mam
THE
MAKERS OF
W3ODBURN MORAN
' OF THE UNIVERSITY
OF
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
BY
JAMES A. WOODBURN
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
AND
THOMAS F. MORAN
PURDUE UNIVERSITY AUTHORS OF "THE CITIZEN AND THE REPUBLIC,'
ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY AND GOVERNMEI AND "INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY"
LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.
NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON TORONTO
COPYRIGHT, 1922 OY LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.
First Edition, Jane, 1922;
Reprinted, August, 1922
Reprinted, September, 1923
Reprinted, May, 1924
EDUCATION LIBH§
MADE IN THE UNITED STATES
EHC.
W ^
If 2 L4 PREFACE
THE purpose of this little book is to set forth in simple form the story of some of the most important events and movements in our later history. It deals with certain "high spots" in our national life. It makes no pretense of being a connected history of the period which it covers.
The book is almost entirely biographical. The Com mittee of Eight of the American Historical Association rendered a useful service to the teaching of history in the public schools by recommending that the history work of the fourth and fifth grades should be largely biographical in character. Biography interests young people. It makes a personal and dramatic appeal which is impossible in any other form of presentation. And after all, a lively interest in history is more to be desired than an accumulation of facts.
We are indebted to many teachers for valuable suggestions in the preparation of this book, but most of all to Miss Ida Williams, teacher of the fifth grade in the public schools of West Lafayette, Indiana.
It is hoped that the book will do something towards creating an interest in American history and bringing about a sound and sane patriotism on the part of the younger citizens of the Republic.
JAMES A. WOODBURN THOMAS F. MORAN
iii
M577€G9
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks are due for the use of pictures to the following :
Old Colony Trust Co. for the New England Village. U. S. Naval Academy for Portrait of John Paul Jones. Wisconsin State Historical Society for Daniel Boone's Cabin. Continental Fire Insurance for Clark's Capture of Kaskaskia. Mr. Frederick A. Meserve for Photograph of Lincoln. International Harvester Co. for Tractor.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION — "THE SPIRIT OF '76" i
I. JAMES OTIS, "THE FLAME OF FIRE" 8
II. PATRICK HENRY, THE ORATOR OF THE REVOLU TION 18
III. SAMUEL ADAMS, THE ORGANIZER OF THE REVO
LUTION 33
IV. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE BALANCE WHEEL OF
THE REVOLUTION 45
V. GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE PILLAR OF THE RE PUBLIC 54
VI. A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 88
1. NATHANAEL GREENE, THE FIGHTING QUAKER
2. DANIEL MORGAN, A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
3. FRANCIS MARION, "THE SWAMP Fox"
4. THOMAS SUMTER, "THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCK"
5. NATHAN HALE, THE BOY PATRIOT.
VII. JOHN PAUL JONES, "THE FATHER OF THE AMERI CAN NAVY" 113
VIII. DANIEL BOONE, THE KENTUCKY PATHFINDER . . 118
1. HARRODSBURG
2. BOONESBORO
3. THE WILDERNESS ROAD
IX. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, THE SAVIOR OF THE
NORTHWEST 150
X. "LONG LIVE GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES" 169
1. THE INAUGURATION
2. THE CAPITAL CITY
XI. ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON PLANTATION . 181
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XII. THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 189
1. THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
2. LEWIS AND CLARK AND THE FAR WEST
3. ANDREW JACKSON, FRONTIER STATESMAN
XIII. THE HIGHWAY, THE WATERWAY, AND THE RAIL
WAY 2II
1. ROBERT FULTON, INVENTOR OF THE STEAMBOAT
2. DEWITT CLINTON AND THE ERIE CANAL
3. THE FIRST AMERICAN RAILROAD
4. SAMUEL F. B. MORSE AND THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH
XIV. THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST 230
1. SAM HOUSTON OF TEXAS
2. THE MEXICAN WAR
3. THREE GREAT FRONTIERSMEN:
"DAVY" CROCKETT, JOHN C. FREMONT, AND "KIT" CARSON
4. SUTTER'S MILL AND "THE FORTY-NINERS"
(a) CAPTAIN SUTTER
(b) JUNIPERO SERRA, SPANISH MISSIONARY
XV. THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN 249
1. DANIEL WEBSTER
2. HENRY CLAY
3. JOHN C. CALHOUN
XVI. "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY" 262
1. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
2. JEFFERSON DAVIS
3. ULYSSES S. GRANT
4. ROBERT E. LEE
5. WILLIAM T. SHERMAN
6. PHILIP H. SHERIDAN
7. THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON
8. JAMES E. B. STUART
9. THE CLOSE OF THE WAR
XVII. GREAT AMERICAN INDUSTRIES 297
1. AGRICULTURE, MINING AND LUMBERING
2. MANUFACTURING — THE STEEL MILLS
INDEX 305
"RING. RING FOR LIBERTY!"
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
INTRODUCTION
"THE SPIRIT OF '76"
Slowly the mist o'er the meadow was creeping, Bright on the dewy buds glistened the sun,
When from his couch, while his children were sleeping, Rose the bold rebel and shouldered his gun.
— OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
IT WOULD be extremely interesting if you and I could go back one hundred and fifty years and see our nation in its early childhood. We could then walk about the streets of New York and glance into the parlors of the quaint old Dutch homes. And what curious costumes we would see in the churches and on the streets!
In a leisurely stroll about the streets of Boston we might possibly meet some of the men who fought for American Independence and later laid the firm foundations of our nation. We might visit the New England "Meeting House," where they used to hold the long Sunday services.
In Philadelphia we might see the old Liberty Bell
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
hanging in the State House, and ready to ring out the news of the Declaration of Independence. At Charles ton we might see the southern planter loading his bales
A NEW ENGLAND MEETING HOUSE
The church, or Meeting House, was the center of the old New England town.
of tobacco on a long, low, sailing vessel about to depart for Europe, or we might wander about the broad southern plantation and listen to the negro melodies. We might enter a small log cabin in a clearing in the wilderness, and while there might read in a little news paper, by the light of the open fireplace, an account of the progress of Washington and his army in their fight for Independence. If we looked about us we would see the trusty rifle on the wall, and the skins of fur- bearing animals scattered on the floor. The spinning wheel, the candle mold, and the ox yoke would all be in their places. Possibly a steaming dinner of wild
"THE SPIRIT OF '76" 3
turkey, pudding, and other pioneer delicacies would be on the table. All this would be new and wonderful.
LOADING A SAILING SHIP FOR EUROPE
The sights and sounds of the early morning have a peculiar fascination, and so also have those scenes of pioneer life which go to make up the early dawn of our nation's history.
These things would be interesting, but it would be still more interesting if we could meet and talk with some of the great men who founded this Republic. How
4 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
should you like to accompany George Washington on one of his surveying trips through the western wilder ness? How should you like to stand by the road side and see Paul Revere rush by in the moonlight with his horse's hoofs striking sparks from the pebbles in the streets? How should you like to sit in the con vention at Richmond and hear Patrick Henry thunder forth his famous speech in which he said "Give me liberty or give me death?" It would be interesting, would it not, to hear Thomas Jefferson read from the Declaration of Independence or Benjamin Franklin from his "Poor Richard's Almanac?"
While we cannot ramble through the highways and byways of our country as it was a century and a half ago and talk with the Fathers of the Republic, it is possible for us to do the next best thing. We can read the stories of the lives of the great Ameri can leaders. The life stories of these great Americans constitute the History of the United States. These men are the Makers of America, and by studying their lives, and using our imaginations, we can live over again the more than four hundred years which have elapsed since Columbus sailed from Spain.
The stories in this little book begin with the old Revolutionary days. You have already studied in previous grades the story of the Discovery of America. You have followed Christopher Columbus and John Cabot on their memorable voyages across the "Sea of Darkness." You went, in imagination, with Magellan
"THE SPIRIT OF '76" 5
on his trip around the globe. You were with John Smith during the "starving time," and you made the acquaintance of Pocahontas and John Rolfe in their Virginia homes. You marched, gun in hand, behind Captain Miles Standish, the sturdy Pilgrim soldier. Possibly in your dreams you have seen King Philip and his dusky warriors peering out from behind the forest trees.
You have met old Peter Stuyvesant of New Am sterdam stumping around on his wooden leg, and you have heard William Penn telling his followers that the Indians must be justly treated. You followed Wash ington and Braddock into the dark valley of the Monongahela River, and there, deep in the primeval forest, you saw that terrible massacre at the hands of the French and Indians. A little later you followed Wolfe along the steep, narrow, and winding path leading up to the Plains of Abraham. You may pos sibly have heard him recite that verse from Gray's "Elegy" just before the ascent:
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike th' inevitable hour: The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Be that as it may, you certainly witnessed the fall of Quebec in 1759, and you know that with Quebec fell the power of France in North America.
You have read of the joys and sorrows of the English
6 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
colonists, and also of the foes which they were com pelled to face. First of all the Indians, naturally enough, resented the coming of the white men. They did not like to see the " palefaces" roaming about their hunting grounds and fishing in their streams. There was a running fight of many years before the white men finally became the masters of the continent. Then, too, the Dutch in New Amsterdam were not entirely friendly but they also were overcome by the English. Finally the French, both in Europe and America, were not on very good terms with the English. . The French and English, therefore, fought it out in the forests of North America, and the English were victorious. In the course of time, then, the English colonists had met and overcome three important enemies.
After conquering the French many of the English colonists felt that they had still another foe to face. There was a growing feeling of hostility towards Eng land, the Mother Country. Many of the colonists came to feel that Great Britain was governing the col onies in an unjust and selfish way. They felt that they were being taxed illegally, and were being deprived in other ways of their rights as Englishmen.
Franklin said that " British subjects, by removing to America, cultivating a wilderness, extending the domain, and increasing the wealth, commerce, and power of the Mother Country, at the hazard of their lives and fortunes, ought not, and in fact do not thereby lose their native rights." As a result of this feeling the
" THE SPIRIT OF '76" 7
American colonists declared their independence of the Mother Country, and set up a new nation on the Atlantic Coast. We are now to be introduced to some of the principal actors in this great American drama.
PRONOUNCING LIST
Monongahela Mo-non-ge-he'la primeval pri-me'val
CHAPTER I
JAMES OTIS, "THE FLAME OF FIRE"
Let independence be our boast, Ever mindful what it cost; Ever grateful for the prize, Let its altar reach the skies!
—JOSEPH HOPKINSON
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION is one of the most important and inspiring events in the whole history of mankind. It gave independence to the English colonies in North America; it gave hope to oppressed people everywhere; and it was a blessing to the English people and the English Government.
It was, of course, more important to the American people than to any one else. It gave us the right to govern ourselves. This means that after the Revolu tion our forefathers managed their own affairs in their own way. They levied their taxes and spent their pub lic money as they saw fit. They made their own laws and there was no king to tell them what they must do. They were free men.
The American Republic, in which "We, the people," govern ourselves, has been copied in all quarters of
JAMES OTIS 9
the globe. It has served as a splendid example of free
government, and many have profited by it. If a man
is capable of governing himself
it is much better for him to do
so, than to be ruled by a king.
It makes a much better man out
of him.
Now, if it is true that the American Revolution is really such an important event in his tory, all American citizens ought to know something about it. They ought to know what caused it. They ought to know what the Revolutionary Fathers were fighting for; and they ought to be familiar with the life stories of such men as George Washington, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the others who helped to win our Independence.
JAMES OTIS
James Otis spoke out against the policy of King George the Third long be fore most men did. He denounced the kind of search warrant which was being used.
You will remember that John Smith's "lazy gentlemen" founded the Jamestown Colony, in Virginia, in 1607; and that the sturdy Pilgrim Fathers came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, a short time after. One by one other
10
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
English colonies were established, until thirteen of them were scattered along the ocean coast from Massachusetts to Georgia. At first there was no connection existing among these colonies. Each one was separate and dis tinct from its neighbors, but all were under the control of England.
As long as these colonies were small and poor the Mother Country paid little attention to them; but as soon as they grew strong and wealthy they began to attract some notice. Then it was that England began to regulate the trade of the colonies for her own benefit, and to levy taxes on them
GEORGE THE THIRD
This is a picture of the headstrong king of England against whom the Revolutionary Fathers fought.
to help pay the ex penses of her govern ment.
Now, you know
that a small boy does not usually object when his parents or his teachers tell him what he should do, but when he grows up he wishes to have something to say about his own affairs. If he earns his own money, he wishes to spend at least a part of it as he thinks best. He does not wish to be " bossed around" all of the time.
JAMES OTIS
ii
It was the same way with the colonies when they grew up. Their leaders insisted that the colonists were Englishmen who had gone away from home, and that they were still entitled to all the rights and privileges of the Englishmen who had remained in England.
STAMP COLLECTOR CHASED BY A MOB
When the British agents tried to collect money for stamps they got into trouble. Andrew Oliver is seen fleeing to escape the sticks and stones of the crowd.
There was one right which the Englishman had always insisted upon and that was the right to levy his own taxes or have them levied by men chosen to represent him. In the case of the colonists the taxes were being levied, not by themselves, but by men three
12 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
thousand miles away. To this there was a very vigor ous objection, and this objection finally led to war.
In an old English novel there is a story of a peculiar piece of warfare. A Duke's army is laying siege to a town which is in a state of revolt, and finally captures a tall, odd looking man, dressed in knight's armor — the leader of the rebellion. The tall "knight" was really not a knight at all, but a tradesman with a quick wit and a stammering tongue. While the knight and his cap tor were talking matters over, it occurred to the latter that he would like to know just why the town revolted. So he turned to the captured soldier and said, "But what is your grievance, my good friend?" To this the knight replied, "Toota, toota, toota, toota, — too much taxes."
"Too much taxes" have been the cause of a great many wars and revolutions, but our forefathers of the American Revolution objected, not so much to "too much taxes" as to any tax at all which was levied by outsiders.
In this struggle against the Mother Country, the colonists had able and fearless leaders. James Otis, a young lawyer of Massachusetts, was one of the fore most of these. Otis was born in Barnstable, Massa chusetts, on February 5, 1725. He was descended from a good old English family which had come to that state from the southwestern part of England only fifteen years after the Pilgrim Fathers had landed at Plymouth. The young James was, apparently, a bright
JAMES OTIS 13
lad, and was graduated from Harvard College at the age of eighteen. Later he studied law and began the practice of his profession at Plymouth. After a few years he went to Boston and there became interested in the cause of the colonists.
While practicing law he apparently kept up his college studies, as he wrote a Latin textbook which was used
HARVARD UNIVERSITY IN ITS EARLY DAYS Otis was graduated from Harvard.
for a time in Harvard College. He also wrote a Greek textbook, but it was never published because the print ing shops of the New World did not have Greek letters, and besides there was no printer who could have set up the type.
While Otis was a lawyer in Boston, England said that goods could not be brought into American ports with out the payment of a duty, or tax, to the King's officers. The colonists thought this law unfair, and
14 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
proceeded to smuggle the goods into the country with out paying anything. This practice continued for years. Finally, the English officers began to enforce the law, and proceeded to search, without a legal warrant, the houses and other buildings in which they suspected the smuggled goods had been stored. The officers were
sometimes impudent and spiteful, and the whole matter was very annoying. The people protested that the search was not lawful, and James Otis took the lead in the opposi tion. He resigned his office as Attorney for the King, and pleaded the case of the people
OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON
Here James Otis made some of his famous speeches.
free of charge. In do ing this he showed himself to be a true Some people blamed They said that he
patriot and a man of high ideals, him for his course of action, had deserted the cause of his King, and they threat ened him in all sorts of ways. Otis, however, was "as immovable as the eternal hills." "Let the consequences be what they will," he said, "I am determined to pro ceed. The only principles of public conduct that are worthy of a gentleman or a man, are to sacrifice estate,
JAMES OTIS 15
ease, wealth, and applause, and even life, to the sacred calls of his country."
He then proceeded to attack the methods of the British officers without mercy. "I will to my dying day/' he exclaimed, " oppose with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand, and villainy on the other." "A man's house is his castle," he continued, "and Eng lish liberty forbids that it should be entered except in a lawful way."
He was as bold as he was eloquent, and he must have known that he was risking his own life when he flew into the face of the King, and condemned "a kind of power, the exercise of which in former periods of history cost one king his head, and another his throne."
For five hours Otis thundered on in that old Massa chusetts court against the tyranny of the king and in favor of the rights of the people. He made a wonder ful impression. John Adams was there as a young man of twenty-four, and he likened Otis to "a flame of fire." "Then and there," said Adams, " American Independence was born." And all of this took place fourteen years before the War for Independence began.
With his gifted pen and his trumpet voice Otis con tinued to assail the foes of American liberty. He made enemies for himself, of course, and many of them. Some of these detested him bitterly and sought ways of doing him harm. Finally, eight years after he made his great speech in the Massachusetts court, he pub-
i6
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
lished an article in one of the Boston newspapers which greatly angered the British officers. Soon after this a dozen men pounced upon him in the darkened room of a public coffee-house and beat him unmercifully. One
JAMES OTIS BEFORE THE JUDGES
It was here that Otis made one of his most famous speeches. Notice^that the judges are wearing wigs and gowns. Our Supreme Court judges now wear gowns but not wigs.
of them struck him on the head with a heavy cane (some say with a sword), and he never recovered from the blow, although he lived on for fourteen years. His health was broken and he suffered from " frequent attacks of insanity." He brought suit for damages against one of his assailants and obtained a judgment for five thousand dollars, which he promptly returned when the man handed him a written apology.
Otis tried to enter public life again and attempted
JAMES OTIS 17
to practice law, but he was not able to do either. He was shattered mentally and physically and lingered on, for the most part, in a state of hopeless insanity. He did recover sufficiently to take part in the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, and to try a single law case three years later.
It is said that during this period he often expressed the wish that his life might be ended by a stroke of lightning. His wish was granted. While standing near the open door of his home at Andover, Massachusetts, he was instantly killed by a bolt from the sky. He had lived long enough, however, to see his country a free and independent nation. His death took place in 1783, — the year in which Great Britain acknowledged by treaty the Independence of the United States.
The career of James Otis was not a long one, but it was extremely important. He deserved well of his native land.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Why is the American Revolution important?
2. What was the most important cause of the American
Revolution?
3. How had the Englishman always insisted that his taxes be
levied?
4. Why was James Otis called a " flame of fire? "
5. Did James Otis object to the searching of houses or to the
way in which it was done?
CHAPTER II
PATRICK HENRY, " THE ORATOR OF THE REVOLUTION "
Breathes there the man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land!
- SIR WALTER SCOTT
THE WORK of James Otis was continued by Patrick Henry. You probably know that Massachusetts and
Virginia were the two most important leaders in the American Revolution. Pat rick Henry was born in Virginia in 1736 - - four years after the founding of the Georgia Colony. He was eleven years younger than Otis, and four years younger than Washington. He was very well acquainted with Washington, Jefferson, and the other great men of his time.
Henry's father was a well educated Scotchman of good, hard, common sense, and his mother was de-
18
PATRICK HENRY
PATRICK HENRY 19
scended from a brilliant Welsh family. Indeed, one of her brothers, William Winston, is said to have been one of the most powerful orators of his day, being surpassed in Virginia only by Patrick Henry himself.
The young Henry was a bright lad of good family, and it might seem that his way to a brilliant success in life would be easy. It takes more, however, to make a successful career than a brilliant mind and a good family. It takes hard work and a great deal of it. Right here was Henry's weak point. He didn't care for hard work. He didn't care for school or books. He preferred to sit on the bank of a stream and fish or to roam through the woods with a shotgun on his shoulder in search of wild game. He would much rather talk with a trapper or a backwoodsman than with a school teacher. The simple fact is that Patrick Henry as a boy was rather dreamy and somewhat inclined to be indolent.
For a few years the young Henry attended a small school near his home and studied reading, writing, and arithmetic. He was not making much progress in his studies, however, and his father took him out of school and taught him at home. In this task the father was assisted by his brother, who was pastor of one of the churches of the home town. With his father and his uncle working over him the boy had no possible chance of escape, and he did learn some Latin and Greek, and a good deal of Mathematics.
His minister uncle also gave him some valuable in-
20 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
struction in morals and religion. According to his own account he was taught the following excellent rules of conduct : ' To be true and just in all my dealings. To bear no malice or hatred in my heart. To keep my hands from picking and stealing. Not to covet other men's goods; but to learn and labor truly, to get my own living, and to do my duty in that state of life into which it has pleased God to call me."
The boy had good instruction at home, but it did not last very long. At the age of fifteen he put aside his books and went into business. He served an ap prenticeship for a year, and then went into partnership with his brother William in a small country store. Their father furnished the money for it, and the boys were to carry on the business; but since Patrick had very little business ability, and brother William had even less, the store failed within a few months.
Patrick was now waiting for something to turn up. He waited in vain for about a year, and at the end of that time, when he was eighteen years of age, with no money in his pocket and nothing to do, he got married. His wife was Miss Sarah Shelton, and her capital was about equal to that of her husband. Her father was an inn-keeper, and the young bridegroom tried his hand for a time in helping " to keep a hotel."
The parents on both sides saw that something had to be done, and so came to the rescue. They procured a small farm in the neighborhood and a few slaves, and set the young couple up in house-keeping. Patrick
PATRICK HENRY 21
and his bride were very happy but they were also very poor farmers, and at the end of two years this venture failed also.
Henry, now a boy of twenty, tried his luck once more. With the money which he received from the sale of his slaves he bought another country store. The result was what might have been expected. He failed again. Henry was now twenty- three years of age with a wife and several small children dependent upon him.
In spite of his rather unhappy position, however, he was in splendid health and fine spirits. Thomas Jeffer son met him at a social gathering about this time and said that Henry seemed to have a passion for music, dancing, and pleasantry. The young man had a fine mind, robust strength, and good moral principles, and would do well what he was fitted for. He had no taste for farming, hotel keeping, or running country stores, but there was a great and important work for him to do as soon as he found himself.
Sometime while he was keeping store, or farming, or helping about the hotel he acquired a taste for good reading. He read the history of the Ancients, of the English, and of the colonists in Virginia. He was also a religious man and read the Bible regularly. In this way he improved his use of the English language, and thus prepared himself for the great work which he was destined to do.
Finally, after knocking around a good deal, he made up his mind to become a lawyer. After studying law for
22 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
a month or six weeks he presented himself for the ex amination and was admitted to practice. He was then only twenty-four years of age and, poorly prepared as he was, it looked as though he were doomed to another failure. He didn't fail, however, for he had now found a kind of work in which he was interested.
Three years after beginning his practice, he was em ployed in a very important suit known as " The Par sons' Cause." During the trial of this case he discovered his wonderful oratorical powers, and became famous almost in a single day. He won the case and his elo quence was talked about all over the county. At last he had shown the real stuff that was in him. He be came a popular lawyer and public speaker. Clients rushed to him, and he was now on the high road to success.
Just about this time England passed the famous Stamp Act, which required the colonists in America to purchase stamps and place them on newspapers, pamphlets, and legal papers of various kinds. The English Government wished to raise money in this way. The colonists objected to the tax. At this critical moment Patrick Henry appeared in the House of Bur gesses of Virginia (the legislature of the colony) and boldly declared that the Virginia Legislature had the sole right to lay taxes upon the inhabitants of the Colony, and that any one who thought differently was an enemy of the people. He introduced a set of resolu tions to this effect, and there followed a debate which
PATRICK HENRY 23
Jefferson called " most bloody." In the course of this debate Henry held that the English Government should not be permitted to tax the colonists. His bold de fiance of the Mother Country startled and shocked many of the older members of the assembly.
PATRICK HENRY ADDRESSING THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY "If this be treason, make the most of it."
It was in the course of this debate that one of the most dramatic scenes in American History took place. Coming to a climax in his fiery speech, Henry blazed forth his memorable warning to George the Third, the King of England. "Caesar had his Brutus/' he said; " Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third" — (shouts of " treason," "treason," came from
24 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
all parts of the house. Henry paused for a moment in an attitude of defiance until the cries ceased. And then, rearing himself with a look and a bearing of still prouder and fiercer determination, . . . without in the least flinching from his position, he finished the sen tence) — "and George the Third may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it!" This was in 1765.
The resolutions were then passed by the house and Henry, thinking that his task had been accomplished, set out joyously for home. He must have presented a picturesque figure as he started upon his journey. He was described as "wearing buckskin breeches, his saddle-bags on his arm, leading a lean horse, and chatting with a companion who walked by his side."
On the following morning, with Henry out of the way, the House became frightened and hastily erased from its records a part of the resolutions. It was too late, however. The bold words of Henry had already gone out of the legislative hall and, " borne on the wings of the wind," were well on their way to every nook and corner of the colonies. They did their work well and were an important factor in uniting the colonists against the Mother Country.
For nine years after this memorable scene Henry worked hard at his law practice, and developed the power of his great genius. He had become a great lawyer and a greater public speaker.
It will be remembered that there was no bond of
PATRICK HENRY
25
union among the colonies. Without such a bond they could not act in common against the oppression of the Mother Country; and since this oppression increased rather than diminished, it seemed necessary to have a meeting of the leading men from all the colonies to talk things over. The result was the First Continental Congress which met in Philadelphia in the fall of 1774.
Patrick Henry, naturally enough, was one of the men chosen to represent Virginia in this Congress. Several days before the time appointed
for the meeting, he
CARPENTER'S HALL, PHILADELPHIA set out on horseback ™ n . ^ . „
Ine Continental Congress met in this tor Philadelphia. He building. We saw Washington, Henry and
°n thdr way to attend the
stopped off at Mount Vernon for a day and a night, for a visit with his friend George Washington, who lived in a beautiful old mansion on the Potomac River. We may be sure that during this visit the two great men talked over the wrongs of the colonies and the plans for the Philadelphia Congress. On the following day Henry and Washington, accompanied by Edmund Pendleton, another distinguished Virginian, set out on horseback for Philadelphia. The three great men jogged
26 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
into the city on the morning of September 5th, just in time to attend the opening of the great Congress.
Henry, as might be expected, took an important part in the work of this Congress. He apparently had come to the conclusion that there would be a war between England and the colonies. He did not see how it could be avoided. John Adams tells us that near the close of the Congress he was talking this matter over with Henry. Neither man was hopeful of a peaceful settlement. Adams expressed the opinion that the resolutions and petitions which they were sending to England would find their way into the King's waste paper basket, and thus amount to nothing. Adams said that, as they were talking, Henry raised his head and exclaimed with emphasis, " After all, we must fight."
This famous Congress lasted for seven weeks, and then Henry went back home, but was still interested in public affairs.
The Revolution was approaching rapidly and interest was intense. Meetings were being held everywhere from Massachusetts to Georgia. One of these meetings was held in a church in Richmond, Virginia. Here Patrick Henry made a great and memorable speech. The main purpose of the meeting was to make arrange ments for the raising of an army to fight the Mother Country, in case they were compelled to do so. Henry again presented a bold set of resolutions looking to the
PATRICK HENRY 27
defense of the colonies and made the speech of his life in their support. It was a notable address in many ways, but particularly in one. Up to this time many men had spoken of the possibility of a war with England but all had expressed a hope that such a war might be avoided. Henry now came out boldly and said that it was impossible to avoid such a war. :'The war is com ing; it has come already," he exclaimed, while many timid souls shivered at his bold utterance. He looked upon "all further talk of peace as mere prattle." "This is no time for ceremony," he said; "it is a ques tion of slavery and freedom." He accused England of making plans to subdue the colonies. What about "those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our lands? What do they mean? They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope ... If we wish to be free ... we must fight! I repeat it, sir ... we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us."
He was opposed to delay. "They tell us, sir, that we are weak," he continued, — "unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be next week, or next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?"
Henry also thought that outside nations would help the colonists. "Besides, sir," he continued, "we shall
28
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us." He was right in one respect. France did aid us with men and money during the Revolution.
When one enters the old church in Richmond, as many travelers do, and stands with un covered head, he can almost hear the ring ing words of the con clusion of this great speech.
Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
PATRICK HENRY
"But as for me, give me liberty or give me death."
PATRICK HENRY 29
Henry's resolutions were carried and he was now in great demand everywhere. For a short time he was in the military service. He was also the first Governor of Virginia. His services and advice were sought on every hand.
There was also another solemn duty to which he was called. In the midst of these trying times his wife, Sarah, had died and left six small children to the care of her husband. Henry found great comfort in caring for the motherless little brood, — as well as a father could.
Henry's condition at this time was rather pitiable. He was an old and broken man at fifty. The strain of the Revolutionary days had left its mark. He was also poor and even in debt. He had neglected his law practice and his private business for the public welfare. His spirit was not broken, however, and he took up his law work again in order to win back his private fortune. He worked harder than ever before. He studied hard on his law cases. In one instance he sent his grandson on horseback a distance of sixty miles in order to get a law book which he needed in one of his cases.
It is pleasing to note that he was successful in this undertaking, and a few years later he was able to re tire from his labors and live in ease and comfort for the rest of his life.
He spent his last days on a beautiful estate, called Red Hill, overlooking the Staunton River. He loved the surroundings of this secluded spot. Here he lies
30 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
buried, and the farm is still owned by members of his family.
Henry's life at Red Hill, in the midst of his family and friends, was truly delightful. He was careful about his health and used no wines or liquors at all. In fact he was so shocked by the great amount of drunken ness in America after the Revolu tionary War that he did every thing in his power to check it. He tried to find some harmless substitute for strong liquor. He employed a Scotch brewer to PATRICK HENRY'S OLD HOME AT RED HILL make a "soft" or
temperance drink.
While he was governor of Virginia he always had this beverage upon his dinner table, trying in every way to make it popular.
His grandson has left us a beautiful picture of his home life at Red Hill. The family residence was on a high bluff overlooking the bottom lands of the river. Henry was accustomed, during the milder seasons of the year, to get up before sunrise, "while the air was cool and calm," and enjoy the sounds of the early morning as they came from the farmyard, the river, and the wood lot. A little later he would stand on the
PATRICK HENRY 31
high place and give directions to his slaves who were half a mile away. "The strong musical voices of the negroes responded to him." It is said that even at this time his beautiful voice could be heard distinctly "over &n area which ten thousand people could not have filled," and that "the tones of his voice were as melo dious as the notes of an Alpine horn."
During all of this time the aged statesman continued to read his Bible. He spent one hour each day in private devotion. His hour of prayer was at sunset, and during that sacred time, his grandson tells us, no member of the family " ever intruded upon his privacy."
Finally, when he knew that his end was near, he remarked to the physician at his bedside that religion was a great comfort to a man about to die. A few moments later he closed his eyes in peace, breathed his last, and was gathered unto his fathers. He might have said,
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Patrick Henry didn't succeed very well at first. What do
you think the reason was?
2. What body of men in your state would correspond to the
House of Burgesses of Virginia?
3. Why did men shout "treason," "treason," while Patrick
Henry was making his famous speech?
4. When and where did the First Continental Congress meet?
What was the purpose of the meeting?
32 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
5. Where is " Red Hill " and for what is it noted?
6. Why did Patrick Henry have so much influence in Virginia
and elsewhere? Was it on account of his oratory alone?
7. What government office did he hold in Virginia?
8. What was the Stamp Act?
9. Tell something about Patrick Henry's family life. 10. What did he do for his country?
PRONOUNCING LIST
Burgesses bur'jes-ez
CHAPTER III
SAMUEL ADAMS, THE ORGANIZER OF THE REVOLUTION
If it were not for two or three Adamses, we should do well enough.
— THOMAS HUTCHINSON, Royal Governor of Massachusetts
JAMES OTIS and Patrick Henry preached resistance to the policy of the Mother Country with a fiery zeal. They were the impassioned orators of the Revolution. They stirred up the colonists to a high pitch of en thusiasm. They moved and persuaded them to take a firm stand for Independence.
Samuel Adams was a very different kind of man. He was not much of a talker, but he was a tireless worker. After Otis and Henry had persuaded men to act, Adams told them what action to take. He called meetings, appointed committees, wrote letters, and drafted resolutions. He saw to it that things were ac tually done. He made plans and got men to carry them out. He was a man of action, not of words. He did not merely talk about things, he did things.
"Samuel Adams was born to serve on committees." He has been called "the man of the town meeting."
33
34 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
Some have called him "the brains of the Revolution." Massachusetts was the leader of the Revolution; Bos ton was the leader of Massachusetts; and Samuel Adams was the leader of Boston. So it will be seen that there was good reason for calling Adams The Organizer of the Revolution.
The Adams family is one of the most illustrious in American History. Two members of this family have occupied the Presidential chair, and a score of others have held prominent positions in the Nation. The founder of the family in this country was Henry Adams, who came from England with his wife and family of eight children at a very early date.
Samuel Adams, the subject of this sketch, was born in Boston, in 1722. He was a member of a family of twelve children. His father was a thrifty and success ful business man who owned a malt house on the Bay. The fine old family mansion was located near by. It stood on the water front and commanded a splendid view of the harbor.
The father, who was also named Samuel, was a leader in public affairs, and at one time a member of the legislature of the colony. His son called him "a wise and a good man," and such he undoubtedly was.
The young Adams was a staid and serious lad, and, unlike Patrick Henry, attended school with great regu larity. It is said that he passed along the street so regularly, in going to and from school, that laborers were in the habit of telling the time of day by his
SAMUEL ADAMS
SAMUEL ADAMS Adams is pleading the cause of the colonies and urging Independence.
36 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
appearance. Whether this is true or not, he was "as steady as a clock" and made good progress in his studies.
He later went to Harvard College where he was graduated at the age of eighteen. His father wished him to become a minister, but he was inclined to be a lawyer. He began the study of law but did not seem to be very much interested in it. His mother also was opposed to it. The profession of law was not at that time in such good standing as it is now.
The young Adams then went into business. He didn't like this either. He had no taste for trade and cared very little for money. It was about this time that his father gave him five thousand dollars to enable him to set up in business for himself. He loaned half of his money to a friend who never paid it back and promptly lost the remainder in a business venture. He then went into partnership with his father in the malt business, but the musty old malt-house had no attrac tions for him. He was about as good a business man as Patrick Henry was; but, as in the case of Henry, there was a more important work awaiting him.
He was a patriot, not a money maker. He once told his cousin, John Adams, that he never made plans for "laying up anything for himself or others after him." When he was about to set out for Philadelphia to attend the first Continental Congress, some of his friends saw that his clothes were rather shabby and suspected that there was not much money in his pocket. Consequently, they bought him a suit of
SAMUEL ADAMS
37
clothes, a new wig and a hat, a dozen pairs of stock ings, and six pairs of shoes. And when he admitted that his funds were rather low, they also gave him a modest sum of money to pay his expenses.
Although Adams usually thought things over care-
JOHN HANCOCK DISCUSSING THE STAMP ACT
Hancock is standing. John and Samuel Adams are present, also a ship captain who has brought stamps from England to sell to the colonists.
fully he was rather extreme and radical in his views. His period of greatest activity begins with the passing of the Stamp Act, which he opposed most vigorously. He also suggested the calling of the Stamp Act Con gress to protest against the measure.
3^ THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
About this time the colonies began to sound the slogan "no taxation without representation." It was then suggested by some that the American colonies might send representatives to sit in the British Parlia ment. James Otis and Benjamin Franklin were of
READING THE STAMP ACT IN BOSTON
The British Stamp Act of 1765 caused great excitement in America. It contained fifty-five clauses and put a stamp tax on a great many different articles. It was repealed a year later.
this mind, and thought that the difficulty with the Mother Country might be solved in this way. Adams was not of this opinion. He thought that a small number of American representatives would not count for much in such a large assembly as the British Par liament. He had thought the whole matter over care-
SAMUEL ADAMS
39
fully and said that he would be satisfied with nothing less than the complete independence of the colonies.
When once he had made up his mind, Adams was steadfast in his opinions. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, and before the Declaration of Independence, General Gage tried to make Adams change his mind. Gage was Com mander of the British troops in America and suggested to Adams that he stop fighting and "make peace with the King." To this Adams replied, " I trust I have made my peace with the King of kings. No personal considera tions shall induce me to abandon the
SAMUEL ADAMS CALLED BEFORE THOMAS
HUTCHINSON, THE ROYAL GOVERNOR
righteous cause of my Adams Save the Governor a good deal of
,, J trouble and was called in for discipline,
country.
Adams was a stern Puritan and could not be easily moved from the path of duty. Thomas Hutchinson, the King's Governor of Massachusetts, in a letter to the British Government, said that Adams was of "such obstinate and inflexible disposition that no gift nor
40 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
office would ever conciliate him." It was the custom in those days to bribe men by "gift" or " office," but the plan would not work in the case of Samuel Adams.
A little later, when the Declaration of Independence was being discussed, and when some timid souls began to show signs of weakness, Adams exclaimed: "I should advise persisting in our struggle for liberty though it were revealed from Heaven that 999 were to perish, and one out of 1,000 were to survive and retain his liberty. One such freeman must possess more virtue, and enjoy more happiness, than 1,000 slaves; and let him propagate his like, and transmit to them what he has so nobly preserved."
The Declaration of Independence was passed soon after, and Samuel Adams .took great pleasure in sign ing it. His friend John Hancock had signed it first in letters so large that " George the Third could read it without his glasses."
Naturally enough, all of this did not tend to make Adams popular with the British officers; and so the King's men tried to capture him and his friend Hancock and send them to England to be tried for treason. They knew very well what their fate would be if they were captured.
On the night before the Battle of Lexington, the first battle of the Revolution, General Gage laid plans to capture the two men, whom he called the " Arch Rebels." Hancock and Adams had stopped for the night at the home of Rev. Jonas Clarke in Lexing-
SAMUEL ADAMS 41
ton. Gage planned to swoop down upon them at mid night and bring them to Boston in chains. Paul Revere, however, rode out from Boston on Deacon Larkin's swift horse and arrived at the minister's house just in time to give them warning. As the British troops appeared, Hancock and Adams left the house and took to the woods. The next day Adams stood on a wooded
KITCHEN AND LIVING ROOM IN THE JONAS CLARKE HOUSE*
Examine the picture carefully and see how many of the articles you can identify.
hill near by and, seeing the beginning of the Battle of Lexington, exclaimed, " What a glorious morning for, America!" He had visions of Independence for the colonies.
All the threats of the British officers could not in timidate Samuel Adams. He stuck to his task and used every possible means to accomplish his work. He would talk to men in the street and on the docks,
42 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
— everywhere that men would listen to him. He also wrote pamphlets, and " poured himself into the news papers." He never seemed to tire of writing. People passing his house were accustomed to see a light in his window in the wee small hours of the morning. As they went their way they often said to themselves that " Sam Adams was hard at work writing against the Tories" in England. The Tories knew it, also. They felt the jab of his pen. One of the royal governors of Massachusetts once said of Adams that "every dip of his pen stings like a horned snake."
While active in the affairs leading to the Revolution, Adams still continued to live in the old mansion on the Bay with its " light in the window." His home .life was happy and comfortable. A son, now twenty- two years of age, was studying medicine, after having graduated from Harvard College. His daughter, a charming young girl of seventeen, was still in school. There was joy and music in the family circle. Adams had a good voice and liked to sing some of the old songs. Family prayers were said, and the Bible was read aloud every evening. "Old Surry," a black "mammy," lived in the Adams family for fifty years and was devotedly attached to every member of it. When slavery was abolished in Massachusetts, she was offered her freedom but declined. She threw the papers into the fire, and exclaimed that "she had libbed too long to be trifled with."
Old Queue was another patriotic and interesting
SAMUEL ADAMS 43
member of the Adams household. Queue was a fine, big, intelligent Newfoundland dog, and he was in entire sympathy with his master's views. He hated the British soldiers just as much as anyone could. Whenever he saw a "red coat" he made a dash for it. As a result "he was cut and shot in several places by the soldiers . . . and bore to his grave honorable scars from his fierce encounters." Old Queue did his part in winning Independence for the American colonies.
Samuel Adams devoted his whole life unselfishly to public affairs, with no thought of his own private fortune. He served on committees of various kinds and held important offices both in the state and nation. His salary was either nothing at all or very small. He saved nothing, and it might have been necessary to bury him at public expense if he had not inherited six thousand dollars upon the death of his son. His son, already mentioned, was an army surgeon, who at the time of his death had certain claims against the government. These claims went to his father and helped him greatly in his old age.
On the early morning of Sunday, October 2, 1803, the tolling of the church bells awakened the inhabitants of Boston and they knew that Samuel Adams had passed away. He was eighty-one years of age at the time of his death. He was buried, very fittingly, near the resting place of the victims of the "Boston Massacre." (p. 58). "In what is now Adams Square, the town he loved has commemorated him worthily in imposing
44 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
bronze. His dust lies almost beneath the feet of the passers in the great thoroughfare, and no stone marks the spot."
Here lie the ashes of "Sam Adams, the Malster," "a man, who, in the history of the American Revolu tion, is second only to Washington."
That man may last, but never lives, Who much receives, but nothing gives.
Samuel Adams gave his all to his Country.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. How did Samuel Adams differ from James Otis and Patrick
Henry? 12. What do you consider Adams's greatest service to the
Revolution?
3. Where is Harvard University located?
4. What is meant by " No Taxation without representation"?
5. See if you can find a copy of John Hancock's signature to
the Declaration of Independence.
6. Which was the first battle of the American Revolution?
Locate it on the map.
7. Why is Samuel Adams sometimes called " The Father of
the American Revolution" ? B. See if you can find out who the "Tories" were.
CHAPTER IV
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE BALANCE WHEEL OF THE REVOLUTION
As a patriot none surpassed him.
-JOHN T. MORSE, JR.
But matchless Franklin! What a few Can hope to rival such as you, Who seized from kings their sceptered pride, And turned the lightning's darts aside.
-PHILIP FRENEAU
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN is an old friend. We first met him as a young printer in Boston. Later we saw him, as a boy of seventeen, setting out to seek his fortune in New York. Not finding anything to do in that place, he went to Philadelphia, where he became famous. We all remember how odd and old-fashioned he looked when he walked down Market Street, Philadelphia, with a loaf of bread under each arm and munching a third. We have all probably read parts of his "Poor Richard's Almanac," which contains so many wise and useful sayings.
Franklin was a great and a wise man, but, at the
45
46 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
same time, a very simple and modest one. He was truly genuine and sincere and never cared for show. He makes "Poor Richard" say:
Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse; Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse.
And again he says:
It is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell in order to equal the ox.
Franklin was the oldest man in the public life of America at the time of the Revolution. And no other man of his day could do so many things well. For this reason he has been called "the many-sided Franklin."
As a man he was kind, genial and thoughtful. There was no malice in his great soul. He was not selfish. He wanted a "square deal" for everybody. He never acted hastily. When a matter was presented to him he thought it over carefully — up one side and down the other — before coming to a conclusion. He took large and broad views of things. He had traveled exten sively, both in Europe and America, and was a kind of "citizen of the world." He was a very human sort of man and everyone loved him. He was also a practi cal man of good, hard, common sense, and thus became The Balance Wheel of the Revolution.
Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, and was thus sixty years of age when the colonists were fighting for the repeal of the Stamp Act. Franklin was one of the
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
47
FRANKLIN'S BOOK SHOP
48 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
last of the great men of America to advocate the inde pendence of the colonies, but he was one of the first to protest against unjust taxation. His influence in this respect was powerful in England as well as in this country. After the Stamp Act was passed, Franklin went to England and tried to get it repealed. He appeared be fore the House of Commons (the lower house of the English Parliament) and gave his reasons in a most convincing way. This dialogue between Franklin and the members of Parliament has been printed and is very interesting. Franklin stated the case of the Ameri can colonists as well as it could possibly be stated. Let us notice a few of the questions and answers.
Question: "Do you think the people of America would submit
to pay the stamp duty, if it was moderated?" Answer: "No, never unless compelled by force of arms." Question: "What was the temper of America towards Great
Britain before the year 1763?" Answer: "The best in the world." Question: "And what is their temper now?" Answer: "O, very much altered." Question: "And have they not still the same respect for
Parliament?"
Answer: "No, it is greatly lessened." Question: "Do you think if the Stamp Act is repealed that the
North Americans will be satisfied?" Answer: "I believe they will."
Question: "What used to be the pride of Americans?" Answer: "To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of
Great Britain." Question: "What is now their pride?"
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
49
Answer'. "To wear their old clothes over again till they can make new ones."
This interview was a long one and in the course of it Franklin presented many facts and views which were new to the men across the sea. Some of the questions, you will notice, were asked by men who were friendly to the American colonies in order to bring out |
"***** tjm H 1
these facts and views.
The Stamp Act was repealed a short time after and it is likely that Franklin's inter view was influential in bringing this about.
Ten years later, when Franklin had reached the age of three score years and
ten, he helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and also signed his name to that great document. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration after getting suggestions from the other members of the committee, of whom Franklin was one. Franklin had a very gifted pen and some thought that he might be called upon to write the
DISCUSSING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
You will recognize Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.
50 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
document. One man, however, tells us that Franklin was not chosen for this task because it was feared that he might put a joke into it.
The signing of this document was, of course, a very serious matter, but all were in good humor now that the struggle was over. After signing his name one man remarked very seriously, "Now we must all hang to gether." "Yes," said Franklin, "or we shall all hang separately."
A few months before this time the British Lord North had a conversation with Franklin in regard to a settlement of the American trouble. North said: "An agreement is necessary for America; it is so easy for Britain to burn all your seaport towns."
To this Franklin replied: "My little property con sists in houses in those towns; you may make bonfires of them whenever you please; the fear of losing them will never alter my resolution to resist to the last the claim of Parliament."
On the day after the Declaration of Independence was signed, Franklin wrote the following letter to William Strahan, who had been his intimate friend:
MR. STRAHAN. — You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns and murder our people. Look upon your hands; they are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and I am
Yours, B. FRANKLIN
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
BENJAMIN FKANKLIN
Franklin was a student of general welfare. He began the paving of streets in Philadelphia, started the circulating library, organized the first fire company, invented the Franklin stove to take the place of the old open fireplace, and did many other things for the good of the people.
52 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
Two years after the Declaration of Independence; Franklin went to France with two other men and succeeded in making an agreement whereby France aided us with men and money in our struggle with Great Britain. Franklin was a great favorite at the court of France and had much influence in bringing about this treaty.
After Independence had been won Franklin again went to England — this time on a very different mission. He was to make a treaty of peace. He did so in 1783; and, as Tom Paine remarked, "The times that tried men's souls were over."
In the summer of 1787 a great convention of the leading men of America was called together in Phila delphia to make a new constitution for the United States. Franklin, at eighty-one years of age, was one of the most valuable members of this body. He was America's " grand old man," and was greatly beloved by all the members. When the delegates could not agree, or when they became angry, it was usually Franklin's part to smooth matters out.
Franklin's sense of humor was so strong that he could not restrain it even when serious matters were being considered. It will be noticed, however, that wisdom was always mixed with his humor. For example when he was twenty- two years of age, he wrote the following epitaph for himself:
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 53
"The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, Lies here . . . ; But the work shall not be lost, for it will appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the author."
Although he did not attend church regularly Franklin was a devoutly religious man. He believed in prayer and practiced it. Here is one of Thomson's poems of which he was fond:
Father of light and life, thou good supreme!
O teach me what is good; teach me thyself!
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
From every low pursuit; and fill my soul
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure;
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!
After a well rounded and complete life Franklin died in Boston in 1790 at the ripe old age of eighty- four. A short time before his death, and when he knew that his end was near, he insisted upon getting up to have his bed properly made. He wished, as he said, to "die in a decent manner."
The chief motive of his life was to promote the welfare of mankind.
— JOHN T. MORSE, JR.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. How did Benjamin Franklin resemble a " balance wheel "?
2. Why was Franklin called " many-sided "?
3. Do you think that Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry
were alike in disposition?
4. What was the chief motive of Benjamin Franklin's life?
CHAPTER V
GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE PILLAR OF THE REPUBLIC
Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cul tivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct.
- WASHINGTON 's FAREWELL ADDRESS
WE HAVE all met George Washington before — many times. We saw him as a boy of seventeen surveying
in the western wilder ness. We saw him a sturdy frontiersman of twenty-one carrying the famous message to the French command er in northwestern Pennsylvania. We held our breath at times, not knowing whether he would re-
WASHINGTON AS A SURVEYOR
Washington surveyed the western wilder- fllrn fn Vircrinia in
ness. He preceded the "Westward
Movement." safety or fall a victim
to the perils of winter
or the treachery of the red man. At the time of Brad- dock's famous march we saw him save the day in the dark
54
GEORGE WASHINGTON
55
valley of the Monongahela River. Some of us have paid a loving tribute to his memory at the old home on the Potomac River, and all of us think of him each year on the twenty-second of February.
Washington was a very different kind of man from those already considered. He was not a great orator
like Otis or Henry.
In fact he rarely attempted to make a speech. He was not a skillful writer and organizer like Samuel Adams. He wrote many letters on public questions, but his spelling was rather poor, and his grammar not always correct. He was not so good a scholar as Alexander Hamilton
\ *«'• Field
Alexandria c Mount Vernonc
MAP SHOWING SOME OF WASHINGTON'S ACTIVITIES IN THE OLD FRENCH WAR
His home was at Mount Vernon. He carried his famous letter to the French Commander at Fort Le Bceuf, and he fought on Braddock's Field.
or James Madison. In his services to the nation, however, he excelled all these men. He was a great, large man, of good common sense and sound judgment. He knew' the thing to be done, and did it without flinching.
Unlike Patrick Henry he was a splendid business man. He was thrifty and saving and owned a great deal of property. For all of these reasons the people
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
came to have great confidence in him. He was the Pillar of the Republic — the strong staff upon which the nation leaned in time of danger.
Things went from bad to worse in the contest with the Mother Country, and soon the fight was on. All
of the eloquence of Patrick Henry and the good sense and kindli- ness of Benjamin Franklin could not stem the tide of British tyranny. The king and his minsters kept right on in their stupid way. Some of the great men in the Eng lish Parliament, such Here on March 5, 1770, the first blood- a s Edmund Burke and shed in the Revolutionary War took William Pitt, pleaded place.
with them to with draw the British troops from America and treat the col onists fairly. They paid no attention to this good advice. They did, of course, repeal the Stamp Act; but they made other laws which were just as bad, or even worse. They levied many other taxes and again the colonists objected. The Americans erected " liberty poles" with flags on top and the British soldiers cut them down, sawed them into pieces, and piled them up in front of
THE BOSTON MASSACRE
GEORGE WASHINGTON
57
the buildings where meetings were being held. On one occasion a riot followed and one man was killed.
In Boston the people objected very seriously to the presence of the British troops. The soldiers were not
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY
Here the "Indians" are dumping the tea into the Boston Harbor. Why would they not permit it to be brought ashore?
a very nice class of men. They carried on horse-racing and gambling on Sunday, during church hours, and to this the Puritan spirit objected. Men and boys began to annoy them, and finally pelted them with sticks and stones. On March 5, 1770, the soldiers fired into a
58 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
crowd, killing five of the citizens and wounding six. All Boston was at fever heat. A great mass meeting demanded that the soldiers be withdrawn from the city, and this was done. For many years after, this event, which came to be known as the " Boston Massacre," was celebrated by meetings and memorial speeches.
The English backed up on other measures but not quite far enough. They repealed all the objectionable taxes except the one on tea. They then tried to bring a cargo of tea into the Boston harbor. The indignant citizens wanted the ship to turn back, but the Royal Governor refused to give the order. A party of men dressed up as Indians then went on board the vessel and dumped the tea into the Boston harbor. It is said that on the next morning a great many prominent citi zens of Boston found quantities of tea in their shoes. This "tea party," as it was called, was another step toward war.
It kept King George so long awake His brain at last got addled.
The English reply to the "Boston Tea Party" was the passage of five "intolerable" or unbearable meas ures. These measures provided for the closing of the Boston harbor — an act of vengeance. They also changed the charter of Massachusetts, and provided that more troops should be sent to America to be "quartered" upon the people. This made the colonists furious, but all to no avail. It was seen that war might
GEORGE WASHINGTON
59
break out at any moment. The " Minute-Men'7 were organized. These were men who had pledged themselves to be ready for service in the field at a moment's notice. They had not long to wait. General Gage, who did not use very good sense, sent his troops to Concord to
THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON Notice that an old fence furnished part of the entrenchments.
capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams and to de stroy some military supplies which had been stored at that place. Paul Revere heard of this plan and, gallop ing out on horseback, gave the alarm. Hancock and Adams escaped and the Minute-Men met the British
60 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
troops on the village green of Lexington on April 19, 1775. Here the American Revolution began.
At Concord bridge the fight was continued and the British were driven back in great disorder to Boston. They had lost two hundred and seventy men, while the Americans lost ninety- three.
The next scene in the Revolution is laid at Fort Ticonderoga on the beautiful shore of Lake Champlain. Ethan Allen was a Connecticut boy who had gone out into the wild country between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain. Here he became a bold leader of the frontiersmen, and \vhen he heard of the fight at Lexington he marched his hardy men against the British at Fort Ticonderoga. These " Green Mountain Boys" under their brave leader, "the Robin Hood of the forest," advanced at first with joyous shouts and then with stealthy tread into the forest thickets. The poet Bryant has described this advance as follows:
How the dark wood rings with our voices shrill
That startle the sleeping bird! To-morrow eve must the voice be still,
And the step must fall unheard. The Briton lies by the blue Champlain,
In Ticonderoga's towers, And ere the sun rise twice again,
Must they and the lake be ours.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
61
The Briton and the Lake were ours because Allen and his brave band surprised the stronghold at day break, and demanded its surrender "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." The commander of the fort, who had hastily jumped out of bed and was still rubbing his eyes, thought it best to surrender, and he did so, May 10, 1775.
The capture of this post was important because it cut the British line which reached to Canada, and also because a large amount of military supplies fell into the hands of the Ameri cans. The captured cannon were dragged on sledges over the snow to the sea coast and then sent to Boston.
ETHAN ALLEN
The next scene in this This statue is Placed in the , .... Capitol Building at Washing-
great drama of liberty was ton, D. C.
on the top of Bunker Hill,
near Boston. The Americans had fortified the top of this hill and the British army, under General Howe, was sent to drive them out. The British thought that the raw
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American soldiers would get excited and fire at them before they came within range of their guns. They planned then to drive them from their trenches with a bayonet
ISRAEL PUTNAM STARTING FOR THE FRONT
When the Minute-Men were called it did not take Israel Putnam long to grasp his musket and powder horn.
charge. In all of this they reckoned without the American leader, General Israel Putnam, a sturdy old frontier fighter. Putnam said he would punish severely any man who fired before he could see the whites of the eyes of the British.
The British came held their fire until away. Volley after volley followed and the British lines fell back, but formed again. Again they were repulsed.
The British form ed again and charged up the hill a third time. This time they were more careful. UA burnt child dreads the fire." They went up by a roundabout way. The ships in the harbor were helping them by hurling shells among the de fenders of the hill. Charlestown, near by, was on fire. A great column of
GEORGE WASHINGTON 63
up the hill and the Americans
the enemy was only sixty feet
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVO LUTION
Ethan Allen's "Green Mountain Boys" took Ticonderoga and the "Minute- Men" fought at Lexington and Con cord. Charlestown burned while the battle raged on Bunker Hill. Notice that Maine at this time was a prov ince of Massachusetts.
black smoke surrounded and almost blinded the Ameri cans. Their ammunition gave out and they were com pelled to fall back. The Briton was a victor on that June day on the top of Bunker Hill — but it was a
64 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
very costly victory. He had lost one half of his whole force. A thousand Englishmen lay dead or dying on the slope of the hill.
The Americans lost about one half of that number. But among these was General Joseph Warren, one of the truest and bravest men that ever drew sword on the field of battle.
THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL
The battle showed the Americans that they could stand against the British Regulars.
For the Americans it was a great moral victory. It gave them confidence in themselves. It showed them that their raw troops could stand up and fight success fully against the British Regulars.
While this battle was being fought Washington was preparing to take command of the American army.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
66 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
Four days later he saddled his horse and set out for Boston. He had gone only twenty miles from home when he heard the news from Bunker Hill. His quick question was, "Did the militia fight?" When he was assured that they did, he exclaimed, "Then the liberties of the country are safe."
There was now a broad gap between the colonists and the Mother Country. Even the kindly Franklin gave up all hope of reconciliation. The next step was to pass a Declaration of Independence and in this way tell the people of the world the reasons for breaking away from the control of England. This was done by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. There was a long and vigorous debate. Some opposed the Declaration. People on the streets grew impatient. The old bell ringer in the State House waited and waited but the signal did not come. "They'll never do it! They'll never do it!" people began to mutter. Then finally the old man was told to Ring! and the old Liberty Bell pealed out the bold tidings.
It seems now as if the old bell was made for just this purpose. Long years before, when the king and the colonists were at peace, this inscription taken from the Old Testament had been placed on the bell:
Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 67
The Liberty Bell did its duty and the church bells and the cannon took up the refrain. Bonfires lit up the sky all the way from Massachusetts to Georgia.
The fight was now on and George the Third was right when he said: "The die is cast; the colonies must either submit or triumph/'
They had already made arrangements to triumph.
"THE SPIRIT or '76"
Several great painters have represented the Spirit of '76 on canvas. Here the Revolutionary soldier is going out to fight.
On June 15, two days before the battle of Bunker Hill, the Continental Congress had chosen George Washing ton Commander-in-chief of the American army. Wash ington left the room in haste as soon as his name was
68 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
mentioned by John Adams. He returned the next day, however, and said that since he was called, he would try to do his duty. He also said that he would accept no pay aside from his expenses.
Washington rode on toward his post of duty. Early in July he arrived at Cambridge, near Boston, and hastily reviewed that motley crowd called the Conti nental Army. As he sat on horseback under the famous elm at Cambridge his appearance was de scribed as "truly noble and majestic." Even a London paper remarked: " There is not a king in Europe but would look like a house servant by his side."
Washington was soon in serious business up to his ears. He took his army from Boston to defend New York and was defeated by General Howe in the Battle of Long Island. He saved his men from capture by the strategy of leaving his camp fires burning while he took his army across the river in the night. Washing ton was a master in covering a retreat. On several occasions he saved his army from capture in this way. His position was now a perilous one and he retreated across New Jersey to the west side of the Delaware River. The British pushed after him hoping to capture the American army "bag and baggage." They might possibly have done so if they had not preferred the ease and comfort of winter quarters.
These were dark days in the Revolution, but Wash ington did not falter. He knew that Howe was in New
GEORGE WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE
70 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
York celebrating Christmas. The Germans, who were aiding the British, were in camp at Trenton, New Jersey, and Washington felt that they would be off their guard on account of a small amount of home sickness and a large amount of drinking. He thought this a good time for a bold stroke. He was not mistaken.
He determined to cross the Delaware River and strike Trenton. He did so on Christmas Day, 1776. The weather was both cold and dismal. The river was dotted with huge blocks of floating ice and the air was filled with a driving sleet. It seemed a perilous undertaking to take an army across this angry stream on such a day. One of Washington's generals told him that it could not be done. Washington did not agree with him. He picked out some expert boatmen from New England and tackled the job. After ten hours of cold and dangerous work, a large part of it under cover of the night, Washington had his little army on the Jersey shore. He then pushed on in the sleet and cold in order to reach Trenton, ten miles away, by day break. The men were in a pitiable condition. Some of them were marching barefooted in the snow, leaving a trail of blood behind them. Some of the men had lost their guns in crossing the river. The remainder of the weapons were so water-soaked that they were almost useless. "We must depend on the bayonet," said Washington.
A sharp attack was promptly made and the German
GEORGE WASHINGTON 71
commander, with seventy men, was killed and a thou sand men laid down their arms in surrender.
Washington had won a brilliant victory but his position was still very dangerous. There was a British force of two thousand men only a few miles down the river. Seeing his danger, he went back with his pris oners and spoils and recrossed the river.
Three days later he again crossed over to the Jersey side. Lord Cornwallis, one of the British commanders, was about to embark for England, but instead of that he was sent to drive Washington back. He had laid plans to capture him or, as he said, to "run down the Old Fox." The two men exchanged compliments in the night with their big guns, and Cornwallis intended to attack early in the morning. Washington was getting ready. All through the night his camp fires burned brilliantly and the British sentinels could hear the blow of the spade and swing of the pickaxe as the Americans were building their entrenchments. When the British got ready to attack, they found, to their great surprise, that the American camp was empty. The bird had flown; or rather the Old Fox had made tracks for parts unknown.
As soon as Cornwallis had time to look about him he found Washington cutting off the line to his base of supplies. After a fight near Princeton, the British withdrew to New York, leaving Washington in posses sion of practically all of New Jersey. Washington's bold strokes at Trenton and Princeton had changed the
72 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
whole face of the situation and there was great re joicing in America.
Other dark days were yet in store for Washington. Howe had collected a great army in the vicinity of Philadelphia for the purpose of taking that important
THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON It was here that Washington won one of his most notable victories.
place. He defeated Washington in two battles in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, and then entered the city.
Soon after this Washington went into winter quar ters at Valley Forge, about twenty miles from Phila delphia. This was a terrible winter and a severe test upon the fiber of Washington and his men. Washing ton took his little army into the hills of Valley Forge
GEORGE WASHINGTON 73
about the middle of December, 1777, with no shelter for them save the bleak valleys and hillsides. They set to work at once, throwing up entrenchments and building log huts.
There was a shortage of food for the men, and many horses died on account of lack of feed. Clothing was lacking and the men suffered terribly from the biting weather. Blood from their bare feet marked their tracks on the snow and the frozen ground. In stead of sleeping at night many of the men were com pelled to sit up huddled around the camp fire in order to keep from freezing to death.
Sickness, of course, gripped the stricken camp. The frozen ground was, in many cases, the only hospital bed to be had. When he had been less than a week at Valley Forge Washington reported about three thou sand men " unfit for duty because of their nakedness in the bitter winter."
Food was not particularly scarce but it was very hard to get. Howe's men in Philadelphia had enough, and to spare, while the Americans at Valley Forge, only a few miles away, were actually starving. "The Farmers of eastern Pennsylvania closed their ears to the groans of Valley Forge and brought meat and flour in great abundance to the British'. . . at Philadelphia."
It is said by some that these farmers were losing faith in the American cause and expected the British to win the war. They wanted to be on the winning side. There may be some truth in this explanation,
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but it should be remembered that the farmer got British gold for the supplies which he brought to Phila delphia, while Washington had nothing to offer but the
WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE They are directing affairs at Valley Forge.
almost worthless paper money. The profiteer was abroad in the land and, to make matters worse, trans portation facilities were very poor.
Washington, however, was not a man to stand and twirl his thumbs and look on in a case of this kind. He "took the bull by the horns" and announced that he would hang to a tree the first man whom he caught taking provisions to the British. He then sent out men with instructions to take food by force and to tell the
GEORGE WASHINGTON
75
people that they would be paid for it at some future time.
In the midst of all this suffering there was some good cheer. The men were drawn into a closer comradeship by their hardships. They made the best of a bad situa tion. Some of the officers gave a scanty dinner, now and then, to which only those who had holes in their trousers were invited. The others were looked upon
as too aristocratic and " stuck up " to eat with the common people.
Washington had two brilliant young men with him during this winter at Valley Forge. One was Alexander Hamilton, born in the West In dies, and among the ablest men in the
whole history of the public life of the United States. He was twenty-one years of age at the time, and was Washington's secretary and intimate personal friend.
The other was the Marquis de Lafayette, who stole out of France and came to America to fight in behalf of the Colonies. The king of France had forbidden his going. The young Lafayette, who was only twenty
OLD FORT AT VALLEY FORGE AS IT APPEARS TODAY
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years of age at the time, had a great enthusiasm for the American cause. "With the welfare of America," he wrote, "is closely linked the welfare of mankind." He was made a Major General in the Ameri can army before he was twenty-one years old.
There were some other men in this little company at Val ley Forge who later became famous. Na- thanael Greene, a Quaker from Rhode Island, was one of the number. He was a blacksmith, who, by hard study, made him self into a first-class soldier. He was with Washington at
Trenton and now gave him his support at Valley Forge.
He was later made Quarter-master-general of the army.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
Hamilton was born in the West Indies. He was making speeches on Government when he was seventeen. He helped to make our Constitution and to win the Revolution. He was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr when 47 years of age.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 77
Henry Knox, a bookseller of Boston, had very little military training, but at the age of twenty-five he took charge of the artillery around Boston. He was now sharing the hardships of Vallty Forge.
Daniel Morgan, an old Indian fighter, left his Vir ginia farm at the outbreak of the war and hurried to Boston to join the army. He fought valiantly in many battles, both before and after this time. He, too, was with Washington sharing the glories and the pri vations of Valley Forge.
Such was the winter that prevailed Within the crowded, frozen gorge;
Such were the horrors that assailed The patriot band at Valley Forge.
It was a midnight storm of woes
To clear the sky for Freedom's morn;
And such must ever be the throes The hour when Liberty is born.
— THOMAS BUCHANAN READ
We must now turn back a little and follow the fortunes of another American army under Schuyler and Gates in eastern New York. In the summer of 1777 the British planned a bold campaign to cut the Colonies into two parts. General Burgoyne with one British army was to come down from Canada, and General Howe with another was to go up the Hudson from New York. They were to meet at Albany.
78 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
As it happened, however, Howe's army was very busy about Philadelphia and when he sent General Clinton up the Hudson to meet Burgoyne it was too late. The Americans had combined against him in the important battle of Saratoga.
As Burgoyne pushed southward General Schuyler,
THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA
It was here that Arnold was wounded and protected the German soldier who shot him.
who was in command of the American forces, harassed him at every step. Supplies were burned, bridges were destroyed and trees were felled across his pathway, so that he could scarcely make a mile a day. He had to go on, however, as his retreat to Canada was now cut
GEORGE WASHINGTON 79
off by American forces. He pushed forward to his doom. A large amount of baggage made his progress slower still. It required thirty wagons to carry the belongings of the general himself. Not all of these things, it would seem, were necessary to a military campaign. Some of the packages were filled with choice liquors. It is said that Burgoyne had champagne on his table " almost to the day of final disaster."
In the meantime, there was no word from Howe, and Burgoyne kept wondering why he did not come. Messengers were sent to find the cause of the delay, but they never came back. They were caught and hanged as spies while trying to get through the American lines.
Burgoyne's situation was becoming desperate. The Americans were getting him in a corner. Washington was keeping Howe entertained about Philadelphia, and no help could be sent to Burgoyne. Finally on Sep tember 19, in a battle, usually known as the First Battle of Freeman's Farm, Burgoyne tried to cut his way out and thus save his army from defeat and cap ture. He failed with a heavy loss.
In the meantime, Congress had removed Schuyler from the command and had given it to General Gates. Gates was a selfish and tricky man and was not loyal to Washington.
Another important move had also been made. Howe had instructed General Clinton to go up the Hudson and help Burgoyne. Clinton started, but it was now too late.
8o
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SCENES OF THE LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION
This map shows the scene of Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga and of Washing ton's brilliant strokes at Trenton and Princeton. It also shows the location of Washington's dismal camp at Valley Forge and the scene of the final triumph at Yorktown.
Burgoyne was in a trap. He
There was no time to be lost. Burgoyne now fought his Second Battle of Freeman's Farm, near Saratoga. Here he was badly beaten and Benedict Arnold, who later turned traitor to his country, displayed most amaz ing bravery on the American side. "Call that man back," said Gates, as Arnold dashed off on horse back, "or he will do something rash." Arnold couldn't hear the call, and came back only when the victory was won. A large part of this battle was fought in the dense woods, and here the American frontiersmen were perfectly at home, could neither retreat
GEORGE WASHINGTON 81
nor advance. His camp was commanded by American guns and he was not strong enough to cut his way out. American sharpshooters, perched high in the trees, picked off any Britisher who ventured out into the open. Horses were killed in the same way. Sometimes a cap was hung out to draw the fire of the riflemen. Bullets riddled it instantly. Food was scarce. The Indian allies had sulked off, and the German hired soldiers were homesick and tired of the whole business. Finally ten days after the second battle, Burgoyne surrendered his entire army to Gates on October 17, 1777. This battle was the turning-point of the Revolution, and a great English historian has called it one of the fifteen decisive battles of the world.
It is not pleasant to relate that some of the officers of the American army were not loyal to Washington. Arnold betrayed his confidence and finally • went over and fought for the British. Gates was a timid and jealous schemer. Some others formed a conspiracy against Washington and tried to depose him and put someone else in his place. Arnold finally left America and went to England. It would have been well if some others had done the same thing. A famous pick pocket once wrote a play to be acted by his fellow- convicts who had been sent out of the country for crime. One line of the play read as follows:
True patriots we, for, be it understood, We left our country for our country's good.
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Some of Washington's enemies might have been better patriots if they had followed the example of the pickpocket and his associates at Botany Bay and left the country for their country's good.
After the surrender at Saratoga the British cause in America was doomed. The final scene in the great drama was enacted at Yorktown, Virginia.
WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE The two friends here appear after the victory at Yorktown.
Yorktown is on the shore in the eastern part of the state, near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Here Corn- wallis threw up his fortifications and settled down. Without knowing it, he had placed himself in a trap. Some French troops joined forces with Washington at
GEORGE WASHINGTON 83
New York and marched south to cut off his retreat by land. A large French fleet under Count de Grasse suddenly appeared and took control of the sea. De Grasse was a born fighter. His men said that ordi narily he was about six feet tall, but when fighting a battle he was six inches taller.
Alexander Hamilton was there and so was General Lafayette. In speaking of Lafayette, Cornwallis said that he would run out some day and capture "the boy;" but "the boy," with his small force of men, succeeded in keeping out of his reach.
The assault began and the Americans riddled the town with their guns. One of the French soldiers later said that there were "big holes made by bombs, cannon balls, splinters, barely covered graves, arms and legs of blacks and whites scattered here and there, most of the houses riddled with shot and devoid of window- panes."
Cornwallis thought of flight but that seemed hope less. He finally surrendered his entire army of seven thousand men. "I thought it would have been wanton and not human," he said later, "to sacrifice the lives of this small body of gallant soldiers."
The British surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, practically ended the war. King George wanted to fight on but Parliament did not agree with him. Some little fighting followed, but the treaty of peace was made by Franklin and others in 1783. Thus the American colonists had finally won their independence
84 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
after eight years of hard fighting, much of it under the most disheartening conditions.
Washington now returned to the home at Mount Vernon which he loved so well. Here he hoped to spend the remainder of his days. He said: "I had rather be at Mount Vernon with a friend or two about me, than to be attended at the seat of government by the officers of State and the representatives of every power in Europe."
His wish was not granted. He was soon called again into the service of his country. After the treaty of peace was made things did not go well with the govern ment. The form of government was not good and a convention was called in Philadelphia to make a new one. The result was the Constitution of the United States under which we are now living. Washington was a delegate to this convention from Virginia. Being the leading man in that body, he was made the pre siding officer.
A little later the people, with one voice, chose him to be the first President of the United States. After holding this office for two terms he refused to listen to proposals for a third term and was finally permitted to return to the beloved shades of Mount Vernon where he died two years later.
For a long time we had a wrong idea about Wash ington as a boy. A man named Mason Weems wrote
GEORGE WASHINGTON 85
a book about him and pictured him as a goody-good kind of fellow. He related stories about Washington's boyhood, many of which were not true. Washington was not a faultless and conceited little prig with a starched collar around his neck and curls hanging down his back. He didn't run and tattle every tune another boy offended him. He fought his own battles. He had a high temper, but usually kept it well under control.
Like most other boys he was always on tiptoe when the circus came around. A little later in life he was fond of a good horse-race. The fox-hunt, the cock fight, and other rough frontier sports appealed to him. He liked to roam through the forests in search of big game and to spend the night in the open air. "Happy," said he, "is the man who gets the berth nearest the fire." He was also a favorite in society and liked to dance the stately minuet.
As a man he always liked good clothes. "He had a weakness for gold lace, silk stockings, and silver span gles. His liking for fine feathers never quite forsook him." Unlike his friend Thomas Jefferson, he cared a great deal for dignity and ceremony.
He was subject to the same diseases that other people were. "He suffered at times from measles, smallpox, malaria, and toothache, and late in life he solemnly put it on record that his false teeth were a misfit." Washington himself was not deceived. He knew perfectly well that in many respects he was just like other people.
86 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
Washington was a good, careful, thrifty business man. He kept an exact account of his expenses, even to the cost of repairing a hairpin for one of the women of his household.
He read books on agriculture. He did not guess at things. He found that there were 844,800 grass seeds to the pound, and from this he figured out the amount which should be sown to the acre.
Washington was one of the largest landowners of his time. He was also one of the richest men in Amer ica. When he died he owned 60,000 acres of land and his property was valued at $530,000. In his will he remembered forty-one relatives of his wife and himself. He had no children. "God left him childless that he might be the father of the Country."
Best of all, Washington was a true and an honest man. He always stood for what he believed to be right. When the British put the tax on tea, he ban ished tea from his table. When war was threatened, he said he would, if necessary, raise and equip out of his own pocket a thousand men and march with them to Boston. One who knew him well said that he was "the honestest man that ever adorned human nature."
When we review Washington's career from his boy hood in the wilderness to his final resting place on the bank of the Potomac, we can readily see why it was that he was called: "First in War, First in Peace, First in the hearts of his Countrymen."
GEORGE WASHINGTON 87
He died peacefully at Mount Vernon in 1799 at the age of sixty -seven.
His work well done, the leader stepped aside, Spurning a crown with more than kingly pride, Content to wear the highest crown of worth, While time endures, First Citizen of earth.
-JAMES J. ROCHE
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Why is Washington called "the Pillar of the Republic"?
2. What was the cause of the " Boston Massacre "?
3. What were the "Intolerable Acts"? Why were they
so-called?
4. Who were the " Minute-Men "?
5. Why was the capture of Fort Ticonderoga important?
6. Where is Bunker Hill located?
7. What noted men were with Washington at Valley Forge?
8. Why was Burgoyne's surrender called a "turning-point"
in the war?
9. What important event took place on October 19, 1781?
10. How did Washington and Patrick Henry compare as busi
ness men?
11. Read Holmes' "Grandmother's Story of Bunker-Hill Battle."
PRONOUNCING LIST
Potomac po-to'mak
Marquis de Lafayette mar'kwis d La-fa-et'
Burgoyne ber-goin'
CHAPTER VI
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES
NATHANAEL GREENE, THE FIGHTING QUAKER
WHILE Washington had a most difficult task to perform he was not called upon to fight the battles of the Revolution alone. He had valiant helpers. One of the foremost of these was Nathanael Greene, The Fighting Quaker.
Greene was a farmer and blacksmith, born in Rhode Island, in 1742. He went to the country school for a time but did not remain there very long. His father was a plain man who did not believe in very much education. He thought if a boy could read, write, spell, and solve a few simple problems in arithmetic that nothing else was necessary.
As a boy Nathanael worked on the farm, in the mill, and in the blacksmith shop. He also found time to read good books. He studied law, joined the militia, and became a careful student of military tactics.
After the battle of Lexington, troops were raised in Rhode Island and sent to join the Continental army under Washington at Cambridge. Greene was in com mand of these troops. Washington saw at once that
88
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES
89
he would make a good soldier, and gave him an im portant post. Washington's judgment was correct. Greene turned out to be "the best man in the Ameri can army next to Washington himself."
Greene was in favor, at an early time, of the inde pendence of the colonies, and had written to the Rhode Island men in Congress, ask ing them to vote for the Declaration. He was also in the battle of Bunker Hill and was able to give valuable advice as a result of his military studies.
At Trenton he commanded one wing of Washington's army. A little later, by great skill, he saved the American
NATHANAEL GREENE
c ,. Greene was Washington's right-
army from destruction on the hand man in the Revolution.
Brandywine Creek. He also H^ could do a §reat deal with
a few men. He was kind and tOUght bravely at German- generous to his enemies.
town, when, in the dense fog, .
one part of the American army fired upon another part. These two battles were fought in south-eastern Pennsyl vania, about the time that Burgoyne was surrendering to Gates at Saratoga.
In the following year he accepted the office of Quar termaster-general of the army with the understanding that he would still have the right to command his
90 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
troops in action. Greene was a real fighting man. In his new office it was his duty to provide and dis tribute supplies for the army. This work had not been well done, and the experience of Washington's men at Valley Forge was disastrous on this account. General Greene did good work at his new post.
On account of his knowledge of military law Greene was made head of the court which passed upon the case of Major John Andre. A recent writer has re marked that "no soldier in America was better versed in the military art in all its details than Greene."
Perhaps it would be well to say a few words about the interesting career of John Andre. We have already made the acquaintance of Benedict Arnold. Arnold was a Connecticut bookseller, and enlisted early in the Revolution. He performed dazzling feats of bravery at Quebec, Saratoga, and other places. He finally came to the conclusion that Congress hadn't treated him fairly. He wished to be promoted more rapidly than he was. In a dark moment he made up his mind to obtain command of West Point on the Hudson River and then surrender himself and the fortress to the British.
Washington, not suspecting his plans, gave him the command. He then began his correspondence with the British and General Clinton appointed Major John Andre, a bright young officer, to talk the matter over with Arnold. Andre assumed the name of "John
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 91
Anderson " and met Arnold in the woods at night a short distance below West Point, on the west side of the river. The meeting place was a dark and secluded spot among the fir trees -- " the haunt of the owl and whippoorwill."
On his way back to the British army in New York Andre was captured near Tarrytown — a place since made famous by Washington Irving in his stories of Rip Van Winkle and other characters.
The court over ' which. General Greene presided decided that Andre was a spy and, according to the law of nations, should be put to death. He was hanged on October 2, 1780, and his ashes were later taken to London for burial. Arnold escaped to England and lived the dismal life of a traitor. He did not accomplish much in the British army as he was never trusted there.
It was in the South, however, and rather late in the war, that Greene did his best work. When the tide of war was going against the British they made a strong attempt to save Georgia and the two Carolinas. Cornwallis was in command in the South. This was about a year before his surrender at Yorktown. Gen eral Gates had command of the American army and things were not going very well for the American cause. So, about two weeks after the execution of Andre, Greene was appointed to take the place of Gates. Cornwallis soon saw that he was facing a very different kind of man. Greene was far more able and energetic.
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Greene went south and took command of the Ameri can army early in December. He soon put things in righting shape. In doing this he was assisted by several notable leaders. One of these was Daniel Morgan, the famous fighter from Virginia, whom we have already
met. Morgan took charge of the west ern part of the American army and defeated the British in the battle of Cow- pens, in the north ern part of South Carolina, about the middle of January. Greene also set his army in motion and, joining hands with Morgan after the battle of Cow- pens, started across North Carolina to wards Virginia. A noted historian has called this march "one of the most dramatic retreats in military annals."
Cornwallis started after him in hot pursuit. Before beginning the race, he destroyed large quantities of supplies and burned his heavy baggage so that he might march rapidly. It was a merry chase. The
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR IN THE
SOUTH
Greene and Cornwallis raced across North Carolina from Cowpens to the River Dan. Marion's men were en camped on the Big Pedee River and Andrew Jackson fought at Hanging Rock.
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 93
two armies sped on in a northeasterly direction across the central part of North Carolina. Sometimes they were so close together that they seemed to be one army rather than two.
If you will look at the map you will notice that several rivers had to be crossed on this march. These streams seemed to be as friendly to the Americans as the Red Sea was to the Hebrews in the time of Moses. A series of heavy rains came on and the Americans were fortunate enough, in each case, to get across the stream before high water. By the time the British came up the streams were swollen and their progress was delayed. The rivers in their courses certainly fought on the side of the Americans in this race.
Finally the Americans reached the River Dan at the boundary line between North Carolina and Vir ginia. Here they crossed over into Virginia. A short time later Cornwallis appeared in sight but the river was then a raging torrent and he could not cross. Here he gave up the chase, turned back, and went into camp a few miles to the south.
Greene now had time to look around him. He gath ered up some recruits, recrossed the Dan and sud denly appeared with his whole force at Guilford Court House in the interior of North Carolina. Here he took his stand. Cornwallis also appeared at this place after a tiresome and foodless march and then was fought "one of the severest battles in modern times.'7 Cornwallis claimed a victory, but another such victory "would have ruined his army beyond repair."
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The whole campaign in the South was a very peculiar one. The British won some victories, but after each victory they found themselves in danger and were com pelled to move on. This was due to strategy rather
than strength on the part of Greene. Greene excelled in dividing his oppo nents, in enticing them off on long marches, and in tiring them out. He had studied tactics of this kind long be fore the war began. He would undoubtedly have made a good quarter-back on the football field. Finally Cornwallis, tired out and disgusted, left the far South and went northward to his doom at Yorktown. General Greene had accomplished his purpose. "All the boasted fabric of royal government in the South had come down with a crash and the Tories who had supported it were having evil days."
At the close of the war Greene returned to Rhode Island, his native state, and was received with great
NEWS FROM YORKTOWX
A rider on the back of a swift horse took the place of the telegraph and the telephone in those days.
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 95
honor. The "literary blacksmith" found himself fa mous. Congress struck a gold medal in his honor and gave him two field guns.
The far South, which he had liberated, also showed its gratitude. South Carolina gave him a large landed estate which he sold to pay bills for the supplies of his army in the South. Georgia also gave him a beautiful plantation a few miles up the river from Savannah. He made his home at this place in the fall of 1785 and died of sunstroke in the following summer.
Xathanael Greene has been highly honored in his native state, in the far south, and in the City of Washington. Rhode Island has placed a bronze statue of him in the National Capital, and he and Roger Williams represent that state in the National Hall of Statuary in the
Capitol building. There is also a monument in his honor in the City of Savannah.
One of the pleasantest things to read about, however, is the intimate friendship which existed between Wash-
XATHAXAEL GREENE
This statue is in Statuary Hall in the National Capitol at Washington, D. C.
96 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
ington and Nathanael Greene. Washington always had the utmost confidence in Greene as a man and as a soldier. On the other hand, Greene respected and loved his great chief. When Greene died and it came to Washington's notice that his family was without means he wrote to Mrs. Greene and told her that if she would entrust her son, George Washington Greene, to his care he would "give him as good an education as this country will afford. "
DANIEL MORGAN, A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
Daniel Morgan was a big, rough, two-fisted fighter. He was a member of a Welsh family and was born in New Jersey, but early in life he moved to Virginia, While still a boy in his teens he enlisted for the old French War and became a wagon driver in General Braddock's Army. Here he came into close contact with the British Army officers. He didn't like them. One of them insulted him and he promptly knocked him down. Morgan got five hundred lashes for the offense, but the officer later made a public apology for the insult.
Morgan was a giant in size and strength and his power of endurance was almost beyond belief. He had almost no education, but was a man of good intelligence and was loyal to the core. He was a natural leader of men and well fitted for the wild campaigns of the backwoods.
He was a match for the red man in skill and strategy,
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 97
and more than a match for him in strength and daring. On one occasion he and his men were engaged in a fierce forest fight with the Indians and things were going against them. Nearly all of his men had fallen and Morgan himself had been shot through the neck. He was certain that he was about to die but was determined, as he said, "not to leave his scalp in the hands of a dirty Indian." Lean ing forward, he put his arms around the neck of his horse and dashed away through the wilderness until, finally, his last pur suer threw his tomahawk at him and turned back in disgust. After the old French War was over, Morgan went
DANIEL MORGAN
Daniel Morgan in the garb of a back woodsman ready to fight the Indians or the British. He was an expert with the rifle.
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to the bad for a short time. He became a saloon fighter, gambler, and a hard drinker. However, he reformed, became the owner of some property, and was all ready for business when the Revolution broke out.
You will remember that immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill, Washington went to Cambridge, near Boston, and took charge of the American army. A few days later old rough-and-ready Daniel Morgan reported for duty with his famous company of sharp shooters. It was said that any one of these back woodsmen, while marching at a double quick pace, could split a squirrel with a bullet from his rifle, at a distance of three hundred yards.
While at Cambridge Morgan fell in with Benedict Arnold and the two men were side by side in some of the most brilliant feats of the war. In the first year of the Revolution the Americans determined to invade Canada. Benedict Arnold was in charge of the ex pedition, and Daniel Morgan was one of his companions. The men had a terrible time in getting to Canada through dense forests, tangled vines, and northern snows. Sometimes they had to wade through bogs with their worn-out shoes. Again they forced their way through thorny bushes and lost parts of their clothing in so doing. They were short of food, and when wild game gave out they ate a number of their
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 99
dogs. "My men/' said Arnold, "were in want of everything except stout hearts."
Finally the armies arrived at the frowning walls of Quebec — the most strongly fortified city in America. At two o'clock on the morning of New Year's Day, 1776, "in a blinding snowstorm," they began the attack. Arnold was carried from the field in great agony drag ging a broken leg behind him. Morgan stepped in and filled the gap and, with the aid of his Virginia riflemen, forced his way into the town only to be taken prisoner. He was discharged, however, about seven months later.
You will remember that the Americans caught Bur- goyne in a trap and defeated him in the Second Battle of Freeman's Farm in the fall of 1777. Arnold was there and so was Morgan. Morgan was on the recep tion committee and made a furious attack on the British just as soon as they appeared in view. Arnold had no command but he waded in just the same and charged the British with "mad fury." In the heat of the battle a wounded German soldier, lying on the ground, shot at Arnold, killed his horse and broke the General's leg above the knee. An American soldier, upon seeing this, ran up and was about to pin the wounded German to the ground with his bayonet when Arnold exclaimed, "For God's sake, don't hurt him; he's a fine fellow!" How much better it would have been for Arnold's reputation if he had died immediately after speaking those words!
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We have already noticed that General Nathanael Greene went to North Carolina towards the close of the war and took command of the American army in the South. When he arrived there he found old Daniel Morgan, "a host in himself," ready to help him.
Morgan was given charge of one part of the army and was to operate against General Tarleton, a brave
SKIRMISH IN THE BATTLE or COWPENS
and skillful soldier. As Tarleton approached, Morgan retreated in order to find a battle ground suited to his liking. He chose a large cattle pasture, known as Cow- pens, and drew up his army with its back to the Broad River. He did this, he said, so that his raw militia, not being able to run away, would be compelled to fight.
On the morning of January 17, 1781, Tarleton ap peared. His men were wet, tired, and muddy but
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 101
he struck the American line at sunrise without delay. The British were confused by Morgan's peculiar tactics and his unusual military formations. They were com pletely routed and lost heavily in killed, wounded, field guns, and small arms. "Their loss was about equal to the whole American force engaged." The Americans had only twelve men killed.
From the standpoint of military tactics Cowpens is said to have been "the most brilliant battle of the War for Independence." Morgan was voted the thanks of Congress and was given a gold medal for this victory.
A few months later, the Revolution was practically over. Morgan then went back to his old home in Vir ginia and was a patriot in peace as well as in war. He served two terms in Congress and ended his stormy career in 1802 at the age of sixty-six.
FRANCIS MARION, "THE SWAMP Fox"
Our band is few, but true and tried,
Our leader frank and bold; The British soldier trembles
When Marion's name is told. Our fortress is the good greenwood,
Our tent the cypress- tree; We know the forest round us
As seamen know the sea. We know its walls of thorny vines,
Its glades of reedy grass, Its safe and silent islands
Within the dark morass. — BRYANT
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The war in the South was made illustrious by still another great name — that of General Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox, of South Carolina. Marion, unlike Morgan, was a small and modest man. He had only a few men under his command — sometimes less than twenty and rarely more than seventy. These men were poorly equipped. At times they fought with swords made from old saws at the crossroads black smith shop, and again they melted spoons and cups in order to get material for their bullets.
These men were apparently just as much at home in their native swamps and jungles as the rabbits were in the thickets or the rooks and crows in the tree tops.
With merry songs we mock the wind
That in the pine-top grieves, And slumber long and sweetly
On beds of oaken leaves.
They sprang from their lair in the jungle where Lynch's Creek flows into the big Pedee, struck the enemy a stinging blow and retreated almost before he knew what was going on.
A moment in the British camp -
A moment — and away, Back to the pathless forest
Before the peep of day.
Marion's men enjoyed to the utmost these midnight marches, sudden surprises, and desperate hand to hand combats.
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 103
Well knows the fair and friendly moon
The band that Marion leads — The glitter of their rifles,
The scampering of their steeds. 'Tis life to guide the fiery barb
Across the moonlight plain; 'Tis life to feel the night-wind
That lifts his tossing mane.
Marion was born in South Carolina one week after the birth of George Washington in Virginia. His family belonged to that noble band of French people who had been driven from their native land by the tyranny of King Louis the Fourteenth. They were Huguenots and might well be called, "the French Pil grim Fathers." They were good citizens and had fight ing blood in their veins.
Marion's father was a planter or farmer on the Atlantic coast near Georgetown, and the boy worked on the home place until called away to fight the Cherokee Indians.
When the Revolutionary War broke out Marion, of course, offered his services and was appointed captain of some local troops. He did not enter upon his whirl wind career, however, until the year before the battle of Yorktown — and at that time he had only sixteen men under his command.
He then proceeded to make life miserable for Corn- wallis. He would dart out and strike and then retreat. One of his exploits of this kind was at Nelson's Ferry
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in South Carolina. Nelson's Ferry is in the eastern part of the state where one of the main wagon roads leading to Charleston crosses the Santee River. A company of British soldiers was approaching the Ferry
when Marion and a few followers darted out from nowhere in particular, captured twenty-six of them, liberated one hundred and fifty American prisoners, and de parted without losing a single man.
Exploits like that at Nelson's Ferry were repeated over and over again. Marion had now established himself in his famous camp on the Pedee River and could defy the forces of the great Corn- wallis. This camp was described as "a most secluded spot . . . covered with forest trees and abounding with game." Marion felt very much at home in such a place as this. He knew the swamp paths but the British didn't. Neither was he afraid of the gaunt wolf or the rattlesnake.
FRANCIS MARION
This is the way he dashed through the forests and swamps of the South. Read the "Song of Marion's Men" by William Cullen Bryant.
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 105
Cornwallis, at length, became very angry and sent General Tarleton in search of Marion. "I sincerely hope/7 he said, "you will get at Mr. Marion." "Mr.
GENERAL MARION AND A BRITISH OFFICER General Marion and his guest had a meal consisting of sweet potatoes. The British officer ate almost nothing, while Marion de clared it a very good meal. When the officer returned to his camp he said that men who were serving without pay and almost destitute of food and clothing could not be conquered.
Marion," however, proved to be very hard to get. Tarleton scoured the country from Camden to Nelson's Ferry, burning houses and crops as he went. Along his line of march he left homeless women and children
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huddled around bonfires in the open air of the chill November nights. But he did not "get at Mr. Marion/'
Marion, on the contrary, in all his raids, was humane and even chivalrous. At a later time he was able to say, " There is not one house burned by my orders or by any of my people. It is what I detest, to distress poor women and children."
Tarleton also flogged people in an attempt to make them tell him where Marion's camp was located. He didn't succeed. The people were loyal to the great commander.
The old "Swamp Fox" was living up to his name and was very hard to get sight of, although he did not remain in hiding all of the time. On one occasion he and his men "actually galloped into Georgetown and captured the commander of that post." And they also galloped back again in safety to their den in the forest.
Marion stuck to his task and continued to help Greene in his campaign against the British in the South. Only a month before the surrender at Yorktown, in the battle of Eutaw Springs, Marion commanded the right wing of Greene's army.
After the war was over he married a French woman, a member of a wealthy family, and settled down in his native state. He built a beautiful house on the Santee River, not far from Nelson's Ferry, the scene of one of his most daring raids. The Marion home, presided over by his young and charming bride, became famous for miles around on account of its most generous hos pitality. Here he died at the age of sixty-three.
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107
Of all the picturesque characters of our Revolutionary period, there is perhaps no one who, in the memory of the people, is so closely associated with romantic adventure as Francis Marion.
- JOHN FISKE
THOMAS SUMTER, "THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCK"
We should not leave the Revolutionary War in the South without a few words about Thomas Sumter, whom the British called " The South Carolina Gamecock." Sumter was a brilliant but an irregular sort of fighter, somewhat resembling Daniel Morgan and Francis Marion. Cornwallis called him "the greatest plague in this country," and said, "but for Sumter and Marion, South Carolina would be at peace."
Sumter was a native of Virginia and was with General Braddock when he went down to defeat in the Valley of the Monongahela. At the out-
THOMAS SUMTER
Sumter, "the South Carolina Gamecock/' was born in Vir ginia in 1734. He was with
break of the Revolutionary Braddock at the time of his
J famous defeat, but survived to War he was again on duty fight in t*he Revolution.
as the commander of a com pany of South Carolina rifle men. Later like Marion he "hid in the swamps of the
He
was a dashing fighter and pestered the British terribly.
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Santee and struck out at the British." He defeated them in the Battle of Hanging Rock which was fought not far from the scene of the battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.
He beat them back! beneath the flame
Of valor quailing, or the shock! And carved, at last, a hero's name
Upon the glorious Hanging Rock.
It was at Hanging Rock that Andrew Jackson, who later became President of the United States, fought his first battle. He was an orphan boy, only thirteen years of age at the time, but he put up a good fight.
Sumter lived on for many years after the war and represented his state in both Houses of Congress. He was also our Minister to Brazil for a short time. He will always be remembered, however, as an expert in that wild kind of warfare which did so much to win Independence for the United States. In this kind of fighting he was second only to General Francis Marion.
Unlike Marion, he was a tall man of powerful build. He lived to be ninety-eight years old and died at South Mount, not far from that Hanging Rock upon which he had carved his name.
NATHAN HALE, THE BOY PATRIOT
Before taking leave of this brilliant group of Revolu tionary heroes let us pause for a moment and lay a rose
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES 109
upon the grave of Nathan Hale, 77/6 Boy Patriot. Hale's career was not a long one — he died at twenty- one — but it was exceedingly important to his country. Nathan Hale was born in Connecticut and was grad uated from Yale College at the age of eighteen. He
NATHAN HALE IN DISGUISE
He is going about the British camp seeking information for the use of Washington.
began his life work as a school teacher, but after the battle of Lexington he responded to his country's call. He entered active military service at once and soon became a captain.
He was in New York with Washington in 1776 when the commander-in-chief wanted some information in re gard to the British Army. Hale volunteered to enter
no
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the British camp and obtain this information. After receiving his instructions from Washington he set out upon his perilous task. He entered the enemy's camp on Long Island disguised as a young farmer — some say as a Dutch school teacher — and proceeded to get
THE EXECUTION or NATHAN HALE
the information which Washington wanted. He was very thorough and painstaking about his task. He went about making close observations. He also made sketches and wrote down notes in .regard to what he saw.
Things were going beautifully with him until, in an
GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY HEROES in
evil moment, a relative saw and recognized him. This relative was a Tory and he hastened to the British officers and told them what he had seen.
The young Hale was taken to the headquarters of General Howe in one of the old mansions and was later locked up in the greenhouse for the night. The next day he told his captors what his name was and why he came into the British camp. It was really not necessary for him to do this as the papers found upon his person told the entire story.
He was hanged as a spy on the following day with out any trial whatever. His execution was carried out in a most heartless and brutal way. He was not per mitted to have the services of a minister and even a copy of the Bible was denied him. He was permitted to write letters of farewell to his mother, sisters, and sweetheart, but even these were heartlessly destroyed before his eyes.
Finally the executioner asked him, when his last mo ment had arrived, if he had anything which he wished to say. His reply was, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. What General ranked next to Washington in the Revolu
tionary War?
2. Mention four men who were prominent in the War in the
South.
3. Trace on the map the race between Greene and Cornwallis.
4. What was Greene's strategy in fighting?
112 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
5. What was said to be the most brilliant battle of the Revolu
tion? Who was its leader?
6. Why was General Francis Marion called " The Swamp Fox"?
7. What did Cornwallis call Sumter?
8. What boy of thirteen fought in the Battle of Hanging Rock?
What high office did he afterwards hold?
9. Why do we remember Nathan Hale?
PRONOUNCING LIST
Guilford gil'ferd Andre an'dra
Huguenots hu'ge-nots picturesque pik-tur-esk'
CHAPTER VII
JOHN PAUL JONES, " THE FATHER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY"
MOST of our great wars have been fought on the sea as well as on the land. This was true of the Ameri can Revolution. When the war began the Americans had no navy. In the first year of the war, however, Congress ordered thirteen fighting ships to be built, and bought some merchant ships to be made over into vessels of war. This was a small beginning for a great navy, but the famous American sea rovers made the most of what they had. One of the boldest of these sea dogs was John Paul Jones, The Father of the Ameri can Navy.
John Paul, as he was called when a boy, was born in Scotland. He was apprenticed to a shipmaster at the age of twelve. He made many sea voyages when quite young and was, for a short time, engaged in the slave trade. He did not like this job, however, and soon gave it up.
He was apparently a self-reliant lad. When he was seventeen he had command of a vessel which was trad ing with the West Indies. Two years before the Revo lution broke out John Paul came to Virginia and settled
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down in that place. His brother had recently died there and John Paul had inherited his estate.
It should not really be said that he settled down in Virginia, because he never settled down anywhere. He
was always in the current of active affairs. He never stopped.
At the outbreak of the Revolution, and when he was twenty-eight years of age, he offered his services to Con gress. They were accepted, and he was made an officer in the infant navy. It was at this time that he took the name of Jones out of admira tion for General Willie Jones, a wealthy planter of North Carolina, who had befriended him in his days of poverty. From this time on he was known as John Paul Jones. Soon after this time he hoisted an American flag on the ship-of-war, Alfred. This was the first flag ever hoisted on an American war ship. The flag was a banner of yellow silk bearing the picture of a pine tree and a rattlesnake, with the words, " Don't tread on me." Jones was a kind of Francis Marion gone out to sea. He struck wherever he could find an enemy to strike.
JOHN PAUL JONES
John Paul Jones fought on many seas and under many flags. His was a brave, un daunted spirit.
JOHN PAUL JONES 115
In the summer of 1777 he sailed away to Europe, on board the Ranger, looking for victims. In the spring of the following year, while prowling around the coasts and harbors of the British Isles, he landed at White- haven, England, spiked thirty-eight of the big British guns and then sailed away.
The following summer found him cruising along the eastern shore of Scotland. The happy thought occurred to him that if he could capture a real live British noble man he might exchange him for money or for Ameri can prisoners. He also knew that the Earl of Selkirk, an old friend of his father's, lived in that locality, near the mouth of the River Dee.
Jones anchored the Ranger and, with a few men in a small boat, rowed to the mansion of the Earl, only to find that his intended victim was not at home. He was about to go back to the boat empty-handed when one of his men announced that he was going to plunder the house and carry off the silver plate. Jones tried to persuade him not to do so, but to no avail. The man went in and made the demand and the terrified lady of the house handed over the family silver. A little later, when the plunder of the expedition was sold, Jones bought the plate and sent it back to Lady Selkirk with a polite note of apology. It is said of John Paul Jones that he never forgot the friends of his boyhood days.
In the following year, 1779, came the most memorable exploit of this great sea fighter. This time he was cruis ing along the eastern coast of England. His boat was
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the Bon Homme Richard (the good man Richard), named in honor of Poor Richard's Almanac. The boat was an old hulk which had been given to Jones by the King of France. "Her decks were too weak for her guns; her guns were too old for service," and her motley crew was made up of men from all quarters of the globe.
While cruising along the shore in September, Jones sighted the Serapis, a fine, new, large, British frigate. In a moment the fight was on. The Serapis was the better sailor and thus had a great advantage. But Jones ran his old boat alongside and lashed the two vessels together with a two-inch cable. Then took place one of the most desperate and bloody sea fights in all history. The Richard was pretty well shot to pieces, but when Jones was asked if he was ready to surrender, his calm reply was, "I have not yet begun to fight."
The battle was fought at night and the sky was lit up for miles around by the flames from the burning vessels. Both vessels were on fire, the Serapis in a dozen places at one time. Finally Jones shot away her main mast and she hauled down her flag and sur rendered. The Richard, in her worthless condition, was abandoned and sank soon after in the North Sea.
The British captain was not very cheerful about his surrender. He had known of Jones before and re marked to him, "It is painful to deliver up my sword to a man who has fought with a rope around his neck." He referred to the fact that the British govern-
"I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT.'
JOHN PAUL JONES 117
ment had declared Jones a pirate and an outlaw and would hang him if caught.
This victory caused great excitement all over the British Isles. The minister having charge of the navy wrote to one of his captains telling him to search the seas at once and declaring, "that if he took Paul Jones, he would be as high in public estimation as if he had beaten the combined fleets of France and Spain."
Some years after the close of the American Revolu tion John Paul Jones became an officer in the Russian navy and helped to defeat the Turks. A few years later the man who had fought under the flags of three nations and was highly honored by all three, died in Paris at the early age of forty-five. His career was as stormy as any of the seven seas over which he sailed. A few years ago his remains were conveyed in high honor to the United States and buried with all the honors of war in one of the buildings of the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Who was the first man to hoist an American flag on a ship-
of-war?
2. Where did the fight between the Bon Homme Richard and
Serapis take place?
3. What is the purpose of the Naval Academy at Annapolis?
4. Take a map and trace the wanderings of John Paul Jones.
PRONOUNCING LIST Ranger ran'jir Bon Homme Richard bon om re'shar
CHAPTER VIII DANIEL BOONE, THE KENTUCKY PATHFINDER
FOR a long time the settlements in America were scattered in a thin fringe along tne Atlantic Coast. The country west of the Allegheny Mountains was left in the quiet possession of the Indian and the buffalo. After a time, however, venturesome men wanted to know what this western country looked like. They had a natural human curiosity. They had also heard stories of the fertile soil, fine rivers, and, above all, perhaps, of the wild game and fur-bearing animals. Hardy men packed up their few belongings, including a rifle and a powder horn, and started out with a shout of West ward, ho! The Westward Movement was now on.
This was the golden age of hunters, trappers, Indian fighters, and backwoodsmen, and the greatest of these was Daniel Boone. He was a pathfinder, and a path- maker as well, to the Far West, and many followed in his wake. The Far West in those days, it should be understood, was made up of the eastern parts of Ken tucky and Tennessee.
The southwestern part of England is famous as the home of heroes. Here lived Hawkins, Drake, and the other "sea dogs of Devon" who made Great Britain famous on the ocean.
118
DANIEL BOONE
119
In this same neighborhood there lived a Quaker named Squire Boone. Boone had heard many glowing tales about William Penn's Colony in North America. He had a dash of adventure in his blood and longed for the forests of the New World. He made up his mind to go and finally set sail, with some other members of his family. In due time he found his way up the Delaware River to Philadelphia.
Boone immediately fell in love with the Quaker Colony and also with one of its fairest daughters, Miss Sarah Morgan. They were married soon after in the old Quaker Meeting house and settled
down to the life of pioneers. The clear blue smoke from their log cabin curled in a solitary and lonely way above the tall trees of the forest.
The cabin was not lonely within, however, as chil-
DANIEL BOONE AND His DOG
The dog, man's most faithful animal friend, followed Boone through the western forests.
120 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
dren soon began to arrive, and the sixth of these was named Daniel. He was born in the year 1734, not far from the present site of Reading, Pennsylvania.
The young Daniel was not brought up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Neither did he amuse himself with mechanical toys like those of today. His pioneer mother was too busy to give him much attention. So he probably played on the floor with the furs which his father had brought home or fondly caressed his father's rifle, if left within his reach.
As he grew up he lived the life of a pioneer boy. Even as a little fellow he became skillful in woodcraft. It is said that when he was about ten years old he was accustomed to kill birds and other small game with a " knob-root sapling" which he threw with great ac curacy.
At twelve his father made him a present of a rifle, and also gave him the task of furnishing meat for the family table. Never did a boy take more keen enjoy ment in a task. Daniel felt supremely happy and im portant when he went in search of game. He was a good hunter. He could tread the forest in his mocca- sined feet without breaking a twig or stirring a leaf.
Needless to say, Boone did not care very much for book learning. As a matter of fact he " never saw the inside of a school room" in his life. His mother and an aunt gave him all the instruction he ever received. His writing and spelling were always poor and his use of the English language was not like that of most other
DANIEL BOONE 121
people. On one of his woodland trips he cut an inscrip tion in the bark of a beech tree to the effect that he had "tilled a bar" at that place. And in one of his letters he speaks of "sculping" the Indians and "flus- terating" their plans. Although he was uneducated, he had a bright, keen, and intelligent mind. In some respects, of course, he was highly educated. He studied nature's wide-open book during his entire life.
During the time that Daniel was not hunting or trapping he was engaged as a farmer, weaver, or black smith. In those days the frontiersman had to do almost everything himself. He was a "Jack of all trades." Boone never had any great liking for any of these occupations, but he disliked the forge less than the others. It has been suggested that this was be cause his blacksmith shop "enabled him to repair broken rifles and traps." During this whole time, whether he was aware of it or not, he was preparing himseJf for his great work by a careful study of the habits and traits of the American Indian,
IN NORTH CAROLINA
The early pioneer was restless. He loved to wander. So one day Squire Boone told his family that he was going to move to North Carolina. The family started off in a canvas top wagon, somewhat like the prairie schooner of a later date. Daniel was fifteen years of age at this time, and the trip was a great event in his life.
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The Boones drifted leisurely along and it was more than a year and a half before the crack of Boone's rifle " first woke the echoes of the Carolina Mountains." Daniel had found a hunter's paradise. There was an abundance of wild game on every hand. "The buffalo,
THE FOOTPRINTS OF DANIEL BOONE AND GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
This map should be referred to constantly in studying the careers of Boone and Clark.
the elk, the Virginia deer, the bear, the panther, the wildcat, wolf, and fox wandered through the meadows and cane brakes about its rivers, or took their repose amid the cool shades of its rocky heights."
The Boone family was only nicely settled in its new home in the Valley of the Yadkin River when the French and Indian War came on. When the call came
DANIEL BOONE 123
for volunteers a hundred men from North Carolina re sponded for duty. Daniel Boone, a boy of twenty, was in this company. By rapid marching this little band arrived just in time to join General Braddock's expedi tion against Fort Duquesne.
It is not known that Boone did anything very won derful in this war but he did form a very important acquaintance while he was with General Braddock. He fell in with John Findley, a hunter and pack-peddler, who had traveled in Kentucky. This meeting was the turning-point in Boone's career. Findley told him all about the fine climate, the beautiful forests, and the abundant game of the Kentucky country. This natu rally fired him with a desire to visit that paradise of the backwoodsman. He did so soon after, and it was in this connection that he became famous.
It is not well for a backwoodsman to be alone. So, in due time, Daniel Boone met Rebecca Bryan, a young girl, who was described as " black-eyed and rosy- cheeked." It was a case of love at first sight. Rebecca was only fifteen at the time of her engagement and seventeen at the time of her marriage. Boone's father, who was a Justice of the Peace, read the marriage service for the happy pair.
The blue smoke then curled up from another cabin in the wilderness. Baby James Boone arrived in the year following the marriage and two years later Israel Boone put in an appearance. In the course of time six other sons and daughters gathered around the Boone
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fireside. Their names were, Susannah, Jemima, Lavinia,
Rebecca, Daniel, and John.
In the meantime, Boone was working hard in the
field and forest and living the care-free life in the open
which he enjoyed so much. It was not long, however,
until the bliss of this quiet life was jarred by the war whoops of the Cherokee Indians. It looked for a time as though all of the western settlements would be wiped out of existence. And so Daniel and Rebecca gathered up their little children, and went in haste to the eastern shore of Vir ginia. As soon as
BOONE FIGHTING INDIANS Boone had established
his family in that
place he himself went back to North Carolina to fight the Indians. When the danger from the red men was over he brought his family back again to the old home in North Carolina.
Boone was still restless. He didn't care much for farming and game was becoming scarce in the Yadkin Valley. So, with his rifle on his shoulder, he was com-
DANIEL BOONE 125
pelled to go long distances from home in order to find game. At one time he found himself on the Watauga River in eastern Tennessee. It was here that he "tilled a bar" and made note of it on the bark of a tree.
He was charmed with the beauty and the silence of the whole country. On one occasion, when standing on a mountain peak and looking down upon the buffalo grazing peacefully below, he exclaimed; "I am richer than the man mentioned in the Scripture, who owned the cattle on a thousand hills — I own the wild beasts of more than a thousand valleys."
Soon after this we find Boone ranging about in Florida where he thought of setting up a new home. His wife was not in favor of this, however, and he gave it up. He was still restless and his heart still longed for the land about which his friend Findley had told him.
As fate would have it, John Findley turned up just at this time, and was a guest in the Boone cabin during the entire winter. While the big logs crackled in the open fireplace, the two men made plans for an expedi tion to Kentucky. A party was finally organized for the spring, composed of Boone, Findley, and four other hardy men from the Valley.
To KENTUCKY
On May Day, 1769, the party started towards the setting sun, leaving their wives and children behind
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them. The men were equipped in the best backwoods fashion. Each man rode a horse and led another be hind him. They were clad in leather shirts and breeches
BOONE'S FIRST GLIMPSE OF KENTUCKY
Boone's friend, John Findley, had told him that Kentucky was a beautiful country. It was even more beautiful than he expected and he stared and gazed in silence.
and had soft moccasins on their feet. Their rifles glis tened in the sunlight, while their knives and tomahawks hung conveniently at their sides. They must have pre sented a striking picture as they waved a good-bye to their wives and children just before disappearing around
DANIEL BOONE 127
a bend in the road. The day was beautiful. "It was a glorious morning for the commencement of a glorious enterprise."
They finally reached the promised land and were not disappointed. Mother Nature had on her best dress and received the newcomers with a smile. Game was plen tiful on every hand. The animals were also quite tame. The buffalo kept on grazing quietly as the hunters ap proached. They were not frightened because they did not yet know that man was their enemy. They found this out a little later and soon learned to seek safety by a mad rush through the thickets.
After toiling on for about two months Boone and his party halted, and pitched camp on a small stream in the east central part of the state. Going out from this camp as a center, they began to hunt and trap, and also to skin their fur-bearing victims. It was an easy matter to kill the animals and soon the hunters had an abundance of food for their meals and a fine stock of furs for the market.
They lived undisturbed in the peace and quiet of their forest camp for some time. It then became evi dent that the Indians were aware of their presence. The red men lurked about the valley and one evening they captured Boone and his brother-in-law John Stewart. The Indians then compelled Boone to show them the way to the camp. Upon arriving there they surprised and captured the other four men, and then proceeded to help themselves to whatever they wanted.
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They packed up the furs, weapons, and everything else of value and then released their prispners after telling them to leave the country as fast as their legs could carry them. Findley and three others were very glad to take the hint, but Boone and Stewart said they would remain in Kentucky and fight it out.
The two men then began to shift for themselves. They entered a Shawnee camp in the neighborhood and took four horses. The Indians gave chase, and two days later Boone and Stewart were again in captivity.
The Indians then told their captives that they were going to take them to a Shawnee Village, a long dis tance away. They started out on their journey. On this journey Boone 's keen mind made use of his Indian studies of a few years before. The two captives put themselves on their very best behavior, and soon the Indians began to have a kindly feeling towards them. They gave them more privileges as time went on and Boone was watching for his opportunity to escape.
Finally, one night after they had been on the march for a week and while the Indians were all sleeping soundly, Boone thought it a good time to strike out. He wakened Stewart and the two men set out together. " Keeping well out of the glow of the camp fire, the two plucky backwoodsmen secured rifles, bullets, and powder, and, their moccasined feet never making a sound, vanished ghost-like into the darkness of the surrounding cane brake."
DANIEL BOONE 129
Findley and his three companions were in the mean time making rapid strides for North Carolina. Near the Cumberland gap they met Squire Boone, the brother of Daniel, and a companion who were bringing a load of supplies to the Boone camp in Kentucky. Findley and his followers related their sad experience and said that they believed Boone and Stewart were dead. After talking the matter over both parties started back for North Carolina, when a very unexpected event occurred. Boone and Stewart came suddenly out of the forest and made their appearance before their astonished compan ions. They were in rags and tatters, tired out and half starved.
Boone told his story. Some of the men wanted to go back east, but Boone 's spirit was unbroken and he declared his intention of going to Kentucky. He did so, and his brother and John Stewart and one other man accompanied him. Not long after this these four hardy men were sitting about a new camp fire in the Kentucky forest, not far from the embers of the old one.
Once again the men started to roam the woods. One day Stewart did not return. The country round about the camp was searched, but all to no avail. Five years later Boone found some human bones in a hollow tree and the powder horn near by had the name of Stewart upon it. These remains told the tale of Stewart's fate.
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA BOONESBORO
In spite of all this Boone loved Kentucky. It was a beautiful place and the people were not crowded. There was "elbow room and breathing space," as Boone once put it. Consequently he went back to North
CUMBERLAND GAP
Through this beautiful gap in the mountains Daniel Boone and his followers passed on their way to Kentucky. Find its location on the map.
Carolina and, in 1773, with his wife and children, started for their permanent home in Kentucky. Five other families joined the line of march and traveled, sometimes on foot and sometimes on horseback, sleep ing at night under the open sky.
Boone's journey westward was sad and eventful.
DANIEL BOONE 13 z
While on the march he sent his son James with a few men to one of the frontier settlements to obtain some supplies. The trip was not a long one. The men started early in the morning and expected to return before dark. They reached the settlement, obtained their supplies, and were on their way back when they lost the trail. Being compelled to go into camp for the night they built a fire, cooked their supper, and then rolled up in their blankets around the camp fire. The smoke from their camp attracted the attention of some skulking Shawnees who hung around until day break and then made a surprise attack. Young James Boone, a fine, big, muscular lad of seventeen, fell under the red man's tomahawk, and so did all the others of the party with the exception of two — a negro and a white man. The two survivors found their way to Boone 's camp, which was only three miles away, and told their story to the sorrowing father and mother.
That was a gloomy morning for Daniel and Rebecca Boone. The father hurried to the scene of the mas sacre and lovingly carried the body of his son back to the camp. The body of the young James was con signed to mother earth and simple prayers went up from the lips of these forest children. The dense leaves overhead, fanned by the chilly October wind, sang a requiem over the newly made grave, and the travelers moved on.
James Boone was the eldest son and at the age of seven had begun to go on hunting trips with his father.
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In this way a beautiful comradeship sprang up be tween father and son. "In the cold nights^of the open camp, as Daniel and James lay under the frosty stars, the father kept the boy warm snuggled to his breast under the broad flap of his hunting shirt. Sometimes the two were away from home for months together, and Daniel declared little James to be as good a woods man as his father."
A very serious debate took place in the quiet forest as soon as the burial was over. The majority of the party wanted to abandon the expedition. Boone's voice was on the other side. He wished to press on to Ken tucky, the land of his dreams. However, the Indians became still more threatening and most of the party turned back.
Boone, however, still hung around the locality. He found it very difficult to support his family in an abandoned hut which he found on the Clinch River. Finally in the following summer (1774) he pushed back into the interior of Kentucky and founded Boonesboro on the Kentucky River.
On this trip he made a discovery. James Harrod had led a small company of men from Pennsylvania into Kentucky and had founded Harrodsburg only a short time before. If Boone's former expedition had not been interrupted by the death of his son, to him, and not to James Harrod, would have fallen the honor of having founded the first permanent white settle ment in what is now the State of Kentucky.
DANIEL BOONE
133
RICHARD HENDERSON
Harrod and Boone had made their settlements in Kentucky in an irregular sort of way. They had only a very shadowy claim to the land and the Indians re sisted them at every step. It now occurred to Richard Henderson of North Carolina to form a company and
DANIEL BOONE MEETS THE INDIANS They are discussing the famous treaty made at Sycamore Shoals.
obtain lands from the Indians by treaty. He accord ingly organized a party known as the Transylvania Company and met the Indians at a place called Syca more Shoals to make the bargain. This was in the spring of 1775. Twelve hundred red men met the whites in a very remarkable assembly at this place. Henderson was a masterful and attractive man, and as he spoke to the Indian? they soon fell under his
I34 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
sway. There was one exception to this rule. Old Chief Dragging Canoe pleaded eloquently with his people not to sell their lands to the pale faces, but to no avail. The sale was made and it included almost all of the present state of Kentucky and a part of Tennessee.
THE WILDERNESS ROAD
Henderson was now ready for action. He had known Daniel Boone back in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina and now employed him to cut a way for his wagons into the heart of Kentucky. The result was the famous " Wilderness Road."
This road is one of the most noted in American his tory and was an important route into the western country. Boone blazed the trees to indicate the trail, and his followers, with axe in hand, chopped their narrow passage through trees, vines, and dense under growth, a distance of about two hundred miles. It was slow and difficult work. In one instance they had to cut their way through "a region of dead brushwood, through which not even the buffalo had penetrated."
At times the road making was a fairly easy task. Boone and his men made use of the buffalo trails as much as they could. These trails were beaten down by the heavy animals as they went to and from the big "Salt Licks" of Kentucky. The buffalo was very fond of salt and sometimes went long distances to get it. On one occasion the attention of the road makers was
DANIEL BOONE 135
attracted by a low, rumbling sound not very far away. Going to the top of a little hill they looked down and saw a herd of hundreds of buffaloes lumbering along the trail with little calves frolicking by their sides.
Life in Boonesboro was primitive and simple. Boone was the very center of it. He directed everything. As soon as the fort was finished Boone's wife and chil dren came out and his home life was again established.
Boone also had a part in drafting the simple laws which were made for the government of the colony. One of these laws, strangely enough, was for the pro tection of wild game, and another "to prevent profane swearing and Sabbath breaking." Most of these Ken tucky pioneers were Scotch-Irish and were very strict in matters relating to religion and the Sabbath. They were also very thrifty and close in the care of their property. It was said of them that "they kept the Sabbath and everything else that they could lay their hands on."
While life in Boonesboro was simple it was also dangerous. Boone used to say, with some pride, that his wife and daughters were the first white women to look upon the Kentucky River. This honor was not without its dangers. One warm summer day Jemima Boone and Elizabeth and Fanny Galloway, the young daughters of one of Boone's most intimate friends, went out in a canoe on the Kentucky River. The care-free girls, from fourteen to sixteen years of age, paddled along for a time and then let their canoe drift into the bushes of the opposite shore. The Indians had been
136 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
quiet for a long time, and the girls did not suspect any danger. In this they were mistaken. Five Shawnee braves were hiding near the shore waiting for the canoe to approach them. As the girls came near, one of the Indians waded out quietly into the water and grabbed the canoe and pulled it ashore almost before the girls knew what was going on. The younger girls were para lyzed by fright, but the eldest, Elizabeth Galloway, swung her canoe paddle heavily upon the head of the Indian brave and made a deep wound in his scalp. She was quickly disarmed, however, and the five Indians set out to take the girls to the Shawnee towns on the north side of the Ohio River.
The girls, true to their backwoods instinct, began to think of means of escape. They knew that the men of Boonesboro would set out in search of them as soon as they were missed. So, as they went along the trail, they were careful to make deep tracks in the path where the ground was wet and soft. Again, they stealthily broke little twigs on the bushes by the wayside and left them hanging down. As often as they could, with out being seen by their captors, they tore fragments from their clothing and hung them like little flags on the thorn bushes as they passed. In this way they blazed a trail for their rescuers.
It was nearly sundown before the girls were missed. A hasty search revealed the abandoned canoe and the marks of the scrambling on the river bank. Then the chase began. Two parties set out in pursuit of the
DANIEL BOONE 137
redskins. At the head of one was Richard Galloway, father of two of the missing girls. Daniel Boone led the other. In Boone's party were Samuel Henderson, Flanders Galloway, and John Holder, three young men to whom the girls were engaged to be married. This party set out on foot and with all the eagerness of a well trained pack of hounds.
They had gone only a few miles when darkness came on. They turned in for the night but were up and off again at the first peep of dawn. Guided by the marks and signs which the girls had left along the way, they plunged on through the forest and made thirty miles on the second day. The next morning they were up again, bright and early, and off on the trail. After going a short distance they halted as they saw a line of blue smoke rising over the trees. Here their moc- casined feet trod softly as they closed in upon the camp. Boone could see the Indians about the fire cooking their breakfast while the three girls, tired and forlorn, were resting upon the ground a short distance away. The men closed in stealthily. Boone gave the signal and his men made a rush upon the Indians. The braves, taken by surprise, had no time to tomahawk their captives, but dived headlong into the cane brake leaving most of their weapons behind them. Boone and his men fired a volley after them and it is likely that some of the shots took effect. But the men were so delighted that they embraced the girls instead of pursuing the Indians.
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" THE DARK AND BLOODY GROUND " The fight for Kentucky went on. For years there was a running battle between the white man and the Indian for the possession of this beautiful country. The land
finally became known as "The Dark and Bloody Ground." An Indian chief had said to Boone when the treaty of Sycamore Shoals was signed: "Brother, it is a fine land we sell to you, but I fear you will find it hard to hold." It turned out to be very hard to hold and many lives were lost in the attempt.
In one instance Boone fell in the fight with his leg broken by a bullet, and a bloodthirsty brave was upon him with a whoop, with his axe raised to give the bold backwoodsman the finishing stroke. Simon Kenton, a young blond giant from Virginia, was too quick for him. His rifle cracked and the tomahawk fell from the harm less hand. "Well, Simon," said Boone after the fight was over, "you behaved like a man." Backwoodsmen were often sparing of their words.
SIMON KENTON, "THE BLOND GIANT '; or KENTUCKY,
who in his youth rescued Boone, became one of the foremost pioneers of the West.
DANIEL BOONE I3g
Daniel got into still more trouble a little later on. A supply of salt was necessary to preserve the meat supply during the summer months. It was not easy to import salt so the Boonesboro people got a few large kettles and obtained their supply by boiling the water of the salt springs.
Boonesboro was located near the central part of Kentucky and in the northern part, on the Licking River, was a famous Buffalo "lick," known as "Lower Blue Lick." To this Boone and a small party of men made a pilgrimage for salt boiling in. midwinter of 1778. They planned on bringing back with them a year's supply. There was no great difficulty in getting to the Lick, as the buffaloes had made a well-beaten path.
Boone and his men reached the Lick in due time and settled down to their task. The boiling process con tinued for several weeks, and during that time the men sent back large quantities of salt to the Fort. Their task was nearly finished and they were almost ready to return to- Boonesboro when their leader was again taken captive. He was alone and about ten miles from the Blue Lick Camp, leading his packhorse, when a band of Shawnees, who had been watching him, took him by surprise in the midst of a blinding snowstorm. Boone released his horse and ran, dodging and darting through the trees. The Indians proved fleet of foot and soon Boone was captured and bound.
The Indians took Boone to their encampment some miles away and then, to his dismay, he learned that
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they were on their way to attack Boonesboro. There were about one hundred and twenty braves in the band and Black Fish was in command.
The Indians were delighted at the capture of such a prize. All of them had heard of the great backwoods man, and some of them recognized him as the man who had escaped from their clutches several years before. They made merry with him and told him that he would not escape again.
The Indians then told Boone that he would have to conduct them to the Blue Lick salt camp, which they intended to capture. Boone did some quick think ing. He concluded that it would be better to have them attack the men at the salt camp than the women and children at Boonesboro. So he led the way and later persuaded his men to surrender with out a fight.
This capture, as Boone had expected, turned the minds of the Indians away from Boonesboro and the entire party headed for the Shawnee villages on the little Miami River in the southwestern part of Ohio. The trip was difficult. The weather was cold and the snow deep, and not much game ventured out. The men became very hungry and began to eat their dogs and horses. For several days they had nothing to eat but slippery elm bark. Much worn out, they finally
BOONE'S POWDER HORN
Note the carv ing on the horn.
DANIEL BOONE 141
reached the camp, near the present site of Xenia, Ohio.
From this place they took their prisoners to General Hamilton, the British Governor at Detroit. It should be remembered, of course, that all of this took place in the midst of the American Revolution. Hamilton tried to buy Boone from the Indians but they would not listen to it. Black Fish, the great chief, had de termined to take Boone back to Ohio and adopt him as his own son. He did this, and Daniel Boone became "Big Turtle" of the Shawnees.
The ordeal of adoption into an Indian tribe was by no means pleasant. The hair of the head was pulled out by the roots, with the exception of a small tuft on the top, which was decorated with ribbons in true barbaric fashion. The candidate was then plunged into the river and bathed and his face was painted in the latest Indian style. Boone was a skillful actor and gained the good will of the Indians by pretending that he appreciated the great honor which was being con ferred upon him.
BOONE'S THRILLING ESCAPE
Boone, in reality, was thinking more of escape than of honor. His new father gave him some privileges. He was allowed to go out on hunting expeditions and, when he did, he was in the habit of hiding away some of his bullets and powder to be used when he made his break for liberty.
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:ak.
One day, when Boone had been in captivity for several months, he was sent with a company of Indians to boil salt at a spring near the Scioto River. When he returned a short time later he was surprised to find Indian braves, with their war paint on, crowding into the Shawnee village from all directions. He had learned a little something of the Shawnee language and soon found that a powerful expedition was being planned to destroy Boonesboro and other Ken tucky settlements. Boone felt that he must act instantly to save his colony, as the march was to start within a week.
There was no time to be lost. Boone must get back home to wrarn his people at any cost. He made his preparations hastily and threw the Indians off their guard. Early one morning, about the middle of June, so the story runs, while Black Fish was watching a flock of wild turkeys, his son, Big Turtle, made a dash for the Ohio River. This was the beginning of one of the most thrilling races for life in human history. Boone DANIEL BOONE'S wante(i to save the lives of his friends
(jUN
The notches show and Datives and to do this "he raced the number of In- through the forests at top speed." He waded in the beds of streams and used
DANIEL BOONR I43
all the arts of the backwoodsman to throw his pur suers off the trail.
He reached the Ohio and found the river out of its banks. How could he get across? Luckily he found an old canoe which had been abandoned in the bushes. After making some hasty repairs he pushed the canoe into the raging torrent and was soon on the Kentucky side.
He again plunged into the thicket and made his way towards Boonesboro as fast as his legs could carry him. He had had almost nothing to eat since his flight began, as he did not wish to attract the attention of the Indi ans by firing his gun. He slept a little at night in hollow logs or concealed in the dense underbrush. His legs and arms were cut and torn, and his feet were pounded and battered. He was faint with hunger and fatigue. Finally on the third day of his trip he shot a buffalo near the salt camp where he had been captured and treated himself to a good meal — the first one since his dash began.
Finally, "he staggered into Boonesboro, where he was welcomed as one risen from the dead." He had traveled one hundred and sixty miles in four days and had eaten only one meal. His wife had long since " given him up for dead," and had gone back to her old home in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina. She and her family traveled back tc her father's house over the Wilderness Road which her husband had blazed.
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THE ATTACK QN THE FORT
Boone warned his people and they prepared for the attack. Black Fish and his men were rather slow about starting and September came before the savages ap peared outside Boonesboro. They came with about four hundred men under the command of Black Fish, Black Bird, Black Hoof, and other notable warriors. Boone had about seventy-five men for the defense of the Fort.
Black Fish came with fine words and wanted to make a treaty and take the fort without a fight. Boone had several parleys with the chief in order to gain time to get ready for the defense. In the meantime the cattle were being brought into the Fort, the rifles made ready, and a supply of water stored up from a spring outside the stockade. When the talking was over, Boone told the Indians plainly that he "had determined to defend the Fort while a man was living."
The siege began but the Indians were not able to make much headway. They were not good at that kind of warfare. Finally they resorted to deceit and strategy. They tried to tunnel under the Fort from the bank of the river. But the tunnel caved in and the Indians gave up the job in disgust.
For nine days and nights the siege lasted and the Indians used a tremendous amount of ammunition. The Kentucky men picked up one hundred and twenty- five pounds of lead about the stockade, while not less
DANIEL BOONE 145
than one hundred pounds more were imbedded in the logs of the blockhouse. The Indians made no further attempt to capture the Fort commanded by Daniel Boone.
Kentucky, "The Dark and Bloody Ground," was thus won for the white men by Boone and his daring companions.
IN WEST VIRGINIA AND MISSOURI
After doing his work in Kentucky, Boone, deeply in debt, took his wife and younger children and plunged once more into the backwoods. This time we find him with his rifle and traps in the forests of West Virginia. Here he took up his abode on the bank of the great Kanawha River. This was in 1778.
The Boone family remained in West Vir ginia for about eleven years. Then Boone once more, at the age of sixty-five, turned his face towards the setting sun. In other words he packed up his family and all his belongings (not very many) and crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri. When asked why he moved on again in his old age his
DANIEL BOONE'S CABIN
This was the last of Boone's cabins in the Wilderness. It was in Missouri.
146 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
simple reply was: "Too crowded; I want more elbow
room."
In the meantime Boone had endeared himself very greatly to his neighbors. When he left West Virginia his friends gathered on the bank of the Kanawha and, with tears in their eyes, watched his little boat set off down stream for the Ohio.
These people had known him for years as their store keeper, friend, neighbor, and protector. They had also, on one occasion, elected him to represent them in the Legislature of Virginia. Faithful to his duty, he made his way through the forests and in due time appeared in the Legislative Hall with his rifle on his shoulder and his faithful dog at his heels. It does not appear that he was very much interested in the debates at Richmond as we find him homeward bound in a very short time.
As Boone 's boat went down the Ohio the old friends and neighbors in Kentucky stood on the bank arid shouted and waved their greetings to the old pathfinder. Finally he passed over the " Father of Waters" and built his last cabin for Rebecca Boone and himself not far from the present site of St. Louis.
His fame had preceeded him to Missouri and he soon became a leader in the frontier settlements. He was a sort of Justice of the Peace, and decided cases on the basis of right. He didn't know or care much about law or evidence. When he found a man guilty of an
DANIEL BOONE 147
offense he sometimes sentenced him- to be flogged with a hickory rod. When both parties to the case seemed to be at fault he ordered both to be switched. He also gave instructions that the rod should be "well laid on."
Boone worked hard and prospered and was able to pay off his debts, some of which he had made in Ken tucky thirty years before. He was never able to save much, however, and at one time in Missouri his entire available capital was only fifty cents.
Fourteen years after reaching Missouri Rebecca Boone died. Her life, on the whole, had been one of love and happiness in spite of its pioneer hardships. Daniel Boone was now very lonely and went to live with one of his sons. This son, however, lived in a stone house which was quite palatial for Missouri in those days. Boone preferred the log cabin with "the silent challenge of the forest." So he built a small hut in his son's yard and bunked there and broiled his venison steak on the end of a ramrod.
He was comfortable in this place but soon grew rest less again, and at the age of eighty-five began to have visions of another western trip — this time to California. His children, however, and possibly the grave on the river bank near by, persuaded him to remain in Missouri.
He did not have long to tarry. He began to think of the "great adventure" upon which he must soon em bark. He had no fears, however, of the "dark trail" into the unknown.
His end came in the mellow days of September —
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just when the chill in the air would have called him out for a hunting trip. " Unburdened by the pangs of disease he went out serenely, by the gentle marches of sleep, into the new country."
He was buried by the side of his beloved Rebecca, not far from the Missouri River. There the two pio neers rested in the forest calm for twenty-five years. At the end of that time their ashes were carried back to Kentucky and buried at Frankfort, the capital of what was once the "The Dark and Bloody Ground." A beautiful monument marks the spot. Their real monu ment, however, is this busy, thriving, western country which these two brave souls had the courage and the hardihood to' penetrate and to throw open to civilization.
NOTE — The reader will find much additional information in regard to the opening of the West in Bruce's " Daniel Boone and the Wilder ness Road/' and in Constance Lindsay Skinner's " Pioneers of the Old Southwest." Many of the short quotations in this chapter are taken from these delightful books.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. What was the "Westward Movement"?
2. In what different states did Daniel Boone live?
3. What was the first permanent white settlement in Kentucky?
Where located?
4. How did Boone make the " Wilderness Road "?
5. What was a " Salt Lick "?
6. Why was Kentucky called " The Dark and Bloody Ground "?
7. Tell one adventure that Boone had with the Indians.
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149
8. What happened at Sycamore Shoals?
9. What did Boone do in Boonesboro ?
10. What service did such men as Daniel Boone and Simon
Kenton render to this Country?
11. Locate: Cumberland Gap, Wilderness Road, Kanawha River,
Clinch River.
PRONOUNCING LIST
Reading red 'ing Scioto si-o'to
Allegheny al-le-ga'ny requiem re'kwi-em
Duquesne du-kan' Jemima jem-l'ma
Xenia ze'm-a
CHAPTER IX
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, THE SAVIOR OF THE NORTHWEST
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK and Daniel Boone were alike in some ways but very unlike in others. Both were hardy frontiersmen. Both were daring fighters of
dauntless courage. Both were men of iron will. Both were born on the Atlantic sea board. And, most important of all, the work of each was done in the great western country. The West owes a great debt to each of these men for his fine services. The service rendered, however, was not the same in the two cases.
Boone was a backwoods man and trapper who led the way to an unexplored country, while Clark was a mili tary commander who conquered a large tract of terri tory. Boone led men in small numbers while Clark commanded an army. Boone was a hunter and Clark
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GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
This picture represents the "Savior of the Northwest" at the height of his military career.
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 151
a soldier. Boone opened up the Kentucky country to settlement and led the way, while Clark conquered the territory between the Ohio and the Mississippi and added it to the domain of the United States.
George Rogers Clark was born in Virginia in 1752. His birthplace is only a mile and a half from Monti- cello, the old home of Thomas Jefferson. The Clark family is of English origin. The founder of the family in America came to this country almost as early as the Pilgrim Fathers did. Soon after coming here, he mar ried a Scotch girl who was known as "the red-haired beauty." This fact may account for the large amount of red hair in the Clark family. The mother of George Rogers Clark was Ann Rogers, a member of an old and prominent Virginia family.
George Rogers Clark was a member of a family of ten — six boys and four girls. When the Revolutionary War broke out several of the boys enlisted in the Ameri can army for regular service, while George Rogers made a plan of his own for striking the British in the North west. One of his brothers joined him in this under taking.
The young Clark didn't spend very much time in school. He was a man of action rather than a student. He was able to write a fairly good letter but his spell ing and grammar were rather poor. He was good in mathematics and, like Washington, was quite skillful as a surveyor.
He was soon attracted by the loud call of the North-
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west and, when he was nineteen, he went across the mountains to explore and to survey. He liked the country and, apparently, was earning considerable money. In a letter to his father he said: "I get a good deal of cash by surveying on this river."
Clark, however, was more of a soldier than a sur veyor, and soon after this time (1775), when the Shaw- nee Indians were making war upon Boone and his followers, we find him in Kentucky fighting for the settlers. Clark's old friend, Simon Kenton, who saved Boone from the Indian's tomahawk, was engaged in this same business.
Clark thought the land in Kentucky the best in the world and wanted his father and mother to move out. The Indians were on the war path, however, and his parents thought it best to remain in Virginia a while longer.
They did finally leave the old Virginia home and follow their sons into the western country. They took up their abode at Mulberry Hill, near Louisville. Here they built a rude log cabin with a chimney on the out side. This cabin was still standing a short time ago, but was in a tumble-down condition. It was, apparently, the scene of many Indian attacks and "the logs are full of holes as a result."
At this time Clark was described as a man of fine appearance and pleasing manners. He was bold and energetic and a natural leader of men. So about the time the Declaration of Independence was signed he
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 153
began to think less about getting land and more about the safety and welfare of the Kentucky settlers.
Kentucky, at this time, was under the control of Virginia and Clark went back to that State on one occasion to look after the interests of the western settlers. It is interesting to note that the journey was made over the Wilderness Road which Daniel Boone had cut through with so much toil and suffering. The trip was a hard one. The season was wet and Clark had his troubles. He lost his horse and walked until his feet were " blistered and sore." No wonder; he had traveled about seven hundred miles!
Clark was delayed so long by the difficulties of the trip that the Virginia Legislature which he wished to consult about Kentucky was not in session when he arrived. He did the next best thing, possibly a better thing — he saw Governor Patrick Henry. Henry was sick at home at the time, but he met Clark and listened to what he had to say about the Kentucky settlers and their dangers.
The result of this meeting was that Clark got five hundred pounds of powder to take back with him for the defense of the settlers against the Indians. Five hundred pounds of powder would not have amounted to much in the great World War, but it was a tremen dous help in the frontier wars of Kentucky. Clark was delighted to get it.
The Virginia officials delivered the powder at Pitts burgh and Clark set out to take it to Kentucky by the
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river route. This was a dangerous undertaking, as hostile Indians were constantly prowling along both banks of the river. And what a nice prize five hundred pounds of dry powder would be for the Indians to cap ture! However, in spite of the danger, Clark got a
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE INDIANS
Clark had many meetings with the red men and usually succeeded in winning them over and making them his friends.
few good boatmen to help him and started down stream.
The powder was conveyed down the river without serious mishap, although the Indians fired into the party several times from the bushes along the banks.
After leaving the river, Clark and his men were not able to carry the powder into the interior without
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 155
assistance. So they divided up their precious burden and hid it away in several different places. At a later time parties of men came out from the settlements and took the powder to Harrodsburg, where it was received with much rejoicing.
Clark now felt strong enough to strike out, not only against the Indians, but also against the British. The Revolution was on, of course, and British troops were stationed at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and other places in this western country. Clark felt that the British were inciting the Indians to make raids on the white settlements. He planned to put a stop to all this by striking boldly at the British posts.
In the meantime, Clark and his men had to " sleep with their eyes open." A little incident which occurred at Harrodsburg will show how necessary it was for them to be always on guard. In the late summer some of the men were working in the field a short distance from the fort. Near them was a patch of high weed§. Not far off a herd of cattle began to grow restive. They looked around them instead of grazing. Clark im mediately suspected what the trouble was. With a small party of men he stole quietly out of the Fort and, going in a roundabout way through the woods, came up in the rear of the patch of weeds. Four of the Indians hiding in the tall weeds were killed and the others were chased away to a big Indian camp which Clark and his men destroyed.
In the meantime, Clark was getting ready to march
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against the British posts. He had thought some of going back to Virginia and joining the American army in the East, but came to the conclusion that he could- do more good by a little revolution of his own in the western country. It was also true that the people of Kentucky had become very much attached to him and looked upon him as their strong defender.
In order to get help for his expedition against the British posts he made a trip back to Virginia, but before he started he promised his friends in Kentucky that he would return to them.
When Clark reached Virginia he went to the Gover nor, Patrick Henry, and laid before him his plans for attacking the British. Henry was favorable to the plan, and called in Thomas Jefferson and two other men to talk the matter over with Clark and himself. The result was that Clark's plan was approved and he was given sixty thousand dollars to carry it out.
In the meantime, the whole matter was to be kept a profound secret. Governor Henry prepared two sets of instructions — one to be made public, and the other, the real set, for Clark's guidance. It need not be said that the public instructions said nothing whatever about attacking the British posts. Clark, of course, was very much pleased to have his plan aided and approved by Governor Henry and others in Virginia.
In January of 1778 Clark left Virginia and began to recruit men for his great undertaking. He got to gether a few men for the enterprise and started joyfully
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 157
down the river. They pitched camp on Corn Island in the Ohio River, near the present site of Louisville. Corn Island was a rather high spot of land. Clark said he noticed that it was almost always above water. Perhaps it should be noted at this point that Clark had not yet told his men what his secret instructions were, and they had no idea that they were going to attack the British.
A few families had joined Clark's expedition for the purpose of establishing a settlement. These families set about to cut down the timber and clear up a part of the cane brake for their log cabins and crops. This Island has now completely disappeared. The timber was cut off and the rains and the current of the river gradually washed it away.
Clark fortified one end of the Island, built store houses and huts and proceeded to recruit men for his expedition. He succeeded in getting only one company of Kentucky men. On account of the Indian mutter- ings it was not thought best to allow more men to go against the British.
EXPEDITION AGAINST KASKASKIA
Finally, when all was in readiness, Clark told his men that they were going to march against the British at Kaskaskia. A few of the officers had undoubtedly known this before. Most of the men received the news with pleasure, but a part of one company did not. They left the Island stealthily before daybreak and
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made tracks for their forest homes. Clark sent mounted men after them, but they scattered through the woods and all escaped capture with the exception of a very few who were brought back to the camp in a most dis tressed condition.
Clark made up his mind that he ought to have about five hundred men in order to make his expedition a success. He could muster only one hundred and seventy-five, however, but this did not seem to dis courage him. He was determined to push on. "I knew my case was desperate," he said, "but the more I reflected on my weakness, the more I was pleased with the enterprise."
At the proper time Clark let out the rest of his secret by saying, "We start at dawn tomorrow morn ing." There was great excitement on the Island and sad farewells were tearfully said. The timid men had, for the most part, backed out and those remaining were ready for "glory or the grave."
It was a bright morning on the 24th of June, 1778, when Clark's men took to their boats. They must have been somewhat nervous and perhaps were made more so when the heavens were darkened by an almost total eclipse of the sun. The little company went up the river about a mile in order to get into the main channel, and then Clark tells us, "We shot the falls at the very moment of the sun being in a great eclipse."
They pressed on with all speed, running day and night for four days, with different sets of boatmen
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Finally the company landed, hid the boats, and went the rest of the way to Kaskaskia overland. The trip was a very difficult one as the men had no horses or wagons or other means of conveying the bag gage, aside from their own sturdy backs. In this way they pushed on for six days through brush and over
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK CAPTURES KASKASKIA
He appeared unexpectedly at a ball and quietly told the dancers what his errand was.
swamps until, on the evening of August 4, they came in sight of Kaskaskia.
About midnight Clark and his men entered the town without being seen by the sentinels. Inside the Fort a merry dance was going on. Clark is said to have walked in and told the dancers to keep right on but to remember that they were now dancing under the con trol of Virginia and not of Great Britain.
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Simon Kenton, the powerful giant from Virginia, went to the bed where the Governor was peacefully sleeping and quietly placed him under arrest. And so Kaskaskia, the famous British post on the Mississippi, fell into the hands of the Americans without striking a blow.
It might be well to remember that Kaskaskia was originally a French post and that now most of its inhabitants were French. Father Gibault, the wise and kindly Roman Catholic Priest, was the most in fluential man at the post aside from the military officers. Clark gained the confidence of the good Father and from this time on he was "a tower of strength to the Americans."
The British in command of the place had told the inhabitants of the post that in case of their capture by the Americans they should expect no mercy. Now that they were in the hands of Clark and his men the people were greatly terrified. They were expecting the worst.
On this occasion Clark showed himself to be a really great man. He soon found that the people of the post did not know anything about the real causes of the American Revolution. The British had kept them in ignorance or had misled them. Clark now explained the whole matter to the people in a plain and simple way. He said he had no desire to punish them in any way, and that if they would show their loyalty to the American cause, they would have the protection of the
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
161
American Government and all the privileges of Ameri can citizens. "No sooner had they heard this," said Clark, "than they fell into transports of joy that really surprised me."
Clark was, of course, greatly pleased and told them that he would give them the oath of fidelity in a few days, after they had had time to think it over. They
FORT CLARK
thought it over and gladly accepted the American terms.
As a matter of fact, the people of these French posts had no great love for their British masters, and were glad enough to support the American cause. Kaskaskia then, with its two hundred and fifty families, became Fort Clark.
Clark was still full of fight and energy. On the
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evening of the day upon which Kaskaskia surrendered he sent one of his officers with thirty mounted men to capture three other posts lying to the north and west. These men, almost worn out by fatigue and lack of sleep, surprised the posts and captured them very easily. The most important of these was Cahokia which, with its one hundred families, stood near the present site of St. Louis.
In the meantime, Father Gibault was a great help in bringing the Americans and the French together. He told his people of the treaty which France had made with the colonies and this helped to win them over. In their backwoods homes the news of the treaty had not reached them before.
Father Gibault did another good service. Clark's eyes were upon Vincennes as the most important of all the British posts. Father Gibault thought that by explaining matters to the French people at that post he could persuade them to come over to the American side. With a small party of men he set out and soon entered the town on the Wabash. He was well known and well liked at Vincennes, and soon the Indians were sur prised at seeing the American flag floating over the Fort. They could not understand it.
In the meantime, the British General Hamilton at Detroit had heard of the loss of Vincennes. He wanted to regain it and set out with five or six hundred men for that purpose. The Americans, who had only three or four men for the defense of the fort, surrendered
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"with the honors of war" in December of 1778. The British had marched six hundred miles in seventy-two days in order to reach the post.
The news of the capture of Vincennes reached Clark sometime in the following month, and he made plans at once for its recovery. He had only two hundred men - one hundred Americans and one hundred Frenchmen. He knew that Hamilton would capture him in the spring if he did not capture Hamilton first. There was no time for delay. He planned a march across the entire state of Illinois through mud, ice, snow, and sleet to the post on the Wabash. Father Gibault, as usual, was "the power behind the throne."
THE MARCH AGAINST VINCENNES
Finally on February 5, 1779, General Clark with his brave band, after receiving the blessing of Father Gi bault, started against Vincennes. It was a great day at Kaskaskia. Everybody turned out to see the soldiers of! on their march of two hundred and thirty miles.
A few days later they came to a river which they crossed on trees felled for that purpose. The river was too deep for fording. After getting across they encamped on the bank without tents in the winter rain.
The great level plain was a sea of water and in some instances the horses were obliged to swim. Clark did all sorts of things to keep up the spirits of his men, and often had them singing marching songs. When they found a small piece of high land they thought they were
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extremely lucky and pitched camp for the night. One morning on starting out they had to break ice one-half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness in order to wade through.
While Clark encouraged his men in every possible way he was a stern commander. One time, when his men were in the water, he ordered one of his Majors, with twenty-five men, to bring up the rear and shoot down any man who tried to turn back. In one instance Clark tells us that the water was up to his shoulder and that the men were compelled to steady themselves by taking hold of the bushes and trees along the line of march.
One day, when they were chilled through, half starved and nearly exhausted, an Indian canoe loaded with buf falo meat and other provisions came into sight. The canoe was promptly seized and hot buffalo broth refreshed the worn-out soldiers.
When Clark was about two miles from Vincennes he wrote a letter to the people of the village and told them "to keep out of the streets," as there was likely to be trouble. He said: "•! am determined to take your fort this night and I am now only two miles away." He ad vised all "friends to the king" to join "the hair-buyer General." He always called General Hamilton "the hair-buyer" because it was said that he bought the scalps of white men brought in by the Indians.
Clark watched his messenger go into the town with this letter, and then, with his field glasses a few moments later, he saw people rushing about the streets in great
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excitement. He said in his letter that he was not willing to surprise the town, but he had, apparently, given them a tremendous surprise.
Clark wrote in his diary: "A little before sunrise we moved, and displayed ourselves in full view of the town, crowds gazing at us. " He expected to see the fort bristle up, but it did not do so. There were no signs of life.
Finally, Clark opened fire on the fort. Even then the British did not suspect what was going on. They thought that a party of drunken Indians was saluting them. But when one of their men was shot down, the drums began to roar and the garrison was aroused to action. Clark later found that his letter had been posted up in the town but that no one had told the soldiers in the fort a single word about it.
Clark kept up the firing from about eight o'clock in the evening until nine o'clock the following morning. During this time his men were not more than thirty yards from the walls of the fort, but they lay in pro tected places. They were also such experts with the rifle that they picked off any man who appeared in an open ing of the fort to fire a gun.
Clark then sent Hamilton a letter demanding his sur render and saying that if he were compelled to take the fort by storm he might expect "such treatment as is justly due to a murderer."
To this Hamilton quietly replied that he was "not dis posed to be awed" into taking any step which was \iot worthy of a British officer.
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The firing then began again and finally Hamilton pro posed that he and Clark have a meeting and talk the matter over. This was done, and as a result Hamilton surrendered the fort and his men as prisoners of war.
Clark had one man wounded and none killed. The sur render was arranged on the afternoon of February 24, 1779. On the morning of the 25th, at ten o'clock, the fort was turned over to General Clark.
Clark had now wrested the whole of the territory be tween the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers from the British and made it a part of the United States of Amer ica. "He followed the trail of the buffalo, and civi lization followed him."
The Legislature of Virginia passed a resolution thank ing Clark for his services in conquering this Northwest Territory and the people of the United States have been thanking him ever since.
Clark remained in the active service of his country until the close of the Revolution. He was then relieved of his command by Virginia in 1783. He had given the best years of his life and money out of his own pocket to his country's cause. In return for this he received almost nothing.
The Virginia Legislature did grant to him and his men 150,000 acres of land in the southern part of Indi ana, and of this area Clark obtained about 8,000 acres. He didn't get much out of his land, however, and for several years before his death he lived in disappointment
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
167
and poverty. He felt that this country had been ungrateful.
The iron frame which had withstood the hardships of the Illinois swamps in mid winter now broke down under the weight of his disappoint ment. He lived in retire ment, took no interest in public affairs, and tried to drown his sorrows with liquor.
He never married and lived much of his time alone in an out-of-the-way cabin. Here he had a stroke of paralysis and fell over against the fire place in such a way as to burn one of his legs severely. The leg was afterwards ampu tated. Anaesthetics, of course, were not known in those days and General Clark ordered that drums and fifes be played while the operation was being performed. In the meantime, he bore up bravely, beating time with his fingers to the drums and fifes. He died at the home of his sister, near LouisviUe, Kentucky, in 1818, at the age of sixty-five.
STATUE OF GEORGE ROGERS
CLARK, IN INDIANAPOLIS Notice the inscription at the base.
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There is a fine monument to the memory of George Rogers Clark at Monument Place, Indianapolis, bearing this inscription:
GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
CONQUEROR OF THE COUNTRY
NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO
FROM THE BRITISH
1778-9
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. What was the great service of George Rogers Clark?
2. What did Patrick Henry have to do with the work of Clark?
3. In what way did Father Gibault help General Clark?
4. Trace on the map the line of march from Kaskaskia to
Vincennes.
5. Why was the capture of Vincennes important?
6. Why did Clark think that his country was ungrateful?
7. Read Thompson's " Alice of Old Vincennes."
PRONOUNCING LIST
Gibault zhe-bo' Cahokia ka-ho'ki-a anaesthetics an-es-thet'iks
CHAPTER X
"LONG LIVE GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES"
THE INAUGURATION
WE HAVE already noticed that a body of leading men met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to make a new Constitution for the United States. These men met in Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independ ence had been signed a few years before. Washington was the president of this Convention and Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and other great American leaders were members of it.
These men worked hard during the hot months of the summer and finally the Constitution was finished on September 17, 1787. This date is now celebrated in all parts of the United States as " Constitution Day."
After the Constitution was completed it had to be sent around to the various states for their approval. We now think a great deal of our Constitution but at that time many good men were strongly opposed to it. Pat rick Henry, for example, tried very hard to have it thrown overboard. But Washington, Franklin, Hamil ton, Madison, and others were in favor of it and the thirteen states finally agreed to accept it.
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It was arranged that the new form of government should go into effect on March 4, 1789. This was a very im portant event. On the afternoon of March 3 the guns in New York harbor fired a farewell salute to the old form of government. On the following morning the same guns fired another salute to the new government and church bells all over the city rang out in honor of the great event.
Not much of anything else, however, was done on March 4. Things moved slowly in those days. Roads were very poor, and men could not travel over them very rapidly. Many of the rivers had no bridges and crossing on the ice or on rafts or by fording was both dangerous and slow. The mail crept along at a snail's pace. So, the members of Congress were tardy in arriv ing in New York, the seat of the government.
Finally the members arrived, or a sufficient number of them, and the Electoral votes were counted. It was found that Washington had been elected President and John Adams, a cousin of Samuel, Vice-president. Wash ington received every vote that was cast.
A messenger was sent at once to Mount Vernon to notify him of his election. Washington knew that he was going to be elected and had everything about ready to depart for New York.
About ten o'clock on the morning of April 16 Wash ington mounted his horse and set out once more to serve his country. He was not lonesome on this long journey. Crowds of people stood by the road-side all the way from
LONG LIVE GEORGE WASHINGTON
GEORGE WASHINGTON First in War, First in Peace, First in the hearts of his countrymen.'
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Mount Vernon to New York and greeted him as he passed. He was, no doubt, very much pleased; but he dreaded the duties of his office as no one had been Presi dent before.
One sunny afternoon he arrived at the bank of the
Delaware River where he had crossed a few years before in order to strike the British at Trenton. The scene was changed now. It was a beautiful spring day. There was no wind, no sleet, no blocks of floating ice, no inky darkness. Instead of all this, a great arch had been placed on the bridge at Trenton with the inscription: "The defen der of the mothers will be the protector of the daughters." As he passed underneath the arch a number of young girls, dressed in white and with wreathes upon their heads, scattered flowers in his path way while singing an ode expressing their love and grati tude. Washington was greatly touched and often spoke in the tenderest terms of the "white-robed choir" at Trenton.
On the 3oth of April, and soon after his arrival in New
JOHN ADAMS
John Adams was a school teacher and lawyer of Massa chusetts. He helped to draft the Declaration of Independ ence and was the first Vice-pres ident and the second President of the United States. He was a cousin of Samuel Adams.
LONG LIVE GEORGE WASHINGTON
173
York, he took the oath of office. Great crowds of people came to the inauguration. Services were held in all the churches of the city in the forenoon and at twelve o'clock the inauguration took place. Washington rode to the place of meeting in a coach
WASHINGTON'S FIRST INAUGURATION
This scene represents the balcony of Federal Hall, New York. It was here that Robert Livingston called out: ''Long live George Washington, President of the United States."
drawn by four fine horses in beautifully decorated har ness. He was always fond of good horses and his ani mals had splendid care. The head groom was in the habit of rubbing the animals with a clean linen handker chief and if he found any dirt the stable boys had to do their work over again.
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The white horses were given particular care. The night before they were to be driven they were daubed with a coat of whiting and then wrapped up for the night. In the morning the wrappings were removed and the dry paste was rubbed off and their bodies were pol ished. In this way their coats were made white and glossy. Their hoofs were blackened and polished and their teeth brushed and then they were ready for the harness. Washington liked to have everything in good style.
Washington and a few of the men at the inauguration stood on the balcony of Federal Hall while thousands of people thronged the streets below. When the new Presi dent had taken the oath of office, Mr. Livingston of New York stepped forward on the balcony and shouted: "Long live George Washington, President of the United States."
The people in the streets sent up a mighty shout. The flag was run up and the guns of the harbor fired the first presidential salute. This was one of the most notable scenes in the whole history of the United States.
THE CAPITAL CITY
EVERY nation must have a capital city. The United States did not have a permanent capital when Washing ton was made President. The headquarters of the gov ernment had been placed for the time being in New York, then a city of about thirty thousand people. Federal Hall, the most beautiful and most artistic public
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175
building in America, had recently been completed and presented to Congress by the city. The architect of the building was the same French engineer who, at a later time, laid out the City of Washington. The interior of the building was beautifully decorated and handsomely
SECOND INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON, 1793 This took place in the State House at Philadelphia.
furnished. In this exquisite setting the new government of the United States began its career.
The permanent capital had not yet been located. Several places had been mentioned and the new capital was much sought after. It was finally arranged that the seat of the government should remain in New York until 1790. It was then to be removed to Philadelphia to remain
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for ten years. In the meantime, Congress had located the District of Columbia, in its present site on the Potomac River.
A good deal had to be done in order to build a capital
in the wilderness. The land was obtained from Virginia and Maryland, and arrangements were made with the farmers and others who owned it. It was then sur veyed, and Major L'Enfant, the French engineer who had planned Federal Hall, was employed to lay out the new city.
The Major did his work in a splendid way. He provided for broad streets, magnificent
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
This map shows the original bounda ries of the District. The land was ceded to the National Government by Maryland and Virginia. In 1846 the land on the Virginia side of the river was given back to that state because it was not needed by the National Government. The Potomac River, in this part of its course, is entirely within the District. Usually a boundary line runs down the tenter of a river, but this is not the case here. Do you see any reason for this unusual arrangement?
avenues, spacious parks, and a great many open "squares" and " cir cles." More than one- half the area of the city is now given over to streets and parks as against one-fourth of the area in the City of Paris.
The building of the White House, or the home of the
LONG LIVE GEORGE WASHINGTON
177
President, was begun in 1792 and the corner stone of the great Capitol building was laid by Washington in the following year. These fine buildings must have presented a strange and ghost-like appearance in the midst of a dense wilderness. They were magnificent structures but people were obliged to wind their way about, among the trees and slush, and through miry paths, in order to reach them.
The President want ed to have the new Capital named The Federal City, but the committee having the matter in charge named it Washington, in honor of the first citizen of the Republic.
A few of the buildings were partly finished in 1800 and in that year the Capital was moved from Philadel phia to Washington. John Adams was President of the United States at the time. Thomas Jefferson was the first President to be inaugurated in the City of Wash ington.
When President John Adams and his good wife Abigail moved into the WTiite House they didn't find it a very comfortable home. The house was not finished and was
THE WHITE HOUSE IN 1799
This picture represents the White House a short time before John and Abigail Adams moved into it.
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uncomfortably furnished. Mrs. Adams remarked that while they were living in the midst of a dense forest wood for fuel was very scarce.
She did, however, have one convenience which the lady of the White House no longer enjoys. She was in
THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY
This is the home of the President of the United States. It has been greatly changed since the days of President John Adams,
the habit of hanging up her laundry to dry in one of the unfinished rooms when the weather outside was not favorable for that purpose.
The Adamses must have noticed a great difference be tween Philadelphia and Washington. Philadelphia was a place of 70,000 people and was the largest city in the
LONG LIVE GEORGE WASHINGTON 179
United States. It had many conveniences which the new Capital could not possibly have.
Washington has changed very greatly since the days of John and Abigail Adams. It is now one of the most beautiful Capital cities in the world. Its broad streets, smooth pavements, beautiful parks, fine statuary, mag-
THE CAPITOL BUILDING AT WASHINGTON, D. C.
The Senate Chamber is in one wing and the House Chamber in the other. Between them is the magnificent dome with its fine paintings.
nificent public buildings, and artistic private dwellings all combine to make it a notable city.
When you go to Washington you will wish to take a ride around the city and visit the Capitol building where Congress meets, and the White House where the Presi dent lives. You will also wish to visit the library build ing which contains one of the largest and finest collec tions of books in the world. Rock River Park where the
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Presidents like to drive will be found delightful. And, of course, you will not miss seeing the great Washington monument five hundred and fifty feet high. This im mense shaft was built in honor of George Washington from materials furnished by the different states. An elevator will take you to the top but you can walk up the winding stairway on the inside if you think your legs can stand it.
After having done all this you will wish to take the boat and ride fifteen miles down the Potomac River to Mount Vernon. Here you will find the delightful home place of George Washington with the buildings and gar dens kept much as they were when the father of his country loved to ramble about the plantation.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. What is " Constitution Day "?
2. Why was Washington inaugurated on the 30th of April
instead of the 4th of March?
3. In which three cities has the seat of the Government of the
United States been located?
4. Who was the first President inaugurated in Washington,
D. C.?
5. If you have seen the City of Washington, write a short
essay about it.
PRONOUNCING LIST L'Enfant lan'fan
CHAPTER XI
ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON PLANTATION
THERE are many great names in American history that are not connected with war or politics. One oi these is that of Eli Whitney, the school teacher and inventor. Whitney lived in Washington's time and invented the cot ton gin. The cotton gin is a machine for separating the cotton seed from the fiber or the woolly part of the plant. Before Whit ney's time this work was done by hand and was a very slow and tiresome process.
Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts in the year that the English Parlia ment passed the Stamp Act. He was graduated from Yale College at the age of twenty-seven. While in college he worked hard at all sorts of jobs in order to get
181
ELI WHITNEY, THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON GIN
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money to pay his expenses. This may possibly account for the fact that he was not very young when he finished his course.
After leaving college he went to Georgia to teach the children of a wealthy planter. For some reason or other
he did not take up his teaching work at once but went to live in the home of Mrs. Na- thanael Greene, widow of the famous Revolu tionary General. Whit ney was a natural mechanic with an in ventive turn of mind and soon began to make things. Mrs. Greene saw his ability and en couraged him to con tinue.
One day some people who were dining at the home of Mrs. Greene were talking about the difficulty of separa ting the cotton seed from the fiber. They also said they were sorry that there was no machine to do the work. "Apply to my young friend here," said Mrs. Greene, "he can make anything." The men talked it over with Whit ney and he became interested at once. He had never seen a cotton seed before coming to Georgia but he was willing to learn.
ELI WHITNEY'S COTTON GIN
This is the little machine which did the work of a thousand persons. The gins of the present day are much larger and are run by steam or elec tricity.
ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON PLANTATION 183
He soon worked out a plan for a machine. He had to start on his problem from the very beginning. He pro cured a cotton plant with the seed in the woolly fiber and began to study it.
He then picked up a few crude tools about the house.
WHITNEY'S COTTON GIN SOMEWHAT ENLARGED
He made a few others. He had to do much of this work by hand. He had to draw his own wire as none could be purchased even in Savannah.
He finally made a simple machine, the principle of which is still in use in the South. He had a cylinder
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which was made to revolve by means of a hand crank. On the cylinder were rows of saw-like teeth. When the cylinder was made to revolve it pulled the fibers of cot-
PICKING COTTON
It takes a large number of people to pick the fleecy cotton from the plant. This is a scene in the state of Arkansas.
ton through holes in a plate placed a short distance above it. These holes would permit the fiber to pass through but were too small for the seeds. These were consequently scraped off and remained on the upper side of the plate.
ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON PLANTATION 185
It was considered a good day's work for a person to pick the seeds from a pound of cotton by hand. Whit ney's machine, even in its crude form, could clean a thousand pounds in the same length of time. By attaching a two-horse power to it it could clean five times that amount. The steam gins in the South now clean the cotton with wonderful rapidity.
Whitney's invention increased very greatly the amount of cotton raised in the United States. The production of cotton had been held back by the slow and expensive process of cleaning it by hand. The number of acres planted to cotton was now increased many fold, and Eli Whitney may be looked upon as the father of the cotton plantation. It was his invention which made possible the great plantations in the South where thousands of rollicking negroes pick cotton to be shipped to Europe. Whitney's invention in the course of time reduced the price of cotton cloth from a dollar and a half a yard to a few cents. At this price cotton cloth was placed within reach of almost everybody.
The gin also revived the institution of slavery. It made slavery more popular because slave labor was necessary to the production of cotton on a large scale. Before Whitney made his invention, slavery was gradu ally dying out in all parts of the United States. In a word then, it was Whitney's invention, more than anything else, that placed "King Cotton" on the throne.
Inventors very often, for some reason or other, re-
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ceive very little profit from their inventions. This was the case with Eli Whitney. We shall see later the cause of this.
Whitney was naturally very proud of his useful ma chine. Mrs. Greene was proud of it also and she invited a few friends to come to her home to see it work. They were all delight ed and praised the young inventor highly.
In the meantime, a young man named Miller, who had been in college with Whit ney, came to Georgia and became the hus band of Mrs. Greene. Miller had some
Compare this giant gin with Eli Whit- money and Whitney ney's. This one is located in Dallas, had a valuable ma- Texas, a busy and progressive city. , . , ,
chine, so the two
men went into partnership to manufacture the cotton gins,
Whitney had not yet obtained a patent on his machine and so the gin was carefully kept under lock and key. He did, however, exhibit it proudly to planters who came
A MODERN COTTON GIN
ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON PLANTATION 187
from miles around to see a machine which could do the work of a thousand men.
The people evidently liked the cotton gin. One night they broke into Whitney's workshop and carried away his prize. Soon after this cotton gins, copied after Whit ney's, were at work in different parts of the state. Some of them were turned by hand, others by horses or oxen, and still others by water power.
Whitney in the meantime had obtained a patent from the government. He then brought suit against those who were making use of his invention. He didn't get much satisfaction. As a rule he was cheated out of the fruits of his labor. People, apparently, preferred to get the use of the machine for nothing. He did obtain fifty thousand dollars from the state of South Carolina and a little something from North Carolina. But this was about all used up in paying the costs of lawsuits.
In 1812 he asked to have his patent renewed on the ground that he had received little benefit from it. In this application he said that the money which he had received "did not equal the amount saved by his ma chines in one hour." His application was denied.
After this he went back home to New Haven, Con necticut, and made a fortune by making firearms for the government during the war of 1812 with England. He died at his home in New Haven at the age of sixty.
Whitney was a benefactor to mankind, but, like most inventors, he did not reap much financial profit from his labors.
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HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Where was Eli Whitney born? Where did he make his
great invention?
2. What was the connection between the Cotton Gin and
Slavery?
3. What trouble did Whitney have about his patent?
4. How much cotton could be separated from the seeds by
hand in a day by one person before Whitney invented the gin? 6. How much could be separated with the use of the gin?
CHAPTER XII
THOMAS JEFFERSON, " THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE "
The American people took Jefferson into their hearts as they have never taken any other statesman until Lincoln in these latter days.
— JOHN FISKE
WE HAVE already made the acquaintance of Thomas Jefferson. We recall him most distinctly perhaps as the author of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the third President of the United States and the first President to be inaugurated in the City of Washington.
Thomas Jefferson was descended from an old Welsh family which came to Virginia at a very early time - before the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock.
Thomas was the third child in a family of ten. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a leader in the community. He was a man of quick intelligence and great physical strength.
Peter Jefferson's family was in very easy circum stances and lived on a farm of about 2,000 acres which was tilled by 30 slaves.
Thomas Jefferson went to the country school near his home and was later graduated from William and Mary
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College at Williamsburg, Virginia, the second oldest col lege in the United States. Later he studied law and was lawyer and farmer at the same time, until he abandoned both professions to enter public office.
When he was twenty-nine years of age he married Martha, the daughter of John Wayles, a prominent Vir ginia lawyer. Wayles died soon after and Mrs. Jefferson inherited an estate of 4,000 acres with 135 slaves.
The Jeffersons now had a very comfortable family in come. Even before this inheritance Thomas Jefferson had an income of about three thousand dollars per year from his law practice and two thousand dollars from his land. This was a rather large income for a family in Virginia in those days. It might easily have been larger but Jefferson, unlike Washington, was not a very good business man. He took care of public affairs very much better than he did of private affairs.
Thomas Jefferson, next to Franklin, could do more things well than any other man in the history of the public life of the United States. He was very successful as our representative in Europe; he was fairly success ful as President of the United States; he was a leader in education; he was a student of science, literature, and religion; he introduced better methods in agri culture; and as a political leader he was unsurpassed. In addition to all of this he was a splendid mathemati cian, an easy writer of good and forceful English, and a violinist of considerable ability.
Jefferson, probably, took a more keen delight in agri-
THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Jefferson was prominent for forty years in the public life of the United States. The motto on his seal was " Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
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culture than in anything else. He was always inventing things and trying to find better ways of farming. He also searched all over the world for new seeds and new plants. "The greatest service," he once said, "which can be rendered to any country, is to add a useful plant to its culture.7' Acting upon this idea he brought olive plants from France and a new kind of rice from Africa, and introduced them into the plantations of Georgia and South Carolina.
Jefferson was also the inventor of the "first scientific plow." Before his time the old wooden plow was large ly in use and farmers were afraid to use the iron plow because they thought it would poison the soil and kill the crops. Jefferson had no such fear. But it took all of his persuasion and influence to induce the farmer to use the new and better kind of plow.
He also imported the first threshing machine ever seen in Virginia and carried on experiments with other imple ments of various kinds.
Jefferson was always very fond of agriculture and liked those engaged in it. When he was about to enter public office as a young man he said that he would never "wear any other character than that of a farmer." "Cultivators of the earth," he said, "are the most valu able citizens." At another time he wrote : "Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God."
It is rather disappointing to find that, in spite of his love for the land, Jefferson was not able to raise more than six or eight bushels of wheat to the acre. This,
THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 193
however, was probably more than the average yield for the entire state at that time. Agricultural methods were very poor and much of the soil had been worn out by tobacco crops.
Jefferson was always working on something which prom ised to be a help to the people. It has been said that he "ran riot in schemes for conferring practical benefits on mankind." He not only did things himself but he encouraged such men as Eli Whitney and Robert Fulton who had an inventive genius.
He also took a very lively interest in education, which was rather backward at the time, and was the founder of the University of Virginia.
While he liked the farmer he did not care much for the mechanic or the manufacturer. He loved the open country but he disliked the city. He was plain and simple in dress and manners and scorned all show and ceremony. He had faith in the wisdom and good sense of the masses of the people and always said that they should control the government.
In personal appearance Jefferson' was an impressive man but by no means a handsome one. He was six feet two and one-half inches tall, and muscular as well. When he was President he was described as: "A tall man, with a very red, freckled face, and gray neglected hair .... He wore a blue coat, green velveteen breeches with pearl buttons, yarn stockings, and slippers down at the heels, — his appearance being very much like that of a tall, large-boned farmer."
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Jefferson grew old gracefully and when he left the White House he returned to his beautiful country estate called Monticello, situated near Charlottesville, Virginia.
MONTICELLO, THE OLD HOME OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
Thousands of people from all parts of the world made pilgrimages to Monticello to see Thomas Jefferson and possibly to speak a word with him. He died there on July 4, 1826 — the fiftieth anniversary of the Decla ration of Independence. During his last illness it was his hope that he might be permitted to live until the dawn of the 4th of July.
He died at one o'clock in the afternoon. John Adams passed away a few hours later and his last words were: "Thomas Jefferson still lives." He did not know that his old friend had gone on before.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 195
Thomas Jefferson lies buried at Monticello and the shaft over his grave bears this inscription, written by Jefferson himself:
"Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the University of Virginia. "
JEFFERSON AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
The purchase of Louisiana was a diplomatic triumph of the first magnitude. No American negotiators ever acquired so much for so little.
- ALLEN JOHNSON
The territory of the United States was doubled during the time that Jefferson was President. By the treaty of 1783 with Great Britain the western boundary had been placed at the Mississippi River. Now Jefferson pur chased from France all of that vast territory extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and to the Canadian boundary on the north. This was known as the " Louisiana Territory."
In one respect the work of Jefferson was like that of George Rogers Clark. Clark added the Northwest Territory to the domain of the United States and Jef ferson added the Louisiana Territory. They used dif ferent methods, however. Clark obtained his addition by conquest and Jefferson got his by purchase. The United States was growing very rapidly for an infant nation.
THOMAS JEFFERSON,11 THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 197
This territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains has had a very interesting history. It changed hands many times. To begin with, of course, it was in the possession of the Indian. He roamed over it at will and there was no one to interfere with him. After a time, however, the Frenchmen came. Their great explorers, Champlain, LaSalle, Father Marquette, and others traversed the country from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and took possession of it in the name of the King of France. They set up rude crosses and buried plates made of lead with French inscriptions upon them in order to hold their claims. That was not really a very good way to lay claim to the heart of a continent, but that is the way the French did it.
Sometime later this territory fell into the hands of Spain. In the French and Indian war, or the Seven Years War, as they called it in Europe, Spain helped France against England. As her reward she received the Louisiana Territory by the treaty of 1763.
Not very long after this time, Spain gave the territory back to France by secret treaty. So, when Jefferson be came President, France again owned this tract of land west of the Mississippi River.
Why did the people of the United States want this great area of wild land? Did they need more land for farming? Were they becoming crowded? Had all the land been filled which Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark had opened up to settlement? No, these were not the reasons. There was still wild land enough for every-
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body on the east side of the great river. As a matter of fact Jefferson made no attempt at first to purchase all of this territory. He simply wanted a small amount of land near the mouth of the Mississippi River, where the City of New Orleans now stands.
Now why did the Americans want this land about the mouth of the River? Of what use would it be to them? It will require some explanation to answer these ques tions.
The Americans were now raising large amounts of agricultural products to be shipped to Europe. There were two outlets for these products. Some of them were shipped from ports on the Atlantic Ocean and others were sent down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
After the close of the American Revolution the West had developed quite rapidly. Many settlers had pushed out towards the Mississippi River, following in the foot steps of Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. These men cut away the forest, broke up the soil, and raised abun dant crops. They had to get these crops to the market and were in the habit of using the Mississippi River for this purpose.
In a single year the farmers of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio had sent down the Mississippi River "one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of tobacco, ten thousand barrels of flour, twenty-two thousand pounds of hemp, five hundred barrels of cider, and as many more of whiskey." This "down river" commerce was increas-
THOMAS JEFFERSON,'1 THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 199
ing all the time and was very important to the western farmer. It would, of course, have been impossible for him to haul his products overland to an Atlantic sea port.
These products were brought down the river on rafts, barges, and small boats of all kinds and then put on board large, ocean-going sailing vessels, bound for Europe. It was thus necessary to have a. place near the mouth of the river where goods could be landed and stored until the big boats were ready to take them to Europe. For this purpose Spain had granted us a "right of deposit," as it was called, or the right to land goods for a time on Spanish territory. Now that France owned the land she might deny this privilege to the Americans.
It should be remembered also that France owned the land on both sides of the river at its mouth. The Loui siana Territory was not all on the west side of the Mis sissippi. It also included the land on the east side of the river upon which the City of New Orleans is located.
So when it became known that France again owned this territory the western farmers were much interested. In fact they were greatly excited and made plans to seize the mouth of the river by force in case the French refused to sell. In their rough-and-ready way they said: "Let us take what we want by force of arms and then make a treaty with France about it afterwards."
Jefferson, of course, would rather purchase the land than take it by force. Our Minister to France was Mr. Robert R. Livingston, who had administered the oath
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of office to Washington when he became President. Jefferson instructed Livingston to buy, if possible, a suitable area near the mouth of the river. The great Napoleon was at the head of France and Livingston took
up the matter with one of his ministers. Napoleon absolutely refused to sell a single inch of French terri tory in America. Livingston could make no headway. He was up against a stone wall.
Jefferson then appointed James Monroe, who later became President of the United States, to go to France and help Livingston. Monroe had spent some time in France and the French people were Suddenly a great change took
JAMES MONROE
James Monroe was President of the United States for two terms. It was he who told the Europeans that they could make no more settlements on the Ameri can continents. He also said that they should not interfere with any of the governments in America. This is called the Monroe Doctrine.
very fond of him. place almost in the twinkling of an eye. Napoleon's minister met Livingston one day and said to him: "Would you care to buy the whole Louisiana Territory and, if so, what price would you be willing to pay for it ? "
THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 201
This question almost took Livingston's breath away. Here was land enough for an Empire " tossed into his lap." He had no authority to buy this vast tract and no money to pay for it. He knew also that the United States didn't really need the whole territory. Monroe had not yet arrived and he had no one to talk the matter over with.
Fortunately, Monroe reached Paris on the very next day and Livingston obtained some comfort. Even then the two men didn't know quite what to make of it. They couldn't understand why Napoleon, who had refused emphatically to sell a very small piece of land, should now offer the entire territory for sale. They thought possibly that the French were trying to play a trick on them.
This sudden change on Napoleon's part was fully ex plained sometime later. It was all simple enough. He had heard that the English were about to send a large army to take the territory from France by force and he made up his mind that he would rather sell, or even give, the land to the United States, than have it fall into the hands of his old enemy England. He could also use the money to good advantage in carrying on his wars.
Livingston and Monroe thought the opportunity too good to be lost. They concluded to take the risk and buy the territory. They did so in a treaty signed April 30, 1803. In this treaty they agreed to pay France $15,000,000 for the land.
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Thus by a few strokes of the pen the western bound ary of the United States was pushed out to the Rocky Mountains and the area of the country was doubled. The area of the new territory was larger than the com-
CELEBRATING THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE, 1803
The people were delighted to see the stars and stripes floating over the Territory.
bined areas of Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
After the treaty was signed Livingston remarked, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our lives."
THOMAS JEFFERSON, " THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 203
LEWIS AND CLARK AND THE FAR WEST When you buy a large farm you like to tramp around and look it over. President Jefferson had purchased a very extensive farm west of the Mississippi River but did not know very much about it. Neither did anyone else. There were vast stretches into which no white man had ever penetrated. Parts of it were not known even to the Indians.
Jefferson presented a report to Congress after the pur chase was made and tried to tell the members something about the far-away territory. He had a very difficult time. There was not very much to tell. He pieced to gether all that he could get from books and from the stories of travelers. But this was not very much and a a good deal of it was not true. He then made up his mind to send out explorers and find out something definite about his new purchase.
The men sent on this important expedition were Meri- wether Lewis and William Clark, brother of the famous George Rogers Clark.
Meriwether Lewis was a member of a good, old Vir ginia family which had rendered fine service to the country. The young Lewis was a natural hunter and explorer even from early boyhood. When he was only eight years old he was in the habit of going out into the woods alone "in the dead of night" to hunt with his dogs. He did this, too, in all kinds of weather and seemed to be as happy in the driving snow as in the balmy sunshine.
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He attended school until he was eighteen and then went back to the farm and took a delight in studying both plants and animals.
At the age of twenty he went into the military service of the United States and at twenty-three was made a
WESTERN EXPLORATION
This map shows the trail of Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition to the Pacific Coast. It also shows the two expeditions made by Zebulon Pike about the same time.
captain. He also served for a time as President Jef ferson's private secretary. Lewis was thus well qualified to do the task assigned to him by the President.
William Clark, second in command to Lewis, was another Virginian and also a military man. Like his brother, George Rogers Clark, he was familiar with the
THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 205
habits and traits of the Indian and this knowledge was of constant use on his western journey.
Before starting out on their trip across the continent the men read everything they could find in regard to the country. This, of course, was not very much.
The two men with their helpers set out and got as far as Cahokia on the Mississippi River — the old post which George Rogers Clark had captured during the Revolution. It was then December (1803) and the men found it impossible to go farther until spring. Conse quently they went into camp for the winter in what is now the state of Illinois at a point opposite the mouth of the Missouri River.
Their instructions were to go up the Missouri River, cross the mountains, and go down one of the rivers lead ing to the Pacific Ocean. They were also to make a study of Indian life and of the geographical features of the country. They were to observe the plants and ani mals along the route and write down notes about all they saw. They were instructed to take particular notice of the number and variety of fur-bearing animals.
In May of the following year (1804) the men broke camp and started up the Missouri River in three boats. Before winter set in they reached Mandan, in what is now the state of North Dakota. Here they pitched camp.
In the spring (1805) they started up the river again, across North Dakota and Montana to the headwaters of the Missouri River in the Bitter Root Mountains.
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They then crossed the ridge (sometimes called the "Great Divide") and hunted about for a stream to take them to the Pacific. They finally stumbled upon the Clear Water River. This brought them to the Snake
EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK
Lewis and Clark passed through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. They were astonished by the wonderful views at almost every bend of the river.
River. Going down the Snake River they came to the Columbia and were then on the highway to the Pacific. Late in the fall they "saw the waves like small moun tains rolling out in the sea." They had now reached the western boundary of the continent and here, on the
THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 207
shores of that ocean which Magellan had crossed many years before, and which Balboa had discovered in 1513, they pitched their camp for the winter.
In the following spring (1806) the party started back east but soon divided into two parts. Lewis was in command of one and Clark of the other. In the early fall of that year both parts of the expedition reached the present site of St. Louis. Here ended one of the most noted and valuable exploring expeditions in American history.
ZEBULON PIKE
Other men besides Lewis and Clark were roaming over the new continent in those days. One of these was Zebulon Pike.
At the time that Lewis and Clark started up the Mis souri (1804) Pike left St. Louis and ascended the Mis sissippi. He pushed on almost to the source of that great river and ran up an American flag on a trading post in the northern part of what is now the state of Minnesota.
In the following year he went up the Arkansas River and finally came to the mountain peak which bears his name. He then explored the Rio Grande, was captured by the Spanish, and finally made his way to the interest ing old town of Santa Fe.
ANDREW JACKSON, THE FRONTIER STATESMAN More important perhaps than any of these frontiersmen was Andrew Jackson "The Hero of New Orleans. "
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We have already met Andrew Jackson at the Bat tle of Hanging Rock where, as a boy of thirteen, he was fighting for the Independence of the United States.
We find him again in the War of 1812, or the second
war with Great Britain. The Creek Indians in what is now the state of Alabama had been stirred up to attack the whites by Tecumseh, the famous Indian chief. The white men took up arms and killed about one-fifth of the whole Creek tribe. It was in this war that Andrew Jack son won the Battle of Horse shoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River. Some of the braves fled to Florida and the rest ceded a large area of land in Georgia and Alabama to General Jackson. This
opened up a vast tract to white men for settlement, and Jackson became a great hero.
Later in the war he won a still more important victory. On January 8, 1815, he defeated the British in the famous battle of New Orleans. The British lost more than 2,000 men while Jackson's loss was about 70. It is a peculiar fact that this battle was fought after the
ANDREW JACKSON
This picture represents the "Hero of New Orleans" in his old age. He was called "Old Hickory" on account of his un bending qualities.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, "THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE" 209
treaty of peace was agreed upon by Great Britain and the United States. Jackson knew nothing about this treaty and just kept right on righting.
A little later we find Andrew Jackson in Florida. Florida was in the possession of Spain and had long been a thorn in the side of the United States — for two rea sons. The boundary of the territory was indefinite and Spain made no attempt to control the Indians and other lawless people who were making raids across the border. President Jefferson tried to solve the problem by buying the territory, but Spain refused to sell.
In one of his campaigns against the Indians Andrew Jackson chased them out of the United States and into Florida. While there he captured two forts, St. Mark's and Pensacola, in the northwest part of Florida and hanged two British subjects who were aiding the Indians and stirring them up to make raids on the whites. He also hanged two Indian chiefs without a trial.
Jackson had done a bold act. He had entered Spanish territory and had executed two British subjects. John Quincy Adams, as Secretary of State, handled the whole matter boldly and successfully. He showed that the British subjects had no right to be doing what they did and that it was necessary for Jackson to put down the lawlessness in Florida since Spain was unwilling or un able to do so.
The result of the whole matter was that Spain sold Florida to the United States on Washington's birthday, 1819, for the sum of $5,000,000. Two years later An-
210 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
drew Jackson became the first American Governor of Florida.
The Florida problem was now solved, and another im mense tract of land was added to the territory of the United States.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Why is Jefferson called " The Man of the People "?
2. Mention three important things which Jefferson did.
3. What was Jefferson's attitude toward agriculture?
4. How did we happen to buy Louisiana from the French?
5. Why was possession of the mouth of the Mississippi River
important?
6. Bound the Louisiana Purchase.
7. Trace on the map the route taken by Lewis and Clark.
8. Who was Zebulon Pike?
9. In what way was Andrew Jackson connected with Florida?
PRONOUNCING LIST
Napoleon na-po'le-un Arkansas ar'kan-sa
Monroe mun-ro' Rio Grande re'o gran' da
Santa Fe san'ta fa'
CHAPTER XIII
THE HIGHWAY, THE WATERWAY, AND THE RAILWAY
THE UNITED STATES had now become a very large country. It was no longer limited to the thirteen colo nies strung along the Atlantic coast. George Rogers Clark had taken the Northwest Territory from the British; President Jefferson had purchased the Loui siana Territory from France ; and President Monroe had purchased Florida from Spain after Andrew Jackson had invaded that territory.
It was now necessary to make roads through this vast area. People wanted to travel from place to place and it was necessary to bring the farmers' crops to market.
The buffalo path and the Indian trail were the earliest highways for land travel. A little later the trail was wid ened and straightened and thus made into a highway like Daniel Boone's " Wilderness Road." Still later, the road was graded and drained and bridges were made across streams. Later still, a few favored roads or "turnpikes" had their surfaces covered with gravel or broken stone. Even with these improvements, land travel in the United States in the early part of the nineteenth century was difficult and painfully slow.
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212 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
Water travel was easier and quicker. The rivers of the continent became the highways for the explorer's canoe and trader's barge. It is difficult to see how the early explorer could have made a survey of the continent or how the farmer could have gotten his products to market without the great rivers.
There was one great disadvantage, however, in river travel. It was very easy to glide down stream but al most impossible to push a loaded boat back up stream. This is now easily done by means of steam power. But there were, of course, no steamboats in those days.
ROBERT FULTON, THE INVENTOR OF THE STEAMBOAT
This leads us to the interesting story of Robert Fulton and his great invention. Robert Fulton, father of the steamboat, was born in Pennsylvania about ten years before the American Revolution broke out. He was educated in the common schools and later became skill ful in the painting of small-sized portraits. After a time he made money enough by his art to buy a farm. He wanted this as a home for his mother.
After seeing his mother comfortably settled in her new home, he went to England. Here he studied painting under a famous artist. He also became an engineer.
Just about this time James Watt invented the steam engine. Fulton was greatly interested in it and saw many of the uses to which it could be put.
He studied the working of the steam engine when he was not painting and began to invent machines to be run
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 213
by steam. Among other things he invented a steam shovel which was used in digging canals and in making the channels of rivers deeper and wider. He also wrote papers on the making of canals and similar subjects.
He then went to France where he lived for several years. During this time he was very active. He studied languages and worked hard on several in vent ions. Among other things he invented a torpedo which he offered to both France and England. It was rejected by both countries and then Fulton came to the United States and took the matter up with the officials at Washington. Here he re ceived more encouragement. It is interesting to note that Fulton thought the torpedo a more important invention than the steamboat.
Just at this time, however, he turned his attention in another direction. He wished to invent a boat which could be propelled up stream at a reasonable rate of speed by means of steam power. A great many men had tried to do this before Fulton's time but were not suc cessful in a practical way.
Experiments on the steamboat were made in Europe a hundred years before Fulton's time and James Rumsey
ROBERT FULTON
This picture represents the handsome face of Robert Ful ton, inventor and painter.
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and John Fitch, both Americans, had made steamboats of rude construction before Fulton took the matter up. No one had yet, however, made a practical steamboat. While in Paris Fulton made up his mind that the prob lem could be solved. He went over to Scotland where a steamboat was actually running and made a study of it.
When he came to America in 1806 he built a steamboat which he called the Clermont. The vessel was 130 feet long and 1 8 feet wide and was able to carry 160 tons. Finally everything was in readiness for the trial trip on the Hudson. The boat
THE CLERMONT
The Clermont was Fulton's successful steamboat. It was named from the country estate of Robert R. Livingston who aided him. Notice the sail. Steam boats for many years also made use of the power of the wind.
started off nicely but
soon stopped. Many people then said "I told you so. " A small repair was made, however, and the little pioneer proceeded bravely on her way up the river. She made the trip to Albany and back in spite of wind, wave, tide, and the remarks of people who said, "The thing cannot be done."
The Clermont soon after began regular trips between New York and Albany and was able to make the dis tance of 150 miles in about a day and a half. A little later the steamboat, spouting smoke and sparks, was
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 215
seen on the lakes and rivers of North America. When it first appeared the Indians, deer, and buffaloes fled in terror into the wilderness.
About a dozen years after Fulton's invention the little steamboat Savannah crossed the ocean from America to England. From that time to this the ocean steamer has been an important factor in the world's work.
Today we honor the name of Robert Fulton while we have forgotten those who pointed their fingers at the Clermont and called it " Fulton's folly."
With the launching of the Clermont on the Hudson a new era in American history began.
- ARCHER B. HULBERT
THE ERIE CANAL
Fulton's invention was a great help to the people of the new country. It enabled travelers to make long trips with comfort and it also made it possible for the farmer to get his products to market quickly and cheaply. But, of course, the steamboat could not go where there was no water to carry it.
This led to the building of canals upon which boats loaded with passengers and freight were pulled or towed slowly along.
A few canals had been made before Fulton's time but the first really great and important one in America was the Erie Canal, extending from Albany to Buffalo, a distance of 363 miles.
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D A
This water highway is the connecting link between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Men had thought and talked and written about such a canal for many years before the digging was begun. General Schuyler, of the Revolutionary army, said that such a canal should be constructed. It was Governor De Witt
Clinton, however, who made the dirt fly. For this reason the Erie Canal has often been referred to as "De Witt Clinton'sbig ditch." The first steps towards the con struction of this canal were taken in 1 8 10 and the pro ject was finished fifteen years later. Governor Clinton and others went to Washington and asked the help of Congress in the great undertaking. This was denied and the state of New York then undertook to carry the whole burden.
During the War of -1812 the whole matter was dropped for about three years. The country had to at tend to other matters.
Throughout this period the old stage-coach and the freight wagons carried passengers and freight from place to place as well as they could. One of these wagons
THE ERIE CANAL
This map shows the course of the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany. It passes through a beautiful and picturesque part of the state and connects several im portant cities. It is a worthy monument to Governor De Witt Clinton.
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 217
took a load of people from New York to Philadelphia, a distance of ninety miles, in three days. After that the wagon was proudly called "the flying machine." Auto mobiles now sometimes make this distance in two hours instead of three days.
This kind of travel was slow and expensive and really somewhat dangerous. Accidents occurred at times and occasionally the wagons were rob bed in the lonely stretches of forest through which they were compelled to pass. So when the war was over Clinton again urged the building of the canal and did not let things rest until the work was com pleted. He was not at all discouraged when Congress refused to help. This seemed to make him more determined than ever to carry out his plan.
Clinton was elected Governor of New York in 1816 and then, of course, he had more influence than ever. He worked on the canal project in the daytime and dreamed about it at night.
Finally on July 4, 1817, the first shovelful of dirt was
THE OLD-TIME STAGE-COACH
The travel was slow and expensive. A stage ran from New York to Boston three times a week. It took three days to make the trip. Sometimes the passengers had to get out and push the coach out of the mud. The coach averaged about four miles an hour.
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thrown up, and the great project was begun. It was no small task to push a canal through the wilderness and swamps of New York, a distance of nearly 400 miles.
THE OPENING OF THE ERIE CANAL
Governor Clinton of New York in the presence of a distinguished company of men and women, is pouring water from Lake Erie into the Hudson River.
In Europe the wheelbarrow and shovel were still used in canal building but in this work the plow and the scraper took their places. Giant machines were also used which took trees and stumps in their mighty grasp and
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 219
tore them from the soil as easily as one could pull a weed out of his garden.
The frozen ground of winter helped the men to haul supplies where they were needed. The work, however, was very hard and many of the men became ill.
The wilderness and swamps were also unhealthful. A thousand men were on the sick list at one time, suffering from fever and ague, and for a short time the work on the canal was brought to a standstill.
After eight years of the hardest kind of work Clinton, still Governor of the State, opened the completed canal with a big cele bration. A large party of people went
LIFE ON A CANAL BOAT
in
Freight and passengers moved slowly in the clumsy and sluggish canal boat. The passengers, however, had a good visit when the weather was pleasant. Notice the tow-line and the horses on the tow- path.
stately procession down the river from Albany to New York. At the end of the journey Gover nor Clinton poured into the Atlantic Ocean some water which had been taken from the Great Lakes. As he did so he declared that the two bodies of water were united in marriage.
The canal cost the state $7,602,000, but has been worth many times that amount to the state and Nation.
220 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
The state collected $8,500,000 in tolls on the canal during the first nine years of its existence. Its value in connecting the West with the East can hardly be over estimated.
Although large sums were collected as tolls on the canal, the rates were very low. It cost at this time thirty-two dollars to carry a ton of goods one hundred miles by wagon, while the cost by the canal was only one dollar and a half.
The canal is still running and is just as important as it ever was as a highway of commerce. It is opened every year in the spring after the ice goes out and boats con tinue to run, now propelled by steam, until the ice comes again in the early winter.
The next time you travel from Buffalo to Albany over the New York Central Railway do not fail to get a good view of the Erie Canal with its walled banks and its lazy, clumsy steam barges.
THE FIRST AMERICAN RAILROAD
The locomotive came puffing along in the United States about twenty-five years after Fulton's steamboat had frightened the natives along the Hudson River. Some men had talked about such a thing a long time before Fulton invented the Clermont. They did not call it a locomotive, however, but a " steam carriage." The present massive locomotive, weighing scores of tons, does not look very much like a carriage, does it?
A short time before Fulton's steamboat was finished a
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 221
man named Evans had a vision of the locomotive. He said: "The time will come when a steam carriage will set out from Washington in the morning, the passengers will breakfast at Baltimore, dine at Philadelphia, and
THE DE WITT CLINTON
This was the first passenger train on the New York Central Rail road. It caused great excitement. Even the dogs, chickens and geese were interested.
sup in New York." It was not very long before this was done. At the present time trains run from Washing ton to New York in five or six hours.
The railroad grew up very gradually and very slowly. The first tracks were laid without any idea of using a
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locomotive. In a mining district, for example, wooden tracks with strips of iron on top would be laid and cars loaded with coal would be pushed over them by hand.
Sometimes horses were used to draw the cars and in some cases sails were spread in order to make use of the
power of the wind.
Finally, Peter Cooper made an engine called the "Tom Thumb, " the first locomotive built in the United States. The "Tom Thumb "was built in a shop near Baltimore. In 1831 it made its first trip of thirteen miles out of Balti more in one hour. This was a great occasion. The little engine drew one open car which was occupied by the owners of the road and a few others. It was a very jolly party and all were singing the praises of the "Iron Horse." The "Tom Thumb" was
a great success. Two years before this time a locomotive was imported from England but it could not be used be cause it was too heavy for the slender tracks.
Soon after this time the "De Witt Clinton" made a successful trip over the Mohawk Valley Railroad in New York. It ran from Albany to Schenectady, a distance
PETER COOPER
Builder of the "Tom Thumb," the first locomotive ever con structed in America.
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 223
of seventeen miles in an hour. This train also carried a merry party and there was a fine banquet in Scheneo tady that evening to celebrate the event.
A man who rode on this train wrote an account of the journey sometime after. He said that the coaches were tied together by means of chains, " leaving from two to three feet slack." When the train started the passengers
AN ELECTRIC TRAIN
The electric locomotive is now taking the place, to some extent, of the steam locomotive. It is more powerful for the steep grades of the Rocky Mountains and is cleaner for use in cities.
were jerked over backwards and when the train stopped they were thrown forward.
Pitch was used for fuel and the dense black smoke, filled with sparks and cinders, poured down upon the heads of the passengers. Umbrellas were used for protection but these caught fire and burned up during the first mile of the trip. After that there was nothing for the passengers to do but to "grin and bear it."
The whole countryside turned out to see the won-
224 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
derful train as it passed by. Many people came in wagons and forgot, apparently, that their horses might be frightened by the fiery monster. The horses did object and many of them ran away in terror. The writer expressed the thought that some of them might be running yet.
This was the beginning of the railway system of the United States. At first it was used to help out the canal and the wagon road. Then it was seen that the railway was in many ways the best method of trans portation. It did not cost so much to build a mile of railroad as it did to build a mile of canal. The locomotive was faster than the canal boat and the railroad did not freeze over in the winter season. Then too, the railroad could be carried over the mountains while the canal could not. Low water in the summer and floods in the spring had no terrors for the railroad, while they often halted the canal boat.
All of these things recommended the iron horse rather than the sluggish boat. It is said that in 1830 there were twenty-three miles of railroad in the United States. There are now about two hundred and sixty- six thousand miles — or more than in any other country in the world.
SAMUEL F. B. MORSE AND THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH
Professor Samuel F. B. Morse deserves to be ranked with the great inventors of the world. He invented the
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 22$
electric telegraph by means of which we are able to send messages thousands of miles in a few minutes.
Perhaps you have been in a telegraph office or rail road station and have listened to the clicking of the Morse instrument without thinking very much about it. It was so very familiar to you, and you had heard it so many times, that there seemed to be nothing new or remarkable about it. As a matter of fact you were listening to one of the most wonderful instruments ever invented by the brain of man.
Morse was born in Massa chusetts while Washington was President of the United States. He was graduated from Yale College when he was nineteen years of age and then, like Robert Fulton,
went to England to study painting. In fact he and Robert Fulton studied there under the same artist. He also did some very good work in sculpture.
After remaining in England five years he returned to the United States and worked as a portrait painter in Boston and New York for several years. Later he was elected Professor of Art in the University of the City of New York.
SAMUEL F. B. MORSE
Whenever we send or receive a telegram or read the news from a distant city, we are indebted to Professor Morse.
226 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
During all this time Professor Morse had been in terested in electricity and had learned a good deal about it. One time when coming back from Europe he had a conversation with a man who told him about some electrical experiments which had recently been carried on in France. It was at this time (1832) that he got the idea of the electric telegraph.
He went to work on his idea and a few years later he was sending messages in his own room over a mile of wire. Morse did not have money enough to con tinue his work and so asked Congress to help him. He wanted to build an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore. Congress failed to assist him and he worked on and did as well as he could with his slender means.
Some years later the bill for his assistance came up again in Congress, but his chances of securing aid seemed to be very small. The last day of the session came and nearly two hundred bills were on the list ahead of his. Morse went to bed that evening with a heavy heart and without hope. The next morn ing, however, the cheery voice of Miss Ellsworth, the young daughter of the chief of the patent office, told him that Congress at the hour of midnight had appropriated thirty thousand dollars for his assist ance.
This was a wonderful help and the line from Balti more to Washington was built. Finally all was in readi ness for the first great test. Then Professor Morse sent
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 227
from Washington the following message to his assistant in Baltimore: "What hath God wrought?" This was the message suggested by the young Miss Ellsworth who had brought him the glad tidings. News items of an important character were then sent over the wire in a rapid and almost magical way.
As in the case of Eli Whitney, men tried to steal the profits of Morse's great invention, and he was com pelled to bring many lawsuits in order to obtain his rights.
Morse had made a wonderful and a useful invention and was highly honored everywhere. Yale College gave him another degree and the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Austria, and the Sultan of Turkey, had medals struck in his honor. He was recognized in a simi lar way all over the civilized world. He was also given, on one occasion, a purse of eight thousand dollars in gold.
In 1871 a beautiful bronze statue of him was erected in one of the parks in New York City. The money for this was given by the telegraph operators. The poet Bryant unveiled the statue and on that same even ing Professor Morse attended a banquet and reception in his honor and sent his greetings to cities all over the world. In doing this he made use of one of the old telegraph instruments which had seen service on the Washington-Baltimore line.
During this same time Morse was interested in pho tography and made the first "sun pictures," or tin-
228 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
types, ever made in the United States. Some of these are still in exist ance.
Professor Morse closed his long and useful life in New York City at the age of eighty-one years.
Morse's great invention made a wonderful change in business. It made great newspapers possible; it helped in the management of railroads and the running of trains; it helped government business and, in fact, busi ness of all kinds; and it also lifted a great burden from the mails.
It was much easier and cheaper to build telegraph lines than to build canals and railroads and soon the whole eastern part of United States became a net work of wires.
It was not so easy to push the lines out to the Pacific Coast. In the middle of the nineteenth century the famous "Pony Express" carried the mails over land to the Pacific. This means that the sacks were carried on the backs of swift horses over the old "Salt Lake Trail."
In 1 86 1 the Western Union Telegraph Company strung the first telegraph wire over the mountains to the Pacific Ocean. This was very expensive because the line ran over hundreds of miles of uninhabited country and had to be protected from Indians and buffaloes as well as from wind and storm. The com pany thought at one time of putting the wire under ground.
THE HIGHWAY, WATERWAY, AND RAILWAY 229
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Tell the story of the Clermont's trial trip on the Hudson.
2. Trace the course of the Erie Canal on the map.
3. What do you consider the greatest difficulty which De Witt
Clinton had to face in digging the Erie Canal?
4. How was the Erie Canal useful to the people of New York?
5. For what was Peter Cooper noted?
6. In what ways were railroads an improvement over canals?
7. How did steamboats and railroads and the telegraph help the
country?
8. Get a telegraph operator to explain the Morse alphabet
to you.
PRONOUNCING LIST
Clermont kler'mont Schenectady ske-nek'ta-di
CHAPTER XIV THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST
WE HAVE watched the rapid growth of the country as one great tract of land after another was added to the national domain. We are now going to see how the Golden Southwest, extending from Texas to Califor nia, came into possession of the United States. This brings us to the story of
SAM HOUSTON or TEXAS
Houston was another of that unterrified race of pioneers which opened up our western country. Vir ginia, as we have already seen, was the mother of many of these adventurers. Houston also was born in Virginia while Washington was President of the United States. While he was still a small boy his family moved to Tennessee. Here he came into close contact with the Indians, and the Cherokees adopted him as a mem ber of their tribe.
Houston was an active and a patriotic man and took part in the Indian wars of his time. When Andrew Jackson fought the Creeks Houston was with him and was badly wounded in one of the battles. David Crockett, whom we shall meet later, was also in Jackson's command.
230 <
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST
231
It is in connection with Texas, however, that Sam Houston is best known. After leaving the army Hous ton became a lawyer and served in Congress for a while. He was also Governor of Tennessee. During a part of the time he went to live with the Cherokees and pro tected them from dishonest white men. He then went to Texas, where he im mediately became famous.
Texas, at one time, was a part of Mexico but the Tex- ans were not happy under Mexican rule. Most of the Texas people were Americans and did not like the Mexican government. Finally, in 1835, they revolted and declared their independence of the Mexican government, just as our Revolutionary forefathers SAM HOUSTON
did in the case of England in Houston was a sturdy leader
of men. He might be called the
"Father of Texas."
1776.
They had a hard struggle
but they had brave leaders in Sam Houston, Crockett, Bowie, and others. They fought as bravely as any men could possibly fight. They also suffered terribly when, as prisoners, they fell into the hands of the Mexicans. In one case more than 350 of them who had surrendered were marched out in line and shot.
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At the Alamo, a fort in southern Texas, one thou sand Mexicans laid siege to one hundred and eighty- three Texans. The Texans sent out word that they
THE BATTLE or THE ALAMO
It is no wonder that the Texans took as their war cry "Remember
the Alamo."
would neither surrender nor retreat. The Mexicans made an attack from three sides and all of the Texans with the exception of five or six died fighting. It
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST
233
would have been better for them if they had all died in battle as they were massacred soon after, "not a man being left alive to tell the tale." The Texas people to this day have not forgotten the Alamo. A short time later (April, 1836) the two armies met
SANTA ANNA A PRISONER BEFORE SAM HOUSTON
Santa Anna was Dictator of Mexico and Commander of the Mexican forces. He was defeated by the Texans under Sam Houston and others.
at San Jacinto, near Galveston. The Texans shouted their battle cry "Remember the Alamo " and charged on the Mexicans. The Texans killed, captured, or routed the entire Mexican Army. Santa Anna, the Mexican ruler, was among the prisoners. In this battle the Mexicans lost sixteen hundred men, which
234 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
was twice the entire number under the command of Sam Houston.
This battle decided the contest. The Texans, under the able leadership of Sam Houston, had won their independence. They set up a little republic of their own and elected Houston their first President. This was in 1836. And "the Lone Star Republic," as it was called, continued to be independent until annexed to the United States with its own consent.
THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS
Agitation for the annexation of Texas began almost immediately after independence was won. The Texas people were mostly Americans — at any rate their leaders were — and the southern men wanted more territory for the institution of slavery. These two things finally brought about the annexation.
This question was decided by the presidential elec tion of 1844. James K. Polk, who favored annexation, was elected. Henry Clay was his opponent. During the campaign the people shouted:
Hurrah for Polk and annexation, Down with Clay and high taxation!
Just before Mr. Polk took the presidential chair, Congress passed a resolution providing for the annexa tion of "the Lone Star Republic." Texas agreed a little later and became a state in the American Union in December, 1845.
Houston during all of this time favored the union of
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST 235
Texas with the United States and was now elected a United States Senator from the new state. A little later he was chosen Governor and was holding this position when the Civil War came on.
At the outbreak of the war a convention of delegates voted that Texas should withdraw from the Union. Houston opposed this action with all his power and made the greatest speech of his life against it. When his state did go out of the Union in spite of his pro tests, he retired from office and refused to take the oath of allegiance to the southern Confederacy. This was the end of his public career. He died a short time after (1863) at the age of seventy.
THE MEXICAN WAR
The annexation of Texas led to a war with Mexico. Mexico had never really acknowledged the independence of Texas. She still claimed that Texas was a part of Mexico and was very angry when the United States annexed that territory.
There was also another cause for the war. The United States claimed that the Rio Grande was the southern boundary of Texas. Mexico claimed that Texas didn't extend that far south. The President sent a part of the United States army to take possession of the disputed strip of land. The Mexicans made an attack upon the American troops and the war was on. This was in the spring of 1846 — only a year after Congress had voted to annex Texas.
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In about two years the war was over. The Ameri cans won every battle. General Taylor, better known as "Old Rough-and- Ready/' crossed the Rio Grande and carried the war into the enemy's territory. He met
GENERAL SCOTT ENTERING THE CITY OF MEXICO
General Scott was sometimes called "Old Fuss and Feathers." but he entered the enemy's capital and practically pui an end to the Mexican War.
Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico, and beat him deci sively in the Battle of Buena Vista. As a result of this battle all of the northwestern part of Mexico fell into Taylor's hands. From this time on, he was known as the "Hero of Buena Vista."
A little later General Scott marched a victorious
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST 237
American army into the City of Mexico, the capital of the country, and the war was practically over.
A treaty of peace was made soon after and Mexico was compelled to give to the United States all of the land north of the Rio Grande. This included New. Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of other states, or about eight hundred thousand square miles in all. On the other hand the United States agreed to pay a large sum of money to the Mexican government.
About the time the Mexican War began the United States made a treaty with England and obtained the Oregon territory in the northwestern part of the United States. This, together with the land obtained from Mexico, pushed the boundary of the country out to the Pacific Ocean.
The thirteen infant colonies had now expanded until they reached from the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west and from Canada on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south.
THREE GREAT FRONTIERSMEN "DAVY" CROCKETT
Several other men had active parts in the great drama of the Southwest aside from Sam Houston. One of these was "Davy" Crockett whom we have already met in the war against the Creek Indians.
Crockett was born in Tennessee soon after the close
238 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
of the Revolutionary War. His home was a beautiful but solitary spot not far from the Great Smoky Moun tains. He never attended school very much but had a bright, keen mind. While still young he became a
skillful hunter and trapper and a noted Indian fighter. After the Indian troubles quieted down, Crockett went to Congress for six years. He then drifted over to Texas and arrived there just in time to take part in the fight for Independence.
Crockett fought in the Battle of the Alamo and was one of the six survivors who surrendered at the end of the siege. They were promised protection but all were brutally murdered at the command of Santa Anna. Crockett was struck down by a dozen swords.
JOHN C. FREMONT, "THE OLD PATHFINDER"
Another hero of the Southwest was John C. Fre mont. Fremont was born in Georgia in 1813. He was graduated from college at the age of seventeen and taught mathematics in the United States Navy for two or three years.
His real work, however, was that of the explorer.
DAVID CROCKETT
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST
239
He wandered far and wide over the western country and was particularly familiar with the California coast.
When the Mexican War came on Fremont took a hand in the contest and made a conquest of California.
He had many honors conferred upon him by the kings of Europe and the rulers of other countries, but he was proudest of all of the title which was given to him by his own countrymen. They loved to call him The Old Pathfinder.
He was the first candidate nominated by the Republican party for the Presi dency of the United States (1856). He was defeated but he helped to fight the battles of the Civil War and then aided in getting a railroad across the con tinent. It is interesting to note that this road touched some of the trails over which he had tramped in his earlier years.
After his nomination for the Presidency by the party which was opposed to the extension of slavery, the poet Whittier addressed to him the following lines :
FREMONT "THE PATHFINDER"
Exploring Party Crossing the Rocky Mountains.
240 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
Strong leader of that mountain band,
Another task remains, To break from Slavery's desert land
A path to Freedom's plains.
The winds are wild, the way is drear, Yet, flashing through the night,
Lo! icy ridge and rocky spear Blaze out in morning light!
Rise up, FREMONT! and go before;
The Hour must have its Man; Put on the hunting-shirt once more,
And lead in Freedom's van!
"Kix" CARSON, THE SCOUT
"Kit" Carson, whose real name was Christopher Carson, was born in Kentucky in 1809 — the year of Lincoln's birth. He liked the great outdoors. He was never so happy as when enjoying the solitude of the forest or the freedom of the plains. He didn't care to be cooped up in a house or a schoolroom.
At the age of seventeen he began his pioneer life of adventure. He was a "trapper on the plains" for eight years and a hunter in the forest for as many more. He then fell in with John C. Fremont and was his guide on some of his trips of exploration. He was well quali fied for this work. He had roamed over a large part of the western country. He knew the Indian tribes, had learned some of their languages, and as a rule was
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST
241
welcome in their wigwams and tepees. He thus made it easy for settlers to follow in his wake.
During the Mexican War he was an officer in the " United States Mounted Rifles," and later was ap pointed an Indian agent. While acting as agent he made many treaties between the Indians and the white men.
During the Civil War he saw service both in Indian Territory and in the Rocky Mountain country and was promoted in military rank.
When he was not hunting, trapping, exploring, or fight ing for his country, he was engaged in the more peaceful and less exciting pursuits. If you had been in the West dur ing the "Gold Days" you might have seen the famous scout driving a flock of six thousand five hundred sheep over the Rockies to California.
"Kit" Carson died in Colorado in 1868 at the age of fifty-nine years. He had blazed the way over the mountains to the "Golden Gate" and civilization fol lowed after him.
"Kix" CARSON, THE SCOUT
He belonged to a race of men now passed away. He would have been an interesting leader for "Boy Scouts."
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SUITER'S MILL AND "THE FORTY-NINERS"
Oh, my heart is filled with the days of yore,
And oft I do repine For the Days of Old, and the Days of Gold,
And the Days of Forty-nine.
About the time that the treaty of peace was signed with Mexico, Captain John Sutter, a California pioneer,
DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA
There was great excitement. Americans, Spaniards, Indians, cow boys, hunters and trappers were searching for the yellow particles in the mill race of Slitter's mill.
was building a rude sawmill on his estate on the Sa cramento River. One of his workmen, John Marshall,
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST 243
while walking along the mill race one day, saw some yellow particles in the water. Some of these were as large as grains of wheat but most of them much smaller. He scraped up a few and brought them to the Captain. When analyzed the particles proved to be gold. Sutter, at first, wanted to keep the discovery a profound secret. He might as well have tried to confine the golden atmos phere of California in a bird cage.
The news soon spread to the ends of the earth. The "gold fever" was contagious. Men left their occupa tions everywhere and flocked to California in great numbers. When they heard of the great discovery they simply dropped their tools, put a few articles of clothing into a little bag, and started out.
They expected to pick up gold in the beds of the streams or dig it out of the surface of the earth. Dur ing the summer of 1849 ^ roads led to the Pacific Coast. By mid-summer-it is estimated that California contained one hundred thousand people. San Fran cisco had grown from almost nothing to a city of twenty thousand.
The story of Captain Sutter is an intensely interesting one. He was born in Germany and studied in Switzer land. He served in the Swiss army for several years and then came to Missouri and became a citizen of the United States. Here he engaged in the cattle business and drove hundreds of animals over the old Santa Fe trail.
Besides English and German he could speak French
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and Spanish fluently and so could carry on business in Mexico or almost anywhere else. He was very suc cessful and became known as a great trader all through the West.
EMIGRANTS GOING WEST
They are making camp for the night and are going to have some prairie chickens for supper.
Like many others he was attracted by the stories which travelers told of the wonderful climate, the fer tile soil and the natural beauty of the Pacific Coast. Accompanied by a few men he set out on a journey over thousands of miles of rugged country, many parts of which had never been pressed by the foot of a white man.
First he went up to Oregon, then down the Colum-
THE GOLDEN SOUTHWEST
245
bia River to the coast, and then on to the Hawaiian Islands. From these islands he pushed on in a pur chased freight boat to Sitka, the capital of Alaska. Alaska at that time, was owned by Russia. After looking about for a time he sailed back to San Fran cisco Bay (1839). There on the banks of the Sac-, ramento River he estab lished a little colony and set himself up in business. In a short time he became very wealthy.
Sutter's Fort, as his colony was called, became widely known in the West and was visited by many travelers. Here they always found cheer and comfort and a hearty welcome. Captain Sutter was always ready to lend a helping hand to a fellow man in distress.
In the meantime the Mexicans had heard of Sutter's Fort and threatened to drive him out of the country. Just at this time, however, the Mexican War came on and John C. Fremont appeared at the head of a small band of American soldiers and took possession of the post.
We have already noticed that gold was discovered on the lands of Captain Sutter in 1848. We would all
CAPTAIN JOHN SUTTER
Captain Sutter at one time was one of the leading men on the Pacific Coast. Although gold was found on his property he died a poor man.
246 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
like, I imagine, to find a vein of gold on our farm or in our door yard. But the discovery in the case of Captain Sutter was little less than a calamity. All of his fine estate in California was taken away from him. It is possible that his title to it was not very good in the first place, and yet Mexico had given it to him as a reward for military services. Anyway he lost his lands and his cattle and died a poor man in Washington, B.C., in 1880.
JUNIPERO SERRA, SPANISH MISSIONARY
Of names illustrious in the pioneer mission field of America none is more renowned than Junipero Serra.
- HERBERT E. BOLTON
Not all the people of the Golden Southwest were seeking for gold. Some of them were laying up treasures in heaven. This was true of the early Span ish missionaries. Many of these men left fame and comfort in the Old World in order "to enter the labor ious and perilous life of a missionary to the savages. It was a life that promised little but hardships, disap pointment, danger, to be cut short, perhaps, by a death of agony at the hands of those he sought to save."
These missionaries had a lively interest in th'e spiritual welfare of the children of the forest and tried to teach them the principles of Christianity. In order to do this they learned the Indian dialects and then, by a very
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247
slow and difficult process, they gave them their lessons in religion.
The missionaries also taught them how to work and to play and to live better, cleaner, and more com fortable lives. They taught the Indians new games to take the place of more cruel ones, They also furnished them with a better kind of amusements.
In all of this work Junipero Serra, a Catholic missionary, was a leader. He was ' ' gentle, loving, and selfless." He sought no profit for himself. He owned no property. He lived in a cell very rudely furnished and had none of the real comforts of life.
His work was much appre ciated by the Indians. They called him " Father" and loved him as such. They mourned his death. "From far and near, the Indians who venerated him came to strew his coffin with flowers. And they wept bitterly that their Padre (Father), now silent in death, would never again greet them with his habitual tender admonition ... to love God."
The Spanish missionaries were a powerful influence in the early civilization of the Golden Southwest.
JUNIPERO SERRA
Serra was probably the fore most Spanish missionary to America.
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All in all, indeed, Serra was the outstanding Spanish pioneer of California.
— HERBERT E. BOLTON
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Wnere is 'the Golden Southwest?
2. Why did Texans remember the Alamo?
3. What was the " Lone Star Republic"? How long did it
last?
4. Who was Sam Houston?
5. Why did the annexation of Texas lead to a war with Mexico?
6. Locate: Rio Grande, Alamo, San Jacinto.
7. Who was " Davy " Crockett?
8. Why was John C. Fremont called " the Pathfinder "?
9. Who was "Kit" Carson?
10. Who were "The Forty-Niners "?
11. What kind of work did the Spanish Missionaries do in the
Golden Southwest?
12. How much territory did the United States get from Mexico
at the close of the Mexican War?
PRONOUNCING LIST
Houston hu'stun San Jacinto san ja-sm'to
Alamo a/la-mo Buena Vista bu'na vis'ta
Junipero Serra ho-ni'pa-ro sar'ra
Hawaiian ha-wl'yan
Padre pa'dra
CHAPTER XV THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN
DANIEL WEBSTER, ORATOR, LAWYER, AND STATESMAN
Let our object be our Country, our whole Country, . and nothing but our Country. And by the blessing of God may that Country itself become a vast and splen did monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever.
-DANIEL WEBSTER
WE HAVE now come to a point where our country is entering upon the second great stage or period of its Na tional life. Independence has been won, the new form of government has been put into operation, and the terri tory has been rounded out from ocean to ocean. The Fathers of the Republic have, for the most part, passed away and a new set of men have taken charge of "the Ship of State."
One of the most noted of these was Daniel Webster, the famous orator, lawyer, and statesman. Webster was also one of the most noted students of the Con stitution that ever lived. Washington was the founder of the American Union; Webster was the preacher of
the Union; and Lincoln was the savior of the Union.
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Daniel Webster, America's greatest orator, was born in New Hampshire a few months after the American forces had won the battle of Yorktown. He was a sickly little fellow and was not called upon to do the heavy work of the backwoods farm. He was also the ninth
child in the family so that the elder children were prob ably able to do the farm work without his assistance.
This arrangement gave the young Daniel an excellent opportunity to play, to ramble in the woods, and thus to improve his health. It also gave him an oppor tunity to study the habits of birds and animals, which he delighted to do.
He started to school when he was very young and learned his lessons easily and rapidly. On one occasion his teacher offered a pocketknife as a prize to the pupil who could recite the greatest number of verses from the Bible. The next day, when the test came, Daniel recited verse after verse until the teacher suddenly stopped him and handed him the prize. He was able, apparently, to go on almost without limit.
Daniel did well in school and continued to grow strong
DANIEL WEBSTER
America's foremost orator was majestic in appearance.
He
pleaded for an everlasting union of the states.
THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN 251
both in mind and body. His physical growth was quite remarkable. From a frail child he grew to be a strong, massive, and sturdy man.
He was also a man of noble presence. Thomas Car- lyle, the great English writer, called him "a magnificent specimen of manhood."
His voice was strong and pleasing. When he thun dered forth his great orations he was tremendously impressive — so much so, that men came to call him "the God-like Daniel." It was said that every word he spoke " weighed a pound."
He entered Dartmouth College in New Hampshire at the age of fifteen and was soon looked upon as a most remarkable student. His fine presence and his unusual ability as a public speaker made him a marked man. While still a student he was invited to give the 4th of July oration in the college town. He did this with such a display of learning and oratorical ability that he be came famous almost from that day.
After graduating from college at the age of nineteen he began to study law and to teach school at the same time. The money which he got for his first year of teach ing he gave to one of his brothers to help him through college.
Politics went hand in hand with law. In 1812 Webster was elected to serve in the Lower House of Congress. These were stirring times. The War of 1812 was on and the young man plunged into the thick of the debates. The contest became exceedingly bitter and, on one oc-
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casion, Webster was challenged to fight a duel, but very sensibly declined. A few years later he was elected to the United States
WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE IN THE U. S. SENATE, 1830
Webster spoke for four hours on this occasion. Some of the people in the galleries came hundreds of miles to hear him.
Senate. Here was the scene of his greatest triumphs. Here he crossed swords in debate with the greatest men of the nation, including John C. Calhoun and Robert Y. Hayne.
THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN 253
Later still he became Secretary of State in the Presi dent's Cabinet. He was also a candidate for the Presidency of the United States but was never elected to that office.
Webster's greatest fame, however, is based upon his oratorical ability. He spoke on many patriotic occasions but his favorite subject was the Constitution of the United States.
He also delivered many able speeches in the courts of law and was greatly sought after in important cases.
His most famous oration is his "Reply to Hayne," delivered in the United States Senate in 1830. Senator Hayne of South Carolina in the course of a speech had declared that the Constitution was a " compact" or an agreement from which any state might withdraw when ever it saw fit. Webster denied this. He claimed that the union of the states was everlasting and could not be broken. He said that no state could withdraw.
This debate caused great excitement all over the coun try as well as in Washington. People came from long distances to hear the great oratorical gladiators. The hotels were filled and the Capitol Building itself was crowded to its utmost capacity. People were extremely anxious to get a glimpse of the great orators and to listen to the persuasive tones of their voices.
Webster spoke for four hours without manuscript and without immediate preparation. The effect was wonder ful. He was tremendously effective in action. "Eye, brow, each feature, every line of the face seemed touched,
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as with celestial fire. The swell and roll of his voice struck upon the ears of the spellbound audience, in deep and melodious cadence, as waves upon the shore of the far-resounding sea."
Webster continued in public life for more than twenty years after his great triumph, and died at his beautiful home in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in 1852, at the age of seventy years.
The boundless prairie learned his name, His words the mountain echoes knew;
The northern breezes swept his fame From icy lake to warm bayou.
— OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
HENRY CLAY, "THE GREAT PEACEMAKER"
Personally, he was one of the most attractive char acters in our history.
Henry Clay was another famous son of old Virginia. He was born in that state in the midst of the American Revolution and, like most country boys of his time, re ceived his early education in an old log school house. His father was John Clay, a Baptist preacher, of fine oratorical ability. He died when Henry was quite a young boy and left to his wife the task of rearing their seven children without sufficient means. Henry did what he could to assist his mother in this difficult undertaking. He worked in a drug store for a time and was always willing to do anything that turned up.
THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN
255
When quite young he began the study of law. About this time his family moved to Kentucky. Henry re mained behind for a while but at the age of twenty he fol lowed his family "to grow up with the West." He then opened a law office in Lexing ton.
Clay entered politics as a young man and was elected to the Kentucky State Legis lature. Soon after this, and when only twenty-nine years of age, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. He was really too young to be a Senator but nothing was said about it at the time.
Later he was elected to the Lower House of Congress and was the Speaker, or presiding officer of that house, for five terms. He made a splendid record in this office. He is now looked upon as one of the greatest Speakers the House of Representatives has ever had.
He became Secretary of State in the administration of John Quincy Adams. He then went for a second time to the Senate of the United States where he, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun were known as the "Big Three."
HENRY CLAY
This picture represents "the mill boy of the Slashes" in his old age.
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He was nominated for the Presidency twice and was twice defeated. After one of his defeats he is said to have remarked, "I would rather be right than be President."
HENRY CLAY SPEAKING IN THE U. S. SENATE
The chamber and the galleries were always crowded when Clay spoke. See if you can find Calhoun and Webster in the picture.
In 1812 he was one of the so-called " war-hawks" who stirred up the country to war against England. England at this time was making raids on our merchant ships and impressing American sailors into her service. Clay
THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN 257
thought that we ought to put a stop to this and to go to war if necessary.
Clay was also one of the great orators of his time. He had one of the most pleasing and captivating voices ever possessed by a public speaker. He was also exceed ingly attractive personally and his ways were winning.
He had many nicknames. He was called " the mill boy of the Slashes" because he was born in the part of Virginia known by that name. The " Slashes" were a great tract of " marsh land overgrown with bushes." Clay as a boy was often seen on horseback carrying his grist to the mill.
He was also called "the great peacemaker" because he was able to settle so many bitter disputes in American history. Most of these related to slavery.
After a long and brilliant career Clay died in Wash ington, D.C., at the age of seventy-five. His remains were taken from that city to their final resting place in Lexington, Kentucky. His memory was honored all along the line. In New York a memorial procession was held in which a large silk banner was carried bearing this inscription :
Hearts which glow for freedom's sway, Come and mourn for Henry Clay.
If any one desires to know the leading and paramount object of my public life, the preservation of this Union will furnish him the key.
— HENRY CLAY
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JOHN C. CALHOUN I am a States' Rights man.
-JOHN C. CALHOUN
The third member of the "Big Three" was John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. Calhoun, like Webster and Clay, was a lawyer, a statesman, and a student of the
Constitution. He differed, however, in many ways from the other two great men.
Webster exalted the powers of the national government over those of the states. Cal houn exalted the powers of the states over those of the national government. " I am a States' Rights man," he exclaimed in one of his great speeches. And he remained so to the end of his days.
Webster held that the union of the states could not be broken. Calhoun claimed that a state could withdraw from the Union at any time it wished to do so. When Calhoun's own state, South Carolina withdrew, or seceded, from the Union in 1860 the Civil War came on.
JOHN C. CALHOUN
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was one of the greatest orators and lawyers of the South. He was an opponent of Webster.
THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN 259
Clay looked upon the Constitution and the national government in much the same way that Webster did. He said, if the union of the states were ever broken he hoped he would not live to see the " heart rending" spectacle.
Webster was a New England man, while Clay and Calhoun were born in the South.
Calhoun remained during his whole life in his native state, while Clay's active life was spent in Kentucky, a " border state."
All three of these men were in the Senate of the United States at one time and all three died about the same time. Webster and Clay passed away in 1852 and Cal houn in 1850. The three men were intellectual giants and took part in some of the most notable debates in our history.
John C. Calhoun was a member of a Scotch-Irish family. His father was born in Ireland and was brought to America when he was six years old. The Calhoun family lived in Pennsylvania and Virginia for a short time but soon found its way to the northern part of South Carolina.
Here John was born in 1782 — the year after the sur render at York town. His father died while John was still a small boy and the mother and the children lived a simple and quiet life on a small farm. The young boy had very little opportunity of going to school and so he roamed about the woods and studied the birds and trees instead.
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Finally when he was eighteen years of age he made up his mind to prepare for college. By hard work he was ready in two years and entered Yale. He was graduated from that institution two years later. He always felt
WEBSTER, CLAY, AND CALHOUN
that his preparation for college was too hasty and not as thorough as he would have liked it. This was some thing of a handicap to him in his later life.
After graduating from Yale he remained in Connecti cut for a while studying law. He then returned to South Carolina for the practice of his profession. His career
THREE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMEN 261
from this time on is closely connected with the history of his native state.
Like Clay, Calhoun was a " war-hawk" and said in Congress that the United States should go to war with England to put a stop to the outrages on American ships and sailors.
Calhoun was a Cabinet member, Vice-President of the United States, and for many years a member of the United States Senate.
In all of these positions he showed marked ability. He is best known, however, on account of his views on the nature of the Constitution. These views, as we have seen, were the direct opposite of those of Webster. The majority of the people of the United States accepted the views of Webster, and John C. Calhoun thus found him self "an advocate of a lost cause."
He died in Washington, D.C., in 1850 and many pil grims now visit his burial place in the old churchyard at Charleston, South Carolina.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. How did Webster and Calhoun differ in their ideas on the
Constitution?
2. Where did Daniel Webster go to College?
3. What was the " Reply to Hayne "?
4. What did Clay mean by his remark, " I would rather be
right than be President " ? 6. Who were the War-hawks? 6. What is a " States' Rights man"?
CHAPTER XVI "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY"
THE CLASHING of the views of Webster and Calhoun became general between the North and the South and led directly to a great "war between the states." The North and the South differed over the slavery problem. The men of the North wanted to keep slavery out of the new territories and to restrict it in many other ways. The men of the South were opposed to all this. They felt that they had a right to take their slaves with them wherever they went. They also felt that their slaves should be protected by law in the same way that other property was protected.
After quarreling over the matter for forty or fifty years without coming to any agreement the southern states, following the views of Calhoun, withdrew from the Union. South Carolina, Calhoun's own state, was the first to secede. The others followed soon after.
The northern states, following the views of Webster, claimed that the South had no right to withdraw. Both sides felt that they were right and both were very much in earnest. They took up arms, and the result was a ter rible and bloody war which lasted for four years.
262
" THE BLUE AND THE GRAY" 263
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, "THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR"
Abraham Lincoln, known among the slaves of the South as " Father Abraham," was President of the United States during this war.
Lincoln's grandfather owned a farm in western Virginia. He was apparently quite well-to-do. Families, on their way west, were in the habit of passing the Lincoln homestead. They also stopped and talked now and then. After a time Lincoln also caught the western fever. He sold his farm and struck out with his family for the Cumberland Gap and the " Wilderness Road." He was headed for "the dark and bloody ground." Lincoln, by the way, was an intimate friend of Daniel Boone, the Indian fighter, and Mrs. Lincoln was a cousin of the great Daniel.
A short time after this, Lincoln was killed by the In dians and left his widow and five small children to make their wray in the world almost unaided. The youngest boy, a lad named Thomas, at the age of six, became a "wandering laboring boy," picking up a few cents for odd jobs wherever he could. Later he was a sort of carpenter and worked about wherever he could find anything to do. He married Nancy Hanks, a very bright and attractive young girl. Nancy was tall and frail, delicate in health, and her strength was not equal to the hardships of the frontier life.
The happy young couple set up housekeeping in an old shed. "Tom" Lincoln was not much of a carpenter and
264 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
things did not go well with him. He gave up car penter work and took to farming. About sixty miles south of Louisville he built the rudest kind of log cabin. It had no floor aside from the earth and contained only one room. It had no doors, nor windows, nor pictures on the walls. In the midst of these bleak and barren surroundings, on the i2th day of February, 1809, Abraham Lincoln, one of the world's greatest men, was born.
This historic log cabin was located on the Rock Spring Farm in Hardin County, Kentucky. The original cabin has vanished but it has since been rebuilt and is being carefully preserved. The old farm has also been pur chased and will be kept in honor of the " First American.''
Things were going pretty well with this pioneer family, but Thomas Lincoln had a "wandering foot." He soon moved his family to another locality not very far away. At this place he built another log cabin much like the first. Here the boy Abe and his sister Nancy, two years older than he, went to school for a short time. It was to this cabin that Abe brought great bundles of spicewood branches to burn in the open fireplace. By the light of the brilliant blaze he studied his lessons or listened to his mother as she read to him.
A spirit of restlessness again came over Thomas Lin coln and he determined to pull up stakes and move on. He had heard great tales of the Indiana country to the north. Putting his household goods on a rude raft he floated them down a small creek to the Ohio and down
"THE BLUE AND THE GRAY" 265
to what is now Spencer County, Indiana. Here he left the river, plunged fifteen miles into the forest, and selected the site for his new home.
He then walked back to the old Kentucky cabin and brought his family on horseback to the new home in Indiana. Abe was seven and Nancy was nine at this time.
It was a weird sight that presented itself to the eyes of the young children. "In these woods the children saw many strange wild animals. Here was the home of the deer and the wild cat, the wolf and the bear. In the fallen leaves and undergrowth crept copperheads and rattlesnakes, while in the shadow of the trees they saw more birds than the little boy and girl could count. Stately, solitary cranes waded in the shallow water of the creek; overhead were flocks of screaming green and yellow paroquets; and in the more open places occasional wild turkeys were seen." 1
The father and son built a "half-faced" camp for the winter. It was too late in the season (November) to build a regular log cabin. This camp was open on one side although the thermometer dropped during the winter to eleven degrees below zero. A huge bonfire outside the cabin was kept burning day and night in order to keep the family comfortable and the wild animals from the door.
"We can picture the boy and girl as they lay by night
on the hard earth inside their half-faced camp, with their
1 Moores' " Abraham Lincoln."
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feet toward the blazing fire, and enjoyed the dreamless sleep that their tired little bodies had earned, while Tom Lincoln, the father, listened to the howl of the storm and, hearing the cry of the wolf somewhere in the darkness, knew that he must keep up the fire or harm would come." It was in this lonely wilderness that frail Nancy Hanks
Lincoln, the mother of Abraham, sickened and died. Thomas Lincoln and his son made a rough coffin from slabs of green wood and laid her to rest in the solemn forest. Several months after this time Abraham succeeded in getting a traveling
LINCOLN THE RAIL-SPLITTER
Lincoln was a famous rail-splitter during his early life in Illinois. Some of these rails were carried in the political parades of 1860 when he was chosen President.
minister to come to the spot and conduct funeral services over the grave of his mother.
For a time Abe went about the country splitting rails and doing other kinds of farm work for twenty-five cents a day. His sister did housework for the neighbors. In the meantime also he was reading stray books and asking questions of everybody who could give him any infor mation. He also went to school again for a short time and studied his books by the light of the open fire.
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY"
267
Soon Thomas Lincoln's foot " began to itch again." He had heard stories of the great fertility of the prairie land in Illinois. The tide of immigration was still flowing west and again Lincoln joined the great caravan. When his ox cart set out it was accompanied by the father, his two children, and a stepmother — a wonderful woman who had done splendid things for Abe and Nancy.
Abraham was now twenty-one years of age and six feet four inches tall. He went to the village of New Salem, Illinois, worked in a mill, and clerked in a store. He also made a business trip to New Orleans on a flatboat and while there came into contact with the cruelties of slavery. The sight made a deep impression upon his mind, and led him to say, "If I ever get a chance to hit slavery, I'll hit it hard."
While in New Salem he was appointed postmaster of the village and was accustomed to carry the letters about in his high hat and deliver them to their owners as he met them upon the streets. He also ran a general store for a time but this venture soon failed, and left Lincoln badly in debt. He went to work, however, and quickly paid off the debts of his partner and himself. The sum was not large but to him it seemed enormous and he frequently referred to it as "the national debt."
LINCOLN THE POSTMASTER
268 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
When he was twenty-three years of age another great sorrow came into his life. He met Ann Rutledge, a "fair- haired, delicate girl of nineteen," and fell deeply in love with her. He won her hand and was looking fondly forward to his wedding day when she was taken sud denly ill and died. He was terribly depressed. One night he exclaimed in anguish: "I cannot forget. The thought of the snow and the rain on her grave fills me with an indescribable grief. "
Lincoln, however, labored on and finally succeeded in gaining a good education. He found an old law book at the bottom of a barrel of rubbish and studied it with great diligence. He borrowed other books and finally when he was twenty-nine years of age he was admitted to the practice of law. His joy knew no bounds. He felt that he was now well started on his life work.
Law and politics often go hand in hand, and so it was in Lincoln's case. In the practice of law and in business Lincoln was so honest and upright that the people every where called him " Honest Abe." This fact, of course, helped him in politics. The people felt that they could trust him.
He shot upward rapidly and in the summer of 1860 was nominated by the Republicans for the Presidency of the United States. He was elected by a large majority but his election was the signal for a war between the North and the South.
The southern states said that they would withdraw from the Union if Lincoln was elected; and Lincoln was
"TEE BLUE AND THE GRAY"
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
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pledged, in case of his election, to prevent just that thing.
He pleaded with the southern leaders and tried in every way to persuade them not to break up the Union, but all to no avail. In his first inaugural address he spoke as follows:
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, are the momentous issues of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend' it.
I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Four years later, when the war was nearly over, he delivered his second inaugural address. In this address he showed, more than ever before, the largeness of his humanity. In conclusion he said:
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand
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271 the
years ago, so still it must be said, that the judgments of Lord are true and righteous altogether.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG DELIVERING His FAMOUS
SPEECH
" Government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
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On another occasion Lincoln made a notable ad dress — perhaps the most notable that he ever made. In the midst of the war he went to Gettysburg, Penn sylvania, to speak at the dedication of the National Cemetery. The Battle of Gettys burg was the turning point of the war and had been fought on this memorable field a few months before. A part of the field had been set aside as a National Cemetery and a distinguished party, headed by the President, went to Gettysburg to dedi cate it.
Lincoln's address on this occasion is one of the most sublime in the English language. In closing he spoke as follows:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN FREEING THE SLAVES This statue is in the city of Boston.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last
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273
full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
The death of the "Great Emancipator" was a tragic one. On the 1 4th of April, 1865, while attending a play in a Washington theater, he was shot by a half -crazy actor,
named John Wilkes Booth. He died on the folio wing day and his death was mourned by the whole civilized world.
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, WASHINGTON, D. C.
JEFFERSON DAVIS, LEADER OF A "Losx CAUSE"
When the southern states withdrew from the Union, their delegates met at Montgomery, Alabama, and formed a Union of their own which they called the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected President of the new Confederacy.
Mr. Davis was at his home near Vicksburg when notified of his election. The Capital of the Confederacy had been located at Montgomery (it was later changed to Richmond, Virginia), and Mr. Davis hastened to that place to take the oath of office.
His journey was like a triumphal procession. He
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made twenty-five speeches on the way and was welcomed in Montgomery with a great ovation. When he got off the train the crowd insisted on a speech and he said, among other things: "We are now determined to main tain our position. We will maintain our rights and our government at all hazards. Our separation from the Union is complete, and no compromise, no reconstruc tion, can now be entertained. " The people of the South were not blustering as some thought at this time. They were most terribly in earnest. Strangely enough, Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky, only a short distance from the log cabin which was the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Davis was a West Point man and had fought in the Mexican War. He served as President of the Southern Confederacy dur ing the entire war and was captured by Union troops a short time after the contest closed. He was in prison for a time, then released on bail, but never brought to trial.
JEFFERSON DAVIS
Mr. Davis was President of the Southern Confederacy during its entire existence. He was born in Kentucky but was a resident of Mississippi at the time of the Civil War.
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He wrote a history of the Southern Confederacy in two large volumes and died four years later (1889) in New Orleans at the age of eighty-one.
ULYSSES S. GRANT, "THE HERO or APPOMATTOX"
When asked what state he hails from,
Our sole reply shall be, He comes from Appomattox
And its famous apple tree.
-MILES O'REILLY
The two opposing armies in the Civil War were led by Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee — two of the great est military comman ders of modern times.
General Grant was a " Buckeye." He was born in 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, a small village about twenty-five miles from Cincinnati. A
THE BIRTHPLACE or U. S. GRANT
He rose to be Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Armies and later was President of the United States for two terms.
little later the Grant family moved to Georgetown, Ohio, the scene of the boy hood days of the " Silent General. "
Ulysses was a strong, manly, and self-reliant lad, and made himself useful on the farm and in the tannery owned by his father.
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The father, Jesse Grant, was fairly well educated for the pioneer times and wished to give his son a still bet ter education. So the young Ulysses was sent away to school for a time and then made up his mind that he would like to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
When it became known about the village that Ulysses Grant wished to become a cadet at West Point, the loafers on the street corners laughed heartily at the idea. They looked upon him as a silent, and almost stupid, sort of lad without any of the qualities of a soldier. His father, however, never lost faith in his son's abilities.
The next step was to get an appointment to the Acad emy. After some delay, the home Congressman was induced to appoint the young Grant to West Point, and Ulysses set out for the Academy in high spirits. It might be said at this point that his real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. Since the young lad did not particular ly fancy this combination of initials he made up his mind to register at the Academy as Ulysses Hiram Grant. However, the Congressman making the appoint ment knew that his name was Ulysses and that his mother's name was Simpson and, consequently, appoint ed him as Ulysses Simpson Grant — a name which he bore ever after.
Grant didn't have a very good time during his first days at the Academy. He was not very well dressed, was rather uncouth in appearance, and the older students made no end of fun of him. He had, however, put his hand to the plow and had no thought of turning back.
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While at West Point he was a student of about aver age ability and soon became known as a fairly good athlete and an excellent horseman. After a time he also became something of a "good fellow" and was usually ready for a frolic.
One night a chicken was being roasted in Grant's room. This, of course, was against the rules of the Acad emy. An officer suddenly appeared at the door, where upon Grant hurriedly concealed the chicken and stood at " attention." The officer entered and Grant saluted. The officer then examined the ceiling of the room with great care and said: "Mr. Grant, I think there is a peculiar odor in this room." "I have noticed it, sir," said Grant. "Be careful then that something does not catch fire," said the officer. "I will, thank you, sir," replied Grant with a salute. The interview was over and the feast proceeded.
The four years at the Academy developed the young lad to a great extent. He was fairly good in all of his studies and especially so in Mathematics and Engineer ing. As a horseman he had few superiors.
After finishing his course at West Point he was sent to the United States Military Barracks about ten miles from St. Louis. It was here that he became acquainted with Miss Julia Dent, whom he afterwards married.
About this time the war with Mexico broke out and Grant was ordered to Louisiana to prepare for active service. He was Quartermaster and was not supposed to take part in the battles. On one occasion, however,
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he mounted his horse and charged with the rest of the "boys." It was very fortunate that he did so as the Commander needed a messenger to ride back in haste for ammunition and reinforcements. He called for a volun teer. Grant responded. "You're just the man to do it," said the Commander. "Keep on the side streets and ride hard."
Grant dashed off at a full gallop. At every cross street the bullets whizzed by his ears and he swung down on the side to put the body of the horse between him and the enemy. While in this position he forced the animal to clear a wall four feet high. He came to the end of his trip in safety and delivered his message on time.
A few years after the close of the war he resigned from the army and went back to his father's home. He was not very welcome there. His father had begun to look upon him as a failure. His father-in-law, Colonel Dent, also looked upon him in much the same light. Colonel Dent turned over a small farm to Mrs. Grant and Ulysses worked hard upon it to support his wife and two children. Without a word of complaint he broke up the land and built a rude log cabin in the wilderness, which was very appropriately named "Hardscrabble."
His health then began to fail and he went to St. Louis in search of lighter employment. He became a clerk in in a real estate office but was not much of a success even there. His condition was pitiable. He lost his job and went out into the streets looking for employment.
"THE BLUE AND THE GRAY" 279
He finally drifted back to Galena, Illinois, and found employment with his father and brothers. Grant was at this place when the Civil War broke out and took an important part in enlisting men for the army. This work gave him a new lease on life.
He explained clearly to the volunteers what their en listment meant. "The army," he said, "is not a picnic party nor is it an excursion. You will have hard fare. You may be obliged to sleep on the ground after long marches hi the rain and snow. If you put your name down you should know what it means. I intend to enlist myself."
Just as 'soon as he entered the army he made himself felt. He didn't say much but he did a great deal. He was not handsome or well dressed and some of the men were inclined to make fun of him. One of them, how ever, looked him over very carefully and said: "Boys, let me tell you something. I stood close enough to him to see his eyes and the set of his jaw. I'll tell you what he is, he is the Colonel of this regiment."
Soon Grant began to take the forts on the Mississippi and to open up the river so that "The Father of waters could flow un vexed to the sea." Then men began to ask, "Who is this man Grant who fights battles and wins them?"
He laid siege to Fort Donelson. His old West Point comrade, General Simon Buckner, who was in command, asked for terms of surrender. "No terms except uncon ditional surrender; I propose to move immediately upon
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your works, " was Grant's reply. The Fort surrendered.
This reply electrified the Nation and after that he was
called "Unconditional Surrender Grant."
About this time some men began to gossip and backbite. They sent complaints to President Lincoln about Grant. The President dismissed the complaints by say ing, "I can't spare this man; he fights." On account of Grant's great success es in the West he was made commander-in- chief of the armies of the United States. His slogan then was "On to Richmond!" Grant's presence and his vigorous methods
soon put the army of the Potomac in fine spirits. The
soldiers often sang:
Ulysses leads the van.
For we will dare
To follow where Ulysses leads the van.
GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT
He is sitting before his tent and has been studying maps and military plans. He is now, apparently, thinking it over.
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As commander-in-chief of the Union Armies Grant received the surrender of Lee at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, and the war was practically over.
A few years later he was elected President of the United States and held that office for two terms.
In spite of his great war record Grant was a man of peace. While in London on his famous trip around the world he remarked: "I have never felt any sort of fond ness for war, and I have never advocated it except as a means of peace. I was always a man of peace."
When he delivered his first inaugural address as Presi dent of the United States he closed with these significant words: "Let us have peace." These same words have since been fittingly inscribed upon his tomb on the banks of the Hudson. They are on the side facing the south. This is significant, for he never bore any enmity towards the South or its people.
His last days were full of heroic grandeur. While suf fering from a fatal disease he was patient, kind, and gentle. While in great physical pain he worked diligently upon his book so that he might leave something for the support of his wife and family. While in this condition his old classmate, General Simon Buckner, called upon him and went away with tears in his eyes. Did they discuss the incidents about Fort Donelson?
The end came at Mt. McGregor, New York in 1885. In the funeral procession, which took place a few days later, General Joseph Johnston and General Simon Buckner, of the Confederate army, marched side by side
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with General William T. Sherman and General Philip H. Sheridan, who fought on the other side. "Over the body of Grant, the great warrior of peace, the North and the South clasped hands in a Union never again to be broken."
ROBERT E. LEE, THE IDOL OF THE SOUTH
He was thoroughly unselfish; he was swayed only by that principle which he had been taught to believe, and had ever firmly held, that his allegiance to his native state was higher than that which he owed to the Union.
Robert E. Lee, the commander-in-chief of the Con federate armies, was born in Virginia in 1807. He was two years older than Abraham Lincoln and fifteen years older than Ulysses S. Grant. He was a member of an old and illustrious Virginia family and grew up to be a fine type of soldier and gentleman.
Like Grant, Lee was a West Point man. He was an excellent student in the Academy and when graduated he stood second in his class. At a later time he was Superintendent of the Academy for nearly three years.
In April, 1861, Virginia withdrew from the Union. Lee, believing in the right of the state to do so, con sidered it his duty to cast his lot with his native state rather than with the Nation. He, therefore, resigned his commission in the army and accepted the command of the Virginia troops.
When he took command of these forces he said: "Trusting in Almighty God, an approving conscience, and the aid of my fellow-citizens, I devote myself to the
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283
aid of my native state, in whose behalf alone will I ever draw my sword."
Lee had a terrible struggle before he came to the con clusion that his first duty was to the state rather than
CONFEDERATE CAMP IN VIRGINIA
to the Nation. About the time that he made this deci sion he wrote to his sister as follows:
I had to meet the question, whether I should take part [in the war] against my native state. With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home.
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Lee's decision to cast his lot with Virginia greatly strengthened the Confederate cause. He had made a good record in the army, he was a skillful military man, a splendid engineer, and a gentleman of culture. The
whole South had con fidence in his ability as an officer and in his integrity as a man. His people never had reason to change their views in this respect.
He was fifty-four years of age when the war began and had been married since he was twenty-five to Mary Custis, daugh ter of the adopted son of George Washing ton. Through this marriage he obtained possession of "Arling ton/7 a beautiful estate opposite Georgetown on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. This estate has since been intimately connected with the Lee family. For a year or so after his appointment he did not have a very important place in the Confederate army. He looked after the fortifications about Richmond, and was
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, COMMANDER- IN-CHIEF or THE CONFEDERATE FORCES
" THE BLUE AND THE GRAY" 285
military adviser to the President of the Confederacy and to his Secretary of War. In the second year of the war he took an active command and was later placed at the head of all the Confederate armies.
On the gth of April, 1865, as we have already seen, he was compelled to surrender his entire army to General Grant, from whom he received most courteous and most generous treatment.
Immediately after the close of the war he was elected President of Washington College (now Washington and Lee) in Lexington, Virginia. He held this position until his death in 1870. During the latter part of his life he lived in retirement and appeared in public on only two occasions. He lies buried on the old college campus. After his death his eldest son took his place as President of the institution.
He was indeed "The Idol of the South" and the pic ture of General Lee, sitting upon his famous horse "jTraveler," may be seen in thousands of homes in the South.
GENERAL GRANT'S RIGHT-HAND MEN
While General Grant accomplished great things in the war he did not do his work alone. On the contrary he had most able and valiant helpers. One of these was
GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN
Sherman, like Grant, was born in Ohio. He was also a West Point man. When the war came on he was
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Superintendent of a Military Academy which had re cently been established by the state of Louisiana. He promptly resigned this position and took his place in the Union Army.
Sherman took part in some of the most important battles of the war such as Bull Run, Shiloh, and Vicks- burg. His most noted achievement, however, was his historic march "from Atlanta to the sea" in 1864.
Our camp fires shone bright on the mountain
That frowned on the river below, As we stood by our guns in the morning,
And eagerly watched for the foe;
When a rider came out of the darkness
That hung over mountain and tree, And shouted: Boys, up and be ready!
For Sherman will march to the sea!
The march to the sea was a bold stroke. It was car rying the war into the very heart of the enemy's country and much depended upon the success of this project. On November 1 1 Sherman cut the telegraph wires leading to Washington and prepared to make his plunge. Four days later, leaving the City of Atlanta in flames, he set out for the sea with about 60,000 men.
As the army was starting out from Atlanta one of the bands struck up the tune of "John Brown's soul goes marching on." The men caught up the strain and sang the chorus "Glory, glory, Hallelujah" with tre mendous enthusiasm.
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For thirty-nine days the army marched through Georgia, living on the country as it went, and spreading des olation on every hand. The people of the state were panic-stricken. A message from the Confederate Capital read as follows:
Remove your negroes, horses, cattle, and provisions from Sherman's army and burn what you cannot carry away. Burn all bridges and block up the roads on his route. Assail the invader in front, flank, and rear, by night and by day. Let him have no rest.
GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN
General Sherman was the hero of the famous march from Atlanta to the Sea.
Sherman pressed on, how ever, and on December 24, 1864, he took possession of the City of Savannah. On the 26th he sent the follow ing message to President Lincoln: "I beg to present to you, as a Christmas gift, the City of Savannah, with 1 50 guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton."
Sherman had accomplished his bold purpose. The enemy's country was cut into two parts. The back bone of the Confederacy was broken, and the end of the war was in sight.
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PHILIP H. SHERIDAN
Another man who did much to win the war was
Philip H. Sheridan, better known as "Gallant little Phil."
Sheridan was the most brilliant cavalry officer of the
SHERIDAN'S RIDE "Gallant little Phil" is rallying his men for the victory.
Civil War. His most noted exploit was in the Shenan- doah Valley sometimes called the " storehouse of the South." The valley was also "the backdoor to Wash ington" and a southern army was threatening the na tional capital from this point. Grant ordered Sheridan
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to drive out the Confederates and lay waste the valley. He was "to destroy what he could not consume."
Sheridan did his work most thoroughly. He de stroyed grain, barns, and agricultural tools. Mills were demolished and cattle were driven off. Nothing was left. It was said "that a crow flying over the valley would have to carry his own rations."
But the story does not end here. Sheridan was fight ing in the valley against General Early, a very lively sort of individual. General Early suddenly appeared from nowhere and threw his men with great force against the Union troops at Cedar Creek. Sheridan at the time was at Winchester, "twenty miles away." The Union troops retreated in confusion. There was almost a stampede. Then occurred "Sheridan's Ride," famous in song and story. The little General got word of what was happening and turned the head of his famous black horse, Rienzi, toward the scene of the battle.
But there is a road from Winchester town, A good, broad highway leading down; And there, through the flush of the morning light, A steed as black as the steeds of night Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight; As if he knew the terrible need, He stretched away with his utmost speed, Hills rose and fell, but his heart was gay, With Sheridan fifteen miles away.
Under his spurning feet, the road Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed,
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And the landscape sped away behind Like an ocean flying before the wind; And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire, Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire; But, lo! he is nearing his heart's desire; He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray, With Sheridan only five miles away.
He arrived just in time to save the day. "Come on, boys, we're all right," he shouted as he galloped along the line waving his hat. " We'll whip them yet and sleep in our old quarters tonight."
Defeat was turned into victory by the personality of the great General and the Confederate raids in the Shenandoah Valley ceased for all time.
GENERAL LEE'S RIGHT-HAND MEN
While the Union commanders in the Civil War dis played bravery and marked military skill it must be remembered that the Confederate commanders were also brave and able men.
THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON
One of Lee's right-hand men was General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, better known as " Stonewall" Jack son. Jackson was a Virginian and a graduate of the West Point Military Academy. He was probably the most peculiar commander in either army. He was deeply religious and had the Bible in his tent as well as
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291
his sword. When the men heard Jackson praying in his tent before daybreak they knew that something serious was at hand. Jackson was always terribly in earnest.
He first came into prominence in the Battle of Bull Run, one of the earliest battles of the war. In this famous engagement one flank of the Southern army was giving way before the on slaughts of the Union troops. A Confederate commander, attempting to rally his men, exclaimed: "There stands Jackson like a stone wall." The men stopped their flight and the battle was finally won by the army of the South. The name " Stone wall" stuck to Jackson ever after.
He was a beloved command- and a true soldier. He
er
THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON
11 Stone wall" Jackson gave up his life for the Confederate cause. He was one of the right-hand men of General Robert E. Lee.
was accidentally shot by his own men in the Battle of Chancellorsville and died of pneumonia a few days later.
Although he was about to enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, his military duties were still upon his mind. He was delirious for a time just before his death but his active mind was issuing commands to his men. He gave these orders:
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Order A. P. Hill to prepare for battle.
Tell Major Hawks to advance the commissary train.
Let us cross the river and rest in the shade.
When General Lee heard of the death of his great commander he said that he felt as though his right hand had been taken away.
JAMES E. B. STUART
General James E. B. Stuart was a dashing figure on southern battle fields when mounted on his spirited mare
— ' ' Skylark. ' ' He always wrote
fhis name J. E. B. Stuart and his men lovingly called him "Jeb." Stuart was born in Virginia and was graduated from the West Point Military ^ f? Academy. He joined the
Confederate army at the beginning of the war and served almost to its close. He was looked upon by both sides as one of the most daring officers in the service.
He was a bold raider — quick to strike and get away. He harassed the Union army at many points. He would swoop down suddenly, burn baggage wagons, take prisoners, and carry away mules and horses. He was always swift and alert.
GENERAL J. E. B. STUART
"Jeb" Stuart, as he was called by his men, was one of the most brilliant cavalry officers of the war.
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His men were usually few in number but they were all Virginians who rode their own horses and knew the country in which they were scouting.
Stuart won no great battles but he was an intelligent man who rendered a useful service. He was a sincere Christian and thoroughly reliable in every way. General Johnston once said "How can I sleep unless he is on the outpost?" And General Lee testified " He never brought me a false report." On one occasion he rode entirely around the army of the Potomac in order to get infor mation for his chief.
Finally in a battle with Sheridan's men in 1864, near Richmond, he was fatally wounded and died soon after at the age of thirty-one. His death was looked upon as a great blow to the Confederate army — almost as great as that of " Stonewall " Jackson.
THE CLOSE or THE WAR
The surrender of Lee at Appomattox practically ended the war. The two great armies which had fought against each other for four years were now disbanded and the men went quietly to their homes to take up the tasks of peace. The union of the states was restored and both North and South have since labored for the common wel fare of a united nation. In 1898 men from both sections of the country fought shoulder to shoulder in the Span ish-American War, and at a later time they joined hands in the great World War against the armies of the Ger man Government.
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At the present time there are very few survivors of either army. The ranks of the Blue and the Gray have been thinned with the passing years. Most of these brave men have answered their final roll call.
By the flow of the inland river,
Whence the fleets of iron have fled, Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day; Under the one, the Blue,
Under the other, the Gray.
No more shall the war cry sever,
Or the winding river be red; They banish our anger forever
When they laurel the graves of our deadl
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day; Love and tears for the Blue,
Tears and love for the Gray.
— FRANCIS MILES FINCH
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Was the Civil War fought to preserve the Union or to
abolish slavery?
2. Why was Lincoln called "The Great Emancipator "?
3. Lincoln's addresses are written in almost perfect English
How do you think he learned to write in this way?
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4. Find out what you can about Lincoln City, Indiana.
5. Why did Grant seem to be a failure before the Civil War?
6. Why was Robert E. Lee " The Idol of the South "?
7. In what ways did he show his fine spirit after the war
was over?
8. Why was Sherman's " March to the Sea " important?
9. Read T. B. Read's " Sheridan's Ride. "
10. Kow did " Stonewall" Jackson get his nickname?
11. Tell the story of General " Jeb " Stuart.
PRONOUNCING LIST
Appomattox ap-6-mat'uks Ulysses u-lis'ez
Galena ga-le'na Shenandoah shen-an-do'a
CHAPTER XVII GREAT AMERICAN INDUSTRIES
WHEN peace came the great industries of the United States began to flourish as never before. No other country in the world has ever had such a rapid growth in agri culture and manufacturing as the United States has had since the Civil War.
AGRICULTURE, LUMBERING, AND MINING
The area of the United States is very large. It con tains more than 3,000,000 square miles, and embraces within its boundaries all kinds of soils and every variety of climate. It has light sand, heavy clay, and black loam. It has the rigorous climate of northern Maine and the balmy atmosphere of Florida and California.
This great variety of soil and climate makes it pos sible for the United States to produce a corresponding variety of agricultural products. The Gulf States produce cotton in great abundance. Some of this is manufac tured at home, but a large part of it is sent to England and other foreign countries. A wide belt across the central part of the continent is largely given over to
corn and winter wheat. Wool and live stock are pro-
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duced in the Rocky Mountain country and grain and fruits on the Pacific Coast. Dairying and mixed farm ing are prominent in New York and New England. Spring wheat abounds in Minnesota and the Dakotas. We find lumber in great abundance in the cotton states, the central Northwest, and the Pacific North west; and Maine, of course is the old "Pine tree State."
Iron ore is found widely scattered over the territory of the United States from Lake Superior on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, and from Tennessee on the east to the Rocky Mountains on the west.
The great coal belt of the United States stretches across the states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee Indiana, and Illinois. It would be impossible to carry on our great manufacturing in dustries without these immense coal fields — to say nothing of heating our homes and cooking our food.
Large veins of gold, silver, and copper are found in the Rocky Mountain region and on the Pacific Coast. Copper in large quantities has been discovered in the vicinity of the Great Lakes.
A COAL MINER AT WORK He is undercutting a deposit of coal.
GREAT AMERICAN INDUSTRIES
299
A COTTON MILL IN LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS This huge factory contains thousands of power-looms.
A CATTLE ROUND-UP
Horsemen round up the cattle on the western plains now and then for branding and for sale.
300 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
Large deposits of oil have been found in many places from Pennsylvania on the east to southern California on the west. In recent years rich oil fields have been opened up in Oklahoma and Texas.
If you will look at the map on the opposite page you will notice the great variety and the importance of the products coming from the soil of the United States. The area of the country is also so vast that the amounts
THE TRACTOR AT WORK
The tractor is taking the place of the horse on many farms. Almost all kinds of farm work can now be done in this way.
of these products are astonishing. The reports of the United States census give some very interesting figures in this respect.
The recent advances in agriculture in this country have been largely due to better and more scientific methods of farming and to the use of improved farm machinery. There is now an Agricultural College and an Agricultural Experiment Station in every state of the Union, and these institutions are teaching the farmer how to fertilize and prepare the soil, how to select and
302
THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
plant the seed, and finally how to care for and harvest his crop. These things are vastly better done than in our fathers' days.
Agricultural machinery has also been greatly improved. It was a marked advance from the crooked stick to the gang plow. There is a vast difference between the sickle and the modern reaper or harvester. How would you like the task of cutting the grain on one of the great wheat fields of the Dakotas by means of a sickle?
Improvements are still being made. The American is a very ingenious person. In 1833 a clerk in the patent office at Washington resigned because he thought that all
the possible inven tions had already been made. He was greatly mistaken. The era of invention was only just beginning at that time.
THE STEEL MILLS
Great advances have also been made in manufacturing. Nowhere is this more
evident than in the steel industry. One of the old Emperors said that -he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. Our forefathers found the United
CLEVELAND STEEL MILLS
Iron ore is brought in boats from Minnesota and Michigan and made into steel in these giant mills.
GREAT AMERICAN INDUSTRIES 303
States a country of wood and made it a land of brick, cement, and steel.
Steel is the most important item in modern building. It is found in skyscrapers, battleships, railways, and bridges, to say nothing of machines, tools, and imple ments. The American industrial world could not exist in its present form without the use of steel.
The development of the steel industry has been rather recent. Such men as Andrew Carnegie, Henry C. Frick, and Charles M. Schwab had a large part in this devel opment. A visit to Gary, Indiana, to Pittsburgh or Beth lehem, Pennsylvania, will readily convince you of the magnitude and importance of the steel industry in the United States.
Now what shall we say in regard to the future indus trial development of our country? Is it not likely that the next fifty years will show a still more astonishing advance in this respect than the last fifty years? Ameri ca's to-morrow is likely to be a very interesting period.
We have reviewed in this little book the life stories of some of the greatest men produced by the United States. These men were, in a very true sense, The Makers of America. They founded the Republic, fought its battles, and carried on its government. They explored the wilderness, built railroads, and invented labor-saving machinery. They gave their best services unselfishly to you and to me.
304 THE MAKERS OF AMERICA
These men accomplished great things,, partly because they were men of ability. This, however, does not account for it all. They could stick to their task until it was completed. The poet Longfellow was right when he said:
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
HINTS AND QUESTIONS
1. Why does the United States produce such a large variety
of agricultural products?
2. What are the principal products of your state?
3. What is the United States Patent Office?
4. Go through a manufacturing establishment whenever you
can. Study the operations.
HINTS TO TEACHERS
"IF the pupil in the fourth and fifth grades comes into vital touch with great leaders, by living over again their lives and fortunes, he will find History a study of absorbing interest and of untold value as an aid to the understanding of life ..."
Report of Committee of American School Citizenship League.
IN order to obtain this " absorbing interest" and "untold value" the best efforts of the authors and the teacher are essen tial. And in history teaching, especially in the earlier grades, the teacher is a more important factor than the text-book. Much of the success of the class-room work will depend upon the teacher's ability to vitalize the material presented in the book. An at tempt should be made to stimulate the imagination of the child so as to cause him to live over again the scenes depicted on the printed page. He should be led as close as possible to the char acters and scenes of the period. The Makers of America should be living and moving men rather than statues on pedestals or steel engravings hanging on the wall. In order to bring this about, picture, poem, and story should be utilized. Oral presen tation should not be neglected. The voice and the personality of the teacher carry an appeal to the child which no cold type can equal.
Geography, also, should be called upon . The boy cannot march in imagination with Lewis and Clark unless he knows the route and the contour of the country traversed. "History without geography is all in the air."
THE INTRODUCTION
If the class has done biographical work in the fourth grade the Introduction will constitute a review of some of the out standing events in the earlier period of American History. If no such work has been done, it will be well for the teacher to
305
306 HINTS TO TEACHERS
read the Introduction to the class with such explanations as may seem necessary.
A collection of pictures illustrating the scenes referred to will add much to the vividness of the text.
CHAPTER I
Have the pupils memorize appropriate quotations from Sidney Lanier's America and Frank L. Stockton's One Country.
CHAPTER II
Ask the pupils to imagine themselves present at the meeting in the old church at Richmond. Have them describe the scene in a paragraph or two.
CHAPTER III
Have the pupils draw a map of Massachusetts and locate upon it the various places mentioned in the chapter.
CHAPTER IV
Ask the class to read Joseph Hopkinson's Hail Columbia and commit to memory the third stanza. (It would be well to have in the school library a copy of Poems of American History, edited by Burton E. Stevenson).
CHAPTER V
Before leaving this chapter it would be well (i) to sum up the causes of the American Revolution and (2) to review the geog raphy of the campaigns.
CHAPTER VI
An interesting game could be devised by having members of the class impersonate the characters mentioned in the chapter and tell something about themselves. The remaining members would then guess their identity. In order to make the game somewhat more difficult and instructive additional information should be procured from other books.
HINTS TO TEACHERS 307
CHAPTER VII
Ask the pupils to write an imaginary account of some expedi tion or sea fight of John Paul Jones, as Jones himself might have written it in his diary.
CHAPTER VIII
Ask the pupils to imagine themselves members of the Boone family and to write two or three paragraphs about their home, food, dress and games.
CHAPTER IX
Have the pupils study a map of the United States and indicate the places connected with the career of George Rogers Clark.
CHAPTER X
Have the class make a collection of pictures relating to the City of Washington as it is today.
CHAPTER XI Read Chamberlain's How we are Clothed.
CHAPTER XII
(a) Ask the class to make a list of the states carved out of the Louisiana Purchase.
(b) Ask them to make a list of the places one would pass through in going over the route of Lewis and Clark.
CHAPTER XIII
(a) Have the pupils make a collection of pictures of steam boats from Fulton's time to the present.
(b) Have them make a miniature Erie Canal on the sand table showing locks and terminals.
CHAPTER XIV
Use the characters mentioned in the chapter as the basis of a game similar to that suggested for Chapter VI.
30$ HINTS TO TEACHERS
CHAPTER XV
Read a few extracts fram the speeches of Webster, Clay, or Calhoun and explain their meaning to the class.
CHAPTER XVI
(a) Read to the class some of the stories relating to the boy hood of Abraham Lincoln.
(b) Have the pupils make a collection of pictures illustrating the birthplace, boyhood, family life, and various homes of Abra ham Lincoln.
(c) Explain and sum up the causes and results of the Civil War.
CHAPTER XVII
Ask each member of the class to go through a factory, if pos sible, and write a short account of what he saw.
SUMMARY
At the end of the term it will be well to have a general review and summing up. Do not leave things at loose ends. Try to have the class look upon the whole period as one of great devel opment. The following phases should be emphasized: —
(a) Territorial Expansion
(b) Growth of Population
(c) Development of Agriculture
(d) Development of Manufacturing
(e) Development of Transportation Facilities (/) Development of Education and Culture (g) Progress in Free Government
(h) THE INFLUENCE OF THE MAKERS OF AMERICA IN ALL OF THIS DEVELOPMENT.
INDEX
Adams, John hears James Otis, 16; quotes Patrick Henry, 26; Vice President, 172,
177-
Adams, Samuel, 33; early life, 34; organizer of Revolution, 34; portrait, 35; attends Continental Congress, 36; protests against Stamp Act, 37; before Governor Hutchinson, 39; quoted on liberty, 40; British attempt to capture, 40; home life, 42.
Agricultural machinery, 302.
Agricultural products, 297.
Alamo, the, 232, 238.
Allen, Ethan, 60.
Andre, John, 90.
Appomattox, 281.
Arnold, Benedict, 78, 80, 81, 90, 98, 99.
Blue and the Grey, 262.
Bon Homme Richard, 116.
Boone, Daniel, 118; boyhood, 120; education, 120; as a hunter, 120; as a nature-lover, 121 ; as Jack of All Trades, 121; in North Carolina, 121; map of Boone's travels, 122; Yadkin River, 122; marries Re becca Bryan, 123; in Tennessee, 125; in Florida, 125; to Kentucky, 125; Boone fighting Indians, 126; captured by In dians, 127; escapes from Indians, 128; death of James Boone, 131; Boone's powder horn, 140; adopted by Indians, 141; Boone's thrilling escape, 141; Boone's gun, 142; in West Virginia and Missouri, 145; Boone's cabin in Mis souri, 145; in the legislature of Virginia, 146; leader in the frontier settlements, 146.
Boonesboro, 130; life in, 135; threatened by Indians, 140; attacked, 144.
Boston Massacre, 58.
Boston Tea Party, 57, 59.
Braddock, 5, 123.
Buckner, General Simon, 279.
Buena Vista, battle of, 236.
Bunker Hill, battle of, 61, 64.
Burgoyne, General, 77, 78, 79, 80.
Burgoyne's surrender, 81.
Burke, Edmund, 56.
Cabot, John, 4.
Calhoun, John C., 258, 262.
Canal boat, 219.
Capital City, 174.
Capitol building, 179.
Carson, Kit, 240.
Cattle round-up, 299.
City of Washington, 175.
Civil War, 275.
Civil War, close of, 293.
Clark, George Rogers, 150; plans attack on British, 155, 156; Kaskaskia, expedition against, 157, 159; Gibault, Father, 160; Fort Clark, 161; Hamilton, British gen eral at Detroit, 162; Vincennes, 162, 163; last years, 166.
Clay, Henry, 234, 254.
Clermont, 214.
Climate of U.S., 297.
Clinton, General, 78, 79.
Clinton, Governor De Witt, 216.
Coal, 300.
Coal miner at work, 300.
Colonies, thirteen, 10; England taxes them. 10; smuggle goods, 14.
Colonists, English, 6.
Colonists' houses searched, 14.
Columbus, Christopher, 4.
Concord Bridge, 59.
Confederate camp in Virginia, 283.
Confederate States of America, 273.
Constitution of the U.S., Webster defends, 253.
Constitutional convention, 84.
Cooper, Peter, 222.
Cornwallis, 71, 92, 93, 103.
Cornwallis' surrender, 83.
Cotton gin, 182-187.
Cotton mill, 299.
Cotton-picking, 184.
Cowpens, battle of, 92, 100.
Crockett, David, 237.
Cumberland Gap, 129, 130.
Dairying, 300.
Dark and Bloody ground, 138, 145. Davis, Jefferson, 273.
Declaration of Independence: Liberty Bell, ready to ring, 2; Jefferson reading, 4.
300
INDEX
signed by Adams, 40; Franklin discuss ing, 49; Jefferson writes, 49; signing, 65; passage, 66.
District of Columbia, 176.
Dutch in New Amsterdam, 6.
Emigrants going West, 243. England, hostility grows toward, 6. Erie Canal, 215.
Findley, John, 123, 125.
First Continental Congresses ; passes Declara tion of Independence, 66; chooses Wash ington as commander, 67.
Fort Donelson, 279.
Franklin, Benjamin: reading Poor Richard's Almanac, 4; quoted on native rights, 6; mentioned, 38; early life, 45; "Balance Wheel of Revolution," 46; book shop, 47; in England, 48; Stamp Act, discusses, 49J Declaration, discusses, 49; portrait, 51; to France for aid in war, 52; helps make Constitution, 52.
Freeman's farm, battle of, 79.
Freeman's farm, second battle of, 80.
Fremont, John C., 238.
French and Indians, 5.
French and Indian war, map, 55.
French and Indian War, 122.
French in the New World, 6.
Fulton, Robert, 212.
Gage, General, 39, 41.
Gates, General, 77, 79, 80, 81
George III, 10, 23, 67, 83.
Gibault, Father, 160.
Gold discovered in California, 242.
Golden Southwest, 230.
Grant, portrait, 280.
Grant, Ulysses S., 275.
Greene in the South, 91.
Greene, Nathanael, 76, 88-96.
Guilford Court House, battle of, 93.
Hale, Nathan, 108-111.
Hamilton, Alexander, 75, 76, 83.
Hancock discusses the Stamp Act, 37; British try to capture, 40.
Hanging Rock, battle of, 108.
Harrod, James, 132.
Harrodsboro, 132.
Hayne, Robert Y., 252.
Henderson, Richard, 133.
Henry, Patrick, 4; early life, 18; indolence 19; moral education, 20; marriage, 20 keeps a hotel, 20; in a country store, 20 21; as a farmer, 21 ; social life, 21; read ing, 21 ; lawyer, 22; Parson's cause, 22 oratorical powers discovered, 22; in house
of Burgesses, 22; U.S. taxation, 23; ad dresses Virginia Assembly, 23; law prac tice, 24; attends First Continental Con gress, 25; speech in Richmond, 27; urges war, 27; Governor of Virginia, 29; later life, 29; Red Hill, 30; helps Clark, 153.
Highway, waterway and railway, 211.
Horses, Washington's, 173.
Houston, Sam, of Texas, 230.
Howe, General, 61, 68, 77, 78, 79.
Indians, 6, 124, 126, 128, 131, 135, 141, i44. Industries, great American, 297. Iron ore, 300.
Jackson, Andrew, 108, 207-210.
Jackson (Stonewall), Thomas Jonathan, 290;
portrait, 291. Jamestown, Virginia, 9. Jefferson, Thomas, 189; portrait, 191. Jefferson writes Declaration, 49. Jones, John Paul, 113. Junipero Serra, 246.
Kenton, Simon, 138, 152, 160. Kentucky and Tennessee purchased, 134. Kentucky, first glimpse of, 126. Kitchen of Jonas Clarke House, 41. Knox, Henry, 77.
Lafayette, 75, 83.
Lee, Robert E., 275, 282; portrait, 284.
Lee's surrender, 294.
Lexington, battle of, 41, 59.
Lewis and Clark, 203.
Liberty Bell, i, 66.
Liberty poles, 56.
Lincoln, Abraham, 263; his grandfather, 263; his father, 263; his boyhood, 264; the rail-splitter, 266; the postmaster, 267; studies law, 268; portrait, 269; elected President, 270; inaugural address quoted, 270; inaugural address, second, 270; Gettysburg speech, 272; freeing the . slaves, 272; Lincoln Memorial, 273; Lincoln quoted, 280.
Livingston, Robert R., 199.
Log cabin, wilderness, 2.
Lone Star Republic, 234.
Long Island, battle of, 68.
Louisiana Purchase, 195, 202.
Louisiana Territory, early history of, 197.
Lumber, 300.
Magellan, Ferdinand, 4.
Maps: French and Indian War, 55; beginning Revolution, 63; Erie Canal, 216; Revolu tion in the South, 92; Revolution, latter
INDEX
part, 80; showing acquisition of U.S.
territory, 196; showing industries, 298;
showing travels of Boone and Clark,
122; showing Western exploration, 204. Marion, Francis, 100-107. Meeting House, New England, i; illustrated, 2. Mexican War, 235. Mexico and treaty of peace, 237. Missionary, Spanish, 246. Mississippi River, Jefferson wants land near,
198.
Monroe, James, 200. Monticello, 194.
Morgan, Daniel, 77, 92, 96-101. Morse, S. F. B., and the electric telegraph, 224. Mt. Vernon, 84.
Napoleon, 200. Naval warfare, 116. Navy, U.S., 113. Nelson's Ferry, 103, 105. New Amsterdam, 5.
Oil, 301.
Otis, James: portrait, 9; early life, 12; op poses King, 14; principles of conduct, 14; before the judges, 15; struck by sword, 16; flame of fire, 16; mentioned, 38.
Parson's cause, 22. Philip, King, 5. Pike, Zebulon, 207. Pitt, William, 56. Planter, Southern, 2. Pocahontas, 5. Polk, James K., 234. Princeton, battle of, 71, 72. Putnam, Israel, 62.
Quebec, fall of, 5.
Railroad, first American, 220.
Revere, Paul, 4, 41, 59.
Revolution, American, 8, 141, 155, 160.
Revolution, beginnings, map, 63.
Revolution, end of, 83.
Revolution, latter part, map, 80.
Revolutionary heroes, 88.
Revolutionary War in the South, map, 91.
Rolfe, John, 5.
Salt Licks, 134, 139. San Francisco, 244. San Jacinto, battle of, 233. Santa Anna, 233. Saratoga, battle of, 78. Saratoga, surrender at, 82. Schuyler, General, 77, 79.
Scott, General, enters Mexico City, 236.
Self-government, 8.
Serapis captured by John Paul Jones, 116.
Serra, Junipero, 246.
Sheridan, Philip H., 288.
Sheridan's ride, 289.
Sherman, William T., 285.
Sherman's march to the sea. 286.
Slavery, 262.
Smith, John, 5.
Southern States, 262.
"Spirit of '76," 67.
Stage coach, 217.
Stamp Act, 48; stamp collector mobbed, n:
Patrick Henry, 22; Adams, 37; Hancock,
37; reading Stamp Act, 38. Standish, Miles, 5. States rights, 258. Steam boat, Fulton invents, 213. Steel, 303. Steel mills, 302. Stewart, John, 127, 129. Stuart, J. E. B., General, 292. Stuyvesant, Peter, 5. Sumter, Thomas, 107. Sutter, Captain John, 242. Sycamore Shoals, treaty of, 133.
Tarleton, General, 100, 105, 106.
Taxation without Representation, 38.
Taxes, 56.
Taxes, "Too Much," 12.
Taylor, General, "Old-Rough-and-Ready," 236.
Telegraph, Morse invents, 224.
Texas, Annexation of, 234.
Texas, early days in, 231.
Ticonderoga, 59.
Tobacco loading, 2; illustrated, 3.
Tom Thumb, 222.
Tractor at work, 201.
Train, electric, 223.
Travelling by highway, 211.
Trenton, battle of, 70.
University of Virginia, 193. U.S. Map showing acquisition of territory, 196.
Valley Forge, 72, 73, 74-
War of 1812, 251, 256.
Warren, Joseph, 64.
Washington, George: surveying, 4, 54; Brad- dock, 5, 59; early life, 54; "Pillar of the Republic," 56; covers retreat, 68; crossing the Delaware, 69; Washington and La fayette, 82; made President of Constitu-
312 INDEX
tional Convention, 84; as a boy, 85; as White House, 177, 178.
a man, 86; as President, 169; adopting Whitney, Eli, 181.
new constitution, 169; First Cabinet, 170; Wilderness Road, 134.
Inauguration, 170; portrait, 171; passes Wolfe, General, 5.
through Trenton, 172.
Water travel, 212. Yorktown, 94.
Webster, Daniel, 250, 262. Yorktown, battle of, 82.
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