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THE 
 
 1^ 
 
 NEW WORLD: 
 
 ■ KBKAOXICO 
 
 AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 ay 
 
 HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL, A. M. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 The English In America. — History of the Foundation or the several 
 
 Provinces: their Colonial Government ! Resistance to England.— 
 
 The American Revolution. — History of the United States. 
 
 —The Sandwich Islands, etc., etc. 
 
 WITH 
 
 NUMEROUS 'BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 DRAWN AND COLOURED AFTER NATURE, 
 
 SMBXACIXa PORTRAITS, SCESBRT, CURIOSITIES, CITIES, PUBUC EDIFICES, BTO, ±Ta 
 
 NEW YORK; 
 PUBLISHED BY GURDON BILL. 
 
 I8ri8. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART VI. 
 THE ENULISH IN AMERICA. 
 
 EARLT VOYAGES AND ATTEMPTS AT COLUNIZATIOR. 
 
 OHiPTIR I. PAOIB 
 
 Bebastlaii Cubot— Ills Youth— Ilia First Voyage, and Discovery of North America; His Second Voy- 
 age, and Futile Attempt at Colonization ; Obwure Interval In his Life; bo serve* In Spain ; HIa 
 ExpcMlltion under Henry VUI. ; Appointed Grand Pilot of Spain; His Expedition to South Amer- 
 ica; His Return to England, Services, Old Age, and Death, 17 
 
 OBAPTIR II. 
 
 Tlie"DominusVobiacum"— Failure and Miffortune; Improvement or the English Marine; Martin 
 Frobtfihi'r— Uls Voyngo in Search of a North-west Passage; Diminutive Equipments of the Early 
 UlDCovercrs ; Supposed Discovery of Gold Ore; Second Expedition of Frobisher; Surveys; Con- 
 tost with the Esquimaux; His Third Expedition; Its Failure, S3 
 
 CHAPTIR III. 
 
 £ni(1ish Enterprise; Draico; Sir Humphrey Gilbert; His First Attempt to Colonize America; Sir 
 Waller Raleigh ; Sir Humphrey Sails fur America ; Shipwrecks and Misfortunes ; the Keturn Voy- 
 age; Tempests; Lossof ii^ir Humphrey and his Crow, SO 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Patent of Raleigh ; he Dispatches Amiilas and Bnrlow to Ciirollna— their Report ; Iho Country 
 named VIrginin; Voyngbs of Dnvis, &c. ; Second Expedition of Raltileh, under I.nno; Settlement 
 ot Riianuke ; Folly and Cruelty of the English ; the Indians ; Moasucro by the English ; Failure and 
 Return of the Expedition, 20 
 
 CHAPTBB V. 
 
 SniHll Selllement planted by Grenvillo at Roanoke Destroyed by the Indians; Third Expedition of 
 liiiltiigh ; First English Child in America ; Iiuss uiid Supposed Destruction of Ihe Roanoke Colony ; 
 MiBfurtunus of Raleigh; Tardiness and lil-fortune of English Enterprise; Reflections, 33 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 .Memoir of Cnptnin John Smith ; His Youthful Adventures and Services ; he turns Hermit ; HIa Ad- 
 venlures in Frntico ; he Is flung Overboard ; Sea-flght ; Travels in Italy ; His Cnmpnign against the 
 Tmks; Hiege of Regnll ; the Tiireu Turks' lleniis ; ymilh sent a Slave to Tarlary— his Wonderful 
 Escape; Subsequent Adventures; Returns to England, 30 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Virginian Colonization Revived ; Patent of James I. ; Ill-assorlod Company of Settlers; the Expedi- 
 tion Hails for America; Accidentally enters Jnmoa River; Ill-treatment of Smith ; Intercourse with 
 the Indiana; Jamestown Founded; Excnrslim of Smith and Newport; Powhatan; the Indians of 
 Virginia, 49 
 
 CHAPTRK III. 
 
 Trial and Vindication of Smith ; Famine and TerrlliUi Mortality; Smith, by his Exertions, supports 
 tl:e Colony ; Treachery of hie Assuciales ; Deulinga willi the Indians ; Idle and Misorubiu Colonists, 40 
 
m 
 
 CONTE.NTS. 
 
 6 
 
 on^mn it. Pkaa 
 Exprdillon nnil Capture of Pmilh— hit SlrniiKO Ad voiiliirtia ntnutig Iho Iiiillsna ; Conjiirstioni parfurmfU 
 ovur him; lio Is Carrlcil to P<iwliiit(kii ; Hit Litu tJnvi'il by Pucaliuiilai ; Btraiigu Mitai|uerad« of 
 Tuwhutau; Ucloasu and Ruturu uftiinltli, 4g 
 
 OIIAPIBR V. 
 
 PrIvBtloiMortheCiilonlit*; Relloved by Pocaliuntos; Arrival of Newport rVom Enijlniid; Intercmiraa 
 and Tiamc with PuwIihIbii ; llluo llrada for Crown Juwela ; ImaRlnary (Jiild Mine ; Smith's Voyage 
 in the UhMa|i«ake ; luterviewt with numuruui Native Triboa ; 8ting-ray Puint ; Ilia Keiiirn, S2 
 
 CHAPTEH VI. 
 
 8mllh made Prealdunt; he Roaiimei the Purvey ; the Siipqiivhannaa; Advpntui-pi with the Indians; 
 Rumarkabie Feat or Snrvi'y ; Reliim to Jamoalown; Arrival of Newport; Abaiird Inatructiona of 
 the Kngliah Company; the Coronation uf Powhatan; Untucceaarul Attempt of Newport toUiid the 
 South 8ea, 55 
 
 OBAPTIH Til. 
 
 Plot agalnat E<mlth ; Ills letter to the Company ; Ilia EITorta to Bupport Iho Colony ; Expodlllon to 
 Surpriao Powhatan ; Artftil Hpcochoa, and Mutual Treachery ; the Engliah again Saved by Pocaliuiitaa, S9 
 
 CBAPTIR VIII. 
 
 The Plot at Pamimkey— Defeated by the Daring and Energy uf Brollh ; the Colony Supplied ; Smith 
 Polaoned; Ilia Uniicrupuluus Policy; Ilia Fight with the King of Paapahegh; » Pretty Accldenia'* 
 ■muog the ludlana, 01 
 
 OBAPTBB IZ. 
 
 Idleneaa of the Settlera ; Eloquent Speech and Vigoroua Policy of Smith ; the New Virginia Company ; 
 Uiijuat Auumptlon i>r Powit; Smith Deposed ; Croat Expoditlou diaputchetl Trom KMi^land—lll- 
 fortuue; Arrival uf Numeroua Immigrants ; Anarchy; Smith R<<a8aumo8 the Prealdeiicy, (n 
 
 CUAPTXH X. 
 
 Futile Attempt! at Founding Now Seltlementa; Folly and Obatlnacy of the Colonlats; i*mlth lerrllily 
 Injured; He Returna to England; ilia Servicea to the Colony; Awful Suffering and Mortallly after 
 hia Departure, 07 
 
 OHAPTIB XI. 
 
 &ltMnolr of Smith, continued and concludi'd ; Ilia Vo) age to New England, and Surveys ; Ills Si'cond 
 Expedition; Ilia Advciilurcs among tlie Pirates— his l^caiie; Ills Great Eiurllons for Ihu Mcitle- 
 nu'Ot of Ni'W England; Interesting Interview between Smith and Pocahontas in England; Lost 
 Years of Smith ; Ilia Death; Ilia Character and Achievementis 69 
 
 CHAPTIB XII. 
 
 Arrival of (latea; Miserable Condition of the Colony ; Jamestown Denertml; Arrival of Lord tk-U- 
 ware — of 8ir Thomas Dale; Kxertiona of the Company; Increased Inimigralion; the Ciilliire of 
 Tobocco iiilriKlucod, anil EoKerly Purminl ; Tyranny of Argall— his Displaceinent ; Gri;at .Accession 
 
 of Immigrants; Wives purchased with Tobacco; Liberal (Joncessions to the IVilonista, 77 
 
 cnAPTKR xi;i 
 
 Wyalt Governor; Neani Slaver)- inlroduceil ; Death of Pnwhnlan and Siicces^lim of Oppchnncnnoiiiih ; 
 Pliil IVuM'il l)y llm l.altiT ; Tmilile .Miissncre of llie Kiiijlisli ; Drpn-ssiun of llie Colony ; I'siirpa- 
 lloii of llie Pall-Ill by Janii's 1.; Priiileiil Policy lowunl llie CAjliiiiisIs, ^ 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF SEW ENGLAND. 
 
 CriAPTKR I. 
 
 I'lisiiccesafut Altempis of the Plymouth Company In ."illli- New England ; Persecution of the Non- 
 conrurnilBlB; Kitii'iil of Hnbiiisoii's CoiiKreifalion lo Holland— Iheir IliKh Chnraclor— their Uffnlii- 
 tion 111 Plant u Colony— their I.oyally and Couragu— Departure from Delft Haven, (<3 
 
 OHAirXR II. 
 
 Slonny Vnyiice of the Pilgrims to America ; they Arrive at Cape Cml— are Compelled lo Dlaemlmrk 
 — liiBlilutea liepnlilic; Ihcir Siinpln (.'onsllUilion ; Curver elected Governor; .Absence of Peisonnl 
 Ambition among the Puritan Settlers, PO 
 
 CUAITKK in 
 
 Drnary A|iiicHranci' of Srvt F.nirlanil ; Explnriiiii Parly ; Hlninife Iiijniiid' to the Indiana; The Voyage 
 til PI)iiioiilli llarljiiiir; Sliirinifli willi llii' HiivHKf»; Hi'llliininl of Pljininilh I'oiind.d ; Gn-iit .fuf- 
 feriiig and Mortality among ihe Pili^rims, cjj 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 OHAPTtR IV. TkaU 
 
 The Indlani of New Bnglwid— thinned by rcallluiicu ; ihe Pcquots, Narrnganaittto, nnd other Tribes ; 
 Extraordinary <J|iliiloiii of thtt KiikIIbIi cuncuriiInK thoin ; Bigoted Aocoimtii of the Annlont lliato- 
 
 rians, etc., 81 
 
 OHAFTIR V. 
 
 qmnutct— " Wolcnme, Engllahmrn ;'* the Vlait of Maaaiiaolt; Treaty and Alliance; Mortality among 
 Ihu Colonlata; l)uuth or (joveruor Carver; Uiiul, and Ita Punlahmunt ; Villi to Musaasuit— tu lyuu- 
 uugli ; AITouting Incident, 95 
 
 OnAPTKH VI. 
 
 Arrival of Ihe Fortune; Challenge from Canonlciia— hia Huperatitluus Dread; Plymouth Fortified; 
 VVealon'* Colony at Weymouth— Ita Miaurubie Condition; Miuaaaoit Hi— cured by the Engilah; 
 <>angeroui Plot Revealed, OH 
 
 OHAFTBR VII. 
 
 Expedition of Slandiah to Weymouth ; Daring Policy ; Slaughter of the Conapiring Indiana ; the Col- 
 ony of V\'eatiin llroken up; Privationa and tiufferingaat Plymouth— Drought— deuaonable Supply of 
 Rain ; Additional Arrival, lOi 
 
 OHAPTBR Vi:i. 
 
 New Beltlementi Founded ; New Ilampahire and Maine ; Endicott'a Company ; the Rnvcllera of 
 Merry Mount— Broken up by the Purilnna; Settlement of Maaauchuaetta; Foundation of Boaton; 
 Great Emigratiun ; Mortality and Suffuring, IU4 
 
 CUAFTER IS. 
 
 Character cf the Founders of Maaanchnaelta ; Re Kulutlona for Public Morality— for Apparel, etc. ; 
 Amuaiug Punultloa ; Intolerance in Religion ; Commencement or Peraiculion, 107 
 
 CHAPTER Z. 
 
 Rev. RoBcr Williams; Ilia Liberal Opinions; he la Persecuted by the Authorities of Massnchusetta ; 
 Expelled from that Province ; tukea Rerugu In the Wiiderneas ; Founds Providence Plantutions and 
 the State of Rhode Island, 1(19 
 
 CHAPTER ZI. 
 
 Si'ttlpmont of Connecticut by Plymouth— by MnnKiichuaelts ; llnrdahips of the Colonist*; Foumlnlion 
 iif llarirord,elc ; Emigration under Hooker— New Haven Founded; Ciimmt^ncemcnt of the Pequot 
 VVht; Influence of Roger Williurni>, l\i 
 
 CHAPTER ZH. 
 
 The Pequot War, continued; the Attack on Wotherafleld ; Expedillon under Miison ; Surprlsio nnd 
 Slormingof Iho Pequot Fort- Terrible Sluugbter nnd C-onlliignilion ; Final Diftat and ni'Btrucllon 
 uf the Tribe; Barbarous Exultation of the Early Historians; Reflections, 114 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF MAUTLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Sir Oeorce Culvert— his Schemes for Pelllemenia in Amerien— ho Oblnins the Ornnt of Maryland- 
 rounds » t'oloiiy lliere; yellletnoiil (jI Si. .Mnrj's; Kiliiliuhs witli llii> Imliiuis; Expulsion of Clay- 
 borne ; Discontent und Insurrection ; Protestant c'etllers ; Act for the Toleration of till Christian Seels, 118 
 
 CHAPTilR II. 
 
 Arbitrary Syalem of Lord Bnllimore; Disiiflt'Clion of the Protestant Settlers ; Interference of the Vir- 
 ginia ('iiniini«.iiiimra; Alfaii-s in EiikIiiiuI ; Triumph of lliu rriilosliinl»; Repeal of Tcileriilinn; 
 Civil War; Victory of ihe IVotestanls ; I'ciidiili's liuurrtclion— his Success and Final Rnln ; Tiplur- 
 atiun Restored, 131 
 
 VIKGINIA — CONTINUED. 
 
 OIHPTKR I. 
 
 Belgn of Charles I.— bis Views of Vb-ginln ; Veardley, Covernor— West— HarvtT— bis Deposition by 
 llie People— lie la Supported by the CVown; Wyall; Sir William lifrkeley, foivcriKir; Loyally of 
 the Ciiliiiiy ; IVrii'CUlion of Dii-siMitcis; Si'dUul liiiliiinCnnspiraey and Mavsjicrr; ()p<vhnat<;(iii'iii;li 
 a Prisoner— his ."Jpcccli— Murdered l)_v a SoldlcTi Rcduclinn of thf Indian-*; Tiiuniph of llie I'uii- 
 taiw in England ; Royaliht liinigiallon to Virginia; l.oyiiJly of the Provijicv-, 101 
 
CONTKNTS. 
 
 1 I 
 
 riiAMiru II I'Aiiii 
 Act for the ItiNliiellnn of VlrvlniB ; thn NiivlKntloii Act ; MiHlnrulliin nf thn I'urlliiinnnI ; PiibmliHluii 
 o( Iho Priivliioi); llmnirll, Cnvurnor— Olvvn— Miillicwi; Ji'uloiivy iifihii AtM'nilily nvnlimi Komivn 
 Inlurffrnnce ; rrutKliim anil PruH|ii'rily iir VlrKinln under Ihii Ciiinmoiiwuiillli ; Dvutli ufCroinwfll ' 
 Borkolu), Uovcriior ; Itoalurutluii ufChiirli'a II. ; lu III F.OiicI on the I'rovliico, jjc^. 
 
 KEW ENGLAND — OONTTNtJED. 
 
 CnAPTKH I. 
 
 Inimical Mouiiim ndoplcd In EnRlnnd ; Pplrll of MnaancliiiJifitt*— Tlirrnl of Revolt ; the Eiigllah Rev 
 ulutlun; IiuluHtry hiiU PriMpority uf New Knglnnd— iti lndt'|i(iiMluncu; Nuw lUinpahlru Aiiimii<d 
 lu Maaaucliiuotla ; Furiuatluii uf the Nuw England Uunruderacy, J3g 
 
 OriAPTBH It. 
 
 Udcui and Mlantiinimo ; Defont and Death (if the Latter; Dlacrcdit to the Engllah ; Rhode lalaiid— 
 Iti Llbrrtii'a (iunmnttrd by the Pnrllninriit; Letter to Sir Henry Vune ; Rcniurkuble Freuduni En- 
 joyed Ibere ; Maine Annexed by Muasuchuaetta, jj-j 
 
 CUAPTXll III. 
 
 Opposition to the Maafiat'hiiai'ttii Anthoritlea ; Purllamentary Encroachment Realatinl and Relinqnlshfd ; 
 New England Euvoured by Cromwell; DiKottNl and Intolerant Lawaof MmwocliuMttli; Pcraocutinn 
 of IliiptiaU; the Umikera— Peraecution uf them— Fuur Executed— their Oounme and Fortitude; 
 Apuloghta fur the llaiiKinga ; Uefluctiolis, |3(; 
 
 OBAPTIH IT. 
 
 Education In MiiKsnchuaolts ; Harvard College; Reatoraliun of ChnrlcD II.; Oppreuirn Enacltnenia 
 conccrnini; Commerce; Attitude uf the (Julunius; Wlutfaropi the Yuunger; Cunuccticut obtuins 
 ■ Charter— her Freedom and Proapurily, ]4I 
 
 CHAPTRR T. 
 
 The Charter of RhiMie Inland; Civil and Rellgioua Liberty; Careieaaand ElxtenaivenranlaofCliarlea 
 II.; th« Attitude of Mua!<nchua«tla— Diatruat of the Reatorution; Reqniaitloiia uf Chiirlea II.; A|i- 
 poiniment uf a Commlaaiuii ; Alarm of the Ouluny, 143 
 
 CBAPTKR VI. 
 
 Renionalrnnce of Msssachuaetts ; Doinga of the Cominlnalonors— their Dinpiitea with the Autliorilica— 
 their Dltoinifliuru unci Return to Kiiglund ; Hucceaaful Reaiatanco of Moiwachuaetla ; Inertnena of 
 the Crown ; Proaperily and Trade uf the Province, |.|j 
 
 CUM'TKK VI t, 
 
 C^.ndili.in of the New Englnnd Indiana— Conversion of aimie of thorn— their Numbers and Sirenidh; 
 Iho Pokiinokelb'; Meliiconiet, or Kinir Philiji— his (irievancea — Dinainiiilnl Ion— Scheme for llie De- 
 struction of the Engliah; CnplainChurch— hia Character, etc.— he Diacunct^rtaun Inlhguuof Pliillp, M7 
 
 CBAPTIH viit. 
 Cimmnncement of Philip's War; Exploit of Churcli; Ki treat of the Indliin»; Philip Itnu^en Iho 
 TrilH«<; DcMruelliiri ofTowmselc; tlu) .Xtlnck on lliullcy— Ri'puipied bj (I'lifli'; (Jivul I,ii>»iw(ir the 
 Eiigilsli ; !<|>rliitilleld Burned, ISO 
 
 CHAPTKU IX. 
 
 Philip's VVnr, continued; DeatructInn of the Niirniuanacit Fort— Terrible Massacre; Malignant Exiil- 
 tiitiiin of the F.nrly Mi!iti)riHna; Indltm f^uccesoea; (Rupture and Death uf Cuiionchet— hia lleruism 
 and Muirniuiimlty ; Diplomury of Church, .'. ISII 
 
 CHAI'TKrt T. 
 Ptiilip'it War, cnnllnued ; Hucceaaful Cnmpiilgn of Church ; Defeat and Ciiplure of the Savapes ; Pliil- 
 ip'a liicpiiir— he Keireala to Mount llii|>o — la Defciiled and Hluin— Karbarous Expuauru uf hia K( - 
 niaina~his Chaiucter, I.^j 
 
 OHAPTKn SI 
 PMIip'a War, conclu.lnl ; rn[i(ure of Aiuinwon nod lilx Wurriiira, by Chiireh; Itomaiilic Inciilenia; 
 Siimiiinry of Ihe War; Pliilip'a Son; llarbaroua Policy of tlie VIctorw; Mnrderoua Ailviee; lh« 
 Character uf the Puritans ; Rellectiuna, 1M 
 
 oiiArrsK XII. 
 R.'nnwpd lalerfercnce of tlie Crnwn In Mamachiiwlta; Heveranci) of Now Hnmp»hlre — Ailempl to 
 T>ranniie llieri — iln Failure ; Ac!. on of Ma^-.ieliusi-lla ; Profei<lliH{S ng.ilnat Its ('liarler ; VninOp- 
 poailiun and Itemniialrunce ; the Charter Annulled, ICl 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 9 
 
 SKTTLEMBHT OF THE CAROLINAS. vaoi 
 
 niture 10 PlMit CuloniM In Iho South ; EmiRrtlion Tram VIrglnIk Ui Nurth CaroIInt— from Barba<ln«i 
 to Htiuth Unrtillna; the Patunt o( Uhwlm II.; IjegUlatlon uf Lorko and Hhafloabury ; Cumbruui 
 ByilnniofUuVHrniDviit; UiKonlfntor thnBultleri; IniurrocllonliiNurlhUarullna; tlolliel depmud 
 by the Peoplu ; Cbarleiloo Fuuiidod ; CuiiitUutlon uf Luck» Uollnquliliod, 1U4 
 
 VIBOIIIU— (COHTINUED. 
 
 OaAPTIR I. 
 
 Botriignule Mornmenta In Viridnla; Revival of Intolerance and Oppreialon; Grant of Virginia to 
 C'ulpiipper and Arlington; Pupular UiMontent; Indian War; Murder of the Cblofa; Inturrecllon 
 uudur Uaeon; Triumph of the People, IW 
 
 CHAPTBR II. 
 
 Tbe Papular Aaaombljr; Meaiureaof Ruform; Opposltlun and Troaehrry of Berkelay; Civil War; 
 Triumph of the Iniurgpnla; Jameitown llurnud; Death uf llacon— hit Character ; Ruin of the Pup- 
 ular (Jaute; Numeroua Executloni; Death uf liorkolvy; Admlnlitratlon of Culpepper, etc., 17U 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF DELAWARE. 
 
 Hiu Flr«l Dutch Colony in Delaware— III Deilructlon; Swedea and Flnni under MInult; Conqueit 
 of Ihu Hwedlah 8etllomi<nli by the Dutch, under Htuyvonnnt; Delaware umlvr the Duko of Yurk— 
 iiiiilvr Penn; Diaputot with Maryland eonceniing lluundarlei; Beparutlun uf Delaware rnim 
 Penniylvanla, 174 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSET 
 
 t;<inquett by Ihe Engllah; NIcholn, lierkeley, and Carteret; Emigration frum New England; t3ale of 
 Wutt New Jersey t(i the Quakcra ; Fuiiwlck, llylllngH, and Punn; Quaker Scttlumenta ; ilumurkubly 
 Free Cunaliliillun ; Friendly Dealing! with the Indiana; Usurpatlun uf Andrus— it* Defeat; Enat 
 NowJcraey, 170 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 OHAl' . XH I. 
 
 William Penn— bla Youth— he turna Quaker— is Expelled from College and Hotne— Imprisoned for 
 hia Opinions- Severity of his Fntber— Fresh Imprisonment— Exertions In Iluhiiif of his Suet— ho 
 
 Engages in the Bettlement of New Jersey, 171) 
 
 OHAPTia It. 
 
 Penn obtains from Chnrlea II. the firant of Pennsylvonia- his Admirable Proclnnmtiim to the Pot- 
 tlera— he Repairs to America— Gains Possension of Delaware— llonourubio DuaiiUHS with the In- 
 diuiis— their Attachment to him ; the Great Treaty, Iril 
 
 OHAPTKH III. 
 
 Liberal legislation of Pennsylvania; Penn Founds Philadclpbio-its Rapid Increase; Forninlion of 
 H Constitution ; Great Emigration from Europe ; Growth of the Province ; Penn returns to England ; 
 Ilia Subsequent Career, 184 
 
 THE KOKTHERN COLO; Xi; 3 -CONTINUED. 
 OBAPTIH I. 
 
 BIr Edmund Andros Cnmmlsshmed by the Dnke of York- his Attempts to Extend his Authority over 
 Connecticut; Thomas DoiiKan ; Union of the Colonies under a Royal (Jovernor; Andros appolnte<l 
 (iovernor-gcneral ; Oppression in the Colonies ; Proceedings iigainat Connecticut and Rhode Island ; 
 Anctroa's Viait to Omnecticut; Preservation of the Charter; the Northern Provinces forced to Sub- 
 niiasiou ; Doings In New England upon the Uccurrence of the Revolution of lG<Jil, 187 
 
 CHAPTKH II. 
 
 Kew York Subsequent to the Revolution of Uk'H ; Assumption of Authority by Jacob Lelsler— Oppo- 
 Bition by the Council ; Indian Incursions; Arrival of Siougliter as Governor; Trial nnil Execution 
 of liuialer and Milbourne; i;oh>nel Fletcher— his Futile Allompt to Enforce Authority in Connecti- 
 cut; Church Difficulties; Uellumonl's Peaceable Administration; Captain Kidd, the Pirate, I'.U 
 
10 
 
 0ONTKNT8. 
 
 onirrru iii. 
 
 New Charter of MMtnoliiiMlU; Trinli for Wltrhcrnri In Hiilom; Klnl Kxi'eulinii; Prtrrla nnd hli 
 hiiolly; Court uf KxNnilniiltnii lit Hnlciii; (JiilUiii MiiIIiit; Arriviil uf i'hl|i|»i; Niiiiiiriiui t'.x<'cii- 
 UoMi CuiiIi'mIuiii i Crui'lllui liinicli'tl ; t'huii)ia In Public Opliiluiii 
 
 I' An I 
 
 194 
 
 CHAl'TKIt 17 
 (.'iiolroviiray ('iMiri>rtiliii(Uuri'nuc; l«utpi>cU'il Ni'Hru H^vull In Ni'W Yurk— Muck-lrliilm ' the AciiiihI 
 — Iliirlmriiui I'uiiiahiiU'nli; CiuiiKTllciit— (hv Hn)l>riiiik I'liiHiiriii ; MuMiichuactla— ItiirnliiKnr Dcpr- 
 
 IilM — Dincultliw bulwi'on lliu (•uvitrniini ami Autimblii n; Niiw I' nimlilro — Attack iiii I'licnvcii 
 
 l^untcrn Indian War; Ilhiidu Ulanil— ill t'liinmrr'-iul I'mninTiiy ; <>iw Jeravy— U|i|Hiiltluii tu Arbi- 
 bwy Taiutluu— ricutch linmltfratlun— PrmpiMity uf tha Culuny— lu Uiiluii with New Yurk, 197 
 
 THE BOrjiilERN COLONIEH — CONTINUED. 
 OnAPTKR I. 
 
 Charter or the Coliiny nr neorsls ; FIrel Arrlviil ofCulunlala; Rt'tllrmcnt orPavnnnah; Indian Npkii- 
 tlutioni; Miiry iMiinKnivii; CumIimi ul Indian Clulmi; Chiiraclvr uf lmiulf(raiit« tu lit'urKiaj Tmlllo 
 lu Neftniv^ Priihil>ll4Hl i t'rudurlcii Fuundud ; War with 8|»hi, gg] 
 
 oiiAPrcn II 
 
 URivthorpo'i F.x|i<'dllliin Bgalnsl 01, AuKHilIno— Pii'uo of llin Town— Failure and Rclurn of the Kx- 
 IHHiltliin ; t<|iiiiili>h InvunUin In I74'J; Difi-nro of Frcdcrlcnj KtrnlaRvm uf Oiflcthiirpo; Tliimm* 
 Uoaumwurth— hl« Inlrlguvi with tlir Indium— Lltlgiitluii with the Culuny ; Georgia ■ Ruyal Ptuvlncu, SO) 
 
 CIIAl'TKIl in. 
 
 8i>uth Carollim— Ri'llsrioiit Contruvemiea— Arch<lalc'« Adinliililratlun— Moore'a Kxpnllliun titalnst 
 tJt. Auituslinc -liuttiilon uf liidinii Torrilory— Frvncli Fleet iin the Oiuit— CuUiiru ol Kiru— indiaii 
 Ciina|ilrary— Ititviilt aitainat Ihu Propneliim— thu Charier di'Clared Forfeit— 8<)Uth C'urullna a Royal 
 Provliico; North Carolina— Political liiitiirtjaiicvt— a Piua|H.'ruua Anarchy— t>(<parMiun rroini<oiith 
 Ciirul I no, "00 
 
 OBAPTCn 17. 
 
 i^lntlrila under Royal fjovornon— Hlato uf tho Colony— Church Cuntruvoriloi ; PennnylvaidaaRnyal 
 Province— ilic Proprlilor Ileiii'lMliil— Policy of Puiin ; Diliiwiiri'— Deiiih of IViin— liin Hiicccjuur^; 
 Murjlaiiil— llH I'litholic Popululion— (iuvornnient uf thu AMoclallon — DpproMivu lCiiHclnii'iitii--tlio 
 Frupriulori Ufulortil 812 
 
 INDIAN WARS, ETa 
 OHAPTKH I. 
 
 (Aimmencemeiit of the rherokee Wnr— Treaty at Fort St. fieorgc— Piege of that Fort— Murder of 
 llintaiie*— MoiilBoniery'ii ('ainpaigii— I)e''lriicllon of Iho Lower Cherokeu HeltlemenU— Itclrrnt— 
 Maitracru of thi' (lurrinun uf Fort Luudon— the Tuwnt uf tho Middle Cherukeot dealruyod by the 
 Fun'va uiutur Ijrant, j*] 
 
 rilAPTFH tl 
 Eittjlii-h Ocrupnlic n of Ihe Wei-li rii Triidiiiu Poi-I''; ('ciiii-iilrnry of llin North-weatern Trllica, under 
 J'oiiliac; Denlrucliuii of the I'lKliBh Form; Tnkini; of .Micliilliinnrkiiiiic; Hicku of Detroit; \,„rfi 
 Ut Uluody-run ; Clone uf thu Wur ; Mufisucru uf Ihu CuiiestuKil Indiuim, 2|0 
 
 EUKOPEAN COLONIAL POLTCY. 
 
 Kiwiilnh and Enulii-h Rei>lrlcllon« upon Trade iind Coniiiurre ; ('(Hilniliiiud Truffle; the " .Amienlp" 
 Tniily ; Ihu Slave-ltiide— Its lleiierul Pi'piilanly- I'aiiiKu which lead lo Ihii Aliolitlon of Hlavery — 
 Muniier of Pniciiiiiiit Nei{roc» from Africa— Profll of the Traile— Numbern brorxht over— Fiutlisb 
 Low upon the Huljict of ^<iavery ; liilroducliou of While Apprentices, ur " RiHleinplluncra," SS3 
 
 THK AMF.ISICAN IIEVOLLTIO."*. 
 
 onAPTr.R I. 
 GeDcral Rlltlilnof Colonlct; Farly Cauneiiuf Ci'in;>lnliit in Amerlrn; Arbitrary CuMnni Lnwt; Illrcal 
 C'oIHllirt of Eii?li«h I )lllcialii ; AeH in IleKUlnlioii lA Trade; IvxpeMwwuf thu Ijiln Wur* in Anier- 
 icu; till' " t;u(;ur-act ;" Uppoalliun and Itenioniitruiiceiii the Colonlva, 8S7 
 
 ! * 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 11 
 
 iiiino 
 
 
 .... 
 
 103 
 
 Kx. 
 
 
 >rnui 
 
 
 illCV, 
 
 m 
 
 aliMl 
 
 
 itlBII 
 
 
 lojal 
 
 
 until 
 
 
 .... 
 
 509 
 
 :i>y«l 
 
 
 *on ; 
 
 
 -Cho 
 
 
 • .. • 
 
 ail 
 
 pr of 
 
 
 •«i— 
 
 
 r ihi) 
 
 
 .... 
 
 S2S 
 
 ndor 
 
 
 .(VH 
 
 
 .... 
 
 910 
 
 ilr" 
 
 
 ry- 
 
 
 ili«b 
 
 
 • *> • 
 
 233 
 
 OKlU 
 
 
 miT- 
 
 
 .... 
 
 227 
 
 
 
 riiArTEii II. TAai 
 fbii Hlamp Act— ArKnmnnt In Ihn MniiMi nf Oiiiiiiiiciiiii— Piu>«K« "' Ihn 1)111— lU KIAk-I In Ihn Cnfcinlft ; 
 Ili'Kiliilluiia In tliu VirHliilit Aaniimliljr ; I'lilrick llunry ; PriiciHiilInu* In MiuwucIiiikUii— l'i>|iilliir 
 Tuniiiliit— llualgnttUin of Ilia Hluiiip < )fl1tii'r<, ICK) 
 
 ouArran iii. 
 
 8(>Mlim of 111" •'"'ft Amrrlrnn CiiiiuruM— MiKlurntn Thihi cif ll« Pnicci'illnKii— Cdnciirroncii of Ihn Hc|i- 
 uruli' iNiiiiiilca; tliii Htiiiii|i Act Niiuiilury ; llix KiikIIsIi Miiililry ; Dcbulu In I'urliiiiiii'iit ; rt|iiM'cli 
 ufPUl) Kxiiinliwtlun uf Frniiklln ; U«|Hml ol' llm HlHin|i Act, XI4 
 
 OIIAPrlH IT. 
 
 Inti'rval of Quiet i Nmw Taxm on lin|iortnllona ; Non-iinportatlon A|iri'vni<tnl ; Clrculnruf MiiwiikIhi- 
 •I'lli; Itlol'i »t lliiDloii ; AaMMnlilli'ii HmMilviil ; Trii<i|ia Oiilm-il In IIimIihi ; Mi'iiniirxn of Ihn lli'iliali 
 liov«rnin<^iil ; Kalul Kiicoun ur bvlwt't>n Ihu TriMi|ia nnd Pi>|iiilaco at lloatnii ; ('oiici'inloiia of 
 
 Purliuinuiiti "^ 
 
 OUAPrSH 7. 
 
 Pnrly f<pirlt In Ihu Coliinlva ; V IiIk anil Tory ; tin- Ucxnlalort of North Cnrolinn; llnlchhiaon, (iov- 
 iTiKiror ,Mii«''iit'liu»-lla; |i alrnclioii of Ihi' (iimpi'i- ; fjnliMii of INiliiU-nl (lonunnnlcnllon Iii'Iwihiii 
 Ihu i'liliinloa ; Ti'U illiiprichoil In Ainnrini liy Ihn Ki|.<l liiilhi ruinpiiiiy ; Kcfimul of lh« Colonlala tu 
 Kticulvu II ; Violuiit PrucuvUliiKS at Uoatun— i.'luauru uf Ihu Purl ; Kxluiialun uf Ciinudu, 1243 
 
 ORAPTKH Tl, 
 
 UnKc, (lovi'rnor of Maaarchiiaetta— Milllnry Prcpjiriillotia— Minnlo-mfin ; niatntaa In llnalon— Hympa- 
 thy uf iilhi'r Towiia; C'l.nvt'litiiin Piopoai'il hy VirkCiiiiii — DiieKUUm C'huauii hy thu Oilnnlra; Ihu 
 I'ulitllH'iilal Ouligri'it — Kuuulutluiii wi<l Ui'Clurulion Adopti'd; Viulunl Meaaiirua uf Pttillaniuut,. '.'IR 
 
 niAl'TKli VII. 
 
 Wnrliku Prpparnllona in MiiaaiirhiiKutIa; Tnxipa (llapiitirhe<l to SvW.e MilltRry f^torra; rir>t II'ihkI 
 HIird at lA'»'"i(tiiii; OjnuHlroua Iti'Irriit of Ihu llrltiah tu lloalon ; PmcuiMlliiKa in Ihu Nt'lKhhoiirliiK 
 ColiiMii'a ; Ih'aliin llcali'Ki'il hy llm I'roviiiciuin; C'oncurrrncu of thu Hoiilhi'rn Ciilonti'a; Hi'coiiil 
 bvaaiun of CoriKruaa; Appuintiuunt of Oltleuia; Sui/iiu of Crown Point and Ticondurugn, <.MQ 
 
 (•llAriBK VIII. 
 
 Oiiiillilon of Ihu nritlah Army in Hoitoii ; llultlu of llnnkor lllll; WimhiiiKton at Ihn Ciinip; Con- 
 Itri'talciiial Procuediiixa ; thu liidiun Trihia; Joaopli llraiit; Military Prc|iuratiiiha In the .icpnrato 
 Coluiiiva, iiba 
 
 CM API Kll IX. 
 
 Vacllliilinn Policy of Rnglnnd ; Provlniona by Cniinnaa for Currylni; on the War ; Num.! npuratlona j 
 Kx|iimII1Ioii HKHinat (.'aiiitilu ; Hli^uii of I'lirt !*l, .luhn ; Allvn'a Atloiiipt upon Monticiil ; lliu City (It- 
 cupiiHl by Moiilguniury ; March lowurda Uiicbm-, 357 
 
 CllAPTlCK X. 
 
 Arnold's Kxpodltlon n«i«lii»t Clnehi'c— Pumhhi' of thi> Wildorni'aii— Fiiihiru of Provisions- fh'fi'fllon 
 of l-;iioa, with hia (Jomniiind— .\rriviii iit lliu Caiiiiiliitii ^*l'ltll'ml'nta—Procllllnlaioila— Arnold at Iho 
 IIcIkIiIs of Abraham- LTiiion witii Monlmiini-ry— Attack on Ucicbcc— Ueiilh of Montgomury— Mor 
 guii'a Killu t'orpa — American Forcua drawn oil', SCO 
 
 CHArrB-R XI. 
 
 Warlike Preparatlont In England; (lormiii Miirccnitrlfa ; Proceeding* of Cungreai— Enllatmunta— 
 Issue of Hills— Uvfi'iicea In New Vork ; Condition of thu llrillsh in Buaton ; Uccu|ialion of Uur- 
 clu-aler HciKhta ; Evacuation of the City; Hopkins' Cruise iiniung the Bahaniaa ; AfTuira at the 
 South; Attack upon Uharleitun ( Rulruut of thu American Tiuupa from Canada, S63 
 
 cnArricH iii. 
 tilate nf Feeling In (he Cidimiea ; Painu't WrItiiiKs ; Dclmtca In Ckmgroa* ; the Declaration of Indn- 
 IK'iidi'iicu— ita EOi'ct u|>on thu Puu)ile ; thu llriliah at Slatun lalaiid ; Proclainatiun of General and 
 of Admiral Howe, SIP 
 
 CHAPTEH XIII. 
 
 Landing of the Britiih on lAing Island ; lliiltle of llrooklyn ; thn American Furdea Drivpn from Ixing 
 Island ; Occupation of Nhw York hy Ihe llriliah ; VVnahlnston'a Encampment at Harlem Helghta— 
 at While Plains; Hlurming of Fort Washington ; the Kelreat through New Jersey; Capture of 
 (ipiieral l.t>e; (Condition of Priaoiiera; l.tike Chnmplnin— Deatructiun of Ihn American Vuaaela; 
 Ueiieroelty of (^leUm ; Kho<lu lalund Beibd by Iho Uritlah, ino 
 

 12 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHASTER ZIV. VMS 
 
 OongreM at Baltimore; Army Organization; Powers Conferred upon Washington; Paaaage of iho 
 Delaware, and Recovery of Trenton ; Uattle of Princeton ; End of the Campaign ; Marauding Pur- 
 Ilea ; Negotiation with Eiiropeau Powers ; Foreign OQluers iu the American Service, i^ | 
 
 OBAPTBR XV. 
 
 Expeditions against Peekskill and Danbury ; British Plan of Campaign ; Howe's Departure from Now 
 York; Biirgoyne's Army— his Proclamation ; Hiege of Tlcoiiderogu ; Retreat of St. Clair ; Dnrgoyne 
 on the Hudson; Siege of Fort Schuyler; Bnttio of Buunington; Indion Warfare, j-g 
 
 OBAPTSB XVI. 
 
 Battles at Behmtis' Heights; Burgoyne's Retreat to Saratoga— Ms Surrender; Detention of Priaoners; 
 Kxpedition from Now York up the Hudson; Howe's March upon Philadelphia; Battle at Brniuly- 
 wine Creek; British Occupation of Philadelphia; Battle of Gcrmantowr. ; Reduction of Forts .Mif. 
 Din and Mercer ; Winter-quarters at Valley Forge, <j^l 
 
 CHiPTKR XVH. 
 
 Difllcultios of Congress ; Articles of Confederation ; Rcci:: imendations to the States ; Intrigues aguiiist 
 WB8hingU>n; Treaties with France; Britibh Commissioners in America; Evacuation of Philadel- 
 phia; Buttle of Monmouth ; Arrival of a French Fleet; Attempt oc Newport; Winter-quarlcrs ; 
 Marauding Expeditions; Destruction of Wyoming, 2^5 
 
 OHAPTKH XVIII. 
 
 Invasion of Georgia ; Occupation of Savannah ; Ilritish Division under Prevost ; Lincoln In Command 
 at thn South; Defeat of Ashe at Briar Cre<<k ; Attack on Charleston; Sullivan's Campaign against 
 the Iroquois; Naval Dperiitiona of Kriinceand England; Attempt at a Recovery of Suvannali; Fur- 
 ther Naval Proceedings — Paul Jones ; Condition of the American Army, -jgg 
 
 OHAPTIR xiz. 
 Siege of Charleston— Surrender of the City; South Carolina Occupied by the British ; Turleton's Le- 
 gion — his Victory at VVaxhiiws; Coriiwallis In Command; Defeat of the Americans at OiumiIimi- 
 Guerilla Operations of Sumptcr and Mariim ; luvaslim of North Carolina; Ferguson's Delout at 
 King's Mountiiiii, ijyj 
 
 OBAPTSB zz. 
 Noilhern Oporallins ; Sprincfleld Burned ; Arrival of the French Fleet and Forces— Blockiide al New- 
 purl; TrcHSoM of Arnold ; Trial and Execution of Major Andr*; Causes of Arnold's Delection; In- 
 dian Ravages— Invasion of the Mohawk Valley by Johnson and Brant, ciij;^ 
 
 OHAPiKK XXI. 
 
 Uovoll of the Pennsylvania TriK)p»; Arnold's Expedition into Virginia; Greene In Command of tlie 
 Southern Army ; Morgan's Detachment— llatlie of Cowpcns— Pursuit of Morgan by Cornwuliis— 
 Passaife of llii' L'al«wl)a— Uitreat into Virginia— Uullie of (iuiltoni Cunt-house; (Jreme's .March 
 Into f^iiulh l.'arolinu; Cornwallis in Virginia; Buttle at Hiibkirk's lliii ; Seizure of British Furls by 
 Marion and Ece, 301 
 
 CHAPTBH ZXII 
 
 War between England ond Holland; Seizure and Plunder of St. E'lslatins; the Arnu'd Niiilralily; 
 Recovery of VVei-l Florida l)y Spain ; Ciintiiienlul Curri'iicy ; Plan for tiie Recovery of Niw Vuik; 
 Virginia Ravn^cd by Phiilips and Cornwallis ; Eiicanipments at Yorklown and Gloiuv.^ier I'olni; 
 Wnshiiigton's .Maich Soiilliwaid ; Attack on New London and Groton ; Campaign in Suulh Cam- 
 Una; Battle near Eutnw Springs, 31,5 
 
 OHAPTSR ZXIII. 
 French Fleet in the Chesopenke ; Siege of Yorktown; Surrender of Cornwallis; Wiii(ei.(|iiaiter«; 
 PniceiHlings in the Englivh Pariiument; Negotialiiuis Ut Peace; Terms of Treuiy ; t'essiilinii if 
 Hostilities; Disatfection in the Continental .^rmy ; Evacuation of New York; Position of llie 
 United States, .' 305 
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ClIAlJKIl I. 
 
 Position of the (Tnlon at the ("imcbision of Pence ; Existing D:fnculties with Great Britain ; Weakness 
 of Congress ; Lmal Di»luil)uiiC4(« — Shaj's Rebellion ; Convention for Enlarging CoiiKiehsioia! Pow- 
 •™— OpIM'Sing Inteieft* of the Slnlen i the Present Cmstitnlion— Federal l.egislaliire--P(iwi rs of 
 Congreits—Ristrietions— Limit ol Siale Powers-the Executive— the Judiciary— Miiinu. (iiiaiaiilies 
 — Amendments, ,..,,,.,,.,,,,,.., 3)3 
 
 Naval Afliiirs- 
 
 Ihe III e.k V\ 
 
 of Hriilvew 
 
 — Uustructi 
 
 |if 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 13 
 
 OBAPTIR II. VJlOM 
 
 RatiSeation of the ConttUtittun by the State* ; Washington Elected Preaideiit ; the First Congress — 
 Pruvislons fur Kevenue — Furmatiun u( a Cabinet— Puw»r uf Kemuvnl frum Office ; Waaliiiigtuii's 
 Tuur thruiigh Nuw Kngiunil ; E<ecun(l Sesaiuii ut Congress— Debate respecting the Public Debt — 
 Foreign Liabililie*— Public CertiBcates- Assumption of Btate Debts— the Public Debt Funded— 
 MiscuilaueouB Unactmeiits ; Constitution Ratified by Khode Island, 319 
 
 CUAPTEER III. 
 
 Indian Negotiations — the Creeks— the North-western Trib**s ; llarinur's UnsuccessfVil Campaign ; Third 
 tflession of Congress— the Excise Law— a National Bunl( ; sieiliement of Kontucl(y — its Admission 
 to the Union ; Admission of Vermont ; Bile of the Federal Ciipilol ; the North-western Indians— St. 
 Clair's Kxpoditiuu— his Disastrous Defeat ; Political Parties ; the Census, 3'-!3 
 
 CBAPTKa IT. 
 
 Washington's Second Term— bis Dislnclhiation to Ulllcc; the French Revolution- its Political Influ- 
 ence in tlie United Slates; Arrival of Genet, as Slinisler of the French Republic — his Proceedings 
 at Charleston ; Neutral Position of the United States ; Commercial Restrictions by France and Eng- 
 land; Impressment of American Seamen ; Retirement of Jefferson ; Algerine Dopredatioue, 3i7 
 
 CUAPTEU V. 
 
 American Politics; Debate in Congress upon Foreign Relations; Further Aggressions of England: 
 Commission of Jay as Ambassador Extraordinary to Creut Uritnin; Relief of Immigrants from SI. 
 DominKo; the Neutrality Laws; Resistance to the Excise- Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania- 
 lis Furcible Suppression- Optuious of the Republican Party, 331 
 
 OlIAPTKft VI. / 
 
 Oneral Wayne's Campaign against the North-weKtcrn Indians; Defeat of the Confederate Tribes at 
 the Miami Rapids; Niituraiization Laws; tiie Uemocrutic Ciu' ■" Iluniilton's Resignation; the 
 British Treaty- its Ratitlcallou— Popular Indignation ; Randolp' N hesignation, 33j 
 
 OHAPTEB VII. 
 
 Indian Treaty at Fort Greenville ; Treaties with Algiers and Spain— the Mississippi Opened to Amer- 
 can Trade; Debate in Congress upon Jay's Ilritiah Treaty; Ti'nnessee Admitted into tlie Union; 
 Trench Proceedings in Respect to tiie Treaty; American Ministers to France; Washington's Re- 
 tirement from Office — Slanders upon bis Character ; John Adams Elected President, 339 
 
 OHAPTSa VITI. 
 
 Treatment of United States' Ambassadors in France; Hostile Preparations in America; New Eni- 
 ba!ay— Refusal of the Directory to Receive the American Ministers; Negotiations with Talleyrand; 
 Exlravagant Demands and Injurious Decrees ot Ihe Directory ; Return of the Ambassadors ; Action 
 of Congress — Military Preparations- Alien and Sedition Laws— Land-tax, etc., 341 
 
 CUAPTER IX. 
 
 raciflc Movements in France; Mi8si<jn of .Murray; Naval r.ngagemenls ; Denlh of Washington; Na- 
 poleon First Consul; Treaty with Franco; First Session of Cont;res8 nt WashinKlon ; Prenideiitial 
 Election— Jefferson I'resiili'Ot, and Hurt Vici-presidcnt ; Parly Removal from Office; Economical 
 Reforms; Ohio Admitted into the Union ; Transfer of Louisiana to the United States, 345 
 
 CHAPTEIl X. 
 
 American Fleet In Ihe Mediterranean; Expcdilioii of Eiiton and Unmet against Tripoli; Treaty con- 
 cluded; Jilfirson's Reelection; Hun's Duel Willi Hamilton— his We.-lern Enterprise— his Trial,... 34!) 
 
 CHAITEB X!. 
 
 Eiiclinh .Affgrewions; Failure of Negolialimi; Allsck cm the Frisrale Chesapeake; Embiireo; Non- 
 iDteroMirse Act ; Abolition of the ."iliivetrade ; Jidin RMiidoipli ; West Floridii; Concessions of 
 Naiioli'oii ; Itrilish Cruisers— Ihe Lillle Iti ll; Tciuniseh— I■:l^kwl\lawn— lliillleof Tippecanoe ; East 
 Florida I Deeliiriaion of War, S.',;; 
 
 ClIArTLH SII. 
 
 liiiits at Ilallimore ; Hull's Invasion of Caniiil:i : Repi'al of the Orders in Council— Impressment ; Na- 
 val Opiraiimis ; Mmlisoii's Rei-iii-iioii ; Norlli-we.-lern Campaign— Defeiit of Winchester; Attack 
 on York ; the llritish on I..uke Champliiin, 3C0 
 
 CH4PTHIS siii. 
 N«v:d Affairs— Perry's Victory on Lake Erie; llarrifun's Ciiniidian CnmpaiBii; llieNingarn Frontier; 
 llieCiri'k War— J.iciisiii'.< I'tiiiipniun ; Ni L'oli;illoiis fur IViu'e ; llrnwri's iiivnsicin oD'aiiailii— lliittio 
 of MridKewatir ; (leciipuiKin of ilic Clics.ipe.ilie— lliitile of lllucieiioburgli -Seizure of Washington 
 — Uealruction of Public Uulidings— .Mlack on Ilnltiniore, 30IJ 
 
hi 
 
 hi 
 
 II 
 
 u 
 
 C'.i.NTKNTS. 
 
 (Ml A ! :■ KH XIV 
 
 n|,onillr)ii3 on Iho CdusI of M;iiiic ; Alliiok on PliillMinruli— lliilll.' of Liiko Clmmpliiln ; Niivnl ^f.*"* 
 lairs -l.a(lltc; NcKi'tiatiDii ill (iht'iil ; lh« llMiil'i.rd Ciiivniitiun ; Trculy (if I't-ace ; JucksiiirB Do 
 
 fiiiictMif New Orleans— llultle (if Janiiurj- H; Naval KiiKa^fnienUi, 
 
 oil Apr KH XV. 
 
 War with Akicrs; Tnriff-Nali.uial Bank; Mimrdc, Prosidciit ; JackBinrs Senilnulo Campaign- 
 (.V'-oiiui (if Kliirida liy S|iain ; Aihiiissiim df .'Mismmii— the C(inipiiimi8(! ; Mdnniu's tfceond Term- 
 Admini,-.lrali'iM iif Julin Qiiiiicy Adams; Klceiiim (if Andrew Jaokwin ; the Tariff; Nnllillculioil 
 111 t«oinh Carolina ; the Unlled i^iuies' Hank; Indian Uemovnls; BliickHawk; the Cherokees,. agi 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The?emiii(ilo War; Early IlisUiry of Iho Florida Indians; War of 1818; Indian Treaty of 18"^- 
 
 of It^:)'.'; Refii.sid of Ihu S( \„\va to Keinove ; Duslruclion of Dade'a Detadiinent; Miliar, 
 
 0|icra(iiiii« of «cncial8 i^coll and Jcfsiip ; Uiisniifriicl.iry Rcsulls of NcKolialion ; Kxpdditi.uisof 
 C(jl(iin!l8 Taylor and Harney ; Gradual Cessation of lloHtilities; Recent UiOlculllea, ^. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Admlni'lralinn of Van Ilincn— Financial Pics.«iMe— the Sub-trea.iiiry— Canadian Revolt— iho North- 
 enMern Hoinidary— the Alfair of the Ainislad; Harrison and Tyler— llaiiknipt Law-Preeinption-- 
 tho Veld Power- Tariir ; Adiuisaion of Texas, .. 
 
 rHAPTBH XVm. 
 
 T.'xnsas a Spanish Prnvince— Grant to Moses Aii?liii— Coloiiizalion- Difflenltics of Ihe Settlers- 
 Revoliitidii in Mexico— Hiislanii-iili — First Ri'volulionaiy Movements in Texas- iSanta Anim'sPiea- 
 Ideni-y— his rMirpiiiidii ; .Scond Texan Ciinipiii«n— Siiccesn of the Patriots— Invasion hy Sunia 
 Anna- Iluttlu of San Jacinto- Independence Kstablishod, ,.,. 
 
 CHAPTER SIX. 
 
 Admliu«trntidn of .lames K. Polk; Annexation of Texas; the North-western Boundary; Discovery 
 and History of Ihe Terriluiy of niiKon; Vojane of Jiiiin de Fiica— Discovery of the Cohinihia— 
 Trading Kslahlishmenls — IiMiiiicy of Lewis and Clarki — Astoria— Destruction of the ToiKjuin- 
 War with '.'real Brilain— Boundary Trealies— Settlement of the Country, '^^^J 
 
 CIIAPTKH ■KX 
 
 Alt-ration in Ihe Tariff; Ar((iiisition of California— Knrly History of that Provincc-the Jesuit Mis- 
 sions in Ihe Peniiisiila— the Doininioans ; I'pp.-r California-the Franciscan Missionary Lslahlish- 
 nient— the Jlexican Revolution— Attempts at ColonizHlion, ..- 
 
 rllAl'TKH SXI. 
 
 Explorntidii of New California - Colom-l Fremont's Survey of Ihe Houth Paas-Overlnnd i:x|i.-ditinn 
 of l-4:i 4-llie (oeat Salt I.nke-K.tiirn U.mte-Terrilile Pas.sMite of the Sierra N(-viida- Captain 
 Sutter's r-eltlement-Sub«-(iuenl Kxpcdilioim of Fremont; Ihe (Jold Discoveries in California,.... 4[e 
 
 ^l!^PTIlR xxtt 
 
 TheMormims; Adminislrntidns of Zachary Tayh.r and Millard Fillmore-Admissidn of California 
 iiitdlhe rnidii-DeliHte upon Ihe Slavery Q.iestion-the ConipromiM^-F.xpeditions of Narcwso 
 I..ipoz; PtHlistica; Franklin Pierce Presidi-nt— Japan— llie Nehnuka Qiiestitiii, 4.1, 
 
 THE SANDWICH L-SLANDS. 
 Historical Sketch of, ™, 
 
 I 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 BiTiMOK Vhw or Um Oyital Palaee, New York— ProDtlipieoe S 
 
 Fligi of Vvloua Natlona, approprialeljr oolored 19,18 
 
 Portrtit of dpUlnJuhDDmltb, the Founder or Viiginia 46 
 
 Portrait or Roger Wllllamt, the Founder uT Rhode bland 110 
 
 Emigration or Hooker and hit Party to llartrord 113 
 
 PortraU or King Philip, In hia Aboriginal Ooatume '. ISO 
 
 The SetUen or New England going to Church 151 
 
 Portrait or Captain Bei\|anilu Church, the Indian Fighter 158 
 
 The Treaty onVllllam Penn with the Indiana 183 
 
 William Penn, the Founder or Pennsylvania 190 
 
 ScUleninthe Forest SS3 
 
 Group or English Statesmen— embracing Portraila or George III., Lord North, the Earl or Chatham, 
 
 Marquis or Rocklntcham, and Lord Bute 930 
 
 Groop or American Statesmen— embraoing Portraits or Bei\Jamln Franklin, Patrick Henry, Samuel 
 
 Adams, John Hancock, James Otis, and Gouverneur Morris 831 
 
 Congress (Independence) Hall, Philadelphia S47 
 
 Faneull Hall, Boston 847 
 
 Defenoe or the Redoubt at BunkerHlll 854 
 
 Pull-iength Portrait or Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) 356 
 
 View or the Highlands on the Hudson 871 
 
 The Encampment at Valley Purge 886 
 
 Engagement or the French Fleet, under D'Estaing, and the Briilah Fleet, under Byron 899 
 
 Hngagcment between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis 394 
 
 The Capture or M^jor Andre 899 
 
 The Battle or the Cowpens 303 
 
 Equestrian Portrait or LonI Comwallis 311 
 
 Full-length Piirtralt uf Rftd Jacket, the Famous Seneca Chler 3S7 
 
 Portrait of George Washington, First President or the United States 333 
 
 Portrait or John Adams, Second President or the United States 343 
 
 Portrait or Thomas JeOSarson, Third President or the United States 3.'iO 
 
 Portrait or Jsmes Madison, Fourth President of the United States 359 
 
 Thenallleor Uke Erie 367 
 
 Portrait or the Culobroted Indian Chler Tecumseh, in (a\\ Costume 370 
 
 Rqueittrinn Portrait iir General Andrew Jackson 379 
 
 TheCspltol at Washington 375 
 
 The Smithsonian Institute, Washington City 375 
 
 Portrait nf Jsmes Monroe, Fiflb President ur the United Slates 389 
 
 Ynt !v -"tn 
 
 '«?*i 
 
 m 
 
 M 
 
 , ft] 
 
 ilikiii;; 
 
 f'w? 
 
16 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 tAQM 
 
 Portnll of John Qalnejr Adanu, Sixth PfMident of the United 8UIM 3^3 
 
 Portrmit of Andrew Jaekeon, BereDth Pieeldent of the United BtUet, /r** tA< lul painting tmktn pn- 
 
 vitn* f kit itamt* jgg 
 
 rortnll of Hvtln Van Buren, Eighth Prealdent of the Unltod fltalee j,j 
 
 Full-length Portrait of OmcoU, the Flurtde Chief 394 
 
 Group of Portrait* of American BUteamen— embraolng Duilel Webeter, John C. Otlhoun, Henry Clay, 
 
 tndLewU Oaie 
 
 PortraltorWIlllamH.Hairiion, Ninth President of the United Btalee 
 
 Portrait of John Tyler, Troth Prealdent of the United SUtae 
 
 Portrait of Jamaa K. Polk, Eleventh Preaident of the Uailad Statea 
 
 View of the Ctly of Ban Franclioo 
 
 OTerland Emigration, an Animated Scene 
 
 PMa of the Blem Nerada 
 
 Miaenat WorkintheOoU-DlggtngaorOallftinila 
 
 Portrait of Zachary Taylor, TweUlh Preaident of the United Btatea 
 
 Portrait uf UlUard Fillmore, Thirteenth Prealdent of the United Blatea 
 
 Portrait of Franklin Pieree, Fomteenth Preaident of the United State* 
 
 Village of Kaawaloa, on Kealakekua Bay 
 
 Seal* or Coat* of Arm* of the Several SUtea and of the United Btatea, with Adl and particular de- 
 
 ■orlpUoo* of the •IgnlflcaDoe of eaeb 431 
 
 3DS 
 
 «M 
 
 407 
 410 
 41S 
 41} 
 480 
 4S3 
 4S8 
 
 4a« 
 
 433 
 434 
 
 .■I'lt.* ' '•■•'.■f ti-4i ,«';,.,>■. 1," ' , '(. 
 
 !• " 
 
' m 
 
 . t' 
 
 Buenos Ayres. 
 
 \ 
 
 VenezueJa. 
 
 Mexico. 
 

 AMERICAN COMMODORE. 
 
 
 \, 
 
 New Grenada. 
 
 American Jack. 
 
 Brazil. 
 
 United States. 
 
 kM 
 
' t 
 
 i f 
 
■a:": (! f I'l, 1--7/ ";!';-><;j: '''r »!■ 
 
 
 ' .1 icn 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 ^•^»^'^>^i^^^t^t^^t^'^»^t^^^^^*^^s^^'^^^^^^^^^^^^f^r^fsf^'^^^^^V^r^fS 
 
 THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA, 
 
 .%AA'NAAA^VWW«M^VWWW^^^rwWVWWW^WV^WW^'^^^W^%M 
 
 (farlu fopgfs aulr l^itmsts at Colottijatioru 
 
 SEBASTIAN CABOT; HIS YOUTH: HIS FIRST TOTAOB, AND DISCOT- 
 
 ERY OP NORTH AMERICA. — HIS SECOND VOYAGE, AND PUTILB 
 
 ATTEMPT AT COLONIZATION. — OBSCURE INTERVAL IN HIS 
 
 LIPE. — HE SERVES IN SPAIN. — HIS EXPEDITION UNDER 
 
 HENRY VIII. — APPOINTED GRAND PILOT OP SPAIN. — 
 
 HIS EXPEDITION TO SOUTH AMERICA. — HIS RETURN 
 
 TO ENGLAND, SERVICES, OLD AGE, AND DEATH. 
 
 I ig 
 
 England, the first to discover the American continent, was, 
 strangely enough, the last to plant her colonies on its shores. Be- 
 tween a solitary brilliant effort of early enterprise and those late and 
 feeble endeavours destined to eventuate in such mighty results, there 
 was destined to intervene the barren interregnum of nearly a century 
 of torpidity and ignorance, of imprudence and disaster. The scanty 
 resources of her marine, and the lives of her most enterprising dis- 
 coverers, for ages, were lavished in futile efforts to reach the shores 
 of India by passing to the north of Asia, or in yet more hopeless 
 attempts at the North-west Passage. Afler briefly describing the 
 particulars of her first memorable achievement, and the unimportant 
 movements in the same direction by which it was succeeded, we may 
 puss, with little interruption, to the tardy and unprosperous beginning 
 
18 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UISTOBY. 
 
 of an empire, whose rise and progress are utterly without a parallel 
 in the history of the world. 
 
 That achievement, indeed, as in the more remarkable instance of 
 Columbus, and in that of Magellan, of Vespucius, of Verrazano, and 
 of Iludson, was mainly due to the genius and enterprise of one who 
 if not of foreign birth, was of foreign origin and education, seeking 
 in a strange land, the means of displaying his genius and courage 
 in effecting grand discoveries. Sebastian Cabot, the son of an emi- 
 nent Venetian merchant, was born at Bristol in England, about the 
 year 1477. Being removed to Venice at the early age of four, he 
 there received, for the age, an excellent education, and became espe- 
 cially imbued with the taste for maritime enterprise. Returning to 
 England yet a youth, his ambition, like that of others of his family, 
 was strongly kindled by tidings of the grand discovery of Columbus, 
 tl»en the chief event of the day. "By this fame and report," he 
 says, " there increased in my heart a great flame of desire to attempt 
 some notable thing." 
 
 An ambition so laudable has seldom been gratified at such an early 
 age; and a more "notable thing" than the young adventurer proba- 
 bly dreamed of, was destined, while he was yet a boy, to immortalize 
 his name. Henry VII., whose far-sighted policy had looked with 
 immediate favour on the scheme of Columbus, and who had narrowly 
 missed the first claim to America, in March, 1496, at the instance of 
 John Cabot, granted to him and his three sons — Lewis, Sebastian, and 
 Sancius — a patent "to sail to all j)art8, countrys, and seas, of the 
 East, of the West, and of the North, to seek and find out whatsoever 
 isles, countries, regions, or provinces of the heathen and infidels, 
 whatsoever they may be, and in what part of the world soever they 
 be, whioh before this time have been unknown to all Christians." 
 The main object of this expedition was the enterprising attempt, so 
 often since repeated, first from ignorance of climate and geography, 
 and latterly from sheer English hardihood and perseverance, to dud 
 a North-west passage to the shores of India. i 
 
 Sebastian, though as yet only a youth of nineteen, was entrusted 
 with the command of the expedition, which consisted of five ships, 
 and in the spring of 1497, accompanied by his father, took bis 
 departure trom the port of Bristol. After stopping at Iceland, they 
 held on to the westward, and on the 24th of June, beheld the laud 
 stretching before them, being portions of the coasts of Labrador and 
 Newfoundland. Little exultation seems to have been awakened by 
 
THE ENOLISH IN AUERIOA. 
 
 10 
 
 thia momentous discovery of a continent " After ceytayne dayes," 
 Bftyfl Sebastian, "I found that the land ranne toward the North, 
 which was to mee a great displeasure, * * not thinking 
 to find any other land than Cathay " (China). He entered, however, 
 it would seem, one of the channels which lead into Hudson's Bay, 
 and thought himself (like Hudson, a century later) fairly in the 
 desired truck ; but after keeping westward fo^ several days, the crews, 
 discouraged by the length of the voyage and the failure of provi- 
 sion, insisted on return. Compelled to yield, he put about, and after 
 coasting along shore for some way to the southward, made his way 
 to England. Not long afterwards, John Cabot expired. 
 
 In the spring of 1498, Sebastian, anxious to found a colony, took 
 with him three hundred men, and again set sail for the region he had 
 discovered. These unfortunate people he landed on the blealc and 
 inhospitable coast of Labrador, that they might form a settlement 
 there, and then with the squadron renewed his search for the North- 
 west Passage. The particulars of this unsuccessful attempt are not 
 recorded; but on his return to the station, he found that the settlers 
 had suffered miserably from cold and exposure, though, in that high 
 northern latitude, "the dayes were very longe, and in a manner 
 wlihoui nyght." A lumber had already perished, and the rest, 
 refusing to remain any longer in these inclement regions, were taken 
 on board, nnd carried back to England. In the return voyage, he 
 coasted along the Atlantic sea-board of North America as far as 
 Florida. 
 
 From this time until the year 1512, very little is known of the 
 career of Cabot; though, it is said, deprived of the aid of the crown, 
 he fitted out vessels at his own charges, and made "great discoveries," 
 in a more southerly direction. In that year we find him employed 
 by Ferdinand of Spain, and, not long after, a member of the Council 
 of the Indies. He was also entrusted with the command of a fresh 
 exp^kion to seek the Westerly Passage; but this project failing, 
 froilBe death of his patron, in 1516, he returned to England, where 
 he \vB received with favour by Henry VIII. From that country 
 he mwie a fresh expedition to the north-west, attaining the sixty- 
 seventh degree of north latitude, and making fresh surveys in Hud- 
 son's Bay; but from the severity of the season, the mutinous dispo- 
 sition of his crews, and the timidity of Sir Thomas Pert, who com- 
 manded under him, (" whose faint heart was the cause that the voyage 
 look none effect,") was compelled to return to England, his purposo 
 
 •m 
 

 i 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
 tup PKUPLK'S BOOK OF IIIBTORY. 
 
 nnnoooit. ' . In 1618, ktt #•• Tficalled to Spain by Charles V. 
 HtlMI #ti Uio thf <^e ufthat cute '< /, uu<i received the hunourablc and 
 rak|M)ODible apfHuuiuaeiit of Chief IMot 
 
 In April of 1526, he set forth, with \}\r ■ ships, on a voyage to 
 tbe P. '-iflo by the strait of Magellan; but, through mutiny and ship, 
 ^r'wk, bis project waa disn ncerted, and he devoted himself to inland 
 t«^/l"r',>Hon. FTe passed up 'lie IjU J^lata and the Paraguay, and 
 during ir,. ,>'*wence of five years, added "•uterially to a knowledge of 
 the geograpi.y of those regions, as well as of their natural wealth 
 and resources. In 1531, he returned to Spain, and resumed his 
 ofTico of Chief Pihjt, being then fifty-three years of age. Despite hia 
 many misfortunes, his reputation as a discoverer and navigator was 
 great. " He is so valiant a man," says a contemporary, "and so well 
 practiced in all things pertaining to navigations and the science of 
 cosmographie, that at this present he hath not his like in all Spaine 
 insomuch that for his vertues he is preferred above all other Pilots 
 that saile to the West Indies, who may not passe thither without his 
 license, and is therefore called Pilote Maggioro, (that is, Grand Pilot.)" 
 "I. found him," snys another, "a very gentle and courteous person, 
 who entertained mee friendly, and showed mee many things, and 
 among other a large mappe of the world" — at that time, doubtless, 
 a great curiosity, and which certainly would be none the less such 
 now. The learned and enterprising seem to have found delight in 
 his society, and as, with increasing a^|^, he gradually relinquished 
 his more active occupations, a serene tranquillity, relieved from mo- 
 notony by the interest of his o'Aicc, rewarded the more arduous 
 achievements of his youth and manhood. "After this," he writes, 
 "I made many other voyage.^, which I now pretermit, and waxing 
 olde, I give mysi-If to rest from such travels, because there are now 
 many young and lustie pilots and mariners of good experience, by 
 •who.^e forwardness I do njoyee in the fruit of my labors and rest in 
 the tv irge of this ollice as you see." 
 
 Aged as th«' discoverer was when he wrote this letter, hi^work 
 was far from finished; the promotion of English enterpris- iimi tiio 
 building lip ot a marine mightier tiian . o world has ever s"*;!!, I ■ - 
 reserveil us the crowning laurel of his long and useful life. y^o, 
 
 being then seventy years old, he revisited iiis native country, where 
 he met with much favour from the young king, Edward VI. It has 
 been sau' hat he was ap{K)intcd to the office of Grand Pilot of Eng- 
 land — CD t ' e vhiuh, in the unpro.sperou3 condition of foreign 
 
TilK E NO LI 8 II IN AMKUICA. 
 
 ai 
 
 commerce, must, at this time, have bccu .ilmust a diiiccure. IIo cer* 
 tainly received a handaome penaion. Ilia ruputatiun for maritime 
 skill, (tts well perhaps as the jealous)' of the Spuiiish court,) ia 
 evinced in a formal demand made by Charles V., that " Snhastian 
 Cubote, Grand Pilot of the Emperor's I: lies, theu i.. England, might 
 be sent over to Spain, as a very necessary man for the Emperor, 
 whose servant he was and had a pension of him." This peremptoi j 
 rOcull was, however, disregarded. 
 
 Ilia arrival in London gave a fresh stimulus to the almost decayed 
 spirit of Tjigli.Ah enterprise. The chief men of that port, we aro 
 told, b^.. i.'i ' flvt of all to deal and consult diligently" with the nged 
 pi! ,'r, and ly 'is advice three vessels were fitted out for an expedi- 
 tion U'' the north-east. This little squadron, which sailed in May, 
 1553, uii Jer the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, was regarded 
 with a curiosity which indicates the infancy of maritime enterprise 
 in til'' ration whose exploits in that direction have since been utterly 
 unapproachable by those of any other. As it floated down the 
 Thames, says old Ilakluyt, "being come neere to Greenwich (where 
 the court then lay) presently on the news thereof, the courtiers canio 
 running out, and the common people flockt together, standing very 
 thick upon the slioare ; the privie counsel], they lookt out at the win- 
 dows of the court, and the rest ranne up to the toppes of the towers." 
 This expfidition resulted in the destruction of Sir Hugh and most 
 01 his people, who perished on the dreary coast of Lapland; but one 
 of the vessels, commanded by Richard Chancellor, succeeded in 
 pushing her way far eastward through the Arctic sens, and laid the 
 foundation of a prosperous commerce between England and Russia. 
 
 We find Cal)ot, in' extreme old age, still the active patron of 
 English enterprise and commerce; which, by his vigorous and intel- 
 ligent direction, was gradually placed on a substantial and lucrative 
 basis. A pleasant description of his demeanour is given by one of 
 the company of a small vessel, which, with his friends (when eighty 
 years old) he visited ui Gravosend. "They went on shore," says the 
 narrc'. t, "giving to our Inariners right liberal rewards; and the good 
 olde gentleman, master Cabota, gave to the poor most liberall almcs, 
 wishing them to pray for tlie good fortune and prosperous success 
 of the Search- T/inft, our pinesse. And then at the signe of the 
 Christopher, hee .tml his friends banketed, and made mee, and them 
 that were in the company great cheere; and so very joy that he had 
 to see the towaidwoss of our intended discovery, he entered into the 
 
22 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 dance himselfe, among the rest of the young and lusty company 
 which being ended, hee and his friends departed, most gently com- 
 mending M5 to the governance of Almighty Ood^ The most elaborate 
 description could hardly present a more agreeable picture of hale 
 cheerfal, and benevolent old age, than is suggested by this little 
 incident, thus casually recorded. 
 
 After the accession of Mary, this aged and useful servant of the 
 crown spent the brief remainder of his days in neglect and obscurity. 
 It mattered little to him, however, for his work was done. "On hia 
 death-bed, says an eye-witness, ' he spake flightily ' of a certain divine 
 revelation (which he might disclose to no man) for the infallible 
 ascertainment of the longitude. With his last thoughts thus amused 
 by visions so suited to his mind and his past life, the Discoverer of 
 North America died calmly — it is supposed in the city of London- 
 but the date of his death, and the place where his remains are laid 
 have long been lost even to tradition." 
 
 . /' .. .;;.. Xj iLiL dt\ iL w Out J»b X Xo 
 
 THE "DOMINUS YOBISCUM:" FAILURE AND- MISFORTUNE. — 
 IMPROVEMENT OF THE ENGLISH MARINE. — MARTIN FRO- 
 BISHER: HIS VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF A NORTH-WEST PA8SA0B. 
 — DIMINUTIVE EQUIPMENTS OF THE EARLY DISCOV- 
 ERERS. — SUPPOSED DISCOVERY OF GOLD ORE. — 
 SECOND EXPEDITION OF FROBISHER. — SURTBT8. 
 — CONTEST WITH THE ESQUIMAUX. — HIS IHIR') 
 EXPEDITION. — ITS FAILURE. 
 
 The voyage of Cabot, under Henry VIII., in 1517, in search of a 
 North-west Passage, is the only one made by the English, in that 
 din.ction, for ten years, of which any record has survived. In 1527, 
 two ships, the "Dominus Vobiscum." ("the Lord be with you") and 
 another were dispatched by the same sovereign to the northern 
 coasts of America. "Divers cunning men," one being a canon of 
 St. Paul's, went on this exj)edition, which, however, one of the 
 vessels being wrecked, resulted in nothing of importance. The fact, 
 
 :.,,i 1 
 
 
 r dpscribii!!? the vovn.'^e ^i^so fnrvanTAi^A \\r 
 
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 
 
 28 
 
 from the harbour of St. John's, Newfoundland, would seem to indi- 
 cate that some intercourse already existed with those parts — probably 
 by fishing vessels, which, in emulation of the early Bretons, may 
 have resorted thither. 
 
 Nine years afterwards, (1536,) another voyage was made in the 
 same direction by a company of adventurers, many of whom were 
 young lawyers from the Inns of Court, and gentlemen of good 
 family. They were reduced to a wretched condition, and even, it 
 is said, resorted to cannibalism, devouring one another; at last, 
 obtaining by stratagem, at Newfoundland, a French ship, well fur- 
 nished with supplies, they made their way home, whither they were 
 soon followed (in the ship they had left) by the French crew, clam- 
 orous for redress. It would appear, from laws passed not long after 
 for the protection of the fisheries at Newfoundland, that this branch 
 of national industry had already made a fair beginning; and only 
 a few years later, from thirty to fifty English vessels, it is said, came 
 annually to that region. 
 
 The fate of Willoughby, in seeking a north-east passage, in 1553, 
 and the success of his officer. Chancellor, in discovering a sea-route 
 to Russia, and opening a lucrative commerce with that empire, have 
 already been mentioned. The English marine, under the auspices 
 of Cabot, rapidly increased in extent, and the English mariners in 
 skill and boldness; and the brilliant reign of Elizabeth, so fertile in 
 every department of greatness, was illustrated by numerous naval 
 exploits, both in war and attempted discovery. The attention of 
 the learned and enterprising was revived to the scheme of effecting 
 a North-west Passage — an undertaking, in the language of Martin 
 Frobisher, "the only thing of the world, yet left undone, whereby a 
 notable mind might become fortunate and famous." 
 
 For fifteen years, that navigator, afterwards so famous in almost 
 every sea, vainly sought the means of pursuing his grand design; 
 and it was not until 1576, that by the favour of the Earl of War- 
 wick, he was enabled to fit out a little flotilla of three vessels, the 
 larjrest of which was only thirty-five tons, and the smallest but ten. 
 With this slender equipment, on the 19th of June, 1576, he sailed 
 from Yarmouth on his long-cherished enterprise. "In reviewing the 
 history of these early expeditions, the most casual reader must be 
 struck with the humble and insignificant means with which the grand- 
 est enterprises wore attempted and often accomplished. Columbus, 
 amid the storms of a most temnestuous winter, made his wav back to 
 
 \i lilt 
 
 ;^i 
 
 i: 
 
 i.-iC 
 
 ..:3 
 
 V'H 
 
24 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF H18T0KY. 
 
 Europe, after hia great discovery, in an open caravel ; Hudson, with 
 only ten men, undertook 'to find a passage to India by way of the 
 north pole;' and the good Sir Humphrey Gilbert, after voyaging 
 safely to Newfoundland in his little Squirrel, (of only ten tons,) wtis 
 finally whelmed in a tremendous gale beneath the 'pyramid-like' 
 seas of the Atlantic." 
 
 On the lltli of July, this little squadron came to the southern 
 extremity of Greenland, and, keeping to the westward, on the 18th 
 of August again made land on some part, it is probable, of the coast 
 of Labrador. Here the voyagers fell in with parties of Esquimaux 
 who came off to the vessels in their seal-skin boats; and five of the 
 crew, who too rashly went ashore with them, were carried off, and 
 could not be recovered. This land was named by Frobisher "Meta 
 Incognita." One of hia little vessels was swallowed up by the sea, 
 anil another deserted him; yet he pressed on, and made considerable 
 surveys in those dreary regions. On his return to England, certain 
 bits of glittering stone which he had found there were confidently 
 pronounced by the English goldsmiths to be no other than gold ore. 
 The iinnouncement of this fancied discovery of the precious metal 
 stimulated the nation to fresh enterprise, and even relaxed the strings 
 of tlie royal purse (in general most reluctantly unloosed) to a slight 
 disbursement. With a ship of an hundred and eighty tons, furnished 
 by the queen, and called the Ayde (Aid), and with two smaller ves- 
 sels, on the 2Glh of May, 1577, he again set forth in quest of gold 
 mines and the North-west Passage. 
 
 He passed Friesland, and thence, stretching over to Labrador 
 sailed up the straits which still bears his name, and which he sup- 
 posed to be a cliuniiel dividing Asia and America, A plenty of the 
 glittering trasli which had deluded him was found, and stowed aboard 
 the siiip; and for thirty leagues he made his way up the strait, con- 
 fidently supposing that it led to the Indian ocean. In some boats 
 of the Esquimaux, various Euroi)ean articles were found, probably 
 bel<>nf.'ing to tiie mariners who had been lost on the preceding voy- 
 age. To recover these or to revenge their death, he engugcl in 
 hostilities with the savages, who Ibught with nmeh desperation, 
 flinging themselves, when inort;dly wounded, into the sea. A num- 
 ber of them having been slain, the rest took refuge among the cliffs, 
 all the men of tlie party making their escape. "Two women," sa)h 
 thej(juriial of the voyage, "not being so apt to escape as the men 
 were, tlie one being olde, the other encombred with a yong cliildo, 
 
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 
 
 26 
 
 we tooke. The olde wretch, whom divers of our Saylers supposed 
 to be eyther the Divell or a witch, had her buskins plucked off, to 
 see if she were cloven-footed, and for her ougly hewe and deformitie, 
 we let her goe ; the yong woman and the childe we brought away." 
 All attempts to recover the lost mariners proved fruitless, and on 
 the 21st of August, ice having begun to form around the ships, Fro- 
 bisher perceived the danger of attempting to remain or proceed. 
 Accordingly, he put about, and with his vessels freighted with two 
 hundred tons of shining earth, returned to England. 
 
 Wonderful to state, the fallacy of the imagined El Dorado was 
 not yet discovered. The ore was pronounced genuine by men of 
 science, and, as usual where the thirst for gold is fairly awakened, 
 men flocked in crowds to join a fresh expedition. Fifteen ships, 
 with preparations for a settlement, were fitted out, and, under com- 
 mand of Frobisher, on the 31st of May, 1578, again sailed for the 
 laud of imagined treasure. After encountering much danger from 
 storms and icebergs, the fleet entered a great strait leading westward, 
 probably the chief entrance to Hudson's Bay. Finding that he was 
 not in the passage he had formerly entered, in the region of imagined 
 gold, Frobisher put about; but was so long in getting to the desired 
 locality that winter almost set in- before he arrived there; his sailors 
 and colonists, disheartened by the length of the voyage, clamoured 
 for return; one ship, laden with supplies, deserted; and, compelled 
 to abandon his plans for colonization and discovery, the admiral, 
 freighting his ships with the supposed treasure, returned to England. 
 By this time, its worthlessness had been fairly discovered; and 
 though he eagerly besought the means at least for continuing his 
 attempts at the North-west P;issage, the public and the crown, dis- 
 couraged by their losses and misfortunes, refused to lend him further 
 assistance. The remainder of his life was passed in naval warfare 
 and adventure, which perpetuate his name as a bold leader and skil- 
 ful navigator. He died in 1G94, of a wound which he received in 
 an expedition to the French coast. 
 
 |"*|!'il' 
 |i| 
 
 I'lW 
 
 
26 
 
 TEE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 uJutiAiJtriLjuitt iitl* 
 
 BNOLISH ENTERPRISE. DRAKE. — SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT 
 
 HIS FIRST ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE AMERICA. SIR WAL- 
 
 TER RALEIGH. SIR HUMPHREY SAILS FOR AMERICA. — 
 
 SHIPWRECKS AND MISFORTUNES. THE RETURN VOYAGE. 
 
 TEMPESTS. — LOSS OF SIR HUMPHREY AND HIS CREW. 
 
 J 
 
 ExGLAND, in the midst of continued loss and misfortune by her 
 attempts at di.scovery, at mining, and at colonization in the New 
 World, was now fairly embarked in her grand career of naval enter- 
 prise — the wealth and renown acquired by her daring mariners in 
 their half chivalrous, half piratical expeditions against the Spaniards 
 of America serving to keep alive the national interest in that region, 
 and a knowledge of the Western Continent being incidentally but 
 materially promoted by their cruises. At the same time that Fro- 
 bisher was making his unsuccessful voyages in search of gold and 
 of thQ North-west Passage, Francis Drake, a mariner of similar and 
 yet greater renown, after his memorable passage of the straits of 
 Magellan, was engaged in a survey of the western coast of North 
 America, in the course of which he touched on the shores of Oregon, 
 which he named New Albion. 
 
 The example of enterpise, stimulated by motives purer and more 
 honourable than those of either, was not long in presenting itself. 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man of high character and amiable temper, 
 both a soldier and a civilian, had interested himself much in the daring 
 but futile voyages of his countrymen in search of a North-west Pjlss- 
 age. He had even written a treatise, founded on the testimony and 
 opinion of "many learned men and painfull travellers," "to proovp. 
 by experience of sundrie men's travels the opening of some part of 
 this North-west PjKs.sage; whereby good hope reinaineth of the 'est." 
 No words could have phrased more effectually thiit expectant longing, 
 which now for three centuries has beset men of courage, of enter- 
 })rise and inquiry, to solve the grand problem — "the one thing yet 
 left undone upon the earth whereby a notable mind might be made 
 f irnous and fortunate" — of a communication between the two oceans. 
 That terrible problem. who«e final solution we hjive just witjics.^pd, 
 
THE ENGLISH IN AMEBICA. 
 
 27 
 
 will ever remain burdened with the saddest associations, both ancient 
 and modern, of heroic courage and indefatigable perseverance doomed 
 to repeated suflfering, disappointment, and destruction. 
 
 In the year 1578 he obtained from Elizabeth a patent, conferring 
 sole jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over a very extensive 
 territory in America, not precisely located, on condition that he 
 should plant a colony there within six years. Hi8 half-brother, the 
 famous Sir Walter Raleigh, then twenty-six years of age, his imagin- 
 ation fired by the narratives of Columbus, of Cortes, and of other 
 famous pioneers of the New World, also engaged in the enterprise. 
 This expedition, delayed and weakened by various misfortunes, 
 finally sailed with only two vessels, one of which was captured by 
 the Spaniards; the crew of the other returned without effecting any 
 thing in the way of settlement. 
 
 An interval of several years elapsed, during which Raleigh rose 
 high in the royal favour; and in 1583, the brothers reijewed their 
 enterprise. Sir Humphrey, in person, commanding the expedition. 
 The queen, to express her favour, at his departure bestowed on him 
 an anchor of gold, with a great pearl set in it, which, during the 
 remainder of his life, he wore, with allowable complacency, on hia 
 breast. The fleet consisted of five sail, the largest of which, the Raleigh, 
 was furnished by the famous man after whom it was named. There 
 were two hundred and sixty men on board, including mechanics and 
 mineralogists; and a learned Hungarian, named Parmenius, was taken 
 as the chronologer of the expedition. There was also provided, says 
 one of the commanders, "Musike in great variety; not omitting the 
 least toyes, as Morris-dancers, hobby-horse, and the like conceits, to 
 delight the savage people, whom we intended to win by all faire 
 meanes possible." 
 
 Soon after their departure, the Raleigh, on account of an infectious 
 disease, put back ; and Sir Humphrey, with the remainder of the 
 fleet, kept on to Newfoundland. At St. John's Harbour, at that 
 island, he summoned the Spanish and Portuguese fishermen to wit- 
 ness the ceremony of taking possession in the name of the English 
 soven^ign — an operation which he performed by digging a turf, and 
 setting up a pillar, to which the arms of England were affixed. 
 Silver ore, as it was supposed, was discovered, and was taken aboard 
 the vessels, one of which was abandoned, while with the remainder 
 Sir Humphrey pursued his vo^^age along the coast towards the south. 
 On his way, the largest ship remaining, with the ore, was wrecked. 
 
 
 ilk/ 
 
28 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0KY. 
 
 and a hundred souls perished, including the Hungarian. Retura 
 was now considered necessary, and in the midst of terrible storms 
 and tempests, the prows were turned homeward. "Sir Humphrey 
 had chosen to sail in a little tender, called the Squirrel, a mere cockle- 
 shell in size — ' too small to pass through the ocean sea at that season 
 of the year.' In vain did the officers of the Hinde, the larger vessel 
 entreat him, in this dangerous weather, to shift his flag aboard their 
 ship. He came on boar<J, for a convivial meeting, but returned to 
 his slender craft, saying, *I will not desert my little company, with 
 whom I have passed so many storms and perils.' 
 
 "The weather grew heavier and heavier; the oldest sailors de- 
 claring that they had never seen such seas — 'breaking very high' 
 says a spectator, 'and pyramid- wise' — the very worst sea that is 
 known. Lights were burned at night, and the little Squirrel, for a 
 long time, was seen gallantly contending with the waves, which 
 almost ingulphed her. Once she came so near that they of the Hinde 
 could see Sir Humphrey sitting by the mainmast, with a book in his 
 hand, reading. He looked up, and cried cheerily, 'We are as necro 
 to Heaven by sea as by land.' But the seas broke over her more 
 heavily; about midnight, all at once, the lights were extinguished- 
 and in the morning nothing was seen of the good Sir Humphrey or 
 his little ship. She had doubtless been whelmed by the toppling 
 down of some huge pyramid of water. Such was the melancholy 
 but honourable end of one of the worthiest and most persevering 
 patrons of English enterprise. He perished in the pursuance of his 
 own exalted maxim: 'That he is not worthy to live at all, who, for 
 fear or danger of death, shunneth his country's service or his own 
 honor; for death is inevitable and fame immortal.'"* 
 
 * Discovercra, &c., of America. 
 
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 29 
 
 ' C n A P T E H X V . 
 
 THE PATENT OP RALEIOH! — HE DISPATCHES A¥IDA8 AND 
 BARLOW TO CAROLINA: THEIR REPORT. — THE COUNTRY 
 NAMED VIRGINIA. — YOTAOES OF DAVIS, EtC. — SECOND EX- 
 PEDITION OP RALEIOH, UNDER LANE. — SETTLEMENT AT 
 ROANOKE. — FOLLY AND CRUELTY OP THE ENGLISH. 
 — THE INDIANS. — MASSACRE BY THE ENGLISH. 
 — FAILURE AND RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 Raleigh, whose enterprising spirit wns dismayed neither by the 
 loss of his brother, nor the wreck and failure of the late expedition, 
 immediately resolved to renew the attempt, and secure to himself 
 tlie glory of the first founder of an English settlement in America. 
 To one so high in the queen's favour, letters patent, of the most liberal 
 nature, were readily issued, granting him power to colonize, with 
 almost unlimited personal jurisdiction, "such remote, heathen, and 
 barbarous lands as are not actually possessed by any Christians, or 
 inhabited by any Christian people." No particular region was spe- 
 cified as the subject of this indefinite grant; but, warned by the fate 
 of former enterprises, he had resolved to plant his settlement in the 
 milder regions of the south. The very year after the loss of Sir 
 Humphrey, on the 27th of April, 1584, he dispatched two vessels, 
 well provided with men and supplies, under two experienced cap- 
 tains, Amidas and Barlow, to the American coast. 
 
 Taking the circuitous route of the Canaries and the West Indies, 
 (which, strange to say, for many years was considered the only prac- 
 ticable track,) after a voyage of two months, they arrived off the 
 shores of Carolina. For more than a hundred miles they sailed 
 along the coast, seeking a harbour, and on the 13th of July, entered 
 Ocracoke Inlet. Ilere they landed on an island, delighted with the 
 softness of the climate and the beauty of the vegetation, and took 
 formal possession of the country in the name of Elizabeth. The 
 natives, at first shy and timid, proved gentle and friendly, and on 
 the island of Roanoke the vovagers were entertained with much 
 hospitality at the«residence of the chief After making some brief 
 survey of the cotvst, the}' returned to England, where the glowing 
 description which they gave of the beauties of the region, encouraged 
 
 ''ft ViJ 
 
 MK 
 
80 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 II 
 
 the projector, and revived fresh enterprise in the nation. In honour 
 of his patroness, Raleigh bestowed on the newly discovered region 
 the name of Virginia — a name, like that of Florida and of Louis- 
 iana, originally applied to a tract far more extensive than even the 
 broad and beautiful state by which it is now borne. 
 
 A fresh stimulus, at this time, was given to the North-Western enter- 
 prise, and the voyages of Davis, in 1585, 6, 7, though unsuccessful in 
 accomplishing their design, added greatly to the geographical knowl- 
 edge of the dreary seas and coasts in that direction. The voyages and 
 discoveries of the famous Henry Hudson, resulting in his own de- 
 struction, but in the eternal commemoration of his name, occurred 
 a few years later. (See " The Dutch in America.") 
 
 The year after the return of his pioneer-vessels, (1585,) Raleigh, 
 then in the full tide of court favour and increasing wealth, fitted out 
 a fresh expedition, of seven vessels, with an hundred and eight col- 
 onists, under command of Ralph (afterwards Sir Ralph) Lane, des- 
 tined for the shores of Carolina. His friend, Sir Richard Grenville, 
 one of the bravest and choicest spirits of the age, commanded the 
 fleet, which, on the 9th of April, set sail from Plymouth. Taking 
 the usual circuitous route, it passed through Ocracoke Inlet to the 
 island of Roanoke ; and Grenville, with Lane and others, made a 
 tour of exploration. They were well entertained by the natives 
 whom they encountered — in return for which, aa usual with the 
 European adventurers, provoked by slight injury, they took cruel 
 and indiscriminate revenge. "At Aquascogoe," says Sir Ralph, 
 "the Indians stole a Silver Cup, wherefore we burnt the towne, and 
 epoyled their come," <Scc., &c. What an exceedingly low standard 
 of morality, of policy, of ci^mmon decency even, do acts like these, 
 recorded a hundred times by their authors with the most naive un- 
 consciousness, exhibit! 
 
 The settlers, under Lane, left on the island of Roanoke, at first 
 were all enjoyment at the serenity of the climate and beauty of the 
 country. "It is the goodliest soil," says their governor, "under tiio 
 cope of heaven; the most pleasing territory of the world; tlie con- 
 tinent is of a huge and unknown greatness, and well peopled and 
 towned, though savagely." The native culture of tobacco, of maize, 
 and the potato, was observed with much interest; an interest which 
 would have been redoubled, could the visitors have foreseen the vast 
 magnitude and imj)ortance which the production of these articles 
 was destined one day to assume. 
 
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 
 
 "1 
 It L 
 
 A more particular observation of the Indians than had hiihertr* 
 been made, was taken by the colonists, who describe them as gener- 
 ally a feeble, inoffensive race, dwelling in small villages, and forming 
 tribes of no great separate importance. Master Heriot, who espe- 
 cially devoted himself to the subject, travelled among them, and 
 endeavoured to indoctrinate them with some idea of Christianity. 
 They manifested much reverence for the Bible which he displayed to 
 them, kissing it and hugging it to their breasts, and doubtles-s con- 
 sidering it "a great medicine." They had a species of belief in the 
 Divine Existence and the immortality of the soul ; and the traveller 
 tells a pleasant story of one of them who had been buried for dead, 
 but was afterwards exhumed and revived. According to the Indian.s, 
 the recovered patient "showed that although his body had laine dead 
 in the grave, yet his soule lived, and had travailed far in a long 
 broad way, on both sides whereof grewe more sweete, fayre, and 
 delicate trees and fruits than ever he had scene before ; at length he 
 came to the most brave and fayre houses, neere which he met his 
 Father, that was dead long agoe, who gave him charge to goe backo 
 to shew his friends what good there was to doe, to injoy the pleasures 
 of that place ; which when hee had done, hee should come again." 
 
 Allured by fanciful and perhaps misunderstood tales concerning 
 great treasures at the source of the Roanoke, Lane, with a number 
 of his people, ascended its rapid stream. Their provisions were 
 soon exhausted, yet they pressed on, "seeing they had yet a dog, 
 that, being boyled with saxafras leaves, would richly feede them in 
 their return," but accomplished nothing of their object, and returned 
 disappointed. A most outrageous deed was presently perpetrated. 
 The neighboring Indians, it is said, jealous of the intrusion of the 
 strangers, had conspired against them, and Lane, with others, desir- 
 ing an interview with King Wingina, the principal chief of that 
 region, treacherously attacked and massacred him and his attendants. 
 In June, 1586, the famous Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet of twenty- 
 three ships, came to anchor off the island ; and, though that cner- 
 jictic commander did every thing in his power to encourage the 
 colonists, and to furnish them with all necessary supplies, yet, 
 desponding of success, they desired to return to their homes. Ac 
 cordingly, he took them aboard his fleet, and carried them to Eng- 
 land—the principal result of their American sojourn being the 
 introtluction to that country of the custom of smoking tobacco, 
 which they had learned of the Indians. 
 Vol IV.— 31 
 
 Mi.ii: 
 
 n 
 
 ■II' 
 
 ""I*! 
 

 THE rEOPLE'S nOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 LHAPTER V. 
 
 :.fi 
 
 ''■ /",.,• '.'".ir.it .; ■ i.ti . ■'' 1'' .'■»■■ •' (■ I'' 
 SlfAI.L SETTLEMENT PLANTED BY ORBNVILLB AT ROANOKE DB- 
 8TR0YED BT^THE INDIANS. — THIRD EXPEDITION OF RALEIGH. 
 — FIRST ENGLISH CHILD IN AMERICA- — LOSS AND SUP- 
 POSED DESTRUCTION OF TUE ROANOKE COLONY. — 
 MISFORTUNES OF RALEIOH. — TARDINESS AND ILL- 
 , ;. FORTUNE OFENQLISH ENTERPRISE. — REFLECTIONS. 
 
 Only a few days after the hasty and ill-advised departure of Lane 
 and hia people, a vessel, dispatched by Raleigh, with abundant sup- 
 plies, arrived at the deserted settlement; and soon afterwards, Gren- 
 ville, with three more 8hip.s, also well supplied, came to the same 
 place. He left fifteen men on the island; but the next comers founr', 
 there only the ruins of their fort and dwellings, amid which humua 
 bones, the evidence of Indian hostility, lay bleaching. 
 
 Raleigh, on learning of the desertion of his settlement, with inde- 
 fatig.able industry, set to work afresh; and in April, 1587, dispatched 
 another expedition, with especial provi»?ion for the cultivation of the 
 land, and with a number of women, that the comforts of a home might 
 be early e.'^ >blished. In July, the fleet arrived at Rv^anoke, where 
 the sad evidences of the destruction of Grenville's 'nen were ob- 
 served ; and, though the projector had ordered that the new settle- 
 ment should be founded on Chesapeake Bay, yet, on account of the 
 impatience of the naval commander, the governor, White, and his 
 people disembarked on the island. Indian ho.stilities were soon 
 renewed in the murder of one of the settlers — and the latter, attack- 
 ing a party of the natives by night, found too late that they belonged 
 to a friendly tribe. On the 18th of August, l.'i87, Virginia Dare, 
 the first child l)orn of English parents in the United States, was 
 ushered into a brief and ill-fated being. 
 
 White, by the urgent request of the colonists, consisting, at his 
 departure, of an hundred and eighteen persons, of whom seventeen 
 were women, and two children, returned to England in one of the 
 vessels, to provide further supplies. Rut the momentous events just 
 then occurring in the equipment and defeat of the Spanish Armada 
 retarded the desired assistance; and Raleigh, who hail expended 
 
 (ilo Uaiaiitit 
 
THE ENQL8II IN AMERICA. 
 
 88 
 
 forty thousand pounds of liis estate in the vain attempt to colonize 
 Yirginia, was compelled to relinquish the enterprise to others — as- 
 signing certain of his rights to a company of London merchants. 
 Such delay, however, occurred, in fitting out a fresh expedition, 
 that it was not until 1590 that White returned to lloaiioke; but the 
 settlers hau disappeared; and though Kaleijjh, it is said, sent to 
 search for them on five several occasions, no trace of the fate of tliis 
 lost colony has ever been found. Probably, like the former, it 
 perished from^ndian hostility. 
 
 Strangely enough, all the efforts of one of the most intelligent, 
 wealthy, and pcrdcvering men of England to effect a settlement in 
 America proved ineffectual. Sir Walter Raleigh, besides liis re- 
 peated efforts in behalf of Virginian colonization, had aided the north- 
 west voyages, destined to end in results alike futile, and, in his old 
 age, broken down by iinprisunment and suffering, headed an equally 
 liuitless expedition to the Orinoco and the tropical coasts of Gui- 
 ana, Whatever his errors as a courtier and a favourite, history 
 will do him justice as a statesman, a soldier, a mariner, a discoverer, 
 aiul a founder of colonization — tlie most brilliant character of a 
 remarkable age; and America, in especial, will always look back 
 with reverence and affection on the earliest and most persevering 
 promoter of her welfare — a man whose faults were those of the time, 
 wliuse virtues were his own; and who, in addition to the shining 
 attributes of a head to plan and a hand to execute, possessed the 
 more endearing quality of a heart to feel and to commiserate. 
 
 Such repeated loss and mortality had now made men wary of 
 undertaking American colonization. "All hopes of Virginia thus 
 abandoned," says a later adventurer, "it lay dead and obscured from 
 1590 to this year 1602." In March of that year Bartholomew Gosnold, 
 under the advice of Raleigh, tried the experiment of sailing directly 
 to America, instead of taking the circuitous route of the Canaries and 
 West Indies. Singular to relate, the experiment succeeded; and 
 after a voyage of seven weeks, ir a small vessel, the navigator came 
 to Massachusetts. He landed on Cape Cod, and on the Vineyard 
 islands, and having freighted his little bark with Missafras obtained 
 by traffic from the Indians, returned in June to England. Enterprise, 
 stimulated by his success, was renewed, in the diminutive vessels 
 of the day, and much of the eastern sea-board was surveyed. Such 
 voyages, familiarizing navigators with the coast and the most desira- 
 l)le luc;:ilitios, prejiarcd the way for fresh attrnqils at settlcmont. 
 
 I 
 
 HI 
 
 \mi 
 
 ?«li#i; 
 
 ^^ 
 
y-A 
 
 TlIK riCOt'LK'S BUOK or UI8T0KY. 
 
 While hor rivals, long ere this time, had succcodeil in gaining a 
 l)erinunout footing on the Hhores of the New World, and had con- 
 quered or founded wealthy empires in the south, England, her claims 
 and her endeavours chiefly confined to the more barren and incle- 
 ment regions of the north, had as yet reaped nothing but loss and 
 misfortune from her enterprise in the New World. Not a single 
 spot on that vast contiiient now mostly peopled by her children, was 
 the settled habitation of an Englishman. " In reviewing the history 
 of American colonization, the mind is at first struck with the won- 
 derful brilliancy and rapidity of Spanish discovery *and conquest 
 during the first century of their career; an impression naturally fol- 
 lowed by the reflection that in the end no substantial advantage has 
 accrued to the nation whose enterprise laid open the pathway to the 
 New World, and whoso valour and genius were the first to avail 
 themselves of its tempting opportunities. Extermination of the 
 native inhabitants, bigoted exclusion of foreigners, and, in the end, 
 outrageous oppression of her own dependencies, have marked, almost 
 without exception, the colonial administration of Spain, and have 
 finally resulted in its nearly complete annihilation. Her once numer- 
 ous provinces, alienated by mismanagement and tyranny, have 
 found, in republican anarchy, a questionable relief from parental 
 misrule; while that beautiful island, almost the solitary jewel in her 
 crown, and only proving, by its exception, the general rule of her 
 losses, is held by a tenure so insecure as hardly to deserve the name 
 of possession. 
 
 "For an hundred and ten years, the rival nations of France and 
 England hardly took a step in the same direction, or, if they did, 
 under circumstances of such gross ignorance and infatuation, as were 
 almost certain to preclude the possibility of success. The various 
 and widely-severed colonics of France, founded, through a century 
 of misfortunes and discouragements, by ardent and indefatigable 
 servants of the crown, have, with one or two insignificant exceptions, 
 clipped from her hands — not from any want of loyalty or national 
 aflcction in the provincial inhabitants, but from the feebleness of 
 the French marine, ever unable to compete with that of her haughty 
 rival, and quite inefficient for the protection and retention of dis- 
 tant colonies. 
 
 "England, the last to enter on the noble enterprise of peopling 
 tbe New Ilemisphere, but finally bringing to the task a spirit of 
 progress, a love of freedom, and a strength of principle, unknown to 
 
THI ENGLISH IN AMKRIOA. 
 
 85 
 
 her prcdeccaaora, htw found.' I, amid disaatrouB and unpromising 
 begi'inings, an empire mightier and more enduring than all or any 
 of its compeers; lost, indeed, for the most part, to her private aggrand- 
 izement, but not to the honour of her name or the best interests of 
 mankind; an empire already prosperous beyond all example in his- 
 tory, and destined, it is probable, at no distant day, to unite under 
 its genial protection ever^ league of that vast continent stretching 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the tropical forests of Darien 
 to the eternal snows of the Arctic Circle."* 
 
 .•| 
 
 * Dituoverera, Ste., of Amerie^ 
 
i 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OE VIRGINIA. 
 
 KEMOIR OP CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. — HIS TOUTHPTTL ADYEII- 
 TDRES AND SERVICES. — HE TURNS HERMIT. — HIS ADVEN- 
 TURES IN FRANCE. — HE IS PLUNO OVERBOARD. — SEA- 
 FIOHT. — TRAVELS IN IT.\LT. — HIS CAMPAIGN AGAINST 
 THE TURKS. — SIEGE OF RECALL. — THE THREE 
 TURKS' HEADS. — SMITH SENT A SLAVE TO TAR- 
 TAR!: 1113 WONDERFUL ESCAPE. — SUBSEQUENT 
 ADVENTURES. — RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 
 
 No account of American, and still less of Virginian colonization 
 would be complete without some memoir of that remarkable man to 
 whose unwearied personal exertions the foundation of an English 
 commonwealth in this country is almost entirely due. Romance 
 would hardly venture to imagine adventures more marvellous, or 
 courage more chivalrous than his ; and when to a temper the most 
 sprightly, adventurous, and enterj)rising of his day, were added the 
 unsurpassed qualities of judgment, of perseverance, of fortitude, and 
 of forbearance, the result could hardly fail to be a character of no 
 ordinary greatness, and the work of his life a work destined in some 
 manner to affect the interests of mankind. Uis extraordinary 
 career, fortunately detailed, in good part, with modest quaintness 
 by his own pen, will ever remain the delight of youth, and the 
 admiration of the historical reader. 
 
 Captain John Smith, incomi)arably the greatest and most famous 
 of English adventurers in America, was born of a good family at 
 AVillougliby, Lincolnshire, in 1579. His mind, from childhood, set 
 on adventure and travel, at the age of thirteen, ho secretly sold his 
 books and .satchel, and was about going off to sea, when interrupted 
 by the death of hi.s fatlier. His guardians apprenticed him to a 
 merchant of Lynn, whom, in consequence of refusal to gratify his 
 
 eold, a rii 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIKQINIA. 
 f 
 
 o/ 
 
 tiiste for the sea, he speedily quitted, and with his young patron, the 
 son of Lord Willoughby, went into France. Thence he repaired to 
 the Netherlands, then engaged in their struggle against Spanish 
 tyranny ; and served some three or four years under Captain Dux- 
 bury — an Englishmaa, commanding, it would seem, in the service 
 of Prince Maurice. He sailed to Scotland, but was shipwrecked at 
 Holy Isle, and finding no chance of preferment at the Scottish court, 
 again betook himself to Willoughby. Here, by one of those freaks 
 common to ardent and imaginative youth, he chose to turn hermit 
 —though rather after the fashion of Friar Tuck than the recluse of 
 Wark worth. In a great wood, far from the town, he built hin .:lf a 
 shelter of boughs, where, without bedding, or any of the conveni- 
 ences of civilized life, he made his abode. In the curt language of 
 his narrative, (which, like Caesar's, runs in the third person,) "His 
 studie was Machiavills Art of Warre, and Marcus Aurelius; his exer- 
 cise a good horse, with his lance and ring; his food was thought to he 
 more of venison than anything else; * * * Long these pleasures 
 could not content him, but hee returned againe to the Low Coun- 
 tries" — intending to make his way to the east of Germany, then 
 distracted with Turkish warfare, and fight on the side of Christen- 
 dom. At this time he was only nineteen. 
 
 Taking ship for France, he was despoiled of all his baggage by 
 four sharpers, and, selling his cloak to pay for his passage, landing 
 in Picardy, went in pursuit of them. Reduced to great distress and 
 poverty, "wandering from port to port to finde some man of warre, 
 ho spent that he had, and in a Forest, neere dead with griefe and 
 cold, a rich Farmer found him by a faire Fouutaine under a tree. 
 This kinde Pesant releeved him againe, to his content." Not long 
 alter, passing through a forest, he fell in with Cursell, one of his 
 despoilcrs. "His piercing injuries had so small patience, as without 
 any word tliey both drew, and in a short time Cursell fell to the 
 ground, when from an old ruinated Tower the inhabitants seeing 
 tlieni, were sutisliod, when they heard Cursell confesse what had 
 formerly })assed." Wc next find the youthful adventurer enjoying 
 tlie hospitality of a noble earl (who had known him in England) at 
 his eliutc.m in Brittany; whence, apparently better supplied, he 
 travelled over much of France, surveying fortresses and other nota- 
 ble objects orexauiiiiation. 
 
 At Marseilles, by ill-lbrtune, he embarked on board a vessel 
 fivii^hted with "a route of pilgrims, of divers nations," going to 
 
 \i 
 
 h.j/' 
 
 
 *# 
 
 U 
 
 W9w 
 
38 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 Home, and put to sea. Compelled by tempests, the ship anchored 
 under the Isle of St. Mary, off Nice, where the "inhumane Provin- 
 cialls," concluding that Smith, in his double capacity of Englishman 
 and heretic, was their Jonah, set upon him, "hourely cursing him" 
 he tells us, "not onely for a Iluguenoit, but his Nation the}- swore 
 wore all Pyrats, and so vildly railed on his dread sovereigne, Queene 
 Elizabeth, and that they never should have faire weather as long as 
 hee was aboard them ; their disputations grew to that passion " (stim- 
 ulated, perhaj)s, by the liberal use of a staff, with which the gallant 
 Captain requited their assaults) "that they threw him overboard, yet 
 God brought him to that little Isle, where was no inhabitants but a 
 few kine and goats." With his customary good-luck, however, next 
 morning he was taken on board of the Britaine, a French ship, and 
 handsomely entertained by the captain. Sailing to Alexandria, the 
 shi{) discharged her freight, and thence passed over to the northern 
 coasts. Meeting with a large Venetian argosy, the French captain 
 hailed her, and was answered by a shot which lost him a man. A 
 uaval battle, contested with great fury, and lasting for some hours 
 with all the horrors of broadsides, boarding, danger of conflagration 
 &c., ensued ; but after the argosy had lost twenty men and was ready 
 to sink, she yielded. All was now active exertion in stopping her 
 leaks and transferring her cargo to the victor. "The Silkes, Vel- 
 vets, Cloth of Gold, and Tissue, Pya.sters, Chiequecnes, and SulUuiics 
 (which is gold and silver,) they unloaded in four and twenty houres 
 was wonderfull, whereof having sufficient, and tired with toilo, they 
 cast her oil' with her company, with as much good merchandize as 
 would have fraughted another Britaine, that was but two hundred 
 Tunnes, shee foure or five hundred." As a reward for his valour 
 in tliis desperate engagement, Smith received live liundred cliic- 
 queeiies "and a little box God sent him" (he piously adds) "worth 
 ueere jis much more." 
 
 Landing in Piedmont, he travelled through much of Italy, spent 
 some time in surveying the rugged and jtioturcsque coast of Albania 
 and Daliiialia, and, eager for a chance to figlit against the Tcrks, 
 finally made his way tu Gratz, in Syria, where was the court of the 
 Archduke Ferdinand, of Austria. No time could have been more 
 j)ropitiourt to his hoi)es. The memorable war with tlie Great Turk, 
 Mahdi.ii't II., wjis then in full cuntcst, and the young adventurer, 
 iiilroduced by some of his countrynien to tlie higli officers ni' the 
 iiiij.irial service, soon found an ample field for the display of his 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 89 
 
 courage and military genius. At the siege of Olympcba, soon after 
 he joined the army, by an ingenious system of telegraphic fires, he 
 concerted a plan with the garrison, by which the Turks, with great 
 slaughter, were compelled to raise the siege. He now received the 
 command of two hundred and fifty men in the regiment of the 
 famous Earl Meldritch, and executed other ingenious devices against 
 the enemy, which, in his biography, are quaintly titled " An excel- 
 lent stratagem by Smith; another not much worse;" "A pretty 
 stratagem of fire-works by Smith," &c., &c. One of these con- 
 trivances, at the siege of Stowlle-Wesenburg, (1601,) consisted of a 
 great number of bombs or grenades, prepared with all manner of 
 explosive and combustible materials, which, by means of great 
 rlings, he flung into the thickest of the besieged. " At midnight, 
 upon the alarum," he says, "it was a feareful sight to behold the short 
 flaming course of their flight in the aire, but presently after their 
 fall, the lamentable noise of the miserably slaughtered Turkes was 
 most wonderful to heare*." This town, which the latter had held for 
 nearly sixty years, was finally taken by storm, "with such a mer- 
 cilesse execution as was most pitifuU to behold." So-n after they 
 were again defeated with the loss of six thousand men, in a battle on 
 the plains of Girke, and Smith, half of whose regiment was cut to 
 pieces, as he says, " had his horse slaine under him and himself sore 
 wounded; but he was not long unmounted, /or there was choice 
 enough of horses that wanted masters." 
 
 The Christian army, seventeen thousand strong, under Prince 
 Moyses and Earl Meldritch, laid siege to Regall, a strong and almost 
 impregnable town in the mountains of Transylvania, garrisoned 
 by a large force of "Turks, Tartars, Bandittces, Rennegadoes, and 
 such like." The work of making trenches and batteries went on 
 but slowly, and the Turks, jeering at their enemies, would ask if 
 their artillery was in pawn, and complain that they were growing fat 
 for want of exercise. A message presently arrived from the fort, 
 that "to delight the Latlios, who did long to see some court-like 
 pastime, the I^ord Tusbashaw did dofie any captain that had the com- 
 mand of a company that durst combate with him for his Head." 
 So many of the Christian ofiicers were eager to undertake the duel, 
 that the matter was decided by lot, and the peril and honour of the 
 adventure foil to our young friend Smith. At a giv^n signal, the 
 adversaries, in full view of both armies— "the liain])iors all beset 
 
 with 
 
 fuire Dames"— tilted against each other with ecpial courage 
 
< Ifl 
 
 40 
 
 THE rKOrLE'8 BOOK OF lllSTOKV. 
 
 and fury, but with better advantage to the Christian, who ran his 
 enemy through hehnet and brain, and nimbly ahghting, cut off Lis 
 head, whicli he presented to the Prince General. 
 
 One Grualgro, " the % owed friend " of the fallen chief, resolved to 
 avenge his fall or share his fate ; and a second encounter, the next 
 day, caine off, with equal success to Smith, who unhorsed his enemy 
 and speedily possessed himself of his head. Unsatisfied with hig 
 unusual good fortune and renown, the young champion, in turn 
 pent a courteous message that the ladies might have the heads of 
 their two servants, and his own besides, if any Turk of proper 
 degree would come and take them. This audacious challenge, ac- 
 cepted by one Bonny Mulyro, had nearly proved the death of our 
 hero, who, by a blow of his opponent's battle-axe, lost his own and 
 was nearly unhorsed. The Turks set up a tremendous shout of 
 applause from the ramparts, yet Smith, to use his own language 
 "what by the readinesse of his horse, and his judgment and dexter- 
 itie in auch a businesse, beyond all men's expectation, by God's 
 asiiistance, not onely avoided the Turkts violence, but having drawne 
 his Faulcheon, pierced the Turke so under the Culets, thorow backo 
 and body, that, although he alighted from his horse, hee stood not 
 long ere hee lost his head, as the rest had done." Great rejoiciii<r 
 tocjk place in the Christian army, and Smith was complimented atul 
 exalted to the skies. The town, after a desperate defence, was taken 
 by storm, atid the Turks entrenched themselves in flie castle. "The 
 Eiirle, remembering his father's death, battered it with all the ord- 
 nance in the towne, and the next day took it; all he found could 
 bear Armes he put to the sword, and set their hi'ads upon Ktuke.s 
 round about the walls, as they had used the Christians wlion thev 
 tooke it." This was certainly rather an indifferent .S'liool for the 
 cultivation of humanity or refinement; yet Smith seems never to 
 have become in.'eeted with the cruelty of the age, or to have en- 
 gaged in these sanguinary scenes with any motive beyoiid that of 
 the renown to be ae(piired by gallant deeds of arm.s, and tlic idea, in 
 his day not altogether groundless, that a blow struck in hehalfof 
 Christendom against the invading ranks of the infidels, was a 
 meritorious work. 
 
 Sigisnnind of Transylvania, on rej)airit)g to the army, was so 
 pleased with this last exploit of the young soldier, that "vith greal 
 honour hi' !j;ave him three Turkts' Heads in a Sliield for his Arines, 
 \<\ patent under his hand and .scale, with Jiu oathe ever to weare 
 
TUE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 41 
 
 tliciii in his Colours, his picture in Gould, and three hundred Ducats 
 Ycorely for a pension." This patent was afterwards admitted and 
 recorded in the Ilerald's College of England. 
 
 Fortune finally turned against the Christians, whose army, in the 
 terrible battle of Rotenton, overwhelmed by superior numbers, was 
 almost entirely cut to pieces. " In this bloudy field," says our author, 
 "neere 30,000 lay, some headlesse, armelesse, and leglesse, all cut 
 and mangled; where breathing their last, they gave this knowledge 
 to the world, that for the lives of so few, the Cnjm-Tartar never paid 
 dearer." Among the victims were a number of adventurous Eng- 
 lishmen, fighting for renown, who all "did what men could doe, 
 and when they could do no more, left there their bodies in testimonie 
 of their mindes. * * * jjut Smith" (continues that 
 gentleman) " among the slaughtered dead bodies and many a gasp- 
 ing soule, with toile and wounds lay groaning among the rest." 
 
 Captured and cured of his wounds, he was sold with many more 
 as a slave at Axapol.is; and his purchaser, a certain Bashaw Bogall, 
 sent him on to Constantinople as a present to his young mistress, 
 with the assurance that he was a Bohemian lord, the trophy of his 
 personal prowess. The lady, like most whom the gallant captain 
 encountered, at once experienced a tender interest for his welfare; 
 and fearing lest he should be sold out of the family, dispatched him, 
 with a letter of recommendation, to her brother, the Bashaw of 
 Nalbritz, in Tartary, near the sea of Azof. This kindly manceuvre, 
 however, served him nothing; for the ferocious Turk, apprehending 
 the true state of the case, took all imaginable pains in persecuting 
 hira. With his head and beard shaved "so bare as his hand," a 
 great iron ring rivetted ab(mt his neck, and a rough garment of hair 
 and hide, the unfortunate Smith underwent a slavery, "so bad, a 
 dog could hardly have lived to endure," and was finally made 
 thresher at a lonely grange of his master, more than a league from 
 the house. The result, in his own brief language, was, that "the 
 Bashaw, as he used often to visit his granges, visited him, and took 
 occasion so to boat, spurnc, and revile him, that, forgetting all reason, 
 he beat out the I'l/tnour^s braines with his threshing-bat, for they 
 have no flailes; and seeing his estate could be no worse than it was, 
 clollied himself in his clothes, hid his body under the straw, filled his 
 knai)sacke with corne, mounted his horse, and ranne into the desart 
 at all adventure." For some days he wandered in the wilderness, 
 but finally, lighting upon the high road from Tartary to llussiit, 
 
 "^^.a 
 
 
42 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 I 
 
 made his way, after a journey of sixteen days, to Ecopolis, a Russian 
 post on the Don. Here he was kindly received, and on his return 
 to Transylvania, "glutted with content and neere drowned with joy " 
 great rejoicing took place at his escape and the manner of it, both 
 so characteristic of his temper. At Prague, whither he repaired 
 Sigismund presented him with fifteen hundred ducats, equipped with 
 which he travelled through Germany, France, and Spain, viewing 
 notable places and adding to his extensive information. In a French 
 shi]) he sailed to Africa, meaning to take part in the civil wars in 
 Morocco; "but by reason of the uncertaintie, and the peifidious 
 treacherous, bloudy murthers rather than warre, among those per- 
 fidious, barbarous Moores,^^ changed his purpose. Passing an evening 
 aboard the ship, a gale of wind compelled her to run to sea, and the 
 captain's taste for adventure was presently gratified by "a brave sea- 
 fight," lasting for two days, with a conple of Spanish men-of-war. 
 They were finally beaten oflf, with a loss, it was supposed, of a hun- 
 dred men. In an action so desperate, the services of Smith, it may 
 well be supposed, were not without an opportunity for their full 
 appreciation. Not long after (1604) he returned to England. 
 
 tiJuilXTXiCiiU XX« 
 
 VIRGINIAN COLONIZATION REVIVED. — PATENT OF JAMES I, — ILL- 
 ASSORTED COMPANY OF SETTLERS. — THE EXPEDITION SAILS FOR 
 AMERICA. — ACCIDENTALLY ENTERS JAMES RIVER. — ILL 
 TREATMENT OF SMITH. — INTERCOURSE WITH THE !NDIANS. 
 — JAMESTOWN FOUNDED. — EXCURSION OF SMITH AND 
 NEWPORT. — POWHATAN. — THE INDIANS OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Soon after the return cif Smith, he became acquainted with Captain 
 GosnoM, whose voyage has already been mentioned; and the scl eme 
 of Virginian colonization was again revived. Sir Ferdinand Gorges, 
 Sir John Popham, chief justice of England, and other persons of 
 rank and influence, were persuaded to take an interest in their plan; 
 and thus in April, IHOfi, t!ic king (.Tames I.) was induced to issue 
 letters patent to Sir Thomius Gates, Sir George Somers and others, 
 granting them all the territory on the eastern sea-board of North 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 43 
 
 America, between thirty-four and forty-five degrees north latitude. 
 Two companies, one of Londoners and the other of gentlemen, 
 &c., from the West of England, were formed, the first to colonize 
 the southern and the latter the northern portion of the grant; but 
 with a strict proviso, dictated by the luolish jealousy of James, that 
 a hundred miles of wilderness should intervene between their re- 
 spective settlements. As the first of these only succeeded in their 
 design, our account will be restricted chiefly to their operations. 
 
 On the 19th of December, 1606, three small vessels, commanded 
 by Captain Christopher Newport, and carrying an hundred and five 
 colonists, sailed from Blackwall for Virginia. Forty-eight of this 
 number were enrolled as gentlemen, and twelve as labourers — an 
 ominous proportion for the prc.oerity of the projected settle- 
 ment. Gosnold and Smith, Edward Wingfield, a merchant, George 
 Percy, and the Rev. Robert Hunt, were the principal persons of the 
 expedition. 
 
 Delayed by contrary winds, the little fleet, bearing the germ of the 
 American commonwealth, was six weeks in sight of England; and 
 when it finally got to sea, took the old circuitous route of the Cana- 
 ries and West Indies. By the folly of James, sealed instructions, 
 in a box not to bo opened till their arrival, had been provided, nam- 
 ing the authorities of the colony. Dissension thus sprung up early 
 in the voyage, and at the Canaries, Smith, accused, by the absurd 
 jealousy of some, of conspiring to make himself "king of Virginia," 
 was put in confinement. They steered for Roanoke, but by a piece 
 of excell(;nt disappointment, were carried by a storm past the place 
 of their destination, and entered Chesapeake Bay. Naming the 
 headlands Cape Henry and Cape Charles, in honour of the king's sons, 
 tlicy sailed up the James River about forty miles, and went on shore, 
 delighted with all they s^w. " V/e passed through excellent ground," 
 says one of them, "full of flowers of divers kinds and colours, and 
 as goodly trees as I have seen, as cedar, cypress, aiid other kinds; 
 going a little further we came to a little plat of ground, full of fine 
 and beautiful strawberries, four times bigger and better than ours 
 of England," " Feaven and earth," says the enthusiastic Smith, 
 "seemed never to have agreed better to frame a place fur man's 
 commodious and delightful habitation." 
 
 The very day of their ariival, the settlers perceived certain hostile 
 savages, "creeping on all foures, from the hils like Beares," but 
 put tliem to flight by a discharge of muskets. At Point Comfort, 
 
 l!i 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 m:' H-h 
 
 ■ \ 
 
 ,— ■ I 
 ' " 5 
 
 n 
 
 
 ifel^i 
 
 m'v. 
 
 IE' :::.:' 'iii-:h. 
 
 
u 
 
 TIIK PKOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 however, nnd other places, they were kindly received by the tiativps 
 who gave them corn-bread, pipes and tobacco, and held a dance in 
 honour of them. The chief of the Rappahannas, who, with a con- 
 siderable attendance, came to meet them, "entertained us," says tlio 
 journal, "in so modest a proud fashion, as though he had been a 
 prince of civill government, holding his countenance without any 
 laughter or any such ill behaviour. lie caused his mat to be spread 
 on the ground, where he sat down with great majesty, taking a pipe 
 of tobacco, the rest of his company standing around him." 
 
 Having made considerable survey of the shores of the river, the 
 little colony of Englishmen chose for the site of their settlement a 
 peninsula on the northern bank, and called it Jamestown, in honour 
 of the sovereign. It was now an hundred and nine years since 
 Cabot, sailing by these shores, had conferred on England the con- 
 ventional right to so great a part of the North American continent- 
 yet this was the first successful attempt of that nation to plant a 
 colony in the Western Hemisphere. That it did not speedily share 
 the fate of its predecessors, is almost entirely due to the adniirablo 
 courage, sagacity, and patitjnce of a man greatly wronged and abused, 
 in its very inception. 
 
 On opening the sealed box, it was found that a council of seven 
 including Wingfield, Gosnold, Newport, and Smith, were appointed 
 to govern the colony; but the last, the only reliable man of the 
 whole company, by the paltry jealousy of his associates, was sot 
 aside; "the Councell was sworne, Mr. Wingfield was chosen Presi- 
 dent, and an Oration made, why Captaine Smith was not admitted 
 of the Councell as the rest." His zeal for the promotion of the 
 scheme unquenched by this unworthy treatment, the excluded coun- 
 cillor set forth with Newport on an expedition of further survey. 
 
 In the cour.se .^f this voyage, much was learned concerning the 
 Indians of the adjoining regions. Of forty-three native tribes, dwell- 
 ing between the mountains and the sea, about thirty, numbering, it 
 is said, eight thousand souks, were Tinder the rule of a powerful chief- 
 tain, named Wahun.sonacock, but whose customary title, derived, 
 Hke that of a European grandee, from his principal residence, woa 
 Powhatan. The names of Tuscaloosa, Quigaltanqui, and those of 
 many other native American chiefs, identical with their towns or 
 principalities, indicate the prevalence of the usage. His residence 
 of Powhctan was at the Falls of James River, at the site of Rich- 
 mond, and that of Werowocomoco on tlie north side of York River. 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 45 
 
 Ascending the first named stream, after a voyage of six days, tlio 
 explorers came to the falls, whore they were courteously received 
 by the great chief just mentioned — "of personage," says Smith, "a 
 tall, well proportioned man, with a sower 1.^ ke, his head some what 
 gray, his beard so thinne it seemeth none at all, his age neere sixtie; 
 of a very able and hardy body to endure any labor. * * * It 
 is strange," he presently proceeds, "to see with what great feare and 
 adoration all these people doe obey this Powhatan. For at his feete 
 they present whatsoever he commandeth, and at the least frowne of 
 his brow, their greatest spirits will tremble with feare; and no mar- 
 veil, for he is very tyrannous and terrible in punishing such as 
 offend him, * * Yet when he listeth, his will is a law and must 
 be obeyed ; not onely as a king, but halfe as a God they esteeme him." 
 
 The Indians of Virginia, dwelling in a milder clime, and on a 
 more fertile soil, seem to have possessed more of the comforts of life 
 than those of New England. They lived by the chase, by fishing, 
 and, to a considerable extent, by plantation. Their clothing was of 
 furs, but they were very hardy and able to endure cold. Their 
 children, from infancy, they used to wash in the rivers, "and by 
 paintings and ointments so tanne their skinnes, that afler a yeare or 
 two no weather will hurto them." The customary passion of sav- 
 ages for personal picturing, seems, indeed, to have had full sway, 
 the favourite colour being red. "Many other formes of painting 
 they use, but he is the most gallant that is the most monstrous 
 to behold." 
 
 They were a warlike people, and were oflen engaged in feud with 
 their neighbours. Smith gives a curious account of a great sham- 
 fight, which Powhatan's warriors, at Mattapanient, once performed 
 fur his diversion. Two parties, each of a hundred, approached each 
 other in warlike array, "all duly keeping their orders, yet leaping 
 and singing after their accustomed tune, which they only vse in 
 Warres. Vpon the first flight of arrowes, they gave such horrible 
 shouts and schreeches, as so many infernall hell-hounds could not 
 have made them more terrible. When they had spent their arrowes, 
 they joyned together prettily, charging and rehiring, every ranke 
 seconding the other. As they got advantage, they catched their 
 enemies by the hayre of the head, and down came he that was taken. 
 Tlis enemy with his wooden sword seemed to beate out his braines. 
 and still they crept to the rear to maintain the skirmish. * * * 
 All their actions, voyccs, and gestures, both in charging and retiring, 
 
 •^■!< 
 
 ''■M 
 
 
46 
 
 TIIK I'KUl'LK'S HOOK OF HISTORY 
 
 were so stj-ainecl to the lieight of their qualitie anJ nature, that tho 
 strangeness thereof nmdo it seeme very delightfull." 
 
 Little that is definite seems to have been ascertained concerning 
 their religious belief— tho uncouth ceremonies of the Powwow, and 
 the manifestations of a savage taste being directly construed into 
 an explicit Satanism. "Their chief God they worship," says the 
 captain, "is the Devill. Him they call Okee^ and serve him more of 
 feare than love. They say they have conferrence with him, and 
 fashion themselves as neare to his shape as they can imagine. In 
 their Temples they have his image evill-favoredly carved, in such 
 manner as the deformitie may well suit with such a God. * * 
 Upon the top of certain red sandy hils in the woodes, there are three 
 great houses filled with Images of their Kinges and Devills, and 
 Tombes of their predecessors. This place they count so holy as 
 none but the Priests and Kings dare come into them." Their reli- 
 gious ceremonies were sufficiently fantastic and barbarous. Their 
 chief priest, horrid in a head-dress of the signs of snakes and other 
 reptiles, made invocations before tho cirole of worshippers "with 
 broken sciilencos, by starts and strange passions, and at every pause 
 the rest give a short groane" — probably the Indian "ugh," denoting 
 assent. "And in this lamentable ignorance," he continues, "doo 
 these poore Soules saorifice themselves to the Devill, not knowing 
 their Creator; and we bad not language sufficient, so plainly to ex- 
 press it as to make them understand it, which God grant tlicy inay." 
 
 u itl ii X X £j jtl i X I . 
 
 TRIAL AND VINDICATION OP SMITH. — PAMINB AND TERRIBI.l! 
 
 MORTALITY. — SMITH, BY HIS BXERTlO.fS, SUPPORTS THE 
 
 COLONY. — TRBACHKRY OP HIS ASSOCIATES. — DBALIN08 
 
 WITH THE INDIANS. — IDLB AND MISBEABLB COLaNISTS. 
 
 ... ^ 
 
 "While the party of survey was absent, an attack had been made 
 by the Indians on the colonists, one of whom was killed, and many 
 others were wounded, and Jamestown was therefore fortified with 
 palisades and artillery. Captain Smith, on his return, to silence the 
 slanders of his enemies, demanded a public trial; in which his inno- 
 
c.1PT.1r^f• Joii.Y s.MiTir, 
 
 TUB POUNDER OF VIRO'NIA. 
 BORN AT WILLOUOIIBY UNCOLNSIIIRE. ITO: LANDED IN VIROINIA, 1807: PIED 1B3I 
 
 I 
 
 ■r fa. 
 
cenco ai 
 restored 
 jmy hiir 
 which, 
 Oil tl 
 
 land. 
 privatio 
 lected 1 
 wildern 
 tuiiate e 
 the sailc 
 applicai 
 Hut in, a 
 the onl 
 "from I 
 canoniz 
 mitted, I 
 Beefo, I 
 was wal 
 
 Durir 
 one, ha( 
 aggrava 
 and trcj 
 the sett 
 dead Sj; 
 was at 
 refused 
 brought 
 relic 1', 111 
 
 The t 
 nominal 
 judgme 
 manage 
 associati 
 With t\ 
 the sett 
 " By hi! 
 to mow 
 thatch, 
 tliat, in 
 
THE 8KTTLKMENT ()K VIRGINIA. 
 
 47 
 
 conoc and the inalico of his detractors was so apparent, tliat ho waH 
 restored to his seat in the Council, and Wingfleld was adjudged to 
 pay him damages in goods to the value of two hundred pounds, 
 which, however, Smith put into the store-houso, for the public use. 
 
 On the 15th of June, Newport, with the vessels, returned to Eng- 
 land. Uis departure was the signal for immediate distress and 
 privation. The company, with wretched improvidence, had neg- 
 lected to supply sufficient stores for a colony just landed in the 
 wilderness, and even during the stay of the fleet, many of the unfor- 
 tunate settlers had been reduced for support to biscuits pilfered by 
 the sailors from the ship-stores, and sparingly dealt out to the hungry 
 applicants "for saxefras, furres, or love." A regular famine at once 
 Bct in, a daily pint of wheat or barley, all alive with insects, being 
 the only allowance. "Ilad we been as free," says one of them, 
 "from all sinnes as gluttony and drunkenness, we might have been 
 canonized as samts; but our President would never have been ad- 
 mitted, for ingrossing to his private, Oatemeale, Sacke, Oyle, Aquavitcc, 
 Beeft', Eggea, and what not but the Kettell. * * Our drinke 
 was water, our lodginges Castles in the Ayre." 
 
 During the summer, fifty of the company, of whom Gosnold was 
 one, had died from the diseases incident to a change of climate and 
 aggravated by privation and exposure. Wingfield, with a cowardly 
 and treacherous policy, attempted to seize the pinnace and desert 
 the settlement, "which," proceeds the old narrator, "so moved our 
 dead Spirits as we deposed him." When this famine and distress 
 was at its height, the neighbouring; Indians, who heretofore had 
 refused to impart their store, .denly changing their resolution, 
 brought abundant supplies ui fruits and provision — a seasonable 
 rcliol', ascribed by the colomj.w !o the direct interposition of God, 
 
 Tlie council was now noducted to three, consisting of RatclifFe, the 
 nominal president, Martin, and Smith; but the two first, "of weake 
 judgment in dangers and lesse industry in peace," shifted the entire 
 management and care of the colony on the shoulders of their sturdy 
 associate. Those slioulders were amply strong enough to bear it. 
 With the greatest diligence, he set to work to supply the w ints of 
 the settlers, and to provide them with shelter against the winter. 
 "By his owiie example, good words, and faire promises, he set some 
 to mow, others to binde thatch, some to build houses, others to 
 thatch, alwayes bearing the greatest taske for his owne share, so 
 that, in short time, he provided most of them lodgings, neglecting any 
 Vol. IV.— 32 
 
 \^ 
 
48 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOKT. 
 
 for himselfe.^^ This labour accomplished, and the people beginning 
 to suffer again from want of food, he set forth in a boat, with five 
 or six others, to gain supplies by traffic with the more distant In. 
 dians. The latter, however, with rude inhospitality, "scorned him " 
 he says, "as a famished man, and would in derision offer him a 
 handfull of come, a peece of bread, for their swords and muskets 
 and such like proportions also for their apparell." These uncivil 
 taunts brought on hostilities, and the captain, in a skirmish, got 
 possession of their Okee or god, to ransom which, they were fain to 
 load the English boat with plenty of com, turkeys, and venison. 
 Smith, in return, gave them beads, copper, and hatchets, and a 
 friendship was struck up with that curious suddenness which seems 
 alike to distinguish savage enmity or amity. 
 
 In spite of Smith's unwearied exertions, to supply the settlers 
 with food, we are told, "yet what he carefully provided, the rest 
 carelesly spent. * * # The Spaniard never more 
 greedily desired gold than he victuall, nor his Souldiers more to 
 abandon the country than he to keepe it." Of the ill-assorted com- 
 pany, he says, there were "many meerely projecting, verbal! and 
 idle contemplators, and those so devoted to pure idlenesse, that 
 though they had lived in Virginia two or three years, lordly, neces- 
 sitie itselfe could not compell them to passe the Peninsula or the 
 Palisadoes of Tames Towne. * * Our ingenious Verbalists 
 were no lesse plague to us in Virginia than the Locusts to the Egyp. 
 tians." Because they did not find Taverns and Alehouses at every 
 turn, he says, nor feather beds and down pillows, they thought of 
 nothing but present comfort and speedy return. Wingfield and 
 others seized the pinnace, and would have fled to England, but 
 Smith by force of arms compelled them to remain, and one of the 
 malcontents was killed in the attempt 
 
 ■ • ( 
 
 roUuuuCasu 
 
. ■ ; .' . 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 
 49 
 
 I 
 
 EXPEDITION AND CAPTURE OP SMITH: HIS 8TEAN0B ADVENTURES 
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. — CONJURATIONS PERFORMED OVER HIM. 
 
 — HE IS CARRIED TO POWHATAN. — HIS LIFE SAVED BY 
 
 POCAHONTAS — STRANGE MASQDERALB OF POWHATAN. 
 
 — RELEASE AND RETURN OF SMITH. 
 
 Proceeding up the ChicKahominy, Captain Smith at last procured 
 by traffic such abundant supplies of provision, that the empty stom- 
 achs of the mutineers no longer cried out for return to England. 
 In another expedition, in the same direction, he experienced that 
 memorable adventure, the rival of romance and the brightest orna- 
 ment of American colonial history. 
 
 Having left his canoe, with two companions, on the bank of a 
 stream, he struck off twenty miles further into the vnldemess to 
 reach its head waters. The crew of his barge, which he had left 
 further down the river, were attacked by a great body of warriors, 
 under Opechancanough, king of Pamunkey, the brother of Powhatan. 
 Only one of them, however, was captured, who, after having been 
 compelled to inform the savages of the route taken by Captain Smith, 
 was barbarously p\it to death. His two companions, sleeping by 
 their canoe, were the next victims, and finally the whole force, two 
 hundred strong, came up with Smith himself. Binding his guide 
 before him, as a shield against their arrows, the captain fought with 
 equal coolness and desperation. He killed three of the enemy and 
 wounded many more ; but finally, getting fast in a morass, became 
 80 benumbed with cold, that, rather than freeze, he threw away his 
 deadly weapons, and yielded himself prisoner. 
 
 The Indians drew him out, and chafed his benumbed limbs before 
 a fire. His presence of mind unfailing, he pulled forth a little 
 compass, set in ivory, which he gave the chief. " At the sight of 
 this strange little engine, with its trembling vibrations, apparently 
 instinct with life, the wonder of his captors knew no bounds; and 
 Smith, taking advantage of their interest, began forthwith to enchain 
 with philosophy the attention of his savage auditors." To use his 
 own words, " when he demonstrated by that Globe-like Jewell, the 
 rouudneHse of the earth and slcies, the spheare of the Sunne, 
 
 'i' 
 
 
 
 ■^4 
 
 11 
 
 ^•^' 
 
50 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 Moone, and Starres, and how the Sunne did chase the night round 
 about the world continually; the greatnesse of the Sea and Land 
 the diversitie of Nations, varietie of complexions, and how we were 
 to them Antipodes, and many such-like matters, they stood as all 
 amazed with admiration." 
 
 Having tried his nerve by tying him to a tree, and all making 
 ready to shoot at him, they led him in triumph to Orapaks, a town 
 a few miles from Powhatan, where a hideous war-dance was per- 
 formed about him, and where, from the overweening hospitality of 
 his hosts, he began to fear that he was to be fattened for sacrifice. 
 Fully app.'eciating his valour, they made»him great offers if he would 
 assist them in an intend^ attack on Jamestown ; but Smith, having 
 written a note to his friends, warning them of the danger, and de- 
 siring certain articles, persuaded the Indians to take it thither, and 
 leave it in sight of the colonists. To their utter amazement, they 
 found in the same spot, on the following day, the very articles that 
 Smith had promised them, and all, in wonder, concluded, "that 
 either he coulde divine or the paper could speak e." 
 
 He was next taken to Pamunkey, where such strange and fantas- 
 tical conjurations were enacted over him, that he felt, he says, as if 
 translated to the infernal regions. This mystical ceremony lasted 
 for three days; after which, the tribe entertained him with much 
 kindness. They had procured a bag of gunpowder, which they 
 were carefully keeping to plant the next spring, supposing it to be 
 a species of seed. At last he was taken to Werowocomoco, where 
 Powhatan, "with more than two hundred of his grim courtiers 
 dressed in their greatest braveries," was awaiting him. As he 
 entered, the whole court rose, in respect for their valiant captive 
 and gave a great shout lie was served in the most honourable man- 
 ner, the Indian queen of Appamatuck waiting on him in penson. 
 What followed cannot be better given than in his own language or 
 that of some one who heard it from his own lips. "Having feasted 
 liim in the best barbarous manner they could, a long consultation 
 was held; but the conclusion was, two great stones were brought 
 before Powliatan; then as inany as could layd hands on him, dragged 
 him to them, and thereon layd his head, and being ready with their 
 clul)8 to beate out his braincs, PucaJiontas, the King's dearest daughter, 
 when no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her arms, and layd 
 her owne upon his to save hi:n from death; whereat the Emperour 
 was contented he should live." 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 51 
 
 "In all history there is no incident more dramatic and touching. 
 After the lapse of more than two centuries, familiarized, but unhack- 
 neyed by repetition, it still remains the most charming and pic- 
 turesque scene in the whole range of American annals. Its heroine, 
 •the darling of history' (then only a child of ten) still warmly 
 lives in the love and remembrance of a whole people, and stands, 
 the redeeming spirit of her race to hallow it with a kinder memory 
 than that of warfare and revenge." This memorable transaction, 
 moreover, is of great interest as one of those comparatively rare 
 incidents where the feelings and passions bring about an event of high 
 historical importance. Certainly this was such, for the entire weight 
 of the colony, for a long time afterwards, rested on the brave heart, 
 the sagacious head, and the manly arm of Smith. Had he been 
 removed, especially in this critical juncture, the settlers, without 
 doubt, would immediately have abandoned the idea of preserving the 
 colony, and have made their way homeward with all practicable speed. 
 
 The generosity of the chief did not stop half way. The release 
 of his captive was resolved on, and was communicated in a fashion 
 characteristic enough. "Two dayes after," the captain tells us, 
 ^^ Powhafai ' . 'ng disguised himself in the most fearefullest manner 
 he could, ■, ' Capt. Smith to be brought forth to a great house in 
 the woodes, and there upon a mat by the fire to be lefl alone" 
 (another experiment on his nerves). "Not long after from behinde 
 a mat that divided the house, was made the most dolefullest noyso 
 he ever heard; then Powhatan^ more like a devill than a man, with 
 some two hundred more as blacke as himself, came unto him and 
 told him now they were friends, and presently he should goe to 
 lames Towne, to send him two great gunnes and a gryndstone, for 
 v/hich he would give him the country of Capahowosick) and for ever 
 esteeme him as his son Nantaquoudy In a memorial, many years 
 afterwards addressed to the queen in behalf of Pocahontas, Smith, 
 recapitulating the kindnesses which he had received from the House 
 of Powhatan, especially commemorates that of this son, whom he 
 describes as "the most manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit I ever saw- 
 in a Salvage." Accordingly he was dispatched to the settlement with 
 an escort of twelve guides, and was received with great rejoicing; 
 hut the messengers, finding two cannons and a millstone "somewhat 
 too heavy," were fain to return with presents better fitted for their 
 transportation. 
 
62 
 
 THE P.'OPLE'S BOOK OF H18T0KY. 
 
 i 
 
 1 i:>. ;j- .j^-. '.-■ ii 
 
 'i I ■ •> . I J.* 
 
 
 o.Jsvq, 
 
 li 
 
 paiTAIIONS OP THR COLONISTS. — RELIEVED BT POCAHOK- 
 TA8. — ARRIVAL OP NEWPORT PROM ENGLAND. — INTER- 
 COURSE AND TRAPPIC WIT ." POWHATAN. — BLUE BEADS 
 POR CRO . N JEWELS. — IMAGINARY GOi.D MINE. — 
 SMITH'S Y0TA6B IN THE CHESAPEAKE. — INTER- 
 VIEWS WITH NUMEROUS NATIVE TRIBES. — STINO- 
 y .; ,. RAT POINT. — HIS RETURN. 
 
 During the six weeks' captivity of Smith, the miserable little rem- 
 nant of the colony, by quarrels and imprc^idence, was all in confu- 
 sion, and he was again compelled to use force to keep a number 
 from deserting in the pinnace. The malcontents next hatched up a 
 ridiculous scheme for his execution on account of the loss of his 
 companions, saying that, by the Levitioal law, he was responsible for 
 their lives: "but he quickly tooke such order with such Lawyers 
 that he layd them by the heels," (t. e. in prison) "till he sent some 
 of them prisoners for England." The colony, indeed, would have 
 jierished of hunger, but for the generosity of Pocahontas, (and per- 
 haps Powhatan,) who with her attendants carried food to Jamestown 
 every four or five days. Through her influence many other Indians 
 ' '•ought provision as pvesents, or, if they sold it, made the captain fix 
 his o..n price, "so had he inchanted these poore soules, being their 
 prisoner.'' 
 
 Of two ships, dispatched by the company, with a reinforcement of 
 a hundred men, to Virginia, one only under Newport reached her 
 destinat >n, in the latter part of the year 1607. A brisk traffic was 
 now can ?a on with the Indians; and at the request of Powhatan, 
 Smith ah ; Newport made him a visit. " With many pretty dis- 
 courses to renew their old acquaintance," says the original narrative, 
 "this great King and our Captaine passed their time. * * 
 
 Three or foure days more we spent in feasting, dauncing, and trading, 
 wherein Powhatan carried him.self so proudly, yet discreetly, (in his 
 salvage manner) as made us all aflmire his nnturall gifts." Newport, 
 however, proved no match for him at a bargain, and the colonists 
 would have re(x^ived but a pitiful supply of provision for their goods, 
 but for the astuteness of Smith, who contrived, as if by accident, to 
 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 53 
 
 display before the chief several flashy ornaments. The fancy of hit 
 mtgesty w > "'oraderfuUy struck with certain olue beads. "A long 
 time be importunately desired them, but Smith seemed so much the 
 more to affect them, as being composed of a most rare substance of 
 the coloar of the skyes, and not to be worne but by the greatest 
 kings in the world. This made him halfe madde to be the owner of 
 such strange le wells; so that ere we departed," says the narrator, 
 "for a pound or two of blew beades, he brought over my king for 
 2 or 800 Bushelltf of corne ; yet parted good friends." Other royal 
 families were supplied with crown jewels at similar rates, and the 
 blue beads -were held in such veneration that none, e?^c§pt,of t)he 
 bl<x)d-royal, were permitted to wear them. ,,>,•„_ fV! . » 
 
 After their return, a fresh misfortune befell the colony in the sup- 
 posed discovery of a bed of gold — which probably was yellow mica 
 or iron pyrites — and to the gathering of which the foolish colonists, 
 with great eagerness, bet^ ok themselves, despite the passionate re- 
 monstrances of Smith. "Never,'' he says, "anything did more tor- 
 ment him than to see all necessary business neglected to fraught such 
 a drunken ship" (Newport's) "with so much gilded durt." In the 
 spring of 1608, the other vessel, the Phoenix, which had been blown 
 by a tempest to the West Indies, arrived with abundant supplies of 
 provisions. She was dispatched home with a load of cedar, the first 
 fruit reaped by England from the natural wealth of the vast region 
 she was attempting to occupy. 
 
 Under the active management of Smith, the colonists now set 
 themselves busily to work at building and planting and the colony, 
 though somewhat menaced by the du'-ious conduct of the Indians, 
 kept in check only by the resolute conduct of the same energetic 
 leader, began to stand on a basis of rational prosperity. On the 2d 
 of June, the indefatigable captain, with fourteen companions, set forth 
 in a barge on a voyage of discovery, and especially for the purpose 
 of exploring Chesapeake Bay. "Some visions of a South Sea to be 
 attained and a new channel opened to the wealthy regions of India, 
 may have mingled, it is probable, with the more practical intention 
 of reducing these great waters and their shores within the limits of 
 geography." In the course of this sur /ey along the ea.otern shore, 
 niuny Indians were encountered, at first timid or hostile, and finally 
 friendly and confiding. After a fortnight of incessant labour and 
 exposure, at the mouth t)f the Patapsco, his crew strongly petitioned 
 for return. TIk^ weather had been stormy and disastrous, tlieir 
 
 In 
 
54 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 shirts had been taken to make saIIb, and several of them were sick. 
 With much regret, their leader consented id on the 16th of June 
 discovered the river Potomac, which he ascended for thirty miles. 
 Here, we are told, probably with extraordinary exaggeration, the 
 voyagers found "all the woods layd with ambuscadoes to the number 
 of three or foure thousand Salvage8,(l) so strangely paynted, grimed 
 and disguised, shouting, yelling, and crying, as so many spirits from 
 hell could not have showed more terrible." In spite of this vehe- 
 ment demonstration, they presently entered into friendly intercourse 
 with the English. 
 
 On their return the latter were liberally supplied with game by 
 the Indians whom they encountered, .;nd found fish so plenty that 
 they attempted tf> catch them with a frying-pan; but found that 
 instrument better suited for their disposal out of the water than in 
 it At the r..ouLh of the Rappchanock, at Sting-Ray Point, (the 
 name of which still commemorates the incident,) the gallant captain 
 having speared a fish with his sword, and taking it off "(not knowing 
 her condition)" was grievously stung; and such alarming symptoms 
 ensued that, concluding his end was at hand, he gave directions for 
 his funeral, and had his grave prepared in an island hard by; yet by 
 means of "a precious oyle" applied by Russell the surgeon, recov- 
 ered so far that he had his revenge of the fish by eating a piece of 
 it for his supper. On the 21st of July the expedition returned to 
 Jamestown, having made extensive surveys, and acquired much 
 knowledge of the tribes inhabiting the shores of the Chesapeake. 
 
TH£ SETTLEMENT OF VIBQINIA. 55 
 
 • . ,., '■ -' . ', -.-. : .!. (: ,;,:■ 'run.. ,j ..,,, , 
 
 ; , ...... ... . 1.-. ■ ■ . - .-.■ .,,, ,, 
 
 itii III i 3, Jh Jtl Y x« 
 
 SMITH KADB PRESIDENT. — HE RESUMES THE SURYEI. — THE 
 snSQUEHANNAS. — ADVENTURES WITH THE INDIANS. — 
 RBMARIABLE PEAT OF SURVEY. — RETURN TO JAMES- 
 TOWN. — ARRIVAL OP NBWP' ,T. — ABSURD INSTRUC- 
 TIONS OP THE ENGLISH COMPANY. — THE CORONATION 
 OP POWHATAN. — UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT OF 
 NBWPO&I TO FIND THE bOUTH SEA. 
 
 While Smith was absent, the colony, as a matter of course, bad 
 fallen into miserable disorder and anarchy. "The silly President," 
 Ratcliffe, had so ill-treated the colonists, especially those last arrived, 
 that, in the words of the old chronicler, " had we not arrived, they 
 had strangely tormented him with revenge: but the good Newes of 
 our Discovery, and the good hope we had, by the Salvages' relation, 
 that our Bay stretched into the South Sea (1) or somewhat neare it, 
 appeased their fury." Batclifie was forthwith depoeed from office, 
 and Smith elected in his place — "the place whichj from the first, 
 had been due to his superior judgment and experience, and which 
 had been amply earned by his untiring devotion to the service of 
 the colony." 
 
 Fonder of enterprise than of ease or official dignity, at the end of 
 three days, having enpointed a discieet deputy to fill his place, the 
 new president, with twelve companions, resumed his expedition of 
 survey. He first cnxised to the Patapsco, having a friendly inter- 
 view on the way with a party of the powerful tribe of Massawomecs, 
 from the north; and on the river Tockwogh, hearing of another 
 tribe, called the Susquehannas, of giant-like stature, sent an invita- 
 tion to them to come and meet him. Accordingly, sixty warriors, 
 of herculean frame, soon presented themselves before him. "Such 
 gr3at and well proportioned men," he says, "are seldome scene, for 
 they seemed like Giants to the English, yet seemed of a honest and 
 simple disposition, with much adoe restrained from adoring us as 
 gods. * * * For their language, it may well bese me their pro- 
 portions, sounding from them as a voyce in a vault. * The picture 
 of the greatest of them is signified in the Mappe, the calfe of whose 
 leg was three-quarters of a yard about, and all the rest of his limbs 
 
 m 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 il 
 
 
 ^- 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 kM 
 
 
 irl ' 
 
 
 
 J 
 
56 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 BO answerable to that proportion, that be seemed the goodliest man 
 we ever beheld." These splendid savages were fittingly dressed in 
 the skins of wolves and bears, so worn as much to resemble the 
 natural ferocious appearance of the animals. 
 
 Their veneration for Smith, whose reputation had doubtlese pre- 
 ceded him, was almost unbounded. "There seems to have been a 
 natural dignity, kindness, and manhood in his demeanor, which 
 invariably was sufficient to overawe or conciliate the rudest tribea 
 which he encountered." "Our order," says the journal of the voy- 
 age, "was daily to have prayer, with a Psalme, at which solamnitie 
 the poor Salvages much wondred; our Prayers beir- done, a while 
 they were busied with a consultaion till they had contrived their 
 businesse. Then they began in a most passionate manner to hold 
 vp their handes to the Sunne, with a most fearefuU Song, then 
 embracing our Captaine, they began to adore nira in like manner; 
 though he rebuked them, yet they proceeded till their Song was 
 finished; which done, with a most strange furious action and a hell- 
 ish voyce, began an Oration of their loves; that (.nded, with a great 
 painted Bearus skin they covered him; then one ready with a great 
 chayne of white Beades, weighing at least six or seaven poundes, 
 hung it about his necke, the others had 18 mantles, made of divers 
 kinds of skinnes, sowed together; all these, with many other toyes 
 they layed at his feete, stroking their ceremonious hands about his 
 necke, to be their Governour and Protector." 
 
 Passing up the Rappahannock, the voyagers were attacked by 
 hostile savages, who, "accommodating themselves with branches," 
 showered volleys of arrows on their barge. One of these, being 
 wounded, was taken by the English, and was asked why his people 
 showed such enmity to peaceful strangers — to which, says the nar- 
 rative, "the poore Salvage mildly answered that they heard we were 
 a people come from under the world to take their world from them. 
 * * Then we asked him what was beyond the mountains, he 
 answered the Sunne; but of anything ela he knew nothing, because 
 the woodes were not burnt." 
 
 In the course of this protracted expedition. Smith completed tho 
 survey of the shores of Chesapeake Bay, of which he made an ac- 
 curate chart, and acquircnl much other useful information. A brief 
 but interesting account of the country and the various tribes encoun- 
 tered, was alrto drawn up, and on the 7th of September, after au 
 ".bsonce of three months, (excepting the short visit in July, when he 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIBOINIA. 
 
 57 
 
 was made president,) and a voyage of some three thousand miles, 
 he returned to Jamestown with his little craft deeply laden with 
 provisions. Three days after he was formally invested with his 
 office and title. Sickness had prevailed, and many more of the 
 unfortunate settlers had perished in his absence. 
 
 Captain Newport soon arrived again, bringing seventy additional 
 colonists, some of them persons of consideration. Two English- 
 women, a Mrs. Forrest and maid, were the first females who came 
 to the colony, and there were also eight Poles or Germans, sent to 
 make tar, glass, and potash. The English company, irritated and 
 disappointed in the failure of their extravagant expectations, had 
 ordered the unfortunate captain " not to returne without a lumpe of 
 golde, a certaintie of the South Sea, or one of the lost companie sent 
 out by Sir Walter Kaleigh." Accordingly, he had brought a great 
 barge, built in separate pieces, which was to be carried over the 
 mountains of the West, (the Blue Ridge,) and thence launched into 
 some rivei flowing into the Pacific ! " If he had burnt her to ashes," 
 writes Smith, indignantly remonstrating with the company, "one 
 might have carried her in a bag (but as she is, five hundred cannot) 
 to a navigable place above the Falls. And for him at that time to 
 find in the South Sea a Mine of Golde, or any of them sent by Sir 
 Walter Raleigh 1 at our Consultation I told them was as likely 
 as the rest." 
 
 To propitiate Powhatan^ and thus secure a free passage to the 
 Pacific and the gold mine, these gentlemen had dispatched to him 
 certain ro} alties, consisting of a basin and ewer, a bed and furniture, 
 a chair of state, a suit of scarlet, a cloak and a crown — the latter 
 purporting to be a present from his fellow-sovereign, the king of 
 England. Smith, after vainly protesting against these absurdities, 
 finding tho new-comers resolute to prosecute their plan, did his best 
 tu aid them. He posted, with only four attendants, to Werowoco- 
 moco, where, in the absence of Powhatan, Pocahontas, with thirty 
 of her muidoiis, entertained him with a quaint masquerade and a 
 feast, "of all the Salvage dainties they could devise," and treated 
 liiin witii the highest honour and affection. The chief, on his arrival, 
 being invited to proceed to Jamestown and be invested with his 
 regalia, '' was taken with a sudden fit of dignity or suspicion," and to 
 the courteous urgency of Smith, replied, "If your king have sent 
 me Presents, I also am a King, and this is my land; eight days I 
 will stay to receive them. Your Father" (Newport) "is to come to 
 
58 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 me, not I to him, nor yet to your fort, neither will I bite &t such a 
 bait. * * As for any salt water beyond the mountains, the 
 Relations you have had from my people are false," and sitting down 
 he began to draw maps, on the ground, of all the adjacent regions. 
 
 Smith and Newport, to humour his obstinacy, accordingly, witli 
 the presents and a guard of fifty men, repaired to Werowocomoco. 
 The solemn coronation of Powhatan, which took place the day after 
 their arrival, is described with much dry humour in the old narrative. 
 His majesty seems to have had some conception of the humbug of 
 the thing, or perhaps a strong distrust of the English, or a dread 
 of necromancy. His furniture having been properly set up, we are 
 told, " his scarlet Cloke and Apparell were with much adoe put on 
 him, being perswaded by Namonf'irk* they would not hurt him- 
 but a foule trouble there was to make him kneela to receive his 
 Crowne, he neither knowing the maiesty nor meaning of a Crowne 
 nor bending of the knee, endured so raauy perswnsions, exarnplee 
 and instructions as tyred them all; at lust, by leaning hard on his 
 shoulders, he a little stooped, and three, having the Crowne in their 
 hands, put it on his head, when, by the warning of a Pistol), the 
 Boats were prepared with such a volley of shot, that the King started 
 up in a horrible feare, till he saw that all was well." 
 
 This august ceremony accomplished, Newport, despite the warn- 
 ings of the king, with one hundred and twenty men, in "his great 
 five-peeced barge," set forth to ascend the James River in quest of 
 his lump of gold and the South Sea. The boat was stopped by the 
 Falls, and the company, after getting by land about forty miles fur- 
 ther, and suffering much from toil and exposure, were compelled to 
 return to Jamestown. On their arrival. Captain Smith set them at 
 work at various useful occupations, such as cutting down trees and 
 hewing timber, taking the lead himself, and making labour pleasant 
 by good-nature and merriment 
 
 * Newport, on his former visit, had presented Powhatan with a boy named Salvage, 
 and the chief, in return, had given him ** NamoiUack, his trustie servant, and one of n 
 •nruwd, subtile eapacitie." 
 
TUE SETTLEMENT OF VIBQIVflA. 59 
 
 xl .n. r 1 £1 A Y X X. 
 
 PLOT AGAINST SMITH. — HIS LETTER TO THE COMPANY. — HIS 
 RPP0RT8 TO SUPPORT THE COLONY. — EXPEDITION TO SUR- 
 PRISE POWHATAN. — ARTFUL SPEECHES, AND MUTUAL 
 TREACHERY. — THE ENGLISH AGAIN SATED BY POCAHONTAa 
 
 To meet the scarcity of provisions, which again menaced tho 
 colony, Smith again ascended the Chickahominy, and brought back 
 a great store of corn. Newport and Batclifie, in his absence, had 
 plotted to depose him ; but, we are told, "their homes were so much 
 too short to effect it, as they themselves more narrowly escaped a 
 greater mischiefe." lie finally dispatched home a ship freighted with 
 the products of the country, and in a letter to the, company, besought 
 a supply of mechanics and labourers. Complaining of the misrep- 
 resentations of Newport, he adds, "Now that you should know I 
 have made you as great a discovery as he, for a lesse charge than 
 he spendeth you every meale, I have sent you this Mappe of the 
 Bav and Rivera, with an annexed Relation of the Countries and 
 Nations that inhabit them, as you may see." They had complained 
 that they were kept in ignorance of the country, to which he stiffly 
 replies, "I desire but to know what either you or these here doe 
 know, but what I have learned to tell you, at the continuall hazard 
 of my life." 
 
 In the ensuing winter, scarcity again prevailed, and the president, 
 by repeated excursions among the Indians, sleeping, with his attend' 
 auts, in the snow, gained a scanty and precarious supply. The 
 colony at length being in danger of starvation, he came to the rash 
 and unscrupulous rcvsolution of seizing the stores of Powhatan and 
 making prisoner of that chief himself. On the 29th of December, 
 he set forth up the river, ^^ ith three boats and fort} .six volunteers, 
 and on his way dispatched Mr. Sicklemore, ("a very valiant, honest, 
 and painefuli Souldier,") with two more, on an unsuccessful search 
 for the lost colony of Raleigh. Arriving at Werowocomoco, he was 
 well entertained by Powhatan, who, however, was well apprized of 
 his hostile intention, having been informed of it by the Germans, 
 who IkuI been sent to build him a house. Much parley ensued, each 
 professing much friendship, and endeavouring to take the other at a 
 
60 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OP UIBTORY. 
 
 disadvantage, and Powhatan made a set speech, "expostulating tho 
 difference between Peace and Warre." 
 
 "Cnptaine Smith," he said, "you may understand that, having 
 scene the death of all my people thrice, and not any one living of 
 those three generations but myselfe, I know the difference of Peaci! 
 and Warre better than any in my country. But now I am old, nnd 
 ere long must die. # # » Think vou I am so simple 
 OS not to know it is better to eate good men lye well, and sleep 
 q' 'utly with my women uiid children, laugh and be merry with you 
 have copper, hatchets, or what I want, being your friend; than be 
 forced to flye from all, to lye cold in the woods, feede upon Aoornes 
 rootes, and such trash, and be bo hunted by you that I can neither 
 rest, cate, nor sleepe; but my tyred men must watch, and if a twig 
 but breake, every one cryeth, 'there commeth Captaine Smith ;^ then 
 must I fly I know not whither, and thus with miserable Ibare end 
 my miserable life." He then endeavoured to persuade the English 
 to lay Jiside their arms, intending to surprise them; and on their 
 refusal, heaving a deep sigh, "breathed his mind once more," in ar- 
 ful persuosions to the same effect, and reminded Smith how he had 
 always called him his father. "I call you father, indeed," said his 
 guest, "and as a father you shall see I will love yon ; but the small 
 care you have of such a childe, caused my men to perswade me to 
 looke to myselfe." 
 
 Meanwhile, he privately sent for his soldiers at the boats to land 
 quickly and surprise the chief; but the latter, forewarned of their 
 movements, retreated into the woods, and his warriors, in great 
 number, closed around the house. But Smith, rushing among them 
 with sword and target, made good his exit, and Powhatan, says tlie 
 narrative, "to excuse his flight and the sudden coming of this multi- 
 tude, sent our Captaine a great bracelet and a chaine of pearl, by an 
 ancient Oratour," — who had charge, with plausible explanations, to 
 smooth the affair over. The captain had purchased a quantity of corn, 
 which the Indians carried to his barge, and prepared to pass the 
 night in the village. Powhatan, "bursting with desire to have his 
 head," meanwhile, laid a deep plot for the destruction of the intruders. 
 "Notwithstanding," continues the old narrative, "the eternall all 
 seeing God did prevent him, and by a strange meanes. For Poca- 
 iiontas, his dearest iewcll and daughter, in that darke night came 
 tlirongh the irksome woodes, and told our Captaine groat chcare 
 should be sent us by and by; but Powhatan and all the power he 
 
r 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 61 
 
 oould make would after come kill us all, if thoy that brought it 
 could not kill us with our owne weapons when we were at supper. 
 Therefore, if we would live, shee wished us presently to bo gone. 
 Such things 08 she delighted in he would have given her; but with 
 the teares running downe her cheekes, she said she durst not bo 
 scene to have any, for if Powhatan should know it, she were but 
 dead; so shee ranne awoy by herselfe as she came." " ' '■■■ 
 
 In the evening, according to tho plot, a number of savages, bear- 
 ing great platters of venison and other refreshments, came to the 
 quarters of the English. With much civility, they requested the 
 latter to put out the matches of their guns, alleging that the smoke 
 made them sick; but the intended victims only redoubled their pre- 
 cautions against surprise, and Powhatan, who sent messenger after 
 messenger to learn the ♦ate of affairj, at length despaired of finding 
 them off their guard, and relinquished his design. The next morn- 
 ing the uninvited visitors took their departure. *' It certainly cannot 
 be regretted that this attempt of Smith to seize the person and 
 property of the chief who had formerly spared his life should have 
 been unsuccessful." 
 
 tiiiAiilijii Vxxl. 
 
 THE PLOT AT PAMUNKET; DEFEATED BY THE DARING AND 
 ENERGY OP SMITH. — THE COLONY SUPPLIED. — fTMITH 
 POISONED. — HIS UNSCRUPULOUS POLICY. — HIS FIGHT 
 WITH THE KINO OP PASPAHEOH. — "PRETTY AC- 
 CIDENTS" AMONG THE INDIANS. 
 
 At Pamunkey, the seat of Opechancanongh, whithu ^hey next 
 repaired, liberal entertainment was provided for the Ei;^''ib, and a 
 plot for their destruction was again concerted. At the hou.se of 
 that chief, Smith, with only fifteen companions, was finally sur- 
 rounded by a force of seven hundred armed warriors; his host, 
 "with a Btrjfined cheerful nesso," holding him engaged in talk the 
 while. On seeing his situation, the captain, in a stirring little speech, 
 exhorted his people "to fight like men and not die like sheepe," and 
 then, telling his treacherous host, "I see your plot to murder me. 
 
 -i 
 
 I' 
 
62 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 but I feare it not," defied him to single combat Besides his life, ho 
 ofTcred to stake on the issue any amount of copper against the same 
 value in corn — "and our Game," he said, "shall be, the Conquerour 
 take all." But the chief, declining this handsome proposal, endeav- 
 oured to induce his guest to venture forth, on pretence of bestowing 
 on him a rich present, thirty of the savages lying in ambush behind 
 a great log to shoot him. 
 
 Apprized of this design, the incensed captain, "in a rage snatched 
 the king by his long locke in the middest of his men," clapped a 
 pistol to his breast, and led him forth before the multitude of his 
 warriors. The chief then "bestowed his presents in good sadnease," 
 his people, fearing for his life, making no resistance; and Smith 
 "still holding the King by the hayre," addressed the assembled 
 savages with stern reproaches. "If you shoote but one Arrow," he 
 concluded, "to shed one drop of bloud of any of my men, or steale 
 the leaste of these Beades and Copper which I spurne here before 
 me with my foote; you shall see I will not cease revenge (if once I 
 begin) so long as I can heare to find one of your Nation that will 
 not deny the name of Pamaunk. I am not now at Kassaweak, half 
 drowned with myre, where you tooke me prisoner. You promised 
 to fraught my ship ere I departed, and so you shall, or I will loade 
 her with your dead carcasses." This " angry parle," however, he 
 ended more mildly, offering the release of their chief and his own 
 friendship, if they would fulfil their agreements. Struck, it would 
 seem, with equal awe and admiration, the Indians laid aside their 
 weapons, and began to bring in great store of provisions, and sin- 
 gularlyenough, yet, from repeated experience, not improbably, they 
 appear to have fulfilled their agreement with real cordiality. 
 
 Meanwhile, affairs at Jamestown had gone ill, Scrivener, the 
 deputy, with ten others, having been drowned, on a stormy day, in 
 a boat. The life of the messenorer sent with the disastrous tidin'^H 
 to Werowocomoco, was only saved by the compassion of Pocahontas, 
 who contrived to hide him from the executioners. The contest of 
 their wits was presently renewed between Smith and Powhatan, the 
 former endeavouring to surprise that chief and seize his store of 
 provisions, (a plan again defeated by "those damned Dutchmen," 
 says the indignant rarrator,) and the latter leaving no means untried 
 to take the life of his redoubted foe. Ilis people not daring to attack 
 the Knglisli openly, an attempt was made to poison them, whicli 
 however, only had the effect to make Smith and some others disu- 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 63 
 
 greeably but not dangerously sick. " Wecuttanow, a stout young 
 fellow, knowing he was suspected of bringing this present of poyson, 
 with fortie or fiftie of his chiefe companions, (seeing the President 
 with but a few men at Potauncok,) so proudly braved it, as though 
 he expected to incounter a revenge. — Which the President perceiv- 
 ing, in the midst of his company did not onely beate, but spurns 
 him like a dogge, as scorning to doe him any worse mischiefe." 
 
 The company finally returned to Jamestown with five hundred 
 bushels of com^ obtained by long foraging and traffic among the 
 various tribes. A portion, we regret to say, was wrested by violence 
 from its possessors, and it is to be lamented that Smith, who cer- 
 tainly had a generous and compassionate heart, should have suffered 
 considerations of policy or reprisal to commit him in a<'ts which 
 doubtless leave a shade upon his memory. The old chronicler of the 
 expedition, however, seems to have viewed the matter in & very dif- 
 ferent light, and even takes much pains to exculpate the party from 
 the charge of blameable moderation, which, he fears, "the blind 
 world's ignorant censure " might impute to them. " These temporizing 
 proceedings," he says, " to some may seem too charitable, to such a 
 daily daring, trecherous people; to others not pleasing that we 
 washed not the ground with their blonds, nor showed such strange 
 inventions in mangling, murdering, ransacking, and destroying (as 
 did the Spanyards) the simple bodies of such ignorant soules." 
 
 The dread of starvation removed by this abundant supply. Smith 
 set the colonists at work at various useful occupations, keeping a 
 table of their merits or demerits, and strictly enforcing the required 
 tasks — "for there was no excuse could prevaile to deceive him." 
 Fresh troubles with the savages, excited by the Germans, soon broke 
 out, and Smith, incautiously travelling alone, with no weapon but 
 his sword, again had occasion to show all his manhood in defending 
 his head. An ambuscade of forty warriors had been prepared to 
 intercept him. "By the way he incountred the King of Paspahegh, 
 a most stout strong Salvage, whose perswasions not being able to 
 perswade him to his Ambush, seeing him onely armed but with a 
 faucheon" (falchion) "attempted to have shot him, but the President 
 prevented his shooting by grapling with him, and the Salvage as 
 well prevented his drawing his faucheon, and perforce bore him into 
 the River to have drowned him. Long they struggled in the water, 
 till the President got such a hold on his throat, he had nearo stran- 
 gled the King; but having drawne his faucheon to cut off his head. 
 Vol. IV.- S3 
 
 '^^S 
 
64 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 seeing how pitifully he begged his life, he led him prisoner to lamoa 
 Towne and put him in chaynes." Encounters with the hostile 
 tribe, resulting in a more sanguinary manner, were finally ended 
 by treaty. The Indians had been eager, by theft or under-handed 
 dealings, to procure arms and ammunition; but it so happened 
 that in drying a quantity of gun-powder on a piece of armour over 
 the fire, it exploded, to their terrible injury, so that by "this and 
 many such pretty Accidents," we are told, they took a wholesome 
 distrust of the dangerous commodity, and adopted an attitude of con- 
 ciliation toward the colonists. 
 
 ♦. 
 
 IDLENESS OP THE SETTLERS. — ELOQUENT SPEECH AND yiOOROUS 
 POLICY OF SMITH. — THE NEW VIRGINIA COMPANY. — UNJD8T 
 ASSUMPTION OF POWER. — SMITH DEPOSED. — GREAT EX- 
 PEDITION DISPATCHED FROM ENGLAND; ILL-FORTDNB. 
 — ARRIVAL OP NUMEROUS IMMIGRANTS. — ANARCHY. 
 — SMITH REaSSUMES THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 By the energy of their brave and industrious president, the Vir- 
 ginian colonists had been amply supplied wi^h food and shelter; and 
 additional buildings and more extended agriculture betokened the 
 prosperity of the settlement Destruction of their store,, by rotting 
 and the rats, renewed former privations, and reawakened the old 
 mutinous and discontented spirit By the assistance of the In- 
 dians, and by fishing and gathering the natural products of the 
 country, a number of the more industrious continued to keep the 
 settlement from starvation. "But such was the strange condition 
 of some 150, that had they not been forced, nolens volens, to gather 
 and prepare their victuall, they would all have starved or eaten one 
 another." "These distracted Gluttonous Loyterera" would fain have 
 sold to the Indians f 'ery utensil of labour or defence, for a p'ttance 
 of corn, and omitted no means of cunning and mutinous demeanour 
 to compel the president to break up the settlement and return to 
 England. 
 
 Out of patience at their ill-behaviour, he finally resorted to severe 
 tiu.i.surcs. In a summary manner he punished the chief ringleader, 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 65 
 
 "one Dyer, a most crafty fellow and his ancient Maligner," and 
 made a speech of severe admonition, evidently carefully modelled on 
 his favourite classics, to the rest. "Fellow-soldiers," he said, "I did 
 little think any so false to report, or so many to be so simple as 
 to be perswaded, that I either intend to starve you, or that Powhatan 
 at this present hath come for himselfe, much lesse for you; or that 
 I would not have it, if I knew where it were to be had. Neither 
 did I thinke any so malitious as I now see a great many ; yet it shall 
 not so passionate me but 1 will doe my best for my most maligner. 
 But dream no longer of this vaine hope from Powhatan, nor that I 
 will longer forbeare to force you from your Idlenesse, and punish 
 you if you rayle. But if I find any more runners for Newfoundland 
 with the Pinnace, let them assuredly looke to arive at the Gallows. 
 
 "You cannot deny but that by the hazerd of my life many a time 
 I have saved yours, when (might your own wills have prevailed) 
 you would have starved. But I protest by that God that made me, 
 since necessitie hath not power to force you to gather for yourselves 
 those fruites the earth doth yeeld, you shall not onely gather for 
 your selves, but for those that are sicke. As yet, I never had more 
 from the store than the wo;jt of you; and all my English extraor- 
 dinary provision that I have, you shall see me divide it among 
 the sicke. 
 
 "And this Salvage trash you so scomefully repine at, being put 
 in your mouths, your stomachs can digest it. If you would have 
 better, you should have brought it; and therefore I will take a course 
 that you shall provide what is to be had. The sicke shall not starve, 
 but share equally of all our labors, and he that gathereth not every 
 day as much as I doe, the next day shall be set beyond the river, 
 and be banished from the Fort as a drone, till he amend his condi- 
 tions or starve." 
 
 This stern and summary policy had the required effect, and the 
 colonists set to work collecting the natural fruits of the country with 
 such diligence that their condition was speedily improved. In the 
 spring of 1609, Captain Samuel Argall (afterwards governor) arrived 
 in a vessel well loaded with supplies, which the settlers converted 
 .J their own use, restitution being afterwards made. This arrival 
 Drought tidings of an important character. 
 
 Disappointed and irritated by what they considered the inexcusa- 
 ble neglect of their agents in failing to discover a gold mine or a 
 passage to the Pacific, the Virginia Company visited the whole 
 
 ( ( 
 
66 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 weight of their displeasure on the head of Captain Smith. "Hia 
 necessarily firm and rigorous rule had made him many enemies- 
 and the bluntness and plain-spoken truth of his communications had 
 shocked the dignity of the authorities at home. They resolved to 
 depose him from the command of the colony, which his almost un- 
 aided exertions had so repeatedly preserved from destruction, and 
 the true value of which their short-sighted rapacity prevented them 
 from appreciating." 
 
 To gratify persons of wealth and influence who had joined the 
 company, in May, 1609, a new charter was obtained, granting abso- 
 lute power uf control over Virginia to the patentees, and unjustly 
 depriving the colonists of even the shadow of self-government. Lord 
 Delaware was appointed captain-general, and a host of inferior offi. 
 cers, with high-sounding titles, were also created for the benefit of 
 the poverty-stricken colony. In the same month, nine ships, com- 
 manded by Newport, and carrying five hundred people, under 
 command of Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, sailed from 
 England, leaving Delaware to follow with fresh recruits. These three 
 dignitaries, by a singular piece of folly, all embarked in the same ship 
 with all their papers, and a great part of the provisions. In the 
 latter part of July, this vessel, " in the tayle of a Hericano " (hurricane) 
 was driven from the squadron and wrecked on the Bermudas. An- 
 other foundered at sea, and the rest, in most miserable plight, and 
 without any general commander, arrived finally at Jamestown. 
 
 Their arrival was the signal for fresh disorders. Most of the new 
 amigranta, it wouid seem, were in a manner the refuse of the com- 
 munity — "much fitter to spoil a commonwealth than to raise or 
 maintain one." In "this lewd company," it is said, were "many 
 unruly Gallants, packed thither by their friends to escape ill-desti- 
 nies" — broken down gentlemen, bankrupt tradesmen, and decayed 
 serving-men. Smith having been deposed by the authorities, and 
 their oflBcers having been shipwrecked on the Bermudas, there was 
 no regular government, and the people soon fell into a state of an- 
 archy, setting up and palling down their authorities almost daily, 
 and modelling the government after their changeable caprico and 
 fancy. In this strait, the mooe B<?n8ible entreated Smith to jciume 
 the coinmand, h<; ing that no one had yet arrived to displace him. 
 lie consented with reluctance, and a vigorous exertion of his wonted 
 authority soon reduced these unruly spirita to something like order 
 and obedience. 
 
,.,.,,.} '.l-.ll 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OP VIRGINIA. 
 
 CTT A D no P T) "V 
 
 67 
 
 FUTIIE ATTEMPTS AT FOUNDING NEW 8BTTIEMBNT8. — POLLY 
 
 AND OBSTINACY OP THE COLONISTS. SMITH TERRIBLY 
 
 INJURED. — HE RETURNS TO ENGLAND. — HIS SER- 
 j ,f VICES TO THE COLONY. — AWFUL SUFFERING AND 
 , , ! MORTALITY AFTER HIS DEPARTURE. " 
 
 Jamestown being overcrowded, it was now thought best to plant 
 other settiemeuts, and a hundred and twenty men, under Martin, 
 attempted to found a colony at Nansemond; but from the inefficiency 
 of their commander and the hostility of the Indians,, the scheme 
 proved a pompletc failure. A like number, under Captain West, 
 proceeded to t'^e Falls of James River, where they pitched upon a 
 spou exposed to inundations and othf'T inconveniences. To provide 
 them a better locality. Smith agreed with Powhatan for the purchase 
 of his town of the same name, hard by, with its fort and all the 
 houses: "but both this excellent place and those good conditions 
 did these furies refuse, contemning both him, his kinde care and 
 authoritie." To persuade them to reason, he repaired thither with 
 only five companions, but was compelled by their violence to betake 
 himself to his barge, where, for nine days, he waited, hoping to find 
 them more sensible, and much troubled at hearing the continual 
 complaints of their violence and injustice made by the neighbouring 
 Indians. He finally sailed down the river, but was presently re- 
 called by news that the savages had attacked them and killed a 
 number. Hastening back, he found them submissive enough, and 
 removed them to the quarters he had selected, at Pow.iatan, where, 
 indeed, they did not long remiin, resuming, with strange obstinacy, 
 their ill-chosen position. 
 
 The captain, as he returned, met with terrible injury froni the 
 explosion of a bag of gun-powder, which caught fire while he was 
 asleep, burning him severely, and setting fire to his clothes. He 
 jumped overboard to quench them, and was with difficulty saved 
 from drowning. Carried in this wretcued condition, for a hundred 
 miles, to Jamestown, ivithout the aid of surgery, he w laid pros- 
 trate on a bed of sickncas, and some of the malcontents, it is said, 
 "seeing the President unable to stand, and neere berefl of his senses 
 
 I ! 
 
 Pi ! 
 
 
r 
 
 08 
 
 Tlir; FEOI'LE - BOOK OK HISTORY. 
 
 by reason of his torment, ploi.'cd to murder bim in his bed. But 
 his hci ;-t i;'! kile him that should have given fire to that merci- 
 lease pisl i." 
 
 The president, his active and ei'.ergetic career thus lamentitLK- 
 arrested, and knowing that the arrival of any of the delayed oiTwiula 
 would at once supplant his authority, now resolved to prnieed ui 
 England for surgical aid. Eariv in the autumn of 1609, he .-ict s»;,ii, 
 leaving at Jamestown Mid the other Virgin'a pos'' four hanvlnicl' 
 and ninety people, well supplied with arms, provision, and the 
 nv^ins of iUivation and impro\ pment. 
 
 "It is almost im}>os.sible to over-eitiinate tl (i ; 'T vices of this remark- 
 fible man in laying the foundaliou of the Anycrican empire. Van 
 Kfiiiiiutit feats of anas which ho so often perfor.'ned, iid tLu deadly I 
 pciil^ which he so often encountered, are little in t'cm] wiaon with ' 
 tbft autirisig veal, the e/er-watchfiil foresight, an<! the sagac; ius 
 policy, \>y \y\)\<h. for years, he su.slained, on his single ami, tuo 
 entire weight cl tof? 'i."??teTice oi the colony. Incompetency of his 
 emplc-yer:-!, niulii;.y arnoiig his followers, the hostility of powerful 
 tribes, sicbtcss, pnvi.* ons, a; id famine itself, were all remedied or 
 conquen-.l bv his aimost unaided exertions. 
 
 '■Kude arsd violent as he often vv'as toward the offendiiig natives 
 no white inni), perhaps, ever so far jonciliated the favour ai.d gained 
 the respect of the Indian race. His very name, long after, was a 
 spell of power among them, and had he remained in Virginia a few 
 years longer, the memorable massacre which, in 1622, proved an 
 almost fatal blow to the settlements in that country, would, it is 
 f>-v>bab]e, never have been perpetrated. The wretched condition of 
 ti.o colony, immediately after his departure, may be given in the 
 rude but graphic language of one vi'ho shared its misfortunes. 
 
 '■ ' Now we all found the losse of Captainv Smith, yea, his greatest 
 mabgners could now curse his losse; as for corne, provision, and 
 contribution from the Salvages, we had nothing but mortall wounds, 
 with clubs and arrows; as for our Hogs, liens, Goates, ,^ .eij e, 
 Ilorp-e, or what lived, our commanders, officers, and the Sal 'ages 
 daily connumed them, (some small jiroportion .sometimes we tasted,) 
 till all was devoured; then swords, arms, pieces, or anything we 
 traded with ihe Siilvagea, whose cruell fingers were so oft im- 
 brewed in our blonds, that, what by their crueltio, our G< > '^^rnour'a 
 indiscretion and the losse of our ships, of five hundred. '•ua six 
 nioneths after Captaine SmitJt's departure, there remain . i past 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 09 
 
 sixtie men, women, and children, most miserable and poore crea- 
 tures; and those were preserved, for the most part, by rootes, herbcs, 
 walnuts, acornea, now and then a little fish; they that bad starch, in 
 such extremities made no small use of it; yea, even the very skinnes 
 of our Horses. Nay, so great was our famine, that a Salvage we 
 Blew and buried, the poorer sort tooke him up againe and eate him, 
 and so did divers one another, boyled and stewed with rootes and 
 herbes; and one amongst the rest did kille his wife, powdered" 
 (pickled) "her, and had eaten part of her before it was knowne, for 
 which hee was executed as hee well deserved * * This was that 
 time, which still to this day we call 'the starving time'; it were too 
 vile to say, and scarce to bee beleeved what we endured ; but the 
 occasion was oure own, for want of providence, industrie, and 
 government.' 
 
 "Such are the trials, sufferings, and privations, amid which, too 
 often, the foundation of a commonwealth in the wilderness must be 
 laid — misfortunes at times hardly avoidable, but, as in the present 
 case, infinitely aggravated by the want of a firm, sagacious, and 
 resolute Head."* 
 
 I it 
 
 i I 
 
 Mji-; » 
 
 LJniiiotJtTiLiujri lAil* 
 
 MBMOia OP SMITH, CONTINUED AND CONOLUDBD. — HIS YOTAOB 
 TO NEW ENGLAND AND SURVEYS.— rHIS SECOND EXPEDITION. 
 — HIS ADVENTURES AMO*^ THE PIRATES: HIS ESCAPE. 
 — HIS ORK>T EXERTIONS POR THE SETTLEMENT OP 
 NEW ENGLAND. — INTERESTING INTERVIEW BETWEEN 
 SMITH AND POCAHONTAS IN ENGLAND. — LAST 
 YEARS OP SMITH. — HIS DEATH. — HIS CHAR- 
 ACTER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Having given a brief account of the early adventures of Captain 
 Smith, (whose life, more nearly than that of any other man, seems 
 to connect the fortunes of the Old World with the New,) having 
 remarked tc a l'..vi u' Iiuiritbi? purpose his training in the rough school 
 . ?war, ' f ruvel, and of au-orsity served in his career as a colonist, 
 
 * Discoverers, die, of /'* merica. 
 
TniS PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 it may uot be amiss to give a few particulars of the remainder of bis 
 active and useful life — especially as that life, to its end, was mainly 
 and unweariqdly devoted to the task of promoting American dis- 
 covery and colonization. In March of 1614, we again find him, in 
 company with some merchants of London, fitting out an expedition 
 to New England, in two vessels, one of which he commanded in 
 person. By the last of April, he arrived at the island of Manhegin 
 on the coast of Maine, where he built seven boats, and made an 
 unsuccessful attempt at whale-fishing. The crews, with much better 
 success, were therefore set to work at catching and curing cod, while 
 Smith, with eight men, in a small boat, surveyed and mapped oui 
 the coast, from Penobscot to Cape Cod. In his chart, he had mostly 
 given the original Indian names, but, with a natural desire to com- 
 memorate his own adventures, had inserted a few otliers drawn from 
 that fertile source. Cape Ann was called Cape Tragabigzanda, in 
 honour of his young mistress of Constantinople, and the Isles of 
 Shoals were laid down as "The 3 Turkes' Ileads." At his request, 
 however. Prince (afterwards king) Charles, changed most of these 
 names to those of English localities, which are still retained. 
 
 Having procured b^'^ trafBc an immense quantity of beaver and 
 other furs from the Indians, (with whom, also, he had two fights,) 
 in August he returned to England, leaving his consort. Captain 
 Thomas Hunt, to continue the fishing and carry the cargo to Spain. 
 Tbat scoundrel, at his departure, in the words of Smith, "betraied 
 foure and twentie of those poore Salvages aboord his Ship, and most 
 dishonestly and inhumanely, for their kind treatment of me and all 
 our men, carried then with him to Maligo" (Malaga), "and there for 
 a little private gaine sold those silly Salvages for rials of eight; but 
 this vilde act kept him ever after from any more imploiment to Lliose 
 parts." To tins cruel and treacherous act, as to those of a similar 
 nature, committed by the French in their voyages to Canada, may 
 be attributed much of the hostility experienced by later comers in 
 settling the country. 
 
 At Plymouth, to which Smith next came, he found the people 
 still "interested in the dead patent of ibis unregarded countrey" 
 (New England), and was easily induced to undertake a voyage for 
 the conv'^ny of that port, rejecting, with honourable promptitude, 
 the proposals of the Virginia Company, who would now gladly have 
 availed themselves of his services. In March, 1615, he sailed for 
 Aiiierici\ with two small vessels, on a voyage which waa but one 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OP VIRGINIA. 
 
 71 
 
 series of misfortunea His ship being wrecked and dismasted, he 
 was compelled to put back, and tn June, iu a little vessel of only 
 sixty tons, resumed the enterprise. Falling in with an English 
 pirate of thirty-six guns, he defied her so bravely with only four, 
 that the crew were amazed until they recognized Smith, with whom 
 some of them had served years before, probably in the Eastern wars. 
 They begged him to take the command of their ship (which they ' 
 had seized at Tunis,) but he declined the oflFer, and pursued his voy- 
 age. Near Fayal, he had a fight with two French pirates, whom he 
 compelled his crew to resist, threatening to blow up the vessel rather 
 than yield, as long as there was a charge of powder left aboard. 
 Escaping from this danger, at Flores he was captured by four French 
 men-of-war, the commander of which, despite his commission under 
 the Great Seal of England, plundered his little vessel, and then dis- 
 missed her, reserving Smith, as a precaution against his revenge, 
 as a prisoner. During the whole summer, these rovers cruised about, 
 capturing and plundering many vessels, keeping Smith a prisoner 
 in the cabin, when they took any English vessels, but gladly avail- 
 iug themselves of his courage and seamanship in their fights with 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 The very different light in which the worthy captain regarded 
 these several transactions, may best be inferred from his own de- 
 scription of the capture of two prizes of the different nations. "The 
 next wee tooke," he says (in a journal, which, with a particular 
 description of New England, he wrote aboard the Frenchman), "was 
 a small Englishman of Poole, from Newfound land: the great Cchben 
 at this present was my Prison, from whence I could see them pillage 
 these poore men of all they had and halfe their fishe; when hee was 
 gone thev sold his poore clothes at the Main Mast by an outcry," 
 (auction), " which scarce gave each man seven pence a peeoe." Mark 
 the change in his tone in narrating the capture of a rich Spanish 
 Galleon — " a West Indies man of warre, a forenoone wee fought with 
 her and then tooke her, with one thousand, one Hundred Hides, 
 fiftie chests of Cutchanole, fourteene coffers of wedges of Silver, eight 
 thousand Rialls of Eight, and six coffers of the king of i^aine's 
 treasure, besides tlie good pillage and rich Goffers of many rich Passen- 
 gers, Two moneths they kept me in this manner to manage their 
 fights against the Spaniards and bee a prisoner when they tooke any 
 English." The very imp-^r^ect tone of public morality at this age 
 is sufficiently evinced in the complacency with which Smith — -justly 
 
 i:; 
 
 m 
 
 h I 
 
 ii 
 
 rr' i 
 
f* 
 
 72 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OK HIBTOKY. 
 
 regarded aa an uncommonly honest and upright man — views these 
 Bcones of piratical plunder — always provided that the subject of them 
 were not an Englishman. 
 
 His captors promised him ten thousand crowns as the reward of 
 his skill and valour; yet ^^-Scn they arrived at Rochelle, I lowing 
 his determined charactv:, . < .1 ! ig his vengeance, still kept him 
 prisoner. In a ter. iu nff * .', iiowevtr, which drove thorn all under 
 liatches, (and whioli, ihat same night, destroyed the ship, with hulf 
 her company), he made his escape in a small boat, and, after being 
 driven to sea and enduring great peril and suffering, was found, half 
 dead, by somr- Fowlers, on an oozy island, and was brought iwhore 
 and kindly relieved. 
 
 Returning home, he published a book on New England, which he 
 had writteu to beguile the weariness of his captivity, and, with 
 extraou inary activity, travelling through the west of England, rlis. 
 tributea jv^ven thousand copies of it among people of note and influ- 
 ence. *'Lut all," he says, "availed no more than to hew rocks with 
 Oys»er shells." He received, however, an abundance of promises of 
 aid \v the enterprise of settling that country, and was invested by 
 the Plymouth company with the title of" Admiral of New England." 
 These encouragements all ended in words, no active steps being takeu 
 for the furtherance of the object which ho had so much at heart. 
 
 A most interesting interview between Siiiith and Pocahontas, ■•».'. n 
 this time, is recorded. That noble-hearted princess, despite the great 
 afTtot'on which her father bore to her, had incurred his displeasure 
 by her repeated act3 of kindness in behalf of the English, and was 
 living exiled from his court, under the protection of Japazaws, chief 
 of the Potomacs. That treacher^:;U8 dignitary, bribed by a copper 
 kettle, entrapped her on boaia the vessel of Captain Argall, who, 
 notwithstanding her t«ars and lamentati iis, made her prisoner, and 
 took her to Jamestov. -infc ning hei iher tha' she could be ran- 
 somed only by the delivery of numerous arms, &c., which his people 
 had stolen from the Enj'lish. "This vnwelcome newes," .^nya iho 
 chronicler, "much troubled Powhatan, iecause hec loved bcth his 
 daughter aiid our commodities well." Afler nn alternatinr of war 
 u!iil negotiation, the matter was at last )• ^n\y settled in a mtii.ncr 
 more agreeable than either, 
 
 " Long before this," continues ' arr ive, "Master John Rolfe, 
 an lioiiost Gentleman aud of good tH;iiavi> r, had becne in love with 
 "P'lcahontas, and fihe with him, which resolution Sir Thomas Dale 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF 
 
 KGINIA. 
 
 73 
 
 well approved; the bruit (report) of this uiage soon came to the 
 know lodge of Powhatan^ a thing acccj. table unto him, as appeared 
 by his sudden consent, for within ten daies, he sent Opachisco, an 
 old Vncle of hers, and two of his sons, to see the manner of the 
 mariage, and to doe in that belialfe what they were requested, for 
 the confirmation thereof, as his deputie; which was accordingly done 
 about the first of Aprill," (1613), "and ever since we have had 
 friendly trade and commerce" (intercourse) " with Powhatan himselfb, 
 as all his subjects." 
 
 In 1616, the Lady Rebecca (as she was now christened), with her 
 husband and child, accompanied Sir Thomas to England. She had 
 learned English, and adopted Christianity, and " was become," says 
 the narrator, with unconscious national satire, "very formall and 
 civill after our English manner." Captain Smith, on learning of 
 her arrival, lost no time in commending her to the attention of per- 
 sons of influence, and, in a studied mf'morial to the queen, recapitu- 
 lated the many services rendered b I'ocahontas to himself and to 
 the Virginian colony, and besought her favour for the interesting 
 stii'iger. ■ "During the time of two or three yeeres, she, next under 
 God," he says, "was still the instrument to preserve this colonie from 
 death, famine, and ntter confusion, which, if in those days it had 
 once been dissolved, Virginia might have laine tia it was at our 
 ' --st arrivall to ili -s day." 
 
 '^nhappily i account of the ridiculous jealousy of James I., (who, 
 it said, exhibited much indignation against Rolfe, for having pre- 
 sun^p' being a subject, to intermarry with the blood-royal) the 
 ca{)ta. , vhen he went to see her, fearing, by too great familiarity, 
 to prejudice It interest at court, thought best to salute her with 
 ceremonious , vity. At this strange reception, her affectionate heart 
 was ut once gi leved and indignant. With a species of Indian sul- 
 lenness, and "without any word," he says, "she turned about, ob- 
 scured her face, as not seeming well-contented. In that humour," 
 he continues, "her husband, with divers others, we all left her two 
 or three houres," (how could he!) "repenting myself to have writ 
 shce could speake English. * * But not long aft'jr ^^ho 
 
 began to talke, and remembered mee well what courtesies shee hud 
 dom ; saying, 'You did promise Powhatan what was yours should 
 bee liis, und he the like to yoi; you called him father, being in his 
 land a Ftranger, and by the saii.e reason so must I doe you;' which 
 though I would have excused, that I durst not allow of that title, 
 
74 
 
 THE rKOPLE'8 BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 becauM she was a King's daughter, with a well sot countenanc* .be 
 siiid, 'Were you not afraid to come into niy father's countrio and 
 catiHO fcaro in him and all his people (but moo), and feare you here 
 I should call you father? I tell you then I will, and you shall cull 
 nice childe, and so I will bee for ever and ever your countryman.'" 
 
 Tills prudent conduct of Smith and her other friends, it would 
 seem, allayed the absurd jealousy of James; for, ho continues, "It 
 jileascd both the King and Queeue's maiesty honorably to esteemo 
 iier, accom panic 1 by that honorable Lady, the Lady Dt la Wane 
 and that honorable Lord, her husband, and divers other persons of 
 good quality, both publikely at the maskes and otherwise, to her 
 great satisfaction and content, which doubtless she would have de- 
 served, had she ever lived .xj arrive in Virginia." She died at 
 Grave.xend on her way home, in the following year, nt the age of 
 twenty-two, leaving a son, from whom a numerous race of descend- 
 ants have been derived. "Among them was the celebrated John 
 liandolph of Roanoke — justly prouder of his descent from the oM 
 imperial race of Powhatan, illustrated by the more gentle heroism of 
 his daughter, than he could have been of the noblest derivation from 
 European ancestry." 
 
 In 1617, Captain Smith had been assured by the Plymouth Com- 
 pany that he should be sent out, with a fleet of twenty ships, to 
 found a colony in New f]ngland ; but this promise never was ful- 
 filled, though he was unwearied in his exertions to incite his coun- 
 trymen to American enterprise. When, in 1622, news came of the 
 terrible massacre devised by Opechancanough, (see chapter XIII.) he 
 pro|)08ed U^ the Virginia Company that if they would but allow 
 him an hundred and thirty men, "to imploy onely in ranging the 
 Countries and tormenting" (harassing) "the Salvages," their whole 
 territory should bo kept in peace and security; but they rejected 
 the offer, aa involving a necessity for too great expense. Another 
 terrible massacre, a few years later, was the result of this short- 
 sighted policy. 
 
 In the following year, we find the captain before a royal commis- 
 sion, giving his evidence and opinion concerning the unfortunate 
 colony with much shrewdness, candour, and charity. Of the la.st few 
 years of his life little is known. He lived, it is believed, in quiet 
 repose in the city of London, employed chiefly in writing and pub- 
 lishing. He was engaged on a "History of the Sea," when, in 1681, 
 death closed a career in which utility and romance were perhaps 
 
TUK 8ETTLEMKNT OF VIUOINIA. 
 
 76 
 
 more closely and continuoualy united than in any other of which a 
 record has survived. ...» / 
 
 "In the whole history of adventure, discovery, and exploration, 
 there are few names more honourable or more deservedly famous 
 than that of Captain John Smith. To us he has always appeared 
 (to his very name and title) the finest and most perfect exemplar of 
 a bold Englishman that ever figured on the stage of the world. In 
 hia character, bravery, fortitude, sagacity, and sound common sense 
 were so happily tempered and united as to command instinctive 
 respect; while the tolerably-infused tincture of impetuosity, preju- 
 dice, and self-will, seems only to lend a piquancy to his worthier 
 trulls, and more finely to set off the national characteristics. Ilis 
 love of enterprise and his daring, chivalrous spirit, were tempered 
 with a judgment, moderation, and humanity, which, in so rough a 
 career, have never been surpassed. The cutter-off of Turks' heads, 
 the desperate Indian fighter, and the sworn foe to the Spaniard ia 
 ill compassion and sympathy when the 'Silly Salvages' are kidnap- 
 ped by Ilia treacherous countryman, or when the 'poore clothes' of 
 'a small Englishman ' are sold by outcry at the main-mast of a pirate. 
 
 "In early youth, his grand passion was for fighting and renown, 
 no matter on what field, so that a man of honour might engage. In 
 maturer years, the noble passion for founding nations and spreading 
 civilization took a yet firmer possession of his soul. ' Who,' he ex- 
 claims in his manly address to the idlers of England, 'who can 
 desire more content that hath small means, or only his merit, to 
 advance his fortunes, than to tread and plant that ground he hath 
 purchased by the hazard of his life; if hee have but the taste of 
 vertue and magnanimitie, what to such a mind can bee more pleas- 
 ant than planting and building a foundation for his posterity, got 
 from the rude earth by God's blessing and hia owne industry, with- 
 out prejudice to any ; if hee have any graine of faith or zeale in 
 Religion, what can hee doe lesse hurtfuU to any or more agreeable 
 to God, than to seeke to convert those poore Salvages to know 
 Christ and humanity, whose labors, with discretion, will triply 
 reward thy charge and paine ; what so truly sutes with honor and 
 honesty as the discovering things vnknowne, erecting Townoa, peo- 
 pling countries, informing the ignorant, reforming things unjust, 
 teaching vertue and gaine to our native mother Country; to find 
 imploiment for those that are idle, because they know not what 
 to doe; so farre from wronging any, as to cause posterity to re- 
 
 ii 
 
 ■ i 
 
 III 
 
 H 
 
 
76 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 member them, and remembering thee, ever honor that remembrance 
 with praise.' 
 
 "The full merits of Smith, as the earliest and most indefatigable 
 promoter of the colonization of New England, have never been ade- 
 quately appreciated. By his personal exertions in the survej', delin- 
 eation, and description of that neglected region, and by the continual 
 publications which, at great pains afld expense, he industriously cir- 
 culated in England, he awakened the public interest in an enterprise 
 which, otherwise, for many years might have been slighted and 
 deferred. He lived to see the foundations of a great nation firmly 
 laid, both at the south and the north, and, though like many other 
 great projectors and labourers in the same field of actiou, he reaped 
 no personal advantage (but rather much loss) from his exertion and 
 enterprise, he continued, to the day of his death, to regard the two 
 colonies with the fond partiality of a parent, and to do all he could 
 for their advancement. 'By that acquaintance I have with them,' he 
 writes, *! call them my Children, for they have beene my Wife, my 
 Hawks, Ilounds, my Cards, my Dice, and in totall, my best content, 
 as indifferent to my heart as my left hand to my right. And not- 
 withstanding all those miracles of disasters which have crossed both 
 them and rae, yet, were there not an Englishman remaining (as, God 
 be thanked, notwithstanding the massacre, there are some thousands); 
 I would yet begin againe with as small meanes as I did at first, not 
 that I have any secret encouragement, (I protest) more than lament- 
 able experience,' &c. 
 
 " It only remains to add that, although, so far as we are informed, 
 never married, the gallant captain was, and deservedly, a general 
 favourite with the ladies. There seems to have been a certain man- 
 hood and kindliness in his very look, which, almost at a glance, 
 conciliated to him the good-will of the fairer and weaker portion of 
 liunianity. These favours, so flattering to the natural vanity of maii, 
 he bears worthily, and with no offence to the givers, ever speaking 
 with the utmost modesty and gratitude of the kindness he had so 
 often experienced at their hands. His acknowledgment to the sex 
 (introduced in his dedication to the Duchess of Richmond) reminds 
 us of the celebrated eulogy pronounced by Ledyard. 'I confossc,' 
 he writes, 'my hand, though able to wield a weapon among the 
 Barbarous, yet well may tremble in handling a pen before so many 
 Judicious * * Yet my comfort is, that heretofore honorable ami 
 vert'ious Ladies^ and comparable but among them selves, have of1( icd 
 
 me rescue ai 
 
 % 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIEGINIA. 
 
 77 
 
 me rescue and protection in my greatest dangers ; even in forraine 
 parts I have felt reliefe from that sex. — The beauteous Lady Traga- 
 bigzanda, when I was a slave to the Turkes, did all she could to 
 secure me ' {i, e. make me secure). * When I overcame the Bashaw 
 of Nalbriiz, in Tartaria, the charitable Lady Callamata supplied my 
 necessities. In the vtmost r>f many extremities that blessed Poka- 
 liontas, the great King's daughter of Virginia, oft saved my life. 
 When I escaped the crueltie of Pirats and most furious stormes, a 
 long time alone in a small Boat at Sea, and driven ashore in France, 
 the good Lady Madam Chanoyes bountifully assisted me.' "* 
 
 rnAPTTTP TTT 
 \j a, dii, i, i, ih £\, i&iXXe 
 
 4RRIVAL OP GATES. — MI8BRABLB CONDITION OP THE COLONY. 
 
 — JAMESTOWN DESERTED. — ARRIVAL OP LORD DELAWARE: 
 
 OF SIR THOMAS DALE. — EXERTIONS OP THE COMPANT. 
 
 — INCREASED IMMIGRATION. — THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO 
 
 INTRODUCED, AND EAGERLY PURSUED. — TYRANNY OP 
 
 AROALL: HIS DISPLACEMENT. — GREAT ACCESSION OP 
 
 IMMIGRANTS. — WIVES PURCHASED WITH TOBACCO. 
 
 — LIBERAL CONCESSIONS TO THE COLONISTS. 
 
 The lamentable condition of the Virginian colony, after the de- 
 parture of Smith, has been described. Thirty of the settlers, seizing 
 a ship, had turned pirates, and the greater part of the remainder 
 perished of famine, disease or Indian hostility. When Sir Thomas 
 Gates and his companions, who had been wrecked on Bermuda, 
 arrived at Virginia in vessels of their own construction, (May 24th, 
 1610,) out of four hundred and ninety, whom Smith had left, only 
 sixty remained, and those in a condition of such misery that their 
 end was almost at hand. There seemed no alternative but to sail 
 with all speed for Newfoundland, and there seek assistance from the 
 fishermen; and, accordingly, early in June, (resisting the miserable 
 desire of the settlers to fire their deserted dwellings,) Gates, with 
 Ins people and the relics of the Virginian colony, proceeded down 
 the river. 
 
 ♦ Discoverers, &c., of America. 
 
 ■i 
 
 i%m 
 
78 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 The very next morning (June 10th, 1610) they learned that Lord 
 Del^'.ware had arrived on the coast with supplies, and, putting about 
 returned with all speed to Jamestown, The new governor, a man 
 of high character and good judgment, by his wholesome rule, and 
 by the supplies which he brought, soon restored comparaxive com- 
 fort to the little colony, which, at this time, including the company 
 of Gates and his own emigrants, did not exceed two hundred souls- 
 but on account of illness, was compelled, the same year, to quit 
 Virginia, leaving the administration in the hands of Mr. Percy. In 
 May of the next year, (1611,) Sir Thomas Dale, dispatched thither 
 with fresh supplies, arrived, and assumed the government. 
 
 Sir Thomas Gates, who had also repaired to England, by hia 
 urgent representations, excited the company to fresh exertions 
 and in August of the same year, with six ships, bearing three huu- 
 dred more emigrants and a hundred cattle, he arrived at Jamestown 
 and assumed the office of governor. The colony now numbered 
 seven hundred. 
 
 In 1G12, by a fresh patent, the Bermudas and all other islands 
 within three hundred leagues of Virginia, were included in that 
 province, and lotteries were authorized for the benefit of the com- 
 pany. The prosperity of the colony improved, and its peaceful 
 relations with the Indians seemed secured by the marriage of Rolfo 
 and Pocahontas, which took place about this time — a propitious 
 event, resulting in the alliance net only of Potvhatati and his people, 
 but of the Chickahominies and other tribes. 
 
 In the account of Acadia, mention has been made of the atrocious 
 and piratical expedition from Virginia, under Captain Samuel Ar- 
 gall', destroying the little colony of Port Koyal, the first settlement 
 of the French in North America. That unprincipled commander, 
 on his return, also entered the harbour of Manhattan (New York), 
 and enforced a show of submission from the little colony of iJol 
 landers inhabiting the island of that name. In 1614, Sir Tliomas, 
 iippointing Dale as governor, returned to England; and the latter, 
 two years afterwards, leaving in turn George Yeardle}' as deputy, 
 followed the example. By far the most memorable fact in this 
 stage ot' the colony's progress, is the commencenient of the culture of 
 tobacco, the use of which, adopted from the Indians, l)ad been intro- 
 duced into England. With such industry did the prospect of a 
 profitable reward for labour iuHpire the colonists, that the verv 
 btreeUs of Jamestown were planted with tobacco. 
 
TUE SETTLEMENT OF VIKGINIA. 
 
 In 1617, the office of deputy-governor was conferred by the com- 
 pany on that rash and unscrupulous man, Samuel Argall ; and the 
 death of Lord Delaware — who, embarking with a considerable com- 
 pany, the same year, for Virginia, died on the voyage — 'left his 
 natural tyranny and arrogance without a check. The colonists, ere 
 long, were, in effect, complet^'ly enslaved by their arbitrary governor, 
 wlu) used his office only as a means for his private aggrandizement, 
 and their very lives were in danger from his fury. But on the report 
 of these excesses reaching England, the culprit, after a spirited ..ou- 
 tcst between the difi'erent factions in the company, was displaced, 
 and Yeardley, whose mild and benevolent temper had made him 
 popular with the settlers, was appointed to the command. His just 
 and considerate rule soon restored quiet. 
 
 The cijmpany, desirous to avoid such abuses for the future, had 
 checked the authority of the governor by that of the council, and 
 actually admitted the colonists to a species of self-government. The 
 governor, with the council, and certain representatives of the people, 
 were perniitted to enact some laws, which, however, were not to be 
 valid, unless ratified by the corporation at hon.e. The officers of 
 tlie company, and in especial, Sir Edwin Sandys, the treasurer, sup- 
 ported by the liberal party, now used great exertions for the increase 
 of tlie colony and the extension of its liberties. In 1619, there were 
 only six hundred settlers in "N^irginia, s i during a single year that 
 energetic officer dispatched thither more than twelve hundred addi- 
 tional emigrants. An hundred and fifty young women, of good 
 character, were shipped to the province, and were married with great 
 readiness — the husbands paying the company each an hundred and 
 twenty pounds of tobacco or more, for the expense of their trans- 
 portation. By 1621, three thousand five hundiad emigrants had 
 reached ^'irgiuia* and, in the same year, with liberality and fore- 
 sight, rare indeeu for the age, the company made an ordinance 
 (onforring on thiit pi >vince a settled and, in a morner, independent 
 government. Tlie gov.^rnor and council, iiidecil, were to be ap- 
 piiintod by the company, Lit a legislative assembly was to be chosen 
 by tlie peojile, with powci- tc enact laws, subject to the approval of 
 the company — those emanating from London, in like manner, to be 
 valid only on ratification by tke assembly. Courts of law, .strictly 
 following those of England, were re/juired to be instituted, and the 
 great blessing of civil liberty — as great, |>erhap8, as that enjoyed hy 
 Eugli.sliinen at lioino — was secured to the firat Amoricun colony. Thia 
 Vol IV.— 34 
 
 II ! 
 
 Wm 
 
 ..l;|, 
 
80 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 magnanimous concession, due to the generous efforts of Southamp- 
 ton, Sandys, and others of the liberal party, was one of the first and 
 most important fruits of that spirit of progress at that time just 
 beginning to make itself felt in the English councils. 
 
 CXTADTTT'D 'Y'TTT 
 itii Jki, i J, Jli iH M, I l ]»• 
 
 WTATT GOVERNOR. NEGRO SLAVERY INTRODUCED. — DEATH 
 
 OF POWHATAN AND SUCCESSION OP OPEC H ANC ANOUGH. — 
 
 PLOT DEVISED BY THE LATTER. TERRIBLE MASSACRE 
 
 OP THE ENGLISH. — DEPRESSION OF THE COLONY. — 
 USURPATION OF THE PATENT BY JAMES I. PRU- 
 DENT POLICY TOWARD THE COLONISTS. 
 
 Sir Francis Wyatt, bearing the invaluable gift of a constitution, 
 arrived in Virginia, as governor, in 1621. The year previous, un- 
 happily, had been distinguished by the first introduction of slavery 
 into the colony — a Dutch vessel having entered the James River 
 and brought twenty negroes for sale. For a long time, indeed, this 
 nefarious traffic made little progress— being principally carried on 
 by the peoplo who commenced it, and being rather connived at than 
 favoured by the government of the province. 
 
 The agricultural progress of Virginia had been grievously retarded 
 by unsuccessful efibrts at the production of wine and silk — articles 
 of luxury, the least suited to a new territory and a sparse population. 
 The profitable culture of tobacco, and its sudden importance as the 
 staple of Virginian agriculture, have been noticed; and that of 
 cotton, first commenced as an experiment, in 1621, marks an era in 
 the liistory of American agriculture vastly more important yet. 
 
 King Powliutan, wlio, after the English alliance of his daughter, 
 had been the firm friend of the colonists, died full of years, in 1618, 
 the year after the death of Pocahontas. Opechancanough, his 
 younger brother, succeeded him in the government of thirty tribes 
 which he had ruled. Apprehensions of Indian hostility, from a long 
 interval of peace, had gradually died out, and the settlers, eager for 
 tlie cultivation of tobacco, continually pushed their plantations further 
 into the wilderness and more remote from mutual aid. So completely 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 81 
 
 was apprehension allayed, that fire-arms, to furnish which to the 
 savages had formerly been denounced as an offence worthy of death, 
 were now freely supplied them for hunting and fowling. 
 
 It is not easy to arrive at the causes which induced the Indian 
 population, apparently so friendly and confiding, to resolve en an 
 indiscriminate massacre of the English. Doubtless, like all other 
 native tribes, they were jealous of continual intrusions on their 
 ancient domain. It is said, also, that Opechancanough was mortally 
 offended by the killing of one of his favourite councillors, called 
 "Jack of the Feather." He may also have remembered, with deep 
 vindictiveness, how Captain Smith, many years before, had held him 
 " by the hayre of his head " before his assembled warriors. Certainly, 
 with almost incredible secrecy and concert, he and his people plotted 
 the destruction of the whites. On the 22d of March, 1622, about 
 noon, the Indians, who, up to the last moment, maintained the ap- 
 pearance of cordiality and friendship, suddenly and simultaneously 
 fell on the English settlements in every quarter. In a single hour, 
 three hundred and forty-seven of the colonists, including six of the 
 council, were massacred ; and Jamestown, with some adjoining plan- 
 tations, was saved only by the timely warning of an Indian who 
 wished to rescue an English friend from the intended extermination. 
 The savages, who seem to have manifested extraordinary ferocity, in 
 many instances, rose from the very tables which had been spread 
 for their dinners, to murder their unsuspecting hosts. "Neither 
 yet," says the old chronicler, " did these beasts spare those among 
 the rest well knowne unto them, from whom they had daily received 
 many benefits, but spitefully also massacred them without an}' re- 
 morse or pitie; being in this more fell than Lions and Dragons, 
 which (as Histories record) have preserved their Benefactors; such 
 is the force of good deeds, though done to cruell Beasts, to take 
 humanitie upon them; but these miscreants put on a more unnatur- 
 nll brutishnesse than beasts," &c. 
 
 Great discouragement fell on the afEicted colony. Tlie plantations 
 were reduced to a tenth of their number. Sickness prevailed, and 
 the planters were compelled to direct their attention from a^^riculture 
 to war v/ith the enemy. The mother-country, with hoiourable 
 promptitude, contributed liberally to the aid and comfo^'t of the 
 unfortunate settlers. 
 
 The company, which had expended great sums in planting and 
 RURtaining the colony, but which had reaped no profit from its enter- 
 
 Mi 
 
82 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF H18T0BY. 
 
 prise, was now of importance chiefly as the theatre of debate between 
 the liberal and arbitrary factions. To suppress the former, soon 
 became an object of royal jealousy, and, in 1622, the king made an 
 unsuccessful attempt to control the election of a treasurer. In the 
 following year, after the pretence of legal investigation, the patent 
 was declared forfeited, and the king resumed the authority into his 
 own hands. Thin transaotion, thv^ugh committed under the guise 
 of law, cannot be regarded otherwise than as a piece of royal usurpa- 
 tion, dictated by jealousy at the republican tendencies of the majority 
 of the company. The foreign government of Virginia was now 
 I)laced in the hands of a committee of partisans of the court, which 
 was invested with the soma powers as the late Virginia Company. 
 This change, however, brought no immediate disadvantage to the 
 colonists, whose liberties were, though not expressly, suffered to 
 remain on the same footing as before. Sir Francis Vv^yatt was con- 
 firmed in the office of governor. 
 
 Having thus described the tardy and unprosperous settlemor^t of 
 Virginia, and the final dissolution of the company to whose esiorts 
 .3 existence as a colony was due, we leave, for the present, the 
 ensuing particulars of its early history, to relate that jf the common- 
 wealth next founded on these shores — a commonwealth whose hon- 
 our, to all time, will be, that it was founded on principle rather 
 than on profit, and from its very inception, preferred liberty, though 
 with exile and suffering, to unjust restraint, though sweetened with 
 the comforts of country and of home. 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OE NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 .1,; ■,..., : ■■• 
 
 ■ 1 ■■.'!:i\ ■ I '111 
 
 UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS OP THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY TO 
 SETTLE NEW ENGLAND. — PERSECUTION OF THE NON-CON- 
 FORMISTS. — RETREAT OP ROBINSON'S CONGREGATION TO 
 HOLLAND: THEIR HIGH CHARACTER: TEEIR RESOLU- 
 TION TO PLANT A COLONY: THEIR LOYALTY AND 
 COURAGE: DEPARTURE PROM DELPT HATBN. 
 I •■ ' ■ , 'fA-. ■ ■ ' ' ' ■ ' ' ' ■ ' . 
 
 The patent issued by James I. for the formation of two com- 
 panies to settle North America has been mentioned, and the planta- 
 tion of a colony in Virginia by the first of them described. The 
 other, of weaker resources and less enterprise, experienced in their 
 attempts to settle New England only a succession of miserable fail* 
 ures. Their first vessel, in 1606, was captured by the Spaniards. 
 In the following year, two others, bearing forty-five emigrants, were 
 again dispatched thither, and, in August, came to the mouth of the 
 Kennebec. A small village, slightly fortified, was built, and, in the 
 beginning of winter, the ships returned. The season proved exceed- 
 ingly severe; part of their provisions were lost by a fire; their 
 governor, George Popham, died; and when, the next year, the 
 vessels returned with supplies, the colonists had become so discour- 
 aged as to resolve on forsaking the plantation. Thus, the first 
 attempt at a settlement in New England was nipped in the bud. 
 
 The discouragement caused by this ill-success was in some 
 measure allayed by the enterprise and exertions of Smith, who, in 
 1614, surveyed and mapped out a great portion of the coast of 
 Northern Virginia, on which he first bestowed the title of New 
 England. The crinje of his partner, Hunt, in kidnapping a number 
 of the Indians, and selling them as nlaves in Spain, has been men- 
 tioned, as well as the strenuous but unavailing exertions of Smith, 
 for years afterwards, to effect the colonization of these neglected 
 
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 -'t 
 
 • ■%■ 
 
 .i:i||||;r*f 
 
t4 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UI8T0BY. 
 
 regions. Great Hchemes, indeed, were formed, and lavish promises 
 were made by the Plymouth Company; and the honourable title of 
 "Admiral of New England," bestowed, in perpetuity, on Smith 
 seemed to indicate a confidence in great ultimat success. All, how- 
 over, vanished in mere words, though the company, in 1820, pro- 
 cured from the king a renewal of their patent, with such almost 
 unlimited powers of government and extent of territory as had never 
 before been conferred by the crown on any subject or association. 
 The settlement of New England was due to a spirit more earnest 
 and an aim more honourable than even those by which its warmest 
 promoters had hitherto beon actuated. 
 
 The persecution of non-conformists, commenced in the reign of 
 p]lizabeth, was carried, under that of James I., to such an unen- 
 durable extreme, that a voluntary exile from England seemed at 
 liust the only resource of the aggrieved party. Even this forlorn 
 alternative, under the despotic rule of the House of Stewart, wius 
 denied them; and great sufferinc; and long separation were endured 
 by those who sought to fly the country. In 1608, the congregation 
 of the Rev. John Robinson, an eminent preacher of the Independent 
 Church, after several unsuccessful attempts, attended with ill-usago 
 and separation, contrived to get clear of England. They settled ai 
 Leyden, under the more humane and liberal government of Ilolland 
 and during a protracted residence at that city, by their good conduct, 
 gained universal respect. "These English," said the magistratCvS, 
 "have lived amongst us ten years, and yet we never had any suit 
 or accusation against any of them." 
 
 Their church, which, at the end of that time, numbered three 
 hundred communicants, was of a strictly independent government; 
 and, to their honour, a provision of their creed declared a doctrine 
 rare, and, indeed, almost unheard of at the day — that ecclesiastical 
 censure should involve no tetuporal penally. Their cause and their 
 doctrines, defended by the learning and eloquence of their pastor, 
 were viewed with general respect and symj^athy. 
 
 Wedded to industry, no 'ess by necessitv than principle, they had 
 learned mechanicjil arts, aai l.unestly, though hardly, suuported 
 their families. They never, i deed, became in any way assioiilateU 
 with the Dutch in language or in manners, and ever cherished an 
 affectionate feeling for the land from which they had been so rudely 
 driven. The dissoluteness of manners prvvaleiit among certain 
 claases of the community in which they were settled, tilled them with 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 85 
 
 ftpprehension for the morals of their children; and it was at last cot)- 
 sidered advisable by them to seek a permanent asylum and a national 
 home, even if it could only be found in some yet untrodden wilder- 
 ness. It was proposed by the more enter*^ -Jing, that they should 
 seek "some of those unpeopled countries of America, which are 
 fruitfull and fit for habitation > ing devoid of all civill inhabitants, 
 where there rse only salvage a. id brutish people, which range up 
 and down little otherwise than the wild beasts." 
 
 To this scheme the more timid of the company opposed many 
 objections, and especially the cruelty of the savages, and their hor- 
 rible treatment of their prisoners. " It was answered." says Bradford,* 
 "that all great and honorable actions were accompanied with great 
 difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answer- 
 able courages. It was granted the dangers were great, but not 
 desperate, and the difficulties were many, but not invincible. It 
 might be that some of the things feared might never befall them; 
 o'chers, by providence, care, and the use of good means, might in a 
 great measure be prevented; and all of them, through the help of 
 God, by patience and fortitude, might either be borne or overconio." 
 This noble reply appears to have silenced the objectors; for, after 
 several days passed in prayer and humiliation, it wjis resolved that 
 the little congregation of exiles should seek a final home, M'Uether 
 for life or death, in the American wilderness. 
 
 On learning their determination, the Dutch, who held their cour- 
 age and virtue in high esteem, were anxiously desirous that tho 
 proposed settlement should be made in the name of their own nation, 
 and made handsome offers to that end ; but the love of country pre- 
 vailed, and it was resolved that wherever the ( .npany might found 
 u state, it should be but one more province for '..« crown, to which, 
 in despite of its wanton oppression, they were still blindly, but 
 loyally attached. The most eligible spot, if permission could be 
 obtained to remove thither, seemed some uninhabited part of that 
 vast and indefinite tract, then known as Virginia. Through the 
 influence of Sandys, permission to settle was obtained from the Vir- 
 ginia Company, and through that of the tolerant Archbishop Usher, 
 a sort of tacit connivance at their scheme was wrung from the king. 
 On the most hard and exhorbitant terms, absorbing the labours and 
 profits of the projected colony for seven years, the requisite means 
 were obtained from a company of London mercl ints. A little ship, 
 
 • Second governor of Plymouth colony. 
 
86 
 
 THE PEOPLK'8 BOOK OF HISTORY, 
 
 culled the Speedwell, of sixty tons, had been purchased, and another, 
 the May-Flower, of one hundred and eighty, had been hired in Eng- 
 land. The first of th^. .v,is brought to Delft. Haven, a port a little 
 south of Leyden, whither, on tho 21st of July, 1622, a poi'on of 
 the copgrejrn'ion, who were to sail, accompanied by men .\' the 
 remainder, repaired. "So they left that pleasant and goodly city, 
 which had been their resting place near twelve years. But they 
 knew they were Piff/rims, arid looked not much on those things, 
 but lifted their eyes to heaven, their dearest country, and quieted 
 their spirits. » * # The next day, the wind being fair, they 
 went on board, and their friends with them; when, truly doleful 
 was the sight of that sad and mournful parting; to see what sighs, 
 and sobs, and prayers did sound amongst them ; what tears did gush 
 from every eye and pithy speeches pierced each other's heart; that 
 sundry of the Dutch strangers that stood on the quay as spectators, 
 could not refrain from tears." Their pastor, Robinson, who, with 
 a portion of his people, remained, " fallinf down on his knees, and 
 they all with him, with watery cheeks commended them, with most 
 fervent prayers, to the Lord and his blessing; and then, with mutual 
 embraces and many tears, they took their leaves of one another, 
 which proved to be their last leave to many of them."* 
 
 ■'.J iLiI> Jtit X X Jj JTl X X • 
 
 STORMY VOTAOB OP THE riLORIMS TO AMERICA. — THEI 
 ARRIVE AT CAPE COD: ARE COMPELLED TO DISEMBARK: 
 INSTITUTE A REPUBLIC. — THEIR SIMPLE CONSTITUTION. 
 — CARVER ELECTED OOVBRNOR, — ABSENCE OF PER- 
 SONAL AMBITION AMONG THE PURITAN SETTLERS. 
 
 The May-Flower and the Speedwell, carrying an hundred and 
 twenty pa.>*8enger8, on the 5th of August, 1620, sailed from South- 
 ampton in company. Com|)elled, by a leak in the latter, they put 
 back into Dartmouth, whence, on the 21st, they again took their 
 departure. After getting a hundred leagues to sea, they were again 
 obliged, through the timidity of her captain and some of the corn- 
 
 • Bradford'8 History of Plymouth Colony. 
 
THE 8KTTLBMENT OF NKW ENGLAND. 
 
 87 
 
 *" "^ la> e screw, 
 
 plaice agai n. 
 
 J h' fteroua 
 
 "ce . 10 lie at 
 
 !hey fell in 
 
 pftiiy, to return to Plymouth. Here they disembarked the fow wl > 
 were too fearful to see the adventure to a > end, and on the 6th ut 
 September, the remainder, one hundred and one in number, going 
 aboard the May-Flower, bade their final farewell to Ei.^land. Tiie 
 weather, for a time pleasant, at length, with the approach of winter, 
 became adverse, bringing "many contrary winds am' 'ier( ■ storma, 
 with which their ship was shrewdly shaken." "Mu; Ni y-Flower 
 began to leak, and one of her main beams bent an'\ ci cd. Despite 
 these discouragements, it was resolved t< hold on. One of the piis- 
 sengers, by good fortune, had taken amon^ ujp 
 "by means of which the said beam was I roue'lit i 
 And so," continues the pilgrim journalist, *^ 
 stormes, in which they could make no sail, 
 hull for many days together, after long beatiu^ 
 with the land called Cape Cod ; the which being Uiu^o and certainly 
 known to be it, they were not a little joyful." 
 
 Oil the 10th of November, after a weary passage of sixty-three 
 daya, the ship doubled the extremity of Cape Cod, and anchored in 
 a good harbour, on which Provincetown now stands. It had been 
 agreed that the pilgrims should be landed somewhere in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Hudson, but the captain of the May-Flower, bribed, 
 it is said, by the Dutch, who were jealous of intrusion on their ter- 
 ritories, pleading the low state of the provision as an excuse, insisted 
 on landing them immediately. Being compelled to comply, and 
 finding themselves without the limits of the Virginia Company's 
 jurisdiction, and thus destitute of a government, they at once set to 
 work to construct one; and, on the very day after their arrival, 
 (November 11th,) with a reservation of allegiance to the crown, pro- 
 ceeded to erect a democracy in its simplest and most explicit sense. 
 All the men of the company, forty-one in number, signed the fol- 
 lowing brief but comprehensive instrument: 
 
 "In the name of God, omen; we, whose nnniua are underwritten, the loyal subjects 
 of our dread sovereign, King Juuies, having undertiiken, for the glory of God nnd 
 udvuneement of tiie Christian faith, and iionor of our king and country, a voyage to 
 plant the iir»t colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly 
 and mutually, in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine our> 
 selves together, into n civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and 
 furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame 
 such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to 
 time, as shall be thought most convenient for the good of the colony. Unto which 
 wo promise all due obedience and submission." 
 
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88 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 Such was the plain and simple form of the first written constitu- 
 tion, emanating from the popular will, ever adopted in America. It 
 may be regarded as the basis of that vast superstructure of freedom 
 which has since been gradually reared in the Westeln Hemisphere. 
 
 Mr. John Carver, a gentleman of high integrity and amiable char- 
 acter, and one of the chief promoters of the enterprise, was forthwith 
 chosen governor — an office which, in the present juncture of affairs 
 could have offered little temptation to ambition. "In the early his- 
 tory of New England, it may be remarked, we do not find, as in 
 that of nearly all other European settlements, the name of any one 
 man greatly conspicuous above Lis companions, or exclusively iden- 
 tified with the foundation of the commonwealth. The names of 
 Cortes and Pizarro, of Champlain and Penn and Smith, are each 
 inseparably associated with the history of the countries whose desti- 
 nies, for good or evil, they had so large a share in shaping; while, 
 in the less ambitious annals of Puritan colonization, the memories 
 of Carver, Bradford, and Winslow— of Endicott and Winthrop — of 
 Standish, Mason, and Church, with those of many other associate wor- 
 thies, are fused and blended with the common history of the country. 
 ■ "The cause of this distinction is not difficult to define. Principle, 
 rather than personal ambition, whether of the more selfish or gener- 
 ous kind, was the main spring and prompting ^notive of the actors 
 who figured in those once neglected scenes of enterprise ; and all 
 thought of private advancement or renown was for the time merged 
 in a spirit of community, such as only the strong prompting of reli- 
 gious enthusiasm can maintain." 
 
 DREARY APPEARANCE OP NEW BNOLAND. — EXPLORING PARTY. 
 
 — STRANGE INJUSTICE TO THE INDIANS. — THE VOYAGE TO 
 
 PLYMOUTH HARBOUR. — SKIBMI8H WITH THE SAVAGES. 
 
 — SETTLEMENT OP PLYMOUTH OUNDED. — GREAT 8UP- 
 
 PERINO AND MORTALITY AMONG THB PILGRIMS. 
 
 Ukged by the impatience of the master of the May-Flower, the 
 little band of exiles busied themselves in finding a place foi immedi 
 ate disembarkation and settlement. Nothing could have been more 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 89 
 
 dreary or desolate thaa the appearance of the country they had 
 touched on — of a stern and sombre character in the pleasantest sea- 
 son, and now^ doubly severe in the gloom of an approaching winter. 
 "Which way soever," says one of them, "they turned their eyea 
 (save upward to the Heaven) they could have little solace or content 
 in respect of any outward objects. For summer being done, all 
 things stand for them to look upon with a weather-beaten face; and 
 the whole country being full of woods and thickets, represented a 
 wild and Salvage hue. If they looked behind them, there was the 
 mighty ocean which they had passed, gnd was now a main bar and 
 gulf to separate them from all the civil parts of the world. * * , * 
 May and ought not the children of these fathers rightly to say, 
 'Our fathers were Englishmen, which came over this great ocean and 
 were ready to perish in this wilderness. But they cried unto the 
 Lord, and he heard their voice and looked on their adversity.' And 
 let them therefore praise the Lord, because he is good, and his mer- 
 cies endure forever." ' ^ ' ;.i' ' " i'.'-i! •' >' : i 
 On the 15th, sixteen volunteers were permitted to go on shore, 
 under command of Captain Miles Standish, who had served in the 
 wars of Holland, and who was the only soldier by profession in the 
 whole company. This redoubtable warrior (the Mr. Greatheart of 
 the Progress of these Pilgrims) was a man little in stature, but re- 
 markably strong and active, and of the most fiery and resolute 
 courage. The company marched inland for ten miles, following a 
 party of Indians, whom they could not overtake. Weary and thirsty, 
 they came at last to a spring, where, says one, "we sat \ia down and 
 drank our first New England water, with as much delight as ever 
 we drank drink in all our lives." They found and examined an 
 Indian grave, carefully replacing the articles deposited there, *' think- 
 ing it would be odious unto them to ransack their sepuk.hres." From 
 a subterranean store-house, however, which they discovered, they 
 thought fit to carry off a supply of provisions, among which were 
 "six and thirty goodly ears of corn, some yellow and some red, and 
 others mixed with blue, which was a very goodly sight." Repara- 
 tion was afterwards made to the owners, and, it is said, that the 
 grain thus obtained, preserved for seed, eventually secured the 
 colony from famine. In other expeditions of survey, both store- 
 houses and wigwams were "ransacked," and the simple wealth of 
 the absent Indians unjustly appropriated — though, with the saving 
 clause of intended restitution. "iSo7ne of tfie best tilings wee toolcc,^^ 
 
 m 
 
90 
 
 THK PEOPLE'S BOOS OP HISTORY. 
 
 remarks the narrator, with that happy unccnscioiuness of impropri- 
 ety which, almost throughout our oolonial history, marks the record 
 of violence, of fraud, or of spoliation committed on the natives. 
 
 The adjoining regions having been partially explored, at a con- 
 sultation, it was thought bust by some, for the convenience of fishing 
 and other advantages, to settle on Cape Cod; but the pilot, Mr. 
 Coppin, suggesting that there was a good harbour on the western 
 side of the bay, it was resolved to examine it On the 6th of Decem- 
 ber, a bitter cold day, Carver, Winslow, Bradford, Standish, and 
 fourteen more, embarked in the shallop, and followed the coast south- 
 ward. The spray, falling on their clothes, froze instantly, "and 
 made them many times like coats of iron." On the morning of the 
 second day of their voyage, while at prayers on the shore, they were 
 assailed with arrows by a party of savages. Muskets were discharged 
 in return, but no serious result seems to have ensued on either side. 
 The Indians finally retreated, leaving, among other trophies, eighteen 
 arrows, " headed with brass, some with harts' horns, and others ^vith 
 eagles* claws." "The cry of our enemies," says one of the pilgrims, 
 "was dreadful. Their note was afler this manner, 'woach, woach, 
 ha ha hach uhkuA.* " This peculiar succession of sounds has descended 
 to our own day, as the war-whoop of certain native tribes. t > 
 
 All that day, the voyagers sailed swiftly, with a fair wind, along 
 the coast; but toward night, the weather grew heavier, and the 
 rudder breaking from its hinges, they had much ado to scud before 
 the wind, steering with oars. "The seas were grown so great that 
 we were much troubled and in great danger; » ^ night grew on. 
 Anon, Master Coppiu bade us be of good cheer, .w the harbour. 
 As we drew near, the gale being stiff, and we l)e&nng great sail to 
 get in, split our mast into three pieces, and were like to have cast 
 away our shallop. Yet, by God's mercy, recovering ourselves, we 
 had the flood with us, and stnick into the harbour." 
 
 This harbour, already surveyed and named by Captain John 
 Smith, was that of Plymouth. The location appeared so favourable 
 that it was resolved to plant the settlement there, and, accordingly, 
 the party of survey having returned to Cape Cod, on the 16th, the 
 ship, with all her conipany (except one who had died at sea, and 
 four who had died at the cape), came into the harbour. "On the 
 22d of December, 1620, a day for ever memorable in the annals of 
 America, the little band of Pilgrims landed on that rock, now, like 
 the Stone of Mecca, the object of enthusiastic pilgrimage to their 
 
THE 8£TTLI|^£NT OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 01 
 
 descendants." A site was selected for the town, and timber being 
 cut, nineteen houses, with, all possible dispatch, were erected: but, 
 so severe was the season, and so great the unavoidable exposure, 
 (especially in wading on the shallows, to and from their barge,) that, 
 before the end of February, twenty-five more of them had perished 
 of disease and privation. i.i ^.Dmjti.u.s ,w«r,iu:u«i •<<) wi /uviuuii 
 
 ' ,(,<,n fiU tli'rA' , .t'"f^».' 't'-iifi ■ •ilh.'-.lU.r, fi-VB ,5»r'ifvjo 'ij'-;.-; ^.yuii'ri ;: •••..7, 
 
 .!,] I.. 
 
 ■:n,?jn; 
 
 - .; ij U, H i I Si Si i Y • , , , r. -V 
 
 ' ! /■ ■ r ' " <■ ' ~ , - . ■ 
 
 THB INDIAXS OF NEW BNOLAND: THINNED fiT PESTILENCE 
 — THE PEQU0T8, NARBA0AN8ETT8. AND OTHER TRIBES. 
 — 'EXTRAORDINART OPINIONS OP THE ENGLISH CON* ;„,,;' 
 CERNINO THEK. — BIGOTED ACCOUNTS OP THB >,u^( 
 
 
 ANqiBNT HI8T0EUNS> ETC. 
 
 It 
 
 Bt a desolating pestilence, which, not long before their arrival, 
 bad swept New England, the country around Plymouth had been, in 
 great measure, denuded of its original inhabitants. Many powerful 
 tribes had been almost annihilated, and others reduced to a fraction 
 of their original numbers. The most considerable nations yet sur- 
 viving, were those of ^.he Pequots and Narragansetts, often at war 
 with each other, and with other neighbouring tribes. The foimer, 
 whose chief stronghold was on a commanding eminence in Groton, 
 in the east of Connecticut, numbered, says Roger Williams, thirty 
 thousand souls. This, undoubtedly, is an excessive exaggeration. 
 The latter, a noble and magnanimous people, dwelt in the 8tate*of 
 Bhode Island, where, it is said, they numbered five thousand war- 
 riors. The Pokanokets, a confederacy of smaller tribes, including 
 the Wampanoag&, Pocassets, Sogkonates, and many others, dwelt 
 in Eastern Massachusetts, and on the upper waters of Narragansett 
 Bay. Before the ravages of the pestilence, they are said to have 
 comprised three thousand warriors; but afterwards only five hun- 
 dred. The Massachusetts, dwelling around the Bay of that name, 
 had formerly been a great people, but, from the same cause, were 
 reduced to a mere remnant These tribes mostly acknowledged the 
 supremacy of Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, whose chief seat 
 was at Mount Hope, near the present town of Bristol. The Paw- 
 
92 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OllHISTOBT. 
 
 tuckets, who, we are told, had also numbered three thousand war- 
 riors, had been almost completely exterminated. Many small clans 
 mostly dwelling in the westward of Connecticut and Massachusetts 
 are not included in this estimate. 
 
 All these tribes, except the Pequots and Narragansetts, were 
 tributary to the Mohawks, inhabiting the east of New York, one of 
 the fiercest and most powerful of the celebrated Five Nations. " Two 
 old Mohawks," says Dr. Trumbull, "every year or two might be 
 seen issuing their orders, and collecting their tribute, with as much 
 authority and haughtiness as a Roman dictator." Any disobedience 
 of their commands was speedily punished by an avenging war-party, 
 which cut off the offenders without mercy. The Mohawks, it ia 
 said, would sometimes pursue their victims into the houses of the 
 English, yelling, "We are comel we are come to suck your blood," 
 and slaying them on the very hearth-stone. This powerful league, 
 however, long at mortal feud with the French of Canada, regarded 
 the English, as rivals of the latter, with complacency, and never 
 offered any molestation to their persons or property. 
 
 "It was now just a century since the Conquest of Mexico, by 
 Cortes, had first brought the races of Europe into direct collision 
 with those of the Western Continent In that interval, the Reform- 
 ation had arisen, had spread, and had produced perhaps its finest 
 fruit in the little band of self devoted exiles* who sought in the wil- 
 derness a foothold for civil and religious freedom. As a matter of 
 course, the world was more enlightened, yet, strange to say, hardly 
 a step had yet been taken in the direction of the fairest and no- 
 blest result to which enlightenment can tend — the acknowledgment 
 of the universal humanity and brotherhood of all mankind. Our 
 pious forefathers, like the Spaniards of the century before, still 
 
 * Some idea of the noble spirit of tolerance which distinguished the first exiled 
 Puritans may be gathered from the farewell address of their pastor, breathing nentU 
 ments infinitely in advance of hia age, and even, in some degree, of our own. " I 
 charge you," he says, "before God and his bletised angels, that you follow mo no 
 further than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ The Lord lias more 
 truth yet to break out of his Holy Word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition 
 of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present 
 no further than the instruments of their reformation. — Luther and Calvin were 
 great and shining lights in their time, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel 
 of God. — I beseech you, remember it — ^His an article of your church covenant— that 
 you be ready to receive whatever truth is made known to yon from the written word 
 of God." Ml 
 
THE BETTLEHKNT OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 98 
 
 regarded tbe dwellers of the New World as the direct offspring or 
 certainly the direct worshippers of Satan, and as enjoying all the 
 familiarity to which his most favoured protegia could be entitled. 
 Nothing is more strange than to read the opinions and conclusions 
 on this subject of the men of that age — men otherwise just, saga- 
 cious, and, for their day, liberal in the extreme." 
 
 According to one of the early historians of New England, the 
 aborigines, on learning of the arrival of the pilgrims, took extraor- 
 dinary pains to exorcise the advent of Christianity. "They got," he 
 says, " all the powaws of the country, who, for three days together, 
 in a horid and devilish manner, did curse and execrate them with 
 their conjurations, which assembly and service they held in a dark 
 and dismal swamp. Behold how Satan labored to hinder the gospel 
 from coming into New England." 
 
 In his "Good News from New England," Governor Winslow, with 
 a sort of ludicrous reiteration, dwells on the same point. " Another 
 power they worship," he informs us, "whom they call Hobbamock, 
 and to the northward of us Hobbamoqui ; this, as far as we can con- 
 ceive, is the devil. * * This Hobbamock appears in sundry 
 forms unto them, as in the shape of a man, a deer, a fawn, an eagle, 
 &c., but most ordinarily a snake. He appears not to all, but the 
 chiefest and most judicious among them; though all of them strive 
 to attain to that hellish height of honor. * * The paniesses 
 are men of great courage and wisdom, and to these the devil appear- 
 eth more familiarly than to others, and, as we conceive, maketh cov- 
 enant with them to preserve them from death by wounds with arrows, 
 knives, hatchets, &c. * * And to the end that they may 
 have store of these, they train up the most forward and likeliest boys, 
 from their childhood, in great hardness, and make them abstain from 
 dainty meat, observing divers orders prescribed, to the end that, 
 when they are of age, the devil may appear to them. * * Also 
 they beat their shins with sticks, and cause them to run through 
 bushes, stumps, and brambles, to make them hardy and acceptable 
 to the devil, that in time he may appear to them." 
 
 Hear the reverend William Hubbard, the painful historian of New 
 England, only a few years before the commencement of the eighteenth 
 century. He concludes a dissertation on the origin of the Indians in 
 the following lucid and summary manner: "Mr. Mede's opinion 
 about the passage of the natives into this remote region, carrj'es the 
 greatest probability of truth with it; of whose conjecture it may be 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 kijiii 
 
 4 
 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
94 
 
 THE PKOPLE'B BOOK OF UI8T0BY. i 
 
 said, in a sense, as sometimes of Achithopell's counsell in those dayes 
 that itt was as the oracle of Qod. His oonceitt is, that when tho 
 devill was putt out of his throne in the other parts of the world, and 
 that the mouth of all his oracles was stopt in Europe, Asia, and Afri- 
 ca, hee seduced a company of silly wretches to follow his conduct" 
 (guidance) "into this unknowne part of the world, where hee might 
 lye hid, and not be disturbed in the idolatrous and abominable, or 
 rather diabolicall service hee expected from those his followers; for 
 here are no footsteps of any religion before the English came, but 
 meerely diabolicall * * and so uncouth, as if it were framed and 
 devised by the devill himselfe, and 'tis transacted by them they used 
 to call pawwowes, by some kind of familiarity with Satan, to whom 
 they used to resort for counsell ip all kinde of evills, both corporall 
 and civill." 
 
 "To opinions such as these, the result of ignorance and prejudice, 
 must doubtless be attributed a large measure of that cruel and un- 
 charitable spirit, which dictated not only the wrongs and massacres 
 committed on the natives, but the still more unpleasing exultation 
 over their sufferings and extermination, which glows with an infer- 
 nal light in the pages of the chronicles of the day, and especially in 
 those of the reverend historians, Hubbard and Mather. 
 
 "Continually on the alert against the assaults of the infernal 
 enemy, our fathers saw his finger in witchcraft, in Indian warfare, 
 and in many another annoyance, the result of natural causes. Anger 
 and hatred were thus aroused — hatred, indeed, of an imaginary foe, 
 but still hatred, bitter, personal, and vindictive to a degree which 
 we can hardly conceive, and which found its gratification in ven- 
 geance on the supposed agents of the invisible Tormentor. 
 
 "It could hardly, perhaps, be expected that men engaged in the 
 deadly terrors of savage warfare should have much sympathy for 
 their vanquished enemies — especially when regarded as children of 
 the devil; yet the daring ferocity of the Indian-fighters, occasionally 
 relieved by a touch of good feeling and humanity, is far more agree- 
 able to contemplate than the venomous spirit exhibited by the hon- 
 ourable and reverend recorders of their deeds, whose minds, imbued 
 with the wretched notion of Satanic agency, seem actually to revel 
 in tho torment, destruction, and assured damnation of their unfortu- 
 nate foes. In this particular, we perceive a superstition strangely 
 variant from that of the Spaniard, who, while slaying and tormenting 
 tho miserable bodies of the aborigines, was ever anxious, even at the 
 
if 
 
 THB SETTLEMENT OP NSW EMOLAND. 
 
 96 
 
 Buke or the gallows, that their souls might escape the eternal penalty, 
 and be admitted to the same heaven which he expected to enjoy in 
 penwn,"* 
 
 ,.,i-t.;q/f]fv{v.rf J n n A D T P 15 IT -'ff" ^'"^ ''J"''"f "^ ''' 
 
 t^t^V'NA^I^I^I^N^S^I^ 
 
 
 t , li.f,,.: r... I . .( .J . -,. "... 
 
 SilOSlT: "WBLOOKB, BNOLISHXlN." — TBI TISIT 01 1IA89A 
 
 SOIT. — TBBATT AKD ALLIANOB. — HOKTAIITT AMONG THB 
 
 COLONISTS. — DBATH 01 eOVBRNOR CARTBB.-^DVBl. AND 
 
 ITS fUNIBHMBNT. — TI8IT TO XA88A80IT: TO ITAH- 
 
 OUOH. — AlfBCTING INOIDBNT. 
 
 %'i .fisif imd >ri'! i,i 
 
 ■iCf <• 
 
 uf 
 
 
 The first Indian with whom the settlers of Plymouth had any 
 communication, was one Samoset, a sagamore or petty chief, who 
 had learned a little English from the traders of Manhegin, and who, 
 on the 16th of March, 1621, entered the little settlement, and saluted 
 the pilgrims with the ever>memorable words, " Welcome, Englishmen." 
 A friendly intercourse, by his means, was immediately established 
 with the neighbouring Indians, who heretofore had held cautiously 
 aloof One whom he brought on a subsequent visit, was Squanto, 
 the only surviving native of Patuxet, the country around Plymouth. 
 He was one of the twenty-four whom "that wicked varlet Hunt" 
 had kidnapped, and, having been at London, and learned English, 
 he proved of great value as an interpreter. He brought information 
 that Massasoit, the greatest sachem of the adjoining regions, with 
 many of his subjects, was close at hand. That chief, 'inded by 
 sixty men, presently appeared on the hill above Plymo ith, and 
 Edward Winslow, with the interpreters, was sent to meet him. 
 "We sent to the king," says tho old historian, "a pair of knives, 
 with a copper chain and a jewel at it. To Quadequina " (his brother) 
 " we sent likewise a knife, and a jewel to hang in his ear, and withal 
 a pot of strong waters." In compliance with a friendly invitation, 
 Massasoit, leaving Winslow as a hostage, descended the hill, and, 
 with twenty attendants, came to one of the houses, where prepara- 
 tion had been made to receive him. 
 
 •■'r\ 
 
 (,^'.:■ 
 
 * Diacoveren, Slo., of America. 
 
 Vol, IV.— 85 
 
9a 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HlflTOBY. 
 
 Governor Carver, with the sound of drum and trumpet, presently 
 entered, and the two dignitaries were soon in convivial and political 
 harmony. "After salutations, our governor kissing his hand, the 
 king kissed him, and so they sat down. The governor called for 
 some strong waters, and drank to him, and he drank a great draught," 
 &c., &c. An interview thus propitiously commenced, soon ripened 
 into treaty and alliance — alliance faithfully observed by both parties 
 for more than fifty years; and the sachem (influenced, it is to be 
 feared, a trifle overmuch by the vigorous draught he had imbibed) 
 "acknowledged himself content to become the subject of our sover- 
 eign lord, the king aforesaid, his heirs and suoceasors; and gave unto 
 them all the lands adjacent to them and to their heirs forever. * * 
 All which the king seemed to like well, and it was applauded of his 
 followers. All the while he sat by the governor, he trembled with 
 fear. In his person he is a very lusty man, in his best" years, of an 
 able body, grave of countenance and spare of speech ; in his attire, 
 little or nothing diflering from the rest of his followers, only in & 
 gr3at chain of white bone beads about his neck; and at it, behind 
 bis neck, hangs fk little bag of tobacco, which he drank and gave us 
 to drink," (t. e. smoke.) 
 
 Under the instruction of Squanto and Samoset, the English, with 
 the coming on of spring, applied themselves to fishing and to the 
 agriculture suitable to the country. Twenty acres of Indian corn 
 were planted. Thirteen more of the colonists died during March 
 reducing them to half of their original number, and the May*FIower 
 half of whose crew was also dead, on the fifth of April, sailed for 
 England. On the following day, died good Governor Carver, who, 
 while toiling in the unwonted heat of an American sun, had received 
 a mortal coup de aoleil. " His care and pains were so great for the 
 common good, as therewith, it is thought, he oppressed himself and 
 shortened his days." Such is the brief but honourable epitaph of 
 the first New England executive. William Bradford^ a young man, 
 but ardent and energetic, was elected to succeed him. Under hia 
 rule the first punishment was inflicted in the colony. Two servants 
 of Mr. Hopkins, for fig' ting a duel, with sword and dagger, were 
 adjudged, by general vote, to be tied, neck and heels together, and 
 so to remain twenty-four hours; but the judges, moved by the ex- 
 cruciating tortures of the culprits (both of whom had been wounded 
 in their duello) released them within an hour, on promise of better 
 carriage for the future. 
 
THE 8ETTLSMENT OV MEW ENGLAND. 
 
 07 
 
 Winalow and Hopkins, aetting forth, in July, on a visit to Massa- 
 Boit, passed through many fields well cleared and ready for cultiva- 
 tion, but depopulated by the' pestilence, numerous skeletons still 
 bleaching on the ground. Massasoit, though friendly and hospitable, 
 was ill-prepared for the reception of company, the royal larder, it 
 seems, just then, being wofully unsupplied. Two fish, which the 
 poor king caught with his own hands, were all the reiVeshment he 
 could offer them. Agreements for traffic were made, and the chief, 
 turning to his assembled subjects, made a long oration, " the meaning 
 whereof," says Winslow, " was, as far as we could learn, thus, • Was 
 not he, Massasoyt, commander of the country round about them? 
 Was not such a town his and the people of it? and should they not 
 bring their skins unto us?' To which they answered, they were his, 
 and would be at peace with us, and bring their skins to us. After 
 this manner he named at least thirty places, and their answer was as 
 aforesaid to every one; so that, as it was delightful, it was tedious 
 unto us. This being ended, he lighted tobacco for us, and fell to 
 discoursing of England and of the King's Majesty, marvelling that 
 he would live without a wife." After a friendly sojourn of some 
 days, the envoys returned, leaving the chief "both grieved and 
 ashamed that he could no better entertain them." 
 
 A party of the English, searching for a lost child, (who was found, 
 and well cared for by the Indians,) put into Cummaquid, (Barn- 
 stable,) the seat of the sachem lyanough, "a man not exceeding 
 twenty-six years of age, but very personable, gentle, courteous, and 
 fair conditioned; indeed, not like a savage, saving for his attire. 
 His entertainment was answerable to his parts, and his cheer plenti- 
 ful and various. One thing," proceeds the narrator, "was very 
 grievous to us at this place. There was an old woman, whom we 
 judged to be no less than a hundred years old, which came to see 
 us, because she never saw English; yet could not behold us without 
 breaking out into great pulsion," (emotion,) " weeping and crying 
 excessively. We demanding the reason of it, they told us she had 
 three sons, who, when Master Hunt was in these parts, went aboard 
 his ship to trade with him, and he carried them captives into Spain, 
 (for Tisquantum, " (Squanto) " was at that time carried away also,) 
 by which means she was deprived of the comfort of her children in 
 her old age. We told them we were sorry that any Englishman 
 should give them that offence, that Hunt was a bad man, and that 
 all the English that heard it condemned him for the same; but for 
 
 *l! 
 
 IS, 
 
 HI 
 
98 
 
 TUK PBOl'LK'S BOOK Or HISTORY. >.■ ,. 
 
 ua, we would not offer (hem any such ii^jury, though it would gain 
 u« all the ikint in the country. So we gave her lome unall trifles, 
 which somewhat appeased her." 
 
 !^''iJt.i U> (,*»'l i*(** ,^ ' 
 
 •>'li/ !»ilj 
 
 CHADTrU ITT 
 
 li'i^'l 
 
 . f r.' . 
 
 ABBITAL OF THI FORTVXI. — CHALlllfOI FROM CANONICITS: 
 HIS 8DP1R8TITI0U8 DRBAO. — PITMOUTH FORTIFIID — 
 
 WESTON'S COLONY AT WBTMOUTH; ITS MI8BRABLB OON- 
 ' DITION. — MASSASOIT ILL: CDRBD BY THB BNULI8H. 
 ' ' — DAN0BR0D8 PLOT RBTBALBD. '\ ' • 
 
 JJaiy* MU </^ (Ml i.i.aj*/ ? .;„ 
 
 A SMALL vessel, called the Fortune, in November, 1621, arrived 
 at Plymouth, bringing thirty-five additional emigronts — not enough, 
 indeed, to rSploce those who had already perished of privation and 
 exposure — and bringing neither arms nor provision to the weak and 
 hungry colonists. That the settlement, in its infancy, was not 
 speedily cut off", was due only to the friendliness of Mossosoit and 
 other chiefe, and to the courageous attitude of the few Englishmen 
 who remained alive. By the energy and promptitude of Standiah, a 
 germ of native hostility wos suppressed, and many petty chieftains 
 even subscribed their marks to an acknowledgment of allegiance to 
 the king of England. One Hobbamook, a noted paniese or warrior 
 of Maasasoit, came to live with the English, and during the rest of 
 his life, was faithful to their service. j „..o .>(,i.;:«/ L.:, .i 
 
 Canonicus, the great sachem of the Norragansetts, who, at one 
 time, had sent a friendly message to the colonists, for some unknown 
 reason — perhaps the arrival of the additional emigrants — changing 
 his policy, assumed an attitude of open hostility. He sent a mes- 
 senger to Pljmouth, who, without any explanation, presented "a 
 bundle of new arrows, lapped in a rattlesnake's skin." The English, 
 amazed at this odd present, were informed by Squanto, "that it im- 
 ported enmity, and was no better than a challenge." On bearing 
 this, the governor, with much spirit, drawing forth the arrows, stuffed 
 the skin, in turn, with powder and shot, and sent it back, adding 
 a bold message of defiance. The hostile chief, his superstition 
 awakened by the mysterious contents of the skin, declined taking 
 
THK BITTLEMKNT OF NBW ENGLAND. 
 
 99 
 
 up the gauntlet he had so hastily thrown doMm— "insomuch as ho 
 would not onbe touch the powder and shot, nor suifer it to stay in 
 hid house or country. "Whereupon, the measongiDr refusing It, an- 
 other took it up; and having been posted fVom place to place a long 
 time, at length it came whole back again." Vigilance being thus 
 awakened among the colonists, they fortifled the town, and under 
 the direction of Standi'sh, observed strict rules of discipline. Squanto 
 also thought proper to do his part, by informing his countrymen 
 that the English had the plague buried in their store-house, and 
 could lot it loose on the whole country, if they had a mind. '"" 
 
 In the summer of 1622, two vessels were dispatched from Eng- 
 land by a Mr. Weston, which landed at Wessagusset (Weymouth) 
 some fifty or sixty idle and profligate emigrants. By their shiflless- 
 ness, and the encroachments of the neighbouring savages, (who soon 
 saw of what stuff the/ were made,) they were reduced ere long to a 
 woefVil condition. lu March of the same spring, a messenger was 
 dispatohed to Plymouth ^'xia "a pitiAil narration of their lamentable 
 and weak estate, and of the Indians' carriages,** (demeanour,) "whose 
 boldness increased abundantly, insomuch that the victuals they ge ', 
 they would take out of their pots, and eat before their faces; yea, if 
 in anything they gainsaid them, they were ready to hold a knife ut 
 their breasts; that, to give them content, they had hanged one of them, 
 that stole the Indiana com, and yet they regarded it not; that one of 
 their company was turned salvage; that their people had mostly 
 forsaken the town, and made their rendezvous where they got their 
 victual, because they would not take the pains to bring it home; 
 that they had sold their clothes for corn, and were ready to starve 
 both with cold and hunger also, because they cuuld not endure to 
 get victuals by reason of their nakedness.** 
 
 These disagreeable tidings of Indian hostility were presently 
 alarmingly confirmed. News arriving that Massasoit was mortally 
 ill, Winslow, with Hobbamock and another companion, was dis- 
 patched to his assistance, with such simple remedies as the poverty 
 of the colony could afford. The goodness of the chief and the at- 
 tachment of his followers was evidenced by the grief of Hobbamock, 
 who, on the way, "manifesting a troubled spirit, brake forth into 
 these speeches: Neen womasu sagamusi Keen toomasu sagamusl 
 /^ — < My loving sachem, my loving sachem! Many have I known, 
 but never any like thee.' And turning him to me'* (Winslow) 
 "said, whilst I lived I should never see his like among the Indians; 
 
- V?"7T^™^ '^ 
 
 100 
 
 THE PKUPLK'S BOOK OF UISTOBY. 
 
 saying he was no liar, he was not bloody and cruel, like other In* 
 diansj in anger and passion he was soon reclaimed; easy to be 
 reconciled toward such as had offended him; ruled by reason in 
 such measure that he would not scorn the advice of mean " (humble) 
 " men ; and that he governed his men better with few strokes than 
 others did with many; truly loving where he loved; yea, he feured 
 we had not a faithful friend left among the Indians; showing how 
 he oil times restrained their malice, &o., continuing a long speech 
 with such signs of lamentation and unfeigned sorrow, as it would 
 have made the hardest heart relent" 
 
 Arriving at Pokanoket, the visitors, with difficulty, forced their 
 way into the king's house, which was so crowded with Indians, that, 
 although the latter did their best to make a passage, it was no easy 
 matter. This assembly was performing incantations for his relief, 
 "making such a hellish noise," says Winslow, "as it distempered us 
 that were well, and therefore unlike to ease hira that was sick." 
 His sight was quite gone, but on hearing who had come, he put forth 
 his hand, and took that of the Englishman. "Then he said twice, 
 though very inwardly," (faintly,) "Keen Winsnoxvf which is to say, 
 'Art thou Winslow'? I answered Ahhe, that is yes. Then he 
 doubled these words, Jfatta neen uxmckanet namen, Winsnowl that 
 is to say, 'Oh, Winslow, I shall never see thee again.'" Despite 
 the unfavourable circumstances, his guest contrived to get down his 
 throat a "confection of many comfortable conserves," which wrought 
 so effectually that the patient soon began to mend apace. The other 
 sick in his village was also physicked and tended by the good Wins- 
 low ; and Massasoit, finding himself recovering, " broke forth into the 
 following speeches, 'Now I see the English are my friends and love 
 nie; and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they have 
 showed me.'" In gratitude, he revealed a formidable plot among 
 the Massachusetts and other tribes, which he had lately been solicited 
 to join, for the destruction of the two settlements of Plymouth and 
 Weasagusset. a^iwjj^j liJm . . fes^^H 
 
 Followed by the blessings of the whole village, the Englishmen 
 returned, lodging on their way, at Mattapoiset, with the sachem 
 Caunbitant, whose attitude had been dubious, and whom they wished 
 to conciliate. "By the way," says our old traveller, "I had much 
 conference with him, so likewise at his house, he oeing a nottblo 
 politician, yet full of merry jests and squibs, and never better pleased 
 than when the like are returned again upon him." The people of 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF NSW SNQLAND. 
 
 101 
 
 this town Winslow endeavoured to impress with the truths of reli- 
 gion, and especially of the ten commandments; "all which they 
 hearkened unto with great attention; and liked well of; only che 
 seventh commandment they excepted against, thinking there were 
 many inconveniences in it" 
 
 :»., 
 
 -•><«« 
 
 yv ^^x(j 
 
 xxiirXiuii vxx« 
 
 ".di 
 
 BXPBDITION OF 8TANDISH TO WSTMOUTH. — DARIKO POLICY. 
 — SLAUOHTBU OP THB CONSPIRING INDIANS. — THB COL- 
 ONY OP WB8T0N BROIBN UP. — PRIVATIONS AND 8UF- 
 PERINOS AT PLYMOUTH: DROUGHT: 8BA80NABLB 
 SUPPLY OP RAIN. — ADDITIONAL ARRIVAL. 
 
 The information given by Massasoit being confirmed by farther 
 evidence, it was resolved, with extraordinary boldness, to take the 
 offensive, and strike a deadly blow at the heads of the conspiracy. 
 Captain Standisb, with only eight companions, set forth for Wessa- 
 gusset, to protect the people there, and especially to get the head of 
 one of the chief conspirators — "Wittawamut, a notable insulting 
 villain, who had formerly imbued his hands in the blood of French 
 and English, and had oft boasted of his own valor and derided their 
 weakness, especially because, as he said, they died crying, making sour 
 faces, more like children than men." The captain, on arriving there, 
 warned the settlers of their danger, and collected them within the 
 town. An Indian spy, who presently entered, under pretence of 
 trading in furs, reported to his people that, though he spoke 
 smoothly, "he saw by his eyes that he was angry in his heart." 
 Seeing their plot discovered, the conspiring chiefs made no attempt 
 to conceal their enmity. "One Pecksuot, who was a paniese, being a 
 man of notable spirit," told Hobbamock, who had come with the 
 party, that they had heard that Standish was come to kill them — 
 "tell him," he said, "we know it, but fear him not, neither will w6 
 shun him; but let him begin when he dare, he shall not take us at 
 unawares." ..„,.... .^?t^ .,vf» i^-A^H^m^/i,-:' -vli'-v i -i^- .. • ■■' ^ 
 One or two at a time, the savages would present themselves, whet- 
 ting their knives before the captain's face, and making other men- 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 ! 
 
 V 
 
102 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 acing gestures. "Amongst the rest, Wittawamut bragged of the 
 excellency of his knife. On the end of the handle waa pictured a 
 woman's face, 'but,' said he, 'I have another at home that hath killed 
 both French and English, and that hath a man's face on it; and by 
 and by these two must marry.' Further he said of that knife he 
 there had, Hannaim namen, hannaim michen, matta cuts, that is to 
 say, 'By and by it should see, and by and by it should eat, but not 
 speak' * * These things the captain observed, yet bare with 
 patience for the present. 
 
 "On the next day, seeing he could not get many together at once, 
 and this Pecksuot and Wittawamut being both together, with an- 
 other man, and a youth of some eighteen years of age (which was 
 brother to Wittawamut, and, villain-like, trod in his steps) and hav- 
 ing about as many of his own company in a room with them, gave 
 the word to his men, and the door having been fast shut, began, 
 himself with Pecksuot, and snatching his own knife from his neck 
 though with much struggling, killed him therewith, (the point 
 whereof he had made as sharp as a needle and ground the back also 
 to an edge.) Wittawamut and the other man the rest killed, and 
 took the youth, whom the captain caused to be hanged. But it is 
 incredible how many wounds these two pinesea" (panieses) "received 
 before they died, not making any fearful noise, but catching at their 
 weapons and striving to the last." Three more were killed by the 
 same party, and in a fight in the woods (in which Hobbamock took 
 an active part) the Indians were defeated and put to flight 
 
 The news of these successes was received with much joy at Ply- 
 mouth, and the head of Wittawamut, a grisly token of vengeance, 
 was affixed to the fort at that place. The worthy Robinson, indeed, 
 received the account of this sanguinary (though perhaps necessary) 
 affair, with great grief and mortification. "Would," he writes la- 
 mentingly to his exiled people, "that you had converted some of 
 them before you killed any." 
 
 Weston's colony, which had proved so miserably unfitted for the 
 country, was now completely broken up; a part of the settlers pro- 
 ce^^Jing to Manhegin, and the rest accompanying Standish to Ply- 
 mouth. They might probably have remained in security where they 
 were; for such an impression did this fierce and energetic conduct 
 make on tho hostile savages, that, for fifty years they made no 
 further attempts against the English. 
 
 The summer of 1623 brought grievous famine and distress, the 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 108 
 
 colonists being ao* ^elled to search the woods for nuts and the sea 
 sands for clamt^, heir only sustenance. Once, it is said, a pint of 
 corn being the oiuire stock of provisions in the town, it was divided, 
 giving five kernels to each^^an incident since commemorated, by a 
 similar division at the entertainments of their descendants, in the 
 same venerated spot A long drought also lihreatened the destruc- 
 tion of the crops, to secure which all their little store of com had 
 been planted. These sufferings they bore wi& extraordinary forti- 
 tude and cheerfulness; and finally set aside a day of fasting and 
 humiliation, and prayer for relief to God, "if our continuance there 
 might any way stand with his glory and our good"— a sublime and 
 touching sentiment. Toward the close of the day, clouds gathered; 
 "and on the next morning," says the narrator, with quaint eloquence, 
 " distilled such soft, sweet, and moderate showers of rain, continuing 
 some fourteen days and mixed with such seasonable weather, as it 
 were hard to say whether our withered corn, or our drooping affeo* 
 lions, were most quickened and revived; such was the bounty and 
 goodness of our God." 
 
 The Indians were greatly surprised at this unlooked-for result, and 
 especially, according to Winslow, at "the difference between their 
 conjuration, and our invocation to God for rain ; theirs being mixed 
 with such storms and tempests, as sometimes, instead of doing them 
 good, it layeth the com flat on the ground, to their prejudice; but 
 ours in so gentle and seasonable a manner, as they had never ob- 
 served the like." The harvest proved plentiful, and all fear of 
 starvation was allayed. In July and August of the same summer, 
 two ships, with sixty additional settlers, arrived. In a letter sent by 
 those who yet remained, was the following prophetic and consoling 
 sentiment: "Let it not be grievous to you that you have been the 
 instraments to break the ice for others who come after you with less 
 difficulty ; the hoixor shall he yours to the world's end: we bear you 
 always in our breasts, and our hearty affection is toward yon all, as 
 ore the hearts of hundreds more who never saw your feces." 
 
 ', > 
 
 1 .- .w -' ■ 
 
 I . .1 1'. ; . I 
 
 ",: •! hi ^. ■■■; :m : I 
 
 I 
 
104 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 I'.'ty ^'rfj iMfii *■' ,-1 "^»,'vi i. ; 
 
 V!*;''l" ■^' ' CHAPTER ?in. : . '■; / ' 
 
 KEW 8BTTLIKINT8 FOUNDED: NEW HAMPSHIRE AND XAIKl 
 
 — BNDICOTT'S COMPANY. — THE REVELIERS OP MERRT 
 
 MOUNT: BROXEN UP BT THE PURITANS. — SETTLEMENT OP 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. — FOUNDATION OF BOSTON — GREAT 
 
 EMIGRATION. — MORTALITY AND SUFFERING. 
 
 The progress of the Plymouth colony was slow, but sure, and 
 although the original settlement, at the end of ten years, numbered 
 but three hundred souls, at an early day, it began to send offshoots 
 into the adjoining regions. In 1625, their admirable pastor, Robin- 
 son, died at Leyden, having been prevented from emigrating by an 
 adverse influence in England. The remainder of his congregation, 
 as soon as practicable, joined their brethren in America. Enterprise, 
 directed to the same region, was revived in the mother-country. 
 New patents were issued to Gorges and other projectors, and settle- 
 ments, as early as 1628, were made on the banks of the Piscataqua. 
 Portsmouth and Dover were settled, and the foundation of New^ 
 Hampshire was thus permanently laid. That of Maine was not long 
 in succeeding, the temporary trading and fishing stations on its coast 
 being gradually converted to permanent occupation. Roger Conant, 
 a man of extraordinary courage and perseverance, with only three 
 companions, laid the foundation of a settlement at Naumkeag (now 
 Salem) near Cape Ann. Preparations for a Puritan emigration, on 
 an extensive scale, were made in England; and in the summer of 
 1628, John Endicott, a man of brave and religious, but rugged and 
 bigoted nature, with about a hundred companions, arrived at the 
 diminutive outpost of Salem. The vigorous and practical spirit of 
 Puritanism, as well as its more gloomy and ascetic qualifications^ 
 were not long in making their demonstration. 
 
 " A small settlement, named Mount Wollaston, (Quincy), had fallen 
 into the hands of one Thomas Morton, described as 'a petty iuggin" 
 attorney of Furnival's Inn,' who, with a crew of dissolute compan- 
 ions, lived there in much excess and licentiousness. lie changed 
 the name of the place to Merry Mount ('as if this jollity could have 
 lasted always') and, besides selling fiie-arms to the Indians, kept a 
 haunt for all the idle serving men and lewd companions in the coun- 
 try. Thus they lived for some time, 'vainly quafliug and drinkin" 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENOLAND. 
 
 105 
 
 both wine and strong liquors in great excess (as some have reported, 
 ten pound's worth in a mbrning) setting up a May -pole, drinking 
 and dancing about it, and frisking about i! like so many fairies, or 
 furies rather — ^yea, and worse practices, « » » The 
 said Morton, likewise, to show his poetry, composed sundry rhymes 
 and verses, some tending to lasciviousness, and others to the detrac- 
 tion and scandal of some persons' names, which he affixed to his idle 
 or idol May-pole.' . • y inn , : v . - ui 
 
 "These dissolute courses received iheir first check from 'that 
 worthy gentleman, Mr. John Endicott,' who, soon after the founda- 
 tion of his settlement, paid them a visit, cut down their May-pole, 
 read them a terrible lecture, and once more changed the name of 
 their abode, calling it Mount Dagon. The whole community was 
 finally broken up by a small force dispatched from Plymouth, under 
 Captain Standish. This party seized Morton, and 'demolished his 
 hoase, that it might no longer be a roost for such unclean birds.' 
 The culprit was sent over seas. 'Notwithstanding, in England he 
 got free again, and wrote an infamous and scurrilous book against 
 many of the godly and chief men of the country, full of lies and 
 slanders, and full fraught with profane calumpies against their names 
 and persons and the ways of God.' Beturning imprudently to Bos- 
 ton, he was imprisoned 'for the aforesaid book and other things,' 
 and finally ' being grown old in wickedness, at last ended his life in 
 Piacataqua.'"* 
 
 Many persons of wealth and eminence of the Puritan party having 
 formed the design of emigration, a charter, in 1629, was obtained 
 from the king for the formation of a new company, under the title 
 of the "Qovemor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New 
 England." In the latter part of June, that same year, two hundred 
 more emigrants, dispatched by this corporation, arrived at Salem, and 
 a new settlement was founded at Charlestown. During the months 
 of June and July, 1680, eleven ships, bearing a great number of 
 emigrants, arrived in Massachusetts Bay. At this time, the only 
 person living on the peninsula of Shawmut (the site of the present 
 city of Boston) was an Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. William Black- 
 stone, who, on account of ecclesiastical scruples, had quitted Eng- 
 land, and betaken himself to the American wilderness. He had 
 built a cottage and planted an orchard. The new comers first 
 settled at Charlestown, where a small colony had already been estab- 
 
 * Discoverers, &c., of America. 
 
106 
 
 THE PEOPLB'S BOOK OF HISTOBT. T 
 
 lished; but, on the invitation of Mr. Blookstone, and attracted by 
 the natural advantages of the place, their governor, the celebrated 
 John Winthrop, with 6ther persons of distinction, removed thither. 
 The principal place of the plantation was, accordingly, erected on 
 that Admirable locUity, which, in all the wide region of which it i& 
 the metropolis, could hardly find a rival, in beauty or convenience. 
 In the course of the year, five more vessels, with more emigrants 
 making the number fifteen hundred, arrived. Buildings were erected 
 with all possible dispatch, but such were the numbers, that proper 
 shelter for all was unobtainable. ' P'lfore December, two hun- 
 dred had died of disease occasioned by their hardships, and more 
 than a hundred had retreated to England. These sufferings were 
 endured with much fortitude by the survivors. "We here enjoy 
 God and Jesus Christ," wrote Winthrop (who had lost a son) to his 
 wife, "and is not this enough? I would not have altered my course 
 though I had foreseen all these afflictiona I never had more peace 
 of mind." Despite these discouragements, the spirit of enterprise 
 was fairly awakened in the Puritan party, and during the next few 
 years, such numbers continued to flock to the new colony, that an 
 Order in Council was issued by the king to restrain the emigration. 
 Nevertheless, for a long time, great numbers of the persecuted faction 
 resorted to Massachusetts — ^the year 1685 being especially memorable 
 for the arrival of a large company, among whom were the afterwards 
 celebrated Hugh Peters (chaplain to Cromwell) and Mr. (afterwards 
 Sir Henry) Vane, who, the year after his arrival, was elected gov- 
 ernor. It is said that Hampden, Cromwell, and Pym, (three names 
 the most formidable in the great revolution,) had also embarked, 
 but, by an order of court, were constrained to remain, to the de- 
 •truction of the power and the person that withheld them. ..' 
 
 i<:ill. if!f fiiil ■jlTI/'U .H Wf >):;■,»' IJ;;!' ' !.', !. •.:•!; .1 ; ■;• ■ 1 ■ , . . f 
 j-> 'I- 'f(i' ,';• ,',..)-i'-- j; *.ii;i:.:;-/ .^;ij ■ i • ;■ ■ .<-•■-■' -'l '. ' • ■ 
 vi ('1 'ill ,'.:i;J ^i '; .;/, ../;m ^|IuJ:I . . ,. ^' . l:..-fj- 
 
 ; ; '::•"■ • ii '< ,-.'-■ ■[>• r^., . . ,' i , ,-'i _ ' . 
 
 ^..;i' 
 
 .-■■i'\r 1 
 . I . . .,1 
 
 :/. 
 
 ';:' . -•. 
 
THE SETTLEMENT 07 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 107 
 
 
 CW A D T T? D T "tr i<> 
 
 ! 1 I )t 
 
 
 M« 
 
 tO'lftl 
 
 '» n;: /( 
 
 d 
 
 GHiBACTSR OF THB FOVNDBBS OF KASSAOHVSBIIB. — BBOU- 
 
 LATI0N8 FOB PUBLIC HOBALITT: FOB APPABBl. BIG. — 
 |,,. .^.ABUSINQ PSNALTIBS. — INTOLBBANOB IN BBLIGION. ,h., 
 ujf] (^,.,.^,7— COMMBNCBMBNT OF PBB8BCUTI0N. > norn;ii>> ' 
 
 "The wealth and importance of this new community were com- 
 mensurate with the growing power of the Puritan party. That 
 party, originally so humble and depressed, was already beginning 
 to uplift its yoice in the councils of the English nation, and to pro- 
 voke fresh and suicidal efforts of that arbitrary power, which was 
 destined, ere long, to fall, with such terrible circumstances, before it. 
 Accordingly, the men who now transferred their fortunes to the 
 New World, tiiiough aiming, as earnestly as their predecessors, at 
 the foundation of a religious commonwealth, brought with them 
 somewhat of that insolence which is always the handmaid of new 
 prosperity. ' Their characters,' says the candid and judicious Baylies, 
 'were more elevated, but their dispositions were less kindly, and 
 their tempers more austere, sour, and domineering than those of their 
 Plymouth brethren. They had brought themselves to^ positive con- 
 viction of their own evangelical purity and perfect godliness, and 
 therefore they tolerated not even the slightest difference in theolo- 
 gical opinions.' They were composed, in short, of that stuff which, 
 according to circumstances, makes a martyr or a persecutor; and, 
 unfortunately for their reputation, the latter had opportunity for 
 development This, however, can hardly be laid at the door of 
 their &itb. Having power to persecute, they persecuted; and where 
 is the religious community, which, having such power, ever forbore 
 to use it? Until, indeed, aroused by opposition (which did not 
 occur for many years, the arbitrary and intolerant spirit of the author- 
 ities, for the most part, lay dormant, only indulging itself in muni- 
 cipal regulations and fantastic penalties, rather fitted to provoke 
 mirth than indignation."* 
 
 Though the sweeping generalities and searching particulars of a 
 " Maine Law," never suggested themselves to the legislation of our 
 forefathers, acts for the restraint of intemperance were not wanting. 
 
 * Discoverers, &c., of America. 
 
 { iii 
 
 ,;l 
 
108 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBT. 
 
 As early as 1684, we find a traveller complaining that if a gentleman 
 went into either of the two public houses in Boston, he was followed 
 by an officer appointed for the purpose, who watched his potationa 
 narrowly, and when of opinion that he had enough, would counter- 
 mand his orders, and cut off all ftirther supply — " beyond which," 
 says our author, bitterly, "he could not get one drop!" Another 
 ordinance enjoined on all constables to keep special watch over all 
 "common coasters, unprofitable fowlers, and tobacco takers." But 
 when the clergy began to use the inhibited weed, the severity of 
 this provision was relaxed. Vanity in dress was severely repre- 
 hended, especially "immoderate great sleeves, slash apparel, and 
 long- wigs." Any one who should "give offence to his neighbor by 
 the excessive length of his hair," might be arraigned before the 
 General Court, and compelled to remove the obnoxious surplusage. 
 
 No regular system of law, common or statute, being adopted at 
 first, sentences of punishment were framed according to the ingenious 
 fancy of the court These sentences, gravely perpetuated in tho 
 records, sound oddly enough to modern jurisprudence. Josiaa 
 Plaistowe, for stealing, is fined, and doomed thereafter to be called 
 Josias, "and not Mr. as he formerly used to be." "Mrs. Cornish, 
 found suspicious of incontinency," is (probably in default of suffi- 
 cient evidence for conviction) "seriously admonished to take heed." 
 Mr. Robert Shorthose, who had thought proper to swear by the^lood 
 of Ood, is adjudged to have his tongue put in a cleft stick, and so to 
 remain for half an hour. Edward Palmer, who had made a new 
 pair of stocks for the town, for presenting the extortionate bill of 
 two pounds and upward, is sentenced to pay a fine of five, and for 
 one hour personally to test the efficacy of his own handiwork— a 
 salutary warning to all public creditors. Nothing seems to havo 
 been more sharply repressed than any question of the authority of 
 the court In 1632, according to the record, "Thomas Knower was 
 set in the bilboes for threatening ye court, that if he should be pun- 
 ished, he would have it tried in England, whether he was lawfully 
 punished or no." 
 
 Religious conformity, at first not enforced to a sanguinary extreme, 
 was a regular part of the political system. All persons, under pain 
 of a fine, were compelled to attend meeting. Mr. Painter, it seems, 
 "on a sudden turned Anabaptist," and would not have his child 
 baptised, "Whereupon," says Governor Winthrop, with delightful 
 discrimination between an opinion and the expression of it, "because 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENOLAND. 
 
 109 
 
 be was very poor, so as no other but corporal punishment could be 
 fastened on him, he was ordered to be whipped, not for hia optnum, 
 but for reproaching the LorcPa Ordinance. He endured his punish* 
 ment with much obstinacy, and said, boastingly, that Ood had mar* 
 vellously assisted him." Hugh Bretts, for heresy, was ordered to 
 be gone out of the jurisdiction, "and not return again, on pain of 
 being hanged." , By a piece of intolerance, quite as unjustifiable as 
 any which the Puritans themselves had endured in England, restraint 
 was laid on the consciences of the Indians, who, under penalty of 
 five pounds, were forbidden to worship the devil, or to practice any of 
 the religious rifes of their forefathers. It was ordered, moreover, at 
 a later day, that if any negro slaves should take refuge among them, 
 as many Indians should be "captivated" in their place. 
 
 CTT A T> T* T? T) V 
 
 RBV. ROOBR WILLIAK8. — HIS LIBERAL OPINIONS. — HE IS 
 PERSECUTED BT THE AUTHORITIES OF MASSACHUSETTS. — 
 EXPELLED FROM THAT PROTINCE. — TAKES REFUGE IN 
 THE WILDERNESS. — FOUNDS PROVIDENCE PLANTA- 
 TIONS AND THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Intolerance in the province of Massachusetts, ere long, was the 
 exciting cause of fresh schemes of colonization. Roger Williams, a 
 clergyman of liberal opinions in religion and enlightened views in 
 politics, in 1681, attracted by the expectation of tolerance in the 
 newly-peopled wilderness, made his way to Boston. He was first 
 settled at Salem, but on account of the illiberal hostility of the Massa- 
 chusetts authorities, who had some idea of his sentiments, removed 
 to Plymouth, where he was appointed assistant minister, and by his 
 piety and eloquence, became much endeared to the people. From 
 benevolent motives, he took much pains to learn the language and 
 manners and to conciliate the affections of the neighbouring Indians. 
 "God was pleased," he says, "to give me a painful, patient spirit, to 
 lodgQ with them in their filthy, smoky holes, even while I lived in 
 Plymouth and Salem, to gain their tongue." Massasoit and the two 
 great sachems of the Narragansetts (Cauonicus and his nephew Mi- 
 
no 
 
 THE PSOFLS'S BOOK OV BI8T0BT. 
 
 aDtonimo) aooorded him (heir frieadahip — that of the latter eventu< 
 ally proving of no small moment to the prosperity and even the 
 existence of the New England colonies. He resided two years in 
 Plymouth, and then moved again to Salem, followed by a oonsidera- 
 ble number of his congregation. 
 
 ')«. There (August, 16S4) he was regularly installed as pastor, and by 
 his liberal preaching speedily revived the prejudice and hostility of 
 the authoritiea In that day, it was considered a startling novelty 
 to declare that a man was the proper guardian of his own religious 
 belief, and that the state had no right to intermeddle with it. In 
 reading the terrible history of martyrdom, three rei^s before this, 
 we do not find many ol^ections raised to the practice of burning mea 
 alive, abstractly considered — but the question was debated with 
 intense earnestness as to what shade of opinion was fittest to be re- 
 pressed by the flames. Probably a good many tenets might have been 
 enumerated, which nearly all parties in the English Church would 
 have united in denouncing as worthy of punishment Yet, doubtless, 
 it was well for mankind that martyrdoms, though on points ostensibly 
 the most trifling and immaterial, should have been bravely undergone; 
 for, if it had once been established that death and suJSbring would 
 make men belie the faith that was in them, self-will and error, and 
 consequent misfortune to the race, would have found the means fur 
 their eternal perpetuation. To the end of time, the only rule would 
 have been that of the naturally violent, self-willed, and cruel. But 
 then, and long after, it was considered allowable, by nearly all sects 
 of Christians, to repress opinions of some sort by the strong arm of 
 the law. It was, therefore, to the no small annoyance of the Massa- 
 chusetts magistrates, as a reflection on their systematic intolerance, 
 that the preacher boldly announced " that no human power had the 
 right to intermeddle in matters of conscience ; and that neither church, 
 nor state, nor bishop, nor priest, nor king, may pr&oribe the smallest 
 iota of religious faith. For this, he maintained, a man is responsible 
 to God alone." Especially he deprecated the unjust laws compelling 
 universal attendance at meeting and a compulsory support of the 
 clergy, affirming that the civil power "extends only to the bodies 
 and goods, and outward estates of men," and maintaining that with 
 their belief "the civil magistrate may not intermeddle, even to stop 
 a church from apostacy and heresy." 
 
 He had frequently been censured by the authorities or vexatiously 
 summoned before them ; and on the promulgation of these incendiary 
 
'-*,"- 1^ '*' • 
 
 v.»--L"-H ii,,ni:n n- 1 1. t. i.i ms 
 
 THB rOUNDEn OF nil ODE ISLAND. 
 
 eoIlX IN WALES. :»9; ARRIVED IN NKW ENGLAND, 1631; FOUNDED mOVIPENCt 
 
 J636: DIFD, ICSa 
 
 1 
 
 -^'r^^ 
 
 r -* ■ ■v^ii^r'f.^^^^iVr -rivVvi^ ^>^''';-^:, 
 
 '^-.■"^.■■'^".■•-^■•l^^.'v. 
 
TIIK BBTTLKUBNT OF NEW KMOLAND. 
 
 Ill 
 
 dootrineH, ab they were c^ sidered, immediate steps were taken to 
 bring him to justioe. Sal<im, v hich supported him, woa disfranchised, 
 and in July, 1685, the auJmious miniater was put regularly on trial, 
 for his "dangerous opinions " After a j)r' >tracted debate, he and his 
 congregation were olio wed "time to consider these things till the 
 next General Court, and tli n, either to give satisfaotion, or expect 
 the sentence." At the next sitting, in October, ar Ije still refused to 
 recant, a resolution was passed thi', whereas the otteri'ler "hath 
 broached and divulged divers new and dangerous opinions against 
 the authority of magistrates, and yet mairitaineth the same without 
 b y retractation," his sentence should be banishment from the <•• >lony 
 S ""ered to remain for a time, many people "taken with an appre- 
 heasion of his godliness," resorted to him. 
 
 In alarm at this evidence of his popularity, the court dispatched 
 a vessel to seize and transport him over seas Informed of this 
 design, in the dead of winter, (January, 1636) he left his family, and 
 took refuge in the forest, where, passing from one Indian hut to 
 another, he found a miserable subsistence. "These ravens," he says 
 quaintly, "fed me in the wilderness." At Mount Hope, v here the 
 aged Massasoit was still residing, he was kindly received, and ob- 
 tained from that chief a grant of land on the Seekonk river. Thither 
 a number of his friends, in the spring, betook themselves froni Salem, 
 and commenced a plantation. A letter, however, present!' came 
 from Winslow, the governor of Plymouth, advising him that lie had 
 settled within the jurisdiction of that colony, and requesting him, 
 for fear of oflFence to their powerful neighbour, Massachusetts, to 
 remove yet a little further. The fields already planted, and the 
 partly-built dwelling were abandoned, and with five comrades he 
 passed down Seekonk river in a canoe, in quest of a home yet deeper 
 in the wilderness. As they paddled toward its mouth, an Indian on 
 the high western bank saluted them with the friendly cry, "Wnat 
 cheer, Netop,* what cheer!" Espying a fair spring and a fertile 
 country, the exiled preacher and his companions landed, and lbund>-d 
 the new colony of "Providence Plantations," on the site of the po ►• 
 ulous and wealthy city which yet commemorates the name. To tb^ 
 honour of this little asssociation of free spirits, they resolved that 
 the majority should govern in civil matters and in none other, and 
 the settlement speedily became, what Williams had earnestly desired 
 it should — "a shelter for persons distressed in conscience." 
 
 • Friend ^ ' '"'^ ''■ ' ^ ''■ 
 Vol. IV.— 36 
 
 4jJ 
 
112 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBT. 
 
 Bj his influence with the Narr&gansett sachems, land and the per- 
 mission to settle had been obtained; and this influence, two years 
 after the foundation of Providence, was ag»''n exerted in behalf of a 
 large number of persons, expelled from Massachusetts as heretics 
 but "lovingly entertained" at the new colony of religious freedom. 
 On very moderate terms he procured for them a grant of the beauti- 
 ful island of Rhode Island, which has since given its name to the 
 entire state, and a very flourishing settlement soon sprang up there. 
 "It was not price or money," he writes, many years afterwards, "that 
 could have purchased Rhode Island. It was obtained by love; by 
 the love and favor which that honorable gentleman Sir Henry Vane 
 and myself had with the great sachem Miantonimo, about the league 
 which I procured between the Massachusetts English and the Nar- 
 ragansetts, in the Pequot war." (That war, with the causes which 
 originated it, and the important influence of Williams, in behalf of 
 the English, will presently be recounted.) 
 
 lETTLElfBNT OP CONNECTICUT BY PLYMOUTH: BY MASSACHU- 
 
 81TT8. — HARDSHIPS OP THE COLONISTS. — POUNDATION OP 
 
 HARTPORD, ETC. — EMIGRATION UNDER HOOKER: NEW 
 
 HAVEN POUNDED. — COMMENCEMENT OP THE PEQUOT 
 
 WAR. INPLUENCE OP ROGER WILLIAMS. 
 
 A SETTLEMENT on the fertile banks of the Connecticut river had 
 been projected at an early day, and the flourishing commonwealth 
 of Massachusetts had been urged to undertake it; but the authorities 
 of that province, deterred by many opposing circumstances, especially 
 the dread of Indian hostility, had deferred or neglected it. Witli 
 more courage and enterprise, the little colony of Plymouth undertook 
 the task. Thence, in October of 1633, William Holmes sailed for 
 the Connecticut in a vessel, carrying tlie frame of a house, and a 
 small number of men, to establish a trading post, and perhaps a 
 plantation. Passing up that river, he was warned off by the Dutch, 
 who had a small fort at what is now known as Hartford, but sailed 
 on, and built his house a few miles above, a little below the junction 
 of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers. 
 
^ 
 
 ^■i^!:-*^'' 
 
 ./■:-;./ 
 
 ■7f^: ', i:. 
 
 I 
 
 ( 
 
 
 a- 
 
 m- 
 
 ■mA 
 
 ;-:%y- 
 
 AV 
 
 '*• 
 
 
 :/.-^'j 
 
■■^.►. 
 
■^flg^- 
 
 ::l. 
 
 'mH 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 113 
 
 The example thus set,- emigration from Massachusetts rapidly fol- 
 lowed. In October, 1685, a company of sixty — men, women, and 
 children — took up their march westward from Massachusetts. These 
 people, their supplies cut off by the freezing of the- river, suffered 
 great hardships, and numbers betook themselves to the coast. In 
 May, the next year, a much larger emigration occurred — a hundred 
 colonists, under the Rev. Thomas Hooker, a divine eminent for his 
 eloquence and piety, proceeding overland in the same direction. A 
 numerous drove of cattle, the milk of which sustained them on the 
 way, was driven before them. Small settlements had already been 
 made at Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor, and a form of gov- 
 ernment had been instituted at an early day. By the end of the year 
 1636, about eight hundred settlers had made their way to tke banks 
 of the Connecticut. 
 
 Not long afterwards (April, 1688) a new colony of Puritans was 
 founded at New Haven, under the two friends, Theophilua Eaton, 
 and the Rev. John Davenport, the former of whom, until his death, 
 for twenty years held by election the office of governor. Villages 
 and plantations, springing from this source, spread rapidly along the 
 shores of Long Island Sound. An Indian war, the first in New 
 England, almost immediately after the foundation of the settlements 
 on the Connecticut, menaced their destruction. To avenge certain 
 murders committed, years before, by the Pequots, Massachusetts had 
 dispatched an expedition by sea, which committed wanton and indis- 
 criminate reprisals. Hostilities thus precipitated, a murderous war- 
 fare ensued. Cotton Mather, indeed, sees fit to ascribe the whole 
 matter, as usual, to the direct intervention of, the enemy. "Two 
 colonies of churches," he says, "being thus brought forth, and a third 
 conceived, within the bounds of New England, it was time for tVe 
 devil to take the alarum, and make some attempt in opposition to 
 the possession which the Lord Jesus Christ was going to have of these 
 utmost parts of the earth. These ^arte were then covered with nations 
 of barbarous indians and infidels, in whom the ^nnce of the power of 
 the air did work as a spirit; nor could it be expected that nations of 
 wretches, whose whole religion was the most explicit sort of devil- 
 worship should not be acted by the devil to engage in some early 
 and bloody actionf for the extinction of a plantation so contrary to 
 his interests, aa that of New England was." 
 
 Whatever the cause, the whole weight of Indian hostility and 
 resentment fell on the feeble settlements of Connecticut The Pe- 
 
 ll 
 
 il 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
i 
 
 * 
 
 ^^ 
 
 lU 
 
 THK PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UI8T0KY. 
 
 quots kept constant watch to surprise all stragglers, and frequently 
 put their captives to death with the most cruel torments. A small 
 fort had been erected bj the English at Say brook, near the mouth 
 of the river, and the little garrison, under their governor, Gardiner 
 held out against the besieging savages with much resolution. Saa- 
 sacus, the principal sachem of the hostile tribe, now used every ex- 
 ertion to gain the aUiance of his old enemies, the Narragansetts, 
 sending ambassadors to Oanonicus and Miantonimo, urging every 
 motive of policy and self-preservation for the relinquishment of their 
 feud and uniting their arms against the common enemy. This piece 
 of diplomacy was defeated by the agency of Boger Williams, whose 
 influence with those great sachems has been already mentioned 
 and who, at the request of the Massachusetts authorities, promptly 
 set forth in his canoe, and made his way, in a dangerous storm, to the 
 Narragansett court There he stayed for three days, countervailing 
 by his persuasions the arguments of the Pequot ambassadors, whose 
 hands were still reeking with 1/he blood of his countrymen, and 
 "from whom he nightly looked for their bloody knives at his throat 
 also." These persuasions, combined with ancient enmity, outweighed 
 the influence of the Pequots, and Canonicus entered into league with 
 the EoglisL 
 
 ''"tiXlAx^XJaXi JLlJt. '. 
 
 THE PEQUOT WAR, CONTINUED. — THE ATTACI 05 WETHEB8- 
 FIELD. — EXPEDITION UNDER 1IA80N. — SURPRISE AND STORM- 
 ING OP THE PEQUOT FORT: TERRIBLE SLAUOHTER AND 
 CONFLAGRATION. — FINAL DEFEAT AND DESTRUCTION 
 
 OF THE TRIBE. BARBAROUS EXULTATION OF THE 
 
 EARLY HISTORIANS. — REFLECTIONS. 
 
 In April, 1637, the Pequots attacked the little town of Wethers- 
 field, and killed nine of the settlers. The English now saw the 
 necessity for immediate and energetic action. Ninety men were 
 speedily equipped, and put under the command of Captain John 
 Mason, an active soldier, and a party of seventy Mohegan Indiana, 
 headed by the uotorious Uncas, (then in revolt against his chief and 
 
■^yfwwT 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW EKTOLAITD. 
 
 116 
 
 kinsman, Sassacus,) were persuaded to join the expedition. Letters, 
 entreating aid, were dispatched to Massachusetts. Early in May, 
 the allied force proceeded down the river, ^nd at Say brook, set sail 
 for the country of the Narragansetts, intending to take the enemy 
 by surprise. Though apprized that a force from Massachusetts was 
 on the way to join him, Mason, fearing lest the Pequots should learn 
 of his design, resolved to strike a blow without delay. Strengthened 
 by a considerable force of native allies, he marched westward from 
 the Narragansett country, with great secrecy, and on the 5th of 
 June, a little before daylight, came to "Pequot Hill," (in the present 
 town of Groton,) on which the strongest fort of the enemy was 
 situated. 
 
 The barking of a dog gave the first alarm to the unsuspecting 
 garrison, who, though taken by surprise, and startled from profound 
 slumber, hastily snatched their rude weapons, and fought with much 
 courage. Mason, wearied at the length of the contest, at last cried, 
 "We must burn them!" and snatching up a brand, set fire to the 
 matting in one of the wigwams. The whole village was composed 
 of the driest and most combustible materials, and the flames, urged 
 by a strong wind, spread swiftly through the fort. The warriors 
 continued to shoot until their bowstrings were snapped by the heat, 
 and then mostly perished in the flames, or were shot down, in at- 
 tempting to escape over the palisades. Women, children, and old 
 people met the same terrible fate. It seems certain that at least four 
 hundred perished, and possibly many more. "It was supposed," 
 says Dr. Increase Mather, "that no less than 500 or 600 Pequot 
 souls were brought down to hell that day." The reverend gentle- 
 man, it would seem, took an especial comfort in considering the 
 future torment of the enemy ; for elsewhere, he tells of " two and 
 twenty Indian captains, slain all of them and brought down to hell 
 in one day," and of a certain chief, who sneered at the religion of 
 the English, " and withal, added a hideous blasphemy, immediately 
 upon which a bullet took him in the head, and dashed out his brains, 
 sending his cursed soul in a moment amongst the devils and blas- 
 phemers in hell forever." — Prevalency of Prayer, page 7. 
 
 Perhaps we cannot better arrive at a knowledge of the state of pub- 
 lic sentiment in that day, and, indeed, for half a century afterward, 
 than by perusing a few more of these precious extracts from the old 
 New England historians. 
 
 "It was a fearful sight," says Mr. Morton, (New England's Memo- 
 
116 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 rial,) "to see them thus frying in the fire, and the streams uf blood 
 quenching the same; and horrible was the stink and scent thereof- 
 but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise 
 thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to 
 enclose their enemies in their hands," &c. The Pequots from other 
 villages, on hearing the disastrous tidings, hastened in numbers to the 
 scene, and their very natural anguish is mocked by Cotton Mather in a 
 strain of satire as dull as it is wicked. "When they came to see the 
 ashes of theiryriWicfe," he says, "mingled with the ashes of the fort 
 and the bodies of their countrymen so terribly barbiketo'd, where the 
 English had been doing a good morning's work, they howl'd, they 
 roar'd, they stamp'd, they tore their hair; and though they did not 
 sirear (for they knew not how) yet they curs'd, and were the pictures 
 of so many devils in desparation." Is not the feeling which prompted 
 this truly diabolical sentence identical with that which animates the 
 red warrior when beholding his foe consuming at the stake or run- 
 ning the gauntlet through innumerable blows? 
 
 Separated into small bodies, the Pequots were speedily cut oflf, 
 in detail, by the victors. Closely pursued by their allied enemies, a 
 portion retreated westward, and finally, in a swamp at Fairfield, 
 after a brave defence, were completely routed. Most of the warriors 
 were slain, and the women and children were made slaves, a portion 
 being shipped to the West Indies. Sassacus, and a small body of 
 his warriors, took refuge among the Mohawks, but were put to 
 death by that inimical tribe. Several hundred of the broken nation, 
 on one occasion, were taken by the English in the Narragansett 
 country. "The men among them," says the Reverend William 
 Holland, "to the number of 30, were turned presently into Charon's 
 ferry boat, under the command of Skipper Gallop, who dispatcheU 
 them a little without the harbour." "Twas found," says Reverend 
 Cotton Mather, "the quickest way to feed the Jishea with em." The 
 women and children were enslaved. Thus thinned by massacre and 
 transportation, the forlorn relics of the tribe thereafter remained in 
 entire subjection to the victors. 
 
 "In reading accounts like these, it seems hard to determine which 
 is the savage and which the child of civilization — and the hasty 
 conclusion would be, that, except in the possession of fire-artns to 
 defeat the Indians, and of letters to record their destruction, the 
 authors and approvers of such deeds were but little in advance of 
 tlie unhappy race, whose extermination left room for their own 
 
TUE SETTLEMEiNT OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 117 
 
 increase and prosperity. But until our own day is free from the 
 disgrace of scenes parallel in cruelty, enacted by those who have had 
 the advantage of two centuries of civilization, it ill becomes us to 
 question with too great severity the deeds of men struggling for 
 existence, in the wilderness, not only with a savage foe, but with all 
 those hardships and uncertainties which render the heart of man 
 fierce, callous, and unscrupulous in the moans of self preservation. 
 The most disagreeable part of the whole business, as we have re- 
 marked before, is the fiendish exultation of the learned historians, 
 who, sitting in their arm-chairs at Boston and Ipswich, record with 
 godless sneers and chuckles, the defeat and sufferings of the savage 
 patriots of the soil. 
 
 "These gentlemen, pnssessed with a happy conviction of their 
 own righteousness, appear to have thought that the Lord, as a mat- 
 ter of course, was on their side, and that only the Adversary or his 
 agents could be arrayed against them. A long course of ecclesias- 
 tical dictation had made them as infallible, in their 'conceit,' as so 
 many popes ; and a constant handling of Jewish scriptures had sup- 
 plied them with a vast number of historical texts, all susceptible of 
 excellent application in behalf of their pjsition. These were the 
 Avars of the Lord; the extirpation of the uncircumcised occupants of 
 the Promised Land; crusades against Edomites, Philistines, and Og, 
 king of Bashan ; and any severity toward the vanquished, or any 
 elation at their defeat, might find an easy precedent in the extermin- 
 ating policy of priests and prophets, and the pseans of victory chanted 
 over their fallen foes."* 
 
 * Discoverers, &c., of Americ*. 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 
 
 rnADTTTC T ' ■ 
 L/(LiLin.rXiij>u X* 
 
 , ■■■,i .yf^'d [.■,.f]1l;"l 
 
 ' ' ./ ' ' i' .-, , " ■ 
 
 SIR GEOROS CALVERT: HIS SCHSKES FOR SETTLEMENTS IN 
 AMERICA: HE OBTAINS THE GRANT OF MARYLAND: FOUNDS 
 ,,A COLONY THERE. — SETTLEMENT OF ST. MART'S. — 
 RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS. — EXPULSION OF 
 t ,; • CLAIBORNE. — DISCONTENT AND INSURRECTION. 
 
 ,.\ ... — PROTESTANT SETTLERS. — ACT FOR THE 
 . ,. •■., TOLERATION OF ALL CHRISTIAN SECTS. 
 
 Sir George Calvert, a secretary of state under James I., having 
 conscientiously become a Catholic, and finding, in the adoption of 
 this proscribed faith, an insuperable bar to political ambition at 
 home, had, from an early day, directed his exertions to the enter- 
 prise of peopling and governing new regions in America. He had 
 made strenuous and protracted, but unavailing endeavours to found a 
 permanent and prosperous settlement on the rugged shores of New- 
 foundland ; and, finally, turfted his attention to the milder and more 
 fertile regions of Virginia. His desire to plant a colony there being 
 thwarted by the prejudice of the authorities against his faith, he 
 returned to England, where his court-favour, despite this obstacle, 
 being good, he obtained from the crown the grant of an extensive 
 region northward of the southern bank of the Potomac, and extend- 
 ing to the fortieth degree of north latitude. 
 
 Over this wide tract, almost unlimited personal jurisdiction was 
 conferred on him, with some reservation in favour of s<ilf-government 
 oy the settlers; and the title of Lord Baltimore, which he received 
 at the same time, was an additional proof of the royal favour. In 
 honour of the queen, Henrietta Maria, he bestowed on the region of 
 his projected colony the name of Maryland. Before the final ratifi- 
 cation of the charter, he died, but his rights were confirmed to his 
 son Cecil, the second Lord Baltimore, who devoted himself with 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 
 
 119 
 
 much energy to the completion of his father's plan. In November, 
 1683, he dispatched his brother, Leonard Calvert, with a^M two 
 hundred emigrants, mostly Catholics, in two vessels, the a and 
 Dove, to found the projected settlement. This company first touched 
 at Point Comfort, in Virginia, where, though with no sincere cor- 
 diality, they were courteously received by the authorities; and in 
 March of the following year, proceeded to the Potomac. 
 
 Intercourse, generally friendly, was established with the natives 
 inhabiting its shores; and, on the St Mary's, at an Indian town, called 
 Yoacomoco, (afterwards St. Mary's,) it was resolved to plant a settle- 
 ment. The chief received the emigrants with extraordinary kindness 
 and hospitality, and for hatchets, hoes, and other European articles, 
 they obtained not only a large tract of land, but half of the village 
 itself, with the corn growing adjacent, and were thus at once pro- 
 vided with comfortable shelter. This peaceful and friendly intercourse 
 with the native inhabitants continued for nearly ten years, when it 
 was interrupted by hostilities. These, after a continuance of two 
 years, were ended by treaty, and a long interval of peace succeeded. 
 
 Only a few years after the establishment of the new colony, its 
 tranquillity was disturbed by a species of civil warfare. Captain 
 William Cluyborne, who had planted a trading establishment on 
 Kent Island, opposite to the settlements of Lord Baltimore, and who 
 had expended large sums on the enterprise, was summoned by the 
 proprietary to yield it up, aa lying within the limits of his patent. 
 Despite forcible remonstrance, both from Virginia and the English 
 government, Baltimore resolved to enforce this obnoxious claim by 
 an appeal to arms. After a number of hostile encounters, the plant- 
 ation on the isle of Kent was carried by a night assault., and its 
 tenants were made prisoners or put to flight. On the complaint of 
 Clay borne, the king (July, 1688) strongly reprehended these violent 
 proceedings, but, on account of the liberal political opinions of the 
 injured party, the Commissioners of Plantations decided that, "con- 
 cerning the violences and wrongs by the said Clayborne and the 
 rest complained of, they found no cause at all to relieve them," &c. 
 
 Founded, as the new colony was, by a sect persecuted in England, 
 it did not imitate the example of other settlements originating in a 
 similar cause, but allowed free liberty of conscience and of worship 
 to all, at least of the Christian faith. The overbearing claims of the 
 proprietor to almost complete personal jurisdiction, however, occa- 
 sioned much discontent and uneasiness, and, in 1645, excited an 
 
120 
 
 THE PXOPLE'B BOOK OF III8T0BY. 
 
 actual insurrection, by which Calvert, the governor, was compelled 
 to retreat into Virginia. The government of the proprietor, a year 
 or two afterwards, was reinstated — an amnesty being granted for all 
 political offences. In 1049, the year of the king's execution the 
 people, taking advantage of the success of the revolutionary party in 
 England, wrung from Lord Baltimore an act by which some portion 
 of legislative power was secured to their deputies. 
 
 To increa.<«e the population of his province, that nobleman now 
 began to invite Protestant settlers, both from New England and 
 Virginia. The former, strongly prejudiced, declined the invitation 
 but from the latter, on account of the arbitrary spirit of the author- 
 ities, great numbers migrated to Maryland. In 1649, the Catholic 
 assembly, to their honour, passed & statute, explicitly declaring 
 (what had always been matter of custom in the province) perfect 
 freedom in matters of Christian faith. " Whereas the enforcing of 
 the conscience in matters of religion," proclaims this iib^^al enact- 
 ment, "hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous con.^iccuence in 
 those commonwealths where it ha^ been practised, and ibr the more 
 quiet and peaceable government of this province, and the better to 
 preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person 
 within this pro . ince, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be 
 any ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced for his or her reli- 
 gion, in the free exercise thereof." The obj jct sought in the explicit 
 ( .actment of this statute was, doubtless, a^ 'veil to attract and con- 
 ciliate Protestant emigration, as for self-protection in event of the 
 Catholics themselves falling into the minority. 
 
THK BSTTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 
 
 121 
 
 
 tiixArxiiixi I !• ' 
 
 
 AUBITRART 8T8TBM OF LORD BALTIMORB. — DI8AYFB0TI0N 
 OV THB PROTBSTANT 8BTTLBR8. — INTBBFBRBNOB OF THB 
 yiROINIA C0MKIB8I0NBRS. — AFFAIR8 IN BNOLAND. — 
 TRIUAPH of THB PROTESTANTS. — RBPBAL OF TOLERA- 
 TION, — CIVIL WAR. — VICTORY OF THB PROTESTANTS. 
 — FBNDALL'S INSURRECTION: HIS SUCCESS AND 
 FINAL RUIN. — TOLERATION RESTORED. 
 
 The Virginian settlers, imbued with a spirit of political liberty, 
 were surprised and grieved, ere long, at being required to take an 
 oath of allegiance to Lord Baltimore, couched in terms of such arro- 
 gance, as appeared to them "far too high for him, and strangely 
 unsuitable to the present liberty which God hath given to English 
 subjects." The proprietor sternly rejected any modification of the 
 obnoxious form, and ordered Stone, his governor, to enforce forfeit- 
 ure and banishment against all who should fail within three months 
 to comply with his requisition. But that functionary thought it 
 imprudent to carry out such an arbitrary ordinance, and, accord- 
 ingly, deferred its execution. 
 
 A commission h?'d been appointed to reduce Virginia under the 
 parliamentary rule, and it so happened that Bennet and Clayborne, 
 both at enmity with the proprietary, had the principal control of its 
 transactions. The former being made governor, and the latter sec- 
 retary of Virginia, they speedily found occasion to interfere in the 
 affairs of Maryland. After considerable debate with Stone, they so 
 far modified their demands as only to claim the nomination of most 
 of the colonial officers. Baltimore, exceedingly indignant, sought 
 redress from the revolutionary party, which he had endeavoured by 
 all means to conciliate; and it is supposed that he obtained some 
 secret promise of countenance from the Protector; for, in 1654, he 
 sent word to his governor to resist the proceedings of the commid- 
 sion at all hazards, to displace their officers, and to expel from the 
 province all who would not take the disputed oath of allegiance. 
 Stone, accordingly, feeling confident, it would seem, in the support 
 of some high authority, proceeded, with much impetuosity, to put 
 these obnoxious instructions into force. 
 
122 
 
 THK PBOPLK*B BOOK oy HISTOKT. 
 
 Three montha of negotiation ensued, when the commiaBion, re- 
 solving to carry mattera with a high hand, set forth for Maryland, 
 and issued a proclamation deposing him, and declaring Cromwell thu 
 head of the government. With a strong force of Frotestanta, they 
 advanced against the governor, who, on his part, could guthur but n 
 comparatively small ond timid levy of the opposite sect and foction. 
 In despair of succeaa, he resigned his authority into the hands of the 
 two commissioners, who, thereupon, appointed ten others, to adniinin- 
 tcr affairs in the several departments. By an edict, the some sum- 
 mer, they deprived the Catholics of their elective frnnchise; and the 
 next assembly, strongly Protestant, repealed the act for univeraol 
 toleration, so far as the obnoxious religion was concerned. 
 ( Though this bigoted act was not carried to the extreme of actual 
 persecution, it naturally produced great resentment in the minds of 
 the aggrieved sect To be thus excluded, at least by the law, from 
 the province they had founded, and to see their religion, a refuge for 
 which had induced them to undertake their exile, proscribed by 
 aliens, was more than human patience could endure. The Catholics 
 and others attached to the house of Baltimore, rallied around tho 
 governor, and soon presented a formidable attitude. They seized 
 on the public records at Patuxent, reduced a considerable tract of 
 country to submission, and advanced upon the chief station of the 
 Protestant party, at Providence, in Anne Arundel. Overawed at 
 these formidable demonstrations, the latter made overtures of peace, 
 and even of submission, but receiving no answer, resolved to fight 
 the quarrel out In March, 1656, the Catholic force, two hundred 
 and fifty strong, sailed up the Severn and disembarked. Their ene- 
 mies, less than half that number, made a desperate stand against 
 them, and battle was joined with cries of " Hey for St Mary I" and 
 "God is our strength!" Afler a sharp but brief contest, victory fell 
 to the weaker but more valiant party of Puritans; Stone, with his 
 chief officers, being made captive, and all the rest of his force except 
 five being killed or made prisoners. Baggage, ortillery, and a store ot 
 beadfi and relics, and similar "trash wherein they trusted," also fell into 
 the hands of the victors. The life of the defeated leader was hardly 
 saved from the vengeance of his enemies, and four of the chief per- 
 sons of his party were tried by a council of war, and were executed. 
 
 Not long afler these events, Josias Fendall, an active partisan of 
 the Baltimore faction, rallying the Catholics, raised a counterinsur- 
 rtv'tion, which wad supprc^wed, not without difficulty. The propric- 
 
TDB 8ITTLKUENT OF MAHYLAND. 
 
 123 
 
 tary, pleoftod with bis exortions, now appointed him governor, and 
 ho gained pus.iOMion of the distriot of St Mary's. By March, 1668, 
 by his policy and address, he contrived to have the authority of 
 Baltimore and of himself acknowledged throughout the province. 
 Koligioiis freedom, and the relinquishment of the obnoxiuua claims 
 uf the proprietary, were among the conditions on which this agree- 
 ment wa.M ounded. 
 
 When, in March, 1660, tidings of the Restoration of Charles II., 
 camo to Maryland, the assembly, supposing that Baltimore, on ac- 
 count of his intrigues with the revolutionary party, would be a 
 mark for the royal displeasure, hastily and prematurely disowned 
 his .authority, substituting their own, in the king's name. But the 
 proprietor, easily making his peace at court, was fully reinstated in 
 his privileges, and speedily sent out his brother, Philip Calvert, as 
 governor. Fendull, who had been implicated in the proceedings of 
 the assembly, was tried and convicted of high treason, but waj suf- 
 fered to escape with comparatively slight punishment. For a sub- 
 sequent insurrectionary movement, he was fined, imprisoned, and 
 banished from the colony. 
 
 The population of the province, at this time, (1660,) has been 
 variously estimated at from eight to twelve thousand. The Quakers, 
 who hud experienced such persecution in other colonies (see New 
 England, tec.) resorted there in considerable numbers, and were 
 tolerated in the exercise of their worship. 
 
 
 ■ I •• ■ .'.7 
 
 •.11,'. /ti' ',..' ii"'-'' 
 
 { - • V ! 
 
 M- ' ;•)■ 
 
 ' 1 
 
 , •■ |l " ': ■ ' 
 . • , s ... • -;.l ,-t '■ ■ I'' 
 
 , I > . . . . ' • ' 1 ■ • ' 
 
 ! ;i 
 
 v~. 
 
 ■ I 
 
'• i.'s;-. 
 
 VIEGIIIA, 
 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 1 /■ 
 
 CTJ A D T P P T 
 
 RBrON OP CHARLES I.: HIS YIBWS OP TIROINIA. TBARDLET, 
 
 GOVERNOR: WEST: HARVRT: HIS DEPOSITION BY THB PEOPLE: 
 HE IS SUPPORTED BY THE CROWN. — WTATT. SIR WIL- 
 LIAM BERKELEY, OOYEhNOR. — LOYALTY OP THE COL- 
 ONY. — PERSECUTION OF DISSENTERS. — SECOND INDIAN 
 CONSPIRACY AND MASSACRE. — OPECHANCANOUOH 
 A PRISONER: HIS SPEECH: MURDERED BY A ^_ 
 
 SOLDIER. — REDUCTION OF THE INDIANS. — 
 TRIUMPH OF THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND. 
 — ROYALIST EMIGRATION TO TIROINIA. 
 — LOYALTY OF THE PROYINCB. 
 
 The main object of Charles I., from the time of his accession to 
 the throne, in governing Virginia, seems to have been to derive as 
 great a pecuniary profit from it as possible. Sufficiently arbitrary 
 in his domestic policy, he probably regarded any republican spirit 
 in this weak and distant colony as too inconsiderable to deserve his 
 attention; while, continually seeking the means of supporting a 
 government without the necessity of resorting to parliament for 
 supplies, his only anxiety was to derive as large a revenue as pos- 
 sible from the importation of tobacco. When Wyatt, in 1626, 
 returned to England, Sir George Yeardley, the author, as it were, 
 of Virginia's political freedom, was appointed governor. Under his 
 ju!?t and equal administration, the province prospered and increased 
 greatly in numbers; as many as a thousand emigrants arriving in a 
 single year. lie died in 1627, leaving a high character, and a 
 memory revered by the people. Francis West was elected his 
 successor, as governor, by the council, which, in such case, was 
 iiuthorized to fill the vacancy. John Harvey, who, soon pAer, was 
 
VIRGINIA. 
 
 125 
 
 appointed by the king to that office, and who arrived in Virginia in 
 1629, appears, by his system of favouritism, to have excited much 
 discontent in the province, which, nevertheless, by its popular form 
 of government, enjoyed a good share of prosperity and freedom. A 
 remarkable order and steadiness seems to have characterized its 
 early legislation. 
 
 The cession to Lord Baltimore of a large tract, which the Virgin- 
 ians had always been accustomed to consider as lying within their 
 own jurisdiction, created no little alarm and uneasiness. Harvey, 
 however, who was a strong partisan of the crown, when Clay borne, 
 defeated and outlawed in Maryland, took refupe in Virginia, so far 
 from taking advantage of the opportunity to exert an influence over 
 the sister province, sent the fugitive a prisoner to England. The 
 people, and the majority of the council, indignant at this act, sum- 
 marily deposed the governor, appointing Captain John West in his 
 place, till the king's pleasure could be known. Supported by the 
 royal favour, however, he rcassumed his office, which he continued 
 to hold until 1639, when he was rSplaced by Sir Francis Wyatt. 
 Two years afterwards, (February, 1642,) Sir William Berkeley, in 
 turn appointed to that office, arrived in Virginia, where, by his cor- 
 dial agreement with the legislature, many improvements were made 
 in the civil code, and important acts were passed for the benefit of 
 the colony. 
 
 To a province like Virginia, alike prosperous and loyal, the 
 triumph of the popular and Puritan party in England brought no 
 satisfaction. On the contrary, to mark its attachment to the estab- 
 lished church, the colonial government even went to the length of 
 instituting a religious persecution (the first in Virginia) in its behalf 
 — an especial order being issued in 1648, by the council, for the 
 banishment of non-conformists, and the silencing of all except Epis- 
 copal preaching. 
 
 Hostility with the Indians, long confined to sudden forays and 
 petty skirmishes, in the next year ripened to a general war. Re- 
 membering the sanguinary success of their former attempt, the 
 stivnges, with profound secrecy, again concerted a simultaneous 
 attack on the intruders. On the 18th of April, 1644, the frontier 
 settlements were assaulted, and some three hundred of the colonists 
 fell victims; but the assailants, losing heart, their design only com- 
 menced, returned to the forests, where their enemies were not long 
 in pursuing tliem. In this war, Opechancanough, so long the terror 
 
12G 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 of the whites, was made prisoner. He was now in extreme old age 
 being unable to raise his eyelids, which, when he desired to see 
 were opened by his attendants. Being brought before the governor 
 a spectacle for the eager curiosity of the crowd, he said, haughtily, 
 "Had Sir William Berkeley fallen into my hands, I would not have 
 exposed him thus to the gaze of my people." A ruffianly soldier 
 to avenge, it is said, some former grievance, extinguished, by a cow- 
 ardly murder, the feeble spark of life yet lingering in his frame. 
 These successes were followed up with much vigour, repeated incur- 
 sions being made against the Indians; and, in 1646, peace was 
 concluded with Necotowanee, their chief, (the successor of Opechan- 
 canough,) on terms of submission and cession of territory. 
 
 This difficulty, (the last with the natives in their immediate vicin- 
 ity,) thus overcome, the Virginian settlements continued to increase 
 and prosper. In the winter of 1648, more than thirty vessels, at 
 one time, were trading in their ports. The number of colonists had 
 risen to twenty thousand; and the triumph of the Puritans in 
 England, compelling the opposite party to exile, brought about an 
 emigration of numerous loyalists and cavaliers, some of them men 
 of distinction. The loyalty of the province, confirmed by this means 
 Htood firm for the House of Stuart Immediately after the execu- 
 tion of Charles, the government of Virginia had recognized his son 
 and the latter, from his retreat in Berda, had sent to Berkeley a new 
 commission ; and diat officer, in 1651, wrote to the king, with ardent 
 expressions of attachment and fidelity, and even hinting the advisa- 
 bility of his taking refuge in his American colonies. It was deemed 
 possible, by the over-sanguine cavaliers, that this little province, 
 the last to submit to the commonwealth, might make a successful 
 stand for royalty against the entire power of England. 
 
VIBQINIA. 
 
 12T 
 
 LJuti/iJtJtiu^ jtx. 
 
 ACT FOR THE RBDUCTION OP 7IK0INIA. — THE NAViaATIOH 
 
 ACT. — MODERATION OP THE PARLIAMENT. SDBMI88I0N OF 
 
 THE PROVINCE. — BENNETT, GOVERNOR: DI008: MATHEWS. 
 — JEALOUSY OF THE ASSEMBLY AGAINST FOREIGN IN- 
 TERFERENCE. — FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY OF VIR- 
 GINIA UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH. DEATH OF 
 
 CROMWELL. — BERKELEY, GOVERNOR — RE- 
 STORATION OF CHARLES II. — ITS ILL 
 EFFECT ON THE PROVINCE. 
 
 The Parliament, triumphant over its enemies at home, at last turned 
 its attention to the refractory province of Virginia. The council of 
 state was empowered to reduce it to obedience ; and the "Navigation 
 Act," passed in 1651, deprived it, nominally, at least, in common 
 with the other English colonies, of foreign trade, except that carried 
 on by English vessels. Considering the bold front of opposition 
 which Virginia had exhibited to the popular government of England, 
 the measures adopted were characterized by singular moderation 
 and leniency. Two of the three commissioners, appointed for the 
 reduction of the province, were Virginians; and they had charge to 
 use all mild and persuasive means before resorting to force. The 
 liberties of the colony were amply secured, in case of peace, and the 
 Virginians, not feeling called on to contend for the claims of a 
 dethroned monarch to the extreme of actual resistance, on learning 
 the moderate nature of the parliamentary commission, laid aside all 
 thought of resistance. Full power of self government, and equal 
 privileges with Engli.shmcn at home, were provided for the colony; 
 but the influence of the dominant party, and the submission or 
 assent of the colonists, were sufficiently evinced in the election of 
 Richard Bennett, a strong revolutionist, by the burgesses, to the 
 office of governor. On his retirement, in 1655. Edward Digga 
 received the same office at the hands of the assembly — Cromwell, 
 during his tenure of power, never interfering with the right exer- 
 cised by the Virginians of choosing their own officers. 
 
 In 1658, an old planter, named Samuel Mathews, described as one 
 who "kept a good house, lived bravely, and was a true lover of 
 Vol,. IV.— 37 
 
128 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 Virginia," was chosen to the same post. Becoming, ere long, in- 
 volved in a dispute with the assembly, he announced his intention 
 of referring the matters in issue to the decision of the Protector. 
 Alarmed at the prospect of dependence on a foreign authority, that 
 body proceeded to make a bold and startling declaration of the pop- 
 ular sovereignty, and actually deposed Mathews, whom they had 
 lately elected. Having thus vindicated their dignity, they forthwith 
 rein.stated him in office, while he submitted to their requirements 
 with a readiness which sufficiently shows that, whatever the tem- 
 porary disagreement, no serious ill-feeling had existed between 
 the executive and legislative powers. The spirit of public liberty 
 by this bold demonstration, gained a great accession of strength 
 and firmnef^s. 
 
 On the death of the Protector, the assembly of burgesses, after 
 private deliberation, resolved to acknowledge his son, Richard 
 Cromwell, as the head of the English government; and when, by 
 his resignation and the death of their governor, (1660,) the destinies 
 of Virginia seemed fallen entirely in their hands, they resolved tha.. 
 the supreme power should be lodged in their own body, and that 
 all writs should issue in its name, "until there shall arrive from 
 England a commission, which the assembly itself shall judge to be 
 lawful." The prospect of the Restoration was hailed with joy by 
 Virginia, and the election of Sir William Berkeley to the office of 
 governor, was an earnest of its repewed loyalty. That faithful 
 adherent to the House of Stuart, in accepting the office, however 
 expressly acknowledged the authority of the as.sembly, of which, he 
 said, he was but a servant, and waited eagerly for news of the 
 recrection of the monarchy. 
 
 During the civil wars, the parliamentary government, and the 
 Protectorate, Virginia had been steadily gaining, by precedent, for- 
 tifications to her system of self-government. Commerce was free 
 (for the Navigation Act soon became a dead letter,) and religious 
 toleration (except to the Quakers, a sect at that time almost iiniver- 
 sally proscribed) was fully established. Universal suffrage of free- 
 men prevailed, and in consequence of the fertility of the soil, and 
 the high price commanded by the staple production, tobacco, re- 
 markable prosperity prevailetl. These advantages, unalloyed l)v 
 any act of oppression by the home government, had rendered the 
 province one of the most di'sirablo places of residence in Aincricn. 
 
 The elevation of Charles II. to the throne of bis fathers, marked l)v 
 
VIBQINIA. 
 
 129 
 
 the northern colonies .with such gloomy forebodings, was received 
 with exultation by Virginia. Berkeley at once rgassumed his official 
 functions, under the royal authority, and, in the king's name, sum- 
 moned an assembly, which, from its loyalist composition, clearly 
 indicated the prevalent sympathy of the colony. With strange 
 indifference to the blessings the country had enjoyed under self- 
 government, the dominant party at once proceeded to pass acts of 
 an arbitrary and intolerant nature. Suffrage was restricted to free- 
 holders and householders, the English Church was exclusively rees- 
 tablished, and the persecution of dissenters, which had before 
 compelled them to seek refuge in other colonies, was renewed. The 
 assembly, like the Long Parliament, made its sitting, in a manner, 
 perpetual, the members retaining their seats for more than ten years, 
 and, finally, dissolving only when compelled by necessity The 
 restoration of arbitrary power was systematically pursued. 
 
 The rgerection of the monarchy, to which Virginia had looked 
 with such sanguine hope, was presently the means of inflicting great 
 evil on the colony. The provisions of the Navigation Act, restrict- 
 ing all commerce to the parent-country, had been evaded or disre- 
 garded at an early day by the American provinces, and had latterly 
 fallen into complete disuse. This obnoxious statute was now reen- 
 acted with increased strictness, and enforced with practical rigour — 
 the influence of the London merchants, who derived great profits 
 from the monopoly, proving sufficient to outweigh all the complaints 
 and remonstrances of the colonists. In vain did Berkeley, deputed 
 by the Virginians, repair to court, and urge on the ear of the king, 
 with all the influence which his ancient loyalty could command, the 
 disastrous eiTects produced on the province by this arbitrary restriction 
 of its growing intercourse with European nations, and complain that 
 the disloyal colonies of New England were suffered to set the act in 
 question at nought, while the faithful province of Virginia was 
 forced to a strict compliance. His remonstrances availed nothing, 
 and thus the first fruit which Virginia reaped from the Restoration, 
 long cherished with such ardent expectation, was the infliction of a 
 monopoly calculated greatly to retard her progress and impair her 
 prosperity. 
 
NEW ENGLAND, 
 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 CxIAPTEH I. 
 
 miMICAL MBA8URE8 ADOPTED IN ENGLAND. — SPIRIT OF 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS: THREAT OF REVOLT. — THE ENGLISH 
 
 RETOLDTION. — INDUSTRY AND PROSPERITY OF NEW 
 
 ENGLAND: ITS INDEPENDENCE. — NEW HAMPSHIRE 
 
 ANNEXED TO MASSACHUSETTS. — FORMATION 
 
 OF THK NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERACY. 
 
 The first blow aimed by the English crown at the growing spirit 
 of mingled freedom and intolerance in New England, was the 
 appointment of a commission, consisting of the Aschbishop of Can- 
 terbury And others, with full power to establish a government there 
 both ecclesiastical and civil, and to revoke any charter, the provisions 
 of which might secra to infringe on the royal prerogative. (April 
 1634.) The news of this invidious ordinance awakened universal 
 alarm and indignation. A general spirit of resistance was evinced 
 and hasty provision was made for the fortification and defence of 
 Massachusetts. All the clergy of the pro/ince, assembled at Boston 
 unanimously agreed to resist the imposition of a foreign governor. 
 " We ought," they declared, "to defend our lawful posscKsions, if we 
 are able; if not, to avoid and protract" A fresh intrigue, directed 
 against the peace of the new commonwealth, was that of the Ply- 
 mouth Company, which surrendered its charter into the king's 
 hands, its members hoping to obtain extensive private grants, and 
 using all their influence to get that of the Massachus'^tts Cotiipaiiy 
 revoked. Legal proceedings were commenced against the latter, 
 but the death of Mason, the patentee of New Ilanipshire, and the 
 prime mover of these inimical proceedings, prevented tlicni from 
 being carried to the extreme. 
 
KEW ENGLAND. 
 
 181 
 
 Tho council, in 1688 demanded of Winthrop, that the patent 
 should be given up; but the authorities, in reply, urged strong 
 detnonstrances against the projected arbitrary enforcement. It was 
 backed, indeed, by a judgment from the Court of King's Bench, but 
 such judgment had been obtained by the intrigues of their enemies, 
 and doubtless owed its origin to royal dictation or influence. They 
 concluded their reply with an implied threat of independence in 
 case matters were forced to an extremity. "If the patent be taken 
 from us," they declare, "</je common people will conceive that his 
 majesty hath cast them off, and that hereby they are freed from their 
 subjection and allegiance, and therefore will be ready to confederate 
 themiielves under a new government, for their necessary safety and. 
 subsistence, wh'.'i will be of dangerous example unto other planta- 
 tions, and perilous to ourselves, of incurring his majesty's dis- 
 pleasure." This covert menace of revolution, it may be imagined, 
 was encouraged by the growing power and influence of the Puritan 
 party in England, where,, indeed, the authority of the sovereign was 
 already beginning to find sufficient employment in suppressing the 
 popular movement, without crossing the ocean to seek a sparsely- 
 peopled wilderness. In fact, numbers, who, in the day of persecu- 
 tion, had sought refuge in America, now hastened back to England to 
 take their share in the extraordinary events which were there begin- 
 ning to transpire. " By the year 1640, the tide of emigration, which, 
 for many years, had flowed steadily to New England, gradually ceased. 
 The ascendency of the Puritan party in England soon removed the 
 grievous wrongs and disabilities under which that numerous body 
 had once laboured, and the temptation to share the success of the 
 triumphant faction at home was greater than that to retreat into the 
 wilderness which had been its refuge when weak and persecuted by 
 its destined victims." 
 
 More than twenty thousand emigrants, however, before the year 
 1640, had arrived in New England, and by their extraordinary 
 industry and enterprise, prosperity and comfort had been developed 
 to a degree which, considering the asperity of the climate and 
 country, seemed hardly possible. Little more than ten years had 
 elapsed since the foundation of the Massachusetts colony, yet in 
 that interval, says Mr. Bancroft, fifty towns and villages had been 
 planted, and nearly as many churches had been built; and for- 
 eign commerce, in furs, timber, grain, and fish, had already been 
 established on a permanent base. Nay, the manufacture of cotton 
 
132 
 
 THE PEOPLK'S BOOK OF I1I8T0KY. 
 
 (the staple being supplied from Baibadoes) had already made u 
 commencement 
 
 As a mutter of course, the Long Parliament, the Puritan and 
 revolutionary element of which was so greatly in the ascendant 
 looked with warm sympathy to the New England colonists; but the 
 latter seem to have avoided, at first, any decided commitment of 
 themselves either to the political or ecclesiastical strife which at this 
 time raged in England. From this distracted condition of the 
 mother-country, and the favour of the dominant party, they came to 
 possess, what they enjoyed for nearly twenty years, the blessings of 
 actual independence and self-government. This, however, must be 
 understood in the restricted sense of partial suffrage, and of the 
 entirely preponderate influence of "the church" over that of "the 
 people." The most important political event of 1642, was the an- 
 nexation to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts of the neighbouring 
 settlements of New Hampshire, which, it was claimed, fell within 
 the patent of the former, and the inhabitants of which, by their own 
 action, confirmed the claim, and were admitted, on equal terms with 
 the Massachusetts people, as an integral portion of that province. 
 
 As early as 1637, immediately after the dangers of the Pequot 
 war had shown the necessity of union, a confederacy of the New 
 England colonies had been proposed, and in the following year had 
 again been discussed, but on account of the jealousy of Connecticut, 
 bad been deferred. The latter province, however, wishing assist- 
 ance against the encroachments of the Dutch, at length renewed the 
 negotiation; and in 1643, the states of Massachusetts, Plymouth, 
 Connecticut and New Ilaven, formed a union for mutual aid and 
 protection — "the first germ of that mighty confederacy which now 
 nunbers.more millions than its original did thousands, and which 
 from a bleak corner of New England, has extended, for twenty 
 degrees of latitude, over the thousand leagues of mountain, forest, 
 and prarie, that divide the two oceans." 
 
 The chief objects of this alliance were protection against hostile 
 savages, resistance to Dutch and French encroachment, and the 
 fortification of the degree of civil and religious liberty which the 
 several colonies liad obtained or permitted. Two '^omnii.ssionurs 
 from each colony (none but church members being eligible to the 
 oOice) were to manage the affairs of the federal government, .and to 
 have the control of peace and war, of mriking public improvements, 
 and, generally, of any matters which might properly pertain to tho 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 133 
 
 government of a confederation. These powers, apparently bo exten- 
 sive, were held in check by the dependence of this central authority 
 on the separate states for the means of carrying its enactments into 
 effect. Neither the peopV of New Hampshire, nor those of Rhode 
 Lslnml or of Providencv j. iuntations, although they desired it, were 
 admitted to this league, which, indeed, was doubtless more harmo- 
 nious than it could have been, had opinions more liberal in politics, 
 or more tolerant in religion, been permitted to mingle in ita councils. 
 
 • \j XlL ittOtf X Ji Jul Jib Ju X • I ■ 
 
 ■ .1' I '• ll 1 1 ' ' ' ' • I .' 
 
 UNCA8 AND MIANTONIMO. — DEFEAT AND DEATH OP THE LATTER 
 — DISCREDIT TO THE ENGLISH. — RHODE ISLAND: ITS LIBER- 
 TIES GUARANTEED BY THE PARLIAMENT. — LETTER TO SIR 
 
 HENRY VANE. REMARKABLE FREEDOM ENJOYED THERE. 
 
 — MAINE ANNEXED BY MASSACHUSETTS. . 
 
 A TRAGEDY, purely native in its origin and execution, but in 
 which the English authorities contrived to play a very discreditable 
 part, was enacted in 1643. Miantonimo, the Narragansett sachem, 
 accused by Uncas, the Mohegan, of hostility to the colonies, had 
 been compelled to appear in an ignominious manner at Boston, and 
 had met with much humiliation at the hands of the English. To 
 revenge himself on his acciiser, despite a peace, guarantied by the 
 latter, with a thousand warriors he attacked the hostile tribe. De- 
 feated by the superior strategy of his rival, and taken prisoner, he 
 was conducted to Hartford, where Uncas, with a moderation which 
 might seem surpri.iin":, but for the result which he probably consid- 
 ered as certain, referred the destiny of his captive to the Commis- 
 sioners of the Confederacy. These, acting under advice and counsel 
 of tlie clergy, so fur from interposing in behalf of mercy, and actu- 
 ated, doubtless, by jealousy of the tribe of the^efeated chief, decided 
 tiiut he might lawfully be put to death, and delivered him into the 
 hands of the victor. The latter, with his brother, Wawequa, and 
 other Indians, and accompanied by two white men, led his prisoner 
 iilong a solitary pathv/ay, in which, at a silent signal from Uncas, 
 Wawequa, stepping up behind, sunk his tomahawk in the brain of 
 
134 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 the victim. The revengeful chief, it is said, cut a morsel of flesh 
 from the shoulder of his enemy, and ate it, saying that it was "the 
 sweetest meat ho ever eat; it made his heart strong." The tribe of 
 the fallen chief, who were warmly attached to him, lamented deoply 
 over his unhappy fate, and complained with bitterness that large 
 quantities of wampum, which they had sent to the Mohegans as a 
 ransom for his life, had been retained, while the life of their leader, 
 which it should have purchased, was treacherously taken. His 
 brother, Pessacus, who succeeded to the command, took signal 
 revenge on the enemy, and, but for the interposition of the English, 
 would doubtless have inflicted on Uncas the same fate as that which 
 the latter had wreaked on the chiv^of the Narragansetts. 
 
 While the other New England provinces, secure in union, and 
 holding their political existence and possession of their territories 
 either by royal charter, or purchase from the original grantees, pre- 
 sented an almost unassailable front to foreign interference, Rhode 
 Island, whose only tenure of possession was that derived from the 
 native chieftains, had cause alike to dread the ambition and en- 
 croachment of her powerful neighbours, and acts of usurpation on 
 the part of the government at home. To place on a more secure 
 basis the state he had founded, Williams, in 164S, sailed for Eng- 
 land, and pleaded the cause of freedom before the parliamentary 
 authorities. By the influence of Sir Henry Vane, who was now a 
 member of the council for the government of America, and by the 
 reputation which his own ejcertions had already acquired for him, a 
 charter, insuring extraordinary freedom of civil government, was 
 granted to Rhode Island by the parliament. On his return, he was 
 welcomed with enthusiastic gratitude by the citizens, and the people 
 of Providence, in an eloquent letter of thanks to Sir Henry Vane 
 expressed iheir acknowledgment of his continual kindness and pro- 
 tection. "From the first beginnir^^'," declares this admirably-written 
 document, "you have been a noble and true friend to an outcast 
 and despised people; we have ever reaped the bweot fruits of your 
 constant loving kindness and favor. We have long been free from 
 the iron yoke of woli'ish bishops; we have sitten dry from the 
 streams of blood, spilt by the wars in our native country. We have 
 not felt the new chains of the prcsbyterian tyrants, nor in this colony 
 have we been consumed by the over-zealous fire of the (so called) 
 godly Christian magistrates. We have not known what an excise 
 means; we have almost forgotten what tithes are. We have long 
 
MEW EMOLAND. 
 
 186 
 
 drank of the cup of aa great liberties aa any people that we can 
 hear of, under the whole heaven. When we are gone, our posterity 
 and children after us shall read in our town records your loving 
 kindness to us, and our real endeavor after peace and righteousness." 
 A more honourable testimonial, or one more gratifying to a pure and 
 benevolent mind, has seldom been offered by a state to its benefactor. 
 
 The good people of Rhode Island, in possession of their coveted 
 privileges, did not abuse them. Our liberty, they had boasted, shall 
 not degenerate into an anarchy. Nor was this an idle vaunt. Al- 
 though a very great diversity of creeds, some wild and fanatical 
 enough, it is said, had taken refuge in the asylum from American 
 persecution, and, though perfect freedom of debate prevailed, and 
 was sometimes exercised stormily enough, the legislation of the little 
 state was characterized by singular good sense and impartiality. 
 Williams, who made another voyage to England to repel a menaced 
 assault on its franchises, ever fostered the popular spirit, and despite 
 the earnest wishes of the assembly, refused to obtain or accept from 
 the English authorities the appointment of himself as governor — his 
 wise prescience dreading any unnecessary commitment of the affairs 
 of the state to a foreign, even though a friendly power. 
 
 In Maine, disputes arising between the agents of rival patentees, 
 ai d no settlement of the question being issued from England, the 
 inhabitants of several towns, by their own action, erected an inde- 
 pendent government, and Massachusetts, ever willing to extend its 
 influence, whether by force or invitation, over its neighbours, 
 decided that the territory in question came within her own jurisdic- 
 tion. Commissioners were dispatched there, and the whole country 
 was speedily, with the consent of its inhabitants, brought under the 
 government of the more powerful province. This summary change, 
 however, appears to have been generally satisfactory to the residents. 
 
136 "^"K PEOl'LE'B HOOK OF IIISTOKY. 
 
 CHADTrP TTT 
 
 OPPOSITION TO THE MASSACHUSETTS ADTHORITIBS— PARMA 
 
 MBNTART ENCROACHMRNT RRniSTBD AND RELINQUISHED — 
 
 NEW ENGLAND FAVOURED RY CROMWELL. — BIGOTED AND 
 
 INTOLERANT LAWS OF MAS? ACMUHETTS. — PERSECUTION OP 
 
 BAPTISTS. — THE QUAKERS PERSECUTION OF THEM: FOUR 
 
 / EXECUTED: THEIR COUKAOE AND FORTITUDE. — 
 
 APOLOGISTS FOR THE HANGINGS. — RBFLBCTI0N8. 
 
 The authorities of Mnasachusetts, in close league with the clergy, 
 ♦he elders, and the more intolerant church party, were not long in 
 awaking a spirit of opposition among the partisans of a more liberal 
 and tolerant policy. At an early day, indeed, that party had shown 
 much jealousy of any thing like a prescriptive government or dicta 
 tion in elections, and when it had been proposed that the office of 
 governor should be held for life, it was forthwith resolved by the 
 deputies, that no magisterial office should be held for more than a 
 year. A direct collision between the two parties had occurred in 
 1645, on a question of small moment in itself, but involving the 
 legal extent of the authority of the magistrates. A small majority 
 of the deputies to the general court held that, from the assumption 
 of power by these authorities, the liberty of the people was in dan- 
 ger; the rest, and, of course, nearly all the magistrates themselves, 
 resolved that "authority was overmuch slighted," and that there 
 was danger of "a mere democracy." The popular party, by the 
 enactment of a law on th*^ point in question, obtained a nominal 
 triumph, but the magistrates, the governor (Winthrop) and the 
 clergy retained their ascendency in the government, and circum- 
 stances favourintr their purpose, were *^ven enabled to extend tlieir 
 actual power. 
 
 In November, 164fl, at an assembly of the general court of Mn.s- 
 sachusetts, a firm stand was made by the government of that colony 
 against threatened encroachments by the parliament on its inde- 
 pendence. A vehement aii'l eloquent remonstrance was forwarded 
 to Knglaful, where Winslow, their agent, and Sir Henry Vane, who, 
 despite some unkind usajre, was still a fa.st friend of tlic liberty of 
 the coloiiies, exerted all their influence against the anticipated dan- 
 
NKW ENGLAND. 
 
 187 
 
 gor. Tho parliament, j>oH8eH8cd of the true circumstancefl, confirmed 
 tlieir liberties and refuBed to listen to appeals from their justice. 
 Wlien, a few years afterwards, the supreme power became vested in 
 Cromwell, a« Protector, that great man, with a natural sympathy 
 both for their virtues and their errors, looked with uncommon 
 favour on the rugged colonists of New England. lie favoured their 
 commerce, allowed them full independence of self-government, and 
 was even willing to extend their political power by a gift of the 
 rich island of Jamaica, which had been wrested by him from the 
 Spaniards. The Protectorate, without doubt, was the golden age of 
 New J]ngland liberty. ' ^ 
 
 The Massachusetts authorities, hardened by their triumph over 
 the popular party, and provoked by opposition, ere long, by their 
 sanguinary persecutions, inflicted on New England the darkest stain 
 which her character had ever sustained. Sharp laws against both 
 infidelity and heresy were enacted — the penalty of death being 
 denounced against such as should deny the infallability of any part 
 of the Bible — anabaptism being made a penal ofifence — and absence 
 from meeting being punishable by fine. 
 
 Had the whole community been entirely united in opinion, these 
 bigoted laws might have remained simply an expression of the 
 intolerance of those who contrived them. But a strong party in 
 favour of full liberty of conscience already existed in New England, 
 and in Plymouth, the proposition was even made for toleration to 
 all, "without exception against Turk, Jew, Papist, Arian,," Ac, &c. 
 The opponents of this j>lan contrived, by protracting, tt. defeat it; 
 but it was ov' iitly popular with the citizens, for, writes Winslow 
 to Winthn/i ' You would have admired to see how sweet this car- 
 rion rclislud u the palate of most of them." — (Bancroft.) 
 
 The r iv'nates, the elders, the clergy, and the church generally, it 
 would stvin, were of opinion, that the sharp arm of th»law should 
 be usod to restrain all diasent from their own views. Clarke, of 
 Rh(Kle Island, a Baptist, having attempttnl to preach at Lynn, was 
 s<ized and compelled to attend the Congregational meeting, where, 
 savs Mr. Bancroft, "he expres-sed his aver.non by a harmless inde- 
 corum, which yet would have been without excuse, had his presence 
 been voluntary." Heavy fines and severe whippings were used to 
 repress the spread of the dreaded heresy. (1651.) 
 
 An obstacle to conformity far more formidable, and one irrepressi- 
 ble by persecution, was goon found in the fanatical courage of tho 
 
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 tM 
 
 
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 T 
 
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 i mri 
 
 
 ni 
 
 ii'"l 
 
 iiiiii 
 
 "J IUMI 
 
 
 tflii 
 
 'iM 
 
 InOI 
 
 »!iJ 
 
 mi 
 
188 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 then rapidly increasing sect of Quakers — a sect, in eriernal demean- 
 our and popular consideration, almost the reverse of that which 
 bears the title in our own day. An enthusiastic and purely i»elf- 
 abnegating zeal for their faith, caused them voluntarily and gratui- 
 tously to expose themselves to the extremest dangers of persecution • 
 and at the time we write of, they were pretty generally proscribed 
 throughout the Christian world. Two women of this persuasion 
 arriving rt Boston .in 1656, were seized at once, kept in close con- 
 finement for five weeks, and then, their books having been burnsd 
 by the hangman, were expelled from the province. One of them 
 Mary Fisher, soon after, set forth alone to deliver a message to the 
 Great Turk, an errand which she actually performed at Adrianople 
 •^the sanctity attached to her supposed insanity, protecting her from 
 any wrong or insult. Many others of the obnoxious sect were sent 
 back to England, or otherwise banished; and when, the next year, 
 some of them returned, imprisonment and whipping were freely 
 resorted to. Fines were imposed upon any who should attend the 
 Quaker meetings or entertain any of the Quakers; and loss of ears and 
 boring the tongue with a hot iron were provided for the obstinate. 
 
 As a natural consequence, a people so fearless, and even so enam- 
 oured, as it were, of persecution, soon flocked in numbers to Massa- 
 chusetts; and the general court of that province, with a rash and 
 cruel persistance in their policy of exclusion, enacted that death 
 should be the penalty of returning from banishment. This san- 
 guinary decree, precipitated by the turbulent and eccentric demean- 
 our of some of the proscribed zealots, was, in 1659, carried into 
 execution on the persons of Mary Dyer, who had returned, and of 
 Stephenson and Robinson, who had come, as voluntary martyrs, to 
 shame, with their blood, the cruelty of the authorities. At the place 
 of execution the woman was reprieved, but answered with spirit, 
 " Jict me parish witn my brethren, unless you will annul your wicked 
 law." She was sent out of the colony, but, returning, also perished 
 by the hands of the hangman. William Leddra, who was offered 
 his life, on condition of promising to keep away, refused the proffer, 
 and was also hanged. At the very time of his trial, Christison, also 
 banished on pain of death, boldly returned, and entered the court; 
 he was adjudged to die, but told his persecutors, truly enough, that 
 for every one they hanged, five more would come to glut them with 
 bloodshed. 
 
 Awed, it would seem, by the determination of the sufferers, and 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 189 
 
 yielding to popular opinion, which was shocked at these cruelties, 
 the magistrates finally paused in their sanguinary career. The life 
 of Christison was spared, and he, with many others, was released 
 from prison. A royal order, not long after, prohibited the repetition 
 of these extreme atrocities, though the minor devices of persecution 
 were still freely resorted to. 
 
 It is extraordinary what pains have been taken by many of our 
 writers to clear the skirts of their ancestors of the stain attaching to 
 the most undeniable persecution on record. "It was in self-de- 
 fence," thus the ablest and most accurate of American historians 
 commences an elaborate apology for these transactions, "that Puri- 
 tanism in America began those transient persecutions of which the 
 excesses shall find in me no apologist." Not to dwell on the several 
 inconsistencies, and even the contradictions in terms involved in' 
 this affirmation, it may be said confidently, that such a plea could be 
 admissible, even on the odious ground of necessity, only where some 
 natural right of the oppressors was in danger of infringement. 
 Though the Quakers, or some of them, indeed railed at the worship 
 of the Puritans, and even denied their right to self-government, 
 surely it cannot be pretended that the principle of freedom was in 
 any way endangered by the mere denunciation of a feeble few, 
 then almost universally proscribed, and utterly destitute of political 
 influence. But the argument evidently is, that, bj retiring from 
 the rest of the civilized world, and erecting a commonwealth by 
 themselves, the Puritans had acquired a species of claim, if opposed, 
 to infringe the natural right of others; that, having established a 
 certain order of things, they were entitled to use, or, at least, were 
 excusable in using, for its maintainance, means at which the natural 
 sense of right in man revolts. 
 
 It lias been as seduously attempted to shift the blame from the 
 shoulders of the persecutors to those of their victims. "But for 
 them," (the Quakers,) says ihe same authority, "the country had 
 been guiltless of blood!" The same may be said of the sufferers 
 under any martyrdom, nay, under any crime or oppression. But 
 for Prynne and his fellows, the mutilators of Charles would have 
 had a sinecure; bu* for Servetus, the black cloak of Geneva might 
 have remained uncrimsoned with the smoking blood of vivo-crema- 
 tion; but for Joan Boucher, the memory of Cranmer had descended 
 to us that of a martyr only, and not a relentless woman-burner; 
 but for Cranmer himself, Rome had been spared her archest deed of 
 
140 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 combined treachery and cruelty. No persecution, of course, can 
 exist without its legitimate prey. That prey is, almost invariably, 
 a small, but brave and stubborn nimority, which, by its unbending 
 opposition, inflames to madness the pride, the self-will, the passion 
 of long-accustomed power. But methinks it rather hard that those 
 who bravely surrendered their lives, in defiance of a wicked law 
 should have the dishonour of the transaction laid at their door, and 
 be accused, at this day, of shaming with their blood the posterity 
 of their murderers. 
 
 Nor is it fair to assume that the Quakers used any greater measure 
 of provocation to their oppressors than has often been customary 
 even with the most undeniable martyrs. The spirit of man, when 
 pou^^ht to be crushed by superior physical power, will at least assert 
 itself in bold and defiant words; and whatever the extravagances 
 committed by some wrong-headed zealots among them, the demean 
 our of the victims, at least on their trial, seems to have been charac- 
 terized l)y remarkable dignity and oecency. The plain fact — so 
 ]>Iain thiit its aasertion is almost supe 'fluous — seems to be, that the 
 early rulers of Massachusetts were men of extraordinary force of 
 character, bigoted, self-willed, and unusually disposed to tyrannize. 
 They had resolved to have their oum way, at whatever cost, even 
 to the shedding of blood. The people against whom their cruel 
 and tyrannical laws were directed, were few in number, but pos- 
 sessed by a spirit of daring, enthusiasm, and stubbornness, such as 
 the world has seldom witnessed. They resolved that these sanguin- 
 ary statutes, whose existence proclaimed them felons, by the very 
 shame and horror of their execution should be annulled; and in 
 laying down their lives in accomplishment of this purpose, they 
 certainly earned as fairly the crown of martyrdom as any of the 
 multitudes who, for conscience, for independence, for fame, or for sal- 
 vation, had trodden the same thorny path before them. 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 141 
 
 • .,.,.', .♦ ir' 
 
 ••;-',r 'J.*'^ 
 
 CnADTPO TIT 
 
 EDUCATION IN MASSACHUSETTS. — HARVARD COLLEGE. — RE- 
 STORATION OP CHARLES II. — OPPRESSIVE ENACTMENTS CON- 
 CERNING COMMERCE. — ATTITUDE OP THE COLONIES. — 
 WINTHROP, THE YOUNGER. — CONNECTICUT OBTAINS 
 A CHARTER: HER PREEDOM AND PROSPERITY. 
 
 With our forefathers, in nearly all the New England states, edu- 
 cation, from the first, was a subject of solicitous care. Provision 
 was made that all children in Massachusetts should at least learn to 
 read and write, and schools of a higher character were not long in 
 succeeding. Only a few years after the arrival of the Puritans in 
 Massachusetts, John Harvard, dying there, by the bequest of his 
 library and of half his estate, founded that admirable university 
 which still commemorates his name, and which has exercised such 
 extraordinary influence, from the first, in promoting the intelligence 
 
 . I refining the manners of New England. Fostered by the dare 
 1 the state, and at times assisted by the neighbouring provinces, it 
 enjoyed a continually increasing prosperity and usefulness. 
 
 The restoration of Charles II. to the throne of England was the 
 signal for a renewal of those more obnoxious claims of sovereignty 
 over the American colonies, which had either been relinquished or 
 suffered to fall into disuse by the government of the commonwealth. 
 The Navigation Act (the child of that government indeed, but, in 
 its original, not designed rigidly to fetter their commerce) was rften- 
 acted, with new and oppressive provisions; a monopoly being 
 secured to English merchants, English ships, and English navigators, 
 in the entire foreign intercourse of those provinces. The exporta- 
 tion of a long list of articles, including tobacco, sugar, cotton, and 
 other produce, was prohibited excepting to England ; and ere long 
 the importation of any European goods, except those supplied by 
 English merchants, was in like manner made illegal. Commercial 
 intercourse between the northern and southern colonies was bur- 
 dened with oppressive duties; and, by degrees, the very manufacture 
 of articles which might compete with that of the home country in 
 foreign trade, or even in furnishing their oWn supplies, was also for- 
 bidden. Such- was the oppressive system, the commencement of 
 
U2 
 
 THE PKOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 which signalized to the colonists the restoration of English mon- 
 archy, and which, finally pursued to an extreme incompatible with 
 their growing strength and spirit of independence, resulted in the 
 loss to England of the most splendid provinces ever founded by the 
 enterprise of her sons, or reared into greatness by their genius and 
 industry. 
 
 'hile MassachusetJ, both its political and moral prepossessions 
 shocked by the prospect of the elevation of a character like that of 
 the new king to the sovereignty of England, waited, with a species 
 of sullen expectancy, the event of the change, and even meditated 
 opposition, in case a royal governor should be sent to rule over it- 
 the other New England colonies, weaker in numbers, and less deter- 
 mined in spirit, proclaimed the new sovereign with alacrity, and 
 hastened to conciliate uis favour. Winthrop the younger, a man 
 of high character, and of most engaging address, was dispatched to 
 London on the part of Connecticut, to obtain from the king a patent 
 of that province for the hardy adventurers who, as yet, held it only 
 by native conquest and purchase, and by the assignment of the 
 representatives of the Earl of Warwick. Aided by some court 
 influence, this emissary obtained an audience with Charles, who was 
 so agreeably impressed with his character and demeanour, that lie 
 granted an ample charter to the petitioners. Hartford and New 
 Ilaven were connected in one colony, and this vast patent extended 
 westward across the entire continent, including in its limits the 
 already numerous and prosperous settlements of the Dutch on the 
 banks of the Hudson. By the same liberal instrument, complete 
 independence, excepting the reservation of allegiance to the crown 
 was .secured to the colonists. All power, botli civil and criminal, 
 judicial and executive, elective and legislative, was lodged in their 
 own hands— a constitution more completely independent in effect 
 could hardly have been framed by the most ardent lover of liberty. 
 Winthrop, aflt^r this successful result of his mission, returned to tlie 
 province, where, in gratitude for his services?, the office of cliief 
 maf.'istrate, for fourteen years, by annual election, was conferred on 
 him. Under these favourable auspices, the colony of Connecticut 
 commenced a career of continual increase, of rational prosperity, and 
 of tranquil happiness. The care for popular education, which has 
 always ciiarsicterizt'd her logislation, was manifested at an early day. 
 Common schools always existed, and the higher wants of the intel- 
 lect, by the lieginuing of the next century, were provided lor in tlie 
 
NEW ENGT.AND. 
 
 143 
 
 foundation of an institution, the modesty and humbkiiess of whoso 
 onc;in contrast strongly with ihe strength and prosperity of its 
 gubseqaent career — the college of Yale.. 
 
 New England, said Mr. Webster, contained in its system threo 
 institutions which alone would have sufficed to make it free — the 
 Town Meeting, the Congregational Church, and the Common School 
 — institutions which still flourish in a nearer approach to perfection, 
 the independent form of church government being confined to no 
 shade of belief, in its privileges or its support. The peace and pros- 
 perity of Connecticut, founded on domestic harmony and freedom 
 from foreign interference, remained for a century, uninterrupted bj 
 any serious disturbance. 
 
 THE CHARTER OP RHODE ISLAND. — CIVII AND RELIGIOUS LIB- 
 ERTY. — CARELESS AND EXTENSIVE GRANTS OF CHARLES 
 II. — THE ATTITUDE OP MASSACHUSETTS: DISTRUST 
 OP THE RESTORATION.— REQUISITIONS OP 
 CHARLES II. — APPOINTMENT OP A COM- 
 MISSION. — ALARM OP THE COLONY. 
 
 RoGEK Williams, having vkited England, and obtained tbe 
 sanction of parliament to the existence of the infant state he had 
 founded, in 1652 returned to New England, leaving, as bis agent, 
 John Clarke, a man of greai, worth ancTindefatigable patience. This 
 efficient emissary obtained from the crown, on the Kestoration, the 
 permi.'sion, earnestly besought by the colonists of Rhode Island, "to 
 hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flonrif hing civil state 
 may stand, and best be maintained with a full liberty of religious 
 concernments." Powers of self-government, as ample as those 
 granted to Connecticut, were secured to the little province, and, to 
 gratify the benevolent request of the petitioners, it was expressly 
 provided, that "no person within the said colony, at any time here- 
 tjfler^ shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in 
 question, for any difference of opinion in matters of religion ; every 
 person may at all times freely and fully enjoy his own judgment and 
 Vol. IV.— 38 
 
• 4i ' 
 
 144 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 conscience in matters of religious concernment." Under this ancient 
 charter, which has been in e\ ence to our own day, Rhode Island 
 enjoyed unoommon political blessings, both civil and religious. Its 
 first benefit was the protection of that feeble colony against the am- 
 bitious encroachments of Massrchusetts, which was desirous of 
 extending its jurisdiction over its weaker neighbours, and which 
 was effectually checked by this direct action of the crown. Rhode 
 Island, at the time of this foundation of her political existence, num 
 bered only between two and three thousand souls. 
 
 An extraordinary mixture of liberality ana carelessness charac- 
 terized the king's Wjhole management of his North American prov- 
 inces. To his brother James, and to several favourites and courtiers 
 he guve immense grants of territory, comprising nearly all the best 
 pirt of the North American continent — that to William Penn, laying 
 the foundation of a commonwealth of peace, being almost the only 
 one whose origin was of a purer nature than mere personal rapacity 
 or ambition. 
 
 « Until it waa absolutely certain that the commonwealth was at an 
 end, and that the House of Stuart was reinstated on the throne, 
 Arassachu.setts hesitated to commit itself to any decided recognition 
 of sovereignty. But when, in the fall of 1661, the news of that 
 event arrived, the general court, knowing that the province would 
 be readily exposed to odium with the new government, hastened to 
 prepare addresses to the crown and parliament. They stated plainly 
 the religious scruples which had induced the Puritans to quit their 
 country, averring that they were "true men, fearing God and the 
 King," and praying that Charles, himself so lately in exile, would 
 feel u sympathy for men suffering the same misfortune. The agent 
 of i\w province was instructed to make what interest he could with 
 the court and parliament, and, especially, to resist the allowance of 
 appeals from the colonial government to that of England. 
 
 Upon this point, however, the new government seemed resolved 
 to insist; and the general court, in view of a probable collision, with 
 much boldness, published ", declanition of rights, claiming for the 
 province the entire power of appointing all its officers, of exercising 
 all powers of government, legislative, executive, and judicial, and the 
 right of resisting any infringement of its liberties, as theretofore 
 enjoyed. Little more than a nominal allegiance to the crown was 
 acknowledged; and when, in 1661, the Restoration wjus publicly 
 ]>r(K;luimed, it was done with much coldness and apathy. 
 
 ^ 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 145 
 
 Messengers were dispatched to England to sustain the interests 
 of the province, with instructions to persuade the king of its loyalty, 
 and to parry, if possible, any attempt upon its liberties. They vere 
 only in a measure successful. The charter was confirmed, but the 
 king demanded, with some reason, that the laws should be adminis- 
 tered in his name, that the oath of allegiance should be taken, that 
 the Church of England should be tolerated; and that none, except 
 a property restrictioii, .should be continued on the elective franchise. 
 The latter of these demands, striking more closely than any other 
 at the religions government and the prejudices of the colonists, ex- 
 cited the greatest discontent; and a E/iricter censdiTship was held over 
 all except the established religion. 
 
 Stimulated by rumours, partly true and partly false, of the dis- 
 loyal spirit of the province, (it was even rumoured that Goffe and 
 Whalley, who had lately come over, and were in hiding, had raised 
 an army against the crown,) the English sovereign proceeded to 
 appoint a commission of four persons to investigate matters in New 
 England, and to use a very discretionary authority in settling its 
 affairs. On the news of this obnoxious measure reaching Boston, 
 hasty measures were adopted for precaution and defence. The 
 safety of th»charter, and restraint upon the landing of soldiers, were 
 especially provided for; and in view of the impending trials of the 
 Commonwealth, a day of solemn prayer and fasting was appointed. 
 
 CHAPTER ?I. 
 
 REMONSTRANCE OF MASSACHUSETTS — DOINGS OP THE COMMIS- 
 SIONERS: THEIR DISPUTES WITH THE AUTHORITIES: THEIR 
 DISCOMFITURE AND RETURN TO ENGLAND. — SUCCESSFUL 
 RESISTANCE OF MASSACHUSETTS. — INERTNESS OF THE 
 OROWN. — PROSPERITY AND TRADE OF THE PROVINCE. 
 
 The fleet, dispatched from England for the reduction of Man- 
 hattan and other Dutch settlements (see "New Netherlands") in 
 July, 1664, arrived at Boston, bearing the commissioners. The 
 general court, promptly assembled, in token of their loyalty, agreed 
 
146 
 
 TIIK PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 4:' ■ 
 
 to levy a force in assistaDce of the expedition ; and, while the fleet 
 was busied r.t Manhattan, prepared a forcible and eloquent remon> 
 Btrance, addressed to the king. Reciting the privileges of their 
 charter, the sacrifices they had made to obtain it, and tlie liberties 
 they had enjoyed under it; they foretold the trouble and ruin which 
 any persistance in controlling the affairs of the colony would occa- 
 sion. "God knows," they say, "our greatest ambition is to live a 
 quiet life, in a corner of the world." Any thing but their liberties, 
 they declared, they were willing to offer in testimony of their loyalty. 
 
 Meanwhile, the commissioners, not caring to make themselves unne- 
 cessarily odious, had>bu» ied themselves, in rmony with the colonists, 
 in settling certain matters in Connecticut and Rhode Island — the "du- 
 tifulness and obedience" of which former, they averred, was "set off 
 with the more lustre by the C( itrary deportment of Massacliusetts." 
 Plymouth, which was promised a separate charter, if it would sub- 
 mit the nomination of its governor to the commissioners, protested 
 much loyalty, but declined the intermeddling proposition. , 
 
 These gentlemen, returning to Boston, demanded that all the men 
 should be assembled to hear the king's message; but their requisi- 
 tion was refused, though they denounced as traitors those who 
 opposed the proceeding. The Massachusetts authorities refused to 
 state directly whether they would obey the commission or not; and 
 the members of it, to try their power, gave notice that they would 
 hold a court for the trial of a cause to which the colony was a party. 
 But the general court, by sound of trumpet, and proclamation of a 
 herald, forbade all persons to take part in their proceedings. Foiled 
 in this point, the visitors proceeded to intermeddle in the affuirs of 
 Maine and New Ilampshire. The court, with equal promptitude 
 and fearlessness, met them by an order to the inhabitants of the 
 latter to forbear obeying or abetting them, at their peril. In Maine, 
 indeed, they set up A royal government; but not long after thuir 
 departure, Massachusetts, by force of arms, reestablished its authority 
 there. They finally returned to England in much wrath and disnp- 
 f>ointment, without having accomplished any permanent alteration 
 in the condition of the provinces. 
 
 The king, in very natural displeasure, now summoned (166H) some 
 of the chief persons of Massachusetts to appear before him, and 
 answer for the doings of that refractory province. The geneml 
 court, which met to consider this demand, after protracted pruver, 
 refused compliance, declaring that they had aireaily expressed their 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 147 
 
 i 
 
 'du- 
 
 viewB in writing, "so that the ablest person among us could not 
 declare our case more fully." -'HinMi 1 . ,• i . < , ■ 
 
 In all this peremptory resistance, and almost defiance of the 
 authority of the crown, there was no lack of patriotic feeling, or of 
 affection for the mother-country; for very effective assistance, in 
 provisions and materials, was rendered to the English navy, in the 
 contest with France, commencing at this time; and whether from 
 fear or negligence, the king, immersed in sensuality, took no active 
 measures to vindicate his claims. After much discussion in the 
 council, it was considered that the refractory colony was too strong 
 to meddle with ; that it might, at a moment's warning, throw off its 
 allegiance; and that the safest policy was to overlook its transgres- 
 sions, and wait a more favourable opportunity for enforcing the 
 obnoxious claims. 
 
 Meanwhile the province, left to its own management, by the 
 enterprise and industry for which its people have ever been distin- 
 guished, prospered in an extraordinary degree. Foreign conn!nerce 
 (for the Navigation Act was set at naught) sprung up with surprising 
 rapidity; fish and furs were exported in quantities; and lumber, 
 which, by the then recent invention of saw-mills, was prepared with 
 unaccustomed ease from the almost exhaustless forests of Maine and 
 New Hampshire, had already assumed high importance as an article 
 of traffic. 
 
 n. II s: a ill li Vii. 
 
 CONDITION OP THE NEW ENGLAND INDIANS: CONVERSION 
 OP SOME OP THEM: THEIR NUMBERS AND STRENGTH. — 
 THE POKANOKETS. — METACOMET. OR KING PHILIP: 
 HIS GRIEVANCES: DISSIMULATION: SCHEME POR THE 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE ENGLISH. — CAPTAIN 
 CHURCH: HIS CHARACTER. ETC.: HE DIS- 
 CONCERTS AN INTRIGUE OP PHILIP. 
 
 Though liable to the imputation of blame, for too persistent en- 
 croachment, even under the guise of purchase, upon the domains of 
 the native tribes adjoining them, the English colonists, to their 
 credit, were sincerely desirous of civilizing and converting their 
 
143 
 
 TUK PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 11 
 
 Indian neighbours. Many of the latter, by the praiseworthy pains 
 of their white friends, had learned to read and write, and one of 
 them even graduated at the university of Cambridge. The mission- 
 ary labours of the admirable John Eliot and of the two Mayhews, 
 had been crowned with much success in their conversion. The for- 
 mer, with wonderful patience and diligence, had even prepared and 
 published, for their benefit, a translation cf the Bible, in the Indian 
 tongue. The race for whose sahution this pious and laborious 
 monument of learning was erected, has passed entirely away. The 
 Bible may still be found ou the shelf of an ancient library, but no 
 man living is able to peruse it Around Boston, and on the cape 
 and its adjoining ialundH, villages of "praying Indians" had been 
 established, and friendship with the settlers had been' thus confirmed 
 and strengthened. But the powerful tribe of the Narragansetts, and 
 that of the Pokanokets, at this t':;ie (ll>76) nearly as numerous, still 
 clung, with a jealous fidelity, to the religion of their fathers. 
 
 In 1675, the number of Indians in New England was roughly 
 computed at fifty thousand. Unprincipled traders had supplied 
 them with fire-arms, which they had learned to use with deadly 
 accuracy, and the possession of which gave them a dangerous con- 
 sciousness of power. Confined, in a good measure, by the continual 
 extension of the English settlements, to peninsulas and necks of land 
 (tn the const, many of the tribes began to suffer from insufficient 
 room to procure their customary subsistence. 
 
 On the death of Massasoit, the earliest and firmest friend of the 
 English, his son, Wumsutta, or, as he was called by the latter, Alex- 
 ander, succeeded him in the sway of the Pokanokets. Only a few 
 inontlis alter his accession, on some vague suspicion, he was seized 
 by a party of English, and carried prisoner into Plymouth, \shere, 
 in a few days, he died of a fever, brought on by anger and irritution. 
 His brother, Metacornet, more commonlv known as the famous King 
 Pliili|), succeeded to the throne, and, from protbund policy, main- 
 tained an appearance of great friendship for the whites. For nine 
 years, with extraordinary dissimulation, though cherishing feelings 
 of revenge for the death of his brother, and the encroachments on 
 his territory, he maintained the appearance of amity. Some disputes, 
 indeed,, caused by the latter grievance, as early as 1671, had occur- 
 red; and I'hili}), .strangely enough, subscribed a set of articles, 
 yielding almo.st every point in question, and, in a rr'^nner, "deliver- 
 ing himself, body and soul, into the hands of the Plymouth author- 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 149 
 
 itics. His motive, doubtless, was to blind his enemies as to the 
 extent and dangerous nature of the conspiracy he was meditating. 
 His plan was nothing less than the complete extermination of the 
 whites, and in its prosecution he displayed a policy, courage, ard 
 perseverance, which, in a savage, have never been surpassed. To 
 knit the clans of New England, immemorially dissevered by tra- 
 ditional feud and enmity, into a confederacy against a foe so terrible 
 as the English, might well have seemed to the most sanguine a hope- 
 less task ; yet such was the object to which Philip bent all his policy 
 and energy, and in which, to a great extent, he succeeded." Argu- 
 ment, persuasion, and menace, were each, in turn, applied with the 
 utmost adroitness. 
 
 In the spring of 1675, he sent six ambassadors to Awashonks, 
 queen of the Sogkonntes, demanding, on pain of his own vengeance, 
 and of exposure (by an artful dovice) to the resentment of the Eng- 
 lish themselves, that the tribe should join his league. A solemn 
 dance was appointed, to decide the question, and Awashonks, that 
 the opposite party might not be unrepresented, sent for her neigh- 
 bour. Captain Benjamin Church, the only white man in her domains. 
 This celebriited man, one of the most famous Indian fighters in New 
 England history, hnd just settled in the wilderness of Sogkonate. 
 " lie was a man of undaunted courage, of a sagacity fitted to copo 
 with the wiliest tactics of Indian warfare, and, withal, of a kindly 
 and generous disposition, which, except when engaged in immediate 
 hostilities, seem to have secured for him the respect and attachment 
 of the wild tribes which he so often encountered. His narrative,* 
 written in his old age, by his son, from his own notes and dictation, 
 is one of the choicest fragments of original history in our possession. 
 As a literary performance, it is just respectable; but for vividness 
 of deti'.il and strength of expression, it is something more, and may 
 well bo entitled to rank with such rude but stirring productions as 
 the 'True Conquest' of Bernal Diaz, and the 'True Adventures' of 
 Captain .John Smith." 
 
 On \iis arrival, a grand council was held, at which the six Wam- 
 panoags appeared in great state, making, says Church, "a formidable 
 appearance, with their faces painted, and their hair trimmed back in 
 comb fashion, with their powder-horns and shot-bags at their- backs, 
 which among that nation is the posture and figure of preparedness 
 for war." A fierce discussion ensued, and a privy counsellor, named 
 
 * "The Eiitertiining History of King Philip's War." 
 
\r^o 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 Little Eyes, attempted to draw Church aside, to privately dispatch 
 him, but was prevented by others. The Englishman, with great 
 boldness, ndvised Awashonks, "to knock those six Mount Hopes* 
 on the head, and shelter herself under the protection of the Engliah 
 Upon which, the Mount ITopes were for the present dumb." He 
 then sharply rebuked them, as faithless wretches, thirsting for the 
 blood of their neighbours, and assurt hem, that if they would have 
 war, ho should j)rove a sharp thorn in their sides. The queen and 
 her people, overmastered by his eloquence and energy, dismissed the 
 embassy, and, fur a time, observed neutrality, if not fidelity. 
 
 CTTADTl'DTrTTT 
 XXilrX£i£i VXXI. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OP PHILIP'S WAR. — EXPLOIT OP CHURCH - 
 
 RETREAT OP THE INDIANS. — PHILIP ROUSES TUK TRIBES. 
 
 — DESTRUCTION OP TOWNS, ETC. — THE ATTACK ON 
 
 HADLBT: REPULSED BT OOPPE. — ORBAT LOSSES 
 
 OP THE ENOLISU. — SPRINOi'IBLD BURNED. 
 
 It was soon evident that Philip was preparing for active war. He 
 sent all the women and children of his tribe into the Narragansett 
 country, and held a great dance, lasting for several weeks, with all 
 the warriors of his neighbourhood. The first blow was struck on 
 the 24th of June, in an attack on the little town of Swansey. Nino 
 of the settlers were killed, and the rest fled, while the Indians fired 
 their deserted dwellings. Soldiers were sent from Massachusetts, 
 and Church, with a company from Plymouth, hastened to the fron- 
 tier. Philip was compelled to flee, but only to ravage the country 
 in other remote 8j)ot8. Church, with only nineteen men, holding on 
 in pursuit, at last, on the site of the present town of Tiverton, fell 
 in with three hundred of the enemy. "The hill," he tells us, 
 "seemed to move, being covered over with Indians, with their 
 bright guns glittering in the sun, and running in a circumference 
 with a design to surround them." From a place of vantage, the 
 English defended themselves with much courage and desperation, 
 till taken oil by a vessel which came to their aid, covering theii 
 
 * So called, from Mount IIop«, the favourite sent of Philip. 
 
riJfO PHILIP. 
 
AJ^" Kjj* 
 
 T U K. S £ T r J. I: It .s i) y X /, /» ;■ 
 
 .vo /..i.vjj a a I. Yd T 
 
 r 
 
 IN TiiK rniR (IF Till: \sm\^ waks 
 
 o c H u n c H . 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 161 
 
 embarkation with her' fire. When all were on board but Church, 
 that daring man, who had left his hat and cutlass by a spring, de- 
 clared he would never leave them as trophies for the enemy. Load- 
 ing his gun with his last charge of powder, he went back, and brought 
 them off, amid a shower of bullets, some of which grazed his person. 
 
 The English forces, at last uniting, after some indecisive engage- 
 ments, compelled Philip and his warriors to take refuge in a great 
 swamp at I'ocasset; their camp, consisting of a hundred new wig- 
 wams, being deserted. A great number of Indians, who had sur- 
 rendered under fair promises, were treacherously transported as 
 slaves — a piece of perfidious cruelty against which Church vainly 
 remonstrated. That active officer, if permitted, could at this time, 
 probably, by a close pursuit of the Indians, have ended the war, but 
 he was continually thwarted and embarrassed by the inactivity and 
 obstinacy of his superiors. 
 
 Defeated, with a loss of thirty warriors, in another engagement, 
 Philip fled westward, and excited the remoter tribes to warfare. 
 Numbers of the English were killed, and several flourishing villages 
 on the frontifci' were burned. In Brookfield, however, a small force, 
 under Captain Wheeler, besieged in a building, held out for two 
 days against several hundred savages, who, after losing, it is said, 
 eighty of their number, were compelled by the arrival of roinforce- 
 ments to raise the siege. " From this time, an almost continual suc- 
 cession of Indian attacks and massacres occurred, and town after 
 town was laid in ashes. Aided by the continually exciting causes 
 of enmity, developed by war with a foe so indefinite as 'the Indians,' 
 Philip had succeeded in awaking a general hostility among the 
 numerous tribes of the frontier. It was supposed that he was present 
 at many of the scenes of midnight assault and massacre which, at 
 that time, filled New England with alarm; but it is certain that he 
 was seldom recognised. Once, it is said, he was seen at a successful 
 attack, riding on a black horse, leaping fences, and exulting in the 
 scene of destruction ; and again, that he once ordered an arm-chair 
 to be brought forth, that he might enjoy at his ease the conflagra- 
 tion of a village." 
 
 On the 1st of September, a simultaneous attack was made on 
 Iladley and Deerfield, the latter of which was mostly destroyed. 
 The people of Iladley assembled at their meeting-house, armed as 
 usual ; but, taken by surprise at the unexpected tissault of the savages, 
 would probably have been overwhelmed, but for an unexpected 
 
 III 
 
 
 i! 
 
 ■m 
 
152 
 
 TUB PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 assistance. An old man, with long white hair, dressed in the fash- 
 ion of a former day, suddenly appeared, and assumed the command. 
 By his courage and skillful strategy, he put the enemy to flight, and 
 then disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as he came. Many 
 of the people supposed him to be an angel, providentially sent to 
 their aid; but he was, in reality, Major-General Goffe, one of the 
 regicide judges, who, with his companion, Whalley, had been con- 
 cealed for ten years in the cellar cf Mr. Russell, minister of the town. 
 'There are few incidents in history more striking than that of the 
 old soldier, so long immured in this dismal habitation, roused once 
 more by the clash of arms and the discharge of musketry, to mingle, 
 for the last time, in the half-forgotten scenes of combat, and then 
 shrinking back for ever into the gloom and twilight of his subter- 
 ranean abode." 
 
 Thirty-six men, dispatched to the relief of Northfield, (where a 
 number of the people had been slain,) were mostly cut off by an am- 
 buscade, and a hundred more, consisting of the finest young men 
 in the country, marching to Deerfield, under Captain Lathrop, sur- 
 r "unded by an overwhelming force of the enemy, afler a desperate 
 defence, were all killed, except seven or eight. Thirty houses were 
 burned at Springfield, together with "the brave library" of Rev. 
 Pelatiah Glover, which had once been carried to a place of safety — 
 "but the said minister, a great student, and an helluo librorum, being 
 impatient fo»' want of his books, brought them back, to his great 
 sorrow, for a bonfire for the proud insulting enemy. Of all the mis- 
 chiefs," continues Rev. Mr. Hubbard, ("Indian Wars,") "done by 
 the said enemy before that day, the burning of this said town of 
 Springfield did more than any other discover the said actors to be 
 the children of the devil, full of all subtlety and malice," «Sic., &c. The 
 sympathy of the learned and studious may well travel back a couple 
 of centuries, to condole with the unfortunate scholar, widowed of liis 
 library — his loss irreparable — bookless — in the American wilderness. 
 
 » 
 
NEW ENGLAND. I53 
 
 PHILIP'S WAR, CONTINUED. — DESTRrCTION OP THE NAB- 
 EAQANSETT FORT: TERRIBLE MA88ACRF — MALIGNANT 
 EXULTATION OP THE EARLY HISTORIANS. — INDIAN SUC- 
 CESSES. — CAPTURE AND DEATH OP CANONCHET: HIS 
 HEROISM AND MAGNANIMITY. — DIPLOMACY OP CHURCH. 
 
 At Hatfield, in October, the garrison and town's people beat off 
 a body of seven or eight hundred savages who attacked the place; 
 and during the beginning of the ensuing winter, little was done by 
 either party, the Indians suffering greatly from want and exposure. 
 i ailip and his warriors, it was supposed, had taken refuge with the 
 Narragansetts. The English now resolved to crush this latter tribe, 
 as the most easily accessible, on account of the shelter they had 
 afforded to the cuemy. Five hundred soldiers, under command of 
 Jo8i;xs Winslow, guvornoi' of Plymouth, were dispatched against the 
 devoted tribe, and on the afternoon of December 19th, a bitter win- 
 ter's day, after a forced march, arrived at their principal fort. It 
 was built on a plateau of elevated ground in a great swamp, and 
 the only access to it was by the trunk of a large tree, lying in the 
 water. Across this bridge of peril, the assailants, with much loss, 
 ra^de iheir way, and aftsr a desperate battle within, lasting for some 
 hours, firing the fort, renewed the terrible tragedy of Groton. Seven 
 hundred of the Narragansett wai-riors are said to have fallen in the 
 fight, and nearly half that number afterwards perished of their 
 wounds. " The number of old men, wt men, and children," says 
 Rev. Mr. Hubbard, "that perished either by fire, or that were 
 starved with cold and hunger, none could tell." "They were ready," 
 he uarrates, in a strain of disgusting levity, "to dress their dinner, 
 but our sudden and unexpected assault put them beside that work, 
 making their cook-rooms too hot for them at that time when they 
 and their mitchen fried together: And probably some of them eat 
 their suppers in a colder ijiace that night, most of their provisions 
 as well i\s huts being consumed by fire, nd those that were ^^fk 
 alive forced to hide themselves in a cedar swamp, not far off, \ :. :e 
 they had nothing to defend them from the cold but boughs of spruce 
 and piije trees!" 
 
 in 
 
 t^^-i'^^i 
 
164 
 
 THii PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 The defeated nation did not full unavenged, eighty of the English 
 being slain outright, and an hundred and fifty wounded, many of 
 vvhom perished on the return march, rendered terrible by the sever- 
 ity of the season, and the want of proper suppliei?. (^anoiiiihrt, (the 
 son of Miantonimc) the brave young sachem '1 the Narragausetts 
 with the relics of i)is force, took refuge in the '.vest, ,• lere. \n con- 
 cert with P'lilip, lui planned schemes of venp.eful repr.'«»l. Laii- 
 caster and Medfield (the latter onlj' twei ty mika from l>oat /n) wer ■ 
 burned, and nearly % hundred c'' the set;.l -rs wc" ; killed or carried 
 off. Portions of Proviilence and Weymoulii were also destroyed 
 and two companies, each of fifty nun, were successively "swallowed 
 up" by the victorious enemy. 
 
 The first c'lt^ck to this spirited rcmJWJil of ihe war, was the cip- 
 taro of the b;Mve Canonchet, who, hav'Mg rused t% force .. •* many 
 h'lu'irofl rasn; to ensure provision for their auppor*. had ventured 
 eat Ajird xvh a fev; warriors, to procure seed for plantation. He 
 wuf; fhot 31 .StO'iington, having "refused to purchase his life by pro- 
 cnrirsg t. p Knbali^^;ion of his injured tribe; i>nd met his death with 
 the hij^hest courasjfe and fortitude — a true patriot, and a hero, whose 
 soul, fx) judge from h.'s brief sayings, was ca,^t iu an almost class- 
 ical mould," 
 
 "This," says Mr. Hubbard, "was the confusion" (confounding^ 
 "of a damned wretch, that had oft«n opened his mouth to blas- 
 pheme the name of the living God, and those thiit make profession 
 thereof, lie was told at large of his breach of faith, and how he 
 had boasted thai he would not deliver up a Wampanoag nor tJie paring 
 of a Wampano'i'fs nail, that he would burn the English alive in 
 their houses; to which he replied, otJiers were as forward for tJie war 
 as himself, and he deairsd. to Jiear no more thereof, A nd when he was 
 told his sentence was to die, he said, he liked it well, that he should 
 die before his heart was soft, or he had spoken anything unwo.t/iy of him- 
 Gtif He told the English before they put hi death, tliat the 
 
 lillimj him would not end the UMr; but it was a considerable ttep 
 thereunto." 
 
 In the spring of 1676, the war continued to rage, several desperate 
 actions being fought, with alternate success — part of Plymouth and 
 other towns being burned, and great loss res- Iting to both parties. 
 The Indians, indeed, suffered grievously frof l.J and hunger; and 
 a fdrce of cavalry, from Connecticut, aided . body of Mohegans, 
 was vor\ ^ectually employed agair'-t th Two hundred were 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 155 
 
 made prisoners on one occasion ; five or six hundred surrendered on 
 ii rioubtful promise of mercy; and many migrated to the west. 
 Philip and his people still held out, and kept the settlements in 
 continual dread of attack, nis final defeat and destruction was due 
 to the energy of Captain (aflerwarda colonel) Church, who had per- 
 formed active service during the war, and who, immediately on 
 recovering from his wounds, devoted himself to the task of bringing 
 it to an end. 
 
 The Sogkonates, at this time, were in alliance with Philip, and 
 to detach them from the hostile league, with only a single companion 
 the captain boldly ventured into their country. He narrowly 
 escaped with his life from the vengeance of some of them, but, by 
 his persuasions and arguments, at last so completely won the confi- 
 dence of the tribe, that the chief warrior rose, and placed himself 
 and all the rest at his disposal, saying, "We will help you to Philip's 
 head, ere the Indian corn be ripe." With an extraordinary savage 
 pantomime, the clan performed the ceremony of swearing allegiance 
 to their new commander, and the desertion of these allies, we are 
 told, "broke Philip's heart as soon as he understood it, so as he 
 never rejoiced after, or had success in any of his designs." 
 
 CTT A p nn p T) "Y 
 iLiLXirXJUiU lAi* 
 
 PHILIP'S WAR, CONTINUED. — SHCCESSPUL CAMPAIGN OP 
 
 CHURCH. DEPKAT AND CAPTUIIE OF THE SAVAGES. — 
 
 PHILIP'S DESPAIll: HE IlKTRKATS TO MOUNT HOPE: IS 
 
 OEPEATED AND SLAIN: BAKRAKOUS EXPOSURE 
 
 OP HIS REMAINS: HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 With an English force, and a c()!lsi^lerable number of Indian war- 
 riors, Church, ill June, 1676, oomintMiceil an active campaign ajjainst 
 the enemy, scouring the woods in all directions, and killing or 
 making prisoners of great numbers of the hostile savages. "In the 
 midi't of thi> oncompromising warfare, we find him exhibiting a 
 Iiurnunity ind good 'hiili uncominon at the time, using every exer- 
 tion to prevail' torture and cruelty, and vehemently prot<isting 
 against any ill usage of t\.K natives who .-surrendered. Once he fell 
 
 
156 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 in with Little Ej'es, (who would have killed him at Awnshonk'a 
 dance,) and his Indians wished him to be revenged. 'But the Cap- 
 tain told them it was not Englishmen's fashion to seek revenge,' nnd 
 took especial care for his safety and protection." The finest cf his 
 captives he selected for his own service, and, singular to state, such 
 was the fascination of his manner, and his acquaintance with the 
 Indian character, that he generally converted these recruits into 
 devoted followers. 
 
 Pursuing the enemy into the Narrag.insett's country, "he came 
 to Taunton river, over which the Indians had felled a large tree for 
 the purpose of crossing. On the stump, at the opposite side, sat a 
 solitary warrior. Church quietly raised his gun, but was prevented 
 from firing by the suggestion that it was a friend. The Indian 
 aroused by the noise, looked up. It was Philip himself, musing 
 drearily, no doubt, on the fallen fortunes of his race. Ere a gun 
 could again be levelled, he sprang up, and bounded like a deer into 
 the forest." Closely following his track, the English at last came 
 up with the relics of the enemy, who were posted in a swamp. Tho 
 latter, after a sharp skirmish, were defeated, and an hundred and 
 seventy-three, including women and children, were taken captive. 
 Philip and most of his warriors escaped, but his wife and child were 
 among the prisoners. The latter described his condition as forlorn 
 in llie extreme, and said, that after this last misfortune, he was 
 quite inconsolable. 
 
 "The unhappy .sachem, after seeing his followers, one after ?>n- 
 other, fall before the English, or desert his failingcau.se, had betaken 
 himself, like some wild animal hard driven by the hunters, to his 
 pncient haunt, the former residence of his father, the friendly Mas- 
 pasoit. In all the plea.sant region washed by the jircling Narragan- 
 sett, there is no spot more beautiful than that miniature mountain, 
 the home of the old sachems of the Wampanoags. But with what 
 feelings the la.st of their number, a fugitive before inveterate foes 
 nnd recreant followers, looked on the pleasant habitation of his 
 fathers, may more ea.sily be imagined than described. Still, he 
 sternly rejected all proposals for peace, and even slew one of his 
 own followers, who had ventured to speak of treaty with the Kng- 
 li.sh, Tr.e brother of this victim, naturally enraged and alienated 
 from his cause, at once deserted to the enemy, and gave the informa- 
 tion which led U) his final ruin, 
 
 "A few brave warriors yet remained faithful to him, and with 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 167 
 
 these and their women, and children, he had taken refuge in a swamp 
 hard by the mountfin, on a little spot of rising ground. In that 
 troubled night, the last of his life, the sachem, we are told, had 
 dreamed of his betrayal,* and awaking early, was recounting the 
 vision to his companions, when the foe came suddenly upon him. 
 Uis old enemy, Church, who was familiar with the ground, coming 
 lip quietljf in the darkness of night, had posted his followers, both 
 English and Indian, so as, if possible, to prevent any from escaping. 
 The result was almost immediate. After several volleys had been 
 rapidly fired, Philip, attempting to gain a secure position, came in 
 range of an ambush, and was instantly shot through the heart by 
 one Alderman, an Indian under Church's command. He fell on his 
 fiice with his gun undev him, and died without a struggle. (August 
 12, 1676,)"t Most of the warriors, under old Annawon, Philip's 
 chief captain, made their escape. 
 
 The body of the unfortunate sachem was drawn from the swamp, 
 a spectacle of exultation for "the army;" and Church, following the 
 barbarous fashion of the time, declared "that, forasmuch as he had 
 caused many an Englishman's body to be unburied and to rot above 
 ground, no one of his bones should be buried." "This Agag" says 
 Cotton Mather, spitefully enough, " was now cut into quarters, which 
 were then hanged up, while his head was carried in triumph to 
 Plymouth, where it arrived on the very day that the church there 
 was keeping a solemn thanksgiving to God. God sent 'en, ihe head 
 of a leviathan for a thanksgiving feast." The festivity of the modf^^n 
 observance of the same name, it is certain, could hardly be enh; 
 by the arrival of a human head, even though it were that of a brave 
 and inveterate foe. 
 
 "The ghastly relic was long exposed in that town, an object of 
 mingled horror and satisfaction tc the citizens; and when the flesh 
 was fallen away, and the dry jaw could be rattled with the skull, a 
 grave historian records with satisfaction his odious trifling with the 
 remains, which, in their life-time, he would not havo dared to ap- 
 proach 'for all below the moon.' The only reward allotted to the 
 victors was a bounty of thirty shillings on the head o2 v slain 
 Indian; and Church, with some reason, complains that Philip's was 
 
 * )Ir. Hubbnrd, for a wonder, does not fully adopt this account, hut dismisses it 
 piirenthetically, "(whether the devil nppt-ared to him in a dream that nigiit, as he did 
 tint') Sanl{-',< 'orelxidiiig his tragical end, it matters not,") &,c., &c. 
 
 + Discoverers, &c., of America. 
 
 Ijfii 
 
158 
 
 THE I'EOrLE'S UOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 rated no iiighcr than tbo rest. The sinewy right hand of the sachem 
 much scarred b) the bursting of a pistol, was given to Alderman, 'to 
 show to such gentlemen as would bestoM'^ gratuities upon him; and 
 accordingly h.' got many a penny by it.'* 
 
 "Thus died r'ii)i|j ./ Pokanoket, the last sacht rn of the Wompp.- 
 noags, tli'^ -rif^iiio!' >i ad the head of that terrible confederacy which 
 80 lon^' ki^pt hvw England in dread and consternation, and which 
 at one linu-, seemed almost to threaten its entire destruction, llo 
 was, undoubtedly, a man far superior to the generality of his race, iu 
 boldness, sagacity, and policy; his powers of persuasion were extra- 
 or iiiuiry ; and the terrifyin<^' rr .'.U • i hia enmity sufTiciently evinced 
 the anibiliuiis nature ■! iii» scheme, and ;'ie genius with which it 
 was conducted. The*division and barbarous exposure of his remains 
 entailed disgrace, not on him, but on the authors of the profanation- 
 his sufferings and the injuries of his family have awakened in suc- 
 ceeding generations somewhat of that sympathy which is always due 
 to mi, iortune; and though the defeated leader of a ruined confed- 
 eratioii, his name, more than that ot any other of the Indian race 
 has always excited the interest, if not the admiration of mankind."| 
 
 Crr A p fp -p T) Y T 
 juLilXlJCiXi JL 1, 
 
 philip's war, concluded. — captdr8 op annawon and 
 his warrh'rs, by church. — roma.ntic incidents- 
 summary of tht war, — philip's son. — bal'.barous 
 policy ok thk victors. — murdkrous advicb, — 
 th;^ tharai ter op the puritans. — reflections, 
 
 Chi'RCII, with a small force, followed closely on the track of 
 Annawon , nd ilie few war'i'>rs whom uith and desertion had yet 
 left to maintain the ruined > ause of the I'okanokets; and, at'itT long 
 and weari.some pursuit, at len'T'') learned from a captive the place of 
 his retreat. In his ejuf rne.>»8 to surprise the foe (who never camped 
 two nights ill the sa ■: lac*' with only half a do/en friendly In 
 (lian.s, he p<;t forth, wi.n exl )rdinary boldness, on the adventure. 
 
 • "Cliurih's "Entertaiiiiinj History.' 
 
 f Diacovorert, &.c , of Ainerica. 
 
♦ •' 
 
 C.I r r.i I x II f. jV .1 .1 m IX c n u n c n , 
 
 THE INDIAN riOIITER. 
 
 BORN 1610: OVERCAME MirTAroMtrr (KING nilLIP). Ai;Gt;ST IZ Ifi^H ; OIKO 
 1 JANTARV n H1» 
 
 
 / 
 
 'Hi 
 
 I '11 
 
 M»> 
 
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 ^'SMI 
 
 ^^^^^■jfl 
 
 'kfffi^BttJ^^H 
 
 ^^^^^^^■H 
 
 LM|ffi^B 
 
 ■■1 
 
 t,afiUfl||H 
 
 ^^^^^^^1 
 
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 ^^^^^^^HH 
 
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 WMK^ 
 
 
 
NEW ENOLAND. 
 
 169 
 
 The bivouac of the fVi^itives was in a place of remarkable security 
 and (HITiculty of accesw, yet the captain, with his allies, lowering 
 theiiselvcH by bushcH over the face of a precipitous rock, took tho 
 enemy, mostly sleeping, by surprise, and secured their guns, which 
 were all stacked together at the head of Annawon. That redoubted 
 warrior, his weapons lost, surrendered, and the rest followed his 
 example. Church promising to use all his influence; in behalf of their 
 lives, "I am come to sup with you," he said, pleasantly, to Anna- 
 won, and tho latter bidding his women prepare a meal, the two cap- 
 tains feasted together in perfect harmony. 
 
 Did those limits allow, it would be pleasing to dwell on the 
 romantic incidents of this most wonderful surprise; how the whole 
 company, wearied with pursuit and flight, were soon wrapped in 
 slumber, all but the two leaders, who lay looking at each other by 
 the glimmering light of the embers; how Annawon arose and dis- 
 appeared in the darkness, but ere long returned, bearing a powder- 
 horn, a scarlet blanket, and two splendid belts of wampum, the 
 regalia of tho unfortunate Philip; how he solemnly invested Church 
 with these royalties, as the victor over the last of the hostile tribe; 
 and how, in the words of the captain, "they spent the remainder of 
 the night in discourse, and Annawon gave an account of what 
 mighty success he had formerly in wars against many nations of 
 Indians, when he served Asuhmequin," (Massasoit,) " Philip's father." 
 
 This exploit ended Philip's war — a war which, though it lasted 
 only a year and a half, seemed almost to threaten the destruction of 
 New England. Thirteen towns had been laid in ashes, and many 
 others partially destroyed, six hundred dwellings, in all, being 
 burned by the enemy. Six hundred Englishmen had lost their 
 lives, and the prosperity of the whole country had been grievously 
 checked and retarded. But if misfortune was experienced by the 
 victors, utter ruin and almost annihilation awaited the vanquished. 
 In war, in conflagration, by starvation and cold, such vast numbers 
 had perished, that the cflbctive force of the hostile tribes was com- 
 pletely broken, and many of them were nearly extinguished. With 
 the great number of prisoners, and the almost equally numerous 
 portion, who surrendered on the promise or in the hopq of mercy, a 
 cruel and barbarous policy was adopted. The chief warriors were 
 put to death; among them, Annawon, whose life Church vainly 
 endeavoured to save, as well from goo<l faith and humanity, as for 
 
 the value of his services in future warfare. 
 Vol. IV.— 39 
 
 The rest, with tho 
 
160 
 
 THE PEOrXiE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 women and children, were made slaves, most of tbem being trans- 
 ported and sold in the West Indies. 
 
 ' "In regard to the son of Philip, (a child only nine years old,) the 
 authorities seem to have been greatly exercised in spirit. There 
 were so many nice precedents for his execution to be found in 
 Scripture, and security, as well as vengeance, would be satisfied by 
 the destruction of the whole house of their dreaded enemy. Nothing 
 can bettor show the venomous spirit of the times, or the depraving 
 influence of a barbarous theology, than the following extract from 
 a letter, written by Rev. Increase Mather, the minister of Boston, to 
 his friend, Mr. Cotton: *If it had not been out of my mind, when I 
 was writing, I should have said something about Philip's son. It 
 is necessary that some effectual course should be taken about him. ffe 
 makes me think of Hadad, who was a little child when his father {the 
 chief sachem of the Edomites) was killed by Joab, and had not others 
 fled away with him, I am apt to think, that David would Bave taken 
 a course that Hadad should never have proved a scourge to the next 
 generation.' More humane counsels, however, prevailed, and the 
 poor child was only shipped as a slave to Bermuda! 
 
 " Ijjcidents, such as these, commonly suppressed by popular writers 
 are not uselessly rScalled, in obtaining a just view of the spirit of 
 the past. With all honour to the truly-great and respectable quali- 
 ties of our Nt\7 England ancestors — to their courage, their con- 
 stancy, their morality, and their devotion — it is useless to disguise 
 the fact that, in the grand essentials of charity and humanity, they 
 were no wise in advance of their age, and in the less essential, but 
 not less desirable articles of amenity and magnanimity, most de- 
 cidedly behind it. But a certain infusion of disagreeable qualities 
 seems almost an inseparable constituent of that earnestness, which 
 alone can successfully contend with great obstacles, either human or 
 natural — with civil tyranny and religious persecution — with the 
 privations and dangers of the wilderness, and the unsparing enmity 
 of its savage inhabitants. 
 
 "The communities, founded by men thus strongly but imperfectly 
 mouH'jd, hive, with the genial influence of time, and by the admini' 
 ble elements of freedom contained in their origin, grndnally grown 
 into a commonwealth, freer from the ermrs which disgraced iheir 
 founders than any other on the face of the earth. Their prejudice 
 has become principle, their superstition has refinod into religion; 
 and their very bigotry has softened down to h ■crality. While 
 
 ■*y 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 161 
 
 enjoying the results of .this ameliorating process, their descendants 
 may well be charitable to those whose footsteps not only broke 
 through the tangled recesses of the actual forest, but who, in tread- 
 ing pathways through the moral wilderness, occasionally stum- 
 bled, or left behind thsm a track too rugged or too tortuous to be 
 followed."* ?i>'ioi'i 
 
 -I'Sif "iflt ,ui',>i;r;i(! ) .fan''-' , (; ; 'iM 'i.iij<.T./' ^: , ': ■,- •..■7 'i"., , 
 
 bi-,iI-'lH£li .':<h-AMv\P.:l> --'---,- — - ■ ''• iti-- ,!'■ '•.,•■■'- •. 
 
 ':;fl ';; f-nrhti? P '■•' ' -.<' ' l, . I ,/ . 
 
 :;i! ,hnoi}i.f'.!''f."4 P TT A D T 1? P Y T T ■' '' ' " 
 
 RENEWED INTERFERENCE OF THE CROWN IN MASSACHU- 
 SETTS. — SEVERANCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: ATTEMPT TO 
 TYRANNIZE THERE: ITS FAILURE. — ACTION OF MAS- 
 SACHUSETTS. — PROCEEDINCS AGAINST ITS CHARTER. 
 — VAIN OPPOSITION AND REMONSTRANCE. 
 
 7v<>nv 
 
 ■■tiWf- 
 
 
 THE CHARTER ANNULLED. 
 
 The English government, gaining courage from the gradual estab- 
 lishment of arbitrary power at home, and still desirous to curb 
 the growing spirit of independence in Massachusetts, in 1676, dis- 
 patched thither Edward Bundolph as its special agent. This func- 
 tionary was coldly received by the provincial authorities, who again 
 explicitly denied the right of the crown or the parliament to inter- 
 meddle with its government Keturning, after a sojourn of only 
 sis weeks, to England, he excited the jealousy and inflamed the 
 cupidity of the court by very exaggerated accounts of its wealth and 
 population. By a decision of the privy council, the claim of Mas- 
 sachusetts, certainly rather untenable, to jurisdiction over Mame and 
 New Hampshire, was set aside. Nevirtheless, by purchase from the 
 heirs of the patentee (Gorges) she spied! ly again got possession of 
 great part of the former province; and, whereas it had formerly 
 been considered an integral part of her dominion, it was now gov- 
 erned as a mere colony of Massachusetts, the officers being appointed 
 by those of that state. This change naturally led to much discon- 
 tent, the manifestation of which, however, was forcibly suppressed 
 by the new claimant of sovereignty. 
 
 In New Hampshire, severed from Massachusetts, a direct royal 
 
 • . , • Diacoverers, ditc., of America. 
 
 ■H-J 
 
 I 
 
162 
 
 THE PEOPLK'S BOOK OF HISTOKY. 
 
 M' 
 
 tli 
 
 government was set up, the officses of president, &c., being filled by 
 the act of the crown. A popular assembly was allowed, which, at 
 its first meeting (1680), took occasion to assert the independence of 
 the province, declaring that no law or ordinance should be valid 
 unless "made by the assembly and approved by the people." The 
 patentee, at issue with the colonists on matters of title, procured for 
 himself the authority of appointing a governor. Cranfield, the per- 
 son selected, a man of rapacious and arbitrary disposition, hastened 
 to the infant colony, in strong hopes of making a fortune at the 
 expense of its inhabitants. Disappointed in his expectations, he 
 committed u thou.sand rash and tyrannical acts, continually inter- 
 fering in matters beyond his authority, both civil and religious, and 
 striving, on false and impudent pretexts, to wring money from the 
 slenderly-filled purses of the settlers. To these exactions the assem- 
 bly and people opposed as determined a resistance — a resistance 
 whicli the latter finally carried to the extreme of openly maltrcatin" 
 his officers; and, with his hopes of plunder and profit almost quite 
 ungratified, he returned to England, bearing a malicious rep^i t o' 
 the condition of the province. 
 
 In view of the prospective danger to the liberties of Ma.ssachusetts 
 a general synod of all the churches was convoked, while the general 
 court, by some formal enactments, in testimony of its loyalty, souitIu 
 to avert the royal Ji^plfasure. The kiui,''s arms were put uj) on the 
 court-house, and two or three acts in support of the royal digiutv 
 were passed; and, though the Navigation Act was expressly .Ja- 
 clared illegal and not binding, the general court, by an act of ita 
 own, rendered its provisions valid and effective. The king, who 
 certi\inly exhibited considerable moderation, twice again dispiilcluil 
 a nies.sage of remonstrance to Massachusetts on its opposition to the 
 home-government, and it was evident that extreme measures would 
 finally be resorted to. The province, in 1682, dispatched agents to 
 England U) defend its interests; and, if po.ssible, to bribe the king 
 into protecting them. Tlieir mitwion wa.s in vain; and that thi-. 
 charter was in danger, wius evident from the systemalie warf.ir 
 aj^airust civic cor{)orations then being waged by the court in Enghiiu , 
 Great agitation {tervadod the province. Maine was surrendered, but 
 it was resolved to hold the eliarter an long as possible. 
 
 Legal proceedings were commenced against its holders in the 
 English courts; and the judges, in those times, l)eing generally mere 
 creatures of the i town, only one issue could be looked for. The 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 163 
 
 king, at this juncture, once more suggested the wisdom of a direct 
 submission, promising, on that condition, his favour, and as little 
 infringement on their charter as might consist with the right of his 
 government. Judging from the fate of the civic corporations in 
 England, (for even London had been compelled to succumb before 
 the royal power,) the prospect of successful resistance in the courts 
 of law appeared entirely hopeless. The governor and magistrates 
 accordingly resolved at last to try the effect of u'l unqualified sub- 
 mission, and throw themselves on the king's forbearance. A 
 proposal that agents, to receive the royal commands, should be dis- 
 patched to England, was sent in to the house of deputies ; but that 
 more popular body, after an animated debate of a fortnight, refused, 
 by their own act, to sanction the surrender of their liberties. The 
 successful opposition of former times was recalled, and it was even 
 urged as a matter of religion not voluntarily to put the state into 
 the hands of a power inimical to its professed faith. With extraor- 
 dinary firmness and spirit, they resolved to make no voluntary 
 sacrifice, and only to fall, as a body politic, before the pressure of 
 superior power. The latter result must have been ibreseen. Re- 
 monstrance to the king proved fruitless; and in June, 1684, the 
 English judges, then, as from the earliest times, mere agents to effect 
 the pleasure of the crow declared the charter forfeited. Thus, for 
 a time, fell the independence of Massachusetts — an independence, it 
 must be owned, at times, ungraciously asserted and arbitrarily exer- 
 cised; but of which the main defects lay in the fact that it was an 
 independence rather in name than in fact; the authority of the 
 magistrates, and the overshadowing influence of the church, consti- 
 tuting a species of mingled aristocracy and theocracy sufficiently 
 re^iugnant to more enlightened ideas of fseedom. Yet, doubtless, 
 evei. this imperfect form of liberty and seif-go/ernment was in the 
 Lighes.' degree useful in training fhe minds of the colonists to a 
 jealousy of foreign power, and fostering the germ of a firmer and 
 more liberal national spirit. 
 
II 
 
 '.i ' n ; i.. it',- ". ,: 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. 
 
 fAILDRE TO PLANT COLONIES IN THE SOUTH. — IMIORATIOlf 
 PROM VIRGINIA TO NORTH CAROLINA: FROM BARBADOES TO 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. — THE PATENT OF CHARLES II. — 
 LEGISLATION OF LOCKE AND SHAFTESBURY. — CUM- 
 BROUS SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. — DISCONTENT OF 
 THE SETTLERS. — INSURRECTION IN NORTH 
 CAROLINA. — SOTHEL DEPOSED BY THE PEO- 
 PLE. — CHARLESTON FOUNDED. — CON- 
 STITUTION OF LOCKE RELiNQUISHBD. 
 
 The first attempt of the English to found a settlement in America 
 had been made in the mild regions lying south of Virginia. The 
 disastrous failure of that attempt (Ilaleigli's), combined with the diffi- 
 culty of access and u dread of Spanish cruelty, had retarded any 
 further eilurt in the same direction; and while the bleaker and less 
 fertile provinces of the north were rapidly filling up with continued 
 emigration, no enterprise was directed to the rich soil and genial 
 climate of the south. Sir Robert Ileath, in 1630, indeed, obtained 
 of Charles I. a patent f )r the foundation of a colony there ; but this 
 instrument, from his failure to eflTect a settlement, became forfeited. 
 
 Colonists from Virginia, between the years 1640 and 1650, suffer- 
 ing from religious intolerance, tck refuge beyond the bordei-s of 
 that province, and formed settlements on the northern shores of 
 Albemarle Sound — since known as North Carolina. By the fertility 
 of the soil and the mildness of the winters, they soon lived in ease, 
 tlu'ir ciiltlc anil swine finding subsistence in the natural {)roducts of 
 the country; and their numbers were yearly increased by fre.sh 
 emigration. Some a<]venturers from Ma.ssachusett.s, in 1061, uuide 
 an attempt to found a H;ttlement near Cape Fear; but tlie experi- 
 ment provt (1 unsuccessful. Their places were, however, supplied 
 by a party ol emigrants from Barbadoes, who proceeded to the su'iie 
 
SETTLEMENT OF THE OB0LINA8. 
 
 165 
 
 region, and planted a colony there, selecting as their governor Sir 
 John Yeomans, one of their number. 
 
 Among the lavish grants which distinguished the administration 
 of Charles II., was one, in 1668, to the Duke of Albemarle (Gen 
 Monk), Lord Ashley Cooper (afterwards the famous Earl of Shaftes- 
 bury), to Berkely, the governor of Virginia, and others, conveying 
 to them all Carolina, from the thirty-sixth degree of latitude to the 
 river San Matheo. The patentees, desirous to people their vast ter- 
 ritory, gave much encouragement to those who had already settled 
 there, assuring them of considerable political privileges; and Berkely, 
 bringing additional emigrants from Virginia to North Carolina, 
 settled the-.n under the popular rule of Drummond. 
 
 By a fresh patent, issued in 1665, the proprietors, their claims 
 extended westward across the entire continent, were empowered to 
 create titles and to institute orders of nobility. This singular priv- 
 ilege was granted, in order that an elaborate constitution, devised 
 by Shaftesbury and the celebrated Locke might be carried into 
 effect. By this extraordinary instrument, vhe fruit, doubtless, of 
 painful ingenuity and labour, a system of government was set up, 
 entirely without a precedent in the history of legislation. Its main 
 feature was a hereditary landed aristocracy, dependent on property 
 alone for its right to rule. The territory was divided into counties, 
 of four hundred and eighty thousand acres each, in each of which 
 were to be appointed one landgrave, or earl, and two caciques, or 
 barons. All power was lodged in the holders of real estate, and the 
 proprietors were always to continue exactly eight in number, neither 
 more nor less. With a childisK minuteness, the details of pedigree, 
 of fashion, and ceremony, were made the especial province of one 
 of these dignitaries. Such was the constitution, carefully elaborated 
 by the most philosoi)hical mind of the age, which yet, from the 
 unfainiliarity of its author with tlie practical workings of political 
 machinery, and tlie needs of a new country, never took practical 
 effect, and soon lapsed into neglect and abrogation. 
 
 The colonists r.t Albemarle, who had already adopted a simple 
 code of laws for their own government, received with much disgust 
 the aristocratic and complicated system which the proprietors had 
 devised; and the latter, not to increase the popular discontent, did 
 not press the immediate adoption of all its particulars. They in- 
 sisted, however, on establishini^ a provisional government, but with- 
 out success; for the people, dissatisfied, imprisoned their collector 
 
 lirl 
 '••III 
 
 i 
 
 liiJ 
 
 l!l 
 
 "Mi 
 
 I 
 
 I?, 
 

 w. 
 
 16G 
 
 THE l'EOrLE'8 BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 and other officers, seized the public funds, and took all the functions 
 of government into their own hands. Their chief leader, who pro- 
 ceeded to England to defend their cause, was there tried for treason, 
 and was acquitted only by the eloquence and influence of Shaftes- 
 bury, who considered the insurrection as rather a dispute among 
 the colonists themselves than a revolution against the home gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The better to carry out their obnoxious constitution, the proprie- 
 tors next sent out Seth Sothel, one of their own number, as gov- 
 ernor. This man, corrupt and greedy, for six years mismanaged 
 the affairs of the province, enriching himself by bribes and extortion. 
 At the end of that time the people put him under arrest, and the 
 assembly tried him and banished him from the province. The pro- 
 prietors, however ill pleased at the independence of that body, 
 could not deny the justice of the sentence. They approved the 
 measure, and appointed Philip Ludwell as his suo:essor. 
 
 In 1670, they dispatched a body of emigrants, under William 
 Sayle, to Port Royal, in South Carolina. In the following year, 
 dissatisfied with the situation, he remoed the settlement to the 
 neck of land lying between the livers Ashley and Cooper, where he 
 founded a settlement named Charleston, in honour of the king, and 
 since known as one of the fairest and wealthiest of southern cities. 
 At his death, which occurred not long after, Sir John Yeomans, 
 already, for some years, governor at Cape Fear, was appointed in 
 his place; and the new settlement gradually absorbed into itself the 
 colonists from that region. A separate government thus established 
 over the two colonies, the names of North and South Carolina came 
 into common usage. 
 
 Yeomans, accused of converting his office into an instrument for 
 his own profit, was replaced by West, under whose popular rule the 
 colony continued to increase and prosper. The proprietors, indeed, 
 reaped no fruits from their enterprise, having expended large sums 
 without getting any return, Dutch emigrants, both from New York 
 and the mother-country, attracted by the mildness of the climate 
 and the political freedom enjoyed by the settlers, resorted to South 
 Carolina; and the oppression of the French Protestants, under 
 Louis XIV., Aim induced numbers of the persecuted sect to take 
 refuge there. 
 
 In 1686, James Colleton, a brother of one of the proprietors, was 
 ap[)ointcd governor, with the title of landgrave. Popular discon- 
 
h<m 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. 
 
 167 
 
 tent, especially at the elaborate and aristocratic dystem devised by 
 Locke, was not long in making ita demonstration; and the new 
 governor was soon involved in disputes with the colonists. An 
 assembly, elected expressly to resist him, met in 1687; and three 
 years afterwards, an act was passed for his banishment from the 
 province. The English revolution of 1688 had saved the proprie- 
 tors from a seizure of their charter by the crown. On learning 
 these news, they sent out Ludwell to examine the affairs of Caro- 
 lina, and to report grievances. Such was the discontent manifested 
 toward the constitution, that it was thought wisest to relinquish it; 
 and, accordingly, in 1693, the whole cumbrous system, with its 
 child's-play at nobility, and its attempt to create institutions which 
 can be made respectable only by long usage and national association, 
 was entirely abrogated and done away. • / ^ ;, , 
 
 m 
 
 
 Wli 
 
 A ■■'• it:; I: 
 
vn 
 
 >n . 
 
 "tti 
 
 ■ lit! ,r 
 
 M :i(r 
 
 VIRGINIA, 
 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 uJutArxjCiiti x* 
 
 I' . 
 
 •\ 
 
 RBTROOllADE MOVBMBNTS IN VIRGINIA. — RBTIVAL OP INTOL- 
 ERANCE AND OPPRESSION. GRANT OP VIRGINIA TO CUL- 
 PEPPER AND ARMNOTON. POPULAR DISCONTENT. — 
 
 INDIAN WAR. MURDER OP THE CHIEPS. INSURREC- 
 TION UNDER BACON. — TRIUMPH OP THE PEOPLE. 
 
 The unfavourable effect of the Restoration on Virginia has beeu 
 mentioned. The renewal and enforcement of the Navigation Act 
 fettered her rapidly increasing commerce, and the triumph of roy- 
 alty at home was followed by that of tyranny and intolerance in 
 the provincial government. The great number of servants, or 
 slaves, in effect, for a term of years, who had been brought from 
 England, even after their emancipation, constituted an inferior and 
 uneducated class, easily kept down by an aristocracy of masters and 
 slaveholders, whose power in the state was continually on the 
 increase. There seems to have been even a systematic desire among 
 the government party to keep a portion <^>f the colonists in depend- 
 ent ignorance. Berkeley thanks God that free-.schools or j)rinting 
 presses were unknown in Virginia, and .says he ht>pes there will be 
 noue this hundred years; "for learning," he sagely remarks, "has 
 brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and 
 printing hatl divulged them,'" &c. Negro slavery, by this time 
 considerably c^r 'he increa.se. was abs<ilute, the control of the master 
 being almost ui ^ottered by any la.w (;f restraint. 
 
 The Kpiscopal church was established as the religion of the state; 
 and |)orsecution of di.ssenters, especially of Baptists and Quakers, 
 was n-vived. The a.ssembly t*^:" burgesses appropriated extortiduuto 
 sums for their own pay, a.>j legislators, and, by refusing, for .many 
 years, to dissolve, set up a species of jav^riptive government, Hltlc 
 
VIRGINIA. 
 
 169 
 
 fthort of octr.al usurpation. The fruit of the royal triumph, in the 
 domestic economy of Virginia, was, in short, as accurately summed 
 up by an elegant historian—"" political revolution, opposed to the 
 principles of popular libe'.i.y and the progress of humanity. An 
 assembly contin''Hg for au indefinite period at the pleasure of the 
 governor, and ci. <\'eeing to its members extravagant and burden- 
 some emoluments; a royal governor, whose salary was established 
 by a permanent system of taxation ; a constituency restricted and 
 diminished; religious liberty taken away almost as soon as it had 
 been won; arbitrary taxation in the counties by irresponsible 
 magistrates; a hostility to popular education and to the press; — 
 these were the changes which, in about ten years, were effected in a 
 province that had begun to enjoy the benefits of a virtual independ- 
 ence and a gradually ameliorating legislation." 
 
 Fresh misfortune awaited the colony in the rash liberality of 
 Charles, who, in 1673, bestowed on Lord Culpepper and the Earl 
 of Arlington, (the latter connected with him by a discreditable 
 tie,) the entire control of Virginia for a term of thirty-one years. 
 The as-sembly, on learning the news, fearing for the safety of their 
 estates, dispatched agents to remonstrate with the crown, and to 
 endeavour to obtain a charter for the colonial government; but their 
 efforts, after a year's trial, proved ineffectual. 
 
 The oppression to which the people of Virginia, after the restora- 
 tion of loyal and aristocratic power, were subjected, at last drove 
 them into open resistance. Discontented gatherirga and a tendency 
 to revolt had prevailed for some time; and, considering that the 
 outrageous taxes levied by their rulers swallowed up neaJy all their 
 earnings and profits, it is remaiKDble how long they endured the 
 usurpation of the authorities. An .' -dian war was the first cause of 
 insurrection. Hostilities were cwried on with the Susquehannahs 
 and other tribes, both in Virginia and Maryland, and on one occa- 
 sion, six chiefs, presenting themselves to treat of peace, were mur- 
 dorcl by the enraged settlers. Berkeley, irascible, cruel, and tyran- 
 nical, was not without feelings o'' honor. On hearing of the crime, 
 he exclaimed, "If they had killed my father, and my mother, and 
 all my friends, yet if they had come to treat of peace, they ought to 
 have gone in peace." 
 
 The savages, their passions inflamed to madness at this piece of 
 cruelty and ill faith, renewed hos.J'ties with much fury, attacking 
 the English plantations in Virginia, and wreaking a tenfold revengo 
 
 \\\ m: 
 
 i.''">i 
 
170 
 
 THE rEOI'LE'8 BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 for the loss of their chiefs. The movement spread, and the })Oople-- 
 their lives, by the insufficiency of the government, constantly ex- 
 posed — dotn .lid id the permission to carry on the war themselves. 
 But Berkeley, ever despising the popular opinio' md his interest, it 
 is said, being enlisted in behalf of peace by < Tiionopoly of the 
 beaver-trade, which he held, stubbornly refused his consent. A 
 general insurrection was the result Under Nathaniel Bacon, an 
 English planter, of wealth and influence, of high courage and inde- 
 pendence, five hundred men assembled in arms, resolved on a cam- 
 paign against the enemy. Berkeley, enraged, proclaimed them 
 rebels, and was levying forces to suppress the movement, when a 
 fresh and formidable insurrection of the people, who demanded the 
 immediate dissolution of the assembly, compelled him to desist, and 
 return to Jamestown. With almost the entire force of the people 
 arrayed against them, the governor and the aristocracy were com- 
 pelled to yield. The assembly, which had so long sat an incubus 
 on the province, was dissolved, and on the election of a new one, 
 Bacon (successful in his Indian campaign) and a majority of hij 
 partisans were returned as members. The successful leader ac- 
 knowledged his error in acting without a commission, and, to the 
 universal joy of the people, was appointed commander-in-chief. 
 
 vjXli/iJLxJaXi Jtx* 
 
 THE POPULAR ASSBMBI.T. — MEASURES OF REFORM. — OPPOSITION 
 AND TREACHERY OF BERKELEY. — CIVIL WAR. — TRIUMPH OF 
 THE INSURGENTS. — JAMESTOWN BURNED. — DE.\TH OF BA- 
 CON: HIS CHARACTER. — RUIN OF THE POPULAR CAUSE. 
 — NUMEROUS EXECUTIONS. — DEATH OF BERKELEY. 
 — ADMINISTRATION OF CULPEPPER, ETC. 
 
 
 The new assembly, with a rational and moderate zeal for reform, 
 proceeded to pass many salutary acts, restricting the magistrates in 
 their arbitrary and extortionate course, providing for the purity of 
 elections, curtailing exorbitant fees and salaries, taking precautions 
 against the spread of intemperance, and finally, by a general am- 
 nesty, extinguishing, it was ho[)ed, the seeds of civil conflagration, 
 
VIBOINIA. 
 
 171 
 
 rsonsof the colony at Wil- 
 ..j maintain the Indian war, 
 
 The demeanour of the governor was dubious, an'1 Bacon, leaving 
 Jamestown, presently returned, ui the head of five /lundred deter- 
 mined men, in whose j)re8once resistance was in vain. Berkeley 
 advanced to meet them, and, baring hi. breast, exclaimed, "A fair 
 mark — shooti" but Bacon toM him tliat not a hair of his head or any 
 man's should be hurt; and the pasaioiiate oM governor, yielding to 
 necesHity, issued the required comrr)i«sion t war against the In- 
 dians, and, with the council and as^i , ibly, even dispatched to Eng- 
 land high commenilationH nf the l.)yalt^ and patriotism of his rival. 
 
 IIow insincere were his i ait is evi nt from the fact that, 
 
 just as the province wa,- i<'gn.iu ddcuce, and Bacon com- 
 
 mencing a campaign against t • < :e repaired to Gloucester 
 
 county, and again proclaimc 'ait The latter, in turn, 
 
 summoned a convention of the j .m 
 liamsburgh, when all present took 
 and, if ncces.sary, to support their leaiier against the governor him- 
 self. The latter was endeavouring to levy an army on the eastern 
 shore of the Chesapeake, and, on the advice of Drummond, who had 
 been governor of North Carolina, the governor's term having ex- 
 pired, his retreat was held as an abdication, and a convention of the 
 people was summoned for the settlement of the government. By 
 the promise of plunder, and of freedom to the servants of his oppo- 
 nents, Berkeley gathered, in Accomack, a large force, of the baser 
 sort, with which, transported in filleen vessels, he sailed for James- 
 town. Landing, he fell on his knees, returning thanks to God, and 
 forthwith again proclaimed Bacon and his followers traitors. 
 
 The latter, after having made a successful expedition against the 
 Indians, had disbanded his troops; but, on learning these tidings, 
 with a small, but trusty body of fullowers, at once marched upon 
 the capital. The ignoble forces of the governor showed more dis- 
 position for plunder than fighfing; and he was compelled to evacu- 
 ate Jamestown by night, and take rtfiige, with his people, aboard 
 the fleet. Bacon entered the di'.«erte(l town the next day, and, as it 
 was doubtful how long he could retain possession, it was resolved 
 t<i burn it. This was aceordingly done, some of his chief adherents 
 firing their own houses, and the little capital, for seventy years the 
 chief, nay, almost the only town in Virginia, was laid in ashes. The 
 halfruined church, still standing, is all that attests to the passing 
 V03'ager the former existence of the earliest of American settlements. 
 
 After further and signal successes, the career of the insurgents 
 
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172 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0BT. 
 
 was brought to a sudden end by the untimely death of their gallant 
 leader, who, on the 1st of October, 1676, perished of a disease con- 
 tracted by exposure to the damp nights of that unhealthy region. 
 His memory, if tarnished by some errors, will always be held in 
 high respect, as that of the first leader in the cause of American 
 independence. He was, it seems, brave in the field, eloquent in 
 council, magnanimous, honourable. The liberal and moderate legis- 
 lation of the party which he headed bears witness to his talent for 
 government The enthusiastic afiection of his friends and followers 
 evinces his amiable nature. That he was forced into insurrection 
 and continued civil warfare was, doubtless, the fruit of the tyranny 
 of the ascendant faction, and the ill faith of the arbitrary governor 
 at its head. 
 
 With Bacon expired the hope and success of the revolutionary 
 party. Without a leader of talent or influence sufficient to combine 
 them, the isolated and disorganized sections of that party were, in 
 turn, defeated, and severally suppressed by the loyalists. Berkeley 
 was restored to power, and, by frequent and merciless executions, 
 evinced the natural cruelty of his disposition, and the tyrannical 
 sentiment of the cause which he headed. Drummond, and more 
 than twenty others, were hanged; and nothing but a remonstrance 
 from the assembly fi^nally availed to stay the hana of the execu- 
 tioner. Charles II. learned with much indignation of the sanguinary 
 proceedings of his governor, and said that the old fool had taken 
 more lives in the wilderness of Virginia than himself had for the 
 murder of his father. In a proclamation, he severely censured these 
 atrocities, and when Berkeley, not long after, returned to England, 
 publio opinion condemned him with equal severity. His death, 
 which took place soon after his arrival, was probably hastened by a 
 sense of the condemnation of the sovereign and the people. 
 
 As usual on the suppression of any popular movement, the futile 
 insurrection in Virginia only entailed fresh evils on the country, 
 being made the pretext for refusing it a charter, and continuing its 
 dependence on the crown. All the late acts of the reformed assem- 
 bly were repealed, and all the ancient grie ances and oppressions 
 were reinstated. No printing was allowed, and freedom of speech 
 was curtailed by grievous penalties. Excessive and arbitrary taxes 
 were levied by the authorities, and the condition of the people, 
 especially the poorer classes, was again that of subjection and 
 oppression. 
 
VIBaiNIA. 
 
 178 
 
 Not long after the departure of Berkeley, Lord Culpepper, one of 
 the two patentees of Virginia, a man of grasping and avaricious 
 nature, obtained from the crown an appointment as governor of 
 that province fbr life. He arrived in 1680, desirous of nothing but 
 of turning his office to profitable account His salary was doubled, 
 and, to the great grief of the planters, he had a law passed for levy- 
 ing a perpetual export duty of two shillings on every hogshead of 
 tobacco. After remaining in Virginia but a few months, just long 
 enough to look out for his pecuniary interests, he took his departure 
 for England. The misery of the province, consequent on its late 
 disturbed condition, on the restriction of commerce, and the low 
 price of its staple product, tobacco, produced disorder. Biot and 
 insubordination prevailed, and were suppressed by executions. Cul- 
 pepper returned for a few months to reap all possible advantages 
 from his patent, at the expense of the suffering colonists. 
 
 In 1684, the obnoxious grant was annulled, and the government 
 of Virginia was resumed by the crown. Effingham, the first royal 
 governor, used his office only as a means of procuring petty emolu- 
 ments, and thus rendered himself contemptible in the eyes of the 
 people. The accession of James II., in the following year, and the 
 ill-fated rebellion of Monmouth, increased the population of Vir- 
 ginia, by a number of convicts, who, on the suppression of that 
 movement, were bestowed by the king on his favourites, and by 
 them, with shameless venality, were sold into slavery in America. 
 Under the arbitrary rule of the new sovereign, scarcely a shadow 
 of self-government was allowed to the people of Virginia. A feel- 
 ing of resistance being manifested in the assembly, that body was 
 dissolved; but the people, a spirit of liberty rgawakened, assumed 
 an attitude so insurrectionary, that the governor, destitute of a 
 force adequate to suppress it, was compelled to temporize, and to 
 forego any attempts at renewed oppression. 
 
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 h'i. 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF DELAWARE. 
 
 THE FIRST DUTCH COLOKfT IN DELAWARE: ITS DESTRUCTION. 
 
 — SWEDES AND FINNS UNDER MINUIT. — CONQUEST OF THE 
 n, SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS BT THE DUTCH, UNDER 8TUI- 
 u.j. TESANT. — DELAWARE UNDER THE DUKE OF TOBK: 
 ,,, UNDER PENN. — DISPUTES WITH HARTLAND CON- 
 
 ,„'j ,. CERNINO BOUNDARIES. — SEPARATION OF 
 ,,,<./,;,,■, DELAWARE FROM PENNSTLYANIA. u m 
 
 The disastrous attempt of the Dutch, under De Yriez, in 1681, to 
 found a settlement in Delaware, has been described. ("Dutch ii 
 America.") The unfortunate little colony left by that navigator 
 near the site of Lewistown, numbering only thirty-four souls, was 
 cut off by the Indians to avenge the death of a chief, whose life had 
 been sacrificed to the implacable sulkiness of the governor, Gillis 
 Osset De Vriez, returning from Holland the next year, found no 
 relics of the settlement, except the bones of his countrymen, which 
 lay bleaching on the shore. 
 
 The next enterprise in the samo direction was that of a small body 
 of Swedes and Finns, who, in 1688, under Minuit 9 time gov- 
 ernor of the Dutch at Manhattan, and afterwards " 3 service of 
 Christina of Sweden,) landed near Cape Ilenlopen, purchased land 
 of the natives, and built a fort not far from the present site of Wil; 
 mington. Attracted by tidings of the mildness and fertility of New 
 Sweden, for so the country was called, Swedish and Finnish emi- 
 grants hastened in numbers to the province. A new fort was built 
 on an island below Philadelphia. The claims of the Dutch were 
 resisted, and English adverturers were not allowed to settle. The 
 building of Fort Casimir, by the former people, and its treacherous 
 seizure by Risingh, the Swedi.sh governor, have been described in 
 their appropriate place, as well as the conquest of New Sweden by 
 Peter Stuyvesant, the doughty governor of the New Netherlands. 
 The Dutch company, stimulated by aggression, and fearing little 
 from the distracted and feebly-governed kingdom of Sweden, had 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OK DELAWABE. 
 
 175 
 
 ordered their officer, " to revenge their wrong, to drive the Swedes 
 from the river, or compel their submission." Accordingly, in Sep- 
 tember, 1655, with a force of six hundred men, Stuyvesant sailed 
 up the Delaware, on an avowed errand of conquest. Before a force, 
 comparatively so formidable, the feeble colonies of Sweden, after a 
 national existence of only seventeen years, were speedily compelled 
 to succumb. The forta were reduced ; a portion of the Swedes were 
 sent to Europe, and the remainder, on taking the oath of allegiance, 
 were suffered to remain. Many of their descendants are still living 
 in Delaware. 
 
 On the conquest of the New Netherlands by the English, in 1664, 
 the Dutch and Swedish settlements of Delaware came under the 
 authority of the Duke of York. Disputes respecting boundaries 
 soon arose. Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of Maryland, had 
 claimed all the region on the west side of the Delaware as included 
 in his grunt; and incursions had been made from that province for 
 the purpose of repelling settlers from the disputed territory. Wil- 
 liam Penn, the grant of Pennsylvania obtained, desirous of extend- 
 ing his coast line, (it was "more for love of the water," he said, "than 
 of the land,") procured from the duke a cession of all the land for 
 twelve miles around Newcastle, and all lying between that and the 
 sea. On his arrival in America, (1682,) solemn possession of the 
 territory was given to him by the duke's agent, at that town, and 
 Penn addressed a multitude of his new subjects — Swedes, Dutch, and 
 English — who had assembled to witness the ceremony, promising to 
 all freedom, both civil and religious, and recommending virtue, 
 religion, and sobriety of life. 
 
 The claim of Baltimore, still asserted, was for some time the sub- 
 ject of negotiation — the two proprietors at first exhibiting a polite, 
 and afterwards a rather acrimonious pertinacity in maintaining their 
 respective pretensions; but, in 1685, it was decided invalid by the 
 Lords of Trade and the Plantations; and the boundary of the rival 
 patentees was fixed by a pacific agreement. The three counties 
 which Penn called his "Territories," and which now constitute the 
 state of Delaware, for twenty years sent their delegates to the gen- 
 eral assembly of Pennsylvania; but, in 1703, dissatisfied with the 
 action of that body, procured permission to act by a legislature of 
 their own; the proprietor, however, retaining his claims, and the 
 same governor exercising executive functions over both Pennsyl- 
 vania and Delaware. 
 Vol. IV.— 40 
 
\ ' '■ ' ' ' , 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OE NEW JERSEY. 
 
 I ' y - 
 v' '" ■ ' 
 
 CONQUEST BY THE ENGLISH. — NICHOLS, BERKELEY, AND CAR- 
 TERET. — EMIGRATION FROM NEW ENGLAND. — SALE OP WEST 
 NEW JERSEY TO THE QUAKERS. — PKNWICK, BYLLINGE, 
 AND PKNN. — QUAKER SETTLEMENTS. — REMARKABLY 
 FREE CONSTITUTION. — FRIENDLY DEALINGS WITH 
 THE INDIANS. — USURPATION OF ANDROS: ITS 
 DEFEAT. — EAST NEW JERSEY. 
 
 After the conquest of the New Netherlands by the English, in 
 1664, Nichols, the first governor, encouraged the emigration of his 
 countrymen from the adjoining settlements of Nev«r England and 
 Long Island into the regions south of Manhattan ; and settlements 
 were made at Elizabethtown, Newark, and other localities. The 
 Duke of York, the patentee of the whole country, in the very year 
 of the conquest, assigned to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret 
 the territories lying between the Hudson and the Delaware. In 
 compliment to the latter, who, during the civil contests in England, 
 had held the island of Jersey for the royal party, the country 
 received its present name. 
 
 Philip Carteret, appointed governor by the new proprietors, c^me 
 over the next year, and selected Elizabethtown as the capital of the 
 province. By offering favourable terms, he induced many to emi- 
 grate thither from New England, and the population of the colony 
 continued to increase. A question concerning the titles issued by 
 Nichols, combined with other causes of discontent, in 1672, excited 
 a popular movement against the governor, which, however, was 
 finally quieted by concessions from the proprietors. 
 
 Berkeley, disappointed in his expectation of profitable returns, in 
 1674, for the inconsiderable sum of a thousand pounds, sold his 
 share of New Jersey to the Quakers, who were eager for an oppor- 
 tunity to purchase in the New World a refuge for their proscribed 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 177 
 
 faith and persons. The assignment was made to John Fenwick in 
 trust for Edward Byllinge, whose affairs were embarrassed. A dis- 
 pute between these two was settled by the intervention of William 
 Penn; and, in 1675, the former, with a large company of Friends, 
 sailed for the Delaware. At a place which he called Salem, near 
 Elsingburg, he established a settlement, and, by Agreement with Sir 
 George Carteret, the western portion of the province — thenceforward 
 called West New Jersey — was set off and separated as the share of 
 the new proprietors. Penn and two others, being made the assigns 
 of Byllinge, as trustees for his creditors, divided the country into 
 one hundred shares, which they set up for sale. All the purchasers 
 made vigorous efforts to promote the growth of the province ; and, 
 in 1677, a large number of emigrants, mostly Quakers, came over 
 and settled in and around Burlington. 
 
 The constitution, which, under the benevolent auspices of Quaker- 
 ism, was adopted the same year, was of a nature extraordinarily 
 liberal and democratic, considering the age. Perfect freedohi of 
 conscience and religion; universal suffrage by ballot; universal 
 eligibility to office; strict accountability of representatives to their 
 constituents; direct election of justices, &c., by the people; extraor- 
 dinary privileges of jury ; non-imprisonment for debt, and prohibi- 
 tion of slavery; such were the grand principles on which rested 
 the earliest legislation of the Friends in the Old or the New World. 
 Lands were purchased of the Indians, whose rights were especially 
 protected by law, and the chiefs, gathered in council at Burlington, 
 pledged a perpetual league and friendship with the peaceful coiners. 
 "You are our brothers," they said, "and we will live like brothers 
 with you. We will have a broad path for you and us to walk in. 
 If an Englishman falls asleep in this path, the Indian shall pass him 
 by, and say, * He is an Englishman ; he is asleep ; let him alone.' 
 The path shall be plain ; there shall not be in it a stump to hurt 
 the feet" 
 
 The tranquillity of this happy province was first disturbed by the 
 violent interference of Andros, the governor of the Duke of York, 
 who forcibly exacted customs of ships trading to the new colony, 
 levied taxes on the inhabitants, and carried matters with a high 
 hand when resisted. On the remonstrance of the people, most forci- 
 bly and eloquently set forth, the duke consented to refer the matter 
 of jurisdiction to an impartial commission. By this the claims of 
 his governor were pronounced illegal, and the liberties of New 
 
178 
 
 TBI PKOFLX'8 BOOK OF BIBTOBT. 
 
 Jersey were fully confirmed. An attempt of Byllinge, as propri 
 etor, to assume undue rights, was resisted with equal success, and 
 the Quakers, by advice of Penn, amending their constitution, elected 
 a governor for themselves. 
 
 In 1682, East New Jersey was purchased by Penn and a number 
 of others, from the heirs of Carteret. Bobert Barclay, conspicuous 
 for his defence of' the Quakers, was appointed governor, and strong 
 inducements to emigration were held forth. The cruelties enacted 
 at this time against the Presbyterians of Scotland, caused numbers 
 of that persecuted people to avail themselves of the opportunity for 
 a refuge across the Atlantic. Their coming contributed materially 
 to the well-being of the country — industry, endurance, and piety, 
 being distinguishing traits in their character; and the two Jerseys, 
 not many years afterwards reunited under a single government, 
 owed much of their prosperity to the elements of virtue in the pe^ 
 seouted sects by which they were peopled. 
 
 ■■ ■: i "'.il ,'l i''. 1 ■' .'•..'■•■fi'v :,■ fi 't il 
 
 ; . ; : 1 
 
 ( ) 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 
 •.'r'>rt »■( •■ -I'l' tj 
 
 LJkiiArxEH I. 
 
 WILIIAII P.ENN: HIS YOUTH: HB TORNS O0AIBE: 18 BXPBLIBD 
 
 FROM COLLEOB AND HOHB: IMPRI80HB0 FOR HIS OPIITIONS: 
 
 8BTBRITT OF HIS FATHBR: FRB8H IHPRI80NXENT: EZKR- 
 
 TIONS IN BEHALF OF HIS SECT: HB BN0A0B8 IN THB 
 .. , .!■ . u SBTTLBHENT OF NEW JERSBI. ' y. -! . • 
 
 William Fei^'N, son of the distinguished admiral of the same 
 name, was born at London on the 14th of October, 1644. At the 
 early age of fifteen, he was placed at the University of Oxford, 
 where, being of a temperament naturally religious and enthusiastic, 
 he became deeply impressed by the teachings of Loe, a prominent 
 member of the then almost universally persecuted sect of Quakers. 
 For implication with this obnoxious community, and for resistance 
 to the college authorities, (it has even been said that Penn and his 
 friends tore the surplices of the students over their heads, when an 
 order for the wearing of those garments had been issued,) he and 
 several of his associates were expelled. His father, a mi 1-^yal, 
 choleric, and prejudiced, unable to reclaim him by persuasicn or 
 argument from his eccentric views, turned him out of doors; but, 
 afterwards, a partial reconciliation being effected, supplied him with 
 the means for foreign travel, hoping, probably, that change of scene 
 and adventure might dissipate his fantastic notions. Turning aside 
 from his journey, the youth engaged in the study of theology at 
 Saumur; whence he returned to England, and commenced that of 
 the law at Lincoln's Inn. Distinguished by purity of life rather 
 than by asceticism of manners, he made a figure corresponding with 
 his social position; was esteemed a young gentleman of fashion, 
 skilled in courtly and even martial accomplishments. 
 
 On coming of age, he was dispatched by his father to L*eland, to 
 
180 
 
 TU£ TEOPLE'S BOOK Or HISTORY. 
 
 tuke charge of his estates there, and falling in with his Quaker 
 friend, Loe, at a meeting in Cork, all his old impressions readily 
 revived. Imprisoned for attending the proscribed assemblies, but 
 finally released through the favour of the lord-lieutenant, he returned 
 home, where his father, grieved to the soul, used every exertion to 
 change his persuasion. The old admiral, who now probably began 
 to respect the stuff his son was made of, at last even offered to com- 
 promise matters so far as to agree that William might wear his hat 
 any where except in presence of himself, of the king, and the king's 
 brother — but even these easy terms of capitulation were refused, and 
 he was again driven from the paternal roof 
 
 He now became openly a preacher of the persecuted sect, which 
 he defended in several publications — an offence for which he was 
 committed to the Tower, and kept close prisoner for some months. 
 In this, as well as his other difficulties, his judges seem to have been 
 entirely at a loss for the motives which could induce a youth of 
 fortune and family to connecx himself with a cause so ignominious 
 from the poverty, and so dangerous from the persecution which 
 attended it Discharged from prison, he returned to Ireland, where 
 he busied himself in comforting his imprisoned brethren, and in 
 procuring^ their release. lie was again committed for public preach- 
 ing, his trial creating no little excitement; but his father paid the 
 fine which the young Quaker, from motives of principle, had refused 
 to settle, and thus procured his discharge. A complete reconcilia- 
 tion took place, the brave and magnanimous old seaman finally 
 appreciating the traits of courage, of honour, and of independence 
 which his son inherited, though displayed in p field of action so dif- 
 ferent from his own. "Son William," he ^id on his death-l)ed, "if 
 you ond your friends keep to your plain way of living and preach- 
 ing, you will make an end of the priests." 
 
 By the death of his father, Penn came into possession of an estate 
 of fifteen hundred pounds a year, and, in 1672, was married to a 
 woman in every way worthy of him — one distinguished by beauty, 
 intelligence, principle, and sweetness of temper. lie continued to 
 preach and to write in behalf of the oppressed sect whose cause he 
 had espoused; and the productions of his pen, characterized by 
 nimplicity, eloquence, and sound argument, laid a strong hold on 
 puUic sentiment. 
 
 Ills first action in regard to settlements in the New World, was 
 in 1676, when, having served as arbitrator between Byllinge and 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF I' K N N b Y L V A N I A . 
 
 181 
 
 Fcnwick, he became one of the trustees of the former proprietor in 
 Western New Jersey. He drew up a plan of government for that 
 province. Religious toleration, trial by jury, and non-imprisonment 
 ibr debt, were its main constitutional features. In the following 
 year, large numbers of Quakers resorted there from England, and 
 the province soon became a favourite refuge for that oppressed peo- 
 ple. Penn, whose efforts were still unwearied in behalf of his suf- 
 fering brethren, continued, with all his energy, to defend their 
 cause at home, and to aid them in their einigration to the land of 
 freedom and toleration. 
 
 i', 
 
 III 
 
 CXIADT'C'D TT 
 Zi, Jii, i d, ij D, XX. 
 
 PENN OBTAINS FUOM CHARLES II. THE GRANT OF PENN8TL- 
 TANIA: HIS ADMIRABLE PROCLAMATION TO THE SETTLERS: 
 H£ REPAIRS TO AMERICA: GAINS POSSESSION OF DELA- 
 WARE: HONOURABLE DEALINGS WITH THE INDIANS: 
 THEIR ATTACHMENT TO HIM. — THE GREAT TREATY. 
 
 His designs enlarged by successful experience, and his enterprise 
 aiming at the foundation of a commonwealth more free and perfect 
 than any the world had yet witnessed, in IBbO Penn made applica- 
 tion to the crown for a share of the American territory then distri- 
 buted by Charles II. with such a lavish hand among ambitious or prof- 
 ligate courtiers. If his proscribed opinions were calculated to retard 
 his suit, his personal address and fortunate circumstances were equally 
 suited to favour it. A large .sum of money, due to his father from 
 the government, he ofiered a^ the price of the desired grant. In 
 March, 1681, a strong opposition overcome, lie obtained from the 
 king the patent of a vast tract of territory, containing three degrees 
 of latitude and five of longitude. 
 
 In naming his provin(;e, his modesty prevented any allusion to 
 himself. He "suggested Sylvania, on account of its woods, but they 
 would still add Penn to it." The king, it is said, was pleased espe- 
 cially to command and sanction this compliment. The vast tracts 
 of Pennsylvania, thus appropriately titled, he was to hold by the 
 payment of two beaver-skins yearly to the crown, and one-fifth of 
 
182 
 
 THE PEOTLR'S BOOK OF IIIBTuBT. 
 
 any precious metals discovered there. Very extensive powers of 
 government were conferred on him personally; powers of which he 
 never availed himself for purposes of selfish profit; and which he 
 used or surrendered only to further the establishment of complete 
 freedom, justice, and toleration over his vast domain. The more 
 effectually to carry out his extensive . (;heme, he now relinquished 
 the care of the affairs of New Jersey, which province, under his 
 judicious management, had continually improved, both in increase 
 and pro8perity. Ilis brief and admirable proclamation to the colo- 
 nists (Swedes and others), who hud already settled in the limits of 
 his grant, cannot be too highly extolled for its simplicity, directness, 
 and honesty, "il/y /Vierjtfo," he said, "I wish you all happiness, 
 here and hereafler. These are to lett you to know, that it hath pleased 
 God in his Providence to cast you in my Lott and Care. It is a 
 business, that, though I never undertook before, yet God has given 
 me nn understanding of my duty and an honest heart to do it up- 
 rightly. I hope you will not be troubled at your chainge and the 
 king's choice; for you are now flxt, at the mercy of no Governour 
 that comes to make his fortune great. You shall be governed by 
 laws of your own makeing, and live a free, and, if you will, a sober 
 and industreous people. I shall not usurp the right of any, nor 
 oppress his person. God has furnisht me with a better resolution, 
 and has given me his grace to keep it In short, whatever sober 
 and free men can reasonably desire for the security and improvement 
 of their own happiness, I shall heartily comply with — I beseech 
 God to direct you in the way of righteousness, and therein prosper 
 you and your children afler you. I am your true friend, Wm. 
 Penn." (April, 1681.) 
 
 Fresh emigrants were speedily forwarded to the land of refuge; 
 and Penn, with noble self-denial and thought for the common good, 
 rejected a great offer made to him, by a private company, for a 
 monopoly (very common at the time) of Indian traffic. A system 
 of government was devised, to be submitted to the approval of the 
 settlers themselves; and by a grant procured from the Duke of 
 York, the territory of the present state of Delaware was added to 
 the already vast domain of Pennsylvania. With many of his friends 
 and neighbours, of the proscribed persuasion, the proprietor set sail 
 for America; and afler a tedious voyage and numerous deaths on 
 board, on the 27th of October, 1682, arrived at Newcastle. 
 
 The next day, great numbers of the original settlers — Swedes, 
 
.,^«.4>« > »|i w y w ii»'«i»f^— " » «'"•> ' "" "' •^'""^'► ' ■T '^.^' i''^ ».f«». »•*»»«■■. 
 
 A 
 
 ";••' >r^*>ii.'>' 
 
 /•:.; .■Hsi]' ■;.< 
 
 ;** 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■.!■ '1 'V- 
 
 I III I 
 
 .^^.'■^^ 
 
 ■ "■•'X:^'".^ >■'-'' Ai-'---- 
 
except 
 broken. 
 
 T li *; r n RjiT 
 
 r Of pejfjr itith the ixhia-vs. 
 
THE. SETTLEMENT OF PENK8TLVANIA. 
 
 188 
 
 Butch, and English — assembled at that town ; and ceremonious legal 
 possession of Delaw^are was delivered to Penn by the agent of the 
 Duke of York. Recommending peace and sobriety to the inhabit- 
 ants, the proprietor journeyed through the settlements of his grant, 
 and visited his friends in the neighbouring provinces. 
 
 With a conscientious regard to the rights of the native inhabit- 
 ants, seldom evinced by European founders of colonies, he had 
 made strict provision in the articles of emigration and settlement 
 for the protection of the Indians against either fraud or violence. 
 The goods employed in traffic with them, were to be rigidly exam- 
 ined, to test their quality, " that the said Indians might neither be 
 abused nor provoked ;" and any difference between the two races 
 was to be decided by a jury of twelve, half Indians and half white 
 men. On his return to the Delaware (1683), occurred that memor- 
 able treaty, the delight of history, the favourite theme of art, and 
 the perpetual honour of the faith and truthfulness of both the par- 
 ties concerned in it ' " "' ' '" " 
 
 With a few of his Quaker friends, he met the delegation, itself 
 numerous, from the several tribes with whom the new settlers were 
 to live as neighbours, or to mingle in traffic, or in the chase. Be- 
 neath a spreading elm at Shakamaxon, hard by the present city of 
 Philadelphia — then a lonely river bank, covered with pines — in sim- 
 ple and truthful words, he addressed the assembled Algonquins, 
 impressing the advantages of just and loving dealing, and of constant 
 peace and friendship. "I will not call you children," he said, "for 
 parents sometimes chide their children too severely; nor brothers 
 only; for brothers differ. The friendship between me and you I 
 will not compare to a chain ; for that the rains might rust, or the 
 falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man's body 
 were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood." 
 In reply, the chiefs said, "We will live in love with William Penn 
 and his children as long as the sun and moon shall endure." Pres- 
 ents were exchanged, and the wampum-belts, in commemoration of 
 the event, were given. 
 
 No oath confirmed this simple treaty, made in the free forest, by 
 the lonely river, beneath the arching sky, between the wild tribes 
 of America and a people proscribed in civilissed Europe as the ene- 
 mies of society. No deeds were signed, no record of the compact, 
 except the simple wampum, was preserved. But it was never 
 broken. The hands of the savages were never imbrued with 
 
 II 
 
 liili 
 
184 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0BT. 
 
 Quaker blood ; and, while their descendants inhabited the same laud, 
 peace and good-will ever prevailed between them. 
 
 " In the following year," to use the language of an elegant his- 
 torian, "Penn often met the Indians in council and at their fes- 
 tivals. He visited them in their cabins, shared the hospitable 
 banquet of hominy and roasted acorns, and laughed and frolicked, 
 and practised athletic games with the light-hearted, mirthful, con- 
 fiding red men. He spoke to them of religion, and found that the 
 tawny skin did not exclude the instinct of a Deity. ' The poor sav- 
 age people believed in God and the soul without the aid of meta- 
 physics.' He touched the secret springs of sympathy, and succeeding 
 generations on the Susquehannah acknowledged his loveliness." 
 
 ' . I ■ i 
 
 CXTADT'CT) TIT 
 
 LIBERAL LBOI8LAII0N OP PENNSYLVANIA. — PENN POUNDS 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: ITS RAPID INCREASE. — PORMATION OP A 
 
 CONSTITUTION. — GREAT EMIGRATION PROM EUROPE. — 
 
 GROWTH OP THE PROYINCB. — PENN RETURNS 
 
 TO ENGLAND. — HIS SUBSEQUENT CAREER. 
 
 A POPULAR convention, assembled at Chester, in December, 1682, 
 was entrusted with the settlement of the government. Under the 
 just and liberal spirit of the pro-scribed society of Friends, extraor- 
 dinary improvements in legislation appeared. Primogeniture was 
 abolished, and equal suffrage was secured to all tax-payers. No tax 
 could be levied except by force of law. Murder alone, at a time 
 when capital offences, on the English statute-books, were almost 
 without number, was to be punished by death. The punishment 
 for other offences wfis mild and peasonable. The original settlers— 
 Swede? Finns, nnd Dutch — were assured of the same rights as Eng- 
 li.-Nhmen. The beiievolent pro{)rietor, rejoicing in his success in 
 founding a free community, and amply repaid for his sacrifices and 
 exertions by the gratitude of his people, concluded the work of 
 legiulation, as usual, witli words of reli/ious counsel and exhortation. 
 
 In the first months of 1083, he selected for the site of his capita) 
 that ndmiruble location, close by the scene of his treaty, lying be- 
 
THE SET T.EMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 185 
 
 tween the Sohuylki i , ud the Delaware. Here he laid out and founded 
 the city of Philadelphia — a city which sprung into existence with 
 a rapidity and prosperity unprecedented at the day, and almost 
 rivalling the Aladdin-like structures in our western regions, which 
 seem the growth of a night — the work of enchantment. In August 
 of that year, it consisted of but three or four cottages. Within two 
 years it contained six hundred houses. 
 
 Immediately afler its selection, indeed, (March, 1683) a convention 
 was assembled there for the purpose of forming a constitution. By 
 that instrument it was provided that a council and assembly should 
 be elected by the people, the first for three years, and the latter for 
 The initiative of laws was reserved to the governor and coun- 
 
 one. 
 
 cil, and their ratification depended on the assembly, directly repre- 
 senting the action of the people. The governor was allowed a 
 negative voice on the action of the council. The people received the 
 charter, so unexpectedly liberal, with gratitude and exultation; but 
 the former of these feelings, always short-lived with communities, 
 was, not long after, merged in the eager desire to establish a still 
 more complete form of democracy. 
 
 When the tidings of thiii unexampled generosity and tolerance on 
 the part of the proprietor reached Europe, numbers, especially of 
 the persecuted, from the British isles, (torn Holland, and from Ger- 
 many, flocked across the seas to share in the blessings provided by 
 the forethought and magnanimity of a single man. The sudden 
 growth of Philadelphia has been mentioned. That of the whole 
 province was on a corresponding scale — ontrivalling even the rapid 
 increase of New England. " I must, without vanity, say," affirms 
 Penn, with just pride, "I have led the greatest colony into America 
 that ever any man did upon a private credit, and the most prosper- 
 ous beginnings that ever were in it are to be found among us." His 
 humane and glorious mission in the New World accomplished, the 
 executive power entrusted to a commission of the council, the gen- 
 erous founder of Pennsylvania took an affecting leave of the people 
 who owed him so deep a debt of gratitude. Tender remembrance 
 and pious counsel mingled in his last words. **I have been with 
 you," he said, "cared over you, and served you, with unfeigned 
 love; and you are beloved of me and dear to me beyond utterance. 
 • * You are come to a quiet land, and liberty and authority 
 are in your own hands. Rule for Him under whom the princes of this 
 world will one day esteem it an honour to govern in their places." 
 
 ' i 
 
186 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0RT. 
 
 Returned to England, (1684,) Penn employed his fortune, his influ- 
 ence, his eloquence, in behalf of the oppressed. Thanks to his 
 name, his successful enterprise, and the respect which high integrity 
 will ever command, his voice at court was potential. At his inter- 
 cession, many hundreds of his unfortunate brethren were released 
 from the prisons in which they had been so long immured. The 
 eagerness of the new sovereign (James II.) to secure immunity for 
 his fellow-communicants, the Catholics, led him to listen favourably 
 to applications in behalf of other dissenters from the Establishment 
 Penn, in advance of all who sought either exclusive supremacy or 
 mere toleration for their respective creeds, boldly contended for 
 unlimited freedom of conscience, and won immortal honour by the 
 wisdom, the logic, and the eloquence with which his writings in 
 behalf of that grand object continually abound. 
 
 The first fruit of his generous concessions to the colonists, was 
 the display of a rather turbulent spirit of freedom. His legislators, 
 new to their business, soon became involved in quarrels with the 
 executive, and evinced much jealousy even of the limited share of 
 power and profit which the single-minded proprietor had reserved 
 as his own.' "The maker of the first Pennsylvania almanac was 
 censured for publishing Penn as a lord. The assembly originated 
 bills without scruple ; they attempted a new organization of the 
 judiciary; they alarmed the merchants by their lenity towards 
 debtors; they would vote no taxes; they claimed the right of in- 
 specting the records, and displacing the officers of the courts; they 
 expelled a member who reminded them of their contravening the 
 provisions of their charter." These tokens of ingratitude, leading, 
 indeed, to no disastrous results, must have borne somewhat heavily 
 on the heart of the benefactor of the province — that benefactor, who, 
 having expended his estate in delivering the oppressed and found- 
 ing a nation, and having relinquished in favour of his people the vast 
 profits which avarice, or even common custom might have grasped, 
 found himself, in old age, confined for debt within the rules of the 
 Fleet prison. But a steadfast hope and a serene conscience, the 
 prompters and supporters of his noble career, were equally his con- 
 solers under its unprosperous personal termination. His fame, 
 emerging from the clouds of envy and detraction, shines, century 
 after century, with a purer and more steady ray. His memory 
 will ever be cherished by mankind as that of one of the wisest, 
 worthiest^ and least selfish of their race. 
 
 h '■•}'-^,. 
 
 hU' 
 
 y. ;*ij«i.l 
 
 T 
 
 B.UA-^I^ 
 
 ;!.-< liiUi 
 
 I .• i 
 
 MK^ll". 
 
 hi' •'.'•I 
 
 IIR lOM 
 
 ITTKU 
 
 
. *l . I '' t 1 
 
 Ai 
 
 
 >/! iur. 
 
 THE NOETHERN COLONIES, 
 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 ■ ..i 
 
 U-tJif ■ t. 
 
 -••*' •"■ '^ 
 
 
 Cn A D T r t) T 
 itit til, i 1 Xi £i I , 
 
 IIB BSMUND ANDROS C0MKI8SI0NSD BT THB DUXB OF TOBX: HIS 
 
 ATTBMPT8 TO EXTEND HIS AUTHORITY OTER CONNECTICUT — 
 
 THOMAS DONOAN. — UNION 07 THB COLONIES UNDER i 
 
 BOTAL OOTERNOR. — ANDROS APPOINTED O0TEBN0B> 
 
 . OBNBRAL. — OPPRESSION IN TQB COLONIES. — PBO- 
 
 OBBDINOS AGAINST CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 — ANDROS'S TISIT TO CONNECTICUT. — PRE8EB- 
 .,, TATION OF THB CHARTER. — THB NORTHERN. 
 P&OTINCES FORCED TO 8UBXISSI0N. — DOINGS 
 IN NEW ENGLAND UPON THE OCCURRENCB T : 
 
 OF THE RETOLUTION OF 1688. 
 
 f 
 
 '.$•■ 
 
 
 b 
 
 III iV'M } Ml f1 
 
 !•' - •] ; i_y-. 
 
 fiI)J<. 
 
 ,.,( 
 
 At the period of the rScession to England of the territories of the 
 New Netheriands, after a brief possession by the Dutch, in 1673-4, 
 James, Duke of York, procured a new royal patent, by which his 
 former rights of proprietorship were secured to him, with enlarged 
 governmental powers. He chose a fit emissary for the furtherance 
 of his arbitrary intentions respecting his New England territory, in 
 the person of Major Edmund Andros, who came over in the autumn 
 of 1674, armed with nearly absolute authority, and entered upon 
 the exercise of his office as governor at New York, in the month of 
 October. ..t..., :^ ;•■ . — ; ■■ y<\<>'t '>• ■■:-> >- ■' * - 
 
 The people of Connecticut, justly proud of the privileges bestowed 
 upon them in the charter obtained from Charles IL, by the exertions 
 of Winthrop, made open resistance to the attempt by Andros to 
 extend his jurisdiction over their territory as far as the Connecticut 
 river, which he claimed to be the boundary of New York. The 
 
188 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0BT. 
 
 patent of the duke certainly covered this district, and extended 
 eastward as far as the Kennebec. The year after his appointment, 
 the governor, with several armed vessels, made a demonstration 
 upon the fort at Saybrook, but such was the aspect of determination 
 on the part of the colonial militia, and such the tone of a protest 
 forwarded by the assembly then in session at Hartford, that he judged 
 it prudent to withdraw. - - V 
 
 At a later period, after the accession of James II. to the throne of 
 England, the policy of uniting the New England colonies, and sub- 
 jecting them to the sway of the royal governor, was more energet- 
 ically pursued. Andros was superseded, in 1688, by Colonel Thomas 
 Dongan, a man of more enlarged views, and generally far more 
 acceptable to the colonists than his predecessor. During the three 
 years of this administration, the principal events of political interest 
 are connected with the history of that powerful aboriginal confed- 
 eracy, known as the Six Nations. 
 
 Upon the demise of the crown, in 1685, the new monarch, wi:h 
 characteristic tyranny and short-sightedness, determined on push- 
 ing forward his scheme for a union of the provinces. The charter 
 of Massachusetts was annulled by legal process in the English 
 courts. New Hampshire having been previously separated from that 
 colony, and constituted a royal province, in opposition to the wishes 
 of its inhabitants. "Writs of Quo Warranto were also issued against 
 the authorities of Connecticut and Bhode Island, requiring them to 
 appear and show by " what warrant " they exercised powers of gov- 
 crnment. Joseph Dudley, a native of the country, was temporarily 
 placed at the head of affairs in the eastern colonies, but was super- 
 seded at the close of the year 1686 by Andros, now Sir Edmund, 
 who came out as Governor-General of New England, and in whom, 
 assisted by a royal council, were vested all powers, legislative and 
 executive. He brought with him a small body of regular troops, 
 then, for the first time, quartered upon the New England colonies. 
 
 Andros is spoken of as a man of undoubted abilities and attain- 
 ments; and he appears to have possessed a spirit of military pride 
 which led him to respect an open and bold opposition. The prin- 
 cipal acts of tyranny which rendered his administration unpopular, 
 were in direct accordance with instructions from the English court 
 Power, such as bis, can safely be entrusted with no man. 
 
 Among other grievances, the liberty of the press was abolished, 
 and the unpopular Edward Randolph, who had previously been 
 
THE NOBTHEBN COLONIES. 
 
 189 
 
 sent out aa inspector of customs, was appointed censor. The reli* 
 gious privileges and prejudices of the colonists by various regu- 
 lations were invaded or outraged. In Massachusetts, marriages were 
 required to be celebrated by a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, 
 to the great disgust and inconvenience of the population. Even the 
 Act of Toleration, by which dissenters in general were freed from 
 former disabilities, was looked upon with suspicion, as being but 
 one step taken by a Catholic monarch towards the final establish- 
 ment of his own church. 
 
 An assessment of taxes, by the governor and council, was at first 
 met by a general refusal and resistance; but the levy was enforced, 
 and obstinate defaulters were punished with severity by fines and 
 imprisonment A favourite and most productive method of extor- 
 tion, was the impeachment of titles to lands held under the old 
 grants from towns or from the general assemblies, and ruinous fees 
 were exacted from those who were thus compelled to procure new 
 patents from the royal officials, .r , 
 
 Legal process against the governments of Connecticut and Rhode 
 Island had been stayed upon the transmission of memorials to the 
 king, which had been construed into submission to the royal pleasure; 
 but the charters of these provinces had not been formally surren- 
 dered. In January of 1687, Sir Edmund proceeded in person to 
 Bbode Island, and put an end to the existing government. He 
 destroyed the public seal, and, without material opposition, estab- 
 lished the royal authority, as represented by himself and his creatures. 
 
 The General Assembly of Connecticut, being in session during the 
 month of October following, was visited by the governor-general, 
 who came, with an armed force, to compel a surrender of the charter, 
 and to dissolve the provincial government. The treasured docu- 
 ment was produced, and the question was discussed at great length. 
 Night came on, and, as it was evident that Andros was fully 
 determined to enforce his claims, a plan was concerted by which the 
 instrument that bad assured a free government to Connecticut was at 
 least preserved, although rendered, for the time being, of no effect 
 The lights were extinguished, and, in the darkness and confusion 
 which ensued. Captain Wadsworth, of Hartford, seized upon the 
 charter, and, making his way out of the assembly-room, succeeded 
 in depositing it unseen in a place of security, viz: the hollow of a 
 huge oak. This tree is still living, and forms an object no less 
 interesting from its antiquity, (being one of the few denizens of the 
 
 li 
 
190 
 
 Tll£ PEOPLE'S BOUK OF UISTOBY. 
 
 aboriginal forest now standing in the thiokly -settled portions of Nevr 
 England,) and fh>m the great size of its gnarled and picturesque 
 trunk, than from its association with the incident above related. 
 The original charter is still preserved at the secretary's office, in 
 Hartford. 
 
 Andros met with no further opposition, and all New England, 
 with New York and New Jersey, finally submitted to his dictation. 
 He maintained his position until the revolution of 1688, by which 
 William and Mary gained possession of the throne of England. An 
 unprofitable eastern expedition against the French and Indians, 
 under the Baron of St. Castine, was among the most noticeable 
 events of the latter portion of his administration. *''«>» ►'f^^* ■ ' 
 
 Upon receipt of the first definite intelligence of the revolution, 
 the people of Boston rose in masa Andros, his Secretary Ran- 
 dolph, and other officials, were seized and thrown into prison. The 
 venerable Simon Bradstreet, former governor of the colony, was put 
 at the head of a provisional government. n >i^a ;km «. , 
 
 The whole of New England followed the example of Massa- 
 chusetts. Connecticut and Bhode Island were reorganized under 
 their violated charters, and all the other colonies, in resuming their 
 old forms of government, rejoiced over the forced abdication of the 
 king, and the establishment of a Protestant succession. '* 
 
 Andros was sent to England, and the various charges against 
 him were examined by William and his council. It appeared, how- 
 ever, that he had in no material instance exceeded the f)0wer8 
 expressly bestowed upon him, and the complaints were dismissed. 
 Connecticut and Rhode Island received the royal confirmation of 
 their old charters; but Massachusetts was less fortunate, having made 
 defence in the proceedings under the quo warranto, to final judg 
 meat, which, it was decided, could only be reversed on writ of error 
 
 ,»■• .■ 
 
 '■>-'t 
 
 »•• i 
 
 * 
 
■-^-«l*«^*w.)*,**i*«,-.^(|4«C||fe%»,,'fl»«4^ 4,,.i»»^„.^ 
 
 
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 V' 
 
 BORN AT LONDON. OCTuBK 
 
 nil. I. i->J>i ''» -^"•'^'' 
 
 THE POUNDER OF PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 R u. imi: TOVSmV pmi.AnKI.HUIA. «»: DIED JULY 30. ITO 
 
1 1 
 
 ^^m 
 
 
 
 XIW YO 
 
 8CMPTI 
 
 THE 
 
 8L0U 
 
 LSI 
 
 FU 
 
 ^M- 
 
TUK MOKTHEBN COLONIES. 
 
 m 
 
 > -iK 
 
 ^„j ,\ n^' 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 
 •''*. 
 
 mW YORK SUB8IQUBNT TO THB RITOLUTION OF 16S8. — A8' 
 
 8CMPTI0N or AUTHORITY BT JACOB LBI8LSR: OPPOSITION BT 
 
 IHB COUNCIL. — INDIAN INCUR8I0N8. — ARRIVAL 0? 
 
 8L0UOHTBR AS OOTBRNOR. — TRIAL AND SXECUTION OF 
 
 LEISLBR AND MILBOURNE. — COLONEL FLETCHER: HI8 
 
 FUTILB ATTEMPT TO ENFORCE AUTHORITY IN 
 
 , ,\ CONNECTICUT. — CHURCH DIFFICULTIES. — BEL- 
 
 ' :<.. LAHONT'S PEACEABLE ADMINISTRATION, — 
 
 CAPTAIN KIDD, THE PIRATB. 
 
 /^C 
 
 In New York, the first news of the English revolution created 
 great confusion and terror. Vague reports of intended outrages on 
 the part of the Catholics excited the populace, and hastened a move- 
 ment which proved fatal to its leaders. Jacob Leisler, a captain of 
 militia, and a Dutch merchant of wealth and respectability, was pre- 
 vailed upon to take command of a body of insurgents, and to seize 
 upon the fort. The lieutenant-governor, Colonel Francis Nicholson, 
 fled the country, and Leisler, at the head of a "committee of safety," 
 assumed the administration of government, in opposition to the 
 regular municipal authorities. The news of the accession of William 
 and Mary having arriverl, he made public proclamation of loyalty 
 to the new sovereigns, and dispatched a letter to them, rendering an 
 account of his proceedings, with a detail of the causes which had 
 rendered such action necessary or expedient. In the month of 
 August, Milbourne, a son-in-law of Leisler, came over from England, 
 and received the appointment of secretary by the self-constituted 
 government The members of the old council, having retreated to 
 Albany, there proclaimed their intended adherence to the new suc- 
 cession, and their denunciation of the rebellious Leisler. The people 
 of Albany, in convention, determined to await a direct appointment 
 by the crown, and, having conferred on Major Schuyler the com- 
 mand of the fort, refused to submit to the requirements, or yield to 
 the persuasions of Milbourne, who, with a force of fifty men, had 
 come to demand possession in the name of his superior. 
 
 In December (1689) came out a royal comtnission, directed to 
 Nicholson, "or such as, for the time being, takes car* for preserving 
 ToL. IV.-41 
 
\^^ 
 
 VHK PEOPLK'B BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 tt. ciw 'i and fidmx iiiiitrTUig the laws," Ac. Leisler adopted thig 
 as hia o^it W»rr«»it for iHit exeriae of the powers he hftd UHumed. 
 Iniecuro itv his ponition, atid opjf<«)Red by a powerf\il party, the 
 governor was unable- Home Bay lii. .'mi)etcnt — to make neccwa-y 
 jji rparations for tl . protection of the northern frontier. War exiK»?l 
 between England an! Franc**, and parties of French and Indiana, 
 mtutl f^t by Frontenac, the Canin^»an governor, ravaged the country. 
 In ur. attack upon Schenectady, some sixty of the inhabitants were 
 slain, twenty-five were carried into captivity, and many who escaped 
 suffered every extremity from exposure during their flight towards 
 Albany. An expedition against Canada, undertaken by New York, 
 Connecticut, and Massachusetts, from want of timely cdoperation 
 between the different parties, proved a complete failure. 
 
 licisler succeeded in silencing the open opposition at Albany, 
 but his supremacy was destined to be of short duration. Henry 
 Sloughter, with a commission from the crown, came oat as g ,y. 
 ernor in March, 1691. A certain Captain Ingoldsby had lande^ at 
 New York with troops three months previous, had announced this 
 appointment, and claimed possession of the fort. Leisler refused to 
 surrender the place, and, on the arrival of Sloughter, by order of 
 that official, was arrested, together with Milbourne, and several 
 members of his council. 
 
 The first steps taken by the trovemor, were to appoint a special 
 court for the trial of the i«- noners, and to issue warrants for an 
 assembly, or council, to as-^ist him in the administration. The result 
 was what might be expected from the character of Sloughter, and 
 the arbitrary nature of the proceedings. The accused were convicted 
 of high-treason, and sentenced to death. The council concurred 
 with the sentence, and the governor, at first hesitating to push mat- 
 ters to such an extremity, finally signed the death-warrants of Leisler 
 and Milbourne. It has been said that his assent was obtained dur- 
 ing a fit of intoxication. The victims perished on the gallows, in 
 the month of May (1691). They met their fate with a composure 
 and in a Christian spirit whic'i must have enlisted ^. '• i «y.iipathy. 
 Their heirs ofkerwards received their estotes, t« hU '.. ' . being 
 reveri»ed, and the vain ceremonial of funeral hoi.ou.ii was jiorformed 
 over the bodies of the unfortunate governor and his secretary. 
 
 Colonel Fletcher succeeded Sloughter in 1692, the latter having 
 d' ' Btiddenly, after holding office about four months. He was 
 \f«onccJ''by the crown as commander of the militia of New 
 
 /) 
 
V THE NOBTrrRRN COLON I IS. 
 
 198 
 
 Jersey and Connecticut, and \u the following year proceeded to 
 Hartford for the purpoM of <nforciug bin militory claims. The 
 Connecticut authorities refused to iiubmit to Hm demands, as being 
 opposed to privileges secured to them by barter. The militia com- 
 panies were assembled, but wi.v ii Fletcher ordered the reading of 
 his commission, Captain William Wadsworth, the prnici|' ' officer, 
 caused the drums to be beat, and, adding to this violence a peri^Mial 
 threat, "that he would make day-lighk shine through him," so over- 
 awed the colonel, that he desisted fVom the attempt to takt; 'X)mmand, 
 V \<^ I le next day set out for New York. 
 
 1i her held office until 1698. He had much controversy with 
 :;he as lembly respecting laws for the settlement of clergymen. Fa- 
 vouring the English Church, he was greatly exasperated when the 
 house, after providing for the appointment of ministers to be elected 
 by their parishioners, refused to add an amendment by which the 
 sanction of the governor was required to their settlement Un pro- 
 rogued the assembly forthwith, accusing the members, in hw fare- 
 well speech, as being possessed of "a stubborn ill-temper." 
 
 Lord Bellamont, who succeeded him in 1698, as governor of the 
 northern oolonies, (with the exception of Connecticut and Rh^de 
 Island,) was a man of noble and generous disposition, and throUf.'h- 
 out his three years' administration gave general satisfaction to tne 
 people. It was at this time that the notorious Captain Kidd ob- 
 tained a commission from the crown to cruise afler pirates, with 
 which the seas were infested. He was fUrnished with a vessel by 
 Bellamont and others, for this purpose, it being supposed that great 
 treasures might be recovered by the capture of these outlaws, and 
 by ferreting out their places of retreat The treachery of Kidd, his 
 subsequent piratical exploits, his audacious appearance in public, his 
 capture, and execution, mingled with many fabulous and exaggerated 
 accounts of adventure, have ever since been favourite themes for 
 rude nautical K)ng8 and tales. The search for treasures which he 
 was supposed to have buried, has been continued even to the 
 present day. ; 
 
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 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 iiii li, i 1 Jj Zi III, 
 
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 ^\,.. 
 
 NEW CHARTER OP MASSACHUSETTS. — TRIALS FOR WITCH- 
 CRAFT IN SALEM. — FIRST EXECUTION. — PARRI8 AND HIS 
 FAMILY. — COURT OF EXAMINATION AT SALEM. — COTTON 
 MATHER. — ARRIVAL OF PHIPP8. — NUMEROUS EXE- 
 CUTIONS. — CONFESSIONS. — CRUELTIES IJ^FLICTED. 
 — CHANGE IN PUBLIC OPINION. , . « 
 
 In Massachusetts, after the RevoIutioD, a regular government was 
 established under a new charter, brought out by Sir William Pliipps, 
 in 1602, which included under one government with that province 
 the colony of Plymouth, and the partially conquered wilderness 
 eastward to the mouth of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 This year is memorable in the history of New England, as the 
 period when a fatal delusion, a superstitious terror, and a bloody 
 fanaticism, resulted in acts which reflected an indelible disgrace upon 
 the eastern colonies. We cannot, perhaps, at this date, arrive at 
 satisfactory conclusions respecting the reputed witchcraft at Salem. 
 Within the last few years a belief in manifestations as strange, and 
 as apparently supernatural as those recorded by Mather and other 
 early historians, has been steadily gaining ground: it numbers 
 among its converts men of every condition, and of every variety of 
 intellectual culture and endowment ; and were the same interpreta- 
 tion, as in the seventeenth century, put upon the experiments 
 whereby the phenomena are developed now, and were the same 
 necessity felt for literal obedience to the Hebrew law, scenes mure 
 horrible than those we are now about to record, would be renewed 
 in our midst. 
 
 We cannot, however, give the actors in those disgraceful pro- 
 ceedings credit for entire honesty and sincerity. Even granting 
 that a foundation for suspicion and accusation was laid by the occur- 
 rence of events so unaccountable, that, in that age, reference to the 
 devil and his familiars as their originators wfis but a natural ex- 
 planation of the mystery, we can discover too much evidence of 
 private malice, of duplicity, and misrepresentation, to allow of much 
 room for charity towards tho.se who took an active part in the })er- 
 seculions, or those who endeavoured to justify or gloss over 
 their crimes. 
 
THE NORTHERN COLONIES. 
 
 195 
 
 The first prosecutions for witchcraft took place several years pre- 
 vious to the time of which we are now speaking. An unfortunate 
 old Irish woman, named Glover, was executed as a witch in 1688. 
 Her accusation appears to have resulted from personal pique, but 
 she was a Catholic, she spoke indifferent English, and her broken 
 answers were easily interpreted against her. 
 
 The first case that occurred in 1692, was that of an Indian woman, 
 named Tituba, a servant in the house of Samuel Parris, minister of 
 Salem. A daughter and a niece of the latter, of the ages respect- 
 ively of about nine and twelve, became afflicted with strange con- 
 vulsions, and complained of pains and torments unexplainable by 
 the facuHy. They were pronounced bewitched, and Tituba was 
 flogged by her master into a confession that she was the guilty party. 
 Without undertaking to reason upon the cause of the phenomena, 
 to what extent some strange sympathetic mental delusion (such as 
 has from time to time been observed in all ages), may have pre- 
 vailed, how far men in their sober senses may have become the 
 dupes of artful children, or what really unaccountable physical 
 manifestations may have taken place, we can only give the facts as 
 they actually occurred. 
 
 Accusations multiplied with the number of the supposed possessed 
 or afflicted persons. They extended from the poor and helpless to 
 those of good standing and reputation, and a universal panic was 
 excited, which finally worked its own cure. Meantime, a special 
 court was convened at Salem (now Danvers) meeting-house, in the 
 month of April, and the trials formally commenced. The accusers 
 were personally confronted with 'their supposed tormentors, and 
 added to their former declarations what appeared, to the prejudi«»ed 
 and excited court, direct and convincing evidence. 
 
 For minute accounts of the proceedings throughout these trials, 
 as well aa for experiments carried out at great length upon the pos- 
 sessed, in a spirit of philosophical inquiry, see the writings of Cotton 
 Mather. He appears to have been a firm believer in the reality of 
 these diabolical manifestations, btit such was his dogmatic obstinacy, 
 and his excessive self esteem, th-^t he never could or would confess 
 to having been deceived. In reading his works, while we laugh at 
 his absurdities, we cannot restrain feelings of the strongest indigna- 
 tion at his cruelty, bigotry, and intolerance. As a historian, he is 
 notoriously fallacious, but we may believe that he saw, or thought 
 he saw, the things which he describes as coming under his personal 
 
196 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF III8T0BY. 
 
 observation, for he could scarcely appear in a more unamiable light 
 than that in which he is exhibited upon his own testimony. 
 
 In the midst of the excitement (May 14th) Governor Phipps 
 arrived, and assumed his office. He entered at once into the spirit 
 of persecution, and ordered into irons the unfortunates with whom 
 the jails were crowded. 
 
 Several sessions of the special court were held during the summer, 
 and by the close of September no less than twenty persons, of various 
 ages and of both sexes, had perished on the gallows as wit<ihes.or ne- 
 cromancers. Among the most noted of these, was George Burroughs, 
 formerly minister at Salem, and a rival of his successor, the infamous 
 Pnrris. His demeanour on the scaffold was so strongly indicative of 
 innocence, and such was the effect produced by his prayers and 
 dying address, that it is said that the execution might have been pre- 
 vented by the spectators if Cotton Mather had not made his way 
 through the thrcmg on horseback, and exerted his usual influence 
 over the people, by vituperation against the victim of superstition. 
 The principal point made against Burroughs, was his denial of the 
 reality of the supposed witchcraft. So strong, indeed, was the pop- 
 ular prejudice, that those only of the accused could hope for favour 
 or safety who were willing to minister to it by ponfessions and self- 
 
 accusationa 
 
 •.i.ic*t vy 
 
 "J!(i!.«T'ji7 '>')l;-Mi;};! 
 
 The wildest absurdities respecting diabolical witch-meetings and 
 incantations thus received corroboration. There was no difficulty in 
 iinding evidence against those who refused to confess, provided they 
 had come, from any cause, to be in bad odour, or had personal enemies. 
 The trials, as far as any form of law or rules of evidence are concerned, 
 were the merest mockery; for whatever contradictions in testi- 
 mony might occur, they were easily explained by the hypothesis 
 that this was only an attempt by the devil to bewilder the witness 
 by taking away his memory, or by making further false impressions, 
 In various instances, direct and cruel bodily torture was resorted to, 
 in order to extort confession. One old man of eighty or ninety, 
 named Giles Cory, refused to plead, and was barbarously pressed to 
 death, being subjected to the ^^ peine forte et dure,'" as provided by the 
 law of England. We must recollect, however, in passing judgment 
 upon all these acts, that, provided their premises were correct, the 
 early colonists only carried out principles universally received, and 
 acted upon for ages, in the parent country. And yet there are 
 those who speak of the degeneracy of modern times, and presume 
 
THB NOBTHEBN COLONIES. 
 
 197 
 
 to draw comparisoiis unfavoural;^ to the present age, between the 
 existing state of publio morals and theology, and that of a former 
 generation. tMsi-l^'fwi Xkuj 8f/)l>k»T »?it %3 «}.-iri.iiivtf»v-<i« »rft 'lahi: i 
 
 The first public intimation of any change in feeling or opinion 
 respecting the Salem murders appears in a remonstrance sent in to 
 the general court, at its October session, by the minister of Andover 
 and his parishioners. The special court was then and there abol- 
 ished, and the interval between that period and the month of Janu* 
 ary, (1698,) when the regular criminal court was to sit, allowed 
 time for reflection on the part of the excited populace. When the 
 new cases came before a grand jury, twenty -six indictments (out of 
 fifty -six) were found true bills, but upon trial, there were but three 
 convictions. Even those found guilty were reprieved, and finally 
 set at liberty. 
 
 Mather himself, giving his own ideas, or endorsing those of an- 
 other, confesses that the matter might have been carried too far; for, 
 he says: "at last it was evidently seen that there must be a stop 
 put, or the generation of the children of God would fall under that 
 condemnation." And again: "It cannot be imagin'd that in a 
 place of so much knowledge, so many, in so small a compass of 
 land, should so abominably leap into the devil's lap all at once." 
 
 : (; 
 
 ;i i, ... 
 
 t; .hi- ^; ?(>; ■■•■'. CiiAPTER iv. 
 
 1 )i 
 
 OONTEOYBRST CONCERNING EETENUE. — SUSPECTED NEGRO RETOLI 
 
 IN NEW TORE: MOCK-TRIALS OF THE ACCUSED: BARBAROUS 
 
 PUNISHMENTS. — CONNECTICUT: THE SAYBROOK PLATFORM. 
 
 — MASSACHUSETTS: BURNING OF DEERFIELD: DIFFICULTIES 
 
 t 
 
 BETWEEN THE GOVERNORS AND ASSEMBLIES. — NEW 
 HAMPSHIRE: ATTACK ON COCHECO: EASTERN IN- 
 DIAN WAR. — RHODE ISLAND: ITS COMMERCIAL 
 _, PROSPERITY. — NEW JERSEY: OPPOSITION TO 
 ARBITRARY TAXATION: SCOTCH IMMIGRA- 
 „u, HON: PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY: ITS 
 .;,;..., UNION WITH NEW YORK. 
 
 With the commencement of the eighteenth century a series of 
 movements and conflicts commenced in the colonies, the tendency 
 
198 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 of which was directly and steadily towards the establishment of those 
 principles which resulted in their final independence. In New York, 
 under the governments of the reckless and profligate Lord Corn- 
 bury, of Hunter, of Cosby, and Clark, vexed questions arose 
 respecting the collection and application of the colonial revenues. 
 The public monies had been so scandalously appropriated or misap- 
 plied by Cornbury, that, under his successors, care was taken by the 
 assembly to secure the country against similar loss by the dishonesty 
 or incompetency of the executive. The result was an almost con- 
 stant altercation between the house and the governor's council. The 
 attempt by the latter to alter or amend the fiscal provisions of the 
 former was met by determined resistance, and again and again was 
 the assembly dissolved by the governor. 
 
 During the administration of Clark, who, as senior member of the 
 council, took the office of lieutenant-governor upon the death of 
 Crosby, in 1736, the assembly made express deslaration, in an address 
 to the governor, of the principles by which their legislation should 
 be governed, in the following language: "We therefore beg leave 
 to be plain with your honour, and hope you will not take it amiss 
 when we tell you, that you are not to expect that we will either 
 raise sums unfit to be raised, or put what we shall raise into the 
 power of a governor to misapply, if we can prevent it; nor shall we 
 make up any other deficiencies than what we conceive are fit and 
 just to be paid; nor continue what support or revenue we shall 
 raise, for any longer time than one year" (a provision for securing 
 an annual session of the assembly); "nor do we think it convenient 
 to do even that, until such laws are passed as we conceive necessary 
 for the inhabitants of the colony," &c. 
 
 In the year 1741, scenes occurred in New York of a character 
 strikingly illustrative of the truth, that the extreme of cruelty ia 
 generally the offspring of terror and cowardice. A number of fires 
 took place at short intervals, and although many of them were 
 plainly attributable to accident, suspicion arose that a plot had 
 been formed by the negroes, of whom between one and two thousand 
 were there held as slaves, to destroy and plunder the city. The 
 testimony of two infamous informers, given in the one instance to 
 secure a Veward, and in the other, to escape punishment after con- 
 viction of a crime, gave form and directness to the accusation. As 
 early as 1712, a panic somewhat similar had resulted in the death 
 of nineteen victims of popular rage and terror, and the old feeling 
 
THE NORTHERN COLONIES. 
 
 199 
 
 was now revived with tenfold virulence. A great number of arrests 
 were speedily made, and when the trials came on, so strong was 
 the public prejudice that, of the eight lawyers who then constituted 
 the entire legal fraternity of the city, none would lend his services 
 in the defence of a prisoner. "All assisted by turns on behalf of 
 the prosecutions. The prisoners, who had no counsel, were tried 
 and convicted upon most insufficient evidence. The lawyers vied 
 with each other in heaping all sorts of abuse on their heads, and 
 Chief-Justice Delancey, in passing sentence, vied with the lawyers. 
 Many confessed, to save their lives, and then accused others. Thir- 
 teen unhappy convicts were burned at the stake, eighteen were 
 hanged, and seventy-one transported."* 
 
 Two of the victims were white men ; the others were partly slaves 
 and partly free blacks. One of the whites appears to have been 
 condemned rather from the circumstance that he was a Catholic, 
 and, as such, obnoxious to popular prejudice, than from any respect- 
 able evidence of guilt There is no probability that any plot had 
 been formed, although some of those who received punishment may 
 have been guilty of incendiarism. 
 
 The history of Connecticut, during the first half of the eighteenth 
 century, presents little of historical importance, except its connec- 
 tion with the other provinces in military operations, elsewhere 
 briefly described. The most important local measure of the period 
 was the establishment of "the Say brook Platform," by an eccle- 
 siastical convention, called in 1708, by a legislative act. "At a 
 subsequent session of the legislature, it was enacted that all the 
 churches united according to the Platform, should be owned as 
 established by law, allowing, however, to other churches the right 
 of exercising worship and discipline in their own way, according to 
 their consciences."f 
 
 In the frontier war with the French and Indians, which lingered 
 through the latter portion of the seventeenth century, and after a 
 short interval of peace, broke out again in 1704, the border towns 
 of Massachusetts suffered severely. In February of the latter year, 
 a party of three hundred French and Indians, the former under 
 command of Hertel de Rouville, attacked the town of Deerfield in 
 the night. The place had been partially protected by palisades, and 
 about twenty soldiers were quartered there, but these had been 
 
 ♦ Hildreth's History of the United States, 
 f Hale's History of the United States. 
 
 ■^1 
 
 lii 
 
 f 
 
 
200 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBT. 
 
 grosalj negligent in not mounting guard, and the surprise was com- 
 plete. The popular narrative of Mr. Williams, the minister, gives 
 a vivid description of the calamity. "Not long before the break of 
 day," he says, " the enemy came in like a flood upon us, our watch 
 being unfaithful." The inhabitants made what resistance they could, 
 but such was the suddenness of the assault, and the superiority of 
 the enemy's force, that the strife was soon at an end. The town 
 was burned ; forty -seven of its defenders perished on the spot; and a 
 great number of prisoners — men, women, and children — were marched 
 off through a deep snow towards Canada — "nineteen of whom," 
 says the narrator, "were afterwards murdered by the way, and two 
 starved to death near Coos, in a time of great scarcity or famine 
 the Indians underwent there." Mrs. Williams was among the vic- 
 tims on the route. Those who finally reached their place of destina- 
 tion, were kept prisoners for several years. Fifty-seven of them 
 were sent back to Boston in 1706. 
 
 The operations against Canada, in which the New England colo- 
 nies were jointly engaged, during the few years ^cceeding this 
 period, have already been described in the history of the French 
 Canadian settlements. The long-continued war had greatly checked 
 the growth of the exposed colonies, and, at the conclusion of peace 
 in 1718, Massachusetts was left burdened with a heavy debt. 
 
 For many years thereafter, the general assembly of this colony 
 was in continual controversy with a succession of royal governors 
 respecting the establishment of a fixed salary, which should render 
 the position of the latter more independent The demand for this 
 measure was firmly refused, and it was finally settled that the gov- 
 ernor should be paid only by an annual appropriation. 
 
 For the important colonial expedition against Canada in 1745, 
 and the fall of Louisburg, see the articles upon Acadia, the settle- 
 ment and history of Canada, &c., under the title of the French iu 
 America. '' '•• n> ( ■> ' 
 
 We find little of public interest to record of the sparsely populated 
 colony of New Hampshire from the time of its separation from Mas- 
 sachusetts, at the close of Andros' administration, up to the events 
 which immediately preceded the American revolution. Many 
 strange tales are told of incidents connected with the Indian wars, 
 the frontier position of the colony rendering it peculiarly liable to 
 hostile incursion. Among these is the account given of the attack 
 upon Cocheco, or Dover, in 1689. One Major Waldron bad com- 
 
THX MOBTHEBN COLONIES. 
 
 201 
 
 Diand of a garrison sufficient to protect the poet, if due care had been 
 taken to guard against surprise. 
 
 The enemy were let in, in the night, by two squaws who had 
 obtained permission to sleep in the fortified houses. " The English 
 were completely ^overpowered, fifty -two were killed or carried away 
 captive; among the former was Major Waldron. The old warrior 
 (be was eighty years of age) defended himself with astonishing 
 strength and courage, but was finally struck down from behind. 
 Bruised and mangled, he was placed in a chair upon a table, and 
 the savages, gathering round^glutted their long-cherished vengeance 
 by cutting and torturing the helpless captive. He was in bad odour 
 with thie Indians for having, as they alleged, defirauded them in for- 
 mer trading transactions^ It w(ts reported among them that he used 
 to ' count his fist as weighing a pound, also that his accounts were 
 not crossed out according to agreement' Placed, as above-mentioned, 
 upon a table, some of them 'in turns gashed his naked breast, say- 
 ing, I cross out my account Then, cutting a joint from his finger, 
 would say: will your fist weigh a pound now?' They continued 
 these cruelties until he fainted firom loss of blood, when they dis- 
 patched him."* 
 
 The expeditions of this period against the eastern Indians and 
 French, are described in the quaint narrative of Colonel Benjamin 
 Church, who closed his military career in these services. In the three 
 years' Indian war, which broke out in 1722, the settlements in New 
 Hampshire were constantly endangered, and on many occasions 
 suffered severely from savage depredations Of all the events of 
 the war, none was more celebrated in its time, than the expedition 
 under Captain John Lovewell, and the fight at Figwacket, on the 
 Saco, in which he and more than half his companions perished. 
 
 The colony of Rhode Island, under the charter of 1663, resumed 
 upon the deposition of Andros, continued to prosper. Its position 
 secured it against danger from Indian invasion, and its excellent 
 harbours gave opportunity to the enterprising population for exten- 
 sive commercial operations. A large back country was supplied 
 with foreign goods from Newport. It is even said to have been a 
 matter of serious question, in early times, whether New York could 
 ever compete with this prosperous sea-port; so true it is that a 
 stimulus to enterprise and exertion is far more important to the 
 welfare of a country than the greatest natural advantages. The 
 
 * Indian Races in America. 
 
202 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OP HISTORY. 
 
 rugged soil of New England has nourished a race, the field of whose 
 exertions is boundless: the inhabitants of the barren island of Nan 
 tucket have been, so to speak, driven to employ their energies in 
 enterprise, than which none has proved more permanently profitable. 
 
 New Jersey was among the foremost and most earnest of the 
 northern colonies, in resistance to arbitrary power on the part of 
 her governors. The imposition of a duty, and the levy of a tax by 
 Andros, when he was first commissioned by the Duke of York, was 
 the occasion of a remonstrance, in which the standing claim, that 
 taxes should not be imposed withojat the people's assent, was 
 strongly and successfully urged. 
 
 Under the management of Penn and his associates, a new impetus 
 was given to the prosperity of the colony by the immigration of a 
 vast number of the persecuted Presbyterians from Scotland. They 
 formed a sober and industrious population, well fitted to mingle 
 upon terms of sympathy and brotherhood with the Quaker inhabit- 
 ants and the descendants of the Puritans, by whom the country 
 was peopled. Glowing accounts are given of the rapidity with which 
 the lands were brought under cultivation, of the efficient means 
 which were taken to secure the blessings of free education, and of 
 the general thrift and prosperity of the colony. 
 
 New Jersey, together with New York and the New England colo- 
 nies, was brought under the domination of Sir Edmund Andros in 
 1688. For many years after the revolution of that date, its affairs 
 remained in an unsettled state; but in 1702, a surrender of their 
 legislative powers by the proprietors, resulted in the temporary 
 union of the province with New York, then under the government 
 of Cornbury. . . , ,■■. ... 
 
 
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 CHAUTER OF THS COLONT OF OBORGIA. — FIRST ARRIVAL OF 
 COLONISTS. — SETTLEMENT OF SAVANNAH. — INDIAN NEGO- 
 TIATIONS. — MARY MU80R0VB. — CESSION OF INDIAN 
 CLAIMS. — CHARACTER OF IMMIGRANTS TO GEORGIA. 
 — TRAFFIC IN NEGROES PROHIBITED. — FRED- 
 ERICA FOUNDED. — WAR WITH SPAIN. 
 
 As late as the year 1732, when plans for the settlement of the cuan- 
 try included between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers were first 
 actively undertaken, the whole district, together with the adjoining 
 territory, now included in the state of Georgia, remained untenanted, 
 except by savages, and a debatable ground between the English 
 colonies and those of Spain. In the month of June, in the year 
 above-mentioned, James Oglethorpe, with twenty associates, in Eng- 
 land, obtained a charter from George II., for the foundation of a 
 colony in this unoccupied region — the special object of the grantees 
 being to provide an asylum for poor and imprisoned debtors, for the 
 subjects of religious persecutions, and for all standing in need of 
 charity, who might, by removal to a new country, be rendered 
 eventually self-dependent, useful, and prosperous. 
 
 The leader in this enterpriae was a soldier and a scholar, and, 
 although yet a young man, was possessed of experience in public 
 life, and maturity of judgment, which well qualified him for his 
 responsible undertaking. He had been for several years engaged in 
 efforts for the amelioration of the condition of the multitudes con- 
 fined for debt, in Great Britain, and his exertions had awakened 
 much attention among the benevolent and philanthropic. He met 
 with a ready response to iiis call for funds to aid in the transporta- 
 tion and establishment of the members of his new colony. 
 
 II! 
 
 I 
 In 
 
20i 
 
 THE PEOPLE*S BOOK OF HI8T0BT. 
 
 Oglethorpe sailed for America in November, 1782, with one 
 hundred and thirteen emigranta. He first landed at Charleston, 
 where provisions were provided bj the inhabitants for the present 
 support of the voyagers, and boats for their conveyance to their 
 new homes. 
 
 The site occupied by the present city of Savannah, on Yamacraw 
 Bluff, was fixed upon for the first settlement Elevated above the 
 surrounding level, a few miles from the entrance of the river, thii 
 position commands a beautiful and extensive view in the direction 
 of the sea. A tribe of the Muscogees, or Lower Creeks, dwelt in 
 the vicinity. These "were peaceably disposed towards the white 
 settlers, but the governor of the infant colony thought it advisable 
 to put himself upon safe ground as regarded the Indian claims. 
 He therefore secured the serviaes of a half-breed woman, named 
 Mnry Musgrove, who could speak English, and, by her media. ion, 
 brought about a conference with the chiefs of the tribe. 
 
 Mary had formerly married a white trader from Carolina. Be- 
 sides her usefulness as an interpreter, she had such influence over 
 her tribe, that Oglethorpe thought it worth his while to purchase 
 her services at the rate of one hundred pounds a year. She be- 
 came, afterwards, a source of no httie danger and annoyance to the 
 English . !ii '.' 'i'ii-.fit>' ,!.':;;'i'.i-'i ' >i'* ■ •■ •■' ' ■ ''■ ■' 
 
 Fiftj chiefs of the Creek nation were assembl"? ' at the place of 
 conference, and Tomochiohi, the most noted among those then 
 known to the settlers, made an amicable speech, proffering, at the 
 same time, a present of a buffiilo-skin, adorned with eagles' feathers."^ 
 By the terms of the treaty, the king of England was acknowledged 
 by the Indians as their sovereign, and provisions were made for the 
 preservation of peace and quiet between them and the settlers. 
 
 "The lands lying between the Savannah and Altamaha were 
 made over to the English, with all the islands on that coast, except 
 St Catharine's and two others, which were reserved for the use of 
 the Indians as bathing and fishing stations. A tract was also set 
 apart for the latter to encamp upon when they visited their white 
 friends, a little above the Yamacraw Bluff"." 
 
 The liberal offers of the patrons and proprietors of the new col- 
 ony of Georgia — religious freedom, (to the exclusion, however, of 
 Papists,) personal security, free grants of land, free pa8.sage, and a 
 temporary supply of provision — proved strong inducements to 
 
 * Indian Races of Amerioa. 
 
THX BOUTHEBN COLONIES. 
 
 206 
 
 immigration. Not only the poor outcasta who had gladly availed 
 themselves of the assistance of the charitable, thronged to the settle- 
 ment, but a thrifty and industrious population poured in from 
 Scotland, Switzerland, and Germany. A considerable body of 
 Moravians, from the latter country, arrived in March, 1734, and 
 with the assistance cordially proffered by Oglethorpe, commenced a 
 settlement at the tnouth of Ebenezer creek, which empties into the 
 Savannah, a considerable distance above the capital. The Scotch, 
 who arrived in the following year, settled at Darien, called by them 
 New Inverness. 
 
 In February, 1786, the governor, returning from England, whither 
 he had voyaged to procure contributions and recruits for his colony, 
 brought with him about three hundred immigrants. A portion 
 of these were Moravians, and among them was the celebrated John 
 Wesley, who came out fired with religious zeal for the conversion 
 of the Indians. 
 
 A general spirit of good-will, peace, and content, seemed to per- 
 vade the community. The powers of government were, it is true, 
 vested in the trustees, under the charter, but these benevolent indi- 
 viduals, who received no emoluments for their services, appear to 
 have had the interests of the colony at heart. A vain attempt was 
 made, indeed, to secure the settlement against the evils of slavery, 
 the importation of negroes being forbidden ; but within a few years 
 the inhabitants became convinced that the condition of their neigh- 
 bours, who availed themselves of the labour of blacks, was more 
 prosperous and promising than their own, and the natural result 
 of this conclusion, was the permanent establishment of the present 
 servile system. 
 
 In February, (1736,) the town of Frederica, on St. Simon's Island, 
 was laid out, under the superintendence of the governor, in person, 
 advantage being taken of an old Indian clearing in that locality. 
 From St. Simon's, Oglethorpe extended his journey southward, 
 through the inland channels, which border the whole coast, taking 
 possession of the country in the name of the king, and marking out 
 sites for defensive posts. The English claim included all north of the 
 St. John's, while, on the other hand, the Spaniards asserted title to 
 the whole of Georgia, and even included in their demands a portion 
 of South Carolina, limiting their territory by St. Helena Sound. 
 
 These, and other conflicting claims, resulted in war between the 
 two nations. Oglethorpe having received a military commission 
 
 *il 
 
206 
 
 TIIK PEOTLE'B BOOK OF HIBTORT. 
 
 M brigadier-general over the forces of Georgia and South Carolina, 
 busied himself in precautionary measures for the defence of the 
 colonies. The fort at Frederica was completed and strengthened, na 
 forming one of the most important strongholds on the coast Ilig 
 special attention was devoted to a confirmation of the good* will of 
 the natives, among whom Spanish agents had been for some time 
 occupied in sowing distrust and suspicion. Th^Creeks, however 
 still retained the greatest personal attachment to Oglethorpe. He 
 was among the few officials who kept faith with them, and they 
 could not fail to appreciate his heartiness and sincerity. In 1789 
 he attended a great meeting of the chiefs, far in the interior, on the 
 Chattahoochee, where he smoked the calumet of peace with the 
 nssetnbly, and renewed the old treaties of friendship and mutual 
 protection. 
 
 1 .' 
 
 vjx'liAiirxJuA iJt* 
 
 OOLETHORPS'S SZPSDITION AGAINST ST. ADOUBTINl: 8IE0S 
 OF THE TOWN: FAILURE AND RETURN OF THE IXPSDITION, 
 — SPANISH INVASION IN 1742. — DEFENCE OF FRED- 
 ERICA. — STRATAOEX OP OOLSTUORPB. — THOMAS 
 BOSOMWORTH: HIS INTRIGUES WITH THE IN- 
 DIANS; LITIGATION WITH THE COLONT. — 
 GEORGIA A ROTAL PROVINCE. 
 
 With the commencement of the year 1740, an expedition was 
 undertaken by General Oglethorf)e against St Augustine. He 
 readily reduced two small Spanish outposts, and encamped liis 
 forces in the vicinity until he could procure rtJinforcemente from 
 Carolina. These arrived alM)Ut the close of May, and, with no less 
 than one thuiisand regiilur troops and militia, and a cunsiderable 
 body of Creek allies, lie laid siege to the town. The undertaking 
 resulted in diaapiujintnient St Augustine was well garrison(;d and 
 fortified; the besieging tr(H)ps were reduced in numbers and effi- 
 ciency by desertion and by the (li.senses incident to the season, and 
 tlic general was compelled to raise the siege and to retreat into 
 Georgia. 
 
THE SUOTIIERN COLUNIEB. 
 
 207 
 
 No f\irther hostile demonstrntion, of any importance, was made 
 by either colony for a space of two years, at the end of which 
 period the inhabitants of Carolina and Georgia were alarmed by 
 reports of the approach of a large Spanish fleet. The force em- 
 barked at the W< 8t Indies for the conquest of the Southern English 
 colonies, is set down at some three thousand men; the fleet num- 
 bered over thirty sail. Oglethorpe, who could procure no aid from 
 Carolina, exhibited great bravery, energy, and good generalship in 
 the defence of Qeorgia. lie reinforced the garrison at Fort Wil- 
 liam, on Cumberland island, already beset by the enemy, and then 
 betook himself, with his main force— greatly inferior to that of the 
 assailants — to his most defensible position, at Frederioa. 
 
 Thither he was pursued by the Spanish fleet, which entered the 
 inlet on the 6th of July, (1742,) in spite of the English batteries, 
 and effected a landing on the island. Fortunately, the only road 
 leading to Frederica, was defensible, being flanked by a swamp on 
 one side and a thick forest on the other. Several attempts to force 
 a passage were met by an obstinate and successful resistance. Some 
 days later, by a pretended dispatch, designedly allowed to fall into 
 the hands of the enemy, Oglethorpe succeeded in deceiving the 
 Spanish commander into a belief that large reinforcements were 
 momentarily expected from Carolina. This idea was strengthened 
 by the appearance of some small vessels off the coast. 
 
 The Spaniards made one more vain attack upon the position of 
 the English, and then rdembarked — the invasion having proved 
 as fruitless as that against St. Augustine, in 1740. Oglethorpe bade 
 a final adieu to the colonies in the year following these events. He 
 lived to a venerable old age, respected and admired for every qual- 
 ity, moral and personal, that can command esteem and conciliate 
 good-will. 
 
 After his departure, the provisions against slavery soon became a 
 dead letter, and there were not wanting advocates of the system 
 among the most noted religionists of the day. George Whitefield, 
 whose preaching had already given him a wide celebrity, expressed 
 himself in its favour, trusting that the negro race might be benef.tted 
 by translation from a savage life to the society of Christians. The 
 number of white colonists, at this period, was probably not far from 
 three thousand. 
 
 "The year 1749 was memorable for a most audacious attempt on 
 the part of one Thomas Bosomworth to aggrandize himself by 
 Vol. IV.— 42 
 
 iLlM 
 
208 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 attaining a supremacy over the Creeks. He had been, formerly, a 
 chaplain in Oglethorpe's regiment, and had married Mary Mus- 
 grove, his half-breed interpreter. In December, of 1747, this man 
 fell in with a company of chiefs, belonging to the nation, then on 
 a visit to Frederica; and persuaded them to sign certain articles, 
 acknowledging one of their number, named Malatche Opiya Meco, 
 as rightful king over the whole Creek nation. Bosomworth then 
 procured from Malatche a conveyance, for certain considerations — 
 among other things, a large quantity of ammunition and clothing — 
 of the islands formerly owned by the Indians, to himself and his 
 wife Mary, their heirs and assigns, 'as long as the sun shall shine, 
 or the waters run in the rivers, for ever.' This deed was regularly 
 witnessed, proved before a justice of the peace, and recorded in du3 
 form. Bosomworth made some efforts to stock and improve these 
 islands, but, his ambition becoming aroused by success in his first 
 intrigue, he entered upon one much more extensive. By his per- 
 suasions, his wife now made the extraordinary claim that she way 
 Malatche's elder sister, and entitled to regal authority over the 
 whole Creek territorv."* 
 
 No matter how shallow a claim may be, if openly and obstinately 
 persisted in, it will generally obtain credit with some. A great dis- 
 turbance ensued, and, at one time, the town of Savannah was in no 
 small danger from the Indians of Mary's party, who appeared in 
 defence of her asserted rights. A long and wearisome litigation iu 
 the courts of Great Britain was maintained by Bosomworth and his 
 brother, Adam, the Indian agent in Carolina, with the colony of 
 Georgia. Final decision was not rendered until 1769, when Mary 
 and her husband had their title to St. Catharine's island confirmed. 
 They passed the remainder of their lives in quiet possession of the 
 property. 
 
 Prior to this period, in 1754, a royal government had succeeded 
 the surrender of their chartered rights by the trustees. The colony 
 was not exempt from the usual difficulties, jealousies, discontent, and 
 hardships which so generally beset new settlements, and to which 
 Georgia was peculiarly exposed from the heterogeneous character 
 of its inhabitants. The only important events in which she bore a 
 part during the further continuance of the colonial system, are con- 
 nected with the Cherokee wars, of which a brief account will be 
 given hereafter. 
 
 * Indian Roeea of America. 
 
THE SOUTHEBN COLONIES. 
 
 209 
 
 Ij <ui iZi. r X ju ti I i i. 
 
 80UTH CAROLINA: RELIQIOIJS GONXROTERSIES; ARCHDALE'3 
 ADMINISXRATION: MOORE'S EXPEDITION AGAINST ST. ADOUS- 
 TINE: INVASION OP INDIAN TERRITORY: PRENCH PLEET 
 ON THE, COAST:. CULTURE OP RICE: INDIAN CONSPIRACY: 
 REVOLT AGAINST THE PROPRIETORS: THE CHARTER 
 DECLARED PORPEIT: SOUTH CAROLINA A /-OYAL 
 PROVINCE. — NORTH CAROLINA: POLITICAL DIS- 
 TURBANCES: A PROSPEROUS ANARCHY: SEP-. ,, 
 ARATION PROM SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 From the period of the revolution, in 1688, until about the close 
 of the century, South Carolina, although steadily increasing in pop- 
 ulation, wealth, and political importance, was much disturbed by 
 religious dissensions. The sober and peaceable Huguenots were in 
 favour with the colonial proprietors, but a strong opposition arose 
 in the province to the admission of these foreigners to equal privi- 
 leges with those of English descent and attached to the established 
 church. This controversy distracted, in a greater or less degree, the 
 successive administrations of Sothel, Ludwell, and Smith. The 
 appointment of John Archdale, a Quaker, and a man of generosity and 
 liberality, in the year 1695, gave promise of a better state of things. 
 
 This worthy governor, by moderate but effective regulations, suc- 
 ceeded in quieting the turbulent factions of the colony, and in con- 
 ciliating, by protection and kind offices, the neighbouring tribes of 
 Indians and the Spanish colonists of Florida. The dangerous 
 shoals of Cape Fear, lying nearly out of sight of the low shore, have 
 always been the dread of navigators upon the coast, and in these 
 early times the want of proper instruments for determining the 
 longitude, rendered their condition much more perilous. It was no 
 small blessing to the unfortunate mariners who, at this period, from 
 time to time, suffered shipwreck on the cape, to meet with kind 
 treatment, shelter, and assistance from the coast Indians. From 
 first to last, the aborigines of America have shown themselves ready 
 to reciprocate kindness and good-will. In almost every instance 
 when they have made unprovoked attacks upon the whites, the 
 cause can be traced to some error or misconception. 
 
 •■'\ik 
 
 Hi 
 
210 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF U18T0KY. 
 
 When Archdale left the colony, fornaer dissensions were revived, 
 although he still exerted all bis influence with the proprietors for 
 the maintenance of religious liberty. The appointment of James 
 Moore, represented as a grasping and selfish man, to the office of 
 governor, was little conducive to quiet and prosperity. 
 
 Under his administration, war having broken out between Eng- 
 land and Spain, a colonial expedition was planned against St. Au- 
 gustine. Bound on this enterprise, Moore sailed for Florida, in the 
 month of September, 1702, at the head of about six hundred volun- 
 teers. He succeeded in capturing the town, but the strong military 
 fortress constituted a safe and defensible place of retreat for the 
 Spaniards. While waiting the arrival of artillery for the reduction 
 of the fort, several Spanish vessels arrived off the harbour, and 
 Moore was obliged to beat a retreat by land, leaving his vessels, 
 stores, &c., to the enemy. The expense of the fruitless undertaking 
 was defrayed by a large issue of colonial bills of credit 
 
 In the month of December, of the same year, Governor Moore 
 retrieved his credit as a general, by a successful march through the 
 extensive intervening wilderness, and a descent upon the Indians 
 and Spanish, on the coast of Appalache. The hostile settlements 
 of that whole neighbourhood were broken up. The Spaniards were 
 enabled to defend the fort of Ayavalla, but the assailants burned 
 the adjoining church. Between one and two hundred Indians were 
 carried off captives, to be afterwards sold as slaves. 
 
 In 1706, the Episcopal establishment was extended to South Car- 
 olina, but the condition of dissenters was, at the same time, rendered 
 more safe by a definite toleration in their religion, and security of 
 their civil rights. Sir Nathaniel Johnson at this time held the 
 office of governor, and had an opportunity to distinguish himself by 
 a brave and determined defence of the coast against a French fleet 
 sent out from Cuba to invade the country. The enemy met with 
 heavy loss at every attempt to land, and one of their vessels fell 
 into the hands of the colonists. 
 
 The culture of rice, introduced a number of years previous, had 
 by this time become extensive, and proved a source of profit to the 
 planter unequalled by any previous agricultur»<l enterprise. Indigo, 
 an article which has been of late years neglected, was also found a 
 profitable crop by the early planters of the southern colonies. 
 
 In the spring of 1715, the machinations of the French and Span- 
 iards stirred up a most dangerous conspiracy of the Yemasces, 
 
 J 
 
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. 
 
 211 
 
 Ucbes, and other Southern tribes, against the English settlements. 
 The detached and unprotected villages and plantations of the fron- 
 tier were ravaged, and some four hundred of the inhabitants per- 
 ished, or were reserved for the worse fate of prisoners to the savages. 
 The main body of the Indian confederates was finally defeated by 
 the colonial forces, under Governor Charles Craven, near the 
 Salkiehachie. 
 
 The neglect of the proprietors to furnish any means of defence for 
 the colony, their refusal to make remuneration for the heavy expense 
 of the late Indian war, oppressive regulations, opposition to neces- 
 sary enactments, and the maintenance in office of obnoxious indi- 
 viduals, resulted in a popular out-break against their authority. 
 The assembly, in 1719, chose James Moore as governor, and openly 
 defied the proprietary officers. In the year following, the matter 
 was examined into by the English government; the charter to the 
 proprietors was declared forfeited; and Francis Nicholson received 
 the appointment of governor. The colony continued, thenceforth, a 
 royal province. All the claims of the proprietors to rent and other 
 perquisites were, some years later, acquired by purchase on the part 
 of the crown. Friendly relations with the neighbouring Indian 
 tribes were solemnly established in 1780. The Cherokees, at a 
 great council held at Nequassee, in the Tennessee valley, concluded 
 and signed, by the marks of their principal chiefs, a treaty of alli- 
 ance with the English. Seven of their number were taken to Eng- 
 land, that their reports, on their return, might impress the tribe with 
 some adequate conception of the number and power of their allies. 
 
 The scattered population of North Carolina, which was first in- 
 cluded under the same grant with the southern province, was 
 governed, if government it could be called, by a deputy from the 
 governor of South Carolina. The greatest freedom of opinion and 
 liberty of action prevailed, but affairs went on very quietly until 
 the beginning of the eighteenth century, when an attempt at the 
 establishment of the Church of England aroused an extremely hos- 
 tile spirit among the Quakers and other dissenters, who constituted 
 no small portion of the inhabitants. A conflict of claims, in 1705, 
 between Glover and Cary, for the executive office — the one being 
 chosen directly by the proprietors, the other by the governor of 
 South Carolina — gave fresh impetus to a party strife theretofore 
 unknown in the colony. 
 
 For a number of years, the community appears to have existed 
 
 iijd. 
 
212 
 
 THE PBOPLE'S BOOK OF HIBTOKY. 
 
 almost withodt law; but an immigration of indaBtrious and frugal 
 Swiss, Germans, and other Europeans^ continued to extend civiliza- 
 tion through the comparatively barren district. The province was 
 already noted for its large exportation of lumber, pitch, tar, and 
 turpentine. In 1729, when, as before mentioned, the disputes be- 
 tween the inhabitants of Carolina and the proprietors were settled 
 by an assumption, or purchase, of the rights of the latter by the 
 crown, North Carolina was first constituted an entirely separate 
 province, the governor being selected by royal appointment, and the 
 legislative assembly being chosen by the people. 
 
 '.rMi ■<! -1 
 
 ^rt' ^yi-:--- -'■'-" 
 
 ■T, , .7<^.,,-t, 
 
 '?! \ I ft! ,7f;'/f('>^J»3 
 
 • f 
 
 .!t n! f'i'T?f!-> •♦/■'/ 
 
 CU A D T P D T 12* 
 xiiiriiiiXi xv. 
 
 >'i1'T~itq •»!> 
 
 rf'tr h'tn; 
 
 i';^X'' y.r .'? 
 
 TIROIKIA UNBBK HOTAl OOYSSNOKS: STitI OF THB' COIONT: 
 CHURCH C0NTEOTBR8I18.^PBNN8TLTiNlA A ROTAL PROT- 
 
 INCJ: TH8 PROPRIETOR REINSTATED: POLIOT OP PENN. 
 ' -^DELAWARE: DEATH OP PBNM: HIS 8U0CB880R8, — 
 '' VARTtAND; ITS CATHOLIC POPITLATIONi OOTISK- 
 »"?'»' HENT OP tH» ASSOCIATIOIT; 0PPR188IT1 BH- 
 - ti»T 5 » .'liOTllBNTS! THB PROPRIETORS RESTORED. '•' ■• 
 
 ViBGfiwix; subsequent to the! Englfsh ' revoltrtion; remained a 
 royal province during her continuance aJa a colony. Legislation was 
 (k>nfided to a governor appointed by the crown, assisted by a council 
 of his own nomination, and to an assembly elected by the people. 
 The first successive incumbents of thb highest office in the province 
 were Francis Nicholson and Sir Edmund Andros; the same whose 
 tyranny and exactions had previously exasperated the New Eng- 
 land colonies. 
 
 ' These officials were invested with high, and even arbitrary pow- 
 ers, but the character of the people with whom they had to deal, 
 compelled moderation in their exerci.se. The population, although 
 quite numerous, was extensively scattered, and the isoliited position 
 of the planters and farmers tended to develop a strong sense of per- 
 sonal freedom and Independence. The administration of govern- 
 ment wa9 not carried on wiihuut considerable conflict between the 
 different departments, but no very serious difficulties arose. The 
 
TH£ SOUTHERN COLONIES. 
 
 213 
 
 Churoh of England was the ectablished religious system, so far as 
 any parochial system could be established over so wide an extent 
 of scattered hamlets or detached plantations; Tobacco was the great 
 staple .production of the province, and served for the principal oir- 
 oultvting medium. Taxes and ohtiroh dues were specifically payable 
 in tobacco,, From a complaint, on the part of theclergy, that they 
 were made loaeis by a legislative provision for compounding the 
 latter assessment by ai payment in paper money, arose that cele* 
 brated controversy relative to the *' parson's money," in which the 
 eloquence of Patrick Henry, then a young advocate, prevailed 
 against a plain legal claim (1763). 
 
 Pennsylvania, in consequence of domisstic disturbance, fomented 
 by George Keith, a seqeding Quaker, and because of suspicions 
 which had fallen upon the proprietor, was subjected, in 1693, to a 
 governor holding i commission from. the crown, and became, for a 
 short period, a royal province. Benjamin Fletcher, governor of 
 New. York, received the appointment. His brief administration 
 was marked only by strife with the assembly. In the summer of 
 the following year, Penn, having regained the favour of the king, 
 was reinstated in his colonial rights. 
 
 In reestablishing his prerogatives, with a new settlement of the 
 government, of his colony, after restoration of the proprietary gov- 
 ernment, WUliara Penn took every precaution to secure the full 
 acquiescence of the inhabitants. The powers of the governor — a 
 deputy of the proprietor — were not very dissimilar to those now 
 conferred upon the governor of either of the independent states. 
 The council was simply advisory, and the principal legislation was 
 confided to the popular assembly. 
 
 The inhabitaiits of the present state of Delaware, then known as 
 "The Territories," conceiving that they were insufficiently repre- 
 sented, had, some years previous, moved for a separation. This 
 had been accorded by the proprietor, but the two provinces were 
 reunited during Fletcher's administration. A final separation was 
 effected in 1702. The governor of Pennsylvania still retained a 
 nominal authority, but the new assembly had, in effect, entire con- 
 trol over the province of Delaware. • 
 
 Although Penn had ever pursued a far more generous policy 
 than any other of the colonial proprietors, and, with opportunities 
 for enriching himself which few would have had the self-denial to 
 neglect, was growing old in poverty, all could not shield him from 
 
 
2U 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 suspicion and ill-will on tbe part of a portion of the colonists. 
 " From various causes, principally a neglect of Lis own interests in 
 extending civilization in America, he became so far involved, that 
 he was for a time compelled to reside within the rules of the Fleet 
 Prison. In 1709 he mortgaged his province of Pennsylvania to 
 relieve himself from the pressure of debt. During the last six years 
 of his life his bodily and mental faculties were greatly impaired ; he 
 died, after a gradual decline, on the 80th of July, 1718." His rights 
 as proprietor were exercised, subsequent to his death, by his widow, 
 and afterwards by his sons. This form of government was contii ued 
 until the commencement of the American revolution. 
 
 The province of Maryland, on the accession of William and 
 Mary, was under the administration of deputies commissioned by 
 the proprietor, Lord Baltimore, (son of the original patentee.) So 
 large a number of the inhabitants were of the Catholic persuasion — 
 the proprietor holding to the same faith — that, although the English 
 church had been already established, it was hardly to be expected 
 that a Protestant succession in England should be looked upon with 
 general favour in the colony. 
 
 The proprietary government neglected to conform to the new 
 order of things until compelled by a self-constituted association of 
 the colonists. A provisional government was formed, which ob- 
 tained the royal sanction, and existed until 1692, when a governor 
 was appointed directly by the crown. Maryland became a royal 
 province, and remained such for a period of twenty-three years. 
 The general assembly confirmed the church establishment, and many 
 disenfranchising regulations were passed for the suppression of 
 papacy. Catholics were not only compelled to 'contribute to the 
 support of the established church, but were subjected to the most 
 galling disabilities. The legal successors of the proprietor were 
 restored to their rights in 1715, and maintamed their authority until 
 the general overthrow of the old governments at the revolution. 
 
 <_ •; St 
 
/ .;• V.','' K:! f ?!.(:?/i.>i,' 'fi? .■*;,;;< ; 
 
 
 VVV<»' 
 
 
 INDIAN WABS, ETC. 
 
 I-. 
 
 ■.'ti i'htr 
 
 ^It li;i :>V.l. 
 
 .,^ ■: <.-V;.;i '.?' ':j: 
 
 •!(•■•' 
 
 CTiP A D T P D I 
 
 U ! 
 
 vJ '-J' iy:^il- 
 
 .•i;'».>*V'H'«rr:5: >M.5 !^. , . /; ':«Sjfc"!i4';' .MrfjTI' 
 
 OOKKENCEMSNT 07 THB CHSROXKI WAR: TRBATT AT fOKT 
 
 ST. OEOROK: 8IE0E OF THAT FORT: MURDER OF H08TAOS8: 
 
 KONTOOMERT'S CAMPAIGN: DESTRUCTION OF THE LOWER 
 
 CHEROKEE SETTLEMENTS: RETREAT: MASSACRE OF 
 
 THE GARRISON OF FORT LOUDON: THE TOWNS 
 
 OF THE MIDDLE CHER0KEE8 DESTROYED 
 
 BT THE FORCi;S UNDER GRANT. 
 
 Having thus given a brief sketch of the affairs of the separate 
 colonies, up to the occurrence of events which called for their united 
 action, we may revert to matters of more general concern, in which 
 the provinces, irrespective of political connection, were only united 
 by a common necessity. The most important transactions in which 
 the northern colonies were jointly engaged, were the early Indian 
 wars, and the protracted contests with the French and Indians. Of 
 these we have already spoken, as far as our limits would permit, in 
 treating of English colonization, and of the French in America. It 
 remains to notice, in military affairs, the Indian campaigns in the 
 south and west, and to touch upon some topics of general interest to 
 the colonies, before proceeding to the causes of discontent and the 
 political issues which resulted in the war of the revolution. 
 
 After the abandonment of Fort Duquesne, by the French, a party 
 of Cherokee Indians, who, during the campaign, had served in the 
 English army, under General Forbes, set out upon their return to 
 their own tribes and country. Impelled by necessity, they commit- 
 ted various depredations upon the property of the German settlers 
 in Virginia. In some instances, they made use of horses which they 
 found at large in the woods, and, as they were nearly destitute of 
 
216 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK CF HISTOBT. 
 
 provisions, we may suppose that they occasionally made free with 
 whatever might supply their wants. 
 
 These injuries were revenged by the backwoodsmen in the most 
 violent and cruel manner. If we may credit Adair, an historian 
 who had greater opportunities than any other writer of his time to 
 acquaint himself With Indian character uid the histoiy of the south- 
 ern tribes, they indulged their malice by tormenting and scalping 
 their victims. lie adds, that " those murderers were so audacious 
 as to impose the scalps on the government for those of the French 
 Indians; and that they actually obtained the premiums allowed at 
 that time by law in such a case." 
 
 These outrages were not immediately resented by the nation, but 
 after vain application for redress, and the experience of further 
 wrongs and insults^ the revengeful spirit of the Indian was fully 
 aroused. The French and their Creek allies took the opportunity 
 to lend their influence in exciting hostility. A war-party was ac- 
 cordingly dispatched to oommenco retaliation upon the western set- 
 tlements of North Catolina. Many of the whites were put to death, 
 and much injury was done upon the frontier. 
 
 These events took place in 1759, and, as it was now evident that 
 a general disaffection existed among the Cherokees, active exertions 
 were nmde by the governor of South Carolina, William Lyttleton, 
 to avert the calamities of an Indian war, as well as to prepare 
 measures for defence iu case of extremity. A conference waa 
 brought about, towards the cloro of the year, at Fort St. George, on 
 the Savannah. Six of the Indian chiefs, claiming authority to aci 
 ^r the t: Ibe, appeared, and concluded a treaty of peace, surrender- 
 ing thirty-two hostages, as security for their good faith. 
 
 This treaty was not oonaidered binding by the nation, and a 
 formidable body of Indians, led by Occonostota, a noted war-chief, 
 laid siege to thia fort in the month of February (1760). Coytmore, 
 the commander of the garrison, who had, by some former transac- 
 tions, acquired the special ill-will of the natives, was decoyed with- 
 out the works, and shot by concealed marksmen. Several of his 
 companions were wounded. The Indian hostages, from their place 
 of confinement within the fort, hearing the report of fire-arms, 
 shouted encouragement to their peo[)le. An order was accordingly 
 given to put them in irons. To this they refused submission, making 
 desperate rcsibtanoe, and wounding three of the soldiers who were 
 endeavouring to carry out the order. It was then concluded to put 
 
 O' ^ 
 
INDIAN WARS. 
 
 217 
 
 them all to death, which was done accordingly, in a manner as 
 cowardly as the design was base^ viz: by firing down upon them, 
 through a hole in the roof. "iff f >fv?»? ^'^hinjiti riii 
 
 The whole frontier was, immediately subsequent to this outrage, 
 involved in a general war. The British commander-in-chief of the 
 regular forces in America, detached a regiment of Scotch Highland- 
 ers, under Colonel Montgomery, with other troops from New York, 
 to the seat of disturbance. The legislatures of North and South 
 Carolina offered premiums for scalps, and raised sums of money to 
 purchase the assistance of the Creeks and other southern tribes. 
 
 In the course of the spring. Colonel Montgomery, with the regular 
 and provincial troops under his command, overran the whole terri- 
 tory of the Lower Cherokees, laying waste every Indian settlement 
 The towns of Keowee and Estatoe, the latter containing two hundred 
 houses, were destroyed, together with great quantities of stored pro- 
 visions. Before the end of the campaign, there was not an Indian 
 village left east of the Blue Ridge. '?f ;/ '-.^'i ■"■ '"•> nn '>* 
 
 The Cherokees, instead of being disheartened by their risverses, 
 refused to listen to any overtures of pacification, and prepared them- 
 selves to rcKst the advance of the troops into the interior. Near 
 their principal town of Etohoe, they 'prepared an ambush in a nar- 
 now pass, where a muddy stream took its course between high and 
 steep banks, nearly impassable from tangled undergrowth. In 
 forcing this defile, the assailants met with heavy loss, and the com- 
 mander, seeing that the Indians had made a new stand a little in 
 advance, and were determined to rejist to the last, concluded to 
 retreat This was in the month of June. 
 
 Immediately upon his return to the coast, Montgomery, in pursu- 
 ance of orders, sailed for New York, leaving Major Hamilton, with 
 but a small force, for the protection of the exposed districts. The 
 failure, of this second expedition revived the spirits of the Indians, 
 and spread universal terror and con.sternation among the colonists 
 of the frontier^ At Fort Loudon, the garrison under Captain Stu- 
 art, afVer sustaining a long siege, evacuated the place, upon condi- 
 tions conceded by Ocooiiostota, of free and safe passage to Fort St 
 George, or into Virginia. They had not, however, proceeded far, 
 before they were set upon by the enemy, and all killed or taken 
 prisoners. 
 
 Captain Stuart owed his life and liberty to the benevolence of 
 an old chief, named Alukulhikulhi, a man of great influence in his 
 
 m 
 
218 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 tribe, and peaceably disposed towards the colonists. The safety of 
 Fort St. George was secured by a timely warning from Stuart of 
 an intended attack by the Indians. An attitude of hostility was 
 still maintained by the Cherokees, and constant efforts were made 
 by French agents among them to avert any prospect of a peaceable 
 settlement of difficulties. 
 
 In the spring of 1761, a force of more than two thousand British 
 regulars, provincial troops, and friendly Indians, under command of 
 Colonel James Grant, was marched into the interior. Old Attakulla- 
 kulla made vain interposition in behalf of his people. On the 10th 
 of June, a desperate effort was made by ti.e main body of the Indians 
 to check the advance of the enemy. The battle took place near the 
 spot whither Montgomery had penetrated on his last expedition. 
 The Cherokees were totally defeated; the town of Etchoe was 
 burned; and "all the other towns in the middle settlement, fourteen 
 in number, shared the same fate: the corn, cattle, and other stores 
 of the enemy, were likewise destroyed, and those miserable savage?, 
 with their families, were driven to seek shelter and subsistence 
 among the barren mountains."* 
 
 The Indians were, of course, obliged to accept such terms as their 
 conquerors saw fit to impose, but it does not appear that any ungen- 
 erous advantage was taken of their helpless condition. Indeed, after 
 the conclusion of peace, efforts were made for the protection of the 
 Indians in their landed rights, and to regulate the traffic with them 
 so as to secure them against deception. 
 
 The whole of the southern tribes remained, comparatively, at peace 
 with the colonies from this period until they became involved in the 
 general Indian wars of the early part of the present century, "By 
 a steady increase of numbers, and the adventurous spirit of pioneers 
 the white settlers every where made ad vances ufKJn the Indian terri- 
 tory. Sometimes large acquisitions would be made by a government 
 purchase; but, to no small extent, the opinion that the occupation 
 of a few roving savages could give no natural title to lands, as 
 opposed to the claims of those who had reclaimed, enclosed, and 
 improved the wilderness, satisfied the consciences of the encroachers. 
 The argument in favour of this conclusion is by no means without 
 force; but who can take upon himself to draw the line of demarca- 
 tion which shall decide, upon any principles of universal application, 
 the bounds of so artificial a right as the ownership of land ?"t 
 * HcCall's History of Georifia. f Indian Races of America. 
 
INDIAN WARS. 219 
 
 BN0LI8U OCCUPATION OP THE WESTERN TRADING POSTS. — 
 CONSPIRACY OP THE N0HTH-WB8TERN TRIBES, UNDER PON- 
 TIAC. — DESTRUCTION OP THE ENGLISH PORTS.' — TAIINO 
 OP MICHIILIMACIINAC. — SIEGE OP DETROIT. — LOSS 
 AT BLOODT-RUN. — CLOSE OP THE WAR. — MASSA- 
 CRE OP THE CANESTOOA INDIANS. 
 
 By treaty, in 1760, the extended line of stations upon the western 
 lakes, belonging to the Frenv.h, were to be put into possession of the 
 English. The long friendship that had subsisted between the 
 former and the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, &c., who inhab- 
 ited the country, caused these tribes to look with jealous eyes upon 
 the proposed English occupation. They were united in a sort of 
 confederation, at the head of which, in influence and authority, 
 was Pontiac, the renowned Ottawa chief. Although he had formed 
 the determination of restoring his old allies, the French, to the pos- 
 session of cheir established trading posts, this bold, but crafty 
 leader, suffered the first English detachment, under Major Bogers, 
 to enter the country without molestation. In an interview, held 
 with the commanding officer, he exhibited the pride and dignity of 
 a monarch, expressly asserting his own rights of territory. 
 
 His plans being perfected, and the cooperation of other tribes — 
 among them, the Miamis, Sacs and Foxes, Hurons, and Shawanees — 
 being secured, the month of June, 1763, was appointed for a simul- 
 taneous attack upon all the English strongholds at the west. So 
 extensive were the preparations for this outbreak, that entire secresy 
 could not be preserved respecting it, ^iid intimation was, from time 
 to time, given by white traders of the storm that was brewing. 
 Either these reports were not fully credited, or the garrisons felt 
 themselves strong enough to defy any attack from the Indians, for 
 no extrarrdinary precautions were taken for defence. 
 
 When the blow fell, the Indians appeared in such numbers that, 
 althougl divided into as many parties as there were points of attack, 
 they ov jrpowered the garrisons, and destroyed the works of nearly 
 all the English forts. Nine of these were taken by force or fraud, 
 and the defenders slain or carried away captive. The ittanner in 
 
 :iii 
 
 ite.::y 
 
220 
 
 THE I'EOl'Ll'8 BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 which Michilliinackinac was seized, is thus described: "Hundreds 
 of Indians, mostly Chippewas and Sacs, had been loitering about the 
 place for some days previous, and, on the 4th of June, they pro- 
 ceeded to celebrate the king's birthday by a great game at \ all. 
 This sport, carried on, aa usual, with noise and tumult, threw the 
 garrison off their guard, at the same Ume that it afforded a pretext 
 for clambering into the fort. The hall was soveral times, as if by 
 accident, knocked within the picketn, the whole gang rushing in 
 pursuit of it with shouts. At a favoui'vble moment, they fell upon 
 the English, dispersed and unsuspicious of intended harm, and be- 
 fore any effectual resistance could be made, murdered and scalped 
 seventy of the number. The remainder, being twenty men, were 
 taken captive."* 
 
 Early in May, Pontiac, in person, with a chosen body of warriors, 
 laid siege to Detroit, the principal military post and trading station 
 at the far west. The place was garrisoned by an hundred and thirty 
 men, of whom Major Gladwyn had command. A plan was formed 
 by the Indians to gain admission within the fort, on pretence of a 
 conference, and then, with concealed weapons, (nfles, shortened, so as 
 to bp hid by the blanket,) to fall upon the garrison at a disadvantage, 
 admit the main body from without, and, after a general massacre, to 
 seize upon the valuable stores collected for protection. This device 
 was betrayed to Gladwyn by a squaw to whom he had shown Home 
 kindness. The Indians were accordingly admitted without hesita- 
 tion, but the troops were drawn up ready for an attack. Pontiac 
 "heard the drums beat, and saw every soldier's musket levelled, 
 and the swords of the officers drawn and ready for use. Major 
 Oladwyn, stepping to the warrior nearest him, liftf^d his blanket, and 
 disclosed the shortened rifla He then upbraided the sachem for 
 his intended villany, and, taking no advanUige of the opportunity 
 for securing him, gave proof of his own high-minded sense of honour 
 by dismissing the u hole party unharmetl " 
 
 This magnanimity availed but little. Vhe Indians, to the number 
 of nearly a thousand, laid cloHe siege to the fort, and, for months, it 
 was only by hard fighting, and with heavy loss, that provisions and 
 stores could be furnished fron> without Many of the captives taken 
 by the Indians, were put to death with savage barbarity. Three 
 hundred men, commanded by a Captain IMyeU, were sent to Detroit 
 to r^f'oroe the garruon, in t^e month of July. With this additional 
 
 • I I * Indian Races of America. * ■ *'-•■■• 
 
 \. 
 
INDIAN WARB. ^ 
 
 221 
 
 force it was thought praoticablo to commenco offensive operations. 
 A sally was made accordingly, but Pontiac had by some means gained 
 intelligence of what was about . to take place, and had prepared an 
 ambush near the bridge over Bloody-Run. Instead of surprising the 
 enemy, the whites were taken at a complete disadvantage, and 
 retired with the loss, in killed and wounded, of more than one 
 hundred men. 
 
 All throughout the north-western frontier, from the lakes to the 
 Ohio nver, this conspiracy of the Indian tribes spread desolation 
 and distress for a whole year. Of the great leader of the confederal 
 tion, we learn very little after his operations against Detroit In 
 the summer of 1764, a powerful force, under General Bradstreet, 
 was marched into the Indian territory, and, by force or treaty, peace 
 was established with the various tribes of the north-west. 
 
 Connected with the events of 1 yntiac's war, is the account of a 
 barbarous outrage committed at Canestoga, near Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
 vania. The settlers of this portion of the country were less exposed 
 to savage incursions than those established further towards the north- 
 west, but the reports constantly received of Indian massacres upon 
 the frontier, excited their minds to the highest pitch of fear and 
 hatred towards the natives. Heckewelder speaks as follows of the 
 character of but too many of the rough pioneers of the western 
 wilderness: "I have yet to notice a class of people generally known 
 to us by the name of ' backwood's-men,' many of whom, acting up 
 to a pretended belief that 'an Indian had no more soul than a bn^- 
 fJo;' and that to kill ler is the same thing; have, from time to 
 time, by their conduct, brought great trouble and bloodshed on the 
 country. Such, then, T wish to caution not to sport in that manner 
 with the lives of God's creatures. * * Believe that a time will 
 come when you must account for such vile deeds! When those who 
 have fallen a sacrifice to your wickedness, will be called forth in 
 judgment against you I Nay, when your own descendants will tes- 
 tify against you." The truth of this prediction is strikingly manifest 
 from the popular feeling at the present day respecting the Indians, 
 their rights, and the treatment which they experienced at the hands 
 of the early settlers. 
 
 At Canestoga, a small and peaceable body of Indians had been 
 long established, under the care and teaching of the Moravian mis- 
 sion. As far as appears, they had not the slightest connection with 
 the general conspiracy, nor had they given any provocation for the 
 
 t 
 
222 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBT. 
 
 wanton attack which was made upon them. A mob of more than 
 fifty men, from Paxton, fell upon the settlement, in November, 1763. 
 A portion of the inhabitants fled to Lancaster, where thej sought 
 an asylum in the jail-yards. Those who were left at Canestoga — 
 men, women, and children — fourteen in number, were brutally 
 murdered. The white savages, their cruelty unsatiated, then has- 
 tened to Lancaster, and, breaking open the jail, completed their work 
 of destruction. From fifteen to twenty perished in the jail-yard, 
 where they were seen by one whose account has reached us. "Men, 
 women, and children, spread about the prison-yard; shot — scalped 
 ^•hacked — £nd cut to pieces." 
 
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 ■ I iMf. 
 
 
 EUROPEAN COLONIAL POLICY, 
 
 ^/^S^^S^VSMAAAAA^rf<i>/«AM/S^<ii^\/S^>^^/W^^W^^VWS/^^WS^rfVW^W^VW 
 
 SPANISH AND ENGLISH RESTRICTIONS UPON TRADE AND COM- 
 MERCE. — CONTRABAND TRAFFIC. — THE "A8SIENT0" TREATY. 
 . — THE SLAVE-TRADE: ITS GENERAL POPULARITY: CAUSES 
 WHICH LEAD TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY: MANNER OP 
 PROCURING NEGROES FROM AFRICA: PROFIT OF THE 
 TRADE: NUMBERS BROUGHT OVER; ENGLISH LAW UPON 
 THE SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. — INTRODUCTION 01 
 WHITE APPRENTICES, OR "REDEMPTIONERS." 
 
 M 
 
 Ir ' Icult, at the present day, to comprehend the blindness of 
 the ■ ';^ can nations to their own interests, and those of their colo- 
 nies, as exhibited in the prohibitions and restrictions once universally 
 imposed „upon trade and commerce. Experienced politicians must 
 have foreseen the probable tendency of that short-sighted policy 
 which, for the sake of present gain, was willing to destroy all identity 
 between the parent states and their colonies, and to alienate the 
 afifections of a vast population, whose loyalty, gratitude, and friend- 
 ship, by the exercise of a little forbearance, might have been retained 
 for many generations. 
 
 We have had occasion, elsewhere, to speak more particularly of 
 the insufferable tyranny of Spain in all the dealings with her colo- 
 nies : in those of England, although the domestic privileges of the 
 community were not so openly and grossly violated, there yet ex- 
 isted restraints on manufactures and trade, which, considering the 
 difference in natural character, were hardly less galling. The most 
 jealous care was taken to discourage the development of all internal 
 resources which might interfere with British manufacture or pro- 
 duce; British vessels must be employed, and an English market 
 sought, regardless of the interests of the merchant and the require- 
 ments of trade. Individual selfishness alone can account for the 
 pursuance of such a policy, and we must conclude that those in 
 Vol. IV.-43 
 
 i 
 
224 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 power foresaw the consequences of their proceedings, but trusted to 
 reap tlie benefits in their own persons, leaving retribution to be 
 visited upon their posterity. 
 
 The temptations held or' to the contraband trader were suffi- 
 ciently g ut for the incurr» ^ce of heavy risks, and the connivance 
 of the home government at such irregularities, so far as they only 
 affected the interest of a rival nation, gave special impetus to their 
 commission. Severities practised upon oflTenders when detected, 
 and mutual hostility engendered by continual conflict of claims^ 
 resulted in wars between the old countries, the burden of which fell 
 most heavily upon the infant colonies, whose whole energies were 
 required to overcome the nat .ral di.liculties of their situation. 
 
 By the "assiento" treaty, the privileges of which were made over 
 to the celebrated South Sea Company, Spain conceded to England 
 a limited right to transport slaves into the colonies of the former 
 nation. This gave great impetus to the traffic, and so far was the 
 community blinded by present interest to the claims of humanit r 
 and true policy, that it was generally " accounted a genteel employ- 
 ment," reflecting no discredit upon those who systematically pursued 
 it. It is a singular thing how far the opinions of men, and ho\7 
 much farther their conduct, receive direction from custom. How- 
 ever much we niay condemn the evils of a system, before denouncing 
 its individual supporters, we should do well to inquire what would 
 have been our own course of conduct had we passed our lives subject 
 to the same influences, and dependent upon the same interests. 
 Statistics of thi'. proportion of those who have freed their slaves, 
 during their own lives, from conscientious scruples, as compared with 
 
 ■• whole slave-holding population, would furnish every man with 
 i\ fair criterion for estimating the extent of his own disinterestedness. 
 I'he treatment of slaves is, of course, fa variant as the character of 
 their owners, but where the institution of slavery exists, all, with a 
 few rare exceptions, who can avail themselves of its convenience, 
 openly support it. * 
 
 In the Northern United States it existed until the influx of free 
 labourers reduced the value of slave-labour, and created a major- 
 ity in the community of those whose interests were directly opposed 
 to the continuance of the system. We may venture to predict that 
 no other influence than this will ever avail to produce a similar 
 result in the pjuthern states. Self-interest, when directly appealed 
 to, must ever prevail with the mi\jority, until mankind shall have 
 
COLONIAL POLICY. 
 
 225 
 
 Ik.. H' au i^vance in benevolence and a sense of justice, beyond any 
 present indications. 
 
 The manner of procuring negroes on the African coast, and of 
 their conveyance to the shores of America, has undergone no mate- 
 rial change from the period of their first introductiou to the present 
 day. The extent of coast upon which they can be procured, and 
 the convenience of legal markets, have indeed been curtailed ; but 
 the unfortunates now brought over to the island of Cuba, are pro- 
 cured by the same species of traffic, confined in the same limited 
 space on their passage, and subject to the same sufferings from short 
 allowance and tempestuous weather, as in former times. Still are 
 children kidnapped by strangers or sold by their relations; the sama 
 rude regulations still render one negro a slave to his fellow in his 
 native land;* or*^ tribe may yet, as of old, make war upon another, 
 upon the annual unfolding of a certain flower, for the sake of pro- 
 curing prisoners. 
 
 The trade, carried on mostly by British merchants, proved as 
 profitable to the ship-owners as acceptable to the colonists. It is 
 computed that no less than three hundred thousand negroes were 
 imported into the original states during their continuance as colonies. 
 A vastly larger number were brought over in English bottoms, to 
 the French and Spanish colonies. Mr. Bancroft's estimate is as fol- 
 lows: "We shall not err very much, if, for the century previous to 
 the prohibition of the slave-v:rade by the American congress, in 
 1776, we assume the number imported by the English into the 
 Spanish, French, and Englisu West Indies, as well as the English 
 continental colonies, to have been, collectivel}'^, nearly three mil- 
 lions ; to which are to be added more than a quarter of a million 
 purchased in Africa, and thrown into the Atlantic on the pa.«»sage. 
 The gross return."' to English merchants for the whole traffic in that 
 number of slaves, may have been not far from four hundred millions 
 ot dollars." 
 The question as to the exact b>3aring of the laws of England upon 
 
 * A negro having u lien upon hia own brother, for a debt, or some other cause, 
 brought him on board a slaver, nnd concluded a bargain for him. As the vendor, 
 however, was about to leave the veslel, he was informed that he might 7teep his 
 brother company, and was presently clapped under hatches with the rest The 
 Rev. John Newton, who was long engaged in the slave-trade, as master of a vessel, 
 'lays: "It often happens that the man who sells another on board a ship, is himself 
 bought and sold in the same manner, and perhaps in thj siimc vessel, before the 
 week is ended." 
 
 
226 
 
 THE PEOl'LE'S BOOK OF HI8T0KT. 
 
 the subject of slavery, was long a ' tio vexata. The institution 
 had a gradual origin by custom, scarcely recognized, and never 
 directly supported by legislative enactments. In the courts great 
 difference of opinion prevailed, but the general legality of the system 
 was maintained by their decisions, it being declared a valid custom. 
 As has been remarked, such a custom would hardly possess all the 
 requisites for validity laid down by Blackstone, viz: that it should 
 be a "good custom," for "7naZtw usus abolendua est;^^ that it should 
 have existed "so long that the m3mory of man runr.th not to the 
 contrary;" that it should have been "continued," without inter- 
 ruption; that it should be ' ^;eaceable," "reasonable," "certain," 
 "compulsory," and "consistent" . . 
 
 About the middle of ihe past century, the slave-trade, freed from 
 restrictive laws, recognized in its legality by decisions of courts, and 
 open to every adventurer, flourished to an extent never known before 
 or since. The trade was the object of speoial attention to the British 
 government, by which the forts on the coast of Africa were main- 
 tained. Slaves were even allowed to be taken to England, and the 
 right of their masters to hold them in servitude on British soil was 
 definitely acknowledged by the most able judicial authorities. 
 
 Notwithstanding the immense importation of negroes, the constant 
 call for labourers was met, especially in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 
 by the immigration of apprentices, or " redemptioners," being whites 
 of the poorer class, who were bound to service for a term of years. 
 To these, grants of land and temporary supplies wero secured by 
 law at the end of their term, but during its continuance they were 
 substantially in the condition of slaves. 
 
THE AMEEICAN EEVOLUTION 
 
 L/iXi/iirxJlixii. 
 
 OBNERAL RIGHTS OF COLONIES. — EARLY CAUSES OF COKFLAINT 
 IN AMERICA. — ARBIT3ART CUSTOM LAWS. — ILLEGAL 
 CONDUCT OF ENGLISH OFFICIALS. — ACTS IN REGULA- 
 TION OF TRADE. — EXPENSES OF THE LATE WARS IN .<< 
 AMERICA. — THE "SUGAR-ACT." — OPPOSITION 
 AND REMON^STRANCB IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 How have words been multiplied in vain attempts to apply prin- 
 ciples of abstract right to political movements, and how much more 
 vainly has the search been made for pr? iciples of universal applica- 
 tion in that uncertain code of maxims known as the law of nations. 
 In a question between two communities, there is usually no tribunal, 
 and they must severally do what is "right in their own eyes," pro- 
 vided it be, at the same time, practicable. Of all political questions, 
 perhaps the most unsettlei, is that concerning the rights of colonies. 
 
 It was said by Hutcheson, in 1755,* that colonies "have a right 
 to be released from the dominion of the parent state," '* whenever 
 they are so increased in numbers and strength as to be sufficient by 
 themselves for all the good ends of a political union." Simply, that 
 whenever they have the will, and, in their own opinion, the power, 
 to stand alone, the right follows, of course. The case is similar to 
 that of a child seeking relea.se from parental control : in a state of 
 nature he will do this when he has attained sufficient strength and 
 Relf-dependence; but, for convenience and certainty, a time has been 
 arbitrarily set by society for his emancipation. As regards states, 
 no such time has been, or can be establisheu, because its occurrence 
 mast always depend upon questions of fact, for the decision of 
 which there is, as before mentioned, no tribunal. The question must 
 
 * Bp.icroft's History of the United States. 
 
228 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 always remain merely a question of ability, until the Utopian theory 
 of an international code and court shall have been reduced to 
 practice. 
 
 The opinion of the world has seldom, if ever, been called to be 
 passed upon the violent rupture of the connection between a parent 
 state and its colony, while the inhabitants of the latter were in the 
 enjoyment of equal privileges and favour with those of the former. 
 A feeling of affection and natural pride commonly causes them to 
 cling to the land of their parentage until a long course of extortion 
 and oppression has rendered tie tie too onerous * be endured. 
 
 In America, the English cclonies had submitted — not, it is true, 
 without murmurs — to the most arbitrary restrictions upon manufac- 
 tures in which they might profitably have engaged, imposed simply 
 to compel importation from England. A steady, and, in most cases, 
 an effectual stand had beeu made against the reiterated demand of a 
 fixed salary for the royal governora Burdensome restrictions upon 
 foreign trade v .re protested against, and extensively evaded b^ 
 contraband traffic. This gave occasion for arbitrary proceedings by 
 the officers of the custonu in searching for smuggled goods. Their 
 conduct, in this respect, appearing to bo illegal, they sought the aid 
 of the superior courts of law, and " writs of assistance," in the nature 
 of search-warrants, were accordingly issued. The power of the court 
 to issue these writs was called in question, and tested in Massachu- 
 chusetts, in 1761. The eloquent Jam'>s Otis, and the learned jurist, 
 Oxenbridge Thatcher, argued successfully against their validity. 
 
 The question, by this time, had come to be widely agitated, ns to 
 the probable tendency of the continual encroachments upon the lib- 
 erties of the colonies. The legii^latures of the different provinces, 
 elected by a system more nearly approaching universal suffrage 
 than any ever known in England, indulged in freedom of thouglit 
 and expression, denounced as treosonuble and rebellious iu the pureiit- 
 country. The duties and imposts which had been submitted to for 
 aloiig term of years as being "regulations of trade," for the protection 
 of the British West India Lslaiids, and other collateral purposes, and, 
 therefore, within the proper jurisdiction of the board of trade, when 
 directed immediately towards the enlargement of revenue, excited 
 universal disaffection and indignation. 
 
 The recent wars had enormou-^ly increased the public debt, and 
 English politicians were busily engaged in framing schemes by 
 which the American colonies should share the burden of expense 
 
THE AMEKICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 229 
 
 incurred, as waa averred, expressly for their benefit On the other 
 band, it was claimed that the colonies had already contributed more 
 than their proportion towards these expenses; that, being frequently 
 the seat of war, they had, in other respects, felt its calamities far 
 more heavily than the people of England ; and that the latter coun- 
 try, by reason of its immense income froTa the restricted colonial 
 trade, was as directly and pecuniarily interested in maintaining and 
 protecting the provinces from foreign encroachment as were the 
 inhabitants themselves. 
 
 It was, moreover, evident that it would be impossible for any man 
 to foretell to what extremes government might eventually proceed 
 in the imposition of taxes upon a distant community, in no way 
 represented in the legislature, whose condition and capabilities could 
 never be fully understood in Euglaud, and whose growing resources 
 would indubitably be met by a still more rapid increase of exaction. 
 What had been accomplished, had been by sufferance, and under 
 protest; it remained for the open extension of duties for revenv 
 purposes, and the attempted imposition of a direct tax, to rouse to 
 flame the discontent already kindled. 
 
 In the spritig of 1764, George Grenville, chancellor of the exche- 
 quer, introduced and carried an act in alteration of the former rate 
 of imposts upon West India goods, &c., by which, while the duties 
 on certain articles were reduced, the restrictions v/ere extended to 
 Frerioh and East India produce, and to various foreign articles of 
 luxury. The anticipated difficulty of enforcing the new tariff, was 
 met by a provision extending the powers and jurisdiction of the 
 courts of admiralty. At the same time, he laid before parliament a 
 proposal, to be acted upon at a future session, for the enlargement 
 of the revenue by the collection of duties upon stamped paper. 
 Taere seems, at this period, to have been scarcely the shadow of 
 opposition in the British legislature, to the general principle of the 
 right to impose discretionary taxes upon the colonies. One principal 
 object in the scheme for levying a direct and additional assessment, 
 was to provide means for the permanent support of a military estab- 
 lishment in America; thus to compel the people to furnish means 
 for tlieir own enslavement, and for the enforcing of whatever future 
 tyrannical enactments might result from the necessities or avarice of 
 the British government. 
 
 The "sugar-act," as the new law respecting cuatoras was called, 
 excited the utmost dissatisfaction, especially in he northern colonies — 
 
 || 
 
 1 
 
 '"Sill 
 
280 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 a feeling heightened and extended by the intimation of the intended 
 stamp act, which acconipanied its passage. The subject was dis- 
 cussed in the coloninl legislatures, and letters of instruction were 
 prepared for their agents in England, breathing the strongest spirit 
 of opposition. In these debutes, in the petitions and remonstrances 
 forwarded to the home government, and in the writings of Otis, 
 Thatcher, and other distinguished or rising politicians, the same 
 principles were strenuously maintained and ably argued. Appeals 
 to every man's individual sense of justice; reference to rights secured 
 by magna charta, by the special charters of the provinces, and by 
 the maxims of English common law; and representations of the 
 extent to which experience ha 1 shown that the colonies would 
 assume their just share of the burden of government, were urged 
 with zeal, energy, and ability. 
 
 Few, if any, yet spoke of open resistance to the power of parlia- 
 ment, but succeeding events proved that public sentiment must 
 have been rapidly preparing for such an extremity. 
 
 uitltrLiXiliii ii» 
 
 THE STAMP ACT: AROtVENT IN THE HOUSE OF C0MH0N8: PASS- 
 AGE OP THE BILL: ITS EFFECT IN THE COLONIES. — RESOLU- 
 TIONS IN THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY. — PATRICK HENRY. — 
 PROCEEDINGS IN MASSACHUSETTS: POPULAR TUMI'LTS: 
 RESIGNATION OF THE STAMP OFFICERS. 
 
 -c^ 
 
 In the month of February, 17fio, the important act, providing for 
 the increase of revenue by stamp duties in America, was introduced 
 into the House of Commons. By its provisions all legal documents, 
 promissory notes, deeds, commercial papers, official certificates, ic, 
 &c., must be written upon paper that had received a government 
 stamp, and on which fixed duties had been paid. Of all that was 
 said in argument upon the merits of the bill, nothing excited more 
 general attention, in the community, than a short speech by Colonei 
 Isaac Barr<5. 
 
 This member had seen service in America, during the French war, 
 .ntid, familiar himself with the character and condition of the people, 
 
 m 
 
4.tl 
 
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 281 
 
 he expressed a becoming disgust at the ignorance in regard to the 
 colonics which characterized the speeches of several supporters of tho 
 bill. The eloquent Charles Townshend spoke in its favour, and con- 
 cluded his remarks with an inquiry, whether the colonists could 
 presume to refuse aid to the parent-country, by whose protection 
 they alone had maintained their existence, and arrived at a position 
 of comparative wealth and importance. 
 
 Barr6 rose, and, with great animation, exposed the fallacy of the 
 declaration. He pointed out briefly the real origin of emigration to 
 America, the unaided efforts and suflFerings of the early colonists in 
 establishing a civilized community in the wilderness, the neglect 
 that they had experienced at the hands of the home government, 
 their readiness in taking up arms in a national cause, their expenses 
 and their losses by the continued wars. "I claim," continued he, 
 "to know more of America than most of you, having seen and been 
 conversant with that country. The people, I believe, are as truly 
 loyal as any subjects the king has ; but a people jealous of their lib- 
 erties, and who will vindicate them if ever they should be violated." 
 
 The stamp act passed the house of commons on the 27th of Feb- 
 ruary ; a few days later, the house of lords concurred without debate; 
 and the bill received a quasi assent from the deranged intellect of 
 George III. To make the obnoxious measure more tolerable, it 
 was provided that all revenues to be derived from it, should be 
 expended exclusively for colonial purposes. Other conciliatory 
 enactments, in the form of bounties upon importations, and the 
 removal of sundry burdensome restrictions, were also resorted to as 
 an offset to the first imposition of a direct tax. It was generally 
 supposed) in England, that the measure would be carried out with- 
 out a sign of forcible opposition. 
 
 The tone of public procedures in the colonies, upon receipt of 
 intelligence that the act had passed, was generally moderate; but the 
 passions and indignation of the people, lully aroused, were only 
 awaiting fit opportunity to break forth in overt resistance. In Vir- 
 ginia, the legislature was in session at the time, but its leading mem- 
 bers held aloof from taking active measures in opposition. It was 
 reserved for a young man, who had but recently taken his seat in 
 the house, to introduce and support a series of resolutions, setting 
 forth colonial rights, and protesting against their proposed invasion. 
 It is a singular fact, concerning those who, in all times, have possessed 
 to its greatest extent the wonderOil gitl of eloquence, that little or noth- 
 
 
232 
 
 TIIK rjCUFLK'B BOOK OV III8TURY. 
 
 it)g IiBH l)eon rt^corded which may enable us to judge of their powers, 
 f Ncoptiiig tliuciloctor their 8poeuheti. An audience carried away by 
 iidiiiirutioii and Kyrnpnthetic excitement, iu in no condition to remcrn- 
 btir and perpetuuto the form of expression by which the tumult of 
 fooling is aroused. It has been reserved for those who, like Cicero 
 hnvo nicely ri^modellod their productions to meet the cool criticism 
 of a reader, to be held up as patterns ( imitation. The flow of 
 forcible and unprcnioditutcd words, by wuich a crowd of men, pos- 
 scHtiing every variety of character and temperament, is moved to 
 unanimity, if here and there reported in detached sentences, loses 
 all the force lent by the occasion, the state of mind of the auditory, 
 and the manner of the speaker. 
 
 Such has been the caae, in many instances, with the most cele* 
 brated efTurUi of Burr, Randolph, and others; such, upon the occa- 
 sion of which wo have just spoken, was that of Patrick Henry. We 
 tire only told that, in tunes of tK)ld warning, he broke forth, in the 
 heat of argument, with the expressions: "Ca)sar l.ad his Brutus— 
 Charles the First his Cromwell — and George the Third" (here he 
 was interrupted by a cry of Treason! from the speaker and many 
 members, but he firmly continued) — "may profit by their example. 
 If that be treason, make the most of it!" 
 
 The resolutions were passed, after vehement debate: the conclud- 
 ing section, which read as follows, by a majority of one only: "He- 
 solved, therefore, that the General Assembly of this colony have the 
 sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabit- 
 ants of this colony ; and that every attempt to vest such {X)W(t in 
 any person or persons whatsoever, other than the general assembly 
 aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as 
 American freedom." This resolution was afterwards struck out 
 upon a reconsideration, during the absence of Henry, but it had 
 already gone abroad, and was circulated throughout the colonies. 
 
 In Massachu.Hctts, a more important meaaure was adopted, at the 
 suggestion of James Otis. Jjetters were dispatched to the general 
 assemblies of all the separate colonies, requesting and advising the 
 appointment of a committee from each, to meet at New York in the 
 ensuing month of Octolwr, and deliberate upon what could be done 
 for the general g(K)d of the country. No allusion was made to any 
 proposed union for purjHJscs of resistance, other than the organization 
 of a "united re|»resentati'«n to implore relief" The call was first 
 rcspo.idod to by the legishilnre of South Carolina. 
 
TUK AMKKICAN BEVOLUTION. 
 
 283 
 
 By this time, the flpeccbes of Barr6, of llcury, of Otia, and others, 
 the Virgiiiiu reaolutioiiti, the call of Masauuhusetta, and the reiterated 
 argurncritfl of political writom on both sides the question, were 
 fuiuiliur to the whole people of Amerieo, and occupied uuivorsal 
 attonlion. A question, at tirst uoininitted to the management of the 
 lenniud and intelligent, a.st)umed a new OBpeet wbea brought home 
 to the mindh ofun excited {populace. r> :«■ ; :ji;« rtti 'i • 
 
 Those residents of the colonies who had favoured the passage of 
 the act, and those who had received appointment to the office of 
 distribution of stamps, first felt the weight of lawless popular indig- 
 nation. It seemed to be generally determined that all the stamp 
 officers should be compelled to resign, by personal violence, should 
 persuasion fail. 
 
 The first of a succession of mad scenes — conducted, however, sys- 
 tematically, and with deliberate purpose — took place at Boston, on 
 the 14th of August, (1765.) Andrew Oliver, the appointed stamp 
 distributor, was hung in effigy upon a noted tree, known as . iC 
 Boston elm. In tlie evening, the image woa byrned, with the frag- 
 meiits t)f a building, supposed to be in process of erection for a 
 stump office, in the })resence of an immense cor 'ourse. Oliver ; "r- 
 ceived, from the demeanour of the crowd, that his only safet} con 
 sistod in compliance with the popular demand, and he resigned his 
 office accordingly. 
 
 The office of the court of admiralty, rendered obnoxious by the 
 provisions of the "sugar act," was next attacked. On the night of 
 the 2f)th, the records were destroyed, and the house of Story, comp- 
 troller of customs, was broken open, and his furniture demolished. 
 Hutchinson, the lieut»'nant-governor, sulVered similar outrage upon 
 his property on the same night. This officer had become unpopular 
 from various circumstances, but the principal cry against him, at 
 this time, was for having favoured the stamp act. 
 
 The example of Mo-^sachnsetts was followed in Hii-- ue Island, New 
 York, and New Jersey, and with similar results. The stamp dis- 
 tributor of Maryland fleil from popular violence to New York. 
 Oil many of these occasions, the active ngeiis were not the most 
 respectable portion of the community, but, except where they over- 
 stepped the bounds of r nson, and wantonly invaded private prop- 
 erty, their proceedings met with general favour. All attempts at 
 bringing individuals of ihe rioters to account for the outrages com- 
 mitted, were soon abandoned. 
 
284 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0BY. 
 
 The Other colonies 'exhibited the ecme state of public sentiment 
 and the officers commissioned to distribute stamps, either declined 
 serving, or gave such public pledges as satisfied the people. Tt was 
 plain that no stamps would be allowed to be sold. Ingersoil, the 
 stamp officer for Connecticut, at first refused to submit to the popu- 
 lar requisition, announcing his intention of submitting the matter to 
 the general assembly. He was on his way to Hartford, for that 
 purpose, when he was intercepted, near Wethersfield, by a body of 
 some hundreds of the substantial inhabitants of the colony, who, in 
 military array, although armed only with staves, required of him 
 an immediate resignation. The object of the company was to avoid 
 the disagreeable consequences of any action by the assembly — as the 
 colony might be held responsible for its public acts, while, as indi- 
 viduals, they felt little apprehension of any dangerous results from 
 their proceedings. Ingersoil betrayed no unworthy pusillanimity; 
 but when he perceived the determination of the people to prevent 
 him from communicating with the assembly, and even to proceed 
 to personal violence, should he refuse to accede to their demands, 
 he signed a written resignation, and, at the direction of the crowd, 
 shouted for "Liberty and property." 
 
 Of the packages of stamped paper which arrived in the country, 
 some were seized and destroyed by the populace, and the rest re- 
 mained packed and unnoticed. / 
 
 CWAPT'CP TTT 
 iLoitilirxjjXi III, 
 
 SB8SI0N OP THE FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS: MODERATE TONE 
 OP ITS PROCEEDINGS: CONCURRENCE OF THE SEPARATE 
 COLONIES. — THE STAMP ACT NUGATORY. — THE ENG- 
 LISH MINISTRY. — DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT. — PPEECH 
 OF PITT. — EXAMINATION OF FRANKLIN. — 
 REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 
 
 On the 7th of October, 1765, the first American congress assem- 
 bled at New York. A regular delegation was present from six of 
 the colonier, viz: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Penn- 
 sylvania, Marylaiitl, and South Carolitia; New York, Delaware, and 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 28d 
 
 New Jersey were also represented, although not by a regular ap- 
 pointment of their houses of assembly. The legislature of North 
 Carolina, not having been in session, could make no delegation, but 
 the cooperation of this colony, as well as that of New Hampshire, 
 could be depended upon, in the work to be accomplished. The 
 assent of Georgia was obtained during the session. 
 
 It was agreed that the votes should be taken by colonies, neither 
 claiming preeminence by virtue of superior extent or population. 
 The congress sat about three weeks, during which time a declaration 
 of rights, and petitions and memorials to the king and parliament, 
 were drawn up, debated, and finally agreed to, nearly unanimously. 
 AH question of proposed admission to representation in the English 
 parliament was abandoned as impracticable, and the colonies, without 
 menace or unseemly violence, recapitulated the claims so often 
 urged, that, by natural right, by magna charta, and their own private 
 charters, the right of taxation, as well as that of the management 
 of all internal government, was vested in their own houses of assem- 
 bly. The infringement of the right of trial by jury, in the extension 
 of admiralty jurisdiction, by the provisions of the sugar act, was 
 also animadverted upon. 
 
 The spirit of the resolutions and memorials adopted by congress, 
 met with a hearty response from the people. The New York mer- 
 chants agreed to discontinue all importation from England until the 
 repeal of the obnoxious act. Their example was followed exten- 
 sively in many of the other colonies, and plans were set on foot for 
 the encouragement and support of domestic manufactures, and for 
 devising substitutes for articles of luxury, comfort, or necessity, 
 hitherto imported from the old country. Several of the colonial 
 legislatures commented upon and approved the doings of the con- 
 gress of deputies, and those few members who had stood aloof from 
 or opposed the proceedings, received tokens of marked displeasure 
 from their fellow-members and constituents. 
 
 All attempts to enforce the stamp act (which was to go into oper- 
 ation on the 1st of November) proved utterly vain. Business was 
 conducted without the use of the stamps, in defiance of the restrict- 
 ive provisions of the law, and where this could not be done in 
 safety, as in some of the courts, various evasions were resorted to, 
 and suita were continued or laferred to arbitrament. As yet, all 
 efforts pointed simply to the repeal of the law, and a modification of 
 the obnoxious features of the provisions for the levy of customs. 
 
236 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 News of these proceedings, and of the turn of public affairs in 
 America, reached England during the administration of Rocking, 
 ham. Grenville and his companions in the cabinet, who might 
 have felt bound to make use of every expedient, violent or politic 
 for the maintenance of an act so deliberately framed* and passed 
 with so little opposition as the one in question, were out of office 
 and the new incumbents were in a position to look dispassionately 
 at the consequences of persistance in carrying out the arbitrary 
 principles recently adopted. The question was, indeed, argued 
 rather as one of policy than of right, for the great majority in par- 
 liament, and in the cabinet, had hitherto looked upon the power of 
 the former to lay and enforce discretionary taxes as beyond dispute. 
 It was easy to point to the gross inequality of representation in 
 England, where populous towns and districts had no share in the 
 electoral privilege, for precedents. The colonies of the continental 
 nations of Europe presumed to make no question as to the right 
 and power of the home governments to impose burdens far heavier 
 and of a far more arbitrary and oppressive character, than those now 
 complained of; and it would be to the last degree humiliating to 
 England, if, while deaf to the respectful entreaties of the provinces 
 she should be swayed from her course by the first threats of forcible 
 opposition. 
 
 In December, (1765,) parliament met, and the whole subject was 
 rSconsidered and debated at length. No determinate conclusion was 
 arrived at during the short session, and an adjournment for a few 
 weeks gave opportunity for the transmission of further intelligence 
 from the seat of disturbance. It became matter of notoriety that, 
 in America, the power of parliament was universally questioned 
 often defied, and that people began to speak *' in the most familiar 
 manner" of the possibility of open rupture, and the probable con- 
 sequences of war with the parent-country. 
 
 At the January session, the aged William Pitt was present, and, 
 notwithstan'Mng his infirm health, took an open stand in opposition 
 to the Grenville schemes of taxation — and to all direct taxation of 
 the colonies by parliament — avguing the questions at issue with his 
 usual power and perspicuity. He pointed out the sophistry of the 
 supporters of the measuros under examination ; in reply to invec- 
 tives, he uttered the most biting sarcasms; and, in plain terms, free 
 from technicalities, he maintained the rights of the colonies, and 
 approved their opposition. "I rejoice," said he, "that America has 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 237 
 
 resisted. If its millions of inhabitants had submitted, taxes would 
 soon have been laid on Ireland; and if ever this nation should have' 
 a tyrant for its king, six millions of freemen, so dead to all the feel- 
 ings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would be fit 
 instruments to make slaves of the rest." 
 
 That America could eflfectually resist the power of England, he 
 thought grossly improbable. " In a good cause, on a sound bottom," 
 he proceeded, "the force of this country can crush America to 
 atoms." * * "The will of parliament, properly signified, must 
 for ever keep the colonies dependent upon the sovereign kingdom 
 of Great Britain. But, on this ground of the stamp act, when so 
 many here will think it a crying injustice, I am one who will lift up 
 my hands against it. In such a cause your success would be haz- 
 ardous. America, if she fell, would fall like the strong man ; she 
 would embrace the pillar? of the state, and pull down the constitu- 
 tion along with her."* ^ 
 
 He coupled these strong denunciations of the proposed direct 
 taxation with complete approval of the exercise of jurisdiction by 
 parliament over all '^".atters of trade and the regulation of manufac- 
 tures, claiming to perceive "a plain distinction between taxes levied 
 for the purposes of raising revenue, and duties imposed for the regu- 
 lation of trade for the accommodation of the subject, although, in the 
 consequences, some revenue may accidentally arise from the latter." 
 
 A large majority, both of the commons and of the house of lords, 
 still favoured the English claims in their broadest extent, and a 
 resolution was prepared, declaring that the powers of the king and 
 parliament, in legislating for the colonies, were absolutely without 
 limit. When the question of the stamp act was brought directly 
 before the house of lords, those opposed to repeal, prevailed by a 
 small majority. In the other house, the motion to repeal was con- 
 sidered, rather as a question of present policy, than as a test of 
 future rights and powers. Benjamin Franklin, at this time one of 
 the most prominent among the public supporters of freedom in 
 America, underwent a long examination at the bar of the house. 
 His clear and lucid exposition of the American claims, his accurate 
 statistical knowledge, and his acquaintance with the character, spirit, 
 and local politics of the colonies, enabled him to throw much light 
 upon the question, and appear to have produced a powerful e£fect. 
 He positively insisted that the enforcement of the stamp act was 
 
 * Bancroft 
 
288 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 physically impossible. "Suppose," said he, "a military force sent 
 into America; they will find nobody in arms. What are they then 
 to do? They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do 
 without them. They will not find a rebellion: they may, indeed 
 make one." When the attempt waa made to remove all distinction 
 between direct taxes and imposts on importations, by the suggestion 
 that these were often articles necessary for life; he replied, "The 
 people may refuse commodities, of which the duty makes a part of 
 the price; but an internal tax is forced from them without their 
 consent." And again: "I do not know a single article imported 
 into the northern colonies, but what they can either do without or 
 make themselves."* 
 
 The repeal — coupled, however, with the declaration before referred 
 to, that parliament still retained absolute power in this as in all other 
 colonial legislation — was carried by a very decided majority. The 
 house of lords reluctantly concurred, and the bill received the royal 
 assent on tha 18th of March, 1766. The result gave great satisfac- 
 tion to the commercial portion of the inhabitants of England ; and 
 the receipt of the intelligence in America was a signal for universal 
 acclamation and rejoicing. 
 
 CUADTI?D Tir 
 U, li, i I Jii £\ IV. 
 
 INTERVAL GP QDIET. — NEW TAXES ON IHPORTAIIONS.— 
 NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT. — CIRCULAR OP MAS- 
 SACHUSETTS. — RIOTS AT BOSTON. — ASSEMBLIES DIS- 
 SOLVED. — TROOPS ORDERED TO BOSTON. — MEASURES 
 OP THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. — FATAL ENCOUN- 
 TER BETWEEN THE TROOPS AND POPULACE AT 
 BOSTON. — CONCESSIONS OP PARLIAMENT. 
 
 A 8H0RT period of comparative repose ensued upon the settlement 
 of the stamp question. Those who had suffered in the popular dis- 
 turbances in New York and Massachusetts, were indemnified for 
 their losses by the acta of the general assemblies. In the latter 
 colony, however, this concession to the royalista waa accompanied 
 
 * Bancroft. 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 289 
 
 by a general act of amnesty for tlie protection of the individual 
 rioters. The " sugar act," somewhat modified during the late session 
 of parliament, still remained a bone of contention. 
 
 Under the Pitt administration, which succeeded that of Rocking- 
 ham, Townshend, Gren^Ue's staunchest supporter, held the ofl&ce 
 of chancellor of the exchequer. In this capacity, he introduced and 
 carried through a new system of duties for the colonies, by which 
 imposts were laid upon various articles hitherto exempt. A portion 
 of these were of British production, as paints, paper, glass, &c. A 
 epecific duty of three pence a pound was laid on tea. The bill was, 
 avowedly, for the sole purpose of obtaining revenue by indirect or 
 external taxation. This and other odious measures, previously 
 passed, respecting the maintenance of a standing army, and the 
 quartering of troops upon the inhabitants during their removal from 
 place to place, stirred up al! former ill feelings. The ground was 
 now generally taken bv political agitators in America, that a tax on 
 importations, if for revenue purposes merely, was no more defensible 
 than a direct tax. 
 
 In October, 1767, a movement was commenced at Boston, at a 
 public meeting, for the encouragement of native manufactures, ana 
 the organization of a system of non-importation from England. A 
 more important step was taken at the session of the general assem- 
 bly for Massachusetts, in the year pucceeding; a circular-letter being, 
 by a vote of the house, prepared, and dispatched to all the othei 
 colonial legislatures, urging the necessity for union in support of the 
 rights of the provinces. 
 
 Foremost in these popular proceedings, were two men of widely 
 different character, age, and worldly condition. Samuel Adams, 
 the poor but uncompromising patriot, whose bold, energetic and 
 able disquisitions upon American rights and policy had already 
 gained him wide celebrity, and John Hancock, who possessed youth, 
 fortune, and an ardent temperament. A small vessel "; longing to 
 the latter was seized, in the month of June, 1768, as iiaving been 
 engaged in smuggling winps from Madeira. This gave occasion for 
 an outbreak, and the commissioners of revenue — officers recently 
 appointed by parliament, for th'» superintendence of customs, &c. — 
 were forced to seek protection iVom the mob in one of the forts of 
 the harbour. 
 
 The assembly of Massachusetts was required by the governor, 
 Bernard, to rescind the circular before mentioned, and, upon refusal 
 Vol. 1V.-44 
 
 i 
 
 if 
 
 .^ I 
 
 
 
 &?^' 
 
240 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF BI8T0K7. 
 
 by ;• " 'uge vote, was dissolved. A favourable reception of the rebel- 
 lioub iAessage, produced similar results in Virginia, Maryland, and 
 Georgia. The New York asbcmbly, proving refractory upon th<5 
 question of quartering British troops, was also dismit;se(3 by the 
 governor. In Massachusetts, the inhabitants of the ;'i<?verl lowna, 
 untible to speak t'arough legal representatives, elected 'ielcg^i/s to i>. 
 convention, whose proceedings, if unaccompmied with lepv«mte 
 authority, might, at least, show to tl.e world the true sentiments of 
 the people. 
 
 I'or enforcing the revenue liiws, as wo'' as for th« preservation of 
 order in the turbulent city oi Boston, General Gage, con. rr -xttder-in- 
 chief of the British forces in America, onl^Tcd tLitbei two regimuota 
 of reguUrs from TI uifax. He had receivea pmvioua instruction'^ to 
 this eiffivit fioni government, but it was not t? en suppoat^d thiv. , » 
 lujge a .' >;■;•(; would be necessary to effect the purpose. Th<i author- 
 ities refused lo ; -oviclc quariers for the troops, alleging that there 
 wos accom.>..^f^'',tio!i for them at the regular barracks; but Gage 
 was dotermiu;-'! to qus.rter them within the town, and accordingly a 
 pijition eucnriiped on the common, and most of the others took 
 possession of the state-houte. Cannon were planted in front, and 
 an ostentatious display of military force served U> enrage and em- 
 biti.»r the feelings of the inhabitants. 
 
 Acoommodalions for the soldiery could only be procured by an 
 appropriation of the army funds, which was accordingly made, 
 and full accounts of the fractious spirit of the colony were forwarded 
 to England. The news excited a great degree of public indignation; 
 parliament proceeded lo pass resolutions of censure against the colo- 
 nies, and — a matter of graver importance — voted instructions to the 
 respective governors, for the seizure nnd transportation to England, 
 for trial, of the loaders in disloyalty. 
 
 The legislature of Virginia, at the session in May, 1769, remon- 
 strnted against this infringement of the rights of ^ ._ ns, which, 
 although sanctioned by an ancient law respecting treasons committed 
 abroad, was opposed to all principles of liberty and justice. Reso- 
 luti(>ii8 upon this topic, embracing also a general proclamation of 
 colonial rights, were transmitted to the other colonies. The conse- 
 quence was a speedy dissolution of the aasemblv by the governor. 
 Lord Botetourt. -The non-im|K)rtaiion agreemc .w, shortly after 
 this, extensively adopted, both in Virginia ami • r of the south- 
 ern prov'.nw ;. 
 
 1^ 
 
 ■'^■^^^ eel 
 

 s 
 
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 241 
 
 The Massachusetts legislature, at the same period, refused posi- 
 tively to appropriate funds for the army expenses. Requisition was 
 made for the removal of the troops, and upon the governor's re- 
 sponse that this was beyond the pale of his authority, all legislative 
 business was stayed, with the exception of indignant discussion of 
 the public wrongs. In March of the following year, the mutual 
 hatred between the citizens of Boston and the hired soldiery quar- 
 tered among them, aggravated by insults and injuries on either side, 
 broke out in open hostilities. On the evening of the 5th of the 
 month, a small body of soldiers, commanded by a Captain Preston, 
 was attacked by a mob, and, without orders from their officer, fired 
 upon the crowd, in self-defence. Four persons were killed by the 
 discharge, and a number were wounded. The rage of the citizens, at 
 this occurrence, was so great, that it was deemed advisable to remove 
 the troops from the town to the barracks at Castle "W illiam. This 
 being effected, those who had perished in the riot were buried with 
 great ceremony, the whole population taking part in the exercises of 
 the occasion, as if in commemoration of some national calamity. 
 
 The soldiers implicated in the alleged massacre were indicted for 
 murder. They received a fair and impartial trial, being ably defended 
 by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, both of whom were known as 
 ardent advocates of the popular cause. Conclusive evidence was 
 found against two only of the accused; these were convicted of. man- 
 slaughter, and received but a light punishment. 
 
 In New York, the temporary ascendency of the " moderate party" 
 resulted in submission to the requisitions of the quartering act, but 
 the same state of feeling existed there as in Boston between the 
 troops and the populace. 
 
 Some concession was made by parliament, in 1770, to the demands 
 of the colonies and the petitions of the English merchants. The 
 duties on articles of British produce, &c., included in the list of com- 
 modities taxable under the regulations introduced by Townshend, 
 were all removed, on motion of Lord North, with the exception' of 
 that on tea. This was retained simply as an assertion of principle; 
 for, while parliament evidently desired to conciliate and assist the 
 Ameripan colonies, I* -rs plain that the great majority of the people 
 of Erii;i;uid and rheir reprpsentntives still retained all their former 
 'l.'_- respecting the b-vereign power of the home government 
 
 i: v'l 
 
 "I 
 
242 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 r n A p T T? p "W 
 
 PARTT SPIRIT ly THE COLONIES. — WHIG AND TORT. — THE 
 REGULATORS OP NORTH CAROLINA. — HUTCHINSON, GOVERNOR 
 OP MASSACHUSETTS. — DESTRUCTION OP THE GASPEE. — 
 SYSTEM OP POLITICAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN 
 THE COLONIES. — TEA DISPATCHED TO AMERICA BY 
 THE EAST INDiA COMPANY. — REFUSAL OF THE 
 COLONISTS TO REC2IYE IT. VIOLENT PRO- 
 CEEDINGS AT BOSTON: CLOSURE OF THE 
 PORT. — EXTENSION OF CANADA. 
 
 The bitterness of party spirit, by this time, throughout the colo- 
 nies, was added to that of jealousy and resistance to oppression. The 
 loyalists, under the name of tones, and the whigs, who constituted 
 the popular party, looked upon each other with distrust and indig. 
 nation. Between neighbours and former friends, and between 
 members of the same family, a strife was engendered, rancorous in 
 proportion to the depth of either party's convictions. 
 
 The names of whig and tory were applied, at this period, to two 
 parties in the Carolinas; the first, self-styled regulators, who origin- 
 ally organized themselves as a party for the summary punishment 
 of criminals, in a country where the population was sparse, and the 
 course of justice t.irdy ; the second, their opponent", known also by 
 other titles. In North Carolina, those calling themselves "regu- 
 lators," consisted of ignorant inhnbitunts of the nv<!o barren dis- 
 tricts, and were simply combined to resist all civil authority. The 
 difficulties which arose from the existence of such a party, rosulteii 
 in actual, though brief, civil war. In May, 1771, "Governor Tryoi^ 
 at the head of a body of volunteers, marched into the disaflected 
 counties. The rej'ulators assembled in amis, and an action wai 
 fought at Alamance, on the Haw, near the head-waters of Capi 
 Fear river, in which some two hundred were left dead upon th« 
 field. Out of a large number taken prisoners, six were executed for 
 high treason."* The g(M)d-will of this turbulent faction was concil- 
 iated by a subsequent governor, Joseph Martin. 
 
 In the north, causes of discontent with English authority were 
 
 • IlildretirH lliittory of the United StaUsa. 
 
'"11 
 
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 243 
 
 multiplied, notwithstanding the concessions of parliament. Hutch- 
 inson, upon receiving the appointment of governor of Massachusetts, 
 in 1771, was made independent of the colony by the settlement upon 
 him of a large salary to be paid by the crown. This gave great dis- 
 satisfaction, inasmuch as the governor and colony were no longer 
 bound by a common interest. The measure, it is true, had been 
 provoked by a neglect on the part of the assembly to make the 
 usual appropriation for the governor's salary. 
 
 Fulfilment of the non-importation agreement had been gradually 
 relaxed in most of the colonies, except in regard to the one article 
 of tea, which, being alone retained of that list made out for revenue 
 purposes merely, stood as a representative of all the rest. The old 
 regulations of trade, as provided for in the " sugar act," were still 
 enforced, and a number of vessels, armed for the revenue service, 
 were employed on the coast. One of these, named the Gaspee, had 
 become particularly obnoxious to the people of Rhode Island. She 
 interfered most inconveniently in their smuggling transactions; and 
 her officers, moreover, in carrying out their instructions, had, by 
 arrogance and arbitrary conduct, excited popular ill-will. While 
 stationed in Narragansett Bay, this vessel, by a stratagem, was 
 decoyed upon a shoal, and, as she lay aground, was attacked and 
 burned by a party from Providence, on the night of June 10th, 
 1772. Great efforts were made to secure the punishment ' f the 
 perpetrators of this act of violence, but they were so shielded by the 
 favour of the people, that no conclusive evidence could be obtain*. , 
 against them, although they were identified by common report 
 The appointment of a special court for their trial, and the offer of a 
 large reward for evidence, alike failed to bring the offenders to 
 punishment 
 
 Agitation of political questions, throughout this period, was con- 
 tinually kept up by private associations and corresponding commit- 
 tees of different towns and districts. This movement, originating 
 in New England, led to a more general system of union, in conse- 
 quence of action by the Virginia legislature. A copy of " •• o- 
 ceedings in the Massachusetts assembly, in which the contijveitiy 
 with the governor also involved general discussion of grievances, 
 having been forwarded to that body, a committee was regularly 
 appointed to inquire into the questions at issue, and to communicate 
 thereupon with the other colonies. The assembly was, in eonse- 
 qnero^-- dissolved by the governor, but the committee proceeded, 
 
 1;J>! 
 
24i 
 
 TUE I'EOl'LE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 notwitlistnudiiig, to fulfil their instructions. This example was 
 followed by the coloiiios of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hamp- 
 shire, Rhode Islainl, l^ennsylvania, and Maryland. Such an organ- 
 ization proved of 'h" 'viuu.- ^o service at the cornmen^ciiient of the 
 contest upon v-'ti','^i t; , .ntry was about to enter. A publication, 
 by Doctor I'Miikiin, then agent for Massachusetts, as well as for 
 several oth<;T of the colonies, in England, of certain letters written 
 by Hutchinson and other loyalists, excited great indignation. These 
 letters, which were never intended to meet the public eye, spoke 
 conten ptuously of the popular pa-tv . ^d recommended stringent 
 measures for coercion. 
 
 Opportunity was not long wanting for open demonstration of the 
 true state of feeling in the colonies. As already mentioned, the 
 i^[~eement to import no tea had been generally observed, and the 
 East India Company, receiving no orders from American merchants, 
 made the ecessary arrangements for carrying on the trade by their 
 own agent. . Consignees were appointed in the more important sea- 
 ports, and a number of vessels were freighted and dispatched. In 
 New York and Philadelphia, these agents, alarmed at the threats 
 of the people, thought it the part of safety not to enter upon the 
 duties of their appointment, anJ the vessels were obliged to return 
 to England with their cargoes. In Boston the consigrn i refused 
 to resign their agency, and in the midst of the excitement attendant 
 upon their contumacy, several vessels arrived loaded with tea. 
 
 A considerable body of citizens stationed themselves as a watch, 
 to preclude the possibility of a secret landing, and the captain and 
 consignees were notified llat the only safe course for them to pur- 
 sue, was immediately to con ply with the popular demand, that the 
 tea be sent ha?]c to Kagland. Bit, upon application at the custom- 
 house, no cleai.iice could be effc ,'d without a landing of the cargo, 
 and the governor refused a permit to pass the defensive works of 
 the castle. 
 
 The citizens held repeated m^ ^< meetings, m whioh the question 
 was fully discussed, and nearly ui»anim'>us resolutiors wero adopted 
 to resist to the last extremity all ' mpts at landing the tea. They 
 were in session (December th, 1773) when the definitive reply of 
 the governor, respecting , ^, w ■; received. ''A violent commo- 
 tion instantly ensued. A -wrson isguised after the manner of the 
 Indians, who was in the gallery, shouted at this juncture the cry 
 of war: the meeting was dissolved in the twinkling of an eye. The 
 
THE AMERICA 
 
 lEVOLUTION. 
 
 24") 
 
 multitude rushed in mass to GrifRn's wharf. About twenty persons, 
 also disguised as Indians, then made their appearance; all either 
 masters of ships, carpenters, or caulkers. They went on board the 
 ships laden with tea. In less than two hours, three hundred and 
 Ibrty chests were staved, and emptied in the sea. They were not 
 interrupted: the surrounding multitude on shore served them as a 
 safe guard. The affair was conducted without tumult: no damage 
 was done to the ships, or to any other effects whatever."* 
 
 The consequence of these acts of violence was the immediate 
 passage, by parliament, of the act known as the "Boston port bill," 
 by which the port was closed against all importations, the custom- 
 house being removed to Salem, This restriction was not to be 
 removed until full compensation should be made for the damage 
 done by the populace. On motion of North, a further enactment 
 passed, by a very large mji' 'rity, for giving the appointment of all 
 civil and judicial officers i Massachusetts directly to the crown. 
 It was also enacted that^ at any future prosecution for "homicide 
 or otlier capital offence" committed in support of lawful authority, 
 the governor might send the accused out of the colony for trial, 
 either to another province, or to England, if it appeared to him 
 necessary so to afford security against popular prejudice. 
 
 In ant'cipation of the possible result of such violent measures, 
 act ore passed for the further regulation of government in Canada, 
 the bounds of which province were extended "so as to embrace 
 the territory situated between the lakes, the river Ohio, and the 
 Minsissippi." 
 
 * Otia' Botta. 
 
 
 
246 
 
 THE PEOI'LE'S BOOK OF UI8T0BY. 
 
 CHAPTER vl. 
 
 OAOB, OOTERNOR OP MASSACHUSETTS: MILITAUT PREPARA- 
 TIONS MINUTB-MKN. — DISTRESS IN BOSTON; SYMPATHY OP 
 OTHER T' WN8. — CONVENTION PROPOSED BY VIRGINIA: DEL- 
 EGATES CHOSEN BY THE COLONIES. — THE CONTINENTAL 
 CONGRESS: RESOLUTIONS AND DECLARATION ADOPTED. 
 — VIOLENT MEASURES OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 In May, 1774, General Gage, having received the appointment 
 of governor of Masaachuaetts, in place of Hutchinson, arrived in 
 Boston. lie was, personally, held in much greater esteem than hia 
 predecessor, and met with a suitable reception, notwithstanding the 
 general state of disorder and indignation at the speedy enforcement 
 of the port bill, which was to go into operation on the 1st of June. 
 A number of regiments of regulars were concentrated at the town 
 for the purpose of overawing the inhabitants, and, under the direc- 
 tions of the general, defensive works were erected on the neck by 
 which the peninsula of Boston is connected with the main land. 
 
 These precautions were by no means premature or unnecessary, 
 for, every where throughout the colony, appearances grew more and 
 more ominous. The new officers, of royal appointment, were im- 
 peded in the exercise of their duties, by threats or violence ; the 
 orgatiization and training of the militia was carried on with great 
 zeal and perseverance; meetings were every where held, and reso- 
 lutions were passed breathing the spirit of the most determined 
 resistance. At a general meeting of Massachusetts delegates, at 
 Salem, of which Hancock was president, "They enrolled twelve 
 thousand of the militia, whom they called minute-men; that is, sol- 
 diers that must hold themselves in readiness to mat oh at a minute's 
 notice." Directions were openly and boldly given for the storing 
 of provisions, the collection of ammunition, kc.^ as if the country 
 were already involved in civil war. 
 
 The city of Boston necessarily suffered severely from the total 
 cutting off of its commercial resources. The most hearty sympathy 
 was expressed by the towns of Massachusetts, and by the other col- 
 onies, both in the form of resolutions of encouragement, and, more 
 substantially, by subscriptions for the relief of the poor. At Salem 
 
c u X a u t: s s ii a i. i., r n i /. .4 v k i. v iiia 
 
 FAXEV IL HALL, BOSTOJf. 
 
 The Buildicg was commenced in 1740, and -was given by Peter Faneuil to the 
 town of Boston, for a Town-HaU and Market-place It is celebrated as being tba 
 scene of many of the early debates upon the great Questions at issue between 
 England and the Colonies 
 
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 247 
 
 and Marblehead, the merchants proffered the use of their warehouses 
 to the Boston importers, and the inhabitants of the former made 
 public profession of their determination not to take advantage of 
 the position in whinh they were placed, to enrich themselves at the 
 expense of those who had exposed their property and personal 
 safety for the general good. 
 
 In the neighbouring colonies, the same state of affairs existed as 
 in Massachusetts. Not only were the people busily engaged in pre- 
 paring arms and ammunition, but, in several instances, they vio- 
 lently plundered the public stores. The legislative assemblies 
 generally responded to the exigency of the occasion, by resolutions 
 of sympathy and encouragement. In Virginia, it was resolved, that 
 attempts to coerce one colony to submit to measures which all had 
 expressed a common interest in opposing, were to be resisted by 
 the others, and it was recommended that an annual convention 
 should be held by deputies from all the colonies, to take counsel for 
 the general good. ' * • ' 
 
 In accordance with this proposal, all the colonies except Georgia 
 made choice of delegates, in number from two to seven, according 
 to the population of each, who were to convene at Philadelphia. 
 At the same time, resolutions to cease all commerce with Great 
 Britain were renewed. Agreements to that effect were signed by 
 immense numbers, and those who did not readily concur with 
 the proposal, were effectually overawed by a threat of the publica- 
 tion of their names, A time was fixed for the agreement to go into 
 operation. The state of public feeling was also demonstrated by 
 acts of violence committed upon the persons of obnoxious tories, 
 many of whom were "tarred and feathered," or otherwise so perse- 
 cuted as to be obliged to place themselves under the protection of 
 the authorities at the fortified posts. 
 
 The continental congress met at Philadelphia, on the 5th of Sep- 
 tember, 1774. All were present excep; the deputies from South 
 Carolina, who arrived on the 14th. Ot the fifty-three delegates to 
 this convention, nearly all were men of property and high standing 
 in society: many of them — as Patrick Henry of Virginia, Samuel and 
 John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and 
 others — were already celebrated for eloquence, legal attainments, or 
 for an active share in the first patriotic movements. It was no 
 assembly of reckless political adventurers, but consisted of men who 
 truly repr^ented the intelligent portion of the community, and who 
 
248 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBT. 
 
 felt that their own good fame, their lives, property, and personal 
 safety depended upon the performance of their duty to their con- 
 stituents, in a manner as prudent and cautious, as firm and uncom- 
 promising. It was agreed that each colony should have but one 
 vote, and the proceedings of the assembly were only to be made 
 public so far as permitted by its own resolutions. The session was 
 held with closed doors. 
 
 The first proceedings were the adoption of resolutions expressive 
 of approval of those passed by the Massachusetts convention; a 
 declaration of rights, accompanied by a specific enumeration of the 
 instances in which these had been infringed by the British govern- 
 ment ; and a more efficient organization of the system of non-im- 
 portation, which was to go into general operation on the 1st of the 
 ensuing December, and to which was ap(>ended an agreement not 
 to export goods to England or its dependencies, if, at a future period, 
 redress should not have been obtained for injuries already commit- 
 ted. Incidentally to this agreement, the importation of slaves was 
 condemned, and was prohibited by the articles of compact. 
 
 A petition to the king, and addresses, letters, and memorials to 
 the people of Great Britain, and of the northern American provinces, 
 were subsequently prepared, debated, and adopted. An unavailing 
 communication had been previously addressed to General Gage, 
 remonstrating against the military operations at Boston. Congress 
 adjourned in the latter part of October, after providing for a future 
 meeting, to take place in the following year. , 
 
 During the winter, the colonies had opportunity to express their 
 separate opinion upon the doings of Congress, either by their assem- 
 blies or by popular conventions. The acts passed generally met 
 with hearty approval and concurrence. The sect of Quakers, at 
 their yearly meeting, carrying out their principles of peace, con- 
 demned every thing that should tend to bring down upon the coun- 
 try the calamities of war; but, on the other hand, the eloquence and 
 ardour of New England divines, especially of the Congregational 
 societies, were lent, with little scruple or concealment, to the popular 
 cause. The association for non-intercourse with England experi- 
 enced more opposition in New York than elsewhere: the tories of 
 that colony, by reason of wealth, influence, and numbers, occupied 
 a more independent position than in either of the other provinces, 
 and the self-interest of the large number of those dependent upon 
 the commerce of New York, strengthened their opposition. 
 
THE AMEKICAN BE.VOLUTION. 
 
 249 
 
 The parliament of Great Britain, upon receipt of intelligence con- 
 cerning the American congress and the disorderly state of affairs in 
 America, determined on violent coercive measures. The concil- 
 iatory and moderate policy of the elder Pitt was rejected ; Franklin 
 and the other colonial agents were refused a hearing; and, as aj)un- 
 isbment to the colonies for their resistance to authority and refusal 
 to import goods from Great Britain, all other foreign ^j^de, except 
 that to the British West Indies, was absolutely prohibited, as was 
 also the prosecution of the fisheries on the banks. A large military 
 and naval reinforcement was also ordered to America. A provision 
 was, indeed, made for the exemption from taxation of any colony 
 which should, by its own act, appropriate a "sufficient" sum for the 
 necessary expenses of government and defence. In the new restric- 
 tions upon trade, exceptions were introduced in favour of New 
 York and North Carolina, these being considered the most loyal 
 and amenable of the colonies. The acts were passed in both houses 
 by large majorities, notwithstanding the able argument of eloquent 
 opponents, and a crowd of petitions frpm merchants, manufacturers, 
 and inhabitants of other colonies, whose interests were directly de- 
 pendent upon prosperous commerce with America. 
 
 WARLIKE PREPARATIONS IN M A88ACHl'8ETTS. — TROOPS DIS- 
 PATCHED TO SEIZE MILITARY STORES. — FIRST BLOOD SHED 
 ' AT LEXINGTON. — DISASTROUS RETREAT OF TUB BIIITISH TO 
 B08T0K — PROCEEDINGS IN THE NEIOHBOURiNO COLONIES. 
 — BOSl-^N BESIEGED BY THE FRCYIKCIALS. CONCUR- 
 RENCE Oi THE SOUTHERN COLONIES — SECOND SESSION 
 OF CONGRESS. — APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS. — 
 SEIZURE Oi CROWN POINT AND IICONDEROOA. 
 
 The inhabitants of Massachusetts, denounced as rebels by the late 
 acts of parliament, cut off from all sourcea of former prosperity, and 
 insulted by the presence of overbearing military officials and sol- 
 diery, wore now ready for any extremity. It was with no small 
 ih^niUj that supplies could be procured for the troops at Boston, 
 
250 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOEY. 
 
 and the commanding officer heard, with alarm, of the unceasing pre- 
 parations for war that were going on in all the neighbouring dis- 
 tricts. The precarious position of the inhabitants of Boston excited 
 universal concern, and various plans were suggested for their relief. 
 Aniong others, it is said to have been seriously proposed, that "a 
 valuation should be made of the houses and furniture belonging to 
 the inhabitants, that the city should then be fired, and that all the 
 lotjses should be reimbursed from the public treasure." The pro- 
 vincial congress of Massachusetts ordered the procurement of large 
 quantities of ammunition and arms, which, as fast as they could be 
 collected, were privately stored at different d^pdts in the country 
 towns. Cannon, balls, Ac, were smuggled out of Boston, over the 
 fortified neck, in manure-carts, and various other devices were suc- 
 cessfully resorted to for deceiving the guard. 
 
 General Gage, having now nearly three thousand men under his 
 immediate command, thought that the time had arrived for a forcible 
 check upon the movements of the rebels. He had learned that arms 
 and ammunition, belonging to the provincials, were collected in 
 large quantities at Concord, about eighteen miles from Boston, These 
 he determined to seize, and, having taken every precaution to pre- 
 vent intelligence of the movement from being known, he dispatched 
 several companies of grenadiers and light infantry, numbering about 
 eight hundred men, upon this service, on the night of April 18th 
 (1775.) Doctor Joseph Warren, one of the most prominent of the 
 Boston patriots, had, by some means, become acquainted with the 
 intended attack, and sent messengers forthwith to spread the news 
 through the country. 
 
 Early on the following morning the troops, commanded by Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Smith, entered Lexington, a few miles from Concord. 
 A company of provincial militia, to *\rt number of little more than 
 seventy, was under arms upon the green, near the meeting-house. 
 Major Pitcairn, leader of che van-guard, called out, "Disperse, relwls! 
 lay down your arms and disperse." The order not being obeyed, 
 he immediately discharged a pistol, and, waving his sword, gave 
 the command to fire. Several fell at the first volley, and, although 
 the militia immediately retreated, they were fired upon in the act of 
 diBf)er8ing. Eight were killed. 
 
 The troops then marched on to Concord. At that town the min- 
 ute-men endeavoured to keep possession of a bridge, but were 
 charged and driven from their position. The object of the cxpcdi- 
 
THE AMEBICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 251 
 
 lion was accomplished, by the destruction of a quantity of ammuni- 
 tion and provisions, and the spiking and dismounting of two pieces 
 of artillery. By this time the whole country was up in arms, and, 
 as the troops commenced their retreat, they were exposed to a gall- 
 ing and destructive fire from places of concealment on either side of 
 the road, while a large and constantly increasing force of the provin- 
 cials hung upon their rear. . .», 
 
 To protect the retreat, General Gage had, fortunately for the 
 expedition, sent on a reinforcement of sixteen companies, who met 
 the first detachment at Lexington. Wearied by their long night 
 march and the fatigues of the morning, and with their ammunition 
 nearly spent, the whole of the first detachment, it was thought, might 
 have perished or fallen into the enemies' hands but for the aid thus 
 opportunely afforded. After resting and recruiting their strength, 
 the whole army marched towards Boston. 
 
 Harassed throughout the entire distance by an irregular but 
 deadly fire from concealed marksmen, the worn-ovt troops reached 
 Charlestown about sunset. They had sustained a loss, in killed and 
 wounded, of not for from three hundred men: the provincials lost 
 lesp than one-third of that number.. What added to the difficulty 
 of the march, was the intense heat of the weather, and a high wind, 
 which raised clouds of dust. 
 
 The first blood had now been shed; the country was actually 
 involved in war, and Massachusetts culled upon the other colonies 
 for assistance. Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Khode Island, 
 made response by raising troops and commissioning ofiicors. In 
 anticipation of this more regular levy, a lar^e army of volunteers 
 had collected and encamped around Boston. Generals Ward and 
 Thomas received the highest commission under the provision of the 
 Massac!) usetts provincial legislature. The volunteers from Connec- 
 ticut were commanded by General Putnam, an old soldier, and a 
 true man of the times. There was no difficulty, at this period, in 
 procuring men: more, indeed, flocked in than could be supported, 
 and upon the arrival of the regular provincial forces, great num- 
 bers of the volunteer disbanded and returned home. The universal 
 indigi>ation was increased by repo;t8 of British cruelties during 
 the brief period of hostilities. These stories, it is said, the lenders 
 of the people "never failed to propagate and exaggerate, in every 
 place, repeating them with words of extreme vehemence, and 
 pamting them in the moat vivid ^jolours," thereby producing "an 
 
 -(..,, 
 
252 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF IIISTOKY. 
 
 incredible fermentation, and a frantic rage in the minds of the 
 inhabitants." 
 
 The middle and southern colonies, as soon as the news of the 
 opening of the campaign in the north could reach them, generally 
 gave expression to the popular feeling of sympathy with the patriots, 
 and of their conviction that -he questions in dispute were of com- 
 mon interest. Military organizations, associations for purposes of 
 defence, and seizures of public stores and funds for the popular 
 cause, were the order of the day. 
 
 On the 10th of May, (1775,) in accordance with former provisions, 
 the continental congress assembled, the second time, at Philadelphia. 
 Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, who had presided at the first meeting, 
 was reelected^ but upon his departure to atteii^i the meeting of the 
 Virginia assembly, his place was taken by Thomas Jefferson. The 
 first proceedings were to prepare a further petition to the king, and 
 addresses to the inhabitants of Great Britain and the American col- 
 onies. It was then voted, that war had been commenced by England, 
 and that active measures should be taken foi defence; but, at the 
 same time, a nominal allegiance was professed to the parent-country. 
 
 Continental officers were next chosen — the office of commander- 
 in-chief being bestowed upon George Washington, one of the mem- 
 bers from Virginia; Artemas Ward, Philip Schuyler, Israel Putnam, 
 and Charles Lee, were chosen major-generals; Horatio Gates re- 
 ceived the appointment of adjutant-general. The two officers last 
 mentioned had both held commissions in the British service. 
 
 These proceedings occupied some time, and, meanwhile, important 
 scenes were enacting at the seat of war. On the very day that con- 
 gress assembled, a bold and successful adventure was achieved by a 
 volunteer force of the "Green Mountain Boys," commanded by Ethan 
 Allen, one of the most active and enterprising of the popular leaders 
 at the north. At Crown Point and Ticonderoga, fortified posts upon 
 Lake CJhamplain, on the Canadian frontier, it was known that there 
 was great store of artillery and ammunition, and a design was formed 
 simultaneously in Connecticut and Vermont to accomplish its seizure. 
 Colonel Benedict Arnold, of New Haven, at the time connected with 
 the besieging army at Boston, was commissioned by the former. lie 
 is described as having been " jxjssessed by n'\ture of an extraordinary 
 force of genius, a retitless character, and an intrepidity bordering upon 
 prodigy." Finding that Allen had already raised a force for the same 
 object, Arnold joined the expedition as a subordinate. 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 253 
 
 The garrisonB at the forts were grossly insufficient in numbers 
 for their defence, and were, moreover, taken completely by surprise. 
 When the commander of Ticonderoga, roused from sleep, and sum- 
 moned by Allen to surrender, "in the name of the Great Jehovah 
 and the Continental Congress," was informed that he was " prisoner 
 of America, he was much confused, and repeated, several times, 
 ' What does this mean?' " About two hundred and twenty pieces of 
 artillery, with a great quantity of ammunition, and a number of 
 howitzers and mortars, were secured at these two posts. Proceeding 
 down the Sorel in a schooner, Arnold surprised and captured a 
 British corvette which lay at Fort St. John. The captured fortresses 
 on Champlain were garrisoned and put under his command. 
 
 C n A P T E H V i I X. . •■* 
 
 CONDITION OP THE BRITISH ARMY IN BOSTON. — BATTLE 0? 
 BUNKER HILL. — WASHINGTON AT THE CAMP. — CON- 
 GRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. — THE INDIAN TRIBES. 
 — JOSEPH BRANT. — MILITARY PREPARATIONS 
 IN THE SEPARATE COLONIES. 
 
 Early in June, the British forces in Boston had been increased 
 by fre-sh arrivals -of troops, under Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and 
 Clinton, to more than ten thousand disciplined soldiers. It w,a8 
 with great difficulty that supplies of provisions could be procured 
 for so large an army, beleaguered as was the town by a superior, 
 although undisciplined force of the provincials. General Gage, 
 therefore, first issued a proclamation of free pardon to all who would 
 lay aside their attitude of rebellion, and submit to the royal author- 
 ity, excepting, however, the prime movers of sedition, John Han- 
 cock and Samuel Adams. He then formed a plan to penetrate the 
 enemies' lines, and open a free communication with the country. 
 
 The intended movement became known to the American com- 
 manders, and orders were immediately given for the erection of 
 fortifications on Bunker hill, an elevation commanding the neck. 
 Colonel William Prescott, with a body of one thousand men, was 
 commissioned upon this service, on the night of the 16th of June. 
 
 ii-fi f 
 
254 
 
 TUK PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UISTOBY. 
 
 Mistaking bis point of destination, this officer commenced operations 
 at Breed's hill, a position nearer to the town, and overlooking 
 Cbarlestown, at that time a place of C( 'nsiderable size. Labouring 
 with great diligence and silence, the provincials had thrown up, 
 before day -break, a low earthen redoubt in the form of a square, 
 sufficiently substantial to afford some protection for the troops. 
 
 As soon as these operations were discovered from the harbour, a 
 tremendous fire was opened upon the works from the men-of-war 
 which lay at anchor, from the city artillery, and from floating bat- 
 teries. Notwithstanding the storm of shells and bulls, the provincials 
 continued their labour, and carried a trench and embankment from 
 the redoubt down the north-eastern slope of the hill, nearly to the 
 water's edge. A reinforcement of several companies had, meanwhile, 
 been thrown into the intrench nent. As the height commanded 
 the city, it was absolutely necessary to prevent the establishment of a 
 battery there, in order to maintain possession of Boston; Gage, there- 
 fore, determined upon an immediate attempt to storm the redoubt. 
 
 Three thousand men were transported from the city to thefotjtof 
 the hill, in boats. Major-General Howe and General Pigot were in 
 command. The most exposed point was the interval between the 
 trotxli and Mystic river, at the north-east: this wa.s partially defended 
 by a temporary breast- work of hay and fencing stuff". "The troops 
 of Massachusetts occupied Charlestown, the redoubt, and part of the 
 trench ; those of Connecticut, comnfftndcd by Captain Nolton, and 
 those of New Hampshire, under Colonel Starke, tlie rest of the 
 trench." Generals Putnam and Warren were both present, and 
 assisting in the directions of the defence. The troops were very 
 scantily furni.shed with ammunition, and verj- few had bayonets. 
 
 Towards the middle of the afternoon, the arrangements for attack 
 being perffcted, the regulars marched up the hill; their officers were 
 surprised at the silence from witliin the redoubt, for the provincials 
 reserved their fire until a very near approach of the enemy. When 
 the word was at ^ast given, so heavy and destructive was the dis- 
 charge, that the B.i ,hl; fell back in disorder, and retreated to the f.wt 
 of tlic hill. A secc \d charge, to which the troops wcr-e, v/ith ditfi- 
 culty, marshalled, re(?uUed in a similar disaster. The nunilier of 
 officers who fell in these two first attempts is astonishing. "General 
 Howe remained fo"" some time alooe upon the field of battle; ail the 
 officers who surrounded him were killed or wounded." 
 
 The town of Charlestown had been fired by order of Gage, at the 
 
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THE AMERICAN RKVOLUTION, 
 
 255 
 
 time of the first repulse, and, consisting chiefly of wooden i nildings, 
 was soon reduced to aahes. The scene had now become v:>ne of 
 intense interest. Every hill and house-top froi which a view of the 
 field could be obtained, was thronged with spectators. General 
 Clinton, who had witnessed the second charge from Cop's hill, a 
 neighbouring height, hastened up, with additujua^ orces. The col- 
 umns were again formed, and marched up . the redoubt, suffering 
 little from the slackened fire of *he provincuui, whose powder was 
 
 lateral -enoh v as swept 
 < hud succeeded in 
 
 m 
 
 rei to the enclosed 
 
 were driven at the 
 
 , with their muskets 
 
 now nearly spent. At the same ti e, 
 by several pieces of artillery, wlujh 
 posting at ita extremity. 
 
 From three several quarters, the r* 
 space of the redoubt, from which the 
 point of the bayonet, defending themselvt 
 clubbed. Their retreat was effected, with little further loss, across 
 Cbarlestown neck, although the passage was exposed to a heavy fire 
 from the floating batteries, and from one of the armed vessels. The 
 English immediately fortified Bunker hill, to secure command of 
 the neck for the future. 
 
 In this battle more than one-third of the entire British force were 
 either killed or wounded. The loss of the provincials a little ex- 
 ceeded four hundred and fifty. Doctor Joseph Warren, recently 
 commissioned as a general ofiicer, perished during the retreat. He 
 was shot down, it is said, by an English officer, who borrowed a 
 musket from a private for the purpose. 
 
 The provincial congress of Massachusetts had, ere this, declared 
 the colony absolved from all allegiance to Gage, who, in the resolution, 
 was pronounced "a public enemy." After communication with the 
 continental congress, a provisional government was organized, con- 
 sisting of town deputies and a council. It wa.s, indeed, plain to all 
 that there was no choice between a sanguinary contest and a humil- 
 iating submission. In England, the popular feeling, where not 
 affected by the personal interest of commerce, was most decidedly 
 inimical to the rebellious colonies, who had presumed to defy the 
 power and question the authority of the British government, and 
 the coercive measures adopted met with gcnenil approbation. It is 
 true that there were not a few who foresaw the possible consequences 
 of the war, and deprecated the violence that might cause the loss of 
 England's most valuable foreign possession ; others, of yet more lib- 
 eral sentiments, felt and expressed a noble sympathy with thoir 
 Vol. IV.— 45 
 
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256 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 transatlantic brethren throughout the long and arduous struggle 
 upon which they had now entered. 
 
 About the 1st of July, General Washington arrived at the camp, 
 near Boston, and assumed command. The presence of an experi- 
 enced commander-in-chief was absolutely requisite in the existing 
 state of the army. About fourteen thousand men, new to the disci- 
 pline of a camp, and very insufficiently provided with necessary 
 accommodations, stores, and ammunition, were posted so as to guard 
 the approaches to the city: this line extended over a space of not far 
 from twelve miles. Washington's head-quarters were at Cambridge. 
 Generals Ward and Lee were stationed at Roxbury and Prospect 
 hill. The latter position had been fortified by the provincials im- 
 mediately subsequent to the battle at Breed's hill. 
 
 The more important congressional proceedings during the months 
 of June and July, in addition to those already briefly mentioned, were 
 the issue of bills of credit, redeemable by apportionment among the 
 colonies, to the amount of three millions of dollars; the establish- 
 ment of a post-office system (at the head of which was Benjamin 
 Franklin) ; and the commission of emissaries to treat with the Indian 
 tribes. These, and various minor arrangements, being concluded, 
 congress adjoumed until September. The attempt to gain over the . 
 powerful confederacy of the Six Nations, proved a signal failure, 
 except so far as related to the tribe of the Oneidas, over whom Mr. 
 Kirkland, a missionary, had great influence. The munificence and 
 crafty policy of the English Indian agent, Sir William Johnson, had 
 for many years secured the admiration and aflFection of the rest of 
 the Iroquois; and, upon his death, they proved equally loyal to hi* 
 son-in-law and successor, Guy Johnson. Their most celebrated chief, 
 Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, who had been brought up .and edu- 
 cated under Sir William's patronage, received a commission in the 
 British service, and took, as we shall have occasion to notice, an 
 important part in border hostilities. The character of Brant has 
 been generally mistaken by historians, and it is only by the research 
 of m Aern writers that his abilities and good qualities have been 
 brought to light, and the popular slanders, which pronounced him a 
 monster of cruelty, refuted. 
 
 The spirit which actuated the general congress was also evinced 
 in the separate colonies, either by popular movements, or the action 
 of the provincial assemblies. The authority of the royal governors 
 was, in many instances, set at naught: troops were raised, and 
 
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 257 
 
 colonial bills were issued to defray the expense of their maintenance. 
 As heretofore, the greatest conflict of public opinion was in New 
 York, where the loyalists were enabled to make a stronger stand 
 than elsewhere. The members for New York, at the late session of 
 congress, were chosen, not by the assembly, but by a self-organized 
 provincial congress elected by the people at large. 
 
 itJt a, i, L ih li 1 At, I 
 
 TACILLATINO POLICY OP ENGLAND. — PROVISIONS BY C0NOEB88 
 POR CARRYING ON THE WAR.— NATAL OPERATIONS. — EXPE- 
 DITION AGAINST CANADA. — SIEGE OP FORT ST. JOHN. — 
 ALLEN'S ATTEMPT UPON MONTREAL. — THE CITY OCCU- 
 PIED BY MONTGOMERY. — MARCH TOWARDS QUEBEC. 
 
 There is much wisdom in the criticism of Botta, upon the gen- 
 eral policy of the British government during these early hostilities. 
 In speaking of Gage, he says: "He arrived in America accompanied 
 with general affection : he lefl it abhorred ; perhaps less through his 
 own fault than that of the ministers, who, in place of rigorous 
 decrees, should have sent powerful armies; or instead of armies, 
 conciliatory conditions, consonant with the opinions of Americans. 
 But men commonly know neither how to exert all their force, nor 
 to surmount the shame of descending to an accommodation: hence 
 delays, hesitations, and half measures, so often prove the ruin of 
 enterprises." — {Otis* Translation.) 
 
 The whole proceedings of the British military and naval forces at 
 this time were calculated rather to annoy and enrage, than to over- 
 awe. There were many cruisers busied upon the coast in hinder- 
 ing the American commerce, and in procuring supplies for the 
 beleaguered garrison at Boston. The sea-port towns suffered from 
 their depredations ; and, in one especial instance, the action of the 
 provincials in preventing the procurance of provisions, &c., by a 
 British vessel, was punished by bombardment. This waa at Fal- 
 mouth, afterwards Portland, which was destroyed in the month of 
 October (1775). ■ 
 
 Congress waa at this time in session, having come together early 
 
258 
 
 Tll£ PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UlSTOBY. 
 
 in the preceding month. Delegates from all the original thirteen 
 colonies were present ; Georgia had elected deputies since the last 
 meeting. The principal attention of this body was necessarily 
 directed to the maintenance of the army, the difficulty of procuring 
 ammunition and military stores being very great. Privileges of 
 trade were granted to vessels in which gun-powder should be im- 
 ported, and ships were dispatched to distant foreign ports, even to 
 the coast of Guinea, for the purchase of this grand desideratum of 
 modern warfare. 
 
 The three New England colonies, at an early period in the war, 
 commenced retaliations upon British commerce, for the injuries com- 
 mitted at sea. The first step taken by the Massachusetts assembly, 
 was to direct the arming of several vessels to protect the sea-coast 
 From this they proceeded to authorize private adventure, by the 
 issue of letters-of-marque, and the allowance of reprisals. Courts of 
 admiralty were also instituted to decide prize claims. The priva- 
 teers thus commissioned were, however, restricted to the seizure of 
 vessels containing supplies for "the soldiers who made war against 
 the Americans." 
 
 The general congress adopted, soon afler, substantially the same 
 course. A fleet of thirteen vessels was ordered to be fitted out in 
 the northern and middle colonies. Continental courts of admiralty 
 were also created, and the public vessels received a general com- 
 mission to "capture all those which should attempt to lend assist- 
 ance to the enemy, in any mode whatever." It is singular to 
 observe the manner in which congress, previous to the declaration 
 of independence, while adopting every measure of open hostility, 
 8till aimed at a nominal distinction between rebellion against the 
 British government and the resistance of illegal demands — still pro- 
 fessing loyalty to the king, but denouncing bis civil and military 
 officials in the colonies as public enemies. 
 
 In the autumn of 1775, a plan was consummated for the invasion 
 of Canada. It was supposed that the French inhabitants of ihnt 
 province would rejoice at un opportunity for successful resistance tv 
 an autliority always galling to their national pride, and recently 
 rendered more odious by the arbitrary provisions of the "Quebec 
 act." The regular force at this time stationed in Canada was very 
 small, and the opportunity seemed f)eculiarly favourable for a bold 
 and unexpected ofTensive demonstration. Information had also 
 been received by congress, that, with the opening of spring, the 
 
THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 259 
 
 British government "was to make a grand effort in this province; 
 that numerous forces, arms, and munitions, would be poured into it, 
 in order to attack the colonies in the back: an operation which, if 
 not seasonably prevented, might have fatal consequences." 
 
 A detachment of three thousand men, from New York and New 
 England, under command of General Schuyler, was ordered to pen 
 etrate Canada by the route of Lake Champlain, passing down the 
 Sorel to the St. Lawrence. Brigadier-Generals Montgomery and 
 Wooster held subordinate commands; but, upon the detention of 
 Schuyler at Albany, by sickness, the direction of the expedition 
 devolved upon the former. 
 
 General Carletoo, governor of Canada, receiving intimation of the 
 approach of the enemy, endeavoured to secure the entrance of the 
 Sorel, by dispatching thither several armed vessels; but the Ameri- 
 cans were in advance of the movement. Montgomery entered the 
 river, and, landing his forces, laid siege to Fort St. John, which 
 commanded the passage, and was garrisoned by a considerable force. 
 Advance parties were sent, by land, into the neighbouring Canadian 
 districts, to circulate a proclamation of the Americans, setting forth 
 the object of the invasion, and calling upon the inhabitants to join 
 in driving the British garrisons from the country. 
 
 Many, accordingly, enlisted, and the scouting parties were gener- 
 ally received with kindness and hospitality. Arms and provisions 
 were also furnished by the Canadians. Colonel Ethan Allen and 
 Major Brown, in command of one of these advanced detachments, 
 undertook the bold enterprise of an assault upon Montreal. Brown 
 was unable to pass the river in time to cooperate with Allen, and the 
 latter, at the head of a very small party, was overpowered by a 
 superior force, under command of Governor Carleton. He was sent 
 to England in irons. 
 
 Carleton next endeavoured to relieve Fort St. John, but, on his 
 way thither, he met with so warm a reception from troops posted 
 upon the river-bank, that a retreat was ordered. The fort surren- 
 dered on the 3d of November. A number of pieces of artillery fell 
 into the hands of the Americans, and a considerable supply of 
 shells and balls, but the provisions and powder of the garrison were 
 nearly spent. 
 
 Upon the approach of the invading forces, Carleton fled from Mon- 
 treal, which was untenable against a superior force, and Montgomery 
 entered the city, without opposition, on the ISth. He took great 
 
 - }^ 
 
 
 b :**.'»' 
 
 
2i]a 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0BT. 
 
 pains to conciliate the inhabitants, and succeeded in raising a body 
 of volunteers to supply, in some measure, the diminution of his 
 forces, by the return home of those whose term of service had ex- 
 pired. A necessary supply of warm clothing was also procured to 
 protect the troops from the severity of the approaching winter. The 
 establishment of garrisons at the captured posts, together with the 
 defection alluded to, had reduced the eflfective force of the invaders 
 to about three hundred men; but, with this handful of troops, Mont- 
 gomery commenced his march towards Quebec, exposed to the rigours 
 of a Canadian winter. 
 
 CTT A p T T? T) V 
 XX i£o> XT X Jj Xi tAi . 
 
 AENOLD'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC: PASSAGE OF T.1S 
 WILDEENESS; FAILUEE OP PROVISIONS: DEFECTION OF ENOS, 
 WITH HIS COMMAND: AERIVAL AT THE CANADIAN SET- 
 TLEMENTS: PEOCLAMATIONS: ABNOLD AT THE HEIGHTS 
 OF ABRAHAM: UNION WITH MONTQOMERT; ATTACK 
 ON QUEBEC: DEATH OF MONTGOMERT: MORGAN'S 
 EIFLE CORPS. AMSEICAN FOfiCES DRAWN OFF. 
 
 In accordance with the plan of the campaign, while Montgomery 
 seized upon Montreal, Quebec was to be attacked from a most unex- 
 pected quarter. Fourteen companies, amounting to about eleven 
 hundred men, were put under command of Colonel Arnold, in the 
 month of September, with instructions to force a passage through 
 the wilderness, by proceeding up the Kennebec river, in Maine, 
 thence across the mountains to the head waters of the Chaudiere, and 
 down that stream to its entry into the St. Lawrence, near Quebec. 
 
 To estimate the difficulties of such an undertaking, it must be 
 considered that the whole route lay through an uninhabited country; 
 that every natural obstacle of a rough, uncultivated region, must be 
 overcome ; that no provisions could be procured on the way ; and 
 that all supplies, arms, and camp furniture, must be transported by 
 hand around the portages, or unnavigable places on the rivers, and 
 over the highlands to be passed before reaching the Chaudiere. 
 
 As the detachment approached the sources of the Kennebec, the 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 261 
 
 supply of provisions was nearly exhausted. The soldiers, woin out 
 by exposure, hardship, and toil, and compelled to resort to crude 
 and unnatural aliment, suffered much from sickness. Colonel Enos, 
 being in command of one division of the army, was ordered to select 
 the sick and unserviceable, who were to be sent back to Boston. 
 This officer accordingly withdrew his entire command — a species of 
 desertion, which was afterwards excused upon a trial by court-mar- 
 tial, on the ground that provision for the sustenance of the whole 
 body could not by possibility have been procured. 
 
 Before reaching the Chaudiere, the scant remains ox food were 
 divided among the soldiers, and, at a distance of thirty miles from 
 any settlement, the whole store was exhausted. A small scouting 
 party, led by Arnold in person, succeeded in procuring a sufficient 
 quantity of provision to recruit the strength of their companions, 
 and enable them to continue their march. Upon reaching the Can- 
 adian settlements, after more than a month spent in the wilderness, 
 Arnold issued proclamations, drawn up by the commander-in-chief 
 of the American army, disclaiming all hostile intent towards the 
 people of Canada, and exhorting them to join as brothers in a cause 
 of common interest. 
 
 The Americans were hospitably received and entertained; and, 
 pursuing their march, they arrived, on the 9th of November, at 
 Point Levy, nearly opposite the Canadian capital, on the right bank 
 of the St. Lawrence. Unfortunately for the success of the expedi- 
 tion, no boats could be procured for the transportation of the army 
 across the river. 
 
 "It is easy to imagine the stupor of surprise which seized the 
 inhabitants of Quebe ) '. the apparition of these troops. They could 
 not comprehend by wl at way, or in what mode, they had 'trans- 
 ported themselves into this region. This enterprise appeared to 
 them not merely marvellous, but miraculous; and if Arnold, in this 
 first moment, had been able to cross the river, and fall upon Quebec, 
 he would have taken it without difficulty."* 
 
 Opportunity was given, by the delay thus occasioned, for strength- 
 ening the defences, and for organizing the citizen-soldiery. On the 
 night of the 13th of November, Arnold crossed the river, and ascended 
 the heights at the spot memorable as the scene of the decisive en- 
 gagement between the French and English in the late war. The 
 American general had hoped to come upon the city by surprise, but 
 
 • Otia' Botta. 
 
 iiii 
 
 nw- 
 
202 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 he ascertained, upon a nearer approach, that the garrison was under 
 arms and on the alert His own ardent feelings impelled him to an 
 immediate assault, but he abandoned the rash design upon consid* 
 eration of the unserviceable condition of the arms of his troops, and 
 their very scanty stock of ammunition. He drew off his forces, and 
 retired to Point au Tremble, twenty miles from the city, there to 
 await the arrival of Montgomery. 
 
 The two detachments met on the Ist of December. United, they 
 formed a body of less than one thousand men, but with these the 
 commanding officer determined to attack the capital. Carleton bad, 
 in the mean time, made his way to the anticipated scene of conflict, 
 and so disposed his available force of regulars and of the provincial 
 militia, as to constitute an adequate garrison. Arriving at Quebec, 
 on the 5th, Montgomery summoned the city to surrender, but the 
 demand was treated with contempt, and the bearer of the flag was 
 fired upon. For several days, the genera? then attempted to produce 
 an impression by playing upon the city with a few pieces of artillery, 
 planted behind an embankment of ice. 
 
 The weather now became intensely cold, and frequent and heavy 
 falls of snow added to the discomfort and suffering of the invaders. 
 The small-pox, moreover, broke out among them, and spread, in 
 spite of all practicable precautions. Every day the chances of suc- 
 cess were diminishing, and it was decided to assault the city without 
 further delay. The little army, in two divisions, led by Montgom- 
 ery and Arnold, made the attack before day-light, on the Slst of 
 Decem'ber. The garrison had obtained intimation of the design, and 
 preparations were completed for the reception of the enemy. Mont- 
 gomery was killed, at the first discharge of artillery, and his division 
 fell back. Arnold entered the city from the opposite quarter, march- 
 ing at the head of his troops. Upon approaching a barricade, de- 
 fended by two pieces of artillery, he received a severe wound in the 
 leg from a musket-ball, which entirely disabled him. The barricade 
 was forced by the exertions of the mtrepid and active Morgan, com- 
 mander of the rifle corps; but further defences appeared, well 
 guarded. A heavy fire, opened upon their front and rear, compelled 
 the little band of assailants to disperse, and seek shelter in the build- 
 ings. Some three hundred of them fell into the hands of the enemy. 
 The remainder of the army of invasion was drawn off, and encamped 
 a few miles from the city. 
 
THE AMEBIOAN BEVOLUTION. 268 
 
 WARLIKB PREPARATIONS IN ENGLAND. — OERHAN USRCINA- 
 RIE8. — PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS: ENLISTMENTS: ISSUE OF 
 BILLS: DEFENCES IN NEW YORK. — CONDITION OF THE BRIT- 
 ISH IN BOSTON. — OCCUPATION OF DORCHESTER HEIGHTS. 
 — EVACUATION OF THE CITY. — HOPKINS' CRUISE 
 AMONG THE BAHAMAS. — AFFAIRS AT THE SOUTH. 
 — ATTACK UPON CHARLESTON. — RETREAT OF 
 TUB AMBBIOAN TROOPS FROM CANADA. 
 
 The state of feeling in England at the aspect of American affairs, 
 in the autumn of 1775, was one of mingled mortification, at the bold 
 position taken and maintained by the colonies, and discontent with a 
 ministry which had "done too much to irritate, too little to subdue." 
 Believing that the time for the adoption of conciliatory policy had 
 passed, the government treated the late petition of congress with 
 contempt, and hastened forward measures for increasing the regular 
 force in America. Enlistments were encouraged throughout the 
 United Kingdom, and, by arrangement with the German princes, 
 seventeen thousand mercenaries were engaged to serve in America. 
 The whole force expected to be raised, including those enlisted in 
 Canada, was, numerically, over fifty thousand. 
 
 The colonies were proclaimed as being in a state of rebellion; 
 intercourse with them was forbidden, and the effects of the inhabit- 
 ants were declared liable to seizure. In the case of vessels captured 
 under this act, an infamous provision was added, by which the Amer- 
 ican crews were made liable to impressment and compulsory service 
 on board British armed vessels. Notwithstanding a vehement and 
 eloquent opposition, these measures were sanctioned by a large ma- 
 jority in parliament The chief command of the army in America 
 was conferred upon General Howe, in place of Gage, who had been 
 recalled. The brother of the former. Admiral Lord Howe, com- 
 manded the fleet destined to cooperate with the land forces against 
 the rebellious colonies. 
 
 The continental congress, meanwhile, had not been idle. The 
 most important proceedings related to the details of enlisting regular 
 forces, by apportionment among the provinces. Great numbers of 
 the troops stationed before Boston, unaccustomed to the hardships 
 
 !■: 
 
■ 26-1 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 and tedium of militnry life, hnd become completely diaheftrtened; 
 and, upon expiration of the short term of their cnliHtnient, refused to 
 continue longer with the army upon any promi«e8, or any repro 
 sentations of necessity. To meet the increasing expenses of tho 
 V .ir, an additional issue of three millions in bills of credit was re* 
 solved upon, redeemable, like the former, by instalments, payments 
 to commence at the expiration of eight years. 
 
 Precautions were also taken, at the opening of tho year 1776, for 
 the defence of the city of New York, where tho number and influ- 
 ence of the tories rendered dependence upon tho local militin un- 
 safe. Troops from New Jersey and Connecticut were introduced 
 into the city, and the command was bestowed upon General Lee. 
 Many acts of violence were committed at this time upon the persons 
 and property of adherents to the royal cause. 
 
 At Boston, the British garrison suffered much hardship through- 
 out the winter, from deficiency of fuel and provision. Many English 
 vessels, freighted with stores, were taken by tho colonial privateors, 
 and others wore lost on the coast. The army, encompassed by a 
 superior force, was entirely unable to carry on any offensive opera- 
 tions against the enemy. As spring approached, it appeared neces- 
 sary, to congress and to the officers of tho continental army, that a 
 decisive blow should bo struck in this quarter, that the besiegiu" 
 forces might bo free to act wherever occasion should require. 
 
 The heights of Dorchester commanded the city and harbour from 
 the southward, and the attention of tho commander-in-chief was 
 directed to the occupation of that important position. On the night 
 of March 4th, 1776, a force of about two thousand, men well pro- 
 vided with carta of fascines, &c., and all necessary working imple- 
 menta, was dispatched upon this service. A cannonade was kept 
 up from batteries sufficiently near to throw shells into the city; ami, 
 favoured by the darkness of tho night and tho direction of the wind, 
 the troops accomplished the important movement without discovery 
 or suspicion. By day-light, when tho British garrison first had inti- 
 mation of the proceeding, substantial works had been already erected, 
 and the business of intrenchment and fortification was going on with 
 uninterrupted ardour. 
 
 A storm opportunely prevented the British general from crossing 
 with his forces to attack tho redoubt, and the delay thus incurred 
 gave sufficient time for completing the intrenchments, and making 
 oil needful preparations for defence, and for a bombardment of the 
 
THE AMKHIOAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 200 
 
 city. ITowe saw that his position was untenable, and avowed his 
 detonni nation to evacuate the city quietly, if undisturbed in his 
 retreat. Some of the principal inhabitants of Boston waited upon 
 General Washington, with representations of the condition of the 
 city, and requests that lie would comply with this proposal. His 
 assent was obtained, and the whole British army, crowded on board 
 of ships and transports which lay in the harbour, was allowed to set 
 sail unmolested. The place of their destination was unknown to the 
 Americans, and it was feared that a descent would be made upon 
 some other portion of the coast. Fifteen hundred of the inhabitants 
 of the city, who, having openly taken part with the loyalists, feared 
 to remain after tlie evacuation, embarked with the British troops, 
 leaving their property subject to seizure and confiscation. 
 
 The fleet sailed for Halifax, the condition of the troops being 
 entirely incompatible with any immediate hostile demonstration. 
 Washington entered the city with his army, on the 27tli of March, 
 and was received with great enthusiasm and rejoicing. The em- 
 barkation of the British troops had occupied nearly a fortnight, 
 during which period, the inhabitants had suffered considerable injury 
 from the depredations of the more lawless and disorderly, who wan- 
 tonly destroyed great quantities of provisions, &c. The British 
 artillery and munitions of war were abandoned to the Americans, 
 whether by private agreement, as a condition upon which a peace- 
 able evacuation was permitted, or because of insufficient means of 
 transportation, does not distinctly appear. Two hundred and fifly 
 pieces of artillery — mostly spiked — were secured at Boston and the 
 neighbouring fortifications. 
 
 Ere this period, congress had commenced operations at sea. Two 
 frigates, three corvettes, anil a number of gun-sloops were fitted out 
 and manned. With eight of these vessels, Commodore Hopkins 
 sailed upon a cruise among the Bahamas, in the month of February. 
 The special object was the seizure of munitions of war known to be 
 stored there. At New Providence a seasonable supply of gun-pow- 
 der, to the amount of one hundred and fifty kegs, was secured. 
 
 The southern colonies, meanwhile, were not exempt from the 
 calamities of war. The coasts of Virginia were harassed by a force 
 under Lord Dunmore, the former governor, who, at the commence- 
 ment of the year, made an attack upon the thriving town of Norfolk. 
 A portion of the place was burned by the attacking party, and the 
 remainder was fired by its defenders when no longer tenable. In 
 
 li 
 
 I- 
 
 i'i 
 
266 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 North Carolina severe contests took place, in the month of February, 
 between the provincials and loyalists. 
 
 It was supposed in England that if a strong force were once landed 
 in the southern colonies, those of the inhabitants who favoured the 
 royal cause would hasten to join it, and that a permanent stand 
 might be effected in that quarter. In North Carolina, the tory inter- 
 est was known to have many adherents. A considerable fleet, with 
 more than two thousand soldiers on board, was, therefore, sent, under 
 command of Sir Peter Parker, to seize upon the more important 
 sea-ports. The squadron was joined by Sir Henry Clinton, who 
 took command of the land forces: the city of Charleston was selected 
 as the first point of attack. 
 
 Timely notice of these preparations had been obtained by the 
 Americans, and a fort was erected on Sullivan's island to protect 
 the harbour. General Lee was entrusted with the principal com- 
 mand. On the 28th of June, the British fleet entered the harbour, 
 and commenced bombarding the fort. A small regiment, under 
 Colonel Moultrie, was stationed at that important post. The fire 
 was returned with great effect, and the plans of the admiral being 
 thwarted by the grounding of several of his vessels, the attempt was 
 abandoned. No landing was effected, and the fleet set sail for New 
 York, the appointed rendezvous for the reinforcements ordered from 
 England and the German states. 
 
 Every thing had been prepared at the city of Charleston to give 
 the invaders a warm reception. Great numbers of the militia had 
 been called in to increase the garrison, and such measures were Uiken 
 for the defence of the place as time and opportunity permitted. 
 The enemy's loss, during the cannonade, could not have been much 
 less than two hundred ; that of the garrison at the fort was very trifling. 
 
 In Canada, the American forces effected nothing. Reinforcements 
 were repeatedly sent out to the camp, but when British forces began 
 to pour into the country, the troops, after several disastrous attempts 
 to retrieve their fortune, were drawn off, and retreated homeward 
 by Lake Champlain. The loss of several valuable officers, of a great' 
 number of men, and a great expenditure of money — not continental 
 bills, but herd cash — were the only results of the Canadian expedi- 
 tion, concerning which such sanguine expectations had been formed. 
 The remnant of the army of invasion returned in miserable plight, 
 nearly destitute, and, worse than all, utterly discouraged and 
 dispirited. 
 
THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 267 
 
 SIATE OF FEELING IN THE COLONIES. — PAINE'8 WRITINGS. 
 — DEBATES IN CONGRESS. — THE DECLARATION OF INDE- 
 PENDENCE: ITS EFFECT UPON THE PEOPLE. — THE 
 BRITISH AT STATEN ISLAND. — PROCLAMATION 
 OF GENERAL AND OF ADMIRAL HOWE. 
 
 The formation of independent systems of government in the sep- 
 arate colonies, familiarized the minds of the American people with 
 the idea of a permanent disconnection with the British government. 
 "While the thought of state sovereignty was flattering to the pride 
 of the provincials, it was evident that, without some established 
 political connection, no great national object could be obtained. 
 Long before the revolution, it is said that the chiefs and orators of 
 the Iroquois, or Six Nations, advised the adoption, by the colonies, 
 of a federal union similar to their own, proving, from their individ- 
 ual experience, the practicability of union for all purposes of common 
 interest, without infringement of the rights of each distinct tribe. 
 
 In the winter of 1776, a work, entitled " Common Sense" written 
 by Thomas Paine, an Englishman, residing in Pennsylvania, made 
 its appearance. By shrewd reasoning, logical argument, and popu- 
 lar declamation, the author endeavoured to establish the practica- 
 bility, and even necessity, of American independence, at the same 
 time that he excited the feelings of the people, by a vivid represent- 
 ation of the disgrace and misery that must follow close upon submis- 
 sion to England. The book was extensively circulated, and exercised, 
 beyond question, a most powerful influence. 
 
 The late action of |>arlian\ent, in tlie employment of Hessian mer- 
 cenaries to serve in America, and the enlistment of the Indian border 
 tribes in favour of the royal cause, produced a storm of po|tular 
 indignation. The petition of congress iiad been spurned with dis- 
 dain; no measures but tliose of force had met with favour in 
 England; and it was now plain that nothing was left to the colo?iies 
 but an open declaration to the world of their determination to sunder 
 forever all ti«*8 with a government whose protection had only been 
 extended for selfish t-nds. 
 
 "At this epoch," says an early writer, "America was found in a 
 
 
 '<ii 
 
 
 i."^ 
 
 vm\ 
 
 — , -,,J<', 
 
208 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOKY. 
 
 n 
 
 strange situation, and actually unheard of till then. The war olt 
 had carried on with so much vigour, now, for more than a year, wa? 
 directed against a king to whom she incessantly renewed her pro- 
 testations of obedience; and the same men who committed all the 
 nets of rebellion, would by no means be called rebels. In all the 
 tribunals justice was still administered in the name of the king; 
 and in the churches prayers were continually repeated for the pre- 
 servation and happiness of that prince, whose authority was not only 
 entirely rejected, but also fought against with incredible obstinacy." 
 
 The first step taken by congress in furtherance of the popular 
 cause, was a recommendation to such of the colonies as had not 
 already adopted a provisional, independent, civil government, to 
 proceed to the establishment of "such governments as, according to 
 the opinion of the representatives of the people, should be most 
 conducive to the happiness of their constituents, and of America in 
 general." This proposal was generally acted upon, and, in many 
 instances, the congressional delegates were formally invested by the 
 colonial assemblies with power to act upon the anticipated question. 
 
 A motion in favour of American independence was made in con- 
 gress on the 7th of June, and, on the following day, was debated 
 with great ability and eloquence. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, 
 who advocated the motion, and John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, 
 who argued in opposition, were the principal speakers. The decision 
 of the question was postponed until July, that full opportunity 
 might be given to the members to receive instructions from their 
 constituents. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1776, that memorable instrument, known ns 
 the "Declaration of Independence," was signed by delegates from 
 the thirteen original colonies, thenceforth the United States of 
 America. It was understood to have been principally drawn up bv 
 Thomas Jefferson, who, with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
 Roger Sherman, and Philip Livingston, had been appointed to pre- 
 pare it, previous to the late adjournment. 
 
 The preamble commences: "When in the course of human 
 events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political 
 bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, 
 among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
 which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent 
 regard to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare 
 the causes which impel them to the separation." Then follow a 
 
THE AMEKICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 269 
 
 ll 
 
 declaration of rights, natural and political, a forcible recapitulation 
 of wrongs inflicted by the British government, with a reference to 
 the neglect or contempt with which all petitions for redress had 
 be<?n received, and, in conclusion, it is boldly asserted, "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 connexion between them and the State 
 of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." The sense 
 of personal responsibility felt by the fifty-five members who signed 
 the document, is expressed in the closing words: "And, for the 
 support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of 
 Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our 
 fortunes, and our sacred honour." 
 
 In all the principal cities, the intelligence of this act of congress 
 was received with the most extravagant expressions of joy. The 
 exultation of the army was boundless, and the populace, mad 
 with excitement, celebrated the event with noisy demonstrations. 
 Royal statues and insignia were every where thrown down and 
 destroyed. At New York, an image of George III., formed, by a 
 felicitous propriety, of lead, was converted into musket-balls. The 
 condition of all acknowledged or suspected tories was lamentable, 
 and to correct and moderate the excesses committed upon this class 
 of inhabitants, congress took the matter in hand, instituting commit- 
 tees to exert a constraining power over those who were suspected 
 of favouring the enemy. " The most obnoxious tories had already 
 emigrated; and, for the present, the new governments contented 
 themselves with admonitions, fines, recognizances to keep the peace, 
 and prohibitions to go beyond certain limits."* 
 
 The recommencement of hostilities was followed by a long suc- 
 cession of most disheartening reverses. The British forces had 
 already effected a landing upon Staten Island, where they encamped 
 and opened communications with the loyalists in the adjoining prov- 
 inces. Strengthened by arrivals from England, and by the return 
 northward of the troops embarked under Sir Peter Parker, for the 
 southern expedition, to a force of more than twenty thousand men. 
 General Howe prepared for a descent upon New York. An attempt 
 to open negotiations with congress, and with the commander-in-chief 
 of the American army, had previously failed, from the refusal of the 
 British officials to treat otherwise than as with private individuals. 
 
 •Hildreth. 
 
 ..A. 
 
 
270 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 The result of an interview, afterwards brought about, between Gen- 
 eral and Admiral Howe, and deputies commissioned by congress, 
 was only to convince the former that no terms would bo listened to 
 which they were empowered to grant " , 
 
 The two brothers Howe were commissioned by the king to graht 
 discretionary pardon to all in the colonies who would consent to 
 renew their allegiance. Proclamations were issued in accordance 
 with this commission, calling upon all loyal subjects to separate 
 themselves from the rebels, and representing to the malcontents the 
 desperate condition to which further resistance must reduce them, 
 while, on the other hand, submission would ensure present safety, 
 and the royal promise for a future redress of all grievances. 
 
 CTTAPTVT^ TTTT 
 
 1 
 
 LANDING or THB BRITISH ON LONG ISLAND. — BATTLI 01 
 BROOKLTN. — THB AMBRICAN PORCBS DRITBN FROK LONG 
 ISLAND. — OCCOPATION OP NBW YORK BY THB BRITISH. 
 — WASHINGTON'S ENCAMPMBNT AT HARLBH HBIQHT8: 
 AT WHITE PLAINS. — STORMING OF PORT WASHING- 
 ION. — THE RETREAT THROUGH NBW JERSEY. — 
 CAPTURE OP GENERAL LBB. — CONDITION OP 
 PRISONERS. — LAKE OHAHPLAIN: DESTRUC- 
 TION OP THE AMERICAN TBSSELS. — GEN- 
 EROSITY OF CARLBTON. — RHODE ISLAND 
 SEIZED BY THB BRITISH. 
 
 Anvicipatixg an attack by way of Long Island, Qeneral Wash- 
 ington posted a force of about nine thousand men, under General 
 Putnam, at Bnwklyn. The approach to the American camp from 
 the point where the British were expected to land, was by four 
 roads, two leading over the intervening hills, and the others, lesfl 
 direct, deviating in opposite directions, one along the western shore, 
 the other eastward. These avenues, owing to some misapprehension 
 or bad management, were insufiiciently guarded. 
 
 The British having landed on the 22d of August (1776), com- 
 menced their march towards Brooklyn, on the night of the 26th. 
 Upon the first iiittlligeiice of their approach, two divisions of the 
 
' i-iu.. 
 
THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 
 
 271 
 
 American army, under Sullivan and Stirling, were dispatched to 
 repel the advance over the hills and by the western road. The 
 opposing forces were already engaged, when the Americans were 
 thrown into confusion by an attack in the rear — Clinton, with the 
 most efficient portion of his troops, having made a detour for that 
 purpose, by the unguarded eastern approach. Stirling's division, 
 by hard fighting, mostly regained the camp, but that of Sullivan 
 was destroyed or compelled to surrender. Both these generals were 
 made prisoners, together with not far from one thousand of their 
 men. A heavy loss was also sustained in killed and wounded. 
 
 On the night of the 29th, the American troops effected a retreat 
 across the East river, to New York, leaving the enemy in possession 
 of Long Island. The main force of the continentals was now en- 
 camped at the heights of Harlem, or within the city of New York. 
 The British had control of the surrounding waters, the defences 
 erected upon the Hudson having proved insufficient to prevent a 
 passage up the river. Under protection of a heavy fire from the 
 shipping, a landing upon the island was effected by General Howe 
 on the 15th of September. The troops drawn up in opposition, fled 
 in the most cowardly manner, and an evacuation of the city was 
 rendered absolutely necessary. The Americans sustained severe 
 loss in artillery and stores, which, upon their hasty retreat, were 
 abandoned to the enemy. 
 
 Washington's forces, securely posted upon the heights of Harlem, 
 awaited the movements of the British. The latter kept possession 
 of the North river, and made advances down the northern shore of 
 £he Sound. It became necessary to occupy a position further north, 
 to avoid being cut off from supplies, and a new camp was formed, 
 accordingly, at White Plains. The enemy gained a further advan- 
 tage in a partial engagement on the 28th of October, in which a 
 detachment of between one and two thousand Americans was driven 
 from its position near the main camp, with great loss. 
 
 Forts Washington and Lee, which were intended to command the 
 passage of the Hudson, being situated upon opposite banks of the 
 river, a few miles above New York, were the next objects of attack. 
 They had been strongly garrisoned, when the main body of the 
 American army moved northward. The first of these was taken 
 by storm, not without severe loss on the part of the assailants, 
 and two thousand prisoners were secured. Fort Lee was soon 
 after hastily evacuated; the artillery of both strongholds, lo- 
 VoL. IV.— 46 
 
 \r 
 
272 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 geiher with a great amount of valuable stores, was lost to the 
 Americans. 
 
 This was in the middle of November: the continental army 
 reduced by {hese losses, by desertion, and by the expiration of the 
 terms of enlistment, to between three and four thousand men, was 
 driven from post to post in New Jersey. Slowly retiring before a 
 greatly superior force, Waabington occupied in succession the towns 
 of Newark, Brunswick, Princeton, Sterling, and Trenton. Hia 
 troops, disheartened by defeat, and worn out by marching and ex- 
 posure, were in a condition of miserable destitution, while the pur- 
 suers were well supplied with the necessaries and conveniences of a 
 campaign. 
 
 Lord Cornwallis, with an overwhelming force, continued to press 
 upon the retreating army, and, on the 2d of December, Washington 
 transported his troops across the Delaware, taking the usual precau- 
 tions to arrest the progress of the pursuers by the destruction of 
 bridges and the removal of boats. The British took possession of 
 Trenton and the adjoining country, but neglected to push their 
 advantage by an immediate passage of the river. 
 
 Washington, anxious to recruit hia forces, had issued orders to 
 other divisions of the army to join him with all expedition. General 
 Lee, from a spirit of insubordination or self-sufficiency, was dilatory 
 in obeying the order. Avoiding the British army, by a detour, 
 he occupied the highlands at the westward, apparently in hopes of 
 effecting some bold manoeuvre on his own account. Exposing him- 
 self carelessly, with an insufficient guard, he was betrayed by tories, 
 and fell into the hands of the enemy. The refusal of the British 
 authorities to consider him a prisoner of war, on the ground that, 
 having been an officer in the English service, he was only to be 
 looked upon as a traitor, led to retaliation upon prisoners in the 
 hands of the Americans. Exchanges were impeded, and a sense of 
 mutual injury led to lamentable results. 
 
 Of the American prisoners in New York, it is said that, "they 
 were shut up in churches, and in other places, exposed to all the 
 inclemencies of the air. They were not allowed sufficient nourish- 
 ment; their fare was scanted, even of coarse bread, and certain ali- 
 ments which excited disgust. The sick were confined with the 
 healthy, both equally a prey to the most shocking defect of cleanli- 
 ness. * * A confined and impure air engendered mortal diseases; 
 mure than fifteen hundred of these unfortunate men perished in a 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 273 
 
 few weeks." Lee was afterwards exchanged for General Prescott, 
 who was surprised and captured at his quarters, on Bhode Island, 
 by a small party of Americans. 
 
 During the autumn of 1776, and the early portion of the ensuing 
 winter, fortune seemed to frown upon the American cause in every 
 quarter. At the north, the possession of Lake Champlain was an 
 object of eager contention. Both parties busied themselves in the 
 construction of vessels, for which the British, under Carleton, had 
 far greater facilities than the Americans. The little squadron of the 
 latter, commanded by Arnold, was defeated on the 6th and 7th of 
 October. One of the vessels was taken, and the others were de- 
 stroyed, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. The 
 Americans, however, still held Port Ticonderoga. 
 
 The British, having possession of the lake, made no further attempt 
 upon the American fortifications, but mostly retired to Montreal, a 
 garrison being left at Isle au Noix. It is pleasing to revert to acts 
 of kindness and generosity in the midst of scenes calculated to arouse 
 every bad passion in the minds of men. Such are recorded of 
 Carleton, of whom it is said, that "prior to his retreat, from the 
 singular courtesy and humanity of his character, he sent to their 
 homes the American officers who had fallen into his power, adminis- 
 tering generously to all their wants. He exercised the same humanity 
 towards the common soldiers. The greater part were almost naked: 
 he caused them to be completely clothed, and set them at liberty, 
 after having taken their oath that they would not serve against the 
 armies of the king." — {Botta.) 
 
 Early in December, the British secured another important position 
 in New England. A fleet, under Sir Peter Parker, with large forces 
 of English and Hessians, commanded by General Clinton, entered 
 Narragansett Bay. The island of Rhode Island, with those of Con- 
 anicut and Prudence, were occupied without resistance; the ex- 
 cellent harbour of Newport afforded admirable facilities for future 
 operations by sea; and, as the entrance to the bay was commanded, 
 the American squadron, under Commodore Hopkins, together with 
 a number of private armed vessels, was prevented from putting to 
 sea, and rendered, for the time, useless. 
 
 So dark were the prospects of the patriots, at this crisis, that many 
 among the most sanguine were discouraged ; and, of the wavering, 
 and of those who, at heart, favoured the royal cause, great numbers 
 availed themselves of the oflfers proclaimed by the Howes, by ao 
 
274 
 
 TI1« TKOPLE'S BOOK OF BISTOBY. 
 
 knowledging allegiance to the king, and the acceptance of a Britiah 
 protection. Allen and Galloway, former members of the continental 
 congress, from Pennsylvania, were among the number of those who 
 thus avowed their disapproval of the revolution, or their distrust in 
 the ability of its advocates to carry out the great design. 
 
 CITADTTTD 'W'T'tr 
 IlilrXJliM AXV. 
 
 00NORB8S AT BALTIMORE. — ARMY ORGANIZATION. — POWER! 
 CONFERRED UPON WASHINGTON. — PASSAGE OP THE DELA- 
 WARE, AND RECOVERY OP TRENTON. BATTLE OP PRINCE- 
 TON. — END OF THE CAMPAIGN. — MARAUDING PARTIES 
 — NEGOTIATION WITH EUROPEAN POWERS. — FOR- 
 EIGN 0F.PICER3 IN THE AMERICAN SSRTICB. 
 
 CoNGRKSS, being in session at Philadelphia when the continental 
 army was driven across the Delaware, found itself in too dangerous 
 proximity to the British army, and an adjournment to Baltimore 
 speedily followed the establishment of the latter at Trenton. The 
 details of military org.inization necessarily occupied altnost the un- 
 divided attention of this body. The straits to which the continental 
 army was reduced, by the diminution of its numbers, consequent 
 upon the expiration of terms of enlistment, rendered the establish- 
 ment of a more permanent force a matter of pressing necessity. 
 This measure had, all along, been vehemently urged by Washington, 
 who had fully experienced the difficulty of preserving discipline in 
 an army whose materials were subject to constant change. Pro- 
 vision, therefore, was made for the enlistment, by apportionment 
 among the provinces, of troo{)S to serve during the war, or for a 
 period of three years. The first, in addition to a present bounty 
 in money, were to receive each one hundred acres of public land 
 on retiring from service. 
 
 Absolute discretionary powers were, at the same time, bestowed 
 upon the commander-in-chief, for the six months succeeding, "to call 
 into service the militia of the several states; to form such magazines 
 of provisions, and in such places as he should think proper; to dis- 
 place and appoint all officers under the rank of brigadier-general, 
 
T^E AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 275 
 
 and to fill up all vacancies in every other department in the Amer- 
 ican armies; to take, wherever he might be, whatever he might 
 want for the use of the army, if the inhabitants would not sell it, 
 allowing a reasonable price for the same; to arrest and confine per- 
 sons who refused to take the continental currency, or were otherwise 
 disaffected to the American cause; returning to the states of which 
 they were citizens their names and the nature of their offences, with 
 the proofs to substantiate them." Very large additional issues of 
 paper money had been made during the session, and the most 
 stringent regulations soon followed to enforce its receipt 
 
 Never were the powers of a dictator more worthily bestowed than 
 in this instance. General Washington exhibited, in the melancholy 
 state of affairs consequent upon the capture of New York, an energy 
 corresponding to the requirements of his position. The army had 
 been reinforced by the arrival of Lee's division, under Sullivan, and 
 by the militia from the adjoining counties. Thus strengthened, he 
 determined to enter at once upon offensive operations. 
 
 The enemy's force being widely extended along the left bank of 
 the Delaware, a division of fifteen hundred men, mostly Hessians, 
 under Ralle, constituted the entire army of occupation at Trenton. 
 On the night of December 25th, Washington crossed the river, with 
 twenty-five hundred men, nine miles above the city. The cold was 
 severe, and the stream being blocked with floating ice, nearly the 
 whole night was consumed in the business of transportation. 
 
 At four o'clock, on the following morning, the army was put in 
 motion, in two divisions — one following the river, the other proceed- 
 ing by the Pennington road, further to the left. Although it proved 
 impracticable, from the state of the roads, and the difficulty of a 
 night march — rendered doubly arduous by an inclement wintry 
 storm — to arrive before day, the surprise was no less complete. 
 The Hessians were overpowered, and driven in on all sides; their 
 retreat was cut off in the direction of Princeton ; their commander 
 was slain; and two-thirds of the whole force surrendered at discre- 
 tion. The remainder escaped by the Bordentown road. THe Amer- 
 cans recrossed the river, with their prisoners, having sustained but 
 a trifling loss — only about ten, in killed and wounded. 
 
 A few days subsequent, Washington having again occupied Tren- 
 ton, a powerful army, under Cornwallis, approached the town from 
 the direction of Princeton. One-half of the American forces were 
 undisciplined militia, and all were ill prepared for the hardships of a 
 
276 
 
 TUK l'KUFLK'8 BUU K OV 11I8T0KY. 
 
 winter campaign. A general engagement would have been hazard* 
 ''US in the extreme, and, at a council of the American officers, it 
 W^ concluded to make an a^Uunpt at turning the cuoniies' flank. 
 FrccuQtions were taken to leave the iniprosHion that active prepara* 
 tions were in procei» fur intrencLincnt, while the main army (on the 
 night of January 2d, 1777,) silently defiled upon the AUeutuwn 
 road, towards Princeton. 
 
 At the latter place, three British regiments, lefl in the rear by 
 Cornwallis, were encountered. One of these, after w>me hard fight- 
 ing, pushed on towards Trenton: the other two ?ia.ia^ sustained 
 considerable loss, retreated to Brunswick. 3o.iir, larr hundred 
 prisoners wore taken by the Americans. ' 
 
 The British, at Trenton, deceived by ;iio conti..' ; ;ice through the 
 night of the patrol within the Amerior i ' es, und by the camp-fires, 
 which had been replenished before the march commenced, had no 
 intimation of the state of affairs until they heard khe sound of artil- 
 lery in their rear. Cornwa'.lis immediately marched for Brunswick 
 to protect his military stores at that place, and Washington, still 
 anxious to avoid a general engagement, moved towards Morristuwn, 
 where he established the army in winter-quarters. 
 
 Nearly the whole of New Jersey was thus recovered from the 
 enemy, and detachments were quartered at different points to retain 
 p)OS8e88ion. Through the remainder of the winter and spring, neither 
 army was engaged in any general military operation. The British 
 army waa stationed at Amboy and Brunswick, suffering no stnall 
 inconvenience from failure of provisions. Frightful outrages were 
 committed by small marauding parties of soldiery. The Hessians, 
 in particular, were 8tigmatiz<^d as monsters of cruelty. A bloody 
 retaliation was not slow to follow, and many of the loyalists of New 
 Jersey, even such as had held aloof from all share in political 
 controversy, and could be accused of no overt act of opposition to 
 the patriots, too often were compelled to suffer for wrongs in which 
 they had no she ' ;. 
 
 While the pivovfj?' ^i' '"S were *'•"-< in coii-parative repow, the 
 calamities of a dUt., \ war were still widely felt Privateers 
 scoured the sea, and their crews and commanders, growing bolder 
 by experience, pushed their adventures in waters where, at first, 
 it was deemed rashness to intrude. Prizes taken by American 
 vessels were disposed of without trouble in France. Old national 
 feelings of jealousy and antipathy caused the government of that 
 
THE AMEBICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 277 
 
 country to wink at irregularities which o^-yrattsl only lo Uio injury 
 of liT rival. 
 
 CongreM had not failed, ere this, to commiwiion ftinbassadore to 
 vat! MS European courts, to solicit political aid and acknowledgment 
 of the iiidopendence of the stutes. Th(j«je who filled this important 
 oftlto at the court of France, were benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, 
 and Arthur Lee. The fiivoiirwith which the American claims were 
 regarded in that quarter was manifest, and had ' aubstantially 
 shown, even before the declaration of indepondencw, I au ing' uious 
 and secret operation for fun ishing military supplies l*. 'ho colonies. 
 These had been forwarded to islands in the West 1 ., iis by 
 private adventure, thence to bo dispatched for the n -<i of tli uolonieB. 
 France, however, was not as yet prepared to enter u ope contro- 
 versy with England, by an acknowledgment of i ; indt/'ondent 
 existence of the American republic. 
 
 Many military officer.- , from France and other Europt^an i tions, 
 were anxious to procure commissions in the Americ;: \ scivice. 
 Many were sent over thr ugh the agency of Mr. Deai the ex- 
 
 pectation of receiving h.i;h commissions. Some of ■■ proved 
 worthy of the confidence placed in them, particula ose em- 
 
 ployed in the engineer dej irtment; others, although don dess men 
 of capacity and competent i lilitary education, were entire unfitted 
 to deal with a soldiery of the character of the continer. army. 
 Among those whose services vere accepted, the most celebrn !, were 
 the German Baron de Kalb, the Polish officers Kosui ^ and 
 Pulaski, and the young Marquis de la Fayette. The lai. came 
 over from France at his owi expense, and volunteered serve 
 without pay. He was made n>njor-general, and became the luumate 
 friend and companion of the commander-in-obiefl 
 
 •*•*» 
 
278 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 
 EXPEDITIONS AGAINST PEEISIILL AND DANBURT. — BRITISH 
 PLAN OP CAMPAIGN. — HOWE'S DEPARTURE FROM NEW TORI. 
 
 BURGOTNE'S ARMY: HIS PROCLAMATION. SIEGE OP 
 
 TICONDEROGA. RETREAT OF ST. CLAIR. BURGOYNE 
 
 ON THE HUDSON. — 8IE0B OF FORT SCHUYLER. — 
 BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. — INDIAN WARFARE. 
 
 The spring of 1777 passed by without any irapoi^nt operation 
 on the part of either of the main contending armies. The English 
 succeeded in destroying large quantities of American stores at Peeks- 
 kill, on the Hudson, and at Danbury, in the western part of Con- 
 necticut. The latter expedition was intrusted to governor, then 
 General Tryon, with a detachment of no less than two thousand 
 men. His retreat was not accomplished without loss, the militia of 
 the vicinity, under Arnold and Wooster, harassing him by repeated 
 attacks. Wooster received a fatal wound in one of these encounters. 
 The bravery of Arnold, on this occasion, was highly commended, 
 and rewarded by promotion. 
 
 On the other hand, a small force from Connecticut, crossing over 
 to Long Island, proceeded to Sag-harbour, destroyed British stores 
 and vessels, and took nearly a hundred prisoners. 
 
 The important events of the summer and autumn, transpiring in 
 different portions of the country, and connected with distinct mili- 
 tary operations, must be examined without reference to the date of 
 their occurrence. The British plan of campaign was, that Howe's 
 army should engage the attention of the main body of the continent- 
 als, threatening Philadelphia and other important towns in the 
 middle states, while a powerful force, under Burgoyne, was to invade 
 New England, seizing and occupying the military posts on Cham- 
 plain and the Hudson, effecting a junction with the forces at New 
 York, and cutting off communication between the north and south. 
 
 Howe, after various manoeuvres, intended to bring about a gen- 
 eral engagement — the result of which could hardly be doubtful, 
 considering the difference in numbers and equipments between the 
 oj "posing forces — crossed over to Staten Island, embarked with six- 
 
THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 
 
 279 
 
 teen thousand men, and made sail, in the month of July, without 
 any intimation of his destination having transpired. 
 
 In Canada, Burgoyne, who had received the chief command of 
 the army of the north, commenced preparations in May. He was 
 enabled to marshal a fine army of seven thousand regulars, British 
 and Germans, an artillery corps of five hundred, and seven hundred 
 Canadians, destined for the various duties of rangers, woodmen, &c. 
 In addition to this, a grand meeting of the Iroquois Indians wj 
 called, and their services were secured by additional promises oi 
 reward and protection. A flaming proclamation was next issued, 
 for the encouragement of the New England loyalists, and the intim- 
 idation of the rebels. He promised protection to those who should 
 "quietly pursue their occupations," and full pay for all that should 
 be furnished for the army ; the contumacious were threatened with 
 the "thousands of Indians that were under his direction," and whose 
 fiiry was to be let loose upon those who should take part against 
 the king. 
 
 Passing the lake, Burgoyne laid siege to Ticonderoga, at the com- 
 mencement of the month of July. The garrison, under St. Clair, 
 was entirely insufficient for the protection of the fort It numbered, 
 including militia, about three thousand men, but the works were 
 very extensive, and the troops were ill provided with arms. A 
 retreat was effected on the night of the 6th, but the Americans were 
 unable to gain sufficient time upon the enemy. The baggage and 
 stores were dispatched up Wood Creek, towards Skeenesborough, 
 now Whitehall, which place was appointed for general rendezvous. 
 A bridge and other obstructions were soon removed by the British, 
 and free passage was opened to the creek. The boats containing 
 the stores were pursued and captured. 
 
 The army, retreating in the same direction by land, was hotly 
 pursued by a detachment of the enemy, under General Fraser. The 
 rear division was overtaken, on the 7th of July, and completely 
 routed. The main body, led by St. Clair, reached General Schuy- 
 ler's head-quarters, at Fort Edward, on the Hudson river, after a 
 toilsome march over rough roads through the wilderness. 
 
 Notwithstanding every effiart made to delay and obstruct the 
 advance of the enemy, by blocking up the forest-roads, and choking 
 the channel of the narrow creek which connects with the southern 
 extremity of Lake Champlain, Burgoyne penetrated to the Hudson, 
 before the close of the month. Evacuating Fort Edward, on the 
 
280 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBT. 
 
 approach of the British, General Schuyler retreated to Saratoga, 
 thence to Stillwater, and, the enemy continuing to press onward, he 
 finally encamped near the mouth of the Mohawk. 
 
 These disasters, at the north, were popularly attributed to incompe- 
 tency on the part of the commanding officers, who were accordingly 
 superseded by Generals Gates, Arnold, and Lincoln. Reinforcements, 
 including the body of riflemen, under the redoubted Morgan, were 
 also ordered, in all haste, to the seat of war at the north. 
 
 Before proceeding down the river, Burgoyne was desirous of col- 
 lecting stores and provisions at his camp on the Hudson, by the 
 route laid open from the head of Lake Champlain. Meanwhile, two 
 excursions were planned and attempted at the west and east. Gen- 
 eral Barry St. Leger, with several companies of regulars, and a large 
 body of Indians, under command of Joseph Brant, early in August, 
 besieged Fort Schuyler, an important military post, situated near the 
 head- waters of the Mohawk. Ge. ' Herkimer, with nearly a 
 thousand of the provincial militia,, ent^cavoured to relieve the fo-t, 
 but fell into an ambuscade p.'epared by Brant with his followers 
 and an English detachment A bloody but indecisive engagement 
 ensued, known as the "battle of Oriskany." Herkimer was killed, 
 together with several hundred of his followers. The enemy's loss 
 was probably about the same; and, although no communication was 
 opened with the fort, the commandant, Willett, was enabled to 
 make a sally, and to plunder the British encampment of stores and 
 provisions. 
 
 A detachment, principally Hessians, under Colonel Baum, was also 
 dispatched by Burgoyne, to procure cattle and other plunder in the 
 eastern settlements. The seizure of stores accumulated at Banning- 
 ton, was the special object of the expedition. Colonel Stark, having 
 command of the militia in that quarter, learning the approach of the 
 enemy, made every effort to prepare for resistance. 
 
 Baum, finding himself opposed by a superior force, halted near 
 the town, and commenced throwing up intrenchments. On the 
 16th of August, he was attacked, and utterly defeated by the pro- 
 vincials. Reinforcements arrived simultaneously on either side- 
 Colonel Warner making his appearance with a regiment of conti- 
 nental troops, from Manchester, at the same time that a strong force, 
 under Colonel Breyman, sent to support Baum's division, was en- 
 gaged with the American militia. The Americans maintained their 
 advantage ;• the British effected rf retreat at nightfall, having sustained 
 
THE AMEIICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 281 
 
 a loss of about eight hundred in killed and prisoners. A moat sea- 
 sonable supply of arms and artillery fell into the hands of the pro- 
 vincials. Of the latter, only about sixty were killed or wounded. 
 
 A few days later, Arnold relieved Fort Schuyler, and seized upon 
 the tents and stores of the besieging army, abandoned in hasty 
 retreat. Many of the Iroquois allies of the English became dis- 
 heartened at these reverses, and drew off. Generally, however, they 
 were proof against the efforts of agents in behalf of the Americans 
 to secure their services, or promises of neutrality. Outrages com- 
 mitted by the savages on the march, their cruelty to prisoners, and 
 their ferocious manner of warfare, excited universal indignation 
 against Burgoyne, who was considered responsible for all the enor- 
 mities committed. We are informed that he used what influence 
 he possessed over the chiefs, to induce conformity with the rules of 
 civilized warfare; but what would previous exhortation or threats 
 avail, in the midst of the dangers and excitement of actual conflict? 
 The check given to the British at Bennington and Fort Schuyler, 
 gave great encouragement to the Americans ; and it was now seen 
 that the provincial militia, under brave and energetic commanders, 
 was a more effective force than it had generally bee^ considered. 
 
 BATTLES AT BKHMUS' HEIGHTS. — BURGOTNE'S RETREAT TO 
 SARATOGA; HIS SURRENDER. — DETENTION OP PRISONERS. 
 
 — EXPEDITION PROM NEW YORK UP THE HUDSON. 
 
 HOWE'S MARCH UPON PHILADELPHIA. — BATTLE AT 
 
 BRANDYWINE CREEK. — BRITISH OCCUPATION OP 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. — BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN. — 
 
 REDUCTION OF FORTS MIFFLIN AND MERCER. — 
 
 WINTER-QUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE. 
 
 Burgoyne, having procured provisions for a month's campaign, 
 crossed the Hudson, and continued his progress southward. The 
 American army, numbering about six thousand men, and com- 
 manded by General Gates, lay encamped upon Behmus' heights, on 
 the west bank of the river. The place presented natural facilities 
 
282 
 
 THE rEOPLE'S BOOK OP HISTORY. 
 
 for defence, of which due advantage had been taken in the disposi- 
 tion of the camp, and the formation of batteries and intrenchments. 
 
 On the 19th of September, an indecisive battle was fought, in 
 which, although the British remained masters of the field, at night- 
 fall, they sustained much the heaviest loss, the number of killed 
 and wounded on either side being, respectively, less than three 
 hundred and over five hundred. Two days previous to this event 
 communication with Canada had been cut off, by the surprise and 
 capture of the British forts on Lake George, so that nothing but 
 brilliant success could now enable Burgoyne to maintain himself in 
 the enemy's country. He anxiously awaited promised reinforce- 
 ments from New York. 
 
 On the 7th of October, the British troops again offered battle. 
 The American forces had been increased by new recruits, and, exhil- 
 erated by the remembrance of recent successes, and the reputed 
 destitution of the enemy, they fought with courage and impetuosity. 
 Arnold exhibited his usual energy and bravery. The enemy vere 
 driven back to their camp, and a portion of their intrenchments was 
 forced and held by a Massachusetts regiment, under Colonel Brooks. 
 
 Burgoyne drgw off his forces during the night, and took up a 
 new position, which he held during the day ensuing. On the 9th 
 h^ retreated to Saratoga. He was here, in a manner, surrounded 
 by the Americans, who had occupied the only passes by which a 
 retreat northward could be effected, and who pressed upon him in 
 his position, the British camp being within reach of their artillery 
 Provisions could no longer be procured, and the supply on hand waa 
 nearly expended. Communications were therefore opened and a 
 capitulation was agreed upon, by the terms of which the whole 
 British army, to the number of more than five thousand men be- 
 came prisoners-of-war. 
 
 It was agreed that they should be allowed to leave the country 
 but that none of them should serve further in the war, unless made 
 subjects of exchange for American prisoners. All their artillery 
 arms, and munitions of war, fell into the hands of the Americans. 
 Upon various pretexts, a compliance with the agreement for the 
 embarkation of these prisoners, was delayed and evaded by congress. 
 Burgoyne was permitted to sail for England, but his army was 
 detained, a resolution being passed that no further action should be 
 taken upon the premises, until the Saratoga convention should be 
 expressly ratified by the British government, and a notification to 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 288 
 
 that effect be forwarded to the American congress. The result was, 
 that none of these prisoners obtained their liberty except by regular 
 exchange. 
 
 The forces dispatched by Clinton, from New York, to force a 
 passage up the Hudson, and cooperate with Burgoyne, although 
 unable to effect the main purpose of the expedition, did much mis- 
 chief to the Americans. Obstacles to navigation, in the shape of 
 huge chains, sunken impediments, &c,, were successfully overcome, 
 and the forts on the Highlands were stormed or abandoned. All 
 the artillery at these important strongholds became prize to the 
 enemy. A great amount of damage was wantonly inflicted upon 
 the settlements near the river. Not content with plunder, the in- 
 vaders burned and destroyed every thing ^v thin their reach. 
 
 We will now revert to the operations of the main continental 
 army, guided by Washington in person. Towards the close of 
 August (1777), Admiral Howe entered the Chesapeake, and disem- 
 barked the entire force on board his fleet at Elk Ferry, the nearest 
 available landing to the city of Philadelphia, which was now obvi- 
 ously the object of attack. Upon the first intimation of the enemy's 
 approach, Washington had marched to intercept his advance, and 
 had taken up his quarters at Wilmington, on Brandywine creek, in 
 the direct route from Elk Ferry to Philadelphia. He had collected 
 a force of fifteen thousand men ; that of the British was superior in 
 numbers, and in far better condition for service. 
 
 On the 11th of September, the American army, having taken a 
 new position on the left bank of the creek, was attacked by the 
 enemy. Cornwallis, by a circuit, and by passage of the creek a con- 
 siderable distance up the stream, succeeded in turning the American 
 flank. Sullivan's division, in that quarter, was driven in, and, at 
 the same time, a division, under Kniphausen, crossed the sliallow 
 river, and fell upon the cent ral division of Washington's army. The 
 latter was defeated, witli a loss of not fur from twelve hundred men. 
 That of the enemy was reported to be six hundred, A retreat was 
 eflected to Chester, and thence, passing through Philadelphia, the 
 army marched to Germantown, where an encampment was formed. 
 In the action on the Brandywine, several foreign officers distin- 
 guished themselves. La Fayette was wounded in tlie engage- 
 ment. The services of Count Pulaski were rewarded by immediate 
 promotion. 
 
 On the 16th, Washington crossed the Schuylkill, and endeavoured 
 
 f 
 
 liil 
 
 I 
 
284 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 to check the advance of the enemy. A violent rain storm came on 
 just as the armies were engaging, by which the arms and ammuni- 
 tion of the Americans were rendered unserviceable: they, therefore 
 retreated, and en(Axmped on the left bank of the river, some distance 
 above Philadelphia. A portion of the army, under "Wayne, endeav- 
 oured to gain the enemy's rear; but, on the night of the 20th, the 
 position of its encampment became known to the British commander, 
 and it was attacked and driven off with heavy loss. 
 
 A few days later, Howe crossed the Schuylkill farther down, and 
 entered Philadelphia without opposition. Congress, having extended 
 and enlarged the dictatorial powers confided to the commander-in- 
 chief, and, iiaving passed laws rendering it a capital offence for resi- 
 dents in the vicinity of towns occupied by the enemy to furnish 
 them with provis^'ons, Ac, had adjourned to Lancaster. The princi- 
 pal British camp was formed at Germantown. 
 
 Communication was not yet opened between the city and the tide- 
 waters of the bay, strong fortifications and obstructions having been 
 planted by the Americans at the entrance of the Schuylkill from 
 the Delaware. While a portion of the enemy's force was detached 
 to make an attempt upon these works, and to protect the transport- 
 ation of stores, by land, from Chester, "Washington undertook to 
 surprise the main body at Germantown. The very circumstances 
 that enabled him to come upon the enemy unperceived, proved dis- 
 astrous for the success of the enterprise. The morning of the 4th 
 of October, when the attack was made, was unusually dark and 
 foggy. The American troops, after a long and toilsome march, fell 
 upon ,the British camp about sunrise. All, for a time, was confu- 
 sion, in which the assailants gained a temporary advantage. The 
 British soon rallied, and availed themselves of the protection afforded 
 by the buildings to form, and to pour a heavy fire upon their oppo- 
 nents. The Americans were driven off, with a loss of more than a 
 thousand men ; that of the British was less than two-thirds of that 
 number. ^ " 
 
 It now became all important for the army of occupation at Phila- 
 delphia, to reduce the forts by which it was cut off from the fleet in 
 the Delaware. The first attempt was made upon Fort Mercer, on 
 Red bank, which was defended by troops from Rhode Island, under 
 Greene. The storming party consisted of twelve hundred Hessians. 
 led by Count Donop. A complete repulse, with the loss of four 
 hundred of the assailants, including the commanding officer, demon- 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 285 
 
 Ftnited the necessity for mere deliberate and systematic approaches. 
 Batteries were erected to play upon Fort Mifflin, situated upon a 
 low mud-flat, which was reduced, after a brave defence of several 
 days. The ships-of-war were now enabled to bring their guns to 
 bear with effect upon Fort Mercer, and its evacuation soon followed. 
 Thus, on the 16th of November, the British secured complete com- 
 mand of the approaches to Philadelphia by water. 
 
 Washington soon after retired with his army to a strong position 
 at Valley Forge, on the right bank of the Schuylkill, twenty miles 
 above Philadelphia. Here he established winter-quarters for the 
 troops, consisting of regularly arranged rows of cabins. The greatest 
 destitution and misery existed in the army, most of the men being 
 ill supplied with clothing — especially shoes — and provisions were 
 often to be procured only by forcible seizure. The supply was very 
 irregular, and, at times, the condition of the camp fell little short 
 of actual famine. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF CONGRESS. — ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 — RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE STATES. — INTRIGUES AGAINST 
 WASHINGTON. — TREATIES WITH FRANCE. — BRITISH COM- 
 MISSIONERS IN AMERICA. — EVACUATION OF PHILA- 
 DELPHIA. — BATTLE OF MONMOUTH ARRIVAL OP 
 
 A FRENCH FLEET. — ATTEMPT ON NEWPORT. — 
 WINTER-QUARTERS. — MARAUDING EXPEDI- 
 TIONS. — DESTRUCTION OF WYOMING. 
 
 It were difficult to conceive a more embarrassing position than 
 that of the continental congress at this juncture. The army was 
 reduced in numbers, dispirited, discouraged, and in a condition of 
 physical want and suffering. The immense issue of paper money, 
 amounting already to thirty or forty millions, had necessarily induced 
 so rapid a depreciation in its value, that it was not available for 
 purchases, at a higher rate than twenty-five per cent, upon its 
 nominal value ; and yet there appeared no resource for government, 
 other than continued issues. liOans could be effected but slowly, 
 
286 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 and to amounts miserably insufficient for the exigencies of the occa> 
 sion. The numerous laws and regulations for fixing and establishing 
 the prices of goods, for rendering distinction between gold and con- 
 tinental bills a penal offence, and for the preventing of "forestalling 
 and engrossing," (viz: the buying up and retention of necessaries 
 on speculation,) were exceedingly difficult to enforce, and were 
 generally evaded, or made a handle for the gratification of private 
 enmity. 
 
 Congress had already submitted a series of "Articles of Confeder- 
 ation " to the separate states, which were subjects of long and vex- 
 atious dispute; a great hesitation being felt at the relinquishment 
 of individual sovereignty, in exchange for the benefits and perma- 
 nency of a centralized government. It was now earnestly recom- 
 mended that available funds should be raised by the states, resort 
 being had for this purpose to direct taxation, to meet the expenses 
 of the coming year ; that stringent provisions — the arbitrary nature of 
 which was acknowledged and lamented — should be enforced against 
 forestallers and engrossers, by seizure of the accumulated property; 
 to be paid for at specified rates in continental money, and for general 
 regulation of trade; and that the property of absent loyalists be 
 confiscated for public purposes. 
 
 The series of disasters which had befallen the main army, had 
 given rise to doubts in the minds of many, as to the vigour and 
 capacity of the commander-in-chief. Occasion was taken by those 
 among the officers of the army and leading politicians, who were 
 jealous of his ascendancy, to conspire for effecting his removal 
 from office. This movement failed to affect the general popularity 
 of Washington, or to shake the confidence of congress in his abilities 
 or patriotism. 
 
 The close of January, 1778, was marked by the conclusion of two 
 separate treaties with France. No event since the commencement 
 of the war had given such strength to the patriotic cause as this. 
 The independence of the states was acknowledged, and a treaty for 
 trade and commerce negotiated. Stiil more important were the 
 provisions of the second treaty, which contained stipulations for 
 mutual defence, in anticipation of the course which England, if con- 
 sistent in her plans, must necessarily adopt. 
 
 News of the negotiation of these treaties, was brought over to 
 America in the spring, about the same time that intelligence was 
 transmitted of a willingness on the part of the British government 
 
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THK AMEKICAN BEVuLUTIOS 
 
 t87 
 
 to eflfect a reconciliation with the colonies, by ti renuiiciu n of 
 all claims to impose taxes, &c. The three coni! Hioners, deputed 
 to conduct ndgotiatious for this purpose, aftei a van. adu/ms to 
 congress, in which the most liberal offers were made in behalf of 
 the crown, resorted to every species of intrigue to bring about their 
 ends. Manifestoes, calculated to excite prejudice against the French, 
 appeals to the separate states, slurs upon the motives and principles 
 of the lending patriots, and even the more reprehensible course of 
 attempting the integrity of individuals by the offer of bribes; all 
 resulted in signal failure. The treaties were ratified by congress, 
 and no proposal for any thing short of absolute independence was 
 longer entertained. 
 
 In parliament it was now openly advocated that submission to 
 the necessities of the case, by an acknowledgment of American inde- 
 pendence, would only be a timely anticipation of an inevitable result 
 National pride, and a jealousy of French interference prevailed, 
 however, against every argument founded upon policy or right: 
 the British minister was recalled from Paris, and the attention of 
 government was devoted to the detail of warlike operations. ' Sir 
 William Howe, recalled at his own request, was superseded in the 
 chief command by Sir Henry Clinton. Orders were given for an 
 abandonment of the positions at and near Philadelphia, and a con- 
 centration of forces at New York. 
 
 The evacuation of Philadelphia was effected on the 18th of June, 
 the principal stores and baggage of the army having been for- 
 warded to New York by sea. The American forces were immedi- 
 ately put in motion, to harass the enemy in the rear, and to watch 
 for a favourable opportunity for a general engagement. Such an 
 occasion presented itself, in the estimation of Washington, on the 
 28th, the enemy being encamped near Monmouth court-house. At 
 the council in which an attack was decided upon, General Lee, then 
 second in command, had opposed the plan. Ue was now intrusted 
 with the command of the advance. 
 
 Early in the morning, upon the fiist movement of the British, 
 who were about to take up their line of march towards New York, 
 Lee received orders from his superior to open the attack. Coming 
 up with the main army, Washington met the advance in full 
 retreat, and pressed upon by the enemy. In the heat of the moment, 
 he addressed Lee with terms of reproach, which rankled in the 
 remembrance of that proud anu eccentric officer, but which did not 
 Vol. IV.— 47 
 
283 
 
 TIIK PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 prevent him from lending his utmoBt exertion«, at the time, in car- 
 rying out the orders of the commander-in-chief 
 
 During the remainder of the action, which lasted until nightfall, 
 neither party obtained any decisive advantage. The British huh- 
 tained the heavier loss, their killed and wounded amounting j 
 about three hundred men; that of the Americans, probably, fell 
 short of two hundred. The former continued their retreat during 
 the night, and pushed on unmolested to the Navesink highlands, 
 where they occupied an unassailable position. It does not ap{)ear 
 that General Lee was guilty of any dereliction from duty in this 
 engagement: his retreat, at the commencement, was before a supe- 
 rior force, the British having assumed an offensive attitude with 
 remarkable promptitude mid good order, and his own position being 
 unfavourable from the nature of the ground. In consequence of 
 two disrespectful letters, subsequently written to Washington, re- 
 specting the affair, as well as for alleged disobedience of orders 
 and an unnecessary retreat, he was tried by a court-martial, and 
 suspended from command for the term of one year. He t')ok no 
 further part in the war. 
 
 Early in July, a powerful French fleet, commanded by Count 
 D'Estaing, arrived on the coast, bringing over the French ambassa- 
 dor, Gerard, and about four thousand troops. "Washington's army 
 had, by this time, moved towards the Hudson, and, to cooperate 
 with the French fleet in a proposed attack upon New York, now 
 crossed over to White Plains. The British forces had removed 
 from Navesink to the city. 
 
 The larger French men-of-war, from their great draught of water, 
 could not be safely taken into New York harbour, and it was 
 determined to commence operations by an attempt at the recovery 
 of Newport, still in the possession of the British, and protected by 
 a force of six thousand men. A violent storm disconcerted the 
 arrangements for a joint attack by land and sea. D'Estaing, in 
 endeavouring to engage the English fleet, suffered so much injury 
 in his shipping, that he was compelled to sail for Boston to repair 
 damages. The American forces, under Sullivan, which had landed 
 on Rhode Island, and advanced towards Newport, were compelled 
 to abandon the attempt In this retreat, they were puisued and 
 attacked by the enemy, whom they repulsed, not without consider- 
 able loss on both sides. 
 
 The remaining events of the year, although replete with local 
 
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 interest, 
 the war. 
 the Wesi 
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 relentless 
 summer i 
 British ti 
 cruelty, 
 malice bj 
 move. I 
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 New Yor 
 been usuj 
 excursion 
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 north- wes 
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 every tale 
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 principal! 
 Indians, 
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 tbeir esta 
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 enactmer 
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 treason 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 289 
 
 interest, were of little importance, as connected with the result of 
 the war. The French fleet, on the approach of winter, sailed for 
 the West Indies, and the main continental army went into win- 
 ter-quarters for the season, in New Jersey and the western portion 
 of Connecticut, their line extending across the Hudson at West Point. 
 The head-quarters of the commander-in-chief was at Middlebrook. 
 
 At no period of the war were evidences given of more bitter and 
 relentless enmity between the patriots and loyalists, than during the 
 summer and autumn of 1778. The predatory excursions of the 
 British troops were Uso marked by unusual ferocity and needless 
 cruelty. Not content with plunder, they generally glutted their 
 malice by wanton destruction of all that they were unable to re- 
 move. In the month of July, a party of about three hundred tories 
 and regulars, with a still larger number of Indians, under command 
 of Colonel John Butler, marched into Pennsylvania from western 
 New York, and ravaged the beautiful valley of Wyoming. It has 
 been usually reported that Josepli Brant headed the Indians in this 
 excursion. This seems to be an error: it is true, that throughout 
 no small portion of the war, he and his warriors were a terror to the 
 north-western frontier. He was faithful to the last to the cause 
 which he had espoused, and his name came to be coupled with 
 every tale of Indian violence and outrage. From all that we can 
 learn, Brant was of a more humane disposition than many of his 
 white associates, even among those who held high positions in 
 the army. 
 
 At Wyoming, although the destruction of the settlement was 
 principally eflfected by the ferocious and uncontrollable horde of 
 Indians, the most revolting instances of blood-thirsty cruelty occur- 
 red in combat between the whites. In addition to the party strife 
 between whig and tory, this community had been long distracted 
 by bitter enmity between two distinct classes of settlers, holding 
 tbeir estates, respectively, under the conflicting grants of Connecticut 
 and Pennsylvania. Opportunity was taken at the time of this inva- 
 sion for the revenge of old family and clannish quarrels. 
 
 Upon a rgoccupation of Philadelphia, the severe and sanguinary 
 enactments against those who should assist the enemy, were enforced 
 against some of the prominent tories. Two Quakers, convicted of 
 treason under the laws lately enacted, were executed. 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
290 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTUKY. 
 
 • . .: CH APTEE X?nL ^v ^ _■ - 
 
 INTASION OP GEORGIA. — OCCUPATION OP SAfANNAh. — BRITISH 
 DIVISION UNDER PREVOST. — LINCOLN IN COMMAND AT THE 
 SOUTH. — DEPEAT OP ASHE AT BRIAR CREEK. — ATTACK 
 ON CHARLESTON. — SULLIVAN'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE 
 IROUUOIS. — NAVAL OPERATIONS OP PRANCE AND ENG- 
 LAND. — ATTEMPT AT A RECOVERY OP SAVANNAH. 
 — FURTHER NAVAL PROCEEDINGS: PAUL JONES. 
 — CONDITION OP THE AMERICAN ARMY. 
 
 Upon the departure of D'Estaing for the West Indies, the Eng 
 lish fleet, under Admiral Byron, immediately made sail in pursuit 
 It was resolved, at the same time, to open a winter campaign in a 
 new quarter, and a large force of English and German troops, under 
 command of Colonel Campbell, was embarked at New York for an 
 expedition against Georgia. 
 
 The continental forces stationed at Savannah, amounting to less 
 than a thousand men, were under command of the American General 
 Howe. Upon the approach of Campbell, who arrived on the coast 
 at the close of December, 1778, a defensible position was taken for 
 the purpose of intercepting his advance. The British, in greatly 
 superior force, were successful in turning the American flank. A 
 negro piloted one detachment through a swamp, between which and 
 the river the continental army was stationed. In an engagement 
 which ensued, the Americans were completely routed ; five or six 
 hundred were taken prisoner? or killed. The British loss wm 
 trifling, and their success was rewarded by an immediate occupation 
 of Savannah. 
 
 Campbell was soon joined by General Prevost, who, in accord- 
 ance with the plan of the southern campaign, had been ordered U, 
 march from his quarters in Florida, to assume command iii Georgia, 
 and cookie rate with the troops from New York. Georgia thus fell 
 into the hands of the British. 
 
 At this period. General Lincoln, by whom Howe had been super- 
 seded in command, arrived in South Carolinn, and took command 
 of the continental army at the south. The regular forces under his 
 command, together with militia from North Carolina, were sufficient 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 291 
 
 to hold the enemy in check, and prevent a passage of the Savannah. 
 There existed, however, an uninterrupted communication between 
 the British head-quarters and the interior, where a strong tory 
 interest predominated, and where the Indian tribes were generally 
 favourable to the royal cause. 
 
 Lincoln commenced active operations by detaching fifteen hun- 
 dred men, under General Ashe, to occupy an intermediate position, 
 and intercept this communication. Ashe crossed the river near 
 Augusta, from which the British retired towards the capital, and 
 passing down the right bank, posted his forces on Briar creek, in 
 the present county of Scriven. 
 
 In this position, the flank of the American army was again suc- 
 cessfully turned by the enemy. Prevost made a distant, but rapid 
 circuit, and falling upon the rear, gained a complete victory. A 
 great number of the Americans were killed or taken prisoners, and 
 the remainder were dispersed. 
 
 Lincoln's head-quarters were at Purisburg, about fifteen miles 
 above Savannah, on the Carolina side of the river. In the month 
 of April, 1779, leaving a portion of the militia at this post, he 
 marched up the river, with the intention of effecting a passage, and 
 making a descent on the British encampments. While on the route, 
 he received intelligence that Prevost had taken the opportunity to 
 cross the river, and was in full march upon Charleston. Lincoln 
 immediately hurried to its defence, and arrived in time to save the 
 city. The British army retreated, carrying away a large amount 
 of plunder, gathered on the march, and taking with them an im- 
 mense number of slaves, seized upon the coast plantations. The 
 concluding events of the campaign took place in the month of June, 
 by which time the season was unfit for further military operations. 
 
 During the preceding month of May, the coast of Virginia, and 
 all districts easily accessible by the larger rivers, were ravaged by 
 a detachment of between two and three thousand men, sent out by 
 Clinton from New York. There was no military force to oppose 
 these marauders, and, with scarce a show of resistance, they carried 
 out the general orders to burn and destroy the property of the rebel- 
 lious colonists. Not only vessels belonging to the confederacy, but 
 a fleet of merchant vessels were burned or sunk in the rivers and 
 bay. A great amount of plunder was seized and carried off, but its 
 value bore no proportion to that of the property destroyed. 
 
 The most noticeable military operations of the summer, were the 
 
292 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 expedition against the Iroquois, and the contests for the possession 
 of the American fortifications at Verplank's Point and Stony Point, 
 on the Hudson. Much damage was done by a marauding expedition 
 down Long Island Sound, led by General Tryon. On the north- 
 eastern coast, the Americans also met with heavy loss in an unsuc- 
 cessful expedition against a military post of the enemy on the 
 Penobscot. 
 
 The Indian campaign of the season was conducted by General 
 Sullivan. With a force of five thousand men, concentrated at Tioga, 
 he entered the territory of the Six Nations. The Indians, under 
 Brant, assisted by a body of tories, commanded by the Butlers and 
 by Sir John and Guy Johnson, made a strong stand at Newtown, 
 on the bank of the Chemung river, but their position was not tena- 
 ble against a force so superior as that now brought to bear upon 
 them. No further resistance was offered to the advance of the in- 
 vaders, and the month of September was occupied in the destruction 
 of Indian villages and harvests. 
 
 "These Indian tribes had made no little advance in the arts of 
 civilization. The Mohawks had mostly fled to Canada in the early 
 times of the revolution, but others of the Iroquois, particularly the 
 Cayugas and Senecas, had continued to cultivate their fields and 
 maintain possession of the homes of their forefathers. Immense 
 orchards of apple and other fruit trees were growing luxuriantly 
 around the habitations, but all fell beneath the axe of the destroyers. 
 The movement of so large a body of troops was necessarily slow, 
 and, as no precautions were taken to conceal their operations, the 
 Indians were every where enabled to escape to the woods. It must 
 have been with feelings of the bitterest rage and despair that they 
 saw the labour of so many years rendered useless, and thought of 
 the coming winter, which must overtake them, a wandering and 
 destitute people, who must perish, or rely for aid upon their Can- 
 adian allies."* 
 
 The French and English fleets, under D'Estaing and Byron, were 
 occupied during the winter, spring, and summer of this year, at the 
 West Indies, and in the convoy of fleets of merchant vessels, bound 
 homeward from the islands belonging to these nations respect- 
 ively. The most important naval engagement of this period, 
 was upon the occasion of the capture of the island of Grenada, 
 by D'Estaing, in the month of July. In this action, the British 
 
 * The Iroquois. — " Indian Races of Air ica." 
 
 a m( 
 upor 
 Lon^ 
 tion( 
 holdi 
 inatt( 
 
THE AMEKICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 293 
 
 sustained a very heavy loss, both in men and in damage done to 
 their ships. .-. 
 
 D'Estaing appeared on the coast of Georgia in the month follow- 
 ing, with the design of cooperating with the continental forces in an 
 effort to recover the territory then in occupation of the enemy. 
 Siege was laid to Savannah by the French and American forces, in 
 September, and was continued until October 9th, when an attempt 
 was made to storm the British outworks, and take the town by 
 assault. A most gallant defence was made, and the assailants were 
 driven oif with the loss of more than a thousand men. This disas- 
 trous failure is attributed to the impatience and impetuosity of the 
 French admiral, who had become weary of the protracted operations 
 of a regular siege. He immediately afterwards returned to the 
 West Indies. 
 
 Notwithstanding the powerful aid already furnished by France, 
 and the expected assistance of Spain — that nation, during the sum- 
 mer, having virtually declared war against England — the affairs of the 
 United States were, at this period, far from prosperous. The 
 finances of the confederacy were in a most ruinous condition ; con- 
 tinental paper money was nearly worthless, from the enormous issue, 
 already amounting to more than one hundred and fifty millions, 
 from the distant period when payment was provided for, and 
 from the great uncertainty of any future redemption. The main 
 army, suffering from insufficient and irregular supplies, and unoccu- 
 pied in any important movement, was reduced in numbers, and 
 dispirited by a series of reverses. Kecruits were obtained with 
 difficulty, and, to maintain a respectable force, resort was necessa- 
 rily had to a draught upon the militia. Throughout the year, 
 neither Washington nor the British commander-in-chief considered 
 it advisable to measure the strength of their respective forces in any 
 general engagement. 
 
 At sea, operations against England were mostly conducted by the 
 fleets of France and Spain. The small naval force of the states had 
 little opportunity for any effective service. Privateers were still in 
 a measure successful, and it was jn revenge for injuries committed 
 upon British commerce by this class of vessels, that the seaports on 
 Long Island Sound were plundered and burned, as before men- 
 tioned. The daring achievements of John Paul Jones, a Scotchman, 
 holding a commission from congress as a naval commander, were 
 matters of wide celebrity. In September, 1779, being in command 
 
 'V^: .i.l 
 
294 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 of a French and American squadron, fitted out from France, he fell 
 in with a British fleet of merchant vessels, under convoy of two 
 vessels of war. The larger of these, a frigate of forty-four guns, 
 named the Serapis, engaged the Bonne Homme Richard, com- 
 manded by Jones, and carrying forty-two guns. 
 
 The combat was conducted, for the most part, while the ships 
 were lashed together, each pouring in a heavy fire and making des- 
 perate attempts to carry the enemy by boarding. Both vessels 
 repeat-edly took fire during the engagement, and, when the Serapis 
 finally btruck, tho Bonne Homme Richard was in a sinking condi- 
 tion, and was presently abandoned. 
 
 The American army — quartered for the winter near West Point, 
 on the Hudson, and in the neighbourhood of Morristown, New 
 Jersey — was with great difficulty furnished with provisions, and was 
 poorly prepared to encounter the inclemencies of the season, much 
 less to operate ugainst troops superior in numbers and discipline, 
 and beti^r provided with needful supplies and munitions of war. 
 
 ■v 
 
 CTTAPTTTP 'w'T'T* 
 
 • ill-- 
 
 SHOE OF CHARLESTON: SURRENDER OF THE OITT. — SOUTH 
 CAROLINA OCCUPIED BY THE BRITISH. — TARLETON'S LE- 
 GION: HIS VICTORY AT WAXHAW8. — C0RNWALLI8 IN 
 COMMAND. — DEFEAT OF THE AMERICANS AT CAMDEN. — 
 0UER5LLA OPERATIONS OF SUMPTER AND MARION. — 
 INFAPION OF NORTH CAROLINA. — FERGUSON'S 
 DEFEAT AT UNO'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 The year 1780 was, almost throughout, a season of distress, 
 defeat and disaster, for the continental armies. The principal 
 theatre of action was at the south. In the month of February, 
 General Clinton, with a large force brought from New York in 
 December, sailed from Savannah, upon an expedition against 
 Charleston. Blockading the harbour with his fleet, he landed his 
 troops on the island of St. John's, and prepared to lay siege to 
 the city. 
 
 General Lincoln, in concert with Governor Rutledge, made every 
 
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 295 
 
 exertion to increase the garrison, and to erect defensive works, 
 llutledge, in pursuance of extensive discretionary powers conferred 
 upon him by the legislature, compelled the service of a great num- 
 ber of negro slaves for this purpose. The forces finally concentrated 
 at Charleston amounted to about seven thousand, but more than 
 half of these were inhabitants of the city, and a considerable portion 
 of the remainder were militia from North Carolina. 
 
 In the month of April, Clinton's fleet passed Fort Moultrie, on 
 Sullivan's island, without material damage, and entered the har- 
 bour. "Works were constructed for the prosecution of the siege by 
 regular military approaches; communication from the north was cut 
 off by a detachment of British troops; Fort Moultrie was taken by 
 the enemy; and before the middle of May, it was plain that the city 
 was no longer tenable. A capitulation was proposed and accepted : 
 the militia were to return home upon parole; the regular conti- 
 nental soldiers to become prisoners of war; and the British were 
 to have possession of the city, the public stores, &c. 
 
 Clinton did not fail to follow up his advantage, by taking secure 
 positions for his troops at the more important posts throughout the 
 state. His moat efficient force for carrying on the skirmishing and 
 irregular warfare which attended the occupation of South Carolina, 
 was a legion of cavalry, under command of Colonel Tarleton, an 
 officer of great energy and ability. 
 
 During the siege, this corps defeated two regiments of the Ameri- 
 can forces, at Monk's Corner, thirty miles from Charleston, and, 
 about the close of the month following, the like success attended an 
 attack upon Buford's regiment, from Virginia. The victory was 
 gained at Waxhaws, in the northern part of the state, whither 
 Tarleton had hastened by a forced march. The Americans were 
 completely routed, and a bloody massacre ensued. No quarter was 
 given, and more than three hundred were killed or taken prisoners, 
 while the assailants lost but eighteen men. 
 
 Clinton resorted to violent measures for the maintenance of British 
 rule in South Carolina. Administration of the oath of allegiance to 
 malcontents, rendered compulsory by confiscations and other pun- 
 ishments, and a careful organization of the tories, gave a general 
 aspect of quiet submission to the country. Resistance was out of 
 the question, but the patriotic portion of the inhabitants looked 
 anxiously for promised aid from the north. 
 
 Regiments from Delaware and Maryland, led by Baron De Kalb, 
 
296 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 were on march for the scene of action, but their progress was slow 
 on account of difficulty in procuring provisions. In the month of 
 July, they were reinforced by General Gates, to whom the chief 
 command at the south had recently been intrusted. A Virginia 
 regiment, the only remaining continental force in that quarter, 
 effected a junction with the army, which now amounted to five or 
 six thousand men. In the month of August, a most unfortunate 
 season for a southern campaign. Gates reached Clermont, near Cam- 
 den, S. C, where he encamped on the 14th. 
 
 Cornwallis was, at this period, in command of the British forces 
 at the south, Clinton having returned to New York. Such troops 
 as he could raise to oppose the advance of Gates, were encamped 
 at Camden. 
 
 A simultaneous attempt at a surprise, on the part of both armies, 
 led to an unexpected night encounter. After some unimportant 
 skirmishing, the respective leaders occupied themselves in prepara- 
 tions for a decisive battle. The fighting rScommenced at day -break: 
 the British, although outnumbered in the ratio of about two to one, 
 were completely victorious. The American militia fled at the first 
 charge, but the regular forces, under De Kalb, fought bravely, until 
 the fall of their leader. Nearly two thousand of the Americans were 
 killed or taken prisoners, during the engagement, or in their dis- 
 astrous and confused retreat. The enemy lost but a little over three 
 hundred men. ' 
 
 A few days subsequent to this battle, a body of patriots, raised 
 and commanded by Colonel Sumpter, which had done much damage 
 to the British outposts, by an irregular warfare, was attac^:ed by 
 Tarleton and his legion, some distance farther up the Catawba. 
 Sumpter's forces were surprised and utterly routed ; a number of 
 British prisoners were set at liberty, and four or five hundred of the 
 Americans were killed, or fell into the hands of the enemy. 
 
 No course was now left; to the patriots but submission, or the life 
 of outlaws. A number of prisoners, convicted of treason in having 
 borne arms against the king, after professing allegiance, or accepting 
 British protection, were executed, by order of the Br tish com- 
 mander. Those who, not being implicated in the open hostilities, 
 had favoured the patriotic cause, were punished by seizure of their 
 property for the use of the army. The few who still maintained a 
 hostile attitude, were obliged to resort, for safety, to forests and 
 marshes inaccessible to any but those familiar with the country. 
 
 tin); 
 
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 reti 
 
 feat 
 
 earll 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 297 
 
 Siiuipter, notwithstanding hia defeat, had again collected a band of 
 followers, and established himself in the mountainous inland coun- 
 try, whence he made incursions upon the enemy. 
 
 General Marion, who had held a continental commission, as colo- 
 nel, did distinguished service in this species of warfare. His haunta 
 were the swamps of the Lower Podee ; and such was the secarity 
 of his place of retreat, and the celerity of his movements, that his 
 plans could never bo anticipated. He would suddenly appear, at 
 night, with his band of rough and rudely-armed horsemon, in the 
 midst of a British encampment, and before the alarm was fairly 
 given, would be beyond the reach of pursuit, having accomplished 
 the purpose of his incursion — whether it were the release of prison- 
 ers or the collection of booty. 
 
 The tide of British successes began to turn in the month of Octo- 
 ber. Cornwallis had made extensive preparations for an inv&oion 
 of North Carolina; Major Ferguson, with a considerable body of 
 troops, effected a junction with the tories in the western portion of 
 that state. A superior force of militia and volunteers, including 
 many from Virginia, was collected by the patriots of that vicinity to 
 oppose the invasion. Retreating hastily before their advance, Fer- 
 guson took a position on King's mountain, Rt the border of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 An attack was made by the Americans, in three columns, from 
 opposite quarters, notwithstanding repeated repulses, they returned 
 again and again to the charge; and, finally, Ferguson having fallen, 
 with a great num'jer of his men, the remainder, numbering about 
 eight hundred, surrendered at discretion. The victors immediately 
 gratified a spirit of retaliation for the severity of the English, by put- 
 ting to death a number of particularly obnoxious tories, found among 
 the prisoners. Cornwallis, who had already entered North Carolina, 
 retreated southward upon receiving intelligence of Ferguson's de- 
 feat Large reinforcements from New York arrived in Charleston 
 early in the winter. 
 
 if 
 i 1 
 
298 
 
 THE PXOPLK'8 BOOK OF RISTORT. 
 
 ,1 
 
 CnAPTV'R TT 
 
 NORTIiBRN 0PKRATI0N8. — 8PRIN0PIELD BURNED. — ARRIVAL 
 
 OF THE FRENCH FLEET AND FORCES BLOCKADE AT NEW- 
 
 POH:. — TREASON OF ARNOLD. — TRIAL AND EXECUTION 
 
 OF MaJOR ANDrI — CAUSES OF ARNOLD'S DEFECTION. 
 
 — INDIAN RAVAGES: INVASION OF THE MOHAWK 
 
 1 VALLEY BY JOHNSON AND BRANT. '■' '■'■ ■ 
 
 A.1 the north, little was effected by either army during the spring 
 and summer of 1780. The British, from New York, made two 
 incursions into New Jersey, in the month of June. Upon the first 
 of these occasions nothing was accomplished, bat upon the second, 
 the village of Springfield, garrisoned by a continental force, under 
 Greene, was destroyed. The main American army remained in the 
 vicinity of its previous winter-quarters, occupied only in opposing 
 a check to the marauding expeditions of the enemy. Such was the 
 destitution at the camp, that some of the troops were driven to open 
 expressions of mutiny. 
 
 Great expectations were formed upon the reported approach of a 
 French fleet and army; which arrived in the month of July, at New- 
 port, then abandoned by the British. Six thousand troops, under 
 Count Rochambeau, were brought over, and preparations were made 
 by Washington for active operations against New York. Unfortu- 
 nately, the British, having received accessions to the naval force on 
 the coast, were enabled to blockade the French fleet in the harboui 
 of Newport The whole army of auxiliaries, together with a body 
 of American militia, was, therefore, kept idle, being necessarily 
 employed m defence of the shipping in harbour. 
 
 Between the lines of the British and Continental armies, above 
 New York, an intervening space, occupied by neither, formed a 
 convenient resort for lawless depredators, who took advantage of 
 the distracted state of affairs, for purposes of private plunder. To 
 cut off the supply of provisions from the British army, cattle were 
 made liable to seizure, upon the road to New York, within certain 
 limits, in this debatable ground, and arrests of suspicious charac- 
 ters were permitted and encouraged. 
 
 On the 2Sd of September, three New York militia-men, named 
 
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t- Vi 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 299 
 
 Paulding, Williams, and Van Wert, were watching the road near 
 Tarrytown, from a place of concealment. They stopped a solitary 
 horseman, who, supposing them to be of his own party, announced 
 himself as a British officer. Discovering them to be Americans, he 
 made large offers of reward if he might be allowed to pass. These 
 were refused; and, upon searching his person, papers were found 
 concealed in his boots. He was carried by his captors before the 
 American Colonel Jamison. The papers secured were found to con- 
 tain plans of the fortifications at West Point, with the numbers of 
 the garrison, and descriptions of the defences. ,-, ,• • > , ■>.;;; 
 
 Notice was immediately dispatched to Arnold, who commanded 
 at that post, and also to Washington, then on his return from Hart- 
 ford to head-quarters. The former, upon the receipt of the intelli- 
 gence, instantly hastened to the river, and, taking his barge, went 
 on board the British sloop-of-war Vulture, which lay at anchor a 
 little below the forts. 
 
 A scheme of treachery was now apparent, and the whole plan 
 was soon exposed by the confessions of the captive at Tarrytown, 
 who proved to be Major Andr4, adjutant-general of the British 
 army, a young man universally admired for talents and courage, 
 and beloved for his amiable and gentlemanly disposition. It ap- 
 peared that Arnold had, for some time past, been in communication 
 with Sir Henry Clinton, and that the command at West Point had 
 been solicited and obtained by him, with the sole object of its sur- 
 render to the enemy. 
 
 To treat with him for this purpose, Andr£ had proceeded up the 
 Hudson in the Vulture, and a meeting was effected. From some 
 unforeseen difficulty, he was unable to return on board, and was 
 compelled to pass the night at a house within the American lines. 
 Attempting to make his way to New York by land, in disguise, 
 and bearing a pass from Arnold, he waa arrested in the manner 
 before related. 
 
 Upon a trial by court-martial, he was condemned as a spy, and 
 suffiired death, in accordance with the severe requirements of mar- 
 tial law, notwithstanding the vehement exertions of Clinton for his 
 release, and the general sympathy in his behalf, awakened by his 
 high character and noble demeanour. 
 
 Arnold's disaffection appears to have resulted, principally, from 
 pecuniary embiirrasstnents, the consequence of his own reckless 
 extravagance. He thought himself neglected in some early military 
 
800 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 appointments, and, subsequently, the partial disallowance of an un- 
 reasonable claim upon congress, made by him in relation to the 
 expenses of th"e Canadian expedition, mortified and eyraged him. 
 He had also been tried by court-martial for alleged peculation in 
 his management of public funds, while in command at Philadelphia, 
 and had received a reprimand from the commander-in-chief. 
 
 No officer in the American army exhibited more remarkable 
 abilities as a commander than Arnold, and in personal prowess and 
 courage, he was, perhaps, unequalled by any of his associates. His 
 important services had induced his countrymen to look with leniency 
 upon failings which would have endangered the popularity of an- 
 other. In proportion to the former complacency of the community, 
 was their indignation at this exhibition of unprincipled depravity — 
 an indignation destined to be immeasurably heightened by the sub- 
 sequent conduct of its object, who devoted his brilliant talents to the 
 service of t! le enemy, in active warfare against his countrymen. 
 
 The autumn passed away with no farther warlike incidents of 
 much public importance. A savage guerilla contest deno' \ por- 
 tions of the Carolinas; and at the north-west, the exasp- ; • ; Tro- 
 quois still continued to send out war-parties for the pluocter and 
 destruction of the frontier settlements. In October, the valley of 
 the Mohawk was desolated by a mixed party of whites, under John- 
 son, and Indians led by Brant and the Seneca half-breed, Corn 
 Planter. A letter, written by Brant on this occasion, speaks with 
 indignation at cruelties practised by his associates,, particularly the 
 Butlers, whose names are connected with every atrocity in the con- 
 duct of this predatory warfiure. 
 
>i-V:5-,^ 
 
 THE AMEBIOAN BEVOLUTION. 
 
 i)ii lii, i it Sh Jit, tZVtiAitl* 
 
 801 
 
 RBYOLT OP THE PENNSYLVANIA TROOPS. — ARNOLD'S EXPE- 
 DITION INTO VIRGINIA. — ORE.?NE IN COMMAND OF THE 
 SOUTHERN ARMY. — MORGAN'S DETACHMENT: BATTLE OF 
 C0WPEN8: PURSUIT OF MORGAN BY C0RNWALLI8; PASSAGE 
 OF THE CATAWBA: RETREAT INTO VIRGINIA: BATTLE OF 
 GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE. — GREENE'S MARCH INTO 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. — CORNWALLIS IN VIRGINIA. 
 — BATTLE AT HOBKIRK'S HILL. — SEIZURE 
 OF BRITISH FORTS BY MARION AND LEE. 
 
 The year 1781 opened unpromisingly for the Americans. A 
 dangerous disaffection in the camp at Morristown broke out at this 
 period in open revolt. The causes of complaint, were unpaid arrear- 
 ages, and a dispute respecting the terms of enlistment. The regi- 
 ments from Pennsylvania claimed their discharge at the end of a 
 three years' term, although, according to the representation of their 
 officers, the whole period of the war was included in their engage- 
 ment to serve. 
 
 Thirteen hundred men, defying the authority of their command- 
 ers, one of whom was killed in the attempt to reduce them to obe- 
 dience, marched off, under arms, in the direction of Philadelphia, 
 with the expressed purpose of compelling compliance with their 
 demands. General Wayne in vain attempted to recall them to a 
 sense of duty, and was forced to content himself with procuring 
 such supplies for their use on the march as should ^ ■'elude the 
 necessity for plundering the inhabitants. At Princeton, commis- 
 sioners from congress, and from the state authorities, held a confer- 
 ence with the malcontents, and, after some discussion, the main 
 points in dispute were yielded by the former. Several messengers, 
 sent by Sir Henry Clinton to persuade the mutineers, by handsome 
 offers, to enlist in the king's army, were seized and hanged as spies. 
 A similar outbreak among the New Jersey troops, was quelled by 
 force — tjvo of the ringleaders being shot. These movements had 
 the effect to rouse congress and the states to a sense of the necessities 
 of the army, and a large sum of money was promptly raised, in 
 6I)ecie, for part payment of an'earagcs. 
 
802 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 Early in January, Arnold, who had received, as the re .ard ot uia 
 intended treachery, the sum of ten thousand pounds, and a commis- 
 sion as a brigadier-general in the British army, conmenced active 
 operations in Virginia. He passed up James river, with a consider- 
 able force, and afler plundering Bichmond, and doing much damage 
 by the destruction of buildings, together with valuable public stores, 
 he entered upon the occupation of Portsmouth. 
 
 A great effort was made to outnumber and overpower this detach- 
 ment. La Fayette, with a body of troops from New England and 
 New Jersey, was dispatched against it; and the French fleet, then 
 free to put to sea, made sail for the Chesapeake, for the purpose of 
 cutting off retreat. This movement was anticipated by the British 
 squadron, which took possession of the bay, ailer an engagement 
 with, and discomfi ure of the enemy. 
 
 The command of the continental army at the south, previous to 
 this period, had been conferred upon General Greene, in place of 
 Gates, recalled. The small force under his command, consisted of 
 but two thousand men, notwithstanding endeavours made, during 
 the early part of the winter, to procure recruits from Virginia and 
 elsewhere. Against a detachment of about one thousand of these 
 troops, under General Morgan, while on their march into western 
 South Carolina, Cornwallis dispatched Tarleton, with a force about 
 equal in numbers. His own plan was to intercept communication 
 between the divisions of the American army, by marching north- 
 ward from his camp at Winnsborough. , 
 
 Hotly pursued by Tarleton, whose movements were always rapid 
 and prompt, M'jrgan made a stand at the Cowpens, in the present 
 county of Spartanburgh, near the North Carolina border. Deceived 
 by a pretended or apparent retreat of the advanced lines, the British 
 rushed U) the attack without due precaution for the preservation of 
 order, and when they found thentselves coolly withstood by the 
 continentals, who poured in a heavy and destructive fire at close- 
 quarters, their line was broken, and a complete rout ensued. More 
 than half of the entire force were taken prisoners or killed. The 
 battle was fought on the 17th of January, 1781. 
 
 Marching with great celerity, Morgan gained the fords of Catawba 
 on the 29th, his object being to take his prisoners to a place of secu- 
 rity in Virginia. Immediately alter the battle at Cowpens, Tarleton, 
 with the remainder of his detachment, effected a junction with Corn- 
 wallis. Strengthened by reinforcements from Charleston, under 
 
 1.9 
 
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t 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 803 
 
 Leslie, the whole army was put in rapid motion to intercept or over- 
 take the victorious continenti 'a. Morgan had effected a passage of 
 the Catawba but two hours before the arrival of Cornwallis' advance 
 upon the bank. 
 
 Night coming on, a sudden rise of water delayed the pursuing 
 army, and secured the escape of the Americans. General Greene, 
 wit'ji a few attendants, joined this division on the Slst, and assumed 
 command. As soon as the British could pass the river, (on the 1st 
 of February,) the pursuit recommenced. ' 'he Americans reached 
 thrt Yadkin, with the enemy close upon their rear, and there a piece 
 of good fortune, similar to that experienced at the Catawba, checked 
 pursuit for a time, and gave opportunity for a junction of the two 
 divisions of the army at Guilford court-house. 
 
 The endeavour of Cornwallis was now to cut off their retreat into 
 Virginia, at the ford of Dan river. The retreating army still suc- 
 ceeded in maintaining its advanced position, and reached Virginia 
 in safety, leaving the British masters of the Carolinas. In the long 
 and rapid march from South Carolina, the American troops suffered 
 severely from over-fatigue, and from the insufficiency of clothing 
 suitable to the severity of the season. 
 
 Cornwallis took up his quarters at Hillsborough, and resorted to 
 measures similar to those enforced in South Carolina, for organizing 
 and encouraging the tories, and for the punishment and humiliation 
 of the patriots. The latter were not slow in retaliation whenever 
 opportunity offered. Greene, having received some addition to his 
 army from the Virginia uiilitia, reentered North Carolina. He at 
 first contented himself with checking the movements of the tories. 
 A party of these, numbering two or three hundred, falling in with a 
 detachinent of cavalry, under the American Colonel Lee, supposed 
 it to be Tarleton's legion, and, in perfect confidence, exposed their 
 own character and position. They were all massacred on the spot. 
 Largely reinforced by volunteers from Virginia and North Caro- 
 lina, Greene finally offered biillle near Guilford court-house, on the 
 15th of March. Ilia forces out-numbered those of the enemy in the 
 ratio of more than two to one, but a large portion of them were 
 inexpe ienced volunteers and militia. The latter were of little or 
 no service in the engagement, many of them throwing down their 
 arms, and dispersing at the first discharge. The continental troops 
 exhibited both courage and firinnes.s, but were finally driven from 
 their position at the point of the bayonet, and made an orderly 
 Vol. IV.— 48 
 
304 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOKY. 
 
 retreat. The loss on both sides was heavy, but that of the victors 
 was the greatest, amounting to more than five hundred. The British 
 troops were in a state of extreme suffering from want of food and 
 from the fatigues of the -engagement; advantage could not, therefore, 
 be taken of the victory. 
 
 No pursuit was ordered, and Cornwallis, finding great difficulty 
 in procuring supplies for his army, took up his march down Capo 
 Fear river, towards Wilmington. In the month of April, General 
 Greene, with nc 'y two thousand men, marched into South Carolina, 
 where the British army of occupation was so far reduced by the 
 detachment for invasion of North Carolina, that a fair opportunity 
 offered for a recovery of the state, or, at least, for compelling Corn- 
 wallis to move southward for its protection. The latter general, 
 instead of adopting that policy, marcheo into Virginia, and united 
 his forces with those before sent into the countrj', under Arnold, 
 and now commanded by Phillips. 
 
 The state of affairs in the Carolinas, throughout these campaigns, 
 was that of civil war in its worst and most ferocious aspect. Such 
 disregard for human life was, perhaps, exhibited at no other period, 
 ar,d in no other quarter, during the war. Whigs and tones rivalled 
 each other in sanguinary retribution for mutual wrongs. It is im- 
 possible to ascertain, with any approach to certainty, the number of 
 those who perished in skirmi^^hes, at the ha .ds of the lawless mobs, 
 or victims of private malice, in this fratricidal contest, but it mu,'t 
 have been very large, and by some is computed by thousands. 
 
 Greene, entering South Carolina, posted himself upon Ilobkirk's 
 hill, in the vicinity of Camden, then occupied by an inferior force 
 of the enemy, under Lord Rawdon. Ilis cavalry was on march, by 
 a detour, to join the partisan forces of Marion, and intercept com- 
 munication with Charleston. He was attacked at his position on 
 the 25th of April. The Americans fought bravely, but were unable 
 to resist the charge of the British bayonet. Obliged to retreat, 
 Greene fell back to Kugely's mills, several miles distant. 
 
 The mounted forces, under Marion and Lee, succeeded in occupy- 
 ing the passes on the north of the Santee, and in seizing upon several 
 defensive posts. Sumpter and his followers were no less successful 
 in attacks upon detached giirrisons, stationed to maintain lines of 
 communication. Forts Watson and Motle, with Orangeburgh, 
 Georgetown, and Augusta, were soon in the hands of the Ameri- 
 cans. The British fort, " Ninety -Six," held out against every effort 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 805 
 
 to take it by siege or storm. The heat of the season suspended 
 further active operations. The great effort of the campaign had 
 been so far accomplished, that the British had been obliged to con- 
 centrate their forces, and abandon further attempts at extended 
 occupation. 
 
 uiui w^ JL iL JLl Jbb i/V* t^ X X • 
 
 WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND HOLLAND. — SEIZURE AND PLUN- 
 DER OP ST. EU8TATIUS. — THE ARMED NEUTRALITY. — RECOV- 
 ERY OF WEST PLORIDA BY SPAIN. — CONTINENTAL CUR- 
 RENCY. PLAN FOR THE RECOVERY OF NEW YORK. — 
 
 VIRGINIA RAVAGED BY PHILLIPS AND C0RNWALLI8. 
 
 ENCAMPMENTS A' fQRKTOWN AND GLOUCESTER 
 
 POINT. — WASHINGTON'S MARCH SOUTHWARD. 
 — ATTACK ON NEW LONDON AND GROTON. 
 — CAMPAIGN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. — BAT- 
 TLE NEAR EUTAW SPRINGS. 
 
 Beyond the limits of the United States, during the winter and 
 spring, important events had transpired, at which, although con- 
 nected with the diHiculties between England and her colonies, we 
 can barely glance. During the autumn of 1780, the British govern- 
 ment obtained information of a correspondence between the United 
 States and Holland relative to a commercial treaty. An arrogant 
 demand upon the latter for explanation or atonement, not receiving 
 the .attention required, was soon followed by a declaration of war. 
 The opportunity presented for the acquisition of an enormous booty, 
 was too tempting to be resisted, and, doubtless, occasioned this pre- 
 cipitancy of action. The Dutch possessions in the West Indies were 
 seizpd W a fleet, under Rodney, in the month of February, 1781. At 
 the island of St. Eustatius, an immense number of ships and an accu- 
 mulation of merchandise, valued at fifteen millions of dollars, were 
 taken as lawful prize. This island had been one of the principal 
 places of deposit for goods intended to be shipped to the United States. 
 
 England was thus involved in war with France and Holland. 
 Her claim of the right to interfere with the commerce of neutral 
 nations, had also caused the formation of a coalition by the principal 
 
806 
 
 TUK PlSUrLE'S BUOK OF I118T0KY. 
 
 northern powers of Europe, known as the "Armed Neutrality," for 
 the purpose of mutual protection in their commercial rights against 
 the injurious assumptions of Great Britain. 
 
 Spain, besides uniting her powerful fleet to that of France, 
 for operation against the conunon enemy, took the occasion to 
 recover the settlements of West Florida from the British. This was 
 effected in the spring of 1781, by a force from Louisiana, under 
 Galvez, the Spanish governor, with the cooperation of a fleet from 
 Havana. 
 
 An important change, introduced by congress during the summer 
 of this year, in the conduct of financial operations, by which the 
 government refused to deal further with the depreciated paper cur- 
 rency, rendered this entirely worthless. Much of the paper was 
 tjiken up by individual states — by which it was to be redeejiied 
 according to the provisions accompanying ita issue — at an enormous 
 depreciation, as an equivalent for taxes, but an immense amount 
 remained upon the hands of private holders. Various schemes foi 
 replacing it, at its market value, by a "new tenor" of bills, bearing 
 interest, proved failures, as nothing, at this period, could sustain tiio 
 value of any public issue, either by the union, or by states in their 
 separate capacity. Nearly all of the latter hud pursued a course 
 similar to that of the confederation, in this respect, and their paper 
 had experienced a steady and hopeless decline in value. 
 
 At the opening of the campaign of 1781, extensive preparations 
 were made by the United States for a syatomatic effort at the recov- 
 ery of New York. For this purpose, forces were gradually concen- 
 trated in that vicinity; but the events of the spring and summer 
 gave a new aspect to the campaign, and changed the scene of action. 
 
 The British forces, under Phillips, in Virgiiiia, greatly outn.um- 
 bered any which, at that time, could be brought to uppo.><e tlictn. 
 The only effective American troops in tliis quarter, were La Fayette's 
 continentals. Phillips, with little opposition, sent detachments up 
 the James and Appamattox rivers, and plundered and destroyed 
 property to tiie amount of millions. Joined by the forces of Corn- 
 wallis, in the month of May, and by trooja sent round from New 
 York, the army of invasion amounted to about eight thousand men: 
 that of the Americans, in Virginia, including raw recruits and 
 militia, little excecdo ' three thousand. A little later, the Pennsyl- 
 vania xegi me i its, undei" Wayne, effected a junction with La Fayette's 
 army, increasing it to about four thousand. 
 
 Nd 
 foi 
 we 
 
 Ne 
 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 807 
 
 ComwalHs, after destroying a valuable collection of armB and 
 stores at the armory on the James river, in Fluvanna, and driving 
 the state legislature precipitately from Charlottesville, then the place 
 of session, moved with his whole army towards the coast. He had 
 received instructions to this effect from Clinton, who, having ob- 
 tained intimation of the intended attack upon New York, desired 
 to dispose the Virginia division where it could be made available in 
 case of necessity. 
 
 Early iq August, a position was accordingly taken at Yorktown and 
 Gloucester Point, on either side of York river, at its debouchement 
 into Chesapeake bay. Every effort was made to strengthen and 
 fortify these posts: a considerable naval force was also at hand in 
 the river and bay, to cooperate in any future movement. 
 
 The northern army, under Washington, was joined by the French 
 forces, so long stationed at Newport, in the month of July. While 
 preparations were actively going on to prosecute the siege of New 
 York, information was received that a powerful French fleet from 
 the West Indies, commanded by Count de Grasse, was momentarily 
 expected in the Chesapeake. Determined to seize so favourable an 
 opportunity for the annihilation of the army of Cornwallis, Wash- 
 ington abandoned, for the time, his designs against New York, and 
 hastened to put the main army en route for the south. He was care- 
 ful to conceal this change of operations from the enemy, and so suc- 
 cessfully was the movement planned and conducted, that Clinton 
 had no intimation of the new turn of affairs until the army was safe 
 from interception or pursuit. 
 
 Advantage was now taken of the withdrawal of the continental 
 and French armies, for an expedition into Connecticut The traitor 
 Arnold, to whom the command was intrusted, shapei. his course for 
 New London. On the morning of September 6th, a fleet of twenty- 
 four sail was seen off the harbour. About sixteen hundred troops 
 were landed, in two divisions, one led by Arnold in person, on the 
 New London side, the other by Colonel Eyre, at Groton. 
 
 Fort Griswold, on the heights at the latter place, was garrisoned 
 by one hundred and sixty volunteers, commanded by Colonel 
 Ledyard. With the expectation of receiving an immediate rein- 
 forcement of militia, it was determined to defend the post. This 
 expectation proved vain ; the fort was carried by storm, and most 
 of the garrison, in accordance with the cruel usage of war, were 
 cut to pieces for defending an untenable position. An eye-wit- 
 
SOS 
 
 THE l'EOl'LE'8 BOOK OF III8T0UY. 
 
 neas* thus describes the catastrophe: "Colonel Ledyard, seeing the 
 enemy within the fort, gave orders to cease firing, and to throw 
 down our arms, as the fort had surrendered. We did so, but tl ey 
 continued firing in platoons upon those who wore retreating to the 
 magazine and barrack-rooms fur safety. At this moment, the rene- 
 gado col 1 commanding, cried out, 'Who commands this garri- 
 son ?' Colonel Ledyard, who was standing near me, answered, ' I did, 
 sir, but you do now,' at the same time stepping forward, handing 
 him his sword, with point towards himself." The narrator was, at 
 this moment, wounded by a bayonet thrust; he continues: "The first 
 person I saw afterwards, was my brave commander, a corpse by my 
 side, having been run through the body with his own sword by the 
 savage renegado. Never was a scene of more brutal, wanton carnage 
 than now took place. The enemy were still firing on us by platoons, 
 and in the barrack rooms. * * All this time the bayonet was 
 freely used, even on those who were helplessly wounded, and in the 
 agonies of death." Those of the wounded who escaped the general 
 massacre, were treated with great brutality and neglect. 
 
 Arnold's division met with similar success in the attack upon New 
 London. The town was plundered, and, at the same time, set on 
 fire, and reduced to ashes. Nothing further was attempted: the 
 country adjacent presented little temptation to the marauders, and 
 they immediately rPembarked, and set sail for New York with their 
 booty and a number of prisoners. 
 
 While these events were taking jilace at the north. General Greene 
 had been actively engaged in preparing for the renewal of hostilities 
 in Carolina. Towards the close of August, having procured rein- 
 forcements of militia, and a supply of horses for his cavalry corps, 
 he left his quarters among the hills of the Santee, and marched in 
 pursuit of the enemy, then under command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Stewart. An indecisive and bloody buttle was fought, on the 8th 
 of September, in the neighbourhood of Eutaw Springs. The Amer- 
 ican forces rather exceeded those of the enemy in point of numbers, 
 amounting to more than two thousand men. 
 
 After this engagement, Greene drew off his forces to his former 
 place of encampment, at the Santee hills; the British moved towards 
 Charleston. The latter, although so frequently victorious through- 
 out these southern campaigns, and although favoured by a large 
 party among the inhabitants, bad failed to gain any important 
 
 * Stephen Ilemptitead. 
 
 sfl 
 ai 
 e] 
 
 t^ 
 
 til 
 
THE AMKKIOAN UEVOLUTIuN, 
 
 809 
 
 advantage by their conqucstfl. It was comparatively easy to over- 
 run the country, and to inflict incalculable injury upon the property 
 of the scattered population; but they always left enemies in ihcir 
 rear, and the obstinacy of the Anglo Saxon disposition, duly inher- 
 ited by the Americans, and losing nothing of its force by translation 
 to the New World, continually strengthened the antagonistic spirit 
 of the people. The operations of Stewart were thenceforth conrined 
 to the vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 PRBNCH PLBET IN THE CHESAPEAKE. — 8IE0E OP YORKTOWN 
 
 SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. — W I NTEKQD ARTER8. — 
 
 PROCEEDINGS I ' THE PVOLISH PARLIAMENT. — NEGO- 
 TIATIONS FOR PEACE. -TERMS OP TREATY. — CESSA- 
 TION OP HOSTILIi ,.S. — DISAPPECTION IN THE 
 CONTINENTAT. ARMY. — EVACl'ATION OP NEW YORK 
 — POlll; >N OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 About the Ist of September, 1781, after a long series of manoeu- 
 vres, in which he wisely avoided any general engagement with the 
 British fleet, the Count de Grasse brought twenty-four ships of the 
 lino safely into the Chesapeake, thus securing complete possession 
 of the bay, and precluding all possibility of Cornwallis' effecting a 
 retreat by sea. The fleet was soon after joined by the French 
 gquadron from Newport, commanded by Du Barras. 
 
 The American army, concentrated for the purpose of laying siege 
 to Yorktown, including continentals, militia, the French previously 
 static, ju at Newport, and those newly landed by De Grasse, 
 amou'i:^.! to sixteen thousand men. That of Cornwallis did not 
 exceed eight thousand. After detaching a force to hold in check 
 the British at Gloucester Point, Washington entered vigorously 
 upon the systematic prosecution of the siege. The first works were 
 thrown up on the night of the 6th of October: three days after- 
 wards, they were so far completed that heavy artillery was planted, 
 and brought to bear, at a distance of but six hundred yards from the 
 British line. A second parallel was commenced on the night of the 
 11th, at an intermediate distance between the first and the enemy's 
 
810 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 position. The work could not be safely carried on, in consequence 
 of a heavy fire from two advam^ed redoubts, which were, therefore, 
 stormed, and connected with the second line of fortifications. This 
 service was accomplished by two distinct detachments, one Ameri- 
 can, the other French — the efforts of either were thus stimulated by 
 un ardent spirit of emulation. 
 
 The Americans, being well supplied with battering artillery, now 
 opened so heavy a fire upon the British fortifications as to disable 
 many of the guns, and effect breaches in the works. Yorktown was 
 no longer tenable, and Cornwallis, on the evening of October 16th, 
 endeavoured to escape by crossing to Gloucester Point. Failing in 
 the attempt to transport hia troops over the river, in consequence 
 of a severe storm, he had no resource but a capitulation. Proposals 
 to this effect were made on the day following, and the terms were 
 speedily arranged. The whole British army, more than seven 
 thousand men, became prisoners of war; the naval force surrendered 
 to the French admiral. 
 
 This victory was the crowning event of the war. Although hos- 
 tilities still lingered throughout the succeeding year, prior to the 
 conclusion of negotiations for peace, they involved no extensive 
 military operations. A partisan warfare still desolated some of the 
 southern and western districts, and the frontier was, from time to 
 time, harassed by incursions of the savages. The main French and 
 continental armies went into winter-quarters in November. Greene, 
 with the remains of the southern army, took a station in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Charleston, to restrain foraging expeditions of the enemy. 
 
 The tone adopted by the British ministry at the winter session of 
 parliament, 1781-2, gave no token of any prpbable concessions to 
 the American demands. In the house of commons, after repeated 
 failures, a motion passed, at the close of February, calling for the 
 adoption of measures which should put an end to hostilities. A 
 change in the cabinet, at this juncture, favoured the projects of the 
 friends of peace. Negotiations were speedily opened with Adams, 
 the American minister at Holland, and with Franklin, then in France, 
 for a pacific arrangement. With these ministers were associated 
 John Jay of New York, and Ilenry Laurens of South Carolina. 
 Mr. Richard Oswald conducted the preliminary arrangements in 
 behalf of Great Britain: Franklin and Jay, in the absence of the 
 other commissioners, opened the negotiation at Paris in the month 
 of A{)ril, 1782. 
 
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 V*'' <*--*, 
 
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 t: o I' y. s f It 1 .1 .V ;■ u it r u .1 1 r u f lu it h t " u ^vif.i 1. /.is. 
 
m 
 
 THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTIOK. 
 
 811 
 
 Jealousy of secret influence unfevourable to the interests of the 
 United States, on the part of the French minister, induced the 
 American commissioners to depart from their instructions requiring 
 that he should take part in their negotiations, and a provisional 
 treaty was signed, without his intervention, at the close of the fol- 
 lowing autumn. This great delay resulted from the difficulty of 
 settling questions of boundary, of the privileges of fishery on the 
 northern coast, and of the rights of tory refugees. In favour of the 
 latter, the American commissioners would agree to nothing farther 
 than a proposed recommendation from congress to the states, that 
 confiscations should cease, that restitution should be made for former 
 seizures, and certain personal privileges, as to right of residence, 
 should be conceded. The former customs relative to the Newfound- 
 land fisheries were substantially confirmed; and, respecting bound- 
 ary, the states retained their former territory, extending westward 
 to the Mississippi, and southward to latitude thirty-one — leaving 
 Spain in possession of the wilderness at the west, and of the mouth 
 of the great river. England retained the Canadas: toward the north- 
 west the extent of the American claims remained still unascertained. 
 
 The treaty was not made definitive until September of the follow- 
 ing year, its conclusion being contingent upon an establishment of 
 peace between France and England, by virtue of the former treaty 
 of alliance between France and the United States. At the first 
 opening of pacific negotiation in April, ministers from all the belli- 
 gerent nations of Europe had met for the purpose of concluding 
 arrangements for a general peace. These were settled in the spring 
 of 1783, and, upon the transmission of the intelligence to America, 
 a formal proclamation was made by congress, of a termination of 
 hostilities. 
 
 During the spring of 1782, an alanoiiig disafiection exL " '* -1 
 itself among some portions of the continental army, arising from 
 anticipated failure in payment of their arrearages. This feeling l . 
 tended to many of the officers, and, but for the firmness and wisdom 
 of the commander-in-chief, might have led to lamentable results. 
 The army was disbanded, by order of congress, in the month of 
 November; and, within a few weeks, an evacuation of New York 
 and its adjacent strongholds was completed by the British. 
 
 On Christinas day, in the following month. General Washington 
 appeared before congress, in session at Annapolis, and tendered a 
 resignation of his commission as commander-in-chief. 
 
 'f 
 
812 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 The war was now at aa end; the United States, acknowledged 
 independent by the nations of Europe, were free to adopt a form of 
 government of their own choosing, untrammelled by the restrictions 
 of ancient customs or the claims of hereditary right. But the posi- 
 tion of the country, if no longer critical, was embarrassing in the 
 extreme. The burden of an enormous debt, the poverty consequent 
 upon the expenditure of little short of two hundred millions of 
 dollars in carrying on the war, the failure of public credit, the exist- 
 ence of sectional jealousies, the great territorial extent of the coun- 
 try, the mixture of races — all combined to oppose obstoyles to the 
 establishment of a new and complicated scheme of government. 
 
 the 
 she 
 
 par 
 
 of 
 tail 
 
THE UNITED STATES 
 
 POSITION OP THE UNION AT THE CCyCLUSION OP PEACE.— 
 BUSTING DIPPICDLTIE8 WITH GREAT BRITAIN. — WEAKNESS 
 OP CONGRESS. — LOCAL DISTURBANCES: SHAY'S REBELLION. 
 — CONTENTION POR ENLARGING CONGRESSIONAL POWERS: 
 OPPOSING INTERESTS OP THE STATES. — THE PRESENT 
 CONSTITUTION: PEDERAL LEGISLATURE: POWERS OP 
 CONGRESS: RESTRICTIONS; LIMIT OP STATE POW- 
 ERS: THE EXECUTITE: THE JUDICIART: KU- 
 TUAL GUARANTEES: AMENDMENTS. 
 
 J 
 
 Fob several years immediately following the establishment of 
 American independence, the affairs of the country remained in con- 
 fusion, from the incapacity of congress, under the old articles of con- 
 federation, to bind the states by its dsaiings with foreign powpTs. 
 Restrictions upon commerce, which the congress had no power to 
 mitigate by treaty, retarded the development of the national re- 
 sources. The West India trade, so lucrative before the war, even 
 under ihe old "sugar act," was now cut off. The mouth of the 
 Mississippi was closed, by Spain, to all entrance or egress of Amer- 
 ican vessels, h : ing the growing settlements of the west without 
 the means for disposing of their produce. 
 
 Great Britain could hardly be expected to look with favour upon 
 the confederation, and in defiance of the provisions of the treaty, 
 she maintained possession of the strongholds on the western lakes. 
 The reason given for this retention, was a non-compliance, o e 
 part of t . Union, with prov" 1- s securing to British subjecia .ue 
 right' to recover debts contract. ' 'jefore the wur. Many minor points 
 of dispute also remained unsettled. With respect to tho ]'r- es sus- 
 tained by the loyalists, in consequeu. ■ f confiscations, i-i? ecom- 
 
 ¥ 
 
su 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 mendation of congress had as little effect upon the action of the 
 states in this as in most other particulars. A great number of these 
 claims to indemnity wfr* ;iurw..|uently examined and partially sat- 
 isfied by act of parli;;iuenr„ 
 
 The weakness of (.•r'rg."«?M3 wa.s made repeatedly the subject of 
 earnest exhortation to the stntcs and tlo , - onle. Unless its powers 
 could be enh rjed, a i a wjl'iign.:.- ; Ix ! uced, on the part of the 
 states, u» abandon .somi> portion of their sovereignty for the sake of 
 greatt centralizrvtion of power, there seemed but faint prospects of 
 future prosperity. At the commencement of the year 1786, an effort 
 was madf* to l>ring about a convontio froii . the states, for the pur- 
 pose of e-.fab>ishii!^if a genernl comintrcial system, but the attempt 
 fell through tor \\aiit of fail '■ '.resetitation. Those members who 
 attended, eariii'stlv reconip' ended a meeting of delegates from all the 
 states, to alter and amend the articles of confederation, so as to define, 
 confirm and enlarge the jurisdiction of the central government. This 
 proposal received the sanction of congress in the month of February 
 of the following year. 
 
 If the power of congress was fast becoming a nullity, since a 
 change of circurrstances had diminished the respect paid to its 
 decrees and recornitiendations during the dangers of actual war, the 
 state authorities experienced nearly equal difficulties in carrying on 
 the necessary operations of government. The people were in a con- 
 dition of great destitution and distress. Scarce able to procure the 
 necessaries of life, they were continually called upon to provide 
 funds for public purposes, and, as these were collected by direct 
 taxation, the burden, if in reality no greater than that attached to 
 imposts, was more severely felt by the individual. Nothing was more 
 natural than that they should attribute their suffering and poverty 
 to mal-administration of state affairs, nor that a popular cry should 
 be raised for impolitic -^ - impracticable schemes of amendment. 
 
 In the autumn of lISC, this feelinp broke out into open rebellion 
 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The most extensive and 
 dangerous outbreak occurred in the latter state. One Daniel Shays, 
 who had held office in the continental army, headed the movement, 
 and, before any effective steps were taken to suppress it. coUcfjted 
 an armed body of ■ a' contents, about a thousand in n"-)?!! .r. Tiie 
 immediate objec' :Kared to be the obstruction of !:o .sessions of 
 the courts. A * .' .' y superior force of militia was called out, and 
 put under v i-.n i d of Genera) Lincoln. The rebellion w.xs quelled 
 
 2S^'> 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 315 
 
 with very little bloodshed, and those concerned in it, in accordance 
 with good policy, were treated with lenity. 
 
 The convention, for the purpose of remodelling the powers of con- 
 gress, met at Philadelphia on the 14th of May, 1787. Delegates 
 were present, or arrived soon after the opening of the assembly, from 
 eleven states, Rhode Island and New Hampshire having alone neg- 
 lected to make choice of members. The number commissioned by 
 each state, was about the same as that of its representatives in 
 congress. Washington was chosen president, on motion of Robert 
 Morris — a distinguished financier, to whom the management of the 
 monetary affairs of government had been priacipally entrusted for 
 several years, during the period of greatest difficulties, before and 
 subsequent to the close of the war. 
 
 Among the members of the convention, were many who had 
 taken part in most of the great political movements from the com- 
 mencement of the contest with England. Franklin, Rutledge, Sher- 
 man, Livingston, Gerry, and others of the early patriots, were 
 present; the existing congress was la'gely represented; and the 
 general character of those assembled, was marked by zeal, earnest- 
 ness, and ability. 
 
 The proceedings were not made public for a period of more than 
 thirty years. It was wisely concluded that harmony of feeling would 
 be promoted by the promulgation of the results arrived at, unaccom- 
 panied by discussions in which the opposing interests of the different 
 states were set forth and enlarged upon. It was found easier to pre- 
 pare an entirely new constitution, than to alter and amend the old 
 articles of confederation so as to meet the exigencies of the times. 
 Various plans were framed and rejected, and it was not until the 
 middle of September, that a scheme was completed which the con- 
 vention was willing to send forth to the people for ratification. 
 
 The claims of the smaller states to equal representation with the 
 larger, the commercial interests of the north as opposed to tliose of 
 agriculture in the south, the apportionment of representatives, the 
 modes of election, the character of the two proposed legislative 
 bodies, the authority and duties of the executive, the general limita- 
 tion of congressional powers, the formation of a judiciary departTient, 
 and many minor details, gave rise to long, and, frequently, to excited 
 debate. Prominent among the vexed que.stions of the day. were 
 those growing out of a diiference of ojiinion and interest with respect 
 to the institution of slavery. Upon this topic, while some northern 
 
 il 
 
816 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 
 f. 
 
 members — especially Gouverneur Morris — inveighed against the sys- 
 tem with extreme warmth, those from the southern states supported 
 its interests with less heat, but greater determination. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States, as it at present exists, (with 
 the exception of a few amendments, chiefly relative to the rights of 
 persons, to the manner of choosing president and vice-president, and 
 to the release of the separate states from liability to be sued in the 
 federal courts by citizens of any other state or foreign nation,) was 
 signed on the 17th of September, 1787, by thirty-eight members of 
 the convention, representing twelve of the original states. New 
 Hampshire had chosen delegates during the session ; Rhode Island 
 alone took no share in the proceedings. 
 
 By the provisions of this instrument, all legislation is committed 
 to a senate and house of representatives. The first consists of two 
 members from each state — their election to be made by the legisla- 
 ture. They are chosen for six years, but are so classified that one- 
 third of the v/hole number are elected every second year. The 
 second is composed of members chosen for two years, by the people, 
 in proportion to the population, (originally one for every thirty 
 thousand, with a provision securing to each state at least one repre- 
 sentative,) in computing which, three-fifths of all slaves are included. 
 The word slave is avoided by circumlocution. As an offset to this 
 concession to the slave-holding states, direct taxes are decreed to be 
 apportioned in the same manner. 
 
 Bills, in order to become laws, must pass both houses, and receive 
 the signature of the president, or, in case of his refusal, must be 
 reconsidered and approved by a two-thirds vote in each house. The 
 house of representativr^ has the privilege of originating all revenue 
 bills. Provisions are made, for an annual session on the first Mon- 
 day in December, for the conduct of proceedings, tr'al of impeach- 
 ments, rules relative to adjournment, discipline of members, supply 
 of vacancies, census returns, and other details; afler which the gen- 
 eral powers of the federal legislature are enumerated substantially 
 as follows: 
 
 Congress is empowered to levy uniform taxes, duties, imposts, and 
 excises; to regulate foreign commerce, and commerce between the 
 states; to coin money, and provide punishments for counterfeitinsr* 
 to establish a post-office system; to make regulations respecting 
 copy-rights and patents; to create inferior federal courts, and pass 
 laws for the punishment o. offences on the high seas; todefli;^ war. 
 
 Tinn h -g' ^ m nmrm 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 817 
 
 and to raise and support armies and a navy; to provide for requisi- 
 tions upon the militia in case of public necessity; to cxercije juris- 
 diction over the district occupied as the seat of government; and, 
 generally, to provide for the common welfare and defence. 
 
 Finally: "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
 for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other pow- 
 ers vested by this constitution in the government of the United 
 States, or in any department or officer thereof." 
 
 Congress was restrained from prohibiting the importation of slaves 
 prior to the year 1808. There exist, moreover, general restrictions 
 forbidding the suspension of the privilege of habeas corpus, except in 
 times of public danger, the passage of ex post facto laws, the imposi- 
 tion of export duties, the requisition of duties, clearances, or entries, 
 in commerce between the states, the draught of public funds except 
 to meet regular appropriations, and the grant of any title of nobility. 
 
 By section X., "No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or 
 confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; 
 emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a 
 tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto 
 law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title 
 of nobility." The power to levy imposts is confined to provisions 
 of absolute necessity for the execution of inspection laws. States 
 are also prohibited from maintaining armed vessels or a standing 
 army, and from engaging in h*^--' "Cities, except in cases of invasion 
 or imminent danger. 
 
 The executive power is vested in a president, who, together with 
 a vice-president, is chosen for four years, by electors from all the 
 states, equid in number to the entire representation in both ho ! 
 of congress. These electors meet in their several states, and forw. i 
 returns of their ballotings to the federal seat of government. The 
 votes for president and vice-president are taken separately. If no 
 candidate has a majority of all the electoral votes, in the case of 
 president, the house of rcoresentatives, voting by states, elects to that 
 office one of the three ■ Ues who have received the greatest 
 
 number of votes. On failure to elect a vice-president, the senate 
 makes choice from the two highest numbers on the list. 
 
 The vice-president, virtute officii, is president of the senate, and 
 upon the death or disability of the president, he succeeds to his 
 duties and resix>nsibilities. In case of further lapse, congress has 
 power to declare upon what officer the presidency shall devolve. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
818 
 
 TUB PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 ^v 
 
 1 
 
 
 The president is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the 
 United State*, including the militia, when in service of the Union. 
 He may grant reprieves or pardons for offences against the laws of 
 the United States. With the concurrence of two-thirds of the senate, 
 he is empowered to make treaties; and all public ministers, judges 
 of the supremo court, and other officials of the United States, whose 
 appointment is not otherwise provided f r, are chosen by the senate 
 ujKjn his nomination. lie may fill vacancies in the senate, occurring 
 during recess, for one term only. lie is generally charged with the 
 exv v^' • of the laws, the commission of officers, and the reception 
 of foreign am^^u^sadors. 
 
 The judicial power of the United States is vested in one supreme 
 court, and in courts established by act of ■ ongross. The judges of 
 both hold office during good behaviour. Their jurisdiction extends 
 to all cases in law or equity arising under the constitution, or the 
 laws of the United States, &c. ; to cases affecting foreign ministers; 
 to matters of admiralty; to cases where tli*; United States is a party; 
 to controversies between different .states, betwet i citizens of different 
 states, or those <'laiming under grants of different states, and between 
 citizens and foreign states, citizens or subjects. The original juris- 
 diction of the supreme court is confined to cases affecting foreign 
 ministers, and cases whr . ;t state is a party 
 
 A republican government is guaranteed '^ each stat and the 
 United States is pledged to j)rotect each ol .em again.,!, invasion 
 and domestic violence. Eacli state is bound t*.. give full faith to 
 the public acts of the others, and to accord tj J privileges with 
 its own citizens to all citizePF. of the United States. Fn^/itives from 
 justice are to be delivered up, on requisition of the - vocutive of 
 the state '.vhere the crime has been committed: those ' held to ser- 
 vice or ! ihour in one state, under tlie laws thereof, escaping into 
 another," shall be restored "on claim of the party to whom such 
 service or labour may be due." 
 
 Aiiicndm uts to the constitution are to be proposed by two-thirds 
 of bot'; houses of congres?', or by a convention called on application 
 f r ,*vo-thirds of the stat"s, to be ratified by the legislatures of three- 
 fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths 
 thereof, according to the decision of congress. In conclusion — debts 
 of the old confederation are assumed; the Uniteu States constitution 
 and laws are dt'chired supreme; and an oath to support tlie constitu- 
 tion is required of public officers, either in the service of the Unior. 
 
 
 
 ip] 
 
 .A, 
 
 
of tf 
 
 CUDS 
 
 was I 
 
 accc 
 lent I 
 
 to ti 
 
 the 
 
THE UNITED BTATE8. 
 
 819 
 
 or of individual Btate«. The original establishmei. >r ti.e constitution 
 WM contingent upon it8 ratiflcjition by nine statcH, \ipon which event 
 it was to be binding "upon the states ho ratifying the same." 
 
 bilArxiijii il. 
 
 RATIFICATION OP THR CONSTITUTION BY THE STATES, — WASH- 
 INGTON ELECTED PRESIDENT. — THE FIRST CONGRESS; PRO- 
 TI8I0NS FOR REVENUE: FORMATION OF A CABINET: POWER 
 OF REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. — WASHINGTON'S TOUR 
 THROUGH NEW ENGLAND, — SECOND SESSION OF 
 CONGRESS: DEBATE RESPECTING THE PUBLIC 
 DEBT: FOREIGN LIABILITIES: PUBLIC CERTIFI- 
 CATES: ASSUMPTION OF STATE DEBTS: THE 
 PUBLIC DEBT FUNDED: MISCELLANEOUS 
 ENACTMENTS- — CONSTITUTION RATI- 
 FIED BY RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 The new constitution, upon its reference by congress to conven- 
 tions of the separate states, gave rise to great discussion and dispute. 
 Two political parties were formed, taking issue u()on the subject of 
 its adoption; those in favour of the measure received the title of 
 federalista. However great might be the disapproval of some of the 
 details of the new system, by individual states, sections or parties, 
 it was altogether outweighed by a perception of its general import- 
 ance. This is sufficiently manifest from the circumstance that it 
 received unconditional ratification in eleven states before the close 
 of the following summer. North Carolina appended conditions to an 
 acceptance; and Rhode Island, as she had taken no share in the 
 constitutional convention, still continued recusant. 
 
 Upon a meeting of the presidential electors, George Washington 
 was unanimously elected first president of the United States. lu 
 accordance with the original provisions of the constitution, the recip- 
 ient of the next highest number of votes, John Adams, was elected 
 to the office of vice-president. 
 
 Some delay occurring in the arrival of a quorum of members to 
 the first congress (the city of New York being the place of session), 
 Vol. IV.— 49 
 
320 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 the president was not inaugurated until the 80th of April, 1789: 
 the fourth of the month preceding had been appointed for this pur- 
 pose. In the full flush of success and popularity, with all eyes turned 
 upon him as the man whose firmness and political integrity fitted 
 him no less for civil office than for military command, he felt great 
 reluctance at entering upon this new sphere of duties. 
 
 Immediately upon organization of congress, the business of provi- 
 sion for the expenses of government, and for the payment or funding 
 of the public debt, was opened. It was readily penceived that the 
 most available method of raising revenue was by the imposition of 
 customs upon importations. A tonnage duty upon foreign vessels 
 was at the same time proposed and carried, not without great oppo- 
 sition from the purely agricultural states, who were jealous of a pro- 
 vision which would directly protect and encourage the interests of 
 the commercial portion of the Union, at the same time producing, as 
 they conceived, an injurious effect upon the price of freights. An 
 attempt to draw a distinction between those European nations who 
 had previously entered into commercial arrangements with the 
 United States, and those who had refused so to do, by extending 
 superior privileges to the commerce of the former, was approved in 
 the house, but defeavod in the senate. 
 
 The operations of government were next systematized by the reg- 
 ular oiganization of distinct departments for the management of the 
 treasury, of state affairs, foreign and domestic, and of war; an 
 arrangement analagous to the regular European cabinet .sj'stein. The 
 first incumbents of these offices were Alexander Hamilton, Thomas 
 Jefferson, and General Henry Knox. John Jay, Franklin's former 
 colleague in diplomacy at the French court, was chosen chief-justicie. 
 An important prerogative, upon a point in respect to which the con- 
 stitution was silent, after much debate, was secured to the president. 
 This consisted in the power to remove from office, without action of 
 the senate, either of the lieads of department, and other officials 
 whose appointment was by presidential nomination. 
 
 Upon the adjournment of congress, towards the close of September, 
 the president undertook an excursion through the New England 
 states. It is said that when he first fon-^ook the retirement of private 
 life to enter upon the duties of his office, his "j)rogress from iiisseat 
 of Mount Vernon to I'liihulelphia was a triiiinphant proee.'^sion, such 
 aa few conquerors have known." 'i'hroiiLiiioMt this northern tour the 
 popular expression of admiration and giatitude was carried to un 
 
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THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 821 
 
 extent still greater. This enthusiastic reception must have been the 
 more grateful to Washington from the consciousness that it was sim- 
 ply a tribute to the acknowledged worth of his character and the 
 value of his public services. He had never mingled with the people 
 upon terms of familiarity : of a reserved and dignified demeanour, 
 he had never courted popularity by any of the arts of a demagogue, 
 nor was he gifted with that versatility which has enabled other great 
 men to secure unbounded personal attachment by accommodating 
 themselves to every class of people into whose society they might 
 be thrown. 
 
 The second session of congress was held in the month of January, 
 1790. During the recess, North Carolina had ratified the federal 
 constitution, and, in common with the other states, had ceded to the 
 Union her claims upon a great extent of western territory 
 
 The secretary of the treasury, Mr. Hamilton, on the opening of 
 congress, made a written report upon the state of the public debt. 
 Long and vehement discussions ensued, a..d the subject was from 
 time to time postponed and resumed throughout a period of six 
 months. Little opposition was made to provisions for the full pay- 
 ment of foreign debts, amounting to about twelve millions of dollars; 
 but when the questions arose respecting the funding of the depreci- 
 ated certificates of debt held against the federal government, and the 
 assumption of liabilities incurred by the separate states in carrying 
 on the war, a vast variety of opinion was found to exist. 
 
 A large party was opposed to the redemption of the public securi- 
 ties at a rate above their marketable value, being what the holders 
 had, for the most part, paid for them, and which was now less than 
 one-sixth of their nominal value. The principal expenses of the 
 wor had been defrayed by the issue of paper money to the amount 
 of ^wo hundred millions, or thereabout, and the subsequent redemp- 
 tic n of the major portion of it, at the rate of forty for one. It was 
 claimed that the speculators who now claimed by public certificates 
 r'iserved no better terms than those who held the old continental 
 currency, originally forced upon its holders by penal enactments. 
 
 The idea was also enlarged upon that the existence of a great 
 funded debt would render the central government too powerful for 
 the interests and sovereignty of the states, by making its support a 
 matter of pecuniary interest to so large a portion of the population. 
 The party styling itself republican, in opposition to the federalists, 
 strongly maintained this ground of objection. The same argument 
 
822 
 
 THE I'EOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 
 vras urged against the assumption of state debts. This clause of the 
 proposed financial arrangement was rejected upon the first trial in 
 the house, but was afterwards carried, as we are led to believe, by a 
 somewhat corrupt political bargain. The votes of two members 
 were changed by a promised arrangement respecting the location of 
 the future seat of government, which was fixed for ten years at Phil- 
 adelphia, and thenceforth at some spot upon the Potomac — arrange- 
 ments to be made by the president for a commission to decide upon 
 the precise spot. 
 
 According to the bill, as formerly enacted, a loan was to be effected 
 for the payment of the foreign debt in ful' ; the domestic debt was 
 to be funded by the receipt of subscriptions in certificates at their 
 nominal value, and in old Continental bills at the rate of one hun- 
 dred for one I Certificates for arrearages of interest were to be re- 
 newed by others bearing three per cent, interest; those for the 
 principal being entitled to six per cent. The debts of the individual 
 states were specifically assumed, to the amount of twenty-one millions 
 five hundred thousand dollars; for which a loan was to be opened, 
 receivable in state certificates for debts incurred to meet the expenses 
 of the war, or directly issued for services during hostilities. 
 
 In pursuance of constitutional provisions, congress, at this session, 
 passed laws regulating the naturalization of foreigners, the grant of 
 patents and copy-rights, the duties and privileges of seamen, and the 
 manner of trading and negotiating with the Indian tribes. Provi- 
 sions were also made for establishing regular diplomatic intercourse 
 with foreign nations. Various crimes against the United States were 
 defined, and punishments affixed to their commission. A small 
 standing anny was organized, and specific appropriations were made 
 to meet all necessary civil and military expenses of the cur-ent year. 
 
 In the month of May, Rhode Island had finally ratified the consti- 
 tution, and representatives from that state took their seata in coi.^ijresa 
 dunug the session. 
 
 Vy| 
 
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THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 823 
 
 CHAPTEH HI. 
 
 INDIAN NEGOTIATIONS: THE CSEEKg: THE NORTH-WESTEHN 
 
 TRIBES. HARMAR'S UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN, THIRD 
 
 SESSION OF CONGRESS: THE EXCISE LAW: A NATIONAL 
 BANK. — oUTTLEMENT OP KENTUCKY: ITS ADMISSION 
 TO THE UNION. — ADMISSION OF VERMONT. — SITE OF 
 THE FEDERAL CAPITOL. — THE NORTH-WEST- 
 ERN INDIANS: ST. CLAIR'S EXPEDITION; 
 HIS DISASTROUS DEFEAT. — POLITICAL 
 PARTIES. — THE CENSUS. 
 
 Early attempts were made, under authority of the federal gov- 
 ernment, to effect amicable arrangements with the great Indian tribes 
 of the west and south, by which the continued disputes between them 
 and the frontier settlers fiiight be set at rest. Friendly relations were 
 established with the Creeks; their principal chief, M'Giilivray, a half- 
 breed, with several of his tribe, was escorted to New York, the 
 temporary capital, for the purpose of concluding terms of treaty. 
 The president held a personal conference with these wild warriors, 
 who departed highly satisfied with presents, promised annuities, and 
 guaranties of possession in their lands. The concessions accorded to 
 the Indians by this arrangement gave great dissatisfaction to some of 
 the inhabitants of Georgia. 
 
 With the north-western tribes no ariacgtments could be made. 
 Stimulated bj"^ British agents, they claimed exclusive right to all 
 their old territories north of the Ohio. They still retained former 
 feelings of hostility, and cherished hopes of revenge for the destruc- 
 tion of their towns on the Miami, Old and New Chilicothe, Peccaway, 
 Willis' Towns, &e., laid waste by^an expedition under General Clarke 
 nine years previous. In the autumn of 1790, more than a thousand 
 men, under General Ilarmar, were dispatched upon an Indian cam- 
 ^jiign in the north-western territory. In every skirmish with tlie 
 nat'/es, the latter had the advantage from their superior knowledge 
 of the country. They avoided any general engagement, but, by 
 laying ambuscades for detached parties, succeeded in cutting off a 
 large number of the whites. The expedition was signally unsuccessful. 
 
 At the third session of congress, in December, 1791, one of the 
 
324 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S iJOOK OF UISTOKY. 
 
 earliest subjects of debate was a proposition to increase the revenue 
 by additional duties upon spirituous liquors, and by the establish- 
 ment of an excise upon those of domestic manufacture. A bill for 
 this purpose finally passed — not without very violent opposition. 
 Another, and more important source of contention, was the institution 
 of a national bank. This was strenuously opposed, both upon 
 grounds of public policy, and the alleged defect of constitutional 
 pover in congress for the organization of such an establishment. 
 The measure was carried, in spite of all opposition: a bank was 
 chartered, with a capital of ten millions of dollars, one-fiflh of which 
 was to be subscribed for by the United States. Private stockholders 
 had the privilege of paylug three-fourths of their subscriptions iu 
 United States' stocks. 
 
 The only further proceedings of importance during the session, 
 were the adoption of resolutions for an increase of the army, in 
 anticipation of an Indian war, and the admission of two new states 
 into the Union. The settlement of Kentucky had been commenced, 
 not long before the breaking out of the revolutionary war, by the 
 bold and enterprising pioneer, Daniel Boone, who, with a few asso- 
 ciates, allured by the fertility and beauty of the country, had ven- 
 tured to brave the dangers of an isolated 'position in the remote 
 wilderness. Indian traders, in early times, reported of this country, 
 that "No Indians dwelt there, but the various tribes made it their 
 hunting-ground^ and in their encounters, waged such fierce and 
 desperate battles, that the whole region was known among them by 
 the name of 'The Dark and Bloody Ground.'" 
 
 Kentucky had increased so fust in population, that it was judged 
 expedient, both by the inhabitants and by the legislature of Vir- 
 ginia, in the territory of which state it was included, that the 
 form:- should be set off as a separate state. A convention, called 
 for the consideration of the question, had fixed upon the 1st of June, 
 1792, as the period for the conimenceinunt of the new organization, 
 contingent upon the action of congress. The assent of the latter was 
 given, prospectively. 
 
 Between Vermont and New York, a contention of some standing 
 had existed. The latter claimed jurisdiction over the former, as 
 included within her own territory ; Vermont resisted, and organized 
 a separate government. An accommodation was effected at the 
 lime of which we are now speaking, and Vermont was admitted as 
 a new state on the 18th of February (1V31). 
 
 I' ■t^^ AiM.Vr'^llillllMflL^l 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 825 
 
 The president, in the course of the spring, made an excursion 
 through some of the southern states, and, on his route, made selection 
 — in accordance with provisions before mentioned — of a site for tha 
 federal capital. A city was laid out, for this purpose, upon a grand 
 scale, and much speculative enterprise was displayed in the purchase 
 of lands and erection of buildings. The increase of the city, and, 
 consequently, of the value of property within its extensive limits, 
 have fallen far short of the sanguine expectations of its founders. 
 Great commercial facilities can alone build up large cities in a 
 new country. 
 
 During the summer of this year, several attempts were made to 
 check the depredations of the Indians on the Ohio, but nothing was 
 accomplished further than the destruction of a few villages and corn- 
 fields. Expeditions on so small a scale only served to irritate the 
 savages, and to render the condition of the frontier more unsafe. 
 
 Upon the conclusion of peace with Great Britain, a considerable 
 portion ol the Iroquois retired into Canada, where lands were appro- 
 priated to their use on Grand river; those remaining within the 
 limits of the United States, by solemn treaty, at Fort Stanwix, ceded 
 their claims in eastern New York. The noted Seneca chief and 
 orator, Eed- Jacket, strenuously opposed this treaty, but was over- 
 ruled by the influence of his superior in age and authority, O'Bail, 
 or Corn-Planter. The Six Nations continued in communication 
 with the western tribes, and were generally inimical to the Amer- 
 ican settlers. 
 
 In the autumn of 1791, General Arthui St. Clair, with more than 
 two thousand men, marched from Fort Washington, the site of the 
 present city of Cincinnati, into the Indian territory. Having estab- 
 lished and garrisoned two forts, on his route, he encamped filteen 
 niibs from the Indian towns, on the Miami, on the 3d of November. 
 The movements of the army had been slow, and the confederate 
 tribes of the west — Hurons, Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewos, Mia- 
 mies, Delaware?, Shawanees, Iroquois, and others — under the guid- 
 ance of Michikinaqua (Little Turtle), an^ an is supposed, of Joseph 
 Brant, had full opportunity to collect their warriors and form their 
 plans for defence. 
 
 "Before the rising of the sun, on the following day (November 
 4th), the savages fell upon the camp of the whites. Never was a 
 more decisive victory obtained. In vain did the American general 
 and his ofHcers exert themselves to maintain order, and to rallv the 
 
«?26 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 bewildered troops. The Indians, firing from covert, thinned the 
 ranks, and picked off the officers by a continuous and murderous 
 discharge. A disorderly retreat was the result: artillery, baggage, 
 and no small portion of the arms of the militia, fell into tne hands of 
 the exultant pursuers. Fort Jefferson was nearly thirty miles dis- 
 tant, and thither the defeated army directed its flight. The Indians 
 followed close upon the fugitives, cutting down and destroying at 
 will, until, as is reported, one of their chiefs called out to them *to 
 stop, as they had killed enough.' 
 
 "The temptation offered by the plunder to be obtained at the 
 camp, induced the Indians to return, and the remnant of the invading 
 army reached Fort Jefferson about sun-set. The loss, in this battle, 
 on the part of the whites, was no less than eight hundred and ninety- 
 four in killed, wounded, and missing. Thirty-eight officers and five 
 hundred and ninety-tliree non-commissioned officers and privates were 
 slain or missing. The Indians lost but few of their men— judging 
 from a comparison of the different accounts, not much over fifty."* 
 
 Upon thi^ coming together of congress, in October of 1791, the 
 condition of Indian affairs was brought before that body, and repre- 
 sentations of the necessity for an increase in the army were urged 
 Party spirit, at this time, was growing more virulent; the republicans, 
 at the head of w hom stood Secretary Jefferson, eyed the movements 
 of the federalists with great suspicion, continually discovering or 
 imagining a tendency towards a monarchical system in all their 
 plans and operations. Of Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, and 
 leader of the federal party, an English writer observes: "Each step, 
 indeed, which this minister took, seemed in the traces of British 
 policy ; and, however salutary or requisite they may have been, he 
 certainly showed little caution in the manner of adopting, success- 
 ively, the several parts of machinery belonging to a monarchical 
 government." 
 
 A .strong effort was made at this session, to increase the number 
 of members in the house of representatives, by including in the 
 computation of population the fractional remainder which existed in 
 each state after a division by thirty thousand. The bill passed both 
 houses, but, being sent back with objections, by the president, was 
 reconsider :}d and lost. The census returns of the first enumeration 
 of the population, exhibited a total of 3,921,826, of which nearly 
 seven hundred thousand were slaves. 
 
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THE UNITED STATES. 827 
 
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 "'\8HINOT0N'8 SECOND TERM: HIS DISINCLINATION TO OFFICE 
 — THE FRBNCH REVOLUTION: ITS POLITICAL INFLUENCE 
 IN THE UNITED STATES. ARRIVAL OP OENET, AS MIN- 
 ISTER OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC: HIS PROCEEDINGS AT 
 CHARLESTON. — NEUTRAL POSITION OF THE UNITED 
 
 STATES. COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS BY FRANCE 
 
 AND ENGLAND. — IMPRESSliENT OF AMERICAN 
 
 SEAMEN. RETIREMENT OF JEFFERSON. — 
 
 ALOERINE DEPREDATIONS. 
 
 ii.T the election of president and vice-president, for the term com- 
 mencing in March, 1793, Washington was reelected without a shadow 
 of opposition. Ho felt great disinclination to continue longer in 
 office., and only consented to comply with the wishes of *he electors 
 and the people, for the purpo.sc of calming the turbul ;nce of the 
 great political parties. His high character and popularity could 
 not shield Uivn entirely from the animr-^ versions of those of the 
 republican party who suspected him of aristocratic predilections. It 
 is said that, on one invasion, subsequent to his reelection, in an out- 
 break of feeling, excited by some personal attack, he declared, "that 
 he had never ix>pented hut once the having slipped the moment of 
 )c-'igning his office, and that was every moment since; that by God 
 1 Had rather be in his grave than in his present situation ; that he 
 h.ad rather be on his farm than be made emperor of the world; and 
 yet that they were charging him with .wanting to be a king." 
 
 Ill opposition to Adams, the candidate for vice-president, the 
 republicans set up George Clinton: the federalists obtained the 
 larger vote. This defeat aggravated the rancour of some of the 
 lewling liberals, and it was with difficulty that the influence of the 
 piesident could calm unseemly strife between the opposing heads of 
 departments. 
 
 At this period, a ne y and important element in the political con- 
 trr rersy of America, arose from a difference in feeling and sympathy 
 excited by the stormy events of the French revolution. It became 
 a matter of deep interest to inquire how far the United States should 
 
 ..• *i 
 
828 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S HOOK 0> slSTORY. 
 
 allow themselves to bo implicated in the gencnu agitation which 
 threatened Europe. One of the first questions to be decided was, 
 what force did a tre ;_;, . concluded with the king of Franco, possess 
 upon the overthrc.*^ ol his government, and under the rule of the 
 republic. Popular enthusiasm was strongly aroused in favour of 
 the revolution, a feeling not to bo effectually damped by intelligence 
 of the bloodthirsty fanaticism which was exhibited by too many of 
 its supporters. 
 
 The arrival at Charleston (in the month of April, 1793) of Genet, 
 the first ambassador commissioned by the republic to negotiate with 
 the United States, rendered some decisive action imperative. After 
 consultation with the cabinet, in which views diametrically opposite 
 were entertained by the leaders of the opposite parties, the president 
 issued a proclamation of neutrality, expressly forbidding citizens 
 of the United States to fit out vessels for the purpose of lend- 
 ing aid to either of the belligerent nations, or in any other manner 
 to take share in hostilities so long as this neutral position should be 
 maintained. 
 
 The French minister was enthusiastically received at Charleston, 
 where he spent some time in the preparation of two cruisers, to the 
 commanders of which he filled out commissions, under authority of 
 the republic, to prey upon British commerce. After this high- 
 handed proceeding, Genet travelled by land to Philadelphia, wel- 
 comed at every town, on his passage, by the most flattering exhibition 
 of popular feeling. His conduct at Charleston, after a cabinet 
 consultation, was declared illegal by government; the service of 
 American citizens, under French commissions, was pronounced a 
 public offence; and restitution was ordered of prizes taken in Amer- 
 ican waters. 
 
 So far was the French minister encouraged by the sympathy of 
 the powerful republican party, that, in many instances, he set at 
 nought the claims and decisions distinctly made by the American 
 government. His reception by the president was courteous, but the 
 avowed neutrality of the United States was carefully guarded in all 
 diplomatic intercourse. Disinclination to break with an old and 
 powerful ally, the force of national antipathies and predilections, and 
 the influence of the popular feeling, checked that exertion of execu- 
 tive power which the occasion seemed to require. Privateers were 
 fitted out at various ports in the United States; numerous prizes 
 were brought in openly, and condemned by the decisions of the 
 
TUK UNITED STATES. 
 
 829 
 
 French consuls, mting under powers granted by Genet, on behalf 
 of his own government. 
 
 In jne case, a British vessel, the Little Sarah, seized by the 
 French frigate in which Geiul had first come over from France, was 
 fltl( .1 (.ut 1. ■< a pnvateer at Philudulphia, and, after being rSchristened, 
 tl)f' Litti Democrat, proceeded to sea, notwitljstanding a promise, 
 vjiiial or expressed, on the part ..f that minister, that she should 
 remain until the claims of those interested in the vessel uould be 
 Msted. 
 
 government moderately, but firmly, persi'tvi' :> naintaining 
 .J position, and in respecting the riglvis ul .xr.at Britain, 
 d ti J close of the summer, guaranty of indemnit^y was formally 
 tt 'ed for all losses by British owners from previous illegal 
 
 h within the waters of the United States, the distance thence- 
 
 forth protected being fixed at one league from shore, and including, 
 of course, all bays and harbours within the federal jurisdiction. 
 The French government, at the same time, was required to give up 
 all prizes already illegally taken, and a direct requisition was made 
 for a rScall of the arrogant Genet. 
 
 The violence and insolence of this official had greatly diminished 
 the popular favour which greeted him on his first arrival. The 
 wiser and more far-sighted politicians looked upon him as a danger- 
 ous man; his course of conduct tended to involve the states in 
 unnecessary difficulties with England; and he was, undoubtedly, 
 engaged in machinations for the organization of expeditions against 
 the Spanish possessions in Louisiana and Florida. Any movement 
 towards the effecting of a free exit from the Mississippi met with 
 great favour from the settlers on the western waters. 
 
 To add to other difficulties in maintaining a position of neutrality, 
 the commerce of the states began to suffer severely from the effect 
 of regulations instituted both by France and England respecting the 
 rights of neutrals to carry on trade with the enemy. By the law of 
 nations, supplies destined for a blockaded port liiuy be liable to 
 seizure ; but the declaration that all the ports of an enemy are in a 
 state of blockade, affords but a shallow excuse for the plunder of a 
 neutral nation. Against Great Britain another cause of complaint 
 existed, if of less political importance than this interference with 
 trade, yet of a nature to excite far greater bitterness of private ani- 
 mosity. This was the continual impressment of British seamen, 
 serving on board of American vessels, and — either through error or 
 
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880 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 pretended mistake — the seizure of Americans, by the same arbitraiy 
 and summary powers. It is fully established that many citizens of 
 the states were subjected to this indignity and outrage. 
 
 Shortly after the coming together of congress in December, 1798, 
 Jefferson retired from ofl&ce, and was succeeded as secretary of state 
 by Eandolph, former attorney-general. A report upon the com- 
 mercial relations of the United States, carefully prepared by the 
 retiring secretary, and exhibiting his political views respecting the 
 policy to be pursued towards France and England, was submitted 
 to the consideration of congress. This document urged a discrimi- 
 nation in favour of France, and met with the more favourable 
 reception in consideration of both real and fancied aggressions on 
 the part of England. Among other grounds of dissatisfaction the 
 continuance of Indian disturbances at the north-west was prominent, 
 these being attributed to the influence of British emissaries, encour- 
 aged by the Canadian governors. 
 
 The first important action of congress related to the means to be 
 adopted for opposing a check upon the depredations of piratical 
 cruisers from Algiers and other portions of the Barbary states, by 
 which the navi<];ation of the Mediterranean was rendered unsafe, and 
 for the release of prisoners taken by the pirates, and still held in 
 captivity. A considerable sum of money was appropriated for the 
 purpose of purchasing terms of treaty, while, at the same time, in 
 anticipation of a failure in this attempt, congress ordered the prepar- 
 ation of a naval armament adequate to enforce the claims of the 
 United States. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 831 
 
 AMERICAN P01ITIC8. DEBATE IN CONGRESS UPON FOREIGN 
 
 RELATIONS. PURTHER AGGRESSIONS OP ENGLAND — COM- 
 MISSION OF JAY AS AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY TO 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. RELIEF OF IMMIGRANTS FROM ST. 
 
 DOMINGO. — THE NEUTRALITY LAWS. — RESISTANCE 
 TO THE EXCISE: REBELLION IN WESTERN PENN- ' 
 8YLTANIA: ITS FORCIBLE SUPPRESSION: OPIN* 
 IONS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 The introduction, by Mr. Madison, of resolutions in support of 
 tbe views entertained in Jeflferson's report, gave rise to lengthy and 
 vehement discussion. The two great parties had taken issue upon 
 the subject of the policy tu be pursued towards France and England : 
 the sympathy of the democratic republicans was exclusively extended 
 towards the former nation, while the federalists, questioning the sta. 
 bility and good faith of the new republic, were anxious to avoid 
 serious collision with the government of Great Britain. 
 
 Smith, of South Carolina, took the lead of the opposition, and 
 argued at length upon the futility as well as injustice of any attempt 
 at governing the foreign policy of England by a discriminating scale 
 of duties and tonnage. The resolutions, by virtue of which the 
 commerce of nations under no commercial treaty with the United 
 States was to be subjected to restrictions or burdens not extended 
 to others, passed by a small majority. They were avowedly aimed 
 at the trade wiib England. "Of the efficacy of these commercial 
 restrictions," says Mr. Hildreth, "as a means of coercing Great Brit- 
 ain, Madison and his party entertained very extravagant ideas, of 
 which they had afterward ample opportunity to be cured. What, 
 indeed, could be more extravagant than the statement that Great 
 Britain imported necessaries from us, and we only luxuries from her, 
 repeated over and over again by the representatives of a state whose 
 chief export was tobacco, and whose imports were principally cloth- 
 ing, tools, and other manufactured articles of daily use and necessity? 
 In all these commercial struggles, nothing is more certain tlinn that 
 the richest party can endure the longest, and is sure to triumph in 
 the end." 
 
332 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 
 The measures adopted against Great Britain were rendered still 
 more popular upon the arrival of intelligence that orders had been 
 issued by the admiralty in November previous, by which neutral 
 trade with French colonies was as arbitrarily dealt with as that with 
 France direct It was also reported that the British governor of 
 Lower Canada, Lord Dorchester, at an Indian council, had delivered 
 an address breathing a hostile spirit towards the United States. 
 
 The anticipated danger was met by appropriations — on rather a 
 small scale, considering the supposed necessities of the case — for for- 
 tifying various sea-ports, and for organization and training of the 
 militia. . A temporary embargo was also decided upon. So strong 
 was the hostile feeling, that a motion was made, and warmly urged, 
 for the sequestration of debts due to British creditors, for tlie pur- 
 pose of applying them to indemnify those who had sustained losses 
 by seizure of property under the obnoxious laws restraining neutral 
 trade. It was also proposed that all trade with Great Britain should 
 cease until reparation should be made for these illegal seizures, and 
 until an evacuation of the western military posts should be ordered. 
 
 The English ministry, on the other hand, seemed to incline to 
 pacific and conciliatory measures, being "too fully and deeply occu- 
 pied with treasons at home, and the menace of invasion from abroad, 
 to answer this waspishness of America in a similar tone. On the 
 contrary, the last obnoxious order of the admiralty was recalled, and 
 the federal party were able to rally, and entertain hoptis of avoiding 
 a rupture." 
 
 Washington anxious to preserve peaceable relations with 
 
 Great Britain, and, foreseeing the possible results of heated and 
 angry debate in congress, with the recurrence of successive hostile 
 enactments passed upon the spur of the occasion, and insufliciently 
 digudted, he fixed upon a plan to set the matter temporarily at rest. 
 In the month of April, 1794, he proposed to the senate the appoint- 
 ment of a minister extraordinary, empowered to negotiate for the 
 settlement of all existing diffictilties with England, and nominated, 
 for this mission, Chief-Justice Jay. The nomination was confirmed. 
 hy a very close vote. 
 
 These were times of great political excitement. Every arrival 
 from Europe brought news re|)lete with interest, and having a bear- 
 ing upon American i)olitics more direct than we can well appreciate 
 at thj present time. The more violent of the republican party itni 
 itated tlie French organization of pcjlitical clubs, and in the midst 
 
 Tr 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 833 
 
 of the "Reign of Terror," were so far blinded by party zeal as to 
 rejoice over intelligence of proceedings which, if brought nearer 
 home, would have excited unmingled horror and disgust. Others, 
 more moderate, yet with equal sympathy for a nation involved like 
 our own, in a strife between the people and their hereditary tyrants, 
 lamented over the violence which by reaction must eventually pre- 
 judice the cause of liberty and of equal rights. 
 
 la anticipation of conquest by the English, the French officials at 
 St Domingo had issued a proclamation by which the slaves on that 
 island were set free. The country became generally unsafe for 
 whites, and many, abandoning all their effects, sailed for the United 
 States. A bill introduced for the relief of these unfortunate immi- 
 grants called forth much argument upon the constitutional limits of 
 the power of congress. No authority can be discovered in the con- 
 stitution for any appropriation for mere purposes of charity, except 
 by a forced implication under the general provisions for foreign 
 intercourse. The measure was, notwithstanding, carried, by virtue 
 of its popularity, and has formed a precedent acted upon at a much 
 later period, upon the occasion of the famine in Ireland. Fifteen 
 thousand dollars were appropriated for the relief of the French 
 immigrants. 
 
 Another act, passed at this session, of great present interest, was 
 called forth by the continued efforts of French agents to organize 
 expeditions against the Spanish possessions of Louisiana. The 
 anxiety of the western settlers to obtain possession of the Mississippi 
 rendered it an easy matter to collect adventurers upon such an enter- 
 prise, if winked at by government. A bill to restrain American 
 citizens from engaging in hostilities with friendly nations passed 
 both houses early in June. A fine of one thousand dollars and three 
 years' imprisonment were made the penalty for entrance into foreign 
 military service by any persons within the jurisdiction of the United 
 States. This provision was specially aimed at those who should 
 unlawfully enlist recruits; the penalty awarded against those whom 
 they had seduced from allegiance being remitted upon conviction of 
 the former, consequent on their information. 
 
 The equipment of vessels, and the organization of expeditions 
 within the United States, for the purpose of carrying on hostilities 
 against any country at peace with the confederation, subjected the 
 ofteridcr to a still heavier fine, with the same term of imprisonment. 
 To secure promptitude in the suppression of such unlawful enter- 
 
334 
 
 TU£ PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 prise, the president was expressly authorized to exert his powers as 
 commander-in-chief of the military forces of the United States, and 
 in case of necessity to call out the militia. 
 
 A serious civil disturbance took place in western Pennsylvania 
 during the summer. The law imposing excise duties on spirituous 
 liquors of domestic manufacture had been, from the first, particularly 
 obnoxious in this section of the country, the difficulty of getting 
 grain to market rendering its consumption for purposes of distil- 
 lation a matter of great convenience and profit. Process being 
 issued against certain distillers who had neglected to conform to the 
 provisions of the act, the civil officials were resisted, and the 
 rioters, adopting an offensive attitude, assailed the house of the 
 inspector. 
 
 The spirit of insurrection rapidly spread throughout the western 
 counties, and the people, inflamed by the speeches and influence of 
 demagogues, set the laws at defiance, maltreated its officers, and held 
 public meetings for organizing a regular system of resistance. The 
 mails were intercepted to cut off communication with the seat of 
 government, and the friends of order and obedience to the laws wer6 
 completely overawed in all the disaffected districts. 
 
 The leaders of this insurrection became the more insolent and 
 exacting from the mild measures at first resorted to for allaying the 
 tumult, and the president found it necessary to exert his constitu- 
 tional powers for the support of the laws. A requisition was made for 
 fifteen thousand militia, from Pennsylvania and the adjoining states: 
 an overpowering force was marched into the western counties, and 
 every symptom of' rebellion speedily disappeared. Those who had 
 taken the most active part in the outbreak made their escape: many 
 arrests were made, but great leniency was exhibited towards the few 
 found guilty upon trial. 
 
 It was the o[)inion of the republican party in general, that this 
 demonstration was uncalled for by the exigency of the circumstances. 
 Jefferson, in a letter, says of the doings of the rebels: " We know of 
 none which, according to the definilions of the law, have been any 
 thing more than riotous. * * The information of our militia 
 returned from the westward is uniform, that, though the people there 
 let them pass quietly, they were objects of their laughter, not of their 
 fear; that one thousand men could have cut off their whole force in 
 a thousand places of the Alleghany ; that their detestation of the 
 cxcidc law is universal, and has now associated to it a detestation of 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 885 
 
 the government; and that separation, which, perhaps, was a very 
 distant and problematical event, is now near, and certain, and deter- 
 mined in the mind of every man." 
 
 LliAriJiiil vl. 
 
 |m 
 Ihe 
 lof 
 
 GENERAL WAYNE'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NORTH-WESTERN 
 INDIANS. — DEFEAT OF THE CONFEDERATE TRIBES AT THE 
 MIAMI RAPIDS. — NATURALIZATION LAWS. — THE DEMO- 
 CRATIC CLUBS. — HAMILTON'S RESIGNATION. — THE 
 BRITISH TREATY: ITS RATIFICATION: POPULAR IN- 
 DIGNATION. — RANDOLPH'S RESIGNATION 
 
 The north-western Indians, unmolested by any important military 
 expedition since their signal victory over St. Clair, had grown con- 
 tinually more insolent and exacting in their demands. The progress 
 of western settlements was impeded by savage inroads: the natives 
 considered all white emigrants from the east as encroachers, and, 
 rendered confident by late successes, seemed rather to court hostili- 
 ties. It finally became essential to oppose a forcible check to 
 their ravages. To guard against the possibility of a second defeat, 
 the campaign of 1794 was preceded by the fortification of military 
 posts at Greenville, on the Miami, and at the spot rendered memora- 
 ble by St. Clair's defeat. The latter was named Fort Recovery. 
 
 The preceding winter and spring were occupied in these works, 
 and in the collection of an army, the command of which was be- 
 stowed upon General Wayne. On the 80th of June, 1794, the 
 strength of the position at Fort Recovery was tested by a fierce 
 attack on the part of the Indians, assisted by a number of whites — 
 English or Canadians. The place was successfully defended, al- 
 though not without heavy loss. 
 
 In the month of August active operations were commenced. 
 "When the army was once put in motion, important and decisive 
 events rapidly succeeded. The march was directed into the heart of 
 the Indian settlements on the Miami, now called Maumee, a river 
 emptying into the western extremity of Lake Erie. Where the 
 beautiful stream Au Glaise empties into the river, a fort was imme- 
 Vol. IV.— 50 
 
386 
 
 THE FEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORT. 
 
 diately erected, and named Fort Defiance. From this post General 
 Wayne sent emissaries to invite the hostile nations to negotiation, 
 but the pride and rancour of the Indians prevented any favourable 
 results. Little Turtle, indeed, seemed to forebode the impending 
 storm, and advised the acceptance of the terms offered. 'The 
 Americans,' said he, 'are now led by a chief who never sleeps: the 
 night and the day are alike to him. * * Think well of it 
 There is .something whispers me it would be prudent to listen to his 
 offers of peace.'"* Wayne was commonly called by the Indians 
 the "Black Snake:" another aoubriquet^ bestowed upon him by his 
 own followers, was that of "Mad Anthony." 
 
 The American camp was posted in the midst of such extensive 
 and highly cultivated fields of com as excited the admiration and 
 astonishment of the invaders. The country "presented for miles 
 the appearance of a single village, and rich corn-fields spread on 
 either side," The Indians had retreated down the river from their 
 settlement, upon the advance of the army, and had taken up a 
 position in the immediate vicinity of a British fort, near the Miami 
 rapids. This was one of those posts retained by Great Britain in 
 defiance of former treaties, and constituted, as was generally be- 
 lieved, a d^pdt where the Indians could procure arms and counsel, 
 if not direct assistance. 
 
 General Wayne attacked the enemy in their position, on the 20th 
 of August The Indians fought bravely : skilled in the use of fire- 
 arms, and somewhat familiar with the tactics of modern warfare, 
 they were far different opponents from what they had been in earlier 
 times. Their array, however, was broken by a charge of bayonets, 
 and an entire rout ensued. The powerful confederacy was, for the 
 time, annihilated; and the Americans, retracing their steps, spent 
 some time in laying waste the fields and settlements of the wretched 
 savages. Garrisons were posted at the forts within the Indian dis- 
 tricts, and the army retired to Greenville for winter-quarters. 
 
 The more important proceedings of congress, at the winter session 
 of 1794-5, related to the naturalization laws — which were estab- 
 lished as at present, requiring five years' residence in the United 
 States, a declartfion of intention three years previous to the final 
 ftpf^iMtioi^nd one years' residence in the state where the petition 
 is glinted; — and the establishment of a system for the appropria- 
 tion of surplus revenue for the reduction of the national debt 
 
 * Indian Rueea of America. 
 
 fere 
 
THE UNITED BTATEB. 
 
 887 
 
 A lengthy and excited debate arose early in tbe session, upon the 
 question as to what aotion should be taken in reply to certain re- 
 marks in a message of the president, relative to the democratic 
 clubs. In adverting to the circumstances attendant upon the excise 
 tumults, Washington alluded to these associations, as "self-created 
 societies," whose influence had been perniciously extended in oppo- 
 sition Xo the power and authority of government. The senate 
 concurred in this denunciation ; the house of representatives com- 
 promised the matter in dispute by a general resolution, condemning 
 the action of individuals or societies, which should have resulted in 
 misrepresentations of the proceedings of government, or have coun- 
 tenanced resistance to lawful authority. 
 
 It was at this session that Alexander Hamilton resigned his office 
 as secretary of the treasury, and General Knox that of secretary of 
 wai". Oliver Wolcott, an officer connected with the treasury departs 
 ment, succeeded the former ; the place of the latter was occupied by 
 Timothy Pickering, former post-master general. It is said that the 
 principal motive for retirement, on the part of both these distin- 
 guished officials, was pecuniary necessity, the pay awarded for their 
 public services being grossly inadequate. 
 
 A special session of the senate was called early in June, 1795, to 
 deliberate upon a treaty recently arranged between Jay, the Ameri- 
 can ambassador extraordinary, and the British minister. Lord Gren- 
 ville. Great Britain, it was found, would consent to few concessions; 
 the most objectionable of her claims were still insisted upon, or left 
 open ; and the commercial privileges yielded to America were gen- 
 erally accompanied by onerous restrictions or conditions. She agreed 
 to give up posse' /ii of the western posts upon security for payment 
 of debts due to Bri ish subjects before the revolution. A reciprocal 
 agreement provided for indemnity in all cases of illegal seizures. 
 
 With respect to freedom of commerce, the right to trade with the 
 British West Indies was restricted to vessels not exceeding seventy 
 tons measurement, a privilege counterbalanced by a prohibition of 
 any exportation of articles similar to those produced in those colo- 
 nies, from America to Europe. A wide discretion was still claimed 
 respecting the right to seize supplies destined for any country with 
 which England should be engaged in hostilities. Su(A articles as 
 were not clearly ** contraband of war," were, it is true, to be paid for 
 if seized. No indemnity could be procured for those who had suf- 
 fered loss from the abduction of slaves by the British during the 
 
888 
 
 TU£ PEOPLE'S BOOK Of UlSTOBY. 
 
 war; and the right to impress subjects of the king, if found on 
 board American vessels, was insisted upon, and remained undecided. 
 Goods belonging to an enemy were still claimed by England to bo 
 liable to seizure on board the vessels of a neutral. 
 
 The treaty was approved by a two-thirds vote of the senate, (ob- 
 jection being taken to the article relating to the West India trade, 
 upon which action was suspended,) and received the ratification of 
 the president on the 14th day of August, notwithstanding a storm 
 of popular indignation, which had broken out upon its publication. 
 The terms agreed upon fell so far short of the expectations or wishes 
 of the people, that meetings were every where held, and violent 
 denunciatory resolutions passed. A memorial accompanied the rat- 
 ification, protesting against the claim, enforced by recent orders of 
 admiralty, respecting the indiscriminate seizure of provisions which 
 might be destined for the relief of an enemy. 
 
 At this time, certain private communications between Mr. Ed- 
 mund Randolph, the secretary of state, and Fauchet, the successor 
 of Genet as ambassador from France, having come to the knowledge 
 of the British government by an intercepted dispatch, had been made 
 known to the president. The tendency of these disclosures was to 
 reflect upon the secretary an imputation of double-dealing, and of 
 some unwarrantable propositions. He accordingly resigned his office, 
 at the same time entering into an elaborate defence of his conduct, 
 and indignantly denying the validity of conclusions adopted by his 
 political opponents. A discussion of the merits of the case is en- 
 tirely beyond our limits, and it may, indeed, be doubted whether 
 we have means for arriving at a determinate opinion respecting 
 the affair. 
 
 ^ * 
 
 tn 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 889 
 
 CHATTER VII. 
 
 INDIAN TREATY AT PORT GREENVILLE. — TREATIES WITH 
 
 AL0IBR8 AND SPAIN: THE MISSISSIPPI OPENED TO AMERICAN 
 
 TRADE. — DEBATE IN CONGRESS UPON JAY'S BRITISH 
 
 .TREATY. — TENNESSEE ADMITTED INTO THE UNION. 
 
 — FRENCH PROCEEDINGS IN RESPECT TO THE 
 
 TREATY. — AMERICAN MINISTERS TO PRANCE. 
 
 — WASHINGTON'S RETIREMENT PROM OF- 
 
 PICB: SLANDERS UPON HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 ' — JOHN ADAMS ELECTED PRESIDENT. 
 
 The Indians of the north-west, finally convinced of the superior 
 power of the United States, and learning that their old allies, the 
 British, were about to evacuate the western military posts, expressed 
 a willingness to treat pacifically. A great meeting was brought 
 about at Fort Greenville at the beginning of August, 1795, at which 
 General Wayne, on behalf of the United States, entered into a defi- 
 nite agreement with the principal chiefs respecting future bounda- 
 ries, &c. The Indians gave up all claim to an immense tract included 
 in the present state of Ohio, together with other lands farther west.-. 
 
 Before the next session of congress very important treaties were 
 also negotiated with the Dey of Algiers, and with the Spanish gov- 
 ernment. In common with several European nations, the United 
 States submitted to the disgraceful imposition of a heavy tribute, 
 in order to secure safety for her commerce from the attacks of the 
 Algerine corsairs, and for the release of prisoners still held in cap- 
 tivity, victims of former piracies. With Spain more honourable 
 arrangements were established. The boundaries of her provinces 
 of Florida and Loui.<«iana were assigned, and free navigation through- 
 out the Mississippi was secured to the citizens of the United States. 
 
 These several treaties having been ratified by the senate and 
 president, together with that concluded with Great Britain, were 
 brought before the house of reprepentatives, at its winter session, 
 for the purpo,se of such action being taken, and such appropriations 
 made, as should give them full effect. Those relating to Indian 
 affairs, Algiers, and Spain, were readily disposed of: the English 
 treaty called forth all the fury of the opposition. A previous refnpal 
 
840 
 
 TUK I'KUPLI'I BOOK OF HIBTOBT. 
 
 by the pr^ident, on grounds of public policy, upon « call from tho 
 house, to lay before that body the diplomatic correapondenoe, &c., 
 relative to this treaty, had a tendency to aggravate party violence. 
 
 The question was debated from April 16th, 1796, until the close 
 of the month. The whole effect of treaties; whether they became 
 binding when ratified, or wiiether concurrence of the house by 
 necessary appropriations was requisite before the national faith could 
 be considered pledged; and an application of general prinoiplos 
 to this particular treaty, formed abundant theme for argument and 
 declamation. A compromise was finally effected, by a passage of 
 the appropriations, as being a matter of present expediency, without 
 any decision of the general position in dispute. 
 
 On the Ist of June, just at the close of the session,' the state of 
 Tennessee was admitted into the Union. The population of that ter* 
 ritory already amounted to about eighty thousand, including negroes. 
 
 The conclusion of Jay's British treaty excited great dissatisfaction 
 in France. Tho Directory, indignant that America should have 
 yielded to the British claims res^^ecting the seizure of French prop* 
 erty on board neutral vessels, declared that France was no longer 
 bound by the stipulations of her former treaty with the United 
 States, and, on the 2d of July, 1796, an order was promulgated, 
 "authorizing the ships-of-war of the republic to treat neutral vessels 
 in the same manner in which they suflfered themselves to be treated 
 by the English." 
 
 Great numbers of American vessels were seized and confiscated 
 under this decree. Mr. Monroe, minister to France, at this period 
 was a member of the republican party, and, as such, warmly fa- 
 voured the interests of that nation, lie had met with un enthusiastic 
 reception, and, tli rough liitn, a formal exchange of flags had been 
 eft'ected between France and the United States, as a token of mutual 
 respect and amity. With the intention of adopting a stronger tone 
 towards tho government of the republic, Washington appointod 
 Charles C. Pinckncy of Soiiih Ciiroliiia, in place of Monroe. The 
 new envoy sailed for France in September. 
 
 As the period of his H<-e<>nd term of ofRce approached. President 
 Washington, in a farewell address, announced his determination to 
 retire from public life. This valedictory wiis issued in the month 
 of September, 179H. Tliroughoiit liis administration his conduct 
 had been marked by rirmiie.s.s and integrity; but his leaning towards 
 the principles of the fuderalisLH was un unpardonable sin in the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 841 
 
 opinion of too many of the opponition. Every species of abuse had 
 been heaped upon him by ranters in the republican party; ambitious 
 personal views, disregard for popular rights, a tyrannical disposition, 
 and even peculations upon the public funds, were attributed to him. 
 The grossest misrepresentations reflecting upon his character were 
 circulated ; his enemies did not even scruple at the publication of 
 forged letters for the purpose of alienating the affection and respect 
 of the people fVom their former idol. 
 
 Time baa exposed these falsehoods, and the vituperation of polit- 
 ical opponents is forgotten. The acrimony of party zeal has ceased 
 to blind men's minds to the true character of Washington ; no man 
 in public life has left behind him a more unblemished reputation, 
 and few have attained equal eminence as a commander and a 
 statesman. ;. ,„,,„. 
 
 At the second presidential election, the great political parties put 
 forward, as their respective candidates, John Adams and Thomas 
 Jefferson. Seventy votes . ;3re necessary to a choice; Adams re- 
 ceived seventy -one, and the republican candidate sixty-nine by virtue 
 of which he entered upon the office of vice-president The inaugu- 
 ration took place in the 9th of March, 1797. Washington retired 
 to his estate at Mount Vernon, where he passed the remainder 
 of his life. 
 
 TRIATMKNT OP DNTTBD STATBS' AMBASSADORS IN 7RAKC1.- 
 
 H08TILE PREPARATIONS IN AMERICA. — NBW BMJAS8T: Rl- 
 
 FU8AL OF THB DIRECTORY TO RECEIVE THB AMERIOAI 
 
 MINISTERS. — NEGOTIATIONS WITH TALLEYRAND. — 
 
 IXTRAVAOANT DEMANDS AND INJURIOUS DECREES Of 
 
 THE DIRECTORY. — RETURN OF THE AMBASSADORS. — 
 
 ACTION OF CONORESS: MILITARY PRBPARATIONS: 
 
 ALIBN AND SEDITION LAWS: LAND-TAX, ETC. 
 
 The administration of Mr. Adams opened with serious and per- 
 plexing difficulties connected with our relations towards France. 
 Soon after the inauguration, dispatches arrived from Pinckr.ey, 
 setting forth the injurious reception that he had met with on the 
 
842 
 
 THE PEOPLE 8 BOOK OF HI8T0BY. 
 
 part of the Directory. Monroe, upon presentation of his own letters 
 of recall, and those relative to the new appointment, was notified 
 that France would receive no other ambaHsador from the United 
 States until redress should be made for the grievances before com- 
 plained of as connected with the British treaty. 
 
 The retiring minister, at his Inst audience, was dismissed by the 
 president, Barras, in a speech ns flattering to him as insulting to his 
 country. Pinckney could not even obtain a necessary protection 
 for continuing in the country until further orders from home. He 
 was compelled to leave France, and proceeded, accordingly, to 
 Holland. 
 
 The late astonishing successes which had attended her arms upon 
 the continent, caused the existing government of France to under- 
 value the importance of preserving friendly relations with the 
 American republic; and the tone adopted by the Directory was of 
 a character calculated to strengthen the federal party in the states. 
 New and offensive decrees relative to American commerce speedily 
 followed. 
 
 President Adams, in a forcible address to congress, set forth the 
 conduct of the French government, as opposed to all rules of na- 
 tional courtesy and right: he recommended the formation of a 
 naval force, with other measures for defence of the commerce of the 
 country, and inveighed against the inttjrference of France with the 
 internal politics of the United States, exhibited in various endeav- 
 ours to influence the elections, and alienate the people from the 
 government. After long debate in the house, appropriations wore 
 made, and loans authorized for the purpose of carrying out the 
 views of the president, and arrangements were made for a draught 
 of militia from the several slates in case of emergency. 
 
 A new embassy was commissioned, consisting of three persons — 
 Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry — to make a further attempt at the 
 opening of pacific negotiations. Tlie envoys proceeded to France, 
 and arrived in Paris early in October, 1797. The Directory rel'iiscd 
 to receive them, but an irregular negotiation was commenced tli rough 
 the intervention of some agents of Talleyrand, then minist(!r for 
 foreign affairs, and protracted, without important issue, until April 
 of the following year. Durijig this period, the American ambassa- 
 dors were officially authorized to remain at the capital, and, from 
 time to time, held interviews with Talleyrand or his creatures. 
 
 The point most insisUid on by the latter, was the necessity tor 
 


 % 
 
 .10 IIS ADAMS, 
 
 SECOND ri{t:sil)ENT OF THE UMTED STATES. 
 
 BoKK IN 1:3a filKSiUKNT IN 1797, bKRVliU 1 YKAH3, 
 UiJiU JULY 4. IbwO 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 848 
 
 opening the way to a complete arrangement, by a douceur or bribe 
 of about two hundred and forty thousand dollars, for the benefit of 
 the minister and directory, and the effecting a loan to the French 
 government of a further sum. This rapacious scheme was urged 
 with the most unblushing effrontery. "The main point," said the 
 Frenchmen, "is ilfaut de Vargent — ilfaut beaucoup d^argent.^^ Some- 
 thing in hand, at least, they urged, should be paid them, until the 
 matter could be finally arranged. In vain did the envoys protest 
 that they possessed no shadow of authority for such proceedings 
 or undertakings; the matter was again and again reverted to, 
 and suggestions, unworthy of any but the most venal and cor- 
 rupt, were made respecting the manner in which it might be 
 brought about. 
 
 The demands of the Directory, as finally communicated by Tal- 
 leyrand, could not be listened to for a moment. If granted, they 
 would necessarily involve the United States in an immediate war, 
 for not only was the loan insisted upon, but also an annulment 
 of the late treaty with Great Britain. Desirous to terrify, or force 
 compliance with their unreasonable demands, the government had, 
 during the winter, greatly extended the grounds upon which Amer- 
 ican vessels were held liable to seizure. It was declared that all 
 produce of any dependency of Great Britain, without regard to 
 existing ownership, should be lawful prize, if found on board a 
 neutral vessel. 
 
 After experiencing every slight and indignity, two of the Ameri- 
 can commissioners, Marshall and Pinckney, returned to the states; 
 Gerry, through whom, individually, many of the previous commu- 
 nications hati been made by Talleyrand, and with whom, as being 
 the only republican on the commission, it was intimixled that farther 
 negotiations might be continued, remained at Paris. 
 
 This treatment of the United States' ambassadors could not fail to 
 weaken the influence of the Gnllican party in America. The out- 
 ragoous demands of France, and the character of the late commercial 
 decrees, could not be sustained by the most ardent of her adlierents 
 on this side the water. Congress being in session, April, 1798, dis- 
 patches containing a history of the negotiation were brought up for 
 consideration. The most active measures were at once taken to 
 pn^pare for contingent hostilities, and to furnish present protection 
 to Ainericiin shipping. Large sums wore appropriated for the pur- 
 chase of tnunitiuiis of war, for the increase of the naval force, and 
 
84'i 
 
 THE PSOPLX'8 BOOK OV HIBTOBT. 
 
 '^i^. 
 
 
 for fortifications. A new cabinet department was created for the 
 management of naval affiiira. 
 
 A succession of important and Tleoisive measures were passed 
 during the spring and summer. Without a direct declaration of war 
 with France, orders were issued for a cessation of all commercial 
 intercourse with that country ; former treaties were declared to be 
 of no further effect; the capture of any armed French vessels was 
 authorized, if by private adventure, and directed, on the part of 
 the United States' navy. The latter was greatly increased, and large 
 appropriations were made for building new vessels and enlisting a 
 corps of marines. 
 
 ., Powers were bestowed upon the president, to enlist an army of 
 ten thousand men, in case of urgent necessity, and to immediately 
 appoint military officers, and make arrangements for the enrolment 
 and training of volunteers, in anticipation of such contingency. He 
 also received discretionary authority to order from the country any 
 foreigner who should be suspected of dangerous designs against 
 government; and, in case of hostilities, to banish or arrest all per^ 
 sons belonging to the nation against which war should be declared. 
 
 To meet the heavy expense of these defensive measures, a tax 
 was laid upon slaves and real estate. As a check upon the violence 
 of the more turbulent portion of the opponition, and a restraint upon 
 foreign intrigue, an act was passed defining and affixing punishment 
 to seditious or treasonable conspiracies fur opposing the authority 
 of government, and to the issuing of any libel upon congress, the 
 executive, or the measures of government, as well aa any false and 
 malicious publication, having a tendency to excite domestic disaf- 
 fection, or to aid or encounige the designs of any hostile nation. 
 
 These acts met with a very strong opposition in congress; but 
 the federal party was in a decided majority, and generally succeeded 
 in carrying the measures introduced by its leaders. 
 
 The office of commandcr-in chief of the provisional army was be* 
 stowed upon Washington: his acceptance was conditional that his 
 aorvices should be required only in cose of emergency. 
 
 •■11 - . 
 
 !^ ;);tt,f 3^' ii: ,i: • 
 
VJl THK UNITKD STATES, f t'^^t 
 
 846 
 
 «^ .*< 
 
 :?%s>t{^'iN>>^i LiXlinJrxjan IJL* 
 
 PAOiriO M0TSKBNT8 IV PSANCB. — KI88I0N OF MDRRAT. — 
 NATAL SN0A0EKBMT8. — DBATH OF WASHINGTON. NAPO- 
 LEON FIE8T CONSUL. — TREATY WITH PRANCE. — FIRST 
 SESSION OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON. — PRESI- 
 DENTIAL ELECTION: JEFFERSON PRESIDENT, AND 
 BURR TICE-PRE8IDBNT. — PARTY REMOVAL FROM , 
 OFFICE. — ECONOMICAL REFORMS. — OHIO AD- 
 MITTED INTO THE UNION. — TRANSFER OF 
 ifj^tT-' LOUISIANA TO THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 be- 
 his 
 
 The Directory, finding all efforts to involve the United States in 
 war with England likely to prove futile, and learning by experi- 
 ence, that in naval operations the retaliatory measures lately adopted 
 in America, would tell severely upon French commerce, adopted a 
 more pacific and conciliatory course. Shortly before the departure 
 of Gerry, which took place in August, 1708, Talleyrand communi- 
 cated to him the willingness of government to receive a minister 
 from the United States, if choice should be made of one free from 
 prejudice against the interests of France; and, at the same time, 
 renounced all the more objectionable preliminaries to negotiations, 
 before so pertinaciously urged. About the same time, decrees were 
 passed for securing American vessels against unauthorized seizures 
 by French privateers, '''f w>^-w<*r,' • -sv^a^iit.:^ 
 
 In answer to these overtures, the senate, upon nomination of 
 President Adams, in February of 1799, appointtid Mr. Murray, min- 
 ister at the Hague, jointly with Judge Marsh nil and Patrick Ilenry, 
 to undertake a new mission to France, a condition being annexed 
 that intimation must be given by that nation of a favourable reception 
 before they should enter the French territory. General Davie, of 
 North Carolina, took the place of Henry, who declined serving on 
 account of bodily infirmitiea 
 
 These negotiations were slowly perfected, and, in the interim, 
 many encounters took place at sea, between private armed vessels 
 of the two nations. Those employed in the American merchant ser- 
 vice, generally availed themselves of the permission accorded by 
 congress to carry arms, and the spirit of privateering, purhnps to 
 
846 
 
 TIIK PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 be considered a national predilection, was gratified by the aeizwre 
 of many prizes. In February, 1799, an action was fought at sea, 
 near the island of St Kitt's, between the United States frigate Con- 
 stellation, and the French frigate L'Insurgente, in which the latter 
 after a severe contest, was captured, and sent a prize to America. 
 
 Upon communication through Talleyrand, of the readiness of the 
 government to receive American envoys, Marshall and Davie were 
 directed, by the president, to embark forthwith, notwithstanding 
 vehement objections from a portion of the cabinet, grounded upon 
 the uncertainty of affairs in France, consequential upon a recent 
 change in the Directory. 
 
 The death of General Washington, which occurred on the 14th 
 of December, 1799, silenced, for a brief period, the clamour of party 
 contention, and all, except a few among the most violent and pre- 
 judiced of his former opponents, united to honour his memory by 
 public testimonials of respect and gratitude. 
 
 The new revolution of affairs in France, and the elevation of Na- 
 poleon to the office of First Consul, occurring at this epoch, augured 
 favourably for the establishment of permanent peace with France. 
 Meanwhile, the national pride of the United States was farther 
 gratified by intelligence of the prowess of the Constellation in an- 
 other engagement with the French frigate La Vengeance, a vessel 
 of greatly superior force. Although the latter escaped, in conse- 
 quence of the loss of a mast by the Constellation, she was so much 
 damaged that she was condemned upon arrival at port. The loss 
 of men on board the French vessel was four times greater than that 
 suffered by the Americans, amounting to about one hundred and 
 sixty in killed and wounded. The engagement took place in Feb- 
 ruary, 1800. 
 
 The United States' ambassadors were received by the First Consul, 
 with distinguished consideration, in the ensuing month of Marcli. 
 Talleyrand was still at the head of the department for foreign affairs, 
 but a special commission, in which he had no share, was appointed 
 to treat on the part of the French government. Bound down by 
 stringent instructions, the envoys could enter into no conclusive 
 arrangement, but a temporary convention was agreed upon, that, 
 until the negotiation could be completed and a new treaty entered 
 into, the ships of either nation were to be safe from seizure under 
 the late unreasonable decrees. 
 
 Provision was also made for reconveyance of prizes not already 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 847 
 
 condemned, and of captured national vessels, and preliminary agree- 
 ments were arranged for the future discharge of private claims against 
 either government. These results were not arrived at before the 
 month of October of the same year. They afterwards formed the 
 basis for the conclusion of a satisfactory treaty. 
 
 When congress came together in November, the public buildings 
 at Washington were sufficiently advanced to serve the purposes 
 designed, and the session was held accordingly at the new capitol. 
 The approaching presidential election was the all-absorbing topic of 
 interest, inasmuch as a grand trial of strength was expected between 
 the two political parties. President Adams had lost popularity by 
 the strong measures adopted in anticipation of war with France, his 
 course not appearing justified by the subsequent turn of events. 
 
 The respective candidates for the offices of president and vice- 
 president, were Adams and Pinckney, on the side of the federals; 
 while Jefferson, and the talented but intriguing and unprincipled 
 Colonel Aaron Burr, stood forth as representatives of the republicans. 
 The latter were successful, but as they received an equal number of 
 votes, by the existing constitutional regulation, selection devolved 
 upon the house of representatives. The votes were taken by states, 
 and it was not until afler thirty-five divisions, that either candidate 
 could secure a majority. The contest terminated at the thirty-sixth 
 balloting, on the 17th of February, 1801. Jefferson obtained the 
 majority, and was declared president accordingly. Burr entered 
 upon the office of vice-president. 
 
 With the accession of Jefiferson commenced that system of removal 
 from office of political opponents to the administration, which, with 
 a greater or less degree of personal favoritism, has been the estab- 
 lished policy upon every succeeding revolution of parties. The 
 changes arbitrarily introduced by the new president were mostly 
 such as were absolutely essential for the establishment of a necessary 
 unanimity in the departments, and a cordial cooperation in the new 
 principles of government. The displacement of certain federal in- 
 cumbents of inferior offices, gave occasion for great complaint, as 
 being uncalled for, and the result of mere party prejudice. With 
 our present experience of what may result from a retaliatory spirit, 
 we must look upon these removals by Jefferson as being conducted 
 with distinguished moderation. 
 
 The introduction of economical reform in the expenses of 
 government received the first attention of the new administration. 
 
848 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0BT. 
 
 The navy was reduced, and its place, to a certain extent, supplied by 
 gun-boats, built for harbour defence — the inefficiency of which, after* 
 wards demonstrated, gave occasion for much ridicule. In respect to 
 matters more particularly within the cognizance of a landsman and 
 one unacquainted with the practical conduct of military affairs, the 
 economical policy of Jefferson was wisely and judiciously enforced. 
 The obnoxious excise laws, and the land-tax, were repealed, by 
 means of which a great number of petty but expensive offices were 
 annulled; additional federal courts, created under the former admin- 
 istration, were done away with; and provision was made for the 
 reduction and eventual payment of the public debt — the existence 
 of which was supposed to give undue influence to the treasury 
 department 
 
 In 1802, the state of Ohio, whither a great influx of emigrants had 
 poured since the partial extinguishment of the Indian title, was 
 admitted into the Union by act of congress, and commenced its 
 separate existence as a sovereign state early in the following spring. 
 
 The transfer of the immense territory of Louisiana from Spain to 
 France, and the negotiation through which its purchase was effected, 
 by the United States in 1808, have been already detailed in that 
 portion of this work devoted to the French settlements in America. 
 No event could have been of greater importance to our western states 
 and territories than this. The possession by any foreign nation of 
 the outlet to the main channel of communication to this vast region, 
 must have caused continual conflict of interest, and endangered the 
 preservation of friendly relations between the parties concerned. 
 Experience had shown that the binding force of treaties was insuffi- 
 cient to secure our citizens in their stipulated rights, while the mouth 
 of the Mississippi was commanded by the agents of European powers. 
 
I .'. ', ' 'f;'^; .,> A. , 
 
 'i I- ■ II :. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ClxAFTEE X. 
 
 849 
 
 AMBRICAN FMBT IN THB MBDITERRANBAN. — BIPBDIIION OF 
 
 BATON AND HAMBT AGAINST TRIPOLI. — TRBATT CONCLUDED. 
 
 — JEFFERSON'S RKBLBCTION. — BURR'S DUEL WITH EAM- 
 
 ILT0N:HI8 WESTERN ENTERPRISE: HIS TRIAL. 
 
 The most interesting events, connected with foreign affairs, during 
 the first term of Jefferson's presidency, are those relating to difficul* 
 ties still existing with the Barbary states. That the maritime nations 
 of Europe, and the United States in pursuance of their example, 
 should have so long submitted to the degradation of purchasing 
 peace from the piratical barbarians of northern Africa, seems utterly 
 unaccountable, particularly as such concessions only aggravated their 
 insolence, and encouraged them, from time to time, to increase their 
 demands. 
 
 An American frigate, commanded by Bainbridge, in the autumn 
 of the year 1800, was compelled by the Dey of Algiers to serve as 
 a transport for the transmission of presents, kc., to Constantinople; 
 the remonstrances of the captain were met by the most arrogant and 
 insolent expressions of superiority. 
 
 The state of Tripoli, in the year following this event, commenced 
 open hostilities against American commerce — the reigning prince 
 having become dissatisfied with the terms upon which his favour 
 had been bought. In the summer of 1802 a squadron under com- 
 mand of Commodore Morris was dispatched against the belligerent 
 nation. A partial blockade and some unimportant captures were 
 the only advantages gained during this season. 
 
 During the summer of the following year a larger naval force 
 under Commodore Preble arrived in the Mediterranean, and pro- 
 ceeded to blockade the harbour of Tripoli. The frigate Philadelphia, 
 commanded by Bainbridge, arrived first at the station. Unfortu- 
 nately, while in pursuit of a Tripolitan vessel, she struck upon a rock. 
 Vain efforts were made to lighten and heave her off, during which 
 operation she was surrounded by gun-boata of the enemy. The 
 frigate heeled so far that her guns were useless, and she became a 
 prize to th.3 Tripolitans. They got her off safely, and took her into 
 
860 
 
 Tllli l'KOPLE'8 BOOK OK IllBTOKV. 
 
 the hurbuur, making prisoners of all on board. The offiours alone 
 were cxcniptud from a condition of slavery. 
 
 This capture gave occasion for a brilliant exploit. Lieutenant 
 Decatur, with a small vessel recently taken from the enemy, and 
 manned by volunteers from the American frigate Enterprise, then 
 lying at Syracuse, undertook to destroy the Philadelphia. On the 
 nigljt of February 16th, 1804, the Tripolitan crew on board the 
 frigate were hailed in their own language from a small craft, appar- 
 ently of their nation, whose approach was regarded without suspicion. 
 Under the excuse that she had lost her anchors, the stranger was 
 pertnitted to come alongside and make fast to the ship, ller true 
 character was immediately ascertained: the Americans, rushing on 
 board, in the confusion attendant upon the first alarm, drove the crew 
 overboard, fired the vessel, and etfected a safe retreat. . 
 
 An achievement of a still more remarkable and romantic character 
 was accomplished in the following year by William Eaton, Consul 
 for the United States at Tunis. Jessuf, the Bashaw of Tripoli, was 
 a younger brother; he had driven Ilamet, the rightful incumbent of 
 the throne, into exile; and with the latter, Eaton, by authority from 
 the United States, entered into correspondence for the purpose of 
 planning a land expedition from Egypt into Tripoli, and expelling 
 the usurper. 
 
 A little band of ^Vrabs, Tripolitan refugees of Uamet's party, and 
 Christian adventurers, numbering in all only about four hundred 
 men, set out from the vicinity of Alexandria, early in the spring of 
 1805. The passage of the intervening desert was not completed 
 until the latter part of April, the march being attended with extreme 
 suffering and destitution. The invaders arriving at Derne, with the 
 cooperation of American vessels lying in the harbour, took forcible 
 possession of the town, and held it against the main Tripolitan force, 
 by which they were attacked a fortnight later. 
 
 While thus in the full tide of success, the hopes of Ilamet and his 
 enterprising ally were crushed by the conclusion of a treaty between 
 the United States and Tripoli, by which Jessuf was lefl in undisturbed 
 posses-sion of his sovereignty. A large sum was paid for the ransom 
 of captives remaining in the power of the bashaw, after the accom- 
 ])li8hincnt of an equal exchange for those prisoners taken by the 
 Americans. 
 
 Prior to the conclusion of these events, a new presidential election 
 in the United States, had resulted in Jefferson's continuance in office 
 
* 
 
 
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 7' // o v \ .s ./ /: /• /.' /; R ,s o v, 
 
 TIIIKD I'liKSIDKNT Ol' THK UN'lTKn STATES. 
 
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 FRK.SIDtNT IN 1601, ]1Y A MA.IOKITY OF 1; 8ERVKD 8 TEARS 
 
 DtFD im.Y 4 IP'Jfl 
 
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THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 851 
 
 for % Mcond term. George Clint»>ti of New York was chosen vice- 
 president in place of Burr. The latter, in tlif summer of 1804, en- 
 raged iigftinst Ilatnilttin on iu;count of influence brought to bear 
 Against him as oan<iidate for the office of governor of New York, 
 sought /' i|uarrel with his political opponent, which resulted in a 
 duel. Hunultoi f"!) mortally wounded at the first fire. The cir- 
 cumstance that liurr was the aggressor, to- well as the challenging 
 party, with a general Huspicion of his pr«>vu> ^ integrity and good 
 faith, arouseil such pi. blic indignation that he w "< obliged to leave 
 the state. Politically dead in the Uiiilid States, i urned hisatten 
 tion thenceforth t*> deeper and more despcute hw 'gues, to whic',, 
 a little anticipating the order of events, wo u bet' advert. 
 
 In concert with one Blennerhasset., an Iri man cf considr ible 
 property, who had established himseli upon ti ifilmid in the Ohio 
 river near Marietta, Burr, it would appear, ibrmei magnificent 
 schemes for revolutionizing the western country, a id lue establish- 
 ment of a sepnrat government, as well as for in avusion of the 
 Spanish province > f Mexico. By personal inte^ \v« with leading 
 men who were supp ised to be disaffected towards 
 by mysterious letters calculated to arouse cupidity 
 nite hopes, and by n< '^otiations through agents in ' 
 very variant degrees o" confidence, he sut^ceoded in ei 
 feverish anticipation of ^ome great, but indt^terminat* 
 about to take place. 
 
 Being a man of consummate abilities, and of a rema 
 address, he acquired grc it influence over those with 
 familiar intercourse, and while he could mould inferior minds to his 
 own views, he was always able to conceal his own true 'urposes. 
 Perhaps no political intri;. ue ever occupied such universa .tteution, 
 as the one of which we ar- speaking, without its purport eventually 
 becoming more clearly apj arent. 
 
 When Burr first began ) collect forces, it was under the guise 
 of procuring emigrants to < cupy a tract on the Ouachita, in Louis- 
 iana, to which he had pure, wed a doubtful claim. In December, 
 1806, with about one hundred men — who were probably as much 
 in the dark as to the true destination and purposes of the expedition 
 as the public at large — he pa^ssed down the Ohio in a number of 
 covered flat-boats. The ager ts of government were on the alert, 
 and his pnyects were by this ti ne universally canvassed, and entered 
 more or less into the political ontroversies of the day. 
 Vol. IV.-51 
 
 idmaiistration, 
 ad excite indefi- 
 
 ">m he placed 
 
 ; ingastateof 
 
 tticalchan'^o, 
 
 'ly pleasing 
 >in he held 
 
852 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UI8T0BY. 
 
 At Natchez, Burr submitted to the requisitions of the territorial 
 civil authorities, and the charges against him were investigated 
 by the intervention of a grand jury at Washington, the capital of 
 the Mississippi territory. Nothing could be established by any 
 direct evidence, and he was acquitted. Meanwhile, General Wil- 
 kinson, the military commander at New Orleans, to whom Burr had 
 previously made many overtures, had arbitrarily arrested several 
 of the agents commissioned by the latter, and was enforcing a 
 species of martial law, in anticipation of the expected invasion or 
 revolution. 
 
 Further conduct of the expedition was unsafe, and Burr, dis- 
 missing his followers, attempted to make his escape into Florida. 
 He was arrested near the Tombigbee river, and taken prisoner to 
 Richmond, where he was bailed, upon the charge of violating the 
 neutrality law, by enlisting forces to invade a peaceful nation. Ho 
 was subsequently indicted by a grand jury for high treason in levy- 
 ing war against the United States. The trial, after much delay in 
 vexatious preliminaries, took place in August, 1807, Chief-Justice 
 Marshall presiding. Sufficient evidence could not be obtained to 
 sustain the charge, and a verdict of acquittal followed. The same 
 result attended the trial upon the charge of a violation of the neu- 
 trality act 
 
 All concerned were held amenable to the provisions of the latter 
 law in any district where an overt act, falling within its prohibi- 
 tions, should have been committed. Held to bail in Ohio, upon the 
 same accusation, Burr and Blennerhasset both forfeited their bonds. 
 
 The former soon afler sailed for Europe, and ptissed many years 
 in fruitless endeavours to curry out schemes of personal aggrandize- 
 ment in France and England. He returned to spend the latter 
 years of his life in the obscure practice of law in his own state. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 868 
 
 ■ v»* 
 
 tiixAxxiiiH Xi. 
 
 ■■'^AT:- 
 
 BNGLI8H AGORB88ION8. — PAILITRB OP NEGOTIATION. — ATIACX 
 ON THE FRIGATE CHE8APEAKE. — EMBARGO. — NON-INTER- 
 COURSE ACT. — ABOLITION OP THE SLAVE-TRADE.— "'HN 
 RANDOLPH. — WEST FLORIDA. — CONCESSIONS OF N. 0- 
 LEON. — BRITISH CRUISERS; THE LITTLE BELT. — 
 TECUMSEH: EL8IWATAWA: BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE* 
 — EAST FLORIDA. — DECLARATION OF WAR. 
 
 Throughout the closing term of Jefferson's administration, the 
 disturbed state of affairs in Europe was disastrously felt in America; 
 in carrying out schemes of mutual aggression, the two great belliger- 
 ent powers were utterly regardless of the rights and interests of 
 neutral nations. "It was in vain that the government of the United 
 States expostulated with them. To England it denied having sub- 
 mitted to the decrees of the French ruler ; and to the latter it rep- 
 resented the indefeasible rights of neutrals. 'Join with me in 
 bringing England to reason,' was the reply of Bonaparte, who was 
 blind to all objects and reasons, except that of humbling his arch- 
 enemy. America was, in consequence, left to choose which of the 
 belligerents she should take for foes, since both at once might prove 
 too powerful for her, and neutrality, persevered in, only exposed her 
 vessels to capture, without retaliation — to the disadvantages, in fact, 
 without the advantages of war." "The great powers of the land 
 and sea, unable to measure their strength, since each was predom- 
 inant on its own element, came to vent their blows on America."* 
 
 When, by the Berlin decree, of November, 1806, the emperor, in 
 retaliation for a similar assumption in respect to France, had 
 pronounced Great Britain to be in a state of blockade, and the gov- 
 ernment of the latter had extended her former decree to all the 
 dependencies and allies of France, the commerce of the United 
 States was, in effect, annihilated. There were not, however, want- 
 ing causes for a strong discrimination, in the minds of the Ameri- 
 cans, between the spirit and motives which actuated the several 
 aggressing nations. 
 
 The conduct of the naval officers in the British service, generally 
 
 * Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopffidia. 
 
854 
 
 TH£ PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 insolent and overbearing towards the American marine, had been 
 growing more and more intolerable. The impressment of seamen 
 from United States' merchant vessels continued and increased, not* 
 withstanding the remonstrances of government, and a representa- 
 tion of the fact, that many American citizens were thus enslaved for 
 foreign service. 
 
 In hopes to effect some modification in the former treaty, by 
 which these illegal seizures might be checked, and the commerce of 
 America be freed from the more oppressive restrictions, Messrs. 
 Monroe and Pinokney were commissioned as ambassadors to Eng- 
 land in 1806. They arranged a treaty accordingly, but, as nothing 
 was yielded by the British government respecting the more import- 
 ant points of controversy, the president, without communicating with 
 the senate, refused to ratify. 
 
 While attempts at negotiation failed, the course pursued by the 
 English cruisers, in carrying ov eir instructions to watch the 
 American coast, assumed an appearance more than ever offensive. 
 A direct attack upon a nativ.uu.1 vessel, finally called for some deci* 
 sive action. The Chesapeake, an American frigate, was dispatched 
 in the month of June, 1807, to the Mediterranean. Just without 
 the capes of the Chesapeake, she was hailed by the Leopard, an 
 English man-of-war. Upon heaving to, a boat soon came along- 
 side, and a message was delivered from the captain of the Leopard, 
 demanding permission to search for certain deserters, known or sus- 
 pected to be on board the American vessel. Specific orders to this 
 effect had been given by the British Admiral Berkeley. 
 ; The demand not being cgmplied with, the Leopard, having taken 
 a favourable position, without further parley, first fired two succes- 
 sive single shots, the first, across the bows of the Chesapeake, and 
 then poured in several broadsides, by which three men were killed, 
 a number wounded, and much damage was done to the vessel. The 
 commander, Barron, his ship not being ready for action, was unable 
 to resist, and therefore struck his flag. Several officers from the 
 I^eopard then came on board; the crew of the Chesapeake were 
 examined, and four were taken away prisoners, as deserters from 
 the British service. One of them was afVerwards hanged for de- 
 sertion; the three others (coloured men) proved to be American 
 sitizens. The Chesapeake immediately returned to Norfolk. 
 
 President Jefferson promptly issued a proclamation, ordering all 
 British armed vessels to leave the waters of the United States, and 
 
THE UNITED STATES. ' * 
 
 866 
 
 prohibiting further intercourse with them. Demand was made upon 
 the British government for redress, and for future guarantee that 
 American vessels should be no longer searched for purposes of 
 impressment. The attack on the Chesapeake — being totally inex- 
 cusable, although similar acts had been previously committed, on 
 several occasions, by British vessels — was at once disavowed, and 
 full reparation was tendered ; but upon the other point, no concession 
 whatever was made. New and more stringent orders instead, were 
 issued for the siezure of British mariners in foreign service; and, in 
 case such should be known to be on board national vessels of a 
 neutral, precise instructions were given to make report thereof to 
 the British admiralty. 
 
 Congress was called together at an earlier day than the regular 
 commencement of the session, and, after much discussion, a general 
 embargo was laid (December, 1807), to continue indefinitely, by 
 which American vessels were prohibited from leaving port. The 
 enforcement of this system, however necessary, occasioned great 
 commercial distress, and gave much dissatisfaction in New England. 
 The embargo was, to a certain extent, evaded by the more adven- 
 turous; but the retaliatory decrees of France and England had been 
 extended to such an extreme of exclusion, that no vessel trading 
 to Europe or the West Indies could be safe from seizure. " ' '- 
 
 The prospect of an amicable arrangement appeared less than ever. 
 Throughout the year 1808, nothing was heard but complaints of 
 the oppressive embargo. At the winter session of congress, in 
 1808-9, the whole subject was debated, and, in place of the embargo, 
 a prohibition of intercourse with France and England was concluded 
 upon — trade with other countries of Europe being left open. A pro- 
 vision was also appended, giving the president power to suspend 
 this restriction as to either nation which should conform to the 
 requisitions of the United States, by a withdrawal of the obnoxious 
 edicts or orders in council. This change was accomplished jiist 
 before the close of Jefferson's administration. In accordance with 
 the example of Washington, he had declined being a candidate for 
 a third presidential term. The republican party, retaining their 
 ascendancy, elected James Madison, late secretary of state, to the 
 office of president: Clinton was again chosen vice-president • ' ' 
 
 One very important event, not noticed in the order of its occur- 
 rence, was the passage, by congress, of an act prohibiting the intro- 
 duction of slaves after the Ist of January, 1808 — the constitutional 
 
356 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 limit witliia which no restraining law could be enacted, upon this 
 subject, Other than the imposition of a specified duty upon all im- 
 ported. Severe penalties were affixed to the direct importation of 
 slaves, attaching, although in less degree, to the buyer who should 
 be cognizant of the illegal introduction; and the transportation of 
 slaves by sea from one po^t to another in the United States, was 
 regulated and restrained. Slaves thenceforth imported, were to be 
 seized, and to "remain subject to any regulation or disposal, not 
 contrary to the provisions of this act, which might be made by the 
 respective states and territories." 
 
 In the debate upon this subject, a prominent part was taken, in 
 behalf of the slave-holding interest, by John Randolph, a young 
 member from Virginia, whose remarkable talents and brilliant ora- 
 tory might have given him a position of great eminence, but for a 
 singular vein of misanthropic eccentricity which pervaded his whole 
 character, and for an unparalleled degree of habitual insolence and 
 assumption. Belonging originally to the republican party, he was 
 of the number of those who seceded from the principles adopted by 
 the administration, and during Jefferson's closing term, headed a 
 powerful opposition to the measures adopted in retaliation for Brit- 
 ish aggression. 'Wi ^,,*-.f^ r - . =. .1 .,• 
 
 The first communications opened with Great Britain, afler Madi- 
 son's inauguration, gave promise of a speedy settlement of difficulties. 
 Mr. Erskine, the British niiinster, over-stepping the limits of his 
 instructions from Secretary Canning, stipulated on behalf of llis 
 government, that the odious commercial orders in council should 
 be uHthdrawn, as to United States' vessels, upon revocation of the 
 non-intercourse act. The president, in conformity with the powers 
 expressly conferred upon hitn, suspended the act accordingly. 
 
 Several preliminary conditions, upon which he had received spe- 
 cial instruciions, were entirely neglected by Erskine in this nego- 
 tiation. The most important of these related to a matter long in 
 dispute, vi^: whether, in time of war, a neutral could carry on a 
 trade with one of the belligerent parties, of a character prohibited 
 by such nation in time of peace. 
 
 P<rskine's stipulationa were, therefore, disavowed, and non-inter- 
 course was rei'Diublislied. Provisions were made by the British 
 government in favour of such vessels as might have availed tliem- 
 aclvcs of the tem{M)rury removal of restrictions. Mutual recrimina- 
 tions in respect to this afiuir, aggravated the hostile dispositions of 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 357 
 
 
 the two governments. On the one hand, it was suggested that the 
 United States had been cognizant of the true nature of the instruc* 
 tions given to the British ambassador, while, on the other, the refusal 
 of the ministry to ratify the arrangement concluded, was looked 
 upon as "an act of capricious hostility." Mr. Jackson, successor to 
 Mr. Erskine, upon a renewal of negotiation, conducted the corres- 
 pondence in a manner so offensive, that his rgcall was demanded, 
 and all diplomatic intercourse, for the time, was suspended. 
 
 During the autumn of 1810, the settlers in that portion of West 
 Florida bordering on the Mississippi,- following the example of 
 other Spanish American colonies, took advantage of the embarrassed 
 position of the home government to rebel against the Spanish au- 
 thorities. This district was soon after occupied by the United 
 States, under claim of title, by virtue of former treaties of transfer. 
 Upon the expiration of the non-intercourse act, in 1810, propositions 
 were made by the United States to France and England for a re- 
 moval of the onerous restrictions upon trade. To either nation 
 which should comply with this requisition, the inducement of exclu- 
 sive commercial intercourse was held out. Napoleon, willing to 
 yield a point in his rigid continental system, for the purpose of 
 securing the friendship of the United States, and — a matter still 
 more to his taste — of involving them in war with England, gave 
 notice, through his ministers, that American vessels should be free 
 from the operation of the sweeping decrees of Berlin and Milan. 
 
 Commerce was at once opened with France; but the British gov- 
 ernment, affecting to consider the suspension of the French decrees 
 as irregular, temporary, and illusive, declined yielding to the re- 
 quirements of the United States. On the contrary, national jealousy 
 being aroused by the prospect of an advantageous trade between 
 this country and France, renewed vigilance was exercised, and a 
 more rigorous search instituted by the numerous British cruisers on 
 the American coast. 
 
 The sloop-of-war Little Belt, commanded by Captain Bingham, 
 while engaged in this service, fell in with the American frigate Pres- 
 ident, under Commodore Kodgers. The English* vessel at first bore 
 down upon the American, until discovering that the latter was of 
 greater force, and that her signals were not answered, she stood 
 away. Pursutd by the President, she hove to, and both vessels 
 hailed, as appears, nearly simultaneously. Neither replied except 
 by a socoad hail. Upon this some shots were fired — accounts being 
 
 m 
 
 1^' 
 
 q 
 
858 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 contradictory as to which vessel commenced — soon succeeded by a 
 general cannonade on either side, in which the Little Belt was nearly 
 disabled, and lost more than thirty of her crew in killed and wounded 
 Such discrepancy prevails in the accounts given of this transaction, 
 that we are somewhat at a loss in forming conclusions respecting 
 its merits. 
 
 At a special session of congress, in the autumn of 1811, the presi 
 dent set forth, in a message to that body, the futility of all attempts 
 at negotiation with Great Britain, the enormous injury to American 
 commerce effected by her exclusive system, the vast number of ves- 
 sels in the United States' merchant service which had fallen a prey to 
 her cruisers, and the generally aggressive and ungenerous policy 
 pursued by her government "With this evidence," proceeded the 
 address, "of hostile inflexibility, in trampling upon rights which no 
 independent nation can relinquish, congress will feel the duty of 
 putting the United States into an armour and an attitude de- 
 manded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit 
 and expectations." .a* .. .h:*', f « ; ;;s'' i?i'«tK> ti m ^ 
 
 , This call was responded to, by a decided majority, in n similar 
 spirit Appropriations were made, and loans authorized, for the 
 enlargement of the army, for fortifications, and the accumulation of 
 military stores. The navy was ordered to be increased, and pro- 
 visions were made for organizing a militia force. The existence of 
 serious disturbances at the north-west, attributed, in some measure, 
 to British influence over the Indian tribes, added to the hostile feel- 
 ing entertained towards Great Britain. 
 
 A new confederacy had been long forming in that quarter, 
 under the direction, and through the intrigues of the celebrated 
 Tecumseh and his brother Elskwatawa, or the Prophet The 
 former, at this period, was engaged in gaining over the tribes of the 
 southern states to unite in a magnificent enterprise for the recovery 
 of the entire valley of the Mississippi from the whites. The pro- 
 phet was established on the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Wa- 
 bash, where a horde of his followers encamped about him, and kept 
 the country in terror by their depredations. 
 
 To check these ravages, Governor Harrison, with a force of about 
 nine hundred men, regulars, militia, and volunteers, marched up 
 the Wabash from Fort Harrison, at the close of October (1811). 
 He encamped on the 5th of November, within nine miles of the 
 prophet's town, and attempted to negotiate with the Indian chief. 
 
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 YOVlVVn rUK^IDKN'T (,>F TIIK UNITKI) STATES. 
 
 BORrriN 1-i.l, NEAR Pr»RT RriYAL, V* ; rKKHIlJENT IN \B00 : SKRVKD 
 eTKARS; DIKii JUIiK 88, ISJJ 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 859 
 
 The latter proposed a !e, for the purpose of a conference to take 
 place on the day following. This pacific overture was merely in- 
 tended to disarm suspicion. On the following morning, a little 
 before day-break — the time always selected by the Indians, for a 
 surprise— the whole force under command of the prophet, fell upon 
 the American encampment. 
 
 Fortunately, due precautions had been taken for a timely alarm, 
 and for the preservation of order in case of a night attack. Although 
 the Indians fought with astonishing fury and determination, they 
 were finally driven off and dispersed, not without a loss, op the 
 part of the whites), of one hundred and fifty in killed and wounded. 
 The American troops immediately proceeded to the Indian settlement, 
 and accomplished its entire destruction. 
 
 Certain disclosures, communicated to congress by a message of the 
 president, in March, 1812, relative to the secret agency of one John 
 Ilenry, who, several years previous, had been commissioned by the 
 governor of Canada to attempt negotiation with the New England 
 federalists, excited great indignation among the war party. It would 
 appear that for a time undue importance was attached to this affair. 
 The president paid a large sum of money from the secret service fund, 
 to secure the correspondence between Henry and his employer. The 
 principal matter of the communications related to the extent to which 
 the anti-war party might be willing to push their opposition, and the 
 possibility or probability of a secession from the Union by the com- 
 mercial states of the north, in the event of their political defeat. 
 
 In the month of April,^n important accession to the southern in- 
 terest resulted from the admission of Ihe new state of Louisiana, 
 including that portion of West Florida already occupied by the 
 United States. The Spanish possessions in East Florida were en- 
 dangered, at the same period, by an outbreak encouraged and pro- 
 moted by the American general, Matthews. A strong party in 
 congress — even a majority in the house — was in favour of taking 
 forcible possession of this territory ; but a bill for that purpose was 
 lost in the senate. 
 
 A prospect of speedy hostilities with America, gave rise to a strong 
 opposition in the British parliament, to the measures of government; 
 and strenuous exertions were made to effect a compliance with the 
 principal requisitions of the United States. These movements on 
 the part of the friends of peace and of the rights of neutrals, it has 
 been said, might have terminated in such concession as would have 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
860 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 satisfied the latter, if patience had been a little farther extended. 
 At the close of May, 1812, recent intelligence having been received 
 from England, and no prospect appearing of a disposition on the part 
 of government to yield the questions in dispute, President Madison 
 sent in a message recommending immediate declaration of war. 
 
 The senate promptly concurred with the recommendation ; in the 
 house, the question, after about a fortnight's consideration, resulted 
 in the same conclusion. The debate was conducted with closed 
 doors. On the 18th of June, war was formally declared with Great 
 Britain. To this act most strenuous opposition was made by the 
 federal party. In those portions of the United States most depend' 
 ant upon commerce, a violent outcry was raised against a measure, 
 which, although specially called for by foreign aggressions upon 
 their rights and interest, threatened to increase their present diffl* 
 culties, while it impose'? upon the country at large an enormous 
 burden of additional expense. 
 
 RIOTS AT MAITIMORl. — HULI/8 INVASION OF CANADA. — RB- 
 
 PSAT. OP TUB ORDBRS IN COUNCIL: IMPRESSMENT. — NAVAL 
 
 OPERATIONS. — MADISON'S RKE LECTION. — N0RTH-WK8T- 
 
 RRN CAMPAIGN: DEFEAT OF WINCHESTER. — ATTACI 
 
 ON TORI. — THE BRITISH ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 
 
 While expressions of indignation and regret were every where 
 hcanl throughout tlio.se portions of the country where the war was 
 unpopular, and signs of public mourning appeared in the flags of a 
 U8cU'8.s shipping hoisted at lialfmast, tlie war-party in other districts 
 exhibited still more violent feeling. At Baltimore, the most disgrace- 
 ful scenes of brutal oiitrngc occurred, in connection with the 8Uj)pro8- 
 sion by a mob of a federal news-paper, which jHjrsisted in opposing 
 popular opinion. Tlie editor, Ilan.son, with a number of friend.-*, in 
 defence of his house, attacked by an infuriate |K)pulace, fired upon 
 the a.««Hjiilant«, one of whom was killed. 
 
 The municipal uulliorities at bust appeared, with an armed force, 
 nud, to appease the mob, Hanson and his companions consented to 
 
in 
 
 pon 
 
 THE UNITKD 8T 
 
 lt». 
 
 361 
 
 be taken to prison, to answer to any chu that rniu^ht be substan* 
 tiated against them. The following nigut the jail \.a» broken into, 
 and a number of these prisoners, falling into the hands of the rioters, 
 were most barbarously beaten, wounded, and tormented. One of 
 the number, General Lingan, an old revolutionary soldier, died under 
 their hands; the otheqs were left for dead, and some never recovered 
 from the injuries received. The perpetrators of this cowardly and 
 villanoua outrage received no punishment; some of the foremost in 
 the transaction were tried and acquitted by ajury of thtf neighbourhood. 
 Upon the organization of the new army, the chief command was 
 bestowed upon General Henry Dearbt)rn, of Massachusetts, an (officer 
 of the revolution. At the south, Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina, 
 was created major-general, and invested with the chief command in 
 that quarter. The first attention of the government was directed to 
 an expedition into Canada, where, it was believed, the disaffection of 
 the inhabitants towards Great Britain would render it easy to obtain 
 a foothold. A force of nearly two thousand men, under Brigadier- 
 General Hull, governor of the territory of Michigan, entered Canada 
 West on the 12th of July, crossing over from Detroit to Sandwich. 
 The first object of attack was the British fort at Maiden, near the 
 debouchement of Detroit river — the strait connecting Lakes St. Clair 
 and Erie. Owing to delay on the part of Hull, opportunity was 
 given for strengthening the garrison at this place. 
 
 While the army remained inactive, about the middle of July, the 
 American fort at Michiliinackinac fell into the hands of the enemy, 
 and, shortly after, communication by the land route with Ohio, was 
 entirely cut off by a party of Indians under Tecumseh. Hull there- 
 fore recrossed the river, with his entire force, and occupied Detroit. 
 General Proctor, in command at Maiden, was enabled to cooperate 
 with his Indian allies, and renewed attem|>ts on the part of the 
 Americans to force a pa»<8age of the road, only resulted in heavy loss. 
 Toward the middle of August, General Brock, governor of L(^wer 
 Canada, having hastened to the scene of action, assumed command, 
 and advanced upon Detroit with his wlio!e army of British and In- 
 dians, amounting, in all, to over twelve liundnd men. The Amer- 
 icans, occupying a defensible position, eiitertainetl little fears of being 
 able to sustain themselves; but what was the astonislnnent and in- 
 dignation of the army, when General Hull, sistheencmv approached 
 to the assault, entered intc n parley, and arranged terms of surrender. 
 All the regulars and volunteers in the Amerieati army became [>i is- 
 
 
 I i!i 
 
862 
 
 THE PKOPLK'8 BOOK OF niBTORY. 
 
 oners of war, the militia being pnroled, and the whole territory ol 
 Michigan fell into the hands of the British. 
 
 So heavy a lost, and so disgraceful a reverse, at this first opening 
 of the campaign, cou'd not be patiently endured. Every species of 
 opprobrium was heaped upon the commanding officer, to whoso in- 
 decision or weakness the failure was wholly attributed. Put upon 
 trial, by court martial, long aflerwards, he was convicted of cow- 
 ardice; but his character, at the present day, stands free from asper- 
 sions thrown oiiC in the heat of disappointment, and his failings — 
 principally over-coution, and a want of that promptness and energy 
 which are so necessary in a military leoder — ore looked upon with 
 greater leniency. 
 
 The result of this campaign, unfortunately for the American inter- 
 ests, wa.s to give facilities for an easy nnd constant communication 
 Ix'tween the British and the confederate tribes of the north-west. 
 The latter were never more dangerous enemies than at tliis period, 
 provided, as they were, with arms by their English allies, led by a 
 chief of surpassing abilities as a military leader, and excited by su- 
 perHtitious confidence in their Prophet Elskwatawa. 
 
 Upon a change of the British ministry, in the month of June, of 
 this year, a repeal of the orders in council as to American veasels 
 was brought about, and it was trusted that negotiations might now 
 be opened for a peaceful settlement of difficulties. The American 
 government, however, declined all proposals for a ."usponsion of 
 liostUities, not based upon a proposed adjustment of other claims 
 against England. The matter of the right of impressment was as 
 far as ever from settlement; the British absolutely refused to yield 
 the point; and the grievance complained of had now become more 
 than ever intolerable. The number of native born American citizens 
 rendering compulsory service in the British navy cannot be ascer- 
 tained, but those who claimed exemption on this ground numbered 
 between three and four thousand. The great majority of these were 
 doubtless foreigners, but their right to protection, if not British sub- 
 jects, was as clear as in the case of native or naturalized citizens. 
 
 While all the acts of the American government continued to 
 breathe a warlike spirit, many obstacles were experienced in the prac- 
 tical operations of the campaign. It was difficult to procure recruits 
 by voluntary enlistment, and in the raising of a militia force, con- 
 tinual opposition was met by state claims of sovereignty. By a sin- 
 gular transmutation, the federalists at this crisis were the sticklers 
 
THE UN ITED 8TATE8. 
 
 368 
 
 for state rights; as opposed to the tnilitary authority of the pretjidf nt, 
 and the acta of congrcsM. Several states refused to comply with the 
 requisitions of government, U|)on the ground that no necessity of the 
 kind contemplated by the act respecting draughts of militia, could 
 be said to exist — that there was ao call to "execute the laws of the 
 Union, suppress insurrections, or repel invasion." Questions respect- 
 ing the employment of the militia in foreign territory, and their claim 
 to be commanded by their own officers, if of superior rank to any 
 regular officer present, gave rise to great difficulty and dissension. 
 
 At the west, early in the autumn, a force of about ten thousand 
 men was collected for the defence of the frontier, and for operations 
 against the British and Indians. Governor Harrison was appointed 
 to the chief command. The impracticable nature of the roads, and 
 the difficulty of maintaining an army in the wilderness, impeded the 
 movement of any large body of troops, and nothing was effected, 
 during the remainder of the year, further than the destruction of 
 several Indian villages, by detached parties. <' 'i 'M^> <<' ,ir..tiii 
 
 Upon the waters which separate Canada from New York, a still 
 larger force than that under Uarrison was stationed at various points 
 from Niagara to Lake Cbamplain. On the ISth of October, a party 
 of less than three hundred men, led by Colonel Van Rensselaer, 
 crossed Niagara river and stormed the British fort at Queenstown. 
 They were to have been supported by a large force, sufficient to 
 maintain possession, and resist any reinforcements that could be 
 brought up by the enemy, but during the embarkation, the principal 
 portion of the militia, at first loud in protestations of eagerness to 
 invade the enemy's territory, taken with a panic, refused to cross. 
 In an attempt at recovering the fort, the brave General Brock fell, 
 while leading his men to the assault. 
 
 Notwithstiinding their success at the first onset, the event proved 
 disastrous to the Americans. A strong reinforcement under General 
 Sheafe came to the assistance of the enemy, and the whole invading 
 division, amounting— with those brought across during the contest— to 
 more than a thousand men, thrown into confusion, and out off from re- 
 treat, was forced to surrender. Nothing further, of any importance, 
 was accomplished upon the frontier, during the remainder of the year. 
 The flaming proclamation of General Smyth, and the patriotic ardour 
 expressed by the militia and volunteers who composed the principal 
 portion of the army of the north, alike ended in smoke. While the 
 soldiers accused their commanders of a lack of energy, and inveighed 
 
 
864 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 against vexatious delays and general mismanagement, the latter bad 
 abundant ground of complaint in the turbulence and insubordination 
 of the new recruits. • ?> 7r*^< ^ .\ 
 
 Experience having proved the necessity of establishing a marine 
 force on the lakes, in order to effect any thing in Canada, a movement 
 for this purpose was commenced in the month of September pre- 
 vious, at Sackett's Harbour, under direction of Captain Chauncey. 
 At this port, situated at the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario, the 
 keel of a ship was laid, and a number of trading schooners were 
 purchased and armed. A small sloop of war, named the Oneida, 
 had been previously fitted out, and was also under Chauncey's com- 
 mand. With this little fleel;, some bold excursions were made on the 
 lake, a British armed vessel was driven into Kingston harbour, and 
 several small prizes were taken. The new ship, of twenty-four 
 guns, was completed in November, and was called the Madison. 
 
 Lieutenant Elliot, furnished by Chauncey with a detachment of 
 seamen, in the month of October, succeeded in capturing two small 
 armed vessels belonging to the enemy, and lying in Niagara river. 
 He also commenced preparations for future operations on Lake Erie, 
 by collecting trading vessels at Black Bock, and providing them with 
 suitable armament. 
 
 While the foimdation was thus laid for further brilliant successes 
 on the lakes, successive reports of the unexpected prowess of the 
 little United States' navy — consisting of but seven frigates, (fit for 
 service), two sloops of war, five brigs, and a fleet of gun-boats — gave 
 rise to great exultation throughout the country. 
 
 The first naval engagement of importance, took place on the 19th 
 of August. The American frigate Constitution, Captain Hull, cruis- 
 ing off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, fell in with the Guerriere, a 
 British frigate of thirty-eight guns, commanded by Captain Docres. 
 The former, receiving successive broadsides from the Guerriere, 
 bore down in silence until close at hand, when she opened such an 
 eKTective fire as soon to disable and cripple the enemy. The en- 
 gagement lasted only about half an hour, partly at close quarters, 
 and when the Constitution finally cast off, all the masts of the 
 Guerriere had gone by the board. The latter presently struck, 
 but she had received irreparable injury, and was set on fire after a 
 transfer of her crew to the Constitution. This victory was attri- 
 buted by the English to superiority in force. The Constitution, 
 according to their account, " nominally mounting but forty-four guns, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 866 
 
 was, in reality, little short of a seventy-four." The disparity was 
 by no means as great aa represented, and could not account for the 
 result of the engagement. The truth seems to be, that in this as in 
 subsequent affairs, the American vessels were manoeuvred in a 
 masterly manner, and that their fire was given with better aim than 
 that of their antagonists. 
 
 The United States' sloop-of-war Wasp, under Captain Jones, in 
 chase of a British fleet of merchant vessels, in the month of October, 
 encountered the Frolic, a brig of superior force, acting as convoy. 
 After a mojt destructive and desperate engagement, the British 
 vessel was carried by boarding. The loss on board of the latter, 
 was about eighty in killed and wounded ; the Americans lost but 
 ten. The Wasp was so much crippled in her rigging, that, to- 
 gether with her prize, she was shortly after captured by a British 
 seventy-four. 
 
 A few days later the frigate United States, commanded by Deca- 
 tur, captured the British frigate Macedonian, in the vicinity of the 
 Western Islands. The American vessel was somewhat superior in 
 force, but, as in the case of the Guerriere, not sufficiently so to 
 account for the rapidity with which she disabled her opponent, nor 
 for the fact, that of her crew, only twelve were killed or wounded, 
 while the loss of the Macedonian was more than one hundred. The 
 prize was taken into New York in safety. 
 
 During the summer and autumn, the Americans lost two brigs-of- 
 war, the Nautilus, and the Vixen, both taken, without resistance, 
 by superior force. On the 29th of December, the Constitution, 
 under command of Bainbridge, engaged the British frigate Java, of 
 thirty-eight guns. The contest, commencing at a distance, and end- 
 ing at close-quarters, continued for several hours, when the Java, 
 being entirely dismasted, struck. She was so far crippled, that it 
 was judged expedient to destroy her. 
 
 While the national pride was gratified by these victories, numer- 
 ous privateers, mostly fitted out from New England ports, met with 
 great success in plundering the British merchant vessels, homeward 
 bound from the Indies. Many valuable prizes were taken — not 
 without some hard fighting, in cases where the trading vessels 
 were armed. 
 
 The period of a presidential election recurring in 1812, Madison 
 was reelected. Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, minister to France 
 in 1797, was elevated to the vice-presidency, by the votes of the 
 
 4 % 
 
 i 
 
860 
 
 THE I'fiOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOKY. 
 
 war-party. Notwithstanding a violen*, opposition, perseverance in 
 hostile measures met with the approbation and support of a majority 
 in congress, and appropriations were made, and acts passed, for the 
 increase of the national force, and for large additions to the navy. 
 
 Military operations were renewed at the north-west, early in the 
 winter. Several Indian villages were destroyed in December, but 
 nothing of importance was accomplished. During the month fol- 
 lowing, a detachment of Kentucky troops, under General Winches- 
 ter, was sent forward by Harrison to take a position at the Miami 
 rapids."" A body of nearly seven hundred of these pushed on to 
 Frenchtown, on the Eaisin, then occupied by British and Indians. 
 The first attack was successful; the enemy were driven from the 
 town, and the Americans were reinforced by the arrival of Win- 
 chester with additional troops. 
 
 On the 22d, General Proctor, having crossed over from Maiden, 
 with a strong force of regulars and Indians, fell upon and totally 
 defeated the American detachment. The commanding officer wu3 
 taken prisoner early in the engagement, while a portion of the Amer- 
 ican* troops yet maintained a defensible position. The general 
 ordered a surrender, upon promises of protection against the sav- 
 ages. Instead of fulfilling his undertaking in this respect, Proctor 
 marched back towards Maiden, with such prisoners as were able to 
 travel, leaving the wounded unprotected at the scene of combat. 
 On the following day, no small {x)rtion of these were scalped, tom- 
 ahawked, or burned alive in the houses where they lay disabled, 
 by a party of Indians. Harrison, discontinuing offensive operations, 
 fortified himself at Fort Meigs, on the rapids. 
 
 In the month of April, 1818, he was besieged at this post, by a 
 Britieh and Indian force, under Proctor. Relieved by the arrival 
 of reinforcements from Kentucky, led by General Clay, he succeeded 
 in holding the position, but a considerable body of these fresh forces 
 was utterly defeated, after driving the British from a position where 
 batteries were erected to bear upon Fort Meigs. This disaster is 
 attributed to the circumstance, that, instead of maintaining orderly 
 posaes^ion of the works, they commenced an irregular skirmish with 
 detac'ied parties of Indians in the surrounding forest. 
 
 On the New York frontier, nothing important was effected by 
 either party until the spring was far advanced. Near the close of 
 April, a detachment of sixteen hundred men embarked on board 
 Chauncey's Ontario sijuadron, for the purjwjse of an attack upon the 
 
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THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 867 
 
 Canadian town of York. The place, defended by a garrison of six 
 to eight hundred men, was carried by storm, but at the moment of 
 success, the magazine blew up, destroying a large number of the 
 assailants. The American commander. General Pike, was among 
 the killed. 
 
 The squadron returning to Sackett's harbour, took on board fresh 
 forces, under the immediate command of Dearborn, and immediately 
 sailed for the entrance of Niagara river. All the British forts in 
 the vicinity were seized, the principal portion of the garrisons 
 retreating to the heights on Burlington bay — the western extremity 
 of Lake Ontario. In an attempt at pursuit, a few days later, a 
 detachment of the Americans sustained considerable loss, and two 
 of their generals. Chandler and Winder, were taken prisoners. The 
 division was presently recalled to Fort George, one of the recently 
 acquired posts on the Niagara. A second expedition against the 
 enemy resulted in the loss of an entire detachment of six hundred 
 men, under Colonel Boerstler. , ; , 
 
 A vigorous attack upon the American post at Sackett's Harbour, 
 in the latter part of May, was repulsed by the garrison, aided by 
 New York militia, under General Brown. On Lake Champlain the 
 British were more successful. By the creation of a superior naval 
 force, they obtained command of those waters, and did much in- 
 jury to the neighbouring settlements. Plattsburgh, on the western 
 shore of the lake, was plundered and destroyed, "in revenge," it 
 was said, "for the affair of York;" the latter having been a second 
 time invaded by an American force, under Colonel Scott 
 Vol. IV.— 52 , . 
 
 ■ I , 
 
 i 
 
 ,)-. ■ nr;,".'.. • ;i,' ii •' ' •• lU! 
 ' i ■:: ; !■ ■•)•'■ ■■ ' : '■ . 
 
868 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UISTOKY. 
 
 CWADTTT'DTTTT i. 
 
 NATAL AFFAIRS: PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE. — HAR- 
 RISON'S CANADIAN CAMPAIGN. — THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 
 — THE CREEK WAR: JACKBON'S CAMPAIGN. — NEGOTIA- 
 TIONS FOR PEACE. — BROWN'S INVASION OF CANADA: 
 BATTLE OF BRIDOEWATER. — OCCUPATION OF THE 
 CHESAPEAKE: BATTLE OF BL AD E N SBU RO H: SEIZ- 
 URE OF WASHINGTON: DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC 
 BUILDINGS: ATTACK ON BALTIHORE. 
 
 From the opening of the campaign of 1818, the British naval 
 force on the coast, considerably augmented, maintained a partial 
 blockade of many American seaports. Several ships-of-war, enter- 
 ing the Chesapeake, cut off all ingress or egress for American ves- 
 sels, and, landing parties at different points, did much damage, and 
 kept the neighbouring country in a state of anxiety and alarm. 
 
 Upon the ocean, the credit of the American navy, notwithstand- 
 ing some severe reverses, was fully maintained. The sloop-of-war 
 Hornet, under Captain Lawrence, in the month of February, en- 
 gaged and sunk the British brig Peacock of nearly equal force, off 
 the coast of Demerara. After the latter had struck her flag, it was 
 ascertained that she was settling fast The sea was rough, and, 
 although every exertion was made to save the crew, she went 
 down w'th twelve men on board, three of whom were Americans, 
 bfjlonginp; to the Hornet. 
 
 Captain Lawrence was afterwards promoted to the command of 
 th« ill-fated Chesapeake, then lying in Boston harbour. On the 
 Ist day of June, the British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, appear- 
 ing off the port, Lawrence got his vessel under weigh and made 
 sail, to answer the implied challenge. The ships were of equal 
 force, but the American frigate laboured under the disadvantage of 
 having on board an ill-disciplined crew, and a deficiency of compe- 
 tent officers. An engagement — watched from shore with intense 
 interest — took place late in the afternoon. The Chesapeake, par- 
 tially crippled during a heavy fire at close-quarters, was carried by 
 boarding, her commander lying, at the time, mortally wounded. 
 While he reUiiued possession of his faculties, he refused to order the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 869 
 
 flag to be struck, and among his last words, was the expression, 
 "Don't give up the ship." 
 
 In the course of the summer, the American sloop-of-war Argus, 
 after taking a great number of prizes in the British channel, was 
 captured by the English sloop-of-war Pelican. Captain Porter, in 
 command of the second class frigate Essex, did valuable service in 
 the Pacific during the summer and autumn of 1812. The operations 
 of American whalers had been interrupted, and rendered precarious 
 by the general commission and arming as privateers of those vessels 
 from Great Britain, that were engaged in a similar occupation. 
 Many of the latter were made prizes by Porter, and effectual pro- 
 tection was extended to American shipping. 
 
 The Essex was attacked, in the month of December following, 
 while at anchor in the neutral port of Valparaiso, by two British 
 vessels of war, the Phoebe and Cherub, and, after a severe engage- 
 ment, was compelled to strike. The enemy, having heavier guns, 
 were enabled to keep up a destructive fire at a distance too great 
 for those of the Essex to be effective. 
 
 Operations of far greater importance, meanwhile, had taken place 
 on the great lakes. On Lake Erie a squad' jn of nine vessels, mostly 
 small craft, carrying in all fifty-four guns, was put under command 
 of Commodore Perry. The British fleet at the lake, under Barclay, 
 consisted of six vessels, the whole number of guns on board being 
 sixty-three. There was no great disparity in the number of men 
 on either side, but those of the American fleet are said to have been 
 better selected and more capable seamen. 
 
 An engagement took place, on the 10th of September, in the 
 open lake, between Maiden and Sandusky. The wind was very 
 light, and Perry, advancing unsupported, in the Lawrence, was 
 exposed to a heavy and disabling fire from the long guns of the 
 enemy. His vessel was completely crippled before the others could 
 come up, and the commodore was compelled to abandon her. In 
 an open boat, exposed to a heavy fire, he went on board the Ni- 
 agara. The wind having freshened, the whole squadron was soon 
 brought up to support the larger vessels, and the action continued, 
 with such energy and effect, that the British fleet was compelled 
 to surrender. 
 
 This victory was no less a cause for national rejoicing as another 
 instance of superiority upon the water, than for the great importance 
 of its results. The command of Lake Erie rendered practicable the 
 
870 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0KY. 
 
 transportation of forces to any given point upon an extensive front- 
 ier, and made it equally irnprevisable by the enemy. At the close 
 of the month, Harrison and his army were conveyed across the 
 lake to Maiden, which was abandoned by Proctor at his approach. 
 
 The retreating army, pursued up Thames river, made a stand on 
 the 5th of October, near Moravian town, above the forks. Including 
 his Indian allies, led by Tecumseh, Proctor conmanded a force of 
 about two thousand eight hundred men ; that of Harrison was rather 
 inferior in numbers. The British were posted on the right bank, 
 between the river and extensive swamps — the latter occupied by 
 Indians. The attack was commenced by the charge of a mounted 
 regiment under Colonel Johnson; the British line was broken, and 
 a complete victory obtained by^the Americans. The Indians in the 
 Bwamp held their ground until the fall of their leader — who, it is 
 said, was shot with a pistol by Colonel Johnson. 
 
 The greater portion of the British regular force surrendered, as;, 
 prisoners of war. The great north-western Indian confederacy was 
 broken up by this event, and the separate tribes sent in deputations 
 suing for peace. Treaties were subsequently ratified with most 
 of them. 
 
 During the autumn, extensive preparations were made at the 
 north for an attack on Montreal. Dearborn had been succeeded in 
 the chief command by General Wilkinson, Much difterence of 
 opinion existed between the latter and the secretary of war. General 
 Armstrong, and to this circumstance the ill-success of the expedition 
 has been partially attributed. A force of seven or eight thousand 
 men, concentrated at Grenadier island, was to descend the St. 
 Lawrence and cooperate with a division of four thousand, under 
 General Hampton, ordered to march from Plattsburgh, on Lake Cham- 
 plain. The advance of this latter portion of the army was checked 
 by a few militia, whose force was overrated by the American gen- 
 eral; and, the approach of winter adding to the difficulties of a 
 campaign, a retreat was ordered, and the army returned to itB 
 former quarters. 
 
 Wilkinson pushed down the St. Lawrence, greatly annoyed by 
 the enenjy, who followed in the wake of his flotilla with gun -boats, 
 and who occupied every convenient stand, on the shore, from which 
 they might cotnmaiid the passage. It became necessary to land a 
 large detachment, to follow the course of the river by land, and 
 open a way for the boats. On the 11th of November, quite a severe 
 
TECU MSB U. 
 
 «.. 
 

THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 871 
 
 engagement took place between this division and a body of the 
 enemy, at Chrysler's farm, in which the Americans lost between 
 three and four hundred men. 
 
 Arriving at St. Rtgis, Wilkinson learned the failure of Hnmpton'a 
 attempt at forming a junction with the main force. The lateness 
 of the season was unfavourable for further action, and, although 
 Montreal was defended by a very small force, it was decided to 
 abandon the expedition. The main army went into winter^quarters 
 at French mills. ■ , 
 
 The frontier, left unprotected by the withdrawal of the regular 
 troops from the garrisoned posts, and by the expiration of the term 
 of service of militia and volunteers, suffered severely from the rav- 
 ages of the enemy. General M'Clure, compelled to abandon Fort 
 George, on the Niagara, set fire to the village of Newark, which was 
 reduced to ashes, and its inhabitants were left without a shelter, 
 in the inclement month of December. His instructions were to take 
 this course, if necessary for the defence of the fort; but the circum- 
 stances warranted no such outrage, and, in retaliation, the Indian 
 allies of the British were encouraged to plunder and lay waste the 
 frontier villages on the American side. On the 80th of December, 
 the towns of Black Rock and Buffalo were entirely destroj'cd by an 
 invading party of the enemy. 
 
 Meanwhile, the m.-'chinationa of Tecumseh had produced their 
 full effect at the south. The formidable Creek confederacy had 
 comn:3nced open war upon the white settlers. The first important 
 blow struck, was at Fort Mimms, on the Alabama river, in the 
 Tensaw settlement, which was sacked on the 80th of August, by a 
 large body of Indians, under the noted chief Weatherford. The 
 garrison, one hundred and sixty in number, with more than a hun- 
 dred inhabitants of the neighbourhood, of every age and sex, who 
 had sought protection at the fort, were nearly all killed in the fight, 
 or perished in the burning buildings. 
 
 A large force was raised in Tennessee, and put under command 
 of General Jackson, for the purpose of checking the ravages of the 
 Indians. Marching into the Creek territory in the month of Octo- 
 ber, Jackson beat up the enemy's quarters at Tallussahachee creek, 
 a tributary of the Coosa, and relieved a post occupied by friendly 
 Indians at Talladega, further down the stream, de;droying several 
 hundred of the hostile party. In other engagements, the Creeks 
 were worsted, but their spirit seemed unconquerable, and, as they 
 
 
872 
 
 THE PEOl'LE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 had formed on idea that no quarter would be given them, they 
 lought with great cor rage and deHperation. 
 
 Little was accomplished during the winter, on account of the 
 extreme difficulty of maintaining an army in the wilderness. The 
 skill and energy displayed by General Jackson, in preserving dis- 
 cipline, and securing supplies for his troops under these trying cir- 
 cumstances, gained him even greater reputation than his brilliant 
 achievements in actual warfare. In the month of March, 1814, 
 about one thousand of the Creek worriors fortified themselves at 
 the Great IIorse-Shoe-Bend, in the Tallapoosie. 
 
 On the 27th, they were surrounded and attacked by a vastly 
 superior force of whites and friendly Indians. They fought with 
 fury to the last, firing — perhaps through ignorance — upon the bearer 
 of a flag, who was sent forward by Jackson to propose a surrender. 
 More than half their nutnber were killed in the attack; great num- 
 bers perished in the river, and but a handful of the whole number 
 effected their escape. Very few of the men were taken prisoners, 
 but, after the battle, several hundred women and children were 
 secured. The various tribes, after this event, were ready to con- 
 clude a peace, and to confine themselves within their territory, east- 
 ward from the Coosa. 
 
 At the winter session of congress, 1818-14, the exigencies of the 
 war were met by the adoption of new schemes for procuring funds. 
 Direct taxes, loans, additional duties, &c., were resorted to. T' 
 war-party, still in the ascendency, favoured the views of the prvsi- 
 dent, atxl, upon his recommendation, an embargo was laid ujn>n ull 
 goods, produce, &c., which could be of service to the eneuiy. Im- 
 portations of British goods were also expressly prohibited. 
 
 Early ia January, a proposition to treat for peace, \\ as received 
 from England, and commissioners were appointed to proceed to 
 Gottingen for the purpose. Previous offers of mediation, made by 
 the Emperor of Russia, had been repeatedly proposed to the British 
 government, and as often rejected. Intelligence of Napoleon's 
 reverses, brought over at the same time with the British peace em- 
 bassy, was not without its influence, in fortifying the policy of 
 pacific measures. 
 
 No military movements of importance, took place at the north 
 during the winter and spring. Toward the close of March, General 
 AVilkinson marched from Plattsburgh across the Canadian boundary, 
 with a, force of four thousand men, but the inva.>ion resulted in 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 873 
 
 nothing but loss and defeat. He soon after resigned his commission, 
 and was succeeded by General Izard. 
 
 At the instance of the American generals, Brown and Scott, a 
 new army of invasion was collected in the vicinity, pf Niagara, 
 Between three and four thousand men were transported across the 
 river at Buffalo, on the night of July 2d, and after accomplishing 
 the seizure of Fort Erie, pushed on towards Chippewa, in the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of the Falls, where a British army, of equal 
 force, commanded by General Riall, lay encamped. A severe 
 engagement took place on the 5th, in which the British were' de- 
 feated, with a loss of five hundred men. Riall retreated to Burling- 
 ton heights. A few weeks later he was joined by large additional 
 forces from York, under General Drummond. 
 
 The American army, marching towards Queenstown, (July 25th,) 
 encountered the enemy at Bridgewater, hard by the Falls of Niagara. 
 Although the British had taken a position in which their artillery, 
 posted upon a hill, could command the field, and although the day 
 was nearly spent, the Americans commenced an attack without 
 hesitation. 
 
 A regiment under Major Jessup, making a detour, came upon the 
 rear of the enemy, while General Scott, with the advanced division 
 of the army, attacked in front. The main force coming up, the 
 battle became general, and a bloody and desperate conflict was 
 waged through half the night, by the light of the moon. The 
 British battery, which had at first proved terribly destructive, was 
 gallantly stormed by Colonel Miller, with a battalion from the artil- 
 lery corps. Possession of the hill was maintained against repeated 
 assaults until the fighting ceased. 
 
 The Americans kept temporary possession of the field, and there- 
 fore claimed the victory. The loss on either side was heavy, amount- 
 ing to seven or eight hundred. The British general Riall was 
 wounded, and taken prisoner by Jessup's detachment. Generals 
 Brown and Scott were both so severely wounded as to incapacitate 
 them from present service, and General Ripley assumed command. 
 Little advantage was gained in the engagement, further than as it 
 inspired general confidence in the capacity of the American oflUcers, 
 and the bravery of tlie troops. The battle has commonly received 
 its designation from the neighbouring locality of "Lundy's Lane." 
 It was im[>o«aible to remove the cannon from the British battery, and 
 they were therefore recovered upon the departure of the Americans. 
 
fl74 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK 0* U18T0BY. 
 
 The latter retreated to Fort Erie, where they strengthened their 
 position in anticipation of siege by a sup/ior force. The post was 
 beset accordingly on the 4th of August, by General Drummond, 
 with over four thousand men. On the 15th, an attempt to carry it 
 by storm was signally repulsed. In September, General Brown 
 rgassumed command of the forces at Fort Erie, and, as the siege had 
 continued for more thati a month, and supplies were with difficulty 
 to be procured, he attempted a sortie. So skillfully and boldly was 
 the movement conducted, that the British guns were spiked, their 
 magazines blown up, and some four or five hundred prisoners taken. 
 The whole loss of the besiegers fell little short of a thousand men ; 
 that of the sallying party was about five hundred. Drummond 
 shortly afier drew off his forces. ' i>i."i" ,--';-' 
 
 Believed from the burden of maintaining war upon the European 
 continent, and with abundance of vote van troops, and a powerful 
 navy, at liberty for transatlantic service. Great Britain commenced 
 more directly offensive operations in America A fleet commanded 
 by Admiral Cochrane entered the Chesapeu/ ; d, passing up 
 Patuxent river, reached Benedict on the 19 August (1814). 
 
 Between four and five thousand troops, mostly trained in the school of 
 continental service, were landed at this point, and, under command 
 o. General Boss, took up their line of march towards Washington. 
 
 As the army approached Marlborough, the American fleet of 
 gun-boats, &c., lying at that place, was destroyed, to prevent its 
 seisr.ure by the enemy. General Winder, of Baltimore, who held 
 command in that quarter, with a thousand regulars, and authority 
 to call out the militia within a specified district, made what prepara- 
 tions were practicable to resist the British advance. The whole 
 force that he was enabled to collect and arm, fell short of four 
 thousand men, and these were in the most unserviceable and un- 
 disciplined condition — what stand could they be expected to make 
 against a superior force of the " veterans of the Peninsula?" 
 
 The British march was unopposed, until the army, on the 24tl), 
 reached Bladensburgh, six miles from the capitol, on the East bank 
 of the Potomac. Here the American forces were posted on the 
 right bank, the bridge over the stream being commanded by several 
 pieces of artillery, in charge of Commodore Barney, who was pres- 
 ent with his corps of five hundred marines, before attached to tlie 
 flotilla destroyed nt Marlborough. This body of men fought bravely 
 and obstinately, holding the enemy in check af\er the militia bad 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 375 
 
 been routed and dispersed. Their flank was finally turned, and 
 they were compelled to join in a general retreat. The loss on the 
 part of the Americans was but about fifty in killed and wounded. 
 
 Abandoning the capitol to the enemy, Winder en w off his forces 
 to the heights of Georgetown, and, on the evening of the day of 
 the battle, the British army entered Washington, and burned the 
 capitol, the president's house, and most of the public buildings. 
 This malicious destruction of valuable libraries, records, &c., is 
 stigmatized by one of their own writers as "a piece of Vandalism 
 that covered the expedition with disgrace ;" it was excused as being 
 in retaliation for the burning, by the Americans, of the Canadian 
 Parliament llouse at York. 
 
 On the night of the 25th, after accomplishing some further injury 
 — not entirely confined to public property — the invading army was 
 drawn off, and marched back towards Benedict. A reembarkation 
 was ettected on the 30th. Meantime, some of the larger vessels 
 having entered the Potomac, made their way up to Alexandria; 
 where all the shipping in port was seized, and a large amount of 
 provisions and valuable stores was exacted from the inhabitants. 
 
 The vicinity of Baltimore was the next scene of operations by the 
 armament in the Chesapeake. The inhabitants of that city, fore- 
 warned of danger, were prepared for defence. Boss landed at 
 North Point, at the entrance of Patapsco river, fifteen miles from 
 the city, on the 12th of September, wii!^ a force of five thousand 
 men. The defence was conducted by Genein^l Smith. An advanced 
 detachment of three thousand men, under General Striker, was 
 compelled to retire before the invading columns; but in the first 
 mel^e Ross was killed, and the command devolved on Colonel 
 Brooke. 
 
 Owing to the shallowness of the entrance of the harbour, and the 
 gallant defence of the protecting forts, M'Uenry and Covington, the 
 British fleet was unable to cooperate with the land forces, and the 
 city appearing too well defended to render an attack advisable, the 
 attetiipt was abandoned. The troops rCenibarked on the night of 
 the 18th, and shortly after, the fleet sailed for the S()uth. 
 
 ;i 
 
876 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HIST0R7. 
 
 
 ' i. 1 I ' f 
 
 
 
 OPERATIONS ON THE COAST OF MAINE. — ATTACK ON FLATTS- 
 
 BUROH: BiTTLB OF LAKE CHAHFLAIN. — NAVAL AFFAIRS: 
 
 /lAFITTE. — NEGOTIATION AT GHENT. — THE HART- ., 
 
 ,,.', FORD CONVENTION. — TREATY OF PEACE. — JACK- *. • 
 
 SON'S DEFENCE OF NEW ORLEANS: BATTLE OF 
 
 JANUARYS. — NAVAL BN6A0EHENTS. 
 
 In pursuance of their plans of oftence, the British made a descent, 
 in September, (1814), upon the coast of Maine. They took nominal 
 possession of all the eastern district, and seized upon several towns 
 and villages on Penobscot bay; but the most substantial injury 
 inflicted upon the Americans in this quarter was the destruction of 
 the frigate John Adams. This vessel was pursued up Penobscot 
 river by a strong detachment, and, after an attempt at defence, was 
 set on fire, by order of her commander, to prevent her falling into 
 the enemy's hands. 
 
 At the same time, Plattsburgh, on Champlain, was threatened by 
 a powerful array of land and naval forces. The former consisted of 
 twelve thousand disciplined troops, mostly veteran soldier?, com- 
 manded by Governor George Prevost; the latter under Commo- 
 dore Downie, numbered sixteen vessels, the largest carrying thirty- 
 seven guns; the whole flotilla, including gun-boats, mounted nearly 
 one hundred guns, and had on board about a thousand men. 
 
 Plattsburgh was defended by about six thousand troops — regulars 
 and militia from adjoining states — and by the squadron under Com- 
 modore M'Donough, which was anchored at the entrance of the 
 harbour. The American fleet was slightly inferior to tiiat of the 
 British, both in number of vessels, of guns, and of men on board. 
 The Saranac river divided the opposing land forces; the British had 
 been occupied for some days previous to the general engagement, 
 strengthening their position on the left bank. 
 
 On the morning of September 11, an attack was commenced by 
 the enemy both by land and water. M'Donough's squadron, lying 
 in a, favourable position, had an advantage at the commencement of 
 
TilE UNITED STATES. 
 
 877 
 
 ibo engagement, which 'vas maintained until its close. The prin- 
 cipal encounter, by whi-jh the fortune of the day was decided, took 
 place between the Saratoga, the American flag ship, and the Confi- 
 ance, commanded by Downie. Pouring in a succession of broadsides, 
 the guns of either, on the exposed side, were mostly silenced. Both 
 vessels then attempted to take new positions, by which their other 
 guns might be made available. The Saratoga succeeded; but the 
 British ship, failing to accomplish the 'nlended movement, lay help- 
 lessly exposed to a raking fire, and wa.. forced to strike. Between 
 eleven and twelve o'clock, the whole fleet having followed this 
 example, the engagement ceased. The gun-boats, however, made 
 their escape, while the attention of the Americans was occupied 
 in securing their prizes. 
 
 Meanwhile, the land division, attempting to ford the Saranac, met 
 with a severe and decided repulse; and upon the conclusion of the 
 naval engagement, a retreat was ordered. The expedition thus 
 ended in signal failure and defeat. The loss of the British in killed, 
 wounded, prisoners, and deserters, is said to have exceeded two 
 thousand men. 
 
 During the autumn, the British navy obtained entire command of 
 the sea-coast; and in the Ontario, a large ship, recently fitted out at 
 Kingston, kept possession of the lake. The Wasp and the Peacock 
 were the last American armed vessels upon service abroad at this 
 season. The first of these, after taking many prizes, among others, 
 two British national vessels, foundered at sea, or went to pieces on 
 some unknown coast, as she was never afterwards heard from. The 
 Peacock, eluding the blockade, came safe to port, having made a 
 successful cruise, and captured a number of merchant vessels. 
 
 Another piece of service was accomplished in the month of Octo- 
 ber, by an expedition under Commodore Patterson, against a settle- 
 ment of French rovers, who harboured at Barataria bay, a short 
 distance westward from the mouth of the Mississippi. These out- 
 laws professed to cruise exclusively against Spanish commerce, but 
 they were considered as little other .han pirates. One of their 
 number was the noted Lafitte, concerning whom as many improba- 
 ble tales have been told as those connected with the piracies of Kidd. 
 Ten vessels, belonging to this fraternity, were seized, after being 
 deserted by iheir crews. 
 
 About this time arrived reports from the commissioners appointed 
 to treat for peace. Negotiations had been opened at Ghent, but the 
 
 I 
 
 rj -f] 
 
 f 
 
878 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 demands of Great Britain were too extravagant to require a moment'§ 
 consideration. Among other requisitions, the United States were 
 called upon to forego any future acquisition of Indian lands at the 
 north-west; to abstain from providing for frontier defence by forts, 
 or a flotilla on the lakes; to cede a portion of the north-eastern ter- 
 ritory to Great Britain; and to give up their privileges respecting 
 the coast fishery. 
 
 The friends of the administration, at this juncture, were alarmed 
 and indignant at a movement in New England, which threatened a 
 more serioua rupture between different sectituis of the Union than 
 any that had preceded it In response to a call by the legislature of 
 Massachusetts, delegates were appointed from all the New England 
 states — in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, chosen 
 directly by the legislatures — to meet at Hartford on the 15th of De- 
 cember, for the purpose of devising and proposing such amendments 
 to the constitution as might secure rights of representation, &c., to the 
 northern states, equal to such as were enjoyed by those of the south, 
 and for general consultation upon the "danger to which the eastern 
 section of the Union" was "exposed by the course of the war." 
 
 Notwithstanding a vast amount of obloquy, and wide-spread accusa- 
 tion of treasonable designs, the convention met accordingly, and, after 
 a secret session of between two and three weeks, the delegates submit- 
 ted an address to the New Kngland legislatures, setting forth the con- 
 clusions at which they hail arrived. These, in addition to a recitation 
 of grievances, related principally to the disputed question respecting 
 the power of the federal gove.-ntnent over the militia; and to the 
 measures requisite for local defence against the enemy. The pro- 
 posed constitutional atnendinents were chiefly advisory — that the 
 power of congress in respect to warlike measures should be curtailed 
 by the requirement of a iwo-tiiirds vote, and that slaves should be ex- 
 cluded in the representative computation. The general tone of the 
 document was more moderate and less treasonable than had been 
 uiiticipated. 
 
 The ces-^ation of war in Europe having removed all substantial 
 occasion for further collision of inttirest between Great Britain and 
 the United States, the former abated her demands, and a treaty of 
 |)eace was signed at Ghent in the month of December. The claims 
 respecting itiipressment and riglit of search were left undecided, as 
 only relating to a state of war which it were unnecessary to autici 
 pate; privileges formerly enjoyed by the United States' fishermen 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 879 
 
 on the British American coast, and a right of navigation in the Mis- 
 sisflippi, before secured to Great Britain, were abandoned; in all 
 other respects the parties remained in statu quo. 'i , 
 
 This joyful intelligence did not reach the United States until Feb- 
 ruary, a period when the whole nation was rejoicing over the most 
 brilliant piece of success that had attended its arms on land, through- 
 out the war. In the month of November, General Jackson, being in 
 occupation of Ponsacola, temporarily seized from the Spanish au- 
 thorities on account of the landing of British forces in that quarter, 
 obtained information of an intended attack upon New Orleana 
 After forwarding orders for raising militia, and for other defensive 
 preparations, he repaired thither in person, and arrived, with a small 
 force of regulars, on the Ist of December. 
 
 With all the ardour and energy of his character, he engaged in 
 the difficult work of organizing an army, from materials the most in- 
 congruous and ill-BU'tpil to regular military operations. Men of 
 different nations and colour, utterly unused to the discipline of a 
 camp; convicts from the prisons; a portion of those pirates or pri- 
 vateers previously ousted from Barataria; were marshalled and put 
 in such condition for service as time and circumstances would admit. 
 The work of throwing up fortifications was oarried on with uninter- 
 mitting ardour. . ,,u ... 
 
 In the midst of these preparations, and before the arrival of troops 
 expected from Kentucky and Tennessee, upon which the general 
 placed his chief reliance, a British fleet appeared at the entrance of 
 Lake Borgne. This was the squadron recently occupying the Ches- 
 apeake, together with other vessels from England, bringing over 
 large reinforcements of troops. The whole force, including sailors 
 and marines, exceeded fifteen thousand men. Most of the troops 
 had been disciplined and inured to service in the continental war. 
 The American flotilla of gun-boats on the lake made a gallant de- 
 fence, but was finally captured, and the main British force, passing 
 up in boats, eflected a landing at the western shore. 
 
 The advanced division of two thousand men, after gaining the 
 bank of the Mississippi, fifteen miles below the city, commenced its 
 march up the river. On the night of December 23d, a spirited attack 
 was made by the Americans upon this detachment, a schooner in 
 the river opening fire at the same time that the engagement com- 
 mcncvvi on shore. The British, attaining a defensible position, finaHf 
 nminta. x^d their ground, and the assailants drew off. 
 
 t J 
 
 1 4 
 
 ^ 
 
880 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 Roinforcementa had meanwhile arrived from Tennessee and Mia 
 sissippi, until the force at New Orleans amounted to about five thou- 
 sand men. The emergency of the occasion, and the disturbed 
 condition of the city, induced Jackson to proclaim martial law, and 
 to take such measures as should prevent the legislative assembly 
 from counteracting his plans of defence by any ofifers of capitulation. 
 The governor, Claibourne, had submitted to Jackson's authority, and, 
 entering with zeal into the plans of the general, he anticipated the 
 'langcr of any such movement, by a forcible dissolution of the 
 assembly. 
 
 The day following the first engagement, Jackson had taken a 
 position some four miles below the city, on the leA bank, where a 
 trench was carried across the entire strip of dry land from the river 
 bniik down the gradual declivity to the swamp. The embankment 
 was enlarged and strengthened by piles of movables, cotton bales, 
 «kc. An armed vessel, lying in the river, was so stationed as to flank 
 the ditch and command the approach from below : works were also 
 erected on the opposite bank of the Mississippi. 
 
 The enemy attempted to storm these fortifications on the 28th, 
 and failing in that, they erected batteries to play upon the American 
 works. A heavy cannonade on both' sides, on the 1st of January 
 (1815), resulted in the silencing of the British guns. On the 4th, 
 reinforcements arrived from Kentucky. 
 
 An interval of a few days was then spent in preparations for a 
 decisive assault. A canal was cut by which a number of boats were 
 transported from the lake to the river, for the purpose of carrying 
 over a detachment to the right bank. This wos effected on the night 
 of the 7th, and on the morning of the following day, the main army, 
 under command of Sir Edward Packenham, assaulted the American 
 entrenchments. The desperate character of an attack, at such fearful 
 disadvantage, is evident from the result. The Americans, firing 
 from covei't, lost less than twenty men in killed and wounded, while 
 the loss of the enemy was not far from two thousand men. Among 
 the slain was General Packenham, who fell leading his men to the 
 charge. 
 
 The detachment on the right bank, in the full tide of success, 
 having driven from their entrenchments and defeated a greatly su- 
 jwrior force, was recalled, when the fortune of the day was decided, 
 and the whole army, retreating unmolested to the lake, rijembarked. 
 The only success that attended this expedition was the subsequent 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 881 
 
 capture of Fort Bowyer, at Mobile, which, being garrisoned by less 
 than four hundred men, surrendered on the 18th of February. 
 
 Several naval engagements took place before news of the peace 
 could be generally circulated. On the 15th of January the frigate 
 President, commanded by Decatur, attempting to get to sea from 
 New York, was intercepted by the British blockading squadron, and 
 after a sharp engagement with the Endymion, a frigate of forty guns, 
 was compelled to strike by the advance of other vesuels to the sup' 
 port of the enemy. The Constitution, in the month of February, 
 made prize in a single action of the Cyane and the Levant, carrying 
 respectively twenty-four and eighteen guns. This was accomplished 
 by adroit manoeuvring, so as to keep beyond reach of their guns, 
 while her own, of heavier metal, could tell with destructive effect. 
 The Hornet and Peacock each captured a British national vessel. 
 The Nautilus, taken by the latter on the 80th of June, 1815, was 
 immediately restored, upon communication of intelligence, satisfac- 
 tory to the commander of the Hornet, that pea'be had been concluded. 
 
 \j li, il, J. 3, 3j ill, JL y » 
 
 WAR WITH ALGIERS. — TARIFF: NATIONAL BANK. — MONROE, 
 PRESIDENT. — JACKSON'S SEMINOLE CAMPAIGN. — CESSION 
 OP FLORIDA BY SPAIN. — ADMISSION OF MISSOURI: THE 
 COMPROMISE. — MONROE'S SECOND TERM. — ADMINIS- 
 TRATION OF JOHN QUINCT ADAMS. — ELECTION OP 
 ANDREW JACKSON. — THE TARIFF -NULLIFI- 
 CATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. — THE UNITED 
 STATES' BANK. — INDIAN REM0TAL8. — 
 BLACK HAWK. — THE CHSR0KEE8. 
 
 Almost immediately after the conclusion of peace with Great 
 Britain, the attention of congress being directed by the president to 
 late outrages upon our commerce by Barbary cruisers, war was de- 
 clared against Algiers. A squadron of ten vessels, commanded by 
 Decatur — to be followed by another under Bainbridge — was dis- 
 patched to the Mediterranean in the month of May following. The 
 capture of two armed vessels, one of them being the largest in his 
 
 'i 
 
882 
 
 THE I'KOPLE'S BOOK OF IIIBTORY. 
 
 navy, bo nlnrmcil the dcy, that ho at once concluded n trooty by 
 which the United States were for ever freed from the disgraceful 
 payment of tribute, and all American prisoners wore freed without 
 ransom. His vessels were gratuitously returned to him. 
 
 From Algiers, Decatur sailed for Tunis and Tri|)oli, both of which 
 nil IS were compelled to furnish indemnity for the sufferance of 
 capture by the British of United States' vessels, while in their ports, 
 nis whole mission accomplished, the commodore joined Bain- 
 bridge at Gibralter. 
 
 At the next session of congress, 1815-16, a long and vehement 
 discussion arose respecting the establishment of the new tariff. All 
 the op|)osing interests of the producer and manufacturer were brought 
 to bear u{)on the question. As finally settled, a judicious discrimina- 
 tion was ma<ie between those articles which could bo produced or 
 manufacture 1 in perfection at home, and those, being at the same 
 time articles of neces-ity, for which wo must still be partially or 
 wholly dependent upon foreign nations. 
 
 A new national bank, upon specie-paying principles, and having 
 n capital of thirty-five millions, mostly to be subscribed for in United 
 States' stocks, was also established at this session. The Union was 
 extended, toward the close of the year, by the admission of Indiana, 
 as a separate state. The presidential election again recurring, James 
 Monroe, secretary of state under Madison, was elected to the highest 
 office, and Daniel D. Tompkins to that of vice-president. The inau- 
 guration took place on tin' 4th of March, 1817. 
 
 During the year, additional treaties were effected with most of the 
 western Indians, by which their title was extinguished to large dis- 
 tricts, at this time fast filling up with an enterprising population 
 from the east At the south,, trouble was already brewing between 
 the Seminolcs and the white settlers. Spain still retaining her title 
 to both East and West B^'lorida, the chastisement of the Indians by 
 pursuing them into a foreign juristliction became a delicate matter, 
 but the necessities of the case seeming to recpiire some action. Gen- 
 eral Jackson, with a large force of Tennessee volunteers, was dis- 
 patched against them. Tlie operations of the campaign in regard to 
 the conquest of Indian territory, will be found briefly recapitulated 
 in a subsequent chapter. A high handed proceedure of the general, 
 in the trial by court martial, and execution of two British subjects, 
 Arbuthnot and Ambrister, fur inciting the Indians to war.and lending 
 them aid and assistance, has been heavily censured. The seizure of 
 
i.-.v'- 
 
 FIFTH nUuSIDKNT Ul' TllK UNUKU SIAIK 
 LOK ] APRIL Q9. '.-.'■8, IN WKSTUORKI-AMD COUNTr, Va ; TKl 
 UAllcm. 1817, KEHVKD8YKAKS- Dl K D JULY 1 U-'- 
 
 nu^i-irHN'T 
 
 • ( 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 !^i 
 
 W.: 
 
 'v 
 
 J 
 
 i« 
 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 383 
 
 the Spanish capital, Pensacola, and the fort of St. Marks, in "West 
 Florida, also accomplished during this winter campaign, gave occa- 
 sion for much injurious comment abroad upon American policy. 
 The latter event took place early in 1818. 
 
 Charges of having exceeded his authority by these unwarrantable 
 acts were brought against Jackson, and the whole subject of the 
 Seminole campaign was debated at length in congress. He was 
 finally sustained by a decided majority in his conduct of the affairs in 
 question. The desire of government to maintain peaceful relations 
 with Spain, and to acquire the Floridas by amicable treaty, had been 
 appartint from the whole policy pursued by the United States during 
 the struggle of the former country with her revolted American col- 
 onies. The forces of the United States had also been employed, 
 during the year preceding, to expel from Amelia island, on the coast 
 of East Florida, a band of lawless adventurers, who, while threat- 
 ening the Spanish possessions on the main, were engaged in the 
 slave trade, in smuggling, and in general depredation, 
 
 A treaty, providing for the cession of Florida, was finally concluded 
 with Spain toward the close of the year 1820, the United States thus 
 obtaining an acquisition to its territory of greater importance in 
 respect to position than to intrinsic value. Meanwhile, increasing 
 prosperity attended upon the enterprise of individuals in extending 
 civilization at the west and south. Mississippi, Illinois, and Alabama 
 had been consecutively admitted to the Union — the first in 1817, 
 the second in 1818, and the third in 1819. Communication with 
 the west had been rendered practicable by the opening of the Cum- 
 berland road, a national work, carried out in consequence of arrange- 
 ments made with the state of Ohio, as a consideration for the cession 
 of western lands. The power of congress in respect to internal 
 improvements, other than those necessarily connected with public 
 enterprise, as the construction of military roads, the erection of 
 light-houses, the improvement of harbours, &c., has never been sat- 
 isfacttirily decided. 
 
 The most imjwrtant question brought before congress at its sessions 
 in 1820 and 1821, was upon the admission of the territory of Mis- 
 Bouri into the Union as a sovereign state. The introduction of an 
 amendment providing for the exclusion of slavery within its limits, 
 as the condition upon which the application for admission should be 
 entertained, gave occasion for the most excited and angry discussion 
 that had yet resulted from any issue taken between the north and 
 Vol. IV,— 68 
 
 1 If j^ 
 
 
 > \ 'Mm 1 
 
 
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 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 the south. The matter was finally adjusted, by admission of the new 
 state, with no further restriction than that no act should be passed 
 by Its legislature in contravention of the constitutional rights of cit- 
 izens emigrating thither from other states. This proviso was called 
 for by a clause in a constitution formed by the people of the terri- 
 tory, providing for the future exclusion of free negroes and 
 mulattoes. 
 
 On the other hand, those opposed to the extension of southern in- 
 fluence and institutions, succeeded, by a large majority, in appending 
 to the bill a proviso that thenceforth slavery should be prohibited in 
 the territory of the United States lying north of the parallel of thirty- 
 six degrees thirty minutes, the northern boundary of the present 
 Slate of Arkansas. The separation of Maine from Massachusetts, 
 and its admission to the Union was effected during the discussion of 
 the Missouri question. 
 
 Mr. Monroe, shortly after his entry upon a second official term, in 
 1821, appointed Andrew Jackson to the office of governor of the 
 new territory of Florida. In dealing with the Spanish officials wuorn 
 he was called upon to supersede, the proceedings of the general were, 
 as usual, rather high handed. The keys of the capitol at Pensacola 
 ■were formally delivered up by Jose Cavalla, the Spanish governor, 
 on the seventh of July ; a refusal or neglect on his part to deliver 
 over certain public documents led to his temporary arrest by order 
 of Jackson. 
 
 The principal political events during the closing term of ^fonroe'3 
 administration, were the recognition of the independence of the 
 republics of South America; a treaty with England for the more 
 effectual suppression of the slave trade ; a settlement of the boutidary 
 on the Pacific, which should limit future settlements by Russia or 
 the United States; and a protective modification of the tariff. Tiie 
 last mea-sure was not carrii-d without vehement opposition. 
 
 In 1824, tlie venerable La Fayette, upon express invitation ex- 
 tended by congress, visited tlie United States, where he spent 
 nearly an entire year in making a general tour of the country. 
 Thnjughout his journey he met with the trio.st enthusiastic reception, 
 and, ere his departure, he received substantial tokens of the gratitude 
 of the nation, in the grant of a township of land, and the sum ol 
 two hundred thousand dollars, by appropriation of congress. 
 
 The ascendency of n^publican priiiciples, as opposed to the doc- 
 trines of the original federal party, was sufiiciently evinced by the 
 
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THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 885 
 
 triumphant election of three successive republican presidents, and 
 the retention of office by each of them, for a term of eight years. At 
 the election in 1824, new elements entered into the political contro- 
 versy. Candidates were brought forward from the four great sec- 
 tions of the TTnion : New England was represented by John Qnincy 
 Adams, son of the second president ; Virginia by Mr. Crawford ; 
 the south by Andrew Jackoon; and the west by Henry Clay. 
 Adams and Jackson were the prominent candidates, but, as neither 
 obtained a majority, the election devolved, a second time, upon the 
 house of representatives. The former was chosen president, although 
 Jackson had received a larger number of popular votes. 
 
 During the four years of Adams' administration, the country 
 remained at peace with all foreign nations. The messages to con- 
 gress and other public addresses of the president, excited general 
 admiration by their ability, and the dignity, integrity, and firm- 
 ness which they exhibited. In accordance with principles set fcth 
 in his inaugural address. President Adams displayed great mod- 
 eration in the exercise of his powers of removal, considering it a 
 matter of gross impropriety that the offices of government should 
 be bestowed as rewards for party services, or as mere tokens of 
 personal favour. 
 
 Toward the close of this administration, the revival of the dispute 
 respecting a protective tariff renewed all the former antagonisra 
 between the north and the south. The law passed relative to this 
 subject, was finally so altered and amended as to favour the interests 
 of the manufacturing states. The presidential election, recurring at 
 this period, gave occasion for a display of party violence and ani- 
 mosity seldom before witnessed in America. The result was the 
 choice of Andrew Jackson for president, and of John C. Calhoun, 
 of South Carolina, for vice-president. Tiie inauguration took place 
 March 4th', i^29. 
 
 A writer in Lardner's Cycloptedia, says of this result, "Jackson 
 had been the rude soldier; ever ready to outstep the bounds of 
 legality; fierce in his manners and declarations; breathing war and 
 defiance. The fears that his election would prove the s'^^nal, not 
 only < r hostilities witli forei^^n powers, but usurpation or once 
 at home, were general; yi he same popular breath that wafted 
 Jiiekson to the presidency, Kupressed u^mn him at the same time so 
 strong a sense of his duty, that mftr: in the furnace ^ .;' I not take 
 r. newer or softer temper than tiio ; ow president." Chat he had, 
 
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 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0BT. 
 
 however, lost nothing of his former firmness, is evident from the 
 whole course of his ndministration. 
 
 The late aiv {.'.i'iiiKim \n the tariff produced great excitement 
 and oppositi >i; throughout ihe uouthern states. South Carolina 
 took the lead in «' ; ouncing the iJleged partiality of the system, 
 and in maintaining th« prinoii'V'' . f a forcible assertion of rights 
 on th: part oi thu-io ."tjvUjs .\i ,, icved by its operation. The 
 speech of Ilayin ... in the United States senate, upon this topic, called 
 forth from the great orator and statesman, Daniel Webster, a 
 lojily which has ever been considered one of his ablest and most 
 fuicib!,' cfforK 
 
 V/hon ih;.^ te( ling finally brake out into an open determination, on 
 the part; of rhe state of '' ;t.h Curolina, as expressed by a convention 
 called by h majorly of its electors, to resist the authority of the 
 United States in the collection of revenues, the president took a 
 firm and decided position. By his pi-oclamation of December lOtli, 
 1882, he expressed a fixed determination to fulfil the duties of the 
 executive, by carrying out the laws of the United States at all 
 hazards. At the same time, no unnecessary violence of language 
 yr&a made ise of, but the state of South Carolina was called upon 
 in persuaaivi} and moderate tones to preclude the necessity for coer- 
 cive njeasures, by a voluntary renunciation of the treasonable doc- 
 trines recently made manifest. 
 
 Immediate preparations were commenced for warlike operations 
 — should such prove inevitable — by garrisoning and strengthening 
 the forts at the entrance of the harbour of Charleston. The party 
 in South Carolina opposed to the attempted nuUificatiun of the laws 
 of the United States, being a large minority, made renewed exertions, 
 at this crisis, to avert the threatened calamity. A modification of 
 the tariff, introduced and carried in congre:>s by Mr. <Jlay, by way 
 of comjiroinit- ayed the angry fueling at the south, and put an 
 
 end to th'eaUs of secession. 
 
 Jack.«ion was reelected at the close of his first term, Martin Van 
 Buren being, at the same time, chosen vice-president. During the 
 whole [XjrKKl of his retention of office, the credit of the country was 
 maintained with foreign nations. In July, 1S3' vi ;*'iU;igeii, .jI, 
 long post ' «.i, was concluded W(th France, ' .vhich a specified 
 indemnit ;s secured for former deprer": .lons upon Americi.ri 
 co'^mer ' .he most irnjK)rUint domestic tniisactions of thia admin- 
 ifltr." ' iated to Indiau affairs. Those which aroused the grealosc 
 
THETJNITED STATES. 
 
 887 
 
 degree of party strife were connected with the proccedinga of the 
 president concerning the United States Bank. 
 
 Deeming this institution, if not of unconstitutional inception, at 
 least a dangerous agent for the management of fiscal concerns, he 
 made use of the veto power to annul the action of congress granting 
 a renewal of its charter. In the year following, (1838), the president 
 ordered a withdrawal of the public funds from this bank, then their 
 place of deposit ; they were subsequently intrusted to certain state 
 banks — "pet banks," as they were denominated by the opposition. 
 In carrying out this measure, during a recess of congress,, Jackson 
 removed from the office of secretary of the treasury, Mr. Duane, who 
 had declined to second his views, and appointed Mr. Taney. A 
 vote of censure was pasped by the senate relative to this proceed- 
 ing on the part of the executive, but was afterwards expunged, 
 (January 16th, 1887.) 
 
 To the president's hostility towards the bank| many have attri- 
 buted its ultimate downfall, and, in \o small measure, the commercial 
 crisis which gave so ruinous — but perhaps beneficial — a check to 
 the speculative mania of the period. The effect of the failure of that 
 institution, has, doubtless, been exaggerated, and, for the cause, we 
 must look rather to the misconduct of its managers, and to immense 
 losses sustained by the refusal, upon various pretexts, of several 
 states to make good their liabilities. 
 
 The subject of the removal of the Indian tribes to lands westward 
 of the Mississippi, was long a matter of great difficulty, aud, in the 
 districts where these races were located, of engrossing interest The 
 standing ground of contention w.as a disavowal by the Indians of 
 the authority of those chiefs wko undertook to treat in behalf of 
 the tribes. In 1831, a portion of the tribe of Sacs, of Illinois, headed 
 by their chief, Black Hawk, refused to remove from their settlements 
 on Rock river. They were expelled by force, although without 
 bloodshed, but, in the year following, numbers of them returned to 
 their old quarters. 
 
 Blood was first shed by the whites — it appears, upon very insuffi 
 cient occasion; and, the war once commenced. Black Hawk and 
 his warriors were signally successful in several skirmishes. Finally, 
 worn out by fatigue, hard fare, and exposure, they were cut off and 
 mercilessly massacred by a large force, under General Atkinson. 
 Black Hawk made his escape, but subsequently surrendered himself 
 to the United States' authorities. He was detained as a hostage 
 
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888 
 
 THE I'EOl'LE'8 HOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 until June, 1833, when he was set at liberty. In company with 
 other Indian chiefs, he vi':lted many of the eastern cities, every 
 where exciting much attention and curiosity. 
 
 Many of the aouthern tribes were induced to emigrate peaceably; 
 the greatest difficulty was in dealing with the Cherokees and Semi- 
 nolca. The former, to the number of about eighteen thousand, were 
 mostly located in the northern part of Georgia. The^ had made 
 great advances in civilization, and were governed by a legislation 
 of their own. The United States had stipulated, in 1802, with the 
 state of Georgia, to extinguish the title of the Cherokees to lands 
 within that jurisdiction, "as early as the same could be peaceably 
 obtained upon reasonable terms." 
 
 Efforts to effect a removal of the tribe had been partially success- 
 ful, but the Georgia legislature, impatient at delay, in 1824, pa.ssed 
 sundry acts — pronounced unconstitutional by many able jurists — 
 encroaching upon the rights and personal privileges of the Indians. 
 Finding their position insecure, a large party of the Cherokees, 
 headed by Major Ridge, favoured an emigration of the whole nation. 
 Those of this opinion attended a council, called in 1835, and con- 
 cluded a treaty with J. T. Schermerhorn, commissioner on the part 
 of the United States, by which it was agreed that, upon the receipt 
 of reasonable compensation for the losses necessarily sustained U{)on 
 removal, the whole tribe should emigrate westward of the Mississippi. 
 
 A military force was called into requisition to compel submission 
 to the terms of this treaty; but the Indians, although denying the 
 authority of those who had undertaken to act for the tribe, made no 
 overt resistance. The Georgian Cherokees, removed to the western 
 territory, have continued to prosper, pursuing the arts of agriculture, 
 and improving in civilization and education. Ti\e Choctaws, Chick- 
 asaws, and Creeks, occupying separate tracts assigned them west of 
 the Mississippi, have also, to a greater or less extent, adopted the 
 customs of the whites. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 339 
 
 CHAPTER lY I. 
 
 THB SEMINOLE WAR. — EARLY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA IV- 
 DIAN8. — WAR OF 1818. — INDIAN TREATY OF 1823; OP 1832. 
 — REFUSAL OF THE SEJflNOLES TO REMOVE. — DESTRUCTION 
 OF DADE'S DETACHMENT. — MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 
 GENERALS SCOTT AND JESSUP. — UNSATISFACTORY 
 RESULTS OF NEGOTIATION — EXPEDITIONS OF COL- 
 ONELS TAYLOR AND HARNEY. — GRADUAL CESSA- 
 TION OF HOSTILITIES. — RECENT DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 From the time of the conquest by De Soto, to the acquisition of 
 the territory of Florida by the United States, the peninsula contin- 
 ued a theatre for scenes of desultory but ferocious warfare. In the 
 bloody contests between the French and Spanish settlers, the unfor- 
 tunate aborigines were ruinously involved; their agricultural pur- 
 suits were interrupted, and their numbers were greatly reduced by 
 warfare, and the want attendant upon their unsettled condition. 
 
 According to their usual custom, the Spaniards, while they con- 
 tinued to oppress and destroy the original proprietors of the soil, 
 were not wanting in endeavours to promote their spiritual welfare. 
 From St. Augustine, ni ' s of zealous ecclesiastics were sent forth 
 among the Indians. Boiti within the limits of the present state of 
 Florida, ahd far in the wilderness of the north and west, these wor- 
 thy missionaries devoted their lives to the instruction of '^'p; natives 
 in their religious faith, and in the arts of civilization. 
 
 At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the principal 
 tribes of Florida were the hostile nations of the Yemasses and the 
 Appalachees ; but after the northern portion of the peninsula wiis 
 overrun by the invading forces of Governor Moore, of South Caro- 
 lina, these reduce' • . " ' scattered natives united and moved farther 
 southward. Froni ihis period they were known as Scminoles (" wan- 
 derers"). Causes of quarrel continued to exist between them and 
 the white settlers of the border: fugitive slaves from the northern 
 plantations found an asylum among the Indians, and mutual wrongs 
 and outrages kept alive the old feelings of hostility. At the period 
 of the cession of Florida to the United States, the Indians had flour- 
 ishing settlements in West Florida, particularly upon the St. Marks 
 
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890 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 
 and Oscilla rivers, and in tlio vicinity of the lake of Miccosukie 
 Their inrouda had become so frequent and dangerous, that it was 
 determined to break up their quarters in this region, and in March of 
 1818, those settlements were laid waste by an army of several thou- 
 sand men, under General Jackson, and the inhabitants were driven 
 to East Florida and into the interior. Five years later, on the 18th 
 of September, 1828, a treaty, known as the treaty of Moultrie creek, 
 was effected by United States' commissioners with upwards of thirty 
 of the Seminole chiefs, the principal provisions of which were for 
 . .ing the Indians to a specified district in the interior. Mutual 
 complaints were still made by the Indians and frontier whites of 
 reciprocal injuries, and the removal of the Scminoles from Florida 
 was strenuously advocated. 
 
 In 1832, on the 8th of May, another conference was held by 
 United States' agents with about fifteen of the Indian chiefs, at 
 Payne's landing, on the Ocklawaha riv^ir. A grant of lunds west of 
 the Mississipj)! was promised by the Uiiitod States, together with 
 a pecuniary compensation for the loss attendant upon ti.e abandon- 
 ment of their old settlements, if the Indians would consent to remove; 
 an offer which the Seminole chieid accepted in behall of their people, 
 conditionally upon tb new lands pro "t acceptable upon examin- 
 ation, by some of theii own emissaries. The remov; w uj to take 
 place in three years' time. The nation large w;i averse to this 
 treaty, and as the time for its completion dr 'w near, no disposition 
 was evinced to abide by it. The warrior ^ nying the authority 
 of the chiefs who had undertaken to bind them, or > i : Hsatistied with 
 the report of the deputation, commenced u systemati turchase and 
 accumulation of arms and military stores, with the d. .rminiition to 
 maintain possession of the homes of their forefathers. 
 
 Open hostilities commenced in the month of October, 1835, when 
 two Indiana were killed in a fray near Miccosukie. Their death 
 was rev* ged by the murder of the mail carrier between Tampa 
 Bay and Fort King, whose mangled body was found, shortly after, 
 ":pon the road betweei. the .stations. The disposition of the Indians 
 was further manifested by their putting to death two chiefs, named 
 John Hicks and Charley Amathla, who hud favoured the treaty 
 >f Payne's landing. Prominent among the belligerent party, wah 
 the young quadroon, (Xsceola, commonly called by the name of his 
 siip)>osed father, an Englishman, named Powel. 
 
 The numbers and warlike character of the Seminoles, seem to 
 

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 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 891 
 
 have been greatly underrated, and the lamentable result of tne first 
 important engagement excited universal astonishment. Major Dade, 
 with more than one hundred men, including a company of United 
 States' infantry, set out from Tampa Bay, in the month of December, 
 to join the forces of General Clinch, at Fort King, in the interior. 
 Not far from the forks of the Ouithlacoochee, the command was 
 beset by a large body of Indians, led by Micanopy, the principal 
 Seminole chief, and his brother-in-law, Jumper. The troops defended 
 themselves with great resolution and bravery, and succeeded in 
 rebelling the enemy, and in erecting a slight barricade of pine-logs; 
 but their opponents were in sufficient force to be able to surround 
 and pick them off at their leisure, firing from behind the trees and 
 from their lurking places among the wire-grass. Having, as they 
 supposed, destroyed the entire company, the Indians retired; but 
 shortly afterward a party of negroes arrived at the spot on horse- 
 back, and finished the murderous work by knocking the wounded 
 men on the head. Only three of the .vhole detachment ever reached 
 a place of safety : these had been left for dead upon the field. 
 
 The war had now fairly commenced, and the destruction of iso- 
 lated and exposed plantations speedily followed. Various skirmishes 
 took place, and on the 31st of the month, Osceola, at the head of 
 about six hundred Indians, attacked a body of two hundred regular 
 troops, and a company of Florida volunteers, under command of 
 General Clinch, while on their march from Fort Drane towards his 
 own head-quarters. The Indians were defeated, but not without 
 the loss of over fifty men on the part of the whites. Throughout 
 the remainder of the winter, the Seminoles continued their ravages; 
 the plantations of the interior were mostly destroyed, after being 
 abandoned by their occupants. The settlements of all East Florida 
 were in a condition of great danger and distress. The noted Philip, 
 with a powerful body of warriors, conducted the most important 
 operations in that quarter, and destroyed New Smyrna, upon Mos- 
 quito inlet, together with the plantations on Halifax river. 
 
 The following spring (1836) was memorable for General Scott's 
 campaign in Florida. With a strong force, he penetrated the north- 
 ern Seminole districts, sweeping the country in three columns. It 
 was plain, however, that the Indians had no idea of attempting to 
 cope with such formidable enemies in open warfare. They easily 
 avoided coming to any general engagement, and a troublesome, but 
 unimportant skirmishing comprised all the belligerent operations of 
 
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892 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S BOOK OK HISTORY. 
 
 the campaign. As the season advanced, the 'unheal thiness of the 
 climate prevented active operations: volunteers were discharged, 
 forts were evacuated, and the savages were at liberty during the 
 whole summer to continue a desultory system of murder and plunder. 
 In September, a large army, under Governor Call, was again marched 
 against the subtle and fugitive enemy, and they were again driven 
 southward towards the impenetrable asylum offered to them by the 
 unexplored and marshy wilderness of the Everglades. There were, 
 at this time, several hundred Creek auxiliaries in the United States' 
 service in Florida, headed by their chiefs, Paddy Carr and Jem Boy. 
 With a mixed array of these friend' / Indians and white soldiery, 
 Colonel Lane undertook a campaign to the southward, in the month 
 of October. He drove the Seminoles from the villages where they 
 had hitherto dwelt secure and unmolested, and defeated and dis- 
 persed those who attempted to oppose his progress. 
 
 Ill the following month two engagements took place on the bor- 
 ders of the extensive Wahoo swamp. The American army concen- 
 trated in that vicinity numbered more than two thousand men, a 
 force sufllcient to overwhelm the undisciplined enemy in open field, 
 but unable, nevertheless, to effect any thing of importance in a district 
 whore the Indians could so readily betake themseves to places of 
 retreat and concealment. 
 
 "Within a few weeks after theso (svents, the main body of the Sem- 
 inoles were ascertained to have deserted their old haunts, and to 
 have moved southward towards the Everglades. On the 22d of 
 January, (1837,) General Jessup, then commander-in-chief of the 
 forces in Florida, started in pursuit, witli a strong force. A number 
 of prisoners were taken at the encampment of the Seminole chief 
 Osuchee, on Ahajropka lake, at the source of tlie OcklawiJia, and the 
 trail of tlie fti^^itives was followed southward. A consider, ble force 
 of India'i warriors Wiis dispersed, and driven to take refuse 'u the 
 mora.'JS upon the Ilatchee Lu.stee ' reek, and on the following t^ay, 
 being the 28th of the month, a p: isoner was sent to propose U; th > 
 Seminole chiefs a meeting for conference. This wjis finally brought 
 about by the influence of Abraham, a quick- uitted negro, who olli- 
 ciated as Micanopy's chief counsellor. The 18th of February wa.s 
 appointed for a meeting to be hfld at Fort Dade, on the Big Oiiith- 
 laeoochee. Thus ended the campaign, and tlie invading army pro- 
 cet'dcd northward. 
 
 A truce had been aj-o'ed upon until the time for concluding the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 393 
 
 treaty, but information as to this arrangement was not disseminated 
 with sufficient promptness to put an immediate stop to hostilities. 
 Philip, with some hundreds of his warriors, made a vain attack upon 
 the encampment at Lake Monroe, in command of Colonel Fanning, 
 and garrisoned by regulars, volunteers, and a party of Creeks. When 
 the meeting appointed at Fort Dade was, after some delays, brought 
 about, the treaty of Payne's Landing was, in effect, renewed, and 
 days were fixed for the assembling of the Indians at Tampa Bay, in 
 order to embark on board government vessels. It was soon apparent, 
 however, that they had no idea of leaving the country. The war- 
 like and subtle Osceola exerted his influence over the old Kinw 
 Micanopy, to prevent compliance with the treaty, and either by force 
 or persuasion induced him to withdraw, with his followers, from 
 Tampa Bay to the interior. The spring had passed away, and 
 nothing was accomplished; the heat of summer began to tell upon 
 the troops, and Forts Mellon and Volusia were abandoned; so that 
 throughout the south-eastern portion of the peninsula the Indians had 
 undisputed possession of the whole country. 
 
 In the month of September, active operations were renewed. 
 Philip, hifi son, the Chi«f Uchee Billy, and about one hundred of 
 their company, were captured near St. Augustine, and other notable 
 warriors, weary of hopeless warfare, surrendered themselves in other 
 districts. Troops had been poured into Florida until the United 
 States' force amounted to between eight and nine thousand men, 
 but notwithstanding this overwhelming preponderance of numbers 
 over those of the Indians, no prospect of a termination of the Aar 
 seemed open. Under these circumstances, the repeated breaches of 
 faith on the part of the Indians, appeared to the commander-in-chief 
 a sufTicient excuse for treating them as savages unworthy the protec- 
 tion afforded by the rules of civilized warfare. Osceola, Alligator, 
 and six others in authority among the natives were seized, together 
 with many of tlieir followers, near Fort Peyton, whither they had 
 come for the purpose of a parley. 
 
 The next expfnUticn of importance was that of Colonel Zachary 
 Taylor, who led a force of about six hundred men into the heart of 
 the enemy'b country. He pushed his way to the borders of the 
 Everglades, and encountered the objecis of his search on the eastern 
 shore of Kissiniee lake. Thus attacked in their own quarters, and 
 in a manner at b.ay, the savages fought desperately. They main- 
 tained their ground with determined courage, and although finally 
 
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891 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 defeated and driven into tbe swamps, their loss was smaller than 
 that of their assailants. Twenty-eight of Colonel Taylor's party 
 were killed, an i no less than one hundred and eleven were wounded. 
 
 In the course of he ensuing winter great numbers of the Indians, 
 worn out by exposure and famine, and hopeless of maintaining their 
 ground, surrendered at discretion. These were, for the most part, 
 shipped westward. Although no longer acting in combined and 
 systematic warfare, those who remained continued to scour the coun- 
 try, and to murder and plunder wherever opportunity offered. This 
 state of things continued through the years of 1838, '9, and '40. 
 In December of the latter year. Colonel Harney penetrated the Ever- 
 glades by means bf boats, and surprised the encampment of the 
 chief Chaikika. The details of the various marauding expeditions 
 of the Indians, and their skirmishes with detached bodies of troops 
 would occupy too much space for further recital. The war did not 
 end by any coup de main. The savages were gradually so fair 
 reduced in numbers by captute or surrender that they ceased to be 
 formidable. Four hundred were shipped westward in the year 1842. 
 
 Those who still remain in possession of the interior of Southern 
 Florida, number, as is supposed, from three to five hundred. With 
 this feeble remnant of the powerful nation whii-h it cost such 
 immense expenditure of life and treasure to subdue, difficulties 
 have recently been renewed, and there is too much reason to fear 
 that our nation will again be disgraced by a war in which the power 
 of the United States may be exerted in vain endeavours to ferret 
 out and extirpate a few miserable savages from an unknown and 
 unexplored wilderness. : , ,i ■; i 
 
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TUE UMTED STATK8. 395 
 
 .. ;..■ . CH APT EE I ? 11. , >-'^' ..: 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BURKN: FINANCIAL PRESSURE: THE 
 
 SUB-TREASURY: CANADIAN REVOLT: THE NORTH-EASTERN 
 
 BOUNDARY: THE AFPUR OF THE AMISTAD. — HARRISON 
 
 AND TYLER: BANKRUPT LAW: PREEMPTION: THE VETO 
 
 POWER: TARIFF. ADMISSION 01 TBIA8. 
 
 Martin Van Buken was elected president, and Richard M. 
 Johnson vice-president, for the term commencing March 4th, 1837. 
 This year was memorable for the most remarkable and extensive 
 pecuniary pressure ever felt by the country, except when directly 
 subjected to the burden of war. In compliance with a circular 
 (jider issued from the treasury department in 1835, government 
 dues were demanded to be paid in gold or silver. Specie was thus 
 drawn from circulation to a vast extent, and a general stoppage of 
 payment was resorted to by the banks, as the only remedy for the 
 unceasing drain upon their resources. This procedure was directly 
 encouraged by the legislatures of several states. 
 
 At a special session of congress, held in September, the president, 
 with the concurren>'3e of Mr. Woodbury, secretary of the treasury, 
 representing the existing impossibility of compliance with the act of 
 congress, which required a deposit of the public moneys in specie- 
 paying banks, proposed a new plan for the security of these funds, 
 known as the "sub-treasury" scheme. This was the establishment 
 of separate places of deposit in different parts of the Union, so dis- 
 tributed as to diminish the expense and risk of transportation of 
 specie — the intention of government still remaining to insist upon 
 adherence to the principles upon which the specie circular was based. 
 
 A bill for this purpose was carried in the senate, but failed in the 
 lK)use. To meet the expenses of government, treasury notes were 
 ordered to be issued, and an instalment of the surplus revenue, 
 iilieady ordered for distribution among the states, was retained. It 
 was long before the mercantile community recovered from the un.set- 
 tlod state of affairs at this period. The banks did not resume specie 
 payments until August of the year following, when an agreement 
 R>r that purpose went into operation sinialtaneously tliroughout 
 tlie principal states. Meanwhile, the ruin of thousands had been 
 
 "« 11 
 
 m 
 
896 
 
 THE I'EOl'LE'S BOOK OF UISTOKY. 
 
 accomitlislied, and general distrust and uncertainty attended all 
 c* 'Xnniereial transactions. 
 
 In December, 1837, certain of the inhabitants of the northern 
 frontier became involved in the Canadian revolt which broke out in 
 that year. A large number of those favouring the insurgents occu- 
 pied and fortified Navy island, in the Niagara river. The steamer 
 Caroline, emploj'ed to convey stores, &c., to the island, was seized at 
 Schlosser, on the American shore, on the night of December 29tli, by 
 a party from the Canadian shore, was set on fire, and sent over the 
 falls. One man attached to the steamer, named Durfee, was killed in 
 the fray, others were wounded, and several were said to be missing. 
 The interference of Americans with Canadian affairs received no 
 countenance from government, but the irregular manner in which 
 retaliation was conducted, and the invasion of our territory by the 
 attack on the Caroline, were matters of difficult adjustment. 
 
 In the year 1838, serious difficulties arose upon the north-eastern 
 b«>rdcr of New England. The boundary line between the Briti.sh 
 provinces and the state of Maine was unsettled, and negotiation was 
 then in progress for its final establishment. The state authorities, 
 unwilling to await the protracted action of the general goven.nient, 
 resorted to forcible measures for the arrest of encroachment, l)y 
 individuals, upon that portion of the disputed territory then under 
 their actual jurisdiction. 
 
 Tlie state land-agent, despatched, with a small company, to put 
 a stop to the cutting of timber by these trespassers, was taken pris- 
 oner by the latter, and carried into New Brunswick. Other officials 
 were promptly commissioned to maintain the rights claimed by the 
 state, and, with a body ot armed men, proceeded to the scene of 
 disturbance. The consequence of such InjUigerent movements nat- 
 uniUy was to create great excitement on the border, whicli soon 
 extended throughout the United States. In the discussion of tlie 
 question, by corresfiondence between the governorh of Maine and 
 New Brunswick, much exacerbation of feeling was evident. 
 
 The matter was laid before congress, in the month of February, 
 in a message from the president, and such action wa.s taken as 
 resulted in averting the threatened hostilities, and in preserving the 
 existing occupation of either party until the whole question in dis- 
 pute could be definitely settled. General Scott was specially com 
 niissiorH'd to proceed to the debatable ground, and take measures 
 for jireventing any further collision. Nece8.sary precautions v.ero 
 
THE UNITED STATEP 
 
 897 
 
 allowed to be taken by the authorities of the state of Maine to guard 
 against a continuance of depredation, in the interim; but this was 
 directed to be accomplished by the civil authority, without the inter- 
 vention of an armed force. 
 
 One of the most noticeable occurrences during the following year, 
 (1839,) as connected with our foreign relations, was the seizure of 
 the Spanish schoon^ir Amistad. She was captured and brought 
 into New London in the month of August, by a United States' 
 vessel, under the following circumstances: "On board of her were 
 two white men, Spaniards, Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez, and fifty- 
 four African negroes, under command of one of theii own number, 
 whose name was Cinquez. The Amistad, it appeared from subse- 
 quent investigations, had sailed from Havana, in the island rf Cuba, 
 for another port in the West India islands, with a cargo of mer- 
 chandise, and the Africans on board, claimed as slaves by the two 
 Spaniards, Ruiz and Montez. After having been four nights at sea, 
 the negroes loso upon thg whites, killed the captain luul crew, took 
 possession of the schooner, and, in endeavouring to -eturn to Africa, 
 wtre at length foand convey(!d to the shores of Lon r Island."* 
 
 Proceedings were instituted against these negroes in the courts of 
 the Uiiit?d States, upon chaigct of piracy and murder; and also at 
 the suit of the Spanish claimants, Ruiz and Montez. No bill was 
 found against thonv by the grand-jury, to which the criminal charge 
 was referred; and the question of civil right was finally established 
 in their favour by the supreme court. As native Africans, born 
 free, they were restored to liberty, and finally sent back to their own 
 country. Previous to their departure, great efforts were made by 
 individuals to give them some insight into the advantages of civil- 
 ization, and such instruction as time and opportunity might admit. 
 The natural inclitmtion of the savage for the free, unfettered life to 
 whioh he has been accustomed, to a certain extent disappointed the 
 expectations of those who had interested themselves in this matter. 
 
 The decision of the federal courts, and the consequent enlarj^ement 
 of the negroes, gave great offence to the Spanish government, and a 
 claim, on behalf of the owners of the vessel and cargo, has been 
 repeatedly presse.'. in the conduct of later negotiations. 
 
 At the close of a four years' term. Van Buren was succeeded by 
 William Henry Harrison, whose popularity at the west had remained 
 undiminished from the period of his military services in the front'or 
 
 ♦ Book of tlie United Stutes. 
 
 
 
 
 ':a (i 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 '4\\ 
 
898 
 
 TUE PEOPLE'S Br.' 
 
 OF UI8T0BY. 
 
 war with the British and Indians. The iuhuguration took place on 
 the 4th of March, 1841. One month later, April 4th, the death of 
 President lie ' . . -n gave occasion, for the first time, for the applica- 
 tion of the cjiisiitutional provision for such contingency. The vice- 
 president, John Tyler, of Virginia, entered upon the vacant office. 
 
 A special session of congress, called hy Harrison during his brief 
 administration, was held at the close of May. During the summer 
 several important acta were passed, mostly having reference to the 
 disturbed state of financial aifairs still existing. A general bank- 
 rupt law was the first of these; a measure in which congress took 
 upon itself the responsibility of an act retrospective in its character, 
 and in gross violation of contracts. The general dissatisfaction of 
 the people at its unjust operation, was evinced by its repeal at the 
 regular session of 1842-S. Next came the repeal of the sub-treasury 
 law, which had been finally carried through during the previous 
 term. Provision was made for an increase of revenue by additiont.] 
 duties on importations. > p 
 
 To encourage the occupation and improvement of public lands, 
 a right of preemption, at the lowest government prices, was secured 
 to actual settlers upon unappropriated lands, limited, in extent, to 
 one hundred and sixty acres fur each individual or family, according 
 to particular provisions. A bill, incorporating a national bank, 
 expressly for the purpose of providing a fit agency for the transaction 
 of the monetary alTairs of government, passed both houses of con- 
 gress; but, to the astonishment and indignation of the party then in 
 the ascendant, it received the presidential veto on the 16th of 
 August. The grounds of objection, submitted by Mr. Tyler, were 
 the absence of constitutional power in congress to create such an 
 institution. Brought up a second time, under a new name, and with 
 greater restrictions in its operation, the bill was again defeated by 
 the president, and, as a two-thirds vote could not be obtained in its 
 favour, the measure fell through. 
 
 In the summer of 1842, the return of an exploring expedition, 
 fitted out from the United States, under command of Wilkes, four 
 years previous, excited universal interest. The discovery and coast- 
 ing, for more than a thousand miles, of the Antarctic continent; the 
 assiduous prosecution of philosophical researches, by the naturalists 
 connected with the expedition; and the great addition to the general 
 fund of information rc8{)ecting countries remote and seldom visitod, 
 were mutters of national pride and gratification. 
 
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 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 899 
 
 In the month of August of this year, the long-disputed question 
 respecting the north-eastel-n boundary, was finally adjusted. The 
 negotiations were conducted, on the part of Great Britain, by Lord 
 Ashburton, specially commissioned for this purpose, and, on the part 
 of the United States, by Mr. Webster, then secretary of state. This 
 treaty also related to other matters in dispute, or of mutual conve- 
 nience and necessity. Among these, were regulations for the extra- 
 dition of fugitives from justice, and stipulations for joint operations 
 in suppressing the slave-trade. 
 
 About this time, a further revision of the tariflF took place, by 
 which an ad valorem duty of thirty per cent, was laid upon articles 
 not specially excepted, and protective imposts were affixed to others 
 specifically designated. As at first carried, the bill did not meet the 
 views of the president, and he did not scruple to make further use 
 of his veto power. Afler some alterations, with difficulty sustained 
 in congress, it received his assent. The feeling of the house of rep- 
 resentatives, respecting the course adopted by the president, was 
 severely expressed in the report of a committee to which the last 
 veto was referred. Mr. Tyler, on the other hand, responded by an 
 indignant protest against the apparent attempt to impugn his motives 
 or to fetter his constitutional prerogative. 
 
 Near the close of his official career, in January, 1845, President 
 Tyler succeeded in carrying out a measure of vast future conse- 
 quence. This was the passage of a joint resolution by congress, 
 providing for the admission of the revolutionized state of Texas 
 into the confederacy of the United States. The terms of admission, 
 cession of public territory, &c., were left open for future negotiation. 
 A cursory view of the early history of this territory, as a Mexican 
 province, and the course of events lejidingto the establishment of its 
 independence, will form a subject for our sepai'ate consideration. 
 Vol. IV.— 64 
 
 M!i 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 V.i 
 
 c-- 
 
400 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF BISTORT. 
 
 r!!.: ',iii': 
 
 Ti\i'. >ij- 
 
 
 
 -.vi^'^r" 
 
 TEXAS AS A 8PAKISH FBOTINCS: ORANT TO KOSSS AV8TIH: 
 COLONIZATION; DIPFICULTIB8 OP THB 8BTTIBR8. — RETOLU- 
 TION IN MBXICO: BUSTAIIENTB: PIRST RBTOLDTIONART 
 ■,y XOYBMBNTS IN TEXAS: SANTA ANNA'S PRB8IDENCT: 
 
 HIS USURPATION. — SECOND TEXAN CAMPAIGN: 
 rr/ SUCCESS OP THE PATRIOTS: INVASION BY SANTA 
 
 ANNA: BATTLE OP SAN JACINTO: INDEPEND- 
 BNCB ESTABLISHED. 
 
 Thk extensive and fertile province of Texas received but little 
 attention in the early days of Mexican conquest by the Spaniards. 
 It presented no inducement to the gold-hunter, and the invade|rs 
 were of a different mould from those in afler-times destined to 
 develop its unsurpassed agricultural resources. The colonists who 
 succeeded the original adventurers from Spain, were in equal degree 
 neglectful of the field for industry and successful enterprise opened 
 for them in the rolling prairies and rich bottom-lands of Texas. 
 The few white inhabitants of the province resided, for the most part, 
 in or about the small Spanish towns of Nacogdoches and San Anto- 
 nio. Prior to the revolut'on in Mexico, the face of this whole 
 country was scarcely changed frofti its origins' ct, notwithstand- 
 ing the remarkable facility with which it c ^e brought under 
 cultivation. 
 
 A little before the downfall of Spanish power upon the western 
 continent, in the month of January, 1821, Moses Austin, a citizen 
 of Connecticut, concluded a negotiation opened with the colonial 
 government for the purpose of commencing a colonization of the 
 coast district A tract of land was assigned, extending one hundred 
 miles upon the coast, and still farther inland, into which Austin 
 contracted to introduce three hundred families of immigrants, ench 
 family to be secured in possession of a square league of land, and to 
 be allowed extensive specified privileges of exemption from taxation, 
 and the right to free importation of commodities otherwise taxable. 
 
 •'The privilege and distinction of carrying out this important 
 undertaking devolved upon Stephen F. Austin, a son of the original 
 grantee. After many unsuccessful attempts to induce the embarka- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 40I 
 
 tion of eastern capital in the new settlements, be proceeded to Texas, 
 accompanied by sucb adventurers, witb their families, as be could 
 persuade to try their fortunes in the new country. Others had 
 engaged to .follow at a convenient opportunity. The emigrants 
 reached the Brazos river in the month of December (1^21). Prom 
 various causes, their condition was trying and precarious: two ves- 
 sels, freighted with provisions and supplies, bad been sent out from 
 New Orleans, but one of these was lost, and the cargo of the other 
 was plundered by the Carancahuas, or Coast Indians. 
 
 "In addition to their sufferings from destitution and from savage 
 depredations, a new source of anxiety arose in the uncertainty of the 
 tenure by which they held their lands; as the Spanish yoke had 
 now been thrown off by Mexico. In order to obtain a confirmation 
 of the former grant, from the existing government, Austin pro- 
 ceeded, in person, to the city of Mexico, and presented the claims 
 of his colony to the authorities. Such delays were experienced from 
 the unsettled state of affairs in the new republic, that it was more 
 than a year from the time of his departure before he returned to 
 relieve the apprehension of his associates, by the intelligence that 
 the old contract was ratified by the Mexican congress."* 
 
 "While the title to the coast grant remained in abeyance, colonists 
 from the United States hesitated to stake their fortunes upon the 
 uncertain action of the republic, and many of them returned home, 
 completely disheartened. Others occupied the unsettled tract ex- 
 tending from the bank of the Sabine to the Brazos, forming the 
 nucleus of the present thrifty and prosperous settlements in that 
 
 quarter. ^_ •■: . , , •■ * ■ ,- ->•/■ 
 
 The return of Austin gave a new impetus to the operations of the 
 colony. The formidable Carancahua Indians, whose inroads had 
 kept the settlers in continual alarm; throughout the period of his 
 absence, were, by his energetic action, extirpated or overawed, and 
 gave little further trouble to the white inhabitants. r.--*'-^ -r 
 Texas was incorporated with Coahuila as a separate state, under 
 the republican systein; but all political influence remained, for the 
 time, in the hands of the latter province, on account of its larger 
 population. The inhabitants of Coahuila, of Spanish descent, felt 
 little fraternity towards the settlers from the United States. The 
 latter, nevertheless, in their isolated position, had nothing of which 
 to complain in their treatment by the central government, prior to 
 
 • Discoverers, Pioneers, &c., of America. 
 
402 
 
 TU£ PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UISTOBT. 
 
 the admiQistration of Bustamente. They enjoyed perfect immu- 
 nity from any religious restrictions, and were, at least, allowed the 
 privilege of self-protection, both as to person and property. In 
 1830, their numbers had increased to nearly thirty thousand. 
 
 Bustamente, who owed his authority to military usurpation, exhib- 
 ited a total disregard of the rights of the Texan colonists, either us 
 occupants under the grant of the republic, or as peaceable imnii- 
 granta engaged in the improvement of unappropriated public lands, 
 in accordance with liberal provisions of former colonization laws. 
 These laws were repealed; the title to lands already appropriated 
 and improved, was called in question; and detachments of armed 
 troops were stationed at various points, to check any resistance to 
 the establishment of a new order of government 
 
 To maintain more efficient control over the inhabitants, the dic- 
 tator ordered the erection of forts at Nacogdoches, Anahuac, and 
 Velasco, which were garrisoned, and placed under command of mili- 
 tary officials. These precautions first taken, a series of tyrannical and 
 arbitrary proceedings against the inhabitants uuiumunued. "Citizens 
 were arrested and confined, in several instances, upon vague charges 
 of disatfection to the existing government; the civil authority in 
 several of the municipalities was declared to be superseded, and in 
 all totally disregarded; in short, the inhabitants of Texas found 
 themselves, in the midst of peace, suddenly subjected to mariial law, 
 administered by officers who appeared to have been sent there for 
 no other purpose than to make war upon the rights secured to them 
 by the constitution of the country. 
 
 "The inhabitants, scattered over a wide extent of country in iso- 
 lated settlements and single plantations, and, as yet, without ruads 
 or bridges to shorten or facilitate an intercourse between them, were 
 not immediately made acquainted with the nature and extent of 
 these outrages upon their rights. They were not of a mettle, how- 
 ever, to surrender them without an effort for redress."* 
 
 A meeting was called, and it was resolved that the wisest and, 
 indeed, safest policy was an immediate resort to arms. On the 24Ui 
 of June, (1832,) John Austin, at the head of sixty volunteers, at- 
 tacked the fort at Vchisco, garrisoned by one hundred and fifty men. 
 His first movement was to seize upon a schooner, lying in the river, 
 on board of which he embarked his little company, and, ancliorir)g 
 opposite the fort, opened fire ujMjn it with a small cannon. The firo 
 
 • NiltV Iliiitoricfll View of Texas. 
 
.» ■.! I 
 
 TUE UNITED STAIKS. 
 
 403 
 
 from the fort was almost entirely ineffective, and the garrison, making 
 a sally, attempted to gain possession of the vessel by boarding. 
 They were driven off, with considerable loss. On the following 
 morning the fort was evacuated; the troops, delivering up their arms 
 to the assailants, were allowed to retire unmolested. 
 
 The garrison at Anahuac, espousing the cause of Bustamente's 
 opponents in Mexico, abandoned the fort to the Texan insurgents. 
 At Nacogdoches, the Mexican stronghold was forcibly seized by the 
 inhabitants of the neighbourhood, and the garrison, attempting to 
 escape by a night march, were pursued, and their retreat was cut 
 off by a handful of mounted Texans. Over-estimating the force of 
 their opponents, the Mexicans agreed upon a capitulation, and de- 
 livered up their arms. 
 
 Fortunately for the inhauitanta of Texas, the downfall of Busta- 
 mente put an end, for the time, to this unequal contest with the 
 central government His successful competitor, General Santa Anna, 
 was elevated to the presidency, and the course adopted during the 
 early portion of his administration gave promise of a better state of 
 affairs. Previous to this period, a vast number of grants had been 
 obtained from the Mexican government, by enterprising individuals 
 from Europe and the United States, upon conditions analogous to 
 those imposed upon Austin; but, in most cases, the grantees were 
 unable to fulfil their part of the contracts. The attention of the 
 public, however, was turned to the richness of the country by the 
 representations of these speculators, and a constant immigration was 
 the result 
 
 The year 1832 was memorable for renewed hostilities with the 
 Indians of the interior, and for the ravages of the cholera among 
 the white settlers. Notwithstanding these reverses, the popu- 
 lation continued rapidly to increase, and, in the following year, 
 proposals were set on foot for effecting a separation of this province 
 from Coahuila, and its erection into a new state in the Mexican 
 confederacy. 
 
 A petition to this effect was presented by Austin to the Mexican 
 congress, but its consideration was neglected and postponed. Impa- 
 tient at delay, and, as is said, considering that some active demon- 
 stration on the part of the Texans might "advance, rather than 
 prejudice their claim," he wrote to his constituents, advising the call 
 of a convention for the organization of a state government Upon 
 his way homeward, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Mexican 
 
404 
 
 TUK ri^uri.iu'i> UUUK Oif iUiiTuUY. 
 
 authorities, who had obtained information respecting this letter, 
 upon an accusation of carrying on a treasonable correspondence. 
 
 The ambitious projects of Santa Anna, aiming at the establishment 
 of military supremacy over the republic, were crowned with success 
 in 1834. The provinces of Zacatecas and Texas alone exhibited a 
 contumacious disposition. The former was reduced to submission 
 by the most sanguinary violence, and its unfortunate inhabitants 
 were subjected to martial law, and placed under the domination of 
 military officials. A similar course was resolved upon in relation 
 to Texas, but the result proved how far the Mexican authorities had 
 miscalculated the temper and capacity of the .I)arc[y immigrants who 
 composed its population. '"^"^-"^ '"' ^" ^'^ '^'i ' 
 
 Troops were sent into the province, and an order was issued by 
 the commanding officer, General Cos, for the surrender of all col- 
 lections of arms. The inhabitants, while they scorned to comply 
 with the requisition, awaited some overt act of military usurpation 
 prior to any armed combination for resistance. A meeting of dele- 
 gates was called, to hold their session on the 15th of October, and 
 consult as to the most advisable course to be pursued. The first 
 attempt by the Mexican authorities to disarm the Texans, was made 
 at Gonzales, on the Guadaloupe, near the north-western limit of the 
 American settlements. One hundred and fifty mounted men, dis- 
 patched to take possession of a piece of artillery at this remote vil- 
 lage, were opposed and driven off by the inhabitants and those who 
 had assembled for their assistance, on the 80th of September (1835). 
 Strengthened by reinforcements to a company of five hundred men, 
 the Texans at Gonzales, under command of Austin, prepared to 
 march upon San Antonio de Bexar. 
 
 About this time, the Mexican fortr^ at La Bahia, 6t Goliad, 
 on the San Antonio river, was seized by an independent party 
 of Texan& The garrison, completely surprised by a night at- 
 tack, were easily overpowered, and a most seasonable supply of 
 arms, amraunition, and stores, was secured for the use of the 
 insurgents. 
 
 Considerable time was occupied by the main body of the Texan 
 army in preparations for the reduction of San Antonio, where Gen- 
 eral Cos was posted with a strong force. Before the commencement 
 of active operations in that quarter, the Texan delegation assembled, 
 and organized a temporary government. Henry Smith received the 
 appointment of governor; Stephen F. Austin was deputed to pro- 
 
f 
 
 THE UMTKU sTATfcS. 
 
 •105 
 
 c-.ure aid from tlie United States, and Samuel Houston was chosen 
 commander-in-chief of the forces. 
 
 " General Houston, previous to his connexion with the fortunes of 
 Texas, had led a life of such strange vicissitudes, as must develop 
 all the powers and energies of man. As soldier, lawyer, and legis- 
 lator, he had exhibited unusual acumen and steady self-reliance. 
 Equally at home in an Indian wigwam or in the halls of congress, 
 he had spent years among the aborigines of the country, sharing 
 their rude accommodations, and pursuing their primitive avocations. 
 By this intimate communion, he acquired not only a sympathy with 
 that unfortunate race, which has ever appeared in all his dealings 
 with them, but an influence and control over their affections and 
 conduct, incomparably greater than that attained by any other 
 living man. 
 
 "Having removed to Texas, he entered heart and soul into the 
 early movements of the patriots, and so fully secured the confidence 
 and respect of his associates, that, at the most dangerous period in 
 the history of the country, he was appointed, as before mentioned, 
 to the supreme military command."* i i -u^b-y 
 
 Upon the departure of General Austin to fulfil the dftties of his 
 conimission, the command of the army encamped before San Antonio 
 devolved upon Colonel Burleson. On the 5th of December, an attack 
 was commenced upon the town. The contest continued for four 
 days, at the end of which time, the fort of the Alamo was alone ten- 
 able by the besieged. General Cos, therefore, consented to capitu- 
 late: the Mexican officers were paroled, and their troops were 
 disbanded or drawn off. Thus the last Mexican stronghold in 
 Texas fell into the hands of the patriots; that s ; vpanticlan,' on the 
 Nueces, having previously surrendered toa voluntee party of Texans. 
 Great interest was excited, throughout the United States, by 
 reports of the position of affairs in Texas, and many adventurers, 
 mostly young and active men, made their way to the scene of action 
 during the winter ensuing, and proffered their servicea in the revo- 
 lutionary cause. Months passed by in uncertainty as to the manner 
 in which Santa Anna would open the campaign. He finally made 
 his appearance, towards the close of February, 1886, with an army 
 of eight thousand men. The right division, under General Urea, 
 advanced along the coast, while the left, commanded by Santa Anna 
 in person, marched through the interior, in the direction of San 
 :(•''!' •• ' * Diiiuovoreni, &.U., of Atuuikiu '. ' 
 
 \l * 
 
406 
 
 TUK r£0rLK'8 BOOK OV UlSToltY. 
 
 Autonio. The whole furce of the Texans in actual service at this 
 crisis, is said not to have exceeded five hundred men. 
 
 The first intelligence of the invasion was coupled with the report 
 that a company of the revolutionists, under Colonels Grant and 
 Johnson, who had undertaken an expedition against Matamoras, on 
 the Rio Orande, had been out off bj the advancing army. Santa 
 Anna, arriving at San Antonio, took possession of the place, but the 
 Texan garrison, occupying the strong fort of the Alamo, refused to 
 capitulate. In expectation of relief from without, they had deter^ 
 mined to defend the post to the last " No very accurate details 
 have been given of the manner in which this band of brave men 
 was destroyed, but it appears that, after a long and desperate defence, 
 the fort was stormed by an overwhelming force, and the garrison 
 perished to a man, either slain in the conflict, or put to death for 
 defending an untenable post" 
 
 A detachment was immediately marched from San Antonio againsi 
 Goliad. The Texaus there in occupation, under Colonel Fntinin, on 
 their retreat towards Victoria, were pursued and surrounded by a 
 vastly superior force. The whole party surrendered to the enemy 
 upon favourable terms of capitulation. A few days later, on the 
 27th of March, these prisoners, with others who had fallen into the 
 hands of the invaders, to the number of more than four hundred, 
 were brutally massacred. 
 
 While these events were in progress, the Texan delegates had 
 again assembled, and unanimously agreed upon a declaration of 
 independence. A state constitution was formed, and, together with 
 a general declaration of rights, received the signatures of the mem* 
 beiB on the 17th of Maroh, 18S6. 
 
 In the month of April, Santa Anna pushed forward to Harrisburg, 
 the temporary capital, with the design of seizing upon the officers 
 of government "Failing in this, he burned the town, and pro 
 oeeded down Galveston bay, towards New Washington, where was 
 a cUpdt of military stores. On his return towards Lynch's ferry, on 
 the San Jacinto, with the intention of pressing on to Anahuac, he 
 encountered the Texan army, ready to give battle. 
 
 "The patriot army consisted of less than eight hundred men, of 
 all ranks and occupations, most of them undisciplined, and ignorant 
 of military affiurs. The Mexicans, as reinforced by five hundred 
 troops, under Cos, on the morning of April 21st, (the day of battle,) 
 numbered nearly or quite sixteen hundred, most of whoiii were 
 
J 
 
\i 
 
 V5^ 
 
 i- 
 
 \»- 
 
 J' ■ _ 
 
 U //>/./ 1 M It. It A It R I S O V, 
 NINTH PRKSIDENT OF TUB UNITED STATES. 
 BORN IN 1773 ; IIIHTALLKP TKTO OFyiCE TN 1811 ; DIED 
 
 ATRTL 4 
 
 OF THE SAMK "iKAK 
 
■V. 
 
 
 ..^■-^^ 
 
 J any tyler, 
 
 TEXTir PRKSIDEXT OF THE UXITEP STATES. 
 
 BORN TN nnO: snCCKKDKD TO T'TrK PRESIDENCY BY VIRTUE OF HTS 
 
 OFFICE AS VICE-PRESIDENT. ON THR DKATH OF W. H. HARRISON 
 
 IN 1841 : SERVED THE REMAINDER OF TTIF TERM 
 
S I 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 407 
 
 veteran troops, under the command of officers of skill and experi* 
 ence. Both armies, after a preliminary skirmish, encamped, on the 
 night of thw 20th, upon the right bank of the San Jacinto, just below 
 the mouth of Buffalo bayou. The action commenced at half-past 
 three, P. M., by a most impetuous attack on the part of the Texans, 
 who rushed on, to the war-cry of 'Remember the Alamo I' The 
 rout of the Mexicans was complete, and the pursuit of the fugitives 
 continued until night-fall."* 
 
 According to General Houston's official report, the loss of the 
 Texans, in killed and wounded, was but twenty-five. Nearly the 
 entire Mexican force was destroyed, or surrendered to the victors. 
 Generals Santa Anna and Cos were both taken prisoners, the first 
 on the day succeeding that of the battle, the other on the 25th. 
 
 Nothing further was attempted by the division of the Mexican 
 army under Urea. The whole country was abandoned to the pos- 
 session of the revolut ~>nlsts, and the new constitution went quietly 
 into effect. General Houston was elected first president of the 
 republia The constant increase of immigration, subsequent to the 
 establishment of independence, rendered any attempt at a forcible 
 recovery of the valuable province every year more hopeless ; but the 
 Mexican government yielded nothing of its claims, and the conse- 
 quences of a recognition of Texan independence by the United 
 States have been already narrated. 
 
 * Diacoveren, &0., of Amerioa. 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 ■ J Hi 
 
 ■]< -5 
 
 ■■■.X •■•;^4,• I 
 
 ',J7; :.! /.y-iyi^! 
 
408 
 
 TU£ PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 
 \i. 
 
 
 ADMINISTRATION 07 JAKES I. POLL — ANNEXATION 0^ TEXAS 
 — THE NORTH-WESTERN BOUNDARY. — DISCOVERT AND HIS- 
 TORY OF THE TERRITORY OP OREGON. — T0YA6E OP JUAN 
 DS PUCA: DISCOVERY OP THE COLUMBIA: TRADING 
 ESTABLISHMENTS: JOURNEY OP LEWIS AND CLARKE: 
 '" t-ASTORIA: DESTRUCTION OP THE TONQUIN: WAR 
 WITH GREAT BRITAIN: BOUNDARY TREATIES: 
 
 SETTLEMENT OP THE COUNTRY. *;}•>■...' 
 
 
 In the month of March, 1845, James K. Polk, of Tennessee, 
 succeeded to the presidency, George M. Dallas being vice-president. 
 At the congressional session, commencing December 1st, 1845, vari- 
 ous acts were passed, the influence of which upon the future destinies 
 of the country is incalculable. Among the first of these, was the 
 final joint resolution, by virtue of which Texas became one of the 
 United States, and the burden of maintaining her independence was 
 assumed by the confederacy. Hostilities with Mexico followed, con- 
 nected with which, are most matters of interest occurring throughout 
 this administration. An account of all the material events of the 
 war has been already given, under the title of Mexico. 
 
 In the summer of 1846, the vexed question respecting conflicting 
 claims of the United States and Great Britain to jurisdiction in the 
 territory of Oregon was finally set at rest. The forty-ninth parallel 
 was fixed as our northern boundary, extending westward to the 
 channel between Vancouver's island and the main, thence through 
 the straits of Fuca to the Pacific. Free navigation of the channel 
 and straits, and of the north branch of the Columbia to the ocean, 
 wa# secured to subjects or citizens of either nation. 
 
 xi. brief account of the discovery, settlement, and previous history 
 of this extensive and valuable territory, in the present connection, 
 may not appear unprofitable or out of place. 
 
 In early times it was commonly supposed that a free communica- 
 tion existed between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in latitude no 
 further north than the northern limits of the territory of Oregon. 
 Vague reports, corrol)orative of this theory, were given by nd vent- 
 urous niariuei-s, whom chunce or the desire of explurutiou threw 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 i.J. 
 
 m 
 
 upon the north-western coast. The most remarkable of these early 
 narratives is that of Juan de Fuca, a Cephalonian pilot, who sailed 
 under a commission from the governor of Mexico, upon a northern 
 voyage of discovery, in 1592. 
 
 Five years previous, this celebrated navigator, while on a voyage 
 from Manilla to the Spanish provinces in America, was captured near 
 the coast, by the bucaniers under Cavendish. The vessel in which 
 he sailed was fired, but not entirely destroyed, and the crew were 
 set on shore upon the peninsula of Old California. Kegaining pos- 
 session of their abandoned craft, they managed to refit her and to 
 continue their voyage, with the loss of all their effects. 
 
 The Mexican governor took Juan de Fuca under his patronage, 
 and availed himself of his experience in nautical afifairs, in the pros- 
 ecution of exploration at the north. The first voyage was unsuc- 
 cessful, nothing being seen of the reported "straits of Anian," through 
 which it was believed a passage might be effected to the Atlantic. 
 The second expedition is chronicled as follows by Purchas, upon the 
 authority of Michael Lock the elder: 
 
 "He followed his course, in that voyage, west and north-west in 
 the South Sea, all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California, 
 and the Indies, now called North America, (all which voyage he sig- 
 nified to me in a great map, and a sea-card of my own, which I laid 
 before him,) until he came to the latitude of forty-seven degrees; 
 and that there, finding that the land trended north and north-east, 
 with a broad inlet of sea between forty -seven and forty-eight degrees 
 of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than twenty 
 days, and found that land trending still sometimes north-west, and 
 north-east, and north, and also east and south-eastward, and very 
 much broader sea than was at the said entrance, and that he passed 
 by divers islands in that sailing; and that, at the entrance of this 
 said strait, there is, on the north-west coast thereof, a great head-land 
 or island, with an exceeding high pinnacle, or spired rock, like a 
 pillar, thereupon. ';y .., i-io-o. .:.».. T 
 
 " Also he said that he went on land in div6rs places, and that he 
 saw some people on land, clad in beast's skins; and that the land is 
 very fruitful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other things, like 
 Nova Spania. 
 
 •'•And also he said that he, being entered thus far into the said 
 strait, and lieing eome into tho North Sea already, and finding the 
 sea wide enough evciy where, ami to be about thirty or forty leagues 
 
 1^ 
 
410 
 
 THE r£Oi>L£'S ^UUK OF HISTOKY. 
 
 wide in the mouth of the straits where he entered, he thought he 
 had now well discharged his ofEue; and that, not being armed to re- 
 sist the force of the savage people that might happen, he therefore 
 set sail, and returned homewards again towards Nova Spania^ where 
 he arrived at Acapuko, Anno 1592, hoping to be rewarded by the 
 viceroy for his service done in the said voyage."* 
 
 The true name of this navigator is said to have been Apostolos 
 Yalerianos, but the inlet, of which, if not the discoverer, he was the 
 first authentic explorer, has ever since borne his more popular ap- 
 pellation. The straits of Juan de Fuca were not again entered or 
 noticed for nearly two centuries from the time of the Greek pilot. 
 In 1787, the account above given, which had been long discredited, 
 was in part corroborated, and its errors were pointed out, by the re- 
 port of Captain Berkeley, an Englishman, commanding a vessel in 
 the service of the Austrian East India Company. 
 
 Twelve years before this period, August 15, 1775, Bruno Heceta, 
 commander of an exploring expedition fitted out from San Bias, dis- 
 covered the mouth of the Columbia river; but he failed to notice 
 the entrance of the straits. Captain Cook, during his last voyage, 
 in the year 1778, just previous to his second and fatal visit to the 
 Sandwich Islands, made an unsuccessful examination of the coast, in 
 search after the reported inlet 
 
 Within a few years from this time a valuable traffic in furs, to be 
 used in the China trade, was opened with the natives of the north- 
 west coast Two vessels, the Felice and the Iphigenia, sailed upon 
 this enterprise from Macao in 1788, under Portuguese colours, but 
 subject to the general management of John Meares, a British lieu- 
 tenant Before the departure of these vessels from the coast, the 
 Columbia and Washington, fitted out at Boston, in the United States, 
 upon similar service, entered Nootka sound. In 1792, the first of 
 these, under command of Captain Gray, passed up the river discovered 
 by Heceta. It has ever since borne the name of the vessel, and to 
 Gray must be ascribed the honour of being the first to prove its ex- 
 istence, aa this was only conjectured by the first discoverer, from the 
 strong current setting out of the bay. 
 
 Conflicting claims respecting exclusive rights upon the north-west 
 
 coast, by virtue of discovery and occupation, were long maintained 
 
 by different European j)owers; and after the cession by Spain to the 
 
 United States of tlie immense territory then called Louisiana, the 
 
 * Groenhow'it History uf Oregon oiid Califoruiu. 
 

 
 JAMES /{. POLK, 
 KLEVKNTll l-l!K.<inKNT OK TlIK IMTEI) STATJ-^ 
 
 KD JUNK 16, 1819 
 
 ! 
 
 ■ ( 
 
 I ' 
 
 I 
 
i'4^. 
 
 y^ 
 
 / 
 
 U" 
 
• TlIK UNITED STATES. 
 
 411 
 
 latter power became involved ia a similar controversy with Great 
 Britain. During the year subsequent to this event, 1804, a party of 
 thirty or forty men, under command of Captains Lewis and Clarke, 
 was despatched by the United States' government upon a journey of 
 overland exploration from the Mississippi to the Pacific. 
 
 The adventurers passed the winter near the Mandan villages, far 
 up the Missouri, and in the spring of 1805 pursued their voyage up 
 the river in canoes and "periogues." Deriving their principal sup- 
 port from the game brought in by their hunters, they slowly worked 
 their way against the curre t, and passed the great falls or rapids of 
 the Missouri in the month of July. At this point they were obliged 
 to build light canoes in which to continue their voyage. Entering 
 the Jeflferson fork, about the close of the month, they kept on their 
 course until the river, no longer navigable, had dwindled to a brook, 
 and on the 12th of August its utmost source was discovered. 
 
 Passing the dividing ridge, the advanced party reached "a hand- 
 some bold creek of clear cold water, running to the westward." 
 After enduring the utmost hardships in the dangerous passage of 
 the mountains, the travellers struck the Kooskooskee, and resumed 
 their journey by water. They reached the mouth of the Columbia 
 early in November. Nothing was heard from the expedition until 
 its return to St. Louis on the 23d of September, 1806. The account 
 published by the leaders of the ex!pedition is replete with interest, 
 and marked by an agreeable simplicity of style. 
 
 Great interest was excited throughout the United States by the 
 long-expected report, and plans were soon after set on foot for the 
 formation of a permanent establishment, for trading purposes, u[)on 
 the Pacific coast. A company, st_yled the Paoifio Fur Company, was 
 formed under the auspices of Joiiii Jacob Astor, of New York, in 
 1810, and ves.sels were at once fitted out upon the enterprise. The 
 settlement of Astoria at Point George, on tlie south bank of the Co- 
 lumbia, was commenced during the summer of 1811. This under- 
 taking, at first prosperous, resulted in misfortune. The Tonquin, 
 the first vessel sent out, while engaged in trade near the straits of 
 Fuca, was plundered by the Indians, and blown up. All on l)oard 
 perished, with the exception of an Indian interpreter, who, after a 
 captivity of two years, made his way to Astoria, and gave the first 
 intelligence of the disaster. 
 
 The war between Great Britain and the United States breaking 
 out at this period, the resident partners of the American Company 
 
 ill 
 ISP 
 
 I 
 
412 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF UISSORY. 
 
 effected a sale of the whole establishment and stores to the British 
 North-west Company. The occupanta under this transfer continuea 
 to carrj on the trade in furs after the rfiestablishment of the authority 
 of the United States over that portion of the north-west territory. 
 
 "By the treaty of 1818, the territories west of the Rocky moun- 
 tains, claimed by the United States or Great Britain, were to be 
 jointly occupied by citizens of either country, for a period of ten 
 years. Upon the expiration of this term (in 1828), the arrangement 
 was renewed, and indefinitely extended; one year's notice to be 
 given by either goyermvent prior to any futv^ agpertion of sole 
 sovereignty. '. ;. >,,.., ...*; ...,..,!/ 
 
 "As the attention of the United States became aroused by the 
 progress of emigration to Oregon, the necessity for some definitive 
 settlement of the boundary question began to be universally felt. 
 Subsequent to. the explorations and surveys under Colonel Fremont, 
 elsewhere narrated, great numbers of settlers, during the summers of 
 1843 and 1844, pursued the overland route, and settled in the Wil- 
 lamet valley. The number of American emigrants in Oregon nt the 
 close of the latter year, is computed at more than three thousand, 
 and great sympathy was felt for them throughout the Union, in con- 
 sideration of the hardships they had endured, and the uncertainty 
 of their position while the right of jurisdiction over the country re- 
 mained unsettled."* 
 
 After the final settlement of the boundary question, in 1846, as 
 before mentioned, emigration received a new impetus. Although 
 lying in a high latitude, the climate of the territory of Oregon is by 
 no means severe. Owing to its situation upon the western shore of 
 a large continent, like the countries of western Europe, it is subject 
 to no such extremes of temperature as those felt in the New England 
 statea The soil is extremely fertile, and the surface of the country 
 is beautifully diversified with mountains, plains, hills, and streams. 
 The population, as exhibited in the census returns of 1850, numbered 
 thirteen thousand three hundred and twenty-three. . . , , 
 
 * DiMOverert, &c., of Anwrica. 
 
 i.i<,.»l ji 
 
 I ,.'. 
 
 
 
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7 THE UNITED STATES. i u r 
 
 .( 
 
 JtMStt] .;f 'U"*". 
 
 . .•t.iJjT;! '•'■\'.\ irt 
 
 CHAPTEH XX. 
 
 - _, , ,1 ..,. , ;,,,... I i J' Ij I i„,« jW 
 
 ALTERATION IN THE TARIFF.-^AtQTI'gf itOV 6* C A tIFORNIA: 
 XARLT HI8T0RT OF THAT PROVINCE: THE JESUIT MISSIONS 
 IN THE PENIN8UIA: THE DOMINICANS. — UPPER CALI- 
 FORNIA: THE FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY ESTABLISH 
 MSNT: THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION: ATTEMPTS 
 '4' \ A-T COLONIZATION. 
 
 '.; : • )j ^v'J.'; 
 
 
 A LiTTLk before the close of the session of congress, in the summer 
 of 1846, the views of the political party then in the ascendency, 
 respecting duties on importations, were carried out by revision and 
 alteration of the tariff of 1842. Material reduction was made in 
 the protective duties established by the former bill. 
 
 Upon the conclusion of peace with Mexico, the acquisition of 
 California gave a new direction to speculative enterprise throughout 
 the Unions— especially at the extreme west and upon the sea-boiu-d. 
 The existence of a gold deposit in the bed of the American fork of 
 the Sacramento, was first discovered in the spring of 1848. "From 
 this period every thing connected with the California settlements 
 took a new aspect The villages which had sprung up since the 
 acquisition of the country by the United States, were mostly de- 
 serted; the crops were left ungathered; the crews of the vessels 
 lying in port deserted; labour could be procured only at the most 
 exorbitant prices ; in short, nearly the whole male population had 
 hurried to the mines, and, regardless of hardship, fatigue, exposure, 
 and sickness, were engaged in the all-absorbing pursuit of gold." 
 
 An unexampled increase of population, within the short period 
 of two years, converted a wilderness, uninhabited save by roving sav- 
 ages and the occupants of a few small towns or trading-posts, into 
 an important and prosperous state. The history of its settlement is 
 more like a tale of romance than a record of realities. 
 
 Throughout the continuance of Spanish or Mexican dominion over 
 the Californias, those provinces were looked upon as of little im- 
 portance, and chiefly interesting as a field for missionary enterprise. 
 The peninsula of Old Californiu was discovered, in 1.534, by Grijalva, 
 suilin'' upon a voyage of discovery under commission from Cortcz. 
 
414 
 
 TU£ PKUI'LE'S BOOK OF UI8T0BY. 
 
 The gulf which separates it from the main was soon after explored, 
 and at different times unsuccessful attempts were made to plant col- 
 onies at several locations. The peninsula was barren and mountain- 
 ous, and nothing was imagined of the undeveloped wealth and 
 resources of the country farther north. 
 
 In California, as in many other portions of America, the pioneers 
 of settlement and civilization were the fraternity of Jesuits. These 
 inde&tigable propagandists of the faith commenced operations upon 
 either shore of the Oulf of California, towards the close of the sev- 
 enteenth century. Upon the main, a settlement was founded by the 
 learned and zealous Father Kiihn — before his departure for America 
 a professor of mathematics at Ingoldstadt Father Salvatierra, also 
 a member of the order, at the same time established the missionary 
 station of Loreto at the bay of San Dionisio, upon the peninsula. 
 He took with him six soldiers as a slight protection against attack 
 on the part of the natives. 
 
 The Indians had little reason to look with favour upon any further 
 encroachment upon their territory. For a long period the coast had 
 seldom been visited, except by those engaged in the pearl fishery, in 
 the pursuit of which occupation it had been the common custom to 
 compel the service o^the natives, great numbers of whom had per- 
 ished in this dangerous avocation. Sulvatierra and his associates in 
 the missionary work made great and finally successful exertions to 
 procure from the home government the enactment of laws for the 
 protection of their adopted people from this species of slavery. 
 
 At San Dionisio a chapel was erected to "Our Lady of Loreto," 
 and the good father made use of all means in his power to excite the 
 interest, arouse the curiosity, and conciliate the good-will of his an- 
 ticipated proselytes. He met at first with very unfavourable returns: 
 the Indians, after plundering him of his horse and goats, finally col- 
 lected in force, and attempted the, destruction of the establishment. 
 They were driven off by the fire-arms of the soldiers. 
 
 The efforts of Salvatierra and Kuhn were worthily seconded by 
 Fhthers Ugarte and Francisco Piccolo. The latter, in the autumn of 
 1699, two years from the formation of the first Jesuit settlement, 
 founded the mission of San Xavier, on tho Pacific coast Prom this 
 station, as well as that at San Dionisio, the missionaries extended 
 ttieir operations among the natives by making long journeys on 
 horseback througiiout a great extent of the peninsula, acquainting 
 tlunist'lves with the resources and geography of the country, preach- 
 
)T 
 
 le 
 
 )1- 
 
 it. 
 
 It, 
 
 lis 
 ed 
 
THE UNITED BTATK8. 
 
 416 
 
 ing to the Indians in th-ir own language, and endeavouring by every 
 means to gain their coiuidci ce and guod-will. 
 
 Ugarto oaine over from Mexico in 1701. "He took up hia aboil« 
 with the Indians, with>/al a Bingle coinpaiiion, among the mouiiuina 
 BOUth-wcM of Loreto, and, by the force of exaiuf'lo and reward^s 
 stimulated his wild associatea t. . shake off their natural Hloth, and 
 aid him in erecting dwellings and a chapel for public worship. He 
 f was of a robust frame and hardy constitution, and was always fore- 
 most to undertake the labour and drudgery attendant upoi. the form- 
 ation of the settlement. His greatest trouble, at first, was from an 
 unconquerable tendency on the part of his auditors to juor and laugh 
 at his religious exercises, but the infliction of nummary chastisement 
 upon the strongest and most contumacious among them, speedily 
 quelled their levity. 
 
 "This excellent and energetic ecclesiastic did no^c^^nfine himself 
 to a care for the souls of his flock; he taught them the cultivation 
 of the soil; he introduced the domestic animals of Eurc .)e; and even 
 brought over a weaver to teach the arts of spinning and n anufacturing 
 the wool obtained from his sheep. Slowly but steadily the missions 
 continued to prosper; the fickle-minded aborigines wt re subdued 
 and restrained by force or kindness as occasion require I; and tlu' 
 general tenor of the lives of those engaged in the work of the mia- 
 sions, gave evidence that their motives were pure, and that they had 
 the interests of their proselytes at heart."* 
 
 The difliculties encountered by these pioneers of civilization were 
 increased by the conduct of too many of those who acco npanied 
 them from Mexico, or who afterwards came over to engage in secular 
 employment at the stations. "The land was so barren," say Green- 
 how, " that it scarcely yielded the means of sustaining life to the 
 most industrious agriculturalist, for which reason the sett, ^ments 
 were all located near the sea, in order that the necessary food might 
 be procured by fishing; and the persons employed in thtir (<■ rvice, 
 being drawn from the most miserable classes in Mexico, were :; ways 
 indolent and insubordinate, and generally preferred loitering ( i the 
 shore, in search of pearls, to engaging in the regular labours req iired 
 for the support of settlers in a new region." 
 
 The grand order of the .lesuits having gradually fallen into sus- 
 picion with the great powers of Kurope, its members were subjc ted 
 to j)er8ecution and banishment in the territories, successively of 
 
 • DitcoveriTK, &e., of America. 
 
 Vol. IY.—5F, 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 lil 
 
416 
 
 THE I'EOI'LE'S BOOK OF HI8T0KY. 
 
 Portugal, France, and Spain. In the year 1767, they were expelled 
 from California, and the country becoming a Mexican province, the 
 missionaries were superseded by Franciscans, and the civil authority 
 of Mexico was extended over the settlements. The missionary sta- 
 tions on the peninsula were, at this time, sixteen in number. Domin- 
 ican friars took the place of the Jesuits, and, pursuing a far diifereiit 
 policy towards the natives from that carried out by their predeces- 
 sors, soon destroyed the confidence of the inhabitants, and frustrated 
 the plans for their improvement, before so promising. The Indians 
 of Old California are, at the present day, few in number, and still in 
 the condition of the savage. 
 
 Turning their attention from the barren mountains of the penin- 
 sula to the extensive and fertile region of Upper or New California, 
 the Franciscans, with the aid and countenance of the Marquis de 
 Croix, viceroy gf Mexico, founded a settlement at San Diego, in 
 1769. From this station, a party was shortly after sent to explftre 
 and take formal possession of the country further north. They 
 proceeded by land as far as the harbour of San Francisco, upon 
 which they bestowed its present appellation, and returned to make 
 report at San Diego, in January of the following year. 
 
 This exploring party had been specially commissioned to estal)lish 
 a settlement upon the bay of Monterey, but upon the journey they 
 failed to recognise that locality from its description by early voy- 
 agers. A few months subsequent to their return, the service was 
 accomplished by another expedition, under direction of Father 
 Juniporo Serra. A portion of the adventurers proceeded by soa 
 the voyage — from San Diego to Monterey— occupying no less than 
 forty-six days; another party made the jour :ey in a less space of 
 time, by land, and were found by the voyagers, engaged in buildinir 
 and other preparations for a settlement. "On the 31st of >rav," 
 says Serra, "by the favour of God, after rather a painful voyage of 
 a month and a half, the packet San Antonio, commanded by Don 
 Juan Perez, arrived and anchored in this horrible port of Monte rev, 
 which is unaltered in any degree from what it was when visited by 
 the expedition of Don Sebastian Viscayno, in the year 1608." 
 
 The missions in Upper California received special patronage from 
 the Spanish crown, and a large fund was raised for their support, iii 
 Mexico, by voluntary contributions of the pious. Many valnaljlo 
 legacies were also funded for this purpose, and the temporal affairs 
 of the enterprise were, for a series of years, in a i)rosperous coiitli- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 417 
 
 tion. The spiritual progresa of the Indians was, however, by no 
 means in conformity with the great apparent success of the missions. 
 The influence and authority of the ecclesiastics was established 
 throughout the line of coast — their headquarters being at San 
 Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and San Gabriel — but their influ- 
 ence appears to have availed little towards the actual improvement 
 or civilization of the natives. The church acquired extensive titles 
 to the more valuable lands, and, instead of favouring the immigra- 
 tion of whites, threw obstacles in the way of colonization by civil- 
 ians. The clergy, content with a nominal or outward compliance 
 with the forms of their church, preferred to retain their undivided 
 supremacy over the natives, and feared the consequence of the 
 introduction of free settlers. 
 
 They did not attain this commanding position without first en- 
 during great hardships and suffering, and exposing themselves to 
 continual personal danger. Their property, in the early days of 
 the missions, was pilfered by the natives on every occasion, and, from 
 time to time, they were forced to resort to the "secular arm" in 
 defending their lives against hostile attacks. Upon one occasion, a 
 large body of Indians fell upon the settlement at San Diego, and, 
 after a hard struggle, were driven off by the handfUl of whites there 
 in occupation. They shortly after sued for peace, and begged the 
 Spanish surgeon to visit and assist those of their number who had 
 been wounded in the conflict. This aid was cheerfully and readily 
 afforded. 
 
 Upon the general overthrow of the old order of things, at the 
 period of the Mexican revolution, the privileges and powers of the 
 Californian hierarchy were curtailed, and its resources in Mexico 
 cut off by sequestration of the sums appropriated for the salaries of 
 the priesthood. Measures were also taken to effect an emancipation 
 of the natives, but so completely incompetent did they appear to 
 the management of property, and so much disposed to return to the 
 savage life of their forefathers, that it was judged expedient, for the 
 time, to allow matters to continue much in their old position. The 
 church in California was, at this period, so amply endowed by 
 monopolies, and the acquisition of reul estate, that it was no longer 
 dependent upon supplies from abroad. 
 
 A movement was afterwards set on foot in Mexico, for the fur- 
 therance of colonization in California by the entire removal of the 
 rnisj^ionaries, and a sequestration of their lands and effects. A law 
 
 i 
 
*^> 
 
 413 
 
 TU£ PEOPLE'S BOOK OF IIISTOBY. 
 
 was actually passed for this purpose, in the Mexican congress, and 
 great numbers of emigrants, allured by the favourable oflFers of govern- 
 ment, were soon en route for the land of promise. All their expecta- 
 tions failed upon the attainment of Santa Anna to political supremacy. 
 His regard for the interests of the church, or his policy of securing 
 the favour of so powerful a portion of the community, induced him 
 to take immediate steps for the protection of the property and priv- 
 ileges of the Californian priesthood, and, in consequence, to check 
 the progress of imiiigration. 
 
 CXTADT'TJ''D '7''7'T 
 XiLiiirXJjXi lAiAX. 
 
 EXPLORATION OP NEW CALIFORNIA; COLONEL PREMONT ; 
 
 SURVEY OF THE SOUTH PASS: OYKRLAND EXPEDITION 0? 
 
 1843-4: THE GREAT SALT LAKE: RETURN ROUTE: TERRIBLE 
 
 PASSAGE OFTHE SIERRA NEVADA: CAPTAIN SUTTER'S 
 
 SBTTLRMBNT: SUBSEQUENT EX PEDITIONS OP FREMONT. 
 
 — THE GOLD DISCOVERIES IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 The adventurous expedition of I^ewis and Clarke first gave to the 
 world any satisfactory account of the character of the wilderness 
 intervening between the western settlements of the United Stiites and 
 the Pacific sea-board. Before the accompllHhment of their remarka- 
 ble journey, all that was known of that territory was gathered from 
 the Indians, and from the white traders, or trappers, who had pene- 
 trated the country in difierent directions, and at different times. 
 
 A long interval elapsed between this first achievement and the 
 undertaking of any systematic survey of a practicable route for emi- 
 grants. In 1842, the services of the Hon. John Charles Fremont, 
 who was at that time' commissioned as a lieutenant in the United 
 States' corps of topographical engineers, were called into requisition 
 for this purpose. lie had been previously etigagod in the pro-seou- 
 tion of surveys in the north-western territory, and his instructions, 
 at the time of which we are now speaking, were to make an exam- 
 ination of the eonntrv, and toteport upon an advi.sable route irom 
 the frontier settlements of Missouri to the Great South Pass— then 
 
y 
 
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 iiiwiiaiiiaiiiMi iifiiiMMWwi'MWi 
 
f^Msm^9:P 
 
 OKOROE 111. JtXD HIS MIXIST F. rt i. 
 
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 i** i i ..«i' i i i i i i i iiM ii>i ] < inin ii 
 
 lijttii 
 
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THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 419 
 
 considered the most practicable, if not the only available passage 
 through the Rocky mountains. 
 
 With a company of twenty-five men, principally Canadian or 
 Creole voyageurs, under the guidance of Christopher Carson — then 
 familiarly and extensively known at the west, and now of world- 
 wide celebrity, as "Kit Carson" — Fremont took his departure from 
 a post a few miles above the mouth of the Kansas river, on the 
 10th of June. The party was provided with eight carts, drawn by 
 mules, for the transportation of camp-equipage, surveying instru- 
 ments, &c., and four oxen were taken for provision. The men were 
 all mounted, and well provided with arms. 
 
 The line of march lay north-westerly from the Kansae to the 
 Platte, a distance exceeding three hundred miles, which was trav- 
 ersed in sixteen days. Following the course of the South Fork, 
 the party reached Fort St Vrain, at the eastern foot of the Rocky 
 mountains, on the 10th of July, one month from the day of depart- 
 ure. They arrived at the South Pass near the middle of August, 
 and entered at once upon the principal business of the expedition. 
 By accurate astronomical observations, the true position of this 
 important passage was laid down; scientific investigations of the 
 geological formation of the country were made ; and a correct sur- 
 vey of the whole locality was carefully prepared. The information 
 brought back by the expedition, and widely disseminated through 
 the press, by act of congress, was of inestimable value to those 
 embarking upon the adventure of overland emigration to the shores 
 
 of the Pacific. 
 
 The exploring expedition, under Commander Wilkes, returned, 
 as before mentioned, in the month of June (1842). In addition to 
 an accurate survey of the north-western coast, expeditions inland 
 had been undertaken by those connected with the enterprise, both 
 in Oregon and California; and it was considered desirable to connect 
 the results of these observations with those established by the ex- 
 ploration of the South Pass. Colonel Fremont was again commis- 
 sioned by government as commander of the expedition proposed. 
 
 The Great South Pass lies immediately in the direct line of travel 
 from Missouri to the Columbia river; but it was hoped that a route 
 might be opened further south, which would present less formid- 
 able obstacles as a general thoroughfare. The party collected for 
 this service consisted, in all, of forty men, numbers of whom had 
 shareil with Fremont the fatigues and hardsiiips of the preceding 
 
 i 
 
r 
 
 tl20 
 
 TliK l'£urL£'S BUUK OF IIlSTUliY. 
 
 year. They sut uut upoD their perilous juurney on the 29th of 
 May, 1843. 
 
 " A detour through the mountains brought them upon the waters 
 of the Bear river, which they followed to its debouchement into the 
 Great Salt Lake. In a frail boat of inflated India-rubber cloth, a 
 partial survey was effected of this remarkable phenomenon of nature, 
 concerning which the only knowledge before obtained had been 
 from the wild reports of the Indians, and hunters who had occa- 
 sionally visited it Little did the adventurous explorers dream of 
 the change that a few years would bring about upon those remote 
 and desolate i>hores. The party left their camp by the lake on the 
 12th of September, and, proceeding northward, reached the plains 
 of the Columbia on the 18th, ' in sight of the famous Three Buttes, 
 a well-known land-mark in the country, distant about forty-five miles.' 
 
 "In the month of November, having reached Fort VuDcouver, 
 and fully accomplished the duties assigned him. Colonel I<>emoDt 
 set out on his return by a new and dangerous route. Nothing but 
 a perusal of the journal of the expedition can convey an adequate 
 idea of the dangers and difficulties attendant upon the remainder 
 of this enterprise, in which the ootnplete circuit was made of that 
 immense and unexplored basin lying between the Sierra Nevada 
 an( the Wahsatch, or Bear river range of th»> Hooky mountains; a 
 region thus laid down in Fremont's chart: 'The Gr'^at Basin: diam- 
 eter 11'^ of latitude: elevation above the sea, between four and five 
 thousand feet: surrounded by lofty mountains: contents al.noost 
 unknown, but believed to be filled with rivers and lakes which 
 have no communication with the sea, deserts and oases which have 
 never been explored, and savage tribes which no traveller has seen 
 or described.'" 
 
 This journey of more than three thousand miles, through a wilder- 
 ness inhabited only by roving Indians, and in the face of the most 
 appalling natural obstacles, called forth the exercise of heroism, 
 fortitude, and bc4ily endurance, of which few men would be found 
 capable. The passage of the Sierra Nevada, which occupied several 
 weeks at the close of the winter and in the early spring, was the 
 most dangerous and trying achievement of this unparalleled march. 
 In the midst of snow and ice, pushing their way by an unknown 
 route through stupendous mountains, in uncertainty as to the for* 
 tunes of each succeeding day, and suffering the extremes of desti- 
 tution and exposure, the hardy adventurers pressed forward with 
 
f] 
 
 i 
 
 
THE UNITED 8TATK8. 
 
 421 
 
 invincible courage and resolution. Tl»c (IchIi of their mules uiid 
 horses was their only resort for subsistence, and these unimuls were 
 reducod to a miserable condition from the impossibility of procuring 
 any tHhor food than a little dried and frost-bitten herbage, here and 
 there i-xposed. ': / • ;i ! .-c! !., t? ,tl .i .1/ 'i, ;' "• ■ ': • .» 
 
 When they had at last succeBsftiny passed the mountain range, and, 
 following the course of the Rio de los Americanos, from its southern 
 sources toward the Sacramento, had reached a more hospitable 
 region, it was found that two of the party were labouring under an 
 aberration of mind, from the clTects of anxiety and hardship. "One 
 of them, Deroflier, who had stayed behind for the purpose of bring- 
 ing up a favourite horse of Colonel Fremont, on rfijoining the party, 
 in the words of the narrative, 'came in, and sitting down by the fire, 
 began to tell us where he had been. He imagined he hod been 
 gone several days, and thought we were still at the camp where he 
 had lofl us ; 'and we were pained to see that his mind was deranged. 
 * * Times were severe when stout men lost their minds 
 from extremity of suffering — when horses died — and when mules 
 and horses, ready to die of starvation, were killed for food. Yet 
 there was no murmuring or hesitation.'" 
 
 On the 6th of March, the advance party arrived at the Indian 
 settlements, a few miles from the confluence of the American fork 
 with the Sacramento, and had the satisfaction of learning their 
 position from an Indian cow-herd in the employment of Captain 
 Sutter. At the establishment of this enterprising pioneer of the 
 American Californian settlements — known as Sutter's fort — the 
 party was hospitably received and entertained. 
 
 "Captain Sutter emigrated to this country from the western part 
 of Missouri, in 1838-9, and formed the first settlement in the valley, 
 on a large grant of land which he obtained from the Mexican gov- 
 ernment He had, at first, some trouble with the Indians ; but, by 
 the occasional exercise of well-timed authority, he has succeeded in 
 converting them into a peaceable and industrious people. The 
 ditches around his extensive wheat-fields; the making of the sun- 
 dried bricks, of which his fort is constructed; the ploughing, har- 
 rowing, and other agricultural operations, are entirely the work of 
 these Indians, for which they receive a very moderate compensation 
 — principally in shirts, blankets, and other articles of clothing."* 
 
 At the fort, was a garrison of forty Indians ; and about thirty white 
 
 * Fremont's Narrative. 
 
 I 
 
 !i 
 il 
 
 . r 
 
422 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF II18T0BY. 
 
 men, of various trades and occupations, were in Sutter's employment. 
 Immense fields of grain, numerous work-shops, and vessels lying in 
 the river, attested the wealth and enterprise of the proprietor. 
 
 Fremont and his company took their departure from this vicinity 
 on the 24th of March, and reached the village of Kanzas, on the 
 Missouri, on the Slst of July, 1844. 
 
 Upon his second overland expedition to the Pacific, undertaken 
 in 1845, while engaged, in accordance with his instructions, in sci- 
 entific exploration. Colonel Fremont received intelligence of the 
 existence of war between Mexico and the United States. He imme- 
 diately enlisted a mounted force, and, commencing active military 
 operations, met with distinguished success. The difficulties in which 
 he became involved, in consequence of conflicting claims of his 
 superiors, have been before alluded to. 
 
 At a still later period, his restless spirit of enterprise induced him 
 to undertake a private adventure for the discovery of a southern 
 and more direct land-route to California. For this purpose, he col- 
 lected a company of about thirty men, and, provided with more than 
 one hundred mules, commenced his journey westward. The incle- 
 mency of the season proved disastrous. Upon the Sierra San Juan, 
 being overtaken by snow-storms and severe weather, the party lost 
 their entire stock of mules, and many of their number perished from 
 cold and starvation before their indomitable leader could procure 
 them aid and sustenance. He proceeded on foot to Santa Fe, where 
 he met with ready assistance. With renewed outfit, he pcrsever- 
 ingly accomplished the purpose of the expedition, and made his way, 
 by the southern route, to the Californian settlements. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the cession of California to the United 
 States, by virtue of the treaty concluded at Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
 occurred the astonishing developments of unexpected mineral wealth 
 in the new territory. "That the.se treasures should have remained 
 so long concealed from the occupants of the territory seems unac- 
 countable, when we consider the proverbial keenness Of the Spaniard 
 in the search for native gold, and the experience acquired by cen- 
 turies of practical operations in the mines of Mexico and Peru. The 
 fact only proves how completely the country was neglected by the 
 more enterprising and efficient portion of the community. 
 
 "The first discovery of gold in California, in sufficient -^uantity 
 to excite public attention, was made in the spring of 1848, hv Mr. 
 James Nfarshall, who had been employed by Ciiptiiin .lolni \. Sut- 
 
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 ■*"j4!?^».>.. 
 
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 ^ 
 
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 II 
 
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 O 
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 423 
 
 ler to erect a saw-mill upon the south branch of the Rio de los 
 Americanos, or American fork, a tributary of the Sacramento, flow- 
 ing from the eastward. The location of the mill was about fifty 
 miles from New Helvetia, or Sutter's fort. 
 
 "One of the earliest authentic reports of the commencement and 
 progress of the mining enterprise, is a letter of Colonel R, B. Mason, 
 governor of California, to the adjutant-general, at Washington, dated 
 August, 1848. In describing bis first visit to the diggings, he says: 
 * As we ascended the south branch of the American fork, the country 
 became more broken and mountainous, and at the saw-mills, twenty- 
 five miles below Sutter's, the hills rise to about a thousand feet 
 above the level of the Sacramento plain. Here a species of pino 
 occurs, which led to the discovery of the gold. 
 
 "'Captain Sutter, feeling the great want of lumber, contracted, 
 in September last, with a Mr. Marshall, to build a saw-mill at that 
 place. It was erected in the course of the last winter and spring — 
 a dam and race constructed; but vhen the water was let on the 
 wheel, the tail-race was found too narrow to allow the water to escape 
 with sufficient rapidity. Mr. Marshall, to save labour, let the water 
 directly into the race with a strong current, so as to wash it wider 
 and deeper. He effected his purpose, and a large bed of mud and 
 gravel was carried to the foot of the race. One day, as Mr. Marshall 
 was walking down the race to the deposit of mud, he observed some 
 glittering particles at its upper edge; he gathered a few, examined 
 them, and became satisfied of their value. He then went to the fort, 
 told Captain Sutter of his discovery, and they agreed to keep it 
 secret until a certain grist-mill of Sutter's was finished. It, however, 
 got out, and spread like magic. 
 
 " * Remarkable success attended the labours of the first explorers, 
 and, in a few weeks, hundreds of men were drawn thither. At the 
 time of my first visit, but little more than three months after its first 
 discovery, it was estimated that upwards of four thousand people 
 were employed.' " 
 
 In this exciting pursuit the utmost improvidence was exhibited, 
 and the necessary consequence was a sudden and unprecedented ad- 
 vance in the prices of all articles of common necessity. Upon the 
 first intelligence of the position of affairs in California, received in 
 the states, speculators entered eagerly into the business of shipping 
 thither supplies of clothing, provisions, &c. Before these stores 
 could re;icli their place of destination, by the circuitous route of Capo 
 
 jj 
 i 
 
 
 m 
 
 ';!■ 4 
 
42rt 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0KY. 
 
 Ilorn, muc'. r al destitution was felt, and, although the yield of the 
 washings was exceedingly rich, the chief profits of the mining oper- 
 ations were appropriated by those who were enabled to cater, at the 
 most exorbitant and fabulous rates, for the physical wants of the 
 labourers at the mines. '' ' i !'? ■ ' 
 
 The cargoes which first arrived at San Francisco yielded enormous 
 returns ; but in some articles the market was speedily overstocked, 
 and heavy losses were sustained by those whose adventures failed to 
 correspond with the demand. One cause of great embarrassment to 
 ship-owners was the impossibility of obtaining a crew for the return 
 voyage. Previous contracts, forfeiture of wages already earned, and 
 extravagant offers, generally failed to outweigh the strong temptation 
 held out to the able-bodied labourers at the mines. 
 
 It is a most satisfactory reflection that other and far more im- 
 portant ends than the collection of gold will be accomplished by the 
 settlement of California. The soil is, in many locations, exceedingly- 
 productive; and when, with the increasing population, labour shall 
 have been applied to the development of the agricultural resources 
 of the country, the new state will be entirely self-dependent. Not 
 only as a producing country, but as a great commercial dSpdt, Cali- 
 fornia bids fair to rival the most wealthy and prosperous of the 
 United States. There can be but little doubt concerning the estab- 
 lishment, in the course of a few years, of a railroad line which shall 
 directly unite the Atlantic and Pacific, traversing the whole breadth 
 of the continent. With the accomplishment of this undertaking 
 will commence a new era in commerce, and the wealth of eastern 
 Asia will reach the civilized world by a new mode of transit. Al- 
 ready has a road been more than half completed, by whicli freight 
 will be transported across the Isthmus, and the necessity for the lung 
 and hazardous voyage round the Cape, or the Horn, be obviated : at 
 Tehuantapec facilities offer for a route still more direct; but when 
 the great overland line, carried through in spite of all natural obsta- 
 cles, shall once be fairly established, it must take the principal share 
 of travel and transportation. When we consider the rapidity witli 
 which our western settlements have extended, with no facilities for 
 the conveyance of produce to a market other than the natural ad- 
 vantages of navigable streams, we can scarcely be guilty of extrava- 
 gance, in whatever terms we may speak of the future growth and 
 dovelopnient of the region to be traversed by the Atlantic and 
 Pacific railroad. 
 
TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 425 
 
 The population of California, as given by the census of 1850, 
 amounted, in round numbers, to two hundred and fourteen thousand; 
 but so shifting was its character, and so constant the influx of emi- 
 gration, that this estimate was scarcely more than conjectural, and a 
 new census has been accordingly ordered. ' - ■ 
 
 tjJuLin>x^ii!!ili JLiLiio 
 
 THE M0RM0K8. — ADMINISTRATIONS OF ZACHARI TAYLOR AND 
 MILLARD FILLMORE: ADMISSION OF CALIFORNIA INTOTHE 
 UNION: DEBATE UPON THE SLAVERY QUESTION: THE COM- 
 PROMISE: EXPEDITIONS OF NARCI8S0 LOPEZ. — STATIS- 
 TICS. — FRANKLIN PIERCE PRESIDENT: JAPAN: THE 
 NEBRASKA QUESTION. 
 
 i! 
 
 The year preceding the discovery of gold in California, a move- 
 ment was set on foot for the establishment of a settlement upon the 
 border of that region described by Fremont as the "Great Basin" 
 of the west. The character of the expedition, the motives and ex- 
 pectations of those engaged in it, its visible effects, and probable 
 future consequences, stand in strange and striking contrast to the 
 peculiarly mercenary characteristics of Californian emigration and 
 progress 
 
 Driven by persecution from their settlement at Nauvoo, the Mor- 
 mons, in 1846, established themselves temporarily in Iowa, and af- 
 terwards farther westward, upon the bank of the Missouri. Their 
 object appeared to be the attainment of a situation so isolated as to 
 allow of the free development of their peculiar system, and yet suf- 
 ficiently productive to supply all the necessities of an independent 
 community. 
 
 The present age has witnessed no religious or sectarian delusion 
 of so gross a character, and yet so ably and enthusiastically supported. 
 "Its late origin presents to the view all that is low and disgusting in 
 bare-faced trickery and imposture; but its present position, attained 
 and upheld by fanaticism and sensuality, two of the most effective 
 agents which can render evil powerful and error contagious, has 
 assumed a cliarat'ter in some sort respectable and undeniably for- 
 
 rr 
 
420 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF IIISTOKY, 
 
 inidable. Persecution has had its customary effect, in investing its 
 victims with dignity, in arousing al! their powers of resistance, and 
 in awakening the sympathies of all averse to injustice. 
 
 "In other ages, this dangerous form of a religious mania would 
 have had its legitimate manifestation in crusades against property, 
 and in the foundation of a new state and church on the ruins of some 
 weaker and less vigorous structure of superstition; at preser.t, its 
 more honourable and profitable mission is to afford a field of harm- 
 less action for uneasy spirits, and to build up a new nation in the 
 remotest wilderness, 
 
 * * * " It can hardly be doubted that the poly gamy 
 allowed by the new religion is, with a certain class of minds, a very 
 powerful incentive for conversion to its teneta, and a strong prompter 
 to fierceness and resolution in defending them. But this of itself is 
 entirely unsatisfactory in explanation of that stern and eager enthu- 
 siasm which, beyond any of our times, has distinguished the preseii; 
 manifestation. Men who wish for several wives will do much to 
 obtain them, and to keep them, but hardly what the Mormons have 
 done and are doing. It is an article of faith not exactly suited to 
 the production of heroes or of martyrs; and that the elements of 
 such, in great numbers, may be found in the Mormon ranks, no man 
 conversant with their history will deny. A spirit of deeper and 
 more respectable error — the spirit of faith and fanaticism, almost 
 invariably fierce, vehement, and enduring, in proportion to the folly 
 and puerility of its creed — has been the main-spring of this extra- 
 ordinary movement, and remains a problem, as insoluble as any of 
 the same class which have preceded it."* 
 
 The progress of the Mormons westward wj» i delayed and embar- 
 rassed by a requisition — promj'tly and honourably complied with — 
 for five hundred of their number, to serve in the Mexican war. 
 After a winter of great destitution and suffering, occasioned by this 
 withdrawal of the most efficient portion of their community, the 
 exiles fitted out an advance party to explore the country and fix 
 Tipon a location for the future settlement. By the route of the 
 South Pass, these pioneers made their way across the mountains, and 
 directed their course towards the valley of the Great Salt Lake. They 
 reached their place of destination in the month of July, 1847. A 
 si'ttloment was immediately commenced, and the site of a capital 
 \\:\ri cho.sen. 
 
 * Diucovererti, &-e., of Amerion. 
 
war. 
 jy this 
 ity, the 
 
 T HE DNITED STATES. 
 
 427 
 
 Before the setting in of winter, several thousands of the sect hud 
 emigrated to the valley. The lateness of their arrival, and the im- 
 practicability of transporting any considerable store of provisions 
 across the wilderness, rendered the winter of 1847-8 a season of 
 destitution little short of starvation; but nothing could abate the 
 energy or damp the enthusiasm of this singular people. The work 
 of building and agricultural preparation was unintermitted, and an 
 abundant harvest, during the summer following, rewarded their 
 exertions. 
 
 from their capital, on the lake, the Mormons have steadily pur- 
 sued a system . f colonization by fitting out expeditions for explora- 
 tion and settleu.ent. These are particularly extended towards the 
 Pacific coast. According to the Report of Captain Stansbury: "It 
 is the ultimate object of the Mormons, by means of stations, wherever 
 the nature of the country will admit of their settling in numbers 
 sufficient for self-defence, to establish a line of communication with 
 the Pacific, so as to afford aid to their brethren coming from abroad, 
 while on their pilgrimage to the land of promise. These stations 
 will gradually becom connected by farms nud smaller settlements, 
 wherever practicable, until the greater part of tlie way will exhibit one 
 long line of cultivated fields, from the Mormon capitiil to San Diego." 
 The colony, self-incorporated in 1849 as the state of Deseret, now 
 contains more than twenty thousand inhabitants; missionaries are 
 successfully engaged in various parts of the world in procuring 
 proselytes to the faith; and the community is constantly increasing 
 in power and importance. Their president, Brigham Young, con- 
 firmed in authority as governor of the territory by the United States' 
 government, is recognised by his people as invested with power 
 nearly absolute, both spiritual L>nd temporal; and, in the entire ad- 
 ministration of civil aifairs, the government is a perfect hierarchy. 
 How far these extraordinary regulations may eventually clash with 
 the authority of the federal government is, as yet, uncertain; but 
 the disregard and indignity sustained by the territorial judges and 
 secretary first commissioned by the executive of the United States, 
 are ominous of future contumacy. 
 
 One noticeable effe('*. of the war with Mexico, has been to bring 
 forward a host of a.spirants to political eminence, the prestige of 
 whose military achievements has too rdum served to distract atten- 
 tion from their gross incompetency for tlie management of public 
 alVuirs. This remark, li;ip})ily, docs not apply to many snccossful 
 
 ! 
 
 !i\ 
 
 :i.^ 
 
 if 
 
428 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOKY. 
 
 candidates for popular favour, whose worth and abilities might have 
 remained unappreciated, but for the ^clat of their services in the war. 
 
 The influence of the national fondness for military renown, was 
 brought to bear upon the presidential election of 1848. The candi- 
 dates of the respective parties were Lewis Cass, of Michigan, and 
 Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana. General Taylor, recei vi ng the electoral 
 majority, was inaugurated on the 6th of March ensuing. Millard 
 Fillmore, of New York, was chosen vice-president. 
 
 At the congressional session of 1849-50, the application of Cali- 
 fornia for admission to the Union, in connection with the necessity 
 for organizing a territorial government in Utah and New Mexico, 
 gave rise to the most violent and protracted debate. A proviso, 
 previously introduced by Mr. Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, relative 
 to the exclusion of slavery in the formation of new states, being 
 insisted upon by members from the free states, the whole question 
 was made a theme for angry and extravagant declamation. Scvora' 
 months passed without the accomplishment of any important legis- 
 lation, the time of congress being taken up by stormy and unprofit- 
 able debate — too often by disgraceful personal controversies. 
 
 Early in May, a committee of northern and southern members, 
 of which Mr. Clay was chairman, appointed to digest some scheme 
 of mutal concession respecting the vexed question of slavery, and 
 its application to the measures in contemplation, made report. In 
 the compromise thus proposed, very little was conceded to the claims 
 of the members from free states. During its discussion, and before 
 final action upon either of its separate items, a change of administra- 
 tion wook place. President Taylor died on the 9th of July, ISoO, 
 and was succeeded by the vice-president, Mr. Fillmore. 
 
 The compromise measures were separately discussed and adopted, 
 substantially as reported by the committee. Before the close of Sep- 
 tember, the territories of New Mexico and Utah were orgaiiized 
 without anti-slavery restrictions; California was admitted into the 
 Union; the Texan boundary at the north-west was established; a 
 bill was carried containing specific provisions for the recapture of 
 fugitive slaves; and, in the District of Columbia, over which con- 
 gress exercises exclusive jurisdiction, the slave-trade was formally 
 abolished. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of 1851, great excitement was 
 caused tliroughout the Union, particularly in the southern states 
 by the events connected with an attempt at the overthrow of Span 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 429 
 
 II StUtl'S 
 
 if Siiaii 
 
 ish power in Cuba. General NnrciBso Lopez, one of the principal 
 persons implicated in an unsuccessful revolutionary movement in 
 the island, in 1848, '\ n the failure of that enterprise, escaped to 
 this country, and engaged in the preparation of plans for an expe- 
 dition, to proceed from the United States, and cooperate with the 
 efforts of the disaffected party in Cuba. 
 
 That such an undertaking was on foot soon became generally 
 known, and a proclamation was issued by the president, strongly 
 condemning the illegal movement, and denouncing those engaged 
 in it as liable to severe penalties under the existing laws of the 
 country. The expedition, however, was favoured by a large party 
 in the community, and Lopez, having enlisted and embarjced a 
 force of more than six hundred men, sailed for the coast of Yuca- 
 tan. With the principal portion of his followers, he then proceeded, 
 in the steamer Creole, to the port of Cardenas, en the north shore 
 of Cuba, where a landing was effected on the 19th of July, 1850. 
 
 Afler some sharp skirmishing with the Spanish troops posted in 
 that quarter, the invading party obtained complete possession of the 
 town, and the general was fully expectant that the revolutionary 
 party of Creoles would hasten to join his standard. It was, however, 
 soon evident that they were unwilling to share in what appeared a 
 desperate undertaking ; and, as large forces from Havana and Ma- 
 tanzaa might be momentarily expected upon the scene of action, 
 a rtiembarkation was effected, and the invaders returned to the 
 United States. 
 
 In no wise discouraged by the result of the first expedition, Lopez 
 continued his correspondence with the revolutionists, and, gaining 
 renewed confidence from their representations, again enlisted a snmll 
 body of adventurers, mostly citizens of the United States, for the 
 purpose of a second invasion. 
 
 On the night of August 11th, 1851, with about four hundred fol- 
 lowers, he landed at Playitas, some sixty miles westward from 
 Havana. Leaving one hunared and twenty men, under Colonel 
 Crittenden, in charge of the baggage, Lopez marched his forces to 
 Las Pozaa, a distance of ten miles. At this place, they were attacked 
 on the day following by a body of eight hundred Spanish troops. 
 The assailants were repulsed with heavy loss, and, on the succeeding 
 day, about forty of Crittenden's party effected a junction with the 
 main body. Most of tlie otiiofs were taken prisoners, and shot. 
 Victorious against t-nonnous odil.s in <i second buttle, but failing 
 
 if 
 
f 
 
 I . 
 
 it 
 
 430 
 
 THE I'EOPLE'S BOOK OF UI8T0RY. 
 
 to receive accessions to their force from among the Creoles, Lopeis 
 and his followers were soon broken down by fatigue, exposure, and 
 famine. The general voluntarily surrendered himself to the enemy. 
 He could scarce hope for mercy from a government, for the over- 
 throw of whjuh he had so long devoted his whole energies. He was 
 executed on the 1st of September, by the infamous garotte — meeting 
 his fate with calmness and dignity, and exclaiming, with his latest 
 breath, "I die for my beloved Cuba!" 
 
 No further imminent danger being apprehended, and a sufficient 
 example having been already ma'^e by the summary vengeance 
 taken upon the leader and the men of Crittenden's detachment, the 
 other prisoners were leniently dealt with. They received a pardon 
 from the Spanish government, after a short imprisonment 
 
 The Captain-General of Cuba, at this period, was Don Josd de la 
 Concha; a man who, although of a stern and unyielding disposition, 
 enjoys a far higher reputation for integrity than most of those who 
 have held a similar position in the island. His recent restoration to 
 office, in place of Pezuela, has caused much apparent enthusiasm 
 amuiig the inhabitants. 
 
 The few years that have elapsed since the close of the Mexican 
 war, have witnessed a vast change in the aspect and resources of 
 the United States and their territory. A frequent and regular com- 
 munication with the Old World has been established by lines of 
 ocean steamers, and the tide of immigration pours in unceasingly. 
 The population of the eastern states, notwithstanding the constant 
 and enormous drain occasioned by the opening of a new field for 
 enterprise and exertion at the fur west, is steadily on the increase. 
 The influx of gold from California and Australia has added greatly 
 to the nominal value of every species of property, and has given 
 facilities, unfortunately too extensive, for speculations and extra- 
 vagant undertakings. 
 
 The number of stales, by the admission of California, was increased 
 to thirty-one. Arkansas became a state in 1835; Michigan, the 
 twenty-sixth, in 1837; Florida, Iowa, and Wisconsin, in 1845, '6, 
 and 7, consecutively. The total ()opulation of the United States 
 and territories, judging from the mean ratio of increase for the past 
 sixty years, must, at the present time, (1854,) considerably exceed 
 twenfy-Uve millions. The entire slave population, at the census of 
 1850, amounted to 3,178,055. Tlie vhlue of domestic products ex- 
 ported during the year ending June oOih, 1853, was $213,417,697: 
 
 ©s 
 
w 
 
 '^./'.ijar sc 
 
 7 \^ 
 
 l ALU Mi \ T \ \ LOR, 
 
 TWELFTH riiESlDENT OV TliK UXITED SfATES. 
 
 BOKN IN 1761 ; IKSTALLEB IKl'O OFl-ICE ISIO ; bKRVKD UNTIL HIS DK ATH, 
 WUlcU TOOK FLACE JULY a, 16:0. 
 
TUE UNITED 8TATK8. 
 
 481 
 
 that of foreign commodities exported during the same iwiriod, was 
 $17,558,400, making a total of $230,976,167. The importations of 
 this year, were valued at $276,078,047. 
 
 For the last ten years, more than 1,400 vcssola, upon an average, 
 have been yearly constructed in the states and territories. The total 
 tonnage exhibited by the returns in 1853, in tons, and ninety-fifths 
 was 4,407,010 48. ' 
 
 Franklin Pierce, president of the United States, was inaugurated 
 on the 4th of March, 1853. Since his accession, the country has 
 remained at peace wi\h other nations, and in a condition of general 
 prosperity. The moat noticeable event connected with our foreign 
 relations, at this time, is the successful negotiation of a treaty with 
 Japan, by which the ancient restrictive policy of that populous and 
 wealthy empire has been materially relaxed. 
 
 The action of congress, at the session of 1853-4, in organizing the 
 territories of Nebraska and Kansas, upon principles directly in 
 contravention of the provisions of the Missouri* Compromise, has 
 produced a degree of excitement, and an alienation between the slave- 
 holding and free states, the result of which yet remains to bo seen. 
 It has been said that, at the period of the election of the younger 
 Adams to the presidency, "party differences in America had, in 
 fact, ceased to be founded on principle; and, as such differences 
 must always exist, they came to base themselves upon personal 
 attachments and antipathic.'^, as well as upon territorial divisions." 
 
 A change «<" wh.J similar may be observed at tho present time. 
 So great has ., on the assimilation of sentiment upon points formerly 
 in direct utroversy between the two great parties into which the 
 country vmus .lividcd, and so many causes of division have occurred 
 upon her questions, that former lines of political separation are 
 .scar i>ly recognisable. The old party issues are dead; and a more 
 dai»geroua sourceCof contention has arisen. 
 
 We can perceive scarce a semblance of that personal animosity, 
 ;i kw years since so disgracefully prominent, which animated indi- 
 viduals of the opposing parties, and entered into every transaction, 
 public or private, however disconnected with the fancied grounds 
 ofdi.spute. In its place has arisen a spirit of sectional opposition, 
 if less obtrusive and disgusting, yet far more stern and formidable. 
 More formidable, because no longer based upon a mere antagonistic 
 party feeling, but aroused by the direct appeal of interest; and be- 
 cause it is difficult to foresee by what stroke of policy, or what course 
 Vol. IV.— 56 
 
 f 
 
 »l 
 
482 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 of events the mooted point can be finally set at rest, and the demon 
 of discord exorcised. 'v'-h- ?■ ■ ■-;,;' i/vi,;, , 
 
 Our chief, if not our only hope, must lie in the reflection, that a 
 still stronger and more universal tie of interest will preclude such 
 hasty or unreasonable action, by either party for the time in the 
 ascendant, as could lead to open rupture between different sections 
 of the TFnion. Such a reflection may be less flattering to the na- 
 tional pride, but is far more reasonable, as a ground for favourable 
 anticipation, than any recurrence to feelings of patriotism, or even 
 of political honour. 
 
 While none could more earnestly deprecate the madness of seces- 
 sion, or of a voluntary partition of the confederacy, we can but say 
 of the American Union, as Lord Crewe says of the name of De 
 Vere, in his celebrated opinion concerning the earldom of Oxford: 
 "Time hath its revolutions; there must be a period and an end to 
 all temporal things— ^nis rerum; an end of names and dignities, 
 and whatsoever i» terrene, and why not of De Vere? * * * 
 And yet let the name and dignity of De Vere stand so long as it 
 pleai»eth God." 
 
i;i.l 
 
 r-i .1! 
 
 
 THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 
 .OJif! jh'.'f' 
 
 ■ ;t;iJrt /;ij 
 
 )ng as it 
 
 Nearly midway between the eastern and western continents, 
 and a little southward of the tropic of Cancer, is situated the Sand- 
 wich or Hawaiian group of islands. They are twelve in number, 
 of which eight are inhabited, the others being barren rocks. Hawaii, 
 the largest and most southerly, has a triangular form, each side 
 measuring eighty or ninety miles. The others, of which the most 
 considerable are Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, and Kaui, form a 
 chain extending north-westerly from Hawaii, a distance of between 
 three and four hundred miles. 
 
 These islands are of volcanic origin, and like others of that class, 
 when subjected to the heat of a tropical sun, present to the eye the 
 most beautiful and romantic contrast of lofty mountains, fertile val- 
 leys, precipices of rugged rock or lava, and plains rich with the most 
 luxuriant vegetation. For equability of climate, variety of produc- 
 tion, and beanty of natural scenery, perhaps no spot on earth can 
 offer superior advantages. 
 
 Vague reports, gathered from native tradition, or from ancient 
 chai"t9, seem to establish the fact that these islands were visited by 
 Sptuiish vessels, during the early periods of American discovery and 
 colonization ; but the first distinct account of them appears in the 
 journal of Captain Cook's last voyage of discovery. On the morn- 
 ing of January 18th, 1778, land was made at the western extremity 
 of the group, and, on the day following, as the ships drew near shore, 
 the natives came off in canoes. They called the island Atooi, since, 
 by a change in orthography and a more correct analysis of the lan- 
 guage, written Kaui. Upon the occasion of this first visit, one of 
 the natives was shot for thieving, but a friendly intercourse was, 
 notwithstanding, maintained, and after a stay of a fortnight, the 
 shijis sailed for the north-west coast of America. 
 
 Upon his return, near the close of the year. Captain Cook discov- 
 ered and landed at Hawaii. He remained among the islands until 
 
 ' 
 
 u 
 
434 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 February, 1779. On the 14th of that month, in the attempt to com- 
 pel restitution of a stolen boat, by seizure of the king of Hawaii, 
 Kalaniopuu, he lost his life. A great crowd of the natives, suspi- 
 cious of his design, gathered round the king's house. Finding it 
 impracticable to carry out his original plan. Cook attempted to reem- 
 bark on board his boat with the guard which had accompanied him 
 on shore. Stones were thrown and shots fired ; and, just at the edge 
 of the water, the commander was stabbed in the back with an iron 
 dagger, which one of the islanders had before obtained by barter. 
 The scene of this fatal event was the landing at Kealekeakua bay, 
 on the western coast of Hawaii. 
 
 The islands were not again visited until La Perouse touched there 
 in 1786. Afler that time, vessels occasionally put in for water and 
 fresh provisions, and in 1792 and 1794 Vancouver made some stay 
 at the group, and by every method strove to conciliate the chiefs, 
 and establish a friendly feeling towards foreigners. The violence cf 
 the latter, and the treachery of the natives had, upon several occa- 
 sions, resulted in hostility and bloodshe<l. 
 
 Meanwhile, an important change was in progress in the govern- 
 ment of the islands. Kalaniopuu died in 1780, and his ne[)hew, 
 Kamehameha, a young chief of great enterprise and intelligence, 
 commenced a career of conquest and diplomacy, which, he pursued 
 with such perseverance and vigour, that, in 1796, he had obtained 
 unquestioned sovereignty over the entire group. Throughout his 
 reign, which lasted until hi.s death in May 1819, he pursued an 
 honourable and sagacious policy towards strangers, encouraging 
 trade, and protecting the persons and property of those who visited 
 his dominions. His son Liholiho succeeded to the kingdom, assum- 
 ing the title of Kamehameha II. 
 
 Popuhir faith in the old system of idolatry had been weakened 
 by long intercourse with civilized nations; and the new king, sliortly 
 after his accc^ssion, get the example to his people of an open breach 
 of the rigid restrictions of the tabu, by which, for ages, the conduct 
 of the natives had been regulated in every occu{)ation of life, under 
 the mo.Ht severe and cruel penalties. In the year following, 1820, the 
 first missionaries from America arrived at the islands. Great inter- 
 est had been awakened in the United States, by the aptness and 
 capacity exhibited by several Hawaiian youths, whoso instruction 
 had been undertaken by tlio American l)oard of missions. 
 
 In 1824, Liholiho, with his wife, Katnamali, visited England. 
 
 •..iii*.i 
 
■¥' 
 
 aasum- 
 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 
 'W4 
 
 > > . 
 
 %-r 
 
 ■^■ 
 
 
 f ^ 
 
 l^.-.- 
 
 '^'^ 
 
 *" 
 
 
 m^ 
 
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 435 
 
 'Aey -.yere fettd, and treated with great attention by the king and 
 ncbiJity, but within a month of their landing, both died of the 
 measles. Upon receipt of this intelligence at the islands, Kaui- 
 keaouli, a younger brother of the deceased monarch, was proclaimed 
 king, and still retains the title, as Kamehameha III. He was, at 
 that period, a minor, and government \^as carried on by a joint 
 regency, consisting of the favourite queen of Kamehameha I., Kaa- 
 humanu, and an old chief, Kalaimoku, a man of great sagacity and 
 experience, who, from his position as premier to the former king, 
 was commonly known as Billy Pitt. 
 
 From the time of their first arrival, the influence of the protestant 
 missionaries has been maintained in spite of the most veliement 
 opposition. While, on the one hand, the success of their efforts in 
 producing a 'rue and beneficial reform among the licentious, besot- 
 ted, and careless islanders, has been grossly exaggerated; en the 
 other, the most false and injurious calumnies have been circulated 
 and believed respecting their conduct and motives. That they have, 
 in various instances, encouraged the native rulers in the enforcement 
 of restrictive laws ill-suited to the character of the people; and that 
 they have, in effect, exercised a species of hierarchal authority little 
 consonant with civil and religious liberty, is but too apparent; but 
 it must be considered that the difl&culties of their position appeared 
 to require strong measures. 
 
 The introduction of Catholic piiests, in 1827, gave occasion for a 
 persecution, with which the Protestant missionaries have been un- 
 justly charged. Many proselytes were made to the new faith before 
 the native authorities took the matter iu hand. The use of external 
 symbols appeared to the king and his counsellors to savour too 
 much of the abrogated worship of idols, and the most stringent 
 edicts were sent forth and enforced against the Catholic form of 
 worship. The priests were compelled to leave the islands, and the 
 natives who persisted in following their instructions were very 
 harshly dealt w^ifch. In 1889, a compulsory treaty, enforced by a 
 powerful naval armuniont, was entered into between France and the 
 Hawaiian govornmerit, by vhich general right of residence and reli- 
 gious toleration were secured to French subjects. 
 
 The future destiny of the Sandwich islands is becoming a matter 
 of daily increasing interest to the great maritime nations of the 
 world. The aboriginal inhabitants are fast dwindling away, with 
 the advance of civilization, and the influx of foreigners. They were 
 
 
 '^ 
 li 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 "- 
 
 ^ ^ ..».-... .A . ^.^ . . •.,-•*- 
 
436 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HI8T0EY. 
 
 computed, by Captain Cook, at a rough estimate, to number about 
 400,000. Since the first regular enumeration, the decrease has been 
 constant. In 1832, the census returns exhibited a total of 130,313; 
 that of 1848, gave but 80,641. During the past year, (1853,) the 
 small-pox carried ofif great numbers. As a separate nation, thoy 
 must soon cease to exist, and the question of future sovereignty over 
 the islands will become of grave importance. No other depot exists, 
 throughout an immense expanse of ocean, for vessels engaged in 
 the whaling enterprise in the North Pacihc; and the opening of a 
 new cliannel of trade witu the East Indies, by the settlement of Cal- 
 iforni' , has rendered the possible acquisition of the Hawaiian islands 
 by the United States a subject for serious discussion. 
 
 Their position is important, from its remarkable isolation. Lying 
 in mid-ocean, some two thousand miles from any other habitable 
 shore, directly in the track of a vast number of trading vessels, and 
 central to the most extensive and valuable whaling ground in thj 
 world, their value as mere stopping- places, for purposes of refitting, 
 of secure harbourage, and the procurance of water and fresh pro- 
 visions, is at once manifest. In addition to these advantages, the 
 islands offer peculiar facilities for the formation of an extensive 
 naval and military stronghold. The harbours, with the exception 
 of those suited to vessels of light draught of water, are few in nutn- 
 bor, and capable of being fortified in such a maimer as to defy 
 attack, while the nature of the coast, bold and precipitous, or de- 
 fended from approach by surf-beaten reefs of coral, would preclude 
 the practicability of landing forces in the rear of the fortifications. 
 
 Such an establishment, once in the occuj)ation of a powerful 
 nation, would operate to exclude tlie marine of any hostile state from 
 safe or convenient navigation of the North Pacific. The principal 
 harbour is at Uonolulu, on the south side of the island of Oahu: at 
 most of the other ports, large ves.sels lie in open roadsteads, where 
 they can at most seasons ride in safety, under the lee of the land, or 
 in positions where they can calculate with certainty upon the direc- 
 tion of the wind, and the conse<iuent facility for getting under weigh. 
 
 Even under the limited and imperfect system of cultivation thus 
 far adopted, the agricultural products of the islands are by no means 
 inconsiderable. During the year 1852, the total amount of supplies 
 furnished to merchant vessels, whalers, and national vessels, was 
 valued, by computation, at nearly one hundred and thirty thousand 
 dollars. According to ciistoinliouso returns, the value of the entire 
 
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 487 
 
 L'ls, was 
 
 exportation of that year was set down at upwards oi six h ndred 
 thousand dollars, and the importations of that period were ot a con- 
 siderably larger amount. 
 
 With an industrious population of whites, the operations of agri- 
 culture might be very greatly extended. The character of the soil 
 is generally that .' a rich compopc of volcanic debris and vegetable 
 mould. It is well suited for the cultivation not only of most trop- 
 ical productions, but of fruits and grain generally considered pecu- 
 liarly adapted to a ter.iperate cliniate. The most astonishing yield 
 is in the article of kalo, or taro, the root of an esculent species of 
 arum, which has always formed the principal article of food among 
 the natives. It is said that a patch of land forty feet square, planted 
 with this root, will produce sufficient support for one person. 
 
 The cultivation of sugar has been attended with profit and success; 
 cotton is raised without difficulty in certain locations; bananas and 
 plantains, more valuable io the poorer classes in a tropical country 
 than the potato in our own climate, grow in the greatest luxuriance, 
 and, requiring little labour of cultivation, yield an enormous return. 
 Maize, wheat, rice, coffee, indigo, tobacco, vegetable oils, ginger, &c., 
 can be produced in abundance. The list might be extended by the 
 enumeration of most of our own garden vegetables and fruits. 
 Among the spontaneous productions of the forest, sandal-wood has 
 been the chief article of export, but many beautiful varieties of or- 
 namental woods, suitable for cabinet purposes, exist, and might be 
 made a source of profit. 
 
 A system of irrigation, for which many facilities are presented, 
 might greatly increase the extent of fertile territory, as the contin- 
 ued droughts experienced at certain seasons constitute a serious 
 drawback to the operations of the agriculturalist. Of the few arti- 
 cles of domestic manufacture, the most considerable is that of salt, 
 procured by evaporation. It is of the best quality, and can be pro- 
 duced in the greatest abundance. 
 
 An advocate of the acquisition of the islands by the United States, 
 remarks of the question, (substantially,) that it is one "of necessity, 
 of time, and of justice. By necespity, is to be understood not an 
 absolute and indispensable need, but that clear, strong, legible con- 
 venience and fitness which the common understanding sees and 
 feels; and when this convenience and fitness shall be apparent, 
 aiul the parties declare tlicrnselves ready and willing for the con- 
 nection, the time will be propitious, and the justice unquestionable. 
 
 ii* 
 
488 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 for no question can well arise as to the right of other nations 
 to interfere." 
 
 The European maritime powers look with great jealousy upon 
 certain movements, already in progress upon the islands, and aiming 
 at peaceable annexation to the United States, by the operation of 
 treaty with the native government. In a memorial to the king, 
 dated September Ist, 1853, the French and British consuls made 
 vehement protest against i,he scheme, as being in contravention of 
 former treaties with thoir respective gov aments. The intrinsic 
 value of the islands, especially considered in relation to their im- 
 portance for a naval and commercial station, as the native dynasty 
 totters to its fall, may yet givv rise to a disaatroug contest for their 
 possession. 
 
Mii.i.Min FiLr.MORn, , 
 
 tiuktkknui thki^ikknt of imk uxitkd statks. 
 
 BOP.N IW IPOO; HUfCKI'DED '] THK Fr.K.SIDKKcy HY VIUTUK OF HIS 
 
 OKKIfE AS vrr-K rRFSIDKKT. ON TlIK PKATH OK /.AcnAIlY TAYLOR 
 
 IN 1860: 8KUVKI) DDlUKi^ 'riTK KKM.MNDKR OK THE TKKM. 
 
^ 
 
 Fii.\.\i(Li\ riEitcn, 
 
 ForitTKKNTII I'HKSinKNT OK TIIK I'NITM) STATKS. 
 
 bm;:: in n ii a:.;i>hikk yow jr., it-m ; iMbTALLi-jj into oi-i tk ik !t;.3 
 
 > ■ 
 
THE SEALS OF THE SEVERAL STATES AND OF THE IINITKI) STATES. 
 
 THK OHiniNAL HTATEH FIRST — THE 0TIIEK8 IN CIIHONOI.iKnCAI- onOEK. 
 Thb puhlitthfr \* inuiiily iiMl**1)tetl tu llie oxcellent work of Marcrh Willmom, E«q., uu 
 
 "ilmcrtran Hisiory,** for ihn maieritl which cumpuie the foll«iwin(r (If^Hrriptionii 
 
 Onfl of Uw Ohvmnl Siatmi 
 
 ^(.;ai, — A rirriilar t^t<lil. •urrouiiitt^l hv n tniirel wreiith, 
 t'licimiiinwHHl by Urn wunUf in Htituim niuititU, ** Sn/iUttm 
 Rnimtthroi Nm HnnltmteniM^* : "ThH Si'ixl nf the Ntntit »f 
 Nnw Maiii[Mliir<' with the Uiitn, l7Ht, .nilHmhii« the lime of 
 ihft iul>*[itt<>ii i>t ihfl Ma(« Omiti'uiiitii, l^iul nm) water iirft 
 rfj)mM)ntMl mtha fiire«r<Hiiul, wiih the tnink uf ii trini mi 
 whK'h thn hiinlv wiimlinnn n r*H eiiKuvi^l, emhrn)*inK n 
 Mwnn of hu^y tife mrfiiflcant nf thn iiidiiNtnntiM hiihttii nf 
 the |MHM)lu : wnti n nhipoii tlio atitrltN, |imt rriuly for luiinch- 
 II ur, Willi tlifl Ant«rK^iui Uiiin«r <lm|)lnyml, u flrimtive of 
 rfinthttnua to nnihtirk on the iwii of iKihtiral exwtoitne. T\w 
 ■nil, jtut eiiierKiiuc aliovtt Uia hormin. tyniMiM* the niuiff 
 dMrtiny ofthfl ntnle 
 
 /■tti/wM/MW —hi 17fl(). Ul^KW; IHIIO. IR-ITH?; lflin,2HJ0l), 
 18a).244,IHl ; lH:«l,aw;»28; mu>. 2m„'j74 ; lKV>,;M7,07ti 
 
 Mo uf KuprewutativtM It) ( <MiKM^!w, :); Klttclorol Tolet, 6. 
 
 One of the Orimnul StiiUw 
 
 SKAl* — \ white iir iiilv«fr n\\ '. lui which in ?-. irwhor 
 with two AiikoH, and ikrublft nitii . nl aIhivo tht .lutd.in 
 Knnmn rnmlulM, w thn wiirt\ Hoi'K . nml fr'>m < I. unuer 
 cumvr of llio ihinld m mioiini'lHd tin uiiktl«rttl I *•) fhli 
 dnvw^ tyintMthzea th<j*e pniici|>!n« of rivil a^ ' .khxu hb- 
 ml> whirh liil to the foiiiultiiK of thia noloi i t in which 
 the fiuth i*t the ritizptui of the atnte is itiU t. \t\y anchorrd. 
 The tiintto, flO[*K, tdKivn the nhlitld, dire<:tB tiiH mind to the 
 rrliiiii futurn, aiitM!i)Militu( > -iowmik ^nwi;ii)ri*y "f t'^* 
 M > *), and the iterimtiitty of ; b luttitutioiw; while the 
 tuiieticrtid lidwlj denotes (lit ''>-tMi> .iru still |>riNfn»(iiiu( in 
 the nmn^h of 'lime, nnd ii*- t the . >mpletion of Hwtory 
 before the doittiny or th» nUi. Khali iw ret^mlifl lher<Miii 
 
 PutmMum — In ITim, H»,1I0, IHOt), m,\'Zi; IHllt, 77,031; 
 1820, KI,Of.(» ; 183(t,07,l!W; IHIO, HWKW; IWiO, H7,Mi. 
 >u, of KeprRsvntutiveti ui ('oiiKn -vj, 2 ; Kltict'l voteit 4. 
 
 One of the Orunnal SuiieM. 
 
 SKA I. — OiUhe blue rn>und of an irrp|rdariT-(oni»*«l Rhield 
 an Indiiin n rcprmtMiNil, ilrmaetl <*ith W\\ft\ htmun^-ahirt 
 and nioccaaina. In ' ^ rti^ht IuhhI im n icoldt^ii U»w, and m Ini 
 letl tin arrow with thn [Ntint downwunli A tidver atnr on 
 the nicht denoiia one of rho HiiitMl StJitei nf Anicrini. A 
 wrtMlh fi)rnw the rrrat of the earulrhHon. from which ex- 
 teiHit a nitht arm. cUtlhtHl and rmfMl. th** lutml cnwinnii a 
 hroiitUword, Iho imnnru'l nnd hdt nf ^^lu^h nm of cold 
 Anto..d the Mculrheon, on ii wavmu h:uMl or hdtel, nre the 
 wonlft, F.'isfjutit pl/indtim mb Mm-tnte guietrm — "Hytho 
 kwtird fclu' w'lika p«w« under Idierty." Around the circular 
 iMinier are the wonl«. " SitflJli(m Riipt^thnr yf.u.nchusfUen- 
 KM " ■ "The St-al of the State itf M;L'Mi:w'luuMHia " 
 
 Popflatttm — Inl7^X».:rs.717; 'Hmi. fA-MA; 1810. i^^.i^lO; 
 
 1H20, :c»;a*7. iKio. «!'».««; iHio. rr.(>v'i. K-yi. wh..mi 
 
 Nu uf Kt'preauntutivos m Congruaa, 11 ; Klecl'l voUnj, i.i. 
 
 One of the (iriffinal Staet. 
 
 SfclAL — The itriKiniil widiNof an oval form, without any 
 nmoinental dcvir*^, niul on the Ih'ld are dt'Immtnl three 
 llcm[K! vmeti,eu(h whidinK aronnd and sasiiuiied by an up 
 right sujUKirt — the whole rfprtseutiiiff the thrre setlienient* 
 (HiiTtford, Windaor, nnd WctliHrMifld) which fornmi the 
 early i oUmy '>n n hdifl wuvinn amund the lower vine is 
 the uMitto.Qt't 7i.?nj?"/j/ StLHtitvt- — "He who planted, still 
 tiwtauui*' Aniuml Jhe mannn of the tield are the words, 
 " Su/tUum Rnpttbftnr ConnecUnttmsis " : " The Seal of the 
 Slate of I'onnt'cticul " The Dolunial ae:il htid lilleen Rrnpe- 
 vmea, with a iiaml prtrtruding from the clouds on (he rijjht 
 nUive them. trnLspiim the lalwl and inolU), which wan wov- 
 iiur in the air. 
 
 V,*jniht;m -In ITW, 238.111 : 1»10.2.M. 002; 1810. 2fi2X)42; 
 
 iftio. 2tr).2(t2 ; !!■ «». ■J!**.t;:5; iftio. ;i(m,in8 ; iK^o. ;ro.7V2. 
 No. of Ke(iresenlativeK la Congruaa, 1 ; Klectunil votes, & 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 
440 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 One of thf Oncinal htaii-K 
 
 SKA I, .—-A shifUl.Mr f«r.iitrheon.on which u repit»ent*d 
 tiic ruing KU!>. w>>h u rurint tif hiiU aiMl wuUr in Ut«f fur»- 
 fm>uni). Atio>fl the shuiiU, fur therrpti, u ii wrpath tiir' 
 ntiiiiiitetl by a half ttl<>)w, on whirh r*M\n a martled eaitle, 
 with wiuKi 'juuttrfti'hetl. For thn Dtii'^MHrien of the iluuttlt 
 un th<' rucht is rmireMiiiUMi thf) tygiirvi uf JuiOice. with ttie 
 Rword in tNw huiiu iumI the a(»lea in the other ; uul im the 
 \v{\ thp (tinMens uf Lilmrty, with Um wtiiMl anil cup Ul her 
 ji'lt hiiiul, luul Urn iilivu bruiK^h of peace in her n(tht. B»- 
 low the dluetil islht nioiUi, KiYvinor — "More elevated" — 
 ikiu^i^uc that the cuunte of the state is cmoard aiul hivker. 
 Aroiiod Ui« tkYtler of the aeaU hetwscii two plain Unes, ie 
 Iho ui'^-niiitoa. in Koniau caiulalii, ** Ilie Great Seal uf *iie 
 Mate of New Yurk" 
 
 Vnt'ulnttim. — In l79n.340.lX; 1800,686,796; 18ia9S0M0t 
 IKdJ, Uri,U12. ItU). I "tlHieUSi 1&4U, 12.428^421 : 18aa3.0073M. 
 
 No. uf Keprenntauvee in ConiQreM, 33 ; Electl fOta% 3& 
 
 One of the Oriihiinl m.iu-*. 
 
 ffBAL. — On a white lielti ta an wrntrheon parted by a 
 yellow or golden luiid or Kinlle, tin which im reprcwnled a 
 piiHiith in Its natural (!olour. In ttie up^fer imrt of (he nlneld 
 a ship uiult^r full will is rIkIiiw smoothly over the waves u/ 
 the Kea, which are surinonntiHl by an axure sky. At the 
 lower part, on n fcrfcii ^rouixl. are three Kitliloit sheaves if 
 wheat, denotiiiK Ihnt ttvririilture, as well as commerce, is 
 one of the pninary mliniiciv of the stale On the nght of 
 tlie shield IS a stalk of nmize. ami on the tuft an uhve branch. 
 For the crest, on a wreath of nlivo tUiwurN. im iwrchttd it bald 
 ea(l«,witb winn ext^-ndeil, hitUlnix m its iM-iik a labt>t, with 
 the nuUfl^ "Virtue, Libsrly, aiul Independence." Around 
 the ninritin of the seal are the words, ** ^>eul uf the State ot 
 Penuay Ivanin. " 
 
 Population — In 1790.43(373; 18nO.(i(r2;Wft; 1810.HIO,noi; 
 l8a\ljCH9.ifi6; 1830,1348^, l&tO, l.TiMKU; IHW,2;ill,7«a 
 
 Na of Mpratf-utatiTflB m CongreM, 26 ; tlect'l vutes, 27 
 
 On*» cf thf t lriL'li;:il ^t.-iltl* 
 
 .^Kxl, ---\ w iiiif fchii'iil if Msu'rhnon. U'arinr thr«) 
 ploufhs. imlicnttiti; that tlip chit-f rflmiirf <•( the pen|ile m 
 up«»n :t«ncultiire I tic rn-wt uin hfinte'i* hi-.nl. siipiiorlixl by 
 a fiill f:tr4)d.Nir-hurrnt helntrt, rod in* on a vnse — the latter 
 rnstinx <<ii ibr ti»p *>f the i^<irutrhi><)n The snppr>rtrn Are 
 the 'Kildtvs <>f t.(tier1ytHi the rwht.wilh her wttnd ami n\n^ 
 hfT^'tfl arm re«tiiur on the MsutrhwMi ; ninl l en-s on the 
 left, bt-r rwht b;ui.I n-KtiiiK ini the esriitrht^m, and lier left 
 ■oppLtrtinx f% r4imun>tun, filled with (ruits ami flowers. 
 Ant<MMl thi> tpitnlrr uf (tie nntl are tSf* wtmls, in KiHnoii mp- 
 llala, ■ I he «irmt ><m'. tif the Sliil« (*f N«;w Jersey," and at 
 (he ^KiNi' ttit* t\xf of Its wl'iptum, in numenil tetteni, 
 
 MrxTi.xxvi (r:«i 
 
 p,ipuU:tum — !ii *7*«1. IHi.irw . IHfn 211,910 ; tHin.2*\M6; 
 
 183(1, .^*/•.^. iK-«t. TitiiGi. iHMi, rri;itn: iMftn. jh)aw 
 N« uf Kepreaeotauves ui Ctaicreas, S , Llecl'l vuCea, 7. 
 
 One of the Onmnftl iin>e«. 
 
 SKAl An axure shieUI or i-nrMitrheim, divided itttn twc 
 
 equid |4ir1s by a white InukI ormnlle A row » rrprfsented 
 in th« tower t>nn of the fthirld. himI iii the ti|i{>«'r inrt are 
 two symbols, deeutneil (fnthntily to rvprtwnt the ajmrultund 
 pnNliirtMifu »rf the state- — irr.iln and tntmrro. The rnwt 
 (a wrenlh) su{>fiorls n hhip muter ftill sail. tlisplHyint the 
 AmnrK'nn liajiner On a white (ittld iimmiimI the ewiilrheon 
 were Itonivily wreallw (rf rtuweni, iKiiiwhes (»f ttie ulire 
 sfid ottier BvinN>la, but 'Jiese tuive liMni displuml for two 
 Ajnirtm, nrprraeniiiu; a manner ami a hunter At (he b(4 
 tiMiiof (he snni, m numerals, hi the date of its aflofttHin 
 MrH'(*X''IIl (I*^*!. niid nround the lM>riter. in Roman mp 
 ilalii, are ttie wimls, "(irrut Seal of the Sinte of (NiJnwnre.* 
 
 Vojmlrtttm- In ir«'. W<W; lW*i. f^.TTi IHIO, r^bTi 
 Irt.ti, 72.741 ; lK»t.7i;^iH; IKld. TWjW.'i ; IHNt.'llAtJ 
 
 So. uf Heprescntativea in Cutgrvas, I , tlect'l voUe^X 
 
SEALS OF THE DIFFKBENT STATES. 
 
 441 
 
 One of the Orinniil Stiiten 
 
 SUA I. — On a whitu or silver field the figure of Justice is 
 smm nruniinent in tlie c«n1re of the forei^ruunU, bh^l'' iiu^ an 
 olive hranrh anil nswnni in her nit'it huiicl, wliile lj ; left is 
 elevatiiiK her well-hnlunned scales ulnve her head. At her 
 ifivl m a Iniirel wreath, the fasces, and a comiiropia, with an 
 uninscniietl white lalwl waviiw lor..<ely frtim their nwlst. In 
 the disiaiH%, on the rutlit, is a view of the uceaiit with a ship 
 under full sail m the perspet^tive, Itounded by a clear horizon 
 On the left are some timtsheads of tohuono, symbolical of the 
 princiinl pnMluct of tlie state, and a ship with its sails partly 
 unlurled, iiidKvtive of commercial enterprise, 1'he old seal 
 WHS little more than a copy of that of the United States, the 
 eaf ie lieiiiK represented an it is on the present coins. 
 
 i'o»wta/ion.— In n90,;n9,728; IHHO, ;M1,;H8 ; 1810.380M6; 
 1820, 4(r7;»0 , 1830,W7,mO; ISIO, 470,019 j l&W, ,'>83,n»». 
 
 No. ot' Kepresentatives in rtirifn'csH, 6 ; i^lect'i votes, 8, 
 
 One of the Oriitinal States. 
 
 SEAL — In the orisinal se^, which diflers somewhat ftoin 
 
 fonnor is a scroll, represeiitinx the l)eciaration of Independ- 
 ence, end tlie left supports her wand, surmounted by the 
 cap of liberty. Oeres has ui her riftht hand three heads or 
 ears of wheat, and in lier left ttte conmcopia, or horn of 
 plenty, filled with tlie products of the earth. In the back- 
 ground is a marine view, indicative of the commercial re- 
 sources of the stale. Around the outer circle, starting froni 
 a star on the top, are the words, in Human capitalis " Great 
 Seal of the State of .\orili rnrohna." 
 
 Populatim —In ITSO, 393,7.^1 : 180O, 478,103 : ISIO, S6S,500 : 
 183(1,538,829; 1830, 7:17,987 ; 1810,7M,419; laW, 869,039 
 
 No, of Uepresentatives in Congress, 8 ; Elect'l voles, Id 
 
 One of the Original Siatis 
 
 SKAL. — On a while or silver field the (loildess of Virtue, 
 iie genius of the ciMiiinoiiwenllh. is n?pres#'ii((Hl dri'ssod like 
 on Amazon, resting on a 8)iear with one luiiid, luul holding a 
 sivord in the other She is m the act of trampling on Tyr- 
 anny, represimlwl by a iiiaii prostrate, a cniwti fiillen (Vom 
 his nenu, a Imiken chain in his left band, and a scourge in 
 Ins rwtit Onaliiliel al«>ve tin' tlgurea is the wonl" Vir- 
 ginia;** and lieiieath them is the motto, Stc tmprr fyrrmmj 
 — ** Tlim we serve tyrants.*' There urw no other devices le- 
 gitimately lieloiiging to the seal, although artists freiiuently 
 emiiollinh the field with such local or natioimt emblems as 
 lIuMr mncv MUtntests — a practK« ** more liuiioured m the 
 breach than ill the otwer\'ance.** 
 
 I'uruliiiiim —\n i IlK), 74S ;«« , lHD0,88naX): ini0,ffri,fi22; 
 18ai, IJUtkl.mi ; wm. U-l 1,4115 , 1*10. l,a!l.797 ; 18.'*), 1.421.ail. 
 
 No. uf HoptvsviilativM in Coucr.is. 13 ; Klecl'l vule*, IS. 
 
 One of the Original St^ites, • 
 
 SblAL. — In the centre of a white or silver field is the de- 
 vice of a palmetto-tree (a s|M^iet> of the date), with its top- 
 nuKt brancliRs denoting a vigorous growth, eiiibleniatical of 
 the pr(H()eroiis pnigress of the state Xenr the btise of the 
 tn^ are two cniss-pieces, coinpo.Hed of bundles of speaiv, at 
 the crossing of which is attached a scroll or lalicl, with the 
 iiuitto, Ammis ojnbust/ue p^iratt — ** Keadv [to defend it] with 
 our lives and pmtierty," which motto, liy the way. is mqre 
 generally put nruuiid the lower half of the outer circle, with 
 tiie wotus ** .South Carolina " occupying the upiier hal( 
 precedisl by a single star The emblem {the piiliii) denotes 
 sut^ehonty, victory, and triumpli, and is, iierhniis, the source 
 of that deference which the stale sometimes exiccis. 
 
 ;'i)(mii/iffli— In 1790.21'i.urj; IBOXSCAn ; 1810,415,115; 
 1820,302.711; 1830i .WI.ISS; IfttO, filMJSW ; 1850,868,507, 
 
 No. of Repnjseulatives in Congress, 6; £lect1 vutei^S. 
 

 442 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTORY. 
 
 One n{ the Orifriiial Stated. 
 
 St.M. — In the naitre of a cirrular whit« or ailTer field 
 •re three pillarn, siipiMtrtinft an arch, annind which ia em- 
 blaznneUthe wunl "CHiitatitulioit." 'I'he piUaii aruaymbol' 
 eai al the three ilenutnienti i>f the iitaie Koraminent — the 
 LfKialatnre, the .liumarv, and the txeculive ; and on the 
 one at the tiithl, repreeenlniK the LegitlatiTe, ■ the word 
 " WMdnm : on the nmml, representing the Jndiciiuy, ia the 
 wiinl " Justire ;" aiul on tiiu tlunL Fapreaenting the Kxecu 
 tive, ia the wiinl * Mnlcmtiun " Near the riitfat pillar ia the 
 f};^iin of an ii(firi*r vnxh a drawn swuid* denotinK that the 
 aid of the military la always really to enforra reapaet and 
 otndience tu law. Armiiid the margin of the circle m the 
 worda, " State of Georgia. 179S " 
 
 Pcpulatim.—ln \-:9S^«tfit»: 1600,162.101; 1810,282.433; 
 
 iaia,3<(i9S7i ia30,.'sieja23; ism. eBi;»2M8iai 906.185. 
 
 NaarKe|iraaeDlatin«inCa«KM,8; El«t1 mtei, la 
 
 
 Admitted into the I'liion, 17(12 
 
 SICAL — Although Mie aeul of this state ia apparently and 
 really amonx the rnont simple in ila draiim, yet it emNxiiea a 
 •wiiincance which should uinmieiul ilsvll' to the serious ttni- 
 aioeration of all who urn dn|««ed to place a slieht viihie 
 uiwn the union of the states. In the centre *if a cmruW 
 waits or silver fleld, two Iriends are sesn KnispniK one liiuid 
 ot each uUier in a firm anti ctmlial enihriice, while Uip other 
 is extended to each other's barj(, nitniftcant of cnmur- 
 ogement an<l support Helow them is the enprewive 
 mitto, "L'nited, we standi diviiled, we full" An onia- 
 ■nentcid doubls circle encumiMsses the whole, with the 
 words, " ^eal of Kentucky" between the luies of the upper 
 bolf-circle. 
 
 Populatmi~}n 1780.73,077: ipno. 220,06.1 ; 1810,406,811: 
 1820, 464,317 ; 1830. 887,917 ; 1810. 779,828 ; IMO^ t^^wT 
 
 Ho. of RepreoentoUves in Congnas, 10 ; Elact'l vote*, 11 
 
 T^rf^V. 
 
 :A:V.-^ 
 
 ^"anaI 
 
 Admitted into the Vnasi, 1791. 
 
 iSKA l^-n\ circular linltl, in the maldle of which ia a tall 
 eyei K ine n with fourteen hr^nrhes — Ihirtern rt'[>r<'«entinj( 
 tlir finfinnl stalls, and thf fmirlcrnlh or tofiiiiuvt the state 
 of Vermont suinined by the ntlirrs. Boneatli a tloudieas 
 flrmaineiit, the (ireen MmiiitHins are seen towennit in (he 
 dwtance, and m the liiretirHual are sheaves of wheat and a 
 now, mdratiTe of an acncnltiiml and iinixinK muntry, af- 
 fordinx the tnie aiHimea <if thrtA and indepeialence i<>r an 
 mtaatnous population. 1'he Oreen Mountains have ever Imm 
 onaalrrwl dyuartrnatic of the hotdv rare which inhahtts 
 that tWKm. Amund the niaT(in of the Ackl, in Homan 
 coiatata. the wiml " Vermont" nriipiea the iipiier half cirrlu, 
 aisl the worda ' I- reedimi and rniijr" omii.y Uie lir*er half. 
 
 /VliwiadM. — In I7«I,86.4I8: I8f«. l.'i4.4flS : 181(1,217,713. 
 IMi, Xt'.-m, imi, asuW!, Ihlli, 2!i|,'>i«, IMII. 314.120 
 
 Nu of KspreoauiaUvea ui IxMifteM, 3 ; Electoral votes, & 
 
 Admitted mioihe rmon, riiti 
 
 ^KAl,. — A while or Sliver circular field, the Upper half of 
 which IS riccu|iied on the nitht by a plough, in the centre hf 
 a shraf of wlleat. and ini the left by a stalk of ii>((isi In- 
 demea(h i\\ne emblenu. evteiaUng acnus the entire nialdla 
 (if the field. i« (he woni "Aurii ulluni." deiu tiiii^ (hut the linil 
 niluuicr of the state should lie ii|Kai the proluctmns of the 
 sial. The lower half is on-uiued by a limled Inmn. with 
 the word **('t>nimen« " below the water, iiuiwatimc (hat the 
 pnapenty of all may l*e prinmittil thniusn tliw meuiw Over 
 the sheaf of wheat are the iiuiueral leiteni XVI.. denoting 
 that this was the witeenth state adinilt«5d into (lie rniuiL 
 Around the bonier aie the words, " 'I he Cireat beul of the 
 Stale of Tennessee." with the date I7WI. 
 
 /'ufw/arina-.-ln ITU), 3i,7>Jl ; WO. lllB.fl02. tSlfll 261.727: 
 1620.422,813; IK«I, BSI4101 . mi(l. (CftA;|(l; IHIO, Iill2,»)l4. 
 
 Nu of KepreaentaUves in IJuiigress, lu ; Usctl voles, 1% 
 
SEALS OF THE DIFFERENT STATES. 
 
 443 
 
 Admitted mto the Unkm, IHB. 
 
 SEA U— In a circular Held are aereral dericei, liniificaiit 
 of the iteneral aurface, bunneaa, and proepecte of the state. 
 The central piirtKm repreaenta a ciiltiToted country, with the 
 emblem of acricultuie (a wheat-eheaf) on the iwht, and on 
 the left a bundle of aeventaen amwa, indicoting the number 
 of Hate* then conatitutinc the Union. In the diatanoe ia a 
 nuiKe of mountains, the bnae akiited by a trait of woodland. 
 The riKiiiK (un. which is just becoming visible above the 
 nioimtiiiiia, betokens the risuig gloi; of the statr. The Ibn- 
 
 EhI ia an •ipwue of water, with a keel-boat en it* sur- 
 iwlicative of inland trade. Around the border are the 
 a, 'llie Great Seal of the State of Ohio," with the 
 date, 1803 
 
 Poimlttlim— In I80(\4S3)S; 1810, 230,760; 1830, (ei,43t ; 
 1830, 907,903 ; latO, 1,^19,407 ; 1C90, 1,!«0,406. 
 No. of Representativea in Congiess, 21 ; Electl T0tai^23. 
 
 Admitted into the Union, 1816. 
 
 SEAL.— In the lower portion of a cinnilar field is repre- 
 sented a scene of prairie and woodhuid, with the surmce 
 gently undulating — descriptive of the predominant features 
 iif the stale. In the fbregronnd is a bufiUo, an animul once 
 abounding in great numbers in this region, apparent ly startled 
 by the axe of the woodman or pioneer, who is seen on the 
 left, felling the trees of the forest, denoting the murch of 
 dvilizntion westward. In the distance, on Ibe heht, is seen 
 the sun, just appearing above the verge of the honzon. Inn 
 half-dide, spanning the ennessive scene beneath, are the 
 wolds ■* Indiana State Sral." Around the outer margin 
 of the whole is a plain green border, surronnded by a simple 
 block line. 
 
 Population --\n 18C0, 4jS7S; 1810, 24,530; 1830, 147,178 
 183a34aoai; l^to, 688.8^ 1880,968,416 
 
 tio. It Rapreaentotives in Congreos, 11 ; £lect1 voles, la 
 
 Admitted into the Union, IHI2 
 
 SKAI. — l)n n wliite or silver ciicbiar field is represented 
 1 psliran standing liy her nest filled with young ones, in ^h« 
 atlitiide (if " pnMnrtuiii nml ileri^nco," nnil in tlie act of feul- 
 ing them — all shnring alike her insleninl assiduity. Tlie 
 mntlier-hinl symbiili m the gniivml government of the 
 Union ; while the birtlii in the neat rvpreeent the several 
 states Atxive ore the scale* ofJiuitice, which, taken m 
 oonneiKm with the itniliieniB lienmiih, tigiiify that "equal 
 and eiart jiutMW " must lie extcmh^l tt» nil the menibers of 
 the onnfedeniry 1'he «*mi-rirrlt< ofeigliinfii stnrs iiHlH'.ate8 
 the nuinlier of states at the tune of utltniwKiii In the upfier 
 portion uf the external inn^le itre the wonla, ** .State of \jmxm- 
 ana,*' and in the lower, thtt wonls, " UiiHin and < 'onfideiice " 
 
 PorHlatum.—\n mill. ';6,.iA6 ; l)M>, I.U,4U7; miu, 3l5,rje) 
 
 i8»o, a'sa,4ii; iHfio. .M^riB. 
 
 Na uf Keimisenlalives m >'oiigre.«, 4 ; Klcctaral votes, 6. 
 
 Admitted into the Union. 1817. 
 ' SEAl, — In the centre of n white or silver circular field i* 
 the American engle, with wido-spreuil wings, ucciipying the 
 entire surface : which may heconsidemi nsclenl>ll>l^: ihat all 
 the people of ttis stale, fhmi whiitever clinie or country they 
 may have come, are purely Ameiicaii m feelinw. and are 
 content to repose their trust under the broad wings of the 
 •• binl of liberty " In the right talon of the eagle is a bundle 
 of fiiur arrows, aignificant of power Ui sustain the pnnoiules 
 of guvemment, and to repel the assault* of un enemy; while 
 on olive branch in the left, lieiokf ns a diHpoeition to nmint.-iiri 
 peoiv Aroiiiul the outer cinle, lietwecii (uin-llol hues, are 
 Uie words, in Komon capitals, " I'he (irent S>-iii of the State 
 of Mississippi." 
 
 Pofulatum — In 19(10, S,a«i 1810, 40,352; 1830; 76.448; 
 1830.136^31; 1M0,3:5.6SI; I8fi0,6na526 
 
 No. of Neprasenlalives m Congress, S ; Electl volai, 7. 
 
r 
 
 444 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S BOOK OF HISTOBY. 
 
 Admitted into the I'nion. 1918. 
 
 SEA I,. — In Ihc centre of a wliite or silver eacutrheoo ■ t 
 nprnentatton of ihe Anterinan cimlt*. itn wtngs iiprend to ai 
 to touch the Jriiirr innrmn of the nhuUI. In ilii n^ht talon 
 ■ the emhlem of penra, an olive hranoh ; while three arrrnra 
 are cr.wpi'il in tlio left, ili^notinx il« rutOineaa to aualnin the 
 three great hranches of mivenunent. On its hreaat is an 
 eacutchnm, the lowpr half of whirh is repmented of a red 
 colour, and 'Ik: upper half hlue. the latter bearinc lhi«e 
 while or silver stnra Fuim its heak eitenda a label, wav- 
 lii)t >'i Ihe air Hhove it, with the inscription " State Soverei^- 
 tjr; ..atKHial Cnioii " In the urawr uartof acircle eorloanc 
 Ae shii'lil n re Ihe wonls, " Seal of Ihe State of UUnoui," and 
 in the lower part Ihe date, " Auit 26, IHia" 
 
 Pmrnlahim — In I8ia !22ffi; ira),aMIl; 1830, I97,«4S; 
 1810,476,183, l&'A 851,470. 
 
 No. of Kepreeenlative* in Congreaa, 9 ; Eleotl mtM^ 11. 
 
 Admitted into the Union, 1830. 
 
 SEAL. — A white or lilver aliield, on which is represented 
 a pine-tree, wiih a mooneHleer recunilient at its Imne — ein- 
 hlematical of the valuable tiniher of the stale, and ol the 
 ■acnrity atul repoe eiuoyed by the animals which ranee its 
 immense Aireets The'' suppoiten " are a nmnner resiiiie on 
 his anchor, and ( hushniiuniui with his »:ythc— denoliiiK 
 that commerce and acnculture an? each primary resources 
 of the suite. AUive Ihe shield is the North .Slur, lienealh 
 which IS the motto, Ihrtao — " 1 direct ;" and under the shield 
 is tJie name of the state, in Roman cautals ; while sea and 
 land compcae the ihrecround. Untlieleft,the tadlmastsofa 
 ship are perceptible in the distance, the sails spread, denot- 
 ing a renihnexs ii>r nminiercial enierpriiie. 
 
 iVjIw'"''"" — In 1790, n6,M0 ; ISno, 151,719: 1810,228,706; 
 18211, :»l,i;iS , 18311, 3UU,455i 1840, 5in,7Ki, 1890,-583.169. 
 
 No. of Hepreaentatives in Conm'ess, 6 ; Elect'l votaa, 8u 
 
 Admi'.i— into the Unsm. 1820. 
 
 StAL- Nearly tlie entire of a circular flekl ■ omipM 
 with tht' ri I 'leHenlaism of a map, pmhra^irut Ih^ names and 
 kmditieaol ihe princiial nven ami brviis, as Ihey eiiatisd 
 at Hie time when the lerntonal aovenimenl was eiitahliahed, 
 1H17. A jmilion of Viast KlorMin, rnitimcinsf Ihe line (►f sur- 
 fcoe as far as I'eiiaMcol*, is inrlutlnl m the map, ts ahai a 
 ■mall iKiriHin of 1 enness»>, aiifflrieiit to show the hfiiindarMn 
 m eith<T sMk) AroumI Ihe circle, lietweeii two (larallel Inii*. 
 are the wonls, in Hinnan i-nnials. "Alalnnm Kiecntive 
 Office •• ( I his was Ihe onrnal seal ilesimed fiir the temtorv, 
 and It wa» sfterwanls adopted liy the state on its admisssfn 
 hii" Ihc I'liHsi, and has remaiiml uiuhaiiKnl iver since 
 Uiat lime) 
 
 /'«l«;/i/«m.— In IHan, 127,901 ; IKW, .109,587 ; 18^.190,788; 
 
 ia'<i,r7i.»f7i. 
 
 Na M' Hepmentatives in Congrws, 7 ; Elect'l votea, 9. 
 
 Admitted intn the I/ni<ni, IH2I. 
 
 SEA I. —On a cjiculnr (.hield, equally divided liy a perpen- 
 dirahir Ime, is a red field on Ihe ri«ht side, in wlucli is the 
 white or unzily lienr of Missoiin. Alsivc, sep,initej liv a 
 wavy or curved line, is a white or silver (.n.i<crnt, in mi iiztire 
 field 1)11 the left, isi a while field, are Ihe arms of lh« 
 I'liited States A huml siirnninils Ihe osculchoon, on wliii h 
 »re the wonls, " Unileil, we siund ; dividwl, wo (all." For 
 Ihe rrrsi, over a yello* or iroldeii hi'liiml, full fuied, and 
 rmieil with sit \»n, is a silver star; aivl iilsne it, a con- 
 NtrllatHmoftwinly ihnKsin.iller slum. The >>u|>|«iitenare 
 two Knzzly lieara standmic on a scroll in.vnlie<l, Stilus foimli 
 rnvrrmn Itz rtio — "'I he plililic safely is llie supreme law." 
 riHlemeiith im- Ihe nuniiTHls Mill ri XX , and iiniuml the 
 circle Ihe wonls, " The Ureal Seal of the Stale ol Missoun." 
 
 /■ojiWo/ifw — 111 IHIII aiWSi 18a»,66r«B; 1831^ 14(U58: 
 1*MII, 3Kl,7m ; IIW), »«2,l44. 
 
 No. of KeiKvaeuUtives in Confna, 7 ; fclccti rules, 9, 
 
SEALS OP THE DIFFERENT STATES 
 
 445 
 
 Admitted into tliB Union. 1118 . , ^. ,, 
 
 SEA L.-- Oocupyuis tlie lowwr part of a rarle is a shield, 
 aear the base of which is a white siar on a bine field, repre- 
 sentiiiK the state, -n the middle portion is a bee-hive, simi- 
 lying industiy, a '.a a plough. dfioUng a«ricalture; while a 
 steamhnat, emblematic of tonimerce, nils the upper part. 
 For the crest, tlie guddesii of lihcriy is reprceenteu with her 
 wand and cap in one hand, and i wreath of laurel in the 
 other, surrounded by u oonstellnti'tn of stjurs, indicating the 
 states The supporters are two '/aglea,aiia grasping a J>un- 
 dle of amiws, and the other ar ofive braneo ; a label ex- 
 tenduiK from the cluw of each, with the motto Retnant 
 PopuU—'Tiia People rule." On oi'her side of the biM is 
 a comuMpia, and around the circle which encloses the 
 whole are the woida, " Seal of the State of Arkansas." 
 
 Populalim. — In 1820, 14,273; IKUl, 30,388; 1840, 87,97*; 
 la-KI, 2U9^)7. „_.._« , 
 
 No. of Representatives In ronsre»i,2; Etoctl trotai, 4. 
 
 Adir.itted into the Union, 1845. 
 
 SKAL — I'he seal which was oriEnnally used for the ter- 
 ritory of Florida, althouxh not fomially adopted as that of 
 the state, hac been continued ever snire, und of course 
 retains all its legal force. In the ceptre of a circular whits 
 or silver field is represented the Amerinin ciitlc, " the bird 
 of libertv," grasping the emblem uf peiii:c, uii oUve brunch, 
 in ita left tiuoa ; and in its rifht a bundle of three arrows, 
 significant of the three principal reliances of itikkI govern- 
 ment—the executive, the legislatrve, and the judicial. Above 
 at« arranged in a semi-circle thirteen stura, cnihlematir of 
 the thirteen original states ; and below, the in>uiid is repre 
 tented as coveted with the ptickly-pcnr, a milt common to 
 the countrv, and for which an appropriate motto would be, 
 " Let me alone." 
 
 PopuUitum — In 1830, 34,730; IBIO, 54,4t7; 1850, 87,444. 
 
 No. of Representative* in Congress, 1 ; Llectl votes, 3. 
 
 Admitted mto the Union, Wt". 
 
 SKAI..~i>n an itsculcheiin in ihe centre of ■ white field 
 is the represontntion of a peninsula »itendinir into a lake, 
 a man wttii his aruii, and the risini' ' . On tne upper part 
 IS the wonl 7 VAor — " I will dHlei.u . ," nud on a label ei- 
 tendmK ocniss the lower part is ihe motto, Si qutrrts prnm- 
 sulan nmfnuim arrumsjnre — ** If you seek a delightful roiin- 
 try (^wninsula), tiehold it." I'he supporters are n common 
 dm (>.-> thr njtiir. niid a miiose im the left, tioth atxiuiidins: 
 in 'Jir iiiirsts of Miclimu. K:>r the crest, is the Aniennui 
 eagle ; alHive which, on a Iniiel waving almve ai.. is the 
 motto, E n/unAia imum. Aniiind the outer cirrle, between 
 Iwit ijamilel liiips, are the wnnla,'''rhe Great Seal of the 
 Slaeot Michipin," and " A 1). MIH^CI'.XXXV." 
 
 Pormlalwn — In 1810. 4,782; 1820, 8^; 1830, 31,638; 
 84n,2123R7; lMli,39r?AW 
 
 No. of Kepreeenlativas in Congreas, 4 ; Electl vote*, & 
 
 Admitted into the rnion, 1U!>. 
 
 SEAL. — Tenas Is the only state which enjoyed a literally 
 independimt or iwtlaled exiiitence prcviouii to ils admission 
 into the Union. Dunns its struggle with Moxicfi, it adopted 
 IIS n nfficinl seal a while or silver slur of five (Hiints on nn 
 
 az 1, eiicirrleil by branches of the live-onk and nlive. 
 
 Ar ! ::ie outer circle were Ihewonls."!' " : if I etas." 
 in K(r..iin capital letters. With ilie eiceiH: ' ^ hev.onis 
 around the margin, which is now bliuik, > ' t the word 
 " Texas *' in ihe upper half circle, the forme. .* il has been 
 ailopted since by the stale. The live-oid( {qiuraa firms), 
 which abounds m Ihe foresu of Teios. is a strrng and dnr<.- 
 ble timoer, min-h used in ship-buildmg, a:id fomung -^n 
 imoortant article of export. 
 
 Poimlatwn — lu la'il), 212,'i92. 
 
 No. of KepreseutaUves in (Congress, 2 ; Electoral votes, i. 
 
fi^ 
 
 '040 
 
 INCLLDING ILLU8TBATION8. 
 
 *K*u.- ./..i.vjji^. ji !j«i ahnr ilatei which fu'wred a 
 Uinlsata • , e.ioc f i? ;-iiin.h of Uiw r ifo,f iher were 
 invctttiil ». L ,>.(. i*.,.; ' jt;MM, Iv.i, a,!; reuin her 
 oririirol will, Ihi <i.v!(-.. , -vIikv, ,< )^.b•^^» niore ampl* 
 wjij U3m«'.-« rSi'.f! i'w! .« .n' O'lff mim. Li the oeotra 
 ■f a trhi'* « Wi ►. .-') iiiiM fi-' j; .« !«-. fla«l» in the ittitode 
 of ll."tit. Krr-'.iiinK 'ii i ! nil l»lrtn ,> Ix », llj« left talun Jiut 
 t AhM •rithin ihe i:u i,' i ucio Annul- . Uie field, ■nt! hoUiiM 
 |-iit9»>etSt« nui.i* (.fiu.i The w.i.iU, '■Seal of the TerrP 
 '.<>Tr ;»< 'aiv«." fo -., oeaiiy h i;iii|,l<Ke circle wxyijiu the 
 iiriil, t'.icrim., b l.lfinU ipace nt (he lower Mirt,ukl then 
 ■Kt,!) OR! wimxiiKloil by while cunalur i\:'il uo ■ Mack 
 
 ri^pM/a/wii.— li, l!««i,43,ll2; 1860, 1!a;21l. 
 
 tiu. itf Repneenwuvoi iu Coogieia, 2 ; Klec xnl mMi^ 4. 
 
 Admitted into hi I'l;.!,: 1K1. 
 
 SEAL -Ui the i-rfm-iuiiiil, un Ihe ii'l. Mi>iem is neetod 
 on m rock near the ; ;tiik of ua tixtCititive .'\iy or rirer, whirh 
 winda iu cuurae uiuini; thf iii;\j<:atic niiiuntaiiui on either 
 nde. Her ipeu is jT'Iut"'') m the nithi hiind, while the Inft 
 rwte on the top <>f hei i.jeld by her wle , near wliioh ■ 
 ■ (rinly bRV, agnificaiii > t the uiowy region round about 
 On the right ii u hnrrly miner with hie pick, aevkiiig ihe 
 (oUea treneurei eectc:!!! unKng ihr nukj. Along the ri-n. 
 m ie eeen a maieatie hoy, with two ciippen in Aill view, 
 inilif ling that conimen;> is one ol the cjiief rehances of the 
 peopla. Above tl^e mov tovered mountains, which bound 
 ilta Ti«w, is the Greek ivi>.i £^rrfai—''l have founds" and 
 orar all ia a oiicle of s<i>>'- rttra. 
 
 JV ' "*"'" — Acronli'i-i « a nanana ordered by the state, 
 the pofHiUmn in 1882 v- j., . >tiimed as a84,4J6. 
 
 NaarRepceaKUaliTe»inrua(reaB,a; Elscton] to(ss,4 
 
 Admitted into the Itnini, 1817. 
 
 SIOAI. — A lanre porlHui of the field ia ocnipied by land 
 and water srnnory, denoting the agmiUtural, mmmemal, 
 and 1. 'ning inlrre^ta of the slate. In the fonpffniund is a 
 man iilinixhing wiili u i|nn of hotsee ; m the middie ■ a ule 
 of Inid in Inrs, a harrpi.i mke, a sheaf nf wheat, an anflor, 
 and a otniucofttu. l.akr« ^iM'higan ami Superior, arj repre- 
 sriKrd with a akaip on liiv former, and a steamboat uo the 
 latii;.'. towanla which an Inlian nn tlie ah«ir« is pointing. In 
 the dviiuioR H a level nriirte, akined liy a range of wood- 
 IuimI- a liir'-ii-houae ttntl arhool-bnuae mi Ihe k.ft, aivl the 
 Kale-tHHuw* III ih*^ nrntrn In ■ aenii-cirrtr alaive are the 
 wonN ''nilitat tyrceiml H nrb an im ~-' 1 ivilaalinn haeswv 
 
 r«nslltntinn adopted. .S<'plamher 17, 1787. 
 SKAL. — 'llw folkiwing ■ >he mninled deecnplinn of Ihe 
 denra of the cMd of the ('niiod Ktaiei, as adopteil hy Cmi- 
 gr^aaon the 2nin<>f June, I7K! : 'Armt: I'alnuaya of thir- 
 teen piema, argent aial gales ; a chiet azure ; the esruli'.li- 
 enn on tlie btwst of the American eagle dispis; e<l, pn)|irr, 
 hohluig in his dexter takv- ,< olive branch, and ii> his siiiis- 
 vs. -n pn>per,aiid in :i!a lieak a 
 PpfHniw imwn. Kor iha 
 
 OMnJf,! liartnrism ' 
 rrtiirial siivumme,it 
 and an><tiid vue wIk ,. 
 iha'lerntorvnfWiK .r 
 
 PnftUattim —In 
 
 Nu of K«^reaeiiU>^ .as , 
 
 Imtoni is the dale when a ter- 
 irmeil. " K.-urth of July. 1836 ^■' 
 
 'he wnnia - Tht Great Seal of 
 
 hich lias not let been cfaargnd. 
 
 j; 1l«0,niK.mi 
 1 c'onfresa, 3 ; KleiHoral voles, S. 
 
 ter a bundle of ihinaen 
 Bcnill wacnhed with tl- 
 rraat : Over the head ' 
 tacutchenn, a rk>ry,a 
 aurrounding iluiteaa r 
 on an azure field " 
 
 }'ofmlo -I -la ; 
 7Z«I,8U, .I'-^i- 
 
 ISull, ZvKl.j' 
 
 No of R . -•./■.■ 
 KlectorulT • .. -«, 
 
 -.^-V-^ which appesrs above ilie 
 ir hrougharloud, pni|a<r.niHl 
 •>->mt a cunslalUtioii, sxgent, 
 
 .t,aa7: isni), i^fn]-. ism. 
 iKU. i3,;Me,giio i 1810, i7/ieB,t.'i.i . 
 
 ,,334; P alag at sa, 6; Snaton^ S; 
 
r 
 
 ■^, 
 
 
 ' I