A SCHOOL HISTORY

OF THE

UNITED STATES

BY

JOHN BACH McMASTER

PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITYOF PENNSYLVANIA

1897

PREFACE

It has long been the custom to begin the history of our country with thediscovery of the New World by Columbus. To some extent this is both wiseand necessary; but in following it in this instance the attempt has beenmade to treat the colonial period as the childhood of the United States;to have it bear the same relation to our later career that the accountof the youth of a great man should bear to that of his maturer years, and to confine it to the narration of such events as are reallynecessary to a correct understanding of what has happened since 1776. 

The story, therefore, has been restricted to the discoveries, explorations, and settlements within the United States by the English, French, Spaniards, and Dutch; to the expulsion of the French by theEnglish; to the planting of the thirteen colonies on the Atlanticseaboard; to the origin and progress of the quarrel which ended with therise of thirteen sovereign free and independent states, and to thegrowth of such political institutions as began in colonial times. Thisperiod once passed, the long struggle for a government followed till ourpresent Constitution--one of the most remarkable political instrumentsever framed by man--was adopted, and a nation founded. 

Scarcely was this accomplished when the French Revolution and the riseof Napoleon involved us in a struggle, first for our neutral rights, andthen for our commercial independence, and finally in a second war withGreat Britain. During this period of nearly five and twenty years, commerce and agriculture flourished exceedingly, but our internalresources were little developed. With the peace of 1815, however, theera of industrial development commences, and this has been treated withgreat--though it is believed not too great--fullness of detail; for, beyond all question, _the_ event of the world's history during thenineteenth century is the growth of the United States. Nothing like ithas ever before taken place. 

To have loaded down the book with extended bibliographies would havebeen an easy matter, but quite unnecessary. The teacher will find inChanning and Hart's _Guide to the Study of American History_ the bestdigested and arranged bibliography of the subject yet published, andcannot afford to be without it. If the student has time and dispositionto read one half of the reference books cited in the footnotes of thishistory, he is most fortunate. 

JOHN BACH McMASTER. 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. EUROPE FINDS AMERICAII. THE SPANIARDS IN THE UNITED STATESIII. ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND SWEDES ON THE SEABOARDIV. THE PLANTING OF NEW ENGLANDV. THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIESVI. THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEYVII. THE INDIANSVIII. THE STRUGGLE FOR NEW FRANCE AND LOUISIANAIX. LIFE IN THE COLONIES IN 1763X. "LIBERTY, PROPERTY, AND NO STAMPS"XI. THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCEXII. UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONXIII. MAKING THE CONSTITUTIONXIV. OUR COUNTRY IN 1790XV. THE RISE OF PARTIESXVI. THE STRUGGLE FOR NEUTRALITYXVII. STRUGGLE FOR "FREE TRADE AND SAILORS' RIGHTS"XVIII. THE WAR FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCEXIX. PROGRESS OF OUR COUNTRY BETWEEN 1790 AND 1815XX. SETTLEMENT OF OUR BOUNDARIESXXI. THE RISING WESTXXII. THE HIGHWAYS OF TRADE AND COMMERCEXXIII. POLITICS FROM 1824 TO 1845XXIV. EXPANSION OF THE SLAVE AREAXXV. THE TERRITORIES BECOME SLAVE SOILXXVI. PROGRESS IN THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1840 AND 1860XXVII. WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861-1865XXVIII. WAR ALONG THE COAST AND ON THE SEAXXIX. THE COST OF THE WARXXX. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTHXXXI. THE NEW WEST (1860-1870)XXXII. POLITICS FROM 1868 TO 1880XXXIII. GROWTH OF THE NORTHWESTXXXIV. MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESSXXXV. POLITICS SINCE 1880

APPENDIX

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCECONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATESSTATE CONSTITUTIONSINDEX

LIST OF IMPORTANT MAPS

DISCOVERY ON THE EAST COAST OF AMERICAEUROPEAN CLAIMS AND EXPLORATIONS, 1650FRENCH CLAIMS, ETC. , IN 1700BRITISH COLONIES, 1733EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS, 1763THE BRITISH COLONIES IN 1764BRITISH COLONIES, 1776RESULTS OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCETHE UNITED STATES, 1783THE UNITED STATES, 1789DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION, 1790SLAVE AND FREE SOIL IN 1790THE UNITED STATES, 1801THE UNITED STATES, 1810NORTH AMERICA AFTER 1824DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION, 1820FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IN 1820THE UNITED STATES, 1826TERRITORY CLAIMED BY TEXAS IN 1845THE OREGON COUNTRYROUTES OF THE EARLY EXPLORERSTERRITORY CEDED BY MEXICO, 1848 AND 1853RESULTS OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1850THE UNITED STATES IN 1851EXPANSION OF SLAVE SOIL, 1790-1860DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION, 1850THE UNITED STATES, 1861WAR FOR THE UNIONINDUSTRIAL AND RAILROAD MAP OF THE UNITED STATES

A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THEUNITED STATES

 * * * * *

_DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS_

CHAPTER I

EUROPE FINDS AMERICA

%1. Nations that have owned our Soil. %--Before the United Statesbecame a nation, six European powers owned, or claimed to own, variousportions of the territory now contained within its boundary. Englandclaimed the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. Spain once heldFlorida, Texas, California, and all the territory south and west ofColorado. France in days gone by ruled the Mississippi valley. Hollandonce owned New Jersey, Delaware, and the valley of the Hudson in NewYork, and claimed as far eastward as the Connecticut river. The Swedeshad settlements on the Delaware. Alaska was a Russian possession. 

Before attempting to narrate the history of our country, it isnecessary, therefore, to tell

1. How European nations came into possession of parts of it. 

2. How these parts passed from them to us. 

3. What effect the ownership of parts of our country by Europeans had onour history and institutions before 1776. 

%2. European Trade with the East; the Old Routes. %--For two hundredyears before North and South America were known to exist, a splendidtrade had been going on between Europe and the East Indies. Ships loadedwith metals, woods, and pitch went from European seaports to Alexandriaand Constantinople, and brought back silks and cashmeres, muslins, dyewoods, spices, perfumes, ivory, precious stones, and pearls. Thistrade in course of time had come to be controlled by the two Italiancities of Venice and Genoa. The merchants of Genoa sent their ships toConstantinople and the ports of the Black Sea, where they took on boardthe rich fabrics and spices which by boats and by caravans had come upthe valley of the Euphrates and the Tigris from the Persian Gulf. Themen of Venice, on the other hand, sent their vessels to Alexandria, andcarried on their trade with the East through the Red Sea. 

[Illustration: Routes to India]

%3. New Routes wanted. %--Splendid as this trade was, however, it wasdoomed to destruction. Slowly, but surely, the Turks thrust themselvesacross the caravan routes, cutting off one by one the great feeders ofthe Oriental trade, till, with the capture of Constantinople in 1453, they destroyed the commercial career of Genoa. As their power wasspreading rapidly over Syria and toward Egypt, the prosperity of Venice, in turn, was threatened. The day seemed near when all trade between theIndies and Europe would be ended, and men began to ask if it were notpossible to find an ocean route to Asia. 

Now, it happened that just at this time the Portuguese were hard at workon the discovery of such a route, and were slowly pushing their way downthe western coast of Africa. But as league after league of that coastwas discovered, it was thought that the route to India by way of Africawas too long for the purposes of commerce. [1] Then came the question, Isthere not a shorter route? and this Columbus tried to answer. 

[Footnote 1: Read the account of Portuguese exploration in search of away to India, in Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. I. , pp. 274-334. ]

%4. Columbus seeks the East and finds America. %[2]--Columbus was anative of Genoa, in Italy. He began a seafaring life at fourteen, and inthe intervals between his voyages made maps and globes. As Portugal wasthen the center of nautical enterprise, he wandered there about 1470, and probably went on one or two voyages down the coast of Africa. In1473 he married a Portuguese woman. Her father had been one of the Kingof Portugal's famous navigators, and had left behind him at his death aquantity of charts and notes; and it was while Columbus was studyingthem that the idea of seeking the Indies by sailing due westward seemsto have first started in his mind. But many a year went by, and many ahardship had to be borne, and many an insult patiently endured inpoverty and distress, before the Friday morning in August, 1492, whenhis three caravels, the _Santa Maria_ (sahn'-tah mah-ree'-ah), the_Pinta_ (peen'-tah), and the _Niña_ (neen'-yah), sailed from the port ofPalos (pah'-los), in Spain. 

[Footnote 2: There is reason to believe that about the year 1000 A. D. The northeast coast of America was discovered by a Norse voyager namedLeif Ericsson. The records are very meager; but the discovery of ourcountry by such a people is possible and not improbable. For an accountof the pre-Columbian discoveries see Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. I. , pp. 148-255. ]

[Illustration: Santa Maria]

His course led first to the Canary Islands, where he turned and wentdirectly westward. The earth was not then generally believed to beround. Men supposed it to be flat, and the only parts of it known toEuropeans were Iceland, the British Isles, the continent of Europe, asmall part of Asia, and a strip along the coast of the northern part ofAfrica. The ocean on which Columbus was now embarked, and which in ourtime is crossed in less than a week, was then utterly unknown, and waswell named "The Sea of Darkness. " Little wonder, then, that as theshores of the last of the Canaries sank out of sight on the 9th ofSeptember, many of the sailors wept, wailed, and loudly bemoaned theircruel fate. After sailing for what seemed a very long time, they sawsigns of land. But when no land appeared, their hopes gave way to fear, and they rose against Columbus in order to force him to return. 

[Illustration: Niña]

But he calmed their fears, explained the sights they could notunderstand, hid from them the true distance sailed, and kept steadily onwestward till October 7, when a flock of land birds were seen flying tothe southwest. Pinzon (peen-thon'), who commanded one of the vessels, begged Columbus to follow the birds, as they seemed to be going towardland. Had the little fleet kept on its way, it would have brought up onthe coast of Florida. But Columbus yielded to Pinzon. The ships wereheaded southwestward, and about ten o'clock on the night of October 11, Columbus saw a light moving in the distance. It was made by theinhabitants going from hut to hut on a neighboring coast. At dawn theshore itself was seen by a sailor, and Columbus, followed by many of hismen, hastened to the beach, where, October 12, 1492, he raised a hugecross, and took possession of the country in the name of Ferdinand andIsabella, King and Queen of Spain, who had supplied him with caravelsand men. [1] He had landed on one of a group of islands which we call theBahamas. [2]

[Footnote 1: Columbus called the new land San Salvador (sahnsahl-vah-dor', Holy Savior), because October 12, the day on which it wasdiscovered, was so named in the Spanish calendar. ]

[Footnote 2: Three islands of this group, Cat, Turks, and Watlings, haverival claims as the landing place of Columbus. At present, WatlingsIsland is believed to be the one on which he first set foot. Read anaccount of the voyage in Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. I. , pp. 408-442; Irving's _Life and Voyages of Columbus_, Vol. I. , Book III. ]

[Illustration: Coat of arms of Columbus]

During ten days he sailed among these islands. Then, turning southward, he coasted along Cuba to the eastern end, and so to Haiti, which henamed Hispaniola, or Little Spain. There the _Santa Maria_ was wrecked. The _Pinta_ had by this time deserted him, and, as the _Niña_ could notcarry all the men, forty were left at Hispaniola, to found the firstcolony of Europeans in the New World. Giving the men food enough to lasta year, Columbus set sail for Spain on the 3d of January, 1493, and onMarch 15 was safe at Palos. 

Of the greatness of his discovery, Columbus had not the faintest idea. That he had found a new world; that a continent was blocking his way tothe East, never entered his mind. He supposed he had landed on someislands off the east coast of Asia, and as that coast was called theIndies, and as the islands were reached by sailing westward, they cameto be called the West Indies, and their inhabitants Indians; and thenative races of the New World have ever since been called Indians. Although Columbus in after years made three more voyages to the NewWorld, he never found out his mistake, and died firm in the belief thathe had discovered a direct route to Asia. [1]

[Footnote 1: Columbus began his second voyage in September, 1493, anddiscovered Jamaica, Porto Rico (por'-to ree'-co), and the islands of theCaribbean Sea. On his third voyage, in 1498, he discovered the island ofTrinidad, off the coast of Venezuela, and saw South America at the mouthof the Orinoco River. During his fourth and last voyage, 1502-1504, heexplored the shores of Honduras and the Isthmus of Panama in search of astrait leading to the Indian Ocean. Of course he did not find it, and, going back to Spain, he died poor and broken-hearted on May 20, 1506. ]

%5. The Atlantic Coast explored. %--And now that Columbus had shownthe way, others were quick to follow. In 1497 and 1498 came John andSebastian Cabot (cab'-ot), sailing under the flag of England, andexploring our coast from Labrador to Cape Cod; and Pinzon and Solis, with Vespucius[2] for pilot, sailing under the flag of Spain along theshores of the Gulf of Mexico, around the peninsula of Florida, andnorthward to Chesapeake Bay. Between 1500 and 1502 two Portuguesenavigators named Cortereal (cor-ta-ra-ahl') went over much the sameground as the Cabots. For the time being, however, these voyages werefruitless. It was not a new world, but China and Japan, the IndianOcean, and the spice islands, that Europe was seeking. When, therefore, in 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon, passed around the end ofAfrica, reached India, and came back to Portugal in 1499 with his shipladen with the silks and spices of the East, all explorers turnedsouthward, and for eleven years after the visit of the Cortereals novoyages were made to North America. 

[Footnote 2: As this man was an Italian, his name was really AmerigoVespucci (ah-ma'-ree-go ves-poot'-chee), but it is usually given in itsLatinized form, Americus Vespucius (a-mer'-i-cus ves-pu'-she-us). ]

%6. Why the Continent was called America. %--But some great voyagesmeantime were made to South America. In 1500 a Portuguese fleet ofthirteen vessels, commanded by Cabral, started from Portugal for theEast. In place of following the usual route and hugging the west coastof Africa, Cabral went off so far to the westward that one day in April, 1500, he was amazed to see land. It proved to be what is now Brazil, andafter sailing along a little way he sent one of his vessels home toPortugal with the news. 

[Illustration: %DISCOVERY% ON THE EAST COAST OF %AMERICA%]

He did this because six years before, in June, 1494, Spain and Portugalmade a treaty and agreed that a meridian should be drawn 370 leagueswest of the Cape Verde Islands and be known as "The Line of Demarcation"All heathen lands discovered, no matter by whom, to the east of thisline, were to belong to Portugal; all to the west of it were to be theproperty of Spain. Now, as the strange coast seemed to be east of theline of demarcation, and therefore the property of Portugal, Cabral sentword to the King that he might explore it. 

Accordingly, in May, 1501, the King sent out three ships in charge ofAmericus Vespucius. Vespucius sighted the coast somewhere about Cape St. Roque, and, finding that it was east of the line of demarcation, explored it southward as far as the mouth of the river La Plata. As hewas then west of the line, and off a coast which belonged to Spain, heturned and sailed southeastward till he struck the island of SouthGeorgia, where the Antarctic cold and the fields of floating ice stoppedhim and sent him back to Lisbon. 

The results of this great voyage were many. In the first place, itsecured Brazil for Portugal. In the second place, it changed thegeographical ideas of the time. The great length of coast line exploredproved that the land was not a mere island, but that Vespucius had founda new continent in the southern hemisphere, --off the coast of Asia, aswas then supposed. This for a time was called the "Fourth Part" of theworld, --the other three parts being Europe, Asia, and Africa. But in1507 a German professor published a little book on geography, in whichhe suggested that the new part of the world discovered by Americus, thepart which we call Brazil, should be called America. 

As Columbus was not supposed to have discovered a new world, but merelya new route to Asia, this suggestion seemed very proper, and soon theword "America" began to appear on maps as the name of Brazil. After awhile it was applied to all South America, and finally to NorthAmerica also. 

%7. The Pacific discovered; the Mexican Gulf Coast explored. %--A fewyears after the publication of the little book which gave the New Worldthe name of America, a Spaniard named Balboa landed on the Isthmus ofPanama, crossed it (1513), and from the mountains looked down on anendless expanse of blue water, which he called the South Sea, becausewhen he first saw it he was looking south. 

Meantime another Spaniard, named Ponce de Leon (pon'tha da la-on'), sailed with three ships from Porto Rico, in March, 1513, and on the 27thof that month came in sight of the mainland. As the day was EasterSunday, which the Spaniards call Pascua (pas'-coo-ah) Florida, he calledthe country Florida. 

[Illustration: Map of 1515][1]

[Footnote 1: Showing what was then supposed to be the shape and positionof the newly discovered lands. ]

Six years later (1519) Pineda (pe-na'-da) skirted the shores of the Gulffrom Florida to Mexico. 

%8. Spaniards sail round the World. %--In the same year (1519) thatPineda explored the Gulf coast, a Portuguese named Magellan (ma-jel'-an)led a Spanish fleet across the Atlantic. He coasted along South Americato Tierra del Fuego, entered the strait which now bears his name, passedwell up the western coast, and turning westward sailed toward India. Hewas then on the ocean which Balboa had discovered and named the SouthSea. But Magellan found it so much smoother than the Atlantic that hecalled it the Pacific. Five ships and 254 men left Spain; but only oneship and fifteen men returned to Spain by way of India and Cape of GoodHope. Magellan himself was among the dead. [1]

[Footnote 1: Magellan was killed by the natives of one of the PhilippineIslands. The captain of the ship which made the voyage was greatlyhonored. The King of Spain ennobled him, and on his coat of arms was aglobe representing the earth, and on it the motto "You first sailedround me. "]

%9. Importance of Magellan's Voyage. %--Of all the voyages ever madeby man this was the greatest. [2] In the first place, it proved beyonddispute that the earth is round. In the second place, it proved thatSouth America is a great continent, and that there is no short southwestpassage to India. 

[Footnote 2: By all means read the account of this voyage by Fiske, inhis _Discovery of America_, Vol. II. , pp. 190-211. ]

%10. Search for a Northwest Passage; our North Atlantic Coastexplored. %--All eyes, therefore, turned northward; the quest for anorthwest passage began, and in that quest the Atlantic coast of theUnited States was examined most thoroughly. 

SUMMARY

1. Towards the close of the fifteenth century the Turks cut off the oldroute of trade between Asia and Europe. 

2. In attempting to find a new way to Asia, the Portuguese then began toexplore the west coast of Africa. 

3. When at last they got well down the African coast it was thought thatsuch a route was too long. 

4. Columbus (1492) then attempted to find a shorter way to Asia bysailing westward across the Atlantic Ocean, and landed on some islandswhich he supposed to be the East Indies. 

5. The explorations of men who followed Columbus proved that a newcontinent had been discovered and that it blocked the way to India. 

6. The attempts to find a southwest passage or a northwest passagethrough our continent led to the exploration of the Atlantic andPacific coasts. 

7. The new world was called America, after the explorer Americus. 

8. The voyage of Magellan proved that the earth is round. 

CHAPTER II

THE SPANIARDS IN THE UNITED STATES

%11. The Spaniards explore the Southwest. %--Now it must be noticedthat up to 1513 no European had explored the interior of either North orSouth America. They had merely touched the shores. In 1513 the work ofexploration began. Balboa then crossed the Isthmus of Panama. In 1519Cortes (cor'-tez) landed on the coast of Mexico with a body of men, andmarched boldly into the heart of the country to the city where lived thegreat Indian chief or king, Montezuma. Cortes took the city and madehimself master of Mexico. This was most important; for the conquest ofMexico turned the attention of the Spaniards from our country for manyyears, and finally led to the exploration of the Southwest. But thefirst explorers of what is now the United States came from Cuba in 1528. 

[Illustration: Map of 1530, Sloane MS. [1]]

[Footnote 1: Notice that the two continents begin to take shape, andthat as the result of Magellan's voyage is not generally known, NorthAmerica is placed very near to Java. ]

In that year Narvaez (nar-vah-eth), excited by Pineda's accounts of theMississippi Indians and their golden ornaments, set forth with 400 mento conquer the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico. At Apalachee Bay helanded, and made a raid inland. On returning to the shore, he missed hisships, and after traveling westward on foot for a month, built five rudevessels, and once more put to sea. For six weeks the little fleet huggedthe shore, till it came to the mouth of the Mississippi, where two ofthe boats were upset and Narvaez was drowned. The rest reached the coastof Texas in safety. But famine and the tomahawk soon reduced the numberof the survivors to four. These were captured by bands of wanderingIndians, were carried over eastern Texas and western Louisiana, till, after many strange adventures and vicissitudes, they met beyond theSabine River. [1] Protected by the fame they had won for sorcery, and ledby one Cabeza de Vaca, they now wandered westward to the Rio Grande[2](ree'-o grahn'-da) and on by Chihuahua (chee-wah'-wah) and Sonora to theGulf of California, and by this to Culiacan, a town near the west coastof Mexico, which they reached in 1536. They had crossed the continent. 

[Footnote 1: Now the western boundary of Louisiana. ]

[Footnote 2: Rio Grande del Norte---Great River of the North. ]

%12. "The Seven Cities of Cibola. "%--The story these men told of thestrange country through which they had passed, aroused a strong desirein the Spaniards to explore it, for somewhere in that direction theybelieved were the Seven Cities. According to an ancient legend, when theArabs invaded the Spanish peninsula, a bishop of Lisbon with manyfollowers fled to a group of islands in the Sea of Darkness, and on themfounded seven cities. As one of the Indian tribes had preserved a storyof Seven Caves in which their ancestors had once lived, the credulousand romantic Spaniards easily confounded the two legends. Firmlybelieving that the seven cities must exist in the north countrytraversed by Vaca, Mendoza, the Spanish governor of Mexico, selectedFray Marcos, a monk of great ability, and sent him forth with a fewfollowers to search for them. Directed by the Indians through whosevillages he passed, he came at last in sight of the seven Zuñi(zoo'-nyee) pueblos (pweb'-loz) of New Mexico, all of which wereinhabited in his time. But he came no nearer than just within sight ofthem. For one of the party, who went on in advance, having been killedby the Zuñi, Fray Marcos hurried back to Culiacan. Understanding thename of the city he had seen to be Cibola (see'-bo-la), he called thepueblos the "Seven Cities of Cibola, " and against them the next year(1540) Coronado marched with 1100 men. Finding the pueblos were not therich cities for which he sought, Coronado pushed on eastward, and fortwo years wandered to and fro over the plains and mountains of the West, crossing the state of Kansas twice. [1]

[Footnote 1: Do not fail to read a delightful little book called _TheSpanish Pioneers_, by Charles F. Lummis. In it the story of these greatjourneys is told on pp. 77-88, 101-143. ]

[Illustration: The kind of cities found by Marcos and Coronado in theRio Grande valley. ]

[Illustration: CORONADO'S EXPEDITION 1540]

%13. The Spaniards on the Mississippi. %--In 1537 De Soto wasappointed governor of Cuba, with instructions to conquer and hold allthe country discovered by Narvaez. On this mission he set out in May, 1539, and landed at Tampa Bay, on the west coast of our state ofFlorida. He wandered over the swamps and marshes, the moss-grownjungles, and the forests of the Gulf states, and spent the winter of1541 near the Yazoo River. Crossing the Mississippi in the spring of1542 at the Chickasaw Bluffs, he wandered about eastern Arkansas, tillhe died of fever, and was buried in the Mississippi. His followers thenbuilt rude boats, floated down the river to the Gulf, steered along thecoast of Texas, and in September, 1543, reached Tampico, in Mexico. 

More than half a century had now gone by since the first voyage ofColumbus. Yet not a settlement, great or small, had been established bySpain within our boundary. Between 1546 and 1561 missionaries twiceattempted to found missions and convert the Indians in Florida, andtwice were driven away. In 1582 others entered the valleys of the Gilaand the Rio Grande, took possession of the pueblos, establishedmissions, preached the Gospel to the Indians, and brought them underthe dominion of Spain. But when Santa Fé (sahn'-tah fa') was founded, in1582, the only colony of Spain in the United States, besides themissions in Arizona and New Mexico, was St. Augustine in Florida. 

[Illustration: A Spanish mission]

%14. St. Augustine. %--St. Augustine was founded by the Spaniards inorder to keep out the French, who made two attempts to occupy the southAtlantic coast. The first was that of John Ribault (ree-bo'). He led acolony of Frenchmen, in 1562, to what is now South Carolina, built asmall fort on a spot which he called Port Royal, and left it in chargeof thirty men while he went back to France for more colonists. The menwere a shiftless set, depended on the Indians till the Indians wouldfeed them no longer, and when famine set in, they mutinied, slew theircommander, built a crazy ship and went to sea, where an English vesselfound them in a starving condition, and took them to London. 

In 1564 a second party, under Laudonnière (lo-do-ne-ar'), landed at theSt. Johns River in Florida, and built a fort called Fort Caroline inhonor of Charles IX. Of France. But the King of Spain, hearing that theFrench were trespassing, sent an expedition under Menendez(ma-nen'-deth), who founded St. Augustine in 1565. There Ribault, whohad returned and joined Laudonnière, attempted to attack the Spaniards. But a hurricane scattered his ships, and while it was still raging, Menendez fell suddenly on Fort Caroline and massacred men, women, andchildren. A few days later, falling in with Ribault and his men, who hadbeen driven ashore south of St. Augustine, Menendez massacred 150more. [1] For this foul deed a Frenchman named Gourgues (goorg) exacted afearful penalty. With three small ships and 200 men, he sailed to theSt. Johns River, took and destroyed the fort which the Spaniards hadbuilt on the site of Fort Caroline, and put to death every human beingwithin it. 

[Footnote 1: The story of the French in Florida is finely told inParkman's _Pioneers of France in the New World_; also J. Sparks's _Lifeof Ribault_; Baird's _Huguenot Emigration_. ]

[Illustration: Gateway at St. Augustine[2]]

[Footnote 2: Remaining from the Spanish occupation of Florida. ]

SUMMARY

1. From 1492 to 1513 the Europeans who came to America explored thecoasts of North and South America, but did not go inland. 

2. In 1513 exploration of the interior of the two continents began. Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, 1513, and Cortes conqueredMexico, 1519-21. 

3. In 1528 Narvaez made the first serious attempt to enter theMississippi valley. He died, and some of his followers, under Cabeza deVaca, crossed the continent. 

4. When the Spanish governor of Mexico heard their story, he sent FrayMarcos to find the "Seven Cities of Cibola"; and began the explorationof the southwestern part of the United States. 

5. In 1539-1541 De Soto and his band explored the southeastern part ofthe United States from Florida to the Mississippi River. 

6. By 1582 two Spanish settlements had been made in the United States--St. Augustine, 1565, and Santa Fé, 1582. 

EUROPE FINDS AMERICA. 

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATIONS, 1492-1600. 

ATLANTIC COAST. 

 1492. Columbus. Islands off the coast. 1493. Columbus. Islands off the coast. 1497. John Cabot. North America. Labrador. 1498. John and Sebastian Cabot. Labrador to Cape Cod. Pinzon and Solis. Florida to Chesapeake Bay. 1500. Cabral. Discovers Brazil. 1501. Vespucius. Explores Brazilian coast. 1500-1502. Cortereals. Explore coast North America. 1513. Ponce de Leon. Discovers and names Florida. 

GULF COAST. 

 1498. Pinzon and Solis. Explore Gulf of Mexico and coast of Florida. 1519. Pineda. Sails from Florida to Mexico. 1528. Narvaez. Florida to Texas. 1543. Followers of De Soto sail from Mississippi River to Mexico. 

THE INTERIOR. 

 1519-21. Cortes. Conquers Mexico. 1534-36. De Vaca. From the Sabine River to the Gulf of California. 1539. Fray Marcos. Search for the Seven Cities. Wanders over New Mexico. 1540-42. Coronado, Gila River, Rio Grande, Colorado River. 1539-41. De Soto. Wanders over Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and reaches the Mississippi River. 1582-1600. Spaniards in the valleys of the Gila and Rio Grande. 

PACIFIC COAST. 

 1513. Balboa. Discovers the Pacific Ocean. 1520. Magellan. Sails around South America into the Pacific. 1578-1580. Drake. Sails around South America and up the Pacific coast to Oregon. (See p. 26. )

CHAPTER III

ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND SWEDES ON THE SEABOARD

%15. The English Claim to the Seaboard. %--After the Spaniards hadthus explored the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the English attempted to take possession of theAtlantic coast. The voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497 and 1498were not followed up in the same way that Spain followed up those ofColumbus, and for nearly eighty years the flag of England was notdisplayed in any of our waters. [1] At last, in 1576, Sir MartinFrobisher set out to find a northwest passage to Asia. Of course hefailed; but in that and two later voyages he cruised about the shores ofour continent and gave his name to Frobisher's Bay. [2] Next came SirFrancis Drake, the greatest seaman of his age. He left England in 1577, crossed the Atlantic, sailed down the South American coast, passedthrough the Strait of Magellan, and turning northward coasted alongSouth America, Mexico, and California, in search of a northeast passageto the Atlantic. When he had gone as far north as Oregon the weathergrew so cold that his men began to murmur, and putting his ship about, he sailed southward along our Pacific coast in search of a harbor, whichin June, 1579, he found near the present city of San Francisco. There helanded, and putting up a post nailed to it a brass plate on which wasthe name of Queen Elizabeth, and took possession of the country. [3]Despairing of finding a short passage to England, Drake finally crossedthe Pacific and reached home by way of the Cape of Good Hope. He hadsailed around the globe. [4]

[Footnote 1: For Cabot's voyages read Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. II. , pp. 2-15. ]

[Footnote 2: See map of 1515. ]

[Footnote 3: The white cliffs reminded Drake strongly of the cliffs ofDover, and as one of the old names of England was Albion (the country ofthe white cliffs), he called the land New Albion. ]

[Footnote 4: For Drake read E. T. Payne's _Voyages of ElizabethanSeamen_. ]

%16. Gilbert and Ralegh attempt to found a Colony. %--While Drake wasmaking his voyage, another gallant seaman, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, wasgiven (by Queen Elizabeth) any new land he might discover in America. His first attempt (1579) was a failure, and while on his way home from alanding on Newfoundland (1583), his ship, with all on board, went downin a storm at sea. The next year (1584) his half-brother, Sir WalterRalegh, one of the most accomplished men of his day and a great favoritewith Queen Elizabeth, obtained permission from the Queen to make asettlement on any part of the coast of America not already occupied by aChristian power; and he at once sent out an expedition. The explorerslanded on Roanoke Island, off the coast of what is now North Carolina, and came home with such a glowing description of the "good land" theyhad found that the Virgin Queen called it "Virginia, " in honor ofherself, and Ralegh determined to colonize it. [1]

[Footnote 1: For Ralegh read E. Gosse's _Raleigh_ (in English WorthiesSeries); Louise Creighton's _Sir W. Ralegh_ (HistoricalBiographies Series). ]

%17. Roanoke Colony; the Potato and Tobacco. %--In 1585, accordingly, 108 emigrants under Ralph Lane left England and began to build a town onRoanoke Island. They were ill suited for this kind of pioneer life, andwere soon in such distress that, had not Sir Francis Drake in one of hisvoyages happened to touch at Roanoke, they would have starved to death. Drake, seeing their helplessness, carried them home to England. Yettheir life on the island was not without results, for they took backwith them the potato, and some dried tobacco leaves which the Indianshad taught them to smoke. 

Ralegh, of course, was greatly disappointed to see his colonists againin England. But he was not discouraged, and in 1587 sent forth a secondband. The first had consisted entirely of men. The second band wascomposed of both men and women with their families, for it seemed likelythat if the men took their wives and children along they would be morelikely to remain than if they went alone. John White was the leader, andwith a charter and instructions to build the city of Ralegh somewhere onthe shores of Chesapeake Bay he set off with his colonists and landed onRoanoke Island. Here a little granddaughter was born (August 18, 1587), and named Virginia. She was the child of Eleanor Dare, and was the firstchild born of English parents in America. 

[Illustration: Roanoke Island and vicinity]

Governor White soon found it necessary to go back to England forsupplies, and, in consequence of the Spanish war, three years slipped bybefore he was able to return to the colony. He was then too late. Everysoul had perished, and to this day nobody knows how or where. Raleghcould do no more, and in 1589 made over all his rights to a joint-stockcompany of merchants. This company did nothing, and the sixteenthcentury came to an end with no English colony in America. [1]

[Footnote 1: Doyle's _English Colonies in America_, Virginia, pp. 56-74;Bancroft's _History of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 60-79;Hildreth's _History of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 80-87. ]

%18. Gosnold in New England. %--With the new century came betterfortune. Ralegh's noble efforts to plant a colony aroused Englishmen tothe possibility of founding a great empire in the New World, andespecially one named Bartholomew Gosnold. 

Instead of following the old route to America by way of the CanaryIslands, the West Indies, and Florida, he sailed due west across theAtlantic, [2] and brought up on the shore of a cape which he named CapeCod. [3] Following the shore southward, he passed through Nantucket Soundand Vineyard Sound, till he came to Cuttyhunk Island, at the entrance ofBuzzards Bay. On this he landed, and built a house for the use ofcolonists he intended to leave there. But when he had filled his shipwith sassafras roots and cedar logs, nobody would remain, and the wholecompany went back to England. [4]

[Footnote 2: By thus shortening the journey 3000 miles, he practicallybrought America 3000 miles nearer to Europe. ]

[Footnote 3: Because the waters thereabout abounded in codfish. For acomparison of Gosnold's route with those of the other early explorerssee the map on p. 15. ]

[Footnote 4: Bancroft's _United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 70-83. Hildreth's_United States, _ Vol. I. , p. 90. ]

%19. The Two Virginia Companies. %--As a result of this voyage, Gosnold was more eager than ever to plant a colony in Virginia, and thisenthusiasm he communicated so fully to others that, in 1606, King JamesI. Created two companies to settle in Virginia, which was then the namefor all the territory from what is now Maine to Florida. 

1. Each company was to own a block of land 100 miles square; that is, 100 miles along the coast, --50 miles each way from its firstsettlement, --and 100 miles into the interior. 

2. The First Company, a band of London merchants, might establish itsfirst settlement anywhere between 34° and 41° north latitude. 

3. The Second Company, a band of Plymouth merchants, might establish itsfirst settlement anywhere between 38° and 45°. 

4. These settlements were to be on the seacoast. 

5. In order to prevent the blocks from overlapping, it was provided thatthe company which was last to settle should locate at least 100 milesfrom the other company's settlement. [1]

[Footnote 1: Over the affairs of each company presided a councilappointed by the King, with power to choose its own president, fillvacancies among its own members, and elect a council of thirteen toreside on the company's lands in America. Each company might coin money, raise a revenue by taxing foreign vessels trading at its ports, punishcrime, and make laws which, if bad, could be set aside by the King. Allproperty was to be owned in common, and all the products of the soildeposited in a public magazine from which the needs of the settlers wereto be supplied. The surplus was to be sold for the good of the company. The charter is given in full in Poore's _Charters and Constitutions_, pp. 1888-1893. ]

%20. The Jamestown Colony. %--Thus empowered, the two companies madeall haste to gather funds, collect stores and settlers, and fit outships. The London Company was the first to get ready, and on the 19th ofDecember, 1606, 143 colonists set sail in three ships for America withtheir charter, and a list of the council sealed up in a strong box. ThePlymouth Company soon followed, and before the year 1607 was faradvanced, two settlements were planted in our country: the one atJamestown, in Virginia, the other near the mouth of the Kennebec, inMaine. The latter, however, was abandoned the following year (seeChapter IV). 

The three ships which carried the Virginia colony reached the coast inthe spring of 1607, and entering Chesapeake Bay sailed up a river whichthe colonists called the James, in honor of the King. When about thirtymiles from its mouth, a landing was made on a little peninsula, where asettlement was begun and named Jamestown. [1] It was the month of May, and as the weather was warm, the colonists did not build houses, but, inside of some rude fortifications, put up shelters of sails andbranches to serve till huts could be built. But their food gave out, theIndians were hostile, and before September half of the party had died offever. Had it not been for the energy and courage of John Smith, everyone of them would have perished. He practically assumed command, set themen to building huts, persuaded the Indians to give them food, exploredthe bays and rivers of Virginia, and for two dreary years held thecolony together. When we consider the worthless men he had to deal with, and the hardships and difficulties that beset him, his work iswonderful. The history which he wrote, however, is not to be trusted. [2]

[Footnote 1: Nothing now remains of Jamestown but the ruined tower ofthe church shown in the picture. Much of the land on which the townstood has been washed away by the river, so that its site is nowan island. ]

[Footnote 2: Read the _Life and Writings of Captain John Smith_, byCharles Dudley Warner; also John Fiske in _Atlantic Monthly_, December, 1895; Eggleston's _Beginners of a Nation_, pp. 31-38. Smith's _TrueRelation_ is printed in _American History Leaflets_, No. 27, and_Library of American Literature_ Vol. I. ]

[Illustration: All that is left of Jamestown]

Bad as matters were, they became worse when a little fleet arrived withmany new settlers, making the whole number about 500. The newcomers werea worthless set picked up in the streets of London or taken from thejails, and utterly unfit to become the founders of a state in thewilderness of the New World. Out of such material Smith in time mighthave made something, but he was forced by a wound to return to England, and the colony went rapidly to ruin. Sickness and famine did their workso quickly that after six months there were but sixty of the 500 menalive. Then two small ships, under Sir Thomas Gates and Sir GeorgeSomers, arrived at Jamestown with more settlers; but all decided toflee, and had actually sailed a few miles down the James, when, June 8, 1610, they met Lord Delaware with three ships full of men and suppliescoming up the river. Delaware came out as governor under a new chartergranted in 1609. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read "The Jamestown Experiments, " in Eggleston's _Beginnersof a Nation, _ pp. 25-72. ]

[Illustration: Vicinity of Jamestown]

%21. The Virginia Charter of 1609% made a great change in theboundary of the company's property. By the 1606 charter the colony waslimited to 100 miles along the seaboard and 100 miles west from thecoast. In 1609 the company was given an immense domain reaching 400miles along the coast, --200 miles each way from Old PointComfort, --and extending "up into the land throughout _from sea to sea_, west and northwest. " This description is very important, for it wasafterwards claimed by Virginia to mean a grant of land of the shapeshown on the map. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Hinsdale's _Old Northwest_, pp. 74, 75. ]

[Illustration]

%22. The First Representative Assembly in America. %--Under the newcharter and new governors Virginia began to thrive. More work and lessgrumbling were done, and a few wise reforms were introduced. Onegovernor, however, Argall, ruled the colony so badly that the peopleturned against him and sent such reports to England that immigrationalmost ceased. The company, in consequence, removed Argall, and gaveVirginia a better form of government. In future, the governor's powerwas to be limited, and the people were to have a share in the making oflaws and the management of affairs. As the colonists, now numbering 4000men, were living in eleven settlements, or "boroughs, " it was orderedthat each borough should elect two men to sit in a legislature to becalled the House of Burgesses. This house, the first representativeassembly ever held by white men in America, met on July 30, 1619, in thechurch at Jamestown, and there began "government of the people, by thepeople, for the people. "

%23. The Establishment of Slavery in America. %--It is interesting tonote that at the very time the men of Virginia thus planted freerepresentative government in America, another institution was plantedbeside it, which, in the course of two hundred and fifty years, almostdestroyed free government. The Burgesses met in July, and a few weekslater, on an August day, a Dutch ship entered the James and before itsailed away sold twenty negroes into slavery. The slaves increased innumbers (there were 2000 in Virginia in 1671), and slavery spread to theother colonies as they were started, till, in time, it existed in everyone of them. 

%24. Virginia loses her Charter, 1624. %--The establishment of populargovernment in Virginia was looked on by King James as a direct affront, and was one of many weighty reasons why he decided to destroy thecompany. To do this, he accused it of mismanagement, brought a suitagainst it, and in 1624 his judges declared the charter annulled, andVirginia became a royal colony. [1]

[Footnote 1: On the Virginia colony in general read Doyle's volume on_Virginia_, pp. 104-184; Lodge's _English Colonies in America_, pp. 1-12; of course, Bancroft and Hildreth. For particular epochs or eventsconsult Channing and Hart's _Guide to American History_, pp. 248-253. ]

%25. Maryland begun. %--A year later James died, and Charles I. Cameto the throne. As Virginia was now a royal colony, the land belonged tothe King; and as he was at liberty to do what he pleased with it, he cutoff a piece and gave it to Lord Baltimore. George Calvert, LordBaltimore, was a Roman Catholic nobleman who for years past had beeninterested in the colonization of America, and had tried to plant acolony in Newfoundland. The severity of the climate caused failure, andin 1629 he turned his attention to Virginia and visited Jamestown. Butreligious feeling ran as high there as it did anywhere. The colonistswere intolerantly Protestant, and Baltimore was ordered back to England. 

Undeterred by such treatment, Baltimore was more determined than ever toplant a colony, and in 1632 obtained his grant of a piece of Virginia. The tract lay between the Potomac River and the fortieth degree of northlatitude, and extended from the Atlantic Ocean to a north and southline through the source of the Potomac. [1] It was called Maryland inhonor of the Queen, Henrietta Maria. 

[Footnote 1: It thus included what is now Delaware, and pieces ofPennsylvania and West Virginia. ]

[Illustration: ORIGINAL BOUNDARY OF MARYLAND]

The area of the colony was not large; but the authority of LordBaltimore over it was almost boundless. He was to bring to the King eachyear, in token of homage, two Indian arrowheads, and pay as rent onefifth of all the gold and silver mined. This done, the "lordproprietary, " as he was called, was to all intents and purposes a king. He might coin money, make war and peace, grant titles of nobility, establish courts, appoint judges, and pardon criminals; but he was notpermitted to tax his people without their consent. He must summon thefreemen to assist him in making the laws; but when made, they need notbe sent to the King for approval, but went into force as soon as thelord proprietary signed them. Of course they must not be contrary to thelaws of England. 

%26. Treatment of Catholics. %--The deed for Maryland had not beenissued when Lord Baltimore died. It was therefore made out in the nameof his son, Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, who, like thefirst, was a Roman Catholic, and was influenced in his attempts atcolonization by a desire to found a refuge for people of his own faith. At that time in England no Roman Catholic was permitted to educate hischildren in a foreign land, or to employ a schoolmaster of his religiousbelief; or keep a weapon; or have Catholic books in his house; or sit inParliament; or when he died be buried in a parish churchyard. If he didnot attend the parish church, he was fined £20 a month. But it isneedless to mention the ways in which he suffered for his religion. Itis enough to know that the persecution was bitter, and that the purposeof Lord Baltimore was to make Maryland a Roman Catholic colony. Yet heset a noble example to other founders of colonies by freely granting toall sects full freedom of conscience. As long as the Catholics remainedin control, toleration worked well. But in the year 1691 Lord Baltimorewas deprived of his colony because he had supported King James II. , andin 1692 sharp laws were made in Maryland against Catholics by theProtestants. In 1716 the colony was restored to the proprietor. 

The first settlement was made in 1634 at St. Marys. Annapolis wasfounded about 1683; and Baltimore in 1729. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Scharf's _History of Maryland_; Doyle's _Virginia_;Lodge's _English Colonies_; Eggleston's _Beginners of a Nation, _. ]

%27. The Dutch on the Hudson. %--Meantime great things had beenhappening to the northward. In 1609 Henry Hudson, an English sailor inthe service of Holland, was sent to find a northwest passage to India. He reached our coast not far from Portland, Maine, and abandoning allidea of finding a passage, he sailed alongshore to the southward as faras Cape Cod. Here he put to sea, and when he again sighted land was offDelaware Bay. In attempting to sail up it, his ship, the _Half-Moon, _grounded, and Hudson turned about. Running along the Jersey coast, heentered New York Bay, and sailed up the river which the Dutch calledthe North River, but which we know as the Hudson. Hudson's voyage gavethe Dutch a claim to all the country drained by the Delaware or SouthRiver and the Hudson River, and some Dutch traders at once sent outvessels, and were soon trading actively with the Indians. By 1614 a rudefort had been erected near the site of Albany, and some trading huts hadbeen put up on Manhattan Island. These ventures proved so profitablethat numbers of merchants began to engage in the trade, whereupon thosealready in it, in order to shut out others, organized a company, and in1615 obtained a trading charter for three years from the States Generalof Holland, and carried on their operations from Albany to theDelaware River. 

[Illustration: View of New Amsterdam in 1656]

%28. Dutch West India Company. %--On the expiration of the charter (in1618) it was not renewed, but a new corporation, the Dutch West IndiaCompany (1621), was created with almost absolute political andcommercial power over all the Dutch domains in North America, which werecalled New Netherland. In 1623 the company began to send out settlers. Some went to Albany, or, as they called it, Fort Orange. Others weresent to the South or Delaware River, where a trading post, Fort Nassau, was built on the site of Gloucester in New Jersey. A few went to theConnecticut River; some settled on Long Island; and others on ManhattanIsland, where they founded New Amsterdam, now called New York city. 

All these little settlements were merely fur-trading posts. Nobody wasengaged as yet in farming. To encourage this, the company (in 1629) tookanother step, and offered a great tract of land, on any navigable riveror bay, to anybody who would establish a colony of fifty persons abovethe age of fifteen. If on a river, the domain was to be sixteen milesalong one bank or eight miles along each bank, and run back into thecountry as far "as the situation of the occupiers will admit. " Theproprietor of the land was to be called a "patroon, " [1] and was absoluteruler of whatever colonies he might plant, for he was at once owner, ruler, and judge. It may well be supposed that such a tempting offer didnot go a-begging, and a number of patroons were soon settled along theHudson and on the banks of the Delaware (1631), where they founded atown near Lewes. The settlements on the Delaware River were short-lived. The settlers quarreled with the Indians, who in revenge massacred themand drove off the garrison at Fort Nassau; whereupon the patroons soldtheir rights to the Dutch West India Company. [2]

[Footnote 1: The patroon bound himself to (1) transport the fiftysettlers to New Netherland at his own expense; (2) provide each of themwith a farm stocked with horses, cattle, and farming implements, andcharge a low rent; (3) employ a schoolmaster and a minister of theGospel. In return for this the emigrant bound himself (1) to stay andcultivate the land of the patroon for ten years; (2) to bring his grainto the patroon's mill and pay for grinding; (3) to use no cloth not madein Holland; (4) to sell no grain or produce till the patroon had beengiven a chance to buy it. ]

[Footnote 2: Lodge's _English Colonies_, pp. 295-311; Winsor's_Narrative and Critical History_, Vol. III. , pp. 385-411; Bancroft's_History of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 501-508. ]

%29. The Struggle for the Delaware; the Swedes on the Delaware. %--Andnow began a bitter contest for the ownership of the country borderingthe Delaware. A few leading officials of the Dutch Company, disgusted atthe way its affairs were managed, formed a new company under the lead ofWilliam Usselinx. As they could not get a charter from Holland, for shewould not create a rival to the Dutch Company, they sought and obtainedone from Sweden as the South Company, and (1638) sent out a colony tosettle on the Delaware River. [1] The spot chosen was on the site ofWilmington. The country was named New Sweden, though it belonged toMaryland. The Dutch West India Company protested and rebuilt FortNassau. The Swedes, in retaliation, went farther up the river andfortified an island near the mouth of the Schuylkill. Had they stoppedhere, all would have gone well. But, made bold by the inaction of theDutch, they began to annoy the New Netherlanders, till (1655) PeterStuyvesant, the governor of New Netherland, unable to stand it anylonger, came over from New Amsterdam with a few hundred men, overawedthe Swedes, and annexed their territory west of the Delaware. New Swedenthen became part of New Netherland. [2]

[Footnote 1: Sweden had no right to make such a settlement. She had noclaim to any territory in North America. ]

[Footnote 2: Lodge's _English Colonies_, pp. 205-210; Bancroft's_History of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 509, 510; Hildreth's_History of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 413-442. ]

SUMMARY

1. After the discovery of the North American coast by the Cabots, England made no attempt to settle it for nearly eighty years; and eventhen the colonies planted by Gilbert and Ralegh were failures. 

2. Successful settlement by the English began under the London Companyin 1607. 

3. In 1609 the London Company obtained a grant of land from sea to sea, and extending 400 miles along the Atlantic; but in 1624 its charter wasannulled, and in 1632 the King carved the proprietary colony of Marylandout of Virginia. 

4. Meantime Henry Hudson, in the employ of the Dutch, discovered theDelaware and Hudson rivers (1609), and the Dutch, ignoring the claims ofEngland, planted colonies on these rivers and called the country NewNetherland. 

5. Then a Swedish company began to colonize the Delaware Bay and Rivercoast of Virginia, which they called New Sweden. 

6. Conflicts between the Dutch and the Swedes followed, and in 1655 NewSweden was made a part of New Netherland. 

CHAPTER IV

THE PLANTING OF NEW ENGLAND

%30. The Beginnings of New England. %--When the Dutch put up theirtrading posts where New York and Albany now stand, all the country eastof New York, all of what is now New England, was a wilderness. As earlyas 1607 an attempt was made to settle it and a colony was planted on thecoast of Maine by two members of the Plymouth Company, Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, governor ofPlymouth. But the colonists were half starved and frozen, and in thespring of 1608 gladly went home to England. 

Six years later John Smith, the hero of Virginia, explored and mappedthe coast from the Penobscot to Cape Cod. He called the country NewEngland; one of the rivers, the Charles; and two of the promontories, Cape Elizabeth and Cape Ann. Three times he attempted to lead out acolony; but that work was reserved for other men. 

%31. The Separatists. %--The reign of Queen Elizabeth had witnessed inEngland the rise of a religious sect which insisted that certain changesshould be made in the government and ceremonials of the Established orState Church of England. This they called purifying the Church, and inconsequence they were themselves called Puritans. [1] At first they didnot intend to form a new sect; but in 1580 one of their ministers, namedRobert Brown, urged them to separate from the Church of England, andsoon gathered about him a great number of followers, who were calledSeparatists or Brownists. They boldly asserted their right to worship asthey pleased, and put their doctrines into practice. So hot apersecution followed, that in 1608 a party, led by William Brewster andJohn Robinson, fled from Scrooby, a little village in northern England, to Amsterdam, in Holland; but soon went on to Leyden, where they dwelteleven years. [2]

[Footnote 1: Read Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 50-71. Theteacher may read "Rise and Development of Puritanism" in Eggleston's_Beginners of a Nation_, pp. 98-140. ]

[Footnote 2: Read Eggleston's _Beginners of a Nation_, pp. 141-157;Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 71-80; Doyle's _PuritanColonies_, Vol. I. , pp. 47-81; Palfrey's _New England_, Vol. I. , pp. 176-232. ]

%32. Why the Separatists went to New England%. --They had come toHolland as an organized community, practicing English manners andcustoms. For a temporary residence this would do. But if they and theirchildren's children after them were to remain and prosper, they mustbreak up their organization, forget their native land, their nativespeech, their national traditions, and to all intents and purposesbecome Dutch. This they could not bring themselves to do, and by 1617they had fully determined to remove to some land where they might stillcontinue to be Englishmen, and where they might lay the foundations of aChristian state. But one such land could then be found, and that wasAmerica. To America, therefore, they turned their attention, and afterinnumerable delays formed a company and obtained leave from the LondonCompany to settle on the coast of what is now New Jersey. [1]

[Footnote 1: Eggleston's _Beginners of a Nation_, pp. 159-176. ]

This done, Brewster and Bradford and Miles Standish, with a little band, sent out as an advance guard, set sail from the Dutch port of DelftHaven in July, 1620, in the ship _Speedwell_. The first run was toSouthampton, England, where some friends from London joined them in the_Mayflower_, and whence, August 5, they sailed for America. But the_Speedwell_ proved so unseaworthy that the two ships put back toPlymouth, where twenty people gave up the voyage. September 6, 1620, such as remained steadfast, just 102 in number, reëmbarked on the_Mayflower_ and began the most memorable of voyages. The weather was sofoul, and the wind and sea so boisterous, that nine weeks passed beforethey beheld the sandy shores of Cape Cod. Having no right to settlethere, as the cape lay far to the northward of the lands owned by theLondon Company, they turned their ship southward and attempted to go on. But head winds drove them back and forced them to seek shelter inProvincetown harbor, at the end of Cape Cod. 

[Illustration: The Mayflower[1]]

[Footnote 1: From the model in the National Museum, Washington. ]

[Illustration: THE MASSACHUSETTS COAST (map)]

%33. The Mayflower Compact%. --Since it was then the 11th of November, the Pilgrims, as they are now called, decided to get permission fromthe Plymouth Company to remain permanently. But certain members of theparty, when they heard this, became unruly, and declared that as theywere not to land in Virginia, they were no longer bound by the contractsthey had made in England regarding their emigration to Virginia. To putan end to this, a meeting was held, November 21, 1620, in the cabin ofthe _Mayflower_, and a compact was drawn up and signed. [1] It declared

1. That they were loyal subjects of the King. 

2. That they had undertaken to found a colony in the northern parts ofVirginia, and now bound themselves to form a "civil body politic. "

3. That they would frame such just and equal laws, from time to time, asmight be for the general good. 

4. And to these laws they promised "all due submission and obedience. "

[Footnote 1: The compact is in Poore's _Charters and Constitutions_, p. 931, and in Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American History_, pp. 29-31. Read, by all means, Webster's _Plymouth Oration_. ]

[Illustration: Plymouth Rock]

%34. The Founding of Plymouth%. --The selection of a site for theirhome was now necessary, and five weeks were passed in exploring thecoast before Captain Standish with a boatload of men entered the harborwhich John Smith had noted on his map and named Plymouth. On the sandyshore of that harbor, close to the water's edge, was a little granitebowlder, and on this, according to tradition, the Pilgrims stepped asthey came ashore, December 21, 1620. To this harbor the _Mayflower_ wasbrought, and the work of founding Plymouth was begun. The winter was adreadful one, and before spring fifty-one of the colonists had died. [1]But the Pilgrims stood fast, and in 1621 obtained a grant of land[2]from the Council for New England, which had just succeeded the PlymouthCompany, under a charter giving it control between latitudes 40° and48°, from sea to sea. [3] It was from the same Council that for fifteenyears to come all other settlers in New England obtained their rightsto the soil. 

[Footnote 1: In the trying times which followed, William Bradford waschosen governor and many times reëlected. He wrote the so-called "Log ofthe Mayflower, "--really a manuscript _History of the PlymouthPlantation_ from 1602 to 1647, --a fragment of which is reproduced on theopposite page. ]

[Footnote 2: This grant had no boundary. Each settler might have 100acres. Fifteen hundred acres were set aside for public buildings. ]

[Footnote 3: Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 80-87; Palfrey's_New England_, Vol. I, pp. 176-232; Thatcher's _History of the Town ofPlymouth_. ]

[Illustration: Fragment of _History of the Plymouth Plantation_. ]

%35. A Puritan Colony proposed. %--Among those who obtained suchrights was a company of Dorchester merchants who planted a town on CapeAnn. The enterprise failed, and the colonists went off and settled at aplace they called Naumkeag. But there was one man in Dorchester who wasnot discouraged by failure. He was John White, a Puritan rector. Whathad been done by the Separatists in a small way might be done, it seemedto White, on a great scale by an association of wealthy and influentialPuritans. The matter was discussed by them in London, and in 1628 anassociation was formed, and a tract of land was bought from the Councilfor New England. 

%36. The "Sea to Sea" Grant%. --Concerning the interior of ourcontinent absolutely nothing was known. Nobody supposed it was more thanhalf as wide as it really is. The grant to the association, therefore, stretched from three miles north of the Merrimac River to three milessouth of the Charles River, along these rivers to their sources, andthen westward across the continent from sea to sea. [1]

[Footnote 1: You will notice that when this grant was made in 1628 theDutch had discovered the Hudson, and had begun to settle Albany. To thisregion (the Hudson and Mohawk valleys) the English had no just claim. ]

As soon as the grant was obtained, John Endicott came out with a companyof sixty persons, and took up his abode at Naumkeag, which, being anIndian and therefore a pagan name, he changed to Salem, the Hebrew wordfor "peace. "

%37. The Massachusetts Charter, 1629%. --The next step was to obtainthe right of self-government, which was secured by a royal chartercreating a corporation known as the Governor and Company ofMassachusetts Bay in New England. Over the affairs of the company wereto preside a governor, deputy governor, and a council of eighteen to beelected annually by the members of the company. [2]

[Footnote 2: The charter is printed in Poore's _Charters andConstitutions_, pp. 932-942, and in Preston's _Documents_, pp. 36-61. ]

Six ships were now fitted out, and in them 406 men, women, and children, with 140 head of cattle, set sail for Massachusetts. They reached Salemin safety and made it the largest colony in New England. 

%38. Why the Puritans came to New England. %--It was in 1625 thatCharles I. Ascended the throne of England. Under him the quarrel withthe Puritans grew worse each year. He violated his promises, hecollected illegal taxes, he quartered troops on the people, he threwthose into prison who would not contribute to his forced loans, orpressed them into the army or the navy. His Archbishop Laud persecutedthe Puritans with shameful cruelty. 

Little wonder then that in 1629 twelve leading Puritans met inconsultation and agreed to head a great migration to the New World, provided the charter and the government of the Massachusetts Bay Companywere both removed to New England. This was agreed to, and in April, 1630, John Winthrop sailed with nearly one thousand Puritans for Salem. From Salem he moved to Charlestown, and later in the year (1630) to alittle three-hilled peninsula, which the English called Tri-mountain orTremont. There a town was founded and called Boston. 

The departure of Winthrop was the signal, and before the year 1630ended, seventeen ships, bringing fifteen hundred Puritans, reachedMassachusetts. The newcomers settled Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Watertown, and Newtown (now Cambridge). New England wasplanted. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 75-105. Eggleston's _Beginners of a Nation_, pp. 188-219. ]

%39. New Hampshire and Maine. %--When it became apparent that thePlymouth colony was permanently settled, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, whoseinterest in New England had never lagged, together with John Masonobtained (1622) from the Council for New England a grant of Laconia, asthey called the territory between the Merrimac and the Kennebec rivers, and from the Atlantic "to the great river of Canada. " Seven years later(1629) they divided their property. Mason, taking the territory betweenthe Merrimac and Piscataqua rivers, called it New Hampshire because hewas Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire in England. Gorges took the regionbetween the Piscataqua and the Kennebec, and called it Maine. After thedeath of Mason (1635) his colony was neglected and from 1641 to 1679 wasannexed to Massachusetts. The King separated them in 1679, joined themagain in 1688, and finally parted them in 1691, making New Hampshire aroyal colony. 

Gorges took better care of his part and (in 1639) was given a charterwith the title of Lord Proprietor of the Province or County of Maine, which extended, as before, from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec, andbackward 120 miles from the ocean. But after his death the province fellinto neglect, and the towns were gradually absorbed by Massachusetts, which, in 1677, bought the claims of the heir of Gorges for £1250 andgoverned Maine as lord proprietor under the Gorges charter. 

%40. Church and State in Massachusetts. %--Down to the moment of theirarrival in America the Puritans had not been Separatists. They werestill members of the Church of England who desired to see her form ofworship purified. But the party under Endicott had no sooner reachedSalem than they seceded, and the first Congregational Church in NewEngland was founded. 

Some in Salem were not prepared for so radical a step, and attempted toestablish a church on the episcopal model; but Endicott promptly senttwo of the leaders back to England. Thus were established two facts: 1. The separation or secession of the Colonial Church from that of England. 2. That the episcopal form of worship would not be tolerated inthe colony. 

In 1631 another step was taken which united church and state, for it wasthen ordered that "no man shall be admitted to the freedom of this bodypolitic, but such as are members of some of the churches within thelimits of the same. "

This was intolerance of the grossest kind, and soon became the cause oftroubles which led to the founding of Rhode Island and Connecticut. 

%41. The Planting of Rhode Island. %--There came to Salem (fromPlymouth), in 1633, a young minister named Roger Williams. He dissentedheartily from the intolerance of the people of Massachusetts, and, though a minister of the Salem church, insisted

1. On the separation of church and state. 

2. On the toleration of all religious beliefs. 

3. On the repeal of all laws requiring attendance on religious worship. 

To us, in this century, the justice of each of these principles isself-evident. But in the seventeenth century there was no country in theworld where it was safe to declare them. For doing so in some parts ofEurope, a man would most certainly have been burned at the stake. Fordoing so in England, he would have been put in the pillory, or had hisears cut off, or been sent to jail. That Williams's teachings shouldseem rank heresy in New England was quite natural. But, to make mattersworse, he wrote a pamphlet in which he boldly stated

1. That the soil belonged to the Indians. 

2. That the settlers could obtain a valid title only by purchase fromthe Indians. 

3. That accepting a deed for the land from a mere intruder like the Kingof England was a sin requiring public repentance. 

In the opinion of the people of New England such doctrine could not failto bring down on Massachusetts the wrath of the King. When, therefore, alittle later, Endicott cut the red cross of St. George out of the colorsof the Salem militia, the people considered his act a defiance of royalauthority, attributed it to the teachings of Williams, and proceeded topunish both. Endicott was rebuked by the General Court (or legislature)and forbidden to hold office for a year. Williams was ordered to goback to England. But he fled to the woods, and made his way through thesnow to the wigwam of the Indian chief, Massasoit, on Narragansett Bay, and there in the summer of 1636 he founded Providence. About the sametime another teacher of what was then thought heresy, Anne Hutchinson, was driven from Massachusetts, and with some of her followers wentsouthward and founded Portsmouth and Newport, on the island of RhodeIsland. For a while each of these settlements was independent, but in1643 Williams went to London and secured a patent from Parliament whichunited them under the name of "The Incorporation of ProvidencePlantations on the Narragansett Bay in New England. "

%42. Connecticut begun. %--In the same year that Roger Williams beganhis settlement at Providence, several hundred people from the towns nearBoston went off and settled in the Connecticut valley. For a long timepast there had been growing up in Massachusetts a strong feeling thatthe law that none but church members should vote or hold office wasoppressive. This feeling became so strong that in 1635 some hardypioneers from Dorchester pushed through the wilderness and settled atWindsor. A party from Watertown went further and settled Wethersfield. These were small movements. But in 1636 the Newtown congregation, led byits pastor, Thomas Hooker, walked to the Connecticut valley and foundedHartford. The congregations of the Dorchester and Watertown churchessoon followed, while a party from Roxbury settled at Springfield. Duringthree years these four towns were part of Massachusetts. But in 1639, Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield adopted a constitution and formed alittle republic which in time was called Connecticut. Their "FundamentalOrders of Connecticut" was the first written constitution made inAmerica. Their republic was the first in the history of the world to befounded by a written constitution, and marks the beginning of democraticgovernment in our country. 

%43. The New Haven Colony. %--Just at the time these things werehappening in the Connecticut valley, the beginnings of another littlerepublic were made on the shores of Long Island Sound. One day in thesummer of 1637 there came to Boston a company of rich London merchantsunder the lead of an eloquent preacher named John Davenport. The peopleof Boston would gladly have kept the newcomers at that town. But thestrangers desired to found a state of their own, and so, after spendingsome months in seeking for a spot with a good harbor, they left Bostonin 1638 and founded New Haven. In 1639 Milford and Guilford were laidout, and Stamford was started in 1640. Three years later these fourtowns joined in a sort of federal union and took the name of the NewHaven colony. [1]

[Footnote 1: Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 134-137. ]

[Illustration: NEW ENGLAND AND NEW NETHERLAND]

%44. "The United Colonies of New England. "%--There were now fivecolonies in New England; namely, Plymouth, or the "Old Colony, "Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Haven. Geographically, they were near each other. But each was weak in numbers, and if left without the aid of its neighbors, might easily have fallena prey to some enemy. Of this the settlers were well aware, and in 1643four of the colonies, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and NewHaven[1] united for defense against the Indians and the Dutch, whoclaimed the Connecticut valley and so threatened the English colonieson the west. 

[Footnote 1: Rhode Island was not allowed to come in, for the feelingagainst the followers of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson was stillvery strong. ]

The name of this league was "The United Colonies of New England, " and itwas the first attempt in America at federal government. All its affairswere managed by a board of eight commissioners, --two from eachcolony, --who must be church members. They had no power to lay taxes orto meddle with the internal concerns of the colonies, but they hadentire control over all dealings with Indians or with foreign powers. 

%45. The Year 1643. %--The year 1643 is thus an important one incolonial history. It was in that year that the New Haven colony wasfounded; that the league of The United Colonies of New England wasformed; and that Roger Williams obtained the first charter ofRhode Island. 

%46. New Charters. %--During the next twenty years no changes tookplace in the boundaries of the colonies. This was the period of theCivil War in England, of the Commonwealth, of the rule of Cromwell andthe Puritans; and affairs in New England were left to take care ofthemselves. But in 1660 Charles II. Was restored to the throne ofEngland, and a new era opens in colonial history. In 1661 the littlecolony of Connecticut promptly acknowledged the restoration of CharlesII. And applied for a charter. The application was more than granted;for to Connecticut (1662) was given not only a charter and an immensetract of land, but also the colony of New Haven. [1] The land grant wascomprised in a strip that stretched across the continent from RhodeIsland to the Pacific and was as wide as the present state. [2] In 1663Rhode Island was given a new charter. 

[Footnote 1: In 1660, after the restoration of Charles II. , EdwardWhalley and William Goffe (the regicides, "king-killers, " as they werecalled), two of the judges who had condemned Charles I. To be beheaded, fled to New Haven and were protected by the people. This act had much todo with the annexation of New Haven to Connecticut. ]

[Footnote 2: Read Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 192-196. Manyof the New Haven colonists were disgusted by the union of their colonywith Connecticut, and in June, 1667, migrated to New Jersey, where theyfounded "New-Ark" or Newark. ]

In 1684 the King's judges declared the Massachusetts charter void, andJames II. Was about to make New England one royal colony, when theEnglish people drove him from the throne. William and Mary in 1691granted a new charter and united the Plymouth colony, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia, in one colony called Massachusetts Bay. Thischarter was in force when the Revolution opened. 

SUMMARY

1. The first colony established by the Plymouth Company (1607, on thecoast of Maine) was a failure. 

2. Captain John Smith explored the New England coast and mapped it(1613), but did not succeed in planting any colonies. 

3. The permanent settlement of New England began with the arrival of abody of Separatists in the _Mayflower_ (1620), who founded the colonyof Plymouth. 

4. The Separatist migration from England was followed in a few years bya great exodus of Puritans, who planted towns along the coast to thenorth of Plymouth, and obtained a charter of government and a greatstrip of land, and founded the colony of Massachusetts Bay. 

5. Religious disputes drove Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson out ofMassachusetts, and led to the founding of Rhode Island (1636). 

6. Other church wrangles led to an emigration from Massachusetts to theConnecticut valley, where a little confederacy of towns was created andcalled Connecticut. 

7. Some settlers from England went to Long Island Sound and therefounded four towns which, in their turn, joined in a federal unioncalled the New Haven Colony. 

8. In time, New Haven was joined to Connecticut, and Plymouth and Maineto Massachusetts; New Hampshire was made a royal colony; and the fourNew England colonies--Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, andConnecticut--were definitely established. 

9. The territory of Massachusetts and Connecticut stretched across thecontinent to the "South Sea, " or Pacific Ocean. 

CHAPTER V

THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES

%47. North and South Carolina. %--You remember that away back in thesixteenth century the French under Jean Ribault and the English underRalegh undertook to plant colonies on what is now the Carolina coast. They failed, and the country remained a wilderness till 1653, when aband of emigrants from Virginia made the first permanent settlement onthe banks of the Chowan and the Roanoke. In 1663 some Englishmen fromBarbados began to settle on the Cape Fear River, just at the time whenCharles II. Of England gave the region to eight English noblemen, who, out of compliment to the King, allowed the name of Carolina given it byRibault to remain. In 1665 the bounds were enlarged, and Carolina thenextended from latitude 29° 00' to 36° 30', the present south boundary ofVirginia, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

[Illustration: CAROLINA AS GRANTED BY King Charles II]

There was at first no intention of dividing the territory, although, after Charleston was founded (1670), North Carolina and South Carolinasometimes had separate governors. But in 1729 the proprietors soldCarolina to the King, and it was then divided into two distinct andseparate royal provinces. 

%48. New York. %--An event of far greater importance than thechartering of Carolina was the seizure of New Netherland. After theconquest of New Sweden, in 1655, the possessions and claims of the Dutchin our country extended from the Connecticut River to the DelawareRiver, and from the Mohawk to Delaware Bay. Geographically, they cut theEnglish colonies in two, and hampered communication between New Englandand the South. To own this region was therefore of the utmost importanceto the English; and to get it, King Charles II. , in 1664, revived theold claim that the English had discovered the country before the Dutch, and he sent a little fleet and army, which appeared off New Amsterdamand demanded its surrender. The demand was complied with; and in 1664Dutch rule in our country ended, and England owned the seaboard from theKennebec to the Savannah. 

The King had already granted New Netherland to his brother the Duke ofYork, in honor of whom the town of New Amsterdam was now renamedNew York. 

%49. New Jersey. %--The Duke of York no sooner received his provincethan he gave so much of it as lay between the Delaware and the ocean tohis friends Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, and called it NewJersey, in honor of Sir George Carteret, who had been governor of theisland of Jersey in the English Channel. The two proprietors divided itbetween them by the line shown on the map (p. 56). In 1674 Berkeley soldWest Jersey to a company of Quakers, who settled near Burlington. Alittle later, 1676, William Penn and some other Quakers bought EastJersey. There were then two colonies till 1702, when the proprietorssurrendered their rights, and New Jersey became one royal province. 

%50. The Beginnings of Pennsylvania. %--The part which Penn took inthe settlement of New Jersey suggested to him the idea of beginning acolony which should be a refuge for the persecuted of all lands and ofall religions. 

[Illustration]

Now it so happened that Penn was the son of a distinguished admiral towhom King Charles II. Owed £16, 000, and seeing no chance of its everbeing paid, he proposed to the King, in 1680, that the debt be paid witha tract of land in America. The King gladly agreed, and in 1681 Pennreceived a grant west of the Delaware. Against Penn's wish, the Kingcalled it Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woodland. It was given almostprecisely the bounds of the present state. [1] In 1683 Penn made a famoustreaty with the Indians, and laid out the city of Philadelphia. 

[Footnote 1: There was a long dispute, however, with Lord Baltimore, over the south boundary line, which was not settled till 1763-67, whentwo surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, came over from Englandand located it as at present. In later years, when all the Atlanticseaboard states north of Maryland and Delaware had abolished slavery, this "Mason and Dixon's Line" became famous as the dividing line betweenthe slave and the free Atlantic states. ]

%51. The Three Lower Counties: Delaware. %--If you look at the map ofthe British Colonies in 1764, you will see that Pennsylvania was theonly English colony which did not have a seacoast. This was a cause ofsome anxiety to Penn, who was afraid that the settlers in Delaware andNew Jersey might try to prevent his colonists from going in and out ofDelaware Bay. To avoid this, he bought what is now Delaware from theDuke of York. 

The three lower counties on the Delaware, as the tract was called, hadno boundary. Lawfully it belonged to Lord Baltimore. But neither theDutch patroons who settled on the Delaware in 1631, nor the Swedes whocame later, nor the Dutch who annexed New Sweden to New Netherland, northe English who conquered the Dutch, paid any regard to Baltimore'srights. At last, after the purchase of Delaware, the heirs of Baltimoreand of Penn (1732) agreed on what is the present boundary line. After1703 the people of the three lower counties were allowed to have anassembly or legislature of their own; but they had the same governor asPennsylvania and were a part of that colony till the Revolution. [1]

[Footnote 1: For Pennsylvania read Janney's _Life of William Penn_ orDixon's _History of William Penn_; Proud's or Gordon's _Pennsylvania_;Lodge's _Colonies_, pp. 213-226. ]

%52. Georgia. %--The return of the Carolinas to the King in 1729 wasvery soon followed by the establishment of the last colony ever plantedby England in the United States. The founder was James Oglethorpe, anEnglish soldier and member of Parliament. Filled with pity for the poordebtors with whom the English jails were then crowded, he formed a planto pay the debts of the most deserving, send them to America, and givethem what hundreds of thousands of men have since found in ourcountry, --a chance to begin life anew. 

[Illustration]

Great numbers of people became interested in his plan, and finallytwenty-two persons under Oglethorpe's lead formed an association andsecured a charter from King George II. For a colony, which they calledGeorgia. The territory granted lay between the Savannah and theAltamaha rivers, and extended from their mouths to their sources andthen across the country to the Pacific Ocean. Oglethorpe had selectedthis tract in order that his colonists might serve the patriotic purposeof protecting Charleston from the Spanish attacks to which it wasthen exposed. 

Money for the colony was easily raised, [1] and in November, 1732, Oglethorpe, with 130 persons, set out for Charleston, and after a shortstay there passed southward and founded the city of Savannah (1733). Itmust not be supposed that all the colonists were poor debtors. In time, Italians from Piedmont, Moravians and Lutherans from Germany, andScotchmen from the Highlands, all made settlements in Georgia. 

[Footnote 1: The House of Commons gave £10, 000. ]

%53. The Thirteen English Colonies. %--Thus it came about that between1606 and 1733 thirteen English colonies were planted on the Atlanticseaboard of what is now the United States. Naming them from north tosouth, they were: 1. New Hampshire, with no definite western boundary;2. Massachusetts, which owned Maine and a strip of territory across thecontinent; 3. Rhode Island, with her present bounds; 4. Connecticut, with a great tract of land extending to the Pacific; 5. New York, withundefined bounds; 6. New Jersey; 7. Pennsylvania and 8. Delaware, theproperty of the Penn family; 9. Maryland, the property of the heirs ofLord Baltimore; 10. Virginia, with claims to a great part of NorthAmerica; 11. North Carolina, 12. South Carolina, and 13. Georgia, allwith claims to the Pacific. 

SUMMARY

1. The English seized New Netherland (1664), giving it to the Duke ofYork; and the Duke, after establishing the province of New York, gaveNew Jersey to two of his friends, and sold the three counties on theDelaware to William Penn. 

2. Meanwhile the King granted Penn what is now Pennsylvania (1681). 

3. The Carolinas were first chartered as one proprietary colony, butwere sold back to the King and finally separated in 1729. 

4. Georgia, the last of the thirteen English colonies, was granted toOglethorpe and others as a refuge for poor debtors (1732). 

BEGINNINGS OF THE THIRTEEN COLONIES

_English_. 

 Failures:

 1579. Gilbert. 1584. }Ralegh, Roanoke Island. 1587. }

 Successes:

 1606. London Company, Plymouth Company. 1607. Virginia settled. 1609. Boundary of London Company changed. Origin of Virginia claim. 1620. Landing of the Pilgrims. Plymouth colony. 1622. Grant to Mason and Gorges. 1628. Land bought for Massachusetts Bay colony. 1629. Mason and Gorges divide their grant into Maine and New Hampshire. 1632. Maryland patent granted. 1639. Connecticut constitution (Windsor. Hartford. Wethersfield) 1643. New Haven colony organized (New Haven. Milford. Guilford. Stamford. ) 1643. Rhode Island chartered. 1662. Connecticut chartered. (Connecticut. New Haven. ) 1663. Rhode Island rechartered. 1663. Carolina patent granted. After 1729 North and South Carolina. 1664. New Netherland conquered and New York founded. 1664. New Jersey granted to Berkeley and Carteret. 1681. Pennsylvania granted to Penn. 1682. Three counties on the Delaware bought by Penn. 1691. Plymouth and Maine (and Nova Scotia) united with Massachusetts. 1732. Georgia chartered. 

_Dutch_. 1613. Begin to colonize New Netherland

_Swedes_. 1638. South Company makes settlement on the Delaware. 1655. Conquered by the Dutch. 

CHAPTER VI

THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

%54. The Early French Possessions% on our continent may be arrangedin three great areas: 1. Acadia, 2. New France, 3. Louisiana, or thebasin of the Mississippi River. 

ACADIA comprised what is now New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and a part ofMaine. It was settled in the early years of the seventeenth century atPort Royal (now Annapolis, Nova Scotia), at Mount Desert Island, and onthe St. Croix River. 

NEW FRANCE was the drainage basin of the St. Lawrence and the GreatLakes. As far back as 1535 Jacques Cartier explored the St. LawrenceRiver to the site of Montreal. But it was not till 1608 that a partyunder Champlain made the first permanent settlement on the river, at Quebec. 

The French settlers at once entered into an alliance with the Huron andAlgonquin Indians, who lived along the St. Lawrence River. But thesetribes were the bitter enemies of the Iroquois, who dwelt in what is nowcentral New York, and when, in consequence of this alliance, the Frenchwere summoned to take the warpath, Champlain, with a few followers, went, and on the shore of the lake which now bears his name, not farfrom the site of Ticonderoga, he met and defeated the Iroquois tribe ofMohawks in July, 1609. 

The battle was a small affair; but its consequences were serious andlasting, for the Iroquois were thenceforth the enemies of the French, and prevented them from ever coming southward and taking possession ofthe Hudson and the Mohawk valleys. When, therefore, the Frenchmerchants began to engage in the fur trade with the Indians, and theFrench priests began their efforts to convert the Indians toChristianity, they were forced to go westward further and further intothe interior. 

[Illustration: EUROPEAN CLAIMS AND EXPLORATIONS 1650]

Their route, instead of being up the St. Lawrence, was up the OttawaRiver to its head waters, over the portage to Lake Nipissing, and downits outlet to Georgian Bay, where the waters of the Great Lakes laybefore them (see map on p. 63). They explored these lakes, dotted theirshores here and there with mission and fur-trading stations, and tookpossession of the country. 

%55. The French on the Mississippi. %--In the course of theseexplorations the French heard accounts from the Indians of a greatriver to the westward, and in 1672 Father Marquette (mar-ket') and LouisJoliet (zho-le-a') were sent by the governor of New France to search forit. They set out, in May, 1673, from Michilimackinac, a French tradingpost and mission at the foot of Lake Michigan. With five companions, intwo birch-bark canoes, they paddled up the lake to Green Bay, enteredFox River, and, dragging the boats through its boiling rapids, came to avillage where lived the Miamis and the Kickapoos. These Indians tried todissuade them from going on; but Marquette was resolute, and on the 10thof June, 1673, he led his followers over the swamps and marshes thatseparated Fox River from a river which the Indian guides assured himflowed into the Mississippi. This westward-flowing river he called theWisconsin, and there the guides left him, as he says, "alone, amid thatunknown country, in the hands of God. "

The little band shoved their canoes boldly out upon the river, and forseven days floated slowly downward into the unknown. At last, on the17th of June, they paddled out on the bosom of the Mississippi, and, turning their canoes to the south, followed the bends and twists of theriver, past the mouth of the Missouri, past the Ohio, to a point not farfrom the mouth of the Arkansas. There the voyage ended, and the partywent slowly back to the Lakes. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Parkman's _La Salle and the Discovery of the GreatWest_. ]

%56. La Salle finishes the Work of Marquette and Joliet. %--Thediscovery of Marquette and Joliet was the greatest of the age. Yet fiveyears went by before Robert de la Salle (lah sahl') set forth withauthority from the French King "to labor at the discovery of the westernpart of New France, " and began the attempt to follow the river to thesea. In 1678 La Salle and his companions left Canada, and made their wayto the shore of Lake Erie, where during the winter they built andlaunched the _Griffin_, the first ship that ever floated on thosewaters. In this they sailed to the mouth of Green Bay, and from therepushed on to the Illinois River, to an Indian camp not far from thesite of Peoria, Ill. Just below this camp La Salle built Fort Crèvecoeur(cra'v-ker, a word meaning heart-break, vexation). 

[Illustration: %FRENCH CLAIMS% MISSIONS AND TRADING POSTS INMISSISSIPPI VALLEY %in 1700%]

Leaving the party there in charge of Henri de Tonty to construct anothership, he with five companions went back to Canada. On his return hefound that Fort Crèvecoeur was in ruins, and that Tonty and the few menwho had been faithful were gone, he knew not where. In the hope ofmeeting them he pushed on down the Illinois to the Mississippi. To go onwould have been easy, but he turned back to find Tonty, and passed thewinter on the St. Joseph River. 

From there in November, 1681, he once more set forth, crossed the laketo the place where Chicago now is, went up the Chicago River and overthe portage to the Illinois, and early in February floated out on theMississippi. It was, on that day, a surging torrent full of trees andfloating ice; but the explorers kept on their way and came at last tothe shores of the Gulf of Mexico. There La Salle took formal possessionof all the regions drained by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and theirtributaries, claiming them in the name of France, and naming the countrythus claimed "Louisiana. " The iron will, the splendid courage, of LaSalle had triumphed over every obstacle and made him one of the grandestcharacters in history. 

But his work was far from ended. The valley he had explored, theterritory he had added to France, must be occupied, and to occupy it twothings were necessary: 1. A colony must be planted at the mouth of theMississippi, to control its navigation and shut out the Spaniards. 2. Astrong fort must be built on the Illinois, to overawe the Indians. 

In order to overawe the Indians, La Salle now hurried back to theIllinois River, where, in December, 1682, near the present town ofOttawa, on the summit of a cliff now known as "Starved Rock, " he built astockade which he called Fort St. Louis. In 1684, while on a voyage fromFrance to plant a colony on the Mississippi, he missed the mouth andbrought up on the coast of Texas; and, landing on the sands ofMatagorda Bay, the colonists built another Fort St. Louis. But deathrapidly reduced their numbers, and, in their distress, they parted. Someremained at the fort and were killed by the Indians. Others, led by LaSalle, started for the Illinois River and reached it; but without theirleader, whom they had murdered on the way. 

SUMMARY

1. After the settlement of Quebec (1608) the French began to explore theregions lying to the west, discovered the Great Lakes, and heard of agreat river--the Mississippi. 

2. This river Marquette and Joliet explored from the mouth of theWisconsin to the mouth of the Arkansas (1673). 

3. Then La Salle floated down the Mississippi from the Illinois to theGulf of Mexico, took formal possession of the valley in the name of hisKing, and called it Louisiana (1682). 

[Illustration: Starved Rock]

CHAPTER VII

THE INDIANS

[Illustration: A typical Indian]

%57%. When Europeans first set foot on our shores, they found thecountry already inhabited, and, adopting the name given to the men ofthe New World by Columbus, they called these people "Indians. "

They were not "Indians, " or natives of Asia, but a race by themselves, which ages before the time of Columbus was spread over all North andSouth America. 

Like their descendants in the West to-day, they had red orcopper-colored skins, their eyes and long straight hair were jet black, their faces beardless, and their cheek bones high. 

%58. The Villages. %---East of the Rocky Mountains the Indians livedin villages, often covering several acres in area, and surrounded bystockades of two and even three rows of posts. The stockade was piercedwith loopholes, and provided with platforms on which were piles ofstones for the defenders to hurl on the heads of their enemies. Sometimes the structures which formed the village were wigwams--rudestructures made by driving poles into the ground in a circle, drawingtheir tops near together, and then covering them with bark or skins. Sometimes the dwellings had rudely framed sides and roofs covered withlayers of elm bark. Usually these structures were fifteen or twenty feetwide by 100 feet long. At each end was a door. Along each side were tenor twelve stalls, in each of which lived a family, so that one househeld twenty or more families. Down the middle at regular intervals werefire pits where the food was cooked, the smoke escaping through holes inthe roof. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Parkman's _Conspiracy of Pontiac_, Vol. I. , pp. 17, 18. ]

[Illustration: Buffalo-skin lodge]

%59. Clans and Tribes. %--All the families living in such a housetraced descent from a common female ancestor, and formed a clan. Eachclan had its own name, --usually that of some animal, as the Wolf, theBear, or the Turtle, --its own sachem or civil magistrate, and its ownwar chiefs, and owned all the food and all the property, except weaponsand ornaments, in common. A number of such clans made a tribe, which hadone language and was governed by a council of the clan sachems. 

[Illustration: Seneca long house]

%60. The Three Indian Races. %--With slight exceptions, the tribesliving east of the Mississippi are divided, by those who have studiedtheir languages, into three great groups:

1. The Muskhogees, who lived south of the Tennessee River and comprisedthe Creek, the Seminole, the Choctaw, and the Chickasaw tribes. 

2. The Iroquoian group, which occupied the country from the Delaware andthe Hudson to and beyond the St. Lawrence and Lakes Ontario and Erie, besides isolated tracts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The chieftribes were the Iroquois proper, --forming a confederacy in central NewYork known as the Five Nations (Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks), --the Hurons, the Eries, the Cherokees, and the Tuscaroras. 

[Illustration: Moccasin]

3. The Algonquian group, which occupied the rest of what is now theUnited States east of the Mississippi, besides the larger part ofCanada. In this group were the Mohegans, Pequots, and Narragansetts ofNew England; the Delawares; the Powhatans of Virginia; the Shawnees ofthe Ohio valley, and many others living around the Great Lakes. 

[Illustration: Flint Hatchet]

%61. Weapons and Implements and Clothing. %--All of these tribes hadmade some progress towards civilization. They used pottery andornamental pipes of clay. They raised beans and squashes, pumpkins, tobacco, and maize, or Indian corn, which they ground to meal by rubbingbetween two stones. For hunting they had bows, arrows with stone heads, hatchets of flint, and spears. In summer they went almost naked. Inwinter they wore clothing made from the skins of fur-bearing animals andthe hides of buffalo and deer. For navigating streams and rivers, lakesand bays, they constructed canoes of birch bark sewed together withthongs of deerskin and smeared at the joints with spruce-tree gum. 

%62. Traits of Character. %--Living an outdoor life, and depending fordaily food not so much on the maize they raised as on the fish theycaught and the animals they killed, the Indians were most expertwoodsmen. They were swift of foot, quick-witted, keen-sighted, and mostpatient of hunger, fatigue, and cold. White men were amazed at therapidity with which the Indian followed the most obscure trail over themost difficult ground, at the perfection with which he imitated the barkof the wolf, the hoot of the owl, the call of the moose, and at thecatlike tread with which he walked over beds of autumn leaves the sideof the grazing deer. 

[Illustration: Ornamental pipe]

[Illustration: Quiver, with bows and arrows]

Courage and fortitude he possessed in the highest degree. Yet with hisbravery were associated all the vices, all the dark and crooked ways, which are the resort of the cowardly and the weak. He was treacherous, revengeful, and cruel beyond description. Much as he loved war (and warwas his chief occupation), the fair and open fight had no charm for him. To his mind it was madness to take the scalp of an enemy at the risk ofhis own, when he might waylay him in an ambush or shoot him with anarrow from behind a tree. He was never so happy as when, at the dead ofnight, he roused his sleeping victims with an unearthly yell andmassacred them by the light of their burning home. 

%63. The French and the Indians. %--The ways in which French andEnglish colonists acted towards the Indian are highly characteristic, and account for much in our history. 

From the day when Champlain, in 1609, joined his Huron-Algonquinneighbors and went with them on the warpath against the Iroquois, theFrench held to the policy of making friends with the Indians. No painswere spared to win them to the cause of France. They were flattered, petted, treated with ceremonial respect, and became the companions, asthe women often became the wives, of the Frenchmen. Much was expected ofthis mingling of races. It was supposed that the Indian would be wonover to civilization and Christianity. But the Frenchmen were won overto the Indians, and adopted Indian ways of life. They lived in wigwams, wore Indian dress, decorated their long hair with eagle feathers, andmade their faces hideous with vermilion, ocher, and soot. 

%64. Coureurs de Bois. %--There soon grew up in this way a class ofhalf-civilized vagrants, who ranged the woods in true Indian style, andgained a living by guiding the canoes of fur traders along the riversand lakes of the interior. Stimulated by the profits of the fur trade, these men pushed their traffic to the most distant tribes, spreadingFrench guns, French hatchets, beads, cloth, tobacco and brandy, andFrench influence over the whole Northwest. Where the trader and the_coureur de bois_ went, the priest and the soldier followed, and soonmission houses and forts were established at all the chief passes andplaces suited to control the Indian trade. 

%65. The English and the Indians. %--How, meantime, did the Englishact toward the Indians? In the first place, nothing led them to formclose relationship with the tribes. The fur trade--the source ofCanadian prosperity--and the zeal of priests eager for the conversion ofthe heathen, which sent the traders, the _coureurs de bois_, and thepriests from tribe to tribe and from the Atlantic halfway to thePacific, did not appeal to the English colonists. Farming and commercewere the sources of their wealth. Their priests and missionaries werecontent to labor with the Indians near at hand. 

In the second place, the policy of the French towards the Indians, whilefounded on trade, was directed by one central government. The policy ofthe English was directed by each colony, and was of as many kinds asthere were colonies. No English frontier exhibited such a mingling ofwhite men and red as was common wherever the French went. Among theEnglish there were fur traders, but no _coureurs de bois_. Scorn on theone side and hatred on the other generally marked the intercoursebetween the English and the Indians. One bright exception must indeed bemade. Penn was a broad-minded lover of his kind, a man of mostenlightened views on government and human rights; and in the colonyplanted by him there was made a serious effort to treat the Indian as anequal. But the day came when men not of his faith dealt with the Indiansin true English fashion. 

Remembering this difference of treatment, we shall the better understandhow it happened that the French could sprinkle the West with littleposts far from Quebec and surrounded by the fiercest of tribes, whilethe English could only with difficulty defend their frontier. [1]

[Footnote 1: A fine account of the Indians, and the French and Englishways of treating them, is given in Parkman's _Conspiracy of Pontiac_, Vol. I. , pp. 16-25, 41-45, 46-56, 64-80. ]

%66. Early Indian Wars. %--Again and again this frontier was attacked. In 1636 the Pequots, who dwelt along the Thames River in Connecticut, made war on the settlers in the Connecticut River valley towns. Men werewaylaid and scalped, or taken prisoners and burned at the stake. Determined to put an end to this, ninety men from the Connecticut towns, with twenty from Massachusetts and some Mohegan Indians, in 1637 marchedagainst the marauders. They found the Pequots within a circular stockadenear the present town of Stonington, where of 400 warriors all save fivewere killed. 

%67. King Philip's War. %--During nearly forty years not a tribe inall New England dared rise against the white men. But in 1675 troublebegan again. The settlers were steadily crowding the Indians off theirlands. No lands were taken without payment, yet the sales were far frombeing voluntary. A new generation of Indians, too, had grown up, and, heedless of the lesson taught their fathers, the Narragansetts, Nipmucks, and Wampanoags, led by King Philip and Canonchet, rose uponthe English. A dreadful war followed. When it ended, in 1678, the threetribes were annihilated. Hardly any Indians save the friendly Mohawkswere left in New England. But of ninety English towns, forty had beenthe scene of fire and slaughter, and twelve had been destroyed utterly. 

%68. The Iroquois. %--Elsewhere on the frontier a happier relationexisted with the Indians. The Iroquois of central New York were thefiercest and most warlike Indians of the Atlantic coast. But the fightwith Champlain, in 1609, by turning them into implacable enemies of theFrench, had rendered them all the more tolerant of the Dutch and theEnglish, while their complete conquest and subjugation of the Delawares, or Lenni Lenape, prepared the way for the easy settlement of New Jerseyand Pennsylvania. 

%69. Penn and the Lenni Lenape. %--These Indians were Algonquian, andlived along the Delaware River and its tributaries. But early in theseventeenth century they had been reduced to vassalage by the FiveNations, had been forbidden to carry arms, and had been forced to takethe name of Women. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Parkman's _Conspiracy of Pontiac_, Vol. I. , pp. 30-32, 80-82. ]

When the Dutch and Swedes began their settlements on the South River, and when Penn, in 1683, made a treaty with the Delawares, the settlershad to deal with peaceful Indians. No horrid wars mark the early historyof Pennsylvania. 

%70. The Powhatans in Virginia. %--Much the same may be said of theVirginia tribes. They were far from friendly, and had they been asfierce and warlike as the northern tribes, neither the skill of JohnSmith, nor the marriage of Pocahontas (the daughter of Powhatan) withJohn Rolfe, nor fear of the English muskets, would have saved Jamestown. 

[Illustration: Powhatan Indians at work[1]]

[Footnote 1: From a model. ]

On the other hand, the destruction of the tribes in New England and thefeud between the French and the Iroquois saved New England. For the timehad now come for the opening of the long struggle between the French andthe English for the ownership of the continent. 

SUMMARY

1. The inhabitants of the New World at the time of its discovery, bymistake called Indians, were barbarians, lived in rude, frail houses, and used weapons and implements inferior to those of the whites. 

2. The Indian tribes of eastern North America are mostly divided intothree great groups: Muskhogean, Iroquoian, and Algonquian. 

3. In general, the French made the Indians their friends, while theEnglish drove them westward and treated them as an inferior race. 

[Illustration: THE BRITISH COLONIES AND EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS 1733]

CHAPTER VIII

THE STRUGGLE FOR NEW FRANCE AND LOUISIANA

%71. Louisiana, or the Mississippi Basin. %--The landing of La Salleon the coast of Texas, and the building of Fort St. Louis of Texas, gavethe French a claim to the coast as far southward as a point halfwaybetween the fort and the nearest Spanish settlement, in Mexico. At thatpoint was the Rio Grande, a good natural boundary. On the French maps, therefore, Louisiana extended from the Rocky Mountains and the RioGrande on the west, to the Alleghany Mountains on the east, and from theGulf of Mexico on the south, to New France on the north. This confinedthe English colonies to a narrow strip between the Alleghany Mountainsand the Atlantic Ocean. As the colonies were growing in population, andas the charters of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, and Carolinagave them great stretches of territory in the Mississippi valley, it wasinevitable that, sooner or later, a bitter contest for possession of thecountry should take place between the French and the English in America. 

The contest began in 1689, and ended in 1763, and may easily be dividedinto two periods: 1. That from 1689 to 1748, when the struggle was forAcadia and New France. 2. That from 1754 to 1763, when the struggle wasnot only for New France, but for Louisiana also. 

%72. The Struggle for Acadia and New France; "King William'sWar. "%--In 1688-89 there was a revolution in England, in the courseof which James II. Was driven from his throne, and William and Mary, hisnephew and daughter, were seated on it. James took refuge in France, andwhen Louis XIV. Attempted to restore him, a great European warfollowed, and of course the colonists of the two countries were verysoon fighting each other. As the quarrel did not arise on this side ofthe ocean, the English colonists called it "King William's War"; but onour continent it was really the beginning of a long struggle todetermine whether France or England should rule North America. 

The French recognized this at once, and sent over a very ablesoldier--Count Frontenac--with orders to conquer New York; but thecolony was saved by the Iroquois, who in the summer of 1689 began a warof their own against the French, laid siege to Montreal, and roastedFrench captives under its walls. Frontenac was compelled to put off hisattack till 1690, when in the dead of winter a band of French andIndians burned Schenectady, N. Y. Salmon Falls in New Hampshire was nextlaid waste (1690), and Fort Loyal, where Portland, Me. , is, was takenand destroyed. A little later Exeter, N. H. , was attacked. The boldnessand suddenness of these fearful massacres so alarmed the people exposedto them that in May, 1690, delegates from Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New York met at New York city to devise a plan ofattack on the French. Now, at the opening of the war, there were threeFrench strongholds in America. These were Montreal and Quebec in Canada, and Port Royal in Acadia. In 1690 a Massachusetts fleet led by SirWilliam Phips destroyed Port Royal. It was decided, therefore, to sendanother fleet under Phips to take Quebec, while troops from New York andConnecticut marched against Montreal. Both expeditions were failures, and for seven years the French and Indians ravaged the frontier. In 1692York, in Maine, was visited and a third of the inhabitants killed. In1694 Castine was taken and a hundred persons scalped and tomahawked. AtDurham, in New Hampshire, prisoners were burned alive. Groton, inMassachusetts, was next visited; but the boldest of all was themassacre, in 1697, at Haverhill, a town not thirty-five miles fromBoston. In 1696, Frontenac, at the head of a great array of Canadians, _coureurs de bois_, and Indians, invaded the country of the Onondagas, and leveled their fortified town to the earth. 

[Illustration: MAP OF PART OF ACADIA]

%73. The Struggle for Acadia and New France; "Queen Anne's War. "%--In1697 the war ended with the treaty of Ryswick, and "King William's War"came to a close in America with nothing gained and much lost on eachside. The peace, however, did not last long, for in 1701 England andFrance were again fighting. As William died in 1702, and was succeededby his sister-in-law Anne, the struggle which followed in America wascalled "Queen Anne's War. " Again Port Royal was captured (1710); againan expedition went against Quebec and failed (1711); and again, yearafter year, the French and Indians swept along the frontier of NewEngland, burning towns and slaughtering and torturing the inhabitants. At last the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, ended the strife, and the firstsigns of English conquest in America were visible, for the French gaveup Acadia and acknowledged the claims of the English to Newfoundland andthe country around Hudson Bay. The name Acadia was changed by theconquerors to Nova Scotia. Port Royal, never again to be parted with, they called Annapolis, in honor of the Queen. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Parkman's _A Half-century of Conflict_, Vol. I. , pp. 1-149. ]

%74. The French take Possession of the Mississippi Valley; the Chain ofForts. %--The peace made at Utrecht was unbroken for thirty years. Butthis long period was, on the part of the French in America, at least, atime of careful preparation for the coming struggle for possession ofthe valleys of the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Lakes. In theMississippi valley most elaborate preparations for defense were alreadyunder way. No sooner did the treaty of Ryswick end the first French warthan a young naval officer named Iberville applied to the King for leaveto take out an expedition and found a colony at the mouth of theMississippi, just as La Salle had attempted to do. Permission wasreadily given, and in 1698 Iberville sailed with two ships from France, and in February, 1699, entered Mobile Bay. Leaving his fleet at anchor, he set off with a party in small boats in search of the great river. Hecoasted along the shore, entered the Mississippi through one of itsthree mouths, and went up the river till he came to an Indian village, where the chief gave him a letter which Tonty, thirteen years before, when in search of La Salle, had written and left in the crotch ofa tree. 

Iberville now knew that he was on the Mississippi; but having seen nospot along its low banks suitable for the site of a city, he went backand led his colony to Biloxi Bay, and there settled it. Thus when theeighteenth century opened there were in all Louisiana but two Frenchsettlements--that founded on the Illinois River by La Salle, and thatbegun by Iberville at Biloxi. But the occupation of Louisiana was nowthe established policy of France, and hardly a year went by without oneor more forts appearing somewhere in the valley. Before 1725 came, Mobile Bay was occupied, New Orleans was founded, and Forts Rosalie, Toulouse, Tombeckbee, Natchitoches, Assumption, and Chartres wereerected. Along the Lakes, Detroit had been founded, Niagara was built in1726, and in 1731 a band of Frenchmen, entering New York, put upCrown Point. [1]

[Footnote 1: Parkman's _A Half-century of Conflict_, Vol. I. , pp. 288-314. For the French posts see map on pp. 74, 75. ]

The meaning of this chain of forts stretching from New Orleans andMobile to Lake Champlain and Montreal, was that the French weredetermined to shut the English out of the valley of the Mississippi, andto keep them away from the shores of the Great Lakes. But they were alsodetermined at the first chance to reconquer Annapolis and Nova Scotia, which they had lost by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. As a veryimportant step towards the accomplishment of this purpose, the Frenchselected a harbor on the southeast coast of Cape Breton Island, andthere built Louisburg, a fortress so strong that the French officersboasted that it could be defended by a garrison of women. 

%75. The Struggle for New France; "King George's War. "%--Such was thesituation in America when (in March, 1744) France declared war onEngland and began what in Europe was called the "War of the AustrianSuccession"; but in our country it was known as "King George's War, "because George II. Was then King of England. The French, with theirusual promptness, rushed down and burned the little English post ofCanso, in Nova Scotia, carried off the garrison, and attacked Annapolis, where they were driven off. That Nova Scotia could be saved, seemedhopeless. Nevertheless, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts determined tomake the attempt, and that the King might know the exact situation hesent to London, with a dispatch, an officer named Captain Ryal, who hadbeen taken prisoner at Canso and afterwards released on parole. [2]

[Footnote 2: The reception of that officer well illustrates the grossignorance of America and American affairs which then existed in England. When the Duke of Newcastle, who was prime minister, read the dispatch, he exclaimed: "Oh, yes--yes--to be sure. Annapolis must bedefended--troops must be sent to Annapolis. Pray where is Annapolis?Cape Breton an island! Wonderful! Show it me on the map. So it is, sureenough. My dear sir [to Captain Ryal], you always bring us good news. Imust go and tell the King that Cape Breton is an island. "]

Although Shirley applied to the King for help with which to defend NovaScotia, he knew full well that the burden of defense would fall on thecolonies. And with that determination and persistence which alwaysbrings success he labored hard to persuade New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island to join with Massachusetts in an effort to captureLouisburg. It would be delightful to tell how he overcame alldifficulties; how the young men rallied on the call for troops; how atthe end of March, 1745, 4000 of them in a hundred transports andaccompanied by fourteen armed ships set sail, followed by the prayers ofall New England, and after a siege of six weeks took the fortress on the17th of June, 1745. But the story is too long. [1] It is enough to knowthat the victory was hailed with delight on both sides of the Atlantic, but that when peace came, in 1748, the British government was still soblind to the struggle for North America which had been going on forfifty years, that Louisburg was restored to the French. 

[Footnote 1: Read Samuel Adams Drake's _Taking of Louisburg_; Parkman's_A Half-century of Conflict_, Vol. II. , pp. 78-161. ]

%76. The French on the Allegheny River; the Buried Plates. %--WithLouisburg back in their possession and no territory lost, the Frenchwent on more vigorously than ever with their preparations to shut theBritish out of the Mississippi valley; and as but one highway to thevalley, the Ohio River, was still unguarded, the governor of Canada, in1749, dispatched Céloron de Bienville with a band of men in twenty-threebirch-bark canoes to take formal possession of the valley. Paddling upthe St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, they carried their canoes across toLake Erie, and, skirting the southeastern shore, they landed and crossedto Chautauqua Lake, down which and its outlet they floated to theAllegheny River. Once on the Allegheny, the ceremony of takingpossession began. The men were drawn up, and Louis XV. Was proclaimedking of all the region drained by the Ohio. The arms of France stampedon a sheet of tin were nailed to a tree, at the foot of which a leadplate was buried in the ground. On the plate was an inscription claimingthe Ohio, and all the streams that run into it, in the name of the Kingof France. 

[Illustration: [1]Half of one of the lead plates]

[Footnote 1: Now owned by the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. ]

 * * * * *

TRANSLATION OF THE ENTIRE INSCRIPTION

In the year 1749, during the reign of Louis XV. , King of France, we, Céleron, commander of a detachment sent by the Marquis de laGallissonière, commander in chief of New France, to restore tranquillityin some savage villages of these districts, have buried this plate atthe confluence of the Ohio and ... This ... Near the river Ohio, aliasBeautiful River, as a monument of our having retaken possession of thesaid river Ohio and of those that fall into the same, and of all thelands on both sides as far as the sources of the said rivers, as well asof those of which preceding kings have enjoyed possession, partly by theforce of arms, partly by treaties, especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix-la-Chapelle. 

 * * * * *

A second plate was buried below the mouth of French Creek; a third nearthe mouth of Wheeling Creek; and a fourth at the mouth of the Muskingum, where half a century later it was found protruding from the river bankby a party of boys while bathing. Yet another was unearthed at the mouthof the Great Kanawha by a freshet, and was likewise found by a boy whileplaying at the water's edge. The last plate was hidden where the GreatMiami joins the Ohio; and this done, Céloron crossed Ohio to Lake Erieand went back to Montreal. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read T. J. Chapman's _The French in the Allegheny Valley_, pp. 9-23, 187-197; Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I. , pp. 36-62;Winsor's _The Mississippi Basin_, pp. 252-255. ]

%77. The French build Forts on the Allegheny. %--This formal takingpossession of the valleys of the Allegheny and the Ohio was all wellenough in its way; but the French knew that if they really intended tokeep out the British they must depend on forts and troops, and not onlead plates. To convince the French King of this, required time; so thatit was not till 1752 that orders were given to fortify the route takenby Céloron in 1749. The party charged with this duty repaired to thelittle peninsula where is now the city of Erie, and there built a logfort which they called Presque Isle. Having done this, they cut a roadtwenty miles long, to the site of Waterford, Pa. , and built Fort LeBoeuf, and later one at Venango, the present site of the townof Franklin. 

%78. Washington's First Public Service. %--The arrival of the Frenchin western Pennsylvania alarmed and excited no one so much as GovernorRobert Dinwiddie of Virginia. He had two good reasons for hisexcitement. In the first place, Virginia, because of the interpretationshe placed on her charter of 1609, claimed to own the Allegheny valley(see p. 33). In the second place, the governor and a number of Virginiaplanters were deeply interested in a great land company called the OhioCompany, to which the King of England had given 500, 000 acres lyingalong the Ohio River between the Monongahela and the Kanawha rivers, aregion which the French claimed, and toward which they were moving. 

As soon, therefore, as Dinwiddie heard that the French were reallybuilding forts in the upper Allegheny valley, he determined to make aformal demand for their withdrawal, and chose as his messenger GeorgeWashington, then a young man of twenty-one, and adjutant general of theVirginia militia. 

Washington's instructions bade him go to Logstown, on the Ohio, find outall he could as to the whereabouts of the French, and then proceed tothe commanding officer, deliver the letter of Dinwiddie, and demand ananswer. He was especially charged to ascertain how many French forts hadbeen erected, how many soldiers there were in each, how far apart theposts were, and if they were to be supported from Quebec. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read T. J. Chapman's _The, French in the Allegheny Valley_, pp. 23-47; Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I. , pp. 128-161; Lodge's_George Washington_, pp. 62-69. ]

With that promptness which distinguished him during his whole life, Washington set out on his perilous journey the very day he received hisinstructions, and made his way first to Logstown, and then to Fort LeBoeuf, where he delivered Governor Dinwiddie's letter to the Frenchcommandant. The reply of Saint-Pierre--for that was the name of theFrench commandant--was that he would send the letter of Dinwiddie to thegovernor of Canada, the Marquis Duquesne (doo-kan'), and that, in themeantime, he would hold the fort. 

[Illustration: The French and the English Forts]

%79. Fort Duquesne. %--When Dinwiddie read the answer of Saint-Pierre, he saw clearly that the time had come to act. The French were in forceon the upper Allegheny. Unless something was done to drive them out, they would soon be at the forks of the Ohio, and once they were there, the splendid tract of the Ohio Company would be lost forever. Without amoment's delay he decided to take possession of the forks of the Ohio, and raised two companies of militia of 100 men each. A trader namedWilliam Trent was in command of one of the companies, and that no timeshould be lost, he, with forty men, hurried forward, and, February 17, 1754, drove the first stake of a stockade that was to surround a fort onthe site of the city of Pittsburg. While the English were still at workon their fort, April 17, 1754, a body of French and Indians came downfrom Le Boeuf, and bade them leave the valley. Trent was away, and theworking party was in command of an ensign named Ward, who, as resistancewas useless, surrendered, and was allowed to march off with his men. TheFrench then finished the fort Trent had begun, and called it FortDuquesne, after the governor of Canada. 

%80. "Join or Die. "%--Meantime the legislature of Virginia voted£10, 000 for the defense of the Ohio valley, and promised a land bountyto every man who would volunteer to fight the French and Indians. JoshuaFrye was made colonel, and Washington lieutenant colonel of the troopsthus to be raised. As some time must elapse before the ranks could befilled, Washington took seventy-five men and (in March, 1754) set off tohelp Trent; but he had not gone far on his way when Ensign Ward met him(where Cumberland, Md. , now is) and told him all about the surrender. Accounts of the affair were at once sent to the governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. 

[Illustration: JOIN, or DIE. ]

In publishing one of these in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_, Franklininserted the above picture at the top of the account. [1]

[Footnote 1: There is an old superstition, then very generally believed, that if one cuts a snake in pieces and allows the pieces to touch, thesnake will not die, but will live and become whole again. By thispicture Franklin meant that unless the colonies joined for defenseagainst the French they would die; that is, be conquered. ]

%81. Albany Plan of Union. %--The picture was apt for the followingreason. The Lords of Trade in London had ordered the colonies to senddelegates to Albany to make a treaty with the Iroquois Indians, and tothis congress Franklin purposed to submit a plan for union against theFrench. The plan drawn up by the congress was not approved by thecolonies, so the scheme of union came to naught. 

%82. Washington's Expedition. %--Meanwhile great events were happeningin the west. When Washington met Ensign Ward at Cumberland and heard thestory of the surrender, he was at a loss just what to do; but knowingthat he was expected to do something, he decided to go to a storehousewhich the Ohio Company had built at the mouth of a stream calledRedstone Creek in southwestern Pennsylvania. Pushing along, cutting ashe went the first road that ever led down to the valley of theMississippi from the Atlantic slope, he reached a narrow glade calledthe Great Meadows and there began to put up a breastwork which he namedFort Necessity. While so engaged news came that the French were near. Washington thereupon took a few men, and, coming suddenly on the French, killed or captured them all save one. Among the dead was Jumonville, theleader of the party. Well satisfied with this exploit, Washington pushedon with his entire force towards the Ohio. But, hearing that the Frenchwere advancing, he fell back to Fort Necessity, and there awaited them. He did not wait long; for the French and Indians came down in greatforce, and on July 4, 1754, forced him, after a brave resistance, tosurrender. He was allowed to march out with drums beating and flagsflying. [1]

[Footnote 1: Lodge's _George Washington_, pp. 69-74; Winsor's _TheMississippi Basin_, pp. 294-315. ]

%83. The French and Indian War. %--Thus was begun what the colonistscalled the French and Indian War, but what was really a strugglebetween the French and the British for the possession of America. Knowing it to be such, both sides made great preparations for thecontest. The French stood on the defensive. The British made the attack, and early in 1755 sent over one of their ablest officers, Major GeneralEdward Braddock, to be commander in chief in America. He summoned thecolonial governors to meet him at Alexandria, Va. , where a plan for acampaign was agreed on. 

%84. Plan for the War. %--Vast stretches of dense and almostimpenetrable forest then separated the colonies of the two nations, butthrough this forest were three natural highways of communication: 1. Lake George, Lake Champlain, and the St. Lawrence River. 2. The Hudson, the Mohawk, Lake Ontario, and the Niagara River. 3. The Potomac to FortCumberland, and through the forest to Fort Duquesne. 

It was decided, therefore, to have four expeditions. 

1. One was to go north from New York to Lake Champlain, take the Frenchfort at Crown Point, and move against Quebec. 

2. Another was to sail from New England and make such a demonstrationagainst the French towns to the northeast, as would prevent the Frenchin that quarter going off to defend Quebec and Crown Point. 

3. The third was to start from Albany, go up the Mohawk, and down theOswego River to Lake Ontario, and along its shores to the Niagara River. 

4. The fourth was to go from Fort Cumberland across Pennsylvania to FortDuquesne. 

%85. Braddock's Defeat, July 9, 1755. %--Braddock took command of thislast expedition and made Washington one of his aids. For a while hefound it impossible to move his army, for in Virginia horses and wagonswere very scarce, and without them he could not carry his baggage ordrag his cannon. At last Benjamin Franklin, then deputypostmaster-general of the colonies, persuaded the farmers ofPennsylvania, who had plenty, to rent the wagons and horses tothe general. 

All this took time, so that it was June before the army left FortCumberland and literally began to cut its way through the woods to FortDuquesne. The march was slow, but all went well till the troops hadcrossed the Monongahela River and were but eight miles from the fort, when suddenly the advance guard came face to face with an army ofIndians and French. The Indians and French instantly hid in the bushesand behind trees, and poured an incessant fire into the ranks of theBritish. They, too, would gladly have fought in Indian fashion. ButBraddock thought this cowardly and would not allow them to get behindtrees, so they stood huddled in groups, a fine mark for the Indians, till so many were killed that a retreat had to be ordered. Then theyfled, and had it not been for Washington and his Virginians, who coveredtheir flight, they would probably have been killed to a man. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I. , Chap. 7, pp. 162-187; T. J. Chapman's _The French in the Allegheny Valley_, pp. 60-72;Sargeant's _History of Braddock's Expedition_. ]

Braddock was wounded just as the retreat began, and died a few dayslater. 

%86. The Other Expeditions. %--The expedition against Niagara was afailure. The officer in command did not take his army further thanOswego on Lake Ontario. 

The expedition against Crown Point was partially successful, and astubborn battle was fought and a victory won over the French on theshores of that beautiful sheet of water which the English ever aftercalled Lake George in honor of the King. 

%87. War declared. %--Up to this time all the fighting had been donealong the frontier in America. But in May, 1756, Great Britain formallydeclared war against France. The French at once sent over Montcalm, [1]the very ablest Frenchman that ever commanded on this continent, andthere followed two years of warfare disastrous to the British. Montcalmtook and burned Oswego, won over the Indians to the cause of France, andwas about to send a strong fleet to attack New England, when, toward theend of 1757, William Pitt was made virtually (though not in name) PrimeMinister of England. 

[Footnote 1: Read Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Vol. I. , pp. 318-380. ]

William Pitt was one of the greatest Englishmen that ever lived. Hecould see exactly what to do, and he could pick out exactly the rightman to do it. No wonder, then, that as soon as he came into power theBritish began to gain victories. 

%88. The Victories of 1758. %--Once more the French were attacked attheir three vulnerable points, and this time with success. In 1758Louisburg surrendered to Amherst and Boscawen. In that same yearWashington captured Fort Duquesne, which, in honor of the great PrimeMinister, was called Fort Pitt. A provincial officer named Bradstreetdestroyed Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. This was a heavy blow to theFrench; for with Fort Frontenac gone and Fort Duquesne in English hands, the Ohio was cut off from Quebec. 

An attack on Ticonderoga, however, was repulsed by Montcalm withdreadful loss to the English. 

%89. The Victories of 1759; Wolfe. %--But the defeat was onlytemporary. At the siege of Louisburg a young officer named James Wolfehad greatly distinguished himself, and in return for this was selectedby Pitt to command an expedition to Quebec. The previous attempts toreach that city had been by way of Lake George. The expedition of Wolfesailed up the St. Lawrence, and landed below the city. 

Quebec stands on the summit of a high hill with precipitous sides, andwas then the most strongly fortified city in America. To take it seemedalmost impossible. But the resolution of Wolfe overcame every obstacle:on the night of September 12, 1759, he led his troops to the foot of thecliff, climbed the heights, and early in the morning had his army drawnup in battle array on the Plains of Abraham, as the plateau behind thecity was called. There a great battle was fought between the French, ledby Montcalm, and the British, led by Wolfe. The British triumphed, andQuebec fell; but Wolfe and Montcalm were among the dead. [1]

[Footnote 1: Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_, Chaps. 25-27; A. Wright's_Life of Wolfe;_ Sloan's _French War and the Revolution_, Chaps. 6-9. ]

[Illustration: European Possessions 1763]

Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been captured a few weeks before. Montreal was taken in 1760, and the long struggle between the French andthe English in America ended in the defeat of the French. The wardragged on in Europe till 1763, when peace was made at Paris. 

%90. France driven out of America. %--With all the details of thetreaty we are not concerned. It is enough for us to know that Francedivided her possessions on this continent between Great Britain andSpain. To Great Britain she gave Canada and Cape Breton, and all theislands save two in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Entering what is now theUnited States, she drew a line down the middle of the Mississippi Riverfrom its source to a point just north of New Orleans. To Great Britainshe surrendered all her territory east of this line. To Spain she gaveall her possessions to the west of this line, together with the city ofNew Orleans. But Great Britain, during the war, had taken Havana fromSpain. To get this back, Spain now gave up Florida in exchange. 

At the end of the war with France, Great Britain thus found herself inpossession of Canada and all that part of the United States which liesbetween the Atlantic and the Mississippi, the little strip at the mouthof the river alone excepted. 

SUMMARY

We have now come to the time when the third European power was drivenfrom our country. The first was Sweden when New Sweden was captured bythe Dutch. The second was Holland when New Netherland was captured bythe English. The third was France. 

1. The struggle for the French possessions in America may be dividedinto two periods: A. That from 1689 to 1748, when the contest was forAcadia and New France. B. That from 1754 to 1763, when the struggle wasfor Louisiana as well as New France. 

2. The first war, "King William's, " was indecisive, but the second, "Queen Anne's, " ended (1713) in the transfer of Acadia to England. 

3. After the treaty of Utrecht, 1713, the French began seriously to takepossession of the Mississippi valley, and began a chain of forts tostretch from New Orleans and Mobile to Montreal. 

4. "King George's War" interrupted this work for a few years(1744-1748), but in 1749 Céleron was sent to bury plates in the valleysof the Allegheny and Ohio and claim them in the name of France. 

5. The next step after claiming the valleys was to take armedpossession, and in 1752 the French began to build forts. 

6. This alarmed the governor of Virginia, who sent Washington to bid theFrench leave the Allegheny valley. When they refused, troops were sentto build a fort on the site of what is now Pittsburg; but these men, under Trent and Ward, were driven away, as were also the reinforcementsunder Washington (1764). 

7. Braddock (with Washington) was next sent against the French, who hadbuilt Fort Duquesne. He was surprised by the Indians (July 9, 1755), defeated, and killed. 

8. The "French and Indian War" thus opened was fought with varyingsuccess till 1760, when the British held Quebec, Montreal, FortDuquesne, and all the other French strongholds in America. In 1763 peacewas made, and nearly all the French possessions east of the MississippiRiver were surrendered to the British. 

 * * * * *THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM AMERICA:

THE STRUGGLE FOR NEW FRANCE AND ACADIA:

King William's War:

 1690. Sir W. Phips takes Port Royal. Sir W. Phips attacks Quebec. Montreal attacked. 1690-1697. The New York and New England frontier ravaged by the French and Indians. 1697. Peace of Ryswick. Port Royal given back to the French. 

Queen Anne's War. Acadia lost to the French:

 1702-1713. Frontier of New England ravaged. 1710. Port Royal again taken. 1711. Quebec again attacked. 1713. Peace of Utrecht. Acadia held by the English. 

King George's War:

 1744. French attack Canso and Annapolis (Port Royal). 1745. Louisburg (Cape Breton Island) taken. 1748. Louisburg given back to the French. 

THE STRUGGLE FOR NEW FRANCE AND LOUISIANA. 

Occupation of Louisiana:

 1699. The French at the mouth of the Mississippi. 1701. The occupation of the valley begun. 1701-1748. The chain of forts joining New Orleans and Montreal. 1749. The French on the Allegheny. Céleron's expedition. The buried plates. 1753. The French fortify the Allegheny valley. 

The French and Indian War:

 1754-1763. The struggle for final possession. 1758. The capture of Louisburg. 1759. The capture of Quebec. 1760. The capture of Montreal. 1763. The French abandon America. 

CHAPTER IX

LIFE IN THE COLONIES IN 1763

%91. Things unknown in 1763. %--Had a traveler landed on our shores in1763 and made a journey through the English colonies in America, hewould have seen a country utterly unlike the United States of to-day. The entire population, white man and black, freeman and slave, was notso great as that of New York or Philadelphia or Chicago in our time. Ifwe were to write a list of all the things we now consider as realnecessaries of daily life and mark off those unknown to the men of 1763, not one quarter would remain. No man in the country had ever seen astove, or a furnace, or a friction match, or an envelope, or a piece ofmineral coal. From the farmer we should have to take the reaper, thedrill, the mowing machine, and every kind of improved rake and plow, andgive him back the scythe, the cradle, and the flail. From our houseswould go the sewing machine, the daily newspaper, gas, running water;and from our tables, the tomato, the cauliflower, the eggplant, and manyvarieties of summer fruits. We should have to destroy every railroad, every steamboat, every factory and mill, pull down every line oftelegraph, silence every telephone, put out every electric light, andtear up every telegraphic cable from the beds of innumerable rivers andseas. We should have to take ether and chloroform from the surgeon, andgalvanized iron and India rubber from the arts, and give up every sortof machine moved by steam. 

[Illustration: Lamp and sadiron]

[Illustration: Postrider (Footnote: From an old print, 1760)]

%92. State of the Arts, Sciences, and Industry. %--The appliances lefton the list, because in some form they were known to the men of 1763, would now be thought crude and clumsy. There were printing presses inthose days, --perhaps fifty in all the colonies. But they were small, were worked by hand, and were so slow that the most expert pressmanusing one of them could not have printed so much in three working daysas a modern steam press can run off in five minutes. There was a generalpost, and Benjamin Franklin was deputy postmaster-general for thenorthern district of the colonies. But the letters were carried thirtymiles a day by postriders on horseback, and there were never more thanthree mails a week between even the great towns. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday a postrider left New York city for Philadelphia. Every Monday and Thursday another left New York for Boston. Once eachweek a rider left for Albany on his way to Quebec. On the firstWednesday of each month a packet boat sailed from New York for Falmouth, England, with the mail, and this was the only mail between Great Britainand her American colonies. We put electricity to a thousand uses; but in1763 it was a scientific toy. Franklin had just proved by his experimentwith the kite that lightning and electricity were one and the same, andseveral other men were amusing themselves and their hearers by ringingbells, exploding powder, and making colored sparks. But it was put to noother use. If we take up a daily newspaper published in one of our greatcities and read the column of wants, we find in them twenty occupationsnow giving a comfortable living to millions of men. Yet not one of thesetwenty existed in 1763. The district messenger, the telegraph operator, the typewriter, the stenographer, the bookkeeper, the canvasser, thesalesman, the commercial traveler, the engineer, the car driver, thehackman, the conductor, the gripman, the brakeman, the electrician, thelineman, the elevator boy, and a host of others, follow trades andoccupations which had no existence in the middle of theeighteenth century. 

 Run away, the 23d of this Instant _January_, from _Silas Crispin_ of _Burlington_, Taylor, a Servant Man named _Joseph Morris, _by Trade a Taylor, aged about 22 Years, of a middle Stature, swarthy Complexion, light gray Eyes, his Hair clipp'd off, mark'd with a large pit of the Small Pox on one Cheek near his Eye, had on when he went away a good Felt Hat, a yelowish Drugget Coat with Pleits behind, an old Ozenbrigs Vest, two Ozenbrigs Shirts, a pair of Leather Breeches handsomely worm'd and flower'd up the Knees, yarn Stockings and good round toe'd Shoes. Took with him a large pair of Sheers crack'd in one of the Bows & mark'd with the Word [_Savoy_]. Whoever takes up the said Servant, and secures him so that his Matter may have him again, shall have _Three Pounds_ Reward besides reasonable Charges, paid by me _Silas Griffin. _

 From a Philadelphia newspaper

%93. Labor. %--On the other hand, if we take up a newspaper of thatday and read the advertisements, we find that a great deal of whatexisted then does not exist now. The newspapers were published in a fewof the large towns, and appeared not every day, but once a week. In thelargest of them would be from seventy-five to eighty advertisements, setting forth that such a merchant had just received from England or theWest Indies a stock of new goods which he would sell for cash; that the_Charming Nancy_ would sail in a few weeks for Londonderry in Ireland, or for Barbados, or for Amsterdam in Holland, and wanted a cargo; that atract of land or a plantation would be sold "at vendue, " or, as we say, at auction; that a reward of five pistoles would be paid for the arrestof "a lusty negroe man" or an "indented servant" or an "apprentice lad, "who had run away from his owner or master. Very rarely is a call madefor a mechanic or a workman of any sort. 

[Illustration: From a Philadelphia newspaper]

The reason for this was two fold. In the first place, negro slaveryexisted in all the thirteen colonies. In the second place, there werethousands of whites in many of the colonies in a state of temporaryservitude, which was sometimes voluntary and sometimes involuntary. 

Those who served against their will were convicts and felons, not onlymen and women who had been guilty of stealing, cheating, and the like, but also forgers, counterfeiters, and murderers, who were transported bythousands from the English prisons to the colonies and sold into slaveryor service for seven or fourteen years. [1] Advertisements are extant inwhich the masters from whom such servants have run away warn the peopleto beware of them. 

[Footnote 1: One act of Parliament, for instance, provided that personssentenced to be whipped or branded might, if they wished, escape thepunishment by serving seven years in the colonies, and never returningto England. Another allowed convicts sentenced to death to commute thesentence by serving fourteen years. ]

But all "indented" or bond servants were not criminals. Many werereputable persons who sold themselves into service for a term of yearsin return for transportation to America. Others, generally boys andyoung women, had been kidnaped and sold by the persons who stole them. 

%94. Indentured Servants. %--In the case of such as came voluntarily, carefully drawn agreements called indentures would be made in writing. The captain of the ship would agree to bring the emigrant to America. The emigrant would agree in return to serve the captain three or fiveyears. When the ship reached port, the captain would advertise the factthat he had carpenters, tailors, farmers, shoemakers, etc. , for sale, and whoever wanted such labor would go on board the ship and for perhapsfifty dollars buy a man bound to serve him for several years in returnfor food, clothes, and lodging. Not only men, but also women andchildren, were sold in this way, and were known as "indented servants, "or "redemptioners, " because they redeemed their time of service withlabor. Their lot seems to have been a hard one; for the young men wereconstantly running away, and the newspapers are full of advertisementsoffering rewards for their arrest. 

What we call the workingman, the day laborer, the mechanic, the millhand, had no existence as classes. The great corporations, railroads, express companies, mills, factories of every sort, which now cover ourland and give employment to five times as many men and women as lived inall the colonies in 1763, are the creatures of our own time. 

[Illustration: Wigs and wig bag]

[Illustration: Flax wheel]

%95. No Manufacturers. %--For this state of things England was largelyto blame. For one hundred years past every kind of manufacture thatcould compete with the manufactures of the mother country had beencrushed by law. In order to help her iron makers, she forbade thecolonists to set up iron furnaces and slitting mills. That her clothmanufacturers might flourish, she forbade the colonists to send theirwoolen goods to any country whatever, or even from one colony toanother. Under this law it was a crime to knit a pair of mittens or apair of socks and send them from Boston to Providence or from New Yorkto Newark, or from Philadelphia across the Delaware to New Jersey. Inthe interest of English hatters the colonists were not allowed to sendhats to any foreign country, nor from one colony to another, and aserious effort was made to prevent the manufacture of hats in America. People in this country were obliged to wear English-made hats. Takingthe country through, every saw, every ax, every hammer, every needle, pin, tack, piece of tape, and a hundred other articles of daily use camefrom Great Britain. 

Every farmhouse, however, was a little factory, and every farmer ajack-of-all-trades. He and his sons made their own shoes, beat out nailsand spikes, hinges, and every sort of ironmongery, and constructed muchof the household furniture. The wife and her daughters manufactured theclothing, from dressing the flax and carding the wool to cutting thecloth; knit the mittens and socks; and during the winter made strawbonnets to sell in the towns in the spring. 

Even in such towns as were large enough to support a few artisans, eachmade, with the help of an apprentice, and perhaps a journeyman, all thearticles he sold. 

[Illustration: Hand loom[1]]

%96. The Cities. %--If we take a map of our country and run over thegreat cities of to-day, we find that except along the seacoast hardlyone existed, in 1765, even in name. Detroit was a little Frenchsettlement surrounded with a high stockade. New Orleans existed, and St. Louis had just been founded, but they both belonged to Spain. Mobile andPensacola and Natchez and Vincennes consisted of a few huts gatheredabout old French forts. There was no city, no town worthy of the name, in the English colonies west of the Alleghany Mountains. Along theAtlantic coast we find Portsmouth, Boston, Providence, New Haven, NewYork, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Alexandria, Williamsburg, Charleston, Savannah, and others of less note. But the largest of these were merecollections of a few hundred houses ranged along streets, none of whichwere sewered and few of which were paved or lighted. The watchman wenthis rounds at night with rattle and lantern, called out the hours andthe state of the weather, and stopped and demanded the name of everyperson found walking the streets after nine o'clock. To travel on Sundaywas a serious and punishable offense, as it was on any day to smoke inthe streets, or run from house to house with hot coals, which in thosedays, when there were no matches, were often used instead of flint andsteel to light fires. 

[Footnote 1: From an old loom in the National Museum, Washington. ]

[Illustration: Colonial mansion in Charleston]

Travel between the large towns was almost entirely by sailing vessel, oron horseback. The first stagecoach-and-four in New England began itstrips in 1744. The first stage between New York and Philadelphia was notset up till 1756, and spent three days on the road. 

%97. The Three Groups of Colonies. %--It has always been usual toarrange the colonies in three groups: 1. The Eastern or New EnglandColonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut). 2. The Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, andDelaware). 3. The Southern Colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia). Now, this arrangement is good not onlyfrom a geographical point of view, but also because the people, thecustoms, the manners, the occupations, in each of these groups were veryunlike the people and the ways of living in the others. 

[Illustration: New England mansion]

%98. Occupations in New England. %--In New England the colonists werealmost entirely English, though there were some Scotch, someScotch-Irish, a few Huguenot refugees from France, and, in Rhode Island, a few Portuguese Jews. As the climate and soil did not admit of raisingany great staple, such as rice or tobacco, the people "took to the sea. "They cut down trees, with which the land was covered, built ships, andsailed away to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland for cod, and to thewhale fisheries for oil. They went to the English, Dutch, and SpanishWest Indian Islands, with flour, salt meat, horses, oxen; with saltedsalmon, cod, and mackerel; with staves for barrels; with onions andsalted oysters. In return, they came back with sugar, molasses, cotton, wool, logwood, and Spanish dollars with which the New England Coloniespaid for the goods they took from England. They went to Spain, wheretheir ships were often sold, the captains chartering English vessels andcoming home with cargoes of goods made in England. Six hundred ships aresaid to have been employed in the foreign trade of Boston, and more thana thousand in the fisheries and the trade along the coast. 

[Illustration: Dutch House at Albany[1]]

[Footnote 1: From an old print. ]

Farming, outside of Connecticut, yielded little more than a baresubsistence. Manufactures in general were forbidden by English law. Paper and hats were made in small quantities, leather was tanned, lumberwas sawed, and rum was distilled from molasses; but it was on homemademanufactures that the people depended. 

%99. Occupations in the Middle Colonies. %--In the Middle Colonies thepopulation was a mixture of people from many European countries. Theline of little villages which began at the west end of Long Island andstretched up the Hudson to Albany, and out the Mohawk toSchenectady---the settled part of New York--contained Englishmen, Irishmen, Dutchmen, French Huguenots, Germans from the Rhine countries, and negroes from Africa. The chief occupations of those people werefarming, making flour, and carrying on an extensive commerce withEngland, Spain, and the West Indian Islands. 

[Illustration: Shoes worn by Palatines in Pennsylvania]

In New Jersey the population was almost entirely English, but inPennsylvania it was as mixed as in New York. Around Philadelphia theEnglish predominated, but with them were mingled Swedes, Dutch, Welsh, Germans, and Scotch-Irish. Taken together, the Germans and theScotch-Irish far outnumbered the English, and made up the mass of thepopulation between the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna rivers. Both wereself-willed and stubborn, and they were utterly unable to get alongtogether peaceably, so that their settlements ran across the state intwo parallel bands, in one of which whole regions could be found inwhich not a word of English was spoken. Indeed, then, and long after thenineteenth century began, the laws of Pennsylvania were printed both inEnglish and in German. The chief occupation of the people was farming;and it is safe to say that no such farms, no such cattle, no such grain, flour, provisions, could be found in any other part of the country. Lumber, too, was cut and sold in great quantities; and along thefrontier there was a lively fur trade with the Indians. At Philadelphiawas centered a fine trade with Europe and the West Indies. Had it notbeen for the action of the mother country, manufactures would haveflourished greatly; even as it was, iron and paper were manufactured inconsiderable quantities. 

%100. Occupations in the Southern Colonies. %--South of Pennsylvania, and especially south of the Potomac River, lay a region utterly unlikeanything to the north of it. In Virginia, there were no cities, no largetowns, no centers of population. At an early day in the history of thecolony the legislature had attempted to remedy this, and had orderedtowns to be built at certain places, had made them the only ports whereships from abroad could be entered, had established tobacco warehousesin them, had offered special privileges to tradesmen who would settle inthem, and had provided that each should have a market and a fair. Butthe success was small, and Fredericksburg and Alexandria and Petersburgwere straggling villages. Jamestown, the old capital, had by this timeceased to exist. Williamsburg, the new capital, was a village of 200houses. There was no business, no incentive in Virginia to build towns. The planters owned immense plantations along the river banks, and raisedtobacco, which, when gathered, cured, and packed into hogsheads, wasrolled away to the nearest wharf for inspection and shipment to London. In those early days, when good roads were unknown and wagons few, shaftswere attached to each hogshead by iron bolts driven into the heads, andthe cask was thus turned into a huge roller. With each year's crop wouldgo a long list of articles of every sort, --hardware, glass, crockery, clothing, furniture, household utensils, wines, --which the agent wasinstructed to buy with the proceeds of the tobacco and send back to theplanter when the ships came a year later for another crop. The countryabounded in trees, yet tables, chairs, boxes, cart wheels, bowls, birchbrooms, all came from the mother country. The wood used for buildinghouses was actually cut, sent to England as logs to be dressed, and thentaken back to Virginia for use. 

[Illustration: Tobacco rolling[1]]

[Footnote 1: From a model in the National Museum, Washington. ]

Maryland was in the same condition. Her people raised tobacco, and withit bought their clothing, household goods, brass and copper wares, andiron utensils in Great Britain. 

In South Carolina rice was the great staple, just as tobacco was thestaple of Virginia, and there too were large plantations and no towns. All the social, commercial, legal, and political life of the colonycentered in Charleston, from which a direct trade was carried onwith London. 

[Illustration: %An old Maryland manor house%]

Labor on the plantations of Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia wasperformed exclusively by negro slaves and redemptioners. 

%101. Civil Government in the English Colonies. %--If we arrange thecolonies according to the kind of civil government in each, we find thatthey fall into three classes:

1. The charter colonies (Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island). 

2. The proprietary colonies (Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland). 

3. The royal, or provincial, colonies (New Hampshire, New York, NewJersey, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia). 

The charters of the first group were written contracts between the Kingand the colonists, defined the share each should have in the government, and were not to be changed without the consent of both parties. Incolonies of the second group some individual, called the proprietary, was granted a great tract of land by the King, and, under a royalcharter, was given power to sell the land to settlers, establishgovernment, and appoint the governors of his colony. In the third group, the King appointed the governors and instructed them as to the way inwhich he wished his colonies to be ruled. 

With these differences, all the colonies had the same form ofgovernment. In each there was a legislature elected by the people; ineach the right to vote was limited to men who owned land, paid taxes, had a certain yearly income, and were members of some Christian church. The legislature consisted of two branches: the lower house, to which thepeople elected delegates; and the upper house, or council, appointed bythe governor. These legislatures could do many things, but their powerswere limited and their acts were subject to review: 1. They could donothing contrary to the laws of England. 2. Whatever they did could bevetoed by the governors, and no bill could be passed over the veto. 3. All laws passed by a colonial legislature (except in the case ofConnecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland), and approved by a governor, must even then be sent to England to be examined by the King in Council, and could be "disallowed" or vetoed by the King at any time within threeyears. This power was used so constantly that the colonial legislatures, in time, would pass laws to run for two years, and when that timeexpired would reënact them for two years more, and so on in order toavoid the veto. In this way the colonists became used to three politicalinstitutions which were afterwards embodied in what is now the Americansystem of state and national government: 1. The written constitutiondefining the powers of government. 2. The exercise of the veto power bythe governor. 3. The setting aside of laws by a judicial body from whosedecision there is no appeal. 

%102. The Colonial Governors. %--The governor of a royal province wasthe personal representative of the King, and as such had vast power. The legislature could meet only when he called it. He could at anymoment prorogue it (that is, command it to adjourn to a certain day) ordissolve it, and, if the King approved, he need never call it togetheragain. He was the chief justice of the highest colonial court, heappointed all the judges, and, as commander in chief of the militia, appointed all important officers. Yet even he was subject to somecontrol, for his salary was paid by the colony over which he ruled, and, by refusing to pay this salary, the legislature could, and over and overagain did, force him to approve acts he would not otherwise havesanctioned. In Connecticut and Rhode Island the people elected thegovernors. This right once existed also in Massachusetts; but when theold charter was swept away in 1684, and replaced by a new one in 1691, the King was given power to appoint the governor, who could summon, dissolve, and prorogue the legislature at his pleasure. 

%103. Lords of Trade and Plantations. %--That the King should givepersonal attention to all the details of government in his colonies inAmerica, was not to be expected. In 1696, therefore, a body called theLords of the Board of Trade and Plantations was commissioned by the Kingto do this work for him. These Lords of Trade corresponded with thegovernors, made recommendations, bade them carry out this or thatpolicy, veto this or that class of laws, examined all the laws sent overby the legislatures, and advised the King as to which should bedisallowed, or vetoed. 

In the early years of our colonial history the Parliament of England hadno share in the direction of colonial affairs. It was the King who ownedall the land, made all the grants, gave all the charters, created allthe colonies, governed many of them, and stoutly denied the right ofParliament to meddle. But when Charles I. Was beheaded, the LongParliament took charge of the management of affairs in this country, andalthough much of it went back to the King at the Restoration in 1660, Parliament still continued to legislate for the colonies in a fewmatters. Thus, for instance, Parliament by one act established thepostal service, and fixed the rates of postage; by another it regulatedthe currency, and by another required the colonists to change from theOld Style to the New Style--that is, to stop using the Julian calendarand to count time in future by the Gregorian calendar; by another itestablished a uniform law of naturalization; and from time to time itpassed acts for the purpose of regulating colonial trade. 

%104. Acts of Trade and Navigation. %--The number of these acts isvery large; but their purpose was four fold:

1. They required that colonial trade should be carried on in ships builtand owned in England or in the colonies, and manned to the extent of twothirds of the crew by English subjects. 

2. They provided a long list of colonial products that should not besent to any foreign ports other than a port of England. Goods orproducts not in the list might be sent to any other part of the world. Thus tobacco, sugar, indigo, copper, furs, rice (if the rice was for aport north of Cape Finisterre), must go to England; but lumber, saltfish, and provisions might go (in English or colonial ships) to France, or Spain, or to other foreign countries. 

3. When trade began to spring up between the colonies, and the NewEngland merchants were competing in the colonial markets with Englishmerchants, an act was passed providing that if a product which went fromone colony to another was of a kind that might have been supplied fromEngland, it must either go to the mother country and then to thepurchasing colony, or pay an export duty at the port where it wasshipped, equal to the import duty it would have to pay in England. 

4. No goods were allowed to be carried from any place in Europe toAmerica unless they were first landed at a port in England. [1]

[Footnote 1: Edward Eggleston's papers in the _Century Magazine_, 1884;Scudder's _Men and Manners One Hundred Years Ago_; Lodge's _EnglishColonies_. ]

SUMMARY

1. The men who began the long struggle for the rights of Englishmenlived in a state of society very different from ours, and were utterlyignorant of most of the commonest things we use in daily life. 

2. Labor was performed by slaves, by criminals sent over to the coloniesand sold, and by "indented servants, " or "redemptioners. "

3. Manufactures were forbidden by the laws of trade. Nobody waspermitted to manufacture iron beyond the state of pig or bar iron, ormake woolen goods for export, or make hats. 

4. Taking the colonies in geographical groups, the Eastern were engagedin fishing, in commerce, and in farming; the Middle Colonies wereagricultural and commercial; the Southern were wholly agricultural, andraised two great, staples--rice and tobacco. 

5. As a consequence, town life existed in the Eastern and MiddleColonies, and was little known in the South, particularly in Virginia. 

6. Over the colonies, as a great governing body to aid the King, werethe Lords of Trade and Plantations in London. Under them in America werethe royal and proprietary governors, who with the local coloniallegislatures managed the affairs of the colonies. 

LIFE IN THE COLONIES IN 1763. 

_Social and Industrial Condition_. 

Population. Implements and inventions unknown. The printing press. The postal service. Trades and occupations then unknown. 

Labor. }The apprentice. }The "indented servant. " }The redemptioner. }The slave. 

No manufactures. }Iron makingActs of trade regulating. }Cloth making. The cities. }Hat making. 

Travel. The Navigation Acts. State of agriculture. 

_Government_. 

The charter colonies. The proprietary colonies. The royal colonies. The colonial governor. The Lords of Trade and Plantations. The King. 

CHAPTER X

"LIBERTY, PROPERTY, AND NO STAMPS"

%105. The New Provinces. %--The acquisition of Canada and theMississippi valley made it necessary for England to provide for theirdefense and government. To do this she began by establishing three newprovinces. 

In Canada she marked out the province of Quebec, part of the southboundary of which is now the north boundary of New York, Vermont, NewHampshire, and Maine. 

In the South, out of the territory given by Spain, she made twoprovinces, East and West Florida. The north boundary of West Florida was(1764) a parallel of latitude through the junction of the Yazoo andMississippi rivers. The north boundary of East Florida was part of theboundary of the present state. The territory between the Altamaha andthe St. Marys rivers was "annexed to Georgia. "

%106. The Proclamation Line. %--By the same proclamation whichestablished these provinces, a line was drawn around the head waters ofall the rivers in the United States which flow into the Atlantic Ocean, and the colonists were forbidden to settle to the west of it. All thevalley from the Great Lakes to West Florida, and from the proclamationline to the Mississippi, was set apart for the Indians. 

%107. The Country to be defended. %--Having thus provided for thegovernment of the newly acquired territory, it next became necessary toprovide for its defense; for nobody doubted that both France and Spainwould some day attempt to regain their lost possessions. Arrangementswere therefore made to bring over an army of 10, 000 regular troops, scatter them over the country from Canada to Florida, and maintainthem partly at the expense of the colonies and partly at the expense ofthe crown. 

[Illustration: THE BRITISH COLONIES IN 1764]

The share to be paid by the colonies was to be raised

1. By enforcing the old trade and navigation laws. 

2. By a tax on sugar and molasses brought into the country. 

3. By a stamp tax. 

%108. Trial without Jury. %--In order to enforce the old laws, navalvessels were sent to sail up and down the coast and catch smugglers. Offenders when seized were to be tried in some vice-admiralty court, where they could not have trial by jury. [1]

[Footnote 1: This is one of the things complained of in the Declarationof Independence. ]

%109. The Sugar Act and Stamp Tax. %--The Sugar Act was not a newgrievance. In 1733 Parliament laid a tax of 6_d_. A gallon on molassesand 5_s_. Per hundredweight on sugar brought into this country from anyother place than the British West Indies. This was to force thecolonists to buy their sugar and molasses from nobody but British sugarplanters. After having expired five times and been five times reënacted, the Sugar Act expired for the sixth time in 1763, and the coloniesbegged that it might not be renewed. But Parliament merely reduced themolasses duty to 3_d_. And laid new duties on coffee, French and EastIndian goods, indigo, white sugar, and Spanish and Portuguese wines. Itthen resolved that "for further defraying the expense of protecting thecolonists it would be necessary to charge certain stamp duties in thecolonies. "

At that time, 1764, no such thing as an internal tax laid by Parliamentfor the purpose of raising revenue existed, or ever had existed, inAmerica. Money for the use of the King had always been raised by taxesimposed by the legislatures of the colonies. The moment, therefore, thepeople heard that this money was to be raised in future by parliamentarytaxation, they became much alarmed, and the legislatures instructedtheir business agents in London to protest. 

This the agents did in February, 1765. But Grenville, the PrimeMinister, was not to be persuaded, and on March 22, 1765, Parliamentpassed the Stamp Act[1]. 

[Footnote 1: The exact text of the Stamp Act has been reprinted in_American History Leaflets_, No. 21. For an excellent account of thecauses and consequences of the Stamp Act, read Lecky's _England in theEighteenth Century_, Vol. III. , Chap. 12; Frothingham's _Rise of theRepublic of the United States_, Chap. 5; Channing's _The United Statesof America, 1765-1865_, pp. 41-50. ]

%110. The Stamp Distributors. %--That the collection of the new dutymight give as little offense to the colonists as possible, Grenvilledesired that the stamps and the stamped paper should be sold byAmericans, and invited the agents of the colonies to name men to be"stamp distributors" in their colonies. The law was to go into effect onthe 1st of November, 1765. After that day every piece of vellum, everypiece of paper, on which was written any legal document for use in anycourt, was to be charged with a stamp duty of from three pence to tenpounds sterling. After that day, every license, bond, deed, warrant, bill of lading, indenture, every pamphlet, almanac, newspaper, pack ofcards, must be written or printed on stamped paper to be made in Englandand sold at prices fixed by law. If any dispute arose under the law, thecase might be tried in the vice-admiralty courts without a jury. [2]

[Footnote: The stamps were not the adhesive kind we are now accustomedto fasten on letters. Those used for newspapers and pamphlets andprinted documents consisted of a crown surmounting a circle in whichwere the words, "One Penny Sheet" or "Nine Pence per Quire, " and werestamped on each sheet in red ink by a hand stamp not unlike those usedat the present day to cancel stamps on letters. Others, used on vellumand parchment, consisted of a square piece of blue paper, glued on theparchment, and fastened by a little piece of brass. A design was thenimpressed on the blue paper by means of a little machine like that usedby magistrates and notaries public to impress their seals on legaldocuments. When this was done, the parchment was turned over, and alittle piece of white paper was pasted on the back of the stamp. On thiswhite piece was engraved, in black, the design shown in the secondpicture on p. 113, the monogram "G. R. " meaning Georgius Rex, orKing George. ]

[Illustration: Stamps used in 1765]

The money raised by this tax was not to be taken to England, but was tobe spent in America for the defense of the colonies. Nevertheless, thecolonists were determined that none should be raised. The question wasnot, Shall America support an army? but, Shall Parliament tax America?

%111. The Virginia Resolutions. %--In opposition to this, Virginia nowled the way with a set of resolutions. In the House of Burgesses, as thepopular branch of her legislature was called, was Patrick Henry, thegreatest orator in the colonies. By dint of his fiery words, he forcedthrough a set of resolutions setting forth

1. That the first settlers in Virginia brought with them "all theprivileges and immunities that have at any time been held" by "thepeople of Great Britain. "

2. That their descendants held these rights. 

3. That by two royal charters the people of Virginia had been declaredentitled to all the rights of Englishmen "born within the realmof England. "

4. That one of these rights was that of being taxed "by their ownAssembly. "

5. That they were not bound to obey any law taxing them without consentof their Assembly. [1]

[Footnote 1: These resolutions, printed in full from Henry's manuscriptcopy, are in Channing's _The United States of America, 1765-1865, _pp. 51, 52. They were passed May 29, 1765. ]

Massachusetts followed with a call for a congress to meet at New Yorkcity. 

%112. Stamp-act Congress. %--To the congress thus called camedelegates from all the colonies except New Hampshire, Virginia, NorthCarolina, and Georgia. The session began at New York, on the 5th ofOctober, 1765; and after sitting in secret for twenty days, thedelegates from six of the nine colonies present (Massachusetts, NewYork, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland) signed a"Declaration of Rights and Grievances. " [1]

[Footnote 1: This declaration is printed in full in Preston's _DocumentsIllustrative of American History_, pp. 188-191. ]

%113. Declaration of Rights. %--The ground taken in the declarationwas:

1. That the Americans were subjects of the British crown. 

2. That it was the natural right of a British subject to pay no taxesunless he had a voice in laying them. 

3. That the Americans were not represented in Parliament. 

4. That Parliament, therefore, could not tax them, and that an attemptto do so was an attack on the rights of Englishmen and the liberty ofself-government. 

%114. Grievances. %--The grievances complained of were: 1. Taxationwithout representation. 2. Trial without jury (in the vice-admiraltycourts). 3. The Sugar Act. 4. The Stamp Act. 5. Restrictions on trade. 

%115. The English View of Representation. %--We, in this country, donot consider a person represented in a legislature unless he can cast avote for a member of that legislature. In Great Britain, not individualsbut classes were represented. Thus, the clergy were represented by thebishops who sat in the House of Lords; the nobility, by the nobles whohad seats in the House of Lords; and the mass of the people, thecommons, by the members of the House of Commons. At that time, very fewEnglishmen could vote for a member of the House of Commons. Great citieslike Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, did not send even one member. Whenthe colonists held that they were not represented in Parliament becausethey did not elect any members of that body, Englishmen answered thatthey were represented, because they were commoners. 

%116. Sons of Liberty. %--Meantime, the colonists had not been idle. Taking the name of "Sons of Liberty, " a name given to them in a speechby a member of Parliament (named Barré) friendly to their cause, theybegan to associate for resistance to the Stamp Act. At first, they werecontent to demand that the stamp distributors named by the colonialagents in London should resign. But when these officers refused, thepeople became violent; and at Boston, Newark, N. J. , New Haven, NewLondon, Conn. , at Providence, at Newport, R. I. , at Dover, N. H. , atAnnapolis, Md. , serious riots took place. Buildings were torn down, andmore than one unhappy distributor was dragged from his home, and forcedto stand before the people and shout, "Liberty, property, andno stamps. "

%117. November 1, 1765. %--As the 1st of November, the day on whichthe Stamp Act was to go into force, approached, the newspapers appeareddecorated with death's-heads, black borders, coffins, and obituarynotices. The _Pennsylvania Journal_ dropped its usual heading, and inplace of it put an arch with a skull and crossbones underneath, and thismotto, "Expiring in the hopes of a resurrection to life again. " In onecorner was a coffin, and the words, "The last remains of the_Pennsylvania Journal_, which departed this life the 31st of October, 1765, of a stamp in her vitals. Aged 23 years. " The _PennsylvaniaGazette_, on November 7, the day of its first issue after the Stamp Actbecame law, published a half sheet, printed on one side, without anyheading, and in its place the words, "No stamped paper to be had. "During the next six months, every scrap of stamped paper that was heardof was hunted up and given to the flames. Thus, when a vessel fromBarbados, with a stamped newspaper published on that island, reachedPhiladelphia, the paper was seized and burned, one evening, at thecoffeehouse, in the presence of a great crowd. A vessel having put infrom Halifax, a rumor spread that the captain had brought stamped paperwith him, and was going to use it for his Philadelphia clearance. Thisso enraged the people that the vessel was searched, and a sheet of paperwith three stamps on it was found, and burned at the coffee-house. 

%118. Non-importation Agreements. %--Meantime, the merchants in thelarger towns, and the people all over the country, had been makingwritten agreements not to import any goods from England for somemonths to come. 

The effect of this measure was immense. Not a merchant nor amanufacturer in Great Britain, engaged in the colonial trade, but foundhis American orders canceled and his goods left on his hands. Not a shipreturned from this country but carried back English wares which it hadbrought here to sell, but for which no purchaser could be found. 

%119. Stamp Act repealed. %--When Parliament met in December, 1765, such a cry of distress came up from the manufacturing cities of England, that Parliament was forced to yield, and in March, 1766, the Stamp Actwas repealed. In the outburst of joy which followed in America, theintent and meaning of another act passed at the same time was littleheeded. In it was the declaration that Parliament did have the right totax the colonies "in all cases whatsoever. "

%120. The Townshend Acts. %--If the people thought this declarationhad no meaning, they were much mistaken, for next year (1767) Parliamentpassed what have since been called the Townshend Acts. There were threeof them. One forbade the legislature of New York to pass any more lawstill it had provided the royal troops in the city with beds, candles, fire, vinegar, and salt, as required by what was called the Mutiny Act. The second established at Boston a Board of Commissioners of the Customsto enforce the laws relating to trade. The third laid taxes on glass, red and white lead, painter's colors, paper, and tea. None of thesetaxes was heavy. But again the right of Parliament to tax people notrepresented in it had been asserted, and again the colonists rose inresistance. The legislature of Massachusetts sent a letter to each ofthe other colonial legislatures, urging them to unite and consult forthe protection of their rights. Pennsylvania sent protests to the Kingand to Parliament. The merchants all over the country renewed their oldagreements not to import British goods, and many a shipload was sentback to England. 

%121. Colonial Legislatures dissolved. %[1]--The letter ofMassachusetts to the colonial legislatures having given great offense tothe King, the governors were ordered to see to it that the legislaturesdid not approve it. But the order came too late. Many had already doneso, and as a punishment the assemblies of Maryland and Georgia weredismissed and the members sent home. To dissolve assemblies became offrequent occurrence. The legislature of Massachusetts was dissolvedbecause it refused to recall the letter. That of New York was repeatedlydissolved for refusing to provide the royal troops with provisions. Thatof Virginia was dismissed for complaining of the treatment of New York. 

[Footnote 1: One of the charges against the King in the Declaration ofIndependence. ]

%122. Boston Riot of 1770. %--And now the troops intended for thedefense of the colonies began to arrive. But Massachusetts, NorthCarolina, and South Carolina followed the example of New York, andrefused to find them quarters. For this the legislature of NorthCarolina was dissolved. Everywhere the presence of the soldiers gavegreat offense; but in Boston the people were less patient thanelsewhere. They accused the soldiers of corrupting the morals of thetown; of desecrating the Sabbath with fife and drum; of strikingcitizens who insulted them; and of using language violent, threatening, and profane. In this state of feeling, an alarm of fire called thepeople into the streets on the night of March 5, 1770. The alarm wasfalse, and a crowd of men and boys, having nothing to do, amusedthemselves by annoying a sentinel on guard at one of the publicbuildings. He called for help, and a corporal and six men were soon onthe scene. But the crowd would not give way. Forty or fifty men camearmed with sticks and pressed around the soldiers, shouting, "Rascals!Lobsters! Bloody-backs!" throwing snowballs and occasionally a stone, till in the excitement of the moment a soldier fired his gun. The restfollowed his example, and when the reports died away, five of therioters lay on the ground dead or dying, and six more dangerouslywounded. [1]

[Footnote 1: The soldiers were tried for murder and were defended byJohn Adams and Josiah Quincy. Two were found guilty of manslaughter. Therest were acquitted. On the massacre read Frothingham's _Life ofWarren, _ Chaps. 6, 7; Kidder's _The Boston Massacre_; Joseph Warren'sOration on March 6, 1775, in _Library of American Literature_, Vol. III. , p. 256. ]

This riot, this "Boston Massacre, " or, as the colonists delighted tocall it, "the bloody massacre, " excited and aroused the whole land, forced the government to remove the soldiers from Boston to an island inthe bay, and did more than anything else which had yet happened, to helpon the Revolution. 

%123. Tea sent to America and not received. %--While these things weretaking place in America--indeed, on the very day of the Boston riot--amotion was made in Parliament for the repeal of all the taxes laid bythe Townshend Acts except that on tea. The tea tax of 3d. A pound, payable in the colonies, was retained in order that the right ofParliament to tax America might be vindicated. But the people held fastto their agreements not to consume articles taxed by Great Britain. Notea was drunk, save such as was smuggled from Holland, and at the end ofthree years' time the East India Company had 17, 000, 000 pounds of teastored in its warehouses (1773). This was because the company was notpermitted to send tea out of England. It might only bring tea to Londonand there sell it at public sale to merchants and shippers, who exportedit to America. But now when the merchants could not find anybody to buytea in the colonies, they bought less from the company, and the tea laystored in its warehouses. To relieve the company, and if possible temptthe people to use the tea, the exportation tax was taken off and thecompany was given leave to export tea to America consigned tocommissioners chosen by itself. Taking off the shilling a pound exporttax in England, and charging but 3d. Import tax in America, made itpossible for the company to sell tea cheaper than could the merchantswho smuggled it. Yet even this failed. The people forced the teacommissioners to resign or send the tea ships back to England. InCharleston, S. C. , the tea was landed and stored for three years, when itwas sold by South Carolina. In Philadelphia the people met, and havingvoted that the tea should not be landed, they stopped the ship as itcame up the Delaware, and sent it back to London. 

%124. The Boston Tea Party. %--At Boston also the people tried to sendthe tea ships to England, but the authorities would not allow them toleave, whereupon a band of young men disguised as Indians boarded thevessels, broke open the boxes, and threw the tea into the water. 

%125. The Five Intolerable Acts. %--When Parliament heard of theseevents, it at once determined to punish Massachusetts, and in order todo this passed five laws which were so severe that the colonists calledthem the "Intolerable Acts. " They are generally known as

1. The Boston Port Bill, which shut the port of Boston to trade andcommerce, forbade ships to come in or go out, and moved the customhouseto Marblehead. 

2. The Transportation Bill, which gave the governor power to sendanybody accused of murder in resisting the laws, to another colony or toEngland for trial. 

3. The Massachusetts Bill, which changed the old charter ofMassachusetts, provided for a military governor, and forbade the peopleto hold public meetings for any other purpose than the election of townofficers, without permission from the governor. 

4. The Quartering Act, which legalized the quartering of troops on thepeople. 

5. The Quebec Act, which enlarged the province of Quebec (pp. 111, 124)to include all the territory between the Great Lakes, the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and Pennsylvania. This territory was claimed byMassachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia under their "sea to sea"charters (pp. 33, 46, 52, 156). 

%126. A Congress called. %--When the Virginia legislature in May, 1774, heard of the passage of the Boston Port Bill, it passed aresolution that the day on which the law went into effect in Bostonshould be a day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer" in Virginia. Forthis the governor at once dissolved the legislature. But the members metand instructed a committee to correspond with the other colonies on theexpediency of holding another general congress of delegates. All thecolonies approved, and New York requested Massachusetts to name the timeand place of meeting. This she did, selecting Philadelphia as the place, and September 1, 1774, as the time. 

%127. The First Continental Congress. %--From September 5 to October26, accordingly, fifty-five delegates, representing every colony exceptGeorgia, held meetings in Carpenter's Hall at Philadelphia, and issued:

1. An address to the people of the colonies. 2. An address to the Canadians. 3. An address to the people of Great Britain. 4. An address to the King. 5. A declaration of rights. 

%128. The Declaration of Rights. %[1]--In this declaration the rightsof the colonists were asserted to be:

1. Life, liberty, and property. 2. To tax themselves. 3. To assemble peaceably to petition for the redress of grievances. 4. To enjoy the rights of Englishmen and all the rights granted by thecolonial charters. 

[Footnote 1: Printed in Preston's _Documents_, pp. 192-198. The bestaccount of the coming of the Revolution is Frothingham's _Rise of theRepublic of the United States, _ Chaps. 5-11. ]

These rights it was declared had been violated:

1. By taxing the people without their consent. 2. By dissolving assemblies. 3. By quartering troops on the people in time of peace. 4. By trying men without a jury. 5. By passing the five Intolerable Acts. 

Before the Congress adjourned it was ordered that another Congressshould meet on May 10, 1775, in order to take action on the result ofthe petition to the King. 

SUMMARY

1. As soon as Great Britain acquired Canada and the eastern part of theMississippi valley from France, and Florida from Spain, she didthree things:

A. She established the provinces of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and the Indian country. 

B. She drew a line round the sources of all the rivers flowing into theAtlantic from the west and northwest, and commanded the colonialgovernors to grant no land and to allow no settlements to be made westof this line. 

C. She decided to send a standing or permanent army to America to takepossession of the new territory and defend the colonies. 

2. A part of the cost of keeping up this army she decided to meet bytaxing the colonists. This she had never done before. 

3. The chief tax was the stamp duty on paper, vellum, etc. This thecolonists refused to pay, and Parliament repealed it. 

4. The colonists having denied the right of Parliament to tax them, thatbody determined to establish its right and passed the "Townshend Acts. "But the colonists refused to buy British goods, and Parliament repealedall the Townshend duties except that on tea. 

5. As the Americans would not order tea from London, the East IndiaCompany was allowed to send it. But the people in the five cities towhich the tea was sent destroyed it or sent it back. 

6. Parliament thereupon attempted to punish Massachusetts and passed theIntolerable Acts. 

7. These acts led to the calling and the meeting of the FirstContinental Congress. 

 /---------------------------------------------\ France Spain /----------------\ /-------\ Cape Breton. Florida Canada. Louisiana east of the Mississippi. \-------------------------------------------- and cuts the new territory (1763) into Province of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, Indian country, and draws proclamation line limiting colonies in the west. \-------------------------------/ New colonial policy necessary. /----------------------------------------------\Country to be defended by 10, 000 royal troops. Cost of troops to be paid | |---------------------------------------------Partly by crown. Partly by colonies. | /---------------------------------- Share of colonies to be raised by Enforcing acts of trade and navigation. Taxes on sugar and molasses. Stamp tax (1765). /---------------------------^--------------------------------\Resisted. Principle involved. Action of Virginia and Massachusetts. Stamp Act Congress. Act repealed (1766). Declaratory Act (1766). --------------- / \ | | Glass. | | | Red and white lead. |--------------- | Painters' colors | Resisted and repealed (1770)Townshend Acts | Paper. | (1767). | Tea. / \ /--------^-------\ Enforced. Resisted (1773). Resistance / \ punished by | Five Intoler- | Continental | able Acts. | Congress called(1774). \ /

CHAPTER XI

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE

[Illustration: Statue of the Minute Man at Concord]

%129%. When the 10th of May, 1775, came, the colonists had ceased topetition and had begun to fight. In accordance with the MassachusettsBill, General Thomas Gage had been appointed military governor ofMassachusetts. He reached Boston in May, 1774, and summoned an assemblyto meet him at Salem in October. But, alarmed at the angry state of thepeople, he fortified Boston Neck, --the only land approach to the city, and countermanded the meeting. The members, claiming that an assemblycould not be dismissed before it met, gave no heed to the proclamation, but gathered at Salem and adjourned to Concord and then to Cambridge. AtCambridge a Committee of Safety was chosen and given power to call outthe troops, and steps were taken to collect ammunition and militarystores. A month later at another meeting, 12, 000 "minute men" wereordered to be enrolled. These minute men were volunteers pledged to beready for service at a minute's notice, and lest 12, 000 should not beenough, the neighboring colonies were asked to raise the numberto 20, 000. 

[Illustration: Map of Country around Boston]

%130. Concord and Lexington. %--Meantime the arming and drilling wentactively on, and powder was procured, and magazines of provisions andmilitary stores were collected at Concord, at Worcester, at Salem, andat many other towns. Aware of this, Gage, on the night of April 18, 1775, sent off 800 regulars to destroy the stores at Concord, a townsome twenty miles from Boston. Gage wished to keep this expeditionsecret, but he could not. The fact that the troops were to march becameknown to the patriots in Boston, who determined to warn the minute menin the neighborhood. Messengers were accordingly stationed atCharlestown and told to ride in every direction and rouse the people, the moment they saw lights displayed from the tower of the Old NorthChurch in Boston. The instant the British began to march, two lightswere hung out in the tower, and the messengers sped away to dotheir work. [1]

[Footnote 1: The ride of one of these men, that of Paul Revere, hasbecome best known because of Longfellow's poem, _Paul Revere's Ride. _Read it. ]

The road taken by the British lay through the little village ofLexington, and there (so well had the messengers done their work), aboutsunrise, on the morning of the 19th, the British came suddenly on alittle band of minute men drawn up on the green before the meetinghouse. A call to disperse was not obeyed; whereupon the British fired avolley, killing or wounding sixteen minute men, and passed on toConcord. There they spiked three cannon, threw some cannon balls andpowder into the river, destroyed some flour, set fire to the courthouse, and started back toward Boston. But "the shot heard round the world" hadindeed been fired. [2] The news had spread far and wide. The minute mencame hurrying in, and from farmhouses and hedges, from haystacks, andfrom behind trees and stone fences, they poured a deadly fire on theretreating British. The retreat soon became a flight, and the flightwould have ended in capture had they not been reënforced by 900 men atLexington. With the help of these they reached Charlestown Neck bysundown and entered Boston. [3] All night long minute men came in fromevery quarter, so that by the morning of April 20th great crowds weregathered outside of Charlestown and at Roxbury, and shut the Britishin Boston. 

[Footnote 2: Read R. W. Emerson's fine poem, _Concord Hymn. _ ]

[Footnote 3: Force's _American Archives, _ Vol. II. ; Hudson's _History ofLexington, _ Chaps. 6, 7; Phinney's _Battle of Lexington;_ Shattuck's_History of Concord, _ Chap. 7. ]

When the news of Concord and Lexington reached the Green Mountain Boysof Vermont, they too took up arms, and, under Ethan Allen, captured FortTiconderoga on May 10, 1775. 

%131. Congress becomes a Governing Body. %--The first ContinentalCongress had been chosen by the colonies in 1774, to set forth the viewsof the people, and remonstrate against the conduct of the King andParliament. This Congress, it will be remembered, having done so, fixedMay 10, 1775, as the day whereon a second Congress should meet toconsider the results of their remonstrance. But when the day came, Lexington and Concord had been fought, all New England was in arms, andCongress was asked to adopt the army gathered around Boston, and assumethe conduct of the war. Congress thus unexpectedly became a governingbody, and began to do such things as each colony could not do by itself. 

%132. Origin of the Continental Army. %--After a month's delay it didadopt the little band of patriots gathered about Boston, made it theContinental Army, and elected George Washington, then a delegate inCongress, commander in chief. He was chosen because of the militaryskill he had displayed in the French and Indian War, and because it wasthought necessary to have a Virginian for general, Virginia being thenthe most populous of the colonies. 

Washington accepted the trust on June 16, and set out for Boston on June21; but he had not ridden twenty miles from Philadelphia when he was metby the news of Bunker Hill. 

%133. Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. %--On a narrow peninsula to thenorth of Boston, and separated from it by a sheet of water half a milewide, was the village of Charlestown; behind it were two small hills. The nearer of the two to Charlestown was Breeds Hill. Just beyond it wasBunker Hill, and as the two overlooked Boston and the harbor where theBritish ships lay at anchor, the possession of them was of muchimportance. The Americans, learning of Gage's intention to fortify thehills, sent a force of 1200 men, under Colonel Prescott, on the night ofJune 16, to take possession of Bunker Hill. By some mistake Prescottpassed Bunker Hill, reached Breeds Hill, and before dawn had thrown up alarge earthwork. The moment daylight enabled it to be seen, the Britishopened fire from their ships. But the Americans worked steadily on inspite of cannon shot, and by noon had constructed a line ofintrenchments extending from the earthwork down the hill toward thewater. Gage might easily have landed men and taken this intrenchment inthe rear. He instead sent Howe[1] and 2500 men over in boats fromBoston, to land at the foot of the hill and charge straight up its steepside toward the Americans on its summit. The Americans were bidden notto fire till they saw the whites of the enemy's eyes, and obeyed. Not ashot came from their line till the British were within a few feet. Thena sheet of flames ran along the breastworks, and when the smoke blewaway, the British were running down the hill in confusion. With greateffort the officers rallied their men and led them up the hill a secondtime, to be again driven back to the landing place. This fire exhaustedthe powder of the Americans, and when the British troops were brought upfor the third attack, the Americans fell back, fighting desperately withgunstocks and stones. The results of this battle were two fold. Itproved to the Americans that the British regulars were not invincible, and it proved to the British that the American militia would fight. 

[Footnote 1: General William Howe had come to Boston with more Britishtroops not long before. In October, 1775, he was given chief command. ]

[Illustration: BOSTON, CHARLESTOWN, ETC. ]

%134. Washington takes Command. %--Two weeks after this battleWashington reached the army, and on July 3, 1775, took command beneathan elm still standing in Cambridge. Never was an army in so sorry aplight. There was no discipline, and not much more than a third as manymen as there had been a few weeks before. But the indomitable will andsublime patience of Washington triumphed over all difficulties, and foreight months he kept the British shut up in Boston, while he trainedand disciplined his army, and gathered ammunition and supplies. 

%135. Montreal taken. %--Meanwhile Congress, fearing that Sir GuyCarleton, who was governor of Canada, would invade New York by way ofLake Champlain, sent two expeditions against him. One, under RichardMontgomery, went down Lake Champlain, and captured Montreal. Another, under Benedict Arnold, forced its way through the dense woods of Maine, and after dreadful sufferings reached Quebec. There Montgomery joinedArnold, and on the night of December 31, 1775, the two armies assaultedQuebec, the most strongly fortified city in America, and actuallyentered it. But Montgomery was killed, Arnold was wounded, the attackfailed, and, six months later, the Americans were driven from Canada. 

[Illustration: Bunker Hill Monument]

%136. The British driven from Boston, March 17, 1776. %--After eightmonths of seeming idleness, Washington, early in March, 1776, seizedDorchester Heights on the south side of Boston, fortified them, and sogave Howe his choice of fighting or retreating. Fight he could not; forthe troops, remembering the dreadful day at Bunker Hill, were afraid toattack intrenched Americans. Howe thereupon evacuated Boston and sailedwith his army for Halifax, March 17, 1776. Washington felt sure that theBritish would next attack New York, so he moved his army there in April, 1776, and placed it on the Brooklyn hills. 

%137. Independence resolved on. %--Just one year had now passed sincethe memorable fights at Concord and Lexington. During this year thecolonies had been solemnly protesting that they had no thought ofindependence and desired nothing so much as reconciliation with theKing. But the King meantime had done things which prevented anyreconciliation:

1. He had issued a proclamation declaring the Americans to be rebels. 

2. He had closed their ports and warned foreign nations not to tradewith them. 

3. He had hired 17, 000 Hessians[1] with whom to subdue them. 

[Footnote 1: The Hessians were soldiers from Hesse and other smallGerman states. ]

These things made further obedience to the King impossible, and May 15, 1776, Congress resolved that it was "necessary to suppress every kind ofauthority under the crown, " and asked the colonies to form governmentsof their own and so become states. 

On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee, acting under instructions fromVirginia, offered this resolution:

 Resolved

 That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. 

Prompt action in so serious a matter was not to be expected, andCongress put it off till July 1. Meanwhile Thomas Jefferson, BenjaminFranklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston wereappointed to write a declaration of independence and have it ready incase it was wanted. As Jefferson happened to be the chairman of thecommittee, the duty of writing the declaration was given to him. July2, Congress passed Lee's resolution, and what had been the UnitedColonies became free and independent states. 

[Illustration: Campaigns of 1775-1776]

[Illustration: %The Pennsylvania Statehouse, or Independence Hall[1]]

[Footnote 1: From the _Columbian Magazine_ of July, 1787. The towerfaces the "Statehouse yard. " The posts are along Chestnut Street. Forthe history of the building, read F. M. Etting's _Independence Hall. _]

%138. Independence declared. %--Independence having thus been decreed, the next step was to announce the fact to the world. As Jefferson saysin the opening of his declaration, "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bandswhich have connected them with another ... A decent respect to theopinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes whichimpel them to the separation. " It was this "decent respect to theopinions of mankind, " therefore, which now led Congress, on July 4, 1776, to adopt the Declaration of Independence, and to send copies tothe states. Pennsylvania got her copy first, and at noon on July 8 itwas read to a vast crowd of citizens in the Statehouse yard. [1] Whenthe reading was finished, the people went off to pull down the royalarms in the court room, while the great bell in the tower, the bellwhich had been cast twenty-four years before with the prophetic wordsupon its side, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all theinhabitants thereof, " rang out a joyful peal, for then were announced tothe world the new political truths, "that all men are created equal, "and "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienablerights, " and "that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit ofhappiness. "

[Footnote 1: The declaration was read from a wooden platform put upthere in 1769 to enable David Rittenhouse to observe a transitof Venus. ]

[Illustration: The royal arms]

%139. The Retreat up the Hudson. %--A few days later the Declarationwas read to the army at New York. The wisdom of Washington in going toNew York was soon manifest, for in July General Howe, with a Britisharmy of 25, 000 men, encamped on Staten Island. In August he crossed toLong Island, and was making ready to besiege the army on BrooklynHeights, when, one dark and foggy night, Washington, leaving his campfires burning, crossed with his army to New York. 

Howe followed, drove him foot by foot up the Hudson from New York toWhite Plains; carried Fort Washington, on the New York shore, by storm(November 16, 1776); and sent a force across the Hudson under cover ofdarkness and storm to capture Fort Lee. But the British were detected inthe very nick of time, and the Americans, leaving their fires burningand their tents standing, fled towards Newark, N. J. 

%140. The Retreat across the Jerseys. %--Washington, meanwhile, hadgone from White Plains to Hackensack in New Jersey, leaving 7000 menunder Charles Lee in New York state at North Castle. These men he nowordered Lee to bring over to Hackensack, but the jealous and mutinousLee refused to obey. This forced Washington to begin his famous retreatacross the Jerseys, going first to Newark, then to New Brunswick, thento Trenton, and then over the Delaware into Pennsylvania, with theBritish under Cornwallis in hot pursuit. 

[Illustration]

%141. The Surprise at Trenton. %--Lee crossed the Hudson and went toMorristown, where a just punishment for his disobedience speedilyovertook him. One night while he was at an inn outside of his lines, some British dragoons made him a prisoner of war. The capture of Leeleft Sullivan in command, and by him the troops were hurried off to joinWashington. Thus reënforced, Washington turned on the enemy, and onChristmas night in a blinding snowstorm he recrossed the Delaware, marched nine miles to Trenton, surprised a force of Hessians, took 1000prisoners, and went back to Pennsylvania. 

The effect of this victory was tremendous. At first the people could notbelieve it, and, to convince them, the Hessians had to be marchedthrough the streets of Philadelphia, and one of their flags was sent toBaltimore (whither Congress had fled from Philadelphia), and hung up inthe hall of Congress. When the people were convinced of the truth of thereport, their joy was unbounded; militia was hurried forward, theJerseymen gathered at Morristown, money was raised; the New Englandtroops, whose time of service was out, were persuaded to stay six weekslonger, and, December 30, 1776, Washington again entered Trenton. 

Meantime Cornwallis, who had heard of the capture of the Hessians, camethundering down from New Brunswick with 8000 men and hemmed in theAmericans between his army and the Delaware. But on the night of January2, 1777, Washington slipped away, passed around Cornwallis, hurried toPrinceton, and there, on the morning of January 3, put to rout threeregiments of British regulars. Cornwallis, who was not aware that theAmericans had left his front till he heard the firing in his rear, fellback to New Brunswick, while Washington marched unmolested toMorristown, where he spent the rest of the winter. 

%142. The Capture of Philadelphia. %--Late in May, 1777, Washingtonentered New York state. But Howe paid little attention to this movement, for he had fully determined to attack and capture Philadelphia, and onJuly 23 set sail from New York. As the fleet moved southward, itsprogress was marked by signal fires along the Jersey coast, and the newsof its position was carried inland by messengers. At the end of a weekthe fleet was off the entrance of Delaware Bay. But Lord Howe fearing tosail up the river, the fleet went to sea and was lost to sight. Washington, who had hurried southward to Philadelphia, was now at a losswhat to do, and was just about to go back to New York when he heardthat the British were coming up Chesapeake Bay, and at once marched toWilmington, Del. 

[Illustration]

It was the 25th of August that Howe landed his men and began movingtoward Washington, who, lest the British should push by him, fell backfrom Wilmington, to a place called Chadds Ford on the Brandywine, where, on September 11, 1777, a battle was fought. [1] The Americans weredefeated and retreated in good order to Chester, and the next dayWashington entered Philadelphia. But public opinion demanded thatanother battle should be fought before the city was given up, and aftera few days he recrossed the Schuylkill, and again faced the enemy. Aviolent storm ruined the ammunition of both armies and prevented abattle, and the Americans retreated across the Schuylkill at a pointfarther up the stream. 

[Footnote: 1 Among the wounded in this battle was a brilliant youngFrenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette, who, early in 1777, came to Americaand offered his services to Congress as a volunteer without pay. ]

Congress, which had returned to Philadelphia from Baltimore, now fled toLancaster and later to York, Pa. , and (September 26, 1777) Howe enteredPhiladelphia in triumph. October 4, Washington attacked him atGermantown, but was repulsed, and went into winter quarters atValley Forge. 

[Illustration]

%143. New York invaded. %--Though Washington had been defeated in thebattles around Philadelphia, and had been forced to give that city tothe British, his campaign made it possible for the Americans to winanother glorious victory in the north. At the beginning of 1777 theBritish had planned to conquer New York and so cut the Eastern Statesoff from the Middle States. To accomplish this, a great army under JohnBurgoyne was to come up to Albany by way of Lake Champlain. Another, under Colonel St. Leger, was to go up the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontarioto Oswego and come down to Mohawk valley to Albany; while the thirdarmy, under Howe, was to go up the Hudson from New York and meetBurgoyne at Albany. True to this plan, Burgoyne came up Lake Champlain, took Ticonderoga (July 5), and, driving General Schuyler before him, reached Fort Edward late in July. There he heard that the Americans hadcollected some supplies at Bennington, a little village in thesouthwestern corner of Vermont, whither he sent 1000 men. But ColonelJohn Stark met and utterly destroyed them on August 16. Meanwhile St. Leger, as planned, had landed at Oswego, and on August 3 laid siege toFort Stanwix, which then stood on the site of the present city of Rome, N. Y. On the 6th the garrison sallied forth, attacked a part of St. Leger's camp, and carried off five British flags. These they hoistedupside down on their ramparts, and high above them raised a new flagwhich Congress had adopted in June, and which was then for the firsttime flung to the breeze. 

[Illustration: Flag of the East India Company]

%144. Our National Flag. %--It was our national flag, the stars andstripes, and was made of a piece of a blue jacket, some strips of awhite shirt, and some scraps of old red flannel. [1]

[Footnote 1: The flags used by the continental troops between 1775 and1777 were of at least a dozen different patterns. A colored plateshowing most of them is given in Treble's _Our Flag_, p. 142. In 1776, in January, Washington used one at Cambridge which seems to have beensuggested by the ensign of the East India Company. That of this companywas a combination of thirteen horizontal red and white stripes (sevenred and six white) and the red cross of St. George. That of Washingtonwas the same, with the British Union Jack substituted for the cross ofSt. George. After the Declaration of Independence, the British Jack wasout of place on our flag; and in June, 1777, Congress adopted a union ofthirteen white stars in a circle, on a blue ground, in place of theBritish Union. After Vermont and Kentucky were admitted, in 1791 and1792, the stars and stripes were each increased to fifteen. In 1818, theoriginal number of stripes was restored, and since that time each newstate, when admitted, is represented by a star and not by a stripe. ]

[Illustration: Flag of the United Colonies]

[Illustration: British Union Jack]

%145. Capture of Burgoyne. %--When Schuyler heard of the siege ofFort Stanwix, he sent Benedict Arnold to relieve it, and St. Leger fledto Oswego. Then was the time for the expedition from New York to havehurried to Burgoyne's aid. But Howe and his army were then at sea. Nohelp was given to Burgoyne, who, after suffering defeats at BemisHeights (September 19) and at Stillwater (October 7), retreated toSaratoga, where (October 17, 1777) he surrendered his army of 6000 mento General Horatio Gates, whom Congress, to its shame, had just put inthe place of Schuyler. Gates deserves no credit for the capture. Arnoldand Daniel Morgan deserve it, and deserve much; for, judged by itsresults, Saratoga was one of the great battles of the world. The resultsof the surrender were four fold:

1. It saved New York state. 2. It destroyed the plan for the war. 3. It induced the King to offer us peace with representation inParliament, or anything else we wanted except independence. 4. It secured for us the aid of France. 

[Illustration: %Flag of the United States, 1777%]

%146. Valley Forge. %--The winter at Valley Forge marks the darkestperiod of the war. It was a season of discouragement, when mean spiritsgrew bold. Some officers of the army formed a plot, called from one ofthem the "Conway cabal, " to displace Washington and put Gates incommand. The country people, tempted by British gold, sent theirprovisions into Philadelphia and not to Valley Forge. There thesuffering of the half-clad, half-fed, ill-housed patriots surpassesdescription. 

But the darkest hour is just before the dawn. Then it was that an ablePrussian soldier, Baron Steuben, joined the army, turned the camp into aschool, drilled the soldiers, and made the army better than ever. Thenit was that France acknowledged our independence, and joined us inthe war. 

%147. France acknowledges our Independence. %--In October, 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin to Paris to try to persuade the FrenchKing to help us in the war. Till Burgoyne surrendered and Great Britainoffered peace, Franklin found all his efforts vain. [1] But now, when itseemed likely that the states might again be brought under the Britishcrown, the French King promptly acknowledged us to be an independentnation, made a treaty of alliance and a treaty of commerce (February 6, 1778), and soon had a fleet on its way to help us. 

[Footnote 1: For an account of Franklin in France, see McMaster's _Withthe Fathers_, pp. 253-270. ]

%148. The British leave Philadelphia. %--Hearing of the approach ofthe French fleet, Sir Henry Clinton, who in May had succeeded Howe incommand, left Philadelphia and hurried to the defense of New York. Washington followed, and, coming up with the rear guard of the enemy atMonmouth in New Jersey, fought a battle (June 28, 1778), and would havegained a great victory had not the traitor, Charles Lee, been incommand. [2] Without any reason he suddenly ordered a retreat, which wasfortunately prevented from becoming a rout by Washington, who came onthe field in time to stop it. 

[Footnote 2: After remaining a prisoner in the hands of the British fromDecember, 1776, to April, 1778, Lee had been exchanged for aBritish officer. ]

After the battle the British hurried on to New York, where Washingtonpartially surrounded them by stretching out his army from Morristown inNew Jersey to West Point on the Hudson. 

%149. Stony Point. %--In hope of drawing Washington away from NewYork, Clinton in 1779 sent a marauding party to plunder and ravage thefarms and towns of Connecticut. But Washington soon brought it back bydispatching Anthony Wayne to capture Stony Point, which he did (July, 1779) by one of the most brilliant assaults in military history. 

%150. Indian Raids. %--That nothing might be wanting to make thesuffering of the patriots as severe as possible, the Indians were letloose. Led by a Tory[1] named Butler, a band of whites and Indians ofthe Seneca tribe of the Six Nations[2] marched from Fort Niagara toWyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania, and there perpetrated oneof the most awful massacres in history. Another party, led by a son ofButler, repeated the horrors of Wyoming in Cherry Valley, N. Y. 

[Footnote 1: Not all the colonists desired independence. Those whoremained loyal to the King were called Tories. ]

[Footnote 2: By this time the Five Nations had admitted the Tuscarorasto their confederacy and had thus become the Six Nations. ]

%151. George Rogers Clark%. --Meantime the British commander atDetroit tried hard to stir up the Indians of the West to attack thewhole frontier at the same moment. Hearing of this, George Rogers Clarkof Virginia marched into the enemy's country, and in two fine campaignsin 1778-1779 beat the British, and conquered the country from the Ohioto the Great Lakes and from Pennsylvania to the Mississippi. 

%152. Sullivan's Expedition%. --In 1779 it seemed so important topunish the Indians for the Wyoming and Cherry Valley massacres thatGeneral Sullivan with an army invaded the territory of the Six Nations, in central New York, burned some forty Indian villages, and utterlydestroyed the Indian power in that state. 

%153. The South invaded%. --For a year and more there had been a lullin military operations on the part of the British. But they now began anattack in a new quarter. Having failed to conquer New England in1775-1776, having failed to conquer the Middle States in 1776-1777, theysent an expedition against the South in December, 1778. Success attendedit. Savannah was captured, Georgia was conquered, and the royal governorreinstated. Later, in 1779, General Lincoln, with a French fleet to helphim, attempted to recapture Savannah, but was driven off with dreadfulloss of life. 

These successes in Georgia so greatly encouraged the British that in thespring of 1780 Clinton led an expedition against South Carolina, and(May 12) easily captured Charleston, with Lincoln and his army. By dintof great exertions another army was quickly raised in North Carolina, and the command given to Gates by Congress. He was utterly unfit for it, and (August 16, 1780) was defeated and his army almost destroyed atCamden by Lord Cornwallis. Never in the whole course of the war had theAmerican army suffered such a crushing defeat. All military resistancein South Carolina was at an end, save such as was offered by gallantbands of patriots led by Marion, Sumter, and Pickens. 

%154. The Treason of Arnold. %--The outlook was now dark enough;but it was made darker still by the treachery of Benedict Arnold. Noofficer in the Revolutionary army was more trusted. His splendid marchthrough the wilderness to Quebec, his bravery in the attack on thatcity, the skill and courage he displayed at Saratoga, had marked himout as a man full of promise. But he lacked that moral courage withoutwhich great abilities count for nothing. In 1778 he was put in commandof Philadelphia, and while there so abused his office that he wassentenced to be reprimanded by Washington. This aroused a thirst forrevenge, and led him to form a scheme to give up the Hudson River to theenemy. With this end in view, he asked Washington in July, 1780, for thecommand of West Point, the great stronghold on the Hudson, obtained it, and at once made arrangements to surrender it to Clinton. The Britishagent in the negotiation was Major John André, who one day in Septembermet Arnold near Stony Point. But most happily, as he was going back toNew York, three Americans[1] stopped him near Tarrytown, searched him, and in his stockings found some papers in the handwriting of Arnold. News of the arrest of André reached Arnold in time to enable him toescape to the British; he served with them till the end of the war, andthen sought a refuge in England. André was tried as a spy, found guilty, and hanged. 

[Footnote 1: The names of these men were Paulding, Williams, and VanWart. ]

%155. Victory at Kings Mountain. %--After the defeat of Gates atCamden, the British overran South Carolina, and in the course of theirmarauding a band of 1100 Tories marched to Kings Mountain, on the borderline between the two Carolinas. There the hardy mountaineers attackedthem (Oct. 7, 1780) and killed, wounded, or captured the entire band. 

[Map: %CAMPAIGNS IN THE SOUTH 1778-1781%]

%156. Victory at the Cowpens%. --Meantime a third army was raised foruse in the South and placed under the command of Nathanael Greene, thanwhom there was no abler general in the American army. With Greene wasDaniel Morgan, who had distinguished himself at Saratoga, and by him aBritish force under Tarleton was attacked January 17, 1781, at a placecalled the Cowpens, and not only defeated, but almost destroyed. 

Enraged at these reverses, Cornwallis took the field and hurried toattack Greene, who, too weak to fight him, began a masterly retreat of200 miles across Carolina to Guilford Courthouse, where he turned aboutand fought. He was defeated, but Cornwallis was unable to go further, and retreated to Wilmington, N. C. , with Greene in hot pursuit. Leavingthe enemy at Wilmington, Greene went back to South Carolina, and bySeptember, 1781, had driven the British into Charleston and Savannah. 

Cornwallis, as soon as Greene left him, hurried to Petersburg, Va. ABritish force during the winter and spring had been plundering andravaging in Virginia, under the traitor Arnold. Cornwallis took commandof this, sent Arnold to New York, and had begun a campaign againstLafayette, when orders reached him to seize and fortify someVirginian seaport. 

%157. Surrender of Cornwallis. %--Thus instructed, Cornwallis selectedYorktown, and began to fortify it strongly. This was early in August, 1781. On the 14th Washington heard with delight that a French fleet wason its way to the Chesapeake, and at once decided to hurry to Virginia, and surround Cornwallis by land while the French cut him off by sea. Preparations were made with such secrecy and haste that Washington hadreached Philadelphia while Clinton supposed he was about to attack NewYork. Clinton then sent Arnold on a raid into Connecticut to burn NewLondon, in the hope of forcing Washington to return. But Washington keptstraight on, hemmed Cornwallis in by land and sea, and October 19, 1781, forced the British general to surrender. 

%158. The War on the Sea. %--The first step towards the foundation ofan American navy was taken on October 13, 1775. Congress, hearing thattwo British ships laden with powder and guns were on their way fromEngland to Quebec, ordered two swift sailing vessels to be fitted outfor the purpose of capturing them. Two months later Congress orderedthirteen cruisers to be built, and named the officers to command them. 

Meantime some merchant ships were purchased and collected atPhiladelphia, from which city, one morning in January, 1776, a fleet ofeight vessels set sail. As they were about to weigh anchor, John PaulJones, a lieutenant on the flagship, flung to the breeze a yellow silkflag on which were a pine tree and a coiled rattlesnake, with thismotto: "Don't tread on me. " This was the first flag ever hoisted on anAmerican man-of-war. 

Ice in the Delaware kept the fleet in the river till the middle ofFebruary, when it went to sea, sailed southward to New Providence in theBahamas, captured the town, brought off the governor, some powder andcannon, and after taking several prizes got safely back to New London. 

Soon after the squadron had left the Delaware, the _Lexington_, CaptainJohn Barry in command, while cruising off the Virginia coast, fell inwith the _Edward_, a British vessel, and after a spirited actioncaptured her. This was the first prize brought in by a commissionedofficer of the American navy. [1]

[Footnote 1: John Barry was a native of Ireland; he came to America atthirteen, entered the merchant marine, and at twenty-five was captain ofa ship. At the opening of the war Barry offered his services toCongress, and in February, 1776, was put in command of the _Lexington_. After his victory he was transferred to the twenty-eight-gun frigate_Effingham_, and in 1777 (while blockaded in the Delaware) withtwenty-seven men in four boats captured and destroyed a ten-gun schoonerand four transports. When the British captured Philadelphia, Barry tookthe _Effingham_ up the river; but she was burned by the enemy. In 1778, in command of the thirty-two-gun frigate _Raleigh_, he sailed fromBoston, fell in with two British frigates, and after a fight was forcedto run ashore in Penobscot Bay. Barry and his crew escaped, and in 1781carried Laurens to France in the frigate _Alliance_. On the way out hetook a privateer, and while cruising on the way home captured the_Atalanta_ and the _Trepassey_ after a hard fight. As Barry brought inthe first capture by a commissioned officer of the United States navy, so he fought the last action of the war in 1782; but the enemy escaped. When the navy was reorganized in 1794, Barry was made senior captain, with the title of Commodore. In 1798 he commanded the frigate _UnitedStates_ in the war with France. He died in 1803. ]

In March, 1776, Congress began to issue letters of marque, or licensesto citizens to engage in war against the enemy; and then the sea fairlyswarmed with privateers. 

In 1777 the American flag was seen for the first time in Europeanwaters, when a little squadron of three ships set sail from Nantes inFrance, and after cruising on the Bay of Biscay went twice aroundIreland and came back to France with fifteen prizes. As France had notthen acknowledged our independence, they were ordered to depart. Two didso; but one of them, the _Lexington_, was captured by the British, andthe other, the _Reprisal_, was wrecked at sea. 

%159. Paul Jones. %--Meanwhile our commissioners in France, BenjaminFranklin and Silas Deane, fitted out a cruiser called the _Surprise_. She sailed from Dunkirk on May 1, 1777, and the next week was back witha British packet as a prize. For this violation of French neutrality shewas seized. But another ship, the _Revenge_, was quickly secured, whichscoured the British waters, and actually entered two British portsbefore she sailed for America. The exploits of these and a score ofother ships are cast into the shade, however, by the fights of John PaulJones, the great naval hero of the Revolution. He sailed fromPortsmouth, N. H. , November 1, 1777, refitted his ship in the harbor ofBrest, and in 1778 began one of the most memorable cruises in our navalhistory. In the short space of twenty-eight days he sailed into theIrish Channel, destroyed four vessels, set fire to the shipping in theport of Whitehaven, fought and captured the British armed schooner_Drake_, sailed around Ireland with his prize, and reached Francein safety. 

For a year he was forced to be idle. But at last, in 1779, he was givencommand of a squadron of five vessels, and in August sailed from France. Passing along the west coast of Ireland, the fleet went around the northend of Scotland and down the east coast, capturing and destroying vesselafter vessel on the way. On the night of September 23, 1779, Jones (inhis ship, named _Bonhomme Richard_ in honor of Franklin's famous _PoorRichard's Almanac_) fell in with the _Serapis_, a British frigate. Thetwo ships grappled, and, lashed side by side in the moonlight, foughtone of the most desperate battles in naval annals. At the end of threehours the _Serapis_ surrendered, but the _Bonhomme Richard_ was a wreck, and next morning, giving a sudden roll, she filled and plunged bow firstto the bottom of the North Sea. Jones sailed away in the _Serapis_. 

[Illustration: Benjamin Franklin]

In the Revolution the British lost 102 vessels of war, while theAmericans lost 24--most of their navy. 

%160. Revolutionary Heroes. %--It is not possible to mention all therevolutionary heroes entitled to our grateful remembrance. We should, however, remember Lafayette, Steuben, Pulaski, and DeKalb, foreignerswho fought for us; Samuel Adams and James Otis of Massachusetts, andPatrick Henry of Virginia, who spoke for freedom; Robert Morris, thefinancier of the Revolution; Putnam who fought and Warren who died atBunker Hill; Mercer who fell at Princeton; Nathan Hale, the martyr spy;Herkimer, Knox, Moultrie, and that long list of noble patriots whosenames have already been mentioned. 

%161. The Treaty of Peace. %--The story is told that when Lord North, the Prime Minister of England, heard of the surrender of Yorktown, hethrew up his hands and said, "It is all over. " He was right; it was allover, and on September 3, 1783, a treaty of peace (negotiated byBenjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay) was signed at Paris. 

Meantime the British, in accordance with a preliminary treaty of peacesigned in November, 1782, were slowly leaving the country, till onNovember 25, 1783, the last of them sailed from New York. [1] Washingtonnow resigned his commission, and in December went home to Mt. Vernon. 

[Footnote 1: They did not leave Staten Island in New York Bay till aweek later. For an account of the evacuation of New York see McMaster's_With the Fathers_, pp. 271-280. ]

%162. Bounds of the United States. %--By the treaty of 1783 theboundary of the United States was declared to be about what is thepresent northern boundary from the mouth of the St. Croix River in Maineto the Lake of the Woods, and then due west to the Mississippi (whichwas, of course, an impossible line, for that river does not rise inCanada); then down the Mississippi to 31° north latitude; then eastwardalong that parallel of latitude to the Apalachicola River, and then bywhat is the present north boundary of Florida to the Atlantic. 

But these bounds were not secured without a diplomatic struggle. As soonas France joined us in 1778, she began to persuade Spain to follow herexample. Very little persuasion was needed, for the opportunity toregain the two Floridas (which Spain had been forced to give to Englandin 1763) was too good to be lost. In June, 1779, therefore, Spaindeclared war on England, and sent the governor of Lower Louisiana intoWest Florida, where he captured Pensacola, Mobile, Baton Rouge, andNatchez. Made bold by this success, Spain, which cared nothing for theUnited States, next determined to conquer the region north of Floridaand east of the Mississippi, the Indian country of the proclamation of1763. (See map of The British Colonies in 1764. ) The commandant at St. Louis[2] was, therefore, sent to seize the post at St. Joseph on LakeMichigan, built by La Salle in 1679. He succeeded, and taking possessionof the country in the name of Spain, carried off the English flags asevidence of conquest. Now when the time came to make the treaty ofpeace, Spain insisted that she must have East and West Florida and thecountry west of the Alleghany Mountains, because she had conquered it. France partly supported Spain in this demand. The country north of theOhio she proposed should be given to Great Britain, and the countrysouth to Spain and the United States. 

[Footnote 2: It will be remembered that Spain now held Louisiana, or thecountry west of the Mississippi. (See Chapter VIII. )]

[Illustration: RESULTS OF THE %WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE% BOUNDARY DEFINEDBY TREATY 1783. AND TERRITORY HELD BY GREAT BRITAIN 1783-1796. , ANDSPAIN 1783-1795]

The American commissioners, seeing in all this a desire to bound theUnited States on the west by the Alleghany Mountains, made the treatywith Great Britain secretly, and secured the Mississippi as ourwestern limit. 

Spain at the same time secured the Floridas from Great Britain, andinsisting that West Florida must have the old boundary given in 1764, [1]and not 31° as provided in our treaty of peace, she seized and held thecountry by force of arms; and for twelve years the Spanish flag wavedover Baton Rouge and Natchez. [2]

[Footnote 1: See Chapter X. ]

[Footnote 2: Read Hinsdale's _Old Northwest_, pp. 170-191; McMaster's_With the Fathers_, pp. 280-292. ]

The area of the territory thus acquired by the United States was 827, 844square miles, and the population not far from 3, 250, 000. Apparently anera of great prosperity and happiness was before the people. Butunhappily the government they had established in time of war was quiteunfit to unite them and bring them prosperity in time of peace. 

[Illustration: Washington's sword]

SUMMARY

1. In accordance with one of the Intolerable Acts, General Gage becamegovernor of Massachusetts in 1774. 

2. Seeing that the people were gathering stores and cannon, he attemptedto destroy the stores, and so brought on the battles of Lexington andConcord, which opened the War for Independence. 

3. The Congress of colonial delegates, which met in 1774 and adjournedto meet again in 1775, assembled soon after these battles, and assumedthe conduct of the war, adopted the army around Boston, and madeWashington commander in chief. 

4. Washington reached Boston soon after the battle of Bunker Hill, whichtaught the British that the Americans would fight, and he besieged theBritish in Boston. In March, 1776, they left the city by water, andWashington moved his army to the neighborhood of New York. 

5. There he was attacked by the British, and was driven up the HudsonRiver to White Plains. Thence he crossed into New Jersey, only to bedriven across the state and into Pennsylvania. 

6. On Christmas night, 1776, he recrossed the Delaware to Trenton, andthe next morning won a victory over the Hessians. Then on January 3, 1777, he fought the battle of Princeton, and he spent the remainder ofthe winter at Morristown. 

7. In July, 1777, Howe sailed from New York for Philadelphia, to whichcity Washington hurried by land. The Americans were defeated at theBrandy wine, and the city fell into the hands of Howe. Washington passedthe winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. 

8. Meantime an attempt had been made to cut the states in two by gettingpossession of New York state from Lake Champlain to New York city, andan army under Burgoyne came down from Canada. He and his troops werecaptured at Saratoga. 

9. In February, 1778, France made a treaty of alliance with us and sentover a fleet. Fearing this would attack New York, Clinton leftPhiladelphia with his army. Washington followed from Valley Forge, overtook the enemy at Monmouth, and fought a battle there. The Britishthen went on to New York, while Washington stretched out his army fromMorristown to West Point. 

10. So matters remained till December, 1778, when the British attackedthe Southern States. They conquered Georgia in the winter of 1778-1779. 

11. In the spring of 1780 they attacked South Carolina and capturedGeneral Lincoln. Gates then took the field, was defeated, and succeededby Greene, who after many vicissitudes drove the British forces in SouthCarolina and Georgia into Charleston and Savannah, during 1781. 

12. Meantime a force sent against Greene under Cornwallis undertook tofortify Yorktown and hold it, and while so engaged was surrounded byWashington and the French fleet and forced to surrender. 

THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE

CAMPAIGNS OF 1775-1776

_In New England_. 

1775. Concord and Lexington. Continental Army formed. Washington, commander in chief. Battle of Bunker Hill. 

1775-1776. Siege of Boston. 

1776. Evacuation of Boston. 

_In Canada_. 

1775. Arnold's march to Quebec. Montgomery's march to Montreal. Capture of Montreal. 

1776. Defeat and death of Montgomery at Quebec. Americans return to Ticonderoga. 

1776. Howe sails for New York. Washington marches to New York. The Declaration of Independence. Capture of New York. Retreat across the Jerseys. Surprise at Trenton. 1777. Battle of Princeton. Washington at Morristown. Burgoyne and St. Leger move down from Canada to capture New York state and cut the colonies in two. St. Leger defeated at Fort Stanwix. Burgoyne captured at Saratoga. Howe sails from New York to Chesapeake Bay and moves against Philadelphia. Washington moves from New York to Philadelphia. Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. Philadelphia captured by the British. 1777-1778. Americans winter at Valley Forge. 1778. Alliance with France. Fleet and army sent from France. Clinton leaves Philadelphia and hurries to New York. Washington follows him from Valley Forge. Battle of Monmouth. Washington on the Hudson. 

CAMPAIGNS CHIEFLY IN THE SOUTH, 1778-1781. 

1778. The South invaded. Savannah captured and Georgia overrun. 1779. Clinton ravages Connecticut to draw Washington away from the Hudson. Wayne captures Stony Point. Lincoln attacks Savannah. 1780. Clinton captures Charleston. Campaign of Gates in South Carolina. Battles of Camden and Kings Mountain. Treason of Arnold. 1781. Greene in command in the South. Battle of the Cowpens. March of Cornwallis from Charleston. Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Cornwallis goes to Wilmington and Greene to South Carolina. Cornwallis goes to Yorktown. Washington hurries from New York. Surrender of Cornwallis. 1782-1783. Peace negotiations at Paris. 1783. Evacuation of New York. 

THE STRUGGLE FOR A GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER XII

UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

%163. How the Colonies became States. %--When the Continental Congressmet at Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, a letter was received fromMassachusetts, where the people had penned up the governor in Boston andhad taken the government into their own hands, asking what they shoulddo. Congress replied that no obedience was due to the MassachusettsRegulating Act or to the governor, and advised the people to make atemporary government to last till the King should restore the oldcharter. Similar advice was given the same year to New Hampshire andSouth Carolina, for it was not then supposed that the quarrel with themother country would end in separation. But by the spring of 1776 allthe governors of the thirteen colonies had either fled or been throwninto prison. This put an end to colonial government, and Congress, seeing that reconciliation was impossible, (May 15, 1776) advised allthe colonies to form governments for themselves (p. 132). Thereupon theyadopted constitutions, and by doing so turned themselves from Britishcolonies into sovereign and independent states. [1]

[Footnote 1: All but two made new constitutions; but Connecticut andRhode Island used their old charters, the one till 1818, the other till1842. Vermont also formed a constitution, but she was not admitted tothe Congress (p. 243). ]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES WHEN PEACE WAS DECLARED in 1783 SHOWINGTHE STATE CLAIMS]

%164. Articles of Confederation. %--While the colonies were thusgradually turning themselves into the states, the ContinentalCongress was trying to bind them into a union by means of a sort ofgeneral constitution called "Articles of Confederation. " By order ofCongress, Articles had been prepared and presented by a committee inJuly, 1776, but it was not till November 17, 1777, that they were sentout to the states for adoption. Now it must be remembered that sixstates, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, SouthCarolina, and Georgia, claimed that their "from sea to sea" chartersgave them lands between the mountains and the Mississippi River, andthat one, New York, had bought the Indian title to land in the Ohiovalley. It must also be remembered that the other six states did nothave "from sea to sea" charters, and so had no claims to western lands. As three of them, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, held that theclaims of their sister states were invalid, they now refused to adoptthe Articles unless the land so claimed was given to Congress to be usedto pay for the cost of the Revolution. For this action they gavefour reasons:

1. The Mississippi valley had been discovered, explored, settled, andowned by France. 

2. England had never owned any land there till France ceded the countryin 1763. 

3. When at last England had got it, in 1763, the King drew the"proclamation line, " turned the Mississippi valley into the Indiancountry, and so cut off any claim of the colonies in consequence ofEnglish ownership. 

4. The western lands were therefore the property of the King, and nowthat the states were in arms against him, his lands ought to be seizedby Congress and used for the benefit of all the states. 

For three years the land-claiming states refused to be convinced bythese arguments. But at length, finding that Maryland was determined notto adopt the Articles till her demands were complied with, they began toyield. In February, 1780, New York ceded her claims to Congress, and inJanuary, 1781, Virginia gave up her claim to the country north of theOhio River. Maryland had now carried her point, and on March 1, 1781, her delegates signed the Articles of Confederation. As all the otherstates had ratified the Articles, this act on the part of Maryland madethem law, and March 2, 1781, Congress met for the first time under aform of government the states were pledged to obey. 

%165. Government under the Articles of Confederation. %--The form ofgovernment that went into effect on that day was bad from beginning toend. There was no one officer to carry out the laws, no court or judgeto settle disputed points of law, and only a very feeble legislature. Congress consisted of one house, presided over by a president electedeach year by the members from among their own number. The delegates toCongress could not be more than seven, nor less than two from eachstate, were elected yearly, could not serve for more than three yearsout of six, and might be recalled at any time by the states that sentthem. Once assembled on the floor of Congress, the delegates becamemembers of a secret body. The doors were shut; no spectators wereallowed to hear what was said; no reports of the debates were takendown; but under a strict injunction to secrecy the members went ondeliberating day after day. All voting was done by states, each castingbut one vote, no matter how many delegates it had. The affirmative votesof nine states were necessary to pass any important act, or, as it wascalled, "ordinance. "

To this body the Articles gave but few powers. Congress could declarewar, make peace, issue money, keep up an army and a navy, contractdebts, enter into treaties of commerce, and settle disputes betweenstates. But it could not enforce a treaty or a law when made, nor layany tax for any purpose. 

%166. Origin of the Public Domain%. --In 1784 Massachusetts ceded herstrip of land in the west, following the example set by New York (1780), and Virginia (1781). 

As three states claiming western territory had thus by 1784 given theirland to Congress, that body came into possession of the greater part ofthe vast domain stretching from the Lakes to the Ohio and from theMississippi to Pennsylvania. [1] Now this public domain, as it wascalled, was given on certain conditions:

1. That it should be cut up into states. 

2. That these states should be admitted into the Union (when they had acertain population) on the same footing as the thirteen original states. 

3. That the land should be sold and the money used to pay the debts ofthe United States. 

[Footnote 1: The strip owned by Connecticut had been offered to Congressin October, 1789, but not accepted. It still belonged to Connecticut in1785. In 1786 it was again ceded, with certain reservations, andaccepted. ]

Congress, therefore, as soon as it had received the deeds to the tractsceded, trusting that the other land-owning states would cede theirwestern territory in time, passed a law (in 1785) to prepare the landfor sale by surveying it and marking it out into sections, townships, and ranges, and fixed the price per acre. 

%167. Virginia and Connecticut Reserves. %--When Virginia made hercession in 1781, she expressly reserved two tracts of land north of theOhio. One, called the Military Lands, lay between the Scioto and Miamirivers, and was held to pay bounties promised to the VirginiaRevolutionary soldiers. The other (in the present state of Indiana) wasgiven to General George Rogers Clark and his soldiers. A third piece wasreserved by Connecticut when she ceded her strip in 1786. This, calledthe Western Reserve of Connecticut, stretched along the shore of LakeErie (map, p. 175). In 1800 Connecticut gave up her jurisdiction, orright of government, over this reserve in return for the confirmation ofland titles she had granted. 

[Illustration: TERRITORY OF THE %UNITED STATES% NORTHWEST OF THE OHIORIVER %1787%]

%168. Ordinance of 1787; Origin of the Territories. %--Hardly hadCongress provided for the sale of the land, when a number ofRevolutionary soldiers formed the Ohio Land Company, and sent an agentto New York, where Congress was in session, and offered to buy 5, 000, 000acres on the Ohio River: 1, 500, 000 acres were for themselves, and3, 500, 000 for another company called the Scioto Company. The land wasgladly sold, and as the purchasers were really going to send outsettlers, it became necessary to establish some kind of government forthem. On the 13th of July, 1787, therefore, Congress passed another veryfamous law, called the Ordinance of 1787, which ordered:

1. That the whole region from the Lakes to the Ohio, and fromPennsylvania to the Mississippi, should be called "The Territory of theUnited States northwest of the river Ohio. "

2. That it should be cut up into not less than three nor more than fivestates, each of which might be admitted into the Union when it had60, 000 free inhabitants. 

3. That within it there was to be neither slavery nor involuntaryservitude except in punishment for crime. 

4. That until such time as there were 5000 free male inhabitantstwenty-one years old in the territory, it was to be governed by agovernor and three judges. They could not make laws, but might adoptsuch as they pleased from among the laws in force in the states. Afterthere were 5000 free male inhabitants in the territory the people wereto elect a house of representatives, which in its turn was to elect tenmen from whom Congress was to select five to form a council. The houseand the council were then to elect a territorial delegate to sit inCongress with the right of debating, not of voting. The governor, thejudges, and the secretary were to be elected by Congress. The counciland house of representatives could make laws, but must send them toCongress for approval. 

Thus were created two more American institutions, the territory and thestate formed out of the public domain. The ordinance was but a fewmonths old when South Carolina ceded (1787) her little strip of countrywest of the mountains (see map on p. 157) with the express conditionthat it _should_ be slave soil. In 1789 North Carolina ceded what isnow Tennessee on the same condition. Congress accepted both and out ofthem made the "Territory southwest of the Ohio River. " In that slaverywas allowed. [1]

[Footnote 1: The only remaining land-holding state, Georgia, ceded herclaim in 1802 (p. 246). ]

%169. Defects of the Articles of Confederation. %--While Congress atNew York was framing the Ordinance of 1787, a convention of delegatesfrom the states was framing the Constitution at Philadelphia. A verylittle experience under the Articles of Confederation showed them tohave serious defects. 

_No Taxing Power_. --In the first place, Congress could not lay a tax ofany kind, and as it could not tax it could not get money with which topay its expenses and the debt incurred during the Revolution. Each ofthe states was in duty bound to pay its share. But this duty was sodisregarded that although Congress between 1782 and 1786 called on thestates for $6, 000, 000, only $1, 000. 000 was paid. 

_No Power to regulate Trade_. --In the second place, Congress had nopower to regulate trade with foreign nations, or between the states. This proved a most serious evil. The people of the United States at thattime had few manufactures, because in colonial days Parliament would notallow them. All the china, glass, hardware, cutlery, woolen goods, linen, muslin, and a thousand other things were imported from GreatBritain. Before the war the Americans had paid for these goods withdried fish, lumber, whale oil, flour, tobacco, rice, and indigo, andwith money made by trading in the West Indies. Now Great Britain forbadeAmericans to trade with her West Indies. Spain would not make a tradetreaty with us, so we had no trade with her islands, and what was worse, Great Britain taxed everything that came to her from the United Statesunless it came in British ships. As a consequence, very little lumber, fish, rice, and other of our products went abroad to pay for the immensequantity of foreign-made goods that came to us. These goods thereforehad to be paid for in money, which about 1785 began to be boxed up andshipped to London. When the people found that specie was being carriedout of the country, they began to hoard it, so that by 1786 none was incirculation. 

%170. Paper Money issued. %--This left the people without any moneywith which to pay wages, or buy food and clothing, and led at once to ademand that the states should print paper money and loan it to theircitizens. Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North andSouth Carolina, and Georgia did so. But the money was no sooner issuedthan the merchants and others who had goods to sell refused to take it, whereupon in some of the states laws called "tender acts" were passed tocompel people to use the paper. This merely put an end to business, fornobody would sell. In Massachusetts, when the legislature refused toissue paper money, many of the persons who owed debts assembled, and, during 1786-87, under the lead of Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary soldier, prevented the courts from trying suits for the recovery of money owed orloaned. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read McMaster's _History of the People of the UnitedStates_, Vol. I. , pp. 281-295, 304-329, 331-340; Fiske's _CriticalPeriod of American History_, pp. 168-186. ]

%171. Congress proposes Amendments. %--Of the many defects in theArticles, the Continental Congress was fully aware, and it had many atime asked the states to make amendments. One proposed that Congressshould have power for twenty-five years to lay a tax of five per cent onall goods imported, and use the money to pay the Continental debts. Another was to require each state to raise by special tax a sumsufficient to pay its yearly share of the current expenses of Congress. A third was to bestow on Congress for fifteen years the sole power toregulate trade and commerce. A fourth provided that in future the shareeach state was to bear of the current expenses should be in proportionto its population. 

But the Articles of Confederation could not be amended unless allthirteen states consented, and, as all thirteen never did consent, noneof these amendments were ever made. 

%172. The States attempt to regulate Trade and fail. %--In themeantime the states attempted to regulate trade for themselves. New Yorklaid double duties on English ships. Pennsylvania taxed a long list offoreign goods. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island passedacts imposing heavy duties on articles unless they came in Americanvessels. But these laws were not uniform, and as many states took noaction, very little good was accomplished. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History of the People of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 246-259, 266-280; Fiske's _Critical Period of AmericanHistory_, 134-137, 145-147. ]

%173. A Trade Convention called to meet at Annapolis, 1786. %[2]--Under these conditions, the business of the whole countrywas at a standstill, and as Congress had no power to do anything torelieve the distress, the state of Virginia sent out a circular letterto her sister states. She asked them to appoint delegates to meet and"take into consideration the trade and commerce of the United States. "Four (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) responded, andtheir delegates, with those from Virginia, met at Annapolis inSeptember, 1786. 

[Footnote 2: The report of this Annapolis convention is printed in_Bulletin of Bureau of Rolls and Library of the Department of State_, No. 1, Appendix, pp. 1-5. ]

CHAPTER XIII

MAKING THE CONSTITUTION

%174. Call for the Constitutional Convention. %--Finding that it coulddo nothing, because so few states were represented, and because thepowers of the delegates were so limited, the convention recommended thatall the states in the Union be asked by Congress to send delegates to anew convention, to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787, "to take intoconsideration the situation of the United States, " and "to devise suchfurther provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render theConstitution of the Federal government adequate to the exigencies ofthe Union. "

%175. The Philadelphia Convention. %[1]--Early in 1787 Congressapproved this movement, and during the summer of 1787 (May to September)delegates from twelve states (Rhode Island sent none), sitting in secretsession at Philadelphia, made the Constitution of the United States. 

[Footnote 1: All we know of the proceedings of this convention isderived from the journals of the convention, the notes taken down byJames Madison, the notes of Yates of New York, and a speech by LutherMartin of Maryland. They may be found in Elliot's _Debates_, Vol. IV. ]

[Illustration: Independence Chamber[2]]

[Footnote 2: The room where the Constitution was framed. ]

%176. The Virginia and New Jersey Plans%. --The story of thatconvention is too long and too complicated to be told in full. [1] Butsome of its proceedings must be noticed. While the delegates wereassembling, a few men, under the lead of Madison, met and drew up theoutline of a constitution, which was presented by the chairman of theVirginia delegation, and was called the "Virginia plan. " A little later, delegates from the small states met and drew up a second plan, which wasthe old Articles of Confederation with amendments. As the chairman ofthe New Jersey delegation offered this, it was called the "New Jerseyplan. " Both were discussed; but the convention voted to accept theVirginia plan as the basis of the Constitution. 

[Footnote 1: For short accounts, read "The Framers and the Framing ofthe Constitution" in the _Century Magazine_, September, 1887, or"Framing the Constitution, " in McMaster's _With the Fathers_, pp. 106-149, or Thorpe's _Story of the Constitution_, Chautauqua Course, 1891-92, pp. 111-148. ]

%177. The Three Compromises. %--This plan called, among other things, for a national legislature of two branches: a Senate and a House ofRepresentatives. The populous states insisted that the number ofrepresentatives sent by each state to Congress should be in proportionto her population. The small states insisted that each should send thesame number of representatives. For a time neither party would yield;but at length the Connecticut delegates suggested that the states begiven an equal vote and an equal representation in the Senate, and anunequal representation, based on population, in the House. Thecontending parties agreed, and so made the first compromise. 

But the decision to have representation according to population at onceraised the question, Shall slaves be counted as population? This dividedthe convention into slave states and free (see p. 186), and led to asecond compromise, by which it was agreed that three fifths of allslaves should be counted as population, for the purpose of apportioningrepresentation. 

A third compromise sprang from the conflicting interests of thecommercial and the planting states. The planting states wanted aprovision forbidding Congress to pass navigation acts, except by atwo-thirds vote, and forbidding any tax on exports; three states alsowished to import slaves for use on their plantations. The freecommercial states wanted Congress to pass navigation laws, and alsowanted the slave trade stopped, because of the three-fifths rule. Theresult was an agreement that the importation of slaves should not beforbidden by Congress before 1808, and that Congress might passnavigation acts, and that exports should never be taxed. 

%178. The Election of President. %--Another feature of the Virginiaplan was the provision for a President whose business it should be tosee that the acts of Congress were duly enforced or executed. But whenthe question arose, How shall he be chosen? all manner of suggestionswere made. Some said by the governors of the states; some, by the UnitedStates Senate; some, by the state legislatures; some, by a body ofelectors chosen for that purpose. When at last it was decided to have abody of electors, the difficulty was to determine the manner of electingthe electors. On this no agreement could be reached; so the conventionordered that the legislature of each state should have as many electorsof the President as it had senators and representatives in Congress, andthat these men should be appointed in such way as the legislatures ofthe states saw fit to prescribe. 

%179. Sources of the Constitution. %--An examination of theConstitution shows that some of its features were new; that some weredrawn from the experience of the states under the Confederation; andthat others were borrowed from the various state constitutions. Amongthose taken from state constitutions are such names as President, Senate, House of Representatives, and such provisions as that for acensus, for the veto, for the retirement of one third of the Senateevery two years, that money bills shall originate in the House, forimpeachment, and for what we call the annual message. [1]

[Footnote 1: On the sources of the Constitution, read "The First Centuryof the Constitution" in _New Princeton Review, _ September, 1887, pp. 175-190. ]

The features based directly on experience under the Articles ofConfederation are the provisions that the acts of Congress must be_uniform_ throughout the Union; that the President may call out themilitia to repel invasion, to put down insurrection, and to maintain thelaws of the Union; that Congress shall have _sole_ power to regulate_foreign trade_ and _trade between the states. _ No state can now coinmoney or print paper money, or make anything but gold or silver legaltender. Congress now has power to lay taxes, duties, and excises. TheConstitution divides the powers of government between the legislativedepartment (Senate and House of Representatives); the executivedepartment (the President, who sees that laws and treaties are obeyed);and the judicial department (Supreme Court and other United Statescourts, which interpret the Constitution, the acts of Congress, and thetreaties). 

The new features are the definition of treason and the limitation of itspunishment; the guarantee to every state of a republican form ofgovernment; the swearing of state officials to support the FederalConstitution; and the provision for amendment. 

Among other noteworthy features are the creation of a United Statescitizenship as distinct from a state citizenship, the limitation of thepowers of the states; and the provision that the Constitution, the actsof Congress, and the treaties are "the supreme law of the land. "

%180. Constitution submitted to the People. %--The convention endedits work, and such members as were willing signed the Constitution onSeptember 17, 1787. Washington, as president of the convention, thensent the Constitution to the Continental Congress sitting at New Yorkand asked it to transmit copies to the states for ratification. This wasdone, and during the next few months the legislatures of most of thestates called on the people to elect delegates to conventions whichshould accept or reject the Constitution. 

%181. Ratification by the States. %--In many of these conventionsgreat objection was made because the new plan of federal government wasso unlike the Articles of Confederation, and certain changes wereinsisted on. The only states that accepted it just as it was framed wereDelaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, and Maryland. Massachusetts, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, and Virginiaratified with amendments. (For dates, see p. 176. )

%182. "The New Roof. "%--The Constitution provided that when ninestates had ratified, it should go into effect "between the states soratifying. " While it was under discussion the Federalists, as thefriends of the Constitution were named, had called it "the New Roof, "which was going to cover the states and protect them from politicalstorms. They now represented it as completed and supported by elevenpillars or states. Two states, Rhode Island and North Carolina, had notratified, and so were not under the New Roof, and were not members ofthe new Union. Eleven states having approved, nothing remained but tofix the particular day on which the electors of President should bechosen, and the time and place for the meeting of the new Congress. Thisthe Continental Congress did in September, 1788, by ordering that theelectors should be chosen on the first Wednesday in January, 1789, thatthey should meet and vote for President on the first Wednesday inFebruary, and that the new Congress should meet at New York on the firstWednesday in March, which happened to be the fourth day of the month. Later, Congress by law fixed March 4 as the day on which the terms ofthe Presidents begin and end. [1]

[Footnote 1: The question is often asked, When did the Constitution gointo force? Article VII. Says, "The ratification of the conventions ofnine states shall be sufficient for the establishment of thisConstitution between the states so ratifying the same. " New Hampshire, the ninth state, ratified June 21, 1788, and on that day, therefore, theconstitution was "established" between the nine. ]

%183. How Presidents were elected%. --It must not be supposed that ourfirst presidents were elected just as presidents are now. In our timeelectors are everywhere chosen by popular vote. In 1788 there was nouniformity. In Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia the people had acomplete, and in Massachusetts and New Hampshire a partial, choice. InConnecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Georgia theelectors were appointed by the legislatures. In New York the twobranches of the legislature quarreled, and no electors were chosen. 

As the Constitution required that the electors should vote by ballot fortwo persons, such as had been appointed met at their state capitals onthe first Wednesday in February, 1789, made lists of the persons votedfor, and sent them signed and certified under seal to the president ofthe Senate. But when March 4, 1789, came, there was no Senate. Less thana majority of that body had arrived in New York, so no business could bedone. When at length the Senate secured a majority, the House was stillwithout one, and remained so till April. Then, in the presence of theHouse and Senate, the votes on the lists were counted, and it was foundthat every elector had given one of his votes for George Washington, whowas thus elected President. No separate ballot was then required forVice President. Each elector merely wrote on his ballot the names of twomen. He who received the greatest number of votes, if, in the words ofthe Constitution, "such number be a majority of the whole number ofelectors appointed, " was elected President. He who received the nexthighest, even if less than a majority, was elected Vice President. In1789 this man was John Adams of Massachusetts. 

[Illustration: Federal Hall, New York[1]]

[Footnote 1: From an old print made in 1797. ]

[Illustration: G Washington]

%184. The First Inauguration. %--As soon as Washington received thenews of his election, he left Mount Vernon and started for New York. Hisjourney was one continuous triumphal march. The population of every townthrough which he passed turned out to meet him. Men, women, and childrenstood for hours by the roadside waiting for him to go by. At New Yorkhis reception was most imposing, and there, on April 30, 1789, standingon the balcony in front of Federal Hall (p. 171), he took the oath ofoffice in the presence of Congress and a great multitude of people thatfilled the streets, and crowded the windows, and sat on the roofs of theneighboring houses. [1]

[Footnote 1: Full accounts of the inauguration of Washington may befound in _Harper's Magazine_, and also in the _Century Magazine_, forApril, 1889. ]

SUMMARY

1. When independence was about decided on, Congress appointed acommittee to draft a general plan of federal government. 

2. This plan, called Articles of Confederation, Maryland absolutelyrefused to ratify till the states claiming land west of the AlleghanyMountains ceded their claims to Congress. 

3. New York and Virginia having ceded their claims, Maryland ratified inMarch, 1781. 

4. These cessions were followed by others from Massachusetts andConnecticut; and from them all, Congress formed the public domain to besold to pay the debt. 

5. The sale of this land led to the land ordinance of 1785 and theordinance of 1787, for the government of the domain and the newpolitical organism called the territory. 

6. The defects of the Articles made revision necessary, and producedsuch distress that two conventions were called to consider the state ofthe country. That at Annapolis attempted nothing. That at Philadelphiaframed the Constitution of the United States. 

7. The Constitution was then passed to the Continental Congress, whichsent it to the legislatures of the states to be by them referred toconventions elected by the people for acceptance or rejection. 

8. Eleven having ratified, Congress in 1788 fixed a day in 1789 (whichhappened to be March 4), when the First Congress under the Constitutionwas to assemble. 

9. The date of the first presidential election was also fixed, andGeorge Washington was made our first President. 

 /1776. New Hampshire, Connecticut, RhodeThe Colonies adopt | Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Constitutions and --| Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Northbecome States. | Carolina, South Carolina. |1777. New York, Georgia. \1780. Massachusetts. 

 /Framed by Congress 1776-1777. |Adopted by the states 1777-1781. Articles of |In force March 1, 1781. Confederation --|Kind of government. |Defects. Result of the defects. |Trade convention at Annapolis. \Constitutional convention called. 

 /Proceedings of the convention. |The three compromises. Constitution of |Sources of the Constitution. The United States. -|Original features. |Derived features. | Ratification by the states. \The Constitution in force. 

 /Land claims of seven states. |Demands for the surrender of \ |the western territory. |The Territories. --|The cessions by the states. |--The Public |Ordinance of 1785. | Domain. |Ordinance of 1787. | \Territorial government created. /

The President. /Manner of electing. \Inauguration of Washington. 

The Congress. /Organization of the First \under the Constitution. 

 /The Supreme CourtThe Judiciary. --|The Circuit Court \The District Court

 /Secretary of StateThe Secretaries. --|Secretary of Treasury |Secretary of War |The Attorney-general. \Origin of the "Cabinet. "

CHAPTER XIV

OUR COUNTRY IN 1790

%185. The States. %--What sort of a country, and what sort of people, was Washington thus chosen to rule over? When, he was elected, the Unionwas composed of eleven states, for neither Rhode Island nor NorthCarolina had accepted the Constitution. [1] Vermont had never been amember of the Union, because the Continental Congress would notrecognize her as a state. 

[Footnote 1: The states ratified the Constitution on the dates given below:1. Delaware Dec. 7, 17872. Pennsylvania Dec. 12, 17873. New Jersey Dec. 18, 17874. Georgia Jan. 2, 17885. Connecticut Jan. 9, 17886. Massachusetts Feb. 7, 17887. Maryland April 28, 17888. South Carolina May 23, 17889. New Hampshire June 21, 178810. Virginia June 26, 178811. New York July 26, 178812. North Carolina Nov. 21, 178913. Rhode Island May 29, 1790]

[Illustration: The %UNITED STATES% March 4, 1789]

%186. Only a Part inhabited. %--Three fourths of our country was thenuninhabited by white men, and almost all the people lived near theseaboard. Had a line been drawn along what was then the frontier, itwould (as the map on p. 177 shows) have run along the shore of Maine, across New Hampshire and Vermont to Lake Champlain, then south to theMohawk valley, then down the Hudson River, and southwestward acrossPennsylvania to Pittsburg, then south along the Blue Ridge Mountains tothe Altamaha River in Georgia, and by it to the sea. How many peoplelived here was never known till 1790. The Constitution of the UnitedStates requires that the people shall be counted once in each ten years, in order that it may be determined how many representatives each stateshall have in the House of Representatives; and for this purposeCongress ordered the first census to be taken in 1790. It then appearedthat, excluding Indians, there were living in the eleven United States3, 380, 000 human beings, or less than half the number of people who nowlive in the single state of New York. 

%187. How the People were scattered. %--More were in the Southern thanin the Eastern States. Virginia, then the most populous, contained onefifth. Pennsylvania had a ninth, while in the five states of Maryland, Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia were almost one half of theEnglish-speaking people of the United States. These were the plantingstates, and, populous as they were, they had but two cities--Baltimoreand Charleston. Savannah, Wilmington, Alexandria, Norfolk, andRichmond were small towns. Not one had 8000 people in it. Indeed, theinhabitants of the six largest cities of the country (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and Salem) taken together werebut 131, 000. 

[Illustration: DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES FIRSTCENSUS, 1790/]

[Illustration: Boston in 1790[1]]

[Footnote 1: From the _Massachusetts Magazine_, November, 1790. ]

%188. The Cities. %--And how different these cities were from those ofour day! What a strange world Washington would find himself in if hecould come back and walk along the streets of the great city which nowstands on the banks of the Potomac and bears his name! He never in hislife saw a flagstone sidewalk, nor an asphalted street, nor a pane ofglass six feet square. He never heard a factory whistle; he never saw abuilding ten stories high, nor an elevator, nor a gas jet, nor anelectric light; he never saw a hot-air furnace, nor entered a roomwarmed by steam. 

In the windows of shop after shop would be scores of articles familiarenough to us, but so unknown to him that he could not even name them. Henever saw a sewing machine, nor a revolver, nor a rubber coat, nor arubber shoe, nor a steel pen, nor a piece of blotting paper, nor anenvelope, nor a postage stamp, nor a typewriter. He never struck amatch, nor sent a telegram, nor spoke through a telephone, nor touchedan electric bell. He never saw a railroad, though he had seen a rudeform of steamboat. He never saw a horse car, nor an omnibus, nor atrolley car, nor a ferryboat. Fancy him boarding a street car to take aride. He would probably pay his fare with a "nickel. " But the "nickel"is a coin he never saw. Fancy him trying to understand theadvertisements that would meet his eye as he took his seat! Fancy himstaring from the window at a fence bright with theatrical posters, or ata man rushing by on a bicycle!

[Illustration: Philadelphia in 1800 (Arch Street)]

%189. Newspapers and Magazines. %--A boy enters the car with half adozen daily newspapers all printed in the same city. In Washington's daythere were but four daily papers in the United States! On the newscounter of a hotel, one sees twenty illustrated papers, and fiftymonthly magazines. In his day there was no illustrated paper, noscientific periodical, no trade journal, and no such illustratedmagazines as _Harper's, Scribner's_, the _Century, St. Nicholas_. Allthe printing done in the country was done on presses worked by hand. To-day the Hoe octuple press can print 96, 000 eight-page newspapers anhour. To print this number on the hand press shown in the picture wouldhave taken so long that when the last newspaper was printed the firstwould have been three months old!

[Illustration: A Franklin press]

[Illustration: A fire bucket [1]]

[Footnote 1: Original in the Pennsylvania Historical Society. ]

%190. The Fire Service. %--the ambulance, the steam fire engine, thehose cart, the hook and ladder company, the police patrol, the policeofficer on the street corner, the letter carrier gathering the mail, thedistrict messenger boy, the express company, the delivery wagon of thestores, have all come in since Washington died. In his day the lawrequired every householder in the city to be a fireman. His name mightnot appear on the rolls of any of the fire companies, he might not helpto drag through the streets the lumbering tank which served as a fireengine, but he must have in his hall, or beneath the stairs, or hangingup behind his shop door, at least one leathern bucket inscribed with hisname, and a huge bag of canvas or of duck. Then, if he were aroused atthe dead of night by the cry of fire and the clanging of every churchbell in the town, he seized this bucket and his bag, and, while hiswife put a lighted candle in the window to illuminate the street, setoff for the fire. The smoke or the flame was his guide, for the customof indicating the place by a number of strokes on a bell had not yetcome in. When at last he arrived at the scene he found there no idlespectators. Every one was busy. Some hurried into the building andfilled their sacks with such movable goods as came nearest to hand. Somejoined the line that stretched away to the water, and helped to pass thefull buckets to those who stood by the fire. Others took posts in asecond line, down which the empty buckets were hastened to the pump. Thehouse would often be half consumed when the shouting made known that theengine had come. It was merely a pump mounted over a tank. Into the tankthe water from the buckets was poured, and it was pumped thence by theefforts of a dozen men. 

[Illustration: Fire engine of 1800[1]]

[Footnote 1: From an old cut]

%191. The Post Office. %--Washington sees a great wagon or a whitetrolley car marked United States Mail, and on inquiry is told that themoney now spent by the government each year for the support of the postoffices would have more than paid the national debt when he wasPresident. He hears with amazement that there are now 75, 000 postoffices, and recalls that in 1790 there were but seventy-five. He picksup from the sidewalk a piece of paper with a little pink something onthe corner. He is told that the portrait on it is his own, that it is apostage stamp, that it costs two cents, and will carry a letter to SanFrancisco, a city he never heard of, and, if the person to whom it isaddressed cannot be found, will bring the letter back to the sender, adistance of over 5000 miles. In his day a letter was a single sheet ofpaper, no matter how large or small, and the postage on it wasdetermined not by weight, but by distance, and might be anything fromsix to twenty-five cents. 

At that time postage must always be prepaid, and as the post office mustsupport itself, letters were not sent from the country towns till enoughpostage had been deposited at the post office to pay the expense ofsending them. Newspapers and books could not be sent by mail. 

%192. The Franchise. %--Taking the country through, the condition ofthe people was by no means so happy as ours. They had government of thepeople, but it was not by the people nor for the people. Everywhere theright to vote and to hold office was greatly restricted. The voter musthave an estate worth a certain sum, or a specified number of acres, oran annual income of so many dollars. But the right to vote did not carrywith it the right to hold office. More property was required for officeholding than for voting, and there were besides certain religiousrestrictions. In New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, SouthCarolina, and Georgia, the governor, the members of the legislature, andthe chief officers of state must be Protestants. In Massachusetts andMaryland they must be Christians. All these restrictions were long sinceswept away. 

%193. Cruel Punishments. %--The humane spirit of our times was largelywanting. The debtor was cast into prison. The pauper might be sold tothe highest bidder. The criminal was dragged out into open day andflogged or branded. From ten to nineteen crimes were punishable withdeath. No such thing as a lunatic asylum, or a deaf and dumb asylum, ora penitentiary existed. The prisons were dreadful places. Men came outof them worse than they went in. 

%194. The Condition of the Laborer; of the well to do. %--Men workedharder and for less money then than now. A regular working day was fromsunrise to sunset, with an hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner. Sometimes the laborer was fed and lodged by the employer, in which casehe was paid four dollars a month in winter and six in summer. Twoshillings (30 cents) a day for unskilled labor was thought high wages. 

[Illustration: %Washington's flute and Miss Custis's harpsichord atMount Vernon%]

Even the houses of the well to do were much less comfortable places thanare such abodes in our day. There were no furnaces, no gas, nobathrooms, no plumbing. Wood was the universal fuel. Coal from Virginiaand Rhode Island was little used. All cooking was done in "Dutch ovens, "or in "out ovens, " or in the enormous fireplaces to be found in everyhousehold. Wood fuel made sooty chimneys, and sooty chimneys took fire. In every city, therefore, were men known as "sweeps, " whose business itwas to clean chimneys. 

[Illustration: %Earthenware stove--Moravian%]

[Illustration: %Dutch oven%[1]]

[Footnote 1: The bread, or meat, to be baked was put into the pot, andhot coals were heaped all around the sides and on the lid, which had arim to keep the coals on it. ]

[Illustration: a foot stove]

Washington was a farmer, yet he never in his life beheld a tomato, nor acauliflower, nor an eggplant, nor a horserake, nor a drill, nor a reaperand binder, nor a threshing machine, nor a barbed wire fence. 

[Illustration: Kitchen in Washington's headquarters in Morristown, N. J. [1]]

[Footnote 1: This shows a fine specimen of the old-fashioned fireplace. Notice the andirons, the bellows, the lamp, the spinning wheel, the oldDutch clock, and the kettles hanging on the crane over the logs. ]

[Illustration: A plow used in 1776]

His land was plowed with a wooden plow partly shod with iron. His seedwas sown by hand; his hay was cut with scythes; his grain was reapedwith sickles, and threshed on the barn floor with flails in the hands ofhis slaves. 

%195. Negro Slavery. %--No living person under thirty years of age hasever seen a negro slave in our country. When Washington was Presidentthere were 700, 000 slaves. When the Revolution opened, slavery waspermitted by law in every colony. But the feeling against it in theNorth had always been strong, and when the war ended, the people beganthe work of abolition. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire theconstitutions of the states declared that "all men are born free andequal, " and that "all men are born equally free, " and this wasunderstood to abolish slavery. In Pennsylvania, slavery was abolished in1780. In Rhode Island and Connecticut gradual abolition laws were passedwhich provided that all children born of slave parents after a certainday should be free at a certain age, and that their children shouldnever be slaves. The Ordinance of 1787 had prohibited slavery in theNorthwest Territory. But in 1790 New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and all the states south of these were slave states. (See mapon the next page. )

Though slaves were men and women and children, they had no civil rightswhatever. They could be bought and sold, leased, seized for a debt, bequeathed by will, given away. If they made anything, or foundanything, or earned anything, it belonged not to them, but to theirowners. They were property just as oxen or horses were in the North. Itwas unlawful to teach them to read or write. They were not allowed togive evidence against a white man, nor to travel in bands of more thanseven unless a white man was with them, nor to quit the plantationwithout leave. 

If a planter provided coarse food, coarse clothes, and a rude shelterfor his slaves, if he did not work them more than fifteen hours out oftwenty-four in summer, nor more than fourteen in winter, and if he gavethem every Sunday to themselves, he did quite as much for their comfortas the law required he should. 

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE AREA OF %SLAVE AND FREE SOIL IN 1790%]

If the slave committed any offense, if he stole anything, or refused towork, or ran away, it was lawful to load him with irons, to confine himfor any length of time in a cell, and to beat him and whip him till theblood ran in streams from the wounds, and he grew too weak to stand. Old advertisements are still extant in which runaway blacks aredescribed by the scars left upon their bodies by the lash. When suchlashings were not prescribed by the court, they were commonly givenunder the eye of the overseer, or inflicted by the owner himself. 

%196. Six Days from Boston to New York. %--Our country was small whenWashington was President. The people lived on the seaboard. The townsand cities were not actually very far apart; but the means of travelwere so poor, the time consumed in going even fifty miles was so great, that the country was practically immense in extent. Now we step into abeautifully fitted car, heated by steam, lighted by electricity, richlycarpeted, and provided with most comfortable seats and beds, and arewhirled across the continent from Philadelphia to San Francisco in lesstime than it took Washington to go from New York to Boston. 

[Illustration: Old mill at West Falmouth, Mass. [1]]

[Footnote 1: In many parts of the country where there was no waterpower, as Cape Cod, Long Island, Nantucket, etc. , flour was ground atwindmills. The windmill shown in the picture was built in 1787, and isstill in use. ]

If you had lived in 1791 and started, say, from Boston, to go toPhiladelphia to see the President and the great city where independencehad been declared, you would very likely have begun by making your will, and bidding good-by to your friends. You would then have gone down tothe office of the proprietor of the stagecoach, and secured a seat toNew York. As the coach left but twice a week, you would have waitedtill the day came and would then have presented yourself, at threeo'clock in the morning, at the tavern whence the coach started. 

The stagecoach was little better than a huge covered box mounted onsprings. It had neither glass windows, nor door, nor steps, nor closedsides. The roof was upheld by ten posts which rose from the body of thevehicle, and the body was commonly breast high. From the top were hungcurtains of leather, to be rolled up when the day was fine, and let downand buttoned when it was rainy and cold. Within were four seats. Withoutwas the baggage. Fourteen pounds of luggage were allowed to be carriedfree by each passenger. But if your portmanteau or yourbrass-nail-studded hair trunk weighed more, you would have paid for itat the rate per mile that you paid for yourself. Under no circumstances, however, would you be permitted to take on the journey more than 150pounds. When the baggage had all been weighed and strapped on the coach, when the horses had been attached, and the waybill, containing the namesof the passengers, made out, the passengers would clamber to their seatsthrough the front of the stage and sit down with their faces toward thedriver's seat. 

One pair of horses usually dragged the coach eighteen miles, when afresh pair would be attached, and if all went well, you would be putdown about ten at night at some wayside inn or tavern after a journey offorty miles. Cramped and weary, you would eat a frugal supper and hurryoff to bed with a notice from the landlord to be ready to start at threethe next morning. Then, no matter if it rained or snowed, you would beforced to make ready by the dim light of a horn lantern, unknown now, for another ride of eighteen hours. 

If no mishaps occurred, if the coach was not upset by the ruts, if stormor flood did not delay you at Springfield, where the road met theConnecticut, or at Stratford, where it met the Housatonic, each of whichhad to be crossed on clumsy flatboats, the stage would roll into NewYork at the end of the sixth day. 

%197. Two Days from New York to Philadelphia. %--And here a seriousdelay was almost certain to occur, for even in the best of weather itwas no easy matter to cross the Hudson to New Jersey. When the wind washigh and the water rough, or the river full of ice, the boldest did notdare to risk a crossing. Once over the river, you would again go on bycoach, and at the end of two more days would reach Philadelphia. In ourtime one can travel in eight hours the entire distance between Bostonand Philadelphia, a distance which Washington could not have traversedin less than eight days. 

[Illustration: Stagecoach and inn[1]]

[Footnote 1: From a print of 1798. ]

%198. The Roads and the Inns. %--The newspapers and the travelers ofthose days complained bitterly of the roads and the inns. On the bestroads the ruts were deep, the descents precipitous, and the passengerswere often forced to get out and help the driver pull the wheels out ofthe mud. Breakdowns and upsets were of everyday occurrence. Yet bad asthe roads were, the travel was so considerable that very often the innsand taverns even in the large cities could not lodge all who appliedunless they slept five or six in a room. 

%199. A Steamboat on the Delaware. %--Rude as this means of travelseems to us, the men of 1790 were quite satisfied with it, andabsolutely refused to make use of a better one. Had you been inPhiladelphia during the summer of 1790 and taken up a copy of _ThePennsylvania Packet_, you could not have failed to notice thisadvertisement of the first successful steamboat in the world:

 %The Steam-Boat

 Is now ready to take Passengers, and is intended to set off from Arch Street Ferry in Philadelphia every _Monday, Wednesday_ and _Friday_, for _Burlington, Bristol, Bordentown_ and _Trenton_, to return on _Tuesdays, Thursdays_ and _Saturdays_--Price for Passengers, 2/6 to Burlington and Bristol, 3/9 to Bordentown, 5/. To Trenton. June 14. Tu. Th ftf. %

This boat was the invention of John Fitch, and from June to Septemberran up and down the Delaware; but so few people went on it that he couldnot pay expenses, and the boat was withdrawn. 

%200. To the Great West. %--From Philadelphia went out one of thegreat highways to what was then the far West, but to what we now know asthe valley of the Ohio. The traveler who to-day makes the journey fromPhiladelphia to Pittsburg is whisked on a railroad car through anendless succession of cities and villages and rich farms, and by greatfactories and mills and iron works, which in the days of Washington hadno existence. He makes the journey easily between sunrise and sunset. In1790 he could not have made it in twelve days. 

%201. Towns beyond the Alleghany Mountains. %--Though the countrybetween the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi had been closed tosettlement from 1763 to 1776 by the King's proclamation, it was by nomeans without population in 1790. At Detroit and Kaskaskia and Vincenneswere old French settlements, made long before France was driven out ofLouisiana. But there were others of later date. The hardy frontiersmanof 1763 cared no more for the King's proclamation than he did for thebark of the wolf at his cabin door. The ink with which the document waswritten had not dried before emigrants from Maryland and Virginia andPennsylvania were hurrying into the valley of the Monongahela. 

In 1769 William Bean crossed the mountains from North Carolina, and, building a cabin on the banks of Watauga Creek, began the settlement ofTennessee. James Robertson and a host of others followed in 1770, andsoon the valleys of the Clinch and the Holston were dotted with cabins. In 1769 Daniel Boone, one of the grandest figures in frontier history, began his exploits in what is now Kentucky, and before 1777 Boonesboro, Harrodsburg, and Lexington were founded. 

[Illustration: %Model of Fitch's steamboat%[l]]

[Footnote 1: Now in the National Museum, Washington. ]

%202. State of Franklin. %--Before the Revolution closed, emigrantsunder James Robertson and John Donelson planted Nashville and half adozen other settlements on the Cumberland, in middle Tennessee. Afterthe Revolution ended, so many settlers were in eastern Tennessee thatthey tried to make a new state. North Carolina, following the exampleof her Northern sisters, ceded to Congress her claim to what is nowTennessee in 1784. But the people on the Watauga no sooner heard, of itthan under the lead of John Sevier they organized the state of Franklin, whereupon North Carolina repealed the act of cession and absorbed thenew state by making the Franklin officials her officials for thedistrict of Tennessee. In 1789 she again ceded the district, and in Mayof that year Tennessee became part of the public domain. 

%203. Squatters in Ohio. %--The cession to Congress of the land northof the Ohio led to an emigration from Virginia and Kentucky to what isnow the state of Ohio. As this territory was to be sold to pay thenational debt, Congress was forced to order the squatters away, and whenthey refused to go, sent troops to burn their cabins, destroy theircrops, and drive them across the Ohio. The lawful settlement of theterritory began after the Ohio and Scioto companies bought their landsin 1787, and John C. Symmes purchased his in 1788. 

%204. Pittsburg in 1790. %--At Pittsburg, then the greatest town inthe United States west of the Alleghany Mountains, were some 200 houses, mostly of logs, and 2000 people, a newspaper, and a few rudemanufactories. The life of the town was its river trade. Pittsburg wasthe place where emigrants "fitted out" for the West. A settler intendingto go down the Ohio valley with his family and his goods would lay in astock of powder and ball, buy flour and ham enough to last him for amonth, and secure two rude structures which passed under the nameof boats. 

[Illustration: %The first millstones and salt kettle in Ohio%]

%205. A Trip down the Ohio in 1790. %--In the long keel boat he wouldput his wife, his children, and such travelers as had been waiting atPittsburg for a chance to go down the river. In the flatboat would behis cattle or his stores. Two dangers beset the voyager on the Ohio. Hisboat might become entangled in the branches of the trees that overhungthe river, or be fired into by the Indians who lurked in the woods. Thecabin of the keel boat, therefore, was low, that it might glide underthe trees, and the roof and sides were made as nearly bullet-proof aspossible. The whole craft was steered by a huge oar mounted on a pivotat the stern. [1]

[Footnote 1: See the boats in the pictures on next page. ]

[Illustration: Map of Ohio]

%206. Towns along the Ohio. %--As the emigrant in such an ark floateddown the river, he would come first to Wheeling, a town of fifty logcabins, and then to Marietta, a town planted in Ohio in 1788 by settlerssent by the Ohio Company. Below Marietta were Belpre and Gallipolis, asettlement made by Frenchmen brought there by the Scioto Company. Yetfarther down, on the Kentucky side, were Limestone (now Maysville) andNewport, opposite which some settlers were founding the city ofCincinnati. Once past Cincinnati, all was unbroken wilderness till onereached Louisville in Kentucky, beyond which few emigrants had yetventured to go. 

[Illustration: %Cincinnati in 1802 (Fort Washington)%]

%207. Cotton Planting. %--The South, in 1790, was on the eve of agreat industrial revolution. The products of the states south ofVirginia had been tar, pitch, resin, lumber, rice, and indigo. But inthe years following the peace the indigo plants had been destroyed yearafter year by an insect. As the plant was not a native of our country, but was brought from the West Indies, it became necessary either toimport more seed plants, or to raise some other staple. Many chose thelatter course, and about 1787 began to grow cotton. 

[Illustration: %Farmers' Castle (Belpre) in 1791%]

%208. Whitney and the Cotton Gin. %--The experiment succeeded, but aserious difficulty arose. The cotton plant has pods which when ripesplit open and show a white woolly substance attached to seeds. Beforethe cotton could be used, these seeds must be picked out, and as thelabor of cleaning was very great, only a small quantity could be sent tomarket. It happened, however, that a young man from Massachusetts, namedEli Whitney, was then living in Georgia, and he, seeing the need of amachine to clean cotton, invented the cotton gin. [1] Till then, a negroslave could not clean two pounds of cotton in a day. With the gin thesame slave in the same time could remove the seeds from a hundredpounds. This solved the difficulty, and gave to the United Statesanother staple even greater in value than tobacco. In 1792 one hundredand ninety-two thousand pounds of cotton were exported to Europe; in1795, after the gin was invented, six million pounds were sent out ofthe country. In 1894 no less than 4275 million pounds were raised andeither consumed or exported. Of all the marvelous inventions of ourcountrymen, this produced the very greatest consequences. It madecotton planting profitable; it brought immense wealth to the people ofthe South every year; it covered New England with cotton mills; and bymaking slave labor profitable it did more than anything else to fastenslavery on the United States for seventy years, and finally to bring onthe Civil War, the most terrible struggle of modern times. 

[Footnote 1: The word "gin" is a contraction of "engine. "]

[Illustration: %The cotton gin% _A_. Whitney's original gin. _B_. Alater form. ]

SUMMARY

1. When Washington was inaugurated, the United States consisted ofeleven states, with a population of about 3, 380, 000. 

2. These people lived not far from the Atlantic coast. Few citiesexisted; not one had 50, 000 inhabitants. Even the largest was withoutmany conveniences which we consider necessaries. 

3. Travel was slow and difficult, and though a steamboat had beeninvented and used, it was too far ahead of the times to succeed. 

4. West of the Alleghany Mountains a few settlements had been madebetween 1763 and 1783. But it was after 1783, when streams of emigrantspoured over the mountains, that settlement really began. 

6. In the South cotton was just beginning to be cultivated; there alllabor was done by slaves. In the North slavery was dying out, and infive of the states had been abolished. 

State of the Country in 1790

- _On the Seaboard. _The population. {Number. {Distribution. {Movement west. The cities {Size. {Absence of many conveniences known to us. {Newspapers and magazines. Communication between states. {Bad roads. Slow travel. {The post offices. {The stagecoaches. The inns. {The early steamboat. 

- _In the Ohio Valley. _ {Population. Squatters. {Pittsburg in 1790. {A trip down the Ohio. {Towns in the valley. 

- _In the South. _ {Slavery. {Cotton planting. {Whitney and the cotton gin. 

CHAPTER XV

THE RISE OF PARTIES

%209. Organizing the New Government. %--he President having beeninaugurated, and the new government fairly established, it became theduty of Congress to enact such laws as were needed immediately. Thefirst act passed by Congress in 1789 was therefore a tariff act layingduties on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United States. Customhouses were then established and customs districts marked out, andports of entry and ports of delivery designated; provision was made forthe support of lighthouses and beacons; the Ordinance of 1787 for thegovernment of the territories was slightly changed and reenacted; thedepartments of State, War, and Treasury were established; and a call wasmade on the Secretary of the Treasury to report a plan for payment ofthe old Continental debt. 

%210. The United States Courts. %--The Constitution declares that thejudicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Courtand such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordainand establish. Acting under this power, Congress made provision for aSupreme Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and five AssociateJustices, and marked out the United States into circuits and districts. The circuits were three in number. In the first were the Eastern States;in the second, the Middle States; and in the third, the Southern States. To each were assigned two Justices of the Supreme Court, whose businessit was to go to some city in each state in the circuit, and there, withthe district judge of that state, hold a circuit court. The districtcourts were thirteen in number, one being established in each state. [1]Washington appointed John Jay the first Chief Justice of theSupreme Court. 

[Footnote 1: For later changes, see Andrews's _Manual of theConstitution, _ p. 183. ]

%211. The Secretaries. %--During the management of affairs by theContinental Congress three great executive departments had graduallygrown up and been placed in charge of three men, called the"Superintendent of Finance, " the "Secretary of the United States for theDepartment of Foreign Affairs, " and the "Secretary of War. " These theConstitution recognized in the expression "principal officer in each ofthe executive departments. " Congress by law now continued thedepartments and placed them in charge of a Secretary of the Treasury, aSecretary of State, and a Secretary of War. Washington filled theoffices promptly, making Alexander Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury, Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State, and General Henry Knox Secretaryof War. 

%212. The "Cabinet. "%--It has long been the custom for the Presidentto gather his secretaries about him on certain days in each week for thepurpose of discussing public measures. To these gatherings has beengiven the name "Cabinet meetings, " while the secretaries have come to becalled "Cabinet officers. " The Constitution, however, never intended togive the President a body of advisers. Indeed, a proposition to providehim with a council was voted down in the constitutional convention. ButWashington at once began to consult the Chief Justice, the VicePresident, his three secretaries, and the Attorney-general on matters ofimportance. At first he asked their opinions individually and inwriting, but toward the end of his first term he convened a generalmeeting of the heads of departments, and by so doing set a custom out ofwhich, in time, the "Cabinet" has grown. 

%213. The Origin of the National Debt. %--As soon as Hamilton was madeSecretary of the Treasury, it became his duty, in accordance with anorder from Congress, to prepare a plan for the payment of the debtscontracted by the Continental Congress. When that body was unexpectedlycalled on, in May, 1775, to conduct the war, it had nothing with whichto pay expenses, and was forced to use all sorts of means toraise money. 

[Illustrations: Continental money]

%214. Paper Money. %--The first resort was the issue, during 1775 and1776, of six batches of Continental "bills of credit, " amounting in allto $36, 000, 000. These "bills" were rudely engraved bits of paper, stating on their face that "This bill entitles the bearer to receive---- Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in gold or silver. "They were issued in sums of various denominations, from one sixth of adollar up, and were to be redeemed by the states. The amount assignedeach state for redemption was in proportion to the supposed number ofits inhabitants. 

%215. Loan-office Certificates. %--In 1776 Congress tried anothermeans. It opened a loan office in each state and called on patrioticpeople to come forward and loan it money, receiving in return pieces ofpaper called "loan-office certificates. " Interest was to be paid onthese; but after a while Congress, having no money with which to payinterest, was forced to resort to another form of paper, called"interest indents. "

%216. The Congress Lottery. %--The loan office having failed to bringin as much money as was needed, Congress, toward the close of 1776, wasdriven to seek some other way, and resorted to a lottery. A certainnumber of tickets were sold, after which a drawing took place, and allwho drew prizes were given certificates payable at the end offive years. 

%217. More Bills of Credit. %--But the sale of tickets went off soslowly that Congress had to go back to the issue of bills of credit. In1777, therefore, the printing press was again put to work, and issueswere made in rapid succession, till more than $200, 000, 000 inContinental paper were in circulation. 

%218. The "New Tenor". %--Then the Continental bills ceased tocirculate, and in March, 1780, Congress called in the old money andoffered to exchange it for a new issue, giving one dollar of the newpaper money, or "new tenor, " for forty dollars of the old. But theattempt to restore credit by such means was a failure, and by the end ofthe year 1781 all paper money ceased to circulate. 

%219. Certificates. %--Long before this time officials had been forcedto pay debts contracted in the name of Congress with other kinds ofpaper, called certificates, and known as treasury, commissary, quartermaster, marine, and hospital certificates, according to thedepartment issuing them. To these must be added the "final settlements, "or certificates given to the soldiers at the end of the war in paymentof their services. 

%220. Foreign Debt. %--Besides the debt thus contracted at home, Congress had borrowed a great sum in Europe. 

%221. The National Debt in 1790. %--Thus the debt contracted by theContinental Congress consisted of two parts. 1. The foreign debt, due toFrance, Holland, and Spain, and amounting, Hamilton found, to$11, 700, 000. 2. The domestic or home debt, of $42, 000, 000. But thestates had also fallen into debt because of their exertions in the war. Just how great the state debts were could not be determined, but theywere estimated to be $21, 500, 000. 

%222. Assumption and Funding. %--For the redemption of this debtHamilton prepared two measures, --the funding, or, as we should say, thebonding, of the foreign and Continental debt, and the assuming andfunding of the state debts. This was done, and Congress ordered stockbearing interest to be issued in exchange for the old debts, and soestablished our national debt, which in 1790 amounted to $75, 000, 000. 

%223. The National Capital. %--Funding the state debts was stronglyopposed by many congressmen, and was not carried till a bargain was madeby which it was agreed that if enough members from Virginia andPennsylvania would support the measure to secure its passage through theHouse of Representatives, the national government should be removed fromNew York to Philadelphia for ten years, and after that to a city to bebuilt on the Potomac. This was faithfully carried out, and in the summerof 1790 the government offices were removed to Philadelphia, where theyremained till the summer of 1800, when they were removed to Washingtonin the District of Columbia. 

%224. The Bank of the United States. %--The troublesome questions offunding and assumption thus disposed of, Congress called on Hamilton fora report on the further support of public credit, and when it met in thesession of 1790-91, received a plan for a great National Bank, with acapital of $10, 000, 000. The United States was to raise $2, 000, 000; therest was to be subscribed for by the people. The bank was to keep thepublic revenues, was to aid the government in making payments all overthe country. To do this, power was given to the parent bank (which mustbe at Philadelphia) to establish branches in the chief cities and towns, and to issue bank bills which should be received all over the UnitedStates for public lands, taxes, duties, postage, and in payment of anydebt due the government. Great opposition was made; but the charter wasgranted for twenty years, and in 1791 the Bank of the United Statesbegan business. 

The effect of these two measures, funding the debt and establishing abank, was immediate. Confidence and credit were restored. Money that thepeople had long been hiding away was brought out and invested in allsorts of new enterprises, such as banks, canal companies, manufacturingcompanies, and turnpike companies. 

[Illustration: The first Bank of the United States]

%225. "Federalists" and "Republicans. "%--When the Constitution wasbefore the people for acceptance or rejection in 1788, they were dividedinto two bodies. Those who wanted a strong and vigorous federalgovernment, who wanted Congress to have plenty of power to regulatetrade, pay the debts of the country, and raise revenue, supported theConstitution just as it was and were called "Federalists. "

Others, who wanted the old Articles of Confederation preserved andamended so as to give Congress a revenue and only a little more power, opposed the Constitution and wanted it altered. To please these"Anti-Federalists, " as they were a large part of the people, Congress, in 1789, drew up twelve amendments to the Constitution and sent them tothe states. 

With the ratification of ten of these amendments, opposition to theConstitution ceased. But as soon as Congress began to pass laws, difference of opinion as to the expediency of them, and even as to theright of Congress to pass them, divided the people again into twoparties, and sent a good many Federalists into the Anti-Federalistparty. 

A very large number of men, for instance, opposed the funding of theContinental Congress debt at its face value, because the people neverhad taken a bill at the value expressed on its face, but at a very muchless value; some opposed the assumption of the state debts, becauseCongress, they said, had power to pay the debt of the United States, butnot state debts; others opposed the National Bank because theConstitution did not give Congress express power in so many words tocharter a bank. Others complained that the interest on the national debtand the great salary of the President ($25, 000 a year) and the pay ofCongressmen ($6 a day) and the hundreds of tax collectors made taxes tooheavy. They complained again that men in office showed an undemocraticfondness for aristocratic customs. The President, they said, was tooexclusive, and owned too fine a coach. The Justices of the Supreme Courtmust have black silk gowns, with red, white, and blue scarfs. The Senatefor some years to come held its daily session in secret; not even anewspaper reporter was allowed to be present. 

As early as 1792 there were thus a very great number of men in all partsof the country who were much opposed to the measures of Congress and thePresident, and who accused the Federalists of wishing to set up amonarchy. A great national debt, they said, a funding system, a nationalbank, and heavy internal taxes are all monarchical institutions, and ifyou have the institutions, it will not be long before you have themonarchy. They began therefore in 1792 to organize for electionpurposes, and as they were opposed to a monarchy, they called themselves"Republicans. " [1] Their great leaders were Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Randolph, and Albert Gallatin. 

[Footnote 1: This party was the forerunner of the present Democraticparty. ]

%226. The Whisky Rebellion, 1794. %--One of the taxes to which theRepublicans objected, that on whisky, led to the first rebellion againstthe government of the United States. In those days, 1791, the farmersliving in the region around Pittsburg could not send grain or flour downthe Ohio and the Mississippi, because Spain had shut the Mississippi tonavigation by Americans. They could not send their flour over themountains to Philadelphia or Baltimore, because it cost more to haul itthere than it would sell for. Instead, therefore, of making flour, theygrew rye and made whisky on their own farms. This found a ready sale. Now, when the United States collectors attempted to collect the whiskytax, the farmers of western Pennsylvania drove them away. An appeal wasthen made to the courts; but when the marshal came to make arrests he, too, was driven away. Under the Articles of Confederation this wouldhave been submitted to. But the Constitution and the acts of Congresswere now "the supreme law of the land, " and Washington in his oath ofoffice had sworn to see them executed. To accomplish this, he used thepower given him by an act of Congress, and called out 12, 900 militiafrom the neighboring states and marched them to Pittsburg. Then thepeople yielded. Two of the leaders were tried and convicted of treason;but Washington pardoned them. 

The insurrection or rebellion was a small affair. But the principles atstake were great. It was now shown that the Constitution and the lawsmust be obeyed; that it was treason to resist them by force, and that ifnecessary the people would, at the call of the President, turn out andput down rebellion by force of arms. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read McMaster's _History of the People of the UnitedStates_, Vol. II. , pp. 189-204; Findley's _History of the Insurrectionin Pennsylvania_. ]

SUMMARY

1. As soon as Washington was inaugurated, Congress proceeded to organizethe new government. 

2. The Supreme Court and circuit and district courts were established. 

3. The departments of State, War, and Treasury were formed. 

4. Twelve amendments to the Constitution were proposed. 

5. Three financial measures were adopted: A. A tariff act was passed. B. The debts of the states were assumed, and, with that of the Continental Congress, funded. C. A national bank was chartered. 

6. The price of funding was the ultimate location of the nationalcapital on the Potomac. 

7. The first census was taken in 1790. 

8. The result of the financial measures of Congress was the rise of theRepublican party (the forerunner of the present Democratic party). 

 THE ORIGIN OF POLITICAL PARTIES/--------------------------------------------------------------------\

 Funding the Continental Debt. /------------\ / Money borrowed in \ Shall it be \ Foreign debt. | France, Holland, | funded at | Yes ------+ \ and Spain. / face value? / | | / Bills of credit. \ | | Loan-office | | | certificates. | Shall it be \ | | Lottery | funded at | Yes ----+ | Domestic debt. | certificates. | face value / | | | Interest indents. | or market \ | | | New tenor. | value? / Yes --+ | | | Certificates of | | | | | officials. | | | | \ Final settlements. / | | | \ | | | |Assumption of / Yes ---------------------------------------+-+ |[1] state debts. \ No ----------------------------------+ | | | | | | /Establishment / Yes -----------------------------------------+ of a national | | | bank. \ No ------------------------------------+ | | | |Internal revenue / Too heavy ----------------------- \ | | |taxes. \ | | | | | | | | / / President too | | | | | | exclusive. | | | | \ | Aristocratic | Secret sessions | | | | |Administration | customs. | of the Senate. |--+-+-+ |[2]not democratic. | | Gowns of the | | | \ justices. | / | Monarchial / Great debt. | | institutions. | National bank. | \ \ Heavy taxes. /

 \ / Leaders. [1]---| Federalists | Washington. / | Adams. \ Hamilton. 

 \ / Leaders. | | Jefferson. [2]---| Republicans | Madison. | | Monroe. | | Randolph. / \ Gallatin. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE STRUGGLE FOR NEUTRALITY

%227. Trouble with Great Britain and France. %--From the congressionalelection in 1792 we may date the beginning of organized politicalparties in the United States. They sprang from differences of opinion asto domestic matters. But on a sudden in 1793 Federalists and Republicansbecame divided on questions of foreign affairs. 

Ever since 1789 France had been in a state of revolution, and at last(in 1792) the people established the French Republic, cut off the headsof the King and Queen (in 1793), and declared war on England and sent aminister, Genet, to the United States. At that time we had no treatywith Great Britain except the treaty of peace. With France, however, wehad two treaties, --one of alliance, and one of amity and commerce. Thetreaty of alliance bound us to guarantee to France "the possessions ofthe crown of France in America, " by which were meant the French WestIndian Islands. When Washington heard that war had been declared byFrance, and that a French minister was on his way to America, he becamealarmed lest this minister should call on him to make good the guaranteeby sending a fleet to the Indies. On consulting his secretaries, theyadvised him that the guarantee applied only when France was attacked, and not when she was the attacking party. The President thereupon issueda proclamation of neutrality; that is, declared that the United Stateswould not side with either party in the war, but would treat both alike. 

%228. Sympathy for France; the French Craze. %--Then began a longstruggle for neutrality. The Republicans were very angry at Washingtonand denounced him violently. France, they said, had been our old friend;Great Britain had been our old enemy. We had a treaty with France; wehad none with Great Britain. To treat her on the same footing withFrance was therefore a piece of base ingratitude to France. A wave ofsympathy for France swept over the country. The French dress, customs, manners, came into use. Republicans ceased to address each other as Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones, Sir, or "Your Honor, " and used Citizen Smith andCitizen Jones. The French tricolor with the red liberty cap was hung upin taverns and coffeehouses, which were the clubhouses of that day. Every French victory was made the occasion of a "civic feast, " while theanniversaries of the fall of the Bastile and of the founding of theRepublic were kept in every great city. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read McMaster's _History of the People of the UnitedStates_, Vol. II. , pp. 89-96; _Harpers Magazine_, April, 1897. ]

%229. England seizes our Ships; the Rule of 1756%. --To preserveneutrality in the face of such a public sentiment was hard enough; butGreat Britain made it more difficult yet. When war was declared, Franceopened the ports of her West Indian Islands and invited neutral nationsto trade with them. This she did because she knew that the British navycould drive her merchantmen from the sea, and that all trade betweenherself and her colonies must be carried on in the ships ofneutral nations. 

Now the merchants of the United States had never been allowed to tradewith the French Indies to an unlimited extent. The moment, therefore, they were allowed to do so, they gladly began to trade, and during thesummer of 1793 hundreds of ships went to the islands. There were at thattime four questions of dispute between us and Great Britain:

1. Great Britain held that she might seize any kind of food going to aFrench port in our ships. We held that only military stores might beso seized. 

2. Great Britain held that when a port had been declared to beblockaded, a ship bound to that port might be seized even on the highseas. We held that no port was blockaded unless there was a fleetactually stationed at it to prevent ships from entering or leaving it. 

3. Great Britain held that our ships might be captured if they hadFrench goods on board. We held that "free ships made free goods, " andthat our ships were not subject to capture, no matter whose goods theyhad on board. 

4. Great Britain in 1756 had adopted a rule that no neutral should havein time of war a trade she did not have in time of peace. 

The United States was now enjoying a trade in time of war she did nothave in time of peace, and Great Britain began to enforce her rule. British ships were ordered to stop American vessels going to or comingfrom the French West Indies, and if they contained provisions, to seizethem. This was done, and in the autumn of 1793 great numbers of Americanships were captured. 

%230. Our Sailors impressed. %--All this was bad enough and excitedthe people against our old enemy, who made matters a thousand timesworse by a course of action to which we could not possibly submit. Sheclaimed the right to stop any of our ships on the sea, send an officeron board, force the captain to muster the crew on the deck, and thensearch for British subjects. If one was found, he was seized and carriedaway. If none were found, and the British ships wanted men, native-bornAmericans were taken off under the pretext that one could not tell anAmerican from an English sailor. Our fathers could stand a great deal, but this was too much, and a cry for war went up from all parts ofthe country. 

But Washington did not want war, and took two measures to prevent it. He persuaded Congress to lay an embargo for thirty days, that is, forbidall ships to leave our ports, and induced the Senate to let him sendJohn Jay, the Chief Justice, to London to make a treaty of amity andcommerce with Great Britain. 

%231. Jay's Treaty, 1794. %--In this mission Jay succeeded; and thoughthe treaty was far from what Washington wanted, it was the best thatcould be had, and he approved it. [1] At this the Republicans grewfurious. They burned copies of the treaty at mass meetings and hung Jayin effigy. Yet the treaty had some good features. By it the King agreedto withdraw his troops from Oswego and Detroit and Mackinaw, whichreally belonged to us but were still occupied by the English. By it ourmerchants were allowed for the first time to trade with the British WestIndies, and some compensation was made for the damage done by thecapture of ships in the West Indies. 

[Footnote 1: The Senate ratified this treaty in the summer of 1795. ]

%232. Treaty with Spain. %--About the same time (October, 1795) wemade our first treaty with Spain, and induced her to accept thethirty-first degree of latitude as the south boundary of our country, and to consent to open the Mississippi to trade. As Spain owned bothbanks at the mouth of the river, she claimed that American ships had noright to go in or out without her consent, and so prevented the peopleof Kentucky and Tennessee from trading in foreign markets. She nowagreed that they might float their produce to New Orleans and pay asmall duty, and then ship it wherever they pleased. 

%233. The Election of Adams and Jefferson, 1796%. --Washington hadbeen reëlected President in 1792, but he was now tired of office, and inSeptember, 1796, issued his "Farewell Address, " in which he declined tobe the candidate for a third presidential term. In those days there wereno national conventions to nominate candidates, yet it was wellunderstood that John Adams, the Vice President, was the candidate of theFederalists, and Thomas Jefferson, of the Republicans. When the voteswere counted in Congress, it was found that Adams had 71 electoralvotes, and Jefferson 68; so they became President and Vice President. 

[Illustration: John Adams]

%234. Trouble with France. %--Adams was inaugurated on March 4, 1797, and three days later heard that C. C. Pinckney, our minister to theFrench Republic, had been driven from France. Pinckney had been sent toFrance by Washington in 1796, but the French Directory (as the five menwho then governed France were called) had taken great offense at Jay'streaty: first because it was favorable to Great Britain, and in thesecond place because it put an end for the present to all hope of warbetween her and the United States. The Directory, therefore, refused toreceive Pinckney until the French grievances were redressed. 

The President was very angry at the insult, and summoned Congress tomeet and take such action as, said he, "shall convince France and thewhole world that we are not a degraded people humiliated under acolonial spirit of fear and sense of inferiority. " But the Republicansdeclared so vigorously that if a special mission were sent to France allwould be made right, that Adams yielded, and sent John Marshall andElbridge Gerry to join Pinckney as envoys extraordinary. On reachingParis, three men acting as agents for the Directory met them, anddeclared that before they could be received as ministers they must dothree things:

1. Apologize for Adams's denunciation of the conduct of France. 2. Pay each Director $50, 000. 3. Pay tribute to France. 

When the President reported this demand to Congress, the names of thethree French agents were suppressed, and instead they were called Mr. X, Mr. Y, Mr. Z. This gave the mission the nickname "X, Y, Z mission. "

%235. "Millions for Defense, not a Cent for Tribute. "%--As thenewspapers published these dispatches, a roar of indignation, in whichthe Federalists and Republicans alike joined, went up from the wholecountry. "Millions for defense, not a cent for tribute, " became thewatchword of the hour. Opposition in Congress ceased, and preparationswere at once made for war. The French treaties were suspended. The NavyDepartment was created, and a Secretary of the Navy appointed. Frigateswere ordered to be built, money was voted for arms, a provisional armywas formed, and Washington was again made commander in chief, with therank of lieutenant general. The young men associated for defense, thepeople in the seaports built frigates or sloops of war, and gave theirservices to erect forts and earthworks. Every French flag was now pulleddown from the coffeehouses, and the black cockade of our ownRevolutionary days was once more worn as the badge of patriotism. Thenwas written, by Joseph Hopkinson of Philadelphia, [1] and sung for thefirst time, our national song _Hail, Columbia!_

[Footnote 1: The music to which we sing _Hail, Columbia!_ was called_The President's March_, and was played for the first time when thepeople of Trenton were welcoming Washington on his way to be inauguratedPresident in 1789. For an account of the trouble with France readMcMaster's _History of the People of the United States_, Vol. II, pp. 207-416, 427-476. ]

%236. The Alien and Sedition Acts. %--Carried away by the excitementof the hour, the Federalists now passed two most unwise laws. Many ofthe active leaders and very many of the members of the Republican partywere men born abroad and naturalized in this country. Generally theywere Irishmen or Frenchmen, and as such had good reason to hate England, and therefore hated the Federalists, who they believed were too friendlyto her. To prevent such becoming voters, and so taking an active part inpolitics, the Federalists passed a new naturalization law, which forbadeany foreigner to become an American citizen until he had lived fourteenyears in our country. Lest this should not be enough to keep themquiet, a second law was passed by which the President had power for twoyears to send any alien (any of these men who for fourteen years couldnot become citizens) out of the country whenever he thought it proper. This law Adams never used. 

For five years past the Republican newspapers had been abusingWashington, Adams, the acts of Congress, the members of Congress, andthe whole foreign policy of the Federalists. The Federalist newspapers, of course, had retaliated and had been just as abusive of theRepublicans. But as the Federalists now had the power, they determinedto punish the Republicans for their abuse, and passed the Sedition Act. This provided that any man who acted seditiously (that is, interferedwith the execution of a law of Congress) or spoke or wrote seditiously(that is, abused the President, or Congress, or any member of theFederal government) should be tried, and if found guilty, be fined andimprisoned. This law was used, and used vigorously, and Republicaneditors all over the country were fined and sometimes imprisoned. [1]

[Footnote 1: The Alien and Sedition acts are in Preston's _Documents_, pp. 277-282. ]

%237. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. %--The passage of these Alienand Sedition laws greatly excited the Republicans, and led Jefferson touse his influence to have them condemned by the states. For this purposehe wrote a set of resolutions and sent them to a friend in Kentucky whowas to try to have the legislature adopt them. [2] Jefferson next askedMadison to write a like set of resolutions for the Virginia legislatureto adopt. Madison became so interested that he gave up his seat inCongress and entered the Virginia legislature, and in December, 1798, induced it to adopt what have since been known as the VirginiaResolutions of 1798. 

[Footnote 2: Kentucky had been admitted to the Union in 1792 (see p. 213). ]

Meantime the legislature of Kentucky, November, 1798, had adopted theresolutions of Jefferson. [3]

[Footnote 3: E. D. Warfield's _Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions_. TheResolutions are printed in Preston's _Documents_, pp. 283-298;_Jefferson's Works_, Vol. IX. , p. 494. ]

Both sets declare 1. That the Constitution of the United States is acompact or contract. 2. That to this contract each state is a party;that is, the united states are equal partners in a great political firm. So far they agree; but at this point they differ. The KentuckyResolutions assert that when any question arises as to the right ofCongress to pass any law, _each state_ may decide this question foritself and apply any remedy it likes. The Virginia Resolutions declarethat _the states_ may judge and apply the remedy. 

Both declared that the Alien and Sedition laws were whollyunconstitutional. Seven states answered by declaring that the laws wereconstitutional, whereupon Kentucky in 1799 framed another set ofresolutions in which she said that when a state thought a law to beillegal she had the right to nullify it; that is, forbid her citizens toobey it. This doctrine of nullification, as we shall see, afterwardsbecame of very serious importance. [1]

[Footnote 1: The answers of the states are printed in Elliot's_Debates_, Vol. IV. , pp. 532-539. ]

%238. The Naval War with France. %--Meantime war opened with France. The Navy Department was created in April, 1798, and before the yearended, a gallant little navy of thirty-four frigates, corvettes, and gunsloops of war had been collected and sent with a host of privateers toscour the sea around the French West Indies, destroy French commerce, and capture French ships of war. [1] One of our frigates, the_Constellation_, Captain Thomas Truxton in command, captured the Frenchfrigate _Insurgente_, after a gallant fight. On another occasion, Truxton, in the _Constellation_, fought the _Vengeance_ and would havetaken her, but the Frenchman, finding he was getting much the worst ofit, spread his sails and fled. Yet another of our frigates, the_Boston_, took the _Berceau_, whose flag is now in the Naval InstituteBuilding at Annapolis. In six months the little American twelve-gunschooner _Enterprise_ took eight French privateers, and recaptured andset free four American merchantmen. These and a hundred other actionsjust as gallant made good the patriotic words of John Adams, "that weare not a degraded people humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear andsense of inferiority. " So impressed was France with this fact that thewar had scarcely begun when the Directory meekly sent word that ifanother set of ministers came they would be received. They ought to havebeen told that they must send a mission to us. But Adams in this respectwas weak, and in 1800, the Chief Justice, Oliver Ellsworth, William R. Davie, and William Vans Murray were sent to Paris. The Directory hadthen fallen from power, Napoleon was ruling France as First Consul, andwith him in September, 1800, a convention was concluded. 

[Footnote 2: For an account of this war, read Maclay's _History of theUnited States Navy_, Vol. I. , pp. 155-213. ]

%239. The Stamp Tax; the Direct Tax and Fries's Rebellion, 1798. %--The heavy cost of the preparations for war made new taxesnecessary. Two of these, a stamp tax very similar to the famous one of1765, and a direct tax, greatly excited the people. The direct tax wasthe first of its kind in our history, and was laid on lands, houses, andnegro slaves. In certain counties of eastern Pennsylvania, where thepopulation was chiefly German, the purpose of the tax was notunderstood, and the people refused to make returns of the value of theirfarms and houses. When the assessors came to measure the houses andcount the windows as a means of determining the value of the property, the people drove them off. For this some of the leaders were arrested. But the people under John Fries rose and rescued the prisoners. At thisstage President Adams called out the militia, and marched it against therebels. They yielded. But Fries was tried for treason, was sentenced tobe hanged, and was then pardoned. Thus a second time was it proved thatthe people of the United States were determined to support theConstitution and the laws and put down rebellion. 

%240. Washington the National Capital. %--In accordance with thebargain made in 1790, Washington selected a site for the Federal cityon both banks of the Potomac. This great square tract of land was tenmiles long on each side, and was given to the government partly byMaryland and partly by Virginia. [1] It was called the District ofColumbia, and in it were marked out the streets of Washington city. 

[Footnote 1: In 1846 so much of the District as had belonged to Virginiawas given back to her. ]

Though all possible haste was made, the President's house was stillunfinished, the Capitol but partly built, and the streets nothing butroads cut through the woods, when, in the summer of 1800, thesecretaries, the clerks, the books and papers of the government leftPhiladelphia for Washington. With the opening of the new century, andthe occupation of the new Capitol, came a new President, and a new partyin control of the government. 

[Illustration: The National Capitol as it was in 1825]

%241. The Election of Thomas Jefferson. %--The year 1800 was apresidential year, and though no formal nomination was made, a caucus ofRepublican leaders selected as candidates Thomas Jefferson forPresident, and Aaron Burr for Vice President. A caucus or meeting ofFederalist leaders selected John Adams and C. C. Pinckney as theircandidates. When the returns were all in, it appeared that Jefferson hadreceived seventy-three votes, Burr seventy-three votes, Adams sixty-fivevotes, Pinckney sixty-four votes. The Constitution provided that the manwho received the highest number of electoral votes, if the choice ofthe majority of the electors, should be President. But as Jefferson andBurr had each seventy-three, neither had the highest, and neither wasPresident. The duty of electing a President then devolved on the Houseof Representatives, which after a long and bitter struggle electedJefferson President; Burr then became Vice President. To prevent such acontest ever arising again, the twelfth amendment was added to theConstitution. This provides for a separate ballot for Vice President. March 4, 1801, Jefferson, escorted by the militia of Georgetown andAlexandria, walked from his lodgings to the Senate chamber and took theoath of office. {1} He and his party had been placed in power in order tomake certain reforms, and this, when Congress met in the winter of 1801, they began to do. 

[Footnote 1: For a fine description of Jefferson's personality, readHenry Adams's _History of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 185-191. Asto the story of Jefferson riding alone to the Capitol and tying hishorse to the fence, see Adams's _History_, Vol. I, pp. 196-199;McMaster's _History_, Vol. II. , pp. 533-534. ]

%242. The Annual Message. %--While Washington and Adams werepresidents, it was their custom when Congress met each year to go instate to the House of Representatives, and in the presence of the Houseand Senate read a speech. The two branches of Congress would thenseparate and appoint committees to answer the President's speech, andwhen the answers were ready, each would march through the streets to thePresident's house, where the Vice President or the Speaker would readthe answer to the President. When Congress met in 1801, Jeffersondropped this custom and sent a written message to both houses--apractice which every President since that time has followed. 

%243. Republican Reforms. %--True to their promises, the Republicansnow proceeded to repeal the hated laws of the Federalists. They sold allthe ships of the navy except thirteen, they ordered prosecutions underthe Sedition law to be stopped, they repealed all the internal taxeslaid by the Federalists, they cut down the army to 2500 men, andreduced the expenses of government to $3, 700, 000 per year--a sum whichwould not now pay the cost of running the government for three days. Asthe annual revenue collected at the customhouses, the post office, andfrom the sale of land was $10, 800, 000, the treasury had some $7, 000, 000of surplus each year. This was used to pay the national debt, which fellfrom $88, 000, 000 in 1801 to $45, 000, 000 in 1812, and this in spite ofthe purchase of Louisiana. 

[Illustration: Thomas Jefferson]

%244. The Purchase of Louisiana. %--When France was driven out ofAmerica, it will be remembered, she gave to Spain all of Louisiana westof the Mississippi River, together with a large tract on the east bank, at the river's mouth. Spain then owned Louisiana till 1800, when by asecret treaty she gave the province back to France. [1]

[Footnote 1: Adams's _History of the United States, _Vol. I. , pp. 352-376. ]

For a while this treaty was really kept secret; but in April, 1802, newsthat Louisiana had been given to France and that Napoleon was going tosend out troops to hold it, reached this country and produced twoconsequences. In the first place, it led the Spanish intendant (as theman who had charge of all commercial matters was called) to withdraw the"right of deposit" at New Orleans, and so prevent citizens of the UnitedStates sending their produce out of the Mississippi River. In the secondplace, this act of the intendant excited the rage of all the settlers inthe valley from Pittsburg to Natchez, and made them demand the instantseizure of New Orleans by American troops. To prevent this, Jeffersonobtained the consent of Congress to make an effort to buy New Orleansand West Florida, and sent Monroe to aid our minister in France inmaking the purchase. 

When the offer was made, Napoleon was about going to war with England, and, wanting money very much, he in turn offered to sell the wholeprovince to the United States--an offer that was gladly accepted. Theprice paid was $15, 000, 000, and in December, 1803, Louisiana wasformally delivered to us. 

%245. Louisiana. %--Concerning this splendid domain hardly anythingwas known. No boundaries were given to it either on the north, or on thewest, or on the south. What the country was like nobody could tell. [1]Where the source of the Mississippi was no white man knew. In the timeof La Salle a priest named Hennepin had gone up to the spot whereMinneapolis now stands, and had seen the Falls of St. Anthony (p. 63). But the country above the falls was still unknown. 

[Footnote 1: In a description of it which Jefferson sent to Congress in1804, he actually stated that "there exists about one thousand miles upthe Missouri, and not far from that river, a salt mountain. Thismountain is said to be one hundred and eighty miles long and forty-fivein width, composed of solid rock salt, without any trees or evenshrubs on it. "]

%246. Explorations of Lewis and Clark. %--That this great region oughtto be explored had been a favorite idea of Jefferson for twenty yearspast, and he had tried to persuade learned men and learned societies toorganize an expedition to cross the continent. Failing in this, heturned to Congress, which in 1803 (before the purchase of Louisiana)voted a sum of money for sending an exploring party from the mouth ofthe Missouri to the Pacific. The party was in charge of Meriwether Lewisand William Clark. Early in May, 1804, they left St. Louis, then afrontier town of log cabins, and worked their way up the Missouri Riverto a spot not far from the present city of Bismarck, North Dakota, wherethey passed the winter with the Indians. Resuming their journey in thespring of 1805, they followed the Missouri to its source in themountains, after crossing which they came to the Clear Water River; anddown this they went to the Columbia, which carried them to a spot where, late in November, 1805, they "saw the waves like small mountains rollingout in the sea. " They were on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Afterspending the winter at the mouth of the Columbia, the party made its wayback to St. Louis in 1806. 

%247. The Oregon Country. %--Lewis and Clark were not the first of ourcountrymen to see the Columbia River. In 1792 a Boston ship captainnamed Gray was trading with the Pacific coast Indians. He was collectingfurs to take to China and exchange for tea to be carried to Boston, andwhile so engaged he discovered the mouth of a great river, which heentered, and named the Columbia in honor of his ship. By right of thisdiscovery by Gray the United States was entitled to all the countrydrained by the Columbia River. By the exploration of this country byLewis and Clark our title was made stronger still, and it was finallyperfected a few years later when the trappers and settlers went over theRocky Mountains and occupied the Oregon country. [1]

[Footnote 1: Barrows's _Oregon_; McMaster's _History_, Vol. II. , pp. 633-635. ]

[Illustration: Mouth of the Columbia River]

%248. Pike explores the Southwest. %--While Lewis and Clark weremaking their way up the Missouri, Zebulon Pike was sent to find thesource of the Mississippi, which he thought he did in the winter of1805-06. In this he was mistaken, but supposing his work done, he wasdispatched on another expedition in 1806. Traveling up the MissouriRiver to the Osage, and up the Osage nearly to its source, he struckacross Kansas to the Arkansas River, which he followed to its headwaters, wandering in the neighborhood of that fine mountain which inhonor of him bears the name of Pikes Peak. Then he crossed the mountainsand began a search for the Red River. The march was a terrible one. Itwas winter; the cold was intense. The snow lay waist deep on the plains. Often the little band was without food for two days at a time. But Pikepushed on, in spite of hunger, cold, and suffering, and at last saw, through a gap in the mountains, the waters of the Rio Grande. Believingthat it was the Red, he hurried to its banks, only to be seized by theSpaniards (for he was on Spanish soil), who carried him a prisoner toSanta Fé, from which city he and his men wandered back to the UnitedStates by way of Mexico and Texas. 

[Illustration: %EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTHWEST% BY ZEBULON M. PIKE%1806-1807%]

%249. Astoria founded. %--The immediate effect of these explorationswas greatly to stimulate the fur trade. One great fur trader, John JacobAstor of New York, now founded the Pacific Fur Company and madepreparations to establish a line of posts from the upper Missouri to theColumbia, and along it to the Pacific, and supply them from St. Louis byway of the Missouri, or from the mouth of the Columbia, where in 1811 alittle trading post was begun and named Astoria. This completed ourclaim to the Oregon country. Gray had discovered the river; Lewis andClark had explored the territory drained by the river; the Pacific FurCompany planted the first lasting settlement. 

SUMMARY

1. In 1793 France made war on Great Britain. The United States was boundby the treaty of alliance of 1778 to "guarantee" the French possessionsin America. 

2. This treaty, and the coming of the French minister, forced Washingtonto declare the United States neutral in the war. 

3. His proclamation of neutrality was resented by the Republicans, whonow became sympathizers with France. The Federalists, who were strongestin the commercial states, became the anti-French or English party. 

4. When France declared war on England, she opened her ports in the WestIndies to the merchant trade of the United States. 

5. England held that we should not have a trade with France when at war, for we had not had it when France was at peace. This was an applicationof the "Rule of 1756. " In 1793-1794, therefore, England began to seizeour ships coming from the French ports. 

6. This so excited the Republicans that they attempted to force thecountry into war with England. 

7. To prevent war, Washington sent Jay to London, where he made ourfirst commercial treaty with Great Britain. 

8. This offended the French Directory, who refused to receive our newminister and sent him out of France. 

9. War with France now seemed likely. But Adams, in the interest ofpeace, sent three commissioners to Paris to make a new treaty. They weremet with demands for tribute and came home. 

10. The greatest excitement now prevailed in the country. The NavyDepartment was created, a navy was built by the people, and aprovisional army raised. The old French treaties were suspended, and anaval war began. 

11. The popular anger against the Republicans (the French party) gavethe Federalists control of Congress, whereupon they passed the Alien andSedition laws. 

12. Against these Virginia and Kentucky protested in a set ofresolutions. 

13. In the election of 1800 the Federalists were defeated, and theRepublicans secured control of the Federal government. 

14. In 1800 Spain ceded Louisiana to France, whereupon the Spanishofficial at New Orleans shut the Mississippi to American commerce. 

15. The whole West cried out against this and demanded war. ButJefferson offered to buy West Florida from France. Napoleon thereuponoffered to sell all Louisiana, and we bought it (1803). 

16. The new territory as yet had no boundaries; but it was explored inthe northwest by Lewis and Clark, and in the southwest by Pike. 

17. The discovery of the Columbia River in 1792, the exploration of thecountry by Lewis and Clark, and the founding of Astoria established ourclaim to the Oregon country. 

 FRANCE A REPUBLIC, 1792. ------------------------ | ______________|________________ DECLARES WAR ON ENGLAND (1793). | ______________________|___________________________ | | | | Opens her ports | to neutral trade. Sends a minister to the United States. ------------------------- ---------------------------------------1. England asserts rule This brought up the questions: of 1756. 1. Shall he be received?--Yes. 2. Seizes our ships in 2. Is the old alliance applicable the West Indies. To offensive war?--No. 3. Impresses our sailors. 3. Shall the United States | be neutral?--Yes. | | Washington issues a proclamation | of neutrality. | | -------------------------------- | Struggle for neutrality. ----------------------------------------------- | |Republicans oppose it. Federalists support it. Attempt retaliation on Great Britain. Lay embargo. Are aided by Federalists. Prepare for war. | | ----------------------------------------------- | Washington sends Jay to England. Jay's treaty made (1794). | ------------------------------------------- | |1. France takes offense. Violently opposed by the Republicans. 2. Rejects Pinckney. 3. Republicans demand a special mission. 4. Adams yields and sends X, Y, Z mission. 5. Insulted by Directory. 6. Excitement at home leads to | _________________________|__________________________________ Establishment of Navy Department. Creation of a navy. Provisional army. Washington, Lt. Gen. Naval war with France. Alien and Sedition laws. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Increased taxation. The direct tax. Fries's rebellion. Defeat of Adams and election of Jefferson (1800). | ---------------------------- Introduces reforms. Annual message. Buys Louisiana. Exploration of the Northwest. 

CHAPTER XVII

STRUGGLE FOR "FREE TRADE AND SAILORS' RIGHTS"

%250. France and Great Britain renew the War. %--The war betweenFrance and Great Britain, which had been the cause of the sale ofLouisiana to us, began in May, 1803. The United States became again aneutral power, but, as in 1793, was soon once more involved in thedisputes of France. 

Towards the end of the previous war, Great Britain had so changed herideas of neutrality that the merchants of the United States, accordingto her rules, 1. Could trade directly between a port of the United States and theports of the French West Indies. 

2. Could trade directly between the United States and ports in France orEurope. 

3. But could not trade directly between a French West India island andFrance, or a Spanish West India island and Spain, or a Dutch colonyand Holland. 

To evade this last restriction, by combining the voyages allowed innumbers 1 and 2, was easy. A merchant had but to load his ship at NewYork or Philadelphia, go to some port in the French West Indies, take ona new cargo and bring it to Savannah, enter it at the customhouse andpay the import duties. This voyage was covered by number 1. He couldthen, without disturbing his cargo in the least, clear his vessel forFrance, and get back from the collector of customs all the duty he hadpaid except three per cent. He was now exporting goods from the UnitedStates and was protected by number 2. This was called "the brokenvoyage, " and by using it thousands of shipowners were enabled to carrygoods back and forth between France and her colonies, by merely stoppinga few hours at an American port to clear for Europe. So universal wasthis practice that in 1804 the customs revenue rose from $16, 000, 000 to$20, 000, 000. 

In May, 1805, however, the British High Court of Admiralty decided thatgoods which started from the French colonies in American ships and wereon their way to France could be captured even if they had been landedand reshipped in the United States. The moment that decision was made, the old trouble began again. British frigates were stationed off theports of New York and Hampton Roads, and vessels coming in and going outwere stopped, searched, and their sailors impressed. Before 1805 ended, 116 of our ships had been seized and 1000 of our sailors impressed. 

%251. Orders in Council, 1806. %--In 1806 matters grew worse. Napoleonwas master of Europe, and in order to injure Great Britain he cut offher trade with the continent. For this she retaliated by issuing, inMay, 1806, an Order in Council, which declared the whole coast ofEurope, from Brest to the mouth of the river Elbe, to be blockaded. Thiswas a mere "paper blockade"; that is, no fleets were off the coast tokeep neutrals from running into the blockaded ports. Yet Americanvessels were captured at sea because they were going to those ports. 

%252. The Berlin Decree. %--Napoleon waited to retaliate tillNovember, 1806, when he issued the Berlin Decree, [1] declaring theBritish Islands to be blockaded. 

[Footnote 1: So called because he was at Berlin when he issued it. ]

%253. Orders in Council, 1807. %--Great Britain felt that every timeNapoleon struck at her she must strike back at him, and in January, 1807, a new Order in Council forbade neutrals to trade from one Europeanport to another, if both were in the possession of France or her allies. Finding it had no effect, she followed it up with another Order inCouncil in November, 1807, which declared that every port on the faceof the earth from which for any reason British ships were excluded wasshut to neutrals, unless they first stopped at some British port andobtained a license to trade. 

%254. The Milan Decree, 1807. %--It was now Napoleon's turn to strike, which he did in December, 1807, by issuing the Milan Decree. [1]Thenceforth any ship that submitted to be searched by British cruisersor took out a British license, or entered any port from which Frenchships were excluded, was to be captured wherever found. 

[Footnote 1: So called because he was in Milan at the time, and dated itfrom that city. ]

As a result of this series of French Decrees and British Orders inCouncil, [2] the English took 194 of our ships, and the French almostas many. 

[Footnote 2: On the Orders in Council and French Decrees, read Adams's_History of the United States_, Vol. III. , Chap. 16; Vol. IV. , Chaps. 4, 5, and 6; McMaster's _History_, Vol. III. , pp. 219-223;249-250; 272-274. ]

%255. Jefferson's Policy; Non-importation Act. %--The policy by whichJefferson proposed to meet this emergency consisted of three parts:

1. Lay up the frigates and defend our coast and harbors by a number ofsmall, swift-sailing craft, each carrying one gun in the stern. In timeof peace they were to be hauled up under sheds. In time of war they wereto be shoved into the water and manned by volunteers. Between 1806 and1812, 176 of these gunboats were built. 

2. Make a new treaty with Great Britain, because that made by Jay in1794 was to expire in 1806. Under the instructions of Jefferson, therefore, Monroe and Pinckney signed a new treaty in December, 1806. But it said nothing about the impressment of our sailors, or about theright of our ships to go where they pleased, and was so bad in generalthat Jefferson would not even send it to the Senate. [3]

[Footnote 3: No treaty can become a law unless approved by the Presidentand two thirds of the Senate. ]

3. The third part of his policy consisted in doing what we should call"boycotting. " He wanted a law which would forbid the importation intothe United States of any article made, grown, or produced in GreatBritain or any of her colonies. Congress accordingly, in April, 1806, passed what was called a "Non-importation Act, " which prohibited not theimportation of every sort of British goods, wares, and merchandise, butonly a few which the people could make in this country; as paper, cards, leather goods, etc. This was to go into force at the President'spleasure. 

%256. The Chesapeake and the Leopard. %--Such an attempt to punishGreat Britain by cutting off a part of her trade was useless, and onlymade her more insolent than before. Indeed, just a week after thePresident signed the non-importation bill, as one of our coastingvessels was entering the harbor of New York, a British vessel, wishingto stop and search her, fired a shot which struck the helmsman andkilled him at the wheel. 

About a year later, June, 1807, an attack more outrageous still was madeon our frigate _Chesapeake_. She was on her way from Washington to theMediterranean, and was still in sight of land when a British vessel, the_Leopard_, hailed and stopped her and sent an officer on board with ademand for the delivery of deserters from the English navy. The captainof the _Chesapeake_ refused, the officer returned, and the _Leopard_opened fire. To return the fire was impossible, for only a few of theguns of the _Chesapeake_ were mounted. At last one was discharged, andas by that time three men had been killed and eighteen wounded, Commander Barron of the _Chesapeake_ surrendered. Four men then weretaken from her deck. Three were Americans. One was an Englishman, and hewas hanged for desertion. [1]

[Footnote 1: Maclay's _History of the Navy_, Vol. I. , pp. 305-308;McMaster's _History_, Vol. III. , pp. 255-259. ]

%257. The Long Embargo. %--The attack on the _Chesapeake_ ought tohave been followed by war. But Jefferson merely demanded reparation fromGreat Britain, and when Congress met in December, 1807, asked for anembargo. The request was granted, and merchant vessels in all the portsof the United States were forbidden to sail for a foreign country tillthe President saw fit to suspend the law. The restriction was sosweeping and the damage done to American farmers, merchants, andshipowners so great, that the people began to evade it at once. Theywould send their vessels to New Orleans and stop at the West Indies onthe way. They would send their flour, pork, rice, and lumber to St. Marys in Georgia and smuggle it over the river to Florida, or take it tothe islands near Eastport in Maine and then smuggle it into NewBrunswick. Because of this, more stringent embargo laws were passed, andfinally, in 1809, a "Force Act, " to compel obedience. But smuggling wenton so openly that there was nothing to do but use troops or lift theembargo. In February, 1809, accordingly, the embargo laws, afterfourteen months' duration, were repealed. Instead of them theRepublicans enacted a Non-intercourse law which allowed the people totrade with all nations except England and France. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History_, Vol. III. , pp. 279-338; Adams's_History_, Vol. IV. , Chaps. 7, 11, 13, 15. ]

%258. Jefferson refuses a Third Term. %--During 1806, the states ofNew Jersey, Vermont, [2] Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Georgia, and North Carolina invited Jefferson to be President a thirdtime. For a while he made no reply, but in December, 1807, he declined, and gave this reason: "That I should lay down my charge at a properperiod is as much a duty as to have borne it faithfully. If sometermination to the services of the Chief Magistrate be not fixed by theConstitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally four years, will in fact become for life; and history shows how easily thatdegenerates into an inheritance. " This wise answer was heartilyapproved by the people all over the country, and with Washington'ssimilar action established a custom which has been generally followedever since. 

[Footnote 2: Vermont was admitted into the Union in 1791 (p. 243). ]

As Jefferson would not accept a third term, a caucus of Republicanmembers of Congress met one evening at the Capitol in Washington andnominated James Madison and George Clinton. The Federalists held nocaucus, but agreed among themselves to support C. C. Pinckney and RufusKing. Madison and Clinton were easily elected, and were sworn intooffice March 4, 1809. 

[Illustration: James Madison]

%259. The Macon Bill; Non-intercourse. %--When Congress met in 1809one more effort was made to force France and England to respect ourrights on the sea. Non-importation had failed. The embargo had failed. Non-intercourse had failed, and now in desperation they passed a lawwhich at the time was called the "Macon Bill, " from the member ofCongress who introduced it. This restored trade with France and England, but declared that if either would withdraw its Decrees or Orders, theUnited States would stop all trade with the other. 

%260. Trickery of Napoleon. %--And now Napoleon came forward andassured the American minister that the Berlin and Milan Decrees shouldbe recalled on November 1, 1810, provided the United States wouldrestore non-intercourse with England. To this Madison agreed, and onNovember 1, 1810, issued a proclamation saying that unless Great Britainshould, before February 1, 1811, recall her Orders in Council, tradewith her should stop on that day. Great Britain did not recall herOrders, and in February, 1811, we once more ceased to trade with her. 

Trade with France was resumed on November 1, 1810, and of course a greatfleet of merchants went off to French ports. But they were no soonerthere than the villainy of Napoleon was revealed, for on December 25, bygeneral order, every American ship in the French ports was seized, and$10, 000, 000 worth of American property was confiscated. He had notrecalled his Decrees, but pretended to do so in order to get theAmerican goods and provisions which he sorely needed. 

It is surprising how patient the Americans of those days were. But theirpatience as to Great Britain now gave out, and our minister at Londonwas recalled in 1811. This alarmed the British, who promptly began totake steps to keep the peace, and offered to make amends for the_Leopard-Chesapeake_ outrage which had occurred four years before (June, 1807). They agreed to replace the three American sailors on the deck ofthe _Chesapeake_ and did so (June, 1812). But the day for peacefulsettlement was gone. The people were aroused and angry, and this feelingshowed itself in many ways. 

%261. The President and the Little Belt. %--In the early part of May, 1811, a British frigate was cruising off the harbor of New York with hername _Guerrière_ painted in large letters on her fore-topsail, and oneday her captain stopped an American vessel as it was about to enter NewYork, and impressed a citizen of the United States. Three years earlierthis outrage would have been made the subject of a proclamation. Now, the moment it was known at Washington, an order was sent to CaptainRogers of the frigate _President_ to go to sea at once, search for the_Guerrière_, and demand the delivery of the man, Rogers was only tooglad to go, and soon came in sight of a vessel which looked like the_Guerrière_; but it was half-past eight o'clock at night before he camewithin speaking distance. A battle followed and lasted till the strangerbecame unmanageable, when the _President_ stopped firing; and the nextmorning Rogers found that his enemy was the British twenty-two-gun ship, _Little Belt_. 

%262. The War Congress. %--Another way in which the anger of thepeople showed itself was in the election, in the autumn of 1810, of aCongress which met in December, 1811, fully determined to make war onGreat Britain. In that Congress were two men who from that day on forforty years were great political leaders. One was John C. Calhoun ofSouth Carolina; the other was Henry Clay of Kentucky. 

Clay was made Speaker of the House of Representatives, and under hislead preparations were instantly begun for war, which was finallydeclared June 18, 1812. There was no Atlantic cable in those days. Hadthere been, it is very doubtful if war would have been declared; for onJune 23, 1812, five days after Congress authorized Madison to issue theproclamation, the Orders in Council were recalled. 

The causes of war, as set forth in the proclamation, were:

1. Tampering with the Indians, and urging them to attack our citizens onthe frontier. 

2. Interfering with our trade by the Orders in Council. 

3. Putting cruisers off our ports to stop and search our vessels. 

4. Impressing our sailors, of whom more than 6000 were in the Britishservice. 

SUMMARY

1. One reason which led Napoleon to sell Louisiana was his determinationto go to war with England. This he did in 1803. 

2. Renewal of war in Europe made the United States again a neutralnation, and brought up the old quarrel over neutral rights. 

3. In 1806, Napoleon, who was master of nearly all western Europe, cutoff British trade with the continent. Great Britain in return declared, by an Order in Council, the coast from Brest to the Elbe blockaded; thatis, shut to neutral trade. 

4. Later in the year 1806 Napoleon retaliated with the Berlin Decree, declaring the British Islands blockaded. 

5. Great Britain, by another Order in Council (1807), shut all Europeanports, under French control, to neutrals. 

6. Napoleon struck back with the Milan Decree. 

7. Our commerce was now attacked by both powers, and to force them torepeal their Decrees and Orders in Council, certain commercialrestrictions were adopted by the United States. 

 A. Non-importation, 1806. B. Embargo, 1807-1809. C. Non-intercourse, 1809. 

8. Each of them failed to have any effect, and in 1812 war was declared. 

[Illustration]

%1803. Renewal of War between France and Great Britain%-----------------------------+------------------------------- | -------------+-------------- The United States a neutral. -------------+-------------- | +----------------+-------------------+----------------------------------+ | | | _British views of _American views. _ _Napoleon's view. _ neutrality. _ ------------^----------- ------------^----------------------^------------------ Free ships, free goods. Shall be no neutrals. The broken voyage. No paper blockades. -------------^-------------The new Admiralty ruling. No search. Attacks neutral commerce byStations vessels off our ports. No impressment. -------------v-------------Retaliates for French Decrees -----------v----------- | by | |--------------v---------------- -----------^----------- | | / Non-importation. \ French decrees. | | Long embargo. | -------^------- Orders in Council. }---------< Non-intercourse with >-------------/ 1806. Berlin. | France and Great | \ 1807. Milan. \ Britain. / -----------v----------- | +---------------------------+ | ---------------^---------------Great Britain denies that French \ / France pretends to lift Berlin Decrees are lifted, and / -- -------------------- < and Milan Decrees. Refuses to revoke the Orders \ \ Trade with France is restored. In Council. |Tampers with Indians. > --------------+Insists on the right of search | | and impressment. / | | %DECLARATION OF WAR BY UNITED STATES, 1812. %

CHAPTER XVIII

THE WAR FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCE

%263. Fighting on the Frontier. %--"Mr. Madison's War, " as theFederalists delighted to call our war for commercial independence, opened with three armies in the field ready to invade and captureCanada. One under Hull, then governor of the territory of Michigan, wasto cross the river at Detroit, and march eastward through Canada. Asecond, under General Van Rensselaer, was to cross the Niagara River, take Queenstown, and join Hull, after which the two armies were tocapture York, now Toronto, and go on eastward toward Montreal. Meantime, the third army, under Dearborn, was to go down Lake Champlain, and meetthe troops under Hull and Van Rensselaer before Montreal. The three werethen to capture Montreal and Quebec, and complete the conquestof Canada. 

The plan failed; for Hull was driven from Canada, and surrendered hisarmy and the whole Northwest, at Detroit; Van Rensselaer, defeated atQueenstown, was unable even to get a footing in Canada; while Dearborn, after reaching the northern boundary line of New York, stopped, and theyear 1812 ended with nothing accomplished. 

The surrender of Hull filled the people with indignation, aroused theirpatriotism, and forced the government to gather a new army for therecapture of Detroit. The command was given to William Henry Harrison, who hurried from Cincinnati across the wilderness of Ohio, and in thedead of winter reached the shores of Lake Erie. General Winchester, whocommanded part of the troops, was now called on to drive the Britishfrom Frenchtown, a little hamlet on the river Raisin, and (in January, 1813) tried to do so. But the British and Indians came down on him ingreat numbers, and defeated and captured his army, after which theIndians were allowed to massacre and scalp the wounded. 

[Illustration: The Canadian Frontier and Vicinity of Washington]

And now the British became aggressive, invaded Ohio, and attacked theAmericans under Harrison at Fort Meigs, and then at Fort Stephenson, where Major Croghan and 160 men, with the aid of one small cannon, defeated and drove off 320 Canadians and Indians. 

%264. Battle of Lake Erie. %--Again the Americans in turn becameaggressive. Since the early winter, a young naval officer named OliverHazard Perry had been hard at work, with a gang of ship carpenters, atErie, in Pennsylvania, cutting down trees, and had used this greentimber to build nine small vessels. With this fleet he sailed, inSeptember, in search of the British squadron, which had been just ashastily built, and soon found it near Sandusky, Ohio. His own ship hehad named the _Lawrence_, in honor of a gallant American captain who hadbeen killed a few months before in a battle with an English frigate. AsPerry saw the enemy in the distance, he flung to the breeze a blue flagon which was inscribed, "Don't give up the ship" (the dying order ofLawrence to his men), sailed down to meet the enemy, and fought the twolargest British ships till the _Lawrence_ was a wreck. Then, with hisflag on his arm, he jumped into a boat, and amidst a shower of shot andbullets was rowed to the _Niagara_. Once on her deck, he again hastenedto the attack, broke the British line of battle, and captured the entirefleet. His dispatch to Harrison is as famous as his victory: "We havemet the enemy, and they are ours--two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. "

%265. Battle of the Thames. %--Perry's victory was a grand one. Itgave him command of Lake Erie, and enabled him to carry Harrison'ssoldiers over to Canada, where, on the Thames River, Harrison defeatedthe British and Indians. These two victories regained all that had beenlost by the surrender of Hull. 

Along the New York border little was done during 1813. The Americansmade a raid into Canada, and to their shame burned York. The Britishattacked Sacketts Harbor and were driven off. The Americans sent anexpedition down the St. Lawrence against Montreal, but the leaders gotfrightened and took refuge in northern New York. 

%266. Campaign of 1814. %--In 1814 better officers were put incommand, and before winter came the Americans, under Jacob Brown andWinfield Scott, had won the battles of Chippewa and Lundys Lane, andcaptured Fort Erie. But the British returned in force, burned Black Rockand Buffalo in revenge for the burning of York, and forced the Americansto leave Canada. 

The fighting along the Niagara River, by holding the army in that place, prevented the Americans from attacking Montreal, and enabled theBritish to gather a fleet on Lake Champlain, and send an army down fromQuebec to invade New York state just as Burgoyne had in 1777. But theland force was defeated by General Macomb at Plattsburg, while ThomasMcDonough utterly destroyed the fleet in Plattsburg Bay. This was one ofthe great victories of the war. 

%267. The Sea Fights. %--While our army on the frontier wasaccomplishing little, our war ships were winning victory after victoryon the sea. At the opening of the war, our navy was the subject ofEnglish ridicule and contempt. We had sixteen ships; she had 1200. Shelaughed at ours as "fir-built things with a bit of striped bunting attheir mastheads. " But before 1813 came, these "fir-built things" haddestroyed her naval supremacy. [1] With the details of all thesevictories on the sea we will not concern ourselves. Yet a few must bementioned because the fame of them still endures, and because they areexamples of naval warfare in the days when the ships fought lashedtogether, and when the boarders, cutlass and pistol in hand, climbedover the bulwarks and met the enemy on his own deck, man to man. During1812 the frigate _Constitution_, whose many victories won her the nameof "Old Ironsides, " sank the _Guerrière_; the _United States_ capturedand brought to port the _Macedonian_; and the _Wasp_, a little sloop ofeighteen guns, after the most desperate engagement of the whole war, captured the British sloop _Frolic_. 

[Footnote 1: One reason for the success of the American navy was theexperience it had gained in the clash with France, and also in a warwith Tripoli in 1801-1805. At that time the Christian nations whoseships sailed the Mediterranean Sea were accustomed to pay annual tributeto Tripoli and other piratical states on the north coast of Africa, under pain of having their ships seized and their sailors reduced toslavery. A dispute with the United States led to a war which gained forour ships the freedom of the Mediterranean. ]

When these sloops were some two hundred feet apart, the _Wasp_ openedwith musketry and cannon. The sea, lashed into fury by a two days'cyclone, was running mountain high. The vessels rolled till the muzzlesof their guns dipped in the water. But the crews cheered lustily andthe fight went on. When at last the crew of the _Wasp_ boarded the_Frolic_, they were amazed to find that, save the man at the wheel andthree officers who threw down their swords, not a living soul wasvisible. The crew had gone below to avoid the terrible fire of the_Wasp_. Scarcely was the battle over when the British frigate_Poictiers_ bore down under a press of sail, recaptured what was left ofthe _Frolic_, and took the _Wasp_ in addition. 

During 1813 the _Constitution_ took the _Java_; the _Hornet_ sank the_Peacock_; the _Enterprise_ captured the _Boxer_ off Portland, Maine. These and many more made up the list of American victories. But therewere British victories also. The _Argus_, after destroying twenty-sevenvessels in the English Channel, was taken by the _Pelican_; the _Essex_, after a marvelous cruise around South America, was captured by twofrigates. The _Chesapeake_ was forced to strike to the _Shannon. _

The _Chesapeake_ was at anchor in Boston harbor, in command of JamesLawrence, when the British frigate _Shannon_ ran in and challenged her. Lawrence went out at once, and after a short, fierce fight was defeatedand killed. As his men were carrying him below, mortally wounded, hecried, "Don't give up the ship!" words which Perry, as we have seen, afterwards put on his flag, and which his countrymen have never sinceforgotten. [1]

[Footnote 1: On the naval war read Maclay's _History of the Navy_, PartThird; Roosevelt's _Naval War of 1812_; McMaster, Vol. IV. , pp. 70-108. ]

%268. The British blockade the Coast. %--Never, in the course of herexistence, had England suffered such a series of defeats as we inflictedon her navy in 1812 and 1813. The record of those years caused atremendous excitement in Great Britain, all the vessels she could sparewere sent over, and with the opening of 1814, the whole coast of theUnited States was declared to be in a state of blockade. [1] In NewEngland, Eastport (Moose Island) and Nantucket Island quickly fell. ABritish force went up the Penobscot to Hampden, and burned the _Adams_. The eastern half of Maine was seized, and Stonington, in Connecticut, was bombarded. 

[Footnote 1: All except New England had been blockaded since 1812; andin 1813 the coast of Chesapeake Bay had been ravaged. ]

%269. Burning of Washington. %--Further down the coast a great fleetand army from Bermuda, under General Ross and Admiral Cockburn, came upthe Chesapeake Bay, landed in Maryland, and marched to Washington. AtBladensburg, a little hamlet near the capital, the Americans made afeeble show of resistance, but soon fled; and about dark on an Augustnight, 1814, a detachment of the British reached Washington, marched tothe Capitol, fired a volley through the windows, entered, and set fireto the building. When the fire began to burn brightly, Ross and Cockburnled the troops to the President's house, which was sacked and burned. Next morning the torch was applied to the Treasury building and to theDepartments of State and War. Several private houses and a printingoffice were also destroyed before the British began a hasty retreat tothe Chesapeake. [1]

[Footnote 1: Adams's _History_, Vol. VIII. , Chaps. 5, 6; McMaster's_History_, Vol. IV. , pp. 135-148; _Memoirs of Dolly Madison_, Chap. 8. ]

%270. Baltimore attacked. %--Once on the bay, the army was hurried onboard the ships and carried to Baltimore, where for a day and a nightthey shelled Fort McHenry. [2] Failing to take it, and Ross having beenkilled, Cockburn reëmbarked and sailed away to Halifax. 

[Footnote 2: Francis S. Key, an American held prisoner on one of theBritish ships, composed the words of _The Star-Spangled Banner_ whilewatching the bombardment. ]

%271. The Victory at New Orleans. %--The army was taken to Jamaica inorder that it might form part of one of the greatest war expeditionsEngland had ever fitted out. Fifty of the finest ships her navy couldfurnish, mounting 1000 guns and carrying on their decks 20, 000 veteransoldiers and sailors, had been quietly assembled at Jamaica during theautumn of 1814, and in November sailed for New Orleans. 

News of this intended attack had reached Madison, and he had given theduty of defending New Orleans to Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, one of themost extraordinary men our country has produced. The British landed atthe entrance of Lake Borgne in December, 1814, and hurried to the banksof the Mississippi. But Jackson was more than a match for them. Gathering such a force of fighting men as he could, he hastened from thecity and with all possible speed threw up a line of rude earthworks, andwaited to be attacked. This line the British under General Pakenhamattacked on January 8, 1815, and were twice driven back with frightfulloss of life. Never had such a defeat been inflicted on a British army. The loss in killed, wounded, and missing was 2036 men. Jackson lostseventy-one men. Five British regiments which entered the battle 3000strong reported 1750 men killed, wounded, and missing. [1]

[Footnote 1: Adams's _History_, Vol. VIII. , Chaps. 12-14; McMaster, Vol. IV. , pp. 182-190]

%272. Peace. %--For a month after this defeat the British lingered intheir camp. At last, in February, the army departed to attack a fort onMobile Bay. The fort was taken, and two days later the news of peace putan end to war. The treaty was signed at Ghent in December, 1814; but itdid not reach the United States till February, 1815. 

In the treaty not a word was said about the impressment of our sailors, nor about the right of search, nor about the Orders in Council, norabout inciting the Indians to attack our frontier, all of which Madisonhad declared to be causes of the war. Yet we gained much. Our navalvictories made us the equal of any maritime power, while at home the wardid far more to arouse a national sentiment, consolidate the union, andmake us a nation than any event which had yet occurred. 

SUMMARY

1. The land war may be divided into:

 A. War along the frontier. B. War along the Atlantic coast. C. War along the Gulf coast. 

2. War along the Canadian frontier resulted in a gain to neither side. In 1812 Americans were beaten at Detroit and at Queenstown, and failedto invade Canada. In 1813 the Americans were beaten at Frenchtown, butdefeated the Canadians at Forts Meigs and Stephenson, and at the ThamesRiver, and recovered Detroit. Perry won the battle of Lake Erie. TheAmericans failed in the attempt to take Montreal. In 1814 the battles ofChippewa and Lundys Lane were won, and Fort Erie was taken. But theBritish burned Buffalo and Black Rock and drove the Americans out ofCanada. McDonough won the battle of Lake Champlain. 

3. During 1812-13 the British blockaded the coast from the east end ofLong Island south to the Mississippi. New England was not blockaded till1814. Then depredations began, and during the year Washington was takenand partly burned, and Baltimore attacked. 

4. Later in the year the British, after the attack on Baltimore, wentsouth, and early in 1815 were beaten by Jackson at New Orleans. 

5. The navy won a series of successive victories. The defeats were abouthalf as numerous as the victories. 

6. Peace was announced in February, 1815. 

[Illustration]

 / / / / 1812. Hull surrenders Detroit. | | | | 1812. Harrison attempts to recover it. | | | Detroit . . < 1813. Frenchtown. | | | | Battle of Lake Erie. | | The | | Harrison invades Canada and wins | | expeditions | \ the battle of the Thames. | | against | | | Canada. < / 1812. Van Rensselaer repulsed. | War | | | 1813. York taken and burned. Second | on < | Niagara . . < 1814. Battles of Chippewa and LundysWar for | land | | | Lane, and capture of Fort Erie. Independence < | | \ Americans driven from Canada. | | | | | | / 1813. Expedition against Montreal. | | | St. Lawrence < 1814. British come down from Canada. | | \ \ Defeated on Lake Champlain. | | | | / 1812. Blockade of the coast south of Rhode Island. | | War on | 1813. Ravages on the coast of Chesapeake Bay. | | the | 1814. Entire coast blockaded. | | Seaboard. < New England attacked. | | | Washington taken and partly burned. | | | Baltimore attacked. | \ \ 1815. Victory at New Orleans. | | War on / The ship duels. \ the sea. \ The fleet victories on the Lakes. 

CHAPTER XIX

PROGRESS OF OUR COUNTRY BETWEEN 1790 AND 1815

%273. % Twenty-five years had now gone by since Washington wasinaugurated, and in the course of these years our country had madewonderful progress. In 1790 the United States was bounded west by theMississippi River. By 1815 Louisiana had been purchased, the ColumbiaRiver had been discovered, and the Oregon country had been explored tothe Pacific. In 1790 the inhabitants of the United States numbered lessthan four millions. In 1815 they were eight millions. In 1790 there werebut thirteen states in the Union, and two territories. In 1815 therewere eighteen states and five territories. 

%274. The Three Streams of Westward Emigration. %--Sparse as was thepopulation in 1789, the rage for emigration had already seized thepeople, and long before 1790 the emigrants were pouring over themountains in three great streams. One, composed of New England men, waspushing along the borders of Lake Champlain and up the Mohawk valley. Asecond, chiefly from Pennsylvania and Virginia, was spreading itselfover the rich valleys of what are now West Virginia and Kentucky. Further south a third stream of emigrants, mostly from Virginia andNorth Carolina, had gone over the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was creepingdown the valley of the Tennessee River. [1]

[Footnote 1: For an account of the movement of population westward alongthese routes, see _The First Century of the Republic_, pp. 211-238. ]

For months each year the Ohio was dotted with flatboats. One observersaw fifty leave Pittsburg in five weeks. Another estimated that tenthousand emigrants floated by Marietta during 1788. As this never-endingstream of population spread over the wilderness, building cabins, felling trees, clearing the land, and driving off the game, the Indianstook alarm and determined to expel them. 

%275. The Indian War. %--During the summer of 1786 the tribes whosehunting grounds lay in eastern Tennessee and Kentucky took the warpath, sacked and burned a little settlement on the Holston, and spread terroralong the whole frontier. But the settlers in their turn rose, andinflicted on the Indians a signal punishment. One expedition fromTennessee burned three Cherokee towns. Another from Kentucky crossed theOhio, penetrated the Indian country, burned eight towns, and laid wastehundreds of acres of standing corn. Had the Indians been left tothemselves, they would, after this punishment, have remained quiet. Butthe British, who still held the frontier post at Detroit, roused them, and in 1790 they were again at work, ravaging the country north of theOhio. They rushed down on Big Bottom (northwest of Marietta) and sweptit from the face of the earth. St. Clair, who was governor of theNorthwest Territory, sent against them an expedition which won somesuccess--just enough to enrage and not enough to cow them. 

%276. St. Clair; Wayne. %--Not a settlement north of the Ohio was nowsafe, and had it not been for the men of Kentucky, who came to therelief, and in two expeditions held the Indians in check till theFederal government could act, every one of them would have beendestroyed. The plan of the Secretary of War was to build a chain offorts from Cincinnati to Lake Michigan, and late in 1791 St. Clair setoff to begin the work. But the Indians surprised him on a branch of theWabash River, and inflicted on him one of the most dreadful defeats inour history. Public opinion now forced him to resign his command, whichwas given to Anthony Wayne, who, after two years of carefulpreparation, crushed the Indian power at the falls of the Maumee Riverin northwestern Ohio. The next year, 1795, a treaty was made atGreenville, by which the Indians gave up all claim to the soil south andeast of a boundary line drawn from what is now Cleveland southwest tothe Ohio River. 

%277. Kentucky and Vermont become States. %--These Indian wars almoststopped emigration to the country north of the Ohio, though not intoKentucky or Tennessee. For several years past the people of the Districtof Kentucky had been desirous to come into the Union, but had beenunable to make terms with Virginia, to which Kentucky belonged. At lastconsent was obtained and the application made to Congress. But theKentuckians were slave owners, were identified with Southern and Westerninterests, and cared little for the commercial interests of the East, and as this influence could be strongly felt in the Senate, where eachstate had two votes, it was decided to offset those of Kentucky byadmitting the Eastern state of Vermont. 

What is now Vermont was once the property of New Hampshire, was settledby people from New England under town rights granted by the governor ofNew Hampshire, and was called "New Hampshire Grants. " In 1764, however, the governor of New York obtained a royal order giving New Yorkjurisdiction over the Grants on the ground that in 1664 the possessionsof the Duke of York extended to the Connecticut River. Then began acontroversy which was still raging bitterly when the Revolution opened, and the Green Mountain Boys asked recognition as a state and admissioninto the Congress, a request which the other states were afraid to grantlest by so doing they should offend New York. Thereupon the people chosedelegates to a convention (in 1777), which issued a declaration ofindependence, declared "New Connecticut, alias Vermont, " a state, andmade a constitution. In this shape matters stood in 1791, when as anoffset to Kentucky Vermont was admitted into the Union. As she was astate with governor, legislature, and constitution, she came in at once. Kentucky had to make a constitution, and so was not admitted till 1792. Four years later (1796) Congress admitted Tennessee. 

[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES July 4, 1801. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER INDEPENDENCE]

%278. The New Territories; Ohio becomes a State. %--The quieting ofthe Indians by Wayne in 1794, the opening of the Mississippi River toAmerican trade by Spain in 1795, coupled with cheap lands and lowtaxes, caused another rush of population into the Ohio valley. Between1795 and 1800 so many came that the Northwest Territory was cut in twainand the new territory of Indiana was organized in 1800. The acceptanceby Spain in 1795 of 31° north latitude as the boundary of the Floridas, gave the United States control of the greater part of old West Florida, which in 1798 was organized as the Mississippi Territory. Hardly a yearnow elapsed without some marked sign of Western development. In 1800Congress, under the influence of William Henry Harrison, the firstdelegate from the Northwest Territory, made a radical change in its landpolicy. Up to that time every settler must pay cash. After 1800 he couldbuy on credit, pay in four annual installments, and west of theMuskingum River could purchase as little as 320 acres. This creditsystem led to another rush into the Ohio valley, and so many peopleentered the Northwest Territory, that in 1803 the southern part of itwas admitted into the Union as the state of Ohio. 

[Illustration: Cincinnati in 1810[1]]

[Footnote 1: From an old print. ]

In 1802 Georgia ceded her western lands, which were added to theMississippi Territory. From the Louisiana purchase there was organizedin 1804 the territory of Orleans, and in 1805 the territory of Louisiana(see p. 247). In 1805, also, the lower peninsula of Michigan was cut offfrom Indiana and organized as Michigan Territory. In 1809 the territoryof Illinois was organized (p. 247). In 1812 the territory of Orleansbecame the state of Louisiana. 

The third census showed that in 1810 the population of the United Stateswas 7, 200, 000, and that of these over 1, 000, 000 were in the states andterritories west of the Alleghanies. 

%279. Indian Troubles; Battle of Tippecanoe. %--As the settlers northof the Ohio moved further westward, and as more came in, their farms andsettlements touched the Indian boundary line. In Indiana, where, save astrip sixty miles wide along the Ohio River, and a few patches scatteredover the territory, every foot of soil was owned by the Indians, thiscrowding led to serious consequences. The Indians first grew restive. Then, under the lead of Tecumthe, or Tecumseh, they founded a league orconfederacy against the whites, and built a town on Tippecanoe Creek, just where it enters the Wabash. Finally, when Harrison, who wasgovernor of Indiana Territory, bought the Indian rights to the Wabashvalley, the confederacy refused to recognize the sale, and gave suchsigns of resistance that Harrison marched against them, and in 1811fought the battle of Tippecanoe and burned the Indian village. For atime it was thought the victory was as signal as that of Wayne. But theIndians were soon back on the old site, and in our second war with GreatBritain they sided with the British. 

[Illustration: The United States and Territories in 1813]

%280. Industrial Progress. %--In 1789 our country had no credit and norevenue, and was burdened with a great debt which very few peoplebelieved would ever be paid. But when the government called in all theold worthless Continental money and certificates and gave the peoplebonds in exchange for them, when it began to lay taxes and pay itsdebts, when it had power to regulate trade, when the National Bank wasestablished and the merchants were given bank bills that would pass attheir face value all over the country, business began to revive. Themoney which the people had been hiding away for years was brought outand put to useful purposes. Banks sprang up all over the country, andcompanies were founded to manufacture woolen cloth and cotton cloth, tobuild bridges, to construct turnpike roads, and to cut canals. Between1789 and 1795 the first carpet was woven in the United States, the firstbroom made from broom corn, the first cotton factory opened, the firstgold and silver coins of the United States were struck at the mint, thefirst newspaper was printed in the territory northwest of the OhioRiver, the first printing press was set up in Tennessee, the firstgeography of the United States was published, and daily newspapers wereissued in Baltimore and Boston. It was during this period that a hunternamed Guinther discovered anthracite coal in Pennsylvania; that Whitneyinvented the cotton gin; that Samuel Slater built the first mill formaking cotton yarns; that Eli Terry started the manufacture of clocks asa business; that cotton sewing thread was first manufactured in theUnited States at Pawtucket, R. I. ; and that the first turnpike in ourcountry was completed. This extended from Philadelphia to Lancaster, adistance of sixty-two miles. 

%281. The Period of Commercial and Agricultural Prosperity. %--Just atthis time came another change of great importance. Till 1793 we hadscarcely any commerce with the West Indies. England would not allow ourvessels to go to her islands. Neither would Spain, nor France, except toa very limited degree. It was the policy of these three countries toconfine such trade as far as possible to their own merchants. But in1793 France, you remember, made war on England and opened her WestIndian ports to all neutral nations. The United States was a neutral, and our merchants at once began to trade with the islanders. What thesepeople wanted was lumber, flour, grain, provisions, salt pork, and fish. All this led to a demand, first, for ships, then for sailors, and thenfor provisions and lumber--to the benefit of every part of the countryexcept the South. New England was the lumber, fishing, shipbuilding, andcommercial section. New York and Pennsylvania produced grain, flour, lumber, and carried on a great commerce as well. So profitable was it toraise wheat, that in many parts of Virginia the people stopped raisingtobacco and began to make flour, and soon made Virginia the secondflour-producing state in the Union. Until after 1795 the people of theWestern States were cut off from this trade. But in that year the treatywith Spain was made, and the people of the West were then allowed tofloat their produce to New Orleans and there sell it or ship it to theWest Indies. Kentucky then became a flour-producing state. 

As a consequence of all this, people stopped putting their money intoroads and canals and manufactures, and put it into farming, shipbuilding, and commerce. Between 1793 and 1807, therefore, ourcountry enjoyed a period of commercial and agricultural prosperity. Butwith 1807 came another change. In that year the embargo was laid, andfor more than fifteen months no vessels were allowed to leave the portsof the United States for foreign countries. Up to this time our peoplehad been so much engaged in commerce and agriculture, that they had notbegun to manufacture. In 1807 all the blankets, all the woolen cloth, cotton cloth, carpets, hardware, china, glass, crockery, knives, tools, and a thousand other things used every day were made for us in GreatBritain. Cotton grown in the United States was actually sent to Englandto be made into cloth, which was then carried back to the United Statesto be used. 

%282. "Infant Manufactures. "%--As the embargo prevented our shipsgoing abroad and foreign ships coming to us, these goods could no longerbe imported. The people must either go without or make them at home. They decided, of course, to make them at home, and all patrioticcitizens were called on to help, which they did in five ways. 

First, in each of the cities and large towns people met and formed a"Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Manufactures. " Everypatriotic man and woman was expected to join one of them, and in sodoing to take a pledge not to buy or use or wear any article of foreignmake, provided it could be made in this country. 

In the second place, these societies for the encouragement of domesticmanufactures, "infant manufactures, " as they were called, offered prizesfor the best piece of homemade linen, homemade cotton cloth, orwoolen cloth. 

In the third place, they started "exchanges, " or shops, in the citiesand large towns, to which anybody who could knit mittens or socks, ormake boots and shoes or straw bonnets, or spin flax or wool, or makeanything else that the people needed, could send them to be sold. 

In the fourth place, men who had money came forward and formed companiesto erect mills and factories for the manufacture of all sorts of things. If you were to see the acts passed by the legislatures of the statesbetween 1808 and 1812, you would find that very many of them werecharters for iron works, paper mills, thread works, factories for makingcotton and woolen cloth, oilcloth, boots, shoes, rope. 

In the fifth place, the legislatures of the states passed resolutionsasking their members to wear clothes made of material produced in theUnited States, [1] offered bounties for the best wool, and exempted thefactories from taxation and the mill hands from militia and jury duty. 

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History of the People of the United States_, Vol. III. , pp. 496-509. ]

Thus encouraged, manufactures sprang up in the North, and became sonumerous that in 1810, when the census of population was taken, Congressordered that statistics of manufactures should be collected at the sametime. It was then found that the value of the goods manufactured in theUnited States in 1810 was $173, 000, 000. 

%283. Internal Improvements: Roads; Canals; Steamboats. %--But therewas yet another great change for the better which took place between1790 and 1815. We have seen how during this quarter of a century ourcountry grew in area, how the people increased in number, how new statesand territories were made, how agriculture and commerce prospered, andhow manufactures arose. It is now time to see how the people improvedthe means of interstate commerce and communication. 

You will remember that in 1790 there were no bridges over the greatrivers of the country, that the roads were very bad, that all journeyswere made on horseback or in stagecoaches or in boats, and that it wasnot then possible to go as far in ten hours as we can now go in one. Youwill remember, also, that the people were moving westward ingreat numbers. 

As the people thus year by year went further and further westward, ademand arose for good roads to connect them with the East. The merchantson the seaboard wanted to send them hardware, clothing, household goods, farming implements, and bring back to the seaports the potash, lumber, flour, skins, and grain with which the settlers paid for these things. If they were too costly, frontiersmen could not buy them. If the roadswere bad, the difficulty of getting merchandise to the frontier wouldmake them too costly. People living in the towns and cities along theseaboard were no longer content with the old-fashioned slow way oftravel. They wanted to get their letters more often, make their journeysand have their freight carried more quickly. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History of the People of the United States, _Vol. III. , pp. 462-465. ]

About 1805, therefore, men began to think of reviving the old idea ofcanals, which had been abandoned in 1793, and one of these canalcompanies, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, applied to Congress foraid. This brought up the question of a system of internal improvementsat national expense, and Albert Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury, was asked to send a plan for such a system to Congress, which he did. Congress never approved it. 

%284. The National Pike. %--Public sentiment, however, led to thecommencement of a highway to the West known as the National Pike, or theCumberland Road. When Ohio was admitted into the Union as a state in1803, Congress promised that part of the money derived from the sale ofland in Ohio should be used to build a road from some place on the OhioRiver to tide water. By 1806 the money so set apart amounted to $12, 000, and with this was begun the construction of a broad pike from Cumberland(on the Potomac) in Maryland to Wheeling (on the Ohio) in WestVirginia. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History_, Vol. III. , pp. 469-470. ]

[Illustration: Phoenix[1]]

[Footnote 1: From an oil painting. ]

%285. Steamboats. %--This increasing demand for cheap transportationnow made it possible for Fulton to carry into successful operation anidea he had long had in mind. For twenty years past inventors had beenexhibiting steamboats. James Rumsey had exhibited one on the Potomac. John Fitch had shown one on the Delaware in 1787. (See p. 190. ) In 1804Robert Fulton exhibited a steamboat on the Seine at Paris in France;Oliver Evans had a steam scow on the Delaware River at Philadelphia; andJohn Stevens crossed the Hudson from Hoboken to New York in a steamboatof his own construction. In 1806 Stevens built another, the_Phoenix_. [1]

[Footnote 1: Preble's _History of Steam Navigation _, pp. 35-66;Thurston's _Robert Fulton_ in Makers of America Series. ]

These men were ahead of their time, and it was not till the August day, 1807, when Robert Fulton made his experiment on the Hudson, that the eraof the steamboat opened. His vessel, called the _Clermont_, made thetrip up the river from New York to Albany in thirty-two hours. 

[Illustration: Model of the Clermont[2]]

[Footnote 2: Made from the original drawings, and now in the NationalMuseum. ]

Then the usefulness of the invention was at last appreciated, and in1808 a line of steam vessels went up and down the Hudson. In 1809Stevens sent his _Phoenix_ by sea to Philadelphia and ran it on theDelaware. Another steamboat was on the Raritan River, and a third onLake Champlain. In 1811 a boat steamed from Pittsburg to New Orleans, and in 1812 steam ferryboats plied between what is now Jersey City andNew York, and between Philadelphia and Camden. [3]

[Footnote 3: On the early steamboats see McMaster's _History of thePeople of the United States_, Vol. III. , pp. 486-494. ]

%286. The Currency; the Mint. %--Quite as marvelous was the changewhich in five and twenty years had taken place in money matters. Whenthe Constitution became law in 1789, there were no United States coinsand no United States bills or notes in circulation. There was no suchthing as a national currency. Except the gold and silver pieces offoreign nations, there was no money which would pass all over ourcountry. To-day a treasury note, a silver certificate, a national bankbill, is received in payment of a debt in any state or territory. In1789 the currency was foreign coins and state paper. But theConstitution forbade the states ever to make any more money, and astheir bills of credit already issued would wear out by use, the time wasnear when there would be no currency except foreign coins. To preventthis, Congress in 1791 ordered a mint to be established at Philadelphia, and in 1792 named the coins to be struck, and ordered that whoever wouldbring gold or silver to the mint should have it made into coins withoutcost to him. This was _free coinage. _ As both gold and silver were to becoined, the currency was to be _bimetallic_, or of two metals. [1] Theratio of silver and gold was 15 to 1. That is, fifteen pounds' weight ofsilver must be made into as many dollars' worth of coins as one pound ofgold. The silver coins were to be the dollar, half and quarter dollar, dime and half dime; the gold were to be the eagle, half eagle, andquarter eagle. Out of copper were to be struck cents and half cents. Assome years must elapse before our national coins could become abundant, certain foreign coins were made legal tender. 

[Footnote 1: The first silver coin was struck in 1794; the first gold, in 1795; the first cent and half cent, in 1793. ]

%287. "Federal Money. "%--The appearance of the new money was followedby another change for the better. In colonial days the merchants and thepeople expressed the debts they owed, or the value of the goods theysold, in pounds, shillings, and pence, or in Spanish dollars. During theRevolution, and after it, this was continued, although the ContinentalCongress always kept its accounts, and made its appropriations, indollars. But when the people began to see dollars, half dollars, anddimes bearing the words "United States of America, " they knew thatthere really was a national coinage, or "Federal money, " as they calledit, and between 1795 and 1798, one state after another ordered itstreasurer to use Federal money instead of pounds, shillings, and pence;and thereafter in laying taxes, and voting appropriations for anypurpose, the amount was expressed in dollars and cents. The merchantsand the people were much slower in adopting the new terms; but they cameat last into general use. 

%288. Rise of the State Banks. %--Had the people been forced to dependon the United States mint for money wherewith to pay the butcher and thebaker and the shoemaker, they would not have been able to make theirpayments, for the machinery at the mint was worked by hand, and thenumber of dimes and quarters turned out each year was small. But theywere not, for as soon as confidence was restored, banks chartered by thestates sprang up in the chief cities in the East, and as each issuednotes, the people had all the currency they wanted. 

In 1790, when Congress established the National Bank, there were butfour state banks in the whole country: one in Philadelphia, one in NewYork, one in Boston, and one in Baltimore. By 1800 there weretwenty-six, in 1805 there were sixty-four, and in 1811 there wereeighty-eight. 

In that year (1811) the charter of the National Bank expired, and asCongress would not renew it, many more state banks were created, eachhoping to get a part of the business formerly done by the National Bank. Such was the "mania, " as it was called, for banks, that the number rosefrom eighty-eight in 1811, to two hundred and eight in 1814, which wasfar more than the people really needed. 

Nevertheless, all went well until the British came up Chesapeake Bay andburned Washington. Then the banks in that part of the country boxed upall their gold and silver and sent it away, lest the British should getit. This forced them to "suspend specie payments"; that is, refuse togive gold or silver in exchange for their own paper. As soon as theysuspended, others did the same, till in a few weeks every one along theseaboard from Albany to Savannah, and every one in Ohio, had stoppedpaying coin. The New England banks did not suspend. 

%289. No Small Change. %--The consequences of the suspension were veryserious. In the first place, all the small silver coins, the dimes, halfdollars, and quarter dollars, disappeared at once, and the people wereagain forced to do as they had done in 1789, and use "ticket money. " Allthe cities and towns, great and small, printed one, two, three, six andone fourth, twelve and one half, twenty-five, and fifty-cent tickets, and sold them to the people for bank notes. Steamboats, stagecoaches, and manufacturing companies, merchants, shopkeepers--in fact, allbusiness men--did the same. 

In the second place, as the banks would not exchange specie for theirnotes, people who did not know all about a bank would not take its billsexcept at very much less than their face value. That is, a dollar billof a Philadelphia bank was not worth more than ninety cents in papermoney at New York, and seventy-five cents at Boston. This state ofthings greatly increased the cost of travel and business between thestates, and prevented the government using the money collected at theseaports in the East to pay debts due in the West. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History_, Vol. IV. , pp. 280-318. ]

%290. The Second Bank of the United States. %--Lest this state ofaffairs should occur again, Congress, exercising its constitutional"power to regulate the currency, " chartered a second National Bank in1816, and modeled it after the old one. Again the parent bank was atPhiladelphia; but the capital was now $35, 000, 000. Again the publicmoney might be deposited in the bank and its branches, which could beestablished wherever the directors thought proper. Again the bank couldissue paper money to be received by the government in payment of taxes, land, and all debts. 

The Republicans had always denied the right of Congress to charter abank. But the question was never tested until 1819, when Marylandattempted to collect a tax laid on the branch at Baltimore. The casereached the Supreme Court of the United States, which decided that astate could not tax a corporation chartered by Congress; and thatCongress had power to charter anything, even a bank. 

SUMMARY

1. The census returns of 1790 showed that population was going westalong three highways. 

2. As a result of this movement, Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), and Ohio (1803) entered the Union. 

3. The population of the country increased from 3, 380, 000 in 1790 to7, 200, 000 in 1810; and the area from about 828, 000 to 2, 000, 000square miles. 

4. The period 1790-1810 was one of marked industrial progress, and ofgreat commercial and agricultural prosperity. It was during this timethat manufactures arose, that many roads and highways and bridges werebuilt, and that the steamboat was introduced. 

5. A national mint had been established. The charter of the NationalBank had expired, and numbers of state banks had arisen to take itsplace. These banks had suspended specie payment, and the government hadbeen forced to charter a new National Bank. 

PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES FROM 1709 TO 1815

_Territorial Changes. 1790-1812. 

_ Movement of Population into the West. _

Northern Stream. Checked by Indian war. Indians quieted by Wayne. Population again moved westward. 

New states. 1791. Vermont. 1792. Kentucky. 1796. Tennessee. 1803. Ohio. 1812. Louisiana. 

New Territories. 1798. Mississippi. 1800. Indiana. 1802. Mississippi enlarged. 1804. Orleans. 1805. Michigan. 1805. Louisiana (called Missouri after 1812). 1809. Illinois. 

_Expansion of Territory. _ 1795. Spain accepts 31° as the boundary. 1802. Georgia cedes her western territory. 1803. Louisiana purchased from France. 

_Industrial Progress_ First carpet mill. First brooms. First United States gold and silver coins. First press in Tennessee. Daily newspapers. Discovery of hard coal. Cotton gin. Manufacture of clocks. Sewing thread. Rise of manufactures. Dependence of United States on Great Britain before 1807. Effect of the embargo. Manner of encouraging manufactures. _Agricultural Progress_ Effect of the French war. State of agriculture in New England. New York and Pennsylvania. The South. _Improvements in Transportation_ Demand for roads and canals. The national pike. Steamboats. Early forms. Fitch's. Fulton's. Stevens's. Rapid introduction of. _Financial Condition_ Federal money. The United States mint established. Free coinage. Bimetallism. Coins struck. Federal money comes slowly into use. State Banks. What led to the chartering of state banks. Their rapid increase. Effect of the expiration of the charter of the Bank of the United States. General suspension in 1814. Reason for chartering the second Bank of the United States. 

CHAPTER XX

SETTLEMENT OF OUR BOUNDARIES

%291. Monroe inaugurated. %--The administration of Madison ended onMarch 4, 1817, and on that day James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins weresworn into office. They had been nominated at Washington in February, 1816, by a caucus of Republican members of Congress, for no such thingas a national convention for the nomination of a President had as yetbeen thought of. The Federalists did not hold a caucus; but it wasunderstood that their electors would vote for Rufus King forPresident. [1]

[Footnote 1: In 1816 there were nineteen states in the Union (Indianahaving been admitted in that year), and of these Monroe carried sixteenand King three. The inauguration took place in the open air for thefirst time since 1789. ]

[Illustration: on the right of the previous paragraph, with caption"James Monroe"]

%292. Death of the Federalist Party. %--The inauguration of Monroeopens a new era of great interest and importance in our history. From1793 to 1815, the questions which divided the people into Federalistsand Republicans were all in some way connected with foreign countries. They were neutral rights, Orders in Council, French Decrees, impressment, embargoes, non-intercourse acts, the conduct of England, the insolence of the French Directory, the triumphs and the treachery ofNapoleon. Every Federalist sympathized with England; every Republicanwas a warm supporter of France. 

But with the close of the war in 1815, all this ended. Napoleon was sentto St. Helena. Europe was at peace, and there was no longer any foreignquestion to divide the people into Federalists and Republicans. Thisdivision, therefore, ceased to exist, and after 1816 the Federalistparty never put up a candidate for the presidency. It ceased to existnot only as a national but even as a state party, and for twelve yearsthere was one great party, the Republican, or, as it soon began to becalled, the Democratic. 

%293. The "Era of Good Feeling. "%--A sure sign of the disappearanceof party and party feeling was seen very soon after Monroe wasinaugurated. In May, 1817, he left Washington with the intention ofvisiting and inspecting all the forts and navy yards along the easternseaboard and the Great Lakes. Beginning at Baltimore, he went to NewYork, then to Boston, and then to Portland; where he turned westward, and crossing New Hampshire and Vermont to Lake Champlain, made his wayto Ogdensburg, where he took a boat to Sacketts Harbor and Niagara, whence he went to Buffalo, and Detroit, and then back to Washington. 

Wherever he went, the people came by thousands to greet him; but nowherewas the reception so hearty as in New England, the stronghold ofFederalism. "The visit of the President, " said a Boston newspaper, "seems wholly to have allayed the storms of party. People _now meet inthe same room_ who, a short while since, _would scarcely pass along thesame street_". Another said that since Monroe's arrival at Boston "partyfeeling and animosities have been laid aside, and but one great_national feeling_ has animated every class of our citizens. " So it waseverywhere, and when, therefore, the Boston Sentinel_ called the timesthe "era of good feeling, " the whole country took up the expression andused it, and the eight years of Monroe's administration have ever sincebeen so called. 

%294. Trouble with the Seminole Indians. %--Though all was quiet andhappy within our borders, events of great importance were happeningalong our northern, western, and southern frontier. During the war withEngland, the Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama had risen against thewhite settlers and were beaten and driven out by Jackson and forced totake refuge with the Seminoles in Florida. As they had been the alliesof England, they fully expected that when peace was made, England wouldsecure for them the territory of which Jackson had deprived them. WhenEngland did not do this, they grew sullen and savage, and in 1817 beganto make raids over the border, run off cattle and murder men, women, andchildren. In order to stop these depredations, General Jackson was sentto the frontier, and utterly disregarding the fact that the Creeks andSeminoles were on Spanish soil, he entered West Florida, took St. Marksand Pensacola, destroyed the Indian power, and hanged two Englishtraders as spies. [1]

[Footnote 1: Parton's _Life of Jackson_, Chaps. 34-36; McMaster's_History_, Vol. IV. , pp. 430-456. ]

%295. The Canadian Boundary; Forty-ninth Parallel. %--This wasserious, for at the time the news reached Washington that Jackson hadinvaded Spanish soil and hanged two English subjects, important treatieswere under way with Spain and Great Britain, and it was feared hisviolent acts would stop them. Happily no evil consequences followed, andin 1818 an agreement was reached as to the dividing line between theUnited States and British America. 

When Louisiana came to us, no limit was given to it on the north, andfifteen years had been allowed to pass without attempting to establishone. Now, however, the boundary was declared to be a line drawn southfrom the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods to theforty-ninth parallel of north latitude and along this parallel to thesummit of the Rocky Mountains. 

%296. Joint Occupation of Oregon. %--The country beyond the RockyMountains, the Oregon country, was claimed by both England and theUnited States; so it was agreed in the treaty of 1818 that for ten yearsto come the country should be held in joint occupation. 

%297. The Spanish Boundary Line. %--One year later (1819) the boundaryof Louisiana was completed by a treaty with Spain, which now sold usEast and West Florida for $5, 000, 000. Till this time we had alwaysclaimed that Louisiana extended across Texas as far as the Rio Grande. By the treaty this claim was given up, and the boundary became theSabine River from the Gulf of Mexico to 32°, then a north line to theRed River; westward along this river to the 100th meridian; thennorthward to the Arkansas River, and westward to its source in the RockyMountains; then a north line to 42°, and then along that parallel to thePacific Ocean. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History of the People of the United States_, Vol. IV. , pp. 457-480. ]

%298. Russian Claims on the Pacific. %--The Oregon country was thusrestricted to 42° on the south, and though it had no limit on the norththe Emperor of Russia (in 1822) undertook to fix one at 51°, which hedeclared should be the south boundary of Alaska. Oregon was thus toextend from 42° to 51°, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. ButRussia had also founded a colony in California, and seemed to bepreparing to shut the United States from the Pacific coast. Against allthis John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, protested, telling theRussian minister that European powers no longer had a right to plantcolonies in either North or South America. 

%299. The Holy Allies and the South American Republics. %--This was anew doctrine, and while the United States and Russia were discussing theboundary of Oregon, it became necessary to make another declarationregarding the rights of European powers in the two Americas. 

Ever since 1793, when Washington issued his proclamation of neutrality(p. 206), the policy of the United States had been to take no part inEuropean wars, nor meddle in European politics. This had been assertedrepeatedly by Washington, Jefferson, and Monroe, [1] and during all thewars from 1793 to 1815 had been carefully adhered to. It was supposed, of course, that if we did not meddle in the affairs of the Old Worldnations, they would not interfere in affairs over here. But about 1822it seemed likely that they would interfere very seriously. 

[Footnote 1: See Washington's _Farewell Address_; Jefferson's _InauguralAddress_, March 4, 1801; also his message to Congress, Oct. 17, 1803;Monroe's _Inaugural Address_, March 4, 1817, and messages, Dec. 2, 1817, Nov. 17, 1818, Nov. 14, 1820; see also _American History Leaflets_, No. 4. ]

[Illustration: %NORTH AMERICA AFTER 1824%]

Beginning with 1810, the Spanish colonies of Mexico and South America(Chile, Peru, Buenos Ayres, Colombia) rebelled, formed republics, and in1822 were acknowledged as free and independent powers by the UnitedStates. Spain, after vainly attempting to subdue them, appealed for helpto the powers of Europe, which in 1815 had formed a Holy Alliance forthe purpose of maintaining monarchical government. For a while thesepowers (Russia, Prussia, Austria, France) held aloof. But in 1823 theydecided to help Spain to get back her old colonies, and invited GreatBritain to attend a Congress before which the matter was to bediscussed. But Great Britain had no desire to see the little republicsdestroyed, and in the summer of 1823, the British Prime Minister askedthe American minister in London if the United States would join withEngland in a declaration warning the Holy Allies not to meddle with theSouth American republics. Thus, just at the time when Adams wasprotesting against European colonization in the Northwest, Englandsuggested a protest against European meddling in the affairs of SpanishAmerica. The opportunity was too good to be lost, and Adams succeeded inpersuading President Monroe to make a protest in behalf of the nationagainst both forms of European interference in American affairs. Monroethought it best to make the declaration independent of Great Britain, and in his annual message to Congress, December 2, 1823, he announcedthree great guiding principles now known as the

%300. Monroe Doctrine. %--

1. Taking up the matter in dispute with Russia, he declared that theAmerican continents were no longer open to colonization byEuropean nations. 

Referring to the conduct of the Holy Allies, he said, 2. That the United States would not meddle in the political affairs ofEurope. 

3. That European governments must not extend their system to any part ofNorth or South America, nor oppress, nor in any other manner seek tocontrol the destiny of any of the nations of this hemisphere. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _With the Fathers_, pp. 1-54; Tucker's _MonroeDoctrine_. ]

The protest was effectual. The Holy Allies did not meddle in SouthAmerican affairs, and the next year (1824) Russia agreed to make nosettlement south of 54° 40'. 

SUMMARY

1. At the presidential election of 1816 the Federalist party, for thelast time, voted for a presidential candidate. Party politics were dead, and the "era of good feeling" opened. 

2. Many important matters which were not settled by the Treaty of Ghentwere disposed of:

 A. The forty-ninth parallel was made the boundary from a point south of the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. 

 B. Oregon was held in joint occupation. 

 C. The line 54° 40' was established. 

3. The boundary between the United States and the Spanish possessionswas drawn, and Florida was acquired. 

4. The Monroe doctrine was announced. 

 * * * * *

SOME RESULTS OF THE WAR. 

_Death of the Federalist party_ ... 

 End of the European war. Disappearance of old party issues. Monroe elected President. The "era of good feeling. "

_Seminole War_ ... 

 Creek Indians join the English. Driven out of Alabama by Jackson. Take refuge with Florida Seminoles. After the war rise against the settlers in Georgia. Destroyed by Jackson. 

_The boundaries_ ... 

 1818. Northern boundary of Louisiana settled to the Rocky Mountains. 1819. Treaty with Spain settled the south boundary of Louisiana. 1818. Joint occupation of Oregon. 1824. North boundary of Oregon established at 54° 40'. 

_The Monroe Doctrine. _

 The Holy Allies. The South American republics. Proposal of the Holy Allies to reduce the South American republics. The Monroe Doctrine announced (1823). 

CHAPTER XXI

THE RISING WEST

%301. Rush into the West. %--The settlement of our boundary disputes, especially with Spain, was most timely, for even then people werehurrying across the mountains by tens of thousands, and building up newstates in the Mississippi valley. The great demand for ships andprovisions, which from 1793 to 1807 had made business so brisk, had keptpeople on the seaboard and given them plenty of employment. But after1812, and particularly after 1815, trade, commerce, and business on theseaboard declined, work became scarce, and men began to emigrate to theWest, where they could buy land from the government on the installmentplan, and where the states could not tax their farms until five yearsafter the government had given them a title deed. Old settlers incentral New York declared they had never seen so many teams and sleighs, loaded with women, children, and household goods, traveling westward, bound for Ohio, which was then but another name for the West. 

As the year wore away, the belief was expressed that when autumn came itwould be found that the worst was over, and that the good times expectedto follow peace would keep people on the seaboard. But the good timesdid not return. The condition of trade and commerce, of agriculture andmanufactures, grew worse instead of better, and the western movement ofpopulation became greater than ever. 

%302. Rapid Growth of Towns. %--Fed by this never-ending stream ofnewcomers, the West was almost transformed. Towns grew and villagessprang up with a rapidity which even in these days of rapid and easycommunication would be thought amazing. Mt. Pleasant, in JeffersonCounty, Ohio, was in 1810 a little hamlet of seven families living incabins. In 1815 it contained ninety families, numbering 500 souls. Thetown of Vevay, Ind. , was laid out in 1813, and was not much better thana collection of huts in 1814. But in 1816 the traveler down the Ohio whostopped at Vevay found himself at a flourishing county seat, withseventy-five dwellings, occupied by a happy population who boasted ofhaving among them thirty-one mechanics of various trades; of receivingthree mails each week, and supporting a weekly newspaper called the_Indiana Register_. Forty-two thousand settlers are said to have comeinto Indiana in 1816, and to have raised the population to 112, 000. 

Letters from New York describe the condition of that state west of Uticaas one of astonishing prosperity. Log cabins were disappearing, andframe and brick houses taking their place. The pike from Utica toBuffalo was almost a continuous village, and the country for twentymiles on either side was filling up with an industrious population. Auburn, where twenty years before land sold for one dollar an acre, wasthe first town in size and wealth west of Utica, and land within itslimits brought $7000 an acre. Fourteen miles west was Waterloo, on theSeneca River, a village which did not exist in 1814, and which in 1816had fifty houses. Rochester, the site of which in 1815 was a wilderness, had a printing press, a bookstore, and a hundred houses in 1817. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History of the People of the United States_, Vol. IV. , pp. 381-386. ]

%303. Scenes on the Western Highways. %--By 1817 this migration was atits height, and in the spring of that year families set forth fromalmost every village and town on the seaboard. The few that went fromeach place might not be missed; but when they were gathered on any oneof the great roads to the West, as that across New York, or that acrossPennsylvania, they made an endless procession of wagons andfoot parties. 

A traveler who had occasion to go from Nashville to Savannah in January, 1817, declares that on the way he fell in with crowds of emigrants fromCarolina and Georgia, all bound for the cotton lands of Alabama; that hecounted the flocks and wagons, and that--carts, gigs, coaches, andwagons, all told--there were 207 conveyances, and more than 3800 people. At Haverhill, in Massachusetts, a train of sixteen wagons, with 120 men, women, and children, from Durham, Me. , passed in one day. They werebound for Indiana to buy a township, and were accompanied by theirminister. Within thirteen days, seventy-three wagons and 450 emigrantshad passed through the same town of Haverhill. At Easton, Pa. , which layon the favorite westward route for New Englanders, 511 wagons, with 3066persons, passed in a month. They went in trains of from six to fiftywagons each day. The keeper of Gate No. 2, on the Dauphin turnpike, inPennsylvania, returned 2001 families as having passed his gate, boundwest, between March and December, 1817, and gave the number of peopleaccompanying the vehicles as 16, 000. Along the New York route, whichwent across the state from Albany to Buffalo, up Lake Erie, and on byway of Chautauqua Lake to the Allegheny, the reports are just asastonishing. Two hundred and sixty wagons were counted going by onetavern in nine days, besides hundreds of people on horseback andon foot. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History_. Vol. IV. , pp. 387, 388. ]

%304. Life on the Frontier. %--The "mover, " or, as we should say, theemigrant, would provide himself with a small wagon, very light, butstrong enough to carry his family, provisions, bedding, and utensils;would cover it with a blanket or a piece of canvas or with linen whichwas smeared with tar inside to make it waterproof; and with two stouthorses to pull it, would set out for the West, and make his way acrossPennsylvania to Pittsburg, then the greatest city of the West, with apopulation of 7000. Some, as of old, would take boats and float down theOhio; others would go on to Wheeling, be ferried across the river, andpush into Ohio or Indiana or Illinois, there to "take up" a quartersection (160 acres) of government land, or buy or rent a "clearing" fromsome shiftless settler of an earlier day. Government land intended forsale was laid out in quarter sections of 160 acres, and after beingadvertised for a certain time was offered for sale at public auction. What was not sold could then be purchased at the land office of thedistrict at two dollars an acre, one quarter to be paid down, and threefourths before the expiration of four years. The emigrant, havinggathered eighty dollars, would go to some land office, "enter" a quartersection, pay the first installment, and make his way in the two-horsewagon containing his family and his worldly goods to the spot where wasto be his future home. Every foot of it in all probability would becovered with bushes and trees. 

[Illustration: Distribution of the Population of the United StatesFourth Census, 1820]

%305. The Log Cabin. %--In that case the settler would cut down a fewsaplings, make a "half-faced camp, " and begin his clearing. The"half-faced camp" was a shed. Three sides were of logs laid one onanother horizontally. The roof was of saplings covered with branches orbark. The fourth side was open, and when it rained was closed by hangingup deerskin curtains. In this camp the newcomer and his family wouldlive while he grubbed up the bushes and cut down trees enough to make alog cabin. If he were a thrifty, painstaking man, he would smooth eachlog on four sides with his ax, and notch it half through at each end sothat when they were placed one on another the faces would nearly touch. Saplings would make the rafters, and on them would be fastened plankslaid clapboard fashion, or possibly split shingles. 

An opening was of course left for a door, although many a cabin wasbuilt without a window, and when the door was shut received no lightsave that which came down the chimney, which was always on the outsideof the house. To form it, an opening eight feet long and six feet highwas left at one end of the house, and around this a sort of bay windowwas built of logs and lined with stones on the inside. Above the top ofthe opening the chimney contracted and was made of branches smeared bothinside and out with clay. Generally the chimney went to the peak of theroof; but it was by no means unusual for it to stop about halfway up theend of the cabin. 

[Illustration: Log cabin[1]]

[Footnote 1: The birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, restored (reproduced, together with the first picture on the next page, from Tarbell's _EarlyLife of Abraham Lincoln_, by permission of the publishers, S. S. McClure, Limited). ]

If the settler was too poor to buy glass, or if glass could not be had, the window frame was covered with greased paper, which let in the lightbut could not be seen through. The door was of plank with leatherhinges, or with iron hinges made from an old wagon tire by the nearestblacksmith or by the settler himself. There was no knob, no lock, no bolt. 

In place of them there was a wooden latch on the inside, which could belifted by a person on the outside of the door by a leather strip whichcame through a hole in the door and hung down. When this latch stringwas out, anybody could pull it, lift the latch, and come in. When it wasdrawn inside, nobody could come in without knocking. The floor was madeof "puncheons, " or planks split and hewn with an ax from the trunk of atree, and laid with the round side down. The furniture the settlerbrought with him, or made on the spot. 

[Illustration: Hand mill [1]]

The household utensils were of the simplest kind. Brooms and brusheswere made of corn husks. Corn was shelled by hand and was then eithercarried in a bag slung over a horse's back to the nearest mill, perhapsfifteen miles away, or was pounded in a wooden hominy mortar with awooden pestle, or ground in a hand mill. Chickens and game were roastedby hanging them with leather strings before the open fire. Cookingstoves were unknown, and all cooking was done in a "Dutch oven, " on thehearth, or in a clay "out oven" built, as its name implies, outof doors. 

[Illustration: Corn-husk broom [1]]

[Illustration: Kitchen utensils [1]]

[Footnote 1: From originals in the National Museum, Washington. ]

%306. Clearing and Planting. %--The land about the cabin was clearedby grubbing the bushes and cutting down trees under a foot in diameterand burning them. Big trees were "deadened, " or killed, by cutting a"girdle" around them two or three feet above the ground, deep enough todestroy the sap vessels and so prevent the growth of leaves. [1]

[Footnote 1: For a delightful account of life in the West, read W. C. Howells's _Recollections of Life in Ohio_ (edited by his son, WilliamDean Howells). ]

In the ground thus laid open to the sun were planted corn, potatoes, orwheat, which, when harvested, was threshed with a flail and fanned andcleaned with a sheet. At first the crop would be scarcely sufficient forhome use. But, as time passed, there would be some to spare, and thiswould be wagoned to some river town and sold or exchanged for"store goods. "

If the settler chose his farm wisely, others would soon settle near by, and when a cluster of clearings had been made, some enterprisingspeculator would appear, take up a quarter section, cut it into townlots, and call the place after himself, as Piketown, or Leesburg, orGentryville. A storekeeper with a case or two of goods would nextappear, then a tavern would be erected, and possibly a blacksmith shopand a mill, and Piketown or Leesburg would be established. Hundreds ofsuch ventures failed; but hundreds of others succeeded and are to-dayprosperous villages. 

[Illustration: Mississippi produce boat[1]]

[Footnote 1: From a model in the National Museum at Washington. ]

%307. The New States. _--While the northern stream of population was thustraveling across New York, northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and intoMichigan, the middle stream was pushing down the Ohio. By 1820 it hadgreatly increased the population of southern Indiana and Illinois, andcrossing the Mississippi was going up the Missouri River. In the Souththe destruction of the Indian power by Jackson in 1813, and the openingof the Indian land to settlement, led to a movement of the southernstream of population across Alabama to Mobile. Now, what were some ofthe results of this movement of population into the Mississippi valley?In the first place, it caused the formation and admission into the Unionof six states in five years. They were Indiana, 1816; Mississippi, 1817;Illinois, 1818; Alabama, 1819; Maine, 1820; Missouri, 1821. 

%308. Slave and Free States. %--In the second place, it brought abouta great struggle over slavery. You remember that when the thirteencolonies belonged to Great Britain slavery existed in all of them; thatwhen they became independent states some began to abolish slavery; andthat in time five became free states and eight remained slave states. Slavery was also gradually abolished in New York and New Jersey, so thatof the original thirteen only six were now to be counted as slavestates. You remember again that when the Continental Congress passed theOrdinance of 1787 for the government of the territory lying between theOhio River and the Great Lakes, Pennsylvania and the Mississippi River, it ordained that in the Northwest Territory there should be no slavery. In consequence of this, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were admitted intothe Union as free states, as Vermont had been. Kentucky was originallypart of Virginia, and when it was admitted, came in as a slave state. Tennessee once belonged to North Carolina, and hence was also slavesoil; and when it was given to the United States, the condition wasimposed by North Carolina that it should remain so. Tennessee, therefore, entered the Union (in 1796) as a slave state. Much of what isnow Alabama and Mississippi was once owned by Georgia, and when sheceded it in 1802, she did so with the express condition that it shouldremain slave soil; as a result of this, Alabama and Mississippi wereslave states. Louisiana was part of the Louisiana Purchase, and wasadmitted (1812) as a slave state because it contained a great manyslaves at the time of the purchase. 

Thus in 1820 there were twenty-two states in the Union, of which elevenwere slave, and eleven free. Notice now two things: 1. That the dividingline between the slave and the free states was the south and westboundary of Pennsylvania from the Delaware to the Ohio, and the OhioRiver; 2. That all the states in the Union except part of Louisiana layeast of the Mississippi River. As to what should be the character of ourcountry west of that river, nothing had as yet been said, because as yetno state lying wholly in that region had asked admittance to the Union. 

%309. Shall there be Slave States West of the MississippiRiver?%--But when the people rushed westward after the war, greatnumbers crossed the Mississippi and settled on the Missouri River, andas they were now very numerous they petitioned Congress in 1818 forleave to make the state of Missouri and to be admitted into the Union. 

The petitioners did not say whether they would make a slave or a freestate; but as the Missourians owned slaves, everybody knew that Missouriwould be a slave state. To this the free states were opposed. If thetobacco-growing, cotton-raising, and sugar-making states wanted slaves, that was their affair; but slavery must not be extended into statesbeyond the Mississippi, because it was wrong. No man, it was said, hadany right to buy and sell a human being, even if he was black. TheSouthern people were equally determined that slavery should cross theMississippi. We cannot, said they, abolish slavery; because if ourslaves were set free, they would not work, and as they are veryignorant, they would take our property and perhaps our lives. Neithercan we stop the increase of negro slave population. We must, then, havesome place to send our surplus slaves, or the present slave states willbecome a black America. 

%310. The Missouri Compromise. %--Each side was so determined, and itwas so clear that neither would yield, that a compromise was suggested. The country east of the Mississippi, it was said, is partly slave, partly free soil. Why not divide the country west of the great river inthe same way? At first the North refused. But it so happened that justat this moment Maine, having secured the consent of Massachusetts, applied to Congress for admission into the Union as a free state. TheSouth, which had control of the Senate, thereupon said to the North, which controlled the House of Representatives, If you will not admitMissouri as a slave state, we will not admit Maine as a free state. Thisforced the compromise, and after a bitter and angry discussion itwas agreed

1. That Maine should come in as a free, and Missouri as a slave, state. 

2. That the Louisiana Purchase should be cut in two by the parallel of36° 30', and that all north of the line except Missouri should be freesoil[1]. This parallel was thereafter known as the "MissouriCompromise Line. "

[Footnote 1: The Compromise was violated in 1836, when the presentnorthwest corner of Missouri was taken from the free territory and addedto that state. See maps, pp. 299 and 348]

[Illustration: AREAS OF FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IN 1820]

The admission of Maine and Missouri raised the number of states totwenty-four. [1] No more were admitted for sixteen years. When Missouriapplied for admission as a state, Arkansas was (1819) organized as aterritory. 

[Footnote 1: For the compromise read Woodburn's _Historical Significanceof the Missouri Compromise_ (in _Report American HistoricalAssociation_, 1893, pp. 251-297); McMaster's _History of the People ofthe United States_, Vol. IV. , Chap. 39. ]

%311. The Second Election of Monroe. %--This bitter contest over theexclusion of slavery from the country west of the Mississippi shows howcompletely party lines had disappeared in 1820. In the course of thatyear, electors of a President were to be chosen in the twenty-fourstates. That slavery would play an important part in the campaign, andthat some candidate would be put in the field by the people opposed tothe compromise, might have been expected. But there was no campaign, nocontest, no formal nomination. The members of Congress held a caucus, but decided to nominate nobody. Every elector, it was well known, wouldbe a Republican, and as such would vote for the reëlection of Monroe andTompkins. And this almost did take place. Every one of the 229 electorswho voted was a Republican, and all save one in New Hampshire cast votesfor Monroe. But this one man gave his vote to John Quincy Adams. He saidhe did not want Washington to be robbed of the glory of being the onlyPresident who had ever received the unanimous vote of the electors. 

March 4, 1821, came on Sunday. Monroe was therefore inaugurated onMonday, March 5. 

SUMMARY

1. The dull times on the seaboard, the cheap land in the West, the loveof adventure, and the desire to "do better" led, during 1814-1820, to amost astonishing emigration westward. 

2. The rush of population into the Mississippi valley caused theadmission of six states into the Union between 1816 and 1821. 

3. The question of the admission of Missouri brought up the subject ofshutting slavery out of the country west of the Mississippi, which endedin a compromise and the establishment of the line 36° 30'. 

MOVEMENT OF POPULATION. 

 _Northern Stream. _

 Effect of hard times in the East. -- Scenes along the highways. --Arrival of the emigrants in the West. --The half-faced camp. --The log cabin. -- Household utensils. --Clearing the land. --Growth of towns. 

 _Middle Stream. _

 Moves down the Ohio valley, across southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and pushes up the Missouri. 

 _Southern Stream. _

 The defeat of the Creek Indians opens their lands in Mississippi Territory to settlement. 

 * * * * *

This settlement of the West leads to:

 Admission into the Union of:

 1816. Indiana. 1817. Mississippi. 1818. Illinois. 1819. Alabama. 

 Admission of these states brings up the question of slavery. 

 1820. Maine. 1821. Missouri. 

 Organization of new territories. 

 1819. Arkansas. 1822. 1823. Florida. 

_Status of slavery after 1820_. 

 FREE STATES. 

 N. H. , Vt. , Mass. , R. I. , Conn. N. Y. , N. J. , Pa. , Ohio, Ind. , Ill. , Maine. 

 SLAVE STATES. 

 Del. , Md. , Va. , N. C. , S. C. , Ga. , Ala. , Miss. La. , Ky. , Tenn. , Missouri. 

_Country west of the Mississippi. _

 1804. Not settled. 1819. Attempt to make Missouri a slave state. 1820. The compromise. 

CHAPTER XXII

THE HIGHWAYS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE

%312. Improvement in Means of Travel%. --We have now considered two ofthe results of the rush of population from the seaboard to theMississippi valley; namely, the admission of five new Western statesinto the Union, and the struggle over the extension of slavery, whichresulted in the Missouri Compromise. But there was a third result, --theactual construction of highways of transportation connecting the Eastwith the West. Along the seaboard, during the five years which followedthe war, great improvements were made in the means of travel. Thesteamboat had come into general use, and, thanks to this and to goodroads and bridges, people could travel from Philadelphia to New Yorkbetween sunrise and sunset on a summer day, and from New York to Bostonin forty-eight hours. The journey from Boston to Washington was nowfinished in four days and six hours, and from New York to Quebec ineight days. 

[Illustration: Bordentown, NJ. [1]]

[Footnote 1: From an old engraving. Passengers from Philadelphia landedhere from the steamboat and took stage for New Brunswick. ]

[Illustration: map: OLD ROUTE FROM NEW YORK TO PITTSBURG]

In the West there was much the same improvement. The Mississippi andOhio swarmed with steamboats, which came up the river from New Orleansto St. Louis in twenty-five days and went down with the current ineight. Little, however, had been done to connect the East with the West. Until the appearance of the steamboat in 1812, the merchants ofPittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville, and a host of other towns in theinterior bought the produce of the Western settlers, and floating itdown the Ohio and the Mississippi sold it at New Orleans for cash, andwith the money purchased goods at Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, and carried them over the mountains to the West. Some went in sailingvessels up the Hudson from New York to Albany, were wagoned to the Fallsof the Mohawk, and then loaded in "Schenectady boats, " which werepushed up the Mohawk by poles to Utica, and then by canal and river toOswego, on Lake Ontario. From Oswego they went in sloops to Lewiston onthe Niagara River, whence they were carried in ox wagons to Buffalo, andthen in sailing vessels to Westfield, and by Chautauqua Lake and theAllegheny River to Pittsburg. Goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore werehauled in great Conestoga wagons drawn by four and six horses across themountains to Pittsburg. The carrying trade alone in these ways wasimmense. More than 12, 000 wagons came to Pittsburg in a year, bringinggoods on which the freight was $1, 500, 000. 

[Illustration: Boats on the Mohawk[1]]

[Footnote 1: From an old print. ]

[Illustration: THOMAS HARPER, AGENT FOR INLAND TRANSPORTATION]

With the appearance of the steamboat on the Mississippi and Ohio, thistrade was threatened; for the people of the Western States could nowfloat their pork, flour, and lumber to New Orleans as before, and bringback from that city by steamboat the hardware, pottery, dry goods, cotton, sugar, coffee, tea, which till then they had been forced to buyin the East[1]. 

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History of the People of the United States_, Vol. IV. , pp. 397-410, 419-421. ]

This new way of trading was so much cheaper than the old, that it wasclear to the people of the Eastern States that unless they opened up astill cheaper route to the West, their Western trade was gone. 

[Illustration: The Erie Canal]

%313. The Erie Canal. %--In 1817 the people of New York determined toprovide such a route, and in that year they began to cut a canal acrossthe state from the Hudson at Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo. To us, withour steam shovels and drills, our great derricks, our dynamite, it wouldbe a small matter to dig a ditch 4 feet deep, 40 feet wide, and 363miles long. But on July 4, 1817, when Governor De Witt Clinton turnedthe first sod, and so began the work, it was considered a greatundertaking, for the men of those days had only picks, shovels, wheelbarrows, and gunpowder to do it with. 

Opposition to the canal was strong. Some declared that it would swallowup millions of dollars and yield no return, and nicknamed it "Clinton'sBig Ditch. " But Clinton was not the kind of man that is afraid ofridicule. He and his friends went right on with the work, and aftereight years spent in cutting down forests, in blasting rocks, inbuilding embankments to carry the canal across swamps, and highaqueducts to carry it over the rivers, and locks of solid masonry toenable the boats to go up and down the sides of hills, the canal wasfinished. [1]

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _History_, Vol. IV. , pp. 415-418. ]

[Illustration: Model of a canal packet boat]

Then, one day in the autumn of 1825, a fleet of boats set off fromBuffalo, passed through the canal to Albany, where Governor De WittClinton boarded one of them, and went down the Hudson to New York. A kegof water from Lake Erie was brought along, and this, when the fleetreached New York Harbor, Clinton poured with great ceremony into thebay, to commemorate, as he said, "the navigable communication openedbetween our Mediterranean seas [the Great Lakes] and theAtlantic Ocean. "

%314. Effect of the Erie Canal%. --The building of the canal changedthe business conditions of about half of our country. Before the canalwas finished, goods, wares, merchandise, going west from New York, werecarried from Albany to Buffalo at a cost of $120 a ton. After the canalwas opened, it cost but $14 a ton to carry freight from Albany toBuffalo. This was most important. In the first place, it enabled thepeople in New York, in Ohio, in Indiana, in Illinois, and all over theWest, to buy plows and hoes and axes and clothing and food and medicinefor a much lower price than they had formerly paid for such things. Lifein the West became more comfortable and easy than ever before. 

In the next place, the Eastern merchant could greatly extend hisbusiness. How far west he could send his goods depended on the expenseof carrying them. When the cost was high, they could go but a little waywithout becoming so expensive that only a few people could buy them. After 1825, when the Erie Canal made transportation cheap, goods fromNew York city could be sold in Michigan and Missouri at a much lowerprice than they had before been sold in Pittsburg or Buffalo. 

%315. New York City the Metropolis. %--The New York merchant, in otherwords, now had the whole West for his market. That city, which till 1820had been second in population, and third in commerce, rushed ahead andbecame the first in population, commerce, and business. 

The same was true of New York state. As the canal grew nearer and nearercompletion, the people from other states came in and settled in thetowns and villages along the route, bought farms, and so improved thecountry that the value of the land along the canal increased$100, 000, 000. 

A rage for canals now spread over the country. Many were talked of, butnever started. Many were started, but never finished. Such as had beenbegun were hurried to completion. Before 1830 there were 1343 miles ofcanal open to use in the United States. 

%316. The Pennsylvania Highway to the West. %--In Pennsylvania theopening of the Erie Canal caused great excitement. And well it might;for freight could now be sent by sailing vessels from Philadelphia toAlbany, and then by canal to Buffalo, and on by the Lake Erie andChautauqua route to Pittsburg, for one third what it cost to gooverland. It seemed as if New York by one stroke had taken away theWestern commerce of Philadelphia, and ruined the prosperity of suchinland towns of Pennsylvania as lay along the highway to the West. Thedemand for roads and canals at state expense was now listened to, andin 1826 ground was broken at Harrisburg for a system of canals to joinPhiladelphia and Pittsburg. But in 1832 the horse-power railroad cameinto use, and when finished, the system was part railroad andpart canal. 

%317. The Baltimore Route to the West. %--This energy on the part ofPennsylvania alarmed the people of Baltimore. Unless their city was toyield its Western trade to Philadelphia they too must have a speedy andcheap route to the West. In 1827, therefore, a great public meeting washeld at Baltimore to consider the wisdom of building a railroad fromBaltimore to some point on the Ohio River. The meeting decided that itmust be done, and on July 4, 1828, the work of construction was begun. In 1830 the road was opened as far as Ellicotts Mills, a distance offifteen miles. The cars were drawn by horses. 

The early railroads, as the word implies, were roads made of woodenrails, or railed roads, over which heavy loads were drawn by horses. Thevery first were private affairs, and not intended for carryingpassengers. [1]

[Footnote 1: The first was used in 1807 at Boston to carry earth from ahilltop to a street that was being graded. The second was built nearPhiladelphia in 1810, and ran from a stone quarry to a dock. It was inuse twenty-eight years. The third was built in 1826, and extended fromthe granite quarries at Quincy, Mass. , to the Neponset River, a distanceof three miles. The fourth was from the coal mines of Mauchchunk, Pa. , to the Lehigh River, nine miles. The fifth was constructed in 1828 bythe Delaware and Hudson Canal Company to carry coal from the mines tothe canal. ]

%318. Public Railroads. %--In 1825 John Stevens, who for ten yearspast had been advocating steam railroads, built a circular road atHoboken to demonstrate the possibility of using such means oflocomotion. In 1823 Pennsylvania chartered a company to build a railroadfrom Philadelphia to the Susquehanna. But it was not till 1827, when theEast was earnestly seeking for a rapid and cheap means of transportationto the West, that railroads of great length and for public use wereundertaken. In that year the people of Massachusetts were so excitedover the opening of the Erie Canal that the legislature appointed acommission and an engineer to select a line for a railroad to joinBoston and Albany. 

At this time there was no such thing as a steam locomotive in use in theUnited States. The first ever used here for practical purposes was builtin England and brought to New York city in 1829, and in August of thatyear made a trial trip on the rails of the Delaware and Hudson CanalCompany. The experiment was a failure; and for several years horses werethe only motive power in use on the railroads. In 1830, however, theSouth Carolina Railroad having finished six miles of its road, had alocomotive built in New York city, and in January, 1831, placed it onthe tracks at Charleston. Another followed in February, and the era oflocomotive railroading in our country began. 

%319. The Portage Railroad. %--As yet the locomotive was a rudemachine. It could not go faster than fifteen miles an hour, nor climb asteep hill. Where such an obstacle was met with, either the road wentaround it, or the locomotive was taken off and the cars were let down orpulled up the hill on an inclined plane by means of a rope andstationary engine. [1] When Pennsylvania began her railroad over theAlleghany Mountains, therefore, she used the inclined-plane system on agreat scale, so that in its time the Portage Railroad, as it was called, was the most remarkable piece of railroading in the world. 

[Footnote 1: Such an inclined plane existed at Albany, where passengerswere pulled up to the top of the hill. Another was at Belmont on theSchuylkill River in Philadelphia, and another on the Paterson and Hudsonroad near Paterson. ]

The Pennsylvania line to the West consisted of a horse railroad fromPhiladelphia to Columbia on the Susquehanna River; of a canal out theJuniata valley to Hollidaysburg on the eastern slope of the AlleghanyMountains, where the Portage Railroad began, and the cars were raised tothe summit of the mountains by a series of inclined planes and levels, and then by the same means let down the western slope to Johnstown; andthen of another canal from Johnstown to Pittsburg. 

[Illustration: Inclined plane at Belmont in 1835]

As originally planned, the state was to build the railroad and canal, just as it built turnpikes. No cars, no motive power of any sort, exceptat the inclined planes, were to be supplied. Anybody could use it whopaid two cents a mile for each passenger, and $4. 92 for each car sentover the rails. At first, therefore, firms and corporations engaged inthe transportation business owned their own cars, their own horses, employed their own drivers, and charged such rates as the state tollsand sharp competition would allow. The result was dire confusion. Theroad was a single-track affair, with turnouts to enable cars coming inopposite directions to pass each other. But the drivers were an unrulyset, paid no attention to turnouts, and would meet face to face on thetrack, just as if no turnouts existed. A fight or a block was sure tofollow, and somebody was forced to go back. To avoid this, the road wasdouble-tracked in 1834, when, for the first time, two locomotivesdragging long trains of cars ran over the line from Lancaster toPhiladelphia. As the engine went faster than the horses, it soon becameapparent that both could not use the road at the same time; and after1836 steam became the sole motive power, and the locomotive wasfurnished by the state, which now charged for hauling the cars. [1]

[Footnote 1: On the early railroads see Brown's _History of the FirstLocomotives in America. _]

[Illustration: The first railroad train in New Jersey (1831)]

The puffing little locomotive bore little resemblance to its beautifuland powerful successors. No cab sheltered the engineer, no brake checkedthe speed, wood was the only fuel, and the tall smokestack belched forthsmoke and red-hot cinders. But this was nothing to what happened whenthe train came to a bridge. Such structures were then protected byroofing them and boarding the sides almost to the eaves. But the roofwas always too low to allow the smokestack to go under. The stack, therefore, was jointed, and when passing through a bridge the upper halfwas dropped down and the whole train in consequence was enveloped in acloud of smoke and burning cinders, while the passengers covered theireyes, mouths, and noses. 

%320. Railroads in 1835. %--In 1835 there were twenty-two railroads inoperation in the United States. Two were west of the Alleghanies, andnot one was 140 miles long. For a while the cars ran on "strap rails"made of wooden beams or stringers laid on stone blocks and protected onthe top surface, where the car wheel rested, by long strips or strapsof iron spiked on. The spikes would often work loose, and, as the carpassed over, the strap would curl up and come through the bottom of thecar, making what was called a snake head. It was some time before theall-iron rail came into use, and even then it was a small affaircompared with the huge rails that are used at present. 

%321. Mechanical Inventions. %--The introduction of the steamboat andthe railroad, the great development of manufactures, the growth of theWest, and the immense opportunity for doing business which theseconditions offered, led to all sorts of demands for labor-saving andtime-saving machinery. Another very marked characteristic of the period1825-1840, therefore, is the display of the inventive genius of thepeople. Articles which a few years before were made by hand now began tobe made by machinery. 

Before 1825 every farmer in the country threshed his grain with a flail, or by driving cattle over it, or by means of a large wooden rollercovered with pegs. After 1825 these rude devices began to be supplantedby the threshing machine. Till 1826 no axes, hatchets, chisels, planes, or other edge tools were made in this country. In 1826 their manufacturewas begun, and in the following year there was opened the first hardwarestore for the sale of American-made hardware. 

The use of anthracite coal had become so general that the wood stove wasbeginning to be displaced by the hard-coal stove, and in 1827 firebricks were first made in the United States. It was at about this timethat paper was first made of hay and straw; that boards were firstplaned by machine; that bricks were first made by machinery; thatpenknives and pocketknives were first manufactured in America; thatFairbanks invented the platform weighing scales; that chloroform wasdiscovered; that Morse invented the recording telegraph; that a man inNew York city, named Hunt, made and sold the first lock-stitch sewingmachine ever seen in the world; that pens and horseshoes were made bymachine; that the reaping machine was given its first public trial (inOhio); and that Colt invented the revolver. 

%322. Condition of the Cities. %--Yet another characteristic of theperiod was the great change which came over the cities and towns. Thedevelopment of canal and railroad transportation had thrown many of theold highways into disuse, had made old towns and villages decline inpopulation, and had caused new towns to spring up and flourish. Everybody now wanted to live near a railroad or a canal. The rapidincrease in manufactures had led to the occupation of the finewater-power sites, and to the creation of many such manufacturing townsas Lowell (in Massachusetts) and Cohoes (in New York). The rise of somany new kinds of business, of so many corporations, mills, andfactories, caused a rush of people to the cities, which now began togrow rapidly in size. 

[Illustration: New York in 1830 (St. Paul's Chapel, on Broadway)]

This made a change in city government necessary. The constable and thewatchman with his rattle had to give place to the modern policeman. Theold dingy oil lamps, lighted only when the moon did not shine, gaveplace to gas. The cities were now so full of clerks, workingmen, mechanics, and other people who had to live far away from the placeswhere they were employed, that a cheap means of transportation about thestreets became necessary. Accordingly, in 1830, an omnibus line wasstarted in New York. [1] It succeeded so well that in 1832 the firststreet horse-car line in America was operated in New York city. 

[Footnote 1: Many did not know what the word "Omnibus" painted along thetop of the stages meant. Some thought it was the name of the man whoowned them. It is, of course, a Latin word, and means "for all"; thatis, the stages were public conveyances for the use of all. ]

%323. The Owenite Communities. %--The efforts thus made everywhere andin every way to increase the comforts and conveniences of mankind turnedthe years 1820-1840 into a period of reform. Anything new was eagerlytaken up. When, therefore, a Welshman named Robert Owen came over tothis country, and introduced what he considered a social reform, numbersof people in the West became his followers. Owen believed that most ofthe hardships of life came from the fact that some men secured moreproperty and made more money than others. He believed that people shouldlive together in communities in which the farms, the houses, the cattle, the products of the soil, should be owned not by individual men, but bythe whole community. He held that there should be absolute socialequality, and that no matter what sort of work a man did, whetherskilled or unskilled, it should be considered just as valuable as thework of any other man. 

All this was very alluring, and in a little while Owenite communitieswere started in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and New York, only to end in failure. [2]

[Footnote 2: Noyes's _History of American Socialism. _]

%324. The Mormons. %--But there was a social movement started at thistime which still exists. In 1827, at Palmyra, in New York, a young mannamed Joseph Smith announced that he had received a new bible from anangel of the Lord. It was written, he said, on golden plates, which heclaimed to have read by the aid of two wonderful stones; and in 1830 hegave to the world _The Book of Mormon_. 

After the book appeared, Smith and a few others organized a church. Manyat once began to believe in the new religion. But the West seemed somuch better a field that in 1831 Smith and his followers started forOhio, and at Kirtland established a Mormon community. There the Mormonslived for several years, and then went to Missouri, whence they wereexpelled, partly because they were an antislavery people. In 1840 theysettled on the banks of the Mississippi in Illinois and built the townof Nauvoo. At Nauvoo they remained till 1846, when, having adoptedpolygamy, they were driven off by the people of Illinois, and, led byBrigham Young, marched to Council Bluffs, in Iowa. There they stopped tolook about them for a safe place of abode, and finally, in 1847, leftCouncil Bluffs for Great Salt Lake, then in the dominions of Mexico. [1]

[Footnote 1: Kennedy's _Early Days of Mormonism_. ]

SUMMARY

1. The rise of the new states in the West, and the appearance of thesteamboat on the Mississippi, were the causes of a great revival ofpublic interest in internal improvements. 

2. The first to build a great western highway was New York state, which, between 1817 and 1825, built the Erie Canal. 

3. This cut down the cost of moving freight to the West, led tosettlement along the banks of the canal, and made New York city themetropolis of the country. 

4. It was during this period, 1815-1830, that many inventions, discoveries, and improvements were made in the arts and sciences. 

5. The railroad was introduced, and the steam locomotive successfullyused. 

6. The cities grew, and in New York the omnibus and the street car beganto be used. 

The movement of population into the West. --The formation of new statesthere. --The rise of manufactures in the East. --The fine market the Westoffers for the products and importations of the Eastern States. 

 * * * * *

Lead to great rivalry between the Atlantic seaboard cities for Westerntrade. 

 * * * * *

This rivalry leads to the development of three routes to the West. 

_The New York Route. _

 1807. Steamboats on the Hudson. 1817-25. Erie Canal 1818. Steamboats on the Lakes. Chautauqua Lake and Allegheny valley. Effect of Erie Canal. 

_The Pennsylvania Route. _

 Old Conestoga wagons. Effect of Erie Canal. 1827. Pennsylvania state canals and railroads. The Portage Railroad. 

_The Baltimore Route. _

 1828. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad commenced. 

 * * * * *

The expansion of the country. --The development of the steamboat, therailroad, and manufactures, and the increased opportunities fordoing business. 

 * * * * *

Lead to demand for labor-saving and time-saving machinery. 

 Hard-coal grate and stove. Fire bricks. Paper made from straw. Brick-making machine. Planing machine. Platform scales. Reaping machine. Colt's revolver. Sewing machine (Hunt). Steel pens. Threshing machine. Telegraph (electric). Steam printing press. Matches, etc. , etc. 

CHAPTER XXIII

POLITICS FROM 1824 TO 1845

%325. New Political Institutions. %--Of the political leaders ofWashington's time few were left in 1825. The men who then conductedaffairs had almost all been born since the Revolution, or were childrenat the time. [1] The same is true of the mass of the people. They too hadbeen born since the Revolution, and, growing up under differentconditions, held ideas very different from the men who went before them. They were more democratic and much less aristocratic, more humane, morepractical. They abolished the old and cruel punishments, such asbranding the cheeks and foreheads of criminals with letters, cutting offtheir ears, putting them in the pillory and the stocks; they partlyabolished imprisonment for debt; they established free schools, reformatories, asylums, and penitentiaries. They amended their stateconstitutions or made new ones, and extended the right to vote, andintroduced new political institutions, some of which were of doubtfulvalue, but are still used. 

[Footnote 1: John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson were born in 1767;Henry Clay, in 1777; John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, Martin Van Buren, and Thomas H. Benton, in 1782. ]

%326. Political Proscription; the Gerrymander. %--One of these was thecustom of turning men out of public office because they did not belongto the party in power, or did not "work" for the election of thesuccessful candidate. As early as 1792 this vicious practice was in usein Pennsylvania, and a few years later was introduced in New York by DeWitt Clinton. Jefferson resorted to it when he became President, but itwas not till 1820 that it was firmly established by Congress. In thatyear William H. Crawford, who was Secretary of the Treasury and apresidential candidate, secured the passage of a "tenure of office" act, limiting the term of collectors of revenue, and a host of otherofficials, to four years, and thus made the appointments to these placesrewards for political service. 

Another institution dating from this time is the gerrymander. In 1812, when Elbridge Gerry was the Republican governor of Massachusetts, hisparty, finding that at the next election they would lose thegovernorship and the House of Representatives, decided to hold theSenate by marking out new senatorial districts. In doing this they drewthe lines in such wise that districts where there were large Federalistmajorities were cut in two, and the parts annexed to other districts, where there were yet larger Republican majorities. 

[Illustration]

The story is told that a map of the Essex senatorial district washanging on the office wall of the editor of the _Columbian Centinel_, when a famous artist named Stuart entered. Struck by the peculiaroutline of the towns forming the district, he added a head, wings, andclaws with his pencil, and turning to the editor, said: "There, thatwill do for a salamander. " "Better say a Gerrymander, " returned theeditor, alluding to Elbridge Gerry, the Republican governor who hadsigned the districting act. However this may be, it is certain that thename "gerrymander" was applied to the odious law in the columns of the_Centinel_, that it came rapidly into use, and has remained in ourpolitical nomenclature ever since. Indeed, a huge cut of the monster wasprepared, and the next year was scattered as a broadside over thecommonwealth, and so aroused the people that in the spring of 1813, despite the gerrymander, the Federalists recovered control of theSenate, and repealed the law. But the example was set, and was quicklyimitated in New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. This established theinstitution, and it has been used over and over again to this day. 

%327. The Third-term Tradition. %--Another political custom which hadgrown to have the force of law was that of never electing a President tothree terms. There is nothing in the Constitution to prevent a Presidentserving any number of terms; but, as we have seen, when Washingtonfinished his second he declined another, and when Jefferson (in1807-1808) was asked by the legislatures of several states to accept athird term, he declined, and very seriously advised the people never toelect any man President more than twice. [1] The example so set wasfollowed by Madison and Monroe and had thus by 1824 become anestablished usage. 

[Footnote 1: McMaster's _With the Fathers, _ pp. 64-70. ]

%328. New Political Issues. %--The most important change of all wasthe rise of new political issues. We have seen how the financialquestions which divided the people in 1790-1792 and gave rise to theFederalist and Republican parties, were replaced during the wars betweenEngland and France by the question, "Shall the United States beneutral?" It was not until the end of our second war with Great Britainthat we were again free to attend to our home affairs. 

During the long embargo and the war, manufactures had arisen, and onequestion now became, "Shall home manufactures be encouraged?" With therapid settlement of the Mississippi valley and the demand for roads, canals, and river improvements by which trade might be carried on withthe West, there arose a second political question: "Shall these internalimprovements be made at government expense?"

Now the people of the different sections of the country were not of onemind on these questions. The Middle States and Kentucky and some partsof New England wanted manufactures encouraged. In the West and theMiddle States people were in favor of internal improvements at the costof the government. In the South Atlantic States, where tobacco andcotton and rice were raised and shipped (especially the cotton) toEngland, people cared nothing for manufactures, nothing for internalimprovements. 

%329. Presidential Candidates in 1824. %--This diversity of opinion onquestions of vital importance had much to do with the breaking up of theRepublican party into sectional factions after 1820. The ambition ofleaders in these sections helped on the disruption, so that between 1821and 1824 four men, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, Henry Clay ofKentucky, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, John C. Calhoun of SouthCarolina, were nominated for President by state legislatures or statenominating conventions, by mass meeting or by gatherings of men who hadassembled for other purposes but seized the occasion to indorse orpropose a candidate. A fifth, William H. Crawford, was nominated by thecongressional caucus, which then acted for the last time in our history. 

Before election day this list was reduced to four: Calhoun had becomethe candidate of all factions for the vice presidency. 

[Illustration: John Quincy Adams]

%330. Adams elected by the House of Representatives. %--TheConstitution provides that no man is chosen President by the electorswho does not receive a majority of their votes. In 1824 Jackson receivedninety-nine; Adams, eighty-four; Crawford, forty-one; and Clay, thirty-seven. There was, therefore, no election, and it became the dutyof the House of Representatives to make a choice. But according to theConstitution only the three highest could come before the House. Thisleft out Clay, who was Speaker and who had great influence. His friendswould not vote for Jackson on any account, nor for Crawford, thecaucus candidate. Adams they liked, because he believed in internalimprovements at government expense and a protective tariff. Adamsaccordingly was elected President. Calhoun had been elected VicePresident by the electoral college. 

[Illustration: The United States July 4, 1826]

The election of John Quincy Adams was a matter of intense disappointmentto the friends of Jackson. In the heat of party passion and thebitterness of their disappointment they declared that it was the resultof a bargain between Adams and Clay. Clay, they said, was to induce hisfriends in the House of Representatives to vote for Adams, in return forwhich Adams was to make Clay Secretary of State. No such bargain wasever made. But when Adams did appoint Clay Secretary of State, Jacksonand his followers were fully convinced of the contrary[1]. 

[Footnote 1: Parton's _Life of Jackson_, Chap. 10; Schurz's _Life ofClay_, Vol. I. , pp. 203-258]

As a consequence, the legislature of Tennessee at once renominatedJackson for the presidency, and he became the people's candidate anddrew about him not only the men who voted for him in 1824, but thosealso who had voted for Crawford, who was paralyzed and no longer acandidate. They called themselves "Jackson men, " or DemocraticRepublicans. 

Adams, it was known, would be nominated to succeed himself, and abouthim gathered all who wanted a tariff for protection, roads and canals atnational expense, and a distribution among the states of the moneyobtained from the sale of public lands. These were the "Adams men, " orNational Republicans. 

%331. Antimasons. %--But there was a third party which arose in a verycurious way and soon became powerful. In 1826, at Batavia in New York, afreemason named William Morgan announced his intention to publish a bookrevealing the secrets of masonry; but about the time the book was tocome out Morgan disappeared and was never seen again. This led to thebelief that the masons had killed him, and stirred up great excitementall over the twelve western counties of New York. The "antimasons" saidthat a man who was a freemason considered his duty to his order superiorto his duty to his country; and a determined effort was made to preventthe election of any freemason to office. 

[Illustration: Andrew Jackson ]

At first the "antimasonic" movement was confined to western New York, but the moment it took a political turn it spread across northern Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts and Rhode Island, andwas led by some of the most distinguished men and aspiring politiciansof the time[1]. 

[Footnote 1: Stanwood's _Presidential Elections_, Chap. 18]

%332. The Election of Jackson. %--When the presidential electionoccurred in 1828, there were thus three parties, --the "Jackson men, " the"Administration, " and the Antimasonic. But politics had very little todo with the result. In the early days of the republic, the mass of menwere ignorant and uneducated, and willingly submitted to be led by menof education and what was called breeding. From Washington down to JohnQuincy Adams, the presidents were from the aristocratic class. They werenot men of the people. But in course of time a great change had comeover the mass of Americans. Their prosperity, their energy in developingthe country, had made them self-reliant, and impatient of all claims ofsuperiority. One man was now no better than another, and the cry aroseall over the country for a President who was "a man of the people. "Jackson was just such a man, and it was because he was "a man of thepeople" that he was elected. Of 261 electoral votes he received 178, and Adams 83. 

%333. The North and the South Two Different Peoples. %--Beforeentering on Jackson's administration, it is necessary to call attentionto the effect produced on our country by the industrial revolutiondiscussed in Chaps. 19 and 22. In the first place, it produced twodistinct and utterly different peoples: the one in the North and theother in the South. In the North, where there were no greatplantations, no great farms, and where the labor was free, the marvelousinventions, discoveries, and improvements mentioned were eagerly seizedon and used. There cities grew up, manufactures nourished, canals weredug, railroads were built, and industries of every sort established. Some towns, as Lynn, Lowell, Lawrence, Fall River, Cohoes, Paterson, Newark, and Pittsburg, were almost entirely given up to mills andfactories. No such towns existed in the South. In the South men lived onplantations, raised cotton, tobacco, and rice, owned slaves, built fewlarge towns, cared nothing for internal improvements, and established noindustries of any sort. 

This difference of occupation led of course to difference of interestsand opinions, so that on three matters--the extension of slavery, internal improvements, and tariff for protection--the North and theSouth were opposed to each other. In the West and the Middle Statesthese questions were all-important, and by a union of the two sectionsunder the leadership of Clay a new tariff was passed in 1824, and in thecourse of the next four years $2, 300, 000 were voted for internalimprovements. 

The Virginia legislature (1825) protested against internal improvementsat government expense and against the tariff. But the North demandedmore, and in 1827 another tariff bill was prevented from passing only bythe casting vote of Vice President Calhoun. And now the two sectionsjoined issue. The South, in memorials, resolutions, and protests, declared a tariff for protection to be unconstitutional, partial, andoppressive. The wool growers and manufacturers of the North called anational convention of protectionists to meet at Harrisburg, and whenCongress met, forced through the tariff of 1828. The South answered withanti-tariff meetings, addresses, resolutions, with boycotts on thetariff states, and with protests from the legislatures. Calhoun thencame forward as the leader of the movement and put forth an argument, known as the South Carolina Exposition, in which he urged that aconvention should meet in South Carolina and decide in what manner thetariff acts should "be declared null and void within the limits ofthe state. "

%334. May a State nullify an Act of Congress?%--The right of a stateto nullify an act of Congress thus became the question of the hour, andwas again set forth yet more fully by Calhoun in 1831. That the Southwas deeply in earnest was apparent, and in 1832 Congress changed thetariff of 1828, and made it less objectionable. But it was againsttariff for protection, not against any particular tariff, that SouthCarolina contended, and finding that the North would not give up itsprinciples, she put her threat into execution. The legislature called astate convention, which declared that the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 werenull and void and without force in South Carolina, and forbade anybodyto pay the duties laid by these laws after February 1, 1833. [1]

[Footnote 1: Houston's _A Critical Study of Nullification in SouthCarolina_; Parton's _Jackson_, Vol. III. , Chaps. 32-34; Schurz's _Lifeof Clay_, Vol. II. , Chap. 14; Von Holst's _Life of Calhoun_, Chap. 4;Lodge's _Life of Webster_, Chaps. 6, 7; Rhodes's _History of the UnitedStates_, Vol. I. , pp. 40-50. ]

Jackson, who had just been reëlected, was not terrified. He bade thecollector at Charleston go on and collect the revenue duties, and useforce if necessary, and he issued a long address to the Nullifiers. Onthe one hand, he urged them to yield. On the other, he told them that"the laws of the United States must be executed.... Those who told youthat you might peacefully prevent their execution deceived you.... Theirobject is disunion, and disunion by armed force is treason. "

%335. Webster's Great Reply to Calhoun. %--Calhoun, who since 1825 hadbeen Vice President of the United States, now resigned, and was at oncemade senator from South Carolina. When Congress met in December, 1832, the great question before it was what to do with South Carolina. Jacksonwanted a "Force Act, " that is, an act giving him power to collect thetariff duties by force of arms. Hayne, who was now governor of SouthCarolina, declared that if this was done, his state would leavethe Union. 

A great debate occurred on the Force Act, in which Calhoun, speaking forthe South, asserted the right of a state to nullify and secede from theUnion, while Webster, speaking for the North, denied the right ofnullification and secession, and upheld the Union and theConstitution. [1]

[Footnote 1: Johnston's _American Orations_, Vol. I. , pp. 196-212;Webster's _Works_, Vol. III. , pp. 248-355, 448-505; Rhodes's _Historyof the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 50-52. ]

%336. The Compromise of 1833%. --Meantime, Henry Clay, seeing howdetermined each side was, and fearing civil war might follow, cameforward with a compromise. He proposed that the tariff of 1832 should bereduced gradually till July, 1842, when on all articles imported thereshould be a duty equal to twenty per cent of their value. This waspassed, and the Compromise Tariff, as it is called, became a law inMarch, 1833. A new convention in South Carolina then repealed theordinance of nullification. 

%337. War on the Bank of the United States%. --While South Carolinawas thus fighting internal improvements and the tariff, the wholeJackson party was fighting the Bank of the United States. You willremember that this institution was chartered by Congress in 1816; andits charter was to run till 1836. Among the rights given it was that ofhaving branches in as many cities in the country as it pleased, and, exercising this right, it speedily established branches in the chiefcities of the South and West. The South and West were already full ofstate banks, and, knowing that the business of these would be injured ifthe branches of the United States Bank were allowed to come among them, the people of that region resented the reëstablishment of a nationalbank. Jackson, as a Western man, shared in this hatred, and when hebecame President was easily persuaded by his friends (who wished toforce the Bank to take sides in politics) to attack it. The charter hadstill nearly eight years to run; nevertheless, in his first message toCongress (December, 1829) he denounced the Bank as unconstitutional, unnecessary, and as having failed to give the country a sound currency, and suggested that it should not be rechartered. Congress paid littleattention to him. But he kept on, year after year, till, in 1832, thefriends of the Bank made his attack a political issue[1]. 

[Footnote 1: Roosevelt's _Life of Benton_, Chap. 6; Parton's _Life ofJackson_, Vol. III. , Chaps. 29-31; Tyler's _Memoir of Roger B. Taney_, Vol. I. , Chap. 3; Von Hoist's _Constitutional History_, Vol. II. , pp. 31-52; Schurz's _Clay_, Vol. L, Chap. 13; _American HistoryLeaflets_, No. 24]

%338. The First National Nominating Convention; the First PartyPlatform. %--To do this was easy, because in 1832 it was well knownthat Jackson would again be a candidate for the presidency. Now thepresidential contest of that year is remarkable for two reasons:

1. Because each of the three parties held a national convention for thenomination of candidates. 

2. Because a party platform was then used for the first time. 

The originators of the national convention were the Antimasons. Stateconventions of delegates to nominate state officers, such as governorsand congressmen and presidential electors, had long been in use. Butnever, till September, 1831, had there been a convention of delegatesfrom all parts of the country for the purpose of nominating thePresident and Vice President. In that year Antimasonic delegates fromtwenty-two states met at Baltimore and nominated William Wirt andAmos Ellmaker. 

The example thus set was quickly followed, for in December, 1831, aconvention of National Republicans nominated Henry Clay. In May, 1832, anational convention of Democrats nominated Martin Van Buren for VicePresident[1]; and in that same month, a "national assembly of youngmen, " or, as the Democrats called it, "Clay's Infant School, " met atWashington and framed the first party platform. They were friends ofClay, and in their platform they demanded protection to Americanindustries, and internal improvements at government expense, anddenounced Jackson for his many removals from office. They next issued anaddress to the people, in which they declared that if Jackson werereëlected, the Bank would "be abolished. " [2]

[Footnote 1: It was not necessary to nominate Jackson. That he should bere-elected was the wish of the great body of voters. The convention, therefore, merely nominated a Vice President]

[Footnote 2: For party platform see McKee's _National Platforms of allParties. _]

%339. Jackson destroys the Bank. %--The friends of the Bank meantimeappealed to Congress for a new charter and found little difficulty ingetting it. But when the bill went to Jackson for his signature, hevetoed it, and, as its friends had not enough votes to pass the billover the veto, the Bank was not rechartered. 

The only hope left was to defeat Jackson at the polls. But this too wasa failure, for he was reëlected by greater majorities than he hadreceived in 1828. [1]

[Footnote 1: Of the 288 electoral votes, Jackson received 219, and Clay49. Wirt, the Antimason, secured 7. ]

%340. Jackson withdraws the Government Money from the Bank. %--Thissignal triumph was understood by Jackson to mean that the peopleapproved of his treatment of the Bank. So he continued to hurt it all hecould, and in 1833 ordered his Secretary of the Treasury to remove themoney of the United States from the Bank and its branches. This theSecretary[1] refused to do; whereupon Jackson removed him and putanother, [2] who would, in his place. After 1833, therefore, thecollectors of United States revenue ceased to deposit it in the Bank ofthe United States, and put it in state banks ("pet banks") named by theSecretary of the Treasury. The money already on deposit was graduallydrawn out, till none remained. [3]

[Footnote 1: William J. Duane. ]

[Footnote 2: Roger B. Taney. ]

[Footnote 3: Parton's _Jackson, _ Vol. III. , Chaps. 36-39; _AmericanHistory Leaflets, _ No. 24; Sumner's _Jackson_, Chaps. 13, 14; VonHoist's _Constitutional History, _ Vol. II. , pp. 52-79; Roosevelt's_Benton_, Chap. 6. ]

For this act the Senate, when it met in December, 1833, passed a vote ofcensure on Jackson and entered the censure on its journal. Jacksonprotested, and asked to have his protest entered, but the Senaterefused. Whereupon Benton of Missouri declared that he would not resttill the censure was removed or "expunged" from the journal. At firstthis did not seem likely to occur. But Benton kept at it, and at last, in 1837, the Senate having become Democratic, he succeeded[1]. 

[Footnote 1: When the resolution had passed, the Clerk of the Senate wasordered to bring in the journal, draw a thick black line around thecensure, and write across it "Expunged by order of the Senate, January16, 1837. "]

%341. Wildcat State Banks. %--As soon as the reëlection of Jacksonmade it certain that the charter of the Bank of the United States wouldnot be renewed, the same thing happened in 1833 that had occurred in1811. The legislature of every state was beset with applications forbank charters, and granted them. In 1832 there were but 288 state banksin the country. In 1836 there were 583. Some were established in orderto get deposits of the government money. Others were started for thepurpose of issuing paper money with which the bank officials mightspeculate. Others, of course, were founded with an honest purpose. Butthey all issued paper money, which the people borrowed on very poorsecurity and used in speculation. 

%342. The Period of Speculation. %--Never before had the opportunityfor speculation been so great. The new way of doing business, the riseof corporations and manufactures, drew people into the cities, whichgrew in area and afforded a chance for investors to get rich bypurchasing city lots and holding them for a rise in price. Railroads andcanals were being projected all over the country. Another favorite wayof speculating, therefore, was to buy land along the lines of railroadsbuilding or to be built. Suddenly cotton rose a few cents a pound, andthousands of people began to speculate in slaves and cotton land. Othersbought land in the West from the government, at $1. 25 an acre, and laidit out into town lots, [1] which they sold for $10 and $20 apiece topeople in the East. In short, everybody who could was borrowing papermoney from the banks and speculating. 

[Footnote 1: Sometimes ten such lots would be laid out on an acre]

Under these conditions, any cause which should force the banks to stoploaning money, or to call in that already loaned, would bring on apanic. And this is just what happened. 

%343. The Specie Circular. %--Speculation in government land was sogeneral that the annual sales rose from $2, 300, 000 in 1831, to$24, 900, 000 in 1836. [2] Finding that these great purchases were paid fornot in gold and silver, but in state bank paper money, Jackson becamealarmed. Many of the banks were of doubtful soundness, and if theyfailed, all their money which the government had taken for land would belost. In 1836, therefore, Jackson issued his "Specie Circular, " whichcommanded all officials authorized to sell government land to receivepayment in nothing but gold or silver or land scrip. A great demand forspecie and a removal of it from the banks in the East to those in theWest followed, which of course hurt the Eastern banks, because it tookaway some of their money, and that kind of money which they were holdingfor the purpose of redeeming their paper. 

[Footnote 2: Shepard's _Van Buren_, Chap. 8; Sumner's _Jackson_, pp. 322-325]

Another thing which hurt the banks, by forcing them to stop loaning andto call for a settlement of debts, was the distribution of the surplusrevenue among the states. 

%344. The Surplus Revenue. %--What caused this surplus revenue? Manythings. 

1. The United States had no debt. The national debt, you remember, wascreated in 1790 by funding the foreign and Congress debt and assumingthose of the states, and amounted to $75, 000, 000. When Jefferson waselected President in 1801, this debt had risen to $80, 000, 000; butduring his administration it fell to $57, 000, 000. The war with Englandraised it to $127, 000, 000, after which it once more decreased year byyear till 1835, when every dollar was paid off, and the United Stateswas out of debt[1]. 

[Footnote 1: As bonds, etc. , to the value of $35, 000 were neverpresented for payment, the United States appears to have always been indebt. This $35, 000 probably represents evidences of indebtedness lost bythe owners]

2. The expenses of the government were not large. 

3. There was a heavy importation of foreign goods, which produced agreat revenue under the tariff act. 

4. The immense speculation in government lands already describedproduced a large income to the government[1]. 

[Footnote 1: The land sales were $4, 800, 000 in 1834, $14, 757, 000 in1835, and $24, 877, 000 in 1836]

In consequence of these causes, the government on June 1, 1836, had inthe banks $41, 500, 000 more than it needed. 

What to do with this useless money sorely puzzled Congress. It could notreduce the tariff, because that was gradually being reduced under thecompromise of 1833. Some wanted the money derived from the sale of landdistributed. But at last it was decided to take all the surplus thegovernment had on January 1, 1837, subtract $5, 000, 000 from it, anddivide the rest by the number of senators and representatives inCongress, and give each state as many parts as it had senators andrepresentatives[1]. 

[Footnote 1: One state, New York, was to receive $4, 000, 000, threestates over $2, 000, 000, six over $1, 000, 000, and eight over $500, 000]

On January 1, 1837, the surplus was $42, 468, 000, which, aftersubtracting the $5, 000, 000, left $37, 468, 000 to be distributed. It wasto be paid in four installments[1]; but only three of them were everpaid, for, when October 1, 1837, came, the whole country was sufferingfrom a panic[2]. 

[Footnote 1: The days of payment were Jan. 1, April 1, July 1, and Oct. 1, 1837]

[Footnote 2: Bourne's _History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837_]

%345. The Panic of 1837. %--Now, when the banks in which thegovernment surplus was kept were suddenly called on to give it up inorder that it might be distributed among the states, (as they hadloaned this surplus) they were all forced to call it in. More than that, they would make no new loans. This made credit hard to get. As aconsequence, mills and factories shut down, all buying and sellingstopped, and thousands of workmen were thrown out of employment. Aseverybody wanted money, it followed that houses, lands, property ofevery sort, was offered for sale at ridiculously low prices. But therewere no buyers. In New York the distress was so great that bread riotsoccurred. The merchants, unable to pay their debts, began to fail, andto make matters worse the banks all over the country suspended speciepayment; that is, refused to give gold and silver in exchange for theirpaper bills. Then the panic set in, and for a while the people, thestates, and the government were bankrupt[1]. 

[Footnote 1: Shepard's _Van Buren_, Chap. 8. ]

%346. Election of Martin Van Buren; Eighth President. %--In accordancewith the well-established custom that no President shall have more thantwo terms, Jackson [Illustration: Martin Van Buren] would not accept arenomination in 1836. So the Democratic national convention nominatedMartin Van Buren and R. M. Johnson. The Whigs, as the NationalRepublicans called themselves after 1834, did not hold a nationalnominating convention, but agreed to support William Henry Harrison. VanBuren was elected, and inaugurated March. 4, 1837[1]. 

[Footnote 1: _Ibid_. , Chap. 7. ]

%347 The New National Debt; the Independent Treasury. %--But scarcelyhad he taken the oath of office when the panic swept over the country, and his whole term was one of financial distress or hard times. Thesuspension of specie payment and the failures of many banks andmerchants left the government without money, and forced Van Buren tocall an extra session of Congress in September, 1837. Before adjourning, Congress ordered the fourth or October installment of the distributedrevenue to be suspended. It has never been given to the states. Congress also authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue$10, 000, 000 in treasury notes, and so laid the foundation for the secondnational debt, which one cause or another has continued ever since. 

The experience the government had thus twice passed through (1814 and1837) led the people to believe it ought not to keep its money in statebanks. But just where the money should be kept was a disputed partyquestion. The Whigs insisted on a third National Bank like the old oneJackson had destroyed. Van Buren wanted what was called an "IndependentTreasury, " and after four attempts the act establishing it was passedin 1840. 

The law created four "receivers general" (one each at Boston, New York, Charleston, and St. Louis), to whom all money collected by the UnitedStates officials should be turned over, and directed that "rooms, vaults, and safes" should be provided for the safe keeping ofthe money. [1]

[Footnote 1: Shepard's _Van Buren, _ Chap. 9. ]

As might be expected, the people laid all the blame for the hard timeson Van Buren and his party. The Democrats, they said, had destroyed theNational Bank; they had then removed the United States money, and givenit to "pet" state banks; they had then distributed the surplus, and bytaking the surplus from the state banks had brought on the panic. Whether this was true or not, the people believed it, and weredetermined to "turn out little Van. "

The campaign of 1840 was the most novel, exciting, and memorable thathad yet taken place. Three parties had candidates in the field. TheAntislavery party put forward James Gillespie Birney and Thomas Earle. The Democrats in their convention renominated Van Buren, but no VicePresident. The Whigs nominated W. H. Harrison, and John Tyler ofVirginia. The mention of the Antislavery party makes it necessary toaccount for its origin. 

%348. The Antislavery Movement%. --The appearance of the Antislaveryor Liberty party marks the beginning in national affairs of anantislavery movement which had long been going on in the states. Whenthe Missouri Compromise was made in 1820, many people believed that thetroublesome matter of slavery was settled. This was a mistake, and thecompromise really made matters worse. In the first place, it encouragedthe men in Illinois who favored slavery to attempt to make it a slavestate by amending the state constitution, an attempt which failed in1824 after a long struggle. In the second place, it aroused certain menwho had been agitating for freeing the slaves to redoubled energy. Amongthese were Benjamin Lundy, James Gillespie Birney, and William LloydGarrison, who in 1831 established an abolition newspaper called the_Liberator_, which became very famous. In the third place, it led to theformation all over the North, and in many places in the South, of newabolition societies, and stirred up the old ones and made them moreactive. [1]

[Footnote 1: _James G. Birney and his Times_, Chap. 12. ]

For a time these societies carried on their work, each independent ofthe others. But in 1833, a convention of delegates from them met atPhiladelphia, and formed a national society called the AmericanAntislavery Society. [1]

[Footnote 1: Its constitution declared (1) that each state has exclusiveright to regulate slavery within it; (2) that the society will endeavorto persuade Congress to stop the interstate slave trade, to abolishslavery in the territories and in the District of Columbia, and to admitno more slave states into the Union. ]

%349. Antislavery Documents shut out of the Mails. %--Thus organized, the society went to work at once and flooded the South with newspapers, pamphlets, pictures, and handbills, all intended to arouse a sentimentfor instant abolition or emancipation of slaves. The South declared thatthese were inflammatory, insurrectionary, and likely to incite theslaves to revolt, and called on the North to suppress abolitionsocieties and stop the spread of abolition papers. To do such a thing bylegal means was impossible; so an attempt was made to do it by illegalmeans. In the Northern cities such as Philadelphia, Utica, Boston, Haverhill, mobs broke up meetings of abolitionists, and dragged theleaders about the streets. In the South, the postmasters, as atCharleston, seized antislavery tracts and pamphlets going through themails, and the people burned them. In New York city such matter wastaken from the mails and destroyed by the postmaster. When theseoutrages were reported to Amos Kendall, the Postmaster-General, heapproved of them; and when Congress met, Jackson asked for a law thatwould prohibit the circulation "in the Southern States, through themails, of incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves toinsurrection. " From the legislatures of five Southern states cameresolutions calling on the people of the North to suppress theabolitionists. [1] Congress and the legislatures of New York and RhodeIsland responded; but the bills introduced did not pass. [2]

[Footnote 1: South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, andGeorgia. ]

[Footnote 2: _James G. Birney and his Times_, pp. 184-194. ]

This attempt having failed, the mobs again took up the work, and beganto smash and destroy the presses of antislavery newspapers. One paper, twice treated in this manner in 1836, was the _Philanthropist_ publishedat Cincinnati by James Gillespie Birney. Another was the _Observer_, published at Alton by Elijah Lovejoy, who was murdered in defending hisproperty. [1] The _Pennsylvania Freeman_ was a third. 

[Footnote 1: Wilson's _Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America_, Vol. II. , Chap. 27; _James G. Birney and his Times_, pp. 204-219, 241-255. ]

%350. The Gag Rule%. --Not content with attacking the liberty of thepress, the proslavery men attacked the right of petition. TheConstitution provides that "Congress shall make no law ... Abridging ... The right of the people ... To petition the government for a redress ofgrievances. " Under this right the antislavery people had long beenpetitioning Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, andthe petitions had been received; but of course not granted. Now, in1836, when John Quincy Adams presented one to the House ofRepresentatives, a member moved that it be not received. A fierce debatefollowed, and out of it grew a rule which forbade any petition, resolution, or paper relating in any way to slavery, or the abolition ofslavery, to be received. This famous "Gag Rule" was adopted by Congressafter Congress until 1844. [1]

[Footnote 1: Morse's _Life of John Quincy Adams, _pp. 249-253, 306-308. ]

%351. The Liberty Party formed%. --The effect of these extrememeasures was greatly to increase the antislavery sentiment. But the menwho held these sentiments were largely members of the Whig andDemocratic parties. In the hope of drawing them from their parties, andinducing them to act together, the antislavery conventions about 1838began to urge the formation of an antislavery party, which was finallyaccomplished at Albany, N. Y. , in April, 1840, where James G. Birney wasnominated for President, and Thomas Earle for Vice President. No namewas given to the new organization till 1844, when it was christened"Liberty party. "

%352. The Log Cabin, Hard Cider Campaign%. --The candidate of theDemocrats (Martin Van Buren) was a shrewd and skillful politician. Thecandidate of the Whigs (Harrison) was the ideal of a popular favorite. To defeat him at such a time, when the people were angry with theDemocrats, would have been hard, but they made it harder still byridiculing his honorable poverty and his Western surroundings. At thevery outset of the campaign a Democratic newspaper declared thatHarrison would be more at home "in a log cabin, drinking hard cider andskinning coons, than living in the White House as President. " The Whigsinstantly took up the sneer and made the log cabin the emblem of theirparty. All over the country log cabins (erected at some crossroads, oron the village common, or on some vacant city lot) became the Whigheadquarters. On the door was a coon skin; a leather latch string wasalways hanging out as a sign of hospitality, and beside the door stood abarrel of hard cider. Every Whig wore a Harrison and Tyler badge, andknew by heart all the songs in the _Log Cabin Songster_. Immense massmeetings were held, at which 50, 000, and even 80, 000, people attended. Weeks were spent in getting ready for them. In the West, whererailroads were few, the people came in covered wagons with provisions, and camped on the ground days before the meeting. At the monster meetingat Dayton, O. , 100, 000 people were present, covering ten acres ofground. [1]

[Footnote 1: Shepard's _Van Buren_, pp. 323-335. ]

[Illustration: William H. Harrison]

%353. William Henry Harrison, Ninth President; John Tyler, TenthPresident%. --Harrison was triumphantly elected, and inaugurated March4, 1841. But his career was short, for on April 4 he died, [2] and JohnTyler took his place. Tyler had never been a Whig. He had always been aDemocrat. Nevertheless, the Whigs, confident of his aid, tried to carryout certain reform measures. 

[Footnote 2: His death was a great shock to the people. Two vicepresidents, George Clinton and Elbridge Gerry, had died in office. Butnobody seems to have thought it likely that a president would die. ]

[Illustration: John Tyler]

%354. The Quarrel between Tyler and the Whigs%. --The first thing theydid was to repeal the law establishing the Independent Treasury. ThisTyler approved. They next attempted to reëstablish the Bank of theUnited States under the name of the "Fiscal Bank of the United States. "Tyler, who was opposed to banks, vetoed the bill, and when the Whigssent him another to create a "Fiscal Corporation, " he vetoed that also. Then every member of the cabinet save Webster resigned, and at a meetingof the great Whig leaders Tyler was formally "read out of the party. "

%355. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty%. --Webster was Secretary of State, and though a Whig, retained his place in order that he might complete atreaty which determined our boundary line from the source of the St. Croix to the St. Lawrence, thus settling a long dispute between Maineand the British provinces of New Brunswick and Canada. The difficultyarose over the meaning of terms in the treaty of 1783, and though twicesubmitted to a joint commission, and once to arbitration, seemed furtherthan ever from a peaceful settlement when Webster and Lord Ashburtonarranged it in 1842. The treaty ratified, Webster soon resigned. 

[Illustration:]

The people meanwhile had recovered from the excitement of the campaignof 1840, and at the congressional election of 1842 they made the Houseof Representatives Democratic. There were thus a Whig Senate, aDemocratic House, and a President who was neither a Whig nor a Democrat. As a consequence few measures of any importance were passed till 1845. 

SUMMARY

1. During 1789-1825 a marked change had taken place in the ideas ofgovernment, and this led to new state constitutions; to an extension ofthe right to vote; to the belief that no President should have more thantwo terms; to the belief that political offices should be given topolitical workers; and to the introduction of the "gerrymander. "

2. The disappearance of issues which divided the Federalists andRepublicans; the loss of old leaders; the appearance of a new generationwith new political issues, destroyed old party lines. 

3. First to disappear were the Federalists. In 1820 there was but onepresidential candidate (Monroe), and but one political party (theRepublican). 

4. During Monroe's second term the new issues began to break up theRepublican party, and in the election of 1824 the people of the fourgreat sections of the country presented candidates. For the second timea President (John Quincy Adams) was elected by the House ofRepresentatives. 

5. In 1828 the Republicans again supported Jackson, and his opponentsunder Adams were defeated. In 1827 the antimasonic party arose. 

6. The issues now before the people were the tariff, the recharter ofthe National Bank, and the use of the surplus revenue, and these becamethe leading questions of Jackson's eight years (1829-1837). 

7. The general use of the steamboat, and the good roads, so reduced thecost of transportation that it was possible to introduce a new piece ofpolitical machinery--the national convention--to nominate candidates forPresident and Vice President. 

8. In Jackson's second term the antislavery movement began in earnest;the Whig party was organized and named; the national debt was paid off, and the surplus distributed. 

9. Jackson was followed by Van Buren, in whose administration the greatpanic of 1837 occurred. Because of this and hard times a second nationaldebt was started. A new financial measure was the establishment of theIndependent Treasury. 

10. This the Whigs under Tyler destroyed. They attempted to replace itwith a third National Bank, but were prevented from doing so byTyler's vetoes. 

 * * * * *

THE INDUSTRIAL, MECHANICAL, AGRICULTURAL, AND SOCIAL PROGRESSOF OUR COUNTRY BETWEEN 1800 AND 1840 LEADS TO

_New political ideas_

 Gerrymandering. Extension of the franchise. No third term for a President. No nomination by congressional caucus. 

_New political issues_. 

 Use of public lands. Tariff. Internal improvements. 

 * * * * *

These issues and ideas break up the Republicanparty into factions led in 1824 by

Crawford and Gallatin, Caucus candidates. 

Anti-caucus candidates. 

 Clay, Calhoun, Adams, Jackson

Elected

 Adams by House of Representatives. Calhoun by electoral college. 

Renominated in 1828. 

 Adams defeated. Jackson and Calhoun elected. 

 ________________________________|____________________ | | 18|32 | | ______________|_________________________________Tariff. | | | |Of 1824, opposed | Clay defeated. Jackson reëlected. 1827, Rise of Antimasons. By the South. Finance Van Buren Vice President 1831, Originate nationalOf 1828, \ ________________ | nominating convention. Of 1832, / Nullified | | ________________|___________________________________ by South Attack on the | | | | | Carolina Bank of the Removal of the Surplus. Specie | Speculation in 1832. United States. Deposits. Cause of Circular | |___________| Renewal of Censure of the amount. | +--------+ | charter vetoed. President. "Deposit" or | Payments of the Compromise Censure distribution | national dept, of 1833. | expunged. Among the | 1835. |_____________________| states. | | |____________| | Great increase of | | state banks. | | |______________________________|__________|_________|

 Van Buren elected in 1836. Inaugurated, March, 1837. Panic of 1837. _______________________________|__________________ | | Causes of the panic. Great opposition to the Democratic party. Suspension of the banks. Union of this opposition in 1840 with the Whigs. New national debt. ___________________|______________________________ Suspension of distribution of | | | the revenue. Democrats. Whigs. Antislavery Establishment of Independent Issue their first Issue no platform. Party. Treasury. Party platform. Nominate Harrison. Origin of. Nominate Van Buren. Elect him. Nominates J. Are defeated. G. Birney. 

CHAPTER XXIV

EXPANSION OF THE SLAVE AREA

%356. Texas secures Independence. %--The fact that Tyler now belongedto no party enabled him to commit an act which, had he belonged toeither, he would not have ventured to commit at that time, --to make atreaty of annexation with Texas. 

[Illustration: %TERRITORY CLAIMED BY TEXAS% WHEN ADMITTED INTO THEUNION %1845%]

In 1821 Mexico, which for years past had been fighting for independence, was set free by Spain, and soon established herself as a republic underthe name of the United States of Mexico. The old Spanish provinces werethe states, and one of these provinces was Texas. As a country Texas hadbeen very attractive to Americans, and the eastern part would have beensettled early in the century if it had been definitely known who ownedit. Now that Mexico owned it, a citizen of the United States, MosesAustin, asked for a large grant of land and for leave to bring insettlers. A grant was made on condition that he should bring in 300families within a given time. Moses Austin died; but his son Stephenwent on with the scheme and succeeded so well that others followed hisexample till seventeen such grants had been perfected. 

For some years the settlers managed their own affairs in their own way. But about 1830 Mexico began to rule them harshly, and when they wereunable to stand it any longer they rebelled against her in 1833, and in1836 set up the republic of Texas. At first the Texans were defeated, and on two memorable occasions bands of them were massacred by theMexican soldiers after they had surrendered. Money and troops and aid ofevery sort, however, were sent from the United States, and at lengthSanta Anna, the President of Mexico, who commanded the Mexicans, wasdefeated and captured and his army destroyed by the Texans under SamuelHouston at the battle of San Jacinto (1836). The victory was hailed withdelight all over our country, and the independence of Texas wasacknowledged by the United States (1837), England, France, and Belgium. 

%357. Texas applies for Admission to the Union. %--As soon asindependence was acknowledged, the people of Texas became very anxiousto have their republic become a state in our Union; but slavery existedin Texas, and the men of the free states opposed her admission. 

At last in 1844 Tyler secretly negotiated a treaty of annexation withthe Texan authorities, and surprised the Senate by submitting itin April. [1]

[Footnote 1: The Senate rejected the treaty]

The politicians were very indignant, for the national nominatingconventions were to meet in May, and the President by his act had madethe annexation of Texas a political issue. The Democrats, however, tookit up and in their platform declared for "the reannexation of Texas, "and nominated James K. Polk of Tennessee for President and GeorgeMifflin Dallas of Pennsylvania for Vice President. 

%358. The Joint Occupation of Oregon is continued. %--But there wasanother plank in the Democratic platform of 1844 which promised theacquisition of a great piece of free soil. We left the question of theownership of Oregon at the time when the United States and Great Britain(in 1818) agreed to hold the country in joint occupation for ten years;and when Russia, the United States, and Great Britain had (in 1824 and1825) made 54° 40' the boundary line between the Oregon country andAlaska. Before the ten-year period of joint occupation expired, GreatBritain and the United States, in 1827, agreed to continue itindefinitely. Either party could end the agreement after a year's noticeto the other. 

%359. Attempts to end Joint Occupation. %--Before this time the menwho came to the Oregon country were explorers, trappers, hunters, servants of the great fur companies, who built forts and tradingstations, but did little for the settlement of the region. After thistime missionaries were sent to the Indians, and serious efforts weremade to persuade men to emigrate to Oregon. Some parties did go, and asa result of their work, and of the labors of the missionaries, Oregon, in the course of ten years, became better known to the people of theUnited States. 

Efforts were then begun to persuade Congress to extend the jurisdictionof the United States over Oregon, order the occupation of the country, and end the old agreement with Great Britain. Petitions were sent(1838-1840), reports were made, bills were introduced; but Congressstood firmly by the agreement, and would not take any steps toward theoccupation of Oregon. In 1842, Elijah White, a former missionary, cameto Washington and so impressed the authorities with the importance ofsettling Oregon that he was appointed Indian Agent for that country, andtold to take back with him as many settlers as he could. Returning toMissouri, he soon gathered a band of 112 persons and with these, thelargest number of settlers that had yet started for Oregon, he set offacross the plains in the spring of 1842. At the next session of Congress(1842-1843) another effort was made to provide for the occupation ofOregon at least as far north as 49°, and a bill for that purpose passedthe Senate. 

Meanwhile a rage for emigration to Oregon broke out in the West, and inthe early summer of 1843, nearly a thousand persons, with a long trainof wagons, moved out of Westport, Missouri, and started northwestwardover the plains. Like the emigrants of 1842, they succeeded in reachingOregon, though they encountered many hardships. 

%360. "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight. "%--So much attention was thusattracted to Oregon, in 1843, that the people by 1844 began to demand asettlement of the boundary and an end of joint occupation. The Democratstherefore gladly took up the Oregon matter. Their plan to reannex Texas, which was slave soil, could, they thought, be offset by a declaration infavor of acquiring all Oregon, which was free soil. The Democraticplatform for 1844, therefore, declared that "our title to the whole ofOregon is clear; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded toEngland or any other power; and that the reoccupation of Oregon and thereannexation of Texas" were great American measures, which the peoplewere urged to support. The people thought they were great Americanmeasures, and with the popular cries of "The reannexation of Texas, ""Texas or disunion, " "The whole of Oregon or none, " "Fifty-four forty orfight, " the Democrats entered the campaign and won it, electing James K. Polk and George M. Dallas. 

The Whigs were afraid to declare for or against the annexation, so theysaid nothing about it in their platform, and nominated Henry Clay ofKentucky and Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey. The real question ofthe campaign was of course the annexation of Texas, and though theplatform was silent on that subject their leader spoke out. In a publicletter which appeared in a newspaper and was copied all over the Union, Clay said that he believed slavery was doomed to end at no far away day;that the admission of Texas could neither hasten nor put off the arrivalof that day, and that he "should be glad to see" Texas annexed if itcould be done "without dishonor, without war, and with the commonconsent of the Union and upon just and fair terms. "

[Illustration: James K. Polk]

Language of this sort did not please the antislavery Whigs; and in NewYork numbers of them voted for James G. Birney and Thomas Morris, candidates of the Liberty party. The result was that the vote for Birneyin New York in 1844 was more than twice as great as he received in thewhole Union in 1840. Had half of these New Yorkers voted for Clayinstead, he would have received the electoral vote of New York and wouldhave been President. 

[Illustration: %THE OREGON COUNTRY%]

%361. Texas annexed to the United States. %--Tyler, who saw in theresult of the election a command from the people to acquire Texas, urgedCongress in December, 1844, to annex it at once. But in what mannershould it be acquired? Some said by a treaty. This would require theconsent of two thirds of the Senate. But the Democrats did not have thevotes of two thirds of the Senate and so could not have secured theratification of such a treaty. It was decided, therefore, to annex byjoint resolution, which required but a majority for its passage. TheHouse of Representatives accordingly passed such a resolution for theadmission of Texas, and with her consent for the formation of fouradditional states out of the territory, those north of 36° 30' to befree. The Senate amended this resolution and gave the President power tonegotiate another treaty of annexation, or submit the joint resolutionto Texas. The House accepted the amendment. Tyler chose to offer theterms in the joint resolution. Texas accepted them, and in December, 1845, her senators and representatives took their seats in Congress. 

%362. Oregon. %--By the admission of Texas, the Democrats made goodone of the pledges in their platform of 1844. They were now called on tomake good the other, which promised the whole of Oregon up to 54° 40'. To suppose that England would yield to this claim, and so cut herselfoff entirely from the Pacific coast, was absurd. Nevertheless, becauseof the force of popular opinion, the one year's notice necessary toterminate joint occupation was served on Great Britain in 1846. TheEnglish minister thereupon presented a treaty extending the 49thparallel across Oregon from the Rocky Mountains to the coast, anddrawing a line down the strait of Juan de Fuca to the Pacific. Polk andthe Senate accepted this boundary, and the treaty was proclaimed onAugust 5, 1846. Two years later, August 14, 1848, Oregon was made aterritory. 

%363. General Taylor enters Texas; War with Mexico begins. %--WhenTexas came into the Union, she claimed as her western boundary the RioGrande from its mouth to its source and then a line due north to 42°. Now this line was disputed by Mexico, which claimed that the NuecesRiver was the western boundary of Texas. The disputed strip of territorywas thus between the Nueces and the Rio Grande (p. 321). 

President Polk, however, took the side of Texas, claimed the country asfar as the Rio Grande, and in January, 1846, ordered General ZacharyTaylor to march our army across the Nueces, go to the Rio Grande, andoccupy the disputed strip. This he did, and on April 25, 1846, theMexicans crossed the river and attacked the Americans. Taylor instantlysent the news to Washington, and, May 12, Polk asked for a declarationof war. "Mexico, " said he, "has passed the boundary of the UnitedStates; has invaded our territory and shed American blood on Americansoil. " Congress declared that war existed, and Polk called for 50, 000volunteers (May 13, 1846). 

When the Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande and attacked the Americans atFort Brown, Taylor was at Point Isabel. Hurrying southward to the reliefof the fort, he met the enemy at Palo Alto, beat them, pushed on toResaca de la Palma, beat them again, and soon crossed the river and tookpossession of the town of Matamoras. There he remained till August, 1846, waiting for supplies, reinforcements, and means of transportation, when he began a march toward the city of Monterey. The Mexicans, profiting by Taylor's long stay at Matamoras, had gathered in greatforce at Monterey, and had strongly fortified every position. But Taylorattacked with vigor, and after three days of continuous fighting, partof the time from street to street and house to house, the MexicanGeneral Ampudia surrendered the city (September 24, 1846). An armisticeof six weeks' duration was then agreed on, after which Taylor moved onleisurely to Saltillo (sahl-teel'-yo). 

%364. Scott in Mexico. %--Meantime, General Winfield Scott was sent toMexico to assume chief command. He reached the mouth of the Bio Grandein January, 1847, and called on Taylor to send him 10, 000 men. SantaAnna (sahn'-tah ahn'-nah), who commanded the Mexicans, hearing of thisorder, marched at once against Taylor, who took up a strong position atBuena Vista (bwa'-nah vees'-tah), where a desperate battle was foughtFebruary 23, 1847. The Americans won, and Santa Anna hurried off toattack Scott, who was expected at Vera Cruz. Scott landed there inMarch, and, after a siege of a few days, took the castle and city, andten days later began his march westward along the national highwaytowards the ancient capital of the Aztecs. It was just 328 years sinceCortez with his little band started from the same point on a preciselysimilar errand. At every step of the way the ranks of Scott grew thinnerand thinner. Hundreds perished in battle. Hundreds died by the waysideof disease more terrible than battle. But Scott would not turn back, andvictory succeeded victory with marvelous rapidity. April 8 he left VeraCruz. April 18 he stormed the heights of Cerro Gordo. April 19 he was atJalapa (hah-lah'-pah). On the 22d Perote (pa-ro'-ta) fell. May 15 thecity of Puebla (pweb'-lah) was his. There Scott staid till August 7, when he again pushed westward, and on the 10th saw the city of Mexico. Then followed in rapid succession the victories of Contreras(con-tra'-rahs), Churubusco (choo-roo-boos'-ko), Molino del Rey(mo-lee'-no del ra), the storming of Chapultepec (chah-pool-ta-pek'), and the triumphal entry into Mexico, September 14, 1847. Never before inthe history of the world had there been made such a march. 

[Illustration: %CAMPAIGN OF GEN. SCOTT%]

%365. The "Wilmot Proviso. "%--In 1846 the Mexican War was veryhateful to many Northern people, and as a new House of Representativeswas to be elected in the autumn of that year, Polk thought it wise toend the war if possible, and in August asked for $2, 000, 000 "for thesettlement of the boundary question with Mexico. " This, of course, meantthe purchase of territory from her. But Mexico had abolished slavery in1827, and lest any territory bought from her should be made slave soil, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania moved that the money should be granted, _provided_ all territory bought with it should be free soil. The provisopassed the House, but not the Senate. Next year (1847) a bill to givePolk $3, 000, 000 with which to settle the boundary dispute wasintroduced, and again the proviso was attached. But the Senate rejectedit, and the House then gave way, and passed the bill withoutthe proviso. 

%366. Conquest of New Mexico and California. %--While Taylor waswinning victories in northeastern Mexico, Colonel Stephen W. Kearny wasordered to march into New Mexico. Leaving Fort Leavenworth in June, 1846, he went by the Upper Arkansas River to Bents Fort, thencesouthwest through what is now Colorado, and by the old Santa Fe trail tothe Rio Grande valley and Santa Fe (p. 330). After taking the citywithout opposition, he declared the whole of New Mexico to be theproperty of the United States, and then started to seize California. Onarriving there, he found the conquest completed by the combined forcesof Stockton and Frémont. 

%367. The Great American Desert. %--But how came Frémont to be inCalifornia in 1846?

If you look at any school geography published between 1820 and 1850 youwill find that a large part of what is now Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Texas is put down as "THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT. "Many believed it was not unlike the Desert of Sahara, and that nobodywould ever want to cross it, while there was so much fertile land to theeastward. This view made people very indifferent as to our claims toOregon, so that when Thomas H. Benton, one of the senators fromMissouri, and one of the far-sighted statesmen of the day, wantedCongress to seize and hold Oregon by force of arms, he was told that itwas not worth the cost. "Oregon, " said one senator, "will never be astate in the Union. " "Build a railroad to Oregon?" said another. "Why, all the wealth of the Indies would not be sufficient for such a work. "

[Illustration: ROUTES OF THE %EARLY EXPLORERS% of the West]

%368. The Santa Fé and Oregon Trails. %--Some explorations youremember had been made. Lewis and Clark went across the Northwest to themouth of the Columbia in 1804-1805, and Zebulon M. Pike had penetratedin 1806 to the wild mountainous region about the head waters of thePlatte, Arkansas, and Rio Grande and had probably seen the greatmountain that now bears his name. Major Long followed Pike in 1820, gavehis name to Longs Peak, and brought back such a dismal account of theWest that he was largely responsible for the belief in a desert. Thegreat plains from the sources of the Sabine, Brazos, and Colorado riversto the northern boundary Were, he said, "peculiarly adapted as a rangefor buffaloes, wild Goats, and other wild game, " and "might serve as abarrier to prevent too great an expansion of our population westward;"but nobody would think of cultivating the plains. For years after thatthe American Fur Trading Company of St. Louis had annually sent forthits caravans into Oregon and New Mexico. Because the way was beset byhostile Indians, these caravans were protected by large and stronglyarmed bands, and in time wore out well-beaten tracks across the prairiesand over the mountain passes, which came to be known on the frontier asthe Santa Fé and Oregon Trails. In 1832 Captain Bonneville[1] took awagon train over the Rocky Mountain divide into the Green River Valley, and Nathaniel J. Wyeth led a party from New England to the Oregoncountry, and in 1834 established Fort Hall in what is now Idaho. Stilllater in the thirties went Marcus Whitman and his party. 

[Footnote 1: Bead his adventures as told by Washington Irving. ]

%369. %Explorations of Frémont. %--By this time it was clear that thetide of westward emigration would soon set in strongly towards Oregon. Then at last Benton succeeded in persuading Congress to order anexploration of the far West, and in 1842 Lieutenant Frémont was sent tosee if the South Pass of the rocky Mountains, the usual crossing place, would best accommodate the coming emigration. He set out from KansasCity (then a frontier hamlet, now a prosperous city) with Kit Carson, afamous hunter, for guide, and following the wagon trails of those whohad gone before him, made his way to the pass. He found its ascent sogradual that his party hardly knew when they reached the summit. Passingthrough it to the valley beyond, he climbed the great peak which nowbears his name and stands 13, 570 feet above the sea. 

Though Frémont discovered no new route, he did much to dispel thepopular idea created by Long that the plains were barren, and theAmerican Desert began to shrink. In 1843 Frémont was sent out again. Making his way westward through the South Pass, where his work ended in1842, he turned southward to visit Great Salt Lake, and then pushed onto Walla Walla on the Columbia River (see map on p. 330). Thence he wenton to the Dalles, and then by boat to Fort Vancouver, and then, afterreturning to the Dalles, southward to Sutter's Fort in the Sacramentovalley, and so back to the States in 1844. 

In 1845 Frémont, who had now won the name of "Pathfinder, " was sent outa third time, and crossing what are now Nebraska and Utah, reached thevicinity of Monterey in California. The Mexican authorities ordered himout of the country. But he spent the winter in the mountains, and in thespring was on his way to Oregon, when a messenger from Washingtonovertook him, and he returned to Sutter's Fort. 

%370. The Bear State Republic. %--This was in June, 1846. Rumors ofwar between Mexico and the United States were then flying thick andfast, and the American settlers in California, fearing they would beattacked, revolted, and raising a flag on which an image of a grizzlybear was colored in red paint, proclaimed California an independentrepublic. These Bear State republicans were protected and aided byFrémont and Commodore Stockton, who was on the California coast with afleet, and together they held California till Kearny arrived. 

[Illustration: %TERRITORY CEDED BY MEXICO 1818 and 1853%]

%371. Terms of Peace. %--Thus when the time came to make peace, ourarmies were in military possession of vast stretches of Mexicanterritory which Polk refused to give up. Mexico, of course, was forcedto yield, and in February, 1848, at a little place near the city ofMexico, called Guadalupe Hidalgo, a treaty was signed by which Mexicogave up the land and received in return $15, 000, 000. The United Stateswas also to pay claims our citizens had against Mexico to the amount of$3, 500, 000. This added 522, 568 square miles to the public domain. [1]

[Footnote 1: This new territory included not only the present Californiaand New Mexico, but also Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Coloradoand Wyoming. ]

%372. The Gadsden Purchase. %--When the attempt was made to run theboundary line from the Rio Grande to the Gila River, so manydifficulties occurred that in 1853 a new treaty was made with Mexico, and the present boundary established from the Rio Grande to the Gulf ofCalifornia. The line then agreed on was far south of the Gila River, andfor this new tract of land, 45, 535 square miles, the United States paidMexico $10, 000, 000. It is generally called the Gadsden Purchase, afterJames Gadsden, who negotiated it. 

Much of this territory acquired in 1848, especially New Mexico andCalifornia, had long been settled by the Spaniards. But the acquisitionof it by the United States at once put an end to the old Mexicangovernment, and made it necessary for Congress to provide newgovernments. There must be American governors, American courts, Americanjudges, customhouses, revenue laws; in a word, there must be a completechange from the Mexican way of governing to the American way. To do thisought not to have been a hard thing; but Mexico had abolished slavery inall this territory in 1827. It was free soil, and such theanti-extension-of-slavery people of the North insisted on keeping it. The proslavery people of the South, on the other hand, insisted that itshould be open to slavery, and that any slaveholder should be allowed toemigrate to the new territory with his slaves and not have them setfree. The political question of the time thus became, Shall, or shallnot, slavery exist in New Mexico and California?

%373. The Free-soil Party. %--As a President to succeed Polk was to beelected in 1848, the two great parties did their best to keep thetroublesome question of slavery out of politics. When the Whigconvention met, it positively refused to make a platform, and nominatedGeneral Zachary Taylor of Louisiana, and Millard Fillmore of New York, without a statement of party principles. 

When the Democratic convention met, it made a long platform, but saidnothing about slavery in the territories, and nominated Lewis Cass ofMichigan and William O. Butler. 

This refusal of the two parties to take a stand on the question of thehour so displeased many Whigs and Wilmot-Proviso Democrats that theyheld a convention at Buffalo, where the old Liberty party joined them, and together they formed the "Free-soil party. " They nominated MartinVan Buren and Charles F. Adams, and in their platform made fourimportant declarations:

1. That Congress has no more power to make a slave, than to make a king. 

2. That there must be "free soil for a free people. "

3. "No more slave states, no more slave territories. "

4. That we will inscribe on our banners "Free soil, free speech, freelabor, and free men. "

They also asked for cheaper postage, and for free grants of land toactual settlers. 

The Whigs won the election. 

%374. Zachary Taylor, Twelfth President. %--Taylor and Fillmore wereinaugurated on March 5, 1849, because the 4th came on Sunday. Theirelection and the triumph of the Whigs now brought on a crisis in thequestion of slavery extension. 

[Illustration: %Zachary Taylor%]

%375. State of Feeling in the South. %--Southern men, both Whigs andDemocrats, were convinced that an attempt would be made by Northern andWestern men opposed to the extension of slavery to keep the newterritory free soil. Efforts were at once made to prevent this. At ameeting of Southern members of Congress, an address written by Calhounwas adopted and signed, and published all over the country. It

1. Complained of the difficulty of capturing slaves when they escaped tothe free states. 

2. Complained of the constant agitation of the slavery question by theabolitionists. 

3. And demanded that the territories should be open to slavery. 

A little later, in 1849, the legislature of Virginia adopted resolutionssetting forth:

1. That "the attempt to enforce the Wilmot Proviso" would rouse thepeople of Virginia to "determined resistance at all hazards and to thelast extremity. "

2. That the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbiawould be a direct attack on the institutions of the Southern States. 

The Missouri legislature protested against the principle of the WilmotProviso, and instructed her senators and representatives to vote withthe slaveholding states. The Tennessee Democratic State CentralCommittee, in an address, declared that the encroachments of theirNorthern brethren had reached a point where forbearance ceased to be avirtue. At a dinner to Senator Butler, in South Carolina, one of thetoasts was "A Southern Confederacy. "

%376. State of Feeling in the North. %--Feeling in the free states ranquite as high. 

1. The legislatures of every one of them, except Iowa, [1] resolved thatCongress had power and was in duty bound to prohibit slavery in theterritories. 

[Footnote 1: Iowa had been admitted December 28, 1846. ]

2. Many of them bade their congressmen do everything possible to abolishslavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia. 

The struggle thus coming to an issue in the summer of 1849 wasprecipitated by a most unlooked-for discovery in California, which ledthe people of that region to take matters into their own hands. 

%377. Discovery of Gold in California. %--One day in the month ofJanuary, 1848, while a man named Marshall was constructing a mill racein the valley of the American River in California, for a Swiss immigrantnamed Sutter, he saw particles of some yellow substance shining in themud. Picking up a few, he examined them, and thinking they might begold, he gathered some more and set off for Sutter's Fort, where thecity of Sacramento now stands. 

[Illustration: %Sutter's mill%]

As soon as he had reached the fort and found Mr. Sutter, the two lockedthemselves in a room and examined the yellow flakes Marshall hadbrought. They were gold! But to keep the secret was impossible. A Mormonlaborer, watching their excited actions at the mill race, discerned thesecret, and then the news spread fast, and the whole population wentwild. Every kind of business stopped. The stores were shut. Sailors leftthe ships. Soldiers defiantly left their barracks, and by the middle ofthe summer men came rushing to the gold fields from every part of thePacific coast. Later in the year reports reached the East, but so slowlydid news travel in those days that it was not till Polk in his annualmessage confirmed it, that people really believed there were gold fieldsin California. Then the rush from the East began. Some went overland, some crossed by the Isthmus of Panama, some went around South America, filling California with a population of strong, adventurous, and daringmen. These were the "forty-niners. "

[Illustration: %San Francisco in 1847%]

%378. The Californians make a Free-State Constitution. %--When Taylorheard that gold hunters were hurrying to California from all parts ofthe world, he was very anxious to have some permanent government inCalifornia; and encouraged by him the pioneers, the "forty-niners, " madea free-state constitution in 1849 and applied for admission intothe Union. [1]

[Footnote 1: For an account of this movement to make California a state, see Rhodes's _History of the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 111-116. ]

%379. Clay proposes a Compromise. %--When Congress met in 1849 therewere therefore a great many things connected with slavery to be settled:

1. Southern men complained that the existing fugitive-slave law was notenforced in the free states and that runaway slaves were not returned. 

2. The Northern men insisted that slavery should be abolished in theDistrict of Columbia. 

3. Southern men demanded the right to go into any territory of theUnited States, as New Mexico or Utah or even California, and take theirslaves with them. 

4. The Free-soilers demanded that there should be no more slave states, no more slave territories. 

5. The North wanted California admitted as a free-soil state. The Southwould not consent. 

So violent and bitter was the feeling aroused by these questions, thatit seemed in 1850 as if the Union was about to be broken up, and thatthere were to be two republics, --a Northern one made up of free states, and a Southern one made up of slave states. 

Happily this was not to be; for at this crisis Henry Clay, the"Compromiser, " the "Pacificator, " the "Peacemaker, " as he was fondlycalled, came forward with a plan of settlement. 

To please the North, he proposed, first, that California should beadmitted as a free state; second, that the slave trade--that is, thebuying and selling of slaves--should be abolished in the District ofColumbia. To please the South, he proposed, third, that there should bea new and very stringent fugitive-slave law; fourth, that New Mexico andUtah should be made territories without reference to slavery--that is, the people should make them free or slave, as they pleased. This wascalled "popular sovereignty" or "squatter sovereignty. " Fifth, that asTexas claimed so much of New Mexico as was east of the Rio Grande, sheshould give up her claim and be paid money for so doing. 

%380. Clay, Calhoun, Seward, and Webster on the Compromise. %--Thedebate on the compromise was a great one. Clay's defense of his plan wasone of the finest speeches he ever made. [1] Calhoun, who was too feebleto speak, had his argument read by another senator. Webster, on the "7thof March, " made the famous speech which still bears that name. In it hedenounced the abolitionists and defended the compromise, because, hesaid, slavery could not exist in such an arid country as New Mexico. William H. Seward of New York spoke for the Free-soilers and denouncedall compromise, and declared that the territories were free not only bythe Constitution, but by a "higher law" than the Constitution, the lawof justice and humanity. [2]

[Footnote 1: Henry Clay's _Works_, Vol. II. , pp. 602-634. ]

[Footnote 2: Johnston's _American Orations_, Vol. II. , pp. 123-219, forthe speeches of Calhoun, Webster, and Clay. ]

After these great speeches were made, Clay's plan was sent to acommittee of thirteen, from which came seven recommendations:

1. The consideration of the admission of any new state or states formedout of Texas to be postponed till they present themselves for admission. 

2. California to be admitted as a free state. 

3. Territorial governments without the Wilmot Proviso to be establishedin New Mexico and Utah. 

4. The combination of No. 2 and No. 3 in one bill. 

5. The establishment of the present northern and western boundary ofTexas. In return for ceding her claims to New Mexico, Texas to receive$10, 000, 000. This last provision to be inserted in the bill providedfor in No. 4. 

6. A new and stringent fugitive-slave law. 

7. Abolition of the slave trade, but not of slavery, in the District ofColumbia. 

Three bills to carry out these recommendations were presented:

1. The first bill provided for (a) the admission of California as a freestate; (b) territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah without any_restriction_ on slavery; (c) the present northern and western boundaryfor Texas, with a gift of money. President Taylor nicknamed this "theOmnibus Bill, " because of its many provisions. 

2. The second bill prohibited the slave trade, but not slavery, in theDistrict of Columbia. 

3. The third provided for the capture and delivery of fugitive-slaves. 

During three months these bills were hotly debated, and threats ofdisunion and violence were made openly. 

%381. Death of Taylor; Fillmore becomes President. %--In the midst ofthe debate, July 9, 1850, Taylor died, and Fillmore was sworn intooffice. Calhoun had died in March. Webster was made Secretary of Stateby Fillmore. In some respects these changes helped on the measures, allof which were carried through. Two of them were of great importance. 

[Illustration: Millard Fillmore]

%382. Popular Sovereignty. %--The first provided that the two newterritories, New Mexico and Utah, when fit to be admitted as states, should come in with or without slavery as their constitutions mightdetermine; meantime, the question whether slavery could or could notexist there, if it arose, was to be settled by the Supreme Court. 

%383. The Fugitive-Slave Law. %--The other important measure of thecompromise was the fugitive-slave law. The old fugitive-slave lawenacted in 1793 had depended for its execution on state judges. This newlaw of 1850

1. Gave United States commissioners power to turn over a colored man orwoman to anybody who claimed the negro as an escaped slave. 

2. Provided that the negro could not give testimony. 

3. "Commanded" all good citizens, when summoned, to aid in the captureof the slave, or, if necessary, in his delivery to his owners. 

4. Prescribed fine and imprisonment for anybody who harbored a fugitiveslave or prevented his recapture. 

[Illustration: %Results of the COMPROMISE of 1850%]

No sooner was this law enacted than the slave owners began to use it, and during the autumn of 1850 a host of "slave catchers" and "manhunters, " as they were called, invaded the North, and negroes who hadescaped twenty or thirty years before were hunted up and dragged back toslavery by the marshals of the United States. This so excited the freenegroes and the people of the North, that several times during 1851 theyrose and rescued a slave from his captors. In New York a slave namedHamet, in Boston one named Shadrach, in Syracuse one named Jerry, and atOttawa, Illinois, one named Jim, regained their liberty in this way. Sostrong was public feeling that Vermont in 1850 passed a "PersonalLiberty Law, " for the protection of negroes claimed as slaves. [1]

[Footnote 1: On the Compromise of 1850 read Rhodes's _History of theUnited States_, Vol. I. , pp. 104-189; Schurz's _Life of Clay_, Vol. II. , Chap. 26. Do not fail to read the speeches of Calhoun, Clay, Webster, Seward; also Lodge's _Life of Webster_, pp. 264-332. For the rescuecases read Wilson's _Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America_, Chap. 26. ]

The North was now becoming strongly antislavery. It had long beenopposed to the extension of slavery, but was now becoming opposed to itsvery existence. How deep this feeling was, became apparent in the summerof 1852, when Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe published her story of _UncleTom's Cabin_. It was not so much a picture of what slavery was, as ofwhat it might be, and was so powerfully written that it stirred andaroused thousands of people in the North who, till then, had been quiteindifferent. In a few months everybody was laughing and crying over"Topsy" and "Eva" and "Uncle Tom"; and of those who read it greatnumbers became abolitionists. 

SUMMARY

1. The Mexican state of Texas revolts and in 1837 becomes independent. 

2. President Tyler secretly negotiates a treaty for the annexation ofTexas to the United States, but this is defeated (1844). 

3. The labors of Elijah White and others lead to the rapid settlement ofthe Oregon country. 

4. The annexation of Texas and the occupation of the whole of Oregonbecome questions in the campaign of 1844. The Democrats carry theelection, Texas is annexed, and the Oregon country is divided betweenGreat Britain and the United States. 

5. The question of the boundary of Texas brings on the Mexican War, andin 1848 another vast stretch of country is acquired. 

6. The acquisition of this new territory, which was free soil, causes astruggle for the introduction of slavery into it. 

7. The refusal of the Whigs and Democrats to take issue on slavery inthe territories leads to the formation of the Free-soil party. 

8. The discovery of gold in California, the rush of people thither, andthe formation of a free state seeking admission into the Union force thequestion of slavery on Congress. 

9. In 1850 an attempt is made to settle it by the "Compromise of 1850. "

THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1844 CALLED FOR

The reannexation of Texas. 

 Texas annexed, August, 1845. Rio Grande asserted as boundary. Disputed territory, Nueces to Rio Grande. 

1845-46. Taylor sent to occupy the disputed territory. 1846. Attacked by Mexicans. 1846. War declared by the United States. 

The reoccupation of Oregon to 54° 40'. 

 Our claims to Oregon. Colonization of Oregon. "Fifty-four forty or fight. " Notice served on Great Britain. The parallel of 49° extended to the Pacific. Oregon a territory (1848). 

The Mexican War. 

 _Taylor_. 

 1846. Wins battles of Palo Alto. Resaca de la Palma. Matamoras. Monterey. 1847. Buena Vista. 

 _Scott_. 

 1847. Vera Cruz. Cerro Gordo. Jalapa. Perote. Contreras. Churubusco. Molino del Rey. Chapultepec. Mexico. 

 _Kearny_. 

 Santa Fé. Conquest of New Mexico. 

 _Frémont. Stockton. _

 Conquest of California. PEACE 1848. 

Territory acquired from 42° to Gila River; from Rio Grande to the Pacific. 

Effort to make the territory slave soil. 

 1848. _The Whigs. _

 No platform. Elect Taylor and Fillmore. 

 1848. _The Democrats. _

 Nothing in platform as to slavery in new territory. Defeated, 1848. Complaints of the South against the North:

 Popular sovereignty

 1. Fugitive slaves. 2. Slavery in District of Columbia. 3. Territory acquired from Mexico to be open to slavery. 

 Discovery of gold in California, 1848. Rush to California. The three routes. Free state of California, 1849. 

Effort to keep the territory free. 

 The Wilmot Proviso, 1846, 1847. The Free-soil party, 1848. Demands of the party. Defeated in 1848. Demand-- 1. California a free state. 2. No slavery in District of Columbia. 3. No more slave states. No more slave territories. 

Whigs attempt a compromise. 

 COMPROMISE OF 1850. 

 1. California a free state. 2. Popular sovereignty in territory acquired from Mexico. 3. No slave trade in District of Columbia. 4. Texas takes present boundaries. 5. Two new territories, Utah and New Mexico. 6. New fugitive-slave law. 

CHAPTER XXV

THE TERRITORIES BECOME SLAVE SOIL

%384. Franklin Pierce, Fourteenth President. %--Although the strugglewith slavery was thus growing more and more serious, the two greatparties pretended to consider the question as finally settled. In 1852the Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce and William E. King, anddeclared in their platform that they would "abide by and adhere to" theCompromise of 1850, and would "resist all attempts at renewing, inCongress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question. " The Whigsnominated General Winfield Scott, and declared that they approved thefugitive-slave law, and accepted the compromise measures of 1850 as "asettlement in principle" of the slavery question, and would do all theycould to prevent any further discussion of it. 

[Illustration: Franklin Pierce]

So far as the Whigs were concerned, the question was settled; for theNorthern people, angry at their acceptance of the Compromise of 1850 andthe fugitive-slave law, refused to vote for Scott, and Pierce waselected. [1]

[Footnote 1: Pierce carried every state except Massachusetts, Vermont, Tennessee, and Kentucky. ]

The Free-soilers had nominated John P. Hale and George W. Julian. 

%385. The Nebraska Bill. %--Pierce was inaugurated March 4, 1853. He, too, believed that all questions relating to slavery were settled. Buthe had not been many months in office when the old quarrel was raging asbitterly as ever. In 1853 all that part of our country which liesbetween the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, the south boundaryof Kansas and 49°, was wilderness, known as the Platte country, and waswithout any kind of territorial government. In January, 1854, a bill toorganize this great piece of country and call it the territory ofNebraska was reported to the Senate by the Committee on Territories, ofwhich Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois was chairman. Every foot of it wasnorth of 36° 30', and according to the Missouri Compromise was freesoil. But the bill provided for popular sovereignty; that is, for theright of the people of Nebraska, when they made a state, to have it freeor slave, as they pleased. 

%386. The Kansas-Nebraska Law. %--An attempt was at once made toprevent this. But Douglas recalled his bill and brought in another, providing for two territories, one to be called Kansas[1] and the otherNebraska, expressly repealing the Missouri Compromise, [2] and openingthe country north of 36° 30' to slavery. [3] The Free-soilers, led on bySalmon P. Chase of Ohio, Seward of New York, and Charles Sumner ofMassachusetts, did all they could to defeat the bill; but it passed, andPierce signed it and made it law. [4]

[Footnote 1: The northern and southern boundaries of Kansas were thoseof the present state, but it extended westward to the Rocky Mountains. ]

[Footnote 2: It declared that the slavery restriction of the MissouriCompromise "was suspended by the principles of the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures, and is hereby declaredinoperative. "]

[Footnote 3: The "true intent and meaning" of this act, said the law, is, "not to legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor toexclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free toform and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subjectonly to the Constitution of the United States. " Read Rhodes's _Historyof the United States_, Vol. I. , pp. 425-490. ]

[Footnote 4: May 30, 1854. ]

%387. The Struggle for Kansas. %--Thus was it ordained that Kansas andNebraska, once expressly set apart as free soil, should become free orslave states according as they were settled while territories byantislavery or proslavery men. And now began a seven years' struggle forKansas. "Come on, then, " said Seward of New York in a speech againstthe Kansas Bill; "Come on, then, gentlemen of the slave states. Sincethere is no escaping your challenge, I accept it on behalf of freedom. We will engage in competition for the virgin soil of Kansas, and Godgive the victory to the side that is stronger in numbers as it is inthe right. "

[Illustration: %THE UNITED STATES in 1851 SEVENTY FIVE YEARS AFTERINDEPENDENCE Showing Railroads and Overland Routes]

This described the situation exactly. The free-state men of the Northand the slave-state men of the South were to rush into Kansas andstruggle for its possession. The moment the law opening Kansas forsettlement was known in Missouri, numbers of men crossed the MissouriRiver, entered the territory, held squatters' meetings, [1] drove a fewstakes into the ground to represent "squatter claims, " went home, andcalled on the people of the South to hurry into Kansas. Many did so, andbegan to erect tents and huts on the Missouri River at a place whichthey called Atchison. [2]

[Footnote 1: At one of their meetings it was resolved: "That we willafford protection to no abolitionist as a settler of this country. ""That we recognize the institution of slavery as already existing inthis territory, and advise stockholders to introduce their property asearly as possible. "]

[Footnote 2: Called after Senator Atchison of Missouri. ]

But the men of the North had not been idle, and in July a band offree-state men, sent on by the New England Emigrant Aid Society, [1]entered Kansas and founded a town on the Kansas River some miles to thesouth and west of Atchison. Other emigrants came in a few weeks later, and their collection of tents received the name of Lawrence. [2]

[Footnote 1: The New England Emigrant Aid Society was founded in 1854 byHon. Eli Thayer of Worcester, Mass. , in order "to plant a free state inKansas, " by aiding antislavery men to go out there and settle. ]

[Footnote 2: After Amos A. Lawrence, secretary of the Aid Society. Itwas a city of tents. Not a building existed. Later came the log cabin, which was a poor affair, as timber was scarce. The sod hut now so commonin the Northwest was not thought of. In the early days the "hay tent"was the usual house, and was made by setting up two rows of poles, thenbringing their tops together, thatching the roof and sides with hay. Thetwo gable ends (in which were the windows and doors) were of sod. ]

What was thus taking place at Lawrence happened elsewhere, so that byOctober, 1854, that part of Kansas along the Missouri River was held bythe slave-state men, and the part south of the Kansas River by thefree-state men. [1]

[Footnote 1: The proslavery towns were Atchison, Leavenworth, Lecompton, Kickapoo. The antislavery towns were Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan, Waubunsee, Hampden, Ossawatomie. ]

In November of the same year the struggle began. There was to be anelection of a territorial delegate[1] to represent Kansas in Congress, and a day or two before the time set for it the Missourians came overthe border in armed bands, took possession of the polls, votedillegally, and elected a proslavery delegate. 

[Footnote 1: Each territory is allowed to send a delegate to the Houseof Representatives, where he can speak, but not vote. ]

%388. Kansas a Slave Territory. %--The election of members of theterritorial legislature took place in March, 1855, and for this theMissourians made great preparations. On the principle of popularsovereignty the people of Kansas were to decide whether the territoryshould be slave or free. Should the majority of the legislature consistof free-state men, then Kansas would be a free territory. Should amajority of proslavery men be chosen, then Kansas was doomed to haveslavery fastened on her, and this the Missourians determined should bedone. For weeks before the election, therefore, the border counties ofMissouri were all astir. Meetings were held, and secret societies, called Blue Lodges, were formed, the members of which were pledged toenter Kansas on the day of election, take possession of the polls, andelect a proslavery legislature. The plan was strictly carried out, andas election day drew near, the Missourians, fully armed, entered Kansasin companies, squads, and parties, like an invading army, voted, andthen went home to Missouri. Every member of the legislature save one wasa proslavery man, and when that body met, all the slave laws of Missouriwere adopted and slavery was formally established in Kansas. 

%389. The Topeka Free-State Constitution. %--The free-state menrepudiated the bogus legislature, held a convention at Topeka, made afree-state constitution, and submitted it to the popular vote. Thepeople having ratified it (of course no proslavery men voted), agovernor and legislature were chosen. When the legislature met, senatorswere elected and Congress was asked to admit Kansas into the Union asa state. 

%390. Personal Liberty Laws; the Underground Railroad. %--The feelingof the people of the free states toward slavery can be seen from manysigns. The example set by Vermont in 1850 was followed in 1854 by RhodeIsland, Connecticut, and Michigan, and in 1855 by Maine andMassachusetts, in each of which were passed "Personal Liberty laws, "designed to prevent free negroes from being carried into slavery on theclaim that they were fugitive slaves. Certain state officers wererequired to act as counsel for any one arrested as a fugitive, and tosee that he had a fair trial by jury. To seize a free negro with intentto reduce him to slavery was made a crime. 

Another sign of the times was the sympathy manifested for the operationsof what was called the Underground Railroad. It was, of course, not arailroad at all, but an organization by which slaves escaping from theirmasters were aided in getting across the free states to Canada. 

%391. Breaking up of Old Parties. %--Thus matters stood when, in 1856, the time came to elect a President, and found the old parties badlydisorganized. The political events of four years had produced greatchanges. The death of Clay[1] and Webster[2] deprived the Whigs of theiroldest and greatest leaders. The earnest support that party gave to theCompromise of 1850 and the execution of the fugitive-slave law estrangedthousands of voters in the free states. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, opposed as it was by every Northern Whig, completed the ruin and leftthe party a wreck. 

[Footnote 1: June 29, 1852. ]

[Footnote 2: October 24, 1852. ]

But the Democrats had also suffered because of the Kansas-Nebraska lawand the repeal of the Compromise of 1820. No anti-extension-of-slaveryDemocrat could longer support the old party. Thousands had thereforebroken away, and, acting with the dissatisfied Whigs, formed anunorganized opposition known as "Anti-Nebraska men. "

%392. The Movement against Immigrants. %--Many old Whigs, however, could not bring themselves to vote with Democrats. These joined theAmerican or Know-nothing party. From the close of the Revolution therehad never been a year when a greater or less number of foreigners didnot come to our shores. After 1820 the numbers who came each twelvemonthgrew larger and larger, till they reached 30, 000 in 1830, and 60, 000 in1836, while in the decade 1830-1840 more than 500, 000 immigrants landedat New York city alone. 

As the newcomers hurried westward into the cities of the Mississippivalley, the native population was startled by the appearance of men whooften could not speak our language. In Cincinnati in 1840 one half thevoters were of foreign birth. The cry was now raised that ourinstitutions, our liberties, our system of government, were at the mercyof men from the monarchical countries of Europe. A demand was made for achange in the naturalization law, so that no foreigner could become acitizen till he had lived here twenty-one years. 

%393. The American Republicans or Native Americans. %--Neither theWhigs nor the Democrats would endorse this demand, so the people ofLouisiana in 1841 called a state convention and founded the AmericanRepublican, or, as it was soon called, the Native American party. Itsprinciples were

1. Put none but native Americans in office. 

2. Require a residence of twenty-one years in this country beforenaturalization. 

3. Keep the Bible in the schools. 

4. Protect from abuse the proceedings necessary to get naturalizationpapers. 

As the members would not tell what the secrets of this party were, andvery often would not say whom they were going to vote for, and whenquestioned would answer "I don't know, " it got the name of"Know-nothing" party. [1]

[Footnote 1: Rhodes's _History of the United States_, Vol. II. , pp. 51-58; McMaster's _With the Fathers_, pp. 87-106. ]

For a time the party flourished greatly and secured six members of theHouse of Representatives, then it declined in power; but the immenseincrease in immigration between 1846 and 1850 again revived it, and. Somewhere in New York city in 1852 a secret, oath-bound organization, with signs, grips, and passwords, was founded, and spread with suchrapidity that in 1854 it carried the elections in Massachusetts, NewYork, and Delaware. Next year (1855) it elected the governors andlegislatures of eight states, and nearly carried six more. Encouraged bythese successes, the leaders determined to enter the campaign of 1856, and called a party convention which nominated Millard Fillmore andAndrew Jackson Donelson. Delegates from seven states left the conventionbecause it would not stand by the Missouri Compromise, and taking thename North Americans nominated N. P. Banks. He would not accept, and thebolters then joined the Republicans. 

%394. Beginning of the Republican Party. %--As early as 1854, when theKansas-Nebraska Bill was before Congress, the question was widelydiscussed all over the North and West, whether the time had not come toform a new party out of the wreck of the old. With this in view ameeting of citizens of all parties was held at Ripon, Wisconsin, atwhich the formation of a new party on the slavery issue was recommended, and the name Republican suggested. This was before the passage of theKansas-Nebraska Bill. 

After its passage a thousand citizens of Michigan signed a call for astate mass meeting at Jackson, where a state party was formed, namedRepublican, and a state ticket nominated, on which were Free-soilers, Whigs, and Anti-Nebraska Democrats. Similar "fusion tickets" wereadopted in Wisconsin and Vermont, where the name Republican was used, and in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. 

The success of the new party in Wisconsin and Michigan in 1854, and itsyet greater success in 1855, led the chairmen of the Republican statecommittees of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Wisconsinto issue a call for an informal convention at Pittsburg on February 22, 1856. At this meeting the National Republican party was formed, and fromit went a call for a national nominating convention to meet (June 17, 1856) at Philadelphia, where John C. Frémont and William L. Dayton werenominated. 

The Free-soilers had joined the Republicans and so disappeared frompolitics as a party. 

The Whigs, or "Silver Grays, " met and endorsed Fillmore. 

The Democrats nominated James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge andcarried the election. The Whigs and the Know-nothings then disappearedfrom national politics. 

[Illustration: James Buchanan]

%395. James Buchanan, Fifteenth President; the "Bred ScottDecision. "%--When Buchanan and Breckinridge were inaugurated, March4, 1857, certain matters regarding slavery were considered as legallysettled forever, as follows:

1. Foreign slave trade forbidden. 

2. Slave trade between the states allowed. 

3. Fugitive slaves to be returned. 

4. Whether a state should permit or abolish slavery to be determined bythe state. 

5. Squatter sovereignty to be allowed in Kansas and Nebraska, Utah andNew Mexico territories. 

6. The people in a territory to determine whether they would have aslave or a free state when they made a state constitution. 

Now there were certain questions regarding slavery which were notsettled, and one of them was this: If a slave is taken by his master toa free state and lives there for a while, does he become free?

To this the Supreme Court gave the answer two days after Buchanan wasinaugurated. A slave by the name of Dred Scott had been taken by hismaster from the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois, and then to the free soil of Minnesota, and then back to the state ofMissouri, where Scott sued for his freedom, on the ground that hisresidence on free soil had made him a free man. Two questions of vastimportance were thus raised:

1. Could a negro whose ancestors had been sold as slaves become acitizen of one of the states in the Union? For unless Dred Scott was acitizen of Missouri, where he then lived, he could not sue in the UnitedStates court. 

2. Did Congress have power to enact the Missouri Compromise? For if itdid not then the restriction of slavery north of 36°30' was illegal, andDred Scott's residence in Minnesota did not make him free. 

From the lower courts the case came on appeal to the Supreme Court, which decided

1. That Dred Scott was not a citizen, and therefore could not sue in theUnited States courts. His residence in Minnesota had not made him free. 

2. That Congress could not shut slave property out of the territoriesany more than it could shut out a horse or a cow. 

3. That the piece of legislation known as the Missouri Compromise of1820 was null and void. This confirmed all that had been gained forslavery by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and opened to slavery Oregonand Washington, which were free territories. 

%396. Effect of the Dred Scott Decision. %--Hundreds of thousands ofcopies of this famous decision were printed at once and scatteredbroadcast over the country as campaign documents. The effect was to fillthe Southern people with delight and make them more reckless than ever, to split the Democratic party in the North; to increase the number ofRepublicans in the North, and make them more determined than ever tostop the spread of slavery into the territories. 

[Illustration: %EXPANSION OF SLAVE SOIL IN THE UNITED STATES1790-1860%]

%397. Struggle for Freedom in Kansas. %--We left Kansas in 1856 with aproslavery governor and legislature in actual possession, and afree-state governor, legislature, and senators seeking recognition atWashington. In 1857 there were so many free-state men in Kansas thatthey elected an antislavery legislature. But just before the proslaverymen went out of power they made a proslavery constitution, [1] andinstead of submitting to the people the question, Will you, or will younot, have this constitution? they submitted the question, Will you havethis constitution with or without slavery? On this the free settlerswould not vote, and so it was adopted with slavery. But when theantislavery legislature met soon after, they ordered the question, Willyou, or will you not, have this constitution? to be submitted to thepeople. Then the free settlers voted, and it was rejected by a greatmajority. Buchanan, however, paid no attention to the action of the freesettlers, but sent the Lecompton constitution to Congress and urged itto admit Kansas as a slave state. But Senator Douglas of Illinois cameforward and opposed this, because to force a slave constitution on thepeople of Kansas, after they had voted against it, was contrary to thedoctrine of "popular sovereignty. " He, with the aid of other NorthernDemocrats, defeated the attempt, and Kansas remained a territorytill 1861. 

[Footnote 1: The convention met at the town of Lecompton; in consequenceof which the constitution is known as the "Lecompton constitution. "]

%398. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. %--The term of Douglas as senatorfrom Illinois was to expire on March 4, 1859. The legislature whose dutyit would be to elect his successor was itself to be elected in 1858. TheDemocrats, therefore, announced that if they secured a majority of thelegislators, they would reelect Douglas. The Republicans declared thatif they secured a majority, they would elect Abraham Lincoln UnitedStates senator. The real question of the campaign thus became, Will thepeople of Illinois have Stephen A. Douglas or Abraham Lincoln forsenator?[1]

[Footnote 1: The Republican state convention at Springfield, June 16, 1858, "resolved, that Abraham Lincoln is the first and only choice ofthe Republicans of Illinois for the United States Senate as thesuccessor of Stephen A. Douglas. "]

The speech making opened in June, 1858, when Lincoln addressed theconvention that nominated him at Springfield. A month later Douglasreplied in a speech at Chicago. Lincoln, who was present, answeredDouglas the next evening. A few days later, Douglas, who had taken thestump, replied to Lincoln at Bloomington, and the next day was againanswered by Lincoln at Springfield. The deep interest aroused by thisrunning debate led the Republican managers to insist that Lincoln shouldchallenge Douglas to a series of joint debates in public. The challengewas sent and accepted, and debates were arranged for at seven towns[1]named by Douglas. The questions discussed were popular sovereignty, theDred Scott decision, the extension of slavery to the territories; andthe discussion of them attracted the attention of the whole country. Lincoln was defeated in the senatorial election; but his great speecheswon for him a national reputation. [2]

[Footnote 1: One in each Congressional district except those containingChicago and Springfield, where both Lincoln and Douglas had alreadyspoken. For a short account of their debates see the _Century Magazine_for July, 1887, p. 386. ]

[Footnote 2: Rhodes's _History of the United States_, Vol. II. , pp. 308-339. Nicolay and Hay's _Life of Lincoln_, Vol. II. , Chaps. 10-16. John T. Morse's _Life of Lincoln_, Vol. I. , Chap. 6. ]

%399. John Brown's Raid into Virginia%. --As slavery had become thegreat political issue of the day, it is not surprising that it excited alifelong and bitter enemy of slavery to do a foolish act. John Brown wasa man of intense convictions and a deep-seated hatred of slavery. Whenthe border ruffianism broke out in Kansas in 1855, he went there witharms and money, and soon became so prominent that he was outlawed and aprice set on his head. In 1858 he left Kansas, and in July, 1859, settled near Harpers Ferry, Va. (p. 360). His purpose was to stir up aslave insurrection in Virginia, and so secure the liberation of thenegroes. With this in view, one Sunday night in October, 1859, he withless than twenty followers seized the United States armory at HarpersPerry and freed as many slaves and arrested as many whites as possible. But no insurrection or uprising of slaves followed, and before he couldescape to the mountains he was surrounded and captured by Robert E. Lee, then a colonel in the army of the United States. Brown was tried on thecharges of murder and of treason against the state of Virginia, wasfound guilty, and in December, 1859, was hanged. 

[Illustration: Harpers Ferry]

%400. Split in the Democratic Party. %--Thus it was that one eventafter another prolonged the struggle with slavery till 1860, when thepeople were once more to elect a President. 

The Democratic nominating convention assembled at Charleston, S. C. , inApril, and at once went to pieces. A strong majority made up of Northerndelegates insisted that the party should declare--"That all questions inregard to the rights of property in states or territories arising underthe Constitution of the United States are judicial in their character, and the Democratic party is pledged to abide by and faithfully carry outsuch determination of these questions as has been or may be made by theSupreme Court of the United States. "

This meant to carry out the doctrine laid down in the Dred Scottdecision, and was in conflict with the "popular sovereignty" doctrine ofDouglas, which was that right of the people to make a slave territory ora free territory is perfect and complete. The minority, composed of theextreme Southern men, rejected the former plan and insisted

1. "That the Democracy of the United States hold these cardinalprinciples on the subject of slavery in the territories: First, thatCongress has no power to abolish slavery in the territories. Second, that the territorial legislature has no power to abolish slavery in anyterritory, nor to prohibit the introduction of slaves therein, nor anypower to exclude slavery therefrom, nor any right to destroy or impairthe right of property in slaves by any legislation whatever. "

2. That the Federal government must protect slavery "on the high seas, in the territories, and wherever else its constitutionalauthority extends. "

Both majority and minority agreed in asserting

1. That the Personal Liberty laws of the free states "are hostile intheir character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary intheir effect. "

2. That Cuba ought to be acquired by the United States. 

3. That a railroad ought to be built to the Pacific. 

Their agreement was a minor matter. Their disagreement was so seriousthat when the minority could not have its way, it left the convention, met in another hall, and adopted its resolutions. 

The majority of the convention then adjourned to meet at Baltimore, June18. 1860. As it was then apparent that Douglas would be nominated, another split occurred, and the few Southern men attending, togetherwith some Northern delegates, withdrew. Those who remained nominatedStephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson. 

The second group of seceders met in Baltimore, adopted the platform ofthe first group of seceders from the Charleston convention, andnominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon. 

[Illustration: A Lincoln]

%401. The Constitutional Union Party. %--Meanwhile (May 9) anotherparty, calling itself the National Constitutional Union party, met atBaltimore. These men were the remnants of the old Whig and American orKnow-nothing parties. They nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, and EdwardEverett, of Massachusetts, and declared for "the Constitution of thecountry, the union of the states, and the enforcement of the laws. "

%402. Election of Lincoln. %--The Republican party met in conventionat Chicago on May 16, and nominated Abraham Lincoln, and Hannibal Hamlinof Maine. It

1. Repudiated the principles of the Dred Scott decision. 

2. Demanded the admission of Kansas as a free state. 

3. Denied all sympathy with any kind of interference with slavery in thestates. 

4. Insisted that the territories must be kept free. 

5. Called for a railroad to the Pacific, and a homestead law. 

The election took place in November, 1860. Of 303 electoral votes cast, Lincoln received 180; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; and Douglas, 12. 

SUMMARY

1. The Compromise of 1850 did not settle the question of slavery in theterritories, and an attempt to organize Kansas and Nebraska broughtit up again. 

2. In the organization of these territories a new political doctrine, "popular sovereignty, " was announced. 

3. This was applied in Kansas, and the struggle for Kansas began. Thefirst territorial government was proslavery. The antislavery men thenmade a constitution (Topeka) and formed a free state government. Thereupon the proslavery men formed a constitution (Lecompton) for aslave state. This was submitted to Congress and rejected, and Kansasremained a territory till 1861. 

4. In the course of the struggle for free soil in Kansas the Whig partywent to pieces, the Democratic was split into two wings, and theKnow-nothing or Native American party and the Republican party arose. 

5. The Republican party was defeated in 1856, but the Dred Scottdecision in 1857 and the continued struggle in Kansas forced thequestion of slavery to the front, and in 1860 Lincoln was elected. 

[Illustration: ]

CHAPTER XXVI

PROGRESS IN THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1840 AND 1860

[Illustration: Chicago in 1832]

%403. The Movement of Population. %--The twenty years which elapsedbetween the election of Harrison, in 1840, and the election of Lincoln, in 1860, had seen a most astonishing change in our country. In 1840neither Texas, nor the immense region afterwards acquired from Mexico, belonged to us. There were then but twenty-six states and fiveterritories, inhabited by 17, 000, 000 people, of whom but 876, 000 livedwest of the Mississippi River, mostly close to the river bank inMissouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The great Northwest was still awilderness, and many a city now familiar to us had no existence. Toledoand Milwaukee and Indianapolis had each less than 3000 inhabitants;Chicago had less than 5000; and Cleveland, Columbus, and Detroit, eachless than 10, 000. Yet the rapid growth of cities had been one of thecharacteristics of the period 1830 to 1840. 

The effect of new mechanical appliances on the movement of populationwas amazing. The day when emigrants settled along the banks of streams, pushed their boats up the rivers by means of poles, carried their goodson the backs of pack horses, and floated their produce in Kentuckybroadhorns down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, was fastdisappearing. The steamboat, the canal, the railroad, had opened newpossibilities. Land once valueless as too far from market suddenlybecame valuable. Men grew loath to live in a wilderness; the rush ofemigrants across the Mississippi was checked. The region between theAlleghanies and the great river began to fill up rapidly. During thetwenty years, 1821 to 1841, but two states, Arkansas (1836) and Michigan(1837), were admitted to the Union, and but three new territories, Florida (1822-23), Wisconsin (1836), and Iowa (1838), were established. 

So few people went west from the Atlantic seaboard states that in eachone of them except Maine and Georgia population increased more rapidlythan it had ever done for forty years. From the Mississippi valleystates, however, numbers of people went to Wisconsin and Iowa. 

In consequence of this, Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846, andWisconsin in 1848. Minnesota and Oregon were made territories. Floridaand Texas had been admitted in 1845, and the number of states was thusraised to thirty before 1850. The population of the country in 1850 was23, 000, 000. Two states in the Mississippi valley now had each of themmore than a million of inhabitants. 

%404. The First States on the Pacific. %--Until 1840 the people hadmoved westward steadily. Each state as it was settled had touched someother east, or north, or south of it. After 1840 people, attracted bythe rich farming land and pleasant climate of Oregon, and after 1848 bythe gold mines of California, rushed across the plains to the Pacific, and between 1850 and 1860 built up the states of California and Oregon(1859), and the territory of Washington (1853). Minnesota was admittedin 1858. The population of the United States in 1860 was 31, 000, 000. 

[Illustration: %DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATESSEVENTH CENSUS, 1850%]

%405. Immigration to the United States since 1820. %--The people whosemovements across our continent we have been following were chieflynatives of the United States. But we have reached the time whenforeigners began to arrive by hundreds of thousands every year. From theclose of the Revolution to 1820, it is thought not more than 250, 000 ofthe Old World people came to us. But the hard times in Europe, whichfollowed the disbanding of the great armies which had been fightingFrance and Napoleon from 1789 to 1815, started a general movement. Beginning at 10, 000, in 1820, more and more came every year till, in1842, 100, 000 people--men, women, and children--landed on our shore. This was the greatest number that had ever come in one year. But it wassurpassed in 1846, when the potato famine in Ireland, and again in 1853, when hard times in Germany, and another famine in Ireland, sent over twoimmense streams of emigrants. In 1854 no less than 428, 000 persons camefrom the Old World; more than ever came again in one year till 1872. 

%406. Modern Conveniences. %--When we compare the daily life of thepeople in 1850 with that of the men of 1825, the contrast is moststriking. The cities had increased in number, grown in size, and greatlychanged in appearance. The older ones seemed less like villages. Theirstreets were better paved and lighted. Omnibuses and street cars werebecoming common. The constable and the night watch had given way to thepolice department. Gas and plumbing were in general use. The free schoolhad become an American institution, and many of the numberlessinventions and discoveries which have done so much to increase ourhappiness, prosperity, and comfort, existed at least in a rude form. 

Between 1840 and 1850 nearly 7000 miles of railroad were built, making atotal mileage of 9000. This rapid spread of the railroad, when joinedwith the steamboats, then to be found on every river and lake within thesettled area, made possible an institution which to-day rendersinvaluable service. 

%407. Express Companies. %--In 1839 a young man named W. F. Harndenbegan to carry packages, bundles, money, and small boxes between NewYork and Boston, and thus started the express business. At first hecarried in a couple of carpet bags all the packages intrusted to him, and went by boat from New York to Stonington, Conn. , and thence by railto Boston. But his business grew so rapidly that in 1840 a rival expresswas started by P. B. Burke and Alvin Adams. Their route was from Bostonto Springfield, Mass. , and thence to New York. This was the foundationof the present Adams Express Company. Both companies were so wellpatronized that in 1841 service was extended to Philadelphia and Albany, and in 1844 to Baltimore and Washington. Their example was quicklyfollowed by a host of imitators, and soon a dozen express companies weredoing business between the great cities. 

%408. Postage Stamps introduced. %--At that time (1840) three centswas the postage for a local letter which was not delivered by a carrier. Indeed, there were no letter carriers, and this in large cities was suchan inconvenience that private dispatch companies undertook to deliverletters about the city for two cents each; and to accommodate theircustomers they issued adhesive stamps, which, placed on the letters, insured their delivery. The loss of business to the government caused bythese companies, and the general demand for quicker and cheaper mailservice, forced Congress to revise the postal laws in 1845, when anattempt was made to introduce the use of postage stamps by thegovernment. As the mails (in consequence of the growth of the countryand the easy means of transportation) were becoming very heavy, thepostmasters in the cities and important towns had already begun to havestamps printed at their own cost. Their purpose was to save time, forletter postage was frequently (but not always) prepaid. But instead offixing a stamp on the envelope (there was no such thing in 1840), thewriter sent the letter to the post office and paid the postage in money, whereupon the postmaster stamped the letter "Paid. " This consumed thetime of the postmaster and the letter writer. But when he could go onceto the post office and prepay a hundred letters by buying a hundredstamps, any one of which affixed to a letter was evidence that itspostage had been paid, any man who wanted to could save his time. Thesestamps the postmasters sold at a little more than the expense ofprinting. Thus the postmasters of New York and St. Louis charged onedollar for nine ten-cent or eighteen five-cent stamps. This increasedthe price of postage a trifle: but as the use of the stamps wasoptional, the burden fell on those willing to bear it, while theconvenience was so great that the effort made to have the Post-officeDepartment furnish the stamps and require the people to use themsucceeded in 1847. 

[Illustration: St. Louis postage stamp]

%409. Mechanical Improvements. %--No American need be told that hisfellow-countrymen are the most ingenious people the world has everknown. But we do not always remember that it was during this period(1840-1860) that the marvelous inventive genius of the people of theUnited States began to show itself. Between the day when the patentoffice was established, in 1790, and 1840, the number of patents issuedwas 11, 908; but after 1840 the stream poured forth increased in volumenearly every year. In 1855 there were 2012 issued and reissued; in 1856, 2506; in 1857, 2896; in 1858, 3695; and in 1860, 4778, raising the totalnumber to 43, 431. An examination of these inventions shows that theyrelated to cotton gins and cotton presses; to reapers and mowers; tosteam engines; to railroads; to looms; to cooking stoves; to sewingmachines, printing presses, boot and shoe machines, rubber goods, floorcloths, and a hundred other things. Very many of them helped to increasethe comfort of man and raise the standard of living. Three of them, however, have revolutionized the industrial and business world and beenof inestimable good to mankind. They are the sewing machine, the reaperand the electric telegraph. 

[Illustration: The first Howe sewing machine]

%410. The Sewing Machine. %--As far back as the year 1834, Walter Huntmade and sold a few sewing machines in New York. But the man to whosegenius, perseverance, and unflinching zeal the world owes the sewingmachine, is Elias Howe. His patent was obtained in 1846, and he thenspent four years in poverty and distress trying to convince the world ofthe utility of his machine. By 1850 he succeeded not only in interestingthe public, but in so arousing the mechanical world that seven rivals(Wheeler and Wilson, Grover and Baker, Wilcox and Gibbs, and Singer)entered the field. To the combined efforts of them all, we owe one ofthe most useful inventions of the century. It has lessened the cost ofevery kind of clothing; of shoes and boots; of harness; of everything, in short, that can be sewed. It has given employment to millions ofpeople, and has greatly added to the comfort of every household in thecivilized world. 

[Illustration: The Wilson sewing machine of 1850]

%411. The Harvester. %--Much the same can be said of the McCormickreaper. It was invented and patented as early as 1831; but it was hardwork to persuade the farmer to use it. Not a machine was sold till1841. During 1841, 1842, 1843, such as were made in the littleblacksmith shop near Steel's Tavern, Virginia, were disposed of withdifficulty. Every effort to induce manufacturers to make the machine wasa failure. Not till McCormick had gone on horseback among the farmers ofKentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and secured written orders forhis reapers, did he persuade a firm in Cincinnati to make them. In 1845, five hundred were manufactured; in 1850, three thousand. In 1851McCormick placed one on exhibition at the World's Fair in London, andastonished the world with its performance. To-day two hundred thousandare turned out annually, and without them the great grain fields of themiddle West and the far West would be impossible. The harvester hascheapened the cost of bread, and benefited the whole human race. 

%412. The Telegraph. %--Think, again, what would be our condition ifevery telegraph line in the world were suddenly pulled down. Yet thetelegraph, like the reaper and the sewing machine, was introducedslowly. Samuel F. B. Morse got his patent in 1837; and for seven years, helped by Alfred Vail, he struggled on against poverty. In 1842 he hadbut thirty-seven cents in the world. But perseverance conquers allthings; and with thirty thousand dollars, granted by Congress, the firsttelegraph line in the world was built in 1844 from Baltimore toWashington. In 1845 New York and Philadelphia were connected; but aswires could not be made to work under water, the messages were receivedon the New Jersey side of the Hudson and carried to New York by boat. By1856 the telegraph was in use in the most populous states. Some fortycompanies, but one of which paid dividends, competed for the business. This was ruinous; and in 1856 a union of Western companies was formedand called the Western Union Telegraph Company. To-day it has 21, 000offices, sends each year some 58, 000, 000 messages, receives about$23, 000, 000, and does seven eighths of all the telegraph business in theUnited States. 

%413. India Rubber. %--The same year (1844) which witnessed theintroduction of the telegraph saw the perfection of Goodyear's secretfor the vulcanization of India rubber. In 1820 the first pair of rubbershoes ever seen in the United States were exhibited in Boston. Two yearslater a ship from South America brought 500 pairs of rubber shoes. Theywere thick, heavy, and ill-shaped; but they sold so rapidly that morewere imported, and in 1830 a cargo of raw gum was brought from SouthAmerica for the purpose of making rubber goods. With this C. M. Chaffeewent to work and succeeded in producing some pieces of cloth spread withrubber. Supposing the invention to be of great value, a number offactories[1] began to make rubber coats, caps, wagon curtains, of purerubber without cloth. But to the horror of the companies the goodsmelted when hot weather came, and were sent back, emitting so dreadfulan odor that they had to be buried. It was to overcome this and findsome means of hardening the gum that Goodyear began his experiments andlabored year after year against every sort of discouragement. Even whenthe secret of vulcanizing, as it is called, was discovered, five yearspassed before he was able to conduct the process with absolutecertainty. In 1844, after ten years of labor, he succeeded and gave tothe world one of the most useful inventions of the nineteenth century. 

[Footnote 1: At Roxbury, Boston, Framingham, Salem, Lynn, Chelsea, Troy, and Staten Island. ]

%414. The Photograph; the Discovery of Anaesthesia. %--But there wereother inventions and discoveries of almost as great or even greatervalue to mankind. In 1840 Dr. John W. Draper so perfected thedaguerreotype that it could be used to take pictures of persons andlandscapes. Till then it could be used only to make pictures ofbuildings and statuary. 

The year 1846 is made yet more memorable by the discovery that whoeverinhaled sulphuric ether would become insensible to pain. The glory ofthis discovery has been claimed for two men: Dr. Morton and Dr. Jackson. Which one is entitled to it cannot be positively decided, though Dr. Morton seems to have the better right to be considered the discoverer. Before this, however, anaesthesia by nitrous oxide (laughing gas) hadbeen discovered by Dr. Wells of Hartford, Conn. , and by Dr. Longof Georgia. 

%415. Communication with Europe; Steamships%. --Progress was notconfined to affairs within our boundary. Communications with Europe weregreatly advanced. The passage of the steamship _Savannah_ across theAtlantic, partly by steam and partly by sail, in 1819, resulted innothing practical. The wood used for fuel left little space for freight. But when better machinery reduced the time, and coal afforded a lessbulky fuel, the passage across the Atlantic by steam became possible, and in 1838 two vessels, the _Sirius_ and the _Great Western_, made thetrip from Liverpool to New York by steam alone. No sails were used. Thisshowed what could be done, and in 1839 Samuel Cunard began the greatfleet of Atlantic greyhounds by founding the Cunard Line. Aided by theBritish government, he drove all competitors from the field, tillCongress came to the aid of the Collins Line, whose steamers made thefirst trip from New York to Liverpool in 1850. The rivalry between theselines was intense, and each did its best to make short voyages. In 1851the average time from Liverpool to New York was eleven days, eighthours, for the Collins Line, and eleven days, twenty-three hours, forthe Cunard. This was considered astonishing; for Liverpool and New Yorkwere thus brought as near each other in point of time in 1851 as Bostonand Philadelphia were in 1790. 

%416. The Atlantic Cable%. --But something more astonishing yet was athand. In 1854 Mr. Cyrus W. Field of New York was asked to aid in theconstruction of a submarine cable to join St. Johns with Cape Ray, Newfoundland. While considering the matter, he became convinced that ifa cable could be laid across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, another could belaid across the Atlantic Ocean, and he formed the "New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company" for the purpose of doingso. The first attempt, made in 1857, and a second in 1858, ended infailure; but a third, in 1858, was successful, and a cable was laid fromValentia Bay in Ireland to Trinity Bay in Newfoundland, a distance of1700 geographical miles. For three weeks all went well, and during thistime 400 messages were sent; but on September 1, 1858, the cable ceasedto work, and eight years passed before another attempt was made to jointhe Old World and the New. 

%417. Condition of the Workingman%. --Every class of society wasbenefited by these improvements, but no man more so than those whodepended on their daily wages for their daily bread. Though wagesincreased but little, they were more easily earned and brought richerreturns. Improved means of transportation, cheaper methods ofmanufacture, enabled every laborer in 1860 to wear better clothes andeat better food than had been worn or consumed by his father in 1830. New industries, new trades and occupations, new needs in the businessworld, afforded to his son and daughter opportunities for a livelihoodunknown in his youth, while the free school system enabled them to fitthemselves to use such opportunities without cost to him. When ourcountry became independent, and for fifty years afterwards, a workingday was from sunrise to sunset, with an hour for breakfast and anotherfor dinner. After manufactures arose, and mills and factories gaveemployment to thousands of wage earners, fourteen, fifteen, and evensixteen hours of labor were counted a day. Protests were early madeagainst this, and demands raised that a working day should be ten hours. At last, late in the thirties, the ten hours system was adopted inBaltimore, and in 1840, by order of President Van Buren, was put inforce at the navy yard in Washington and in "all public establishments"under the Federal government. Thus established, the system spreadslowly, till to-day it exists almost everywhere. Indeed, in many states, and in all departments of the Federal government, eight hours of workconstitute a day. Thus, by the aid of machinery, not only are articles, formerly expensive, made so cheaply that poor men can afford to usethem, but the wage earners who operate the machinery can make thesearticles so quickly that they to-day earn higher wages for fewer hoursof work than ever before in the history of the world. Not only did wagesincrease and the hours of labor grow shorter between 1840 and 1860, butthe field of labor was enormously expanded. In 1810, when the firstcensus of manufactures in the United States was taken, the value ofgoods manufactured was $173, 000, 000. In 1860 it was ten times as great, and gave employment to more than 1, 000, 000 men and women. 

%418. Few Manufactures in the Slave States%. --From much of thebenefit produced by this splendid series of inventions and discoveries, the people of the slave-owning states were shut out. They raised corn, tobacco, and cotton, and made some sugar; but in them there were veryfew mills or manufacturing establishments of any sort. While a greatsocial and industrial revolution was going on in the free states, thepeople in the slave states remained in 1860 what they were in 1800. Thestream of immigrants from Europe passed the slave states by, carryingtheir skill, their thrift, their energy, into the Northwest. Theresources of the slave states were boundless, but no free man would goin to develop them. The soil was fertile, but no free laborer could liveon it and compete with slave labor, on which all agriculture, allindustry, all prosperity, in the South depended. The two sections of thecountry at the end of the period 1840-1860 were thus more unlikethan ever. 

SUMMARY

1. Between 1830 and 1850 the rush of population into the West continued, but, instead of moving across the continent, most of the people settledin the states already in existence. 

2. This was due to the effect of such improved means of communication assteamboats, railroads, canals, etc. 

3. As a consequence, but six new states were admitted to the Union intwenty-nine years, and one of them was annexed (Texas). 

4. The period is also noticeable for the number of foreigners who cameto our shores. 

5. After 1849 the existence of gold in California brought so many peopleto the Pacific coast that California became a state in 1850. 

6. As population grew denser, and transportation was facilitated by theexpansion of railroads and steamboats and canals, business opportunitieswere increased, and new markets were created. 

7. Labor-saving and time-saving machines and appliances became more indemand than ever, and a long list of remarkable inventions and businessaids appeared. 

8. The South, owing to its own peculiar industrial and labor condition, was little benefited by all these improvements, and remained much thesame as in 1800. 

CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY, 1840-1860. 

_The People_. 

Immigration Causes. Number of immigrants. 

No. Of people in 1840. 17, 000, 000U. S. 1850. 23, 000, 000 1860. 31, 000, 000

Movement New States Arkansas, 1836. Slave. Westward .. Michigan, 1837. Free. Florida, 1845. Slave. Texas, 1845. Slave. Iowa, 1846. Free. Wisconsin, 1848. Free. California, 1850. Free. Minnesota, 1858. Free. Oregon, 1859. Free. 

 Territories New Mexico, 1850. Utah, 1850. Washington, 1853. Kansas, 1854. Nebraska, 1854. 

_New Social and Business Conveniences. _

 Gas. Plumbing. Paved streets. General use of anthracite. Free schools. Railroad expansion. Express. Postage stamps. Ocean steamships. 

_New Inventions. _

 Number of patents. The sewing machine. The harvester. The telegraph. India rubber. Daguerreotype. Anaesthesia. Atlantic cable. 

_The South. _

 Little affected by new industrial conditions. Few manufactures. Increase of the cotton area. No immigration. 

CHAPTER XXVII

WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861-1865

%419. South Carolina secedes%. --The only state where in 1860presidential electors were chosen by the legislature was South Carolina. When the legislature met for this purpose, November 6, 1860, thegovernor asked it not to adjourn, but to remain in session till theresult of the election was known. If Lincoln is elected, said he, the"secession of South Carolina from the Union" will be necessary. Lincolnwas elected, and on December 20, 1860, a convention of delegates, calledby the legislature to consider the question of secession, formallydeclared that South Carolina was no longer one of the United States. [1]

[Footnote 1: "We the people of the state of South Carolina, inconvention assembled, do declare and ordain ... That the union nowsubsisting between South Carolina and other states, under the name ofthe United States of America, is hereby dissolved. "]

%420. The "Confederate States of America. "%--The meaning of this actof secession was that South Carolina now claimed to be a "sovereign, free, and independent" nation. But she was not the only state to takethis step. By February 1, 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had also left the Union. Three days later, February4, 1861, delegates from six of these seven states met at Montgomery, Ala. , formed a constitution, established a provisional government, whichthey called the "Confederate States of America, " and elected JeffersonDavis and Alexander H. Stephens provisional President and VicePresident. 

Toward preventing or stopping this, Buchanan did nothing. No state, hesaid, had a right to secede. But a state having seceded, he had no powerto make her come back, because he could not make war on a state; thatis, he could not preserve the Union. On one matter, however, he wasforced to act. When South Carolina seceded, the three forts inCharleston harbor--Castle Pinckney, Fort Sumter, and Fort Moultrie--werein charge of a major of artillery named Robert Anderson. He had underhim some eighty officers and men, and knowing that he could not hold allthree forts, and fearing that the South would seize Fort Sumter, hedismantled Fort Moultrie, spiked the cannon, cut down the flagstaff, andremoved to Fort Sumter, on the evening of December 26, 1860. 

[Illustration: CHARLESTON HARBOR]

This act was heartily approved by the people of the North and byCongress, and Buchanan with great reluctance yielded to their demand, and sent the _Star of the West, _ with food and men, to relieve Anderson. But as the vessel, with our flag at its fore, was steaming up thechannel toward Charleston harbor, the Southern batteries fired upon her, and she went back to New York. Anderson was thus left to his fate, andas Buchanan's term was nearly out, both sides waited to see whatLincoln would do. 

%421. Why did the States secede?%--Why did the Southern slave statessecede? To be fair to them we must seek the answer in the speeches oftheir leaders. "Your votes, " said Jefferson Davis, "refuse to recognizeour domestic institutions [slavery], which preexisted the formation ofthe Union, our property [slaves], which was guaranteed by theConstitution. You refuse us that equality without which we should bedegraded if we remained in the Union. You elect a candidate upon thebasis of sectional hostility; one who in his speeches, now thrownbroadcast over the country, made a distinct declaration of war upon ourinstitutions. "

"There is, " said Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury ofthe United States, "no other remedy for the existing state of thingsexcept immediate secession. "

"Our position, " said the Mississippi secession convention, "isthoroughly identified with the institution of slavery. A blow at slaveryis a blow at commerce and civilization. There was no choice left us butsubmission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union. "

Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacy, assertedthat the Personal Liberty laws of some of the free states "constitutethe only cause, in my opinion, which can justify secession. "

The South seceded, then, according to its own statements, because thepeople believed that the election of Lincoln meant the abolitionof slavery. 

%422. Compromise attempted%. --The Republican party in 1861 had nointention of abolishing slavery. Its purpose was to stop the spread ofslavery into the territories, to stop the admission of more slavestates, but not to abolish slavery in states where it already existed. Astrong wish therefore existed in the North to compromise the sectionaldifferences. Many plans for a compromise were offered, but only one, that of Crittenden, of Kentucky, need be mentioned. He proposed that theConstitution should be so amended as to provide

1. That all territory of the United States north of 36° 30' should befree, and all south of it slave soil. 

2. That slaves should be protected as property by all the departments ofthe territorial government. 

3. That states should be admitted with or without slavery as theirconstitutions provided, whether the states were north or south of36° 30'. 

4. That Congress should have no power to shut slavery out of theterritories. 

5. That the United States should pay owners for rescued fugitive slaves. 

As these propositions recognized the right of property in slaves, thatis, put the black man on a level with horses and cattle, the Republicansrejected them, and the attempt to compromise ended in failure. 

%423. A Proposed Thirteenth Amendment%. --One act of greatsignificance was done. A proposition to add a thirteenth amendment tothe Constitution was submitted to the states. It read, "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize orgive to Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state withthe domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held tolabor or service by the laws of said states. "

Even Lincoln approved of this, and two states, Maryland and Ohio, accepted it. But the issue was at hand. It was too late to compromise. 

%424. Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President%. --Lincoln and Hamlin wereinaugurated on March 4, 1861, and in his speech from the Capitol stepsLincoln was very careful to state just what he wanted to do. 

1. "I have no purpose, " said he, "directly or indirectly, to interferewith the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. "

2. "I consider the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability Ishall take care ... That the laws of the Union be faithfully executed inall the states. "

3. "In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence; and thereshall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority. "

4. "The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possessthe property and places belonging to the government and to collect theduties and imposts. "

[Illustration: Fort Sumter]

%425. Civil War begins. %--One of the places Lincoln thus pledgedhimself to "hold" was Fort Sumter, to which he decided to send men andsupplies. As soon as notice of this intention was sent to GovernorPickens of South Carolina, the Confederate commander at Charleston, General Beauregard (bo-ruh-gar'), demanded the surrender of the fort. Major Anderson stoutly refused to comply with the demand, and at dawn onthe morning of April 12, 1861, the Confederates fired the first gun atSumter. During the next thirty-four hours, nineteen batteries pouredshot and shell into the fort, which steadily returned the fire. Thenboth food and powder were nearly exhausted, and part of the fort beingon fire, Anderson surrendered; and on Sunday, April 14, 1861, he marchedout, taking with him the tattered flag under which he made so gallant afight. [1] The fleet sent to his aid arrived in time to see the battle, but did not give him any help. After the surrender, one of the shipscarried Anderson and the garrison to New York. [2]

[Footnote 1: "Having defended Fort Sumter for thirty-four hours, untilthe quarters were entirely burned, the main gates destroyed by fire, thegorge walls seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by flames, andits door closed from the effect of heat, four barrels and threecartridges of powder being available, and no provisions remaining butpork, I accepted terms of evacuation offered by General Beauregard . . . And marched out of the fort on Sunday afternoon, the 14th instant, withcolors flying and drums beating . . . And saluting my flag with fiftyguns. "--_Major Anderson to the Secretary of War. _]

[Footnote 2: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, _ Vol. I. , pp. 60-73. ]

%426. The Life of the Republic at Stake%. --Thus was begun thegreatest war in modern history. It was no vulgar struggle for territory, or for maritime or military supremacy. The life of the Union was atstake. The questions to be decided were: Shall there be one or tworepublics on the soil of the United States? Shall the great principle ofall democratic-republican government, the principle that the will of themajority shall rule, be maintained or abandoned? Shall state sovereigntybe recognized? Shall states be suffered to leave the Union at will, orshall the United States continue to exist as "an indestructible Union ofindestructible States"? As Mr. Lincoln said, "Both parties deprecatedwar; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive;and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. "

%427. The South better prepared%. --For the struggle which was todecide these questions neither side was ready, but the South was betterprepared than the North. The South was united as one man. The North wasdivided and full of Southern sympathizers. She knew not whom to trust. Officers of the army, officers of the navy, were resigning every day. The great departments of government at Washington contained many men whofurnished information to Southern officials. Seventeen steam war vessels(two thirds of all that were not laid up or unfit for service) were inforeign parts. Large quantities of military supplies had been stored inSouthern forts. All the great powers of Europe save Russia were hostileto our republic, and would gladly have seen it rent in twain. The South, again, had the advantage in that she was to act on the defensive. 

[Illustration: The United States July 1861 Showing the greatestextension of the Southern Confederacy]

%428. Results of firing on the Flag. %--Not a man was killed on eitherside during the bombardment of Sumter. Yet the battle was a famous one, and led to greater consequences:

1. Lincoln at once called for 75, 000 militia to serve for three months. 

2. Four "border states, " as they were called, thus forced to choosetheir side, seceded. They were Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, andTennessee. 

3. The Congress of the United States was called to meet at Washington, July 4, 1861. 

4. After Virginia seceded, the capital of the Confederacy, at theinvitation of the Virginia secession convention, was moved fromMontgomery to Richmond, and the Confederate Congress adjourned to meetthere July 20, 1861. 

%429. West Virginia. %--The act of secession by Virginia was promptlyrepudiated by the people of the counties west of the mountains, whorefused to secede, and voted to form a new state under the name ofKanawha. They adopted a constitution and were finally admitted in 1863as the state of West Virginia[1]. 

[Footnote 1: A state made out of part of another state cannot beadmitted into the Union without the consent of that state firstobtained. But as Congress and the people of West Virginia consideredthat Virginia consisted of that part of the Old Dominion which remainedloyal to the Union, the people practically asked their own consent. ]

%430. The Call to Arms. %--Lincoln held that no state could ever leavethe Union, and that therefore no state had left the Union. Those whichhad passed ordinances of secession were to his mind states whosemachinery of government had been seized on by persons in insurrectionagainst the government of the United States. When, therefore, he madehis call for 75, 000 militia to defend the Union, he apportioned thenumber among all the states, slave and free, north and south, east andwest, according to their population. Those forming the Confederacy paidno attention to the call. The governors of the border slave states(Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri) returnedevasive or insulting answers. 

But the people of the loyal states responded instantly, and tens ofthousands of troops were soon on their way to Washington. To get therewas a hard matter. Baltimore lay on the most direct railroad routebetween the Eastern and Middle States and Washington. But Baltimore wasfull of disloyal men, who tore up the railroads, burned bridges, cut thetelegraph wires, and as the Massachusetts 6th regiment was passingthrough the city from one railroad station to another, attacked it, killing some and wounding others of its soldiers. This forced the troopsfrom the other states to go by various routes to Annapolis and then toWashington, so that it was late in April before enough arrived to insurethe safety of the city. 

Though none of the border and seceded states sent troops, the responseof the loyal states to Lincoln's call was so hearty that more than75, 000 men were furnished. The President decided to turn this outburstof patriotism to good purpose, and May 3, 1861, asked for 42, 034volunteers for three years unless sooner discharged, and ordered 18, 000seamen to be enlisted, and 22, 714 men added to the regular army. Baltimore was now occupied by Union troops, and communication withWashington through that city was restored and protected. 

On July 1, 1861, there were 183, 588 "boys in blue" under arms andpresent for duty. These were distributed at various places north of theline, 2000 miles long, which divided the North and South. This linebegan near Fort Monroe, in Virginia, ran up Chesapeake Bay and thePotomac to the mountains, then across Western Virginia and throughKentucky, Missouri, and Indian Territory to New Mexico. 

This line was naturally divided into three parts:

1. That in Virginia and along the Potomac. 

2. That occupied by Kentucky, a state which had declared itself neutral. 

3. That west of the Mississippi. 

%431. The Battle of "Bull Run" or Manassas%. --General Winfield Scottwas in command of the Union army. Under him, in command of the troopsabout Washington, was General Irwin McDowell. Further to the west, nearHarpers Ferry, was a Union force under General Patterson. In westernVirginia, with an army raised largely in Ohio, was General George B. McClellan. In Missouri was General Lyon, aided by all the Union peoplein the state, who were engaged in a desperate struggle to keep her inthe Union. 

In northern Virginia and opposed to the Union forces under GeneralMcDowell, was a Confederate army under General Beauregard, and thesetroops the people of the North demanded should be attacked. "TheConfederate Congress must not meet at Richmond!" "On to Richmond! On toRichmond!" became the cries of the hour. General McDowell, with 30, 000men, was therefore ordered to attack Beauregard. McDowell found him nearManassas, some thirty miles southwest of Washington, and there, on thefield of "Bull Run, " on Sunday, July 21, 1861, was fought a famousbattle which ended with the defeat and flight of the Union army[1]. 

[Footnote 1: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. I. , pp. 229-239. ]

General George B. McClellan, who had defeated the Confederate forces inwestern Virginia in several battles, was now placed in command of thetroops near Washington, and spent the rest of 1861 and part of 1862 indrilling and organizing his army. Bull Run had taught the people twothings: 1. That the war was not to end in three months; 2. That an armywithout discipline is not much better than a mob. 

%432. Fort Donelson and Fort Henry%. --While McClellan was drillinghis men along the Potomac, the Union forces drove back the Confederatesin the West. The Confederate line at first extended as shown by theheavy line on the map on p. 390. In order to break it, General Buellsent a small force under General Thomas, in January, 1862, to drive backthe Confederates near Mill Springs. Next, in February, General Halleckauthorized General U. S. Grant and Flag Officer Foote to make a jointexpedition against Fort Henry on the Tennessee. But Foote arrived firstand captured the fort, whereupon Grant marched to Fort Donelson on theCumberland, eleven miles away, and after three days of sharp fightingwas asked by General Buckner what terms he would offer. Grantpromptly answered, [Illustration: Handwritten note of Grant]

No terms excepting unconditional andimmediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to receive immediately uponyour word. I am Sir: very respectfully your ** ** U. S. Grant Brig. Gen. 

Buckner at once surrendered (February 16, 1862), and Grant won the firstgreat Union victory of the war. [1]

[Footnote 1: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, _ Vol. I. , pp. 398-429; Grant's _Memoirs_, Vol. I. , pp. 285-315. ]

%433. The Battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing. %--After the fall ofFort Donelson, the Confederates, abandoning Columbus and Nashville, hurried south toward Corinth in Mississippi, whither Halleck's armyfollowed in three parts. One under General S. E. Curtis moved tosouthwestern Missouri, and beat the Confederates at Pea Ridge, Ark. (March 6-8). The second, under General John Pope, coöperated with FlagOfficer Foote, from the west bank of the Mississippi, in the capture ofIsland No. 10 (April 7). Pope then joined Halleck in the movementagainst Corinth, while the fleet went on down the river, attacked FortPillow three times, captured it (June 4), and two days latertook Memphis. 

Meanwhile the third part of Halleck's army, under Grant, following theConfederates, had reached Pittsburg Landing, where (April 6) he wassuddenly attacked by General A. S. Johnston and driven back. But GeneralBuell coming up with fresh troops, the battle was resumed the next day(April 7), when Grant regained his lost ground, and the Confederatesfell back to Corinth. [1]

[Footnote 1: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, _ Vol. , pp. 465-486. ]

[Illustration: Driving back the Confederate line in the West]

At this point General Henry Halleck arrived and took command, and at theend of May occupied Corinth. Memphis then fell, and the MississippiRiver was opened as far south as Vicksburg. After the capture ofMemphis, Halleck went to Washington to take command of the armies of theUnited States. 

%434. Bragg's Raid into Kentucky. %--The Confederate line which inJanuary, 1862, had passed across Kentucky had thus by June been drivensouthward to Chattanooga, Iuka, and Holly Springs. The Union line ranfrom near Chattanooga to Corinth and Memphis. Against this theConfederates now moved, with the hope of breaking through and driving itback. Gathering his forces at Chattanooga, General Bragg rushed acrossTennessee and Kentucky toward Louisville. But General Buell, perceivinghis purpose, outmarched him, reached the Ohio, and forced Bragg to fallback. At Perryville (October 8, 1862), Bragg turned furiously on Buelland was beaten. 

%435. Iuka and Corinth. %--While Bragg was raiding Kentucky, GeneralsPrice at Iuka and Van Dorn at Holly Springs, knowing that Grant's armyhad been greatly weakened by sending troops to Buell, prepared to attackCorinth. But Grant, thinking he could fight them separately, sentRosecrans to Iuka (September 19). Price was not captured, but retreatedto Van Dorn, and the two then fell upon Rosecrans at Corinth (October4), only to be beaten and chased forty miles. 

%436. Murfreesboro. %--For these successes Rosecrans (October 30) wasgiven command of Buell's army, then centering at Nashville. Bragg wentinto winter quarters at Murfreesboro, and thither Rosecrans advanced toattack him. The contest at Murfreesboro (December 31, 1862, and January2, 1863) was one of the most bloody battles of the whole war. Bragg wasagain defeated, and retreated to a position farther south. 

%437. Arkansas%. --In January, 1862, the Confederate line west of theMississippi extended from Belmont across southern Missouri to the IndianTerritory. Against the west end of this line General Curtis moved inFebruary, 1862, and after driving the Confederates under Van Dorn andPrice out of Missouri, beat them in the desperate battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas (March 6-8, 1862), and moved to the interior of the state. Price and Van Dorn went east into Mississippi (see § 435), and when theyear closed the Union forces were in control north of the ArkansasRiver, and along the west bank of the Mississippi. On the east bank theonly fortified positions in Confederate hands were Vicksburg, GrandGulf, and Port Hudson. 

%438. Farragut captures New Orleans. %--While Foote was opening theupper part of the Mississippi, a naval expedition under Farragut, supported by an army under Butler, had cleared the lower part of theriver. These forces had been sent by sea to capture New Orleans. Thedefenses of the city consisted of two strong forts almost directlyopposite each other on the banks of the river, about seventy-five milessouth of the city; of two great chain cables stretched across the riverbelow the forts to prevent ships coming up; and of fifteen armed vesselsabove the forts. New Orleans was thought to be safe. But Farragut wasnot dismayed. Sailing up the river till he came to the chains, hebombarded the forts for six days and nights, while the forts did theirbest to destroy him. Then, finding he could do nothing in this way, hecut the chains, ran his ships past the forts in spite of a dreadful fire(April 24, 1862), destroyed the Confederate fleet (April 25), and tookthe city. General Butler, who had been waiting at Ship Island with15, 000 men, then entered and held New Orleans. [1]

[Footnote 1: Farragut, after taking New Orleans, went up the river andcaptured Baton Rouge and Natchez. ]

%439. The Peninsular Campaign against Richmond. %--The signal successof Grant and Farragut in the West was more than offset by the signalfailure of McClellan in the East. The wish of the administration, andindeed of the whole North, was that Richmond should be captured. Againstit, therefore, the Army of the Potomac was to move. But by what route?The government wanted McClellan to march south across Virginia, so thathis army should always be between the Confederate forces and Washington. McClellan insisted on moving west from Chesapeake Bay. The result was acompromise:

1. Forces under Frémont and Banks were to operate in the Shenandoahvalley and prevent a Confederate force attacking Washington fromthe west. 

2. An army under McDowell was to march from Fredericksburg to Richmond. 

3. McClellan was to take the main army from Washington by water to FortMonroe, and then march up the peninsula to Richmond, where McDowell wasto join him. 

[Illustration: The Peninsula Campaign]

This peninsula, from which the campaign gets its name, lies between theYork and James rivers. Landing at the lower end of it, McClellan was metby General Joseph E. Johnston, who caused a long delay by forcing him tobesiege Yorktown. McClellan then advanced up the peninsula, fighting thebattle of Williamsburg on the way. At White House Landing he turnedtoward Richmond, extending his right flank to Hanover Courthouse, whereMcDowell was expected to join him. But this was not to be, for GeneralT. J. Jackson ("Stonewall" Jackson) rushed down the Shenandoah valley, driving Banks over the Potomac into Maryland, and retreated south beforeFrémont or McDowell could cut him off; during this campaign he won fourdesperate battles in thirty-five days. Jackson's success alarmedWashington, and McDowell was held in northern Virginia. McClellan'sarmy, meanwhile, advanced on both sides of the Chickahominy River towithin eight miles of Richmond. At Fair Oaks and Seven Pines (May 31)his left flank was almost overwhelmed by Johnston; but the latter waswounded and his troops defeated. Johnston was then succeeded by R. E. Lee, who, joined by Jackson, attacked McClellan at Mechanicsville andGames Mill, and forced him to fall back, fighting for six days (June 26to July 1, 1862)[1] as he retreated to Harrisons Landing, on the JamesRiver. There the army remained till August, when it was recalled tothe Potomac. 

[Footnote 1: The "Seven Days' Battles" are these and one fought June25. ]

%440. Lee's Raid into Maryland; Battle of Antietam, orSharpsburg. %--While the Army of the Potomac was at Harrisons Landing, a new force called the Army of Virginia was organized, and General JohnPope placed in command. At the same time General Halleck was recalledfrom the West and made general in chief of the Union armies. Popeintended to move straight against Richmond. But when McClellan inobedience to orders left Harrisons Landing and took his army by water tothe Potomac, near Washington, the Confederate army was left free to actas it pleased. Seeing his opportunity, Lee moved at once against Pope'sarmy, whose line stretched along the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers tothe Shenandoah valley in western Virginia. Near the Rapidan at CedarMountain was General Banks. He was first attacked and beaten; afterwhich Lee fell upon Pope on the old field of Bull Run, and put the armyto flight. Pope fell back to Washington, where his forces were unitedwith those of McClellan. Pushing northward, Lee next crossed the Potomacand entered Maryland. But he was overtaken by McClellan at AntietamCreek, near Sharpsburg, where, September 17, 1862, a great battle wasfought, after which Lee went back to Virginia. 

McClellan was now removed and the command of the army given to GeneralBurnside. He was as reckless as McClellan was cautious, and on December13 threw his army against the Confederates posted at FredericksburgHeights and was beaten with dreadful slaughter. Thus at the end of 1862Richmond was not captured, and the two armies went into winter quarterswith the Rappahannock River between them. 

%441. Emancipation of the Slaves%. --More than two years had nowpassed since South Carolina had seceded, and during this time a greatchange had taken place in the feeling of the North towards slavery. WhenLincoln was inaugurated, very few people wanted the slaves emancipated. But two years of bloody fighting had convinced the North that the Unioncould not exist part slave, part free. As Lincoln said in his speech atSpringfield in 1858, "It must be all one thing, or all the other. "Seeing that the people now felt as he did, Lincoln, in 1862 (March 6), asked Congress to agree to buy the slaves of the loyal slave states, andurged the members of Congress from those states to advise theirconstituents to set free their slaves and receive $300 apiece for them. This they would not do; whereupon he decided to act upon his ownauthority, and declared all slaves within the lines of the Confederacyto be freemen. 

For this he had two good reasons: 1. So far the war had been one for thepreservation of the Union. By making it a war for union and freedom theNorth would become more earnest than ever. 2. The rulers of England, whowanted Southern cotton, were only waiting for a pretext to acknowledgethe independence of the South. If, however, the North engaged in a warfor the abolition of slavery, the people of England would not allow theindependence of the Confederacy to be acknowledged by their rulers. 

The time to make such a declaration was after some victory gained by theUnion army. When McClellan and Lee stood face to face at Antietam, Lincoln therefore "vowed to God" that if Lee were defeated he wouldissue the proclamation. Lee was defeated, and, on September 22, 1862, the proclamation came forth declaring that if the Confederate States didnot return to their allegiance before January 1, 1863, "all persons heldas slaves" within the Confederate lines "shall be then, thenceforth, andforever free. " The states of course did not return to their allegiance, and on January 1, 1863, a second proclamation was issued setting theslaves free. [1]

[Footnote 1: Nicolay and Hay's _Life of Lincoln, _Vol. VI. , Chaps. 6, 8. ]

Now, there are three things in connection with the EmancipationProclamation which must be understood and remembered:

1. Lincoln did not _abolish slavery_ anywhere. He _emancipated_ or _setfree the slaves_ of certain persons engaged in waging war against theUnited States government. 

2. The Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to any of the loyal slavestates, [1] nor to such territory as the Union army had reconquered. [2]In none of these places did it free slaves. 

[Footnote 1: Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. ]

[Footnote 2: Tennessee, thirteen parishes in Louisiana, and sevencounties in Virginia. ]

3. Lincoln freed the slaves by virtue of his power as commander in chiefof the army of the United States, "and as a fit and necessarywar measure. "

%442. The Battle of Gettysburg. %--After Burnside was defeated atFredericksburg, in December, 1862, he was removed, and General Hookerput in command of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker--"Fighting Joe, " as hewas called--led it against Lee, and (May 1-4, 1863) was beaten atChancellorsville and fell back. In June Lee again took the offensive, rushed down the Shenandoah valley to the Potomac, crossed Maryland, andentered Pennsylvania, with the Army of the Potomac in pursuit. Onreaching Maryland, Hooker was removed and General Meade put in command. The opposing forces met on the hills at Gettysburg, Penn. , and there, July 1-3, Lee attacked Meade. The contest was a dreadful one; no fieldwas ever more stubbornly fought over. About one fourth of the menengaged were killed or wounded. But the splendid courage of the Unionarmy prevailed: Lee was beaten and retired to Virginia, where heremained unmolested till the spring of 1864. Gettysburg is regarded asthe greatest battle of the war, and the Union regiments engaged havetaken a just pride in marking the positions they held during the threeawful days of slaughter, till the field is dotted all over withbeautiful monuments. On the hill back of the village is a greatnational cemetery, at the dedication of which Lincoln delivered hisfamous Gettysburg address. 

[Illustration: Part of the battlefield of Gettysburg]

%443. Vicksburg%. --The day after the victory at Gettysburg, the joyof the North was yet more increased by the news that Vicksburg hadsurrendered (July 4) to Grant. After the defeat, of the Confederateforces at Iuka and Corinth in 1862, the Confederate line passed acrossnorthern Mississippi, touched the river from Vicksburg to Port Hudson, and then swept off to the Gulf. As the capture of these river townswould complete the opening of the Mississippi, Grant set out to takeVicksburg. Failing in a direct advance through Mississippi, Grant sent astrong force down the river from Memphis, and later took command inperson. Vicksburg stands on the top of a bluff which rises steep andstraight 200 feet above the river, and had been so fortified that tocapture it seemed impossible. But Grant was determined to open theriver. On the west bank, he cut a canal through a bend, hoping to divertthe river and get water passage by the town. This failed, and he decidedto cross below the town and attack from the land. To aid him in thisattempt, Porter ran his gunboats past the town one night in April andcarried the army over the river. Landing on the east bank, Grant won avictory at Port Gibson, and occupied Grand Gulf. Hearing that Johnstonwas coming to help Pemberton, Grant pushed in between them, beatJohnston at Jackson, and turning westward, drove Pemberton intoVicksburg, and began a regular siege. For seven weeks he poured in shotand shell day and night. To live in houses became impossible, and thewomen and children took refuge in caves. Food gave out, and after everykind of misery had been endured till it could be borne no longer, Vicksburg was surrendered on July 4. 

[Illustration: The Vicksburg Campaign]

Five days later (July 9, 1863), Port Hudson surrendered, and theMississippi, as Lincoln said, "flowed unvexed to the sea. " It was openfrom its source to its mouth, and the Confederacy was cut in two. 

%444. Driving the Confederates eastward; Chickamauga andChattanooga%. --While Grant was besieging Vicksburg, Rosecrans byskillful work forced Bragg to retreat from his position south ofMurfreesboro; then in a second campaign he forced Bragg to leaveChattanooga and retire into northwestern Georgia. Bragg here receivedmore troops, and attacked Rosecrans in the Chickamauga valley (September19 and 20, 1863), where was fought one of the most desperate battles ofthe war. So fierce was the onset of the Confederates that the Unionright wing was driven from the field. But the left wing, under GeneralGeorge H. Thomas, a grand character and a splendid officer, by some ofthe best fighting ever seen held the enemy in check and saved the armyfrom rout. By his firmness Thomas won the name of "the Rock ofChickamauga. "

Rosecrans now went back to Chattanooga. Bragg followed, and takingposition on the hills and mountains which surround the town on the eastand south, shut in the Union army and besieged it. For a time it seemedin danger of starvation. But Hooker was sent from Virginia with moretroops; the Army of the Tennessee under Sherman was summoned fromVicksburg; Rosecrans was superseded by Thomas, and Grant was put incommand of all. Then matters changed. The forces under Thomas, movingfrom their lines, seized some low hills at the foot of Missionary Ridge, east of Chattanooga (November 23). On the 24th, Hooker carried theConfederate works on Lookout Mountain, southwest of the city, in aconflict often called the "Battle above the Clouds"; and Sherman wassent against the northern end of Missionary Ridge, but succeeded only intaking an outlying hill. On the 25th Sherman renewed his attack, butfailed to gain the main crest, whereupon Thomas attacked the Ridge infront of Chattanooga, carried the heights, and drove off the enemy. Bragg retreated to Dalton, in northwestern Georgia, where the command ofhis army was given to Joseph E. Johnston. 

%445. "Marching through Georgia"; "From Atlanta to the Sea. "%--As theConfederates had thus been driven from the Mississippi River, and forcedback to the mountains, they had but two centers of power left. The onewas the army under Lee, which, since the defeat at Gettysburg, had beenlying quietly behind the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers, protectingRichmond. The other was the army at Dalton, Ga. , now under J. E. Johnston. 

[Illustration: WAR FOR THE UNION Breaking the Confederate Line]

Early in the spring of 1864 General U. S. Grant--"Unconditional SurrenderGrant, " as the people called him--was made lieutenant general (a ranknever before given to any United States soldier except Washington andScott), and put in command of all the Federal armies. General Shermanwas left in command of the military division of the Mississippi. 

Before beginning the campaign, Grant and Sherman agreed on a plan. Grant, with the Army of the Potomac, was to drive back Lee and takeRichmond. Sherman, with the armies of Thomas, McPherson, and Schofield, was to attack Johnston and push his way into Georgia. Each was to beginhis movement on the same day (May 4, 1864). 

On that day, accordingly, Sherman with 98, 000 men marched againstJohnston, flanked him out of Dalton, and step by step through themountains to Atlanta, fighting all the way. Johnston's retreat wasmasterly. He intended to retreat until Sherman's army was so weakened byleaving guards in the rear to protect the railroads, over which food andsupplies must come, that he could fight on equal terms. But JeffersonDavis removed Johnston at Atlanta, and put J. B. Hood in command. 

Hood, in July, made three furious attacks, was beaten each time;abandoned Atlanta in September, and soon after started northwestward, inhope of drawing Sherman out of Georgia. But Sherman sent Thomas and apart of the army to Tennessee, and after following Hood for a time, hereturned to Atlanta, tearing up the railroads as he went. Then, havingpartly burned the town, in November he started for the sea with 60, 000of his best veterans. 

[Illustration: SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA]

The troops went in four columns, covering a belt of sixty miles wide, burning bridges, tearing up railroads, living on the country as theymarched. Early in December the army drew near to Savannah; about themiddle of the month (December 13) Fort McAllister was taken; and a fewdays later the city of Savannah was occupied. During all this long marchto the sea, nothing was known in the North as to where Sherman was orwhat he was doing. Fancy the delight of Lincoln, then, when on theChristmas eve of 1864, he received this telegram:

 SAVANNAH, Georgia, December 22, 1864. 

To His EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT LINCOLN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with onehundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition; also abouttwenty-five thousand bales of cotton. 

 W. T. SHERMAN, MAJOR GENERAL. 

Sherman had sent the message by vessel to Fort Monroe, whence it wastelegraphed to Lincoln. 

%446. Sherman marches northward. %--At Savannah the army rested for amonth. Sherman tells us in his _Memoirs_ that the troops grew impatientat this delay, and used to call out to him as he rode by: "Uncle Billy, I guess Grant is waiting for us at Richmond. " So he was; but he did notwait very long, for on February 1, 1865, the march was resumed. The waywas across South Carolina to Columbia, and then into North Carolina, with their old enemy, J. E. Johnston, in their front. Hood, in a rashmoment, had besieged Thomas at Nashville; but Thomas, coming out frombehind his intrenchments, utterly destroyed Hood's army. This forcedDavis to put Johnston in command of a new army made up of troops takenfrom the seaport garrisons and remnants of Hood's army. In March, Sherman reached Goldsboro in North Carolina. 

%447. Grant in Virginia. %--Meantime Grant had set out from CulpeperCourthouse on May 4, 1864, crossed the Rapidan, and entered the"Wilderness, " a name given to a tract of country covered with densewoods of oak and pine and thick undergrowth. The fighting was almostincessant. The loss of life was frightful; but he pushed on toSpottsylvania Courthouse, and thence to Cold Harbor, part of the line offortifications before Richmond. He would, as he said, "fight it out onthis line if it takes all summer, " and went south of Richmond andbesieged Petersburg. 

%448. Early's Raid, 1864. %--Lee now sent Jubal Early with 20, 000soldiers to move down the Shenandoah valley, enter Maryland, andthreaten Washington. This he did, and after coming up to thefortifications of the city, he retreated to Virginia. A little later, Early sent his cavalry into Pennsylvania and burned Chambersburg. 

Grant thought it was time to stop this, and sent Sheridan with an armyto drive Early out of the Shenandoah valley. "It is desirable, " saidGrant, "that nothing should be left to invite the enemy to return. "

Sheridan set out accordingly, and on September 19 he met Early in battleat Winchester, and a few days later at Fishers Hill, beat him at bothplaces, and sent him whirling up the valley. Sheridan followed for atime, and then brought his army back to Cedar Creek, after burningbarns, destroying crops, and devastating the entire upper valley. 

%449. Sheridan's Ride. %--And now occurred a famous incident. Aboutthe middle of October Sheridan went to Washington, and while on his wayback slept on the night of October 18 at Winchester. At 7 A. M. On the19th he heard guns, but paid no attention to the sounds till 9 o'clock, when, as he rode quietly out of Winchester, he met a mile from townwagon trains and fugitives, and heard that Early had surprised his campat daylight. Dashing up the pike with an escort of twenty men, callingto the fugitives as he passed them to turn and face the enemy, he metthe army drawn up in line eleven miles from Winchester. "Far away in therear, " says an old soldier, "we heard cheer after cheer. Werereinforcements coming? Yes, Phil Sheridan was coming, and he was ahost. " Dashing down the line, Sheridan shouted, "What troops are these?""The Sixth Corps, " came back the response from a hundred voices. "We areall right, " said Sheridan, as he swung his old hat and dashed along theline to the right. "Never mind, boys, we'll whip them yet. We shallsleep in our old quarters to-night. " And they did. [1] Earlywas defeated. 

[Footnote:1] Read Sheridan's account in his _Personal Memoirs, _Vol. II. , pp. 66-92. 

%450. Surrender of Lee. %--At the beginning of 1865 the situation ofLee was desperate, and in February, Alexander H. Stephens, VicePresident of the Confederacy, met Lincoln and Secretary Seward on a warvessel in Hampton Roads to discuss terms of peace. Lincoln demandedthree things: 1. That the Confederate armies be disbanded and the mensent home. 2. That the Confederate States submit to the rule ofCongress. 3. That slavery be abolished. These terms were not accepted, and the war went on. Sherman marched northward through the Carolinas andwas reënforced from the coast; every seaport in the Confederacy was soonin Union hands; Sheridan finally dispersed Early's troops, and joinedGrant before Petersburg; and the lines of Grant's army were drawn closerand closer around Petersburg and Richmond. 

Plainly the end was near. On April 2 Lee announced to Davis that bothPetersburg and Richmond must be abandoned at once. The rams in the JamesRiver were immediately blown up, and on the morning of April 3 GeneralWeitzel, hearing from a negro what was going on, entered Richmond andfound that Lee was in full retreat. Grant followed, and on April 9forced Lee to surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, seventy-five mileswest of Richmond. Grant's treatment of Lee was most generous. He was notrequired to give up his sword, nor his officers their side arms, nor hismen their horses, which they would need, Grant said, "to work theirlittle farms. " Each officer was to give his parole not to take up armsagainst the United States "until properly exchanged"; each regimentalcommander was to do the same for his men; and, "this done, each officerand man will be allowed to return to his home. " Immediately after thissurrender 25, 000 rations were issued to Lee's men. 

[Illustration: The house in which Lee and Grant arranged the surrender]

%451. End of the Confederacy. %--What little was left of theConfederacy now went rapidly to pieces. On April 26 Johnston surrenderedto Sherman near Raleigh, North Carolina. A few days later the victoriousarmy started for Richmond, and then went on over battle-scarredVirginia to Washington. May 10, Jefferson Davis was captured. When Leefled from Richmond, Davis hurried to Charlotte, N. C. , with his cabinet, his clerks, and such gold and silver coin as was in the ConfederateTreasury. But the surrender of Johnston forced Davis to retreat stillfarther south, till he reached Irwinsville, Ga. , where the Union cavalryovertook him. 

%452. The Grand Army disbands. %--As this was practically the end ofthe Confederacy, the great Union army of citizen soldiers, numberingmore than 1, 000, 000 men, was called home from the field and disbanded. Before these veterans separated, never to meet again with arms in theirhands, they were reviewed by the President, Congress, and an immensethrong of people who came to Washington from every part of the loyalstates to welcome them. During two days (May 23 and 24, 1865) thesoldiers of Grant and Sherman, forming a column thirty miles long, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, and then, with a rapidity andquietness that seems almost incredible, scattered and went back to theirfarms, to their shops, to the practice of their professions, and to theinnumerable occupations of civil life. 

Of the Confederates not one was molested, not a soldier was imprisoned, not a political leader suffered death. Davis was ordered to beimprisoned at Fort Monroe for two years, but he was soon released onbail, was never brought to trial, and died at New Orleans in 1889. 

SUMMARY

1. After the election of Lincoln seven states seceded from the Union, and formed the "Confederate States of America. "

2. Four other states joined the Confederacy later. 

3. The refusal of the United States to recognize the right to secede ledto the refusal to give up Federal forts in Charleston harbor. Theattempt to take Sumter by force led to the appeal to arms. 

4. The line which separated the troops of the two governments ran fromChesapeake Bay, across Virginia, and through Kentucky and Missouri, toNew Mexico. 

5. While the Union troops held the Confederates in check on the easternend of the line, they broke through the line in the West, and, aided bythe Union fleet, opened the Mississippi River. 

6. The Confederates were thus driven from the Mississippi and forcedback to the mountains of Georgia. Sherman was sent against them, and in1864 marched eastward through the heart of the Confederacy tothe Atlantic. 

7. Marching north from Savannah, across Georgia and South Carolina, toGoldsboro in North Carolina, he was now in the rear of the Confederatearmy in Virginia. 

8. Grant, meantime, with the Army of the Potomac, had fought a series ofbattles with Lee, and had besieged Richmond and Petersburg; andSheridan had cleared out the Shenandoah valley. 

9. Lee was thus forced, early in 1865, to leave Richmond, and whileretreating westward he was forced to surrender. 

 SECESSION AND THE WAR FOR THE UNION |--------------------------------------------------------------------- _The South_ _The North_The cotton states secede. Attempts to compromise. The Confederacy formed. Buchanan's attitude. A constitution adopted. The Crittenden Compromise. Unites States property seized. A Thirteenth Amendment proposed. ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ Buchanan attempts to provision Fort Sumter _Star of the West_ fired on. ------------------------------------------ | ------------------- Lincoln inaugurated. ------------------- | ------------------------------------------ Lincoln attempts to provision Fort Sumter The fort bombarded. The surrender. ------------------------------------------ |----------------------------------------------------------------------Arkansas, North Carolina, The call to arms. Virginia, and Tennessee secede. The march to WashingtonRichmond made the capital Fight in the streets of of the Confederacy. Baltimore. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------ _The war opens_ ------------------- |-----------------------------------------------------------------_Fighting in the West. _ _Fighting along the Potomac and in Virginia__1861-1862. _ Breaking the _1861. _ The attempt to take Richmond. Confederate line. Battle of Bull Run. -----------------------------------------------------------------

1. Line broken at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and driven out ofKentucky and West Tennessee. 

2. Driven out of Missouri and North Arkansas. 

3. New Orleans taken. 

4. Mississippi River nearly open. 

_1863_. 1. Vicksburg and Port Hudson taken, and Mississippi River opento the Gulf. 

2. The Confederacy cut in two. 

3. Arkansas and East Tennessee recovered. 

_1864_. Driving the Confederate line eastward. 

1. Sherman's march to Atlanta; to the sea. 

2. The Confederacy again cut in two. 

_1865_. Driving the Confederate line northward. 

1. Sherman marches northward from Savannah to Goldsboro. 

2. Surrender of Johnston to Sherman. 

_1862_ The attempt on Richmond renewed. ------------------------ ------------------------ --------------------------1. Frémont and Banks to 2. McDowell to move from 3. McClellan to move up hold the Shenandoah Fredericksburg. Peninsula from Fort valley. ------------+----------- Monroe. ------------+----------- | -------------+------------ | ------------+----------- |------------+----------- Jackson's success in the -------------+------------Defeated by Jackson. Shenandoah valley leads McClellan, left without------------------------ to recall of McDowell. Support of McDowell, -------------------------- is defeated, changes base to James River, and in August is recalled north. -------------+------------ |------------------------------------------------------------------------------Removal of McClellan's army leaves Lee free to act. He attacks Pope and defeats him on old field of Bull Run. After defeat of Pope, he rushes into Maryland, where, at Antietam, he is defeated, and goes back to Virginia. --------------------------------------+-------------------------------------- |--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------1. Union victory at Antietam leads Lincoln to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. 2. McClellan relieved of command and Burnside put in his place. 3. Burnside attacks Lee's army and is beaten at Fredericksburg. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------_1863_. 1. Burnside removed and _1864_. Grant in command. Hooker in command. 1. The Wilderness and other battles. 2. Hooker defeated at Chancellorsville. 2. Early sent into the Shenandoah3. Lee runs past and enters Pennsylvania. Valley, where Sheridan defeats him. 4. Meade put in command. Battle of _1865_. Richmond taken. Gettysburg. 1. Lee evacuates the city. 5. Lee beaten and goes back to Virginia. 2. Surrenders to Grant. 6. The turning-point of the war. ------------------+----------------- |---------------------------------------------------------------------- %END OF THE WAR. %

CHAPTER XXVIII

WAR ALONG THE COAST AND ON THE SEA

%453. State of our Navy in 1861. %--On the day our flag went down atSumter, the navy of the United States consisted of ninety vessels ofevery sort. Fifty of these were sailing ships. Forty were propelled bysteam. Of the steam fleet one was on the Lakes, five were unserviceable, seventeen were in foreign parts, and nine laid up in navy yards and outof service. Eight steam vessels (one a mere tender) and five sailingvessels (a fleet of thirteen) made up the naval force of the UnitedStates that was available for actual service on April 15, 1861. 

%454. The Work before the Navy. %--The duty of the navy was to

1. Blockade the coast from Norfolk in Virginia to the Bio Grande inTexas. 

2. Capture the seaports and forts scattered along this coast. 

3. Acquire control of the sounds and bays, as Chesapeake, Albemarle, Pamlico, Mobile, and Galveston. 

4. Assist the army in opening the Mississippi, Arkansas, and otherrivers. 

5. Destroy all Confederate cruisers and protect the commerce of theUnited States. 

To accomplish this great work, most of the vessels abroad were recalled(a slow process in days when no ocean cable existed), more were hastilybuilt, and in time 400 merchantmen and river steamboats were bought androughly adapted at the navy yards for war service. 

%455. %The Blockade of the Southern Coast. %--The war on sea wasopened (April 19-27, 1861) by two proclamations of Lincoln declaring thecoast from Virginia to Texas blockaded. This meant that armed vesselswere to be stationed off the seaports of the South, and that no shipsfrom any country were to be allowed to go into or out of them. To stoptrade with the South was important for three reasons:

1. The South had no ships, no great gun factories, machine shops, orrolling mills, and must look to foreign countries for military supplies. 

2. The South raised (in 1860) 4, 700, 000 bales of cotton, almost all ofwhich was sold to England and the North, and if this cotton should besent abroad, the South could easily buy with it all the guns, ships, andgoods she needed. 

3. England was dependent on the South for raw cotton, and would sell forit everything the South wanted in exchange. 

The blockade, therefore, was to cut off the trade and supplies of theSouth, and so weaken her. But as England, a great commercial nation, wanted her cotton, it was certain that unless the blockade were rigorousand close, cotton would be smuggled out and supplies sent in. 

%456. Blockade Runners%. --This is just what did happen. The blockadein the course of a year was made close, by ships stationed off theports, sounds, and harbors. In some places the hulks of old whalers wereloaded with stone and sunk in the channels, and to get in or out becamemore difficult. As a result the price of cotton fell to eight cents apound in the South (because there was nobody to buy it) and rose tofifty cents a pound in England (because so little was to be had). Then"running the blockade" became a regular business. Goods of all sortswere brought from England to Nassau in the West Indies, where they wouldbe put on board of vessels built to run the blockade. These blockaderunners were long, low steam vessels which drew only a few feet of waterand had great speed. Their hulls were but a few feet out of water andwere painted a dull gray. Their smokestacks could be lowered to thedeck, and they burned anthracite coal, which made no smoke. They wouldleave Nassau at such a time as would enable them to be off Wilmington, N. C. , or some other Southern port, on a moonless night with a high tide, and then, making a dash, would run through the blockading vessels. Oncein port, they would take a cargo of cotton, and would run out on a darknight or during a storm. During the war, 1504 vessels of all kinds werecaptured or destroyed. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read T. E. Taylor's _Running the Blockade, _pp. 16-32, 44-54. ]

%457. The Commerce Destroyers. %--While the North was thus busydestroying the trade of the South, the South was busy destroying theenormous trade of the North. When the war opened, our merchant shipswere to be seen in every port of the world, and against these were senta class of armed vessels known as "commerce destroyers, " whose businessit was to cruise along the great highways of ocean commerce, keep asharp lookout for our merchantmen, and burn all they could find. Thefirst of these commerce destroyers to get to sea was the _Sumter_, whichran the blockade at the mouth of the Mississippi in June, 1861, andwithin a week had taken seven merchantmen. So important was it tocapture her that seven cruisers were sent in pursuit. But she escapedthem all till January, 1862, when she was shut up in the port ofGibraltar and was sold to prevent capture. 

%458. The Trent Affair, 1861. %--One of the vessels sent in pursuit ofthe _Sumter_ was the _San Jacinto, _commanded by Captain Wilkes. Whileat Havana, he heard that two commissioners of the Confederategovernment, James M. Mason and John Slidell, sent out as commissionersto Great Britain and France, were to sail for England in the Britishmail steamer _Trent_; and, deciding to capture them, he took his stationin the Bermuda Channel, and (November 8, 1861) as the _Trent_ camesteaming along, he stopped and boarded her, and carried off Mason andSlidell and their secretaries. This he had no right to do. It wasexactly the sort of thing the United States had protested against eversince 1790, and had been one of the causes of war with Great Britain in1812. The commissioners were therefore released, placed on board anotherEnglish vessel, and taken to England. The conduct of Great Britain inthis matter was most insulting and warlike, and nothing but the justiceof her demand prevented war. [1]

[Footnote 1: Harris's _The Trent Affair. _]

%459. The Famous Cruisers Florida, Alabama, Shenandoah. %--The lossof the _Sumter_ was soon made good by the appearance on the sea of afleet of commerce destroyers all built and purchased in England with thefull knowledge of the English government. The first of these, the_Florida_, was built at Liverpool, was armed at an uninhabited island inthe Bahamas, and after roving the sea for more than a year was capturedby the United States cruiser _Wachusett_ in the neutral harbor of Bahiain Brazil. Her capture was a shameful violation of neutral waters, andit was ordered that she be returned to Brazil; but she was sunk by "anunforeseen accident" in Hampton Roads. [1]

[Footnote 1: Bullock's _Secret Service of the Confederate States inEurope, _ Vol. I. , pp. 152-224. ]

The next to get afloat was the _Alabama_. She was built at Liverpoolwith the knowledge of the English government, and became in time one ofthe most famous and successful of all the commerce destroyers. Duringtwo years she cruised unharmed in the North Atlantic, in the Gulf ofMexico, in the Caribbean Sea, along the coast of South America, and evenin the Indian Ocean, destroying in her career sixty-six merchantvessels. At last she was found in the harbor of Cherbourg (France) bythe _Kearsarge_, to which Captain Semmes of the _Alabama_ sent achallenge to fight. Captain Winslow accepted it; and June 19, 1864, after a short and gallant engagement, the _Alabama_ was sunk in theEnglish Channel. [1]

[Footnote 1: _Ibid_. , Vol. I. , pp. 225-294. _Battles and Leaders of theCivil War, _ Vol. IV. , pp. 600-625. ]

The _Shenandoah_, another cruiser, was purchased in England and armedat a barren island near Madeira. Thence she went to Australia, andcruising northward in the Pacific to Bering Strait, destroyed theChina-bound clippers and the whaling fleet. At last, hearing of thedownfall of the Confederacy, she went back to England. [1]

[Footnote 1: Bullock's _Secret Service of the Confederate States inEurope_, Vol. II. , pp. 131-163. ]

%460. The Ironclads. %--To blockade the coast and cut off trade wasmost important, but not all that was needed. Here and there wereseaports which must be captured and forts which must be destroyed, baysand sounds, and great rivers coming down from the interior, which it wasvery desirable to secure control of. The Confederates were fully awareof this, and as soon as they could, placed on the waters of their riversand harbors vessels new to naval warfare, called ironclad rams. Thesewere steamboats cut down and made suitable for naval purposes, and thencovered over with iron rails or thick iron plates. The most famous ofthem was the _Merrimac_. 

[Illustration: %Remodeling the Merrimac%]

[Illustration: %The U. S. Steamer Merrimac%]

%461. The Merrimac or Virginia. %--When Sumter was fired on and thewar began, the United States held the great navy yard and naval depot atPortsmouth, Va. , where were eleven war vessels of various sorts, andimmense quantities of guns and stores and ammunition. But the officer incharge, knowing that Virginia was about to secede, and fearing that theyard would be seized by the Confederates, sank most of the ships, setfire to the buildings, and abandoned the place. The Confederates at oncetook possession, raised the vessels, and out of one of them, a steamercalled the _Merrimac_. Made an ironclad ram, which they renamed the_Virginia_ and sent forth to destroy the wooden vessels of the UnitedStates then assembled in Chesapeake Bay. 

Well knowing that he could not be harmed by any of our war ships, thecommander of the _Merrimac_ went leisurely to work and began (March 8, 1862) by attacking the _Cumberland_. In her day the _Cumberland_ hadbeen as fine a frigate as ever went to sea; but the days of wooden shipswere gone, and she was powerless. Her shot glanced from the sides of the_Merrimac _like so many peas, while the new monster, coming on understeam, rammed her in the side and made a great hole through which thewater poured. Even then the commander of the _Cumberland_ would notsurrender, but fought his ship till she filled and sank with her gunsbooming and her flag flying. After sinking the _Cumberland_, the_Merrimac_ attacked the _Congress_, forced her to surrender, set her onfire, and, as darkness was then coming on, went back to the shelter ofthe Confederate batteries. 

[Illustration: Monitor, side and deck plan]

%462. The Monitor. %--Early the next day the _Merrimac_ sailed forthto finish the work of destruction, and picking out the _Minnesota_, which was hard and fast in the mud, bore down to attack her. When lo!from beside the _Minnesota_ started forth the most curious-looking craftever seen on water. It was the famous _Monitor_, designed by CaptainJohn Ericsson, to whose inventive genius we owe the screw propeller andthe hot-air engine. She consisted of a small iron hull, on top of whichrested a boat-shaped raft covered with sheets of iron which made thedeck. On top of the deck, which was about three feet above the water, was an iron cylinder, or turret, which revolved by machinery and carriedtwo guns. She looked, it was said, like "a cheesebox mounted on a raft. "

[Illustration: HAMPTON ROADS]

The _Monitor_ was built at New York, and was intended for harbordefense; but the fact that the Confederates were building a greatironclad at Norfolk made it necessary to send her to Hampton Roads. Thesea voyage was a dreadful one; again and again she was almost wrecked, but she weathered the storm, and early on the evening of March 8, 1862, entered Hampton Roads, to see the waters lighted up by the burning_Congress_ and to hear of the sinking of the _Cumberland_. Taking herplace beside the _Minnesota_, she waited for the dawn, and about eighto'clock saw the _Merrimac_ coming toward her, and, starting out, beganthe greatest naval battle of modern times. When it ended, neither shipwas disabled; but they were the masters of the seas, for it was nowproved that no wooden ships anywhere afloat could harm them. The days ofwooden naval vessels were over, and all the nations of the world wereforced to build their navies anew. The _Merrimac_ withdrew from thefight; when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk, they destroyed her (May, 1862). The _Monitor_ sank in a storm at sea while going to Beaufort, N. C. (January, 1863). [1]

[Footnote 1: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. I. , pp. 719-750. ]

[Illustration: %An encounter at close range%]

%463. Capture of the Coast Forts and Waterways. %--Operations alongthe coast were begun in August, 1861, by the capture of the forts at themouth of Hatteras Inlet, N. C. , the entrance to Pamlico Sound; and by thecapture of Port Royal in November. A few months later (early in 1862)control of Pamlico and Albemarle sounds was secured by the capture ofRoanoke Island, Elizabeth City, and Newbern, all in North Carolina, andof Fort Macon, which guarded the entrance to Beaufort harbor. McClellan's capture of Yorktown in May, 1862, was soon followed by thehasty evacuation of Norfolk by the Confederate forces, so that at theend of the first year of the war most of the seacoast from Norfolk tothe Gulf was in Union hands. 

Along the Gulf coast naval operations resulted in opening the lowerMississippi and capturing New Orleans in April, and Pensacola inMay, 1862. 

In April, 1863, a naval attack on Charleston was planned, but wascarried no farther than a severe battering of Fort Sumter. In August, 1864, Admiral Farragut led his fleet past Forts Morgan and Gaines, thatguarded the entrance of Mobile Bay, captured the Confederate fleet andtook the forts. Mobile, however, was not taken till April, 1865, just asthe Confederacy reached its end. Fort Fisher, which commanded theentrance to Cape Fear River, on which stood Wilmington, the great portof entry for blockade runners, fell before the attack of a combined landand naval force in January, 1865. 

SUMMARY

1. The naval operations of the war opened with the blockade of the coastof the Confederate States. 

2. This was necessary in order to prevent cotton, sugar, and tobaccobeing sent abroad in return for materials of war. 

3. As a result blockade running was carried on to a great extent. 

4. In order to destroy our commerce a fleet of cruisers was built inEngland, purchased and manned by the Confederate government. Theyinflicted very serious damage. 

5. But the great event of the war was the battle between the ironclads_Monitor_ and _Merrimac_, which marked the advent of theiron-armored war ship. 

CHAPTER XXIX

THE COST OF THE WAR

%464. The Cost in Money. %--When Fort Sumter was fired on in 1861 andLincoln made his call for volunteers, the national debt was $90, 000, 000, the annual revenue was $41, 000, 000, and the annual expenses of thegovernment $68, 000, 000. As the expenses were vastly increased by theoutbreak of war, it became necessary to get more money. To do this, Congress, when it met in July, 1861, began a financial policy which mustbe described if we are to understand the later history of our country. 

%465. Power to raise Money. %--The Constitution gives Congress power

1. "To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises. "

2. "To borrow money on the credit of the United States. "

3. To apportion direct taxes among the several states according to theirpopulation. 

%466. Raising Money by Taxation; Internal Revenue. %--Exercising thesepowers, Congress in 1861 increased the duties on articles imported, laida direct tax of $20, 000, 000. And imposed a tax of three per cent onall incomes over $800. The returns were large, but they fell far shortof the needs of the government, and in 1862 an internal revenue systemwas created. Taxes were now imposed on spirits and malt liquors; onmanufactured tobacco; on trades, professions, and occupations; tillalmost everything a man ate, drank, wore, bought, sold, or owned wastaxed. The revenue collected from such sources between 1862 and 1865 was$780, 000, 000. 

%467. Raising Money "on the Credit of the United States. "%--Moneyraised by internal revenue and the tariff was largely used to paycurrent expenses and the interest on the national debt. The great warexpenses were met by borrowing money in two ways:

1. By selling bonds. 

2. By issuing "United States notes. "

%468. The Bonded and Interest-paying Debt. %--The bonds wereobligations by which the government bound itself to pay the holder thesum of money specified in the bond at the end of a certain period ofyears, as twenty or thirty or forty. Meantime the holder was to be paidinterest at the rate of five, six, or seven per cent a year. BetweenJuly 1, 1861, and August 31, 1865, when our national debt was greatest, $1, 109, 000, 000 worth of bonds had been sold to the people and the moneyused for war purposes. 

%469. United States Notes. %--The United States notes were of twokinds: those which bore interest, and those which did not. Those bearinginterest passed under various names, and by 1866 amounted to$577, 000, 000. 

United States notes bearing no interest were the "old demand notes, " the"greenbacks, " the "fractional currency, " and the "national bank notes. "

The greenbacks (a name given them from the green color of their backs)were authorized early in 1862, were in denominations from $1 up, bore nointerest, were legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, except duties on imports and interest on the public debt. In time$450, 000, 000 were authorized to be issued, and in 1864, $449, 000, 000were in circulation. 

%470. Fractional Currency. %--The issue of the demand notes in 1861, and the fact, apparent to every one, that Congress must keep on issuingpaper money, led the state banks to suspend specie payment in December, 1861. As a consequence, the 3, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent silver pieces (andof course all the gold) disappeared from circulation. This left thepeople without small change, and for a time they were forced to paytheir car fare and buy their newspapers and make change with postagestamps and "token" pieces of brass and copper, which passed from hand tohand as cents. Indeed, one act of Congress, in July, 1862, made itlawful to receive postage stamps (in sums under $5) in payment ofgovernment dues. But in March, 1863, another step was taken, and anissue of $50, 000, 000 in paper fractional currency was authorized. 

%471. The National Banking System. %--Yet another financial measure toaid the government was the creation of national banks. In 1863 Congressestablished the office of "Comptroller of the Currency, " and authorizedhim to permit the establishment of banking associations. Each mustconsist of not less than five persons, must have a certain capital, andmust deposit with the Treasury Department at Washington government bondsequal to at least one third of its capital. The Comptroller was then toissue to each association bank notes not exceeding in value ninety percent of the face value of the bonds. It was supposed that the statebanks, which then issued $150, 000, 000 in 7000 kinds of bank notes, wouldtake advantage of the law, become national banks, and use this nationalmoney, which would pass all over the country. This would enable thegovernment to sell the banks $150, 000, 000 and more of bonds. But thestate banks did not do so till 1865, when a tax of ten per cent was laidon the amount of paper money each state bank issued. Then, to get rid ofthe tax, hundreds of them bought bonds and became national banks. 

%472. The National Debt and State Expenditures. %--On the 31st ofAugust, 1865, the national debt thus created reached its highest figure, and was in round numbers $2, 845, 000, 000. 

Besides the debt incurred by the national government, there were heavyexpenditures by the states, and we might say by almost every city andtown, amounting to $468, 000, 000. But even when the war ended, the outlayon account of the war did not cease. Each year there was interest topay on the bonded debt, and pensions to be given to disabled soldiersand sailors, and to the widows and orphans of men killed, and claims fordamages of all sorts to be allowed. Between July 1, 1861, and June 30, 1879, the expenditure of the government growing out of the war amountedto $6, 190, 000, 000. 

Many men who served in the army made great personal sacrifices. Theywere taken away from some useful employment, from their farms, theirtrades, their business, or their professions. What they might haveearned or accomplished during the time of service was so much loss. 

%473. The Cost in Human Life. %--While the war was raging, Lincolnmade twelve calls for volunteers, to serve for periods varying from 100days to three years. The first was the famous call of April 15, 1861, for 75, 000 three-months men; the last was in December, 1864. When thenumbers of soldiers thus summoned from their homes are added, we findthat 2, 763, 670 were wanted and 2, 772, 408 responded. This does not meanthat 2, 770, 000 different men were called into service or were ever atany one time under arms. Some served for three months, others for sixmonths, a year, or three years. Very often a man would enlist and whenhis term was out would reenlist. The largest number in service at anytime was in April, 1865. It was 1, 000, 516, of whom 650, 000 were fit forservice. In 1865, 800, 000 were mustered out between April and October. 

Of those who gave their lives to preserve the Union, 67, 000 were killedin battle, 43, 000 died of wounds, and 230, 000 of disease and othercauses. In round numbers, 360, 000 men gave up their lives in defense ofthe Union. How many perished in the Confederate army cannot be stated, but the loss was quite as large as on the Union side; so that it is safeto say that more than 700, 000 men were killed in the war. [1]

[Footnote 1: A table giving the size of the armies and the loss of lifewill be found in _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. IV. , pp. 767-768. ]

%474. Suffering in the South. %--The South raised all the cotton, nearly all the rice and tobacco, and one third of the Indian corn grownin our country, and depended on Europe and the North for manufacturedgoods. But when the North, in 1861 and 1862, blockaded her ports and cutoff these supplies, her distress began. Brass bells and brass kettleswere called for to be melted and cast into cannon, and every sort offowling piece and old musket was pressed into service and sent to thetroops in the field. As money could not be had, treasury notes wereissued by the million, to be redeemed "six months after the close of thewar. " Planters were next pledged to loan the government a share of theproceeds of their cotton, receiving bonds in return. But the blockadewas so rigorous that very little cotton could get to Europe. When thisfailed, provisions for the army were bought with bonds and with papermoney issued by the states. 

This steady issue of paper money, with nothing to redeem it, led to itsrapid decrease in value. In 1864 it took $40 in Confederate paper moneyto buy a yard of calico. A spool of thread cost $20; a ham, $150; apound of sugar, $75; and a barrel of flour, $1200. 

%475. Makeshifts. %--Thrown on their own resources, the Southern peoplebecame home manufacturers. The inner shuck of Indian corn was made intohats. Knitting became fashionable. Homespun clothing, dyed with theextract of black-walnut bark or wild indigo or swamp maple orelderberries, was worn by everybody. Barrels and boxes which had beenused for packing salt fish and pork were soaked in water, which wasevaporated for the sake of the salt thus extracted. Rye or wheat roastedand ground became a substitute for coffee, and dried raspberryleaves for tea. 

Quite as desperate were the shifts to which the South was put forsoldiers. At first every young man was eager to rush to the front. Butas time passed, and the great armies of the North were formed, it becamenecessary to force men into the ranks, to "conscript" them; and in 1862an act of the Confederate Congress made all males from eighteen tothirty-five subject to military duty. In September, 1862, all men fromeighteen to forty-five, and later from sixteen to sixty, were subject toconscription. The slaves, of course, worked on the fortifications, droveteams, and cooked for the troops. 

%476. Cost to the South%. --Thus drained of her able-bodiedpopulation, the South went rapidly to rack and ruin. Crops fell off, property fell into decay, business stopped, railroads were ruinedbecause men could not be had to keep them in repair, and because norails could be obtained. The loss inflicted by this general andwidespread ruin can never be even estimated. Cotton, houses, property ofevery sort, was destroyed to prevent capture by the Union forces. Onevery battlefield incalculable damage was done to woods, villages, farmhouses, and crops. Bridges were burned; cities, such as Richmond, Atlanta, Columbia, Charleston, were well-nigh destroyed by fire;thousands of miles of railroad were torn up and ruined. The lossentailed by the emancipation of the slaves, supposing each negro worth$500, amounts to $2, 000, 000, 000. 

SUMMARY

1. When the war opened, and the army and navy were called into thefield, Congress proceeded to raise money by three methods: A. Increasingtaxation. B. Issuing bonds. C. Issuing paper money. 

2. Taxation was in three forms: A. Direct tax. B. Tariff duties. C. Internal revenue, which included a vast number of taxes. 

3. Paper money consisted of treasury notes, United States notes(greenbacks), fractional currency. 

4. Besides the cost to the nation, there was the cost to the states, counties, cities, and towns for bounties, and in aid of the war ingeneral; and the cost to individuals. 

6. There is again the cost produced by the war and still being paid aspensions, care of national cemeteries, etc. , and interest on thepublic debt. 

6. The cost in human life was great to both North and South; there wasalso a destruction of property and business, the money value of whichcannot be estimated. 

"_THE INDESTRUCTIBLE UNION OF INDESTRUCTIBLE STATES. _"

CHAPTER XXX

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH

%477. The Reëlection of Lincoln%. --While the war was still raging, the time came, in 1864, for the nomination of candidates for thePresidency and Vice Presidency. The situation was serious. On the onehand was the Democratic party, denouncing Mr. Lincoln, insisting thatthe war was a failure, and demanding peace at any price. On the otherhand was a large faction of the Republican party, finding fault with Mr. Lincoln because he was not severe enough, because he had done thingsthey thought the Constitution did not permit him to do, and because hehad fixed the conditions on which people in the so-called secedingstates might send representatives and senators to Congress. Betweenthese two was a party made up of Republicans and of war Democrats, whoinsisted that the Union must be preserved at all costs. These men held aconvention, and dropping the name "Republicans" for the time being, tookthat of "National Union party, " and renominated Lincoln. For VicePresident they selected Andrew Johnson, a Union man and war Democratfrom Tennessee. 

The dissatisfied or Radical Republicans held a convention and nominatedJohn C. Frémont and General John Cochrane. They demanded one term for aPresident; the confiscation of the land of rebels; the reconstruction ofrebellious states by Congress, not by the President; vigorous warmeasures; and the destruction of slavery forever. 

The Democrats nominated General George B. McClellan and George H. Pendleton. The platform demanded "a cessation of hostilities with a viewto a convention of the states, " and described the sacrifice of lives andtreasure in behalf of Union as "four years of failure to restore theUnion by the experiment of war. " McClellan, in his letter of acceptance, repudiated both of these sentiments. The platform called for peacefirst, and then union if possible. McClellan said union first, and thenpeace. "No peace can be permanent without union. " The platform said thewar was a failure. McClellan said, "I could not look in the faces of mygallant comrades of the army and navy ... And tell them that theirlabors and the sacrifice of so many of our slain and wounded brethrenhad been in vain. "

The result was never in doubt. By September Frémont and Cochrane bothwithdrew, and in November Lincoln and Johnson were elected, and on March4, 1865, were sworn into office. 

%478. The Murder of Lincoln%. --By that time the Confederacy wasdoomed. Sherman had made his march to the sea; Savannah and Charlestonwere in Union hands, and Lee hard pressed at Richmond. April 9 hesurrendered, and on April 14, 1865, the fourth anniversary of theevacuation of Fort Sumter, Anderson, now a major general, visited thefort which he had so gallantly defended, and in the presence of the armyand navy raised the tattered flag he pulled down in 1861. 

That night Lincoln went to Ford's Theater in Washington, and while hewas sitting quietly in his box, an actor named John Wilkes Booth came inand shot him through the head, causing a wound from which the Presidentdied early next morning. His deed done, the assassin leaped from the boxto the stage, and shouting, "Sic semper tyrannis" (So be it always totyrants), the motto of Virginia, made his escape in the confusion of themoment, and mounting a horse, rode away. 

The act of Booth was one result of a conspiracy, the details of whichwere soon discovered and the criminals punished. Booth was hunted bysoldiers and shot in a barn in Virginia. His accomplices were eitherhanged or imprisoned for life. [1]

[Footnote 1: The best account of the murder of Lincoln is given in "FourLincoln Conspiracies" in the _Century Magazine_ for April, 1896. ]

%479. Andrew Johnson, President. %--Lincoln had not been many hoursdead when Andrew Johnson, as the Constitution provides, took the oath ofoffice and became President of the United States. Before him lay themost gigantic task ever given to any President. 

%480. Reconstruction. %--To dispose of the Confederate soldiers andpoliticians was an easy matter; but to decide what to do with theConfederate states proved most difficult. Lincoln had always held thatthey could not secede. If they could not secede, they had never been outof the Union, and if they had never been out of the Union, they wereentitled, as of old, to send senators and representatives to Congress. 

[Illustration: Andrew Johnson]

But whether the states had or had not seceded, the old state governmentsof 1861, and the relations these governments once held with the Union, were destroyed by the so-called secession, and it was necessary todefine some way by which they might be reëstablished, or, as it wascalled, "reconstructed. "

Toward the end of 1863, accordingly, when the Union army had acquiredpossession of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana, Lincoln issued his"Amnesty Proclamation" and began the work of reconstruction. Hepromised, in the first place, that, with certain exceptions, which hementioned, he would pardon[1] every man who should lay down his arms andswear to support and obey the Constitution, and the EmancipationProclamation. He promised, in the second place, that whenever, in anystate that had attempted secession, voters equal in number to one tenthof those who in 1860 voted for presidential electors, should take thisoath and organize a state government, he would recognize it; that is, hewould consider the state "reconstructed, " loyal, and entitled torepresentation in Congress. 

[Footnote 1: The Constitution gives the President power to pardon alloffenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. ]

Following out this plan, the people of Arkansas, Tennessee, andLouisiana made reconstructed state governments which Lincoln recognized. But here Congress stepped in, refused to seat the senators from thesestates, and made a plan of its own, which Lincoln vetoed. 

%481. Johnson's "My Policy" Plan of Reconstruction. %--So the matterstood when Lee and Johnston surrendered, when Davis was captured, andthe Confederacy fell to pieces. All the laws enacted by the ConfederateCongress at once became null and void. Taxes were no longer collected;letters were no longer delivered; Confederate money had no longer anyvalue. Even the state governments ceased to have any authority. Bands ofUnion cavalry scoured the country, capturing such governors, politicalleaders, and prominent men as could be found, and striking terror intoothers who fled to places of safety. In the midst of this confusion allcivil government ended. To reestablish it under the Constitution andlaws of the United States was, therefore, the first duty of thePresident, and he began to do so at once. First he raised the blockade, and opened the ports of the South to trade; then he ordered theSecretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Interior, thePostmaster-general, the Attorney-general, to see that the taxes werecollected, that letters were delivered, that the courts of the UnitedStates were opened, and the laws enforced in all the Southern States;finally, he placed over each of the unreconstructed states a temporaryor provisional governor. These governors called conventions of delegateselected by such white men as were allowed to vote, and these conventionsdid four things: 1. They declared the ordinances of secession null andvoid. 2. They repudiated every debt incurred in supporting theConfederacy, and promised never to pay one of them. 3. They abolishedslavery within their own bounds. 4. They ratified the ThirteenthAmendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery forever in theUnited States. 

%482. The Thirteenth Amendment%. --This amendment was sent out to thestates by Congress in February, 1865, and was necessary to complete thework begun by the Emancipation Proclamation. That proclamation merelyset free the slaves in certain parts of the country, and left the rightto buy more untouched. Again, certain slave states (Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri) had not seceded, and in them slaverystill existed. In order, therefore, to abolish the institution ofslavery in every state in the Union, an amendment to the Constitutionwas necessary, as many of the states could not be relied on to abolishit within their bounds by their own act. The amendment was formallyproclaimed a part of the Constitution on December 18, 1865. [1]

[Footnote 1: Before an amendment proposed by Congress can become a partof the Constitution, it must be accepted or ratified by the legislaturesof three fourths of all the states. In 1865 there were thirty-six statesin the Union, and of these, sixteen free, and eleven slave statesratified the Thirteenth Amendment, and so made it part of theConstitution. When an amendment has been ratified by the necessarynumber of states, the President states the fact in a proclamation. ]

%483. Treatment of the Freedmen in the South%. --Had the Southernlegislatures stopped here, all would have been well. But they went on, and passed a series of laws concerning vagrants, apprentices, andpaupers, which kept the negroes in a state of involuntary servitude, ifnot in actual slavery. 

To the men of the South, who feared that the ignorant negroes wouldrefuse to work, these laws seemed to be necessary. But by the men of theNorth they were regarded as signs of a determination on the part ofSouthern men not to accept the abolition of slavery. When, therefore, Congress met in December, 1865, the members were very angry because thePresident had reconstructed the late Confederate states in his own waywithout consulting Congress, and because these states had made suchsevere laws against the negroes. 

%484. Congressional Plan of Reconstruction%. --As soon as the twohouses were organized, the President and his work were ignored, thesenators and representatives from the eleven states that had secededwere refused seats in Congress, and a series of acts were passed toprotect the freedmen. 

One of these, enacted in March, 1866, was the "Civil Rights" Bill, whichgave negroes all the rights of citizenship and permitted them to sue forany of these rights (when deprived of them) in the United States courts. This was vetoed; but Congress passed the bill over the veto. Now, a lawenacted by one Congress can, of course, be repealed by another, and lestthis should be done, and the freedmen be deprived of their civil rights, Congress (June, 1866) passed the Fourteenth Amendment to theConstitution, and made the ratification of it by the Southern States acondition of readmittance to Congress. 

Finally, a Freedmen's Bureau Bill, ordering the sale of government landto negroes on easy terms, and giving them military protection for theirrights, was passed over the President's veto, just before Congressadjourned. 

%485. The President abuses Congress%. --During the summer, Johnsonmade speeches at Western cities, in which, in very coarse language, heabused Congress, calling it a Congress of only part of the states; "afactious, domineering, tyrannical Congress, " "a Congress violent inbreaking up the Union. " These attacks, coupled with the fact that someof the Southern States, encouraged by the President's conduct, rejectedthe Fourteenth Amendment, made Congress, when it met in December, 1866, more determined than ever. By one act it gave negroes the right to votein the territories and in the District of Columbia. By another itcompelled the President to issue his orders to the army through GeneralGrant, for Congress feared that he would recall the troops stationed inthe South to protect the freedmen. But the two important acts were the"Tenure of Office Act" and "Reconstruction Act" (March 2, 1867). 

%486. The Reconstruction Act%. --The Reconstruction Act marked out theten unreconstructed states (Tennessee had been admitted to Congress inMarch, 1866) into five districts, with an army officer in command ofeach, and required the people of each state to make a new constitutiongiving negroes the right to vote, and send the constitution to Congress. If Congress accepted it, and if the legislature assembled under itratified the Fourteenth Amendment, they might send senators andrepresentatives to Congress, and not before. 

To these terms six states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas) submitted, and in June, 1868, theywere readmitted to Congress. Their ratification of the FourteenthAmendment made it a part of the Constitution, and in July, 1868, it wasdeclared in force. 

%487. "Tenure of Office Act"; Johnson impeached%--By this time thequarrel between the President and Congress had reached such a crisisthat the Republican, leaders feared he would obstruct the execution ofthe reconstruction law by removing important officials chieflyresponsible for its administration, and putting in their places men whowould not enforce it. To prevent this, Congress, in 1867, passed the"Tenure of Office Act. " Hitherto a President could remove almost anyFederal office holder at pleasure. Henceforth he could only suspendwhile the Senate examined into the cause of suspension. If it approved, the man was removed; if it disapproved, the man was reinstated. Johnsondenied the right of Congress to make such a law, and very soondisobeyed it. 

In August, 1867, he asked Secretary of War Stanton to resign, and whenthe Secretary refused, suspended him and made General Grant temporarySecretary. All this was legal, but when Congress met, and the Senatedisapproved of the suspension, General Grant gave the office back againto Stanton. Johnson then appointed General Lorenzo Thomas Secretary ofWar, and ordered him to seize the office. For this, and for his abusivespeeches about Congress, the House of Representatives impeached him, andthe Senate tried him "for high crimes and misdemeanors, " but failed byone vote to find him guilty. Stanton then resigned his office. 

SUMMARY

1. In 1864 the Republican party was split, and one part, taking the nameof National Union party, renominated Lincoln. The other or radical wing, which wanted a more vigorous war policy, nominated Frémont and Cochrane. The Democrats declared the war a failure, demanded peace, and nominatedMcClellan and Pendleton. 

2. The gradual conquest of the South brought up the question of therelation to the Federal government of a state which had seceded. 

3. Lincoln marked out his own plan of reconstruction in an amnestyproclamation. Congress thought he had no right to do this, and adopted aplan which Lincoln vetoed. His death left the question for Johnsonto settle. 

4. Johnson adopted a plan of his own and soon came into conflict withCongress. 

5. Congress began by refusing seats to congressmen from statesreconstructed on Johnson's plan. It then passed, over Johnson's veto, aseries of bills to protect the freedmen and give them civil rights. 

6. Six states accepted the terms of reconstruction offered, and theirsenators and representatives were admitted to Congress (1868). 

7. Johnson, in 1866, traveled about the West abusing Congress. For this, and chiefly for his disregard of the Tenure of Office Act, he wasimpeached by the House and tried and acquitted by the Senate. 

 * * * * *

RECONSTRUCTON. 

Lincoln's plan ... 

States cannot secede; only some of their people were in insurrection. Amnesty proclamation. Recognizes Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Thirteenth Amendment. 

Johnson's plan ... 

Provisional governors. Ratify Thirteenth Amendment. New state constitutions made. Congressmen chosen. 

Congressional plan ... 

Congress refuses them seats. Civil Rights Bill. Freedmen's Bureau Bill. Tenure of Office Act. Reconstruction Act. Fourteenth Amendment. 

Johnson _vs. _ Congress ... 

Vetoes Civil Rights Bill. Freedmen's Bureau Bill. 

Denounces Congress. Violates Tenure of Office Act. Impeached. 

CHAPTER XXXI

THE NEW WEST (1860-1870)

%488. Discovery of Gold near Pikes Peak. %--In the summer of 1858 newsreached the Missouri that gold had been found on the eastern slope ofthe Rockies, and at once a wild rush set in for the foot of Pikes Peak, in what was then Kansas. 

[Illustration: Crossing the plains]

During 1858 a party from the gold mines of Georgia pitched a camp onCherry Creek and called the place Aurania. Later, in the winter, theywere joined by General Larimer with a party from Leavenworth, Kan. , andby them the rude camp at Aurania was renamed Denver, in honor of thegovernor of Kansas. In another six months emigrants came pouring in fromevery point along the frontier. Some, providing themselves with greatwhite-covered wagons, drawn by horses, oxen, or mules, joined forces forbetter protection against the Indians, and set out together, makinglong wagon trains or caravans. All were accompanied by men fully armed. Such as could not afford a "prairie schooner, " as the canvas-coveredwagon was called, put their worldly goods into handcarts. 

By 1859 Denver was a settlement of 1000 people. They needed supplies, and, to meet this demand, the firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell put adaily line of coaches on the road from Leavenworth to Denver. This meansof communication brought so many settlers that by 1860 Denver was a cityof frame and brick houses, with two theaters, two newspapers, and a mintfor coining gold. 

%489. The Pony Express; the Overland Stage. %--By that time, too, thefirst locomotive had reached the frontier of Kansas. But between theMissouri and the Pacific there was still a gap of 2000 miles which thesettlers demanded should be spanned at once, and it was. In 1860 thesame firm that sent the first stagecoach over the prairie fromLeavenworth to Denver, ran a pony express from the Missouri to thePacific. Their plan was to start at St. Joseph, Mo. , and send the mailon horseback across the continent to San Francisco. As the speed must berapid, there must be frequent relays. Stations were thereforeestablished every twenty-five miles, and at them fresh horses and riderswere kept. Mounted on a spirited Indian pony, the mail carrier would setout from St. Joseph and gallop at breakneck speed to the first relaystation, swing himself from his pony, vault into the saddle of anotherstanding ready, and dash on toward the next station. At every thirdrelay a fresh rider took the mail. Day and night, in sunshine and storm, over prairie and mountain, the mail carrier pursued his journey alone. The cost in human life was immense. The first riders made the journey of1996 miles in ten days. Next came the Wells and Fargo Express, and thenthe Butterfield Overland Stage Company. 

%490. The Union Pacific Railroad; the Land Grant Roads. %--Meantimethe war opened, and an idea often talked of took definite shape. California had scarcely been admitted, in 1850, when the plan to bindher firmly to the Union by a great railroad, built at national cost, wasurged vigorously. By 1856 the people began to demand it, and in thatyear the Republican party, and in 1860 both the Republican andDemocratic parties, pledged themselves to build one. The secession ofthe South, and the presence at Denver of a growing population, made theneed imperative, and in 1862 Congress began the work. 

Two companies were chartered. One, the Union Pacific, was to begin atOmaha and build westward. The other, the Central Pacific, was to beginat Sacramento and build eastward till the two met. The Union Pacific wasto receive from the government a subsidy in bonds of $16, 000 for eachmile built across the plains, $48, 000 for each of 150 miles across theRocky Mountains, and $32, 000 a mile for the rest of the way. It receivedall told on its 1033 miles $27, 226, 000. The Central Pacific, under likeconditions, received for its 883 miles from San Francisco to Ogden$27, 850, 000. But the liberality of Congress did not end here. Each roadwas also given every odd-numbered section in a strip of public landtwenty miles wide along its entire length. 

%491. Land Grants for Railroads and Canals. %--Grants of land in aidof such improvements were not new. Between 1827 and 1860 Congress gaveaway to canals, roads, and railroads 215, 000, 000 acres. This magnificentexpanse would make seven states as large as Pennsylvania, or three and ahalf as large as Oregon, and is only 6000 acres less than the total areaof the thirteen original states with their present boundaries. 

Although the roads were chartered in 1862, the work of construction wasslow at first, and the last rail was not laid till May 10, 1869. 

%492. The Silver Mines; New States and Territories. %--What thediscovery of gold did for California and Denver, silver and the railroaddid for the country east of the Sierras. In 1859 some gold seekers inwhat was then Utah discovered the rich silver mines on Mt. Davidson. Population rushed in, Virginia City sprang into existence, the territoryof Nevada was formed in 1861, and in 1864 entered the Union as a state. In 1861 Colorado was made a territory, and what is now North and SouthDakota and the land west of them to the Rocky Mountain divide became theterritory of Dakota. Hardly was this done when gold was found in a gulchon the Jefferson Fork of the Missouri River. Bannock City, VirginiaCity, and Helena were laid out almost immediately, and in 1864 Montanawas made a territory. In 1860 and 1862 precious metals were found inwhat was then eastern Washington; Lewiston, Idaho City, and the oldHudson Bay Company's post of Fort Boise became thriving towns, and in1863 the territory of Idaho was formed, with limits including what isnow Montana and part of Wyoming. In 1863 Arizona was cut off from NewMexico, and in 1868 Wyoming was made a territory. 

%493. Population in 1870. %--Thus in the decade from 1860 to 1870gold, silver, and the Pacific Railroad gave value to the AmericanDesert, brought two states (Nevada and Nebraska) into the Union, andcaused the organization of six new territories. More than 1, 000, 000people then lived along the line of the Union Pacific. Our totalpopulation in 1870 was 38, 000, 000. 

SUMMARY

1. What the discovery of gold did for California in 1849, it did for the"Great American Desert" in 1858. 

2. The consequences were the founding of Denver, the establishment of astagecoach line from the Missouri to Denver, the pony express to thePacific; the overland coach; and the Pacific Railroad. 

3. Gold, the railroad, and the silver mines led to the organization ofColorado, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, and the admission ofNebraska and Nevada into the Union. 

4. Other causes led to the organization of Arizona and Dakota. 

New States (1860-1870). 

 Kansas, 1861. West Virginia, 1863. Nevada, 1864. Nebraska, 1867. Total number of states in 1870, 37. 

New Territories (1860-1870). 

 Colorado, 1861. Dakota, 1861. Idaho, 1863. Arizona, 1863. Montana, 1864. Wyoming, 1868. 

_THE ECONOMIC STRUGGLE_

CHAPTER XXXII

POLITICS FROM 1868 TO 1880

%494. New Issues before the People. %--Five years had now passed sincethe surrender of Lee, and nine since the firing on Sumter. During theseyears the North, aroused and united by the efforts put forth to crushthe Confederacy, had entered on a career of prosperity and developmentgreater than ever enjoyed in the past. With this changed condition camenew issues, some growing out of the results of the war, and some out ofthe development of the country. 

%495. Amnesty. %--In the first place, now that the war was over, thepeople were heartily tired of war issues. Taking advantage of this, certain political leaders began, about 1870, to demand a "generalamnesty" [1] or forgiveness for the rebels, and a stoppage ofreconstructive measures by Congress. 

[Footnote 1: In 1863, Lincoln offered "full pardon" to "all persons"except the leaders of the "existing rebellion. " Johnson, in 1865, againoffered amnesty, but increased the classes of excepted persons; and, though in the autumn of 1867 he cut down the list, he nevertheless lefta great many men unpardoned. ]

%496. The National Finances. %--A second issue resulting from the warwas the management of the national finances. January 1, 1866, thenational debt amounted to $2, 740, 000, 000, including (1) the bonded debtof $1, 120, 000, 000, and (2) the unbonded or floating debt of$1, 620, 000, 000, that part made up of "greenbacks, " fractional currency, treasury notes, and the like. Two problems were thus brought beforethe people:

1. What shall be done with the national bonded debt?

2. How shall the paper money be disposed of and "specie payment"resumed?

As to the first question, it was decided to pay the bonds as fast aspossible; and by 1873 the debt was reduced by more than $500, 000, 000. 

As to the second question, it was decided to "contract the currency" bygathering into the Treasury and there canceling the "greenbacks. " Thiswas begun, and their amount was reduced from $449, 000, 000 in 1864 to$356, 000, 000 in 1868. 

By that time a large part of the people in the West were finding faultwith "contraction. " Calling in the greenbacks, they held, was makingmoney scarce and lowering prices. Congress, therefore, in 1868 yieldedto the pressure, and ordered that further contraction should stop andthat there should not be less than $356, 000, 000 of greenbacks. 

%497. "The Ohio Idea"; the Greenback Party. %--But there was stillanother idea current. To understand this, six facts must be remembered. 1. In 1862 Congress ordered the issue of certain 5-20 bonds; that is, bonds that might be paid after five years, but must be paid in twentyyears. 2. The interest on these bonds was made payable "in coin. " 3. Butnothing was said in the bond as to the kind of money in which theprincipal should be paid. 4. When the greenbacks were issued, the lawsaid they should be "lawful money and a legal tender for all debts, public and private, within the United States, except duties on importsand interest as aforesaid. " 5. This made it possible to pay theprincipal of the 5-20 bonds in greenbacks instead of coin. 6. Fearingthat payment of the principal in greenbacks might have a bad effect onfuture loans, Congress, when it passed the next act (March 3, 1863) forborrowing money, provided that _both_ principal and interest should bepaid in coin. 

At that time and long after the war "coin" commanded a premium; that is, it took more than 100 cents in paper money to buy 100 cents in gold. Anybody who owned a bond could therefore sell the coin he received asinterest for paper and so increase the rate of interest measured inpaper money. The bonds, again, could not be taxed by any state ormunicipality. 

Because of these facts, there arose a demand after the war for twothings--taxation of the bonds and payment of the 5-20's in greenbacks. This idea was so prevalent in Ohio in 1868 that it was called the "Ohioidea, " and its supporters were called "Greenbackers. "

%498. Opposition to Land Grants to Railroads. %--Much fault was nowfound with Congress for giving away such great tracts of the publicdomain. In 1862 a law known as the Homestead Act was passed. By it afarm of 80 or 160 acres was to be given to any head of a family, or anyperson twenty-one years old, who was a citizen of the United States or, being foreign born, had declared an intention to become a citizen, provided he or she lived on the farm and cultivated it for five years. Under this great and generous law 103, 000 entries for 12, 000, 000 acreswere made between 1863 and 1870. This showed that the people wanted landand was one reason why it should not be given to corporations. 

%499. The Election of 1868. %--The questions discussed above (pp. 437-439) became the political issues of 1868. 

The Republicans nominated Grant and Schuyler Colfax and declared for thepayment of all bonds in coin; for a reduction of the national debt andthe rate of interest; and for the encouragement of immigration. 

The Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour and Francis P. Blair, anddemanded amnesty; rapid payment of the debt; "one currency for thegovernment, and the people, the laborer, and the office holder"; thetaxation of government bonds; and no land grants for publicimprovements. 

The popular vote was 5, 700, 000. In the electoral college Grant had 214votes, and Seymour 80. 

%500. Troubles in the South; the Ku Klux Klan. %--Grant and Colfaxbegan their term of office on March 4, 1869, and soon found that thereconstruction policy of Congress had not been so successful as theycould wish, and that the work of protecting the freedman in the exerciseof his new rights was not yet completed. Three states (Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas) had not yet complied with the conditionsimposed by Congress, and were still refused seats in the House andSenate. No sooner had the others complied with the Reconstruction Act of1867, and given the negro the right to vote, than a swarm of Northernpoliticians, generally of the worst sort, went down and, as they said, "ran things. " They began by persuading the negroes that their oldmasters were about to put them back into slavery, that it was only byelecting Union men to office that they could remain free; and having bythis means obtained control of the negro vote, they were made governorsand members of Congress, and were sent to the state legislature, where, seated beside negroes who could neither read nor write, but who voted asordered, these "carpetbaggers, " [1] as they were called, ruled the statesin the interest of themselves rather than in that of the people. 

[Footnote 1: As the men were not natives of the South, had no propertythere, and were mostly political adventurers, they were called"carpetbaggers, " or men who owned nothing save what they brought intheir carpetbags. ]

Now, you must remember that in many of the Southern states the negrovoters greatly outnumbered the white voters, because there were moreblack men than white men, and because many of the whites were stilldisfranchised; that is, could not vote. When these men, who wereproperty owners and taxpayers, found that the carpetbaggers, by means ofthe negro vote, were plundering and robbing the states, they determinedto prevent the negro from voting, and so drive the carpetbaggers fromthe legislatures. To do this, in many parts of the South they formedsecret societies, called "The Invisible Empire" and "The Ku Klux Klan. "Completely disguised by masks and outlandish dresses, the members rodeat night, and whipped, maimed, and even murdered the objects of theirwrath, who were either negroes who had become local political leaders, or carpetbaggers, or "scalawags, " as the Southern whites who supportedthe negro cause were called. 

%501. The Fifteenth Amendment. %--To secure the negro the right tovote, and make it no longer dependent on state action, a FifteenthAmendment was passed by Congress in February, 1869, and, afterratification by the necessary number of states, was put in force inMarch, 1870. As the Ku Klux were violating this amendment, by preventingthe negroes from voting, Congress, in 1871, passed the "Ku Klux" or"Force" Act. It prescribed fine and imprisonment for any man convictedof hindering, or even attempting to hinder, any negro from voting, orthe votes, when cast, from being counted. 

[Illustration: U. S. Grant]

%502. Rise of the Liberal Republicans. %--This legislation and theconflicts that grew out of it in Louisiana kept alive the old issue ofamnesty, and in Missouri split the Republican party and led to the riseof a new party, which received the name of "Liberal Republicans, "because it was in favor of a more liberal treatment of the South. FromMissouri, the movement spread into Iowa, into Kansas, into Illinois, andinto New Jersey, and by 1872 was serious enough to encourage the leadersto call for a national convention which gathered at Cincinnati (May, 1872), and, after declaring for amnesty, universal suffrage, civilservice reform, and no more land grants to railroads, nominated HoraceGreeley, of New York, for President, and B. Gratz Brown, the Liberalleader of Missouri, for Vice President. The nomination of Greeleydispleased a part of the convention, which went elsewhere, and nominatedW. S. Groesbeck and F. L. Olmsted. The Republicans met at Philadelphiain June, and nominated Grant and Henry Wilson. The Democrats pledgedtheir support to Greeley and Brown; but this act displeased so many ofthe Democratic party, that another convention was held, and CharlesO'Conor and John Quincy Adams were placed in the field. 

%503. The National Labor-Reform Party. %--From about 1829, when theestablishment of manufactures, the building of turnpikes and canals, thegrowth of population, the rise of great cities, and the arrival ofemigrants from Europe led to the appearance of a great laboring class, the workingman had been in politics. But it was not till the close ofthe war that labor questions assumed national importance. In 1865 thefirst National Labor Congress was held at Louisville in Kentucky. In1866 a second met at Baltimore; a third at Chicago in 1867; and a fourthat New York in 1868, to which came woman suffragists and labor-reformagitators. The next met at Philadelphia in 1869 and called for a greatNational Labor Congress which met at Cincinnati in 1870 and demanded

1. Lower interest on government bonds. 

2. Repeal of the law establishing the national banks. 

3. Withdrawal of national bank notes. 

4. Issue of paper money "based on the faith and resources of thenation, " to be legal tender for all debts. 

5. An eight-hour law. 

6. Exclusion of the Chinese. 

7. No land grants to corporations. 

8. Formation of a "National Labor-Reform Party. "

The idea of a new party with such principles was so heartily approved, that a national convention met at Columbus, O. , in 1872, denouncedChinese labor, demanded taxation of government bonds, and nominatedDavid Davis and Joel Parker. When they declined, O'Conor was nominated. 

%504. Anti-Chinese Movement. %--The demand in the Labor platform forthe exclusion of Chinese makes it necessary to say a word concerning"Mongolian labor. "

Chinamen were attracted to our shore by the discovery of gold inCalifornia, but received little attention till 1852, when the governorin a message reminded the legislature that the Chinese came not asfreemen, but were sent by foreign capitalists under contract; that theywere the absolute slaves of these masters; that the gold they dug out ofour soil was sent to China; that they could not become citizens; andthat they worked for wages so low that no American could competewith them. 

The legislature promptly acted, and repeatedly attempted to stop theirimmigration by taxing them. But the Supreme Court declared such taxationillegal, whereupon, the state having gone as far as it could, an appealwas made to Congress. That body was deaf to all entreaties; but thePresident through Anson Burlingame in 1868 secured some new articles tothe old Chinese treaty of 1858. Henceforth it was to be a penal offenseto take Chinamen to the United States without their free consent. Thiswas not enough, and in order to force Congress to act, the question wasmade a political issue. 

%505. The Prohibition Party. %--The temperance cause in the UnitedStates dates back to 1810. But it was not till Maine passed a lawforbidding the sale of liquor, in 1851, and her example was followed byVermont and Rhode Island in 1852, by Connecticut in 1854, and by NewYork, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Iowa, in 1855, that prohibitionbecame an issue. The war turned the thoughts of people to other things. But after the war, prohibition parties began to appear in severalstates, and in 1869 steps were taken to unite and found a nationalparty. In that year, the Grand Lodges of Good Templars held a conventionat Oswego, N. Y. , and by these men a call was issued for a nationalconvention of prohibitionists to form a political party. The delegatesthus summoned met at Chicago in September, 1869, and there founded the"National Prohibition Reform party. " The first national nominatingconvention was held at Columbus, O. , in 1872, when James Black ofPennsylvania was nominated for President, and John Russell of Michiganfor Vice President. 

%506. Campaign of 1872. %--At the beginning of the campaign there werethus seven presidential candidates before the people. But some refusedto run, and others had no chance, so that the contest was really betweenGeneral Grant and Horace Greeley, who was caricatured unmercifully. Thebenevolent face of the great editor, spectacled, and fringed with asnow-white beard, appeared on fans, on posters, on showcards, where, asa setting sun, it might be seen going down behind the western hills. "Gowest, " his famous advice to young men, became the slang phrase of thehour. He was defeated, for Grant carried thirty-one states, andGreeley six. 

In many respects this was a most interesting election. For the firsttime in our history the freedmen voted for presidential electors. Forthe first time since 1860 the people of all the states took part in theelection of a President of the United States, while the number ofcandidates, Labor, Prohibition, Liberal Republican, Democratic, andRepublican, showed that the old issues which caused the war or werecaused by the war were dead or dying, and that new ones werecoming forward. 

%507. Panic of 1873. %--Now, all these things, the immense expansionof the railroads, and the great outlay necessary for rebuilding Chicago, much of which had been burned in 1871, and Boston, which suffered from agreat fire in 1872, absorbed money and made it difficult to get. Just inthe midst of the stringency a quarrel arose between the farmers and therailroads in the West, and made matters worse. It stopped the sale ofrailroad bonds, and crippled the enterprises that depended on such salefor funds. It impaired the credit of bankers concerned in railroadbuilding, and in September, 1873, a run on them for deposits began tillone of them, Jay Cooke & Co. , failed, and at once a panic swept over thebusiness world. Country depositors demanded their money; the countrybanks therefore withdrew their deposits with the city banks, which inturn called in their loans, and industry of every kind stopped. In 1873there were 5000 failures, and in 1874 there were 5800. Hours of laborwere reduced, wages were cut down, workingmen were discharged bythousands. 

%508. The Inflation Bill. %--In hope of relieving this distress bymaking money easier to get, a demand was now made that Congress shouldissue more greenbacks. To this Congress, in 1874, responded by passingthe "Inflation Bill, " declaring that there should be $400, 000, 000 ingreenbacks, no more, no less. As the limit fixed in 1868 was$356, 000, 000, the bill tended to "inflate" or add to the paper currency$44, 000, 000. Grant vetoed the bill. 

%509. Resumption of Specie Payments. %--What shall be done with thecurrency? now became the question of the hour, and at the next sessionof Congress (1874-75) another effort was made to answer it, and "an actto provide for the resumption of specie payments" was passed. 

1. Under this law, silver 10, 25, and 50 cent pieces were to beexchanged through the post offices and subtreasuries for fractionalcurrency till it was all redeemed. 

2. Surplus revenue might be used and bonds issued for the purchase ofcoin. 

3. That part of an act of 1870 which limited the amount of national banknotes to $354, 000, 000 was repealed. 

4. The banks could now put out more bills; but for each $100 they putout the Secretary of the Treasury must call in $80 of greenbacks, tillbut $300, 000, 000 of them remained. 

5. After January 1, 1879, he must redeem them all on demand. 

%510. The Political Issues of 1876. %--The currency question, the hardtimes which had continued since 1873, the rise of the Labor andProhibition parties, the reports of shameful corruption and dishonestyin every branch of the public service, the dissatisfaction of a largepart of the Republican party with the way affairs were managed by theadministration, combined to make the election of 1876 very doubtful. Thegeneral displeasure was so great that the Democratic party not onlycarried state elections in the North in 1874 and 1875, but secured amajority of the House of Representatives. 

%511. Nomination of Presidential Candidates. %--When the time came tomake nominations for the presidency, the Prohibition party was first toact. It selected Green Clay Smith of Kentucky and G. T. Stewart of Ohioas its candidates, and demanded that in all the territories and theDistrict of Columbia, the importation, exportation, manufacture, andsale of alcoholic beverages should be stopped. Two other demands--theabolition of polygamy (which was practiced by the Mormons in Utah), andthe closing of the mails to the advertisements of gambling and lotteryschemes--have since been secured. 

Next came the Greenback or Independent National party, which nominatedPeter Cooper of New York and Samuel F. Cary of Ohio, and called for therepeal of the Resumption of Specie Payment Act, and the issue of papernotes bearing a low rate of interest. 

In June, the Republicans met in Cincinnati, and nominated Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, and William A. Wheeler of New York. They endorsed thefinancial policy of the party, demanded civil service reform, protectionto American industries, no more land grants to corporations, aninvestigation of the effect of Chinese immigration, and "respectfulconsideration" of the woman's rights question. 

The Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks, andcalled for reforms of every kind--in the civil service, in theadministration, in expenditures, in the internal revenue system, in thecurrency, in the tariff, in the use of public lands, in the treatment ofthe South. 

%512. Result of the Election. %--While the campaign was going on, Colorado was admitted (in August, 1876) as a state. There were thenthirty-eight states in the Union, casting 369 electoral votes. This made185 necessary for a choice; and when the returns were all in, itappeared that, if the Republicans could secure the electoral votes ofSouth Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon, they would have exactly185. In these states, however, a dispute was raging as to which set ofelectors, Republican or Democratic, was elected. Each claimed to be;and, as the result depended on them, each set met and voted. It was thenfor Congress to decide which should be counted. 

Now, the framers of the Constitution had never thought of such acondition of affairs, and had made no provisions to meet it. Congresstherefore provided for an

%513. "Electoral Commission, "% to decide which of the conflictingreturns should be accepted. This commission was to be composed of fivesenators, five representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court. The Senate chose three Republicans and two Democrats; the House, threeDemocrats and two Republicans. Congress appointed two Democratic andtwo Republican justices, who chose the fifth justice, who was aRepublican. The Commission thus consisted of eight Republicans and sevenDemocrats. The decision as to each of the disputed states was in favorof the Republican electors, and as it could not be reversed unless bothhouses of Congress consented, and as both would not consent, Hayes wasdeclared elected, over Tilden, by one electoral vote; namely, Hayes, 185; Tilden, 184. 

[Illustration: Rutherford B. Hayes]

%514. Financial Policy of Grant's Administration. %--The inaugurationof Hayes was followed by a special session of Congress. In the House wasa great Democratic majority, pledged to a new financial measure--apledge which it soon made good. 

The financial policy of Grant's eight years may be summed up briefly:

1. (1869) The "Credit Strengthening Act, " declaring that 5-20 bonds ofthe United States should be paid "in coin. "

2. (1870) The Refunding Act, by which $1, 500, 000, 000 in bonds bearingfive and six per cent interest were ordered to be replaced by otherbonds at four, four and a half, and five per cent. In this refunding, the 5-20's, whose principal was payable in greenbacks, were replaced byothers whose principal was payable "in coin. "

3. (1873) The act of 1873, by stopping the coinage of silver dollars, and taking away the legal tender quality of those in circulation, madethe words "in coin" mean gold. 

4. (1875) All greenbacks were to become redeemable in specie on January1, 1879. 

5. To get specie, bonds might be issued. 

%515. Bland Silver Bill; Silver remonetized. %--Against thecontinuance of this policy the majority of the House stood pledged. Before the session closed, therefore, two bills passed the House. Onerepealed so much of the act of 1875 as provided for the retirement ofgreenbacks and the issue of bonds. The second was brought in by Mr. Bland of Missouri, and is still known by his name. It provided

1. That the silver dollar should again be coined, and at the ratio of 16to 1; that is, that the same number of dollars should be made out ofsixteen pounds of silver as out of one pound of gold. 

2. That silver should be a legal tender, at face value, for all debts, public and private. 

3. That all silver bullion brought to the mints should be coined intodollars without cost to the bringer. This was "free coinage of silver. "

The House passed the bill, but the Senate rejected the "free coinage"provision and substituted the "Allison" amendment. Under this, theSecretary of the Treasury was to _buy_ not less than $2, 000, 000, normore than $4, 000, 000, worth of silver bullion each month, and coin itinto dollars. 

The House accepted the Senate amendment, and when Hayes vetoed the billCongress passed it over his veto and the "Bland-Allison Bill" became alaw in 1878. 

%516. Silver Certificates. %--Now this return to the coinage of thesilver dollar was open to the objection that large sums in silver wouldbe troublesome because of the weight. It was therefore provided that thecoins might be deposited in the Treasury, and paper "silvercertificates" issued against them. 

A few months later, January 1, 1879, the government returned to speciepayment, and ever since has redeemed greenbacks in gold, on demand. 

%517. Foreign Relations; the French in Mexico. %--The statement wasmade that with the exception of Russia the great powers of Europesympathized with the South during the Civil War. Two of them, France andGreat Britain, were openly hostile. The French Emperor allowedConfederate agents to contract for the construction of war vessels inFrench ports, [1] and sent an army into Mexico to overturn that republicand establish an empire. Mexico owed the subjects of Great Britain, France, and Spain large sums of money, and as she would not pay, thesethree powers in 1861 sent a combined army to hold her seaports till thedebts were paid. But it soon became clear that Napoleon had designsagainst the republic, whereupon Great Britain and Spain withdrew. Napoleon, however, seeing that the United States was unable to interferebecause of the Civil War, went on alone, destroyed the Mexican republicand made Maximilian (a brother of the Emperor of Austria) Emperor ofMexico. This was in open defiance of the Monroe Doctrine, and though theUnited States protested, Napoleon paid no attention till 1865. Then, theCivil War having ended, and Sheridan with 50, 000 veteran troops havingbeen sent to the Rio Grande, the French soldiers were withdrawn (1867), and the Mexican republican party captured Maximilian, shot him, andreëstablished the republic. 

[Footnote 1: See Bullock's _Secret Service of the Confederate States inEurope_. ]

%518. The Alabama Claims; Geneva Award. %--The hostility of GreatBritain was more serious than that of France. As we have seen, thecruisers (_Alabama, Shenandoah, Florida_) built in her shipyards went tosea and inflicted great injury on our commerce. Although she was wellaware of this, she for a long time refused to make good the damage done. But wiser counsel in the end prevailed, and in 1871, by the treaty ofWashington, all disputed questions were submitted to arbitration. 

The Alabama claims, as they were called, were sent to a board of fivearbitrators who met at Geneva (1872) and awarded the United States$15, 500, 000 to be distributed among our citizens whose ships andproperty had been destroyed by the cruisers. 

%519. Other International Disputes; the Alaska Purchase. %--To theEmperor of Germany was submitted the question of the true water boundarybetween Washington Territory and British Columbia. He decided in favorof the United States (1872). 

To a board of Fish Commissioners was referred the claim of Canada thatthe citizens of the United States derived more benefit from the fishingin Canadian waters than did the Canadians from using the coast waters ofthe United States. The award made to Great Britain was $5, 500, 000$5, 500, 000 (1877). 

In 1867, we purchased Alaska from Russia for $7, 200, 000. 

SUMMARY

_Financial History, 1868-1880_

1. When the war ended, the national debt consisted of two parts: thebonded, and the unbonded or floating. 

2. As public sentiment demanded the reduction of the debt, it wasdecided to pay the bonds as fast as possible, and contract the currencyby canceling the greenbacks. 

3. Contraction went on till 1868, when Congress ordered it stopped. 

4. The payment of the bonds brought up the question, Shall the 5-20's bepaid in coin or greenbacks?

5. The Democrats in 1868 insisted that the bonds should be redeemed ingreenbacks; the Republicans that they should be paid in coin, --and whenthey won, they passed the "Credit Strengthening Act" of 1869, and in1870 refunded the bonds at lower rates. 

6. In the process of refunding, the 5-20's, whose principal was payablein greenbacks, were replaced by others payable "in coin. " In 1873, thecoinage of the silver dollar was stopped, and the legal-tender qualityof silver was taken away. The words "in coin" therefore meant "in gold. "

7. In 1875 it was ordered that all greenbacks should be redeemed inspecie after January 1, 1879 (resumption of specie payment). 

8. In 1878 silver was made legal tender, and given limited coinage. 

_The South and the Negro_

9. In 1869, three states still refused to comply with the ReconstructionAct of 1867 and had no representatives in Congress. 

10. Such states as had complied and given the negro the right to votewere under "carpetbag" rule. 

11. This rule became so unbearable that the Ku Klux Klan was organizedto terrify the negroes and keep them from the polls. 

12. Congress in consequence sent out the Fifteenth Amendment to theConstitution, and in 1871 enacted the Force Act. 

13. These and other issues, as that of amnesty, split the Republicanparty and led to the appearance of the Liberal Republicans in 1872. 

14. In general, however, party differences turned almost entirely onfinancial and industrial issues. 

[Illustration: INDUSTRIAL AND RAILROAD MAP OF THE UNITED STATES]

CHAPTER XXXIII

GROWTH OF THE NORTHWEST

%520. Results of the War. %--The Civil War was fought by the North forthe preservation of the Union and by the South for the destruction ofthe Union. But we who, after more than thirty years, look back on theresults of that struggle, can see that they did not stop with thepreservation of the Union. Both in the North and in the South the warproduced a great industrial revolution. 

%521. Effect on the South. %--In the South, in the first place, itchanged the system of labor from slave to free. While the South was aslave-owning country free labor would not come in. Without free laborthere could be no mills, no factories, no mechanical industries. TheSouth raised cotton, tobacco, sugar, and left her great resourcesundeveloped. After slavery was abolished, the South was on the samefooting as the North, and her splendid resources began at once to bedeveloped. 

It was found that her rich deposits of iron ore were second to none inthe world. It was found that beneath her soil lay an unbroken coalfield, 39, 000 square miles in extent. It was found that cotton, insteadof being raised in less quantity under a system of free labor, was morewidely cultivated than ever. In 1860, 4, 670, 000 bales were grown; but in1894 the number produced was 9, 500, 000. The result has been the rise ofa New South, and the growth of such manufacturing centers as Birminghamin Alabama and Chattanooga in Tennessee, and of that center of commerce, Atlanta, in Georgia. 

%522. Rise of New Industries in the North. %--Much the same industrialrevolution has taken place in the North. The list of industries wellknown to us, but unknown in 1860, is a long one. The production ofpetroleum for commercial purposes began in 1859, when Mr. Drake drilledhis well near Titusville, in Pennsylvania. In 1860 the daily yield ofall the wells in existence was not 200 barrels. But by 1891 thisindustry had so developed that 54, 300, 000 barrels were produced in thatyear, or 14, 900 a day. 

[Illustration: Scene in the oil regions of Pennsylvania]

The last thirty years have seen the rise of cheese making as adistinctive factory industry; of the manufacture of oleo-margarine, wirenails, Bessemer steel, cotton-seed oil, coke, canned goods; of theimmense mills of Minneapolis, where 10, 000, 000 barrels of flour are madeannually, and of the meat dressing and packing business for whichChicago and Kansas City are famous. 

%523. The New Northwest. %--When the census was taken in 1860, so fewpeople were living in what are now Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho thatthey were not counted. In Dakota there were less than 5000 inhabitants. The discovery of gold and silver did for these territories what it haddone for Colorado. It brought into them so many miners that in 1870 thepopulation of these four territories amounted to 59, 000. Between LakeSuperior (where in the midst of a vast wilderness Duluth had just beenlaid out on the lake shore) and the mining camps in the mountains ofMontana, there was not a town nor a hamlet. (There were indeed a fewforts and Indian agencies and a few trading posts. ) Northern Minnesotawas a forest, into which even the lumbermen had not gone. The regionfrom the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains was the hunting ground of theSioux, and was roamed over by enormous herds of buffalo. 

%524. The Northern Pacific Railroad. %--But this great wilderness wassoon to be crossed by one of the civilizers of the age. After years ofvain effort, the promoters of the Northern Pacific began the building oftheir road in 1870, and pushed it across the plains till Duluth and St. Paul were joined with Puget Sound. As it went further and furtherwestward, emigrants followed it, towns sprang up, and cities grew withastonishing rapidity. 

%525. The New States. %--Idaho, which had no white inhabitants in1860, had 32, 000 in 1880; Montana had 39, 000 in 1880, as against none in1860. Kansas in twenty years increased her population four fold, andNebraska eight fold. This was extraordinary; but it was surpassed byDakota, whose population increased nearly ten fold in ten years(1870-1880), and in 1889 was half a million. The time had now come toform a state government. But as most of the people lived in the southend of the territory, it was cut in two, and North and South Dakota wereadmitted into the Union as states on the same day (November 2, 1889);Montana followed within a fortnight, and Idaho and Wyoming within a year(July, 1890). The four territories, in which in 1860 there were but 5000white settlers, had thus by 1890 become the five states of North andSouth Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, with a population of790, 000. [1]

[Footnote 1: Colorado was admitted to the Union in 1876, Washington in1889 (November 11); and Utah, the forty-fifth state, in 1896, under aconstitution forever prohibiting polygamy. ]

%526. Wheat Farms and Cattle Ranches. %--Such a rush of peoplecompletely transformed the country. The "Great American Desert" was madeproductive. The buffaloes were almost exterminated, and one now is asgreat a curiosity in the West as in the East. More than 7, 000, 000 wereslaughtered in 1871-1872. In lieu of them countless herds of cattle andsheep, and fields of wheat and corn, cover the plains and hills of theNorthwest. In 1896 Montana contained 3, 000, 000 sheep, and Wyoming andIdaho each over 1, 000, 000. In the two Dakotas 60, 000, 000 bushels ofwheat and 30, 000, 000 of corn were harvested. Many of the farms are ofenormous size. Ten, twenty, thirty thousand acre farms are not unknown. One contains 75, 000 acres. 

[Illustration: A typical prairie sod house]

Over this region, the Dakotas, Montana, Kansas, and Nebraska, wanderherds of cattle, the slaughtering and packing of which have founded newbranches of industry. The stockyards at Chicago make a city. [1]

[Footnote 1: Read "Dakota Wheat-Fields, " _Harper's Magazine, _ March, 1880. Also a series of papers in _Harper's Magazine _for 1888. ]

%527. Oklahoma. %--The eagerness of the "cattle kings" to get moreland for these herds to graze over had much to do with the opening ofOklahoma for settlement. Originally it was part of Indian Territory, andwas sold by the Seminole Indians with the express condition that nonebut Indians and freedmen should settle there. But the cattle kings, indefiance of the government, went in and inclosed immense tracts. Manywere driven out, only to come in again. Their expulsion, with that ofsmall proprietors called "boomers, " caused much agitation. Congressbought a release from the condition, and in 1889 opened Oklahoma tosettlement. 

%528. The Boom Towns. %--A proclamation that a part of Oklahoma wouldbe opened April 22, caused a wild rush from every part of the West, tillfive times as many settlers as could possibly obtain land were lined upon the borders waiting for the signal to cross. Precisely at noon onApril 22, a bugle sounded, a wild yell answered, a cloud of dust filledthe air, and an army of men on foot, on horseback, in wagons, rushedinto the promised land. That morning Guthrie was a piece of prairieland. That night it was a city of 10, 000 souls. Before the end of theyear 60, 000 people were in Oklahoma, building towns and cities of nomean character. 

Within fifteen years Oklahoma had a population of over half a million;and Congress provided (1906) for the admission, in 1907, of a newforty-sixth state, including both Oklahoma and what was left of the oldIndian Territory. 

SUMMARY

1. One important result of the Civil War was a great industrialrevolution. 

2. Mining for precious metals, the Northern Pacific Railroad, and othercauses led to the admission into the Union of Colorado (1876), North andSouth Dakota, Montana, Washington (1889), Idaho, Wyoming (1890), Utah(1896), and Oklahoma (1907). 

CHAPTER XXXIV

MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS

%529. Mechanical Progress. %--The mechanical progress made by ourcountrymen since the war surpasses that of any previous period. In 1866another cable was laid across the bed of the Atlantic Ocean, and workedsuccessfully. Before 1876 the Gatling gun, dynamite, and the barbed-wirefence were introduced; the compressed-air rock drill, the typewriter, the Westinghouse air brake, the Janney car coupler, the cable-carsystem, the self-binding reaper and harvester, the cash carrier forstores, water gas, and the tin-can-making machine were invented, andBrush gave the world the first successful electric light. 

%530. Uses of Electricity. %--Till Brush invented his arc light anddynamo, the sole practical use made of electricity was in the field oftelegraphy. But now in rapid succession came the many forms of electriclights and electric motors; the electric railway, the search light;photography by electric light; the welding of metals by electricity; thephonograph and the telephone. In the decade between 1876 and 1886 camealso the hydraulic dredger, the gas engine, the enameling of sheet-ironware for kitchen use, the bicycle, and the passenger elevator, which hastransformed city life and dotted our great cities with buildings fifteenand twenty stories high. 

The decade 1886-1896 gave us the graphophone, the kinetoscope, thehorseless carriage, the vestibuled train, the cash register, theperfected typewriter; the modern bicycle, which has deeply affected thelife of the people; and a great development in photography. 

%531. Rise of Great Corporations. %--That mechanical progress soastonishing should powerfully affect the business and industrial worldwas inevitable. Trades, occupations, industries of all sorts, began toconcentrate and combine, and corporations took the place of individualsand small companies. In place of the forty little telegraph companies of1856, there was the great Western Union Company. In place of many pettyrailroads, there were a few trunk lines. In place of a hundred producersand refiners of petroleum, there was the one Standard Oil Company. Theseare but a few of many; for the rapid growth of corporations was acharacteristic of the period. 

%532. Millionaires and "Captains of Industry. "%--As old lines ofindustry were expanded and new ones were created, the opportunities formoney-getting were vastly increased. Men now began to amass immensefortunes in gold and silver mining; by dealing in coal, in grain, incattle, in oil; by speculation in stocks; in iron and steel making; inrailroading, --millionaires and multi-millionaires became numerous, andwere often called "captains of industry, " as an indication of the powerthey held in the industrial world. 

%533. Condition of Labor. %--Meanwhile, the conditions of theworkingman were also changing rapidly: 1. The chief employers of laborwere corporations and great capitalists. 2. The short voyage and lowfare from Europe, the efforts made by steamship companies to securepassengers, the immense business activity in the country from 1867 to1872, and the opportunities afforded by the rapidly growing West, brought over each year hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Europeto swell the ranks of labor. Between 1867 and 1873 the number was2, 500, 000. 3. Bad management on the part of some corporations;"watering" or unnecessarily increasing their stock on the part ofothers, combined with sharp competition, began, especially after thepanic of 1873, to cut down dividends. This was followed by reduction ofwages, or by an increase in the duties of employees, and sometimesby both. 

%534. Labor Organizations; the Knights of Labor. %--Trades unionsexisted in our country before the Constitution; but it was at the timeof the great industrial development during and after the war, that theera of unions opened. At first that of each trade had no connectionwith that of any other. But in 1869 an effort was made to unite allworkingmen on the broad basis of labor, and "The Noble Order of Knightsof Labor" was founded. For a while it was a secret order; but in 1878 adeclaration of principles was made, which began with the statement thatthe alarming development and aggressiveness of great capitalists andcorporations, unless checked, "would degrade the toiling masses, " andannounced that the only way to check this evil was to unite "alllaborers into one great body. " The knights were in favor of

1. The creation of bureaus of labor for the collection and spread ofinformation. 

2. Arbitration between employers and employed. 

3. Government ownership of telegraphs, telephones, railroads. 

4. The reduction of the working day to eight hours. 

They were opposed

1. To the hiring out of convict labor. 

2. To the importation of foreign labor under contract. 

3. To interest-bearing government bonds, and in favor of a nationalcurrency issued directly to the people without the interventionof banks. 

%535. The Workingman in Politics%. --As these ends could be securedonly by legislation, they very quickly became political issues andbrought up a new set of economic questions for settlement. From 1865 to1870 the matters of public concern were the reconstruction measures andthe public debt. From 1870 to 1878 they were currency questions, civilservice reform, and land grants to railroads. From 1878 to 1888 almostevery one of them was in some way directly connected with labor. 

SUMMARY

1. Great inventions founded and developed new industries. 

2. These in turn expanded the ranks of labor, and led to the rise ofcorporations and labor organizations, and a demand for a long seriesof reforms. 

CHAPTER XXXV

POLITICS SINCE 1880

%536. Candidates in 1880. %--The campaign of 1880 was opened by themeeting of the Republican national convention at Chicago, where a longand desperate effort was made to nominate General Grant for a thirdterm. But James Abram Garfield and Chester A. Arthur were finallychosen. The platform called for national aid to state education, forprotection to American labor, for the suppression of polygamy in Utah, for "a thorough, radical, and complete" reform of the civil service, andfor no more land grants to railroads or corporations. 

The Greenback-Labor party nominated James B. Weaver and B. J. Chambers, and declared

1. That all money should be issued by the government and not by bankingcorporations. 

2. That the public domain must be kept for actual settlers and not givento railroads. 

3. That Congress must regulate commerce between the states, and securefair, moderate, and uniform rates for passengers and freight. 

Next came the Prohibition party convention, and the nomination of NealDow and Henry Adams Thompson. 

Last of all was the Democratic convention, which nominated GeneralWinfield S. Hancock and William H. English. The platform called for

1. Honest money, consisting of gold and silver and paper convertibleinto coin on demand. 

2. A tariff for revenue only. 

3. Public lands for actual settlers. 

%537. Election and Death of Garfield. %--The campaign was remarkablefor several reasons:

1. Every presidential elector was chosen by popular vote; and everyelectoral vote was counted as it was cast. This was the firstpresidential election in our country of which both these statementscould be made. 

2. For the first time since 1844 there was no agitation of a Southernquestion. 

3. All parties agreed in calling for anti-Chinese legislation. 

Garfield and Arthur were elected, and inaugurated on March 4, 1881. Buton July 2, 1881, as Garfield stood in a railway station at Washington, adisappointed office seeker came up behind and shot him in the back. Along and painful illness followed, till he died on September 19, 1881. 

[Illustration: James A. Garfield]

[Illustration: Chester A. Arthur]

%538. Presidential Succession%--The death of Garfield and thesuccession of Arthur to the presidential office left the country in apeculiar situation. An act of Congress passed in 1792 provided that ifboth the presidency and vice presidency were vacant at the same time, the President _pro tempore_ of the Senate, or if there were none, theSpeaker of the House of Representatives, should act as President, till anew one was elected. But in September, 1881, there was neither aPresident _pro tempore_ of the Senate nor a Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, as the Forty-sixth Congress ceased to exist on March 4, and the Forty-seventh was not to meet till December. Had Arthur died orbeen killed, there would therefore have been no President. It was notlikely that such a condition would happen again; but attention wascalled to the necessity of providing for succession to the presidency, and in 1886 a new law was enacted. Now, should the presidency and vicepresidency both become vacant, the presidency passes to members of theCabinet in the order of the establishment of their departments, beginning with the Secretary of State. Should he die, be impeached andremoved, or become disabled, it would go to the Secretary of theTreasury, and then, if necessary, to the Secretary of War, theAttorney-general, the Postmaster-general, the Secretary of the Navy, theSecretary of the Interior. 

%539. Party Pledges redeemed. %--Since the Republican party was inpower, a redemption of the pledges in their platform was necessary, andthree laws of great importance were enacted. One, the Edmunds law(1882), was intended to suppress polygamy in Utah and the neighboringterritories. Another (1882) stopped the immigration of Chinese laborersfor ten years. The third, the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883), wasdesigned to secure appointment to public office on the ground offitness, and not for political service. 

%540. Corporations. %--These measures were all good enough in theirway; but they left untouched grievances which the workingmen and a greatpart of the people felt were unbearable. That the development of thewealth and resources of our country is chiefly due to great corporationsand great capitalists is strictly true. But that many of them abused thepower their wealth gave them cannot be denied. They were accused ofbuying legislatures, securing special privileges, fixing prices to suitthemselves, importing foreign laborers under contract in order todepress wages, and favoring some customers more than others. 

%541. The Anti-monopoly and Labor Parties. %--Out of this condition ofaffairs grew the Anti-monopoly party, which held a convention in 1884and demanded that the Federal government should regulate commercebetween the states; that it should therefore control the railroads andthe telegraphs; that Congress should enact an interstate commerce law;and that the importation of foreign laborers under contract should bemade illegal. 

This platform was so fully in accordance with the views of the Greenbackor National party, that Benjamin F. Butler, the candidate of theAnti-monopolists, was endorsed and so practically united thetwo parties. 

[Illustration: Grover Cleveland]

%542. The Republican and Democratic Parties%. --The Republicansnominated James G. Blaine and John A. Logan, and the Democrats StephenGrover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks. The Prohibitionists put upJohn P. St. John and William Daniel. The nomination of Blaine was thesignal for the revolt of a wing of the Republicans, which took the nameof Independents, and received the nickname of "Mugwumps. " The revolt wasserious in its consequences, and after the most exciting contest since1876, Cleveland was elected. 

%543. Public Measures adopted during 1885-1889. %--Widely as theparties differed on many questions, Democrats, Republicans, andNationalists agreed in demanding certain reform measures which were nowcarried out. In 1885 an Anti-Contract-Labor law was enacted, forbiddingany person, company, or corporation to bring any aliens into the UnitedStates under contract to perform labor or service. In 1887 came theInterstate Commerce Act, placing the railroads under the supervision ofcommissioners whose duty it is to see that all charges for thetransportation of passengers and freight are "reasonable and just, " andthat no special rates, rebates, drawbacks, or unjust discriminations aremade for one shipper over another. In 1888 a second Chinese ExclusionAct prohibited the return of any Chinese laborer who had once left thecountry. That same year a Department of Labor was established and put incharge of a commissioner. His duty is to "diffuse among the people ofthe United States useful information on subjects connected with labor. "

%544. Political Issues since 1888%. --Thus by the end of Mr. Cleveland's first term many of the demands of the workingmen had beengranted, and laws enacted for their relief. These issues disposed of, anew set arose, and after 1888 financial questions took the place oflabor issues. 

%545. The Surplus and the Tariff. %--These financial problems werebrought up by the condition of the public debt. For twenty years pastthe debt had been rapidly growing less and less, till on December 1, 1887, it was $1, 665, 000, 000, a reduction of more than $1, 100, 000, 000 intwenty-one years. By that time every bond of the United States thatcould be called in and paid at its face value had been canceled. As allthe other bonds fell due, some in 1891 and others in 1907, thegovernment must either buy them at high rates, or suffer them to run. Ifit suffered them to run, a great surplus would pile up in the Treasury. Thus on December 1, 1887, after every possible debt of the governmentwas met, there was a surplus of $50, 000, 000. Six months later (June 1, 1888) the sum had increased to $103, 000, 000. 

Unless this was to go on, and the money of the country be locked up inthe Treasury, one of three things must be done:

1. More bonds must be bought at high rates. 

2. Or the revenue must be reduced by reducing taxation. 

3. Or the surplus must be distributed among the states as in 1837, orspent. 

%546. The Mills Tariff Bill. %--Each plan had its advocates. But theDemocrats, who controlled the House of Representatives, attempted tosolve the problem by cutting down the revenue, and passed a tariff bill, called the Mills Bill, after its chief author, Mr. R. Q. Mills of Texas. The Republicans declared it was a free-trade measure and defeated it inthe Senate. 

%547. The Campaign of 1888; Benjamin Harrison, Twenty-thirdPresident. %--In the party platforms of 1888 we find, therefore, thatthree issues are prominent: (1) taxation, (2) tariff reform, (3) thesurplus. The Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman, and demanded frugality in public expenses, no more revenue than wasneeded to pay the necessary cost of government, and a tariff for revenueonly. The Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton, and demanded a tariff for protection, a reduction of the revenue by therepeal of taxes on tobacco and on spirits used in the arts, and by theadmission free of duty of foreign-made articles the like of which arenot produced at home. 

[Illustration: Benjamin Harrison]

The Prohibitionists, the Union Labor party, and the United Labor partyalso placed candidates in the field. Harrison and Morton were elected, and inaugurated March 4, 1889. 

%548. The Republicans in Control. %--The Republican party not onlyregained the presidency, but was once more in control of the House andSenate. Thus free to carry out its pledges, it passed the McKinleyTariff Act (1890); a new pension bill, which raised the number ofpensioners to 970, 000, and the sum annually spent on pensions from$106, 000, 000 to $150, 000, 000; and a new financial measure, known as

%549. The Sherman Act. %--You remember that the attempt to enact a lawfor the free coinage of silver in 1878 led to the Bland-Allison Act, forthe purchase of bullion and the coinage of at least $2, 000, 000 worth ofsilver each month. As this was not free coinage, the friends of silvermade a second attempt, in 1886, to secure the desired legislation. Thisalso failed. But in the summer of 1890, the silver men, having amajority of the Senate, passed a free-coinage bill (June 17), which theHouse rejected (June 25). A conference followed, and from thisconference came a bill which was quickly enacted into a law and calledthe Sherman Act. It provided

1. That the Secretary of the Treasury should buy 4, 500, 000 ounces ofsilver each month. 

2. That he should pay for the bullion with paper money called treasurynotes. 

3. That on demand of the holder the Secretary must redeem these notes ingold or silver. 

4. After July 1, 1891, the silver need not be coined, but might bestored in the Treasury, and silver certificates issued. 

%550. The Farmers' Alliance%. --This legislation, combined with anagricultural depression and widespread discontent in the agriculturalstates, caused the defeat of the Republicans in the elections of 1890. The Democratic minority of 21 in the House of Representatives of theFifty-first Congress was turned into a Democratic majority of 135 in theFifty-second. Eight other members were elected by the Farmers' Alliance. 

For twenty years past the farmers in every great agricultural state hadbeen organizing, under such names as Patrons of Husbandry, Farmers'League, the Grange, Patrons of Industry, Agricultural Wheel, Farmers'Alliance. Their object was to promote sociability, spread informationconcerning agriculture and the price of grain and cattle, and guard theinterests and welfare of the farmer generally. By 1886 many of thesebegan to unite, and the National Agricultural Wheel of the UnitedStates, the Farmers' Alliance and Cooperative Union of America, andseveral more came into existence. In 1889 the amalgamation was carriedfurther still, and at a convention in St. Louis they were allpractically united in the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union. 

The purpose of this alliance was political, and as its stronghold wasKansas, the contest began in that state in 1890. At a convention ofAlliance men and Knights of Labor, a "People's Party" was formed, whichelected a majority of the state legislature. Five out of sevenCongressmen were secured, and one United States senator. Before Congressmet (in December, 1891), another member of the House was electedelsewhere, and three more senators. The support of fifty otherrepresentatives was claimed. Greatly elated over this important footing, the Alliance men marked out a plan for congressional legislation. They demanded

1. A bill for the free and unlimited coinage of silver. 

2. The subtreasury scheme. 

3. A Land Mortgage Bill. 

%551. The Subtreasury Plan of the Alliance Party. %--The idea at thebase of these demands was that the amount of money in circulation mustbe increased, and loaned to the people without the aid of banks orcapitalists. It was proposed, therefore, that the government shouldestablish a number of subtreasury or money-loaning stations in eachstate, at which the farmers could borrow money from the government (attwo per cent interest), giving as security non-perishable farm produce. 

%552. The Land Mortgage Scheme% provided that any owner of from 10 to320 acres of land, at least half of which was under cultivation, mightborrow from the government treasury notes equal to half the assessedvalue of the land and buildings. 

%553. The People's Party organized. %--That either of the old partieswould further such schemes was far from likely. A cry was thereforeraised by the most ardent Alliance men for a third party, and at aconference of Alliance and Labor leaders in May, 1891, a new nationalparty was founded, and named "The People's Party of the United Statesof America. "

%554. Party Candidates in 1892. %--When the campaign opened in 1892there were thus four parties in the field. The People's party nominatedJames B. Weaver and James G. Field. The platform called for

1. The free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the ratio of 16to 1. 

2. A graduated income tax. 

3. Government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. 

4. The restriction of immigration. 

5. A national currency to be loaned to the people at two per centinterest per annum, secured by land or produce. 

6. All land held by aliens, or by railroads in excess of their actualneeds, to be reclaimed and held for actual settlers. 

The Prohibitionists nominated John Bidwell and J. B. Cranfill, anddeclared "anew for the entire suppression of the manufacture, sale, importation, exportation, and transportation of alcoholic liquors as abeverage. "

The Democratic party selected Grover Cleveland for the third time andchose Adlai E. Stevenson for Vice President. The platform condemnedtrusts and combines, advocated the reclamation of the public lands fromcorporations and syndicates, the exclusion of the Chinese and of thecriminals and paupers of Europe, denounced "the Sherman Act of 1890, "and called for "the coinage of both gold and silver withoutdiscriminating against either metal or charge for mintage, " with "thedollar unit of coinage of both metals" "of equal intrinsic andexchangeable value. "

The Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid, expressedtheir sympathy with the cause of temperance, their opposition to trusts, and called for the coinage of both gold and silver in such way that "thedebt-paying power of the dollar, whether silver, gold, or paper, shallbe at all times equal. "

%555. Grover Cleveland reëlected. %--The election was a completetriumph for the Democratic party. Mr. Cleveland was again elected, andfor the first time since 1861 the House, Senate, and President were allthree Democratic. 

Mr. Cleveland was inaugurated March 4, 1893. Never in its history had thecountry been seemingly more prosperous; the crops were bountiful;business was flourishing, manufactures were thriving. But the prosperitywas not real. Business was inflated, and during the following summer anindustrial and financial panic which had long been brewing swept overthe business world, wrecking banks and destroying industrial andcommercial establishments. 

To understand what now happened, two facts must be remembered:

1. Under the Resumption of Specie Payment Act of 1875, the Secretary ofthe Treasury was authorized to buy specie by the issue of bonds and keepit to redeem United States notes. 

2. In May, 1878, it was ordered that when a greenback was redeemed inspecie, it should "not be retired, canceled, or destroyed, but shall bereissued and paid out again and kept in circulation. " There were then$346, 681, 000 in greenbacks unredeemed. 

%556. The Gold Reserve. %--Meantime, under the law of 1875, and beforeJanuary 1, 1879, the secretary issued $95, 500, 000 in bonds, the proceedsof which, with other gold then in the Treasury, made a fund deemedsufficient to redeem such notes as were likely to be presented. This hassince been called our gold reserve, and has been fixed by thesecretaries at $100, 000, 000. January 1, 1879, the reserve was$114, 000, 000, and though it often rose and fell, it never went belowthat amount till July, 1892. By that time there were other goldobligations. The silver purchased under the law of 1890 was paid forwith notes exchangeable for "coin"; but as the secretaries alwaysconstrued "coin" to mean gold, and as by 1893 these notes amounted to$150, 000, 000, our gold obligations--that is, notes exchangeable forgold--were nearly $500, 000, 000 (greenbacks, $346, 000, 000; silverpurchase notes, $150, 000, 000). This immense and steadily increasing sumcaused a doubt of our ability to pay in gold, and a fear that we mightbe forced to pay in silver. Now silver, since 1873, had fallen steadilyin value from $1. 30 an ounce to $0. 81 an ounce in 1893, so that thebullion value of a silver dollar was about 67 cents. The fear, then, that our debts might be paid in silver (1) led foreigners to ceaseinvesting money in this country, and to send our stocks and bonds hometo be sold, and (2) led people in this country to draw gold out of thebanks and the Treasury and hoard it, so that in April, 1893, the goldreserve, for the first time since it was created, fell below$100, 000, 000 (to $97, 000, 000). 

%557. The Panic of 1893. %--Business depression and "tight money"followed. Over three hundred banks suspended or failed, manufactoriesall over the country shut down, and a period of great distress set in. People, alarmed at the condition of the banks, began to draw theirdeposits and hoard them, thereby causing such a scarcity of bills ofsmall denominations that a "currency famine" was threatened. 

%558. The Purchase of Silver stopped. %--Believing that the fear thatwe should soon be "on a silver basis" had much to do with this state ofaffairs, and that the compulsory purchase of silver each month had muchto do with the fear, the President assembled Congress in specialsession, August 7, and asked for the repeal of that clause of theSherman Act of 1890 which required a monthly purchase of silver. After astruggle in which both of the old parties were split, the compulsorypurchase clause was repealed, November 1, 1893. 

%559. The Silver Movement. %--The steady fall in the bullion value ofsilver was a serious blow to the prosperity of the greatsilver-producing states, --Colorado, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and the territories of Arizona and NewMexico, --where silver mining was "the very heart from which every otherindustry receives support. " In Colorado alone 15, 000 miners were madeidle. To the people of this section, some 2, 000, 000 in number, thesilver question was of vital importance; and, alarmed at the call forthe special session of Congress and the possible repeal of thesilver-purchase clause, they held a convention at Denver, with a view toaffecting public sentiment. A few weeks after, the National BimetallicLeague met at Chicago. Both opposed the repeal, and demanded that if thegovernment ceased to buy silver, the mints should be opened to freecoinage. This the friends of silver in the Senate attempted in vain tobring about. 

%560. The Industrial Depression; the Wilson Bill. %--The industrialrevival which it was hoped would follow the repeal of thesilver-purchase law did not take place. Prices did not rise; failurescontinued; the long-silent mills did not reopen; gold continued to leavethe country, imports fell off, and, when the year ended, the receipts ofthe government were $34, 000, 000 behind the expenditures. With thiscondition of the Treasury facing it, Congress met in December, 1893. TheDemocrats were in control, and pledged to revise the tariff; and true tothe pledge, William L. Wilson of West Virginia, Chairman of the HouseCommittee on Ways and Means, presented a new tariff bill (the WilsonBill) which after prolonged debate passed both Houses and became a lawat midnight, August 27, 1894, without the President's signature. As itwas expected that the revenue yielded would not be sufficient to meetthe expenses of government, one section of the law provided for a tax oftwo per cent on all incomes above $4000. This the Supreme Courtafterwards declared unconstitutional. 

%561. The Bond Issues. %--We have seen that in April, 1893, the goldreserve fell to $97, 000, 000. But it did not stop there; for, thebusiness depression and the demand for the free and unlimited coinage ofsilver continuing, the withdrawal of gold went on, till the reserve wasso low that bonds were repeatedly sold for gold wherewith to maintainit. In this wise, during 1894-95, $262, 000, 000 were added to ourbonded debt. 

%562. Foreign Relations; the Hawaiian Revolution. %--when Clevelandtook office, a treaty providing for the annexation of the HawaiianIslands was pending in the Senate. In January, 1983, these islands werethe scene of a revolution, which deposed the Queen and set up a"provisional government. " Commissioners were then dispatched toWashington, where a treaty of annexation was negotiated and (February15) sent to the Senate for approval. In the course of the revolution, aforce of men from the United States steamer _Boston_ was landed at therequest of the revolutionary leaders, and our flag was raised over someof the buildings. When these facts became known, the President, fearingthat the presence of United States marines might have contributed muchto the success of the revolution, recalled the treaty from the Senate, and sent an agent to the islands to investigate. His report set forth insubstance that the revolution would never have taken place had it notbeen for the presence and aid of United States marines, and that theQueen had practically been deposed by United States officials. A newminister was thereupon sent, with instructions to announce that thetreaty of annexation would not be confirmed, and to seek for therestoration of the Queen on certain conditions. But President Dole ofthe Hawaiian republic denied the right of Cleveland to imposeconditions, or in any way interfere in the domestic concerns of Hawaii, and refused to surrender to the Queen. 

%563. The Venezuelan Boundary Dispute. %--During 1895, the boundarydispute which had been dragging on for more than half a century betweenGreat Britain and Venezuela, reached what the President called "an acutestage, " and made necessary a statement of the position of the UnitedStates under the Monroe Doctrine. Great Britain was therefore informed"that the established policy of the United States is against a forcibleincrease of any territory of a European power" in the New World, and"that the United States is bound to protest against the enlargement ofthe area of British Guiana against the will of Venezuela"; and she wasinvited to submit her claims to arbitration. Her answer was that theMonroe Doctrine was "inapplicable to the state of things in which welive at the present day" and a refusal to submit her claims toarbitration. The President then asked and received authority to appointa commission to examine the boundary and report. "When such report ismade and accepted, " said Cleveland, "it will in my opinion be the dutyof the United States to resist by every means in its power, as a willfulaggression upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by GreatBritain of any lands, or the exercise of any governmental jurisdiction, over any territory which after investigation we have determined of rightbelongs to Venezuela. " For a time the excitement this message aroused inGreat Britain and our own country was extreme. But it soon subsided, andon February 2, 1897, a treaty of arbitration was signed at Washingtonbetween Great Britain and Venezuela. 

%564. The Election of 1896%. --By that time the presidential electionwas over. When in the spring the time came to choose delegates to theparty nominating conventions, the drift of public sentiment was sostrong against the administration, that it seemed certain that theRepublicans would "sweep the country. " Little interest, therefore, wastaken by the Democrats, while the Republicans were most concerned in thequestion whether Mr. McKinley or Mr. Reed should be their presidentialcandidate. But as delegates were chosen by the Democrats in the Westernand Southern States, it became certain that the issue was to be the freeand unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1. 

The Republican convention met in June, nominated William McKinley andGarret A Hobart, and declared the party "opposed to the free coinage ofsilver except by international agreement, " whereupon thirty-fourdelegates representing the silver states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, and Utah) seceded from the party. The Democraticconvention assembled early in July, and after a most exciting conventionchose William J. Bryan and Arthur Sewall, and declared for "the free andunlimited coinage of both silver and gold at the present legal ration of16 to 1, without waiting for the aid and consent of any other nation. " Agreat defection followed this declaration, scores of newspapers refusedto support the candidates, and in September a convention of "goldDemocrats, " taking the name of the National Democratic party, nominatedJohn M. Palmer and Simon B. Buckner, on a "gold standard" platform. 

Meanwhile, the Prohibitionists, the National party (declaring for womansuffrage, prohibition, government ownership of railroads and telegraphs, an income tax, and the election of the President, Vice President, andsenators by direct vote of the people), the Socialist Labor party, theSilver party, and the Populists, had all put candidates in the field. The Silver party indorsed Bryan and Sewall; the Populists nominatedBryan and Thomas E. Watson. 

[Illustration: William McKinley]

%565. McKinley, President. %--An "educational campaign" was carried onwith a seriousness never before approached in our history, and resultedin the election of Mr. McKinley. He was inaugurated on March 4, andimmediately called a special session of Congress to revise the tariff, awork which ended in the enactment of the "Dingley Tariff, " on July24, 1897. 

%566. The Cuban Question. %--Absorbing as were the election and thetariff, there was another matter, which for two years past had steadilygrown more and more serious. In February, 1895, the natives of Cuba forthe sixth time in fifty years rebelled against the misrule of Spain andfounded a republic. A cruel, bloody, and ruinous war followed, and as itprogressed, deeply interested the people of our country. The island layat our very doors. Upwards of $50, 000, 000 of American money wereinvested in mines, railroads, and plantations there. Our yearly tradewith Cuba was valued at $96, 000, 000. Our ports were used by Cubans infitting out military expeditions, which the government was forced tostop at great expense. 

%567. Shall Cuba be given Belligerent Rights?%--These matters wereserious, and when to them was added the sympathy we always feel for anypeople struggling for the liberty we enjoy, there seemed to be amplereason for our insisting that Spain should govern Cuba better or set herfree. Some thought we should buy Cuba; some that we should recognize theRepublic of Cuba; others that we should intervene even at the risk ofwar. Thus urged on, Congress in 1896 declared that the Cubans wereentitled to belligerent rights in our ports, and asked the President toendeavor to persuade Spain to recognize the independence of Cuba; andthe House in 1897 recommended that the independence of Cuba berecognized. But nothing came of either recommendation, and so the matterstood when McKinley was inaugurated. 

During the summer of 1897 matters grew worse. A large part of the islandbecame a wilderness. The people who had been driven into the towns byorder of Captain General Weyler, the "reconcentrados, " were dying ofstarvation, and our countrymen, deeply moved at their suffering, beganto send them food and medical aid. 

%568. The Maine destroyed. %--While engaged in this humane work they werehorrified to hear that on the night of February 15, 1898, our battleship_Maine_ was blown up in the harbor of Havana, and 260 of her sailorskilled. Although our Court of Inquiry was unable to fix theresponsibility for the explosion, many people believed that it had beenperpetrated by Spaniards, and the hope of a peaceable settlement of theCuban question rapidly waned. The sum of $50, 000, 000 was voted to thePresident for strengthening our defenses and buying ships and munitionsof war. After declining to recognize the Cuban Republic, Congressadopted a resolution, on April 19, declaring for the freedom of Cuba, demanding that Spain should withdraw from the island, and authorizingthe President to compel her withdrawal, if necessary, by means of ourarmy and navy. Spain severed diplomatic relations with us on April 21, and the war began on that date, as declared by an Act of Congress a fewdays later. Two hundred thousand volunteers were quickly enlisted, outof the much larger number that wished to serve. 

%569. War with Spain. %--The Battle of Manila. --While one fleet whichhad long been gathering at Key West went off and blockaded Havana andother parts of the coast of Cuba, another, under Commodore GeorgeDewey, sailed from Hong-kong to attack the Spanish fleet at thePhilippine Islands. Dewey found it in the Bay of Manila, where, on May1, 1898, he fought and won the most brilliant naval battle in theworld's history. Passing the forts at the entrance, he entered the bay, and, without the loss of a man or a ship, he destroyed the entireSpanish fleet of ten vessels, killed and wounded over 600 men, andcaptured the arsenal at Cavité (cah-ve-ta') and the forts at theentrance to the bay. The city of Manila was then blockaded by Dewey'sfleet, and General Merritt with 20, 000 troops was sent across thePacific to take possession of the Philippines, which had long beenSpain's most important possession in the East. For his great victoryDewey received the thanks of Congress and was promoted to beRear-Admiral, and later was given for life the full rank of Admiral. 

[Illustration: Admiral Dewey]

[Illustration Rear-Admiral Sampson]

%570. The Destruction of Cervera's Fleet--Capture ofSantiago. %--Meantime a second Spanish fleet, under Admiral Cervera, sailed from the Cape Verde Islands. Acting Rear-Admiral Sampson, withships which had been blockading Havana, and Commodore Schley, with aFlying Squadron, went in search of Cervera, and after a long hunt he wasfound in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba (sahn-te-ah'go da coo'bah), which was promptly blockaded by the ships of both squadrons, withSampson in command. The narrow entrance to the harbor was so welldefended by forts and submarine mines that a direct attack on Cerverawas impossible. In an attempt to complete the blockade, NavalConstructor R. P. Hobson and a volunteer crew of seven men took thecollier _Merrimac_ to the harbor entrance, and, amid a rain of shot andshell, sank her in the channel (June 3). The gallant little band escapedwith life, but were made prisoners of war, and in time were exchanged. 

[Illustration: General Shafter]

[Illustration: Rear-Admiral Schley]

The capture of Santiago was decided upon when Cervera sought refuge inits harbor, and about 18, 000 men (mostly of the regular army), underGeneral Shafter, were hurried to Cuba and landed a few miles from thecity. On July 1 the enemy's outer line of defenses were taken, aftersevere fighting at El Caney (ca-na') and San Juan (sahn hoo-ahn'); andon the next day the Spaniards failed in an attempt to retake them. Socertain was it that the city must soon surrender, that Cervera wasordered to dash from the harbor, break through the American fleet, andput to sea. On Sunday morning, July 3, the attempt was made; a desperatesea fight followed, and, in a few hours, all six of the Spanish vesselswere sunk or stranded, shattered wrecks, on the coast of Cuba. TheSpanish loss in killed and wounded was heavy, while Admiral Cervera andabout 1800 of his men were taken prisoners. Not one of our vessels wasseriously damaged, and but one of our men was killed. When the battlebegan, the American war ships were in their usual positions before theharbor, as assigned them by Admiral Sampson; but Sampson himself, in hisflagship, was several miles to the east on his way to a conference withGeneral Shafter. Commodore Schley's flagship, the _Brooklyn_, was at thewest end of the line, and as the enemy tried to escape in thatdirection, she was in the thickest of the fight. Another war ship whichespecially distinguished herself was the _Oregon_, a Western-builtship, which had sailed from San Francisco all the way around Cape Hornin order to reach the seat of war. 

[Illustration: General Miles]

After the naval battle of July 3, all hope of successful resistance bythe Spaniards vanished, and on July 17, General Toral surrenderedSantiago, the eastern end of Cuba, and an army of nearly 25, 000 men. Aweek later General Miles set off to seize the island of Porto Rico. Helanded on the southern coast, and had occupied much of the island whenhostilities came to an end. 

571. Peace. --On August 12, 1898, a protocol was signed byrepresentatives of the two nations, providing for the immediatecessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Spain from the West Indies, and the occupation of Manila by the United States till the conclusion ofa treaty of peace, which was to be negotiated by a commission meeting inParis, and which was to provide for the disposition of the Philippines. 

News of the cessation of hostilities was instantly sent to all ourfleets and armies. But, on August 13, before word could reach thePhilippines, Manila was attacked by General Merritt's army and Dewey'sfleet, whereupon the Spanish general surrendered the city and about7000 soldiers. 

A formal treaty of peace was signed at Paris December 10, 1898, providing that Spain should relinquish her title to Cuba, and cede PortoRico, Guam (one of the Ladrones), and the Philippines to the UnitedStates; and that the United States should pay $20, 000, 000 to Spain. Thetreaty was then submitted to the governments of the United States andSpain for ratification; but in both countries it met some opposition. Inour country objections were made especially to the taking of thePhilippines without the consent of their inhabitants, many of whom, under the leadership of Aguinaldo, had previously rebelled against Spainand were now demanding complete independence; but the prevailing viewwas that our immediate control was necessary to prevent civil war, anarchy, and foreign complications there. Accordingly, on February 6, 1899, the treaty was ratified by the Senate by a vote of 57 to 27. Spainalso accepted the treaty, which was formally proclaimed April 11. The$20, 000, 000 was promptly paid to Spain, and ordinary diplomaticrelations were resumed. 

%572. The War Bonds and War Taxes. %--For the expenses of the war withSpain Congress made ample provision. The Secretary of the Treasury wasauthorized to issue $400, 000, 000 in 3 per cent bonds, [1] and borrow$100, 000, 000 upon temporary certificates of indebtedness. Stamp taxes, an inheritance tax, and a duty on tea were laid, and the silver in theTreasury was ordered to be coined at the rate of $1, 500, 000 a month. 

[Footnote 1: $200, 000, 000 of the war bonds were offered for popularsubscription, and $109, 000, 000 were subscribed in sums under $500. Allwas taken in sums under $5000. ]

%573. Hawaii annexed. %--But in few respects was the effect of the warso marked as in the changed sentiment of the people toward Hawaii. During five years the little republic had been steadily seekingannexation to the United States, and seeking in vain. But with thepartial occupation of the Philippines, and the impending acquisition ofPorto Rico, and perhaps Cuba, the policy of territorial expansion lostmany of its terrors, and the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by jointresolution of Congress, signed by the President July 7, 1898. The formaltransfer of sovereignty took place August 12. The islands continuedtemporarily under their existing form of government, with slightmodifications, till June 14, 1900, when they were organized as aterritory. 

[Illustration: (World Map)]

[Illustration: General Otis]

%574. The War in the Philippines. %--While the treaty with Spain wasunder consideration, the city of Manila was held by General Otis, Merritt's successor; but native troops, under Aguinaldo, were in controlof most of Luzon and several other islands. On the night of February 4, 1899, the long-threatened conflict between them was begun by Aguinaldo'sunsuccessful attack on the Americans at Manila. War now followed; but inbattle after battle the natives were beaten and scattered, till by thebeginning of the year 1900 the main army of the Filipinos had beencompletely broken up, and the only forces still opposing Americanauthority were small bodies of bandits and guerrillas. These held outpersistently, and continued the warfare for more than a year. In 1900the President sent a commission to the Philippines to organize civilgovernment in such localities and in such degree as it should deemadvisable; and in 1902 Congress enacted a plan of government under whichthe Philippines are constituted a partly self-governing dependency. 

%575. Porto Rico and Cuba. %--After the close of the Spanish war, bothPorto Rico and Cuba remained under the military control of the UnitedStates for many months. For Porto Rico, which had been ceded to ourcountry, Congress provided a system of civil government which went intoeffect May 1, 1900. This organized Porto Rico as a dependency. 

Cuba, however, had not been ceded to the United States. It had passedunder our control only for the restoration of peace and theestablishment of a stable government there; for Congress, in itsresolution of April 19, 1898, asserted its determination, after thepacification of Cuba, "to leave the government and control of the islandto its people. " In June, 1900, the local city governments were turnedover to municipal officers that had been elected by the people. In thefollowing winter a constitution was framed by a convention of delegateselected by the Cubans. Then, after certain provisions had been added tothis, to govern the future relations between Cuba and the United States, and after the first officers of the Cuban Republic had been elected, theUnited States troops were withdrawn and the new government took chargeof the island, May 20, 1902. 

%576. Disorders in China. %--Early in 1900 a patriotic society ofChinese, called the Boxers, began to massacre native Christians in thenorth of China, and to drive out or kill all missionaries and otherforeigners. The disorder soon spread to Pekin, where the foreignministers and their countrymen (including some Americans) were besiegedin their quarter of the city by Boxers and regular Chinese troops; forthe Chinese government, instead of suppressing the Boxers, acted insympathy with them. 

President McKinley sent warships and soldiers to China, where theycoöperated with the forces of Japan and the European powers in rescuingthe imperiled foreigners in Pekin. War was not declared against China, though she resisted the invading troops, making it necessary for them tocapture several towns and to fight several battles before Pekin wastaken. A treaty was then negotiated with the United States, Japan, andthe European powers, providing for the restoration of order and asettlement of the various claims against China. 

%577%. At home during 1900 our population was counted; a Presidentwas elected; and a currency law of much importance was enacted. In theUnited States and the territories there were found to be about76, 000, 000 people, and in the one state of New York more inhabitantsthan there were in all the United States in 1810. 

By the currency law, known as the Gold Standard Act, it is provided:--

1. That the gold dollar shall be the standard unit of value. 

2. That all forms of money issued or coined shall be kept "at a parityof value" with this gold standard. 

3. That United States notes and Treasury notes shall be redeemed in goldcoin. For this purpose $150, 000, 000 of gold coin or bullion is set apartin the Treasury. 

%578%. When the time came to prepare for the election of a Presidentand Vice President, eleven conventions were held, as many platforms wereframed, and eight pairs of candidates were nominated. There were theDemocratic and Republican parties; the People's Party (Fusionists) andthe People's Party (Middle of the Road Anti-Fusionists); theProhibition, United Christian, Silver Republican, Socialist Labor, Social Democratic, and National parties; and the Anti-ImperialistLeague. The things opposed, approved of, or demanded by these partieswere many and various; but a few should be stated as showing what thepeople were thinking about: Trusts, the gold standard, the free coinageof silver, a canal across Nicaragua or the isthmus of Panama, electionof United States senators by the people, repeal of the war taxes, statehood for the territories, independence for the Filipinos, aid toAmerican shipping, irrigation of the arid lands in the West, publicownership of railways and telegraphs, desecration of the Sabbath, equality of men and women, exclusion of the Asiatics, theMonroe Doctrine. 

%579. McKinley Reëlected. %--The Populist (Fusionist) conventionnominated William J. Bryan and Charles A. Towne. But the Democrats namedBryan and Adlai E. Stevenson. Thereupon Towne withdrew, and Bryan andStevenson were made the candidates of the Populists and the Silver partyas well as of the Democrats. The Democratic platform denouncedimperialism and trusts, and reiterated the demand for the free coinageof silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. The Republicans renominatedPresident McKinley, and nominated Theodore Roosevelt for Vice President, on a platform indorsing McKinley's administration and favoring the goldstandard of money. McKinley and Roosevelt were elected. 

%580. McKinley Assassinated. % On March 4, 1901, the President beganhis second term, which six months later came to a dreadful end. In May agreat fair--the Pan-American Exposition--was opened at Buffalo, and tothis exposition the President came as a guest early in September, andwas holding a public reception on the afternoon of the 6th, when ananarchist who approached as if to shake hands, suddenly shot him twice. For several days it was thought that the wounds would not prove fatal;but early on the morning of the 14th, the President died, and thatafternoon Mr. Roosevelt took the oath of office required by theConstitution and became President. 

[Illustration: Theodore Roosevelt]

%581. Public Measures adopted in 1901-1904. %--The events connectedwith our large island possessions had directed much attention to ourmilitary and naval forces. As a result, Congress passed several measuresto increase the efficiency of the army, and appropriated large sums foradditions to the navy. For the reclamation of the arid parts of the FarWest an important law was enacted (1902), setting aside the moneyreceived from the sales of public land in that part of the country andappropriating it for the planning and construction of irrigation works. In 1903 a ninth member was added to the President's cabinet in theperson of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The new department wasmade to include the Department of Labor established fifteen yearsbefore, and a number of other bureaus already existing; at the same timethe Bureau of Corporations was newly established, and was given thepower to investigate the organization and workings of any trust orcorporation (except railroads) engaged in interstate or foreigncommerce, and, with the President's approval, to publish theinformation so obtained. 

A long-standing dispute as to the eastern boundary of southern Alaskawas referred to a British-American tribunal, which decided chiefly infavor of the United States (1903). By a reciprocity treaty with Cubawhich went into effect in 1904, the duties on Cuban trade weresomewhat lowered. 

%582. The Isthmian Canal. %--A French company many years ago began to diga ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama, but it failed through badmanagement before the work was half done. A United States commissionmade a survey of this route and also of the Nicaragua route acrossCentral America, estimated the cost of building each canal, and gavecareful consideration to the advantages of each route. The owners of theFrench canal having offered to sell for $40, 000, 000, Congress in 1902authorized the President to buy and complete it, provided satisfactorytitle and permanent control of the route could be secured. In all, about$200, 000, 000 was provided for this work. In 1903 a treaty was negotiatedwith Colombia, giving the United States a permanent lease of a six-milestrip across the isthmus, for an annual rental of $250, 000 and thepayment of $10, 000, 000, but Colombia rejected the treaty. The Colombianprovince of Panama thereupon seceded (November 3), and its independencewas recognized by the United States and other nations. A treaty was soonmade whereby the United States guaranteed the independence of Panama, and Panama ceded to the United States a ten-mile strip across theisthmus for the sums rejected by Colombia. The rights of the Frenchcompany were then bought, and a United States commission began the workof completing the canal (1904). 

%583. Election of Roosevelt. %--There were almost as many parties as everin the campaign of 1904. The Republicans indorsed the existingadministration, demanded the continuance of the protective tariff andthe gold standard, and nominated Roosevelt for President and Charles W. Fairbanks for Vice President. The Democrats nominated Alton B. Parkerand Henry G. Davis, and declared for a reduction of the tariff andagainst militarism and trusts, but were silent on the money question. Roosevelt and Fairbanks were elected by a large majority. 

%584. Interstate Commerce. %--In spite of the act of 1887 and somelater laws, favored shippers were still given various unfair advantagesin the service and charges of railroads. In 1906 Congress greatlyenlarged the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission to superviserailroads, express companies, and other common carriers operating inmore than one state, and even authorized it to fix new freight andpassenger rates in place of any it deemed to be unjust or unreasonable. 

Besides this law to regulate interstate transportation, Congress passedseveral acts to regulate the quality of goods entering into interstatecommerce. Efficient inspection of meat-packing establishments wasprovided, at a cost of $3, 000, 000 a year. Adulteration or misbranding ofany foods, drugs, medicines, or liquors manufactured anywhere for salein another state, was forbidden under heavy penalties. 

%585. Intervention in Cuba. %--One of the provisions added to theCuban constitution gave the United States the right to intervene "forthe maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty. " This right was first exercised in theautumn of 1906, when the Cuban government failed to suppress aninsurrection in the island. Efforts were first made, in vain, to bringabout peace in Cuba without armed intervention; then the Cuban presidentresigned, our envoy Secretary Taft proclaimed himself provisionalgovernor of Cuba, United States troops were stationed at various points, and the insurgents peacefully disbanded. The work of completing therestoration of order and confidence, preparatory to the holding of a newelection under the Cuban constitution, was intrusted by the President toCharles E. Magoon, who became provisional governor in October. 

%586. The Panic of 1907. %--For several years our country had enjoyedunusual prosperity. Never had the business of the country been better. Adistrust of banks and banking institutions, however, was suddenlydeveloped. Belief that the money of depositors was being used in areckless way became widespread, and when a run on some banks in New Yorkcity forced them to suspend, a panic swept over the country. Peopleeverywhere made haste to withdraw their deposits, and the banks for atime were forced to refuse to cash checks for large sums. Businessdepression and hard times followed. 

%587. The Currency Law. %--In the midst of the panic the SixtiethCongress met and in the course of its session enacted (for six years) acurrency law. This is an emergency measure by which the national banks, when currency is scarce, may issue more under certain conditions. Thetotal amount put out by all the national banks must not be greater than$500, 000, 000. Those using this currency must pay a heavy tax, which itis believed will lead to its prompt recall as soon as the emergencyhas passed. 

%588. Election of Taft. %--For the thirty-first time in our historyelectors of President and Vice President were chosen in 1908. Sevenparties placed candidates in the field. The Republicans nominatedWilliam H. Taft and James S. Sherman; the Democrats named William J. Bryan and John W. Kern. Candidates were also presented by theProhibition, Populist, Socialist Labor, Socialist, and Independenceparties. In many respects the Republican and Democratic platforms werealike. Both declared for revision of the tariff, postal savings banks, abureau of mines and mining, protection of our citizens abroad, a bettercivil service, improvement of our inland waterways, preservation of ourforests, and the admission of Arizona and New Mexico as separate states. The Democratic platform called for an income tax, the publication of thenames of contributors to national campaign funds, legislation againstprivate monopolies, and full control of interstate railways. Taft andSherman were elected. 

One of Taft's first acts as President was to call a special session ofCongress, which met March 15 to frame a new tariff act. 

[Illustration: William H. Taft]

SUMMARY

1. The political issues before the country since 1880 have been of twogeneral classes--industrial and financial. 

2. The industrial issues led to the formation of certain greatorganizations, as the Farmers' Alliance, Knights of Labor, Patrons ofIndustry, etc. ; and to the enactment of certain important laws, as theInterstate Commerce Acts, the Anti-Chinese laws, the Anti-Contract Laborlaw, and the establishment of the Labor Bureau. 

3. The financial issues were in general connected in some way with theagitation for free coinage of silver. 

4. These issues seriously affected both the old parties and producedothers, as the Anti-monopoly party, the People's party, the Silverparty, the National, the Socialist. 

5. In 1893 financial questions became so serious that a panic occurred, which forced the repeal of the purchase clause of the Sherman Act. In1907 there was another panic. 

6. Among our foreign complications during this period were the questionof the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, the Venezuela boundarydispute, the Cuban question, which finally involved us in a war withSpain, and the trouble with China arising from the Boxer outbreak. 

7. The chief events of the war with Spain were Dewey's naval victory inManila Bay, May 1; the battles of El Caney and San Juan, near Santiago, July 1; the naval battle of July 3 off Santiago; the surrender ofSantiago, July 14; the invasion of Porto Rico, near the end of July; andthe capture of Manila, August 13. 

8. The war resulted in the cession of Porto Rico and the Philippines toour country, and in Spain's withdrawal from Cuba. 

9. The withdrawal of Spain from the Philippines was followed by anuprising of natives led by Aguinaldo; but the insurrection was soonsuppressed and a system of civil government established. 

10. By peaceful negotiation a treaty was perfected giving the UnitedStates control of the route for the Panama Canal. 

APPENDIX

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE--1776

 * * * * *

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776. 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OFAMERICA

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one peopleto dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equalstation to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, adecent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they shoulddeclare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal;that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, derivingtheir just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever anyform of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right ofthe people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers insuch form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety andhappiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments longestablished, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposedto suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves byabolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a longtrain of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is theirright, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to providenew guards for their future security. --Such has been the patientsufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity whichconstrains them to alter their former systems of government. The historyof the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuriesand usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of anabsolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts besubmitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary forthe public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressingimportance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent shouldbe obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected toattend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of largedistricts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right ofrepresentation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them andformidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance withhis measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, withmanly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause othersto be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable ofannihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise;the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers ofinvasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for thatpurpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusingto pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising theconditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assentto laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of theiroffices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms ofofficers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies, without theconsent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign toour constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent totheir acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murderswhich they should commit on the inhabitants of these States: