
up! In an instant one of the band would cut down a long piece of wild
grapevine, twist it into a noose, and throw it over the man's head;
the next moment he would be dangling from the limb of a tree.
Sometimes the band would let him down again; sometimes they would
ride on and leave him hanging there.
210. Playing at battle; what Tarleton heard about himself.--Even the
children saw and heard so much of the war that was going on that they
played at war, and fought battles with red and white corn,--red for
the British and white for the Americans.
At the battle of Cowpens[6] Colonel William Washington[7] fought on
the American side, and Tarleton got badly whipped and had to run.
Not long afterward he happened to see some boys squatting on the
ground, with a lot of corn instead of marbles. They were playing the
battle of Cowpens. A red kernel stood for Tarleton, and a white one
for Colonel Washington. The boys shoved the corn this way and that;
sometimes the red would win, sometimes the white. At last the white
kernel gained the victory, and the boys shouted, "Hurrah for
Washington--Tarleton runs!"
Tarleton had been quietly looking on without their knowing it. When
he saw how the game ended, he turned angrily away. He had seen enough
of "the little rebels,"[8] as he called them.
[Footnote 6: Cowpens: see paragraph 140.]
[Footnote 7: Colonel William Washington was a relative of General
George Washington.]
[Footnote 8: Rebels: this was the name which the British gave to the
Americans because we had been forced to take up arms to overthrow
the authority of the English king, who was still lawfully, but not
justly, the ruler of this country. Had he been a just and upright
ruler, there would probably have been no rebellion against his
authority at that time.]
211. Andrew is taken prisoner by the British; "Here, boy, clean those
boots"; the two scars.--Not long after our victory at Cowpens, Andrew
Jackson was taken prisoner by the British. The officer in command
of the soldiers had just taken off his boots, splashed with mud.
Pointing to them, he said to Andrew, Here, boy, clean those boots.
Andrew replied, Sir, I am a prisoner of war, and it is not my place
to clean boots. The officer, in a great passion, whipped out his sword
and struck a blow at the boy. It cut a gash on his head and another
on his hand. Andrew Jackson lived to be an old man, but the marks
of that blow never disappeared: he carried the scars to his grave.
[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON AND THE OFFICER'S BOOTS.]
212. The prisoners in the yard of Camden jail; seeing a battle through
a knot-hole.--Andrew was sent with other prisoners to Camden, South
Carolina,[9] and shut up in the jail-yard. There many fell sick and
died of small-pox.
One day some of the prisoners heard that General Greene--the greatest
American general in the Revolution, next to Washington--was coming
to fight the British at Camden. Andrew's heart leaped for joy, for
he knew that if General Greene should win he would set all the
prisoners at liberty.
General Greene, with his little army, was on a hill in sight Of the
jail, but there was a high, tight board fence round the jail-yard,
and the prisoners could not see them. With the help of an old razor
Andrew managed to dig out a knot from one of the boards. Through that
knot-hole he watched the battle.
Our men were beaten in the fight, and Andrew saw their horses, with
empty saddles, running wildly about. Then the boy turned away, sick
at heart. Soon after that he was seized with the small-pox, and would
have died of it if his mother had not succeeded in getting him set
free.
[Footnote 9: Camden: see map in paragraph 140.]
213. Mrs. Jackson goes to visit the American prisoners at Charleston;
Andrew loses his best friend; what he said of her.--In the summer
Mrs. Jackson made a journey on horseback to Charleston, a hundred
and sixty miles away. She went to carry some little comforts to the
poor American prisoners, who were starving and dying of disease in
the crowded and filthy British prison-ships in the harbor. While
visiting these unfortunate men she caught the fever which raged among
them. Two weeks later she was in her grave, and Andrew, then a lad
of fourteen, stood alone in the world.
Years afterward, when he had risen to be a noted man, people would
sometimes praise him because he was never afraid to say and do what
he believed to be right; then Jackson would answer, "_That_ I learned
from my good old mother."
214. Andrew begins to learn a trade; he studies law and goes west;
Judge Jackson; General Jackson.--Andrew set to work to learn the
saddler's trade, but gave it up and began to study law. After he
became a lawyer he went across the mountains to Nashville, Tennessee.
There he was made a judge. There were plenty of rough men in that
part of the country who meant to have their own way in all things;
but they soon found that they must respect and obey Judge Jackson.
They could frighten other judges, but it was no use to try to frighten
him. Seeing what sort of stuff Jackson was made of, they thought that
they should like to have such a man to lead them in battle. And so
Judge Andrew Jackson became General Andrew Jackson. When trouble
came with the Indians, Jackson proved to be the very man they needed.
215. Tecumseh and the Indians of Alabama; Tecumseh threatens to stamp
his foot on the ground; the earthquake; war begins.--We have already
seen how the Indian chief Tecumseh[10] went south to stir up the red
men to make war on the white settlers in the west. In Alabama he told
the Indians that if they fought they would gain a great victory. I
see, said Tecumseh to them, that you don't believe what I say, and
that you don't mean to fight. Well, I am now going north to Detroit.
When I get there I shall stamp my foot on the ground, and shake down
every wigwam you have. It so happened that, shortly after Tecumseh
had gone north, a sharp shock of earthquake was felt in Alabama, and
the wigwams were actually shaken down by it. When the terrified
Indians felt their houses falling to pieces, they ran out of them,
shouting, "Tecumseh has got to Detroit!"
These Indians now believed all that Tecumseh had said; they began
to attack the white people, and they killed a great number of them.
[Footnote 10: Tecumseh: see paragraph 203.]
216. Jackson conquers the Indians; the "Holy Ground"; Weathersford
and Jackson; feeding the starving.--General Jackson marched against
the Indians and beat them in battle. The Indians that escaped fled
to a place they called the "Holy Ground.", They believed that if a
white man dared to set his foot on that ground he would be struck
dead as if by a flash of lightning. General Jackson and his men
marched on to the "Holy Ground," and the Indians found that unless
they made peace they would be the ones who would be struck dead by
his bullets.
[Illustration: GENERAL JACKSON AND THE INDIAN CHIEF.]
Not long after this, a noted leader of the Indians, named
Weathersford, rode boldly up to Jackson's tent. "Kill him! kill him!"
cried Jackson's men; but the general asked Weathersford into his tent.
"You can kill me if you want to," said he to Jackson, "but I came
to tell you that the Indian women and children are starving in the
woods, and to ask you to help them, for they never did you any harm."
General Jackson sent away Weathersford in safety, and ordered that
corn should be given to feed the starving women and children. That
act showed that he was as merciful as he was brave.
217. The British send war-ships to take New Orleans; the great battle
and the great victory.--These things happened during our second war
with England, or the War of 1812. About a year after Jackson's victory
over the Indians the British sent an army in ships to take New
Orleans.
General Jackson now went to New Orleans, to prevent the enemy from
getting possession of the city.
About four miles below the city, which stands on the Mississippi
River,[11] there was a broad, deep ditch, running from the river into
a swamp. Jackson saw that the British would have to cross that ditch
when they marched against the city. For that reason he built a high
bank on the upper side of the ditch, and placed cannon along the top
of the bank.
Early on Sunday morning, January 8th, 1815, the British sent a rocket
whizzing up into the sky; a few minutes afterward they sent up a
second one. It was the signal that they were about to march to attack
us.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.]
Just before the fight began General Jackson walked along among his
men, who were getting ready to defend the ditch. He said to them,
"Stand to your guns; see that every shot tells: give it to them,
boys!" The "boys" did give it to them. The British soldiers were brave
men; they had been in many terrible battles, and they were not afraid
to die. They fought desperately; they tried again and again to cross
that ditch and climb the bank, but they could not do it. The fire
of our guns cut them down just as a mower cuts down the tall grain
with his scythe.[12] In less than half an hour the great battle was
over; Jackson had won the victory and saved New Orleans. We lost only
eight killed; the enemy lost over two thousand.[13] We have never
had a battle since with England; it is to be hoped that we never shall
have another, for two great nations[14] like England and America,
that speak the same language, ought to be firm and true friends.
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL JACKSON AT NEW ORLEANS.]
[Footnote 11: See map in paragraph 218.]
[Footnote 12: Scythe (sithe).]
[Footnote 13: Killed and wounded.]
[Footnote 14: Nations: a nation is a people born in the same country
and living under the same government; as the American nation, the
French nation, the English nation.]
218. We buy Florida; General Jackson made President of the United
States; the first railroad.--After the battle of New Orleans General
Jackson conquered the Indians in Florida, and in 1819 we bought that
country of Spain, and so made the United States much larger on the
south.[15] This was our second great land purchase.[16]
[Illustration: The light parts of this map show the extent of the
United States in 1819, after we had bought and added Florida. The
black and white bars in the northwest show that the ownership of the
Oregon country was still in dispute between the United States and
Great Britain.]
Ten years after we got Florida General Jackson became President of
the United States. He had fought his way up. Here are the four steps:
first the boy, "Andy Jackson"; then "Judge Jackson"; then "General
Jackson"; last of all, "President Jackson."
Shortly after he became the chief ruler of the nation the first steam
railroad in the United States was built (1830). From that time such
roads kept creeping further and further west. The Indians had
frightened the white settlers with their terrible war-whoop. Now it
was their turn to be frightened, for the locomotive whistle[17] could
beat their wildest yell. They saw that the white man was coming as
fast as steam could carry him, and that he was determined to get
possession of the whole land. The greater part of the Indians moved
across the Mississippi; but the white man kept following them and
following the buffalo further and further across the country, toward
the Pacific Ocean; and the railroad followed in the white man's
track.
[Illustration: THE GREAT STEEL RAILROAD BRIDGE ACROSS THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT ST. LOUIS. (Built by Captain Eads, and completed
in 1874.)]
[Illustration: NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE.]
[Footnote 15: See map in this paragraph.]
[Footnote 16: For our first land purchase see paragraph 188.]
[Footnote 17: The first steam railroad built in the United States
extended from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, a distance
of twelve miles. It was opened in 1830. It forms a part of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.]
219. Summary.--Andrew Jackson of North Carolina gained a great
victory over the Indians in Alabama and also in Florida. In 1815,
in our second war with England, General Jackson whipped the British
at New Orleans, and so prevented their getting possession of that
city. A few years later we bought Florida of Spain.
After General Jackson became President of the United States the first
steam-railroad was built in this country. Railroads helped to settle
the west and build up states beyond the Mississippi.
Who fought the greatest battle of the War of 1812? Tell about Andrew
Jackson's boyhood. Tell the story of the gun. Tell about Tarleton.
What did Mrs. Jackson do? What did Andrew do? What did Andrew use
to do at the blacksmith shop?
Tell about Tarleton's men and the bees. What did bands of armed men
use to do in the country where Andrew lived? Tell about playing at
battle. What did Tarleton say? Tell about Andrew and the boots. Tell
how he saw a battle through a knot-hole. Tell how Andrew's mother
died. What did he say about her? Tell about Andrew Jackson as a judge.
Why was he made a general? Tell about Tecumseh and the Alabama Indians.
After General Jackson had beaten the Indians, where did they go? What
is said about the "Holy Ground." What about Jackson and Weathersford?
Tell about the great battle of New Orleans. Who gained the victory?
When did we buy Florida? What were the four steps in Andrew Jackson's
life? What is said about railroads?
PROFESSOR MORSE
(1791-1872).
220. How they sent the news of the completion of the Erie Canal to
New York City; Franklin and Morse.--The Erie Canal, in the state of
New York, connects the Hudson River at Albany with Lake Erie at
Buffalo. It is the greatest work of the kind in America, and was
completed many years ago. When the water was let into the canal from
the lake, the news was flashed from Buffalo to New York City by a
row of cannon, about five miles apart, which were fired as rapidly
as possible one after the other. The first cannon was fired at Buffalo
at ten o'clock in the morning; the last was fired at New York at
half-past eleven. In an hour and a half the sound had travelled over
five hundred miles. Everybody said that was wonderfully quick work;
but to-day we could send the news in less than a minute. The man who
found out how to do this was Samuel F. B. Morse.
[Illustration: HOW THEY FLASHED THE NEWS OF THE COMPLETION OF THE
ERIE CANAL IN 1825.]
We have seen how Benjamin Franklin[1] discovered, by means of his
kite, that lightning and electricity are the same. Samuel Morse was
born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, about a mile from Franklin's
birthplace, the year after that great man died. He began his work
where Franklin left off. He said to himself, Dr. Franklin found out
what lightning is; I will find out how to harness it and make it carry
news and deliver messages.[2]
[Footnote 1: See paragraph 119.]
[Footnote 2: Messages: a message is any word sent by one person to
another.]
221. Morse becomes a painter; what he thought might be done about
sending messages.--When Samuel Morse was a little boy, he was fond
of drawing pictures, particularly faces; if he could not get a pencil,
he would scratch them with a pin on the furniture at school: the only
pay he got for making such pictures was some smart raps from the
teacher. After he became a man he learned to paint. At one time he
lived in France with several other American artists. One day they
were talking of how long it took to get letters from America, and
they were wishing the time could be shortened. Somebody spoke of how
cannon had been used at the time of the opening of the Erie Canal.
Morse was familiar with all that; he had been educated at Yale College,
and he knew that the sound of a gun will travel a mile while you are
counting five; but quick as that is, he wanted to find something
better and quicker still. He said, Why not try lightning or
electricity? That will beat sound, for that will go more than a
thousand miles while you are counting _one_.
222. What a telegraph[3] is; a wire telegraph; Professor Morse
invents the electric telegraph.--Some time after that, Mr. Morse set
sail for America. On the way across the Atlantic he was constantly
talking about electricity and how a telegraph--that is, a machine
which would write at a distance--might be invented. He thought about
this so much that he could not sleep nights. At last he believed that
he saw how he could make such a machine.
[Illustration: ONE KIND OF TELEGRAPH.]
Suppose you take a straight and stiff piece of wire as long as your
desk and fasten it in the middle so that the ends will swing easily.
Next tie a pencil tight to each end; then put a sheet of paper under
the point of each pencil. Now, if you make a mark with the pencil
nearest to you, you will find that the pencil at the other end of
the wire will make the same kind of mark. Such a wire would be a kind
of telegraph, because it would make marks or signs at a distance.
Mr. Morse said: I will have a wire a mile long with a pencil, or
something sharp-pointed like a pencil, fastened to the further end;
the wire itself shall not move at all, but the pencil shall, for I
will make electricity run along the wire and move it. Mr. Morse was
then a professor or teacher in the University of the City of New York.
He put up such a wire in one of the rooms of the building, sent the
electricity through it, and found that it made the pencil make just
the marks he wanted it should; that meant that he had invented the
_electric telegraph_; for if he could do this over a mile of wire,
then what was to hinder his doing it over a hundred or even a thousand
miles?
[Illustration: PROFESSOR MORSE AT WORK MAKING HIS TELEGRAPH.]
[Footnote 3: Telegraph (tel'e-graf): this name is made up of two
Greek words, the first of which means _far off_, and the second _to
write_.]
223. How Professor Morse lived while he was making his
telegraph.--But all this was not done in a day, for this invention
cost years of patient labor. At first, Mr. Morse lived in a little
room by himself: there he worked and ate, when he could get anything
to eat; and slept, if he wasn't too tired to sleep. Later, he had
a room in the university. While he was there he painted pictures to
get money enough to buy food; there, too (1839), he took the first
photograph ever made in America. Yet with all his hard work there
were times when he had to go hungry, and once he told a young man
that if he did not get some money he should be dead in a week--dead
of starvation.
[Illustration: A COPY OF THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH MADE IN AMERICA. (The
tower of the Church of the Messiah, in New York. The church is no
longer standing.)]
224. Professor Morse gets help about his telegraph; what Alfred Vail
did.--But better times were coming. A young man named Alfred Vail[4]
happened to see Professor Morse's telegraph. He believed it would
be successful. He persuaded his father, Judge Vail, to lend him two
thousand dollars, and he became Professor Morse's partner in the work.
Mr. Vail was an excellent mechanic, and he made many improvements
in the telegraph. He then made a model[5] of it at his own expense,
and took it to Washington and got a patent[6] for it in Professor
Morse's name. The invention was now safe in one way, for no one else
had the right to make a telegraph like his. Yet, though he had this
help, Professor Morse did not get on very fast, for a few years later
he said, "I have not a cent in the world; I am crushed for want of
means."
[Footnote 4: Alfred Vail: he was the son of Stephen Vail (commonly
known as Judge Vail), owner of the Speedwell iron-works, near
Morristown, New Jersey. Judge Vail built the engines of the
_Savannah_, the first steamship which crossed the Atlantic.]
[Footnote 5: Model: a small copy or representation of something.
Professor Morse made a small telegraph and sent it to Washington,
to show what his large telegraph would be like.]
[Footnote 6: Patent: a written or printed right given by the
government at Washington to an inventor to make something; as, for
instance, a telegraph or a sewing-machine. The patent forbids any
one except the inventor, or holder of the patent, from making such
a machine, and so he gets whatever money comes from his work. In order
to get a patent, a man must send a model of his invention to be placed
in the Patent Office at Washington.]
225. Professor Morse asks Congress to help him build a telegraph
line; what Congress thought.--Professor Morse now asked Congress to
let him have thirty thousand dollars to construct a telegraph line
from Washington to Baltimore. He felt sure that business men would
be glad to send messages by telegraph, and to pay him for his work.
But many members of Congress laughed at it, and said they might as
well give Professor Morse the money to build "a railroad to the moon."
Week after week went by, and the last day that Congress would sit
was reached, but still no money had been granted. Then came the last
night of the last day (March 3d, 1843). Professor Morse stayed in
the Senate Chamber[7] of Congress until after ten o'clock; then,
tired and disappointed he went back to his hotel, thinking that he
must give up trying to build his telegraph line.
[Footnote 7: Senate Chamber: Congress (or the body of persons chosen
to make the laws of the United States) is divided into two
classes,--Representatives and Senators; they meet in different
rooms or chambers in the Capitol at Washington.]
226. Miss Annie Ellsworth brings good news.--The next morning Miss
Annie G. Ellsworth met him as he was coming down to breakfast. She
was the daughter of his friend who had charge of the Patent Office
in Washington. She came forward with a smile, grasped his hand, and
said that she had good news for him, that Congress had decided to
let him have the money. Surely you must be mistaken, said the
professor, for I waited last night until nearly midnight, and came
away because nothing had been done. But, said the young lady, my
father stayed until it was quite midnight, and a few minutes before
the clock struck twelve Congress voted[8] the money; it was the very
last thing that was done.
Professor Morse was then a gray-haired man over fifty. He had worked
hard for years and got nothing for his labor. This was his first great
success. He doesn't say whether he laughed or cried--perhaps he felt
a little like doing both.
[Footnote 8: Voted: here this word means given or granted.]
227. The first telegraph line built; the first message sent; the
telegraph and the telephone[9] now.--When, at length, Professor
Morse did speak, he said to Miss Ellsworth, "Now, Annie, when my line
is built from Washington to Baltimore, you shall send the first
message over it." In the spring of 1844 the line was completed, and
Miss Ellsworth sent these words over it (they are words taken from
the Bible): "_What hath God wrought!_"[10]
[Illustration: WHAT THE BIRDS THINK TELEGRAPH WIRES WERE PUT UP FOR.]
For nearly a year after that the telegraph was free to all who wished
to use it; then a small charge was made, a very short message costing
only one cent. On the first of April, 1845, a man came into the office
and bought a cent's worth of telegraphing. That was all the money
which was taken that day for the use of forty miles of wire. Now there
are about two hundred thousand miles of telegraph line in the United
States, or more than enough to reach eight times round the earth,
and the messages sent bring in over seventy thousand dollars every
day; and we can telegraph not only clear across America, but clear
across the Atlantic Ocean by a line laid under the sea. Professor
Morse's invention made it possible for people to write by
electricity; but now, by means of the telephone, a man in New York
can talk with his friend in Philadelphia, Boston, and many other
large cities, and his friend listening at the other end of the wire
can hear every word he says. Professor Morse did not live long enough
to see this wonderful invention, which, in some ways, is an
improvement even on his telegraph.
[Illustration: HOW A MESSAGE BY TELEGRAPH IS SENT.[11]]
[Footnote 9: Telephone (tel'e-fone): this name is made up of two
Greek words, the first of which means _far off_, and the second, _a
voice or sound_. The telephone was invented by Professor Alexander
G. Bell of Boston; he completed it in 1876. Professor Bell now lives
in Washington.]
[Footnote 10: See Num. xxiii. 23.]
[Footnote 11: When the button at Chicago is pressed down, the
electricity passing over the wire to Denver presses the point there
down on the paper, and so makes a dot or dash which stands for a letter
on the roll of paper as it passes under it. In this way words and
messages are spelled out. The message on the strip of paper above
is the question, _How is trade?_]
228. Summary.--Professor Morse invented the Electric Telegraph. He
received much help from Mr. Alfred Vail. In 1844 Professor Morse and
Mr. Vail built the first line of telegraph in the United States, or
in the world. It extended from Washington to Baltimore. The telegraph
makes it possible for us to send a written message thousands of miles
in a moment; by the telephone, which was invented after Professor
Morse's death, we can talk with people who are several hundreds of
miles away and hear what they say in reply.
Tell how they sent the news of the completion of the Erie Canal. What
did Samuel Morse say to himself? Tell about Morse as a painter. What
did he want to find? What was he talking about on his voyage back
to America? What is a telegraph? How can you make a small wire
telegraph? What did Professor Morse make? How did he live? What did
he do in 1839? How did he get help about his telegraph? What did he
ask Congress to do? What did some men in Congress say? What news did
Miss Annie Ellsworth bring him? What was the first message sent by
telegraph in 1844? How many miles of telegraph are there now in the
United States? Is there a telegraph line under the sea? What is said
about the telephone?
GENERAL SAM HOUSTON
(1793-1863)
229. Sam Houston and the Indians; Houston goes to live with the
Indians.--When General Jackson whipped the Indians in Alabama,[1]
a young man named Sam Houston[2] fought under Jackson and was
terribly wounded. It was thought that the brave fellow would
certainly die, but his strong will carried him through, and he lived
to make himself a great name in the southwest.
Although Houston fought the Indians, yet, when a boy, he was very
fond of them, and spent much of his time with them in the woods of
Tennessee.
Long after he became a man, this love of the wild life led by the
red men in the forest came back to him. While Houston was governor
of Tennessee (1829) he suddenly made up his mind to leave his home
and his friends, go across the Mississippi River, and take up his
abode with an Indian tribe in that part of the country. The chief,
who had known him as a boy, gave him a hearty welcome. "Rest with
us," he said; "my wigwam is yours." Houston stayed with the tribe
three years.
[Illustration: SAM HOUSTON.]
[Footnote 1: See paragraph 216.]
[Footnote 2: Sam Houston (Hew'ston): he always wrote his name Sam
Houston; he was born near Lexington in Rockbridge County, Virginia.]
230. Houston goes to Texas; what he said he would do; the murders
at Alamo[3]; the flag with one star; what Houston did; Texas added
to the United States; our war with Mexico.--At the end of that time
he said to a friend, "I am going to Texas, and in that new country
I will make a man of myself." Texas then belonged to Mexico; and
President Andrew Jackson had tried in vain to buy it as Jefferson
bought Louisiana. Houston said, "I will make it part of the United
States." About twenty thousand Americans had already moved into
Texas, and they felt as he did.
War broke out between Texas and Mexico, and General Sam Houston led
the Texan soldiers in their fight for independence. He had many noted
American pioneers[4] and hunters in his little army: one of them was
the brave Colonel Travis[5] of Alabama; another was Colonel Bowie[6]
of Louisiana, the inventor of the "bowie knife"; still another was
Colonel David Crockett of Tennessee, whose motto is a good one for
every young American--"Be sure you're right, then--_go ahead_."
These men were all taken prisoners by the Mexicans at Fort Alamo--an
old Spanish church in San Antonio--and were cruelly murdered.
Not long after that General Houston fought a great battle near the
city which is now called by his name.[7] The Mexicans had more than
two men to every one of Houston's; but the Americans and Texans went
into battle shouting the terrible cry "_Remember the Alamo!_" and
the Mexicans fled before them like frightened sheep. Texas then
became an independent state, and elected General Houston its
president. The people of Texas raised a flag having on it a single
star. For this reason it was sometimes called, as it still is, the
"Lone Star State."
[Illustration: THE "LONE STAR" FLAG.]
Texas was not contented to stand alone; she begged the United States
to add her to its great and growing family of states. This was done[8]
in 1845. But, as we shall presently see, a war soon broke out (1846)
between the United States and Mexico, and when that war was ended
we obtained a great deal more land at the west.
[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States after we
added Texas in 1845. The black and white bars show that the ownership
of the Oregon country was still in dispute between the United States
and Great Britain.]
[Footnote 3: Alamo (Al'a-mo).]
[Footnote 4: Pioneers: those who go before to prepare the way for
others; the first settlers in a country are its pioneers.]
[Footnote 5: Travis (Tra'vis).]
[Footnote 6: Bowie (Bow'e).]
[Footnote 7: See map in this paragraph.]
[Footnote 8: See map in this paragraph.]
231. General Sam Houston in the great war between the North and the
South; what he said.--We have seen the part which General Sam Houston
took in getting new country to add to the United States. He lived
in Texas for many years after that. When, in 1861, the great war broke
out between the North and the South, General Houston was governor
of the state. He withdrew from office and went home to his log cabin
in Huntsville. He refused to take any part in the war, for he loved
the Union,--that is, the whole country, North and South
together,--and he said to his wife, "My heart is broken." Before the
war ended he was laid in his grave.[9]
[Footnote 9: General Houston was buried at Huntsville, about eighty
miles northwest of the city of Houston, Texas.]
232. Summary.--General Sam Houston of Tennessee led the people of
Texas in their war against Mexico. The Texans gained the victory,
and made their country an independent state with General Houston as
its president. After a time Texas was added to the United States.
We then had a war with Mexico, and added a great deal more land at
the west. General Houston died during the war between the North and
the South.
Tell about Sam Houston and the Indians. Where did Houston go after
he became governor of Tennessee? Where did Houston go next? What did
he say he would do about Texas? What was David Crockett's motto? What
is said about Fort Alamo? What about the battle with the Mexicans?
What did Texas become? To what office was Houston elected? What is
said of the Texas flag? When was Texas added to the United States?
What war then broke out? What did we get by that war? What is said
of General Houston in the great war between the North and the South?
CAPTAIN ROBERT GRAY
(1755-1806).
233. Captain Gray goes to the Pacific coast to buy furs; he first
carries the Stars and Stripes round the globe.--Not long after the
war of the Revolution had come to an end some merchants of Boston
sent out two vessels to Vancouver[1] Island, on the northwest coast
of America. The names of the vessels were the _Columbia_ and the _Lady
Washington_, and they sailed round Cape Horn into the Pacific.
Captain Robert Gray went out as commander of one of these vessels.[2]
He was born in Rhode Island[3] and he had fought in one of our
war-ships in the Revolution.
Captain Gray was sent out by the Boston merchants to buy furs from
the Indians on the Pacific coast. He had no difficulty in getting
all he wanted, for the savages were glad to sell them for very little.
In one case a chief let the captain have two hundred sea-otter skins
such as are used for ladies' sacks, and which were worth about eight
thousand dollars, for an old iron chisel. After getting a valuable
cargo of furs, Captain Gray sailed in the _Columbia_ for China, where
he bought a quantity of tea. He then went to the south, round the
Cape of Good Hope, and keeping on toward the west he reached Boston
in the summer of 1790. He had been gone about three years, and he
was the first man who carried the American flag clear round the globe.
[Illustration: A SEA-OTTER.]
[Footnote 1: Vancouver (Van-koo'ver): part of it is seen north of
Portland, Or., paragraph 234.]
[Footnote 2: He commanded the _Lady Washington_ at first, and
afterward the _Columbia_.]
[Footnote 3: Tiverton, Rhode Island.]
234. Captain Gray's second voyage to the Pacific coast; he enters
a great river and names it the Columbia; the United States claims
the Oregon country; we get Oregon in 1846.--Captain Gray did not stay
long at Boston, for he sailed again that autumn in the _Columbia_
for the Pacific coast, to buy more furs. He stayed on that coast a
long time. In the spring of 1792 he entered a great river and sailed
up it a distance of nearly thirty miles. He seems to have been the
first white man who had ever actually entered it. He named the vast
stream the Columbia River, from the name of his vessel. It is the
largest American river which empties into the Pacific Ocean south
of Alaska.[4]
[Illustration: CAPTAIN GRAY EXPLORING THE COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON.]
Captain Gray returned to Boston and gave an account of his voyage
of exploration; this led Congress to claim the country through which
the Columbia flows[5] as part of the United States.
[Illustration: MOUNT HOOD, OREGON.]
After Captain Gray had been dead for forty years we came into
possession, in 1846, of the immense territory then called the Oregon
Country. It was through what he had done that we got our first claim
to that country which now forms the states of Oregon and Washington.
[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States after we
added the Oregon Country in 1846.]
[Illustration: EMIGRANTS ON THEIR WAY TO OREGON FIFTY YEARS AGO.]
[Footnote 4: The Yukon River in Alaska is larger than the Columbia.]
[Footnote 5: The discovery and exploration of a river usually gives
the right to a claim to the country watered by that river, on the
part of the nation to which the discoverer or explorer belongs.]
235. Summary.--A little over a hundred years ago (1790) Captain
Robert Gray of Rhode Island first carried the American flag round
the world. In 1792 he entered and named the Columbia River. Because
he did that the United States claimed the country--called the Oregon
Country--through which that river runs. In 1846 we added the Oregon
Country to our possessions; it now forms the two states of Oregon
and Washington.
Tell about Captain Gray's voyage to the Pacific coast. What did he
buy there? What did he first carry round the globe? Tell about his
second voyage. What did he do in 1792? What happened after Captain
Gray returned to Boston? What happened in 1846? What two states were
made out of the Oregon Country?
CAPTAIN SUTTER[1]
(1803-1880).
236. Captain Sutter and his fort; how the captain lived.--At the time
when Professor Morse sent his first message by telegraph from
Washington to Baltimore (1844), Captain J. A. Sutter, an emigrant
from Switzerland, was living near the Sacramento River in California.
California then belonged to Mexico. The governor of that part of the
country had given Captain Sutter an immense piece of land; and the
captain had built a fort at a point where a stream which he named
the American River joins the Sacramento River.[2] People then called
the place Sutter's Fort, but to-day it is Sacramento City, the
capital of the great and rich state of California.
In his fort Captain Sutter lived like a king. He owned land enough
to make a thousand fair-sized farms; he had twelve thousand head of
cattle, more than ten thousand sheep, and over two thousand horses
and mules. Hundreds of laborers worked for him in his wheat-fields,
and fifty well-armed soldiers guarded his fort. Quite a number of
Americans had built houses near the fort. They thought that the time
was coming when all that country would become part of the United
States.
[Illustration: Map of Sutter's Fort area.]
[Footnote 1: Sutter (Soo'ter).]
[Footnote 2: See map in this paragraph.]
237. Captain Sutter builds a saw-mill at Coloma;[3] a man finds some
sparkling dust.--About forty miles up the American River was a place
which the Mexicans called Coloma, or the beautiful valley. There was
a good fall of water there and plenty of big trees to saw into boards,
so Captain Sutter sent a man named Marshall to build a saw-mill at
that place. The captain needed such a mill very much, for he wanted
lumber to build with and to fence his fields.
Marshall set to work, and before the end of January, 1848, he had
built a dam across the river and got the saw-mill half done. One day
as he was walking along the bank of a ditch, which had been dug back
of the mill to carry off the water, he saw some bright yellow specks
shining in the dirt. He gathered a little of the sparkling dust,
washed it clean, and carried it to the house. That evening after the
men had come in from their work on the mill, Marshall said to them,
"Boys, I believe I've found a gold mine." They laughed, and one of
them said, "I reckon not; no such luck."
[Illustration: CAPTAIN SUTTER'S SAW-MILL AT COLOMA, WHERE GOLD WAS
FIRST FOUND.]
[Footnote 3: Coloma (Ko-lo'ma): see map in paragraph 236.]
238. Marshall takes the shining dust to Captain Sutter; what he did
with it, and how he felt about the discovery.--A few days after that
Marshall went down to the fort to see Captain Sutter. Are you alone?
he asked when he saw the captain. Yes, he answered. Well, won't you
oblige me by locking the door; I've something I want to show you.
The captain locked the door, and Marshall taking a little parcel out
of his pocket, opened it and poured some glittering dust on a paper
he had spread out. "See here," said he, "I believe this is gold, but
the people at the mill laugh at me and call me crazy."
Captain Sutter examined it carefully. He weighed it; he pounded it
flat; he poured some strong acid on it. There are three very
interesting things about gold. In the first place, it is very heavy,
heavier even than lead. Next, it is very tough. If you hammer a piece
of iron long enough, it will break to pieces, but you can hammer a
piece of gold until it is thinner than the thinnest tissue paper,
so that if you hold it up you can see the light shining through it.
Last of all, if you pour strong acids on gold, such acids as will
eat into other metals and change their color, they will have no more
effect on gold than an acid like vinegar has on a piece of glass.
For these and other reasons most people think that gold is a very
handsome metal, and the more they see of it, especially if it is their
own, the better they are pleased with it.
Well, the shining dust stood all these tests.[4] It was very heavy,
it was very tough, and the sharp acid did not hurt it. Captain Sutter
and Marshall both felt sure that it was _gold_.
But, strange to say, the captain was not pleased. He wished to build
up an American settlement and have it called by his name. He did not
care for a gold mine--why should he? for he had everything he wanted
without it. He was afraid, too, that if gold should be discovered
in any quantity, thousands of people would rush in; they would dig
up his land, and quite likely take it all away from him. We shall
see presently whether he was right or not.
[Footnote 4: Tests: here experiments or trials made to find out what
a thing is.]
239. War with Mexico; Mexico lets us have California and New Mexico;
"gold! gold! gold!" what happened at Coloma; how California was
settled; what happened to Captain Sutter and to Marshall.--While
these things were happening we had been at war with Mexico for two
years (1846-1848), because Texas and Mexico could not agree about
the western boundary line[5] of the new state. Texas wanted to push
that line as far west as possible so as to have more land; Mexico
wanted to push it as far east as possible so as to give as little
land as she could. This dispute soon brought on a war between the
United States and Mexico. Soon after gold was discovered at Coloma,
the war ended (1848); and we got not only all the land the people
of Texas had asked for, but an immense deal more; for we obtained
the great territory of California and New Mexico, out of which a
number of states and territories have since been made.[6]
[Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States in 1848,
after Mexico let us have California and New Mexico.]
In May, 1848, a man came to San Francisco holding up a bottle full
of gold-dust in one hand and swinging his hat with the other. As he
walked through the streets he shouted with all his might, "Gold!
gold! gold! from the American River."
Then the rush for Coloma began. Every man had a spade and a pick-axe.
In a little while the beautiful valley was dug so full of holes that
it looked like an empty honeycomb. The next year a hundred thousand
people poured into California from all parts of the United States;
so the discovery of gold filled up that part of the country with
emigrants years before they would have gone if no gold had been found
there.
[Illustration: WASHING DIRT TO GET OUT THE GOLD-DUST.]
Captain Sutter lost all his property. He would have died poor if the
people of California had not given him money to live on.
Marshall was still more to be pitied. He got nothing by his discovery.
Years after he had found the shining dust, some one wrote to him and
asked him for his photograph. He refused to send it. He said, "My
likeness ... is, in fact, all I have that I can call my own; and I
feel like any other poor wretch:[7] I want _something_ for self."
[Illustration: MIRROR LAKE, YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.]
[Footnote 5: Western boundary line: the people of Texas held that
their state extended west as far as the Rio Grande River, but Mexico
insisted that the boundary line was at the Nueces River, which is
much further east.]
[Footnote 6: Namely: California, Nevada, Utah, and part of Wyoming,
Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.]
[Footnote 7: Wretch: here a very unhappy and miserable person.]
240. How we bought more land; our growth since the Revolution.--Long
before Captain Sutter died, the United States bought from Mexico
another great piece of land (1853), marked on the map by the name
of the Gadsden Purchase.[8] A number of years later (1867) we bought
the territory of Alaska[9] from Russia.
[Illustration: This map shows the extent of the United States in 1853
after we had added the land called the Gadsden Purchase, bought from
Mexico; the land is marked on the map, 1853.]
The Revolution ended something over a hundred years ago; if you look
on the map in paragraph 187, and compare it with the maps which follow,
you will see how we have grown during that time. Then we had just
thirteen states[10] which stretched along the Atlantic, and, with
the country west of them, extended as far as the Mississippi River.
Next (1803) we bought the great territory of Louisiana (see map in
paragraph 188), which has since been divided into many states; then
(1819) we bought Florida (see map in paragraph 218); then (1845) we
added Texas (see map in paragraph 230); the next year (1846) we added
Oregon territory, since cut up into two great states (see map in
paragraph 234); then (1848) we obtained California and New Mexico
(see map in paragraph 239). Five years after that (1853) we bought
the land then known as the Gadsden Purchase (see first map in this
paragraph); last of all (1867) we bought Alaska (see second map in
this paragraph).
[Illustration: This map shows the territorial growth of the United
States from the time of the Revolution to the present day.]
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE COAST OF ALASKA.]
[Footnote 8: See maps in this paragraph. It was called the Gadsden
Purchase, because General James Gadsden of South Carolina bought it
from Mexico for the United States, in 1853. It included what is now
part of Southern Arizona and N. Mexico.]
[Footnote 9: Alaska: see second map in this paragraph.]
[Footnote 10: Thirteen states: see footnote 4 in paragraph 102.]
241. "Brother Jonathan's"[11] seven steps.--If you count up these
additions, you will see that, beginning with Louisiana in 1803, and
ending with Alaska in 1867, they make just seven in all. There is
a story of a giant who was so tall that at one long step he could
go more than twenty miles; but "Brother Jonathan" can beat that, for
in the seven steps he has taken since the Revolution he has gone over
three thousand miles. He stands now with one foot on the coast of
the Atlantic and with the other on that of the Pacific.
[Footnote 11: "Brother Jonathan": a name given in fun to the people
of the United States, just as "John Bull" is to the people of England.
One explanation of the origin of the name is this: General Washington
had a very high opinion of the good sense and sound judgment of
Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut. At the beginning of the
Revolutionary War, when no one seemed to know where to get a supply
of powder, General Washington said to his officers, "We must consult
Brother Jonathan on this subject." Afterwards when any serious
difficulty arose it became a common saying in the army that "We must
consult Brother Jonathan," and in time the name came to stand for
the American people.]
242. Summary.--In January, 1848, gold was discovered at Captain
Sutter's saw-mill at Coloma, California. Soon after that, Mexico let
us have California and New Mexico, and they were added to the United
States. Thousands of people, from all parts of the country, hurried
to California to dig gold, and so that state grew more rapidly in
population than any other new part of the United States ever had in
the same length of time. Before Captain Sutter died we added the
Gadsden Purchase and Alaska.
Who was Captain Sutter? Where did he live? Tell how he lived. What
did he begin to build at Coloma? Tell what Marshall found there, and
what was said about it. Tell how Marshall took the shining dust to
Captain Sutter, and what the captain did. What made them both certain
that the dust was gold? Was the captain pleased with the discovery?
What did he think would happen? What is said about our war with
Mexico? What did we fight about? What did we get at the end of the
war? What happened in May, 1848? Then what happened? How many people
went to California? What happened to Captain Sutter? What is said
about Marshall? What land did we buy in 1853? What in 1867?
How long ago did the Revolution end? How many states did we have then?
[Can any one in the class tell how many we have now?] What land did
we buy in 1803? In 1819? What did we add in 1845? In 1846? In 1848?
What did we buy in 1853? In 1867? How many such additions have we
made in all? What could the giant do? What has "Brother Jonathan"
done? Where is one foot? Where is the other?
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
(1809-1865).
243. The tall man from Illinois making his first speech in Congress;
how he wrote his name; what the people called him.--Not many days
before gold was found at Sutter's saw-mill in California (1848), a
tall, awkward-looking man from Illinois was making his first speech
in Congress. At that time he generally wrote his name
[Illustration: A. Lincoln.]
but after he had become President of the United States, he often wrote
it out in full,--
[Illustration: Abraham Lincoln.]
The plain country people of Illinois, who knew all about him, liked
best to call him by the title they had first given him,--"_Honest
Abe Lincoln_," or, for short, "_Honest Abe_." Let us see how he got
that name.
244. The Lincoln family move to Indiana; "Abe" helps his father build
a new home; what it was like.--Abraham Lincoln was born on February
12th, 1809, in a log shanty on a lonely little farm in Kentucky.[1]
When "Abe," as he was called, was seven years old, his father, Thomas
Lincoln, moved, with his family, to Indiana;[2] there the boy and
his mother worked in the woods and helped him build a new home. That
new home was not so good or so comfortable as some of our cow-sheds
are. It was simply a hut made of rough logs and limbs of trees. It
had no door and no windows. One side of it was left entirely open;
and if a roving Indian or a bear wanted to walk in to dinner, there
was nothing whatever to stop him. In winter "Abe's" mother used to
hang up some buffalo skins before this wide entrance, to keep out
the cold, but in summer the skins were taken down, so that living
in such a cabin was the next thing to living out-of-doors.
[Footnote 1: Kentucky: Abraham Lincoln was born on the banks of the
Big South Fork (or branch) of Nolin Creek in Hardin (now La Rue)
County, Kentucky.]
[Footnote 2: Indiana: the Lincoln family moved to a farm on Little
Pigeon Creek, near Gentryville, in what is now Spencer County,
Indiana.]
245. The new log cabin with four sides to it; how the furniture was
made; "Abe's" bed in the loft.--The Lincoln family stayed in that
shed for about a year; then they moved into a new log cabin which
had four sides to it. They seem to have made a new set of furniture
for the new house. "Abe's" father got a large log, split it in two,
smoothed off the flat side, bored holes in the under side and drove
in four stout sticks for legs: that made the table. They had no
chairs,--it would have been too much trouble to make the backs,--but
they had three-legged stools, which Thomas Lincoln made with an axe,
just as he did the table; perhaps "Abe" helped him drive in the legs.
[Illustration: HOME-MADE FURNITURE.]
In one corner of the loft of this cabin the boy had a big bag of dry
leaves for his bed. Whenever he felt like having a new bed, all that
he had to do was to go out in the woods and gather more leaves.
He worked about the place during the day, helping his father and
mother. For his supper he had a piece of cornbread. After he had eaten
it, he climbed up to his loft in the dark, by a kind of ladder of
wooden pins driven into the logs. Five minutes after that he was fast
asleep on his bed of sweet-smelling leaves, and was dreaming of
hunting coons, or of building big bonfires out of brush.[3]
[Footnote 3: Brush: bushes and limbs of trees.]
246. Death of "Abe's" mother; the lonely grave in the woods; what
Abraham Lincoln said of his mother after he had grown to be a man;
what "Abe's" new mother said of him.--"Abe's" mother was not strong,
and before they had been in their new log cabin a year she fell sick
and died. She was buried on the farm. "Abe" used to go out and sit
by her lonely grave in the forest and cry. It was the first great
sorrow that had ever touched the boy's heart. After he had grown to
be a man, he said with eyes full of tears to a friend with whom he
was talking: "God bless my mother; all that I am or ever hope to be
I owe to her."
[Illustration: "ABE" LEARNING TO USE HIS AXE.]
At the end of a year Thomas Lincoln married again. The new wife that
he brought home was a kind-hearted and excellent woman. She did all
she could to make the poor, ragged, barefooted boy happy. After he
had grown up and become famous, she said: "Abe never gave me a cross
word or look, and never refused to do anything I asked him: Abe was
the best boy I ever saw."
247. The school in the woods; the new teacher; reading by the open
fire; how "Abe" used the fire-shovel.--There was a log schoolhouse
in the woods quite a distance off, and there "Abe" went for a short
time. At the school he learned to read and write a little, but after
a while he found a new teacher, that was--himself. When the rest of
the family had gone to bed, he would sit up and read his favorite
books by the light of the great blazing logs heaped up on the open
fire. He had not more than half a dozen books in all. They were
"Robinson Crusoe," "Pilgrim's Progress," AEsop's[4] Fables, the
Bible, a Life of Washington, and a small History of the United States.
The boy read these books over and over till he knew a great deal of
them by heart and could repeat whole pages from them.
[Illustration: WRITING BY THE FIRE.]
Part of his evenings he spent in writing and ciphering. Thomas
Lincoln was so poor that he could seldom afford to buy paper and pens
for his son, so the boy had to get on without them. He used to take
the back of the broad wooden fire-shovel to write on and a piece of
charcoal for a pencil. When he had covered the shovel with words or
with sums in arithmetic, he would shave it off clean and begin over
again. If "Abe's" father complained that the shovel was getting thin,
the boy would go out into the woods, cut down a tree, and make a new
one; for as long as the woods lasted, fire-shovels and furniture were
cheap.
[Footnote 4: AEsop (E'sop): the name of a noted writer of fables.
Here is one of AEsop's fables: An old frog thought that he could blow
himself up to be as big as an ox. So he drew in his breath and puffed
himself out prodigiously. "Am I big enough now?" he asked his son.
"No," said his son; "you don't begin to be as big as an ox yet." Then
he tried again, and swelled himself out still more. "How's that?"
he asked. "Oh, it's no use trying," said his son, "you can't do it."
"But I will," said the old frog. With that he drew in his breath with
all his might and puffed himself up to such an enormous size that
he suddenly burst.
Moral: Don't try to be bigger than you can.]
248. What Lincoln could do at seventeen; what he was at nineteen;
his strength.--By the time the lad was seventeen he could write a
good hand, do hard examples in long division, and spell better than
any one else in the county. Once in a while he wrote a little piece
of his own about something which interested him; when the neighbors
heard it read, they would say, "The world can't beat it."
At nineteen Abraham Lincoln had reached his full height. He stood
nearly six feet four inches, barefooted. He was a kind of
good-natured giant. No one in the neighborhood could strike an axe
as deep into a tree as he could, and few, if any, were equal to him
in strength. It takes a powerful man to put a barrel of flour into
a wagon without help, and there is not one in a hundred who can lift
a barrel of cider off the ground; but it is said that young Lincoln
could stoop down, lift a barrel on to his knees, and drink from the
bung-hole.
249. Young Lincoln makes a voyage to New Orleans; how he handled the
robbers.--At this time a neighbor hired Abraham to go with his son
to New Orleans. The two young men were to take a flat-boat loaded
with corn and other produce down the Ohio and the Mississippi. It
was called a voyage of about eighteen hundred miles, and it would
take between three and four weeks.
[Illustration: LINCOLN ON THE FLAT-BOAT GOING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER.]
Young Lincoln was greatly pleased with the thought of making such
a trip. He had never been away any distance from home, and, as he
told his father, he felt that he wanted to see something more of the
world. His father made no objection, but, as he bade his son good
by, he said, Take care that in trying to see the world you don't see
the bottom of the Mississippi.
The two young men managed to get the boat through safely. But one
night a gang of negroes came on board, intending to rob them of part
of their cargo. Lincoln soon showed the robbers he could handle a
club as vigorously as he could an axe, and the rascals, bruised and
bleeding, were glad to get off with their lives.
250. The Lincolns move to Illinois; what Abraham did; hunting
frolics; how Abraham chopped; how he bought his clothes.--Not long
after young Lincoln's return, his father moved to Illinois.[5] It
was a two weeks' journey through the woods with ox-teams. Abraham
helped his father build a comfortable log cabin; then he and a man
named John Hanks split walnut rails, and fenced in fifteen acres of
land for a cornfield.
[Illustration: THE LOG CABIN IN ILLINOIS WHICH LINCOLN HELPED HIS
FATHER BUILD.]
That part of the country had but few settlers, and it was still full
of wild beasts. When the men got tired of work and wanted a frolic,
they had a grand wolf-hunt. First, a tall pole was set up in a
clearing;[6] next, the hunters in the woods formed a great circle
of perhaps ten miles in extent. Then they began to move nearer and
nearer together, beating the bushes and yelling with all their might.
The frightened wolves, deer, and other wild creatures inside of the
circle of hunters were driven to the pole in the clearing; there they
were shot down in heaps.
Young Lincoln was not much of a hunter, but he always tried to do
his part. Yet, after all, he liked the axe better than he did the
rifle. He would start off before light in the morning and walk to
his work in the woods, five or six miles away. There he would chop
steadily all day. The neighbors knew, when they hired him, that he
wouldn't sit down on the first log he came to and fall asleep. Once
when he needed a new pair of trousers, he made a bargain for them
with a Mrs. Nancy Miller. She agreed to make him a certain number
of yards of tow cloth,[7] and dye it brown with walnut bark. For every
yard she made, Lincoln bound himself to split four hundred good
fence-rails for her. In this way he made his axe pay for all his
clothes.
[Illustration: LINCOLN SPLITTING LOGS FOR RAILS.]
[Footnote 5: Illinois: he moved to a farm on the North Fork (or
branch) of the Sangamon River, Macon County, Illinois. Springfield,
the capital of the state, is in the next county west.]
[Footnote 6: Clearing: an open space made in a forest.]
[Footnote 7: Tow cloth: a kind of coarse, cheap, but very strong cloth,
made of flax or hemp.]
251. Lincoln hires out to tend store; the gang of ruffians in New
Salem; Jack Armstrong and "Tall Abe."--The year after young Lincoln
came of age he hired out to tend a grocery and variety store in New
Salem, Illinois.[8] There was a gang of young ruffians in that
neighborhood who made it a point to pick a fight with every stranger.
Sometimes they mauled him black and blue; sometimes they amused
themselves with nailing him up in a hogshead and rolling him down
a hill. The leader of this gang was a fellow named Jack Armstrong.
He made up his mind that he would try his hand on "Tall Abe," as
Lincoln was called. He attacked Lincoln, and he was so astonished
at what happened to him that he never wanted to try it again. From
that time Abraham Lincoln had no better friends than young Armstrong
and the Armstrong family. Later on we shall see what he was able to
do for them.
[Footnote 8: New Salem is on the Sangamon River, in Menard County,
about twenty miles northwest of Springfield, the capital of
Illinois.]
252. Lincoln's faithfulness in little things; the six cents; "Honest
Abe."--In his work in the store Lincoln soon won everybody's respect
and confidence. He was faithful in little things, and in that way
he made himself able to deal with great ones.
Once a woman made a mistake in paying for something she had bought,
and gave the young man six cents too much. He did not notice it at
the time, but after his customer had gone he saw that she had overpaid
him. That night, after the store was closed, Lincoln walked to the
woman's house, some five or six miles out of the village, and paid
her back the six cents. It was such things as this that first made
the people give him the name of "Honest Abe."
253. The Black Hawk War; the Indian's handful of dry leaves; what
Lincoln did in the war.--The next year Lincoln went to fight the
Indians in what was called the Black Hawk War. The people in that
part of the country had been expecting the war; for, some time before,
an Indian had walked up to a settler's cabin and said, "Too much white
man." He then threw a handful of dry leaves into the air, to show
how he and his warriors were coming to scatter the white men. He never
came, but a noted chief named Black Hawk, who had been a friend of
Tecumseh's,[9] made an attempt to drive out the settlers, and get
back the lands which certain Indians had sold them.
Lincoln said that the only battles he fought in this war were with
the mosquitoes. He never killed a single Indian, but he saved the
life of one old savage. He seems to have felt just as well satisfied
with himself for doing that as though he had shot him through the
head.
[Footnote 9: Tecumseh: See paragraph 202.]
254. Lincoln becomes postmaster and surveyor; how he studied law;
what the people thought of him as a lawyer.--After Lincoln returned
from the war he was made postmaster of New Salem. He also found time
to do some surveying and to begin the study of law. On hot summer
mornings he might be seen lying on his back, on the grass, under a
big tree, reading a law-book; as the shade moved round, Lincoln would
move with it, so that by sundown he had travelled nearly round the
tree.
[Illustration: LINCOLN READING LAW.]
When he began to practise law, everybody who knew him had confidence
in him. Other men might be admired because they were smart, but
Lincoln was respected because he was honest. When he said a thing,
people knew that it was because he believed it, and they knew, too,
that he could not be hired to say what he did not believe. That gave
him immense influence.
255. The Armstrong murder trial; how Lincoln saved young Armstrong
from being hanged.--But Lincoln was as keen as he was truthful and
honest. A man was killed in a fight near where Lincoln had lived,
and one of Jack Armstrong's[10] brothers was arrested for the murder.
Everybody thought that he was guilty, and felt sure that he would
be hanged. Lincoln made some inquiry about the case, and made up his
mind that the prisoner did not kill the man.
Mrs. Armstrong was too poor to hire a lawyer to defend her son, but
Lincoln wrote to her that he would gladly do it for nothing.
When the day of the trial came, the chief witness was sure that he
saw young Armstrong strike the man dead. Lincoln questioned him
closely. He asked him when it was that he saw the murder committed.
The witness said that it was in the evening, at a certain hour, and
that he saw it all clearly because there was a bright moon. Are you
sure? asked Lincoln. Yes, replied the witness. Do you swear to it?
I do, answered the witness. Then Lincoln took an almanac out of his
pocket, turned to the day of the month on which the murder had been
committed, and said to the court: The almanac shows that there was
no moon shining at the time at which the witness says he saw the
murder.[11] The jury was convinced that the witness had not spoken
the truth; they declared the prisoner "Not guilty," and he was at
once set free.
Lincoln was a man who always paid his debts. Mrs. Armstrong had been
very kind to him when he was poor and friendless. Now he had paid
that debt.
[Footnote 10: See Jack Armstrong, in paragraph 251.]
[Footnote 11: The almanac usually gives the time when the moon rises;
and so by looking at any particular day of the month, one can tell
whether there was a moon on that evening.]
256. Lincoln and the pig.--Some men have hearts big enough to be kind
to their fellow-men when they are in trouble, but not to a dumb animal.
Lincoln's heart was big enough for both.
One morning just after he had bought a new suit of clothes he started
to drive to the court-house, a number of miles distant. On the way
he saw a pig that was making desperate efforts to climb out of a deep
mud-hole. The creature would get part way up the slippery bank, and
then slide back again over his head in mire and water. Lincoln said
to himself: I suppose that I ought to get out and help that pig; for
if he's left there, he'll smother in the mud. Then he gave a look
at his glossy new clothes. He felt that he really couldn't afford
to spoil them for the sake of any pig, so he whipped up his horse
and drove on. But the pig was in his mind, and he could think of
nothing else. After he had gone about two miles, he said to himself,
I've no right to leave that poor creature there to die in the mud,
and what is more, I won't leave him. Turning his horse, he drove back
to the spot. He got out and carried half a dozen fence-rails to the
edge of the hole, and placed them so that he could get to it without
falling in himself. Then, kneeling down, he bent over, seized the
pig firmly by the fore legs and drew him up on to the solid ground,
where he was safe. The pig grunted out his best thanks, and Lincoln,
plastered with mud, but with a light heart, drove on to the
court-house.
[Illustration: LINCOLN AND THE PIG.]
257. Lincoln is elected to the state legislature; he goes to
Springfield to live; he is elected to Congress.--Many people in
Illinois thought that they would like to see such a man in the state
legislature[12] helping to make their laws. They elected him; and
as he was too poor at that time to pay so much horse-hire, he walked
from New Salem, a distance of over a hundred miles, to Vandalia,[13]
which was then the capital of the state.
Lincoln was elected to the legislature many times; later, he moved
to Springfield, Illinois, and made that place his home for the rest
of his life.
The next time the people elected him to office, they sent him to
Congress to help make laws, not for his state only, but for the whole
country. He had got a long way up since the time when he worked with
John Hanks[14] fencing the cornfield round his father's cabin; but
he was going higher still,--he was going to the top.
[Footnote 12: Legislature: persons chosen by the people of a state
or country to make its laws.]
[Footnote 13: Vandalia (Van-da'li-a).]
[Footnote 14: John Hanks: see paragraph 250.]
258. The meeting for choosing a candidate[15] for President of the
United States; the two fence-rails; the Chicago meeting; Abraham
Lincoln elected President of the United States.--In the spring of
1860 a great convention, or meeting, was held in one of the towns
of Illinois. Lincoln was present at that convention. The object of
the people who had gathered there was to choose a candidate that they
would like to see elected President of the United States. A number
of speeches had been made, when a member of the convention rose and
said that a person asked the privilege of making the meeting a present.
It was voted to receive it. Then John Hanks and one of his neighbors
brought in two old fence-rails and a banner with these words painted
on it:--
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
THE RAIL CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY
IN 1860.
TWO RAILS FROM A LOT OF 3000
MADE IN 1830
BY JOHN HANKS AND ABE LINCOLN.
The rails were received with cheer after cheer, and Lincoln was
chosen candidate. About a week after that a much greater meeting was
held in Chicago, and he was chosen there in the same way. The next
November Abraham Lincoln, "the Illinois rail-splitter," was elected
President of the United States. He had reached the top. There he was
to die.
[Footnote 15: Candidate (can'di-date): a person who seeks some
office, such as that of governor or president, or a person who is
recommended by a party for such an office. The people in favor of
the candidate vote for him; and if he gets a sufficient number of
votes, he is elected.]
259. The great war between the North and the South; why a large part
of the people of the South wished to leave the Union.--In less than
six weeks after Lincoln actually became President, in the spring of
1861, a terrible war broke out between the North and the South. The
people of South Carolina fired the first gun in that war. They,
together with a great part of the people of ten other southern states,
resolved to leave the Union.[16] They set up an independent
government called the Confederate States of America, and made
Jefferson Davis its president.
The main reason why so many of the people of the South wished to
withdraw from the United States was that little by little the North
and the South had become like two different countries.
At the time of the Revolution, when we broke away from the rule of
England, every one of the states held negro slaves; but in the course
of eighty years a great change had taken place. The negroes at the
North had become free, but those of the South still remained slaves.
Now this difference in the way of doing work made it impossible for
the North and the South to agree about many things.
They had come to be like two boys in a boat who want to go in opposite
directions. One pulls one way with his oars, the other pulls another
way, and so the boat does not get ahead.
At the South most of the people thought that slavery was right, and
that it helped the whole country; at the North the greater part of
the people were convinced that it was wrong, and that it did harm
to the whole country.
But this was not all. The people who held slaves at the South wanted
to add to the number. They hoped to get more of the new country west
of the Mississippi River for slave states, so that there might always
be at least as many slave states in the Union as there were free states.
But Abraham Lincoln like most of the people at the North believed
that slavery did no good to any one. He and his party were fully
determined that no slaves whatever should be taken into the
territories west of the Mississippi River, and that every new state
which should be added should be entirely free.
For this reason it happened that when Lincoln became President most
of the slave states resolved to leave the Union, and, if necessary,
to make war rather than be compelled to stay in it.
[Footnote 16: Union: several years after the close of the
Revolutionary War, by which we gained our independence of Great
Britain, the people of the thirteen states formed a new government.
That new government bound all the states together more strongly than
before, thus making, as was then said, "a more _perfect union_."
In 1861 eleven of the southern states endeavored to withdraw from
the Union; this attempt brought on the war.]
260. The North and the South in the war; President Lincoln frees the
slaves; General Grant and General Lee; peace is made.--The North had
the most men and the most money to fight with, but the people of the
South had the advantage of being able to stay at home and fight on
their own ground.
The war lasted four years (1861-1865). Many terrible battles were
fought; thousands of brave men were killed on both sides. During the
war President Lincoln gave the slaves their freedom in all the states
which were fighting against the Union, and those in the other slave
states got their freedom later. After a time General Grant obtained
the command of all the armies of the North, and General Lee became
the chief defender of the South.
[Illustration: STATUE OF LINCOLN WRITING THE EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION WHICH GAVE THE SLAVES THEIR FREEDOM, IN FAIRMOUNT PARK,
PHILADELPHIA.]
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL GRANT IN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO.]
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL LEE, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.]
The last battles were fought around Richmond, Virginia, between
these two great generals. When the Southern soldiers saw that it was
useless to attempt to fight longer, they laid down their arms, and
peace was made--a peace honorable to both sides.
261. The success of the North preserves the Union and makes all slaves
free; the North and the South shake hands; murder of President
Lincoln.--The success of the North in the war preserved the Union,
and as all negro laborers were now free, there was no longer any
dispute about slavery. The North and the South could shake hands and
be friends, for both were now ready to pull in the same direction.
The saddest thing at the close of the war was the murder of President
Lincoln by a madman named Booth. Not only the people of the North
but many of those at the South shed tears at his death, because they
felt that they had an equal place in his great heart. He loved both,
as a true American must ever love his whole country.
[Illustration: MONUMENT OVER THE GRAVE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, AT
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.]
262. Summary.--Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, became President of the
United States in 1861. He was elected by a party in the North that
was determined that slaves should not be taken into free states or
territories, and that no more slave states should be made. On this
account most of the slave-holding states of the South resolved to
withdraw from the Union. A great war followed, and President Lincoln
gave the slaves their freedom. The North succeeded in the war, and
the Union was made stronger than ever, because the North and the South
could no longer have any dispute over slavery. Both sides now shook
hands and became friends.
Who was the tall man in Congress from Illinois? What did the people
of his state like to call him? When was Abraham Lincoln born? Where
was he born? To what state did his father move? Tell about "Abe's"
new home. Tell about the new cabin and its furniture. Tell about
"Abe's" bed. What is said about the boy's mother? What did "Abe" do?
What did he say after he became a man? What did Thomas Lincoln's new
wife say about "Abe"? Tell about "Abe's" going to school; about his
new teacher; about his books. What did he use to write on? What is
said of Abraham Lincoln at seventeen? What about him when he was
nineteen? Tell about his voyage to New Orleans.
Tell about his moving to Illinois. What did Abraham Lincoln and John
Hanks do? Tell about the hunting frolics. Tell how Lincoln chopped
in the woods. What kind of a bargain did he make for a new pair of
trousers? What did Abraham Lincoln hire out to do in New Salem? Tell
about the gang of ruffians. What is said of Jack Armstrong? Why did
Lincoln get the name of "Honest Abe"? Tell about the Black Hawk War.
What did Lincoln do in that war.
After he returned from the Black Hawk War, what did Lincoln do? Tell
how he used to read law. What did people think of him after he began
to practise law? Tell about the Armstrong murder trial. Tell about
Lincoln and the pig. To what did the people of Illinois elect Lincoln?
Did they ever elect him to the state legislature again? Then where
did they send him? Was he going any higher?
Tell about the great meeting in one of the towns of Illinois in 1860.
Can any one in the class repeat what was on the banner? What happened
at Chicago? What the next November? What happened in the spring of
1861? Who fired the first gun in the war? What was done then?
Tell why so many people in the South wished to leave the Union? What
is said about negro slaves at the time of the Revolution? What
happened in the course of eighty years? What had the North and the
South come to be like? How did most of the people at the South feel
about slavery? How did most of the people at the North feel about
it? What did the people who held slaves at the South want to do? What
did most of the people at the North think about this? What is said
about Abraham Lincoln and his party? How did most of the people of
the slave states feel when Lincoln became President?
What is said about the North and the South in the war? How long did
the war last? What is said about it? What did President Lincoln do
for the slaves? After a time what general got the command of all the
armies of the North? Who became the chief defender of the South? Where
were the last battles fought? What did the South do at last? What
happened then? What did the success of the North do? What is said
about slavery? What could the North and the South do? What was the
saddest thing which happened at the close of the war? How did the
North and the South feel about President Lincoln?
SINCE THE WAR.
263. How the North and the South have grown since the war; the great
West.--Since the war the united North and South have grown and
prospered[1] as never before. At the South many new and flourishing
towns and cities have sprung up. Mines of coal and iron have been
opened, hundreds of cotton-mills and factories have been built, and
long lines of railroads have been constructed.
At the West changes equally great have taken place. Cities have risen
up in the wilderness, mines of silver and gold have been opened, and
immense farms and cattle ranches[2] produce food enough to feed all
America. Three great lines of railroads have been built which connect
with railroads at the East, and stretch across the continent from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. Into that vast country beyond the
Mississippi hundreds of thousands of industrious people are moving
from all parts of the earth, and are building homes for themselves
and for their children.
[Illustration: THE MEETING OF THE ENGINES FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST
AFTER THE LAST SPIKE WAS DRIVEN[3] ON THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST
RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC IN 1869.]
[Illustration: PILING SILVER BRICKS. (From the silver mines in
Colorado.)]
[Illustration: HOW THEY USED TO SHOOT BUFFALO IN THE FAR WEST.]
[Illustration: INDIANS ATTACKING A STAGE-COACH IN THE FAR WEST FORTY
YEARS AGO; BEFORE THE FIRST PACIFIC RAILROAD WAS BUILT.]
[Footnote 1: Prospered: to prosper is to succeed, to get on in life,
to grow rich.]
[Footnote 2: Ranches (ran'chez): farms at the West for raising horses
and cattle, or sheep.]
[Footnote 3: The last spikes (one of gold from California, one of
silver from Nevada, and one made of gold, silver, and iron from
Arizona) were driven just as the clock struck twelve (noon) on May
10th, 1869, at Promontory Point, near Salt Lake, Utah. Every blow
of the hammer was telegraphed throughout the United States.]
264. Celebration of the discovery of America by Columbus; the
unfinished pyramid; making history.--Four hundred years have gone
by since the first civilized man crossed the ocean and found this
new world which we call America. We are now about to celebrate that
discovery made by Columbus, not only in the schools throughout the
country, but by a great fair--called the "World's Columbian
Exposition"--to be held at Chicago; and we shall invite all who will
to come from all parts of the globe and join us in the celebration.
[Illustration: FIRST GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES.]
[Illustration: SECOND GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES.]
On one of the two great seals[4] of the United States a pyramid is
represented partly finished. That pyramid stands for our country.
It shows how much has been done and how much still remains to be done.
The men whose lives we have read in this little book were all builders.
Little by little they added stone to stone, and so the good work grew.
Now they have gone, and it is for us to do our part and make sure
that the pyramid, as it rises, shall continue to stand square, and
strong, and true.
[Footnote 4: Seals: the first great seal, having the eagle and the
Latin motto "_E Pluribus Unum_," meaning "_Many in One_,"--or one
nation made up of many states,--was adopted June 20, 1782. The spread
eagle signifies strength; the thirteen stars above his head, and the
thirteen stripes on the shield on his breast, represent the thirteen
original states; the olive branch, held in the eagle's right talon,
shows that America seeks peace, while the bundle of arrows in his
left talon shows that we are prepared for war. This seal is used in
stamping agreements or treaties made by the United States with other
nations, and also for other important papers.
The second great seal, adopted at the same time, was never used. It
was intended for stamping the wax on a ribbon attached to a treaty
or other important paper, thus making a hanging seal. The Latin motto
"_Annuit Coeptis_," above the all-seeing eye looking down with favor
on the unfinished pyramid, means "_God has favored the Work_." The
date MDCCLXXVI, or 1776, marks the Declaration of Independence. The
Latin motto at the bottom, "_Novus Ordo Seclorum_," means "_A New
Order of Ages_"--or a new order of things, such as we have in this
New World of America.]
What is said about the North and the South since the war? Tell about
the growth of the South. What is said about the West? What about
railroads? What about people going west?
How long is it since Columbus discovered America? What is said about
the celebration of that discovery? What is said about one of the great
seals of the United States? What does the unfinished pyramid stand
for? What does it show us? What is said of the men whose lives we
have read in this book? Is anything left for us to do?
A SHORT LIST OF BOOKS OF REFERENCE
(_For the Use of Teachers._)
This brief list is arranged alphabetically. It consists, with a few
exceptions, of small, one-volume biographies; all of which are
believed to be of acknowledged merit.
A much fuller reference list will be found in the appendix to the
author's larger work, entitled _The Leading Facts of American
History_.
Balboa: Irving's Companions of Columbus, and Winsor's America, Vol.
II.
Baltimore, Lord: William H. Browne's Lords Baltimore;[3] G. W.
Burnap's Baltimore.[1]
Boone, Daniel: C. B. Hartley's Boone (including Boone's
autobiography); J. M. Peck's Boone;[1] and see the excellent sketch
of Boone's life in Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, Vol.
I.
Cabot (John and Sebastian): J. F. Nicholls's Cabot; C. Hayward's
Cabot.[1]
Clark, George Rogers: see Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the
West, Vol. II.
Columbus: Irving's Columbus, abridged edition; Charles K. Adams's
Columbus;[3] Edward Everett Hale's Columbus.
De Leon: Irving's Companions of Columbus, and Winsor's America, Vol.
II.
De Soto: see Winsor's America, Vol. II.
Franklin, Benjamin: D. H. Montgomery's Franklin (autobiography and
continuation of life);[2] John T. Morse's Franklin.[7]
Fulton, Robert: J. Renwick's Fulton;[1] R. H. Thurston's Fulton;[3]
Thos. W. Knox's Fulton.[4]
Gray, Robert: see H. H. Bancroft's Pacific States, Vol. XXII.
Harrison, William Henry: H. Montgomery's Harrison; S. J. Burr's
Harrison.
Houston, Sam: Henry Bruce's Houston;[3] C. E. Lester's Houston.
Hudson, Henry: H. R. Cleveland's Hudson.[1]
Jackson, Andrew: James Parton's Jackson; W. G. Sumner's Jackson.[7]
Jefferson, Thomas: James Schouler's Jefferson;[3] John T. Morse,
Jr.'s Jefferson.[7]
Lincoln, Abraham: Carl Schurz's Lincoln; Isaac N. Arnold's Lincoln;
Noah Brooks's Lincoln;[4] J. G. Holland's Lincoln; F. B. Carpenter's
Six Months at the White House with Lincoln.
Morse, Samuel F. B.: S. I. Prime's Morse; Denslow and Parke's Morse
(Cassell).
Oglethorpe, James Edward: Bruce's Oglethorpe;[3] W. B. O. Peabody's
Oglethorpe.[1]
Penn, William: G. E. Ellis's Penn;[1] W. H. Dixon's Penn; J.
Stoughton's Penn.
Philip, King: H. M. Dexter's edition of Church's King Philip's War
(2 vols.); Richard Markham's King Philip's War.
NOTE.--The story of Colonel Goffe's appearance at Hadley during the
Indian attack on that town rests on tradition. Some authorities
reject it; but Bryant and Gay say (History of the United States, II.,
410): "There is no reason for doubting its essential truth."
Putnam, Rufus: see H. B. Carrington's Battles of the Revolution,
Rufus King's History of Ohio, and Bancroft's United States.
Raleigh, Walter: L. Creighton's Raleigh; E. Gosse's Raleigh; W. M.
Towle's Raleigh.[8]
Robertson, James: see Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West,
Vol. I.
Sevier John: see Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, Vol.
I.
Smith, John: G. S. Hillard's Captain John Smith;[1] C. D. Warner's
Smith.[6]
NOTE.--The truth of the story of Pocahontas has been denied by Mr.
Charles Deane and some other recent writers; but it appears never
to have been questioned until Mr. Deane attacked it in 1866 in his
notes to his reprint of Captain John Smith's _True Relation or Newes
from Virginia_. Professor Edward Arber discusses the question in his
Introduction (pp. cxv.-cxviii.) to his excellent edition of Smith's
writings. He says, "To deny the truth of this Pocahontas incident
is to create more difficulties than are involved in its acceptance."
See, too, his sketch of the life of Captain Smith in the
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_.
Standish, Myles: see J. A. Goodwin's Pilgrim Republic, and Alexander
Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims.
Sutter, John A.: see H. H. Bancroft's Pacific States, Vol. XVIII.
Washington, George: John Fiske's Irving's Washington and his
Country;[2] E. E. Hale's Washington;[4] Horace E. Scudder's
Washington.[5]
Whitney, Eli: Denison Olmsted's Whitney.
Williams, Roger: W. R. Gammell's Williams;[1] H. M. Dexter's
Williams.
Winthrop, John: Joseph H. Twichell's Winthrop.[3]
[Footnote 1: In Sparks's _Library of American Biography_: Little,
Brown & Co., Boston.]
[Footnote 2: In _Classics for Children Series_: Ginn & Co., Boston.]
[Footnote 3: In _Makers of America Series_: Dodd, Mead & Co., New
York.]
[Footnote 4: In _Boys' and Girls' Library of American Biography_:
G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.]
[Footnote 5: In the _Riverside Library for Young People_: Houghton,
Mifflin & Co., Boston.]
[Footnote 6: In _Lives of American Worthies_: Henry Holt & Co., New
York.]
[Footnote 7: In _The American Statesmen Series_: Houghton, Mifflin
& Co., Boston.]
[Footnote 8: In _The Heroes of History Series_: Lee & Shepard,
Boston.]
INDEX.
(_With pronunciation of difficult words._)
The numbers refer to paragraphs.
Admiral (Ad'mi-ral) (note), 7.
Alamance (Al'a-mance), battle of, 156.
Alamo (Al'a-mo), battle of, 230.
Alaska purchased, 240.
America, Northmen discover (note), 21.
Columbus discovers, 12.
Cabot's voyage to, 21.
name of, given, 26.
Spaniards settle in, 30.
English settle in, 33, 37.
independence of, declared, 137.
See United States.
Americans, name of, 133.
Amerigo (A-ma-ree'go), see Vespucci, 26.
Apprentice (note), 111.
Armstrong, Jack, 251, 255.
murder trial, 255.
Arnold, Benedict, 141.
Atlantic called the "Sea of Darkness," 8.
crossed by the Northmen (note), 21.
crossed by Columbus, 8.
Augustine, St. (Aw'gus-teen'), founded, 30.
Bacon's war in Virginia, 49.
Balboa (Bal-bo'ah) discovers the Pacific, 28.
Baltimore founded, 80.
in the Revolution, 80.
Baltimore, Lord, in Newfoundland, 76.
Maryland granted to, 77.
power of, 77.
son of, settles Maryland, 78.
grants religious liberty in Maryland, 79.
is persecuted, 80.
summary of, 81.
Battle, playing at, 210.
Battle of Alamance (Al'a-mance), 156.
Alamo (Al'a-mo), 230.
Bunker Hill, 134.
Camden, 212.
Concord, 134.
Cowpens, 140, 210.
Fort Moultrie, 140.
Lexington, 134.
Long Island, 137.
New Orleans, 217.
Princeton, 139.
Saratoga, 139.
Tippecanoe, 203.
Trenton, 138.
Vincennes (Vin-senz'), 167.
Yorktown, 142.
Battles of the Civil War, 260.
with Indians, see Indians and War.
Bees, the, and the "Red-Coats," 208.
Berkeley, governor of Virginia, 49.
Black Hawk War, 253.
"Blazing" trees, 105.
Boone, Daniel, birth and boyhood of, 146.
how he could handle a gun, 147.
his bear tree, 147.
goes to Kentucky, 148.
makes the "Wilderness Road," 150.
builds a fort, 150.
his daughter stolen by Indians, 151.
he is captured and adopted by Indians, 152.
his escape, 153.
how he used tobacco dust, 153.
his old age, 154.
goes to Missouri, 154.
Kentucky helps him, 154.
grave of, 154.
summary of, 155.
Boston founded, 73.
name of, 73.
"Tea Party," 132.
port of, closed, 133.
British driven from, 136, 169.
Bowie (Bow'e), Colonel, 230.
Braddock's defeat, 130.
Bradford, William, caught in trap, 65.
Bradford, Governor, 65.
and Canonicus, 70.
Brewster, Elder, 67.
British, the name, 133.
Brookfield burnt by Indians, 90.
"Brother Jonathan," 241.
origin of name (note), 241.
Brush (note), 245.
Cabot (Cab'ot), John and Sebastian, 21.
discover continent of America, 21.
take possession of, for England, 22.
return to Bristol, 23.
what they carried back, 24.
second voyage of, 25.
how much of America they discovered, 25.
summary of, 27.
California, Captain Sutter in, 236.
gold discovered in, 237.
effects of discovery of gold, 239.
acquisition of, 239.
emigration to, 239.
Camden, battle of, 212.
Canal, Erie, opened, 220.
Candidate (note), 258.
Canonchet (Ka-non'chet) braves death, 93.
Canonicus (Ka-non'i-kus) sends challenge to Bradford, 70.
and Roger Williams, 84, 85.
Cape Cod, arrival of Pilgrims at, 64.
explored by Pilgrims, 65.
Capitol, the, burned, 204.
rebuilt, 204.
Carolina, North, Governor Tryon in, 156.
battle of Alamance in, 156.
the Revolution in, 207.
South, see Charleston.
Carver chosen governor, 64.
his kindness to the sick, 67.
makes treaty with Massasoit, 69.
Catholics cruelly treated in England, 76.
colony of, in Newfoundland, 76.
colony of, in Maryland, 77.
give equal religious rights to Protestants, 78, 79.
persecuted in Maryland, 80.
first English Church of, in America, 78.
Charles II. and Penn, 96, 98.
Charleston helps Georgia, 104.
in the Revolution, 140.
secedes, 259.
begins the Civil War, 259.
Chicago, Columbian Exposition at, 264.
Church, Captain Benjamin, 93.
Church, the first English Protestant, in America, 39.
first English Catholic, in America, 78.
Civil War, the, 259, 260.
causes of the, 259.
battles of the, 260.
Grant and Lee in the, 260.
Lincoln in the, 260.
result of the, 261.
Clark, George Rogers, birth of (note), 162.
expedition against Fort Kaskaskia, 162.
march against, 163.
takes the fort, 163.
is helped by a Catholic priest, 164.
gets Fort Vincennes, 164.
loses the fort, 164.
Vigo offers help to, 164.
marches against Fort Vincennes, 165.
in the "Drowned Lands," 165.
wading to victory, 166.
takes Fort Vincennes, 167.
results of the victory, 167.
grave of, 167.
summary of, 168.
Clearing (note), 250.
Coloma (Ko-lo'ma), gold discovered at, 237.
Colonel (kur'nel) (note), 91.
Colonies, the thirteen (note), 102.
Colony (note), 73.
Columbian Exposition, the, 264.
Columbus, birth and boyhood of, 1.
becomes a sailor, 2.
has a sea-fight, 3.
goes to Lisbon, 3.
his maps of the world, 4.
plan for reaching Indies, 5.
goes to Spain for help, 7.
his reception at the convent, 6.
leaves his son at the convent, 7.
gets help for his voyage, 7.
sails from Palos, 8.
voyage of, 9-11.
discovers land, 12.
names it, 13.
discovers large islands, 15.
returns to Spain, 16.
his reception in Spain, 16.
last voyages of, 17.
his sorrowful old age, 18.
sent back to Spain in chains, 18.
his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, 18.
death and burial, 19.
summary of, 20.
celebration of his discovery of America, 264.
Compass, Smith's use of the, 41.
Roger Williams', 84.
Washington's use of, 129.
Concord, battle of, 134.
Congress, meeting of the first, 100, 133.
makes Washington commander-in-chief, 135.
declares independence, 100, 137.
meaning of word (note), 133, 225.
votes money for first telegraph lines, 226.
Convent of St. Mary at Palos, 6.
Convent (note), 6.
Cornwallis, Lord, in the Revolution, 137-142.
his pursuit of Washington, 137.
and Arnold, 141.
surrender of, 142.
Cotton, how it grows, 179.
seeds of, 179.
price of, 181.
effect of cotton-gin on, 181.
export of, 183.
size of bales (note), 183.
Cotton-gin, invention of, 180.
effect of the, 181.
Cowpens, battle of, 140, 210.
Crockett, David, motto of, 230.
Declaration of Independence made, 100, 137.
written by Jefferson, 186.
Franklin has part in, 121.
sent throughout the country, 186.
De Leon, pronunciation of name (note), 28.
discovers Florida, 28.
De Soto, pronunciation of name (note), 28.
discovers the Mississippi, 29.
Detroit, Fort, 161.
Discovery, right of (note), 234.
"Drowned Lands," the, 165.
Earthquake, great, of 1811, 198.
Ebenezer (Eb-e-ne'zer), settlement of, 105.
name of, 105.
Electricity, Franklin's experiments in, 118, 119.
Eliot, Rev. John, 89.
Elizabeth, Queen, names Virginia, 33.
Ellsworth, Miss Annie, 226, 227.
Elm, the treaty, at Philadelphia, 99.
the Washington, at Cambridge, 135.
Emigrants (note), 33.
Experiments (note), 118.
Explorer (note), 2.
Fable of the Frog (note), 247.
Fairfax estate, 126.
Lord, and Washington, 126.
his land, 127.
hires Washington to survey, 127.
death of, 143.
Father Gibault (Zhe-bo'), 164.
White, 78, 80.
Ferdinand and Isabella, 6, 7, 16.
Flag, first American, 135.
the British (note), 142.
torn down at New York, 144.
U.S., origin of (note), 142.
carried round the world, 233.
"Star Spangled Banner" (note), 181.
of Texas, 230.
Jasper saves the, 140.
Flint and steel, 84.
Florida, discovery of, 28.
name of (note), 28.
settlement of, 30.
Indian war in, 218.
purchase of, 30, 218.
Fort, Boone's, 150.
Detroit, 161.
Indian, 93.
Jamestown, 38.
Kaskaskia, 161-163.
Manhattan, 59.
McHenry (note), 181.
Moultrie, 140.
Necessity, 130.
Plymouth, 70.
St. Augustine, 30.
Sutter's, 236.
Vincennes, 161, 164-167.
Fortifications on Dorchester Heights, 169.
at New Orleans, 217.
Forts, British, at the West, 161.
French, at the West, 128.
Founds (note), 73.
Fountain, the magic, 28.
Franklin, Benjamin, boyhood of, 111.
works for his father, 111.
is apprenticed to his brother, 111.
boards himself, 111.
is badly treated, 111.
runs away, 112.
his walk across New Jersey, 112.
lands in Philadelphia, 113.
buys some rolls, 113.
sees Miss Read, 113.
goes to a Quaker meeting, 113.
gets work in a printing-office, 114.
goes to Boston on a visit, 114.
learns to stoop, 114.
returns to Philadelphia, 115.
goes to London, 115.
called the "Water American," 115.
returns to Philadelphia, 116.
sets up a newspaper, 110, 116.
his "sawdust pudding," 116.
his almanac, 110.
his sayings, 110.
his plan of life, 117.
what he did for Philadelphia, 109, 117.
experiments with electricity, 118, 119.
his electrical picture, 118.
his electrical kite, 119.
his discoveries in electricity, 119.
invents the lightning-rod, 120.
receives title of Doctor, 120.
services in the Revolution, 121.
thinks we must fight with bows and arrows, 136.
gets help for us from France, 121.
his funeral, 121.
counties named for him, 121.
summary of, 122.
Friends (or Quakers), religion of, 97.
persecuted in England, 97.
go to Pennsylvania, 98.
friendly relations with the Indians, 99.
See William Penn.
Fulton, Robert, birth and boyhood of, 193.
his paddle-wheel scow, 193.
care of his mother, 193.
goes to England and France, 194.
builds iron bridges, 194.
his diving-boat, 194.
torpedo experiments in France, 194.
torpedo experiments in England, 195.
England's offer of money, 195.
his reply, 195.
builds his first steamboat, 196.
returns to America, 197.
builds steamboat here, 197.
trip up the Hudson, 197.
builds steamboat for the West, 198.
what he did for Western emigration, 199.
his grave, 199.
summary of, 200.
Gadsden Purchase, the, 240.
Gage, General, in Boston, 133, 134.
his nose, 136.
leaves Boston, 136.
Genoa (Jen'o-ah) (note), 1.
George II. and Georgia, 102.
George III., resolves to tax Americans, 131.
sends over taxed tea, 132.
closes port of Boston, 133.
hires German soldiers, 134.
his statue pulled down, 137.
his character, 161.
Georgia, name of, 102.
settlement of, 102.
Savannah, 104.
Ebenezer, 105.
silk raised in, 106.
keeps out Spaniards, 107.
in the Revolution, 107.
summary of, 108.
Gibault (Zhe-bo'), Father, 164.
Gin, the cotton, 180, 181.
name of (note), 180.
Goffe, Colonel, at Hadley, 91, and note in A Short List of Books.
Gold, discovered in California, 237.
tested by Sutter, 238.
carried to San Francisco, 239.
excitement over, 239.
effect of discovery of, 239.
Grant, General, 260.
Gray, Captain, voyage to the Pacific, 233.
carries American flag around the world, 233.
names the Columbia River, 234.
helps us to get Oregon, 234.
summary of, 235.
Greene, General (Revolution), 140, 178, 212.
Greene, Mrs. General, 178, 179.
Hadley, Indian attack on, 91.
Goffe at, 91, and note in A Short List of Books.
Hamilton, Colonel, 161, 164.
Hanks, John, and Lincoln, 250, 257, 258.
Harrison, General, birthplace of (note), 203.
governor of Indiana Territory, 203.
marches against the Indians, 203.
gains victory of Tippecanoe, 203.
beats the British, 204.
elected President, 204.
death of, 204.
summary of, 205.
Henry, Patrick, speech of, 185.
sends Clark to take British forts, 162.
Henry VII., sends Cabot on voyage of discovery, 21.
claims part of North America, 22.
Holland, gives Pilgrims a refuge, 62.
takes possession of the country on the Hudson, 59.
Houston (Hew'ston), Sam, birthplace of (note), 229.
in war with Indians, 229.
governor of Tennessee, 229.
goes to live with the Indians, 229.
goes to Texas, 230.
fights for Texas, 230.
is made president of Texas, 230.
in the Civil War, 231.
death of, 231.
summary of, 232.
Howe, General, driven from Boston, 136.
Hudson, Henry, first voyage of, 52.
hired by the Dutch, 53.
sails for America, 53.
discovers the "Great River," 54.
what he said about the country, 55.
voyage up the river, 56.
is feasted by the Indians, 56.
what the Indians thought of him, 56.
has fight with Indians, 57.
sails for Europe, 58.
Hudson River is named for him, 58.
death of, in Hudson Bay, 58.
what he would think of New York now, 60.
summary of, 61.
Hudson River described, 55, 56.
named, 58.
Dutch settle on the, 59.
Illinois, Clark's conquest of, 162, 163.
Independence, see Declaration of Independence.
Indians, Columbus names the, 14.
described, 13.
welcome the English, 32.
of Virginia, 40.
how they lived, 40.
and Captain Smith, 41, 42.
feast Henry Hudson, 56.
make treaty with Pilgrims, 69.
help the Pilgrims, 69.
challenge Pilgrims to fight, 70.
Standish's fight with the, 71.
help the settlers of Maryland, 78.
Roger Williams defends rights of, 83.
how they helped Williams, 84, 85.
great war with, in N. E., 90-94.
Penn defends rights of, to land, 98.
make treaty with Penn, 99.
friendly to the Quakers, 99.
war dance of, 127.
and Daniel Boone, 148-153.
their tricks and stratagems, 149.
capture Boone's daughter, 151.
capture Boone and adopt him, 152.
in the Revolution, 161, 167.
war in Ohio, 172, 173.
what they called the steamboat, 198.
forced to move West, 201, 218.
story of the log, "move on," 201.
victory of Harrison over, 203.
victory of Jackson over, 216, 229.
Sam Houston goes to live with the, 229.
move west of the Mississippi, 218.
See Canonchet, Canonicus, Black Hawk, King Philip, Massasoit,
Pocahontas, Powhatan, Samoset, Squanto, Tecumseh, "The
Prophet," Wamsutta, Weathersford.
Indian treaty with Pilgrims, 69.
with Penn, 99.
Indian wars, King Philip's War, 90-94.
in Kentucky, 148.
at the West, in the Revolution, 161.
in Ohio, 172, 173.
in Illinois, 253.
in Indiana, 203.
in Alabama, 215, 216.
in Florida, 218.
Black Hawk War, 253.
Jackson, Andrew, birth and boyhood of, 206.
and the gun, 206.
and Tarleton, 207.
his mother, 207.
his hatred of the British, 208.
dangers exposed to, 209.
taken prisoner, 211.
and the boots, 211.
sees a battle through a knot-hole, 212.
death of his mother, 213.
what he said of her, 213.
begins to learn a trade, 214.
studies law, 214.
goes to Tennessee, 214.
becomes judge, 214.
becomes general, 214.
fights the Indians, 216.
interview with Weathersford, 216.
wins the great battle of New Orleans, 217.
conquers Indians in Florida, 218.
elected President, 218.
four steps in life of, 218.
summary of, 219.
James I., Jamestown named for, 38.
denies religious liberty to his subjects, 62, 73.
Jamestown settled, 38.
burned, 49.
Jasper, Sergeant, how he saved the flag, 140.
Jefferson, Thomas, birth of, 184.
home at Monticello, 184.
beloved by his slaves, 184.
desires to free, 184.
hears Patrick Henry speak, 185.
writes Declaration of Independence, 186.
elected President, 187.
what he said about New Orleans and Louisiana, 187.
buys Louisiana, 188.
his death, 189.
inscription on his tombstone, 189.
summary of, 190.
"Jonathan, Brother," 241.
origin of name (note), 241.
Jury trial, first in America, 39.
Jury (note), 39.
Kaskaskia (Kas-kas'ki-a) Fort, 161-163.
King Philip, son of Massasoit, 87.
becomes chief, 88.
how he dressed and lived, 88.
his hatred of the whites, 88.
determines to make war 89.
Indians attack Swansea, 90.
attack other towns, 90.
burn Brookfield, 90.
attack Hadley 91.
bravery shown by a woman 92.
the great swamp fight, 93.
Canonchet taken, 93.
Philip's wife and son taken, 94.
wife and son sold into slavery, 94.
Philip shot, 94.
destruction caused by the war, 94.
cost of the war, 94.
Indian power broken, 94.
summary of, 95.
Lafayette (Lah-fay-et'), helps us in the Revolution, 141.
pursues Cornwallis, 141.
at the tomb of Washington, 144.
Land acquired by the United States, see Territory and United States.
Lee, General, in the Civil War, 260.
Legislature (note), 257.
Lexington, battle of, 134.
Leyden (Li'den), Holland, 62.
Leyden jar, 118, 119.
Liberty, religious, in Maryland, 78-80.
religious, in Rhode Island, 85.
religious, none formerly in England, 62, 76, 97.
Liberty, Sons of, in the Revolution, 60.
Liberty, statue of, 60.
Lincoln, Abraham, birth and boyhood of, 244.
how he lived, 244, 245.
death of his mother, 246.
what he said of her, 246.
what his step-mother said of him, 246.
at school, 247.
teaches himself at home, 247.
what he read, 247.
how he used the fire-shovel, 247.
description of, at seventeen, 248.
his strength, 248.
goes to New Orleans, 249.
moves to Illinois, 250.
splits rails, 250.
hunting frolics, 250.
tends store at New Salem, 251.
is attacked by Jack Armstrong, 251.
his faithfulness in little things, 252.
called "Honest Abe," 243, 252.
in the Black Hawk War, 253.
becomes postmaster and surveyor, 254.
studies law, 254.
begins to practise law, 254.
respected by all men, 254.
in Armstrong murder trial, 255.
how he saved the pig, 256.
goes to the Legislature, 257.
goes to Congress, 243, 257.
chosen candidate for President, 258.
elected President, 258.
his election brings on the Civil War, 259.
emancipates the slaves, 260.
murdered by Booth, 261.
grief of the nation at his death, 261.
summary of, 262.
Louisiana, purchase of, 188.
original extent of, 188.
Major (note), 128.
Manhattan Island, 54, 59, 60.
Marietta, Ohio, settled, 170.
name of, 171.
what Washington said of, 171.
and the Indians, 172.
summary of, 174.
Marshall finds gold in California, 237.
his poverty, 239.
Maryland, name of, 77.
granted to Lord Baltimore, 77.
rent of, 77.
settlement of, 78.
first Catholic church in America in, 78.
home of religious liberty, 79.
trouble with Virginia, 80.
Catholics of, badly treated, 80.
Baltimore city founded, 80.
in the Revolution, 80.
summary of, 81.
Massachusetts, name of, 73.
settlement of, 73.
in the Revolution, 74.
Massasoit (Mas-sa-soit'), makes treaty with the Pilgrims, 69.
kindness of, to Roger Williams, 84.
King Philip, his son, 87.
_Mayflower_, voyage of the, 64, 66, 73.
Ohio boat so named, 170.
Messages (note), 220.
Mexico, war with, 239.
territory obtained from, 239.
Miami (Mi-am'i), Ohio, 172.
Mississippi, De Soto discovers the, 29.
belonged to France, 187.
we get possession of the, 188.
first steamboat on the, 198, 199.
Moccasins (note), 136.
Model (note), 224.
Monticello, described, 184.
Morgan's sharpshooters, 140.
Morse, Samuel F. B., birth and boyhood of, 220.
becomes a painter, 221.
goes to France, 221.
thinks of using electricity to send messages, 221.
returns to America, 222.
invents electric telegraph, 222.
his poverty, 223.
takes the first photograph in America, 223.
gets assistance from Mr. Vail, 224.
obtains patent for the telegraph, 224.
receives help from Congress, 225, 226.
and Miss Annie Ellsworth, 226, 227.
builds line of telegraph, 227.
the first message sent, 227.
how a message is sent (note), 227.
the first year of telegraphy, 227.
summary of, 228.
Moultrie, Colonel, 140.
Fort, 140.
Mount Vernon, Washington at, 126, 135, 144.
Nation (note), 217.
Negroes, see Slaves.
New Amsterdam, 59.
New England, name of, 46.
first settlements in, 66, 73, 74.
New Netherland, name of, 59.
seized by the English, 59.
New Orleans, owned by the French, 187.
purchase of, 188.
battle of, 217.
cotton exported from, 183.
New Salem, Illinois, 251.
Newspaper, Franklin's, 110, 116.
New York, name of, 59.
New York City, name, 59.
in the Revolution, 60, 137, 144.
North and South in the Civil War, 259, 260.
Northmen discover America (note), 21.
Oglethorpe (O'gel-thorp), General, who he was, 102.
and prisoners for debt, 103.
gets grant of Georgia, 102, 103.
object of settling Georgia, 103.
builds Savannah, 104.
welcomes German settlers, 105.
attempts to produce silk, 106.
sends silk as present to the queen of England, 106.
keeps out the Spaniards, 107.
in his old age, 107.
summary of, 108.
Ohio, first settlement in, 170.
Indian wars in, 172, 173.
Ohio River, first steamboat on, 198.
Oregon, how we got our claim to, 234.
added to the United States, 234, 240.
Pacific, Balboa discovers the, 28.
Pacific Railroad completed (note), 263.
Pacific railroads, the three, 263.
Palisade, 70.
Palisades of the Hudson (note), 56.
Palmetto logs (note), 140.
Palos, convent at, 6.
Columbus sails from, 8.
reception at, 16.
Parker, Captain, at Lexington, 134.
Patent (note), 224.
Penn, William, receives grant of Pennsylvania, 96.
belongs to the Society of Friends or Quakers, 97.
his religion, 97.
sends emigrants to Pennsylvania, 98.
his conversation with Charles II., 98.
founds Philadelphia, 99.
his treaty with the Indians, 99.
visits the Indians, 99.
his treaty elm protected by a British officer, 99.
said the people should make their own laws, 100.
goes back to England, 100.
the victim of a dishonest agent, 100.
goes to prison for debt, 100.
death of, 100.
love of the Indians for him, 100.
Indians send a present to his widow, 100.
grave of, 100.
summary of, 101.
Pennsylvania, named by Charles II., 96.
granted to William Penn, 96.
natural wealth of, 96.
in the Revolution, 100.
Philadelphia, founded, 99.
name of, 99.
prosperity of, 100, 109.
what Franklin did for, 117.
in the Revolution, 100.
first Continental Congress meets in, 100.
Declaration of Independence made in, 100.
Philip, King, see King Philip.
Photograph, first, in America, 223.
Pilgrims, the, in Holland, 62.
name of, 62.
persecuted in England, 62.
why they wished to leave Holland, 63.
sail for America, 64.
Captain Myles Standish goes with them, 64.
number of the, 64.
make a compact of government, 64.
elect John Carver first governor, 64.
land on the Cape, 65.
washing-day, 65.
explore the Cape, 65.
land on Plymouth Rock, 66.
settle in Plymouth, 66.
why they chose that place, 66.
name of, 66.
sickness and death, 67.
meet Indians, 68.
make treaty with Massasoit, 69.
their first Thanksgiving, 69.
Canonicus dares them to fight, 70.
Governor Bradford's reply, 70.
build a fort, 70.
build a palisade, 70.
fight the Indians at Weymouth, 71.
what Myles Standish did for the Pilgrims, 71, 72.
summary of, 75.
See Myles Standish.
Pioneers (note), 230.
Pittsburg, 162, 170, 198, and see map, 127.
Plantation (note), 123.
Planter (note), 48.
Plymouth, the Pilgrims settle, 66.
natural advantages of, 66.
name of, 66.
See Pilgrims.
Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims land on, 66.
Pocahontas (Po-ka-hon'tas), saves Smith's life, 42, and note in A
Short List of Books.
marries Rolfe, 42.
her descendants, 42.
Ponce de Leon, see De Leon.
Potato, the, sent to England, 33.
Raleigh plants it in Ireland, 33.
Powder, lack of, in Revolution, 136.
sent from Savannah to Bunker Hill, 107.
Powhatan (Pow-ha-tan') and Captain John Smith, 42.
Prison-ships, British, 213.
"Prophet," the, and Tecumseh, 202, 204.
at the battle of Tippecanoe, 203.
his sacred beans, 203.
Indians say he is a liar, 203.
Tecumseh takes him by the hair, 204.
Prophet (note), 202.
Providence, name of, 85.
settled, 85.
religious liberty in, 85.
Puritans (note), 62.
settle Boston, 73.
Putnam, General Rufus, services in the Revolution, 169.
builds fortifications at Dorchester Heights, 169.
builds the _Mayflower_, 170.
settles Marietta, Ohio, 170.
summary of, 174.
Quakers, see Friends.
Railroad, the first, in America, 218, and note, 218.
growth of railroads, 218.
first Pacific (note), 263.
the three Pacific railroads, 263.
Raleigh (Raw'li), Sir Walter, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, 32.
sends exploring expedition to America, 32.
receives title of honor, 33.
sends settlers to Virginia, 33.
receives tobacco and potato plants from Virginia, 33.
plants them in Ireland, 33.
spends a great deal of money on his Virginia colony, 34.
fails to establish a settlement, 34.
last days of, 35.
is beheaded, 35.
power of his example, 35.
summary of, 36.
Ranches (note), 263.
Rebels (note), 210.
Red-coats (note), 208.
Religious liberty, none in England, 62.
in Maryland, 79.
in Rhode Island, 85.
Religious persecution in England, 62, 76, 97.
of Catholics, 76, 80.
of Pilgrims, 62.
of Puritans, 73.
of Quakers, 97.
Revere's (Re-veer'), Paul, ride, 134.
Revolution, the, cause of, 131.
first blood shed in, 134.
progress of, 132-143.
Declaration of Independence, 137.
battles of, see Battles.
end of, 144, 145.
See Washington.
Revolution, the, in Delaware, 100.
Georgia, 107.
Maryland, 80.
Massachusetts, 74, 134-136, 169.
New England, 74.
New Jersey, 100, 138, 139.
New York, 60, 137, 139, 144.
North Carolina, 107, 140, 156, 207-213.
Pennsylvania, 100, 139.
Rhode Island, 85.
South Carolina, 107, 140, 207-213.
Virginia, 50, 141, 142, 185, 186.
in the West, 161-167.
Rhode Island settled, 85.
religious liberty in, 85.
in the Revolution, 85.
Robertson, James, birthplace of (note), 156.
his home in North Carolina, 156.
emigrates to Watauga, Tennessee, 158.
and Sevier, 159.
what he did for the new settlement, 159.
Washington makes him general, 159.
summary of, 160.
Sacramento, Sutter's Fort at, 236.
Sacred (note), 203.
Salem, Roger Williams' church at, 82.
Samoset (Sam'o-set) and the Pilgrims, 68.
San Salvador (Sal'va-dor), Columbus names, 13.
Saratoga, battle of, 139.
Savannah settled, 104.
in the Revolution, 107.
Seal, great, of United States, 264 and note.
Seekonk, Roger Williams at, 85.
Senate Chamber (note), 225.
Sergeant (Sar'jent) (note), 140.
Sevier (Se-veer'), John, born in Virginia (note), 156.
emigrates to Watauga, Tennessee, 159.
and Robertson, 159.
what he did for Watauga, 159.
becomes first governor of Tennessee, 159.
summary of, 160.
Sharpshooters in the Revolution, 136, 140.
Silk, attempt to produce, in Georgia, 106.
sent to England, 106.
the Queen has a dress made of it, 106.
Silkworm (note), 106.
Slaves, negro, first brought to Virginia, 48.
employed in raising tobacco, 48.
planters grow rich by, 48.
all the colonies buy, 48, 259.
Washington's, 135.
Jefferson beloved by his, 184.
Jefferson's feeling in regard to, 184.
how employed on cotton, 179.
and the cotton-gin, 180.
gradually freed at the North, 259.
their condition unchanged at the South, 259.
feeling at the South about, 259.
feeling at the North about, 259.
question of holding, divides the states, 259.
Lincoln in regard to increasing number of, 259, 260.
and the Civil War, 259, 260.
freed by President Lincoln, 260.
effect of emancipation of, on the Union, 261.
Smith, John, early life and adventures of, 37.
sold as a slave, 37.
starts for Virginia, 37.
arrested on the voyage on a false charge, 38.
is tried and acquitted, 39.
court grants him damages, 39.
what he hoped to do in Virginia, 38.
what he did for the sick, 39.
prevents desertion, 39.
goes in search of the Pacific, 41.
is captured by Indians, 41.
how he used his pocket compass, 41.
brought before Powhatan, 41.
Pocahontas saves his life, 42, and note in A Short List of Books.
made governor of Jamestown, 43.
his opinion of the gold-diggers, 43.
compels Indians to let settlers have corn, 43.
makes all the settlers work, 44.
his cold-water cure for swearing, 45.
meets with a terrible accident, 46.
goes back to England, 46.
returns and explores country north of Virginia, 46.
names it New England, 46.
death and burial of, 46.
what he did for Virginia, 47.
his books and maps, 47.
is called the "Father of Virginia," 47.
writes Captain Henry Hudson, 53.
summary of, 51.
South, the, in the Civil War, 260.
great progress of, since the war, 263.
Spaniards settle Florida, 30.
are kept out of Georgia, 107.
Squanto (Skwon'to), how he helped the Pilgrims, 68, 69.
Squaws (note), 152.
Standish, Myles, an English soldier in Holland, 64.
goes to America with the Pilgrims, 64.
explores Cape Cod, 65.
lands at Plymouth Rock, 66.
was nurse as well as soldier, 67.
goes to meet Massasoit, 69.
feared by the Indians, 70.
escorts the Pilgrims to church, 70.
has a fight with the Indians, 71.
saves Plymouth from attack by Indians, 71.
what else he did for the Pilgrims, 72.
what he left at his death, 72.
his monument, 72.
summary of, 75.
Steamboat, Fulton's, on the Hudson, 197.
first at the West, 198, 199.
effect of, on emigration, 199.
St. Mary's, settlement at, 78.
Survey (note), 127.
Sutter (Soo'ter), John A., his fort in California, 236.
founds Sacramento, 236.
lives like a king, 236.
begins to build saw-mill at Colona, 237.
Marshall brings him gold-dust to test, 238.
is convinced that gold has been found, 238.
how he felt at the discovery, 238.
loses his property, 239.
is pensioned by California, 239.
summary of, 242.
Swansea (Swon'ze) attacked by Indians, 90.
Swordfish (note), 194.
Tarleton (Tarl'ton), cruelty of, 207.
called "Butcher Tarleton," 208.
his soldiers and the bees, 208.
is beaten at Cowpens, 210.
what he hears from the children, 210.
Taxation of America by George III., 131.
chief cause of the Revolution, 131.
Tea, taxed, sent to America, 132.
destruction of, 132.
"Boston Tea Party," 132.
Tecumseh (Te-kum'seh) excites the Indians to war, 202, 215.
takes the "Prophet" by the hair, 204.
fights for the British in Canada, 204.
is killed, 204.
Telegraph, meaning of the word (note), 222.
what it is, 222.
electric, invented by Morse, 222.
Vail's work on, 224.
patented by Morse, 224.
Congress grants money to build line, 225, 226.
first message over, 227.
business of, in 1845, 227.
business of, to-day, 227.
how messages are sent by (note), 227.
Atlantic, 227.
See Samuel F. B. Morse.
Telephone, meaning of the word (note), 227.
what it is, 227.
when invented (note), 227.
use of, to-day, 228.
Tennessee, first settlement of, 158, 159.
See James Robertson and John Sevier.
Terrier (note), 204.
Territory added to the United States since the Revolution, 240; and
see United States.
Tests (note), 238.
Texas, forms part of Mexico, 230.
we try to buy it, 230.
Houston goes to, 230.
massacre of Americans at Fort Alamo, 230.
war of independence, 230.
flag of, 230.
annexed, 230.
dispute with Mexico about boundary, 239.
Mexican war and, 239.
and the Civil War, 231.
summary of, 232.
Tippecanoe, battle of, 203.
Tobacco sent from Virginia to Sir Walter Raleigh, 33.
he plants it in Ireland, 33.
value of, to Virginia, 48.
Torpedo (note), 194.
Fulton's experiments with torpedoes, 194, 195.
Tow cloth (note), 250.
Travis (Tra'vis), Colonel, in Texas, 230.
Treaty, Indian, with Pilgrims, 69.
with William Penn, 99.
(note), 99.
Tryon, Governor, in North Carolina, 156.
oppression by, 156.
called the "Great Wolf of North Carolina," 156.
at battle of Alamance, 156.
Union (note), 259.
the South resolves to withdraw from the, 259.
strengthened by result of the Civil War, 261.
United States, independence of, declared, 186.
War of the Revolution, see Revolution.
more perfect Union formed (note), 259.
extent of, at the close of the Revolution, 187.
acquires Louisiana (1803), 188.
acquires Florida (1819), 218.
acquires Texas (1845), 230.
acquires Oregon (1846), 234.
acquires California and New Mexico (1848), 239.
acquires Gadsden Purchase (1853), 240.
acquires Alaska (1867), 240.
extent of, to-day, 240.
War of 1812, 204, 217.
War of, with Mexico, 239.
the Civil War, 259.
growth since the War, 263, 264.
and "World's Columbian Exposition," 264.
great seal of, 264.
what we can do for, 264.
Vail, Alfred, and Morse's telegraph, 224.
Venison (note), 32.
Vespucci, Amerigo (A-ma-ree'go Ves-poot'chee), 26.
and name America, 26.
Vigo (Vee'go) helps Clark, 164.
Vincennes (Vin-senz'), Fort, 161, 164-167.
Virginia, Raleigh's expedition to, 32.
named by Elizabeth, 33.
first settlement in, 33.
first English child in America born in, 34.
failure of first settlement, 34.
tobacco and potato sent from, 33.
permanently settled at Jamestown, 38.
first English church in, 39.
first jury trial in, 39.
Captain Smith made governor of, 43.
books about, 47.
slaves sent to, 48.
tobacco, cultivation of, 48.
prosperity of, 48.
Berkeley and Bacon's war in, 49.
Jamestown burned, 49.
growth of, 50.
makes ready to fight for its rights, 185.
first demands independence of America, 50.
in the Revolution, see Revolution.
owns extensive western possessions, 162.
George Washington and, 50.
the "Mother of Presidents," 50.
summary of, 51.
in the Civil War, 260.
Virginia Dare, birth of, 34.
Voted (note), 226.
Wamsutta, death of, 87.
War, Bacon's, in Virginia, 49.
King Philip's, in New England, 89-94.
of the Revolution, see Revolution.
with the British in the West, 161-167.
with Indians in the West, 161.
with Indians in Ohio, 173.
with Indians in Indiana, 203.
with Indians in Illinois, 253.
the Black Hawk, 253.
with Indians in Alabama, 215, 216.
with Indians in Florida, 218.
of 1812 (note), 181, 204, 217.
cause of, of 1812, 204.
of Texan independence, 230.
with Mexico, 239.
cause of Mexican, 239.
the Civil, 259, 260.
cause of the Civil, 259.
War-whoop (war-hoop) (note), 91.
Washington, George, birth and boyhood of, 123-125.
at school, 123.
playing at war, 124.
battle with the colt, 125.
what he owed to his mother, 123.
visits Mount Vernon, 126.
makes acquaintance of Lord Fairfax, 126.
surveys Lord Fairfax's land, 127.
life in the woods, 127.
sees an Indian war-dance, 127.
is made public surveyor, 127.
appearance of, at twenty-one, 128.
receives title of major, 128.
governor of Virginia sends him to order off the French, 128.
journey through the wilderness, 128, 129.
narrow escape of, 129.
receives title of colonel, 130.
goes with Braddock's expedition, 130.
tries to hold Fort Necessity, 130.
goes to Mount Vernon to live, 135.
his slaves, 135.
made commander-in-chief in the Revolution, 135.
takes command of army, 135.
raises first American flag, 135 and (note) 142.
drives British from Boston, 136, 169.
goes to New York, 137.
chased by Cornwallis, 137.
retreats across the Delaware, 137.
victory of Trenton, 138.
victory of Princeton, 139.
at Valley Forge, 139.
enters Philadelphia, 139.
marches against Yorktown, 142.
takes Yorktown, 142.
his coat-of-arms (note), 142.
goes back to Mount Vernon, 144.
elected President, 144.
takes oath of office, 144.
Lafayette visits his tomb, 144.
summary of, 145.
Washington, Lawrence, at Mount Vernon, 126.
death of, 135.
Colonel William, 210 and note.
Washington, the Capitol at, burned, 204.
rebuilt, 204.
Watauga (Wa-taw'ga), settlement of, 158.
Wayne, General, in Ohio, 173.
Weathersford and General Jackson, 216.
West, the, in the Revolution, 161.
conquest of, 161-167.
at treaty of peace with England, 167.
settlement of, 150, 157, 170.
acquisition of country west of the Mississippi, see United States.
effects of steamboat navigation on, 199, 200.
effects of railroads on, 218.
rapid growth of, 263.
See Boone, Clark, Robertson, Sevier, Jefferson, Houston, Gray,
Sutter.
Weymouth, Standish fights Indians at, 71.
What Cheer Rock, Providence, 85.
White, Father, in Maryland, 78, 80.
Whitney, Eli, birth and boyhood of, 175.
cuts his name on a door, 175.
makes a fiddle, 176.
makes nails, 177.
goes to Yale College, 177.
his skill with tools, 177.
goes to Georgia, 178.
stops with Mrs. General Greene, 178.
makes her an embroidery frame, 178.
has a talk about cotton and cotton-seeds, 179.
invents the cotton-gin, 180.
effect of his invention, 181, 183.
builds a gun-factory, 181.
makes muskets for War of 1812, 181.
summary of, 182.
Wilderness, the Great, 161.
"Wilderness Road," Boone makes the, 150.
Williams, Roger, comes to Boston, 82.
preaches in Salem and Plymouth, 82.
is very friendly to the Indians, 82.
declares that they own the land, 83.
Boston authorities attempt to arrest, 84.
escapes and goes to Massasoit, 84.
his journey through the wilderness, 84.
reception by Massasoit, 84.
builds a cabin at Seekonk, 85.
leaves Seekonk, 85.
greeted by the Indians, 85.
Canonicus lets him have land, 85.
settles Providence, 85.
grants religious liberty to all settlers, 85.
summary of, 86.
Winthrop, Governor John, settles Boston, 73.
Wool-comber (note), 1.
World, knowledge of, before Columbus discovered America, 4.
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institutions. It seems to be regarded by the best judges as, on the
whole, the best school history of the United States yet published.
It was written and not simply compiled. The author did not take it
for granted that a history of our country must be a perfunctory work
made up from previous histories and merely iterating an old set of
facts, ideas, and stories. The book is a panorama of the leading
events of our history, with their causes and results clearly traced.
Attention has been given to all the departments of American life and
activity. It describes the development of the American people. The
author's broad and liberal sympathies saved him from sectarian,
sectional, or partisan views. The style is full of life, and the words
can all be understood by the pupils for whom the book is designed.
P. V. N. Myers, _author of General History, etc._: I have read it
carefully, and with great interest. It is in every way admirable.
George A. Walton, _Agent Mass. State Board of Education_: It is as
interesting as romance. It is instructive, especially on matters
pertaining to the customs of the people, and to their methods of
advancing their welfare. With these excellences, it must prove also
a book that will teach.
_The Beginner's American History_.
By D. H. MONTGOMERY, author of _The Leading Facts of History Series_.
12mo. Cloth. 220 pages. Fully illustrated with new maps and pictures.
Mailing price, 70 cents; for introduction, 60 cents.
This book tells the story of the nation in thirty biographies of its
most representative men. It is entirely free from sectional or other
bias, and its beautiful make-up renders it doubly attractive to its
young students. (See _Common School Catalogue_.)
_The Leading Facts of English History_.
By D. H. MONTGOMERY. New edition. Rewritten and enlarged, with Maps
and Tables. 12mo. Cloth. 478 pages. Mailing Price, $1.25;
Introduction Price, $1.12.
The former edition has been rewritten, as it had become evident that
a work on the same plan, but more comprehensive, and better suited
to prevailing courses and methods of class-work, would be still more
heartily welcomed.
Important events are treated with greater fulness, and the relation
of English History to that of Europe and the world is carefully shown.
References for further study are added.
The text is in short paragraphs, each with a topical heading in bold
type for the student's use. The headings may be made to serve the
purpose of questions. By simply passing them over, the reader has
a clear, continuous narrative.
The treatment of each reign is closed with a brief summary of its
principal points. Likewise, at the end of each period there is a
section showing the condition of the country, and its progress in
Government, Religion, Military Affairs, Learning and Art, General
Industry, Manners and Customs. These summaries will be found of the
greatest value for reference, review, and fuller study; but when the
book is used for a brief course, or for general reading, they may
be omitted. An appendix gives a Constitutional Summary.
No pains have been spared to make the execution of the work equal
to its plan. Vivid touches here and there betray the author's mastery
of details. Thorough investigation has been made of all points where
there was reason to doubt traditional statements. The proof-sheets
have been carefully read by two experienced high-school teachers,
and also by two college professors of history.
The text is illustrated with fourteen maps, and supplemented
with full genealogical and chronological tables.
It is believed that this book will be acknowledged superior--
1. In _interest_.
2. In _accuracy_.
3. In judicious selection of _matter_.
4. In _conciseness_ combined with _adequacy_.
5. In _philosophical_ insight free from speculation or theorizing.
6. In _completeness_.
7. In _availability_ as a practical class-room book.
A FEW REPRESENTATIVE OPINIONS.
Hon. E. J. Phelps, _recently United States Minister to Great
Britain_: In my opinion, the author has done extremely well a
much-needed work, in presenting in so terse, clear, and available
form the principal points in that greatest of all histories, the
common property and most useful study of the English-speaking race.
Professor Goldwin Smith: The book, besides being very attractive in
appearance, seems to be very suitable for the purpose in view, viz.,
to present school pupils with a clear and intelligent idea of the
main facts of English history in connection with the social and
industrial development of the nation.
Elisha B. Andrews, _President of Brown University_: I do not remember
to have seen any book before which sets forth the leading facts of
English History so succinctly, and at the same time so interestingly
and clearly.
A. L. Perry, _Prof. of Political Economy, Williams College_: I have
never seen anything at all equal to it for the niche it was intended
to fill.
J. B. Clark, _Prof. of History, Smith College_: I especially like
its introduction of matter relating to the life of the people, in
a way that seems to make the narrative less dry, rather than more
so, as so often happens.
Jas. F. Colby, _Prof. of Law and Political Science, Dartmouth
College_: Its title is a true description of its contents. Its author
shows sense of proportion, and wisely gives prominence to economic
facts and the development of constitutional principles.
P. V. N. Myers, _Prof. in Univ. of Cincinnati_: The book was an
admirable one as first issued, but the careful revision and the
addition of maps and tables have added greatly to its value. In my
judgment it is by far the best English History for schoolroom use
now before the public.
W. F. Allen, _late Prof. of History, University of Wis., Madison_:
As I have said in relation to the earlier edition, the author has
succeeded in an unusual degree in telling the story of English
History in an interesting and suggestive manner, keeping clear of
the prevailing fault of loading his pages with unessential names and
dates.
F. B. Palmer, _Principal of State Normal School, Fredonia, N.Y._:
I have not examined anything that seems to me equal to it for a class
in English History.
John Fiske, _Prof. of History, Washington University_: It seems to
me excellent.
Frances A. Cooke, _Teacher of History, Penn Charter School,
Philadelphia, Pa._: My verdict on Montgomery's History is
unqualified approval. I have not seen a text-book upon English
History so well adapted to school use.
C. B. Gilbert, _Supt. Pub. Schools, St. Paul, Minn._: In many
respects I consider it the best text-book on English History for high
schools that I have seen. Its arrangement is excellent, its style
clear and very attractive.
Frank E. Plummer, _Prin. of High School, Des Moines, Ia._: I examined
it very carefully, and pronounce it the best English History for
high-school use of any with which I am familiar.
_The Leading Facts of French History_.
By D. H. MONTGOMERY, Author of _The Leading Facts of English History_,
_English History Reader_, etc. 12mo. Cloth. vi + 321 pages, with
fourteen black and colored maps, and full tables. Mailing Price,
$1.25; for Introduction, $1.12.
The object of this volume is to present, within the moderate compass
of two hundred and ninety-two pages, the most important events of
the history of France, selected, arranged, and treated according to
the soundest principles of historical study, and set forth in a clear
and attractive narrative.
The respective influences of the Celtic race, and of the Roman and
the German conquest and occupation of Gaul are clearly shown.
Charlemagne's work and the subsequent growth of feudal institutions
are next considered.
The breaking up of the feudal system, with the gradual consolidation
of the provinces into one kingdom, and the development of the
sentiment of nationality, are traced and illustrated.
The growth of the absolutism of the crown, the interesting and
important relations of France to America, and the causes of the
French Revolution, are fully presented.
The career of Napoleon and its effects on France and Europe are
carefully examined.
Finally, a sketch is given of the stages of the historical progress
of France in connection with the state of the Republic to-day.
G. W. Knight, _Prof. of History, Ohio State University_: I do not
know another book which, in anything like the same space, conveys
for youthful students so good a notion of French events.
A. H. Fetterolf, _Pres. of Girard College_: I like it very much. It
is an excellent book and I trust soon to have it used in Girard
College.
Edward G. Bourne, _Prof. of History, Adelbert College_: I have no
hesitation in pronouncing it the best French history of its scope
that I have seen. It is clear and accurate, and shows unusual skill
in the selection of matter as well as judgment in emphasizing the
political significance of events.
The Nation, _New York_: It is a marked advance on any available work
of its scope. The author has shown competent judgment in the choice
of his facts and his style is clear and interesting. The proportions
are well observed, and the political significance of events is given
due prominence in his treatment. So far as we have noticed, unusual
accuracy has been achieved.
_Reference History of the United States_.
By HANNAH A. DAVIDSON, M.A., Teacher of History, Belmont School,
California. 12mo. Cloth. xii + 190 pages. By mail, 90 cents; for
introduction, 80 cents.
This book, which is designed expressly for schools of advanced
grade, high schools, academies, and seminaries, is an attempt to
connect history teaching more closely in method and matter with the
teaching and study of history in the college and the university. In
the best institutions the study of history is no longer the study
of a text-book. The library is the workshop, the best books that have
been written are the tools; the teacher is the guide, and the pupil's
mind must do the work.
The objects of the method of instruction outlined in this book are
two: First, to help the pupil acquire discipline, and to train him
in those methods of work which he ought to use throughout his college
course; second, to give the pupil a sufficiently broad and reliable
knowledge of facts to serve as a basis for his future study of
constitutional history, politics, etc., and to put these facts into
such due relation to each other and to commonly accepted opinions
that they will not have to be re-adjusted when broader knowledge has
been acquired.
The subject is divided into a series of topics; under each topic
questions are asked; and after each question references to the best
accessible authorities are given in abbreviated form, though in such
a way as to be immediately understood. A space is left after each
set of references for additional ones to be inserted by the student.
The work was used for three years in manuscript by boys in the fourth
year below the Freshman class of our best universities; that is to
say, at the same time with Latin and Geometry or Algebra.
Oliver Emerson Bennett, _Chauncy Hall School, Boston_: I consider
it a valuable and useful addition to my library, and a great
assistance in my daily work.
New York Independent: This is a first-rate guide for the student of
United States History. It puts him on the right lines, shows him what
to read, and gives him intelligent guidance and direction all through.
It is hardly possible that a student following this guide should fail
to come out with a broad and critical command of the subject.
THE BEST HISTORIES.
MYERS'S
Eastern Nations and Greece.--Introduction price, $1.00. With full
maps, illustrations, and chronological summaries.
"Far more interesting and useful than any other epitome of the kind
which I have seen."--_Professor Beckwith, Trinity College_.
ALLEN'S
Short History of the Roman People.--Introduction price, $1.00. With
full maps, illustrations, and chronological synopsis.
"An admirable piece of work."--_Professor Bourne, Adelbert
College_.
MYERS AND ALLEN'S
Ancient History for Schools and Colleges.--Introduction price,
$1.50. This consists of Myers's Eastern Nations and Greece and
Allen's Rome bound together.
MYERS'S
History of Rome.--Introd. price, $1.00. With full maps,
illustrations, tables, and chronological summaries. This, bound
with Myers's Eastern Nations and Greece, is MYERS'S Ancient History.
Price, $1.50.
MYERS'S
Mediaeval and Modern History.--Introduction price, $1.50. With a
full series of colored maps.
"Sure to be liked by teachers and pupils and by the general
reader."--_Professor Snow, Washington University_.
MYERS'S
General History.--Introduction price, $1.50. With full maps,
illustrations, tables, and summaries.
"The best text-book in universal history for beginners that we are
acquainted with."--_Professor Stearns, University of Wisconsin_.
MONTGOMERY'S
Leading Facts of English History.--Introduction price, $1.12. With
full maps and tables.
"I have never seen anything at all equal to it for the niche it was
intended to fill."--_Professor Perry, Williams College_.
MONTGOMERY'S
Leading Facts of French History.--Introduction price, $1.12. With
full maps and tables.
"It is a marked advance an any available work of its scope."--_The
Nation_.
MONTGOMERY'S
Leading Facts of American History. With full maps, illustrations,
summaries of dates, topical analyses, tables, etc.
"The best school history that has yet appeared."--_Principal Rupert,
Boys' High School, Pottstown, Pa_.
EMERTON'S
Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages.--Introduction price,
$1.12. With colored maps, original and adapted.
"An admirable guide to both teachers and pupils in the tangled period
of which it treats."--_Professor Fisher, Yale College_.
And many other valuable historical books.
Ginn & Company, Publishers, Boston, New York, Chicago, and London.
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEGINNER'S AMERICAN HISTORY***
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