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A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNITED STATES 
 
 OF AMERICA 
 
 INCLUDING SOME IMPORTANT FACTS MOSTLY OMITTED 
 IN THE SMALLER HISTORIES 
 
 DESIGNED FOR GENERAL READING AND FOR ACADEMIES 
 
 
 
 JOSIAH W. LF^E 
 
 "/> I f 
 
 SECOND EDITION, REVISED, WITH MAPS. \J 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
 i 8; 8. 
 

 Copyright, 1877, by JOSIAH W. LEEDS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 PAGH 
 
 Purposes of Historical Study 1 1 
 
 Physical Aspect of the Country 13 
 
 Iceland and the Northmen. Madoc. The Zeni 14 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 
 
 The Way Prepared 19 
 
 Columbus . i ......... 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ABORIGINES. 
 The Mound Builders .......... 29 
 
 The North American Indians . . . . - . . . 34 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA. 
 
 The English. John and Sebastian Cabot 41 
 
 Discoveries by the French 44 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SPANIARDS THEIR CRUEL TREASURE-HUNT. 
 
 Ponce de Leon, the Invader of Florida ....... 51 
 
 Discoveries and Conquests from Mexico to Peru ..... 53 
 
 The Florida Interior .......... 57 
 
 Discovery of the Mississippi 63 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HUGUENOTS THEIR MISTAKES AND MISFORTUNES. 
 Coligny, the Huguenot Chief. Villegagnon . . . ... 67 
 
 Ribault and Laudonniere 70 
 
 Ruin and Revenge Menendez and De Gourgues 75 
 
 3 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 J CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ENGLISH VOYAGES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 Martin Frobisher. Sir Humphrey Gilbert ...... 79 
 
 Sir Francis Drake .......... g 2 
 
 Raleigh and the Roanoke Settlements ..... 84 
 
 Voyages of Gosnold, Pring, Weymouth and others .... 89 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Jamestown, the first Permanent English Settlement .... 91 
 
 Captain John Smith .......... 93 
 
 The Colony under the Government of the Virginia Company . . 97 
 
 Slavery in Virginia ........... IO 3 
 
 CHAPTER ix. 
 
 THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF CANADA. 
 
 De Monts. The Settlement of Port Royal ...... 1 06 
 
 Samuel de Champlain, the Founder of Quebec ..... no 
 
 The Jesuit Missions ........... n^ 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 The Trading-post at New Amsterdam ....... ng 
 
 The Dutch Directors and the Patroons ...... 121 
 
 New Sweden ......... 124 
 
 William Kieft. Wars with the Indians ....... 126 
 
 Peter Stuyvesant. New Netherland resigned to the English . . . 131 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 
 
 The Pilgrim Fathers. New Plymouth ....... 135 
 
 The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay ....... i 39 
 
 New Hampshire and Maine ......... I4I 
 
 Roger Williams, the Founder of Rhode Island ..... 143 
 
 The Connecticut and New Haven Settlements ..... 146 
 
 PequodWar ............ I4 8 
 
 The United Colonies of New England ....... j^o 
 
 The Persecution of the Quakers ........ z 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MARYLAND. PROGRESS OF THE VIRGINIA COLONY. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lord Baltimore, the Founder of Maryland 161 
 
 Indian Troubles in Virginia. Clayborne, of Kent Island , . . 164 
 
 Maryland during the Protectorate, and under Charles II. ... 166 
 
 The Administration of Governor Berkeley, of Virginia .... 168 
 
 Bacon s Rebellion. Lord Culpeper I7 1 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CAROLINA. 
 
 The Palatine Proprietors and their Model Constitution .... 176 
 
 The Quaker Settlements of Albemarle 179 
 
 The Settlers at Charleston 181 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 NEW YORK. NEW JERSEY. NEW FRANCE. 
 
 The Government of the Duke of York 185 
 
 East and West New Jersey 187 
 
 Explorations of the French Jesuits. Marquette 190 
 
 La Salle. An Iroquois War 193 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 NEW ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES II. AND JAMES II. 
 
 Connecticut and Rhode Island " . 197 
 
 John Eliot. The Praying Indians of Massachusetts .... 200 
 
 King Philip s War 202 
 
 The Colonial Charters demanded. Andros, Governor of New England 208 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 William Penn and the Royal Grant 210 
 
 The Great Treaty at Shackamaxon 212 
 
 Philadelphia Founded .......... 215 
 
 Disagreements in Council ......... 218 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE COLONIES UNDER WILLIAM AND MARY. 
 The English and French Colonies at War . . . . . .221 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sir William Phipps, Fletcher, Bellamont 223 
 
 The Salem Witchcraft 226 
 
 Maryland and Virginia 228 
 
 John Archdale, of Carolina 230 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE WAR IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 
 
 Louisiana settled by the French 234 
 
 Barbarities of the War in New England 235 
 
 The Tuscaroras. Slave Laws 238 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 GEORGE I. A PERIOD OF FINANCIERING. 
 
 Piracy suppressed. The Mississippi Bubble ...... 241 
 
 Banks and Bills of Credit 243 
 
 War with the Norridgewocks and other Tribes ..... 245 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 GEORGE II. FIRST PERIOD. 
 
 The French War with the Natchez and Chickasaws .... 249 
 The Assiento and the African Traders . . . . . . .251 
 
 Georgia founded by Oglethorpe 253 
 
 Rum and Slavery. The Spaniards and Indians ..... 256 
 
 The Walking Purchase. Brainerd ........ 260 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 GEORGE II. SECOND PERIOD. 
 
 Third War with Canada. Louisburg captured ..... 265 
 
 The Southern Provinces. Slaves and Redemptioners. The Molasses Act 268 
 
 Fourth Intercolonial War. Braddock s Defeat 273 
 
 The French Neutrals of Acadie 275 
 
 The Marquis of Montcalm ......... 277 
 
 David Zeisberger, the Moravian ........ 280 
 
 Canada conquered from the French ....... 285 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 GEORGE III. COLONIAL DISCONTENT. 
 
 The Conspiracy of Pontiac 289 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Colonial Taxation. The Stamp Act . 290 
 
 The Tax on Tea. Boston Port Bill 292 
 
 Occurrences in several of the Colonies 294 
 
 Negotiations of Franklin in England .297 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 1775. Lexington and Bunker Hill. Canada Campaign ... 300 
 
 1776. The Sieges of Boston, Charleston and New York. Declaration 
 
 of Independence 3 02 
 
 1777. Burgoyne s Surrender. Philadelphia captured by the British . 306 
 
 1778. The French Alliance. Massacre of Wyoming . . . . 3 8 
 
 1779. Georgia Campaign. Deeds of Reprisal 3 11 
 
 1780. The British in South Carolina. Arnold and Andre" . . . 3 J 3 
 1781-83. Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown. Peace declared . . 315 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION FORMED. ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Financial depression. Shays Rebellion . . . . . . . 3 T 9 
 
 The Constitution. Washington elected first President . . . .323 
 
 The Miami War. The Whiskey Insurrection 33 2 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 John Adams, second President. Disputes with France .... 337 
 Thomas Jefferson, third President. Acquisition of Louisiana. A Duel. 
 
 War with Tripoli 34 
 
 Machinations of Burr. Berlin and Milan Decrees. The Embargo Act 345 
 
 The Right of Search 348 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 WAR WITH ENGLAND DURING MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Negotiations with England. Tecumseh 352 
 
 1812. War declared. Detroit and Niagara. Opposition to the War . 355 
 
 1813. Operations on the Canada Frontier. Red Jacket and Cornplanter. 
 
 Creek War 358 
 
 1814. Battles near Niagara and Plattsburg. Washington City taken. 
 
 Hartford Convention 3 6 3 
 
 Battle of New Orleans and end of the War 3 6 7 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 PRESIDENCIES OF MONROE AND J. Q. ADAMS. 
 
 Seminole War. Florida ceded by Spain 371 
 
 The Missouri Compromise. The Slave Trade prohibited . . . 374 
 
 J. Q. Adams, sixth President. Internal Improvements .... 380 
 
 Difficulties with Georgia and the Creeks. A New Tariff . . . 384 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. VAN BUREN AND HARRISON. 
 
 Removal of the Cherokees 387 
 
 Nullification. The Black Hawk and second Seminole Wars. Bank 
 
 Troubles 389 
 
 Financial Troubles during Van Buren s Administration. Harrison . 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF TYLER AND POLK. THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 The North-eastern Boundary. Annexation of Texas .... 396 
 War with Mexico. Annexation of California and New Mexico . . 400 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 TAYLOR. FILLMORE. PIERCE. BUCHANAN. 
 The Slavery Agitation .......... 406 
 
 The Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Troubles in Kansas 409 
 
 The Scheme of Compensated Emancipation. Secession . . .411 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 PRESIDENCY OF LINCOLN. THE CIVIL WAR. . .416 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 Reconstruction. Impeachment of President Johnson. Alaska . . 433 
 
 Grant s Administration. The Freedmen. Education .... 436 
 
 The New Indian Policy .......... 442 
 
 The Temperance Question 449 
 
 Arbitration and Peace .......... 454 
 
 Science in America ........... 460 
 
 A Few Statistics of Progress 464 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 THE writer of the following pages recalls the fact that when 
 he was a grammar-school student in the " City of Brotherly 
 Love," it was the practice of the pupils in the uppermost 
 class, in lieu of other regular exercises, to rehearse the wars 
 of their country. For this purpose each boy was furnished 
 by the principal with a memorandum book, and required to 
 transcribe briefly the battles of the Revolution, and of the 
 War of 1812. The review of these notes occurred so fre 
 quently, that, while we became very proficient concerning 
 the battles fought by our forefathers, we remained extremely 
 ignorant of matters pertaining to the Indians (save that they 
 were barbarous savages), the slaves, and other items of intrinsic 
 interest bearing upon our country s welfare. 
 
 This persistent indoctrination of warlike ideas resulted in 
 producing an intensely partisan feeling, so that the very 
 name of "British," or "Mexican," became a hateful sound 
 to our patriotic apprehensions. Indeed, our principal con 
 cern appeared to be, to learn how much greater was the 
 battle-loss in killed and wounded on the part of the British, 
 than was that of the Americans. It is not using too forcible 
 an expression to say, that there was begotten in our youthful 
 minds something of the malignant sentiment of murderers. 
 
 Of the moral loss occasioned by a state of warfare, together 
 with its exceeding expensiveness, we had no conception. To 
 supply, in a measure, this lack of information, and to pro 
 mote the knowledge of those things in the past and present 
 history of our country which tend to its peace, prosperity 
 and true renown, are the purposes of this work. The rule of 
 political action recommended, may be concisely expressed by 
 that vigorous Anglo-Saxon word STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS. 
 
 GERMAN-TOWN, PHILADA., 1877. 9 
 
" It were miserable indeed for us to fall under the just censure of the 
 poor Indian conscience, while we make profession of things so far trans 
 cending." WILLIAM PENN. 
 
 10 
 
I, I B II A k \ 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF- 1| 
 
 ( AL1FOHNIA. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 PURPOSES OF HISTORICAL STUDY. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the American Union at this day appears as a 
 specially brilliant constellation among the political systems 
 which have been styled the Galaxy of Nations, yet not many 
 generations have gone by since this hitherto hidden hemis 
 phere first became an object of historical notice, and quickly 
 attracted the gaze of all the civilized world. But while our 
 republic has, indeed, thus attained to so noteworthy a position 
 in so brief a time, as to occupy a front rank among the na 
 tions of the earth, yet we read of other nations still more 
 powerful and glorious in their outward aspect, whose suns once 
 rose with splendor in the East, but which now are either sadly 
 degenerated and insignificant, or else have long ago sunk into 
 oblivion. 
 
 In the pages of the inspired Scriptures we may find related 
 the reason why the glory of these people waned. It was be 
 cause they were of the nations that knew not God, nor were 
 concerned to observe his statutes. The seeds of gross evils 
 were with them from the first, and, not being eradicated, 
 
 ii 
 
12 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 prevailed eventually to their destruction. So it was for the 
 instruction and reproof of all following ages that we find de 
 tailed in Holy Writ the historical narratives of the Hebrews, 
 their wars with the surrounding nations, together with the 
 prophecies of the future wretched condition of them all, which 
 we now witness to be so remarkably fulfilled. Hence, it is by 
 the intelligent observation of such records, that the student 
 of all history, "sacred and profane," will be benefited; the 
 prime end of all historical inquiry being, to take note of those 
 principles of social and political action which appear best 
 calculated to insure the well-being and permanency of any 
 people. 
 
 It will, therefore, be the purpose of the following pages, not 
 so much to seek the entertainment of the student by minutely- 
 detailed narratives of military campaigns, as, while treating 
 those subjects at sufficient length, to endeavor to derive some 
 positive benefit from the observation of their causes and effects, 
 as also to bring into prominence other public matters which 
 deeply concern the well-being of the people at large. 
 
 That historical treatise accomplishes little or no good for 
 humanity which delights mainly in military manoeuvres, moving 
 its kings and captains in the sight of the student like the un 
 feeling puppet figures of a chess-board, and, while vainly minis 
 tering amusement, suppresses the sad tale of utter devastation 
 and woe that ever attend the track of the worldly conqueror. 
 
 Moreover, by means of intelligent comparison, we should 
 strive to discern how our own nation s sun or starry cluster 
 (so to speak) appears to be drifting : whether we, as a people, 
 by any low estimate of honor, truth, or equality of rights, 
 are in danger of becoming utterly corrupt, and thus over 
 whelmed by divine justice should become comparable to a 
 faint nebula, scarcely discernible in the political firmament ; 
 or, on the other hand, whether it appears our concern to 
 elevate religion, peacefulness, and every good work, that 
 
PHYSICAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 13 
 
 thereby we may continue increasing in prosperity, and so 
 exemplify to every nation that it is indeed "righteousness that 
 exalteth a people." 
 
 PHYSICAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Before touching upon the particulars of our country s his 
 tory, let us first obtain a broad geographical view of the land : 
 simply its prominent physical characteristics of mountains and 
 plains, of rivers and forest-areas. Looking at the centre 
 section, lying between its right and left mountain-barriers, 
 the Alleghanies and the Rocky Mountain range, we see the 
 Mississippi river, with its great tributaries, appearing like a 
 mammoth tree, though overmuch developed on the left, 
 where the Missouri, the Arkansas, and the Red rivers extend 
 their branches. On the right, spread out the Illinois and the 
 Ohio, with the Tennessee and the Cumberland. 
 
 Eastward of the Alleghanies, passing over a rather narrow, 
 undulating country, is the nearly parallel range of the Blue 
 Mountains; and beyond the latter, a broad margin to the 
 Atlantic Ocean ; while on the west, beyond the Rocky Moun 
 tain chain, we find a wide extent of mostly flat or desert 
 country to the Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountains, and then a 
 narrower margin between these latter and the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Before European nations encroached upon the domain of 
 the aborigines, the aspect of the country east of the Missis 
 sippi was vastly different from the appearance which it pre 
 sents at this day. If, with our eye, we follow up the trunk of 
 the great tree which we have imagined, to where the Ohio 
 branches off on the right, thence along the latter to the 
 neighborhood of Cincinnati, across to Lake Erie and down 
 the St. Lawrence to the sea ; then follow around the Atlantic 
 and Gulf coasts to the place of beginning at the Mississippi s 
 mouth, we will have measured the bounds of what was in that 
 
 2 
 
I 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 day a dense and almost uninterrupted forest. Between the 
 Ohio river and the vast Lake-feeders of the St. Lawrence, 
 there were, however, some intervals of land destitute of 
 woods, and these open spots increased in number and size 
 as one proceeded westwardly, until, in the country of the 
 Illinois, the forest and the plain became nearly equal in area. 
 
 Beyond the Mississippi, the change which has ensued is 
 by no means so notable. Here the prairies absorb more and 
 more of the woodland, until there is reached that immense 
 plain, which, bounded on the west by the Rocky Mountains, 
 extends from the Arctic Sea down to the Mexican Gulf, with, 
 in many places, only narrow belts of timber along the banks 
 of the rivers and lesser water- courses. Here the buffalo 
 which also, in limited numbers, were found east of the Mis 
 sissippi even to the Alleghanies ranged in great herds, afford 
 ing a ready subsistence to the tribes of native hunters. In 
 the secondary ridges and intervening valleys, the Parks of the 
 Rocky Mountain region, forest land again appears, but beyond 
 those mountains is a vast extent of prairies and desert. There 
 were no buffalo here, and the population was sparse; the 
 salmon of the rivers, and various species of native roots were 
 the principal articles of food. But on the Pacific slope of 
 the Sierra Nevada, the climate is mild and equable, the soil 
 fertile, and, as a consequence, vegetation is luxuriant, and the 
 timber is of exceptionally large growth and plentiful. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say to the teacher of history, or 
 to any appreciative student, that the open atlas is an aid to 
 the retention of many facts, such as ought not to be neglected. 
 
 ICELAND AND THE NORTHMEN. MADOC. THE ZENI. 
 
 Although it is customary to say that "America was dis 
 covered by Columbus," yet the claim to the accomplishment 
 of that historical event belongs rightly to the NORTHMEN. 
 
875] ICELAND AND THE NORTHMEN. 15 
 
 Nevertheless, many who are unwilling to disturb the former 
 accepted accounts, profess to disbelieve the relations of the 
 Northmen, however reasonably-reliable the presented facts 
 may appear. On the other hand it will be denied by none, 
 that the effective discovery of the land that which occurred 
 in such a manner and at such a time as to bring about positive 
 valuable knowledge of the new continent, followed by a flow 
 of people towards it and its permanent occupation was the 
 re-discovery by Columbus. 
 
 Respecting the Northmen, their occupation of Iceland, and 
 the means by which their knowledge of a great country west 
 of that island was brought about, the following brief account 
 may find a proper place in this introductory chapter. It is 
 chiefly from the Icelandic Sagas that the very imperfect nar 
 rative which we now possess of those occurrences is gathered. 
 The Sagas are poems or tales, first recited by the native bards 
 or Saga-men, and afterward collected in more permanent 
 form by the historians Ari Frode, Sturleson, and others. 
 
 The island of ICELAND, with an area of thirty thousand 
 square miles about equal in size to the state of Maine is 
 situated in the Atlantic Ocean, two hundred miles eastward 
 from Greenland, and nearly three times that distance west of 
 Norway. Although usually accounted as appertaining to the 
 European continent, it properly belongs by position to America. 
 It was occupied A.D. 874, by a colony of Norwegians under 
 the leadership of Ingolf, who sailed away from their native 
 land to escape the imperious sway of the Viking, Harold 
 Harfager the Fair-Haired. .The companions of Ingolf, and 
 the jarls or noblemen who shortly followed his example, were 
 men of high descent, of considerable intelligence, and pos 
 sessed of means, but appear to have been gifted with roving 
 or piratical propensities which were not agreeable to the wishes 
 of the Norwegian viking. Of these jarls were Rolf, who 
 sailed to France and founded the Norman power there ; and 
 
1 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [985 
 
 Ejnar, who colonized the Orkneys; and similarly, those who 
 settled the other adjacent island groups the Shetlands, the 
 Faroes, and the Hebrides. 
 
 The CELTS, however, seem to have dwelt in Iceland awhile, 
 previous to 874, for we are told by the historian Frode : " There 
 were here Christian people, whom the Northmen called papas> but 
 they afterwards went away, because they would not be here among 
 heathens ; and left behind them Irish books, and bells and croziers, 
 from which it could be seen that they were Irishmen." 
 
 More than a hundred years after the settlement of the 
 island, in A.D. 985, Eric, surnamed the Red, having been 
 declared an outlaw in consequence of the fatal result of a dis 
 pute in which he became engaged, left his country in a ship, 
 with a few adherents, and, sailing westward, came to the coast 
 of GREENLAND : calling it by that title, because, as he ob 
 served, "people will be attracted thither if the land has a 
 good name." Upon the news of this discovery reaching 
 Iceland, Biarni, a man of a bold and adventurous spirit, set 
 sail for the same region, but being driven out of his course, 
 towards the south, discovered yet other lands, which were 
 doubtless parts of Nova Scotia and New England. 
 
 About the year 1000, Eric s son Leif called Leif, the Lucky 
 with thirty-five men, sailed south from Greenland, and 
 landed on a coast, which, from the description of it given in 
 the Saga, is believed to have been the south-eastern section of 
 Massachusetts. Here were found great abundance of grape 
 vines, and so the land was named Vinland, the good. To 
 Nova Scotia was given the name of Markland ; to Newfound 
 land, that of Helluland. 
 
 Within the succeeding twenty years, this first expedition 
 was followed by others to the same shores, under the direction 
 of Thorvald and Thorstein, other sons of Eric, and by that 
 of Freydis, his daughter. Thorvald having imprudently pro 
 voked the natives or " skrellings," as the Northmen styled 
 
1005] ICELAND AND THE NORTHMEN. 17 
 
 them, suffered death at their hands. The voyage of Thor- 
 finn Karlsefne (ancestor of the sculptor Thorwaldsen), who 
 appears to have sailed several degrees farther south, was the 
 most notable. 
 
 After nearly four centuries of independent existence, under 
 the rule of its own chiefs, Iceland became subject to Norway. 
 The withering blight of party-feeling which had long prevailed 
 in the land rendered its conquest no difficult matter. "Thus 
 did all the noble sentiments generated by equal laws, an 
 independent position, high descent, and intellectual endow 
 ment, sink beneath the angry and narrow-minded conflict 
 of private interest and personal animosity." 
 
 Very little mention is to be found of the newly-discovered 
 country subsequent to the accounts given by the sons of Eric, 
 although allusion is made to the re-discovery of Helluland, 
 about 1285, and there is also the account of a voyage in 1347 
 to Mnrkland, whither the Northmen came for timber. Of 
 Greenland, we are told that a bishop, also named Eric, was 
 sent thither in the i2th century to attend to the erection of 
 chapels; and that, in 1448, a brief was issued by Pope 
 Nicholas V. concerning the nearly exterminated church in 
 that land. But the country was scarcely heard of thereafter 
 until the year 1721, when the pious and persevering Hans 
 Egede established a mission-station on the west coast. At 
 present, a few similar stations of the United Brethren are the 
 only settlements on that inhospitable shore, where only an 
 occasional whaling-ship, or Arctic explorers in quest of an 
 open polar sea, seek its ports of refuge in stress of weather, or 
 when baffled in a bootless search. 
 
 Far less credible than the accounts of the American voyages 
 of the Northmen, is the tradition of the discovery of the con 
 tinent by MADOC, the son of a Welsh prince. He is said to 
 have left his native land (1170) because of the prevalence of 
 a family feud, and, having sailed a great distance to the west- 
 
1 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1721 
 
 ward, discovered a country where dwelt a people whose his 
 tory, habitations and customs were utterly strange to him. 
 After living there many years, he went back to Wales and 
 equipped a second fleet, with which he again set sail, but 
 never returned. In the latter part of last century, travellers 
 in remote regions of the West, upon the upper waters of the 
 Red River and the Missouri, were said to have met with some 
 Indians whose hair was of a reddish hue and their complexions 
 of a lighter shade of color than was the case with other na 
 tives. Parchment manuscripts, which they exhibited, were 
 believed to have been written in Welsh characters. More re 
 cently the story has been revived by the reputed discovery of 
 light-complexioned natives among the Zunis of New Mexico. 
 By some observers, the Mandans are thought to be the de 
 scendants of Madoc and his companions. 
 
 Of a like doubtful character is the relation attributed to the 
 brothers NICOLO and ANTONIO ZENO, of Venice. According 
 to the narrative, claimed to have been set forth in certain of 
 their letters published in the i6th century, Nicolo first visited 
 (1380) the island-groups northward of Scotland ; then, being 
 joined by Antonio, they successively voyaged to Iceland, 
 Greenland and the countries adjacent. But the map accom 
 panying the relation is of such a perplexing character, whilst 
 there are so many discrepancies apparent in the text itself, 
 that it is generally discredited as the veritable production of 
 an eye-witness of the lands it professes to delineate and de 
 scribe. For the present, at least, the " Voyages of the Zeni" 
 must be deemed to be apocryphal. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 
 
 14921512. 
 
 THE WAY PREPARED. 
 
 THE darkness of superstition, the clouds of error and igno 
 rance, with the consequent lack of a pure religion and of 
 right-ordered living, which prevailed over Europe during the 
 period from the 5th to the i4th centuries, have earned for 
 that era the title of The Dark Ages. But this sad condition of 
 mental and spiritual gloom witnessed a wonderful awakening 
 to the light, when the Art of Printing was given to man, and 
 when, shortly afterward, the beams of the Reformation burst 
 upon a world, struggling for escape from the domination of 
 error and of priestly intolerance. 
 
 It was in the midst of this improving change in the world s 
 civilization that the continent of America was discovered. 
 What the Northmen knew of it was gathered at a time when 
 that knowledge, scant and hazy withal, lacked the means of 
 ready dissemination the press of the printer. But now, in 
 the fifteenth century, there had arisen a spirit of inquiry and 
 of enterprise, which was fanned into a flame of emulation 
 when the existence of a new world was, in the ordering of the 
 Almighty, made known through the agency of the navigator, 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Yet, it was not emulation alone the thirst for discovery 
 which was excited by the revelation. There was a thirst for 
 
20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1492 
 
 gold as well. The imaginations of men had been set aglow 
 by the captivating stories of the travelers Mandeville, Marco 
 Polo, and others, and hence, were actively alive to rumors of 
 far-away regions where all precious stones and metals might be 
 found in abundance. Lovely visions of Cathay, of the land 
 of Ophir and of " farthest Ind," were much in the minds of 
 maritime people. The Azores and the Madeira Isles had been 
 found, outlying on the sea, while down the African coast for 
 many a league the vessel of the navigator had southward 
 sailed, and still the land and the lapping sea stretched bound 
 less before him. But now, possessed of the mariner s priceless 
 boon the compass surely he need not to cling forever to 
 the shore and the well-known land, but might, at his will, sail 
 westward whither his eyes and his thoughts had so long been 
 wistfully turned. 
 
 The crusades of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which had 
 opened to the people of Europe the knowledge of the refined and 
 wealthy nations of the East, had also incited new ideas of domestic 
 luxury and of adornment. By becoming sharers in the riches of 
 the Orient, they would thus be enabled to gratify these newly-ac 
 quired tastes and desires. 
 
 The spirit of maritime discovery was greatly fostered through 
 the persistent efforts and liberal aid of PRINCE HENRY, of 
 Portugal : so much so, indeed, that in consequence of the 
 substantial results, largely due to his endeavors, the kingdom 
 of Portugal, from being one of the least of the nations, sud 
 denly arose into prominence. He drew around him the chief 
 men of science, and, in order that their learning might be made 
 practically useful, established a naval college and observatory, 
 wherein known facts in geography and navigation were re 
 duced from their previous crude shape to an intelligible sys 
 tem. Much improvement was likewise devised in the con 
 struction of maps. Material for the latter work was constantly 
 accruing, from the reports brought back by the numerous 
 
1492] COLUMBUS. 21 
 
 expeditions which he fitted out, to explore, and to collect 
 authentic information of, the African coast; though it appears 
 that the traffic in slaves and the barter for gold, soon became, 
 with the mercenary ones, chief objects of enterprise. 
 
 Prince Henry has been called the " father of modern geo 
 graphical discovery;" and it is not unlikely that a desire to 
 engage in similar exertions gave to the efforts of Columbus 
 an encouraging impulse, or, perhaps, prompted his great un 
 dertaking. Of Prince Henry s accomplished work, it has 
 been remarked, that " all this was effected, not by arms, but 
 by arts ; not by the stratagems of a cabinet, but by the wis 
 dom of a college. It was the great achievement of a prince, 
 who had well been described full of thoughts of lofty 
 enterprise, and acts of generous spirit one who bore for his 
 device the magnanimous motto, The talent to do good the 
 only talent worthy the ambition of princes." 
 
 COLUMBUS. 
 
 Christopher Columbus, or Colombo, the son of Dominico 
 Colombo, a wool-comber of Genoa, in Italy, was born about 
 the year 1445. Historians have proof that he was " honorably 
 connected ;" but, as it is pretty well conceded that title and 
 wealth do not necessarily convey merit, we will not stay to 
 examine whether his ancestry was or was not of noble lineage. 
 Having an early and decided inclination for the sea, his edu 
 cation was such as to fit him for a maritime life ; for, besides 
 the ordinary studies of youth, he received, at the University 
 of Padua, instruction in geometry, geography, astronomy, and 
 navigation. At this seat of learning, however, he did not 
 remain long, but soon was afforded opportunity to apply in 
 practice the lessons he had learnt, being scarcely fifteen years 
 of age when he entered upon a nautical career. 
 
 This early and irresistible inclination for the sea, Columbus 
 
22 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1492 
 
 subsequently attributed, and perhaps correctly, to an impulse 
 from the Deity, inciting to the accomplishment of an ordained 
 high purpose. In his character there was blended with con 
 siderable piety, an unquestioning belief in, and veneration for, 
 the church and creed in which he was educated. In purpose 
 he was resolute and enduring; and, although of a naturally 
 irritable temper, it was softened by his simplicity and mag 
 nanimity of spirit. He was tall of stature and of commanding 
 presence, and his features, though long, and the nose aquiline, 
 partook of a gentle gravity. Especially noticeable, in an 
 Italian, must have been his hair, which was, we are assured, 
 nearly white before he was thirty years of age. 
 
 His first experience, in entering upon a sea-faring life, was 
 to accompany a naval expedition which was fitted out at Genoa 
 by an Italian duke, to make descent on the kingdom of Na 
 ples. For a number of years following, he was variously en 
 gaged in commercial, exploring, and, perhaps, also less peaceful 
 pursuits, up and down the Mediterranean and in other waters ; 
 and among other and then remote places visited, it is believed 
 that he went to Iceland, where vague tales of the Northmen s 
 discoveries may have had somewhat to do in influencing his 
 future course. 
 
 Finally, in 1470, he came to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, 
 but having married the daughter of one who had been a sea 
 captain in the service of Prince Henry, and had been rewarded 
 by appointment to the governorship of one of the Madeira 
 Isles, they removed thither Columbus earning a livelihood at 
 map-making. In the meantime he was eagerly alive to any 
 evidences of the truth of the supposition, which had become 
 a fixed conclusion in his own mind, that the figure of our 
 earth was, in reality, of a nearly globular shape and not, as 
 had been assumed by the world at large, a flat surface and 
 hence, that there must undoubtedly be a way by which, sailing 
 westward, he would reach the shores of India. The extent 
 
1492] COLUMBUS. 23 
 
 of the Asiatic continent, described in such glowing terms by 
 Marco Polo and other travelers, he appears to have consider 
 ably exaggerated, for he had no expectation of another land 
 intermediate to the west, between Europe and Asia. 
 
 But with these strangely wild and extravagant ideas as they 
 were then esteemed to be he could make but little headway 
 with the geographers and men of science of that time. His 
 first application for assistance to demonstrate the truth of his 
 theory, was to the senate of his native Genoa. This being 
 unsuccessful, he next presented the matter to King John, of 
 Portugal, who, finding the problem too deep for his wits to 
 fathom, very conveniently referred it to a committee on geo 
 graphical affairs, for their consideration. But no favorable 
 report came from the committee. Disheartened, but undis 
 mayed, by these failures of his scheme, in 1485 he quitted 
 Lisbon for Spain, and having applied to some nobles of the 
 court, one of them became sufficiently interested in the matter 
 to favor him with a commendatory letter to Isabella, the queen. 
 
 It was an inauspicious period for the success of the object 
 it being a time of war with the Moors and so the application 
 was referred by Ferdinand, the king, and Isabella, to Talavera, 
 the queen s confessor. The latter, willing to divide the re 
 sponsibility of passing judgment upon so abstruse a problem, 
 summoned a junta of cosmographers, who met the " heret 
 ical" assumption of Columbus with many theological refuta 
 tions, ridiculing his theory of the spherical shape of the 
 earth, and, furthermore, cited the weighty authority of the 
 fathers of the Church against "the foolish idea of the exist 
 ence of antipodes; of people who walk opposite to us, with 
 their heels upward and their heads hanging down ; where 
 everything is topsy-turvy, where the trees grow with their 
 branches downward, and where it rains, hails, and snows 
 upward. Wherefore the junta decided against countenancing 
 any such erroneous and dangerous notions. 
 
24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1492 
 
 Several years had now elapsed in this fruitless work of 
 solicitation, and several times Columbus was about to carry 
 his suit to France, but upon each occasion was stopped by 
 friends who had become persuaded of the correctness of his 
 statements and the practicability of the scheme, and were 
 loth that any other country should gain the honor of the 
 undertaking. At last one of these presented the matter so 
 forcibly to the queen that her consent was given, and the 
 requisite means furnished without any farther delay ; there 
 also being conferred on Columbus the present title of Admiral, 
 and the prospective one of Viceroy of all the countries which 
 he might discover. Three vessels were equipped, provisioned 
 for one year, and supplied with ninety mariners, thirty ad 
 venturers also accompanying the expedition. None of these 
 vessels were greater in size than a large modern yacht, or a 
 medium-sized sloop ; the largest one only which was called 
 the Santa Maria, and was the one in which Columbus sailed 
 being decked throughout. The other two, known as caravels, 
 were called the Pinta and Nina. 
 
 It was the third day of the 8th month (August), in the 
 year 1492, that Columbus, with his little fleet, sailed away 
 from the port of Palos, in Spain. They were detained a few 
 days at the Canary Isles to repair one of the vessels ; then 
 continued on their westward course over the strange, untraveled 
 sea. When eight days from the Isles, two tropical birds were 
 seen ; then they entered immense plains of sea-weed, hundreds 
 of miles in width, when the mariners thought they had come 
 to shallow water, but the bottom was thousands of feet below, 
 and far too deep for their longest lines to fathom. Again 
 there were birds seen, but no land appeared ; and now they 
 had sailed steadily on for weeks, and the sailors were thor 
 oughly alarmed; the needle of the compass had strangely 
 varied they were sailing and descending, as it appeared, 
 down the broad ocean and who could tell if ever a wind 
 
1492] COLUMBUS. 25 
 
 would prevail to carry them back again ! A mutiny appeared 
 for a while to be imminent, but the admiral contrived to 
 soothe their fears, and to animate them with fresh hopes. 
 
 On the eleventh day of the loth month (October), evident 
 signs of proximity to land were observed as the birds, and 
 the many objects that drifted by j and at night, Columbus, 
 standing by the mast of his little craft, now eagerly and 
 acutely on the watch, saw a light that moved ; and, on the 
 following morning, behold, the land ! It proved to be an 
 island of the Bahama group, called in the native tongue 
 Guanahani, and which they named San Salvador. 
 
 Landing on the beach, in the presence of the inoffensive, 
 awe-inspired natives, they knelt and offered thanks for their 
 safety and their great discovery ; then raised the figure of the 
 cross, and Columbus, with sword in hand, took possession of 
 the land on behalf of the monarchs of Spain. After bartering 
 with the islanders, who continued to be very pacific, they 
 sailed southward and discovered Cuba, and next Hayti or 
 Hispaniola. On the north-west coast of the latter island a 
 fort was built, and, leaving some of his followers to keep it, 
 Columbus quickly returned to Spain, to announce to the 
 court, then sitting at Barcelona, the news of his wonderful 
 discovery. 
 
 Before the departure of Columbus, one of his vessels, which had 
 approached too near the beach, was wrecked. The native prince, 
 with friendly zeal, sent out men in canoes to assist the Spaniards in 
 saving their goods. He also placed guards on land to keep away 
 the press of the people from even gratifying their curiosity to see 
 the strange merchandise of the whites. " His subjects," says the 
 historian Herrera, "participated in all his feelings, wept tears of 
 sincere distress for the sufferers, and condoled with them in their 
 misfortune. But, as if this was not enough, the next morning, when 
 Columbus had removed to one of his other vessels, the good prince 
 appeared on board to comfort him, and to offer all that he had to 
 repair his loss !" 
 B 3 
 
2 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1492 
 
 Upon returning to Hispaniola, Columbus found, to his sur 
 prise, that the little fort had been destroyed, and that the 
 Spaniards had been either dispersed or killed. The latter 
 looked upon the islanders as unmistakable heathen, unbaptized, 
 and with no knowledge of the Christian Church ; but the 
 pity for their ignorance, which should have been shown in 
 acts of strict justice and all good-will toward them, probably 
 found expression in contempt and acts of aggression, which 
 the Indians had thus (as they thought, justifiably) resented. 
 
 Neither Columbus nor his followers were inclined to submit 
 to this piece of sharp retribution, however well-merited. 
 Accordingly, though mustering but two hundred foot soldiers, 
 twenty horse, and twenty large blood-hounds, they at once 
 attacked the offending natives, who, in their turn, were 
 severely punished, and great numbers of them captured and 
 condemned to be slaves. However strange it may seem that 
 dogs should be mentioned as constituting part of a military 
 force, they were, perhaps, as formidable and destructive, when 
 employed against naked Indians, as any agency of wrath that 
 the invaders could use. 
 
 From neighboring chiefs, or caciques, whether anything 
 wrong was charged against them or not, tribute was exacted 
 as due to the Spaniards. The country had been taken pos 
 session of in the name of the Spanish crown, and due returns 
 must be made to the royal exchequer. 
 
 These stringent acts, together with the fact that Columbus 
 obliged the hidalgos who had come to the colony to perform 
 more labor than was agreeable to their inclinations, raised up 
 many enemies against him. To reply to their accusations, 
 which were working him injury at court, Columbus returned 
 to Spain, where he found that his honors had indeed much 
 declined in the popular estimation. He still retained, how 
 ever, enough of the royal favor to be allowed to proceed on 
 a third voyage, commissioned with authority to make further 
 
1498] COLUMBUS. 27 
 
 discoveries. This time he came to land at the island of 
 Trinidad, sailed between it and the mainland, opposite the 
 mouth of the river Orinoco, and then continued on to His- 
 paniola (1498). 
 
 From here he now sent six hundred slaves to Spain. In a 
 letter to the sovereigns, in which he justified his course on the 
 ground that the change would be better for the souls of the 
 natives, as they could thus more readily be made Christians, 
 he also estimates that "in the name of the sacred Trinity" 
 there may be sent as many slaves as sale could be found for 
 in Spain. This traffic was against the express wishes of Isa 
 bella, who had always desired that the natives should not be 
 deprived of their freedom. Yet, upon the pretext that it was 
 doing God service, were the caciques subdued or forced to 
 pay tribute, some in gold, others in cotton, or the bread of 
 the country, while others again, being taken prisoners of war, 
 were made slaves, and compelled to work in the mines, or 
 sent away prisoners to Spain. 
 
 In vivid contrast to this sad picture is that which is brought to 
 view in reading a description of some of these islanders, as por- 
 tiayed in an early letter, written by Columbus himself, to his royal 
 patrons : " They are a loving and courteous people," he writes, " so 
 docile in all things that I assure your highnesses I believe, in all the 
 world, there is not a better people or a better country ; they love 
 their neighbors as themselves, and they have the sweetest and 
 gentlest way of talking in the world, and always with a smile." 
 
 Columbus was probably not avaricious : the love of science 
 and investigation were too deeply implanted to permit such 
 sordid motives to prevail for his own benefit. But he had 
 been accustomed to the slave-trade by his early voyages along 
 the coast of Africa, and, doubtless from a desire to make his 
 discoveries remunerative to Spain, was solicitous that the royal 
 revenues should not be neglected. Still, his course did not 
 meet with the approval of the Spanish sovereigns, and by the 
 
2 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1502 
 
 governor who superseded him he was sent home in chains. A 
 galling condition must this have been to his spirit ; but, alas ! 
 how many thousands of hapless slaves since then have been 
 carried over these very seas to a wretched, life-long servitude 
 victims of a system of which Columbus himself was here 
 the originator ! 
 
 Columbus was once more reinstated in favor, and set out, 
 in 1502, on his fourth and last American expedition, expecting 
 to be rewarded by finding a strait through which he could 
 reach the continent of Asia ; but after sailing down the coast 
 of Honduras, and finding that the land bent eastward, along 
 the Isthmus of Panama, he abandoned the quest. Upon his 
 way thence to Hispaniola, he was wrecked upon the coast of 
 Jamaica, remaining there a year before succor arrived. He 
 died in 1506, at Valladolid, soon after his return to Spain. 
 
 The conquest of the neighboring island of CUBA was accom 
 plished in 1512, by Don Velasquez, one of Columbus cap 
 tains. We are told that the Cubans were so unwarlike that 
 the Spaniards experienced no difficulty in overrunning the 
 island, except from a certain chief named Hatvey, who had 
 fled from Hispaniola, where he had witnessed enough of the 
 cruelty of the Europeans not to desire their further acquaint 
 ance. He was, nevertheless, overcome, and condemned to 
 the flames. When fastened to the stake, says Las Casas, a 
 Franciscan friar endeavored to convert him, promising him 
 immediate admission into the joys of heaven. But with bit 
 terness Hatvey replied, that he wished not to go to a place 
 where he might meet even the best of so sinful a race as were 
 his persecutors ! 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 THE ABORIGINES. 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 THE valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries, was anciently 
 peopled by a race, who, from the circumstance of their having 
 constructed numerous mounds of earth, have been named the 
 MOUND-BUILDERS. We have no means of knowing what was 
 their true national name. 
 
 The form of these artificial mounds is mostly that of a pyr 
 amid, terraced or truncated ; sometimes square at the base, or 
 of other rectangular shape, but occasionally six- or eight- 
 sided ; while some of the higher ones appear to have been 
 constructed with stairways winding to the summit. These 
 latter forcibly recall the teocallis of Mexico and Central 
 America, which were pyramids used for the worship of the 
 Aztec gods, and were usually constructed of earth, with an 
 exterior facing of stone, in which were rows of steps by which 
 to mount to the level platform at the summit, where the sacri 
 fices were offered. Hence it is inferred that the mounds of 
 the north were built by the same race, and subserved a like 
 religious purpose, as those of the Mexican structures ; though 
 many other conjectures as to their probable use have been 
 suggested. 
 
 Among the largest of these regular-shaped mounds is one 
 at Miamisburg, Ohio, which is about 850 feet in measurement 
 around the base, and 68 feet in height ; one in West Virginia, 
 which is over 70 feet high, and 1000 feet in circumference; 
 
 3* 29 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and one still larger, at Cahokia, Illinois, opposite St. Louis, 
 which is 700 feet long, 500 feet wide, and 90 feet high. Their 
 ordinary height, however, is from 6 to 30 feet. Near Love- 
 dale, Kentucky, there is an octagonal mound, each side of 
 which measures 150 feet in length. Three graded ways ascend 
 from the ground to the sides of the structure. 
 
 Another frequent form of construction is that of inclosures 
 formed by heavy embankments of earth and stone, five to 
 thirty feet high, and inclosing usually from one to fifty acres ; 
 though there. are a number containing as many as four hundred 
 acres. Some of them were exact circles or squares; some com 
 prised a square within a circle, besides many other forms. Their 
 use is not clearly apparent, though it is generally supposed that 
 they were intended for the purpose of fortifications. These, 
 as well as the mounds, are found in especially large numbers 
 in the state of Ohio, where it is estimated that there are as 
 many as ten thousand of the latter, and at least one thousand 
 five hundred of the inclosures. In the Southern States, where 
 sun-dried bricks were frequently used in their construction, 
 they more nearly resemble the mound-works of the Central 
 American region. 
 
 There is likewise a third class of these antiquities, repre 
 senting a diversity of odd forms, such as animals, birds, men, 
 etc., lying flat, of course, and of great size often one or two 
 hundred feet or more in length. In Adams county, Ohio, 
 there is a remarkable work of this kind, which is in the shape 
 of a serpent, extending in curves a fifth of a mile, and of an 
 average width of thirty feet. The tail is triple-coiled, while 
 in the distended jaws there can be traced the perfect figure 
 of an egg, which, in its less and greater diameters is, re 
 spectively, 80 and 1 60 feet. 
 
 In Licking county, Ohio, is an interesting effigy of the same 
 sort, known as the "Alligator," the extreme length of which 
 is 250 feet, and the breadth of the body 40 feet. Nothing 
 
THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 31 
 
 has been found in it except stones and the fine clay used in 
 its construction. A circular elevation to the right, covered 
 with stones much burnt, may indicate that the effigy was sym 
 bolical in its signification, and that sacred rites were performed 
 in connection with it. But this view is disputed. 
 
 Remains of these various constructions are found in most 
 of the states of the Mississippi valley and its tributaries, from 
 Pennsylvania to Nebraska in the north, and from Florida to 
 Texas in the south. They are also reported to have been 
 found at the Bute Prairies in Oregon, and along the Gila and 
 Colorado rivers of Arizona, though that these works are iden 
 tical in construction with the others, appears to need confir 
 mation. Where St. Louis now stands, the land was dotted 
 over with many mounds, and on the Illinois shore, across the 
 river, in what is known as the American Bottoms, there are to 
 be seen some of the largest yet discovered. 
 
 In the canon country of south-western Colorado, some very inter 
 esting discoveries pertaining to the early civilization of America 
 have been recently brought to light by the U. S. Scientific Exploring 
 Expedition in charge of Prof. Hayden. Living in a region where 
 rock abounded, the constructions of the early dwellers in that land 
 were essentially different from those of the inhabitants of the allu 
 vial basin of the Mississippi. 
 
 Ernest Ingersoll, naturalist of the expedition of 1874, reports : 
 " We first found in the canon of the Rio Mancos, mounds of earth 
 concealing piles of earthenware, masonry, and strewn with frag 
 ments of pottery, ornamented by imprinted designs on the outside, 
 and glazed and painted within. Then the mounds became more 
 numerous, and clustered into villages ; vestiges of ancient walls of 
 regularly-cut stone, and round towers in an excellent state of preser 
 vation, together with the remains of underground workshops, ap 
 peared. These were in the villages, and recorded the prosperous 
 condition at that time of this ancient people when those fertile river 
 bottoms blossomed and bore fruit in abundance." 
 
 From the fact of the existence of these great and numerous 
 works, it has been inferred that the Mound-Builders were a 
 
3 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 more settled and civilized nation than was ever the present 
 race of Indians ; also, that, unlike those nomadic tribes, 
 whose chief occupations have been hunting and righting, 
 the Mound-Builders were a peaceful and eminently agricul 
 tural people. They were a race not clad in skins, as were 
 the Indians, but in woven garments made of a material re 
 sembling hemp, and of a uniform texture. No trace of their 
 ordinary dwellings, which were doubtless made of wood, has 
 ever been discovered. 
 
 As to the articles besides human remains which have 
 been found in these mounds, they comprise a variety of im 
 plements, such as chisels, arrow- and lance-heads, axes and 
 knives ; of ornaments, such as bracelets, beads and pendants 
 chiefly made of copper, but some also of silver, serpentine and 
 porphyry; articles of pottery, tastefully designed and finished; 
 plates of mica and discs of hornstone ; also pipes in quantity, 
 which proves them to have been great smokers. These pipes 
 were not made of the well-known pipestone of Minnesota 
 which the present Indians use, but of a fine porphyry of many 
 shades of color, upon which were sculptured imitations of 
 birds and animals and of the human face and head. 
 
 They were probably not worshipers of idols, as they have 
 left us no figures which appear to have been intended for such 
 use, nor any of the full form of man. Many of the mounds 
 contain ashes, and bones charred or decayed, indicating that, 
 whatever other purposes they were intended to subserve, they 
 were at least frequently used as places of sepulture. Some of 
 the copper articles referred to above, which, being all-metal, 
 were worked into the desired shapes without smelting, are 
 known to have come from mines on Lake Superior, inasmuch 
 as they exhibit the peculiarity pertaining to the ore found 
 there, of containing blotches and granules of silver. This 
 surmise has been amply corroborated of late years, by the 
 discovery of great numbers of ancient mining places upon the 
 
THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 33 
 
 long Keweenaw Point of Lake Superior, where most of the 
 copper from that region is even now mined. 
 
 By various theorists, the Phoenicians, the Hindoos, and the 
 Egyptians, have each been thought to be the parent-race of the 
 Mound-Builders, while there have been those who claimed 
 them to be descendants of the "lost tribes of Israel." It is 
 believed by many investigators that they came from Mexico 
 and Central America, and, spreading northward, established 
 communities upon both sides of the Mississippi; that they lived 
 several centuries in the land until they were either extermi 
 nated or pressed back the way they came, by the ancestors of 
 the present race of Indians, descending from the north. It 
 is also thought that a remnant became incorporated with the 
 Indians and formed tribes, of which the Mandans and the 
 Natchez have been cited as instances, on account of some 
 exceptional peculiarities in color, manners and customs. 
 
 Equally conjectural is any statement as to the time that 
 they existed in the country previous to the coming of the 
 Europeans, that period having been variously estimated at 
 from five hundred to two thousand years. Every skeleton 
 which has been exhumed, has been found in a condition of 
 extreme decay ; so much so, indeed, that any attempt to 
 restore the skull or any considerable part of the skeleton, has 
 been found quite hopeless. It is asserted that there is but a 
 single skull which has been taken out and preserved entire. 
 Another proof of their antiquity is afforded by the age of trees 
 found growing on the mounds, trees of several centuries 
 growth being common. The trunk of one which was observed 
 on a mound at Marietta, Ohio, contained eight hundred rings 
 of annual growth. 
 
 The epoch of the Mound-Builders occupancy constitutes 
 a field for antiquarian research, well worth the attention of 
 the American student. 
 
 B* 
 
34 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 When the American islands and continent were first dis 
 covered, Columbus and his immediate successors supposed 
 that they had arrived upon the eastern shores of the continent 
 of India, and hence they called the natives INDIANS. The 
 error was not discovered until it was too late to change the 
 name. 
 
 The origin of the race of copper-colored Indians is as 
 much veiled in obscurity as is that of the Mound-Builders. 
 In personal appearance they much resemble the nomadic 
 tribes of eastern Siberia, so that it has been supposed that they 
 are, as to origin, the same people that they crossed to this 
 continent by way of Behring s Strait, or the Aleutian isles, 
 or across some part of the narrow sea separating from Asia 
 and that, proceeding south-eastwardly in quest of a milder 
 climate, they eventually displaced the less hardy Mound- 
 Builders, in the same way that the Goths of Europe overran 
 the empire of the degenerate Romans. In support of this 
 belief, is adduced a very prevalent tradition among the Indian 
 tribes that their ancestors came from a far-off region in the 
 Northwest; and the tradition is accepted as true by some who 
 have studied this people most carefully. 
 
 It is the opinion of some ethnologists that the red men be 
 long to the Mongolian type of the human race, the same as 
 the Chinese and the Tartars, and that all the tribes, separated 
 though they mostly are by differences in language, have de 
 scended from a common source. Although it is true that 
 there is seldom any noticeable correspondence between the 
 words of the different Indian dialects, yet it is from the evi 
 dence of a marked uniformity in the grammatical structure of 
 all these apparently diverse languages that we find proof of 
 the common origin of the tribes. This evidence is quite as 
 reliable as is that derived from similarity of complexion and 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 35 
 
 features. Exceptions to this conclusion are perhaps to be 
 found in certain Californian tribes, whose language and facial 
 characteristics seem to betoken a Malay derivation. 
 
 The nomadic habits of these various tribes, and the fact of 
 there being no systematic interchange of commodities between 
 the families or clans to bind them together, will explain how 
 it happened that this race soon ceased to be homogeneous, 
 as that of the agricultural Mound-Builders appears to have 
 been, and to have separated into many tribes, each speaking 
 a dialect of its own. 
 
 Hatchets shaped out of stone must have proved poor in 
 struments with which to fell the trees of the forest, while 
 wooden hoes made the tillage of the stump-covered clearings 
 a laborious work for the women, to whose lot it chiefly fell ; 
 so the red men s main occupations, when not on the war 
 path, were hunting and fishing, athletic games and gambling, 
 and the construction of bark canoes and their rude weapons 
 of war and of the chase. Far from what are called civil 
 ized" were these rough weapons, the war-club, the tomahawk 
 of stone, the flint-headed arrow. Indian-corn and tobacco, 
 squashes and beans, were the chief products of their limited 
 husbandry. Their simple wigwams or lodges were chiefly 
 formed of a framework of poles, bent together at the top, and 
 covered with skins ; or else were huts overlaid with bark. 
 
 The Indians used no written language, but sometimes ex 
 pressed their meaning by delineating natural objects upon 
 wood, bark, or stone. It was by means of strings of wampum 
 that they kept a record of their treaties. When the envoys 
 of one nation met in council the chiefs and head-men of 
 another, their memory would be refreshed by the use of belts 
 of wampum or a bundle of little sticks, each belt or stick 
 representing separate parts of the speech to be delivered. 
 Hence these envoys were not usually the chiefs of any tribe, 
 but were chosen for their power of clear and forcible expres- 
 
3 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 sion. A herald carried with him the pipe of peace, and was 
 thus allowed safe passage through the countries of hostile 
 tribes. 
 
 The tribes were subdivided into clans or bands, each of 
 which had its symbolical designation, called the totem t which 
 was generally a bird or an animal, and was analogous to the 
 shield-device among more cultured nations. Thus a tribe 
 would be divided off into Wolves, Bears, Turtles, Crows, 
 Eagles, etc. As a peculiar accompaniment of this separation, 
 it was not: allowable for a man and woman of the same clan 
 to intermarry, notwithstanding there might be no trace of 
 consanguinity between them. A "Turtle" brave could not 
 have a " Turtle" for wife, but with perfect propriety he might 
 wed a "Dove." 
 
 They believed in a Great Spirit, a power superior to all 
 others, but it was a belief very much corrupted by super 
 stitious additions of special deities of the forest and stream. 
 These numerous inferior spirits or ministering angels were 
 called manitous there being a manitou for each kind of ani 
 mal, for the lakes and rivers and other objects in nature, all 
 of whom must be propitiated by gifts, such as beaver-skins, 
 tobacco, meat, or anything else which the Indian highly es 
 teemed. In place of priests there were "medicine men" 
 and sorcerers, professed dreamers and interpreters of dreams. 
 If an Indian was sick, the doctor would often give his patient 
 a good shaking, besides pinching and beating him, whooping 
 and howling at him, and, in order to expel the evil spirit, 
 would perhaps rattle a tortoise-shell at his ear. Then giving 
 him a severe bite, sufficient to make the blood flow, he would 
 exhibit with triumph any little thing, as a bit of wood or 
 bone, which he had hidden in his own mouth, but which he 
 would claim to be the cause of the disease that he had now 
 happily frightened away. 
 
 They readily affirmed a belief in the immortality of the 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 37 
 
 soul, that for all skilful hunters and great warriors, as well 
 as for the merely well-behaved, there was an after-death transi 
 tion to lands of limitless forest, of boundless prairies, and 
 of beautiful streams, the "happy hunting grounds" of the 
 hereafter. 
 
 Various natural peculiarities, as well as likeness of language, 
 permit us to classify the many different tribes into a few allied 
 groups. We will specify, as nearly as the ascertained facts 
 will warrant, those portions of the country occupied by the 
 several groups previous to their displacement by the Saxon 
 and Latin races of the old world ; though it is true that a 
 number of the tribes were in a restless, changing state one 
 giving place to another when the Europeans first appeared 
 upon the scene. 
 
 Farthest northward were the ESQUIMAUX, who then (as they 
 .now do) occupied the shores of all the seas, bays, inlets, and 
 the islands, from Greenland to Behring s Strait. "Eaters of 
 raw fish" their name means, and inasmuch as it is their occu 
 pation to be fishers for the seal affords them not only food 
 and clothing, but light and fuel as well their habitations of 
 ice-blocks or drift-wood do not extend farther than a hundred 
 miles inland from the shores. 
 
 The ATHAPASCAS occupied the territory from Hudson s 
 Bay westward to the Rocky Mountains the Missinnipi or 
 Churchill river being their southern boundary. They com 
 prised but a few sparse tribes of hunters and trappers, who, 
 when the English Hudson s Bay Company was organized, 
 maintained a thriving business by disposing of their peltry at 
 the trading-posts. 
 
 The next group southward, the ALGONQUIN-LENAPE, was the 
 largest of all, their territory comprising most of the region 
 from Hudson s Bay southward to the Ohio river, and from 
 the Atlantic Ocean westward to the Mississippi and the Red 
 River-of-the-North. The principal tribes included under this 
 
 4 
 
38 HISTORY OF THE UNITED SJ^ATES. 
 
 head were the Knisteneaux and Chippeways, north of the 
 Great Lakes; in the east, the Micmacs of the lower St. 
 Lawrence, the Mohicans and Narragansetts of New England, 
 the Lenni-Lenape or Delawares, on both sides of the river of 
 that name ; in the south, the Powhatans of Virginia, and the 
 Shawnees of Kentucky ; in the west, extending from the Ohio 
 to Lake Superior, the Illinois, Miamis, and Ottawas, the Pot- 
 tawattomies, and Sacs and Foxes. 
 
 Surrounded on every side by tribes of the Algonquin- 
 Lenape, was the land of the IROQUOIS. They included the 
 Hurons Or Wyandottes of Upper Canada; the Eries, south 
 of the lake of the name ; but principally, the compact con 
 federacy known to the whites as the " Five Nations." These 
 latter warlike tribes were located in the centre lake-belt of 
 New York, and were named (from east to west) the Mohawks, 
 Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. The Tuscaroras, 
 who for awhile had located south of the Powhatans of Vir 
 ginia, came northward in 1713, and united with the others. 
 The fighting propensities of the Five Nations might well earn 
 for them the title of the Indian Spartans. Isolated they were, 
 in the midst of the Algonquins, who beat against them only 
 to be repelled, like baffled waves upon a rock-bound coast ; 
 while they, in their turn, becoming the aggressors, soon all 
 the country for hundreds of miles south and west of their 
 strongholds among the lakes was overrun, and nearly depop 
 ulated by their reprisals. Ever ready to follow the war-path, 
 it seemed as though they fought not so much to defend them 
 selves and their homes, as to gratify an inappeasable thirst for 
 blood and savage glory. It will appear farther on, how this 
 sanguinary craving was taken advantage of by both English 
 and French, that it might be used for purposes of revenge by 
 the one nation of whites against the other. 
 
 The MOBILIAN tribes, occupying the region from the lower 
 Atlantic seaboard to the Mississippi, comprised chiefly the 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 39 
 
 Catawbas of Carolina, the Seminoles of Florida, the Creeks, 
 Cherokees and Choctaws, the Natchez, Uchees and Chicka- 
 saws. Of these, the Choctaws were the most peaceably dis 
 posed toward the Europeans. They were further advanced 
 in civilization than the tribes adjacent, more considerate to 
 their prisoners, and applied themselves more to agriculture 
 than to the chase. The Natchez tribe, near the present city 
 of that name, had a wigwam-temple and sacred fire, being 
 worshippers of the sun. The hereditary dignity of Chief of 
 the Great Sun, descended by the female line. It is thought 
 that the Natchez were a remnant of the Mound-Builders. 
 The French writer, Charlevoix, says that most of the natives 
 of Louisiana kept a perpetual fire in their temples. It should 
 be noted, to avoid error, that the dialects of several of the 
 foregoing tribes as the Cherokees, the Uchees, and the 
 Natchez were quite distinct from each other, and those 
 tribes are only here included in the Mobilian group for the 
 purpose of convenience. 
 
 West of the Mississippi to the region of the desert, were the 
 DACOTAHS or Sioux. Their country was included, north and 
 south, between the Arkansas river and the Saskatchewan of 
 British America. They comprised, in part, the Assiniboins 
 of the north, the Mandans of Dakotah, the Tetons and 
 Omahas of Nebraska, the Yanktons and lowas, the Kansas, 
 Osages and Arkansas. Fortunately, the Indian names which 
 have been conferred upon our states, rivers, etc., designate 
 pretty nearly the localities where those tribes formerly existed. 
 One tribe only, belonging to this family the Winnebagoes 
 was found east of the great river, being located upon the west 
 side of Lake Michigan, from near the present city of Chicago 
 to Green Bay. 
 
 Of the other large tribes, west of the land of the Dacotahs, 
 there were, and are still, the Blackfeet of the upper Missouri, 
 and the Crows of the Yellowstone ; the Pawnees of the Platte ; 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the roving Comanches and Apaches of the Rio Grande. The 
 Blackfeet were usually at war with the Flat-heads and Snake 
 Indians, belonging west of the Rocky Mountains ; keeping 
 guard, like watchful bull-dogs, that their salmon-eating neigh 
 bors should not hunt the buffalo. The most of these tribes, 
 as well as those of the Dacotahs, resided in their villages not 
 over five months of the year, principally to plant and gather 
 the crop of maize. Then the whole population, except those 
 who trapped the beaver and other fur animals, would remove 
 to the ranging-grounds of the buffalo, subsisting on the meat 
 of that animal, and preserving it in quantities for future use. 
 
 The tribes of the Northwest, beyond the Rocky Mountains, 
 the Flat-heads and Snakes, the Chinooks, Walla-wallas, etc., 
 exhibit a marked inferiority in stature, strength and activity, 
 to their brethren east of that range. The California tribes 
 have long, straight hair, and very dark complexion, and, as 
 has been stated, are thought to be of Malay extraction. 
 
 Finally, in the region of the Colorado and Rio Gila are 
 the Pueblos, or Village Indians. These live in houses made 
 of adobe i.e. mud, mixed with chopped straw and sand or 
 gravel which are generally several stories in height, each 
 succeeding story less in size than the one below, and reached 
 by ladders on the outside, the whole forming three sides of a 
 square and capable of accommodating hundreds of people : a 
 village, in fact, in a single structure. As a race, they seem to 
 belong with the Toltecs or Aztecs of Mexico and Central 
 America. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA. 
 14961542. 
 
 THE ENGLISH: JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT. 
 
 COLUMBUS named the isles of the Caribbean Sea which he 
 had discovered, the WEST INDIES, being under the mistaken 
 belief that they were really insular portions of that great 
 Oriental Empire which, from early manhood, had existed as 
 a cherished object of his thoughts. It was reserved for another 
 Italian, sailing beneath the flag of England, first to behold 
 since the voyages of the Northmen, the outlines of the 
 American continent itself. 
 
 An imaginary line drawn north and south in the mid-At 
 lantic, had been declared by a "bull" of the pope as dividing 
 the right and title to all new discoveries thereafter to be made 
 by the subjects of Spain and of Portugal Spain to take west 
 of the line, and Portugal east of it. But, other maritime 
 nations did not recognize either the right or the propriety of 
 being thus excluded from any country previously unknown to 
 them, to which their ships might sail ; and, when found, of 
 planting the standard of ownership in behalf of their respec 
 tive sovereigns. 
 
 This highly presumptuous declaration or bull was promulgated by 
 
 that wicked pope Alexander VI., of the notorious house of Borgia. 
 
 It was the act of one who sat upon the throne as God s appointed 
 
 vicegerent, commissioned to give away his earth ; or, as a historian 
 
 4* 41 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1496 
 
 has defined it " Splitting this mighty planet into two imaginary 
 halves, he hands one to the Spanish and the other to the Portuguese 
 monarch, as he would hand the two halves of an orange to a couple 
 of boys." 
 
 The fact of this declaration is important to be kept in mind, as it 
 will explain, in a measure, the barbarous treatment of the Indians 
 by the subjects of those monarchs who were the pope s recipients 
 of such unexampled favors. They rested the responsibility of their 
 sinful acts on the so-called Supreme Pontiff, fully persuaded that he 
 who could confer upon them lands and people which himself had 
 neither seen nor heard of, was amply qualified to absolve them from 
 the wrongs which might follow their careers of conquest. 
 
 King Henry VII. of England would have been glad to 
 secure the services of Columbus, but failing in that, he readily 
 acceded to the request of JOHN CABOT or Kabotto, a wealthy 
 merchant of Bristol, but a Venetian by birth, for a patent of 
 discovery. This patent, which was granted in 1496 to Cabot 
 and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, and to their 
 heirs or deputies, authorized them, at their own expense, to 
 fit out as many as five ships, and therewith to sail east, west, 
 or northward, and to "seek out, discover and find whatsoever 
 isles, countries, regions or provinces of the heathen and infi 
 dels whatsoever they may be, and in whatsoever place of the 
 world soever they be, which before this time have been un 
 known to all Christians." A fifth of all the profits realized 
 was to be paid to the king. 
 
 The expedition, which was soon equipped, sailed (1496) 
 from the port of Bristol, at that time second only to London 
 in commercial importance. Cabot was accompanied and 
 greatly aided in the undertaking by his son Sebastian, who, 
 though then but twenty years of age, was a young man of 
 much practical good sense. They stopped for awhile at Ice 
 land, and then continued on the voyage, hoping to make theii 
 way to India by a north-west passage. They came in sight of 
 the main land in the high latitude of Labrador, in point of 
 
1496] JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT. 43 
 
 time nearly a year before Columbus beheld the continuation 
 of the same continent, as he sailed southward along the shores 
 of Honduras, baffled in his quest of a south-west strait. 
 
 The Cabots, like Columbus, were in search of some land 
 of Ophir or fabled "Golden Fleece" something that would 
 dazzle the world at home with the relation of impressive 
 grandeur, or, at least, of a charming novelty. But the aspect 
 of the Labrador coast the bold, rocky cliffs, and the sterile 
 soil, populous only with countless sea-birds was not very 
 alluring to their expectant gaze. Besides, the line of coast 
 ran not in accordance with their preconceived wish ; for, says 
 Sebastian, in the simple language of the narrative, "After 
 certayne dayes, I found the land runne toward the north, 
 which was to me a great displeasure." They followed down 
 the coast, and sailed into the bay which is now our metropoli 
 tan port; but the sailors manifesting much discontent at the 
 prolongation of the voyage, Cabot reluctantly returned to 
 England. 
 
 A second patent was issued in 1498 by King Henry, but the 
 elder Cabot dying in the meantime, his son Sebastian took 
 charge of the. new expedition, a number of merchants assisting 
 in the outfit. Three hundred men, who proposed to establish 
 a colony in the New World, went out in the ships though 
 these "shippes" were of no greater capacity than about two 
 hundred tons each. Unfortunately for the comfort of the 
 would-be colonists, they were landed too far to the northward. 
 Cabot did not perceive why the latitude of the southern ex 
 tremity of Labrador, which corresponds to that of Bristol, in 
 England, should be notably colder, and his patent did not 
 give him any claim to the land south of that line. Hence he 
 found upon his return to the colony, after sailing awhile along 
 the coast, that his companions, although suffering much from 
 the inclemency of the weather, had taken no steps to es 
 tablish themselves upon so bleak a shore where even the mid- 
 
44 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1517 
 
 summer sun lacked a genial warmth. The demand of the 
 men to be taken home was, considering their unlooked-for 
 hard experience, a reasonable one; so Cabot, after having 
 sailed as far southward, perhaps, as Florida, returned again to 
 England. 
 
 The king, very naturally, was not a little disappointed at 
 the ill-success of this second attempt, while Cabot, failing to 
 obtain another patent, pursued his researches in more southern 
 latitudes, being for awhile in the service of Ferdinand of 
 Spain. But his royal patron dying, Cabot went back to Eng 
 land. Henry VIII. had meanwhile succeeded to the throne, 
 and by him Cabot was commissioned, in 1517, to sail once 
 more to America. This time he entered the great Bay, which, 
 years after, was re-discovered and named by the navigator 
 Hudson. Finding no western outlet, and the manners, as on 
 the previous occasions, complaining bitterly of the rigorous 
 climate, Cabot, to avoid a mutiny, put back to England. 
 
 Subsequently, Cabot again went to Spain, was appointed by 
 Charles the Fifth to the station of Pilot-Major, and continued, 
 until upwards of eighty years of age, his favorite pursuits of 
 cosmography and practical navigation. No expeditions of the 
 English followed Cabot s until those of Frobisher and of 
 Humphrey Gilbert, sixty years later of which due mention 
 will be made in a succeeding chapter. 
 
 DISCOVERIES BY THE FRENCH. 
 
 It would hardly have been in accordance with human nature, 
 as it certainly would not have been with that of the French, 
 that the exploits of their neighbors in finding new worlds 
 should ring in their ears, and themselves remain quiescent at 
 home. Spain had found an India over the western sea, and 
 was already gathering into her coffers a guilty harvest of gold : 
 the ships of England, in thfc North Atlantic, were actively 
 
1498] DISCOVERIES OF THE FRENCH. 45 
 
 seeking for the passage which should lead to China and a 
 hoped-for traffic bringing rich returns : Italy, in the person 
 of Amerigo Vespucci, who had sailed to the southern section 
 of the new hemisphere, and, realizing the fact that it was 
 virtually a new world and no part of India that had been 
 discovered, gave to all the continent the name of AMERICA : 
 while Portugal, little kingdom though it was, had become 
 famous above every nation for the extent of its discoveries, 
 and its capital of Lisbon revelled in the new-found wealth. 
 
 For in that year of mark, 1498, a Portuguese expedition 
 under Vasco de Gama, continuing the exploration of the 
 African coast which had been begun by Prince Henry, rounded 
 the Cape of Good Hope for the first time, and sailed far 
 beyond to Calicut in India. The lucrative trade in spices and 
 indigo, in the rich silks, the ivory, and other captivating 
 commodities of the Orient, began at once. Brazil also was 
 soon afterward discovered, and became an appendage of 
 Portugal; and in 1501, two caravels commanded by CASPAR 
 CORTEREAL, following in the track of Sebastian Cabot, had 
 coasted along the shores of Labrador. Their visit, however, 
 boded no good to the too-trustful natives, fifty or more of 
 whom were captured and carried back in the vessels to be sold 
 as slaves. It appeared that the Portuguese had no idea of going 
 home empty-handed; for they were then, as they have con 
 tinued to be even to this day, a nation with a strong lust for 
 kidnapping their fellow-creatures. The annals of the time, it 
 is a relief to record, make no farther mention of any suc 
 ceeding visits by them (except as fishermen) to the North 
 American coast. 
 
 Although the banks of Newfoundland and the adjacent 
 island of Cape Breton, were frequented by French fishermen 
 from Brittany and Normandy, within a very few years after 
 Cortereal s voyage; and although the Gulf, afterwards called 
 the ST. LAWRENCE, had also been explored, and a map of its 
 
46 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1524 
 
 coast-line drawn by Denys of Honfleur, a citizen of France ; 
 yet it was not until the year 1524 that a vessel was despatched 
 thither by the royal commission that of Francis the First. 
 The command of this single caravel was intrusted to JOHN 
 VERRAZZANI, a Florentine. 
 
 It is a fact, in passing, worth bearing in mind, that the first agents 
 of Spain, England, and France, in their American enterprises 
 Columbus, Cabot, Verrazzani were all Italians. The merchants 
 of Venice, of Florence, and Genoa, had been the "commercial 
 kings" of the Mediterranean, but now a social and political unrest 
 prevailed throughout the peninsula ; the prosperity of the country 
 was on the wane ; and the services of many of its skilled citizens 
 were, as we have seen, enlisted in behalf of other nations. Italy, 
 which gave America its name, had no colony of her own to hail 
 her as the " mother country." 
 
 The vessel of Verrazzani first approached the low shore of 
 Carolina, in the neighborhood of Cape Fear. Upon the sandy 
 beach was a throng of wondering Indians, who presently 
 pointed out a landing-place and made many demonstrations 
 of welcome. It was in the early spring time, and from the 
 tall forests of pine and of cypress, and the dense undergrowth 
 of laurel and blossoming shrubs, there was wafted a pleasant 
 perfume or, in the words of the narrative, "did yeeld most 
 sweete savours, farre from the shore." They coasted north 
 ward, always received with kindly greetings by the natives, 
 but, in one place, badly requited these tokens of hospitality 
 by stealing a child whom they desired to exhibit at home. 
 They would have captured the mother also, had not her 
 piercing outcries caused them to desist. 
 
 Passing by the heights of Neversink, and the long jutting 
 promontory of Sandy Hook, they sailed up the beautiful 
 bay of New York ; then continued on by the Long Island 
 shore to where Newport was subsequently built, where they 
 spent fifteen days, most courteously entertained by the inhabi- 
 
;. "< 
 
 r. ft "- y,. 
 
 1524] VERRAZZANI. */// 47 
 
 tants. Again they spread their sails, slowly following aloAgN / j 
 the rugged, irregular coasts of Maine, to Newfoundland. In 
 these parts they found the natives who were of the Algonquin 
 tribes both savage and suspicious; they had heard of the 
 deeds of the plundering Portuguese, and, as well they might, 
 kept themselves aloof from Verrazzani and his crew. Hence, 
 their provisions failing them, they shortly returned to France. 
 From the port of Dieppe, Verrazzani wrote to the king a de 
 scription (which is the earliest now extant) of the shores of 
 the present United States ; and by virtue of this narrative, more 
 detailed than the accounts of the Spanish and English, did 
 France lay claim, upon the pretext of discovery, to a large 
 extent of territory. 
 
 Ten years elapsed before a second expedition was sent out. 
 There was a wicked rivalry of kings, that for thirty long years 
 disturbed the peace of Europe the contest between Francis the 
 First and Charles the Fifth; and now the French king, faithless 
 to the promise that released him from captivity, and sorely 
 beset by the wily emperor, was in too critical a plight to give 
 much attention to the wilderness land in the New World. 
 Nevertheless, Francis assented to the solicitation of the 
 admiral of the kingdom, that the time had arrived when at 
 least some show of effort must be made toward colonizing his 
 recently-acquired dominion of NEW FRANCE. 
 
 To JACQUES CARTIER, a hardy mariner of St. Malo, was 
 assigned the command of the expedition. Sailing from the 
 port of his native town with two ships, in the spring of 1534, 
 he crossed the ocean direct to the island of Newfoundland. 
 The voyage was made in the short space of twenty days. 
 Passing around the island, and through the straits of Bellisle, 
 they entered the gulf, and crossed the same to the mouth of a 
 great estuary the noble river of Canada which was ascended 
 until land was plainly visible on either side. Perhaps, now 
 at last had been found that broad stream which would lead 
 
48 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1534 
 
 them to the long-sought Cathay ! They would fain have 
 proceeded, but being unprepared to encounter the storms of 
 winter, it was decided to postpone their explorations for the 
 present, and so, the winds favoring, they turned the ships 
 prows eastward and soon re-entered the harbor of St. Malo. 
 
 The results of this voyage re-awakened the spirit of dis 
 covery. Francis, also, having been worsted in his wars with 
 the emperor of united Germany and Spain, was not averse to 
 extending his dominions in other quarters as a compensation 
 for the losses incurred, and as a likely means of replenishing 
 the royal treasury. Besides these motives of self-interest and 
 ambition, there was advanced another plausible plea, founded 
 upon the heresy of Luther in Germany, and of Calvin in Swit 
 zerland and France. The losses in the Catholic fold must be 
 made good by the conversion of the heathen in the New 
 World. It was thus that Cartier represented the case to his 
 "very Christian king," and the king readily complied with 
 the wishes of the discoverer by granting him a new commis 
 sion. 
 
 Three vessels were fitted out, and Cartier, with several 
 officers and men of rank who were to accompany him, after 
 they and the sailors had received at the cathedral the absolu 
 tion and blessing of the bishop, again sailed out from St. 
 Malo (1535). Encountering a severe tempest the little fleet 
 was separated, but eventually came together in safety in the 
 straits of Bellisle. It was then that the name of St. Lawrence 
 was given to a portion of the bay, though the title was after 
 ward extended to the entire gulf, and to the great river flow 
 ing into it. This they ascended until they came to a certain 
 island, now called Orleans, but styled by them the Island of 
 Bacchus; for the trees with which it was thickly covered were 
 all overrun with vines, upon which the purple clusters of ripen 
 ing grapes were everywhere seen. 
 
 Leaving the vessels, Cartier and some of his companions 
 
1535] CARTIER AND ROBERVAL. 49 
 
 ascended the stream in a boat as far as the chief river-settle 
 ment of the Hurons, called in their dialect Hochelaga. With 
 many demonstrations of welcome, the natives received these 
 pale-faced strangers, and esteeming them to be beings of a 
 superior nature, brought forth the sick, maimed and decrepit, 
 for their blessing and healing. From a neighboring height, 
 to which the Indians led them, the French obtained a charm 
 ing view of the majestic river, flowing between forests deep- 
 dyed with the hues of autumn, and stretching far away on 
 every side. This height they appropriately named Mont 
 Royal or MONTREAL; then re-embarked, and rejoined their 
 companions down the river. 
 
 The winter came. Ice-bound in their vessels, they suffered 
 greatly from the rigor of the climate, while the scurvy made 
 sad havoc among them. After twenty-five men had died of 
 this distemper, an Indian informed them of a cure a decoc 
 tion of pine buds. The remedy proved effectual ; and as soon 
 as the river was clear of ice, being disinclined to attempt any 
 settlement, they prepared to return homeward. The good 
 offices of the Indians they repaid by luring several of their 
 chiefs into an ambuscade, where they were captured and hur 
 ried on board the ships. This act of treachery and ingratitude 
 accomplished, they proceeded to plant the emblem of Chris 
 tianity. A cross was raised, the banner of the French king 
 displayed, and Francis declared to be the rightful owner of 
 the new-found territory. 
 
 It was not until 1541, five years after the return of the 
 preceding expedition, that Cartier received, with the title of 
 Captain-General, still another commission. The objects of the 
 new enterprise were declared to be those of discovery, settle 
 ment and the conversion of the Indians ; who ate described 
 as " men without knowledge of God, or use of reason." But 
 as Cartier, to complete his crews, was authorized to ransack 
 the prisons for thieves and other malefactors, it must be 
 c 5 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1542 
 
 admitted that the means provided were not of a nature to 
 spread the true gospel of peace and good-will. 
 
 In addition to the commission of Cartier s, and superior to 
 that, was one issued to the LORD OF ROBERVAL, naming him 
 the Viceroy of Newfoundland, and of all the territory on both 
 sides the gulf * and river of St. Lawrence. But the two com 
 manders did not embark at the same time, neither did they 
 act in concert. Cartier sailed first with five ships, ascended 
 the St. Lawrence, built two forts, and there passed the winter. 
 But the colonists were sullen and dispirited their provisions 
 failed the natives were now hostile by reason of the previous 
 treachery of Cartier and accordingly when spring opened, 
 the latter gave command to set sail for France. Near the 
 Newfoundland coast, he came in sight of the vessels of Rober- 
 val, inward bound, but refused to return with him. 
 
 We need but briefly follow the fortunes of the Viceroy. A 
 large barrack-castle was built where the camp of Cartier had 
 been with the winter came famine and disease there was 
 murmuring and threatened mutiny, but it was quelled by the 
 iron rule of Roberval. In the spring (1542), the remnant of 
 the colony returned to France. Fifty years elapsed before the 
 French renewed their purpose of founding a Canadian empire. 
 We may now turn our attention to the progress of the Spanish 
 conquests and colonization in America. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SPANIARDS THEIR CRUEL TREASURE-HUNT. 
 15121542. 
 
 PONCE DE LEON, THE INVADER OF FLORIDA. 
 
 A rabid race, fanatically bold, 
 
 And steeled to cruelty by lust of gold, 
 
 Traversed the waves, the unknown world explored, 
 
 The cross their standard, but their faith the sword. 
 
 Their steps were graves ; o er prostrate realms they trod 
 
 They worshipped Mammon, while they vowed to God. 
 
 MONTGOMERY. 
 
 THE year that was made memorable by Columbus s great 
 discovery, is also marked in Spanish annals as that in which 
 Granada with its royal palace of the Alhambra was conquered 
 from the Moors ; and shortly after which the whole country 
 became united under the sovereigns Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 And now the haughty cavaliers of Spain, not so much eager for 
 fresh displays of their prowess as in the hope of reaping golden 
 requitals for former valor, began to turn their attention to the 
 new-found empire in the West. As, in their shameless quest 
 for this Eldorado, they regarded neither the rights, the prop 
 erty, nor the lives of the people who then possessed the land, 
 so the following chapter is in large part a recital of the ruth 
 less deeds of freebooters and marauders. Seven centuries 
 of almost continuous warfare had prevailed on the Spanish 
 
52 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1512 
 
 peninsula, either between its several rival kingdoms as of 
 Leon, Castile and Aragon or by these together against their 
 common enemy the Moors ; and strange would it have been 
 had training such as this produced other than rough men of 
 war. 
 
 One of those who had taken an active part in the Moorish 
 wars was JUAN PONCE DE LEON. Subsequently, he was a 
 companion of Columbus in one of his voyages, and, for vari 
 ous campaign-services, at home and in Hispaniola, he was 
 rewarded with the governorship of the island of Porto Rico. 
 There had come to his ears the rumor of a wonder-work 
 ing fountain, of such rare, transforming virtue, that whoso 
 ever bathed in its limpid waters would thenceforth know the 
 weight of years and of care no more. De Leon credited the 
 marvellous tale, and prepared to seek, among the isles that 
 fringe the Caribbean sea or on the mainland adjacent, for this 
 potent Fountain of Youth. 
 
 Sailing from Porto Rico in 1512 with three brigantines, he 
 cruised awhile among the Bahamas ; and on the day which is 
 called by the Spaniards Pascua Florida ("Easter Sunday") 
 descried in the west a long low line of coast. Nearing the 
 shore, which was fresh with the verdure of early spring, and 
 gay and fragrant with the blossoms of many flowers, he gave 
 to the land the name of Florida. But the coast was danger 
 ous of approach, and there being no good harbor for his ves 
 sels, he sailed southward, rounded the point of the peninsula, 
 and proceeded as far as the group of the Tortugas ; then, 
 feeling doubtful of present success on land, he returned to 
 Porto Rico. 
 
 De Leon received from the Spanish king the title of Gov 
 ernor of the country which he had discovered, with the 
 understanding that he should proceed to plant colonies 
 therein. It was eight years before he made the attempt to 
 take possession of his province. But the wishes of the natives 
 
1517] JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 53 
 
 had not been consulted as to this summary disposition of their 
 own property, and it is not likely that they had even so much 
 as heard of the transfer. At any rate, they were altogether 
 averse to receiving the strangers in their midst, armed as these 
 were with murderous weapons of war. Hence it happened 
 that when, in 1520, the Spaniards attempted to establish a 
 settlement, they were at once beset by the natives with great 
 fury, and moreover driven back to their ships. Ponce de 
 Leon himself was so badly wounded by a poisoned arrow that 
 he died soon after his return to Cuba. 
 
 DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS FROM MEXICO TO PERU. 
 
 Previous to the second and ill-fated expedition of Ponce 
 de Leon, other important discoveries had been made of the 
 countries bordering on the West Indian seas. FRANCISCO 
 FERNANDEZ, in 1517, sailing south-westwardly after leaving the 
 port of Havana, discovered the peninsula of Yucatan. Co 
 lumbus, it will be remembered, had explored the coast from 
 the adjoining province of Honduras southward to the isthmus. 
 Fernandez met, at the hands of the natives, with the same 
 fate as did De Leon. 
 
 The following year, a fleet under GRIJALVA explored the 
 shores of the bay of Campeachy, west of the discoveries of 
 Fernandez, and also northward along the Mexican coast per 
 haps as far as Panuco the bay of Tampico. The inhabitants 
 of these parts proved to be more confiding than those en 
 countered by Fernandez. They excited the cupidity of the 
 Spaniards by tales of the magnificent empire of Montezuma 
 and of the great capital city in the interior, and confirmed 
 too well the story of their country s wealth by their lavish 
 display of gold. This the adventurers obtained in considera 
 ble quantities, and, with much satisfaction, carried back with 
 them. Little thought the unsuspecting natives that they had 
 
54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1519 
 
 imparted the intelligence of their wealth to those who would 
 return to rob, and even to murder them, for its possession. 
 
 It was the next year, 1519, that HERNANDO CORTEZ, with 
 a fleet of eleven small vessels, on board of which were nearly 
 seven hundred men, sailed direct from Cuba, and landed at 
 Vera Cruz. His aim it was (however plausible the wording of 
 the commission which he held from Velasquez, the governor 
 of Cuba) both to possess himself of the certain riches of the 
 Aztec empire, and to take forcible possession of the country 
 for his master the king of Spain. It will help to explain 
 the exceeding temerity of the Spanish commander, when 
 it is stated that Velasquez countermanded his commission 
 on the eve of the departure of Cortez, and thus the latter 
 felt that in disobeying orders, he must either go forward or 
 perish. 
 
 On the great banner which they carried, appeared the figure 
 of a large cross, with the inscription "Let us follow the 
 cross, for under this sign we shall conquer." The depen 
 dence of Cortez was much the same as was that of Mohammed : 
 the first followed the cross, the other the crescent, but their 
 faith alike was in the sword. 
 
 Fire-arms not being yet in general use, most of the men 
 (few of whom were of the cavalier class) were armed with 
 cross-bows, swords and spears. There were also ten small 
 cannon and a number of horses the first of both ever seen 
 in that country. Montezuma being informed of the prowess 
 displayed by tlie visitors, sent command from his capital for 
 Cortez and his company to depart. To make the request 
 palatable, he accompanied it with rich presents of precious 
 metals, of pearls and other precious stones, bales of cotton 
 cloth of exquisite fineness, and many articles of surprising 
 brilliancy and art. Cortez had grimly and truly remarked to 
 the Mexicans, that " the Spaniards had a disease of the heart 
 which could only be cured by gold." But these magnificent 
 
1519] CORTEZ. 55 
 
 gifts, borne to the invaders on the shoulders of a hundred 
 men, naturally excited their cupidity to the utmost. 
 
 Being joined by several thousand warriors of Tlascala, a 
 republic hostile to Mexico, Cortez made his way triumphantly 
 to the capital, and was there courteously received by Monte- 
 zuma. But the kindness of the Aztec was repaid with perfidy 
 by the "Christian," who seized him in his palace, and kept 
 him more than six months a prisoner. In the struggle which 
 ensued, Montezuma was wounded, and died soon afterwards ; 
 but the Spaniards were driven from the city, with the loss of 
 all their muskets and artillery and many of their men. This 
 reverse obliged the survivors to retreat ; yet, being attacked 
 by a great host of Mexicans, who had pursued them, these 
 latter were defeated. Whereupon the invaders, having re 
 ceived some reinforcements of Tlascalans, as well as of their 
 own countrymen, were enabled to re-enter the city after it had 
 withstood a siege of three months. Guatimozin, the nephew 
 and successor of Montezuma, was treated with great severity 
 by the Spaniards, and finally put to death. The ancient, and 
 once glorious empire founded by the Toltecs, had now become 
 a province of Spain. It is true, the religious observances of 
 the Mexicans involved a loathsome, sanguinary rite that of the 
 sacrifice of human victims upon the high altars of their pyra 
 mids or teocallis ; and this, by the conquerors was eventually 
 abolished. But, alas, that the substitution itself should have 
 been made by unrighteous and murderous hands ! 
 
 The year that Cortez set sail for Mexico (1519) Francisco 
 de Garay, governor of Jamaica, sent out a squadron of four 
 ships, commanded by ALVAREZ DE PINEDA, with the ostensible 
 purpose of seeking a strait to the west of Florida. That 
 peninsula was then thought to be an island ; but finding upon 
 examination that such was not the case, Pineda continued 
 westward, critically examining the ports and everything 
 worthy of remark, until he had passed down the Mexican 
 
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 coast beyond Panuco. The outlet of one great river the 
 Mississippi was especially noticed : it is named on the map 
 of the pilots, as the Espiritu Santo. These discoveries con 
 nected those made by Ponce de Leon with those of Grijalva, 
 and thus completed the circuit of the Gulf of Mexico. De 
 
 Garay, like De Leon, received a royal edict to colonize the 
 new-found region ; but as he coveted only that part which 
 would give him access to the riches of Mexico, he became 
 involved in a dispute with Cortez as to his right to the land 
 about the Panuco river, and was killed in the attempt to 
 establish his claim. 
 
 In 1513, NUNEZ DE BALBOA, a Spaniard, crossed the narrow 
 isthmus of Darien, and was rewarded by the discovery of the 
 
1525] PIZARRO. 57 
 
 Pacific Ocean. A settlement was formed a few years later at 
 Panama, and from there several attempts were made to ex 
 plore the regions of South America. Finally, in 1525, an 
 expedition under FRANCISCO PIZARRO discovered the rich and 
 populous kingdom of Peru; though it was not until 1531, 
 after obtaining a commission as governor from Charles V., 
 that he set out to subdue the country. 
 
 With a band of hardly two hundred men, Pizarro, fortified by 
 royal warrant, invaded the territory of the Inca, Atahualpa. 
 The latter, having been invited to an interview, was ordered 
 instantly to embrace the Christian religion. Upon his refusing 
 to acknowledge a creed he had never before heard of, he was 
 made a prisoner, and, at the same time, not less than four 
 thousand of the wonder-stricken and defenceless attendants 
 were slain by the merciless invaders. Pizarro had been well 
 instructed in the school of Hernando Cortez. As a ransom 
 for his life and liberty, the Peruvian monarch caused a room 
 to be filled with treasures of silver and gold. Their value 
 was computed to exceed seven million dollars. The con 
 querors took the ransom, but upon the charge of his being 
 an usurper and idolater, they also took the life of the hap 
 less Inca. They then quarrelled amongst themselves, and 
 Pizarro himself was soon afterwards assassinated. The Peru 
 vians, under their new Inca, Huanca Capac, undertook to rid 
 themselves of their savage oppressors ; but being unsuccessful, 
 their kingdom, like that of Mexico, became also a helpless 
 appendage of Spain. 
 
 THE FLORIDA INTERIOR. 
 
 The Florida of the early Spaniards included, besides the 
 
 peninsula now known by that name, a vague extent of territory 
 
 stretching westwardly an indefinite distance. We will briefly 
 
 trace the several expeditions by which that country and its 
 
 c* 
 
5 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1520 
 
 including boundaries became gradually better defined. Of 
 the exploration of its line of coast, an account has already 
 been given. 
 
 The harsh treatment of the native islanders of San Domingo 
 by the successors of Columbus, had greatly reduced the num 
 ber of laborers and slaves available for work in the mines and 
 on the plantations. How rapid the reduction had been, may 
 be gathered from the statement that in fifteen years their num 
 bers had decreased from one million to sixty thousand, while 
 in fifty years from the time of the Spanish occupation, there 
 remained but two hundred Indians in Hispaniola. Drawn 
 from the life-blood of these Caribs, was the golden product 
 harvested by the Spaniards a sum, per annum, of not less 
 than two and a half million dollars. Enormous fortunes were 
 soon acquired, resulting in a display of splendor at home (in 
 Spain) from whence came numerous fresh tormentors, flocking 
 to the wretched scene of misery and of relentless aggrandize 
 ment. When the yield of gold decreased, the cultivation of 
 the sugar-cane was introduced. Alas ! there was no hope for 
 the islanders : the gold might become exhausted, but the sap 
 of the cane would spring afresh, a perennial fount to them of 
 bitterness and woe ! 
 
 The poet Montgomery has mournfully portrayed in verse 
 this sad work of inhumanity : 
 
 O erwhelmed at length with ignominious toil, 
 Mingling their barren ashes with the soil, 
 Down to the dust, the Carib people past 
 Like autumn foliage withering in the blast : 
 The whole race sunk beneath the oppressor s rod 
 And left a blank amongst the works of God. 
 
 The destruction of human life being thus early so fearful, it 
 became urgently necessary that the destroyers should devise 
 some means to obtain a fresh supply of victims. Hence, it 
 was not long after the mainland had been discovered, before 
 
1520] THE FLORIDA INTERIOR. 59 
 
 efforts were made to obtain slaves from that quarter. The first 
 attempt (1520) at this nefarious traffic, was that of VASQUEZ 
 DE AYLLON, whose two ships, after leaving the Baharnas, 
 sailed towards the coast northward of that first seen by Ponce 
 de Leon. They called the land Chicora. In the neighbor 
 hood of St.^ Helena Sound, the shyness of the natives was 
 overcome by the simulated friendship of the Spaniards. Un 
 suspectingly, they crowded the vessels, eager to barter for 
 those novel trinkets so pleasing to the taste of the untutored 
 savage ; and then, at a signal given, the sails were spread, and 
 the ships with their freight of new-made slaves steered across 
 to San Domingo. But it was a sad return ; for one of the 
 vessels foundered at sea, and the other reached the island with 
 its cargo of captives greatly reduced by the ravages of sick 
 ness. The subsequent attempt of Vasquez to obtain possession 
 of his province for which he had received the royal permit 
 resulted disastrously. The Indians, burning with the re 
 membrance of his former visit when their friends and relatives 
 had been kidnapped, repulsed the invaders with loss. 
 
 In 1525, STEPHEN GOMEZ, a native of Portugal, but em 
 ployed in the service of Spain, having obtained a commission 
 to search for a northern passage to India, sailed along the 
 New England coast about a year after it had been explored by 
 Verrazzani. On an old Spanish map, " the Land of Gomez" 
 is the name placed upon that territory. The navigator like 
 wise entered the bay of New York, and sailed along the Jersey 
 coast nearly to the capes of the Delaware. His voyage had 
 not been entirely barren of profit, as he shortly returned to 
 Spain with a cargo of peltry and of captive Indians some 
 slight amends, in his view, for the failure to discover the 
 mythical passage. 
 
 This Gomez had been a companion of the navigator MAGEL 
 LAN, who, in 1520, having explored the east coast of South 
 America, entered the stormy straits between the mainland and 
 
60 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1526 
 
 Terra del Fuego, and passing thence into the South Pacific, 
 steered boldly toward India. Magellan died on the voyage, 
 but his ship ably guided by his successor realized the vision 
 of Columbus that the world could be circumnavigated, as the 
 vessel passed around the Cape of Good Hope, and thence by 
 the track of Vasco de Gama to Spain again. 
 
 The expedition of PAMPHILO DE NARVAEZ in 1*528, started 
 out, not to obtain slaves from the coast, but to secure the 
 fancied treasures of the interior. To the excited imaginations 
 of the Spaniards, Florida, like Mexico, contained its mines 
 of inexhaustible wealth ; and thus it happened while Pizarro 
 in tropical Peru was worshipping naught but Mammon though 
 proclaiming a crucified Christ, Narvaez and his three hundred 
 men, landing on the coast of Florida, and advancing into its 
 forests of pine and palmetto, threatened the Indians with 
 destruction unless they accepted the Pope and the Emperor as 
 their masters by divine right. But the gold which he chiefly 
 came to seek, was not to be found. Instead of it came 
 exceeding fatigue and the gnawing pangs of hunger, with 
 sickness and death to many. Their horses also giving out, 
 the famished soldiers fed upon their flesh. The native town 
 of Appalachee, of which they had heard, and where they had 
 hoped to obtain rich booty, they found to be but a little 
 village of wretched wigwams. 
 
 Through a land of marsh, and of endless forests, and of 
 salt bayous reaching inland from the sea, they came at last to 
 the harbor of St. Mark. Here they had expected succor, but 
 no friendly sail was seen to relieve their desponding sight. 
 Upon the flesh of their horses, and maize plundered from the 
 natives, they sustained life, while constructing boats to carry 
 them away from that unhappy land. Their stirrups and spurs, 
 now useless, and other implements of iron, were beaten into 
 spikes and saws and axes ; the fibre of palmetto answered for 
 oakum to caulk the boats seams, and the pitch from pine- 
 
1 S39~] THE SEVEN CITIES OF CIS OLA. 6 1 
 
 trees to cover the same. Twisted horse-hair and the palmetto 
 served them for rigging; of their shirts were made sails; 
 while, as a substitute for water-casks, they used the dressed 
 skins of the horses. 
 
 Having constructed five boats, each upwards of thirty feet 
 in length, they departed from St. Mark s and followed the 
 coast toward Mexico. But it was not long before they were 
 overtaken by a storm, which either wrecked the boats or drove 
 them on shore. Narvaez was no more heard of. There re 
 mained but four survivors, one of whom named CABEZA DE 
 VACA, a man of great endurance and self-possession, acted -as 
 leader. The narrative which he wrote of their wanderings is 
 a remarkable one, and tells how they lived several years with 
 the tribes of the Mississippi, then made their escape, and after 
 many vicissitudes, journeying westward by the waters of the 
 Arkansas and Red rivers they came to New Mexico and 
 Sonora, and thence by the GulfjDf California to the city of 
 Mexico. 
 
 It was soon after their arrival in Mexico or New Spain, that 
 a notable expedition was sent out, in 1539, by Mendoza, then 
 viceroy, to search for the "Seven Cities of Cibola," the ru 
 mors of whose wonderful terraced houses and palaces, and of 
 lavish riches exceeding those of Mexico, had recently reached 
 the itching ears of the Spaniards. Three hundred and fifty 
 men of the proudest families of Spain, followed the banner 
 of the youthful commander, FRANCISCO DE CORONADCK As an 
 aid to the land force, Pedro de Alarcon, with several vessels, 
 was sent up the coast and into the Gulf of California. Alarcon 
 discovered the river Colorado, and though it was with great 
 difficulty that his vessels could make headway against the 
 current of that rapid stream, he really ascended it a distance 
 of at least two hundred and fifty miles. Failing to hear 
 anything of the movements of the land force, he returned 
 southward to New Spain. 
 
 6 
 
62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1539 
 
 Meanwhile, Coronado had advanced to the Gila river, and 
 thence by rapid marches east and northward through a desert 
 country, to the elevated region of the Sierra Madre. If the 
 reader will examine his map, he will see where the road from 
 the city of Santa Fe leaves the Rio Grande at Albuquerque, 
 and crosses the prolongation of the Madre Mountains by the 
 Zuni Pass. Near the foot of the western declivity of the 
 pass, but built above a precipitous rock, is the village of Zuni. 
 Here Coronado and his cavaliers, with keen disappointment, 
 beheld one of the famous cities of Cibola ! Maddened with 
 hunger and vexation, the Spaniards mounted the rock with a 
 resistless impetuosity, overcame its defenders, and plundered 
 the village but neither gold nor treasures of any kind did it 
 yield. 
 
 A company was sent out from here to search for the other 
 cities, but they soon returned with the report that these latter 
 presented no more promising objects of rapacity than did the 
 place already taken that they were inhabited only by poor 
 "village Indians" (the Moquis) who cultivated maize, and 
 offered to them presents of their humble products. A second 
 detachment, after an irregular march of twenty days across an 
 arid waste, came to an upland plain in which they found the 
 magnificent, deep-cut canons of the upper Colorado. With 
 amazement they gazed down those precipitous cliffs, and 
 beheld where the river, that raced along on its rocky bed in 
 the abyss far below, appeared to the eyes no greater in size 
 than a babbling rivulet. 
 
 Before this party had returned, a third was sent out by 
 Coronado, which crossed the pass of Zuni, and came to the 
 valley of the Rio Grande. They had heard of a province 
 called Cicuye, where were cattle having soft hair that curled 
 like wool. They found the province, five days farther to the 
 eastward on the river Pecos, but there was nothing to repay 
 their toil except the report that the real land of the buffalo, 
 
1539] FERDINAND DE SO TO. 63 
 
 where also gold and silver were plentiful indeed, was to be 
 found still farther toward the sun-rising. Coronado, himself, 
 determined to seek this land of promised plenty. In nine 
 days they reached the haunt of the bison : the boundless 
 plains and the grazing herds, the countless prairie-dogs and 
 burrowing owls, the hunting tribes of nomad Indians dwelling 
 in tents and moving hither and thither where the buffalo led 
 them. Many days they spent in the fruitless search for a rich 
 kingdom like Mexico or Peru. At last, but reluctantly, they 
 gave up the quest, and, upon the banks of a large river flowing 
 towards the east probably the Arkansas a cross was raised 
 which bore the inscription : "Thus far came Francisco Vasquez 
 de Coronado, general of an expedition." 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 While Coronado, west of the Mississippi, was solving the 
 unsatisfactory problem of the locality and opulence of the 
 Seven Cities of Cibola, one who had been a companion of 
 Pizarro in Peru and a sharer of his plunder, was exploring the 
 territory east of that great, and as yet unknown, river. It 
 was not the love of geographical discovery, but the mercenary 
 lust for gold fired in part by the delusive narrative of Cabeza 
 de Vaca which prompted FERDINAND DE SOTO to solicit from 
 the king of Spain the privilege of undertaking the conquest 
 of the extensive territory then .known as Florida. The king 
 granted his request, as well as the government of the island 
 of Cuba. 
 
 The plan of De Soto was received with great enthusiasm, 
 and noblemen and gentlemen of means contended for the 
 privilege of joining his standard. With six hundred selected 
 soldiers, De Soto sailed from Spain for Cuba, received some 
 reinforcements at that island, and shortly landed them at the 
 bay of Espiritu Santo (now Tampa Bay), on the west side of 
 
64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1539 
 
 the Florida peninsula. As they disembarked and arranged 
 themselves in order of march, they presented a " gallant 
 array" of men-at-arms their burnished accoutrements and 
 weapons glancing in the sun pennons flying and trumpets 
 sounding the impatient steeds, prancing and eager for the 
 onward march. There was a show of religion too, for the 
 commander declared that the enterprise was undertaken for 
 the glory of God, and appeared to be under his superintending 
 care. Though there were monks and priests with this pano 
 plied company, to attend to the souls of the ignorant Indians, 
 there were also fetters to bind their bodies, and cruel blood 
 hounds, as auxiliaries in the work. 
 
 It was in the summer of 1539 that the adventurers began 
 their march. But the glory of their first appearance was soon 
 marred ; and as week by week they journeyed on through 
 interminable forests and oozy, tangled swamps, often misled 
 by guides, and never reaching the goal of their hopes, the 
 company grew dispirited and would fain have returned. But 
 the iron will of their leader changed not ; he kept on, relent 
 less, while life lasted. In this extremity the captive Indians 
 suffered still worse than the invaders : with iron collars around 
 their necks, or led in chains, they were condemned to grind 
 the maize, and upon their shoulders the baggage was laden. 
 The misery the Spaniards themselves endured, they seem to 
 have re-inflicted tenfold. 
 
 They traversed a great part of Georgia and Alabama the 
 upper sections as well as those near the gulf and upon ar 
 riving at Ochus (now Pensacola) received some much-needed 
 supplies from Cuba. Farther west, about the bay of Mobile, the 
 Indians were numerous and hostile, and the country moreover 
 was poor; so De Soto again advanced into the north, still near- 
 ing the Mississippi. In this region they passed the winter, and 
 when spring opened and they were ready to resume their 
 march, a demand was made upon the Chickasaw Indians that 
 
( 4 1 v < 
 
 1 540 DISCOVERY OF THE MIS^S^PPL ^/y,65 
 
 two hundred men of that tribe should be designated jf^borden- / 
 bearers for the whites. This the natives objected to, ami/re*- 
 sented the invitation by burning at night the lodges of the* 
 Spaniards. Several of the latter lost their lives, a number or 
 the horses were consumed, and much of the clothing and 
 weapons were also lost. Not long after this disaster, but in 
 the third year of their eventful wandering, they reached the 
 banks of the Mississippi. 
 
 It has been narrated on a preceding page that the expedition 
 sent out in 1519 by De Garay, and commanded by Pineda, had 
 specially noticed the outlet of the Mississippi, which they marked 
 on their map as the Espiritu Santo. It is strange to note that the 
 long period of one hundred and thirty-two years elapsed from the 
 time that De Soto now beheld it, until the river was re-discovered 
 by a French Jesuit, Marquette. 
 
 To cross the broad expanse of waters, deep, rapid, and 
 bearing on its turbid current a constant succession of trees and 
 drift-wood, was a formidable undertaking for the Spaniards, 
 so that a month elapsed before they had constructed barges 
 staunch enough to carry them safely to the western shore. 
 This accomplished, the company continued their march until 
 they approached the prairies ; but perceiving that they would 
 not be repaid for any farther toil and research in that direc 
 tion, they changed their course to the south-eastward, following 
 the line of the Washita and Red rivers until they again arrived 
 at the Mississippi. 
 
 They had now entered a sickly and almost impassable re 
 gion, cut up into numberless bayous, and covered with dense 
 woods and canebrake. Their progress became exceedingly 
 slow and laborious, the men were thoroughly disheartened, 
 and at last De Soto himself, borne down by dejection, and 
 suffering from a malignant fever, died miserably, and was 
 buried beneath the swift-rolling tide of the Mississippi. 
 
 The adventurers then determined on returning to New 
 6* 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1541 
 
 Spain by any way that might open, and, despairing of the 
 river route, turned their steps westward, until they came 
 again to the prairies. But they found the march overland 
 would also be impracticable ; whereupon, forming the resolu 
 tion to build themselves boats, they once more came back to 
 the river, and set to work at what seemed the last resource. 
 Seven barges, with sails, were constructed and launched, 
 and, embarking therein they descended the river, and in 
 seventeen days reached the Gulf of Mexico ; when, spreading 
 the sails of their frail vessels, they at last arrived in safety at 
 the Spanish settlement on the river Panuco. 
 
 We may better understand the perverted religious spirit which 
 was manifested by De Soto and his warriors by perusing an address 
 sent by PEDRO DE SANTANDER to King Philip II. of Spain, in 
 1557, in which he reminds the king that the latter should act the 
 good shepherd, to tend and lead out the sheep that " may have 
 been snatched away by the dragon, the Demon. These pastures," 
 Santander astutely observes, " are the New World wherein is com 
 prised Florida, now in possession of the Demon, and here he 
 makes himself adored and revered. This is the Land of Promise, 
 possessed by idolaters, the Amorite, Amalekite, Moabite and 
 Canaanite. This is the land promised by the Eternal Father to 
 the Faithful, since we are commanded by God in the holy Scrip 
 tures to take it from them, being idolaters, and, by reason of their 
 idolatry and sin, to put them all to the knife, leaving no living 
 thing save maidens and children, their cities robbed and sacked, 
 their walls and houses levelled to the earth." To carry out this 
 plan, Santander proposed to occupy Florida at various points with 
 colonists such as Tallahassee and Tampa Bay and to name the 
 cities Philippina, Csesarea, etc. 
 
 An attempt by CANCELED, a Dominican monk, and others 
 of that fraternity (1547), to convert the Florida natives to 
 the Romish faith, resulted disastrously: weapons of steel 
 had already closed the way, which otherwise the tokens of 
 love might have readily opened. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HUGUENOTS THEIR MISTAKES AND MISFOR 
 TUNES. 
 
 15551566. 
 
 COLIGNY, THE HUGUENOT CHIEF. VILLE-GAGNON. 
 
 IN the summer of 1555 the same year in which Charles 
 the Fifth gave to his son Philip the Second, of Spain, the prov 
 inces of the Netherlands there sailed from Havre, in France, 
 two vessels, commanded by a certain NICHOLAS DE VILLE- 
 GAGNON. The commission under which he sailed was of a 
 peculiar nature ; and the better to understand the man and 
 his errand, it will be well to glance at the then condition of 
 France, which, with its venal and voluptuous court, and 
 swayed by factions of nobles, bishops and cardinals, was in a 
 sad state of political and religious ferment. 
 
 Francis the First, the unsuccessful antagonist of Charles 
 the Fifth, had, at his death, been succeeded on the throne of 
 France by his son Henry II. The sceptre of power, however, 
 really rested with Catharine de Medicis, the consort of Henry, 
 an ambitious, intriguing and unprincipled woman ; while the 
 family of Guise, powerful and unscrupulous, were the promi 
 nent leaders of the Papists. 
 
 The principles of the Reformation were rapidly permeating 
 the country, and notwithstanding that men and women were 
 tortured, and burnt at the stake, the so-called "heretical 
 doctrines" made headway, and the party of Rorae became 
 thoroughly alarmed. Geneva, the home of Calvin, became a 
 
 67 
 
68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1555 
 
 city of refuge for many of those who had embraced the re 
 formed faith ; and these were known by the name of Hugue 
 nots. Their principles were those of Calvin stern, and to a 
 certain extent, intolerant; and, when the storm burst, it 
 became manifest that, unlike the primitive Christians who 
 patiently suffered the fires and the rack of persecution, they 
 too, like the Romanists, could be carnally aggressive. Their 
 acknowledged leader was CASPAR DE COLIGNY, Admiral of 
 France : a man of calm and resolute disposition, honest in 
 purpose, firm in his religious convictions, and, by education, 
 prepared to maintain the same at the point of the sword. 
 
 The Huguenots claimed such supporters as the prince of Conde 
 the dukes of Montmorency and Navarre; yet with these latter, the 
 attainment of their selfish interests probably weighed as much as 
 did their attachment to the reformed faith. The friendship of 
 nobles, who are apt to rely on their own power and influence, rather 
 than on the Almighty arm, has ever proved a weakness to the ad 
 vancement of Christian Truth. " It is better," says the Psalmist, 
 "to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." 
 
 While Coligny was in a state of perplexity, concerned for 
 the safety and well-being of his co-religionists, there came to 
 him Nicholas de Ville-gagnon, already mentioned. He was 
 one who would be styled a " versatile genius :" an able scholar 
 and linguist, apt at controversy with tongue and pen, by pro 
 fession a seaman and soldier, vice-admiral of Brittany and a 
 commander of the knights of Malta. Restless in spirit, as in 
 body, unstable as well as ambitious, he was now become a 
 contender for the Protestant faith. At his interview with 
 Coligny, he broached the project of establishing a tropical 
 empire in the New World, to be an asylum for the persecuted, 
 free from mischievous plots of monks and cardinals, and es 
 pecially of that Lorraine, of the house of Guise, who then 
 wore the red cassock and hat. The admiral gave a ready ear 
 to the scheme of Ville-gagnon, though the latter had already 
 
1555] COLIGNY, THE HUGUENOT CHIEF. 69 
 
 plied King Henry with very different arguments, chief of 
 which was the desirability of appropriating some of the South 
 American possessions of the too-grasping Spaniards and 
 Portuguese. 
 
 The king and his admiral, though biassed by different 
 motives, had both assented to the undertaking. Although 
 most of the emigrants were Huguenots, there was unfortu 
 nately a counter-element composed of piratical sailors from 
 Breton and Normandy, and of turbulent young nobles, idle 
 and indigent. Upon arriving in the harbor of Rio JANEIRO 
 (1555) the men were landed upon an island, where huts and 
 earthworks were constructed. The fort they called Coligny ; 
 the continent received the name of Antarctic France. That 
 the ill-assorted colonists did not lead a pleasant life of con 
 cord, may be readily inferred. Their commander, with a 
 stern determination to reduce the refractory to implicit obe 
 dience and discipline, resorted to the whip and pillory, and 
 other severe measures. The men conspired to poison or 
 murder him, but the plot being revealed, their purposes were 
 foiled. 
 
 In the meantime the two vessels had returned to France, 
 carrying despatches from Ville-gagnon of so inviting a nature, 
 that in the following year a second company, chiefly of Hu 
 guenots, embarked for the Brazilian settlement. After the 
 expedition had arrived at its destination, all for a time went 
 well. The men busied themselves about the construction of 
 the fort, and there were daily sermons and prayers Ville- 
 gagnon being always present, kneeling on a velvet cus hion 
 brought after him by a page. But it was not long before his 
 aptitude for polemics drew him into a sharp controversy upon 
 points of faith, with the newly-arrived ministers; and this 
 resulted in filling the fort with wranglings and feuds. The 
 conduct of Ville-gagnon soon became exceedingly intolerant ; 
 he professed to have been deceived in Calvin, whom he now 
 
7 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1562 
 
 pronounced "a frightful heretic;" three zealous adherents 
 of the Calvinist doctrines he caused to be dragged to the edge 
 of a rock, and cast into the sea; while the ministers were 
 glad to escape to a vessel, which, loading with Brazil wood, 
 was about to sail for France. 
 
 Pitiful was the experience which awaited them. The vessel 
 being overtaken by storms was delayed in its passage, the 
 water in the casks failed and their provisions gave out, and, 
 tossed upon a tempestuous sea, they seemed doomed to a 
 miserable death. "In their famine they chewed the Brazil 
 wood with which the vessel was laden, devoured every scrap 
 of leather, singed and ate the horn of lanterns, hunted rats 
 through the hold and sold them to each other at enormous 
 prices." At length when overcome with sickness, and scarcely 
 able to move a limb, to their joy they descried the coast of 
 Brittany. Ville-gagnon, himself, soon returned to France, 
 leaving the wretched colony to its fate. The fort was captured 
 by the Portuguese, and the garrison either slain or dispersed 
 among the Indians on the mainland. 
 
 More than half a century previous to the coming of the Hugue 
 nots, the mariners of Portugal had discovered and claimed this 
 country for their king ; and although it is true that this, their claim, 
 was grounded on no substantial foundation of purchase from the 
 native Brazilians, yet Coligny and his coadjutors erred when they 
 established a settlement and a menacing one as well without any 
 consultation as to the wishes of the Portuguese. The shadowy 
 "right of discovery" was at least partially recognized among mari 
 time nations ; so that, in legal parlance, the Huguenots should have 
 * first "extinguished the prior lien" (if the Portuguese were willing 
 to sell), and then have treated with the aboriginal inhabitants for a 
 clear title to the land. 
 
 RIBAULT AND LAUDONNIERE. 
 
 More fortunate was Coligny in his second choice of a com 
 mander, when, in 1562, he directed JEAN RIBAULT, of Dieppe, 
 
1562] RIBAVLT. 71 
 
 to sail with two vessels to America ; there to use all diligence 
 in the search for a wilderness-home for the Huguenots. But 
 it must be confessed that Ribault s company of soldiers and 
 sailors and a few young nobles, was but little better consti 
 tuted to secure stability, than was that of Ville-gagnon. He 
 sailed for the northern continent of America, which was 
 reached below the thirtieth parallel of latitude, the coast of 
 Florida. The following day they landed at the mouth of a 
 large river the St. John s but called by them the River of 
 May, for it was on May-day that they discovered it. 
 
 They had naught to fear from the Indians ; the squaws and 
 children approaching, strewed the earth with laurel boughs, 
 and seated themselves amongst the strangers, whom they sup 
 posed, when they saw them kneeling on the shore, to be chil 
 dren of the sun. The old chronicle of the voyage dwells 
 with rapturous language upon the delightful aspect of nature 
 the verdurous meadows and leafy woods the aromatic odors 
 of pine and magnolia the grazing deer the strange birds 
 and water-fowl while it quaintly adds, that "to be short, it 
 is a thing unspeakable to consider the thinges that bee seen 
 there, and shall be found more and more in this incomperable 
 lande." Then they planted a stone pillar, graven with the 
 lily-flower of France, and, embarking, continued northward, 
 naming the streams which they passed, the Seine, the Loire, 
 the Charente, etc., from the rivers of their own land. 
 
 It was late in the month when they came to that territory 
 called Chicora by the Spaniard, De Ayllon, when, forty years 
 before, he sailed among its inlets in search of slaves for the 
 mines of San Domingo. Seeing a fine, commodious haven, 
 they named it Port Royal. Passing Hilton Head at its en 
 trance, they sailed into the Broad river. All being well 
 pleased with the aspect of the country, Ribault decided to 
 erect a fort, leave part of the company in charge, and to go 
 back to France for reinforcements. Charles-Fort was forth- 
 
72 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1562 
 
 with built, supplied with ammunition and stores, and thirty 
 men chosen to remain. 
 
 The injunction of Ribault that they should use all gentle 
 ness and kindness towards the children of the forest was for 
 awhile pretty well observed. They had everything their own 
 way, visiting in turn the villages of the neighboring chiefs, 
 feasting on their hominy, beans and game, and not refusing 
 the gifts with which their dusky entertainers loaded them. 
 When, near the time of the Indian harvest, their supplies 
 became exhausted, the generous natives still brought them food 
 as long as their own lasted. 
 
 But presently discord arose in the camp. The colonists, 
 maddened by the domineering behavior of the commander 
 in charge, who had hung one of their number and banished 
 another to a lonely island, finally attacked the chief and mur 
 dered him. The bloody deed done, and themselves threat 
 ened with famine ; the land of their choice no longer the 
 beautiful place it had seemed when they came; weary of the 
 life they led, and dreaming day by day of home, they at last 
 determined to build a vessel and make the attempt to return 
 to France. 
 
 What a strange sight, to behold these indolent and quarrel 
 some beings, so suddenly changed to active artisans erecting 
 a forge, making tools, hewing dewn trees, chipping and ham 
 mering at beams and blocks, caulking the seams, and covering 
 them with the smoking pitch ! It is said of them, that, " had 
 they put forth, to maintain themselves at Port Royal, the 
 energy and resource which they exerted to escape from it, 
 they might have laid the corner-stone of a solid colony." 
 Embarking in their frail craft, and spreading the patch-work 
 sails, they made good progress for several days ; then there 
 was a long calm, and the food and water failed, their shoes 
 and leather jerkins were devoured, and in their dire need, one 
 of their own number was sacrificed for food. This dreadful 
 
1564] LAUDONNI&RE. 73 
 
 repast sustained them, until, when near the French coast, they 
 were succored by the crew of an English barque. 
 
 In France there was at this time the hollow form of a truce 
 between the disputing factions, and Coligny being in favor at 
 the court, was enabled to send out another American expedi 
 tion, in the summer of 1564. This was placed under the 
 command of RENE DE LAUDONNIERE, a good marine officer, 
 and of fair reputation otherwise, who had taken part in 
 Ribault s unfortunate undertaking. But the men who accom 
 panied him were of the same sort as those who had gone 
 before; there were soldiers and seekers of fortune, some 
 artisans and tradesmen, but the hardy yeomen, a necessary 
 element of colonial prosperity, were yet wanting. 
 
 Avoiding the haven of Port Royal, of disastrous memory, 
 they directed their course to the St. John s, or River of May ; 
 and on the south bank of that stream, five miles above its 
 mouth, they built Fort Caroline so called in honor of 
 Charles IX., then king of France. The fort, which was close 
 to an elevation, now known as St. John s Bluff, was constructed 
 in the shape of a triangle, with bastions at the three corners, 
 a parade ground in the centre, the buildings for lodging and 
 storage around its inner sides. The river flowed in front, and 
 there were protecting ditches on the other two sides. But 
 why the need of a fort, seeing that the Indians were friendly, 
 and that they, the Huguenots, professed to seek an asylum 
 from persecution? The reason was, because they occupied the 
 Florida claimed by Spain ; and because their desires were far 
 more toward the gold mines of the interior, which they might 
 have to fight for, than they were toward that "better land" 
 where persecution or other ills are never known. 
 
 The neighboring Indians, who were worshippers of the 
 
 sun, and lived in huts thatched with palmetto, though friendly 
 
 to the whites were at enmity with two tribes on the south and 
 
 west. Laudonniere, in an evil hour, promised to aid them 
 
 D 7 
 
7 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1564 
 
 against their enemies up the river. But in the meantime, an 
 officer, whom he had sent with a boat s crew to the chief of 
 the upper tribe, twice assisted him in a raid against his 
 enemies, hoping thereby to gain the rumored gold of the 
 Appalachee Mountains. Thus it happened that the adven 
 turers at Fort Caroline incurred the distrust and the hate of 
 their neighbors, so that when, shortly afterwards, they were 
 greatly in want of provisions, the natives, refusing to venture 
 within the fort, required the whites to come out to them in 
 boats on the river. 
 
 Meanwhile, within the fort, discontent and jealousies were 
 rife. There was one, Roquette, who asserted that he knew 
 of mines of gold and silver, many leagues up the St. John s, 
 and which, he covertly asserted, would yield to every one of 
 them an immense fortune, if they could but put Laudonniere 
 out of the way. Their wicked schemes to compass his death 
 proving unsuccessful, advantage was taken of a time when he 
 was suffering from illness to imprison him. But the malcon 
 tents had now concocted a more likely method of making 
 themselves rich, than that of exploring the Everglades for the 
 mines of Roquette : in other words, they proposed to become 
 pirates. 
 
 Accordingly, having armed and supplied two small vessels 
 with cannon, munitions and stores, the mutineers set sail 
 toward the islands of the Spanish main. They secured a 
 number of prizes and took much booty, but, while rejoicing 
 in their high career, were surprised by several armed vessels, 
 and were glad to make their escape, empty-handed, from the 
 clutches of the incensed Spaniards. Upon their return to 
 Fort Caroline, Laudonniere ordered a court-martial ; all were 
 found guilty, though the ring-leaders only were sentenced to 
 be shot. 
 
 The colonists at this time were threatened with starvation. 
 Gold and conquest having been their prime objects, not an 
 
1564] MENENDEZ. 75 
 
 acre of the soil had been tilled; while, from the Indians, who 
 were hostile, as well as anxious for them to depart, but little 
 succor could be expected. Suffering from want, and despairing 
 of the realization of their dreams, they were about to depart, 
 when relief appeared from a very unexpected quarter. It was 
 the arrival of the ships of Sir John Hawkins. The " father 
 of the English slave-trade" had just sold at a great profit, to 
 the Spaniards of San Domingo, a cargo of negroes kidnapped 
 in Guinea ; and now had merely visited the Huguenot settle 
 ment, preparatory to his return to England. Scarcely had 
 the white sails of his carrion-fleet disappeared from the offing, 
 when Ribault s long-expected squadron entered the River 
 of May, bringing ample stores of provisions, besides several 
 hundred recruits for the colony. But Ribault, who was com 
 missioned to take the chief command, was unaware of the 
 black cloud of ruin that had gathered, and was even then 
 about to burst upon the Huguenots. 
 
 HAWKINS himself relates, of one of his slave-capturing expedi 
 tions, that he set fire to the palm-thatched huts of a negro town, 
 and, out of eight thousand inhabitants, he succeeded in securing 
 but two hundred and fifty. England s Protestant queen, to her 
 great dishonor, protected, as well as shared in the profits of, this 
 traffic in the sugar, spices, pearls, etc., which were realized in 
 exchange for the bodies of men. 
 
 RUIN AND REVENGE MENENDEZ AND DE GOURGUES. 
 
 To MENENDEZ DE AVILES, a distinguished officer of the 
 Spanish marine, Philip II. had granted the privilege of the 
 conquest and settlement of Florida, and the conversion of its 
 natives. All of this Menendez was empowered to do at his 
 own expense, and he was also to take five hundred men, and 
 supply them with as many slaves, besides horses and other 
 domestic animals. 
 
76 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1565 
 
 While the preparations were going on, news reached Spain 
 of the sailing of the squadron of Ribault, and so great a zeal 
 to overtake and overwhelm the heretics did this intelligence 
 excite, that the number of men comprising the expedition was 
 shortly increased to two thousand six hundred, besides twenty 
 Franciscans and Jesuit priests. Leaving the greater part of 
 his fleet to follow, Menendez sailed for Florida with eleven 
 ships. Upon reaching the mouth of the St. John s, he at 
 tacked the French vessels, but they escaped to sea. Sailing 
 down the cpast, he came to an inlet, which he called ST. 
 AUGUSTINE. Here a landing was effected, and without delay 
 the negroes were set to work at building houses and intrench- 
 ments. It was a memorable event in our country s history, 
 for it was then, in the summer of 1565, that St. Augustine, 
 the oldest town in the United States, was founded, and it was 
 then also that African slave-labor was introduced upon our soil. 
 
 The Spaniards were engaged upon this work, when the 
 squadron of Ribault suddenly reappeared, coming towards the 
 harbor. A storm, however, arose, and the vessels were obliged 
 to leave without making an attack. Menendez then proposed 
 to his men to attack the weakened garrison at Fort Caroline, 
 which was but thirty miles distant. All in the storm, and 
 through a wild country of swampy forests and tangled under 
 brush and swollen streams, they went on their bloody errand. 
 Arriving at the fort, it was easily carried by assault, and all 
 of the garrison, except a few who escaped to the swamp, were 
 mercilessly slain. Even those who returned and surrendered 
 themselves, shared the same fate as the rest. Upon a tree, 
 there was set up the inscription, "I do this not as to French 
 men, but as to Lutherans." Then Menendez, having ascer 
 tained that Ribault s vessels, unable to weather the storm, had 
 been cast ashore below St. Augustine, marched thither at once. 
 The castaways, numbering several hundreds, being persuaded 
 to put themselves in his power, he ordered their hands tied 
 
1567] DE GOURGUES. 77 
 
 behind their backs, and all of them (who claimed to be 
 Huguenots) were shot. 
 
 " I had their hands tied behind their backs," writes the cruel 
 Menendez, "and themselves put to the sword. It appeared to me, 
 that, by thus chastising them, God, our Lord, and your Majesty 
 were served ; whereby in future this evil sect will leave us more 
 free to plant the Gospel in these parts." 
 
 A few days afterward, he accepted the surrender of a remnant 
 of the French who were overtaken down the coast near Cape Ca 
 naveral. Philip the Second graciously writes : "Say to Menendez 
 that, as to those he has killed, he has done well ; and as to those he 
 has saved, they shall be sent to the galleys." 
 
 The party of Catharine de Medicis and of her pliant son 
 Charles IX. was too much tied to Romish interests to complain 
 of this wretched massacre on the part of the Spaniards. But 
 there was a certain Gascon, named DOMINIC DE GOURGUES, 
 who could not rest easy under the dishonor which he believed 
 his country had suffered; and hence formed the determination 
 to take the reprisal into his own hands. It does not appear 
 certain that he was a Huguenot, while it is sufficiently evident 
 that motives of piety did not at all regulate his career. He 
 hated the Spaniards intensely, and was probably only too glad 
 of an opportunity to exhibit the full extent of his animosity. 
 
 With three small vessels De Gourgues sailed (1567) on his 
 evil mission. His real destination was not at first divulged to 
 his followers, his commission simply permitting him to make 
 war on the negroes of Benin, in Africa, and to kidnap them 
 as slaves. From the Benin coast he sailed to Florida, and 
 landed, unperceived by the Spaniards, above the mouth of the 
 St. John s. The natives, who had been treated by the Span 
 iards even more harshly than before by the French, were easily 
 induced to unite their forces with those of De Gourgues, for 
 the attack on Fort Caroline. The latter, as well as two small 
 forts at the river s mouth were all quickly surprised and cap- 
 
78 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1567 
 
 tured ; and, with the same relentless barbarity with which Me- 
 nendez had slain the French, did they in turn butcher the 
 Spaniards. A few who had been purposely taken prisoners 
 were hung upon a tree, and over them was placed the inscrip 
 tion, burned with a hot iron upon a board of pine : " Not as 
 to Spaniards, but as to Traitors, Robbers and Murderers." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ENGLISH VOYAGES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 
 1576 1605. 
 
 MARTIN FROBISHER. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. 
 
 IT has been mentioned in chapter iv. that Sebastian Cabot, 
 had, subsequent to his first great discoveries, been honorably 
 employed in the maritime service of Spain. It is true that 
 his expectation as to the discovery of a north-west passage 
 to India had not been realized ; while in the meantime, the 
 south-east route by the Cape of Good Hope, and that of the 
 south-west around South America, had been marked out by the 
 expeditions of Vasco de Gama and of Magellan. 
 
 But when, in 1547, the English council advanced the sum 
 of one hundred pounds, for Cabot, "a pilot, to come out of 
 Spain, to serve and inhabit in England," the veteran navigator 
 accepted the invitation, and was soon engaged in the work of 
 directing attempts to reach India by the Norway coast and 
 the North-east. These efforts, though not successful as to 
 their announced object, yet were instrumental in developing 
 a trade with Russia, a country which was only then coming 
 into political prominence. The harbor of Archangel, on the 
 White Sea, was reached by the expedition of Sir Hugh Wil- 
 loughby, which was fitted out by Cabot, and a profitable 
 commerce presently established. The returns were not at 
 once so great as were those of Spain and Portugal from their 
 new possessions, but they were not only more sure, but were 
 
 79 
 
8o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1576 
 
 exempt from the disastrous consequences of a too rapid in 
 crease of wealth. It would have been well for the English 
 had they always followed the line of legitimate trade, and not 
 looked with envious eyes on the gold speculations of their 
 neighbors. 
 
 The passage by the north of America, however, was not yet 
 despaired of. To test its practicability, an intelligent English 
 navigator, MARTIN FROBISHER, not possessing means of his 
 own, persuaded the Earl of Warwick and other persons of 
 wealth, to furnish him with the requisite outfit. His three 
 little vessels two barks and a pinnace aggregated a capacity 
 of but fifty-five tons. One of these was lost in a storm, a 
 second returned to port, but the third, in which was the com 
 mander, continued on its way. Frobisher entered a strait 
 between two large islands the same now known by his name, 
 connecting the Greenland Sea with the channels north of 
 Hudson s Bay. Taking it for granted that it opened out 
 into the great Pacific Ocean, he merely gathered up some 
 earth and stones as tokens of his discovery, and returned to 
 England to apprise Queen Elizabeth and his countrymen, of 
 the acquisition of a new dominion. This was in the year 
 
 1576. 
 
 A critical examination of the rubbish brought back by 
 Frobisher resulted in finding a stone which was declared to 
 contain gold. The cupidity of London capitalists straight 
 way became excited, and a fleet was sent out in the following 
 year for the precious ore of the northern seas. The eyes of 
 the mariners were wide open for indications of treasure. At 
 a certain place, spiders abounded an indication, "as many 
 affirm," says the chronicle in Hakluyt s collection, "of signes 
 of great store of gold." The ships having been freighted 
 with the earth, returned to England with the profitless cargo. 
 But this unsuccessful venture did not prevent a repetition of the 
 same, equally foolish, and on a still larger scale. The fine 
 
1583] SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. 8 1 
 
 fleet of fifteen sail, on which had embarked quite a number of 
 the English gentry, entered the strait afterward known as 
 Hudson s, but encountering many icebergs and various other 
 perils, and running into new and devious channels, the zeal 
 of the gold-seekers began to moderate. Loading their vessels 
 with black ore and other minerals, to conceal their failure, 
 they sailed homeward, their avarice greatly unsatisfied. 
 
 That worthy chronicler, Richard Hakluyt, states, that in 
 1578 which was the year of Frobisher s last voyage there 
 were at Newfoundland a hundred and fifty French fishing- 
 vessels, besides two hundred belonging to the Spanish, En 
 glish, and Portuguese ; also over twenty Biscayan whalers. Il 
 was the belief of HUMPHREY GILBERT, a step-brother of Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, that these fisheries, which realized the sure 
 riches of the sea, were to be accounted more valuable, and 
 more worthy to be fostered, then was the uncertain hunt after 
 the precious minerals of the earth. Actuated by the expecta 
 tion of forming a permanent colony on the north-east Ameri 
 can coast, Gilbert obtained from the queen a very liberal 
 patent. With the aid of Raleigh, a small fleet was equipped 
 ( T 579)> but unfortunately a storm was encountered, one ship 
 was lost and others were disabled, and as a consequence the 
 expedition was abandoned. 
 
 As the patent from the queen was to continue in force but 
 six years, Gilbert again, generously aided by Raleigh, was 
 provided in 1583 (a year before the limitation of his charter) 
 with a second fleet. Upon arriving at Newfoundland the 
 country was taken possession of for the queen of England, in 
 the presence of the fishermen of various nations, and lands 
 were granted to them upon condition of paying a quit-rent. 
 But disaster attended the undertaking. The largest ship of 
 Gilbert s little fleet had been lost on the outward voyage. 
 The next in size, which they now loaded with what was 
 thought to be silver ore, struck on a rock and was wrecked 
 D* 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1533 
 
 nearly a hundred of the men going down with the supposed 
 treasure. Finally, Gilbert with but two vessels, sailed for 
 home, but on a night when a great storm prevailed, the little 
 craft (it was the Squirrel, of ten tons only) in which was the- 
 commander, foundered, and vessel and crew were never seen 
 again. 
 
 Shortly before the time of Gilbert s last attempt at colonization, 
 the Spaniards established their second settlement within what are 
 now the United States. Augustin Ruiz, a Franciscan friar, with 
 several companions, had, in 1580, explored the Rio Grande from 
 its middle course to the upper valley where Coronado had been, 
 forty years before. And in the next year, Antonio de Espejio, with 
 a body of soldiers and Indians, continuing the interior explorations 
 north of the Gila, gave to the country the name of NEW MEXICO, 
 and Santa Fe was built. 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 That species of modern land-and-water plundering which 
 is called buccaneering, was largely promoted by the daring 
 exploits of SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. For notoriety as a piratical 
 commander, the name of Drake is, or ought to be, connected 
 with early English freebooting, as is that of Hawkins with 
 the beginning of the English slave trade. Men of the sea 
 port towns who might have become peaceful fishermen among 
 the cod-banks of Newfoundland, hearing of the successful 
 pillaging by Drake and Hawkins, easily allowed the desire for- 
 sudden wealth to overcome their honest scruples. They be 
 held likewise how titles of honor were conferred on names 
 which reeked with deeds the most disgraceful. Hence, what 
 wonder that weak consciences gave way, and that men once 
 of good repute, found themselves embarked upon careers 
 which might indeed bring gold to their hands, but must ruin 
 their souls for eternity. 
 
 This history, however, will have little to do with the plun- 
 
1579] SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 83 
 
 dering exploits of the irascible Sir Francis. It was about the 
 time of Humphrey Gilbert s first expedition (1579), that 
 Drake, having left England on a voyage in pursuit of fortune, 
 sailed around to the Spanish possessions on the Pacific, and, 
 though Philip the Second and Elizabeth were not then at war, 
 vigorously attacked the South American sea-ports and loaded 
 his ship with great spoils. 
 
 Desirous of discovering a strait which would enable him 
 to return with speed to the Atlantic, he sailed up the Mexican 
 and Californian coasts to the forty-third degree of latitude 
 corresponding to the south part of Oregon and entered the 
 harbor of SAN FRANCISCO. It was so called by the English 
 in his honor. But the change of climate from that of the 
 tropics, was complained of by the men, who also were prob 
 ably unwilling to lose themselves and their ill-gotten gold 
 among the remote inlets and seas which had proved so disas 
 trous to the fortunes of Frobisher. Drake, therefore, after 
 naming the country which he had discovered for the English, 
 New Albion, sailed westward, the summer of 1579, across the 
 Pacific, and reaching England in safety, completed the second 
 circumnavigation of the globe. 
 
 CALIFORNIA was the name, happily retained, which had 
 already been given to that country by the Spaniards. The 
 coast had been explored in 1542 by a Portuguese in the Span 
 ish service, named CABRILLO, who had gone nearly as far 
 northward as the mouth of the Columbia river. 
 
 Thirteen years after Drake s appearance on the Oregon 
 coast (1592), JUAN DE FUCA, a Greek, likewise in the employ 
 of Spain, sailed for twenty days in the broad passage between 
 Vancouver s island and the mainland. He supposed that he 
 had discovered the western end of a great inter-oceanic pas 
 sage of which the gulf of St. Lawrence was the eastern en 
 trance. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 OA J.ThVlDvrr * 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1584 
 
 RALEIGH AND THE ROANOKE SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 Notwithstanding the ill-success of the efforts of Gilbert, 
 and the sad fate of that officer, it was not long before his 
 brother RALEIGH revived the scheme of American coloniza 
 tion. The new patent conferred by Elizabeth with whom 
 the learned and courteous Raleigh was then a rising favorite 
 constituted him lord proprietary over a large extent of coun 
 try, with the power to receive rents and to make grants at his 
 pleasure. PHILIP AMIDAS and ARTHUR BARLOW were the 
 commanders of the two vessels of Raleigh s, which, in 1584, 
 sailed with the purpose of determining the site for a colony. 
 It was to be located in a climate milder than that of New 
 foundland, and far enough removed therefrom to avoid inter 
 ference with its fisheries; while on the other hand it should 
 be sufficiently distant from the Spanish forts of Florida. 
 
 Amidas and Barlow followed what was then the favorite 
 route to America, via the Canaries and the West India islands. 
 As they came up the American coast, and, when opposite the 
 shores of Carolina, drew near to land, their pleasure at the 
 appearance of the strange vegetation and the delightful fra 
 grance which filled the air, found expression in language like 
 to that of the mariners of Verrazzani many years before. A 
 suitable harbor was not readily discovered ; but after coasting 
 the long, unbroken island-beach that trends north-eastwardly 
 from Cape Lookout, they came to Ocracoke inlet, the lower 
 entrance into Pamlico sound. Here, on the point of the 
 island Wokoken, forming the south shore of the inlet, the 
 ceremony of the queen of England s sovereignty to the coun 
 try was duly enacted. 
 
 By invitation of some of the natives all of whom had 
 treated them hospitably they sailed across Pamlico sound to 
 Roanoke island, the low, sandy island which separates the 
 former from Albemarle sound. Here a traffic was entered 
 
1585] THE ROANOKE SETTLEMENTS. 85 
 
 into with the natives, two of whom, named Wanchese and 
 Manteo, were willing to go back with the adventurers to 
 England. Thither they sailed as soon as the vessels had re 
 ceived their cargo: cedar-wood, peltry purchased of the 
 Indians, and bark of the sassafras an American tree which 
 had been previously found in Florida, and was already much 
 esteemed in Europe for its medicinal and aromatic properties. 
 The glowing report of the voyagers, together with the 
 commercial products returned, produced a favorable influence 
 on the public mind in England. The name of VIRGINIA was 
 forthwith conferred upon the country by Raleigh, in honor 
 of the virgin queen ; and inasmuch as it is not unusual for the 
 recipients of such compliments to make some acknowledg 
 ment of the fact, so it happened that Raleigh was made a 
 knight in consideration of past services, and was granted a 
 monopoly in sweet wines to aid him in planting a colony. 
 
 Raleigh immediately despatched a second expedition, of 
 which SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE was appointed commander. 
 Ralph Lane was named as governor; Hariot, a man of science, 
 was to gather the facts of interest in his department ; Wythe, 
 a painter, was to be delineator and draughtsman. The expe 
 dition of seven ships left England in the spring of 1585, and, 
 L with a keen lookout for the possible prize of a Spanish galleon, 
 (took the circuitous route by the Canaries and West Indies. 
 ;In sailing along the Carolina coast, the fleet narrowly escaped 
 shipwreck upon Cape Fear; in commemoration of which fact, 
 that prominent headland received its ominous name. Sailing 
 into Ocracoke inlet, the fleet made its way to the harboring- 
 station at Roanoke island. Manteo, one of the natives who 
 had been taken to England, and who was now fitted to act as 
 guide and interpreter, went to the mainland to announce their 
 arrival. 
 
 Grenville explored the neighboring shores, and visited the 
 Indian villages thereabout; but at one of them a most lament- 
 
86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1586 
 
 able incident occurred. A silver cup had been stolen, it was 
 said, by the natives ; the demand for its restoration was not 
 promptly complied with; and then, with a brutal retaliation 
 utterly disproportioned to the offence, Grenville ordered the 
 village to be burnt, and the fields of standing corn to be de 
 stroyed ! By this cruel act they forfeited, in one hasty hour, 
 the good-will and friendly aid of the natives. Grenville 
 landed the colonists, to the number of one hundred and ten 
 men, and leaving them in charge of Lane, the appointed 
 governor, sailed back to England, capturing on the way a rich 
 Spanish prize, with which to enter triumphantly the harbor 
 of Plymouth. He appears to have coveted piratical booty 
 much more than he did the prosperity of the queen s settle 
 ments in the New World. 
 
 In the meantime, Lane and his men employed themselves in 
 further exploring the shores of the sounds, and the entrances 
 of the rivers; Hariot diligently examined the natural products 
 of the country, not the least important of which he accounted 
 tobacco; while Wythe made sketches of the natives. Deluded 
 by foolish tales of rich mines of gold to be found far up the 
 river Roanoke, Lane attempted to ascend the rapid current 
 of that stream ; but having made very little progress, and his 
 provisions being exhausted, he was compelled to return. The 
 Indians were becoming disquieted at the presence of the 
 whites, whose power for evil they had so soon learned to fear. 
 In the spring of the new year, the natives, with the intention 
 of causing a famine which would have compelled the de 
 parture of their enemies, would have left their fields unplanted, 
 but this counsel was overruled by the moderation of one of 
 the chiefs. 
 
 The English had not yet learned aright the lessons taught by 
 the many failures of their predecessors ; they were still un 
 willing to till the soil for their sustenance, and earn an honest 
 livelihood by that and by barter, but would fain grovel in 
 
1586] THE ROAXOKE SETTLEMENTS. S^ 
 
 mines for gold, or, if need be, steal it from its " savage" 
 possessors. But Avarice and Suspicion usually go hand-in- 
 hand. The colonists professed to believe that a combination 
 of the Indians was forming, for the purpose of getting rid of 
 them by a general massacre. Concealing their suspicions, 
 Lane treacherously requested a parley with the most active one 
 of the chiefs, and then, at a preconcerted signal, this chief 
 and his eight principal followers were overcome and merci 
 lessly put to death. 
 
 As the summer advanced, and provisions became scarce, 
 parties of the colonists were dispersed in search of food. One 
 of these, on Cape Lookout, descried to their great surprise, 
 a fleet of over twenty sail. The signals which they made 
 were observed, and communication opened. It proved to be 
 Sir Francis Drake on his way home from an expedition of 
 plunder amongst the Spanish West Indian possessions. Rich 
 in the booty obtained, he was generous in offers of help to 
 the despairing colonists tendered them a ship, several boats 
 and quantities of provisions. But these were all destroyed in 
 a storm which arose while Drake yet tarried ; and then, Lane 
 having refused to accept further assistance, returned with his 
 men in the war-fleet to England. Yet he had hardly left the 
 coast, when a vessel, with abundant supplies sent over by 
 Raleigh, arrived at Roanoke ; while a fortnight later came 
 Grenville with three more ships. Having left fifteen men on 
 the island, to be the custodians of his country s rights, Gren- 
 viile departed; but, feeling reluctant to return home empty- 
 handed, he plundered the Portuguese settlements in the Azore 
 islands. 
 
 Still undismayed, the indefatigable Raleigh planned yet 
 another expedition ; and with the hope of making it more 
 certain of success, he wisely determined to send out not single 
 men only, but also yeomen with their families, who would be 
 apt to feel a more settled, personal interest in the enterprise. 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1590 
 
 A charter of incorporation was prepared in advance for the 
 " City of Raleigh," and JOHN WHITE with eleven others, were 
 designated as the governor and assistant officers. It had been 
 intended by Raleigh that the colony should be located on 
 Chesapeake Bay, but the officer in command of the ships was 
 eager to be off to the West Indies, so he landed the colonists 
 on Roanoke island (1587). The houses of the previous set 
 tlers were still standing, but they were overgrown with weeds 
 and vines. The fifteen men who had been left by Grenville, 
 were not found they had no doubt been murdered by the 
 Indians in revenge for the death of their chief. 
 
 The hostility of the natives was presently evinced in the 
 murder of one of the governor s assistants, who had strolled 
 a short distance from the fort. In haste to retaliate, the whites 
 attacked an Indian party at night, and had slain several of 
 their number before it was discovered that they were a friendly 
 band. Manteo, the interpreter, continued to be attached to 
 the whites, and having been baptized by a priest, was after 
 wards invested with the title of the "lord of Roanoke." 
 When the time came for the departure of the vessels, White, at 
 the urgent request of the settlers, consented to go back to 
 England, to hasten the promised supplies. He left on the 
 island over one hundred men and women, besides several 
 children, one of the latter being his grand-daughter, VIRGINIA 
 DARE, the first English child born in America. 
 
 Three long years elapsed before the governor again ap 
 proached the sandy beach of Roanoke island. He had found 
 upon his return to England, that the whole country was in a 
 fever of excitement at the prospect of a great invasion by the 
 Spanish Armada of Philip II. His services, as well as those 
 of Raleigh, were called for, and thus the colony for a time 
 was reluctantly neglected. When finally, in the autumn of 
 1590, White landed at Roanoke, the prattling lips of little 
 Virginia Dare were not to be heard in welcoming accents 
 
i6o2] VOYAGES OF GOSNOLD, PR ING, ETC. 89 
 
 by her long-absent grandsire. Not one of the unfortunate 
 colony was anywhere to be found, or was ever afterward 
 heard of! 
 
 VOYAGES OF GOSNOLD, PRING, WEYMOUTH AND OTHERS. 
 
 Hitherto, as has been already observed, English voyages to 
 the temporary American settlements had usually been made 
 by way of the Canaries and the West Indies. A more expe 
 ditious route was chosen by BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, who, 
 in 1602, with the concurrence of Raleigh, steered directly 
 across the Atlantic and approached the continent near the 
 present harbor of Portland. As he sailed southward, probably 
 in the track of Thorfinn and the sons of Eric, Gosnold landed 
 on a promontory which he called Cape Cod the first land in 
 New England, so far as he knew, ever trodden by Englishmen. 
 Farther south he entered Buzzard s Bay, called by them 
 " Gosnold s Hope," and, on the westernmost of the Elizabeth" 
 Islands they landed, with the expectation of establishing a 
 settlement. While the fort was being built, part of the crew 
 loaded the ship with sassafras root purchased from the natives; 
 but when the vessel was ready to sail, those who were to have 
 remained lost heart, and, embarking with the rest, returned to 
 England. 
 
 In the following year, certain merchants of Bristol, en 
 couraged by Raleigh, and by Hakluyt (the compiler of the 
 narratives of these early voyages), continued the discoveries 
 of Gosnold, by sending out two vessels under the care of 
 MICHAEL PRING. The traffic for sassafras root was also a 
 chief incentive. Pring reached the coast about the mouth of 
 the Penobscot, and sailed slowly southward, entering a number 
 of the harbors that abound in that locality, until he came to 
 Martha s Vineyard. With the trinkets and articles of mer 
 chandise brought out, Pring obtained sufficient sassafras, skins 
 
 8* 
 
90 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1605 
 
 and furs to load his vessels with profitable cargoes for his 
 employers. 
 
 In 1605, Cape Cod was again visited by the expedition of 
 an experienced navigator, GEORGE WEYMOUTH, who sailed 
 under the auspices of the Earl of Southampton and others. 
 He also entered the harbor of St. George at the mouth of 
 the bay of Fundy, and made accurate observations of the 
 natural productions of the country, besides trading somewhat 
 with the natives for sables and the skins of deer, beaver, etc. 
 Wishing to obtain some of the natives to be instructed as 
 guides and interpreters for future expeditions, five of these 
 were decoyed on board, and, being carried to England, were 
 presented to Chief-justice Popham and Sir Ferdinando Gorges 
 both actively engaged at that time in soliciting from the king 
 a patent for the North Virginia Company. To the wondering 
 populace of London, Popham s kidnapped savages became ob 
 jects of very great interest. 
 
 Two years subsequent to Weymouth s voyage, Sir GEORGE 
 POPHAM, brother of the chief-justice, and RALEIGH GILBERT, 
 a son of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, were placed in charge of an 
 expedition, which proceeded to the mouth of the Kennebec 
 with the expectation of effecting a permanent settlement. 
 Here was launched the Virginia, of thirty tons, the first ves 
 sel built by Englishmen on the shores of America. Aboard 
 this little craft many of the colonists, yielding to discourage 
 ments, went back to England. Shortly after, Popham died, 
 and, Gilbert returning home, the remaining settlers who did 
 not seek to conciliate the natives quickly followed. Thus, 
 after a century of exploration and attempted colonization, a 
 few Frenchmen in Acadie and some Spaniards at St. Augus 
 tine were the only Europeans upon that long Atlantic coast. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 1607 1624. 
 
 JAMESTOWN THE FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH SETTLEMENT. 
 
 IT having been clearly proved that the great territory which 
 had been discovered beyond the Atlantic was a continent un 
 connected with, and indeed separated by a vast ocean from 
 that of Asia, the desire amongst maritime nations to establish 
 permanent settlements upon the shores of the New World be 
 came stronger with each succeeding year. With the English, 
 the discouraging results attending the Raleigh settlements in 
 Carolina, soon gave place to the hope of a profitable traffic, 
 as developed by the expeditions of Gosnold, Pring, and Wey- 
 mouth. 
 
 In the year succeeding Weymouth s return (1606), there 
 was organized the LONDON COMPANY, of which the treasurer 
 was Sir Thomas Smith, who was also one of the possessors of 
 the patent which had been issued by King James the First to 
 Raleigh. The code of laws was framed according to the 
 royal ideas, though not strictly in accordance with the wishes 
 of those whom they were intended to govern. The king was 
 to appoint a superior council, resident in England, whose 
 members could be removed at his pleasure ; but the colony 
 was also permitted a domestic council of its own, though its 
 members and its decrees were likewise subject to the king s 
 approval. For the first twenty-one years, the Virginia planta 
 tion was to receive all duties levied on vessels trading to its 
 
 91 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1606 
 
 harbors ; after that time, the right was to be surrendered to 
 the crown. The charter was good in so far as the king acted 
 as a check upon possible oppression by the London Company 
 which established the plantation ; but it was objectionable, in 
 that the people of the plantation could not choose the members 
 of their domestic council, who were obviously the ones best 
 situated to judge of their wants. 
 
 The code of laws provided that the doctrines and rites of 
 the Church of England were to be the established religion. 
 It decreed the punishment of death not only in cases of 
 murder, but also of dangerous tumults and seditions. All the 
 produce resulting from the labor of the settlers for five years 
 succeeding their landing, was to be held in common. It was 
 to be stored in suitable magazines, superintended by a " cape 
 merchant," and two clerks were to take note of all that went 
 in and came out from the same. 
 
 The preliminaries of government being thus arranged in 
 advance, the little squadron of three vessels, commanded by 
 CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT, sailed in the latter part of the year 
 1606, for the American shores. Of the one hundred and five 
 men on board the vessels, who were intended as colonists, 
 forty-eight were styled "gentlemen." Dissensions sprang up 
 amongst them on the voyage, growing out of the uncertainty 
 as to who were to be the colonial councillors, the names of 
 these having been carefully sealed up in a tin box along with 
 the instructions of King James. In addition to the so-called 
 gentlemen, there were a few laborers and artisans, besides 
 soldiers and servants. Prominent among the company, were 
 Wingfield, a rich merchant and a projector of the colony ; 
 John Smith, an energetic adventurer ; Robert Hunt, an 
 amiable and worthy clergyman ; and the voyager Gosnold. 
 
 Newport, instead of following Gosnold s former track 
 directly across the Atlantic, took the much longer route by 
 way of the West Indies. A severe storm drove the vessels 
 
1607] CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 93 
 
 beyond the Pamlico inlets, to the great bay of the Chesapeake 
 the mother of the waters. The head-lands at its entrance 
 they named after the sons of King James the lower one Cape 
 Henry, after the Prince of Wales, a youth of good promise, 
 and the upper one Cape Charles, from the king s second son 
 who afterwards ascended the throne. Upon the noble stream, 
 the Powhatan, which they ascended, they conferred the name 
 of King James. About fifty miles above the river s mouth, 
 where they arrived the i3th of the 5th month (May), 1607, 
 they selected a site for their settlement, which was called 
 JAMES TOWN. The sealed box having been opened, the 
 names of Wingfield, Gosnold, Smith, Newport and three 
 others were found in it, as those who were to compose the 
 council ; and of these seven, Wingfield was elected president. 
 Smith was at first excluded upon a false charge of sedition, 
 but by the mediation of Hunt, was soon honorably restored. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 
 
 This Captain John Smith, who is the central figure in the 
 first two years of Virginia s history, was a man whose promi 
 nent traits of character were a great readiness of invention 
 and promptitude in time of danger habits of self-reliance 
 which invested him with a talent for command. Although 
 but thirty years of age at this time, his life had been one of 
 many adventures : fighting in the Netherlands against the 
 Spanish rulers, and in Hungary against the invading Moham 
 medans carried a captive to Constantinople and sold as a 
 slave a prisoner in a Russian fortress and then the slayer of 
 his task-master next, a fugitive across the Mediterranean to 
 the kingdom of Morocco. Finally, having returned to Eng 
 land, he made the acquaintance of Gosnold, with whom he 
 ardently entered into the scheme of American colonization. 
 
 His first service in the new colony was to accompany New- 
 
94 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1607 
 
 port and twenty others up the river to the Falls of the James, 
 which are opposite the present city of Richmond. A mile 
 below the falls, on a rising-ground is the plantation yet known 
 as " Powhatan," and it was here that the great chief of that 
 name had his wigwam. He was a tall, athletic man, about 
 sixty years of age, and was the ruler of more than forty clans 
 or small tribes, which were thinly scattered over the territory 
 of the lower Potomac and the James. The settlers called 
 them all by the general name of their chief the Powhatans. 
 The Monicans dwelt on the upper James, and the Mannahoacs 
 upon the upper courses of the Potomac and the Rappahannoc ; 
 while at the head of Chesapeake bay were the Susquehannocs. 
 All of these tribes belonged to the Algonquin race. 
 
 Early in the summer, Newport returned to England, leaving 
 the chief management of affairs in the hands of Smith, al 
 though Ratcliffe was then the inefficient president of the 
 council. The spirits and health of the company were at a 
 low ebb. The small allowance of provisions which was doled 
 out from the common store, consisted principally of wheat 
 and barley which had been damaged on ship-board. Crabs 
 and sturgeon, however, were obtained from the river. But 
 disappointment and melancholy, together with lack of nour 
 ishing food, soon resulted in an outbreak of disease, and, 
 before autumn, fifty men (one of whom was Gosnold) had 
 died. Had the Indians now deserted them, the colonists 
 would have been in a fair way to perish entirely, but the 
 " savages," when the autumn came, and their harvests were 
 gathered, brought voluntary offerings of corn and fruits and 
 venison. The health of the colonists soon improved, and, 
 directed by their energetic leader, they erected a palisadoed 
 fort, as well as huts to protect themselves from the rigor of 
 winter. 
 
 As the men became better reconciled to their situation, 
 Smith determined to leave them for awhile, for the purpose 
 
i6o8] CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 95 
 
 of exploring the country. Accompanied only by two of his 
 men and two Indian guides, he ascended the Chickahominy, 
 until the canoe would float no longer. Then with a single 
 Indian he struck inland, but, being attacked by a party of 
 natives, was made prisoner, after a vigorous defence in which 
 three of his assailants were killed. His captors would probably 
 have taken his life at once, but he exhibited to them a pocket 
 compass, and otherwise amused them, so that, becoming elated 
 at their triumph in securing such a mortal, they carried him 
 through their villages until they had reached the residence of 
 Powhatan, who at that time was on the York river, not far 
 north of Jamestown. 
 
 The chief and his councillors doomed their prisoner to 
 death, but just as the sentence was about to be executed, and 
 the tomahawk was uplifted, POCAHONTAS, the daughter of the 
 chief a gentle maiden scarcely twelve years of age sprang 
 forward, and clinging to the neck of the captain, interceded 
 with her father for his life. Her request was granted, and, 
 after seven weeks captivity, Smith was sent back to James 
 town, accompanied by several Indian guides. This story of 
 the rescue, which rests entirely upon the authority of Smith, 
 is now by many discredited. 
 
 Shortly after Smith s return, Newport arrived from Eng 
 land with 120 emigrants, though not of the sort who were 
 calculated to add to the well-being of the colony, being 
 mostly gentlemen and goldsmiths. Like the adventurers who 
 went with Frobisher, these treasure-hunters soon discovered 
 what they believed to be gold, and loaded one of the vessels 
 with the worthless earth and stones. The other vessel Smith 
 prevailed on the men to load with skins, furs, and cedar-wood 
 the first exportation of value from Virginia. 
 
 In the summer of 1608, while the settlers were rebuilding 
 their huts, which had been destroyed by a fire, Smith, with 
 eleven companions, undertook the exploration of Chesar^ike 
 
96 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1609 
 
 bay, which he surveyed to the mouth of the Susquehanna. 
 So many and so devious are the coast-lines of this great bay, 
 that Smith s investigations embraced nearly 3000 miles of 
 navigation ; the Potomac was also ascended as far as the lo 
 cality of Washington. Upon Smith s return he was elected 
 president of the council. Newport now again appeared, 
 with yet more undesirable and unwelcome recruits, which 
 obliged Smith to write to the London Company, "When 
 you send again, I entreat you, rather send but thirty carpen 
 ters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, 
 and diggers-up-of-trees-roots, well-provided, than a thousand 
 of such as we have." Nevertheless, Smith was strenuous in 
 obliging every one to work six hours a day being the time 
 allotted and so the settlers passed the summer in a far better 
 state of health than they did the year preceding. When 
 Newport s vessel sailed, it carried back a cargo of wainscot 
 and clapboards, and also some tar, pitch and potash, pre 
 pared by several Germans who were among the last who came. 
 
 Although the Virginia colony could not be said to be in 
 a flourishing condition, the London Corporation, having 
 changed its title, put forth great efforts to make the under 
 taking popular. They obtained a new charter, in which it 
 was provided that the affairs and laws of the colony should be 
 regulated by the superior council in England, who should 
 choose a governor; that the colonial council at Jamestown 
 should be abolished, and that the governor should exercise its 
 former powers. They were given all the territory north and 
 south of the James, 200 miles each way, and extending west 
 ward to the Pacific. 
 
 The governor first appointed was LORD DELAWARE. Not 
 being ready to leave England at once, the fleet of nine vessels 
 and 500 colonists set sail (1609) without him, Newport and 
 two others being designated to act as commissioners until he 
 should arrive. But it happened that the vessel in which were 
 
i6io] COLONY UNDER THE VIRGINIA COMPANY. 97 
 
 the commissioners, having been stranded in a storm upon the 
 Bermudas, did not appear until several months after the others. 
 The new colonists being inclined to dispute the authority of 
 Smith, he partly got rid of them by establishing two new set 
 tlements, one at the Falls of the James, and the other at 
 Nansemond near where Richmond and Norfolk now stand. 
 The unruly behavior of these new-comers soon involved 
 them in disputes with the Indians, while Smith himself, being 
 severely wounded by an accidental discharge of powder, was 
 obliged to return to England for surgical aid. At his depart 
 ure, the colony numbered about 500 persons. At Jamestown, 
 there was a fort, a chapel and a storehouse, besides a.bout 60 
 dwellings ; also a few horses, swine and other domestic ani 
 mals. Only about forty acres of land were in cultivation, so 
 that the colonists were obliged to depend for food mainly on 
 the corn, purchased or extorted from the Indians. 
 
 THE COLONY UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGINIA 
 COMPANY. 
 
 \ 
 
 The six months following the departure of Smith, were 
 long remembered in the colony as the Starving Time. All 
 discipline was given up by the settlers, who forsook the reg 
 ular system of labor which Smith had established* and, while 
 consuming the general stock of provisions, became idle and 
 riotous. A famine was the consequence. They also lost the 
 good-will of the Indians, who waylaid and killed many of 
 those who wandered off in search of food. Thirty of the 
 colonists, under plea of their necessities, seized a vessel and 
 sailed away, purposing to become pirates. Only sixty persons 
 out of nearly 500 remained, when, in the spring of 1610, 
 Newport, Gates and Somers, the three commissioners of the 
 London Virginia Company, arrived from the scene of their 
 wreck on the Bermudas. 
 
 E 9 
 
9 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1611 
 
 The settlers could probably have survived but ten days longer 
 had not the commissioners come thus timely to their relief; 
 but as their own company, comprising 150 men, had but a few 
 days provisions for themselves, it was resolved to abandon 
 Virginia and to sail for Newfoundland, where succor could 
 be obtained from the fishermen. The settlers had actually 
 embarked, and were sailing down the river, when the three 
 ships of Lord Delaware, with provisions and colonists, met 
 them. Thankful for this second relief, they landed once 
 more, and the habitations of Jamestown were again peopled. 
 But the health of the governor very soon declining, he was 
 forced to return to England, leaving the colony in charge of 
 LORD PERCY. 
 
 Percy was not long in office, when he was succeeded (1611) 
 as deputy by Sir Thomas Dale, who came over with more 
 men and supplies. He was furnished with a printed code of 
 laws, harsh in their nature, and which remained for eight 
 years the martial law of the colony. SIR THOMAS GATES, one 
 of the late commissioners, but now the appointed governor, 
 also brought over 300 men, as well as a hundred cattle. The 
 animals, indeed, were better assurances of permanency than 
 many men would have been, and their importation was a step 
 which proved the wisdom of Lord Cecil, who had a control 
 ling voice in the affairs of the company. The plantation of 
 Henrico so named from Prince Henry, the eldest son of the 
 king was founded by Dale upon the river, in the neighbor 
 hood of the wigwams of Powhatan : and where the Appo- 
 mattox enters the James, was established another settlement, 
 called New Bermuda. The Indians were driven away from 
 their cabins and fields, and stockades were erected that the 
 English might not in their turn be thus unjustly treated. 
 
 There now happened an event in the colony which proved 
 instrumental in bringing about more friendly relations with 
 the Indians than had recently existed. Captain SAMUEL 
 
1616] COLONY UNDER THE VIRGINIA COMPANY. gg 
 
 ARGALL, having gone up the Potomac on a trading expedition, 
 found the princess Pocahontas there, and having enticed her 
 on board his ship, carried her back with him to Jamestown. 
 Powhatan demanded the release of his daughter, which being 
 refused unless a ransom was given, the chief prepared to make 
 war. But a settler named John Rolfe, an honest and pious 
 young Englishman, feeling a strong sympathy for the Indian 
 maiden, labored for her conversion. Being of a docile spirit 
 and quick of apprehension, she made satisfactory progress, 
 and their friendship having ripened into attachment, Rolfe 
 desired her in marriage. Powhatan assented, and Pocahontas 
 having received the rite of water "baptism, the couple were 
 united in the chapel at Jamestown. 
 
 Argall, the captor of Pocahontas, a coarse and passionate 
 man, hearing that the French were establishing themselves 
 on the coasts of Maine and Acadie (which were claimed as 
 being within the jurisdiction of the English), hastened to 
 dislodge them. He cannonaded their settlements on Mont 
 Desert island, at St. Croix and Port Royal the deserted 
 houses of the latter being set on fire, and those on Mont 
 Desert given over to pillage. He also entered the mouth 
 of the Hudson, where, on Manhattan island, Dutch traders 
 had settled. These acknowledged the authority of England 
 while Argall was there, but hoisted the Dutch flag as soon as 
 their troublesome visitor had departed. 
 
 In 1616, DALE, who had served with firmness and efficiency 
 after Gates return home, himself went back to England, 
 having appointed George Yeardley to be deputy. At this time 
 tobacco had become the favorite production of the colonists, 
 so that not only the gardens and fields, but even the streets 
 of Jamestown, were allowed for the culture of the weed which 
 was destined to become Virginia s chief staple. Anxious to 
 realize the high price which the article commanded, the 
 settlers devoted so exclusive an attention to its production 
 
ioo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1619 
 
 that they were in danger of suffering from insufficiency of 
 food. 
 
 Each settler had at first been allowed ioo acres of land, 
 for which an annual quit-rent of two shillings was to be paid to 
 the company, but this allowance of land was now reduced 
 one-half. Many who received grants paid a corn rent, and 
 in this manner the colonial officials at first received their 
 salaries. The governor had a plantation cultivated by a hun 
 dred indentured servants of the company. Grants of land 
 were likewise made for meritorious services, but not to a 
 greater extent than 2000 acres ; yet these favors were not 
 always well-bestowed, while the consequent engrossment of 
 lands for such purposes gave rite to much complaint. 
 
 Upon Dale s return to England, there was considerable con 
 tention between GEORGE YEARDLEY, whom Dale had nomi 
 nated as his successor, and the friends of Argall. The latter 
 individual obtained the office for awhile, but complaints of his 
 misbehavior having been made to the Virginia Company, Lord 
 Delaware was empowered to restore tranquillity. He started 
 with that intent, but died on the voyage across the ocean : 
 it is said, at the entrance of that bay to which his name 
 has been given. Yeardley having been appointed governor, 
 with the title of baronet, then came over to Virginia ; while 
 Argall, fearing lest his ill-gotten property would be confis 
 cated, escaped with it to the West Indies. 
 
 When Yeardley arrived in Virginia (1619), twelve years 
 after its first settlement, there Were but 600 colonists and 7 
 distinct plantations. Having added four others, he called a 
 meeting of the first colonial assembly. It was composed of 
 the governor, a council, and of deputies or burgesses from the 
 ii plantations. John Pory was elected speaker, and acts were 
 passed which gave general satisfaction. 
 
 The colonists, feeling now that their rights were regarded, 
 and that Virginia was indeed their country, applied themselves 
 
1621] COLONY UNDER THE VIRGINIA COMPANY. IQI 
 
 industriously to the work of building houses and cultivating 
 their fields. And in order that they might become still more 
 attached to the soil, by adopting domestic and virtuous habits, 
 the company sent over to Jamestown ninety young women, 
 " agreeable, persons, young and incorrupt," who were taken 
 as wives by the planters. Sixty more were despatched the 
 next year, and realized a still better price than the first. One 
 hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco was the average price 
 paid by a planter to the company, for its trouble and expense 
 in furnishing him with an amiable partner. This expedient 
 stimulated emigration to such an extent, that in three years 
 the colony had increased in numbers to about 4000 persons. 
 
 Upon the promulgation by the company of the written 
 constitution of the colony, which was sent thither in 1621, 
 SIR FRANCIS WYATT was appointed governor. He was in 
 structed to restrict the cultivation of tobacco, for its use was 
 as yet limited, and the market soon became overstocked. It 
 was therefore recommended that more attention should be 
 given to corn, cattle, and grape growing, as well as to the 
 culture of silk by planting mulberry-trees. The latter indus 
 try, however, was not destined to succeed, the population 
 being too sparse for its profitable cultivation ; but it is inter 
 esting to note that at that time (1621) the first cotton seeds 
 in the United States were here planted, and their favorable 
 growth soon attracted especial attention. Wyatt was also 
 enjoined to preserve peaceable relations with the Indians, but 
 those injunctions came too late to avert the calamity which 
 presently followed. 
 
 Powhatan was dead, and in his place ruled Opechancanough, 
 a bold and cunning chief, who showed little of that regard for 
 the English which had been latterly manifested by his elder 
 brother. But it is clear that the English had not exhibited, 
 in their conduct toward the natives, those Christian traits the 
 exercise of which would not have failed to ripen into true 
 
102 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1622 
 
 attachment. More than that, they had not regarded the 
 simplest principles of justice. The intruders had continued 
 laying out plantations, erecting their dwellings where once 
 the wigwams of the Indians stood upon the banks of their 
 beautiful Powhatan ; and now, in the eagerness of the settlers 
 to secure the best lands for tobacco culture, they bad pene 
 trated northward, nearly or quite to the Potomac. What 
 compensation had the natives received for all this broad 
 domain? Where indeed would they be in a few years, if 
 strangers continued to steal their lands at the rate they were 
 now doing ? The Indians believed that their only safety was 
 in the extermination of the whites, and, incensed at the mur 
 der of one of their principal warriors, they delayed no longer 
 to raise the tomahawk. 
 
 The various tribes which comprised the Powhatans, did not 
 number, however, over 2500 warriors, and being scattered 
 over a large extent of territory, and located a few together in 
 little villages, their murderous design was not suspected by the 
 whites. But at mid-day of the 22d of the 3d month (March), 
 1622, the Indians fell upon the settlers " like a thunderbolt 
 from a clear sky," and in one hour 350 of the inhabitants had 
 been massacred. Jamestown itself and several of the adjacent 
 settlements, were apprised by a friendly Indian of the intended 
 attack, and escaped the carnaga which prevailed in the other 
 districts. The Indians, finding themselves unable to do fur 
 ther mischief, quickly retreated, while the colonists, for con 
 venience of defence, having been all collected on six of the 
 80 plantations, entered upon a bloody war of extermination, 
 in which the natives were slain without mercy. The imme 
 diate results of this retaliatory policy were disastrous to the 
 prosperity of the colony ; sickness and scarcity of food 
 prevailed; the college estate, a tract of 10,000 acres, was 
 abandoned ; and the small glass and iron works, which had 
 been operated by some Italians and Dutch, were destroyed. 
 
1624] SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA. ^3 
 
 Fourteen years elapsed before a peace was made with the 
 natives. 
 
 In London, there were now great dissensions among the 
 1000 stockholders of the Virginia Company, a portion of 
 whom, seeing only ruin before them, appealed to King James 
 for an investigation into the company s affairs. The king, 
 for several years, had desired to exercise a more personal 
 control in colonial matters, and hence readily replied to the 
 application by the appointment of commissioners, who at 
 once proceeded to the colony. 
 
 The report of the commissioners upon the state of the 
 colony was unfavorable; yet they esteemed the plantation to 
 be an important acquisition to the dominion of the king, and 
 made such recommendations as the latter had desired. The 
 matter being heard in court, the judges, whose positions were 
 at the mercy of the king, entered a decree against the cor 
 poration, whereby its patents became forfeited. Thus the 
 London Virginia Company, in 1624, ceased to exist, after 
 spending ^150,000 in establishing a colony, the returns from 
 which had as yet been meagre indeed. 
 
 SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA. 
 
 Somewhat has been said, in the preceding chapters, of the 
 traffic in negro slaves, as carried on by the Spanish and Por 
 tuguese. It was in the summer of 1619, while Yeardley was 
 governor, that the curse of slavery was fastened upon the 
 " Old Dominion," and it was in a Dutch man-of-war that the 
 first instalment of twenty negroes was brought, and landed at 
 Jamestown, to be sold to the planters. For many years it 
 was almost entirely the Dutch, who were concerned in bring 
 ing them to the Virginia market. Nevertheless, their intro 
 duction was not by any means rapid, for at the end of thirty 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1624 
 
 years after the first importation, the proportion of negroes to 
 whites in the colony, was but one in fifty. 
 
 Although the Dutch, who drove out the Portuguese in the East 
 Indies, claimed to be a reformed people, they exhibited toward the 
 natives of those lands a measure of savage cruelty but little infe 
 rior to that which had characterized their Papist predecessors. In 
 the islands of the Java seas there were secret prisons, known to, 
 and upheld by, the chief men and magistrates, in which kidnapped 
 natives were confined, to be sold abroad as slaves. Any man, 
 woman, or child, might be suddenly carried off to these secret 
 prisons, where they were kept until a ship s cargo of victims was 
 secured then marched out in chains at night and put aboard the 
 vessel, with no hope of relief or rescue. 
 
 Amongst the nations called Christian, of a few centuries 
 ago, there was a strange discrimination entertained as to what 
 was fair and what was really wrong in the infliction of a state 
 of servitude. For instance, the strangers and the heathen 
 of old time were mentioned as having been held in bondage 
 by the Israelites, a course sanctioned by the law of Moses ; 
 and thus it was agreed that when Christians came in contact 
 with such "heathen and strangers" as the negroes, the Moors 
 and the Indians, the proper course to take with them was to 
 place them in a condition of slavery. 
 
 But there was another form of servitude the system of 
 indenturing, or apprenticeship of white persons which dif 
 fered from the first only in the duration of bondage. This 
 prevailed largely in Virginia prior to the introduction of 
 negroes. These white servants were first sold in England, to 
 be transported ; were sold again upon their arrival in Virginia, 
 to the highest bidder ; and had then to give their exclusive 
 labor for a term of years to clear themselves of the cost of 
 their transportation. The planters would go aboard the ships 
 upon their arrival in port, and would often pay for the servants 
 four or five times what they had cost in England. Some of 
 
1624] SLA VER Y IN VIRGINIA. ! O5 
 
 these servants were prisoners of war; others, again, were 
 known to the colonists as "jail-birds/ being convicts who 
 had been taken from British prisons by the king s orders, and 
 shipped to the colony for sale as servants. It has been already 
 stated that the salaries of a number of the colonial officers 
 were paid in the labor of these indentured servants, and that 
 the governor had as many as 100 assigned to his use. The 
 colonial treasurer and the marshal, had each 1500 acres, cul 
 tivated by 50 indentured tenants; the colonial physician re 
 ceived 500 acres and 20 tenants; while to each clergyman, 
 there appertained, besides the regular tax of tobacco, 100 
 acres, cultivated by 6 tenants. This system of limited slavery, 
 or feonage, made the way easy for the introduction of the 
 practice of life-long bondage. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF CANADA. 
 1598 1662. 
 
 DE MONTS: THE SETTLEMENT OF PORT ROYAL. 
 
 all the century preceding the English occupation 
 of Virginia, the fishermen of Newfoundland and the neigh 
 boring shores, found profitable occupation in cod-fishing, and 
 also in capturing the walrus, whose tusks of ivory were a valu 
 able article of commerce. The harvest of the fur-trappers 
 and traders was likewise at hand, and, besides lesser peltry, 
 the skins of the bear and the bison began to be brought for 
 ward for the European market. Within a few years after 
 Cartier and Roberval ascended the St. Lawrence, the Indians, 
 having heard of the demand for skins, brought them in large 
 quantities to the mouth of the river as many as 6000 buffalo 
 skins alone being thus disposed of in two years. The French, 
 and particularly the hardy mariners of St. Malo, enjoyed the 
 monopoly of this constantly-increasing trade. 
 
 Roberval s title of "Lieutenant-General of Canada, New 
 foundland, Labrador, and the adjacent territory," though 
 rather an empty honor, it is true, was next conferred by King 
 Henry IV. upon the MARQUIS DE LA ROCHE. Crossing the 
 ocean (1598) to take possession of his extensive dominion, La 
 Roche left forty men on Sable island opposite the southern 
 point of Nova Scotia intending to return after he had further 
 explored the coast. But a storm of long continuance having 
 1 06 
 
1604] DE MO NTS. 107 
 
 driven his vessel far off the shore, he concluded to go back to 
 France. For some political offence, La Roche was thrust into 
 prison, and, unfortunately, five years elapsed before the Sable 
 islanders, now but twelve in number, were rescued and brought 
 back to their own land. They were conducted into the pres* 
 ence of the king, before whom they stood (as described by a 
 writer of the time) like river-gods of old, being clad in shaggy 
 skins of seals and foxes, and with beards of prodigious length, 
 that hung from their swarthy faces. The king granted them a 
 bounty, which, with the sale of the furs they had accumulated, 
 enabled them to embark in the Canada trade on their own 
 account. 
 
 To the SIEUR DE MONTS was granted a patent to colonize 
 AcadieorLa Cadie, which was described as the territory lying 
 between the 4oth and 46th parallels of north latitude corre 
 sponding to the section included between the present Phila 
 delphia and Montreal. De Monts sailed in 1604, having, as 
 chief aids in the enterprise, Pontgrave, a merchant of Brit 
 tany, and SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN, a soldier who had fought 
 zealously for the king, and was now quite ready for fresh ad 
 ventures. He had, a few years previously, ascended the St. 
 Lawrence in the track of Cartier, as far as Montreal. 
 
 De Monts and his companions sailed beyond Sable island 
 into the bay of Fundy ; the Basin of Annapolis was entered, 
 and named by them Port Royal ; and a fortified settlement 
 was established on the little island of St. Croix, at the mouth 
 of the river of the same name, which partly separates the 
 present state of Maine from the province of New Brunswick. 
 
 While the constructions at St. Croix were progressing, De 
 Monts and Champlain explored the adjacent coasts of Maine 
 and Massachusetts. They gave a name to the frowning cliffs 
 of Mont Desert, now such a pleasure-place to the summer- 
 sojourner; they entered the river Penobscot, which before 
 had been known as the Norembega ; passed by the Isles of 
 
lo8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1606 
 
 Shoals ; and in several places landed, holding conferences 
 with the Indians. This was about the time when Gosnold, 
 Pring and Weymouth, on behalf of the English merchants, 
 were examining the same coast and bartering with the natives 
 for furs and sassafras. The winter at St. Croix proved a 
 disastrous one to the colonists; thirty-five of their number, 
 or nearly one-half, dying of the scurvy. In the succeeding 
 summer the settlement was abandoned, and Port Royal, across 
 the bay, arose in its stead. 
 
 When De Monts returned to France for additional colonists 
 and supplies, he found a valuable ally in the person of MARC 
 LESCARBOT, an advocate and poet a man of lively fancy, 
 but withat of good judgment. Lescarbot came over to Port 
 Royal with the baron Poutrincourt, to whom De Monts had 
 made a grant of the new settlement. They prudently brought 
 with them mechanics and laborers, as well as abundance of 
 provisions, and the little colony started with a better promise 
 of permanency than had perhaps any previous settlement in 
 the New World. This was in the year 1606, one year before 
 the founding of Jamestown. 
 
 Lescarbot soon made it evident that he knew how to work 
 with his hands, as well as to pen verses. In the meadows near 
 the Basin of Annapolis, the grass having been first burnt off, 
 he caused wheat, rye and barley to be sown. Near the fort, 
 gardens were made, and so great was the zeal of Lescarbot, 
 and so earnest his desire to see the work prosper, that he him 
 self plied the hoe with diligence. Port Royal was then a 
 quadrangle of wooden buildings, having a bastion on the two 
 water-side corners, and enclosing a spacious court. The 
 winter was passed agreeably, for the friendship of the Indians 
 had been secured, their chiefs being invited to sit at Poutrin- 
 court s table with the principal men of the colony. The 
 latter adopted a recommendation of Champlain s that they 
 should take turns in obtaining supplies of fresh game and 
 
i6ii] THE SETTLEMENT OF PORT ROYAL. IO9 
 
 fish for the table ; and as it would seem to be the French 
 man s faculty to know how to provide for the larder, there 
 was never lack of fresh provisions venison and bear s meat, 
 wild duck and partridge, sturgeon and codfish. 
 
 But this quiet life and bright prospect for the future, was 
 not destined to continue. In the spring came a vessel from 
 France, bringing the unwelcome tidings that the patent of 
 De Monts had been revoked. The monopoly to him, had, 
 in the first place, been granted unjustly, for it infringed the 
 rights of the fishermen ; and in the same spirit it was taken 
 away. Merchants of the Norman, Breton, and Biscayan 
 ports had loudly complained, using money freely at court to 
 secure their object, and therefore the obnoxious patent had 
 been withdrawn. With a sad heart Lescarbot left the gardens 
 and corn-fields of Port Royal, which had seemed like a sort 
 of pastoral in his poet s life, and in the same vessel in which 
 he had come over, he and the other settlers returned to their 
 native land. 
 
 It was not long before Poutrincourt reappeared at his pos 
 session of Port Royal, and, with his son and a few others, 
 occupied it as an intended fur-trading station. Thither in 
 1611 came two Jesuit priests Biard and Masse being the 
 first of that Society who had appeared in the wilderness of 
 New France. Two years later another vessel brought two more 
 of the Order, and a settlement was begun on Mont Desert 
 island. It was at this juncture that Argall, from Jamestown, 
 made his appearance, as narrated in the preceding chapter. 
 Having captured the French company, he proceeded to Port 
 Royal, which he ordered to be plundered of its stores and 
 then burnt to the ground, and by these unwarranted acts 
 began that struggle between the French and English, in 
 America, which was destined to continue, with intermissions, 
 for a century and a half. 
 
 10 
 
I io HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1608 
 
 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN, THE FOUNDER OF QUEBEC. 
 
 Champlain had become enamoured with the wild charms 
 and the life of adventure which the nearly-unexplored conti 
 nent offered, and easily persuaded some merchants of St. Malo 
 and Dieppe, to provide the means for another enterprise. Two 
 vessels were despatched, one of them in charge of Champlain, 
 the other being intrusted to Pontgrave, who had borne an 
 active part in the preceding expedition. Where the Sague- 
 nay, darkly flowing between gloomy walls of precipitous rock, 
 enters the broad St. Lawrence, is situated the town of Tadou- 
 sac, which was at that time, and for a long while continued 
 to be, the centre of the Canadian fur-trade. Here Pontgrave 
 loaded his vessels, while Champlain continued up the river 
 to the isle of Orleans, and on the mainland, opposite the 
 island s upper extremity, founded QUEBEC in the summer of 
 1608. 
 
 Until cold weather came, the men employed themselves in 
 building several houses for their accommodation, and also 
 in constructing a strong palisade for their protection ; while 
 part of the adjoining ground was laid out as a garden, and 
 herein Champlain, like Lescarbot, preferred to find employ 
 ment. But their comfortable houses and surrounding wall, 
 which shielded them from the wintry blasts, were not proof 
 against the inroads of the scurvy, which pestilent disease car 
 ried away all but eight of the twenty-eight settlers. Pontgrave 
 who in the meantime had been to France, brought them re 
 lief in the spring. Then Champlain, impatient of confine 
 ment, and eager to begin his cherished plans of exploration, 
 readily acceded to the solicitation of certain Algonquin In 
 dians, from the Ottawa, to join them in a foray against their 
 bitter enemies, the Iroquois. The Ottawas were to be joined 
 by their allies, the Hurons, which tribe, though of the same 
 race as the Iroquois, were, nevertheless, their enemies. 
 
1608] SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN. m 
 
 Several hundred of the Ottawas started up the St. Lawrence, 
 accompanied by Champlain and eleven men the French be 
 ing all armed with the arquebuse, a short firelock which was 
 generally furnished with a forked rest when in use. Upon 
 arriving at the river Richelieu or Sorel, they followed its 
 southward course into that long, narrow lake, which became 
 known as the Champlain. Far down its western shore were 
 descried the canoes of the Iroquois. The Frenchmen at once 
 clad themselves in their light armor of steel the casque, 
 breastplate and thigh-pieces while the Iroquois, unaware of 
 the presence of such potent antagonists, advanced briskly 
 against them. But the arquebuse quickly did its work. Levelled 
 at a chief, the report came like a thunderbolt to the discon 
 certed savages; and, while the victim writhed in agony upon 
 the ground, another and another shot followed with equally 
 deadly effect. The battle resulted in disaster to the Iroquois, 
 while the allies, elated with their sanguinary triumph, returned 
 with their prisoners northward. 
 
 Champlain had wickedly promised to again assist the allies 
 against their common enemy, with the understanding that the 
 Ottawas should guide him northward to the wonderful bay 
 that of Hudson of which rumor had reached him ; while the 
 Hurons, on their part, should lead him to the chain of great 
 lakes which were the reservoirs of the St. Lawrence. At the 
 rendezvous, which was appointed to be at the mouth of the 
 river Richelieu, in the following year, Champlain and a few 
 of his companions met part of the allies. These were here 
 surprised, and would probably have been overcome by an in 
 vading band of the Iroquois, but the arquebuse again caused 
 the discomfiture of the latter ; a barricade which they had 
 erected was scaled, and nearly all its defenders were slaugh 
 tered. The words of Champlain, in his account, were "By 
 the grace of God, behold the battle won!" Yet he had 
 simply bargained to become the executioner of these people, 
 
H2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1615 
 
 
 
 for the privilege of being shown a great bay and a chain of 
 lakes ! The body of one of the Iroquois was quartered, and 
 eaten by the Indian captors, probably to infuse some of its 
 superior prowess into their own systems. 
 
 It was then a common Indian practice to devour the heart of a 
 great warrior who had been slain in battle. Cannibalism did not 
 prevail as a usage, though an enemy was occasionally eaten, as in 
 the instance cited above. Amongst the Canada Algonquins, whose 
 reliance for food was almost entirely on hunting, their dead com 
 panions were frequently eaten to avoid famine. With some of the 
 tribes it was practised as a religious rite. There was one clan or 
 family of the Miamis, with whom the eating of the bodies of pris 
 oners burnt to death, was a hereditary duty and privilege. 
 
 Professing to have the conversion of the Indians of New 
 France deeply at heart, Champlain returned to France, and en 
 listed in the mission cause that reformed and austere branch of 
 Franciscan friars, called the Recollets. Four of these came 
 back with him in 1615 to Quebec, and established there the 
 first convent in Canada. Champlain now agreed a third time 
 to extend warlike aid to the Canada Indian^. With a few 
 followers, he ascended the Ottawa river to Lake Nipissing, 
 whose tribe of the same name (the Nipissings) were called by 
 the Jesuits, the "Sorcerers," on account of the great prevalence 
 of magicians, and the supposed abundance of demons and 
 spirits among them. They did not tarry in this uninviting 
 company, but proceeded on their way to the Georgian bay of 
 Lake Huron, and here found Le Caron, one of the four friars, 
 who had gone on in advance to establish a mission-station at 
 the village of the Hurons. 
 
 Leaving the priest to attend to the souls of the women and 
 children, Champlain went forward with the warriors to help 
 them murder their enemies. They crossed Lake Ontario at its 
 eastern end, then struck south-westward to the neighborhood 
 of Seneca Lake, where was located the tribe of Senecas, the most 
 
1632] SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN. 113 
 
 westerly of the Five Nations- The Hurons had expected to 
 be joined by a large band of Eries, from the country south of 
 the lake of that name, but these not appearing, an attack was 
 made on the Senecas, who were intrenched in a strong pali- 
 sadoed fort, 30 feet high, having a gallery all around near the 
 top. This time the assailants were driven off, and Champlain 
 being wounded, the Canadian Indians returned to their own 
 country. The policy inaugurated by this leader, was that 
 which was usually followed by the French so long as they re 
 tained their American possessions, namely that of making 
 the Canada Indians their dependents, by inciting and aiding 
 them against their native enemies, thus securing in return 
 their help against the English. The English, on their part, 
 made friends of the Iroquois, with the same end in view. 
 
 In 1622 the Iroquois, smarting under their first defeats, made an 
 incursion as far as the little settlement of Quebec, but were too 
 wary of the fatal fire-arms of the French, to directly assault the 
 place. 
 
 The monopoly of the fur trade of New France was for a short 
 time given to two Huguenot merchants, but much quarrelling ensued 
 between their adherents and the Papists, so that the latter obtained 
 the grant again from Cardinal Richelieu, who then wielded the chief 
 power in France. He in fact organized the " Company of New 
 France," composed of 100 associates, with almost unlimited powers 
 over the French-American dominion, and a monopoly of its fur 
 trade. But, just at that time there was war with the English, and 
 Port Royal and the trading-posts at Tadousac and Quebec fell into 
 the hands of the latter. They were restored to the French, how 
 ever, in 1632 ; and three years afterward, Champlain, who had 
 been appointed commandant at Quebec, died there. We wish not 
 to do any injustice to the character of that patient explorer and 
 intrepid fighter ; yet it is evident that his acts partook strongly of 
 that blood-thirsty type of Christianity which is of another nature 
 from the conquests of the sword of the Spirit, whose captives are 
 love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, etc. The very opposite of 
 these attributes were the results of Champlain s campaigns. 
 10* 
 
H 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1634 
 
 THE JESUIT MISSIONS. 
 
 The Recollet priests were soon interdicted from missionary 
 work in Canada; that field of labor, through the influence of 
 Cardinal Richelieu, having been committed to the Jesuits. 
 The zeal which has ever characterized the disciples of Loyola, 
 appears to have proceeded in very many instances from an 
 intense desire to propagate the Romish faith, to this end in 
 volving an implicit obedience to the will of their superiors in 
 the church. Nevertheless, their early labors in Canada were 
 certainly actuated to a large degree by sincerely pious motives : 
 patience and unvarying kindness marked their intercourse with 
 the natives, in whose hearts the strongholds of sensuality, in 
 dolence, and, above all, of superstition, were to be overcome. 
 And, although the last evil was not so much removed, as it 
 was lessened by a milder substitute, still their efforts in soften 
 ing the brute nature were crowned with considerable success. 
 It was their hope that, in the wilderness of New France, the 
 same good results would follow their labors as had been wit 
 nessed with kindred missions in Brazil and Paraguay. 
 
 As the method of obtaining the confidence of the Indians, which 
 was practised by the first Portuguese Jesuits in Paraguay, was so 
 successful, we will quote what is said of their plan of conciliation 
 there : " The Jesuits took with them a stock of maize as provision 
 in the wilderness, where the bows of the Indians did not supply them 
 with game, for they carefully avoided carrying fire-arms lest they 
 should excite alarm or suspicion. When they arrived amongst the 
 tribes they sought, they explained through their interpreters that 
 they came thus and threw themselves into their power, to prove to 
 them that they were their friends ; to teach them the arts, and to 
 endow them with the advantages of the Europeans. They speedily 
 inspired the Indians with confidence in their good intentions tor 
 wards them ; for the natives of every country yet discovered have 
 been found as quick in recognizing their friends as they have been 
 in resenting the injuries of their enemies." As a consequence, the 
 natives exhibited much improvement in their lives, and were gathered 
 
1634] THE JESUIT MISSIONS. 115 
 
 into communities styled Reductions, which became noted as marvels 
 of good order and peacefulness ; but these were broken up by the 
 Spanish and Portuguese themselves, under circumstances of ex 
 ceeding barbarity. 
 
 The Jesuits arrived at Quebec shortly before the death of 
 Champlain, and besides establishing stations at the four 
 trading-posts on the St. Lawrence, they sent BREBEUF and 
 others (1634) to the Huron country, to re-open the mission 
 there. The locality of the Huron nation was a well-defined 
 one ; they were an agricultural people, and, had not the Iro- 
 quois proved such " thorns in their sides," or the white men 
 intruded, they would most likely have been found in their 
 habitations by the lake to this day. Their villages, which 
 contained altogether over 15,000 persons, were in that small 
 section of Upper Canada included between Lake Simcoe and 
 the Georgian bay of Lake Huron. South of their territory, 
 and along the north side of Lake Erie, was the Neutral 
 Nation, who formed a sort of barrier between the former and 
 the Iroquois of New York. The Huron houses were pecu 
 liarly constructed of a framework of poles, drawn together at 
 the top, and covered with bark; sometimes extending a dis 
 tance of over 200 feet in length, and of course containing 
 many families under the one roof. 
 
 Brebeuf and his associates met with great opposition from 
 the sorcerers and medicine-men ; and when, upon the arrival 
 of additional priests, the smallpox appeared in the villages, 
 the scourge was attributed to the malignant influence of the 
 "Black Robes." The sprinkling of infants, as a religious 
 rite, the Indians held to be a certain evidence of sorcery. 
 The Jesuits were persistent in this practice, which they held 
 to be of the first importance, and as they were constantly 
 watching for opportunities to make use of it, it seemed at 
 times as though they would all, without doubt, be murdered. 
 One of their number, named JOGUES, having gone with several 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
Il6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1650 
 
 companions to Quebec for supplies, was captured on the St. 
 Lawrence by a band of Mohawks, and besides being severely 
 bruised and lacerated, was carried to their towns in Eastern 
 New York, and, in each of them, was obliged to "run the 
 gauntlet," and submit to excessive tortures. After several 
 months imprisonment, Jogues escaped down the Hudson, and 
 returned to France ; but having come back to the missions, he 
 again fell into the hands of the Iroquois, and was massacred. 
 
 Since the defeats inflicted upon the Iroquois or Five Nations 
 by the Hurons and Ottawas, with the aid of Champlain, the 
 former had been incessant in their forays into Canada; and 
 now that they too had become possessed of fire-arms by 
 trading with the Dutch, they were prepared to execute sum 
 mary vengeance upon their enemies. It was in 1649 and 
 1650 that the memorable Iroquois onset upon the Hurons, 
 and the complete dispersion of the latter, occurred. Of the 
 survivors of that dreadful attack many died of famine ; many 
 who had been taken prisoners were burnt to death or toma 
 hawked ; while a few were permitted to incorporate them 
 selves with the Iroquois tribes. The remnant afterwards 
 dropped the name of Hurons, and became known as the 
 Wyandottes. Brebeuf was among the number massacred, and 
 the mission itself was shortly removed to Quebec. The fierce 
 and powerful tribe of the Eries was also exterminated : no 
 trace of them now remains save the name. 
 
 After war and disease and famine had so wasted the Canada 
 Indians, there appeared yet other antagonists, more subtle, 
 but no less powerful. Brandy and the evil men who brought 
 it, were the worst of enemies, as well to the Indians as to the 
 missions. Previous to 1662 the Jesuits had forbidden the 
 sale of brandy, but about that time the governor of Canada* 
 granted licenses, and though the remonstrances of the mis 
 sionaries prevailed for awhile to stop the traffic, yet the king s 
 secretary gave the permit, and thus the flood-gate of disaster 
 
17 1 6] THE JESUIT MISSIONS. 117 
 
 was opened. The specious plea of the secretary against the 
 prohibition was as follows: "This [prohibition] is doubtless 
 a good principle, but one which is very ruinous to trade, be 
 cause the Indians, being passionately fond of these liquors, 
 instead of coming to trade their peltries with us, go trade 
 them among the Dutch, who supply them with brandy. This 
 also is disadvantageous to religion ; for, having wherewith to 
 gratify their appetites, they allow themselves to be catechized 
 by the Dutch ministers, who instruct them in heresy." 
 
 The Jesuits, much to their credit, still continued their en 
 deavors to stop the evil, and, in 1716, the priest Lafitau pre 
 sented a petition to the Canadian council urging the abolition 
 of the brandy trade, in which he speaks of its woful effects 
 upon the Indians, in these words: "When the people are 
 intoxicated they become so furious that they break and 
 destroy everything belonging to their households; cry and 
 howl terribly, and go in quest, like madmen, of their ene 
 mies, to poignard them ; their relatives and friends are not at 
 those times safe from their rage. Several of their tribes have 
 been almost wholly destroyed by brandy, particularly the 
 Algonquin nation." In reply to this petition, the Canadian 
 council reported that, "All agree as to the inconvenience of 
 the trade in brandy, but at the same time it is necessary." 
 First declaring it to be wrong, they then agreed that it could 
 not be dispensed with. 
 
 A recent secretary of the London Missionary Society says : " I 
 beg leave to add the desirableness of preventing, by every practi 
 cable means, the introduction of ardent spirits among the inhabi 
 tants of the countries we may visit or colonize. There is nothing 
 more injurious to the South Sea Islanders than seamen who have 
 absconded from ships, setting up huts for the retail of ardent 
 spirits, which are the resort of the indolent and the vicious of the 
 crews of the vessels, and in which, under the influence of intoxica 
 tion, scenes of immorality and even murder have been exhibited 
 almost beyond what the natives witnessed among themselves while 
 they were heathen." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 1609 1664. 
 
 THE TRADING-POST AT NEW AMSTERDAM. 
 
 AN English navigator named HENRY HUDSON, in the em 
 ploy of London merchants, had, like Frobisher, made several 
 fruitless voyages in search of the north-west passage, as well 
 as north-eastward by Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. With 
 the expectation, as it appeared, of reaching India, directly 
 across the north pole, he still continued his solicitations, but 
 the scheme meeting with no farther encouragement in Eng 
 land, he applied to the Dutch. That nation had but recently 
 escaped from the domination of Spain, and its thrifty mer 
 chants were sending vessels in all directions, reaching out for 
 a supremacy of maritime commerce. They were depriving 
 the Portuguese of their rich possessions in India, while that 
 great monopoly the Dutch East India Company had been 
 formed, with branches in the principal cities of the Nether 
 lands. The Dutch had suddenly become the Phoenicians of 
 modern times. 
 
 The application of Hudson having been made to the Am 
 sterdam branch of the great corporation, he was furnished 
 with a vessel, the Half-Moon, and, in the year 1609, pro 
 ceeded to try again his fortune in the Arctic regions. Frus 
 trated in his design as every explorer for the "pole" has 
 been, even to the present day Hudson directed his course 
 118 
 
1 609] THE TRADING-POST AT NEW A MS TERDA M. 1 1 g 
 
 along the shores of Acadie and New England to Chesapeake 
 bay ; thence, proceeding again northward, entered that beau 
 tiful haven which Verrazzani had visited in 1524, and which 
 became known a few years later as the Bay of New York. 
 The river, thence known as the Hudson, he ascended as far 
 as the Catskills ; but the Indians, who were wonder-struck at 
 sight of the vessels, he treated badly, and consequently they 
 rejoiced when his vessels sails were spread, and he and his 
 crew departed down the river. 
 
 " It is a striking coincidence that the Iroquois Indians were first 
 unhappily made acquainted with their two greatest enemies, Rum 
 and Gunpowder, by the rival discoverers, Hudson and Champlain, 
 during the same week of the same year, 1609. While Henry 
 Hudson was cautiously feeling his way, as he supposed, into the 
 Northern Ocean, through the channel of the river which bears his 
 name, Champlain was accompanying a war-party of the Hurons 
 against the Iroquois, upon the lake receiving its name from him. 
 Hudson discovered a company of the Iroquois upon the banks of 
 the river, whom he regaled with rum. Champlain discovered a 
 body of Iroquois warriors upon the coast of the lake, near the spot 
 afterwards selected for the site of Ticonderoga, and there first 
 taught them the fatal power of gunpowder, 1 (W. L. Stone.) 
 
 By virtue of this discovery of Hudson s while sailing under 
 the Dutch flag, that nation claimed all the territory extending 
 from the Delaware or South Bay to Cape Cod, and conferred 
 upon it the name of NEW NETHERLAND. The following year 
 Hudson entered and explored the great bay north of Canada. 
 Rumors of this voyage had come to the ears of Champlain, 
 who had hoped, with the assistance of the natives, to arrive 
 at that body of water overland. 
 
 Scarcely had the Dutch taken formal possession of their 
 American dominion by erecting a fortified trading-house on 
 Manhattan island, at the mouth of the river, than Argall 
 appeared from Virginia and disputed their right to the soil. 
 But nothing more serious ensued for the time, than the haul- 
 
120 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1621 
 
 ing down of their flag. An Amsterdam company having 
 received from the States-General of Holland the exclusive 
 privilege of trade for three years to New Netherland, several 
 vessels were sent out in 1615, one of which under CAPTAIN 
 MAY (or Mey) entered the Delaware bay. The northern 
 cape at its entrance received the name of the captain, while 
 the river itself was called the South river, in distinction from 
 the Hudson, which was also known as the North river. 
 
 Another of the vessels sailed by way of East river into 
 Long Island sound, and discovered the Housatonic and also 
 the Connecticut river although the latter, for awhile, was 
 known as the Fresh-water, in distinction from the Hudson, 
 the waters^of which were salt. The commander, whose name 
 was BLOCK, and whose explorations are commemorated in- the 
 name of the small island south-west of Newport, sailed as far 
 as Cape Cod. 
 
 There was established, the same year (1615), a trading-post 
 upon the Hudson near the present site of Albany, but it was 
 soon superseded by the erection of Fort Orange. Hither the 
 Five Nations, and especially the Mohawk tribe, resorted, and 
 received in trade those fire-arms which made them so formid 
 able to the French and the Indians of Canada. Around the 
 mouth of the river were the Manhattans, a tribe of the great 
 Algonquin race. They received in payment for the whole 
 island of Manhattan the sum of sixty guilders, equivalent to 
 twenty-four dollars; or about as much as would be charged an 
 Indian chief at this day for staying less than a week at one of 
 its palatial city hotels. 
 
 The management of New Netherland affairs passed, in 
 1621, into the hands of a new corporation, which had been 
 formed under the title of the Dutch West India Company. 
 Its exclusive jurisdiction of trade and settlement embraced 
 the whole Atlantic-American coasts, as well as the coast of 
 Africa from the Tropic of Cancer down to the Cape of Good 
 
1629] THE DIRECTORS AND THE PATROONS. 121 
 
 Hope. Like the East India Company, it was divided into 
 several branches or chambers, located in five of the chief 
 Dutch cities ; while its affairs were managed by a board of 
 directors, called the Assembly of Nineteen. Captain May 
 was sent out with instructions to build two forts in the Neth- 
 erland province ; one of them Fort Orange on the Hudson, 
 mentioned above, and the other on the east side of the Dela 
 ware river near Red Bank, which was called Fort Nassau. 
 Several years later another fort and trading-post for furs, called 
 Beversreede, was built at the mouth of the Schuylkill, nearly 
 opposite Nassau. 
 
 THE DUTCH DIRECTORS AND THE PATROONS. 
 
 PETER MINUITS came out in 1625, as Director or Governor 
 for the company. With him came the first regular colonists, 
 for those who had preceded them were but traders who had 
 not as yet decided to make their homes, though they might 
 make their fortunes, in the New World. These colonists 
 who were Walloons, from the French Netherland frontier, 
 established themselves on the north-west corner of Long 
 Island, around Wallabout bay. Staten Island was also pur 
 chased from the Indians. At the southern extremity of Man 
 hattan island (the Battery), Minuits caused to be erected a 
 block-house, surrounded by a palisade of cedars, and called 
 it Fort Amsterdam. The director, his council and the sheriff, 
 constituted the local government on behalf of the company ; 
 they could make and execute the laws, and likewise act as 
 rjudges in matters of dispute. 
 
 In 1629, the West India Company received the assent of 
 the States-General to a scheme of colonization, which allowed 
 them to confer the title of Patroon, with feudal privileges, 
 upon such of their number as would, within four years, cause 
 fifty grown persons to settle in New Netherland, upon any 
 
 F II 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1629 
 
 tract of land granted to such patroon for that purpose. The 
 size of the tract was limited to an extent of sixteen miles on 
 the sea-shore or on a navigable river, the distance inland not 
 being specially noted. The recipients of the land were to 
 extinguish the Indian title to the same. The company re 
 served to themselves the island of Manhattan and the fur 
 trade, while they required the patroons to pay them a per 
 centage upon all trade in which they engaged. The colonists 
 were prohibited from making any woollen, linen or cotton 
 cloth, or other woven stuff, on pain of banishment and of 
 punishment as "perjurers," a sort of regulation very com 
 monly practised with colonial people to keep them dependent, 
 by compelling the exportation of their native productions 
 in exchange for all manufactured articles of the mother 
 country. 
 
 Estrada observes, that the Spanish government, in order to hold 
 its American subjects in greater subjection to its own dominion, con 
 ceived that the best method for accomplishing that end was to pro 
 hibit their manufacturing any of the same articles that were made 
 in Spain, or from growing on their soil any of her productions. 
 Hence they were forbidden to rival the wine, oil, almond, silk, cloth, 
 glass, etc., of the mother country, on which they became dependent 
 for their supplies of these articles. Such also, as we shall see, was 
 the policy of England toward her American colonies. 
 
 In pursuance of these concessions, some of the leading 
 members of the company proceeded to select for themselves 
 the most inviting tracts in the territory. On both sides of 
 the Delaware bay, above Capes May and Henlopen, lands 
 were taken up, and called by the name of "Swansdale ;" a 
 director of the company, named Pauw, secured the Hoboken 
 and Staten Island localities on New York harbor, calling 
 that portion on the mainland "Pavonia;" while above and 
 below Fort Orange (which itself was not ceded) lands were 
 purchased, and subsequently added to, which formed the 
 
1633] MINUITS AND VAN TW1LLER, 123 
 
 large and important manor of "Rensselaerswick." Yet the 
 privileges granted to the patroons became a source of no little 
 trouble, for those proprietors aimed at the fur trade with the 
 Indians, notwithstanding the company s prohibition. Thus, 
 starting as traders, and not as had been intended by the 
 company as settled colonists, their occupancy proved a 
 decided hindrance to the progress of the province. Farmers 
 indeed were sent out, who worked on shares of rent, and in 
 dentured servants were employed as in Virginia ; but conten 
 tions between the patroons and their tenants arose at the very 
 outset. 
 
 In 1633 WALTER VAN TWILLER succeeded Minuits as Direc 
 tor of the colony. Within a few months after his arrival from 
 Holland, there arose serious disputes with the English, who 
 were then rapidly occupying New England, and were about 
 to encroach upon land which the Dutch claimed as their own. 
 The most threatening complication was in regard to the pos 
 session of the Connecticut river. 
 
 A tract of land at the river s mouth had been purchased 
 from the Indians by the Dutch, and their national arms affixed 
 to a tree ; while farther up the river a second tract, near the 
 present city of Hartford, had been obtained from the Pequod 
 tribe, and a fortified trading-post established, called the House 
 of Good Hope. Shortly after, there arrived a bark at New 
 Amsterdam from Boston, which, while it was the forerunner 
 of the trade between the two cities, also brought despatches 
 from Governor Winthrop, expostulating against the Dutch 
 occupation of the Connecticut, which he claimed for certain 
 lords and gentlemen, subjects of the king of England. Van 
 Twiller, in reply, suggested referring the dispute to their re 
 spective governments ; but, meantime, the Plymouth colony, 
 without the concurrence of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, 
 erected a trading-house (Windsor) on the river, just above the 
 House of Good Hope, and which the Dutch permitted to 
 
124 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [163 
 
 remain. Emigrants from Massachusetts also .settled near the 
 Dutch fort or "House," and likewise at the mouth of the 
 river, where a fort was erected on behalf of the English pro 
 prietors so that it seemed as though the Dutch would 
 presently be altogether excluded from the river. 
 
 Meanwhile Van Twiller applied himself to the improvement 
 of New Amsterdam. The fort was rebuilt, and barracks, 
 mills and other buildings erected. A brewery and a number 
 of other houses were built upon the farm or " bowery," num 
 ber one, which was the property of the West India Company. 
 Yet the astute director, while managing for the company, did 
 not altogether forego his own interests. From the Indians 
 he obtained a grant of Governor s island in the harbor, and, 
 together with several officials, purchased from the native 
 owners, but without permission of the company, a fertile tract 
 of land on Long Island, where arose the settlement of Flat- 
 lands. Complaints of these and other matters having reached 
 Holland, Van Twiller was recalled after he had continued five 
 years in the office; and, in 1638, WILLIAM KIEFT was appointed 
 to succeed him. 
 
 NEW SWEDEN. 
 
 The dispute with New England respecting the ownership of 
 the Connecticut territory, was very soon followed by an alarm 
 from a like cause, but in the opposite quarter. From Queen 
 Christina, of Sweden daughter of the celebrated Gustavus 
 Adolphus Peter Minuits, the former director of New Nether- 
 land, obtained assistance to establish a Swedish trading-post 
 and settlement in America. The desire of colonization in 
 the New World had been strongly favored by Adolphus and 
 by his prime minister, the chancellor Oxenstiern ; and it is 
 worthy of remark that they contemplated a colony of freemen, 
 it being their belief that "slaves cost a great deal, labor with 
 reluctance, and soon perish from hard usage. The Swedish 
 
1 643] NEW SWEDEN. 125 
 
 nation is laborious and intelligent, and surely we shall gain 
 more by a free people with wives and children." 
 
 Just at the time that Kieft entered upon his directorship 
 (1638) Minuits and fifty men, in an armed vessel the Key 
 of Calmar sailed to the head of Delaware bay, and on its 
 west shore, near where Wilmington stands, purchased a 
 tract of land from the Minquaas tribe, and erected thereon 
 Fort Christina. This was the beginning of the little colony 
 of NEW SWEDEN. 
 
 The strong protestations of Kieft that the whole of the 
 South or Delaware river and bay, belonged to the Dutch, were 
 not heeded by Minuits, who, leaving the fort well-garri 
 soned and supplied with provisions, went back to Sweden. 
 That country was then a warlike state, and the aggression was 
 for the time, submitted to by the West India Company. Two 
 or three years later, however, a fresh trouble appeared. The 
 Connecticut people, also desiring to establish a trading settle 
 ment on the Delaware, fifty English families sailed from New 
 Haven, touching first at New Amsterdam to notify Kieft of 
 their intention. As their minds were fully made up to settle, 
 they paid no regard to the director s protest, but continued 
 on to the Delaware, and located on Salem creek and on the 
 Schuylkill. This intrusion raised the ire of the Swedes as 
 well as of the Dutch, whereupon the forces of both uniting, 
 the new settlers were obliged to declare allegiance to Sweden, 
 while the Dutch exacted from the English leader full pay 
 ment of duties upon the furs for which he had traded. 
 
 In 1643 came JOHN PRINTZ, deputed by Queen Christina to 
 be her governor of New Sweden. Upon Tinicum island, 
 below the mouth of the Schuylkill, where the Lazaretto build 
 ings now stand, the governor erected a fort of hemlock logs, 
 and also a " palace" for himself, called Printz Hall, which was 
 subsequently surrounded by a fine orchard and pleasure 
 grounds. The queen s instructions to the governor, were to 
 
 11* 
 
126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1643 
 
 administer the laws of Sweden, and, so far as practicable, its 
 manners and customs; to promote diligently all profitable 
 branches of industry, such as the culture of grain, tobacco, the 
 vine, and the mulberry for silk; the raising of cattle ; to search 
 for precious metals ; to cultivate a traffic with the Indians, and 
 especially to be careful to undersell the English and Dutch. 
 The Lutheran religion was enjoined to be observed. The good 
 will of the Dutch and the Indians was to be conciliated, the 
 purchases of land from the latter to be confirmed, and they 
 to be instructed in a civilized and Christian life. 
 
 Under these wholesome instructions, the colony prospered, 
 the treaty of peace with the Indians was observed, and the 
 settlers were consequently not molested. Fort Nassau, oppo 
 site Tinicum, the chief station of the Dutch on the Delaware, 
 being poorly supplied with goods, the larger share of trade 
 fell into the hands of the Swedes, who shortly constructed a 
 fort lower down the river, at the mouth of Salem creek, which 
 they called Fort Elsenberg. 
 
 WILLIAM KIEFT; WARS WITH THE INDIANS. 
 
 The new director had not found either the property or the 
 prospects of the company by any means in an encouraging 
 state ; their fine boweries or farms on Manhattan island being 
 untenanted or neglected, and the fur trade very much en 
 grossed by unprincipled traders. It was clearly necessary for 
 the West India Company, if they wished the colony to grow 
 in size like the neighboring province of New England, to 
 offer more liberal inducements to actual settlers. 
 
 They prudently got rid of two of the three largest patroon- 
 ships, those of Swansdale and Pavonia, and, for the future, 
 limited the size of such estates to four miles of river frontage. 
 The company offered to provide houses, lands, cattle and tools 
 to immigrants, upon receipt of an annual rent, and to transport 
 
1 64 1 ] SE TTL EMENT OF BR O OKL YN. 127 
 
 them to the colony free of cost. The prohibition against 
 making woven goods was repealed, while in place of the In 
 dian-trade monopoly, a duty was laid on articles exported. 
 The established religion was declared to be that of the Dutch 
 Reformed Church. 
 
 It would have been desirable had the large manor of Rensselaers- 
 wick also been purchased, as Swansdale and Pavonia had been. 
 Its patroon caused a fort to be built on a precipitous islet in the 
 Hudson, near the southern boundary of his grant, and obliged all 
 vessels going up to Fort Orange to lower their colors and to pay 
 toll to the watch-master. He in fact aspired to be independent of 
 the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam, to have control of his own trade, 
 and would grant no land to settlers unless they renounced any right 
 of appeal to the company s government. 
 
 The new regulations for the colony resulted in a steady 
 increase of population; some from Holland, some from Vir 
 ginia, who came to cultivate tobacco (in high demand by 
 the Dutch), and others from New England, driven there 
 from by the religious intolerance of the Puritans. On 
 Long Island, all the western portion of which had been pur 
 chased from the Indians, the new settlement of Breukelen or 
 BROOKLYN, in addition to Wallabout and Flatlands, was com 
 menced. But the eastern portion of the island, which was 
 claimed as the property of Lord Stirling, was taken up by 
 English settlers, who placed themselves under the jurisdiction 
 of Connecticut. 
 
 On the Connecticut river, the House of Good Hope was 
 soon surrounded by the English settlers at Hartford, who 
 confined the Dutch traders to a plot of thirty acres. Besides 
 that, though the Dutch, by purchasing of the Indians the land 
 along the sound, had hoped to stop the encroachments of the 
 English, the settlements of the latter rapidly multiplied west 
 ward, to and beyond the Housatonic. The hamlet of New 
 Haven or Red Hill was growing apace, and at Fairfield, 
 
128 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1643 
 
 Stamford and Greenwich, the first houses of those harbor- 
 towns began to be erected. 
 
 Although thirty years had elapsed since the founding of the 
 colony, as yet no serious difficulty had occurred with the In 
 dians. Fire-arms were not allowed to be sold to the tribes 
 around New Amsterdam, notwithstanding the Mohawks had 
 obtained them freely from the colonists about Fort Orange, 
 as already stated. The circumstances which led to a disturb 
 ance of the peace were of a trifling sort to have proved the 
 occasion of shedding blood. 
 
 The RARITAN tribe, on the west side of the Hudson, were 
 accused of trying to rob a Dutch vessel, and were likewise 
 suspected- of stealing swine from Staten Island. This suspi 
 cion appears to have been unconfirmed ; yet on these slight 
 grounds an expedition was sent against them (1641), and 
 several of their warriors brutally shot. The Raritans retali 
 ated by burning some buildings on Staten Island, and by kill 
 ing several servants belonging on one of the boweries. For 
 this, a price was set upon their heads, and Director Kieft per 
 suaded some neighboring tribes to assist him in the work of 
 chastisement. 
 
 Two years later, in 1643, another difficulty, much more 
 sanguinary in its results, arose with the HACKENSACKS, who 
 also dwelt on the west side of the river. One of this tribe 
 having been made drunk, and then robbed by some colonists, 
 in revenge killed two of the Dutch. The chiefs remonstrated 
 against the sale of brandy to their people, but nevertheless 
 offered to make reparation. Kieft, however, who would listen 
 to no apology, was only to be satisfied with blood. In the 
 meantime the Hackensacks were joined by another tribe about 
 Tappan, who had also incurred the enmity of the Dutch, by 
 retaliating the murder of a warrior. Against these offenders 
 two companies were sent out, one of them being commanded 
 by a colonist named Adriaensen, who had been a freebooter 
 
1643] KIEFT S INDIAN WARS. 129 
 
 in the West Indies. The Indians, surprised in the night, 
 offered but little resistance to their assailants ; and warriors, 
 women and children were slain without mercy. Their 
 shrieks, borne by the wintry wind across the frozen waterSj 
 were distinctly heard on the Manhattan shore. The wounded 
 who remained next morning, were either slain or thrown into 
 the icy river. 
 
 The history of the Dutch occupation of the East Indies, is a sor 
 rowful record of baseness, duplicity and destruction of life. An 
 awful transaction (mentioned by Sir Stamford Raffles) was the 
 drowning of a ship-load of Chinese traders of Java, who, having 
 yielded to the Dutch, were given a promise to be eafely conveyed 
 from the country; but, when out at sea, they were every one thrown 
 overboard. The rich cargoes of pearls and perfumes, of spices and 
 other delectable luxuries which India then contributed to the West, 
 were only purchased at a fearful price. 
 
 The animosity against the natives next extended to Long 
 Island, where some settlers plundered the corn of the neigh 
 boring Indians and slew two of their warriors. Apprehending 
 a war of extermination, and roused to fury by the ferocity of 
 their punishment, several small tribes of the Indians banded 
 together, and began a series of reprisals against the colonists 
 near to New Amsterdam, burning, slaying, and taking pris 
 oners. All who could escape fled to the town, where pres 
 ently a fast was proclaimed and measures concerted to attack 
 the Indians. The adventurer, Adriaensen, was sent out with 
 a company, but the expedition was unsuccessful. He beheld 
 his own bowery ruined, and he himself was sent a prisoner to 
 Holland for making a passionate attack, with pistol and cut 
 lass, upon the person of Director Kieft. 
 
 The tribes were willing to listen to terms of pacification, 
 
 but, unhappily, a fresh hindrance arose, caused by the attack 
 
 of some up-river Indians upon a trading canoe from Fort 
 
 Orange. Hostilities were thereupon at once renewed, and 
 
 F* 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1645 
 
 expeditions sent to both sides of the Hudson and to Long 
 Island. Especially active as a leader in these bloody enter 
 prises, was Captain Underbill, who had been one of the so- 
 called "heroes" of the Pequod war in New England, an 
 account of which will be given in the succeeding chapter. In 
 an attack against the Long Island Indians, one hundred of 
 the natives were slain, while two of the survivors, who, as 
 prisoners, had been taken to New Amsterdam, were hacked 
 to pieces with knives. On a moonlight night in midwinter, 
 an attack was made upon an Indian village on the Connecti 
 cut frontier, many of the natives being assembled to celebrate 
 a festival. At the onset, a large number of the Indians were 
 slain, their village was then set on fire, and a horrible mas 
 sacre ensued. It was reported that 500 fell in the carnage 
 and by the flames. 
 
 The Mohawks had not been engaged in the contest, which 
 had been carried on by tribes south of their territory. It was 
 at this time that the missionary Jogues, a prisoner of the Mo 
 hawks, came down to Fort Orange with some of that band, 
 and escaped out of their hands. In the same summer of 1645, 
 Kieft, having paid a visit to the fort, and effected a treaty 
 with the Mohawks, the latter by their influence persuaded the 
 hostile tribes to agree to a definitive peace. It was stipulated 
 that, in future, if difficulties should arise, conciliation should 
 be first resorted to ; and furthermore, that when the Indians 
 approached Manhattan, or, on the other hand, when the 
 Dutch went to the Indian villages, their fire-arms should not 
 be carried with them. 
 
 The colonists had paid dearly for their foolishness in per 
 mitting this war. Only five or six out of the thirty boweries 
 remained in a tenantable condition, and the prospects of the 
 province had been seriously damaged. Consequently, the 
 people now clamored for the removal of the unpopular magis 
 trate, against whom they made the further grave charge of 
 
1 647] PETER STUYVESANT. 131 
 
 denying their right of appeal from his decisions to the authori 
 ties in Holland, just as the patroon Van Rensselaer had denied 
 a similar right to the settlers on his land. A merchant in 
 New Amsterdam had been not only fined, but placed in jail 
 for his presumption in claiming to appeal ; while an Anabap 
 tist minister on Long Island had, for a like offence, been 
 similarly maltreated. These loud complaints resulted in the 
 recall of Kieft in the year 1647, after he had been the com 
 pany s director for nine years. Kieft sailed for home in a 
 vessel richly laden with furs, but it was cast ashore on the 
 coast of Wales, and he and eighty others perished. 
 
 PETER STUYVESANT; NEW NETHERLAND RESIGNED TO THE 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 When Peter Stuyvesant, who had been governor of several 
 small islands in the Caribbean sea belonging to Holland, be 
 came director of New Netherland (1647), that province, even 
 including the Delaware settlement of the Swedes, contained 
 less than 3000 settlers ; while the English colonies of New 
 England on the north-east, numbered nearly 20,000, and Vir 
 ginia and Maryland together, on the south, were equally 
 populous. On Long Island, the English were encroaching 
 toward the western end, and in the New Haven territory, the 
 movement in the same direction still continued. 
 
 Stuyvesant having been particularly charged to adjust the 
 controversy with the United Colonies of New England, pro 
 ceeded to the House of Good Hope, where it was agreed 
 that the boundary matter and the disputes arising from the 
 question of jurisdiction, should be referred to four English 
 arbitrators, two of them to be chosen by Stuyvesant. In 
 accordance with this sensible arrangement, the eastern two- 
 thirds part of Long Island (the present county of Suffolk) was 
 awarded to the English; the Dutch were to retain their trading- 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1655 
 
 post on the Connecticut ; but the line of boundary between 
 the Dutch and English possessions, which it was agreed should 
 run northward from Greenwich bay, was nowhere to approach 
 within ten miles of the Hudson river. 
 
 Some of the New Haven people, unduly elated at the 
 favorable issue of the negotiations, sailed for Delaware bay, 
 with the intention of planting a colony there ; but having 
 stopped on the way at Manhattan, Stuyvesant seized the 
 vessel, and, while preventing their undertaking being carried 
 out, he himself caused a fort to be erected (1651) at the same 
 place which they had designed for their colony. It was on 
 the site of the present town of New Castle, five miles below 
 the Swedish fort Christina, and was called Fort Casimir. 
 
 Printz, in the meantime, had been succeeded as governor 
 of New Sweden, by RISINGH, who managed by an artifice to 
 make himself master of the new Dutch fort. Whereupon 
 Stuyvesant, in 1655, sent a strong force to the Delaware, 
 which not only reclaimed Fort Casimir, but took possession 
 of Fort Christina and the rest of the military posts of New 
 Sweden. The West India Company soon afterward sold the 
 west bank of the Delaware, from Cape Henlopen to the falls 
 at Trenton, to the city of Amsterdam, though Lord Baltimore 
 laid claim to it as part of his province of Maryland. 
 
 The tobacco exported from Virginia was at that time mostly 
 carried in Dutch vessels, while, as already related, negro slaves 
 found their unwilling way into the Old Dominion by the same 
 channel. Some of these Africans were also conveyed to New 
 Netherland by vessels of the West India Company that 
 corporation being a large dealer in slaves. Many of these 
 creatures, unfortunate captives from the Guinea coast, were 
 brought to Manhattan while Stuyvesant was governor, he 
 being directed to use diligence in attending -to the public 
 sale of these living consignments. Although the slaves were 
 permitted to work out their freedom, yet the children of 
 
1663] PETER STUYVESANT. 133 
 
 such did not partake of the purchased emancipation of 
 the parents. It has been truthfully observed that the fact 
 " that New York is (was) not a slave state like Carolina, is 
 due to the climate, and not to the superior humanity of its 
 founders." 
 
 The predominating trait in the character of Stuyvesant was 
 pertinacity. An opinionated man is very apt to be a perse 
 cutor, and such the director would doubtless have proved ; 
 but, fortunately for the province, his intolerance was held in 
 check by explicit orders from the company that individual 
 rights of conscience should be respected. New Amsterdam 
 was receiving many accessions from New England ; refugee 
 Friends, Anabaptists, and others, to whom the consciences 
 of the Puritan magistrates were so much opposed, that they 
 could not endure the "schismatics" in their sight. 
 
 In 1663 threatening complications again arose with New 
 England. The province of Connecticut had, the preceding 
 year, received a royal charter annexing the New Haven terri 
 tory to its jurisdiction ; whereupon claims were advanced on 
 behalf of the English, that the Hudson river should thence 
 forth be the western boundary line, and that all Long Island 
 should be given up to them. Stuyvesant, who in a former 
 emergency had refused to call together a popular assembly, 
 was now willing to listen to the voice of the deputies from 
 the settlements. Their decision was, that an appeal should 
 be made to the company and to the home government for 
 protection. But measures were already being taken in Eng 
 land to secure possession of the Dutch province. 
 
 It has been mentioned that Long Island was claimed as the 
 property of Lord Stirling. This and other claims to adjacent 
 country, including New Netherland, having been purchased 
 by the Duke of York, the brother of King Charles II., his 
 title was duly confirmed, and the territory received the name 
 of NEW YORK. Three ships, carrying 600 men, were at once 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1664 
 
 despatched to take possession of New Netherland on behalf 
 of the duke. The commissioners appointed were Sir Robert 
 Carr, Colonel Robert Nichols, and Sir George Cartwright. 
 Governor Winthrop, of Connecticut, joined the expedition. 
 Although, upon its arrival before New Amsterdam, the per 
 tinacious governor was unwilling to give up the place without 
 any show of resistance, the prudent counsels of the burgomas 
 ters and the mediation of Winthrop, resulted in an equable 
 capitulation, by which the personal rights of the citizens were 
 amply guaranteed. 
 
 After the surrender, while Nichols remained in the town, 
 Carr, another of the commissioners, proceeded in one of the 
 ships to take possession of the Delaware settlements, while 
 Cartwright sailed up the Hudson to apprise the settlers of 
 Rensselaerswick of the change of masters, and to raise the 
 English flag on Fort Orange. The village near the fort was 
 thereafter called ALBANY, that being one of the titles of the 
 Duke of York. It was in 1664 that New Netherland was 
 thus speedily brought under English control. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 
 
 1614 1660. 
 
 THE PILGRIM FATHERS: NEW PLYMOUTH. 
 
 IN the same year that Jamestown was founded by the Vir 
 ginia Company, the Plymouth, or North Virginia Company, 
 sent out a colony to make a settlement within their own grant 
 of territory. They landed near the mouth of the Sagadahoc 
 or Kennebec ; but the winter having proved very severe, and 
 the colonists becoming discouraged, they all re-embarked the 
 following year for England. In 1614, Captain John Smith 
 was sent out by some London merchants, and besides making 
 a map of the coast, brought back a profitable cargo to his 
 employers. He presented the map to Prince Charles; and 
 the name of the territory, which he had changed from North 
 Virginia to NEW ENGLAND, was confirmed by the prince. 
 
 After two years delay, and much opposition, a charter was 
 finally obtained from King James. This " Great Patent," as 
 it was called, was granteJ in 1620 to forty individuals of 
 wealth and high rank, styled " The Council established at 
 Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, 
 ordering and governing of New England, in America." It 
 conferred upon them the exclusive rights of government and 
 of trade in all that part of the American territory comprised 
 between the 4oth and 48th parallels of north latitude, and 
 extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean : including, 
 
136 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1620 
 
 therefore, the present Canada, New England and most part 
 of the Middle States, besides the great belt of unexplored 
 region west of the same. But, late in the same year that the 
 charter was obtained, and before the Council of Plymouth 
 had yet equipped an expedition, a company of pilgrims, 
 seeking for homes, had landed and established themselves on 
 the shores of the province. 
 
 This company was part of a body of Separatists, who, be 
 cause of their non-conformity with the religious views and 
 outward services of the Established Church of England, and 
 in order to escape the persecution incurred by this dissent, 
 had fled to Holland, and, in the city of Leyden, formed a 
 congregation of their own. John Robinson, a leading man 
 and excellent minister among them, is regarded as the founder 
 of the denomination of Independents or Congregationalists. 
 Finding that the manners and practices of the Dutch were 
 quite at variance with their own, and that there was danger 
 of the church suffering moral loss thereby, they had made ap 
 plication to the Virginia Company for permission to seek an 
 asylum in its dominions. Their wish was finally granted, and 
 to the number of 102 persons men, women and children 
 they set sail from Plymouth, in the ship Mayflower, for the 
 mouth of the Hudson river; but they had a long and boisterous 
 voyage, and being carried to the northward of their reckon 
 ing, they found themselves, when land was discovered, oppo 
 site Cape Cod. 
 
 When it became thus apparent that they were outside the 
 limits of the Virginia Company s territory, they made a 
 solemn voluntary agreement, before landing, to enter into a 
 compact of government, to frame just and equal laws, and 
 mutually to submit to obey the same. They also chose JOHN 
 CARVER to be their governor for one year. A boat s company 
 was then sent out to explore for a safe harbor. At one place 
 where they landed, a few Indians discharged arrows at them 
 
1 620] NEW PLYMOUTH. 137 
 
 from a distance; their distrust being due to the fact that 
 several years before, over twenty of their companions had 
 been kidnapped by a ship s crew (Captain Hunt s) and car 
 ried off to be sold as slaves. 
 
 Having cruised around Cape Cod bay, the explorers found 
 on its west side a harbor which pleased them ; and here the 
 Pilgrims landed the 22d of ti^-t^tli-fiftOfl-thXJ^^ccuiber^ 1620. 
 " Welcome, Englishmen," were the first words which greeted 
 the settlers, from the lips of a native. It was the sagamore 
 Samoset, who came to them alone, with assurances of friend 
 ship. Here, too, lived Tasquantum or Squanto, one of those 
 who had been carried away by Hunt. His name often occurs 
 in the early annals of the colony. The town which the set 
 tlers began to build was called NEW PLYMOUTH, after the Eng 
 lish city whence they had sailed. 
 
 Unlike most of the colonists who had previously essayed to 
 settle in the New World, these dissenters were a unit in their 
 purpose to establish homes ; and it was the easier to effect this 
 object, seeing that they were not swayed by the mere avarice 
 or caprice of the gold-hunters and fur-traders, but were honest 
 and frugal tillers of the soil, and were generally concerned to 
 observe the Divine requirements according as they understood 
 them. It was this affinity of moral purpose which supported 
 them in the midst of the severe sufferings of the first winter 
 ,the extreme cold and prevalent sickness, the lack of sufficient 
 food and of comfortable habitations. In three months about 
 one-half of their number died, among whom was Carver, the 
 governor. WILLIAM BRADFORD was appointed to succeed 
 him. 
 
 Fortunately, the friendship of the Indians was early secured. 
 A -fatal distemper had recently prevailed among the tribes 
 along the New England coast, by which great numbers of 
 them had perished, leaving the survivors in a very impover 
 ished condition. A treaty was entered into with MASSASOIT, 
 
 12* 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1620 
 
 chief of the Wampanoags (their neighbors on the west) which 
 was strictly observed for nearly forty years; yet this is not to 
 be wondered at, as it was a mutually protective alliance, by 
 which the colonists were to receive assistance, if attacked, 
 and, on the other hand, to render it, if the Wampanoags were 
 assailed unjustly. MILES STANDISH was appointed captain of 
 the militia. 
 
 In the third year after the landing, Standish went in pursuit 
 of some Indians who had manifested hostile intentions, to 
 which they had been provoked by the ill-behavior of some 
 colonists, not Puritans. A number of the Indians were killed ; 
 which, being reported to the tender-spirited Robinson, who 
 yet remained in Holland, he wrote to the colonists "Oh, 
 how happy a thing it would have been, that you had converted 
 some before you killed any. " This rigorous proceeding on the 
 part of the colonists filled the neighboring Indians with such 
 terror, that many left their habitations and hid in swamps and 
 unhealthy places, neglecting their planting, so that numbers 
 perished of want and disease. One of these unfortunates 
 was the sachem Aspinet. Nor did they recover from the 
 effects of this blow for a period of fifty years, at the end 
 of which time began the war with the Wampanoags, called 
 < King Philip s War." 
 
 On one occasion, Standish s company was despatched for a quan 
 tity of corn which some of the settlers had purchased of the In 
 dians, but which, on account of a violent storm, they had been 
 unable to bring with them. They had left it, covered with mats 
 and sedge, in charge of the sachem Aspinet. The Indians faith 
 fully attended to the trust, and delivered the corn to Standish when 
 he came ; but the latter, having missed a few beads and some other 
 trifles from a boat which had been left unguarded, threatened the 
 natives that if they were not returned "he would revenge it on 
 them before his departure." Aspinet recovered the trinkets, and 
 returned them to the English commander. 
 
 At the beginning of the second winter, a vessel arrived 
 
1 630] MASS A CHUSE TTS JBA Y COL ONY. 1 39 
 
 from England with additional colonists, and a charter from 
 the Council of Plymouth. The document they were of course 
 glad to obtain as legalizing their undertaking, yet for the 
 present they would have much preferred that the vessel had 
 brought them a cargo of food, as they were now obliged to 
 subsist for several months on half allowance. WINSLOW, one 
 of the leading colonists, was sent to Monhegan island, a fish 
 ing station near the mouth of the Kennebec, and from thence 
 obtained the necessary relief. Four or five years elapsed be 
 fore they had broken up and cultivated sufficient land to 
 overcome the demand for food ; but the soil in the vicinity 
 was not fertile, and the population consequently increased 
 but slowly. 
 
 THE PURITANS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 
 
 In 1628 a new colony, with a separate charter, arose on the 
 north of the New Plymouth tract, and in size soon overshad 
 owed the original settlement. It was known as the " Planta 
 tion of Massachusetts Bay." The first body of colonists 
 under this grant were led by JOHN ENDICOTT, and they set 
 tled at Naumkeag, now Salem, where there were already a 
 few families. These new-comers were of that reformed di 
 vision of the State-religionists called Puritans, who, while 
 objecting to the liturgy and many of the popish practices 
 still retained by the national church, had not, like the Pil 
 grims of Plymouth, really withdrawn from it. 
 
 Although Endicott was appointed governor, and was to be 
 assisted in the execution of the laws by twelve counsellors, 
 the company in England had also a governor, a deputy, and 
 assistants, and monthly courts were held for the management 
 of its affairs. Two years later they appointed JOHN WIN- 
 THROP governor, an honor to which he was frequently re- 
 elected. In the same year (1630) seventeen vessels conveyed 
 
1 40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1635 
 
 to the settlement about a thousand emigrants, besides horses, 
 cattle, and various supplies, and the requisite implements for 
 fishing, cultivating the soil, and ship-building. 
 
 Winthrop fixed upon the little peninsula at the head of 
 Massachusetts bay, for the seat of government. There was a 
 hill upon it, having three distinct eminences, and hence the 
 peninsula was called Tri-mountain ; but it soon received the 
 name of BOSTON, after the English town whence some of the 
 principal emigrants came. Charlestown, Boston s northern 
 suburb, had been settled the year before. Roxbury, on the 
 south; Cambridge, on the west; Lynn, Watertown, Maiden, 
 etc., were among the places immediately founded. A general 
 court, the first in America, was held in the autumn of this 
 year. It was decided, after more than 100 freemen had 
 been appointed, that these should have power to choose the 
 assistants or magistrates, while the magistrates should elect 
 the governor and deputy-governor out of their own body ; 
 but it was afterward agreed that deputies chosen by the towns 
 should also convene with the magistrates. It was early the 
 desire of the people to have home rule. Peace prevailed with 
 the Indians : the Mohegans, Pequods, and Narragansetts, all 
 solicited their powerful alliance. 
 
 Under the judicious administration of Winthrop, the 
 .colony prospered and new settlers constantly arrived from 
 England, where there prevailed a general apprehension of 
 civil and religious trouble. A body of these colonists, in the 
 autumn of 1635, began the settlement of Concord. They 
 encountered many privations ; their cattle sickened, the 
 wolves devoured their swine and sheep, their poorly-con 
 structed huts were not proof against rain and the cold; yet 
 the pioneers were of a devout and patient spirit, and, though 
 esteeming themselves amongst the poorest of God s creatures, 
 they maintained a cheerful state of mind, and a resolution 
 "to excel in holiness." 
 
1 62 1] NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE. 141 
 
 In the following year (1636), the young and talented 
 HENRY VANE arrived in the colony, and at once the electors, 
 pleased that a man of such note should make his home among 
 them, chose him for governor. But the short administration 
 of Vane was marked by very serious troubles, a war with the 
 Pequods, and a sharp religious controversy. The Indian war 
 will be mentioned hereafter in connection with the Connecti 
 cut and Rhode Island settlements. 
 
 The controversy referred to, arose out of what was called 
 the " Antinomian heresy," of which Anne Hutchinson was 
 the chief promulgator. She controverted the austerity of the 
 Puritans, as partaking of unnecessary "good works," and in 
 sisted on the sufficiency of justification by faith alone, as 
 revealed by the indwelling spirit. As Vane supported these 
 views, at the election in 1637 he was superseded by Winthrop, 
 and soon thereafter returned to England, to become a leader 
 of the Independents. Anne Hutchinson, having been ban 
 ished from the colony, went first to Rhode Island, and then 
 to New Netherland ; but in the Indian war brought on by 
 Kieft s misgovernment, she, her son-in-law, and all (except 
 one) of their family, to the number of eighteen persons, per 
 ished at the hands of the incensed red men. 
 
 -TN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE. 
 
 Probably the most active and zealous member of the origi 
 nal Plymouth Company, and of its successor, the Council of 
 Plymouth, in England, and one whose interest in American 
 affairs continued unabated for a space of forty years, was SIR 
 FERDINANDO GORGES. Another member of the Council, and 
 for awhile its secretary, was JOHN MASON, who, within a few 
 months after the Great Patent was obtained from the king 
 (1621), received from the Council a grant of that part of their 
 territory contained between the Salem river and the head- 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1636 
 
 waters of the Merrimac; while Mason and Gorges together, 
 were allowed a second patent for the adjacent tract to the 
 east, comprised between the Merrimac and the Kennebec. 
 
 The two proprietors named, had great anticipations as to 
 the success of their projected colony, and in 1623, the settle 
 ments of Dover and Portsmouth on the Piscataqua river, were 
 founded by colonists whom they sent out. But the benefit 
 of their liberal expenditures was reaped by others at a later 
 day. When, in 1628, the grant to the Massachusetts Bay Com 
 pany was made by the Council, the territory which was then 
 conveyed, overlapped that to Mason, who therefore asked for 
 a new patent to that part of the land between the Merrimac 
 and Piscataqua, or NEW HAMPSHIRE, relinquishing the Salem 
 river for awhile as his southern boundary. The title to this 
 latter doubly-claimed section, became the occasion of many 
 disputes at law between the heirs of Mason and the colony of 
 Massachusetts Bay, although it does not appear that the primal 
 right of the natives was taken into consideration. Very slow 
 was the growth of the New Hampshire settlements ; and in 
 1653, thirty years after Portsmouth was founded, it could 
 boast of containing no more than fifty or sixty families. The 
 settlements were annexed to Massachusetts in 1641. 
 
 As Mason had taken west of the Piscataqua for his share of 
 territory, Gorges took that east of the same to the Kennebec 
 river. The eastern section, being part of the subsequent state 
 of MAINE, was at first called New Somerset. The region from 
 the Kennebec east to the St. Croix was given at a later date 
 to the Earl of Stirling. Monhegan island, near the mouth of 
 the Kennebec, and a settlement at Pemaquid point, were at 
 that time the only stations on the Maine coast. After these, 
 Saco was settled, and a court held there in 1636 ; then York, 
 which was first called Georgeana, in honor of the proprietary. 
 Upon the death of Gorges, the few inhabitants of the province 
 were left to take care of themselves. The Massachusetts Bay 
 
1631] ROGER WILLIAMS. 
 
 
 colony offered its protection, and at the sarrfe time clajfyfecL 
 the territory as being really theirs under the Great Charter. / J 
 Godfrey, the governor of Maine, an Episcopalian as were 
 also most of the settlers strongly remonstrated against the 
 annexation ; but it was accomplished in 1653, the towns very 
 reluctantly giving in their adhesion. 
 
 There was another important patent granted by the Council 
 of Plymouth, at the request of that persistent colonizer Sir 
 Ferdinando Gorges. It was obtained the same year (1621) 
 that he became possessor of the " Maine" grant, but was 
 made out in the name of Sir William Alexander, afterward 
 known as the Earl of Stirling. It comprised all the region 
 east of the St. Croix and south of the St. Lawrence, includ 
 ing Acadie and part of Canada, all of it, as we have seen, 
 claimed by the French, but now given away by the name of NOVA 
 SCOTIA, or New Scotland. By this procedure, it was designed 
 to induce the Scotch to settle therein, and thus, while acting 
 as opponents of French Catholic colonization, to serve as a pro 
 tecting bulwark to the regular English settlements in the rear. 
 
 This was an unjust and unfortunate gift of property, which 
 belonged neither to the Council nor to King James to dispose 
 of, and it proved, as might have been expected, a fertile sub 
 ject of contention. Mention has been made in the ninth 
 chapter, how, in 1628, the settlements in Acadie and Canada 
 came into possession of the English in a time of war, and 
 how they were shortly given back again into the hands of the 
 French. Had the line of separation between Maine and 
 Acadie been clearly defined upon that occasion, a great deal 
 of the subsequent hostility would have been avoided. 
 
 ROGER WILLIAMS-THE FOUNDER OF RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 In 1631. there arrived at Boston a fugitive from English 
 persecution, named ROGER WILLIAMS. He was a separatist 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA lES. [1636 
 
 from the established Episcopal church, and yet his conscien 
 tious convictions were esteemed heresy in Puritan New Eng 
 land. For, while he believed that the civil magistrate should 
 restrain and punish outward crime, so he held that, as the 
 conscience must never be coerced, the magistrate grievously 
 erred when he attempted to set bounds to the soul s inward 
 freedom. In accordance with this earnest belief in the sanctity 
 of the conscience, he was opposed to the exaction of tithes 
 for the support of a special religion, as well as to any fine or 
 punishment by men for non-conformity or non-attendance on 
 public worship. Now, the Puritans were strenuous on these 
 points, and their observance was especially provided for in 
 the colonial law ; hence the separatist soon found that his life 
 in the colony was not likely to be one of outward tranquillity. 
 
 For over two years, Roger Williams was a minister of the 
 congregations in Plymouth and Salem principally in the 
 latter place where he became greatly endeared to the people. 
 But his views of the inherent right of intellectual liberty, and 
 of the separation of church and state in every particular, 
 finally resulted in a sentence of banishment by the general 
 court. Rather than renounce opinions which had taken such 
 hold of his mind that he doubted not their agreement with 
 the Truth, he declared himself "ready to be bound and 
 banished and even to die in New England." 
 
 In midwinter, the early part of 1636, Williams departed 
 from Salem, and turning his steps southward toward the 
 wilderness, wandered for fourteen weeks alone, in storms and 
 the bitter cold, often sorely pressed for food and for a shelter 
 at night. But the Indians, by whom he was known and grate 
 fully remembered as their former friend, received him gladly; 
 and in the cabins of Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, 
 and of the Narragansett, CANONICUS, he found that brotherly 
 treatment which had been denied him by his own country 
 men. Massasoit granted him some land, at Seekonk, for a 
 
1638] RHODE ISLAND. 145 
 
 settlement, but finding that it was within the jurisdiction of 
 Plymouth, and hence might involve him in future trouble, he 
 crossed the Pawtucket river, and at the head of Narragansett 
 bay, founded PROVIDENCE, which he thus named in commemo 
 ration of "God s merciful providence to him in his distress." 
 From Canonicus and his nephew MIANTONOMAH, of the Nar- 
 ragansetts, he obtained a clear title to the land. 
 
 The great trust which Williams felt had been confided to 
 him by the Ruler of all things, was wisely administered. The 
 liberality with which he granted the land to the needy, with 
 no thought of personal aggrandizement, or emolument for 
 himself, was singularly unselfish. With respect to the govern 
 ment of the little state, he conferred the authority more com 
 pletely upon the people themselves than had yet been realized 
 in any other colony. Harshly. as he had been treated by some 
 of the Puritans, and severe as had been the winter s experi 
 ence which resulted from the sentence of exile, yet he bore 
 no resentment to his persecutors, to whom, as we shall pres 
 ently see, he was enabled to render efficient service. 
 
 Two years after the arrival of Williams (1638), a number 
 of the Antinomian friends of Anne Hutchinson, having de 
 parted from Massachusetts with the design of forming a sepa 
 rate colony of their own, were welcomed to the new settlement 
 on Narragansett bay. The little flock of emigrants was led 
 by JOHN CLARKE and WILLIAM CODDINGTON; the latter a 
 merchant from Boston, in Lincolnshire, and an associate of the 
 Plymouth Company. Upon the recommendation of Williams, 
 they purchased from the Narragansetts the island of Aquid- 
 neck, afterward called Isle of Rhodes, but shortly altered to 
 RHODE ISLAND. The price paid for the land was forty 
 fathoms of white wampum ; and as an additional consideration 
 for the Indians to remove and leave the whites the sole occu 
 pants, they were presented with twenty hoes and ten coats. 
 The colonists bound themselves that in civil affairs only, was 
 G 13 
 
146 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1635 
 
 the majority to rule : in matters of doctrine, while they pro 
 fessed obedience to the "perfect laws of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ," yet their consciences must be left untrammelled by 
 the State. They set love and benevolence before them as 
 their rule. 
 
 THE CONNECTICUT AND NEW HAVEN SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 In the account of the province of New Netherland, we have 
 learnt how the Dutch, who claimed the country north of Long 
 Island Sound, had established a fortified trading-post on the 
 Connecticut, which they called the House of Good Hope. 
 But this territory was likewise claimed by the great council 
 for New England, who made a grant of it, first to the Earl of 
 Warwick, and from that proprietary it had passed into various 
 other hands. Without any permit from these new proprie 
 taries, the colony of Plymouth had, in 1633, established the 
 trading-post of Windsor on the river just above the Dutch 
 post, and in point of time only a few months later. 
 
 In 1635 came JOHN WINTHROP, eldest son of the governor 
 of the Massachusetts Bay colony, with a commission from the 
 proprietaries to build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut. 
 This was done, and the place called Saybrook. In the autumn 
 a second company of sixty pilgrims, among whom were a 
 number of women and children, set out from the Massa 
 chusetts settlements on their forest journey to the Connecticut, 
 driving their cattle before them. They had scarcely arrived 
 at the banks of the river, when the winter set in, early and 
 severe. Many of the cattle perished ; supplies of provisions 
 which were to have been sent around by water, could not 
 reach them because of the closing of the river by ice; and 
 there being but poor shelter as yet provided, all except a few 
 either returned through the bleak woods, or else made their 
 way down to Saybrook. 
 
1638] CONNECTICUT AND NEW HAVEN. 147 
 
 In the summer of the ensuing year (1636) a more auspicious 
 emigration followed, led by HOOKER and STONE, ministers of 
 the gospel, and by John Haynes, reputed a gentleman of 
 great estate." Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor were now 
 regularly established as settlements, while a fourth party lo 
 cated farther up the river, at Springfield. But the dawning 
 prosperity of the infant colony of Connecticut was very soon 
 interrupted by an Indian war. Before treating of this, men 
 tion should be made here of the founding of the adjoining 
 colony of New Haven. 
 
 There arrived in Boston at this time, when the Hutchinson 
 controversy was at its height, a company of merchants from 
 England, led by THEOPHILUS EATON, and with them a non 
 conformist minister named JOHN DAVENPORT. The agitation 
 which prevailed in the province about religious matters, made 
 these well-to-do emigrants quite unwilling to fix their habita 
 tions in those parts; hence Eaton, having been sent in advance 
 to select a suitable place for a settlement, chose the locality at 
 the head of Quinnipiack bay on Long Island Sound. A tract 
 of ten miles by thirteen was purchased of the Indians, at the 
 price of ten coats; and here the plan of a city on a liberal 
 scale was laid out (1638), and called NEW HAVEN. 
 
 The first assembly for organization was held in a barn ; and, 
 from a committee of twelve persons, there were selected 
 "Seven Pillars," as they were called, for the "House of 
 Wisdom." The right of suffrage was restricted to church 
 members, as in Massachusetts, although in the colony of Con 
 necticut, that privilege had been conferred on all residents of 
 respectable character. The Scriptures were ordered to be the 
 law of the land, as they were held to contain every needful 
 regulation for good government : and inasmuch as no warrant 
 for trial by jury was to be found in its pages, that process was 
 not established. Eaton was chosen first governor, and was 
 annually, for twenty years, re-elected to the post. 
 
I 4 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1636 
 
 THE PEQUOD WAR. 
 
 The habitations of the Wampanoags or Pokanokets, were 
 east of Narragansett bay, while on its western side dwelt 
 the tribe of the Narragansetts. West of these again were 
 the Pequods, a much more numerous tribe, whose domain ex 
 tended nearly to the Hudson. Between the Pequods and the 
 Wampanoags was a band of Mohegans a name frequently 
 given to all the Indians of the lower Connecticut. The pesti 
 lence, already referred to, which had carried off so many of 
 the aborigines of New England, had left New Hampshire and 
 Vermont nearly an uninhabited wilderness; but in Maine, 
 west of the Kennebec, were the tribes of the Tarenteens, and 
 east of that river, the Abenakis. Exclusive of Maine, the 
 New England Indians, at that time, probably numbered about 
 15,000 persons. 
 
 The origin of the war of 1636 with the Pequods, appears 
 to have been as follows. The captain of a trading vessel 
 from Virginia, of bad character and accused of a serious 
 offence, had been ordered away from Boston, but on his way 
 back, had entered the Connecticut river, where he and his 
 crew were murdered by the Pequods. The latter claimed that 
 the deed was done in self-defence. The same tribe had sub 
 sequently given umbrage to the Dutch, and their present of 
 wampum was refused. The Narragansetts also had been guilty 
 of the death of a trader, and the capture of his vessel and 
 crew at Block island; and this the settlers revenged by killing 
 and drowning eleven of the offenders. Canonicus and Mian- 
 tonomah, much grieved at the unauthorized murder by their 
 tribe, promptly restored the vessel and prisoners, supposing 
 that nothing more would be asked, as life had been taken for 
 life, eleven-fold. But the event proved otherwise. 
 
 A company of 90 volunteers under Endicott sailed to Block 
 island, having orders to put all the men to death, and to make 
 
1636] THE PEQUOD WAR. 149 
 
 prisoners of the women and children. But the islanders es 
 caping inland, Endicott destroyed their corn and canoes, 
 burnt their wigwams, and sailed across to the mouth of the 
 Connecticut. Then, marching against the Pequods, he burnt 
 two of their villages, and returned to Boston without losing 
 a man. The Pequods, frenzied at what appeared a very harsh 
 retaliation, during the winter killed as many as thirty of the 
 settlers on the Connecticut, and also endeavored to persuade 
 the Narragansetts to join with them. But the interposition 
 of Roger Williams prevented this, while Canonicus sent a 
 messenger to Boston offering his services against the Pequods, 
 though recommending that the women and children should 
 be spared. 
 
 The Connecticut volunteers, and some Mohegan and Narra- 
 gansett allies, without waiting for reinforcements from Boston, 
 proceeded against two of the fortified villages of the Pequods, 
 which were situated near the mouth of the river Thames. The 
 clustered wigwams being merely protected by a rough pali 
 sade of trees and brush-wood, the guns of the assailants soon 
 gained for them an entrance. Mason, the leader (who had 
 been solemnly invested with the command by a clergyman), set 
 the mat-covered wigwams ablaze with a fire-brand. No mercy 
 was shown ; and shortly,- by fire-arms and the flames, all the 
 Pequod warriors, with their women and children six hundred 
 in number perished, save only seven who escaped and seven 
 who were held as prisoners. Of the English, two only were 
 killed. Underbill, who figured in Kieft s Indian war, was 
 prominent as a leader in this massacre. 
 
 When the volunteers from Massachusetts arrived, the miser 
 able remnant of the Indians was savagely hunted down, for it 
 was determined that the Pequods should be a tribe no more. 
 Being pursued and surrounded in a swamp, and finding that 
 further resistance was hopeless, most of them surrendered ; the 
 rest united with the Mohegans and Narragansetts. About 
 
1 50 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1640 
 
 fifty of the prisoners were distributed among the principal 
 colonists as slaves. SASSACUS, the head sachem, having fled 
 to the Mohawks for protection, was murdered by them and 
 his scalp sent to Boston. 
 
 The colonists produced their Bibles as ample warrant for their 
 bloody acts. " We had sufficient light from the word of God for our 
 proceedings," said Underhill ; while Mason exulted that "Thus the 
 Lord was pleased to smite our enemies, and to give us their lands for 
 an inheritance. 1 But the Supreme Judge has no pleasure in such 
 slaughter. More truly applicable was the language spoken to Ahab, 
 who coveted the vineyard of Naboth, " Hast thou killed, and also 
 taken possession ?" 
 
 THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 The population of New England, at the time of the Pequod 
 war, numbered nearly twenty thousand. There being as yet no 
 institution for the advanced education of the youth, the gen 
 eral court, in 1637, made provision for a public school, which 
 was accordingly established at Cambridge. Henry Dunster, a 
 learned Hebrew scholar, was its first president. The follow 
 ing year, in acknowledgment of a large bequest of books and" 
 of a considerable sum of money, the endowment of John Har 
 vard, the institution received the name of HARVARD COLLEGE. 
 Soon afterward there arrived the first printing-press used by 
 the English in America. Its first important production, im 
 printed (1640) by Stephen Day, was a metrical version of the 
 Psalms, which had been prepared by John Eliot and others, 
 and revised by Dunster. 
 
 The fabrication of cotton, linen and woollen cloths, was 
 started, so that the colonies were not altogether dependent 
 on the mother country for such necessary supplies. Ship 
 building also became a profitable source of industry, and the 
 vessels afforded a ready means for engaging in trade with the 
 
1 643] UNITED COLONIES OF NF.W ENGLAND. 15! 
 
 other English colonies and the West Indies, and even with 
 European ports. Staves and dried fish were principal articles 
 of export. This commerce, however, was not by any means 
 productive of unmixed good, since the ships which carried 
 the New England products across the ocean were accustomed 
 to go around by the Guinea coast for return cargoes of slaves. 
 These, as the demand for them at the North was not great, 
 were usually disposed of at the Barbadoes, or other English 
 islands in the West Indies. 
 
 The currency made use of in the colonies was of various 
 sorts. There was not much coin in circulation, but beaver- 
 skins were considered an excellent medium of exchange. Foi 
 awhile, musket-balls supplied the place of small change, and 
 were valued at a farthing apiece. But the usual substitute for 
 coin was wampum, or pieces of shell, bead-shaped, and drilled 
 through the centre so as to be strung on a thread. They were 
 of two colors, white and black or dark-purple, the white being 
 worth but half as much as the dark-colored. Six white or 
 three black beads were valued at a penny. 
 
 In 1641, New Hampshire was annexed to Massachusetts, 
 and so continued for thirty-eight years; and, in 1643, there 
 was organized the confederacy known by the title of the 
 UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND, which embraced the 
 colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New 
 Haven. The prime abject of this alliance was mutual protec 
 tion against the encroachments of the Dutch and the French, 
 but particularly against the Indians, from whom a conjoint 
 attack began to be feared. It was also declared that the 
 upholding of the "truth and the liberties of the gospel" 
 were to be considered as of special importance. There were 
 appointed two commissioners from each of the colonies, to 
 meet annually, the sessions to be held alternately at Bos 
 ton, Plymouth, Hartford and New Haven. One of their 
 number was appointed president of the body, and in deciding 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1644 
 
 upon any measure the assent of six out of eight members was 
 necessary. 
 
 The provinces of Maine and Rhode Island were not invited 
 to become a part of the confederacy, "because," it was af 
 firmed, "the people there ran a different course both in their 
 ministry and civil administration." The Baptist settlers in 
 Rhode Island were especially obnoxious. A considerable 
 body of them settled, in 1644, at a place which they called 
 NEWPORT. The same year, Roger Williams having been com 
 missioned to proceed to England to solicit a charter for the 
 Providence Plantations, obtained one from the Long Parlia 
 ment, chiefly at the intercession of Sir Henry Vane. 
 
 About the same time, Miantonomah, having fallen into 
 the hands of the Mohegans, his bitter enemies, their chief, 
 UNCAS, with his own hand put him to death. It is said that 
 Uncas, cutting off a piece from the shoulder of the prostrate 
 warrior, devoured it, exclaiming that it made his heart strong 
 and was the sweetest morsel he ever ate ! Thus fell the In 
 dian friend of Roger Williams. The gravity of Miantonomah s 
 offence may possibly have been greater than that of Uncas ; 
 nevertheless, his fate was a cruel one and should not have 
 been permitted. The Connecticut commissioners wickedly 
 assented to the act in delivering him back to Uncas (who had 
 referred the case to them), they knowing that the Mohegan 
 chief would be his executioner. Pessacus, a brother of Mi 
 antonomah, and Ninigret, his cousin, were the chief sachems 
 of the Narragansetts after the death of the great chief. 
 
 The government organized by Williams and his associates, 
 under the charter, was equally as just and liberal as the com 
 pact made when Providence was first planted. Its execu 
 tion was intrusted to a president, assistants and assembly. 
 All laws- enacted by the assembly were to be first submitted 
 to the towns and to meet with the approval of a majority of 
 them. The assistants constituted the supreme court of law; 
 
1656] PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 153 
 
 but in each of the towns there was an inferior court for the 
 trial of petty cases. To every person was assured freedom 
 of religious belief, as also permission to worship according to 
 the dictate of his conscience ; an enactment which is worthy 
 of note, as it was the first legal announcement of entire re 
 ligious liberty in the colonies. (1644.) 
 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut likewise published their 
 complete code of laws shortly afterward, in 1649 an d 1650. 
 They recite a lengthy list of opinions affirmed to be heretical, 
 the promulgators of any of which were declared liable to ban 
 ishment. Jesuits were prohibited from entering the country, 
 a repetition of the offence being punishable with death. 
 
 John Clarke, of Rhode Island, with two others, being on 
 a visit to Lynn, the former delivered a public exhortation at 
 the house of a friend, for which offence they were all arrested 
 and carried by force to hear the regular preacher. Clarke 
 was sentenced, in addition, to pay a fine of ^20 or be 
 whipped ; part of the charge against him being that he re 
 fused to take off his hat in the meeting-house. Holmes, one 
 of his companions, was fined ^30, in addition to a flogging. 
 Upon being loosed from the whipping-post, he exclaimed : 
 "Although the Lord hath made it easy to me, I pray God it 
 may not be laid to your charge." Two persons, for shaking 
 hands with him and uttering words of praise, were both fined 
 and imprisoned. At a later date, the learned Dunster, presi 
 dent of Harvard College, was fined for his Baptist belief, and 
 obliged to resign his position. We must now turn our atten 
 tion to the far more bitter persecution of the Friends, or, as 
 they were then in derision called, the Quakers. 
 
 THE PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 
 
 There existed no law in the province especially directed 
 against the Quakers when, in 1656, Mary Fisher and Ann 
 G* 
 
I 5 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1656 
 
 Austin, members of that greatly-traduced society, arrived in 
 Boston harbor from the Barbadoes. The commissioners were 
 duly apprised of the coming of these inoffensive women, who, 
 it was declared, were "fit instruments to propagate the King 
 dom of Satan," and a law was solicited to debar the entrance 
 "from foreign lands of such notorious heretics." Their 
 trunks being searched, a large number of books which they 
 contained were carried ashore and burnt in the market-place by 
 the hangman ; the women were then imprisoned by order of 
 Bellingham, the deputy-governor, and their persons searched 
 for signs of witchcraft. Being clear of any indications of 
 that nature, after enduring an imprisonment of five weeks, 
 they were placed on board a vessel and sent away. In the 
 meantime eight others of the same sect arrived. These were 
 kept in jail for the space of eleven weeks, and then sent back 
 to England at the charge of the master of the vessel ; he 
 having been imprisoned until he promised to take them 
 away. 
 
 A strenuous law was forthwith enacted, by which it was 
 provided that any one who brought a Quaker into the colony 
 should suffer a fine of ;ioo, besides incurring the obligation 
 to carry such a one away again. The punishment of the 
 Quaker, in such a case, was to be flogging, and imprison 
 ment at hard labor until transported. Any one defending 
 the opinions of the Quakers was also liable to a fine and 
 other penalties. But these enactments failed of their pur 
 pose. 
 
 A widow who came from England to Massachusetts, having 
 debts owing her there, was thrust into prison, and confined 
 three months ; then sent back to England, her long voyage 
 resulting in no relief to herself and fatherless children. Be 
 side many others who suffered, were Lawrence and Cassandra 
 Southwick, an aged couple living near Boston. Though not 
 Quakers, yet upon beholding the cruelties which were inflicted 
 
1657] PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 155 
 
 upon that peaceful people, they were led, with others, to for 
 sake the appointed assemblies and to meet by themselves on 
 the first day of the week. For this, Lawrence and Cassandra 
 received thirty stripes with a knotted whip of three cords, 
 and part of their household goods were sold to pay a fine im 
 posed for being absent from the established meeting. 
 
 The rulers, believing that the law was still too lenient for 
 the Quakers persisted in returning even after being fined, 
 flogged and imprisoned ordered that those found guilty of 
 coming back after banishment, should surfer the loss of their 
 ears, and have their tongues bored through with a hot iron. 
 One, William Brend, having been apprehended and brought 
 before the magistrates, was accused of holding certain unchris 
 tian doctrines. The allegation was shown to be untrue ; 
 nevertheless, Brend was imprisoned in Boston, and having 
 declined to work for the jailor, was put in irons, his neck and 
 heels tied together, and kept in that trying position for many 
 hours. No food was given him for several days. In this, his 
 weak condition, having received about a hundred blows with 
 a pitched rope, he nearly died under the inhuman torture. 
 
 The news of this outrage becoming known in the town, 
 caused such an outcry, that Endicott, the governor, sent his 
 surgeon to the prison to see what could be done. The sur 
 geon reported the condition of the victim to be so deplorable, 
 that his flesh would rot off the bones ere the bruised parts 
 could be healed. This still farther exasperated the people, 
 but the magistrates cast the blame upon the jailor, and said 
 that he should be duly dealt with. But John Norton, the 
 principal clergyman in the town, as well as a chief instigator 
 of the persecution, exclaimed, that as " Brend endeavored to 
 beat our gospel ordinances black and blue, if he then be 
 beaten black and blue, it is but just upon him and I will ap 
 pear in his behalf that did so." 
 
 Thus, Norton and others of the clergy, apprehending 
 
156 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1658 
 
 that scourging and cutting off of ears, was still insufficient 
 punishment for those who held to the faith and practice of the 
 Quakers, petitioned the magistrates that a law be enacted to 
 banish the so-called "heretics," upon pain of death. A 
 court composed of twenty-five persons was accordingly held, 
 and, by a majority of one vote only, a law was passed per 
 mitting a county court of three magistrates to decree the 
 punishment of death, without benefit of trial by jury : a clear 
 infringement of the fundamental law of England. This result 
 so troubled one who was kept away from the court by illness, 
 and whose vote would have defeated the measure, that, weep 
 ing, he declared he would have crept to the court upon his 
 knees rather than it should have passed. The law, however, 
 upon the earnest protest of the dissenting voters, was so 
 amended as that trial by jury was allowed. 
 
 Mention has been made of the harsh .treatment endured by 
 Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick. A son and daughter 
 of these, likewise refusing to frequent the assemblies of those 
 who had become such relentless persecutors, were each heavily 
 fined for the offence. Upon account of their low estate, the 
 penalty could not be produced ; whereupon the court decreed 
 that they should be sold " to any of the English nation, at 
 Virginia or Barbadoes, to answer the said fines." But there 
 was no master of a ship to be found who was base enough to 
 carry them away : the mariners remembered better than did 
 the rulers, that the judgments of the Lord were of old time 
 against those who "sold the righteous for silver, and the poor 
 for a pair of shoes." 
 
 In Whittier s ballad of "Cassandra Southwick" the above 
 incident is narrated with much beauty and pathos : 
 
 " Pile my ship with bars of silver, pack with coins of Spanish gold, 
 From keel-piece up to deck-plank, the roomage of her hold, 
 By the living God who made me ! I would sooner in yon bay 
 Sink ship and crew and cargo, than bear this child away. 
 
1659] PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 157 
 
 " Well answered, worthy captain, shame on their cruel laws ! 
 Ran through the crowd in murmurs loud the people s just applause. 
 1 Like the herdsman of Tekoa, in Israel of old, 
 Shall we see the poor and righteous again for silver sold ? " 
 
 We now come to the cases in which certain of the Quakers 
 suffered the penalty of death, rather than offend against the 
 drawings of the Holy Spirit, as clearly revealed in their 
 inmost souls. They doubtless felt that where the blood 
 thirsty spirit of intolerance prevailed, as it then did in New 
 England, there were their presence and exhortations and even 
 the sacrifice of their lives, particularly needed. In obedience 
 to such plain intimations of duty as they felt that they could 
 not, without guilt, withstand, came Marmaduke Stevenson, a 
 yeoman of Yorkshire, William Robinson, merchant, of Lon 
 don, and Mary Dyer, widow of the recorder of Providence 
 Plantation. 
 
 These were all imprisoned upon the charge of being Quakers. 
 They were then banished; but, having returned, the sentence 
 of death was passed upon them by Endicott. Mary Dyer, 
 however, was reprieved when on the scaffold. Robinson died, 
 exclaiming, "I suffer for Christ, in whom I live, and for 
 whom I die." Stevenson, as he stepped up the ladder, uttered 
 the words, " Be it known unto all this day, that we suffer not 
 as evil doers, but for conscience sake." The following year 
 Mary Dyer again returned, and being once more sentenced 
 to death, remarked that her blood would be required at the 
 hands of those who did wilfully shed it, adding, "But for 
 those that do it in the simplicity of their hearts, I desire the 
 Lord to forgive them. I came to do the will of my Father, 
 and in obedience to his will, I stand even to death." But so 
 hardened were some of these persecutors, that Adderton, a 
 general, who was one of the court, said scoffingly, "She 
 did hang as a flag for others to take example by." 
 
 Fearful of the result of these bloody proceedings, the 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1660 
 
 magistrates sent over to King Charles a declaration of the 
 intentions which influenced them in so acting towards the 
 Quakers, and ended with the poor apology that " we desire 
 their lives absent, rather than their deaths present." In a 
 second address to the king, they said that the magistrate, in 
 conscience bound, held the sword s point outward, and that 
 if the Quakers chose to rush upon it, they brought their blood 
 upon their own heads ! 
 
 In the meantime William Leddra, who had suffered at the 
 same time that Brend was so cruelly scourged, felt the neces 
 sity so forcibly laid upon him to return to the province, that 
 he repaired thither once more, and hence was again impris 
 oned. Being brought into court, ignominiously chained to a 
 log, to receive his sentence, he appealed for trial to the laws 
 of England, saying that, "If by them I am found guilty, I 
 refuse not to die:" for the English law did not punish the 
 Quakers with death. Then appeared a certain Wenlock 
 Christison, who also had been banished under the extreme 
 penalty. Fearless in the right, with a courage which quailed 
 not before the assembled magistrates, Wenlock came forward. 
 For a few moments there was silence in the court, the rulers 
 being amazed and awe-struck at the sudden appearance. Then 
 the governor demanded why he, having been banished, pre 
 sumed to return at the risk of his life, to which Wenlock 
 made reply, that he came with a warning to them to shed no 
 more innocent blood. Nevertheless Leddra was executed the 
 following day. As the executioner placed the halter round 
 his neck, he was heard to say "I commit my righteous 
 cause unto thee, O God." 
 
 As for the brave Christison, he was kept several weeks in 
 prison, the rulers seeming fearful to proceed against him. 
 But finally the council being agreed, he was brought up to the 
 bar, and Endicott demanded of him if he had anything to 
 say for himself, why he should not die? To which he 
 
i66oj PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 159 
 
 answered, "I have done nothing worthy of death; if I had, 
 I refuse not to die." It was then said to him that his crime 
 was that of rebellion and ought to be punished ; but he replied 
 that he came in obedience to the God of heaven and in love 
 to them, for that all have account to give of the deeds done 
 in the body; and added, " Take heed, for you cannot escape 
 the righteous judgments of God." To which the general 
 Adderton made answer: "You pronounce woes and judg 
 ments, and those that are gone before you, pronounced woes 
 and judgments, but the judgments of the Lord God are not 
 come upon us as yet." Then Wenlock warned his judges 
 not to be lifted up in pride, charging Adderton especially 
 that his doom would be sudden, and was even then near 
 at hand. When the vote was taken as to sentencing the 
 prisoner to death, there was a division of opinion, but the 
 governor insisted on the sentence, which he accordingly 
 pronounced. 
 
 Wenlock having been condemned, solemnly declared to the 
 rulers that he scarcely believed they had the power to hurt 
 him, and furthermore, that he believed they should never 
 more take Quakers lives from them. And thus it turned out; 
 for within a few days, himself and nearly thirty others were 
 liberated ; while, several months later, appeared an order from 
 the king that those summary proceedings must cease, and that 
 the accused might be sent over to England for trial, together 
 with the indictments laid to their charge. 
 
 Although punishment by hanging was stayed, yet many and 
 sorrowful were the scourgings now inflicted. Only two or 
 three cases need be instanced. One, was that of Edward Whar- 
 ton, who had once befriended the governor when the latter 
 was in want, but now, Wharton being a Quaker, was brought 
 to the market-place in Boston, and being stripped to the waist, 
 was bound to the wheel of a cannon, and lashed most cruelly. 
 Josiah Southwick a brother of those two who had been 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1661 
 
 ordered to be sold was tied to a cart, and underwent the 
 same torture as did Whartoh. " They that know God to be 
 their strength," he said, "cannot fear what man can do." 
 At Dover, three women of the same sect were sentenced to 
 be tied to the tail of a cart, to be driven through eleven towns 
 (a distance of 80 miles), and to be whipped upon their bare 
 backs ten stripes in each place. This was in winter. But 
 again they returned to Dover, and one of them while kneel 
 ing in prayer was seized, and having been dragged a long 
 distance in the snow, over stumps and fallen trees, was then 
 placed in confinement. Her companion met with similar 
 barbarous treatment. 
 
 General Adderton came to his end, sudden and unawares, 
 as Wenlock Christison had prophesied; for on a day when he 
 had reviewed his soldiers and was riding proudly by the place 
 where the Quakers were usually loosed from the cart after 
 they had been whipped, his horse took fright, and, dashing 
 him violently to the ground, he died most miserably. Endi- 
 cott, soon after the scourging of Wharton, was visited with a 
 loathsome disease which carried him off; while Norton, who 
 had been so active in procuring the death-law, and in securing 
 its enforcement, died suddenly in his house, exclaiming 
 "The hand [or the judgments] of the Lord are upon me." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MARYLAND. PROGRESS OF THE VIRGINIA COLONY. 
 16321683. 
 
 LORD BALTIMORE THE FOUNDER OF MARYLAND. 
 
 THE gradual ascendency of the Protestant faith in England, 
 since the death of that persecuting sovereign who is known 
 in history as "Bloody Mary," had resulted in the establish 
 ment of another form of state religion, but with the spirit 
 of intolerance by no means allayed. The Puritan non-con 
 formists had indeed sought, and secured, a home for their 
 brethren, but, as we have seen, the broad mantle of charity 
 did not overspread all their land. And now the English 
 Papists, exposed alike to the enmity of the State-religionists 
 and the Puritans, turned their gaze also, with hopes of relief, 
 to the Western World. They found an able helper in GEORGE 
 CALVERT, a member of the former Virginia Company of Lon 
 don, and also Secretary of the kingdom. 
 
 Shortly after the time of the landing of the Pilgrims, Calvert 
 obtained a grant of territory, which he called by the name 
 of Avalon it being the south-eastern part of the island of 
 Newfoundland. A settlement was effected here (1624), which 
 Calvert twice visited ; but being well persuaded that any 
 colony would eventually languish and fail of success if planted 
 in so high a latitude, exposed also as it would be to the jeal 
 ousy of the French and to the plundering fishermen of the 
 neighboring shores, the project was abandoned, and a more 
 
 15* 161 
 
162 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1632 
 
 desirable locality sought for. The situation of Virginia 
 greatly recommended it, yet Calvert, upon his visit of inspec 
 tion to that province, found that he could not, as a Romanist, 
 take the oath of supremacy which would be there tendered 
 him. He therefore turned his attention to another quarter, 
 as yet unoccupied, where men s consciences would be left un 
 trammelled. Previous to this visit Calvert had acquired the 
 title of Lord Baltimore. 
 
 The territory which was chosen, and for which a grant was 
 obtained from Charles the First, was that portion lying north 
 of the Potomac river, bounded by the 4oth parallel of lati 
 tude, and extending in width from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
 head-waters of the Potomac. It received the name of MARY 
 LAND, in honor of Henrietta Maria, the queen. Lord Balti 
 more having died before the charter was issued, his son CECIL 
 at once succeeded to the proprietorship, in 1632. By the 
 charter, the province was conferred upon the first Lord Balti 
 more and his heirs, with power to make all necessary laws 
 consonant to reason and not repugnant to the laws of Eng 
 land, subject, however, to the "advifce, consent and approba 
 tion of the freemen of the province." This was a wise and 
 prompt concession to the rights of the governed, which, in 
 the case of Virginia and New England, had not at first been 
 recognized. The ecclesiastical law of, England was declared 
 to be the ruling church power, but it was so bent by the 
 Baltimores as to conform to Catholicism as well. 
 
 The charter met with great opposition from WILLIAM CLAY- 
 BORNE, Secretary of the council of Virginia, who, in his 
 capacity of surveyor, had made explorations in the Chesa 
 peake, and, furthermore, had obtained a royal license which 
 permitted him to trade in those parts. He had established 
 a post at the mouth of the Susquehanna, and another on the 
 long island of Kent, in the bay, east of Annapolis both 
 within the territory just granted to Lord Baltimore. Leaving 
 
1634] LORD BALTIMORE. 163 
 
 Clayborne to obtain redress at law, the first Maryland colony, 
 under LEONARD CALVERT, a brother of Cecil, the proprietary, 
 sailed in two ships, the Ark and the Dove, and early in the 
 year 1634, landed on the north side of the Potomac, near its 
 mouth, at an Indian village which they called St. Mary s. 
 
 Fortunately for the colonists, the Indians kindly agreed 
 that the whites should occupy the wigwams and be permitted 
 to till the cleared ground. A good crop of corn was secured 
 the same year, and the Dove was sent to Massachusetts to 
 obtain a supply of fish in exchange for the grain. In the 
 meantime the feud with Clayborne came to a crisis ; for he, 
 having made a hostile demonstration, the settlers of St. Mary s 
 possessed themselves of the island of Kent, though not with 
 out bloodshed. Clayborne escaped to Virginia, and being 
 apprehended by the governor of that province, was sent to 
 England. His island property was confiscated by the Mary 
 land Assembly. 
 
 To encourage emigration, the proprietary promised to allot 
 a manor of a thousand acres to every settler who would trans 
 port five men to the colony ; the land to be held at a yearly 
 rent of twenty shillings, payable in produce. A married im 
 migrant received one hundred acres for himself, the same for 
 his wife, and fifty acres for each child, besides grants for the 
 servants, the whole subject to a rent of a few shillings. In 
 accordance with the charter, deputies met and formed a House 
 of Burgesses ; framed a constitution ; and enacted a code of 
 laws. Lord Baltimore had first sent over a set of statutes 
 drawn up by himself, but the settlers refused to concede to 
 him any privilege as to the power of legislation. 
 
 The cultivation, and the price, of tobacco, early became a 
 matter for legislative regulation in Maryland, as well as in 
 Virginia. In both provinces, every person who planted that 
 staple was required to cultivate two acres of corn. But as 
 large quantities of the weed were also produced in several of 
 
1 64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1624 
 
 the West India islands, and as the price had greatly declined, 
 it was enacted in 1639 by the Virginia Assembly, in order to 
 enhance the value, that half the crop should be burnt > and 
 that for the succeeding two years a reduced amount should be 
 raised. Tobacco, in fact, was the currency in Virginia and 
 Maryland, as wampum was at the same period in New Nether- 
 land and New England : physicians and lawyers received 
 their fees in it, drunkenness and profanity were punishable by 
 fines payable in the same, and it has already been stated that 
 the wives of some of the first Virginia settlers were paid for 
 in tobacco. 
 
 INDIAN TROUBLES IN VIRGINIA. CLAYBORNE OF KENT 
 ISLAND. 
 
 At the time of the dissolution of the London Virginia 
 company in 1624, and the reversion of the province to the 
 king, Wyatt was governor. Five years later, JOHN HARVEY 
 held the office ; and it was he who sent the fugitive Clay- 
 borne to England. At Point Comfort, at the entrance of 
 James river, Harvey built a fort, where all persons entering 
 the colony were tendered the oath of allegiance and suprem 
 acy, and all vessels were sent therefrom to Jamestown before 
 any part of their cargoes could be landed. During his ad 
 ministration, a law was made, with respect to the Indians, 
 that no person should be permitted to speak or parley with 
 them, and the commanders were authorized to fall upon any 
 who might be found lurking about the plantations. To sell 
 powder and shot to Indians involved the entire forfeiture of 
 a person s estate. 
 
 Under SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY, Harvey s successor, who 
 held the governorship for the most part of forty years, an en 
 actment was made that all ministers should use the liturgy and 
 conform to the usages of the church of England. Non-con 
 formists were requested to depart the colony ; Romish priests 
 
1 644] CLAYBORNE OF KENT ISLAND. 165 
 
 being compelled to do so within the space of five days. Some 
 of the Puritan colonists sent a request to Boston for a supply 
 of ministers, three of whom were accordingly deputed with 
 letters, of commendation to Governor Berkeley and the coun 
 cil ; but although they were well entertained, yet as they 
 refused to use the established liturgy, the governor very soon 
 sent them back to New England. 
 
 In 1644, twenty-two years after the first massacre of the 
 Virginia settlers by the Powhatans under Opechancanough, a 
 second sudden uprising occurred, instigated, it was said, by 
 the same chief. This warrior, it is true, was of a crafty na 
 ture, yet he had deeply felt, from the first arrival of the whites, 
 how grossly the tribes were being wronged out of their pos 
 sessions. Savage-like, he waited sullenly for the time of 
 retribution ; beholding, meanwhile, how his enemies con 
 tinued their encroachments, and, in accordance with their 
 so-called Christian laws shot down every Indian who showed 
 himself. In this second onslaught, about 500 of the colonists 
 were massacred in one day. During the fierce struggle which 
 ensued, the aged chief was captured, and, having been taken 
 to Jamestown, was killed by a soldier who had been appointed 
 to guard him. The Indians sued for peace, and gave up all 
 claim to the land between the James and York rivers. No 
 Indian was permitted to return thither under pain of death. 
 
 The early settlers of Maryland were mostly at peace with 
 the natives, although occasionally slight disputes arose with 
 the Susquehannas on the north, and with the Nanticokes on 
 the eastern shore of the bay. But the chief antagonist of the 
 colony, or rather of the proprietary s government, was Clay- 
 borne of Kent island. He had applied to the assembly for 
 the restoration of his property, but his claim having been re 
 jected, he was joined by other disaffected ones, who, forcing 
 Calvert to return to Virginia, possessed themselves also of the 
 disputed island. The governor, after an absence of over a 
 
1 66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1654 
 
 year, returned with an armed force and established himself 
 again in power, though he died in the following year, 1647. 
 
 When news arrived in Virginia of the execution of Charles 
 I., the governor of that province declared in favor of the 
 second Charles, and against the rule of Parliament. An ex 
 pedition, in charge of five commissioners, was accordingly 
 despatched to the Chesapeake (1651), to oblige the colonists 
 "to be true and faithful to the commonwealth of England as 
 it is now established, without king or House of Lords." Two 
 of these commissioners were Richard Bennett, who had been 
 a Puritan emigrant to Maryland, and William Clay borne. 
 Berkeley having been deposed, a new assembly was called, 
 who chose Bennett governor, and Clayborne secretary. 
 
 The claimant of Kent island being now in a position of 
 influence, lost no time in making the power of the commis 
 sioners felt in the adjoining colony of Maryland. STONE, 
 the governor, although a parliamentarian, was deposed, but 
 upon the petition of the inhabitants was reinstated in office. 
 Two years later, however, when Cromwell was proclaimed 
 Protector (1654), Bennett and Clayborne resented Stone s 
 proceedings, which they thought savored too much of a strict 
 allegiance to Lord Baltimore, the proprietary. Hence Stone 
 was again deposed, the commissioners being aided by the 
 Puritan settlers of Ann Arundel a county which had been 
 so named in honor of Lady Baltimore. Papists and pre- 
 latists were arbitrarily disfranchised, and were forbidden to 
 sit in the new assembly ; an act of intolerance such as had not 
 been attempted by the Catholic proprietary. 
 
 MARYLAND DURING CROMWELL S PROTECTORATE, AND 
 UNDER CHARLES II. 
 
 On the north side of the lower Patuxent was a private 
 house, used as a state-house, and here the records of the 
 colony were kept. South of the Patuxent, near the end of 
 
i6 7 5] MARYLAND UNDER CHARLES //. 167 
 
 the peninsula comprised between that estuary and the Poto 
 mac, were the Catholic settlements of St. Mary s ; while, at 
 Providence (afterward Annapolis), the Puritans were chiefly 
 located. Stone, who resided at St. Mary s, being blamed by 
 Lord Baltimore for surrendering his authority so easily, now 
 called the Catholic settlers to arms. Having first seized the 
 records at the house on the Patuxent, he proceeded with 
 about 200 followers, in several small vessels, to make an at 
 tack upon the Puritan settlement ; but the attempt resulted 
 disastrously, one-fourth of the assailants being killed and 
 wounded. Although the life of Stone was spared, four of his 
 principal officers were condemned to death. 
 
 The cause of the contestants was then referred to the Pro 
 tector, by whom two commissioners were appointed to decide 
 the matter. Their report was favorable to Lord Baltimore, 
 who sent over his brother, PHILIP CALVERT, to be secretary 
 of the province, and JOSIAH FENDAL to be governor. The 
 Puritans of Ann Arundel, refusing to acknowledge the 
 authority of those officers, it became necessary to secure the 
 mediation of the governor of Virginia. Upon the restora 
 tion of Charles II., in 1660, Philip Calvert received a com 
 mission as governor in Fendal s place, while the latter, though 
 tried and found guilty of acts treasonable to Calvert, was 
 granted a pardon. At this time the English having taken 
 possession of New Netherland and New Sweden, Lord Balti 
 more claimed, under his charter, the right to the land on the 
 Delaware below the 4oth parallel of latitude (that of Phila 
 delphia), but the Duke of York, who had conquered the 
 land from the Dutch, insisted on retaining his acquisitions. 
 
 Cecil, Lord Baltimore, died in 1675, having been forty- 
 three years proprietary. His administration was, in the main, 
 a mild and just one. The population of the province although 
 Catholic at the first, did not afterward receive many acces 
 sions from that denomination. Notwithstanding that the 
 
i68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1660 
 
 religious scruples of the colonists were usually respected, yet 
 the Quakers suffered occasional hardships for maintaining 
 their testimonies upon War and Oaths. Their refusal to per 
 form military duty subjected them to fines and to harsh 
 imprisonment ; while the forfeiture of their property was 
 sometimes the consequence of declining to take an oath. 
 
 CHARLES, the eldest son of Cecil, now became proprietor. 
 For a number of years previously, he had resided in the 
 province as its governor, having succeeded his uncle Philip ; 
 but upon returning to England he was called to account upon 
 the charge of not maintaining the established Episcopal re 
 ligion ; that there were no parsonages provided for, no tithes 
 collected -as in Virginia, and that the morals of the place were 
 in a low state. Lord Baltimore, in his defence, referred to 
 the large number of religious creeds which prevailed there ; 
 but this answer was not considered sufficient. Meanwhile, 
 these proceedings in England encouraged the malcontents in 
 the colony of whom Feudal was a ringleader to seek to 
 undermine the authority of the Catholic proprietor. Where 
 upon the latter, in 1681, having hastened his return, Fendal 
 was put under arrest, and, being found guilty of sedition, was 
 promptly banished. 
 
 THE-ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BERKELEY, OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 In Virginia, the news of the King s Restoration (1660) was 
 followed by the re-election of Berkeley as governor, after a 
 retirement of eight years. His salary was a large one for the 
 time, being about $3400 in money, collectable from the duty 
 on exports ; also 60,000 Ibs. of tobacco, to be taken out of 
 the levy ; a bushel of corn in the ear, from every tithable in 
 habitant ; besides the customs chargeable on Dutch vessels 
 from New Netherland. The latter fee, however, did not long 
 continue ; for by a navigation act, passed in England, all 
 
1660] VIRGINIA UNDER BERKELEY. 169 
 
 foreign vessels were forbidden to trade with the colonies of 
 the Dutch. As the Virginians built no vessels of their own, 
 Berkeley was at once commissioned to proceed to England in 
 behalf of the planters ; for the new act, by removing compe 
 tition, would place them at the mercy of the traders. Al 
 though the governor s mission was unsuccessful, he took 
 advantage of the opportunity to enroll himself as one of the 
 eight proprietors of the new province of Carolina. 
 
 The organization of society in Virginia was radically dif 
 ferent from what it was in New England. In New England, 
 the settlements were made in villages, each having its school, 
 meeting-house, and concentrated local government.. As a 
 consequence of this aggregation of people in close communi 
 ties, the manufacture of various fabrics soon arose, and the 
 colony was not long dependent on the mother country. In 
 Virginia, on the contrary, the early settlers took up large 
 plantations on the tide-water rivers, and, in the cultivation 
 of the one staple, tobacco, required the services of many 
 helpers, who were at first indentured white servants, more 
 often than slaves. All manufactured goods were supplied by 
 England, and were usually brought in the vessel which came 
 to the planter s wharf to take away his tobacco. Hence, vil 
 lages and towns were few and of slow growth, and education 
 not being diffused to those of low degree, the control of the 
 government tended to concentration in the hands of the 
 planters. 
 
 The Quaker and Anabaptist heresies, as they were called, 
 were proceeded against according to the code of New Eng 
 land. For a ship-master to bring Quakers into the colony, 
 or for any one to entertain persons of that sect, or to permit 
 an assembly of them in or near his house, there was imposed 
 a penalty of ;ioo. Fines were likewise imposed upon all, 
 Quakers or others, who did not attend the parish chapels, or 
 who refused to allow their children to be baptized by the 
 H 15 
 
I yo HISTORY OF THE U \ITED STATES. [1673 
 
 " lawful" minister. A more lenient spirit began to be mani 
 fested toward the Indians. All persons found encroaching 
 upon their lands were to be removed ; none could be sold 
 into slavery ; and as proof of an apparent desire to secure 
 just treatment, several of the colonists were heavily fined for 
 wrongs committed and for intrusions upon them. 
 
 The fact of the Africans being heathen, had been esteemed 
 a sufficient reason why they should be held as slaves; but 
 when, during Berkeley s administration (1667), the question 
 was raised in the assembly of Virginia, as to whether those 
 negroes who had become Christians could any longer be held 
 to servitude, a law was promptly enacted that their freedom 
 was not to be secured by any change of religion. It was also 
 declared that if slaves be killed by extreme correction, the 
 act should not be rated as a great crime. 
 
 Some of the POLYNESIAN islanders understood the proper effect 
 of Christianity upon War and Slavery, differently from these legis 
 lators. " When," says William Ellis, " Christianity was adopted 
 by the people, human sacrifices, infant murder and war, entirely 
 ceased." This writer and another missionary agree that the natives 
 also gave freedom immediately to all their slaves : they never con 
 sidered a pure religion and servitude to be compatible. Titus 
 Coan, an American missionary to the Sandwich islands, went in 
 1833 to Patagonia with a single companion. They were unarmed, 
 and suffered no harm. "They were not jealous or afraid of us," 
 says Coan, "and we left them unscathed, under the wing of our 
 Immanuel. After we left Patagonia, seven armed missionaries were 
 starved to death on Terra del Fuego, because they feared to go 
 with the natives, and the natives feared them. At a later date eight 
 missionaries (armed) were slaughtered, at one time, by the same 
 savages." 
 
 The year 1673 was marked by a startling event in the his 
 tory of the colony. The king, a few years previously, had 
 granted to LORD CULPEPER, the whole of the peninsula in 
 cluded between the Potomac and the Rappahannoc rivers, 
 
1673] BACON S REBELLION. 171 
 
 known by the name of the " Northern Neck." With a mar 
 vellous prodigality the same sovereign hand now assigned to 
 Lords Culpeper and Arlington, two noblemen notoriously 
 rapacious, not only the Neck, but the whole province of Vir 
 ginia, to be under their control for the term of 31 years. 
 Alarmed at this remarkable conveyance, a committee was 
 appointed to proceed to England to buy off the grant ; and, 
 to furnish the means, a large special tax, payable in tobacco, 
 was imposed upon the inhabitants. This onerous tax, as well 
 as the fact that the tenure of their lands was rendered thus 
 uncertain by reason of the royal caprice, produced much dis 
 satisfaction among the colonists. But, for the mass of the in 
 habitants, there were other and still deeper causes of grievance 
 and alarm, to wit : the recent restriction of the right of suf 
 frage to freeholders only ; the exemption of lands from taxa 
 tion, and the consequent increased burden placed upon the 
 poorer part of the community ; also, the high salaries paid to 
 the governor and the burgesses, which were largely raised by 
 the unequal tax upon the people. These, together with a 
 formidable Indian outbreak, were some of the causes of dis 
 content which eventuated in Bacon s Rebellion. 
 
 BACON S REBELLION. LORD CULPEPER. 
 
 Simultaneously with the Indian war of Philip of Pokanoket, 
 in New England, came an aggressive movement of the Sene- 
 cas of New York upon the Susquehannahs who dwelt at the 
 head of the Chesapeake. The Susquehannahs, in their turn, 
 pressed upon the Maryland settlements, and a war with the 
 whites resulted. Then followed depredations by the tribes 
 south of the Potomac. Thereupon a body of the Virginians, 
 headed by John Washington, of the Northern Neck (ancestor 
 of the President), proceeded against the natives ; who, being 
 
I 7 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1673 
 
 hard pressed, sent six of their chiefs to treat for peace. These 
 messengers were slaughtered by the whites to whom they were 
 bearing the olive branch. 
 
 Such perfidy, inflicted upon the persons of envoys, precipi 
 tated a murderous attack by the Indians upon the borders of 
 the colony, as far south as the falls of the James. In the 
 latter neighborhood, where the city of Richmond now stands, 
 was the plantation of a talented and eloquent young planter, 
 NATHANIEL BACON. He had been a student of law in the 
 Temple, at London, whence he had but recently arrived. 
 His plantation had been attacked by the Indians, but, dis 
 daining Berkeley s plan of protection by the use of forts, 
 Bacon demanded a general s commission to organize the 
 militia and follow in pursuit of the foe. This was refused by 
 the governor, who, it appears, had a monopoly of the Indian 
 trade, and desired that his interests should not suffer loss ; 
 whereupon, Bacon, having been speedily joined by several 
 hundred of the planters, went to the war unauthorized. The 
 governor s Indian monopoly partly explains why, prior to the 
 outbreak, a more friendly course had been pursued toward the 
 natives. 
 
 Berkeley proclaimed Bacon and his followers, rebels, and 
 ordered troops to go after them ; but in the meantime, the 
 counties on the lower York and James, declaring themselves 
 in sympathy with the insurgents, the governor was obliged to 
 yield. A new assembly was called, to which Bacon, who had 
 successfully encountered the Indians, was appointed a burgess. 
 A code of liberal laws was framed which was known as 
 " Bacon s Laws"; the right of suffrage was restored to all 
 the freemen, and the taxes and emoluments were curtailed ; but, 
 the young leader not receiving the commission which Berkeley 
 had promised, summoned nearly 500 of his adherents to 
 Jamestown, and forced the governor finally to accede to his 
 demand. These acts of revolution, which were a sort of ante- 
 
1676] BACON S REBELLION. 173 
 
 type of the Revolutionary War, transpired in the summer of 
 1676, just a century prior to the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Bacon once more started out against the Indians ; but he 
 had not been gone many days, when Berkeley again proclaimed 
 him a traitor. DRUMMOND, who had been governor of the North 
 Carolina settlements, and Lawrence, a pupil of Oxford, brought 
 the news to Bacon ; who, mustering his adherents in the lower 
 counties, obliged the governor to retire across the bay to the 
 Eastern Shore. By liberal promises of Jnoney and plunder, 
 Berkeley raised a force of nearly a thousand men of Accomac, 
 with whom he proceeded, in 15 ships and sloops, up the James 
 river to the little capital. Bacon had already defeated the 
 Indians a second time, and disbanded his men, when he learnt 
 of the arrival of the fleet ; but without loss of time, his fol 
 lowers were again in arms and moving against Jamestown. 
 
 After a short siege the governor and the royalists deserted 
 the town, and embarking on the fleet at night, sailed down 
 the river; while Bacon and his men, in order that their oppo 
 nents might be debarred from the protection which the build 
 ings afforded, set them on fire Drummond and Lawrence, it 
 is said, applying the torch to their own dwellings. The newly- 
 erected state-house and the little brick chapel, the first built 
 in the colony, were burnt with the rest. The voyager who 
 now passes by the Jamestown peninsula, will notice, close to 
 the river s bank, one end of the chapel, with its arched win 
 dow, still standing : it is all that remains of the earliest set 
 tlement in Virginia. Upon the destruction of this place, the 
 royalist troops who were marching against Bacon, decided to 
 join his cause in a body ; but before that leader could carry 
 out his design of subduing the Berkeley party across the bay, 
 he was seized with a miasmatic disorder, which proved fatal. 
 
 The insurgents, having lost their leader, were not able to 
 cope with Beverly, who took the part of the governor. Over 
 twenty of Bacon s adherents, among whom was Drummond, 
 
I 7 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, [1680 
 
 were hung. And although a proclamation arrived in the 
 meantime from Charles the Second, that a pardon should be 
 granted to all the insurgents except Bacon, yet Berkeley refused 
 to discontinue the executions, until finally the assembly voted 
 him an address, petitioning that no more blood should be 
 spilled. The governor, whose conduct had been greatly cen 
 sured, very soon returned to England ; but he died shortly 
 after his arrival there, before he had had an opportunity to 
 secure an audience with the king. 
 
 Ardent, talented and brave-spirited though Nathaniel Bacon 
 appears to have been, yet we cannot applaud either his plan 
 for overcoming the Indian difficulty, or his treatment of the 
 arrogant and avaricious Berkeley. The wrongs which had 
 stirred the Indian heart to aggression, were greater by far than 
 wefe those of the settlers, and undoubtedly a just and lenient 
 spirit would have led to reconciliation, because never has it 
 failed when it has been fairly tried. The war resulted in great 
 loss of life, and an unjust decree of slavery directed against 
 the Indians, besides the perpetuation in their minds of a false 
 conception of the religion which the whites had so dishonored. 
 
 Although Bacon appeared as the champion of the majority 
 of the planters against aristocratic assumption, yet what good 
 was accomplished that could not have been better secured by 
 a dignified and united presentation of their grievances to the 
 attention of the assembly? To sum up the untoward result 
 in a sentence : Bacon was dead twenty-three of his adherents 
 had been hung Jamestown was in ashes a liberal charter 
 had been withheld by the king the old laws and burdensome 
 levies were renewed and the right of franchise again confined 
 to the freeholders. 
 
 Lord Culpeper having purchased Arlington s share of the 
 grant of Virginia and received from the king a commission as 
 governor for life, appeared in the province in 1680. Although 
 granted a salary of ^2000, he came to gather the perquisites 
 
1683] LORD CULPEPER. ! 75 
 
 which his property might afford, rather than to seek the 
 colony s prosperity. One, John Buckner, having brought a 
 printing-press to the colony (1682), imprinted the laws passed 
 by the assembly ; but being called to account by Culpeper 
 and his council, and required to wait until the king s wish 
 could be heard, he was informed that the royal instructions 
 were, to positively forbid the press to be used. 
 
 The condition of Virginia at that time was one of much 
 distress. The over-production of tobacco, by reason of the 
 increasing number of slaves, had reduced the price of the 
 staple to a penny per pound. The navigation acts, which 
 operated against the interests of the colony, might have had 
 their evils diminished by the home-building of vessels, which 
 would not have been liable to duty, and thus an increased 
 production of corn in place of tobacco, for export, would have 
 been required. But this measure was not adopted. A regi 
 ment of soldiers had been sent over by the king, and, being 
 quartered upon the inhabitants, caused grievous complaints on 
 account of the burden they entailed ; while the troops them 
 selves suffered greatly from sickness. Culpeper, upon his re 
 turn to England in 1683, sold his patent to the crown for a 
 pdnsion, and a successor was appointed to the governorship in 
 the person of LORD HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 CAROLINA. 
 16631688. 
 
 THE PALATINE PROPRIETORS AND THEIR MODEL CONSTITU 
 TION. 
 
 To eight courtier-noblemen, King Charles II. of England 
 granted all the territory south of Virginia as far as the latitude 
 of Port Royal ; a country, nevertheless, which the Spaniards 
 claimed as a portion of the province of Florida, being held 
 by the castle of St. Augustine as an appendage of the Spanish 
 crown. Of the eight proprietors, several were men well-known 
 in the political arena : General Monk, now become Duke of 
 Albemarle, the leader of the parliamentary party which re 
 stored the crown to the House of Stuart ; Lord Clarendon, 
 prime minister of the king ; Lord Ashley Cooper, Earl of 
 Shaftesbury, the wealthy and intellectual chancellor ; and Sir 
 William Berkeley, governor of Virginia. Beside these, there 
 were Lord John Berkeley and Lord Craven ; Sir George Car- 
 teret and Sir John Colleton. This grant of CAROLINA was 
 made in 1663, three years after the king s restoration. 
 
 Half-a-century before the time of the royal grant, and soon 
 after Jamestown was settled, the country about Nansemond 
 river (an affluent of the James) began to be inhabited ; and 
 from there a number of parties proceeded down the Chowan, 
 and settled near its confluence with Albemarle Sound. Yet it 
 was not until 1662, when GEORGE DURANT purchased from 
 176 
 
1 665] THE PALATINE PROPRIETORS. 177 
 
 the Indians a tract on the sound, and when Quakers, driven 
 from Virginia, began to bend their steps thither, that the 
 settlements attracted much attention. Berkeley, as governor 
 of Virginia, and at the same time as one of the Carolina pro 
 prietors, was authorized to institute a government for the 
 Albemarle plantations, and accordingly appointed to the ex 
 ecutive post WILLIAM DRUMMOND, a Scotchman, afterward 
 so prominent in Bacon s Rebellion. As Drummond was a 
 man who believed in popular representation, an assembly was 
 readily formed, and the few settlers permitted to manage their 
 affairs without unnecessary dictation. 
 
 More than a hundred miles to the southward, near the 
 mouth of Cape Fear river, a colony from New England also 
 established itself in 1660, having obtained the title to a small 
 tract of land by purchase from the Indians. But the soil 
 around Cape Fear was neither suitable for grazing nor for 
 agriculture, for which purposes the settlers had designed to 
 use it; and hence, after being obliged to solicit help from 
 Massachusetts, they in a few years deserted the place. 
 
 Strangely enough the same unattractive locality was selected 
 in 1665 by planters from Barbadoes, who purchased a tract 
 32 miles square, from the Indians, quite near the New Eng 
 land settlement. SIR JOHN YEAMANS, one of the planters, 
 was appointed by the proprietors governor of the province of 
 "Clarendon," which extended from Cape Fear to the San 
 Matheo or Port Royal. The colonists employed themselves 
 in making boards, shingles and staves, which they shipped to 
 the Barbadoes ; but although the place flourished for awhile, 
 having a population of several hundred persons, it did not 
 continue a permanent settlement. 
 
 About the time that Yeamans received his appointment 
 
 (1665), the titled proprietors obtained a new charter from the 
 
 king, extending the bounds of their grant so as to include 
 
 the Chowan river and Albemarle settlements on the north, 
 
 H* 
 
1 78 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1665 
 
 and Spanish St. Augustine on the south, and reaching back 
 all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The privileges at the same 
 time conferred, were as ample as the proprietors could have 
 possibly desired giving them power to establish manors and 
 baronies and orders of nobility to levy troops, build fortifi 
 cations, and make war : in short, a feudal seignory subject to, 
 but not controlled by, the crown. 
 
 To frame a constitution in accordance with and worthy 
 these high powers and privileges, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the 
 most able of the eight corporators, called to his assistance the 
 philosopher, JOHN LOCKE. The predilections of Shaftesbury 
 and Locke, both strongly favored the prerogatives of the no 
 bility. Professing to believe that in the potent hands of the 
 aristocracy, the liberties of the people at large would be best 
 guarded against kingly assumption on the one hand, and 
 plebeian intermeddling on the other, these law-makers were 
 clearly no friends to equality of representation, which is the 
 only assurance of stability of government. The powerful 
 intellect of Locke studied and sifted the methods of the past 
 to construct his ideal ; but the ideal, when worked into shape, 
 was altogether impracticable, and the New World would not 
 receive it. Understanding the views of class-privilege enter 
 tained by Locke and Shaftesbury, we have the key by which 
 to interpret the "model constitution." 
 
 The immense extent of territory comprised in the grant 
 was to be divided into counties, each containing 750 square 
 miles. To each county there was to be assigned an earl or 
 landgrave and two barons, who together were to possess one- 
 fifth of the land in the county; another fifth was to be re 
 served for the lords-proprietors ; and the remaining three-fifths 
 might be held by the people or lords of manors. The right 
 of franchise could be held only by freeholders, possessing at 
 least 50 acres; the minor tenants, whose limited means 
 obliged them to pay a rent, not only had no right to vote, 
 
1 66s] QUAKER SETTLEMENTS OF ALBEMARLE. ijg 
 
 but were placed under the "jurisdiction of their lord, with 
 out appeal." The executive and judicial powers were entirely 
 controlled by the proprietors, the eldest of the eight being 
 the president, with the title of Palatine. The grand council 
 or parliament of fifty, admitted 14 commons, but these, to be 
 eligible, must each own at least 500 acres; the rest of the 
 body was to be made up of the proprietors (or their deputies), 
 the landgraves, and the barons. Thus the legislative power 
 was also, by this device, placed out of the reach of the people 
 at large. All sects were to be tolerated, but it was added, 
 the following year, that the English Church should be the 
 national religion, and be maintained by the colonial grants. 
 We will presently see what reception the people in the wilder 
 ness gave to this " Grand Model," as it was derisively called. 
 
 THE QUAKER SETTLEMENTS OF ALBEMARLE. 
 
 While the constitution for Carolina was being thus labo 
 riously marked out, the Albemarle colonists were pursuing the 
 peaceful tenor of their way, and craving no more elaborate 
 form of government than the plain and sensible one which 
 they already possessed, to wit, a worthy governor (STEVENS), 
 his council, and an assembly of delegates chosen by the free 
 holders. They made but few laws, which sufficed their simple 
 requirements, while the cost of legislation was on an econom 
 ical basis, adapted to their limited resources. Little need 
 then, for them, of earls, barons, lords of the manor and a 
 grand parliament, with a long train of onerous expenses ! 
 The colonists were a loyal, orderly and law-abiding people, 
 but they resolutely refused to receive the new form of gov 
 ernment, inasmuch as the proprietors had stipulated that the 
 existing one should not be interfered with. 
 
 The Quakers or, to call them by their proper name, the 
 Society of Friends were the first to organize meetings for 
 
I So HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1683 
 
 worship in Carolina. William Edmundson, one of their 
 ministers, seeking his exiled brethren on the Chowan, records 
 that "he met with a tender people" there, who gladly re 
 ceived the truth, and that a quarterly meeting was established 
 among them. Later in the same year (1672) it is related in 
 the Journal of that faithful minister, GEORGE Fox, how he 
 also, coming down from Virginia, held a meeting " about four 
 miles from Nancemum water, which was very precious;" that 
 after this the "way to Carolina grew worse, being much of it 
 plashy, and pretty full of great bogs and swamps;" and that 
 on his arrival he was kindly entertained by the governor and 
 others, and satisfactory meetings were held, "the people 
 being generally tender and open." The neighboring Indians 
 also were visited and the Gospel of Peace proclaimed to 
 them. 
 
 Upon the death of Governor Stevens (1672), renewed 
 efforts were made by the proprietors to introduce the consti 
 tution and to enforce the obnoxious navigation acts. Incon 
 siderable as was the commerce between the Albemarle planta 
 tions and New England, the traders of the latter country 
 were unjustly obliged to pay a duty which was not required 
 of the British merchant or ship-owner. The pacific princi 
 ples of most of the first North Carolina settlers, would have 
 led them to seek redress in a more quiet way than that which 
 was actually adopted ; but by the influence of the New Eng- 
 landers and of refugees from Virginia, who hurried into the 
 colony after the rebellion of 1676, the collector of customs 
 and the deputies appointed by the proprietors, were impris 
 oned, and the old government restored happily without 
 bloodshed. 
 
 Five years of partial tranquillity had prevailed at Albemarle, 
 when, in 1683, arrived SETH SOTHEL, who had purchased the 
 right of Lord Clarendon, one of the proprietors, and had also 
 been appointed governor by that body. But Sothel found that 
 
4 /v 
 
 c r /l> s/ ?-) 
 
 1670] THE SETTLERS AT CHAftlESTOwIl^f , i$i 
 
 Si -^_ /l A r / 4 
 
 the constitution and the navigation act continued tcHae^as^ 
 obnoxious to the colonists as before, and having no means to 
 enforce them, he turned his attention to his own private gain, 
 exacting unjust fees, seeking to absorb the Indian traffic, and, 
 by other rapacious devices, showing himself unfitted for the 
 executive office. At the end of five years, the colonists con 
 cluded that Sothel had abided with and misgoverned them as 
 long as patience would allow ; whereupon they deposed and 
 banished him, and appealed to the proprietors for better treat 
 ment at their hands. 
 
 THE SETTLERS AT CHARLESTON. 
 
 Early in 1670 came to Carolina the first colony sent out by 
 the proprietaries : three ship-loads of emigrants under WIL 
 LIAM SAYLE, the appointed governor, and Joseph West, the 
 company s commercial agent. They entered at first the broad 
 haven of Port Royal, where, more than a century before, the 
 French fleet of Ribault had anchored ; but after a short delay 
 there, they again made sail, and entered that fine harbor 
 sixty miles to the northward, which receives the waters of 
 the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Those streams were then so 
 named in honor of the Earl of Shaftesbury. On the penin 
 sula formed by their confluence, but upon the rising ground 
 some distance back from the point, the colonists selected the 
 site for their town. Ten years elapsed before the point itself 
 was definitely chosen as being much better adapted for the 
 requirements of their commercial city, which they named 
 CHARLESTON. 
 
 The colonists having quickly to decide as to their plan of 
 government, quietly ignored the Model as unsuitable, and 
 chose Sir John Yeamans, of Barbadoes, but latterly from 
 Cape Fear, as their governor, together with twenty delegates 
 to form an assembly. The council was composed of ten 
 
 16 
 
1 82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1684 
 
 members, chosen equally by the people and the proprietors. 
 The government, therefore, was pretty fairly representative ; 
 but Yeamans did not execute his trust to the satisfaction of 
 either party. It is to him that the reproach attaches of bring 
 ing African slaves from Barbadoes. The dusky form of the 
 negro bondsman was beheld at the very founding of the Pal 
 metto State ; and, since the climate was well adapted to the 
 temperament of the race, they were imported much more 
 rapidly into Carolina than they had been into the colonies 
 to the northward. 
 
 The Cavaliers, who scorned submission to a form of gov 
 ernment which threatened to deprive them of any one of their 
 rights, did not scruple to establish a usage that crushed as with 
 an iron heel every right of the African. Thus, there was one 
 clause of the Model which found ready entrance, to wit, that 
 " every freeman of Carolina shall have absolute power and 
 authority over his negro slaves, of what opinion and religion 
 soever." Their inconsistency in this respect, was akin to that 
 of the Puritan magistrates in the matter of religious intoler 
 ance. As to the Indians, who were principally clans of the 
 Catawba tribe, they were treated even worse than in Virginia; 
 for, being incited to war with each other, the colonists obtained 
 possession of the captives and sold them as slaves to the West 
 Indies. 
 
 The mild climate of South Carolina early attracted emigra 
 tion from various quarters : Dissenters from England Scotch 
 Presbyterians and Irish Catholics Dutch Reformed from New 
 York and from Holland Calvinist Huguenots from France. 
 The first company of the Scotch comprised a few families 
 under Lord Cardross, who, in 1684, settled at Port Royal; 
 but the Spaniards claiming that section as a dependency of 
 St. Augustine, forced the immigrants to depart, and totally 
 destroyed their settlement. The HUGUENOTS, however, now 
 flocked to Carolina in large numbers. 
 
1 686] HUGUENOTS IN CAROLINA. 183 
 
 The Edict of Nantes had for eighty years protected in their rights 
 the Protestants of France; but when, in 1685, Louis XIV. suc 
 cumbed to the papal influence and revoked the edict, the Hugue 
 nots began at once to abandon the kingdom. This was a result by 
 no means desired by the king. He professed to have at heart the 
 conversion of all his dissenting subjects, thousands of whom, indeed, 
 met death, on the gibbet, the rack and at the stake, as the reward of 
 their steadfastness. Over half-a-million fugitives made their way 
 to other countries, principally to Germany and England, and many 
 of them being skilled artisans, as well as industrious and peaceable 
 citizens, their loss was not a light one to France. Of those who 
 crossed the Atlantic, some settled in New York and New England, 
 but Carolina received the greater number. On the Cooper and the 
 Santee rivers were their first habitations erected. 
 
 Meanwhile, Yeamans, who remained chief magistrate but a 
 short period, was succeeded (1674) by JOSEPH WEST, who 
 held the office nine years. As in the Albemarle settlement, 
 the same questions as to the proprietaries rights and the navi 
 gation acts, continued in dispute ; but unlike the men of 
 Albemarle, the Cavaliers and the governor were not them 
 selves a just-dealing people. Not only did they sell captive 
 Indians as slaves, sending them from their homes to a life 
 long bondage in the Caribbean isles, but they also connived 
 with the buccaneers who depredated upon the Spanish ports 
 and commerce. Had they been good neighbors to the Span 
 iards, and refused intercourse with the plundering sea-robbers, 
 it is not likely that Port Royal would have been disturbed. 
 These acts were displeasing to the proprietors, who finally, in 
 1686, made choice of JAMES COLLETON, a brother of Sir John 
 Colleton, one of the eight, to be governor. He, they be 
 lieved, would be able to reconcile the differences between 
 themselves and the uneasy colonists ; and having given him 
 the title of landgrave, with an ample grant of territory, they 
 despatched him upon his mission. 
 
 By the time the landgrave arrived at Charleston, a new 
 " parliament" had been formed. This body refusing to ac- 
 
1 84 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1688 
 
 knowledge the constitution, Colleton at once excluded the 
 refractory members ; whereat a systematic opposition ensued 
 between the adherents of the proprietors and the chief body 
 of the colonists. These imprisoned the governor s secretary, 
 seized the records, and refused payment of their quit-rents. 
 Colleton, in despair, issued a proclamation of martial law, 
 calling out the militia, but no one responded : while, at a 
 meeting of the delegates, the landgrave was declared dis 
 franchised, and banished from the province. The colonists, 
 carried away by the unreasoning heat of party-spirit, were 
 more exacting than the proprietors. That there was a 
 practical, as well as Christian way, to reconcile even such 
 formidable differences, will appear when we again recur to 
 the condition of the colony. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 NEW YORKNEW JERSEY NEW FRANCE. 
 16641686. 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DUKE OF YORK. 
 
 IN the year 1664, the Duke of York, who afterward suc 
 ceeded to the English throne as James the Second, became 
 possessor of New Netherland. SIR ROBERT NICHOLS, one of 
 the three commissioners appointed to receive the surrender of 
 the Dutch, was the first English governor of the newly-named 
 province of New York. As Long Island then contained a 
 large proportion of the population, an assembly of deputies 
 was called there, to whom Nichols submitted a body of laws 
 for the colony s government. This code was known as the 
 " Duke s Laws," and embodied many regulations as to taxa 
 tion, the established religion (to which all had to contribute), 
 the courts, the militia (to which all males above the age of 16 
 must belong), slaves and indentured servants, Indian affairs, 
 etc. Owners of lands, having obtained their titles from the 
 Dutch, were required to take out new grants : a regulation 
 which secured to the governor no little profit in the matter 
 of fees. 
 
 Among the eight proprietaries of Carolina, were Sir George 
 Carteret and Lord Berkeley. The king s lavish grant to the 
 Carolina corporation was followed a few months later by a 
 grant from the Duke of York to Carteret and Berkeley. It 
 comprised that portion of the old province of New Nether- 
 
 16* 185 
 
1 86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1667 
 
 land included between the Delaware river on the west, and 
 the lower Hudson and the ocean on the east, and which was 
 now called NEW JERSEY in compliment to Carteret, who had 
 been governor of the small island of Jersey in the British Chan 
 nel. It is true, that all of this territory had, years before (in 
 1634), been granted to Sir Edmund Ployden, and was called 
 by him New Albion, but as he neglected to organize settle 
 ments, the grant became void. 
 
 The proprietaries, Berkeley and Carteret, made liberal con 
 cessions to emigrants, who came in considerable numbers, 
 principally Puritans, from Long Island and New England. 
 No quit-rent for the land was to be required from the settlers 
 for six years, that is to say, until 1670. Elizabeth-town, so 
 named in honor of Lady Carteret, was chosen the seat of 
 government; and at Bergen, Newark, Shrewsbury, and other 
 places in the neighborhood of Raritan and Newark bays, set 
 tlements quickly arose. Nichols was much displeased when 
 he heard that the Duke of York had given away the choicest 
 part of his province, and created a separate government ; for, 
 before being aware of the transaction, he had himself per 
 mitted settlers on the site of Elizabeth-town, to purchase land 
 of the Indians. This " Elizabeth-town Purchase," as it was 
 called, was the occasion of considerable litigation. PHILIP 
 CARTERET, a kinsman of Sir George Carteret, was appointed 
 (1665) first governor of New Jersey. 
 
 When the time came for the payment of the quit-rents, 
 there was a general refusal to accede to the claim of the pro 
 prietaries, many of the settlers alleging that it was sufficient 
 that they had already once paid the Indians for the soil. 
 Governor Carteret not being able to secure compliance with 
 the law, returned to England. In the meantime (1667), FRAN 
 CIS LOVELACE had succeeded Nichols as governor of New 
 York, and he too found himself thwarted in the matter of tax- 
 collecting ; for the Duke of York, without the concurrence 
 
1 674] EAST AND WEST NEW JERSEY. 187 
 
 of the assembly, having laid a heavy duty upon all imports 
 and exports, a number of the towns sent in their protest 
 but the paper was ordered to be publicly burnt. 
 
 These disputes, for the time, were brought to an unexpected 
 termination by the appearance, in 1673, of a Dutch fleet be 
 fore Manhattan island ; for Holland and England were again 
 at war. The summons to surrender was readily complied with, 
 and the example as promptly followed by Long Island, New 
 Jersey and the Delaware bay settlements. But upon the con 
 clusion of a treaty of peace between the two kingdoms, the 
 American colonies were returned to their English owners, 
 having been little over a year in possession of the Dutch. 
 Major EDMUND ANDROS appeared in New York as governor 
 in behalf of the Duke of York. 
 
 Andros was disposed to make arbitrary use of his position, 
 again laying claim to the territory between the Hudson and 
 Connecticut rivers. Not being successful in this attempted 
 invasion, he had no difficulty in obtaining possession of the 
 sparsely settled country between the Kennebec and Penobscot, 
 where a fort was erected, and the country called by the name 
 of Cornwall. Previously, that portion of the present state 
 of Maine had been known by the Indian name of Sagadahoc, 
 and for a number of years had been under the jurisdiction of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 EAST AND WEST NEW JERSEY. 
 
 New Jersey had been ten years an organized province, 
 when, in 1674, the year of the treaty between England and 
 Holland, Berkeley sold his half-share to EDWARD BYLLINGE 
 and JOHN FENWICK, members of the Society of Friends. On 
 the east of Delaware bay, near an old fort of the Swedes, 
 Fenwick himself established a colony, and called the place 
 Salem. To avoid troublesome questions of jurisdiction, it 
 was decided to divide the province into two parts. The line 
 
1 88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1677 
 
 was drawn from a point on the upper Delaware river south- 
 eastwardly to Little Egg Harbor ; in other words, from the 
 locality of Minisink island to Tuckerton, with Princeton near 
 the centre of the line. East Jersey thence became the sep 
 arate property of Carteret, and West Jersey that of Byllinge 
 and Fenwick. WILLIAM PENN was largely interested in am 
 icably arranging the questions of dispute which arose between 
 the various owners. 
 
 Byllinge not being able to retain his property, it was divided 
 into shares and sold for his benefit ; Penn and other Friends 
 being the principal purchasers. Many of that denomination 
 emigrated thither, with Thomas Olive and others, agents for 
 the share-holders, and in 1677, Burlington on the Delaware, 
 was founded. Several years later (1681) Byllinge was ap 
 pointed governor. The laws of the colony were founded on 
 the principle contained in the message of the Quaker pro 
 prietaries to the emigrants: "We lay a foundation for after- 
 ages to understand their liberty as men and as Christians, that 
 they may not be brought into bondage, but by their own 
 consent ; for we put the power in the people." The " Conces 
 sions" agreed upon between the proprietaries and the settlers 
 gave general satisfaction. 
 
 A fair understanding was had with the Indians of the Dela 
 ware tribe. They, together with the Minsi or Minisinks of the 
 upper Delaware valley, formed the two chief divisions of the 
 Lenni-Lenape Indians the latter a section of the great Algon 
 quin race. And since the settlers made no use of warlike 
 weapons, peace and good-will prevailed, and a thriving com 
 munity of yeomen soon established homesteads and meeting 
 houses in the wilderness clearings. 
 
 " You are our brothers," said the sachems, at the council in Bur 
 lington woods (1677), " and we will live like brothers with you. We 
 will have a broad path for you and us to walk in. If an English 
 man falls asleep in this path, the Indian shall pass him by and say, 
 
1682] EAST AND WEST NEW JERSEY. 189 
 
 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: Some 
 years before Burlington was founded, a native while under the in 
 fluence of ardent spirits, obtained from the Swedes, had murdered 
 one of the settlers. The Indians now requested an absolute pro 
 hibition of the sale of strong liquors, which was cheerfully complied 
 with by the Friends, who were anxious to remove all " stumps," or 
 stumbling-blocks, from the Indians path. New Jersey, to her 
 great honor, was never guilty of the blood of the red men. 
 
 In East Jersey, Philip Carteret had come back as governor 
 (1674), and though some trouble still continued about quit- 
 rents, much more dissatisfaction was caused by the course of 
 Governor Andros of New York, who would not permit vessels 
 to land goods in New Jersey unless they had first paid duties 
 to him, hoping by that means to prevent direct trade with 
 England. Having succeeded in enforcing this rule, Andros 
 even claimed to have jurisdiction over East Jersey by virtue 
 of his commission from the Duke of York. Carteret refusing 
 to recognize his authority, Andros sent a squad of soldiers, 
 who laid hold of the governor while in bed, and carried him 
 over to New York. In addition to this, Andros claiming to 
 act as governor of West Jersey, assumed control over Delaware 
 bay, and demanded that duties be paid by all vessels entering 
 those waters. It becoming necessary to submit the question 
 of authority to arbitrators in England, it was their decision 
 that the duke and his high-handed agent were in error. 
 
 The firm, but respectful remonstrance presented by the Quaker 
 proprietaries, resulting in the discontinuance of the customs-tax 
 and the relinquishment by the Duke of York of all claim to West 
 Jersey, exhibits what might probably have been accomplished in 
 Virginia by Nathaniel Bacon, had he used his fine talents in that 
 direction instead of endeavoring to gain his end by the sword. 
 
 Upon the death of Carteret (1682), East Jersey being 
 offered for sale, it became the property of an associated com 
 pany of twelve Friends, among whom were William Penn and 
 
I 9 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1685 
 
 ROBERT BARCLAY, the Apologist the latter being appointed 
 governor, although not residing in the province. In Scot 
 land, the attempt of the royal house of Stuart to establish the 
 Episcopal religion, had resulted in a severe persecution of the 
 Presbyterians, who were now eager to find a safe asylum from 
 their tormentors. The Friends, therefore, associating with 
 themselves twelve others, mostly Scotch Presbyterians, a way 
 of escape and of perfect freedom of conscience was offered 
 to the oppressed, who, in large numbers embraced the favor 
 ing opportunity. One of the Scotch proprietors was the 
 EARL OF PERTH, from whom was named Perth-Amboy, at the 
 head of Raritan bay a place which it was hoped would 
 prove a commercial port even rivalling New York. Another 
 was LORD NEIL CAMPBELL, who sent over a large colony 
 (1684), and for a short time was governor, having succeeded 
 Barclay. 
 
 Andros having gone to England to answer the complaints 
 against him in regard to usurpations in East and West Jersey, 
 THOMAS DONGAN was sent out in 1683, instructed to call a 
 representative assembly of the people such as they had been 
 clamoring for. Two years later the Duke of York, by the 
 death of his brother Charles II. , became king of England, 
 and, claiming jurisdiction over the province of New Jersey, 
 and desiring to consolidate the colonies, he annexed it to 
 New York. Nevertheless, the right of the proprietaries to 
 the soil remained unimpaired. 
 
 EXPLORATIONS OF THE FRENCH JESUITS. MARQUETTE. 
 
 In chapter ix. an account was given of the establishment 
 of Jesuit missions among the Hurons, and of the ruin that 
 came upon that nation by the incursions of the Iroquois. 
 Numbers of the conquered warriors had been allowed to join 
 the Five Nations who comprised the Iroquois confederacy, 
 
1 668] EXPLORATIONS OF FRENCH JESUITS. 191 
 
 and thither again came the missionaries, seeking them. They 
 were not turned away. But when in 1656, a colony of French 
 from Montreal, established themselves on the Oswego near 
 the country of the Oneidas, the jealousy of the Indians was 
 aroused, and the settlers and priests were obliged to depart. 
 The Mohawks especially, rejoicing in the mighty weapons of 
 war which they had recently obtained, manifested the greatest 
 hostility toward the French intruders; and, sad to say, this 
 revengeful spirit was freely encouraged by the Dutch colonists 
 and their English successors. The spiritual welfare of the 
 Indians weighed nothing against dominion and monopoly of 
 trade the prizes which the whites thirsted for. 
 
 The condition of affairs in Canada had become so discour 
 aging that the "Company of New France," organized with 
 such eclat by Cardinal Richelieu, was dissolved, and, in 1664 
 the French West India Company, which had been formed for 
 purposes of trade and settlement in certain islands of the 
 Caribbean sea, was also intrusted by King Louis XIV. with 
 the control of New France. A military force was at once 
 sent over, and forts constructed at Sorel and Chambly (upon 
 the river connecting Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence), 
 to hold the Iroquois in check. 
 
 As an efficient ally and entering wedge, the Jesuits were 
 encouraged to pursue their labors ; and not they only, but the 
 Recollect friars, who, after a forty years exclusion, were now 
 allowed re-entrance. On the southern shore of Sault St. 
 Marie, the outlet of Lake Superior where Jogues had assem 
 bled 2000 Chippeways twenty-five years before a mission 
 was established (1668) by three adventurous priests, Mar- 
 quette, Allouez, and Dablon. It was the first settlement of 
 the whites in the North-west. Allouez had explored the 
 southern shores of the great lake beyond, and had also heard 
 of the mighty river that flowed toward the south. Along the 
 shores of Lake Michigan, where Chicago, Milwaukee and 
 
I 9 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1673 
 
 other populous cities now stand, friendly visits were paid to 
 the Indians and missionary stations were planted. 
 
 MARQUETTE, anxious to reach the great river, received offi 
 cial authority to undertake the exploration. With several 
 companions one of whom was JOLIET, a trader from Que 
 bec and accompanied by Indian guides, they entered the 
 Green bay of Lake Michigan, and, at its south-west extremity 
 passed into Fox river ; thence by the chain of small lakes and 
 a narrow portage, they came to the Wisconsin, down which 
 they floated in their bark canoes to the "Father of Waters." 
 At the portage, their Indian guides had deserted them, being 
 afraid to risk an encounter with the hostile Dacotahs. Thus, 
 in 1673, one hundred and thirty-two years after De Soto was 
 buried beneath its waters, the Mississippi was re-discovered 
 by the French Jesuits. 
 
 Descending the majestic river nearly 200 miles, they landed 
 at a village by the mouth of a stream, called by the Indians 
 the Moingona, a name which, by the French, became altered 
 into Des Moines. Thus Marquette and Joliet were the first 
 white men who trod the soil of Iowa. Continuing their 
 course, and noticing where the Missouri, the Ohio, and other 
 large streams discharged their floods into the one mighty, 
 swift-rolling tide, they finally came to the mouth of the Ar 
 kansas. Satisfied that the Mississippi found its outlet into 
 the Gulf of Mexico, yet fearful of meeting with the Span 
 iards in that quarter, they turned their canoes up stream. 
 With much labor they ascended as far as the mouth of the 
 Illinois, and, rightly judging that its north-eastward course 
 would bring them to Lake Michigan by a more direct route 
 than that of the Wisconsin, they paddled up the former stream, 
 whose headwaters nearly approach the lake. Much to their 
 surprise they had met with very few Indians. The French 
 occupation of the Mississippi Valley, they perceived, need 
 meet with little opposition from the children of the forest. 
 
1 679] LA SALLE. 193 
 
 LA SALLE. AN IROQUOIS WAR. 
 
 At the time of Marquette s and Joliet s discovery, the 
 COUNT DE FRONTENAC was governor-general of Canada. 
 Near the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario, on the Canada 
 side (where Kingston now stands), was built, in 1675, Fort 
 Frontenac. Like the forsaken Oswego settlement to the 
 south, it was intended to serve as a bulwark against the Iro- 
 quois. An enterprising Frenchman, by name LA SALLE, 
 educated as a Jesuit but turned fortune-hunter, was appointed 
 to the command of this post, and, as a condition that he 
 should discharge his duties acceptably, was granted a large 
 tract of land adjacent, and the sole right of trade with the 
 Five Nations. But La Salle, whose ardor appeared to be 
 quite uncontrollable, refused to be confined by the walls of a 
 fort, and accordingly, being desirous of completing the dis 
 covery of the Mississippi, he repaired to France, obtained 
 the royal permit, and likewise the monopoly of trade in 
 buffalo skins. 
 
 Elated at his success, La Salle returned to Fort Frontenac, 
 and, with some assistants and supplies, passed up Lake Onta 
 rio (1678), and around Niagara Falls into Lake Erie. Near 
 where Buffalo now stands, the little bark " Griffin" was built, 
 the pioneer of all the modern craft on those inland seas. 
 Accompanied by Tonti, the lieutenant of his company, by 
 HENNEPIN, a priest, and several Recollect friars, La Salle 
 sailed westward in the summer of 1679, passed through the 
 Strait of Detroit and Lake St. Clair into Lake Huron ; thence 
 northward, the length of the latter, to the Strait of Mack 
 inaw. Here was the mission-station from which Marquette 
 had started. La Salle kept on by Marquette s route to Green 
 bay, where the Griffin, laden with furs, was sent back, with 
 orders to return quickly with supplies, to the south end of 
 Lake Michigan. 
 
 i 17 
 
194 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1684 
 
 Unfortunately, the Griffin was wrecked. La Salle, in the 
 meantime, had gone to the appointed rendezvous and built 
 there a trading-post. Weary of waiting for the vessel, of 
 the disaster to which he as yet knew nothing, he and his men 
 continued on their course to the Illinois river, and below 
 the present Peoria built a second fort, called Crevecceur. 
 From here La Salle with but three attendants made his way 
 back to Fort Frontenac, in order to hasten the forwarding of 
 supplies, leaving instructions with Hennepin to explore the 
 headwaters of the Mississippi. Hennepin and a companion 
 accordingly descended the Illinois to its outlet ; then ascend 
 ing the Mississippi as far as the Falls of St. Anthony, returned 
 by the Wisconsin and Fox river route to Green bay. Henne 
 pin, without reporting himself again at Fort Crevecceur, went 
 back to France, and published an account of his lake-and- 
 river voyages. 
 
 When La Salle returned from Fort Frentenac, he found the 
 two posts at Miami and Crevecceur deserted. The Iroquois, 
 in addition to their former exploits, had recently driven south 
 ward the Guyandots and Shawnees of the Ohio river, leaving 
 the way open to attack the tribes of the Illinois, and, in con 
 sequence of this war, Tonti and his men had fled in alarm 
 to Green bay. La Salle, however, built another fort, and 
 having obtained further assistance, constructed a barge, and 
 descended the Mississippi to the Gulf. To the country on 
 both sides of the river the name of LOUISIANA was given, in 
 honor of the reigning French king; and La Salle, having 
 taken formal possession of the same for his royal employer, 
 returned by way of Quebec to France. 
 
 Two hundred and eighty persons joined the new expedition 
 which, in 1684, sailed with the design of planting a colony 
 at the mouth of the Mississippi. There were priests and sol 
 diers, farmers and artisans, besides an ample supply of food 
 and implements, that there might be no delay in establishing 
 
1684] AN IKOQUOIS WAR. 195 
 
 homes and in beginning life in the New World under happy 
 auspices. But sorrowful was the actual result : for, the voy 
 agers having missed the entrance of the river, passed to the 
 westward, after a futile search, and landed somewhere on the 
 Texas coast, where they built a fort. Having vainly en 
 deavored to reach the Mississippi by land, at last La Salle, 
 with but sixteen men, took up his march for Canada, leaving 
 the rest of the survivors, only twenty in number, at the fort. 
 In a dispute or mutiny, La Salle was murdered by some of his 
 men, a few only of whom were finally found by Tonti, who 
 had descended the Mississippi in search of the commander. 
 The men who had been left at the fort probably perished, for 
 nothing was heard of them afterward. 
 
 While these events were transpiring in the west, the French 
 in Canada had become involved in a war with the Five Na 
 tions. At a council held at Albany in 1684, those tribes had 
 been met by Governors Effingham of Virginia, and Dongan, 
 of New York, and^Sving professed peace for the English, 
 they were then counselled not to treat the French also as 
 brethren and Christians, but to let them feel the full weight 
 of their enmity. Hence, when a messenger arrived imme 
 diately afterward from DE LA BARRE, the French governor- 
 general, his complaints were not heeded. 
 
 De la Barre, with about 1500 French and Indians, now 
 crossed the east end of Lake Ontario, and disembarking, ad 
 vanced into the country of the Onondagas the central tribe 
 of the Five Nations. But his men were so wasted by malaria 
 contracted while on the shore of the lake, that they were glad 
 to make peace with the Indians, without venturing the issue 
 of a battle. Soon afterward, De la Barre was superseded by 
 DENONVILLE, whose army of French and allies advanced into 
 the country of the Senecas. 
 
 An infamous deed is connected with this invasion. Lam- 
 berville, a French missionary among the Onondagas, was re- 
 
196 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1688 
 
 quested to invite some of the Iroquois chiefs to a conference. 
 The invitation was trustfully accepted ; but the warriors being 
 surrounded were overcome, placed in irons, and sent to France 
 to work in the galleys. Though Lamberville, the innocent 
 occasion of this act of perfidy, might have properly looked 
 for death at the hands of the savages, yet a chief who loved 
 him well, furnished him with a guide, by whom he was led 
 away to a place of safety. 
 
 Denonville and his troops then overran the Seneca country, 
 and at Niagara constructed a fort, that the French might 
 better control the fur-trade of the Great Lakes. But as soon 
 as Denonville withdrew from the interior, the Senecas in their 
 turn threatened an invasion ; whereupon the garrison in alarm 
 abandoned the fort (1688). The following year the Iroquois, 
 burning with revenge, advanced to Montreal, killed 200 
 persons and took prisoners as many more, spreading the ter 
 ror of their name far up and down the St. Lawrence. The 
 evil deed of Denonville had produced a ripe harvest of ruin 
 and wretchedness. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 NEW ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES II. AND JAMES II. 
 1660 1689. 
 
 CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 A NUMBER of those judges who had condemned Charles 
 the First to death, and who were known thereafter as the 
 Regicides, were, at the Restoration, apprehended and hung. 
 Others of them sought safety in flight. Three of these, 
 Whalley, Goffe and Dixwell, escaped to New England. Dix- 
 well settled at New Haven, and was not disturbed; but 
 Whalley and Goffe, for whose apprehension large rewards had 
 been offered, were hotly pursued from one place of refuge to 
 another, by Indians as well as by the English. Sometimes 
 they lodged in houses, sometimes in the forest, in clefts of 
 the rock and in caves, until at last they were offered shelter 
 at the little hamlet of Hadley, in the valley of the Connec 
 ticut, near the base of Mount Holyoke. 
 
 The younger Winthrop was chosen (1662) by the Connec 
 ticut colonists to obtain from the new king a charter. He 
 was well adapted for the important service, being a man of 
 much intelligence, of amiable address and gentle manners, 
 who in his younger days had travelled extensively in Europe, 
 seeking the society of men of learning and of piety. Subse 
 quently, as the founder of a State in the New World, he had 
 given proof of his liberality of heart by refusing to assent to 
 the persecution of the Quakers, begging of the other magis< 
 
 17* 197 
 
198 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1664 
 
 trates that they should beware of shedding the blood of those 
 who were sufferers for conscience sake. We have also seen, 
 (p. 134), that mainly by his mediation the occupation of New 
 Netherland by the English in 1664, was accomplished with 
 out strife, and the rights of residents fully protected. For his 
 services in securing to Connecticut so great a boon as a char 
 ter which conferred all the privileges of self-government they 
 desired, the grateful inhabitants annually elected him their 
 governor for the space of fourteen years. 
 
 Notwithstanding some opposition and clashing of interests 
 at first, the New Haven settlements, by the able and concili 
 atory endeavors of Winthrop, became merged (1664) with the 
 larger, Connecticut colony; and henceforth, as one State and 
 under one charter, they progressed happily together. The 
 population steadily increased ; good rulers were chosen ; the 
 interests of religion and education were fostered. The colo 
 nists were a people of frugal habits, chiefly husbandmen, who 
 occupied farms not too extensive to be well cultivated ; and, 
 inasmuch as the power of government was under their own 
 control, the expenses of its administration were regulated so 
 as not to become a burden. They were fortunately exempt 
 from the high-proprietary system of Carolina and Virginia, 
 which was the occasion of so much discontent in those prov 
 inces. . The whole annual expenditure of the Connecticut 
 government was not equal to the salary exacted by Berkeley 
 alone for his bad rulership of the Virginia planters. 
 
 Rhode Island was equally successful with Connecticut, in 
 obtaining from King Charles a liberal charter; and it was 
 similarly fortunate in having good men to represent its cause to 
 royalty. Roger Williams and John Clarke of Rhode Island, 
 were, like Winthrop of Connecticut, fully persuaded that any 
 infringement upon the rights of conscience was certainly not 
 pleasing in the Divine sight. The following is the clause in 
 the charter obtained in 1663 by Williams and Clarke which 
 
1671] CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND. 199 
 
 affirms equality of religious rights: "No person within the 
 said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be any wise molested, 
 punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any difference 
 in opinion in matters of religion ; every person may at all 
 times freely and fully enjoy his own judgment and conscience 
 in matters of religious concernments." 
 
 In 1671, eight years after the charter had been obtained, 
 one of its provisions was seriously infringed by the passage 
 of a law by the assembly, declaring that any one who should 
 speak at a town meeting against the payment of certain assess 
 ments, would be liable to a severe penalty. In the next year, 
 George Fox, who, in pursuance of a religious concern had 
 come from England, happened to be in Rhode Island. It 
 was just previous to that visit to Nansemond and Albemarle 
 which has already been spoken of. The blessings of a good 
 government, and the duty of well-intentioned people to pro 
 vide the same, were truths very clear to the mind of the 
 sturdy Quaker ; for nothing could be plainer than that if the 
 wicked and the unjust were allowed to rule, crime would of 
 necessity increase, and souls be lost at a faster rate than the 
 agencies for good could save them. Hence Friends were ad 
 monished by Fox to be diligent in securing "guards against 
 oppression," and in instructing and supporting all the people 
 in their rights. The election resulted in the choice of magis 
 trates opposed to the obnoxious law, and in consequence the 
 former freedom of debate was restored. 
 
 Although not politicians by choice, yet the necessity laid upon 
 them through a sense of duty, appears to have brought the Friends 
 of those days frequently into prominence in civil life. On behalf 
 of liberty of conscience and enlightened government, William Penn, 
 a few years later, gave advice similar to that of George Fox : " Your 
 well-being," he says, in his forcible appeal to the electors of Eng 
 land, "depends upon your preservation of your right in the govern 
 ment. You are free : God, and nature, and the constitution, have 
 
200 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1646 
 
 made you trustees for posterity. Choose men who will, by all just 
 and legal ways, firmly keep and zealously promote your power." 
 Nevertheless, the scruples of Friends as to oaths and against taking 
 part in war, have debarred them for the most part from accepting 
 political office. 
 
 JOHN ELIOT. THE PRAYING INDIANS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 John Eliot, who is also known in New England history by 
 the title of the " Apostle to the Indians," was educated at 
 an English university, where he manifested a special fondness 
 for the study of the languages a disposition of mind which 
 greatly influenced his future pursuits. Coming to Boston but 
 a year or two after it was founded, Eliot presently became 
 interested in the welfare and education of the Indians, whom 
 he was strongly inclined to believe were the descendants of 
 the lost tribes of Israel. In 1646, he began to preach to the 
 Indians of NONATUM, a village ten miles west of Boston ; and 
 here was established the first civilized Christian settlement of 
 natives in the English colonies of America. 
 
 Eliot was ably assisted in his work by Waban, one of the 
 chief men of the tribe. Through their endeavors, the In 
 dians were instructed to improve the construction of their 
 huts ; to build stone walls and dig ditches ; and to abide by 
 rules which were drawn up for their government. It was in 
 tended, as far as practicable, to bring the Indians into well- 
 ordered towns, where they should be regularly employed in 
 arts and trades, and where a proper management of their 
 civil affairs should go hand in hand with religious improve 
 ment. Great opposition was experienced from most of the 
 sachems and the powows or priests ; the latter well-knowing 
 that their previous juggling rule over the spiritual interests 
 of their subjects must be weakened or entirely lost by the 
 change. 
 
 Encouraged by some moderate contributions of money from 
 
1674] JOHN ELIOT. 201 
 
 England, an entirely new village was built at Natick, eight 
 miles west of Nonatum, where there was more room for the 
 development of agriculture and for the planting of orchards. 
 In all, seven of these villages of the "Praying Indians" (so 
 they were called) were organized around Boston. 
 
 Eliot s plan of government for the Indians was that T< they 
 were to be wholly governed by the Scriptures in all things, 
 both in church and state; the Lord should be their law-giver, 
 their judge, and their king;" and accordingly he began to 
 divide them as were the Israelites in the wilderness, with 
 rulers over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens. Subse 
 quently, however, there was a court appointed to be held 
 among the villages, presided over by a magistrate chosen to 
 act with the Indian rulers. The first of these magistrates was 
 DANIEL GOOKIN, an upright and intelligent man, whose zeal 
 for the natives, like that of Eliot s, exposed him to much 
 opposition and derision from many of the colonists, who de 
 nied that the experiment could be a success. 
 
 In the meantime Eliot toiled on undaunted, and, having 
 mastered the structure of the language, began the arduous 
 task of translating the New Testament into the native dialect. 
 The book was printed in 1661 ; the Old Testament followed 
 two years later, and, after that, there were printed sundry 
 religious books and a grammar. In the work of publishing, 
 the translator was materially aided by an Indian called James 
 the Printer, who discharged the duties of proof-reader and 
 pressman. 
 
 Within the jurisdiction of Plymouth colony also, several 
 settlements of Praying Indians were established on the islands 
 of Martha s Vineyard and Nantucket, and on the promontory 
 of Cape Cod. These were placed under the care of THOMAS 
 MAYHEW, whose family, for the space of five generations (170 
 years) continued their useful labors. In 1673 anc ^ l ^74) Eliot 
 and Gookin visited the country of the Nipmucks, about 50 
 i* 
 
202 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, [1674 
 
 miles south-west of Boston, and there organized seven other 
 communities, known as the " new praying towns." A year 
 later, when the disastrous Indian war broke out, there were 
 probably about 3500 natives in Massachusetts and Plymouth 
 who had been brought under the direct care of the whites. 
 
 Although the selling of spirituous liquors to the Indians was for 
 bidden by law in Massachusetts, the prohibition was openly evaded. 
 Gookin says that drunkenness could not be charged to the Indians 
 before the whites came to America, and adds : " The English in 
 New England have cause to be greatly humbled before God, that 
 they have been, and are, instrumental to cause these Indians to 
 commit this great evil and beastly sin of drunkenness." His testi 
 mony on this point is confirmed by Heckewelder, who says : " The 
 Mexicans have their pulque and other indigenous beverages of an 
 inebriating nature ; but the North American Indians, before their 
 intercourse with us commenced, had absolutely nothing of the 
 kind." 
 
 KING PHILIP S WAR. 
 
 First to welcome the Puritan pilgrims when they landed at 
 Plymouth, had been Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags. 
 When Roger Williams, driven into exile by the stern decree 
 of these Puritan colonists, wandered forth alone and in mid 
 winter into the gloomy forest, the wigwam of the same Massa 
 soit afforded shelter to the destined founder of Rhode Island. 
 But now the old chief was dead. Wamsutta, or Alexander, 
 the elder son, had been accused of plotting with the Narra- 
 gansetts, and, while on the journey to Boston to answer the 
 charge, fell sick of a fever and died ; and his brother META- 
 COMET, or Philip, ruled in his place. 
 
 Year by year the settlers, at a trifling cost, had possessed 
 themselves of the Indian lands, until at last the Wampanoags 
 found that their once broad domain had narrowed to the little 
 peninsulas about Mount Hope bay, east of the great bay of 
 Narragansett. A feeling of mutual distrust prevailed, for the 
 
1675] KING PHILIP S WAR. 
 
 203 
 
 Indians were irritated by the loss of their hunting-grounds 
 and their present state of subjection to the English ; while 
 the latter, viewing the discontent of the red men with sus 
 picion, were ready to charge them with all manner of dark 
 designs. The peace which had lasted nearly forty years since 
 the Pequods were crushed, was about to be broken. 
 
 A historian, by no means friendly to the Indians, observes of this 
 war : " There was too much of positiveness and arrogance in the 
 Englishman s way of asserting his claims, even when those claims 
 were in every respect moderate and equitable ; and his kindness, 
 even when most cordial and beneficent, wore a mien of condescen 
 sion and pity." Penn s successful treatment, the same as the ap 
 proved method of the present day, could not have been possibly 
 attainable, without a truthful exhibition of Christian candor and 
 meekness. Hence, while it is admitted that Philip and his warriors 
 were much to blame for their behavior, yet the odium of this savage 
 war will always rest with the Puritans, because it is evident that 
 many of them had not manifested that forbearance and conciliation 
 which their profession of a purer religion than that of the natives 
 called for. 
 
 The immediate cause of the war was the circumstance that 
 information had been given to the colonists by an Indian, 
 that a combination of the tribes had been formed for the pur 
 pose of recovering their liberty and lands. The informer 
 was murdered by some of the Wampanoags, while the mur 
 derers in their turn were seized, and, having been tried by a 
 jury, partly of Indians, were convicted of the deed and hung. 
 It has been strongly asserted that the charge of a conspiracy 
 was untrue, but whether such was the case or not, the Indians, 
 with "King Philip" as their leader, prepared to wreak their 
 revenge. CANONCHET, the son of Miantonomah, chief of the 
 Narragansetts, and Wetamoo, the widow of Wamsutta, entered 
 into the league the Indian Revolution of 1675. 
 
 Driven from Mount Hope by the militia of Massachusetts 
 and Plymouth and their Mohegan allies, Philip and his war- 
 
204 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1676 
 
 riors, having burnt the villages of Dartmouth and Taunton 
 and butchered many of the inhabitants, fled westward to the 
 country of the Nipmucks. In the valley of the Connecticut 
 there were at that time, within the Massachusetts border, six 
 settlements of the whites; and of these, Northfield, Deerfield 
 and Springfield were set on fire, while Hatfield, Hadley and 
 Northampton, though assaulted, escaped destruction. Near 
 Deerfield, the little stream called Bloody Brook commemo 
 rates the massacre of over a hundred farmers and militia, who 
 were carrying their harvested grain to the lower towns. The 
 Indians did not enter the borders of the Connecticut colony. 
 
 When winter approached, the colonists having appointed 
 JOSIAH WINSLOW, the governor of Plymouth, their com 
 mander, penetrated into the country of the Narragansetts on 
 the west of the bay of that name. Canonchet and his tribe 
 had fortified themselves in a palisadoed enclosure, situated on 
 a rising ground in the midst of a swamp, and not far from the 
 fort where the Pequods had met their signal defeat. In the 
 same way were the Narragansetts now to fall. Their assailants 
 suffered great loss before an entrance to the fort could be 
 effected, but that point gained, the Indians were shot down 
 by hundreds, their wigwams set on fire, and great numbers, 
 especially women and babes, perished in the flames. In this 
 awful battle, known as the Swamp Fight, nearly a thousand 
 warriors were supposed to have been slain ; of the English, 
 one-fourth that number were killed and wounded. 
 
 East of the six Massachusetts settlements on the Connecti 
 cut, there was a forest country unoccupied as yet by the Eng 
 lish, except at one point the village of Brookfield. This place 
 had been set on fire early in the war, and now with the open 
 ing of 1676, many settlements nearer to Boston, as Lancaster, 
 Sudbury, Andover, etc., were sacked and burned. Even Ply 
 mouth was attacked ; and in Rhode Island, Providence, War 
 wick and numerous other places were fired. The dwellers in 
 
1676] KING PHILIPS WAR. 205 
 
 lonely habitations by the forest-side, were kept in a constant 
 state of excitement and dread, their fears destined too often 
 to be terribly realized. The magistrates, in the meantime, 
 had levied additional recruits, who, being aided by the Mohe- 
 gans, and by Ninigret, sachem of the Niantics, the Narra- 
 gansetts were pursued, and Canonchet their chief was cap 
 tured. Being given up to his bitter enemies the Mohegans, 
 he met with the same fate at their hands as did his father 
 before him. 
 
 The Nipmucks of the "new praying towns" mostly joined 
 the hostile Indians. The converts on Cape Cod and Martha s 
 Vineyard did not unite with their brethren in the war; but 
 many of those around Boston were persuaded to do so, some 
 espousing the cause of Philip, and others taking part with the 
 colonists. Thus the lessons of love and good-will which had 
 been taught them, were greatly marred in practice ; their vil 
 lages were broken up ; and the converts who remained were 
 discouraged and weakened in faith. A number of the non- 
 combatant Indians, having been brought to trial upon a charge 
 of being concerned in murdering several persons near Lan 
 caster, Eliot and Gookin (who believed the allegation to be 
 false) were treated with suspicion and reviling by the colo 
 nists because they took the part of the Indians. Several 
 hundred of them were removed to Deer island, in Boston 
 harbor, where they experienced much unmerited privation. 
 
 Among numerous instances of harsh treatment which happened 
 to these Indians on account of false accusations, was the result 
 which followed the burning of a barn at Chelmsford the act of 
 some members of a hostile tribe. The exasperated settlers went 
 to a village of Christian Indians, and, having called them to come 
 out of their wigwams, fired upon the innocent and unsuspecting 
 natives, killing one and wounding five others. Dismayed at this 
 brutal attack they fled far into the forests, and were only induced 
 to return when winter approached and starvation threatened them. 
 " We are not sorry," they said to the messengers who sought them, 
 18 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1676 
 
 " for what we leave behind ; but we are sorry that the English have 
 driven us from our praying to God, and from our teacher. We did 
 begin to understand a little of praying to God." 
 
 The war was finally concluded by the death of Philip, 
 who, having returned to Mount Hope, was surrounded by a 
 scouting party led by Captain Benjamin Church, and shot 
 dead in his effort to escape. Philip s only son, the last of 
 the family of Massasoit, was sent as a slave to Bermuda. 
 
 Let us now see what was the cost of this war to the whites. 
 Of the eighty or more towns in Massachusetts and Plymouth, 
 ten had been totally destroyed, while forty had been more or 
 less damaged by fire. About 600 men, of military age, had 
 been killed, or were taken prisoners and never again heard 
 of. The debt incurred by Plymouth colony was believed to 
 have exceeded the value of all the personal property of its 
 people. The Praying Indians, with great labor had been 
 brought to the threshold of the Christian faith, to find that 
 many of its professors were not themselves led by its persua 
 sive teachings ; being, when aggrieved but too ready to cite 
 for their warrant, the Jewish maxims of war, while denouncing 
 their barbarian enemies as very Philistines. 
 
 But the contest, unfortunately, also extended to the prov 
 inces east of the Merrimac. The state of Maine, which at 
 present is comprised between the Piscataqua river on the west 
 and the St. Croix on the east, was at that time divided into 
 three sections, under as many different governments. The 
 territory between the St. Croix and the Penobscot, although 
 claimed by the English, was considered by the French to be 
 part of their Acadie ; from the Penobscot to the Kennebec 
 was the district of Cornwall, held as a tributary province by 
 Governor Andros for the Duke of York ; from the Kennebec 
 to the Piscataqua, was the proper colony of Maine, being 
 under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, as was also the adja- 
 
1678] KING PHILIPS WAR. 207 
 
 cent colony of New Hampshire. In the latter territory the 
 sagamore Passaconaway, and after him his son Wannalancet, 
 always manifested a friendship for the English. The natives 
 of Maine and Cornwall had experienced much unjust treat 
 ment from a number of the rude-mannered settlers, so that 
 upon intelligence reaching them of the successful war of Philip 
 and his allies, they too entered upon the same career of 
 revenge. 
 
 In a very short time all the Cornwall habitations were 
 broken up and the settlers either killed or driven away. Many 
 of the fugitives having found refuge on Monhegan and other 
 islands, a vessel sent by Andros conveyed them to a place of 
 safety. In Maine and New Hampshire, nearly one-half the 
 settlements were destroyed, and the loss of life was greater 
 in proportion than it had been in Massachusetts, for the In 
 dians readily obtained arms and ammunition from the French 
 on the east of the Penobscot. Major Waldron, a native of 
 Dover, was commissioned by the Boston authorities to carry 
 on the war. 
 
 There came to Dover a body of 400 natives to treat for 
 peace. Waldron proposed to the Indians to engage in a sham 
 fight ; but having induced them to discharge their fire-arms, 
 his troops surrounded the natives and made them prisoners. 
 Allowing half of them to depart, the rest he sent captives to 
 Boston, alleging that they were peace-breakers and murderers. 
 The most of these were transported as slaves to the West 
 Indies. At the mouth of the Kennebec, Waldron built a fort 
 and appointed a meeting with a number of the sachems. 
 Having discovered some lances in one of the canoes, the 
 whites professed to mistrust the purpose of the Indians, and 
 thereupon attacked and killed ten of the emissaries. The 
 war began again with renewed fury and havoc, and continued 
 until the spring of 1678, when a treaty was made at Casco 
 with SQUANDO, sagamore of the Tarrantines, and other chiefs, 
 
208 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1684 
 
 by which the English agreed to pay the Indians a regular 
 annuity in corn. 
 
 THE COLONIAL CHARTERS DEMANDED. ANDROS, GOVERNOR 
 OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 About the time that the war terminated in Massachusetts, 
 but while it was yet in progress beyond the Merrimac, King 
 Charles sent over a commissioner, Edward Randolph, to inquire 
 into the condition of the New England colonies, with the object 
 in view of assuming the direct government of those provinces 
 by recalling their charters. Royalty complained of colonial 
 independence of action, not only because the crown had not 
 been called upon to furnish aid in the late war, but because 
 the colony had exercised powers not belonging to it. The 
 jurisdiction of Massachusetts over Maine and New Hampshire 
 was denied as not being in accordance with the intent of its 
 charter; but Massachusetts purchased (1677) the old Gorges 
 claim and thus became proprietary of Maine, and appointed 
 its magistrates. The Mason claim for New Hampshire, how 
 ever, was annulled by the crown. Being organized as a royal 
 province (1680), EDWARD CRANFIELD was appointed its gov 
 ernor ; but his measures were very unpopular with the colo 
 nists, and after serving four years he was recalled at his own 
 request. 
 
 In Massachusetts, the royal proceedings caused great dis 
 content. Randolph, in the interest of the king, went back 
 and forth from England to the colony, and finally appeared 
 with a writ by which the colony was arraigned to answer before 
 an English court the charges against it, and to submit to an 
 alteration of its charter. This the commissioners for the 
 colony refused to do, whereupon, in 1684, the court decided 
 that the charter of Massachusetts was forfeited. Two years 
 later appeared Sir Edmund Andros, appointed to be governor 
 
1689] ANDROS, GOVERNOR OF NEW ENGLAND. 209 
 
 of all New England, from Long Island Sound to the borders 
 of the French province of Acadie. Forcible entrance and 
 toleration were secured by the governor for the established 
 Episcopal religion of England. His arbitrary rule and that 
 of Randolph, his secretary, occasioned the same grievous 
 complaints as those which had already broken out in New- 
 York and New Jersey. It will be remembered that upon the 
 cession of New Netherland, the English owners declared that 
 the Dutch land-patents must be superseded by new ones. 
 This rule was applied in Massachusetts, the court fees at the 
 same time being increased enormously : so that Andros not 
 only imitated the example of Nichols, but very much ex 
 ceeded it. 
 
 Rhode Island, after some demur, also gave up its charter. 
 Andros, anticipating more resistance from Connecticut, pro 
 ceeded thither with a small armed force. While the subject 
 of his errand was being earnestly debated in the assembly- 
 room, night had come on. Suddenly the lights were extin 
 guished, but when they were re-lit, the charter was gone. It 
 was hidden in the hollow of an oak, yet notwithstanding its 
 abstraction Andros assumed the control of the colony. The 
 commission of Dongan, governor of New York, being like 
 wise revoked, Andros finally added to his prior dignities the 
 governorship of that province as well as of New Jersey. 
 
 But when, in the spring of 1689, tne stirring news was re 
 ceived at Boston that James the Second was an exile, and that 
 William, Prince of Orange, and Mary, his wife, were the 
 ruling sovereigns of England, Andros, Randolph, and about 
 fifty of their retainers were placed in close confinement, and 
 the people again came under the old charter. The same 
 revolution was also peacefully accomplished in the other New 
 England colonies; but in New York, Maryland and Virginia 
 much more opposition was manifested. 
 
 18* 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 1681 1692. 
 
 WILLIAM PENN AND THE ROYAL GRANT. 
 
 WILLIAM PENN was the only son of that Admiral Penn who 
 had acquired celebrity as commander of the English fleet at 
 the conquest of Jamaica, and also for the part he had taken 
 in the subsequent war against the Dutch. A large sum of 
 money was due from the government to the admiral, for 
 arrearages of pay, and for money advanced by him to the 
 naval service ; and it was in consideration of this claim that 
 William Penn, several years after the death of his father, pe- 
 tioned King Charles the Second for a tract of land on the 
 Delaware river north and east of Maryland. After consider 
 ing the objections of Lord Baltimore, as proprietary of Mary 
 land, and of the Duke of York, as proprietary of New York 
 and of the counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex on the 
 Delaware, the request of Penn was complied with, and in the 
 3d month (March), 1681, he was granted a charter with full 
 powers of government, for the tract of land thereafter to be 
 called PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Penn s request for the ownership of a province was prompted 
 by no selfish purpose of gain, but simply that he might have 
 it in his power to offer to the persecuted people of all relig 
 ious creeds, and especially those of the Society of Friends, a 
 safe refuge from their oppressors. He knew very well, by 
 
1 68 1] WILLIAM PENN AND THE ROYAL GRANT. 2 n 
 
 hard experience, not a few of the evils of illiberal and unjust 
 government, and strong and sincere was his hope to exhibit 
 to mankind a better example. Like metal that is tempered 
 for excellent service by fire and frequent hammerings, so Penn 
 had been well prepared for undertaking what he called the 
 " Holy Experiment." 
 
 Educated at Oxford, Penn had afterward visited various 
 parts of Europe, becoming conversant with the customs of 
 the people and the peculiarities of their governments ; but 
 having on his return embraced the doctrines of the despised 
 sect of Quakers, he was turned out of his father s house, and, 
 at the early age of twenty-four, became a prisoner in the 
 tower of London. Being released from confinement, he was 
 arrested, under the persecuting "Conventicle Act," for 
 merely speaking at a meeting ; but his trial before the judge, 
 which is memorable for his defence of the jury s right to 
 freedom of decision, resulted in a verdict of not guilty. Yet 
 he was again imprisoned half a year for a similar offence ; 
 then being set at liberty, he travelled in Germany, and, later, 
 became concerned in the affairs of East and West Jersey. 
 
 Perm s purity of purpose is best set forth in his own letter to his 
 friends, while preparing for the settlement and government of Penn 
 sylvania : " Because I have been somewhat exercised at times," he 
 remarks, "about the nature and end of government among men, it 
 is reasonable to expect that I should endeavor to establish a just 
 and righteous one in the province, that others may take example 
 by it: truly this my heart desires. For the nations want a prece 
 dent ; and till vice and corrupt manners be impartially rebuked and 
 punished, and till virtue and sobriety be cherished, the wrath of 
 God will hang over nations. I do therefore desire the Lord s wis 
 dom to guide me and those that may be concerned with me, that we 
 may do the thing that is truly wise and just." 
 
 The territory granted by King Charles, was described in 
 the charter as extending from a point on the Delaware twelve 
 
212 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1681 
 
 miles above New Castle, up the course of said river to the 
 beginning of the 43d degree of latitude, and westward five 
 degrees of longitude. The southern boundary, however, set 
 forth an impossibility, as it required a circle of twelve miles 
 radius to be drawn, with New Castle at its centre, which circle 
 should touch the beginning of the 4oth degree of latitude; 
 then to extend along that line to the western boundary. It 
 would thus appear that the grant included three degrees of 
 latitude from the beginning of the 4oth to the beginning 
 of the 43d parallel but so much territory could not be taken 
 without including portions of previous grants to New York 
 and to Maryland. For the northern boundary, the 42d line 
 of latitude was settled on as meaning the "beginning" of the 
 43d degree ; but, on the other hand, Lord Baltimore would 
 not agree that the 39th line should mark the beginning of the 
 4oth degree. This inexactness of expression occasioned con 
 siderable dispute with Lord Baltimore, who likewise claimed 
 the three counties on the Delaware ; but the latter were de 
 cided, by the English arbitrators, as forming no part of Mary 
 land. Many years elapsed before the boundary line between 
 Maryland and Pennsylvania was finally adjusted. 
 
 THE GREAT TREATY AT SHACKAMAXON. 
 
 Penn now published an account of the province, offering 
 lands for sale at the low price of forty shillings per hundred 
 acres, subject to a quit-rent of one shilling per annum. At 
 the same time, he cautioned people who might have intentions 
 of removing, not to make the change rashly, but to first weigh 
 well the inconveniences of life in a new world, and, in form 
 ing their plans, to consider the glory of the Almighty as 
 paramount, that so His blessing might attend their honest 
 endeavors. 
 
 The testimony of one of the first settlers : " Our business here in 
 this new land, is not so much to build houses, and establish factories, 
 
1682] THE GREAT TREATY AT SHACKAMAXON. 213 
 
 and promote trade and manufactories that may enrich ourselves 
 (though all these things, in their due places, are not to be neglected) 
 as to erect temples of holiness and righteousness, which God may 
 delight in ; to lay such lasting foundations of temperance and virtue, 
 as may support the superstructures of our future happiness, both 
 in this and the other world. In order to these great and glorious 
 ends, it will well become, nay, it is the indispensable duty of all that 
 are superiors amongst us, to make laws and initiate customs, that 
 may tend to innocency and a harmless life, so as to avoid and pre 
 vent all oppression and violence either to man or beast ; by which 
 we shall strengthen the principle of well-doing, and qualify the fierce, 
 bitter, envious, wrathful spirit." 
 
 Upon the publication of Penn s proposals a great number 
 of purchasers appeared, a body of whom, having obtained a 
 tract of 20,000 acres of land, formed a company called the 
 " Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania." WILLIAM MARK- 
 HAM was sent out by Penn, as deputy-governor, in 1681 ; there 
 being associated with him a number of commissioners who 
 were instructed to hold a conference with the Indians. They 
 bore a letter of greeting from the proprietary to the natives, 
 in which he told them that, though the king of the country 
 where he lived had given him the province, yet he desired 
 only to enjoy it with their love and consent ; that he desired 
 to win and gain their love and friendship by a kind, just and 
 peaceable life ; and that he himself would shortly come, and 
 arrange everything, as he hoped, to their satisfaction. 
 
 Accordingly, the following year (1682), Penn, accompanied 
 by about one hundred persons, mostly of the Society of 
 Friends, sailed in the ship Welcome for the capes of the Dela 
 ware. The Duke of York had previously assigned to him 
 the "three Lower Counties," afterward the state of Dela 
 ware, bordering the west side of the bay. On the 2yth day of 
 the loth month (October) Penn landed at New Castle, and 
 having summoned the people to the court-house, they all 
 English, Dutch and Swedes joyfully acknowledged his gov- 
 
2i 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1682 
 
 ernment. Assuring them of the continuance of their freedom 
 and of entire liberty of conscience, and recommending them 
 to live in sobriety and peace, he re-appointed the former 
 magistrates, and, re-embarking, continued a little further up 
 the river to Upland or Chester. 
 
 At Chester an assembly was called, which passed an act of 
 union, annexing the three Lower Counties to the chartered 
 province of Pennsylvania, and accepting with some alterations 
 a frame of government and code of laws which Penn had 
 prepared in England, and had sent over the previous year by 
 Markham. The Swedes deputed one of their number to ac 
 quaint him that " they would love, serve and obey him, with 
 all they had," declaring, " it was the best day they ever saw." 
 At Shackamaxon (in the present Kensington district of Phila 
 delphia), beneath a great elm by the river s side, was held that 
 notable interview with the Indians, which is famed as the only 
 treaty "between those nations and the Christians, which was 
 never sworn to and never broken." The precise date of this 
 treaty is uncertain. 
 
 In tones of kindness and with benevolent aspect, Penn ad 
 dressed the sachems, telling them of the Great Spirit who 
 made him and them and was the Ruler of all things in heaven 
 and earth, and who, knowing his inmost thoughts, was aware 
 that his heart s desire was to live in peace and friendship with 
 the Indians, and to serve them to the utmost of his power. 
 He told them that he and his friends came unarmed amongst 
 them because it was not their custom to use hostile weapons 
 against their fellow-creatures ; for their object was not to do 
 injury and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. 
 They were now met on the broad pathway of peace and good 
 will, so that no advantage was to be taken on either side ; but 
 all was to be openness, brotherhood and love. 
 
 He also assured them that they were not to be driven away 
 from their lands nor molested in their lawful pursuits ; and in 
 
1 682] PHILADELPHIA FOUNDED. 215 
 
 case disputes arose between themselves and the settlers, they 
 should be peaceably adjusted by a tribunal to be chosen equally 
 by the English and Indians. Presents were given to the 
 sachems, who, in return, handed back the peace belt of wam 
 pum. In conclusion, Penn told them that he would not call 
 them children or brothers only, for often parents would whip 
 their children too severely, and brothers would differ ; neither 
 would he compare the friendship between them to a chain, 
 which rain might rust, or a tree might fall upon and break ; 
 but he would esteem them as being of the same blood with 
 the Christians the same as though they were two parts of one 
 body. Great were the promises which the red men heard, 
 but never were they broken while the peaceful disciples of 
 Fox and Penn had sufficient power in the government to 
 secure a just and friendly conduct toward them. 
 
 About five years after the "great treaty," a report spread that 500 
 Indians had gathered on the Brandywine, with the intention of 
 raising a general insurrection and cutting off all the English on an 
 appointed day. The horrors of Philip s war in N>w England were 
 fresh in people s minds, so that the dire rumor that spread on all 
 sides created considerable alarm ; but a number of the Friends, 
 conscious of their just dealings and honest intentions toward the 
 natives, at once agreed to ride unarmed to the Brandywine and to 
 know of the truth of the report. They found the old sachem lying 
 quietly in his wigwam upon a sort of pillow, the women at work in 
 the field, the children at play together. When informed of the report 
 which had reached the settlement, the sachem was much displeased, 
 and told the messengers that they might go home and gather their 
 harvests in safety, for his heart harbored no enmity against the 
 English. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA FOUNDED. 
 
 On the neck of land formed by the confluence of the 
 Schuylkill river with the Delaware, William Penn, in the 
 latter part of 1682, marked out the streets and bounds of the 
 
216 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1686 
 
 city of PHILADELPHIA. The site of the city, which was pur 
 chased of three Swedes, the brothers Swenson, presented at that 
 day, a high bold bank along the Delaware, fringed with a line 
 of tall pine trees, and called by the Indians Coaquannock. 
 In this bank, before any houses were built, many of the first 
 settlers dug caves and holes to reside in. The first native Penn- 
 sylvanian of English parents was born in one of these burrows. 
 
 The avenues of Philadelphia have a wide reputation for 
 their regularity. Penn laid out a "High" street, running 
 east and west from river to river, and a central "Broad" 
 street running north and south at right-angles to the former, 
 besides many parallel avenues. At the place of intersection 
 of Broad and High streets were four open squares. There 
 was also a large plat reserved in each of the four quarters. 
 It was the design of its founder, that Philadelphia should be 
 an open and healthy city, so far as his plans could accom 
 plish that purpose ; and with that intent he desired that 
 "every house should be placed, if the person pleases, in the 
 middle of its plat, as to the breadth way of it, that so there 
 may be ground on each side for garden or orchards or fields, 
 that it may be a green country town, which will never be 
 burnt and always be wholesome." 
 
 About a year after Penn s arrival, a number of German 
 Friends from Kresheim, settled about six miles from Philadel 
 phia, at a place which they called Germantown. Many of 
 the same society also came from Wales, and took up lands in 
 the neighborhood of the city. In less than five years Phila 
 delphia gained more than did New York in half a century. 
 Over twenty vessels arrived the first year, and within a brief 
 time there were many habitations of settlers upon the Dela 
 ware, even as far as the falls at Trenton, near which was the 
 proprietary s manor of Pennsbury. These all built without 
 fear of molestation from the natives; for, they said, "As our 
 worthy Proprietor treated the Indians with extraordinary hu- 
 
1 682] PHILADELPHIA FOUNDED. 217 
 
 manity, they became very civil- and loving to us, and brought 
 in abundance of venison. And whereas in other countries 
 the Indians were exasperated by hard treatment, which hath 
 been the foundation of much bloodshed, so the contrary 
 treatment here, hath procured their love and affection." 
 
 To the Free Society of Traders, in London, Penn wrote 
 a fair account of the province, its climate, productions and 
 native people. He counselled them not to abuse the Indians, 
 but to win them with justice ; praying that the hearts of all 
 who came into those parts would incline them to show the 
 natives that their claim of a greater knowledge of the will of 
 God was not an idle boast, because, says Penn, "// were mis 
 erable indeed for us to fall under the just censure of the poor 
 Indian conscience, while we make profession of things so far 
 transcending" Those words may be said to sound the key 
 note of the Quaker policy. 
 
 For the settlement of disputes and the prevention of law 
 suits, three peacemakers or arbitrators were appointed for 
 each county. Penn was offered a revenue from the imposition 
 of a tax on exports, but this he would not agree to, although 
 it was a custom commonly adopted by the colonial proprie 
 taries. Nevertheless, he had expended several thousand 
 pounds sterling in rightly settling his province and in the 
 payment and instruction of the Indians. In organizing the 
 provincial government ; in laying the foundation of its future 
 great city ; in securing the good-will of the Indians, as well 
 as of the Dutch and Swedes, Penn had been eminently suc 
 cessful : but the controversy with Lord Baltimore respecting 
 the boundary line was not so readily settled. 
 
 Immediately after Penn s arrival in the province, he had 
 proceeded to Maryland to consult with Baltimore upon the 
 running of their dividing lines ; but the two proprietors were 
 unable to agree. Again, Penn appointed a meeting at New 
 Castle to which Lord Baltimore came, but he would not 
 K 19 
 
2i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1691 
 
 acquiesce in Perm s suggestion that they and their councils 
 should meet in separate houses in the town, and treat with 
 each other by written memorials so as to prevent the mistakes 
 arising from ill designs or slips of memory. Wherefore, to 
 bring the dispute to a close by obtaining the decision of 
 higher authority, Penn returned to England in the summer of 
 1684, leaving the executive power in the hands of the council, 
 of which THOMAS LLOYD was president. 
 
 DISAGREEMENTS IN COUNCIL. 
 
 It would have been better for the political tranquillity of the 
 province had Penn remained there; for, many times during 
 his absence of fifteen years, disputes arose in the council, 
 which would readily have yielded to his firmness and fairness 
 of purpose. The error seems to have been in lodging the ex 
 ecutive power in the council, thus having too many adminis 
 trators in the place of one. That body likewise, did not 
 work harmoniously with the assembly, nor the latter with the 
 members from the three Lower Counties. Lloyd, disliking 
 his position, was excused from further service, and Captain 
 John Blackwell was appointed by Penn as his deputy. The 
 selection, however, was not a judicious one, for Blackwell 
 was a man accustomed to the military service, and, as he 
 utterly disagreed with the council, he was soon recalled. 
 These disagreements were the occasion of much grief to the 
 proprietary, who frequently addressed Lloyd and others of 
 influence, urging them to "love, forgive, help and serve one 
 another ; and let the people learn by your example as well as 
 by your power, the happy life of concord." 
 
 In 1691, shortly after Blackwell s return to England, the 
 dispute between the province and the three counties so far in 
 creased, that the latter organized a separate assembly. Penn 
 reluctantly confirmed Markham as the deputy of the new 
 
1691] DELAWARE. 219 
 
 commonwealth of DELAWARE, while Lloyd accepted the same 
 position in the province of Pennsylvania. The proprietary 
 felt that he had no moral warrant, much as he loved unity, to 
 prevent the separation. Lloyd and Markham, with their re 
 spective councils, joined in a letter to Penn, expressing satis 
 faction at the change, and announcing their intention to act 
 jointly in some matters, as being both under the general gov 
 ernment of the proprietary. 
 
 There arose at this time a schism in the religious Society 
 of Friends at Philadelphia, which was considered as much 
 more to be lamented than the division in the government. 
 This trouble was brought about by George Keith, a Scotch 
 man, who had been surveyor-general of East Jersey, but was 
 now, master of the public school which had been already 
 established at Philadelphia. 
 
 Keith is described as a man of quick natural parts, very 
 ready and able in theological disputations, but with an irrita 
 ble temper, and a disposition of mind not sufficiently tem 
 pered by Christian moderation. He had been a trenchant 
 defender of the Society s principles, and had even visited 
 New England as a champion of its doctrines against Cotton 
 Mather and other ministers of the Puritans. Upon his re 
 turn, in an elated state of mind, he began to indulge in un 
 warranted accusations and unbecoming language, and was 
 thereupon dismissed from the Society. Many persons agree 
 ing with his views, they set up separate meetings, styling 
 themselves Christian Friends ; but their erratic leader presently 
 went back to England, where he joined the National church 
 and wrote many passionate things against his former associates. 
 
 When Keith was found guilty by the grand jury at Philadelphia 
 of " contempt of court," and was sentenced to pay a fine, the 
 Friends forgave him the penalty lest it should seem to the general 
 public that they had grown intolerant, and were persecuting any 
 one because of difference of opinion. 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1693 
 
 Meanwhile, William Penn had been diligently employed 
 in England, striving to relieve his fellow-members from the 
 impositions and persecutions under which they still labored ; 
 and, since he was high in favor with King James, he had 
 been enabled for the most part to accomplish that object. 
 But upon the accession of William and Mary, the fact of his 
 friendship at the former court operated against him ; so that 
 his enemies, taking advantage of the unsettlement prevailing in 
 the colonial councils, and putting the matter in the worst light 
 possible, caused him to be deprived of both* his provinces. 
 Thus in 1693, eleven years after Philadelphia was founded, 
 the English sovereigns issued a commission to BENJAMIN 
 FLETCHER, governor of New York, to take control of the 
 provinces on the Delaware, which therefore became for a 
 while re-united. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE COLONIES UNDER WILLIAM AND MARY. 
 1689 1702. 
 
 THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH COLONIES AT WAR. 
 
 ON a preceding page have been mentioned the unsuccessful 
 attempts of De la Barre and Denonville, the French com 
 manders, to obtain control of the Niagara region and the Great 
 Lakes, and to intimidate the tribes of the Iroquois league. 
 With the English traders of Hudson s Bay on the north, and 
 those of New York on the south, to compete with, the French 
 became more and more concerned lest the lucrative fur-trade 
 should be wrested from their grasp. They chiefly valued New 
 France not for the possible products of its soil, but because 
 the lakes and the river St. Lawrence were a highway of com 
 merce which their own pioneers had opened, and whose con 
 trol they were not willing to surrender to any other nation. 
 Hence when war broke out between England and France, 
 in 1689, the northern American colonies took part in the 
 struggle, as having grievances of their own to settle. 
 
 BARON CASTIN of Acadie had no difficulty in persuading 
 the eastern Indians to resume the war against the New Eng 
 land settlements. Twelve years had elapsed since Waldron 
 had dealt them those treacherous blows already related. That 
 officer being yet at Dover in command of a garrison, a party 
 of the natives made an onslaught upon the place, killed or 
 made prisoners about fifty of the inhabitants, and put Wal- 
 
 19* 221 
 
222 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1690 
 
 dron (now an old man of 80) to death with tortures. The 
 village was then burned,, as was likewise the fort which Andros 
 had recently built at Pemaquid on the coast ; in short, all the 
 settlements east of Casco bay to the Penobscot, were once 
 again ravaged and broken up. 
 
 There was no scruple on the part either of English Protes 
 tants or French Papists, against engaging the Indians to aid 
 them in their sanguinary schemes. While French vessels 
 cruised off the coast of New England, making many prizes, 
 the Count de Frontenac despatched a war-party composed of a 
 body of " converted Indians, so called, and a few Frenchmen, 
 to surprise Schenectady on the river Mohawk the northern 
 most English outpost. Unguarded and unsuspicious of evil 
 the inhabitants slept, when suddenly the terrible war-whoop 
 was heard ; in a moment the doors were broken open, the 
 women and children massacred and the village set on fire. 
 Some were carried away prisoners, while those who escaped 
 fled through a driving snow-storm toward Albany, enduring 
 bitter sufferings ere that place was reached. It was surely 
 not Christ s religion that these "converts" were being taught: 
 but, were they or their teachers most guilty? 
 
 Frontenac s second war-party crossed the mountains (1690) 
 from Canada to the upper Connecticut river valley, thence 
 across the White Mountain region to the frontier village of 
 Salmon Falls on the Piscataqua. As at Schenectady, this 
 place also was taken by surprise, the men mostly murdered, 
 and the women and children made captive. The houses, 
 and the barns with cattle in them, were destroyed by fire. 
 Then with their prisoners and spoils of war, the victors being 
 joined by another party from Quebec, moved across to Casco 
 in Maine. Fortunately, its inhabitants, by surrendering as 
 prisoners of war, escaped the dreadful doom which had over 
 taken the other two places. 
 
1690] SIR WILLIAM PHIPPS. 223 
 
 SIR WILLIAM PHIPPS. FLETCHER. BELLAMONT. 
 
 Immediately after these onslaughts, New York and the New 
 England colonies organized for a counter-attack on the settle 
 ments of the French. Massachusetts sent out a naval expe 
 dition under SIR WILLIAM PHIPPS, a native of Pemaquid, who 
 is celebrated as being one of 26 children borne of the same 
 mother. Phipps sailed at once to Port Royal and the other 
 Acadian settlements, which he plundered to an extent suffi 
 cient to pay all the expenses of the expedition. Meanwhile 
 two English privateers from the West Indies appeared, and 
 Port Royal was devastated a second time. 
 
 At the accession of William and Mary, two years before 
 this time, JACOB LEISLER, a merchant of New York, supported 
 by a faction, had been installed as governor of that province, 
 a position which he still occupied. A land force was sent 
 out by Leisler, which was joined by troops from Connecticut ; 
 the whole being commanded by Fitz-John Winthrop, son of 
 Connecticut s late governor. Part of these, with some Mo 
 hawks, marched against Montreal, but they were repulsed by 
 Frontenac and his Indian allies. The other detachment, 
 being wasted by smallpox, and lacking provisions, also re 
 turned. Upon the arrival of Colonel HENRY SLOUGHTER, 
 appointed to the governorship by King William, Leisler, and 
 his son-in-law Milbourne, were arrested for high treason, and 
 their enemies being very bitter against them, they were con 
 demned to death on the gallows. 
 
 Sir William Phipps, with a fleet of 35 vessels, ascended the 
 St. Lawrence to Quebec, but being nine weeks on the voyage 
 up the river, Frontenac had time to prepare for the attack 
 of the English, who soon abandoned the enterprise. Captain 
 Church, who had gained notoriety in King Philip s war, pro 
 ceeded against the Eastern Indians in Maine, and having 
 taken some prisoners, men, women and children, put them 
 
224 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1697 
 
 to death, as he declared, " for the sake of example." But the 
 Indians remembered that they had not put to death those who 
 surrendered to them at Casco, and now lost no opportunity 
 to retaliate on the whites. All the towns of Maine suffered 
 from their attacks, and many of them were abandoned. 
 
 After this, Phipps having gone to England, returned, in 
 1692, with a commission as governor. He also brought anew 
 charter for Massachusetts, by which Plymouth colony, and 
 Maine as far as the Penobscot, were united with the former 
 under one jurisdiction. Toleration was expressly secured -to 
 all religious sects except Papists. The French at this time 
 had recoyered possession of Port Royal ; and the Eastern In 
 dians being supplied with arms and ammunition from that 
 quarter, the frontier continued to be much harassed by their 
 depredations. Phipps had little opportunity to take further 
 part in the war, for, being accused of misdemeanor, he was 
 summoned to England for trial. 
 
 Fletcher having been appointed (1693) governor of the 
 provinces of New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, a royal 
 letter was sent to all the colonies except Carolina, urging 
 them to furnish assistance in men or money for the defence 
 of the northern frontier. The Friends in Pennsylvania, be 
 lieving all war to be unlawful, and being conscious that they 
 themselves had treated both the Indians and whites as breth 
 ren, and had naught of enmity to fear, demurred making any 
 appropriation. Fletcher wrote to them that he hoped they 
 would not refuse to feed the hungry and clothe the naked ;" 
 meaning, as he explained, that they should conciliate the In 
 dians with presents, and not let them go over to the French. 
 But he obtained from them no more than the grant of a small 
 sum of money, which it was stipulated " should not be dipped 
 in blood." This disastrous seven years war was terminated 
 in 1697, when the peace of RYSWICK between England and 
 France was proclaimed, by which it was agreed, so far as re- 
 
1699] BELLAMONT. 225 
 
 spected their American territories, that each should retain 
 what it possessed before war was declared. 
 
 The EARL OF BELLAMONT, an Irish nobleman of affable 
 address and popular manners, wtas sent over in 1698, as gov 
 ernor of both New York and Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, 
 in the meantime, having been remanded to William Penn, its 
 proprietor. New Hampshire, for forty years thenceforward, 
 also continued to have the same governors as Massachusetts. 
 Upon arriving in New York, Bellamont caused Fletcher to be 
 sent back to England under arrest, as it was believed that he 
 connived at violations of the acts of trade, as well as favored 
 the buccaneers who still frequented the American harbors. 
 Captain Kidd, who had been given command of a vessel 
 specially fitted out to re-capture prizes which had been taken 
 by the pirates, himself turned freebooter, and entered upon 
 that bold career of robbery upon the high seas, which was 
 only terminated by his death upon the gallows. 
 
 In Boston, Bellamont became so much a favorite that the 
 general court voted him the extravagant compensation of 
 $7500 the first year, although under the old charter the gov 
 ernor s salary had been but a small fraction of that figure. 
 Bellamont died in 1701, at New York, whither he had gone 
 to attend to the enforcement of the royal navigation acts. 
 Laws favoring the execution of these acts were reluctantly 
 passed by Connecticut and Rhode Island. In the latter state, 
 SAMUEL CRANSTON, who was chosen governor in 1698, was 
 annually re-elected for twenty-eight years. 
 
 William Penn, who had returned to his province in 1699, 
 called an assembly which readily acceded to his wish, in pass 
 ing laws for the suppression of piracy and illegal trade. Soon 
 afterward, he granted them a new "charter of privileges," 
 by which the power of legislation was vested in a governor, 
 and in an assembly to be chosen annually by the freemen of 
 the province. 
 K* 
 
226 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1688 
 
 Penn remained only two years in Pennsylvania; but before 
 his second and last departure, he met in council the chiefs of 
 the Five Nations, besides the Potomacs, the Susquehannahs 
 and the Shawnees, and covenanted with them that there 
 should be a firm and lasting peace between both races, and 
 that they should all live in true friendship and amity as one 
 people. Regulations were adopted to govern their trade, and 
 the former purchases of land were confirmed. Penn left the 
 management of his estates and of the Indian matters, in the 
 hands of James Logan, colonial secretary and member of the 
 council. But the expenses attending the settling and im 
 proving of the colony were so heavy, that Penn was obliged 
 to borrow several thousand pounds, and to mortgage his 
 province for the debt. Delaware was quietly permitted to 
 again form a separate government in 1702. In the same year 
 East and West Jersey became united as a single province, 
 with LORD CORNBURY, Bellamont s successor, as royal gov 
 ernor. 
 
 THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 The six years from 1688 to 1693, were memorable in New 
 England history, not only on account of the unhappy war 
 which has just been related, but because of the prevalence of 
 a popular delusion which has since been spoken of as the 
 Salem witchcraft. 
 
 The alleged witches were generally ill-favored or bad-tem 
 pered old women, who were believed to have made a bargain 
 with the Evil One, trading away their souls for the privilege 
 of working mischief to their neighbors. By the Massachu 
 setts law, witchcraft, like murder and many other offences, 
 was a capital crime, the warrant for which punishment they 
 adduced from the Old Testament scripture, where it is de 
 clared, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Prominent 
 in the belief in these supernatural manifestations were IN- 
 
1692] THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 227 
 
 CREASE MATHER and his son COTTON MATHER, Puritan 
 clergymen of Boston. 
 
 In the latter city, four children in one family began to be 
 have in a very singular manner: barking, purring, undergoing 
 contortions, and seeming to become at times either deaf, blind, 
 or dumb, or else crying out that they were being pinched, 
 jerked about, and cut at. The ministers declared that the 
 children were certainly bewitched ; for, precisely in the same 
 manner, they said, had afflicted ones been tormented in Eng 
 land. An old Irish servant, living in the family, was fastened 
 upon as being the culprit witch, and, upon trial, was declared 
 guilty and speedily hung. Young Cotton Mather took the 
 eldest of the "bewitched" children to his own house, and 
 being duped by her artfulness, and witnessing many strange 
 things, he believed them sufficiently wonderful to set forth in 
 a book, which he presently published. 
 
 Several years later (1692) the witch-distemper re-appeared ; 
 this time at Salem village or Danvers, where two young girls, 
 a daughter and a niece of the village minister, began to ex 
 hibit peculiar symptoms, very similar to those witnessed in 
 the former case. Tituba, a servant of the family an Indian 
 woman, old and wrinkled was pronounced to be the witch. 
 A general fast and time of prayer were proclaimed by the 
 ministers ; nevertheless the so-called witches and their victims 
 so increased, that, in alarm, a magistrate s court was ordered to 
 be convened in the village. Not only Tituba, but many other 
 women of weak or fearful minds, were frightened into con 
 fessing that they were witches, who had signed the "devil s 
 book" and been baptized by him. In a short time there 
 were nearly a hundred persons confined in prison upon the 
 charge. 
 
 A special court for Witch Trials, presided over by Governor 
 Phipps himself, was now ordered. Four sessions were held in 
 four months, at which over fifty persons, most of them old 
 
228 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1692 
 
 women, were convicted, and twenty of them were hung. 
 Every day new accusations appeared. A second book pub 
 lished by Cotton Mather, called "Wonders of the Invisible 
 World," contained triumphant accounts of the late trials and 
 executions, and served to spread the excitement and terror 
 broadcast. 
 
 But the strange fever was destined soon to subside ; for, 
 there having been accusations started against some persons 
 of acknowledged excellent repute, the voice of reason and 
 good sense began at last to be listened to. Some who had 
 confessed to being witches renounced that admission as having 
 been forced from them ; the court refused to convict those 
 brought before it ; and finally, King William s veto of the 
 witchcraft act put an end to the trials. 
 
 MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA. 
 
 In the province of Maryland, the news of the accession of 
 William and Mary created much agitation, the majority of 
 the population being favorably inclined to the Protestant sov 
 ereigns. The wide prevalence of this sentiment was taken 
 advantage of by some turbulent spirits, who attacked the 
 town of St. Mary s, captured its fort St. Inigo, and proclaimed 
 the government of William and Mary, in opposition to the 
 Catholic proprietary. The latter, chiefly upon the ground of 
 his being a papist, was, as Penn had been, for awhile deprived 
 of his province, although permitted to receive his quit-rents, 
 tonnage duty and other income. 
 
 The assembly then called together (1692) by LIONEL COP 
 LEY, the royal governor, made a radical alteration in the 
 ecclesiastical constitution of the province, which theretofore 
 had been tolerant of all religious sects, none being allowed 
 either state support or pre-eminence. This equitable provision 
 was now changed to the establishment by law of the national 
 
1698] MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA, 229 
 
 English church, the province being divided into parishes, and 
 every taxable inhabitant obliged to pay for the support of the 
 dominant sect. The new law was especially burdensome to 
 the Friends and Catholics, the latter being forbidden, by an 
 enactment made a few years later, either to preach or to teach. 
 Copley s successor, NICHOLSON, removed the capital, in 1694, 
 from St. Mary s to the new town of Annapolis, the present 
 seat of government of the state. 
 
 Previous to his appointment as governor of Maryland, 
 Nicholson had held the office of deputy or lieutenant-gov 
 ernor of Virginia, under Lord Howard of Effingham, who 
 had returned to England. A conspicuous personage in the 
 colony at that time, and for half a century following, was 
 JAMES BLAIR, a Scotchman, who had come to Virginia as a 
 missionary preacher, but soon received a commission as a sort 
 of religious-director or legate for the bishop of London. It 
 was through Commissary Blair s influence that a charter was 
 obtained in 1691, locating at Williamsburg the William and 
 Mary College, the chief purpose of that institution being to 
 educate ministers of the established church, for service in the 
 colony. The buildings were erected after plans furnished by 
 the celebrated architect, Sir Christopher Wren. 
 
 Upon the appointment of Sir Edmund Andros (1692) to 
 succeed Governor Effingham, Nicholson lost his lieutenancy, 
 and, as has been stated, became for a short time governor of 
 Maryland. But Andros was scarcely more popular in Vir 
 ginia than he had been in New England, and upon his recall 
 Nicholson received a commission as his successor. Having 
 changed Maryland s capital, he successfully essayed the same 
 thing in Virginia. Jamestown, ruined village that it was, 
 was deserted in 1698, and Williamsburg, with its streets very 
 loyally laid out in the shape of the cipher W and M, took its 
 place as the seat of government. 
 
 20 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1693 
 
 JOHN ARCHDALE, OF CAROLINA. 
 
 The efforts of Governor Golleton to reconcile the conflict 
 ing interests of the proprietors and the colonists of South 
 Carolina, had been totally unsuccessful. Colleton was suc 
 ceeded (1691) by PHILIP LUDWELL, to u horn was also intrusted 
 the governorship of the Albemarle settlements, made vacant 
 by the banishment of Seth Sothel. Ludwell attempted to 
 bring to justice a number of buccaneers who had been arrested 
 at Charleston, which place had become one of their favorite 
 resorts ; but this commendable act was resented by some of 
 the traders and planters as an interference with a very profit 
 able branch of trade. These buccaneers were mostly English, 
 who depredated upon the Spanish commerce and towns, and, 
 in return for supplies afforded them, spent their golden spoils 
 with a lavish hand. 
 
 Another wicked practice carried on by the planters, and 
 usually connived at by the governors, was the traffic in Indian 
 captives. The spirit of discord among the native tribes was 
 fomented, wars followed, and the luckless captives being 
 brought down to Charleston, were disposed of to traders 
 from the West Indies. But the evil practice carried with it 
 the seeds of retribution, inasmuch as the traders, in exchange 
 for the captives, imported large quantities of rum from Ber 
 muda and the Barbadoes, thus fostering a custom depraving 
 to the manners and destructive to the habits of industry of 
 many of the colonists. 
 
 Governor Ludwell favored the enfranchisement of the Hu 
 guenots, who now formed a numerous and intelligent portion 
 of the population ; but this measure the Cavaliers violently 
 opposed. Hence Ludwell, wearied by the constant opposi 
 tion which he encountered, resigned his office in 1693. After 
 a lapse of two years, Lord Ashley, a grandson of Shaftesbury, 
 having declined to accept the proffered office of governor, it 
 
1693] JOHN ARCH DALE, OF CAROLINA. 231 
 
 was conferred upon JOHN ARCHDALE, a member of the Society 
 of Friends, and a proprietary by purchase. He was a man 
 very similar to William Penn in administrative ability, and, 
 like him, was possessed of great prudence and sagacity, 
 united with admirable patience and command of temper. 
 With marvellous celerity he restrained the lawless spirit of 
 turbulence, suppressed abuses, and stilled the tumult of con 
 tending factions. 
 
 Archdale organized at once a council of sensible and mod 
 erate men, and called together the representative assembly. 
 An address of grateful thanks voted by this body to the pro 
 prietaries the first expression of such sentiments ever uttered 
 in Carolina "attests," says Grahame, "the wisdom and be 
 nignity of Archdale s administration, and justifies the opinion, 
 that, notwithstanding the inflammable materials of which the 
 provincial society was composed, only a good domestic gov 
 ernment had been hitherto wanting to render the colony 
 flourishing and happy." 
 
 Having quieted the spirit of turbulence, this excellent 
 pacificator endeavored to promote a better feeling toward the 
 Huguenots, being careful not to advocate for them the imme 
 diate right of suffrage, but rather sought to awaken public 
 generosity toward the refugees by warmly commending them 
 to the hospitality and compassion of his countrymen. Yet 
 he did not leave the work only half-done; for to the refugees 
 themselves, he advised "a patient perseverance in those vir 
 tues that tend to disarm human enmity, and by the actual ex 
 ercise of which they were enabled shortly after to overcome 
 the aversion, and even conciliate the friendly regards, of their 
 fellow-countrymen." 
 
 No less successful was Archdale in correcting those abuses 
 from which the Indians had been such grievous sufferers. He 
 appointed magistrates to settle cases of dispute between them 
 selves and the settlers, as had been done in Pennsylvania. 
 
232 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1696 
 
 Some Indians who had been captured by another tribe and 
 were about to be sold to the Islands as slaves, he caused to be 
 returned to their homes. And, as honest, straight-forward 
 treatment begets its like, so it happened that shortly after the 
 above incident, an English vessel being wrecked upon the 
 coast, the crew of which expected to be murdered and their 
 cargo plundered as had formerly been the practice, were, on 
 the contrary, kindly cared for by the natives, and safely con 
 ducted to their friends. In the spiritual welfare of the 
 natives, Archdale was much interested, regretting the fact 
 that his countrymen were so generally more greedy after the 
 Indians land than they were concerned for the salvation of 
 their souls. 
 
 These honorable methods of treatment were not lost upon 
 the neighboring Spaniards, who now expressed for the first 
 time a desire to maintain friendly relations with the English. 
 Of course, in the Albemarle settlements, where were many 
 Friends, Archdale s administration gave equal satisfaction. 
 But it was not his design to remain in the country longer than 
 was required to reform abuses and quiet the spirit of contro 
 versy ; hence, having accomplished those ends to an extent 
 exceeding all expectation, he returned to England in the latter 
 part of 1696, having earned the grateful thanks of all the 
 people. 
 
 To Archdale had been given the extraordinary privilege 
 of nominating his successor. In making choice of JOSEPH 
 BLAKE, nephew of the English admiral, for this position, 
 Archdale continued the beneficent results of his own admin 
 istration ; for Blake was a man of prudence and moderation, 
 and governed the province for four years much to the satis 
 faction of the colonists. But under JAMES MOORE and NA 
 THANIEL JOHNSON, the two governors who succeeded Blake, 
 were exhibited the unhappy results of an opposite line of 
 policy from the foregoing. Again were the Indians kid- 
 
1729] THE WRONG POLICY RENEWED. 233 
 
 napped, to be sold as slaves, and again was war made against 
 the Spaniards of St. Augustine. But the expedition which 
 was sent (1702) to capture that place proved unsuccessful; the 
 colony moreover was brought into debt, and, of necessity, 
 heavier taxes were imposed. 
 
 The principal Indian tribes surrounding the English plan 
 tations were the Tuscaroras on the north, the Yamassees and 
 Catawbas on the west, and the Cherokees and Creeks beyond, 
 between the Ohio and the Gulf. In upper Florida were the 
 Appalachees, where Spanish missionaries had established 
 churches and instructed the natives in agriculture. Against 
 this tribe the Creeks, aided by a few of the English, pro 
 ceeded in 1705. They plundered the Indian villages, burnt 
 the chapels, and gave the country of the Appalachees to the 
 lower tribe of Creeks, called the Seminoles. 
 
 In addition to these wars, and the dissatisfaction occasioned 
 by the laying of taxes and the issue of paper money, there 
 arose religious disputes engendered by unjust laws against the 
 Dissenters. Against the protest of Archdale, who was yet a 
 proprietary, the national Church of England was established, 
 although not a third of the inhabitants were of that denomi 
 nation. The country was divided into parishes as had already 
 been done in Virginia and Maryland. From this time forth 
 the proprietary government gave little satisfaction, and in a 
 few years (1729) its connection with the province was dis 
 solved and its chartered interests sold to the crown. 
 
 A little bag of rice, presented by the master of a vessel 
 from Madagascar to a Charlestonian (1694), marked the in 
 troduction into South Carolina of its most distinctive staple. 
 The sea-island (or black-seed) cotton, so superior on account 
 of its long and silky fibre to the green-seed or short staple 
 previously planted, was introduced about 1790, the first crop 
 being raised on Hilton Head, near Beaufort. The seed was 
 
 brought from the Bahamas to Georgia six years earlier. 
 
 20 * 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE WAR IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 
 1702 1714. 
 
 LOUISIANA SETTLED BY THE FRENCH. 
 
 A BRIEF period of five years only elapsed between the peace 
 of Ryswick in 1697, and the renewal of the struggle between 
 the English and French colonies of America. It was during 
 this transient interval of repose, that the French undertook 
 the settlement of the country adjacent to the lower Mississippi, 
 upon which La Salle had conferred the name of Louisiana. 
 
 A Canadian named D !BERVILLE, with two hundred men in 
 several vessels, sailed for the Gulf of Mexico (1699), and 
 would have landed at the bay of Pensacola, but that the 
 Spaniards were found already intrenched upon that excellent 
 harbor. The French, therefore, continued farther westward, 
 and upon the shores of the bay of Biloxi, within the limits 
 of the present state of Mississippi, they built a fort and erected 
 a number of huts. The Spaniards at first complained of this 
 as an intrusion upon their territory of Florida, but, as a royal 
 alliance at this time transferred the Spanish throne to a French 
 prince, all serious opposition was turned aside. D Iberville 
 went several times to France for fresh settlers and supplies, 
 and, aided by two of his brothers, explored the various intri 
 cate outlets of the Mississippi, ascended that stream and the 
 Red river, and also effected a treaty with the neighboring 
 Indians. 
 234 
 
1704] THE DEERFIELD MASSACRE. 235 
 
 Since the time of La Salle, the French missionaries and 
 traders had not been slow in following upon the track of that 
 discoverer, and at a number of points upon the banks of the 
 Mississippi little settlements had been established. It was 
 soon found that Biloxi was not well situated for becoming a 
 flourishing settlement, and accordingly most of the settlers 
 removed eastward, and located in 1702 at the head of the 
 broad bay of MOBILE. In the north, and nearly at the same 
 time (1701) there was founded by the French the city of 
 DETROIT, eligibly situated upon the strait through which the 
 waters of Lake Huron find an outlet into Lake Erie. 
 
 The French had now control of the great interior water 
 ways of the country, and, with their new allies the Spaniards, 
 it would thus appear that the English colonies would be de 
 barred from expansion upon every side, north, south and 
 westward. Yet these territorial pretensions of the French 
 would probably have been insufficient to cause a rupture of 
 the existing state of peace, had it not been for the breaking 
 out of the war which England, in alliance with Holland and 
 Germany, declared against France and Spain. Whereupon 
 the colonies, their children, were drawn into the bloody vor 
 tex, just as they had been before. 
 
 BARBARITIES OF THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 As the Five Nations had recently entered into an agreement 
 of amity with the French, and had admitted the Jesuit mis 
 sionaries among them, they could not be prevailed on by the 
 English, their former allies, to aid them in their operations 
 against Canada. Thus the harrowed field of war was transferred 
 to New England, where a massacre by Canadians and Indians, 
 at the frontier town of Deerfield (1704), spread terror into the 
 hearts of the English. The same Captain Church, who had 
 been prominent in the preceding war, as well as in the war 
 
236 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1708 
 
 of King Philip, was despatched by Governor DUDLEY of Mas 
 sachusetts against the French habitations on the Penobscot 
 and to the eastward. An English frigate, at the same time, 
 carried a thousand men against Acadie. They could not 
 capture the fort at Port Royal, but the houses of the town 
 were burnt, the cattle killed, and the corn which grew luxu 
 riantly upon the neighboring flats, was destroyed by cutting 
 through the dams and allowing the water to inundate the 
 fields. Yet the English had little cause to rejoice at this de 
 vastation, for in the following year (1708) there was another 
 incursion of the French and Indians from Canada. Descend 
 ing the valley of the Merrimac, they surprised the town of 
 Haverhill in the night, massacred about 50 of the inhabitants, 
 and plundered and burnt their habitations. 
 
 Massachusetts urgently appealed to Queen Anne and to the 
 other colonies for help. The rest of New England, as well 
 as New York and New Jersey responded to the call, but the 
 Pennsylvania legislature, still influenced by the counsels of 
 peace, replied that "they could not, in conscience, provide 
 money to hire men to kill each other." Two ships of war 
 and 500 marines having been sent from England, were joined 
 by the transports carrying the colonial troops. Nicholson, 
 late governor of Virginia, commanded the -squadron which 
 now proceeded against, and captured, the fort at Port Royal; 
 while the various Acadian settlements were visited in turn, 
 and made to feel the harsh displeasure of the conquerors. 
 
 The "victories" of the Duke of Marlborough at Blen 
 heim and other hard-fought fields of carnage, had driven a 
 large number of Germans from their homes, many of whom 
 had gone to England. Several thousand of these fugitives, 
 apprenticed as servants of the government, were at this time 
 sent over to the banks of the Hudson, but they became dis 
 satisfied with their condition as contrasted with the free set 
 tlers, and force was used by the governor of New York to 
 
1713] BARBARITIES OF THE WAR. 237 
 
 compel them to submit. Yet their subsistence proved very 
 expensive to the government, in fact far beyond the product 
 of their labor. Finally, their indentures being cancelled, 
 they became thriving and industrious, and removed to the 
 upper waters of the Mohawk, where their fertile plantations 
 became known as the " German Flats." Many of the same 
 nationality also settled in compact bodies upon rich lands in 
 Pennsylvania, where they retain their language and manners 
 even to the present time. 
 
 In 1711, a much larger armament than the preceding, was 
 sent against Canada, several regiments from Marlborough s 
 army being despatched from England to join the provincial 
 troops. Over 50 vessels, carrying 7000 men, sailed from 
 Boston, and entered the St. Lawrence. A lesser body of 
 land troops under Nicholson, joined by warriors of the Five 
 Nations, who had been finally persuaded to take part in the 
 contest, assembled at Albany, preparatory to an attack upon 
 Montreal. It was intended that the attack of the land and 
 naval forces should be simultaneous j but this expectation was 
 not destined to be realized, owing to the wreck of a number 
 of the transports in the St. Lawrence and the loss of nearly 
 a thousand men. Dispirited by this calamity, the English 
 admiral re-crossed the Atlantic, while the colonial transports 
 sailed back to Boston. 
 
 This second war had been in several respects a counterpart 
 of the first : numerous barbarities and burnings by whites 
 and Indians ; a similar attack upon and plundering of Port 
 Royal ; a like rebuff, not by man, but by the adverse winds 
 and waters of the great Canadian river. The peace of 
 UTRECHT, in 1713, shortly before the death of Queen Anne, 
 put an end to the protracted contest. As part of its provi 
 sions, Hudson s Bay, Newfoundland and Acadie or Nova 
 Scotia, were ceded by the French to the English. 
 
 But were they worth the price paid ? The resources of the 
 
238 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1712 
 
 colonies were greatly diminished, while their growth was cor 
 respondingly checked ; many fields were untilled and extensive 
 tracts had been desolated ; several thousand of the young 
 men, the " flower of the country," had been slain or had died 
 of diseases contracted in the service. Between the Piscataqua 
 and Penobscot, a third of the inhabitants had fallen in the 
 war. Most of the families in New York and New England 
 were mourning for friends either killed or carried away into 
 a miserable captivity. 
 
 In England itself, the whole nation for a hundred and sixty years 
 past has felt the burden of what the historian calls the "splendid 
 victories of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde," etc. Fifty million 
 pounds sterling were then added to the English national debt. 
 Thus year by year, through the centuries, must millions of men 
 toil and be taxed to pay for the costly folly of kings. 
 
 The treaty of Utrecht, amongst other concessions to England, 
 gave to that country the exclusive privilege of introducing negro 
 slaves into Spanish America. As this wicked commerce was ex 
 pected to be exceedingly profitable, the English queen secured a 
 fourth of the stock of the slave-trading company. 
 
 THE TUSCARORAS. SLAVE LAWS. 
 
 Almost a year before the close of the war with Canada, 
 the inhabitants of North Carolina became involved in a war 
 with the Tuscarora Indians. This tribe had felt aggrieved at 
 the occupation of their land bordering the Neuse river, by a 
 body of German immigrants, and, more recently by the tres 
 pass of some Swiss settlers. These established themselves at 
 a place which they called New Berne, near where the Neuse 
 expands into a broad estuary before its waters flow into Pamlico 
 sound. 
 
 Upon the commencement of hostilities by the Indians, 
 Governor CRAVEN of South Carolina sent a few of the colonial 
 
THE TUSCARORAS. 239 
 
 militia, with a large body of Catawbas, Yamassees and other 
 native bands, against the Tuscaroras, whom they obliged to 
 agree to a peace. But some of the allies, as they retired 
 southward, fell upon several of the Tuscarora villages and 
 carried off the inhabitants to be sold as slaves. Thereupon 
 the war was renewed. About the same time, the yellow fever 
 appeared, and many of the settlers fled in terror to Virginia. 
 The Friends, who, as we have seen, were numerous in North 
 Carolina, having refused to bear arms, the militia with their 
 native auxiliaries again came up from the southern province, 
 while Governor SPOTTSWOOD of Virginia, also sent a few 
 troops to aid in the kidnapping work. The fort of the Tus 
 caroras was besieged and taken, and the prisoners eight hun 
 dred in number were given up to the Indian allies, to be 
 taken to South Carolina and sold into slavery. The remainder 
 of the Tuscaroras forsook their country the following year 
 (1713) and passing northward into the land of the Iroquois, 
 were adopted by that confederacy, which became generally 
 known thereafter as the Six Nations. 
 
 Yet hardly two years elapsed before unscrupulous traders of 
 Carolina brought on a war with their late auxiliaries the 
 Yamassees, Catawbas, Creeks and Cherokees. The planters, 
 on all sides, were driven back from the frontiers into Charles 
 ton, and, in their turn, were now obliged to crave help from 
 the neighboring provinces. Governor HUNTER of New York 
 despatched military supplies, and Spottswood of Virginia sent 
 a shipload of volunteers and tributary Indians. With these, 
 his own militia, and certain of the slaves whom he armed, 
 Craven drove the Yamassees into Florida, while the other 
 tribes consented to make peace. But the straightforwa-rd 
 policy of Archdale, had it been continued, would have saved 
 the million dollars of damages and debt which this shameful 
 war entailed. It would appear as though, in proportion as a 
 nation is conscious of a departure from rectitude in its deal- 
 
240 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1712 
 
 ings with another power, it seeks to hide its unfairness or 
 duplicity by an appeal to force. 
 
 The first complete slave law for South Carolina was enacted 
 in 1712, there being at that time about 6000 whites and 10,000 
 negroes in the province. It set forth that as the plantations 
 and estates of the province could not be properly managed 
 and tilled without the labor of negroes and other slaves, and 
 as these latter were a wild and barbarous people, not qualified 
 to be governed by the same laws and practices as the whites, 
 therefore, in order for the good regulation of the province 
 and the security of its inhabitants, it was enacted that all 
 negroes, Indians and mulattoes, who could not prove that 
 they were freemen, be made and declared slaves. 
 
 It was also ordered by this code that any person finding a 
 slave abroad without a pass, must chastise him, or else be 
 liable to a penalty for the omission. All crimes committed 
 by a slave, from thievery to murder, were punishable by 
 death, but a lesser punishment could be substituted. If the 
 owner of a runaway slave neglected to whip, cut off the ear, 
 or brand the culprit with a hot iron, then the owner was to 
 forfeit his claim to the slave. The leader of a company which 
 captured a runaway, received several pounds compensation ; 
 and if any person whilst engaged in such service should be 
 wounded or disabled, the public had to pay the damages. If 
 a slave was to die while being punished, no penalty was to be 
 inflicted, unless bloody-mindedness could be proved; then 
 the murderer incurred a forfeit of fifty pounds. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 GEORGE I. A PERIOD OF FINANCIERING. 
 17141727. 
 
 PIRACY SUPPRESSED. THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE. 
 
 WITH the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the rule of the 
 house of Stuart in England came to an end. During most 
 of the following thirteen years which comprised the reign of 
 George the First, the late Elector of Hanover, there was 
 comparative tranquillity in the colonies, although for a few 
 years after the declaration of peace, the Carolina coasts and 
 the West Indian seas were much infested by pirates, whose 
 depredations became very annoying. 
 
 A notorious freebooter known as " Blackbeard," who had 
 been accustomed to lurk about the inlets of the Pamlico, was 
 captured, after a desperate resistance to the two ships which 
 were sent in pursuit of him by Spottswood. Another, named 
 Bellamy, suffered shipwreck on Cape Cod, and miserably per 
 ished with a hundred of his men. Even in Charleston, pub 
 lic opinion was turned against the pirates ; and, it becoming 
 known there that a party of these outlaws led by one Steed 
 Bonnet, had sought refuge upon the Cape Fear coast, an ex 
 pedition which resulted successfully was sent against them. 
 Bonnet and forty of his accomplices were tried, found guilty 
 and executed. 
 
 When Alexander the Great put to a pirate the question : " By 
 what right do you infest the seas ?" the pirate answered, " By the 
 
 L 21 241 
 
2 42 HISTORY OF 7WE UNITED STATES. [1717 
 
 same right that you infest the universe. But because I do it in a 
 small ship, I am called a robber ; and, because you do the same 
 acts with a great fleet, you are called a conqueror !" Possibly the 
 offence of Bonnet and Blackbeard was really no greater in the Di 
 vine sight than was that of the kidnapper Hawkins, yet the former 
 were hung, while the latter was honored with knighthood ! 
 
 The recent wars in Europe and America having left the 
 participants greatly involved in debt, there now arose various 
 paper-money projects intended to remedy the lack of real 
 money, but, being founded on no solid basis of values, great 
 financial distress was caused when the airy bubbles burst. 
 Foremost of these schemes was that originated by JOHN LAW, 
 a Scotch financier, who established a bank in France, empow 
 ered to issue paper currency ; and inasmuch as it became a 
 depository of the public funds, its shares rose rapidly in esti 
 mated value. 
 
 Connected with this Royal Bank was the MISSISSIPPI COM 
 PANY, or Company of the Indies. The speculators who con 
 trolled this corporation had, in 1717, obtained the commercial 
 patent for Louisiana, which for the five previous years had 
 been held by Crozat, a wealthy French merchant. Under 
 his auspices Fort Rosalie, on the site of Natchez, had been 
 built; and also a trading-house established on the Alabama, 
 near where Montgomery now stands. But Crozat s expecta 
 tions of great riches to be obtained from the opening of mines, 
 from importing negroes into Louisiana, and from a trade with 
 Mexico, had failed of fulfilment. 
 
 It was the aim of the Mississippi Company to which was 
 given in addition the control of the Canadian fur-trade to 
 colonize Louisiana at once with several thousand whites and 
 negroes; and, having ready command of the funds of the 
 bank, it seemed at first as though the venture was destined to 
 succeed. Law, on his own account, sent out a large colony 
 of Germans, to improve a grant of land upon the Aikansas 
 
1720] J3AA T XS AND BILLS OF CREDIT. 243 
 
 river. But BIENVILLE, the surviving brother of D Iberville, 
 having, in 1718, cleared away the canebrakes that covered the 
 swamp-site of the future city of NEW ORLEANS, it was not 
 long before the colony on the Arkansas forsook that distant 
 locality, and settled a few miles above the city of promise. 
 Here, too, Bienville established the seat of government. 
 
 But in 1720, while as yet New Orleans could boast of but a 
 few insignificant sheds and huts, the Royal Bank failed, the 
 great " Mississippi Bubble" burst, and the alluring scheme of 
 colonization and empire suddenly collapsed. Nevertheless, 
 the population of Louisiana had increased in five years from 
 a few hundred to several thousand. Although the general 
 unhealthiness of the climate, and the annual overflows of the 
 lower Mississippi, unconfined as yet by artificial dykes, were 
 serious obstacles to the growth of the colony, yet by the labor 
 of negroes imported from Africa, the land was presently made 
 to produce plentiful crops of rice, tobacco and indigo, and 
 afterward its great staple, sugar. The government was admin 
 istered, on behalf of the company, by a commandant, assisted 
 by the company s colonial directors and other officers, who 
 composed a superior council. 
 
 BANKS AND BILLS OF CREDIT. 
 
 The people of the colonies being constantly in debt to the 
 merchants of the mother country, money for remittances 
 had been always in demand. Especially was this want expe 
 rienced since the late wars, and as a necessary consequence 
 of the drain, the specie gradually disappeared, and the whole 
 country found itself nearly bereft of a coin currency. The 
 time had not yet come when America, in lieu of sending 
 away its specie, could export grain, sugar and cotton to pay 
 its debts. At the same time, the cupidity of the English 
 traders interposed every possible obstacle to the colonists 
 
244 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 producing their own manufactured goods or controlling their 
 own commerce. 
 
 As an expedient to promote trade and to provide the means 
 for paying the expenses of its Indian wars, South Carolina 
 had resorted to the plan of issuing bills of credit, and next 
 (1712), of creating a bank, the stock of which should be 
 loaned out to individuals and repaid with interest in annual 
 instalments. But in a few years this paper issue so depreci 
 ated that it circulated at but a small fraction of its nominal 
 value ; and hence, in order to provide for the redemption of 
 the outstanding bills, a tax of ten per cent, was levied on all 
 imported British goods. 
 
 The English merchants complained of this act, and the 
 proprietaries were threatened with the loss of their charter. 
 So much trouble thereupon ensued, that Francis Nicholson, 
 the same who had already been governor of several of the 
 colonies, was sent to South Carolina in 1721, to endeavor to 
 allay the popular ferment. But between the traders of Charles 
 ton and the planters, there continued to be for several years 
 a good deal of animosity ; the planters urging the assembly 
 to authorize the issue of paper money, while the merchants 
 as strenuously opposed its circulation. A law was passed, 
 when paper bills were disallowed, making rice a legal tender 
 in payment of debts. 
 
 In the northern colonies, the two wars with the French, 
 beside the loss of life and property which they entailed, had 
 caused a corresponding financial distress, to relieve which, 
 bills of credit were issued as in Carolina. In 1714, a public 
 paper-money bank, though at first much opposed, was organ 
 ized in Boston. The plan was also adopted of making certain 
 farm products receivable at a fixed rate for taxes. In Rhode 
 Island, v/here a bank was established, borrowers were per 
 mitted to pay their interest in hemp or flax, the production 
 of which staple that colony used great efforts to encourage. 
 
17^22] WAR WITH THE NORRIDGEWOCKS. 245 
 
 In New York, the issue of paper money by the assembly of 
 Governor Hunter, was accomplished without much trouble, 
 although the bills very soon declined to a third of their os 
 tensible value. This money was used to pay for old debts 
 and services, to reward the Indian allies and to erect fortifica 
 tions. The like experiment was tried in Pennsylvania in 
 1722, under SIR WILLIAM KEITH, who had been appointed to 
 the governorship by Hannah Penn, widow of the late pro 
 prietary. The paper money was loaned out in sums of pfio 
 to ;ioo; was secured upon real estate or silver plate; and 
 drew interest at the rate of five per cent. Sub-banks or loan 
 offices were established in every county. Indeed, in every 
 colony except Virginia, the issue of this provincial paper 
 money was imitated ; but as New England and the Carolinas 
 were not so careful to restrain the issue as were the Middle 
 provinces, the depreciation was correspondingly greater in 
 those parts. 
 
 The general results of this enlargement of the currency 
 appeared at first to be beneficial. But, naturally, it was found 
 that the paper issue as it depreciated, drove the remaining 
 specie out of the country, and of course debarred the entrance 
 of any more of the same ; that it stimulated the laxity of 
 methods of credit, in preference to a healthy cash system ; 
 that it was a detriment to trade and commerce, because of 
 the unsettlement of merchandise values; and that, in place 
 of affording a real remedy for the scarcity of money, it but 
 generated a wish to have the use of more. Its action was 
 rather that of a stimulant to transiently excite, than of a 
 nourisher to build up strongly. 
 
 WAR WITH THE NORRIDGEWOCKS AND OTHER TRIBES. 
 
 While the colonies were thus experiencing the bad results 
 of a depreciated currency, difficulties again arose with the 
 
 21* 
 
246 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1724 
 
 Abenakis on the Acadian frontier. The French, in conformity 
 with the late treaty, had removed from the peninsula of Nova 
 Scotia, and, upon the island of Cape Breton, near its eastern 
 extremity, had begun the erection of a strong fortress called 
 Louisburg. Upon the Kennebec and Penobscot, French 
 priests still maintained an influence over the native tribes, 
 and were accused of keeping them hostile toward the Eng 
 lish. But the colonists of Massachusetts, jealous of French 
 influence, continued to encroach to the eastward, and as they 
 took no pains to conciliate the aborigines, the latter soon 
 retaliated upon their aggressors. 
 
 Early in 1722, an expedition which was sent against the 
 Norridgewocks of the Kennebec, pillaged the Catholic mis 
 sion-house and the house of Rasles, the aged priest and mis 
 sionary. The tribe retaliated by burning the village of Bruns 
 wick. - Far to the eastward, some warriors of another tribe, 
 seized, in the strait of Canso, a large number of fishing-ves 
 sels which belonged to Massachusetts. The war shortly ex 
 tended all along the northern frontier as far as the Connecti 
 cut river, and, as it proved to be expensive, as well as annoying, 
 large issues of paper money became necessary in order to 
 carry it on. 
 
 Massachusetts applied to Connecticut for aid, but at first 
 that colony, which exhibited scruples as to the justice of the 
 war, begged its neighbors to have a care how they shed inno 
 cent blood. But the voice of reason and justice was soon set 
 aside and the aid granted. On the other hand, the Mohawks 
 firmly refused to be drawn into the strife, the savages re 
 proving the whites by telling them to restore the Indian lands 
 and prisoners if they truly wanted peace. A second expedi 
 tion being sent against the Norridgewocks (1724), the French 
 priest and thirty of his Indian disciples were slain, the chapel 
 burned and the village destroyed. To protect the settlements 
 in the upper Connecticut valley, a fort was erected the same 
 
1726] WAR WITH THE NORRIDGEWOCKS. 247 
 
 year on the site of the present town of Brattleborough. It 
 was the first English settlement within the territory of the 
 future state of VERMONT. 
 
 There being a high premium paid for Indian scalps, a blood 
 thirsty fighter of the border led a party who surprised a group 
 of ten Indians sleeping around a fire, and having murdered 
 them all, returned in triumph to Dover, bearing the scalps 
 elevated on poles. A few weeks later, this leader and nine of 
 his men, met at the hands of the Indians with the same awful 
 fate which they had inflicted on their antagonists. Massa 
 chusetts appealed to the king to compel the other colonists 
 and the Mohawks to join in the war ; but in the meantime a 
 peace was arranged with the Indians, after the bitter contest 
 had continued for three years. 
 
 The colonists by this time began to perceive their error, 
 and that it was themselves who were really to blame for all 
 this unnecessary bloodshed. Hence, in order to protect the 
 Indians against the extortions of private traders, they estab 
 lished public trading-houses where the natives could receive 
 goods in exchange for their peltry, at something like a fair 
 value. Thus peace was secured for many years, and the 
 settlements of New Hampshire and Maine, which had been 
 effectually hindered in growth by the war, now extended 
 wirhout interruption. In 1726, one year after the war, Pena- 
 cook or CONCORD, the capital of New Hampshire, was laid 
 out on the west bank of the Merrimac river. 
 
 The trading-post of Oswego, the first English settlement 
 upon the Great Lakes, was established by BURNET, who had 
 succeeded Hunter as governor of New York. Burnet courted 
 the alliance of the Five Nations, and obtained from them 
 (1726) a broad tract of territory bounding on Lakes Ontario 
 and Erie, and extending from Oswego to Cuyahoga or Cleve 
 land. The English likewise claimed all the Canadian country 
 which the Iroquois had conquered from the Hurons, on the 
 
248 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1726 
 
 plea that the Iroquois were their allies, and were subject to 
 the eminent domain of the sovereigns of England. But be 
 tween them and the tract they coveted, was the French fort 
 at Niagara, commanding the water-way to the upper lakes and 
 the Mississippi ; all of which country the French claimed by 
 right of early discovery and of occupation. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 GEORGE II. : FIRST PERIOD. 
 17271744. 
 
 THE FRENCH WAR WITH THE NATCHEZ AND CHICKASAWS. 
 
 THE city of Natchez upon the Mississippi, marks the site, 
 and will perpetuate the name, of a now extinct race of Sun- 
 worshippers, in whose lowly temples, dedicated to the great 
 luminary, an undying fire was once kept burning. As stated 
 in the preceding chapter, the French had planted in that 
 country the settlement of Fort Rosalie. The commandant 
 of this post, with the recklessness of insatiable avarice, de 
 manded of the Natchez tribe, for his plantation, the very 
 tract on which stood the huts of their principal village. It 
 was a pretty little settlement called " the White Apple." 
 
 Incensed at such a proposition, the Natchez listened to the 
 counsel of the Chickasaws, their neighbors to the northward, 
 and, having planned a sudden attack in the latter part of the 
 year 1729, a general massacre of the French settlers at the 
 fort ensued. AH of the men, to the number of several hun 
 dred were murdered, and the women and children made pris 
 oners. We may well describe such a deed as a "savage 
 blow;" and yet, how would nations called civilized how 
 would the French themselves have treated so unjust a de 
 mand as that of giving into the hands of strangers their 
 beloved homes, their chief city? Had they so learnt the 
 pure law of the Gospel that they would have resigned all, 
 L* 249 
 
250 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1736 
 
 rather than have slain their enemies had they been in their 
 power ? 
 
 But the French did not tarry long ere they executed their 
 revenge. On the east of the Mississippi, between the chief 
 colony of the French at New Orleans and the little nation 
 of Sun-worshippers, was the numerous tribe of the Choctaws. 
 Having made these their auxiliaries, the French invaded the 
 Natchez country, put to death or captured many of the natives, 
 and drove the remnant across the river, or forced them to seek 
 safety with the Creeks and Chickasaws. The four hundred 
 prisoners whom they had taken, were sent to Hispaniola to be 
 sold into slavery. But the cost to the Company of the Indies, 
 of defending this wilderness possession, greatly exceeding the 
 profits which they realized, the grant was resigned in 1732 to 
 the crown of France. 
 
 Because of the counsel, hostile to the French, which the 
 Chickasaws had extended to the Natchez, and because the 
 former tribe was now threatening to sever the connection 
 between Louisiana and the Great Lakes, by attacking the 
 boats which passed up and down the Mississippi, the French 
 authorities determined to make an end of them even as they 
 had of the Natchez. If an additional incentive was wanting, 
 to confirm the French in their purpose, it was afforded by the 
 knowledge of the fact that English traders from Carolina had 
 visited the Chickasaw villages, and busily inflamed the minds 
 of the natives against them. So important was the success of 
 the enterprise deemed to be, that many months were devoted 
 to preparations for the expedition, which did not start until 
 the spring of 1736. 
 
 The French force under Bienville proceeded in boats to 
 Mobile, and ascended the Tombigbee to its upper waters; 
 being accompanied by about 1200 of the Choctaws, who were 
 eager to gain the high reward offered by the French for the 
 scalps of their enemies. But when they arrived at the in- 
 
1739] THE ASSIENTO AND AFRICAN TRADERS. 251 
 
 frenchmen ts of the Chickasaws, they found the warriors on 
 the watch, and English flags displayed above the rude walls 
 of the fort. The attacks of Bienville were so strongly resisted 
 that he was obliged to order a retreat down the Tombigbee. 
 In the meantime a similar force of French and Indians from 
 the Illinois country, entered the Chickasaw territory on the 
 north, expecting to form a junction with Bienville s band. 
 Failing in this, they too made an assault and were driven 
 back with much loss. The wretched prisoners having been 
 bound, were burnt at the stake. One of the principal of these 
 unfortunates was a Canadian, DE VINCENNES, whose name 
 was given to the city on the Wabash, the oldest settlement in 
 Indiana. 
 
 In the year following, another attempt was made to sub 
 due the refractory tribe, the French on the Mississippi re 
 ceiving aid from Canada. On the prominent bluff where 
 Memphis was subsequently built, a fort had been constructed ; 
 and here the whites, red men and negroes, to the number of 
 about 3500, established their quarters and passed an unhealthy 
 winter. In the spring (i 739), the Chickasaws being willing to 
 agree to a peace, the French gladly destroyed their fort on 
 the bluff and went back to their settlements. 
 
 THE ASSIENTO AND THE AFRICAN TRADERS. 
 
 Under the treaty of Utrecht, the English South Sea Com 
 pany was granted the exclusive privilege of introducing negro 
 slaves into the Spanish West Indian dominion. For this 
 wicked favor of becoming the chief slave-dealers of the na 
 tions, it was stipulated that the company should pay to the 
 king of Spain a duty of $33^3 a head, and that it should 
 introduce into the said colonies within the space of thirty 
 years, 144,000 negro bondsmen. The South Sea Company, 
 which was organized nearly at the same time as were Law s 
 
2 5 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1739 
 
 Royal Bank and Mississippi Company, and which resembled 
 the bank in its plan of buying up the national debt with its 
 stock, was destined, however, to meet with a like disastrous 
 termination. 
 
 Notwithstanding the notable failure of this bubble-scheme, 
 the Assiento contract, above set forth, survived the financial 
 wreck, and fulfilled its unholy office. At the same time, the 
 organized African Company," encouraged and firmly sus 
 tained by English legislation, continued to supply England s 
 own colonies with thousands of the same oppressed race. It 
 is computed that in the century between 1676 and 1776, the 
 English nation, by means of these two agencies, imported 
 into their own dependencies and into the Spanish and French 
 West Indies, about three million negroes, most of them be 
 tween the ages of 15 and 30 years. Beside these, there were 
 probably a quarter of a million of those who had been pur 
 chased on the African coast for a similar purpose, who suc 
 cumbed to the horrors of the "Middle passage" and were 
 buried beneath the waters of the Atlantic. 
 
 If we would bring the iniquity of this traffic vividly to view, let 
 us read from the diary of a certain surgeon of an English slave- 
 ship on the Guinea coast written while waiting for a cargo of war- 
 captives : 
 
 " Sestro, Dec. 29, 1724. No trade to-day, though many traders 
 came on board. They informed us that the people are gone to war 
 within-land, and will bring prisoners enough in two or three days, in 
 hopes of which we stay. 
 
 " The 3 ist. Fair weather, but no trading yet. We see each night 
 towns burning ; but we hear many of the Sestro men are killed 
 by the inland negroes, so that we fear this war will be unsuccessful. 
 
 "The 2nd of January. Last night we saw a prodigious fire 
 break out about eleven o clock, and this morning see the town of 
 Sestro burnt down to the ground. It contained some hundred 
 houses ; so that we find their enemies are too hard for them at 
 present, and consequently our trade is spoiled here. Therefore, 
 about 7 o clock we weighed anchor, to proceed lower down." 
 
1729] GEORGIA FOUNDED BY OGLE THORPE. 253 
 
 One of the factors of the African Company, of England, wrote 
 thus in 1730 : " When the king of Barsalli wants goods and brandy, 
 he sends to the English governor at James Fort, who immediately 
 sends a sloop. Against the time the vessel arrives he plunders 
 some of his neighbors towns, selling the people for the goods he 
 wants. At other times he falls upon one of his own towns, and 
 makes bold to sell his own subjects." 
 
 The importation of so many negroes into America was 
 the occasion of considerable complaint on the part of sev 
 eral of the colonies, especially Virginia. But the British 
 government, upheld by its merchants and traders, was stren 
 uous in maintaining the commerce, which it characterized as 
 a "trade highly beneficial and advantageous to the kingdom 
 and its colonies." The selfishness and folly of its motives 
 are apparent in the declaration which was used, that "negro 
 labor will keep our British colonies in a due subserviency 
 to the interests of their mother-country ; for, while our plan 
 tations depend only on planting by negroes, our colonies can 
 never prove injurious to British manufactures never become 
 independent of their kingdom." 
 
 GEORGIA FOUNDED BY OGLETHORPE. 
 
 In 1729, the charter of Carolina was sold by the eight pro 
 prietaries to the British crown. The first royal governor of 
 South Carolina, ROBERT JOHNSON, undertook to encourage 
 settlements by free gifts of land, to be laid out on the princi 
 pal rivers : Purysburg, upon the Savannah, founded by Swiss 
 emigrants, being the first place settled in accordance with this 
 scheme. Meanwhile the Spaniards of Florida, although claim 
 ing part of Carolina itself, had but the one chief settlement 
 of St. Augustine in the east, together with Pensacola in the 
 west, and the fort of St. Mark s on Appalachee bay, midway 
 between. But the territory lying south of the Savannah, the 
 
 22 
 
254 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1732 
 
 English laid claim to as part also of Carolina; wherefore in 
 1732, to the intent that it might serve as a barrier against 
 future Spanish invasion, they authorized its settlement. To 
 twenty-one trustees was granted the country lying between 
 the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, and extending from the 
 headwaters of those streams westward to the Pacific : to be 
 called the province of GEORGIA, and to be held in trust for 
 the poor. 
 
 The person who was chiefly instrumental in obtaining the 
 grant was JAMES OGLETHORPE, a member of the British parlia 
 ment. His attention had been especially directed to the sub 
 jects of prison discipline and of imprisonment for debt, and, 
 as a commissioner for inquiring into the condition of English 
 prisons, he had been the means of releasing a large number 
 of- helpless debtors who for years had been kept in confine 
 ment, with no prospect of paying off the scores against them. 
 To provide homes and the chance of re-commencing life, for 
 these; to secure a " place of refuge for the distressed people 
 of Britain and the persecuted Protestants of Europe," Ogle- 
 thorpe and his associates in the enterprise petitioned the king 
 for the above tract. 
 
 The charter of Georgia granted the free exercise of religion 
 to all people within its borders, papists only excepted. It 
 declared that every one born in the province should be as 
 free in every respect and enjoy the same rights and immuni 
 ties as if born upon the soil of Britain. But all the powers 
 of government were conferred upon a council, part of them 
 named in the charter, and the rest to be chosen by the trus 
 tees, to whom was also given the privilege of filling all vacan 
 cies as they occurred. Hence the form of government was 
 not really a representative one of the people. Begun as a 
 scheme of benevolence, it was thought best that the control 
 should at first be in the hands of trustees, with executive 
 powers similar to those of the managers of any charitable 
 
1733] GEORGIA FOUNDED BY OGLETHORPE. 255 
 
 organization. To prevent the wholesale absorption of lands by 
 a few people, as had been the case in Carolina and Virginia, 
 it was provided that no one person should be permitted to re 
 ceive a larger tract than 500 acres. The culture of silk, it was 
 anticipated, would be the chief industry of the new colony. 
 
 Early in 1733, Oglethorpe and about 130 emigrants of the 
 needy class, sailed up the Savannah river (called also the 
 Isun diga) and upon the sandy bluff of Yamacraw, twenty 
 miles from the sea, made choice of the site of Georgia s future 
 metropolis the city of SAVANNAH. A treaty of amity was 
 entered into with the Creeks, and friendly relations established 
 with the other neighboring tribes. The territory between the 
 two rivers (the Savannah and Altamaha) as far up as the flow 
 of tide-water, was readily granted by the natives. 
 
 In the second year there came, besides a number of Jews, 
 a body of persecuted Lutherans from the principality of Salz 
 burg in Germany. Singing psalms upon the way, the pious 
 exiles had come down the Rhine to Rotterdam ; at Dover were 
 kindly received by some of the trustees of the Georgia colony; 
 and having crossed the ocean to Charleston, were welcomed 
 there by Oglethorpe, who led them to the locality, not far 
 above Savannah, which he had set apart for their settlement. 
 They called the place Ebenezer ; and being joined by others 
 of the Salzburgers, they soon established a happy and pros 
 perous community. Nearly at the same time, Augusta, at the 
 head of navigation on the river, was established as a trading- 
 post ; the traffic with the Indians soon being greater in Georgia 
 than in any other of the southern provinces. Highlanders 
 also came and settled on the Altamaha. 
 
 On the Ogeechee river, south of Savannah, a: few Moravians 
 under SPANGENBURG, sent over by Count Zinzendorf, a noted 
 leader of that sect, located themselves, with the intention of 
 carrying on missionary work among the Indians. The brothers 
 JOHN and CHARLES WESLEY, afterward so well known as the 
 
256 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1733 
 
 founders of Methodism, came to Savannah ; Charles as secre 
 tary to Oglethorpe, and his brother with the purpose of be 
 coming an Indian missionary : but they did not remain long 
 in the colony. Upon their return to England, GEORGE 
 WHITEFIELD, the celebrated preacher, came over in 1738, and 
 having interested himself in founding an orphan asylum near 
 Savannah, made an extensive tour through the colonies, 
 preaching and collecting funds for the asylum s support. 
 This was the time in the religious history of our country 
 which was characterized by intense religious excitement and 
 enthusiasm, and is spoken of as the "Great Awakening." 
 
 RUM AND SLAVERY. THE SPANIARDS AND INDIANS. 
 
 The introduction into Carolina of the rum of Barbadoes 
 had proved such a serious evil to that colony that the trus 
 tees determined to prohibit its use in Georgia; and the bet 
 ter to exclude it, all trade with the West Indies was positively 
 forbidden. This course was much resented by the debtor- 
 settlers, who should naturally have been the most grateful for 
 the kindness of which they had been the recipients. They 
 declared that rum was essential in such a climate as is that 
 of lower Georgia, with its low sandy plains, and swamps that 
 breed the miasma. But the Salzburgers and Highlanders, 
 men better accustomed to patient labor, were a more temper 
 ate class, who believed the disease was best fought by removing 
 its causes ; that the latter could be better effected by draining 
 their land and keeping it well cultivated, than by the use of 
 ardent spirits. 
 
 Among the minutes of the board of trustees occurs the following 
 entry : " Read a letter from Mr. Oglethorpe with an account of the 
 death of several persons in Georgia, which he imputed to the drink 
 ing of rum. Resolved, that the drinking of rum in Georgia be ab 
 solutely prohibited, and that all which shall be brought there shall 
 be staved." 
 
1739] RUM AND SLAVERY. 257 
 
 John Wesley wrote, many years afterward, alluding probably to 
 this period of his life : " I was fully convinced above 40 years ago 
 that all distilled liquors are liquid fire, and consequently, slow 
 poison. It is from this consideration that we do not admit in our 
 society either distillers or retailers of spirituous liquors." 
 
 The trustees also prohibited slavery in the colony ; but the 
 class who were clamorous for rum were also the most eager to 
 be maintained by the labor of the negro. The words of Ogle- 
 thorpe relative to the practice, are worthy of retention in our 
 country s history : " Slavery," he says, " is against the gospel, 
 as well as the fundamental law of England. We refused, as 
 trustees, to make a law permitting such a horrid crime." The 
 Salzburgers of Ebenezer, contented in their homes of peace, 
 and busy in the work of producing raw silk and indigo, ear 
 nestly protested against the introduction of slaves. White- 
 field and the Wesleys, who had witnessed the results of slavery 
 in the Carolinas, were also much concerned lest Georgia should 
 fall under its withering blight. All three were moved to write 
 earnest addresses on the subject, to the American planters. 
 But with the system in active operation in Carolina and 
 Florida, Georgia was not able long to withstand the contami 
 nating influence. 
 
 Ambitious to establish the boundary-mark of the English 
 dominion on the Atlantic coast, Oglethorpe located the forti 
 fied post of Frederica on St. Simon s island below the mouth 
 of the Altamaha; and, still further south, two other forts on 
 the islands at the mouths of the St. Mary s and the St. John s. 
 New treaties were entered into with the Indians, who declared 
 themselves ready to aid the English against either the Span 
 iards or French. Opportunity was not long delayed, for, in 
 1739, England declared war against Spain, on the ground 
 that the latter country had refused to agree to the commercial 
 requirements of England, and had exercised severe measures 
 upon captured English smugglers. But the fleet of Admiral 
 
 22* 
 
258 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1740 
 
 Vernon which was expected to effect the conquest of the 
 Spanish West Indies, was baffled in its object ; while Ogle- 
 thorpe, though aided by South Carolina troops, failed to 
 effect the capture of St. Augustine. 
 
 Charleston, by an accidental fire, was laid in ashes (1740), 
 and the settlers at that time were also in much dread of a 
 revolution of the slaves. 
 
 The Spaniards having collected a considerable force, their 
 fleet of over thirty vessels sailed from Cuba for the Georgia 
 coast. After an unsuccessful attempt to capture Fort William 
 at the mouth of the St. Mary s, they proceeded against Fred- 
 erica on the island of St. Simon ; but the troops having de 
 barked, were attacked as they were crossing a marsh, by the 
 army of Oglethorpe, and obliged to retreat to their ships. 
 The squadron made another fruitless assault upon Fort Wil 
 liam, and then returned to Cuba. Oglethorpe the following 
 year went back to England. Although of a benevolent dis 
 position, the founder of Georgia had, from boyhood, been 
 attached to military pursuits, and as a consequence of this 
 training he "was ever ready," says Bancroft, " to shed blood, 
 rather than brook an insult." 
 
 It is instructive to consult the testimony of history as to the cause 
 of this British-Spanish war, of which only a fragment is here related. 
 We will find that in this instance the two governments really desired 
 peace; that they had each appointed commissioners to determine 
 the boundary between Carolina and Florida, as well as to arrange 
 the other matters in dispute. But the English people refused to 
 abide by the proposed arrangement, declaring that it would unfavor 
 ably affect their interests. They appear to have believed that they 
 could easily overcome their rich but less hardy enemies ; and hence, 
 owing to the belligerent clamors of the traders and the excited popu 
 lace, the negotiations were broken off and the government forced 
 into a war. 
 
 The sturdy and industrious Highlanders and others, who 
 had proved such a valuable acquisition to the colony, had been 
 
1 741] THE BRITISH-SPANISH WAR. 259 
 
 withdrawn from their useful occupations and obliged to serve 
 as soldiers. More than this, the Moravians, who had come 
 to Georgia to make Christians of the Indians, and not to 
 teach them the art of war, finding that their work was quite 
 broken up, determined to leave the colony. " In order to 
 avoid taking up arms, which, at that time," says De Schweinitz, 
 " was contrary to the principles of the Church, they relin 
 quished all their improvements and emigrated to Pennsyl 
 vania, arriving at Philadelphia April 20, 1740, in company 
 of George Whitefield, and in his sloop." They settled at 
 the Forks of the Delaware on land belonging to Whitefield ; 
 but a year later purchased an adjacent tract on the Lehigh, 
 where a mission settlement arose, which by Count Zinzendorf 
 was called Bethlehem. 
 
 To aid Admiral Vernon, the northern colonies had also 
 been called on to furnish their quotas of troops and supplies. 
 Spottswood, late the governor of Virginia, had died of yellow 
 fever at the disastrous siege of Carthagena (1741), where he 
 had been second in command. In Pennsylvania, the assembly 
 being still mostly Friends, were, as before, scrupulous about 
 voting money for the furtherance of war; but as the governor 
 and most of the inhabitants were of another way of thinking, 
 there ensued a warm controversy upon the subject of the 
 militia and measures of defence. Massachusetts, under Gov 
 ernor WILLIAM SHIRLEY, ordered the issue of more provincial 
 paper money, and furnished the troops called for. Of 4000 
 men who went from the colonies to the war, it is stated that 
 not a tenth part ever returned. 
 
 It was at this time (1741) that New Hampshire, which had 
 had the same governors as Massachusetts, was permitted one 
 of its own. BENNING WENTWORTH, who first held the posi 
 tion, continued to serve for a period of twenty years. The 
 town of Bennington, then settled, received its name from this 
 efficient officer. 
 
260 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, [1718 
 
 THE WALKING PURCHASE. BRAINERD. 
 
 The Indian Walk, or Walking Purchase, appears as a promi 
 nent incident in the colonial history of Pennsylvania. It 
 strongly marks the departure from that plain path of right- 
 dealing, which the benevolent Penn had hoped would ever 
 subsist between his successors in the proprietary trust and the 
 original occupants of the soil. At the Great Treaty, Penn 
 had declared to them in good faith that they "were met on 
 the broad pathway of peace and good-will, so that no advan 
 tage was to be taken on either side, but all was to be openness, 
 brotherhood and love." But unhappily, as it proved, for the 
 peace and prosperity of the commonwealth, the descendants 
 of Penn (who differed in religious faith from their ancestor,) 
 were also at times, in their colonial dealings, inclined to a 
 different practice. Their interest in the colony was not, like 
 his, so entirely unselfish in its character, and hence they had 
 not the same regard for the establishment therein of pure and 
 noble principles of life and government. 
 
 In making land purchases of the Indians, it had been the 
 practice of Penn and his agents to define the boundaries by 
 streams and highlands, so far as their knowledge of the coun 
 try extended ; but, respecting the unknown interior, such 
 vague terms were used as "two days journey with a horse" 
 or "as far as a man can go in two days," etc. Penn s own 
 policy was one so grounded in uprightness and love, that he 
 preferred paying for land several times over, and to as many 
 different claimants, rather than, through lack of an indis 
 putably clear title, to expose the settlers upon his lands to the 
 chance of a miserable death by the scalping-knife and toma 
 hawk. 
 
 A deed made in 1718, by a number of chiefs of the Dela- 
 wares, had confirmed to the proprietaries the title to all the 
 territory between the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers, as far 
 
1733] THE WALKING PURCHASE. 261 
 
 northward as the Lehigh hills. But as the land beyond the 
 latter boundary began to be taken up by settlers, the Indians 
 made complaint of these encroachments, and accordingly 
 THOMAS PENN, who was then in the province, paid for a part 
 the Tulpehocken lands on the Schuylkill but refused to 
 make compensation for the territory at the Forks of the Dela 
 ware. The " Forks" included not only the site of the present 
 city of Easton, but the whole region comprised between the 
 Lehigh and Delaware, and bounded on the north by the Blue 
 Mountains. It was agreed finally that the dispute should be 
 decided according to the wording of the oldest deed to Penn, 
 to wit : one and a half days journey northward from the 
 Neshamony creek towards the mountains, and from that point 
 a straight line to be drawn eastward to the Delaware. 
 
 The proprietors immediately advertised in the public papers 
 for the most expert walkers in the province, offering a reward 
 of several pounds in money, besides a tract of 500 acres of 
 land, to the one who should walk the farthest in the given 
 time. Of the applicants, three were carefully chosen, the 
 Indians bringing forward a like number of their own nation 
 to accompany them. Upon a selected day in the latter part 
 of 1737, when the time from sunrise to sunset was the longest, 
 the pedestrians started from the Neshaminy (twenty miles 
 north of Philadelphia), on their momentous journey. By the 
 time they had crossed the Lehigh hills and the river of that 
 name, two Indians and one of the whites had given out. At 
 sundown an Indian village was reached, and a halt made 
 until morning. When the north side of the Blue Ridge was 
 gained, the forenoon following, many Indians were there col 
 lected expecting the walk to terminate, but upon finding it was 
 to be continued still farther, they became very angry. The 
 walking was proceeded with and finished, all having given 
 out but one, a white man. The Six Nations, the masters of 
 the Delawares, confirmed the land to the English. 
 
262 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 [1733 
 
 By this piece of over-reaching it was, that Penn s successors 
 extinguished the Indian title to the rich lands of the Minisinks 
 beyond the Delaware Water Gap. But the land speculators 
 had a special reason for desiring the Minisink territory to be 
 included in the walk, which was, that thousands of those acres 
 had been previously surveyed and sold. Also, about the time 
 of the walk, the proprietary had issued proposals for a lottery 
 of 100,000 acres of land; it having been stipulated that pur 
 chasers of tickets should take up any unoccupied tracts. In 
 this manner many tracts at the Forks were now settled upon. 
 The Walking Purchase became the cause of jealousies and 
 heart-burnings among the Indians, eventually breaking out 
 into loud complaints of injustice, followed by savage acts of 
 vengeance, as will appear farther on in our history. 
 
 Area .north of XI 
 %udulcntly ac, 
 about 500,000 acjf-es 
 
 Three years subsequent to the Walking Purchase (1740), 
 came the Moravian colony from Georgia, and settled at the 
 
1744] BRAINERD. 263 
 
 Forks of the Delaware. A little later (1742), CHRISTIAN 
 RAUCH and other Moravians began to labor among the Mohe- 
 gan tribe in Eastern New York and also just within the borders 
 of Connecticut ; but the assembly of New York, instigated by 
 the land-speculators and liquor-traders, forbade the mission 
 aries to preach. Accompanied by some Indian converts they 
 therefore moved down to their settlement of Bethlehem, on 
 the Lehigh. 
 
 Simultaneously, JOHN SERGEANT, a tutor of Yale College, 
 originated a mission among the Housatonic Indians at Stock- 
 bridge in western Massachusetts, not far from Rauch s little 
 settlements. Sergeant labored with much zeal and success for 
 fifteen years, when he died. The noted JONATHAN EDWARDS 
 became his successor. The Stockbridge colony, when Ser 
 geant was stricken down, had increased from fifty natives to 
 four times that number, and possessed neat dwellings, culti 
 vated farms, a house of worship and several schools. 
 
 A young man of strong intellect, of excellent memory, search 
 ing and convincing in his discourse, was DAVID BRAINERD, a 
 pupil of Jonathan Edwards, who came in 1744 from Connec 
 ticut to labor among the tribes of the Delawares at the Forks 
 and in central and western New Jersey. Living in their 
 wigwams, eating their coarse fare, regardless of creature 
 comforts so that he might have many hours of quiet for med 
 itation and prayer, he travelled mostly at his own charges 
 hundreds of miles through the wooded wilderness and swamps, 
 and over toilsome steeps, exhibiting in his beautiful Christian 
 life a worthy example of purity and self-denial. 
 
 The scene of Brainerd s greatest success was in New Jersey. 
 The principal village of the Christian Indians was called by 
 the name of Bethel, and it was said of its people that their 
 consistent lives " put to shame their white brethren in other 
 churches." But the young missionary sustained for three 
 years only this arduous life in the wilderness; for, having 
 
264 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1744 
 
 embarked upon a journey to the upper Susquehanna (whither 
 he had been several times before), his feeble frame gave way 
 under the fatigue and exposure, and death ensued before he 
 had reached his thirtieth year. A younger brother, JOHN 
 BKAINERD, entered the same field of useful work. Although 
 much favored by Belcher, the governor of New Jersey, yet 
 many of the Indian titles for lands being disputed, fell into 
 the hands of chief-justice Morris, an irreligious man, and the 
 Indians of Bethel were eventually ejected from their posses 
 sions. 
 
 One who came to assist the younger Brainerd, says : " It is sur 
 prising to see the people who, not long since, were led captive by 
 Satan at his will, and living in the practice of all manner of abomi 
 nations, without the least sense even of moral honesty, yet now 
 living soberly and regularly, and not seeking every man his own, 
 but every man, in some sense, his neighbor s good ; and to see those 
 who but a little while past, knew nothing of the true God, now 
 worshipping him in a solemn and devout manner, not only in 
 public, but in their families and in secret ; which is manifestly the 
 case, it being a difficult thing to walk into the woods in the morning 
 without disturbing persons in secret devotions. It seems wonderful 
 that this should be the case not only with adult persons, but with 
 children also ; for it is observable here, that many children retire 
 into secret places to pray." 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 GEORGE II. SECOND PERIOD. 
 
 17441760. 
 
 THIRD WAR WITH CANADA. LOUISBURG CAPTURED. 
 
 THE wars that at intervals broke out between the rival 
 monarchs of Europe, were always accompanied, as we have 
 seen, by a counterpart conflict in the American colonies. 
 When Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, died in 1740, the 
 claim of his daughter Maria Theresa to the throne, was dis 
 puted by the Elector of Bavaria. England, thereupon, 
 espoused the* cause of the former, while France, Spain and 
 Prussia took the part of the Bavarian, and for seven years 
 were fought upon the plains of western Europe the battles for 
 the Austrian succession. Meanwhile the angry billows of 
 strife had broken upon the American shores, where the English 
 colonies, under the leadership of Massachusetts, prepared once 
 more to attack Canada. 
 
 It was considered, in the first place, of vital importance to 
 firmly secure the friendship of the Six Nations ; and accord 
 ingly, Governor CLINTON of New York, together with com 
 missioners from New England, met the chiefs and envoys of 
 the tribes at Albany, in 1743, and gained them over by liberal 
 presents. And at another important council held at Lancaster 
 a year later, it was agreed, upon the part of Pennsylvania, 
 Maryland and Virginia, that the claim of the Six Nations to 
 the country between the Blue Ridge and the Ohio, which they 
 M 23 265 
 
266 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1745 
 
 had conquered from the Shawnees, should now be admitted. 
 For the sum of ^400 all the beautiful valley of the Shenan- 
 doah and the mountain-country of Virginia back to the Ohio 
 were given up to the English. 
 
 But the vanquished Shawnees who had been thus deprived 
 of their hunting-grounds, and the Delawares who had lost 
 largely of their land by the Indian Walk, both favored the 
 cause of the French. 
 
 The latter nation began hostilities by the capture of the 
 little fort, and the destruction of the fishery, at Canso, on the 
 north-eastern extremity of the Nova Scotian peninsula; and, 
 as privateers, issuing from Louisburg on the opposite isle of 
 Cape Breton, threatened to injure the New England commerce 
 and to annihilate its fisheries, it was determined to attempt 
 the conquest of that formidable fortress. The colonies as far 
 south as Pennsylvania having been solicited for aid, 4000 
 troops, mostly furnished by Massachusetts, were placed under 
 the command of William Pepperell, and, embarking for 
 Canso, were shortly joined by several ships from England 
 under Commodore Warren. The siege of Louisburg, after it 
 had continued over two months, was terminated in the sixth 
 month (June) 1745, by the surrender of its French garrison, 
 together with the defenders from the town, numbering in all 
 nearly 2000 men. Although the loss of the English in the 
 siege had been but about 150, yet of those who were now unwil 
 lingly detained to garrison the place, ten times that number 
 perished by disease, many of them being Indians who had been 
 persuaded to enlist as soldiers in the provincial regiments. 
 
 While the colonies, in the expectation of another fleet from 
 England, were raising additional troops to follow up their re 
 cent success by the hoped-for conquest of Canada, great con 
 sternation was caused by the news of the sailing of a French 
 squadron of forty ships of war for the American coast. The 
 hostile fleet, however, was shattered by storms and shipwreck, 
 
1747] THIRD WAR WITH CANADA. 267 
 
 and the troops were wasted by a pestilent disease ; the admi 
 ral died, and his successor, in a delirium, committed suicide. 
 The ships returned singly to France, but having subsequently 
 made a second attempt (1747) to reach Canada, they were 
 captured by the English fleet of Admiral Anson. 
 
 In the meantime the Canadian Indians, allies of the French, 
 were active in harassing the northern frontier. At Crown 
 Point, on the west shore of Lake Champlain, a fort had 
 been constructed by the French, and from there a small force 
 was sent, which surprised and ravaged the English settle 
 ment at Saratoga. The official agent of the English among 
 the Six Nations at this period, was a man of Scotch-Irish 
 birth, named WILLIAM JOHNSON. He had established him 
 self on the Mohawk river, thirty miles west of Albany, where 
 he diligently cultivated the good-will of the natives, took a 
 wife from amongst them, and carried on a lucrative traffic, 
 supplying them with rum, fire-arms and scalping-knives, or 
 whatever else their savage need craved. Johnson s influence 
 over the Mohawk tribe was greater than that of any of their 
 native chiefs, and, in the war with the French, he led a party 
 of the tribe who were designed to act as forest-skirmishers in 
 advance of the main army. 
 
 In Pennsylvania, the desire of the Friends, the Mennonites 
 and others, for peace, was at last overruled by the governor 
 and a majority of the people of the province, the wishes 
 of the latter being greatly aided by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 The philosopher at that time was a man above forty years of 
 age, and by his printed productions, his great abilities and 
 natural force of character, began to exercise much weight in 
 political affairs. There being a rumor that French privateers 
 were about to attempt the capture of Philadelphia, a large 
 militia force was organized, and money was raised by lotteries 
 to erect batteries for the defence of the Delaware. And thus 
 terminated (1747) the happy period of uninterrupted peace 
 
268 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1748 
 
 and of freedom from invasion, which had existed for the 
 period of 65 years since the foundation of the province. 
 
 The SCHWENCKFELDERS, a body of Germans, who, on account 
 of the religious toleration and immunity from military service 
 which they were told prevailed in Pennsylvania, had come hither 
 in 1733 and 34, were likewise opposed to the war. The founder 
 of the sect, Caspar von Schwenckfeld, a Silesian knight, was a con 
 temporary of Luther. For two hundred years his followers re 
 mained in Silesia, but, having been subjected to much persecution 
 by the Jesuits, they removed to Saxony, where they found a friend 
 in Count Zinzendorf, the Moravian. Eight years later, however, 
 receiving a peremptory notification to depart, they embarked for this 
 country. A few years subsequently, Frederick, of Prussia, amazed 
 at the short-sightedness which had driven away such an honest and 
 industrious community, issued an edict, offering to reimburse them 
 for all their losses, and to give them new farms and building-lots 
 free of cost, but not one of the Schwenckfelders accepted the prof 
 fered aid and protection. 
 
 With the peace of AIX-LA-CHAPELLE in 1748, the war in 
 Europe and America (and in India, to which it had likewise 
 extended), was brought to a close. Cape Breton and Louis- 
 burg were returned to the French, and the St. Mary s river 
 was made the boundary between Georgia and Spanish Florida; 
 but the right of the Spaniards to search English vessels sus 
 pected of smuggling, which had been a principal pretext for 
 the war with Spain, was not even alluded to in the treaty. 
 
 THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. SLAVES AND REDEMPTIONERS. 
 THE MOLASSES ACT. 
 
 BALTIMORE, the present metropolis of Maryland, was laid 
 out in 1729, but for thirty years or more, it remained a mere 
 village : Annapolis, the seat of government, being the more 
 important place. THOMAS BLADEN, who had married a sister 
 of Lord Baltimore, was governor under the proprietor at the 
 
1746] THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 269 
 
 time of the war with Canada ; but being a man of an irascible 
 temperament, which caused him easily to fall into disputes 
 with the assembly, he was displaced (1747) by BENJAMIN OGLE, 
 a former occupant of the governor s office. 
 
 Under the proprietor Frederick, the sixth and last Lord 
 Baltimore, the Catholics, having for many years experienced 
 the social annoyances and disadvantages imposed upon them 
 in the province which themselves had settled, applied to the 
 court of France for a grant of lands in Louisiana; but no 
 practical step followed the application. About the same time 
 (1751) the Nanticoke tribe of Indians, left their ancient homes 
 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and carrying with them 
 the bones of their forefathers, found a temporary resting- 
 place and hunting-grounds about the upper waters of the 
 Susquehanna. 
 
 In North Carolina, the collection of the quit-rents the 
 sole source from which was derived the pay of the gov 
 ernor and other royal officers continued to occasion a 
 great deal of contention, precisely as it had done in South 
 Carolina, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey. Finally, when 
 their salaries had become several years in arrears, the royal 
 officers removed the seat of government (1746) from the 
 Albemarle plantations down to the new settlement of Wil 
 mington, on the Cape Fear river. The southern counties 
 were more favorable to the governor ; and the English authori 
 ties having approved of the change, the collection of the quit- 
 rents and the payment of arrearages of salary were then carried 
 into effect. 
 
 The institution of slavery, although it existed, to a greater 
 or less degree in all the colonies, did not make the same prog 
 ress in the northern that it did in the southern provinces, 
 where the soil, climate and plantation system, all favored the 
 employment of the African. Nevertheless the slaves were, 
 as a general thing, treated with more kindness and care in 
 
270 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1750 
 
 New England than they were in the South, as being considered 
 more in the light of. apprentices. In 1750, there were about 
 1000 slaves in Boston ; while in Newport, Rhode Island, which 
 was then the principal shipping-port of New England, the 
 ratio to the white population was even greater than in the 
 former city. Newport rum was exchanged on the African 
 coast for negroes to be sold to the southern colonies; and 
 ships from Boston and New York embarked in the same un 
 righteous traffic. 
 
 A Congregationalist pastor of Newport, DR. SAML. HOPKINS, 
 having frequently witnessed, close to his house, the landing of 
 cargoes of negro slaves, boldly rebuked his congregation for 
 the sin in which they were so deeply engaged. In 1770, and 
 for six years thereafter, he continued to visit the masters from 
 house to house, urging them to give liberty to their bondsmen. 
 So greatly blessed were his labors, that the church of which 
 he was a member, decided before the end of the century, 
 that the holding of slaves would not be tolerated amongst 
 them. 
 
 In Pennsylvania, the custom of slave-holding found many 
 opponents among the Friends ; and it is noteworthy that the 
 first protest of a religious body against negro slavery was 
 one drawn up in 1688 by FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS, a Ger 
 man Friend of Germantown. The protest was adopted by 
 the members there, and forwarded to the " Yearly Meeting" 
 at Philadelphia. The eccentric BENJAMIN LAY, who had wit 
 nessed the horrors of slavery in the Barbadoes, was zealously 
 opposed to the system. The labors of JOHN WOOLMAN and 
 ANTHONY BENEZET, were of marked effect upon the whole 
 body of Friends, who, when persuaded that the practice was 
 morally unlawful, rested not until the evil was eradicated from 
 the borders of their religious society. Benjamin Franklin was, 
 from an early period in his public career, a decided advocate, 
 with Friends, of emancipation. 
 
J 750] SLAVES AND REDEMPTIONERS. 271 
 
 At the Yearly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia and vicinity, 
 held in 1758, so impressive and convincing were the remarks made 
 by Woolman upon the practice of slave-holding, that it was agreed 
 to appoint a committee to visit, and to entreat with, such of the 
 members within the limits of the meeting as kept slaves. Their 
 labors were attended with excellent results, many who held 
 slaves being willing to set them at liberty. In 1774, the Yearly 
 Meeting issued its testimony against the practice, and in I77^> the 
 subordinate meetings were directed to deny the rig/it of membership 
 to such as persisted in holding their fellow-men as property : a worthy 
 Declaration indeed for that year of Independence ! Furthermore, 
 conceiving that some reparation was due to those who had been 
 held in bondage, many of the former owners of such, agreed to pay 
 them for past services according to an award to be made by arbi 
 trators. Meanwhile Woolman, following the call of duty, had 
 visited New England, and at the Yearly Meeting for that section, 
 held at Newport (1760), finding that several Friends were concerned 
 in the slave trade, he proclaimed with kindly and yet most earnest 
 utterances, the sin fulness of the practice. The same result ensued 
 as at Philadelphia, for (says Whittier) "wherever he went hard 
 hearts were softened, avarice and love of power and pride of opinion 
 gave way before his testimony of love." Such are the true con 
 quests of Christianity ! In the space of twenty years there were 
 no slaves known to be held by members of New England Yearly 
 Meeting. These also made restitution for former services. The 
 like course was adopted in New York ; and finally, in Virginia, 
 where slavery had its strongest hold in the Society, the evil was 
 peacefully abolished. 
 
 In the middle colonies, from New York to Virginia, the 
 importation of indentured white servants was extensively 
 carried on. These servants were also known as " Redemp- 
 tioners," and their term of service was limited bylaw, seldom 
 or never exceeding seven years. In Virginia, upon the expi 
 ration of his term, the redemptioner was entitled to a grant of 
 fifty acres of land, the same as any other immigrant. But the 
 condition of poverty, and especially of ignorance, in which 
 they were kept, as a class, tended to retain them even when 
 freed, in a reduced and subject state. The name "soul- 
 
272 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1750 
 
 drivers" was given to a certain set of men, who made it a 
 business to purchase the redemptioners in lots from captains 
 of ships, and to drive them about the country like cattle, dis 
 posing of them to the farmers, with whom they worked out 
 the term of service necessary to pay for their passage-money. 
 It has been mentioned above that New England rum, espe 
 cially that of Newport, was a medium largely employed to 
 obtain slaves, with which to stock the southern plantations. 
 This rum was produced by the distillation of molasses, mostly 
 obtained from the French West India islands, and on which 
 the New England traders paid no duty. In order to stop this 
 traffic, and to compel the colonies to get their supply of sugar, 
 molasses and rum, from the British West Indies, the English 
 parliament passed a law known as the Molasses Act, by which 
 a heavy duty was imposed upon all importations of those pro 
 ducts from the French or Dutch islands. Nevertheless, this 
 act was constantly evaded, not only by smugglers, but by the 
 whole mercantile body of the colonies. 
 
 Perhaps it may seem to some, upon a casual view of the case, not 
 to have been very wrong for the merchants to get their sugar and 
 syrup where they chose. So far, indeed, they were perfectly right. 
 But when the government, for purposes of its own utterly selfish 
 withal as those purposes were saw proper to impose a tax on the 
 commodities in question, then it became the duty of the citizen to 
 pay the same, even though by so doing he realized no profit from 
 their sale. The case is altered, however, when the question of a 
 scruple of conscience is presented ; for it is necessary to keep 
 clearly in view the distinction between a law that is simply oppres 
 sive, and another that offends the conscience, in other words, one 
 which we cannot obey without offending God, and thus committing 
 sin. Hence a person who is conscientiously opposed to military 
 service may properly refuse to bear arms, because he will feel that 
 if he takes the life even of his country s enemy, he is committing a 
 grievous sin ; but he will have no right, even though he honestly 
 believe that free trade will best promote the prosperity of his 
 country, to attempt to smuggle goods into his warehouse, contrary 
 to the law 
 
1753] FOURTH INTERCOLONIAL WAR. 273 
 
 FOURTH INTERCOLONIAL WAR. BRADDOCK S DEFEAT. 
 
 By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, commissioners 
 were to be appointed to settle the boundary between the Eng 
 lish settlements and those of Acadie. It was the wish of the 
 French to restrict the English to the peninsula of Nova Scotia 
 and to the country west of the Penobscot river. In the inter 
 vening territory between Nova Scotia and the Penobscot, 
 several French military posts were established. The English 
 about the same time (1749) began to construct the fortress of 
 HALIFAX, as a check to Louisburg. It received its name from 
 the Earl of Halifax, first commissioner of the Board of Trade 
 and Plantations. To this Board the English government 
 committed the superintendence of American affairs ; its duty 
 being to make recommendations to one of the two secretaries 
 of state. The secretary in important matters consulted with 
 the king or with parliament. 
 
 A second section of country, for the possession of which 
 both the English and French began to manifest a dangerous 
 rivalry, was that between Lake Erie and the Ohio. As many 
 as sixty posts were at this time possessed by the French along 
 the Great Lakes and the Mississippi ; while they had also se 
 cured the friendship of the Indian tribes of Canada and the 
 West. But immediately after the treaty, an English corpora 
 tion, called the Ohio Company, composed mostly of London 
 ers and Virginians, obtained a grant of 500,000 acres of land 
 on and near the Ohio river, together with the exclusive privi 
 lege of the Indian traffic. On the Monongahela, much to the 
 disquiet of the French, a trading-post was established by the 
 company. This was resented by the capture of a number of 
 English traders by the French, who likewise determined to 
 further strengthen their claims by building a large post (1753) 
 at Presque Isle now Erie and smaller trading-posts in the 
 neighboring interior. 
 M* 
 
274 HISTORY OF 1 FIE UNITED STATES. [1754 
 
 Governor Robert Dinwiddie,- of Virginia, apprised of these 
 active movements of the French, sent an envoy, the young 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, to demand the release of the captured 
 traders, and to inquire by what right the French were en 
 croaching on that region. Washington was then but twenty- 
 one years of age, and by occupation wa*s a land-surveyor, 
 resident in the county of Westmoreland on the " Northern 
 Neck." 
 
 While Washington was absent on his mission, Dinwiddie 
 ordered a fort to be erected at the point of land where the 
 Alleghany and Monongahela rivers meet, to form the Ohio. 
 But the French interfered, drove off the construction party, 
 and they themselves began to build a fort, which, in honor 
 of the governor-general of Canada, was called FORT Du 
 QUESNE. Washington, upon his return, was sent with a de 
 tachment to resist the attempt of the French, but was over 
 powered by the latter at the Great Meadows, and forced to 
 capitulate. All this occurred in the year 1754, and marked 
 the beginning of a final terrible struggle between the two powers 
 for the control of the continent : a struggle in which Canada 
 depended largely on aid from France and alliance with the 
 Indians. The whole population of New France, from Louis- 
 burg to New Orleans, was then but about 100,000, while the 
 English exceeded twelve times that number. 
 
 About the middle of the year, there was held at Albany, an 
 important council of commissioners from all the colonies north 
 of the Potomac, to concert measures of defence, and to treat 
 with the Six Nations and their allies. At this assembly there 
 was introduced a plan, chiefly devised by Franklin, for a 
 federal union of the English-American colonies, which were 
 to be represented in a great. council by their chosen delegates. 
 A president-general was to be named and supported by the 
 king, and the capital city was to be Philadelphia. Yet the 
 proposition was not entirely acceptable either to Great Britain 
 
1755] TnE FRENCH NEUTRALS OF ACADIE. 275 
 
 or America, and after causing considerable discussion, then 
 and subsequently, it was finally rejected. 
 
 GENERAL BRADDOCK having been appointed commander- 
 in-chief of the English forces, sailed (1755) for America with 
 2000 regular troops, and landing at the little town of Alex 
 andria on the Potomac, proceeded up that river to Cumberland. 
 Being joined by a body of the provincials, and, through the 
 co-operation of Franklin, furnished with wagons and horses, he 
 slowly advanced through the wilderness toward the mountains. 
 The opening of a road for the passage of the artillery and 
 wagons proved to be an exceedingly laborious work, and con 
 sumed much time. Impatient at the delay, the commander 
 pushed on in advance with a part of the troops, but when 
 within five miles of Fort Du Quesne, they fell into an ambus 
 cade of the French and Indians. Braddock and many of his 
 men were killed, the military stores were abandoned to the 
 enemy, and the surviving troops hastily retreated, the rear 
 being protected by Washington, who had accompanied Brad- 
 dock in the capacity of aid-de-camp, and now took command 
 of the Virginia troops. 
 
 THE FRENCH NEUTRALS OF ACADIE. 
 
 The upper part of the bay of Fundy divides into the two 
 tributary bays or basins of Minas and of Beau-Bassin. Around 
 these waters, and upon the fertile banks of the broad river of 
 Annapolrs another estuary of the bay of Fundy were clus 
 tered the quiet hamlets of the French settlers. These settlers, 
 amounting in number to 12,000 or more, were known by the 
 name of the "French Neutrals;" and, although by the treaty 
 of Utrecht forty years before, Acadie had been ceded to the 
 British and its name changed to Nova Scotia, yet were these 
 colonists permitted, in accordance with their choice, to retain 
 their homesteads, exempt from fighting the battles of either 
 nation. 
 
276 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1755 
 
 The peacefulness and serenity which marked those happy 
 abodes have often been celebrated in song and story. But, 
 unhappily for their continuance, a number of young Aca- 
 dians, who were forced into the French service upon the 
 breaking out of the war, were taken prisoners. They formed 
 part of the garrison of a fort which had been captured by an 
 army of provincials from Massachusetts, sent to break up the 
 posts of the French in the debatable territory between the 
 Penobscot and Nova Scotia. 
 
 To arrange some scheme by which the Acadian settlers 
 might be got rid of, and the trouble and expense of keeping 
 garrisons among them be saved, the lieutenant-governor of 
 Nova Scotia consulted with Admirals Boscawen and Mostyn, 
 commanders of the English fleet. Notwithstanding it had 
 been agreed, at the capture of the fort above spoken of, that 
 the neighboring French inhabitants should not be disturbed, 
 the result of the conference was, the devising of a plan for 
 kidnapping the Acadians, and transporting them to the various 
 British colonies. Upon divers pretexts the people were in 
 one day assembled together in their chapels, and these being 
 quickly surrounded by troops, the inmates were made pris 
 oners and hurried on board the transports. Furthermore, 
 that there should be either a complete surrender or the alter 
 native of starvation, the growing crops were destroyed, and 
 houses, barns and all their contents were given over to the 
 flames. This ruthless deed was consummated in the harvest- 
 time of 1755. 
 
 In the confusion and haste of forcible embarkation, many 
 were the children who were separated from parents wives 
 from husbands and dear friends parted, never to see each 
 other again. Then in poverty and utter misery, they were 
 landed at the ports of all the British-American colonies, 
 among strangers and haters of their name and religion ; and, 
 although their sorrows sometimes won for them considerate 
 
1755] THE MARQUIS OF MONTCALM. 277 
 
 attention, yet in most cases the colonial assemblies endeavored 
 to remove them as quickly as it could be effected. A few 
 made their way to France, and some to Canada, Louisiana, 
 or other of their country s colonies; but the greater part, 
 heart-sick or overcome by dejection and despair, ended their 
 days in exile. 
 
 The plea of expediency, while it is a prolific incentive to war 
 fare, has also been used as the cloak of many a dark deed of cruelty. 
 Such was Napoleon s excuse for the massacre of the 2000 Arabs 
 of JAFFA. Those unfortunates had surrendered upon the promise 
 given them by two officers of Napoleon s staff that their lives would 
 be spared. But upon a council of war being held, at which it was 
 stated that some of the prisoners were men who had violated their 
 paroles, it was decided at length that as provisions were scarce, and 
 as troops could not be spared either to guard them or to convey 
 them to French territory, it would be most expedient thatthey should 
 every one be shot. With their hands tied behind their backs, they 
 were led down to the bottom of the sand-hills by the sea-shore, and 
 for five hours the soldiers fired a continuous volley of death into 
 the dense mass of humanity, until not an Arab was left alive. " The 
 returning tide washed the blood of this murdered host from the 
 sands of Joppa, but no tide will ever wash their blood from those 
 French executioners and this soldier-god !" 
 
 THE MARQUIS OF MONTCALM 
 
 Upon the death of Braddock, Governor SHIRLEY of Massa 
 chusetts became commander-in-chief of the English forces. 
 With troops from New England and New York, he erected 
 (1755) strong defences at Oswego on Lake Ontario, and, after 
 making great preparations, was about to embark for the pur 
 pose of attacking -the French fort at Niagara; but in conse 
 quence of the approach of winter, the scantiness of supplies, 
 and the continued prevalence of storms, the expedition was 
 abandoned. 
 
 To Johnson, the Indian agent, was given the command of 
 
 24 
 
278 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1756 
 
 an expedition which was to attack Crown Point on Lake 
 Champlain. The French general, Count Dieskau, had as 
 cended the lake to its southern extremity, and there landed 
 his troops. These encountered and defeated a body of the 
 English and their Mohawk allies, near Lake George ; but in 
 a subsequent attack upon Johnson s camp, they were them 
 selves overcome, with the loss of a thousand men. Dieskau 
 himself was mortally wounded. 
 
 Meanwhile the Delawares and Shawnees, in alliance with 
 the French, committed great depredations on the border set 
 tlements of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Along 
 the whole frontier, from the upper Delaware to the Potomac, 
 was seen the blaze of burning farm-houses and villages. In 
 Pennsylvania loud was the call "to arms." Large rewards 
 being offered for Indian scalps, many of the Friends who 
 were in the assembly either resigned their places or declined 
 re-election, as they could not unite with the people in pro 
 viding means to carry on the contest. The French had all 
 along expressed a desire to come to terms, but asked as a con 
 dition that the English should restore the merchant ships 
 which in great numbers they had piratically seized in a time 
 of peace; yet this the latter refused to do, and so the war went 
 on. It raged also in Europe, being known in history as that 
 "Seven Years War," in which Frederick, called the Great, 
 was the ally of England. 
 
 In the following year (1756) the EARL OF LOUDOUN was 
 sent over to America to take the chief command of the army, 
 with authority superior to the colonial governments, and with 
 permission to keep and quarter the king s troops in private 
 houses, if need be, without the consent of the assemblies. 
 Thus began the royal military rule of the provinces, which 
 continued to prevail for the succeeding twenty years, until the 
 breaking out of the Revolutionary war. 
 
 A large force was organized at Albany, but in the meantime 
 
1757] THE MARQUIS OF MONTCALM. 279 
 
 the MARQUIS OF MONTCALM, Dieskau s successor, crossed 
 Lake Ontario with 5000 French and Indians, and captured 
 the forts at .Osvvego, together with the garrison and stores, 
 and also the vessels which had been built the year before for 
 the Niagara expedition. To please the Six Nations and secure 
 their neutrality, Montcalm destroyed the Oswego forts, to 
 the existence of which in their territory the Indians had been 
 averse from the first. 
 
 In the campaign of the next year (1757), Montcalm was 
 again successful. With 8000 men, including the garrisons of 
 Crown Point and Ticonderoga, he ascended Lake George to 
 its southern extremity, and laid siege to Fort William Henry. 
 The garrison, 2000 in number, expected aid from General 
 Webb, who, with a much larger force, was at Fort Edward, 
 fourteen miles distant. This aid being withheld, the garri 
 son agreed to surrender, with the understanding that they 
 should be fully protected. But the Indian allies of Mont 
 calm, eager for plunder, and overcome by liquor obtained 
 in the fort, fell upon the English, of whom many were massa 
 cred, although the greater number either fled back to the 
 French, or, after many hardships and wanderings, finally 
 reached Fort Edward. Montcalm, ordering Fort William 
 Henry to be demolished, embarked his troops and Indians. 
 The Canadians returned home to gather in their harvests, and 
 the beautiful lake called in the Indian dialect, Horicon, or 
 Silver Water was left once more to its primeval solitude. 
 
 A band of two hundred men from Carolina had penetrated 
 to the region of the upper Tennessee (1756) and built Fort 
 Loudoun. They now found the Cherokees wavering, and 
 divided in sentiment. "Use all means you think proper," 
 wrote Governor Lyttleton, of Carolina, "to induce our In 
 dians to take up the hatchet. Promise a reward to every man 
 who shall bring in the scalp of a Frenchman or one of the 
 French Indians." 
 
2 8o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1750 
 
 DAVID ZEISBERGER, THE MORAVIAN. 
 
 For his success at the battle of Lake George, the Indian 
 agent Johnson received the honor of knighthood ; whilst 
 among the French, the name of the Marquis of Montcalm was 
 heralded with many plaudits. Nevertheless, it is said of 
 men, "Ye shall know them by their fruits:" and again, " A 
 good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." Whether the work 
 of the French and the English leaders in stimulating the 
 worst passions of the Indians, was work for a Christian to do, 
 or for Christian people to applaud, the reader can determine 
 for himself. He beholds the evil fruit the revenge and ra 
 pine, the devouring flames, and the hideous deeds of slaughter 
 and may readily decide whether such things as these have 
 any part in the religion of the Christian, and whether glory 
 such as this is of a sort acceptable in the sight of God. 
 
 Now while Johnson and Montcalm were thus teaching the 
 red men lessons of life and death such as Christ and his 
 Apostles never taught, a greater hero than English knight or 
 French marquis, was laboring zealously, patiently, lovingly, 
 in the path of Eliot and Brainerd, striving to instruct the 
 Indians in a far more excellent way. The name of this worthy 
 was DAVID ZEISBERGER, a Moravian. He had heard of the 
 active interest manifested by Oglethorpe in the Moravian 
 colony of Georgia, and though yet a boy, came over to the 
 province just before the breaking out of the war with Spain. 
 He was one of the number who departed thence in White- 
 field s sloop for the Forks of the Delaware ; and, shortly after 
 his arrival, felt called to devote his life to the spread of the 
 Gospel among the aborigines. 
 
 Zeisberger spent a number of years at the several mission- 
 stations of his brethren ; at Shamokin, near the Forks of the 
 Susquehanna, on the upper Lehigh, and in the valley of 
 Wyoming mostly among the Shawnees, the Delawares, the 
 
1755] DAVID ZEISBERGER, THE MORAVIAN. 2 8l 
 
 newly-arrived Nanticokes, and the Monseys or Minisinks. 
 Having been adopted into the Turtle clan of the tribe of the 
 Onondagas, he went in 1750, with a single companion, on an 
 embassy to the Six Nations, to solicit permission to maintain 
 a mission among them, as the French Jesuits had done years 
 before. Their wilderness-journey was attended with many 
 hardships and dangers, yet still greater perils awaited them 
 when they arrived at the capital village of the Senecas. From 
 afar they heard the shouting of the savages, frenzied with 
 the liquor which white traders had sold them. Affrighted at 
 their repulsive reception the awful laughter, the yells, and 
 the heathen abominations they sought refuge in the loft of 
 one of the low houses ; but at the first opportunity escaped 
 through a hole in the roof, and made their way to the neigh 
 boring country of the Onondagas to the central council-fire 
 of the Six Nations. 
 
 The Indian council complied with the request of Zeisberger 
 to establish a mission, but unfortunately for its prospect of 
 good service, the war with France soon interfered with its 
 operations, and the Indians were easily drawn aside into the 
 war-path. At Gnadenhiitten on the Lehigh, nearly all of the 
 missionaries, with their families, were massacred in the autumn 
 f J 755j shortly after the defeat of Braddock. 
 
 At an Indian treaty held at Carlisle, a little later, one of the Iro- 
 quois chiefs, speaking in behalf of all the Indians present, expressed 
 himself to the following effect : "The rum ruins us. We beg that 
 you would prevent its coming in such quantities, by regulating the 
 traders. We never understood the trading was for whiskey. We 
 desire it may be forbidden, and none sold in the Indian country ; 
 but that if the Indians will have any, they may go amongst the 
 inhabitants and deal with them for it. When those whiskey traders 
 come, they bring 30 or 40 kegs, put them down before us and make 
 us drink, and get all the skins that should go to pay the debts we 
 have contracted for goods bought of the fair traders ; and by these 
 means we not only ruin ourselves, but others too. These wicked 
 24* 
 
282 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1763 
 
 whiskey dealers, when they have once got the Indians in liquor, 
 make them sell their very clothes from their backs. In short, if 
 this practice is continued, we must be inevitably ruined. We most 
 earnestly, therefore, beseech you to remedy it." 
 
 Once more, in 1763, when prosperity seemed ready again 
 to smile on the missions, that widely-extended combination 
 of the Indian tribes, known as the Conspiracy of Pontiac, 
 frustrated the benevolent hopes of Zeisberger and his coadju 
 tors. The Moravian Indians were then unjustly accused of 
 being in league with Pontiac s warriors. Special bitterness 
 was exhibited toward them by the Scotch-Irish settlers on the 
 Pennsylvania frontier, who professed to believe that the In 
 dians were the Canaanites of the New World, and that the 
 existing war had come upon the colonies as a judgment for 
 failing to totally exterminate the native tribes. The Moravian 
 Indians were precisely in the same strait as were the Praying 
 Indians of Massachusetts when the war with Philip of Poka- 
 noket was raging. 
 
 In order that these Indians (one of whom was accused of 
 a murder) might be safe from the deadly threats of their 
 enemies, it was ordered that they should deliver up their rifles 
 and allow themselves to be brought to Philadelphia. This 
 was accordingly done. They were marched to the military 
 quarters, but the soldiers, with levelled muskets, threatened to 
 kill them, if they were not taken away. Imprecations and 
 revilements were poured out upon the refugees, and the streets 
 "rang with yells and shouts which sounded as fierce as the 
 war-whoop of the savages." Meantime, Zeisberger and the 
 other missionaries stood faithfully by them, while many of the 
 Friends, indifferent to the scorn of the rabble, took the In 
 dians by the hand and addressed them as brethren. Neverthe 
 less, as a measure of safety, the Indians were quickly removed 
 to an island in the river. Several hundred Scotch-Irish from 
 near Lancaster the " Paxton Boys" they were called after 
 
1781] DAVID ZEISBERGER, THE MORAVIAN. 283 
 
 butchering a number of Conestoga Indians who had taken 
 refuge in a jail, marched toward Philadelphia, threatening to 
 exterminate the refugees there ; but they were finally induced 
 to desist from their murderous intent. 
 
 Several months later (1764), when the excitement had sub 
 sided, these Indians were taken to the upper Susquehanna 
 region, beyond the Wyoming valley, where they built the vil 
 lage of Friedenshiitten, or " Tents of Peace." This place was 
 as neatly laid out as any New England hamlet, being entirely 
 surrounded by a post-and-rail fence, every house having its 
 garden and orchard, and everything kept scrupulously clean. 
 In summer, it was the custom for a party of women frequently 
 to pass through the several streets and alleys, sweeping them 
 with brooms and removing the rubbish. 
 
 In 1768 -and 1770, Zeisberger established stations among 
 the Monseys, on the Alleghany and Beaver rivers. A little 
 later, these and the converts from the Susquehanna, were 
 concentrated in several settlements in the valley of the Tusca- 
 rawas, in eastern Ohio, and for ten years the Moravian missions 
 flourished greatly, being frequented by hundreds of natives, 
 some even from the far west. But in 1781, near the close of 
 the American revolution, a body of hostile Delawares, under 
 Captain Pipe, a chief, and of Wyandottes under their " Half- 
 king," at British instigation broke up the peaceful settlements, 
 and carried the Indians off to Sandusky, and their teachers to 
 the British head-quarters at Detroit. 
 
 But a far worse catastrophe befel this people the next year, 
 when a party of them came back to the Tuscarawas valley to 
 harvest the corn which had been left standing- in the fields. 
 Their return happened at the time of the murder of a settler 
 and all his family by a band of hostile Indians. The event 
 caused such an excited and unreasoning feelin^tp^ prevail 
 among the frontiersmen, that a company was speedily organ 
 ized to proceed to the Tuscarawas valley, and to punish the 
 
284 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1781 
 
 Moravian Indians as spies and abettors of the murder. The 
 commander of the expedition was named David Williamson. 
 Dissembling their real purpose, they greeted the Indians in 
 a friendly manner, and informed them that they had come to 
 carry them to a place of safety, where they would be well taken 
 care of; that the whites would also take charge of their guns, 
 for safe-keeping ; and that it would be best to burn down the 
 houses to prevent their harboring any warriors. 
 
 The Indians, to the number of ninety, being now at the 
 mercy of the Americans, they were readily made prisoners, 
 and a council was held to decide upon their fate. It was 
 promptly- determined that they should all be put to death ; 
 though some further debate ensued as to whether it would be 
 preferable to set fire to the two large houses in which the cap 
 tives were kept, and burn them alive, or whether to tomahawk 
 and scalp them, so that the militia might carry back with them 
 some trophies of the campaign. The latter plan had the 
 preference. The Christians being informed of their doom, 
 began to sing, and to pray, and to comfort one another. 
 Thus the night went by, and when the morning broke the 
 militia selected two buildings which they called "slaughter 
 houses," in which they carried out their awful purpose: the 
 men and boys were butchered in one the women and babes 
 in the other. There were in all 29 men, 27 women and 34 
 children, who thus perished at the MASSACRE OF GNADEN- 
 HUTTEN, the "Tents of Grace!" Which were Christ s sol 
 diers ? which were the conquerors ? and with whom was the 
 glory ? 
 
 Although greatly cast down by the news of the massacre, 
 Zeisberger did not relax his endeavors to civilize and make 
 Christians of the Indians, being mostly engaged in the neigh 
 borhood of Sandusky and Detroit, and in Canada at a flour 
 ishing station which was named Fairfield. After the lapse of 
 sixteen years, some of the converts, led by Zeisberger, returned 
 
1757] CANADA CONQUERED FROM THE FRENCH. 285 
 
 to the Tuscarawas. For a while the new settlement pros 
 pered. A memorial was presented to the Ohio legislature, 
 asking for the passage of a bill prohibiting any spirituous 
 liquors to be offered for sale or barter in any town of the 
 Indians ; but in consequence of the influx of settlers upon 
 the reservation the prohibitory law could not be enforced. 
 Not only passing traders, but the near neighbors, tempted 
 the Indians in every possible way, waylaying them in the 
 forest while hunting or engaged in other pursuits, and, hav 
 ing supplied them with liquor, lured them into bargains very 
 much to their disadvantage. Zeisberger died in 1808, hav 
 ing been sixty years a faithful laborer among the Indians. 
 The Tuscarawas valley was soon forsaken by the red men, 
 who retired first to Canada, and eventually to the Moravian 
 mission-station in Kansas. 
 
 CANADA CONQUERED FROM THE FRENCH. 
 
 We must now turn back to the events which immediately 
 succeeded the successes of Montcalm in 1756 and 1757, when 
 the French power prevailed throughout all the territory of the 
 St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi and their tribu 
 tary streams. Three principal routes, along which were forti 
 fied posts, connected the St. Lawrence with the Mississippi. 
 The nearest to the English frontier was that via Erie, Fort 
 Du Quesne and the Ohio ; the second, by way of the Mau- 
 mee and the Wabash ; the third, by the route of the Illinois. 
 If the reader will examine his map, he will observe that the 
 intercommunication by water was very nearly continuous in all. 
 
 In truth the French claimed, and appeared to control, 
 twenty times as much of the American continent as did the 
 English, who were now confined to the peninsula of Nova 
 Scotia and a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast from the 
 Penobscot to the St. Mary s of Florida, averaging about 200 
 
286 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1758 
 
 miles in width. But the French domain was very sparsely 
 occupied, and when, after the victory on Lake George, the 
 Canadian soldiers went back to their homes, there was but a 
 slight harvest gathered, and a general famine threatened. Beef 
 and bread and similar necessaries of life, were so scarce that 
 great numbers of horses were distributed for food. Artisans 
 and laborers became too weak to follow their daily occupations.^ 
 
 On the other hand, there had been a change in the English 
 ministry, by which William Pitt (afterward Lord Chatham) 
 a man very popular with the Americans, had been placed 
 at the head of the administration. 30,000 regular troops 
 were sent across to America. The same number of militia 
 having been raised in the colonies, three expeditions were 
 planned for the year 1758, to wit, against Louisburg, Fort 
 Du Quesne and Ticonderoga, respectively. General ABER- 
 CROMBIE was appointed commander-in-chief, to succeed the 
 Earl of Loudoun. 
 
 Abercrombie himself led the attack on Ticonderoga, a 
 strong fortress situated south of Crown Point, on the long 
 river-like prolongation of Lake Champlain, whence a short di 
 verging channel connects its waters with those of Lake George. 
 But Montcalm, who commanded the garrison, repulsed the 
 English, inflicting upon them a heavy loss. A detachment 
 of Abercrombie s defeated army, under Colonel Bradstreet, 
 then proceeded against Fort Frontenac (now Kingston), at the 
 eastern outlet of Lake Ontario, the post at which the voyager 
 La Salle was stationed prior to his eventful expedition of dis 
 covery to the Mississippi. Although well supplied with cannon 
 and mortars, it surrendered the second day to the army of 
 Bradstreet. 
 
 The expedition against Louisburg was led by Generals Am- 
 herst and Wolfe, assisted by the fleet of Admiral Boscawen. 
 The investing force greatly exceeded that of the garrison, the 
 latter, with the mariners, numbering less than 6000 men. 
 
1759] CANADA CONQUERED FROM THE FRENCH. 287 
 
 After a siege of several weeks the fortress capitulated, and, as 
 a consequence, both the islands of Cape Breton and Prince 
 Edward s became British possessions; while Louisburg, being 
 no longer of value to its captors, was deserted and fell into 
 decay, Halifax becoming the naval station. 
 
 The third main expedition, that directed against Fort Du 
 Quesne, was placed under the command of General Forbes, 
 who was assisted by Colonels Armstrong and Washington. 
 The army proceeded slowly, harassed by parties of French and 
 Indians, and opening a wide road as it advanced, the same 
 which is now the line of the Chambersburg and Pittsburg 
 turnpike. Upon arriving at the Ohio, they found that the 
 French, without awaiting a siege, had deserted the fort and 
 set it on fire. In honor of the English minister the place was 
 then called Fort Pitt or PITTSBURG. Stimulated by these 
 successes, and the promise of the English government to re 
 imburse them for their expenses, the colonies were ready the 
 following year to undertake the conquest of Canada, agreeably 
 to the programme of Pitt. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1759, a powerful fleet, conveying an 
 army which had been placed under the command of the young 
 General Wolfe, sailed from England for the St. Lawrence, and 
 at the same time General AMHERST (Abercrombie s successor) 
 advanced, with a co-operating force, along Lake Champlain. 
 The French garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point there 
 upon withdrew from those posts, and went to the relief of 
 Montreal and Quebec. The latter city, which is divided 
 into an upper and lower town, was very strongly fortified with 
 munitions of defence, and had also a garrison of about 10,000 
 men ; but the English army having succeeded in scaling the 
 cliffs at night, and in reaching the plains or "Heights of 
 Abraham," in the rear of the city, it soon fell into their hands. 
 The struggle was a sanguinary one, and Wolfe and Montcalm 
 both fell, mortally wounded. In the following winter, the 
 
288 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1760 
 
 English garrison who held possession of Quebec, suffered 
 greatly from lack of fresh provisions, as many as a thousand 
 soldiers dying of the scurvy. 
 
 While Quebec was being besieged, another division had at 
 tacked and obtained possession of the French fort at Niagara. 
 This result was mainly owing to the influence exercised by 
 Sir William Johnson over the Six Nations, in inducing a 
 large body of the warriors to break the neutrality which 
 most of them had promised to observe toward both the com 
 bating powers. Montreal was now the only place of conse 
 quence yet remaining to the French, and in the following 
 year it also succumbed to the combined forces of the English. 
 Presque Isle, Detroit and Mackinaw, were included in the 
 capitulation, so that Canada became in 1760, as it has ever 
 since remained, a province of Great Britain. By the PEACE 
 OF PARIS in 1763, all the northern possessions of the French, 
 as well as those east of the Mississippi, were formally con 
 firmed as belonging to the English. Louisiana, west of the 
 Mississippi, was given by France to Spain, in payment for aid 
 afforded. 
 
 The result of the Seven Years War, in Europe, has been 
 thus summed up : " Thus was arrested the course of carnage 
 and misery ; of sorrows in private life, infinite and unfathom 
 able ; of wretchedness heaped on wretchedness ; of public 
 poverty and calamity ; of forced enlistments and extorted 
 contributions ; and all the unbridled tyranny of military 
 power in the day of danger. France was exhausted of one- 
 half of her specie ; in many parts of Germany there remained 
 not enough of men and of cattle to renew cultivation. The 
 number of the dead in arms is computed at 886,000 on the 
 battle-fields of Europe or on the way to them." The same 
 Seven Years War also doubled the debt of England. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 GEORGE III. COLONIAL DISCONTENT. 
 17601775. 
 
 THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC. 
 
 THE colonists had confidently supposed, upon the declara 
 tion of peace with the French, that they would have little to 
 fear from the enmity of the Indians. But in this belief they 
 were destined to be mistaken. The Indians, it is true, had 
 willingly agreed to the establishment of the French forts 
 upon Lake Erie and on the Pennsylvania frontier, seeing that 
 they were likely to prove an obstacle to English encroach 
 ments upon their hunting-grounds ; but when they saw these 
 same posts occupied by the English themselves, the conquerors 
 of Canada, they realized with dismay that their own doom 
 was approaching. Settlers, with no regard for aboriginal 
 rights, were already passing the Alleghanies and locating upon 
 their lands. In this extremity they listened with eagerness to 
 the emissaries of the great chief PONTIAC, of the tribe of the 
 Ottawas. 
 
 The nation of the Shawnees, together with the Delawares, 
 now dwelt in the region of the Miami and Scioto rivers, 
 whither the latter had emigrated after their expulsion from 
 Pennsylvania. Through the instigation of Pontiac, a wide 
 spread conspiracy was entered into between these disaffected 
 tribes and the others with which the French had been allied, 
 as also with the Seneca tribe of the Six Nations. Upon an 
 N 25 289 
 
2 9 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1764 
 
 appointed day in the summer of 1763 (it being the 25th 
 anniversary of the birthday of King George the Third) a 
 simultaneous attack was made along the whole western border. 
 
 The English traders among the Indians were the first vic 
 tims. With but two or three exceptions, they were all killed ; 
 for this war was begun as oe of retribution, in which the plea 
 for mercy should pass unheard. Scalping parties attacked 
 the mountain settlements and marked their tracks with blood 
 and fire. The forts also, with few exceptions, were captured, 
 and the garrisons put to death. All who could escape, fled 
 to the eastward and sought shelter in the larger towns. A 
 proclamation was issued by John Penn, lieutenant-governor 
 of Pennsylvania, offering bounties for the scalps of Indians 
 or for their capture. 
 
 In order to repel this fierce onslaught of the Indians, Gen 
 eral GAGE, who had succeeded Amherst in the chief command, 
 sent two expeditions into their own country. One of these, 
 commanded by Colonel Bouquet, was to proceed from Fort 
 Pitt into the Ohio region ; the other, under Bradstreet, by 
 way of the Great Lakes, was to relieve Detroit, which had 
 been closely besieged for several months by the warriors of 
 Pontiac. Both of these expeditions were successful. The 
 Indians despairing of the accomplishment of their designs, 
 consented to a treaty, by which they agreed to deliver up the 
 prisoners then in their hands, and thenceforth to permit the 
 British to build as many forts as they wished. 
 
 COLONIAL TAXATION. THE STAMP ACT. 
 
 For the purpose of raising in the colonies a revenue to de 
 fray the expenses of the French war, an act was passed by the 
 English parliament in 1764, adding to the number of im 
 ported articles liable to pay duty, and also prohibiting iron 
 and lumber from being exported to any country except Eng- 
 
1767] THE STAMP ACT. 291 
 
 land. It was likewise proposed for the same object of 
 liquidating the war expenditure to impose a stamp tax on 
 bills, bonds, leases, and upon all legal documents, according 
 to the method long practised in England. The news of the 
 proposed measure was received with great clamor in the col 
 onies, it being strenuously objetted that no people should be 
 taxed without their consent, and without having their repre 
 sentatives in the assembly or parliament which laid the tax. 
 
 Samuel Adams and James Otis, in Massachusetts ; Benjamin 
 Franklin, in Pennsylvania; and Patrick Henry, in Virginia, 
 were outspoken in opposition to the scheme, while petitions 
 drawn up by the leading men of several of the colonies, were 
 forwarded for presentation to parliament. Notwithstanding 
 these remonstrances, the Stamp Act became a law the follow 
 ing year (1765). 
 
 The assembly of Virginia was in session when the informa 
 tion arrived, and adopted strong resolutions in opposition to 
 the act. In the Massachusetts assembly similar action was 
 taken, and a call was issued for a general Congress of the 
 colonies, to be held at New York. Nine of the colonies sent 
 delegates, who united in publishing a declaration of their 
 rights and grievances, especially complaining of the Stamp 
 Act, and insisting that all taxation ought to be imposed by 
 their own assemblies. After disgraceful riots and assaults 
 upon the crown officers and their property had occurred in 
 several of the cities, the obnoxious act which had proved so 
 distasteful was repealed. 
 
 Parliament, however, in repealing the Stamp Act, held on 
 to the declaration that it had the right to " bind the colonies 
 in all cases whatsoever." Hence, another bill was passed in 
 1767, imposing a duty on tea, paint, paper, glass, etc., and com 
 missioners were appointed to attend to its collection. Where 
 upon it was agreed by many people in the colonies to discon 
 tinue the importation of British goods, and to make use only 
 
29 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1773 
 
 of those articles, absolutely necessary, which could be supplied 
 at home. The crown officers having suffered losses in the re 
 cent Stamp Act riots, two British regiments were sent over to 
 Boston, and quartered in the town. The result of the first 
 year s trial of the new customs-act was a revenue of less than 
 ^16,000, nearly all of which, however, was required to pay 
 the expenses of its collection ; while in addition to that, the 
 cost of support of the military amounted to ten times the 
 revenue above stated. 
 
 The presence of the troops in Boston was a source of con 
 tinual trouble, the hostile feeling against the military being 
 kept bitterly alive by a weekly paper there published. Finally, 
 a mob of men and boys, encouraged by the popular sympathy, 
 made a practice of insulting and provoking the troops, and 
 as a natural result several minor brawls having first occurred, 
 a more serious collision took place, in which a number of 
 the inhabitants were killed and wounded. This encounter, 
 which was styled the "Boston Massacre," produced great ex 
 citement throughout the colonies, the inhabitants now being 
 divided in sentiment into two parties : the Tories, or those 
 who favored the mother country, and Whigs, or opponents of 
 parliamentary taxation. 
 
 THE TAX ON TEA. BOSTON PORT BILL. 
 
 The disuse of British goods had so seriously affected the 
 trade of the English merchants, and at the same time so fa 
 vored colonial manufactures, that parliament, in response to 
 the petitions of the merchants, agreed to repeal the duties on 
 all articles except that of three pence per pound on tea. This 
 was retained, apparently, more for the purpose of insisting 
 on the right to impose the tax, than because it was likely to 
 produce any considerable revenue. Yet the colonists were 
 opposed to the principle, however small the tax, and hence 
 
1774] BOSTON FOR T BILL. 293 
 
 they refused to import any of the article. But in order to 
 test their right, Parliament, in 1773, encouraged the East 
 India Company to send a cargo of tea to each of the principal 
 American ports. 
 
 In New York and Philadelphia, the commanders of the 
 ships finding no one willing to receive their cargoes, returned 
 with them to England. At Charleston, the tea was indeed 
 landed, but allowed to become worthless by being stored in a 
 damp warehouse; while at Boston, a party of young men dis 
 guised as Indians, went on board the vessels, and threw the 
 consignment of over 300 chests into the harbor. In conse 
 quence of this and the former riotous proceedings, the city of 
 Boston, which was regarded as the chief seat of rebellion, was 
 selected by parliament as the special object of its displeasure. 
 By an act called the "Boston Port Bill," all intercourse by 
 water with that place was interdicted ; the seat of government 
 was removed to Salem, and the governor was authorized, in 
 cases of treason, to send the accused for trial to England. For 
 awhile the people of Boston were deprived, to a great extent, 
 of the means of subsistence; but their necessities were soon 
 relieved by contributions from various quarters. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the spring of 1774, General Gage, the king s 
 commander of the British forces in America, arrived in Boston 
 with a commission as governor of Massachusetts ; and shortly 
 afterward more troops and military stores were landed. Prom 
 inent men in Massachusetts thereupon formed a committee of 
 correspondence, and drew up an agreement called a " Solemn 
 League and Covenant," wherein they pledged themselves 
 to give up all intercourse with Great Britain until the colo 
 nial rights should be restored. But the general court of 
 Massachusetts went farther than this : a militia force was en 
 rolled, officers appointed, and military stores were ordered to 
 be collected. 
 
 Finally, in the Qth month (September) of the same year, 
 
 25* 
 
294 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1767 
 
 delegates from eleven of the colonies met at Philadelphia, and 
 formed themselves into an assembly known as the Continental 
 Congress. It was composed of 55 members, who appointed 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH, of Virginia, their president. They pre 
 pared a declaration of the rights of the colonies ; agreed to 
 continue the plan of non-intercourse with Great Britain ; and 
 issued an address to the king, another to the colonies, and a 
 third to the English people. But the king, being assured by 
 parliament that a rebellion actually existed in Massachusetts, 
 the army in Boston was increased to 10,000 men. At this 
 time Benjamin Franklin, as the agent of Pennsylvania and 
 several others of the colonies, was in England, endeavoring to 
 effect a settlement of difficulties with the home government. 
 Before referring particularly to his efforts, some reference 
 should be here made to a few contemporaneous events in 
 several of the colonies. 
 
 OCCURRENCES IN SEVERAL OF THE COLONIES. 
 
 After many vexatious delays and disagreements between the 
 proprietaries of Maryland and Pennsylvania respecting the 
 division line between the two provinces, it was finally de 
 termined, in 1767, that its course should be in accordance 
 with an agreement which had been made 35 years before. 
 Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two distinguished mathe 
 maticians and astronomers (who had just returned from the 
 Cape of Good Hope, whither they had gone to observe the 
 transit of Venus), were designated to run the line, and to 
 erect stone pillars at conspicuous points along the same. 
 " Mason s-and-Dixon s Line" subsequently became famous, as 
 marking the parallel of separation between the free-soil and 
 the slave states. 
 
 Although bounded on the east by a large river, and on the 
 other three sides by nearly straight lines, Pennsylvania was 
 
1774] OCCURRENCES IN SEVERAL COLONIES. 295 
 
 involved in a number of other disputes relative to its bound 
 aries. Connecticut people settled on lands in the Wyoming 
 valley, in 1762, alleging that their province, by virtue of the 
 king s grant to the Plymouth Company, extended westward 
 even to the Pacific Ocean. This claim resulted in bloody con 
 flicts with the settlers who held grants from the proprietaries. 
 Little forts were built, hamlets were burned, and goods and 
 cattle carried away. The matter was finally referred to the 
 king for adjudication. In 1774, Lord Dunmore, of Virginia, 
 granted land-warrants for settlements upon the Monongahela 
 river, and in the neighborhood of Pittsburg, asserting that 
 that section was no part of Pennsylvania ; but his settlers were 
 driven off, and a serious war between Virginia and the western 
 Indians also ensued. Prominent in this war were the Indian 
 chiefs Cornstalk and Logan ; the family of the latter having 
 previously, without provocation, all been murdered. Like 
 disturbances arose in the settling of that part of the country 
 between the Connecticut and Hudson rivers, now the state of 
 Vermont, for which the governors of New York and New 
 Hampshire both issued grants. This was also referred to 
 England for settlement. (See page 330). 
 
 About the time that Mason s-and-Dixon s line was run, 
 an earnest controversy arose in Massachusetts touching the 
 legality and the justice of negro slavery. The subject was 
 carried for decision to the Superior Court, and in a number 
 of suits which ensued, the juries invariably gave their verdict 
 in favor of freedom. An important decision of the same 
 nature was given in 1772 by the court of King s Bench, in 
 London, before which had been brought a Virginia slave who 
 had come with his master to England. Refusing any longer 
 to serve, he had been put on board a vessel to be shipped to 
 Jamaica. The court ordered that the black should be dis 
 charged. This important decision served as a precedent in 
 all succeeding cases on the soil of Britain. 
 
296 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1769 
 
 In New Jersey, Maryland and the Carolinas, there were 
 many complaints of official extortion, of antagonism to lawyers 
 and sheriffs, who, it was alleged, exacted unjust fees and ren 
 dered no account thereof to their superiors in office. The 
 trouble from this source was greatest in the middle section 
 of North Carolina, a rather barren, unfruitful region, with a 
 population mostly poor and illiterate. Under the name of 
 "Regulators," they not only refused to pay taxes, but as 
 saulted the judges, lawyers, and all others obnoxious to them, 
 and even broke up the session of the court. Governor TRYON 
 marched against them with a body of volunteers, and having 
 overtaken them at Alamance, near the head-waters of Cape 
 Fear river, a battle was fought in the summer of 1771. It re 
 sulted in the death of about 200 of the disaffected ones. Some 
 of the prisoners were also executed for high treason. A bitter 
 feeling arose as a consequence of this severe retaliatory meas 
 ure, and it was not allayed until Tryon departed for New York 
 and a governor succeeded whose conciliatory treatment of the 
 malcontents made them his friends. 
 
 While these disturbances were transpiring, the first settle 
 ments were made within the borders of the present states of 
 Tennessee and Kentucky. Emigrants from North Carolina, 
 led by JAMES ROBINSON, crossing the mountain barriers of the 
 Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies (1768), settled upon one of 
 the headstreams of the Tennessee, on lands obtained from the 
 Cherokees. Others soon advanced to the Holston and Clinch 
 rivers, and ascending those streams, located in the south-west 
 corner of the present state of Virginia. 
 
 From the Yadkin valley of North Carolina, DANIEL BOONE 
 and others, led by an Indian trader, crossed the Cumberland 
 mountains (i 769) and reached the head-waters of the Kentucky 
 river. From the forest-crowned slopes of the hills, they sur 
 veyed the plains where, at that time, herds of buffalo ranged in 
 great numbers. But Boone was captured by the Indians, who 
 
1764] NEGOTIATIONS OF FRANKLIN. 397 
 
 little desired any irruption of the whites upon those famous 
 hunting-grounds. Escaping, however, from his captors, the 
 adventurous hunter wandered three months in the wilderness, 
 but finally reached again his home on the Yadkin. Having 
 determined to settle in the region which he had discovered, 
 he led a small party down the Clinch river valley, but in con 
 sequence of Lord Dunmore s war with the Indians, a year and 
 a half elapsed before their feet pressed the soil of Kentucky. 
 
 NEGOTIATIONS OF FRANKLIN IN ENGLAND. 
 
 When, in 1764, Franklin, the philosopher and statesman, 
 proceeded to England as the accredited agent of Pennsylvania 
 and shortly afterward as agent also for others of the colo 
 nies he was destined to exert a marked influence upon the 
 future of those portions of the dominions of Britain which he 
 represented. Being examined before the House of Commons, 
 whose members desired a definite statement of the pending 
 difficulties, the directness and freedom of his testimony were 
 largely instrumental in procuring the repeal of the obnoxious 
 Stamp Act. 
 
 By addresses published in the papers of London, giving 
 calm and lucid expositions of the effect of English legislation 
 upon the commercial industries of the colonies, he endeavored 
 to work a change in the tone of feeling toward America. He 
 instanced the fact that if American merchants wished to obtain 
 commodities direct from a Mediterranean port, these must be 
 carried a long voyage out of the way, in order that the cargo 
 might be first landed and re-shipped in London, and that thus 
 a few favored merchants there might reap their commissions. 
 And although iron was found everywhere in America, and 
 nails and steel were greatly in demand, he showed how a very 
 few manufacturers had obtained an act of parliament, totally 
 prohibiting the erection of slitting-mills or steel-furnaces in 
 N* 
 
298 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1775 
 
 the colonies. And in the same manner even the hat-makers 
 of England had prevailed to obtain an act in their favor; re 
 straining the business in the colonies in order to oblige the 
 Americans to send the beaver-skins to Britain, and buy back 
 the made-up hats, increased in price with double-charge of 
 transportation. 
 
 These, and many other cogent reasons why the laws of 
 trade and of administration for the colonies, should be 
 altered, were presented by Franklin to the notice of the 
 public and the rulers of England during the ten years that he 
 remained in that country. And when in the autumn of 1774, 
 news arrived of the assembling of an American Congress for 
 concert of action, he was unwearied in his efforts, by private 
 conversations, by published articles and by letters to states 
 men, to induce the government to change its measures, giving 
 it as his belief that notwithstanding the attachment of the 
 colonies to the mother country, yet a continuance in the 
 same arbitrary course must alienate them entirely. 
 
 Being urged by Dr. Fothergill and David Barclay, promi 
 nent members of the Society of Friends, in London, he pre 
 pared a careful statement of a plan of reconciliation. William 
 Pitt (Lord Chatham) had himself prepared another and some 
 what similar plan, and after several consultations with Franklin, 
 it was submitted to parliament, but was by that body hastily 
 rejected. Yet Franklin s private interviews with the ministers 
 of state and influential citizens did not cease ; while Fother 
 gill, Barclay and others, frankly condemning the injustice of 
 their own countrymen, were unremitting in endeavors to 
 secure a compromise and avoid the effusion of blood. Never 
 theless, their efforts proved unavailing ; and Franklin, depart 
 ing from England in the spring of 1775, arrived in America 
 only to find that war had been actually begun. 
 
 It is well worth while, at this momentous epoch in our 
 country s history, for the student calmly to ask himself: 
 
1775] NEGOTIATIONS OF FRANKLIN. 299 
 
 What more could America have done, to prevent war, than 
 she did do ? And, since England, without doubt, was clearly 
 guilty of oppression, as well as of injudicious and unjust 
 methods of government, were not the colonies justified in 
 resisting their oppressors? Now, if we answer the latter 
 question in accordance with the international practice of the 
 last fifteen centuries, we may promptly say that the colonies 
 were justified in making war to secure their political rights; 
 but on the other hand, if we are to answer it according to the 
 Gospel rule, as well as the Christian practice of the first three 
 centuries of our era, we must as certainly say that our ances 
 tors had no right to make war upon the plea that they were 
 unjustly taxed and treated. For, the methods of protest and 
 prayer, of appeal and patient endurance of wrong, still re 
 mained open, and such sort alone are the weapons which the 
 Christian may use to battle against tyranny. "The weapons 
 of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the 
 pulling down of strongholds." 
 
 The boundaries of the thirteen colonies of Great Britain, 
 as they existed at the commencement of the war of the Rev 
 olution, are shown on the map, page 331. 
 
CHAPTER XXI11. 
 
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 I775I783- 
 
 1775- LEXINGTON AND BUNKER HILL. CANADA CAMPAIGN. 
 
 A QUANTITY of ammunition and stores for the use of the 
 provincial militia, having been deposited at Concord, about 
 twenty miles west of Boston, General Gage sent a body of 
 the king s troops under Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, to 
 seize or destroy them. Upon arriving at Lexington, early in 
 the morning of fourth month (April) iQth, they found a com 
 pany of armed militia assembled upon the common, ready to 
 dispute their progress. Refusing to obey the order of Pit- 
 cairn to disperse, the latter commanded his troops to fire. 
 Eight of the Americans were killed and a number wounded. 
 The troops then continued on to Concord and destroyed the 
 stores collected there; but on their return toward Boston 
 they were severely harassed by the Americans, who were con 
 cealed behind barns, trees and stone-walls, and who would 
 probably have killed or captured the whole company had re 
 inforcements not arrived. 
 
 The battle of Lexington at once inflamed the passions of 
 the people, already at fever-heat, and the war feeling spread 
 like wild-fire on every side. It is only requisite, as in the 
 case of two individuals who have been taunting each other, 
 for one to deliver a blow, to cause that spirit of violent con 
 tention which leads to murder, to break forth uncontrollably. 
 300 
 
1775] BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 301 
 
 An army of 20,000 provincials was quickly mustered, and the 
 British troops were closely besieged on the peninsula of Boston. 
 Considerable reinforcements, however, under Generals HOWE, 
 CLINTON and BURGOYNE soon came to their relief by sea. 
 
 Learning that it was the intention of the British to make 
 an advance into the country, the Americans now began to 
 strengthen their position by erecting a breastwork on Bun 
 ker s Hill, near the suburb of Charlestown. This was nearly 
 completed during the night of the i6th day of 6th month 
 (June), but in the morning following, the British perceiving 
 what had been done, began a severe cannonade upon the 
 entrenchments. Having set fire to Charlestown, they then 
 advanced to the attack. Their assault was for awhile repelled, 
 but, receiving farther help, the provincials gave way and es 
 caped along Charlestown Neck, where, exposed to the fire 
 from the ships, they suffered severely. 
 
 The forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point were, in the 
 meantime, captured from the royalists, by militia under Colo 
 nels Ethan Allen and Seth Warner. 
 
 The second Continental Congress being assembled again at 
 Philadelphia, the title of the "United Colonies" was adopted. 
 George Washington, one of the delegates from Virginia, was 
 appointed commander-in-chief of the army ; Artemus Ward, 
 Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler and Israel Putnam were chosen 
 major-generals, and eight others received appointments as 
 brigadiers. Bills of credit to the amount of three million 
 dollars were ordered, to provide for the expenses of the war. 
 
 In Virginia, the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, after a 
 lengthened dispute with the people, was obliged to seek refuge 
 on board a man-of-war. The governors of North and South 
 Carolina retired in the same manner, and by the end of 
 the year all the old governments of the provinces were dis 
 solved. Dunmore landed several times upon the Virginia 
 coast, seeking to regain possession of his province; but being 
 
 26 
 
302 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1776 
 
 pressed for want of provisions, and the militia at Norfolk re 
 fusing to comply with his demand, he destroyed the town by 
 fire and departed for the West Indies. 
 
 Fearing an attack of the British from Canada, of which prov 
 ince SIR GUY CARLETON was governor, Congress despatched 
 two expeditions in that direction ; one under Generals Schuyler 
 and Montgomery, by way of Lake Champlain, and the other 
 under Colonel Arnold, by the route of the Kennebec. Mon 
 treal was taken by the force under Montgomery (Schuyler 
 himself being ill), but Arnold having been delayed, and his 
 men much exhausted by their toilsome march through the 
 tangled forests of Maine, did not join the force before Quebec 
 until late in the autumn. Their combined, but desperate, 
 assault upon the strongly-fortified city was repelled. Four 
 hundred of the Americans were killed and wounded, Mont 
 gomery being numbered with the slain. Canada, in a few 
 months, was entirely evacuated by the Americans. 
 
 The English parliament, toward the close of the first year 
 of the war, passed an act prohibiting all trade and commerce 
 with the colonies, and authorizing the capture of the trading- 
 vessels of the latter found on the high seas. Treaties were 
 likewise entered into with the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel and 
 the Duke of Brunswick, who agreed to furnish, for pay, 16,000 
 of their subjects to aid the army of Britain in its work of sub 
 jugation. But the petition of Congress to the king, brought 
 over by Richard Penn and Henry Lee, was refused a hearing 
 by parliament, upon the ground that that Congress was an 
 unlawful assembly. 
 
 1776. THE SIEGES OF BOSTON, CHARLESTON, AND NEW YORK. 
 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 Washington, upon receiving his appointment as commander- 
 in-chief, repaired at once to the army besieging Boston. In 
 
1776] SIEGE OF CHARLESTON. 303 
 
 consequence of the lack of supplies and the departure of many 
 of the militia whose terms of enlistment had expired, he 
 did not make any attack upon the city until the 3d month 
 (March), 1776, when he ordered a redoubt to be constructed 
 on Dorchester Heights, which menaced not only the soldiers 
 in the town, but the ships in the harbor. Sir William Howe, 
 the successor of Gage, perceiving that it would be now 
 necessary to dislodge the besiegers or to evacuate the city, 
 essayed the former ; but, being defeated in his design by a 
 tempest of wind and rain, he embarked with all his troops for 
 Halifax, and nearly at the same time Washington and his 
 army entered. 
 
 To effect the conquest of the southern colonies, a British 
 fleet under Sir Peter Parker appeared, early in the summer, 
 before the harbor of Charleston. Upon Sullivan s island, at 
 the entrance of the port, a fort of sand and palmetto-logs had 
 been constructed, and its defence intrusted to Colonel Moul- 
 trie. The balls from the cannon of the British fleet readily 
 penetrated in part the yielding palmetto-wood, but failed to 
 shatter it, while on the other hand the fire from the fort was 
 severely felt by the assailants. In the night the British com 
 mander, relinquishing his design, drew off his vessels, and as 
 his co-operation was required by the other fleet, which was 
 operating against New York, he soon sailed toward that port. 
 Washington, foreseeing that the British would make an early 
 effort to possess themselves of a place so important to their 
 success as was New York, had ordered the construction of 
 works of defence, and leaving Boston soon after the British 
 evacuation, established his headquarters in the former city. 
 
 A highly important event was about to transpire in the 
 Congress, then in session at Philadelphia. The hostile meas 
 ures which had taken place had produced a very general desire 
 in the colonies to renounce allegiance to the mother country. 
 This feeling was accelerated by a pamphlet written by Thomas 
 
304 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1776 
 
 Paine, under the signature of "Common Sense," which was 
 designed to show the necessity of a state of independence to 
 the well being of the country. By RICHARD HENRY LEE, of 
 Virginia, a motion was made in Congress for declaring the 
 colonies " free and independent." A committee, consisting 
 of Jefferson, Franklin, Sherman, Adams and Livingston, was 
 appointed to prepare a Declaration of Independence. The 
 document was accordingly drafted with great care, and the 
 important resolutions being fully discussed, were adopted the 
 fourth day of the yth month (July), 1776. By another com 
 mittee, Articles of Confederation were prepared, but they 
 were not adopted until the following year. They conferred 
 upon the nation the title of " United States of America," and 
 were duly ratified by the governments of the several states. 
 
 It was the aim of the British commanders, by obtaining 
 possession of New York, to control the line of the Hudson 
 river and Lake Champlain, and thus cut off New England from 
 the south. The troops from Halifax under General Howe, 
 and those from England under Admiral Howe, landed on 
 Staten Island ; and these, together with Hessians, and the 
 forces which had besieged Charleston, constituted an army of 
 about 30,000 men, being considerably in excess of that of the 
 Americans. At this juncture, Lord Howe issued a proclama 
 tion offering pardon to those who would return to their alle 
 giance, and endeavor to restore peace ; but the Americans, 
 now aiming at independence, refused to entertain any offers 
 of reconciliation. 
 
 In the 8th month (August), a large force of British troops 
 landed on the west end of Long Island, in the neighborhood 
 of Gravesend, and attacking the American army which was 
 commanded by Putnam and Sullivan, defeated them with 
 great loss. Washington then ordered Brooklyn to be evac 
 uated, and, removing also from New York, occupied Harlem 
 Heights in the upper part of Manhattan island. General 
 
1776] BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON. 305 
 
 Howe now made further overtures of amity, and appointed 
 commissioners to meet on Staten Island the three appointed 
 by the Americans, to wit, Franklin, Rutledge and Hancock; 
 but as these refused to treat upon any other basis than the ac 
 knowledgment of American independence, there was nothing 
 effected. Later in the year Congress commissioned Franklin, 
 Silas Dean and Arthur Lee to proceed to the French court 
 and procure aid in money, arms and ammunition, as well 
 as a recognition of the independence of the United States. 
 
 Leaving General GREENE in command of Forts Washington 
 and Lee, which were on opposite sides of the Hudson a few- 
 miles above New York, Washington withdrew a little to the 
 eastward to the highlands of White Plains, where he hoped to 
 hold possession of an important road. But General Howe 
 advancing, compelled his retreat, and, a little later, succeeded 
 in capturing both of the Hudson forts. About 2000 Americans 
 were taken at the surrender of Fort Washington, the loss in 
 killed and wounded being large on both sides. Washington 
 with the remnant of his army then retreated to Newark, and 
 through New Jersey to Trenton, whence he escaped across the 
 Delaware to the Pennsylvania shore, just as the pursuing army 
 under CORNWALLIS came in sight. 
 
 Howe stationed detachments of his army at Trenton and 
 Princeton, and withdrew for the winter to New York, having 
 no apprehension of any attack by the Americans unless the 
 river should be frozen. Without waiting for that to occur, 
 Washington determined, as the enlistments of many of his 
 men would expire with the end of the year, to make further 
 immediate use of their services, by re-crossing the Delaware in 
 boats. The Hessians at Trenton were taken by surprise, and 
 many made prisoners. The commander-in-chief followed up 
 his success by an attack on the British troops at Princeton, sev 
 eral hundred of whom were captured, and the rest put to flight; 
 after which he retired into winter-quarters at Morristown. 
 
 26* 
 
306 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1777 
 
 1777. BURGOYNE S SURRENDER. PHILADELPHIA CAPTURED 
 BY THE BRITISH. 
 
 To effect a junction with the British forces at New York, 
 and to occupy the line of the Hudson in accordance with the 
 pre-arranged plan, Burgoyne, with 7000 British and Hes 
 sians, beside Canadian and Indian auxiliaries, passed up Lake 
 Champlain and laid siege to Ticonderoga. Finding that the 
 fortress could not be held, the Americans under General St. 
 Clair abandoned the place ; but the escaping garrison was 
 pursued and defeated by a body of the invaders, while a large 
 part of the stores which had been sent in bateaux to White 
 hall, at the southern extremity of the lake, also fell into their 
 hands. Burgoyne then passed on to Fort Edward, a little 
 below where the Hudson bends from the west to pursue its 
 general southward course. 
 
 While at Fort Edward, Burgoyne being in great need of 
 provisions, and hearing that a large quantity of these necessa 
 ries were stored at Bennington, forty miles distant, despatched 
 Colonel Baum, with five hundred men, to secure them. But 
 the foragers were met and repulsed by the American militia 
 under General Stark, who also defeated a second detachment 
 which was sent to the relief of the first. Burgoyne with his 
 army, leaving Fort Edward, crossed the Hudson and advanced 
 to Saratoga; while the Americans under General HORATIO 
 GATES, encamped at Stillwater in the vicinity. KOSCIUSKO, 
 a noted Polish officer, was in the American service as chief 
 engineer. 
 
 On the i Qth day of Qth month (September) an obstinate, 
 but indecisive, engagement between the two armies occurred 
 near Stillwater. This was followed by a number of skirmishes, 
 until on the 7th day of loth month a general battle was fought 
 at Saratoga. Burgoyne, finding that his army, hemmed in by 
 superior numbers, was being overpowered ; that his provisions 
 
1777] PHILADELPHIA CAPTURED. 307 
 
 had failed, while his troops were worn out by fatigue, was 
 finally compelled to capitulate. On the iyth of the month 
 his whole army surrendered as prisoners of war to General 
 Gates. Sir Henry Clinton, meanwhile, with the forces from 
 New York, had captured Forts Clinton and Montgomery, 
 near West Point ; but hearing of Burgoyne s surrender, he 
 hastily dismantled the forts and went back to New York. 
 
 While these operations were transpiring in the north, the 
 army of General Howe and Admiral Howe, 16,000 in number, 
 sailed from Sandy Hook for the Chesapeake, and ascending 
 to Elk river, at the head of the bay, disembarked, and began 
 their march toward Philadelphia. To stay their progress, 
 Washington posted his army on the rising ground above 
 Chad s-ford of the Brandywine. The British, however, 
 forced a passage, and having thrown the Americans into con 
 fusion, caused their defeat after a bloody struggle. A young 
 French officer, the MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, who had left his 
 country to aid the American cause, was wounded in the battle. 
 COUNT PULASKI, a Pole, who had come over with the same 
 object as Lafayette, was also present. 
 
 Immediately after the battle of Brandywine, General Howe 
 took possession of Philadelphia (gth month 26th), although 
 the principal part of his army was encamped at Germantown, 
 several miles north of the capital. Washington, thinking 
 that he would be able to overpower the British at German- 
 town, made an attack, at dawn of loth month (October) 4th. 
 The British were thrown into disorder by the unexpected on 
 slaught, but a fog coming on, they had time to recover from 
 the first attack, and eventually drove the Americans from the 
 field. The latter retired into winter-quarters at Valley Forge, 
 on the Schuylkill, twenty miles from the city, where their 
 sufferings from cold, nakedness, fever and other diseases, as 
 well as from poor and insufficient diet, were deplorable in 
 the extreme. 
 
308 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1778 
 
 1778, THE FRENCH ALLIANCE. MASSACRE OF WYOMING. 
 
 The winter preceding the campaign of 1778 was marked 
 by much disaffection in the army: the depreciation of the 
 bills of credit to about a fourth of their nominal value, 
 being the chief cause of the trouble. Many of the officers, 
 after expending their own means in addition to their pay, 
 gave in their resignations. An intrigue was also set on foot 
 by Generals Conway, Gates and others, to force General 
 Washington to retire from the chief command; but that 
 measure being opposed to the popular wish, it failed of 
 success. Conway was superseded by BARON STEUBEN, a 
 Prussian officer, who had recently entered the American 
 service. In the meantime, the news of the capture of Bur- 
 goyne having arrived in Europe, the French court, impelled 
 by rivalry of England, agreed to acknowledge the independ 
 ence of the United States, and also entered into an alli 
 ance to afford them aid in carrying on the war. Benjamin 
 Franklin, the most influential of the three American com 
 missioners, was appointed by Congress minister to the French 
 court. 
 
 A fleet of 1 8 large war vessels commanded by the Count 
 D Estaing,was sent over by the French government, and arrived 
 at the mouth of the Delaware early in the summer. But the 
 design of the French commander to blockade the British in 
 Philadelphia, was frustrated by their evacuating the city. 
 Washington s army, starting in pursuit, intercepted them on 
 their way across New Jersey, at Monmouth Court-House, and 
 an indecisive battle ensued on a day 6th month (June) 28th 
 memorable for its excessive heat, and the consequent terri 
 ble suffering of the combatants. The British troops con 
 tinued their retreat to New York, to which port the French 
 fleet also sailed. The vessels of the latter, however, being 
 
1778] MASSACRE OF WYOMING. 309 
 
 of too great draught to enter the harbor, they were ordered to 
 Newport. 
 
 General Sullivan, at the same time, was sent with a large 
 army to effect the capture of the British forces on Rhode 
 Island; but the French admiral failing to co-operate, the 
 American general with difficulty withdrew his army. D Estaing 
 sailed to Boston and then to the West Indies. Toward the 
 end of the year, Sir Henry Clinton sent a fleet against Savan 
 nah, and, as the place was unprepared for defence, it soon 
 yielded. Clinton also took measures to retaliate on the 
 Americans for their depredations upon the British merchant 
 shipping ; not less than 500 trading vessels having been cap 
 tured by them within two years. In Buzzard s bay and its 
 vicinity, where the American privateers resorted, Gray, the 
 British general, destroyed sixty large vessels, besides smaller 
 craft; and thence proceeding to New Bedford and Fair 
 Haven, executed similar destructive work upon the mills and 
 other property at those places. 
 
 The confederacy of the Six Nations having been induced 
 in the preceding year to enter the British service, their ma 
 rauding parties had committed extensive depredations, prin 
 cipally within the borders of the state of New York. They 
 had also been largely employed in the army of Burgoyne. 
 A chief of the Mohawks, named Brandt, received a colonel s 
 commission in the British service, and made himself notorious 
 by his numerous deeds of devastation and bloodshed. In 
 the summer of 1778, a band of the Seneca tribe, with British 
 troops and tories, under a leader named John Butler, de 
 scended the Susquehanna and destroyed the settlements in 
 the Wyoming valley. The able-bodied inhabitants were 
 principally absent in the army, but a company of above 
 four hundred, principally old men and boys, was mustered ; 
 the women and children being placed within a stockade 
 fort. 
 
310 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1778 
 
 Unable to withstand the fierce attack of the allied band, 
 many of the Americans yielded themselves prisoners, the 
 rest sought safety in flight ; but in either case all who were 
 captured were destined to be massacred. Sixteen of the cap 
 tives were placed in a ring around a rock, and each being 
 held by a stout Indian, they were one by one tomahawked. 
 Nine persons in another ring were murdered in the same way. 
 But the whites were no less sanguinary than the Indians, for 
 party-spirit ran high in the valley, and men of the same 
 household were arrayed in hateful strife against each other. 
 One who was attacked by his own brother, fell upon his knees 
 beseeching his assailant that if he would spare his life he 
 would serve him as his slave forever; but the unnatural 
 brother refused the cry for mercy, and muttering an oath, 
 shot him dead ! What a brutal method for determining the 
 right or justice of any cause is War ! As the student follows 
 in the devastating track of its chariot wheels, how appalling 
 grows the recital of the deeds of pillage and blood how 
 hideous the features of hate and cursing and every crime 
 which are hidden by the mask of glory, and of patriotism, 
 falsely so called ! 
 
 Several of the few survivors of the fight, panting and bloody, 
 rushed into the fort where the terrified women and children 
 waited, trembling for the issue. Fearful of encountering the 
 same fate as the soldiers, these widows and orphans hurried to 
 the mountains, and beyond to the Delaware, and finally, after 
 much suffering reached their former homes in Connecticut. 
 And for days afterward, other companies of sorrow-stricken 
 fugitives, leaving their smoking and ruined homesteads in the 
 pleasant valley, crossed that weary wilderness of the Pokono 
 mountains which is known as the " Shades of Death," and 
 at Stroudsburg found rest and safety. 
 
1779] GEORGIA CAMPAIGN. $ tt 
 
 1779- GEORGIA CAMPAIGN. DEEDS OF REPRISAL. 
 
 The British, being in possession of Savannah, were not long 
 in quelling throughout the state of Georgia, the remnant of 
 opposition to their authority. As they believed that a large 
 proportion of the people of Carolina were royalists at heart, 
 emissaries were sent out to prevail on the Tories to join the 
 royal standard; and, to make this co-operation easier, the 
 British army under General Prevost was ordered to move up 
 the Savannah river to Augusta. Thus emboldened, the Tories 
 appeared in considerable numbers ; the Indians also, joining 
 with the royalists, there ensued the harrowing barbarities 
 of partisan warfare. General LINCOLN, the American com 
 mander, after failing in his attempts to regain upper Georgia 
 from the British, and fearing lest Charleston also would fall 
 into their hands, entreated the Count D Estaing to render aid 
 with his fleet. 
 
 D Estaing, who in the meantime had been depredating upon 
 England s West India possessions, responded to the call, and 
 appeared with his vessels in the harbor of Savannah, while 
 Lincoln brought up the land forces. The British refusing to 
 surrender, batteries were thrown up and armed with cannon 
 and mortars. Perceiving, however, that the cannonading was 
 distressing the inhabitants more than their foes, the American 
 and French forces united, and, on the qih day of roth month 
 (October) made an attempt to capture the place by assault. 
 The undertaking was repelled, with great loss to the allies. 
 D Estaing was wounded and Count Pulaski was killed. Lin 
 coln s army retreated, and the French fleet sailed for home. 
 
 In other quarters the English cause was likewise successful. 
 A naval expedition under Sir George Collier and General 
 Matthews, sailed into. Hampton Roads and devastated Ports 
 mouth and the other towns on or near the Elizabeth river. 
 Large quantities of-provisions intended for the American army 
 
3 i2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1779 
 
 were seized, and the shipping was either destroyed or removed. 
 Verplanck s and Stony Points, below West Point on the Hud 
 son, important by reason of their commanding King s Ferry, 
 fell into Clinton s hands. Stony Point was re-captured by a 
 force of Americans under General ANTHONY WAYNE, but it 
 was soon again in British possession. 
 
 To retaliate the second time on the American privateers, 
 and especially on those of Connecticut, which had nearly de 
 stroyed British commerce on Long Island Sound, General 
 Tryon, instructed by Clinton, proceeded to New Haven, and 
 burnt the shipping in that port. Fairfield, Norwalk and 
 Greenwich, on the sound, also received the hostile visitation 
 of fire. 
 
 The expedition of General Tryon was bitterly complained 
 of by the Americans because of its ruthless destruction of 
 private property. Yet the sway of the sword is naught else but 
 barbarous and cruel : all its methods are revengeful, and it 
 can only thrive as the wicked spirit of retaliation is aroused. 
 " An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," is its motto. 
 Thus it was in retaliation for the massacre of Wyoming, and 
 other less notable Indian enormities, that General Sullivan 
 was sent in the summer of 1779 to invade the country of the 
 Six Nations. Forty of their villages upon the Tioga and Gen- 
 esee rivers were laid waste, and all their corn and fruit trees 
 destroyed. The Indians, however, mostly escaped, and during 
 the remainder of the war hovered in small and scattered bands 
 upon the frontier settlements, where, with torch and tomahawk 
 they wreaked their revenge, and at the same time earned their 
 pay as British allies. 
 
 Perhaps the most awful engagement of the war, because of 
 the reckless sacrifice of human life involved, was the naval en 
 counter on the coast of Scotland between a squadron of five 
 American vessels, commanded by John Paul Jones, and two 
 British frigates, under Captain Pearson, acting as convoy to 
 
1780] THE BRITISH IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 313 
 
 a merchant fleet from the Baltic. The American commander 
 ran his vessel, the Bon-Homme Richard, so close to the 
 frigate Serapis, that the muzzles of the hostile cannon came 
 in contact. In this position, the malignant combatants using 
 their muskets and pikes, fought ferociously for the space of 
 three hours, until both vessels were badly shattered and on 
 fire. The magazine of the Serapis having exploded, Pearson 
 surrendered. But it was a dreadful victory for the Americans : 
 of 375 men who were on board the Bon-Homme Richard, 300 
 were either killed or wounded. 
 
 1780. THE BRITISH IN SOUTH CAROLINA. ARNOLD AND 
 ANDRE. 
 
 The military operations of 1780 were most active in the 
 Carolinas, where Sir Henry Clinton, after remaining a short 
 time in the vicinity of Savannah, began, in the spring, the 
 siege of Charleston. General Lincoln and Governor Rutledge 
 commanded the garrison in the city. At Monk s Corner, 
 Ninety-Six and other places, detachments of the American 
 army were defeated by the British, of whom Colonel Tarleton, 
 with his cavalry, was the most active and relentless. Charles 
 ton being completely surrounded, Lincoln was obliged to ca 
 pitulate. Many of the inhabitants declared their allegiance 
 to the British cause ; and as South Carolina now appeared re 
 claimed to the Crown, Clinton, leaving Lords Cornwallis and 
 Rawdon in command, returned to New York. 
 
 General Gates, with reinforcements of militia from the 
 Southern states, advanced toward the English forces, which, 
 with the intention of invading North Carolina, had been 
 posted at Cainden. Very early in the morning of 8th month 
 (August) 1 6th, the advance guards of the opposing armies met, 
 each of them being on the way to surprise the camp of the 
 other. The American militia recoiled before the British 
 o 27 
 
3 I 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1780 
 
 regulars, and fled in great disorder. They were pursued for 
 a distance of over twenty miles ; losing about 2000 men in 
 killed, wounded and prisoners. Among the killed was the 
 BARON DE KALB, a Prussian in the American service. Gen 
 eral Gates retired into North Carolina, leaving Colonels 
 Sumter and Marion, who commanded local troops of cavalry, 
 to maintain a desultory warfare with the British and their 
 tory allies. Cornwallis also advanced across the frontier to 
 Charlotte, but a portion of his army under Colonel Ferguson, 
 having been decisively repulsed at a woody eminence called 
 King s Mountain, the British retired again into South Caro 
 lina. 
 
 About midsummer, 6000 French auxiliaries, under the com 
 mand of the COUNT DE ROCHAMBEAU, arrived at Rhode Island, 
 where the troops were disembarked, and the armed vessels 
 which brought them returned to France. 
 
 An event occurred in the autumn of 1780, which caused a 
 profound sensation throughout the country. When General 
 Arnold, who was wounded at the battle of Saratoga, was 
 obliged to retire from active service, he obtained from Con 
 gress the position of commandant at Philadelphia. Being of 
 an extravagant disposition, and living in a style of princely 
 display far beyond his means, he was finally led into the dis 
 honest practice of embezzling the public moneys. For this 
 offence he was tried by a court-martial and sentenced to receive 
 a reprimand from Washington. In revenge for this humilia 
 tion, and to obtain the money which he coveted, Arnold en 
 tered into correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton. It resulted 
 in an agreement to deliver West Point (to the command of 
 which place he had been recently appointed) into the hands 
 of the English, and at the same time to join the royal army. 
 
 For the purpose of arranging the details of the treacherous 
 barter, JClinton sent an aid-de-camp, the young and talented 
 Major Andre, to meet Arnold by night, some distance below 
 
1781] REVOLT IN THE AMERICAN ARMY. 3^ 
 
 West Point. Daylight dawned before the secret interview- 
 ended, and as the vessel in which Andre had come had drifted 
 down the river, he was obliged to return by land. Near 
 Tarrytown he was met by three of the American militia, 
 whose suspicions being aroused, they searched their captive, 
 and found, concealed in his boots, the papers which proved 
 the treason of Arnold. Unmindful of Andre s entreaties and 
 of the tempting bribes which he offered for his release, the 
 three soldiers delivered him to the commanding officer at 
 Peekskill. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton and others were unremitting in their 
 endeavors to procure the release of Andre ; but Washington, 
 acting in accordance with the usages of war, referred his case 
 to a court-martial. The captive being sentenced to suffer 
 death, was accordingly hung. Arnold managed to escape, 
 and received at British hands a guilty reward of ^10,000 
 and the rank of brigadier-general. The nature of the services 
 rendered against his country is briefly alluded to in the next 
 section. 
 
 17811783. CORNWALLIS SURRENDERS AT YORKTOWN. 
 PEACE DECLARED. 
 
 The new year opened with a serious revolt in the army, the 
 whole body of Pennsylvania militia refusing to serve any 
 longer. They complained that their term of service properly 
 expired at the close of the preceding year, and also that they 
 were suffering greatly from lack of clothing. But as the gov 
 ernment maintained that they must continue to serve while 
 the war lasted, the soldiers seized their arms and began their 
 march toward Philadelphia for the purpose of demanding jus 
 tice in the halls of Congress. Clinton endeavored to persuade 
 the insurgents to enter the British service, an offer which they 
 quickly declined. At Princeton they were met by Generals 
 
316 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1781 
 
 Reed and Wayne, who had been appointed by Congress to 
 investigate the state of affairs, and to restore tranquillity. 
 The soldiers finally agreed not to disband, upon condition 
 that they should receive the necessary supplies of clothing, 
 their arrearages of pay, and re-imbursement for losses in con 
 sequence of the depreciation of paper money. 
 
 At this time ROBERT MORRIS, of Philadelphia, a man of 
 large pecuniary means, was appointed treasurer of the United 
 States. It was through his knowledge of financial concerns ; 
 by the free use of his own private resources ; and by the es 
 tablishment of the national "Bank of North America," that 
 the government credit exhibited an improvement. France 
 and Holland also made large loans to the republic. But 
 the Continental money, which had been issued to carry on 
 the war, and which it was an almost treasonable offence to 
 refuse, had become nearly worthless, five dollars of such 
 scarcely sufficing to purchase five pennies worth (sterling 
 value) of produce. 
 
 In the south, General Greene had been appointed Gates 
 successor. A part of his troops, under Colonel Morgan, were 
 attacked by Tarleton s cavalry at a place called the Cow- 
 pens ; but the assailants were repelled with loss. Cornwallis 
 then started in pursuit of Morgan s detachment, but the latter 
 passed the fords of the Catawba, the Yadkin and the Dan, 
 just in advance of his pursuers. Being joined by Greene s 
 main army, a battle was fought, on the 15th day of 3d month 
 (March), at Guilford Court-House, in which the British had the 
 advantage. Cornwallis marched into Virginia, while Greene, 
 retiring southward, attacked Rawdon s forces at Hobkirk s 
 Hill, near Camden, but was defeated in the attempt to dis 
 lodge the British commander. Numerous skirmishes, mostly 
 of a partisan character, ensued, until finally there occurred a 
 severe engagement at Eutaw Springs, when the British having 
 lost all their military posts retired to Charleston. 
 
1781] CORNWALLIS SURRENDERS. 317 
 
 Very early in the year, General Arnold had landed a force 
 of British troops in the vicinity of Richmond, and destroyed 
 the public stores there, besides committing various wanton 
 acts of depreciation upon private property. Clinton sent 
 an additional army under General Phillips, to aid Arnold in 
 his destructive work, and to effect a junction with the army 
 of Cornwallis. The increased force of the latter began its 
 march toward the interior of Virginia, somewhat harassed by 
 the troops of Lafayette ; but receiving orders from Clinton, 
 they retreated toward the coast. At Yorktown, upon the 
 north side of the York-and-James rivers peninsula, Cornwal 
 lis strongly intrenched himself, relying for assistance upon 
 Clinton or the British admiral, if such aid should be needed. 
 
 Meanwhile, Washington ordered the French army of Count 
 Rochambeau to leave Rhode Island and join the army of 
 Lafayette, the junction being formed at Williamsburg, close 
 to Yorktown. The allies then numbered 16,000 men. The 
 large French fleet of the Count de Grasse likewise arrived in 
 the Chesapeake, after a slight but successful engagement with 
 the British fleet of Admiral Graves. Batteries were con 
 structed by the Americans, and cannonading commenced. 
 Cornwallis, with an army not half as large as that of the allies, 
 being defeated in several sorties, and failing in an attempt to 
 withdraw his forces, finally agreed to terms of capitulation. 
 On the i Qth day of the loth month (October), 1781, his 
 army of over 7000 men, together with all the military stores, 
 were surrendered to the Americans ; the shipping and their 
 crews being given up to the French five days later. Clinton, 
 with heavy reinforcements, arrived off the capes of Virginia, 
 but being apprised of the surrender of Cornwallis, he sailed 
 back to New York without delay. 
 
 The serious reverse to the British cause experienced at 
 Yorktown, caused an abrupt cessation of hostilities. Unwil 
 ling to be taxed any longer for the prosecution of so expensive 
 
 27* 
 
318 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1783 
 
 a contest, the people of England demanded that peace should 
 be made. The king, although very reluctant to renounce all 
 hope of re-possessing the American colonies, could not pre 
 vent the organization of a new cabinet favorable to peace. 
 As a first conciliatory step, Sir Guy Carleton, governor of 
 Canada, a man popular with the Americans, was appointed to 
 supersede Clinton at New York. 
 
 Early in 1783 preliminary articles of peace were agreed 
 upon, and on the 3d day of the pth month (September), in 
 the same year, the definitive treaty was signed at VERSAILLES. 
 The United States were represented by Dr. Franklin, John 
 Adams, John Jay and Henry Laurens. 
 
 While these negotiations were pending, the stability of the 
 young republic seemed for a time endangered by the discon 
 tent and machinations prevalent in the army. The officers 
 had been promised by Congress half-pay for life, but, aware 
 of the low condition of the public treasury, they became 
 apprehensive lest the stipulation would not be fulfilled, nor 
 even their accounts for arrearages settled. To quiet the rising 
 storm, Washington appointed a special meeting with his 
 officers at Newburg, where he gave them assurances that he 
 would endeavor by all the means in his power to secure from 
 Congress the right adjustment of their claims. 
 
 Some of the officers, actuated by motives of ambition, made 
 a secret proposition to Washington that he should accept the 
 title of "king;" but that doubtful honor he promptly and 
 indignantly declined. News of the signing of the treaty of 
 peace having arrived, the British army evacuated New York ; 
 and immediately thereafter, Washington, proceeding to An 
 napolis where Congress had assembled in session, resigned 
 his commission as commander-in-chief, i2th month (Decem 
 ber) 23, 1783. He then retired to his estate of Mount Ver- 
 non, and engaged in the quiet pursuits of agricultural life. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION FORMED. ADMINISTRATION OF 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 17841796. 
 
 FINANCIAL DEPRESSION. SHAYS REBELLION 
 
 THE desire of our Revolutionary ancestors to be free from 
 the control of the parent country was a sufficiently laudable 
 wish in itself, yet that object could surely have been peace 
 ably attained at a mere tithe of the expense which the war 
 involved, and probably, too, without any loss of life whatever. 
 According to an estimate made by Congress after the decla 
 ration of peace, it appeared that the war had cost the country 
 about 135 million dollars. Not only were the government 
 finances in a deplorable state, but a burden of debt encum 
 bered almost every corporation. With an unreliable paper 
 currency, trade and manufactures were necessarily greatly 
 depressed, while agriculture had been very much neglected, 
 consequent upon the withdrawal of so many yeomen to serve 
 in the army. 
 
 England, in addition to the loss of her colonies, incurred, 
 as a result of her folly, a debt of over ^100,000,000, and the 
 loss of 50,000 men. 
 
 But, far more to be lamented than the pecuniary loss and 
 business depression which followed the war, was the in 
 crease of vice and immorality, the inevitable consequents of 
 every period of strife. The lax manners and mode of life of 
 
3 20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1784 
 
 the army were by no means calculated to aid the virtue or 
 to foster the industrious habits of the provincial soldiers. 
 Furthermore, the skeptical opinions held by many of the 
 French and German officers had been widely disseminated, 
 and, aided by sundry infidel publications, had weakened and 
 even blasted the religious belief of many in the community. 
 The chief of these pernicious works was the "Age of Reason," 
 by Thomas Paine, a writer who had acquired great popularity 
 during the Revolution, by his advocacy of the American cause 
 in his pamphlet entitled "Common Sense." Subsequently, 
 having defended, in his "Rights of Man," the principles of 
 the French Revolution, he made his appearance in France, 
 and was chosen a deputy to the National Convention ; but, by 
 the influence of Robespierre, whose enmity he had incurred, 
 he was thrown into prison, and, while there, wrote that most 
 mischievous publication, the "Age of Reason." 
 
 PAINE came back to America, and died at Greenwich on Long 
 Island, in 1809. In his last hours he found that reason was, after 
 all, but a poor stay a broken staff to lean upon. His infidel 
 friends, too, had all deserted him. Being in a destitute condition, 
 very ill and without a nurse, he was visited by some members of the 
 Society of Friends (among whom was Stephen Grellet) who, pitying 
 his lamentable state, supplied him with an attendant and ministered 
 to his necessities. Once, some of his deistical comrades came to 
 the door and cried out in a loud and unfeeling manner "Tom 
 Paine, it is said you are turning Christian, but we hope you will die 
 as you have lived :" upon which, turning to his attendant, he said 
 "You see what miserable comforters they are." At another time, 
 when the nurse told him that she had once begun to read his book, 
 but it so distressed her that she threw it into the fire, he remarked 
 " I wish all had done as you, for if the devil has ever had any agency 
 in any work, he has had it in my writing that book." 
 
 Various expedients were resorted to by the several states, to 
 obtain relief from the financial distress and embarrassment. 
 The farmers, who were mostly in debt to the merchants, 
 
1 786] SHAY^S REBELLION. 321 
 
 favored the issuing of paper money by the states in a manner 
 similar to that already adopted by the general government. 
 This course was adopted in Rhode Island, but resulted in a 
 heavy depreciation of the bills and the loss of public credit. 
 With onerous taxes to pay, the discontent among the people 
 became wide-spread and alarming, finally, in various quarters 
 breaking out into open insurrection. Of these disturbances 
 the most notable were those in Massachusetts (1786), which 
 culminated in " Shays Rebellion." A few particulars of the 
 effects of the war in the one state, will suffice the purpose of 
 our history, in pointing out the error of a resort to arms for the 
 settlement of differences which can be far better adjusted by 
 remonstrance and arbitration. 
 
 The debt of Massachusetts at the end of the war, together 
 with the state s proportion of the national debt, and the money 
 due to its soldiers, exceeded thirty times the amount of its 
 debt before the war ! In addition to this, every town was em 
 barrassed by advances which had been made in complying 
 with requisitions for soldiers and supplies. On the other hand, 
 in the maritime towns, many men had acquired fortunes, di 
 rectly or indirectly, by privateering. Among these an emu 
 lation began to be manifest of making a free display of their 
 riches, an example which their less opulent neighbors were 
 not slow to imitate. 
 
 To gratify this new taste for luxuries, foreign articles were 
 imported in quantities which the exhausted state of the country 
 would not warrant, especially as commerce and the fisheries 
 had been so greatly crippled. It will be sufficient to instance 
 the fact that the merchant fleet of Nantucket had been reduced 
 by the war, from 150 sail to 19. One of the severest effects of 
 the Revolution is stated to have been, the loss of many markets 
 to which Americans had formerly resorted with their produce. 
 And inasmuch as such produce could not be procured to pay 
 for foreign importations, the little specie that remained was 
 o* 
 
322 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1786 
 
 necessarily in demand for that purpose ; and, not being always 
 adequate to meet the requisition, numbers of the importers 
 became bankrupt. 
 
 But the chief cause of the commotion which broke out in 
 Massachusetts, was the accumulation of private debts. An 
 act had been passed which provided that cattle, and other 
 things especially enumerated, might, in default of money, be 
 used to satisfy executions for debt; but this "Tender Act" 
 became so obnoxious, that it remained but a short time in 
 force. Cases of litigation, however, multiplied; the public 
 outcry being first directed against the lawyers as being the 
 legal instruments of their tribulations, and then against the 
 holding of the courts, because from them issued the executions 
 for debts. 
 
 At Northampton, the malcontents to the number of nearly 
 1500, took forcible possession of the court-house; and in several 
 other of the towns, in defiance of the governor s proclama 
 tion, similar insurrectionary measures were adopted. Many 
 of the insurgents were soldiers of the late war, who, as they 
 had shouldered their muskets to settle their grievances against 
 England, considered themselves justified in trying the same 
 violent method in the present case. Incited by their success 
 in embarrassing the proceedings of the common pleas courts, 
 the insurgents attempted to stop the assembling of the supreme 
 court also, hoping by that means to prevent a legal prosecu 
 tion of their riotous acts. 
 
 At Springfield, several hundred armed men, led by Daniel 
 Shays, a captain of the late Continental army, having obtained 
 possession of the court-house, endeavored to secure the federal 
 arsenal likewise ; but they were met by some of the state mili 
 tia, and several of their number killed. Meanwhile, the main 
 body of the state troops under General Lincoln advancing into 
 western Massachusetts, several skirmishes ensued, resulting in 
 the discomfiture of the insurgents, who were obliged to take 
 
1786] THE CONSTITUTION. 323 
 
 refuge in the surrounding states. Many of the fugitives were 
 harbored in Vermont, which, nine years previously (in 1 7 7 7) had 
 declared itself a separate state, independent of both New York 
 and New Hampshire. Although a number of the leaders of 
 the insurrection were apprehended and sentenced to death, 
 they were subsequently pardoned, while the grievances com 
 plained of were mostly remedied by acts of the general court 
 and the legislature : the proper channels for the rectification 
 of abuses, they being open to all. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION. WASHINGTON ELECTED FIRST PRESI 
 DENT. 
 
 The authority vested in the Congress of the American states, 
 while it had sufficed for the purposes of a military confede 
 racy, like that of the preceding century in New England, was 
 found to be totally inadequate as a permanent form of govern 
 ment. The compact was one of mere temporary convenience ; 
 and, since each state had reserved so much liberty of govern 
 ment to itself, it became very soon evident there could be no 
 wise concert of action until the articles of confederation were 
 amended to meet the exigencies of the occasion. For instance, 
 some of the treaties made with foreign nations had been com 
 plied with by part of the states, but violated by others ; and 
 in the same manner, when the Congress had declared a sys 
 tem of imposts, only those states adopted it whose conveni 
 ence it happened to suit. 
 
 In accordance with a proposition made by JAMES MADISON 
 in the Legislature of Virginia, delegates from five of the 
 middle states met at Annapolis in 1786, for the purpose of 
 taking measures to reform the system of government. But, 
 as a minority only of the states was there represented, and 
 the power vested in the delegates was too limited for the 
 occasion, it was judged best to recommend a general conven- 
 
324 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1786 
 
 tion of delegates to meet the following year at Philadelphia. 
 The assembly met, pursuant to the call, and, having elected 
 George Washington, one of the members from Virginia, their 
 president, they proceeded with the momentous task of framing 
 a new constitution. 
 
 There was necessarily much conflict of opinion as to what 
 degree of power it was advisable should be conferred by the 
 separate states upon the one central government ; those in favor 
 of a strong compact of the states being called Federalists, 
 while their opponents, who feared the curtailment of the 
 states rights, were known as Anti-Federalists. 
 
 Another chief point of disagreement was in regard to the 
 representation to be allowed in Congress to the slave-holding 
 states ; it being contended by the delegates who did not favor 
 slavery, that the number of free white citizens in each state 
 should constitute the basis of apportionment. They thought 
 that, since the negroes were held to be chattels, debarred 
 from all the privileges of citizenship, the fact of their posses 
 sion should not enhance the representative power of the 
 masters any more than should the possession of any other 
 species of property. But it was finally allowed, that in deter 
 mining the quota of representation for those states, five slaves 
 should be counted as equivalent to three white inhabitants. 
 The new constitution was ratified by eleven of the states in 
 1788. Of the two dissenting states, North Carolina adopted 
 it in 1789, and Rhode Island in 1790. 
 
 Had the constitution provided that slaves should not be counted 
 in computing the quota of representatives, it is highly probable that 
 our country would have escaped the sad experience of the War of 
 Emancipation. The slave power would then not have been over- 
 represented, and hence would have been more likely to accept of 
 some satisfactory plan of adjustment ere sectional bitterness closed 
 the way. 
 
 The preamble of the constitution declares that it is ordained 
 
iyS6] THE CONSTITUTION. 325 
 
 by and in the name of the people of the United States, and 
 that its purposes are " to form a more perfect union, establish 
 justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common 
 defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
 of liberty to themselves and their posterity." 
 
 By its provisions, the legislative power is vested in two as 
 semblies a Senate and a House of Representatives. The 
 Senate is composed of two members from each state, who are 
 chosen by the legislatures of the respective states, their term 
 of service being for six years. The members of the lower 
 house are chosen directly by the electors of the states, and 
 are apportioned to each state according to the number of its 
 inhabitants. The term of the representatives is for two 
 years. They choose their presiding officer, who is called the 
 "speaker." Both houses together are called the Congress, 
 and they must convene as often as once every year. 
 
 The executive power is vested in a president and vice-presi 
 dent chosen by the people for a term of four years. The 
 vice-president is the presiding officer or speaker of the Senate. 
 The president is privileged to nominate ambassadors and con 
 suls, to appoint heads of the departments, judges of the Su 
 preme Court and many other officials, to enter into treaties 
 with foreign powers, etc., subject, however, to confirmation 
 by the Senate. He is also commander-in-chief of the army 
 and navy when they are in actual service. 
 
 The judicial power of the republic is vested in a Supreme 
 Court and such other inferior courts as Congress may from 
 time to time establish. Any laws, state or federal, which shall 
 be adjudged as at variance with the federal constitution, the 
 Supreme Court may declare to be illegal and not binding ; 
 and all disputes between two states, or the citizens of one 
 state and the government of another, may be referred to the 
 same tribunal. The term of office of the judges, it is very 
 
 properly ordained, shall be during good behavior. They may 
 
 28 
 
326 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1789 
 
 be impeached for misdemeanor by the House of Representa 
 tives, with which body impeachments against the president or 
 vice-president must also originate. The Senate is the court 
 for trying such cases. Should a president, vice-president, or 
 United States judge be found guilty, no penalty is permitted 
 greater than loss of office and disqualification to hold it in 
 future. 
 
 It was the intention of the framers of the Constitution that 
 the three co-ordinate branches of the government the legisla 
 tive, executive and judicial should act as checks upon each 
 other. The power of originating bills and making appropri 
 ations being lodged with the most popular section of the 
 national legislature, the House of Representatives, it was be 
 lieved that the latter would serve the purpose of a counter 
 poise to the Senate, the treaty-making power. This associ 
 ation of two legislative assemblies is now common to all con 
 stitutional governments. The president s veto (only to be 
 overcome by a two-thirds vote of both houses) is well de 
 signed to prevent inconsiderate haste in the passage of any 
 bill. Further, if an act passed by Congress be approved by 
 the president, it may still be set aside if declared unconstitu 
 tional by the Supreme Court. 
 
 The plan of our government has been thought to nearly 
 resemble that of the Achaean League, with its strategus or 
 president, council and senate, formed in the third century 
 E. c. between twelve towns of the Grecian Peloponnesus for 
 their mutual welfare and support. Of modern confederations 
 or unions, it has been compared with the present federal gov 
 ernment of Switzerland, and with the Union of Utrecht formed 
 in 1579 between the provinces of the Netherlands. More 
 nearly, however, do these agree with the original American 
 government, as founded on the Articles of Confederation of 
 1777. That was simply a league of friendship between the 
 several states for their common defence and mutual welfare, 
 
1789] GROWTH OF REPUBLICANISM. 327 
 
 whereas the national union of 1787 is declared to have been 
 made by and between the "people of the United States." 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that the colonies had been so va 
 riously governed some under proprietary rule, others under 
 royal governors, and others again under charters which per 
 mitted the freemen to frame their own laws yet in all, the 
 strong undercurrent of republicanism made itself apparent. 
 As all were united in the purpose of upholding the principles 
 of self-rule, and as life-term magistracy and hereditary nobil 
 ity were not tolerated, the governments must have eventually 
 ripened into the republican form, even without revolution. 
 Early was this tendency manifested in New England : first, 
 by the signers of the Mayflower compact in carrying into 
 practice the wise political counsel of pastor Robinson of Ley- 
 den, and subsequently by the Puritan settlers generally, who 
 at their town-meetings regulated all matters pertaining to the 
 public health, education, the poor, roads, finances, etc. Sim 
 ilarly in Pennsylvania, under proprietary rule, the settlers were 
 allowed, in accordance with Penn s own declaration, "to be 
 governed by laws of their own making." In other cases, 
 where royal governors ruled, the freemen, through domestic 
 councils, while they regulated the governors salaries, also 
 made laws which they believed were suited to their neces 
 sities. 
 
 Although there was a tendency on the part of Puritans in 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut, and Episcopalians in Vir 
 ginia and South Carolina, toward uniting the political and 
 ecclesiastical powers, the Baptists of Rhode Island, disavowing 
 all connection between Church and State, early pronounced 
 for entire freedom of conscience. For maintaining this prin 
 ciple, Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts, and 
 Quakers were ignominiously hung on Boston Common. The 
 faithfulness of a few, in patiently following the line of duty, 
 may, by God s letting, accomplish a work which hosts of 
 
328 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1789 
 
 heroes might vainly battle for at the cannon s mouth. That 
 men s consciences throughout the republic should remain un 
 shackled, and that ecclesiasticism should never find place as a 
 function of the government, the first amendment to the Con 
 stitution declares that "Congress shall make no law respecting 
 an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
 thereof." 
 
 Washington, who, as already stated, had been a delegate to 
 the convention which framed the constitution, was the first 
 choice of the people for their president. In the retirement 
 of Mount Vernon, he had found congenial occupation in the 
 improvement of his estate and in the gratification of a taste 
 for the beauties of landscape gardening. When on a visit to 
 certain lands owned by him upon the Ohio, he became im 
 pressed with the feasibility and importance of uniting the 
 head-waters of that great stream with those of the Potomac 
 and the James, and thereby opening a perpetual channel of 
 intercommunication between the Atlantic and the fertile prai 
 ries of the West. A memorial which he addressed to the 
 Virginia legislature upon this important subject, resulted in 
 the formation of the Potomac Company, and the Kanawha 
 and James River Company. 
 
 In the spring of 1789, -Washington, then in the 57th year 
 of his age, was inaugurated president of the United States. 
 The ceremony was performed amidst much popular enthusiasm, 
 in the city of New York, where the national Congress was in . 
 session. JOHN ADAMS, of Massachusetts, had been elected 
 to the office of vice-president. The other chief officers of 
 the government at its first organization, were Thomas Jeffer 
 son, secretary of state; Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the 
 treasury; Henry Knox, secretary of war; Edmund Randolph, 
 attorney-general; Samuel Osgood, postmaster-general; and 
 John Jay, chief-justice of the United States. These consti 
 tuted the "cabinet;" being appointed to, or removable from, 
 
1790] FINANCES. 329 
 
 office, directly by the president. The. offices of secretary of 
 the navy and secretary of the interior were added afterward. 
 
 With the wise and impressive utterances of Washington s 
 Inaugural Address before them, Congress at once devised 
 measures for raising a revenue to defray the expenses of car 
 rying on the government and for the payment of the debt 
 contracted during the war. This was effected by laying du 
 ties on merchandise imported, in other words, by a tariff; 
 and likewise by a similar duty charged upon the tonnage of 
 vessels. At the same time, in order to give encouragement 
 to native shipping, a discrimination was made both in favor 
 of the tonnage-tax on American vessels and in the duty upon 
 foreign articles imported in them. 
 
 Other important measures of this Congress were the organi 
 zation of the national courts into a Supreme Court, Circuit 
 and District Courts; the amendment of the constitution by 
 the adoption of twelve new articles; and the arranging of 
 the salaries. The president s salary was fixed at $25,000; 
 that of the vice-president at $5000 ; those of the heads of 
 departments (the cabinet officers) at $3500 each. Members of 
 the Senate were to receive seven dollars per day, and allow 
 ance for travelling expenses ; representatives, the same allow 
 ance, and six dollars per day. 
 
 The session of the following year (1790) was very much 
 engrossed by the consideration of the finances. Hamilton, 
 the secretary of the treasury, presented to Congress a plan for 
 funding the national and state debts into one, and also a 
 recommendation for the imposition of taxes on articles of 
 luxury and on spirituous liquors. The funding measure gave 
 rise to a great deal of animated and even bitter debate be 
 tween the Federalists who favored its passage, and their op 
 ponents. The latter feared that if the general government 
 assumed the state debts, and thus made the capitalists depend 
 ent upon a central power, it would weaken the influence of 
 
 28* 
 
330 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1790 
 
 the state governments ; hence they preferred that the states 
 should take the burden of repayment upon themselves. The 
 Southern members, as they, more especially, favored "states 
 rights," were therefore opposed to the funding bill, and herein 
 they had the outspoken support of Jefferson. Its passage, 
 nevertheless, was effected by a compromise upon a very dif 
 ferent matter, to wit : that the seat of government should be 
 removed, within ten years, from Philadelphia to some place 
 to be selected on the Potomac. The amount of the debt 
 was about 75 million dollars, upon part of which the rate of 
 interest was placed at three per cent., and upon the rest at six 
 per cent. A national bank, with a capital of 10 million dol 
 lars, was also ordered, and was established at Philadelphia. 
 
 Reference has been made on a preceding page (295) to the 
 disturbances which arose in the territory between the upper 
 Connecticut and Hudson rivers, in consequence of the rival 
 claims of New York and New Hampshire for the ownership 
 of that district. Benning Wentworth, governor of the latter 
 colony, had issued (1749) the first of the New Hampshire 
 grants that for the township of Bennington. Many similar 
 grants were issued during several succeeding years, notwith 
 standing the claims of New York, founded upon the patent 
 to the Duke of York, to jurisdiction over that region. Final 
 ly, in 1764, appeal having been made by the claimants to the 
 Crown, decision was given in favor of New York. In 1791 
 the "Green Mountain State" was admitted, the fourteenth 
 member of the American Union, the State of New York hav 
 ing relinquished all right to the soil upon receipt of the sum 
 of thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 All that part of original Virginia lying south of the Ohio 
 and west of the Big Sandy river and the Cumberland Moun 
 tains, having been surrendered to the general government, 
 became the State of Kentucky, and was admitted into the 
 Union, next after Vermont, in 1792. Where LOUISVILLE 
 
33 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1790 
 
 was afterward built, at the falls of the Ohio, a stockade fort 
 had been erected (1778) by a party of Americans during the 
 Revolutionary War. All of western North Carolina extend 
 ing from the Great Smoky range to the Mississippi, became 
 the State of Tennessee, and was admitted into the Union in 
 1796. Western Georgia, and the long, narrow strip, scarcely 
 fourteen miles wide, of western South Carolina, was erected 
 into the Territory of Mississippi, out of which were subse 
 quently formed the two States of Mississippi and Alabama. 
 
 The territory north and west of the Ohio, extending to the 
 Mississippi river, was conveyed -by Virginia, New York, Con 
 necticut and Massachusetts to the general government within 
 a few years after the adoption of the Articles of Confedera 
 tion in 1777. A condition of the conveyance was, that the 
 territory thus surrendered should be divided into not less than 
 three, nor more than five, states. The "territory north-west 
 of the Ohio" was accordingly organized (1787), and in 
 due course, as the requisite population stipulated by the 
 Constitution was reached, there were admitted successively 
 the five states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis 
 consin. 
 
 Washington was re-elected president, and John Adams, 
 vice-president, at the election in the autumn of 1792. This 
 was the period of the French Revolution or "Reign of Ter 
 ror," which, beginning in 1789, culminated in 1793 ^ n tne 
 execution of Louis XVI. , the downfall of the royal house of 
 Bourbon, and the proclamation of the French Republic. 
 
 THE MIAMI WAR. THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION. 
 
 Twenty-six years had elapsed since the failure of Pontiac s 
 conspiracy, when, in 1790, there occurred another general 
 outbreak of the western Indians, the foremost inciter of which 
 was a chief of the Miami tribe, named LITTLE TURTLE. It 
 
1795] THE MIAMI WAR. 333 
 
 is not improbable that some unprincipled plotters among the 
 Canadians encouraged the hostility of the Indians, for De 
 troit and a few other frontier posts within the boundary of the 
 United States were still held by the English, on the plea that 
 certain treaty stipulations remained as yet unfulfilled. Simon 
 Girty, a half-breed trader, notorious as a busy-body and fo- 
 menter of discord, was an active agent in the movements 
 which had led to the massacre of the Moravian Indians at 
 Gnadenhtitten. 
 
 Carried away with the illusive hope of exterminating the 
 whites, the banded warriors committed terrible atrocities 
 along the western border. In return, a force under General 
 HARMER destroyed a number of their villages in the Ohio 
 territory ; but Harmer being defeated in an engagement with 
 the Indians, the command of the army was transferred to 
 General ST. CLAIR, governor of the North-Western territory. 
 The latter, however, while in the vicinity of the Miami vil 
 lages, was surprised by Little Turtle s band, and a wholesale 
 massacre of the whites took place. Not more than one-fourth 
 of them escaped. So disastrous was this defeat, and so un 
 popular the war, that a truce with the Indians was agreed to. 
 
 Yet, the tribes having refused the following year to consent 
 to a treaty, General Wayne with an army of 3000 men now 
 undertook to chastise them. Contrary to the advice of Little 
 Turtle, who had heard of Wayne s prowess in battle, the In 
 dians again came into conflict with the whites, and were this 
 time badly defeated. All the chiefs of the Wyandottes, nine 
 in number, were slain. Being satisfied of the futility of con 
 tending any longer, the chiefs of twelve tribes met the ap 
 pointed commissioners in the 8th month (August), 1795, at 
 Fort Greenville, and agreed, as a condition of peace, to re 
 linquish an extensive territory south of Lake Erie, as well 
 as certain other tracts in which were the military posts of 
 the West. The United States conditioned to pay them a 
 
334 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1791 
 
 perpetual annuity of a few thousand dollars in money and 
 goods. 
 
 Shortly before the above treaty was concluded, a formidable 
 rebellion, known as the "Whiskey Insurrection," broke out 
 in western Pennsylvania. The pioneers of that region, many 
 of whom were from Ireland and North Britain, having an in 
 herited love of ardent spirits, had themselves become large 
 producers of Monongahela whiskey. The province of Penn 
 sylvania had, as early as 1756, laid an excise duty on this 
 article, to obtain the means of sustaining its bills of credit. 
 These, it will be remembered, were made necessary, in order 
 to defray the cost of fighting the French and Indians. For a 
 few years prior to the Revolution, however, the tax had not 
 been rigorously collected ; but, when the debts caused by that 
 war began to press heavily, then the law was again enforced. 
 
 In the estimation of the whiskey distillers, this was an 
 infringement of their liberties equal to the imposition of the 
 tax on tea by Great Britain ; and in a similar manner they 
 prepared to contest its collection. The law-officers were mal 
 treated or chased away, liberty-poles were erected, and the 
 people assembled in arms. The state excise tax was soon after 
 ward repealed, and whiskey remained thus exempt until 1791 ; 
 but, Congress having then passed a like law for the benefit of 
 the national treasury, the former scenes of violence were re- 
 enacted. The principal mode of opposition was that of tar 
 ring and feathering the obnoxious officers, and of burning the 
 barns and mills of those distillers who complied with the 
 law. 
 
 After these violent proceedings had continued for about 
 three years, and a body of malcontents from Braddock s-field 
 had menaced Pittsburg, the president issued a requisition upon 
 the governors of Pennsylvania and of several of the adjoining 
 states, for an army of 15,000 men to quell the disturbances. 
 Governor Lee, of Virginia, was placed in command of the 
 
1794] WHISKEY INSURRECTION. 335 
 
 troops, but, fortunately, a conflict was prevented through the 
 earnest persuasions of a number of the residents of the dis 
 affected district. One of the most influential of these was 
 ALBERT GALLATIN, a native of Geneva, in Switzerland. A 
 man of liberal education, and imbued with republican senti 
 ments, he came to this country in 1780, and eventually settled 
 on the banks of the Monongahela, where he established the 
 glass-works and village of New Geneva. Although opposed 
 to the excise tax, he was a man of moderation, and hence his 
 judicious appeals in favor of law and order were well re 
 ceived. After a few of the leaders had been arrested, the 
 army was withdrawn, and quiet was soon fully restored. 
 
 France being at war with England and Holland, the Amer 
 icans were much inclined to extend aid to the young republic; 
 but Washington was strongly opposed to any interference on 
 the part of his countrymen with the affairs of the nations 
 beyond the Atlantic. His cabinet, being unanimously of the 
 same mind, a proclamation of neutrality was issued. Never 
 theless, the country for awhile seemed in danger of drifting 
 into the strife, through the reckless behavior of the new 
 French minister, the "Citizen" Genet, who, mistaking the 
 warmth of his reception by the American people for a will 
 ingness to afford warlike aid, presumed to fit out privateers at 
 the port of Charleston, to cruise against his country s enemies. 
 This, and other arbitrary measures, rendered him so unpop 
 ular that he was shortly recalled by his government. JAMES 
 MONROE was our own representative at the French capital. 
 
 Important treaties were also entered into with England and 
 Spain. By the treaty of 1794 with England, Detroit and the 
 other western posts were given up; but the Uni ted States 
 conceded to England the right claimed by that country of 
 searching merchant-vessels, a permission which, though it 
 caused a great clamor as being humiliating, was certainly a 
 point which was not worth fighting for. Thieves are not 
 
336 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1796 
 
 sought for in the houses of honest men, and no government 
 professing neutrality is just and ingenuous in its policy if it 
 consents to harbor armed plotters against the peace of a sister 
 nation. In short, the treaty was happily conceived, and its 
 benefits became apparent in the removal of the various causes 
 of uneasiness, of complaint and of recrimination between the 
 two countries. Nevertheless, dissatisfaction concerning the 
 right of search ensued, when England, a few years later, 
 abused the concession. 
 
 By the treaty with Spain, the boundary between its prov 
 ince of Louisiana and the United States was amicably adjusted. 
 The free navigation of the Mississippi was secured to the 
 American government, together with the privilege, hitherto 
 withheld, of landing and depositing cargoes at New Orleans. 
 
 The wisdom manifested by Washington in thus administer 
 ing the political affairs of the nation, especially in deprecating 
 warfare with foreign powers, had resulted in a very marked 
 commercial prosperity, the amount of our exports having in 
 creased, during his eight years term, from 19 to 56 million 
 dollars. In his Farewell Address to the American people, 
 published in 1796, he calls upon them to cherish an unwaver 
 ing attachment for the union of the states, and ever to watch 
 for its preservation inviolate. As peculiarly hostile to re 
 publican liberty, he warns them against the maintenance of a 
 large military establishment. Believing the constitution to 
 have been wisely framed, he also cautions against any altera 
 tion of its provisions without positive necessity being ap 
 parent ; while party spirit he especially reprobates as being 
 inimical to the best interests of the people at large. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 
 17971809. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT. DISPUTES WITH 
 FRANCE. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the cautionary admonitions of Washing 
 ton, the conflict of parties continued greatly to agitate the 
 nation, the partisans of the two chief political divisions being 
 sharply divided not only upon various subjects of domestic 
 policy, but also with regard to the foreign relations of the na 
 tion. The Federalists were charged by their opposers with an 
 undue partiality for England, whilst the Republicans, on the 
 other hand, were accused of manifesting too strong a friendship 
 for France. As Washington declined to be a candidate for a 
 third term, the choice of the people for his successor in the 
 presidency, fell upon John Adams of Massachusetts, a Feder 
 alist. THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia, a Republican, was 
 chosen vice-president. 
 
 John Adams was of a Puritan family which had emigrated 
 from England to Massachusetts about twenty years after the 
 landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. He was a strong advo 
 cate of separation from the mother country, and, at the mem 
 orable Congress which assembled at Philadelphia in 1776, 
 was one of the committee appointed to draft the Declaration 
 of Independence, a duty, however, which principally de 
 volved on Jefferson. Adams was the first ambassador of the 
 United States to England. 
 
 p 29 337 
 
33 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1797 
 
 Jefferson was the son of a planter of Albemarle county, 
 Virginia. After the important part he had taken in the Con 
 gress of 1776, he became governor of Virginia, and was sub 
 sequently sent as minister to France. Adams, like Washington, 
 was in favor of a firm centralized government ; whilejefferson, 
 perhaps a stronger advocate of a republican government than 
 either of the former, favored more liberty for the individual 
 states. The reason why a president and vice-president of such 
 opposite political views were chosen, was because the then 
 method of balloting for those officers was for each elector to 
 vote for two persons ; he who received the highest number of 
 votes being elected president, and the second on the list, vice- 
 president. Many of the Federalists voted for Jefferson, in 
 stead of their own candidate for vice-president. 
 
 Immediately after their inauguration (3d month 4th, 1797) 
 the attention of the new incumbents was turned to the hostile 
 attitude of the French Directory, which, having failed to per 
 suade the American government to forsake its policy of neu 
 trality, was disposed to make its displeasure apparent. Re 
 fusing to receive Pinckney as minister, in place of Monroe, 
 until their demands should be complied with by the United 
 States, the president thereupon appointed three envoys-extra 
 ordinary to proceed to the French capital. Though they were 
 not officially received, the envoys were given to understand 
 that the payment of a considerable sum of money to Talley 
 rand, the minister of foreign relations, would open the wa^y to 
 negotiations with the Directory. As this method of inter 
 course was as unsatisfactory as it was dishonest, the envoys, 
 after several months spent in fruitless parleys, were recalled by 
 the president. 
 
 A war now seemed imminent. Washington was called once 
 more from his home on the Potomac and placed in command 
 of a provisional army, while the navy was increased, and began 
 measures of retaliation. A large French frigate, L Insurgent, 
 
i8oo] JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT. 339 
 
 was captured by the Constellation, commanded by Commo 
 dore Truxton. But at this crisis, the power of the Directory 
 was overthrown by Bonaparte, who, being willing to enter 
 into a negotiation with the United States, envoys were again 
 appointed to proceed to Paris. In the gth month (September), 
 1800, a treaty was signed, by which all matters in dispute were 
 amicably adjusted. Before the treaty was concluded, Wash 
 ington died at Mount Vernon the i4th day of the i2th month 
 (December), 1799, in the 68th year of his age. 
 
 The warlike measures adopted by Adams in the dispute with 
 France, had rendered him unpopular with many citizens, and 
 this feeling was increased by his approval of the " Sedition" 
 and "Alien" laws, which were considered as opposed to the 
 constitutional guarantee of personal liberty. By the Sedition 
 Law, any persons combining or conspiring together to oppose 
 the measures of the government, by means of any false or 
 scandalous writing, were punishable by a heavy fine and long 
 imprisonment. The Alien Act conferred authority upon the 
 president to banish any unnaturalized foreigner whom he 
 should consider dangerous to the peace and liberty of the 
 country. These restrictive measures were adopted to circum 
 vent the machinations of the French revolutionists, whose acts 
 were reprobated as partaking far more of unlimited license 
 than of true liberty. Similar Alien acts were passed by 
 the English parliament in 1792 and 1793, in consequence of 
 the great influx of strangers, many of them being political 
 adventurers suspected of sinister motives. 
 
 The year 1800 is also memorable as being that in which the 
 seat of the Federal government was removed from Philadel 
 phia to the city of Washington, in accordance with the law 
 passed by Congress in 1790. A small territory, the District 
 of Columbia, square in shape, and measuring ten miles on each 
 side, situated partly in the state of Virginia and partly in 
 Maryland, had been ceded by those states as the location for 
 
340 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1801 
 
 a permanent capital. The city was laid out under the direc 
 tion of General Washington, with streets from 90 to 120 feet 
 wide, and twenty "avenues" 130 to 160 feet in width. A 
 capitol and other public buildings having been erected, Con 
 gress assembled there for the first time in the nth month 
 (November), 1800. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, PRESIDENT. ACQUISITION OF LOUISI 
 ANA. A DUEL. WAR WITH TRIPOLI. 
 
 At the next presidential election, the result of a persistent 
 adherence to party candidates became apparent when the 
 electors chosen by the states (who together constitute the 
 temporary body styled the "electoral college"), having cast 
 their ballots, it was found that Thomas Jefferson and Aaron 
 Burr each had the same number of votes. Consequently, in 
 accordance with a constitutional provision, it became necessary 
 to refer the choice to the House of Representatives. Curiously 
 it happened, that the like result transpired there, Jefferson 
 and Burr receiving again an equal number of votes ; and it 
 was not until the 36th ballot had been taken, that the change 
 of one vote decided the contest for the presidency in favor of 
 Jefferson. 
 
 Jefferson s inaugural speech (1801) instead of being de 
 livered before the houses of Congress in person, as had been 
 done by Washington and Adams, was conveyed to those bodies 
 in the shape of a written message, a practice which was fol 
 lowed by his successors. To fill the important post of secre 
 tary of state, James Madison was appointed. The various 
 political offices of the country were, for the most part, trans 
 ferred to the adherents of the successful party. Thus was 
 begun that bad practice of substituting party favor for integrity 
 and ability, which has to this day proved so disastrous to the 
 best interests of the country. 
 
iSoo] ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA. 34I 
 
 The Alien and Sedition Laws were repealed by the new 
 administration, and the excise on whiskey abolished. By the 
 second census, the population of the United States was shown 
 to have increased from about four million in 1790, to five 
 million three hundred thousand; and the exports, from 19 
 to 94 million dollars. Ohio was admitted in 1802, the seven 
 teenth state of the Union, slavery being excluded. The 
 territory of this state, by virtue of the original grants from the 
 crown, had been claimed by both Connecticut and Virginia, 
 but those claims were now relinquished. During St. Glair s 
 governorship of the North-West Territory, Fort Washington 
 was built on the Ohio (1788), on the site of the future city of 
 CINCINNATI. 
 
 The most important event of the first term of President 
 Jefferson s administration, was the acquisition of the territory 
 of Louisiana, then included within boundaries many times 
 larger than is the present state of that name. This extensive 
 territory, which had been transferred by France to Spain in 
 1762, was ceded back to France in the year 1800. As a result 
 of the latter transfer, the permission which had been granted 
 by the Spanish authorities to United States citizens, of landing 
 merchandise at the port of New Orleans, was rescinded. Ap 
 prehensive that the commerce of the western rivers would be 
 ruined by this prohibition, Congress lost no time in repre 
 senting to the French court the serious loss which must ensue. 
 These representations having been made in a reasonable and 
 amicable spirit, the privilege was once more restored. 
 
 So obvious, however, was the desirability of obtaining con 
 trol of the Louisiana territory, and thus permanently assuring 
 the free navigation of the Mississippi river, that Congress, in 
 structed by the recent troublesome occurrence, opened nego 
 tiations with the French government for its purchase. The 
 proposal was acceded to. For the sum of fifteen million dol 
 lars, all the region included between the Mississippi river and 
 
 29* 
 
342 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1804 
 
 the Rocky Mountains was granted absolutely to the United 
 States. By this treaty, which was concluded at Paris in 1803, 
 the geographical area of the Republic was more than doubled. 
 (See map, page 405.) The State of Louisiana was admitted 
 into the Union in 1812. Although its staple, the sugar-cane, 
 was introduced in 1751, slow progress was made in cultivat 
 ing it until 1794, when the revolution in San Domingo drove 
 some Frenchmen to Louisiana, and by them was introduced 
 an improved smaller variety, the yellow Creole cane. 
 
 In the summer of 1804 occurred the death of Alexander 
 Hamilton in a duel with Aaron Burr, the vice-president. 
 Hamilton -had been the constant companion and counsellor 
 of Washington during the latter years of the Revolutionary war. 
 About the time of the framing of the constitution, he had pub 
 lished, under the title of " The Federalist," a series of notable 
 essays intended to vindicate the constitution from the various 
 objections which had been urged against it. As secretary of 
 the treasury during Washington s presidency, Hamilton had 
 acquired a reputation for ability which ranked him with the 
 greatest financiers. Upon the death of Washington, he be 
 came commander-in-chief of the army ; but, having incurred 
 the bitter resentment of the vice-president on account of some 
 published expressions which he refused either to retract or 
 deny, Burr sent him a challenge to mortal combat. 
 
 Aaron Burr, although a grandson of the good Jonathan 
 Edwards, and son of a clergyman (President Burr, of Prince 
 ton College), was himself a skeptic in religion. From his 
 youth he had evinced a love of intrigue and of the military 
 art, had gleaned from books all that could be learned of the 
 latter " profession," and prized the soldier s glory above any 
 other. After taking an active part in the war of the Revolu 
 tion, he became a practicing lawyer of New York city, in 
 reputation second to Hamilton, but opposed to him in politics 
 and always his rival. 
 
1804] HAMILTON KILLED BY BURR. 343 
 
 Hamilton, it is true, was well aware that he had given Burr 
 just cause of offence. He was ready to make a partial ac 
 knowledgment of his error, but an unworthy fear, the dread 
 of public opinion, forbade his acting that nobler part which 
 the line of duty called for. Thus, rather than submit to what 
 he esteemed to be a humiliation, Hamilton accepted the chal 
 lenge. He was not without warning of the miserable fate 
 which was likely to await him, for his own eldest son, had, 
 three years before, been shot in a duel which had arisen from 
 a political dispute in a theatre. 
 
 Early in the morning, without the knowledge of his wife and 
 children, Hamilton crossed the Hudson and landed beneath 
 the heights of Weehawken, where Burr and his companions 
 awaited him. Ten paces were stepped off, and pistols handed 
 to the combatants. At the first fire, Hamilton received his 
 death-wound. Burr and his accomplices fled, for the commu 
 nity branded the deed as that of murder. So great was the 
 sensation caused throughout the country by this lamentable 
 event, and so general became the inquiry as to the propriety 
 of countenancing so foolish a thing as duelling, that the prac 
 tice thenceforth fell very much into disrepute. 
 
 Formerly the wager of battle, or judicial combat, was a very 
 common method for asserting one s rights or redressing grievances, 
 it being superstitiously believed that the Almighty would favor the 
 arm of justice in all such contests. But the custom became eventu 
 ally merely a bloody method of obtaining " satisfaction" for insults 
 or injuries, real or imaginary. The French people, in times past, 
 have been especially partial to duelling ; and to sudi a great length 
 was the practice carried in the reign of Henry IV. that at least 4000 
 " honorable combatants" (so-called) perished thereby. 
 
 While it is true that the nation at large was shamed at this 
 public exhibition of the enmity of two prominent citizens, as 
 well as appalled at the sorrowful result of their method of 
 proving the right, no such sentiment was apparent respecting a 
 
344 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, [1804 
 
 dispute which prevailed at the same time respecting the Med 
 iterranean state of TRIPOLI. As a Roman province, Tripoli 
 obtained its designation from the fact that its three principal 
 cities (tri poli) were leagued together. Of one of these cities 
 the emperor Septimius Severus was a native. In common with 
 the rest of north Africa, Tripoli succumbed to the Moham 
 medan sway, and in the i6th century became a part of the 
 Turkish empire. The inhabitants of the coast, acquiring a 
 taste for piratical pursuits, made themselves obnoxious to 
 maritime nations having commerce in those parts. American 
 merchant-vessels had suffered from these depredations, and 
 their crews had been held in bondage. 
 
 The Tripolitan government, in reply to the remonstrance 
 which was made, demanded the payment of tribute. This, 
 the United States refused to accede to, and, not thinking it 
 worth while to parley long with a semi-barbarous, non-christian 
 nation, despatched three armed vessels under Commodore 
 Dale, to the Mediterranean. These blockaded the port of 
 Tripoli, and prevented the cruisers from leaving. A larger 
 fleet of seven sail, under Commodore Preble, also proceeded 
 to the same locality ; but one of the frigates, the Philadelphia, 
 ran aground in the harbor, and, being captured by the Tripoli- 
 tans, the officers and crew were either imprisoned or treated 
 as slaves. The vessel was soon afterward set on fire and de 
 stroyed by a small force under Stephen Decatur. This oc 
 curred early in the year 1804. 
 
 A year later, William Eaton, who had held the post of 
 American consul at Tunis, obtained permission of his govern 
 ment to participate in the war. He took command of several 
 hundred troops raised in Egypt by Hamet, an older and ex 
 pelled brother of the Pasha of Tripoli, and marched with 
 them across the desert, many toilsome leagues to the seaport 
 of Derne. This Tripolitan town he captured, and, receiving 
 the co-operation of the fleet, the war was brought to a close 
 
I8o7] MACHINATIONS OF BURR. 345 
 
 within two months. An exchange of prisoners was agreed 
 upon ; likewise that the wife and children of Hamet should 
 be given up to him. But the Americans, having accomplished 
 their object, withdrew any further support of Hamet s rightful 
 claim to the governorship of the province. 
 
 MACHINATIONS OF BURR. BERLIN AND MILAN DECREES. 
 THE EMBARGO ACT. 
 
 At the autumn election of 1805, Jefferson was a second 
 time, and by a large majority, elected president. GEORGE 
 CLINTON, of New York, was chosen vice-president. Aaron 
 Burr, disappointed in his aspirations for office, and shunned 
 as a murderer by many of his countrymen, now began to de 
 velop his innate love of intrigue in a manner very disturbing 
 to the tranquillity of the country. He conceived the nefarious 
 design of attempting the conquest of Mexico, purposing the 
 establishment of a royal government, with a court where his 
 daughter Theodosia might preside, and her little son figure as 
 the heir-apparent to the throne. As preliminary to the main 
 object of the enterprise, a large section of land on the Washita 
 river, comprising several hundred thousand acres, was pur 
 chased as a rendezvous for Burr s followers in case the scheme 
 was delayed, and, by the possession of which, they might at 
 least be temporarily rewarded. 
 
 Burr s chief coadjutor was Herman Blennerhassett, the pro 
 prietor of a long and narrow island in the Ohio, some distance 
 below Marietta. Upon the improvement and adornment of 
 this romantic island-domain, Blennerhassett had expended a 
 considerable fortune ; and now, being nearly bankrupt, his 
 imagination was dazzled by the adventurous project of Burr, 
 and he did all in his power to promote it. Barges were built 
 at Marietta (1807), and bands of the associate marauders were 
 beginning to assemble, when the undertaking was exposed, 
 p* 
 
346 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, [r8o6 
 
 and Burr, being apprehended, was taken to Richmond for 
 trial before Chief-Justice Marshall. He was arraigned on the 
 double charge of a misdemeanor in undertaking to make war 
 upon the dominions of the king of Spain, and of treason in 
 organizing an armed force for the purpose of seizing New 
 Orleans and of separating the Western from the Atlantic 
 states. Notwithstanding there was no doubt whatever in 
 people s minds as to his culpability, he was released upon the 
 ground that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a con 
 viction. 
 
 Meanwhile, the war which was raging in Europe, had resulted 
 in great benefit to the commerce of the United States, whose 
 interest it was to extend the privileges of neutrality, and thus 
 to reap on all sides a rich harvest out of the gains of the 
 carrying trade. On the other hand, it was the object of 
 part of the contestants to contract the rights claimed by 
 neutrals, that thereby their opponents might be debarred from 
 the "aid and comfort" which, to a certain extent, these 
 neutrals were enabled to afford. For, although articles " con 
 traband of war," such as warlike stores and weapons, are for 
 bidden by the Law of Nations to be carried in neutral vessels, 
 yet frequently, equal or greater aid may be afforded, by 
 furnishing other products specially needed by either of the 
 contestants. 
 
 While the United States, having thus become the great 
 neutral trader among the European nations, was exulting over 
 the flourishing state of its commerce, the British government, 
 in the spring of 1806, issued a declaration that all the ports 
 and rivers from the port of Brest in France to the river Elbe 
 in Germany, were in a state of blockade by the fleet of Eng 
 land, and that any vessels which might be found trading 
 within those limits would be liable to seizure and condemna 
 tion. In a few months Napoleon retaliated by issuing from 
 Berlin his "Berlin Decree," declaring the British Islands 
 
iSoy l EMBARGO ACT. 347 
 
 themselves in a state of blockade, and thus forbidding the 
 Americans, or any other neutrals, to trade therewith, under the 
 same penalty as the foregoing. 
 
 Next, in 1807, appeared the "British Orders in Council," 
 which were orders not promulgated, as was customary, by 
 authority of parliament, but by the king s privy council on 
 its own responsibility. Issued in retaliation for the Berlin 
 Decree, they prohibited all neutral vessels from having any 
 intercourse with France or any of her allies, unless they first 
 touched at some British port and paid customs-dues there. 
 But the French were not to be outdone in the repayment of 
 injuries; and accordingly, near the end of 1807, Napoleon 
 published his " Milan Decree." It declared not only the 
 British Islands, but also all of the British dominions, to be in 
 a state of blockade ; and, moreover, forbade all countries 
 trading with each other in any articles of English manufacture. 
 Furthermore, any vessel of a neutral nation which submitted 
 to being searched by the English, would be liable to seizure 
 and condemnation, the same as though it was actually an 
 English vessel. 
 
 To prevent the wholesale destruction of American shipping 
 which must follow the operation of the foregoing acts, Con 
 gress, upon the recommendation of President Jefferson, laid 
 an embargo on all the merchant vessels of the country. This 
 was also intended as a retaliatory measure against the bellig 
 erents, and especially against British manufacturers, whose 
 wares at that time of war were largely carried to the ports of 
 other neutral nations in American vessels. 
 
 But the Embargo Act met with much opposition, particu 
 larly in the Atlantic seaports, whose shippers preferred risking 
 the loss of their vessels to being debarred from trade alto 
 gether. Necessarily, great loss and distress were entailed 
 upon the farmers and planters, the home-market being soon 
 supplied at low rates, while the excess could not be disposed 
 
343 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1807 
 
 of; and since the demand had thus so greatly fallen off, it 
 resulted that a great many people were deprived of employ 
 ment. Upon the cotton planters and rice producers, the 
 embargo fell heavily. 
 
 Finally, the injury being so apparent, Congress, in 1809, 
 substituted a law prohibiting intercourse with Great Britain 
 and France, and confiscating any vessels of those countries 
 (their cargoes included) which should enter United States 
 ports ; with a proviso, that if either of those nations would 
 revoke their orders or decrees, intercourse with such nation 
 would at once be resumed. In the course of the following 
 year, Napoleon issued still a third edict, called the " Decree 
 of Rambouillet," confiscating American vessels found in 
 French ports ; to which the Americans could make no very 
 great objection, as it was of a like nature with their own con 
 fiscations under the non-intercourse act. Immediately after 
 ward, Napoleon repealed the Milan and Berlin decrees, and 
 accordingly trade with France was resumed. 
 
 Commerce is, or ought to be, a great conservator of international 
 peace. " Commerce has no country but the world, no patriotism 
 but an earnest interest in the well-being of all the nations. Its 
 genius in this respect, runs parallel with the genius of Christianity, 
 though in a lower course just as subterranean rivers run parallel 
 with those that show their silver currents to the sun: Commerce 
 repudiates war as an outrage upon its domain. It will not obey 
 the laws of war, nor recognize any nation as an enemy with which 
 it has or may have intercourse." (Burritt.) 
 
 THE RIGHT OF SEARCH. 
 
 The French government well knew of Jefferson s dislike to 
 England, and was only too anxious that provocations should 
 arise which would precipitate the United States into a war 
 with that power. It was the hope of the French emperor 
 that if the British government now refused to annul its edicts 
 
1807] THE RIGHT OF SEARCH. 349 
 
 against neutrals, the United States would manifest its resent 
 ment. The maxims of war are by no means in accord with 
 the honorable and generous feeling which teaches us to "re 
 joice not when thine enemy falleth, and [to] let not thine 
 heart be glad when he stumbleth;" but contrariwise, suggest 
 pleasure and stimulus in every occasion of disaster and error. 
 The occasion for which the French waited was even then op 
 erating, in the resentment manifested by the Americans at 
 the right which the British claimed, of searching American 
 vessels for British seamen. 
 
 This claim of the right of impressment was complicated by 
 differences in the laws of the two countries upon the subject of 
 naturalization. In the United States it is sufficient for this 
 purpose that an alien should have resided five years in the 
 country, and have declared before a magistrate his intention 
 of becoming a citizen ; and on the other hand, if a native- 
 born American desires to be adopted as the citizen of another 
 nation, he is at liberty to renounce allegiance to the land of 
 his birth. England, however, did not at that time consider 
 that its citizens could so expatriate themselves ; but that 
 having once been subjects they must always remain so. If, 
 therefore, the British government, in its search for deserting 
 seamen, could find any whom it could show had been born in 
 England (notwithstanding the United States had granted them 
 . the rights of citizenship), they became liable to impressment 
 into the British service. Considering the similarity of lan 
 guage and appearance between the people of the two nations, 
 it is apparent that the difficulties in the way of identification 
 were indeed great, and, without exceeding caution, must lead 
 to disputes of a serious character. 
 
 Hitherto, the practice of searching for British seamen had 
 been confined to private vessels ; but, in the summer of 1807, 
 the American frigate Chesapeake was overhauled off the ca^es 
 of Virginia by an English frigate, the Leopard, and four sea- 
 
 30 
 
35 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1807 
 
 men, who had deserted from the British service, were ordered 
 to be given up. The American commander (Barren) refusing 
 the demand, the Leopard fired a broadside into the Chesa 
 peake, when, a number of the Americans having been killed 
 and wounded, the requisition was acceded to. The four sea 
 men were surrendered, and the Leopard proceeded on her 
 course. In the heat of the excitement produced by this arbi 
 trary proceeding, but without waiting to hear what the Eng 
 lish government had to say about the matter, Jefferson issued 
 a proclamation commanding all English war-vessels imme 
 diately to leave the harbors and waters of the United States. 
 
 Before this hostile act on the part of the British occurred, 
 James Monroe, the American minister at London, had been 
 endeavoring to negotiate a new treaty in lieu of the one of 
 1794. The latter, Jefferson strongly disapproved of, because 
 it did not forbid the right of impressment. The British gov 
 ernment, while it refused to make an express declaration 
 disclaiming this right, professed a willingness to have such an 
 understanding upon the subject as would place it "on ground 
 which it was both safe and honorable for the United States to 
 admit," that is, that the right should not be taken advantage 
 of except very cautiously, and in such cases only as would be 
 satisfactory to both parties. There is reason to believe that 
 if this treaty had been concluded, the War of 1812 would not 
 have occurred. The president declined to submit it to the 
 Senate for ratification. 
 
 Soon after the news of the affair of the Leopard and Chesa 
 peake had reached England, and Monroe had made formal 
 complaint concerning it, the British government sent an 
 envoy to America to adjust the difficulty. He came with 
 instructions, however, that before anything could be done, Jef 
 ferson must first recall his proclamation. The envoy stated that 
 the fact of his being thus sent over to reconcile the difference 
 was evidence of the amicable disposition of his government, 
 
1807] THE RIGHT OF SEARCH. 351 
 
 and therefore that the president s edict against the British 
 vessels, which had been issued so precipitately, ought not to 
 continue in force. The envoy would not deviate from his 
 instructions, and since Jefferson refused to comply therewith, 
 the mission of the British minister failed, and with it a second 
 opportunity of ending the difficulties. 
 
 Although, as stated, undue precipitancy had been exhibited 
 by the United States with respect to the negotiations, yet no 
 extenuation is intended to be offered for the manner in which 
 the British government, either on its own soil or upon the 
 high seas, enforced the harsh provisions of its law of impress 
 ment. This law, which permitted men of its mercantile ma 
 rine to be pressed into the naval service upon occasions of 
 urgency, was the frequent cause of very great distress and 
 hardship. So great were the necessities of the war with Na 
 poleon, that press-gangs were constantly occupied in securing 
 recruits, and their appearance came to be as much dreaded as 
 would have been that of the French themselves. Seafaring 
 men, and sometimes landsmen as well, whose homes were in 
 the coast-towns of Britain, were often made drunk or knocked 
 down, gagged, bound and carried on board war-ships to serve 
 for five years or more, without pretence of right. A British 
 privateer, encountering a war-ship flying the flag of the same 
 nation, would crowd all sail to effect its escape, lest part of the 
 crew should be summarily impressed into the regular service. 
 Therefore, as the navy rather than the army of Britain was her 
 chief dependence, it will be perceived that, to maintain its 
 efficiency, she was not always scrupulous to respect the rights 
 either of her own subjects or those of her late dependencies. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 WAR WITH ENGLAND DURING MADISON S ADMINIS 
 TRATION. 
 
 1809 -1817. 
 
 NEGOTIATIONS WITH ENGLAND. TECUMSEH. 
 
 IN the spring of 1809, James Madison, of Virginia, who 
 had been Jefferson s secretary of state during both his terms 
 of office, succeeded to the presidency in accordance with the 
 popular verdict. The new administration began auspiciously, 
 for, in the month succeeding Madison s inauguration, an 
 agreement was made with David Erskine, the British minister 
 at Washington, that if his government would repeal its ob 
 noxious Orders in Council, the non-intercourse act would be 
 revoked on the part of the United States. This was mutually 
 assented to, and proclamation was immediately made by the 
 president to that effect. 
 
 But, unfortunately, Erskine had exceeded his instructions, 
 having no power to make such a treaty without the ratification 
 of his government, which accordingly disavowed his act. 
 Francis J. Jackson was sent hither to supersede him. Instead 
 of endeavoring calmly and candidly to adjust the real diffi 
 culties at issue, a fruitless correspondence ensued between 
 Jackson and our secretary of state, as to the extent of the 
 powers with which Erskine had been invested. Jackson 
 having twice intimated that the American government knew 
 that Erskine was exceeding his powers, the secretary refused 
 352 
 
i8ii] NEGOTIATIONS WITH ENGLAND. 353 
 
 further correspondence, and the minister was dismissed. 
 The newspapers accusing him of insulting the government, 
 the popular resentment was roused to such a degree that it 
 was considered hardly safe for him to travel through the 
 country. 
 
 Thus were the purposes of peace a third time defeated, and 
 the happiness of a nation of seven million people again put 
 in jeopardy because of a misapprehension, which, it must be 
 admitted, was of comparatively little importance. The con 
 troversy in regard to the Chesapeake was, however, adjusted 
 in 1811, four years after the occurrence; the British govern 
 ment agreeing to make reparation to the families of the sea 
 men who were killed and wounded, and to restore the two 
 sailors (surviving of the four) who had been taken. But the 
 good effect of this adjustment was neutralized by another 
 exciting and disastrous naval encounter, namely, that between 
 the American frigate President and the British sloop-of-war 
 Little Belt. Like the first, it occurred off the Virginia capes ; 
 the British vessel was disabled, and 32 of her men killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 In the year 1811, there arose into prominence the cele 
 brated Indian chief and orator, TECUMSEH, of the tribe of 
 the Shawnees. He and his brother the "Prophet," had set 
 tled on the Wabash river, in the land of the Miamis, upon a 
 tract which the latter nation at this time ceded to the United 
 States. Tecumseh declared the transfer was not good with 
 out his consent, and that the acquiescence of all the chiefs of 
 the tribes of the Ohio and the Lakes was essential to make a 
 valid title. In a council held with General HARRISON, gov 
 ernor of the Indiana Territory, the chief insisted upon retain 
 ing the land ; to which the governor replied that his words 
 would be reported to the president, and that he was confident 
 the land would not be relinquished by his government, but 
 would be maintained by the sword. 
 
 30* 
 
354 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1812 
 
 Aided by the wily representations of the Prophet, who, 
 pretending to a direct commission from the Great Spirit, ex 
 ercised a remarkable influence even over distant tribes, Te- 
 cumseh was enabled to gather a large force on the banks of 
 the Wabash river, near its confluence with the Tippecanoe. 
 Here, in the absence of their chief, the Indians were met 
 by a body of troops led against them by Governor Harri 
 son. The Prophet assumed command of the natives, not in 
 deed by mingling in the encounter, but by the performance 
 of conjurations on an eminence near the battle-ground. But 
 the jugglery failed of its intended effects, for the Indians, 
 though they inflicted some loss upon the whites, were obliged 
 to retreat. 
 
 In the following year (1812) Fort Harrison on the Wabash, 
 was besieged by Tecumseh s bands. Governor Shelby, of 
 Kentucky, issued a call for volunteers, who, uniting with 
 those raised in the Indiana and Illinois territories, relieved 
 the fort, and thence started on an expedition to destroy the 
 villages of the Kickapoos and Peorias. The Indians being 
 closely pursued, set fire to the long, dry prairie grass, so that 
 the flames advancing rapidly with the wind toward the militia, 
 threatened them with destruction ; but by employing the de 
 vice of the "back-fire," often resorted to on the prairies 
 during such perils, they escaped the danger. The militia and 
 most of the officers becoming dissatisfied with the expedition, 
 notified the commanding general that they would go no 
 farther, and, despite his orders, they returned home. A suc 
 ceeding expedition, however, a few weeks later, was success 
 ful in destroying the Prophet s town and a Kickapoo village. 
 In the war which now began with the English, Tecumseh, 
 taking part with the latter, was made a general, and was in 
 strumental in rendering them important service. 
 
I8i2] WAR DECLARED. 355 
 
 1812. WAR DECLARED. DETROIT AND NIAGARA. OPPOSITION 
 TO THE WAR. 
 
 War was formally declared against Great Britain by the 
 president, the i8th day of 6th month (June), 1812 ; but the 
 vote by which the measure passed Congress was far from 
 unanimous, less than two-thirds of the members giving their 
 voice in its favor. 
 
 Although the commercial losses of the country consequent 
 upon the Orders in Council and the Decrees, had been very 
 great as many as 900 vessels having been condemned within 
 the preceding eight years yet the national debt by reason of 
 economy in the administration, had been reduced one-half. 
 This reduction was especially owing to the curtailment of the 
 army and navy; the army in 1808, being composed of but 3000 
 men. The same year, however, it was ordered to be increased 
 to 9000, and afterward to 25,000. This did not include the 
 militia of the states, which the president was authorized to 
 call upon to the extent of 100,000 men. General DEARBORN 
 was. appointed commander-in -chief. 
 
 Only five days after the declaration of war, the British gov 
 ernment, unaware of the promulgation of that hostile decree, 
 repealed its Orders in Council. The real reason for the revoca 
 tion, was the continued interdiction of American commerce 
 with England. The loss of the promising trade with this 
 country, added to the onerous burden of taxation imposed to 
 carry on the continental wars, produced a degree of distress 
 in the British manufacturing districts, which was becoming 
 almost intolerable. Apprehensive of the still greater miseries 
 which must ensue if an American war really occurred, the 
 manufacturers raised their voices in protest, and the Orders in 
 Council were finally annulled, but, as we have seen, a few 
 days too late to arrest the whirlwind of war. 
 
 The contest began with but little enthusiasm, for many of 
 
356 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1812 
 
 the American people believed that the aggressions of France 
 had been equally as great as those of England, and, that either 
 there should have been no fighting at all, or that France also 
 should have been declared an enemy. 
 
 The first movements of the American army proved signally 
 disastrous. General HULL, the governor of Michigan terri 
 tory, had command at Detroit of about 2000 troops. Upon 
 the Canada side of the Detroit river, where its waters flow 
 into Lake Erie, was the British fort at Maiden. Hull crossed 
 the river, and was about to attack the fort, when he became 
 alarmed at some successes of the Indians under Tecumseh ; 
 and, having heard also of the arrival of General Brock, the 
 British commander, concluded to retire again to Detroit. 
 Here, being quickly besieged by Brock s forces, and doubting 
 his ability to make a successful resistance, fearful also of an 
 Indian massacre, Hull agreed to a capitulation, 8th month 
 (August) 1 6th. 
 
 At Niagara, a body of regular troops and of New York state 
 militia under General Van Rensselaer, crossed the Niagara 
 river, purposing an invasion of Canada. They advanced a 
 few miles, as far as the heights of Queenstown, but, un 
 able to withstand the onset of the British and Indians, were 
 forced to surrender. Brock, the British commander, was 
 killed in the engagement. Van Rensselaer s successor re 
 newed the attempt at invasion, but the movement only resulted 
 in another capitulation. Upon the ocean, however, the navy of 
 the Americans met with several successes. The chief of these 
 were the capture of the British frigate Guerriere, off the banks 
 of Newfoundland, by the American frigate Constitution com 
 manded by Captain Hull; the capture of the Macedonian, a 
 British frigate, by Commodore Decatur s vessel the United 
 States, near the Azores ; and also, off the coast of Brazil, the 
 capture of the British frigate Java by the Constitution, then 
 in command of Commodore Bainbridge. 
 
i Si 2] THE WAR OPPOSED. 3-7 
 
 Large numbers of vessels, owned by private individuals, were 
 likewise fitted out to depredate upon the commerce, and to contend 
 with the navy of Britain. During the year 1812, about 250 British 
 vessels and 3000 prisoners were taken by the American privateers. 
 These vessels, which sailed under the sanction of the government, 
 were provided with letters of marqite, or, commissions to make war 
 upon and seize the property of their enemies. An act of war by a 
 private vessel, without such a commission, was held to be piracy ; 
 but in 1856, by the treaty of Paris, privateering itself was declared 
 to be an offence against the law of nations, and was thereupon abol 
 ished. The United States, however, was not a party to that treaty. 
 
 Much opposition to the prosecution of the war was mani 
 fested during the year. By the Connecticut assembly a dec 
 laration was passed that " they believe it to be the deliberate 
 and solemn sense of the people of these states, that the war was 
 unnecessary ;" and, referring to the disposition to attempt the 
 conquest of Canada, that " a spirit of acquisition and exten 
 sion of territory appears to influence the councils of the na 
 tion." Requisitions being made by the president upon the 
 governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut, to furnish their 
 quotas of militia, and to have them placed under regular 
 officers of the army, objection was made that, although power 
 is given by the constitution to Congress to call out the militia 
 of a state, in cases of insurrection or invasion, yet no such 
 exigency of fnvasion as yet existed. They also objected, that 
 the men would be deprived of their constitutional right to 
 be commanded by their own officers, and, being placed under 
 the control of officers of the regular army, would be liable 
 to be shut up in garrisons or sent out of the state to distant 
 points of military operations, such as the attempted conquest 
 of Canada, or wheresoever the president or General Dearborn 
 might see fit to designate. The seacoast, they said, would 
 then be undefended and their ports exposed to the depreda 
 tions of the English navy. 
 
 This controversy was morally valuable for two reasons, to 
 
35 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1813 
 
 wit : in manifesting the repugnance of the people to a large 
 standing army ; and also, as exhibiting a cautious disposition 
 against readily furnishing troops upon calls of exigency, which 
 might be wrongfully used for purposes of ambition, despotism 
 or conquest. 
 
 1813. OPERATIONS ON THE CANADA FRONTIER. RED JACKET 
 AND CORNPLANTER. CREEK WAR. 
 
 The election of James Madison to a second presidential 
 term, indicated that, unpopular as the war was in some quar 
 ters, it was the wish of the majority that it should be contin 
 ued. In -the beginning of the year the army was disposed in 
 three divisions : the westernmost, under General Harrison, 
 was near the west end of Lake Erie ; the centre, under Dear 
 born, was at the east end of the lake ; while the third, com 
 manded by General HAMPTON, was in the neighborhood of 
 Lake Champlain. 
 
 In the latter part of the First month, at a time of severe 
 cold and when the ground was covered with snow, a detach 
 ment of Harrison s force under General Winchester, was sur 
 prised at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, by a party of British 
 under Colonel Proctor, assisted by a thousand Indians led by 
 Roundhead, a Wyandotte chief. Winchester was taken pris 
 oner by Roundhead himself; but his men having laid down 
 their arms, many of the wounded, in the absence of Proctor, 
 were massacred by the Indians, and the village set on fire. 
 
 In the spring, Proctor advanced against Fort Meigs at the 
 rapids of the Miami, where Harrison was posted ; but, 
 although several hundred Americans were killed in an am 
 buscade laid for them by Tectimseh, the British commander 
 failed to secure possession of the fort, and retreated to his 
 headquarters at Maiden, on the Canada side of the Detroit 
 river. 
 
 The confederacy of the Six Nations and some other tribes 
 
1813] RED JACKET AND CORNPLANTER. 359 
 
 of Indians, took part with the Americans in their contest with 
 the British. Prominent in the councils of the Senecas, were 
 the chiefs RED JACKET and CORNPLANTER. Red Jacket, who 
 was renowned for his oratory, resided near Buffalo. His best 
 known speech was one delivered several years previous to the 
 war, upon the occasion of the visit of a missionary, who de 
 sired a conference of the chiefs and warriors. In narrating 
 their grievances at the hands of the whites, Red Jacket said 
 " Wars took place, Indians were hired to fight against Indians, 
 and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought 
 strong liquors among us : it was strong and powerful and has 
 slain thousands." And in dismissing the missionary, he said: 
 "Brother, we have been told that you have been preaching 
 to white people in this place : these people are our neighbors 
 we are acquainted with them we will wait a little while 
 and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find 
 it does them good, makes them honest and less disposed to 
 cheat Indians, we will then consider again what you have 
 said." 
 
 When, in 1813, Red Jacket concluded to take up the hatchet, he 
 told the American agent that it was only to defend their homes in 
 a contest, with the bringing on of which the Indians had nothing to 
 do. In after life this celebrated chief, who had once been noted for 
 the dignity of his presence and his eloquence and wisdom in council, 
 became a drunken sot, remaining to the last opposed to the preach 
 ing of Christianity to his nation. 
 
 Cornplanter, who was a half-breed, was of a more peaceable 
 disposition than Red Jacket, his rival. Devoting himself to 
 labors for the benefit of his people, he took no active part in 
 the war. Unlike Red Jacket, while he deplored the evils of 
 intemperance, he was not himself overcome by the thirst for 
 strong drink. On the contrary, he exerted himself to suppress 
 its use, and therein was a good example to his followers, as he 
 was never known to have been intoxicated. Furthermore, he 
 
3 6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1813 
 
 was a total abstainer. "The Great Spirit," he said, "has 
 ordered me to quit drinking any intoxicating drink." He 
 encouraged the benevolent efforts of the missionaries among 
 his people, yet made no profession of Christianity, probably 
 having more regard for the civilizing effects of the white man s 
 mode of living than for any looked-for good through change 
 of heart. He stumbled at a religion which professed to be a 
 peaceful one, while it apparently permitted the brethren to 
 shed each others blood. 
 
 Cornplanter received an allotment of land on the upper Alleghany, 
 just south of the New York border, where he built a village and 
 followed the pursuits of agricultural life. H.e attained the ripe age 
 of one hundred years. "It was gratifying to notice," said a visitor 
 in 1816, "the agricultural habits of the place, and the numerous 
 enclosures of buckwheat, corn and oats. We saw also a number 
 of oxen, cows and horses, and many logs designed for the saw-mill 
 and the Pittsburg market." The reservations of the Senecas are 
 still extant, and have long been evidence that the aboriginal Indian 
 life is susceptible of radical alteration and improvement. 
 
 The operations of Harrison and Proctor, in the locality of 
 Detroit, have already been alluded to. General Dearborn, 
 about the same time, made an effort to invade Canada, having 
 landed a small army at York (now Toronto) on the northern 
 shore of Lake Ontario. But the attempt at invasion proving 
 unsuccessful, the troops returned to Niagara. Another expe 
 dition, which proceeded from Sackett s Harbor, at the eastern 
 end of the lake, likewise failed in an attempt to reach Mont 
 real. The British general, PREVOST, relieved of the fear of 
 attack, then advanced on Niagara, captured the place, and, 
 in retaliation for the burning of a Canada village by the 
 Americans, despoiled the country around the fort for several 
 miles, and laid several settlements in ashes. One of these was 
 BUFFALO, then a mere village. 
 
 On Lake Erie, the American fleet of nine vessels, com- 
 
1813] BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 361 
 
 manded by Commodore Perry, engaged and captured, pth 
 month (September) roth, the British squadron of nearly equal 
 force, after a severe conflict of three hours. This result gave 
 the Americans entire control of the lake, and consequently 
 afforded them ready entrance into Canada. Harrison at once 
 occupied Maiden and Detroit, and advancing into Canada as 
 far as the Moravian village on the Thames, a distance of 80 
 miles, gave battle to the forces of Proctor and Tecumseh. 
 The scene of this engagement was a swamp near the river, 
 skirted by a thick woodland. The ground was well-chosen 
 for the display of Indian tactics, but Tecumseh having received 
 his death-wound while the battle was at its height, his warriors 
 fled, and were followed by such of the British as could elude 
 capture. The Ottawas, Miamis and several other tribes, dis 
 heartened at the death of their great chieftain, entered into a 
 treaty of peace and alliance with General Harrison. 
 
 On the ocean, there were several severe naval encounters, the 
 earliest of which was that between the American ship Hornet, 
 commanded by Captain Lawrence, and the British war-sloop 
 Peacock. The latter vessel was captured, but it sank while 
 the wounded were being removed. Lawrence being afterward 
 placed in command of the frigate Chesapeake, sailed out of 
 Boston harbor in chase of the British frigate Shannon. The 
 Chesapeake proving to be no match for its opponent, was 
 obliged to surrender. Lawrence and most of his officers were 
 killed. In the Irish sea, the American sloop-of-war Argus, 
 was captured by the British sloop Pelican, the commander of 
 the former being mortally wounded. Finally, off Portland 
 harbor, two hostile brigs, the Enterprise and Boxer, came 
 into fierce collision, and, both commanders having been 
 killed, the British vessel (the Boxer) surrendered. Of these 
 two commanders who went down to death together, each 
 guilty of the other s blood, an account says that "their bodies 
 were received at Portland with tokens of the highest respect." 
 Q 31 
 
362 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1814 
 
 What a mockery of the divine-given precept to "Love your 
 enemies," seems the bestowal of such honor as this ! 
 
 In the meantime, troubles arose with the Creek Indians 
 inhabiting the territory of the Alabama. None of the Indian 
 tribes was more advanced in civilization than was this nation. 
 They were estimated to number 25,000 persons, and were 
 mostly engaged in the pursuits of agriculture, being also skilled 
 in weaving and in some of the simpler sorts of handicraft. 
 Animated by the bad counsels of one of their number, called 
 WEATHERFORD, they followed the example of Tecumseh in a 
 hopeless attempt to rid their country of the whites. Their 
 first serious onslaught was directed against Fort Mimms, sit 
 uated in the Tensau district, north of the gulf of Mobile. 
 The Creek warriors, entering the open gate of the fort, which 
 had been left unguarded, were met by the garrison, when a 
 terrible scene of confusion and carnage ensued. Knives, 
 tomahawks, swords and bayonets, did their deadly work, until 
 only 17 out of the 275 persons within the works remained 
 alive. Of those who were killed, many were women and 
 children. 
 
 "Blood for blood" was the cry that arose when the news 
 of this massacre was received. Troops from Tennessee, 
 Georgia and Mississippi, under Generals Jackson, Coffee and 
 others, were quickly on the march toward the Alabama country. 
 Battles were fought at Talladega, Autossee, and other places, 
 all of which resulted in the discomfiture of the Indians, until 
 finally, in the spring of 1814, they made a stand at Tohopeka 
 called by the whites the "Horse-shoe Bend" of the Tal- 
 lapoosa. It is north-east of the present city of Montgomery. 
 The Indians, about a thousand in number, had thrown up a 
 breastwork across the entrance to the peninsula. But Jack 
 son was, as he wrote, "determined to exterminate them," 
 and, having surrounded the bend with a cavalry force so that 
 none of them could escape by crossing the river, he com- 
 
i8i4] BATTLES NEAR NIAGARA. 363 
 
 manded the breast-work to be stormed. The resistance of 
 the Indians proving ineffectual, their extermination began : 
 550 were killed on the peninsula, and many who endeavored 
 to cross the river were shot down by the mounted troops, so 
 that it was not believed that more than 20 of the warriors 
 escaped. " We continued," wrote Jackson, in his report, 
 " to destroy many who had concealed themselves under the 
 banks of the river, until we were prevented by night: this 
 morning we killed 16 who had been concealed." The Creek 
 nation made peace, according to the terms dictated by their 
 conquerors, ceding the larger part of their territory to the 
 United States. General Jackson was rewarded by receiving 
 the appointment of commander of the forces at New Orleans. 
 
 1814. BATTLES NEAR NIAGARA AND PLATTSBURG. WASHING 
 TON CITY TAKEN. HARTFORD CONVENTION. 
 
 The downfall of Napoleon and the partial pacification of Eu 
 rope, enabled the British government to detach a greater force 
 than previously, for the protection of Canada: consequently, 
 in the beginning of 1814, an army of 14,000 men who had 
 fought with Wellington in Spain, was embarked at Bordeaux, 
 to join the army gf Sir George Prevost in Canada. The 
 English naval force was likewise increased, and was ordered 
 to effectually blockade the Atlantic coast of the Republic, and 
 to devastate the sea-coast cities as occasion should permit. 
 
 In the yth month (July) an American army of 3500 men 
 under General Brown, crossed the Niagara river, and obtained 
 possession of the British post of Fort Erie. The Americans 
 then advanced along the west bank of the Niagara to the mouth 
 of the Chippewa river, where they encountered a strong force 
 of the British, commanded by General Rial!. The battle of 
 Chippewa, which ensued, terminated in favor of the Ameri 
 cans, the British commander being obliged to fall back until 
 
3 6 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1814 
 
 he reached Fort George, where he was reinforced by General 
 Drummond. His army then amounting to 5000 men, Riall 
 advanced to Queenstown and thence to Lundy s Lane, where 
 a hard-fought battle took place, in which the thunder of artil 
 lery, the curses of the combatants, the shrieks and groans of 
 the wounded and dying, mingled with the roar of the adjacent 
 cataract. Finally, the Americans, after great sacrifice of life, 
 obtained possession of an important fortified eminence, and 
 being successful in other directions, obliged their opponents 
 to give way. The British generals Riall and Drummond, 
 were both wounded ; so also, on the side of the Americans, 
 were Generals Brown and WINFIELD SCOTT, beside over fifty 
 of their officers. The command of the American army then 
 devolved upon General Ripley, who retreated to Fort Erie. 
 The British endeavored to dislodge the Americans from the 
 fort, but the attempt did not succeed. 
 
 While these active operations were transpiring along the 
 Niagara river, Prevost with a formidable army had invaded 
 the territory of the United States, and, marching down the 
 west side of Lake Champlain, had laid siege to Plattsburg. 
 Before attempting to capture the place, Prevost awaited the 
 result of the contest between the British and American squad 
 rons, both of which had taken positions in Plattsburg bay. 
 The British fleet was commanded by Commodore Downie, the 
 American by Commander Macdonough. The engagement, 
 which happened pth month (September) nth, resulted in the 
 defeat and capture of the British vessels ; whereupon Prevost 
 withdrew his army from before Plattsburg, and, leaving be 
 hind him a large quantity of military stores, retreated hastily 
 into Canada. 
 
 Farther to the eastward, however, the governor of New 
 Brunswick had invaded the district of Maine (which was yet 
 an appendage of Massachusetts) and, aided by a British fleet, 
 had taken possession of the country as far as the Penobscot 
 
1814] WASHINGTON CITY TAKEN. ^ 365 
 
 river. Another British fleet also appeared on the Connecticut 
 coast, but their predatory attempts did not meet with much 
 success. 
 
 A far more formidable invasion occurred at the southward, 
 having for its initial object the capture of the national capital. 
 One part of the British fleet ascended the Potomac, but the main 
 portion, under Admiral COCHRANE, proceeded up the Patuxent. 
 The Americans burnt all but one of their squadron of 17 
 vessels, to prevent their falling into the hands of the invaders. 
 At Bladensburg, the militia under General Winder, unavail- 
 ingly disputed the advance of the British. 
 
 On the evening of the 24th day of 8th month (August), the 
 British army under General Ross entered Washington. The 
 Capitol, the president s house and other public buildings and 
 works, were committed to the flames. But, meeting with no 
 display of royalist sentiment on the part of the populace, Ross 
 evacuated the city the next day, and re-embarked on the fleet 
 in the Patuxent. Designing to attack Baltimore, Cochrane s 
 fleet sailed up the Chesapeake to North Point, at the entrance 
 of the Patapsco, where Ross troops were again landed, and 
 marched toward the city. In a skirmish which ensued the 
 British general was killed. The admiral, finding that the en 
 trance to the harbor was obstructed by sunken vessels, while 
 Fort McHenry resisted his efforts at capture, gave the com 
 mand to retire. 
 
 Of several naval encounters which occurred during the year, 
 the most important was that between the American frigate 
 Essex, commanded by Commodore Porter, and the British 
 frigate Phebe. The former vessel had proved very destructive 
 to British commerce, but was at last blockaded in the port of 
 Valparaiso. Having been detained several weeks, Porter en 
 deavored to make his escape, but the Phebe and another vessel 
 disputing the attempt, a fierce contest ensued. Finally the 
 Essex caught fire and part of the ammunition exploded ; when, 
 
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1814 
 
 the larger part of the crew being killed or wounded, Porter 
 surrendered. 
 
 As the war between the United States and Great Britain 
 grew out of the great European quarrel, it was not believed 
 that it would continue long after the European powers had 
 made peace. Indeed, as early as the spring of 1813, Alexan 
 der, the emperor of Russia, had offered to mediate between 
 the two countries. The United States government, accepting 
 the offer, had sent three commissioners John Quincy Adams, 
 Albert Gallatin and James A. Bayard to negotiate with those 
 to be appointed by England ; but the latter power preferred 
 that their commissioners should treat directly with the com 
 missioners of the Republic, without the intervention of Russia, 
 and accordingly it was agreed that negotiations should be 
 entered into at Ghent. 
 
 But as that year and the next wore away without anything 
 being accomplished, .the discontent of the opposition party 
 in the United States increased. This opposition, as already 
 intimated, was greatest in the New England states, whose 
 capitalists, perceiving no necessity for the war, refused to loan 
 their money for its prosecution, and were hence accused of 
 being enemies to their country. While it is not unlikely that 
 self-interest and party feeling on the part of many had much 
 to do with this antagonism to the administration, yet there is 
 no doubt of the fact that a large number were sincere in their 
 convictions that the continuation of the struggle, as well as 
 its beginning, was absolutely wrong in principle. A 
 
 Near the close of the year (i2th month, isth) an impor 
 tant convention of delegates from several of the New England 
 states was held at Hartford, for the purpose of considering the 
 defenceless condition of their sea-port towns, the state of the 
 country generally, and also to suggest sundry amendments to 
 the constitution. The amendments which they agreed to re 
 port were seven in number, to wit : that all acts placing 
 
1814] BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 367 
 
 restrictions on commerce, as also declarations of war, should 
 only be valid upon the concurrence of two-thirds of both 
 houses of Congress; that a similar majority should be requisite 
 for the admission of new states ; that no embargo should be 
 laid for a longer period than sixty days ; that naturalized per 
 sons should not be eligible to the national offices ; that the 
 office of president should not be held by the same individual 
 oftener than for one term ;, and that representation and direct 
 taxes should be apportioned among the respective states 
 according to the number of free persons therein. The reso 
 lutions adopted by the convention, and the proposed amend 
 ments, were forwarded by a committee to Congress; but about 
 the same time news arrived that a treaty of peace had been 
 signed. The proposed amendments were subsequently sub 
 mitted to the several states, but were concurred in by only 
 three of them. 
 
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS AND END OF THE WAR. 
 
 Although the treaty of peace had been signed by the com 
 missioners at Ghent, on the 24th day of i2th month, 1814, 
 yet it was not until after a great battle had been fought at 
 New Orleans that the joyful news of the treaty was received 
 in this country. Information of a projected attack by the 
 British, somewhere upon the gulf-coast, had been divulged 
 to Governor Claiborne, of Louisiana. It also became known 
 that a large quantity of arms and ammunition, for arming the 
 Indians against the United States forces, had been landed at 
 Pensacola. Florida still being a Spanish province, General 
 Jackson marched against Pensacola and captured it, alleging 
 that the Spaniards had violated their neutrality in allowing 
 that harbor to be used for hostile purposes. 
 
 Meanwhile, the British squadron, having entered the Gulf 
 of Mexico, directed its course to the north of the Mississippi 
 
3 68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1815 
 
 delta, so as to approach New Orleans on the east, by the way 
 of Lake Borgne. The flotilla of the Americans was soon over 
 come. A part of the British troops, having been landed at 
 the west end of the lake, marched, in a few hours, across to 
 the bank of the Mississippi, and posted themselves below the 
 city. General Jackson had caused to be thrown up a para 
 pet of earth and cotton bales, along the front of which was a 
 ditch containing five feet depth of water. The British army, 
 numbering about 10,000 men, and commanded by Sir Edward 
 Pakenham, made two unsuccessful attempts to dislodge Jack 
 son from his position. Finally, having received further rein 
 forcements, a decisive battle was fought on the 8th day of the 
 ist month (January), 1815. Pakenham was killed, and two 
 of his principal generals were disabled. So severe was the 
 loss of the British that, ten days later, they abandoned their 
 position and retreated, leaving behind them their wounded 
 and artillery. 
 
 The TREATY OF GHENT was immediately ratified by the 
 American government, yet the result of the contest was but 
 another instance of the foolishness and crime of resorting to 
 war for the establishment of justice. It was stipulated by the 
 treaty that all places which had been captured during the war, 
 and which were yet occupied by either of the late contestants, 
 should be restored to their respective owners. But, the vexed 
 subject of impressment, which, since the abrogation of the 
 Orders in Council, was the only pretext for war, remained 
 unsettled and unprovided for in any way. It is worthy of 
 remark that a better treaty could have been secured before the 
 war; for the British government was then willing to disclaim 
 all arbitrary acts of impressment, and to leave the topic open 
 for debate and probable settlement at a future time. 
 
 James Monroe, our minister to England before the war, stated as 
 follows : " By this paper [the one prepared by the British commis- 
 
I8i6] LIBERIA. ^69 
 
 sioners] it is evident that the rights of the United States were 
 expressly to be reserved, and not abandoned, as has been most erro 
 neously supposed ; that the negotiation on the subject of impress 
 ment was to be postponed for a limited time, and for a special object 
 only, and to be revived as soon as that object was accomplished ; 
 and in the interim, that the practice of impressment was to corre 
 spond essentially with the views and interests of the United States." 
 
 A few weeks after the peace had been ratified, the United 
 States government issued a declaration of war against Algiers, 
 that country having, like Tripoli a few years earlier, been 
 guilty of depredating upon American commerce and exacting 
 tribute. 
 
 Two fleets, commanded respectively by Commodores Bain- 
 bridge and Decatur, were accordingly despatched to the 
 Mediterranean. Having effected the capture of two Algerian 
 war-vessels, they sailed into the harbors of the capital cities 
 of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. The dey of Algiers submitted, 
 and the rulers of the other two states agreed to faithfully 
 observe the former treaties which had been entered into with 
 the United States. Commodore Decatur, who was greatly 
 applauded for his victories, was killed a few years afterward in 
 a duel with Commodore Barron. 
 
 In 1816, the territory of Indiana was admitted, the nine 
 teenth state, into the Union. In the same year there was 
 projected the American Colonization Society, for the purpose 
 of founding, in Africa, a colony to which free blacks could be 
 removed, and where they would be afforded favorable oppor 
 tunities for self-improvement. HENRY CLAY was its first pres 
 ident. In consequence of the unhealthy location of the land 
 first chosen for settlement, this interesting experiment did not 
 at first meet with success; but in 1821, a much more suitable 
 tract of territory on the Grain Coast of west Africa was 
 selected, and here arose the republic of LIBERIA. The num 
 ber of colored immigrants from the United States has never 
 Q* 
 
37 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1817 
 
 in any one year exceeded eight hundred ; nevertheless, there 
 have been considerable accessions of Africans from regions 
 contiguous to the republic, and its total population is now 
 (1876) upward of 700,000. Schools and places of worship 
 have steadily increased, newspapers are published, a postal 
 system is in regular operation, and in some of the neighbor 
 ing states slavery has been abolished. Palm-oil and coffee are 
 the chief articles of export. Much aid to the enterprise has 
 been afforded by Great Britain. 
 
 The charter of the first Bank of the United States had 
 expired in 1811. Numerous state banks were thereupon 
 established to supply the commercial need of ready money. 
 But during the war which immediately ensued, there was an 
 expansion in the currency, followed very soon by a suspension 
 of specie payments. Bills, small notes and tickets were then 
 issued, not only by the banks, but also by the cities, counties, 
 towns, and even by individuals. All these had their own 
 local currencies, bearing no fixed proportionate value to one 
 another, and, as a consequence, there arose an extensive class 
 of brokers. Counterfeiting also became frequent. As a sub 
 stitute for this monetary confusion, Congress chartered the 
 second United States Bank (1816), with a capital of 35 mil 
 lion dollars. It was authorized to continue incorporated for 
 the term of twenty years. Nevertheless, a rigorous commer 
 cial pressure prevailed, especially in the five years from 1816 
 to 1820. Manufactures were so greatly depressed that mills 
 and workshops were everywhere closed. With flour as low 
 at one time as a dollar per barrel and sheep at a dollar per 
 head, it is not surprising that farms fell into the hands of the 
 mortgage-holders at one-half or one-third their proper values. 
 This depression in production and trade continued, until alle 
 viated (for a while at least), by the general demand for inter 
 nal improvements. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 PRESIDENCIES OF MONROE AND J. Q. ADAMS. 
 1817 1829. 
 
 FIRST SEMINOLE WAR. FLORIDA CEDED BY SPAIN. 
 
 THE presidential office for the next two terms was filled by 
 James Monroe, of Virginia. DANIEL D. TOMPKINS, of New 
 York, was continued as. vice-president for the same period. 
 They were elected, almost without opposition, by the same 
 political party (the Democratic-Republican) which elected 
 Jefferson and Madison. It was a time when the one political 
 party was so strong, and had everything so much the one 
 way, that it was called "the era of good feeling." The 
 president, upon his inauguration in 1817, visited all the 
 northern and eastern states, and was there cordially received. 
 Monroe was of a cautious and conciliatory disposition, care 
 ful to avoid coming into conflict with any strong opposing 
 interests. According to Jefferson, he was indeed slow, but 
 give him time, and his judgment was very accurate. 
 
 As a good token for the beginning of the new administra 
 tion, an agreement was entered into with Great Britain, regu 
 lating and reducing the naval force of each power upon the 
 Great Lakes. It was mutually agreed that, upon Lakes Ontario 
 and Champlain, but one armed vessel should be kept in service, 
 by either party; and that on either Lakes Erie, Huron or 
 Superior, there should be no more than two such maintained 
 by each nation, and those armed with a single gun only. It 
 
37 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1817 
 
 is not to be believed that the people of Canada or the United 
 States have ever seriously regretted this almost complete 
 abandonment of their lake armaments ; and it will be a year 
 to rejoice in when their ocean armaments are similarly cur 
 tailed. Let the national vessels be increased, if need be, for 
 every purpose of progress, enlightenment and of international 
 good will, but let the menacing cannon be speedily abolished 
 from every sea ! 
 
 Several important treaties were made with the Indians. 
 The Delawares, Wyandottes, Shawnees and other tribes, hold 
 ing lands within the limits of the state of Ohio, ceded the 
 same to the United States; being permitted, if they chose, to 
 remain on the land, subject, however, to the national and state 
 laws. Soon afterward the lands of the Chickasaws, west of 
 the Tennessee river, in the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, 
 were ceded by that tribe to the government. But with the 
 Seminoles, occupying the southern border of Georgia and the 
 Spanish territory of Florida, a serious conflict took place in 
 1817 and 1818. 
 
 This first war with the Seminoles was owing to several causes, 
 the chief of which were, that that tribe had harbored Creek 
 Indians, as well as slaves who had escaped from their masters, 
 and that there had been several murders upon the Florida 
 border, which called for punishpent. The hope of getting 
 the land readily cleared of the It , ; ^m title and of the Indians 
 themselves, was a moving motive lor a campaign, The enmity 
 on the part of the Indians was intensified by one of their 
 prophets, as well as by two English traders, who had their 
 homes with the tribe. In the latter part of 1817, a detach 
 ment of forty United States soldiers was sent to the mouth 
 of the Apalachicola river for the purpose of removing some 
 military stores from there to Fort Scott. On their return they 
 fell into an ambuscade of the Seminoles, and alt but six were 
 killed. General GAINES, commanding in that quarter, de- 
 
I8i 9 ] FlfiST SEMINOLE WAR. 373 
 
 manded the offenders, but the tribe refused to give them up. 
 Whereupon General Jackson, with a body of Tennesseans, 
 hastened to the spot. 
 
 The reader will remember that a little prior to the battle 
 of New Orleans, Jackson had taken temporary possession of 
 Pensacola, on the ground that the Spanish had violated their 
 neutrality in permitting the English to land guns and ammu 
 nition there for the Indians. But now, the Americans had 
 themselves landed military stores at a Spanish port ; while 
 the Indians, resenting the conveyance of material intended for 
 their destruction through territory claimed by them, under 
 took their defence in the same savage way that Jackson him 
 self would probably have resorted to. But our country s 
 dealings with the Indians have been proverbially inconsistent. 
 The Seminoles were soon defeated and driven southward, and 
 Jackson, entering Florida, took possession of the Spanish forts 
 St. Mark s and Pensacola, because he alleged that they har 
 bored the hostile Indians. The two English emissaries were 
 captured, and, being tried by a court-martial, were sentenced 
 to death, on the charge of inciting the Indians to war.- 
 Jackson then ordered St. Augustine to be occupied, but this 
 high-handed measure was countermanded by the government. 
 
 In the year following the defeat of the Seminoles (1819), a 
 treaty was negotiated at Washington between JOHN QUINCY 
 ADAMS, secretary of state, d Don On is, the Spanish min 
 ister, by which the atter agreed, on behalf of his government, 
 to cede Florida to the United States for the sum of five million 
 dollars. It was provided, however, that the money, instead 
 of being paid directly to Spain, should be used to satisfy the 
 claims of United States citizens against Spain for spoliations. 
 
 The president and Senate agreed to the treaty at once. 
 Upon its being sent to Spain, the king refused to ratify it; 
 but, after delaying more than a year, he gave it his sanction, 
 probably concluding that it would be wiser to cancel the 
 
 32 
 
374 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1820 
 
 claims by ceding a possession which had proved of so little 
 profit, than to expend any money in its defence. Florida be 
 came a territory of the Republic in 1821, with General Jackson, 
 as governor. It was first divided into two districts or counties \ 
 the one east of the Suwanee river being called St. John s, and 
 the other west of that river, Escambia. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI had been admitted, the twentieth state, in 1817; 
 ILLINOIS in 1818; Alabama in 1819; and Maine (upon sepa 
 rating from Massachusetts) in 1820. But the petition to Con 
 gress in the latter year, for the admission of Missouri, gave rise 
 to a highly acrimonious debate, growing out of the question 
 whether it should be admitted with or without slavery. 
 
 Missouri s chief city, ST. Louis, was built on the site of a trading- 
 post which had been established there (1763) during the French 
 domination. The founder was La Clede, a Frenchman, who had 
 been granted a monopoly of the fur trade of the upper Mississippi 
 and Missouri. 
 
 THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. THE SLAVE TRADE 
 PROHIBITED. 
 
 Although at the period of the Revolution, slavery really 
 existed in all the states, Massachusetts alone excepted, yet 
 in the forty years which had since elapsed, it had been grad 
 ually abolished from all the section north and east of Maryland 
 and the Delaware. Likewise, as a condition of the cession 
 by Virginia to the Union, of all the territory claimed by it 
 between the Ohio and the Mississippi, slavery was to be ex 
 cluded therefrom ; and hence Ohio, Indiana and Illinois had 
 been admitted as free states. On the other hand, when North 
 Carolina ceded to the government its right of possession to 
 the territory of Tennessee, and Georgia its claim to the 
 Mississippi territory, it was with the understanding that the 
 institution of slavery should continue therein undisturbed. 
 
1 820] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 375 
 
 Hence the important question which arose in Congress, when 
 the admission of Missouri was debated, was, whether such 
 admission should be accompanied by any restriction as to 
 slavery. 
 
 The advocates of restriction affirmed, that every new state, 
 had, like those just instanced, been subject to some conditions, 
 and that the power of Congress to impose such had not been 
 before denied. The states of the North-West had quietly 
 acquiesced in just such conditions, and the rule appeared to 
 be properly settled on the ground of usage. But the oppo 
 nents of the measure held the opinion that any such curtail 
 ment of a domestic practice was invidious to the slave-holding 
 states by abridging their share of political power, at the same 
 time that it was a usurpation of the sovereign rights of the 
 states : that a state even if admitted with such a restriction, 
 could still establish slavery, because the constitution did not 
 forbid it ; and moreover, that it was both unwise and unsafe 
 to confine the keeping of slaves within the original territory 
 where it prevailed, because, while the whites would be emi 
 grating to the new states of the West, the blacks would all 
 remain and by natural increase would eventually outnumber 
 and perhaps overwhelm the remaining white population. 
 
 The votes of the members upon this subject were, neverthe 
 less, largely influenced by another question, namely, the 
 policy of protecting home manufactures by imposing a tax 
 upon foreign importations. The slave states were almost 
 altogether agricultural ; and, inasmuch as manufactured goods 
 could be imported from Europe cheaper than they could be 
 made and sold at home, it therefore became their interest to 
 declare for free trade. But in New England, the interference 
 with commerce prior to, and during the war of 1812, had 
 stimulated home manufactures, principally in iron, woollen 
 and cotton. Many mills were erected, especially in Rhode 
 Island, and large profits, chiefly from the making of coarse 
 
376 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1821 
 
 cotton goods, were realized. Upon the conclusion of the war, 
 however, cheaper English goods began to compete with the 
 American, and consequently the mills of the latter were 
 obliged to suspend operations. Then a tariff was asked for, 
 and to defeat that measure, the agricultural and commercial 
 interests were mostly combined against the manufacturing, in 
 a contest for the possession of political power. 
 
 The result of the long and exciting debate in Congress, was 
 a resolution of compromise, intended to reconcile the two 
 great parties who were struggling, the one to promote, , the 
 other to restrict, the extension of slavery.. The resolution 
 was to the effect that Missouri should be admitted without 
 any restriction, that is, that it might, if it chose, be a slave- 
 holding state ; but that in the future, no slave state should be 
 erected out of United States, territory, north of the parallel 
 of 36 30 north latitude, the northern boundary line of 
 ARKANSAS. The latter territory had been separated from 
 Missouri the year previously. 
 
 Before Missouri was finally admitted, in 1821, a constitu 
 tion for the state had been formed, but it met with great 
 opposition in Congress in consequence of its containing the 
 clause that free negroes and mulattoes should be prohibited 
 from coming to or settling in the state. So strenuously did 
 the friends of that unrighteous provision contend for its pas 
 sage, that it was not defeated until its discussion had occupied 
 a large part of the session ! The important decision at last 
 arrived at was, that all free citizens of the United States 
 should be entitled to all the rights guaranteed them by the 
 federal constitution, where it declares " that the citizens of 
 each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immu 
 nities of the several states ;" and therefore that no state law 
 infringing those fundamental rights should be passed. 
 
 The ultimate solution of the question of slavery, as affecting the 
 peace of the Union, must have been very different had the system 
 
1 822] SLAVE-TRADE PROHIBITED, 
 
 377 
 
 been abolished at that time from all the states in which it existed 
 north of the parallel of 36 30 . It is that parallel which forms the 
 southern boundary of Kentucky and Virginia, as well as of Missouri. 
 
 Some of the foremost men of Virginia strongly favored the ex 
 tinction of slavery. 
 
 Washington wrote as follows, in 1786 : " I never mean, unless 
 some particular circumstances should compel me to it, to possess 
 another slave by purchase, it being among my first wishes to see 
 some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abol 
 ished by law." And again, he says : "There are in Pennsylvania, 
 laws for the gradual abolishing of slavery, which neither Virginia 
 nor Maryland have at present, but which nothing is more certain 
 than they must have, and at a period not remote." By his will he 
 directed that all the slaves which he held in his own right should 
 receive their freedom. 
 
 Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were similarly persuaded of 
 the injustice and immorality of the system. 
 
 At London, during the year 1822, was held a conference 
 of English and American commissioners, for the purpose of 
 arriving at a mutual understanding with regard to the slave- 
 trade. Articles of convention were agreed to, which author 
 ized the commissioned officers of either nation to treat the 
 " slave-traders as pirates, permitting them to seize and con 
 demn the vessels of either country engaged in the traffic, 
 without liability of interference by their respective govern 
 ments." 
 
 It will be proper to mention in this place, a few facts, as 
 exhibiting the change in public opinion since Sir John Haw 
 kins, in the year 1563, brought the dishonor of the slave- 
 traffic upon the English name. The wicked commerce con 
 tinued increasing, until in the twenty years between 1680 and 
 1700, not less than 300,000 natives of Africa had been ex 
 ported by Englishmen. From 1700 to 1780, about 600,000 
 were exported to Jamaica alone, and with accompaniments of 
 cruelty and a terrible disregard for life, such as have been 
 already sufficiently set forth. 
 
 32* 
 
37 3 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1822 
 
 Aiming at the suppression of so notorious an evil, a society, 
 of which GRANVILLE SHARP and THOMAS CLARKSON were 
 among the most active members, was organized in London in 
 1787. They established the little colony of Sierra Leone on 
 the west coast of Africa, for the same purposes that the Amer 
 ican Colonization Society subsequently purchased the Liberia 
 tract. In parliament, their philanthropic views found able 
 supporters in WILBERFORCE and PITT ; the first fruit of their 
 labor being an order of the crown in the following year, di 
 recting an inquiry into the state of the slave-trade. An act 
 was also passed for the amelioration of the horrors of the 
 "middle passage." But it was not until the year 1807, that 
 a bill making the slave-trade illegal, received the royal assent. 
 Accordingly, the subjects of Britain were forced to carry on 
 their nefarious traffic under the cover of the flags of Spain and 
 Portugal; and the slave ships being now more crowded than 
 ever, it occasionally happened that the miserable negroes were 
 thrown overboard when the risk of capture seemed imminent. 
 Four years afterward an act was passed, which made the slave- 
 trade a felony and punishable with transportation or long 
 imprisonment at hard labor; and at last, in 1822, it was de 
 clared to be piracy, and the participants therein guilty of a 
 capital crime. The United States announced its abolition of 
 the African slave-trade immediately after Great Britain (1807). 
 
 In 1822, the English parliament declared the ports of the 
 West Indies opened to trade with the United States. For 
 some years previous, American commerce in the West Indian 
 seas had suffered considerably from the depredations of pirates; 
 and, now that an impulse was given to trade in that quarter, 
 measures were taken to suppress the evil. Commodore Porter 
 was placed in command of a squadron, and sailed to the Carib 
 bean seas. The pirates, prevented from making captures, fre 
 quented the shallow waters of the numerous islands of the 
 Antilles, and changed their system of freebootery by depre- 
 
1 824] MONROE DOCTRINE. 379 
 
 dating upon the settlements or engaging in the slave-trade. 
 Hence, the evil was not so much suppressed, as it was scat 
 tered. 
 
 In the same eventful year (1822), a part of the northern 
 boundary line between the United States and the British pos 
 sessions, was settled by commissioners appointed in accordance 
 with the Treaty of Ghent. The line began at the intersec 
 tion of the northern boundary of New York state with the St. 
 Lawrence, thence up the middle of that river, and through 
 the middle of Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Superior. 
 But the continuation of the line from the west end of Lake 
 Superior to the Pacific, was left undetermined. On the Pacific 
 coast there was as yet no settlement but that of Astoria, 
 founded in 1811, by JohijLjacob Astor, as a trading-post of 
 the American Fur Company. . A few years earlier, the Rus 
 sians had established a trading-depot of the Russian-American 
 Fur Company at New Archangel, on the island of Sitka, 
 
 In the President s Message to Congress in 1823, was con 
 tained that announcement of national policy which has since 
 been widely known as the " Monroe Doctrine." Alluding to 
 the recent formation of the South American republics, he said 
 that "we could not view any interposition for the purpose of 
 oppressing them, or controlling, in any manner, their destiny 
 by Europeans, in any other light than the manifestation of an 
 unfriendly disposition towards the United States." " Neither 
 entangling ourselves in the broils of Europe, nor suffering the 
 powers of the Old World to interfere with the affairs of the 
 New," he declared to be the American policy, and that "any 
 attempt to extend their system [of monarchical government] 
 to any portion of this hemisphere, would be dangerous to our 
 peace and safety." 
 
 In the 8th month (August), 1824, General Lafayette arrived 
 at New York, having received from Congress an invitation to 
 visit the United States. He spent upward of a year in the 
 
3 So HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1824 
 
 country, and visited nearly all the states of the Union, being 
 everywhere received with much applause. Congress made 
 him a grant of $200,000, besides presenting him with a town 
 ship of land in Florida, in consideration of his Revolutionary 
 services. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, SIXTH PRESIDENT. INTERNAL IM 
 PROVEMENTS. 
 
 Four candidates for the presidential office appeared in the 
 canvass of 1824. A plurality of votes was given by the elec 
 tors for Jackson, but as the constitution required a majority 
 of the whole number of votes cast, and the people had failed 
 of a choice, the election devolved upon the House of Repre 
 sentatives. The result was the election of John Quincy 
 Adams, who received the votes of 13 states, while Jackson 
 obtained those of but 7. Henry Clay, who had also been a 
 candidate for the presidency, was appointed by Adams his 
 secretary of state. 
 
 John Q. Adams of Massachusetts, was the son of John 
 Adams, the second president. With the political views of 
 his father he was in perfect accord. During Jefferson s ad 
 ministration, he occupied for awhile the professorship of 
 rhetoric at Harvard University, but soon turned his attention 
 again to politics, and, apparently favoring the cause of Presi 
 dent Madison, he was sent by the latter on an embassy to 
 Europe, and aided in effecting the treaty with England- He 
 was recalled by Monroe, who made him his secretary of state. 
 In his inaugural address as president, he made a strong appeal 
 to men of all parties to lay aside their political animosities, 
 and to cherish those virtues, talents and Christian principles 
 which rightly become an enlightened people. 
 
 In marked contrast with the unimpassioned demeanor of 
 Adams, the irascible temperament of the "hero of New 
 Orleans" was prominently displayed during the recent exciting 
 
i8i;] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. ^gj 
 
 contest for office. With one political opponent he fought a 
 duel ; another he grossly insulted ; and to a third, sent a 
 challenge. As might be inferred from his quarrelsome dis 
 position, Jackson s conversation was very much marred by 
 profanity. 
 
 The subject of the construction of substantial roads and 
 the improvement of the navigation of the great rivers, had 
 enlisted very general attention, and, either by states or private 
 corporations, several important works, such as the great 
 central canal systems of New York and Pennsylvania, were 
 already in progress. There were many citizens, however, 
 who desired that the internal, inter-state improvements, should 
 partake of a national character. With this object in view, a 
 committee of Congress had, in 1817, at the close of Madi 
 son s administration, recommended the construction of mili 
 tary roads, from the military and naval depots, such as Erie, 
 Detroit, St. Louis and New Orleans ; also post-roads to con 
 nect the chief cities; as well as improvements in the inland 
 navigation, by the use of water-locks in the principal rivers, 
 or by the construction of canals. But no action was then 
 taken. 
 
 Next, President Monroe, while conceding the great impor 
 tance of the works asked for in the preceding administration, 
 was nevertheless of the opinion that Congress did not possess 
 the constitutional power to proceed therein. He advised, as 
 the safest course in all such doubtful cases, that the constitu 
 tion should be so amended as to meet the requirements of the 
 case. Yet, there were many in Congress who believed that 
 that body had already sufficient power granted it for the pur 
 pose, providing that the assent of the states through which 
 such roads or canals were proposed to be constructed, was first 
 obtained. 
 
 In support of their position they cited certain clauses from 
 Section viii., Article I., of the Constitution, wherein are enu- 
 
382 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1817 
 
 merated the various powers conferred upon the national legis 
 lature, and amongst them the following : 
 
 To provide for the common defence and general welfare 
 of the United States. 
 
 To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
 several states, and with the Indian tribes. 
 
 To establish post-offices and post-roads. 
 
 They also contended that the constitutionality of a principle 
 may be settled (even though it be not sanctioned by the 
 written law) by the rule of precedent ; in other words, by 
 showing that the principle had obtained repeated recognition 
 under the different branches of government. As examples of 
 such precedents, they instanced the government road from 
 Cumberland on the Potomac to the state of Ohio, the one from 
 Nashville in Tennessee, and still another from Plattsburg on 
 Lake Champlain. Similarly, Congress had passed sundry acts 
 which were perhaps not strictly warranted by the written law, 
 among which were those authorizing the purchase of the Li 
 brary ; the commission to the artist Trumbull, of Connecticut, 
 to execute four large paintings for the capitol ; the grants of 
 aid to sufferers in Venezuela ; and the sending of an exploring 
 expedition to the Pacific Ocean.. 
 
 On the other hand, the opponents of the power in question 
 asserted, that the constitutional right to " establish post-roads" 
 merely meant that Congress might designate such roads, but 
 not construct them ; that money expended for such a purpose 
 was for the local and not the " general welfare/ If it was 
 assumed, because of the greater facilities which would be 
 afforded for trade, that therefore the power was conferred 
 under the right to "regulate commerce," then the same 
 interpretation would justify interference in the business of 
 agriculture or any other occupation of profit^ and finally, 
 that the utility and permanency of the Union depended on 
 the proper regulation of power as between the states and the 
 
1826] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, SIXTH PRESIDENT. 383 
 
 national government, and that Congress should be ever as 
 prompt to guard against the assumption of any powers not 
 distinctly conferred, as it should be ready to exercise those 
 which have been certainly granted. 
 
 Nevertheless, the result of the debate in the House of Rep 
 resentatives was a resolution affirming that Congress had power, 
 under the constitution, "to appropriate money for the con 
 struction of post-roads, military and other roads, and of canals, 
 and for the improvement of water-courses." At a subsequent 
 session, President Monroe was authorized to have surveys and 
 estimates made for such roads and canals as in his judgment 
 seemed of prime importance. 
 
 But it remained for Monroe s successor, actually to carry 
 out a number of these national improvements. Adams was an 
 outspoken champion of the system, as appeared from his mes 
 sage to Congress in the first year of his presidency, in which, 
 recommending that the proceeds of the public lands should be 
 devoted to public improvements, he affirmed his belief that 
 the enhanced value of those lands would amply compensate 
 for the expenditures. Grants were therefore made for the 
 construction of a canal across the state of Delaware, to con 
 nect the Chesapeake and Delaware bays ; for the Louisville 
 and Portland canal, at the Falls of the Ohio ; and for the 
 Dismal Swamp canal in Virginia. Surveys were also made 
 for a road from Washington to New Orleans ; beside other 
 works. 
 
 On the 4th day of yth month (July), 1826, died John 
 Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the former in his gist year, 
 and the latter in his 84th. The two ex-presidents had been 
 first and second on the committee of five appointed by the 
 Continental Congress to prepare the Declaration of Indepen-, 
 dence. Subsequently, they had stood at the head of the two 
 opposing political parties, but now on the 5oth anniversary 
 of the nation s natal day, they passed out of the world together. 
 
3 8 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1825 
 
 The feeling of awe which overspread the people s minds on 
 a day when they were indulging in patriotic jubilations and 
 festivities, was renewed on the same day of the following year, 
 when the death of James Monroe also occurred. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES WITH GEORGIA AND THE CREEKS. A NEW 
 TARIFF. 
 
 By the compact entered into in 1802 between the United 
 States government and the state of Georgia, the former agreed, 
 in consideration of receiving the grant of all the territory 
 between the Chattahoochee and the Mississippi, to extinguish 
 at its own expense, and for the benefit of Georgia, all the 
 Indian claims to land within that state "as early as the said 
 lands could be peaceably obtained upon reasonable terms-." 
 Except the north-western portion, which was held by the 
 Cherokees, by far the larger part of the territory was claimed 
 by the Creeks. Previous to 1825, the United States had suc 
 ceeded in purchasing more than one-half of the Creek territory, 
 but, after that, the tribe began to prize their lands more highly, 
 and were naturally averse to parting with their pleasant homes 
 altogether. 
 
 Early in 1825, a council fraught with very important results 
 to the Creeks, was held at a place called Indian Springs. 
 Most of the chiefs would not agree to the proposition of the 
 United States government for a cession of their lands ; but a 
 minority of them, the principal one of whom was a half-breed 
 named General MACINTOSH, were anxious to sell, and thereby 
 obtain most of the pay for the lands to share among them 
 selves. In direct violation of the laws of their nation, this 
 small body executed the treaty, while the government, against 
 the protest of the Creek agent and the large majority of the 
 tribe, accepted and ratified it. The Indians who signed the 
 
1828] GEORGIA AND THE CREEKS. 385 
 
 treaty represented but 8 villages or towns : those of 48 towns 
 had nothing to do with it. 
 
 The majority of the Indians were highly exasperated when 
 it was known among them that the treaty had been ratified. 
 Fearful of the consequences of their displeasure, Macintosh, 
 accompanied by a few chiefs, hastened to Milledgeville, 
 and craved the protection of Governor Troup, as well as of 
 the United States authorities. That protection was promised, 
 and Macintosh accordingly returned; but his house being 
 soon afterward surrounded and set on fire by the Indians, he 
 was shot as he was escaping therefrom, and his body thrown 
 back into the flames. The Indians claimed that they had but 
 punished the delinquent chief according to their law. The 
 governor was about to execute vengeance on the perpetrators, 
 but finding that the government was opposed to that course 
 and was in favor of retarding the execution of the treaty, he 
 desisted~- 
 
 Nevertheless, the Creek lands were duly surveyed. Over one 
 hundred surveyors were commissioned to perform the work, 
 so that it might be done right speedily ; and two years subse 
 quently, the entire territory acquired from them was disposed 
 of for settlement by lottery. But in the meantime the gov 
 ernment negotiated another and more equitable treaty with 
 the Creeks, by which it was agreed to pay, for the lands 
 owned by them in Georgia, the sum of $217,000, to be di 
 vided between the chiefs and warriors ; likewise to give them 
 a perpetual annuity of $20,000. Separate provision was also 
 made for the friends and followers of Macintosh, who were 
 required to remove to land to be purchased for them farther 
 westward. 
 
 The Congress of 1828, for the better encouragement of 
 native manufactures, enacted a new tariff law, by which en 
 hanced duties were laid on iron, wool, hemp, distilled spirits, 
 etc. This was received with much dissatisfaction by the com- 
 R 33 
 
3 S6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1828 
 
 mercial and agricultural portions of the community. In the 
 canvass for a new president, the passage of the act was made 
 use of with great effect in exciting public indignation, especi 
 ally in the Southern states. In South Carolina and Georgia, 
 where the feeling against it was strongest, their legislatures 
 declared the act unconstitutional, unjust and oppressive, and 
 that it was not binding on those states which were opposed to 
 its operation. Adams and Jackson being again candidates 
 for the presidency, the latter was elected by a considerable 
 majority. JOHN C. CALHOUN, of South Carolina, was chosen 
 vice-president. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 JACKSON S TROUBLOUS ADMINISTRATION. VAN BUREN 
 AND HARRISON. 
 
 1829 1841. 
 
 REMOVAL OF THE CHEROKEES. 
 
 IT has been shown in the preceding chapter, how that the 
 difficulties between the United States government, the Creeks, 
 and the state of Georgia, resulted finally in the purchase of all 
 the Creek territory within the latter state. But the dispute 
 with the Cherokees was not so soon adjusted. That tribe 
 then occupied all the north-western portion of the state, 
 which thence became generally spoken of as " Cherokee 
 Georgia." Having a printed constitution and code of laws, 
 they had declared themselves independent ; while the Amer 
 ican government, by solemn treaty stipulations had guaranteed 
 to respect their nationality, and to secure peaceful possession 
 of the land to them and their heirs for ever. 
 
 The general government, in pursuance of its right to 
 regulate intercourse with the Indian tribes, prohibited any 
 United States citizens from settling in the territory, or from 
 trading with the Indians without a special license. But the 
 state of Georgia, having extended the jurisdiction of her 
 criminal courts over the territory, became extremely anxious 
 that the red men should depart, and made repeated efforts 
 to induce them to barter their territory for land beyond the 
 Mississippi. The Cherokees, however, were not a roving 
 nation like the wild Pawnees and Comanches of the plains, 
 
 387 
 
3 38 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1831 
 
 and inasmuch as they cherished a fondness for the name of 
 home, they refused to acquiesce in the wishes of their en 
 croaching neighbors. 
 
 Endeavors were made by the Georgians to accomplish their 
 purpose by congressional legislation, but they soon perceived 
 that any coercive measure would meet with disfavor so long 
 as Adams remained president. Nevertheless, in 1828, a bill 
 passed Congress, allotting lands beyond the Mississippi, as 
 reservations thereafter for all the Indians remaining in the 
 states and territories east of that river. Upon the installation 
 of President Jackson the following year, the authorities of 
 Georgia experienced less difficulty than hitherto in carrying 
 out their designs. 
 
 Aware that the white missionaries among the Cherokees 
 were mostly opposed to the removal of the tribe, a bill was 
 passed by the Georgia legislature that no whites would be per 
 mitted within the te r rritoryv The missionaries refusing to take 
 the hint, were arrested, treated with much indignity, and 
 being brought before a state court, two of them were sen 
 tenced to four years confinement with hard labor, in the 
 penitentiary. In 1831, the governor ordered the survey of 
 the Cherokee lands to be made; ^the next year they were all 
 disposed of by lottery, and the year afterward were divided 
 and organized as ten counties of the state of Georgia. As 
 had been done in the case of the Creeks, a treaty, not accept 
 able to the majority of the nation, was made by United States 
 commissioners, with a part of the Cherokees. Notwithstanding 
 the strenuous opposition of JOHN Ross, the principal chief, 
 Congress ratified the treaty. Its principal conditions were 
 as follows : 
 
 The Cherokee nation, in consideration of the sum of 
 5,000,000 dollars, were to relinquish all their lands east of the 
 Mississippi.. There was granted to them, west of that river, 
 a tract of seven million acres of land, which the government 
 
1832] NULLIFICATION. $8$ /7>. 
 
 v /^Vj 
 
 stipulated should in future time be included within the lrnt~f \ + 
 its of any state or territory. The Cherokees, whenever Con- J 
 gress made provision therefor, were to be entitled to one 
 delegate in the House of Representatives. The removal was 
 stipulated to take place within two years from the ratification 
 of the treaty. 
 
 It was in the spring of 1838 that troops of the militia began 
 to gather the Cherokees into camps, preparatory to their re 
 moval to the far west, but it was late in the summer before 
 the tribe, to the number of 16,000, sorrowfully departed from 
 their homes. The journey occupied five months. Although 
 the exiles were not harshly treated, yet, as a necessary conse 
 quence of such a removal, many of them perished. Upon 
 reaching their reservation, it was found that not less than 
 4000 had died on the way ! 
 
 The history of the Chickasaws and Choctaws in Alabama 
 and Mississippi ; the work of missionaries among them ; their 
 advancement in civilization ; and the successful efforts of the 
 whites to obtain their lands, were similar in character to what 
 has been said of the Cherokees and Creeks, and need not be 
 repeated here. 
 
 NULLIFICATION. THE BLACK HAWK AND SECOND SEMINOLE 
 WARS. BANK TROUBLES. 
 
 Jackson s accession to the presidency was marked by a more 
 general dismissal of office-holders and the appointment of 
 party favorites, than had been practiced by any of his prede 
 cessors. Intelligence, integrity and faithfulness in the dis 
 charge of duties, were forced to succumb to the unpatriotic 
 dictum that " to the victors belong the spoils." Whilst under 
 all the presidents who preceded him, there had been but 64 
 persons removed from office, Jackson, during his eight years 
 rule, removed 690, and filled their places with his political 
 partisans. 
 
39 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1832 
 
 In the Congress of 1832 there was introduced and carried, 
 an act for the revision of the tariff, by which the duties upon 
 many articles were increased. This gave great dissatisfaction 
 to the cotton-growing states, but it was only in South Carolina 
 that open resistance was offered to the collection of the duties. 
 A nullification ordinance was passed by a convention of dele 
 gates, who declared the law to be unconstitutional, and asserted 
 that the government had no authority to enforce such against 
 the will of any state. A proclamation was then issued by 
 President Jackson announcing that he would not permit the 
 law to be disregarded. Calhoun, the vice-president, resigned 
 his office, and, having been at once elected to the Senate, 
 counselled opposition. Governor Hayne, of South Carolina, 
 likewise called upon the people of that state not to heed the 
 proclamation of the president The legislature of the state 
 passed laws forbidding the collection of the revenue within 
 its limits, threatening also to secede and organize a separate 
 government if the attempt was made. 
 
 While the government was preparing to carry out measures 
 of coercion, and South Carolina was organizing troops and 
 providing munitions of war, a warm debate upon the principles 
 and powers of the general government was carried on in the 
 national Congress* DANIEL WEBSTER, of Massachusetts, and 
 Henry Clay, of Kentucky, were two of the most prominent 
 speakers upon that occasion. In opposition to the doctrine 
 of nullification, it was strongly declared that the national 
 government was not a mere compact of independent, sovereign^ 
 states, any one of which had power to withdraw from the ^ 
 Union at pleasure, but that the Constitution was the work of 
 the people of the states collectively, and that they had con 
 ferred upon the Supreme Court alone the authority to decide 
 in cases of dispute between any of the states and the general 
 government. 
 
 The excitement was finally allayed by the passage of a 
 
1832] FAILURE OF UNITED STATES BANK. 
 
 39 ! 
 
 Compromise Bill, which was introduced by Henry Clay. It 
 provided for a gradual reduction of the impost rate for the 
 succeeding ten years, until it should reach the revenue standard 
 contended for by the opponents of the original bill. 
 
 The night of the I3th day of nth month (November), 183 2, 
 is memorable on account of the occurrence of a wonderful nat 
 ural phenomenon, a great shower of aerolites or "shooting- 
 stars." This remarkable display was witnessed with great 
 astonishment, and even trepidation, throughout all the United 
 States. The meteors, which varied in size from a moving 
 point of light to globes of the moon s apparent diameter, 
 were estimated to have numbered several hundred thousand. 
 
 The popular ferment accompanying the nullification pro 
 ceedings was scarcely allayed, when a new occasion of excite 
 ment arose, growing out of the action of the president in 
 regard to the Bank of the United States. The bank, according 
 to its charter, was the legal depository for the public funds ; 
 and, by a late resolution of Congress, that body had expressed 
 the opinion that the funds were safe in the bank s keeping. 
 But the president being of a different opinion, issued an order 
 to the secretary of the treasury, Wm. J. Duane, to remove 
 the government deposits to certain State banks. The secre 
 tary refusing to obey the order, Jackson dismissed him from 
 office, and appointed Roger B. Taney in his place ; and by 
 the latter, orders were issued to the collectors, forbidding 
 them to deposit the public funds in the United States Bank. 
 This action resulted in the failure of that institution, and sub 
 sequently in widespread financial distress, the effects of which 
 will be presently considered. 
 
 In the meantime, a war had arisen with the Sacs and Foxes 
 and the Winnebagoes of Wisconsin. A chief named BLACK 
 HAWK was the leader in this contest, which was brought about- 
 by an irruption of miners into the territory of the Winneba 
 goes, upon the discovery of the Galena lead-mines. Red Bird, 
 
, 9? HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATED [1835 
 
 a chief, retaliated by murdering several whites, but he and 
 others were captured by the troops sent against them. The 
 chief dying in prison, Black Hawk, his friend, continued the 
 unequal quarrel. After several battles had been fought, Black 
 Hawk and other chiefs being also taken prisoners, were 
 brought to Washington and the principal eastern cities, that 
 they might take note of the power of their captors. The Win- 
 nebagoes, with the Sacs and Foxes, then made a treaty, 
 ceding their ten million acres of land to the government, 
 for an annuity and a yearly supply of provisions. 
 
 In 1835, a second war broke out with the Seminoles, who 
 had refused to emigrate to the trans-Mississippi lands which 
 had been set apart for them. Many of the troops sent against 
 them perished in ambuscades, or by diseases generated by the 
 miasma of the swamps ; while the Indians, readily retreating 
 to their hiding-places in the Everglades, were enabled to con 
 tinue the war for seven years. A noted chief, OSCEOLA, was 
 captured, and being confined in Fort Moultrie, died there of 
 a fever. The war terminated after a cost to the government 
 of 30,000,000 dollars, beside the loss of many lives.-. 
 
 In the same year that the Seminole war broke out, there 
 occurred a great fire in the city of New York, The principal 
 buildings in the commercial part of the city were destroyed, 
 involving a loss of seventeen million dollars. Since 1835, 
 there have been other very destructive fires : in Philadelphia 
 (1850), Portland (1866), Chicago (1871), and Boston (1872). 
 
 The locality of the city of CHICAGO was first visited by 
 Marqtiette. In 1795 tne United States government purchased 
 of the Indians several acres of land on which to build a 
 stockade fort. This structure was destroyed in the war of 
 1812, and the garrison massacred by the Indians. Fort Dear 
 born, on its site, was then built: but it was not until 1832, 
 at the time of the Black Hawk war, when traders and others 
 followed a detachment of troops thither, that Chicago began 
 
1837] FINANCIAL TROUBLES. 393 
 
 to be settled. Its rapid growth, since then, has been unpre 
 cedented in the history of American cities. 
 
 FINANCIAL TROUBLES DURING VAN BUREN S ADMINISTRA 
 TION. HARRISON. 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN of New York, who had held the office 
 of vice-president the preceding four years, succeeded Jackson 
 as president, in 1837. The period of his administration was 
 marked by a great commercial revulsion. The national 
 debt, it is true, had been entirely paid off, and the finances 
 of the country appeared to be in a prosperous condition. But 
 upon the failure of the United States Bank, great numbers of 
 State banks sprang into existence, which, by making liberal 
 loans and fostering the spirit of speculation, caused the busi 
 ness of the country to receive a very unhealthy stimulus. A 
 principal object of speculation were the public lands, the sales 
 of which amounted even to millions of dollars in a month. 
 The tide of immigration from Europe had begun ; cities and 
 villages were laid out by hundreds, and large improvements 
 were started by the states. At the same time foreign mer 
 chandise was imported in great quantities, much to the detri 
 ment of home industries. 
 
 But Congress having passed a law to distribute among the 
 states their respective proportions of the surplus treasury funds, 
 the banks in which these funds had been deposited, were 
 called upon to pay the same. President Jackson, also, just 
 before his term expired, had issued an order making the pur 
 chase-money of public lands payable in specie only. This 
 double demand for the funds on deposit and the specie, of 
 which latter indeed the banks had very little, caused their 
 suspension. Hence the business of the country was prostrated 
 at a blow ; the great improvements ceased, and many thou 
 sand men were thrown out of employment ; while suspen- 
 
 R* 
 
394 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1837 
 
 sions and failures in business followed each other quickly. 
 The failures in New York city alone, aggregated 100 million 
 dollars. 
 
 By the states, loans to the amount of 100 million dollars had been 
 made, chiefly for the purpose of developing their resources by 
 making internal improvements. Several of the states failed for 
 awhile to pay their interest on the bonds, Florida and Mississippi 
 utterly repudiating their obligations. As a large part of the money 
 had been obtained in Europe, the credit of our nation received a 
 shock from which it did not recover for many years. 
 
 The failure of the banks necessarily involved the government 
 itself in the prevailing financial embarrassment, and accord 
 ingly an extra session of Congress was called by President 
 Van Buren, to provide measures for meeting the exigency. 
 He recommended the issue of Treasury notes to the amount of 
 10 million dollars, receivable in payment of the public dues. 
 Also, that there should be an independent treasury and sub- 
 treasuries, as depositories for the government funds. The 
 bill passed the Senate, but failed in the House. A few years 
 later, however, it received the sanction of both houses of 
 Congress. 
 
 In 1837, a rebellion against the British government broke 
 out in Canada. Citizens of Vermont and New York took 
 part with the insurgents ; but as the government had no wish 
 to become entangled in a war with Great Britain, a proclama 
 tion was issued by the president, admonishing those who had 
 violated their duties as citizens, to return peaceably to their 
 homes, warning them of the consequences of their failure so 
 to do. Happily the advice was heeded, and the Canadian 
 insurrection soon came to nought. 
 
 Arkansas, which had been detached from Missouri in 1819, 
 was admitted into the Union in 1836. MICHIGAN was ad 
 mitted in 1837, the twenty-sixth state. 
 
 For the purpose of making researches in the Pacific and 
 
1841] WILKES EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 395 
 
 Antarctic regions, Lieutenant CHARLES WILKES, accompanied 
 by a number of men of science, was placed in command 
 of an exploring expedition of six vessels. They discovered 
 numerous islands in the Pacific, and sailed along 1700 miles 
 of the coast of the Antarctic continent. After an absence of 
 four years the expedition returned, having made many dis 
 coveries, not only of lands, but in all departments of natural 
 history. The " Narrative of the United States Exploring 
 Expedition," in five large volumes, was published soon after 
 ward at the expense of the government. 
 
 General Wm. Henry Harrison, of Ohio, was the choice of 
 the people for president, to succeed Van Buren. JOHN TYLER, 
 of Virginia, was elected vice-president. This election was char 
 acterized by more excitement and enthusiasm than had been 
 witnessed upon any similar occasion preceding. High hopes 
 were indulged by the people generally, that the new adminis 
 tration would inaugurate some change of policy which would 
 inure to the well-being of the country at large. Harrison at 
 once called a special session of Congress, but, being taken 
 suddenly ill, he died just one month after the day of inaugu 
 ration. John Tyler, the vice-president, succeeded him. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF TYLER AND POLK. THE MEXI 
 CAN WAR. 
 
 1841 1849. 
 
 THE NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY. ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 
 
 AT the special session which had been called by the late 
 president, Congress repealed the Sub-Treasury act, as it was 
 believed that the locking up of the public funds exerted a 
 continued pressure upon the money market to the prejudice 
 of the business of the country. A general Bankrupt Law was 
 also passed, but it did not continue long in force. 
 
 It had been the general supposition that Tyler was in favor 
 of the establishment of a National Bank, and it was upon that 
 issue, which met with the popular favor, that he and Harrison 
 had been elected. But when a bill was passed by both houses 
 of Congress, chartering such a bank, the president refused to 
 sign it. Another bill was passed, modified mostly in a^ord- 
 ance with his suggestions, but this also was vetoed. All the 
 members of his cabinet, except Daniel Webster, the secretary 
 of state, immediately resigned their places. 
 
 Webster was then engaged in negotiations with the British 
 government upon the subject of our north-eastern boundary, 
 that question appearing likely to give occasion for serious dis 
 pute. On the part of Great Britain, a special minister, Lord 
 Ashburton, was sent over to the United States, to arrange a 
 compromise, and also to settle the controversy which had 
 grown out of the Canadian-border disturbances. Had not a 
 mutual spirit of conciliation prevailed, a war between the two 
 39 6 
 
1 824] THE NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY. 397 
 
 countries would have been precipitated. Commissioners from 
 Maine and Massachusetts being invited to Washington, to 
 confer with Webster and the English minister, the boundary 
 line between Maine and New Brunswick was very soon ar 
 ranged. Two other important matters were provided for in 
 the ASHBURTON TREATY, namely, the rendition of fugitives 
 from justice, and an agreement that the two nations should 
 maintain armed vessels on the coast of Africa to aid in the 
 suppression of the slave trade. 
 
 But the most important event of Tyler s administration was 
 the annexation of TEXAS. That State had for years been 
 much coveted by the people of the Southern states, as a region 
 in which slavery ought to flourish. As early as 1819, a certain 
 James Long, accompanied by about 75 lawless adventurers 
 from Mississippi, entered the state, and issued a proclamation 
 calling upon the people to unite their territory with the 
 American Union. Long styled himself "President of the 
 Supreme Council of Texas;" but his party, after some of 
 them had been killed, was quickly dispersed by the Spaniards. 
 A similar attempt, headed by a man named Edwards, was 
 made a few years later, but it resulted in the same manner as 
 the first. 
 
 I, 1821, the Spanish authorities granted to MOSES AUSTIN, 
 ,pf Missouri, the privilege of introducing 300 families into 
 Texas, one of the conditions of the concession being that the 
 immigrants should be Catholics. Austin dying, the grant was 
 renewed to his son, who settled a slave-holding colony on the 
 Rio Brazos. But in 1824, Mexico, to which Texas was sub 
 ject, became a republic, free from the dominion of Spain ; 
 and, five years later, its congress passed a decree manumitting 
 every slave in Mexican territory. The hopes of the slave 
 holders of the Southern states were dampened by this act, 
 and accordingly, there being no pretext for a war with Mexico, 
 propositions were made for the purchase of Texas. The sum 
 
 34 
 
39 S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1836 
 
 of one million dollars was first offered by President Jackson, 
 and then five million ; but both offers were promptly rejected. 
 
 The plans for acquiring the state by lawless irruption and by 
 purchase, having failed, the next method tried was that of 
 colonization ; in other words, making the country, by immi 
 gration, so decidedly American, that its future acquisition would 
 be assured. Several joint-stock companies were also formed in 
 the city of New York, who dealt in the Texan land-scrip, and 
 hence the interested holders of this scrip constituted a party 
 who were very desirous that Texas, whatever the means em 
 ployed, should be brought into the Union. In the year 1836, 
 the American settlers, finding themselves fully in power, 
 issued a declaration of independence of Mexico; and only 
 fifteen days later, adopted a constitution establishing perpetual 
 slavery in the province. Fifty of the 57 signers of this 
 declaration were emigrants from the slave states, and only 
 three were Mexicans by birth. 
 
 At the time of the declaration, SANTA ANNA, who had 
 made himself dictator of Mexico, demanded that Texas 
 should return to its allegiance. This being refused, a contest 
 resulted, in the course of which Santa Anna was taken 
 prisoner by the Texans, who were led by General SAMUEL 
 HOUSTON. The Mexican general, however, was soon re 
 leased. Houston was inaugurated president of Texas in the 
 same year (1836), and the independence of the state was 
 acknowledged the following year by the United States gov 
 ernment. In the meantime, demand was made upon Mexicq 
 for a settlement within two weeks, of certain alleged wrongs 
 and indignities committed against United States citizens. 
 Mexico offered to submit them to arbitration, but our govern 
 ment appeared to be so anxious to have a plea for a war by 
 which Texas could be secured, that it delayed four months 
 before accepting this equitable method of settling the 
 difficulty. 
 
i344] TEXAS ANNEXED. 399 
 
 As to the nature of these claims, their extravagant character may 
 be inferred from the fact that of n million dollars demanded 
 as damages, the umpire allowed the United States less than one- 
 fifth of that sum. As an instance : a certain Mexican schoolmaster 
 and printer, who afterward became a naturalized citizen of the 
 United States, produced a bill of nearly $400,000, for damages in 
 having to leave his school and press during one of the revolution 
 ary struggles in Mexico. The umpire cut down the claim to one- 
 eighth of the original demand. Another, claimed the astonishing 
 sum of over $8000 for the loss of 56 dozen of bottled porter, proba 
 bly worth not over $200. 
 
 Such was the aspect of Mexican and Texan matters when 
 Tyler became president. But Mexico itself had claims for 
 damages against the United States, which it, also, requested 
 should be settled by arbitration ; and that, as the referees in 
 the previous case had met in Washington, they should in the 
 present instance convene in the city of Mexico. A treaty to 
 this effect was agreed to, but the Senate of the United States 
 refused to accept the proposition. A motion in the Senate to 
 ratify a treaty with Texas, providing for its annexation to the 
 Union, was defeated in 1844; but, in the following year, 
 was carried. This act, however, was only secured by the 
 subterfuge of voting on a resolution of annexation, which 
 merely required a majority of the votes ; whereas the ratifi 
 cation of a treaty would have required two-thirds of the 
 whole number. 
 
 Under the old colonial charter of Rhode Island, only those 
 of its citizens owning a certain amount of property were en 
 titled to vote. In order to effect the abrogation of this re 
 strictive law, the " Suffrage" party arose in the state. At the 
 election of 1842, the candidate of the "Law and Order" 
 party was defeated, and DORR, the governor-elect, took pos 
 session of the state arsenal, so as to be prepared to maintain 
 his position. But the militia being called out by the party 
 of Law and Order, the Suffragist governor sought safety in 
 
4 oo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1846 
 
 flight. Subsequently, the Suffragists were overpowered by 
 United States troops, and Dorr was arrested, tried for treason, 
 and sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was, however, 
 afterward pardoned, and in the meantime a new and more 
 liberal constitution was adopted by the people. 
 
 Iowa and Florida were admitted into the Union as states 
 in 1845. I n tne same vear > JAMES K. POLK, of Tennessee, 
 the nominee of the party of annexation, was inaugurated 
 president. 
 
 WAR WITH MEXICO. ANNEXATION OF CALIFORNIA AND 
 NEW MEXICO. 
 
 It was riot only the territory of Texas which had been cov 
 eted by many of the people of the United States, but also 
 those parts of the Mexican possessions known as California and 
 New Mexico. An envoy who was sent to Mexico to treat for 
 the latter provinces, was also instructed to offer, in part pay 
 for the said territory, the extravagant claims for damages 
 made by United States citizens. But the envoy, Slidell, not 
 being promptly received by the Mexicans, General ZACHARY 
 TAYLOR was ordered, in the spring of 1846, to proceed with 
 an army to the Rio Grande. Now, the Mexican government 
 asserted that the Nueces river (east of the Rio Grande), was 
 the true Texan boundary, and consequently that the United 
 States troops had invaded their territory. 
 
 A Mexican army which had assembled at Matamoras, near 
 the mouth of the Rio Grande, having crossed that river, a 
 battle was fought with the army of General Taylor, at Palo 
 Alto ; but the Mexicans were badly defeated. The follow 
 ing day they were routed again, at Resaca de la Palma, and 
 General Taylor crossing the Rio Grande, occupied Mata 
 moras. The party of annexation, in Congress, rejoicing that 
 they had forced the Mexicans to strike the first blow, and 
 being aided by the votes of most of the opposition, who 
 
1846] WAR WITH MEXICO. 40 r 
 
 had not the moral courage to stand by their convictions of 
 right, at once declared war, voted money for carrying it 
 on, and authorized the president to order out an army of 
 50,000 volunteers. 
 
 Nearly at the same time that war was declared against 
 Mexico, a treaty was concluded with Great Britain relative to 
 the Oregon boundary. The settlement of the north-western 
 boundary, like that of the north-east, had long been a subject 
 of negotiation, and for awhile the discussion wore a threat 
 ening aspect. The United States, by virtue of the treaty of 
 1819 with Spain, claimed all the " Florida" territory on the 
 Pacific, north of the 426. parallel or northern boundary of 
 California as far as the Russian possessions. Their claim 
 was also based on the explorations of LEWIS and CLARKE 
 (1804-1806), and the founding of the colony of Astoria. On 
 the other hand, the claim of Great Britain rested upon the 
 fact of settlements having been made by subjects of that 
 country, on the north branch of the Columbia, and on Fra- 
 ser s river. By the treaty of 1846, the 49th degree of north 
 latitude was agreed upon as the international boundary-line. 
 
 There being now no fear of a disagreement with Great 
 Britain, the war against Mexico was prosecuted with vigor. 
 General Taylor advanced his army to Monterey, the capital 
 of the province of New Leon, and after a sanguinary struggle 
 of three days^ the Mexican general Ampudia agreed to terms 
 of capitulation. At this juncture the existing government of 
 the country was overthrown by Santa Anna (who had been 
 previously banished by his political enemies), whose influ 
 ence it was thought would be exerted in favor of peace. 
 Yet such, was not the result, for he soon appeared at the head 
 of an army of 20,000 men not far from the American lines 
 at Buena Vista. But, the Mexicans were again repulsed, 
 and, abandoning their camp in great disorder, retreated south 
 ward. 
 
 34* 
 
402 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1847 
 
 In the early part of 1847, General Winfield Scott, who had 
 been appointed to the chief command of the American forces, 
 landed an army near Vera Cruz, and began to invest that 
 place. Although strongly defended by the fortress of San 
 Juan d Ulloa, the city was taken after a few days bombard 
 ment. About 3000 bombshells and the same number of round 
 shot were thrown into the devoted city during its brief in 
 vestment. The loss of life among the women, children and 
 non-combatants was reported to have been greater than was 
 that of the soldiery. The invading army, leaving this scene 
 of havoc, began its march westward toward the Mexican 
 capital. At Cerro Gordo, fifty miles distant from Vera Cruz, 
 they again encountered and defeated the forces of Santa 
 Anna, and thence advanced with little opposition to Puebla. 
 At Contreras, and Churubusco, where desperate battles were 
 fought, Santa Anna being still further discomfited, requested 
 an armistice. But, although granted, it continued in force 
 only two weeks. 
 
 The army of General Scott then continued its advance. 
 Another fierce struggle ensued at Molino del Rev, and a final 
 one at Chapultepec, a rocky fortress close to the capital. 
 The remnant of the Mexican army, seeing that their city 
 would be unable to withstand the assault of the invaders, fled 
 precipitately, and on the i4th day of Qth month (September) 
 the American army occupied the capital. 
 
 While these events were transpiring in the heart of the 
 Mexican republic, its possessions in the north were being also 
 invaded by United States troops. An army under General 
 KEARNEY set out from Missouri, and crossing the plains, a 
 distance of a thousand miles, arrived at Santa Fe, which city 
 was occupied without opposition. Kearney issued a procla 
 mation declaring himself governor of the province, and ab 
 solving the inhabitants from their allegiance to Mexico. 
 From Santa Fe, a small force under Colonel Doniphan in- 
 
 
1848] WAR WITH MEXICO. 4 o 3 
 
 vaded the state of Chihuahua, and having defeated the 
 Mexicans at Bracito and at the Pass of Sacramento, they took 
 possession of Chihuahua, the capital. 
 
 A small party under Captain JOHN C. FREMONT was ex 
 ploring the territory of California when the war broke out. 
 Fremont had, previous to this, explored the Rocky Mountain 
 region from the South Pass to the Three Peaks of Colorado, 
 and also the Great Basin from the Rocky Mountains to the 
 Sierra Nevada. Uniting his forces with the American settlers, 
 and co-operating with Commodore Stockton who commanded 
 the Pacific fleet, they soon overcame the opposition of the 
 natives. In a few months all California was in their possession. 
 
 Early in 1848 a treaty was concluded with Mexico. New 
 Mexico and California were ceded to the United States, and 
 the Rio Grande accepted by Mexico as the boundary sepa 
 rating it from Texas. In return, the United States agreed to 
 pay Mexico 15 million dollars, and to assume the claim for 
 damages, amounting to three and a half million dollars, said 
 to be due to United States citizens. The money cost of 
 the Mexican war was about 100 million dollars. Although 
 comparatively few soldiers of the Americans were killed in 
 battle, yet thousands died of the vomito and other diseases. 
 At Perote, there were 2600 American graves of the victims of 
 disease, and at the city of Mexico, the deaths, for awhile, were 
 1000 a month. For nearly two years as many as 140,000 
 men were employed as soldiers, teamsters, artificers, etc., and 
 hence the otherwise useful labor of many of these was lost to 
 the country. 
 
 WILLIAM JAY remarks on the needlessness of this war : " It is 
 impossible to resist the conviction that, by honest negotiation, we 
 might have become the masters of these territories without crime, 
 without human butchery, and at a far less cost in money than the 
 sum we have paid. * * We should, however, take a most errone 
 ous and limited view of the cost of this war to the United States, 
 were we to confine our estimates to the millions which have been 
 
404 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1848 
 
 expended in its prosecution, or to the personal sufferings it has 
 occasioned. Before we can sum up the total cost, we must add to 
 the blood, and the groans, and the treasure we have bartered for 
 victory and conquest, the political and moral evils the war has be 
 queathed to the nation evils as extensive as the bounds of the 
 Republic, and whose effects upon the happiness of individuals will 
 continue to be felt when time shall be no more." 
 
 During the exciting debates in Congress upon the acquisi 
 tion of California and New Mexico, a proposition was intro 
 duced by David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, which provided 
 that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should be per 
 mitted in any ceded territory. This amendment to the bill 
 was termed the " Wilmot Proviso," and the discussion which 
 was provoked thereby, made it apparent that the true object 
 of the war on the part of the pro-slavery party was not to 
 avenge imputed wrongs on the part of Mexico, but simply to 
 add to the extent of slave territory. The Proviso passed the 
 House, but failed in the Senate. 
 
 Just before the ratification of the treaty with Mexico, 
 rumors of the discovery of gold in California, reached the 
 eastern states. The shining particles were first noticed (1847) 
 by a laborer who was engaged at work upon a mill-race on one 
 of the tributaries of the river Sacramento. Intense excitement 
 followed the intelligence, and shortly, thousands of emigrants 
 for the Eldorado of the West were on their way, some going 
 in caravans across the plains and over the Rocky Mountains; 
 others by ship to the isthmus of Panama, and thence by the 
 Pacific ; and others again by the long route around Cape 
 Horn. SAN FRANCISCO at once became the favorite city and 
 port. Speculation was rife in the land, and, along with 
 the intense thirst for gold, gambling, intemperance and 
 ruffianism prevailed there for a number of years. Silver and 
 quicksilver were also discovered, while the teeming products 
 of a fertile soil soon passed out through the "Golden Gate" 
 to other less favored quarters. 
 
[848] 
 
 GADSDEN PURCHASE. 
 
 405 
 
 The TREATY OF GUADALOUPE-HIDALGO (1848) had resulted 
 in the cession by Mexico of 545,000 square miles of territory. 
 By the "Gadsden Purchase" of 1853, the Pima silver region 
 and Mesilla Valley, south of the Gila river, comprising 45,000 
 square miles, were also acqujred upon payment of the further 
 sum of ten million dollars. 
 
 Wisconsin was admitted into the Union in 1848. The 
 presidential election of that year resulted in the choice of 
 General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, for the chief office. 
 MILLARD FILLMORE, of New York, was chosen vice-president. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 TAYLOR. FILLMORE. PIERCE. BUCHANAN. 
 1849 1861. 
 
 THE SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 FOR twelve years following the passage of the Missouri 
 Compromise act, the subject of slavery was not agitated in 
 Congress. Public opinion, however, at the North, was by 
 no means at rest, and the Anti-Slavery party or Abolitionists 
 were yearly gaining in numbers. The American Anti-Slavery 
 Society was organized at Philadelphia, in 1833, with ARTHUR 
 TAPPAN as its first president. A few years previous, Benjamin 
 Lundy, of Baltimore, had published a small journal, "The 
 Genius of Universal Emancipation," while William Lloyd 
 Garrison, in Boston, issued "The Liberator." During the 
 presidency of Jackson, prohibition memorials began to be 
 presented to Congress, while papers and illustrated publica 
 tions, designed to generate a feeling in favor of emancipation, 
 were mailed to the slave-owners and others at the South. 
 When Jackson recommended to Congress that a law should 
 be passed prohibiting the use of the mails for the latter pur 
 pose, the excitement became intense ; exhibiting itself at the 
 North, in violent attacks upon the Abolitionists, and at the 
 South, in the breaking open of some of the post-offices and 
 the destruction of the unwelcome documents. 
 
 The debates upon the annexation of Texas and upon a war 
 with Mexico, showed that the extension of slavery was viewed 
 406 
 
1 850] THE SLA VER Y A GIT A TION. 40 7 
 
 with favor by the administrations of Tyler and Polk. The 
 opponents of slavery now brought the subject forward as one 
 which should properly find expression through the medium of 
 the ballot-box. The Abolitionists, or those who were in favor 
 of the utter extinction of slavery, were comparatively few in 
 number. The Free-Soil party, although equally persuaded 
 with the Abolitionists of the moral wrong of the slave system, 
 favored the recognition of the constitutional limits of slavery 
 as established by the Missouri Compromise, but were opposed 
 to the creation of new slave states. At the presidential elec 
 tion of 1840, this party polled but 7600 votes; but in 1848 
 their candidate received the suffrages of nearly 300,000 
 citizens. 
 
 In 1849, California, which had rapidly increased in popu 
 lation, following the discovery of gold, adopted a constitu 
 tion prohibiting slavery, and asked to be admitted as a state. 
 Such a result of the acquisition of Mexican territory had not 
 been looked for by the advocates of slavery. There were 
 violent debates in Congress, with threats of secession, and 
 protests that as slavery was a domestic institution, it should 
 not be interfered with. The Anti-Slavery party, on their side, 
 also advocated separation, declaring that a republic like the 
 United States could not with any consistency support so un 
 righteous a custom as slavery, and that the obligation on the 
 part of the Northern states to return fugitive slaves ought not 
 to be assented to. 
 
 The first message of President Taylor to Congress, and the 
 only one which he lived to submit, recommended that Cali 
 fornia should be at once admitted into the Union. Also, that 
 NEW MEXICO and UTAH should be organized as territories, 
 and, when prepared to be received into the Union, that they 
 be allowed to settle the question of slavery to suit themselves. 
 A few months later, on the gth day of 7th month (July), 1850 
 the day of the great fire at Philadelphia the president died. 
 
4 o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1850 
 
 The following day, Millard Fillmore, the vice-president, was 
 inaugurated as chief magistrate. 
 
 In the meantime a compromise measure, which, on account 
 of the diversity of its provisions was styled the Omnibus Bill, 
 was introduced by Henry Clay, and, after a lapse of several 
 months, was passed. It provided for the admission of Cali 
 fornia; the organization, without mention of slavery, of the 
 territories of New Mexico and Utah ; the adjustment of tne 
 Texas boundary ; the abolition of slavery in the District of 
 Columbia, and the enactment of a Fugitive Slave Law, more 
 stringent in its provisions than was the act of 1787. The 
 legislatures of some of the free states had forbidden the use 
 of their jails for the confinement of fugitive slaves, and jus 
 tices of the peace had refused to take any action in such cases ; 
 but, by the new bill, these were referred to the adjudication 
 of United States commissioners, specially appointed. Henry 
 Clay was really an opponent of slavery, but he was also an 
 earnest advocate of federal union, and hence, being anxious 
 to allay the slavery agitation, was willing to compromise a 
 good principle by favoring a temporizing meas ure. 
 
 Utah, or " Deseret," as it was first called, was organized as 
 a territory, with BRIGHAM YOUNG, an elder of the Mormons, 
 as its first governor. The Mormon sect was founded in 1827 
 by JOSEPH SMITH, a native of Vermont, who pretended that 
 he had received revelations from heaven, by means of which 
 he was put in possession of a number of golden plates covered 
 with Egyptian characters, which he alone could decipher. 
 The "Book of Mormon," framed therefrom, contained the 
 tenets of the new religion. Smith and several hundred fol 
 lowers settled in Missouri ; but becoming obnoxious to the 
 inhabitants, they took up their abode in Illinois, where they 
 founded a city called Nauvoo, on a bluff overlooking the Mis 
 sissippi. The "prophet" being slain in a trouble which arose, 
 the Mormons again took to flight. Led by several of their 
 
1852] THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL. 409 
 
 chosen elders, they crossed the Rocky Mountains and settled 
 in the Great Basin of Utah T chiefly at their city of Great Salt 
 Lake, which was founded in 1847. Polygamy, a favorite 
 domestic institution of the Mormon sect, being opposed to 
 the law of the land, the territory of Utah has not yet been 
 received as a state of the Union. 
 
 THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL. TROUBLES IN KANSAS. 
 
 General Scott was nominated by the Whig party for presi 
 dent, in 1852 } but the popular vote was given in favor of his 
 Democratic opponent FRANKLIN PIERCE, of New Hampshire. 
 W. R. KING, of Alabama, was elected vice-president. 
 
 The most important measure of Pierce s administration was 
 the bill to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. 
 They comprised that part of the original Louisiana purchase 
 west of Missouri and north of the parallel of 36 30 ; and 
 consequently, in accordance with the provisions of the Mis 
 souri Compromise, slavery was excluded therefrom. Portions 
 of it had been allotted to sundry Indian tribes who had re 
 moved from the territory north-west of the Ohio, but their 
 presence was not desired by the white settlers who now began 
 to locate in those parts. 
 
 A bill to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska 
 was introduced into the Senate by STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, of 
 Illinois. An important clause of the bill was a provision for 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. It provided that any 
 territory, no matter whether north or south of the compromise 
 parallel, should be privileged, upon adopting a constitution 
 and becoming a state, either to permit or to exclude the in 
 stitution of slavery^. Numerous petitions were presented to 
 Congress, requesting that body not to make any alteration in 
 the lavr as it stood. Nevertheless, the bill, after a long dis- 
 s 35 
 
4 io HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1856 
 
 cussion, received the sanction of Congress and the signature 
 of the president. 
 
 Upon the passage of the bill, in the spring of 1854, active 
 measures were taken by adherents of both the Free-Soil and 
 Pro-Slavery parties, to people the territory of Kansas with set 
 tlers favoring their respective views. Aid societies were formed 
 in several of the Northern states to assist emigrants to reach 
 the territory and to establish homes there. At the elections 
 held for the purpose of choosing a delegate to Congress and 
 to elect members to the territorial legislature, each party claimed 
 that its candidates were successful. The members chosen by 
 the Pro-Slavery party met, but their assembly being declared 
 by the Free-Soil party illegal, their acts were repudiated on 
 the ground that armed men from Missouri had controlled the 
 polls. 
 
 A convention of Free-Soil men then assembled at Topeka 
 and framed a constitution rejecting slavery, which, being 
 submitted to the people, was ratified by them. Meanwhile, 
 outrages of every kind were frequent, murders, robberies, 
 illegal assaults and destruction of property, in all, or most 
 of which, the Free-Soil settlers were the worst sufferers, The 
 delegate to Congress was also refused a seat by that body , 
 but a committee being appointed to proceed to Kansas, the 
 charge was established that the elections had been carried by 
 fraud. Order was partially restored in the territory in 1856, 
 when JOHN W. GEARY was appointed governor by the presi 
 dent. At that time the whole country was thrown into a fever 
 of excitement upon receiving intelligence of a brutal assault 
 made by Preston Brooks, a member from the South, upon the 
 person of Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts. It 
 occurred while the Senate was in session. 
 
 At the next presidential election (1856), there were presented 
 the nominees of three political parties: that of the Repub 
 licans, the opponents of the extension of slavery into the 
 
1857] EMANCIPATION SCHEME. 41 1 
 
 territories; that of the Democrats, who favored slavery in the 
 territories, if it was so willed by the people ; and that of the 
 American, or so-called Know-Nothing" party, who were 
 opposed to popery and foreign influence. JAMES BUCHANAN, 
 of Pennsylvania, the candidate of the Democrats, was elected. 
 JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE, of Kentucky, was chosen vice- 
 president. Buchanan had served in both houses of Congress, 
 had been minister to Russia and to Great Britain, and also 
 secretary of state under President Polk. 
 
 But the Kansas troubles were not yet ended. Governor 
 Geary having resigned, the president appointed as his sue 
 cessor, ROBERT J. WAJ^KER, of Mississippi. Walker ordered 
 a new election for delegate to Congress and for members to 
 compose a territorial legislature. The Free-Soil candidates 
 were elected, In the meantime, however, delegates of the 
 Pro-Slavery party met at Lecompton, and framed a constitution 
 adopting slavery. This they submitted to the people, and 
 claiming that it was ratified, sent it to Congress; but that 
 body having ordered a new election, the Lecompton constitu 
 tion was rejected by a heavy majority; 
 
 The decision of the Supreme Court, announced by Chief- 
 justice Taney (1857), in the case of the negro Dxed-Scott 
 to wit, that slaves in every part of the national territory were 
 to be accounted property tended to intensify the feeling at 
 the North in opposition to slavery.. 
 
 MINNESOTA was received into the Union in 1857; OREGON, 
 the thirty-third state, in 1859. 
 
 THE SCHEME OF COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION. SECESSION. 
 
 The efforts made by the government to carry out the pro 
 visions of the Fugitive Slave law, produced a feeling of con 
 tinual irritation on the part of the North, which was in no wise 
 
4I2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1857 
 
 lessened by the condition of affairs in Kansas, where the con 
 tests between the two political parties frequently resulted in 
 bloodshed. Hence it became increasingly evident to think 
 ing minds that a far more terrible struggle would ensue, 
 filling the whole land with mourning and desolation, unless 
 endeavors were quickly put forth to compass the difficulty. 
 Unquestionably, slavery must be abolished, but as yet the 
 methods of Unconditional Abolition and of Gradual Eman 
 cipation found few supporters. The Liberia scheme of Col 
 onization had withdrawn but a few thousands of freed blacks 
 from the American soil, and did not materially affect the 
 question of slavery. But the plan of Compensated Bwianci- 
 pation, which was now brought to the notice of the people, 
 appeared to offer an equitable solution of the formidable 
 problem. 
 
 The friends of this movement contended that the founders 
 of the Republic had not established a union in fact, however 
 it had been so declared in name, and that, before the sections 
 North and South could be confederated in one compact and 
 homogeneous nationality, the true union of the states would 
 have to be won. The method by which this was to be at 
 tained was to remove the cause of the estrangement, to wit, 
 slavery; but furthermore, this boon of union and peace was 
 vfOrt\\payingfor, if it could be secured in no other way. In 
 brief, what would the friends of the slave, of union, and of 
 peace, be willing to give, to avert disunion and civil strife ? 
 
 It was proposed by the advocates of this measure, in order 
 to secure the immediate, and at the same time peaceful, 
 liberation of the slaves, that emancipation should take the 
 form of a national act. In making this proposition they did 
 not concede that the slave-owner was really and morally en 
 titled to any pay for the human chattels whom he held, but 
 they believed that it would be preferable to concede such a 
 point rather than that the slaves should either continue many 
 
1857] EMANCIPATION SCHEME. 4! 3 
 
 years in servitude, or that their fetters should be stricken off 
 through a fratricidal strife which must bring numberless evils in 
 its train. They therefore proposed that " all the public lands 
 west of the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean should be 
 set apart for defraying the expense of the complete and imme 
 diate emancipation of all the slaves in the Union, and for pro 
 viding a fund for their education and elevation after their 
 manumission." 
 
 As has been shown in the preceding pages, the moral 
 responsibility for the existence of slavery in the United 
 States, rested upon the North as well as the South. Northern 
 ship-owners and merchants participated in the gains of the 
 slave traffic, while cotton, tobacco and rice, the products of 
 slave labor, largely passed through the hands of northern fac 
 tors, yielding them lucrative profits. Likewise, the merchants 
 of the North either imported or made almost all the manu 
 factured goods which were used by the South. Therefore, 
 said the advocates of compensation, as the North had formed 
 an alliance with the South in the fostering and perpetuation 
 of slavery, whereby the system had become nationalized, so 
 should it be willing to pay its proportion of the price of ex 
 tinguishing slavery, whatever might be the pecuniary expense 
 involved. In carrying out the plan of national indemnifica 
 tion, a brotherly partnership would be formed and a glorious 
 consummation arrived at, which would bless equally both sec 
 tions of the Republic. 
 
 Estimating the number of slaves at 4,000,000, and assuming 
 the sum of $250 as an equivalent of value for each man, 
 woman and child, the purchase-price of their freedom would 
 have been a thousand million dollars. The sale of the pub 
 lic lands would have paid the interest and gradually the 
 principal of this total, and have left a large sum to be devoted 
 to the education and improvement of the subjects of manu 
 mission. The money received would also have served as a 
 
 35* 
 
4 i 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1860 
 
 stimulus to Southern labor and manufactures. Possibly this 
 view of the case may not have been acceptable to many of 
 the manufacturers of the North. However that may be, the 
 scheme of Compensated Emancipation of which ELIHU 
 BURRITT, of Connecticut, was the foremost advocate was 
 received with but little favor by the people at large. The 
 nation was not prepared to listen to such calm and philan 
 thropic counsel, and, choosing to follow the bent of passion, 
 the price it paid in the end has been the proof of its folly. 
 
 The border troubles had scarcely ended, when, in the loth 
 month (October), 1859, arash undertaking, having for its object 
 the liberating of the slaves by a general uprising on their part, 
 was attempted by a certain JOHN BROWN and his sons, who 
 had been prominently engaged in the Kansas troubles. Ac 
 companied by a very few followers, they crossed the Potomac 
 at Harper s Ferry, expecting to be joined by the blacks. 
 Not receiving the immediate co-operation which they had 
 looked for, they took possession of one of the shops of the 
 United States Arsenal at Harper s Ferry, but were very 
 soon overpowered and captured by government troops. They 
 were handed over to the authorities of Virginia, and were 
 tried and executed before the end of the year. 
 
 The presidential election of 1860, was one of momentous 
 import. The Democratic and pro-slavery party which had 
 mostly controlled the government from the beginning of 
 the century, perceived that public opinion had undergone a 
 change and that their power was likely to be disturbed when 
 submitted to the decision of the ballot. At the Democratic 
 nominating convention which was held at Charleston, the 
 Southern delegates withdrew, and named as their candidate 
 John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky. Those who remained, 
 nominated Stephen A. Douglas. The American party nomi 
 nated John Bell, of Tennessee ; the Republicans, ABRAHAM 
 LINCOLN, of Illinois. The latter receiving a plurality of votes 
 
1861] SECESSION. 
 
 415 
 
 was elected. HANNIBAL HAMLIN, of Maine, was chosen vice- 
 president. 
 
 There had been many undisguised declarations on the 
 part of people at the South, that if Lincoln was elected, it 
 would be the signal for the states of that section to withdraw 
 from the Union. Accordingly, no sooner was the result of 
 the election known, than the legislature of South Carolina 
 called a convention, which, on the 2oth day of the i2th 
 month declared by a unanimous vote that "the union now 
 subsisting between South Carolina and other states, under 
 the name of the United States, is hereby dissolved." In the 
 First month of 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and 
 Georgia, followed the example set by South Carolina, and 
 shortly afterward the rest of the Southern states cast their lot 
 for secession. In the Second month, delegates from the se 
 ceded states met at Montgomery, Alabama, and having 
 adopted a constitution similar to that of the United States, 
 they organized the "Confederate States of America," with 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS, as president, and ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS, 
 vice-president. Richmond, Virginia, was designated the 
 capital. The senators and representatives from the South in 
 the national Congress, resigned their seats, and most of the 
 officers in the army from that section also gave in their resig 
 nations, and joined the cause of the Confederacy. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 PRESIDENCY OF LINCOLN. THE CIVIL WAR. 
 18611865. 
 
 THE states of the South had now carried into practice the 
 right which had been always claimed by the Anti-Federalist 
 or States-Rights party, namely, that any state, might, in ac 
 cordance with the terms of the federal constitution, withdraw 
 from the Union, without hindrance on the part of any or all 
 of the remaining states. But the majority of the people were 
 imbued with the opinion that the compact between the various 
 states was intended to be more national in its character that 
 it was not a simple federation or league of sovereign states 
 and therefore that there could be no severance of any of the 
 integral parts of the Republic. Such also was the opinion of 
 President Lincoln. Concerning slavery, he said^ in his inaugu 
 ral address (1861) : " I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, 
 to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where 
 it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have 
 no inclination to do so." 
 
 But the institution of slavery was, nevertheless, the impel 
 ling cause of secession, and for its perpetuation the states of 
 the South had thus united together. They also believed that 
 their sympathizers at the North were so many in number, 
 that coercion would not be seriously attempted. But when, a 
 month after Lincoln s inauguration, a fleet was ordered to the 
 relief of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and the bom 
 bardment of the fort by Confederate batteries was followed by 
 416 
 
i86i] BULL RUN. 417 
 
 its surrender, there arose a sudden outburst of excitement at 
 the North, and tumultuous outcries for vengeance. Through 
 out the land the press and the pulpit joined in the mad demand 
 for war. Had those who called themselves " leaders of the 
 flock" exerted themselves as peacemakers, the war might still 
 have been averted. But, their fealty to Christ was overborne 
 by the passion of the hour ; and hence it was that the churches 
 both North and South, untrue to the peaceful testimonies 
 of the gospel, became the strongest bulwarks of this wicked 
 strife. 
 
 A call for 75,000 volunteers was at once issued by the gov 
 ernment. The foremost of these, in passing through Balti 
 more en route to the national capital, 4th month (April) i9th, 
 were mobbed by Southern sympathizers, and several lives 
 lost on each side. About the same time, the government 
 arsenal at Harper s Ferry was seized by the Confederates, and 
 great quantities of arms and ammunition were secured. To 
 prevent the navy yard and the war vessels at Norfolk from 
 falling into the same hands, they were destroyed by the United 
 States officers stationed there. The place was then evacuated. 
 
 The first important engagement of the war south of the Po 
 tomac, occurred near Fortress Monroe, on Hampton Roads, 
 where General Butler was in command. This engagement, 
 known as the battle of Big Bethel, resulted in defeat to the 
 Union troops. But a far greater check to the cause was ex 
 perienced, when the main army of volunteers, commanded by 
 General McDowell, met the Confederates under General 
 Beauregard, at Bull Run, a few miles south-west of Washing 
 ton, 7th month (July) 2ist. A panic seized the Union troops, 
 who fled in disorder toward the capital, leaving a great quan 
 tity of artillery and stores on the field. About 3500 of their 
 number were killed, wounded or missing. 
 
 In consequence of the discomfiture at Bull Run, it became 
 apparent to the president and Congress that the suppression 
 s* 
 
4I 3 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 
 
 of the rebellion by force of arms would require a much larger 
 levy of militia than had been anticipated, and accordingly a 
 call was issued for an army of 500,000 men. General Scott, 
 at his own request, was relieved from the chief direction of 
 the armies, and his place was filled by General McCLEL- 
 LAN, who also had immediate command of the army of the 
 Potomac. A part of this army, under Generals McCall and 
 Stone, was stationed on the Maryland side of the river not far 
 from Edwards Ferry. Upon hearing that Leesburg had been 
 evacuated by the Confederates, the Union army crossed the 
 Potomac, opposite the steep declivity of Ball s Bluff, but were 
 surprised by the Confederates and routed. Upon reaching 
 the water, many of the Unionists who attempted to escape by 
 swimming, were shot ; others, being swept away by the cur 
 rent, in the darkness were drowned. The battle of Ball s 
 Bluff occurred on the 2oth of loth month (October), 1861. 
 
 In west Virginia, the Unionists, under General Rose- 
 crans, were mostly successful. In Missouri, although the 
 number of slaves was less than one-tenth of the population, 
 the bias of the people was not decidedly in favor of the 
 Union. The pro-slavery politicians were active and influential, 
 and by their exertions a secession governor (C. F. Jackson) 
 was elected. General Harney was sent to take command of 
 the Western Department, and having established at St. Louis 
 his headquarters, that city was kept out of the hands of the 
 Secessionists. He was soon succeeded by General Fremont, 
 and the latter again by General Halleck. Missouri was the 
 scene of much partisan or guerilla warfare. In a desperate 
 battle which was fought at Wilson s Creek, near Springfield, 
 General Lyon, in command of the Union army, was killed. 
 The state was cleared, for awhile, of Confederate troops, by an 
 army under General Curtis. 
 
 The national navy having been greatly increased, the 
 Southern coast from Virginia to Texas was blockaded ; while 
 
1 862] MASON AND SLIDELL. 419 
 
 gun -boats were constructed for the Western rivers, to carry on 
 offensive operations against the fortifications which the Con 
 federates quickly erected thereon. Before the end of 1861, the 
 Confederate defences at Port Royal entrance, South Carolina, 
 were captured by the fleet of Captain Dupont, assisted by the 
 land forces of General Sherman; and in the 2d month of 
 1862, an expedition under General Burnside and Commodore 
 Goldsborough, captured the forts on Roanoke Island. The 
 Confederate flotilla withdrew to Elizabeth City, and being 
 followed by the Union fleet, was there burnt to escape cap 
 ture. Nearly at the same time Fort Henry on the Tennessee 
 river, and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, were taken by 
 the gun-boats of Commodore Foote, assisted by the army of 
 GENERAL GRANT ; and a few weeks later, Nashville, the 
 capital of Tennessee, was occupied by the Union army. 
 ANDREW JOHNSON, formerly chief magistrate of the state, 
 was appointed military governor. 
 
 The Confederates being anxious to obtain a recognition of 
 their cause on the part of Great Britain and France, James 
 M. Mason and John Slidell were appointed to lay their case 
 before those powers. To elude the blockade, the two ambas 
 sadors made their way first to Cuba, and then by another 
 steamer, the Trent, took passage for St. Thomas intending 
 to leave for England in the next packet from that island. But 
 on their way out, when not far north of the island of Cuba, 
 the Trent was intercepted by the National steamer San Jacinto, 
 in command of Captain Charles Wilkes. Mason and Slidell 
 were taken on board, and sent to Fort Warren in Boston 
 harbor. Much elation was manifested by the people of the 
 North at this important capture ; but the president, aware of the 
 fact that it was a violation of the very principle concerning the 
 rights of neutrals, for which America had formerly contended 
 with England, did not endorse the act. Hence, when a demand 
 was made by the British government for the restoration of the 
 
420 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1862 
 
 captives, they were given up and a suitable acknowledgment 
 made; not, however, without some delay, during which pre 
 cautionary preparations for war were made by Great Britain, 
 involving that country in an expenditure of several million 
 dollars. 
 
 Often have the embers of war been fanned into a flame by the 
 reckless representations and evil surmisings of the daily press ! 
 When Louis Napoleon elevated himself to the imperial throne of 
 France, the alarm was sounded by the daily journals of England, 
 encouraged by reports from their correspondents at Paris, that the 
 country was in imminent danger from the sinister designs of the up 
 start ruler. The British parliament thereupon assumed a bellige 
 rent attitude, and passed an act for enrolling 80,600 militia. Mean 
 while, lest the journals should really push the country into war, 
 earnest measures on the part of sober-minded people were put for 
 ward to stay the foolish panic. " One of the expedients adopted," 
 says Burritt, "was the instituting of a direct correspondence be 
 tween 50 of the largest towns in Great Britain, and the same number 
 of towns in France. Manuscript communications, signed by a large 
 number of influential citizens, deprecating most earnestly the senti 
 ments of the British press toward the French government and 
 people, were sent across the channel, and were responded to most 
 generously. One of these Friendly Addresses, as they were 
 called, was signed by 4000 of the first merchants and bankers of 
 London. All these communications asked the French people not 
 to regard the sentiments expressed towards them by the British 
 journals as the sentiments of the English nation. A few weeks 
 passed away, and this bubble of suspicion burst." 
 
 In the 3d month (March), 1862, the Confederate iron-clad 
 ram, the Merrimack, came out of Norfolk harbor, and attacked 
 the National fleet which was lying in Hampton Roads. The 
 Cumberland received such a severe blow from the beak of the 
 Merrimack, that she began at once to fill with water. All 
 who could, made their escape; but the dead, the sick and 
 wounded, to the number of about 100, were engulfed be 
 neath the waters. The Congress was set on fire by red-hot 
 shot from the Merrimack, and the other National vessels were 
 
1862] McCLELLAN S REPULSE. 421 
 
 obliged to withdraw. The Merrimack returned to Norfolk ; 
 but the next day, there arrived in Hampton Roads, an iron 
 vessel of novel construction, lying very low in the water and 
 surmounted with a turret. It was called the Monitor. This 
 vessel engaged the Merrimack, which, becoming considerably 
 disabled, withdrew from the encounter. Norfolk was shortly 
 afterward taken possession of by National troops under Gen 
 eral Wool. 
 
 A movement upon Richmond, the Confederate capital, 
 being determined on, General McClellan decided on making 
 the approach by way of the James river peninsula. Large 
 bodies of troops and military stores were embarked for For 
 tress Monroe, and early in the 4th month (April), the army 
 began its march toward Yorktown. The Confederates under 
 Generals Magruder and Johnston, slowly retreated, while 
 McClellan s forces continued up the peninsula, until they had 
 arrived within a few miles of Richmond, where General 
 ROBT. E. LEE was in command. At Fair Oaks a battle was 
 fought, which resulted in severe loss to both sides. Finally, 
 in the latter part of the 6th month (June), there ensued a 
 series of sanguinary engagements, lasting six days, at the end 
 of which time McClellan, being continuously repulsed, gained 
 the cover of his gun-boats at Harrison s Landing on the James 
 river. The attempt of the Nationals had ended in total 
 failure. 
 
 In the meantime, the Shenandoah valley was the scene of 
 active operations. A National army under Generals Pope and 
 Banks, endeavored to keep the Confederates there in check, 
 and prevent them from uniting their forces with the army of 
 General Lee. But in several battles and many skirmishes 
 which took place, the Confederate forces of Generals Ewell 
 and "Stonewall" Jackson were mainly victorious. Lee s 
 army also, relieved by the withdrawal of McClellan, pressed 
 northward, and when near the Potomac, defeated the army of 
 
 36 
 
422 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1862 
 
 Pope at the second Battle of Bull Run, or Manassas. The 
 Nationals then withdrew within the fortifications around 
 Washington. Shortly after, the president issued a call for 
 several hundred thousand additional troops. 
 
 Lee s army, exultant at their late successes, having crossed 
 the Potomac by the fords in the vicinity of Point of Rocks, 
 prepared to advance either against Washington or into Penn 
 sylvania. But at South Mountain and Antietam, their onward 
 march was checked by the troops of McClellan, and on the i9th 
 of the 9th month (September), Lee re-crossed the Potomac. 
 Evacuating Harper s Ferry, which Jackson s army had recently 
 captured, Lee retreated up the Shenandoah valley. General 
 Burnside was placed in command of a National army, and 
 directed to make a third advance upon Richmond, but being 
 signally defeated in a battle fought at Fredericksburg near the 
 close of the year, he withdrew into winter-quarters on the 
 north bank of the Rappahannock. 
 
 In the West, the National cause, subsequent to the occupa 
 tion of Forts Henry and Donelson, had been more successful. 
 The Confederates, evacuating their strong position at Columbus, 
 on the Mississippi below Cairo, intrenched themselves at 
 Island Number Ten, still farther down the river. Under the 
 superintendence of General Beauregard, the island fortifica 
 tions had been placed in a condition for defence which was 
 considered almost impregnable. After they had sustained a 
 bombardment of several weeks by the gun-boats of Commo 
 dore Foote, the land forces of General Pope cut a canal through 
 a bend of the river so as to flank the position, and the garrison 
 was then obliged to surrender. General Beauregard, however, 
 escaped, with a considerable body of troops, and moved to 
 the relief of the army of General A. S. Johnston, at Shiloh 
 and Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee. The Union army, 
 under General Grant, was temporarily repulsed there, but 
 being joined by reinforcements under General Buell, they 
 
1 862] CAREER OF THE ALABAMA. 423 
 
 drove the Confederates to their defences at Corinth, an im 
 portant railway junction in north-eastern Mississippi. Here, 
 on the 3(1 and 4th days of the xoth month (October), a great 
 battle was fought, which resulted in the further retreat of the 
 Confederates southward. Rosecrans, the Union commander, 
 returned into Kentucky, and on the last day of the year en 
 gaged and defeated the Confederate army under General 
 Bragg at Murfreesboro. 
 
 Meanwhile, the fleet of Commodore Foote had continued 
 down the Mississippi, captured Fort Pillow, and on the 6th 
 day of the 6th month (June), had taken possession of Memphis. 
 New Orleans was already in possession of the Nationals, 
 having been captured by the fleets of Admirals Farragut and 
 Porter, after several severe encounters with Confederate gun 
 boats, and a terrific bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. 
 Philip. General Butler, commander of the troops, was placed 
 in charge of the city. Fort Pulaski, the chief defence of 
 Savannah, and the forts on the Florida coast, at Fernandina, 
 Jacksonville and St. Augustine, were likewise given up to the 
 National forces. Fort Pickens, at the entrance of Pensacola 
 bay, had not fallen into the hands of the Confederates. 
 
 The latter, although not in a condition to maintain a regu 
 lar navy on the ocean, succeeded, with the co-operation of 
 sundry ship-builders and sympathizers in England, in fitting 
 out a number of privateers, which proved very destructive to 
 the commercial vessels of the North. The principal of these 
 cruisers were the Nashville, Sumter, Florida, Shenandoah and 
 Alabama. Of these, the Alabama, under Captain Semmes, 
 achieved the greatest notoriety. For a year and a half, avoid 
 ing contact with armed vessels, it continued its career of 
 burning the merchant-ships belonging to the Unionists. Owing 
 to the fact of its being a British vessel, manned chiefly by 
 British subjects, and armed and supplied in a British port, 
 the losses by its depredations were the occasion of a heavy 
 
424 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1862 
 
 claim upon Great Britain, as will be hereafter considered. 
 The Alabama was finally captured in the English Channel, off 
 the harbor of Cherbourg, by the National vessel Kearsarge. 
 
 During 1862, Congress passed a law abolishing slavery in 
 the District of Columbia. As a conciliatory measure toward 
 the slave-holders of the border states, a plan of partial and 
 gradual emancipation, with compensation for the slaves, also 
 passed Congress, and received the approval of the president, 
 who believed that it would detach the border slave-labor states 
 from the Confederacy, and hence speedily effect an end of the 
 war. There was likewise proposed a plan for colonizing the 
 freedmen somewhere on the American continent. 
 
 But those plans not meeting with any strong demonstrations 
 of approval, the president, after considerable hesitation, 
 agreed to issue a proclamation decreeing absolute emancipation 
 to the slaves in any state which should be in rebellion on the 
 first day of the year 1863. He also declared it would be the 
 purpose of the government not to repress any efforts which 
 the slaves might make to secure their freedom. It was sup 
 posed that the slaves would take advantage of the procla 
 mation to band together and aid in putting down the rebel 
 lion. The foregoing preliminary proclamation was issued the 
 22d day of Qth month (September), 1862. None of the states 
 having accepted its provisions within the one hundred days 
 allowed therefor, there accordingly appeared, on the first day 
 of the ensuing year, the Proclamation of Universal Emanci 
 pation. 
 
 During the first few years of the war, large loans for defray 
 ing the expenses thereof, had been authorized by Congress. 
 But the great and increasing expenditures which the war 
 entailed, the decline in revenue and public credit, caused 
 a distrust of paper money and a consequent appreciation 
 in the value of coin. The banks thereupon suspended spe 
 cie payments the last day of the year 1861. For the pur- 
 
1863] GETTYSBURG. 425 
 
 pose of providing a national currency, Congress passed a bill 
 early in the following year, authorizing the issue of legal ten 
 der Treasury notes ; while, to increase the revenue, taxes were 
 imposed on goods imported and manufactured, on incomes, 
 bills of exchange, legal papers, etc. Finally, in 1863, a law 
 was enacted for the formation of National banks (their cur 
 rency guaranteed by the government), in lieu of the former 
 state banks. 
 
 In the spring of 1863, forty-eight counties of northern and 
 western Virginia, not sympathizing with the secession of the 
 eastern section of the state, formed a provisional government, 
 and were admitted into the Union under the title of the state 
 of WEST VIRGINIA. Kansas had been admitted .in 1861. 
 NEVADA, the thirty-sixth state, followed in 1864. 
 
 General Hooker, who had superseded Burnside in command 
 of the army of the Potomac, crossed the Rappahannock with 
 his army, purposing to flank the army of Lee at Fredericks- 
 burg. The battle of Chancellorsville on the 2Qth of the 4th 
 month (April) ensued, terminating again in disaster to the 
 army of the assailants, of whom over 12,000 were killed 
 and wounded : the Confederate loss was not quite so heavy. 
 Hooker retreated across the river, and the armies for a short 
 time resumed their former respective positions. 
 
 Lee being then reinforced by the army of General Long- 
 street, took the offensive, and leaving his position at Freder- 
 icksburg, crossed the Potomac, advanced to Hagerstown, and 
 thence up the Cumberland valley to Chambersburg. This 
 sudden invasion produced great consternation at the North, 
 and the militia of Pennsylvania were called for in large num 
 bers. General Meade was placed in command of the Union 
 army, in place of Hooker. At Gettysburg, on the first three 
 days of the 7th month (July), was fought a decisive battle 
 the most important of the war ending in the defeat of the 
 Confederates, and their retreat across the Potomac. 
 
 36* 
 
426 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1864 
 
 After the capture of New Orleans (1862), the flotillas of 
 Farragut and Porter ascended the Mississippi, and, co-ope 
 rating with the army of General Grant, laid siege to the strong 
 fortifications of Vicksburg, where the Confederate general, 
 Pemberton, was in command. The attempt at that time was 
 not successful; but, during all the first six months of 1863, 
 unintermitted endeavors to effect its capture were carried on, 
 and at last on the 4th day of the yth month (the day after the 
 battle of Gettysburg) the garrison of Vicksburg, nearly ex 
 hausted by starvation, surrendered to the Nationals. Port 
 Hudson, farther down the river, the last possession of the 
 Confederates on the Mississippi, surrendered to the army of 
 General Banks five days after the fall of Vicksburg. 
 
 The army of Rosecrans had remained for six months at Mur- 
 freesboro, when, being reinforced by cavalry, an advance was 
 made south-eastward toward Chattanooga. General Bragg, 
 the Confederate commander, retreated to that place, and gave 
 battle to his pursuers at the Chickamauga creek, in the imme 
 diate neighborhood (9th mo. 2oth). Rosecrans, although de 
 feated, took possession of Chattanooga. Here General Grant 
 assumed command, and being joined by the divisions of 
 Hooker and Sherman, the Confederates, after a severe strug 
 gle, were driven from the commanding positions of Lookout 
 Mountain and Missionary Ridge. 
 
 During most of the year, Charleston was closely besieged 
 by land and naval forces under the command of General 
 Gilmore and Admirals Dupont and Dahlgren. Forts Wagner 
 and Gregg on Morris island, were taken, and Fort Sumter was 
 battered to pieces. The city itself was occasionally bom 
 barded, and, although not captured, blockade running was 
 entirely prevented. 
 
 In the early part of 1864, General Grant was made general - 
 in-chief of all the armies. General Banks, with the army in 
 Louisiana, moved up the Red river toward Shreveport, but he 
 
1864] GRANTS ADVANCE. 427 
 
 was defeated and driven back to New Orleans. Fort Pillow 
 was re-taken by a large force of Confederate cavalry under 
 General Forrest. Its capture was marked by signal atrocity, 
 as no quarter was given to the garrison, half of whom were 
 colored troops : men, women and children were indiscrimi 
 nately massacred. 
 
 The army of the Potomac was placed under command of 
 General Meade, although personally superintended by General 
 Grant. In the 5th month (May), the final advance was made 
 on Richmond. Immediately after crossing the Rapidan, the 
 march of the Nationals was disputed by the army of Lee. 
 The terrible battle of " The Wilderness" ensued, but although 
 Grant s loss was very heavy, he continued on, and a second 
 great battle was fought at Spottsylvania Court-house. Lee 
 again fell back, and the Nationals advanced to the Chicka- 
 hominy. The battle of Cool Arbor followed, resulting in a 
 fearful sacrifice of life on the part of the Nationals, who then 
 advanced to the James river, and, part of them crossing that 
 stream, effected a junction with Butler s army at Bermuda 
 Hundred, 6th mo. (June) i5th. The capture of Petersburg by 
 assault was attempted, but its intrenchments proved to be so 
 strong, that regular siege works were ordered to be constructed. 
 
 While Grant was thus besieging Petersburg, Lee endeavored 
 to effect a withdrawal of at least a portion of his antagonists, 
 by ordering General Early to make an invasion north of the 
 Potomac. The Union general, Hunter, had made a raid 
 up the Shenandoah valley to Lynchburg, and thence moved 
 into West Virginia, so that Early found his way nearly unob 
 structed. Martinsburg and Harper s Ferry being evacuated 
 by the Nationals, Early advanced with confidence into Mary 
 land, but was checked at the battle of the Monocacy. A por 
 tion of his army meanwhile moved toward the Susquehanna, 
 and arriving at Chambersburg, threatened the destruction of 
 the town unless $200,000 tribute was paid, to insure its safety. 
 
428 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1865 
 
 The demand being refused, the town was set on fire, and one- 
 half of it laid in ashes. The raiders then hurried back to 
 Virginia, and were followed by a large" cavalry force under 
 General Sheridan. Early was defeated at Winchester, and 
 retreating toward Staunton, was followed by Sheridan s cav 
 alry, who, in retaliation for the destruction of Chambersburg, 
 wantonly burned large numbers of barns in the Shenandoah 
 valley. 
 
 Sherman, with an army of nearly 100,000 men, having left 
 Chattanooga, defeated General Hood, and occupied Atlanta, 
 9th mo. (September) 4th. Leaving General Thomas to carry 
 on the campaign in Tennessee, Sherman prepared to evacuate 
 Atlanta; but, before departing on his "march to the sea," 
 ordered the city to be set on fire. Two hundred acres of 
 ground, covered with buildings, were thus destroyed, a mili 
 tary band playing triumphantly while the fiery desolation was 
 at its height ! Sherman then advanced through Georgia to 
 Savannah, which place he also captured. The harbor de 
 fences of Mobile had, in the meantime, been taken by the 
 fleet of Farragut, so that at the end of 1864, Wilmington 
 (North Carolina), and Charleston, were the only seaports of 
 consequence in possession of the Confederates. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was re-elected president, and Andrew 
 Johnson, of Tennessee, was chosen vice-president (1864). 
 Congress, in response to the message of the president, passed 
 the 1 3th Amendment to the constitution, which prohibited 
 slavery forever in the republic. It was the constitutional 
 supplement to the Proclamation of Emancipation, and was 
 duly ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states, 
 as required by law. 
 
 In the early part of 1865, the army of Sherman took up its 
 march through the Carolinas, advancing first from Savannah 
 to Columbia. The Confederate general, Wade Hampton, 
 upon leaving Columbia, had given orders that all the cotton 
 
1865] SHERMAN S MARCH. 429 
 
 should be taken into the streets and burned. But, a large 
 part of the beautiful city itself was laid in ashes. Whether this 
 wanton act was to be attributed to the Nationals, or whether 
 to the Confederates themselves, is a matter of controversy. 
 Charleston, being now flanked by Sherman and invested by 
 the fleet, was set on fire by the Confederate garrison, who 
 then hurried northward to join the army of Johnston, and to 
 oppose Sherman s further advance. Wilmington, likewise, 
 after Fort Fisher, its strong defence, had been taken by the 
 fleet, was evacuated. Meanwhile, Sherman s army swept on 
 ward into North Carolina, its broad track of thirty miles in 
 width being marked by utter desolation. Food for his great 
 army, forage for the horses, fresh animals to replace the worn- 
 out ones, were all taken from the inhabitants. In the latter 
 part of the 3d month (March), 1865, Goldsboro in eastern 
 North Carolina was reached, and there Sherman established 
 his headquarters. 
 
 In the 2d month, three commissioners from the Confederate 
 States, one of whom was Alexander H. Stephens, vice-president 
 of the Confederacy, were appointed, to try to negotiate terms 
 of peace. President Lincoln, and secretary of state, SEWARD, 
 met the commissioners at Fortress Monroe. The Confed 
 erates, although wishing peace, still insisted on a recognition 
 of their independent rights, which the president replied 
 would not be accorded them. The discussion was amicably 
 proceeded with, but, like several other preceding attempts in 
 the same direction, it failed to accomplish its purpose. 
 
 In the 3d month, while Sherman was marching in the di 
 rection of Goldsboro, Sheridan with a strong force of cavalry, 
 left Winchester, ascended the Shenandoah valley to Staunton, 
 and advancing thence toward Richmond, destroyed the rail 
 road communications of the Confederates west and north of 
 that city. Lee then essayed to break through Grant s army 
 before Petersburg, in order to effect a junction with the army 
 
43 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1865 
 
 of Johnston in North Carolina. Failing in his attempt, he at 
 once sent word to Richmond that that city must be evacuated. 
 Davis and his cabinet, and others who had been actively en 
 gaged in the rebellion, left the city ; while General Ewell, 
 after ordering the destruction of the cotton and tobacco, which 
 were stored in several large warehouses, departed with his 
 troops. The conflagration, however, spread widely, so that 
 the principal business portion of the city was destroyed. The 
 arsenal was also set fire to, and the Confederate iron-clads 
 were blown up. On the 3d day of the 4th month (April) 
 the Union troops entered the late capital of the Confederacy. 
 On the Qth instant, Lee, after further futile endeavors to es 
 cape, surrendered the shattered remnant of his army to Gen 
 eral Grant. Two weeks later, Johnston surrendered to Sher 
 man, and the rebellion came to an end. 
 
 Before the latter event transpired, a terribly tragic event 
 occurred at Washington, being the assassination of the presi 
 dent, at a theatre. Secretary Seward was also attacked by 
 an accomplice, and narrowly escaped death. The assassin of 
 the president, John Wilkes Booth, an actor by profession, 
 was pursued and killed, and several of his co-conspirators 
 being captured, were tried, convicted and executed. 
 
 Jefferson Davis was taken prisoner near Macon, Georgia, 
 while in the act of escaping from a party in pursuit. Pie was 
 sent thence to Fortress Monroe, but after a confinement of 
 a year and a half, was released without trial. Andrew John 
 son, the vice-president, assumed the chief magistracy upon 
 the death of President Lincoln. 
 
 No more than a mere outline of the War of the Rebellion 
 has been given. There were numerous cavalry raids, hun 
 dreds of battles and skirmishes, and many encounters upon 
 the rivers and ocean, of which no mention can here be made. 
 Neither has anything been said of the work of the Sanitary 
 Commission ; of the employment of colored soldiers in the 
 
i86 5 ] 
 
 WHAT THE WAR COST. 
 
 431 
 
 army ; of the conscription, and the disturbances in Northern 
 cities in opposition to it ; of the great riot in New York and 
 the massacre of negroes ; of the terrible privations and suffer 
 ings of the Union prisoners confined in the warehouses and 
 prison-pens of the South, and, in a less degree, of the suffer 
 ings of Confederates at the North, together with a hundred 
 
 GROWTH OF THE NATIONAL DEBT. 
 
 Years. Millions. 
 
 i366 
 
 
 
 186" 
 
 
 2773 
 
 186.1 
 
 
 iSic 
 
 l86q 
 
 
 1119 
 In 1870. 
 
 1 86^ 
 
 
 1861 
 
 1860 
 1855 
 1850 
 1845 
 1840 
 1835 
 1830 
 1825 
 1820 
 1816 
 1815 
 1814 
 In 1870. 1813 
 
 64 
 35 
 6 3 
 -i5 
 -5 
 o 
 -48 
 83 
 91 
 
 127 
 
 99 
 8 1 
 -56 
 45 
 -48 
 53 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOLS, jg^ 
 #64,000,000. l8lo 
 
 WHEAT CHOP, 
 
 $245,000,000. 
 
 WAR: 
 
 Army; Navy; Annua Pensions; 
 Interest on War-Debt, 
 $245,000,000. 
 
 R.U M: 
 
 st cost ; also, cost in Prisons, 
 mpers, Tribunals, Asylums j 
 *ss of Wages and Products, 
 $1,300,000,000. 
 
 other of the dire consequences of the war. A few statistics 
 will merely be adduced for the purpose of comparison, that 
 we may see whether the whole country would not have been a 
 great gainer if it had adopted the plan of compensated eman 
 cipation, and extirpated the evil of slavery at a money price 
 
432 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1865 
 
 far greater even than the thousand million of dollars which it 
 was proposed should be paid. 
 
 The whole number of men enrolled in the Northern army 
 was about 2,650,000. It is estimated that 300,000 men of each 
 army perished in battle, or by disease in camps and hospitals ; 
 and that the number crippled, or permanently disabled by 
 disease, amounted altogether to 400,000. This would make a 
 total of 1,000,000 men as the actual loss to the country. 
 
 The money cost of the war, to both sides, is estimated at six 
 thousand million dollars ($6,000,000,000). In order to meet 
 the yearly interest on the National Debt, which was increased 
 from 60 millions in 1860, to 2600 millions in 1865, the 
 people were taxed to an extent to which the taxation by the 
 British crown, in the preceding century, bore no comparison. 
 Stamps were required on deeds, leases, receipts, checks and 
 many other documents, beside on a great variety of manufac 
 tured goods. A moiety of the debt incurred for, and the loss 
 sustained by, the war, would have paid for all the slaves; 
 would have provided all the illiterate whites and blacks of the 
 South with the requisite facilities for obtaining an education ; 
 would have built half-a-dozen railways from the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific, and would have paid for the completion of as many 
 water-ways connecting the streams of the Mississippi valley 
 with those of the Atlantic slope and the Great Lakes. In 
 brief, had wise and peaceful counsels prevailed, we might have 
 been a really united people, and thus the fearful record of loss 
 in men and in money, in social and political morality, would 
 not be now what we know too well that it is. 
 
LIBRA It i 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 ^ CALIFORNIA.^! 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 1865 1876. 
 
 RECONSTRUCTION. IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 
 ALASKA. 
 
 THE administration of Andrew Johnson was not a tranquil 
 one. Holding views as to the policy to be pursued in the 
 re-organization of the late rebellious states, different from 
 those of the majority in Congress, many of the measures 
 passed by that body received his veto. The president ap 
 pointed provisional governors for seven of the Southern states, 
 and the same year (1865) conventions in five of them ratified 
 the constitutional amendment as to slavery, formed constitu 
 tions for their respective states, and ordered the election of 
 representatives to Congress. These elections mostly resulted 
 in returning to office men who had taken a leading part in the 
 rebellion. Congress refused, under the powers granted it to 
 "judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own 
 members," to admit them. It judged that they were not quali 
 fied to take their seats as legislators, by reason of the animosity 
 which they had exhibited to the general government. 
 
 Upon the appointment of a committee of fifteen, known as 
 the "Reconstruction Committee," authorized to inquire into 
 the condition of the states lately in rebellion, and whether 
 any of such were entitled to representation in Congress, the 
 president openly expressed his opposition. He believed that 
 T 37 433 
 
434 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1868 
 
 the representatives should be admitted without question. 
 Later in the year 1866, when the president made a journey to 
 Chicago to be present at some public ceremonies, he lost no 
 opportunity for declaring his opinions upon the subject of 
 reconstruction, and arraigned members of Congress by name 
 for the part they had taken in the measures which had been 
 adopted. All the members of his cabinet, except Stanton, 
 the secretary of war, resigned. 
 
 In the 2d month (February), 1868, the president ordered 
 Secretary Stanton also to surrender his office, and directed Ad 
 jutant-General Lorenzo Thomas to take his place. Stanton 
 refused to comply. On the following day, the House of 
 Representatives, believing the action of the president to be in 
 violation of the law, resolved, by a large majority, "that 
 Andrew Johnson, president of the United States, be impeached 
 of high crimes and misdemeanors." Accordingly, articles of 
 impeachment were presented to the House. They charged 
 the president with making inflammatory and odious speeches 
 during his journey from Washington to Chicago; with de 
 claring that Congress was not a constitutional body; and with 
 endeavoring to prevent the execution of laws which it had 
 passed. 
 
 The Senate, according to the provisions of the constitution, 
 was organized as a jury for the trial of the president, and 
 Chief-Justice CHASE presided. The president s counsel asked 
 for delay, and ten days were granted. The examination of 
 witnesses was then proceeded with, and the arguments of 
 counsel followed. The trial lasted more than two months, 
 closing with a vote of 35 in favor of impeachment, and 19 for 
 acquittal. As the vote lacked i of the requisite majority of 
 two-thirds, the president was acquitted. 
 
 Soon after the close of the impeachment trial, a i4th amend 
 ment to the constitution having passed Congress, was ratified 
 by a sufficient number of the states, and became a law. Seven 
 
1867] RECONSTRUCTION. 435 
 
 of the recently re-organized states also ratified it, and, Con 
 gress having approved of their respective state constitutions, 
 their senators and representatives were admitted into the Na 
 tional Legislature. The Fourteenth Amendment provides 
 that " No state shall make or enforce any law which shall 
 abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United 
 States ; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty 
 or property, without due process of law ; nor deny to any 
 person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." 
 This measure was especially intended to secure the freedmen 
 in their rights as citizens. It declares " that representation 
 shall be apportioned among the several states according to 
 their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons 
 in each state." It gave to Congress the power to remove the 
 political disabilities of any who were lately in rebellion, and 
 also affirmed the validity of the National Debt, while it de 
 clared the debt incurred by the South to be void and illegal. 
 The territory of ALASKA, formerly known as Russian 
 America, containing an area of about 400,000 square miles, 
 was purchased from the Russian government in 1867, for the 
 sum of $7,200,000. The climate of the country, except in the 
 southern part, is too rigorous to admit of very successful agri 
 culture, but the rock formations are believed to be rich in 
 mineral wealth, while the seal fisheries are of considerable 
 value. It cannot be said, however, that our acquisition of the 
 territory of Alaska has proved a beneficial change to the few 
 thousand Indians who comprise the population of that country. 
 
 In a report submitted to Congress (1872) upon " Fatal obstacles to 
 the Christian civilization of the Indians," the Medical Director of 
 Alaska, at Sitka, testifies that " a greater mistake could not have 
 been made than stationing troops in their midst. * * Whiskey 
 has been sold in the streets by government officials at public auc 
 tions, and examples of drunkenness are set before them almost 
 daily, so that in fact the principal teaching they at present are re 
 ceiving is that drunkenness and debauchery are held by us, not as 
 
4 ^6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1871 
 
 criminal and unbecoming a Christian people, but as indications of 
 our advanced and superior civilization. These Indians are a civil 
 and well-behaved people ; they do not want bayonets to keep them 
 in subjection, but they do want honest, faithful, and Christian 
 workers among them ; those that will care for them, teach and in 
 struct them in useful arts, and that they are responsible beings." 
 
 Another one witnesses as follows: "The accounts I have re 
 ceived from time to time, of the conduct of the soldiers in the 
 Indian camps of the coast of Alaska, are truly shocking. If the 
 United States government did but know half, I am sure they would 
 shrink from being identified with such abominations, and the cause 
 of so much misery." 
 
 Nebraska was admitted into the Union, the 37th state, in 
 1867. In the same year there was passed a general Bankrupt 
 Law, which was amended in 1874, and is still in force. 
 
 GRANT S ADMINISTRATION. THE FREEDMEN. EDUCATION. 
 
 The election of 1868 resulted in the choice of General 
 Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, for president, and SCHUYLER 
 COLFAX, of Indiana, for vice-president. In 1872, Grant was 
 re-elected president, while HENRY WILSON, of Massachusetts, 
 was chosen to the second office. During the first years of 
 Grant s administration, political affairs in the South did not 
 exhibit the improvement which, by many, had been antici 
 pated. Unfortunately, many of those from the North, who, 
 immediately after the war, were placed in office at the South, 
 were men quite unfit for those responsible positions, where 
 integrity and impartiality were especially required. On the 
 other hand, there were numerous cases of harsh treatment 
 both to persons from the North and to the recently enfran 
 chised bondsmen. Murders by masked men of a secret order, 
 called Ku-Klux, were of frequent occurrence in some quarters. 
 
 In 1871 there occurred a great fire at Chicago. The loss 
 of property was estimated at 200 million dollars; 18,000 
 houses were burned ; 200 persons perished, and many fhou- 
 
1870] CHICAGO FIRE. 437 
 
 sands were left homeless. Much sympathy for the sufferers 
 by the dreadful calamity, was manifested throughout this 
 country and in Great Britain. About the same time, fires 
 were prevalent in the forest regions of Minnesota, Michigan, 
 Wisconsin and other states. A number of villages were 
 burnt to the ground, numerous lives were lost, and the suf 
 fering and pecuniary distress were great. Contributions for 
 their relief also, were forwarded from all parts of the land. 
 
 The terrible distress caused by the failure of the potato crop in 
 Ireland, in 1848, moved the American people, the very slaves 
 even, to deep sympathy. Substantial assurances of the reality of 
 this feeling were sent over in the shape of shiploads of food. Upon 
 the occasion of the devastating inundations in France, in 1856, the 
 English people were deeply stirred by the harrowing recitals of 
 suffering and loss, and sent generous offerings to the afflicted 
 people. 
 
 Says Burritt, in commenting upon the moral influence of national 
 calamities: "The earthquake that engulphed Lisbon thrilled the 
 civilized world with a fellow-feeling in the great catastrophe, and, 
 like Moses rod at Horeb, smote the rock-ribbed boundaries of 
 jealous nations and set them running with rivulets of benevolence 
 toward the suffering city." 
 
 A general Amnesty Bill, in favor of those who had borne 
 an active part in the rebellion, was passed by Congress, in 
 1872. COLORADO was admitted into the Union in 1875. I D 
 the latter part of the same year Vice-President Wilson died. 
 
 In the year 1870, Congress passed the i5th Amendment to 
 the constitution. It enacts that (Section i) "The right of 
 citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or 
 abridged by the United States or by any state, on account of 
 race, color, or previous condition of servitude." (Section 2) 
 "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
 legislation, the provisions of this article." All citizens of 
 
 37* 
 
43 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1871 
 
 the United States, except untaxed Indians, were thence ad 
 mitted to the franchise. To resume: By the i3th Amend 
 ment, slavery had been constitutionally abolished ; by the 
 I4th Amendment, the freedmen were declared to be citizens; 
 by the i5th, they were invested with the right of suffrage. To 
 carry out the second section of the i5th Amendment, Con 
 gress passed the so-called Enforcement Act." In several 
 of the reconstructed states, and especially in South Carolina 
 and Louisiana, grave disturbances arose, which the president 
 believed himself called upon to quell by applying the power 
 provided for in said act.* 
 
 With the object of relieving the immediate necessities of 
 those who -were either escaping or had escaped from slavery, 
 and for the help of needy white refugees from the South, 
 the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands 
 usually styled the " Freedmen s Bureau" had been estab 
 lished by act of Congress a few months prior to the close 
 of the war. It continued in operation until 1871. General 
 HOWARD was appointed commissioner. An organized system 
 of relief went into operation, which administered not only 
 the aid afforded by government, but also the large contri 
 butions forwarded by societies and individuals. Transporta 
 tion was afforded to many thousand freedmen and refugees, 
 hospitals and dispensaries were established and provisions sup 
 plied. Over 2000 freedmen s schools were also opened. The 
 most prominent of these was the Howard University, near 
 Washington. 
 
 But the aid afforded to the freedmen, and especially the 
 opening of schools, was not left entirely to the Freedmen s 
 Bureau. Ignorant slaves had suddenly been made citizens, 
 invested with the right to vote, and, obviously, there was a 
 responsibility which must be at once met in making provi 
 sion for their intellectual and moral advancement. By most 
 of the religious denominations at the North, aid was extended 
 
1 87 1] PEA BODY FUND. 439 
 
 to begin the work. The gift of two million dollars bestowed 
 by GEORGE PEABODY for the specific purpose of promoting 
 education in the Southern states, proved a very efficient 
 help. 
 
 Only the income of the Peabody fund amounting to 
 $120,000 per annum is annually expended. Not a single 
 state of the South possessed a modern system of public schools 
 at the time this trust was created ; but now, no state is with 
 out such a system. This favorable result has been owing in a 
 considerable measure to the timely aid extended by the 
 trustees of the fund. In order to receive such aid, it is a re 
 quirement that the school assisted shall have at least 100 
 pupils, with one teacher for every 50 scholars ; that it shall be 
 properly graded ; and that it shall be continued during ten 
 months of the year, with an average attendance of 85 in the 
 hundred. These provisions have operated to keep the schools 
 well attended. The district in which any aided school is 
 situated, is expected to contribute at least twice the amount 
 received from the Peabody fund, and usually much more than 
 twice. The money is available for the schools of either white 
 or colored pupils who shall have fulfilled the conditions. 
 
 Government land grants in behalf of public education were 
 made as far back as 1785. From that time to the present, 
 the extent of grants for such purpose has amounted to 140 
 million acres. Since 1862, when Congress passed a law dis 
 tributing the proceeds of the sale of five million acres among 
 the different states, more attention has been paid to the estab 
 lishment of normal institutes, agricultural colleges, and schools 
 for instruction in the useful arts. The money thus received 
 by the states from the general government, has been largely 
 increased by grants from the states themselves, from towns, 
 and from private individuals. 
 
 Prior to the Revolution there had been ten colleges or col 
 legiate institutions chartered in the colonies, the first of which, 
 
440 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1875 
 
 already referred to, were Harvard College, at Cambridge 
 (1638), and William and Mary College, at Williamsburg 
 (1693). Next were founded Yale College, at New Haven 
 (1701), the College of New Jersey, at Princeton (1746), 
 and Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia 
 (1749). Columbia College, New York City, was founded in 
 *754; the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, the 
 following year ; Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 
 in 1764; Dartmouth College, at Hanover, New Hampshire, in 
 1769; and Rutgers College, at New Brunswick, in 1770. 
 Classics and theology were specially taught in most of these 
 institutions. At the University of Pennsylvania particular 
 attention was early given to medical science. Dartmouth 
 was founded for the especial benefit of Indian youth, but did 
 not succeed in that course. At the beginning of the Revo 
 lution the number of students in all the colleges probably did 
 not number more than 300. In the century following 1770 
 the colleges and universities established numbered 290, with 
 a total enrollment in 1870 (including those in the ten institu 
 tions named) of 54,000 pupils. 
 
 The necessity for providing free public schools was early 
 recognized in the New England colonies. In Massachusetts 
 it was ordered, as early as 1647, that every township of 50 
 householders should maintain such a school at the public 
 expense; and that every township of 100 householders should 
 maintain a grammar-school. The system of free education, 
 however, continued defective in its operation until the year 
 1834, when the sum of one million dollars was raised to aid 
 the towns in providing the requisite accommodations. Five 
 years later the first normal school was established at Lexing 
 ton. Of the other New England states, Connecticut and 
 Rhode Island have made corresponding progress. HORACE 
 MANN, of Massachusetts, and HENRY BARNARD, of Connec 
 ticut, were diligent laborers in behalf of common school 
 
1876] PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. 441 
 
 education. In Pennsylvania a public school was organized 
 at Philadelphia by the Friends, eight years after the city was 
 laid out ; and now free education, in its widest extent, has 
 been adopted throughout that commonwealth. 
 
 In the state of New York, Governor GEORGE CLINTON hav 
 ing recommended (1795) the general adoption of the system 
 of common schools, the proposition found favor and was 
 adopted. In 1812, renewed efforts were put forth by earnest 
 friends of the measure, most prominent of whom was DE WITT 
 CLINTON, who advocated the founding of normal schools, 
 the higher education of women, increased salaries for the 
 teachers, and absolute freedom of instruction by the aboli 
 tion of the payment of rates. The latter provision, however, 
 was not adopted until 1862. In 1840 a notable struggle be 
 gan with the Romanists, who insisted that part of the state 
 funds should be diverted to the support of their own denomi 
 national schools. But the American system, it was finally au 
 thoritatively decided, was unsectarian in its provisions, in 
 this important respect differing from European usage, where 
 aid is principally extended in the interest of the established 
 religion. In the West, free, unsectarian schools prevail. 
 
 The total number of public schools throughout the Union 
 in 1870 was 125,000, with nearly 200,000 teachers (somewhat 
 more than half of whom were females), and about 6,000,000 
 pupils enrolled. Unlike the state instruction provided in 
 Germany, government aid ceases with the liberal land- 
 grants in aid of the state institutions, except with respect 
 to the collecting and distribution of information through the 
 Department of Education at Washington. Beyond this, the 
 states themselves, through properly-elected school-boards, 
 control entirely the raising and application of school-funds 
 and the courses of studies to be followed. 
 
 But there still remains a vast amount of illiteracy unpro 
 vided for, especially at the South. Upon the abolishment of 
 T * 
 
44 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1868 
 
 the Freedmen s Bureau in 1871, it was estimated that not more 
 than one freedman s child in six was being provided with 
 school education. This is a sad as well as an alarming state 
 ment : that five-sixths of the colored race on our soil should be 
 allowed to grow up without the knowledge of how to read and 
 write ! To provide against so undesirable a contingency, there 
 is now pending in Congress an " Educational Fund Bill." It 
 proposes to set apart for a perpetual Education Fund, the net 
 proceeds of so much of the public lands as are not taken up 
 under the homestead or soldiers bounty acts. The money, 
 it is proposed, shall be distributed among all the states and 
 territories, for the purposes of free education, irrespective of 
 race or color ; but for the first ten years after the passage of 
 the act, the money to be distributed according to the propor 
 tion of illiteracy. That is to say, the most money to be ap 
 plied for the present where the need is most urgent, namely, 
 in the Southern states. 
 
 THE NEW INDIAN POLICY. 
 
 The consideration of a better method of dealing with the 
 Indians than that which had hitherto prevailed, was early 
 brought to the attention of President Grant. In an official 
 report at that time, it was stated, that "while it cannot be 
 denied that the United States government, in the general 
 terms and temper of its legislation, has evinced a desire to 
 deal justly with the Indians, it must be admitted that the 
 actual treatment they have received has been unjust and 
 iniquitous beyond the power of words to express." 
 
 BISHOP WIIIPPLE, of Minnesota, an earnest and tried friend of the 
 red men, remarks : " I have travelled on foot and in the saddle, over 
 every square mile of my diocese. I know every Indian settlement 
 in it. Some of the Indians will drink and some of them will steal, 
 and they are of our race, for they have the same vices ; but in every 
 
1869] THE AEIV INDIAN POLICY. 443 
 
 
 
 difficulty that has occurred in these twelve years of my residence, 
 between the Indians and the government, the government has always 
 been wrong and the Indians have always been right." 
 
 A prominent military officer, General HARNEY, stated that " he 
 never knew an Indian chief to break his word, and in no instance 
 in which a war broke out with the tribes, that the tribes were not in 
 the right." 
 
 Furthermore, as regards the matter of expense, it appears by 
 governmental statistics, that since the year 1820 the policy of extin 
 guishment had cost the government for each Indian killed, the lives 
 of twenty white men and one million dollars ! 
 
 In the first annual message of President Grant to Congress 
 (1869), he announced the inauguration of what is now gener 
 ally known as the Quaker Policy" of Indian treatment, in 
 these words : 
 
 "I have attempted a new policy toward these wards of the 
 nation (they cannot be regarded in any other light than as 
 wards), with fair results so far as tried, and which I hope will 
 be attended ultimately with great success. The Society of 
 Friends is well known as having succeeded in living in peace 
 with the Indians in the early settlement of Pennsylvania, 
 while their white neighbors of other sects, in other sections, 
 were constantly embroiled. They were also known for their 
 opposition to all strife, violence and war. * * These con 
 siderations induced me to give the management of a few reser 
 vations of the Indians to them, and to throw the burden of 
 the selection of agents upon the society itself." But other 
 religious societies, beside the Friends, were properly included 
 in this arrangement. 
 
 The president s reasons for favoring this important change 
 were, in the first place, to avoid the horrors as well as the ex 
 pense of a border warfare. The government being already 
 deeply in debt, the president perceived the absolute necessity 
 of inaugurating measures of retrenchment. Likewise, the 
 great Pacific railroad, the construction of which had just been 
 
444 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1869 
 
 completed, would be seriously jeopardized by a general Indian 
 outbreak ; while the protection of so long a line of railway 
 from the onsets of hostile Indians, would be only possible at 
 great expense, and would also necessitate a large increase of 
 the army. " Finally, it was doubtless hoped that a just and 
 humane treatment of the Indians in the future, would tend in 
 some degree to obliterate the odium which, in the eyes of the 
 Christian world, justly attaches to our government, because 
 of the violence and heartlessness and bloodshed which have 
 too often characterized its administration of Indian affairs." 
 
 The disgraceful circumstances connected with the Sioux war of 
 1862, and the Cheyenne war of 1865, most likely exercised an influ 
 ence in bringing about the new policy. The origin of the CHEY 
 ENNE war was as follows : About five hundred Indians of that body, 
 who, though charged with being offenders, protested that they did 
 not wish to fight, were gathered under the protection of their agent, 
 near Fort Larned. In the gray of the morning they were attacked 
 by a body of Colorado volunteers, and the awful " Chivington mas 
 sacre" resulted. An official report says : " It was a massacre that 
 scarcely has its parallel in the records of Indian barbarity. Fleeing 
 women, holding up their hands and praying for mercy, were brutally 
 shot down ; infants were killed and scalped in derision ; men were 
 tortured and mutilated in a manner that would put to shame the 
 savage ingenuity of Africa. No one will be astonished that a war 
 ensued which cost the government 30 million dollars, and carried 
 conflagration and death to the border settlements." 
 
 In organizing the new policy, the management of the In 
 dians (who had been placed under the control of the Depart 
 ment of the Interior as early as 1849), was m P art intrusted 
 to a Board of Indian Commissioners composed of men of 
 recognized integrity and ability, selected by the president. 
 For the trial of the experiment, the entire territory from the 
 state of Missouri to the Rocky mountains, and from the Red 
 river of Texas to the line of the British provinces, was set 
 apart, and divided into six districts or superintendencies. 
 
1874] THE NEW INDIAN POLICY. 445 
 
 Subsequently, agencies were also established for the Indians 
 west of the Rocky mountains. 
 
 The following are the names and locations of the principal 
 tribes which were intrusted to the care of thirteen of the 
 religious denominations : 
 
 Congregational. Arickarees, Mandans, and Gros Ventres, 
 of Dacotah ; Chippewas, of Minnesota ; Menomonees and 
 Oneidas, of Wisconsin. 
 
 Methodist. Blackfeet and Crows, of Montana; western 
 Shoshones, of Idaho ; also, in part, the Pacific coast Indians. 
 
 Episcopalian. Sioux or Dacotahs, and the northern Chey- 
 ennes and Arapahoes, of Dacotah ; and the eastern Shoshones, 
 of Wyoming Territory. 
 
 Roman Catholic. Flatheads of Montana, and a number of 
 small tribes in Oregon, Washington Territory, and Dacotah. 
 
 Presbyterian. Apaches and Navajoes, of New Mexico ; the 
 Uintahs, of Utah ; Nez Perces, of Idaho. 
 
 Dutch Reformed. Papagos, Pimas and Apaches, of the Gila 
 and Colorado rivers, of Arizona. 
 
 Hicksite Friends. Pawnees and Winnebagoes, lowas, Otoes 
 and Omahas, of Nebraska. 
 
 Orthodox Friends. Pottawatomies, of Kansas ; southern 
 Cheyennes and Arapahoes, Kiowas and Comanches, Osages 
 and Delawares, of the Indian Territory. There are about 25 
 tribes under the care of Friends, in the " Central Superinten- 
 dency." 
 
 Baptist. The Utes of Nevada and northern Arizona. 
 
 The Mobilian tribes in the Indian Territory, to wit, the 
 Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, were 
 considered sufficiently civilized to have agents of their own ; but 
 in 1874 these agencies were consolidated into one, the Union, 
 and placed under care of the Baptists. 
 
 The Free- Will Baptists, United Presbyterians, Christian 
 Union and Unitarians, also have agencies, but smaller than- 
 
 33 
 
446 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1876 
 
 the above. The Moravians have missions in Kansas and the 
 Indian Territory, but, as yet, no agency. 
 
 The method of organization adopted by the Friends was as 
 follows. Two members from each of their several Yearly 
 Meeting districts were appointed, to constitute an "Associated 
 Executive Committee on Indian Affairs." This committee 
 nominated one superintendent, and also agents for the different 
 tribes under their charge; all of whom were accepted by the 
 president and confirmed by the senate. The committee was 
 divided into four standing sub-committees, namely, on Instruc 
 tion ; the Religious Interests of the Indians ; Industrial Pur 
 suits; and the Washington committee, the duty of conferring 
 directly w"ith the United States authorities devolving on the 
 latter. Each agent was (and is) required to make a quarterly 
 financial report to transmit to Washington, as well as an an 
 nual report to the superintendent, of the condition of the 
 Indians in his charge. 
 
 The agents of the various religious societies who entered 
 upon the beneficent work of civilizing and christianizing the 
 Indians, found themselves speedily confronted by many dis 
 heartening influences. They found there was not so much 
 difficulty experienced in restraining turbulent Indians, as there 
 was in keeping white outlaws away from the reservations, 
 the greedy speculators, horse thieves and whiskey-dealers. But, 
 notwithstanding the continuous opposition of those whose 
 business it had been to thrive off the Indians, and in spite 
 of the predictions of failure in attempting a policy of peace 
 with "savages," the religious bodies have pressed forward in 
 the work which was given into their hands, and now (1876), 
 after a seven years trial, have proved it to be as much of a suc 
 cess as could have been reasonably looked for. The Indians, 
 for the most part, have been kept on the reservations allotted 
 them ; many of them have tilled the soil and followed the 
 employments of the white man ; they have been brought in a 
 
1876] THE NEW INDIAN POLICY. 447 
 
 degree under the benign influences of the Christian religion, 
 while many schools have been organized where instruction 
 has been imparted to the children. 
 
 Under the previous system of Indian management, the Indians 
 had been systematically defrauded out of large quantities of the 
 flour, beef, etc., due to them under government treaties. A notable 
 illustration of the way in which the red men were thus robbed by 
 the whites, is that afforded in the case of the Sioux. For the five 
 months previous to the establishment of the reformed agency 
 (Episcopalian), the average weight of the cattle furnished to the In 
 dians was certified to be over 1500 pounds: the method being to 
 weigh a few of the heaviest cattle and to assume that the remainder 
 of the herd were of the same weight. But under honest agents who 
 succeeded, the average weight for the next three months was found 
 to be but a little over 1000 pounds ; thus showing that formerly 
 the government had paid for one-third more pounds than the Sioux 
 had really received. 
 
 In restraining refractory Indians as well as unprincipled 
 white men, the peace principles advocated by the Friends have 
 been put to a severe test. They cannot make, use of deadly 
 weapons themselves, and they feel a hesitancy in calling upon 
 the military in cases which may issue in bloodshed ; while 
 they as firmly believe that if the government was strictly just 
 toward the Indians as well as prompt in its manifestation, there 
 would be no excuse whatever for the use of such weapons. 
 As a practical measure which may overcome the difficulty, 
 they favor the establishment of a United States court in the 
 Indian Territory, so that the civil force, namely, the United 
 States marshal and his assistants, may be made use of, in 
 stead of recourse being had to the military. The president, 
 secretary of the Interior and many members of Congress, 
 warmly approve of this plan, and it is to be hoped that, the 
 Indians consenting, it may be carried into effect. 
 
 Recently, a small band of MODOCS, from south-western 
 Oregon, was placed upon the Quapaw reservation in the In- 
 
448 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1876 
 
 dian Territory. In 1852, eighteen men of this tribe, while 
 under a flag of truce, had been murdered by a Captain Wright 
 and his company of soldiers. A difficulty again arose with 
 the tribe in 1873, and troops were sent against them. Under 
 the leadership of a warrior named Captain Jack (whose father 
 was one of those murdered by Wright s company), they 
 strongly entrenched themselves among what are known as the 
 "lava beds." A truce was agreed upon, and General Can by 
 and three other commissioners visited them, hoping to arrange 
 a settlement. Captain Jack first demanded the return of some 
 mules which had been stolen, and also that the soldiers them- 
 selve should be removed back to where they were when the 
 truce was agreed upon. The Modocs were strenuous on 
 these points, which being refused, a signal was given, and 
 General Canby and one of the other commissioners were 
 killed. Captain Jack was captured, and executed without a 
 trial, and his band, as stated above, were removed to the In 
 dian Territory. The report of the Friends for 1875 savs f 
 them : " The jVEodocs have been total abstainers from alco 
 holic drinks since they have been on this reservation ; their 
 children are in school, making good progress; they have land 
 assigned to them by government, and are already fencing and 
 cultivating it." 
 
 Upon several occasions, strenuous efforts have been made 
 to transfer the control of the Indians from the Department of 
 the Interior to the War Department. Especially was this the 
 case, during the congressional session of 1869-70. Very early 
 in the latter year, however, it happened that an attack was 
 made by United States troops upon the camp of the PIEGAN 
 tribe of the Blackfeet Indians. There were nearly 250 natives 
 in the camp, many of them suffering severely from the ravages 
 of the smallpox. Nevertheless, four-fifths of them were killed ; 
 ninety of whom were women, and about fifty, children, under 
 twelve years of age. The news of this massacre effectually 
 
1 845] THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. 
 
 449 
 
 defeated the proposition to transfer these wards of the nation 
 to the tender mercies of the military. 
 
 The whole number of Indians in the United States is esti 
 mated to be 300,000; of whom 100,000 are classed as civil 
 ized; 125,000 partially civilized ; and 75,000 uncivilized or 
 barbarous. 
 
 THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. 
 
 Probably the greatest drawback to the happiness of our 
 people, is to be found in the general use of intoxicating 
 liquors. Half-a-century ago the public first became thoroughly 
 aroused to the enormity of the evil, and a great effort was 
 made to bring it under control. 
 
 It was in 1826, at a time of much popular enthusiasm upon 
 the subject, that the American Temperance Society was formed 
 at Boston. In the course of five years, as many as 7000 tem 
 perance associations were in operation, comprising a million 
 and a quarter of members. But in the meantime, beer and 
 cider, in place of rum, became popular drinks, and very many 
 of those who had apparently reformed, gave way. In 1840, 
 the " Washingtonian" temperance movement was started at 
 Baltimore, and enthusiasm again ran high ; the excitement 
 upon the subject being increased by the visit of Father Mat 
 thew, a Romanist priest, who was an earnest advocate of total 
 abstinence. The failure of the Washingtonian plan appears to 
 have been owing to a too-exclusive reliance on man s strength, 
 and a consequent ignoring of the aid of the Almighty Arm. 
 
 Meanwhile, the subject of the liquor traffic was made a 
 political question in several of the states. Licenses to sell 
 were refused in many of the counties and towns of Massa 
 chusetts, New York and Connecticut. The effects of the 
 partial prohibition in Massachusetts, were thus stated in 
 1845 : " From more than 100 towns the traffic is entirely re 
 moved, and a reduction is already visible in the public taxa- 
 
 38* 
 
450 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1851 
 
 tion. In one town, with a population of 7000, there were, 
 four years since, 469 paupers ; no license has reduced them 
 to ii." In Potter county, Pennsylvania, where the judge re 
 fused to grant any license, the report stated that, " The 
 prison has become tenantless ; there is not a solitary pauper 
 in the county ; the business in the criminal court has ceased, 
 and taxes have been reduced one-half." 
 
 A more recent instance of the excellent effect of a thorough pro 
 hibitory law, is that afforded in the case of VINELAND, New Jersey. 
 Out of a population of 10,000, the overseer of the poor reported 
 that; for the space of six months, no settler or citizen had received 
 relief. During an entire year there was but a single indictment, and 
 that for a trifling case of assault. The fires are so infrequent that 
 there appears to be no need of a fire department. The police ex 
 penses amount to but $75 per year. By way of contrast to this ex 
 hibit, the constable of the same place states, that in the town of 
 New England from which he came, and which had scarcely as large 
 a population as Vineland, there were maintained 40 liquor shops. 
 To preserve order there was required a police judge, two marshals 
 and ten watchmen and policemen. There were four fire companies 
 of forty men each, while the fires, which were mostly incendiary, 
 averaged one every two weeks. Numerous paupers also had to be 
 supported. 
 
 Owing to the facility with which liquors could usually be 
 smuggled into a no license town or county, the prohibitory 
 laws in New England were but partially successful. But in 
 1846, there was enacted by the legislature of Maine, the first 
 state prohibitory law. Yet this law lacked practical force, 
 because, while the liquor-dealer was subject to fines for the 
 offence of selling, the liquor itself remained untouched. The 
 large profits from his business would enable him to pay the 
 fine and go on selling as before. However, a majority of tem 
 perance men who favored a more stringent enactment, having 
 been elected to the legislature, that body in 1851, by a vote 
 of two to one, passed the act known as the Maine Liquor 
 
1873] THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. 45I 
 
 Law." This law conferred upon the officers summary power 
 to destroy the liquor, the liquor itself being received in evi 
 dence against the dealer, the same as are the implements of the 
 gambler or of the coiner of counterfeit money. NEAL Dow, 
 mayor of Portland, was actively instrumental in procuring the 
 passage of this law and also in maintaining its observance. 
 
 Before 1856, the six New England states and six other states, 
 enacted prohibitory laws ; but in none of them has the law 
 continued in force except in the state of Maine. There, the 
 palpable results of the prohibition law in lessening pauperism 
 and crime, have produced a strong and settled public senti 
 ment in its favor, which is not likely to be set at naught unless 
 it be through the subtle machinations of the liquor-dealers. 
 
 Notwithstanding the ill-success of the prohibitory move 
 ment in most of the states, the opposition to the liquor traffic 
 did not cease, but was brought to operate in a different man 
 ner. Seeing that to the evil agency of rum are directly owing 
 the greater part of the crimes which are committed ; the 
 vagrancy and pauperism which prevail ; the cost of providing 
 officers of the law, and maintaining penitentiaries and other 
 institutions made necessary thereby, it became a question 
 whether those who took part in the traffic were not equally 
 amenable with the drunkard for the wretched consequences 
 of his acts. Hence arose the principle of the Civil Damage 
 laws, which of late years have been enacted in several of the 
 states. 
 
 The Civil Damage act, of Ohio, gives the right to any one who 
 shall be injured in consequence of the intoxication, habitual or other- 
 wise, of any person, to bring an action for all damages sustained, as 
 well against the person who shall have sold the liquor which pro 
 duced the intoxication, as against the owner or tenant of the build 
 ing in which said liquor was sold. 
 
 The Indiana Temperance law of 1873 provides that a petition for 
 a permit to sell spirituous liquors must be signed by a majority of 
 legal voters in the ward or township ; that the applicant must give 
 
45 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1874 
 
 a bond, with two other persons as sureties, making themselves sev 
 erally liable for damages suffered by reason of the sale of liquor; 
 that it shall be unlawful for any one to get intoxicated (a penalty of 
 five dollars being charged for the offence) ; that any one injured in 
 person, property, or means of support by any intoxicated person, or 
 by reason of such intoxication, shall have a right of action for 
 damages against the person who sold the liquor, and against the 
 landlord of the premises. 
 
 In the winter of 1873 and 74, a Women s Temperance 
 movement began in Ohio, and soon spread to Indiana and 
 others of the western states, as well as the eastern cities. 
 "Prayer, persuasion and personal influence," were declared 
 to be the watchwords. Whole counties in Ohio were swept 
 free of the saloons. In the city of Brooklyn, many of the 
 liquor-dealers gave up the demoralizing business and united 
 with the friends of temperance in endeavors to put down the 
 traffic. " Workingmen s Coffee-Houses" and " Holly Tree 
 Inns" have been started in many of the cities, to serve the 
 purpose of substitutes for the taverns which have been re 
 moved. At those places, non-intoxicating beverages, such as 
 coffee and milk, can be had of excellent quality, at less than 
 the price of ardent spirits. In England, as at Manchester and 
 Liverpool, cocoa has been largely employed as a substitute for 
 beer and spirituous liquors. 
 
 During the session of 1874, the Senate of the United States 
 passed a bill providing for a National Commission to inquire 
 into the results of the liquor traffic ; but the House of Repre 
 sentatives has not, as yet, concurred therein. The general 
 government, in permitting the manufacture of intoxicating 
 liquors simply upon the payment of a tax, becomes in a meas 
 ure a party to the monstrous evil. Again, the dealers feel 
 that, having settled the tax, they ought not to be hindered in 
 dispensing their vile manufactures. But, compare the revenue 
 received by the government, with the cost to the country. 
 
1 874] THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION, 453 
 
 The amount of receipts of internal revenue arising from the 
 tax on spirituous and fermented liquors, was, in 1874, 58 
 million dollars. This is the annual gain. 
 
 There are 13,000 distilleries, breweries and wholesale stores, 
 and 140,000 saloons, employing over half a million men in 
 this work so destructive to body and soul. Were these distil 
 leries and saloons ranged in a single line, side by side, it would 
 probably take a man the space of forty days, walking fifteen 
 miles per day, to get beyond the last of those doors of death ! 
 
 About 100,000 persons, at an expense of 100 million dol 
 lars, are annually imprisoned for crime, a large part of which 
 is directly due to the use of strong drink. Briefly stated : the 
 annual waste in grain, fruit, etc., which are turned into intoxi 
 cating liquors ; in the cost of pauperism and crime, produced 
 by intemperance ; in the loss of productive industry ; in the 
 loss of wages or value of time of those employed in the busi 
 ness; in the support of insane, idiots and disabled, are to 
 gether estimated at 1300 million dollars. In other words, 
 for every dollar which the government receives, the country 
 loses over 220. The exhibit on page 431 is instructive. 
 
 Consider the loss in a single state. In Virginia, where the yearly 
 taxation of property for state purposes amounts to about 3^ mil 
 lion dollars, it is estimated that the value of intoxicating liquors 
 consumed amounts to as much as 12 million dollars per annum : 
 equal to the value of the whole wheat crop of the state (8,000,000 
 bushels) for the year 1870 ! 
 
 It seems, as yet, to be very imperfectly understood, that the dis 
 tilled product of grain and fruit, is a veritable poison when taken 
 into the human system. How greatly the food resources of the 
 nation are worse than wasted by thus changing them into a subtle 
 intoxicant, is pointedly set forth in the following brief testimony of 
 a leading American physican, Dr. Willard Parker : 
 
 "Alcohol is a poison when introduced into a healthy system ; it is a 
 foreign substance, and, of itself, incapable of making any repair, 
 ultimately inducing diseases of the system as surely as malaria or 
 
454 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1872 
 
 any other poison. Our life insurance companies have settled this 
 point. It is now established that a young man who is sober at 
 twenty and continues so, has an average chance of life of 64 years 
 and 2 months ; but the drinker at twenty, if he continues to drink 
 alcoholic liquors, has an average of life of 35* years." A difference, 
 in favor of temperance, of 285 years. 
 
 But when we turn to contemplate the moral loss which the 
 traffic entails, it must be confessed to be altogether beyond 
 computation. Whoever has heard the sad details in the case 
 of but a single victim of intemperance, must admit that no 
 adequate conception can be formed of the sum total of wretch 
 edness and crime which mark the career of the 6o ,ooo or more 
 in this land alone, who yearly go down to the drunkard s 
 grave. 
 
 ARBITRATION AND PEACE. 
 
 One of the most cheering events in the history of our 
 country, was the peaceful settlement of the Alabama question 
 by arbitration. Upon the conclusion of the Civil War, the 
 American government demanded of England re-imbursement 
 for the damages inflicted upon its shipping by the Alabama 
 and other Confederate cruisers which had been fitted out in 
 English ports. For six years this claim was resisted, and, at 
 times, such was the feeling of irritation produced by the dis 
 cussion, that it appeared as though a war would certainly 
 follow. But finally, in 1871, representatives of the two powers 
 met at Washington to arrange a treaty. One of the provisions 
 of this treaty was, that a Court of Arbitration should be ap 
 pointed, which should convene at Geneva, in Switzerland, 
 and determine the amount of damages properly due to this 
 country. 
 
 Accordingly, the arbitrators met (1872) at the place ap 
 pointed, and chose Count Sclopis, of Italy, their presiding 
 officer. Three principles of law formed the basis of the 
 
1872] ARBITRATION AND PEACE. 455 
 
 TREATY OF WASHINGTON : ist. That a neutral government is 
 bound to use due diligence to prevent the fitting out, within 
 its jurisdiction, of armed vessels intended to injure a friendly 
 nation ; ad. That a neutral government must not allow its 
 ports to be used as a basis of naval operations; and 3d. 
 That a neutral government is responsible for the violation of 
 these provisions. Much of the time of the sessions was taken 
 up in the consideration of "indirect damages" claimed by 
 the United States. These, however, being finally rejected, 
 the arbitrators awarded to the United States the sum of 
 $15.500,000 in full for all claims. England, greatly to her 
 honor, acquiesced in the award without demur. 
 
 As the consideration of the methods by which wars may be 
 averted, forms one of the most important topics which can 
 engage the attention of the student of history, it will be worth 
 our while to make inquiry as to what measures have been pro 
 posed, or efforts put forth, in this and in other countries, for 
 the preservation of international peace. 
 
 There are at least four ways open to nations for establishing 
 their rights, without having recourse to the sword. 
 
 I. NEGOTIATION. The settlement of all causes of disagree 
 ment by the parties themselves. 
 
 II. ARBITRATION. When the parties become too much 
 excited by passion to reason, they may agree to choose an 
 umpire. 
 
 III. MEDIATION. When rulers become impressed with the 
 belief that they must solve the matters in dispute by force of 
 arms, the friendly mediation of a third power may be offered. 
 
 IV. A CONGRESS OF NATIONS. For many reasons, this 
 is by far the preferable plan. In the matter of economy, for 
 instance, it would save the enormous yearly outlay for military 
 preparations in times of peace, as well as the extra expendi 
 tures which are incurred whenever a disagreement, likely to 
 culminate in war, arises. 
 
HISTORY Of THE UNITED STATES. [1872 
 
 In the history of our own country, when direct Negotiation 
 has failed, wars have been frequently averted by Mediation 
 and Arbitration. The following are instances : 
 
 1822. The question of restitution for certain damages in 
 flicted by Great Britain during the war of 1812, was referred 
 for arbitration to the emperor of Russia. 
 
 1827. The north-eastern Boundary Dispute between this 
 country and Great Britain, was referred to the king of the 
 Netherlands. His decision not being satisfactory, it was sub 
 sequently settled by the Ashburton Treaty. 
 
 1838. Matters in controversy with Mexico, were referred 
 to the king of Prussia. 
 
 1853. All outstanding claims which had arisen between 
 Great Britain and the United States, were referred to two 
 commissioners, who chose an umpire to decide the case. 
 
 1858. Claims against Chili for the seizure of private prop 
 erty, were referred for settlement to the king of the Belgians. 
 
 1860. Claims against New Grenada, and also against Costa 
 Rica, were referred to commissions mutually appointed. 
 
 1863. Two claims against Peru were referred, one of them 
 to the king of the Belgians, the other to a commission. 
 
 1864. A serious dispute with Great Britain concerning 
 property about Puget Sound, was referred to a commission. 
 
 1871. Claims for damages arising out of the troubles in 
 Cuba, were referred to a commission at Washington, who 
 chose the Austrian ambassador to be umpire. 
 
 The excellent moral effect of the Geneva Arbitration of 
 1872, has been evidenced in the increasing number of inter 
 national disputes which have been similarly adjusted. Of 
 these may be instanced the four following, as having occurred 
 within the last two years. 
 
 a. A dispute between the Swiss and Italian governments, 
 respecting a portion of their frontier, was referred to two ar 
 bitrators, by whom an umpire was chosen. 
 
1872] ARBITRATION AND PEACE. 457 
 
 b. Between China and Japan a trouble arose, growing out 
 of the murder of some Japanese on the island of Formosa. 
 The demand for compensation was not acceded to ; an angry 
 controversy ensued ; and preparations for hostilities on a 
 large scale were made on both sides. But the British minister 
 at Pekin offering to mediate, his friendly services were ac 
 cepted. 
 
 c. A dispute between Japan and Peru, growing out of the 
 seizure of a vessel belonging to the latter country, which was 
 engaged in the coolie trade, was referred to the emperor of 
 Russia for decision. 
 
 d. A controversy between England and Portugal relative 
 to the possession of the country around Delagoa bay, South 
 Africa, was settled by referring the case to the adjudication 
 of the president of the French Republic. 
 
 But, unhappily, while many possible contests have been by 
 these means avoided, such has not been the result in all the 
 cases of dispute which have recently arisen. The wars of the 
 last twenty years have been as baseless in their causes, and as 
 bloody in execution, as any which preceded them. Thus the 
 terrible war of 1870 between France and Germany, was brought 
 about simply by a personal affront offered by the French ambas 
 sador to the Prussian king ! But let us now inquire what are 
 the peculiar merits of method IV., a Congress of Nations. 
 
 The plan of such a congress, which was favored by Henry 
 the Fourth, of France, found an able and more consistent 
 exponent in William Penn. At a time (1693) when most of 
 the nations of Europe were engaged in a general war, Penn 
 made an effort to impress the minds of his contemporaries 
 with a much more rational method of settling their differences. 
 With this end in view, he produced "An Essay toward the 
 present and future peace of Europe, by the establishment of 
 an European diet, parliament or estates." In this remarkable 
 essay, the writer, after contrasting the advantages of peace, 
 tf 39 
 
458 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1872 
 
 with the evils, expenses and desolations of war, shows that it 
 should be the chief object of government to preserve the 
 peace among its members, and, with that intent, the redress 
 of grievances should be intrusted to impartial hands. Having 
 suggested the expediency of applying to the controversies 
 between nations the same principles as are applied to those 
 between individuals, he therefore recommends the institution 
 of a General Congress, by whom a code of laws for the regu 
 lation of their mutual intercourse should be agreed upon, and 
 to which all should be required to submit. 
 
 Penn s plan was taken but little notice of until about the 
 year 1835, when it was revived by WILLIAM LADD, of New 
 England, who added to the original proposition the sugges 
 tion of an International Court. This amended plan, which 
 has been received with so much favor by all lovers of peace, 
 is as follows : 
 
 i. A Congress of Ambassadors, from all those Christian 
 and civilized nations who choose to send them, for the purpose 
 of settling the principles of international law by a mutually 
 binding compact and agreement ; and also of devising and 
 promoting plans for the preservation of peace and amelio 
 rating the condition of man. 
 
 2. A High Court of Nations , composed of the most able 
 civilians in the world, to arbitrate or judge such cases, as, by 
 the mutual consent of two or more contending nations, should 
 be brought before it. 
 
 These propositions were afterward extensively advocated by 
 Elihu Burritt, and were presented by him at the great Peace 
 Congresses which were held at Brussels, Paris, Frankfort and 
 London, in the four years from 1848 to 1851. 
 
 In 1849, RICHARD COBDEN, in response to more than 
 200,000 petitioners, presented a motion in the British House 
 of Commons, in favor of stipulated arbitration as a substitute 
 for war, but it was not carried. The measure was also ear- 
 
1873] ARBITRATION AND PEACE. 459 
 
 nestly advocated by JOHN BRIGHT. Three years later, the 
 legislatures of several of our states before whom the subject 
 was brought, gave their votes in its favor. Little was then 
 heard of the matter for the succeeding twenty years, until the 
 success of the Geneva Arbitration, together with the consid 
 eration of the folly which led to the Franco-Prussian war 
 and the barbarities accompanying it, brought the subject again 
 prominently forward. 
 
 In 1873, the House of Commons, on motion of HENRY 
 RICHARD, adopted a resolution recommending the Queen to 
 take steps " to enter into communication with foreign powers, 
 with a view to the further improvement of international law ; 
 and the establishment of a general and permanent system of 
 international arbitration." And in the following year, the 
 House of Representatives of the United States recommended, 
 by a unanimous vote, that arbitration should be made a 
 national substitute for war ; and that thereafter, in all treaties 
 between the United States and foreign powers, provision should 
 be made, if practicable, that war shall not be declared by either 
 of the contracting parties against the other until efforts have 
 been made to adjust all alleged causes of difficulty by impartial 
 arbitration." 
 
 In continuation of the above favorable action on the part 
 of the governments of Great Britain and the United States, 
 the Italian parliament at Rome, without a dissenting voice, 
 passed a motion in favor of international arbitration. The 
 lower house of the Swedish Diet, as well as the parliament of 
 Holland, have likewise cast their votes in its favor, while 
 a similar resolution is pending in the Belgian Chamber of 
 Representatives. 
 
 Meanwhile, in 1873, a conference was held at Brussels, 
 composed of thirty-five eminent publicists and jurists of 
 different nations, who organized the "Association for the 
 Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations;" and Eng- 
 
4 6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1875 
 
 lish, French and Italian branches were formed. The following 
 year, the association met at Geneva, in the same hall in which 
 the Arbitration Court had convened to decide the Alabama 
 question. Finally, in 1875, a meeting was held at the Hague, 
 whereat committees were appointed to bring the subjects of 
 arbitration and a proportionate reduction of armaments before 
 the governments of Christendom. Thus rests this vital matter 
 to-day. The Christian duty of nations herein, may be com 
 prised in the one word forbearance. Not alone between 
 individuals, but between states and nations, is that admoni 
 tion of Scripture obligatory, which says, " Forbearing one 
 another in love." 
 
 Notwithstanding what has here been said, the army and navy 
 constitute, in many of their offices, too valuable a portion of 
 the public service to be entirely dispensed with. But while we 
 may with advantage give up the fortifications and gun-boats, 
 and all munitions of war, yet an efficient and well-organized 
 body of men will still be needed to carry on the operations 
 of the land and coast survey, the weather signal service, the 
 maintenance of lighthouses and life-saving stations, the re 
 moving of river and harbor obstructions, and other useful and 
 beneficial public works. Our navy, too, may become the 
 "white-winged messengers of peace," carrying timely aid to 
 far-:ofT lands to sufferers by famine and the flood. 
 
 SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 
 
 THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, originated at Phila 
 delphia in 1743, but not formally organized until 1769, owed 
 its formation, in great measure, to the exertions of Benjamin 
 Franklin. Franklin, who was elected its first president, was 
 then engaged upon those highly interesting experiments in 
 electricity and meteorology which caused him to be as 
 widely known as a scientific investigator as he subsequently 
 
iS75] SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 461 
 
 was as a statesman. It is from that period also that our 
 record of scientific progress dates. 
 
 A clockmaker s apprentice, David Rittenhouse, who had 
 turned his attention to astronomical study, constructed two 
 remarkable orreries (still to be seen at the College of New 
 Jersey and the University of Pennsylvania), which give the 
 movements and relative positions of the heavenly bodies for 
 each year, month, day and hour for the period of 5000 
 years. This American Ferguson, who succeeded Franklin 
 in the presidency of the Philosophical Society, was engaged 
 upon the first work undertaken by that body the year it 
 was formed, namely, in observations upon the transit of 
 Venus (1769). Rittenhouse was also employed to superin 
 tend the running of the boundary-lines between several of 
 the States. 
 
 Robert Hare, following the lead of Franklin, demonstrated 
 (1801) the use of the oxy-hydrogen blow-pipe as a. generator 
 of intense heat, improved the voltaic battery by the construc 
 tion of his deflagrator (1820), and likewise introduced many 
 other ingenious appliances in connection with chemistry and 
 electro-magnetism. John W. Draper, of New York, in 
 continuation of researches into the properties of light, 
 applied photographic methods to obtaining pictures of the 
 human countenance, to the study of spectrum analysis, and in 
 securing views of the moon. Improved results in the same 
 direction were obtained by his son, Henry Draper, and by 
 Lewis M. Rutherford. General interest in chemical science 
 had been fostered by the publication of the Journal of Science 
 and Arts (1814), long edited thereafter by Benjamin Silliman, 
 Sr. ; also by Silliman s public lectures, and by those delivered 
 before his class at Yale College. Analytic chemistry owes 
 much to the recent labors of Gibbs and Genth ; theoretic 
 chemistry, to Professors Hunt and Cooke. In mineralogy, 
 the name of James D. Dana is widely known through his text- 
 39* 
 
462 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1875 
 
 books, the first of which appeared as early as 1837. The 
 gyratory or cyclonic movement of storms was described by 
 Redfield, of New York (1827), and later by Espy, of Pennsyl 
 vania, in his treatise on the Philosophy of Storms (1841) ; the 
 nature of star-showers, by Denison Olmsted, of New Haven, 
 (1834); cometary orbits and auroral phenomena, by Elias 
 Loomis, also of New Haven ; sun-spots and solar physics, by 
 Professor Young, of Dartmouth. 
 
 John Bartram, whose botanic garden, near Philadelphia, 
 became such an object of interest to lovers of plants in this 
 country, and to visitors from Europe, made numerous excur 
 sions in the Southern seaboard states, and, returning there 
 from with many rare and beautiful botanic treasures, freely 
 bestowed them upon his correspondents in both hemispheres. 
 By Linnaeus he was spoken of as " the greatest natural botanist 
 in the world." He died in 1777, leaving a son William, 
 who had been his companion in travel, and was similarly 
 interested in botanical pursuits. The trees of the United 
 States were described by F. A. Michaux (1803). Pursh also 
 published a flora (1814), which was followed by the manual 
 of Eaton. All of these, however, adhered to the artificial 
 classification of Linnaeus. But in 1831 appeared the work of 
 John Torrey, arranged according to the natural system of 
 Lindley, the method now universally adopted. The manuals 
 of Asa Gray, of Harvard, published during the last forty 
 years, are familiar to all. 
 
 Alexander Wilson, a schoolmaster of Philadelphia, of 
 Scotch nativity, becoming infected with his friend Bartram s 
 love for natural science, took up the special study of birds, 
 and between the years 1804 and 1817 made those extensive 
 observations in field and forest which resulted in the publi 
 cation of his American Ornithology, in seven volumes, hand 
 somely illustrated. An eighth volume, in continuation of 
 the series, was afterward published by Charles Lucien Bona- 
 
1 875] SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 463 
 
 parte, a nephew of Napoleon while, a few years later, the 
 rival work of John James Audubon appeared. Audubon, in 
 association with John Bachman, also published (1846- 5 4) a 
 similar finely illustrated work upon the Viviparous Quadru 
 peds of America. Whilst Audubon was thus engaged, a Swiss 
 scholar, Louis Agassiz, came to this country (1846) ; and 
 having accepted the chair of zoology and geology at Harvard 
 College, his researches in the studies named, and in other 
 allied branches, together with his thorough methods of im 
 parting instruction to his pupils, resulted in raising up many 
 enthusiastic students of natural science. Of late years the 
 study and classification of American birds and insects have 
 been pursued by Cassin, Packard, Brewer, Baird, the Le 
 Contes, and others. 
 
 In medical practice and surgery, probably the most import 
 ant recent discovery has been that of the use, as anaesthetics, 
 of nitrous oxide gas and of sulphuric ether. The first was suc 
 cessfully administered by Horace Wells, a dentist of Hartford, 
 Connecticut, in 1844; the ether very soon afterward by Dr. 
 W. T. G. Morton (a pupil of Wells), and by Charles T. 
 Jackson, a Boston chemist. 
 
 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, organized at Washington 
 (1846) by Act of Congress, and intrusted to a Board of 
 Regents, derives its revenue from a large fund bequeathed by 
 James Smithson, an Englishman, "for the increase and dif 
 fusion of knowledge among men." It has greatly helped the 
 cause of science by affording assistance in the publication of 
 scientific memoirs, the expenses of which could not have 
 been defrayed by the investigators themselves. The varied 
 and valuable researches of Joseph Henry, the Secretary of the 
 Institution, have extended over a period of half a century. 
 As early as 1830, being engaged in experimenting upon 
 statical electricity, he demonstrated the practicability of an 
 electric telegraph a year before the perfected invention of 
 
464 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1875 
 
 Professor Morse, mention of which will be found in the next 
 section. 
 
 The explorations and surveys undertaken by the Bureau of 
 Topographical Engineers (i853~ 56) "to ascertain the most 
 practicable and economical route for a railroad from the 
 Missouri river to the Pacific ocean ;" the geological survey of 
 the 4oth parallel, under the superintendence of Clarence 
 King (1867- 69); the similar surveys of the Western terri 
 tories, in charge of George M. Wheeler and Dr. F. V. Hay- 
 den, now in progress, have added much to our knowledge, 
 not only of the topography of the country, but of its plants, 
 animals, rock-formations, etc. Especially has the study of 
 palaeontology been advanced by the discovery of extensive 
 fossil remains in that region. The first of these, publicly 
 noticed, were the mammalian fauna found in the Mauvaises 
 Terres of Nebraska (1847), ar >d described by Joseph Leidy. 
 Very many new species of fossil saurians and fishes, as well 
 as of mammals, have been described by Professors Leidy, 
 Cope and Marsh. The YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK with 
 its grand canon, waterfall, lakes and spouting springs was 
 set apart by act of Congress (1872), for the public use and 
 enjoyment for ever. It is situated in the north-west corner 
 of Wyoming Territory , and comprises an area of 3575 square 
 miles. 
 
 A FEW STATISTICS OF PROGRESS. 
 
 In the year 1820, the population of the twenty states then 
 comprising the United States, was 5,300,000; of which 
 number, 1,000,000 were persons of color. By the census of 
 1870, with 37 states and TO territories, the population was as 
 certained to be upward of 38,500,000 ; of which total, 4,900,- 
 ooo were colored. The number of Chinese was 63,000 ; five- 
 sixths of them being located in California, and the rest mostly 
 in Oregon and Nevada. 
 
A FEW STATISTICS OF PROGRESS. 
 
 465 
 
 Much of this rapid increase of population has, of course, 
 been due to immigration ; the largest accessions coming from 
 the British Isles and Germany. The business prostration 
 which prevailed in Great Britain after the great wars with 
 Napoleon, together with the dissatisfaction caused by the op 
 pressive operation of the Corn Laws, led many of the laboring 
 classes to seek homes elsewhere. The repeal of the Corn Laws 
 by parliament, in 1846 (removing thereby the import duty on 
 grain), happened too late to arrest the outflow of emigrants, 
 most of whom came to America. Still further impetus was, 
 moreover, given to the movement, by the British commercial 
 crisis of 1847, an d by the prevalence, at the same time, of the 
 potato disease. Whilst, in 1845, tne number of emigrants 
 leaving the United Kingdom amounted to but 93,000, in 1851 
 the number had increased to 368,000, of whom just two-thirds 
 (244,000) settled in this country. 
 
 The harsh usages of war, but especially compulsion to per 
 form military service, have, since the Franco-Prussian war of 
 1870, driven tens of thousands of Germans to America, where 
 there are no such statute requirements in operation. The 
 plains of Pomerania in eastern Prussia, have lost large numbers 
 of their inhabitants upon this account ; and so alarming became 
 the movement for awhile, that the German government threat 
 ened to use coercive measures to prevent this wholesale de 
 population. 
 
 The like causes, operating in Russia, have resulted in a 
 similar expatriation of the MENNONITES from the southern 
 portion of that kingdom. Between 1873 an d 1876, over 
 10,000 of that sect have settled in America, principally in 
 Kansas, Nebraska, Dacotah and Minnesota, and in the Mani 
 toba province of the Dominion of Canada. 
 
 So great an influx of population, accompanied, as it was, 
 by the building of railways and other internal improvements, 
 exercised a great influence in rapidly developing the states 
 
 u* 
 
466 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1870 
 
 of the West. At the same time reaping and mowing machines 
 began to come into use. The first patent for a reaper was 
 taken out in 1833, by Schnebly, of Maryland. The first suc 
 cessful mower, which came into use in 1831, was that of 
 Manning, of New Jersey, followed by Ambler s improvement 
 in 1834. These were greatly surpassed by those of Hussey 
 and McCormick, which have gained a world-wide reputation. 
 Other improved machinery, such as horse-rakes, and horse- 
 and steam-threshers, have wonderfully facilitated the in-gath 
 ering of crops. The yield of the principal food crops of 
 1870, was as follows: 
 
 Indian Corn . . . 992 million Bushels. 
 
 Oats 255 " 
 
 Wheat .... 230 " 
 
 Barley .... 26 " 
 
 Rye 15 
 
 Buckwheat . . . 81 " 
 
 Potatoes . . . . 1 20 " 
 
 These seven crops were planted on 66^ million acres. Nearly 
 all of the product of barley, and a large portion of the rye, 
 were converted into malt for beer and whiskey. 
 
 Of tobacco there were 356,000 acres planted, yielding 263 
 million pounds. But as the ways in which the hurtful weed 
 can be usefully employed, are extremely limited, a decrease 
 in this crop would be advantageous to the people generally. 
 
 Cotton is the most valuable single product of American soil. 
 An enormous increase in its production resulted, upon the 
 invention of the cotton-gin or cleaner, by Eli Whitney. A 
 native of Massachusetts, Whitney graduated at Yale College in 
 1792, and, the same year, went to Georgia as a teacher. Ob 
 serving how slow and difficult was the work of separating by 
 hand the cotton from the seed, he sought to devise some 
 mechanical contrivance for this purpose, and in a few months 
 was rewarded with success. By reason of this discovery, in 
 
1870] A FEW STATISTICS OF PROGRESS. 467 
 
 the eight years from 1792 to 1800, the exports of cotton in 
 creased from 138,000 Ibs., worth $30,000, to 18,000,000 Ibs., 
 worth $3,000,000. By the census of 1870, the cotton crop 
 amounted to 3,100,000 bales, averaging 440 Ibs. to the bale. 
 Nearly two-thirds of this was exported ; the remainder was 
 consumed in American mills. 
 
 The number of cotton-manufacturing establishments, by the 
 census, was 956. Massachusetts had the greatest number, 
 191. Georgia stood first of the Southern states, having 34. 
 Of woolen factories there were 2891. Pennsylvania came 
 first, with 457 ; in the South, Kentucky led, with 125. 
 
 Notwithstanding the laws which have been passed in New 
 England, to prevent the employment of children in the cotton 
 and woolen mills at too early an age, the indifference and cu 
 pidity of parents and employers have caused the statutes to be 
 almost entirely disregarded. A Massachusetts report (1870) 
 says, " The mills all over the state, the shops in city and town, 
 are full of children deprived of their right to such education 
 as will fit them for the possibilities of their after-life, and no 
 body thinks of obeying the school laws." In Rhode Island, 
 it appeared by the census of 1870, that the number of those 
 who could neither read nor write was five times greater than 
 it was in 1850 ! Not ignorance alone, but depravity and overt 
 crime result from this species of semi-enslavement. To obvi 
 ate these evils, compulsory education is generally recommended, 
 in addition to the enactment and enforcement of stringent 
 laws to prevent the too early employment of the children. 
 
 The first patent for a sewing-machine, was granted to J. J. 
 Greenough, of Washington, but the first really practical one, 
 was that patented by Elias Howe in 1846. This was followed 
 by the machines of Wheeler and Wilson, Grover and Baker, 
 Singer and Co., and several others. In 1870, the numbei 
 manufactured in this country amounted to nearly 500,000. 
 The coal yield of 1870 was estimated at 37 million tons 
 
468 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1870 
 
 Pennsylvania producing three-fourths of the total. The yield 
 of iron ore was very nearly 2 million tons, one-third of it 
 being mined in Pennsylvania. The discovery, made in 1861, 
 that coal-oil or petroleum, existed in the western part of Penn 
 sylvania and in West Virginia, in such great quantities as to 
 become a valuable commercial product, caused for a time a 
 high state of excitement and much speculation. A great 
 number of companies were organized, but the stock of many 
 soon became of little or no value. Nevertheless, the business 
 assumed large proportions, so that petroleum presently became 
 one of the principal articles of export. 
 
 Of precious metals, the yield of 1871 was estimated at 66 
 million dollars. Nevada and California each produced nearly 
 a third of the total ; the territories of Montana, Idaho and 
 Colorado, most of the remainder. 
 
 The first patent issued by the government was one to 
 William Pollard (1790) for an improved spinning-machine. 
 At the expiration of fifty years the annual issues amounted to 
 about 500; but in the single year 1876, the number had 
 risen to upward of 17,000. 
 
 Of the very great number of American inventions useful in 
 the arts, none has proved capable of such extensive and varied 
 applications, as the vulcanization of india-rubber : that is to 
 say, its hardening by combination with sulphur. This dis 
 covery was made by Charles Goodyear, of New Haven, about 
 the year 1835. A few of the many uses to which this sub 
 stance can be applied, are the manufacture of water-proof 
 boots and overshoes, flexible gas-pipes and water-pipes, buffers 
 for railway carriages, mats for doors and rooms, machinery- 
 belts, braces, telegraph cables, hats, harness, wheels, and as 
 washers in the fitting of countless sorts of apparatus and ma 
 chinery. The rubber, combined with finely divided sand, as 
 well as sulphur, is made into ink-erasers ; with tar and sulphur, 
 it forms a mixture which is run into moulds, and hardens with 
 
. ,. 
 
 1870] A FEW STATISTICS OF PROGRESS. 469 - 
 
 the lustre and blackness of jet. In this manner are made 
 brackets, combs, pencil-cases, thimbles, and a great variety 
 of useful and ornamental articles. 
 
 The Electric Telegraph was invented by Samuel T. B. 
 Morse, of New York, in 1832, and exhibited to Congress in 
 1837; but it was not until 1843 tnat tnat body agreed to ex 
 tend aid for an experimental line to be built from Washington 
 to Baltimore. The alphabet of Morse is a series of dots and 
 dashes. It has been superseded in. many places by House s 
 instrument, which prints the letters themselves. There are 
 now over 75,000 miles of telegraph in operation in this 
 country. The first ocean telegraph cable between Europe and 
 America was successfully laid and operated in 1866. Five 
 lines are now in operation, four from Ireland and one from 
 France. 
 
 Experiments upon the transmission of musical tones by 
 telegraphy were made (1873- 76) by E. P. Gray, of Chicago. 
 This harmonic process, as it is called, allows several simul 
 taneous transmissions to be made over the same wire. By 
 the duplex and quadruple* methods, which are adaptations 
 of the harmonic process, the working capacity of the lines 
 may, at a trifling expense, and without the use of additional 
 wires, be greatly augmented. Prof. Graham A. Bell, of the 
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, invented, in 1876, the 
 telephone, an attachment to the electro-magnetic battery, by 
 which articulate sounds are made audible through the vibra 
 tions of a metallic disk responding to the sounds uttered by 
 the sender. In other words, telephony is the conversion of 
 the electric current effect into sound. Perhaps more wonder 
 ful as an invention than any of the above (but not as yet used 
 in connection with telegraphy) is the phonograph, or sound- 
 writer, an instrument which records upon metal foil impres 
 sions of spoken words, and, by the use of the impressed foil, 
 will itself audibly repeat them. This it may do, apparently, 
 
 40 
 
470 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1875 
 
 centuries after the words were first uttered. This ingenious 
 piece of mechanism is the invention of T. A. Edison, of 
 Newark, New Jersey. 
 
 The first steamboat constructed in the United States to 
 carry passengers, was built at Philadelphia in 1787, by John 
 Fitch. The motor was a low-pressure engine, and the boat 
 was propelled by a paddle-wheel at the stern. Oliver Evans, 
 of the same city, in 1804, first practically applied to a boat, 
 the high-pressure engine ; but this craft was merely used for 
 dock-dredging purposes. The first really successful applica 
 tion of the power, was that of Robert Fulton, whose boat, 
 the Clermont, a small side-wheel steamer, in 1807 ascended 
 the Hudson, from New York to Albany. Improvements made 
 in 1815 by Robert L. Stevens, resulted in securing a higher 
 rate of speed. 
 
 In 1838, the first ocean steamship from England, the Sirius, 
 arrived in the harbor of New York. 
 
 The first railroad in the United States was constructed in 
 1826. It connected the town of Quincy, Massachusetts, with 
 Neponset, and was but three miles in length. It was built to 
 supply the granite for Bunker Hill monument. The cars were 
 drawn by horses. A railway was built the next year, 1827, at 
 Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, the cars being raised by horse 
 power to the summit of the mountain, and descending by 
 gravity. In 1828, twelve miles of the Baltimore and Ohio 
 railroad were built and operated as a passenger railway. The 
 same year the first locomotive engine used in America (but built 
 in England, by Stephenson), was run upon a short road of 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, connecting with 
 their mines. At the West Point foundry, New York, the first 
 American built locomotive was constructed. It was operated 
 on the South Carolina railway in 1831. Other roads were 
 constructed in that and the preceding year. The total length 
 
1876] A FEW STATISTICS OF PKOGKESS. 471 
 
 of railway lines open for traffic in 1875, was about 70,000 
 miles. 
 
 The first Pacific Railroad was built principally between the 
 years 1866 and 1868. Lavish grants of money and of land 
 were conceded by the government to two chartered companies: 
 the Union Pacffic, controlling the eastern section of 1032 
 miles from Omaha, Nebraska, to Ogden City, Utah ; and 
 the Central Pacific, or western section of 88 1 miles, from 
 Ogden to San Francisco. The money bounty advanced by 
 the government in aid of the construction, and for which 
 second mortgage bonds were issued by the companies, aver 
 aged $30,000 per mile ; making a total of 50 million dollars. 
 The company had also issued first mortgage bonds to the same 
 amount. Portions of the road were constructed with extraor 
 dinary celerity, as much as a mile or more of track being laid 
 in one day. The cost of construction, however, of the Union 
 Pacific railroad, was not so great as the means in hand. The 
 company therefore, having a plethora of resources, by a fraudu 
 lent process contracted with itself for an ostensible price, to 
 build its own road. Many members of Congress were impli 
 cated in furthering this disgraceful transaction, which involved 
 millions of dollars, and was known as the " Credit Mobilier" 
 scheme. 
 
 The Northern Pacific railway, projected a little later, was 
 intended to connect Duluth, at the west end of Lake Superior, 
 with Puget Sound. Congress granted, in aid of it, over 50 
 million acres of land, an area equal to ten states of the size 
 of Massachusetts. Bonds of the company, to a very large 
 amount, were disposed of, when, in 1873, i ts chief projectors 
 failed. Much financial distress and many failures followed, 
 and business generally experienced greater depression than 
 had been known since the termination of the Civil War. 
 
 This depressed condition of affairs still continues. Never 
 before, in our country s history, have the lamentable results 
 
47 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1876 
 
 of overtrading, speculation, the haste to be rich even at the 
 sacrifice of integrity, been so marked as is the case at this 
 day. Gambling in gold and stocks, and even in wheat and 
 corn the very necessaries of life is largely prevalent in the 
 leading cities ; while startling defalcations by officers high in 
 places of trust, are of every-day occurrence". And now, in 
 this Centennial Year of American Independence, when our 
 country will exhibit the evidences of her progress to all the 
 nations of the globe, what have we to show of a more exalted 
 sentiment of honor and integrity than prevailed of yore, or 
 of a more faithful administration of public duties? Further 
 more, while we behold exhibited the products of our mines, 
 the fabrics from our factories and looms, do we feel that we 
 have sufficiently regarded the low estate of the toilers who 
 have helped us to all this wealth ? that we have equally desired 
 for ourselves and for them, a growth in holiness and in the 
 knowledge of Him from whom all blessings flow ? It is of 
 small moment that we should be accounted great, if we be 
 not earnestly engaged to reap those riches which are more 
 enduring. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABERCROMBIE. General, 286. 
 Acadie, colonization of, 107. 
 
 French Neutrals of, 275. 
 Adams, John, 304, 328, 332. 
 
 second president, 337. 
 
 death of, 383. 
 Adams, J. Q., negotiates, 366, 373. 
 
 president, 380. 
 Agassiz, Louis, 463. 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, peace of, 268. 
 Alabama admitted, 374. 
 Alabama, territorial, 332. 
 Alabama, career of the, 423. 
 
 Claims Commission, 454. 
 Alarcon, expedition of, 61. 
 Alaska, 379, 435. 
 Albany, settlement of, 134. 
 Albemarle settlements, early, 176, 179. 
 Alexander, Sir William, 143. 
 Algiers, war with, 369. 
 Algonquins, account of the, 37. 
 Amendment, Thirteenth, 428. 
 
 Fourteenth, 434. 
 
 Fifteenth, 437. 
 
 America, discovery of, 14, 25. 
 American Philosophical Society, 460. 
 Amerigo Vespucci, 45. 
 Amherst, General, 287. 
 Amidas and Barlow at Roanoke, 84. 
 Anresthetics, application of, 463. 
 Andre, Major, 314. 
 Andros, Sir Edmund, 187, 209, 229. 
 Antinomian controversy, 141, 145. 
 Anti-Slavery agitation, 406. 
 Arbitration and peace, 454. 
 Archdale, John, of Carolina, 230. 
 Argall, Samuel (Captain), 99, 109. 
 Arkansas admitted, 394. 
 Arnold, treason of, 314. 
 Ashburton Treaty, 397. 
 Assiento, the, 251. 
 Astoria, 379, 401. 
 Audubon, the naturalist, 463. 
 
 Atlanta, Sherman at, 428. 
 
 BACON S Rebellion, 171. 
 Balboa discovers the Pacific, 56. 
 Baltimore founded, 268. 
 Baltimore, Lord, 161, 218. 
 Bank of North America, 316. 
 
 of the United States, 370, 391. 
 
 troubles, 393, 396. 
 Bankrupt laws, 396, 436. 
 Banks and bills of credit, 244. 
 Banks, National, 425. 
 Baptist Indian agencies, 445. 
 Baptists in Rhode Island, 145. 
 Bartram, the botanist, 462. 
 Benezet, Anthony, 270. 
 Bennington, battle of, 306. 
 Bennington settled, 259, 330. 
 Berkeley in Virginia, 164, 168. 
 Black Hawk war, 391. 
 Blair, commissary, 229. 
 Boone, Daniel, 296. 
 Boston Massacre, 292. 
 
 Port Bill, 293. 
 
 settlement of, 140. 
 
 great fire at, 392. 
 
 siege of, 301. 
 Braddock s defeat, 275. 
 Brainerd, David and John, 263. 
 Brandy wine, battle of, 307. 
 Brazil, discovery of, 45. 
 Brazilian coast, the French on, 69. 
 Breckenridge, John C., 411, 414. 
 British-Spanish war of 1739, 257. 
 Brooklyn, settlement of, 127. 
 Brown, John, raid of, 414. 
 Buchanan, James, 411. 
 Bull Run or Manassas, 417, 422. 
 Bunker Hill, battle of, 301. 
 Burgoyne s surrender at Saratoga, 
 
 307. 
 
 Burlington Woods, treaty in, 188. 
 Burr, Aaron, 340, 342, 345. 
 
 40* 
 
 473 
 
474 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CABEZA DE VACA, adventures of, 61. 
 Cabot, John, 42. 
 Cabot, Sebastian, 42, 79. 
 Calhoun, John C., 386, 390. 
 California, emigration to, 404. 
 
 admitted as a state, 408. 
 California coast, Cabrillo on the, 83. 
 
 Drake on the, 83. 
 
 Canada conquered from the French, 
 285. 
 
 French occupation of, 106. 
 
 rebellion of 1837, 394. 
 Cancello, the monk, in Florida, 66. 
 Cape Cod discovered by Gosnold, 89. 
 Caribs, extinction of the, 58. 
 Carolina settled, 176. 
 Cartier, voyages of, 47. 
 Castin, Baron, of Acadie, 221. 
 Census of United States, 464. 
 Centennial Celeb ration, 472. 
 Chambersburg, burning of, 428. 
 Champlain in Canada, 107, no. 
 
 Lake, battle of, 364. 
 Chancellorsville, battle of, 425. 
 Charleston, fire of 1740, 258. 
 
 settled, 181. 
 
 sieges of, 303, 426, 429. 
 Charters, colonial, demanded, 208. 
 Cherokees, removal of the, 387. 
 Cheyenne war, 444. 
 Chicago founded, 392. 
 
 fire, 436. 
 
 Chickasaws, French war with the, 250. 
 Chickasaws, De Soto and the, 64. 
 Children in mills, employment of, 467. 
 Chinese in the United States, 464. 
 Choctaws, 39, 250, 389. 
 Cincinnati founded, 341. 
 Civil damage acts, 451. 
 Civil War, American, 416. 
 Clay, Henry, 369, 380, 390. 
 Clay s Omnibus Bill, 408. 
 Clayborne, of Kent Island, 162, 165. 
 Clinton, De Witt, 441. 
 Coal and coal-oil yield, 468. 
 Colfax, Schuyler, 436. 
 Coligny, the Huguenot chief, 68. 
 Colleges in United States, 440. 
 Colonization Society, American, 369. 
 
 English, 378. 
 Colorado admitted as a state, 437. 
 
 early dwellers in, 31. 
 Columbus, Christopher, 21. 
 Compensated emancipation, 411. 
 
 Congregational Indian agencies, 445. 
 Congfjegationalists oppose slavery, 
 
 : 270. 
 Connecticut, settlement of, 123, 127, 
 
 133, 146, 197. 
 
 Constitution formed, the, 323. 
 Constitutional government, 326. 
 Corinth, battle of, 423. 
 Cornplanter, the Seneca, 359. 
 Coronado, march of, 61. 
 Cortereal, voyage of, 45. 
 Cortez conquers Mexico*, 54. 
 Cotton gin invented, 466. 
 Cotton in Virginia, first, lor. 
 Cotton, sea-island, 233. 
 
 yield of, 466. 
 
 Credit Mobilier scheme, 471. 
 Creek war, 362. 
 Creeks, removal of the, 384. 
 Cuba, conquest of, 28. 
 
 discovery of, 25. 
 Culpeper in Virginia, 170, 174. 
 Currency, early colonial, 151, 164. 
 
 DACOTAHS, account of the, 39. 
 
 Dare, Virginia, 88. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 415, 430. 
 
 De Ayllon s voyage for slaves, 59. 
 
 Decatur, Stephen, 344, 369. 
 
 Declaration of Independence, 304. 
 
 Deerfield, massacre of, 235. 
 
 De Fuca, Juan, on Oregon coast, 83. 
 
 De Gourgues in Florida, 77. 
 
 De Kalb, Baron, 314. 
 
 Delawares, tribe of, 188, 214, 260, 
 
 278, 280, 289. 
 Delaware, Lord, 96, 100. 
 Delaware organized, 219, 226. 
 De Monts colonizes Acadie, 107. 
 _De Soto, Ferdinand, 63. 
 Detroit founded by the French, 235. 
 District of Columbia, 335. 
 Douglas, Stephen A., 409, 414. 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 82, 87. 
 Draper, J. W. and Henry, 461. 
 Dred Scott decision, 411. 
 Duelling, 343. 
 Dunmore, Lord, 295, 301. 
 Dutch Reformed Indian agencies, 445. 
 in Carolina, 182. 
 
 EDUCATION, 438. 
 
 compulsory, 467. 
 Educational fund bill, 442. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 475 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 263. 
 Effingham, governor of Virginia, 175, 
 
 195- 
 
 Eliot and the Praying Indians, 200. 
 Emancipation, compensated, 411. 
 
 proclamation, 424. 
 Embargo Act, 347. 
 Emigration to America, causes of, 465. 
 Endicott, John, 139, 148, 155. 
 Episcopalian Indian agencies, 445. 
 Established religion constitutionally 
 
 forbidden, 328. 
 Erie, Lake, battle of, 361. 
 Eutaw Springs, battle of, 316. 
 
 FACTORIES, children in, 467. 
 Fernandez discovers Yucatan, 53. 
 Fillmore, Millard, 405, 408. 
 Financial troubles, 244, 320, 370, 393, 
 
 472. 
 
 Fires, great, 392, 436. 
 Five Nations. See Iroquois. 
 Fletcher, the royal governor, 220, 224. 
 Florida admitted as a state, 400. 
 
 ceded to the United States, 373. 
 
 discovered by Ponce de Leon, 52. 
 
 interior, 57. 
 
 Fox, George, in America, 180, 199. 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 267, 270, 294. 
 
 as a scientist, 460. 
 Franklin s negotiations, 297, 308, 318. 
 
 plan of a federal Union, 274. 
 Freedmen s Bureau, 438. 
 Fremont, John C., 403, 418. 
 French and English colonies at war, 
 
 221, 234, 265, 273. 
 French Neutrals of Acadie, 275. 
 
 occupy Canada, 106. 
 Friends Indian agencies, 445. 
 
 Indian policy, 442. 
 
 in Maryland and Va., 168, 169. 
 
 in New England, persecution of, 
 
 *53- 
 
 in North Carolina, 177, 179. 
 
 in West Jersey, 187. 
 
 prohibit slavery, 270. 
 Frobisher, expeditions of, 80. 
 Frontenac, gov. of Canada, 193, 222. 
 Fugitive slave law, 408. 
 
 GADSDEN PURCHASE, 405. 
 Gallatin, Albert, 335, 366. 
 Gama, Vasco da, 45. 
 Geneva Court of Arbitration, 454. 
 
 Georgia founded by Oglethorpe, 253. 
 German immigration, 216, 237, 465. 
 Germantown, battle of, 307. 
 Gettysburg, battle of, 425. 
 Gilbert, Humphrey, voyages of, 81. 
 Gilbert, Raleigh, voyage of, 90. 
 Gnadenhutten, massacre at, 283. 
 Gomez, voyages of, 59. 
 Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 90, 141. 
 Gosnold, Bartholomew, voyage of, 89. 
 Grant, General, 419, 426, 436. 
 Great awakening, the, 256. 
 Greenland, discovery of, 16. 
 Grenville, Sir Richard, at Roanoke, 
 
 85. 
 
 Grijalva, voyage of, 53. 
 Guadaloupe-Hidalgo, treaty of, 405. 
 Guilford Court-House, battle of, 316. 
 
 HACKENSACKS, massacre of, 128. 
 Halifax, construction of Fort, 273. 
 Hamilton, Alexander, 328, 342. 
 Hare, Robert, inventions of, 461. 
 Harrison, General, 353, 358, 395. 
 Hartford Convention, 366. 
 Hartford settled, 123, 147. 
 Harvard College founded, 150. 
 Hawkins, Sir John, 75. 
 Hayden, F. V., surveys by, 31, 464. 
 Hayti, or Hispaniola, discovery of, 25. 
 Hennepin, explorations of, 193. 
 Henry, Patrick, 291. 
 Henry, Prince, of Portugal, 20. 
 Hessians, hiring of the, 302. 
 Historical study, purposes of, u. 
 Hopkins, Samuel (Dr.), 270. 
 Hudson, Henry, 118. 
 Huguenots, the, 67, 182. 
 Hurons, Champlain assists the, no. 
 dispersed by the Iroquois, 116. 
 
 ICELAND and the Northmen, 14. 
 
 Illinois admitted, 374. 
 
 Indian policy, new, 442. 
 
 Indian walk, the, 260. 
 
 Indiana admitted into the Union, 369. 
 
 Indians and rum, 116, 119, 128, 189, 
 
 202, 281, 285, 359, 435. 
 North American, account of, 34. 
 Internal improvements, 381. 
 Intemperance. See Temperance 
 Iowa admitted into the Union, 400. 
 Iron ore yield, 468. 
 Iroquois, account of the, 38. 
 
476 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Iroquois disperse the Hurons, 116. 
 
 French wars with the, no, 195. 
 
 treaties, 195, 226, 247, 265, 274, 
 
 281. 
 Isles of Shoals, 107. 
 
 JACKSON, ANDREW, 362, 367 373 
 380. 
 
 elected president, 386. 
 Jamaica, Columbus wrecked on, 28. 
 Jamestown burnt, 173. 
 
 founded, 93. 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 304, 328, 337. 
 
 president, 340, 345. 
 
 death of, 383. 
 Jesuits in New France, 109, 114, 190. 
 
 in Paraguay, 115. 
 
 not tolerated in New England, 
 
 153- 
 Johnson, Andrew, 419, 428, 433. 
 
 Sir William, 267, 277, 288. 
 Joliet on the Mississippi, 192. 
 Jones, John Paul, 312. 
 
 KANSAS admitted, 425. 
 
 border troubles, 410. 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill, 409. 
 Keith, George, 219. 
 Kentucky admitted, 330. 
 
 Boone in, 296. 
 Kidd, Captain, 225. 
 Kieft s Indian wars, 126. 
 King, Clarence, survey by, 464. 
 King Philip s war, 202. 
 King s Mountain, battle of, 314. 
 Kosciusko, 306. 
 
 LABRADOR discovered by the Cabots, 
 
 43- 
 
 Lafayette, Marquis de, 307, 379. 
 La Salle, voyages of, 193. 
 Laudonniere in Florida, 73. 
 Law of nations, codification of, 458. 
 Law s Mississippi Company, 242. 
 Lay, Benjamin, 270. 
 Lee, Robert E., 421, 425, 427, 430. 
 Leisler-Milbourne faction, 223. 
 Lescarbot in Acadie, 108. 
 Lewis and Clarke, explorations of, 
 
 401. 
 
 Lexington, battle of, 300. 
 Liberia, colonization of, 369. 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 414, 424, 428. 
 assassination of, 430. 
 
 Locke s Carolina constitution, 178. 
 Logan and Dunmore s war, 295. 
 Lookout Mountain, battle of, 426. 
 Louisburg, sieges of, 266, 286. 
 Louisiana, acquisition of, 341. 
 
 named by La. Salle, 194. 
 
 settled by the French, 234. 
 Louisville founded, 330. 
 Lundy s Lane, battle of, 364. 
 
 MADISON, JAMES, 340, 352, 358. 
 Madoc, voyages of, 17. 
 Magellan, voyage of, 60. 
 Maine settled, 142, 187, 206, 208. 
 
 admitted into the Union, 374. 
 
 boundary, 397. 
 
 Liquor Law, 450. 
 Mann, Horace, 440. 
 Marquette on the Mississippi, 192. 
 Maryland, settlement of, 161, 228. 
 
 boundary, 217, 294. 
 Mason and Gorges, 141. 
 Mason andSlidell, capture of, 419. 
 Mason s-and-Dixon s line, 294. 
 Massachusetts Bay colony, 139. 
 McClellan, General, 418, 421. 
 Menendez in Florida, 75. 
 Mennonites in Pennsylvania, 267. 
 
 coming of the, 465. 
 Merrimack and Monitor, 420. 
 Meteoric shower of 1832, 391. 
 Methodist Indian agencies, 445. 
 Mexico, Spanish conquest of, 54. 
 
 war with, 400. 
 Miami war, 332. 
 
 Michigan admitted as a state, 394. 
 Minnesota admitted, 411. 
 Mississippi admitted, 374. 
 
 Company, Law s, 242. 
 
 discovery of the, 63, 192. 
 
 Territory, 332. 
 
 Missouri compromise, 379, 405. 
 Mobile located by the French, 235. 
 Modocs, the, 447. 
 Molasses act, 272. 
 Monmouth C. H., battle of, 308. 
 Monroe, James, 350, 368. 
 
 elected president, 371. 
 
 death of, 384. 
 
 Doctrine, 379. 
 
 Mont Desert island, 107, 109. 
 Montcalm, Marquis of, 279, 286. 
 Montreal named, 49. 
 Moravian Indian missions, 263, 280. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 477 
 
 Moravians settle Bethlehem, 259. 
 
 settle in Georgia, 255. 
 Morris, Robert, 316. 
 Mound-Builders, 29. 
 
 NARVAEZ in Florida, 60. 
 Natchez tribe, account of the, 39. 
 
 exterminated, 249. 
 National Banks organized, 425. 
 National Debt, 432. 
 Navigation acts, 168, 180, 225. 
 Nebraska admitted, 436. 
 Nevada admitted, 425. 
 New Albion, Ployden s, 186. 
 New England, settlement of, 135. 
 Newfoundland, discovery of, 16, 45. 
 
 early fisheries of, 81. 
 New France, settlement of, 47. 
 New Hampshire settled, 141, 208, 225, 
 247, 259. 
 
 Indian wars in, 207, 247. 
 
 grants, 295, 330. 
 New Haven founded, 131, 147. 
 
 merged with Connecticut, 198. 
 New Jersey settled, 186. 
 New Jersey Indian missions, 263. 
 New Mexico, early explorations in, 61, 
 82. 
 
 ceded to the U. S., 403. 
 New Netherland, settlement of, 118, 
 
 185. 
 New Orleans founded, 243. 
 
 battle of, 367. 
 
 taken by Unionists, 423. 
 New Sweden, 124, 132, 167, 214. 
 New York settled, 118, 133, 185. 
 
 great fire at, 392. 
 
 Washington at, 303, 328. 
 Nicholson, Francis, 229, 236, 244. 
 Norridgewock war, 245. 
 North Carolina settled, 176, 269. 
 
 regulators, 296. 
 North-Eastern boundary, 396. 
 North-Western boundary, 401. 
 North-West Territory, 332.-. 
 Northmen s discovery of America, 14. 
 Nova Scotia grant, 143. 
 Nova Scotia, Northmen visit, 16. 
 Nullification, 390. 
 
 OGLETHORPE, founder of Georgia, 
 
 254- 
 
 Ohio admitted into the Union, 341. 
 company, 273. 
 
 Ohio territory, 332. 
 Oregon boundary, 401. 
 
 admitted into the Union, 411. 
 
 PACIFIC railroads, 471. 
 
 Paine, Thomas, 304, 320. 
 
 Papal claim to the New World, 41. 
 
 Paris, Peace of (1763), 288. 
 
 Party patronage, 340, 389. 
 
 Pastorius, the protest of, 270. 
 
 Patents, issues of, 468. 
 
 Paxton Boys, 282. 
 
 Peabody Fund, 439. 
 
 Peace, arbitration and, 454. 
 
 Penn, William, and New Jersey, 187. 
 
 in Pennsylvania, 210, 225. 
 Penn s essay on Arbitration, 457. 
 Pennsylvania, settlement of, 210. 
 
 opposed to war, 224, 236, 267. 
 Peonage in Virginia, 104. 
 Pequod war, 148. 
 Peru, conquest of, 57. 
 Philadelphia founded by Penn, 215. 
 
 capital removed from, 339. 
 
 great fire at, 392. 
 Phipps, Sir William, 223, 227. 
 Phonograph, Edison s, 469. 
 Physical aspect of the country, 13. 
 Pierce, Franklin, president, 409. 
 Pilgrims, landing of the, 137. 
 Pilgrims, compact of the, 327. 
 Pineda in the Gulf of Mexico, 55. 
 Piracy suppressed, 241, 379. 
 Pittsburg founded, 287. 
 Pizarro conquers Peru, 57. 
 Pocahontas, 95, 99. 
 Polk, James K., president, 400. 
 Ponce de Leon, invader of Florida, 52. 
 Pontiac, conspiracy of, 282, 289. 
 Popham s voyage to Maine, 90. 
 Population, statistics of, 464. 
 Portland, great fire at, 392. 
 Port Royal (N. S.), 107, 109, 236. 
 
 (S. C ), named by Ribault, 71. 
 Portuguese explorations, 45. 
 Presbyterian Indian agencies, 445. 
 Presbyterians settle East Jersey, 190. 
 Pring, Michael, voyage of, 89. 
 Printing-press in Massachusetts, 150. 
 
 in Virginia, forbidden, 175. 
 Providence founded, 145. 
 Public school system, 440. 
 Pueblos, or Village Indians, 40. 
 Pulaski, Count, 307, 311. 
 
478 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Puritans, arrival of the, 139. 
 banish Roger Williams, 144. 
 persecute Quakers, 153. 
 favor free schools, 440. 
 favor republicanism, 326. 
 
 QUAKERS. See Friends. 
 Quebec founded by Champlain, no. 
 taken from the French, 113, 287. 
 Queenstown, battle of, 352. 
 
 RAILROADS, first American, 470. 
 Raleigh and Newfoundland expedi 
 tions, 81. 
 
 and Roanoke settlements, 84. 
 Recollets in New France, 112, 191, 
 
 193- 
 
 Reconstruction of the South, 433. 
 Redemptioners, 271. 
 Regulators in Jvforth Carolina, 296. 
 Red Jacket, the Seneca, 359. 
 Regicides in New England, 197. 
 Rhode Island, 143, 198, 225. 
 
 religious liberty in, 198, 327. 
 
 Suffragists, 399. 
 
 Ribault, expeditions of, 70, 75, 76. 
 Rice introduced into South Carolina, 
 
 233- 
 
 Richmond, advances oh, 417, 421, 
 425, 427- 
 
 settled, 97. 
 
 Right of search, 335, 349. 
 Rittenhouse, David, 461. 
 Roberval, viceroy of New France, 50. 
 Roman Catholic Indian agencies, 445. 
 Romanists and school funds, 441. 
 
 found Maryland, 161. 
 Rum prohibited in Georgia, 256. 
 
 See Temperance question and In 
 dians and rum. 
 Ryswick, peace of, 224. 
 
 SABLE ISLANDERS, 106. 
 
 Salem witchcraft, 226. 
 
 San Francisco harbor named, 83. 
 
 Santander s colonization plan, 66. 
 
 Saratoga, Burgoyne s defeat at, 307. 
 
 Savannah founded, 255. 
 
 Science in America, 460. 
 
 Schwenckfelders, the, 268. 
 
 Scott, Winfield, 364, 402, 405, 418. 
 
 Sergeant and the Housatonics, 263. 
 
 Secession of the South, 415. 
 
 Seminoles, the, 233, 372, 392. 
 
 Seven Cities of Cibola, 61. 
 Seward, Secretary, 429, 430. 
 Sewing-machine, invention of, 467. 
 Shackamaxon, treaty at, 214. 
 Shays Rebellion, 321. 
 Shenandoah Valley raids, 427, 428. 
 Sherman s " march to the sea," 428. 
 Silliman, Benjamin, 461. 
 Sioux, account of the, 39. 
 Six Nations. See Iroquois. 
 Slave trade, African, 252. 
 
 Newport and the, 270. 
 
 prohibited, 374, 378, 397. 
 Slaves, English decisions as to, 295. 
 Slavery agitation, 374, 406. 
 
 and the Constitution, 324. 
 
 at St.. Augustine, 76. 
 
 in Carolina, 182, 240. 
 
 in Georgia, 257. 
 
 in New York, 132. 
 
 in San Domingo, 58. 
 
 introduced by Columbus, 27. 
 
 in Virginia, 103, 170. 
 
 prohibited by Congregationalists 
 
 and Friends, 270. 
 Smith, John, Captain, 93, 135. 
 Smithsonian Institution, 463. 
 South Carolina settled, 181. 
 Spanish conquests in America, 51. 
 Spottswood, governor of Virginia, 
 
 239, 241. 259. 
 Stamp Act, 291. 
 Standish, Miles, 138. 
 States, new, formation of, 332. 
 Statistics of progress, 464. 
 St. Augustine founded, 76. 
 Steamboats in America, first, 470. 
 Stephens, Alexander H., 415, 429. 
 Steuben, Baron, 308. 
 Sterling, Earl of, 127, 142, 143. 
 St. Lawrence, Gulf of, explored, 45. 
 
 Cartier ascends the, 47. 
 St. Louis founded, 374. 
 Stuyvesant, Peter, 131, 
 Sugar-cane introduced, 342. 
 Sumner and Brooks, 410. 
 Swedes in Delaware, 124, 132, 214. 
 
 TARIFF, 385, 390. 
 
 Taylor, General, 400, 405. 
 
 Tea refused by the Americans, 293. 
 
 Tecumseh, 353, 358, 361. 
 
 Telegraph, invention of the, 469. 
 
 Telephone, invention of the, 469. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 479 
 
 Temperance question, the, 449. 
 Tennessee admitted, 332. 
 
 early settlements in, 296. 
 
 Ft. Loudoun in, 279. 
 Territories, erection of, 332. 
 
 survey of the, 464. 
 Texas, annexation of, 397. 
 Tippecanoe, battle of, 354. 
 Tobacco crop in 1870, 466. 
 
 discovered in Carolina, 86. 
 
 in Virginia and Maryland, 99, 
 
 163. 
 
 Trenton, battle of, 305. 
 Tripoli, war with, 344. 
 Tuscaroras join the Iroquois, 238. 
 Tyler, John, 395. 
 
 UNITED BRETHREN S Greenland 
 
 mission, 18. 
 
 colonies of New England, 150. 
 Utah organized as. a territory, 408. 
 Utrecht, peace of, 237. 
 
 VAN BUREN, MARTIN, 393. 
 Van Twiller, Walter, 125. 
 Vane, Sir Henry, 141, 152. 
 Velasquez in Cuba, 28, 54. 
 Vermont settled, 247, 295. 
 
 declares its independence, 323. 
 
 admitted as a state, 330. 
 Verrazzani, discoveries of, 46. 
 Vespucci, Amerigo, 45. 
 Vicksburg, siege of, 426. 
 Villegagnon, Nicholas de, 67. 
 Vincennes settled, 251. 
 Virginia, colonization of, 91. 
 
 Indian massacres, 102, 165. 
 
 so called by Raleigh, 85. 
 
 society, organization of, 169. 
 
 under Andros, 229. 
 
 under Berkeley, 168, 
 Vulcanization of India-rubber, 468. 
 
 WALDRON and the Indians, 207, 221. 
 War, cost, 206, 238, 319, 403, 431, 443. 
 
 War, immigration resulting from, 465. 
 
 of the Revolution, 300. 
 
 of 1812, 355. 
 
 of the Rebellion, 416. 
 
 Polynesians forsake, 170. 
 
 provoked by the press, 420. 
 Washington before the Revolution, 
 274, 275, 287. 
 
 declared president, 328, 332. 
 
 retires to Mount Vernon, 318. 
 
 death of, 339. 
 Washington City laid out, 339. 
 
 burnt (1814), 365. 
 
 treaty of, 454. 
 
 Wayne, Anthony, 312, 333. 
 Webster, Daniel, 390, 396. 
 Wesleys in Georgia, 255. 
 West Virginia admitted, 425. 
 West Indies named by Columbus, 41. 
 Weymouth, voyage of, 90. 
 Whiskey Insurrection, 334. 
 Whitefield in America, 256. 
 White Plains, battle of, 305. 
 Wilkes exploring expedition, 395. 
 William and Mary College, 229. 
 Williams, Roger, 143, 149, 152, 198. 
 Wilmot Proviso, 404. 
 Wilson, the naturalist, 462. 
 Wilson, vice-president, 436, 437. 
 Winthrop of Connecticut, 146, 197. 
 
 of Massachusetts, 139. 
 Wisconsin admitted, 405. 
 Wolfe, General, 286, 287. 
 Women s temperance movement, 452. 
 Woolman and slavery, 270, 271. 
 Wyoming, massacre of, 309. 
 
 YALE COLLEGE founded, 440. 
 Yeamans, Sir John, 177, 181. 
 Yellowstone National Park, 464. 
 Yorktown, Cornwallis at, 317. 
 Yucatan coast explored, 53. 
 
 ZEISBERGER, DAVID, 280. 
 Zeni, voyages of the, 18. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
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