ALLEGE OF AGRICULTURE DAVIS, CALIFORNIA
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
BISTQKT
OF fne
AMEBICAN NATION
By WILLIAM J. JACKMAN
JACOB H. PATTON JOHN LORD THEODORE ROOSEVELT GEO. F. HOAR JAMES BRYCE GROVER CLEVELAND CHAS. A. DANA HORACE PORTER
ROSSITER JOHNSON ROGER SHERMAN JOHN HAY HERBERT WELCH GEO. WM. CURTIS HENRY W. GRADY JOHN H. VINCENT HENRY CABOT LODGE
BENJ. F. TRACY, and Others
Edition de Luxe
VOLUME III
PRESS
CHICAGO
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LIBRARY
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE DAVIS
COPYRIGHT 1911
L. W. WALTER COMPANY
REVISED AND REPRINTED 1920
WHITMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY
RACINE, WISCONSIN
CONTENTS.
VOLUME III.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. Pages 641-660
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR— FORMATION OP THE CONSTITUTION.
British Efforts Paralyzed. — The States Form Independent Governments. — Indian Wars. — Massacre of the Christian Delawares. — Battle of the Blue Lick. — Lord North. — Commissioners of Peace. — Peace Concluded. — Dissatisfac tion in the American Army. — The "Anoymous Address." — British Prisoners; The Tories. — Disbandment of the Army. — Washington Takes Leave of His Officers. — Re signs His Commission. — Shay's Rebellion. — Interests of the States Clash.— The Constitutional Convention.— The Constitution. — Its Ratification. — The Territory North west of the Ohio. — Ecclesiastical Organizations. — Father* of the Republic.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Pages 661-682 WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION.
Reception and Inauguration of the President. — An Era in Human Progress. — The Departments of State Organized. — Hamilton's Financial Report. — Congress Assumes the Debts of the Nation. — National Bank. — Commercial En terprise. — Manufacturers. — Indian War. — St. Glair De feated. — Wayne Defeats the Indians. — Political Parties. — Jefferson. — The French Revolution — Genet Arrives as French Minister. — Neutrality Proclaimed by the Presi dent. — Democratic Societies. — The Partisans of France. — Recall of Genet.— The First Settlers of Western Pennsyl vania. — The Whiskey Insurrection. — Special Mission to Great Britain. — A Treaty concluded. — Other Treaties. — Washington's Farewell Address.
CHAPTER XL.
Pages 683-690
JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION.
Serious Aspect of Relations With France. — Commissioners of Peace. — The French Cruisers. — The Alien Act. — War Im-
636 CONTENTS
pending. — Washington Commander-in-chief. — Capture of the Frigate L'Insurgente. — Peace Concluded. — Death of Washington. — Eulogiums of His Character. — The City of Washington Becomes the Seat of Government.
CHAPTER XLI. Pages 691-707
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
The President's Inaugural. — Purchase of Louisiana. — Pirates in the Mediterranean. — Burning of the Philadelphia. — Tripoli Bombarded. — Death of Hamilton. — Aaron Burr. — Opposition to the Navy. — Gunboats. — The Rights of Neu trals. — Impressment of American Seamen. — Treaty With England Rejected. — Affair of the Chesapeake. — The Em bargo; Its Effect. — The Embargo Repealed.
CHAPTER XLII. Pages 708-731
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION.
Condition of the Country. — Erskine's Negotiations. — Depreda tions Upon American Commerce. — The Rambouillet De cree. — Affair of the Little Belt. — Indian Troubles. — Tecumseh and the Prophet. — Battle of Tippecanoe. — The Twelfth Congress. — Henry Clay. — John C. Calhoun. — Foreign Relations. — Debates in Congress. — John Ran dolph. — Another Embargo. — War Declared Against Great Britain. — West Point. — Riots at Baltimore. — Operations in the Northwest. — Surrender of Hull. — Impressment of American Seamen. — American Ships in English Ports. — Failures to Invade Canada. — Missionary Societies.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Pages 732-753 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
Vessels of the Navy. — The Chase of the Constitution. — Cap ture of the Alert. — The Guerriere. — Incidents. — The Mace donian. — The Frolic. — The Java. — The Effects of These Naval Conflicts in the United States and England. — Plan of Operations. — Harrison Advances on Detroit. — General Winchester a Prisoner; Indian Barbarities. — The Ken- tuckians Fall Into an Ambuscade. — Repulse at Fort Stephenson. — The Loss of the Chesapeake. — Perry's Vic tory. — Battle of the Thames. — Andrew Jackson. — Leads an Expedition; Its Termination. — York Captured; Death of General Pike. — Failures. — Newark Burned, the Severe Retaliation. — Ravages on Shores of Chesapeake. — Indian War in the South.— Jackson and Others in the Field.— Battle of the Great Horse Shoe.— Captain Porter's Cruise. —Formation of the Bible Society.
CONTENTS 637
CHAPTER XLIV.
Pages 754-774 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
The Thirteenth Congress; Its Members, Daniel Webster. — Manifesto of the Bristish Government. — Embarrassments. — Commissioners of Peace. — Jacob Brown. — Winfield Scott. — Wilkinson Unsuccessful. — Battle of Lundy's Lane. — Battle on Lake Champlain. — The British on the Shores of the Chesapeake. — Bladensburg. — Capture of Washing ton. — Public Buildings Burned. — Defense of Fort Mc- Henry. — Death of General Ross. — Bombardment of Ston- ington. — Distress in New England. — Debates in Congress. — Hartford Convention.
CHAPTER XLV.
Pages 775-786 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
Jackson Enters Pensacola. — New Orleans Defenseless. — The British Land. — Jackson's Measures of Defense. — Battle of New Orleans.— The Distress of the Country.— The Relief. — Treaty of Peace. — Frigate President Captured. — War With Algiers.— Treaty With the Indians.— National Bank. —State of Indiana.— John Fitch.— Robert Fulton.— First Steamboat.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Pages 787-798 MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION
A Return to the Earlier Policy of the Government. — The President's Tour in the Eastern States. — The Colonization Society. — Revolutions in the Spanish Colonies. — Indian War. — General Jackson in the Field. — Purchase of Florida. — The Missouri Compromise. — The Monroe Doctrine. — Fi nancial Distress. — Increase of Tariff. — Visit of Lafayette.
CHAPTER XLVII.
Pages 799-805 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION.
Manufacturers and Internal Improvements. — Indian Lands in Georgia. — Death of ex-Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. — Free Masonry. — Protection to American Industry. — Debates in Congress. — Presidential Contest.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Pages 806-832 JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
Appointments to Office. — Removal of the Indians From Geor gia. — Bank Bill Vetoed. — Nullification; The Causes of. — Extreme State Rights. — Influence of Jefferson's Theories.
638 CONTENTS
— Resolutions of '98. — Efforts to Secure Pure Morals. — Cotton Manufacture; Its Progress. — Far-reaching Policy. —A Protective Tariff, Constitutional.— The Twofold Ob ject.— Slaves in Mills.— Price of Cotton Cloth.— The Mo tives; Views on Labor and Capital. — Production of Wool. — The Equalizing Measure. — flayne and Webster's De bate. — The President's Proclamation. — The Compromise Bill; Its Final Passage. — Removal of the Deposits.
CHAPTER XLLX. Pages 833-836
VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION.
Apparent Prosperity. — The Specie Circular. — Distribution of the Surplus Funds. — Speculation. — The Sub-Treasury. — State Indebtedness.
CHAPTER L. Pages 837-853
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION.
The Inauguration. — Death of Harrison; Tyler President. — Bankrupt Law.— The Bank Charters; Their Vetoes.— Pro position to Treat With Great Britain. — Insurrection in Canada. — The Caroline. — Trial of McLeod. — Boundary Disputes in Maine. — Treaty of Wasmn£ton. — Questions of Visit and Impressment. — Exploring Expedition. — Texas Colonization; Struggles. — Siege of the Alamo. — Davy Crockett. — Goliad, Siege of. — Massacre of Prisoners. — Battle of San Jacinto. — Houston President. — Question of Annexation in Congress. — Texas Annexed. — Disturbances in Rhode Island. — Iowa and Florida Become States. — Cheap Postage.
CHAPTER LI.
Pages 854-871
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION.
Difficulties With Mexico. — General Taylor at Corpus Christi. Oregon Territory; Respective Claims to. — Settlement of Boundary. — Taylor Marches to the Rio Grande. — Thorn ton's Party Surprised. — Attack on Fort Brown. — Battle of Palp Alto. — Battle of Resaca de la Palma. — Matamoras Occupied. — Measures of Congress. — The Volunteers. — Plan of Operations. — Mexico Declares War.
CHAPTER LH.
Pages 872-895 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
The President Hopes for Peace. — Santa Anna. — Hostilities to be Renewed. — Troops Withdrawn From General Taylor. — Volunteers arrive at Monterey. — Santa Anna's Plans and Preparations. — Taylor Advances to Agua Nueva. — Battle of Buena Vista. — The Mexican Chiefs Urrea and Romero.
CONTENTS 669
CHAPTER LIIL
Pages 896-910 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
Emigration to Oregon. — John C. Fremont; His Explorations. — Difficulties With the Mexican Governor. — American Settlers in Alarm. — California Free. — Monterey on the Pacific Captured. — Commodores Sloat and Stockton. — Ex pedition of Kearney. — Santa Fe" Taken: A Government Organized. — Doniphan's Expedition. — El Paso Taken. — Chihuahua Occupied. — An Insurrection; Its Suppression. —Trial of Fremont.
CHAPTER LIV.
Pages 911-936 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
Movement of Troops. — Vera Cruz Invested — Its Bombard ment and Capitulation. — Santa Anna's Energy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. — General Scott at Puebla. — His Misun derstandings With the Authorities at Washington. — Dis sensions in Mexico. — Scott's Manifesto. — Advance Upon the Capital. — Battle of Contreras. — Of Churubusco. — At- temps to Obtain Peace. — Conflict of Molino del Rey. — The Castle of Chapultepec Captured. — Santa Anna Again in the Field. — Treaty of Peace. — Conditions of the Peace. — Discovery of Gold in California. — Death of John Quincy Adams. — Wilmot Proviso. — The Presidential Election. — Death of Mr. Polk.
CHAPTER LV. Pages 937-952
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION.
Discussion on Slavery. — Wilmot Proviso. — The Powers of the Constitution; Their Application in the Tesritories. — The President's Message; Its Recommendations. — Debate on the Omnibus Bill.— Death of Calhoun.— Death of Presi dent Taylor. — Fillmore Inaugurated. — The Fugitive Slave Law. — The Mormons; Their Origin. — Troubles. — Settle ment in Utah. — A Disunion Convention. — Lopez Invades Cuba. — Search for Sir John Franklin. — Dr. E. K. Kane. — Death of Henry Clay; of Daniel Webster; the Tripartite Treaty.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
1781—1788
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR— FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION
British Efforts Paralyzed — The States Form Independent Gov ernments — Indian Wars — Massacre of the Christian Dela- wares — Battle of the Blue Lick — €arleton Supersedes Clinton — Commissioners of Peace — The Common Dis tress — Dissatisfaction in the Army — The "Anonymous Address" — Peace Concluded — British Prisoners; the Tories — Disbandment of the American Army — Washington Takes Leave of His Officers — Resigns his Commission — Shay's Rebellion— Interests of the States Clash— The Constitutional Convention — The Constitution Ratified by the States— The Territory Northwest of the Ohio — Ec clesiastical Organizations.
On the very day that Cornwallis surrendered, Clinton sailed to his aid with seven thousand men. When off the entrance to the Chesapeake, he learned, to his astonishment, that all was lost. As the Brit ish fleet was much inferior to that of the French, he hastily returned to New York.
Washington requested Count de Grasse to co operate with General Greene in an attack upon Charleston, but De Grasse pleaded the necessity of his presence in the West Indies, and excused him self. The Americans now returned to their old quar ters on the Hudson. The French army wintered at Williamsburg in Virginia, while the British prisoners were marched to Winchester.
The capture of Cornwallis paralyzed the efforts of the British and Tories. In the South they evac uated all the posts in their possession, except Sa vannah and Charleston; before the latter place Greene soon appeared, and disposed his forces so as
542 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
to confine them closely to the town. In the North, the only place held by the enemy was New York.
Washington never for a moment relaxed his watchfulness, but urged upon Congress and the States to prepare for a vigorous campaign the next year. But so impoverished had the country become, that to raise men and money seemed almost impos sible, while the prospect of peace furnished excuses for delay.
The several States now took measures to form independent governments, or to strengthen or mod ify those already in existence. Some of these had been hastily formed, and, consequently, were more or less defective. The custom was introduced of sending delegates to conventions called for the pur pose of framing constitutions, which were submitted to the people for their approval or rejection. The common law of England was adopted, and made the basis in the administration of justice in the courts.
A cruel border warfare was still continued by in cursions of Indians against the back settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and against the fron tiers of New York, by Indians and Tories.
Many of the Delaware Indians, under the influ ence of Moravian teachers, had become Christian, and so far imbibed the principles of their instructors as to be opposed to war. Some of these, nearly twen ty years before, had emigrated from the banks of the Susquehanna and settled on the Muckingum, where they had three flourishing villages, surrounded by corn-fields. The hostile Indians from the lakes, in their incursions against the frontiers of Pennsyl vania and Virginia, robbed these Delawares of their provisions. The Delawares became objects of sus picion to both the hostile Indians and the whites. The former accused them of revealing their plans, the latter of conniving at the incursions of their
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR 543
enemies, and the hostile Indians compelled them to emigrate to the vicinity of Sandusky.
In the meantime, murders had been committed by the Shawanees in the vicinity of Pittsburg. A com pany of eighty or ninety backwoodsmen volunteered, under a Colonel Williamson, to take revenge on the supposed murderers — the Christian Delawares — a portion of whom had returned to their old home to gather their corn. The expedition reached the vil lages on the Muskingum, collected the victims, it would seem, under the pretense of friendship, then barbarously and in cold blood murdered about ninety of these inoffensive creatures — men, women, and children.
This success excited to other invasions, and four hundred and eighty men, under Colonels Williamson and Crawford, marched from Western Pennsylvania to surprise the remnants of the Christian Indians at Sandusky, and also to attack the village of the hos tile Wyandottes. The Indians learned of their ap proach, waited for them in ambush, and defeated them; took many prisoners, among whom were Crawford, his son, and son-in-law. These three they burned at the stake.
About the same time, a large body of the Indians north of the Ohio, led by the infamous Simon Girty, a Tory refugee, invaded Kentucky. They were met by the Kentuckians, under Colonels Boone, Todd, and Triggs, at the Big Blue Lick, when a bloody and des perate encounter ensued. But overwhelmed by num bers, nearly one-half the Kentuckians were either killed or taken prisoners.
After the capture at Yorktown no battle occurred between the main armies, and but one or two skir mishes. In one of these, in the vicinity of Charles ton, the younger Laurens was slain — a young man of great promise, who was universally lamented.
644 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Among the English people at large the desire to close the war had greatly increased. With them it had ever been unpopular; they were unwilling that their brethren beyond the Atlantic should be de prived of the rights which they themselves so much valued. The intelligence of tno surrender of Corn- wallis created among them stronger opposition than ever to the harsh measures of the Government. Yet the war party — the King and Ministry and the ma jority of the aristocracy — were unwilling to yield to the pressure of public opinion. They were thunder struck at this unexpected disaster. Says a British writer: "Lord North received the intelligence of the capture of Cornwallis as he would have done a cannon-ball in his breast; he paced the room, and throwing his arms wildly about, kept exclaiming, '0 God! it is all over; it is all over!"' For twelve years he had been prime minister. The pliant serv ant of the King, he had ever been in favor of prose cuting the war, but now the voice of the English people compelled him to resign.
Sir Guy Carleton, whom we have seen winning the respect of the Americans, by his upright and hon orable conduct when Governor of Canada, was ap pointed to succeed Sir Henry Clinton. In the fol lowing May he arrived at New York, empowered to make propositions for peace. He immediately ad dressed a letter to Washington, proposing a cessa tion of hostilities, and also issued orders, in which he forbade the marauding incursions of the Indians and Tories on the frontiers of Western New York.
Congress appointed five commissioners to conclude a treaty with Great Britain. These were: John Adams, Doctor Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, who, lately released from his confinement in the Tower, was yet in London, and Thomas Jefferson; the latter, however, declined to serve. They met at
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR 645
Paris two British Commissioners, who had been au thorized to treat with "certain colonies" named in their instructions. The American Commissioners refused to enter upon negotiations, unless in the name of the "United States of America" — they claimed the right to be recognized a power among the nations. This right was acknowledged by Brit ain, and on the 30th of November the parties signed a preliminary treaty, which Congress ratified the following April. Negotiations continued, and the final treaty was signed on the 3rd of September fol lowing. France and England in the meantime like wise concluded a treaty of peace. The American Commissioners also negotiated treaties of commerce with Spain and Holland.
Though the war was ended, the American people had numberless difficulties with which to contend. The army, that through the many trials of the con test had remained faithful, was in a deplorable con dition. The half-pay for life, which, three years before, Congress had promised to the officers, proved to be only a promise. Washington wrote confiden tially to the Secretary of War in behalf of those about to be discharged from the service : "I cannot help fearing the result, when I see such a number of men about to be turned on the world, soured by penury, involved in debts, without one farthing to carry them home, after having spent the flower of their days, and many of them their patrimonies, in establishing the freedom and independence of their country, and having suffered everything which hu man nature is capable of enduring on this side of death. You may rely upon it, the patience and long sufferance of this army are almost exhausted, and there never was so great a spirit of discontent as at this instant." At this crisis an address, plausibly written, was privately circulated in the camp. It
646 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
suggested to the officers and men the propriety of taking upon themselves to redress their grievances ; that they should intimidate Congress and compel it to pay their just demands.
The address seems to have been the embodied sen timents of some half dozen officers, although written by Captain Armstrong, the son of General Arm strong of Pennsylvania. A call was issued for a meeting of the officers, but the next morning, in the regular orders for the day, Washington took occa sion to disapprove the meeting as a violation of discipline. He also named a day for the officers to assemble and hear the report of a committee of their number who had been sent to lay their demands before Congress. The next day a second anonymous address was issued, but somewhat more moderate in tone than the first. The officers met according to appointment, and Gates, being second in command, was made chairman of the meeting. Washington presently came in, made them a soothing address, appealed to their patriotism and to their own fair fame in toiling for their country, and now were they willing to tarnish their name or distrust their coun try's justice? He pledged his word to use his influ ence with Congress to fulfil its promises. He then withdrew. The meeting passed resolutions which condemned in severe terms the spirit of the anony mous address.
Congress soon after resolved to accede to the prop osition of the officers, and change the promise of half pay for life, to that of full pay for five years. And also to advance to the soldiers full pay for four months.
This was not the only instance in which the influ ence of Washington arrested plots designed to ruin the prospects of the young republic. The condi tion of the country was so desperate that many
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR 647
feared the States could not form a permanent gov ernment. At the suggestion of officers who thus thought, Lewis Nicola, a foreigner, a colonel in the Pennsylvania line, wrote Washington an elaborate letter, in which he discussed the expediency of estab lishing a monarchy, and finally offered him the crown. Washington indignantly condemned the scheme. Said he : "I cannot conceive what I have done during my whole life, which could cause any one to imagine that I could entertain such a propo sition for a moment."
When these facts became known, it was not strange that the people feared a standing army.
Intelligence came at length of the signing of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain. Congress issued a proclamation giving the informa tion to the nation. On the 19th of April, precisely eight years from the battle of Lexington, the ces sation of hostilities was proclaimed in the camp at Newburg.
The soldiers of Burgoyne and Cornwallis were yet prisoners, and had been marched to New York in order to be sent home. A general exchange of pris oners now took place. The prospects of the Tories were dreary indeed. The severe laws enacted against them were still in force, and now several thousand of them had assembled at New York, and were compelled to leave the country. The majority of them were wealthy. During the war many of them had held offices in the British service, and some had grown rich, as merchants, landowners, and sutlers for the British army; others, the unscrupu lous, by privateering. Those who lived in the North emigrated to Canada and Nova Scotia, while those of the South went chiefly to the West India Islands.
A clause was inserted in the treaty which prohib ited the carrying away of the slaves, large numbers
648 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
of whom had fled to the British army during the campaigns in the Carolinas and Virginia.
Carleton refused to comply with the demand, on the ground that it would be highly dishonorable to deliver them up since they had sought protection under the British flag. To secure their safety, he sent them away among the very first, while at the same time he kept an accurate list of their number, leaving to future negotiation indemnity for their loss.
These negroes, now liberated, were first taken to Nova Scotia; afterward, a large number of them emigrated to Sierra Leone: "Their descendants, as merchants and traders, now constitute the wealthiest and most intelligent population of that African colony."
Before the disbandment of the army, Washington addressed a letter to the Governors of the several States, urging them to guard against the prejudices of one part of the country against another; to en courage union among the States, and to make pro vision for the public debt.
On the 3rd of November the army was disbanded. These patriot soldiers returned to their homes, to mingle with their fellow-citizens, and enjoy the blessings which their valor had obtained for them selves and their posterity. From that day the title of revolutionary soldier has been a title of honor.
Before the officers of the army finally separated, they formed a society known as the Cincinnati — a name derived from the celebrated farmer-patriot of Rome. The association was to be perpetuated chiefly through the eldest male descendants of the original members. But as this feature, in the eyes of many, seemed to favor an hereditary aristocracy, it was stricken out ; still the society continued to be to some parties an object of jealousy.
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR 649
As soon as preparations could be made, the British evacuated the few places occupied by their troops; New York on the 25th of November, and Charleston in the following month. General Knox, with a small body of troops, and accompanied by Governor George Clinton and the State officers, entered New York as the British were leaving.
A few days after, the officers of the army assem bled at a public house to bid farewell to their beloved commander. Presently Washington entered; his emotions were too strong to be concealed. After a moment's pause he said : "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you ; I most de voutly wish that your latter days may be as pros perous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." He then added: "I can not come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take my hand." General Knox, being the nearest, turned to him. Washington, affected even to tears, grasped his hand and embraced him. In the same affection ate manner he took leave of each succeeding officer: "The tear of manly sensibility was in every eye ; not a word was spoken to interrupt the dignified silence and the tenderness of the scene. Leaving the room, he passed through the corps of light infantry, to the barge which was to convey him across the river. The whole company followed in mute and solemn procession, with dejected countenances, testifying to feelings of delicious melancholy, which no language can describe. Having entered the barge, he turned to the company, and, waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. They paid him the same affectionate compliment."1
On his way to Annapolis, where Congress was in session, he left with the controller at Philadelphia an
Uudge Marshall.
650 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
accurate account of his expenses during the war; they amounted to sixty-four thousand dollars. These accounts were in his own handwriting, and kept in the most perfect manner; every charge made was accompanied by a mention of the occasion and ob ject.
In an interview with Congress, he made a short address. Said he: "The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine expectations ; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my country men, increases with every review of the momentous contest." Then recommending to the favorable no tice of Congress the officers of his staff, and ex pressing his obligations to the army in general, he continued: "I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last act of my official life, by commend ing the interests of our dearest country to the pro tection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to His holy keeping/'
"Having now finished the work assigned me, I re tire from the great theater of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employ ments of public life."
The President of Congress, General Mif flin, who, in the darkest hour of the revolution, had favored the Conway Cabal, replied: "Sir, the United States, in congress assembled, receive with emotions too af fecting for utterance, the solemn resignation of the authorities under which you have led their troops with success through a perilous and doubtful war. We join with you in commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God; and for you, we address to him our earnest prayers, that a life so beloved may be fostered with all His
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR 651
care ; that your, days may be as happy as they have been illustrious ; and that he will finally give you that reward which this world cannot give." Washington hastened to Mount Vernon, which he had not visited for eight years, except for a few hours while on his way against Cornwallis.
Independence was at last attained, but at immense sacrifices. The calamities of war were visible in the ruins of burned towns, in the ravaged country, in the prostration of industry, and in the accumulation of debts. These amounted to one hundred and seventy millions of dollars — a sum enormous in pro portion to the resources of the country — two-thirds of this debt had been contracted by Congress, and the remainder by the individual States.
These were evils, but there were still greater which came home to the domestic hearth. Frequently the members of families had taken different sides, some were Whigs and some were Tories ; and that re morseless rancor which so often prevails in times of civil discord, extended throughout the land. It is pleasant to record, that in the course of a few years, a forgiving spirit among the people led to the re peal of the severe laws enacted against the Tories, and very great numbers of them repented of their misguided loyalty and returned to their native land.
On the conclusion of peace the English merchants, alive to their interests, flooded the States with man ufactured goods at very reduced prices. This opera tion ruined the domestic manufactures, which the non-importation association, and necessities of the war had created and cherished, drained the country of its specie, and involved the merchants and people in debt. This poverty was followed by discontent, which prevailed more or less, and excited distur bances in several of the States.
In Massachusetts a thousand men assembled at
652 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Worcester, under the leadership of Daniel Shays, and forced the Supreme Court to adjourn, to prevent its issuing writs for the collection of debts.
Governor Bowdoin called out the militia, which was put under the command of General Lincoln, who in a few weeks suppressed the outbreak. It was evident, however, that there was among the people a strong feeling of sympathy with the insurgents, for the vast majority of themselves labored under similar grievances.
This distress was overruled for good. It was the means of bringing all the States to view with favor a union under the same constitution, and thus form a government which should have power to act for the good of the whole country.
The States made trial of independent governments, but after an experiment of three or four years the result proved unsatisfactory. This was especially the case in relation to the subjects of legislation which concerned the whole country ; such as the reg ulation of commerce, the common defense, the ad justment of controversies between one State and another, and making of treaties with other nations.
These difficulties were increasing — many interests clashed. Some of the States passed laws which con flicted with those of their sisters ; since the close of the war, commerce had increased very rapidly, but American merchants were still excluded by the Brit ish from the West India trade. They complained to Congress, but the States had not yet conceded au thority to that body, to regulate commerce or to leg islate for the whole country.
Some States had good harbors, and imported mer chandise upon which duties were imposed at the ex pense of their neighbors; and ports competed with each other by lowering the rate of imports. Thus there were rival ports on the Delaware; and Mary-
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR 653
land and Virginia competed with each other for the trade of the Chesapeake, while New Jersey and Con necticut were laid under contribution by their neigh bors of New York and Massachusetts. No State could protect itself by retaliation against the restric tions of foreign countries, as the attempt would throw its own trade into the hands of a sister rival.
Efforts were made to obviate these evils, and those States bordering on the waters of the Chesapeake and Potomac sent delegates to a convention held at Alexandria, to establish a uniform tariff of duties on the merchandise brought into their ports. This led to correspondence between the prominent men of the country and the legislatures. Another convention was held at Annapolis, to which there were represen tatives from only five States; finally, the people elected delegates to meet in Convention in Philadel phia, to revise the Articles of Confederation.
On the 14th of May the members of the Conven tion met in the State House, in Philadelphia, in the same hall where the Declaration of Independence was made. Washington, who, since the war, had lived in retirement at Mount Vernon, appeared as a delegate. He was unanimously chosen President of the Con vention.
The Convention resolved to sit with closed doors ; not even a transcript of their minutes was permitted to be made public. The articles of the old confedera tion, found to be very defective, were thrown aside, and the Convention addressed itself to framing an independent constitution.
There were present about fifty delegates, represen tatives from eleven different States, all of whom had the confidence of their fellow-citizens, and were dis tinguished for their intellectual and moral worth and experience in public affairs. Some had been mem bers of the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, some of the
054 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Continental Congress in 1774, and some were also among the signers of the Declaration of Independ ence. Conspicuous was the venerable Dr. Franklin, now in his eightieth year, who, thirty years before, at a convention at Albany, had proposed a plan of union for the colonies.
The various disturbances in different parts of the land had shaken the faith of many in the power of the multitude to govern themselves. Said Elbridge Gerry, in the Convention: "All the evils we expe rience flow from an excess of democracy. The peo ple do not want virtue, but are under the dupes of pretended patriots; they are daily misled into the most baleful measures of opinions."
It was necessary to have a central government, which could give security to all the States, and at the same time not conflict in its powers with their rights.
It was found very difficult to arrange satisfactorily the representation in the two branches of the pro posed government. The smaller States were alarmed, lest their rights would be infringed upon by the over whelming majority of members coming from the larger ones. This difficulty was removed by con stituting the Senate, in which the States were rep resented equally without reference to their popula tion ; each being entitled to two members, while in the House of Representatives the States were to be represented in proportion to their population.
After four months of labor, during which every article was thoroughly discussed, the Constitution was finished and signed by all the members present, with the exception of three: Gerry of Massachu setts, George Mason and Edmund Randolph of Vir ginia. This result was not obtained without much discussion; at one time, so adverse were opinions that it was apprehended the Convention would dis solve, leaving its work unfinished. It was then that
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR $55
Franklin proposed they should choose a chaplain to open their sessions by prayer. Said he: "I have lived a long time ; and the longer I live the more con vincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it possible that an empire can rise without his aid ?"
The Convention presented the Constitution thus framed to Congress, and that body submitted it to the people of the States for their approval or re jection.
It was a document of compromises ; probably not a member of the Convention was perfectly satisfied with it. There were three prominent compromises ; the first, the equal representation in the Senate, a concession to the smaller States ; the second, that in the enumeration of the inhabitants three-fifths of the slaves were to be included in determining the ratio of representation in the lower house of Con gress; a concession to the slaveholders; and the third, permission, till 1808, to the States of Georgia and South Carolina, to receive slaves imported from Africa, as the delegates from those two States re fused to sign the Constitution except on that condi tion. The great desire to secure the moral power of a unanimous vote of the members of the Convention in favor of their own work, alone obtained this con cession.
In less than a year after the Constitution was sub mitted to the people, it was adopted by all the States, except North Carolina and Rhode Island, and by them in less than two years.
This ratification of the Constitution was not brought about without a struggle. The subject was discussed in conventions and in the legislatures, and in the newspapers. The States were for a time un-
656 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
willing to resign any of their sovereignty to a Fed eral or National Government.
Many elaborate essays, collectively known as the Federalist, were written by Alexander Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, in favor of it 3 adoption. These essays had an immense influence upon the leading minds of the country ; and these in turn greatly influenced the popular will.
It shows the practical wisdom of those who framed the Constitution, that in the application of its prin ciples for almost three-quarters of a century, it has been found necessary to change or modify only very few of its articles.
While the Convention which framed the Consti tution was in session in Philadelphia, the Continen tal Congress in New York passed a bill "for the gov ernment of the Territory northwest of the Ohio." That region had been ceded to the United States by the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Virginia. In this bill were introduced provi sions securing the exercise of religious freedom, and for the encouragement of schools, and also the pro viso that "there shall be neither slavery, nor invol untary servitude in said territory, otherwise than in punishment for crime." The region south of the Ohio was to be afterward regulated. Three years before Thomas Jefferson had introduced a bill, and urged its passage with all his influence, to exclude slavery not only from the territory then held by the United States, but from all which should thereafter be ceded to Congress by the respective States. This bill failed by only a few votes.
The people, though thus engaged in moulding their political institutions, did not neglect to conform their systems of ecclesiastical government to the new order of things. The Revolution had changed the relation of the religious denominations to the State.
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In New England, Congregationalism was the estab lished religion, and every citizen was required to aid in the support of some church. In all the south ern colonies the Episcopal Church was equally fa vored, and partially so in New York and New Jersey. Only in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Delaware, were all the Protestant sects on an equality, as to their religious rights.
The Episcopal Church was more disorganized than any other. It had hitherto been attached to the dio cese of the Bishop of London, but now that authority was not recognized.
As yet there was no American bishop, and no means to obtain the consecration of any clergyman to that office, except by English bishops. Accord ingly the Reverend Samuel Seabury, of Connecticut, at the request of the Episcopalians of that State, visited England to obtain ordination as a bishop. But the English bishops were prevented by law of Parliament from raising anyone to that dignity, who did not take the oaths of allegiance, and acknowledge the King as head of the Church. Seabury then ap plied to the non-juring bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, by whom he was ordained. Some Episcopalians, however, were not satisfied with an ordination at the hands of the Scottish bishops.
A convention of delegates, from several States, met and formed a constitution for the "Protestant Epis copal Church in the United States of America." After some revision this constitution was adopted by conventions in the separate States. Titles were changed in order to conform to republicanism ; such as "Lord Bishop," and all such as were "descriptive of temporal power and precedency." The Liturgy for the same reason was modified. A friendly letter was addressed to the English bishops, requesting at their hands ordination of American bishops. An
(558 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Act of Parliament gave the desired authority, and William White of Philadelphia, Samuel Provost of New York, and James Madison of Virginia, were thus ordained. Soon after these ordinations, a Gen eral Convention ratified the constitution, and the or ganization of the Episcopal Church in the United States was complete.
About this time came Thomas Coke, as superin tendent or bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had been an able laborer with Wesley, by whom he was ordained to that office. This sect spread very rapidly, especially in the south; in that section of the country were a great many vacant parishes, which 'belonged to the Episcopal Church, numbers of whose clergymen left the country during the troubles of the Revolution. At this time the denom ination did not number more than ninety preachers, and fifteen thousand members.
The institutions of the Congregational and Pres byterian Churches required no change to adapt them to the new order of things.
The Presbyterians took measures to organize their Church government on a national basis. Four Sy nods were formed out of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. A general Assembly, composed of delegates from all the Presbyteries of the land, was authorized to meet annually.
Soon after the treaty of peace with England, the Pope's Nuncio at Paris made overtures to Congress, through Doctor Franklin, on the subject of appoint ing a Vicar Apostolic or bishop for the United States. On the ground that the subject was purely spiritual, and therefore beyond its jurisdiction, Congress re fused to take any part in the matter. The Pope then appointed as his vicar apostolic, John Carroll, a brother of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton ; the same was afterward raised to the dignity of Archbishop
CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR 659
of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.
Almost immediately after the Declaration of Inde pendence the Presbytery of Hanover, in Virginia, addressed a memorial to the House of Assembly, in which they petitioned for the separation of church and state. They preferred that the gospel should be supported by the free gifts of its friends; they asked no aid from the civil power to maintain their own churches, and were unwilling that any denom ination should thus be favored. The movement thus commenced was ardently seconded by the Bap tists and Quakers, who petitioned the Assembly to the same effect. These, petitions were met by coun ter-memorials from the Episcopalians and Metho dists, who urged in behalf of the Establishment, that it was a system which "possessed the nature of a vested right, and ought to be maintained inviolate."
The separation of church and state soon became a prominent question in Virginia. Jefferson took an important part in the animated contest, but the most effective was the united influence of those who first opposed the establishment, and who never re laxed their efforts till the churches were declared independent of the civil power, and every colonial law interfering with the religious rights of the peo ple was swept away.
The example thus set by Virginia was not without its influence ; the unioft of church and state was dis solved in the other States soon after the close of the Revolution, except in Connecticut and Massachusetts, where the system was retained many years longer.1
Thus we have seen the Fathers of the Republic equal to every emergency as it occurred. They car ried their country through the Revolution; then through the trying period between its close and the
iHildreth, Vol. III. Dr. Hawkes' Contributions to Eccles iastical History of the U. S. Dr. Baird's Religion of America.
660 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
formation and adoption of the Constitution, and the adjustment of the difficult question of the relation between church and state. As statesmen and pa triots they are held in higher estimation today by enlightened and liberal men than ever before ; while the cause they advocated takes a deeper hold upon the general intelligence of the world. Had they been advocates of principles that could not bear the test of time and experience, though equally honest and sincere, they would still be looked upon as misguided men. On the contrary, they were in advance of their own age, and as time moves on they are more and more appreciated ; their cause was commensurate in importance with the zeal and self-denial they exer cised in making the principles of true liberty the in heritance of civilized man. It requires a good cause, as well as success, to secure the respect of future generations.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
1789—1797 WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION
The Reception and Inauguration of the President — An Era in Human Progress — The Departments of State Organized — Hamilton's Financial Reports-Congress assumes the Debts of the Nation — The National Bank — Commercial Enterprise — Manufactures — Indian War-Harmer's Re pulse— St. Clair Defeated— Wayne Defeats the Indians- Political Parties — Jefferson — The French Revolution — Genet Arrives as French Minister — War Between France and England — Neutrality Proclaimed by the President — Partisans of France — Arrogant Proceedings of Genet — The Whiskey Insurrection — Special Mission to Great Britain— A Treaty Concluded— Its Ratification— Other Treaties — Washington's Farewell Address — The Policy of the Government Established.
When two-thirds of the States had adopted the Federal Constitution, it became the law of the land. The Continental Congress — that body so remarkable in its origin, in what it had accomplished, and now about to pass out of existence — ordained that the new government should go into operation on the 4th of March, and also designated the city of New York as the place where the National Congress should hold its sessions. The same authority also named the time for electing the President and Vice-President, according to the manner prescribed in the Constitu tion.
The hearts of the American people were turned to one man. George Washington was unanimously chosen the first President of the Republic. John Adams received the next highest number of votes, and was elected Vice-President. Charles Thompson, the old Secretary of Congress, was sent to Mount Vernon to inform Washington of his election, and
662 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
another messenger to Boston, to inform Adams of his. The latter had just returned from a residence of nine years in Europe, where he had been engaged in public business; he immediately set out to enter upon the duties of his office. As a mark of respect, he was escorted by a troop of horse through Massa chusetts and Connecticut, and was met at the New York State line, and in a similar manner attended to the city.
Washington wished to travel to New York in as private a manner as possible. But enthusiasm and respect drew the people in crowds to see and honor him. The authorities of the States through which he passed, vied with each other in testifying their regard. The most graceful reception, and no doubt to him the most grateful, was the one he received at Trenton. As he came to the bridge, over which, twelve years before, on the eve of the battle of Princeton, he retreated with his weary and disheart ened soldiers, he found it spanned by a triumphal arch bearing the inscription : "The Defender of the Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters." Here were assembled a company of matrons and young girls, dressed in white, with baskets of flow ers in their hands. As he approached they began to sing an appropriate ode, written for the occasion. At the close of the line, "strew your hero's way with flowers," they suited the action to the sentiment by strewing the flowers before him. At Elizabethport he was met by a committee of both Houses of Con gress, and the heads of departments, and received on board a barge, magnificently decorated, and manned by thirteen pilots in appropriate uniforms. The barge was accompanied by a numerous cortege of boats filled with citizens. Welcomed to the city, amidst the salutes of artillery from the ships in the harbor, American as well as foreign, and from the
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 663
battery, he was conducted to the house prepared for his reception, by Governor George Clinton, the State officers, and a numerous concourse of people.
On the morning of the 30th of April, at 9 o'clock, the churches were opened for religious services and prayer. A little after the hour of noon, on the bal cony of the Federal Hall, on the site of the present Custom House, in the presence of 'a vast concourse of people in the streets, the oath of office was ad ministered to the President-elect, by Robert R. Liv ingston, Chancellor of New York. At the close of the ceremony the Chancellor exclaimed : "Long live George Washington, President of the United States !" The assembled multitude responded to the sentiment.
The members of both Houses returned to the Sen ate chamber, where the President delivered an inau gural address, replete with wisdom and with senti ments designed to harmonize the discordant opinions which prevailed, and with renewed expressions of gratitude to Heaven for the favor granted the people of America, in all their struggles. Then he closed by announcing that he would receive no remunera tion for his services, only asking that his expenses might be paid. The members of Congress, accom panied by the President, then went in procession to St. Paul's church, where, led by Bishop Provost, the Chaplain of the Senate, they implored the blessing of the King of nations upon the government just inaugurated.
The youthful nation was about to assume the pow ers of self-government, under circumstances never before witnessed in the history of man ; to throw off the useless in forms and systems, retain what was valuable, and commence a new era in human prog ress. The people themselves established their own government ; its Constitution was framed to secure their own welfare, and not to make the State great
664 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
at their expense. They had learned this of their fathers. In English history all the great advances in securing the enjoyment of human rights, from the day on which Magna Charta was given, to the Declaration of Independence, had tended to protect the rights of the subject — the individual man — and now this principle, untrammeled by clogging forms, was to be carried out. The individual man was to be pre-eminent ; the State only his instrument, the mere machine of his own contriving, designed and moulded from time to time to protect his civil and religious privileges. In the great empires of the Old World, the empire was everything ; the people nothing. Now the people were to be everything; henceforth they were to be the fountain of power and influence. An cient Greece and Rome had their civilization, their literature, their art, their liberty; but they failed; they had no elevating principle like Christianity to permeate and influence the people, penetrate their inmost life, and dignify the humblest by bringing into excercise the noblest attributes of their nature. A Christianized civilization ; the recognition of man's dearest rights; an open field for individual enter prise ; attachment to institutions under whose ample shield protection was secured to all, were so many pledges of the ultimate success of a people thus gov erned.
The new government had before it a difficult task to arrange the various departments of State; to ob tain revenue, and pay off the national debt. Three executive departments were created, the presiding officers of which were styled secretaries — the Treas ury, War, including that of the Navy, and Foreign Affairs. These secretaries, the President, with the concurrence of the Senate, could appoint to office, or dismiss from the same. They were to constitute his cabinet or council ; and when requested by him, were
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 555
bound to give in writing their opinions on the sub ject under discussion. A judiciary for the nation was established, under the title of the Supreme Court of the United States, having subordinate Circuit and District courts. Washington nominated Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury ; General Knox, Secretary of War; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary for Foreign Affairs; John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States, and Edmund Randolph, Attorney- General.
The first session of Congress, a laborious one of six months, was spent in organizing the government. It shows the spirit of the times, that before they ad journed Congress passed a resolution, requesting the President to recommend a "day of public thanksgiv ing and prayer, in acknowledgment of the many sig nal favors of Almighty God, and especially His af fording the people an opportunity peaceably to estab lish a constitution of government for their safety and happiness."
In January, the second session of the First Con gress commenced. The President, instead of send ing a written message, as became the custom, made .to Both Houses, assembled in the Senate chamber, an address. He directed their attention to the public defense ; to the encouragement of agriculture, manu factures, commerce, and literature ; to the enactment of naturalization laws, and especially to the payment of the national debt. These various heads of busi ness were referred to committees. During this ses sion the official intercourse between the heads of departments and the Houses of Congress took the form of written communications.
Hamilton made his celebrated financial report, in which he recommended certain measures for obtain ing revenue to defray the current expenses of the Government and pay off the national debt. This
<J66 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
debt was in the form of certificates or notes of obli gation to pay for value received. During the war they had been issued by the States as well as by Congress, to persons who furnished supplies to the army, and for other services. Congress assumed these debts, and also the foreign debt. The ex penses of two distinct governments — the Federal and that of the separate States — were to be borne. The revenue could be derived only from taxes on prop erty. As the control of commerce had been trans ferred to Congress by the States, it was fitting that the revenue derived from the tax or duty levied on imported merchandise should be appropriated to the support of the Federal Government, while that aris ing from real estate and other sources, should be as signed to the use of the States. Hamilton proposed, and the government adopted the system of indirect taxation by raising revenue from the duties thus im posed ; and to meet a certain deficiency at the time, an excise, or tax on the manufacture of domestic spirits.
Near the close of this session, Congress, after much discussion, passed a bill to locate the seat of the General Government on the banks of the Poto mac, and authorized the President to select the spot within certain limits, and to make arrangements for the erection of suitable buildings. Until these should be ready for occupation, its sessions were to be held in Philadelphia, at which place, accordingly, the second Congress began its first session.
The President congratulated the members on the increasing prosperity of the country, and the unex pected success in obtaining revenue. On the recom mendation of Hamilton, Congress gave a charter for twenty years for a National Bank, with the privi lege to establish branches in any of the States. The capital of the Bank was ten millions, of which the
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 667
government took two millions, and individuals the re mainder. The Bank was as beneficial to the govern ment as it was to the commercial interests of the country. Its bills were payable in gold or silver when presented at its counters. This feature had a decided effect; it raised the credit of the General Government, and inspired confidence in the commer cial world. The first census, just taken, showed the population of the States to be almost four millions.
By assuming the debts contracted by the States in the defense of their common liberties, Congress had simply performed an act of justice ; provision was made to pay the interest, and also in time to liqui date the debts themselves. The duties imposed upon imports to raise revenue, had also a beneficial effect upon the struggling manufactures of the country. The mutual confidence between the States and the. Federal Government, produced a like influence upon the minds of the people; their industry was en couraged, and their commerce extended. American merchantmen were seen on almost every sea; some sailed to the northwest coast of the continent, where, in exchange for trinkets, they obtained furs; these they bartered for cargoes in China, and these again they sold at home at an immense profit ; while others were as busily employed in the trade to the East and West Indies, and to Europe. About this time Cap tain Gray, of Boston, returned from a voyage around the world — the first ever made by an American. On his second voyage he discovered, and to a certain ex tent, explored the Columbia river.
Though the Revolution broke the fetters with which English cupidity had bound the domestic man ufactures of the colonies, still there were innumera ble difficulties in the way. A coarse fabric, known as linsey-woolsey, and dyed in various colors, derived from the bark of trees in the forest, comprised al-
668 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
most entirely the extent of domestic cloths. At the town of Beverly, in Massachusetts, was established the first factory for making cotton cloth. "The pa triotic adventurers" were not very successful in their enterprise, though they had machines that could "card forty pounds of cotton in a day, and spin sixty threads at a time." Newburyport has the honor of having the first factory for making woolen cloths, and two years later an establishment for printing calico. These crude efforts were not very successful, but they were the harbingers of future triumphs.
Sir Richard Arkwright improved upon a machine invented by a poor man named Highs, who called it a "Jenny," in honor of his daughter, and who, amid many discouragements, and the jeers of his ignorant neighbors, contrived to spin a dozen threads of cot ton at a time. He turned his machine by hand; Arkwright arranged it to be driven by water-power. Samuel Slater, "the father of American manufac tures," a native of Derbyshire, an apprentice of Ark- wright's partner, made himself familiar, not merely with the use of the machine, but with the construc tion of the machines themselves. The British gov ernment did everything in its power to retain the knowledge of the invention within the kingdom. Slater resolved to emigrate to America, and there introduce this art of spinning cotton. He landed at New York, but not meeting with encouragement, he went to Rhode Island, and at Pawtucket put in opera tion sixty-two spindles on the Arkwright principle. Sixteen years later he was joined by his brother, John Slater,1 who brought with him the recent im provements in the art.
descendant, John S. Slater, in April, 1882, had intro duced into the N. Y. legislature a bill organizing an associa tion to manage a fund of $1,000,000 present by him for aid in educating the negroes of the Southern States.
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 669
In the valley of the Ohio, Indian troubles were on the increase. The British neglected to give up the Western posts, according to the treaty, but retained them with their small garrisons. The Indians be came restless, and occasionally made incursions against the frontier settlements, especially those in Kentucky. It was surmised that British emissaries had excited them to these outrages.
The year previous they had repulsed General Har- mer, who had been sent against them, and this suc cess increased their boldness. General St. Clair, now Governor of the Northwest Territory, was ap pointed to the command of another expedition against them. In the meantime volunteers from Kentucky made desultory expeditions into the wilder ness north of the Ohio. They attacked all the In dians they met, friendly or unfriendly, but the latter generally kept out of their way; to burn empty wig wams, and destroy cornfields, only exasperated the savages more and more.
It was the middle of September before St. Clair, with an army of about two thousand men, began his march from Fort Washington, the little stockade fort on the site of the present city of Cincinnati. It was his object to open a way, and establish a line of posts from the Ohio to the Maumee, and there build and garrison a strong fort, as a check upon the maraud ing Indians. Two of these posts he had already established. The militia who joined the army from Kentucky, were insubordinate, and, as the army could move but very slowly in cutting its way through the wilderness, they grew impatient, and finally numbers of them returned home. The Chick- asaw warriors also deserted, and his force was re duced to fourteen hundred men. When he reached the headwaters of the Wabash, his army was sur prised by Little Turtle, a celebrated Miami chief, and
670 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
the Indians, who had hitherto contrived to keep out of sight. The militia fled immediately, and threw the regulars into confusion, who could not regain their order, nor sustain the attack. St. Clair was in his tent prostrated by illness and not able to mount his horse, and when Colonel Butler fell, the army commenced its retreat, or rather flight, abandoning everything. Fortunately, plunder had more attrac tions for the savages than pursuit of the fugitives. The remnant of the army returned to Fort Wash ington, and the whole frontier was again defenseless. St. Clair resigned his command, the President ap pointed General Wayne, whom we have seen so dar ing in the battles of the Revolution, to lead the next expedition ; for the sake of connection the account of this will be given here.
An attempt was made to negotiate a peace, but without success; in the meanwhile Wayne was at Fort Washington, earnestly engaged in recruiting and organizing his army. With his usual energy he pushed his forces rapidly forward to the scene of St. Clair's defeat, and there built a fort which he named Recovery. This fort the Indians besieged for two days, but were at length driven off. Six weeks after he suddenly marched to the Maumee. The Indians were taken by surprise. They took position amidst some fallen timber, prostrated by a hurricane, in order to avoid the cavalry, of which they had a great fear. Wayne ordered the infantry to charge with the bayonet through the timber. The Indians were immediately routed, and scattered in all directions. The fertile valleys of the neighborhood were covered with cornfields ; these fields of grain were destroyed up to the very gates of the British fort, which Wayne could scarcely restrain his army from at tacking. Thus, in a campaign of ninety days, he had marched three hundred miles, the greater part
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION £7J
of the road cut by the army, had completely broken the Indian power, destroyed their provisions for the next winter, and established a full garrisoned fort in the midsl of their country. He now returned to Greenville, ? )me miles west of the Miami, to winter quarters.
The following summer eleven hundred warriors, representatives from the western tribes, met Wayne at that place and made a treaty which secured peace to the frontier. Their friends the British were about to evacuate the western posts, and they found it more to their advantage to submit. They ceded at this time nearly all the territory of what is now the State of Ohio, for which they were paid. For twenty years the Indians had made incursions into Ken tucky, and during that time they had carried off a great number of captives. By this treaty all these captives were to be restored to their friends. It was a moving spectacle to see parents endeavoring to find their children, who, years before, had been taken from their homes, some of them had forgotten their native language, some preferred to stay with their savage captors rather than return to civilized life. Many husbands and wives, who had been separated for years, were restored to each other.
The conflict of opinions, in regard to the adoption of the Constitution, had created two parties; the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist: the one, the ad ministration and its friends ; the other, those opposed to its policy. As the Constitution became more and more popular, opposition was specially made to Ham ilton's management of the financial affairs of the government. Time has proved the wisdom of his policy, which has continued, in the main, to be that of the government from that day to this.
"He was made Secretary of the Treasury; and how he fulfilled the duties of such a place, at such
672 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
a time, the whole country perceived with delight, and the whole world saw with admiration. He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the Public Credit, and it sprang upon its feet."1
In this opposition Jefferson, the Secretary of State, performed a secret but active part. Having been some years in France, as American Minister, he had returned home thoroughly imbued with French poli tics. He disliked Adams almost as much as he did Hamilton, and he seems to have been haunted with the idea that these two members of the cabinet were, in disguise, either monarchists or aristocrats; that they were devising plans to change the republican form of the government ; and that Washington was misled by them. He noticed and recorded every re mark which seemed to him suspicious, made by these gentlemen, when in the hours of unreserved social intercourse. While ostensibly the friend of Wash ington and his administration, he was in communica tion with the opposition, and diffusing his opinions in his private correspondence. Measures, which at one time he himself had approved, he now feared might have lurking in them some latent principle which might lead to the establishment of a monar chy. His party thought it expedient to repudiate the name, Anti-Federalists, and assume that of Re publican, at the same time proclaiming they were the only true friends of the people. An incessant warfare commenced agamst the policy of the gov ernment, accompanied with scurrilous abuse of the President.
The assumption of the State debts ; the national bank ; the manner of raising the revenue ; the fund ing system, by which provision was made to pay the
Webster.
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 573
interest on the national debt, were, in the eyes of the opposition, so many cunningly-devised plans to cre ate among the rich, and in the end subvert the lib erties of the country.
The public interest demanded it, and after much solicitation from the leading members of the gov ernment, Washington consented to serve for a second term. He was unanimously chosen. Adams was re- elected Vice-President ; he receiving seventy-seven electoral votes, and George Clinton, of New York, fifty.
Two months and a half after the first inauguration of Washington as President a bloody revolution broke out in France. The people of the United States looked with much interest upon the French people struggling for liberty. But it was soon evi dent that the state of the nation's morals, political as well as private, forbade the success o;£ the French republic. The remembrance of the alliance with France, by which they had received aid in the time of need, elicited the sympathy of the American peo ple. The republican party wished to form an alli ance with the new Republic, while Washington, and the majority of his cabinet, as well as the more judi cious statesmen, were in favor of neutrality. The unheard-of cruelties, which, in the name of liberty, had been practiced in France for a year or two, had cooled the zeal of many. One party had succeeded by guillotining the leaders of its rival ; the amiable Louis, who had aided the Americans in their strug gle for liberty, had been murdered by his subjects ; and Lafayette was forced to flee. Strange that such "excesses and horrible butcheries" found apologists in the United States.
While the public mind was thus divided, came Ed- mond Charles Genet, or "Citizen Genet," as he was styled, as minister of the French Republic. He
674 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
brought the intelligence that France had declared war against England. Now the opposition, urged on by their hatred to the latter power, wished to enter into an alliance with France, and thus involve the country in war. But Washington and his cab inet, in spite of these clamors, promptly proclaimed neutrality as the policy of the United States, and also warned the people not to commit acts incon sistent with the proclamation of neutrality, nor with the strictest impartiality towards the belligerents. The wisdom of the Government saved the country from a multitude of evils.
Genet took advantage of the sympathy manifested for France by a portion of the American people, and began to fit out privateers against English com merce. This was an insult to the dignity of the government, and a violation of the proclaimed neu trality. But the partisans of France were deter mined that the country should be committed to an alliance with the great sister Republic in the old world.
About this time numerous societies, modelled after the famous Jacobin clubs in Paris, began to be formed in various parts of the Union. The more ultra assumed the title of Democratic, while others preferred to call themselves Democratic Republican. They made strenuous efforts to influence the public mind in favor of French politics, and drive the gov ernment from its determination not to interfere in the quarrels of Europe. The President and his pol icy were assailed in terms of unmeasured abuse. The principal organ of this abuse was the Gazette news paper, edited by Phillip Freneau, who at this time was employed by Jefferson as translating clerk.
The Republican newspapers continued to accuse the President and his cabinet of being enemies of France, the only friend of the United States, and of
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 675
being friends of England, the bitter enemy of Amer ican liberties.
Genet mistook the clamors of a few for the senti ments of the majority of the people. He now had the audacity to authorize the French consuls in the ports of the United States to receive and sell prizes taken from the English, with whom we were at peace. He had also other projects in view, one to raise men in the Carolinas and Georgia and wrest Florida from Spain, another to raise men in Ken tucky and make an attack on Louisiana.
In his correspondence with the government he be came more and more insolent, imputed improper mo- tivse to its members, till finally the President trans mitted his letters to Gouverneur Morris, American minister at Paris, with directions to lay them before the Executive Council — and request his recall.
When Genet received the information of this pro cedure he was thunderstruck. He charged Jeffer son with insincerity, as "having an official language and a language confidential."
Though sympathizing with France in her struggles for liberty, but not in her atrocious excesses, the great majority of the people, when informed of the true state of the case, began to hold meetings and express their approbation of the measures adopted by the President, to prevent his country from being embroiled in European quarrels.
In due time Morris presented the request that Genet should be recalled ; but another change had oc curred in France. The managemer c of affairs had passed into the hands of the Jacobins ; the Reign of Terror had commenced. Genet was unceremoniously recalled, and Mr. Fauchet appointed in his place. Genet did not return home, but became a citizen of the United States,
676 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Through much toil and danger had the fertile val leys of the Monongahela and its tributaries been settled. The pioneers were principally Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, from eastern Pennsylvania and Vir ginia. Their trials were as great as those of the early colonists. At first their families lived in blockhouses or forts, through fear of the Indians, while they, as they cleared the forest or tilled the soil, were always armed; they even carried their rifles in their hands when on the Sabbath they as sembled in the grove, or the rude log church, to hear the Gospel. The untrodden mountains lay between them and the settlements on the Atlantic slope. Across these mountains the only road was a bridle path; the only conveyance a pack-horse. Iron and salt could only be obtained as these pack-horses car ried them across the mountains. Salt was worth eight dollars a bushel; and often twenty bushels of wheat were given in exchange for one of salt. Their fertile fields produced an abundance of grain, espe cially wheat, from which they distilled the famed Monangahela whiskey, while their orchards were laden with apples and peaches from which they made brandies. To find a market for these, almost their only product, they must take a long and dangerous journey in flat-boats down the Ohio and the Missis sippi to New Orleans, and thence by ship to the east ern markets.
The tax levied upon the manufacture of domestic spirits was opposed by many. It was no doubt looked upon as unequal, as it was appropriated to the sup port of the Federal government, while the tax itself fell upon only a small portion of the community. But nowhere was it so persistently resisted as by these settlers of the four western counties of Penn sylvania. They rose in open rebellion ; not only re fused to pay the tax, but drove off the officers ap-
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 677
pointed to collect it. This opposition was not con fined to obscure persons, but some of the most in fluential encouraged the multitude to resist the law ; but their ministers, to a man, exerted all their in fluence in favor of obedience. The more violent leaders openly boasted they would not only resist the law, but separate from Pennsylvania, and form a new State. They professed to have very little regard for the Federal government, and took encouragement from the same party that sustained Genet. To dis cover those who sent information of their high handed measures to the government, these rebels robbed the mail ; they scoffed at the proclamation of the Governor of the State and also at that of the President. Thus matters continued for nearly two years. It shows the excitement which prevailed, that at one time, with only three days' notice, there assembled on Braddock's Field nearly seven thousand armed men. They had for their motto "Liberty and no excise." The assemblage passed many resolu tions, indicating an intention to resort to further acts of violence.
This meeting was presided over by Colonel Ed ward Cook, one of the judges of Fayette county, who had taken an active part in resisting the enforce ment of the law. Its secretary was Albert Gallatin, from the same county, a native of Switzerland, who had been in the country but a few years; a young man of superior education; an ardent sympathizer with the French school of politics ; a violent opposer of the excise law. He had risen rapidly in popular favor, had been a member of the Legislature of the State, and also of a Convention to amend its Con stitution.
Governor Mif flin wished to try the effect of a cir cular addressed to the insurgents, before calling out the militia. The circular was unheeded. The Presi-
678 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
dent issued a proclamation ordering the rebels to desist from their illegal proceedings; at the same time he called out the militia, who responded prompt ly to the call.
The leaders soon found that, after all, the Federal authority had the power and was determined to en force the law. The leaders became anxious to screen the people from the anger of the government, and themselves from the anger of the people.
Only when the militia, which had crossed the mountains, in two divisions, formed a juncture at Union Town, did the insurgents submit. A few ar rests were made ; the most active leaders had fled the country. Thus ended "The Whiskey Insurrection." The vigor and energy displayed by the Federal gov ernment in putting down the insurgents added strength to its authority.
The belligerents in Europe, though professing friendship, had but little regard to the rights of Americans. While France was detaining their ships in her ports, England was issuing orders to her navy to seize and detain all vessels freighted with French goods, or laden with provisions for any French col ony. These measures would ruin American com merce. Congress passed a resolution which forbade any trading vessel to leave an American port for sixty days. This was designed to annoy the British, by not furnishing provisions for their navy — yet it operated just as much against the French, through whose particular friends the bill was passed.
A war with England was impending. To avert such a calamity, and to arrange the difficulties exist ing between the two countries, Washington resolved to send a special ambassador to the Court of St. James.
To this important mission he nominated the pa triotic and pure-minded Chief Justice Jay, Jay was
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 679
of Huguenot descent; as to his revolutionary serv ices second only to the President himself; of the highest reputation as a jurist; his integrity, learn ing and disinterestedness had won him universal re spect. In addition, there was a propriety in the se lection that conciliated all minds, for he was one of the commissioners who had negotiated the first treaty with Great Britain. It would be a very diffi cult task to obtain all that the American people thought they had a right to ask. There were many assumptions of power which England would be un willing to yield. To negotiate under such circum stances required much skill and judgment.
On his arrival in England, Jay was treated with great courtesy and respect, and a disposition was manifested to amicably arrange the difficulties which had arisen between the two countries.
Both parties had their complaints to make. The one, that the Western posts had not been given up according to the treaty; that their neutral rights were not respected ; that compensation had not been given for the slaves carried off at the close of the war; that their merchants were excluded from the West India trade, and that British sailors, who by adoption had become Americans, were impressed and forcibly taken out of American ships.
The other, that debts contracted with English merchants prior to the Revolution could not be col lected ; that the property of Tories had not been ac counted for. A treaty Was finally concluded, not such as Jay wished, nor as justice demanded, but the best that could be obtained under the circumstances.
The Western posts were to be given up in two years ; the West India trade was granted on certain conditions, while free admission was given to British ports in Europe and in the East Indies, but no com pensation could be obtained for the negroes. On the
680 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
other hand, provision was made for the collection of the debts complained of.
A great clamor was raised against the treaty, which was grossly misrepresented. One party con tended that its ratification would produce war with France, the other that its rejection would lead to a war with England. There were stormy debates on the subject in Congress, and in some of the State Legislatures. But when the difficulties that stood in the way of obtaining more desirable conditions became known, and when the character of the treaty itself was understood, the more intelligent and con servative portion of the people, were in favor of accepting it. After a fortnight's debate in secret session the Senate advised its ratification, and thus was secured peace for some years; under the cir cumstances, a very important gain.
Treaties were also negotiated with Spain, in which the boundaries between the United States, Louisiana, and Florida were more definitely settled. The free navigation of the Mississippi was also secured to both parties, and the Americans were granted for three years the privilege of making New Orleans a place of deposit for their trade.
American commerce, deriving its main resources in the New England States, had increased very rap idly; the trade to the Mediterranean was, however, much hindered by depredations committed upon it by Algerine pirates. Whether to purchase an exemp tion from these annoyances, as Europe had been in the habit of, or to send a fleet and punish the ma rauders, was a difficult question to answer. It was thought better, for the present, to redeem the Amer ican sailors held as slaves by these barbarians. On this occasion a bill was passed to build six frigates ; this was the foundation of the Navy of the United States. The following year a treaty was made with
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION flgl
the Dey of Algiers, and the captives released on the payment of a heavy ransom — nearly a million of dol lars were paid for this purpose. This money, ex pended in fitting out an armament, and thoroughly chastising the pirates, would have been better pol icy, — as was proved some years afterwards.
Three more States — Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee — were admitted into the Union during the administration.
As Washington was unwilling to serve another term, the two parties arrayed their forces for a trial of strength. The Federalists nominated John Adams for President and the Republicans Thomas Jefferson. The parties were very nearly equally divided. Adams received two more votes than Jef ferson, and was declared to be elected President, and the latter Vice-President.
Before retiring from public life Washington pub lished a farewell address to the people of the United States. They responded to it with respect and af fection ; the outburst of a nation's gratitude. It was a truly paternal address, warning the nation against party strife and sectional jealousies, advising the policy of impartial neutrality toward other nations when at war with each other, and as a safeguard to liberty, the preservation of the Union and the Consti tution.
Thus ended the eight years of Washington's ad ministration. When it commenced all was unsettled. Now the government was established. In that short time it had been severely tested.
The general policy of his administration became the fixed policy of the government of the United States. The most enduring monument of his integ rity and wisdom ; of his patriotic and Christian prin-
682 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ciples. Strange as it may seem, the annals of un scrupulous political warfare do not furnish a parallel to the scurrilous slanders that were heaped upon him, not only during his administration, but at its close. Such were the disreputable means used to induce the United States to become the ally of France, and to join in a war against the hated England.
CHAPTER XL.
1797_1801
JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION
Serious Aspect of Relations With France — Commissioners of Peace — The French Cruisers — The Alien Act — War Im pending — Washington, Commander-in-Chief — Capture of the Frigate L'Insurgente — Peace Concluded — Death of Washington — Eulogiums on His Character — The City of Washington Becomes the Seat of Government.
The policy of the new administration was like that of the preceding, the cabinet officers of which were retained. The new President was not more influ enced by love for England than by admiration for France. He had no expectation that the latter coun try would establish a government upon just and righteous principles. He expressed a "determina tion to maintain peace and inviolate faith with all nations, and neutrality and impartiality with the bel ligerent powers of Europe."
In the meantime relations with France assumed a serious aspect. Nothing would satisfy that power but a willingness on the part of the United States to be used as a dependent. While the French partisans were clamoring for such an alliance, the Directory exhibited their good will by issuing orders to seize and retain all American vessels having on board English manufactured goods.
Washington had recalled Monroe from the French Mission, and in his place sent Charles C. Pinckney. The latter sent his credentials to the Minister of For eign Affairs, but a few days after Monroe was noti fied that a minister would not be received from the United States until grievances were redressed ; but
084 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Monroe himseli was complimented for his devotion to the French cause ; under the circumstances, a com pliment somewhat equivocal.
Pinckney was treated with studied neglect, border ing on insult ; finally he demanded his passports and departed for Holland. During this time French pri vateers and cruisers were capturing American mer chantmen and treating their crews as prisoners of war. Some of the privateers were commanded by renegade Americans, who gloried in sailing under the colors of the "Great Republic."
France also stimulated Holland and Spain to com plain of the partiality of Jay's treaty with Great Britain; and was also suspected of an intention to rob Spain of Louisiana and Florida. With overpow ering successes, and unscrupulous political morals, she was making rapid strides toward becoming the great power of the world.
Still more alarming was the fact that there existed in the United States a large party that opposed the neutral policy of the government, and openly favored an alliance with the "Terrible Republic."
The President called a special session of Congress, and laid before it a statement of the relations with France. When it became known that in their repre sentative the United States had been deliberately in sulted; and that French aggressions on American commerce were increasing, the enthusiasm of the partisans of France somewhat declined.
Two special commissioners were appointed to pro ceed to Paris, and, if possible, adjust the existing dif ficulties. John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry were selected for this mission. The former, who was a Federalist, became afterward Chief Justice of the United States ; the latter, a Republican in sentiment, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ ence, became afterward Vice-President. They were
JOHN ADAMS* ADMINISTRATION 685
authorized to conclude a treaty ; one that should not conflict with treaties existing with other nations ; and to insist upon the right of the United States to re main neutral.
The envoys joined Pinckney in Paris, and imme diately made known to the Minister of Foreign Af fairs the object of their mission. This minister was no less a personage than the celebrated Talleyrand, who some years before had been an exile in the United States, where, not receiving the attention which he thought he deserved, had returned home in no very complacent humor. At first he refused an audience to the commissioners, but soon after sent irresponsible persons to make them propositions, which, if found convenient, he could easily disavow. Thus for several months they were the victims of diplomatic trickery.
Meanwhile French cruisers captured American vessels, and French courts confiscated their cargoes, and imprisoned their crews. Finally the commis sioners were given to understand, if they would ad vance a little money for the special benefit of Talley rand and his worthy friends, and also pledge the United States to make France a loan, that negotia tions would be commenced in earnest. This proposi tion was indignantly refused. Marshall and Pinck ney were immediately ordered to leave the country, and Gerry, whose party at home sympathized with France, was invited to remain and negotiate a treaty. It was by such insults and injuries, that France hoped to intimidate the United States, and make them as dependent on her boasted magnanimity, as she had already made Spain. The disrespect offered the com missioners excited great indignation in the minds of the American people. Strange as it may seem, the opposition insisted that France was not to blame, but their own government, in faithfully enforcing its
686 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
policy of neutrality. At length the correspondence between Talleyrand's agents and the commissioners was published. The French party offered no more apologies. The spirit of the insulted people was aroused. The reply of Pinckney to the corrupt emis saries of Talleyrand — "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute," was echoed throughout the land. Addresses to the President, approving his measures, began to pour in from all parts of the nation. The French party soon dwindled to a small minority. The only hope Jefferson cherished was that Congress would adjourn. "To separate Congress now," wrote he, "will be withdrawing the fire from a boiling pot."
A large number of French exiles — it was thought nearly thirty thousand — were, at this time, in the country. Some of these acted as spies, at least so thought the government; some had tampered with the people of Kentucky to induce them to join in an expedition against Louisiana, then belonging to Spain, and some planned a similar expedition against Florida. Thus did they abuse the hospitality ten dered them by endeavoring to create divisions among the people, and opposition to the policy of the gov ernment.
Under these circumstances Congress passed what was termed the "Alien Act," to continue in force two years, by which the President was authorized to or der out of the country aliens, who, by their plots might endanger the interests of the government in case of war. The law was never enforced, but nev ertheless a large number of these exiles left the country.
Presently Marshall returned, and confirmed all that had been reported of the demands of the French Re public. The President sent in a message to Con gress, which contained a statement of the embar rassing relations existing between the two countries.
JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 687
Preparations were made for war. It was resolved to raise and equip an army ; to fortify important posts on the sea-coast ; to prepare a naval armament, and to capture French armed vessels, but not to molest merchantmen.
The people came forward with alacrity to assist. Money was subscribed liberally, especially in the sea board towns, to equip a navy. The frigates so long building were just finished ; and the Constitution, the United States, and the Constellation, the germ of our present navy, were fitted for sea.
Washington was nominated as Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief of the army — a nomination unanimously confirmed by the Senate. He heartily approved the measures of the President, and con demned those of France, saying that the administra tion ought to inspire universal satisfaction, and added, "we can with pure hearts appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and may trust the final result to that kind Providence which has hitherto and so often signally favored the Deople of the United States."
When it was seen that the United States would not submit to insult, but were preparing to repel it by force, the Directory made overtures for peace. This intimation came from Murray, the American Minis ter at Holland, to whom Talleyrand had communi cated the proposition. The President accordingly nominated two commissioners, Oliver Ellsworth and W. R. Davie, who were to join Murray in Paris.
President Adams took the ground that they should not enter France, unless assurance was given that they would be received in a "manner befitting the Commissioners of an independent nation."
On their arrival in France they found Bonaparte at the head of affairs, and the cunning and politic Talleyrand still in office. Negotiations commenced,
688 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
and in due time a treaty was concluded, which in its provisions adjusted nearly all the matters of dispute.
The fleet which had been fitted out to protect American commerce from French depredations had not been idle. More than three hundred private ves sels had been licensed to carry arms and to defend themselves from the common enemy. But the inci dent which gave the greatest satisfaction to the country was the capture of the French frigate L'Insurgente, by the Constellation, under Captain Truxton. The two vessels were about equal in their complement of men and guns. After a severe con test of an hour and a quarter, the L'Insurgente struck her colors, having lost in men twenty to none of her antagonist. This was the first time that an American armed vessel had met one of another na tion on equal terms. As a presage of future tri umphs it was most grateful to the people.
Ere long intelligence came of the conclusion of peace. The army was disbanded, but the defenses along the coast were still maintained, and also it was resolved to keep the navy afloat.
But before it was known in America that the Com missioners of peace had been kindly received, an event occurred which cast a gloom over the nation, and for a season silenced the clamors of party spirit — the death of Washington. In riding about his farm he was exposed to a cold rain. The following morning he complained of a sore throat, an inflam mation of the windpipe followed, which speedily pro duced death. With calm resignation he expressed his willingness to die.
A joint committee of both Houses of Congress re ported resolutions recommending to the people of the United States, out of respect for his memory, to wear badges of mourning for thirty days, and also that his approaching birthday be celebrated "by suitable
JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 539
eulogies, orations, and discourses, or by public pray ers." Thus did the people honor him "who was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
The oration before both houses of Congress, was pronounced by Colonel Henry Lee, whom we have seen as the intimate though youthful friend of Washington. In accordance with the above recom mendation, his birthday was celebrated throughout the land; the most eminent in the nation delighted to honor his memory. Nor was his name honored only in his native land. When the news reached Europe it elicited emotions of sadness and tokens of respect. The great British fleet of sixty ships of the line, under the command of Lord Bridport, and at the time lying in the English channel, lowered their flags to half mast. In his orders of the day to the French army, Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, paid a tribute to his memory, and afterward caused a funeral oration to be delivered before the civil and military authorities, and the standards of the army to be draped in mourning for ten days.
Such were the public tokens of respect. But he had a higher honor — a place in the affections of the good and humane in private life more than any man of any age; he never received an office in the gift of the people, or at the hands of th^ir representa tives, that was not unanimously given. To him alone has gone forth that heartfelt respect, that reverence and gratitude which can be embodied only in the endearing title, the Father of His Country.
Says an eminent British statesman and scholar (Lord John Russell) : "To George Washington near ly alone in modern times has it been given to accom plish a wonderful revolution, and yet to remain to all future times the theme of a people's gratitude, and an example of virtuous and beneficent power." "His
590 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
intellectual, like his moral qualities, were never brought out to display his own talent or enhance his own glory. They were forthcoming as occasion re quired, or the voice of the country called for them ; largeness of combination, quickness of decision, fort itude in adversity, sympathy with his officers, the burst of impetuous courage, were the natural emana tions of this great and magnanimous soul."1
The administration of Adams, now drawing to its close, was in its policy like that of Washington. Dur ing these twelve years, there was much opposition, but that policy in the main has remained unchanged from that day to this. To be free from the turmoil of European politics was wisdom, but to carry it out required the calm determination of Washington, as well as the impulsive energy of Adams, "who was not the man to quail" when he thought duty called.
During the summer the seat of the Federal Gov ernment was removed to the City of Washington, then "a little village in the midst of the woods," in the District of Columbia.
The struggle for political power was renewed with great vigor, and in the bitterness of party spirit. The Federalists nominated Adams and Charles C. Pinckney for President, while the Republicans nom inated for the same office, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. When the electors came to cast their vo'tes it was found that Adams had sixty-five, Pinck ney, sixty-four, and Jefferson and Burr had each seventy-three. In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, it became necessary for the House of Representatives to make the choice. After thirty- six ballotings, during seven days, Jefferson was cho sen President, and Burr Vice-President.
and Times of James Fox, Vol. 1, pp. 366 and 254.
CHAPTER XLI.
1801—1807 JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION
The President's Inaugural — Purchase of Louisiana — The Pi rates of the Mediterranean — Captain Bainbridge- — The Burning of the Philadelphia — Tripoli Bombarded — Death of Hamilton— Aaron Burr — Opposition to the Navy — Gunboats — Rights of Neutrals Infringed Upon — The Un just Decrees Issued by England and France — American Merchants Demand the Right to Defend Themselves — Im pressment of American Seamen — Treaty with England Rejected by the President — Affair of the Chesapeake — The Embargo; Its Effect— Public Feeling on the Subject- Manufactures — Embargo Repealed.
On entering upon office Jefferson found the coun try in a prosperous condition. The revenue was abundant for current expenses; the stability of the government had inspired the industrial interests with confidence, commerce had increased beyond all prec edent, and was pressing on to still higher triumphs.
The prospects of a general peace in Europe also gave assurance that American ships would no longer be subjected to unlawful seizures under the pretense that they carried cargoes contraband of war. The census just taken had shown the population to be, within a few hundreds, double what it was at the commencement of the revolution, the total popula tion being 5,319,762. The number of members of the House of Representatives was 141.
The new President professed to deprecate party spirit: and wished to be recognized as a "moderate republican," proclaiming as "brethren of the same principles, we are called by different names, we are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." But in a very short time he began to remove those from office, who
692 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
were not of his own political opinions. The bitter ness of party spirit was not allayed by this policy.
Immigrants had been pouring into the region Northwest of the Ohio. In one year twenty thou sand persons had passed into that territory to find homes. The people of the eastern portion, presented themselves at the door of Congress, asking permis sion to be admitted as a State. The request was granted, and the States of Ohio, with a population of seventy thousand, became a member of the Union.
The Spanish Governor of Louisiana, in violation of an existing treaty — that of 1795 — refused permis sion to the traders on the Mississippi to deposit their produce at New Orleans. This act, so injurious to their commerce, caused a great commotion among the people beyond the mountains. The government was called upon to redress these grievances; the Western people must have the privilege of freely nav igating the Mississippi, or they would seize New Orleans, and drive the Spaniards from the territory. At this crisis intimations came from Paris that Spain, by a secret treaty, had ceded Louisiana to France. Bonaparte's vision of restoring the French power on this continent had become somewhat dim, especially as the overpowering fleet of Great Britain would seize and occupy the mouth of the Mississippi, whenever it was known to belong to France. To avoid this contingency, he was willing to sell the en tire territory of Louisiana to the United States. Ac cordingly Robert R. Livingston, American Minister at Paris, commenced negotiations, which resulted in the purchase of that region for fifteen millions of dol lars. The rights and privileges of American citizens were guaranteed to the inhabitants of the purchased territory.
When the sale was completed, Bonaparte is said to have exclaimed: "This accession of territory
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 693
strengthens forever the power of the United States ; I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride."
In the midst of the turmoil of wars in Europe, the pirates of the Mediterranean had renewed their dep redations upon American commerce. Captain Bain- bridge in command of the frigate George Washing ton was sent to Algiers with the usual tribute. The Dey ordered him to carry some presents and his am bassador to Constantinople. Bainbridge at first re fused. The Dey was highly indignant, "You pay me tribute," said he, "by which you become my slaves, and therefore I have the right to order you as I think proper." However, as he was exposed to the guns of the castle and batteries, and learning that English, French, and Spanish ships of war had submitted to similar impositions, Bainbridge thought it more pru dent to comply with the arrogant demand, hoping at some future time to avenge the indignity thus of fered his country's flag. In closing his report to the Navy Department, he wrote: "I hope I will never again he sent to Algiers with tribute unless I am au thorized to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon."
As these depredations continued, and, while the tribute became more and more onerous, a squadron, under Commodore Preble, was sent to capture the pirates and blockade the harbor of Tripoli. The frig ate Philadelphia, commanded by Bainbridge, when chasing an Algerine cruiser, ran upon a sunken rock near the shore. While thus disabled, Tripolitan gun boats captured her after a contest, which lasted an entire day. Bainbridge and his crew of three hun dred men, were made prisoners, and treated as slaves, for whom an exorbitant ransom was demanded.
Finding means, however, to communicate with the American squadron, he suggested the possibility of burning the Philadelphia, as she lay moored under
694 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
the guns of the castle. Lieutenant Decatur volun teered to act on the suggestion. A small Tripolitan trader had been captured a few days before. This vessel, now named the Intrepid, was selected for the enterprise. With a crew of seventy-six chosen men — all volunteers — Decatur sailed on his perilous un dertaking. Combustibles were prepared in bundles, and to each man was assigned his particular duty.
Passing into the harbor, they approached the Phil adelphia about midnight. When hailed, the interpre ter answered they were traders, who had lost their anchor in the late gale, and begged permission to make fast to the frigate till morning. The request was granted, and the Intrepid slipped alongside. Suddenly the Turks noticed that she had her anchors, and gave the alarm, shouting "Americanos." In a moment more, Decatur and his brave companions clambered up one side of the vessel, while the panic- stricken Turks, after slight resistance, as rapidly passed over the other into the water. The fagots were lianded up, and carried to every part of the ship, and in thirty minutes she was on fire from stem to stern. So dry had the vessel and the rigging be come in that warm climate, that with difficulty the Americans escaped the flames. When clear of the frigate cheers of triumph told that the daring at tempt had been successful. The flames soon lighted up the harbor; the castle opened with its guns upon the Intrepid, which, urged on by the rowers, was rap idly passing out of danger. Soon the guns of the burning frigate began to explode and throw their shot in all directions. This was one of the boldest enterprises ever undertaken by our naval heroes.
The squadron continued to blockade the harbor of Tripoli, and during the following summer bombarded the town. The contest was severe, and there was much hand-to-hand fighting on board gunboats. In-
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 695
telligence came that other vessels were on their way, and a further attack was postponed. Before the ar rival of this reinforcement the Bashaw came to terms, and desired to make peace ; other causes aided in hastening this event. He had driven his elder brother, Hamet, into exile, and usurped his throne. Captain William Eaton, American Consul at Tunis, concreted measures with the exiled brother to drive the usurper from Tripoli. With four hundred troops, only nine of whom were Americans, Eaton and Hamet marched a thousand miles across the Libyan desert, and suddenly appeared before Derne, which place, with the aid of the American fleet, they cap tured in a few days. The Bashaw sent troops against the invaders; these troops were also defeated, then to save himself he made proposals to negotiate. Peace was concluded by Lear, the American Consul at Tripoli, but not on as favorable terms as justice demanded. After an exchange of prisoners, man for man, there still remained two hundred Americans; for these a heavy ransom was paid, thus conceding the point in dispute, that the Bashaw had a right to receive ransoms for prisoners taken by his pirates.
Jefferson was re-elected President, and, instead of Burr, George Clinton, of New York, Vice-President. Burr's intrigues had become known to both parties, and he experienced the just fate of the insincere — he was suspected by all, and trusted by none. Re jected by his own State, his political prospects ruined, and overwhelmed by debts, the result of unsuccessful speculations, his cold and unrelenting spirit panted for revenge. He looked upon the influence of Alex ander Hamilton, as one cause of his political failure. To retrieve his political fortunes Burr was willing to risk his own life, if he could but kill the man whose patriotism and integrity he well knew, and whose in fluence he dreaded. He laid his plans to force Ham-
696 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ilton into a duel. They met on the banks of the Hudson, opposite New York, Hamilton previously de claring that to fight a dual was contrary to his judg ment and his sense of moral duty; that he wished Burr no ill, and should make no effort to injure him. Burr took deliberate aim, and Hamilton was mortally wounded ; as he fell his own pistol went off acciden tally. When the surgeon approached he said, "Doc tor, this is a mortal wound." In twenty-four hours he was no more. Thus fell one of the brightest intel lects, and purest, self-sacrificing patriots of the coun try — a victim to an unchristian custom, the relic of a barbarous age. His loss to the country was second only to that of Washington.
The most imposing funeral ceremony the city ever saw revealed the depth of feeling in the public mind. Presently the correspondence between the parties was published ; this made known the designing man ner in which Hamilton had been entrapped, and the disclosure produced in the public mind still greater indignation against Burr. The coroner's jury brought in a verdict of wilful murder against him. Fearful of violence he was fain to conceal himself for a few days in New York, and then to flee to Phila delphia, and finally to Georgia, until, as he expressed it, "the storm would blow over."
The sacrifice of a man so eminent, merely to ap pease the honor of a consummate villain, turned the minds of the people more directly to the moral turpi tude, as well as the absurdity of the custom of duel ling. Public opinion on this subject became, hence forth, embodied in laws, which soon banished the custom from some of the States, and eventually it was excluded from all the States and from the Dis trict of Columbia.
The remaining history of Aaron Burr may be told in a few words. His intriguing and restless nature
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 697
impelled him to other enterprises. The year follow ing the death of Hamilton he went west. That sec tion of the country contained many turbulent spirits, and had, moreover, manifested much dissatisfaction with the General Government. It was thought Burr had some designs for his own aggrandizement ; either to seize upon New Orleans and draw off the people of the valley of the Mississippi from their allegiance to the Union, or to make a foray into Mexico, overturn the existing government, and put himself at the head of the one he should establish. His mysterious move ments from place to place, and the hints concerning his projects, which he threw out to those whom he wished to enlist, excited the suspicion of the federal government. After being permitted to plan and counter-plan for a year or more, he was finally ar rested and brought to trial. But so cunningly had he managed the affair, that no decisive proof could be obtained of hh designs. After a prolonged trial, he was acquitted of the charge of treason against the United States.
Though acquitted by the jury, public opinion treated him as guilty. Turned upon the world a penniless wanderer, suspected everywhere, even in foreign lands, where he lived in the greatest poverty, a pensioner upon the pittance doled out by a few friends. Ordered out of England as a French spy, and treated in France as a British emissary ; finally, he returned home, to find his family ties all broken, his daughter, an only and beloved child, having, un der trying circumstances, recently perished at sea.
He made no advances to renew former friendships or acquaintances, and would gladly have shunned the public gaze, but he was compelled in his old age ir resume the practice of the law as a means of support. With a ban resting upon him, he went down in loneli-
698 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ness to the grave, in his eighty-first year — a melan choly instance of prostituted talents.
The country continued to be very prosperous ; the public expenses were lessened, and the finances were leaving every year an increasing surplus; the bel ligerents in Europe had not yet interfered much with American commerce, the great source of the federal revenue. The facilities for making money exchanges afforded by the banks had a oeneficial effect upon the internal trade of the country. The exportation of domestic produce had tripled in value since the adoption of the Constitution, amounting to forty-two millions. There was also a rapidly- increasing, and immensely profitable trade in the import and export of foreign merchandise, exclu sively for the supply of foreign nations. Internal improvements were not overlooked, and companies were formed for the construction of roads and bridges, and others for insurance.
Washington and Adams, in their administrations, both endeavored to place the force of the country on a footing to command the respect of other nations. Hence they strongly urged the creation of a navy to protect American commerce, and the policy of forti fying important places along the coast. But Jef ferson looked upon this as a useless expense. He would prefer to have the public ships hauled out of harm's way into harbors; instead of prosecuting trade upon the ocean, where a cruiser of one of the belligerents might occasionally search a vessel for goods of contraband of war, he would lay an embargo, and cut off all trade. Harbor fortifications were sub jected to the same policy, falsely named economical; gunboats were to take the place of other defenses. Even the frames of the six ships of the line, com menced by the previous administration, were cut up to make gunboats.
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For more than six years not a single vessel was added to the navy, though there were indications that war might speedily occur. The hostility in Con gress to that branch of the service was confined principally to the southern members. It was avowed that in case of war it would be good policy to abandon the harbors and sea coast, and retire into the inte rior; that it would be better to give up commerce altogether than protect it by a navy.
The war between France and England had driven from the ocean all the merchant vessels of those na tions. This trade passed into the hands of neutrals, the United States securing much the largest share.
The cruisers of the belligerent powers continued to infringe upon the rights of the neutrals. The battle of Trafalgar annihilated the fleets of Spain and France. The dread of French cruisers had passed away ; and the British merchants began to complain of the vast profits made by the Americans in the neutral trade, whose emoluments they wished to se cure to themselves. It was suspected that the vast amount of property carried by the Americans did not belong to them, but that it was taken to a neutral port merely to acquire a neutral character, and then transshipped to the ports belonging to those nations which were at war — a charge no doubt true in many instances. On this ground American vessels were seized and condemned.
The English government passed a decree which de clared the coast of Europe from the mouth of the river Elbe to Brest, to be in a state of blockade; thus forbidding neutrals to trade within these pre scribed limits. Napoleon, unable to contend with England upon the ocean, now issued the famous Ber lin decree, which declared the coast of Great Britain to be in a state of blockade. In addition, he pro hibited all trade in English merchandise. Two
700 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
months later, Great Britain forbade all trade with France whatever. Thus these two nations wantonly disregarded the interests and rights of the commerce of the world. Both French and British cruisers, now captured American trading ships, and the commerce which extended to every sea, gradually dwindled down to a coasting trade. Owing to the govern ment's policy — fondly cherished as the very essence of economy — the commerce of the nation was left to the tender mercies of ocean despots ; there was no way to give it protection, except a few redoubtable gunboats, that lay in the harbors, patiently waiting for the audacious cruisers to come within their range.
The condemnation of vessels taken by foreign cruisers, and the forfeiture of their cargoes to the amount of millions, caused an intense excitement among American merchants. In all the seaport towns, especially, meetings were held to express the views of the people, and petitions asking protection, poured into Congress. These petitions only pro duced a recommendation of the President to that body to build more gunboats. It is strange the pol icy, which neglected the mercantile interests of the country, should be contrasted with the profusion in which money was spent to purchase territory, and to liquidate Indian claims? Said one party, it is folly to provide a navy, which, in case of war, will fall into the hands of the British. The hardy seamen answered, give us the men-of-war well armed, and we will see that they do not fall into the hands of the enemy. Will not the same energy and spirit, which has extended American commerce to the ends of the earth, defend its interests, and maintain the honor of the country? In John Adams' administration, Congress brought to terms the French cruisers on American commerce ; it gave the merchants liberty
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 701
to protect themselves, and they did it — why not grant the same permission now ?
To these complaints were added others equally as serious. The British government maintained the doctrine that no subject could expatriate himself, or transfer his allegiance to another country. The United States government maintained the reverse, and welcomed emigrants from other nations, and as adopted citizens afforded them protection. The com manders of British men-of-war were accustomed to board American merchant vessels, on the high seas, and search for deserters, as they termed those Eng lish or Irish sailors, who had thus entered the Amer ican service.
In these impressments great numbers of native- born Americans were forcibly seized and consigned to the slavery of a British man-of-war. These high handed measures, executed in an arrogant manner by the English officers, produced throughout the land a feeling of bitter hostility to England. The English government gave as an apology for these impressments, that in her present struggle she needed all her seamen, and if permission were given, they nearly all would desert, and enter American ships. England herself was to blame for this want of patriotism in her seamen. The iron hand of un feeling rule had driven these men from her service ; her cruel press-gangs had crushed out their love of home. They had been seized when unprotected and hurried on board men-of-war, where brutal severities had obliterated their nobler feelings. Thus wanton ly treated, the English seaman deserted whenever he had the opportunity.
Events were evidently tending toward a war, to avoid which the President sent William Pinckney, as joint commissioner with James Monroe, who was already minister at the court of St. James. The
702 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
English commissioners manifested a great desire not to impress American seamen, but to redress, as speedily as possible, any mistake of that character. They urged, that to relinquish the right of search for deserters, would be ruinous to the English navy in time of war. Suggesting, also, that stringent laws should be made by both nations, to prevent seamen from passing from the service of the one to the other. The prejudices of the English people would not permit, at least for the present, any formal re- linquishment of the right of impressment ; the com missioners further promised, that strict orders should be issued to the naval commanders not to abuse the right.
With the understanding that the question of im pressments was still open, and subject to future ad justment, a treaty for ten years was negotiated between the two countries. This treaty was more advantageous, upon the whole, to the United States, than the one negotiated by Jay, and was certainly better than the existing irritating relations of the two governments. France at this time, by virtue of the Berlin decree, continued to seize and confiscate American property, while Great Britain was anx ious to be on as good terms with the United States as her situation would permit. Yet the President, and Madison, his Secretary of State, arbitrarily re jected the treaty, without either consulting the rest of the cabinet, or the Senate, which was in session. The plea given for this extraordinary act was, that the treaty was not satisfactory on the impressment question. The rejection of the treaty left the rela tions of the two countries in a worse condition than ever, even endangering their peace. Washington and his cabinet, in ratifying the Jay treaty, secured to the country thirteen years of peace and unex pected prosperity; the rejection of this treaty was
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 703
succeeded by four years of ruinous evils, which re sulted in plunging the nation into a war. Though the English government itself was disposed to con ciliate, and friendly in its expressions, yet its naval commanders were exceedingly insolent in their inter course with the Americans. The inability of the navy to maintain the nation's honor, tempted these unscrupulous commanders to insult its flag. Thus far they had confined their visits to merchantmen; presently they went a step farther.
The United States frigate Chesapeake, of thirty- eight guns, had enlisted four men who, it was said, were deserters from the British ship-of-war Melam- pus. It was afterward proved that only one of them was an Englishman. Strict orders had been issued by the government to the recruiting officers not to enlist British subjects, knowing them to be such.
Several English men-of-war were, at this time, lying in Chesapeake Bay ; of the number was the frig ate Leopard, of fifty guns. When it was known that the Chesapeake was about to put to sea, the Leopard passed out a few hours before, and when some miles from the coast, she neared and hailed the Chesa peake, under the pretense of sending despatches to Europe. A lieutenant came on board with a demand for the English seamen. Commodore Barron re fused the demand, on the ground there were no such men on board. This refusal brought a broadside from the Leopard, which killed three men and wounded eighteen others. As the attack was entire ly unexpected, and Barron unprepared, he struck his colors, after firing a single gun. The four men were taken from the Chesapeake, and the Leopard passed on to Halifax, while the Chesapeake returned to Nor folk, her crew deeply mortified and thirsting for re venge.
The indignation of the whole people was intense.
704 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
The insults of impressing men from merchantmen were as nothing, compared with firing into a national vessel. The President immediately issued a procla mation, in which he complained of the outrage, and ordered the British men-of-war out of the American waters, but as he had not the power to enforce the order it was disobeyed, and the people were enjoined not to have intercourse with the British vessels. He also called a special session of Congress, and a mes senger was sent to England, with instructions to the American minister to demand satisfaction for the outrage. But a fast-sailing vessel had already left Halifax with the intelligence. The British govern ment immediately disavowed the act, and sent, soon after, a special messenger to arrange the difficulty.
In the meanwhile France and England vied with each other in issuing and enforcing decrees, which, in their effect, would ruin all neutral commerce. English Orders in Council required any vessel bound to a port in France to touch at some English port, and there obtain a license to proceed on the voyage. Any vessel that did not comply with this despotic decree was forbidden to export French merchandise, unless the cargo was first brought to an English port and paid duties before it was shipped to a neutral country. A month later Bonaparte retaliated by an other decree, dated at Milan, by which every vessel that complied with the British decree, was declared to be forfeited. Thus American commerce was prey ed upon by both parties.
As a scheme of retaliation, and to bring the belli gerents to terms, Congress, on the recommendation of the President, laid an embargo, which prohibited American commerce with France and England. A measure lauded by its advocates as the only means, to save to their country American seamen and car-
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 705
goes, and at the same time compel France and Eng land to repeal their offensive decrees. The effect, however, was just the reverse. Bonaparte was de lighted with the embargo, because it diminished just so much of England's income, her means to carry on the war against himself; on the other hand, Great Britain was not dependent on American produce, the trade to Spain and Portugal, and their colonies, had both been recently opened to her merchants, who were very willing that their enterprising rivals should remain at home to experiment on political theories. The embargo itself was exceedingly un popular in the United States. The intelligent por tion of the people was unable to see what benefit could be derived from their ships rotting in the ports, their seamen out of employment, the industry of the country prostrated, and the millions of surplus prop erty now worthless for want of a market.
Some years before Jefferson had expressed the sentiment that the United States "should practise neither commerce nor navigation, but stand with respect to Europe precisely on the footing of China." Had the people submitted implicitly to the embargo, the system of non-intercourse with other nations would have been complete ; as it was, on the recom mendation of the Executive, Congress found it ne cessary to pass stringent laws to enforce its observ ance. The President was authorized to call out the militia and employ ships as revenue cutters to pre vent cargoes of American produce leaving the coun try. When it became known that this enforcing act had really become a law, public feeling, in many places, could be no longer restrained. Many of the papers announced its passage in morning columns, under the motto, "Liberty is dead." General Lin coln, of revolutionary memory, resigned the collec-
706 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
torship of the port of Boston rather than enforce the law ; and great numbers of custom-house officers in other places did the same. In the agricultural portions of the country, the effect of the embargo was not so immediate as in the commercial. The planters and farmers, implicitly trusting in the wis dom of the Executive, stored up their cotton, tobacco and grain, hoping for a market when the belligerents would be pleased to repeal their hostile decrees.
Some good grew out of this evil. The tens of thou sands thrown out of employment by the effect of the embargo and kindred measures, were compelled by the iron hand of necessity to seek a livelihood by other means, and their attention was somewhat di rected to domestic manufactures.
Opposition to the embargo still continued ; in Con gress violent debates were held from day to day upon the exciting topic. At length even the planters and farmers began to waiver in their faith, and to see as well as the New Englanders that it was a futile meas ure ; that instead of bringing the French and English to terms it was the subject of their ridicule, while it was becoming more and more ruinous to the nation.
Madison, who had been elected President, plainly intimated his wish that the obnoxious measure should, in some way, be got rid of; and three days before the close of Jefferson's term the arbitrary act, forced upon the country without a moment's warn ing, and which brought ruin upon thousands in loss of property and of employment, was, to the joy of the nation, repealed.
Thus drew to a close Jefferson's administration. His theories interfered with his statesmanship, and he was unable to see that non-importation acts, so effective in time of colonial dependence, were, in the case of an independent nation, futile in the extreme,
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 707
and therefore his favorite measure to bring England and France to terms was the embargo.1 No one of our Presidents of Revolutionary fame was so unfor tunate in his management of national affairs, and as such no statesman of those times had been so much overrated. When about to retire from the office he was deeply mortified to find that his well-meant theories, of which he was so tenacious, were found wanting when reduced to practice. When Madison was elected his successor, "he hastened to throw on him the burden of responsibility, and withdrew him self from all but the formalities of administration." "He laid down the sceptre ; he had no party ; Virginia herself ceased to be guided by his opinions."2 Said John Randolph, one of his supporters, "Never has there been any administration which went out of office and left the nation in a state so deplorable and calamitous." His timid, and, as it turned out, his spurious peace policy so weakened the Navy that it became nearly useless: while the coast defenses, as a result of the same theories, became almost dis mantled.3 The measures which he persistently urges, and his adherents, with implicit faith in his wisdom, carried through Congress, rendered the na tion contemptible in the eyes of the belligerents of Europe.
iHist. pp. 612, 613. 2Life of Gallatin (Adams), pp. 379, 380. 3Hist. pp. 606-608.
CHAPTER XLII.
1809—1882
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION.
Condition of the Country — Erskine's Negotiation — Depreda tions Upon American Commerce — Bonaparte's Rambouil- let Decree— Affair of the Little Belt— The Census— Indian Troubles — Tecumseh and the Prophet — Battle of Tippe- canoe — The Two Parties — The Twefth Congress — Henry Clay— John C. Calhoun — Threatening Aspect of Foreign Relations — John Randolph — Debates in Congress — Anoth er Embargo — War Declared Against Great Britain — Op position to the War — Riots at Baltimore — Operations in the Northwest— Surrender of Hull — Impressment of American Seamen — Failures to Invade Canada.
The incoming administration was virtually pledged to continue the foreign policy of its predecessor, though that policy had not yet accomplished what its sanguine friends anticipated. The prediction of the Federalists — the conservative party of those days — that such measures would lead to a war with Eng land, seemed to be near its fulfilment. The prospect was gloomy indeed. The nation was totally unpre pared for such an event. Neither army nor navy to command respect; no munitions of war worthy the name; the defences of the seaboard almost worth less; the revenue, owing to the embargo and non- intercourse acts, much diminished and diminishing more and more. The President and his cabinet de sired to relieve the country of these pressing evils.
To accomplish this end, negotiations were com menced with Erskine, the resident British Minister. The youthful Erskine was a generous and noble- hearted man; a warm friend of the United States, unused to the tricks of diplomacy, he really wished
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 709
to act generously for the interests of both nations, and not selfishly for his own. He knew that Britain would derive great advantage from the renewal of trade with the United States, and hoped that the latter might be induced to take sides in the present struggle against France.
In accordance with the spirit of certain instruc tions, Erskine thought himself authorized to offer "a suitable provision for the widows and the orphans of those who were killed on board the Chesapeake," and to announce the conditional repeal of the Orders in Council as far as they applied to the commerce of the United States. This repeal was to take place on the tenth of the following June.
The President, on this assurance, issued a procla mation, giving permission for a renewal of commer cial intercourse with Great Britain. The news was hailed with joy thoughout the land. In a few weeks more than a thousand ships, laden with Ameri can produce, were on their way to foreign markets. This gleam of sunshine was soon obscured. Four months after the President issued another proclama tion; he now recalled the previous one and again established non-intercourse between the two coun tries.
The British ministry had disavowed the provision al arrangement made by Erskine, giving as one rea son that he had gone beyond his instructions. In the communication accepting Erskine's offer to pro vide for the sufferers in the Chesapeake affair, the provision was spoken of as an "act of justice com porting with what was due from his Britannic ma jesty to his own honor." This uncourteous remark gave offence, and furnished another pretext for breaking off the negotiation.
The failure of this arrangement, which had prom-
710 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ised so much, greatly mortified the President and his cabinet, and as greatly wounded the self-respect of the nation. In consequence of this feeling, Jack son, the special envoy, sent soon after by England, was not very graciously received. Negotiations were, however, commenced with him, but after ex changing angry notes for some months, all diplomatic intercourse was suspended between the two coun tries.
American commerce had now less protection than ever. In the desperate conflict going on in Europe it was impossible to obtain redress from any of the belligerents. The ocean swarmed with French and English cruisers, while Danish privateers infested the northern seas. They all enjoyed a rich harvest in plundering American merchantmen, under the con venient pretence that they carried goods contraband of war. Great numbers of ships thus pillaged were burned at sea to destroy all traces of the robbery. Willing to trust to their own genius to escape cap ture, the American merchants asked permission to arm their ships in self-defense. Congress denied the request, on the ground that such a state of affairs would be war! The people, however, thought there was little to choose between actual war and a system of active legalized piracy. Even the planters and farmers, finding on their hands a vast amount of pro duce, for which a market was denied, were now in clined to strengthen the navy, that it might protect commerce, or if necessary make an irruption into Canada, and by that means compel Great Britain to repeal her odious decrees.
France in the meantime was committing greater outrages on American commerce than even England. Bonaparte issued a decree, the Rambouillet, by which any American vessel that entered a French port or a
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 711
port of any country under French control, was de clared liable to confiscation. It shows the deliberate design of this piratical decree, that it was not pro mulgated till six weeks after its date. The first in timation American merchants received of its exist ence, was the seizure of one hundred and thirty-two of their ships, in French ports. These were soon after sold with their cargoes, and the money, amount ing to eight millions of dollars, placed in the French treasury. Expostulations against such high-handed measures were treated with contempt and insult. The French minister of foreign affairs even charged the United States "with a want of honor, energy, and just political views," in not defending themselves. Bonaparte's great object was to drive them into a war with England, and thus exclude from her Ameri can produce. With this intention he pretended he would revoke the Berlin and Milan decrees, on con dition the United States would make their rights re spected, or in other words, go to war with England. At this time the only port in Europe really open to American commerce was that of Archangel in Rus sia. There American ships, after running the gaunt let between French and Danish cruisers, landed their cargoes of merchandise, which were thence smuggled into France and Germany.
Ere long Bonaparte's want of money mastered his hatred of England, and he unblushingly became the violator of his own decrees, and sold to the Ameri cans, at enormous prices, licenses which gave them permission to introduce their products into French ports.
None felt the national insult given in the Chesa peake affair so deeply as the naval officers. They were anxiously watching for an opportunity to re taliate.
712 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
The frigate President, Captain Rodgers, was cruis ing off the capes of Delaware, when a strange sloop- of-war gave chase, but when within a few miles, her signals not being answered, she stood to the south ward. The President now in turn gave chase, and in the twilight of the evening came within hailing distance. Rodgers hailed, but was answered by the same question ; another hail was given with a similar result. The stranger fired a gun, which was replied to by one from the President. These were succeeded (by broadsides from both vessels. The action lasted about twenty minutes, when the stranger was com pletely disabled. Rodgers hailed again, and now was answered that the vessel was his Majesty's sloop-of- war Little Belt. The disparity in the injury done to the respective vessels was quite remarkable. The Little Belt had more than thirty of her crew killed and wounded, while the President was scarcely in jured, and had only one person slightly wounded. The affair created much excitement in both nations, and served to increase that alienation of feeling which had been so long in existence. The statements of the commanding officers differed very much as to the commencement of the encounter, but as each government accepted the testimony of its own offi cers, the matter was permitted to drop.
The census just taken, showed the following re sults: — the ratio of representation was fixed at thirty-five thousand :
Free Whites. Slaves. All others. Totals. Reps.
5,862,093. 1,191,364. 186,446. 7,239,903. 182.
Events of serious interest were occurring on the western frontier. Numbers of Indian tribes from time to time had ceded their lands and moved farther west. But the insatiable white man still pressed on ; his cultivated fields still encroached upon the Indian's
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 713
hunting-grounds, and game was fast disappearing. When is this grasping at land to end? asked the sav ages of each other. Two brothers, twins, of the Shawnee tribe, resolved to free their brethren from the aggressions of the settlers. Their plans were well laid, and showed an intimate knowledge of the secret of influence. The one, Tecumseh, was to play the warrior's part, the other Elskwatawa, more com monly known as the Prophet, appealed to their super stitions; he professed to be a wonderful medicine man, and in communication with the Great Spirit.
Tecumseh travelled from tribe to tribe, all along the frontiers, from north of the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and by his eloquence endeavored to unite them in a universal conspiracy against the com mon enemy. He knew the attempt to expel the in vaders would be vain, but he hoped his people would unite as one man, and refuse to sell them any more of their lands. To accomplish their purpose the Indians must be independent; they must dispense with the few comforts they received from the white man, and they must spurn the religion which mission aries had been laboring to teach them. The Prophet fulfilled his part, he awed his simple auditors with imposing powwows ; the Great Spirit had given him marvellous powers. He could at a word make pump kins, as large as wigwams, spring out of the earth ; or ears of corn, each large enough to feed a dozen men ; he appealed to their reverence for the customs of their ancestors, and sneered at their degradation in being the slave of the white man's whiskey, or fire-water, as he significantly called it. He must be obeyed — they must throw aside the blanket and dress in skins ; instead of the gun they must use the ancient bow and arrow ; and the iron tomahawk must give place to the stone hatchet of their fathers ; but
714 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
above all, they must discard the religion of the white man; it was the rejection of their ancient religion, which made the Great Spirit so angry.
Alarm spread along the frontier settlements. The Miamis had sold a portion of their lands on both sides of the Wabash. Tecumseh was absent at the time, but protested afterward, contending that as all the lands belonged equally to all the Indians, no tribe had a right to sell a portion of them without the con sent of the others.
General William Henry Harrison, the Governor of the Territory of Indiana, held a conference with Tecumseh, who at the time professed to be friendly, but his conduct afterwards excited suspicion. Lest the Indians should unexpectedly commence hostili ties, Harrison marched to the town lately established by the Prophet, at the junction of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers. Messengers sent by the Prophet met the army a few miles from the town. Though Indians were hovering around the army on its march, yet efforts to hold a conference with them had thus far been unsuccessful. The messengers expressed great surprise that the Americans should approach their town, since the Prophet and his people were very desirous of peace. Harrison assured them that he had no intention to engage in hostilities, unless they themselves should attack him, and he invited the Prophet and his chiefs to an interview the next day. The messengers departed apparently pleased with the proposal, and on their part promised full compliance.
Knowing the Indian character, Harrison suspected treachery, and encamped with great caution; his men, placed in a hollow square, slept upon their arms. The next morning, about four o'clock, the Indians suddenly attacked the camp, but failed to break the
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 715
line. For three hours the contest was very severe. The Indians would advance with great impetuosity, and then retreat to renew the effort. These move ments were regulated by signals given by rattling deers' hoofs. When daylight appeared, the mounted men charged, and the savages fled in great haste. The next day the Prophet's town was found to be deserted. Tecumseh himself was not present at the battle of Tippecanoe.
The belligerents of Europe still continued their aggressions upon American commerce. Recent in telligence from France indicated but little prospect of obtaining redress for present grievances, while the impressment question made the affairs with Great Britain still more complicated. Differences of opin ion prevailed, as to the best means of obtaining jus tice for these foreign aggressions. The people of New England, and the merchants of the commercial cities and seaports of the other States, felt especially aggrieved by the policy of the national government. The embargo and non-importation acts had ruined their commerce, and brought distress upon tens of thousands. Upon them, almost alone, had fallen the evils resulting from these political experiments. The people of the West, and of the interior of the Atlantic States, were in favor of hostilities; their territory would be exempt from invasion, and they had no sea port towns to suffer from bombardment. Thus there were really two parties, the one in favor of obtaining redress by peaceful measures, the other by resorting to war.
In view of these threatening indications, the Presi dent, by proclamation, convened the twelfth Congress a month earlier than the usual time of meeting. This Congress and the one succeeding are no less remark able for the measures they introduced than for the
716 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
unusual number of other members, who afterward filled a large space in the history of the country. It was a transition period. The patriots of the revolu tion, now venerable with age, were fast passing away from the councils of the nation, while their places were filled by more youthful members. Heretofore the leaders in Congress had been moderate in their measures, and were unwilling, unless for the best rea son, to plunge the nation into a war.
As a member of the House of Representatives, ap peared Henry Clay, of Kentucky. The son of a Bap tist clergyman of Virginia, he had been left at an early age a penniless orphan. Struggling through many trials, his native eloquence had now placed him in the foremost rank of his country's orators. Ard ent and generous, bland and yet imperious, as captivating in social life as he was frank in his public acts, he was destined to wield a mighty influence in the councils of the nation. John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was also a member; the close student and ardent theorist, dealing in first principles, he was logical and eloquent. His style more suited to fo rensic debates than to popular assemblies.
The President, in his message, directed the atten tion of Congress to the threatening aspect of Foreign Relations. This led to animated debates, in which the policy of peace or war ; the defences of the coun try ; the preliminary measures in case of a declara tion of hostilities, came up for discussion. The speeches of the members may be taken as the ex ponents of the opinions of their constituents. The people of the West were especially clamorous for war. The recent outbreak of the Indians, on the western frontiers, was confidently attributed to the influence of British emissaries. This charge, though based upon surmises, served to increase the prejudice
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 717
against England, and gave renewed life to the hatred of her produced by the Revolution.
Finally, the Committee of Foreign Relations, in their report to the House, recommended, in the words of the President, "That the United States be im mediately put into an armor and attitude demanded by the crisis ; that an additional force of ten thousand regulars be raised ; that the President be authorized to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers; and also that the vessels of the navy worthy of re pair be fitted up and put' in commission." Two separ ate resolutions were offered ; one authorized the mer chants to arm in self-defence, and the other, as a preliminary to war, to lay an embargo for ninety days. After an animated discussion these were both rejected.
Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, avowed that the re port of the Committee was designed to prepare the public mind for war. "We are pledged," said he, "to France to continue our restrictions against Great Britain; we have tied the Gordian knot; we cannot untie it; we can cut it with the sword. Though our restrictive system operates unequally, we must maintain it." He also advocated the invasion and conquest of Canada, and the reception of her inhabi tants as members of the confederacy, in order to preserve the equilibrium of the government. "When Louisiana," said he, "will be fully peopled, the North ern States will lose their power ; they will be at the discretion of others ; they can be depressed at pleas ure." Therefore he was not only in favor of admit ting Canada, but also Florida.
John Randolph, of Virginia, in that sarcastic man ner peculiar to himself, characterized the embargo and non-importation acts as most impolitic and ruin ous measures — they had "knocked down the price of
718 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
cotton to seven cents and tobacco to nothing," while they had increased the price of every article of first necessity three or four hundred per cent. This is the condition into which we have brought ourselves by our want of wisdom. But is war the true remedy ; who will profit by it? Speculators, commissioners and contractors. Who must suffer by it? The peo ple. It is their blood, their taxes, that must flow to support it. Will you plunge the nation into war, because you have passed a foolish and ruinous law, and are ashamed to repeal it ?
He indignantly repelled the charge of British at tachment made against those who were not willing to rush into war with England. "Strange," said he, "that we have no objection to any other people or government, civilized or savage ; we find no difficulty in maintaining relations of peace and amity with the Autocrat of all the Russias ; with the Dey of Algiers and his divan of pirates, or Little Turtle of the Miamis, barbarians and savages, Turks and infidels of every clime and color, with them we can trade and treat. But name England, and all our antipathies are up in arms against her; against those whose blood runs in our veins, in common with whom we claim Shakspeare and Milton, Newton and Locke, Sidney and Chatham, as brethren. Her form of gov ernment, the freest on earth, except our own, and from which every valuable principle of our institu tions has been borrowed. There are honest pre judices growing out of the Revolution. But by whom had they been suppressed when they ran counter to the interests of his country? By Washington. By whom are they most keenly felt ? By those who have fled to this abused country since the breaking out of the French revolution, and who have set themselves up as political teachers." This was in allusion to the
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 719
editors of nearly all the papers in favor of war, who were foreigners — "these are the patriots who scruple rot to brand with the epithet of Tory, those men by whose blood your liberties have been cemented."
Henry Clay urged, in reply, that the only means left to obtain the recognition of our national rights was to fight for them. A war would produce the repeal of the Orders in Council, and give us commerce and character; the nation by this mongrel peace would not only lose its commerce, but its honor. If we yield one point, presently another will be demand ed ; our only safety is to defend the nation's rights ; — even if the seaboard should be subdued, yet the energy of the West would save the liberties of the country. Shall we bear the cuffs and scoffs of Brit ish arrogance, because we fear French subjugation? Who ever learned, in the school of base submission, the lessons of noble freedom, and courage, and in dependence !"
On the other side of the House, it was admitted that causes for war existed, but were they sufficient to justify the government of the United States in rushing unprepared into a contest with the most pow erful nation on earth ? This was the question to be decided by Congress. "What are we to gain by war?" asked Sheffey of Virginia. "Shall we throw away a trade of thirty-two millions with Great Britain for two with France? Peace is our policy; we are now the most prosperous and happy people on earth. This is more to us, than all the Orders in Council or the trade with France. We cannot bring Great Britain to terms by embargo and non-importa tion acts ; neither can we starve the world by refus ing to export our surplus grain. Our revenue is low enough now, in time of war it will be almost nothing. We should be willing to fight for the rights of im-
720 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
pressed native-born Americans, but not for the right to harbor deserters from the British service." — "Is this embargo a preparation for war?" asked Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts. "We have no information that England intends war. It is her policy to con tinue commerce with us, not to destroy it. But we are told that the object is to protect our merchants. Heaven help them from embargo protection! The merchants have petitioned — not for embargo — not for commercial embarrassment and annihilation — but for protection."
While these debates were in progress in the House, the same general subject was under discussion in the Senate. In both Houses an unusual number of southern members were now in favor of making the navy more efficient. It was urged that the only way to bring Great Britain to terms was by harass ing her commerce on the ocean. To do this a fleet was needed. "Create a fleet of thirty frigates," said Lloyd, of Massachusetts, "and New England alone will officer it in five weeks." "How can we contend with the most colossal power the world ever saw, ex cept by our navy, scattered over the ocean, requir ing ten times as many British vessels to watch them ? Adopt this policy, and soon the English people would ask their government, Why this war upon our trade ? why violate the rights of Americans?1 For whose benefit is this war? Soon you will force the people of the United States to become their own manufac turers; you will stimulate them to become a naval power, which one day may dispute with you the su premacy of the ocean." "In a short time the English
i "They (the Orders in Council) were greviously unjust to neutrals, and it is now (1850) generally allowed that they were contrary to the laws of nations, and to our own municipal laws." — Lord Chief Justice Campbell, in his Lives of the Chancellor vol. vii. p. 218.
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 721
government would be compelled to repeal its odious decrees." "To protect commerce is to aid agricul ture, to benefit the northern as well as the middle and southern States. Moreover, it is essential to the preservation of the Union; the commercial States will not endure that their rights should be systemat ically trampled upon from year to year, and they denied the defence which the God of nature has given them."
The discussions of these five months had a great influence upon the public mind. Though unwilling to use harsher measures than to authorize the mer chants to defend themselves by arming their ships, the President sent a special message to Congress rec ommending an embargo for sixty days. The bill was amended by substituting ninety for sixty, in which form it passed, debate being cut short by the rule of the previous question.
One month and a half later, intelligence from France made known that Bonaparte, in violation of his word, had declared the obnoxious decrees of Berlin and Milan henceforth the settled policy of the Empire. Thus the Emperor had entrapped the President. But England was as much in the wrong as France, and if so, why not declare war against both ? — It was openly avowed in Parliament that the offensive decrees and blockades must be maintained, or France could receive raw material from the United States ; continue her manufactures, and thus obtain the means to carry on the war. Great Britain also wished to secure for her own people the monopoly of commerce, as well as that manufacturing for the world.
The President finally sent another message to Con gress, in which he recapitulated the wrongs inflict ed by England in her impressments and violations of
722 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
the rights of neutrals. This was plainly a war mes sage, and in accordance with that view, a bill was drawn up declaring war against Great Britain. It was passed by a strictly party vote: — in the House 79 to 49, in the Senate 19 to 13.
The people were far from being unanimous in their approbation of the declaration of war. The minority of the Lower House of Congress published an address to their constituents, in which the views of those op posed to the war found expression. After a review of the controversy between the United States and the belligerents, they contend there was equal cause for hostilities against both England and France ; that it was unreasonable to expect the full recognition of neutrals' rights while the desperate conflict in Europe was in progress; that conflict would soon end, and then the cause for war on our part would be removed. The Address says, "The effect of the British orders of blockade, is to deprive us of the commerce of France and her dependencies, while they leave open to us the commerce of all the rest of the world ; the former worth yearly about six millions and a half, and the latter worth thirty-eight millions. Shall the latter be sacrificed for the former? A nation like the United States, happy in its great local relations ; removed from that bloody theatre of Europe, with a maritime border opening vast fields of enterprise; with territorial possessions exceeding every real want; its firesides safe; its altars undefiled; from invasion nothing to fear ; from acquisition nothing to hope, how shall such a nation look to Heaven for its smiles, while throwing away as though they were worthless, all the blessings and joys which peace and such a distinguished lot include ? But how will war upon the land protect commerce? How are our mariners to be benefited by a war which exposes
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 723
those who are free, without promising release to those who are impressed ? But it is said that war is demanded by honor. If honor demands a war with England, what opiate lulls that honor to sleep over the wrongs done us by France?"
Such was the diversity of opinion as to the expedi ency of engaging in war, especially when the coun try, in every respect, was so unprepared. The op ponents of the measure were assailed as unpatriotic, which they retorted by charging the advocates of war with subserviency to the policy of France.
It was easier for Congress to declare war, than to obtain the means to prosecute it. The treasury was almost empty, the non-importation acts, and em bargoes, had nearly ruined the revenue; the army was very limited in number, and very deficient in officers of experience; while the navy was wanting in ships and munitions. Congress passed a bill to enlist twenty-five thousand men as regulars, and authorized the President to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers.
In appointing officers for the army, recourse was had, almost exclusively, to those who had served in the Revolution ; but the most prominent of these had passed away, and the remainder, with but one or two exceptions, had been engaged in civil affairs for thirty years ; and men competent to drill the recruits were not to be found. To remedy this want Con gress, now for the first time, made provisions for the constant and liberal instruction of two hundred and fifty cadets in the military art, by establishing pro fessorships in the Academy at West Point. Here was another instance of the foresight of Washington. He had, during his administration, urged upon Con gress to establish and maintain a school in which military tactics should be taught to officers, who in
724 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
turn could easily drill the militia. The wise policy of the measure was amply shown in the rapidity with which the American volunteers were drilled and made efficient soldiers in the Mexican war. But for the present the nation suffered severely from false economy in not founding the Academy when first proposed.
The first exhibition of the war spirit and the party feeling which existed was an attempt to stifle the freedom of the press. The editor of a paper in Balti more, Alexander Hanson, a grandson of a president of the continental congress, had spoken in moderate terms in condemnation of the declaration of war. A few days after, the mob, headed by a Frenchman, destroyed his press and compelled him to fly for his life. Receiving no protection in his rights, as the magistrates connived at the outrage, Hanson and some twenty others thought it their duty to vindicate the liberty of the press. Among this number were General Henry Lee, — the chivalric Light Horse Harry of the Revolution, — the intimate friend of Washing ton, his eulogist by appointment of Congress, after ward Governor of Virginia, and General Lingan, also a worthy officer of the Revolution. They determin ed to defend the office of the paper. The mob ap peared and stoned the house ; the magistrates mean while made no effort to quell the riot. Thus the rab ble raged during the night ; in their attempts to force their way into the house, one of the ringleaders was shot. General Lingan was killed outright, and some of the other defenders of the office were most shame fully mangled and abused. General Lee was maimed for life. The leaders of the riot were never punish ed, though afterwards brought to trial, — a mere farce, — the district attorney even expressing his re-
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 725
gret that all the defenders of the office had not been killed.
General William Hull, who had served with some distinction in the Revolution, and now Governor of Michigan Territory, was appointed commander of the forces in that region. The Territory contained about five thousand inhabitants, mostly of French origin. He received orders to invade Canada, the ardent friends of the war complacently thinking the inhabi tants of that British province would cheerfully put themselves under the protection of the stars and stripes. Hull, however, found himself in a short time surrounded by a superior force of British and Indians ; the enemy also held possession of Lake Erie, and had easy communication with the rest of Canada, while between Hull's army and the settlements, in tervened a vast and unbroken forest of two hundred miles. He urged upon the government to secure the command of the Lake before any attempt should be made at invasion, and also to furnish him not less than three thousand well provisioned troops. But he was told that he must content himself with two thousand men, while nothing could be done to secure the control of th : Lake.
When Hull a; rived at Detroit, then a village of some eight hundred inhabitants, he had but eighteen hundred men, of whom the greater part were militia ; there he received orders to invade Canada immedi ately. But by a strange blunder, the intelligence of the declaration of war, designed for Hull, and frank ed by the Secretary of the Treasury, fell into the hands of the British. They availed themselves of the information, and immediately seized Mackinaw; the first intimation the garrison of that distant post received of the declaration of war. In a short time
726 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Hull himself was surrounded, and his communica tions cut off.
The British general Proctor came up the Lake with reinforcements, whilst the British Fur Company en listed their employees and excited the Indians. To open a road and obtain supplies, Hull sent out a de tachment, but it fell into an ambuscade and was de feated. He now fortified himself, and to open com munications to the river Raisin, sent another detach ment under Colonels McArthur and Cass; they be came bewildered in a swamp, and were forced to find their way back to the camp.
Presently General Brock, governor of Lower Can ada arrived at Maiden with more reinforcements. He passed over the river and summoned Hull to sur render, who refused, and an attack was made upon his position, both from the British vessels and bat teries. Brock landed and approached with seven hundred and fifty regulars, and as many Indians. Hull had but eight hundred men, and, threatened with destruction, as he imagined, by an overwhelm ing force, he surrendered his army and all Michigan at the same time.
Great indignation was expressed at this failure. The difficulties of Hull's position \ are very great, and perhaps, while no one doubted hi^ personal cour age, he may have wanted that sternness of soul so necessary to a successful commander. Those in au thority screened themselves, by making the unfor tunate general the scape-goat for their blunders, in sending him with a force and means so inadequate. When brought to trial, two years afterward, he urged in defence, that all the inhabitants of the ter ritory would have been exposed to certain massacre had he attempted further resistance. The court, however, found him guilty of cowardice, and sentenc-
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 727
ed him to be shot ; but in consideration of his revolu tionary services, the President granted him a pardon. His papers, since published, have revealed the insur mountable difficulties that surrounded him.
It is remarkable that one of the causes of the war, was removed within four days after its declaration. France unconditionally repealed the Berlin and Milan decrees, then Great Britain repealed her Orders in Council, which had been based on the French decrees. The impressment question still remained unsettled. Nearly six thousand cases of alleged impressment were on record in the State Department at Washing ton. It was admitted on the floor of the House of Commons, that there were probably sixteen hundred native-born Americans held in bondage in the British navy. Of these several hundred had already been liberated, and a willingness was expressed to dis charge the remainder, as soon as their nationality was fully known. But the British naval officers com plained that the plea of American citizenship was very much abused ; by forged documents, or by certi ficates, originally genuine, but transferred from one seaman to another as occasion required. The Eng lish government, moreover, was so trammelled by forms that very seldom could the impressed sailor obtain redress ; all such cases must be brought before the Court of Admiralty in London, to reach which was almost impossible.
This, after all, was to be a war to protect personal freedom; to obtain security from the visits to our ships of British press-gangs, led by insolent officers, and as such took hold of the sympathies of the American people. But Britain said, pass a law pro hibiting our seamen from enlisting in your service, and we will not search your ships. The reply was, the flag of the United States must shield those seek-
728 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ing its protection. This sentiment appeared to Eng land very like an effort to seduce her seamen from their allegiance.
When intelligence of the declaration of war reached England, the government acted generously in rela tion to the American vessels in its ports. Instead of being confiscated as in France, these ships were per mitted six weeks to load and unload, and in addition were furnished with protections against capture by English cruisers on their way home. Yet these very vessels and their cargoes were liable to confiscation, when they should arrive in theii own land, and that by a law of Congress !
As one of the causes of the war had been removed, Foster, the British Minister at Washington, proposed a cessation of hostilities until another effort should be made to arrange the impressment question. This proposal was not accepted by the American govern ment. Not until all hope of reconciliation was pass ed, did the English authorities issue letters of mar que and reprisal against American commerce; and they still continued to grant licenses and protection to American vessels carrying flour to Spain for the use of the British armies in that country.
Hull's surrender threw a shadow over the prospect of conquering Canada. Strenuous efforts were made to increase the army on the frontiers of New York. Major General Dearborn, who, when a youth, had served in the Revolution, and had been Secretary of War, under Jefferson, had under his command, in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, five thousand troops, three thousand of whom were regulars; and two thousand militia were stationed at different points on the St. Lawrence, east of Sackett's Harbor, while another army, miscellaneous in character, being composed of regulars, volunteers and militia, was
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 729
stationed at different points from the village of Buffalo to Fort Niagara. The latter troops were un der the command of General Van Rensselaer.
To insure success the Americans must have the control of the Lakes Erie and Ontario ; on the latter they had already a little sloop-of-war, of sixteen guns, and manned by a regular crew. Captain Chauncey, of the navy yard at New York, was ap pointed to the command of the Lakes. He purchased some merchant vessels, and fitted them out with guns and other equipments, brought from Albany, at an immense amount of labor. He soon however swept the Lake of British ships, which took refuge in Kingston harbor; the Frontenac of the times of French rule in that quarter. Lieutenant Elliot, in the mean time, was sent to equip a fleet on Lake Erie. By a daring exploit he cut from under the guns of Fort Erie, two British armed vessels, which had just come down the Lake from Detroit.
The invasion of Canada commenced by an attempt to obtain possession of Queenstown, on Niagara river. Owing to a deficiency of boats, only about six hun dred men, partly regulars and partly militia, passed over. Colonel S. Van Rensselaer, who commanded the militia, became separated from his men, and Colonel Christie, who commanded the regulars, failed on account of the rapidity of the current to reach the shore. Those who landed were immediately attack ed with great vigor. Rensselaer soon fell, wounded, but he ordered Captains Ogilvie and Wool to storm the battery, which they did in fine style, driving the British into a strong stone house, from which they could not be dislodged. General Brock, the same to whom Hull surrendered a few months before, was in command. Suddenly he headed a sortie from this
730 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
house, which was promptly repulsed, and he himself slain.
During this time, a space of five or six hours, the Americans were striving to pass the river, but only five or six hundred succeeded. Suddenly a band of Indians emerged from the woods, and joined in the fray; these were soon put to flight by Lieutenant Winfield Scott, who, with a company of regulars, volunteered for the purpose. The want of boats, and the want of system, had prevented a suitable number of Americans from passing over. In the mean while General Sheaf e was advancing from Fort George, with reinforcements for the British. This intelligence, together with the sight of the wounded, who were brought in boats to the American side, somewhat cooled the ardor of the militia, and they refused to pass the river to aid their countrymen. Their wits were also sharpened, and they suddenly discovered that their commander had no constitu tional authority to lead them into Canada. The re sult was, that those who had gone over, about one thousand in number, were compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of war. General Van Rensse- laer, mortified at the want of spirit manifested on the occasion, resigned his command in disgust.
Inefficiency reigned in triumph all along the fron tier. An expedition against Detroit, under the com mand of Harrison, was abandoned for want of means. The Volunteers from Kentucky, as well as others, became mutinous and refused to advance. One fail ure followed another in rapid succession. The offic ers were quarreling among themselves, charging each other with cowardice and fighting bloodless duels, while the soldiers deserted in bands, and those who remained were insubordinate. These failures were
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 731
unsparingly ridiculed in the newspapers opposed to the war.
Soon after the establishment of the Government the religious portion of the people began to inquire as to their duty in sending the Gospel to the heathen of other lands. Samuel J. Mills and some other stud ents of Williams College consecrated themselves to the work of foreign missions. A monument — a mar ble shaft surmounted by a globe — in Mills Park, just outside the village, marks the spot where these stud ents met behind a haystack to confer with each other and consecrate themselves to the work of evangeliz ing the heathen. The result was the formation 01 the American Board of Missions, which has had a re markable success in extending the knowledge of the Gospel and introducing a Christian civilization in remote heathen lands. This Society was specially patronized by the Congregationalists and Presby terians; the latter, after twenty-one years of co operation, withdrew and formed the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Meanwhile other de nominations entered with zeal upon the work — the Baptists (1814), the Methodist Episcopal (1819), Re formed Dutch Church (1832), Protestant Episcopal (1835), and afterward others; in all fifteen societies were formed. Under the control of these societies the missionaries and native teachers whom they have trained now number many thousands. The exer tions of these devoted men have been crowned with remarkable success ; they have displayed much prac tical wisdom in the management of the missions, and have translated the Scriptures in the languages of the various people with whom they labored. For these evidences of their scholarship and their enlight ened zeal they have oftentimes received the commen dations and thanks of European educated men and statesmen.
CHAPTER XLIII.
1812—1890 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
The Vessels of the Navy — The Chase of the Constitution- Capture of the Alert — The Guerriere — Incidents — The Macedonian— The Frolic— The Java— The Effects of These Naval Conflicts in the United States and England — Plan of Operations — Harrison Advances on Detroit — Gen eral Winchester a Prisoner — Indian Barbarities — The Kentuckians Fall Into An Ambuscade — Repulse at Fort Stephenson — The Loss of the Chesapeake — Perry's Vic tory — Battle of the Thames — Andrew Jackson — Leads An Expedition; Its Termination — York Captured; Death of General Pike — Wilkinson Transferred to the North — An other Attempt to Conquer Canada— Fort George De stroyed; Newark Burned— The Severe Retaliation— The American Coast Blockaded — Ravages on the Shores of Chesapeake Bay — Indian War in the South — Jackson and Others in the Field— Battle at the Great Horse Shoe- Captain Porter's Cruise.
While disasters recorded in the last chapter were in progress, the despised little navy had won laurels by a series of victories as unexpected as they were glorious. When the war commenced, the whole navy of the United States in commission, consisted of only three first-class frigates ; the President, the Consti tution, and the United States; of the second class two, the Congress and the Essex ; the Wasp and Hor net, sloops-of-war; and the brigs Argus, Syren, Nautilus, Enterprise, and Vixen. The second class frigates Chesapeake, Constellation, and John Adams, were undergoing repairs. The fleet was ordered to assemble at New York to be in readiness to defend harbors, and not to venture to sea, lest it should fall in the hands of the enemy ; a result which had been predicted again and again. Owing to urgent
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 733
remonstrances of Captains Stewart and Bainbridge, the intention of thus withdrawing the navy was abandoned. Within a few hours after the declaration of war was known in New York, a portion of the fleet was passing out to sea, in search of the enemy. This prompt movement was made for the double purpose of avoiding the orders, which the officers suspected were on the way from Washington, to de tain them in the harbor, and to make a dash at the Jamaica fleet, said to be passing under convoy of the coast. When two days out, they chased and ex changed shots with the British frigate Belvidera, which, however, escaped and carried the news of the commencement of hostilities to Halifax. The Ameri cans continued the pursuit of the Jamaica fleet, even to the entrance of the British Channel, but without overtaking it.
Meanwhile a British squadron issued f roni Halifax, to cruise off the port of New York. The Constitu tion, better known as Old Ironsides, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, in endeavoring to enter that port fell in with this fleet, and was chased by all its vessels for four days — the most remarkable chase on record. The unexampled skill with which she was managed, elicited universal admiration. Every nautical device was exhausted, such as during a calm carrying out anchors and dropping them, and then pulling the ship up ; in the mean while, when opportunity served, exchanging shots with her adversaries. Finally she escaped into Boston. Orders from Washington were sent to Captain Hull to remain there ; but he antici pated them, and put to sea before they arrived.
The Essex was the first to capture a prize — a trans port filled with soldiers — and shortly after, the Brit ish sloop-of-war Alert. The latter mistook the Essex for a merchantman, and came on expecting an
734 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
easy victory, but found herself so severely handled, that in a few minutes she was fain to strike her colors.
Off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, Captain Hull fell in with the British frigate Guerriere, one of the fleet which had recently chased him. The Guerriere was on the look-out for "Yankee craft;" on one of her flags was the inscription, "Not the Little Belt." Courting the combat, she shortened sail, and at long range opened upon the approaching Constitution ; the latter did not fire a gun, but manoeuvred to obtain a desirable position. Thus an hour and a half was consumed. When the Constitution secured her posi tion, she poured in her broadsides with such rapidity and effect, that the enemy struck his colors in thirty minutes. So completely was the Guerriere cut to pieces, that it was impossible to bring her into port, and Hull ordered her to be burned. The Guerriere had seventy-nine killed and wounded, while the Con stitution had only seven, and was ready for action the next day. In connection with this encounter may be related two incidents, which show the spirit on board the respective ships. When the Constitu tion came within cannon-shot, the opening fire from the Guerriere killed two men. The men were impati ent to avenge their companions, and Lieutenant Morris came on deck, and asked, "Can we return the fire, sir?" "No, sir," calmly replied Hull. Soon af ter, Morris came again, and reported that another man was slain, and asked again, "Shall we return the fire?" "No, sir," was still the reply. For the third time, Morris soon appeared: "Can we fire now?" Hull, pausing a moment to survey the position of the ships, replied, "Yes, sir, you may fire now." The order was promptly obeyed, and Hull, with his eye
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 735
intently fixed upon the enemy, exclaimed, when he saw the effect, "That ship is ours !"
On board the Guerriere were ten impressed Ameri cans. Thry refused to fight against their country men, and were ordered below. One of them was af terward called upon deck, and asked by Captain Dacres if he knew the character of the approaching ship. He answered she was a frigate. As she drew nearer, and merely manoeuvered, and made no reply with her guns, Dacres, somewhat puzzled, inquired again, "What does she mean? Do you think she is going to strike without firing a gun?" "I guess not, sir," replied the American ; "she will get the position she wants, and you will then learn her intentions; with your permission, sir, I will step below."
The United States, Captain Decatur, when cruising off the Azores, gave chase to a British frigate, which proved to be the Macedonian. A running fight com menced, which terminated by the Macedonian strik ing her colors, after losing one hundred out of her three hundred men, while the United States lost only five men and seven wounded. The other ships made several prizes on their cruise. The Argus escaped by superior seamanship, after being chased three days by six vessels, and took and manned a prize dur ing the chase. The Wasp, Captain Jones, met the British brig Frolic, acting as a convoy for six mer chantmen; to protect them she shortened sail and offered battle. The Wasp watched her opportunity, raked her antagonist, and then immediately boarded. The boarders found the deck of the Frolic covered with the slain, and only one man unhurt, who was calmly standing at the wheel, and one or two wound ed officers, who threw down their swords. Not twenty of the crew were unhurt. The Wasp had only five killed and as many wounded. But before
736 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
she could make sail, the Poictiers seventy-four came up, and took both vessels.
Hull resigned the command of the Constitution, and Bainbridge was appointed in his place. Off the coast of Brazil the Constitution gave chase to a Brit ish frigate, the Java. The fight began at the dis tance of a mile, and was continued with great spirit, each manoeuvring to get the advantage. At length they approached so closely as to fight yard-arm and yard-arm. The Java's masts were shot away, and her fire silenced. The Constitution drew off to re pair her rigging, and then approached to renew the conflict, which the Java prevented by striking her flag. Nearly half of her men, numbering four hun dred, were killed or wounded, while the Constitution had only nine killed and twenty-five wounded ; among the latter was her commander. There being no friendly port in that part of the world to which he could take his prize, Bainbridge ordered her to be set on fire and blown up.
It is difficult to conceive the exultation with which these victories were hailed in the United States. The very great disparity in the losses sustained by the respective combatants had excited surprise in both nations. The English loss of men in killed and wounded, compared with that of the Americans, was as eight to one. There could be no doubt but the ships of the latter had been better managed and bet ter fought. The English people, we learn from the newspapers of the day, were deeply mortified at the loss of their frigates. One of the papers asked, "Shall England, the mistress of the seas and dictator of the maritime law of nations, be driven from her proud eminence by a piece of striped bunting flying at the mastheads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of bastards and outlaws ?" Some were
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 737
thus abusive, but others were more respectful, and even found consolation in the fact that the Ameri cans were the descendants of Englishmen. Says the London Times: "We witnessed the gloom which that event (the capture of the Guerriere) cast over high and honorable minds ; it is not merely that an English frigate has been taken after a brave resist ance, but it has been by a new enemy." And appre hensions were expressed that their maritime su periority was about to be challenged, if not taken away, by this new rival, which had so suddenly sprung into existence. "The mourning for this last most affecting event, (the capture of the Java,) can never be laid aside till the honor of the British flag shall be redeemed, by establishing the same triumph ant superiority over the Americans that we have heretofore had over all the nations that traverse the seas. Five hundred British vessels and three fri gates have been captured in seven months by the Americans. Can the English people hear this un moved? Down to this moment not an American frigate has struck her flag. They insult and laugh at us; they leave their ports when they please; and return when it suits their convenience ; they traverse the Atlantic ; they beset the West India Islands ; they advance to the very chops of the Channel ; they par ade along the coast of South America; nothing chases, nothing intercepts, nothing engages them, but yields to them a triumph."
To account for these unexampled victories, some said the American frigates were Seventy-fours in disguise; others that their guns were heavier than those of their opponents. The latter supposition may have been true to some extent. But national self-complacency found more consolation in the con jecture, that the spirit of the American navy ought
738 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
to be imputed to the few runaway British sailors en listed in it !
The American privateers maintained the honor of the nation as much as the regular navy. Much more would have been accomplished, but the majority of the merchants were loth to send privateers to prey upon the property of their commercial friends and correspondents. As it was, more than three hundred prizes were taken, three thousand prisoners, and a vast amount of merchandise.
Changes were made in the President's cabinet. General John Armstrong — the author of the famous Anonymous Address, at the close of the Revolution — was appointed Secretary of War in place of William Eustis, of Massachusetts, resigned. James Monroe still remained at the head of the State Department, and Albert Gallatin at that of the Treasury, an office which he held under Jefferson.
The surrender of Hull aroused the warlike spirit of the West, and volunteers presented themselves in great numbers. The Americans were divided into three armies. That of the west, at the head of Lake Erie, under General Harrison ; that of the centre, be tween Lakes Erie and Ontario, under General Dear born, and that of the north in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, under General Wade Hampton. A simi lar arrangement was made by the British. Sir George Prevost was in chief command of the forces in Can ada, General Proctor commanded the troops stationed near Detroit, and General Sheafe those in the neigh borhood of Montreal and the Sorel river.
To recover what Hull had lost, Harrison moved to ward Detroit and Maiden; meantime General Win chester advanced with eight hundred volunteers, chiefly young men from Kentucky. That State swarmed with soldiers, drawn from every rank in
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 739
society. As he drew near the Maumee Rapids, Win chester learned that a body of British and Indians was in possession of Frenchtown, on the river Raisin. He sent a detachment, which routed the enemy, and maintained its position until he himself came up. When General Proctor learned of the approach of Winchester, he hastened across the lake on the ice from Maiden, with fifteen hundred British and In dians, to cut him off, before Harrison could give aid. The attack was made on the American camp before daylight. In the midst of the confusion Winchester was taken prisoner. Proctor promised him security for the safety of his men, and thus induced him to surrender them as prisoners. Fearing the approach of Harrison, Proctor retreated as rapidly as possible to Maiden, and in violation of his pledges, he left the wounded Americans.
The Indians turned back and murdered great num bers of them, and carried the remainder to Detroit ; for some of these they demanded enormous ransoms, and others they reserved for tortures. The conduct of Proctor, in thus breaking his word, and violating the principles of common humanity, excited against the enemy the bitterest feelings of revenge. "Re member the Raisin!" became the war-cry of the Kentuckians.
Harrison advanced to the rapids, and there estab lished a post, which in honor of the Governor of Ohio, he named Fort Meigs. There he was besieged, in the course of a few months, by a large force of British and their Indian allies. Learning that General Green Clay, of Kentucky, was descending the Maumee with twelve hundred men in boats, Harrison sent orders for half the men to land and seize the enemy's bat teries on the north side of the river, spike their guns, and then come to the Fort, whence a sortie was to be
740 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
made against the main batteries on the south side. The first order was fulfilled, and the British routed ; but instead of hastening to the Fort, the Kentuckians became unmanageable and pursued a few Indians, who led them into an ambuscade prepared by the cunning Tecumseh. They were in turn routed by the Indians and a detachment of British soldiers, and of the Kentuckians only about one hundred and fifty escaped. Nevertheless Proctor was alarmed; the force of the Americans was unknown, and as the In dians began to desert, he commenced a hurried re treat across the lake to Maiden.
Two months after, Proctor again appeared before Fort Meigs, now under the command of Clay. Not able to take it, and having learned that Fort Stephen- son, on the Sandusky, had a small garrison, Proctor left Tecumseh with his Indians to besiege Ft. Meigs, while he himself went against Fort Stephenson. This fort had a garrison of only one hundred and sixty men, commanded by Major George Groghan, a youth in his twenty-second year. When summoned to surrender, he replied that he would defend the fort till the last man was buried in its ruins. The siege commenced, and when a breach was made, the British regulars, at the word of their Colonel, who cried out, "Come on, give the Yankees no quar ter," rushed to the assault. As they crowded into the ditch, the only cannon in the fort opened from a masked port hole. The gun was loaded with a double charge of musket balls; the effect was terrific, the enemy fled in confusion, and abandoned the siege. The Indians at the first repulse deserted, as usual.
Meanwhile there had been other conflicts at sea. Captain James Lawrence, in command of the Hornetf had captured the Peacock off the coast of South America. The ships were equal in size and equip-
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 741
merit. The action lasted but fifteen minutes. The Peacock raised signals of distress, for' she was sink ing rapidly, and in spite of the efforts of both crews she went down, carrying with her some of her own men and three of the Hornet's. On his return, Lawrence was appointed to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, then in Boston harbor, under going repairs and enlisting a crew.
The British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, had appeared off the harbor as if offering a challenge. The impetuous Lawrence put to sea, notwithstanding the deficiency of his crew, some of whom were much dissatisfied on account of back arrearages of prize money from a former cruise. The ship was also defici ent in officers, the first lieutenant being unable from illness to go on board. The contest was witnessed by thousands from the hills and house tops. When the ships met, the Chesapeake became entangled with the Shannon in such a manner as to be exposed to a raking fire. Lawrence, mortally wounded at the commencement of the battle, was carried below. This created confusion for a few minutes, and Broke noticing that the fire had slackened, promptly gave orders to board, leading the men himself. The American boarders had just been called, and but few of them were as yet upon deck ; after a hand to hand fight, the Chesapeake's colors were hauled down. The captor sailed immediately to Halifax. There Captain Lawrence died. He was buried with military honors and marks of respect. Afterward his remains were removed to New York. His last command, "Don't give up the ship," has become the watchword in the American navy.
The rejoicing in England over the capture of the Chesapeake were so great as to become highly com plimentary to the Americans, to whom they were as
742 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
gratifying as if the Shannon had been captured. It was an unequivocal evidence of the respect that the navy had inspired.
The same spirit which had done so much honor to the nation on the ocean, displayed itself on the lakes. The random incursions of undisciplined volunteers accomplished nothing until the control of the lakes was secured. A youthful lieutenant in the United States navy, Oliver Hazard Perry, a native of New port, Rhode Island, volunteered for that service. Commodore Chauncey appointed him to the command of the fleet on Lake Erie. After much labor, Perry built and fitted out at the port of Erie, nine vessels of various sizes, from one carrying twenty-five guns down to those which carried only one. The Amer ican fleet had altogether fifty-five guns ; the British had six vessels carrying sixty-three guns. The num ber of men was about five hundred in each fleet. Owing to the direction of the wind at the commence ment of the battle, Perry's flag ship, the Lawrence, was exposed to the concentrated fire of the enemy's entire fleet, and in a short time she was made a com plete wreck. As the wind increased, the remaining ships were enabled to come up. Leaping into a boat, and in the midst of flying balls, Perry now transfer red his flag, which bore the motto "Don't give up the ship," to the next largest vessel, the Niagara. When passing through the enemy's line he poured in broad sides, right and left, within pistol-shot. The other American vessels closed, and in less than an hour every British ship had surrendered. The hero an nounced the result to General Harrison, in the memorable despatch, "We have met the enemy and they are ours."
Harrison hastened to profit by the victory, and to lead his men against Detroit and Maiden. The fleet
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 743
carried a portion of the troops across the lake, but they found Maiden deserted. Proctor and Tecumseh had destroyed their military stores, and taken with them the horses and cattle in the neighborhood, and were now in full retreat toward Moravian town, on the Thames. At Detroit Harrison was unexpectedly reinforced by about thirty-five hundred mounted Kentuckians, under the venerable Governor Shelby, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, and Colonel Richard M. Johnson. The pursuit now commenced in earnest. After a forced march of sixty miles, they overtook the enemy. A desperate encounter took place ; nearly all Proctor's men were either taken or slain, he himself barely escaping with about two hundred dragoons. The Indians fought furiously when cheered on by Tecumseh, but when he fell, it is said by a pistol ball fired by Colonel Johnson him self, they broke and fled. With the life of the great savage planner Indian hostilities in that part of the frontier ended. The Kentuckians returned home in triumph. Leaving Colonel Lewis Cass, who was soon after appointed Governor of Michigan, to garrison Detroit with his brigade, Harrison embarked with thirteen hundred regulars for Buffalo, to assist in the cherished project of conquering Canada.
Military enthusiasm was not confined to Kentucky and the region north of the Ohio. In answer to a call to defend New Orleans, volunteers in great numbers assembled at Nashville, Tennessee. General Andrew Jackson was their chosen commander.
Jackson was a native of North Carolina, of Scotch- Irish descent; left fatherless at an early age: — his mother the descendant of a Scotch Covenanter, a woman of great energy, and a daring spirit, but soft ened and subdued by religious principle and humane sympathy. From here he inherited a hatred of op-
744 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
pression, and an indomitable will that never failed to triumph. At the age of thirteen — in Revolutionary times — he began his career under General Sumter at the skirmish of Hanging Rock. His eldest brother had already fallen in battle, and here, in company with the brother next in age, he fought valiantly. Their home broken up and pillaged, the mother and her two sons became exiles from their own fireside. Soon after the sons, through the plottings of Tories, were made prisoners. The next day a British officer ordered Andrew to clean his boots, but the young hero indignantly refused to perform the menial serv- ke, and steadily persisted, though his life was threat ened and the officer struck him with the flat of his sword.
The heroic mother at length obtained the exchange of her sons, but only, in a year, to follow to the grave the elder, who died of small-pox, which both the brothers had contracted during their captivity.
That next year the mother, with some other ladies, travelled more than one hundred miles to minister to the wants of the unfortunate patriots, her neigh bors, who were confined as prisoners on board of loathsome prison ships in the harbor of Charleston. Enfeebled by her labors of love, she contracted the fever then raging among the prisoners and speedily passed away. Thus at the age of fifteen Jackson was left without a relative in his native land. (Rarely has such harrowing misfortunes fallen to the lot of any one.) Though young in years these trials had their effect ; they gave him the maturity of manhood ; they strengthened the decision of character, which so marked his life. To his friends generous to a fault, yet he never suffered his will to be successfully resisted ; not from stubbornness — that stronghold of little minds — but from his impression of right. He
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 745
early emigrated to Tennessee, then a territory, and was the first representative from that State in the House. He was described by a contemporary, "as being a tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, with long locks of hair hanging over his face, and a cue down his back tied in an ell-skin ; his dress singular, his manners and deportment that of a rough back woodsman." No eye among his associates was pro phetic enough, under that rude aspect, to recognize or imagine the future General and President.1
New Orleans was almost defenceless; the same mistaken economy we have seen elsewhere, had been exercised here. There were only sixteen hundred men in the garrison, scarcely any ammunition, and no means of conveyance. Though without authority from the War Department, General Wilkinson — the same who in the days of the Revolution was one of the aids of General Gates — had taken measures to survey all the water passages to the Gulf, and partially repair their fortifications.
This expedition from Tennessee had a singular termination. The infantry, in number sixteen hun dred, floated in flat-boats down the Cumberland, the Ohio and the Mississippi to Natchez, where they were joined by four hundred horsemen, who had marched across the country. Armstrong, the Secretary of War, sent orders to Jackson, who had been refused a commission in the regular army, to disband his men at Natchez, and deliver his military stores to Gener al Wilkinson. To implicitly obey orders which he did not approve was not one of the virtues of Andrew Jackson. Suspecting that this order was a pretext to get rid of the volunteers without paying their wages, he positively refused to obey. Indignant at the wrong done the men, he unceremoniously drove
iffildreth, vol. iv., p. 692.
746 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
out of the camp the United States recruiting officers, who had come, hoping to induce those volunteers to enlist in the regular army, who had not the funds to return home. On his own responsibility, Jackson provided conveyances for the sick, and marched the whole force back to Nashville, and there disbanded them. The War Department overlooked the insub ordination, and quietly paid the bill.
The military operations of the northern frontier continued as unimportant, as they were inefficient in bringing Great Britain to terms. To secure the con trol of Lake Ontario it was necessary to destroy or capture the ships and military stores at York, now Toronto, then the capital of Upper Canada, and the head-quarters of General Sheafe. When the spring opened, Commodore Chauncey sailed with sixteen hundred men on board his fleet. They landed a short distance from the town, Lieutenant Scott, who had recently been exchanged, leading the van. General Pike led the troops to the assault. The retreating British fired a magazine, which exploded with trem endous power, overwhelmed the advancing Ameri cans, and killed and wounded more than two hundred of their number, among whom was the gallant Pike, who died the next day. The town surrendered, and the contents of another magazine were transferred to Sackett's Harbor.
Just before the Americans embarked, a little one story building, known as the Parliament House, was burned. The British attributed the act to them, but General Dearborn and his officers believed it was set on fire by the disaffected Canadians, as they had threatened to burn it.
Major Graf ton certified that no American could have committed the deed without his knowledge, as he had the command of the patrol in the vicinity of
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 747
the House. The Canadian Chief Justice of the dis trict, in a communication, spoke of the humane con duct of the Americans, "which entitled them to the gratitude of the people of York." Yet retaliation, for the burning of this building, was the excuse offered afterward for the wanton destruction and pillaging of the public buildings at Washington.
During the summer occurred a number of failures, all traceable to the inefficiency of the commanders. Finally certain members of Congress informally re quested the President, through secretary Monroe, to recall Dearborn from the command. Accordingly Wilkinson was transferred from New Orleans to the northern frontier. General Wade Hampton, recently in command at Norfolk, was also appointed to a com mand of a division; but as he and Wilkinson were not on friendly terms, he accepted the office only on condition that he should not be placed under the com mand of the latter. The patriotism which would overlook private resentment for the good of the country must be sacrificed to the personal enmities of these gentlemen. Hoping to remove the difficulty, Armstrong, the Secretary of War, suddenly appeared on the ground, and assumed the chief command him self ; but he and Wilkinson could not agree on a plan of operations. After refusing to accept the proffered resignation of Wilkinson, who did not relish the un called-for interference, the Secretary returned to his more appropriate duties at Washington.
Another futile attempt was made to conquer Cana da. General Wilkinson moved his army from Sack- ett's Harbor, toward Montreal; in the mean time General Hampton was advancing up from Lake Champlain. The two American armies if united would number twelve thousand men, while the whole British force was about two thousand, and these
748 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
mostly militia. Wilkinson wrote to Hampton, in Armstrong's name, to join him at St. Regis, but in stead of co-operating, Hampton replied that he had given up the expedition and was already on his re turn to winter-quarters. Under these circumstances, Wilkinson found it necessary to retreat, as the sea son would be too far advanced before he could obtain the provisions and aid which Hampton had failed to supply. During the previous summer there had been on the lake, as well as on its shores, several expedi tions as unimportant in themselves as they were trifling in their results.
When General Harrison, who soon after resigned his commission, retired, he left a General McClure in command at the head of Lake Ontario. Presently McClure found himself with only a few regular troops, as the militia under his command were return ing home ; their term of enlistment having expired. Not prepared to resist the advancing British, he was forced to retire across the river to the American side. Before leaving he destroyed Fort George, and set on fire the village of Newark, lest the enemy, as he said, should find comfortable winter-quarters. McClure gave as his excuse for thus burning the homes, and turning four hundred inoffensive people, men, women, and children, out into the winter's storms, that he thought he was justified by the orders of the War Department. In truth there was no excuse for the cruel and wanton act. Evil begets evil. Ten days after, the enemy passed over to the American side, surprised Fort Niagara, and put the garrison to the sword. Then commenced the retaliation for the burning of Newark. They burned Lewistown, Youngstown, Manchester, Black Rock, and Buffalo, and indeed every house that could be reached from Lake Ontario to Erie. Prevost immediately issued
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 749
a proclamation, in which he stated that these ravages were provoked by the burning of Newark and if the Americans would hereafter refrain from such out rages, he should conduct the war on humane and civilized principles.
During the summer the whole American coast was blockaded by the overwhelming force of the British fleet. The Hornet, the frigates United States and Macedonian, were shut up in the harbor of New Lon don. The harbor of New York, the Delaware and Chesapeake bays, the harbors of Charleston and Savannah, the mouth of the Mississippi, were all blockaded. In the Chesapeake alone there were more than twenty British armed vessels, on board of which were three or four thousand land troops. These frequently landed and pillaged the towns, and in some instances committed outrages upon the in habitants, especially at Hampton, a small village on James river. The infamy of conducting these ma rauding expeditions belongs to Vice-Admiral Cock- burn, whose conduct was more in accordance with the brutality of a savage, than with the humanity of an officer of a Christian nation. These maraud ers were well characterized by the term, "Water Winnebagoes."
The war was not confined to the northern frontier. The untiring Tecumseh had visited the Creeks the previous year, and inspired them, especially their young warriors, with his views. The Creeks occupi ed the greater portion of what is now the State of Alabama, and a portion of south-western Georgia. Numbers of the tribe had become partially civilized, living upon the products of their fields and their herds. The nation was divided in opinion. The in telligent and wealthy portion were in favor of peace, while the ignorant and poor were in favor of war.
750 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
The one party saw in a war with the United States, the utter ruin of their nation ; the other a return to their ancient customs, and a perfect independence of the white man. The settlers blindly neglected the repeated warnings given of these hostile intentions. Then suddenly Wetherford, a celebrated half-breed chief, surrounded Fort Mimms, on the lower Ala bama, and put to death nearly three hundred persons, men, women, and children. The South was speedily roused, and soon about seven thousand volunteers were on their march in four divisions, to penetrate the .enemy's country, from as many points, and to meet in the centre.
General Jackson, with his recent Natchez volun teers, moved from Nashville; from East Tennessee, another division, under General Cocke; one from Georgia, and one from the Mississippi Territory. In addition the lower Creeks took up arms against .their brethren; and also Cherokees and Choctaws joined in the expedition. A series of attacks commenced upon the savage enemy. The Creeks were defeated in every conflict ; cut down without mercy, their war riors disdaining to ask for their lives. The divisions penetrated the country from different points, and drove them from place to place. In this last struggle for their homes they were overwhelmed, but not con quered. Thus the war continued for some months, when the greater portion of the volunteers returned home. Jackson was compelled to suspend offensive operations till reinforcements should arrive. At length they came, and he went in pursuit of the enemy. On a peninsula formed by a peculiar bend in the Tallapoosa river, known as Emuchfau, or the Horse-shoe, the Indians made their last stand. They fortified the neck of the peninsula, as much as their rude materials would permit. Thither they trans-
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 751
ferred their wives and children, in whose defence they resolved to die, and there in gloomy silence they awaited the attack.
The assault was made on the breastwork, which, after five hours' fighting, was carried. Nearly six hundred of the warriors perished, and the women and children were taken prisoners. Thus, after a cam paign of six months, the power of the Creeks was broken, and with it their spirit was crushed. The warriors who were yet living, began to give them selves up to the conquerors. A noble-looking chief suddenly, at the hour of midnight, presented him self to Jackson. "I fought at Fort Mimms ; I fought the army of Georgia," said he; "I did you all the harm I could. Had I been supported as I was prom ised, I would have done more. But my warriors are killed, and I can fight no longer; I look back with sorrow that I have brought ruin upon my nation. I am now in your power, do with me as you please ; I too am a warrior." Such were the words of Wether- ford, the destroyer of Fort Mimms. Jackson could appreciate the man who would fight for his country ; though the volunteers murmured, he spared the life of the chief. The General, so stern in the perform ance of duty, was not devoid of human sympathy. When walking on the field of battle his attention was arrested by the wail of an Indian babe. He himself was a childless man, yet his heart was touched. Or dering the infant to be brought to the camp, he ask ed the Indian women to take care of it. "Its mother is dead, let it die too," was their reply. The General took the child himself, carried it to his home, and reared it in his own family.
The Essex, Captain Porter, passed round Cape Horn, expecting to meet the Constitution in the Pacific ; but she, as has already been noted, returned
752 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
home after the capture of the Java. When he arriv ed at Valparaiso, Porter was gratified to be received as a friend. Chili had thrown off her allegiance to Spain, and was no longer an ally of England. Learn ing there that the viceroy of Peru had, in expecta tion of war between Spain and the United States, au thorized cruisers against American whalers, he put to sea in order to chastise these cruisers, one of whom he captured and disarmed. He then went in pursuit of the British whalers, who were all armed, and carried commissions from their own government to capture American whaling vessels. In a few months he captured twelve of these whalers. Hear ing that the British frigate Phoebe had been sent in pursuit of him, he returned early in the year to Valparaiso, in search of the enemy. Soon the Phoebe appeared, accompanied by the sloop-of-war Cherub. In guns and men the Phoebe was a full match for the Essex. The two hostile vessels took their position off the harbor. Porter determined to avoid the un equal contest by escaping to sea; but when passing out of the harbor a sudden squall carried away his main-top-mast, and, as he could not return to port, he was at the mercy of the Phoebe and Cherub. Af ter an encounter, perhaps the most desperate of any naval engagement during the war, he was forced to surrender; but he did not strike his flag until he had lost the unusual number of fifty-eight killed and sixty-six wounded. In giving an account of the af fair to the Secretary of the Navy, he wrote: "We have been unfortunate, but not disgraced."
Efforts had been made by local societies, small and limited in their influence, to circulate the Bible, but not until the formation of a large association, with more means and greater facilities, could much be accomplished in publishing and distributing the
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 753
Scriptures. Sixty delegates, men of influence and representing thirty-five of these local associations, met in New York City, and formed the American Bible Society. During the first year eighty-four local societies became auxiliary to it; now the aux iliaries, directly or indirectly connected with the In stitution, number over seven thousand. During the first year of its existence the members of the British Bible Society sent in their congratulations and a donation of twenty-five hundred dollars. The Soci ety publishes the Bible without note or comment, and has the confidence of all the Protestant denomina tions. It publishes more than one hundred and forty varieties in other languages. At various times the Society, as far as possible, has supplied every family in the Union destitute of the Bible with a copy.
CHAPTER XLIV.
1813—1814
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
The Thirteenth Congress; its Members. — Daniel Webster. — Manifesto of the British Government. — Embarrassments. — Commissioners of Peace appointed. — Britain offers to negotiate. — Jacob Brown. — Winfield Scott. — E. W. Ripley. — Wilkinson unsuccessful; his Misfortunes. — Capture of Fort Erie. — Battle of Lundy's Lane. — Its effect. — British repulsed at Fort Erie; their Batteries captured — Battle on Lake Champlain. — British marauding Expeditions on the Shores of the Chesapeake. — Bladensburg. — Capture of Washington. — The Public Buildings burned. — Defence of Fort McHenry. — Death of General Ross. Bombardment of Stonington. — Distress in New England. Debates in Congress. — Embargo and Non-importation Act repealed, — Hartford Convention.
The thirteenth Congress, in obedience to the call of the President, met in special session, some months before the usual time. The last census had increas ed the number of Representatives in the House to 182. Of the present members a greater portion than in the last Congress were opposed to the war, and, indeed, its own advocates on that subject were by no means harmonious among themselves.
In this Congress, as well as in the last, appeared many new men, whose influence was afterward great ly felt, not only in their respective States, but in moulding the future policy of the nation itself. Among these were John Forsyth of Georgia, William Gaston of North Carolina, John McLean of Ohio, and Daniel Webster of New Hampshire, who now com menced that career so marked in our national coun cils. Born on the frontiers of that State, his privi leges were limited. The quiet, thoughtful boy, fond
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of books, read all within his reach. His father, a man of strong sense and sterling integrity; his mother, a woman of more than ordinary intellect and force of character; to their judicious guidance may be traced the best elements of his education. The father noticed his expanding intellect, the calm pow er of mind that intuitively grasped thoughts far be yond his years. His resolution was taken; though very limited in means, he must educate his son. At length he informed Daniel of his determination to send him to college. At this first intimation that the dreams which had been floating before his imagi nation were to be realized, the boy's emotions were too deep for utterance; he threw himself upon his father's neck and wept for joy.
In Congress stirring debates ensued. Not only was the policy of the war severely criticized, but the manner in which it had been conducted. Its advo cates were surrounded with difficulties; the means to carry it on were exhausted; the revenue derived from commerce had dwindled to one million, with a prospect of still greater reduction; enormous boun ties were offered to obtain recruits for the army, but very few enlisted. The clashing of opinions on the subject had arrayed the people definitely on one side or the other.
The British government issued to the world a mani festo, in which certain charges industriously circu lated in the United States were utterly denied — such as that they had instigated the Indians to hostilities, or that they had endeavored to seduce the people of the Eastern States from the Union ; but on the con trary, they protested that the English people were actuated by a spirit of forbearance, and were truly desirous to be at peace and amity with the people of the United States. As to the question of search,
756 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
they were unwilling to give up the right to recover their deserting seamen, unless the United States would remove the necessity for impressments, by enacting laws forbidding British sailors to enlist in the American service. This document had a great effect in influencing the minds of the people in Eng land, as well as upon those in the United States.
The disasters of the last campaign, and the want of money, a sufficiency of which could not be obtain ed by loans, were not as embarrassing to the govern ment, as the opposition to the war which prevailed in the New England States. The Legislature of Massa chusetts sent a remonstrance to Congress. They de nounced the war as unreasonable, for Great Britain had repealed the obnoxious Orders in Council, and also offered to negotiate in relation to impressments. Undue influences in the councils of the nation had led to measures opposed to their interests, and had brought ruin upon them by war. It was a duty to their constituents to make this remonstrance. They appealed to the Searcher of hearts for the purity of their motives, and their devotion to their country.
The people of New England complained that for the last twelve years, their influence in the national gov ernment had not been in proportion to their popula tion, intelligence and wealth, — that their best and ablest men had been designedly excluded from posi tions of influence in the councils of the nation.
In less than a year after the declaration of war, President Madison, influenced by an offer of medi ation on the part of Russia, appointed Albert Galla- tin, his Secretary of the Treasury, and James A. Bay ard, commissioners to negotiate a peace. They were to act in concert with John Quincy Adams, then min ister at the court of St. Petersburg. The offered mediation by Russia was declined by England ; and
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 757
nothing was accomplished by the commissioners. Nearly a year afterward, the British government made a direct overture to treat of peace, either at London or at Gottenburg in Sweden. This offer was made in the face of the ultimate downfall of Bona parte, who had just been defeated at the battle of Leipsic. The President gladly accepted the offer, though he complained that the English government had rejected the mediation of Russia, which had been offered there several times. Accordingly, Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell, recently minister to Eng land, were appointed additional commissioners of peace. In a month's time, they had received their instructions, and were on their way to Europe.
These instructions took decided ground on the im pressment question. "That degrading practice must cease," said they. "Our flag must protect the crew, or the United States cannot consider themselves an independent nation." Yet the promise was quietly made to enact a law forbidding the enlistment of Brit ish sailors, either in the United States navy or in the mercantile service. Still, more, the commissioners were privately authorized "to go further, to prevent a possibility of failure." It will be remembered that this was the very law or assurance in effect, that Britain asked of Congress at the commencement of the war.
Engrossed with the affairs of Europe, England as yet could spare but few men or ships for the Amer ican war. Bonaparte having abdicated and retired to Elba, she had on her hands a large veteran army unemployed. Of this army, fourteen thousand sold iers were sent to Canada, while other portions were sent to different places in the United States. This acquisition changed the face of affairs on the north ern frontier.
758 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
The failures in that quarter, had thrown the ad ministration at Washington into despair. The sold iers had but little confidence in officers, who were continually quarrelling with each other, and never acting in concert, and this favorite measure was about to be given up, from sheer want of proper persons to lead the enterprise. New men were com ing on the stage. The most promising of these was Colonel Jacob Brown, a Pennsylvanian by birth, a Quaker by descent, who, when a school teacher in the city of New York, attracted the attention of Hamilton, who made him his military secretary in the army of 1798. Brown subsequently removed to the northern part of New York State, and there, in his defence of Ogdensburg, as well as on other occa sions, exhibited military talents of a high order. There was another youthful hero, destined to fill an honorable space in the military annals of his coun try. Winfield Scott, a native of Virginia, originally bred for the bar; he also belonged to the army of '98. At the commencement of the war he raised and commanded a company of volunteers. To these may be added Eleazar W. Ripley, of Maine, who possessed talents of a high order.
These young and enthusiastic officers believed that if the Americans were drilled, and led by com manders in whom they had confidence, they would meet the British regulars without fear for the result. Owing to their solicitations, another invasion of Can ada was planned. Nothing, however, was gained by the effort, except the verification of their theory.
Early in the spring, Wilkinson, who had been ill for months, moved with four thousand men, from winter quarters, to repel a British detachment. His pro gress was arrested near I /a Colle, at a stone mill, held as an outpost. The single heavy cannon brought to
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 759
batter down the mill, sunk in the mire. An unusual thaw commencing, flooded the whole country, and opened Lake Champlain, of which the Britsh had control. The Americans were fain to retire from the danger as soon as possible. Wilkinson was so much abused and ridiculed on account of this failure, that he indignantly resigned, and demanded an inquiry into his conduct by a court-martial.
One year from that time, he was honorably acquit ted by the court. But the government, which he had faithfully served for forty years, on the reduction of the army after the war, dismissed him from its serv ice. Thus in his old age he experienced the hardship of being turned upon the world without a competency. The State of Maryland came forward, and generously granted him a pension.
When spring further opened, a concentration of forces on both sides resulted in a series of movements and counter-movements accomplishing nothing of im portance. The first point resolved upon, was to seize Burlington Heights, at the head of Lake Ontario, be fore aid could come from York. In the mean time, Commodore Chauncey was to get the command of the lake.
Having obtained permission from the government, General Brown, with thirty-five hundred men, some regulars and some volunteers, passed in the night from Buffalo to Canada, presented himself in the morning before Fort Erie, and summoned the garri son to surrender. In the course of the day, the fort complied.
The British General Riall, with an army equal in number to that of Brown, was stationed behind the Chippewa, distant fifteen miles. Colonel Scott, the next day, led the advance against the enemy, whose outposts he drove in; the remainder of the army
760 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
came up at midnight. Brown here gave an indica tion of what he expected of his officers ; he cashiered one of their number for untimely retreating in a skirmish. On the following day, Riall left his in- trenchments and crossed the Chippewa. The volun teers could not resist the attack, but fled, leaving Scott's brigade exposed. The latter charged the re treating enemy with the bayonet, and forced them to retreat ; as they passed the bridge they destroyed it. Riall immediately abandoned his camp and Queens- town, and leaving a strong force in Fort George, re treated to a favorable position twelve miles distant. The British loss in these engagements was about five hundred, the Americans about three hundred. This first victory, after a fair trial of strength, was very gratifying to the Americans, privates as well as of ficers. Brown took possession of Queenstown, but found he had not the proper cannon to successfully attack Fort George, and that the fleet could not co operate. After maintaining his position three weeks, he fell back to the Chippewa.
The British were not idle. On the very day that Brown reached the Chippewa, General Drummond arrived from York at Fort George, with large rein forcements. To prevent them from sending a de tachment to destroy his stores at Schlosser, Brown made an advance upon the enemy. Scott led his brigade, accompanied by the artillery commanded by Towson. General Riall was advancing in force in an opposite direction, intending on the following morn ing to attack the Americans. About sunset, when directly opposite the falls of Niagara, these parties unexpectedly met. The British took position on a rising ground, and there placed their artillery, con sisting of seven pieces. These began to play upon Scott's brigade, while, because of their position on
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 751
the hill, balls from Towson's guns could scarcely reach them., The loss of the Americans was great, yet they maintained their position, expecting Brown with the main army. When it was quite dark, he arrived. One of Scott's regiments under Major Jessup drove the Canadian militia before them, and, gaining the rear of the enemy, captured a number of prisoners, among whom was General Riall himself, who having been wounded, was retiring. It was seen that the key of the position was the park of artillery on the hill. Said Ripley to Colonel James Miller: "Can you take that battery ?" "I'll try, sir," was the prompt reply. Then silently • leading his regiment, which was partially concealed by the fence of a churchyard, along which they passed, Miller rushed upon the artillerists, and drove them from their guns at the point of the bayonet. Presently General Drummond advanced in the darkness to recover the guns; but his men quailed before the terrible fire which they encountered. He rallied them again ; and again they were forced from the hill. With the energy of desperation, for the third time they ad vanced, and were again met with a resistance equal ly obstinate, — the opposing forces fighting hand to hand with the bayonet. It was now midnight. The British sullenly retired. The Americans had main tained their ground, supplying their own exhausted ammunition from the cartridge-boxes of the slain foes. The men were almost perishing with hunger, thirst and fatigue. They had marched during the day fifteen miles, and contended with the enemy five hours. Exhausted, they sank upon the ground. The silence was broken only by the groans of the wounded and dying, and the roar of the mighty cataract, whose moaning tones was a fit requiem for the dead on that field of blood.
7(J2 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
The Americans at length retired to their camp, not having horses or any means to carry off the guns which they had captured. The scouts of the enemy soon discovered that they had retired, and a strong detachment was sent to reoccupy the hill and recover their artillery.
Such was the midnight battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's Lane. The Americans lost nearly seven hundred and fifty men — and the British nearly nine hundred ; an unprecedented loss, when compared with the number engaged. Brown and Scott were both wounded ; as well as nearly all the regimental offic ers. The next morning there were but sixteen hun dred effective men in the American camp. It was now seen that the Americans, when properly led, could and would fight. They had met the veterans who fought under Wellington in Spain, and repulsed them in the three desperate encounters. This battle stood out in bold relief, when compared with the im becility hitherto so characteristic of the campaigns on the northern frontier. It acquired a national in terest, as important in its effect as the first naval victories.
The American army fell back to Fort Erie, the com mand of which Brown instructed to Colonel Edmund P. Gaines. In the course of a fortnight, Drummond advanced with four thousand men, and after bom barding the fort, attempted at midnight to carry it by assault. The British, in the face of a destructive fire,charged again and again, even within a few feet of the intrenchments. They were finally forced to retire, after sustaining a loss of nearly a thousand men — the Americans not losing a hundred. In a few weeks the energetic Brown, now partially recovered from his wounds, assumed the command. He deter mined to make a dash at the enemy's batteries, which
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 763
were two miles in advance of their camp. The time, mid-day, was well chosen. Rushing out from the fort, before assistance could come from the British camp, he stormed the batteries, fired the magazines, spiked the guns, captured four hundred prisoners, and returned to the fort, leaving six hundred of the enemy killed and wounded. But this brilliant ex ploit cost him nearly three hundred men. Drum- mond immediately raised the siege and retreated beyond the Chippewa.
Stirring events occurred on another part of the frontier. The little navy on Lake Champlain emu lated the deeds of the one on Lake Erie just a year be fore. General Prevost, himself, marched from Cana da with twelve thousand veteran troops to invade the State of New York — the town of Plattsburg was the special object of attack. There on the south bank of the Saranac, General Macomb was intrenched with an army of three thousand men, many of whom were in valids. The main body of the American forces was under General Izard, at Sackett's Harbor. Macomb called upon the militia of Vermont and New York for aid ; three thousand of whom nobly responded, as did their fathers thirty-seven years before, when Bur- goyne was moving in the same direction, and for the same purpose. Commodore Macdonough, after lab oring incessantly, had at last equipped a fleet. It consisted of a ship, the Saratoga, of twenty-six guns, a brig of twenty guns, an armed schooner, and a sloop, besides some gun-boats, in all eighty-six guns and eight hundred and fifty-six men. The British soon appeared, and began to prepare batteries in order to assault Macomb's position. It was useless to force the Saranac, unless the command of the lake was se cured. Captain Downie had a fleet of one ship and thirty-seven guns, a brig of twenty-four, two sloops
764 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
each of eleven, and a number of gun-boats, in all ninety-five guns and one thousand men. Macdo- nough moored his fleet across the entrance of Platts- burg Bay. A strange scene was witnessed on board the Saratoga. As the British fleet drew near, Mac- donough knelt in prayer in the presence of his men, and implored the blessing of Heaven upon his coun try, and especially upon those about to engage with him in the coming conflict.
Downie stood directly into the harbor, reserving his fire for a close action, but his largest vessel be came so disabled that he was obliged to cast anchor a quarter of a mile from the American line. During this time one of his sloops was so cut up as to become unmanageable, and drifting within reach, was se cured, while the other sloop for a similar cause drift ed ashore. All the guns on one side of Macdonough's largest ship were disabled, but he managed to wind her around, and presented a whole side and guns to her antagonist. Downie attempted the same man oeuvre, but failing he struck his flag ; the entire fleet was captured with the exception of a few gun-boats.
When the battle began on the lake, Prevost ad vanced to storm Macomb's position; he delayed the main attack till a detachment could cross the river above, but before that waS accomplished, the fleet had surrendered. The following night, in the midst of a raging storm, the enemy, stricken with a sudden panic, commenced their retreat, abandoned their sick and wounded, and the greater part of their stores. Thus again the navy of the lake had given a decisive blow.
Their great number of vessels enabled the British still to blockade the ports of the United States, and effectually prevent their ships of war from getting to sea. The Wasp was their only one afloat. She
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 765
was known to have lately captured the British sloop- of-war Avon, and subsequently three other prizes. All trace of her was now lost; she had gone down, carrying with her the only American flag which waved on the ocean from a national vessel. Chesa peake Bay became the favorite rendezvous for the British fleet ; its shores affording great facilities for marauding expeditions. As a defence, the gun-boats were of no service, except to make a bold front till the enemy came near, and then to run up the creeks, out of harm's way.
In the waters of the Chesapeake and its tributaries, there were now sixty ships of war under the com mand of Admirals Cockburn and Cochrane. On board this fleet was a land force of five thousand troops, under General Robert Ross. The greatest alarm prevailed in that region in consequence of a proclamation, signed by Cochrane, which promised to persons desirous of emigrating from the United States, employment in the British army and navy, or transportation as "free settlers" to the West India Islands or to Canada. Still more alarming was the rumor, based on the proposition of some British offic ers, that the enemy were about to seize the peninsula between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and there form and drill an army of runaway slaves.
General Winder, who was appointed to the com mand in the emergency, was authorized to call out fifteen thousand militia from the neighboring States. This he proposed to do some weeks before the enemy appeared, and to place them in a central position, that they might be able to march to the defence of either Washington, Baltimore, or Annapolis, as the case might require. This judicious plan was not adopted. Armstrong, the Secretary of War, opposed it on the ground that with an empty treasury it would be un-
766 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
justifiable to incur the expense; and, moreover, he was of the opinion that Washington would not be at tacked by an enemy who were without horses or can non, and that Baltimore could defend itself. Presi dent Madison seems to have been at a loss what to do or advise. In the midst of these discussions the enemy appeared, one portion of their fleet coming up the bay, and another up the Potomac.
At this late hour word was sent, not by express, but by tardy mail, to the authorities of Pennsylvania and Virginia, asking them to forward their requisi tion of militia. It was now impossible for them to reach the scene of action. In the mean time at Bene dict, on the Patuxent, about fifty miles from Wash ington, General Ross landed five thousand troops, without meeting the least opposition from the militia of the neighborhood. He commenced his march to ward the capital, moving very slowly, not more than ten miles a day, the marines, for want of horses, dragging their field-pieces, only three or four. The soldiers were enervated from the effects of their voy age, and from the excessive heat of the weather. A few spirited troops could have easily checked them. A company of armed and trained negroes marched in front, cautiously exploring the country, and receiving from runaway slaves information of the Americans. The soul of the enterprise was the notorious Cock- burn, who had been fer a year engaged in pillaging that region. The planters were so much alarmed for their own safety, lest the slaves, much more numer ous than their masters, should rise in insurrection and join the enemy, that they permitted the invaders to advance for four days without making the least opposition. They might have been delayed on their march much longer, if trees had been felled at certain points where the roads crossed swamps, or if the
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 757
numerous bridges on the route had been broken down.
Commodore Barney, who was in command of the flotilla of gun-boats, ran them up the Patuxent as far as possible, then set them on fire, and marched with five hundred marines to join the militia concentrat ing in the vicinity of Bladensburg. Here he was put in command of some heavy guns brought from the navy yard. The President himself, accompanied by his cabinet, visited the camp, where all was in con fusion. The divisions of militia were stationed by General Winder in such positions as to support each other, but these had been changed by self -constituted officers, who accompanied the President. It was ascertained that the enemy was moving toward Bladensburg. Rumor had magnified their number to ten thousand; all veterans. The discreet militia began to retreat, some with permission and some without. On learning this General Winder sent or ders for them to make a stand at the bridge and fight. The village was abandoned, and on the other side of the east branch of the Potomac the marines and mi litia were arranged. Barney had placed his men in a position to sweep the road with the guns. About the middle of the afternoon the enemy prepared, but so excessive had been the heat, that they were com pletely exhausted. When Ross reconnoitred the mi litia stationed on the rising ground, he was somewhat alarmed at their formidable appearance. But he had gone too far to retreat ; the order was given to move forward. His alarm was of short continuance. A few Congreve rockets put the Maryland militia to flight ; the riflemen followed ; the artillery, after fir ing not more than twice, rapidly retreated ; then the Baltimore regiment, on which some hopes were plac ed, fled also, carrying with them the President and
768 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
his cabinet. The British now moved slowly on until they were checked by the guns manned by the ma rines under Barney. Finding it impossible to force the position of the marines and sailors in front, de tachments filed by the right and left and passed up ravines. At the head of one was stationed the Annapolis regiment, which fled at the first fire. At the head of the other ravine were placed some regu lars and militia ; they also showed their discretion by getting out of harm's way as soon as possible. The sailors and marines, thus deserted, and in danger of being surrounded, retired, their guns and wounded companions falling into the hands of the enemy. Owing to the vigorous fire of the marines, the British lost a large number of men, and others died from fatigue and heat, and it was absolutely necessary to wait some hours before they could march on Wash ington. Thus ended the battle of Bladensburg, — in one respect the most famous in American annals.
In the cool of the evening the British advanced into Washington, which they found almost entirely deserted by its male inhabitants. The enemy pro ceeded to disgrace themselves by fulfilling the in structions which Admiral Cochrane had previously officially announced, which were "to destroy and lay waste all towns and districts of the United States found accessible to the attack of British armaments." They burned the capitol, and with it the Congres sional Library, and the buildings used for the Treas ury and State Departments, in revenge, as it was said, for the Parliament House at York. Many im portant papers were lost, but the most valuable had been removed some days before. Mrs. Madison had left the President's mansion, taking with her the plate and valuables, and also a portrait of Washing ton — which was taken from the frame and rolled up.
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 769
The mansion was pillaged and set on fire, as were some private dwellings, and stores were also plund ered. A complete destruction followed at the navy yard.
In the midst of a hostile country, General Ross, with a handful of exhausted men, was ill at ease. Perhaps he had read of Concord and Lexington, and was alarmed lest "the indignant citizen soldiery" would turn out and harass him on his retreat. Early the following night he kindled the camp fires, and leaving behind him the sick and wounded, he com menced a stealthy retreat to his ships. His alarm was needless ; in a march of four days not the least op position did he experience. Four days after the tak ing of the capital, the British frigates, passing by Fort Washington, which offered but little resistance, came up the Potomac and anchored opposite Alexan dria, which town saved itself from a bombardment by paying an enormous tribute.
When his men were refreshed, General Rosr moved with the fleet up the Chesrx>eake, toward Baltimore. The militia of Maryland by this time had assembled for the defence of the city; and also several com panies of volunteers had arrived from Pennsylvania. The enemy, eight thousand strong, landed at North Point, at the mouth of the Patapsco. The land forces commenced their march, and the fleet to ascend the river, intending to capture Fort McHenry, situated two miles below the city. An advance party of Americans were thrown forward. In a skirmish with this party, General Ross was killed, yet the invaders pressed on ; the militia, after a spirited en counter, retired in good order. The next morning the enemy advanced, yet hesitatingly, as the neigh boring hills were covered with soldiers, field works and artillery, which altogether made a formidable
770 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
appearance. They were under the veteran General Samuel Smith, the same who so gallantly defended Fort Mifflin in the Revolution. The British hesitat ed to commence the attack without the co-operation of the fleet, which was then busily engaged in bom barding Fort McHenry, but without much success, as the fort was replying with great spirit. When it was ascertained that the fleet could not pass the fort, the invaders silently retired in the night and re-embark ed.
It was amid the excitement of this cannonade that Francis Key composed the popular song of the "Star Spangled Banner." He had gone to ask the release of certain prisoners, and had been detained during the attack on board the British fleet.
From Eastport in Maine to Sandy Hook, the whole Eastern coast was liable to these marauding expedi tions. One of the most serious of these was, the bombardment of Stonington in Connecticut, which continued for four days, but after throwing shells and rockets, and several attempts to land, the enemy retired. They were rep<Jled in every instance by the sturdy militia. Field works, garrisoned by the yeo manry of the country, were thrown up at all points along the coast likely to be an object of attack. This was done by the State authorities, the national gov ernment being so completely enfeebled, as to be un able to afford the least aid to any of the States.
The people of New England, with very few excep tions, continued to complain of their grievances. Their distress was great ; the embargo, enforced by severe penalties, ruined their fisheries and their coasting trade, and had deprived them of many ne cessaries of life. They looked upon these restric tions as "more odious and unfeeling than the Boston Port Bill, which roused the colonies to independence ;
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 771
a gross and palpable violation of the principles of the Constitution, not to be submitted to without a pusil lanimous surrender of their rights and liberties."
Petitions poured in to the legislature of Massachus etts, asking it to take measures to redress these grievances. A committee to whom these petitions were referred, reported in terms expressive of the general sentiment of the petitioners. They believed that the war, so fertile in failures, and so threaten ing as to its results, was uncalled for and wrong in principle. They saw in the future the people impov erished, deprived of their comforts, and their hopes blasted. And the committee recommended a conven tion of delegates from the commercial States, to ob tain amendments to the constitution that would se cure them against such evils.
These manifestations of discontent had their ef fect, and the President himself proposed the aban donment of the restrictive system, not only the em bargo, but the non-importation act. In order to en courage domestic manufacturers, instead of the lat ter he recommended that for three years after the close of the war double duties be imposed upon im ported goods, and that the exportation of specie be prohibited.
The advocates of the war in Congress, annoyed at the failures of the last two years, attributed their want of success to the influence of those opposed to the war ; instead of acknowledging their own imprud ence, in thus rushing, without preparation, into hostilities, or ceasing to be infatuated with the idea of conquering Canada. In the discussion on a bill to procure enlistments for the army, Daniel Webster in reply to these charges, no doubt expressed the gen eral sentiment of those opposed to the war. In those sections of the country where the population was
772 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
most numerous, the war was unpopular because of its impolicy; — it was no detraction from their pat riotism that they did not join heart and hand in measures which they deemed the extreme of folly. He continued, — "Give up your futile projects of in vasion. Extinguish the fires which blaze on your inland frontiers. Establish perfect safety and de fence there by adequate force. Let every man that sleeps on your soil sleep in security. Having per formed this work of beneficence and mercy on your inland border, turn and look with the eye of justice and compassion on your vast population along the coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your embargo. Take measures for that end before another sun sets upon you. With all the war of the enemy upon your commerce, if you would cease to make war upon it yourselves, you would still have some commerce. That commerce would give you some revenue. Ap ply that revenue to the augmentation of your navy. Let it no longer be said, that not one ship of force, built by your hands since the war, yet floats upon the ocean. If the war must continue, go to the ocean. If you are seriously contending for maritime rights, go to the theatre where alone those rights can be de fended. Thither every indication of your fortune points you. There the united wishes and exertions of the nation will go with you. Even our party divi sions, acrimonious as they are, cease at the water's edge. They are lost in attachment to the national character, on the element where that character is made respectable. In time you may be able to re dress injuries in the place where they may be offer ed; and, if need be, to accompany your own flag throughout the world with the protection of your own cannon." The embargo and non-importation act were repeal-
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 773
ed, while action on the other recommendations of the President was postponed.
The delegates to the convention recommended by the legislature of Massachusetts, met upon the ap pointed day at Hartford. In accordance with the sentiments expressed in the call for the convention, the members were enjoined not to propose measures "repugnant to their obligations, as members of the Union." They met in a time of trial and distress to confer with each other on the best means to relieve the country of a ruinous war, and secure the bless ings of a permanent peace. The Convention, consist ing of but twenty-six members, sat with closed doors. After a session of twenty days it adjourned, and, as the result of their deliberations, published an address to the people. The address disappointed the more violent opponents of the war, who thought the occa sion demanded more decided measures. The Presi dent and his cabinet had been much alarmed ; in the Convention, they imagined lurked some terrible plot of treason; they breathed more freely when they read this address and the resolutions.
After recapitulating the evils which the war had brought upon the people whom they represented, they expressed their sentiments upon other wrongs ; such as the enlistment of minors and apprentices; the national government assuming to command the State militia ; and especially the proposed system of conscription for both army and navy. "Strange pro positions for a government professedly waging war to protect its seamen from impressment!" "The conscription of the father with the seduction of the son, renders complete the power of the national ex ecutive over the male population of the country, thus destroying the most important relations of society."
"A free constitution administered by great and in-
774 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
comparable statesmen realized the fondest hopes of liberty and independence, under Washington and his measures. The arts flourished, the comforts of life were universally diffused, nothing remained but to reap the advantages and cherish the resources flow ing from this policy."
"Our object is to strengthen and perpetuate the union of these States, by removing the causes of jealousies."
In furtherance of these views they proposed amend ments to the Constitution ; among others, to equalize the representation in the lower House of Congress, by basing it on free population; against embargoes and non-intercourse laws ; to make the President in eligible for a second term. These amendments were never adopted by the States. The existence of the Convention showed the intense feeling on the subject of the war and its consequences, and its deliberations exhibit no other spirit than that of wishing to redress grievances by constitutional means.
Shortly after the adjournment of the Convention, the legislatures of Massachusetts and Connecticut, viewing the law of Congress which authorized the enlistment of minors and apprentices, as a violation of their rights and unconstitutional, passed laws that subjected the recruiting officers to fine and imprison ment; and required the State judges to release any such minor or apprentice on application of the parent or guardian. Fortunately the war was soon after brought to a close, and the necessity for enlistments under this oppressive and demoralizing law, was re moved.
CHAPTER XLV.
1814—1838 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONCLUDED
Jackson enters Pensacola. — New Orleans defenceless. — The British land. — Jackson's Measures of Defence. — Battle of New Orleans. — The Distress of the Country and Embar rassment of the Government. — The Relief. — Treaty of Peace. — The Frigate President captured. — Success at Sea. — War with Algiers. — Treaty with that Power. — Treaty with the Indians. — Financial Disorders. — State of Indiana. — John Fitch. — Robert Fulton. — First Steamboat.
When arranging affairs with the Creeks, General Jackson learned that the Spaniards at Pensacola had welcomed the hostile Indians, and also that a British man-of-war had furnished them with arms. Intel ligence of this was sent to Washington, whence or ders were transmitted to Jackson to seize Pensacola. That these orders were six months on the way, may illustrate the efficiency with which the War Depart ment was conducted. Meantime some British men- of-war arrived in the harbor, from which a Colonel Nichols landed men and began to enlist the Creeks. Jackson now sent urgent appeals to his favorite Tennessee mounted men to hasten to his aid. The British soon after attacked Fort Bowyer on the east shore of Mobile Bay. The fort was defended by one hundred and thirty men, under Major Lawrence. The vigorous defence soon repulsed the enemy, one of whose ships blew up and the rest were fain to de part. This success encouraged the people of Louisi ana and Mississippi in their efforts to defend New Orleans themselves, without depending upon the General Government. Jackson wrote repeatedly to
776 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Washington for orders and received none, but when the three thousand Tennesseeans, under General Cof fee, arrived, he took the responsibility to enter Pen- sacola and demand that the British should leave the place. He also intimated in emphatic terms to the Spanish governor, that he would hold him responsible for permitting the British to occupy his territory, for the purpose of encouraging the Creeks in their hostility. The British immediately blew up a fort which they had erected seven miles below the town, and took to their ships.
Confident that the enemy designed to direct their efforts against New Orleans, Jackson sent in advance General Coffee to some point on the Mississippi, with the mounted men, while he himself followed, as soon as circumstances would permit. The defences of New Orleans were in a deplorable condition; since Wilkinson left, nothing further had been done to re pair them. The city contained nearly twenty thou sand inhabitants, not one-half of whom were whites. These were principally of French origin, and others of foreign birth, none of whom were ardently attach ed to the United States. Jackson hastened to the point of danger. He availed himself of every possi ble aid; he released the convicts in the prisons, and enrolled them for the occasion ; accepted the offered services of Lafitte, the head of the Baratarian buc caneers. He also issued an address to "the noble- hearted, generous, free men of color," to enroll them selves for the defence of their country. To this call, under an act of the Louisiana Legislature, they heartily responded.
While he was thus unprepared, the British fleet cast anchor off the entrance of Lake Borgne. It had on board twelve thousand land troops, besides four thousand sailors and marines. These troops had re-
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 777
cently been under the Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular war, and were commanded by able and ex perienced generals ; Sir Edward Pakenham, a broth er-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, Gibbs, Keene, and Lambert. Three days later, after a severe con test, they captured the entire American flotilla on Lake Borgne.
The Louisiana militia were immediately called out, but they were ill supplied with arms. Some months previous, Jackson, anticipating this very emergency, had urged upon the War Department at Washington to send a supply of arms from the arsenal at Pitts- burg. The government agent, unwilling to pay the usual freight on the only steamboat then running to New Orleans, shipped the arms on board keel boats. Thus twenty-five cents on a hundred pounds of freight was saved by the Government, and Jackson received the muskets after the battle !
General Coffee had reached Baton Rouge, at which place he received orders to hasten with all speed to the scene of action. vWith eight hundred of his best mounted men — all unerring marksman, armed with rifles and tomahawks — he made the extraordinary march of one hundred and fifty miles in two days. Thus, by similar exertions, in the space of a fort night, Jackson had five thousand men, four-fifths of whom were militia. Other difficulties presented themselves. Owing to the want of co-operation on the part of the legislature, and the necessities of the times, he proclaimed martial law.
The enemy landed two thousand light armed troops, under General Keene. Jackson marched to meet them with the regulars, and Coffee's men dis mounted. Soon after dark the battle began; the enemy were driven from one point to another, till finally they found protection behind a levee. Good
778 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
service was done in this conflict by the armed schoon er Carolina, which ran in near the shore, and with her guns swept their ranks. This successful repulse of the invaders greatly encouraged the Americans.
The next day Jackson took a position on solid ground nearly a mile in breadth ; the river protecting one flank, and a swamp the other. Though strongly reinforced, the British made no attempt the follow ing day to retrieve what they had lost, being deterred by the reports of prisoners, who greatly exaggerated the strength of Jackson's force. This delay was pro fitably occupied in strengthening the defences ; bales of cotton were used as a rampart, and the ditch was extended to the swamp. Five days later the enemy advanced and drove in the American outposts, and when within half a mile of the ramparts opened with artillery and Congreve rockets. Yet Jackson replied with so much vigor, with his five heavy guns, that after a cannonade of seven hours the enemy with drew, having suffered considerable loss.
Within three days after this repulse, they made another attack with much heavier artillery. Their movements were concealed by a dense fog, and the intimation of their approach was given only by their cannon balls crashing through the American camp, but Jackson had so strengthened his works, that the British — their guns dismounted and silenced — were again compelled to retire ; but it was to make prepara tions for a grand assault.
Presently twenty-two hundred Kentucky riflemen arrived ; of whom unfortunately one-half were with out arms, and could not be supplied. These Jackson placed to throw up a second line of intrenchments in the rear of the first line.
When prepared, the British moved to the assault, under the cover of a battery of six eighteen-pounders,
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 779
which had been erected the previous night. The main column was led by Pakenham in person, intend ing to storm the centre, one column moved along the river and carried a redoubt, another, led by Gibbs and Keene, advanced along the edge of the swamp.
As the advancing columns came within range, the American artillery opened upon them with deadly effect, yet they filled up their ranks and moved stead ily on. Presently they reached the range of the Kentucky and Tennessee rifles, which poured in a continuous stream of unerring bullets. The heads of the columns faltered. While endeavoring to rally them, Pakenham fell; Keene and Gibbs were both wounded, the latter mortally. The command then devolved on General Lambert, who made two more unsuccessful attempts to storm the works, but was forced to retire, leaving, on the field two thousand men killed and wounded. Jackson had taken the precaution to send General Morgan across the river to throw up intrenchments directly opposite his own. The night previous to the battle, Pakenham sent a detachment under Colonel Thornton, who drove Mor gan from his position, but when the main body was defeated he took to his boats and hastily retreated.
In this battle the Americans lost seven men killed and as many wounded.
Taking every precaution to guard against surprise, Lambert gradually fell back to the first landing place, and then, in the course of twenty days, re-embarked.
Thus virtually ended the war of 1812. The only battles well fought on land, were those directed by new men called into active service by the war itself. The victories at Lundy's Lane and New Orleans were gained by soldiers who had been trained but a short time, but they were under commanders in whom they had implicit confidence.
780 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Though these successful events were transpiring in that distant region, yet on the Atlantic coast, and at Washington, it was the gloomiest period of the war. Affairs were almost desperate. The treasury exhausted, the national credit gone, the terrible law of conscription, like an ominous cloud hanging over the people, civil discord seemingly ready to spring up between the States ; the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia yet subject to the marauding expeditions of the infamous Cockburn, while the inhabitants were crying in vain to the General Government for assist ance. Nothing favorable had yet been heard from the commissioners of peace at Ghent, nor even from New Orleans. It was known that a very large force of British veterans was in the vicinity of that place, and that Jackson was very ill-prepared to meet them.
As a gleam of sunshine in intense darkness, a rumor, by way of Canada, proclaimed that peace had been concluded ; at the same time came another from the southwest that the enemy had been defeated. While all were tremblingly anxious for the truth of these rumors, late of a Saturday night, a British sloop-of-war, the Favorite, commissioned for the pur pose, arrived at New York, bringing the treaty of peace, already ratified by the British government. The cry of PEACE! PEACE! ran through the city. As if by one impulse the houses were illuminated, and the citizens, without distinction of party, thronged the streets to congratulate each other. In the midst of their own rejoicing they did not forget their brethren who were yet ignorant of the welcome news, and messengers were sent in every direction. In thirty-two hours, the express with the tidings reach ed Boston. There the excitement was almost un bounded. The people assembled in crowds to hear the news, which had so unexpectedly brought relief
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 781
to their distresses. The bells rang their merriest peal, and the schools received a holiday. Flags and streamers were soon displayed on the vessels which had lain so long idle at the wharf. Before night, carpenters and riggers were at work, sailors were engaged, cargoes were passing on board ; Boston was herself again in commercial activity. The reception of the news was followed by similar rejoicings all along the coast, and throughout the country. To add still more to the happiness, as well as the grati fication of the nation, in a few days was confirmed the rumor of the total defeat of the British before New Orleans.
The Senate unanimously ratified the treaty within thirty hours after it was laid before them. The President speedily issued a proclamation, announcing the fact, that once more peace reigned throughout the land. A day for thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessing, was observed by the nation.
The treaty provided for the mutual restoration of all places taken during the war ; also for determining the northern boundary, and other matters of minor importance were amicably arranged. But not a word was said on the impressment question, for the settle ment of which the war had ostensibly been continued after the first two months. Both parties seem to have been heartily tired of fighting; though Great Britain wished to restrain what she thought an alarming grasping spirit in the New Republic, as evidenced in the acquisition of Louisiana and the attempts on Canada.
A few days after the ratification of the treaty, the President recommended to Congress the passage of a law to guard against incidents which, during the periods of war in Europe, might tend to interrupt peace, enjoining that "American vessels be navigated
782 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
exclusively by American seamen, either natives or such as are already naturalized," thus endeavoring to gain by legislation what could not be obtained by war. Yet one object had been secured — we hear no more of the impressment of American seamen.
Previous to the announcement of peace, the com manders of some of the national vessels determined to evade the blockading enemy and escape to sea. Commodore Decatur, on board the frigate President, commanding the sloops Hornet and Peacock to follow, attempted to evade the blockade of the port of New York. Passing out in the night, after being unfor tunately aground for some hours, in the morning he fell in with the British squadron, by whom he was chased. One of the enemy, the frigate Endymion, commenced an engagement, but after a running fight, she was effectually disabled, and fain to haul off. The President unfortunately was also crippled, and the other British vessels coming up, Decatur was compelled to strike his colors.
A few days after, the Hornet and Peacock avoided the blockade, and proceeded to their rendezvous, off the Cape of Good Hope. On her way the Hornet, Captain Biddle, fell in with and captured the British brig Penguin. The latter was made a complete wreck, and as such was set on fire. The Peacock joined her consort, and in company they sailed to the Indian Ocean. The Hornet was soon after chased by a British seventy-four, and in order to escape, she was compelled to throw her guns and nearly all her armament overboard, in which condition she return ed to New York. The Peacock, Captain Warrington, continued on to the East Indies, where she captured the cruiser Nautilus.
The Constitution, Captain Stewart, also evaded the blockade off Boston harbor. On a moonlight night
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 783
she fell in with two war vessels off the port of Lisbon. They prepared to engage, but the Constitution ma noeuvred to keep the wind at about an equal distance from her antagonists. Captain Stewart, seizing a favorable opportunity, directed all his force upon the vessel nearest, which almost immediately struck; then he captured the other in a similar manner. The prizes proved to be the British sloops-of-war Cyane and Levant. These captures were all made after the articles of peace were signed.
Soon after the commencement of the war with Britain, the Dey of Algiers, thinking the Americans would have no means of punishing him, renewed his old practice of piracy. Pretending to be dissatisfied with the presents he had received from the American government, he dismissed Lear, the consul, threaten ing to reduce him and his family, and all the Amer icans in Algiers, to slavery, a fate which Lear escap ed by paying a large ransom. Some American ves sels were afterward seized by the pirates, and their crews reduced to slavery.
Two months after the conclusion of peace, an American squadron, under Decatur, consisting of three large frigates and seven other vessels of war, sailed for the Mediterranean. Six weeks later, Bain- bridge followed with the Independence, the new seventy-four, accompanied by other war vessels ; on the way he was also joined by the Congress frigate. But before his arrival in the Mediterranean, the ener getic Decatur had brought the Dey to terms. On the second day after passing through the Straits of Gibraltar, he fell in with the largest frigate of the Dey, under his high Admiral, on a cruise for Amer ican merchantmen. After a fight of less than thirty minutes the Algerine was captured ; two days after another cruiser shared a similar fate. When the
784 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
squadron appeared before Algiers, the intelligence of these disasters, by which he had lost his best ship, and six hundred men, had greatly humbled the Dey. To escape a worse punishment, he gladly submitted to the indignity of signing, on Decatur's quarter deck, a humiliating treaty. He bound himself to make indemnities for his extortions ; to surrender all his prisoners without ransom, and to renounce all claim for tribute from the American government, as well as his barbarous practice of piracy and reducing prisoners to slavery.
Decatur proceeded immediately to Tunis an$ Tri poli, where he demanded and received indemnity for some American vessels, at whose captures, in their harbors, by the English, they had connived. Thus, in a few weeks, these barbarians were taught a les son which they have not forgotten. When Bain- bridge arrived, he found all the diif iculties arranged. The united navy, consisting of fourteen vessels, visit ed the principal ports of the Mediterranean. Their victories over the mistress of the ocean, secured them treatment manifesting high respect.
The autumn following the close of the war, a great council of the North-western Indian tribes was held, at which they made peace with each other. After ward they all made peace with the United States. Thus apprehensions of future Indian hostilities were removed.
The war left the finances of the country in a very confused state. The banks in existence, except those in New England, were unable to redeem their notes in specie, and confidence in their promises to pay was wanting. The national debt, in consequence of the war, was known to be more than one hundred mil lions of dollars. In order to remove some of the burdens resting upon the people, the Secretary of the
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 785
Treasury, A. J. Dallas, proposed to remit some of the internal taxes, which had been levied during the last few years. Instead of which he advised the imposi tion of duties on imports, not merely to secure a revenue, but also to protect the manufacturers which had sprung into existence during the war. The President likewise, in his annual message, urged the adoption of such a policy.
To aid in rectifying the financial disorders in the country, Congress chartered, for twenty years, a Na tional Bank, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars. It commenced operations at Philadelphia, and, in connection with its branches in other States, afforded the people a uniform currency redeemable at all times with gold and silver.
A bill designed to compel the local banks to pay specie was passed, ordering that all dues to the gov ernment should be paid in gold and silver, or "in treasury notes, notes of the Bank of the United States, or in notes of banks payable and paid on de mand in specie."
The Territory of Indiana having adopted a consti tution, presented herself for admission into the Union, and was received.
John Fitch, an uneducated watchmaker of Phila delphia, conceived the design of propelling boats by steam. He applied to Congress for assistance, but, unfortunately, was refused ; then, with a similar re sult, he applied to the Spanish authorities of Louisi ana. Some years later he found means to construct a boat, and to make a trial trip on the Delaware. The boat went at the rate of eight miles an hour, but un fortunately the boiler exploded. One disaster follow ed another, and poor John Fitch died, the victim of disappointment, but full of faith that others would yet perfect his intention: he desired to be buried
786 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
on the banks of the Ohio, that boats propelled by steam might pass near his last resting place. In less than twenty years after his death the steamer Cler- mont passed up the Hudson from New York to Al bany.
The Clermont was the work of Robert Fulton, a na tive of Pennsylvania, once a pupil of West, the paint er. He had a decided turn for mechanics, and had studied the subject many years in Europe, where he received pecuniary aid and encouragement from Robert R. Livingston, then American minister at Paris.
To American enterprise is due the honor of launch ing the first steamboat and the first Ocean steamer — the Savannah — that crossed the Atlantic. She left New York, went to Savannah, and thence to Eu rope, where she was an object of great interest. Twenty years later the British steamer Great West ern came to New York in fourteen days.
Madison's Administration, so full of important events, drew to a close. James Monroe, also from Virginia, had been elected his successor, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, Vice-President. The lat ter had been Governor of that State, and in that capacity had been most efficient in aiding the country in the war just closed. At one time he sustained the garrison of the city by his own private credit.
CHAPTER XLVI.
1817—1825 MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION
A Return to the earlier Policy of the Government. — The Presi dent's Tour in the Eastern States. — The Colonization Society. — Revolutions in the Spanish Colonies. — Indian War; the Seminoles — General Jackson in the Field. — Pur chase of Florida. — The Missouri Compromise. — Manufac tures. — Increase of Tariff. — Visit of Lafayette.
Since the close of the war, party distinctions were fast losing their influence. In the minds of the great majority of the people, names were giving place to ideas. The nation was prepared for the quiet revival of the leading principles of Washington's administra tion. The people had not in so many words thus formally decided ; — but to return to the policy of the earlier days of the Government seemed the only means to remedy existing evils, and to guard against their recurrence in the future. This may be said in relation to the revenue as arising from commerce, the finances, the policy toward foreign nations, and in the means of national defence both by sea and land.
The new President in his inaugural address fully in dorsed these doctrines, and they were echoed and re echoed throughout the land as the true policy, while some of the old Republicans characterized them as be ing veritable Federalism under another name. The President pointed to the experience of the nation in the last struggle, and unhesitatingly advised not only fortifications on the coast with garrisons, but a navy strong enough to maintain the dignity and neutrality
788 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
of the United States, as well as protect commerce; he also recommended that a knowledge of naval and military science should be kept up. In addition, that domestic manufacturers be protected by imposts on foreign merchandise, and also, internal improve ments be aided by the national government, if such expenditure was in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.
Though professing to be much gratified that the party spirit lately so rampant was allayed, the Presi dent took good care to appoint none but his most de voted adherents to the offices within his gift. John Quincy Adams was recalled from the court of St. James to become Secretary of State. The other members of his cabinet were William H. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury ; Crowningshield of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy; John C. Calhoun, Secretary or War, and William Wirt, Attor ney-General.
The President, some months after his inaugura tion made a tour through the Eastern States. The sentiments of his address had become diffused, and prepared the way for his receiving a warm reception in the Federal town of Boston, and throughout New England generally. It was enthusiastically proclaim ed that the people were once more to be harmonious in their views of national policy.
During the following session of Congress the American Colonization Society was formed at Wash ington. It was designed to provide a home beyond the limits of the United States for the free people of color who should desire to emigrate. The condition of these people in the slaveholding States, as well as the laws in some of the others, that forbade their settling within their borders, led to the formation of the Society. The enterprise was ardently advocated
MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 789
by Henry Clay, Judge Washington, John Randolph, and other southern statesmen. This Society estab lished the now flourishing Colony of Liberia on the west coast of Africa.
The influence of the Revolution had not been with out effect upon other nations. The Spanish colonies of South America threw off their allegiance to the mother country, and declared themselves independ ent. Under the pretence of having commissions from these new Republics, a company of adventurers, principally drawn from Charleston and Savannah, seized Amelia Island, off the harbor of St. Augustine. These worthies soon began to smuggle merchandise and slaves into the United States. Yet, as a cloak to their deeds, they proclaimed they were blockading the port of St. Augustine. A similar haunt for buc caneers had existed for some time at Galveston in Texas. Both these establishments were broken up by order of the United States Government.
The condition of the South American republics ex cited great sympathy in the minds of the people. Some were advocates for giving them aid, while oth ers were anxious that Congress should, at least, ac knowledge their independence. In defiance of the President's proclamation to the contrary, cruisers, bearing the flag of these Republics, were fitted out in some of the ports of the United States to prey upon Spanish commerce.
These difficulties, combined with other causes, led to a new Indian war in the South. Numbers of Semi- no; s, refugee Creeks, and runaway negroes, living in the Spanish Territory, south of Flint river, began to pillage the Georgia settlements north of that river. General Gaines, who was in command at the nearest fort, demanded that these murderers and robbers should be given up. The Indians refused, on the
790 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ground that they were not the aggressors. Soon af ter a collision occurred, in which several Indians were killed. The death was terribly revenged upon the people on board a boat ascending the Apalachicola, with supplies for Fort Scott. More than forty per sons, consisting of men, women, and children, were massacred. The War Department ordered General Jackson to invade the Indian Territory, and "bring the war to a speedy and effectual close." In three months he was on the ground, with an army com posed of Georgians and Tennesseeans. He moved to the vicinity of where Tallahassee now stands; the savages made little resistance, but abandoned their towns, and their cattle and grain. With his usual energy, Jackson pressed on, and, without ceremony seized St. Mark's, on Appalachee Bay, the only Span ish fort in that part of Florida, on the ground that its officers were aiding and abetting the Indians in their hostilities to the United States. One of the American armed vessels on the coast hoisted British colors, and two of the hostile Creek chiefs were de coyed on board. These chiefs Jackson unceremoni ously hanged. On one of the incursions against the enemy, two British subjects, Robert C. Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, traders among the In dians, were taken prisoners. These two men were put on trial for their lives before a court-martial, on the charge of aiding the Indians. They were found guilty and sentenced to death, and immediately ex ecuted. The measure was much censured as unne cessary and unwarranted. Notwithstanding ne protest of the Spanish governor against his inva? on of Florida, Jackson soon appeared before Pensarula, which place surrendered. The governor in the mean time fled to a fort further down the bay, and finally to Havana.
MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 791
These arbitrary proceedings were protested against by Don Onis, the Spanish Minister at Washington. The matter however was not pressed, as negotiations were soon after entered upon to purchase the terri tory in dispute.
American citizens had claims amounting to five millions of dollars against the Spanish government. Don Onis received instuctions from home, that au thorized him to cede Florida to the United States for these claims. The purchase was thus made, the American Government assuming the debt. Two years later Spain ratified the Treaty. Florida was then organized as a Territory, and General Jackson was appointed its first Governor.
The American people have never been indifferent to the political as well as the moral aspects of slav ery. From the adoption of the Constitution till the time of which we write, the conscience and the sym pathy of the religious portion of the nation, both North and South, found their expression on the sub ject in memorials addressed to the ecclesiastical as semblies, whose resolutions in reply condemned the system.
The Continental Congress legislated specially on the subject in adopting the ordinance by which the region north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi was consecrated to freedom. During the second ses sion of the First Congress, petitions were presented to that body, praying it to take measures to free the nation of the system. The committee to whom these memorials were referred, reported that Congress was not authorized by the Constitution to interfere with slavery as existing in the individual States. In ac cordance with this view, that body has ever acted, when disposing of the numerous memorials on the
792 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
subject that have, from time to time, been presented to it.
The Northern States, for a quarter of a century, had been gradually freeing themselves of the institu tion, or making provision to that effect, while in the Southern States a different sentiment had been on the increase. The acquisition of Louisiana had giv en to them a vast region in which slave labor was profitable, especially in the cultivation of cotton. These antagonist opinions were suddenly brought into collision, and a strong sectional feeling was elicited.
The territory of Missouri asked permission to form a constitution, preparatory to her admission into the Union as a State. When the question was before the House of Representatives, James W. Tallmadge, a member from New York, proposed to insert a clause, prohibiting the further introduction of slaves into the territory, and also another clause granting free dom to the children of slaves already there, when they should attain the age of twenty-five years.
After a spirited debate both these propositions were adopted. The day following the passage of this bill came up a similar one to organize the Territory of Arkansas. This bill, after a strenuous effort to insert similar clauses, was finally passed without any restriction as to slavery.
The States admitted into the Union, since the adop tion of the Constitution, had happened to come in alternately as non-slaveholding, and as slaveholding — Vermont and Kentucky; Tennessee and Ohio; Louisiana and Indiana ; Mississippi and Illinois. As Alabama had applied for admission as a slave State, it was urged that Missouri should be admitted as free. This proposition soon lost its force by the ap plication of Maine, the northeastern part of Massa-
MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 793
chusetts, presenting herself to be admitted as a free State. Here was an offset to Alabama, leaving Mis souri to make the next slave State.
In the consideration of these bills the subject of slavery restriction in the territories came up for dis cussion. The members from the Southern States insisted that any restriction upon Missouri would violate the pledge given to the inhabitants of Louis iana, at the time of its purchase, that they should enjoy "all the privileges of citizens of the United States ;" that such a restriction would eventually in terfere with State rights ; that the citizens of slave- holding States had the right to take their property into the territories of the Union. It was urged that it would be an act of humanity and a blessing to the poor slave, whose lot was so hard in the old exhaust ed States, to transfer him to the fertile plains of the West; that this would only be the diffusion of the system, but not its extension, as the number of slaves would not be increased thereby ; and that the prohibition of slavery would diminish emigration from the South into the territories.
To these arguments it was replied : it was true that Congress was forbidden by the Constitution to inter fere with slavery in the original thirteen States, but that this did not apply to the territories. They were the property of the Union, and Congress had the con trol of their organization. Would Congress be justi fied in spreading over them an institution which even its advocates on the floor of the house had again and again deplored as an evil?
It was contended that slave labor and free labor could not coexist on the same soil ; and should the in troduction of a few thousands of slaves exclude mil lions of freemen from the territories?1
!The Debates in Congress, Niles's Register, Vols. 16, 17, and 18.
794 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN NATION
The debate was conducted with great animation, mingled with much bitterness, and threats to dissolve the Union. The intense excitement was not limited to the National Legislature ; it extended throughout the country, and it was by no means diminished by the speeches made on the subject on the floor of Con gress, nor by the fact, which the discussion revealed, that during the previous year more than fourteen thousand slaves had been smuggled into the United States, from Africa and the West Indies.
The legislatures of some of the Northern States ex pressed their wish that slavery should not go beyond the Mississippi, while the people held conventions and memorialized Congress. Opposite views were as strongly expressed by some of the Southern States. Thus the country was agitated for nearly two years, and the difficulty was still unsettled. When the bill came before the Senate, Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois moved as an amendment, a clause forbidding the in troduction of slavery into the Louisiana Territory north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, and west of the proposed State of Missouri. This was the line of the famous Missouri Compro mise. The House, however, would not at first agree to this arrangement; but finally, through means of a committee of conference, Maine was admitted and Missouri, on these conditions, after she should adopt a constitution.
The following year, when the constitution of Mis souri was presented to Congress, it was found to con tain a clause that prohibited free people of color from settling in the State. Though this clause "was adop ted for the sake of peace — for the sake of internal tranquility — and to prevent the agitation of the slave question," lyet it was viewed far differently in
iBenton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. i. p. 8.
MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 795
Congress, and was the occasion of opening the re striction question with all its bitterness. The in sertion of the offensive clause, under the circum stances, seemed to manifest as little regard for the Constitution of the United States, as respect for the opinions of those opposed to the extension of slavery. The citizens of any one State were, by the Constitu tion, entitled to the privileges of citizens in the other States. Free people of color were thus recognized in some of the States, but by this clause they were de prived of their rights. Another committee of con ference, of which Henry Clay was the prime mover, was appointed by the Senate and House of Represen tatives. The difficulty was again compromised by which Missouri was to be admitted on the express condition that she would expunge the obnoxious clause, and then the President was authorized to admit her by proclamation. The Missouri Legisla ture complied, and the fact was communicated to the President, who proclaimed her admission to the fami ly of States. Thus the slavery agitation was allayed for a time, but the same question, under different phases, has returned again and again, and will no doubt continue thus to do till the conscience of the nation is fully satisfied on the subject — for questions involving the moral and political relations of so many millions cannot be lightly passed over.
A new interest was awakened in behalf of the South American Republics. Great efforts had been made by Henry Clay, during their struggle, to induce Congress to acknowledge their independence, but it was then thought premature ; now the bill was pass ed. The next year the President declared in his message that "as a principle the American Conti nents, by the free and independent position which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth
796 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
not to be considered as subjects for future coloniza tion by any European power." This has since been known as the Monroe Doctrine, though its author ship, it would seem, belongs rather to his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams.
Great financial distress prevailed during this period throughout the land. The immense amount of fore ign, especially English, merchandise sent, at reduced prices, into the country, paralyzed its industry. These goods were thus sent for the express purpose of ruining the American manufacturers, called into existence by the necessities of the war — an object which they effectually accomplished. The distress of the people, reacted upon the general government. When they refused to buy, because unable to pay, the importations fell off, and as a consequence, the revenue was so diminished that the government, from necessity, resorted to loans in order to obtain means of defraying its current expenses. The gen eral distress was not1 a little increased by the meas ures of the National Bank. Indeed no confidence could be placed in the banks except those of New England, which redeemed their notes in specie when presented, while those in other parts of the Union became bankrupt. The density of the population of the New England States enabled them to engage with advantage in manufactures, and also in ship ping, and the coasting trade, which was especially profitable. For these reasons they withstood the financial crisis, while the agricultural and manufac turing interest of the other States were overwhelm ed.
The country, by its own innate energy, began to re cover from these financial difficulties. As a means to accomplish that desirable object, an increase of tariff was imposed on imported merchandise, thus to
MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 797
protect domestic industry from undue foreign com petition, to create a diversity of pursuits, and develop the resources of the nation.
Congress also manifested its sense of justice by making provision for the wants of the surviving of ficers and soldiers of the Revolution, and for the widows and orphans of those deceased.
The last year of Monroe's administration was sig nalized by an event highly gratifying to the people, an event linking the past with the present, the days of conflict and trial with the days of peace and pros perity. The venerable Lafayette came to the United States, the invited guest of the nation. Around ev ery fireside tradition had fondly cherished his mem ory, and the people loved him as the noble and gen erous stranger who, in the days of their fathers, had sacrificed his fortune and shed his blood in their country's cause. They vied with each other in do ing him honor. His journey from State to State was one continued triumphal procession; compared with this spontaneous expression of a nation's gratitude, how insignificant the proudest triumph of Roman consul or emperor! The vessel designated to carry him home was the new frigate Brandywine, a name — given by the new President, John Quincy Adams — that conveyed a delicate compliment, as on the banks of that little stream he was wounded in his first bat tle in the cause of American freedom. The American people wished to manifest still further their sense oi obligation, and Congress conferred upon him two hundred thousands dollars and a township of land.
When the time came to choose a\ successor to Mon roe — now in his second term — four candidates were put in nomination ; John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, General Jackson, and William H. Crawford. No one of the candidates received a majority of the popular
798 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
vote, and the election devolved upon the House of Representatives, by whom Adams was chosen. John C. Calhoun had been chosen Vice-President by the popular vote.
This election gave the death-blow to the custom of nominating candidates for the Presidency by a cau cus held by certain members of Congress. Previous to this, for twenty-four successive years, the candi dates had been thus nominated, and consequently chosen from a single State.
CHAPTER XLVII.
1825—1828 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION.
Manufacturers and Internal Improvements. — Indian Lands in Georgia. — Death of ex-Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. — Free Masonry. — Protection to American Industry. — Debates in Congress. — Presidential Contest.
The new President invited able and experienced men to form his cabinet, at the head of which was Henry Clay, as Secretary of State. This adminis tration was one of remarkable prosperity ; the nation was gradually advancing in wealth and happiness, gaining strength at home, and securing more and more of the respect of nations abroad. Every branch of industry was increasing in prosperity; agriculture, commerce, and manufactures.
Numerous companies had been formed for the pur pose of making iron nails, and also for the manufac ture of broadcloths, though the latter were soon in volved in ruin by "a deluge of English cloths." In those days fine wool was worth a dollar and a half a pound, while badly made broadcloth cost from eight to twelve dollars a yard.
The wars of Europe opened a wide field for enter prise in the carrying trade. American genius and art produced the style of ship known as the clipper. These far out-stripped all others in sailing ; they made rapid voyages, and, what was important in those days, they were able very often to evade the French and English cruisers. At first, the United States had but little of their own products to send to the old world, but presently Eli Whitney invented the cotton-
800 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
gin, by which the seed was separated from the cot ton, and that gradually became the most important article of export.
The great National Road — the work of the General Government — extending across the Alleghany Moun tains, from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, on the Ohio, and tc be continued to the Mississippi, had just been completed, at an expense of one million seven hundred thousand dollars. It was commenced in Jefferson's administration, and had been fourteen years in building. Its beneficial effects upon the country were very great, in thus connecting the val ley of the Ohio with the seaboard.
A still more important work was also finished — the Erie Canal, uniting the Hudson and the waters of the great lakes. It was the work of the State of New York, and was completed after a labor of eight years. The project was at first deemed visionary and impracticable; but owing principally to the en ergy of De Witt Clinton, privately, as well as a mem ber of the Legislature and as Governor, the work was carried through. The completion and success of these improvements encouraged the construction of others in various parts of the Union — one, the Ohio Canal, from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. The first railway was the Quincy, in Massachusetts, designed to transport granjte to the sea-shore. The first lo comotive used in the United States was on the Hud son and Mohawk Railroad.
A difficult question arose in relation to the removal of the Creeks and the Cherokees, from their lands in Georgia and Alabama, to the region beyond the Mis sissippi. Georgia claimed jurisdiction over the In dians within her territory. Originally claiming the region west of her boundary, she ceded it to the United States, on condition that the latter should, by
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 801
purchase, extinguish the title of the Indian lands reserved within her own limits. The national gov ernment promised to fulfil its part of the agreement "as early as the same could be peaceably obtained on reasonable terms." Twenty-five years had pass ed, and these titles had not been purchased. The Indians were not willing to sell their territory. How ever, a treaty had been recently made by some of the chiefs, who ceded the lands, but the great majority of the Indians declared these chiefs had no authority to sell the property of the nation. Thus, according to the original contract, the national government could not extinguish the Indian titles.
The government cancelled this treaty, but the State of Georgia determined to enforce it. The latter sent surveyors into the Indian country, to divide the lands into portions suitable for farms, before distributing them by lottery to the citizens of the State. The Federal government took the part of the poor In dians, and the President proclaimed that he would enforce the laws committed to his trust, while Troup, the bellicose Governor of Georgia, wrote to the Secre tary of War : "From the first decisive act of hostility, you will be considered and treated as a public enemy." The matter for the present was adjusted by the Creeks consenting to dispose of their lands, and to emigrate. Rather than be thus harrassed they were willing to remove from their happy homes, and give up their hopes of civilization.
This year was marked by the deaths of two dis tinguished men, whose names are identified with the history of the government — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Both were men of liberal education, and both chose the profession of the law ; both had been consistent and strenuous advocates of national inde pendence, and were upon the committee which pro-
802 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
posed that famous declaration. The one drew it up, and the other was its most efficient supporter ; both signed it ; both had been on foreign missions ; both were first Vice-Presidents, and then became Presi dents. "They ended their earthly career at the same time and in the same way ; in the regular course of nature, in the repose and tranquility of retirement, in the bosoms of their families, on the soil which their labors had contributed to make free," and with in a few hours of each other, on the fiftieth anniver sary of American independence.
A certain William Morgan, of Western New York, a member of the society of Free Masons, suddenly disappeared, he having been seized and forcibly car ried off. He had proposed to publish a book reveal ing the secrets of the order, some of whose members were charged with his murder. The affair created a great excitement, which led to the formation of a political party, whose avowed object was to exclude Free Masons from office. In several of the States the party polled a large number of votes, but in a year or two it disappeared.
The manufacturing interests were still laboring to sustain themselves against foreign competition. The sentiment prevailed, especially in northern States and in some of the southern, that measures should be taken to protect the industry of the nation. In accordance with this view, a convention of delegates from twenty-two States of the Union assembled at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Four of the slave States did not send delegates.
The Convention memorialized Congress to grant protection to American industry; to impose a tariff on imported goods, sufficiently high to shield Amer ican producers of the same articles from the ruinous effects of foreign competition; and they also asked
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION gQ3
that this policy should be fixed, and thus give stabi lity to the enterprise of the country. Capital would not be invested in domestic manufacturers, if they were liable at any time to be ruined either by the combination of foreign competitors or by change of policy at home. The people of New England had complained of these changes. Their climate and soil forbade their becoming rivals of their sister States in agriculture, and their industry had been turned into other channels, especially those of commerce and the fisheries. Upon them had fallen nearly all the losses inflicted by the cruisers of France and England, and yet they had been more discouraged and had suffer ed more loss by the embargoes and other restrictions of their own government. During this period, the central postion of New York had been gradually drawing to herself much of the commerce and ship ping that once belonged to Boston. A territory so extensive, and climates so diverse, brought into ex istence many kinds of industry that were liable to be injured or ruined by foreign competition. At first New England was opposed to the policy of protection, and the Middle and Southern States were in its favor. Now this was reversed. New England had been forced to adapt her industry to the change of na tional policy, while the South had changed her views.
Said Webster, when this bill was under discussion in Congress : "New England held back and labored to restrain the General Government from the adop tion of this policy, but when it was adopted she then adapted herself to it, and turned herself to manufac tures, but now just as she is successful, another change is to be brought about, and she set adrift in another direction."
The South, on the other hand, expected to reap the harvest, not merely from the exports of the raw ma-
g04 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
terial, but also a due share of the profits arising from manufactures. She was disappointed in seeing northern towns becoming cities, and southern cities decaying; the North a money lender, the South a borrower. Before the Revolution she was pre-emin ently the richest part of the colonies, a position which she fully expected to retain after that period. Hers were the only exports from the land ; the North was dependent upon commerce and fisheries; both pre carious. Since the Revolution, the South had export ed more in value than three times all that the mines of Mexico had produced for the same period, yet she did not prosper. This effect she attributed to the protective tariffs of the National Government. She failed to notice that this decline began before these tariffs were imposed. Other causes aided in the re sult.1 A bill passed Congress, imposing higher du ties upon cottons and woolens, and also other foreign articles, which would come into competition with those of domestic origin. The dissatisfaction felt in South Carolina led, two years after, to the open avow al on her part, of the doctrine of nullification and secession, based upon the ground that the act was unconstitutional.
The contest for the office of President was between Adams and General Jackson. The "era of good feel ing" had passed away, and party lines were string ently drawn. The spirit of the contest was more violent than ever before ; and the whole nation seem ed moved to its very centre. The denunciation of the candidates and their principles was, on both sides, unjust, unreasonable and disgraceful. The choice fell upon Jackson as President and Calhoun as Vice- President. The election over, the excitement calmed down. This fact, as usual, was adduced as an evi-
iBenton's Thirty Years' View, Chap, xxxiv., Vol. i.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 80S
dence of the stability of our institutions, and of the willingness of the people to submit to the will of the majority. Yet who does not lament such exhibitions of party strife, or their demoralizing effects ?
The nation had never been in a condition so pros perous as at this time. The national debt was much diminished, and a surplus of more than five millions of dollars was in the public treasury. The blessings of peace had been showered upon the land, and it was rejoicing in prosperity and abundance — the rewards of active industry.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
1829—1836 JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
Appointments to Office. — Removal of the Indians from Geor gia. — Bank of the United States. — Hayne and Webster's Debate. — Nullification. — the Compromise Bill; its final Passage. — Removal of the Deposits. — Effect upon the Country. — Indian Wars. — Black Hawk; Osceola. — Indem nity for French Spoilations.
The new President nominated the members of his cabinet, at the head of which he placed Martin Van Buren as Secretary of State. The Postmaster-Gen eral was now for the first time admitted as a Cabinet Officer.
The President professed to take the Constitution as the chart by which he should be governed in ful filling the duties of his office ; rather, it would seem, as he himself understood it, than as expounded by the Supreme Court of the United States. His vigor ous arm was immediately exerted in favor of his poli tical friends, and this gave to his administration a decided partisan character. The former Presidents, during a period of forty-four years, had removed sixty-four persons from office; during his rule of eight years, Jackson removed six hundred and ninety, and put in their places his political friends. These sweeping removals secured ardent partisans, as well as produced bitter opponents ; but regardless of eith er friend or foe, the President pursued the course he had marked out, with his wonted determination.
During his administration, an unusual number of exciting questions came up for consideration, and the many interests thus involved affected the people
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 807
in every State in the Union. The first important measure was the removal of the Cherokee Indians from the State of Georgia. They had been protect ed by the General Government, under Adams. The Supreme Court of the United States had decided in their favor, and against the action of the State ; but that decision had little influence with the President. He did not rebuke the State, when she began to drive them from their homes, and to distribute their lands, many of them cultivated farms, among her own citi zens. He sent General Scott with troops to remove them, and his kindness and persuasions induced them to migrate peacefully; yet with lamentations, they took leave of "the beloved land."
Their sacrifices as a people were very great, not only in the loss of property, but in the check given to their industrial and moral progress. The self-deny ing labors of missionaries and teachers had enabled them to advance rapidly toward a Christianized civi lization. They derived their sustenance from their own cultivated fields ; they clothed themselves almost entirely with the fabrics which their women spun and wove ; they lived in settled habitations, some of wood and some of brick; they made provisions for the education of their children — five hundred of whom were in schools — besides endowing a National Academy for the youth further advanced. They also established a newspaper, printed partly in English, and partly in their own language. "We hope," said they, "that with God's blessing the time will soon come when the words war-whoop and scalping-knif e will be heard no more."
Two of their missionaries, the Rev. S. A. Worcester and Dr. Elisur Butler, were ruthlessly imprisoned in the penitentiary by the authority of the State of Georgia, though they acted in accordance with the
808 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
law of the land, as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States, in refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the State.
Chief Justice Marshall, in pronouncing the opinion of the court, declared the act of the State to be "re pugnant to the Constitution, treaties and laws of the United States; and therefore void, and ought to be reversed and annulled," and the prisoners discharged. Yet these men obtained no redress on their appeal to the General Government, either for themselves or the Indians.
When at length liberated from prison, the mission aries accompanied the Indians to their distant homes beyond the Mississippi, there to labor for their good.
The President, in his first message to Congress, in timated his hostility to the Bank of the United States, and his design of refusing his signature to any bill renewing its charter.
However, when the stockholders of the Bank ap plied to Congress, a bill to renew its charter passed both Houses, and the President refused to sign it. He gave as a reason his opinion that Congress had no constitutional authority to charter such an insti tution, and moreover he deemed it inexpedient to con tinue the Bank.
As the bill could not obtain the requisite two-thirds vote to become a law, the Bank was forced to close its affairs, when its charter should expire.
To understand the causes which led to the attempt at Nullification by South Carolina it is necessary, for the reader's convenience, to notice in a consecutive form certain influences that had been at work from the commencement of the government under the Presidency of George Washington. When the Con stitution of the United States was submitted to the people for their approval or rejection, objections were
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 809
made to it by a small minority, principally on the ground that its powers were too great over the States. This minority consisted mostly of statesmen belonging to Virginia, two of whose delegates to the convention to frame the Constitution refused to sign it when finished. These were Edmund Randolph and George Mason, with only one other, Elbridge (Jerry of Massachusetts. These gentlemen, and those who sympathized with them in their views, made strenu ous efforts in several of the States to prevent the acceptance of the Constitution by the people, nor even after it was adopted and the Government in augurated did they cease in their opposition, though they were unable to have the organic law of the na tion changed to suit their views. They were now joined by the most efficient opponent of certain prin ciples of the Constitution — Thomas Jefferson — who had been in France on official duties while the Con stitution was being framed and acted upon by the votes of the people ; but he had since returned, hav ing been invited by President Washington to enter his Cabinet as Secretary for Foreign Affairs or of State, which office he was now holding.
The Constitution says (Article VI.) : "This Consti tution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land." Some of the States, in order to es tablish a National Government, were unwilling to give up scarcely any portion of the sovereignty which they had hitherto exercised. This was especially the case in the Southern States — Virginia, the prin cipal one, taking the lead. This opposition in later times developed into extreme views in relation to State Rights or Sovereignty, whose insidious influ ence has wrought so much harm to the Nation, in as suming that in some way, though indefinable, the
810 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN NATION
General Government would injure the individual States. The advocates of this theory — "strict con- structionists" they called themselves — were morbidly suspicious of the National Government, and were continually deprecating its influence upon the States. In accordance with their interpretation, the Constitu tion would be as inflexible as a cast-iron frame ; no permission was given for that instrument — so com prehensive in its principles — to adapt itself to the exigencies of a nation industrious and progressive in its development. Hence the habit of these theorists to exclaim "Unconstitutional!" whenever measures were proposed in Congress that would in their influ ence extend to the States; for that body to charter a bank was deemed unconstitutional, because, per haps, in being useful to the general commerce and the industries of the country, it must have branches at commercial centers within the States. Their views were similar in respect to internal improve ments made by the National Government.
On the subject of the United States Bank the oppo sition in this respect came principally from Virginia and those States further south; they being nearly altogether agricultural, there was not so much neces sity for a medium of mercantile exchange as in the more commercial and manufacturing free States.
We have already seen Thomas Jefferson secretly exerting his influence against the policy of Washing ton's administration, and to which he was presumed to be friendly, at least, while holding the most import ant position in the Cabinet — that of Secretary of State. Instead, he encouraged opposition to its most important measures, which, from their intrinsic merits, have since become the fixed policy of the na tion. He stimulated this antagonism in various
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION $11
ways, but principally by diffusing his sentiments privately in letters to his friends, under pledges of secrecy, and by means of the Democratic clubs, whose origin has been noted. Though Vice-President at the time, Jefferson was not in perfect accord with the policy of John Adams' administration, in its efforts to defend the country against the machinations of foreign refugees, who with the clubs, wished to em broil the country in the wars then in progress in Eu rope. Says Albert Gallatin, when writing of this period, "I know that nothing can be more injurious to an administration than to have in that office Vice- Presidency, a man in hostility to that administration, as he will always become the most formidable rally- ing-point for the opposition."1
At one time Jefferson was greatly exercised lest the Government should become a monarchy; and some of his friends professed to be alarmed because the people honored Washington's birthday, but he soothingly suggested the theory that, perhaps, the day was celebrated as that of "a General and not of a President." Yet he was desponding ; in one of his letters he says, "The State governments are the best in the world," but that of the United States "has be come so arbitrary in the rapid course of nine or ten years, and has swallowed up more of the public lib erty than even that of England itself." This para graph alludes to what is known as the "Sedition Law," which was enacted to punish libel on the Government, or the exciting of "unlawful combina tions against the laws." This law, which expired in two years by limitation, was directed in self-defense against a class of foreign adventurers, who as writ ers in the newspapers were most abusive in denuncia tion of the administration of John Adams, which, in
iLife of Gallatin, p. 606.
812 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
respect to the policy of neutrality, followed that of Washington. The law itself, perhaps, was injudici ous, and in its brief existence could do little harm, but the political furor — bordering on the ridiculous — which it occasioned among its opponents is not par alleled in American history.
To remedy these supposed evils, Jefferson drew up a series of resolutions embodying sentiments that have been often alluded to in our history ; these are familiarly known as the "Resolutions of '98." He managed to have them introduced into the Legislature of Virginia, and passed by that body, though their most objectionable features were modified through the influence of James Madison. In the same secret manner he had similar resolutions passed by the Legislature of the recently admitted State of Ken tucky. This was accomplished by one of his friends, a Mr. Nicholas, a native of Virginia, but who at this time was a citizen of the new State and a member of its Legislature. It was not known for twenty years that Jefferson was the author of these resolutions, as he had the "solemn assurance that it should not be known from what quarter the resolutions came."1 These resolutions were sent to the Legislatures of several of the States, and the political principles they endeavored to disseminate elicited much discussion, but little favor from these bodies. Their influence was to show itself in future years. John C. Calhoun was consistent when he characterized Jefferson as "the Apostle of State Rights;"2 that is of the ex treme view, since all advocate the legitimate rights of the States under the Constitution, just as munici pal rights of cities chartered by State authority ; but that does not imply that these municipalities should dominate the State itself.
i Randall's Life of Jefferson, vol. ii., p. 448. 2\Vorks, vol. ii.,
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION g!3
The eighth of these resolutions announces the the ory that "where powers are assumed" (alluding to the United States Government) "which have not been delegated, a nullification o± tne act is the rightful remedy; that every State has a natural right, in cases not within the compact, to nullify their [its] own authority all assumptions of power of others within their [its] limits1 On the principles thus en unciated South Carolina determined to "nullify" a United States law, because she of her own authority decided that a tariff, said to be protective to Amer ican industry, was "unconstitutional," and thirty years later in a more serious effort to "nullify" the union of the States.
There seems to have been an impression on the minds of great numbers of the American people that the operatives in large factories in Europe were peculiarly degraded as to their morals, and that the temptations to vice were very great in such establish ments. It was also added that this was specially the case in the mills for manufacturing cotton and wool, as in these, the work being comparatively light, fe males and boys were much employed. This was giv en as one reason why the system of such manufac turing should not be introduced into the United States. Measures, however, were taken to prevent such evils, and when mills were founded at Lowell and afterward at Lawrence, Mass., special efforts were made to secure the influence of pure morals among those employed.
In Lowell the corporation or owners, to prevent evil influences in their mills, provided comfortable boarding places for the young women, usually farm ers' daughters, who were in their employ. These boarding-houses were under the control of worthy
iRandall's Life of Jefferson, vol. ii., p. 450.
814 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
and judicious matrons selected for the purpose, and to whose protection the parents in the vicinity were willing to intrust their daughters. These young peo ple had been educated in the public schools, and had acquired a taste for reading; to meet this demand the owners provided libraries and reading-rooms ; to the latter the operatives also contributed to cover incidental expenses. At one time the young women who worked in the mills issued a periodical, "The Lowell Offering/* These facts show the moral tone and mental requirements of a community that would demand proper guaranties before the parents would permit their young people, especially their daughters, to labor in the cotton and woolen mills of the day. In nearly all of the earlier mills founded in New Eng land similar efforts were made to protect and elevate those whom they employed. A change has been in progress, and the reading-rooms and libraries are not so well attended as formerly; the native employees have given way to foreigners, who, unfortunately, care not so much for reading and mental improve ment.
A great advancement was made in the process of manufacturing cotton by the energy of Francis C. Lowell of Boston, who conceived the idea of using water-power in the various operations. He visited Europe and examined the machinery used there, especially that in the mills of England, but to obtain models of which he found impossible, as their ma chinery was carefully watched lest it should be copi ed, and he was compelled to depend upon his memory and his own inventive genius. The policy of Eng land in that day, in relation to preserving the secrets of her machinery, was virtually the same as it was forty years before. With the aid of a practical me-
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 815
chanic, Mr. Lowell constructed the machinery accord ing to his own designs. This was crude indeed, but he contrived to put in motion 1,700 spindles in a small mill at Waltham, Mass. Here under the same roof cotton was carded, spun, and woven ; and it is said to have been the first mill in the world in which all the operations of that manufacture were performed.
Mr. Lowell, from time to time, made improvements in his machinery, and so great was his success that a few enterprising gentlemen formed a company, and at a certain point purchased the land along the banks of the Merrimac, thus securing its entire water-pow er. On this purchase now stands the flourishing city of Lowell — thus named in honor of its indefatigable projector. Here was inaugurated on a firm basis the American system of manufacturing cotton. Within a dozen years from that time there were nearly 800 cotton factories — some of these were very small — in the Union ; 738 were in the Free States, and of these 508 were in New England alone.1 From that time forward the increase has been enormous.
During this period the industry of printing calicoes was carried on but in a crude form ; since then it has grown to large proportions under the influence of American inventions and improvements. At that time four colors was the highest number impressed at one movement; this has since been increased to twenty.
The war of 1812 threw the American people upon their own mechanical resources to furnish themselves the needed manufactured articles, which for the greater part had hitherto been supplied by the work shops of England. During this period of about three years the native ingenuity in the invention and ap plication of machinery to manufacturing purposes
^Industrial Hist. U. S., p. 412.
816 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
of various kinds developed rapidly. The war itself afforded sufficient protection from the skill of Eng land and the low wages paid her operatives. In less than two years after the restoration of peace and the renewal of trade the American manufacturers found themselves utterly ruined by the immense in flux of English merchandise, which had been accumu lating for years, and was now thrown upon the Amer ican market at prices sometimes even below their original cost. The English merchants had two ob jects in view : one to stifle the manufacturing indus tries that had received an impulse during the war, and the other to keep permanent control of the Amer ican market. This they hoped to accomplish by means of English skill and the low wages paid their workmen. The latter item gave the foreigner an immense advantage, as the American must pay high er wages because of the much fewer number willing to be thus employed.
The statesmen of that day, who had far-reaching views, saw that the alternative was either to abandon the policy of advancing the mechanical industries of the people altogether, or counterbalance the advant ages of the European manufacturer in his skill and the low wages paid his operatives. They chose Ci-i latter policy. This was to impose a tariff sufficiently high to equalize the cost of production and nable the American manufacturer to compete with the Europe an on equal terms, and at the same time to afford an opportunity for employment to those of our own people who worked for wages; to introduce diversi ties of industry, and develop the natural resources of the country, even then supposed to be enormous.1
When the question of revising the tariff came be fore Congress some of the "strict constructionists"
Natural Resources of the United States, by J. Harris Pat- ton.
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 817
suggested that the Constitution authorized a tariff for "revenue alone ;" that is an imposition of duty in such a manner as to produce the most revenue to the industrial interests of the people. A question arose which has puzzled Congress ever since: "Where does the rate of tariff for 'revenue alone' terminate, and that for 'protection' begin?" On this occasion John C. Calhoun of South Carolina argued that a tariff sufficiently high to protect the industries of the people was constitutional, saying, "manufactures ought to be countenanced by the Government," and "they will arrive at a certain perfection under its fostering care ;" and he urged Congress to "afford to ingenuity and industry immediate and ample protec tion." Afterward in the days of Nullification he said, "I, in common with the almost entire South, gave my support to the tariff of 1816." J Senator George McDuffie of the same State, in speaking of this tariff, says, "I most perfectly accord in the policy which dictated that measure." James Madison wish ed the commercial laws revised to "protect and foster the several branches of manufactures." "The con stitutionality of the procedure is not at all thought of, the expediency of it is warmly recommended."2 With this understanding a tariff was imposed upon coarse cottons, woolens, and many other manufactur ed articles, which tariff was amended from time to time during twelve years. This had ever been the national policy ; the first tariff imposed by Congress and signed by Washington in its preamble says it was required, "for the support of the Government, and for the encouragement and protection of domestic manufactures."
During the war of 1812, to cover the unusual ex pense, and to supply the deficiency caused by the f all-
iWorks, vol. ii., pp. 166-170. 2Niles Reg., vol. xxxvi., p. 82.
818 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ing off of import duties which had nearly ceased alto gether, taxes were imposed on many home-made articles. It was now proposed to relieve the people of these burdensome taxes on their own manufac tures, and supply the deficiency by increasing the duties on the corresponding foreign-made articles. Thus the object was twofold: to raise the needed rev enue, and to encourage domestic industry; of this policy Henry Clay was the ardent advocate. In ac cordance with this a tariff was imposed on certain classes of articles ; "1st, those of which a full domes tic supply could be produced ; 2d, those of which only partial domestic supply could be afforded; and 3d, those produced at home very slightly, or not at all."1 The cotton-growing States "at that time had a par ticular interest in encouraging the domestic manu facture of cotton." Such were the views of Calhoun and Lowndes, of South Carolina — the latter report ing the bill to Congress. A heavy duty was imposed on woolen and cotton cloths of various grades ; also on iron in all its forms, on spirits, on sugars — the latter to encourage the Louisiana sugar-planter; on hemp and lead to aid the Kentucky farmer and the Illinois miner. The proposed duty on indigo unfor tunately failed, as that article was a valuable product of the low lands of South Carolina and Georgia.2 Neither the cereals nor raw cotton needed protection — the latter staple having virtually the monopoly of the world, both as to quantity and quality. After the acquisition of Louisiana the southern portion of the country was deemed by many the richest portion of the Union in its agricultural products — cotton, tobacco, and sugar; the first especially, since the in vention of the cotton-gin, had become greatly en hanced in value as a most important export. This
iHildreth, vol. vi., p. 585. Anton's Thirty Years' View, vol. i., p. 97.
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 819
theory seemed to pervade the minds of some of the leading men of that section. So little did these statesmen know or even suspect of the inherent though thus far latent power of intelligent and in dustrious communities as those in the Free States, where labor as such was reckoned respectable. This power was wonderfully developed, when manufac tures were introduced into these States under the "fostering care" of the legislation of 1816 and on ward.
It was then supposed the slaves could be taught to manufacture the coarser grades of cotton cloth, with which they themselves were for the most part cloth ed. It was therefore important to the masters to in troduce that manufacture among the employments of their slaves, who could thus have work through the entire year. But after a few years of trial it was found that from their ignorance, want of persever ance, and lack of interest in their work they were in efficient in manufacturing cotton; they could only hoe and pick it, and that under the harsh supervision of overseers. Similar measures failed to succeed in the factory, where more intelligence and skill were required. Hence the complaints made against the tariff (in Nullification times) , that it ruined the South or cotton-producting States. This statement does not seem correct in the light of facts, for the decline commenced many years before.1 It is also inconsist ent with statistics which show that in 1815 the coarse cotton sheetings, with which the slaves were mostly clothed, cost forty cents a yard — being made chiefly on hand looms — while a better material in 1829 cost but eight and one-half cents, thus cheapened by the advance made in manufacturing by machinery.2
iBenton's Thirty Years' View, vol. i., p. 101. 'Industrial Hist. U. S., p. 414.
820 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Meanwhile the fall in the price of raw cotton was only about two-fifths as much as that of the woven ma terial — this advantage accruing to the planter. A writer1 states that at this time (1829) "The cost of a good cotton summer suit for a field hand, taking six yards, was seventy-five cents, and that a winter suit of negro cloth cost three dollars;" other expenses were at an equally low rate. Yet the Nullifiers pro claimed that their section was ruined by tariffs, and they entered upon a crusade against any policy that aided the mechanical industries of the country. This was on the ground that such aid was unconstitution al.2 The protest of South Carolina pronounced pro tective duties "Unconstitutional, oppressive, and un just." As the tariff, however low, is to that extent a protection to the American manufacturer of the same kind of article, it would follow from this that Free Trade alone was constitutional. By a similar process of reasoning, extremists among the slave- owning statesmen argued that the best social con dition was for the capitalist to own those whom he employed; in other words, that "all laborers should be slaves." Such were the views of John C. Calhoun and George McDuffie, and others. The motives that influenced the minds of these legislators were radic ally different. The statesmen of the Slave States, from the nature of the case, had reference alone to the advantages that would accrue to the masters; while those of the Free States had reference as much to that large class who obtained their support from wages as to the capitalist who invested his money in manufacturing industries.
At the commencement of the war of 1812 England was buying our raw cotton and sending it back in the form of cloth made by machines driven by steam,
Wiles Register.
2Debates in Congress, vol. x., pp. 243-245.
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION g2f
while at that time in the United States were very few, perhaps no factories for weaving cotton-cloth,— the mill at Beverly having failed. There were in the country a few small mills for spinning cotton yarn, and the weaving was done by hand on domestic looms; hence this product was termed "domestics."
Our statesmen then desired to encourage the manu facture of cottons and woolens in all their forms ; but to do so the people must contend with the acquired skill and machinery of England, and the low wages paid her operatives. The same causes gave an im pulse to the manufacture of woolens, though this in dustry remained for a long time in the hands of the household. Not till 1816 and onward was a definite impetus given to the manufacture of woolen goods in its varied forms. The supply of native wool was not sufficient, and to obtain which great exertions were made to induce the farmers to raise sheep for its production. To secure the finest quality merino sheep were imported from Spain, and wool-growing became an important industry. The pioneer woolen mills only wove the yarn spun in the household in the vicinity. Carding and fulling mills came into exist ence to aid and complete the domestic manufacture, and finally in the course of years the work was per formed, or nearly so, under the same roof by means of machinery. The advance, however, was not so rapid in the woolen as in the cotton manufacture. The States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut took energetic measures to advance the manufacture of wool. Vermont became the producer of the finest wool in New England, yet it remained for another State — Tennessee — to exhibit the finest specimen wool at the World's Fair at London.
Our manufacture of wool has come oftener than any other of our industries in competition with the
822 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN NATION
skill and the low wages paid operatives in England, Belgium, and France, and in consequence has had unusual difficulties to overcome.
The depression in the industrial interests of the country after the war of 1812 was very great. Henry Clay estimated the property of the United States to have sunk in value one-half in the course of four years. This estimate was no doubt in respect to the States outside New England. The people of that sec tion by their industrial enterprise and economy had secured success in many respects, especially in their shipping interest, including the carrying trade be tween foreign nations during the wars of Napoleon, the coasting trade of their own country, the fisheries along their coasts, and for whales in the Arctic seas. In consequence of this accumulation of capital their finances were in a good condition, and their banks were sound and able to redeem their notes in specie when presented at their counters, while in the rest of the Union financial distress more or less prevailed.
The term protection is unfortunate, inasmuch that many are led astray, thinking that those who manu facture were protected or aided by the Government at the expense of the other portion of the people. The term is a misnomer; it should be designated as equalizing measure, designed to put our own work men and those who employ them on equal terms as manufacturers with the foreigners, who have the advantage in acquired skill, low rate of interest on capital and more than all, in the small amount of wages paid their operatives. Making the terms thus equal to the manufacturers of both lands, if the American, by means of his energy and mechanical in ventions, and the better education of his workmen in industrious habits, is more successful, he and the people have a right to the advantages thus acquired.
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION S23
The "strict constructionists" thought Congress had no authority to levy a tariff so as to equalize the ex pense of manufacturing in the United States with that in Europe.
Senator Foote of Connecticut submitted a resolu tion of inquiry as to the disposal of the public lands. The debate on the resolution took a wide range, in the course of which the young and brilliant Senator, Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, avowed the opin ion that any State had a right, as a sovereign power, to declare null and void any act of Congress which that State deemed unconstitutional. This was the first time that the doctrine of nullification had been openly maintained in the councils of the nation — the sentiments rather of Calhoun the Vice-President than of the speaker himself; a doctrine based upon the assumption that the National Government was a compact between the States, and that any of them could at pleasure recede from the Union.
Daniel Webster at once pointed out the injurious results to the Union if these principles were acted upon.
This debate, continued for several days, and not only from the masterly manner in which it was con ducted, but from the influence it exerted upon the minds of the American people, was one of the most important that ever occurred in the Halls of Con gress. Webster clearly exposed the fallacy of the argument adduced to prove that the National Gov ernment was a compact of sovereign, independent States ; or that any of them were at liberty to with draw from the Union, without the consent of the others. On the contrary, he urged that the Consti tution was the work of the people themselves, not as members of each independent State, but as members of all the States ; and that the Supreme Court was the
g24 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN NATION
tribunal authorized to decide in cases of conflict be tween the States and the General Government. Says the venerable Chancellor Kent in reference to the discussion, and especially Webster's speech: "It turned the attention of the public to the great doc trines of national rights and national union. Consti tutional law was rescued from the archives of our tri bunals and the libraries of our lawyers, placed under the eye, and submitted to the judgment of the Amer ican people." And heartily did they respond to the sentiment that the "Union must be preserved." The importance of the subject awakened an intense inter est in the nation, and the reports of the discussion were read and commented upon by millions. This debate really settled the question of nullification; and its influence upon the public mind created a moral power which gave a death-blow to the dangerous design then in existence.
Congress, in revising the tariff, instead of dimin ishing, increased the duties on many articles. This gave still greater offence to the cotton-growing States, who complained, that they in consequence paid exorbitant prices, especially for cottons and woolens. The question became in some respects a sectional one. The North on the one hand had ac commodated her industry to manufactures ; she had acquired skill, and was unwilling to sacrifice this and also an immense amount of invested capital. She thought it unjust that her interests should be in jured, if not ruined, by a change of the policy under which she had been compelled to turn her attention to that particular sphere of industry. On the other hand, the South, pointing to her exhausted fields, es pecially in the Atlantic States, and their diminution of population, exclaimed: See what the tariff has done ! Says McDuff ie of South Carolina, on the floor
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 825
of Congress: "Look, sir, at the present aspect of the Southern States. In no part of Europe will you see the same indications of decay. Deserted vilages, houses falling to ruin, impoverished lands thrown out of cultivation." The reason that the South did not derive benefit from the imposition of a tariff was admitted by Hayne himself. "The slaves," said he in the Senate, "are too improvident, too incapable of minute, constant, delicate attention, and the persever ing industry which is essential to the success of manufacturing establishments." Similar sentiments v/ere expressed by other members of Congress.
The States of Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina were the most opposed to the measure, but only the latter took the responsibility of openly resisting the collection of duties imposed by this law of Congress. She published an ordinance to that effect, and denied the authority of the General Government to enforce what she deemed an unconstitutional law.
The President immediately issued a proclamation, moderate in its language but determined in tone. In plain terms he expressed his views upon the subject, and intimated that he would vindicate the power in trusted to his hands. He appealed "to the under standing and patriotism of the people of the State, and warned them of the consequences that must in evitably result from obeying the dictates of the con vention," which had advised resistance to the law.
Previous to this, Calhoun had resigned the vice- presidency, and now appeared in the Senate in the place of Hayne, who had retired to take the office of Governor of South Carolina, and who now replied to the President by a counter proclamation. He warn ed the people of the State against "the dangerous and pernicious doctrines" in that document, and call ed upon them to disregard "those vain menaces" of
826 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
military force, "to be fully prepared to sustain the dignity and protect the liberties of the State, if need be, with their lives and fortunes."
Nothing daunted, South Carolina proclaimed her self hostile to the Union, and resolved to maintain her rights as a Sovereign State, by organizing troops and providing munitions of war. Meantime her Legislature passed laws which forbade the collection of United States revenue within her boundaries ; and intimated that if an attempt was made by the Gen eral Government to enforce the collection of such duties, she would exercise her right to secede from the Union, and "forthwith proceed to organize a sep arate government." The attitude of the State was imposing and resolute. But the President was equ ally as decided in his measures to enforce the laws. Soon a national vessel, with troops on board, appear ed in the harbor of Charleston ; they came to aid the officers in the collection of the revenue. The State receded from her defiant position, and the storm calmed down; the famous Tariff Compromise, just passed by Congress, furnished a convenient reason for that act of prudence.
Henry Clay was the principal author of the meas ure, and to him belongs the honor of introducing it into the Senate. The Compromise consisted in grad ually diminishing for ten years the imposts, till they should arrive at a uniform rate of twenty per cent, the revenue standard for which the opponents of the tariff contended.
The secret history of the final passage of that Com promise bill in the Senate is singular. Its opponents had denounced the principle of protection to Amer ican industry, as unconstitutional. In order to pre vent opposition to the bill on that ground, after it had become a law, it was necessary that those oppos-
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 827
ing it should be induced to vote for it ; to vote, not only fov the bill as a whole, but for its separate arti cles. The crisis was near. The President had de termined to enforce the law; he scouted the idea of compromise, and stood ready to arrest the leaders, especially Calhoun, and bring him to trial for treason. John M. Clayton, of Delaware, privately gave the parties to understand that he should move to lay the bill on the table, where it should lie, unless the nullifiers should one and all give it their individual support. He assured them that there was a suffici ent number of senators (whose names he refused to give), to prevent its passage, if this condition was not complied with. The amendments to the bill had all passed but the last ; the one which embodied the principle of home valuation. This Calhoun and his friends opposed with great vehemence. Clayton moved to lay the bill on the table, and no persuasion could induce him to withdraw the motion. The op ponents of the measure withdrew from the hall for a few minutes, to consult. One of their number pres ently returned and requested Clayton to withdraw his motion, to give time to consider the amendment. He consented, with the understanding that, if neces sary, he would renew it. That night, consultations were held by the Southern members. The next day, when the bill was under consideration, it was intimat ed that it could be passed without the aid of Cal- houn's vote. But Clayton was inflexible — his vote must be given for the bill, or nothing would be se cured by it. It was the last day of the session — another Congress would not meet for months. It was a solemn hour. If the impending collision be tween the State and the Government should occur, who could tell what would be the result ? How could South Carolina be extricated from the difficulties of
828 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
her position? Calhoun remained to the last, his friends one by one voting for the amendment. After making a few remarks on the conditions upon which he should act, he also voted for the amendment, and afterward for the bill as a whole.1
On the fourth of March, General Jackson entered upon his second term of office, with Martin Van Buren, of New York, as Vice-President. The princi pal opposing candidate was Henry Clay.
According to its charter, the Bank of the United States was the legal depository of the public funds. The Secretary of the Treasury only, with the sanc tion of Congress, had authority to remove them. By resolution, Congress had expressed the opinion that the public moneys were safe in the keeping of the Bank. The President thought differently. When Congress was not in session, he made known to the Cabinet his intention to remove the public funds from the custody of the Bank, and to transfer them to cer tain State Banks. The majority of the Cabinet were opposed to the measure. As he could not reach the money except through the Secretary of the Treasury, William J. Duane, he directed him to remove the de posits; but the Secretary viewing the measure as "unnecessary, unwise, arbitrary, and unjust," refus ed. The President immediately dismissed him from office, and appointed Roger B. Taney, afterward Chief Justice, in his place, who hastened to issue an order to the collectors, forbidding them to deposit the public moneys in the Bank of the United States. The intention being to withdraw the funds already in its possession, as they should be needed in defray ing the current expenses of the government.
The measure spread distrust through the whole mercantile community, and destroyed that confidence
thirty Years' View, Vol. i. Chap. Ixxxv.
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 829
which is essential to the success of business transac tions. The notes of the Bank were at par through out the Union, but now the whole system of exchange was thrown into confusion. Universal distress pre vailed. The wages of daily laborers were especially depressed. Memorials from all parts of the country poured into Congress, asking it to adopt measures that would give relief. After a time, the State banks endeavored to relieve the monetary distress by liber al loans. These loans, in turn, were the occasion of exciting a spirit of speculation that produced still greater evils.
The Administration was not exempt from Indian troubles. Some of the north-western tribes, led by Black Hawk, a chief of the Sac nation, made incur sions against the frontier settlements of Illinois. The government sent troops, under General Atkin son, who soon, with the aid of the militia, drove the savages beyond the Mississippi. In one of the skirm ishes, Black Hawk himself was captured. To im press him with the greatness of the nation, he was first taken to Washington, and then to visit the prin cipal eastern cities.
Two years afterward an attempt was made by the government to remove the Seminole Indians beyond the Mississippi River. They refused to emigrate, and another Indian war was the consequence. Skulk ing through the swamps and woods of Florida, the savages would suddenly dash into the settlements to murder and destroy. Many valuable lives were thus lost. Among these were Major Dade, and more than a hundred men, who all perished by falling into an ambuscade. On the same day, the United States' agent, Mr. Wiley Thompson, and five of his friends were killed and scalped by Osceola, the leading chief of the Seminoles. The year before, Thompson had
830 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
injudiciously offended the savage, by confining him in irons for a day. Though he feigned friendship, his proud spirit thirsted to revenge the insult. The Creeks joined the Seminoles, and attacked several villages, both in Georgia and Alabama. The un healthy vapors of the swamps, the bites of poisonous snakes and insects, inflicted intense suffering upon the troops. It was impossible to subdue the Indians, who, after their attacks upon the Whites, would re treat to their hiding-places in the swamps. Led by Osceola, the war, or rather skirmishing, continued for years; the troops were baffled again and again. At length his own policy, of making treaties only to break them, was practised upon himself. One day he appeared under a flag of truce at the American camp. General Jessup, who was in command, im mediately made him prisoner, with all his followers. Osceola was sent to Charleston, and while there con fined in Fort Moultrie, a fever terminated his event ful life.
Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterward President of the United States, was sent to succeed Jessup. Taylor, by great exertions, brought the war to a close, but not till it had lasted altogether seven years, and cost the nation many lives, and thirty millions of dollars.
During this administration, died John Marshall, one of the most remarkable men of the time, at the age of four-score. He had served in the army of the Revolution, and won the esteem of Washington ; had been a member of the House of Representatives, Sec retary of State, Secretary of War, and Minister to France. President John Adams nominated him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, over which for thirty- five years he presided "with native dignity and un pretending grace." His solidity of judgment, his reasoning power, his acute and penetrating mind,
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 831
were remarkable, and none the less striking were the purity of his Christian life and his simplicity of man ner.
The maxim of foreign policy acted upon by the President was "to ask nothing but what was right, and to submit to nothing that was wrong." Amer ican merchants had claims, amounting to five millions of dollars, against the French government. They had remained unsettled for twenty years. These in demnities were for "unlawful seizures, captures, and destruction of vessels and cargoes" during the wars of Napoleon. The government of Louis Philippe ac knowledged their justice, and by treaty engaged to pay them. But the Chamber of Deputies, at differ ent times during three years refused to appropriate the money. The President sent a message to Con gress, recommending reprisals upon French property if the treaty was not complied with. The French Chambers took offence at the tone of the message, and although Congress had not acted upon its sug gestions, they refused to pay the money unless the obnoxious proposal was withdrawn. This brought another message, in which the President reviewed the difficulties existing between the governments. Said he: "Come what may, the explanation which France demands can never be accorded ; and no arma ment (alluding to a French fleet then on our coast), however powerful and imposing, will, I trust, deter us from discharging the high duties which we owe to our constituents, to our national character, and to the world." He suggested to Congress to prohibit the entrance of French imports into our ports, and the interdiction of all commercial intercourse.
The Chamber of Deputies soon after paid the money to satisfy the claims and fulfill the treaty.
Equally successful was the President in arranging
832 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
other difficulties of long standing ; claims for similar seizures and spoliations against Spain, Naples, and Denmark. Also treaties of commerce and friendship were negotiated with Russia and the Ottoman Em pire — the American treaty with the latter power.
Two States, Arkansas and Michigan, were added to the Union ; the original thirteen had now doubled.
After a spirited contest Martin Van Buren, of New York, was elected President by the people, and Rich ard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Vice-President, not by the electoral vote, but by the Senate.
General Jackson's administration will ever be memorable for its measures and for its influence. The nation was greatly agitated by conflicts of opin ion in relation to his official acts, since he professed to be governed by the Constitution, not as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court, but as he him self understood it — a disrespect for constituted law which in after years was not without malign influ ence. He introduced extensively the vicious system of removing persons from minor offices for political purposes alone, filling their places with partisans. From that day this custom has been a corrupting ele ment in the nation's politics. Arbitrary in the ex treme, he had quarrels with his Cabinet for reasons unworthy the record of history. Though intensely patriotic, and not famed for legal acquirements, he had little respect for law or decisions of courts if they did not coincide with his own notions and pre judices; but his energy and determined will enabled him to carry his points in defiance of opposition and established usages.
CHAPTER XLIX.
1837—1840 VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION.
Apparent Prosperity. — The Specie Circular. — The Surplus Funds. — Suspension of Specie Payments. — Speculation.— Special Sessions of Congress. — The Sub-Treasury. — State Indebtedness.
The last year of Jackson's administration appeared to be one of very great national prosperity. The public debt had been cancelled two years before, and there were nearly forty millions of dollars of surplus. This prosperity was fallacious in the extreme.
The State Banks, called in derision the "Pets," with whom the deposits had been placed, loaned money freely, with the expectation that they should con tinue to have the use of the public funds until they were called for by the Government. That time seem ed to be distant, as its revenue was greater than its current expenses.
Other banks sprang into existence, until the num ber amounted, throughout the land, to seven hundred and fifty. These institutions had very little gold or silver in their vaults, as a means to redeem the notes with which they flooded the country, giving a fictiti ous value to every thing that was bought or sold. They rivalled each other in affording facilities for the wildest schemes of speculation.
The public lands became an object of this specula tion, until the sales amounted to millions in a month. Two acts — the one of the late President; the other of Congress — combined to hasten the crisis. Presi dent Jackson, in order to restrain the undue sales of
834 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
the public lands, had issued, through the Treasury Department, an order known as the Specie Circular, requiring the collectors at the offices to receive only gold and silver in payments for land. Six months later, Congress passed a law to distribute among the States the government funds, on deposit in the banks. They were thus forced to call in their loans to meet this demand, while the Specie Circular arrested the circulation of their notes, and brought them back to their counters, to be exchanged for gold and silver. Within six months after this distribution was order ed, the business of the whole country was prostrated : all improvements ceased, and twenty thousand labor ing men were, within a few weeks, thrown out of employment in New York City alone, where the fail ures amounted to one hundred millions of dollars, while those of New Orleans were as great in pro portion, being twenty-seven millions. A few weeks later, the banks of New York City suspended specie payment ; an example which the other banks of the country hastened to follow.
Previous to the suspension of payments, a large and respectable committee of merchants of New York visited Washington, to lay before the new President the state of the country. Similar representations went from almost every section of the land. The President denied the request of the committee to re scind the Specie Circular, but proposed to call a Special Session of Congress, on the first Monday of the following September.
The extent to which speculation raged seems al most fabulous. The compromise tariff had nearly run its course, and the duty arrived at its minimum ; foreign merchandise was imported in unheard-of quantities, thus ruining domestic industry; internal improvements, because of the facility in obtaining
VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION 835
loans, were projected to an extent almost without limit; the public lands were bought by the millions of acres, and cities and villages were multiplied on paper by hundreds; and stranger still, the sites of these prospective cities, divided into lots, were fre quently made the basis of money transactions.
A few months before, the General Government was free from debt, and had a surplus of forty millions. Now the surplus had been given to the States ; the importers had neither gold nor silver to pay duties, and the Government itself was deprived of the means to defray its current expenses.
When Congress assembled, the President made no suggestion as to the manner in which the commercial embarrassments of the country might be relieved, on the ground that the General Government was unau thorized by the Constitution to afford such relief. He was therefore in favor of the people taking care of themselves. The message contained, however, two recommendations; one the issue of Treasury notes, to relieve the Government's own embarrass ments, the other an Independent Treasury for the public funds. The object of the latter was to avoid the liability of loss by depositing the public moneys in banks. These treasuries were to be located at suitable places; the sub-treasurers to be appointed by the President, and to give bonds for the proper fulfillment of their duties.
The measure was opposed, lest the withdrawal of so much gold and silver from circulation would in jure commercial operations. The bill failed in the House, though it passed the Senate. Three years later it was established; the next year repealed — then re-enacted, five years after, and is still the law of the land.
The Legislatures of many of the States became im-
836 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
bued with the spirit of speculation, and as a means to obtain loans, issued State stocks to the amount of one hundred millions. This was done under the laud able pretext of developing their resources, by inter nal improvements. Eight of the States failed to pay the interest on these loans or stocks. In time they recovered from the shock, and but one of them, Mississippi, and one territory, Florida, repudiated their debt and defied their creditors. These loans were principally obtained in Europe, where, on the subject of these failures to pay, great indignation was expressed. The whole nation was dishonored; — two years later, when the National Government wished to obtain a loan, her agents could not induce a capitalist in all Europe to risk a dollar in such in vestment.
As the administration of Van Buren drew to a close, the financial condition of the country did not much improve. However, his party nominated him, as well as Vice-President Johnson, for a second term. The opposing candidate was William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, whom we have seen as a popular general of the northwest during the last war, as well as filling many civil offices with honor to himself and profit to the country. On the same ticket was John Tyler of Virginia, as the candidate for Vice-President. Har rison was elected by a very large majority. The commercial disasters of the country were generally attributed to the interference of the Government with the currency; this belief had caused a great revulsion in the public mind.
CHAPTER L.
1841—1842 HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION.
The Inauguration. — Death of Harrison. — Tyler President. — Sub-Treasury Act repealed. — Bankrupt Law. — The Bank Charters; their Vetoes. — Proposition to treat with Great Britain. — Insurrection in Canada. — The Caroline. — Trial of McLeod. — Boundary Disputes in Maine. — Lord Ashbur- ton. — Treaty of Washington. — Questions of Visit and Im pressment. — Exploring Expedition. — Texas Colonization; Struggles. — Independence. — Siege of Goliad and the Ala mo. — Davy Crockett. — Massacre of Prisoners. — Battle of San Jacinto. — Houston President. — Question of Annexa tion in Congress. — Texas Annexed. — Disturbances in Rhode Island. — Iowa and Florida become States.
An immense concourse of people, many of them from distant parts of the Union, assembled at Wash ington to witness the inauguration of General Harri son. His address on that occasion was replete with wisdom; liberal and generous, and patriotic in its tone ; a transcript of the sincerity of his own heart. His selection of officers to compose his Cabinet was unanimously confirmed by the Senate; at its head was Daniel Webster, as Secretary of State.
The certainty of a change of policy in the measures of the General Government inspired confidence in the commercial world, and the nation, made wiser by ad versity, began to hope. But the expectations of the President's friends were doomed to be sadly disap pointed. His first official act was to issue a procla mation, calling a special session of Congress, to meet on the 31st of the following May, to take into consid eration the condition of the country. Before that day arrived, the President was no more. Suddenly taken ill, all human remedies failed to give relief, and
838 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
he expired, just one month after his inauguration, in his sixty-ninth year. For the first time, death had removed the Chief Magistrate of the Union when in office. The loss came home to the hearts of the peo ple. Throughout the length and breadth of the land they vied with each other in doing honor to his memory. Since the death of Washington, the nation had not mourned a loss with such imposing ceremon ies. This deep and pervading sentiment of sorrow was the tribute due the memory of a good man ; one who had served his country with most scrupulous in tegrity for more than forty years ; whose whole life, public and private, was without reproach. Though in public office the greater part of his life, his salaries had passed away in charities and hospitalities ; to his house the humblest of the land^s well as the most exalted, had been welcomed ; the poor man's friend, he himself died poor. At its very first session after his death, Congress, "out of consideration of his ex penses in removing to the seat of government, and the limited means which he had left behind," granted his widow one year's presidential salary — twenty-five thousand dollars.
JOHN TYLER.
The Vice-President became the President, accord ing to the provisions of the Constitution. He retain ed the Cabinet of his predecessor, giving them assur ances of his respect. Congress convened for the extra session at the time designated. One of its first measures was to repeal the Sub-Treasury act of the last administration. To this regulation for the keep ing of the public funds much of the pressure in the money market was attributed.
The failures in the mercantile world had brought ruin upon thousands of upright and enterprising
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION 839
men. They had become hopelessly bankrupt, in many instances, by circumstances beyond their con trol; involved in debts, which would forever crush their energies without benefiting their creditors, themselves, or the country. To relieve persons thus insolvent, Congress passed a general bankrupt law. The effect of the measure was beneficial, and when the necessity for its existence had passed away, it was repealed.
One of the issues involved in the last presidential election, was the policy of establishing a United States Bank or "Financial Agent," which should faci litate mercantile exchanges throughout the Union. The result of the election had shown that the ma jority of the people were in favor of such an institu tion. In compliance with this expression of the popu lar will, both Houses of Congress passed a bill char tering such a National Bank. Contrary to expecta tion, the President refused to give it his signature. Another bill was passed, modified in its provisions to accord with his own suggestions. This he also re fused to sign. These successive vetoes raised a ter rible storm of indignation against their author, though when nominated he was known to be opposed to the United States Bank. The great party, by whose votes he held his high position, charged him with double dealing; with betraying the trust they had committed to his hands. The members of his cabinet immediately resigned their places, and gave the country their reasons for so doing. Daniel Web ster alone remained, lest the public interests would suffer by his withdrawal before the completion of certain negotiations upon which he was then en gaged.
Between the United States government and that of great Britain two important questions of controversy
840 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
remained unadjusted. One growing out of certain revolutionary disturbances along the Canada bord ers; and the other in relation to the north-eastern boundary between the State of Maine and the British province of New Brunswick. The former of these had been pending during the previous administra tion, the latter for fifty years.
Soon after entering upon his duties as Secretary of State, Mr. Webster, with the sanction of the Presi dent, intimated to the British Minister at Washing ton, that the Government of the United States was desirous to arrange the boundary dispute by agree ing on a line by compromise, or convention. The proposition was received in the friendly spirit in which it had been given, and the British ministry deputed Lord Ashburton, as special minister to the United States, with full powers to settle all points of controversy between the two governments.
During the first year of Van Buren's administra tion the people of both the Canadas endeavored to throw off their allegiance to England, and to declare themselves independent. This movement enlisted the sympathies of great numbers in the neighboring States. In northern New York associations were formed, called "Hunters' Lodges," whose object was to aid the patriots. These illegal combinations flour ished in spite of the efforts made by the President and Governor of New York to suppress them.
About seven hundred of these "sympathizers," with some of the patriots, took possession of Navy Island, in Niagara river, near the Canada shore, to which province it belonged. Thither the steamboat Caroline was employed in transporting men, arms, and provisions from Schlosser, on the American shore. The British authorities determined to destroy this boat. Accordingly a detachment was sent on a dark
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION 841
night in December for that purpose ; the officer in command not finding the boat at Navy Island, as ex pected, passed over to Schlosser, where she was moored at the dock. He captured the boat, and in the short struggle which ensued, an American was killed. The Caroline was taken out into the middle of the stream, there set on fire, and left to pass over the falls in a blaze. The British Minister at Wash ington, Mr. Fox, immediately avowed the act, and justified it on the ground that it was done in self-de fence. This avowal changed the aspect of the con troversy — it was now between the governments. The excitement was by no means allayed, nor the activity of the "lodges" diminished. Three years afterward a still stronger feeling of hostility sprang up between the two countries. A certain Alexander McLeod, a British subject, living in Canada, it was rumored, had boasted of being at the taking of the Caroline, and also that he himself had killed the American. McLeod visited the State of New York at the time just mentioned, the authorities of which immediately arrested him on the charge of murder. The British government demanded his release, un conditionally, on the ground that he was obeying the orders of his government, which alone was responsi ble. The St£te refused to relinquish, either to the National Government or to Great Britain, her right to bring the prisoner to trial, for the crime it was alleged he had committed on her soil. The trial came on, and McLeod was acquitted, he having proved that he was not present at the affray at all. In order to prevent, for the future, clashings of State jurisdic tion with that of the National Government, Congress passed a law requiring similar cases to be transferred to the United States courts. While these events were in progress in the State of
842 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
New York, difficulties, equally ominous, were brew ing on the north-eastern boundary. The inhabitants on either side undertook to say where the line should be ; as they could not agree, the more belligerent were in favor of fighting, and consequently some trifling collisions took place. The Legislature of Maine even appropriated money for the defence of her territorial rights — and further collisions were prevented only by the conciliatory and judicious policy of General Scott, who was sent by the President to maintain the peace.
These disputes so long unsettled, very greatly dis turbed the harmony existing between the two na tions. The correspondence between their govern ments shows that at this time the controversy had assumed a serious and delicate character, and that it required the exercise of great wisdom, and a mutual conciliatory spirit to prevent actual war.
When negotiations commenced, commissioners from the States of Maine and Massachusetts were invited to Washington, that they might be consulted on the subject. The treaty was soon concluded. The United States obtained the navigation of the river St. John's to its mouth, and the very important military position — Rouse's Point, at the outlet of Lake Champlain. In exchange for these were given a small territory of swamps, heath, and rocks, and barren mountains, covered with snow the greater part of the year. A territory valuable to Great Britain only because it enabled her to make a direct road from the province of New Brunswick to the St. Lawrence. Both nations were benefited by the ar rangement, and the vexatious question of more than half a century's standing was amicably settled.
Another article provided for the mutual rendition of fugitives from justice; but only those who had
HARBISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION $43
committed acts which would be deemed criminal in the country where they had taken refuge. This im portant measure has given general satisfaction to both the contracting parties, and has served since as a model for similar treaties between some of the European powers. The two governments also agreed to maintain each a certain number of armed vessels on the coast of Africa to aid in suppressing the slave- trade.
After the treaty was concluded two important sub jects unexpectedly came up for discussion. One was the right assumed by British cruisers to visit, and if necessary search, merchant vessels belonging to oth er nations. In a letter to the American minister at London, and designed for the English secretary of Foreign Affairs, Webster denied the "right," and sus tained his opinions against its exercise by arguments that have not yet been invalidated.
The other subject was the impressment of seamen by British cruisers from American merchant vessels. In a letter to Lord Ashburton the Secretary of State assumed that it did not comport with the self-respect of the United States to enter into stipulations in rela tion to the right of impressment ; as if for a moment the existence of such a right could be admitted. On the contrary, that the exercise of impressment should be deemed an aggression and repelled as such. In an able and conciliatory discussion he pointed out the inconsistency of such a right with the laws of na tions. Yet in the happiest language expressed the desire that for the welfare of both countries, all occa sions of irritation should be removed. He announc ed as the basis of the policy of the United States: "Every merchant-vessel on the high seas is rightful ly considered as a part of the territory of the coun try to which it belongs;" that "in evej^y regular!"
844 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
documented American merchant-vessel the crew who navigate it will find their protection in the flag which is over them," and that "the American Government, then, is prepared to say that the practice of impress ing seamen from American vessels cannot hereafter be allowed to take place."1 In the same just and conciliatory spirit was the reply of Lord Ashburton.
An apology was impliedly given for the invasion of the territory of the United States in the "affair of the Caroline." The negotiators conferred informally upon the subject of the northern boundary of Oregon, but for the present agreed to postpone its settlement. The treaty of Washington marks an important era in our history : — the time when the United States took that position among the nations, to which they were entitled by their power and influence. Four years after, Webster said on the floor of the Senate: — "I am willing to appeal to the public men of the age, whether, in 1842, and in the city of Washington, something was not done for the suppression of crime, or the true exposition of public law, for the freedom and security of commerce on the ocean, and for the peace of the world ?"
The government had not been forgetful of the ad vancement of science. It sent out an exploring ex pedition, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the United States navy, accompanied by a corps of scien tific men, to make discoveries in the Antarctic and Pacific oceans. After four years it returned bring ing the results of investigations in Natural History, not valuable to our own country alone, but to the world. It sailed ninety thousand miles, seventeen hundred of which were along the coast of a great Antarctic Continent never seen before by civilized man.
Works of Daniel Webster, vol. vi. p. 325.
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION g45
The four years of this administration was a period fruitful in measures, destined, in their remote conse quences, to have a varied and almost unlimited in fluence upon the nation. A more important question never came before the Houses of Congress, than when the young Republic of Texas presented herself at their doors, and asked to be annexed to the Union. She came offering a fertile territory almost sufficient in extent to make five such States as Pennsylvania or New York. The "annexation," led to the Mexican war, and that in turn to the acquisition of California.
The region known as Texas had been claimed, but on doubtful grounds, as a part of the already pur chased territory of Louisiana. This claim however, was waived, and when Florida was obtained Texas was tacitly admitted to belong to Spain, and when Mexico revolted from the mother country, she be came one of the confederated States which formed the Mexican republic.
The American who originated the plan of coloniz ing Texas, was Moses Austin, a native of Durham, Connecticut. He was engaged in working the lead mines in upper Louisiana, when, in his explorations, he became acquainted with the fertile soil and de lightful climate of Texas. The Spanish Government encouraged immigration to that part of the Mexican territory, and it gave Austin large grants of land, on condition that he would introduce as colonists three hundred Catholic families from Louisiana. Within a month after these arrangements were completed, Austin himself died, but appointed his son Stephen F. Austin to superintend the planting of the colony according to the agreement with the Spanish govern ment. To his energy and perseverance may be at tributed the success of the enterprise.
Little was known at Mexico of what was in pro-
846 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
gress in that remote region. The Americans, at tracted by the liberal grants of land and the fine climate, were pouring in. In a few years they num bered twenty thousand, very few of whom were Catholics, nor did they all come from Louisiana, but from the other Southern and Western States.
Meantime in Mexico other great changes were in progress. First came the revolution by which she declared herself no longer under the jurisdiction of Spain. This was succeeded by a confederation of States. In that unhappy country one revolution suc ceeded another in rapid succession, till finally, Santa Anna, overthrowing the existing republic, made him self dictator and tyrant of the people. During this time the Texans did not revolt, nor did they ac quiesce. They formed a constitution, and sent Aus tin to Mexico to ask admission into the confederacy of the republic as a State. This request was denied, and their messenger thrown into prison. Still Texas retained her State officers, and asked that her rights might be respected; when an armed Mexican vessel appeared off the coast, and proclaimed that her ports were blockaded ; near the same time a Mexican army appeared on her western borders, with the intention of arresting her State officers, and disarming the in habitants. It was much easier to demand the Texan rifles than to get them. The attempt was made at a place named Gonzales, where the Mexicans met with a severe repulse. The Texans, though few in number, flew to arms throughout the entire country, and in a few months drove the invaders from their soil, and captured and garrisoned the strong forts of the Goliad and the mission house of Alamo. Thus they manfully resisted the designs of Santa Anna to make them submit to his usurped authority, and the struggle commenced for their rights, their liberties and their lives.
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION §47
There were no bonds of sympathy between the Texans and Mexicans : neither in religion nor in cus toms, nor in form of government. The Texan de spised the Mexican, and the Mexican hated and fear ed the Texan.
Six months after these reverses Santa Anna invad ed Texas with a numerous army. The character of the war he intended to wage may be inferred from his cruel orders to shoot every prisoner taken. The Alamo was invested by Santa Anna himself. The garrison numbered only one hundred and eighty men, while their enemies were as sixteen to their one. When summoned to surrender, they, knowing the treacherous character of the Mexican Chief, refused. The latter immediately raised the blood-red flag, to indicate that he would give no quarter. After re pulsing the besiegers several times, the Texans, worn out with watchings and labors, were overcome, and when calling for quarter, the survivors — only seven — were mercilessly butchered.
Here, surrounded by the bodies of Mexicans who had fallen by his hand, perished the eccentric Davy Crockett. Born on the frontiers of Tennessee, his only education was that received during two months in a common school. Though singular in his mental characteristics, his strong common sense and un daunted spirit, won him the respect of his fellow- citizens, and they sent him several times to repre sent them in Congress. When he heard of the strug gle in which the people of Texas were engaged, he hastened to their aid, and with untiring energy de voted himself to their cause.
At Goliad the little garrison defended itself with unexampled bravery; not until its resources failed, ammunition exhausted, and famine was staring it in the face, did the men accept the terms offered by
848 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
the Mexican in command, and surrendered. Their lives were to be spared, and they, aided to leave the country. Other small parties of Texans in different places had been surprised and taken prisoners. The following night a courier arrived from Santa Anna, bringing orders to put the prisoners to death the next morning.
They were marched in little companies outside the town, and there shot; those attempting to escape were cut down by the cavalry. The wounded prison ers were then murdered in the same cruel manner; among the wounded who thus suffered, was Colonel Fanning, their commander. Thus perished three hundred and thirty men, the last words of some of whom were cheers for the liberty of Texas.
A Texan physician, Dr. Grant, was among the prisoners, but his life was spared on condition that he would attend the wounded Mexican soldiers. He was also promised that he should have a passport to leave the country as soon as they needed his services no more. He faithfully performed his part, but when the soldiers were cured, he was tied upon a wild horse, and told to take "his passport and start for home." The cords were cut, and the frightened animal rushed to the woods, where, some time after, the mangled body of the poor man was found.
Santa Anna, with an army of seven thousand men, moved on toward the San Jacinto river. General Samuel Houston had only seven hundred and fifty men, their only weapons rifles, pistols and bowie- knives; in their element when fighting, they were impatient to attack the enemy. The advance divi sion, consisting of fifteen hundred men, under the command of Santa Anna himself, was the flower of the Mexican army. The Mexicans were well posted, and their front, before which was an open grassy
HARBISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION 849
space, was carefully fortified. Houston had great difficulty in restraining his men. At three o'clock in the afternoon, when Santa Anna and his officers were enjoying a sleep, and their men engaged in play ing cards, Houston passed information along the line that the only bridge by which the enemy could escape was cut down, with the order to move rapidly to the attack. The surprise was complete. In twenty minutes their position was forced, and the panic stricken Mexicans leaving every thing, fled in con fusion. More than six hundred were slain, and al together more than eight hundred taken prisoners. The following day a Mexican was found skulking in the grass. He asked to be led to head-quarters. When brought to the Oak under which were the Texan head-quarters, he made himself known as Santa Anna. He complimented Houston on the re nown he had acquired in "conquering the Napoleon of the West." Such was the battle of San Jacinto ; the number engaged were comparatively few, yet it virtually ended the contest. Santa Anna, at the re quest of Houston, ordered the Mexican army to retire from the Territory of Texas. He also acknowledged the independence of Texas, but the Mexican Congress refused to ratify his act.
A month previous to this battle, a convention of delegates met at a place named Washington, and de clared themselves independent of Mexico. The con vention then proceeded to form a Constitution, which in due time was adopted by the people. Six months later Houston was inaugurated President of the Re public of Texas ; and its first Congress assembled.1
When its people threw off their allegiance to Mex ico, they naturally turned to more congenial associa tions ; they desired to annex themselves to the United States.
lYoakum's Hist, of Texas.
850 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
One of the last official acts of General Jackson had been to sign a bill recognizing their independence, and now the question of their annexation became the absorbing topic of political discussion in the United States, in every section of which many opposed the measure only on the ground that it would incur a war with Mexico, whose government still persisted in fruitless efforts to reduce the Texans to obedience. The interminable question of slavery, as usual, was involved in the controversy. The South was almost unanimously in favor of annexation. The genial climate, the fertile soil, and the varied productions of Texas, were so many pledges that slave labor would there be profitable. A strong party in the North was opposed to the measure, lest it should perpetuate that institution, while one in the South was devising plans. to preserve the balance of power existing be tween the States .in the Senate.
The subject of annexation, with its varied conse quences, was warmly discussed in both Houses of Congress, in the newspapers, and in the assemblies of the people.
Calhoun gave his views by saying: "There were powerful reasons why Texas should be a part of this Union. The Southern States, owning a slave popula tion, were deeply interested in preventing that coun try from having power to annoy them." Said Web ster: "That while I hold to all the original arrange ments and compromises under which the Constitu tion und'ir which we now live was adopted, I never could, and never can, persuade myself to be in favor of the admission of other States into the Union, as slave States, with the inequalities which were allow ed and accorded by the Constitution to the slavehold- ing States then in existence."
Under the auspices of Calhoun, who was now Sec-
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION 35 J
retary of State, a treaty was secretly made with Texas, by which she was to be admitted into the Union. But the Senate immediately rejected it by a vote more than two to one, on the ground that to carry out its provisions would involve the country in a war with Mexico. This rejection was the signal for raising a great clamor throughout the land. An nexation was made a prominent issue in the pend ing presidential election — the Democratic party in favor of the measure, and the Whigs opposed. To influence the credulous, it was boldly asserted that England was negotiating with Texas to buy her slaves, free them, and, having quieted Mexico, to take the republic under her special protection. This story General Houston said was a pure fabrication ; yet it served a purpose. In certain portions of the South conventions were held, in which the sentiment "Tex as or Disunion," was openly advocated. The threats of secession and uniting with Texas, unless she was admitted to the Union, had but little effect, however, upon the great mass of the people.
The following year it was proposed to receive Tex as by a joint resolution of Congress. The House of Representatives passed a bill to that effect, but the Senate added an amendment, appointing commission ers to negotiate with Mexico on the subject. Thus manifesting desire to respect the rights of Mexico as a nation with whom we were at peace, and at least make an effort to obtain the annexation with her con sent, and also the settlement of boundaries.
By a clause in the resolutions the President was authorized to adopt either plan. The joint resolu tions were passed on Saturday, the 2d of March; Tyler would leave office two days later. The Presi dent elect, James K. Polk, had intimated that if the question came before him he should adopt the Sen-
852 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ate's plan, by which it was hoped an amicable ar rangement could be made with Mexico.1 The retir ing President, and his Secretary of State, chose to adopt the mode of annexation proposed in the .House resolutions. A messenger was sent on Sunday night the 3d, to carry the proposition with all speed to the Legislature of Texas.
The opposition to annexing slaveholding territory to the Union was so great that Texas came in by com promise. Provision was made that four additional States might be formed out of the Territory when it should become sufficiently populous. Those States lying north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, north latitude — the Missouri Compromise line — were to be free States ; those south of the line, to "be admitted into the Union with or without slav ery as the people of each State asking admission may desire." To the original State, the right was accord ed to prevent any State being formed out of her terri tory, by refusing her consent to the measure. Texas acceded to the proposition, and thus became one of the United States. Her population now amounted to two hundred thousand.
For nearly two hundred years the people of Rhode Island had lived under the charter granted by Charles II. This instrument was remarkable for the liberal provisions it contained. The desire to change this charter gave rise to two parties, the "Suffrage," and "The Law and Order;" each determined to secure to their own party the administration of affairs, and each elected State officers. Thomas W. Dorr, elected governor by the Suffrage party, tried to seize the State arsenal ; the militia were called out by the oth er party, and he was compelled to flee. In a second attempt his party was overpowered by citizen sold-
iBenton's Thirty Years' View, Chap, cxlviii. Vol. ii.
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION 853
iers, and he himself arrested, brought to trial, con victed of treason, and sentenced to imprisonment for life; but some time afterward he was pardoned. A free constitution was in the mean time adopted by the people, under which they are now living.
Almost the last official act of President Tyler was to sign the bill for the admission of Iowa and Florida into the Union. "Two States which seem to have but few things in common to put them together — one the oldest, the other the newest territory — one in the extreme northwest of the Union, the other in the ex treme south-east — one the land of evergreens and perpetual flowers, the other the climate of long and rigorous winter — one maintaining, the other repuls ing slavery."
In addition to passing a tariff bill, under whose in fluence the industries of the country greatly revived, this progressive Congress conferred a lasting benefit on the Nation by cheapening the postage on letters, then a burdensome tax on the social correspondence of the people and the business of the country. This measure was persistently opposed from session to session, especially by the members from that section that never paid its own postage. When the first bill passed, the letter which now costs two cents cost from two to ten times as much and even more, ac cording to the distance carried. It took twenty-one years of gradual reduction to bring the rate of post age down to what it is to-day. This frequent and cheap intercourse by letters and newspapers is of immense value to a nation constituted as we are.
CHAPTER LI.
1845—1846 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION.
The Presidential Canvass. — Difficulties with Mexico. — General Taylor at Corpus Christi. — Oregon Territory; respective Claims to. — Settlement of Boundary. — Taylor marches to the Rio Grande. — Thornton's Party surprised. — Attack on Fort Brown. — Battle of Palo Alto; of Resaca de la Palma. — Matamoras occupied. — Measures of Congress. — The Volunteers. — Plan of Operations. — Mexico declares War. — General Wool. — General Worth. — The Capture of Mon terey.
On the 4th of March, James Knox Polk, of Tennes see, was inaugurated President, and George Mafflin Dallas, of Pennsylvania, Vice-President, James Buch anan was appointed Secretary of State.
The canvass had been one of unusual interest and spirit. The candidates of the Whig party were Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen. The ques tions involved were the admission of Texas, and the settlement of the boundary line on the north-west, between the British possessions and Oregon. The latter — for the Whigs were also in favor of its settle ment — thrown in by the successful party.
The result of the election was assumed to be the expression of the will of the people in relation to the admission of Texas, which measure, as we have seen, the expiring administration had already consummat ed. We have now to record the events, the conse quences in part of that measure.
Though France and England, as well as the United States, acknowledged the independence of Texas, Mexico still claimed the territory, and threatened to maintain her claim by force of arms. In accordance
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 855
with this sentiment, two days after the inauguration of the new President, General Almonte, the Mexican minister at Washington, formerly protested against the "joint resolutions" of Congress, then demanded his passports and left the country.
There were other points of dispute between the two governments. American merchants residing in Mexico complained that their property had been ap propriated by that government; that their ships, trading along the shores of the Gulf, had been plun dered, and they could obtain no redress. The United States government again and again remonstrated against these outrages. The Mexican government, poverty-stricken and distracted by broils, was almost in a state of anarchy ; each party as it came into pow er repudiated the engagements made by its pre decessor.
A treaty had been signed by which redress for these grievances was promised ; the promise was not fulfilled, and the aggressions continued. Nine years later the Mexican government again acknowledged the justness of these demands, which now amounted to six millions of dollars, and pledged itself to pay them in twenty installments, of three hundred thou sand dollars each. Three of these had been paid, when the annexation of Texas took place, and, in con sequence of that event, Mexico refused further com pliance with the treaty.
Even if Mexico gave her consent for the annexa tion of Texas, another question arose: What was the western boundary of that territory; the Nueces or the Rio Grande ? Both parties claimed the region lying between these two rivers. The Legislature of Texas, alarmed at the warlike attitude assumed by Mexico, requested the United States government to protect their territory. Accordingly the President
856 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
sent General Zachary Taylor, with fifteen hundred men, called the "Army of Occupation," "to take posi tion in the country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, and to repel any invasion of the Texan terri tory." General Taylor formed his camp at Corpus Christi, a small village at the mouth of the Nueces. There he remained till the following spring. Also a portion of the Home squadron, under Commodore Conner, was sent into the Gulf to co-operate with the army. Both "were ordered to commit no act of hos tility against Mexico unless she declared war, or was herself the aggressor by striking the first blow."1
Though Mexico, in her weakness and distraction, had temporized and recently rejected an American minister, yet it was understood that she was now willing to receive one, and accordingly he had been sent. It was plain that upon the pending negotia tions war or peace between the two republics depend ed. Meanwhile it was known that Mexico was mar shalling her forces for a conflict.
The unsettled question in relation to the boundary of Oregon now engaged the attention of the Presi dent and his Secretary of State. Great Britain was from the first desirous to arrange the difficulty, though, as has been stated, the subject was passed over in the negotiations of the Washington treaty.
A few months after the ratification of that treaty, Mr. Henry S. Fox, the British minister at Washing ton, addressed a note to Daniel Webster, Secretary of State under Mr. Tyler, in which note he proposed to take up the subject of the Oregon boundary. The proposal was accepted, but for some reason negotia tions were not commenced. Two years later, Sir Richard Packenham, then British minister at Wash ington, renewed the proposition to Mr. Upshur, Sec retary of State. It was accepted, but a few days
President's Message, Dec. 1845.
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 857
after Upshur lost his life by the lamentable explosion on board the Princeton. Six months later Packen- ham again brought the matter to the notice of Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of State. The proposition was promptly accepted, and the next day named for taking up the subject.
The claims of the respective parties may be briefly noticed. The region known as Oregon lay between the parallels of forty-two and fifty-four degrees and forty minutes north latitude, the Rocky Mountains on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. By the Florida Treaty, Spain had ceded to the United States all her territory north of the parallel mention ed ; commencing at the sources of the Arkansas and thence to the Pacific, and Mexico, having thrown off the yoke of Spain, since confirmed by treaty the validity of the same boundary. The parallel of fifty- four degrees forty minutes was agreed upon by the United States, Great Britain and Russia as the south ern boundary of the possessions of the latter power.
The American claim was based upon the cession of Spain, who was really the first discoverer; the dis covery of Captain Gray, already mentioned ; the ex plorations of Lewis and Clarke, sent by the govern ment of the United States; and the settlement es tablished at the mouth of the Columbia River, by John Jacob Astor of New York. Lewis and Clarke, during Jefferson's administration, crossed the Rocky Mountains, came upon the southern main branch of the Columbia, and explored that river to its mouth.
The British claim was also based on discovery, and actual settlement founded by the North-West Com pany, on Fraser's River, and also another on the head-waters of the north branch of the Columbia.
Calhoun came directly to the point, and proposed as the boundary the continuation of the forty-ninth
858 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
degree of north latitude to the Pacific. This line had already been agreed upon between the United States and Great Britain by the treaty made at London, as the boundary of their respective territories from the Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky Moun tains. Packenham, unwilling to accept that line, proposed to follow the forty-ninth degree from the mountains — some three hundred miles — until it should strike the north branch of the Columbia river, and thence down that stream to the ocean. The American Secretary declined this, and as the British minister had no further instructions, the considera tion of the subject was postponed.
Meantime the Presidential canvass was in pro gress, and "all of Oregon or none" became one of the watchwords of the Democratic party. So long as these sentiments were proclaimed by partisan lead ers and newspapers, they were harmless; but when the new President in his inaugural address, asserted that our title to "Oregon Territory" "was clear and indisputable," and moreover intimated that it was his intention to maintain it by arms, the question as sumed a far different aspect.
The position thus officially taken, when the sub ject of the boundary was under negotiation, took the British Government by surprise, especially since hitherto each party had courteously recognized the other's claim to a portion of the territory. Four months passed. Meantime the good feeling existing between the two governments was seriously disturb ed; England did not again offer to negotiate. A mere partisan watchword was in danger of involving both nations in war. At length the President him self, directed the Secretary of State to reopen nego tiations by offering as the boundary the forty-ninth
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 859
parallel ; but the proposition was not accepted by the British minister.
To prepare the way for further negotiation, the President then recommended that the joint occupa tion of the territory should be abrogated, by giving the twelve months' notice, according to a provision in the treaties of 1818 and 1828. Congress voted to give the notice.
Sir Robert Peel expressed in Parliament his regret that the last offer of the American Secretary had not been accepted, and soon after the British minister, Packenham, communicated to the Secretary of State the information that his government would accept the parallel of forty-nine, as recently offered.
The case admitted of no delay. The President was anxious to relieve himself of the responsibility of act ing on the proposition. On the suggestion of Sen ator Benton, of Missouri, he, following the example of Washington, consulted the Senate on the pro priety of accepting this last proposition, pledging himself to be guided by their decision. That body decided to accept it, "and gave the President a faith ful support against himself, against his cabinet, and against his peculiar friends."
Presently the treaty was sent into the Senate, when, after a spirited debate for two days, it was ratified.1 By this treaty, the parallel of forty-nine degrees North latitude was agreed upon as the boundary to the middle of the channel between Van couver's Island and the Continent, and thence south erly through the middle of the Straits of Fuca to the ocean: — also the navigation of the Columbia River, and its main northern branch, was left free to both parties.
We left General Taylor at Corpus Christi on the
iBenton's Thirty Years' View. Vol. ii. Chaps. 156-7-8-9.
860 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
west bank of the Nueces. He now received orders from Washington, to move to the Rio Grande, and establish a fortified camp and fort on the bank oppo site the town of Matamoras, as in the vicinity of that place Mexican troops were assembling in great num bers, with the intention, it was said, of invading Texas. Leaving the main portion of his stores under a guard at Point Isabel, he marched to the Rio Grande, and, within cannon shot of Matamoras, es tablished a camp and built a fort. These movements called forth from Mexico strong protests and threats of war.
When the dispute between the two Republics be gan, Herra was President of Mexico. He was desir ous of arranging the difficulties by negotiation ; but the war spirit prevailed, and at a recent election the Mexican people chose for President, Paredes, an un compromising enemy of peace. When he assumed office he sent a large force under General Ampudia, to whom he gave orders to drive the Americans be yond the Nueces. That officer soon after sent a communication to General Taylor, in which he warn ed him of his danger in thus provoking the anger of "the magnanimous Mexican nation," and demanded that he should "break up his camp and retire beyond the Nueces" within twenty-four hours. Taylor re plied that he should maintain his position, and carry out the instructions of his government, which alone was responsible for his presence on the Rio Grande. He continued to strengthen his fortification, and tc closely watch the movements of the Mexicans. Am pudia was at a loss how to act; both commanders were unwilling to light the flame of war.
Paredes, dissatisfied with Ampudia, sent General Arista to supersede him. The latter immediately or dered detachments of Mexican soldiers to occupy
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 861
positions between Point Isabel and the American camp, thus cutting off communication with their stores.
General Taylor had sent Captain Thornton with a party of sixty dragoons to reconnoitre; the party was surprised, sixteen of their number killed, the remainder captured. Thornton alone escaped. Here was shed the first blood in the Mexican war.
A few days later, Captain Walker, the celebrated Texan ranger, who with a select company was en gaged in keeping up the communication with Point Isabel, came into camp with information that a large force of Mexicans was threatening the latter place. Leaving Major Brown with three hundred men to de fend the fort, Taylor hastened to the aid of Point Isabel, which place, after a march of twenty-one miles, he reached without opposition.
The Mexicans self-complacently attributed this movement to fear, and they immediately made pre parations to attack the fort. Taylor had concerted with Major Brown that if the latter should be sur rounded or hard pressed, he should, at certain inter vals, fire heavy signal guns.
The Mexicans opened with a tremendous cannon ade from a battery at Matamoras, while a large force took position in the rear of the fort, and began to throw up intrenchments. The little garrison defend ed themselves with great bravery, and not until Major Brown fell mortally wounded, did the next in command, Captain Hawkins, begin to fire the signal guns.
The cautious Taylor first put Point Isabel in a state of defence, and then set out with a provision train guarded by two thousand two hundred and eighty- eight men to relieve Fort Brown — thus afterwards named in honor of its commander. The little army
862 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
was truly in peril; an overwhelming force of the enemy — three to its one — had taken a strong posi tion to intercept its march. The booming of signal guns still continued, and Taylor ardently pressed on with the determination to cut his way through. Presently he came in sight of the enemy, posted in front of a chaparral — in which were their reserves — near a small stream, the Palo Alto. The train was immediately closed up, and the soldiers refreshed themselves from the stream, and filled their can teens. As soon as the exact position of the Mexicans was ascertained, the American line was formed, Major Ringgold's battery was placed on the right, and Duncan's on the left, while the eighteen-pounders were in the centre on the main road. The Mexicans commenced the action with their artillery, but at too great distance to reach the American line. The lat ter moved slowly and silently up till within suitable range, then the artillery opened, and displayed great skill in the rapidity as well as in the accuracy with which each gun was handled. The eighteen-pound ers riddled the Mexican centre through and through, while Duncan scarcely noticed their artillery, but poured an incessant stream of balls upon their in fantry. Presently the long grass in front was set on fire, by the wadding from the guns, and the smoke obscured the position of the Mexicans. The Amer ican batteries groped their way for three-fourths of an hour through the burning grass, and when the smoke cleared away, they found themselves within range of the enemy ; in another moment they opened their guns with renewed vigor. At this crisis night came on; the contest had continued for five hours, and was a conflict of artillery alone. The only in stance when an effort was made to change the form of the battle, was when the Mexican cavalry endeav-
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 863
ored to turn the American flank; but the infantry, with bayonets fixed stood firm and awaited the shock ; as the cavalry hesitated to make the onset, a discharge from the American artillery decided them to wheel and rapidly leave the field.
Such vas the first battle in the Mexican war; a presage of those which were to follow. The enemy lost four hundred men, while the Americans had only nine killed and forty-four wounded; but among the former was Major Ringgold, universally lamented, both as an efficient officer and a Christian gentle man. As his officers offered him assistance, he said : "Leave me alone, you are wanted forward." To him was due much of the credit for that perfection of drill and rapidity of movement which the American Flying Artillery exhibited on battle-fields during this war. The Mexicans manifested here no want of courage; they stood for four or five hours under these murderous discharges of grape.
The Americans encamped on the spot, and at three o'clock the next morning were on their march to ward Fort Brown. Meantime the Mexicans, leaving their dead unburied, had disappeared; but on the afternoon of that day they were discovered posted in a strong position beyond a ravine, known as the Dry River of Palms or Resaca de la Palma. They had been reinforced during the night, and now numbered seven thousand men. Their right and left were pro tected by dense brush and chaparral, while their ar tillery, placed behind a breastwork and beyond the ravine, swept the road for some distance.
General Taylor placed his artillery on the road in the centre, and ordered divisions on the right and left to grope their way through the chaparral and ferret out with the bayonet the Mexican sharpshooters,
g£4 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
who were swarming in the brush which protected them.
No order could be observed; the officers became separated from the men ; each soldier acted for him self, as he broke his way through the chaparral and probed for the Mexicans. The sharp twang of the rifle, the dull sound of the musket, the deep mutter- ings of the cannon, the shrill cries of the Mexicans, so in contrast with the vigorous shouts of the Amer icans, produced a tremendous uproar. The right and left had gradually forced their way through the chaparral almost to the ravine, but the Mexican bat tery, handled with great coolness and execution, still swept the road at every discharge, and held the cen tre in check. That battery, the key of the Mexican position, must be taken. General Taylor turned to Captain May, of the dragoons, and pointing to the battery, said: "You must take it." The captain wheeled his horse and shouted to his troops, "Men, we must take that battery !" Just then Lieutenant Ridgely suggested to May to wait until he would draw the Mexican fire. The moment a portion of their guns were fired, the bugle was heard high above the din, to sound a charge. The attention of the combatants was arrested, all eyes were turned to ward the road, along which dashed the horsemen, led by their gallant leader. A cloud of dust soon hid them from view; a discharge of the Mexican guns swept away one-third of their number, but in a mom ent more, the clashing sabres and the trampling of men under the horses' feet, proclaimed that the bat tery was taken. The Mexican cannoneers were para lyzed at the sudden appearance of the approaching foe, and before they could recover, the dragoons were upon them. May, with his own hands, captured General La Vega, the commander, who was in the
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 865
act of applying a match to a gun. The dragoons then charged directly through the Mexican centre.
A shout of triumph arose from the American lines, the infantry pressed on and took possession of the guns, from which the dragoons had driven the men. The entire Mexican force, panic-stricken at the sud den onset, broke and fled in confusion to the nearest point of the Rio Grande ; in their haste to pass over which, numbers of them were drowned.
It was a complete victory. General Arista fled, and without a companion, leaving his private papers, as well as his public correspondence. All the Mexi can artillery, two thousand stand of arms, and six hundred mules, fell into the hands of the Americans. The latter lost one hundred and twenty-two, and the Mexicans twelve hundred.
We may well imagine the emotions with which the little garrison, exhausted by the exertions of six days' incessant bombardment, listened to the sound of the battle, as it drew nearer and nearer ; first was heard the cannon then the musketry ; then the smoke could be seen floating above the distant trees; now Mexicans here and there appeared in full flight ; pres ently the victorious American cavalry came in sight, and the men mounted the ramparts and shouted a welcome.
General Taylor advanced to Fort Brown, then in a few days crossed the Rio Grande, and took possession of Matamoras. The Mexicans had withdrawn the previous evening and were in full march toward Monterey. The American commander took pains not to change or interfere with the municipal laws of the town ; the people enjoyed their civil and reli gious privileges. They were paid good prices for provisions, which they furnished in abundance; yet
866 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
there was evidently in their hearts a deep-toned feel ing of hatred toward the invaders.
Meanwhile intelligence of the capture of Captain Thornton's reconnoitring party had reached the Unit ed States, and the rumor that Mexican soldiers, in over-powering numbers, were between the Nueces and the Rio Grande.
The President immediately sent a special message to Congress, in which he announced that "war exist ed by the act of Mexico ;" but surely it was an "act" of self-defence on the part of the Mexicans, and made so by the advance of an American army upon disput ed soil that had been in their possession and that of their fathers' fathers.
The President called upon Congress to recognize the war, to appropriate the necessary funds to carry it on, and to authorize him to call upon the country for volunteers. Congress, anxious to rescue the army from danger, appropriated ten millions of dol lars, and empowered the President to accept the serv ices of fifty thousand volunteers ; one-half of whom to be mustered into the army, and the other half kept as a reserve. War was not formally declared, yet the war spirit aroused was unprecedented. Throughout the land public meetings were held, and in a few weeks two hundred thousand volunteers had offered their services to rescue the gallant little army from its perils, and, if necessary, to prosecute the war. Nothwithstanding these warlike indications, great diversity of opinion prevailed among the peo ple, both as to the justness of the war, or the ex pediency of appealing to that terrible arbiter, when all the results demanded might be obtained by nego tiation.
On the suggestions of Major-General Scott, a plan of operations, remarkably comprehensive in its out-
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 867
lines, was resolved upon by the government. A pow erful fleet was to sail round Cape Horn, and to attack the Mexican ports on the Pacific coast in concert with a force, styled the "Army of the West," which was to assemble at Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, then to cross the great plains and the Rocky Moun tains, and in its progress reduce the northern prov inces of Mexico. Another force, "The Army of the Centre," was to penetrate to the heart of the Re public by way of Texas, and if deemed best, co-oper ate with the force under Taylor, known, as we have said, as the "Army of Occupation." The latter part of the plan was afterward modified, and the country was penetrated by way of Vera Cruz.
The apprehensions of the people for the safety of their little army, gave way to a feeling of exultation, when the news reached them that it had met and re pelled its numerous assailants. The war spirit was not diminished but rather increased by this success. Congress manifested its gratification by conferring upon Taylor the commission of Major-General by brevet.
On the other hand the Mexican people and govern ment were aroused, and on the intelligence of 'these disasters, war was formally declared against the United States, and the government commenced to prepare for the contest.
General John E. Wool, a native of New York, who had seen service in the war of 1812, and distinguish ed himself at Queenstown Heights, was commission ed to drill the volunteers. By the most untiring diligence he had, in the short space of six weeks, in spected and taken into the service twelve thousand men, nine thousand of whom were hurried off to rein force General Taylor, while the remainder marched under his own command to San Antonio, in Texas,
868 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
there to be in readiness to act according to circum stances.
General Taylor remained three months at Mat- amoras, his operations restricted for want of men, but as soon as reinforcements reached him, he prepared to advance into the country, in accordance with or ders received from Washington. He sent in advance General William J. Worth, with the first division to ward Monterey, the capital city of New Leon. Worth took his first lessons in warfare in 1812. From love of military life, when a mere youth he enlisted as a common soldier, but his ready talents attracted the attention of Colonel, now General Scott, and from that day his promotion began. A fortnight later, leaving General Twiggs in command at Matamoras, Taylor himself moved with the main division, — more than six thousand men, — and the entire army en camped within three miles of the doomed city.
Monterey was an old city built by the Spaniards nearly three centuries ago. In a fertile valley, hedg ed in by high mountains, it could be approached only in two directions ; from the north-east toward Mat amoras, and from the west by a road, which passed through a rocky gorge, toward Saltillo. The city, nearly two miles in length by one in breadth, had three large plazas or squares ; the houses, built in the old Spanish style, were one story high, with strong walls of masonry rising three or four feet above their flat roofs. The city itself was fortified by massive walls, and on its ramparts were forty-two pieces of heavy artillery, while from the mountain tops, north of the town, the Americans could see that the flat roofs of the stone houses were converted into places of defence, and bristled with musketry, and that the streets were rendered impassable by numerous bar ricades. On the one side, on a hill, stood the Bishop's
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 869
Palace, a massive stone building, strongly fortified, on the other were redoubts well manned, in the rear was the river San Juan, south of which towered abrupt mountains. Such was the appearance and strength of Monterey, garrisoned as it was by ten thousand troops, nearly all regulars, under the com mand of General Ampudia. It was now to be assail ed by an army of less than seven thousand men.
Ten days elapsed before the vicinity of the town could be thoroughly reconnoitred. In the afternoon, General Worth was ordered, with six hundred and fifty men, to find his way around the hill occupied by the Bishop's Palace, gain the Saltillo road, and carry the works in that direction, while a diversion would be made against the centre and left of the town, by batteries erected during the night. The impetuous Worth, by great exertions, accomplished his purpose, by opening a new road over the mountains. In one instance he came to a small stream in a deep gully, the bridge over which had been broken down. A neighboring field furnished the material; his men soon filled the chasm, and passed over on a cornstalk- bridge.
The next morning the batteries erected the night before opened upon the enemy, who replied with a hearty good will. At length, after hard fighting, one of the Mexican works of great strength, situated in the lower part of the town, was captured. The brigade under General Quitman, of the Mississippi Volunteers, "carried the work in handsome style, as well as the strong building in its rear." General Butler had also entered the town on the right ; both of these positions were maintained.
While these operations were in progress, General Worth succeeded in gaining the Saltillo road, and thus cut off the enemy's communication with the
870 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
west. He carried, in succession, the heights south of the river and road, and immediately turned the guns upon the Bishop's Palace.
During the night, the Mexicans evacuated their works in the lower town ; but the next day they kept up a vigorous fire from the Citadel. The following morning at dawn of day, in the midst of a fog and drizzling rain, Worth stormed the crest overlooking the Bishop's Palace, and at noon, the Palace itself fell into the hands of the Americans. Yet the city, with its fortified houses, was far from being taken. "Our troops advanced from house to house, and from square to square, until they reached a street but one square in the rear of the principal plaza, in and near which the enemy's force was mostly concentrated."1 The Americans obtained the plaza, then forced the houses on either side, and, by means of crowbars, tore down the walls, ascended to the roofs, then drew up one or two field-pieces, and drove the enemy from point to point till the city capitulated.
The carnage was terrible. The shouts of the com batants, mingled with the wail of suffering women and children, presented a scene so heart-rending that even the demon of war might be supposed to turn from it in horror.
The Mexicans had effectually barricaded their streets, but these were almost undisturbed, while the invaders burrowed from house to house. The con flict continued for almost four days, in which the Mexicans fought desperately from behind their bar ricades on the house-tops, where they did not hesi tate to meet the invaders of their hearthstones hand to hand.
The following morning Ampudia surrendered the town and garrison. The Mexican soldiers were per- mi^tted to march out with the honors of war. . Taylor's Report.
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 871
General Taylor was assured that those in authority at the city of Mexico were desirous of peace. In con sequence of these representations, and also of his want of provisions, he agreed to a cessation of hosti lities for eight weeks, if his government should sanc tion the measure.
He now left General Worth in command of the city, and retired with the main force of the army to Wal nut Springs, about three miles distant, and there en camped.
CHAPTER LII.
1846—1849 FOLK'S ADMINSTRATION— CONTINUED
The President hopes for Peace. — Santa Anna. — Hostilities to be renewed. — Troops withdrawn from General Taylor. — Letter from General Scott. — Volunteers arrive at Mon terey. — Despatches intercepted. — Santa Anna's Plans and Preparations. — Taylor advances to Agua Nueva. — Battle of Buena Vista. — Its Consequences.
Those in power at Washington had hoped, indeed, it was confidently predicted, that the war would be ended within "ninety" or "one hundred and twenty days" from its commencement, and a peace conclud ed, that "should give indemnity for the past and se curity for the future." These desirable ends were to be attained by treaty, through the means of that incomparable patriot, Santa Anna, then an exile in Havana, who promised, for a certain consideration, if restored to authority in Mexico, to exert his influ ence in favor of peace. A secret messenger from Washington had made to the "illustrious exile" over tures to this effect, about the time that General Tay lor was ordered to the Rio Grande; the special act which led to hostilities.1
In his next annual message the President gives some information on this subject. "Santa Anna," said that document, "had expressed his regret that he had subverted the Federal Constitution of his country," and "that he was now in favor of its re storation." He was also opposed to a monarchy, or "European interference in the affairs of his coun try." The President cherished the hope that the
iBenton's "Thirty Years' View," Vol. ii.pp. 561 and 681-2.
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 873
exiled chief would "see the ruinous consequences to Mexico of a war with the United States, and that it would be his interest to favor peace ;" and further the Message said, that Paredes, then President of Mex ico, was "a soldier by profession, and a monarchist in principle ;" the sworn enemy of the United States, and urgent to prosecute the war. Santa Anna, on the contrary, was in favor of peace, and only wanted a few millions of dollars to bring about that object so dear to his patriotism ; hence the hopes that the war would be brought to a close in three or four months. It was with this expectation that the President, in a special message, asked of Congress an appropriation of two millions of dollars "in order to restore peace, and to advance a portion of the con sideration money, for any cession of territory" which Mexico might make. It was also in accordance with this arrangement, that, on the very day Congress, at his suggestion, recognized the "existence of the war," he issued an order to Commodore Connor, who was in command of the fleet in tl: •> Gulf, to permit Santa Anna and his suite to return to Mexico. The latter availed himself of this passport to land at Vera Cruz.
President Polk had been duped. Santa Anna never intended to fulfil his promise, except so far as to for ward his own selfish ends. Instead of endeavoring to conciliate the hostile countries and obtain peace, he devoted all his energies to arouse the war spirit of his countrymen ; called upon them to rally under his banner and save their nationality ; issued flaming manifestos expressing the most intense hatred of the people of the United States and his righteous indig nation at the wrongs imposed on his country by the "perfidious Yankees."
His extravagant professions of patriotism were not without effect ; his countrymen deposed Paredes, and
874 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
elected him President. Though they had been un fortunate in the field, their spirits revived, and in a few months he had an army of twenty thousand men concentrated at San Luis Potosi.
Meanwhile General Wool had marched from San Antonio. His indefatigable labors had converted the volunteers under his care into well-drilled soldiers. Part of their way was through a region but thinly inhabited and without roads, and across a desert in which they suffered much for water. A laborious march of six weeks brought him to Monclova, seven ty miles from Monterey — here he learned of the cap ture of the latter place. It was now arranged that he should take position in a fertile district in the province of Durango, that would enable him to ob tain supplies for his own men, and the army under General Taylor. The inhabitants cheerfully furnish ed provisions, for which they were paid promptly, and in truth received more favor than they had re cently experienced at the hands of their own rules, as General Wool kept his men under strict discipline and scrupulously protected the persons and property of the Mexicans.
The cessation of hostilities, by orders from Wash ington, ceased on the 13th of November. Two days later General Worth took possession of Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, and General Taylor himself, leav ing a garrison in Monterey under General Butler, marched toward the coast in order to attack Tamp- ico, but as that place had already surrendered to Commodore Connor, he took possession of Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas.
The United States government now prepared to in vade Mexico by way of Vera Cruz. Just as General Taylor was ready to commence active operations, General Scott was about to sail for that place with
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 875
the intention of capturing it, and then, if peace could not be obtained, to march upon the city of Mexico itself.
To carry out the plan of operations, it was neces sary to increase the force under General Scott's im mediate control. Troops in sufficient numbers could not be drawn from the United States, and a portion of Taylor's army was ordered to join him before Vera Cruz. He thus in a private letter expresses his gen erous sympathies with the latter: "My dear Gen eral," says he, "I shall be obliged to take from you most of the gallant officers and men whom you have so long and so nobly commanded. I am afraid that I shall, by imperious necessity — the approach of the yellow fever on the Gulf coast — reduce you, for a time, to remain on the defensive. This will be in finitely painful to you, and, for that reason, distress ing to me. But I rely upon your patriotism to sub mit to the temporary sacrifice with cheerfulness. No man can better afford to do so. Recent victories place you on that high eminence."
General Taylor, though deeply disappointed, at once complied with the orders of the government, and detached Generals Worth and Quitman with their divisions and the greater part of the volunteers brought by General Wool : in truth, the flower of his army. These troops were speedily on their march from Saltillo toward the Gulf coast. Thus Taylor was left with a very small force. During the month of January, and a part of February, reenf orcements of volunteers arrived from the United States, in creasing his army to about six thousand ; but after garrisoning Monterey and Saltillo, he had only four thousand seven hundred effective men, of whom only six hundred were regulars.
General Scott sent Lieutenant Richey and a guard
876 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
of men with a despatch to General Taylor. The Lieu tenant imprudently left his men, went near a Mexi can village, was lassoed, dragged from his horse and murdered, and his despatches sent to Santa Anna. From these the Mexican chief learned the plan for invading his country. lie promptly decided upon his course of action — a judicious one. Trusting that the strength of Vera Cruz, and of the Castle San Juan d'Ulloa, would long resist the enemy, and even if they both should be captured, that the fortified places along the road would still retard the advance of the Americans upon the capital, he determined to direct all his forces against Taylor, who was now weakened by the loss of the greater part of his army.
Santa Anna's difficulties were almost insurmount able. The city of Mexico was in confusion, torn by factions. He took most extraordinary and illegal measures to enlist men and obtain the means for their support; raised money by forced loans; made the church property contribute its share of the pub lic expense; the Priests protested and appealed to the superstitions of the people ; he immediately seiz ed one of their number, the most factious, and threw him into prison, and the rest were intimidated. Thus, for nearly four months, he exercised an arbi trary energetic, and iron rule. With a well-organiz ed army of twenty-three thousand men, and twenty pieces of artillery, he commenced his march for San Luis Potosi in the direction of Saltillo, and within sixty miles south of that place he halted and pre pared for battle.
Rumors reached General Wool that Santa Anna was approaching Saltillo. Major Borland was sent with thirty dragoons to reconnoitre; he was joined on his way by Major Gaines and Captain Cassius M. Clay, with another company of thirty-five men. No
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 877
enemy appeared, and they pushed on during the day, and carelessly encamped for the night, but, in the morning, found themselves surrounded by one thou sand horsemen under the Mexican General Minon. They were taken prisoners, and Santa Anna sent them, as the first fruits of the campaign, to be paraded through the streets of the city of Mexico.
General Taylor now advanced from Monterey, and established his head-quarters at Saltillo. Leaving there his stores, he made a rapid march to Agua Nueva, eighteen miles in advance, on the road to San Potosi, thus to secure the southern extremity of the defile through the Sierra Nevada, rather than the northern one at Monterey. At the former point the Mexicans must fight or starve, because of the barrenness of the country in their rear ; while, had he remained at Monterey, Santa Anna could have had his head-quarters at Saltillo, and drawn his supplies from that comparatively fertile district.
Scouts reported that General Minon with a large body of cavalry was to the left of Agua Neuva, and that the American position could be turned. Com panies of dragoons from time to time were sent in different directions to reconnoitre. They at length learned from a "Mexican, dressed as a peon," that Santa Anna had arrived in the neighborhood with twenty thousand men, and that he intended to attack the Americans the next morning.
The clouds of dust toward the east, and the signal fires that blazed upon the tops of the distant hills, seemed to confirm the report. But that daring Texan ranger, Major McCulloch, was not satisfied; and, accompanied by some dozen volunteers, he de termined to ascertain the truth of the "peon's" story. They pushed on across a desert of thirty-six miles to Encarnacion, where they arrived at midnight, and
878 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
found the enemy in force. Sending back all his men, save one, McCulloch entered their lines, and, unde tected, went from point to point, obtained more cor rect information of their numbers, then passed out, and escaped to Agua Nueva.
On the reception of this intelligence, Taylor, leav ing a small guard as an outpost, retired upon the valley in expectation that Santa Anna in hot haste would pursue him, while he himself should await his approach at a point, which, in passing, he had al ready noticed. The conjecture was correct.
Santa Anna knew well the position of the Amer icans. He thought they would not retreat, and he resolved to surprise them. But between him and Agua Nueva there intervened fifty miles, the last thirty-six of which were across a desert. His sold iers were each supplied with water and provisions; in the morning the march commenced, and at noon they entered the desert ; in the night they halted for a while to refresh, and at dawn they were to attack the unsuspecting foe. The march was rapid and secret ; the silence of the desert was not disturbed — not a signal was used, not a drum beat. After so much toil he was sadly disappointed ; his enemy had disappeared. He firmly believed the Americans were in full flight, in order to avoid a battle. Some days before he had sent General Minon with his cavalry across the mountains, to their rear, and he now hop ed that Minon would be able to hold the fugitives in check until he himself could come up with his full force. He halted only to refresh his wearied sold iers, and then pursued with all his vigor.
The ground chosen by General Taylor on which to make a stand, was the pass — since so famous — known among the Mexicans as Las Angosturas, or the Nar rows. It was at the north end of a valley, about
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 879
twelve miles long, and formed by mountains on either side. Here an ascent rises to a plateau, a little more than a mile wide, on each side of which rugged moun tains, inaccessible to artillery or cavalry, rise from two to three thousand feet. Numerous ravines or deep gullies, formed by the torrents rushing from the mountains during the rainy season, rendered the sur face in front and on the sides very uneven. Neither flank could be turned except by light troops clamber ing up the mountains. The plateau was somewhat rough, with here and there open and smooth places, as well as clumps of thorny chaparral. The road through the defile passes much nearer to the west than to the east side of the Narrows. On this plat eau, one mile south of the hacienda or plantation known as Buena Vista, the American army awaited the approach of the Mexicans.
Early the following morning clouds of dust, ex tended far down the valley to the south, made known that its cavalry came in sight and halted for the in fantry and artillery to come up.
The long roll of the drum called the Americans to arms; they obeyed the call with hearty cheers. It was the anniversary of the birth of Washington, and on the impulse his name was adopted as their watch word. They were placed under peculiar circum stances. A few months before, they were quietly engaged in the avocations of civil life; enthusiasm had induced them to volunteer, and now they were on foreign soil, far from their homes. With the exception of a few hundreds, they were all for the first time going into battle, with the prospect that to meet an army, in its numbers nearly five to one of their own. In the unequal contest, their only hope was in their own bravery, and in the skill of their commander.
880 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
The cautious Taylor had gone to Saltillo, six miles distant, to superintend in person the defences de signed to secure the stores from capture. General Wool was left in temporary command at the Nar rows, and he directed the arrangements of the troops.
Captain Washington's battery was placed to com mand the road or pass, the key to the position of the army. Colonel Hardin's First Illinois regiment was on a ridge to the left of the pass, and Colonel McKee's Second Kentucky on another ridge in their rear. To the left beyond these was posted the Second Illinois, under Colonel Bissell, while still further in the same direction, under the mountain, were stationed Col onels Yell and Humphrey Marshall, with the Arkan sas and Kentucky volunteers. The remainder of the army, including Lane's Indiana brigade; the Mis sissippi riflemen, Colonel Jefferson Davis ; two squad rons of dragoons, and Sherman and Bragg's batteries of flying artillery, were placed in reserve on the rear of the plateau.
During the morning, and beyond the range of the American artillery, the main body of the Mexicans was also arranged in order of battle. Their right, a battery of sixteen-pounders, rested on the base of the mountains. These guns were manned by the San Patricio regiment, composed of Irish and Ger man deserters from the American army. Two divi sions, Pacheco's and Lombardini's, extended in the rear of this battery; guns, twelve and eight-pound ers, were posted to the left, and a battalion occupied a hill in advance of the main line, directly opposite the pass. Their cavalry was stationed in the rear of either flank, and to be unencumbered, the baggage of the whole army was left many miles in the rear.
About noon a Mexican officer brought a note to General Taylor. In pompous terms Santa Anna sum-
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moned him to surrender at discretion, and trust him self to be treated "with the consideration belonging to the Mexican character." In a brief and courteous note the American commander declined the proposal. Santa Anna noticed that the mountains to the east, beyond the American left, were unguarded, and he sent General Ampudia, with light troops, around a spur to ascend them from the south side. The move ment was observed, and Colonel Marshall dismounted his own riflemen and those of the Indiana battalion, and commenced to ascend to the crest of the ridge. As the lines gradually approach each other, skirm ishing began. The Mexicans kept up a continuous roar of musketry, while the Americans lay among the rocks, whence could be heard the sharp crack of their rifles.
The Mexican batteries occasionally threw a shot, but the Americans on the plateau remained silent; they wished a closer conflict. They were not idle, however, but threw up temporary works to protect Washington's battery in front, and also to the right of the pass close up to the base of the mountain. Thus passed the afternoon, with only severe skirm ishing on the mountain sides. When night came on the Americans were recalled to the plain. The Mexi cans remained in position, and the night passed with out any important demonstration on either side.
General Minon had passed through the defile, Palo- mas Adentro, and in the afternoon appeared with his numerous cavalry upon the plains north of Saltillo. Here Santa Anna sent him orders to remain, and be in readiness to fall upon the American forces, which he promised to either capture or put to flight the next morning.
The appearance of Minon caused no little anxiety, and General Taylor, after night-fall, hastened to
882 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Saltillo with aid, to assure himself that any attack upon the stores would be repelled.
During the night Ampudia was reenf orced ; and at dawn he renewed the attack, and stretched his line farther to the right; but Colonel Marshall, with a portion of the Illinois volunteers, maintained his position, though pressed by superior numbers.
Soon after sunrise, movements in the Mexican ranks indicated that a grand attack was in contemp lation. Their strength was nearly all thrown toward the American left, where, owing to the smallness of their number and the extent of the ground, the troops were placed at greater intervals. The San Patricio battery was also brought forward and plac ed on the ridge in front of the plateau, while three powerful columns of attack were arranged — columns composed of the best soldiers of the army, and led by its most experienced leaders. As the foremost column advanced, General Lane ordered Captain O'Brien to hold them in check with his guns, and the Second Indiana regiment to support him. O'Brien's shot ploughed through their ranks from front to rear, yet the Mexicans crowded on till the head of the column was literally broken, and thrown into con fusion, and refused to advance. Lane now ordered O'Brien to move forward fifty yards nearer the enemy. The Indiana regiment followed, but came within range of a Mexican battery, which opened upon their flank. They were ordered to retreat from the face of such overpowering numbers ; the retreat unfortunately soon became a flight, which extended quite beyond the enemy's guns. Now upon O'Brien's artillery was concentrated the entire fire of the Mexi can battery and Pacheco's column. His horses were soon disabled; not a man of his company but was either killed or wounded ; he was forced to fall back
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and leave to the enemy one of his guns as a trophy — a trophy which they seemed to appreciate very highly.
These forces now advanced and formed a juncture with the division of Lombardini; the entire body then moved against the plateau, and opened a heavy fire upon the Second Illinois regiment under Colonel Bissell. Four companies of Arkansas volunteers had been directed to dismount and gain the plateau. They reached it in the midst of this conflict, but they soon became panic-stricken and fled. The Illinoians, now unsupported, slowly fell back. While this was in progress, a portion of the Kentuckians were forc ed back, and Ampudia, with his light troops, came down the mountain and completely turned the Amer ican left. The third heavy column, under Mora y Villamil, pressed on against Washington's battery on the road. He waited till they came within close range, then poured in his shot with surprising ra pidity and terrible effect; the head of the column melted away before the storm, the whole mass was thrown into confusion, swayed from side to side, then broke and fled, leaving the plain covered with a multi tude of slain and wounded.
Just as the three columns of the enemy had failed to force the American centre on the plateau, General Taylor, accompanied by fresh troops, arrived upon the field ; his presence was needed. He brought with him every available man that could be spared from Saltillo. They were Colonel May's dragoons, a por tion of the Mississippi riflemen, and of the Arkansas cavalry.
The natural advantages of the position had been lost ; success depended alone upon the bravery of the troops; many of the officers had fallen, and whole companies of the volunteers, both infantry and horse,
884 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
had left the field, and were in disastrous retreat to ward Buena Vista, in spite of the efforts of General Wool and Colonel Davis, and other officers to re strain them.
The Mexican infantry, supported by their fine cav alry, right and left, which made shock after shock, continued to press on. By great exertions Davis rallied the majority of his regiment, and a part of the Second Indiana; they advanced at a quick step, but silent until within rifle shot; then gave the ap proaching foe a destructive fire. The Mexicans did not slacken their pace till they came almost to the edge of the last ravine between them and their ene my, when they halted. The Americans came up to the opposite edge; thus for a while the two forces confronted each other and fired across the ravine. Presently a shout along the American line rose high and clear above the din; they delivered their fire, dashed into the ravine, lingered a moment to reload, then rose upon the opposite crest, in the face of the enemy, and with defiant shouts urged home their fire more fearfully than ever. The Mexicans, apparently astounded at the apparition which was sending death through their ranks, wavered for a few minutes, and then in utter confusion rolled back upon the column which was advancing to their support.
Scarcely was Colonel Davis free from this when he was assailed by a force coming in another direction. A thousand lancers who had not been engaged ap proached along the broad ridge ; they were well sup ported by infantry. To meet this new enemy, Davis was aided by the Second and Third Indiana regi ments. He extended his line across the ridge, sta tioned Captain Sherman on his left, and placed his men in the form of the letter V, the opening toward the approaching lancers. They commenced to ad-
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 885
vance at a gallop as if to charge their way through the centre. But as they drew near they gradually slackened their pace; they expected the Americans would fire, and then they would ride them down be fore they could reload their pieces. The latter fired not a gun, but awaited their approach. At length the lancers came to a walk at the opening of the angle. The silence seemed to fill them with awe; they were within eight yards of a thousand marks men, every one of whom could take deliberate aim. At the word, every musket and rifle was poised — a moment intervened — then went forth the messengers of death. The entire front ranks of the lancers were riddled, not a ball appeared to have failed of its errand. This was followed by grape and canister from Sherman's battery. The dead and wounded men and horses made a barricade of struggling life, over which they could not pass. Even at this time, their overpowering numbers, had it not been for this obstruction, might have enabled them to break through the line and gain the road in the rear of the plateau, and thus have modified or changed the for tune of the day. But those in the rear were appalled at the destruction of their companions, and the whole mass fled headlong from the field. As in every other instance the Americans, for want of numbers and cavalry, could not pursue them, and the fugitives passed south of the plateau to be re-formed for an other attack.
Meantime a squadron of cavalry under Torre j on skirted the mountain base to the left, and penetrated to Buena Vista, whither the commands of Marshall and Yell had retired. General Taylor sent all the cavalry he could spare, under Colonel May, to reen- force that point. Torre j on fell back on his approach, and May returned to the plateau. Then Torre j on
886 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
advanced again: this time the volunteers received him with a scattering fire ; but the Mexicans, confi dent in numbers, rode on rapidly toward the hacien da; there they were held in check by a portion of the two battalions. It was here that Colonel Yell, as he made a charge, was killed at the head of his men. Torre j on himself was wounded, and Colonel May made his appearance again, this time with two field-pieces, and the Mexicans separated into two divisions and retreated out of danger.
On the plateau the battle had raged in one con tinuous cannonade: the Mexicans had on the ridge in front, a battery of eighteen and twenty-four pounders, principally manned by the San Patricio regiment, yet they could not silence the American guns. At this point there was a temporary lull in the storm.
But on the east side of the valley, to the rear of the plateau, a severe conflict was in progress. One of the Mexican divisions retreating from Buena Vista, had united with a large force sent by Santa Anna to make its way on the extreme left round to the American rear.
Colonel May with his dragoons and a portion of the Illinoians and Indianians was engaged in the unequal contest. General Taylor sent to his aid a portion of the artillery and the dragoons, with some of the vol unteer cavalry.
They soon accomplished the object by cutting off the retreat of the Mexicans who had passed so far beyond the American left. They were driven against the base of the mountain and thrown into inextric able confusion. Bragg advanced within close canis ter range, and with their wonted rapidity his guns played upon them : the shot tore and crashed through the bewildered multitude, and those next the moun-
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 887
tain endeavored to escape by clambering up its sides. The whole force, about five thousand became utterly helpless, while the wounded and dying were increas ing at a fearful rate: the horses frantic with pain and terror added to the confusion. A few minutes more and they must have laid down their arms; at this crisis, as if to stay the arm of death, a white flag was seen approaching from General Taylor's position. When it came near the artillery ceased to fire.
Three Mexican officers had appeared as if for a parley; they professed to bear a message from the Mexican chief. When brought into the presence of General Taylor they wished to know "what he want ed." The reply was the surrender of the Mexican army. They asked time for consideration ; the trick was not suspected, and the request was granted. A messenger bearing a white flag was hastened with orders to Captain Bragg to cease firing, as the Mexi cans were about to lay down their arms.
General Wool was deputed to accompany the offc- ers to Santa Anna, who took care not to be seen. As Wool perceived that the Mexicans continued to fire, though the Americans had ceased, he declared the conference at an end, and returned to his own army.
Meanwhile, under the protection of the flag of peace, the body of Mexicans in trouble stealthily crept along the base of the mountain out of danger, and joined their main army south of the plateau. Thus, whether designed or not, Santa Anna had ex tricated his soldiers, and had also learned from his spies — the Mexican officers — the small number of American troops — only three regiments of infantry and three guns — on the plateau, and that their main portion was far to the left, whither they had driven the Mexican right wing. Shielding his men from
888 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
sight by ravines and spurs of the mountains, he had for hours been concentrating all his strength for a final assault upon the American central position at the pass. At several points he had met with partial success ; but in the main his plans had been frustrat ed by the idomitable courage, rapid movements, and hard fighting of his opponents.
Having concentrated his forces, he now brought his reserve into action, aided by the troops of the right wing which had just been rescued from peril. The whole force — twelve thousand strong — the front regiments composed of veterans, with General Perez at their head, moved up the ascent from the valley. The scattered companies (Illinois and Kentucky vol unteers) in advance of the line were taken by sur prise at the sudden appearance of the enemy in such numbers; the enemy, which an hour or two before they had seen in utter confusion, retreating from the field. The multitude, pouring in volley after volley of musketry, pressed on and compelled these companies to retire toward the lines. O'Brien was left almost alone with his artillery, yet for a time he maintained his place. His shot buried themselves in the ranks of the approaching enemy; but the mass closed up the gaps and steadily came nearer and nearer. For round shot he substituted canister, and they were checked for a time ; but it was their last struggle to secure the field. Trusting to numbers and heedless of death, the mass again moved on. Presently there was not an infantry soldier to sup port the guns, nor a horse to draw them; still the gunners stood to their places, and retreated only as their pieces recoiled. At length overtaken, every officer or gunner either killed or wounded, O'Brien himself among the latter, they abandoned them to the enemy.
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Meanwhile the companies of volunteers took refuge in a deep ravine to the right of the pass. 'The Mexi cans lined its crest and kept upon them a continuous volley of musketry, to which they could scarcely re ply, while their cavalry dashed forward to the mouth of the ravine to cut off their retreat. Fortunately the route of the cavalry brought them within range of Washington's battery at the pass. His guns were immediately brought to bear upon them ; they recoil ed, relinquished their object, and began to retreat, while, by throwing shot over the heads of the volun teers who were now moving out, he harassed them exceedingly. The Mexican infantry, now unopposed, descended into the ravine, and cruelly murdered ev ery wounded man they could find.
It was in this desperate encounter that Colonels Hardin, McKee, and Henry Clay, junior, (son. of the distinguished statesman,) and great numbers of brave and generous men were slain.
The crisis of the conflict was near. O'Brien over come there was no one to oppose; and, encouraged by their success, the Mexicans pushed on with un usual vigor. At the commencement of this last at tack the Americans were more or less scattered over the plateau and on the extremes of the field ; but the heavy roar of the battle made known that the issue of the day was about to be determined, and they hastened, of their own accord, to the post of danger.
It was an hour of intense anxiety to General Taylor, as he saw this unexpected host advance in such order and with such determination. The battle had already lasted eight hours ; the toil of so many rapid movements over the rough field had wearied his men, while the approaching enemy's force was fresh, and in number four to one of his own. Was it possi ble to hold them in check till his own troops could
890 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
come up? He sent messenger after messenger to urge them'on. In one direction could be seen Bragg, and in another Sherman, driving with whip and spur the jaded horses attached to their batteries ; while in the distance to the left of the pass, could be seen the Mississippians and Indianians, under their officers Davis and Lane, rapidly advancing, now in sight and now disappearing as they crossed the deep ravines.
Bragg was the first to come up. As he drew near he sent to ask for infantry to support his guns ; but Taylor could only send him word that not a man could be had ; he must fight to the death. The Mexi cans were rushing on, and before he could unlimber his guns they were within a few yards of their muzzles ; but his men seemed to be inspired with an energy beyond human, and with a rapidity greater than ever, discharge followed discharge. The enemy faltered, as if waiting for them to cease but for a moment, that they might rush forward and cap ture them. No such moment was granted ; they still hesitated and were thrown into confusion. By this time Sherman came up and opened with his wonted effect ; in a few minutes more Washington's battery at the pass moved forward and did the same. Davis and Lane had just closed with the enemy's right flank and commenced to pour in their fire. The Mexicans recoiled on all sides ; they could not carry the pass; hope seemed to desert every breast, and pell-mell they rushed from the field.
Thus ended the battle of Buena Vista. It had lasted ten hours ; had been a series of encounters, in different parts of the field, each one severe in itself, but indecisive in result. Never before had an Amer ican army contended with such odds, and under dis advantages so great. It was won by the superior handling of the flying artillery, which thinned and
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 891
broke the foremost ranks of the enemy before they could bring their superior numbers to bear. When repulsed, they invariably fell back out of danger, to be again re-formed for another attack, while the Americans, for want of cavalry and sufficient num bers, could not pursue and disperse them beyond the power of rallying. On the part of the latter the day was one of unremitting toil; their fewness of num bers, the extent of the field, the roughness of the ground, and the numerous attacks, forced them to be continually in rapid and laborious motion. Gen eral Taylor was in the midst of flying balls for eight hours, only one of which passed through his coat. He was ably seconded by his officers, not one of whom swerved from a post of dange'r nor neglected a duty — especially could this be said of General Wool, who seemed to be at every point where he was spe cially needed. The superior skill with which the American guns were handled was due to the exer tions of the West Point officers, who spared no effort to infuse into the ranks their own spirit of discipline ; and equal honor is due to the volunteers, who, with but few exceptions, cheerfully submitted to the re quisite drudgery of drill.
The Mexicans hoped to win the battle by musketry and charges of cavalry; their heavy guns they did not bring upon the field, but placed them in battery in front of the pass.
The influence of this battle was more important than any one of the war. It destroyed that fictitious prestige which Santa Anna had obtained over his countrymen by his vain boastings and unsparing censure of their previous commanders, and it greatly increased their dread of the invader's artillery; henceforth they met them only from behind defences, and avoided them in the open field.
892 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Night closed in. The Americans took every pre caution to repel the attack which was expected the next morning. Strong pickets were posted to pre vent the enemy from passing round to the right or left. The troops having been supplied with their ra tions, remained on the field for the night. Fresh companies were brought from the rear to supply the place of those who took charge of the wounded, who were carried in wagons to Saltillo. The loss of the day had been two hundred and sixty-seven killed, and four hundred and fifty-six wounded.
The morning dawned, but not a Mexican could be seen. Santa Anna had retreated, leaving his wound ed to their fate, and his dead unburied. More than two thousand of his men, including many officers of high rank, lay scattered over the field.
Scouts hurried on to reconnoitre ; in an hour or two they returned with information that he was far on his way toward Agua Nueva. General Taylor and his staff immediately moved on in the same direction, but sent in advance Major Bliss, with a proposition to Santa Anna for an exchange of prisoners, and a request that he would send for his wounded, as well as another assurance that the American government was desirous of peace. An exchange of prisoners took place, but as Santa Anna professed to have no means to remove his wounded, he left them to be cared for by the Americans; as to the proposition for peace he replied, in his usual style of bravado, that he should prosecute the war until the invaders had left his country.
The Mexican soldiers were in a truly deplorable condition; they were without hospital supplies, and almost literally without food, and no means to ob tain it — a desert before them, and a victorious enemy in their rear. Santa Anna urged on his retreat to-
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 893
ward San Luis Potosi, whence one month before he had set out sure of victory ; desertions had now re duced his great army to a mere remnant, and that discouraged by defeat, while confidence in his gener alship was gone. In addition, signs of another revo lution were appearing in the city of Mexico, by which his enemies might triumph.
General Taylor advanced to Agua Nueva; thence two days later he detached Colonel Belknap, with the dragoons and a regiment of infantry — transport ed in wagons across the desert — to surprise the rear guard of the Mexican army at Encarnacion. The feat was successfully accomplished. All along the way from the battle-field were found multitudes of poor Mexican soldiers, left by their heartless com panions to die of their wounds, hunger, and fatigue. As soon as possible the humane Taylor sent them provisions, and had those that could be removed con veyed to Saltillo and placed under the care of the American surgeons.
While these operations were in progress, the two Mexican generals, Urrea and Romero, with their corps of cavalry, had appeared on the line of com munication between Saltillo and the Rio Grande. They had captured some wagons, taken some prison ers, and spread alarm all along the line. A sufficient force was now sent to chastise them, but they rapidly retreated out of danger by the pass of Tula, leaving the valley of the Rio Grande to the Americans.
General Taylor, by easy stages, retraced his steps, and encamped once more at the Walnut Surings, near Monterey.
Whilst the line of communication was broken, vague rumors reached the United States, first, that Santa Anna was approaching Monterey with a large army, then, that the American army had been over-
894 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
powered. These apprehensions were greatly in creased by a volunteer Colonel at Camargo, who, in his alarm, sent an urgent appeal for fifty thousand men to be sent immediately to the seat of war. Pres ently came intelligence of the battle of Buena Vista ; and the intense anxiety of the people was changed to admiration for the men, who, under such trying cir cumstances, had maintained the honor of their coun try. Gen. Taylor, of whom so little had been known before the commencement of this war, rose higher and higher in public estimation. Some months later, when he returned to the United States, he was re ceived with demonstrations of the highest respect.
It was an era in the education of young women in the United States, when in 1837 Mount Holyoke Seminary, in Massachusetts, began its grand work. This institution was the outgrowth of the untiring and consecrated zeal of Miss Mary Lyon, who was born in the town of Buckland in that State. Miss Lyon was very remarkable for her power of acquir ing knowledge, and also for her skill in imparting the same to pupils. Because of limited means, her very hard lot in obtaining an education — which she did by her own exertions — suggested the field of her use fulness and appealed to her generous nature, and she devised a plan by which she hoped that girls situated as she had been could in part support themselves while being educated, by performing a portion of the household work of the institution.
In that day — to their shame be it said — legisla tures appropriated funds only to colleges for young men, and Miss Lyon was forced to appeal to private Christian benevolence. After years of her persist ent efforts, funds were secured ; a substantial build ing was erected and equipped; and Holyoke opened its first session with eighty pupils. Miss Lyon pre-
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION S95
sided over the institution till her death in 1849 ; this was after thirty-five years of active teaching and un remitting toil.
The reasons for founding Holyoke Seminary still remained, and that this fact elicited the practical sympathy of the benevolent, let our Vassars, Welles- leys, Smiths, Pittsburg College, and many other in stitutions for young women bear witness.
CHAPTER LIII.
1842—1848 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED.
Emigration to Oregon. — John C. Fremont; his Explorations; his difficulties with the Mexican Governor. — American Settlers in alarm. — California free from Mexican Rule. — Monterey on the Pacific captured. — Commodores Sloat and Stockton. — Kearney's Expedition. — Santa Fe taken; a Government organized. — Doniphan's Expedition. — Various Conflicts. — Chihauhau occupied. — An Insurrection; its Suppression. — Trial of Fremont.
The importance of securing Oregon by settlement had especially attracted the attention of the people of the Western States. The stories of hunters, and the glowing descriptions given in the newspapers of that distant region, imbued the minds of the adven turous with an enthusiasm as ardent as that which glowed in the breasts of the earlier explorers and settlers of this country two and a half centuries be fore. A thousand emigrants, consisting of men their wives and children, driving before them their flocks and herds, their only weapon the trusty rifle — alike to protect from savage violence and to procure sustenance from the wandering droves of buffalo and deer — set out from the confines of Missouri. They passed up the long eastern slope of the Rocky Moun tains, over them through the South Pass, thence to Lewis' River and down it to the Columbia, on whose shores they found a resting place, after a toilsome journey of six months, through an untrodden moun tainous region.
These emigrants were followed the next year by another company, consisting of two thousand, who passed over the same route.
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These enterprising settlers, with the few who had preceded them, labored under many difficulties, as the United States government did not exercise the jurisdiction which it claimed over the territory. A bill introduced into the Senate, granted lands to ac tual settlers, and made provisions to maintain their rights as citizens by extending over them the laws of the territory of Iowa. Though this bill passed only the Senate, it gave encouragement to those per sons who desired to emigrate to the banks of the Columbia. A colony thus planted by private enter prise, and thus slightly encouraged by the govern ment, became the germ of another State, (Oregon) now added to the Union.
It was in connection with this weakened spirit of emigration that Colonel John C. Fremont, then a lieutenant, made his first exploring expedition. He was a young man, once friendless and unknown, but had risen by his own talents and industry, and on the recommendation of Poinsett, then Secretary of War, had been appointed in the Topographical Engineers by President Jackson. Fremont solicited and obtain ed permission from the government to explore the Rocky Mountains and their passes, but at this time with special reference to the South Pass and its vici nity. In six months he returned ; he had accurately determined the location of that Pass, which now be came a fixed point in the path of emigration to Ore gon.
Soon after his return, Fremont again asked for orders to prosecute still further explorations in that distant region. They were given ; but after his pre parations were made, and he and his party had reach ed the frontiers of Missouri, the government counter manded his orders, on the singular plea that he had armed his party, in addition to their rifles, with
898 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
a small mountain howitzer. But fortunately for science and the country, the letter containing the order came to Mrs. Fremont, whom he had requested to examine his letters and forward only those he ought to receive. She deemed the government coun termand one that he ought not to receive, and Fre mont knew nothing of its existence until he had re turned from his eventful tour. On his return he was received with honor, his conduct approved, and on the recommendation of the Secretary of War, William Wilkins, the brevet of captain was conferred upon him by President Tyler.
He had received special orders to survey the route of travel from the frontiers of Missouri to the tide waters of the Columbia. This was accomplished by the first of November, after six months' labor, though often he diverged from the main route to make use ful observations. He now resolved to return im mediately, and when on the way to explore the vast territory which must lie between the route he had lassed over and the Pacific. To pass through this region in midwinter was no easy matter. Soon deep snow appeared on the highlands, and the party de scended into the valley, now known as the Great Basin, out of which flows no stream. On the west, the mountains loomed up with their snowy tops; everything was strange ; the Indians, terrified at the approach of white men, fled : a desert appeared, and with it the vision of starvation and death. No place could they find, as they had hoped, where they might winter and derive their sustenance from hunt ing the animals of the forest. They passed down to the latitude of San Francisco, as found by astronomi cal observations; but between them and that place, the nearest point where they could obtain aid from civilized man, rose mountains, their snowy tops pierc-
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ing the clouds ; their sides frowning precipices thou sands of feet high. No Indian would act as a guide through their passes. The whole party, by excessive toil and want of food, were reduced to skeletons, both men and horses. Finally they "crawled over the Sierra Nevada," and arrived at the head-waters of the Sacramento. "In this eventful exploration, all the great features of the western slope of our conti nent were brought to light — the Great Salt Lakes, the Utah Lake, the Little Salt Lake — at all which places, then desert, the Mormons now are; the Sierra Ne vada, then solitary in the snow, now crowded with Americans, digging gold from its banks ; the beauti ful valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, then alive with wild horses, elk, deer, and wild fowls, now smiling with American cultivation. The Great Basin itself, and its contents ; the Three Parks ; the approxi mation of the great rivers which, rising together in the central region of the Rocky Mountains, go off east and west towards the rising and the setting sun, — all these, and other strange features of a new region, more Asiatic than American, were brought to light, and revealed to public view in the results of this exploration."1
In May, Fremont set out on his third expedition to explore still further the Great West. There were now indications that war would soon result between Mexico and the United States. But to avoid exciting the suspicions of the Mexicans, he obtained permis sion from General De Castro, commandant at Monte rey on the Pacific, to pass the following winter in the uninhabitable portion of the valley of the San Joa quin. But before long, De Castro professed to be lieve that his object was not scientific exploration, but to excite a rebellion among the American set-
iBenton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. ii. Chap. 134.
900 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
tiers, and he undertook to either drive him out of the country or capture the whole party. A messeng er, secretly sent by the United States consul at Monterey, Mr. Larkin, suddenly appeared in his camp and informed him of these unfriendly designs. Fre mont immediately chose a strong position on a moun tain, raised the American flag, and he and his sixty determined followers resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. After waiting four days, as De Castro hesitated to attack his camp, he came down from the mountain and set out for Oregon through the region of the Tlamath lakes.
During the former part of May he was overtaken by a United States officer, Lieutenant Gillespie, who brought a letter of introduction from James Buchan an, Secretary of State, and verbal instructions to the effect that he should counteract any foreign scheme on California, and conciliate the good will of the in habitants toward the United States.
Fremont was now on the confines of Oregon, but at once he turned back to California. When he ar rived in the valley of the Sacramento, he found the whole community in a state of great excitement. Among the Mexicans two projects were in contemp lation: one to massacre the American settlers; the other to place California under British protection, and thus shield themselves against the arms of the United States in case of a war with Mexico.
A deputation from the American settlers hastened to lay before him a statement of these facts ; and, in addition, that the Indians had been incited against them; that General De Castro was on his march to attack them, and also that a British fleet was daily expected upon the coast.
Though the countries were at peace when he left home, the approach of De Castro with a hostile army
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 901
demanded decisive measures, and Fremont accepted the trust in self-defence. The American settlers flocked to his camp, brought their horses, their am munition, their provisions, and submitted cheerfully to the strictness of military discipline.
In one month's time, after a few conflicts, Mexican rule was at an end in northern California. The flag of independence was raised, its device a grizzly bear — indicative of indomitable courage — while General De Castro was retreating, and all other schemes en tirely prostrated.
Commodore Sloat, commanding on the Pacific, re ceived directions from the Secretary of the Navy, George Bancroft. "If you ascertain with certainty," said the Secretary, "that Mexico has declared war against the United States, you will at once possess yourself of the port of San Francisco, and blockade or occupy such other ports as your force may permit."
The commodore was at Mazatlan, and a British squadron, under Admiral Seymour, was there also. The former, from certain indications, suspected he was watched ; if so, he determined to foil the admiral. Accordingly, he weighed anchor and sailed west as if going to the Sandwich Island, Seymour followed, but in the night Sloat tacked and ran up the coast to Monterey, while Seymour continued on to the islands. Sloat arrived at Monterey and offered the usual civilities to the town ; they were declined on a frivolous excuse. It was evident that his presence was not agreeable. Five days later he heard of the movements of Fremont and the settlers, and he at once took possession of the town. Then he sent a courier to the latter, who hastened with his mounted men to join the commodore. They were mutually as tonished on finding that neither of them had acted under direct orders from their own government.
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The flag of independent California was not supplant ed by the colors of the United States.
Commodore Stockton in a few days came into the harbor, to whom Sloat turned over the command, as he himself intended to return home. The next day came Admiral Seymour in his flag-ship. He saw with surprise the American flag floating over the town, the American riflemen encamped nearby, and an American fleet in the harbor. One month later Stockton and Fremont took possession of Los Ange les, the capital of Upper California.
California had been for some time in a half revolu tionary state. The inhabitants were dissatisfied with Mexican rule. Some wished to join the United States, and some to seek the protection of Great Brit ain. The conciliatory course pursued by Fremont did much in winning the Californians to the Amer ican standard.
In the latter part of July the "Army of the West," under Colonel Kearney, consisting of eighteen hun dred men, was concentrated near Bent's Fort on the Arkansas. The Secretary of War, William L. Marcy, had given him instructions to take possession of New Mexico and Upper California, to establish therein temporary civil governments, to make known to the inhabitants the designs of the United States to pro vide them with free government, and that they would be called upon to elect representatives to their own territorial Legislatures.
The expedition moved rapidly toward Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. The population of that province was miscellaneous in its character ; Indians, New Mexicans, (a mixture of Spanish and Indian) some American settlers, and a few Spanish blood. The mass of the population was half-civilized, by whom honor and morality were reckoned of little
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 903
worth. They were cowardly, treacherous and cruel ; ignorant and superstitious. The Indians, for the most part, held the idolatrous notions of the ancient Aztecs, and were so debased that a slight reward would insure the committal of almost any crime.
The governor, Armigo, a bad man and a bad ruler, made an effort to meet the invaders. He assembled about four thousand men, of all grades, and, with six field-pieces, took position in a mountain gorge some fifteen miles in advance of Santa Fe; but for some reason, best known to himself, he abandoned his strong post and rapidly retreated southward, carrying off his own property, and leaving the people and the public interests to take care of themselves.
Kearney entered Santa Fe and was courteously re ceived by the lieutenant governor, Vigil. The follow ing day the people assembled in the plaza and had made known to them the designs of the United States government. The majority professed themselves pleased with the change. In a few days the chiefs of the Pueblo Indians also gave in their adhesion to the new order of things.
Kearney erected and garrisoned a fort, and in the meanwhile made an excursion one hundred and fifty miles to the south to meet a force which a false rumor said was marching against him. On his re turn he established a government, at the head of which he placed Charles Bent, a worthy citizen of the territory, as governor. After pledging himself to protect the inhabitants against the inroads of the Eutaw and Navajoe Indians, he set out for California. His company consisted of only three hundred dra goons, but on the route, when near the river Gila, he met a messenger — the celebrated guide and pioneer Kit Carson — who brought intelligence of what had recently taken place in California under Stockton and
f)04 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Fremont. He now sent back two companies of dra goons under Major Sumner, and continued on himself with the remainder.
Thus, within three months after the orders had been issued at Washington, a force had been organiz ed ; a march of a thousand miles accomplished ; and territory subdued, and a new government establish ed on apparently a stable foundation. A half -civiliz ed and vicious population are not fit subjects for self- government, and this in a short time proved a fail ure. Had Kearney remained to preserve discipline, that result might have been different, or at least de layed. The town was filled with gambling-houses, and grog-shops, and haunts of every vice, while the free manners of the volunteers excited against them selves the hatred of the inhabitants, who laid their plans for revenge, and only waited an opportunity to carry them into effect.
Colonel Kearney gave directions to Colonel Doni- phan, whom he left at Santa Fe, to enter the country of the Navajoe Indians, living on the waters of the Gulf of California, and induce them to make peace. Doniphan, with a thousand Missouri volunteers, in three divisions and by as many routes, entered the territory of the hostile tribe, and obtained from them a treaty, by which they agreed to refrain from de predations upon the people of New Mexico. This march, so remarkable, was made in the winter, across mountains covered with snow, and through an un known region inhabited by barbarous tribes. Doni phan delayed but a short time in negotiating with the Indians, then he passed on to the southeast to meet General Wool at Chihuahua.
The absence of so many men with Doniphan afford ed the looked-f or opportunity to commence an insur rection in New Mexico. The plot was deep laid and
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 905
kept a profound secret. Suddenly Governor Bent was murdered, with five other officers of the terri tory, some of whom were Mexicans, at Taos, fifty miles north of Santa Fe. The same day witnessed the murder of many others in the upper valley of the Rio Grande.
Colonel Price, of the Missouri mounted volunteers, was at Santa Fe with the main force, while detach ments were scattered over the country grazing their horses on the plains. With only three hundred and fifty men, Price hastened to meet the insurgents, in the valley of Taos. They, numbered about fifteen hundred, took position in a pass of the road through the highlands. Price routed them and continued his march up the valley ; but the insurgents made a stand at another pass, still stronger by nature, so narrow that three men could scarcely march abreast, while it was protected by rugged mountains covered with cedars growing in the crevices of the rocks. An ad vance party clambered up through the cedars, and the terrified Mexicans took to flight.
Their principal place of defence was taken in a few days, and the rebellion suppressed. Peace was pro mised only on the condition that the ringleaders should be given up ; this was complied with, and sev eral of them were hanged at San Fernando : a hard fate for those who were fighting against the invad ers of their country.
Colonel Doniphan, accompanied by a large number of merchant wagons, crossed without loss a region destitute of water or grass — a desert ninety miles in extent, known as the Jornada del Muetro, or Journey of Death — the road marked by the graves of former travellers and the bones of beasts of burden. In one instance his men and animals nearly gave out from thirst, when providentially a rain relieved them; a
906 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
remarkable occurrence in itself, as at that season of the year rain seldom falls in that region.
He learned that the Mexicans, under General Her- redia, who commanded in the Northwestern Depart ment, were awaiting his approach ; nothing daunted he dashed on. His force, including merchants, num bered but eight hundred and fifty-six effective men, nearly all backwoodsmen; all mounted, armed with rifles, and good marksmen ; untrammelled by discip line, each one fought as he listed. Near Brazito, in the valley of the Rio Grande, they dismounted and were scattered seeking wood and water, when the scouts brought word that the Mexicans were ap proaching. The alarm was sounded ; all flew to arms, and amid a din of shouts fell into ranks as best they could. The Mexicans — more than twelve hundred strong, and with a piece of artillery — drew near ; an officer bearing a black flag made his appearance, and in a magniloquent speech, declaring that no quarter would be given, summoned the Missourians to sur render. Doniphan's answer was characteristic and defiant.
The Mexican cavalry extended far to the right and left, while the infantry, firing volleys of musketry, advanced in front. Presently they came within rifle range, and the backwoodsmen threw away scarcely a shot. The whole body of the enemy broke and fled — they lost nearly two hundred men, killed and wound ed, in a few minutes. Only seven Americans were wounded.
Two days later Doniphan entered the beautiful village of El Paso, "where a neat cultivation, a com fortable people, fields, orchards, and vineyards, and a hospitable reception, offered the rest and refresh ment which toils, and dangers, and victory had won." There he waited till artillery could join him from
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 907
Santa Fe, and then commenced his march upon Chi huahua.
The Mexicans kept out of the way; but after a march of nineteen days it was ascertained that they had taken position at a pass of the Sacramento, a small branch of the Rio Grande. Here General Her- redia made a stand with a force of four thousand men, protected by intrenchments across the pass, and on the neighboring hills, but defences were of little avail against men who never hesitated to at tack an enemy. Doniphan suddenly diverted his route from the main road, forced his way round to the flank of their advance, and before the Mexicans could bring their guns to bear, he was in full play upon them with his own artillery. Their cavalry as well as artillery, fell back and retired across the river. Now the intrenchments were to be forced ; this was done in true backwoods style. Each man rushed on and fought on his own responsibility; some rode along the intrenchments seeking a place to enter, while others dismounted and crept up to pick off their defenders. The Mexicans fled from the presence of their assailants, who leaped over the works and se cured every place within reach. Meanwhile a party of mounted volunteers crossed the river to storm, on horseback, a battery which crowned the hill on the opposite side. This singular engagement cost the Mexicans three hundred killed and a greater number wounded, while the Missourians lost but one killed, one mortally wounded, and a few disabled. The ene my, completely routed, abandoned every thing; the officers fled toward the south, and the common sold iers to the mountains.
The following day Doniphan, without opposition, entered Chihuahua — a city of nearly thirty thousand inhabitants — raised the American flag on its citadel,
908 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
and, in the name of his government, took possession of the province. He was in a very perilous situation, with only a thousand men, from among whom almost every vestige of discipline had vanished. In this city were many American merchants, most of whom were wealthy. Doniphan's measures were prudent and just, and they conciliated the inhabitants.
On the 27th of April he set out for Saltillo, where he arrived in a month without opposition, except from a few Indians. From Saltillo he marched to Matamoras ; and as the term of his men was about to expire, they were taken to New Orleans and there discharged.
The most remarkable expedition on record. They had passed over nearly five thousand miles, three thousand of which was a march through an unknown and hostile country swarming with foes. They re turned in one year ; no body of troops had ever in so short a time passed over so much space or surmount ed so many obstacles.
Fremont was the military commandant of Califor nia, under a commission from Commodore Stockton. Soon after the Commodore sailed from San Francisco to Monterey, and thence to San Diego. The recently established government was placed in peril; a deep laid plot was in train, and only a favorable oppor tunity was wanting to commence the insurrection. Fremont, by a rapid and secret march of one hundred and fifty miles, surprised and captured the main lead er of the insurgents, Don J. Pico, who had been a prisoner, and had violated his parole. A court mar tial sentenced him to death. Fremont remitted the sentence, and thus won Pico's influence and aid in tranquilizing the country. He also endeavored to conciliate the inhabitants, and made no attack upon the hostile parties, which hovered around his march.
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 909
He came up with the main Mexican force, under Don Andreas Pico, brother of the one whom he had just pardoned. He sent them a summons to surrender, and they agreed to deliver up their artillery and pro mised to return to their homes. They were not re quired to take the oath of allegiance, until a treaty of peace should be concluded between the United States and Mexico.
Commodore Stockton now learned of the approach of General Kearney. The latter had experienced great difficulties on his march ; attacked by the ene my, he was placed in desperate circumstances at San Pasqual; his provisions gone, his horses dead, his mules disabled, and most of his men sick, while the enemy in great numbers completely surrounded his camp and held possession of all the roads. Three brave men — Kit Carson, Lieutenant Beales, of the Navy, and an Indian — volunteered to find their way to San Diego, thirty miles distant, and inform Com modore Stockton of Kearney's peril. The Commo dore promptly sent assistance, at whose appearance the enemy retired and Kearney was enabled to reach San Diego. ^
A month later took place the battle at the river San Gabriel. Then General Flores, chief of the in surgents, sent a flag of truce, proposing a cessation of hostilities in California, and to let the sovereignty of the territory be determined by the result of the war between the United States and Mexico. Stock ton refused to accede to the request, and continued his march. Another flag of truce came in. Now it was offered to surrender the town of Los Angeles, if the rights of the people and their property should be preserved. On these conditions the capital of Upper California was surrendered a second time, and the
910 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
possession of the country more firmly established than before the insurrection.
Difficulties now arose among the officers in rela tion to the question who should be governor. But recent orders from Washington relieved Stockton of his civil functions, which devolved upon General Kearney as he happened to be on the ground. In truth, the civil government was only in name beyond the range of the American cannon.
Fremont, however, refused to recognize the au thority of Kearney, and was brought to trial charged with disobedience of orders and mutiny. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to be dismissed from the service. The President did not approve of all the findings of the court; but, because of "the peculiar circumstances of the case and his previous meritorious and valuable services," remitted the sent ence and restored him to his rank in the army. Fre mont would not accept the clemency of the President, and thus admit that the proceedings of the court were just ; he at once resigned his commission. In a few weeks he set out at his own expense on his fourth tour of exploration in the Rocky Mountains.
CHAPTER LIV.
1846—1848 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONCLUDED.
Movement of Troops. — Vera Cruz invested. — Its Bombardment and Capitulation. — Santa Anna Energy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. — General Scott at Puebla. — His Misunderstandings with the Authorities at Washington. — Commissioner Trist. — Dissensions in Mexico. — Scott's Manifesto. — Reen- forcements. — Advance upon the Capital. — El Penon turn ed. — Battle of Contreras; of Churubusco. — Attempts to obtain Peace. — Conflict of Molino del Rey. — The Castle of Chapultepec captured. — The American Army enters the City. — Santa Anna again in the Field; dismissed from the Mexican Service. — Treaty of Peace. — Its Conditions. — Evacuation of Mexico. — Misunderstanding among the American Officers. — Discovery of Gold in California. — The Effects.— Death of John Quincy Adams.— The Wilmot Proviso. — The Presidential Election.
While these events were in progress, plans were formed and partially executed to invade Mexico from the east ; to secure Vera Cruz, the best harbor on the coast, and then, if peace could not be obtained, to march upon the capital itself.
Numerous delays impeded operations, and it was near the end of November before General Scott left Washington for the seat of war. The quarter-mas ter, General Jessup, was already at New Orleans preparing transports for the troops ; and communica tions were held with Commodore Connor in relation to the co-operation of the fleet. The troops, as al ready mentioned, drawn from Taylor's command, were speedily concentrated at convenient points on the coast, but the want of transports prevented their embarkation. The place of rendezvous was at the island of Lobos, about one hundred and twenty-five
912 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
miles north of Vera Cruz. At length the transports were ready, the troops, about twelve thousand strong, embarked, and, on the morning of the 9th of March, began to land near Vera Cruz. No enemy appeared to dispute the movement.
That city contained about fifteen thousand inhabi tants. It was protected on its land side by numerous defences, while on the side of the Gulf, upon a reef, stood the Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, garrisoned by a thousand men, who manned one hundred and twenty- eight heavy guns ; the strongest fortification on the continent, with the exception of Quebec.
The next morning General Worth was ordered to commence the line of investment, which extended nearly six miles. The Mexicans appeared to oppose, but a few shot from the cannon dispersed them. The weather was excessively hot and sultry, and the march through the deep sand laborious and tedious.
The Governor of the State of Vera Cruz now is sued a proclamation, calling upon the inhabitants of the town to defend themselves, while he should retire to harass the invaders and cut off their supplies. He soon appeared among the hills, but after a short skirmish, he thought it prudent to keep out of sight. The cannonading from the town and castle was in cessant, but without much execution, owing to the distance. The men kept close in their trenches and did not reply. The munitions which had recently ar rived were now landed, and the Americans were ready to commence the bombardment. General Scott summoned the city to surrender, stipulating, in or der to save the lives and property of the inhabitants, that no batteries should be placed in the town to at tack the Castle, unless the latter fired upon the Amer icans. General Morales, the commander of both the city and castle refused to comply with the summons.
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 913
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon the bombardment commenced. The Mexicans replied with every gun and mortar that could be brought to bear from the city and castle. Some of the smaller American ves sels crept near and with their heavy guns added to the uproar ; thus through the night the contest last ed. Other guns were brought, and other batteries erected within a thousand yards of the devoted city. They were hidden behind the chaparral; this was cleared away, and revealed to the besieged a new foe — battery of Paixhan guns. Their astonishment was great; upon this new enemy who had dared to take position so near, they resolutely directed all their force for many hours. They fired rapidly and with precision, but failed to silence this battery.
How terrific was this storm! Twenty-one heavy guns pouring forth an incessant stream of balls and shells ; the heavy shot broke through the solid walls and crashed through the houses, while the shells, still more terrible, scattered ruin and death in the streets, and burned every building that would burn. With scarcely any intermission, for four days this horrid work continued. The inhabitants, to be out of range, left their homes, and helplessly crowded upon the mole at the north part of the town, but ere long the balls began to come nearer and nearer. For twelve days the town had been invested, and its provisions were now nearly exhausted. The foreign residents implored their consuls to aid them. The latter ob tained permission of Morales to send a flag of truce to General Scott. They asked a cessation of hostili ties till the foreigners, with their families, and the Mexican women and children could leave the place. The request was properly refused, on the ground that permission had once been offered the foreign resi dents to leave the town, and that the petition to re-
914 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
ceive attention must come from the Mexican gover nor.
The American batteries re-opened as soon as the flag entered the city, and continued during the night. At break of day another flag was seen approaching. The firing ceased. Negotiations commenced, and were terminated by the surrender of Vera Cruz, the Castle, the armaments and stores of each, and the soldiers as prisoners of war. These terms were agreed to by General Scott and Commodore Perry, who was in command of the squadron. The soldiers were to march out, with the honors of war, lay down their arms and be dismissed on their parole. The inhabitants were guaranteed in their civil and religious rights.
General Worth was appointed governor of Vera Cruz. The advance division, under General Twiggs, soon commenced the march for the city of Mexico by way of Jalapa. The whole army amounted to only eight thousand five hundred men, but there pre ceded them an influence, that threw a shadow of despondency over the minds of the Mexicans.
Santa Anna had been very active since his defeat at Buena Vista, (which he labored hard to prove to his countrymen was not a defeat at all ; he only re treated for want of provisions,) in collecting another army, and he had already arrived with twelve thou sand men at Cerro Gordo, a mountain pass at the eastern edge of the Cordilleras. In the midst of revolutions and distractions, he marched to this, the first of the "Thermopylses," which he promised his countrymen to defend. Within two months after a disastrous defeat, without money, without the pres tige of success, he had quelled an insurrection and established his own power, raised an army, portions of which had marched from three to six hundred
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 915
miles; had constructed the fortifications at Cerro Gordo, and made a ditch twelve miles long to supply the camp with water.
The positions of the Mexicans were reconnoitred, and the attack commenced by the division under Gen eral Twiggs, sent to turn their position. Presently the whole front was assailed. The Americans seized another hill, El Telegrapho, up the sides of which they dragged heavy cannon, and began to play upon the defences of Cerro Gordo. The Mexicans replied with great vigor. During this mutual can nonade, Colonel Harney led his men rapidly down into the valley between the hills, and began to ascend the slope toward the defences on the top. The declivity was steep and rugged, and soon the entire fire of the battery was directed against these new assailants, but fortunately the balls for the most part passed over their heads. But without wavering they press ed up, carried one breastwork after another, until they presented themselves at the last, the strongest on the summit. Santa Anna, a short hour before, had ordered General Vasquez to defend this post to the last extremity, and he bravely stood his ground, and fell while encouraging his men; confusion en sued, and the struggle was soon ended. The Amer icans poured in a stream of balls, forced their way through the breastwork, and then charged with ba yonet. The garrison fled down the western slope in the direction of Jalapa. Twiggs had passed round the hill, their retreat was cut off and they made prisoners. At this moment Santa Anna returned. He was enraged beyond bounds at seeing the discom fiture of his troops in a position which he was cer tain could have been maintained. He ordered Gen- eneral Canalizo to charge up the hill and recapture Cerro Gordo; the latter absolutely refused to obey,
916 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
but led off his cavalry. Then Santa Anna mounted a mule taken from his carriage, and fled, leaving as trophies to his enemies his travelling equipage and his private papers.
The Mexican army was annihilated and scattered in all directions, they had lost more than a thousand men, killed and wounded, three thousand prisoners, five generals, all their artillery and military stores. This was not obtained without a severe loss to the invaders, who, in their rash and headlong charges in the face of batteries, and well protected musketeers, had lost four hundred and thirty-one, killed and wounded, of whom thirty-three were officers.
Possession was taken of Jalapa, three days later of Perote, a stronghold on the summit of the Cor dilleras, which was abandoned almost without a struggle, and then the city of Puebla — containing eighty thousand inhabitants. At the latter city General Scott established his head-quarters.
The volunteers' term of enlistments would expire in one month. They refused to re-enlist, but urged that they should be permitted to return to the United States, and there be disbanded, rather than on the soil of Mexico. They greatly dreaded the vomito, or yellow fever, as the season in which it was most se vere was near at hand. Though they had no claims to be thus dismissed, General Scott indulged them, as it would be impossible to secure the capital, if the volunteers insisted on returning home at the end of their term of enlistments. Thus situated he was forced to remain inactive three months, till reenf orce- ments arrived from the United States.
During this interval several circumstances occur red which embarrassed the General-in-Chief's move ments as well as disturbed his equanimity. First was the effort made, as he thought, to degrade him
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 917
from his position in the army. This was to be ac complished by appointing over him a Lieutenant- General, a rank never held in the service except by Washington. The measure failed to pass the Senate. The same end was apparently aimed at in another measure by which power was given the President to appoint officers to any position in the army, without regard to their previous rank.
Instead of money to buy provisions, came an order from the Secretary of War to authorize the collection of duties levied on merchandise entering the Mexican ports. In the same communication was another or der to levy contributions upon the Mexican people. This Scott absolutely refused to obey, as General Taylor had also done, giving as a reason the poverty of that part of the country. Says Scott in a letter to the Secretary : "If it is expected at Washington, as is now apprehended, that this army is to support it self by forced contributions upon the country, we may ruin and exasperate the inhabitants and starve ourselves ; for it is certain they would sooner remove or destroy the products of their farms, than allow them to fall into our hands without compensation. Not a ration for man or horse would be brought in ex cept by the bayonet, which would oblige the troops to spread themselves out many leagues to the right and left in search of subsistence, and stop all military operations."1 And he continued to buy provisions for the army at the regular prices of the country, and thus did much to allay a rising feeling of hatred toward the Americans.
The Secretary had given as a reason for this order, that the Mexican people thus laid under contribution, and compelled to bear the expenses of the war, would soon become willing to conclude a treaty of peace.
1 Gen. Scott's letter to the Sec. of War. as quoted by Ripley; Vol. ii., p. 95.
918 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
This might apply to the public revenues, and that part of the order the General took measures to have complied with.
Other difficulties arose. After the capture of Vera Cruz General Scott suggested to the President the sending of commissioners to head-quarters to treat for peace, should an opportunity occur. For this important duty, the President appointed Mr. N. P. Trist, whose qualifications were that he had been Consul at Havana, could speak Spanish and pro fessed to understand the Mexican character, his skill as a diplomatist could be inferred only from the fact that he was "Chief Clerk" in the State Department. Having in his possession the draft of a treaty fully drawn out at the department of State, he left Wash ington and arrived at Vera Cruz. He also bore a despatch from the Secretary of State, Mr. Buchanan, to the Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations. The plan of the treaty and his instructions he was direct ed to make known confidentially both to General Scott and Commodore Perry. The Secretary of War, Mr. Marcy, wrote to the General-in-Chief, informing him of the mission, but in general terms, and directed him to suspend active military operations till further orders, unless he was attacked.
Instead of making known to General Scott the de signs of his mission as directed, Mr. Trist sent a short note to head-quarters from Vera Cruz, and transmit ted the sealed despatch to be forwarded to the Mexi can Minister, and the letter from Secretary Marcy ; the latter could not be understood without the ex planations which Mr. Trist alone could give. The general could only see in this an underhand attempt to degrade him by making him in some way subordi nate to the "Chief Clerk." However, in a few days he wrote to Mr. Trist, what he knew of the views of
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 919
the Mexican people and government in relation to a treaty of peace, to which at present they were op posed. In conclusion, he remarked, that the suspen sion of hostilities belonged properly to the military commander on the field, and not to a Secretary of War a thousand miles distant.
In reply Trist gave full explanation of his mission, but in disrespectful and arrogant terms, assumed to be the aide-de-camp of the President, and in that capacity to order the General-in-Chief. 1 This cor respondence led to much harsh feeling and retarded the advancement of the cause. At length explana tions to the commissioner of peace came to the gen eral from the authorities at Washington. The Sec retary of State severely censured Mr. Trist "for his presuming to command the General-in-Chief."
Santa Anna fled from Cerro Gordo to Orizaba, where he remained some time to organize bands of guerillas to harass the American trains, which would be on their way from Vera Cruz. Afterward he re turned to Mexico to find his popularity on the wane. For a time the Mexicans were paralyzed with con sternation. Their army on which they had depended so much had been totally routed at Cerro Gordo. The invincible enemy was pressing on ; not a barrier intervened between them and the capital. The city was filled with factions; the national councils were divided; ambitious men forgot their patriotism in their desire for self-aggrandizement. The treasury was bankrupt, its only resource forced loans. Yet in the face of all these difficulties, Santa Anna did suc ceed in raising an army of twenty-five thousand men with sixty pieces of artillery, and in having the city fortified. After all he was the best commander the nation could afford, and the soldiers once more put
1 Ripley's War with Mexico, Vol. ii., pp. 100, 147.
920 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
themselves under his direction, to repel the invaders of their country and their sacred homes. They did not flock to his standard from a prestige of victory, for even when his boasts were still ringing in their ears, he had been ignominiously defeated ; nor were they induced by the confidence reposed in the in tegrity of a great and good man, to whom, as if to a superior being, the multitude turn in times of great peril ; but from sheer necessity.
Santa Anna understood the Mexican character. By intrigue and the exercise of a vigorous arm, he seized property, and imprisoned or banished his op ponents; by pretending to be desirous of peace he gained time, and dishonestly entered upon negotia tions ; offered himself to be bribed, and was accepted. His plans were cunningly devised : if they succeeded, the glory would all redound to his name ; if they fail ed, the censure could be thrown upon others.
Thus he employed the three months that General Scott was forced to wait for the arrival of reenf orce- ments. Had the volunteers consented to remain in the service six months longer, in all probability the capture of Mexico and a treaty of peace would have ended the campaign, and the blood spared which was shed in such profusion in the subsequent conflicts.
When at Jalapa General Scott issued a proclama tion to the people of Mexico. This manifesto, in its tone and spirit, was well adapted to the state of affairs of the country, in showing that the true policy of the Mexican people was to conclude a treaty on the liberal terms offered by the government of the United States. The proclamation was issued at the instance of several Mexican gentlemen of influence, one of whom composed it in original Spanish, as it was dic tated by the general. It was well received by the people in the country; but Santa Anna captured a
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION • 921
courier, who was bearing copies of it to the capital. He at once discovered by the style that it was not a translation, and he proclaimed with his usual virtu ous indignation, that it was the production of some Mexican traitor, and thus neutralized its effects on the people of the city.
At this time, he had by secret agent intimated to Mr. Trist that he was desirous of peace, and plainly that money would be still more acceptable : if a mil lion of dollars were placed at his disposal something might be done. That this proposition might be con sidered, a reconciliation took place between the gen eral and the commissioner ; as neither could well act without the other. General Pillow, who had just ar rived at Puebla, was also admitted to these confer ences. He was a particular friend of the President, and, owing to the "informal and confidential re quest" sent from Washington, this participation was granted. Communications were continued with Santa Anna, but with no more important result than that the latter received ten thousand dollars of the secret service money at the disposal of General Scott.
As might have been anticipated, it was soon seen that Santa Anna's only object was to obtain money and gain time, and General Scott made preparations to advance upon the city as soon as reenforcements under Brigadier-General Franklin Pierce would ar rive from Vera Cruz. Meantime, the way to the city had been thoroughly reconnoitred, and General Worth sent forward with the first division. The whole army consisted of not more than ten thousand men, as great numbers had been left in the hospitals at Perote.
The region through which they marched was a high table land beautiful in the extreme, well water ed, interspersed with valleys and mountains, whose
922 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
dopes were covered with the richest verdure, while in the distance their snow-capped summits glittered in the bright sunshine of August. Almost from the same spot where more than three hundred years be fore Cortez and his followers viewed the distant temples of the city of Montezuma, the Americans hailed with cheers the city of Mexico.
The passes on the direct route had been well forti fied, and were well garrisoned in the confident ex pectation that their positions could not be turned. The strongest of these was El Penon, to capture which the American engineers stated would require the loss of three thousand lives. General Scott was proverbially careful of the lives of his soldiers ; the sacrifice must be avoided. The vicinity of the city was reconnoitred in the most daring manner; and it was discovered that the defences south and west were not so strongly fortified.
The general diverted his course to the left and turned El Penon on the south side, and under the direction of skilful engineers crossed the chasms and ravines deemed impassable, and therefore but imper fectly guarded. General Twiggs led the advance, and encamped at Chalco on the lake of the same name. Worth followed, took the lead, and with his division halted at the town of San Augustin, about eight miles from the city. In his front was the strong fortress of San Antonio, now the head-quarters of Santa Anna, who left El Penon, when he found that the Americans were on their march round to the south side of the city. Northwest of San Antonio and four miles from the city was the village of Churu- busco, rendered strong by a series of intrenchments. Not far to the west of the village of San Augustin was the fortified camp of Contreras, which contained six thousand men ; in the rear between the camp and
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 923
the city were placed twelve thousand men in reserve. The whole number of Mexicans in these various de fences was about thirty-five thousand, with nearly one hundred pieces of artillery of various sizes.
General Persifer F. Smith proposed to attack the camp at Contreras, which was under the command of General Valencia. The night had been one of cold rain and storm and intense darkness, except when enlivened by the fitful glare of the lightning. At three o'clock in the morning, the expedition set out ; the soldiers, lest they should become separated on the march, were directed to take hold of each other — at sunrise the conflict commenced. The Mexicans were but partially surprised, still the impetuous at tack effectually routed them ; three thousand of their number were made prisoners, eighty officers and thirty-five pieces of artillery. Among the latter were two pieces taken at Buena Vista, now recap tured by a portion of the regiment to which they originally belonged. Thus commenced this eventful day — severer conflicts were yet to come.
Generals Shields and Pierce had, during the night, thrown their divisions between Santa Anna and Con treras. The fugitives from the latter place had fled to Churubusco, and there fresh troops had also ar rived from the city ; it seemed from the preparations, that here a desperate defence was to be made.
A convent, a very strong stone building, was well fortified and pierced for muskets and cannon, also the head of the bridge over the river was well de fended.
In an hour or two General Scott arrived ; as he rode along through the army he was received with hearty cheers. The morning's success had filled the soldiers with enthusiasm, and they hoped on that day to end the war.
924 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Santa Anna himself was busily engaged in arrang ing his men beyond the Churubusco River — whose banks were lined with the maguey plant, which shielded nearly all his force from view.
The rain of the previous night had flooded the low lands in the vicinity ; the fortifications were masked by trees and fields of corn; the latter flooded, and every part well known to the enemy, whose guns were so arranged as to sweep them perfectly. When the Americans commenced the attack, their officers, In the face of these batteries, would advance and re connoitre the ground, then the men would march up to that point, the officers would again advance, and the same process be repeated. During this time the cannon balls from the unseen enemy came crashing through the corn, the men and officers fell rapidly, yet as if impelled by some all powerful influence, they moved steadily on until the works of Churubusco were in their hands.
General Scott sent round to the other side a divi sion under General Pillow; they waded through the mud and water, in some instances waist deep, before they could reach the enemy. Several companies were entirely broken up, Captain Taylor's artillery men were cut up, his horses killed, when suddenly the Mexicans rushed out of the convent to charge; but at this moment a company of American infantry came up and repulsed the assailants.
The ground was intersected by causeways, and it was impossible to preserve military order ; also owing to their ignorance of the position of the enemy, as well as their own, the Americans were constantly in danger of firing upon their own friends. The battle raged in every direction. General Worth carried San Antonio, and General Twiggs another fortress. The Mexicans fought bravely, they were more than
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 925
three to one of their foes, and they made every effort to repel them.
For two hours the battle had raged. The smoke completely enshrouded the position of the Mexicans. The roar of their twenty thousand muskets seemed to down the noise of the artillery, and to render the din of the conflict peculiarly terrific.
The Americans could but feel their way through the corn, and across causeways and ditches, ignorant at what moment they might come upon concealed batteries. At length a party were enabled to cross the river Churubusco, and presented themselves in the rear of the enemy, at the same moment Worth's division emerged from the cornfields in their front; those in the rear rushed across ditches and over the parapets and carried the works, while the Mexicans at the head of the bridge abandoned it; their guns were immediately seized and turned upon them. Both divisions pressed forward with the bayonet, the Mexicans recoiled in confusion, and finally fled; the dragoons pursuing them to the very gates of the city.
The victory was won, but it had cost the Americans dear; a thousand had fallen or been disabled, among these were seventy-six officers. The coolness, the in domitable courage and perseverance of both men and officers were never better displayed. The ground was unknown, and they were thrown upon their own resources ; there was no wavering ; each one perform ed his part, and adapted himself to the emergency. In no battle did the Mexicans fight better ; they strug gled hard, and the number cf their slain and wounded and missing — nearly seven thousand — testifies that they were brave.
Santa Anna fled to the city. The night after the battle several persons connected with the British em-
926 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
bassy in Mexico appeared at the American head-quar ters, and informed General Scott that the Mexican authorities were disposed to conclude a peace, and ad vised that the capital should not be assaulted, lest the members of the government should be dispersed, and leave no acknowledged authority to enter upon negotiations.
A flag of truce came the next day and presented the request for hostilities to cease preparatory to negotiating a treaty. In accordance with this re quest, and the representations made the previous evening, Mr. Trist went to the capital and presented his conditions of peace — the same drawn up at Wash ington. After protracted delays, evidently designed to gain time, the Mexican commissioners announced that they would not accede to these conditions, and in turn they proposed others, which they well knew would not be acceptable.
Mr. Trist returned with this intelligence, and also that contrary to the terms of the armistice, Santa Anna was fortifying the city, and in other respects had violated his pledges.
Indignant at the continued treachery, General Scott now ordered the army to march upon the capi tal.
On the way were two strong positions: the one Molino del Key, (the King's Mill,) a foundry, where, it was said, the bells of the churches were being rapidly converted into cannon; near by was the strong castle of Chapultepec, which could not be turned, but must be taken, before the city could be reached.
It was resolved to capture Molino del Rey ; and at three in the morning General Worth sent forward the different corps of his division to commence the attack at dawn of day. While it was yet dark, the
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 927
two twenty-four pounders opened and sent their balls through the walls of masonry. There was no reply, and it was thought the Mexicans had abandoned the building. Instead, they had changed their position during the night, and now had their guns in readi ness to pour grape and round shot upon the flank of the advancing Americans. From the manifest pre parations, it is thought, Santa Anna, who was on the ground, knew of the intended attack. His advant ages in number and position were great, and when his guns opened, their effect was terrible. In a few minutes the front of the American advance was cut down ; of fourteen officers, eleven were either killed or wounded, and a like proportion of the men. The company was forced to fall back, and the Mexicans, as usual, with savage ferocity, rushed out and mur dered all the wounded they could find.
Worth ordered forward other companies, and these were seconded by another brigade, who vigorously attacked the Mexican flank. Though exposed to a cross fire which did fearful execution, these all fought desperately; it would seem that the idea of retreating from the face of such overwhelming odds, never occurred to them; they held on and steadily advanced.
Presently General Leon himself headed a strong sortie from the Molino del Rey, but it was driven back; Leon was mortally wounded, and several offi cers of high rank were slain. The attack was con tinued in a desultory manner, the assailants sought in various ways to gain access to the enemy; they crept along the sides and fired into the apertures, climbed to the top of the building and tore down the walls with their hands or pried the stones loose with bayonets. At length they broke through the south ern gate, and rushing in with loud shouts engaged in
928 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
close combat. The Mexicans did not yield, but con tinued to fire upon them, from the building into the courtyards. The Americans burst open door after door, reached the roof, and with the bayonet met the enemy hand to hand. In a few minutes the north west gate was in like manner forced. A portion of the Mexicans held out a white flag in token of sur render, while others made their way to Chapultepec.
This has been deemed the hardest contested con flict of the entire war. The enemy were in numbers three to one, and in a strong position. After the commencement of the attack, the Americans had scarcely any aid from their heavy guns, but were forced to depend upon their rifles and muskets. Still they carried the place, and captured eight hundred prisoners, and lost themselves seven hundred and eighty-seven killed and wounded, of whom fifty-nine were officers — nearly one-fourth of the whole num ber engaged in the battle. The loss of so many brave men shed a gloom over the entire army.
The Castle of Chapultepec stood on a high and pre cipitous hill, very steep and rocky, on the south side toward the Americans; on the west the slope was more gradual, but covered with dense wood and rough with rocks. Here, shielded by these, was a large force of Mexicans.
At the earliest dawn the full force of the American cannon was concentrated upon the walls of the castle, and at the west side, storming parties were waiting anxiously for a breach to be made, by which they might carry it by assault. They groped their way from tree to tree and rock to rock, driving the Mexi cans before them, when suddenly, on the crest of the hill, the whole force came out on the open space in the presence of ramparts frowning with cannon and musketry. They approached cautiously, returning
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 929
only a few shots, but still drawing nearer and nearer. Presently an ensign bearing the standard of his regi ment, rushed forward to the rampart, a shout arose, a few followed with ladders, placed them against the wall and with a cheer bounded over. The Mexicans, taken by surprise, stood but a few minutes, then scrambled over the side and down the precipitous rocks out of danger. This was the only instance dur ing the war where the Americans so far forgot them selves as not to cease their fire at the submission of the foe, and even now it continued only for a few minutes. Their provocations had been great. Only a few days before, as on every other occasion, they had seen their wounded companions, found on the field of battle, barbarously murdered by the Mexi cans. The exulting shouts, the disregard of disci pline, which continued for an hour, only manifested the deep emotions which prevailed.
The castle was a mass of ruins; so effective had been the shots and shells, that it was battered to pieces. Here had been the national military school, and here the young students had bravely stood their ground. All of their number, who were not slain, were taken prisoners, with the aged General Bravo their commander.
While the conflict was in progress General Quit- man was engaged in capturing the defences thrown over the causeways which led through a marsh — a lake in the days of Cortez — to the city. They were taken in succession; each one gave more or less re sistance. At nightfall the Mexicans were driven within the city, and the Americans held two of its gates.
At midnight commissioners came with propositions of peace, and to surrender the city ; they stated that Santa Anna was marching out with his army. Gen-
930 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
eral Scott refused to listen again to terms of accom modation; when his kindness of feeling had been grossly deceived. The following morning, with six thousand men, he marched into the city, drew up his army upon the great plaza, and hoisted the stars and stripes over the National Palace.
For several days the troops were occasionally fired upon from windows and the tops of houses ; the work, it was said, of convicts, two thousand of whom had just been liberated; but stringent measures were taken to insure safety.
Santa Anna, with three or four thousand troops, had gone toward Puebla. He devolved his authority upon Pena y Pena, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice. The other prominent Mexicans went in different directions.
Colonel Childs had been left in command at Puebla with a small garrison only five hundred men, to pro tect eighteen hundred sick and disabled American soldiers. The Mexicans, encouraged by false reports of success at the capital, made frequent desultory attacks upon the garrison, but by great exertions Colonel Childs held them at bay for nine days, when Santa Anna, with a remnant — some four or five thou sand — of his discomfited army, appeared, and in a pompous manner summoned Childs to surrender. The summons was disregarded. The Mexican chief blockaded the town for seven days and then marched to intercept a train, on its way from Vera Cruz. General Lane was in command of his convoy — troops from Taylor's army, composed of Indiana and Ohio volunteers.
Santa Anna took position at Huamantla, a town some miles north of the main pass El Pinal, intend ing to attack the Americans when they should be come entangled in the defile. But Lane was not thus
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 931
to be entrapped. He at once set out, surprised Santa Anna himself, and compelled him, after some loss, to abandon the town. The train unmolested moved on the following day to Puebla, and the garrison, after a month's siege, was relieved.
Within ten days it was ascertained that Santa Anna was concentrating another force at Alixo. Lane, by a forced march, suddenly fell upon them, and dispersed them beyond recovery. Almost im mediately after his failure to prevent the capture of the city of Mexico, Santa Anna resigned the presi dency of the republic, but still retained his office as commander-in-chief of the Mexican armies. Now he was mortified to receive a note from Senor Rosa, the Minister of War, informing him that his services were no longer required by the government, which had just been inaugurated. He took the hint, and was soon on his way to the Gulf Coast, thence to the West Indies to be ere long again engaged in intrigues to disturb his unfortunate country.
In a few weeks after the capture of the city of Mexico, the seat of government was removed to Queretaro. Soon after members for a new Congress were elected, and that body commenced its session. At the town of Guadalupe Hidalgo, commissioners and Mr. Trist were negotiating a treaty of peace. It was concluded on the 2d of February, and now it only remained to be ratified by the authorities at Wash ington to formally close the war, which, from the battle of Palo Alto to the capture of the city of Mexico, had lasted one year and five months.
In this brief period, armies, of their own free will, had flocked to the standard of their country; had been organized, had marched into a foreign land, dis similar to their own in climate and in feature, some across deserts and through districts infected with
932 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
direful disease, others in mid-winter passed over un trodden mountains, covered with snow, and then in turn over arid plains, and met the enemy in conflict many hundreds of miles from their homes, while fleets were fitted out, which swept round Cape Horn, and were in time to perform their part. The rapidi ty with which cannon were manufactured and mu nitions of war prepared and transported to the scene of action, was astonishing.
During the time of the occupation of the city of Mexico, difficulties arose between some of the offic ers of the army. From misunderstandings hasty charges were made, and recriminations followed. Two of the officers, Pillow and Worth, made charges against the General-in-Chief, and he ordered them under arrest for insubordination. They appealed to the War Department, and made representations, in consequence of which the venerable commander, who had been a worthy leader from Lundy's Lane to Mexico, was superseded by an order from Washing ton, and the temporary command given to another. Subsequently the charges were virtually withdrawn, and they resumed their respective ranks. It is not expedient to go into detail ; let the matter sink into oblivion. But never before — and may it never be again — in the history of the country, when its in terests were so deeply involved, did the terms of "party," democrat or whig, of "friends" or "oppon ents" of the "administration," have so much in fluence.
Certainly, in truth it has been said, that those who served their country well in this war fared badly. Taylor, who was victorious from Palo Alto to Buena Vista, was quarrelled with; Scott, who marched triumphant from Vera Cruz to Mexico, was super seded ; Fremont, who secured California, was court
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 933
martialled, and Trist, who made the treaty, which secured the objects of the war, was recalled and dis missed.
The war had been an unceasing source of disap pointment to those whose measures brought it on. Santa Anna, who was to have been a harbinger of peace, had to be beaten from point to point, and not until he was finally driven from power did those of his countrymen, who were in favor of an amicable arrangement, dare to act.
When the commissioners, appointed by the Presi dent to supersede Trist, arrived at Mexico, they found the treaty negotiated and signed by the par ties. In substance it was the same that had been prepared by the Cabinet. When brought to Wash ington it was at once laid before the Senate, and af ter a short discussion ratified. The President by proclamation, on the 4th of July, 1848, made known to the nation that the war was at an end, and a satisfactory treaty had been concluded.
New Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the United States, and the lower Rio Grande, from its mouth to El Paso, was taken as the boundry of Texas. Mexico was to receive fifteen millions of dol lars ; the claims of American citizens against her — amounting to three and a quarter millions of dollars — were assumed by the United States. In a few months not an American soldier was on Mexican soil.
On the 4th of July, 1845, the annexation of Texas was consummated; and thus within three years a territory four times as large as France, had been added to the United States — regions hitherto imper fectly known, but having in store the elements of great wealth.
At the very time that the commissioners were negotiating the treaty, a laborer engaged at work
934 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
upon a mill-race belonging to Captain Sutter, on one of the tributaries of the Sacramento river, noticed in the sand some shining particles. They proved to be gold. By the time the treaty was ratified rumors of the discovery reached the United States. The ex citement produced was unprecedented. In a short time thousands were on their way to the land of gold. Every means of conveyance was called into requisition, from the emigrant's pack-horse and wagon, to the sailing-vessel and the steam-ship. Some went in caravans over the plains and the Rocky Mountains ; some crossed the Isthmus of Pana ma, and found their way up the Pacific coast ; others took ship and passed Cape Horn. The sufferings of the great majority of these adventures were intense ; hundreds of them met untimely deaths on the way, or by disease, privations, and improvidence, when they reached their journey's end. The ferment ex tended throughout the civilized world. Multitudes of gold-seekers were soon on their way from the dif ferent countries of Europe and South America, and even distant China sent her thousands. The tide of immigration was directed to San Francisco, which, from a miserable village of a few huts, soon became a city of fifteen thousand inhabitants, now to have about sixteen times that number, and to be the great entrepot of the Pacific.
The influence of this discovery of gold mines, has been incalculable in its effects, not merely upon the United States, but has extended to other nations. "It touched the nerves of industry throughout the world," infused new life into commerce, and awaken ed a spirit of adventure and individual exertion never before known.
On the 21st of February, the venerable John Quincy Adams, when in his seat in the House of Representa tives, was struck by paralysis. Two days later he
FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION 935
expired. His last words were, "This is the last of earth : — I am content." Born in revolutionary times : "The cradle hymns of the child were the songs of liberty." He had associated with the fathers of the republic, and was the representative of the memories of that heroic age. For more than sixty years he had been constantly engaged in public affairs. At the age of fourteen, private secretary to Francis Dana, American minister to Russia ; at twenty-seven appointed minister to Holland by Washington, who styled him "the ablest of all our diplomatic corps." Afterward successively, United States Senator; pro fessor in Harvard College; minister to Russia; one of the negotiators of the treaty of Ghent ; Secretary of State under Monroe ; President, and then member of the House till his death, at the age of fourscore. Old in years but buoyant in spirit, he never lagged behind his age; but with careful eye watched the progress of his country, and sympathized with its youthful energies.
The administration of Mr. Polk was drawing to a close. Its great event had been the Mexican war, the train for which was laid under his predecessor. The tariff of 1842, under which the industry of the country had rapidly recovered from its prostration, after an existence of four years was so modified, as to afford less protection to American manufactures.
David Wilmot, a member of the House from Penn sylvania, introduced a proposition into Congress, since known as the "Wilmot Proviso," by which slav ery should be prohibited in all territory obtained by treaty. The "Proviso" did not become a law, but the subject of slavery was once more brought up for dis cussion.
The Democratic convention met at Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the office of President.
936 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
Two sets of delegates appeared from New York, both claiming to be the true representatives of the Demo cracy of that State.
No compromise could reconcile the parties, and the convention solved the difficulty by excluding to nomi nate Senator Lewis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and General William 0. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President.
The delegates representing the Whig party, and those opposed to the measures of the administration, met at Philadelphia, and nominated General Zachary Taylor for President, and Millard Fillmore, of New York, for Vice-President.
One portion of the Democracy of New York ac cepted the nominations of the Baltimore convention ; another portion rejected them. The latter called a convention, at Buffalo of those who were opposed to the extension of slavery into free territory. They adopted a platform in favor of "Free Soil," and nomi nated ex-president Van Buren for the Presidency and Charles Francis Adams (son of John Quincy Adams) for the Vice-Presidency.
A spirited canvass followed, and the candidates of the Whig party were elected.
During the last year of this administration, Wis consin was admitted into the Union as a State, and Minnesota organized as a Territory.
A new Department, that of the Interior, was creat ed by Congress, to relieve the Secretary of the Treas ury of part of his duties.
On the fifth of March, the fourth occurring on the Sabbath, the new President was inducted into office.
Mr. Polk, broken down in health, retired to his home in Nashville, Tennessee, where in a few months he was numbered with the dead. A man of exem plary character ; he was lamented by the people.
CHAPTER LV.
1849—1850 TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION.
Discussion on Slavery. — Wilmot Proviso. — The Powers of the Constitution; their Application in the Territories. — Thirty- first Congress. — President's Message; its Recommenda tions. — Debate on the Omnibus Bill. — Death of Calhoun. — Death of President Taylor. — Fillmore Inaugurated. — The Fugitive Slave Law. — The Mormons; their Origin; Troubles; Settlement in Utah. — A Disunion Convention. — Lopez invades Cuba. — The Search for Sir John Franklin. Dr. E. K. Kane.— Death of Henry Clay; of Daniel Web ster. — The Tripartite Treaty. — Presidential Election.
General Zachary Taylor was a native of Virginia ; but when he was very young, his father removed to Kentucky, and on the frontiers of that State he spent his youth as a farmer. At the age of twenty-four he received a commission in the army from President Jefferson, and entered upon a career more congenial to his tastes than cultivating the soil. For forty years he was in the military service of his country ; his sphere of duty was on the frontiers; and thus situated he had never even voted at an election. Honest and frank, blest with common sense and firm ness of purpose, he was withal unselfish and patrio tic, and uncontaminated with political intrigues. His inaugural address on taking the office of Presi dent, was brief, and confined to a declaration of gen eral principles. His cabinet, at the head of which was John M. Clayton of Delaware, was at once con firmed by the Senate.
The question of slavery had appeared under differ ent phases. For twelve years after the passage of the Missouri Compromise, the subject had not been
938 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
agitated in Congress, but now attention was drawn to it by the presentation of memorials, praying that body to abolish the slave-trade and slavery in the District of Columbia. Meantime others, who looked upon the system as an evil to be remedied at all haz ards, sent through the mail to the South publications, addressed to the slave-owners themselves, and de signed to influence them in favor of emancipation; but there were others who sent papers that contain ed engravings by no means calculated to make the slave contented with his lot. The fear was great lest the latter might become the occasion of insurrections and blood-shed. President Jackson recommended to Congress to pass a law prohibiting the use of the mail for the circulation of "incendiary publications." But the bill to that effect did not become a law. The excitement was great, both North and South : in the former sometimes developing itself in violent meas ures against the abolitionists; in the latter, some broke into the postoffices and destroyed the obnoxi ous papers, and others raised the cry of disunion, while, so embittered had the feeling become in Con gress, that for a time memorials on the subject would not be received.
Now the slavery agitation was a legacy left by the previous administration — a question which over shadowed' all others, and almost exclusively engaged the attention of Congress and the nation. Three years before the Wilmot Proviso had initiated the discussion, which was fast acquiring a tone of bitter ness hitherto unknown. The contents of the news papers showed that the question had penetrated into every nook and corner of the land — in social circles and in the retirement of the fireside — all were alive to the importance of the subject at issue; the emo-
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 939
tions of a nation swayed in the storm of clashing opinions.
The annexation of Texas and the consequent war with Mexico, came to be looked upon as designed to further the interests of slavery, and to commit the nation to the policy of extending that system. Those opposed to such measures endeavored to counteract them by means of the Proviso, but that had failed to receive the sanction of Congress. With the excep tion of Texas proper, it was uncertain whether the newly-acquired territories would admit slavery; the indications were that they would reject it. And this feature of the controversy gave rise to another ques tion ; how to introduce the system into free territory. Would Congress subvert the law of Mexico, which had long since prohibited human bondage within her limits ? That body never at any time had interfered with slavery as existing in the States, neither had it directly legislated it into free territory: the policy had rather been not to interfere with the inhabitants in deciding the question for themselves.
The last Congress, absorbed in the turmoil of the discussion, had dissolved without providing govern^ ments for the territories. To remedy this evil, Presi dent Taylor instructed the Federal officers in these territories to encourage the people to organize tem porary government for themselves.
President Polk in his last message had recommend ed that the Missouri Compromise line of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, be extended to the Pacific, and thus leave the territory south of that line liable to be made slaveholding. Motions to that effect failed in Congress. That line had been adopted for the Louisiana territory alone, which was slave, and it made one side free, but if it was pro-
940 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
duced to the Pacific it would pass through free terri tory, and therefore make one side slave.
The advocates of the system contended that they had a right to go into any of the territories and take with them their property, meaning slaves. That was admitted, but only under the laws of Congress, which so far protected such property, but it was denied that the slaveholder could carry with him the municipal law of the States from which he emigrated, any more than the emigrant from a free State could take with him its peculiar laws.
The same object was sought by attempting to "ex tend the constitution of the United States to the territories," and this under the form of an amend ment attached to the general appropriation bill, pro viding a temporary government for the ceded terri tories, and extending to them certain acts of Con gress. The proposition elicited a discussion in which Calhoun and Webster each took part. The former argued that the Constitution recognized slavery ; that it was the supreme law of the land; therefore it was superior to every law in opposition to slavery, not only overriding any territorial law to that effect, but even superior to any law of Congress designed to abolish it; and that i the property of the South, meaning Slaves, would thus be protected by the Con stitution in the territories into which Calhoun openly avowed his intention to thus carry the institution of slavery. "The Constitution/' said he, "pronounces itself to be the supreme law of the land ;" the States as well as the Territories.
Mr. Webster replied that the Constitution was made for the States and not for the Territories ; that Congress governed the latter independently of the Constitution, and often contrary to it, and was con stantly doing things in the Territories that it could
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 94 1
not do in the States ; and that the Constitution could not operate of itself in the Territories. "When new territory has been acquired," said he, "it has always been subject to the laws of Congress, to such laws as Congress thought proper to pass for its immediate government and preparatory state in which it was to remain until it was ready to come into the Union as one of the family of States." He quoted the Consti tution itself, which declares that "it and the laws of Congress passed under it shall be the supreme law of the land." Thus it required a definite law of Con gress to establish slavery in the Territories under the Constitution, as shown by the words of that in strument itself.
The amendment failed in both houses ; it became but the germ of another doctrine, that the Constitu tion of the United States, independently of an act of Congress, but in spite of it, not only goes of itself to the territories but carries with it a shield protect ing slavery.
During this session of Congress meetings were held at Washington, attended by a majority of the members of Congress from the slave-holding States, to take into consideration the measures best adapted to secure southern rights.
They published an Address to the people of the South. It was drawn up by Calhoun, and by no means was it conciliatory in its tone and sentiments, and for that reason it failed to enlist in its favor all the delegates from the South. In truth it became a party measure. Only forty members, all from the slaveholding States, signed their names to the Ad dress: of these, thirty-eight belonged to the Demo cratic party.
This manifesto was soon followed by a Southern Convention to dissolve the Union. The Legislatures
942 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
of two of the States, South Carolina and Mississippi, issued a call for a "Southern Congress," to frame a government for a "United States South."
The agitation was not limited to the South; the North was as busily engaged in canvassing the ex citing question, and both parties were summoning their energies for the conflict in the new Congress about to meet.
The thirty-first Congress, called a month earlier than the usual time, met in its first session. Parties were nearly equally divided. The House spent three weeks, and balloted sixty times for a speaker, and only succeeded by changing the rule by which a majority of the whole is required to elect, to that of a plurality. Mr. C. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, was elected ; his competitor was Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts.
The first and only annual message of President Taylor was sent in. He saw the difficulties which lay in his path. The bitterness of party had been increased by sectional feelings. The President felt the responsibility of his position; but he fearlessly yet temperately gave his views, and plainly intimat ed that he should not shrink from his duty to the Union itself; deprecated sectional controversies, and referred to Washington in confirmation of this senti ment.
The points at issue were various, and he recom mended a plan to settle each. As California, whose population had increased so rapidly, had framed a Constitution, he advised that she should be at once admitted into the Union ; that New Mexico and Utah should be organized as territories, and when they were prepared to come into the Union as States, be permitted to decide the question of slavery for them selves ; and that the dispute between Texas and New
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 943
Mexico, in relation to their boundaries, should be settled by the judicial authority of the United States.
Early in the session Henry Clay moved in the Sen ate a series of resolutions designed to settle these disputes by a compromise. A committee of thirteen was appointed, to whom these resolutions and the various plans which had been proposed were refer red. In due time Mr. Clay, as chairman, reported. The spirit of the resolutions was combined in one measure, which, from its character and the dissimi lar objects it was designed to accomplish, was styled the Omnibus Bill. It proposed the admission of California; the organization, without mention of slavery, of the territories of New Mexico and Utah ; the arrangement of the Texas boundary, by paying the latter ten millions of dollars; the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and the enactmenti of a more stringent fugitive slave law.
Senator Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, insisted that the bill was not equal in its provisions, because the South gained nothing by the measure; and he urged that the Missouri line of compromise should be extended to the Pacific, "with the specific recogni tion of the right to hold slaves in the Territory be low that line."
To this Clay replied, that "no earthly power could induce him to vote for a specific measure for the in troduction of slavery where it had not existed, either north or south of that line." "I am unwilling," con tinued he, "that the posterity of the present inhabi tants of California and of New Mexico should re proach us for doing just what we reproach Great Britain for doing to us." "If the citizens of those Territories come here with Constitutions establish ing slavery, I am for admitting them into the Union ; but then it will be their own work and not ours, and
944 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
their posterity will have to reproach them and not us."
Calhoun, now near to death, in a speech read by a friend, urged that if the Union would be preserved, it must be by an equal number of slave and free States, to maintain the number of senators equal in the Senate.
"The incurability of the evil," said Senator Benton, of Missouri, "is the greatest objection." "It is a question of races, involving consequences which go to the destruction of one or the other; this was seen fifty years ago, and the wisdom of Virginia balked at it then. It seems to be above human reason. But there is a wisdom above human ! and to that we must look. In the meantime do not extend the evil."
Soon after this occurred the death of John C. Cal houn. He first entered Congress in 1811, and during almost forty years had filled various offices in the service of his country. A man of primitive taste and simple manners, uniting the kindliest of feelings with unflinching integrity and devotion to duty. The lat ter portion of his public career was marked by the most strenuous advocacy of States' rights and South ern institutions.
A few months later President Taylor was also num bered with the dead. He suddenly became ill with a violent fever, which terminated his life in a few days, after he had held office sixteen months. He had shown himself equal to the emergency ; and his death was a public calamity indeed. Though elected by one party, his policy and acts were approved by all, and the whole nation mourned his loss. MILLARD FILLMORE.
The Vice-President, on the 10th of July, took the oath, and was inaugurated as President. It was done without show or parade ; merely a joint committee of
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 945
three from each House of Congress, and the members of the cabinet, attended him. The oath was admin istered by the venerable William Cranch, Chief Jus tice of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, who, Was appointed by John Adams, had held the office for fifty years. Not an unnecessary word was spoken ; the ceremony was one of deep solemnity.
The first official act of Mr. Fillmore was to call upon Congress to take suitable measures for the funeral of the late President, "who had been so recently raised by the unsolicited voice of the people to the highest civil authority in the government." An impressive funeral service was performed, and eulogies pro nounced upon him by many of the leading statesmen of the country. The Cabinet resigned, and the Presi dent nominated another, at the head of which was Daniel Webster as Secretary of State.
Four months had nearly elapsed since Henry Clay reported his Compromise Bill. Its provisions had been thoroughly discussed by the members of both Houses. It was then taken up article by article and passed — the last the Fugitive Slave law. The simi lar law which had been enacted in 1787, as part of the ordinance prohibiting slavery in the Territory north-west of the Ohio, and also a law to the same effect passed during Washington's administration, were thought to be defective, and a new one was framed.
The Supreme Court of the United States held the opinion that justices of the peace in the respective States, were not called upon to enforce the law for the rendition of slaves. Since the agitation of the slavery question in Congress, a dislike to enforcing that law had greatly increased in the free States. The feeling reached the Legislatures and some of them, by law, prohibited the use of their jails for the
946 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
confinement of fugitive slaves, and the justices of the peace refused to act on the subject. To obviate the latter difficulty the present bill provided for the appointment of United States' commissioners, before whom such cases could be tried.
When the vote on the reception of California was taken, and she admitted to the Union, her senators, Wm. M. Gwin and John C. Fremont, who had been in waiting, immediately took their seats.
The vast region known as Utah, was in the posses sion of the Indians and the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, a religious sect. It was founded by Joseph Smith, a native of Vermont, but at that time a resi dent of Central New York ; illiterate and superstiti ous, cunning and unprincipled; when a youth he loved to dupe his companions; at the age of fifteen he pretended that he had seen visions ; and at twenty- two he had received a direct revelation from heaven ; that he had been directed to a certain hill, where he would find golden plates, covered with Egyptian char acters, which he alone, as a prophet, was empowered to decipher. This was the famous "Book of Mor mon." It professed to give a new system of religion, and to chronicle events which occurred on this con tinent long anterior to the Christian era.
It is said a man named Spaulding, when laboring under ill health wrote the story to alleviate his hours of ennui ; after his death the manuscript fell into the hands of Smith, who unscrupulously used it to de ceive his fellow-men.
His system of polygamy led to gross immoralities ; and the vicious, as well as the ignorant, some of whom may have been honest, became his disciples. In five years he had twelve hundred followers. At this time the whole sect removed to Jackson county, Missouri. As they professed to be the true saints,
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 947
by virtue of which they were to become the inheri tors of the western country, they became objects of distrust to the Missourians. The militia were called out, but the Mormons avoided a conflict by crossing the river to Illinois.
They prepared to make that State their home. On a bluff, overlooking the Mississippi, they founded a city, Nauvoo, and erected an imposing temple. Thefts and robberies were numerous in the vicinity, and these crimes were attributed to the Mormons, some of whom were arrested. The saints, it was said, controlled the courts, for the prisoners were speedily liberated. An intense excitement was pro duced in the country by these proceedings. At length the Prophet himself, and a brother, were ar rested and thrown into prison in the town of Carth age. A mob collected a few days after, and in the melee the brothers were slain. The spirit aroused against them was so violent that the Mormons could find safety alone in flight, and the following year they sold their possessions, left their beautiful city, which contained ten thousand inhabitants, and under chosen elders emigrated away across the plains and over the Rocky Mountains, and finally found a rest ing place in the Great Basin. As they were now upon the soil of Mexico, they hoped their troubles were at an end. They significantly called their new home, Desert — the land of the Honey Bee. To re cruit their numbers they sent missionaries to every quarter of the globe ; that these zealous apostles have met with astonishing success in obtaining proselytes, is a sad reflection.
Meantime they labored with great zeal in founding a city on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It is on ground four thousand three hundred feet above the level of the ocean, and planned on a large scale ;
948 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
its streets eight rods wide, and every house sur rounded by a garden.
Presently came the war with Mexico, and the ced ing of all that region to the United States. The Mormons were the first to organize themselves as a territory under the name of Deseret, but Congress saw proper to change the name to Utah. President Fillmore appointed Brigham Young, one of their elders, the first governor.
After the passage of the Compromise Bill, the agi tation by no means ceased in the south. The design of seceding from the Union was openly avowed. A Disunion Convention met at Nashville, Tennessee. It invited the assembling of a "Southern Congress," but the legislatures of only two States responded to the call — South Carolina and Mississippi. The form er elected their quota of representatives to the Con gress. The great mass of the people were moved but little by these appeals, and the country breathed more freely in the confident belief that the vexed question was really at rest.
In no previous discussion of the subject did the great majority of the people of the Union manifest so much interest, not because it had become more important, but a great change had been wrought, since, thirty years before, the country was agitated by the discussions, which led to the enactment of the Missouri Compromise. The number of newspapers had increased at an unprecedented rate, and with them the facilities for publishing general intelligence and reporting the debates in Congress, and now was added the telegraph, which seemed almost to bring the ears of the nation to the Halls of Legislation. Yet in still greater proportion had the numbers of intelligent readers increased, millions of whom be came familiar with the question and the principles
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 949
involved, and watched with increasing interest every new phase the subject assumed. This may account for the earnestness which characterized this conflict of opinions ; the mass of the people read ancj judged for themselves. The philanthropist may not dread the response of their hearts ; — they may be slow to act, but they are untrammelled by pledges and un influenced by political aspirations.
About the commencement of Taylor's administra tion, General Lopez, a Spaniard, endeavored to create a revolution in Cuba. He represented that the peo ple of that island were anxious and prepared to throw off the yoke of the mother country; and by this means he persuaded large numbers of adventurous spirits in the United States to engage in the enter prise. The pretext was to aid the Cubans ; but the real object was to secure the annexation of the island to the United States. President Taylor promptly is sued a proclamation forbidding citizens of the Union to engage in the expedition. The warning was un heeded, and a company of six hundred men, under the lead of Lopez, eluded the United States' authorities, and landed at Cardenas. But not meeting with sym pathy from the people whom they professed to have come to liberate, they re-embarked, and sailed for Key West, Florida, barely escaping capture on the way by a Spanish steam-vessel of war.
The following year the attempt was renewed. A party of four hundred and eighty men landed on the island, but were almost immediately overpowered and captured. Lopez and a number of his deluded followers were put to death by the Spanish authori ties at Havana.
In 1845, Sir John Franklin sailed from England in quest of the long sought for north-west passage. No tidings had ever been received from him, and the
950 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
several efforts to send him aid had been unsuccess ful. The sympathies of the humane were enlisted in behalf of the daring navigator. Mr. Henry Grin- nell, a noble-hearted New York merchant, fitted out, at his own expense, an expedition which, under the command of Lieutenant De Haven, of the United States' navy, sailed for the Arctic regions in May, 1850. With De Haven went Dr. E. K. Kane, in the capacity of surgeon and naturalist. The search was unsuccessful, and the vessels returned.
The United States' Government now sent another expedition on the same errand of mercy in connection with Mr. Grinnell. The control of this was given to Dr. Kane, whose scientific attainments were of a high order, and whose prudence and indomitable energy excited high hopes of the success of the enterprise. The search was fruitless; the results of the discov eries made have been embodied and given to the world. Sir John had no doubt long since perished, while his unknown friend Dr. Kane, broken down in health because of his labors and privations, has also closed his life.
Two of our greatest statesmen, with whose names for a third of a century are associated some of the most important measures of the government, passed away. Henry Clay and Daniel Webster: The one at Washington, the other at his home at Marshfield.
No two men were more endeared to the American people. Henry Clay, by his generous frankness and nobleness of character, won their love. Daniel Web ster in his mighty intellect towered above his peers, and commanded their respect; of him they were proud.
Spain became alarmed at the attempts of lawless adventurers striving to wrest Cuba from her hands. France and England sympathized with her, and pro-
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 951
posed to the United States to join with them in a "tripartite treaty," in which each should disclaim any intention of seizing upon that island, but. on the contrary, should guarantee its possession to Spain. A correspondence to this effect had already com menced, and to the proposal Edward Everett, who since the death of Webster was Secretary of State, replied iri the negative. "The President," said he, "does not covet the acquisition of Cuba for the Unit ed States." Yet he "could not see with indifference that island fall into the possession of any other Eu ropean Government than Spain." It was shown that this was a question peculiarly American, from the situation of the island itself; its proximity to our shores ; its commanding the approach to the Gulf of Mexico, and to the entrance to the Mississippi, which with its tributaries forms the largest system of in ternal water-communication in the world, and also its the celebrated Monroe doctrine, that the United States did not recognize European interference in ability to interfere with the passage to California by the Isthmus route. It was another statement of questions purely American.
For President the Whigs nominated General Scott, and the Democrats, Franklin Pierce, of New Hamp shire. The latter was elected, in connection with William R. King, of Alabama, as Vice-President. Mr. King had been United States' Senator from that State — with the exception of four years, when he was American minister at the court of France — since 1819 ; compelled by declining health he went to Cuba, where he took the oath of office. Then he returned home, not to enter upon the duties of the Vice-Presi dency, but to die.
To avoid the inconvenience of too great a number of members in the House of Representatives, as well
952 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NATION
as to present the waste of time in arranging the ratio of its members to the population, it was enacted that after the third of March, 1853, "The House of Repre sentatives, under the next or any subsequent census, a new State or States shall be admitted into the Union, the Representatives assigned to such new State shall be in addition to the number of Represen tatives herein limited, which excess over two hun dred and thirty-three shall continue until the next succeeding census."
Thereafter, when each "subsequent census" is of ficially known, the House determines by law the num ber of its own members "until the next succeeding census," and in proportion to that the number of its Representatives is assigned to each State. The Sen ate, in accordance with Article L, Section 3, of the Constitution, is divided into three classes, and when Senators are elected from a new State, first in order is the distribution of the times they are to serve into long and short terms. This is determined by lot, and ever after on the rolls of the Senate that distinc tion is preserved. A member of the House of Repre sentatives serves two years, a President four, and a Senator six. This overlapping of terms is designed to secure deliberate legislation. The Representa tives under the Census of 1910 number 391.
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