Book^iS_£i
Tne PlGioriai Siom oi flmerica
CONTAINING
THE ROMANTIC INCIDENTS OF HISTORY, FROM THE DISCOVERY
OF AMERICA TO THE PRESENT TIME.
WRITTEN BY
ELIA W. PEATTIE,
AUTHOR OF
'THE EXECUTIONER OF THE REVOLUTION," "A STORY (JF BLOCK ISLAND," " GRIZEL COCHRAN.'
"THE VOYAGEUR," " MICAH ROOD," AND OTHER HISTORIC TALES.
CONTRIBUTOR TO
ST. NICHOLAS, WIDE AWAKE, THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE, AMERICA, COSMOPOLITAN, LIPPINCOTT'S
JUDGf'S young PEOPLE, EVERY OTHER SUNDAY, DAUGHTERS OF AMERICA,
AND MANY OTHER PERIODICALS.
CHICAGO:
NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO.
1896.
Enlered according In Act nf Congr. ss. in llie year 1895.
By ROBERT O. LAW,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, al Washington. D. C.
//-/^//J
O'
JrafHta*
HE desire throughout, in the writing of this
history, has been to record the heroic adventures
and celebrate the picturesque incidents that make
our iiistory romantic and memorable. Such
incidents as awaken patriotism and enthusiasm
are those which are most worthy of preservation,
and the influences they have upon the imaginative and
generous minds of the young are incalculable. If some
of the duller pages of the congressional debate and
ineffectual law making have been neglected for these
more brilliant chapters, it is not the young who will
reproach us.
For the minds of the young select with unerring
instinct those things which are of actual importance.
They read with passionate tears of the martyrdom of the
devoted; they are fired with heroism and lofty pride at the accomplish-
ments of the heroic, and they condemn with bitter contempt the
intrigues of the mean, and the cowardice of the time-serving. To
arouse the noble impulse, and keep alive the love for patriotism,
fidelity, braver}-, and true holiness, has been the aim of the book.
It contains little that is new; but it has been sifted from the best
histories, and the latest ones. It is, however, the first book to record
tlie events of the last ten years, and these events it has tried to deal
with impartially, unblinded by the conflict of parties, sects^ or factions.
If injustice has been done in any way, it l;as been unwitting. If it
conveys, in understandable language, the mosr memorable occasions of
our national history, condemning and praising where condemnation and
praise are due, then it has accomplished all that it aimed to for its
young readers.
EUA W. PEATTIE.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Chaf
LIST OF PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS.
I. Mastodons and Mvstery.
Earliest Inhabitants — Mound-Builders — American Indians.
II. The Legendary Century.
Tile first Discoverers of America — Myths, Legends and
Traditions — Journey of the Norsemen.
III. The Dreamer of Genoa.
Columbus and His Voyages — Amerigo Vespucci — The
Cabots.
IV. Across the Dark Water.
Ponce De Leon — The Fountain of Youth — The Discovery
of the South Sea by Balboa — De Soto — His Death.
V. The Lilies of France.
France: Her Explorers and Settlements — The Fight Be-
tween French and Spanish Colonies.
VI. A Lodge in the Wilderness.
The English — Their Search for the Northwest Passage —
Frobisher's Explorations — Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Set-
tlement — The Colony of Sir Walter Raleigh — Gosnold's
Failure.
VII. Founding the Old Dominion.
The London and Plymouth Companies — The Virginian
Settlement — Captain John Smith and His Wonderful Ad-
ventures — Pocahontas — The New Charter — The Wreck of
the "Sea Adventure."
VIII. Through Death to Victory.
From the Bermudas to Virginia — The Starving Times —
The Arrival of Lord De la Warre — Help from England —
The Beginning of Slavery — The First Blow at Intem-
perance.
IX. Norumbega, the Beautiful.
The Settlement of Maine — The Voyage of the English —
Chamolain and Vermont — The Settlement of Mt. Desert.
Table of Contents.
Chapter.
X. Conquest of the Wilderness.
Nova Scotia and the English Despoh'ation — The Settlement
of New Hampshire — The Mode of Northern Colonial
Government.
XI. The Dutchmen of New Netherland.
The Settlement of New York— The Dutch: Their Explora-
tions and Settlements — Their Dealings with the In-
dians — Their Success.
XII. The Mayflower.
The Puritans — Their Trials and Wanderings — The Landing
at Plymouth Rock — The First Winter.
XIII. The Daily Round.
The Next Three Years — The Order, Civil, Martial and Re-
ligious, which they Maintained — The Manner of their
Daily Living, etc.
XIV. The Reward of Treachery.
The Massacre at Jamestown — Lord Baltimore and the Set-
tlement of Maryland — The Liberal Laws of the Baltimore
Settlement.
XV. The Peace-Keepers.
Prosperity of the Maryland Settlement — Conspiracies Against
Them — The Triumph of Virginia Over Them, and the
Persecution of the Catholics — Calvert's Success and the
Return of the Jesuits.
XVI. A Brief Authority.
New Jersey — The Settlement Under Peter Minuet — Oppo-
sition of the Dutch — The Triumphs of the Dutch Under
Peter Stuyvesant — End of Swedish Independence in
America.
XVn. Old Wine in New Bottles.
The "Patroons" of New Netherland — The Settlement at
Manhattan — The IManners and Customs of the Dutch —
Establishment of Popular Land Laws.
XVIII. Knickerbocker Days.
The Government of William the Testy — Trouble with the
Indians — The Night Attack on Pavonia — Revenge oi' the
Indians — Dismissal of Kieft and Arrival of Peter Stuy-
vesant.
Table of Contents,
Chapter.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
The Old Bay Settlement.
The Massachusetts Bay Company — The Trials of the First
Year — Arrival of Roger Williams — John Eliot — Perse-
cution of Williams — His Settlement at Providence.
The Ravages of Civilization.
The American Indian — The Destruction of the Block
Island Indians — The Extinction of the Pequot Tribe-—
The Federation of the English Colonies.
The Pride of the Righteous.
The Religious Law of Boston — Gorton and His Beliefs —
The Settlement at Shewanet — Persecution of the Gor-
tonites — Persecution of the Baptists — The Obtaining of
a Roj'al Charter for Rhode Island and the Providence
Plantations.
Through Pain to Peace.
The Quakers — Their Persecution — George Fox and His
Friends — M'ary Fisher and Ann Austin — The Quaker
Children.
The Royalist Colony of Virginia.
Governor Berkeley and His Reign — More Trouble with
the Indians — The Puritans Ap-ain Victorious — The Re-
turn of the Stuarts to Power.
"Hey, for St. Mary's!"
The Colony of Virginia — The Indians — The Uprising of
Bacon and His Friends — Restriction of the Governor's
Rights — Return of Berkeley — Desertion of Jamestown~~
Death of Bacon — Breaking up of Bacon's Party.
Each for Himself.
The Carolinas — The Proprietors and Their "Grand
Model" — The Albemarle Settlement — The Removal of
Charleston — The Spanish Buccaneers — Seth Sothell —
Quaker Rule.
Man's Inhumanity to Man.
Attack of Indians on New Netherland — Destruction of
Pavonia — Persecution of Lutherans and Quakers at
New Amsterdam— Slavery Among the Dutch — English
Encroachments — Surrender of New Netherland — Settle-
of New Jersey.
Table of Contents.
Chapter.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
Our Country, Right or Wrong.
Political Policy of Massachusetts — Efforts of England to
Recover the Charter — Edward Randolph — Coin of the
Colony — Sir Edmund Andros — ^The Episode of the
Connecticut Charter — Arrest of Andros and Election
of Phips — Death of Phips.
Days of Dread.
King Philip's War— Fight at Brookfield— Fight at Had-
ley — Fight at Deerfield.
A Passing Madness.
How the Witchcraft Hallucination Started — Samuel Par-
ris and His Witch-craft Library- — The Trial and Death
of Giles Corey and Other Victims of this Hallucination.
A Gentleman.
William Penn — The Settlement of Pennsylvania — Re-
markable Growth of the Colony — Change of Govern-
ment — Restoration of Penn — His Death — The Slavery
Question — Benjamin Franklin.
The Dutchm.\n's Fireside.
The Rule of Lovelace at New York — The Dutch Retake
the City — It Again Reverts to the English by Patent-
Governor Andros and His Unpopular Rule — Leisler
Assumes Control — Trouble with New France.
Frontenac the Fighter.
Frontenac's Attack Upon New York — The Massacre at
Schenectady — New York is Fortified by Leisler —
Sloughter is Sent to Supersede Him — Leisler's Defense
Gets Him Into Trouble — The Governor's Dastardly
Taking Off.
The Pest of the Pirates.
The Rule of Governor Fletcher — Fletcher Succeeded by
the Earl of Bellomont — The Commission of Captain
Kidd, and How it was Carried Out — Lord Cornbury
Becomes Governor — The Expeditions Against Port
Roval and Onebec.
Table of Contents.
Chapter.
XXXIV. The Holy Voyageurs.
The French and the Discoveries in the Northwest —
Fathers Joliet and Marquette Discover the Source of
the Mississippi and Sail Down the River — Death of
Marquette — The Expedition of La Salle and Henne-
pin — Louisiana Discovered and Named.
XXXV. The Chevalier La Salle.
La Salle Lands on the Shore of Texas — He is Mur-
dered — The Hut in the Wilderness — The Expedition
of d' Iberville — The Settlement of New Orleans, and
the Mississippi — Scheme of John Law — The Massacre
of Chopart — Bienville's Ill-fated Expedition Against
the Chickasaws.
XXXVI. The Land of Gold.
California — Spanish Explorers — The Journey of Sir
Francis Drake — The Coast Indians — Expedition of
Espejo — Overthrow of the Jesuits — Onate and His
Labors — The Missions at the South — The Decline of
Spain and Her Colonies.
XXXVII. The Carolinas.
Sir Nathaniel Johnson in Carolina — Strategy at Fort
Johnson — Religious Differences — Massacre of 17 ii —
Uprising in South Carolina — The Yemassees — The
Buccaneers — Rebellion Against the Proprietors.
XXXVIII. From Alleys and By-ways.
How Georgia Came to be Settled — The Emigrants — The
Wesleys and Whitefield — The March of the Slaves —
The Spanish Attack — Georgia as a Royal Province.
XXXIX. The Cavaliers of Virginia.
Culpepper in Virginia — Governor Effingham — Nicholson
and Andros — The Growth of Industries — Mar>'land —
The Clergymen of Virginia.
XL. A Reign of Terror.
The First Trial for Libel in America — The Negro Plot
in 1 741 — The Burning of Quack and the Hanging of
Ury — The Mingling of Dutch and English in New
York — The Government of Lieutenant-Governor
Clark.
Table of Contents.
XLI. The Clash op Arms and Ideas.
Ivord Bellomont's Rule Over New York, New Hampshire
and Massachusetts — Dudley's Rule — The French and
English War of 1702 — Taking of Port Royal — The
Lumberers' Difficulties in Maine and New Hampshire.
XLII. "Americans Are Born Rebels."
Expedition of Maine and New Hampshire Against the
Norridgewocks — The Command of Captain John Lov-
ell — William Drummer in Massachusetts — Whitefield's
Revival and Shirley's Administration — Louisburg —
The Surrender.
XIvIII. "They Nurse Treason With Their j\Iilk."
The Growing Spirit of Independence— The First Expe-
dition Against Fort Du Ouesne — I'he Colonists for
Aggression and Offense — Braddock's Ill-fated Expedi-
tion — George W'ashington's First Appearance — Brad-
dock's Defeat and Death.
XEIV. Desolated Acadia.
French and English Settlements in Nova Scotia — The
Rivalry Between the Settlements — Colonel W^inslow
Drives Out the Acadians — The Pathetic Exodus — Per-
secution of the Exiles.
XlyV. The Lion or the Lilies.
Operations Against the French in the North — The Battle
at Bloody Pond — The French Take Forts Oswego and
William Henry — The English Retake Louisburg — The
Battle of Carillon — The English Retake Oswego and
Capture Frontenac and Du Quesne.
XLVI. The Paths of Glory.
The Expedition Against Quebec — The Night Attack and
the Fight on the Plains of Abraham — The Death of
Montcalm and Wolfe — New Orleans and the IMississippi
Valley Given to Spain.
XLVIL A Blow for Liberty.
Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas — Arrival of Rogers' Men
at Detroit — Pontiac's Conspiracy — Beginning of War-
The Siege of Detroit — The Battle of Bloody Bridge
Tabic of Coiilcitis. 13
Chapter.
XLVIII. Cesar Had His Brutus.
The Stamp Act — Condition of the Colonies — The Oppo-
sition to Taxation — Repeal of the Stamp Act — Refusal
of the Assembly to Provide for the Troops Sent 0\-er
by England.
XLIX. The Boston Tea-Drixkers.
Trouble in Boston — "The Boston Massacre" — The Tea
Tax — Attitude of Governor Hutchinson — The Boston
"Tea Party"— The Boston Port Bill.
L. The Blood of P.atriots.
The First Blood of the Revolution— The IMen of Bille-
rica — Fight at Concord and Lexington — The Siege of
Boston— The Battle of Bunker Hill.
LI. Liberty or Death.
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys — Surrender
of Ticonderoga — Washington Chosen Commander-in-
Chief — The Lack of Powder — Recall of General Gage —
Small Naval Conquests.
LH. The Plains of Abrah.am.
The Designs for the American Conquest of Canada —
Montgomery's Move Against Montreal — Arnold's Fail-
ure at Quebec — The Union of the Forces — The Second
Defeat at Montreal — The Americans Fall Back Upon
Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
Lni. The Palmetto Logs.
The Feeling in England — The Hiring of the Hessians —
Attitude of New York — The Conflict with the South-
ern Colonies — The Defense of Fort IMoultrie.
LIV. The Sons of Liberty.
The Growth of a Desire for Independence — The Declara-
tion of Independence — The Forming of State Consti-
tutions.
LV. The Coxtixextals.
Washington at New York — x\rrival of Thirty-two Thou-
sand British Troops — Overtures for Peace by the
British— Battle of Long Island— The Battle of Harlem
Heights— Destruction of New York — Battle of White
Plains.
14
Table of Contents.
Chapter.
LVI.
LVII.
LVIII.
LIX.
LX.
LXI.
LXII.
LXIII.
Battle Field and Bivouac.
The Jersey Campaign — The Battle of Trenton — The Battle
of Princeton — Winter Encampment of Washington at
Morristown.
The Year of the Three Gallows.
State of the American Army — The Pennsylvania Cam-
paign — The Battle of Brandywine — The "Paoli Massa-
cre" — The British at Philadelphia — The Battle at Get-
mantown — Washington Winters at Valley Forge.
Tattered Conquerors.
Washington's Camp at Valley Forge — Neglect of Congress —
The Conway Cabal — General Stenben — Burgoyne in the
North — The Siege of Ticonderoga — The Battle of Oris-
kany.
"Elbow Room."
The Raid on Bennington — General Gates Given Command
at the North — The Battle of Freeman's Farm — Battle of
Bemus Heights — Surrender of Burgoyne.
Sabre and Musket.
Evacuation of Philadelphia by the British — The Battle of
Monmouth Court House — Firing of Bedford and Fair-
haven — The Wyoming Massacre — Warfare in the West.
The "Bon Homme Richard."
British Reduction of Georgia — The Destruction of New
Haven — The Americans Capture Stony Point — The Great
Naval Engagement of John Paul Jones.
The Six Nations.
Expedition Against the Six Nations — The Civilization of
the Indians — Humiliation of the Six Nations — Expedi-
tion up the Mississippi from Louisiana — Triumph of
Clinton in the South.
"Whom Can We Trust Now?"
Plans of the Two Armies — Siege of Charleston by the
English — Capture of the American Army at the South —
The Burning of Connecticut Farms — Arrival of Rocham-
beau — Treason of General Arnold.
CHAPTER.
LXIV.
LXV.
LXVI.
LXVII.
£.xvni.
LXIX.
LXX.
LXXI.
LXXII.
IvXXIII.
Table of Contents. i.S
"I Have Sent You a General."
Cornwallis and Gates at the South — The Command of the
Southern Force Given to General Green — The Battle
of King's Mountain — Battle of Guilford Court House.
The United States of America.
Arnold's Expedition — Battle Between Cornwallis and
Lafayette — The Siege of Yorktown and Surrender of
Cornwallis — The Sacking of New London b}- Arnold.
The Plowshare Versus the Sword.
Condition of the Country at the Close of the Revolution —
John Adams Made Minister to England — The Disband-
ing of the Army — The Call for Delegates to Construct
a Constitution.
"First in War, First in Peace."
The Forming of the Constitution — Washington Elected
President.
Starting the Wheels of Progress.
Hamilton's Policy as the First Secretary of State — In-
crease of American Commerce — The Question of
Slavery — Frontier Troubles at the West.
The Courtly Times of Washington.
Death of Franklin — The Humor of Washington's Time —
The Policy of Hamilton — The Pennsylvania Whisky
Riots.
A Democracy.
The Political Parties of the Young Nation — The Jay
Treaty — Election of John Adams to the Presidency —
Alien and Sedition Laws — Trouble with France.
A Modern Lucifer.
The Fries Insurrection — Selection of the National Capi-
tal — Death of Wa.shington — Louisiana — Aaron Burr.
Decatur'^ Tribune.
The Piracy of the Barbary States — War with Tripoli —
Exploits of our Naval Heroes — Triumph of America.
"Jeffersonian Simplicity."
Exploration of the Northwest — Introduction of the Steam-
boat — Passage of a Law Forbidding the African Slave
Trade — The Jeffersonian Policy — Maritime Troubles.
j6
Table of Contents.
CHiPTER.
LXXIV.
LXXV.
LXXVI.
LXXVII.
CXXVIII.
LXXIX.
LXXX.
LXXXI.
War Again.
Administration of James Madison — The Southern War
Party — Declaration of War and Popular Protest — The
Troubles on the Western Frontier — The Chicago Mas-
sacre — Surrender of Hull.
"Never Give Up the Ship.'
War of 1 812 — The Niagara Campaign — The Battle ot
Oueenstown — Naval Operations — The Six Triumphs
of the Americans — Affairs in the West — The Conflict
on the Lakes — Perry's Victory.
"Blue Lights."
The War with the Creeks — Jackson's Campaign — Affairs
on the Sea-board — "Yankee Strategy" — The Treaty
of Peace.
A Country Without a Capital.
Jackson's Campaign Among the Creeks — Discourage-
ments on the Northern Frontier — The Battle of
Lundy's Lane — The War on the Sea-coast for 1814 —
The Capture and Destruction of the City of Washing-
ton — Vicissitudes at the South — The Battle of New
Orleans.
A Transient Amiability.
The Era of Good Feeling — War with Algiers — Finan-
cial Condition of the Country — The First Seminole
War — The Missouri Compromise.
The Second Adams.
Monroe's Administration — Election to the Presidency of
John Quincy Adams — The Assertion of State Su-
premacy in Georgia — Tariff Disputes — Andrew Jack-
son Elected President — The Financial Crisis of 1837.
Fiction and Truth.
The Literary History' of the Last Fifty Years — The
Abolitionists.
A House Divided Against Itself.
Second Seminole War — Election of Van Buren — Finan-
cial Depression — Election of William Henry Har-
rison — The Dorr Rebellion — The Mormons — Annex-
ation of Texas.
Table of Contents.
Chapter.
LXXXII.
Lxxxm.
LXXXIV.
LXXXV.
LXXXVI.
LXXXVII.
LXXXVIII.
LXXXIX.
The Sad Plain of Monterey.
The Administration of Polk, and the War with
Mexico — Various Severe Battles — Conquest of Cali-
fornia and New Mexico — Occupation of the City of
Mexico — Treaty of Peace — Birth of the Free Soil
Party and Election of Taylor.
Gold and Iron Chains.
Death of Taylor, and Administration of Millard Fill-
more — Discovery of Gold in California — Slavery
Agitation — The Trouble in Kansas.
The Truth Goes Marching On.
Sacking of Lawrence— John Brown and the Destruction
of Ossawottomie — Election of Buchanan — Assault
on Sumner — The Mormons — Election of Lincoln.
"We Are Coming, Father Abraham."
Secession — The Southern Confederacy — Attack on
Fort Sumpter— The First Call for Troops — The
Three Years' Enlistment — The Battle of Bull Run.
The Union Forever.
Attitude of Foreign Powers — Bombardment of Forts at
Hatteras Inlet — Conquest of Charleston Harbor —
The Campaign West of the Alleghanies — Grant at
Forts Henry and Donelson — The War in Missouri.
With Shot and Shell.
The Capture of New Orleans — Fight Between the
"Monitor" and the "Merrimac."
Shiloh and its Sequel.
The Campaign at Island No. lo — The Battle of
Shiloh— Siege of Corinth— The Conflict at the East
Under McClellan— Siege of Yorktown— The Battle
of Williamsburg — The Battle of Seven Pines —
Battle of Chickahominy — Battle of Malvern Hill.
Close of the Peninsula Campaign.
The Army of Virginia Under the Command of Pope —
General Halleck Made General-in-Chief— Battle of
Cedar Mountain — McClellan Leaves the Peninsula —
Battle of Groveton — Loss of Generals Stevens and
Kearney.
I8
Table of Contenis
Chapter.
XC. The Bloody Field of Antietaji.
Lee's Array Moves Northward — The Battle of South
Mountain — The Battle of Antietam.
XCI. "All Us Niggahs is Free!"
Burnside Made Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the
Potomac — The Battle of Fredericksburg — The Eman-
cipation Proclamation — Battles of Perryville, luka
Corinth, Murfreesboro and Chancellorsville.
XCaI. The Deadly Parallels.
The Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Vicksburg.
XCIII. The Martyrs.
Why the War Did Not End After Gettysburg— The New
York Riots — Atrocities in the South — Southern Prison
Pens.
XCrV. The Swamp Angel.
The Siege of Charleston — Dupont's Defeat — Gilmore's
Siege — The "Swamp Angel" — Morgan's Raids.
XCV. "The River of the Dead."
Campaign at the West Between Generals Rosecrans and
Bragg — Battle of Chickamauga — Battle of Chatta-
nooga — The Sanitary and Christian Commissioners.
XCVI. "Forward by the Left Flank."
Grant Given Absolute Command — The Battle of the
Wilderness — "Forward by the Left Flank" — Second
Battle of Cold Harbor.
XCVIL The Confederate Cruisers.
The Confederate Privateers — Fight Between the "Kear-
sarge" and "Alabama" — The International Court of
Arbitration — Sherman and the Western Campaign.
XCVIII. "After You, Pilot!"
Sherman's March to Atlanta — The Bombardment of Mo-
bile — Destruction of the "Albemarle."
XCIX. From Atlanta to the Sea.
The March from Atlanta to the Sea — The Entrance to
Savannah — The Siege of Richmond — Burnside's Blun-
der — The Burning of Chambersburgr.
Tabic of Contents. ^9
Chaptee.
C. Whirling Through Winchester.
Sheridan and the Shenandoah Campaign — Sherman's March
Northward from Savannah — The Burning of Cohnnbia.
CI. "Oh, Captain! IMy Captain I"
Closing of the Virginia Campaign — The Evacuation of
Richmond — Surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court
House — Assassination of President Lincoln,
CII. "Ye Cannot Serve Two Masters."
Administration of Andrew Johnson — Capture of Jefferson
Davis — Reconstruction — Impeachment of President John-
son — Purchase of Alaska — Returning Prosperity to the
Union.
CIII. A Hundred Years of Liberty.
Administration of Grant — The Ku-Klux Klan— The Chi-
cago Fire — The Custer Massacre — The Panic of 1873 —
The Centennial Exposition — Administration of President
Hayes — Railroad Riots of 1877.
CIV. The Old Haymarket.
Election and Death of President James A. Garfield — Ad-
ministration of Arthur — The Anarchists of Chicago.
CV. Civil-Service Reform.
President Cleveland's Administration — Civil-Service Reform
and Pension P>ills — ]\Iany Noted Union Generals I'ass
Away — Death of General Grant — Prominent Events of
Four Years of Democratic Power.
CVI. President Harrison's Inaugur.\tion.
The Members of the Cabinet and the Foreign Ministers —
The Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of Wash-
ington's Inauguration — The C)pening of Oklahoma Ter-
ritory — The Samoan Disaster.
CVIL The Great Calamity.
Bursting of a Reservoir in the Conemaugli Valley,~^Penn-
sylvauia — Appalling Rush of Water Down the Valley —
Destruction of Johnstown — Thousands of Lives Lost and
Millions of Dollars' Worth of Property Destroyed.
20 Tabic of Contents.
Chapter.
CVIII, Through One Administration.
The Four Years of President Harrison's Term — Complications
with Italy and Great Britain — Reciprocity and the Pan-
American Congress — Second Election of Cleveland.
CIX. The Passing of a Great Man.
The Death of James Gillespie Blaine — Election to Congress
— Candidate for the Presidency — Reciprocity and the Pan-
American Congress — The Grief of the Nation.
ex. A Mid-Pacific Revolution.
How the Inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands Threw Off the
Burdensome Yoke of Monarchy — The Elmbassy to the
United States — Seeking Annexation to Uncle Sam's Family
of Commonwealths.
CXI. The Crowning Glory of the Century.
The World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago — Our Coun-
try's History 400 Years Old — The Magnificent Site and
Buildings — Objects of Interest.
CXll. President or Governor?
Administration of President Cleveland — The New Tariff —
The Income Tax — The Coal Strike — The Coxey Movement
— The Pullman Boycott — The Silver Question.
CXI II. Of the Making of Good Books, Etc.
The Literature of the Last Thirty Years.
CXIV. The Supreme Court of the United States.
Its Organization and Duties — The Lives of the Chief Jus-
tices.
CXY. The United States Navy.
Its Old Ascendancy — The Invention of the Monitor — The
Deterioration of the Navy, After the Civil War — Appoint-
ment of the Advisory Board — The New Navy — Improve-
ments in Naval Artillery — Organization of the Navy De-
I partment — Sketch of John Ericsson — Uses of the Navy.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
George Washington, - - - (Frontispiece.) PAGE.
Columbus Frightens the Indians, etc., _ _ _ ^o
Viking Boat, Found in Denmark, - - - - 34
Columbus and His Son Begging, - - - - 35
Columbus — The Yanez Portrait, - - - ~ 39
Amerigo \ espucci, _____ ^q
Sebastian Cabot at Labrador, ----- 44
A Spanish Soldier, ______ ^O
Burial of De Soto, - - - - - ~ 51
Spanish Armor, - - - - - - 51
Wolpi, --------52
John Adams, ------ ^ ^g
Thomas Jefferson, ------ 87
A Puritan Type, - - - - - - g2'
Miles Standish Filling Rattlesnake Skin with Bullets, - - 98
James Madison, ______ 125
James Monroe, _____ ^ 1^-7
Charles I., ______ jj2
John Quincy Adams, - - - - ~ '55
Charles II. of England, _____ j^g
Andrew Jackson, - - - - - - 172
Benjamin Franklin, _____ jgg
William Penn's Residence, _____ 205
Martin Van Buren, ______ 217
William Henry Harrison, _____ 240
A Cavalier of Virginia, - - - - - 252
A Moravian Settlement, - - - - - - 256
Frozen In, ------ - 2615
John Tyler, -____._. 272
George Washington in His Youth, - - - - . ; 273
Quebec, - - - - - ~ - ■. 287
James Knox Polk, - - - - - - > 295
Patrick Henry, - - - - - _ ,■ 299
Building Where the Tea Plot was Hatched, - - 307
Bunker Hill Monument, - - - _ j. 1 ^15
A Spouting Geyser, - - - - - - 317
Washington Taking Command of the Continental Army, - 319
Zachary Taylor, ______ ^21;
Signing the Declaration of Independence, _ _ _ ^38
Old Liberty Bell, - - - _ . _ _ ^^^
House in which the Declaration of Independence was Signed, . 345
Independence Hall, - - - - - 348
Washington Crossing the Delaware, - - .. _ 254
22 Illustrations.
illustrations-Continued.
PAGE.
VVasliingtoii on the Hudson, - - - - 35^
Marqui.s Marie Joseph Paul de Lafayette, _ _ _ 362
Haiou Von Steuben, _____ 366
The Assault on Stonv Point, - - - , - - 382
Millard Fillmore, '-__--- 387
Escaj^e of Benedict Arnold, _____ 398
Washington's Treasure Chest, _ _ _ _ 422
P'ranklin's Grave, ______ 427
P'ranklin Pierce, ______ 430
Washington's Grave, ______ 437
Duel lictwceii Burr and Hamilton, _ _ _ 43g
The White House, Washuigton, _ _ _ _ 44-
Brock's Monuments, _____ 457
Indian Burial in Tree-tops, _____ 469
The Fort at Pensacola, _____ 472
Fall of Table Rock, ______ 482
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, _ _ _ _ 494
Attack upon Fort King, - - ' - - - 503
Border of Great Salt Lake, _ _ _ - - 506
Oldest House in the United States, - - - 5I3
Catching Wild Horses in Te.xas, - - - - 5'^
James Buchanan, - - - - - "5 '9
Salt Lake City and Mormon Temple, _ _ _ 525
Abraham l^incoln, ______ 527
Capture of John Brown in the Engine House, - - 53'
Jeffersqi^' Davis in 1861, - - - - - 535
The Csiflcderatc Flag, _____ 538
Stonewall |ackson, _____ 540
Birfhplaceof General Grant, _ _ _ _ 545
Federal iron-clad River Gunboat, _ _ _ _ 54-
Admiral Farragut and His X'ictorious Squadron, - - 55^
Admiral David Farragut, _____ 552
General Benjamin F. Butler, - _ _ - - 553
The '■ Merrimac " Sinking the " Cumberland," - - 55*^
General Robert E. Lee, - - - - - 5^3
A Railroad Battery, ----- 56S
United States Military Telegraph Wagon, - - 582
General Pickett's Charge Against the Union Forces at Gettysburg, 589
Gunboats Passing Before Vicksburg, - - - 591
View of a Cotton Chute, _____ 592
Horace Greeley, ______ 596
The Tombs Prison, New York City, _ _ _ _ 598
Flight of Negroes from Fort Pillow, - - - 601
Bombardment of Fort Sumter by the United Fleet Under Admiral
Dupont _______ 603
Picking Cotton, ______ 622
General W. T. Sherman, ______ 625
Lieutenant Cushing's Attack on the "Albemarle," - - 628
Illustrations. 23
illustrations-Continued.
PAGE.
Sheridan's Famous Ride from Winchester to Cedar Creek, - 63;
Sheridan's Attack upon Lee's Army at Appomattox Court House, 643
Jefferson Davis in 1S88, _____ g^r
Andrew Johnson, ______ 5^5
View of Salt Lake City, _____ 5^0
General Ulysses S. Grant, _____ 5^^
Massacre of General Custer and Command on the Little Big Horn
River, _______ (3;g
Denver, Twenty Years Ago, _____ 5^^
The Maid of the Mist Going Through Whirlpool Rapids, - 661
Rutherford B. Hayes, _____ 56^
James A. Garfield, ______ 55-
Chester A. Arthur, _____ 669
The Haymarket Riot, - - - - - - 671
Grover Cleveland, ______ 675
The Johnstown Disaster, _____ -tq-
Bird's-eye View of the United States, - - - 712
James G. Blaine, ______ 7^5
Benjamin Harrison, - - _ _ _ jgg
Battle Ships — Ancient and Modern, - _ _ _ 789
THE RIVER TIME.
BENJAMIN F. TAYLOR.
Oh! a wonderful stream is the river Time,
As it runs through the realm of tears,
With a faultless rhythm and a musical rhyme
And a broader sweep and a surge sublime,
As it blends in the ocean of years!
How the winters are drifting, like flakes of snow.
And the summers, like birds, between,
And the years in the sheaf, how they come and go
On the river's breast, with its ebb and its flow,
As it glides in the shadow and sheen!
There's a magical isle up the river Time,
Where the softest of winds are playing;
There's a cloudless sky and a tropical clime,
And a song as sweet as a vesper chime.
And the Junes with the roses are straying.
And the name of this isle is the "Long Ago,'*
And we bury our treasures there;
There are brows of beauty, and bosoms of snow,
Ihere are heaps of dust— oh! we loved them so—
There are trinkets and tresses of hair.
There are fragments of songs that nobody sings,
There are parts of an infant's prayer;
There's a lute unswept, and a harp without strings.
There are broken vows and pieces of rings.
And the dresses that sAg used to wear!
There are hands that are waved when the fairy shore
By the fitful mirage is lifted in air,
And we sometimes hear, through the turbulent roar.
Sweet voices we heard in the days gone before.
When the wind down the river was fair.
Oh! remembered for aye be that blessed isle,
All the day of our life until night;
And when evening glows with its beautiful smile.
And our eyes are closing in slumbers awhile,
May the Greenwood of soul be in sight.
LIST OF
PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS.
President.
Term of Office.
1 George Washington, - - Virginia,
Two terms, 1789-97.
2 John Adams,
One term, 1797— 1801.
3 Thomas Jefferson, - - Virginia.
Two terms, 1801-09.
4 James Madison, - - - Virginia.
Two terms, 1809-17.
5 James Monroe, - - . Virginia.
Two terms, 1817-25.
6 John Q. Adams, -
One term, 1825-29.
7 Andrew Jackson, - - - Tennessee.
Two terras, 1829-37.
8 Martin Van Buren, - - New York. -
One term, 1837-41.
9 William H. Harrison, - Ohio. - - -
One month, 1841.
10 John Tyler, - - . - Virginia.
Three years and 11 months, 1841-45.
11 James K. Polk, - - - Tennessee.
One term, 1845-49.
12 Zachary Taylor, ... Louisiana. -
One year and 4 months, 1849-50.
13 Millard Fillmore, - - New York.
Two years and 8 months, 1850-53.
14 Franklin Pierce, - - - New Hampshire.
One term, 1853-57.
15 James Buchanan, - - Pennsylvania.
One term, 1857-61.
Vice-President.
- John Adams.
Massachusetts. Thomas Jefferson.
Aaron Burr.
George Clinton.
George Clinton.
El bridge Gerr}-.
Daniel D. Tompkins,
Massachusetts. John C. Calhoun.
John C. Calhoun.
Martin Van Buren.
Richard M. Johnson.
John Tyler.
George M. Dallas.
Millard Fillmore.
William R. King.
J. C. Breckinridge.
26
THE STORV OF AMERICA.
President.
"erm of Office.
l6 Abraham Lincoln, - - Illinois.
One term and i month.
i7 Andrew Johnson, - - Tennessee.
Three j'ears and 1 1 months.
1 8 Ulysses S. Grant, - - Illinois. -
Two terms, 1869-77.
19 Rutherford B. Haj'es, - Ohio. -
One term, 1877-81.
20 James A. Garfield, - - Ohio.
Six and a half months, 1881.
21 Chester A. Arthur, - - New York.
Three years, 5 and a half months, 188
22 Grover Cleveland, - - New York.
One term, 1885-89.
23 Benjamin Harrison, - - Indiana. •
1889^3.
24 Grover Cleveland, - New York.
1893-
VlCE-P.(ESID&NT.
Hannibal Hamlin.
Andrew Johnson.
Schuyler Colfax.
Henry Wilson.
William A. Wheeler.
Chester A. Arthur.
Thos. A. Hendricks.
Levi P. Morton.
Adlai E. Stevenson.
CHAPTER I.
1$ nnh. ii^siar^.
EARLIEST INHABITANTS — THE MOUND-BUILDERS — THE AlIERIC'*-/-!
iHE plans of God are ver>- wide. No
nation may have the right to say, "We
>«'*"***■' — ^Sb'* -^.<*^,)P^ JWl' ^^^ the people, and wisdom shall die
with us." Traces are left of so many great and perished nations, that
we are constantly reminded that a thousand years is but as a day in His
sight, and that the work and progress we are so proud of may disappear
and leave but little hint of us by which the coming race may guess
what we were like.
In the skeletons of the huge animals called the Mastodons and
Mammotns, which once roved this country, and which have ceased to
exist for so many thousand years, there are found flint arrow-heads,
which must have been made by men who lived in that time, and by
which these wild and terrible creatures were slain. Besides the many
animals which belonged entirely to that age, and which there is nothing
like now, there were many then upon this continent which we read of
now only in foreign countries. The monkey was here in what we call
United States, and the camel and rhinoceros. What the character was
of the people who lived at that time it is impossible to guess.
The first race which has left any distinct traces of itself was the
Mound-builders, and it hardly seems as if the)- could have lived at the
time of the Mastodon, for they made pictures of all the things about
them, and among those pictures there is nothing which resembles these
huge animals. This race of men was not savage, in one sense of the
word. They worked hard, a thing which the savage seldom does.
They had skill, and loved the beautiful. They are called the Mound-
builders, because they have left behind them thousands of immense
mounds; some curved, some square, some in the shape of a snake.
Sometimes these earthworks have from fourteen to sixteen miles of
embankment. Some look as if they may have been the dwelling-places
32 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
of their kings. Others seem as if they may have protected temples or
altars where they worshiped.
This people understood the smelting of ores, and mining. Their
pottery was far fro.^i rude, and their implements of warfare very
serviceable. They buried their great men under huge pyramids of dirt,
but the common people, to judge from the great stack of bones which
had been found in parts of the country', were doubtless thrown together
and left in the open air. At the time they lived, this country must
have been thickly populated. It must have taken millions of men to
do what they did. No one can guess what became of them, or why
they left the possessions upon which they had spent so much time and
labor. They disappeared many years before the American Indians
roamed through our forests.
The American Indians, as the European discoverers of this country
found them, were not the race that we know. They were said to be
well formed, winning, gentle and trustful. They were gracious in
their speech and friendly in their manner, with soft, brown bodies, and
delicate movements. They had little strength for work, but great
endurance in running. Here they lived, free as birds, without need of
much work, with no cares, no sorrows except natural ones, until the
civilized warriors drove them west, and ever west, setting an example
of treachery and cruelty which the Indians were not slow to follow.
FOR FURTHER READING.
History -Squire and Davis' "Ancient Monuments."
Baldwin's "Ancient America."
Foster's "Prehistoric Races of America."
Drake's "Abori^-nal Races of North America."'
Jones' "Mound Builders of Tennessee."
Shaler's "Time of the Mammoths."
"American Naturalist," iv: 148.
Fiction— Matthew's "Behemoth: A Legend of the Mound-Builders."
CHAPTER li.
>^0 Jf0gsnhar^ ianlur^.
THE FIRST DISCOVERERS OF AMERICA — MYTHS, LEGENDS AXO TBAPi-
TIONS — ^JOURNEY OF THE NORSEMEN.
TTLE children, standing on the shores of Europe
and looking toward the west, could make no
guess at what lay beyond the water. They were
told it was the ' 'dark water, ' ' from which all the
spirits and goblins came, things unknown and
unnamable. The winds seemed always to blow
toward the west. Even the mariners believed that
it did so. If, by any chance, a sailor drifted out of his
course toward the west, he was filled with alann. It
seemed possible to him that the waters might run off,
somewhere, into a terrible nothingness. It is hard to
tell which of the nations first found men courageous
enough to cross these unknown waters. There are tradi-
tions that the Chinese did so, and that these Buddhists
wandered down to the California shore, and went deep
into the country that we now know as Mexico. There
are traditions, too, that the Breton fishermen cast their lines upon the
Newfoundland coast. It is certainly true that North American Indians
have been met with whose languages were mixed with French. The
Welshmen also claim that a number of their countrj'men came to
North America and settled there. The traditions concerning this are
peculiarly romantic. Two brothers, David and Medoc, quarreled for
the throne of Wales. The younger gave up his right, and, fitting out
a ship, sailed west. The next year he returned, and said that he had
found a fruitful country. He called upon his friends to follow him, and
filled ten ships with inen, women and children. They sailed away,
and were never heard of again. Five times in American writings there
are references to them. They are described as a race of white Indians,
34 THE STORV OK AMKRICA.
usiii<^ many Welsh words, and having a manuscript copy of the BiV^le,
in the Welsh language, with them. The last reference to them speaks
of their living among the upper courses of the Missouri.
But the journeys of the Northmen to America arc well known.
These Northmen were splendid seamen, and splendid fighters. They
had been all over the known world. They had frightened even the
great emperor, Charlemagne, in France, and had put their horses in his
palace. Wherever they went they seemed to conquer, until at last
they were driven from Scotland. Then, on the melancholy island of
Iceland, they made their republic. Two-thirds of the year they lived
in twilight. Books were their consolation, the sea their play-ground.
It was no wonder that they went this way and that, wherever their
fancy prompted, and wherever they felt they could fight with weaker
men. They discovere I Green-
land, and settled a village
there; then in strange, strong,
if not fleet ships, went coasting
further south. It was Bjarne
Herjulfsen, with his crew, who
first coasted — driven by adverse
winds — along the coast of Nar-
ragansett Bay, Newfoundland
and Nova Scotia. He went back to Iceland with the tales of what he
had .seen. "What," cried Erik the Red, a wild Norseman, who had been
banished from his native country for murder, "you saw a new country
like that, with green fields and trees, and never put a foot on it?" He
talked so much, and so long and loud on the subject, that his son, Leif
Erikson, made up his mind to find out what kind of lands these were
which were so much talked about. He bought Bjarne's ship from him,
took thirty-five good seamen, and went far away to the southwest.
They landed in Newfoundland, which they called Helluland, and in
Nova Scotia, which they termed Markland. They looked about these
countries a little, gave them names, and sailed away, and were two da}s
at sea before they saw land again. Then they sailed into a sound. It
was a beautiful place. There were larger salmon there than they had
ever seen, and grass, which looked wonderful to these men from a
barren country. They found luscious grapes growing wild, grapes
from which wine could be made with wonderful ease, and a Gennan
among them named it Vinland. We have changed the name very
little. We call it Martha's Vinvard now. This was in the year looo.
IKING BOAT, FOUND IN
COLUMBUS AND HIS SON BEGGING.
THE LKOENDARY CENTURY. 37
When Leif Erikson reached home, his brother made the complaint that
he had brought home much too little news. "You may go in my ship.
brother, to Vinland, if you like," said Leif, and thus Thorbald, in
I002, went to Vinland, and stayed there three years. It is thought that
the skeleton in armor, found near Fall River, in Massachusetts, in
1 83 1, was that of Thorbald, who was killed by a poisoned arrow from
Indians. Skraellings, the Norsemen called the Indians, because they
were so scrawny, compared to themselves; and, indeed, there are tradi-
tions, among the eastern Indians, of the great, fair giants, who had
come to the eastern shore, which shows that there must have been a
great difference in the stature of the Norsemen and the red men. In
1005, the last son of Erik the Red started to Vinland, to try and fetch
the body of his brother Thorbald. His ship was blown out of its
course, and he never reached his destination. Then came Thorfinn
Karlsfenn, with his handsome wife, Gudrid, and with them one hundred
and fifty-one men and seven women. For three years they lived at
Vinland, and, perhaps, built the tower that still stands in Newport, and
wrote the inscriptions on the blocks near the Taunton river. The con-
stant fights with the Indians decided them at last to leave their beauti-
ful bay and go back to Iceland. They carried with them little Snorre,
the first child of European blood born in America. Snorre was three
years old when they took him back to Iceland, a little blue-eyed boy
with golden hair. There are stories of other journeys by the Norse-
men, in the years ion and 1121, and accounts of their going as far
south, along the Atlantic coast, as to what we now call Florida. It is
believed that the Welshmen came later than this, in 11 70. The tower
which stands at Newport, which is the only sub<^tantial monument that
the Norsemen left of their visits, is low and round. It has two
windows and a fire-place, and the cement with which the stones are put
together is still strong, and but for the fact that the roof is gone, it could
hardly be called a ruin. It is covered with ivy now, and ser^^es the
purpose of amusing the chance tourist. Longfellow has made this
tower the subject of his poem, "The Skeleton in Armor." Perhaps it
was Thorfinn Karlsfenn who was his hero, and the ' 'viking wild. ' '
FOR FURTHER RE.\t)ING.
History— Leland's "Fusang, Discovery of America by Chinese."
"America not Discovered by Columbus."
Bowen's "America Discovered by the Welsh."
Anderson's *'Discoverj' of America by Norsemen."
Beal's "Buddhist Records of the Western World."
Fiction — Ballantyne's "Norsemen of the West."
Poetry — Whittier's "Norsemen."
Longfellow's "Skeleton in Armor."
Montgomery's "Vinland."
CHAPTER III.
)}^$ Jraamar of $mnn.
COLUMBUS AND HIS VOYAGES — AMERIGO VESPUCCI — THE CABOTS.
F VMNG cloth or combing wool
patiently in Genoa, there lived in
the fifteenth century an Italian by
the name of Cohimbo. In the
^ear 1435 his son was born, whom
he named Cri::.toforo. Perhaps the
comber of wool in his dull shop
used to dream of the sea, and the
delights and freedom of it. There
could have been little other reason
for his sending the little Columbus
to school, at ten, to study naviga-
tion. At fourteen, this restless Italian boy went to sea, and from that
time till he died, he never left it, unless, indeed, it was to draw charts
for other seamen. He loved books, too, and read much. He read the
books of great scholars, and it is more than possible that some of these
planted in his mind the idea that the world was round — an idea which
was to double Christian civilization. Christopher went on numerous
voyages with the celebrated admiral of his time, who bore the same
family name, Columbo, and it is thought he may have traveled with a
certain wild corsair, named Colon. The years between 1470 and 1484
Christopher spent in Portugal. Ever\-one was talking about the dis-
covery of new lands. The Portuguese seamen were going down the
African coast. Prince Henr^- was making presents of islands to his
navigators, and he gave the island of Porto Santo, of the :\Iadeira
group, to a man named Prestrello. Columbus married the daughter of
this man, and on the island of Porto Santo was bom Columbus' son,
Diego.
It was not the children alone who wondered about the great, dark
water. The Spanish seamen were vastly curious. It seemed to them
iliat the earth was a flat surface, with this great river of water running
THE DREAMER OK GENOA.
39
around the land. Like the children, they were terrified b_s the thought
of what might be on the other side. A few scholars thought that it
might be a sphere, but they never dreamed that it could be large enough
for more than one continent; so it seemed quite simple to them, that if
it was a sphere, it would be possible, by sailing westward, to reach
Asia — the land from which the luxurious merchants of Spain and
Portugal brought their richest wares; tlie land from which the spices
came, the silks and the inlaid work, the gold and jewels.
COLUMBUS.
The Yanez portrait, Madrid Library.
Certain of these learned men, among them Toscanelli, the Italian,
corresponded with Columbus. They drew up charts with his help, and
laid out the plan by which one might cross into India, and Tartar}-, and
Cathay. Cohnnbus was a great dreamer, and these plans filled him with
wild visions. He thought of nothing and talked of nothing else. He
talked with sailors who had found pine trees washed upon the Madeira
coast, where no pine trees grew, and those who had seen tropical caue
40
:nE STORY OK AMERICA.
stalks upon the European beaches. He was restless and excited ; he could
never keep still. He even went to Iceland, and it is possible that he
talked there with the descendants of the men who had been at Vineland.
Gudrid, too, had been at Rome, and it may be that she left traditions
there of the three years which she had spent in the beautiful country
across the water. Though Columbus could interest many people with
AMERIGO VESPUCCI.
tales of all he fancied, and all he hoped, it was difficult to win the
hearing of those who could give him help. It is said that he went,
or sent, to King Henry VII, of England, with the hope of gaining
his assistance. It is almost certain that he tried to get the help
of the King of Portugal, and it is possible that he sought the aid of
THE DREAMER OF GENOA.
41
some of the cities of his own country, Italy. At last his wife died. He
took his boy, Diego, and seems to have wandered about, in a desolate
way, for a year. One day he went with Diego to the Franciscan con-
vent of Santa Maria de la Rabida, asking for bread. He interested the
prior, and the prior in turn interested a gentleman of importance, Mar-
tin Alonzo Pinzon, and he carried letters of credit with him from these
persons to Cordova, where the king and queen were. But King Ferdi-
nand was busy, and it was a long time before he could listen to Colum-
bus. For seven years, or at the very least five, Columbus hung around
the Spanish court. The courtiers laughed at him, and Isabella and
Ferdinand seemed to have little confidence in his plans. At last, a day
came when Columbus was treated with such contempt that he burst
into a sudden fit of rage, flung himself out of the court, and taking ta
his horse, rode toward France. Isabella, fearing both that tlie kingdom
might have lost a good thing, and that Columbus' feelings were
severely hurt, sent after him. He was brought back, and in three
months an expedition was ready to sail, part of which was fitted out at
the credit of Isabella's own kingdom, Castile. It was not very strange
that the sailors were afraid to go. How could they tell what they were
running into? They had to be driven to their task by force; but
at last Columbus left with three ships — the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and
the Nina. The Santa Maria was ninety-six feet long and carried
sixty-six seamen. It was decked all over, and had four masts — two
with square sails and two with lateen sails. Tiie other vessels were
smaller and without decks. They all carried provisions for a year, and
Cohunbus had with him an agreement signed by Ferdinand and
Isabella, by which he was made High Admiral and Viceroy in these
lauds, and given one-eighth of the possible profits in return for the
eighth of the costs which he advanced. Columbus hardly knew how
to show his happiness. He vowed that if there were any profits, they
should be used to free the Holy Sepulchre from the Moslems; so, with
much hope, and many prayers, he left with his discontented sailors,
leaving his son in care of the royal household.
It was on the third of August, 1492, that Columbus and his men
sailed from Palos. In a month they had reached the Canar}- Islands.
After that they passed man)- desolate days on the water, with the sailors
discontented at day and weeping at night. It took all of the tact that
Columbus had at his command to quiet them. Once the sailors plotted
to throw Columbus overboard, but he was keen and watchful, and, above
all, a man of prayer, and his stern dignity of character held them in
42 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
check. At length, however, he was obliged to tell them that he would
turn back if they saw no land within three days. The anxiety which
he felt can be imagined. Was it possible that he would be forced to
give up his long-nursed hopes and forego the glory of discovery, and
all because of a handful of fearful and ignorant sailors ? But the out-
come was as strange as a miracle. In the morning of the third day, a
sailor, standing aloft with his seaman's glass, espied land. The joy-guns
were fired, to let the men upon the other vessels know of this wondrous
fact. They sailed all day toward land. Anchor was cast over night,
and the following morning they rowed Columbus to the shore, with
music and waving banners, and, highest of all, the great flag of Spain, all
red and gold. With him came his captains, with green flags, which bore
the cross upon them. The island he called Guanahani. It is thought
it may have been the island we call San Salvador, but this is not cer-
tain. It was a flat island, with a shallow lake in the centre, and not
especially inviting, so the men sailed on and visited Cuba, Hayti and
other of the West India islands. He did not doubt but that he had
found the eastern extremity of Cathay.
He was not a little proud when he went back to Spain, and the rea-
son that he stopped at Portugal may have been to let the king know all
that he had lost, in not giving him a chance to find these new dominions
for him. In Spain, he was received with much honor, and, when he
started back for the new land, he had seventeen vessels and 1,500 men.
On this journey he discovered the Windward Islands, part of Jamaica
and Porto Rico, and founded his colony in Hayti. Hayti he called
I/ittle Spain, or Hispanola. In the winter of 1497-98, Amerigo
Vespucci, a friend of Columbus, succeeded in some manner in obtain-
ing ships, by which he reached the mainland of the new continent.
Everyone was going to the "New Spain" who could possibly get there.
All of the men who had laughed at Columbus before, seemed now to
be trying to get as much of his territory and honor away from him as
possible. Those who had sneered, "L,ook at the Admiral of Mosquito-
land, ' ' and who had made light of Columbus' discovery because he
brought home so little treasure, were, nevertheless, glad to start out to
find what they could. If Amerigo made this voyage, as he said he did,
he touched upon the mainland before any other Spaniard. In the same
year John Cabot, a merchant, born at Venice, but living in England,
also went to America, and touched upon the coast of Labrador.
Sebastian Cabot, a son of John, a year later (1498) sailed with two ships
and three hundred men. In his second voyage, he became persuaded
SEBASTIAN CABOT AT LABRADOR.
THE DREAMER OF GENOA. 45
that the land which they had found was not Asia. He discovered
Hudson's Bay upon his third voyage. He loved the sea always, and
lived upon it as long as he had strength. Meanwhile, Columbus, his
mind still filled with visions, and believing that he was inspired of God,
went upon his third journey. With his six ships, he reached the main-
land of South America. Touching at his colony of Hispanola, he
found his people quarrelling bitterly, and much dissatisfied with his
government as admiral. He was arrested by Bobadilla, a Spanish com-
missioner, and carried on board ship in chains. These he wore till he
reached Spain, although his captors would willingly have taken them
off. The chains had the effect which he had expected; the monarchs
were ashamed, the people horrified. He was released. He wished
then to keep his vow, to wrest the Holy Sepulchre from the infidels, but
Ferdinand and Isabella would not permit him to do so. Then he asked
to go once more to America. He was given four vessels, and took with
him his brother, and his younger son, Fernando. By the time they
had reached the American coast, Columbus was ill. He lay upon the
deck, and watched the land as the ship sailed around by Honduras, for
they had passed be3'ond the islands. He tried several times to found a
colony, but the Indians were shy and crafty, and very naturally resented
the invasion of their land. Two of his ships were lost. His crew
mutinied, and no one would send him any relief At last he went back
to Spain, only to find his friend, Isabella, dead. He died on May 20,
1506, with the chains he had worn upon his return to Spain hung by his
bed-side. They were put in his coffin, and he was buried with the monu-
ment : ' 'To Castile and Leon, Columbus gave a new world. ' ' About two
centuries after that his remains were carried to the cathedral of Havana,
that they might lie in the soil of the new world which he had found.
It was better for his peace of mind that he never knew that the land
he reached after so much suflTering of mind and body, was to bear the
name of another man. But, after all, justice will always be done in the
Lord's good time, and, in the minds of everj'one, America is the monu-
ment of Columbus, and not of Amerigo Vespucci.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico."
Biography— W. Irving's "Columbus."
W. Irving's "Companions of Columbus."
Dexter's "Letters of Columbus and Vespucci."
Tr.welS — Hakluyt's "Voyages."
Kohl's "Discoverers of the East Coast of .\merica.'*
Fiction — Bird's "Calavar" and "Infidel."
Wallace's "Fair God."
Poetry— Barlow's "Colombiad."
Lowell's "Columbus."
Rogers' "Columbus."
Sir ,\ubrey De Vere's "Sonnet.s on Columbus."
CHAPTER IV.
PONCE DE LEON — THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH — THE DISCOVERY OF THE
SOUTH SEA BY BALBOA — DE SOTO — HIS DEATH.
HE islands of the Atlantic became rapidly peo-
pled with Spaniards. "Ever^'one," complained
Colnmbus, before his death, "even the very
tailors, are bent upon discovery," and, as the
islands filled with Europeans, the Indians were
crowded out. The manner in which they were killed, and the awful
sufferings they endured at the hands of men who called themselves
Christians, is told most pathetically in the chronicles of Las Casas, one
of the few friends which these unhappy people had. They were carried
to Spain as slaves, or worked with cruelt)' upon the new possessions in
the Atlantic. The tender-hearted old man. Las Casas, made the mis-
take, in his firm defence of the Indians, of advising the ^-oung king, who
then reigned over Spain, to let each resident in Hispanola bring a dozen
negro slaves from the African coast; and it was thus, in about 1518, that
negro slavery' was first introduced in America.
Juan Ponce De Leon, a gay and courteous cavalier, who had been
with Columbus on his second voyage, had made up his mind to go to
the countries of the new world upon his own account. It was in 1513
that he set sail, with three caravels well fitted with men. He had been
a brave soldier and a verj' active man, and hated, as all such men must
do, the thought of growing old. His ambition was to maintain his
youth, and he was filled with the pleasant stories of some luscious
fountain of clear water in the new world, from which all men might
ACROSS THK DARK WATER. 49
-drink and become eternally young. He was made Governor of the
island of Porto Rico, but even this honor would not tempt him to rest.
He pushed on westward in search of the wonderful fountain, and at last,
on Easter Sunday, he saw land. The Spaniards called Easter Sunday
the day of flowers, and Ponce De Leon named the new land Florida.
He landed near what is now St. Augustine, and, with his men, went
about the woods and coasts there for many weeks. Five years latei' he
came back again, and was wounded with a poisoned arrow, and went
sadly back to his countn,' to die. He had escaped old age, but not by
drinking from the foimtain of youth.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa, an adventurous Spaniard, was the first to
cross the isthmus which divides Nort'h and South America. Looking
down from a mountain, he saw the ^eat western ocean stretching before
him. He called it the South Sea, and took possession of it in the name
of his Christian Majesty, the King of Spain. Meanwhile, Cortez was
exploring in Yucatan and ]\Iexico. By this time the King of Portugal
deeply regretted that he had not accepted the services of Columbus
when they were first oflfered to him. He grew envious of the rich pos-
sessions of Spain, and fitted out ships in 1519, under the leadership of
Magellan, a sailor of wide experience, and a man whom the king counted
among the greatest of his realm. Magellan passed the Indies and bore
southward, sailing entirely around South America, marveling at the
"mountain of fire," and rejoicing over the placid world of water which
rolled in peaceful majesty before them. He named it the Pacific Ocean,
because of its tranquility.
The unhappy relations between the Indians and the Europeans grew
worse, instead of better. The white man gave the Indian lessons in
treachery, which he was not slow to profit by. A party of gentle St.
Dominican Brothers, who had come to America to make a "conquest of
peace" among the savages, were captured, upon their landing, and
brutally murdered. It was too late for kindness to be imderstood — too
late for the word of the white man to be believed.
In 1 519, a planter named D'AUyon, a man of wealth and high
family, came to the American coast in search of slaves. He landed
where South Carolina now is, and, kidnapping natives there, put them
in the Spanish slave markets. His adventurous nature would have
made him of much value to his country, but he fell a victim to his own
evil works. On his second voyage he was murdered by the angry
Indians. Eight years after this, an expedition in quest of gold was led
out from the West Indies by Pamphilo de Nars'aez. He and hir.
5° TIIK STORY OF AMERICA.
companions landed near Tampa Ba>-, and went westward along the
Gulf of Mexico. The sufferings of Narvaez' men were very great.
Their number rapidly decreased. They were restless with the spirit of
adventure, and were not willing to settle down and wrench a living from
the soil. Cuba put forward every effort to find the men, but was not
successful. All but fjur of them died. These four were made slaves
by the Indians, and wandered from tribe to tribe for six years. They
came out at last near the Gulf of California. But it was a long time
before they were heard from.
JISH SOLDIER.
Hernando De Soto held a grant of the province of Florida from the
crown of Spain, and landed not far from the spot where his fated
predecessors had in Tampa Bay. This was on ]Ma)- 30, 1537. He was
ven.' ambitious, and wished to louud a great empire, over which he
should rule. Blinded with ambition, he had no pity for any one. In
all that he did he was fierce and shamefullv cruel. Following him was
ACROSS THE DARK WATER.
51
a splendid retinue of noblemen. Thej- were tricked out in the most
fashionable costumes of Spain, and glittering with inlaid armor, which
recalled the magnificence of the crusades. None but a leader of iron
will could hsve governed men so proud and ambitious. He took his
companions through the lakes, streams and everglades of Florida. They
lived upon water-cresses, shoots of Indian corn and palmetto leaves.
Their policy was to fight the natives wherever they met them — an odd
policy for men whose chief boast was their Christianity. Wherever
they went, they left behind them
burned wigwams and aching hearts.
Once, De Soto was met by a certain
Indian chieftainess. She was a grace-
ful }'oung savage, with courteous
manners, and went to meet De Soto
in a canopied canoe, carr^-ing gifts with
her, among them a necklace of pearls,
which she flung about the neck of the
Spanish leader. But her people were
used as slaves, and herself taken pris-
oner in spite of her gentleness. De
vSoto still went westward. He sent
men to explore for gold, and took all
the treasures from the Indians which
he could find. He went up the Mis-
sissippi for some distance, and then
westward, nearly to the Rocky Moun-
tains. After his return to his post, in
tn,-ing to force an opening through the
swamps about the ^Mississippi river, he
sickened and died. He was dropped,
in the silence of the night, into the
deep waters of the Mississippi, the
victim of his own stubborn pride, for
he could have had help and rescue had he been willing to accept it;
but he refused to take his men back, shorn of their fine trappings and
lessened in numbers. A few of his men, long months afterwards,
reached the settlement of their countr>'men on the Gulf of Mexico.
The Spaniards in the north of Mexico were greatly excited when
the four unfortunate men who had escaped from the expedition of
Naivaez reached them, with wonderful stories of the countries thev had
SPANISH ARMOR.
52
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
seen. They told of stately cities, in which there were buildings of
stone and a great quantity of jewels, besides silver and gold in plenty.
In a short time an expedition was sent to explore this countrj', going up
the coast of California, and exploring part of the Colorado river.
They found the well-built cities, but the gold, silver and jewels were in
small quantities. Later, a Spanish explorer name Cabrillo, went up the
Pacific coast as far as Oregon. Following him came Sir Francis Drake,
the celebrated English voyager. The history of his exploits is not full,
but it is known that he was received pleasantly by the natives, and, after
a brief exploration, crossed the ocean to the East Indies. England,
however, never claimed California on the score of Drake's discovery.
In the year 1580, an expedition of travelers followed up the river Del
Norte, and made a settlement upon the site of the present city of
Santa Fe. This expedition was under Onate. That city, with one
exception (St. Augustine), is the oldest in the United States.
FOR FURTHER READING.
History— Parkman's "Pioneers of France."
Parkman's "France and England in North America."
Reynold's "Old St. Augustine."
Baird's "Huguenot Emigration to America."
Jones' "De Soto and His March Through Georgia."
Fiction — Simm's "Damsel of Darien," "Vasconselas" and "The
Lily and the Totem."
Drama— Mrs. L. S. McCord's "De Soto."
Poetry — Butterworth's "Dream of Ponce de Leon."
CHAPTER V.
il^B J[iHe$ ot 1|rant0.
FRANCE: HER EXPLORERS AND SETTLEMENTS — THE FIGHT BETWEEN
FRENCH AND SPANISH COLONIES.
ONG before this time, France was growing im-
patient to have a foothold in the new world; so
she sent westward a mariner, named Verazzano,
with a single ship. He reached the shore of
North Carolina, and followed it southward for a
time, trading with the Indians as he went. He
carried home full accounts of what he saw, and a de-
scription of the Indians and their ways, and said that
' ' these new countries were not altogether destitute of
the ' drugs and spiceries, pearls and gold, ' for which
everj'one was looking." It was he who first gave an
accurate idea of the true size of the globe, and of the
western continent. France rested content with this
triumph for some time, and it was ten years later before
she sent out Jacques Cartier, who set up the cross of France in New-
foundland, where the people, so he said, were the poorest in the world.
In 1535 he made another journey, carr\'ing the lilies of France up the
St. L,awrence, and to the mouth of the stream which he named the St.
Croix. The Indians received him as some great spirit, who could heal
the sick and perform miracles, but he, like the Spaniards, seemed to
forget that he belonged to a Christian country^, and though the Indians
treated him with much civility, made a treacherous return. When he
set sail for his own land he seized a friendly chief and nine of his tribe,
and, amid the wailing of the amazed Indians on the shore, carried them
away across the sea. It was little wonder that the Indians remembered
these things against the invaders, and that when the French returned, in
1540, and set up a colony near the mouth of the St. Lawrence, they
found the Indians hostile. It was in vain that the lying Frenchmen
4
54
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
told them that the Indians they had carried over seas with them had
been made into great men in the land, and lived in palaces of marble.
The Indians had learned that one would expect nothing but lies from
men with white faces; and the truth was that all of those proud-spirited
Indians nad died of broken hearts, except one poor lonely little maiden,
whose duty it was to show herself at fetes for the curious French ladies to
wonder at and exclaim over. Two forts were built to protect the new
colony, one at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and the other at the
mouth of the St. Croix.
France also started a colony far south. At the head of this was
John Ribault, and with him a band of soldiers, seamen and gentlemen.
This was in the midst of the great religious refonnation of Europe,
when the Huguenots had been driven in large numbers from France to
Holland. These oppressed people decided to set up their refonned
protestant church in the wilderness, and for the first time made the new
world the shelter of the scorned and the outcast. So, with a sword in
one hand and a cross in the other, staunch John Ribault led his band of
faithful worshipers into a land where they hoped to find peace. But it
was not to be. When the King of Spain became aware that the French
had planted a colony upon this territory, he sent Menendez, one of his
most fonnidable generals, to oust them. Rene Laudonriere was tempo-
rarily in charge of the fort at Port Royal, where the Huguenots were,
and John Ribault was hurrying over seas with supplies and additions to
the settlement. The fleets of Ribault and Menendez had some thrilling
adventures at sea, in which the Spanish general was outwitted. He re-
tired to the coast and founded the city of St. Augustine, the oldest city
within the present boundary of the United States, older even than
Santa Fe. Here men, women and children were settled. Amid music
and the thundering of guns Menendez landed, and kneeling to kiss the
cross took possession in the name of Philip II, King of Spain. A few
days after this, while Ribault was still at sea, a terrible stonn broke
over the country, which seriously disabled his fleet. Menendez guessed
that Ribault would not have had time to reach Port Royal, and
saw that a safe opportunity for attack had come. Hunying overland
he fell upon the French in the fort. The surprise was complete. The
French were put to the sword. One hundred and thirty-two were killed
that night, and in the morning ten of the fugitives were captured and
banged. Over these Menendez hung the label, "I do not this to
Frenchmen, but to heretics. ' ' Among the number who escaped were
the younger Ribault and Rene Laudonriere.
THE LILIES OF FRANCE. 55
Ribault did not know that Port Royal had been taken. He had
been wrecked on the coast with his three hundred and fifty men. He
begged Menendez to spare them, and even offered a heavy ransom, but
Menendez refused. Such as laid down their arms and surrendered to
Menendez were butchered. Among these was Ribault. A few went
southward, preferring to tr>' the perils of the wilderness. In a few days
the fort at Port Royal, which the Spaniards had re-named San Mateo^
caught fire, and burned to the ground.
Three years later, the French sent over another expedition, under the
command of De Gourgues. His purpose was to be revenged upon the
Spaniards. He made friends with the Indians, who were ready to join
in any enterprise which would be likely to make the Spanish suffer.
De Gourgues fell upon the Spaniards exactly as Menendez had on Fort
Caroline, and left only fifteen of the Spanish garrison living. The
soldiers upon the other side of the river were also massacred. The
party went on to San Mateo, which the Spaniards still held, and killed
nearly all of the soldiers there. Those that were captured were hung,
and De Gourgues put on the trees, "I do not this as unto Spaniards,
but as unto traitors, robbers and murderers." St Augustine was finally
burned by Sir Francis Drake.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Jeffeir's "French Dominions in America."
Jones^ "Antiquities of Southern Indians."
LasCasas' "Narrative and Critical History of America" in a vols.
Parkman's "Jesuits in America."
Schoolcraft's "History and Condition of the Indian Tribe*."
Fiction— Chateaubriand's "Atala."
POBTRV— I,evi Bishop's "Jesuit Missionary."
CHAPTER VI.
jl Jfcbga in {\$ li[HkniB$$.
THE ENGLISH — THEIR SEARCH FOR THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE—
FROBISHER'S EXPLORATIONS — SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT'S
SETTLEMENT — THE COLONY OF SIR WALTER
RALEIGH — GOSNOLD's FAILURE.
' 1 1
(
L M i
,/'vJ\l \h' '-'
- jr^'^^
"
T was the glowing stories which the
Huguenots told in the flight which
some of them made from Florida to
England, after the massacres, that
induced the English navigators to
secure that land. They tried to find
the northwest passage, for which Cabot
had looked, and in 1578, Sir Francis Drake sailed up the Pacific coast,
plundering, in the wicked fashion of those days, Spanish settlements as
he went. He went as far as Washington Territon,'. But no slight
failure could discourage the English. The land for which they looked
wore such a dazzling aspect to them that neither the loss of men or
money could stop them in their search for the way to Catha)'. Pictures
of the wonderful country of Kublai Khan filled them with dreams.
Here, so they had heard, were twelve thousand cities, all near together.
The estate of the king, spreading over ten miles, was a luxurious gar-
den, watered with clear rivers and filled with the music of fountains.
There were marble palaces, summer houses indescribably beautiful and
air}-, wonderful armies of trained soldiers, and magnificent fortresses.
From here all the finest silks, the brightest gold and the richest spices
came.
And yet, for all their attempts, more than one hundred years passed
from the time of the landing of the Cabots before an English colony
A LODGE IN THE WILDERNESS.
57
was planted on American soil. It was in 1527 that one of the futile
attempts was made. Two fine ships set sail from London and went
toward the northeast, but encountering a sea of ice there, turned back.
Only one of the ships reached England.
In 1536 the determined English sought once more for the mysteri-
ous passage, but so ill provided was the expedition, that when the men
reached Newfoundland they were reduced to killing each other that all
might not starve. The captain, who had thought at first that the loss
of his men was. due to wild beasts, or to Indians, finally discovered the
truth, and set forth their sin in the strongest words of which he
was master. The miserable men stopped murdering each other, but
it was not long before hunger drove them to cast lots for the choice of
one who should die to save the rest. Fortunateh- for them a French
ship, with plenty of food on board, arrived that night. The desperate
Englishmen managed to get possession of the boat and put to sea, leaving
the Frenchmen their empty vessel. However, the Frenchmen finally
reached England, and were recompensed by the king for their losses.
It was in 1553 that Sir Hugh Willoughby, a most valiant gentle-
man, well born, renowned for singular skill in the service of war,
started out with four vessels. They were well built and well provided,
and one of them was considered quite a marv^el of skill and strength.
No expedition which left England went with more display. The whole
court came to Greenwich, and the noblemen came running out to see
the ships. The windows were crowded, and people looked down from
the tops of towers. The shore was black with sight-seers. Sailors
crowded the ships in the harbor. The American-bound vessels set sail
amid salute after salute from the royal guns, but the cniel northern seas
wrecked them as they have so many since. Two of them were found
years later by some Russian fishermen, and in the cabin of one sat Sir
Hugh Willoughby, with a pen in his frozen fingers. Scattered about
both ships lay the bodies of the perished crew, every man of them
frozen to death. The sailors tried to take the ships back to England,
but they foundered at sea. But, though this expedition was so tragic,
it was not absolutely useless, for some of the crew in one of the other
ships reached Archangel, and traveled overland to Moscow, and com-
merce between England and Russia was opened. This was of great
value to England.
England could not quiet her enthusiasm on the subject of the new
world, and in 1576 Martin Frobisher set sail with his three small vessels.
Queen Marj', leaning from her windows, condescended to wave her
58 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
hands to the passing ships as a farewell token of her good wishes. The
first journey of Frobisher brought few results; one of them was some-
what humorous. He brought with him a few black stones, which he
had picked up on the island of Cumberland. These he gave his wife
as a souvenir of his journey. She put them into the fire, and when
they were taken out, they proved to be gold. This filled Frobisher with
impatience to return. He started with fifteen ships, all of which were
to come back laden with ore, and so they did, but the ore had in it no
gold. Frobisher found the strait into Hudson's Bay which bears his
name, and which he supposed was a passage into the sea of Suez. Just
what these ship-loads of black stones cost England, it would be difficult
to guess. In time, however, even the most saving forgot about that
unfortunate waste, and another northern expedition was planned in 1585,
under the charge of John Davis. Davis' Strait is all that serves to
Tceep alive this voyage. Then came the scheme of Sir Humphrey
■Gilbert, a very distinguished gentleman, as full of ideas as he was of
"bravery. He sailed in 1583, with a fleet of five ships, and with a com-
pany of two hundred and sixty men, among whom were refiners of
minerals and mechanics of all trades. They settled, for a time, near
the mouth of the St. Johns river, in Newfoundland, and set up a pillar,
w^ith the arms of England carved upon it. Indeed, there was more
display than work, with the usual unhappy results. Many of Sir
Humphrey's men deserted, and some died.
At the colony at St. Johns, a conspiracy was started to seize the vessels
while the admiral and captains were on shore. Gilbert, therefore, found
necessary to send home as many of the sick and insubordinate as could
be spared. Soon after this, those remaining resumed their voyage. One
of the ships was lost, but Sir Humphrey was still in a comparatively
happy frame of mind. Had he not found ore which the assajer said
held silver? But the mines, or what he thought were the mines, proved to
yield nothing after all. On the way to England, the Golden Hind
foundered. Gilbert himself was on the ship. It was the smallest of the
fleet, but Gilbert refused to let any of his men stand a peril that he did
not share. In the midst of the terrible storm, in which the boat sank.
Sir Humphrey sat quietly in the stern with a book in his hand, and
called out cheerfully, when the companion boat offered help: "We are
as near Heaven by sea as by land." When Sir Gilbert died, his ambi-
tious projects were taken up by Sir Walter Raleigh, his half-brother.
No more channing figure than he ever figured in American history.
He was a soldier, a sailor, a statesman, and a most polished gentleman,
A LODGE IN THE WILDERNESS. 6l
a graceful poet, a historian and a thinker. He had sent numerous ships
to America at his own expense, being ver>' eager for England's glory,
but the men on them offended the Indians by their bad conduct, and
were always forced to return to England. Finally, he sent out a colony
which he felt sure would succeed. It had as a governor a respected
Englishman by the name of John White; with him was his family, many
friends, and a corps of mechanics and farmers. John White established
his company on Roanoke Island, and having settled them as well as
possible, left for England to obtain more supplies. Before he left.
White's daughter, the wife of Ananias Dare, gave birth to a daughter —
the first little English girl born on American soil. White was gone a
long time — a strangely long time, considering everything. Wlien he
returned the colony had entirely disappeared. It is true that they found
the word ' 'Croatoan' ' carved upon one of the trees. This was the name
of one of the islands not far distant, and it had been agreed upon by
the colonists, at the time of the departure of their governor, that, should
they see fit to leave for any reason, they would write the name of their
destination where it could be found. But John White was only a
passenger upon the vessel which visited the spot where the colony had
been, and he was taken to the far south. Sir Walter Raleigh sent out
ship after ship to search for the lost colony, but every captain found
excuses for not obeying his commands, and the unfortunate people were
never definitely heard from. After the gallant Sir Raleigh was impris-
oned in the Tower of London, no one thought more about tlie matter.
They were probablj' killed by Powhatan. Sir Raleigh has the distinction,
among greater ones, of having made the use of tobacco fashionable in
England, as well as having introduced potatoes to English tables. He
himself never visited the North American colony which had cost him so
much money and anxiety. The two trips which he made to America
were to the mouth of the Orinoco river, in South America.
The next colonial failure was in charge of Bartholomew Gosnold.
He, also, started for the great extent of territory which Raleigh had
named Virginia after the virgin Queen Elizabeth, and which included
all the region lying between Canada and Florida. Gosnold' s colony was
attempted on Cuttyhunk Island, but he and his company only stayed
there a few months.
FOR FURTHER READING;
History— Buchanan's "History, Manners and Customs of North American Indians."
Biography — Oldys' "Lifeof Raleigh."
Southey's "Life of Raleigh."
Fiction — "First Settlers of Virginia."
Poetry— Longfellow's "Sir Humphrey Gilbert."
CHAPTER VII.
l[aunbing 11^$ §lb Jlominian.
•/HE LONDON AND PLYMOUTH COMPANIES — THE VIRGINIAN SETTLE'
MENT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND HIS WONDERFUL AD-
VENTURES — POCAHONTAS — THE NEW CHARTER —
THE WRECK OF THE "SEA ADVENTURE."
^HE English king saw that it was
necessan- to take fresh measures
if he ever wished to establish a
successful colony in America. He
therefore formed two large compa-
nies, one of which he called the
London Company, and the other
the Plymouth Company. The
first of these was to go to the
south, and the other to the north,
and they were to build no dwell-
ings nearer to each other than one
hundred miles. It was evident
that the king understood the
quarrelsome nature of his sub-
jects. Each of these colonies was
to be governed by thirteen men,
who were appointed by the king; and should any of them die, or resign
their positions, they were at liberty to choose a man to fill the place
themselves, provided that the man was not a clerg}'man. The king, it
will be remembered, was James I, a man of much learning, though not
of so much wisdom, for his learning was not of a sort which taught him
kindness. In the summer of 1606, two ships belonging to the Plymouth
Company sailed away from England. One of these ships was taken by
the Spaniards, but the other one coasted off Maine and made a hasty
return. The general report of the captain pleased Chief Justice
Popham, who made up his mind, on the following year, to send his
brother, George Popham, and Raleigh Gilbert, a son of Sir Humphrey,
FOUNDING THE OLD DOMINION. 63
to settle a colony; but they made no permanent settlement, and
it remained for the London Company to make the first permanent
village. In this there were one hundred and five men, and no
women. Among them were mechanics, soldiers and servants, and,
if the truth must be told, rather too many gentlemen. Their ships
were the "Sarah Constant," the "Godspeed" and the "Discovery,"
and Captain Christopher Newport was their commander. They
were foolish enough to go by the old route of the West Indies,
stopping along by the way in the pleasant towns of the Spaniards, and
wasting both food and time. There were too many proud men among
them for such a thing to be advisable, for they were certain to get into
quarrels. The London Council had told them not to break the seals of
their letters of instruction until they had landed on the shores of
Virginia, so no man know which was greatest, and all tried to exercise
authority. One of the most disagreeable among them was John Smith.
This }'oung man was always energetic and nervous. He wanted to do
a great many things, and do them in his own peculiar way, and had
very little patience with slower and duller persons, so he very naturally
fretted at the wasteful way in which matters were being conducted, and,
as a consequence, found himself suddenly arrested. It was in the lovely
month of April when they sailed into the Chesapeake Bay, and giving
names to Cape Henr^- and Cape Charles, went eagerly to work. The
sealed box was opened, and the names of the council were heard.
They were Bartholomew Gosnold, John Smith, Edward Wingfield,
Christopher Newport, John Ratcliff, John Martin and George Kendall.
They spent half a month in looking for a suitable place for their
colony, and fixed at length on the spot where Jamestown still stands,
and which they named in honor of their king. All of the council,
except Smith, who was still in disfavor, were sworn into office. Then
work began seriously. Try to imagine how they cut the trees and
pitched their tents, how they split the logs for boards and made gardens,
planting the seeds they had brought with them, and braided nets from
twine. Imagine, too, how heartily they must have talked, laughed,
sung and quarreled. They had been instructed by the council to see if
an opening could be found by some river or lake from Virginia to the
South Sea, and Captain Newport fitted out a shallop, and went with
quite a number of men up the James river, toward the Appalachian
mountains. The Indians received them with kindness, and fed them
with the best that they had. The best was not bad. It consisted of
venison, turkey, maize, strawberries, mulberries, dried nuts and tobacco.
64 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
The returns which Newport's men gave for these dainties was princi-
pally beads and whisky. It seems as if always the invading Christian
was the first to do a wrong thing. One of the remarkable characters
they met upon this voyage was a strong, manlike queen, who refused to
be scared at the sound of a gun, although her braves were so. New-
port and his men went on till they came to a great waterfall, and then
turned back, noticing, with some fear as they did so, a change in the
manner of the Indians. When they got back to the camp they found
that several men had been wounded and one boy killed. A fort was
built for further protection, and in a short time Newport set sail for
England. While he was gone, those remaining at the settlement quar-
reled frightfully. For one thing, they were suffering from hunger. It
seemed as if they never had enough to eat. With game in the woods
and fish in the rivers, why this should be so, it is difiicult to guess.
Disease broke out among them, occurring principally from the want of
food and proper shelter. For, instead of building substantial houses of
logs, they crowded into one miserable, insecure building. Each man
had for his daily allowance but half a pint of boiled wheat, and another
of barley, infested with worms. At last it became necessary for the
president, Wingfield, to set aside such sack and vinegar as was left, to
use in case of extreme .sickness, and for the communion table. It was
this action largely which caused the hungry' and selfish men of the
colony to find fault with Wingfield, and to depose him from his position
as president. John Smith, Ratcliff" and Martin were the men who took
the principal part in this, and from that time on, John Smith seems to
have been the moving spirit of the colony, although many of its best
actions were suggested by Gosnold, a man very wise and pious. That
any of the colony lived over that dreadful summer was owirg largely to
the kindness of the Indians, who brought them provisions. In the
autumn, things went more peacefully, as the game became more plenti-
ful and the harvests were gathered. Smith then went upon one of his
journeys into the interior, where he came very near losing his life at the
hands of some strange Indians. It is said that he tied his guide to his
own body with his garters, and as his guide was an Indian, his foes
would not shoot at him. At length, however, he was obliged to surren-
der, and was taken before the king of the tribe. Then he displayed all
of that matchless ingenuity which made him so interesting to all. He
showed the Indians his round compass made of ivory, and explained to
them the movements of the sun, moon and stars, the shape of the earth,
the comparative differences of the land and sea, and told them of all the
FOUNDING OF THE OLD DOMINION. 65
sorts of men about which he knew anything. But notwithstanding this
entertainment, tiie Indians tied him to a tree and were about to shoot
him with arrows, when the king, suddenly concluding that he would
like to save a man who knew so many curious things, released him.
They fed him so well that Smith became alanned. He was quite
sure they were fattening him before they killed him. Finally they
promised him his liberty, and even offered to give him some land and
women, if he would help them attack Jamestown. But he told them
of the great guns which the English had, and frightened them into
giving up the plan. Then he capped the climax of their wonder by
writing to the fort for a quantity of presents for the Indians, who were
unable to imagine how paper could speak. At last he was taken to the
greatest king of all, Powhatan, who received him with much state, with
a young Indian girl upon each side of him, and rows of men and women,
much decorated, around about. He was treated with great ceremony
and distinction, which, however, according to Smith's account, ended
in rather a peculiar way. He was dragged to a great stone, upon which
his head was laid, and by which stood men with clubs ready to beat out
his brains, but at this very dreadful moment, Pocahontas, the king's
dearest daughter, threw her arms about his head and laid her face
across his, to prevent them from touching him. His life was spared.
The story is so romantic that there is a reluctance to doubt it,
especially when it is remembered that Pocahontas was only twelve years
old at this time.
The little princess, Pocahontas, figured largely in the history of the
colony. She shocked the decorous gentlemen exceedingly by turning
somersaults about the fort, but conciliated them by frequently bringing
them food, and by warning them of attacks from the Indians. Years
afterward she was baptized and re-named Lady Rebecca, which was a
much more respectable name than Pocahontas, which means "Little
Wanton," and was given to her because she was noticeably wild, even
among the Indian maidens. In course of time she married John Rolfe,
an English gentleman, who took her to England, where she was pre-
sented to the Queen by Lord and Lady de la Ware. She sickened with
small-pox just before taking the ship to return to America, and died at
the age of twenty-two. No woman of those days has so extended a
reputation; no other one has been so much written about. She is the
subject of man}' novels and poems, and even the dullest historian has
not been able to pass her by without some mention of her kindness of
heart, her wayward impulsiveness, and her beauty. It was not strange
66 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
that John Smith wished to publish tlie fact that she showed some interest
in him. Her father, Powhatan, has also been much written about. Ke
was the most powerful of all the Indian chiefs of Virginia; perhaps the
most wily of them as well. He is described as being very stalwart and
well-shaped of limb, and with a sad countenance and thin grey hair.
So proud was he that he could not be made to kneel when the council
saw fit to crown him after the English manner. King James, of Eng-
land, sent robes and a crown that the ceremony might be carried out in
a king-like manner, but neither threats nor coaxing could make the
disdainful old savage bend a knee, and it became necessary for two of
the noblemen to press heavily upon his shoulders, so that his head was
sufficiently bowed to suit popular prejudice.
Meanwhile, Smith was having a most melancholy time. Several
times he was taken captive. Once he was condemned to death by his-
own colony, because two Englishmen lost their lives fighting the Indians,
under his command. But upon the very day when he was to be killed,
Captain Newport fortunately returned from England, where he had been
for supplies, and interceded for Smith's life. Smith was also stung by
a poisonous fish when he was wading the creek, and was so severely
poisoned that his friends had no doubt of his near death, and hastened
to dig a grave for him, but this redoubtable hero unexpectedly brought
himself to, and helped eat the fish that came so near ending him. By
this time, what with malaria, lack of food and exposure, the colony had
been reduced in nine months to about forty persons, but Newport's ship
brought one hundred and twenty men, besides a stock of provisions,
fanning implements, and of seeds. It seemed, however, as if good
fortune was never to be theirs. Hardly had they got in better mood
from Newport's help, than the fort was almost destroyed by fire. Worse
still, the company became wildly excited over some hills of yellow mica,
which they supposed to be gold, and this fever of happy excitement had
its re-action, which left them more miserable and despondent than
before. Smith spent the summer in sailing upon the waters of Virginia,
along the bays and rivers, and in becoming acquainted with the different
tribes of Indians. On the return from the last expedition. Smith was
made president of the colony, a position which he had always desired.
About the same time, Newport arrived again from England with a
second supply of men and provisions, and with him the two first women
of the colony. Mistress Forrest and her maid, Ann Burras. It is
unnecessary to say that it was not many weeks before Ann Burras was
married.
FOUNDING OF THE OLD DOMINION. 67
Upon this occasion, Newport had orders from the London Council
to bring home a hunp of gold, to discover the passage to the South
Sea, and to find the survivors of the Roanoke colony. It goes without
saying that he was able to do none of these things. All of his ingenuity
was bent upon keeping the friendship of Powhatan, and he was
aided in this, to a certain extent, by John Savage, an English lad, who,
for thirteen years, lived with Powhatan, acting as an interpreter
between the English and the Indians. Histoiy says little about his
youth, and, indeed, his name is the only thing remembered of him, but
he must have led a very wild and exciting life — indeed there must have
been an uncertainty about his life which, of itself, made existence
interesting. John Smith had difficulty in keeping the colony from
starving. He relied chiefly upon the Indians for food, for the colonists
were too lazy to protect the stores brought from England, but allowed
them to decay and to become infested with the rats, which came in the
ships, and which, like themselves, found a settlement on the shores of
the new world. Smith's greatest trial was in trying to persuade the
gentlemen about him that they were able to work, for they would
neither plant, fish, nor hunt, and would shirk, like schoolboys, each
task given them. It is said that two of them did go to work felling
trees, and worked so hard that the president wrote that forty of them
would be worth a hundred common men, but they failed to keep up
their labor. At length, the entire council of the colony, with the
exception of Smith, was drowned. Smith then became more necessary
to the company, and more important in his own esteem than ever. The
way in which he slew Indian chiefs of gigantic size, and, alone, routed
great annies of savages, is more like the history of some modern Jack
the Giant-Killer, than of any ordinary man. The colony was in very
bad humor. Sometimes members of it mutinied, and two Dutchmen
fled to the Indians, and inspired a conspiracy with Powhatan for the
entire destruction of Jamestown. Smith learned of their plans, how-
ever, and brought even Powhatan into a state of humility. But for
all of his bravery, the colony was steadily failing. The cost by which
it had been maintained was great, and, in 1609, the king found it nec-
essary to form a new corporation to sustain it. This was composed of
the most distinguished and wealthy men of England, and a fleet of nine
ships, carrying five hundred people, left England in the month of May
— a month when England is most beautiful — for the tragic shores of
America. Seven of these reached the settlement in August, but one of
them foundered at sea, and another, the Sra Adventure^ on board
68 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
which was the admiral, Gates, Captain Newport, William Strachey
and Summers, also failed to appear. This vessel was wrecked off the
Bermudas, in a storm so terrible that the description which William
Strachey afterwards gave of it served to inspire Shakespere's descrip-
tion of the storm in the first act of "The Tempest." "Such was the
tumult of the elements that the sea dashed above the clouds, and gave
battle unto Heaven. It could not be said to be rain. The waters, like
whole rivers, did flood into the air. Winds and seas were as mad as
fury and rage could make them." They passed three days and four
nights in this dreadful strait, and, on the last night of their struggle,
were cheered with a strange, fantastic light, that trembled up among
the shrouds and staj-ed there till the morning watch. When morning
really came, they found the boat lodged between two rocks, in still
waters. The passengers and crew of the Sea Adventure spent their
winter on the island. The climate was delightful. There was hunting
and fishing, as well as plenty of berries and wild fruits. A few persons
died, others married, and there were two births. One of the little
children born there, in the midst of the Atlantic ocean, was named
Bennuda; the other, a boy, Bermudas. In May, a year from the time
when they had left England, they started once more for the Virginian
colony.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Smith's "True Relation of Virginia."
Campbell's "Virginia."
Doyle's "English Colonies in America."
Fiction — Hopkins' "The Youth of the Old Dominion."
Moseby's "Pocahontas."
Poetry — Hillar's "Pocahontas,"
Seba Smith's "Powhatan."
Mrs. Heman's "Pocahontas."
Mrs. Sigourney's "Pocahontas."
Dkama — Owen's "Pocahontas."
Seagull's "Eastward, Ho!"
Shakespere's "Tempest"— ist act.
CHAPTER VIII.
FROM THE BERMUDAS TO VIRGINIA — THE STARVING TIMES — ^THE
ARRIVAL OF LORD DE LA WARE — HELP FROM ENGLAND —
THE BEGINNING OF SLAVERY — THE FIRST
BLOW AT INTEMPERANCE.
sHEN Sir Thomas Gates and his men arrived at the
Virginian colony, they found things in a most
distressing condition. Once more the people
were without food, and were begging from the
Indians. For one reason and another the Indians
(' were becoming sullen, and were more inclined to
fight than to give favors. Various smaller settle-
ments were started around about, and John Smith, in
visiting one of these, met with a serious accident by the
explosion of gunpowder, which made it necessary for
him to go to Englana. Percy became president in
the place of Smith, but he was a character of a very
different sort. It needed Smith's overbearing deter-
^ mi nation to control the men of the colony. Smith had
been able to make the colonists work a little. Percy was not able to do
this. What with hard drink and idleness, and all of its various conse-
quences, the men were reduced in health and in courage. They
had killed the domestic animals and eaten up all the supplies which
Smith had seen to the storing of That horrible winter is known as the
starving time, a name which is remarkably appropriate, for at the time
of Gates' arrival only sixty out of five hundred were alive. These
were hardly alive, and a few of them came crawling out to welcome
Gates when he arrived. This was in May, 1610. No scene more
disorderly and desolate could be imagined. The verj' houses had been
torn down for firewood, because the colonists had been afraid to venture
into the woods. Gates thought it best not to live in a place so associated
7° THE STORY OF AMERICA.
■with terror and death. There were two vessels in port, and Gates was
possessed of two which his men had built on the Bermudas. They
boarded these and were about riding out of the harbor when word was
brought them from Lord de la Ware that he was coming to their help
with men and provisions. Lord de la Ware was chief of the London
Company-, although up to this time he had not himself visited the colony.
It had been with much care that Commander Gates saved the block -house,
where the people had huddled that terrible winter, from being burned,
for the colonists, like a set of crazy schoolboys, were much fonder of
destroying than building up, and if they could have had their way,
would have set fire to everything in Jamestown. They had reason to
be ver\' thankful that Gates' wiser advice had been followed, and that
upon the command of Lord de la Ware to return, they had a place to
go into. Whatever these gentlemen of the old time did, they did with
ceremon}'. They may have been very ragged and very worthless, but
they were always dignified and pretentious. The landing of Lord de
la Ware was a matter for much ceremony. It began, as did all their
demonstrations, with praj-er. Though Lord de la Ware was so successful
and brilliant a nobleman and governor, he bore always a spirit of tnie
and sincere humility. He was, above all things, deeply reverential, and
though he could be severe, he coiild also be gentle. It was the time
now to be severe, and he determined there should be no more idleness,
no more hard drinking, and much less playing of games among the
wayward colonists. He began trading with the Indians for corn, built
two substantial forts, and started various schemes, some of which were not
successful. In a year the malaria, which had affected so many of the
colonists, overpowered him, and it was necessary- for him to return to
England. Shortly after his leaving Virginia, Thomas Gates and another
commander. Sir Thomas Dale, arrived from England with fresh expedi-
tions. They had not only men, but what was actually more important at
that time, victuals and domestic animals. Sir Thomas seems to have
understood, better than any who had preceded him, the economy by
which a young nation should preserve itself To each man he gave
three acres of ground, which should belong to him absolutely. He no
longer allowed them to live upon the public stores. It became necessary
for them to make their living, or starve. He insisted upon their building
houses for themselves, and checked the disease which had spread so
rapidly when they persisted upon crowding into one poorly ventilated
shed. New settlements were made about this time, and though they
were under the same local g-overnment, it extended the cidtivation of land.
THROUGH DEATH TO VICTORY. 7 1
For the first time streets were laid out, and the plantations had definite
boundaries. This progress was slow, but under the^e two determined
leaders, it was sure.
Stories of the wildness and drunkenness of the men of "Virginia
had been carried back to England, and the dignified members of the
lyondon corporation there detennined to uproot these evils by a set of
laws. They must have imagined that the natures of Englishmen were
very much changed by crossing the Atlantic, for it is certain that no
Englishman living in their native island ever obeyed such laws as these.
There was a penalty of death for wilfully pulling up a flower, a root or
an herb when set to weeding. He who uttered an oath had a bodkin
thrust tlirough his tongue at the second offense, and at the third offense
suffered death. If he was absent from the place of public worship, he
was deprived of a week's allowance for the first offense, publicly
whipped for the second, and killed for the third. No one was allowed
to kill any domestic animal, not even a chicken or a dog, though it
might belong to the person who killed it. A tradesman who neglected
his business was sent to the galleys for four years if he persisted in the
offense. It was evident that the great waste of money, time, oppor-
tunity and supplies of which the colony had been guilty had irritated
the London Company into making these ridiculous regulations. Still
more severe than these were the martial rules, which each private
citizen was expected to know and obey.
For the first time the colony began to make some money. It came
from the sale of tobacco, and, for the raising of this plant, the cultiva-
tion of corn was neglected. It was through the taxation of tobacco in
England that the colony came to open its first 'rading with Holland,
and the indirect outcome of it was the first quanel with England. A set-
tlement was finally made, but not for several years. From the extreme
of idleness the colonists went to the extreme of industry, as soon as their
love for money prompted it, and those who owned no land did not hesi-
tate to plant tobacco in the very streets of Jamestown. England began
to see that the wealth of Virginia did not lie in gold, nor its advantages
in a passage to the southern seas. Tobacco charmed them, as the
prospects of Cathay had bewitched them before. Men were sent over
in ship-loads, and most of these men were criminals, who had been con-
demned to serve out a term of years. Others were paupers, who sold
themselves into this voluntary slavery for a given period of time, with
the understanding that at the end of that time they were to become free
cil'zens. Worse, still, so valuable did men become, that in 1619 a
72 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Dutch ship came to Jamestown with a cargo of negroes, from the coast
of Guinea. And thus the negro was brought under the American-
English government for the first time. It was the beginning of slavery'
in the colonies of the new world.
Perhaps it is hardly worthy of mention — of such slight imi^ortance
were things of this nature — that Captain Argall, who was for a
time governor of the colony, saw fit to destroy a little colony of French,
at Port Royal, in the Bay of Fundy. The destniction of a few men in
those days mattered but little, and even the historian would only think
this worthy of mention, because it was one of the first outbreaks
between the French and the English. Governor Argall set the example
of greediness. He and his colony gave themselves up to a near-sighted
plan of money-making, neglecting all those things which were neces-
sary for the real comfort of their homes, and for the better mode of
living. The distinguished Lord de la Ware was sent out to displace him,
but he died on his way. Sir George Yeardley was made President of
Virginia, which now numbered about six hundred persons. Their
reduction had come from the same old mismanagement. There was a
scarcity of food. To put them in better position, Yeardley gave them
the power of self-government, and on July 30, 1619, met the first legis-
lative assembly in this country. It had twenty-two representatives, a
governor, and the council.
Here, the first blow was struck at intemperance. There was an
enactment against drunkenness, making it a punishable offence.
Three hundred members of the colony died the ne.xt year. The
king determined to replace these men. He sent one hupdred felons
from the jails of England. Sir Edward Sandys, one of the most
thoughtful, courteous and cultivated men in Virginia, did what he
could to turn this mistake into an advantage. He founded a university
at Henricho, one of the smaller settlements, where both Indians and
whites were accepted as pupils. About this University were ten
thousand acres of land, and here, in less than two years, one hundred
men were settled. Then, a fortunate thing happened. One hundred
English maidens offered to come to the colony, as wives for the young
men. After this there were homes. Wherever there are homes, there
is order. For the first time, it began to look as if there might be a
new and prosperous England on the shores of America.
Another thing that marked this year was the sending out of many
poor boys and girls, from the overcrowded factories of England, to
»erve as apprentices in America. These boys and girls, who, in the
THROUGH DEATH TO VICTORY.
7Z
condition of England, might have been doomed to a life of constant
drndgery, laid the foundation of some of the best and most
distinguished families of this conntry. Within a year 1,261 persons
came to this conntry, either through Sir Edward Sandys, who was
treasurer of the company, or through private ventures. Sir Edward
Sandys should be remembered by all who love books, and have
enjoyed the blessing of a free-school instruction, as the founder of the
first school in America, and the writer of the first book. This was a
translation of Ovid, made in leisure hours, upon the banks of the
James river.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Jefierson's "Notes on Virginia."
Jefferson's "Old Churches of Virginia."
Biography— Spark's "American Biographies."
Fiction — Thackeray's "Virginians."
Cooke's "Virginia Couiediaus."
Janies' "Old Dominion,"
Defoe's "Jacques."
CHAPTER IX.
l|orumbga^ l^g Jinuliful
THE SETTLEMENT OF MAINE — THE VOYAGE OF THE ENGLISH — CHAM-
PLAIN AND VERMONT — THE SETTLEMENT
OF MT. DESERT.
'^'*\I>EANWHILE, there were settlements far to the
north. Maine was a most attractive country to
^ the voyager. Its innumerable lakes and beautiful
J>^3^i rivers, its magnificent coast, its hills and meadows,
were all tempting. For three-fourths of a centurj',
or nearly that, explorers had dallied about it. often
stopping for a while and making insecure settlements.
Not only had the English been enamored with it
through all these years, but the French, as well, had
loved to coast along its shores and explore its interior,
and both nations had given names to its rivers and bays,
its capes and islands. In nothing more than in this
naming, was the different policy of the two nations
shown. The English made the mistake of insisting
upon the use of their own favorite names. The French used the Indian
names, and seemed to bend to the customs and prejudices of the race whose
countr}' they were invading. This was a very sure way of winning and
keeping friendship. The French went further. They dressed as the
Indians did whenever it was possible for them to do so; they hunted
afte.- the fashion of the Indians, and fished with Indian tackle. Imita-
tion is the sincerest flatter}-, and it could not fail to have its eff"ect even
upon a race of savages.
Innumerable voyages were made by both French and English to
Norumbega, which was then the musical appellation of that countr\-,
but no one ventured to put a king's name upon the soil or to found
a lasting colony. The first actual settlement made in Maine was led by
De Monts a governor of the province of Spain. With him came Samuel
NORUMBEGA, THE BEAUTIFUL. 75
de Cliamplain. Both of these men had previously been to Maine upon
expeditions, but this time they came with a charter from Henr^' IV.
De Monts was created Lieutenant-General of Acadia, as the country
was called, from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of north latitude.
De Monts was a Huguenot, one of the despised sect, but he had given
such signal service to Henr>' IV that it was decided to trust him with
this important venture; but while he was to follow his conscience in the
matter of his own personal religion, it was agreed that the savages over
which he had ruled were to be converted into Catholicism. Thc-
merchants of Rouen and Rochelle constituted the company which held
the letters patent to the trade in furs and fish in Acadia. With De
Monts came certain distinguished noblemen, Jean de Vincourt, the Baron
de Pontrincourt, and Cliamplain. These gentlemen were anxious to
find a quiet spot, to which they might bring their friends and families
and live in peace, undisturbed by the politics of the Old World. Tt took
the expedition two months to reach the eastern coast of Nova Scotia,
and a month to explore the coast. They decided to settle their
colony on a little island in the St. Croix river. Their histor)' is similar
to that of the colonies who settled farther south. There were the same
hardships, the same carelessness and lack of forethought, and the same
suffering. Champlain coasted far to the south, taking in the innu-
merable points of the bewildering coast, and turning up the mouth of
ever}' river which he came to. The Indians were not inclined to be
amiable. Doubtless they had had too many previous experiments with
invaders. So wretched did the condition of the colony become, that it
became necessary*, in the course of a few months, to move it to a harbor
in Acadia, and here for several 3'ears it lived feebly.
It will be remembered that the Virginian colony was sustained by
a company which had its headquarters in London, and that this was
one of two companies which the king granted patents to. The northern
company sent out, in 1605, a fleet of ships, under the care of George
Weymouth. The experiences of Weymouth and his sailors were not of
the usual sort. They were delightful. They landed upon the pleas-
antest of spots, and encountered beautiful weather. They found pearls
in the shells on the beaches, and excellent clay for brickmaking, and
trees whose gums smelled like frankincense. The Indians were friendly
and hospitable, but the return made was that which could always be
expected; Weymouth kidnaped five Indians, and carried them to
England. The report which he brought to England hastened the
action of the northern Virginia company in sending out that vain
76 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
expedition of theirs, under the charge of Raleigh, Gilbert and George
Pophani. A few months, as has been said before, ended the existence
of the settlement. Then the French made a second attempt. This
was in 1608. The expedition was under the leadership of Champlain,
who sailed to where Quebec now stands, and founded that ancient city.
He finished a fine, if primitive, fort there, saw that garden plots were
laid out and planted, and then left the colony to its own industries,
looking in on it from time to time in the midst of his many voyages.
No more adventurous spirit than he ever lived. His story reads
like a romance, and one of his adventures is too interesting to pass.
He started up the great river St. Lawrence, with a few companions,
giving names as he went to the tributaries. So appropriate were these
names that they cling to this day. At the mouth of the Richelieu river
he met, by appointment, a party of natives. These were on the war-
path against the Iroquois. He went with these Indians, sending back all
but two of his men. The light canoes were carried from water to
water, and at last they reached the magnificent lake of Champlain, the
only thing which this great voyager ever gave his name to. After
several da3's they met their foes. All night they camped upon the
banks of the river, taunting each other with wild cries, and in the
morning the savages confronted each other. The two parties approached
until they were within a few hundred feet of each other, then Cham-
plain's party of Indians opened, and let the astonished Iroquois behold
the spectacle of three white men. The well-aimed guns of the French
wounded three Iroquois, and the entire party took to flight. After this
battle, Champlain returned to Quebec, and lived there in some primitive
state as governor. With one interruption, when the French yielded
their possessions to England, he was governor tintil 1635. The little
struggling colony in Maine, which had been planted by De Monts, had
but a sorr}' time. As might have been expected, De Monts' authority was
finally taken from him, because of the prejudice existing against Hugue-
nots. However, he managed to get over in 1606, just in time to keep
the discouraged colonists from starting for France. About this time
Pontrincourt returned from France, with orders to make the new settle-
ment a central station for the conversion of the Indians, and brought
with him a number of Jesuit missionaries. These, and the missionaries
that succeeded them, have been ^'er>' prominent in religious work of this
continent. The patroness of these voyages was Madame la Marquise de
Guercheville, who was a very- devoted member of the Catholic Church,
and who later held the grant, not only of Acadia, but tlic entire territory
NORUMBEGA, THE BEAUTIFUL. 77
covered by the United Str.tes. In 1630, she sent other ships, with two
more Jesuits. These settled upon Mt. Desert, one of the loveliest
places, ever>' one will admit, on this continent, with mountains which
reach down to the sea and lakes beyond the mountains, with vallej's
and grand meadows. Flowers of all sorts grew here, and berries, all up
the green mountain sides, which reached two thousand feet above the
sea. The Indians were friendh", and turned willing ears to the preaching
of the priests. The settlement was comfortabl}' established, when
Argall came up from the Virginian colony. Without any warning, he
opened a cruel warfare :ipon the peaceful people, stole the commission
of their leader, and, under the pretense that they had settled without
royal consent, arrested them. Many of them he took to Jamestown.
Others were left to find their way in an open boat to Port Royal.
FOR FURTHER READIXr.;
History— Williamson's "Maine."
Lodge's "English Colonies in America."
Voyages of Samuel de Champlain."
Thompson's "Vermont."
Fiction— D. P. Thompson's "Grant Gurley."
Poetry— Whittier's ''Norumbega."
Whittier's "Bride of Pennacook.*'
Whittier's "Mogg Megone."
CHAPTER X.
i0nt[U0$l of l^e li[ilWn0$$.
NOVA SCOTIA AND THE ENGLISH DESPOLIATION — THE SETTLEMENT
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE — THE MODE OF NORTHERN
COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.
' N STEAD of disapproving of this cniel
action, the Governor of Jamestown
sent him back to the pleasant hamlet
of Acadia, where the French had a
settlement, so thoronghly national
in all of its characteristics that it
seemed like a little piece of France
set down upon the shores of the new
world. None of the other colonists,
then or later, accepted all of the trials
which they experienced in an uncul-
tivated countr)', with more bravery
and jocularity of spirit. Thej- were
fond of dancing and all sorts of
merriments. They built their houses
neatly, sustained their church, rever-
enced their priest, and from the first
encouraged home industries. They had herds of fine cattle and sheep,
and well cared for fields. All of these possessions Argall destroyed. He
burned the fort, drove away the cattle, and putting all the Acadians
upon ships, with such of their worldly goods as he did not care to
confiscate, sent them away from the home which they had, with the
Frenchman's effusiveness, already learned to regard with so much
affection. Long years after, when some of the Acadians were ver}' old,
they came sadly back to die near the spot which they had learned to
love so warmly.
In 1614 Captain John Smith, who could not by any series of mis-
fortunes be kept in England, came over to see what might be going on
along the coast of Maine. He and his men were looking for gold, but as
fishing seemed at that time to be as paying a business as gold mines, and
CONQUEST OF THE WILDERNESS. 70
as fishing was a bird in the hand, while mining was still in the bush, he
concluded to lade his ships with a cargo of the best fish to be found
along the coast. He carried home, in addition to this, twenty-seven
savages, seized by his shipmaster, who were taken to Spain and dis-
posed of there at a profit. But these were rescued by some Spanish
friars, and finally returned to their native home. After laying the mat-
ter of cod fishing before the English king and lords, he made another
attempt to reach America in 161 5, but was driven back to port by
storms, and historj- tells little or nothing more of him.
About this time Ferdinando Gorges, who was president of the
Plymouth Company in England, determined to send out a settlement at
his own expense, since none of the companies seemed to second him in
his aspiration to establish a successful fislier}\ The man whom he chose
to cany out his plan was Richard Vines. So many selfish and con-
temptible characters figured in the early history of America, that it is a
relief to think of one man who was thoroughly good and noble in all
that he did. Richard Vines was associated with no great discovery or
conqest. He did not bring his nation any great wealth, but his life was
one which everyone is glad to think of He reached Sago Bay in 161 7,
and found that a terrible plague had broken out, which was rapidly
thinning the Indian tribes. Vines coiild easily have left and gone back
to England, or to some other port, but he stayed among the plague-
stricken Indians as a physician, and attended them constantly through
all of their trials. Neither he nor his men were ever ill, although they
laid in cabins where the Indians were dying with the disease. His
work of exploration through this tedious winter was verj' careful. He
made the coast more thoroughly known to the English, and ventured
far into the interior. It is said that he was the first to describe the
White j\Iountains, if not the first to venture among them. Another
thing that distinguished him from other Englishmen, was the fact that
he always opposed the giving of rum to the Indians.
Gorges sent out other expeditions, which, for various reasons, had no
satisfactory results, though one of his mariners discovered Long Island
Sound. The Northern Company of Plymouth had much difficulty
about its charter at this time, not being satisfied with the relations
which they bore to the Virginian colony. The French here pvit in a
claim that the London Company was encroaching on the south.
The Dutch had begun to creep in the slip which was left between
the boundaries designated by tlie London and Plymouth grants. Just
how all of this was finally divided up, it would be wearisome to
So THE STORY OF AMERICA.
write, and wearisome to read, and, since none of the grants were very
enduring, it is perhaps best to pass over the geographical division.
But one of these, the Laconia grant, given in 1623, should be
especially mentioned, because from it came the settlement of New
Hampshire. This was owned by Gorges and John Mason, and these
two men sent over a ship-load of settlers, some of whom were fishennen,
and others farmers, with a suppl>' of food and tools. A part of this
company settled at Strawberry Bank, which they named because of the
beautiful wild strawberries growing rank over the fields. What was
Strawberr)- Bank, is now Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The other
party went up the river a few miles and settled the plantation of Dover,
which was verj- near the place where the present city of Dover stands.
About this time, the English trade on the American coast had so
increased, that in one year fifty ships came into English ports, with
cargoes of various sorts, from America.
The settlement of the ]\Iaine coast went on slowly. Many expeditions
were sent out, which promised, in the beginning, to be successful, but
the Englishmen seem to have been afflicted with home-sickness, and
were forever leaving their cabins on that stern coast and going back to
their milder countr}-. A certain merry captain, by the name of Levitt,
started a plantation at the place he called York, which stands near the
present city of York, and many other men built similar plantations, and
fishers scattered huts along the beach, which protected them upon their
fishing expeditions. At this time, all of the Plymouth company was
under charge of the Governor, Robert Gorges, the son of Ferdinando. He
visited America, but did not like the countr}-, and only remained a few
months. It was not until 1625 that the company from Bristol, under
the patronage of Robert Aldworth and Giles Eldridge, came to Monhegan
Island, which these two wealthy merchants had purchased. They also
bought the Point of Pemaquid, and established there a vigorous colony.
A little later, the towns of Biddeford and Saco were founded by Richard
Vines and John Oldham. In 1631 Mason and Gorges divided their
grant, drawing the boundary between Maine and New Hampshire,
Mason taking New Hampshire, and Gorges such portion of Maine as
belonged to him. Gorges offered to bring planters to his dominion,
promising to give them land at a very low rate, and, if they would consent
to form a city or town, to give them such laws and liberties as they had
enjoyed in England. His system of law-giving had in it a touch of
feudalism, although this arose from its simplicity, aud not from any
desire of Gorges to play the tyrant. He did more than an}- other one
CONQUEST OF THE WILDERNESS. Si
man iu the Northern Company towards settling America, but his repu-
tation had suffered, because he was thought to have prejudices against
the Puritans, who by this time were clinging like barnacles to the stem
rocks of Plymouth.
More interesting to the present American than the details and dates,.
is the life of those early settlers. One likes to think about them living
among these magnificent Maine woods, which alread)- began to furnish
the ships of the rich countries of the Old World with spars and masts.
The colonists were poor, it is true, but their wants were few. People of
all stations made their morning and evening meal of boiled corn and
milk, or pork and beans, or pork and peas. They drank home-made
beer and cider. Tea and coffee were not }-et brought to this country.
Their bread was usually of rye and Indian meal. They were not gay
people like the French. They lived sternly, with rigid laws, and had
a very high standard of morality. If vice was not punished with death,
it was followed with such disgrace that the culprit had no longer any
desire to live among his old friends. The laws here, however, were
much milder than those of the other New England colonies, and people
)ersecuted by the Puritans found that the\- could take refuge in Maine.
On the other hand, there were disadvantages in being so close to Canada,
for the French and Indians continually threatened the English colonies,
and man}' Englishmen were carried captive up through that gap called
Crawford's Notch, where the Sago river winds in creek-like narrowness,
and which Richard Vines was the first white man to pass through. The
traditions of Crawford's Notch are many and pathetic.
The Indians had good cause to be bitter. There were acts of such
wanton cruelty and contempt on the part of the settlers that the Indians
would have been less than human had they not retaliated. At one
time Massachusetts, fearing for the remote New Hampshire settle-
ments, sent one hundred and thirty men to Dover to join the force of
Major Waldron, who commanded there. He desired to punish the
Indians for some massacres of which they had been guilty, and gave
orders to his men to seize all of the Indians who had been guilty of
murder. He invited the Indians, who were disposed for peace, to come
to him under flag of truce. This was in 1671. He then drew his men
up in line of battle, and asked the Indians to take part in a mock
training. Anything of this sort suited their nature well, and they went
at the sport with enthusiasm. At the command to fire, their muskets
were emptied into the air, and then the troops closed around them, and
took them all prisoners at the point of the bayonet. It had been
83 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Major Waldron's intention to retain only those interested in the massacre
referred to — which was not extensive, thongh very heart-rending in its
details — but little care was taken to look into the personal character
of the Indians, and two hundred were sent to Boston and sold as slaves.
It is no wonder that such treachery was punished. Murders among the
outlying farms became frequent, and in 1689 Major Waldron's mock
training bore its fruit. He had sown the wind and reaped the whirlwind.
At Dover, there were five garrison houses, secure and well built.
With such protection Waldron thought the people safe, and allayed the
suspicion of some, who noticed the unusual actions among the Indians,
by telling them to go back to their pumpkin planting; that he could
attend to the Indians. One fair June day, at ever}' garrison house two
squaws asked that they might be allowed to spend the night. The peo-
ple let them in. At midnight the squaws arose, imbolted the gates and
admitted the Indians. Old Major Waldron, now eighty years of age,
was sleeping securely in his bed when the savages entered, fierce with a
pent-up indignation of thirteen years. His determination and strength
had not deserted him for all of his old age, and he drove the Indians
from room to room by the soldierly method in which he handled his
sword. But their number was too great for him. They seated them-
selves at the table, on which they had placed Major Waldron in a
chair. The women of the house they forced to serve them. After they
had eaten, each of the Indians slit some part from the body of the
Major. His nose, ears and right hand were cut off, and when, at last,
he failed from loss of blood, they held a sword so that he might fall
upon it. Everything of value was taken from the house, and it was
set on fire. Throughout the settlement there was a general conflict.
Twenty-three persons were killed, and twenty-nine were taken to
Canada and sold to the French. But it was the stealing of women and
children from the farm-houses, the terrible captivity, the long marches,
the strange and savage life, not unfrequently accompanied by torture,
which held the people in the northern settlements in the greatest fear.
The details of the various fights with the Indians are too sad to tell.
There was no time entirely free from hostility, and, in 1690, when the
Governor of Canada organized expeditions of French and Indians
against the colonists in New England and New York, and the northern
settlements, of course, suffered intensely. Traditions of great heroism
have come down from those times. The endurance of the people was
wonderful, and it is difficult for us to believe how much they could
undergo and live.
CONQUEST OF THE WILDERNESS.
S3
The settlemeuts of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire have now
been tonched upon. Their colonies grew very slowly. At one time
^•^ew Hampshire was connected with Alassachusetts in government, and
at another time with New York, but finally, in 1741, it became a sepa-
rate province, with a royal governor, who lived in great elegance at
Portsmouth. Englishmen of great wealth and learning settled here,
building substantial houses and furnishing them with massi\-e and
costly goods. The northern townships constantly filled with imriii-
grants from Scotland and Ireland, and, by the time of the American
Revolution, New Hampshire was a very sturdy and independent colony.
It was one hundred ^-ears from the time that Champlain first entered
Vermont that the European settlers built there, and, until the time of
the Revolution, it was not known as a separate colony, but was called
New Hampshire grants.
FOR FURTHER RE-^DING
HiSTORV— Parkman's "The Old Regi;
Beamish'
Belknap';
Canada.*
'Histon- of Nova Scotia."
New Hampshire."
CHAPTER XI.
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK — THE DUTCH; THEIR EXPLORATIONS
AND SETTLEJIEXTS — THEIR DEALINGS WTTH THE
W;^' \ "^ I INDLANS — THEIR SUCCESS.
p^r- \*i^i ^ ^^^ beginning of the seventeenth centur>- ther?
were three European colonies established — none
of them ver>- strong. This was when the French
^ .-<f^^ were still in Acadia, the Spanish at St Augus-
^/^ " tine, and the English on the James river. Spain had
'^wi«^<" '- grown strong in Mexico and Peru, and in the conquest of
i^P^^W those countries had gained enormoits riches, but the other
nations had received little return for the money and
enterprise la\ished upon the New World. Spain, puffed
up with pride, here lost, by following a selfish policy in
every direction. The Indians were being persecuted,
the inquisition was in force and the Netherlands were
being heavily oppressed. Great sums of money had been
taken from the Netherlands, and a revenue drawn from
them out of all proportion to their possessions. The}- were intelligent
and liberal people, but were not allowed to have institutions of the sort
that they demanded, and were treated more like slaves than a nation of
great merchants and farmers. A most brutal governor was placed over
them, and out of his cruelty- grew the long series of wars, which finally
ended in a struggle for independence. At the close of it, the Netherlands
became one of the most vigorous nations of Europe, and a refuge for all
who were oppressed in other countries. Everyone knows how they
seemed to snatch their lands from the very arms of the ocean. Their
farms flourished with wonderful luxuriance. Their cities became
leading commercial cities of the world, and their dykes barred the
ocean from their possessions, only admitting it when it could aid them.
The East India trade, which for so many years was one of the chief
THE DUTCHMEN OF NEW NETHERLAND. 85
sources of income to Europe, was almost monopolized by them, and
they had the sole right to send trading vessels around the Cape of
Good Hope and through tlie Straits of Magellan. They also established
a company for the purpose of trading at the West Indies, though for
sometime this was not successful. As their interests were so associated
with those of the East Indies, they, as well as other nations, had looked
for that never-to-be-found northwest passage. The voyages which they
sent out were many, but all of them failed. At last their little country,
which gave out such wonders of wealth, seemed to be cultivated almost
to its last acre, and they began to tuni their eyes toward the New World.
They had watched the English voyages with much interest, and had
heard of the .skill of a certain navigator, Henr}' Hudson, who had been
employed in one of these expeditions. For this man they sent, and
signed a contract with him which was to give him a certain sum of
gold for his family during his absence, and to give his widow a sum of
money in the e\-ent of his death, if he would search to the best of his
ability for the pathway to India. On Saturday, the 4th of April, 1609,
Hudson sailed from Amsterdam, on the Half Moon. His crew was
composed of English and Dutch sailors — rather an unfortunate combina-
tion. The Half Moon went up the Norway coast toward North Cape,
and toward Nova Zembla; but so crowded was the .sea with jangling
bergs and floating cakes of ice, and so impatient was his crew, that he
was obliged to turn back. Acting upon their advice, he concluded to
sail westward, and, reaching the American coast, to search for the
possibility of an opening, by waj' of a river, to the desired Indian sea.
He anchored in Penobscot Bay on July 18th, and remained there
several days, while his crew repaired the vessel. Tliey treated the
Indians in a murderous way, and found it necefsar)' to leave the bay in
haste. He went close to the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, but did
not visit his friends at Jamestown, perhaps because he did not wish
to be seen in the service of another country. He turned northward
again, and coasted until the 2d of September, when he reached a most
beautiful bay, and .saw the hills of Neversink to the northward. The
men were delighted with the wonderful harbor that lay before them,
and passed beyond Sandy Hook, up into the Narrows. The small boats
were put out to explore and fish, and on the 4th of August the first
European stepped upon Coney Island. Finally the strait beyond the
Narrows was explored, and grassy shores, pleasant flowers and goodly
hees were all examined. They had a disastrous encounter with the
Indians, who killed one of the sailors and wounded two others and
86 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
then Hudson decided to push his boat up the great river which opened
before him. It was in the midst of August, and oppressively hot, though
clear.
It can easily be imagined that the hills of Staten Island and all those
wonderful woods of L,ong Island were at their best. The boat went up
with the tide, anchoring at night. The Indians were much delighted
with the novel sight, and crowded out to the ship, bringing corn and
tobacco with them. Nearly two centuries of civilization have not been
able to spoil the Hudson, but one can guess that it must have been even
more majestic then than now. So silent was it, so wild and rugged,
that the sailors were awe-stricken as their boat turned slowly up the
stream, and floated by the wooded hills and the Palisades to the High-
lands. At length the stream got too narrow for the Half Moon to go
farther, and Hudson was obliged to content himself by sending portions
of his crew, in small boats, as far as the present site of Albany. With
much regret, he was forced to believe that this was only a river running
north, through which he could hope to find no opening to India. It
was then that Hudson gave to certain Indian chiefs, with whom he had
had pleasant trading, the banquet which lived in Indian tradition one
hundred years, and which even the Dutch settlers along the banks oi
the Hudson have been glad to relate of Hendrick Hudson and his merry
crew. The Indians saw him depart with much regret, for he had
furnished them with a very novel excitement; but it seemed as if Euro-
peans were never to visit this country without being guilty of some act
of great injustice to the natives. Hudson's men did not leave the
beautiful "River by the Mountains," as they called it, without brutally
killing a couple of Indians. The affair led to a general fight. Hudson
started for Holland, but stopped at Dartmouth harbor, in England, and
was held there by the English government, which saw that it had made
a mistake in letting a man of such ability pass into the employ of a
foreign nation. He was retained in the service of the Moscovy
Company, for which he had previously sailed, and in 1610, made that
last fatal voyage to the northwest, when he discovered the bay whicii
bears his name. There among that white and desolate waste his men
mutinied, tied him hand and foot and threw him on board a boat, with
his son and a few companions. No one ever heard of him aftersvards,
but the little children living up among the highlands on the Hud.son
river still say, when the thunder rolls, "There are Hendrick Hudson and
his crew playing nine-pins among the hills."
Holland did not seem to be especially interested in Hudson's
'%
THE DUTCHMEN OF NEW NETHERLAND. 89
discoveries. It was not anxious, like Spain and England, for great
territorial possessions. Since it could not have the northwest passage,
il cared little about America and her virgin soil. But, though the
governn-.ent was indifferent to the matter, certain private merchants
thought they saw a way to make much money, by exchanging trifles
for costly furs. The experiment worked well, and, in a short time, a
very brisk trade had sprung up between the Indians and the Dutch ; the
funny little vessels of the Hollanders going along the coast and up the
streams, visiting the Indian hamlets and giving a few beads, or some
other such trumpery, in exchange for beautiful skins. A sort of fort
and store-house was built on Manhattan Island, as a station for their
wares. The Netherland merchants soon saw that they had struck a
good thing, and began to push their territory- north and south.
Incidentally, they added some fresh discoveries to the few which their
country had made. Among the captains distinguished in these discov-
eries were Hendrick Christaensen, Adriaen Block and Cornelis Jacob-
sen May. Adriaen Block was the first European to pass through Hurl-
gate. This was in 1614. He, too, discovered and named the rocky
little island which raises its head fifteen miles out of the New York
liarbor, and which bears his name to this day. He spent the winter of
161 3-14 on Manhattan Island, having lost his ship, the Tiger ^ by fire,
and finding it necessary to build another. This he named the Onntst^
meaning the restless. It was he who first traversed Long Island
Sound and sailed up the Connecticut river. He went along the New
England coast as far as Nahant, and called that the limit of New
Netherland. He entered the blue Narragansett Bay, and saw there the
red island, or Roode Island, as he called it, fro n which our State of
Rhode Island takes its name. Cape May was named after Captain May.
Hendrick Christaensen biiilt the first great trading post up the Hudson
river, on Castle Island, close by Albany. He was an excellent agent, of
adventurous spirit, and was rapidly acqtiiring power and wealth, when
he was killed by an Indian whom he had taken on a voyage to Holland,
but had safely restored to his home. His position as Governor was
taken by Jacob Eelkens. Out of the many Dutch navigators, these
three men are especially remembered for their faithful services to
Holland.
The merchants who had first opened trade about Manhattan and the
Hudson became alarmed at the munber who had followed their example,
and succeeded in getting an ordinance to protect themselves. In this
charter the name of New Netherland was officially given to that strip
6
yo THE STORY OF AMERICA.
of land which lay between the 40th and 45th degrees, and which had
the London Company upon one side and the Plymouth Company on the
other. This was four years from the time that Hendrick Hudson's
men pushed the //a// Moon into the Narrows. The merchants desired
that this be given them for a term of three years, for they saw nothing
in the venture except chances for successful trade. They were satisfied
with their own, which, indeed, was the most advanced of the age, and,
having no desire to settle on their new possessions, merely wished to
get what wealth they could out of it. Their trading grounds extended
widely, and their relations with the Indians were friendly. The shores
of Delaware Bay and river were explored, and the trade for seal skins
opened with the natives. They went as far south as the cape they named
Henlopen, and wished to have a charter for the ground to this limit,
but the Republic of Holland was afraid that it might be an encroach-
ment upon the bounds of Virginia, and refused. The trading post on
Castle Island was moved to a safer spot, where the spring freshets could
not disturb it, and put in a more secure building, in 1618, the charter
for which the Holland merchants had asked expired, but they continued
to trade with much the same freedom as before, and with so overbeai-
ing a policy that few ventured to trespass upon the ground which
they claimed. So, in 162 1, the West India Conipau)', which had
never really done anything previous to this, secured a charter which
gave it great power. Among other things, its authority over the
Dutch territory in America was absolute. It had a right to appoint all
of the governing officers, and to rule with what laws it chose. It was
to build forts, and to insure the protection of its own possessions. It had
a board of nineteen delegates in the brave little country at home, and
these ruled the great stretch of land by the Hudson. Thirty-two ves-
sels-of-war and eighteen anned yachts were at the service of the com-
pany, in case it needed protection.
The first ship which went over with settlers was in 1623. ^^ her
was a large company of Walloons. These Walloons were not Dutch-
men, but Frenchmen, who had been driven from their home on account
of their religion, to find a settlement in free Holland, for in France
they had been treated in a most cruel and relentless manner. They
were a class quite by themselves, and had kept, for many generations,
their old French words and customs, so that they neither belonged to
France of that day nor to any other country. The>- were quite
distinguished for their mechanical cleverness, and for their .saving
industr/. It is easy to see how such people should have an ambition to
THE DUTCHMEN OF XEW XETHERLAND. cjl
enter a countn- which the\- could call their own, and the West India
directors, hearing of this aspiration, made them offers whicli they
accepted. They sailed imder Captain Cornells Jacobsen May, and
settled on the site of Albany. In a short time they had a group of
comfortable bark houses, a goodly field of corn, and a pier, at which
the round-prowed vessels of the Dutch could anchor. A part of the
Walloons, and of the New Netherland passengers also, settled at Fort
Orange. Some went to the north of the Connecticut river, and others
to the western end of Long Island. A fort was built on the South
river, and a trading establishment on Manhattan Island. So the Dutch
now traded peaceably along the coast of the New Netherlands, and,
being thrifty people, who were willing to treat the Indians with fair-
ness, and with a love for buying and selling, they soon became quite
prosperous. The Dutch settlements had three different governors
during this period of its existence, the last of whom, Peter Minuet,
succeeded, after a series of successes and mistakes, in making Man-
hattan the central point of interest. The first pictures of this are
very curious. They show groups of new buildings of wood and bark,
and Fort Amsterdam, with its quadrangular stone walls, and a great,
awkward Dutch wind-mill, which the ships in the harbor dwarfed to
insignificant size. Under Peter Minuet, the colonists tried to come to
an understanding with the Plymouth Company, but, though many
courtesies were exchanged on both sides, the English frankly said that
they considered the Dutch intruders.
A great need was felt for some more substantial scheme of govern-
ment. It was evident that the Dutch were not sufficienth' interested in
the country to which they had come, and that it was a mistake to take
all of the products to Holland and bring so few in return.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Duulap's "History of New Netherlands.'*
Barnes* "Early History of Albany."
Clute's "Anna'ls of Staten Island?'
Fiction — Irving's "Knickerbocker History."
Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
Mrs. H. F. Parker's "Constance Aylmer."
CHAPTER XII.
0Ui0r*
THE PURITANS — THEIR TRIALS AND WANDERINGS — THE LANDING A1
PLYMOUTH ROCK — THE FIRST WINTER.
NOVELIST feels at liberty to go from one
place to another, that he may keep the
reader advised as to what all his characters
are doing, in different places, and under
different circumstances. Historj', like
fiction, forces the writer to constantly go
back, and reach his Rome by another road.
The Dutch had become well acquainted
with what we call New York before the
greatest of all the colonies was settled,
that of Plymouth. No other colony has
such a fascination for the American
reader. No other seemed to hold in it,
to such an extent, the elements which
went to make up the best in our
republic. These people, as well as the
settlers of IManhattan, came from Holland,
though they were Englishmen. For
years the Puritaus had been persecuted in England. The cause for
their persecution was, that they objected to the ritual of the Church of
England, and desired to have a simple gospel, with unpretentious
teachings. They did not believe in what they called the Anti-Christian
greatness and tjrannical power of the established church. This frame of
mind was an offshoot of the Reformation. James I had no patience with
these Puritans. He boasted of having peppered them soundly, and \va.=
well pleased with any one of his magistrates, or sheriffs, who persecuted
them. They were scattered throughout England, and existed in large
numbers in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire. They were
inspired by certain simple orators, who had a remarkable gift of
eloquence. Almost all of the Puritans were yeomen, simple, sturdy
THK MAYFLOWER.
93
folk, direct of speech, and strong of muscle. They were acquainted
with no luxuries, although they seemed to have had enough money to
enable them to emigrate to another country, when they found that they
could no longer live, in liberty, in their own. They were not without
education, and one of their chief ambitions was to send their sons to
the universities. Being educated, they were all the more determined
to protect their rights, and to insist upon being allowed to worship after
their own manner; therefore, when they were hunted and imprisoned,
their houses beset with spies, and their means of livelihood taken from
them, they decided to leave England. In this, Brewster, their leader, a
man of much experience, who had been a successful courtier and an office-
holder under the government, sustained them. But though the English
did not wish them within their neighborhood, neither did they seem to
wish them to leave. It may have been, merely, that they never allowed
them to do anything they wanted to do. On several occasions, when
the Puritans had secured means of reaching Holland, where they
understood every one was allowed to follow his own faith, they were
detained by mobs of people and brought back, to suffer the jeers and
cruelties of the hard-hearted people about them. Imprisonment was
the general punishment for any such attempt to escape. At length
they engaged a Dutch ship to take them on board, at a quiet place
between Hull and Grimsby. They gathered from various directions,
with all of their goods which they could carr>', and were waiting there
when a mob of country people, armed with all sorts of rude weapons,
rushed upon them. A boat load of Puritan men had been taken to the
ship, and these had to witness the cruelty with which their wives and
children and the small force of men left on shore were treated. The ship-
master of the Dutch ship, frightened at what he saw, set sail, and
carried the despairing men out to sea. The greater part of the
unfortunate Puritans who were left on shore were arrested. After this
their experiences were most pitiful. No magistrate seemed willing
to decide upon their case, and they were driven from one place to
another, until their money was exhausted, and all of their goods lost
Finally, some people of note and money were moved by their patlietic
condition, and secured means by which they reached Holland, wliere
they were united with their friends. In the midst of opulent Holland
they succeeded, in spite of their simple ways and meagre experiences,
in earning a living, and were always treated with kindness and
consideration by the Dutch. But as time passed on, they felt it a pity
that their English children should grow up in the midst of Dutch
94 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
surroundings, learning a foreign language and strange, un-English
ways. It is not strange that the reports of America delighted them.
They believed it to be a land where they would have fewer difficulties
to struggle with, and where they might find an Eldorado where gold
was plenty and ease ensured. They corresponded, therefore, with
some of the leading men of Jamestown, especially with Sir Edward
Sandys, who had been a friend of Brewster years before.
He probably ad\'ised them to obtain a patent, for they sent two of
their most trusty men, Robert Cushman and John Carver, to England
to see if the king would grant them one. After many delays and much
evasion on the part of the king, they got one, although it was never
used. It was a grant of land somewhere near the mouth of the Hudson
river, and the Puritans, who were under obligations to the Dutch,
probabh- did not feel as if they cared to infringe upon their trading
ground. Holland offered them its protection, but this also was refused,
being unwilling to vex their native countr}-men, the English. It will
be seen that they were very war,- and discreet people, anxious to be a'
peace with everyone.
In the month of July, 1620, at the Puritan Church in Leyden,
Holland, the good pastor, Robinson, held a day of prayer, singing many
psalms and feasting. The last night they spent with their friends in a
long, long talk, and in the morning departed very sorrowfully, with
many tears, from the spot which had been their dwelling-place for twelve
years. The two ships, the Spccdivcll and Mayflower^ carried one
hundred and twenty people from Southampton, on August 5th, but the
Speedwell proved unseaworthy, and the Afayflozvcr finally went alone,
carrying one hundred and two persons for the new colony, besides the
crew. The ship was not strong, and half w^ay across the ocean they
were on the point of returning, but pra}'erfully decided to go on, and,
on the 9th of November, saw Cape Cod. They cast anchor in the
harbor, where they could be free from the winds, and a few of them
went on shore, where they fell upon their knees and thanked God for
the perils which they had escaped, and for the new life which was
opening before them. More than a month was spent in looking for a
spot where they might settle. During this time they made a compact
of government, in which it was agreed that they should bind themselves
into a civil body politic for their ordering and preservation, and should
feel at liberty to enact laws from time to time for the good of the colon>-.
All of the profits in trading, fishing, planting or anything else, were to
go, for a period of seven years, into common stock, and at the end of
THE JIAYFLOWER. 95
that time were to be equall)- divided among all who had contributed
money to the enterprise, and those who had engaged in it personally.
Every person o\'er sixteen years of age was rated as owning a single
share, or ten pounds, and if he provided his own outfit to the amount of
ten pounds, he was entitled to two shares. This was according to the
advice of Thomas Weston, who had helped to supply ships and mone\-
for the enterprise. The captain of the Mayflozvcr was impatient to land
his passengers and return to England, and, therefore, the>- landed at
last upon this "stern and rock-bound coast." Man)- journeys were
made to the mainland, and one place was found where there were corn-
fields, and little brooks of running water. Here it was decided to build
the colony, and on the 15th of December, the Mayfloivcr\t{'i\\^r harbor
at Cape Cod, and dropjjed her anchor half way between Plymouth and
Clark's Island. Ten days later a shallop left the ship with the distinct
purpose of landing the pilgrims upon the spot of their future home.
Men, women and children went to look it over and say what they
thought about it. The first shallop was filled with sailors, for the most
part, but there were a few women aboard, and in the prow sat John
Alden, the >oung scholar, and Mar}- Chilton, a gay young girl, wlio
was the first to spring upon the rock. It was not imtil the 2 ist of March
that all of the company went on shore. Shelter was still insufficient,
and provisions were poor and scanty. Disease began to spread among
them, and when spring came, almost one-half of the little company was
dead. Miles Standish, the stalwart captain, was a widower, and half a
dozen of the most reliable men of the company were in the same unfortu-
nate state. John Carver, the Governor, died in April. Mar>' Chilton,
the light-hearted girl, was left an orphan. There was great fear from
the Indians, although they did not disturb them. One can see, in
imagination, their poor little houses, built of logs, cemented with mortar,
the low, thatched roofs, and the oil-paper which ser\'ed as window glass.
Side by side in the rooms stood the beds, as many as could be crowded
into an apartment. There was a great shed for the public goods, and a
melancholy little hospital for the sick. On the top of the church stood
the four brass cannons, pointing toward the several directions.
FOR FURTHER RE-A-DING:
History— Palfrey's and Elliott's "New England."
Barrj*'s "Massachusetts."
Young's "Chronicles of Massachusetts.''
Fiction— L. M. Child's "Hobomoc."
H. V. Cheney's "A Peep at the Pilgrims."
J. L. Motley's "Merry Mount."
Poetry— Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish."
Mrs. Heman's "Landing of the Pilgrims."
Rev. John Pierpont's "The Pilgrim Fathers."
CHAPTER XIII.
>\b Jlail^ !^ouiih*
THE NEXT THREE YEARS — THE ORDER, CIVIL, MARTIAL AND RE-
LIGIOUS, WHICH THEY .MAINTAINED THE
MANNER OF THEIR DAILY
LIVING, ETC.
'XTHOUGH we now see fit to hold the Indians in
such contempt, the early settlers realized that
^1 they owed much to them. Such knowledge as
i ", they had of planting corn and other indigenous
productions, they had to thank the Indians for.
The pilgrims at Plymouth had seen but little of the
Indians through their tedious winter, but when March
came, they were surprised one day by the sight of a
naked Indian walking into their camp and looking
around with unfeigned curiosity. This man's name
was Samoset, and he gave them much knowledge of
the country and of the Indians near them. Indeed,
he opened friendly relation between them and the
Indians round about, for he was able to speak the
English tongue, having had dealings with certain explorers, whose
settlements had been unsuccessful. Samoset introduced them to Massa-
soit, the Sagamore of that region. These northern Indians seem to
have lacked that dignity of carriage and grace of manner, which made
the Indians of the islands in the West Indies so attractive. Samoset had
an Indian friend who visited the colony much, and taught the colonists
many things, for which they owed him a great debt of gratitude, and he,
later, acted as guide for the ambassadors from the colony, when they
made their treaty of peace with the surrounding Indians. The health
of the people improved as the soft New England spring opened, and
they gained courage from the very influence of the budding vegetation
about them, and from the sea, which was alwa}'s in sight. The ground
was carefully cultivated, and fishing became a fine art, so that at last it
THE DAILY ROUND. 97
became possible for them to make journeys into the country, and become
acquainted with the region about them. They explored the «;ape, and
went as far as Boston harbor, and were filled, it is said, with regret that
they did not settle upon this pleasanter spot, which was so sheltered and
secure, compared to the bold and barren place which they had selected
in the dreary January weather. The summer passed, and in November,
a ship came from England, It was the first news that they had heard
from home, and the eagerness with which they read their letters, and
received their share of the supplies, can better be imagined than
described. The Fortune brought, also, a new patent, issued to John
Pierce and associates by the Plymouth Company, and for the tirst time
establishing the Puritans legally.
The London adventurers had the hardihood to send a letter filled
with reproaches that the Mayflower had been sent to England
without a cargo from America. They seemed to have no thought of
the difficulties which the colonists had had in merely preserving life
and beginning their settlement. What they expected as a cargo they
did not say. There could have been very little to send them at that
time. Bradford was now Governor, and he returned a quiet letter, that
so general had been the disease through the winter, that the living had
scarcely been able to bury the dead, and the well not in any means
sufficient to attend the sick. ' However, they succeeded in putting some
lumber and peltry on the Fortune^ on her home vo}-age, only a part
of which reached England, as she encountered a French ship, which
overhauled her. The second winter passed calmly, and with much less
suffering than the previous one. It was a ver}' orderly community, not
indulging in much pleasure, and yet not without quiet enjoyment.
There were few books in the colony besides the Bible and hymn book,
of which, indeed, there were very few copies.
A little revelry was attempted on Christmas day, by some of the
young men who had come over in the Fortune^ but this was promptly
checked by Governor Bradford. The young men had said that it was
against their conscience to work on Christmas day, and had, therefore,
been excused from their tasks, but when the Governor returned at noon
and found them playing at ball and pitching quoits in the street, he
remarked that it was against his conscience to let others play while he
worked. No doubt, however, there was good fellowship among the
people, and many an hour of not unpleasant gossip in the twilight. The
firm, religious faith of the people, and their sincere devotional exercises,
were a great source of gladness and strength to them, and a help to that
98 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
statesinaia-like order which made their little settlement so admirable.
The Narragansett Indians at one time showed hostile intentions.
The best description of their dealings with the colonists can be found in
Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish. " They sent a bundle of
arrows, tied together with the skin of a rattlesnake. It was a challenge
to war. Miles Standish, swelling with rage, stuffed the snake skin full
of bullets and returned it. It was answer enough. The Narragan-
setts left the colonists undisturbed, but it was thought best to palisade
the town, and to keep the men in martial order, ready at any time for
an attack. Toward spring, a fort was built on the spot called Burial
Hill.
THE RATTLESNAKE SKIN WITH Ui:LLKTS.
In the simimer of 1622, a number of men were sent to the colony,
who were of a ven*- vicious nature, and this occasioned the first actual
difficulty with the Indians. They were a lazy, mischievous and dis-
order!}, set of men, whom it was a great burden for the colony to
support. It became necessary to send them away, such an offense
were they to the upright and moral founders of tire community, and
Plymouth rejoiced greatly when these unruly fellows set up a separate
colony at Wessagusset, which we know as Weymouth. The manner
in which these young men treated the Indians was shameful. Not only
did they deal unfairly with them, but were giiilty of actual crimes
toward them, and toward their women, which made them most obnox-
ious. Even an Indian is a judge of character, and they soon perceived
THE DAILY ROUND. 99
that they had to do with a lot of bullies, who, like all people of their
class, were lacking in true courage. One of the colonists stole corn from
the Indians, and his fellows decided to hang him, to appease their
wrath. They had some doubt, however, about the advisability of
wasting a strong and vigorous man, as the culprit chanced to be, and it
was proposed by an economical wag to hang an old and feeble man in
liis place, but fortimately for the old and feeble man, this was overruled.
So offensive did this colony become that the Massachusetts Indians
finalh- made up their minds to kill the whole of them off, and be well
rid of them. They supposed that such an act would greatly offend the
Plymouth colonists and call for active revenge, and, therefore, thought
it best to kill all of the English. A yen,' slight accident prevented the
entire massacre of the colonists. Massasoit, the great Sagamore, fell
very sick, and two delegates from the Plymouth compan}' were sent to
his place to express sympathy, and give help, if possible. They found
the chief very ill, but by careful nursing and some simple medicine,
restored him to health. The gratitude of the Sagamore was great, and
he revealed the plan against the colonists. Captain StandLsh started
out with eight sturdy men, and visited their disorderly neighbors at
Wessagusset. He found them in a bad state, physically and morally,
and quite unwilling to do anything in their own defense. Standish,
therefore, engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle with the chiefs of the
hostile tribles, and succeeded in killing two of them. Afterward, there
followed a skinnish in an open field, but without loss. The head of
one of the chiefs was taken to Plymouth, and exposed as a warning to
the natives. As for the Wessagusset men, part of them went up to the
Maine colonies, and the rest joined the pilgrims at Plymouth. The
peace-keeping Puritans o\'er in Holland heard of this engagement with
deep regret. The}- could not well understand how their old friends
should have reached a point where they could shed blood. It was
quite impossible for them to know anj'thing about the conditions.
A little later than this, another colony was started by Robert Gorges,
who was now Governor of the entire territory known as Massachusetts,
upon the very spot where the Wessagiisset colon\- had been, but his
people became di.scouraged in a short time and only a handful
remained.
So dissatisfied did the people become with their articles of agree-
ment with the London adventurers, which called for so much work,
and from which they personally reaped no benefit, that it became
nece.ssar}' to make some change. They followed the example of the
lOO THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Virginian colony, and gave to each man a certain quantity of laud to
work on his own account. As in Virginia, also, this was the beginning
of prosperity. The colonists took a deeper interest in the land which
they now could call their own.
At another time they had a struggle to preserve their independence,
because John Pierce, procuring a second patent, wished to make them
his tenants. This would have started a land system like that in England,
but, fortunately for the colonists. Pierce met with such losses in send-
ing a ship to America that he was persuaded to return the grant. The
Puritans still remaining in Holland were very anxious to join their
friends in Plymouth, but the London Company objected to this, and
wished to force upon the devout Puritans people of a different sort. To
this end they sent over a minister, named Lyford. He had been in
Plymouth but a short time when he tried to introduce the old service of
the Church of England. The Puritans resented this with pride and
fierceness, and finally sent the minister and his friends from the colony.
He had drawn about him many discontented spirits, among them John
Oldham, who was finally expelled, with much disgrace, at the butt ends
of the muskets of the sturdy Puritans. The company in London defended
the action of Lyford, and finally refused to be responsible for the fate of
the Puritans. This left the colonies without protection. They could
no longer rely upon supplies from England, and were left to work out
their own destiny. With such brave and stalwart men, nothing better
could have happened. To be independent with them was to be success-
ful. They sent for their friends in Leyden, but their dear old pastor,
Robinson, whom they looked forward with so much pleasure to meet-
ing, died, like Moses, in sight of the promised land. The colonists did
not hear the last of Lyford for some time, for the London adventurers
saw fit to send him over again to found a colony upon Cape Ann, a
district which the pilgrims protested belonged to them, by right of a
patent made out to Robert Cushman and Wiuslow. The choleric Miles
Standish nearly got into an engagement with the Englishmen at Cape
Ann, but finally made a compromise, by which they were to work
together in the production of salt, and so lived amicably. But this
colony came to little, though a company was formed at Dorchester,
England, which sent out for three successive years men and cattle. The
colonists went back to England, or scattered along the coast, and a few
of them settled on the spot we now call Salem. Meanwhile, the
Plymouth colonists had got some cattle, three heifers, and a great white
bull.
THE DAILY ROUND. lOI
The daj-s went on peacefulh- now. On Sundays, evetyone who was
not sick met at the little church. The men sat upon one side and the
women on the other, with those of noble rank quite by themselves.
The little boys, very impatient at the long service, were crowded on the
pulpit stairs and guarded by constables. These constables each had a
wand, with a hare's foot on one end, and a hare's tail on the other.
They used this to keep the people from sleeping. A woman's forehead,
if by any chance she nodded, was only touched with the tail, but if any
naughty little boy went to sleep, he was promptly pounded with the
hare's foot. The services were three or four hours long, and the sexton
stood near the minister, turning over the great hour-glass as it emptied.
It was not until 1836 that they got the Metrical Bay Psalm-Book, with
its great black notes and rugged lettering. They knew less than a
dozen tunes, and sung these over and over, year in and year out. The
houses were scrupulously neat. ]\Iost of them were one story in
height, built of logs, with very steep roofs. In course of time a few
wood and brick houses were built, two stories high in front, and one
behind. The windows had many panes, and opened on hinges like
a casement, and the huge fire-places admitted logs which would burn
for nearly the whole day. There v/ere no clocks, only sun-dials, and
many of the houses were built facing the south, so that the sun at noon
would fall square on the floor, and tell them it was mid-day. The law
allowed none of them to wear finerj-, unless he or she could prove that
it could be afforded. All through the week the women wore home-
spun, and on Sunday brought out from their chests the silk hoods or
lace neckerchiefs which had been brought across the sea. Miles
Standish kept the soldiers well drilled. They had match-lock muskets,
fired by a slow match instead of a percussion cap. So heavy were
lliese weapons that even these sturd\- soldiers had to have a large iron
fork stuck in the ground to hold them. They were belted with bando-
liers, wliich contained a sword and a dozen tin cartridge-boxes. Steel
helmets and iron breast-plates were not unknown, although many of the
colonists wore padded overcoats to keep off the arrows of the Indians.
To be a voter, one must also be a church member. In everthing,
religion ruled. The State had no existence without the Church.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Cheever's "Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. ''
Biography— Anderson's "Women of the Puritan Times."
Fiction— H. M. Whiting's "Faith White's Letter-Book."
E. N. Sears' "Pictures of the Olden Times."
Mrs. J. B. Webb's "The Pilgrims of New England.''
Poetry— Whittier^s "The Garrison ot Cape Ann."
CHAPTER XIV.
ITHE MASSACRE AT JAMESTOWN — LORD BALTIMORE AND THE SKTTLiS
AfENT OF MARYLAND — THE LIBERAL LAWS OF THE
BALTIMORE SETTLEMENT.
(:^BOUT the time that the little Plymouth colony
became alarmed at the threatening attitude of the
Indians, the colony in Jamestown, Virginia, siifFered
a great calamity. The condition of the colony was
peculiar. In one way it did not lack prosperity.
The raising of tobacco was continued to the exclu-
iJ sion of everything else. Laws were made to regulate
this, but it is a well-known fact that a law is good for
nothing unless the people will agree to enforce it, and
the people of Virginia did not wish this law enforced.
King James had begun to look upon the colony with
some suspicion. He suspected treason, and not without
reason, for it was quite true that they did not care to be
dictated to by their governors at home. Sir Edward
Sandys was thought to be a man of too much intellect to safely act as
treasurer of a community which was so rapidly increasing in power,
and the Earl of Southampton was appointed in his place. Sir
George Yeardley retired from the governorship in 1622, giving place to
Sir Francis Wyat. These were all men of sense, and they did what
they could for Virginia. They tried to raise grapes for the purpose of
making wine, but they do not seem to have understood the art very
well, for the wine had a trick of souring before they got ready to drink
it. Mulberry trees and silk worms were brought over to start the
cultivation of silk, but for all of that, most of the colonists were dressed
in rags. Workmen were brought from Italy and employed in the glass
works, and about the same time iron works were started. The
Americans began making their own salt, and building their own ships,
THE REWARD OF TREACHERY. IO3
and saw-mills were put up by Dutchmen, but this work was very
slow, and none of it really successful. They spent all their time,
strength and money in the raising of tobacco, so that, fourteen years
after the colony was started, there was next to no barley, oats or peas in
the country, and even at this period they were frequently threatened
with starvation. In the meantime, they treated the Indians with the
same selfishness and lack of wisdom which they showed in all other
matters. The Indians had, no doubt, long intended to take revenge.
However that may be, suddenly, on the 22d of March, 1692, the Indians,
loitering about the village, rushed upon the people in the fields and in
the houses and slaughtered them.
They did not even spare the little children, but killed all, regardless
of the innocence of their victims. They went further than this, and
hacked at the dead bodies with a wild cruelty of which only the
American Indian is capable when he becomes imbruted by the sight of
blood. The houses and barns of the people were burned and their
animab killed. This did not occur in Jamestown, but in the little
outlying villages and plantations. Jamestown would have suffered the
same fate, but for the warning which one friendly Indian carried the
night before. All who could, took refuge within the city, and took
every possible means for defense. The panic was wide-spread. Some
of the smaller places were entirely deserted, and it was many years
before the plantations recovered from the harm which this did to them,
for men were afraid to remain in isolated places. After this there was
no mercy shown upon either side. The English were quite as cruel
and remorseless as the Indians had been. The corn-fields, the fishing
weirs, the villages of the natives, were entirely destroyed. Whenever a
white man saw an Indian he shot him, and blood-hounds and mastifis
were trained to follow and tear them to pieces. The King seemed to
blame the colonists for the present state of affairs. The company was
still more dissatisfied than the King, and out of the various misunder-
standings which grew from this, and the disregard the colony paid to
the King's wishes, came the breaking up of the Virginia Company.
The government of the colony was put into the hands of a commission,
with Sir Thomas Smith at the head.
The unhappy people of Virginia were long in recovering from their
calamity. The people were crowded once more into close quarters, and
there was a great deal of sickness, of discouragement, and of hunger.
Their viciousness took another, and yet more dreadful form. It was
turned from wantonness and selfishness to revenge. They prayed, with
I04 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
a show of devotion, that the Indians might fall into their hands to be
murdered and bereft of all that they owned. There was no longer
any show of Christian kindness. If the colonists were filled with
revenge, they were none the less troubled with fear, and it was a long,
long time before they dared venture back to the cultivation of their
plantations. This great anxiety about home matters made them rather
indifferent about the whims of the London Council, and they worried
little because their patent was taken away from them. After King James
died, very little attention was paid to them one way or the other, and if
they received no benefit, neither did they receive any checks from across
the ocean. Four colonial governors served in turn, but they were
displaced for the first royal governor, Sir John Harvey, who was sent
over by the English King to administer royal laws after the King's own
views. How the people, who had so long been independent, detested
this arrangement, can well be imagined.
Shortly before the appointment of Harvey, Jamestown had had a
distinguished visitor. It was Lord Baltimore, a Catholic English
nobleman of much wealth and culture. Virginia was quite in excite-
ment about the visit of so distinguished a gentleman, and the council
grew so curious that they oSicially inquired why he had come, and how
long he was going to stay. The Virginians were neither the Church of
England people nor Puritans — the Puritans having come later — and
they objected to a settlement of Catholics among them. The}-, there-
fore, put the oath of allegiance to the colony to him, which was of such
a nature that he could not take it, for religious reasons, and the colonists
were glad of this excuse to ask him to return to England. Seeing that
his visit was disagreeable, he courteoush' withdrew from the colony, but
left his family behind him at Jamestown. One reason why he was
disliked at the colony was because he was principal Secretar)- of the
State to King James for the last five or six years of that monarch's life,
and the difficulty between King James and the colony was naturally
visited upon Lord Baltimore. He held a grant to some lands in the
southeast part of Newfoundland, and had there a Protestant colony,
which he had established. It was after visiting this, and finding the
climate not to his liking or at all suited to his delicate health, that he
came to Virginia. This was in the spring of 1629. Leaving Virginia,
he visited Chesapeake Bay, was charmed with that region, and begged
the King to give him a patent to it. This the King willingly did, but
before the patent was signed. Lord Baltimore died, and it was left for
his son to carr}' out his plans. The new Lord Baltimore named the
THE REWARD OF TREACHERY. 105
region Maryland, in honor of the Queen. The charter included all the
country lying in the irregular triangle formed by the 40tli degree of
latitude, the Potomac river and Chesapeake Bay, as well as that part of
the Peninusla between the ocean on the east, and Bay of Chesapeake on
the west, with a line dividing it from the rest, drawn from the head-
land, called Watkins Point. With very slight changes, this is the State
to-day. The grant gave this property to the Lords of Maryland abso-
lutely, as long as they were faithful in their allegiance to the King.
Not even taxes were required. No gift could have been more complete.
All the acknowledgment required of Lord Baltimore was that twice a
year he was to send to the King two Indian arrows as a token of fealty.
But the charter did not overlook the rights of the colonists. It gave the
people the right to call themselves together to take part in framing the
laws which were to govern them. No religious nor political distinctions
were made, but Maryland was to be the home of all Englishmen who
wished to move there. Lord Baltimore found himself unable to go
with the first expedition, and sent his brother Leonard in his stead, and
with him two friends, also cultivated and able gentlemen, Jerome
Hawley and Thomas Cornwallis. The Catholics were being greatly
persecuted at this time, and Maryland became a refuge for them. In
addition to the many gentlemen of wealth and influence who resorted
thither, were many mechanics and laborers, and two Jesuit priests,
whose simple and tender lives have made a white page in histor}-.
These were Father Andrew White and Father John Althan. The
former of these wrote the only narrative which was kept of the
experiences of the colony, which was composed of about three hundred
souls. They were borne to America on The Ark and The Dove,
starting November, 1633. They encountered many dangers on their
passage from stonns, pirates and war-like Spaniards, bnt at length
reached Jamestown, where they were entertained for a week by Governor
Harvey. The early part of March they sailed to their own possessions,
and turning up the Potomac river, were enchanted with what they
found. The groves of beneficent trees, the many inflowing streams
and stately bluffs persuaded them that they could not have found a better
place for a settlement. They landed first upon Blackstone Island,
which then covered four hundred acres of land in the midst of the
Potomac. It is now two centuries since, and nothing is left of these
islands but sandy shoals. The 25th of March, the day of the landing,
was the day of the annunciation of the most Holy Virgin, and they cele-
brated mass upon the beach, at the close of which they planted a cross
7
Jo6 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
of wood upon the highest part of the island, taking possession of it for
our Savior and for our Sovereign Lord, the King of England.
They used much tact in their first dealing with the Indians, asking
permission of them to settle upon their laud. It was a piece of good
fortune for them that they chanced to meet with Captain Fleet, an
Englishman, quietly trading in peltries upon his own account. He had
been a prisoner for several years among the Indians, and was on
excellent terms with them. Through his influence the colonists were
soon in friendly trade with the natives, and the danger of hostility was
averted. Fleet guided them through the forests and up tne rivers,
showing them the best points of the country, and advising them about
the site of their first town; and at the end of the broad harbors on
the noble bluff they decided to build. Behind it lay the beautiful
valley which the people of Baltimore know, with growths of nut trees
and oak and springs of clear water. On the bluff stood a huge
mulberr)' tree, and standing by this, Leonard Calvert, the brother of
Lord Baltimore, made his treaty with the Indians, who had a village
upon that spot. The tribe was called Yaocomico, and for a certain
payment in goods prized by the Indians, the strangers were to share
their town with them until their harvest was gathered, after which the
savages were to move elsewhere. The first village of Maryland was
called St. Marys, and the expedition being managed by men of states-
men-like quality, and having in it workmen of strength and common
sense, they immediately began building and planting. The Indians
were of much help to them, teaching them not only how to plant native
vegetables, but how to cook them in the best manner. Religious
services were held from the first, and as soon as possible a neat little
chapel was made. By the time the Indians had left them, quite a little
town had been built, and some public buildings started on the bluff.
Winter found them well provided, and already the liberality with which
the government was conducted, began to invite the oppressed, not only
from England, but from the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies as well,
for in the Jamestown colonies Catholics were disapproved of, and in the
Plymouth colonies the slightest deviation from the orthodo.x principles,
as the Puritans held them, was promptly punished.
Lord Baltimore's city was the first one in America where every man
w;is allowed to worship God after his own conscience.
FOR FURTHER READING:
HiSTORT — McSherry's "Marylanu."
Griffith's "Annals of Baltimore."
Fiction — Paulding's "Konigsniark."
Kennedy's "Rob of the Bowl."
CHAPTER XV.
\}p fmu-\$$pv^.
PROSPERITY OF THE MARYLAND SETTLEMENT — CONSPIRACIES AGAINST
THEM — THE TRIUMPH OF VIRGINIA OVER THEM, AND THE
PERSECUTION OF THE CATHOLICS — CALVERT'S SUCCESS
•^ AND THE RETURN OF THE JESUITS.
j^^IRGINIA disapproved of the new colony of Mary-
land. There was, certainly, ground enough upon
the Atlantic coast for both of those settlements,
but whether there was policy enough, was quite
another question. The Virginians, it will be.
remembered, had lost their royal charter, and the
fact that lyord Baltimore's colony came with the royal
grant, and with the royal encouragement, made them
very envious. One man in the Virginian colony,
especially, resented the settlement of Maryland. It was
the secretary of the Virginian Council, William Clay-
borne. He had taken possession of Kent Island, in
Chesapeake Bay, and built a store-house there, for the
beaver and other furs, in which he traded extensively.
When Baltimore's people came, Clayborne said that he owned the
island, and he refused in advance to leave it.
The Viiginians had sent a protest to the King against the settlement
of Maryland, but it had been decided in England that Baltimore's
patent should not be destroyed, and both colonies were advised to be as
amiable as possible. Amiability, however, was not in Clayborne's line.
He had worked hard upon the ground where the Marjlanders now
settled, and he felt that he had a right to it. Being a willful and strong-
minded man, he took the worst methods for preserving that right.
He incited the Indians against the colonists, who found it necessary to
build a block-house for refuge, in case of attack ; but as the Indians met
with nothing but kindness from the settlers, they became persuaded at
I08 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
length that Claybonie had misinfonned them. The ]\Ianlanders tried to
capture Claybonie, but he knew the ways of the woods too well for them
to succeed, and reached Jamestown, where he worked upon t!ie i:)roini-
nent men, and won them to his side of the case.
When the sprin<^ of 1635 came, and Clayborne wished to carry out
his usual trading trip, he started for his island with a small vessel,
called the Long Tail. The Marylanders met him with two armed
pinnaces, under the command of Cornwallis. The Long Tail was
seized after a vigorous fight, two of the Virginians being killed and
one of Cornwallis' men. Then the people of Jamestown were in a
great state of mind. They gathered in the streets, and talked and
talked. They called an assembly and talked some more. No one had
any sympathy with the Marylanders' defense of their property, except
the royal Governor Harvey. So indignant did the people become with
him that they sent him to England to be tried, but he was promptly
sent back again by the King, with an inquiry as to what right they had
to arrest a governor appointed by him.
The people in Maryland, finding that they were to be protected,
went on working busily. Their harvest was a great success. They
stored away enough corn for the winter, and sent one thousand bushels
up to Plymouth, asking for salt-fish in exchange. The cattle and
poultry which they had purchased from Virginia had been so well
managed by certain experienced breeders of stock, that it had greatly
increased, not alone supplying them with eggs, but allowed them plenty
to kill and eat. The people were not long satisfied with the rude build-
ing.5 which they had first built. They had met with suflficient
prosperity to be able to send to England for bricks and other building
material, and the houses which they erected were firm, and to some
degree elegant. A manor was built for Governor Calvert, and within
two or three years an excellent State House, in the fonn of a cross, was
built upon the bluff. In front of it stood the famous mulberry tree,
luider which the first treaty had been made with the Indians, and upon
this were nailed all the notices and State papers which the Governor
issued. Here the little armed force gathered for drill, and here the
town punishments were made. A little further back stood the church,
and about it the church-yard.
Certain fashions were set in the building of those days which are
noticeable now in the city of Baltimore. The ground floor and base-
ments were made of red brick, or paved with square red tiles. Some
of the houses were of red brick, ornamented here and there with black.
THE PEACE-KEEPERS. 109
There were high, red brick walls, and stout chimneys built upon the
outside, with the fire-places paved in red tile. Plantations began to be
cultivated around the town, tobacco being the chief staple raised for
exportation.
In 1635, Lord Baltimore began to make grants of lands to settlers.
To those who had come upon the first voyage extensive grants were
made, so that the pioneers became, to an extent, lords of the property.
Mills were built, both at St. Mar>''s and on the plantations, so that it
became possible for them to make their own flour, and to start various
other home industries. Under these fortunate conditions people
crowded to the colony, and, in 1635, it was found necessary to make
a new code of laws. The simple rules, which were at first sufficient to
control the community, were no longer adapted to their growing and
complex civilization. But Lord Baltimore did not approve of the laws,
and refused assent to them. Two years later he made out a code, but
tlie assembly of the people would not accept his laws any more than he
accepted their's. It was not because they objected to the laws that he
made, but because they wished to govern themselves, and at last they
had their way, though it was not for several years.
The Indians who lived about St. Mary's were always friendly to
the settlement, but the Susquehanna Indians were the enemies of the
Yaocomicos, and, therefore, of all whom the tribe were friendly to. In
1642 the Susquehannas opened quite a warfare with the Marjdanders,
which lasted for two years, when treaties were made.
The kindness which the Catholics of Maryland had shown to all
people of other religions did not meet with a proper return. The
Catholics were the friends of the King in England, but the Protestants
preferred the Parliament, which, at this time, was having much
difficulty in getting along with the King. So when the revolution
came in England against the King, the people of Marjdand were divided
on this subject, and it put the Catholics against the Protestants in a
way which made much trouble in the colony. Leonard Calvert became so
troubled about the quarrels of the people he was trj'ing to govern,
that he sailed for England, to have a talk with his brother. Lord Balti-
more, leaving Giles Brent to look after the colony.
This was a splendid chance for Clayborne to have revenge upon the
Marylanders. He went to St. Mary's and stirred up the Protestants, or
the Parliament faction, against the government of Baltimore, and his
plans were aided in an unexpected way. Brent ordered that a vessel
belonging to the Parliament party should be seized when it got to St
XIO THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Mar>''s, and its commander arrested on a charge of treason against the
King. This made the Protestants very angry, and they allowed
Clay borne to come in and take possession of his old island of Kent; so
when Calvert returned he found everything in a very bad state, and he
and his council and their friends were driven from the colony, and had
to go to Virginia for safety. Captain Edward Hill, a Virginian, was
made Governor, but everj'thing was done about as Clayborne said.
Though he was such a determined man, he did not understand how to
govern, and while he remained, there was constant quarreling and
dissatisfaction in the colony.
The Jesuit priests had to leave St. Marj^'s. They built a mission
on the Ba)' of St. Inigo, and here Governor Calvert erected a fort, with
a mill inside and a few buildings about, besides a chapel. Calvert
collected his friends on the Virginia border, and in April surprised St
Mar3''s, and took it with but little trouble. The people seemed to have
been glad to get back a man who would govern them with lirmness and
order. Captain Edward Hill was sent back to Virginia, and Clayborne
escaped to Jamestown. Governor Calvert died in 1647, leaving Thomas
Green to be his successor, and Mistress Margaret Brent the adminis-
tratrix of his enormous possessions. She was a remarkable woman,
with great strength of will, and a good understanding of business and
government affairs.
Mar}'land continued to be free to people of all religions, and the
gentle Catholic missionaries continued their work. In many ways this
was the most successful colony in its beginning upon the Atlantic coast.
Its leaders were men of good blood and training, with a sincere rever-
ence for God. and some experience in government. Their laws were
suited to the time and the people, and Lord Baltimore's name is still
held in high regard in the city which is called after him.
FOR FURTHER READING:
BroGR.A PHY— Spark's "Calvert."
Mill's "Fouuders of Maryland."
BlCTioN— Mathilda Douglas' "Black Beard."
CHAPTER XVI.
NEW JERSEY — THE SETTLEMENT UNDER PETER MINUET — OPPOSITION
OK THE DUTCH — THE TRIUMPHS OF THE DUTCH UNDER
PETER STUYVESANT — END OF SWEDISH
INDEPENDENCE IN AMERICA.
^vEW JERSEY was the only State settled by the
Swedes. In 1614, when the first Dutch settled
their fort on Manhattan Island, they built also a
redoubt on what is now the New Jersey shore,
and the whole of this region they called New
Netherlands. But little attention was paid to
this, and the ground was practically unoccupied.
Ten years later, William U.sselinex, of Antwerp, who
had first succeeded in establishing the great Dutch West
India Compan\', visited Sweden. Gusta^'us Adolphus was
King of Sweden then, and before him, Usselinex laid
the plan of founding a Swedish colony in America,
telling him of the great profits which might arise from
the trade there. The King was much impressed with
the business-like eloquence of the Dutchman, and perhaps still more
impressed with the idea that another Christian church might be built
upon savage shores. He felt that Sweden had been behind the other
nations, and it would greatly add to his power and reputation if he were
to further such a scheme. The Diet of Sweden favored the King's
project, an 1, therefore, when Gustavixs Adolphus was killed, in 1632, on
the battle-field, the plans which he had laid were carried out. It was
several years, however, before the company was fonned, calling itself
the Sweden West India Company. Peter Minuet, who had been dis-
charged from his post as Governor, asked to have charge of its first
expedition. It was given him, on account of the experience he had
had, and in the autumn of 1637, he set sail from Gottenburg, with two
112 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
vessels and fifty emigrants. These vessels entered Delawaie Bay and
sailed up the river, which they named after their Queen, Christina.
Minuet bought of the Indians all the land on the west side of South
river, from Cape Henlopen to near where Trenton now stands. As
usual in such purchases, the land was to run westward indefinitely.
They built a fort near the present site of Wilmington.
The Dutch promptly resented this intrusion upon their territory,
and sent down a sounding proclamation, which warned Minuet, in the
most serious terms, that he was trespassing upon their rights; but the
Swedes were charmed with the country' so in contrast to their bleak
native land, and were in no mind to leave it. Minuet had said, in
answer to the first question asked him by the Dutch, that he came for
wood and water, but as the Swedes began gardening and building, he
was forced to confess the truth. To the Dutch proclamation, however,
he paid no heed, but went on working upon his fort and trading house
and establishing commerce with the Indians. Twenty-four men were
placed in possession, and vessels were sent home well laden, to return
with more emigrants. Though the Dutch were very indignant, they
hesitated to venture against the detennined and well-armed Swedes, who
took a very flourishing trade away from the Dutch West India Company.
The first summer and winter passed pleasantly with them, but in
the second winter their supplies became low, and they seriously thought,
at one time, of going to the Dutch at Manhattan, or of finding a way
for returning to their native home. In the spring, however, matters
became better. Some trade was established in New Netherlands, and
further additions to the colon}' came from Sweden, bringing with them
abundant supplies. They were an exceedingly industrious and saving
people. Their selection for a settlement had been most happy; they
lived at peace with each other and with the Indians, and in a short
time their little towns began to wear a look of vigorous prosperity,
especially in the autumn, when more colonists came, with tools and
mechanics to use them. Three ships, at least, came in the autumn, and
it is said that many were anxious to come, but had been unable to do
so for want of ship-room. The following summer (1641) Minuet died
in the fort which he had built. The Swedes were much attached to
him, and mourned him deeply. A Swede — Holleandare — became Gov-
ernor in his place.
The English pursued toward them the policy which has made them
the greatest nation in the world. They were bent on conquest, and
constantly interfered with their quiet neighbors. At length a number
A BRIEF AUTHORITY. 113
of New England colonists, under the charge of Robert Cogswell, left
Connecticut and came to the South river, having heard that that region
was especially beautiful. William the Testy, Governor of the Dutch,
protected in his usual high-flown language, but the English quietly
worked on, and before the end of the summer, had planted corn and
built trading posts on Salem creek and on the Schuylkill. New Haven
took these towns under her especial protection, and William the Testy
knew that it would be useless to come in conflict with the New Eng-
land confederation of colonies. The Swedes, as well as the Dutch,
were vexed at this intrusion of the English, and in 1642, when the
Dutch sent a commissar\' to force the intruders away, the people at Fort
Christina gave them all the help they could. The English were obliged
to yield. They were taken prisoners to Manhattan, and then sent to
their own homes. New Haven thought it best not to resent this insult
to her dignity.
About this time a fort was built twelve miles below where Philadel-
phia now stands, and called the New Gottenburg. The building of
this was superintended by John Printz, a cavalry lieutenant in the
Swedish ser\-ice, who had been sent out to take the place of HoUeandare
as Governor. Near the fort, Printz built a manor house, magnificent
for that time, which he called Printz Hall. The home goveniment
appropriated a large sum of money for the support of the colony, and
promised to keep it supplied with soldiers. Printz was a very over-
bearing and proud man, who, from first to last, managed the affairs
of the colony with decision and dignity. Neither English nor Dutch
were allowed longer to take liberties with the Swedes. His fort of New
Gottenburg compelled ever}' vessel to show her colors as she passed, and
no trade was allowed which did not pay tribute. The Dutch continued
to send out fierce letters, but to these, a man like Printz was not likely
to pay any attention. The English tried to trade on the rivers which
the Swedes now claimed, but they were promptly arrested by order of
the Governor, and the English learned that for once they were not to
be allowed to have their own way.
In 1645, the rather amiable commissar}- at the Dutch fort, Nassau,
was removed by William the Testy, of New Amsterdam. The officer
Avho took his place was more aggressive in his nature, and seized the
first opportunity to put the authority of the Swedes to test. Disputes
began between the governors of the colonies, and much diplomacy, and,
to tell the truth, no little deceit was used. When Hudde, the new
Governor of the Dutch fort, tried to start a settlement on some land
114 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
■which he had bought near the present site of Philadelphia, Printz sent
some men to stop it, and the Dutch arms were torn down and used in
a manner which greatly outraged the feelings of the patriotic colonists.
Letters of great stateliness and hostility were exchanged, but the choleric
Governor Printz refused to listen to the sensible advice of Hudde.
When the sergeant, by whom Hudde had sent his letter, reached Printz
Hall, and had got through the anny of servants around it to where the
Governor stood upon the steps, the letter was snatched from him and
thrown carelessly to a man in waiting. After standing about unnoticed
for some time, the Dutch soldier begged for a reply. This request was
met in a way peculiar to the plethoric Printz, who weighed about four
hundred poiinds, and was a man of extraordinary muscle. He picked up
the unfortunate sergeant and threw him violently out of doors, taking a
gim for the purpose of shooting him. After this there could be nothing
but quarrels between the two nations. The Dutch trade was rapidly
decreasing, for the Swedes kejjt both them and the English off the
valuable lands which they occupied, and from which the Dutch had
formerly made much money. Large companies of settlers continued to
come to New Sweden, and these later settlers were of a much better
class than those which had come at first. When New Netherlaud was
at its most abject state, under the mismanagement of William the Testy,
New Sweden wore an air of considerable prosperit}'. From the mouth
of the Schuylkill to the Capes of Henlopen and May, Governor Printz
held absolute control. It was one of the richest territories on the
Atlantic coast, with sweeping hills and magnificent forests of trees.
Not only did they claim the lovely waters of the Delaware, but many
streams and winding creeks as well. Before them lay the bay, one
hundred miles in length.
When Peter Stuyvesaut was appointed Governor of New Netherlands,
the polic)- was somewhat changed. For several years Stuy vesant could
do little but support Hudde in the position which he had taken, and to
sustain, in a negative way, the title of the Dutch, but at length he found
time to visit the Swedish territor)-, and, being an old soldier, saw
immediately the cause of the Dutch failures. Fort Nassau, instead of
being at the mouth of the Delaware, was far up the stream, and quite
useless to .protect against invasion. The Swedes had taken possession
of the mouth of the Schuylkill. At the confluence of these two rivers,
trade even then found its center. Printz had seen that this must be the
case, and had built his forts there and barred the approach to that point
bv others further down the Delaware. Modem commerce has improved
A BRIEF AVTHORITV. 1 15
the selection of Printz, by concentrating the shipping trade of Philadel-
phia at exactly this point. Stuyvesant saw that Fort Nassau was
useless, and ordered its destruction. He bought from the Indians all
the land from Christina to Bombay Hook. Within this territor}-, about
four miles below the mouth of the Christina, is the bold promontor>',
which commands a view of the Delaware both up and down. On this
point, where the town of Newcastle now stands, they built Fort Casimir.
Governor Printz was indignant, and said that this was an invasion on
the soil of the Swedes, but Stuyvesant seems to have quieted him iu
some way, and the Swedes no longer commanded the Delaware. Their
fort at the mouth of the Salem creek was abandoned as useless, but
Printz was too proud to tell the real reason for its evacuation, and gave
it out that the mosquitoes had been to bad for them to remain there
longer.
The Swedes and the Dutch were united about this time in a common
fear. The}- dreaded the English much more than they did each other,
and made a compact of mutual protection. It is certainly true that the
English continued to cast envious eyes at the beautiful stretch of
country with its genial climate and broad, noble hills. Besides, English-
men do not like to be beaten, and will hardly admit defeat. They had
not forgiven the Swedes and Dutch for uniting to drive them from this
place a few years before, and, shortly after the compact between the two
governors, sent a company of fifty persons from New Haven to make
another attempt at an English settlement on the Delaware. The}'
stopped at New Amsterdam to visit Governor Stu}-vesant, and to tell
him their purpose, but the independent Governor arrested them
promptly, and onh- let them go when they promised to return to New
Haven.
Printz, liowever, had nothing of the diplomat in his composition,
and could not abide the Dutch so near him, so he sent to Sweden for
aid, but his impatience would not let him wait until he received an
answer, and he sailed for Sweden himself, passing on his way John
Rysingh, with a force of about three hundred men, who had been sent
out to his relief The first act of this force was to demand the capture
of Fort Casimir. The fort yielded without resistance, for they had no
powder. The bark of the Dutch was apt to be much worse than theii
bite". Thus the Swedes were again in absolute possession of the South
river, and all the Dirtch in and about the fort were made to take the
oath of allegiance to Sweden, or else forced to leave that part of the
country. Fort Casimir was called Fort Trinit}', because it was taken
Il6 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Oil Trinity Sunda}-. It can be imagined that the excitement in New
Amsterdam was great, and that tlie indignation meetings among the
hot-headed Dutchmen were many. Governor Stuyvesant felt, with some
justice, that he liad been imfairly treated, and seized every opportunity
for retaliation. In this, the directors in Holland sustained him, but
the winter passed and spring came before he was able to make prepa-
rations for humbling the Swedes. At length a fleet of seven vessels,
manned by a force of from six hundred to seven hundred men, sailed
toward the South river. This was not until the loth of September.
All the Swedes in the country did not number more than half the
invading force. Resistance was absurd. The Swedes surrendered, and
a part of them were made to take the oath of allegiance to the high and
mighty lords and pratroons of this New Netherland province. Next,
Fort Christina was taken, and after a siege of twelve days, a third fort
surrendered. The invaders destroyed the little village of Christinaham,
burning the houses and killing the cattle and seizing all the plunder
they could. At length Rysing surrendered, conditionally. It was
declared that the property belonging to the Swedes was to be unmolested,
and that all who wished could have free passage to Europe. So ended
Sweden's rule in America. Some Swedes still lived along the banks of
the Delaware and cultivated their fanns, doing snuch to develop early
the best resources of that country.
Stuyvesant appointed Johans Paul Jaquet as Governor over the
southern territory of the West India Company. The Swedish colony
was now called New Amstel,- and the burgomasters of Amsterdam
became much interested in their new possessions, making great offers
to those who would move thither. The following years, however, were
full of discontent. Malaria, as in all new agricultural settlements,
weakened and dispirited the colonists, and though the farms promised
well, the harvests were not plentiful, for insects of various sorts nearly
destroyed the crops. Death became very frequent, especially among the
children, and they came so near famine that they were obliged to use their
seed corn for food. The Amsterdam Company no longer sent them sup-
plies, as it had promised to do, and began to ta.x them. The colonists lost
hope. Many moved to Virginia. vSome returned to their own countries,
and those who had contracted with the company to remai-n for a given
length of time, escaped through the forest to the southern settlements-
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Carpenter's "History of New Jersey."
Smith's "Historj' ol the Colony of New Jersey."
CHAPTER XVII.
ilh nine in :|«tu |ollteB.
THE "PATROONS" OF NEW NETHERLAND — THE SETTLEMENT AT
MANHATTAN — THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE
DUTCH-
-ESTABLISHMENT OF POPULAR
LAND LAWS.
T will be remembered that we left the Dutch in
their settlements upon Long Island and the
Hudson, just at the time when they were begin-
ning to feel the need of a firmer government.
None of the settlements had been prosperous
until they were given an interest in the land they
occupied. It was certain that this scheme must be used
with the Dutch, for New Amsterdam settled but slowly,
and it was .seen thst trading-posts were not the best
means of establishing civilization. Only poor emigrants
came for a long time, but after a while rich men from
Holland were sent out, and given privileges by the
Dutch West India Company. Each of these important
gentlemen was allowed to found a colony of fifty
persons, and to own a tract of land sixteen miles in length on any
shores or streams not }et occupied. Westward there was no limit placed
on his possessions, which were allowed to run into the interior as far as
they might — to the Pacific coast, had he but known there was a Pacific
coast. His colony was to be established within four years from the
time the land was granted him, and he was required, by just provision
not usually employed, to pay the Indians for liis land. His estate was
called a "manor," and it was quite independent of colonial government.
He was actually a lord of the soil, and lived in much elegance and w-ith
a full sense of importance, such as the men of his time and nation were
apt to feel. The.se "patroons" as they were called, were allowed all
'privileges, except the manufacture of woolen or cotton goods, which
the West India Company wished to keep a monopcly of The company
Il8 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
supplied the manors with negro slaves, which they imported from
Guinea, but after a time this feudal system began to give wa)-. There
seemed to be something in the air of the New World which was opposed
to the pretentions of nobility. Even the stately patroons came to see,
after awhile, that the>' were regarded more as land-holders than as
lords.
It was so easy to see the injustice of giving a man such ad\antages
over his fellows that the people would not patiently endure it. Nothing
could more finnly prove that the plan of the government of Europe
was, and is, false and wrong, since it fails to give men equal opportu-
nities. It has existed so long in the Old World that it has almost come
to seem right. Here, where it could be seen at its beginning, it was
recognized as altogether wrong. The company had had a selfish reason
for employing the feudal system in the New Netherlands. It believed
that if it intrusted the care of immigration to the patroons it would be
saved the expense of sustaining the government, and if each patroon
protected his own property, with men established under him as serfs,
there would be no need of any officers to do so. For, indeed, the people
under these Dutch lords were little else than serfs. No "man or
woman, son ordatrghter, man servant or maid servant," could leave a
patroon' s service during the time he had agreed to remain, except by
his written consent. On the other hand, the patroon was under no
obligations to his people, but could do as he saw fit. It brought about
evils almost as great as those of slavery.
The right which was given to the patroons to settle upon any terri-
tory not yet occupied, soon began to affect the great West India
Company. They had wished to secure and retain a monopoly of trade,
but by the short-sighted means employed they defeated this. A number
of the Amsterdam directors availed themselves of this opportunity, and
settled upon immense tracts of land, to which they gave high-sounding
names. When it was too late the company perceived what it had done.
The enterprising directors hastened to settle colonies upon their land,
and so settlements were spread down to the South river, along the
shores of what we now call Delaware Bay, and to the present town of
Louiston, Delaware. One director went over to Cape May and bought
a large tract of land there. One of the largest settlements was on
Bear's Island, about twelve miles below Albany, to Smack's Island, and
extended two days' journey inland. Afterward this estate was carried
to the confluence of the Mohawk, and thus it was again extended.
Another director acquired a vast quantity of land opposite Manhattan
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES. H9
Island, and gave it the name of Hoboken — Hacking Island. This man
afterward got the whole of Staten Island, and then the region where
Jersey Cit)' now stands. Upon this estate the owner bestowed the name
of Pavonia.
The patroons were not satisfied to confine themselves to agriculture.
They began a most profitable trading in peltries, so that the exports of
Holland, in 1626, were valued at six thousand guilders. This, of
course, was an infringement upon the rights of the Dutch Company,
which drew up an order forbidding any one to deal in peltries, maize
or wampum. The constant disputes which arose out of this greatly
delayed the progress of New Netherland.
The colony founded in Delaware, where Louiston now stands, was
called Swaanendael, or the Valley of Swans, and here a curious thing
happened. A pillar had been set up bearing the anns of Holland, in
token of possession. This an Indian chief saw, and thinking it would
make delightful pipes, took it down and proceeded to make it up into
them. But to this piece of symbolical tin the Dutch attached a great
deal of importance, and the officer left in charge of the colony fretted
and fumed, with many high-sounding Dutch words, until the Indians,
thinking that their chief had committed a terrible crime, put him to
death in hopes of regaining the friendship of the Dutch. The officer
explained then that his wild gestures and oaths had simply meant that
he wished to have the chief reproved. The Indians were naturally out
of patience to find that they had made such a sacrifice to so little a
purpose, and soon after, a party scattered themselves through the town
in a friendly manner, and then fell upon and murdered ever>' person at
the post, leaving nothing but the ruins of the jurned houses. Peter
Minuet, returning from Europe at this time, tliought best to make a
treaty of peace with these Indians, and with the representatives of all
other tribes which he met. He went to Janrestown instead of visiting
the Dutch colony, which was at that time without a governor.
A short time after this Wouter Van Twiller was sent over from
Holland as Governor. He had married a niece of Van Rensselaer, the
chief of the patroons, and came in much state and great finery. He
had just got settled in his manor at New Amsterdam when an English
vessel came into the harbor. The officers of the vessel dined with Van
Twiller and his ceremonious Dutch friends, and made a great show of
courtesy, but they coolly announced their intention of going up the
river to trade with the Indians. Of course, all the Dutchmen fell into
a rage. They swore that the English should not trespass upon their
I20 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
grounds, and in a warlike fever caused the flag of Orange to be raised
over the fort and saluted with three guns, while the English quietly
sailed on their way up the stream. Van Twiller saw that more active
measures would have to be taken, so he got all the people in the fort
before his door and ordered a barrel of wine to be broiight out.
Upon this he mounted and set the example to his men of drinking
glass after glass in defiance of the Englishmen. In the meantime the
English had sailed out of sight. Several days after a force of soldiers
did go after the scornful Englishmen and compelled them to return,
but the Governor's reputation was gone.
Though the settlement at Manhattan was twenty years old, it was
still little more than a trading post. The company seemed to sap its
strength. The interest was not so much in the soil as the money that
could be got out of the country. Some new houses had been built
which were firm and siibstantial, and three great wind-mills had been
erected. About one hundred soldiers were well quartered. A good
church had been built and shops established by various tradesmen.
But it was lacking in that appearance of permanence and domesticity
which characterized the New England colonies.
Nothing could have been more crooked than the streets. The
houses were of wood, with gable ends built of small black and yellow
bricks, brought over from Holland. The doors and windows were
many, and the date of the building of the house was put in iron letters
in the gable; frequently the name of the builder was added. The
Hollanders were noted for their cleanliness. Indeed, the people of
Holland were scrupulously clean, at a time when the most cultivated
people of England were walking on dirty rushes and had not yet
learned to clean out their courts. The Dutch in the New Netherlands
spun linen as they had done in the old country, and heaped up their
closets with it. Their silver and brass-ware was kept perfectly polished.
The floors were covered with white sand, on which figures were traced
with a broom. Their stately furniture had claw-feet of metal. The
time was told by hour-glasses and sun-dials, and neither of the time-
pieces were allowed to keep the pompous Dutchmen in a rush. They
ate plenty and drank plenty, knew how to tell a good story and how to
laugh at it, and were forever having betrothal feasts, wedding banquets
and gala days. Christmas, as we celebrate it, is a custom introduced
by the Dutch. They taught us how to make and exchange colored
eggs at Easter, and but for them, we should never have had the practice
of New Year's calling. They loved to smoke and to drink, and thei*-
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES. 121
hospitality was ven- great. The reputation for this their descendants
have never lost. Then, as now, the Dutch housekeepers were excellent
cooks, and were especially noted for the delicious cakes and cookies
which they made, and which ever^'one who went to their houses had to
share with them.
Though religion was not, as in Pl)-mouth, the object of their lives,
they went to church steadily and held their "dominies" in high esteem.
There was a great deal of comfort, but little money, and wampum or
beaver skins were frequently used in the place of money. The women
dressed as they had done in Holland, with short, bright-colored, quilted
petticoats, and knitted stockings of bright gieen, purple, or red. About
their heads were white muslin caps, beneath which their hair was
plastered down with pomatum. The jDortly Dutchman — and they were
all portly — wore coats of linsey-woolsey, with wide skirts and large
buttons of brass or silver. They sported several pairs of knee breeches,
one over the other, with long, knitted stockings and immense buckles at
their knees and on their shoes. One of their chief industries was ship
building. They were A-er}' proud of their vessels, and gave them
remarkable names, such as ''The Angel Gabrier'' and '■'King Solomon.''''
Van Twiller became so ridiculous in his management of the New
Netherlands that he was removed, and William Kieft, who aftervvard
acquired the name of "William the Testy," was sent out. He found
things in a very bad state. There had been altogether too much
drinking, too much smoking of pipes and telling of stories. The walls
of the fort were down, the houses in need of repairs, the work shops in
a useless condition. William the Testy began to straighten out things
at once, not as may be imagined in the most amiable way. The
company had bought back Pavonia and the Valley of the Swans, and
thus checked some of the abuses of the patroons' rule. Affairs reached
a crisis, for the people were becoming impatient at having first one
monopoly and then another over them, and, therefore, the council of
nineteen, at Old Amsterdam, decided that each man should have as
much land as he could properly cultivate, and the Dutchmen were given
free passage to New Netherland. Affairs began to improve imme-
diately, not only along Staten Island, but awaj' up to Albany.
But with the English there had been many difficulties, and they
were steadily encroaching upon the land claimed b\' the Dutch.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Davis' "History' of New Amsterda
CHAPTER XVIIl.
THE GOVERNMENT OF WILLIAM THE TESTY — TROUBLE WITH THE
INDIANS — THE NIGHT ATTACK ON PAVONIA — REVENGE
OF THE INDIANS — DISMISSAL OF KIEFT AND
, ARRIVAL OF PETER STUYVESANT.
<ILLIAM THE TESTY was no wiser in his
treatment of the Indiaiis than in his government
of the Dutch. The frauds of which the trades-
men were constantly guilty were not checked by
him, and the serious mistake was made of
placing guns in their hands. The Mohawks were
enabled to arm four hundred men. This made
the other Indian tribes ver}' envious, and even while the
Mohawks remained friendly, the other tribes were
gradually becoming hostile. When at last, in 1640, a
a tax was laid upon the Indians, exacting corn,
wampum, and furs from them, the injustice was enough
to bring about an open war. The Raritan Indians
destroyed the settlement on Staten Island, in revenge
for which William the Testy offered a bounty for the head of every
Raritan which should be brought to him. Later in the year — this was
in 1641 — a young Indian chief murdered a farmer in retaliation for the
killing of his uncle. Another private murder was committed by an
Indian, and these two crimes aroused the enmity of all of the Dutch
settlements. At the same time, the people considered it wisest and
best to use policy. Governor Kieft, however, had nothing politic in
his nature. He wished to send out an armed force against the Indians,
and would have done so immediately had the people not protested.
The tribes at the lower part of the river were not a prey to the enmity
of their white neighbors alone, but were constantly harassed by the
powerful Mohawks. Man}' of tliem had to flee from the coast into
KNICKERBOCKER DAYS. 1 23
those dark and interminable forests which stretch westward. Some of
these unhapp}' Indians at last had to take refuge with the whites, so
merciless were their Indian foes, and by some of the whites they were
treated with great kindness. But certain of the twelve selectmen of
New Amsterdam insisted upon attacking the Indians at Pavonia,
across the river; and, though the wiser men of the community tried to
dissuade them from this action, an anned force was sent to fight them
in the dead of night. Perhaps one thousand Indians in the encamp-
ment were sleeping quietly in their tents. So sudden was the onslaught
that the unfortunate victims believed that it was the Indians from
Fort Orange who had fallen upon them, and some of them actually fled
to the Dutch settlement for protection, only to learn who their true
enemies were.
One hundred and twenty Indians were murdered that night, with
horrible and indescribable tortures. The limbs and arms were hacked
from the little children. They were bound to boards, then cut to
pieces. Some of them were thrown into the river to make their
parents go after them, where they were kept at bay, by the muskets of
the Dutch, until they were drowned. Those who escaped, and came
out in the morning to beg for food, were killed in cold blood. Some
were drowned, and some burned to death. The troops, marching back
to the fort in the morning, were received with many praises.
Then, over all the colonies, broke a wave of war and outrage.
Everywhere in New Netherland, fanners were killed and wives and
children carried away into a terrible imprisonment. Now and then a
sort of a half peace was made, only to be broken — first on one side,
and then on the other. Late in the summer the tribes on the
Hudson Highlands began an open warfare, and made it impossible
for trading boats to come up the river. Ann Hutchinson, the witty
woman preacher, was killed near New Rochelle. Savages crept into
the ver}' villages and murdered men in the twilight. The people had
no longer any patience with Kieft. They felt that his terrible cruelty
had been responsible for all this suffering. He appointed a council to
help him decide upon this difficult matter; and, under this council,
a large force of soldiers were armed and thoroughly drilled, with John
Underbill at their head. John Underbill was a Massachusetts captain.
A petition was sent to the states general of Holland for help — a
petition eloquent with fear and suffering. Through the winter which
followed, they lived in a terrible state of anxiety, crowded together at
the southern end of the island, and being afraid to venture bevond their
124 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
own doors. Occasionally, the Dutch would sally out and succeed in
making a small skirmish, which only added to the Indians' hatred.
There was a little settlement called Hempstead, on Long Island, where
a number of English families were settled. These had been exceed-
ingly annoyed by the Indians near them, and prayed that they might be
protected by the Dutch. Consequently, one hundred and twenty
soldiers made an attack on two Indian villages, which they sacked,
killing more than one hundred braves, and carrying some to Manhattan,
where they were tortured.
Later, the little army marched through the snow-covered forests
upon the prinr-pal village of the Long Island Indians. This they fired,
and furnished light to do a most murderous deed. Only sixty-eight of
seven hundred Indians escaped. The Dutch had fifteen men wounded.
After this, the proud spirit of the Indians was broken, and, when a
fresh force of one hundred and thirty soldiers was sent to New Nether-
land, the Indians sulkily retreated to their forests.
These soldiers were a terrible burden to the poverty-stricken settle-
ment, and Kieft made the great mistake of taxing beer for their sup-
port. This was the one thing under the sun which the Dutchmen
would not have taxed, and they begged for Kieft's dismissal. They
had to wait a whole year before their prayer was answered. In the
meantime, the Indians lurked under the very palisades which they had
built for their protection, and which stood on a line with the present
Wall street, which, of course, took its name from that ancient fortifica-
tion. The following spring the Indians signed a treaty of peace with the
Dutch, and gathering iipon the spot still known as the Battery, smoked
the pipe of peace with them. In the wars of the last few years sixteen
hundred of the Indians had been killed, and nearly all of the Dutch
settlements had been destroyed. In all the province there were no more
than three hundred men capable of bearing arms, and the settlers
prayed for a new Governor, who should bring to them peace and
quietness.
In the Connecticut valley, the English had steadily crowded upward,
until Dutch control was gone. Fort Nassau, however, was still retained
by the Dutch, and established as an important Indian trading post.
On May 27, 1647, Peter Stuyvesant, the new Governor of the New
Netherlands, arrived. He was an old soldier of bravery and experience,
and lost a leg in his country's service. He wore, in the place of that
tnember, a wooden leg bound with silver. The solemn burghers met
him with uncovered heads, and he allowed them, it is said, to stand in
'^T^ ?S»
J^ O-.z-f^^- ^^^ .fc--^^^ .
KNICKERBOCKER DAYS. 12/
the sun for several hours in this way, and seated himself with great
ceremony while they remained standing. These king-like airs were
not well received, but, in a short time, the honest vigor of the man
began to be felt in the colony, and his very tyranny was in happy-
contrast to the former governor's weakness. The men who had brought
a complaint against Kieft were not sustained by Stuyvesant. He said
it was treason to petition against magistrates, very wisely thinking that
it would not do to allow such an example to pass unreproved, for
he knew that he himself might soon meet with popular disfavor. The
men who had complained of Kieft' s abuses were tried and condemned
to suffer severe punishments
The West India Company was no longer much interested in the
colony, and left the severe and angry-natured Stuyvesant to do as he
pleased. As for Kieft, he started to sail for Holland, but his ship was
pounded to pieces on the Welsh rocks, and, at the last, he was seized
with repentance for the murders which he had committed and the
cruelty with which he had treated his friends. The two men who had
been persecuted, because of their complaints against him to the
Governor at Holland, were on the ship with him, and he called them to
him, saying: "Friends, I have been unjust toward you; can you forgive
me?"
Governor Stuyvesant began to lay heavy taxes upon the people, and^
though in many ways they lived safely and well under him, with a
sense of security in his finnness and courage, they nevertheless felt that
he was an unjust Governor. He was assisted in his affairs by a board
of nine men. These men were only allowed to advise the Governor.
They could make no laws, and give no orders without his approval.
One of the first things which Governor Stuyvesant tried to do, was to
come to a pleasant understanding with the English; but though the
English wrote polite letters, they were not inclined to remove their
boundaries farther from the Dutch, and they even claimed that they
held the first title to Long Island. Finally, a Dutch captain seized an
English ship, and, against this high-handed act. Governor Eaton, of
New Haven, protested vigorously. Henceforth, he and Governor
Stuyvesant wrote hot and furious letters to each other, and the two
Governors quarreled about things which school-boys might have been
ashamed to get angry over. He got in disfavor with his own colonists
at the same time, by putting a check upon their tradings with the
Indians, for, in spite of his forbiddance, they sold the Indians arms and
ammunition. It was through this cause that he got into his fierce
128 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
quarrel with the }'oung patroon, Van Rensselaer, for the old patroon of
that name was now dead. He could not well control a lord owning
such vast extent of territory, and used to exercising such power, without
getting into trouble. When the young patroon defied Stuyvesant's
authority, the Governor sent a squad of soldiers to enforce it. These
lie ordered to take stone and timber from the patroon' s land for the
purpose of repairing the fortifications at Fort Orange, but the people of
the village around about, who were loyal to the young lord, would not
permit such intrusion, even from their great Governor, and, for once,
Peter the Headstrong failed to have his way. So, with many jealousies
and small envies, the next few years of the New Netherland colonies
went on. Any one wishing to study the history of New York can find
plenty, both amusing and instructive, in the pages of the old State
chronicles, but, for one who wishes to take a broad and hasty view of
national history, it is hardly worth while to linger over the foolish
quarrels and pretensions of these Dutch burghers.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction — Cooper's "Water-Witch."
J. H. Paulding's "The Dutchman's Fireside.
"Woolfert's Roost" and "Rip Van Winlde," from
Washington In-ing's "Sketch Book."
CHAPTER XIX.
)}p §Ih Ja^ ^0llbm$nl
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY — THE TRIALS OF THE FIRST YEAR-
ARRIVAL OF ROGER WILLIAMS — ^JOHN ELIOT — PERSECU-
TION OF WILLIAMS — HIS SETTLEMENT
AT PROVIDENCE.
TNE of the most important colonies has not yet
been spoken of, for, though it had much influence
in forming the United States, it was not made
until June, 1629, when the other settlements were
well under way. Six vessels, with their crews,
four hundred and six men, women and children, one
hundred and forty head of cattle, forty goats, and a
large quantity of provisions, tools, arms and building
materials, left England, and arrived at Salem, Massa-
chusetts. It will be remembered that a few rude
buildings had been put here by people who, for one
reason or another, saw fit to leave the colony at
Plymouth. Like the Plymouth colony, this had a
deep and dignified purpose, and for this reason it and
the Plymouth colony are the best remembered and the most talked of to
this day. These English wanderers did not come to make money. They
came to worship God as they saw fit. They were Puritans. Not like the
Puritans of Plymouth, pilgrims who had journeyed from one place to
another, but people who had protested against the practices of the
Established Church of England and who had found it necessary to seek
the new land if they wished to live the life of their liking. They had
come out under the royal patent of the Massachusetts Bay Company,
which had been formed at Dorchester. John Endicott was made
Governor. He was a stern man, who, having made up his mind that
a certain thing was best to do, never yielded or gave way. He showed no
130 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
merc}' toward any one who broke his rules. He was very honorable a.nd
straightforward, but he wished everyone to be of his way of thinking.
This was shown by his treatment of the Reverend Ralph Smith, one of
the several ministers who came over in the fleet. It is hard to find in
what small particular Mr. Smith differed from his fellows, but he had
some shade of belief which did not agree with their' s, and he was not
suffered to stay in the colony, but was obliged to take his family and go
to Nantasket, where he became so poor and underwent such hardships
that the Ph-mouth people took pity on him and invited him to their
settlement. Before the colony had been established six weeks, a day of
fasting and prayer was held. One of the ministers who had come over
to aid as counsel to Endicott was chosen pastor, and another teacher.
A delegation was invited from Plymouth to witness the ceremony of
establishing the government of the colony. The ver}- life and conver-
sation of men was to be subject to the rules laid down. The book of
common prayer, belonging to the Church of England, was discarded,
and a covenant was set up according to directions found in the New
Testament.
It was hard to get all of the ministers who came over as counsel, to
agree. One of them went back to England, as he could not approve of
the m^ethods of the Reformed Church. Two of his followers, John and
Samuel Brown, men of a good deal of importance, would have nothing
to do with the new church, but called about them all who still had
sympathy with the Church of England, and held separate meetings,
worshiping after the Episcopalian method. Of course, Endicott would
have none of this. He summoned the Browns before him. The
Browns held, that if men had come to America to escape intolerance,
they should not be persecuted because of their religion, but the
ministers held that they had come because they wished to escape' the
sinful corruptions of the church, and the Browns were sent back
to England. Thus the Massachusetts Bay colon}- showed at the first,
why it was started, and how it intended to govern. It did not wish to
be governed by the council in London, nor looked after by a corrupt
church, and a still more corrupt court. They therefore begged for
a transfer of government, and in the course of a few weeks they were
allowed to become an independent colony. This showed great courage
and force of character, for the protection of the King was thought by
all but these men to be a great thing.
Endicott and his friends had the pluck to take matters upon their
own shoulders. It was necessar}' now to make new appointments, and
THE OLD BAY SETTLEMENT. 13I
John Winthrop was elected Governor, with six men as council. John
Winthrop was a lawyer of good birth, with quite a fortune for that day.
He had a gentle nature and great tenderness of heart, though he did
not lack in firmness. He was in England at the time of his election,
but sailed immediately for Salem. He found the colony had suffered
from the experiences which met most settlers during their first winter
in America. Eighty of them had died, and they had many tales of woe
to tell. Within a short time one thousand persons followed Winthrop
to Salem. Settlements were made at many places along the coast, and
quite a large one at Charlestown. Winthrop thought it best to
strengthen his hold on the possessions of the colony by settling all
along the coast. Some of them went up the Charles, and the beginnings
of Dorchester, Medford, Watertown, Cambridge, Roxbur}', Lynn and
Charlestown were made. Boston Common was settled on because of
the excellent spring of water there, and Ann Pollard, a merry young
girl, was the first person, according to tradition, to leap ashore where
Boston now stands.
There was a great deal of sickness in all of these settlements —
partly from want of proper shelter, partly from the malaria, which
always comes with the clearing of ground, and more than all, from the
want of a variety of wholesome food. In Salem, some had reached such
a bad condition that a day of fasting and prayer was ordered. Their
prayers seemed to meet with prompt answer, for Captain William
Pierce, who had made so many journeys over the Atlantic, appeared at
the right moment with a large supply of provisions. On that ship was
a man named Roger Williams. Williams was a young man about thirty
years of age. On all subjects he was thoroughly radical. The condi-
tion of his mind then was like that of most iVmericans now. He
believed that every man had a right to do a thing in his own way. He had
no respect for anything simply because it was established and approved
of by the majority. He must have been an attractive young fellow,
with a good deal of personal magnetism. Governor Winthrop liked
him very well, but he shocked the Governor by his out-spoken ways.
He was invited to act as teacher of the Boston church, but upon
examination it was found that he did not agree with their religious
beliefs. That ended it, of course. He would not even join the church,
because the members would not openly express their repentance for ever
having communed with the Church of England. He held, too, that
the magistrate had no right to punish a breach of the Sabbath, and that
civil government and religious government should not be confounded.
132 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
His eloquence was attractive, and he was chosen minister of the Boston
church, in spite of these heresies. Endicott, down at Salem, heard of
this, and gave them no peace until he was driven from the church and
had taken refuge at Plymouth. Governor Bradford had no fault to find
with hiui, and he did much active work in the course of the next year.
Little by little the Massachusetts Bay colony grew into a common-
wealth. It is true that it had enemies. There was one gay Sir
Christopher Gardiner, who laid conspiracies against Winthrop, but he
was finally arrested and sent back to England. Morton, of Merriment,
had never forgotten the time when Endicott had grimly marched over
and pulled down his May-pole, around which he and his hard-drinking
friends were dancing with a company of Indian girls. This was a little
colony called Merrimont, of which Morton was the leading spirit.
Captain Standish had been obliged to take this man prisoner for his
disorderly conduct, and to send him over to England in the custody of
John Oldham, who had worked himself into favor with the Puritans
again. Sir Ferdinando Gorges also quarreled with the Massachusetts
Bay Company about patents, and the Browns were still sulky, but none
of these did the colony any great harm. The ministers largely con-
trolled matters, and to be a good citizen, according to the status of the
colony, was also to be religious.
One of these reverend gentlemen, John Eliot, of Roxbury, was
renowned for his saintliness of character, and the work he did among
Indians. For years he studied the Indian dialects, and was finally able
to preach to them in their own tongtie. He made an entire translation
of the Bible into the Indian tongue, one of the most important philo-
logical works ever published in the United States. Copies of it are
still extant, and sell at fabulous prices to collectors of Americana. He
converted a whole tribe of Indians, who were known afterward as the
praying Indians, and for whom the rest of the savages had a great
contempt. Eliot's work was very difficult. The Indian was strangely
lacking in moral sense, and it was necessary to teach him many things,
which an European would know by instinct, about matters of right and
wrong. Even the colonists seem not to have thought very well of the
praying Indians. They preferred to have the native left in his savage
state.
Another minister of especial note was John Cotton, a man of such
winning and triumphant eloquence that he influenced all who cime
near him. After a time Roger Williams came back to Salem, and
immediately got into trouble. Governor Bradford, his friend, was
THE OLD BAY SETTLEMENT. 1 33
bound to admit that Roger had some vety strange ways of thinking and
acting, and he warned the church at Salem against him. But the
young man was so attractive that he overcame prejudices of this sort,
and the Salem brethren took him into the church, where he began
prophecying. His prophecies were not liked by the Salem people, and
they arrested him for a treatise which he had written while in Ply-
mouth, relating to the Indian title to the country, for he did not believe
in the expulsion of the Indians. Nothing could be proved to his harm,
however, on that charge. But Mr. Williams could not keep quiet.
He certainly had very peculiar ideas. He convinced all of the women
that it was immodest for them to go out of their houses unless they
were veiled. Very naturally this was approved of neither by young
men nor old men, and Mr. Cotton, the melting preacher, was called
upon to persuade the wives and virgins that it was not necessary for
them to hide their fair faces. Mr. Cotton went further, and repeated
his sennon in the Boston lecture course, where Endicott fiercely got up
and quarreled with him on the subject, and the debate got so hot that
the Governor had to put a stop to it. Endicott was a fervid follower of
Williams by this time. He went around looking everywhere for signs
of anti-Christ, and actually cut St. George's cross out of the flag of
England one time when he found it in Salem streets. The English
soldiers very naturally refused to march after a flag which had been
shorn of its sign of victory, and Endicott' s rash act made such a disturb-
ance among the soldiers that he was dismissed from the council, and it
was some time before he was readmitted.
Williams and his friends asked the council for a grant of land at
Marblehead, but it was not granted them. It was the first time that a
church had been refused land to build on, and, of course, it only
strengthened Roger Williams' following. Endicott's protest was so wild
that he was imprisoned until he was ready to apologize. Williams was
accused of unheard-of heresies. He held that the State had no right to
meddle with a man's conscience or religioiis opinions. He was right,
but he was also disagreeable. He would not bend to the advice of the
court, nor take the warnings of the other ministers, and he was finally
banished, though he was allowed to remain in town until spring.
There was an attempt to put him on board a ship and send him to
England, but he escaped and fled to the woods. There he lived, on the
best of tenns with the Indians, for whom he had a great respect and
affection. His dealings with them were upon a basis of equality'.
Canonicus, chief of the Narragansetts, gave Williams a large tract of
134 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
land, but the generous minister kept little for himself, and he gave
away his lands to all that he thought in want. The place where he
lived he called Providence, in his gratitude to God for having escaped
from his enemies.
Many persons persecuted for their religious beliefs in the different
colonies came to live with him. Among these was Ann Hutchinson, a
woman with a high sense of humor and of independence, who had
mimicked some of the dry old preachers in Boston, and had drawn about
her a number of people fond of a more simple. and straightforward
doctrine. Ann Hutchinson, although she is almost forgotten, was one
of the most remarkable women of the early history of this country.
The new colony, after much trouble, obtained a charter under the name
of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Never was there a more
radical man than Roger Williams. The laws of his colony were based
upon a plan of perfect religious toleration. He held that the most
Paganish, Jewish, Turkish or anti-Christian conscience should be pro-
tected in his colony. Such a thing was unheard of. It was new to the
world. Thus was Rhode Island settled.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Arnold's "Rhode Island."
Fiction — Miss SedgTvick's "Hope Leslie."
Holland's "Bay Path."
Longfellow's "Rhyme of Sir Christopher."
CHAPTER XX.
;\t \mn^u of SiuiiiHiintt.
THE AMERICAN INDIAN — THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BLOCK ISLAND
INDIANS — THE EXTINCTION OF THE PEQUOT TRIBE—
THE FEDERATION OF THE ENGLISH
--^ COLONIES
HE white man's first business in America was to
.\^ destroy the forests. Before he could build him a
home he laid his axe at the foot of a tree. From
the very first, he showed how he diifered from the
Indian, for the Indian lived in the forest; he wished
to preserve it. The game in it was his means of
livelihood. The wilder the streams, the better the
fishing, and the only sort of warfare which he knew had
to be conducted in the solitudes and fastnesses of the
woods. His superstition had made it holj' to him ; his
loves had made it dear, and from the first, the most
thoughtful of the Indians had looked with great dread
upon the growing power of the white man, and wondered
if it could be possible for two nations so different in
ever\-thing to live together in harmony. In the begin-
ning, although the Indian was subtile in his dealings with his enemies,
lie was true to his friends. He had the naturalness of a child. When
he gave his word, he could be trusted. He could endure pain with a
bravery only eqtialed by the old heroes of Sparta. In him was a lo\-e
of liberty that centuries of injustice has not been able to crush, and in
certain directio;is his mind was trained in a manner unequaled by any
except the mystics of Asiatic India. He knew every sign of the forest,
and the most timid animal had no match for his cunning. The soli-
tudes were an open book to him, and the best power of his intellect was
spent in evoh-ing a philosoph)' from its pages. He held mental and
moral qualities in high esteem, and was willing himself to do but little
manual labor, leaving that for the women of his tribe. Few nation? in
136 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the world have been found so swift of foot, so keen of sight and hearing,
and so clever in detecting signs which no others might see. He was
not without imagination or poetry, and for him, mountains, woods, lakes
and streams were filled with spirits, good and bad, who watched over his
destiny, or thwarted him in his ambitions. His life satisfied him, and
so did his religion. It is not strange that the religion which the
Englishmen offered him in place of his own was received with coldness.
The lives of the Puritans did not set a good example to the Indians.
Crimes of a certain nature were very frequent among them, and it is
certain that the Christians did not teach the Indians honesty. Too
much theology and too little religion naturally confused the Indian as
to what the Christian faith really was, so when they saw themselves
being driven inland, mile after mile, they knew that it meant the
extinction of their race. They were forced to leave behind them the
places which they cherished with a love almost fierce in its nature.
The places where their dead lay buried, the monuments to which, day
by day, the children added a stone, must all be left behind. The sea
was no longer theirs. They saw that in a short time there would be
nothing for them to do but march toward the setting sun, leaving the
beloved sea behind them.
This brooding hatred and distrust had its results. Captain Oldham
had once more been taken into the favor of the Puritans, and when liis
boat was found drifting at sea, with a band of Indians upon it and his
dead body on the deck, the colonists made up their minds to reveuge
his death; so in August of 1636, nearly one hundred men, in five small
vessels, .sailed from Boston to Block Island — for it was the Block Island
Indians who had murdered Oldham. In command of this expedition
was John Endicott, the sternest Puritan of them all. To land at Block
Island, even in fair weather, was a difficult thing. To do it in a
heavy wind was a most dangerous one. Any seaman would shrink
from it, but the Boston force did it in the midst of a shower of arrows
from the Indians. The invaders stayed upon the island two days, laying
waste the two hundred acres of land under cultivation, burning the
maize already harvested, as well as the wigwams and all their furniture.
Not one of the Englishmen was harmed, but such of the Indians as
were left alive remained upon the island without shelter or food, or
canoes in which to escape. Most of them perished wretchedly, but a
few must have lived, because much later than this, the Indians of Block
Island are referred to.
Endicott took his men to the mainland near the mouth of what is
THE RAVAGES OF CIVILIZATION. 1 37
now the Thames river. Proud of his victor}' over the Block Islanders,
he wished to take revenge upon the Pequot Indians, for their murder of
a Puritan named Stone. He asked that the Pequot chief be brought to
him, but the chief would not come, and the Englishmen and Indians
had some engagements, in which the Indians suffered severely. After
burning the Indian villages, Endicott's men coasted on up to the mouth
of the Connecticut river, where there was a fort imder the command of
Captain Lion Gardiner, who was much distressed when Endicott stopped
there. He had tried to keep on friendly terms with the Indians, and was
much more afraid of starving to death than of being killed. Events
show that Gardiner was right. The Indians were greatly irritated and
were detennined to be revenged for the injustice done to the Block
Islanders. They came upon the English at all sorts of unexpected
places, and destrojed a large part of the corn which Gardiner had
planted. It was hardly safe for the men to venture without the fort,
for the Indians lurked about it constantly — never seen, bitt frequently
felt. Cattle were killed or stolen, and the settlements near were greatly
harassed. Wen went to church carr^'ing their weapons in their hands,
and were afraid to labor in their own yards. Both men and women
were fallen upon in the fields and murdered or carried into captivity.
Had the Indians wished, they might have exterminated the English.
Roger Williams saw the great danger. No man knew better than
he the strength and qualities of the people on both sides. His diplomacy
alone prevented a concerted attack by all the Indian tribes upon the
colonies. Governor Winthrop and the rest were very glad to receive
help from the man whom they had driven out in the dead of night and
of winter because of his daring to differ from them. The efforts of
Williams secured the friendship of the Narragansetts, who had long
been enemies of the Pequots. The Massachusetts General Court
decided at their May meeting to go to the help of the people in the
Connecticut valley. They knew that the red cloud of war might sweep
on to Massachusetts. Feeling that it was a common peril, the Bay
people called upon Plymouth for help, but Plymouth held back. She
had certain quarrels to pick with the Bay government. Both Massa-
chusetts and Plymouth could take time to think. They were not — like
the dwellers on the plantation of the Connecticut — being murdered in
their beds, by their well-sweeps, and in their doorways"
But in May, a force of ninety men, under the charge of Captain
John Mason, sailed from Hartford for Fort Saybrook. Here they were
joined by the friendly Uncas, the great Mohegan chief, with a body of
138 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Indians. Mason decided to attack the Pequots in the rear, although this
was in disobedience to the orders of the general court. In pursuance of
this plan, Mason left the fort and bore away for Narragansett Bay. The
Pequots thought he was retreating, and late into the night they sang
and boasted that their superior numbers had put the woman-hearted
Englishmen to flight. But Mason landed near the entrance of Narra-
gansett Bay, and marched eighteen or twenty miles distant on the
Pequot frontier. The Narragansetts had a fort here, and Mason was
anxious to make sure of their friendship. On the 25th of May the
little army made the tedious march through the woods, with little to eat
and less to drink, and encamped at night at the head of the Mystic
river. Near that was the principal Pequot fort, crowded with men,
women and children.
Verj' early in the morning, when the east was first streaked with
light, Mason awoke his men. Uncas, the Mohegan chief, guided them
near to the palisaded village. There seemed to have been no sentinels
about the fort, and, but for the barking of a dog, the Indians would not
have known that the Englishmen were upon them. A part of ^Mason's men
rushed in on one side, and the rest upon the other. The Indians could
do but little, and, mad with terror, tried to rush for the woods, but there
was little chance of escape. Mason was not satisfied with the rapid work
that guns and swords were doing, but cried, "we must burn them,"
and snatching a brand from one of the smouldering fires at which the
evening meal had been prepared, thrust it among the dead leaves that
carpeted the wigwams. Some of the Indians, rather than die at the hands
of their hated enemies, ran with a pride past all taming into the flame?
and perished there. Others, seeing that their wives and children could not
escape, threw themselves upon the swords of the Englishmen, who
stood in an unbroken circle around the village, and behind whom was a
yet sterner and more cruel company of their own countrj'men.
It was hardly an hour from the time of the attack when the burned
and bleeding bodies of nearly seven hundred Indians lay among their
smoking wigwams. Only two of the English were killed.
There was another Indian village belonging to the Pequots not many
miles distant, and in this there were still three hundred and fifty warriors.
A handful of men had escaped the morning massacre, and flying to this
village, told their countrymen the particulars of the morning slaughter.
Mad with sorrow and anger, these were soon upon the trail of the
English. Mason's men, exhausted with the terrible fight, a third of
them wounded, and all suffering from hunger and the intense thirst which
THE RAVAGES OF CIVILIZATION. 139
follows such excitement, were in a very weakened condition, but they
were able to repulse the Indians, and in the course of the day were met
b}' a reinforcement of forty men from Boston.
The Pequots were now the enemies of all the other tribes of Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut, for the Narragansetts and Mohegans allied
themselves with the stronger side. This the Indians always did in war-
fare. So the Pequots were hunted mercilessly through the forests.
The)- hid themselves in rocks, and caves, and bushes, and wherever
they were found they were killed. The worst of it was that they were
seldom killed immediately, but were tortured in the most terrible ways.
Twent)- )oung Englishmen sometimes pulled the legs and arms of an
Indian from their sockets by sheer brutal force. Few of the women
and children were killed, but were sent to the West India Islands as
slaves. In Jul}-, the remnant of this tribe were ensnared in a swamp.
Here they fought like wild beasts, with the ferocity of despair, but
most of them were killed or taken prisoners, and such as were left met
with a fate still more hateful to them. They were permitted to become
either Mohegans or Narragansetts, and lost their individuality as a tribe.
They were a brave race of warriors, and their pitiable downfall and
overthrow cannot but touch the heart of any who admire courage and
patriotism. A few who fled to the Mohawks were treacherously killed,
and their scalps sent to Governor Winthrop as a sign of Mohawk friend-
ship.
The Pequot war lasted five months. This great tribe, numbering
over one thousand warriors, was extinguished by a force of two hun-
dred Englishmen. It is true that the Narragansetts and Mohegans had
helped them, but they were never to be relied upon. There is no more
striking proof of the superiority of civilized warfare.
After this, for many years, the Indians of Connecticut were subdued.
They were sometimes annoying, but seldom dangerous, and while the
Dutch were suffering all the terrors of Indian conflict, the New
England settlements remained for forty years in a state of comparative
peace.
The heavy expense of this war had fallen upon the people of the
Connecticut valley, and the colony was badly in debt. Its strongest
and best men had been called to military service, leaving the women to
look after the farms, and it seemed £3 if there might be a great lack of
food for the coming winter. Active measures had to be taken to
prevent this, ana every kernel of corn was carefully gathered and
preserved. Companies of home soldiers were well drilled at every
9
140 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
settlement, and the young colon)- had begun to feel its strength
and firmness so well now that within eighteen months from this time
the new government adopted a constitution. This constitution was
very simple and eloquent, and said that the people of Connecticut
recognized no allegiance to any other power, not even that of England.
It constituted a popular government, in which all the freemen were
equal before the law, promising to maintain the liberty of the gospel of
our Lord Jesus.
For two hundred years this was the basis of the law of Connecticut.
John Haynes and Edward Hopkins served as Governors for many years,
sometimes one and sometimes the other holding the position. The life
of every man and woman in the community was carefully watched by
the magistrate, and no license of speech was pennitted. No one was
allowed to say what he or she thought about the minister's last sennon,
or allowed to laugh at the peculiarities of his or her neighbors. From
the ver\' strictness of the laws, now and then some man or woman
broke out into a strange frenzy of viciousness or crime, which would be
seldom heard of in a less severe community, where light amusements
and diversions are allowed. The stern monotony of life seemed
to make the heart prey upon itself, and the people broke into vice to
supply the necessary excitement. In 1643 ^ confederation was made,
embracing Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven.
Their distance from each other was so great that it was not practical to
have a single government for them all, but they had desired to link the
English plantations together, that they might defend themselves against
the people of several nations and strange languages who were settling
around them. England, occupied with her own troubles, could pay
little attention to her colonies, so they looked for no further help from
the home country'. The main object of this confederation was an
offensive and defensive league in case of war. In all other things each
colony held the right of self-government. This was the genn of the
Federal Union, which has grown great among the nations as the United
States of America.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Penshallow's "Indian Wars in New England."
Biography— Winthrop's "Life and Letters '
Fiction— L. M. Child's "First Settlers of New :^Dgland."
CHAPTER XXI.
THE RELIGIOUS LAW OF BOSTON — GORTON AND HIS BELIEFS — THE
SETTLEMENT AT SHEWANET — PERSECUTION OF THE GORTON-
ITES — PERSECUTION OF THE BAPTISTS — THE OBTAINING
OF A ROYAL CHARTER FOR RHODE ISLAND AND THE
PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
ro
HE Boston people had come to America to worship
God in what they believed to be the right way.
If that was the right way, all other ways must be
wrong, and they allowed no one to differ from
them in the smallest shade of belief When Ann
Hutchinson was driven from among them, they
had hoped that all these ' 'notable errors' ' of belief were
done with, and that God would reward them with con-
tinued peace for driving such heresies from their
midst. Indeed, they believed that God dev'oted the
most of His time and attention to them, and the mis-
fortunes of all others were counted to their own glor>'.
If any one who had opposed them or criticised them
fell sick or met with misfortune, they believed it another
sign of the Lord's care. To be a citizen, it was first
necessary to be a member of the church, and the court
of justice was little more than a religious examining seat. If any one
made remarks upon the preached word or showed any contempt of the
preacher, he was called a ' 'Wanton Gospeller, ' ' and stood for two hours
openly upon a block four feet high, on a lecture day, with a paper on
his breast with "A Wanton Gospeller" written thereon in capital
letters. It was this firm belief in their own righteousness which caused
the people of Boston to persecute so many people at diiferent times on
account of religious differences.
One of the men who suffered most from this unforgiving spirit was
142 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Samuel Gorton. No one of a later day was able to tell just what this
man believed, but it was certain that he believed something different
from the people around him. He was one of the early settlers of
Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and was given to advertising new theories,
and to standing by them in a manner not so wise as it w?.s determined.
He visited both Boston and Plymouth, and while at Plymouth got into
his first fight with the authorities because he defended a servant of his
own family who so far forgot herself as to smile in church, and who was
therefore declared to be a heretic. At length he was driven out,
and, very naturally, went to Acquidneck, Roger Williams' settlement,
■where everyone was welcomed. In the year 1641, Gorton bought land
at Pawtuxet. This was where Cranston now stands, and was within
the bounds of Providence. Of the people of Providence,* Governor
Winthrop had a very poor opinion. He said that some of them were
against the baptizing of infants, and that others denied all magistracy,
and claimed that Gorton was their captain.
Roger Williams managed to keep them (the Gortonites) peaceful for
a time, but at length arguments waxed so hot between them and their
neighbors that blows followed. A man named Arnold, and a dozen
others, appealed to Massachusetts for aid against Gorton and his friends,
•who seemed to have had certain socialistic ideas in regard to land, ver}'
offensive to people used to complicated government. Boston, however,
refused to send help to the people of Pawtuxet, since they did not live
imder the government of Massachusetts, as both parties had found
Boston so little to their liking that they had run away from it. They
were not willing to submit themselves to its government again even to
win their point, but at length the quarrels grew so hot that they sent
again to Boston for help. This appeal was sent out by four men, of
whom Arnold was one. These four men submitted themselves to
Boston, with their lands and possessions, and as these were very
desirable, Boston consented to give them help. Having got the lands
in this cheap way, the Massachusetts magistrates gave the four men
leave, if they had a just title to anything which Gorton and his friends
possessed, to proceed against them in court. This they did immediately,
the case being, of course, decided in favor of Arnold and his friends.
By this ver)- simple method, Massachusetts gained possession of that
beautiful garden of the Narragansett.
There were about twelve men of the Gorton party, and these imme-
diately deserted their homes and gardens in Pawtuxet, and moved away
in search of a new place. They settled about twelve miles south
THE PRIDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 14J
of Providence, calling their settlement Sliewanet. Before going there
Samuel Gorton sent a remarkable letter to the Boston magistrates,
which set forth all of their religious beliefs. The magistrates seemed to
know what it meant, for they found twenty-six blasphemous particulars
in it, though no one since has been able to tell what Gorton's theology
was. The land at Sliewanet was bought of Miantonomo, the young:
sachem of the Narragansetts, and it was so far from the settlement
of any one else that they hoped they might be left in peace, but Arnold
was not the man to let a personal matter drop so quietly, and he
induced the Indians to say that they had been forced to sign the deed
giving title to Gorton's people, and two small sachems, who were hired
to tell this lie, were received as subjects of the Massachusetts govern-
ment. That these two new subjects might be properly protected, the
twelve men of Sliewanet were asked to appear before the general court
at Boston. This, Gorton and his friends refused to do, and the colony"
sent back a threat which showed the Shewanet people that they were iit
danger of their 'lives. A band of soldiers and Indians charged uport
the village, and the troops did not disdain to level their muskets u^jon
women and children. Some of the people ran for the woods; others
waded out into the river to reach a boat, which some Providence people,
in pit3' for their condition, had brought to the place. Though none of
them died at the time, a number died afterward from the exposure and
suflfering. The men had not supposed that the Boston troops would
trouble their wives and children, and had fortified themselves in one of
their log houses. They stood the siege for several days, but without firing
a shot — for they did not believe in the shedding of blood. Their
houses were pillaged, their cattle driven off, and their wives and
children, who lurked in the woods near by, were fired at.
At length the Gorton men promised they would yield, and go to
Massachusetts to be tried, if they could go as free men, and not as
prisoners. This the soldiers promised, but as soon as they got in the
house, the arms were taken from the Gorton men and they were marched
off as captives. In Boston, they were received as if they were the most
dangerous and dreadful men.
The clergymen called the people together in the open streets to.
thank God for his goodness in giving them the victory, and Governor
Winthrop went out and publicly blessed the soldiers. The trial lasted
four days, and the elders declared that the oflense of these men was
deserving of death, but the large body of the delegates would not
permit this sentence. The men were imprisoned. The winter tlie^
144 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Spent in jail did not, however, keep their doctrines from spreading, and
and at length Governor Winthrop thought it best to set them free.
Within three days, however, they were told to depart out of the town
before noon. They had nothing to do once more but to take to the
wilderness, where they lived among the Indians. In time they succeeded
in getting from King Charles a document which let them pass safeh*
through any town of New England, and which gave them an order for
the grounds at Shewanet, from which they had been evicted by Arnold
and his friends. Of course, they had much trouble in carrying this
into effect. The Earl of Warwick was the president of the Board of
Commissioners who had seen to the rights of the Gorton party, and in
gratitude Shewanet was named Warwick. Warwick became a part of
Providence plantation under a charter got by Roger Williams, in 1644.
This charter Williams carried to Boston and made them recognize its
power, but they treated him w'ith no more friendliness there than they
did before. He did not need to mind, however, when he was received
at home with so much love. When the people heard that he was
returning, the river was crowded with canoes, and the people gathered
iipon the banks to welcome him. This charter gave to the people of
the Providence plantations full power and authority to govern and rule
themselves, and all others who came within their boundaries. It was
the first colonial charter of the sort that had ever been given. When
the first general assembly met under it at Portsmouth, the)- declared
that the form of government established in Providence plantations was
democratic; that is to say, a government held by the free and voluntarv
consent of all, or the greater part of the free inhabitants. It granted
to ever}' one absolute freedom of conscience.
By this tinie political parties had begun to be felt in America.
Men who had been Whigs and Tories in England, were Whigs and
Tories here, and this declaration of democrac}' greatly offended the rov-
alist party, who thought it an insult to the King. Some of these asked
to be luiited to Massacliusetts, but were refused unless they would allow
that their land came within the Plymouth patent. This, of course,
they would not do. It came about in time that a royal charter was
obtained from Charles II, after he was restored to the throne, which
imited Rhode Island and the Providence plantations. The events which
led to this are interesting, and form another chapter in that marvelous
book of religious persecutions which go to make up so great a part in
colonial history.
The Re\erend John Clark was one of the most popular citizens of
THE PRIDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. ^45
Rhode Island, and tlie pastor of the Baptist Church at Newport. The
Baptists were one of the exiled sects who had come within the protec-
tion of Roger Williams' strong arm. Holmes and Crandall were also
Baptist ministers, and these three went together to Lynn, in Massa-
chusetts, to visit one of their faith who was old, sick and blind, and had
desired to see them. While they were visiting this old man they held
divine service in his house, and were arrested by constables for daring
to preach the despised religion on JNIassachusetts territor}'. Tbey were
sent to the Boston jail until the court set, and, after ten days' confinement
there, were found guilty of being Baptists. They were sentenced either
to be whipped or pay a fine, and when they asked what they had been guilty
of, Endicottreplied that they denied infant baptism, and John Wilson, the
pastor of the Boston Church, so lost his temper that he struck Holmes.
Friends paid the fine of Clark and Crandall, but Holmes' conscience
would not allow him to be released that he might escape a painful
punishment, so he was led out of the prison into the presence of the
people to be whipped. The coat which he had put on with much
neatness, that he might look worthy of the Lord, was taken from him,
and he was given thirty strokes with a three-corded whip. When the
sheriff had finished, and even the hardest-hearted of the bystanders
turned sick at the sight of his bleeding back, he turned smilingly to
the magistrates by, and said: "You have struck me as with roses."
The political quarrels of the different towns of the Providence
plantations had weakened their government, but the manner in which
these Providence preachers had been treated determined them to see to
their rights in the future, that they might be able to retaliate with
proper force should Massachusetts interfere in this way again. Clark
was sent to England to obtain the royal charter, which he did after
working and waiting for several years.
FOR FURTHER RE.^^DING:
Biography— Spark's "'Gorton."
Fiction— J. Bauvard's "PrisciUa."
Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter "
CHAPTER XXII.
il^rougl^ fnln la ymu.
1*HE QUAKERS — THEIR PERSECUTION GEORGE FOX AND HIS FRIENDS
— MARY FISHER AND ANN AUSTIN — THE
<^ -^QUAKER CHILDREN.
7
L l^\^HE Boston church seemed to feel for a while that
it had done its duty, but after a time some
strange people were found in their midst, who
were called Quakers. Once i:iore the church
was up in arms. It wanted to know who the
Quakers were. They found that the)' were the followers
of George Fox, a man who mingled much poetic
mysticism with the stern and self-denying religion. It is
said that he had the power of perceiving evil thoughts
in others, and could not pass by a wicked person
without stopping to point out the path of reform. His
own life was beautifully pure and sanctified, and it was
certain that he could read minds and influence people
as it is given to only a few to do in this world. The
doctrine of the Friends, as the followers of Fox were called, was to
be at peace with all the world, to put aside vanities and show, to trust
to the guidance of the inner spirit, and to put scholarship and holiness
above gain in all cases. They used no titles, and would not permit
steeples on their churches, and dressed in plain garb of uniform color,
in protest against all the gay ruffling and slashing which they saw in the
streets of England, where Fox was born. Plainness of speech, as well
as plainness of dress, was held to. Fox dressed in a suit of leather, but
it may not have been so much to be different from other men as for the
convenience of having one durable suit to wear upon his long journeys,
and to keep out the damp and cold of the many dungeons in which he
was placed. One of the things which most irritated the magistrates
was the habit which the Quakers had of continually wearing their hats,
believing that they should pay no more honor to one person than
THROUGH PAIN TO PEACE. 149
another, and that it was a waste of time and sense to keep up so foolish
a ceremony. The Friends insisted upon speaking in the churches, and
interrupting the ministers when they overheard a remark to which they
could not give their support. They believed that they had a call to
bear their "message" into the verj' strongholds of their adversaries, and
sometimes launched speeches against them so fiercely that it is little
wonder that the Puritan ministers were irritated, especially as the
Quakers objected to their receiving any money for their services. The
fight they made against "hireling religion" was very bitter. The
personal life of the Quakers was thoroughly pure. Indeed, to such a
high strain did their minds grow, that it is difl5cult for any one in this
busy and more commonplace age, to appreciate the ferv^or and beauty
of their visions, their sacrifices, and their prophesies.
The Friends were first called Quakers by Justice Bennett, of Derby,
in 1650, because the people trembled or quaked when they listened to
the powerful words of Fox. Fox even had the courage when he was
taken to London, in 1654, as a prisoner, and lodged in the old Mermaid
Tavern, which Shakspeare and his friends made famous, to write to
Cromwell, protesting against the drawing of the sword of war. The
English had grown to fear the Quakers, even before they came to America.
In July, 1656, the first Quakers came to Boston. These were Mary
Fisher and Ann Austin, who were imprisoned upon their arrival and
sent back to the Barbadoes, from whence they had come. Mary Fisher
had traveled, not alone over Europe, but in parts of Asia, preaching
the word, and in the autumn of 1653, three years before her imprison-
ment at Boston, she had preached to the Cambridge students. Endicott
was absent, when the "Swallow" arrived, with Mar>' Fisher and Ann
Austin on board, but the depitty governor had their baggage searched, and
all of their books and tracts taken, and an order was issued, which was
the first act of Massachusetts against the Quakers, in which the women
were called preachers of corrupt, heretical, and blasphemous doctrines.
While they were at Boston they were confined in the jail, with the
windows boarded up. No one was allowed to speak to them, or render
them any assistance. They were stripped, and examined for signs of
witchcraft, but as they fortunately had no moles or freckles upon them,
they were cleared of that charge. The people were even cautioned not
to feed them, but Nicolas Upshall, an old gentleman of Boston, who
held very grave ideas of justice, gave the jailor money to provide for
them. He was arrested and thrown in jail, and upon release, was
exiled. They would not receive him at Plymouth, and he went to live
150 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
among the Indians, who had a friendly feeling for any who, like them
selves, had the Puritan religion so obnoxiously thrust at them. The
Swallow was barely out of sight, when a vessel from London arrived
with eight Friends on board. Their boxes and chests were immediately
searched for "hellish pamphlets," and, after many questions, they were
sent to jail. They were ordered to return on the vessel which brought
them, and when the master refused to take them at his own expense,
he was imprisoned until he yielded. The people became dissatisfied
with measures which could not be sustained by the laws of the colony,
and on October 14th a law was passed which made every ship-master
bringing Quakers to New England subject to a payment of one hundred
pounds, or imprisonment until the money was forthcoming. Any
Quakers who arrived should be put in the house of correction, severelj-
whipped, kept at constant labor, and forbidden to talk with any one.
There were also fines for bringing or sending Quaker tracts to the
colony. Four of the federate colonies adopted this, but Rhode Island
refused, and very cleverly held that the Quakers would not care to come
to Rhode Island if they were not persecuted for doing so. Not that the
Quakers had any desire to become notorious, or wished a vain martyr
dom, but they naturalh- insisted upon tr}'ing to reform and soften the
people who most reviled them.
It is not necessary to repeat the particulars of each of their abuses
of these gentle Friends. They were all much alike in cruelty, and it
became common to whip them from town to town and to keep them for
many days in jail withoiit food, with not even a bunch of straw to lie
upon. The instrument used for whipping them was a three-corded
knout, with knots tied in it. But the more the people suffered, the
more converts they made. No one was allowed to entertain a Quaker
without punishment, but for all of that, plenty of kind hearts were
foimd who were willing to .shelter them. Women were stripped naked
and whipped, and one of them was whipped with a little babe only a
few days old clinging to her breast.
Even the little children did not escape. Lawrence and Cassandra
Southwick were banished from the colony under penalty of death,
leaving behind them their poor little boy and girl in extreme poverty.
They were fined for not attending regular worship, and having no
money to pay the fine, were to be sold as slaves. It was hoped that
they might bring ten pounds each, and so the treasury' got the money
which it ached for, but not a sea captain in the port of Boston would
take them away, and the magistrates had no choice but to let them stay.
THROUGH PAIN TO PEACE. 151
Another little child, Mary Wright, fourteen years of age, whose sister
had been banished from Massachusetts, found her way from Long Island
to Boston, that she might protest against the cruelty they were showing
to these innocent people. Her words were so simple that even the
hardened men about her were moved, and the secretary' cried: "What!
shall we be battled by such a one as this? Come, let us drink a dram."
Sweet Mary Dyer, hearing of some friends in prison, visited them,
and was arrested for it and put under the same roof She was banished,
but returned to Boston to again visit the persecuted Friends, bringing
with her linen to wrap the dead bodies of those who were to suffer.
With her came a party of Friends, four of whom were women. They
had guessed right; some were to suffer death, and Marj' Dyer was one
of them. The 27th of August she and two men were led to the Boston
Common, with a great force of soldiers about them, and the drums
beating. Mary Dyer walked as if to some great victor}-, with a smile
upon her face. The two men were hung, and just as they had tied
Mar}- D}er's clothes about her feet a cry came ringing across the
Common announcing a reprieve, which her young son had got for her.
She was banished, but in a few months returned again to Boston. It
was required of her, she said, to take her message there. Her husband
wrote a letter begging that she might be spared, but Endicott would
show no mercy, and the tender appeal for Frieud Dyer's "most dearly
beloved wife" only irritated him, so on a certain sad day, with a strong
body of soldiers about her, for fear of the people who were moved to
much pit}- in her case, she was led to the Common rud hung there, for
'jthers to take example by, so her judges said.
The last man to be hung on Boston Common was William L,eddra,
who had dared to return after ha\-ing been banished. He came into
the court dragging a log behind him to which he was bound with chains,
and answered all questions put to him with a fearlessness which all of
his sect showed. But by this time the severit\- of the judges began to
defeat itself The people could not stand such cruelty, and they were
frightened b}- the wild prophecies of Wenlock Christison. He was
whipped through Boston, Roxbur}- and Dedham, and cast into the
wilderness, but his prophecies remained behind him to frighten and
subdue the people, for oddly enough man}- of them came true.
At length the King of England put a stop to the cruelty with which
the Quakers were being treated, and the order was placed in the hands
of Samuel Shattock, a Quaker, who had been banished from Boston
under penalty of death. When Shattock walked before Endicott, with
152 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
his hat upon his head, he was met with the usual brutal questions, but
when he showed his order, Governor Endicott, overcome with mortifica-
tion, yet not forgetting his courtesy to an embassy from his sovereign,
replaced the hat which he had snatched from Shattock's head and
removed his own. The King ordered that all prisoners should be .sent
to England. This, it goes without saying, Endicott and his friends
would not dare permit. They settled the question by dismissing the
prisoners. However, the cruelties against the Quakers were revived
later, and men and women were frequently tied to the end of a cart and
whipped from town to town.
The last time a Quaker was imprisoned was at the time of Endicott' s
burial. An old woman, sixty-five years of age, made some remarks,
true but not savory, about the dead magistrate. These persecutions
lasted ten years in all, until again the King interfered, sending to Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut orders that all persons of civil lives would
fully enjoy the liberty of their conscience.
POR FURTHER READING:
History— Mather's "Magnalia.'*
Poetry — Whittier's "Cassandra Southwick."
Longfellow's "John Endicott."
I From the paintinR by .\i
CHAPTER XXIII.
GOVERNOR BERKELEY AND HIS REIGN — MORE TROUBLE WITH THE
INDIANS THE PURITANS AGAIN VICTORIOUS THE
^ RETURN OF THE STUARTS
TO POWER.
I TER King Charles I had been beheaded, and
Cromwell, the great dictator, ruled, many of those
who had stood by the King, and were now in dis-
favor and poverty, hastened to the Virginian
colony. This was the only one of all the colonies
which had steadfastly believed in the cause of the
King. So the disappointed royalists of England
were glad to come by hundreds to the only spot in the
New World in which all that they loved was respected
— where the>' could have the church ser\'ice which
they wished, and where no one reviled the dead King.
They brought with them their old ways. Used to the
life of court and camp, they lived carelessly, spending
their money without thought of its value, and caring
little for the rights of those poorer or less powerful than themselves.
They were a merry and elegant set, and even when their clothes were
worn to rags, they were still wonderfully polite and lordly in their
manners.
One of the pleasantest chronicles of colonial life has been left by one
of the men who came over in the way described. This was Colonel
Norwood, a young man of much bravery and originality, who was
wrecked with his company on an island near \'irginia. They starved
there for ten days, and were taken to the mainland by a party of Indians
who chanced to pass. Among the Indians they were treated with much
kindness, and finally were guided from plantation to plantation through
the hospitable Virginian colonv until they reached the settlement. In
these careless and genial old days, hospitality was not alone a matter of
154 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
impulse. There was a law ordering that any stranger coming to the
house should be cared for as a guest, unless an agreement in writing
was made with him before he entered. It can easily be imagined that
not one person in a thousand would do such a thing, especially in an
age where inhospitality was considered the worst of crimes.
After Governor Harvey had been sent back by the King to govern
Virginia, the troubles between Maryland and Virginia continued to
grow worse. In course of time he was succeeded by Sir Francis W)at,
and he, in time, by Sir William Berkeley, the best known of the James-
town governors. He came to Jamestown early in 1642, amid the
enthusiasm of the people. Nothing was so dear to him as his King,
and he followed the royal commands in everything. Under his rule
the colony prospered. wBut the colony took some very ill-advised
measures, and in 1643 enacted laws which broke up the Puritan
churches. When, a little later, there was a sudden rising among the
Indians, and a great number of Virginian planters were killed, the
Puritans saw in it a meting out of God's justice to their persecutors.
The Indians were treated as enemies, and it was declared that there
should be no peace between them and the whites, and that a savage
might be shot whenever he was seen. The Indians planned a cunning
revenge, and killed from three hundred to five hundred of the English
in return for this cruel law. But for .some reason which has never been
explained, they drew off and retreated to the woods, instead of con-
tinuing their slaughter, as they might easily have done. This was
twenty-two years after the Virginian massacre, which had so nearly
extinguished the colony. But now the province was of more than
thirty years' standing, with good rulers and well-organized means of
defence. All the forces of the colony were turned upon the Indians,
and they were driven from one point to another, many of them taken
prisoners, and, finally, the great chief who ruled over all of those lands
where Powhatan had once been King, was taken and brought to
Jamestown. This chiefs name was Opechancanough. He was nearly
one hundred years old, and so crippled with paralysis that he could not
even open his eyes to look at his victors, who crowded about him as he
lay dying in prison. It had been the intention to take him to England
to show the people there a man who had kept the colony in a state of
terror for years, but he was cruelly shot by one of his guards, and so had
the good fortune to die in his own country which he had loved deeply
and fought for with extraordinary fierceness.
During all the time of the great Revolution in England, the Virginian
J, 2. Alcu^
THE ROYALIST COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 157
colony was in a state of unusual prosperity. Tobacco was the chief
export, and even in the midst of the war, men would not stop using
tobacco; therefore, their income did not decrease. In England, there
was no time to attend to colonial affairs, and Virginia grew stronger
under home rule. There was plenty of skilled labor among the fifteen
thousand Englishmen who made up the colony, and -smelting works,
hemp and flax culture, vine-raising, indigo-making, and the manufacture
of bricks succeeded well. The plantations grew, and in the midst of
them were built those hospitable, porch-surrounded mansions which we
still associate with the colonial period. More than thirty vessels
brought out English goods every year, and took back cargoes of native
productions.
Virginia had had the courage to openly denounce the execution of
King Charles I, and had made a law calling it treason for any one to
speak against him, so in 1650 the Parliament in England said that there
should be no more trade with these uncompliant colonies, and sent over
commissioners to force allegiance to Cromwell. With these commis-
sioners came a regiment of soldiers and one hundred and fifty prisoners
of war, who were to be sold as servants in Virginia. They demanded
the surrender of Jamestown, and it was found necessary to yield. The
Puritans were more than a religious party at this time. They were a
political party as well, both in England and America, and Cromwell's
men who came to demand the surrender of the Virginian colonies
represented the Puritans. The terms of the surrender were not unkind,
and even gave consent that the common prayer book should be used for
the next year. Consideration was shown Governor Berkeley and his
officers, and they were given liberty to sell their estates, if they wished
to leave the colony. A government was established, with William
Clayborne and Richard Bennett at its head. They were men highly
esteemed and ver}' generous in their government. Clayborne, although
he had had such quarrelsome experiences with Marj-land, was a ver}^
sensible and clever gentleman, from one of the best families of England,
and was one of the strongest upholders of the Protestant faith. Though
he did not forget his old troubles with Marj-land, and the serious
grievance he had against Lord Baltimore, he was, nevertheless, con-
siderate at first in his government of Maryland, now that it was partly
in his power.
Governor Stone, now at the head of the Maryland colony, was the
second Governor since Leonard Calvert. The few months that followed
the triumph of Cromwell were very bewildering to Governor Stone.
158 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Now he would have a message from the Long Parliament, saying that
he must proclaim to his subjects the supremacy of the Dictator and give
an oath of fidelity, and again would receive indignant letters from Lord
Baltimore, saying that he owed allegiance to him. Several times he
issued different manifestoes, until finally Bennett and Cla^-borne them-
selves made a proclamation saying that Maryland belonged to the
Protector, and removing the Catholic oflBcers, they appointed a Board of
Puritan Commissioners.
So at length the Puritans, who had been so much abused, began to
be the stronger party in both countries. They were men of determined
characters, who believed that God led them in everj'thing. Lord
Baltimore protested against the easy way in which Stone had yielded
to the Puritan will, and under his influence Stone gathered his forces
and seized the State archives and all the arms and ammunition he could
find. Then he took his force of two hundred men and embarked on
twelve boats, which went up Chesapeake Bay to Severn, opposite Kent
Island, where the Puritans were settled. Stone intended to enforce
their submission. In the Sev-ern was a large ship, the Goldejt Lion^
which sent out shots among the advancing fleet as they came into the
harbor, and Stone hurried his vessels farther up the creek and took his
men on shore, with a good deal of noise and bluster. But while they
were gone, the Puritans took possession of all their vessels, sending a
detachment by land to force the Catholics up the peninsula. While
they were retreating, they suddenly met one hundred and twenty men
who had come out from Providence to meet them. With enemies on
both sides it was necessar}^ to fight, so crying, "Hey for St. Marys,"
they rushed at the enemy. But the Puritans cried, "In the name of
God, fall on; God is our strength," and elated with that stern frenzj-
which carried them through such awful trials, they killed and wounded
fift}- of the Catholics and took all but four or hve prisoners. Only four of
the Puritans died in consequence of the engagement. Four of the
leaders were killed, and Governor Stone was sentenced to death, but
some of the Puritans begged for his life and he was spared.
And now a letter came from the Protector, forbidding the \'irginians
to have anything to do with the affairs of Mar\'land until the bound-
aries could be settled. Lord Baltimore was pennitted to send out a
deputy governor to keep his colony quiet, but it was two years before
matters were settled, and the liberal laws of Maryland ratified by the
English government. For several years all went well in Virginia
Bennett resigned his office in favor of Edward Diggs, who was followed.
CHARLES II. OF ENGLAND.
THE ROYAl^lST COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 1 59
in turn, by Governor Mathews. There were still two distinct political
parties in Virginia, but their interests were too closelj- allied for them
to keep quarreling with each other, and in these peaceful years nianj-
laws were passed which were of great value to the colonists.
After Cromwell died, the Puritans began to lose strength in Virginia,
and when King Charles II was put on the throne of his father in
England, the old royalist party of Virginia once more became the ruling
power, and Sir William Berkeley was elected Governor. He sent a
glad letter to the King telling how happy he was to serve the royal
family again, and a day was set apart to the memory of King Charles
I, to be kept alive by yearly feast on the 13th of January. Berkele\-
did not put the distinguished Puritans out of office, but let them
continue under him. The House of Representatives was not to
meet unless there was positive need for it, so it chanced that for
fifteen years there was no popular election. Tobacco currency was the
money used in paying the State officers, and the salary of the Governor
was equal to the whole annual expenditure of the colony of Connecticut.
The slavery of negroes was steadily increasing, and a law was made
condemning all children of mixed blood to serve as slaves for life.
There were a great many white slaves, also, brought from the jails and
slums of England, and these were much lower than the blacks, for they
were vicious, while the negroes were only ignorant. The Church of
England once more became the established church of the colony, but
the Puritans were not persecuted, although they were held in check
and not allowed to preach, even in private. In 1662 a fine was imposed
upon all persons who would not subscribe to the orthodox religion. The
Quakers here, as elsewhere, were held in disfavor, and many of them
were driven into North Carolina. Penalties were still imposed for the
purpose of making the colonists raise more corn and less tobacco, for
the supply of tobacco was greater than the demand for it.
The English made an effiDrt to confine all the foreign trade to them-
selves, but this they found it very difficult to do. In 1663 a plot was
discovered to overthrow the government. This may have been the
outcome of the discontent which the people felt at having these trade
laws enforced. The plot was discovered and four of the ring-leaders
hung. After this a day was set for thanksgiving for the defeat of the
conspiracy, on the 13th of September.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction— W. A. Carruthers' "The Cavaliers of Virsfinia."
CHAPTER XXIV.
u
.05, for ^1. iarp'
THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA — THE INDIANS — THE UPRISING OF BACON AND
HIS FRIENDS — RESTRICTION OF THE GOVERNOR'S RIGHTS —
BACON USURPS THE GOVERNMENT — RETURN OF
BERKELEY — DESERTION OF JAMESTOWN —
DEATH OF BACON — BREAKING UP
OF bacon's party.
IRGINIA was founded upon a wrong basis. In
1670 there were forty thousand people under the
'"^i'w Virginian government. The militia of the province
mustered eight thousand men. Of these forty
(j thousand, two thousand were negro slaves and six
thousand were white servants bound for a term of
years. Many of these were soldiers who had risked
their lives for liberty in England, and failing, had been
brought as prisoners of war to the colonies. Every year
fifteen hundred white servants were brought over, and
the reason that the colony was not much greater was
that four-fifths of them, when put upon the new planta-
tions, died. They had but little clothing and but poor
.shelter, for money was not plenty. In England, the
price of tobacco had been reduced, and the price of goods which the
tobacco was sent in exchange for had been raised to extravagant prices.
The Virginia planter, therefore, got but little, and as they all took it
upon themselves to maintain large mansions and generously entertain
great numbers of guests, they economized at the expense of their slaves.
The colony was not a religious one at any time, and though Mary-
land and Virginia did quarrel upon religious grounds, this was but a cover
for politics. It is true that there were forty-eight parishes in the colony,
but most of these were illy provided with ministers. Nearly all of
them were sixty or seventy miles in extent, and could not have
"hey, for ST. Mary's!" i6i
been well attended to even b}' the most zealous ministers, which
the Virginian clergymen were not. They liked the free living of the
colony as well as did their flocks, and were not held in much awe.
There were no free schools in the colony, nor was there any printings
for which Governor Berkeley was sincerely thankful. The taxes grew
worse from )'ear to 3'ear, and the ofiicers of the go\'ernment more purse-
proud and arrogant. The people had no voice in the government at all.
Finally, in 1673, the whole colony was given as a present by the King
to two of his favorites, Lord Culpepper and the Earl of Arlington.
This meant more taxes, and the people became thorough !}• discon-
tented. The Indians, also, were a great source of annoyance and
anxiety to them, and the colonists wished to organize an anned force
for protection, but Governor Berkeley was afraid of injuring the Indian
trade, from which he drew a large revenue, and would not pennit the
people to organize for defense. But when a quiet farmer was found
murdered at his own door, the colonists determined to take revenge,
regardless of what the government might say. Two forces, one under
Captain Brent and the other under Colonel ]\Iason, started out. They
invaded two wigwams, killing at least twenty-four Indians. This was-
the signal for a general Indian war. Four great Indian tribes united to-
take revenge — the Susquehannocks, Doegs, Senecas and Piscataways.
Both in Maryland and Virginia the planters were badly alarmed, and
they united in an expedition, sending out one thousand men, with
Colonel John Washington and Major Thomas Truman, of Maryland.
They surrounded the fort where the Susquehannocks had taken refuge,
and were cruel enough to kill five of the chiefs who came out to peace-
fully parley with them. Such a dishonorable act, opposed as it was to
all rules of warfare, brought a severe reproof from the Governor and
Council. But the Indians entered upon a systematic revenge. Before
spring came, sixty of the colonists had been killed upon their farms,
and the Indians were forever lurking in the shadow of the bushes, and
under the river banks. No one felt safe. The people crowded together
in the strongest houses, and at night barricaded their windows, and
slept with their arms beside them.
The colonists begged the Governor to give them some protection,
but that rich old gentleman, rapidly making money for himself,
and contented with his own fine living, paid no attention to their
appeals. The young men, especially, became indignant at his selfish-
ness and carelessness, and made up their minds that if he did not come
to their aid, they would give open war on their own account. Among
1 62 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the )oung men was Nathaniel Bacon, who lived upon an estate called
■'Curies," not far from Richmond, where Bacon Quarter Branch still
stands. He had a plantation, and it chanced that his overseer upon
this place was one of the iinforttmates on whom the Indians chose to
take their revenge. Bacon was much attached to his overseer and he
swore that these outrages must be stopped. Though he was not
yet thirt}-, he was such a daring and independent young man that all of
his neighbors looked to him as their leader, and when he had sent again
to the Governor, asking him for a commission against the Indians, and
been met with silence, he detennined to march out against the savages,
regardless of consequences. A large force of men gathered about him;
but even after that, Bacon sent once more to the Governor asking for a
commission. As it did not come, they started on their march. They had
gone but a little way when the)- were overtaken by a messenger from
the Governor calling them all rebels, and forbidding them to proceed in
any warlike action. The question was, then, whether any of them
dare disobey the government of the colony. Fifty-seven of them had
the courage, and went on with Bacon into the forest, but some of them
feared that their property would be confiscated, and deserted him. In
a short time they had annihilated the tribe of the Susquehannocks and
returned to their farms.
The Governor had sent a troop of horses after the ' 'rebels, " as he
called them, and while the capital was thus deserted a revolt broke out
among the planters at the south of Jamestown, so that when the
Governor returned he found everj'thiug in such a turbulent condition
that he had to yield to some of the demands of the citizenis. They
asked that they might no longer be taxed for the several useless forts
which their hard-earned money had to support, and also that the
assembly, which had not been changed for fifteen years, might be
dissolved, and the people allowed to elect their officers. It showed how
well the people thought of Bacon that he was one of the new members
elected. Bacon, confident and proud, came promptly to Jamestown,
notwithstanding the fact that the title of "rebel" still hung over him.
Governor Berkeley met him in great state. "Mr. Bacon," said he,
"have }'ou forgotten how to be a gentleman?" "No, may it please
your honor," the young man replied. "Then I will take your parole,"
said the Governor. Later, in the presence of all the assembly, Bacon
delivered a written apologj- to the Governor for his independent and
headstrong actions. The Governor seemed to be really attached to
hini^ — and indeed few could help admiring his courage and brilliancy. But
"hey, for ST. MARY'S !" 1 63
Sacoii did not trust the Governor, and thought he was trying to deceive
him, and he ran away from Jamestown to rejoin his neighbors. Some
people say that he was afraid he would be arrested again, and
that he had to flee for his life. Perhaps he did think so, but it is
hardly possible that the stern old Governor would have dared to treat a
young man of high famil}' so, although he was careless enough of the
lives of the poor. In a few days, Bacon came marching back to James-
town, with an anny of five hundred men. The Governor tried to
gather the militia about him, but their sympathies were with Bacon,
and in a short time the insurgents were in the capital, camped
upon the green near the State House, and holding all the streets. The
assembly was called together, and Bacon stood by the corner of the
State House, guarded by a double file of soldiers.
Berkeley came out on the steps, while the assembly hung out of the
windows and cried to Bacon to shoot him, but the young rebel swore
that he would not hurt a hair of his head nor any other man's, but that
he wanted a commission to save the lives of his neighbors from the
Indians, and reminded the Governor that he had often promised to give it
to him and had broken his word. When the Governor turned and walked
away, followed by the council, and Bacon saw that no attention was
to be paid to his command, he grew furious, and swearing that he would
kill Governor, council and assembly, and himself last, told his men to
point their fusils at the windows. All the people shouted for the
commission, and finally a handkerchief was waived from the window in
sign of peace. The soldiers were sent away, and Bacon went alone to
the assembly room, giving them some of his hot eloquence. But every
one was afraid to act, and the Governor would do nothing. By morning
the Governor changed his mind. He probably saw that there was
nothing to do but to yield. Bacon got his commission, and immediately
began organizing one thousand men to start a campaign against the
Indians.
After the Governor had yielded one point, he was forced by the people
to yield many. The Governor's fees were restricted, and he was no
longer allowed to have a monopoly of the foreign trade. Taxes were
regulated upon a certain system ; so hot and furious did the members of
the assembly grow in talking over these matters that many feuds were
started in Virginia families, which continued over one hundred years.
As soon as Bacon's back was turned, the Governor once more declared
him to be a rebel, but when he ventured to say this before twelve
hundrwi men whom he had collected about him for the purpose of
164 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
fomiing a militia, they turned tlieir backs upon liiin and deserted, and
let the fields ring with their cries of "Bacon!" "Bacon!" As soon
as Bacon learned that he was once more proclaimed an outlaw, he
promptly marched to meet the Governor, who fled hurriedly across the
Chesapeake, leaving the province of \'irginia to the will of his vigorous
young opponent. Practical!}-, Bacon was now Governor, and he began
reorganizing immediately, calling a convention for the purpose of
revising the laws. The matter was a verj- grave one, and the men who
stood about Eacon knew that at any time they might be defeated and
suffer the penalties of rebellion. The national revolution itself did not
call for sterner constancy.
One of the best inspiratie is of these men was a lady, Mrs.
Drummond the wife of one of Bacon's closest councilors. Her ad\ice
was followed in many matters, for she was a woman of great spirit and
eloquence, and seemed to influence all who came near her.
But Berkeley was not without friends, and succeeded, through the
treachery of some of Bacon's men, in getting possession of an armed
fleet. As soon as the roj-alists through the countr\- saw that there was
a show of success for the Governor's arms, they came flocking to him,
and in a short time he was in possession of a ver\- large force. He took
Jamestown on September 17th, and at once re-established the old form
of government and reinstated his friends in their places. Bacon had
dealt some terrible blows to the Indians, and thinking that there was
no need of keeping his men from their plantations, had allowed his army
to dissolve. He called them together again and hurried across the
country to the capital. Throwing up some rude breastworks on a hill,
he awaited the attack of the Governor. It is said that he captured
certain Virginian ladies from Jamestown, and taking them to his camp,
sent word that he would hold them as hostages, and that they were to
be placed before his men, in case the people of the town should make a
sally upon them. If this was the case, it w^as no wonder that the men
of Jamestown could not make a respectable defence. The gentle-
women, be it said, were safely returned in course of time. Berkeley
and his friends fled from Jamestown, getting upon their boats in the
night and taking away their household goods, and ever>'thing, either of
private or state nature, belonging to them. When Bacon entered the
town in the morning, he found a deserted cit>', in which there was not
even victuals for his men. He determined that the wasteful and
arrogant cavaliers should never return, and ordered his army to set fire
to the city. Ever>' house in Jamestown was burned to the ground.
"hey, for ST. Mary's!" 165
Thus perished the oldest English settlement in America. Bacon
settled at Gloucester Point, and from there continued his raids upon the
Indians, but in the midst of his victories he sickened and died. To this
day the people of Virginia have not ceased to quarrel about the charactei
of Bacon. A man so brilliant and determined could not but have warm
friends and warmer foes. His party did not live long after his death.
As soon as Berkeley heard what had happened, he sent out a force which
captured several of the leading rebels. A proclamation of peace was
made from which Bacon's friends were excepted. At length theii
stronghold at West Point was lost. Drummond, Bacon's dear friend,
was taken. The old cavalier Governor met him with much ceremony,
and said, with a show of courtliness, "Mr. Drummond, you are more
than welcome. I am more glad to see you than any other man in
Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be hanged within half an hour."
Worse, his accomplished wife and hei five little children were driven
out from the town into the forest. Many of the rebels were killed, and
the bones of Bacon were everywhere looked for, that they might be hung
in chains upon the gibbet, but to this day the place of his burial has
never been discovered.
Affairs became so serious after a time, what with imprisonment,
banishment, confiscation of property and many sorts of tortuous punish-
ments, that the King sent some trusted men from England to inquire
into the state of affairs. Berkeley was taken to England, where he died
without having had a chance to defend his conduct to the King whose
approval he had always been so anxious for. It is said that he died of
a broken heart, because the King disapproved of his conduct, and called
him an old fool. Bacon had shown the people how strong they were,
and planted in the colony a stern determination to preserve legislative
rights. When the time of the national revolution came, Virginia was
one of the strongest pillars of the new edifice.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction — Camither's "The Cavalier of Virginia."
Carruther's "The Knights of the Horseshoe."
CHAPTER XXV.
y^nt}^ ht !f imsalf*
THE CAROLINAS — THE PROPRIETORS AND THEIR "GRAND MODEL "-
THE ALBEMARLE SETTLEMENT — REMOVAL OF CHARLES-
TON — THE SPANISH BUCCANEERS — SETH
SOTHELL — QUAKER RULE.
is odd that the beautiful stretch of coast lyin^
between Florida and Virginia should so long have
escaped permanent settlement. Possibly there
were many unknown settlements of a quiet nature
upon it, and that many a coaster had landed upon
its fruitful shores and strayed among its silken
grasses. It is known that one Quaker, by the name of
George Durant, who was fond of solitude, built a cabin
on the Chowan river, and paddled his canoe about
between the banks of moss-hung trees. A company of
New England men had also purchased land at the mouth
of Cape Fear river, but for some mysterious reason left
the settlement and their herds of cattle behind them,
returning to New England with a very bad report of the
spot they had visited. But it is q.uite possible that they were too indo-
lent to undergo the hardships of new colonization, or that their treat-
ment of the Indians obliged them to leave. They left a paper hidden
in a post, warning everyone who landed there against the countr)'.
This paper was found by a company of men from Barbadoes, but they
were not dissuaded from settling there, the country "lying commo-
diously by the river's side" being more eloquent than the written words
of the men from New England. These settled about twenty or thirty
miles up Cape Fear river.
A very short time after this, settlement under a king's charter was
made in this country. The King gave to certain gentlemen all the ter-
ritory, which included the present States of North and South Carolina
EACH FOR HIMSELF. 167
and Georgia, with the usual indefinite western boundar}'. The pro-
prietors to whom the King gave this present were nine noble lords, one
of them being Clarendon, Lord Chancellor of England, another being
Duke of Albemarle, who was the leader in the restoration of the King
to the throne. Besides these were Lord Berkeley and the Earl of
Shaftesbur}'. These men laid great plans for their colony. It was to
be the model settlement of the world. The constitution was prepared
by John Locke, the great philosopher and statesman. So carefully pre-
pared was this fundamental constitution that the colonies had already
been established three years before they were finished. It is really worth
while to quote from this "Grand Model." Eight proprietors were to
be constituted lords, the eldest to be Palatine of the province, and
upon his death the eldest of the survivors to succeed him. Seven other
offices, of admiral, chamberlain, chancellor, constable, chief justice,
high steward and treasurer, were to be divided among the others — the
eldest always to have choice of a vacant place. All the rights of
property were hereditary in the male line; in lack of direct male heirs,
male descendants through the female line succeeded, and after them,
heirs general. There were orders of hereditar}' nobility called land-
graves and cassiques. The domains of the proprietors were called
seigniories. Every seignior}-, barony and colony contained twelve
thousand acres; each county four hundred and eighty thousand acres,
of which three-fifths were to be owned by the people and two-fifths by
the hereditar}- nobility. There was an absolute prohibition against the
entrance of any common people into the titled class, and the highest
dignity to which a common man might attain was to become lord of the
manor, which manor must consist of not less than three thousand
or more than twelve thousand acres. There was another small honor
to be gained imder the jurisdiction of the lords of the seigniory. The
men who attained to this dignity were called Leetmen. There were
eight supreme courts and very elaborate laws for a parliament. The
very amusements of the children were arranged, as well as the fashions
of the women's gowns. All entertainments and decorations, marriages,
burials, and every other circumstance and happening of home-life, was
arranged for as accurately as if men were dices upon a chess-board.
In the three years that Locke spent preparing this remarkable and
elaborate system of government, two colonies had become ver\' well
established in Carolina, as the proprietors called their new possession.
On May 29, 1664, Sir John Yeamans brought over the first expedition.
The province of which Yeamans was appointed Governor extended
1 68 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
from Cape Fear to the St. Johns, in Florida. Sir William Berkeley, of
Virginia, was asked by the proprietors to establish a government on the
Chowan. At the head of this he placed William Drummond, the man
who afterwards was Bacon's faithful friend in the Virginian revolution.
This settlement was called Albemarle, and here, while this wonderful
piece of law-making for their benefit was going on over in England,
the busy people of the settlement had made practical and simple laws
quite sufficient for their needs.
The fact that they could never be more than leetmen or lords of
manors, was not troubling them at all. ^ They were building houses and
canoes, clearing land and planting fields, quite unconscious of the fact
that a great, imaginary' population of landgraves and cassiques was going
to watch over them. The New England people began to come down and
j-ettle along the coast, and a company of Bermuda people had taken up
lands by the Pasquotank river.
Inducements were offered by the settlement at Albemarle to
English maidens and widows, promising them honest and stalwart hus-
bands if they were only civil and under fifty years of age. The colony
had also the appearance of offering a refuge to runaway debtors, for it
had a law which permitted no debt contracted outside of Albemarle to
be sued for within five years. As a consequence, the reckless spend-
thrifts of London found this a very convenient place of abode. Marriage
was a civil contract, probably because there were so few ministers in
the colony. There was no wish to discourage colonial lovers by making
their wedding difficult. As for the great fundamental constitution, no
one paid any attention to it, and though some men rejoiced in the title
of landgraves and cassiques, their inferiors gave them little added
respect on this account, and the "Great Model" was finally rejected by
the assembly of South Carolina in 1698.
In July, 1669, Captain William Sayle was sent over with the first
expedition which the proprietors had directly made. Sayle was com-
missioned Governor of that part of Carolina lying south and west
of Cape Carteret, or Cape Remain, as it is now called. Sayle and
Joseph West reached Port Royal in January of 1670, and finally chose
a place for settlement on Ashley river. This they named Charleston,
which still bears the name that they then gave it. This colony did not
succeed very well, for the proprietors kept a heavy drain upon their
treasury. Most of the hard labor was done by negro slaves. There
were too few industrious and worthy men in the country, and far
too many of the dissipated and vicious class of English criminals. Sir
EACH FOR HIMSELF. 1 69
John Yeaman's management had been extendea over these people with
whom he was unpopular, and when he retired he had a large fortune,
wrenched from the people and the Indians. Joseph West was appointed
Governor in his place. West was immensely popular, and affairs, under
his administration, began to improve immediately.
Meanwhile, the people of Albemarle had begun to express open
discontent, and sent an address to the proprietors asking for a Governor
who could understand their necessities. Many plans were tried, and a
great deal of money spent on these people, who seemed unreasonably
hard to manage. Governor after Governor was tried, but none proved
efficient, and at length Seth Sothell arrived, in 1683, to take his position
as Governor, to which he had been appointed some time before, but
having been stolen by the Turks on his way over, had been held in
captivity for some time. While Albemarle was passing through aV
this trouble in Northern Carolina, Charleston, under the management
of Joseph West, was continuing in prosperity. It is true that there
were feuds between the Puritans of New England, who had come
down, and the royalists whom the proprietors in Old England had sent
out. The Huguenots of France also came here, and a large company
of French artisans and farmers, who understood silk manufacture, vine
growing, etc.
As for the people on the Ashlc}- river, they saw that they had made
a mistake in settling so far up the stream, and in 1680 the old town
was abandoned and the foundation of a new Charleston laid upon the
present site of the city of that name. As they had time to lay this
with care, they saw to it that the streets were large and capacious, and
that good spots were resen-ed for the building of churches and a town
house, and artillery grounds for the exercise of their militia, and
wharfs for the convenience of their trade and shipping. The people
came to this colony in great numbers, from England, Ireland and llie
West Indies. It goes without saying that the manners of this mi.Ked
company were rather loose, though for this very reason less likely to have
severe church and political differences. West was a man of detennina-
tion, and saw to it that his militia was kept well armed and the colony
well protected from the Indians. But out of their greed for money
grew a most dishonorable method of conflict, which placed a price upon
the head of every Indian captive, who was then sold to slave traders.
When this was brought to the notice of the proprietors, however, they
put an immediate stop to this barbarous practice. The old Spanish
buccaneers found Charleston a most convenient retreat, and so careless
170 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
were they with their money, and such good drinkers and story-tellers,
that the citizens encouraged their coming, and when one of the
Governors imprisoned some of them, the people protested so that he
was obliged to release them.
One act of cruelty on their part, however, brought about the enmity
of the Carolinians. A company of Scotch Presbyterians had come,
under the leadership of Lord Cardross, and made a settlement at Port
Royal, in 1684. Three Spanish galleys appeared suddenly before this
little colony in 1686, and destroyed the place. They landed again south
of Charleston, at Bear's Bluif, and sacked the settlement and took
Governor Morton's brother prisoner. They intended to keep these
depredations up along the coast, in retaliation for the wrecking and
despoiling of some of their galleys by the colonists, but they were met
by a terrible hurricane, and the galley on which Morton was held was
run ashore, so that she could not be got off. The Spaniards set fire to
the galley where Mr. Morton lay in chains, and he was burned to death.
England would not permit the colonists to move against the Spaniards
at St. Augustine, however, fearing that it might involve the two great
home nations in war.
Setli Sothell, who has been mentioned as the Governor appointed in
1683, proved to be a treacherous and selfish man, and used the govern-
orship of North Carolina for his own gain. When he heard that there
was.dissatisfaction in South Carolina, he called his followers together
and seized the government of the other colony. Having everything
under his control, he began to pile up a great fortune by a system of
oppression and taxation. The proprietors were in despair, but finally
appointed one Governor for all the province, north and south, who was
to have his residence at Charleston. Philip Ludwell was this general
Governor. He was sent over from England, and having no experience
in colonial aflfairs, soon showed that he was not strong enough to
manage the discontented settlers. Thomas Smith, one of the Caro-
linian planters, was put in his place. He was a quiet, discreet and
judicious man, who, without governing brilliantly or decisively, brought
many benefits to the colony during the two years that he ruled. It was
during his administration that rice was first planted in this countr).
The rice grew wonderfully in the marshes along the rivers, of a superior
quality to that of the east. It was but a short time before it became
one of Carolina's most valuable products. Thomas Smith found the
complexities of government too much for him, and wrote to the
proprietors asking them to send over one of them.selves to govern.
EACH FOR HIMSELF. 171
They did so, choosing John Archdale, a Quaker, who had bought out the
interest of one of the older proprietors. With his hat upon his head,
dressed in his quaint Quaker garment, this moderate and deliberate man
stood before the assembly of the Carolinas, and told them gravely and
firmly how he meant to manage them. He kept his word, with the
quiet faithfulness of his sect. He inquired patiently into ever>' com-
plaint which reached his ears, selected a council from among his citizens,
and, in spite of the fact that he was a Quaker, and opposed to war,
trained the militia better than it had ever been trained before, looking
to every detail of militar}- matters himself There were already many
other Quakers at Albemarle, and these increased in numbers, and
became, it goes without saying, his wann supporters. All of the colo-
nists recognized his judicious rule, and after having got the colony into
a wholesome state, appointed a successor, Joseph Blake, and returned
to England. Joseph Blake ruled for four years over a colony now well
established and well ordered.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Ramsay's "South Carolina."
Williamson's "North Carolina."
Fiction— Skitt. "Fisher's River."
Simms' "Cassique of Kiawab."
CHAPTER XXVI.
Inns. Jn|umaml^ to ®Hm
ATTACK OF INDIANS ON NEW NETHERLAND — DESTRUCTION OF
PAVONIA — PERSECUTION OF LUTHERANS AND QUAKERS AT
NEW AMSTERDAM — SLAVERY AMONG THE DUTCH
ENGLISH ENCROACHMENTS — SURRENDER
OF NEW NETHERLAND — SETTLE-
MENT OF NEW JERSEY.
pHILE Peter Stuyvesant was absent conquering
New Sweden, a terrible calamity fell upon the
Dutch behind him in the settlement. The
Indians, realizing that this would be a fortunate
time for attack, swarmed through New Amsterdam
SVy one day. The people, knowing their helplessness,
treated them with as much policy as possible, and suc-
ceeded in getting them to leave the place at sunset and
cross to Governor's Island. It was hoped that, by a
conference between the chiefs and the magistrates, some
arrangements for peace might be made, but it was not
yet night when the Indians grew bolder, and the military
had to be called from the fort to protect the people.
The Indians fled before the soldiers, took once more to
their canoes and paddled out across the dark waters, yelling and howling
as they went. The people watched with anxiety to see what would
happen next, and in a short time a light springing up over Pavonia
and Hoboken told them that the Indians had fallen upon the helpless
settlers there. In a little while the fires died down, and at New
Amsterdam they knew that Pavonia and Hoboken were burned to the
ground and the people killed. As it proved later, onl}' one man of
each settlement was left alive, but the women and children were carried
away as prisoners. The people at Staten Island knew neitlier of the
threatenings of the Indians at New Amsterdam or of the destruction of
(2^'
man's inhumanity to man. 173
the villages, and were sleeping when the savages, mad with thirst for
blood, came upon them. Twenty-three of the ninety people who lived
among the beautiful hills of the island were killed, and all the houses
were burned.
And now the people would have given all they possessed for a
glimpse of the one-legged old soldier whom they had so frequently.
abused, and they sent for Stuyvesant with all possible haste. He
returned, full of determination, and gave heart to the people as soon as
he appeared among them, though now for three days the Indians had
been everywhere, ravaging and killing. No man knew better than he
when to fight and when to treat for peace, and now he urged the people
to cultivate friendly relations with the Indians and to rescue the prisoners
with ransoms. Far north upon the Hudson, at Rensselaerswyck, the
sturdy young patroon, Van Rensselaer, had already been following this
policy, and had secured a renewal of the treaty with the Mohawks, so
that that part of the country was spared. For several years compara-
tive peace was kept between the Dutch and the Indians, but in 1658
trouble began. Peter Stiiyvesant, after the massacre of 1655, just
related, had induced the people to build fences about their villages
and prepare themselves more carefully against attack. He also advised
them to treat the Indians with fairness, but this they would not do, and
the trouble of 1658 was brought about because a band of Indians were
fired upon for being noisy and drunken. It is needless to say, however,
that the whisky which put them in this condition was obtained from
the Dutch. For this wanton killing the Indians took a prompt revenge
by murdering farmers and burning their houses, and for six years the
Esopus Indians and the Dutch were almost continually at war with each
other. In 1663 the Indians fell upon the village of Wildwyck, plunder-
ing the hotises and setting fire to them. Many men were killed, and
over forty women and children taken as prisoners. Then the Dutch
were aroused to a wholesome resistance, which ended in a subduing of
the Indians for a short time.
But, in spite of all this discouragement. New Netherland continued
to prosper. Gradually, the people gained power and their governors
yielded some of their arbitrary rights. The English towns upon Long
Island became more numerous, but for the most part they lived quietly
with their Dutch neighbors. Much less religious than the Massachusetts
government, there was far less persecution among them. Holland was
the most tolerant of countries, and her colony kept, to a certain degree,
the policy which had animated the mother country in dealing with men
11
174 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
of new and unpopular religions. Yet at one time the Lutherans were
forbidden to hold meetings in New Amsterdam, and a poor shoemaker
Avas imprisoned for addressing them. The Quakers, too, were persecuted
for a time, but it could hardly be expected that any class of men, how-
ever patient, would care to be railed against as the Dutch were by the
Quakers. The women who spoke upon the streets against the steeple
houses, the hireling preachers and the empty ceremonies to which the
Quakers so intensely objected, were thrown into prison. One Friend^
Robert Hodgson, was treated most shamefully, being chained to a
wheelbarrow and made to do hard work, while a negro beat him with a
four-inch tarred rope. At night he was thrust into a dungeon. This
continued for se\'eral days. His sentence condemned him to hard labor
two years, but at length he was terribly whipped for speaking his
message to those about him, and was so torn with the rods that his life
was despaired of for a time. A sister of Peter Stuyvesant prayed that
he might be released. When Hodgson recovered he was released, but
banished. The Quakers increased rapidly, as they always did where
they were persecuted. Finally, a quiet English fanner who professed
the faith was sent to Holland to appear before the directors in Amster-
dam. Peter Stuyvesant' s ambition to have the sect crushed had
overleaped itself, for the directors of Amsterdam reproved him severely
for the manner in which he nad treated these people, and told him thai
ever^^one in the colony should be allowed to follow his own conscience.
After this, the Friends were no longer molested, and the director had
the grace to be a little ashamed of his actions.
Slavery was rapidly increasing in New Amsterdam. By 1664,
Africans were brought by hundreds to New Netherland, but the Dutch
themselves were fond of agriculture, and did not grow to have that
complete dependence upon the negro which the Virginians had.
Slaver>', therefore, never developed its worst feature among the Dutch.
The English kept steadily encroaching upon the land which the Dutch
claimed. Lord Baltimore asserted that the whole South river region
was included in his patent, and sent a delegation from Marjdand to
demand a surrender for the province. The people in the South river
country were willing enough to yield. They were dissatisfied with the
management of the Dutch West India Company, and were perfectly
willing to swear allegiance to any who would give them more comfoits
and protection. The claims remained unsettled until after the surrendei"
of New Netherlands. Then the Dutch and Swedes of the South river
district quietly yielded to the government of England. New Haven
MAX'S INHUMANITY TO MAX. I 75
and the other English towns along the Sound and on Long Island were
brought under the jurisdiction of Connecticut, by a grant of land which
John Winthro^J got from Charles II. This new patent covered not onl\-
Long Island, but all northern New Netherland.
Peter Stuyvesant was greatly alanned for the independence of his
countrj'men. For two 5'ears he fought it as best he could. He was a
man of statesmanlike ability and his policy was clever, but the English
were very determined. They sent men to stir up discontent in the
English towns situated in New Netherland, and forced Stuyvesant to
consent that the Dutch should not interfere in the least with the English
towns in his province. One John Scott was sent to inquire into the
English titles upon Long Island and carried with him the news that the
King had granted all Long Island to the Duke of York. The English
towns of that district, Hempstead, Gravestead, Flushing, Newton and
Jamaica, united, choosing John Scott as their president. He started
through Long Island, with a force of one hundred and fifty men, to
reduce the Dutch towns to obedience, but he succeeded in doing but
little, and was finally imprisoned by the magistrates at Hartford for
asserting his own rights, instead of those of the countn,- he represented.
The English continued to buy up ground from the Indians which
the Dutch had already purchased from them, and the King kept on
giving grants of land to his favorites, which included the territory that
the Dutch had long occupied. In April, 1664, a force of three or four
hundred men under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls, who
acted as Lieutenant-Governor for the Duke of York, sailed for England
to enforce the Duke's claims to New Netherland. Peter Stuyvesant
heard of it, and did all he could to prevent it. To him, Dutch
independence was more than life. He had the fortifications repaired
and enlarged, raised money, procured ammunition, stored provisions in
the fort and drilled his men, but in the midst of these preparations he
got word from the West India Conipany saj-ing that the fleet under
Nicolls had been sent to foice the obedience of the Massachusetts
colonies, and that New Netherland need have no fear. Stuyvesant
believed that this was so, and went up to Fort Orange on business.
Though it was true that Nicolls had come to see to Massachusetts
affairs, he had also come to reduce New Netherland, and, in the course
of a month, brought his four ships up the bay before New Amsterdam.
His men seized the block-house on Staten Island and blockaded the
harbor. Then a proclamation was sent out that none should be harmed
who submitted quietly to the King of England. vStuyvesant hurried
lid THE STORY OF AMERICA.
down from Fort Orange, and j^repared to make a defence, but no one
would i-cand by him. When he tore up a letter from Nicolls demanding
surrender, the people made him put it together again, and the mortified
old Governor, who would so gladly ha\e died for the sake of his colony,
had to yield to them. He stood on the walls of the fort by the side of
a gun while the ships passed by him up the harbor and dropped their
anchors near the fort. He did not order the gunner to fire. He feared,
perhaps, that his people would not sustain him, and that in the end the
Dutch would suffer more for such an act, but it can be imagined that
his proud old heart broke at the humiliation.
He wrote to Nicolls asking that a consultation might be held, but
received answer that the white flag must be hung from the fort or
Nicolls would come upon the town with ships and soldiers. The people
of the town got up a petition asking Stuyvesant to yield. They said
that they could see nothing but defeat, with all its terrors, before them,
"whereas if they yielded, the enemy generously promised them protec-
tion. The hired soldiers in the fort were as ready to prey upon the
town as to fight the Englishmen. Stuyvesant knew this, and on
September 8, 1664, New Netherland surrendered. The troops were
put on a ship bound for Holland, and the English flag was raised over
Fort Amsterdam, which was henceforth called Fort James. The
Englishmen called New Amsterdam New York, and Fort Orange was
given its present name of Albany.
• A few weeks later. New Amstel, on the Delaware, was reduced, and
the Dutch no longer had any authority on American soil. They
seemed to take very kindly to their change of government, and matters
went on with them ver>^ much the .same as they had before. There
was no feeling of bitterness between the two nations, and the English
had the wisdom to appoint some of the Dutch to the government of
offices. The city officers were left unchanged. Patroons owning the
great outlying tracts of land had only to change their patent and take
an oath of allegiance to England. The Duke of York gave many
grants of land to Englishmen. New Netherland was divided into two
provinces, one of which was given to Lord Berkeley, the elder brother
of Sir William Berkeley, of Virginia, and the other to Sir George
Carteret. Carteret's province was named New Jersey, and in June,
1665, Captain Philip Carteret, a brother of the proprietor, arrived as
Governor, with a company of men. He settled his thirty emigrants
at the point w.-iich he named, and which is still known as Elizabeth-
point. In 1666, Newark was settled by a party from Connecticut.
man's inhumanity to man. 177
These were joined in a little time by English people from other settle-
ments, who made it a condition of their joining the company, that none
should be admitted as freemen, or have the right to vote or hold office,
who were not members of the Congregational Church.
Massachusetts was much alarmed with the fear that it might be
forced to come under the Duke of York's patent. The Duke of York was
a Catholic, and to have been placed under his authority would be the
greatest pain for the Puritans which could be imagined. She, there-
fore, refused to help NicoUs, although Connecticut and New Haven
gave them what help they could against the Dutch. After the surrender
of New Netherland, the Duke's cominissioners held a conference with
representatives from Connecticut, and the boundary lines of the
provinces were decided upon, Long Island being given to New York.
The Duke's laws were put in force, and though there were objections to
some portions, they were accepted in peaceful discontent. Nicolls
ruled for about three years, while England and Holland, on the other
side of the wo; Id, were engaged in war. When peace was declared,
Nicolls asked that he might be permitted to go home. He had always
greatly resented the loss of New Jersey, and thought the Duke of York
had made a great mistake in giving away this beautiful country.
Colonel Francis Lovelace succeeded Nicolls as Governor. He served
verj' honorably for four years. In no colony of America were so many
people of different nations and tongues gathered. At the time of the
surrender of New Netherland eighteen different languages were spoken
in New Amsterdam. Though it was under English rule, it continued
to be Dutch in its peculiarities. The people were hospitable and kindly,
though very simple and a little slow. They educated their children
with care, and were proud of their respectability. The houses were well
built and their inhabitants solid and worthy citizens. Their gardens
and orchards prospered wonderfully. Along the river bank were lines
of locust trees, under which the people walked in the evening. A
canal was built to help commerce and a bridge constructed over it. An
exchange was started for trading purposes and commerce rapidly
increased. The fort held forty pieces of cannon, and was well built,
being of stone, with a thick rampart of earth. Within this stood tlie
mansion of the Governor.
In 1672 Peter Stuyvesant died, at the age of eighty, and was buried
in the little chapel which he had built upon his fann.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— "Whitehead'c. "New Jersey."
Fiction— Paulding's Dulchmaus'Fireside" and "Book of St. Nicholas."
CHAPTER XXVII.
§ur icunlr^, ^H^ig^ or Ii[r0ng.
POLITICAL POLICY OF MASSACHUSETTS — EFFORTS OF ENGLAND TO
RECOVER THE CHARTER — EDWARD RANDOLPH — COIN OF THE
COLONY — SIR EDMUND ANDROS — THE EPISODE OF
THE CONNECTICUT CHARTER — ARREST OF
ANDROS AND ELECTION OF PHIPS —
) DEATH OF PHIPS.
kROM the first, Massachusetts, as a colony, had
been ambitious for political independence.
Though the commonwealth had in it little
liberty, it was in many respects excellent. The
people were determined, and determination is
the best corner-stone of government. No good
intentions can make up for weakness. If the
people of Massachusetts erred, it was upon the side of
too much sternness and inflexibility of purpose.
The>- believed that there was a right way of doing
things; that their way was the right wa}', and all
other ways were wrong. Liberty of conscience seemed
vicious to them — for was not the conscience capable
of great error? But being so determined in religious
matters, made them equally so in political affairs, and no wheedling
diplomacy or threatenings of the government of England could make
them lose sight of their charter, which they loved as dearly as their
own lives, and which they protected with no little danger to them.selves.
Charles I had insinuated that they were governing without authority,
and in man)- different ways had tried to get them to return their charter
to England. His letters were passed over without replies from the
colonial government. To refuse directh', would have been treason. To
consent, would have been loss of liberty. To keep silent, was to con-
tinue a delav which might end in victor\' for them.
OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT OR WRONG. 1 79
At this time the King had prohibited the Puritans from leaving
England for Massachusetts, and on several occasions had made com-
panies of them disembark from the ships on which they had taken
passage. Two of the men who took passage for Massachusetts among
the company of Puritans were Cromwell and John Hampden. Had
they been allowed to get away, the most attractive of the Stuarts might
have kept his head ujDon his shoulders. After the King was dead and
the Long Parliament was in session, the charter was again threatened,
but the temporizing policy of the colonists again stood them in good
■stead. They wrote a letter to Cromwell which touched that religious
strain he held in common with the Puritans of Massachusetts, and won
his valuable friendship. At one time he was seized with an idea
of removing the Massachusetts people to the Island of Jamaica, that the\'
might undertake the conversion of the Catholics about there, but the
general court pointed out the bad economy of such a step, and the matter
was dropped. When Charles H was restored to the throne, the two
regicides, Whalley and Goff, fled to America. Massachusetts, in sym-
pathy, of course, with the Protestant revolution, protected these men,
and when a royal order was sent for their surrender, succeeded in
helping them to escape. But at the next general court a letter was
given to Charles II which protested the loyalty of the colony, and
asked for the protection of their government. The King sent a reply,
but demanded again the surrender of the regicides. The Massachusetts
people met this with their usual irritating silence, and the King's feel-
ing toward them ceased to be amiable.
In May, 1661, two men were sent to investigate the humor of
the colony and see why it refused to obey the King and return
the charter. The people explained as well as they could that it was
the foundation of their colony and their protection ; that they were loyal
to the home government, and desired a royal confirmation of the
charter. It was granted, but with conditions which the colonists deepl\-
resented. Every ordinance passed during the rule of Cromwell was to
be pronounced invalid. iVIembers of the Church of England should be
free to worship as they chose, and all should have the right of suffrage,
without regard to their religious opinions. As none but the Puritans,
who worship after the Congregational method, were allowed to vote,
this was naturally ver}- displeasing to the Massachusetts people.
A few years later the royal commissioners, under Nicolls, came
to secure the conquest of New Netherland, and incidentally to enforce
the obedience of the Massachusetts colony to the King. This commis-
l8o THE STORY OF AMERICA.
sion returned to England after the surrender of New Amsterdsnx
There had been a thorough attempt on the part of this commission to
enforce the authority of the King, but the general court was quite as
firm. Its conscience would not allow it, it said, in Puritanic phrase, to
swear allegiance to the King except under the protection of the
charter. The commissioners returned to England baffled. Then came
the great plague of London, and after that the historic fire. The
colony was prompt to send all the assistance it could. Its generosity
was remarkable, considering its size. By this time New Hampshire
and Maine were included in the government of Massachusetts, and the
spars sent to England from Maine forests were invaluable to an army
engaged in naval warfare, as the English were with the Dutch at this
time.
These evidences of loyalty might have conciliated the home
government had not the dissatisfaction felt toward the colonies been
kept alive by Edward Randolph, a man who had been sent to settle the
question of the New Hampshire government previous to its incorpora-
tion with Massachusetts. This man was heartily hated in Massachu-
setts. He was far too good a servant of the King, and carried stories
to him which greatly damaged the colony in the royal ears. Especially
did he complain that they broke the navigation laws, which, under
heavy taxations, confined and limited the trade of the colony. They
admitted that they did so, but said it was necessary to their prosperity.
They offered, however, to cover the matter by an act of their own.
Randolph would have none of this. He asked the general court to
help him, but they followed their usual policy by paying no attention.
Even the Governor seems to have kept a discreet silence.
Another charge brought against them was that they coined their own
money, which none but the King had a right to do. One clever gentle-
man who had visited New England was sent for by the King that he
might learn something about the matter. This man, whose name was
Thomas Temple, showed the King some of the colony coins. They
were of the old pine- tree variety. The King looked at them suspiciously,
but Sir Thomas, being something of a courtier, told the King that the
pine tree upon them was a royal oak; that the Massachusetts people did
not dare to put the King's name upon their coin, and had, therelore,
put on the oak, which, as everyone knew, had preserved the King's
life. This money had followed wampum, the exchange of the Indians.
At one time early in the history of Massachusetts musket bullets had
been used in the place of money. There was a ver^- large coinage of
OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT OR WRONG. I Si
the pine-tree money, and it was used for a long time. At last, in i68r,
came another letter from the King, asking that deputies should be sent
to him to tender the submission of the colonies. IMassachusetts dared
delay no longer, and sent two men to England, armed with a letter of
such finn pride that the King grew angry, and issued a writ against the
colony, demanding to show by what warrant it held its charter.
When Charles II died and James, his brother, became King of
England, he put Sir Edmund Andros over all of New England. He
was a proud Englishman of high birth, one of the old-time loyalists,
who thought obedience to the King a much greater thing than the
liberty of a people. His manner of living was very disagreeable to the
Puritans. He gave large drinking parties and made much display of
his wealth and authority, while it was their habit to live quietly.
By this time many of the men of Boston were rich. They were
naturally proud of all that they had done and the respect in which
they were held, but their manners were without show. The loss of the
charter which they so loved, the dissolving of the general court, and
the setting up of an arrogant and selfish Governor over them, filled
them with an angry discontent. Randolph, whom they so hated, was
made licenser of the press, and other men as overbearing and disagree-
able were put in office. No respect was shown for Puritan principles,
and in the Old South Meeting-House, dedicated to Puritan worship.
Governor Andros insisted upon holding Episcopalian service. He
levied taxes pretty much to please himself, and was filled with great
indignation when the people protested. He even made the land-
owners give up their titles to him for examination, and said that the
deeds from the Indians were not worth the scratch of a bear's paw. He
made conditions, however, by which these titles could become legal;
but the people would not accept them, since it was a matter of conscience
to them not to give approval to his rule. In New Hampshire, Andros
had but little trouble. In Maine, he had succeeded in ousting the
Baron Vincent de Chastine, Lieutenant of the French government of
Acadia.
His next work was to deprive Connecticut of its charter. In vain did
the people protest. They set forth all they had suffered in subduing
the soil and overcoming the Indians, and defended their claims to
independence, but the plea had no effect. Andros insisted upon having
the charter. The distressed Connecticut magistrates sat about the table
of the little council chamber listening with anxiety to the royal
governor. They talked about the matter all the afternoon and until
lS2 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
evening had deepened and the candles were lit. Outside of the building
crowds of excited citizens gathered. Andros made a final demand foi
the charter. It was no gust of wind that blew out the candle. In the
darkness, the charter disappeared. The crowd outside dispersed. The>
were contented. The Governor, baflfled and furious, entered an account
of the meeting upon the State records, and wrote "finis" at the end.
No one in Connecticut appeared to know where the charter was. It
was snugly hidden in a great oak tree on the grounds of Samuel
Wallace, one of the magistrates. But Connecticut had lost its individ-
uality. It was now a part of the royal province, and in a little whik
New York and New Jersey were also a part of New England, undei
Andros.
But his authority was almost at an end. The pride of the people
could stand no more, and when they heard that William of Orange hac
landed in England and the throne of King James was tottering, the>
wrote and read to the citizens of Boston a declaration of their inde^
pendence from ro^al rule. This was read from the balcony of th<
town-house, on which were gathered the most prominent men of Boston,
On Beacon Hill, tar barrels were blazing. All throiigh the streets
the boys were beating drums. Flags flew bravely over the city. Th<
declaration declared that it rejoiced that the Prince of Orange was upot
the throne of England and that the power of the Stuarts had been over
thrown. The royal servants were arrested and thrown into jail, Andro;
among them. Simon Bradstreet was made president. He was eighth-
seven years of age, but he was strong with the detennination of the
Puritans.
The Massachusetts deputies, who visited the Prince of Orange, had
permission to use their old charter until a new one coiild be made.
This hardly satisfied the people, but they were better contented whet
Sir William Phips was made Governor of New England. Phips hac
been born on the Kennebec, in Maine, and was therefore welcomed bj
the colonists. He had been a sheep-tender on the Maine hills, and hac
worked as a carpenter in the great Maine shipping yards. He mar
ried a Boston widow who had money enough to start him in business,
Having a romantic character, he built him a ship for the purpose o;
dragging lost Spanish treasures from the sea. He went to the Wesi
Indies and hunted about for the sunken Spanish galleys which had lair
there for years. One of these he found, but did not get a large amount
of spoils, and was anxious to search for another which he thought nior<
valuable. He soon interested the King of England in his project, anc
OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT OR WRONG. 1 83
was given a man-of-war, well fitted in all respects. For two years he
searched without effect, having many odd experiences, and successfully
stopping a mutiny of his sailors.
In spite of his failure to secure the Spanish treasure, he had so
much determination and eloquence that he was equipped for a second
voyage. This time he found the ship, richly laden with treasure. He
received a good share of the bullion, coin and plate, and was given a
cup, valued at one thousand pounds, by the Duke of Albemarle, who had
sent out the expedition.
The King knighted him, and he returned to New England, wealthy
and famous. It was this man who was appointed Governor of New
England. It was during Phips' administration that a fleet was sent
northward for the purpose of subduing Canada. The idea was to take
Quebec and Montreal. The New England soldiers fared badly. They
sailed along the coast and up the St. Lawrence in so lazy a way that
Frontenac had time to prepare for defence. Phips was not a soldier, and
Wallace, who was with him, was a coward. The combination was
fatal. They made continual mistakes, and at last, with many men lost
and many more sick, were obliged to turn their ships toward Boston.
One of the .ships was never heard of, one of them burned, and a third
was wrecked.
The expense of the expedition had been so great as to bankrupt the
treasur\-, and it was necessary to issue paper bonds. These soon fell in
value thirty-three per cent. , and Phips redeemed them from the soldiers,
to whom they had been paid, with money from his own private fortune.
He also made an expedition to Maine, against the Indians, with but
small results. His impulsiveness and generosity was not sustained by
wisdom or quiet detennination. Though a picturesque and attractive
man, he did not make a good Governor, and the vexations of his office
did not improve his temper, which was always hot. At length he was
ordered to England to answer certain charges against him, and in
London, in 1694, he died of a fever. He was one of the most adven-
turous and romantic of all the men who at that time distingushed
American history.
FOR FURTHKK Rl•;ADI^■Gr
History— Trumbull's "Connecticut.'
-W. Seaton's "Romance of the Charter Oak."
R. Dawes' "Nix's Mate,"
E. Charles' "On Both Sides of the Sea."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
t^soi
KING PHILIP'S WAR — FIGHT AT BROOKFIELD — FIGHT AT HADLEY—
FIGHT AT DEERFIELD.
ORTY years after the destruction of th(
Pequots, there broke over the New Englan(
colonies another wave of Indian war. Phip;
was in England, and William Stoughton, th(
Lieutenant Governor, was attending to th(
colonial affairs. There had been no direc
and flagrant insult to the Indians which promptec
this, but, through all the long years, there had been ;
contemptuous treatment of them. For one thing, thi
Indian did not understand that when land wa
purchased of him for a few blankets, or scissors, tha
he was to yield it up forever. His understandin|
of it was that he gave the white man pennissioi
to come upon it; but when the white man cauK
and steadily drove him out, when his friends were treacheroush
murdered, or sold to slaver}', he perceived too late what was intended
The Narragansetts had much reason to hate the Englishmen. The}
had never forgotten the treacherous murdering of their young anc
beloved chief, Miantonomo. He had been executed, without cause, b}
the Massachusetts commissioners, away back in 1643, more to please
Uncas, the Mohican chief, who was the friend of the whites, than fo
any offence which he had committed. At the present time, the son o
Miantonomo was reigning over the Narragansetts, and he allied himsel
to Philip, the second son of Massasoit, the sachem of the Wampanoags
Massasoit, it will be remembered, had been a good friend of th(
pilgrims of Plymouth at the time when they needed friends. In i66(
he died, leaving two sons, to whom he had given English names
Alexander and Philip. A year after Massasoit's death, the elder o:
DAYS OF DREAD. 1S5
these brothers, Alexander, was carried as a prisoner to Plymouth,
because he was suspected of joining- the Narragansetts for the purpose
of moving against the English; but the chief died before they reached
Plymouth. His wife, who was a queen among the Indians, believed
that they had poisoned Alexander. When, fourteen years later, she
heard that her brother-in-law, Philip, was going to make an effort to
wipe out the bitter injustice and humiliation which had come to the
Indians in all those tr}'ing years, she took her three hundred warriors and
joined him. It was a fatal move for her. Within a year all but twenty-
six of her braves were killed, and the young queen, trj'ing to swim the
river, was drowned. When the Englishmen found her body washed
ashore, they cut her head from her comely shoulders, and set it up
where her disheartened warriors could see it, and around it the broken-
liearted braves set up a most dismal wailing.
Philip, himself, was a man with many friends. The natural vigor
and determination of his character, his frank and convincing way of
sjieaking, his upright carriage, and penetrating eye, forced the admira-
tion of all. He had tried to treat the white man with fairness; had
answered to his many rmjust suspicions with dignity and calmness,
but in return had received many wounds which rankled. He was
made to deliver up all the English arms which his tribe possessed.
This humiliated him and his tribe deeply. Another incident irritated
him also. One of the Indians whom Eliot had converted, warned the
people at Plymouth that there was a growing anger among the Indians,
and danger that they might soon break into war. The Indians probably
learned of the story which the man had told, for he was found
murdered and thrust into the ice of the river. Three Indians were
accused of the deed, and a trial by jur}' was held, in which six white
men and six Indians were impaneled. The accused Indians were
executed. Philip hastened preparations for war. On a fair June day
in 1675, the people of Swansea appointed a day of prayer and fasting
that they might be spared from the horrors of war. Going home from
church, a man was killed by an Indian in ambush. Several were
wounded, and two who hastened for a surgeon were killed. Over by
the garrison six more men were killed. A number of houses and bams
were burned. This was the beginning of the war. It was the torch,
so to speak, which called together the bands of savages. All through
the remote settlements many houses were burned and much property
destroyed. Cattle were driven away, and frequently farmers were
murdered. Eighteen houses were destroyed in Providence. Through
186 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the months of July and August these crimes went steadily on. Ii:
August the general court sent a ninnber of men to hold a peace confer-
ence with some Indians at Brookfield. The Indians did not appeal
there as they had promised to do, and Captain Wheeler, with twent\
men, went to look for them. The Indians had prepared an ambush foi
them, and eight of the twenty Englishmen were killed. The captaii
and many others were wounded. They hurried to Brookfield to givt
the alarm to the people. Pell-mell the men, women and childrer
rushed into the strong house in the settlement. Three hundred savages,
as mad as wolves at the taste of blood, thronged into the village. The\
burned ever}- house except the one where the frightened people wert
gathered.
For two days and nights the men in that log cabin held out. Tht
Indians had ammunition and guns, and kept up the fight from all sides.
At night they would crawl along the ground and build fires against the
walls of the building. They tied fire-brands to poles and tried to thrus!
them through the cracks in the logs, and attached burning stuff to theii
arrows. But the fires were put out by the besieged. Even wher
burning sulphur was poured upon the roof, it was extinguished. The
white men had become as cunning as the savages. They could fight
them upon their own ground. The- third morning came, and with it
despair. The Englishmen felt they could not hold out much longer.
The Indians prepared a terrible machine. It was a cart piled high
with hay and hemp, and blazing fiercely. This was pushed up against
the building. It seemed as if there could be no escape. Either the
brave men must see their wives and children burn there in the fire, oi
what was worse, let them sufier the horrors of Indian captivity. Pray-
ing and weeping, the women prepared to take their children in theii
arms and venture out; but at that moment a cloud overspread the sky.
There was a clap of thunder and a sudden down-pour of summer rain.
The fire was extinguished. So wet did the building get that there was
no longer any chance of burning it. The besieged held out during the
afternoon, and before evening. Major Simon Willard, of Boston, with fifty
or sixty men, dashed into the town and routed the Indians, eighty cl
whom were killed or wounded.
The war spread steadily. Philip's influence was great. He went
from tribe to tribe, haranguing, encouraging and threatening. Those
he could not win to his side in any other way he bought up with
wampum and gifts. No white man felt safe at this time. Ever>- house
and every church was an arsenal in which ammunition was stored.
DAYS OF DREAD. 1 87
Men earned their arms everywhere, to church, to dinner and to bed.
Flint-locks were already known in America, although they were not yet
in use in England.
The stories which could be told of this time would fill volumes, so
many were hurried into captivity, so many tortured and mutilated.
One of the fiercest fights was at Hadley, on the Connecticut, three or four
weeks after the Brookfield fight. Hadley was a place for military
supplies and had a garrison. Most of the soldiers were away at the
time, and as at Swansea, the people were holding a feast day. Some one
brought the alarm that the Indians were coming. Men had their arms
at hand, and gathered about the door, while the women and children
crowded into the corners of the building. The meeting-house was not
a strong stnicture, and the Indians made an unusually savage onslaught.
Resistance looked almost useless. The men were unnerved with fear.
As the Indians surged up, and the first men who ventured to the open
door were met with well-directed arrows, they fell back with despair in
their faces. Suddenly an old man stood among them. No one had
seen him before. He was tall and soldierly, with masses of flowing
grey hair about his shoulders. He drew his sword like one used to
wars, and stepping out with intrepid bravery, led the colonists to an
attack. No one asked who he was. They simply felt that God had
sent a deliverer. The Indians were chased to the woods, into whose
murky depths they disappeared, and the colonists looked about for their
leader, but he was gone. Not till long after did they know that it was
Colonel Goff, the regicide, who was then in hiding at Hadley, and on
whose head the King of England had fixed a price. No soldier with
his experience could see a crowd of brave men perish for the want of
a leader.
On the ver^' same day Deerfield was attacked, and here, later in the
month, the people were fired upon as they were going to the meeting-
house. The block-house at Northfield was besieged, and a number of
persons killed.
Near Hadley a company of young men, eighty in number, were
sent out to complete the threshing and load the wagons with grain.
They were under the command of Captain Lathrop. In these days a
soldier was at the head of every venture. Returning in the middle of
the month to Hadley, the company stopped in a large grove beside a
brook, and tl:e men broke their ranks and rested themselves in a
pleasant spot. Suddenly, with no warning, seven hundred savages
were upon them, and only seven of the men escaped. This was how
1 88 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Bloody Brook got its name. Captain Mosley, who had been left behir
to protect Deerfield, heard the firing, and hurried to the spot with oi
hundred and sixty men, part of whom were Mohegans. The attackir
Indians were driven off.
The English, realizing that there was no prospect of peace, decidt
that it was best to begin a systematic warfare. Soldiers were called fo
Massachusetts gave five hundred and twenty men, Connecticut thr(
hundred, and Plymouth one hundred and fifty-nine. The Mohegc
Indians gave one hundred and fifty warriors. The idea was to marc
under Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, to the country of the Narraga:
setts, in Rhode Island. There they had a strong fort, occupying s:
acres of dr}' ground. About it was a swamp, and beyond this a hig
palisade, protected by a chevaiix-de-friese. There was a deep snow c
the ground by this time, for it was now December. To reach the oi
entrance of the fort, it was necessary to get over a log as high as a man
breast. Under a fire from the Indians, four Massachusetts captains we
killed, and three of the Connecticut leaders. But Captain Benjam:
Church, putting those firm lips of his together, marched around to tl
rear, and entered there, carrj'ing three bullets in him, but still :
fighting condition. The savages were driven out into the swamp ar
beyond that, leaving seven hundred dead behind them. Three hundr<
of their wounded men died later. A great many of the old and feeb
were burned in the wigwams which the Englishmen were foolish enoug
to fire, within the fort. The colonists also lost heavily.
In spite of this terrible battle, Philip was determined not to yiel
He felt, no doubt, that it was the turning point in his countrj-men
histor>'. If they lost their independence now, it would never 1
regained, but if they could succeed in exterminating the hated Englis]
all might be as before. Solitude would be theirs again, and liben
their own. They could paddle their canoes at peace upon the wi'
rivers. The deer would return to the forest. The clam banks upc
the coast would be unmolested. They would no longer be the victin
of the white man's pride and cupidity. In February, Lancaster w;
attacked, but after that, for a month or two, affairs were quiet, and tl
colonists were rarely disturbed. In May, a large party of Indiai
gathered on the desolated fields by Deerfield, and began planting then
This news was brought to Hatfield, and Captain Turner rode tweni
miles, with one hundred men at his back, reaching the Indians in tl
night. The roar of the fall on the river kept the horses' hoofs froi
being heard. Leaving the horses in the ravine, the soldiers fell upc
DAYS OF DREAD. 1 89
the Indians just at day-break. The Indians, dazed with sleep and
entirely unprepared for the attack, could not do themselves justice. One
hundred and forty of them took to their canoes, but, in the panic, went
o\er the falls and perished. Many were shot, and others took refuge in
the rocks, or were put to the sword. Turner lost but one man; the
Indians lost three hundred. But another large party of Indians, not far
distant, heard the fight, and soon overtook Turner and his men. The
brave captain was killed, with many oi his followers, but most of them
reached Hatfield safely.
Philip had a fisher}' near the falls, from which he had intended to
provide his men for the winter, and the breaking up of this greatly dis-
turbed him. He made an attack upon Hatfield, but was defeated, and
soon after he led seven hundred Indians against Hadley again, but
many of them were slain and they were obliged to hastily retreat.
Then he moved farther south. Town after town was sacked and
burned. Now he was in Rhode Island, now in Connecticut, and now in
Massachusetts. In these days every man became a fighter. Even the
boys were enemies to be dreaded, and on more than one occasion whole
families had been saved, in the absence of men, by the pluck and readi-
ness of mere urchins. It was a great blow to the Indians when
Nanuntenoo, the proud and revengeful son of Miantonomo, was taken
captive. He was executed, of course, but was glad to die, so he said.
All through the spring and summer of 1676 the colonies were in
terrible fear. When Sudbury was attacked and partly burned, Captain
Wadsworth, hurrying to the relief, was caught in ambush and killed,
with sixty of his men. Captain Pierce was surprised, and his company
of fifty Englishmen massacred. Only one of them escaped. Major
Talcott, with a force of three hundred mounted men, surrounded
a larger body of Narragansetts in a swamp in Rhode Island. All of
them were either killed in the assault or put to death afterward.
Philip was becoming discouraged. He saw that his men were
breaking down under the strain. The white man had learned all his
secrets. He understood the decoy, the night attack, and the stealthy
waiting as well as the Indian, now, and to this he united greater
endurance and courage in the face of heavy odds. Twice Philip had
barely escaped capture. He had been obliged to disguise himself. At
last, worn out and disheartened, he fled to his home on the isthmus of
Mt. Hope. An Indian betrayed his whereabouts to Church. Church,
whom Philip feared more than any other living man, started for the
place at once. It was the middle of the night when he reached there.
igO THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Across a swamp, on a bit of upland, slept the great chief, wi
his Indians about him. The Englishmen sent a heavy fire into t
camp. Philip sprang to his feet, gun in hand, and rushed forward,
minute later he was dead, with his face in the dark swamp water.
The Indians could do little more. Their great leader, whc
eloquence was siich an inspiration to them, whose courage was ine
haustible, and whose plans had been so daring and ingenious, w
dead. The power of the Indians over all that section of the count
was gone. Many rushed westward, and many, alas! served as slaves
the West Indies. Others sought the powerful friendship of the wh;
men. All over New England there was mourning, for hardly a hot
had been left untouched by death.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Abbott's "History of King Philip."
Fiction*— R. C. Sands' "Ya'uioyden."
Cooper's "The Wept of Wish-ton-wish."
G. H. Hollister's "Mount Hope."
Pierce's "Xarragansett Chief!"
CHAPTER XXIX.
J[ passing i|abna$$»
HOW THE WITCH-CRAFT HALLUCINATION STARTED— SAMUEL PARRIS
AND HIS WITCH-CRAFT LIBRARY — THE TRIAL AND DEATH
OF GILES COREY AND OTHER VICTIMS OF
) J THIS HALLUCINATION.
T is a pity that children should have been respon-
;^~^ sible for some of the most dreadful crimes which
disgraced New England. It was they who started
what is known as the witch-craft delusion. It was
a strange time. In Europe, as in America, the
people were morbid. A series of misfortunes made
them open to this disease of the mind, which physicians
now recognize as a sort of hysteria, but which at that
time even the wisest and best of men supposed to be the
work of the devil. Ever>- one believed that there were
witches, and the Bible said that witches should be hung.
Men like Bacon went to the trouble of inventing a
medicine for witches' ointment. Statesmen made laws
concerning it. Ministers preached about it from the
pulpit. To tell hideous stories of bewitched people about the win-
ter fireside was one of the favorite amusements. Every one who wore
scarlet, or who chanced to be peculiar, was sure to be thought a witch.
This fearful disease had raged in Europe for a good many )ears before
it reached the new world. So extensive had it become that a great
many books had been written on the subject, and these books had been
brought in considerable numbers to America. Samuel Parris, a man
who had been a merchant in Barbadoes, but who had become a minister
upon moving to Salem, had a number of these books in his library. In
a town where books were comparatively few, they were naturally much
borrowed and read, and appealed, as the horrible and mysterious always
does, to the imagination of the people in general, and to children in
192
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
particular. In Parris' family also was Tituba, an old slave, half
negro and half Indian. She knew all the ways of witch-craft, and it was
supposed that she could conjure up spirits with her black, bony hands,
or, if she chose, ride through midnight storms, safely seated on a broom-
stick. Not only has she figured in history, but in fiction and poetry,
and all who know anything about those dreadful days know about
Tituba and John Indian, her husband. Tituba had a habit of secretly
gathering the children of the Parris and neighboring families into the
kitchen, and there, by the flickering light of the fire, when the house
■was still and the old people away, she taught them all the dark secrets
of her imaginary art, and instructed them in the way the bewitched
children acted, telling them about the little Goodwin girl whom Cotton
Mather had taken to live with him because she was bewitched. He
wished to have her near him that he might study the actions of Satan
in her, and it was through watching her that he came to believe in
witch-craft, and did so much hann by advocating it. The little Good-
win girl had accused a quiet Irish washer-woman of having bewitched
her. Whenever the woman came near, she fell into spasms and sank
upon the ground. Three other children did as they saw her do, and the
poor washer-woman was hanged. Tituba told these stories with delight,
and the company of little girls practiced the actions of the bewitched.
The children imagined such dreadful things that at last they were
really no longer able to control themselves, but did really suffer almost
as much as they had at first pretended to. So dreadfully did they act
that doctors were called to visit them. They immediately said they
were bewitched. The next thing then was to find the witches. The
Reverend Parris, believing as he did in the existence of such a thing,
was not illy pleased to have it come within his reach. If he really did
not encourage the children in the matter, he at least influenced them to
declare against his enemies. The first person the}- cried oiit against was
Sarah Goodwin. She was accused of pinching them, and running pins
and needles into them. The justices tried her, and sent her to prison.
Many more were sent after her. Then came the charge against Giles
Corey, a staunch old farmer, who was foolish enough to believe in
witch-craft. The children cried out that he tormented them, and they
fell into a strange illness, so real that the people had no choice but to
"believe in their sufferings. Corey was pressed to death and treated with
great contempt in every way. The acquisitions came faster and faster.
A court of seven judges was appointed to decide upon the many cases
brought before them. Among the children the epidemic spread. So
A PASSING JVIADNESS. 1 93
strong a hold did it have on them, that they actually declined until they
were little more than skin and bones. A sort of second sight, or
clairv'oyancy, mingled with their hysteria, and the actual things which
they foretold, or, being at a distance, correctly related, helped to confirm
the popular belief. It got dangerous for one to have the least pecu-
liarity. Any spot on the body — a mole or mark — was sufficient to convict
one of being a witch. Gentle Rebecca Nourse, a farmer's wife, living
in her own house and quietly tending her children, her house and her
cows, was accused of being one of these balefiil creatures, and was
taken from her home, executed and thrown into the pit which was set
apart for the witches, Christian burial not being allowed them. Here,
at midnight, when no one was watching, came her little children and her
husband to search for her poor body and give it a more gentle burial.
Longfellow writes of Bridget Bi.shop, a jolly woman, fond of jests
and bright dresses, who was condemned as much for wearing a scarlet
petticoat as for anything else. Ever}'one who had an enemy saw a
quick way of taking revenge upon him, by accusing him of being a
party to the strange wickedness. The prison became crowded. As for
the children, they seemed to have found themselves the most important
and dreaded personages in the community. They grew very clever at
imitating the people whom they accused of bewitching them, and chil-
dren with soft voices acquired the power of talking like a man in deep,
bass tones. It was not all imagination. It became insanity. One child>
more conscientious than the rest, realized after a time that she did not
feel all that she said she felt. She confessed, and accused the other
children of deceit. The children promptly denounced her as a witch.
But the matter had aroused the suspicions of the people. The wiser of
them began to think it was a plot, and when at length Mrs. Hale, a
woman of great beauty of character and of high station, was accused^
the sympathy of the people was with her. Captain John Alden, a man
of high character and good family, was accused. He made a sensible
defence, which had no effect upon the justices, but at length he escaped.
At last the children even dared to accuse the Governor's wife, and
when they came to imitating some members of the Mather family,
even Cotton Mather, the Methodist divine, concluded there must be
a mistake somewhere. The matter ended almost as suddenly as it had
begun. Governor Phips released one hundred and fifty persons from the
jail. Several hundred more had, at one time and another, been impris-
oned there, but only twenty were killed — not counting the two poor
dogs which were formally executed for being familiars of witches.
194 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
For one especial cruelty was Parris responsible. He hated, with all
the narrowness of a minister of the time, the Reverend Stephen
Burroughs, who seems to have had a belief which did not exactly
agree with that accepted as orthodox by the Salem people. Parris had
him driven out of the colony, and he took refuge with his family in
Maine. At the time of the witch-craft excitement Parris succeeded in
getting him accused and having him brought away down to Salem to be
tried. An elder and two constables were sent to bring him, as Parris
had chosen to given him the reputation of a dangerous man. He went
with them cheerfully enough, having no thought that the matter was
so serious. He was a remarkable man, of much animal magnetism, with
a ver>' commanding and penetrating eye, and all who came near him
felt his influence. It was this power, added to his eloquence, which
had made Parris jealous, and indeed had laid him open to suspicion,
for it was not safe in those days to know very much. He understood
wood-craft as an Indian does, and being a man remarkably strong and
unusually clever, had done many things which his more stupid asso-
ciates could not understand. Having a reputation of this sort, the
terrified constables and the elder who were sent after him were
distracted when he insisted upon leading them at night through a
pathless forest, the way which he knew as well as his own garden. A
terrible storm, with most violent lightning, broke over them, fright-
ening the horses, breaking the trees, and driving the men half mad with
terror. To this day the spot in New Hampshire is called Witches'
Trot. Once at Salem, all was over with him. He never went back to
his wife and children beyond the forest. This dreadful chapter of
Massachusetts history was verj- short. It was confined to the year 1692.
In no time was it so sharp as it had been in the Old World, but it was
bad enough, and made a great blot of ignorance and superstition on the
fair page of native history. In 1720 a second attempt was made to stir
up this old frenzy, but civilization had gone too far. The people would
have none of it.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Upham's "Histor>'of Witch-crafl."
Fiction — J. Neal's "RacherDyer."
Poetry — Long^fellow's "Giles Corev."
•Whittier's "Witch of Wehham."
Whittier's "Mabel Martin."
Whittier's "Changeling-."
Whittier's "Wreck of Rivermouth."
HENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
CHAPTER XXX.
jl fjulbman.
WILLIAM PENN — THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA — REMARKABLE
GROWTH OF THE COLONY — CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT — RE-
STORATION OF PENN — HIS DEATH — THE SLAVERY
.-^QUESTION — BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
HE great State of Pennsylvania was settled by the
Quakers, or Friends. In speaking of Pennsyl-
vania, it is necessary to speak of William Penii.
He was the son of a noted admiral of England,
who was not only a man of much intellect, but ol
great humor and affability as well. His mothei
was an unusual woman also, and gave her son
lessons in kindness and amiability which influenced him
all his life, and had no little effect upon the history of
this country. From his earliest years he was unusual.
When he was a school-boy of eleven, he had strange
visions in which the works and glory of God were
revealed to him. It was by such things as this that the
growing Society of Friends was distinguished. But at
this time, Penn knew nothing of the Friends nor the fre-
quency of these visions in England. Yet Penn was no dreamer; he
was a gay, active boy, very strong of ann, capable of swift running.
and fond of that jollity which forms so large a part of the schoolboy's
life. In the course of time, a great preacher of the Society of Friends
came to Oxford. Young Penn became a willing and enthusiastic
convert.
A short time after this, it was ordered that the surplice should
be worn by the Oxford students. Penn could not permit this evidence
of Episcopal pride to pass unchallenged. He and some of his friends
tore the detested garments over the students' heads. He was expelled
from school and banished from home. The tears of his mother, how-
ever, softened the heart of the proud admiral, who forgave his son anu
198 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
sent him to Paris, in the hope that its alhirements might win him from
his fantastic ideas; and for a time they did, and he was as gay and
heedless as any of the youths who lounged about Paris. He was bright
and intelligent, and charmed London society with his graceful manner
and witty speech; but it was only a short time that he gave himself up
to this light manner of living. Again he was drawn to the meetings of
the Friends, and after this, sincerely devoted his life to their service.
At one time he was fined for attending their meetings; at another he
was thrown into the Tower for writing a book, setting forth their views,
but while there, he continued to write as his conscience prompted him.
It was seven months before he was released. Soon after this, his father
died, reconciled to his son's strange beliefs, and leaving him a
large property, which Penn spent for the most part in the cause of the
Friends.
It was Penn's ambition to start a colony in the New World; already
he had been interested in some settlements there. New Jersey, it will
be remembered, had been granted to Lord Berkeley and Sir George
Carteret, but the people of New Jersey protested against their ruling,
which was overbearing and unfair. There had been an insurrection;
two colonies had been made — East and West New Jersey — and Berke-
ley had sold his share to a company of Quakers. William Penn was
one of this company. A few years later, Sir George Carteret died, and
his rights in East New Jersey were sold to twelve Quakers, and in this
purchase William Penn had a share. But here there were so many
Swedes, Dutch and Scotch, that no effort was made to make the
colonies distinctly Quaker. Over these, Andros, the royal Governor,
ruled. Penn was anxious, as has been said, to make a settlement of
his own, and after his father died, he told the King, who was seriously
in arrears with the admiral's pay, that he would liquidate this debt if he
would give him a grant of territory in America. Penn's courtly air and
handsome face and form, and his experience in diplomatic matters, stood
him in very good stead. In 1680, he obtained a grant from Charles II,
including forty thousand square miles of territory between Maryland
and New York. To this the King gave the name of Pennsylvania.
So well known was he in Europe, not only as the son of the dis-
tinguished admiral, but as a man of great originality and courage, that
the sturdy, industrious people of Germany, as well as those of his own
countr}', were anxious to follow him. He did not, like George Fox,
neglect everj'thing aesthetic, and dress himself in a not ver}' clean suit
of leather, and though he wore the garb of the Friends, he saw to it
A GENTLEMAN. 190
that the fabric was good and the fit excellent. Dress and address are the
two first things which one notices in a stranger. William Penn was
too much of a statesman not to appreciate this. He knew that one
could afford to be eccentric, but not disagreeable. It is not strange,
however, that he was popular.
His principles of government were of a broad nature. There jvas
to be perfect liberty of conscience and political freedom for all — even
the Indians. Only murder and treason were to be punished by death.
Penn would not even have had these laws had he chosen himself, and
while he lived, no gallows was ever erected in the province. He
believed that a prison should be a place of reform. No oath was
necessary to the man of good conscience. All pleasures which had in
them any possibility of evil, such as cock-fighting, bull-baiting, card-
playing and theatre-going, were forbidden. His scheme of government
included one act which might be well imitated now — lying was
punished as a crime. There was to be a trial by jury for all cases of
injury, and Indians were to be among the jury, whenever Indian
rights were in question. A German company bought fifteen thousand
acres from Penn, and hastened to emigrate thither in 1681. It was in
1682 before Penn and his friends set sail. Penn had an audience of the
King, at which he astonished his Majesty by telling him that England
had no right to molest the savages upon their own soil. "What,"
cried the King, ' 'have I not the right of discovery ?' ' ' 'Just suppose, ' '
said Penn, in his calm way, "that a canoe full of savages should
by some accident discover Great Britain; would you vacate, or sell ?"
When Penn reached New Castle, on the 27th of October, the Dutch and
Swedes gave him a very cordial welcome. He naturalized all the
inhabitants of the province, and then hastened up the river to Upland,
which is now Chester, where he met the delegates who had already
been selected by his commissioners. This was the first assembly.
Everyone caught the infection of his sincerity and gentleness, and the
arrangements made there by the assembly were remarkable for theii
justice and liberality.
Penn was delighted with the new country. The abundance 01
natural fruits and berries, the beauty of the woods and hills, and the
clearness of the river, charmed him. He went up the river himself,
looking for a suitable site for the prospective city, and decided upon
the sweeping peninsula around which the Delaware flows. This he
named Philadelphia, that all might know the sentiment which prompted
its founding. Penn called it his "holy experiment." He laid out the
200 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
city himself, upon a great scale of squares; all of the avenues to be
lined with trees, and houses to be set so that the)- might be surrounded
with gardens. In the first year twenty-three ships filled with colonists
came to Penn's province.
The Indians, for the first time, were treated with absolute equality;
there was not a touch of the arrogance of the Spaniard, the sternness of
the Puritans, the commercial greed of the Dutch, or the bewildering
mysticism of the French Jesuits. Penn was simple and direct. He ate
with the Indians, out-ran them in jocular contests, and tried leaping
matches with the sprightly young braves. Under the famous elm tree
at Shackamaxon, the old resort for Indian councils, he held a treaty
with the Indians. He and his followers wore no arms, and Penn was
distinguished from his followers only by a sash of blue silk netting,
falling like a soldier's scarf across his shoulders. The sachem of the
Indians carried in his hand a chaplet, and when he donned this, the
savages flung their arms to the ground, in token that the treaties were
inviolable. The address which he made to the Indians won their hearts
completely, and in a short time he had learned their language, and no
longer had need of an interpreter. This increased his popularity among"
them. The driving bargains of his officers in after years were nevei
laid to his charge.
Very early in its history, Pennsylvania had a school. Enoch Flowei
was the teacher's name, and for four shillings a quarter he taught the
bo3'S and girls of Philadelphia to write, and for six shillings, to read.
He would take boarding-scholars, giving them "diet, lodging, washing
and schooling for ten pounds the year. ' ' Nor was it long before a
printing press was set up. Penn had a friend, James Claypool, who
was quite an eminent scholar, and who may have inspired these move-
ments to an extent. Penn built him a mansion, called "Pennsbur}'
Manor," at Bristol, on the Delaware river. Here he lived happily for
two years, when he found it necessary to go to England, to answer some
of the charges which his envious enemies had brought against him.
He remained in England fifteen years, during which time affairs did
not run as quietly in the colony as might have been desired. There
were religious quarrels and political quarrels, until the colonies were so
misrepresented in England that the government was taken away from
Penn and given to a royal commissioner. In 1694, however, William
and Mary restored the province to Penn's absolute government — no one
had ever questioned his proprietorship — and in 1699 Penn himself came
from England, not a little wearv of courts and the friction of cosrao-
A GENTLEMAN. 20I
politan life, intending to pass the remainder of his years in his beautiful
home on the Delaware, surrounded by those who knew and appreciated
his noble qualities of heart and mind.
Not a little astonished was Penn when he saw Philadelphia, then a
little more than eighteen years old. Doubtless he had carried in his
mind's eye a picture of the colony as he left it, largely made up of
rude huts, with chimneys of mud. When, therefore, he saw the noble
city of over two thousand houses, most of which were built of brick,
in that chaste, placid architecture of the Friends, and when he saw tl e
wharfs and viaducts with their busy trade, he must have received quite
a shock, in his sudden realization of the growth and success of his
"holy experiment." He took for his own residence the slate- roofed
house which stood in Second street, at the southeast corner of Norris'
alley, until the year 1868, when it was torn down.
John Penn, always called "The American," to distinguish him from
William Penn's other children, was born in this house, of Penn's second
wife, Hannah Callowhill, a delicate, sweet woman, whom Penn dressed
with much pride in silks and jewels in spite of the stern Quaker regula-
tions in regard to costume. She preferred the country- seat up the
Delaware, and here Penn lived the greater part of his time, in some-
thing of that state in which he had been raised. The house stood upon a
hill, and was approached by an avenue of poplars. On one side ran
the river, with the bank terraced down to it. The lawns were as well
kept as the greener ones of England, and the gardens were planted, not
alone with trees indigenous to Pennsylvania, but with many others
brought from Europe and the tropics. The "forest primeval" of
native elms and oaks was undisturbed, and in this were no formal walks,
but only winding, woodland roads, made by accident, rather than
desigu.
Penn, like most Englishmen, was fond of good horses, and kept a
stable of blood animals. Hannah Penn, tending her baby, or embroid-
ering a screen in her boudoir, sat among satin-covered chairs, damask
curtains, and silken blankets. The furniture was solid oak, spider-
legged and car\'ed. Rare china and plate filled the dresser. To all,
there was an open house at Pennsbury Manor; everj^ one was welcome,
regardless of his or her standing, for Penn could never see a distinction
of persons, and showed as much courtesy in the society of Indians as he
did in his converse with kings. One entertainment which he gave to
the Indians upon the lawn was so extensive that a hundred roasted turkeys
were prepared as a part of the bill of fare. At a time when wild turkeys
202 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
frequently turned the scales at forty-six pounds, the banquet must have
been ample. Penn accepted hospitality with as much grace as he gave
it, and did not drop his courtly manners when he entered the wigwam of
the Indian and ate hominy and acorns with him. There is a story
told of his riding to the Derby meeting with little Rebecca Wood, a
bare-legged country girl, sitting behind him on his well-groomed horse
— himself immaculate, no doubt, as to attire. Those two years spent
at Pennsbury Manor were, without question, the happiest of his life.
He was one of the first men in America to dimly perceive that au
immorality lay in slavery. The truth did not come to him openly, for
he and the rest of the Friends might well ask, "Did not the Bible
sustain it?" Penn himself was an owner of slaves, but he felt in them,
as in all the men he met, the common current of humanity, and in his
w ill he gave freedom to his blacks. He tried to procure the passage of
a law for the regulation of marriage of the negroes, but this law the
assembly rejected. In 1701 he was obliged to leave the colony and
rf:tnrn to England, and never again did he return to that peaceful spot
upon the Delaware where the most placid years of his life had been
spent. In England, he met with much trouble. At one time the
charter of his province was threatened; again a lien was put on it-
through misrepresentation and fraud. He found himself heavily in debt,
and was arrested and lodged in Fleet Prison for nine months. But
even the evil reports which came from his beloved colony concerning
the mismanagement of government were not so distressing to him as the
folly and selfishness of his eldest son, William, whom he sent to
America in hopes that he would find more wholesome companions than
in profligate London. In Philadelphia, his debauchery and drunkenness
were borne with much patience, because he was the son of their dear
Governor, but he was finally arrested in a tavern brawl; the court
brought an indictment against him. Governor Evans, who was then
administering affairs in the province, was his boon friend, and had
been in the same disgraceful brawl at which Penn was arrested, but
neither Penn's name nor his powerful friends could move the Quakers
when they had determined to do their duty by a sinner, and he left the
province in disgrace, leaving a large company of disgusted creditors
behind him.
So dissatisfied did the people become with the Governor that they
actually defied his authority, and it was found judicious to dispose of
him. Charles Cookin succeeded to the governorship in 1709, and ruled
quietly, but without much distinction. His troubles were of an abstract
A GKXTLEMAN.
kind, relating entirely to religious obligations, subtile enough to have
satisfied Puritan Salem. Following him came Sir William Keith, a
governor of more sense, though of little more force. Philadelphia had
but little sympathy with the warlike actions of the other colonists; she
was at peace with the Indians herself, and did not take a personal
interest in those numerous expeditions against the French and Indians
which disturbed the northern and southern colonies and steadil}' sapped
their strength.
WILLIAM PENN S RESIDENCE,
As for Penn, he lived till 1718, and passed the last six years of his
life in tranquility at Ruscombe, his English estate. Slowly and steadily
his disease destroyed his powerful mind and wrecked his active body.
In 1732 Thomas Penn, his second son by his second marriage, moved
to Philadelphia. He was never popular, but his elder brother, who
came two )ears later, had something of th? magnetism, vivacity and
cordiality which distinguished his father. This was under Patrick
Gordon's administration, and a time of great prosperity. Though the
colony was the youngest on the continent, it had more white inhabivants
than all Virginia, Maryland and the two Carolinas. Philadelphia was
II
204 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
incomparably the finest city in America, and second in magnitude. Its
trade was vex}- extensive and its manufacturing excellent. When
Gordon died, in 1736, George Thomas followed him, and quietly ruled
for nine years.
Philadelphia, like Boston, had become the resort for enterprising
boys. One of these boys was Benjamin Franklin, a rather comely printer's
boy of seventeen, who quarreled with his elder brother, and made for
the great "City of Brotherly Love." Everyone knows how he walked
down the pavement, lonesome and hungry, eating his roll of bread;
everyone knows of his unfortunate engagement with the printer, and
how Governor Keith finally took him into his favor, or pretended to do
so, and sent the eager lad to London. There Benjamin found out how
little the Governor's promises were worth, and returned to Pennsylvania.
After this he prospered, and in 1728 was one of the men who established
the Pennsylvania Gazette^ a paper which lived for 120 years. He had
previously written for the Netv England Current^ his brother's paper,
and, indeed, it was on account of these articles on public affairs, that he
had quarreled with his brother. Through his efforts, a library was
started in Philadelphia in 1731. In 1741 he founded a philosophical
society, and in 1749 a university in Pennsylvania. This was at a time of
great national perplexity, which must be left for another chapter.
Collectors of rare American literature cherish a few copies of "Poor
Richard's Almanac," which are still extant. This he issued for twenty-
five years. It was a collection of saws and sayings which have passed
into the phraseology.- of our countr)' until the>' have become classic.
The annual sale of this almanac was about ten thousand copies. These
were handed down from family to family by country people, until they
were worn to shreds. Franklin wrote many papers on political, financial
and scientific subjects, and even now and then dipped a lighter pen in
ballad-writing. He was the first great scientist of America. To him
belongs the honor of showing that lightning is electricity, and the
invention of the lightning-rod is his. Indirectly, all of our great
electrical experiments are traceable to him.
FOR FURTHER READING;
HlSTORV— Sypher's "Philadelphia."
Biography— Ellis' "Penn."
Fiction— W. H. G. Kingston's "A True Hero."
Poetry— J. G. WTiittier's "Pennsylvania Pilgrim."
Drama- Schmidt Eber's "William Penn."
CHAPTER XXXI.
mans
THE RULE OF LOVELACE AT NEW YORK — THE DUTCH RETAKE THB
CITY — IT AGAIN REVERTS TO THE ENGLISH BY PATENT-
GOVERNOR ANDROS AND HIS UNPOPULAR RULE
LEISLER ASSUMES CONTROL — TROUBLE
WITH NEW FRANCE.
^EW NETHERLAND was governed by the Eng-
lish with such happy results that the Dutch had
no objections to any change of governors which
might be desired, and when Nicolls wished to
return home, the people gave a cordial welcome
to Colonel Francis Lovelace. His rule was quiet
and popular, and entirely without difficulty at the capital,
although upon the borders there were some disturbances.
At one time the men of the Long Island towns refused
to give any money for renewing the New York fortifica-
tions. Lovelace ordered their votes to be publicly burned,
and this gave rise to difficulties which continued for a
long time. In the north, the French were disturbing,
and at several times it was thought that war must be
declared against Courcelles, the Governor of Canada. But, while the
people of New York were still thinking about the subject, they were
given matters of more serious interest to attend to. England was again
at war with Holland, and from time to time rumors reached New York
that a Dutch fleet was on its way northward from the West Indies to
retake the harbor. Lovelace was absent for the time being, and paid
no attention to the summons from his Lieutenant-Governor.
On August 7, 1673, twenty-three Dutch ships, carrying sixteen
hundred men, sailed into the bay of New York. The Dutch of the city
rejoiced at the sight of their countr>'men, and were not long in telling
them the true condition of affairs. Such a force of men could well
2o6 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
afford to laugh at the fret and fume of the village, in which men were
running to and fro as if they had lost their heads. Drums were beaten
about the streets. One nervous smith set to work on fire-locks, and the
militia of the surrounding towns was called for. The Dutch commander
quietly demanded surrender, and when the English came to treat with
him and to beg for time, he quietly turned an hour-glass over and said
that if the English did not surrender within half an hour he would
open fire. He did as he said, and a few in the fort were killed, and
others wounded. Six hundred Dutch landed on the banks of the
Hudson. The fort surrendered, and the Dutch again took possession
where Peter Stuyvesant had once stumped about in martial pride.
The Dutch names were restored to cities, forts, rivers and bays. The
Dutch burgomaster took the place of the English mayor.
Antony Clove was chosen temporar}' Governor. Two ships-of-war
were left him for protection, and the rest of the fleet sailed quietly
away. New England was very much frightened when it heard of the
success of the Dutch, but the Puritans were cautious, and though they
took means for defending themselves, they did not venture to give the
English of New York any assistance in ousting the Dutch. New York
was easy to manage. So the citizens escaped plunder and outrage, they
cared but little who their masters might be. The lawless class, which
makes change of government in older cities so much to be dreaded, had
no existence in the colonial towns.
Over in Europe, events were taking a new direction. Peace was
made between England and Holland, and though the States-general
were really the winners of peace on their own continent, they never-
theless gave up their possessions in the New World to the English. A
patent of the New Netherland territory was given to the Duke of York
in 1674. Major Edmund Andros was appointed by him to govern New
York. The English names were restored, the officers reinstated, and all
went on as it had under the rule of Nicolls and Lovelace. This was
fifteen years before the time that Boston impeached the government of
Andros and put him in prison. He thought but little of New York,
which contained only six or seven thousand people, while New England
had at least one hundred and twenty thousand — such a difference
was there between the easy-going Dutch and the fiercely-determined
Englishmen. Under English rule, a more rapid growth came to New
York. There was not a little emigration from England. The industry
of whaling, which brought so much wealth to Long Island, was taken
up. All together there were twenty- foiir towms in the settlement and a
THE DUTCHMAN'S FIRESIDE. 207
remarkable increase of farms, on which not only wheat and tobacco
was raised, but even horses. Fish, peltry and lumber were quite
heavily exported. In a very short time the manufacture of flour
became an important industry.
When Andros chose to visit New York he was received with great
pomp, which must have been a balm to his pride, hurt by the contempt
with which the peoiale of the southern colonies treated him. He went
to Albany for the purpose of holding a council for the chiefs of the five
nations, and succeeded in securing the promise of their friendship.
Perhaps one reason that the New Yorkers had so little against Andros
was that they saw so little of him, and that he thought the colony of
too slight importance to greatly interfere with.
In New York were two decided political parties — or religious parties,
for at this time it was hard to separate the two. James, the Catholic
King of England, had been obliged to flee to France. William and
Mary, the Protestants, had been proclaimed the King and Queen of
England. The thoughtful saw that there would be danger of a conflict
between the Catholic and Protestant factions. When Andros was
deposed by the Boston Committee of Safety, the government of New
York was left in the hands of the Eieutenant-Governor, Nicholson, and
of the council. The Dutch inhabitants of New York were in sympathy
with William and Mary. The English of New York were verj' largely
Catholics. In New York, no proclamation of William and Mary was
made, and the chaplain at the fort continued to pray for the infant
Prince of Wales, and that the dethroned James might be victorious over
his enemies. In consequence, there was a steadily increasing discontent
shown among the Dutch. Nicholson feared that the question was
getting too troublesome for him, and resigned his position and sailed
for England. The council was very much frightened, which, as it
lacked both brains and courage, it might well be. No one was
appointed to take command, and it came about quite naturally, that
one of the captains of the militia, with more vigor than the rest, should
assume the control of affairs. It is such times of need which make
leaders. This man was Jacob Leisler, who was willing to do no end of
work and face a great deal of danger. The council would do nothing
although the disposition of the colony grew steadily worse. Eeisler saw
the full danger, and when it came his turn to guard the fort with his
company, he called all the trained bands together and made them sign
a declaration by which they said that they held the fort for William
and Mary, and would protect the Protestant religion. The council,
13
208 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
frightened at the threatening look of things, dispersed, some of the
members going to Connecticut and others to Albany. Leisler, a
merchant by trade, and a man of little education, was left in the entire
control of affairs. He called a convention, at which he was appointed
captain of the fort, and the delegates made themselves into a committee
of safety. At the very outset Leisler was called upon to deal with some
very serious matters.
King James had fled to France, and was the guest there of Louis
XIV. Ivouis sent word to Frontenac, who was then Governor of
Canada, that he should take it upon himself to search among the inhabi-
tants of New York, and to send all French Protestants to France. The
English Protestants were to be exported to New England, France oi
other places. The French Catholics were to be unmolested in theii
homes. Enough artisans and farmers to provide for the colony were
to be left as slaves. Frontenac was not slow to obey the orders foi
invasion.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction— Noah Brooks' "In l,eisler's Time."
CHAPTER XXXII.
1[ronbnat \\t %}i\^^^^
FRONTENAC'S ATTACK UPON NEW YORK — THE MASSACRE AT SCHENEC-
TADY — NEW YORK IS FORTIFIED BY LEISLER — SLOUGHTER IS
SENT TO SUPERSEDE HIM — LEISLER'S DEFENSE GETS
HIM INTO TROUBLE — THE GOVERNOR'S
DASTARDLY TAKING OFF.
N Febniary, 1669, Frontenac marched down to the
frontier. He had three war parties of chosen
men. One was to attack Albany, one New
Hampshire and one Maine. A part of the men
were Christian Iroquois. All three parties were
led by LeMoyne, a young French gentleman of
courage and spirit, to whose family France was greatly
indebted for services in the New World. They crossed
Lake Champlain on the ice. The Indians were afraid
to attack Albany, and compelled the French to march
upon Schenectady. They did so on the eighth of the
month, late in the evening. The sun had rolled down
like a red ball along the curve of the southern mountain
— a peculiar effect, which, perhaps, cannot be seen any-
where else in the world. About it, even the Indians had poetic
legends. There had been a festival at the village, but it ended early,
as all gayeties did in those days, and everyone was in bed sleeping as the
double line of warriors approached the palisaded town. There were no
sentinels at the gate; instead there stood two gigantic snow figures, put
up there by the boys and girls in jocund mockery of danger.
One whoop from the Indians, and the men fell to work. In two hours
sixty persons were killed, and eighty or ninety taken prisoners. Some
ran through the snow and storm to Albany, but they were few. The
village was burned. The commander at Albany saw that there was
immediate need of reinforcement. Alban\- was the onlv town in New
2IO THE STORY OF AMKRICA.
York which had not admitted Leisler's government, but now she was
forced to do so, and Leisler set to work to provide her with the men and
supplies. Leisler asked all the other colonies to send delegates for the
purpose of forming an expedition against the French. Sev^n lelegates
attended the first colonial congress, which met on May i, 1690. All of
these seven men will be mentioned again in history, so it is well to re-
member their names. They were Stoughton, Sewall, Gold, Pitkin,
Walle}', Leisler and De la Noye. It was agreed that Leisler should
appoint the commander; that New York should provide four hvmdred
men, Massachusetts one hundred and sixty, Connecticut one hundred
and thirty-five, Plymouth sixty, and Mar}-land one hundred.
Leisler hastened to rebuild the fortifications of New York. He
captured some French cruisers at sea, which were of considerable force
to use at his need. The year was a busy and stirring one. The times
"were turbulent. Leisler was a merchant by education, a leader and
fighter by temperament, and kept ever^-one well at work. It goes with-
out saying that he was heartily hated by the Catholics of the colony.
They were not only the Catholics, but, as it chanced, the aristocrats of
the place, for the Protestant movement was the movement of the
people. When William found time to send over a royal Governor he
fo and plenty of complaints awaiting his ear. This royal Governor was
Colonel Henry Sloughter. But it was not he who first appeared at New
York, but Richard Ingoldsby, captain of a company of grenadiers, who
arrived in New York a few weeks before his Governor, because
Sloughter had chosen to go by way of the Bermudas. Ingoldsb>- seems
to have had a very high idea of his own position, and on entering the
port and finding that Leisler was in command of the fort, he ordered
him to surrender. Leisler treated Ingoldsby politely, gave him quarters
for his troops, but told him that he would not deliver the fort to anj-
save he who held a warrant from the King. Ingoldsby had the
impertinence to fire upon the fort for several hours. Leisler was not
the man to let a fire go luireturned. A number of soldiers were killed.
Several weeks passed, with Leisler still governing and Ingoldsby
protesting, before Sloughter arrived. The friends of Leisler say that he
sent two gentlemen immediately to congratulate the Governor upon his
arrival and to offer him the fort and government, but that the Governor
would not listen to them, and threw them into jail. But Colonel
Sloughter always said that he sent Ingoldsby to demand the fort, and
that Leisler said he would own no Governor without orders from the
King directed to him. However it may be, Ingoldsby marched into the
FRONTENAC THE FIGHTER. 211
fort. Leisler's men surrendered. Sloughter issued a warrant for the
arrest of Leisler and his council. They were tried for treason and
murder. Leisler and seven others were found guilty and sentenced to
death, but all of them were reprieved until they should know what the
King's pleasure was in the matter.
The Catholics, so long irritated by Protestant rule, saw that their
time for revenge had come. They used all the influence which they
could bring to bear against Leisler. The Protestants were terrified^
especially when they remembered the tragedy of Schenectady, and
inferred from that what Jesuit nile might mean in New York. They
sent in petitions for Leisler's pardon, while on the other hand the
Catholics pressed petitions upon the Governor, begging for Leisler's
execution. But Sloughter refused to sign Leisler's death-warrant.
The assembly and various of the rich Catholics of New York prepared
a feast, to which Sloughter was invited. Wine was plentiful, and
under its influence the Governor was got to sign the death-warrant.
The eight prisoners were executed before the Governor had recovered
from the effects of his drinking. Leisler's young son had the question
of his father's guilt argued before a committee of the House of Lords at
London, three years later, and the judgment of the New York goven?.-
ment was reversed. It was judged that Leisler was neither guilty of
treason nor of murder. The family of Leisler was given its honorable
reputation, and also a sum of money, in return for the charges made upou
his private property during the time of his government. Sloughter
only ruled over New York for four months. He died suddenly, and it is
not unlikely that the friends of Leisler saw a special providence in this.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Broadhead and O'Callaghan's "New York."
CHAPTER XXXIII.
i]^0 fni of {}ft Jimits.
THE RULE OF GOVERNOR FLETCHER — FLETCHER SUCCEEDED BY THE
EARL OF BELLOMONT — THE COMMISSION OF CAPTAIN KIDD,
AND HOW IT WAS CARRIED OUT — LORD CORNBURY
BECOMES GOVERNOR — THE EXPEDITIONS
AGAINST PORT ROYAL AND
. ; QUEBEC.
OR a short time Captain Ingoldsb}- attended to
the duties of governorship, but was relieved
by Benjamin Fletcher, Governor for the King.
His commission gave him command of the
militia of the New England colonies as well as
his own. It was thovight necessary for the
safety of the colonies to have a general commander to
protect them from the Indians. The colonies believed
themselves to be independent, and certainly were
under governors of their own, if one could tell au}--
thing by their charters. Connecticut sent a repre-
sentative to England to complain of the violation of
their rights imder the charter. Rhode Island also
sent an agent to protest to the King. While these
men were in England, Fletcher came to Hartford and ordered the
militia under arms. Governor Treat refused to let Fletcher assume
command of his troops, but the militia was permitted to muster at Hart-
ford. Fletcher ordered his commission and instructions to be read to
the troops. In command at the front was Captain Wadsworth, and as
soon as the reading began he cried, "Beat the drums ! " and all the
sturdy Puritan drummers fell to raising such a noise that the voice of
the reader was entirely drowned. The more the Governor shouted for
silence the louder the hot-headed Wadsworth shouted for them to drum,
imtil finally the Governor had to yield, leaving Treat in command.
THE PEST OF THE PIRATES. 213
Fletcher sold licenses to privateers and pirates, and under his rule New
York and the surrounding islands gained the reputation of being a nest
of pirates.
In the north, Frontenac was still active. The Mohawks had been
won to the side of the English, and three years after the massacre of
Schenectady the French took three of the Mohawk towns. Major
Schuyler, of Albany, was sent hurriedly after the French. In a few
days he had overtaken them. They had three engagements, in which
the French were repulsed each time. Then came a terrible fall of snow,
and, hungry- and cold, the troops on both sides were forced to retire to
their rude fortifications. On both sides were Indian allies. The Indians
had a dislike for the Christian mode of warfare, and always shrank
from open attack. For this reason they delayed the action constantly,
first the French, then the English allies refusing to move. It was on
this account that the French finally escaped by the floating ice on the
Hudson, and got out of Schuyler's reach. Frontenac' s party, suffering
for food, straggled back in small parties to Canada.
Fletcher had shown such greed and dishonesty in his administration
that he was deposed from ofiice, and the Earl of Bellomont put in his
place. It was found by this time that the southern colonies could not be
dealt with easily, and that their rights could not be disposed of without
protest. The experiment which had failed with Fletcher was not tried
with Bellomont. He was appointed Governor of New York and ]\Iassa-
chusetts, but only Captain-General over the military forces of
Connecticut, Rhode Island and the Jerseys. One of the first things
which Bellomont did was to get from the New York assembly an
acknowledgment of the error under which Leisler was condemned,
and he had his body taken up from the private ground and reburied
with public state in the Dutch church. His vigorous action gave
strength to the Protestant party and the promise of a fair and deter-
mined administration.
Honest commerce had been almost choked under Fletcher's rule,
and it was Bellomont's ambition to get xid of that class of French
seamen who, under the excuse of war commissions, seized upon every
ship whose cargo tempted them. These rovers made a journey upon
the sea a thing of risk and terror to peaceable people. One of this
class was Captain Kidd. This valorous but unfortunate personage,
about whom so much has been written and told, was the friend of great
men. One of Bellomont's methods for getting rid of the pirates was to
send out a ship, at the expense of a joint stock company, for the purpose
214 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
of capturing pirate vessels. A number of great noblemen, and the
King himself, were to receive parts of the profits of the adventure.
Bellomont and his friends provided a ship for Kidd's use, paying four-
fifths of the cost. The rest was paid by Kidd. The crew was not to
take more than one-fourth of the prizes captured. If nothing was
taken, Kidd was to return the cost of the galley before March i, 1697.
Kidd's previous reputation had not been particularly bad. He was a
sea rover, and even then was known as a man of unusual adventure and
daring. For this very reason he was thought a fit commander for the
one hundred and fifty lawless men put under his charge.
At that time Madagascar was a great resort for pirates. There they
lived in barbaric splendor, in a manner not unsuggestive of the marvels
of Monte Cristo. The first time Kidd was heard of he was living
among these sumptuous outlaws. It seems that he had been unable to
capture any of the pirates whom he had been sent out for, and had gone
to Madagascar in the hope that he might fall in with some better luck.
After a time he took to the sea again, and went as far as India, but
meeting none of the vessels which he was authorized to overhaul, he
finally preyed upon merchant vessels for his own benefit. For several
years he followed this adventurous life, and in 1699 sailed uncon-
cernedly into the New York harbor. Bellomont did not arrest him,
because Kidd assured him that he could prove his innocence of the
crimes of which he was accused, and he was allowed to go to Boston.
There, however, he was arrested. He was thrown into jail, and tried
to get out by telling of forty thousand pounds of treasure which was
hidden in the West Indies, and which would be lost unless he himself
went for it. Kidd was sent to England, where he lay in prison for a
year. The Tories were determined that he should be convicted, since
he had been the friend of the famous Whigs, and of Bellomont, the
Governor. He was tried and convicted of the murder of a gunner
whom he had accidentally killed in a brawl. And so Captain Kidd, the
daring rover, was hanged. He was more famous than many better
men, and it will be long before the youths of this country and England
have ceased to feel interested in his daring exploits.
When Lord Bellomont died, in 1701, Lord Cornbury, a cousin of
Queen Anne, who, a year later, came to the throne, was appointed
Governor. Truth to tell, it was only by quitting the country that he
could escape being imprisoned for debt. He was a very worthless man,
given up to drink and debauchery of all kinds, and the only interest
that he took in his new office came from the hope that he might rapidly
THE PEST OF THE PIRATES. 215
enrich himself. This year (1702) a dreadful yellow fever epidemic
broke out in New York, which carried off more than five hundred
within ten weeks. Cornbur}' was so unscrupulous that he did not
even take pains to conceal his greed. He gathered large sums of money
for the purpose of building a fortification at the Narrows, and then
calmly kept the money for his own use. After this the assembly
insisted upon giving all the money for public purposes into the hands of
a treasurer of their own. The Governor immediately api^ealed to the
crown, protesting against the insult to himself, but the crown refused to
take his part. He was a fierce religionist, for all of his bad ways, and
showed as great a lack of scruple in the matters relating to the church
as in other affairs. One story which is told of him illustrates clearly
the temper of the man. When the yellow fever was so bad in New
York, he went to a town upon Long Island until it should be over.
The Presbyterian minister there had the best house in town, and he
courteously yielded this to the Governor to use during his stay. When
the Governor no longer needed it he handed it over to a few represent-
atives of the Established Church of England, who lived at the place,
and said that the ground attached could be leased for the support of
their church. He persecuted the Presbyterians throughout the colony,
and would not allow a school teacher or clerg\'man to teach or preach
except by a special license.
Down in Massachusetts the royal Governor, Dudley, was making
matters disagreeable, and continually fighting the charter governments.
But there was a strong element in the colonies now which could not
easily be crushed. The popular party had some brilliant men in it who
were neither afraid to speak nor to suffer, and the arrogant governors
knew they could go but so far. Everything which Cornburj- did was
disagreeable to the simple and industrious colonists. For one thing, he
dressed like a woman, in great splendor, saying that it was proper that
he should be so clothed to more fittingly represent his sovereign
mistress, the Queen. He insulted the Quakers, who were no longer the
wild and ill-advised creatures who had shocked the Boston meetings,
but grave and dignified citizens. The people appealed to the Queen
for protection, and Cornbury was recalled. He was arrested for debt
and thrown in jail, where he remained until he became Earl of
Clarendon, through the death of his father. Lord Lovelace was
appointed Governor, but died in a short time. At this time New York
was intending to send an expedition against Canada, and as the treasury
was empty, issued bills of credit, the first ever put out by New York.
2l6 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
But the English fleet was routed, and it was necessary to think of other
means for subduing the French pro^'nlce.
At this time the five nations were the friends of the English, and it
was thought best to take advantage of their fickle friendship. Schuyler,
with five Indian chiefs, was sent to England to beg for help in the
conquest of the French. He was given ships and men for an expedi-
tion, and joined with the New England men in the taking of Port
Royal. Robert Hunter had succeeded Lord Lovelace as Governor of
New York. He was in favor of pushing the war against the French.
The New England people had received most of the credit of the capture
of Port Royal, and the New Yorkers were anxious to do something as
brilliant. The fleet was a large one. There were sixteen men-of-war
and twenty transports, which started in the summer of 171 1, under Sir
Hovenden Walker, for the attack upon Quebec. Altogether there were
seven thousand men. But the fleet had only sailed ten leagues up the
St. Lawrence, when ten or eleven of the ships drifted upon the rocks,
and one thousand men were drowned. Meanwhile, a detachment had
marched from Albany to attack IMontreal. Hearing of the disaster to
the ships, those troops fell back. England won nothing, biit the
French were much alarmed.
In 171 9 Hunter retired, and Burnet took his place. He was
devoted to the interests of the people, but was not popular. He con-
ceived a new plan for the conquest of the French. Most of the
Canadian supplies were got from Albany, and he proposed to prohibit
all trade between his own province and Canada, but this did not please
the tradesmen, although it did the assembly. Few merchants care
enough for national independence to see their trade decrease. The
trade with Canada was carried on as if the Governor had not prohibited
it. In the face of this opposition the Governor was not able to keep his
temper, and did some ill-advised things. In 1727 he was removed and
transferred to Massachusetts Bay. He was fonder of writing works on
the Bible than governing, perhaps, and would no doubt have succeeded
better as a private citizen than as a leader of men. The next Governor
died shortly after his arrival, and Rip Van Dam, the eldest member of
the council, acted as Governor until Colonel Cosby arrived, in 1732, to
take the head of the colony.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Parkman's "Frontenac."
Fiction — ^J. H. Ingraham's "Captain Kyd."
■'^
<? 7/7/Z^^ ^^-t^^U^.^.^c^^
CHAPTKR XXXIV.
>!$ l|0l^ Tc^agcurs.
THE FRENCH AND THE DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTHWEST — FATHERS
jGLIET AND MARQUETTE DISCOVER THE SOURCE OF THE MIS-
SISSIPPI AND SAIL DOWN THE RIVER — DEATH OF MAR-
QUETTE — THE EXPEDITION OF LASALLE AND HENNE-
\^^ PIN — LOUISIANA DISCOVERED AND NAMED.
HE English treated with the Indians, the Dutch
t^^ traded with them, and the French lived with
them. More imaginative than the English or
the Dutch, they saw at once the picturesqueness
of savage life, and appreciated the wild delights
of adventure and discovery. Chaniplain had ar-
rived in Quebec on July 3, 1608. This was only a year
after the settlement in Jamestown. Four years later he
discovered Lake Ontario and Lake Nipissing. It was
impossible to content that gallant explorer while he
lived. Ever restless, he went from one point to another
of the great unknown continent which stretched west-
ward, and about which the English seemed to have had
comparatively little curiosity. There grew up in Quebec
a race of men half Indian in habit, who preferred
the wilderness to civilization. They were absolutely fearless, good
fighters, capable of endurance, fleet of foot, excellent hunters, and sin-
cere Catholics. They carried the cross of Christ in one hand and their
muskets in the other, so to speak. The jaunt)- .songs of these
voyageurs made the wilderness ring. Jean Nicollet was one of these
men, who went as far west as what we know as Wisconsin.
In the year 1640 tlie Fathers Chaumonot and Brebceuf coasted
along the northern shore of the State of Ohio, through the fair chain
of waters by Detroit, and up the eastern shores of Michigan as far as
the Straits of Macinac. F'ourtecn years later, two young traders went
2 20 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
far west upon Lake Superior, and heard there of the great tribe of
Sioux. When these traders returned to Montreal, in 1660, with six-
teen canoes packed with furs, they excited great interest in the city,
and quickened the love of adventure which already existed among
the Frenchmen. The French had had many unhappy experiences with
the Indians. The latter could not understand the mysticism of the
Frenchman's religion; in his burning tapers, his altars, robes and
crucifix, they saw the symbols of superstition, and thought the French-
men must be the familiars of evil spirits. The French who had
ventured to settle near Onondaga for the purpose of converting the
Indians there, had been glad to escape with their lives. Father Jogues
had been treacherously murdered, in 1646, by the Mohawks, in the
Mohawk valley, simply because of the fear which his missal and altar
produced. But undismayed by such catastrophes the zealous Jesuits
continued to establish new missions.
In the summer of 1660 Father Mesnard founded a misiion on
a point of the southern shore of Lake Superior, known then and now
as Chagwamegan. He lost his life in some mysterious way, and in
1665 Father Allouez took up the mission there, preaching in the Algon-
quin language to twelve or fifteen diflferent tribes. Even the Sioux
heard of him, and it was through them that he heard first of the Mis-
sissippi. In 1669 Father Aloney, with Father Dablon, went as far as
the Fox river, learning from the Indians not a little about the
geography of the country.
But the more thorough enterprise began when Jean Talon was
appointed overseer of the trade of Canada. He called a council of
Indians at the fort of Lake Superior, in 1671. An adventurer who
knew the language and customs of the Indians was there, and repre-
sentatives of Louis XIV. Chiefs of tribes from Hudson Bay and the
head of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan were there. A cross was
erected to which the arms of France was fastened, and possession was
taken in the name of the French crown, and the chiefs promised to be
loyal to the great King of France. Under this guarantee of friendship,
Louis Joliet and Father Marquette started on an expedition in 1673.
They discovered the source of the Mississippi, and went as far south as
the mouth of the Arkansas. Father Marquette was a delightful writer,
and left an account of his travels, full of romance and piety. The
Indians everywhere were friendly, and the travelers even saw at one
village a cross erected and adorned, which showed that the religion of
the Jesuits was creeping among the tribes. With two Indian guides,
THK HOLY VOYAGEURS. 221
they were shown the passage from the Fox to the Wisconsin river, and
from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi river. Down this wild ri\'er,
many hundred leagues from their own countrymen, the two peaceful
but courageous Frenchmen floated, seeing little life besides great herds
of buffaloes. They slept in their canoes at night for fear of being sur-
prised. It was a good many days before they found any traces of men.
Following up a trail which they had discovered, they came upon a party
of Illinois Indians. These Indians were more demonstrative than those
of the east. They indulged more in ceremonials, and had a more com-
plex religion, at least so one must believe from the accounts left of
them, though the difference may have lain largely in the fact that the
Frenchmen were appreciative.
The chief of the Illinois village came forth from his wigwam,
naked, to welcome Joliet and Marquette, raising his hands to the sun.
About him danced other braves, with the red calumet, or pipe of peace,
in their hands. They were invited to visit the Indian village, where
they were given a feast and led in a sort of triumphal procession to see
the town. The people went with them to their canoes, with every'
expression of pleasure and courtesy which they could give.
Soon after this the explorers saw the painted rocks, so famous after-
ward. These were rocks on which the Indians had painted, in a way
which Marquette protested to be as good as anything that could be done
in France. They were ruthlessly destroyed by quarr>'ing, in the present
century. They then struck the great, muddy flow of the Missouri,
staining the blue Mississippi with its repulsive streak. Marquette
hoped that he might reach the Gulf of California, of which the Sj^aniards
had given such glowing accounts. Marquette saw iron mines up the
Ohio river near its meeting with the Mississippi, which showed that the
French traders had already been as far as that point. They met with
Indians who had guns, powder, knives, hatchets and cloth, which they
had got from the Europeans on the eastern coast. Again and again the
calumet saved Marquette and his friend from attack by the Indians, and
at length, fearing that they might fall into the hands of the Spaniards,
they turned northward again.
When they reached the Illinois river they followed the course of
that stream and made a portage into Lake Michigan. "We have seen
nothing equal to this river for the goodness of the land, ' ' said Marquette.
"The prairies, wood, cattle, deer, goats, bustards, swans, ducks, paro-
quets, and even beaver, abound here. There are many little lakes and
little rivers. ' ' They had started in June, and b>- September were back
222 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
to the French mission at Green Bay. Marquette lived for two years
among the Miami Indians. His death is very touching. The gentle
old man was making his way in his canoe to Macinac, in 1675, and
stopped on the eastern shore of Lake ^Michigan to raise an altar and
celebrate the mass. He seemed unaccountably sad, and asked his
companions to leave him alone a little while. They did so, and when
they came to him, found him dead.
When Joliet reached Montreal with his story of the expedition,
Robert Cavalier de La Salle, a Norman gentleman who had established
a trading post at Lachine, not far from ^Montreal, felt that the time for
an expedition had come. Frontenac gave La Salle letters of introduction
at court, and he succeeded in getting all he asked for. With thirty
men, plenty of stores and tools, he marched to Lake Ontario, made the
portage by Niagara Falls to Lake Erie, and at Port Frontenac built a
ship of forty-five tons. He named it the Griffin. She was armed with
seven cannons, and well built, considering the disadvantages of her
construction. She sailed westward in 1679, reaching the settlement of
Green Bay in September. The Griffin was freighted with fur, and
La Salle, with some of his men, walked to St. Joseph, at the head of
Lake Michigan, nearly opposite the river Chicago. Here he waited for
the Griffin.^ but it never appeared. Depressed, but determined, he
pushed westward, and established in the present La Salle county, in
Illinois, Fort Creve-Coeur. La Salle sent Father Hennepin to trace
the Illinois to the mouth, which he did, and then went up the Missis-
sippi as far as the falls of St. Antony. He was taken prisoner by the
Sioux. They allowed him to return to his own country, with the
promise that he would visit them the next year.
La Salle decided to return to Niagara, and left Henri de Tout}- in
charge at Creve-Cceur. The Iroquois Indians drove Tonty and his men
from the fort, and as he hurried down the west side of Lake Michigan,
La Salle came up the east side with reinforcements. Bitterly dis-
appointed at finding the fort deserted. La Salle returned to Montreal,
where he succeeded in making arrangements with his creditors — for the
loss of the Griffin had serious!}- embarassed him — for another expedition.
La Salle sailed in 1681, with twenty-three Frenchmen and eighteen
Indians. The Indians took with them ten of their wives. With the
party were the Chevalier Henri de Tonty, Father Zenobe, and Dautray,
the son of the Procureur General of Quebec. These crossed the lake to
the Chicago river, and it may interest the thousands who daily pass
over that torpid and ill-smelling stream to know that they named it the
THE HOLY VOYAGEURS. 223
"Divine River. " They stopped for a time upou the present site of
Chicago, and then went on to the mouth of the Illinois. La Salle went
on down the river as fast as the ice would permit him. On each side
lay the shores, snow-clad; the trees glittering through the long, quiet
nights with fairy frost. The stillness was absolute. It was not until
they had sailed forty-five leagues that they heard the sounds of men.
La Salle knew they had been seen by the savages, and thought it best
to build a fort. He sent the calumet of peace to the Indian chiefs, and
established pleasant relations immediately. He speaks particularly of
the gaj-ety of these southern Indians as compared with the severe and
sombre natives of the north. He left a cross there with St. Louis'
arms, and upon his return found that the Indians had surrounded it
with a palisade that it might not be harmed. Next he passed the
village of the Arkansas, where a superior people lived, with well-built
houses, having roofs of canes, fixed so as to form a dome. They were
ornamented with barbaric but effective paintings. They had furniture,
also, and understood the making of cloth. Next they came across the
Natchez Indians, and passing them, pushed on in the hope of finding the
sea. At last the water of the river tasted salt. A little further on and
it became saltier. A little further yet and they looked upon the sea.
Planting the cross, with the arms of France, they took possession of the
mouth of the Mississippi in the name of King Louis. The expedition
made its way back slowly. La Salle suffering from severe illness. The
report of his great discovery was sent to France, and finally La Salle
himself crossed to confer with King Louis. He was given power for
the colonization of Louisiana. Louisiana, as La Salle named the
territor)' for the King, included the present State of Louisiana and all
the territory north of the line of Texas and west of the Mississippi to
the Rocky Mountains.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Parkuian's "France and England in North America."
"Xa Salle's Discovery of the Great West."
CHAPTER XXXV.
LA SALLE LANDS ON THE SHORE OF TEXAS — HE IS MURDERED — THE HUT
IN THE WILDERNESS — THE EXPEDITION OF D' IBERVILLE — THE
SETTLEMENT OF NEW ORLEANS, AND THE MISSISSIPPI
— SCHEME OF JOHN LAW — THE MASSACRE OF
CHOPART — BIENVILLE'S ILL-FATED
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE
CHICKASAWS.
A SALLE set sail from France on the 24th of July,
1684, with four vessels and a fine equipment, but
one accident after another delayed him, and it was
almost a year before he neared the mouth of the
Mississippi. Through a miscalculation he passed
beyond the mouth of the river and landed farther
west. La Salle was sure that a mistake had been
made, but could not induce the captain of the fleet to
return, and had no choice but to land his goods where
he was. By this accident Texas was first of the Gulf
States, after Florida, to be settled by Europeans. The
ship master cruelly deserted La Salle, and returning to
France, abused the ear of the King with stories about
the great discoverer, which so injured him in the esteem
of the court that no relief was sent to him — relief which
he was in great need of Fortunately the Indians were gentle and
hospitable, and helped to supply the wretched little colony with food.
La Salle spent his time in unavailing searches for the Mississippi, which
came to seem to him at last like some mythical stream, having no
existence.
It was on one of these journeys that the gallant and unfortunate
explorer met his death. He left the post in charge of twenty of his
THE CHEVALIER LA SALLE. 225
colonists, and taking as many more with him, started out with no
guide but a compass and no protection from savages, except that fur-
nished by a few arms and his conciliatory policy. They had been out
about three months, when La Salle sent out a party in search of some
supplies which had been left upon a previous journey. This party
killed two buffaloes and sent back for horses to bring the meat to camp.
La Salle's young nephew, Morangetand, and two others, went with
the horses. Morangetand flew into a passion because the hunters had
set apart a portion of the meat for themselves. This the law of hunting
clearly entitled them to, but Morangetand was a hot-headed young
fellow, who had the pride of La Salle without his gentleness.
The hunters laid a plot for the killing of Morangetand and two
faithful servants who were with him. This they did at night while the
men were sleeping. The hunters lacked the courage to meet La Salle,
and lingered so long that the Chevalier grew anxious, and calling a
friar for company, walked in search of them. There is a tradition that
as he went a great sadness came over him. He talked of his successes
as if they were things of the past, and all the philosophy of the gentle
friar was not able to arouse him from this melancholy mood. As he
neared the place where he knew the hunters to be, he fired his pistol to
let them know of his approach, and the}' crossed the river to meet him.
He asked where his nephew was, and was answered insolently. La Salle
rebuked him, and the hunter fired, shooting him through the brain.
He was only forty-six years old, and in all his able life was never more
full of vigor and enterprise. Had he lived, the history of the Missis-
sippi valley would have been very different.
There was a quarrel among the murderers, in which the man who
fired the fatal shot was himself killed. The rest of the colony were
eager to get out of the wilderness as soon as they could. The good
friar and four others decided to push toward Canada, and mounting their
horses, bade their friends farewell. What became of those who
remained at the colony is not known. The friar and his friends, jour-
neying northward, came suddenly upon a cottage built in the French
style. Near it stood a cross. The bewildering effect of such a sight in
the heart of the wilderness can be imagined. It was the dwelling of
two of Henri de Tonty's men, Charpentier and De Launay, who had
been left on the banks of the Mississippi two years before. Here one
of the friar's friends remained. These three Frenchmen were the only
living souls left to mark the adventures of the French in the valley of
the Mississippi — Louisiana, the French called it.
226 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
It was ten years after La Salle's death before France made
any strong effort to renew the colonization of the Mississippi valley.
Sieur Lenioyne d' Iberville, son of the distinguished Baron Longueuil,
of Canada, was then given the command of an expedition fitted out by
the King for the planting of a colony. Baron Longueuil had eleven
sons, not to mention numerous young kinsmen, all of whom were men
of spirit. Many of them were concerned in the fierce fights of the French
and English at the north. D' Iberville had two frigates under his
charge when he left France, and the three vessels joined him at Saint
Domingo. This was in 1699. With him was that same friar who was
the friend of La Salle in that ill-fated colony, St. Louis. He it
was who pointed out to d' Iberville the strong, turbid flow of the
Mississippi, staining the blue gulf L^p the river they found Indians
who had cloaks which La Salle had given them, and a breviary which
the friar had left in 1682. The boats were moved from Biloxi Island
to the Mobile Bay, on d'Iber\-ille's first journey. The second time he
came, he found a point on the Mississippi river about thirty-eight miles
below the present city of New Orleans. This settlement, established in
1 700, was the first really made in Louisiana, as we know the State now.
That on the Mobile Bay was abandoned in a short time and re-estab-
lished on the Mobile river. By this time communication was established
between Canada and the settlements of Louisiana, by way of the great
river, Lake Erie, and the ]\Iiami Portage. About this time an English-
man by the name of Coxe sent out an expedition to explore and take
possession of the Mississippi, under a charter given to Coxe by Charles
II for the territor\- west of Florida. This expedition was met by one
of the Frenchmen, Bienville, the brother of d'lbervnlle, and when
inquiry' was made concerning the situation of the Mississippi, Bien-
ville, with a Frenchman's calm and polite exterior, told him that it was
farther west. The Englishman turned into that dismal countrj' where
La Salle had wandered so long. He who rides down the Mississippi
may still know the place where the Englishmen went into the wilder-
ness, by the name of "English Turn." Fortunately for the little
French colony, Spain and France were in alliance at this period, and
the Spanish governors of Mexico and Florida were willing to give such
help as they could. The King granted the whole territory to Antoine
Crozat. Crozat appointed as his Governor, Cadillac, a soldier, who came
to the colony in May, 17 13. It was but natural that Bienville, wko
had done so much practical work there — for his brother, d' Iberville, was
now dead — should resent the coming of the new officials. Their
THE CHEVALIER LA SALLE. 227
quarrels were the beginning of parties, which lasted for man}- years.
Cadillac was a determined explorer, and sent an expedition into
Texas which had much to do with the early histor}' of that State.
When he returned to France, in two years from the time of his coming,
M. de L'Epiany was appointed Governor in his stead. But Ivouisiana
was to have a success which no half-wa}- colonial enthusiasm could
make. With the death of Louis the Magnificent, in 1715, began the
reign of the Regent, Duke of Orleans, and with him there came into
power in France a company of detennined financiers, unscrupulous
men, who tried to avert the bankruptcy of the kingdom. Foremost
among these men was John Law, an Englishman, who was already
noted for daring business schemes, and who had laid out a plan for a
national bank which was far superior to anything of that day. France
was terribly in debt, and John Law proposed a bank discount which was
to issue bills redeemable in coin on merchants' notes. The Duke of
Orleans was the patron of this bank. Law asked and obtained Crozat's
privileges to the Mississippi trade, and formed a company which united
the commerce of Louisiana and the fur trade of Canada. This was
called the Western Company, and grants were given to it for twent}'-five
years. It had a nominal capital of 100,000,000 livres — an actual capi-
tal of about 40,000,000 livres. Unsubstantial as the actual value of this
property was, and as Louis must have known it to have been, it never-
theless satisfied the depressed merchants of France. Law worked hard ;
lie had troops sent over as well as vessels of colonists. Bienville was
once more made Governor-General of Louisiana. He selected New
Orleans for the capital, and in February, 1718, left fifty persons to
secure the loan and begin the building of houses. Vessels brought
large parties of colonists here the following years.
John Law's scheme seemed to succeed, and in 17 19 he so gained the
confidence of merchants, that he was able to join with the East India
Company of France. The name of the corporation was changed to the
Indian Company. New shares were now issued at a par of 500 li\rcs,
and no one was allowed to take any new shares who had not four old
•ones to show. For the first time for many years France found herself
in a seemingly prosperous condition. John Law's scheme did not show
itb hollov;ness, until at length the actual value of the bonds were put to
test. The Indian Company would not even accept their own shares as
collateral icr the purchase of new shares. It goes without saying that
no one else v.ould accept them in exchange for things of actual value.
All that vast stretch of land by the Mississippi, valuable enough to
228 THE STORY- OF AMERICA.
form the basis of a nation, had no value then, lying uncultivated and
uninhabited. Among other serious mistakes, France had made that of
sending adventurers and fortune-hunters, instead of industrious peasants,
to Louisiana.
The great bubble burst in 1770. Law was protected from the
consequences of his fatal scheme by becoming a Roman Catholic and
securing an appointment as minister. The valley of the Mississippi
ceased to be of great commercial interest to France, and was left to the
quiet attendance of the Jesuit missionaries; John Law's scheme had
brought to Louisiana several hundred colonists and had not been so
unfortunate an affair as might been expected from its magnitude and its
false basis. The Germans whom Law had brought over had been
deserted by him, but their habits of hard work and their love of nature
had been their preser\'ation. There still exist above New Orleans, on
the German coast, luxurious farms and homes, built by these exiles and
sustained by their descendants.
The French settlement at Natchez was the most prosperous of the
trading posts upon the river. The Natchez Indians were a very inter-
esting tribe, not lacking in some good form of government. Like all
of the rest of the southern Indians, they had imagination and warmth
of temperament. They were sun-worshipers. Their chief was called
Brother of the Sun. The temple in which he worshiped was built in
the shape of a dome, with walls of smooth clay. Three wooden eagles,
one red, another white, and the third yellow, perched above it. Mats
of braided straw were placed upon the top to furnish protection from
the rain. Around it was a palisade, in which were placed the skulls
the Natchez had brought back from battle. The palace of the chief
was not unlike the temple. It was built upon an artificial hill, so that
the first rays of the sun might awaken the chief, for the door fronted
the east. With many wild howls to the sun, he lighted his calumet
and devoted his first puffs to his mighty kinsman. He then directed
his course through the heavens by moving his hands from the east to
the west. The royal descent was traced through the female line. The
royal princesses were allowed to marn,- none but men of low family. It
was their sons who succeeded to the throne, and as soon as an heir
presumptive was born, a number of infants nearest his age were selected
to be his guard. All through his life he was taken care of by these
servants, who hunted for him and farmed for him, and when he died,
permitted themselves to be strangled, that they might continue to serve
him in another world. AH this is described by Charlevoix, who left
THE CHEVALIER LA SALLE. 229
Canada in 1720 to visit the Canadian missions, and stopped at Kask-
askia, in the present State of Illinois, the oldest settlement in that
State. Going down the river in a canoe made from a large walnut
tree, he visited the Gennan coast. New Orleans and Natchez. Charlevoix
says that the Natchez Indians had decreased rapidlj' in number, and
that in six years they had lost two thousand fighting men.
The commander of the fort at Natchez, in 1729, was Chopart, a man
both narrow and selfish. He sent to the Brother of the Sun and told
him that the French wished the Natchez to leave the site of their beau-
tiful village and give it up to the French. This the Natchez promptly
refused to do. Chopart insisted that they must move away, within two
months. Up to this time the Natchez had been friendly to the French,
but they now made up their minds that they must get rid of them.
They got the Choctaws to join in the plan, and little bunches of sticks
were exchanged between the chiefs to indicate the number of days
before that selected for the massacre, but unfortunately the little son of
the Natchez chief saw his father burning the sticks in the temple, and after
his father had left, burned two more which he added to the pack. This,
of course, misled the Choctaw chief When the day appointed by the
Natchez came, the)- gave a dinner to Chopart. He ate and drank with
them till 3 o'clock in the morning, and then returned to his home. In
a little while the Brother of the Sun came out with his warriors, who
bore the calumet high on a stick. They went to Chopart' s house
pretending they had come to bring him the tribute which he had told
them he would exact if they did not move from the village in two
months. Chopart, without dressing, opened the door and asked them
to enter. At that time, in every house in the settlement were one or
more Indians. Most of the chief's warriors went to the river, where a
well-laden galley had just come from New Orleans. Ever}- Indian
picked out a man among those working on the galley, and firing, killed
him. This was the signal for a general slaughter. In ever}- house tlie
Indians fell upon the settlers. Only one soldier escaped from the
garrison. Some of the women were killed, but most of them were
taken to be held as slaves. Two hundred Frenchmen were killed
within an hour's time, Chopart among them.
Two days later the Choctaws, down by New Orleans, sent a delega-
tion to the Brother of the Sun, and learned that the Natchez had already
moved against the French. The Choctaws, not understanding the
reason of the mistake in the day of the attack, turned all of their anger
against the Natchez. Fueitives from the massacre beran to arrive from
230 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
New Orleans and Perier. The commander of the fort there formed an
army, in which the Choctaws joined, to move against the Natchez
Indians. The Natchez Indians surrendered, leaving their town and
moving up the Red river. The next summer Perier moved after them
again. Once more they surrendered to him, and two hundred of them
were sold as slaves to Saint Domingo. Three hundred escaped, and
their descendants are living at this time upon the fanns in the valleys
of the Ouachita river.
The Western Company, hearing of the difficulties, represented its
losses to the King, and he assumed the responsibility of it by making it
a royal province. Bienville, who had been in France for some time,
was again sent over as Governor-General in 1736. The first thing he
did was to prepare an expedition to the remnant of the Natchez Indians.
The Chickasaws at that time were allies of the Indian colony, and sure
of their strength, refused to yield up the Natchez Indians, who were
given to thenr for protection. Bienville sent word to the fort at
Kaskaskia to meet him with as many men as he could muster on the
10th of May, in the Chickasaw country, so Bienville himself led out the
army from New Orleans to Mobile, on sixty small craft. He was met
by the Choctaws, his allies, and on the 24th began the building of a
rude fort seven miles distant from the Chickasaw village. When they
moved against the Chickasaw stockade they met with a heavy loss, and
were obliged to retreat. They were much puzzled at seeing Europeans
among the Chickasaw Indians. These they supposed to be Englishmen,
but they were the Frenchmen from Kaskaskia, who had moved upon
the day set by Bienville and had been taken prisoners. The Indian
allies had forced the commander to attack, instead of allowing them to
wait, as his judgment told him, for the reinforcement from New Orleans.
After the retreat of Bienville on the 24th, this unfortunate commander
and all of his followers were taken to a plain, tied to stakes, and burned
to death. Bienville's warriors, who had been left upon the field over
night, had their bodies cut to pieces and their heads stuck defiantly on
the palisades of the Chickasaws.
Four years later, in 1740, Bienville led another expedition against
the Chickasaws by way of the Mississippi river. He had heavy reinforce-
ments from Fort Assumption, which was near the site of the present
city of Memphis. The Chickasaws were alarmed, and offered to
surrender all the white slaves in their po.ssession on condition of peace.
Bienville accepted the terms. After an absence of ten months the an^ay
returned to New Orleans. Fort Assumption was torn down, and no
THE CHEVALIER LA SALLE. 23 1
Other militan- post was put in its place for one hundred and twenty
\ears. In 1741 Bienville returned to France.
Three years later than this there were but 1,700 white men, 1,500
women, and 2,020 slaves in the whole Mississippi valley, after thirty-
years of expensive colonization. Ffteen years later, when Louis X\'
had come to the throne, there was a falling off of these homes. For
eight years after the return of Bienville to France, the Marquis de
Vandreuil held the position of royal Governor. The colony was in
constant alarm from fear of the English by sea and the Indians by land
— alarm which was greater than the case called for. In 1751 the
Marquis had two thousand soldiers under his orders and the expenses of
the colony were entirely out of proportion to its comforts. It was the
fanners, quietly working upon their plantations, who conquered the
Mississippi valley and made it valuable. Cotton was being raised, gin
and sugar manufactured, indigo cultivated, and the common vegetables
and fniits raised for the personal use of the settlers. Already in Illinois
wheat was becoming so successful a product that it was exported to the
distant seaport. The mines of copper and lead were being developed
in the Northwest, and silk and tobacco were being introduced.
Following, came the administration of Kerleric, which lasted for ten
years. At the end of that time he was thrown into the Bastile, accused
with misappropriating mone}-.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Parkman's "France and England in North America."
CHAPTER XXXVI.
i\$ Jfanh of iolh*
CALIFORNIA — SPANISH EXPLORERS — THE JOURNEY OF SIR FRANCIS
DRAKE — THE COAST INDIANS — EXPEDITION OF ESPEJO —
OVERTHROW OF THE JESUITS — ONATE AND HIS
LABORS — THE MISSIONS AT THE SOUTH —
•\ ~\_ THE DECLINE OF SPAIN AND HER
J^ i%/'J, COLONIES.
^
AIvIFORNIA did not receive its name as the
other States did. It took it from a certain fantastic
romance, written by a Spanish author. This
romance pictured an imaginary kingdom glittering
with gold and diamonds, in which the most
extraordinary events were constantly taking jslace,
and where riches were free to everyone. The
name of this remarkable land was California, and, oddly
enough, its imaginary riches were hardly greater than
those which the most western of our States actually
contained. Cortez, always ambitious and eager for con-
quests, sent out Hernando Grijalva, in 1534, on an
expedition of discovery to the Pacific coast. It is not
strange that the Spaniards gave the name of the
romance to a country whose charms are so great that the people marvel
over them to-day as they did then. The methods of Grijalva were too
languid to suit the nervous and impatient Cortez, and the following
year, taking four hundred Spaniards and three hundred slaves with him,
he himself embarked for California. Not only was he impatient for
the conquest of this productive land, but was anxious to see if he could
learn the fate of a small expedition which he had previously sent north
by land. He had only well started on his journey of discovery, when
he heard that his civil power had been taken from him and given to
the Viceroy, Mendoza. His militar>' position was all that vas left him,
THE LAND OF GOLD. 2^^
and he was obliged to return to Mexico, after coasting on both sides of
the Gulf of California. Francisco de Ulloa was sent to take up the
exploration. Pearls were found in the Gulf of California at the very
first, and the pearl fishery that has continued to this day was systemat-
ically taken up then. Reports of the richness of this country excited
the jealousy of Mendoza, the ruler of Mexico, and he determined to
send out an explorer himself in the same direction that Ulloa had
taken. The Spaniards were excited with the reports brought to them
by the four men who had started with Narvaez from Florida. These
men, it will be recollected, traveled alone from Florida to the Gulf of
California. They brought tales of seven wonderful cities which,
contained castles built of gold, silver, turquoise and diamonds.
Vasquez Coronado was the man chosen to go in search of these. It
was not long before he reached the territory which the men had
described as the "seven cities" but in them, alas! was found no gold,
silver, diamonds nor turquoise. There were, however, very substan-
tial buildings, three or four lofts high, with ladders leading from one
story to another. The people wore cotton dresses and had taste in
cooker)-. But Coronado was not after evidences of civilization, but in
search of gold, and he pushed hastily on. Two years of disappoint-
ment followed, until at length the perplexed and disheartened Spaniard
went mad, and his party returned to Mexico. Meantime, in 1543 a
voyage was made northward along the coast, which laid open to the
Spaniards a portion of California. This was under the charge of
Cabrillo, who went as far north as Cape Mendosino. He found it too
cold to go farther. From this point the Spanish fleets, for long years
after, took their departure on their journey to the East Indies. Other
Spanish voyagers made much the same trip, but none of them discov-
ered a seaport in California.
This, Sir Francis Drake, the English seaman, who has been written
of in the first chapters of this book, did. It will be remembered that
he passed through the Straits of Magellan and came up the Pacific
Ocean in 1578. One of his vessels was lost in a gale, the second
deserted him, and he was left to make his voyage alone in the Pelican.
His crew suffered terribly from the cold, on reaching forty-eight degrees
north latitude, although it was in the month of June. He hurried
away from this discouraging port and landed in a "goodly bay," which
some identify with the beautiful Bay of San Francisco.
When the Indians heard of the arrival of the white men, they
gathered in large numbers to see them, and the King, a man of
234 I'HK STORY OF Aj/lEFaCA..
dignified stature, came, with a guard of a hundred brave*, tc? -welcome
him. In front of the King marched a tall man carrying a jceptre of
black wood a j^ard and a half long. Upon it hung two crowns, and
dangling from these were chains of bone. Each link was a mark of
honor. All of the Indians wore skins, and the King wore rabbit's
skin — a mark of royal distinction. Their heads were decorated with
feathers of rare birds. They entertained Drake with a long ceremony,
ending in a dance, after which they asked the Englishman to be King
of their country. The crown was set upon Drake's head, and all the
chains of honor hung about his neck. Drake thought it wise to accept
these honors in the spirit which they were given, and took the countr}-
in the name and for the use of Queen Elizabeth. It must not be
forgotten that this was away back in 1579. Then followed a wild
scene in which all the common people yelled and howled, and tore the
skin from their faces with their nails, meaning to offer sacrifice to their
new and mysterious Governor. Drake and his friends made a visit into
the interior, where the Indian villages were. They found the countr}-
fruitful, filled with game and excellently adapted for settlement.
Neither Drake nor his men would have objected to lingering longer
among these friendly tribes in a land of such unusual beaut)-, but their
disabled ship was repaired and there was need for hastening back with
reports of the voyage. A monument was left in the port composed of
a copper plate, fastened to a wooden post. Upon this plate was engraved
the right of Queen Elizabeth to the kingdom, the Queen's picture and
Drake's arms. The Indians mourned exceedingly when Drake left
them, and built bright fires on the cliffs to cheer his departure over the
waters.
In 1581, Augustine Reyes, a Franciscan Father, went northward
and rediscovered the pleasant land of which Coronado had written, and
was able to guess at the site of the "seven cities." Reyes started
thither, with two brethren of his order and eight soldiers, for the
purpose of making converts to the Catholic faith among the Indians.
But one of the friars was killed by the Indians, and the soldiers, fearing
for their safety, deserted, leaving the two friars to go on alone. When
the soldiers passed Santa Barbara, the)' confessed the state the)- had left
the unfortunate Fathers in, and aroused the indignation of Antonio de
Espejo, who hurried to their relief with a caravan of fifteen horses and
mules and some Indian guides. Espejo discovered man)- interesting
tribes of Indians who had progressed in the arts and industries to an
unusual extent. Some of them wore cotton garments, striped with
THE LAND OF GOLD. 235
white and blue. Others understood the tanning of leather so well that
the Spaniards held it to be as fine as anything done in Flanders. The
great rivers and mighty forests, the mountains and the fruitful plains
delighted them, but they were obliged to press on after the priests whom
they were hurr}-ing to succor. In the country which they named New
Mexico, they found people dressed in cotton and leather, with good
boots and shoes. At last they learned that the poor Franciscan Fathers
had been killed, and Espejo devoted himself merely to exploration,
leaving a large part of his company in camp near the Tiguas tribe of
the "sixteen towns." He found idols in some of the houses; umbrellas
decorated with the sun, moon and stars were in use by one tribe, and
many had wrought the precious metals into forms of ornament. Espe-
cially interesting was the town of Acoma, which was inhabited by six
thousand Indians. It was built on a high cliff, fifty platforms in height,
and reached by steps cut out of the rock. The water was drawn from
cisterns. Of course no crops could be raised upon the site of this rockj-
city. The farms lay two leagues away and were irrigated by artificial
means.
Espejo at length visited the country which Coronado had entered
half a century before. Here he found Christians and some baptized
Indians, who understood the Spanish language. This was the great
province of Zuni, which still holds its name and keeps the old customs
as Espejo saw them in the last half of the sixteenth century. After
journeying still farther, Espejo came to rich silver mines, but it is not
known in what direction he journeyed. When Espejo rejoined his
party he found most of them determined to return to Santa Barbara.
He, with eight soldiers, concluded to explore the river Del Norte. It
was two years before he ended his journeyings.
Until 1595 the great western territon- remained undisturbed. Then
the Count Monterey, at that time Viceroy of Mexico, and Juan de Onate
went into New Mexico to plant colonies in the valley of the Rio Grande.
Saute Fe, which was one of Onate' s settlements, was founded before
Jamestown, and is, therefore, next to vSt. Augustine, the oldest town in
the United States. This settlement had in its beginning one hundred
soldiers and five hundred settlers, and the number continued to be about
the same for a hundred years. Indian raids were not infrequent, and
the people could offer but little resistance until 1692, when Diego
de Barges established Spanish garrisons in the valley. El Paso, on the
Mexican frontier, was one of Onate' s settlements.
Farther west, on the ocean coast, .Spain followed up the discoveries
236 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
of Drake. It is not necessary to mention each one of these. Spanish
names were given to the coast, and Spain claimed it as her own,
although she took but very languid interest in it. It was the Jesuits,
anxious for the saving of souls, who finally settled upon the peninsula
of California. Francisco Kino, a devoted brother of the Jesuit society,
infused with a noble enthusiasm, undertook to Christianize the penin-
sula. A series of missions were founded by him, and in 1697 he
succeeded in getting a mission built in lower California. On the west
side of the gulf was Father Salvatierra, and on the east side Father
Kino. These two men, both systematic and capable of clear leadership,
constantly helped one another. The system of the Fathers was very
complete. The Indians were taught the Spanish language, and were
induced to attend religious services ever}' day. Those who did so were
supplied with rations. The sick, old and helpless were provided with
food. All of the Indians were given coarse cloth, cloaks and blankets.
The missionaries instructed them in the cultivation of their fields, but
finding that the Indians would not harvest and preserve the crops, they
themselves took care of them. Wine was one of the first products of
California, bnt the Fathers soon found it was necessary to keep it from
the Indians.
By the time that the missions had existed in California for a gener-
ation they were surrounded with a semi-civilized set of men and women
who gave up the wild life of the forest for the more laborious and quiet
one of the farms.
Lonely and desolate, the little missions stood out from the savagery
of the villages. In them there were often but two Spaniards, a Father
and a soldier. The missions were well built, with a touch of that
Moorish architecture which the Spaniards had made their own. Not
alone were the missions the schools, the churches and the depot for sup-
plies, but they served for courts of justice as well, and any culprit was
punished there according to the judgment of the Spaniards. The
children were educated in reading, writing and singing, and many of them
were sent to Soreto, the chief station. Such of these as showed unusual
intelligence were made church-wardens at the various rancherios.
One Father taught his Indians to spin wool and weave it, and he him-
self made the staffs, wheels and looms. This was opposed to the
policy of Spain, which wished to force all her colonists to purchase man-
ufactures direct from home. It was this same policy which kept the
settlements of the Spaniards so far behind those of the English and
French. Cortez tried to encourage manufactures in the colonies, but
THE LAND OF GOLD. 237
his policy was overturned, and the people received from Mexico the
cloth which had been made in Holland and sold in Spain. The Fathers
continued to form new missions whenever some benefactor could be
found who would give an endowment of $10,000, $6,000 of which was
put at interest and devoted to the education and care of the Indians.
Each Father kept a chronicle of all which happened to him, and these
engaging narratives helped not a little in the collection of money in
Mexico and Spain. The mines of Arizona began to be richly devel-
oped, and it is still possible to see the remains of old mining operations
there. Every little while the Indians, who seemed so obedient and
trustful, would uprise suddenly and war with each other in their old
savage fashion. In their hearts they resented this easy conquest of the
Spaniards. The eloquence of their orators was leveled against the
woman-like patience with which the braves sat down to eat the bread of
charity, and from time to time the well-fed proteges of the missions
were lashed into insurrection. After the death of Father Kino, in 17 ir,
the missions Ijegan to decay. He had baptized more than forty thou-
sand infidels, founded numerous churches, and conducted valuable
explorations.
Spain, herself, was losing her glory, and it was not strange that the
little missions, to which she had always been more or less indifierent,
should suffer early from her decline. After this comes a histor>' of
revolts, and at last, June 25, 1767, came the decree of the council
chamber of Charles III for the expulsion of the Jesuits.
The land upon the Gulf of Mexico had not been entirely neglected
by the Spaniards. In 1690 a mission was established at the spot where
La Salle's unfortunate colony had been. Other missions and militarj'
posts were established about Texas and New Mexico. But in 1693 the
Spaniards were driven from them by the Indians. However, there still
remained, on the west side of the Rio Grande, the posts known as
Presidio del Norte and El Paso.
In 17 1 2, Louis the XIV gave the grant of Louisiana to Antonio
Crozat, which included the land reaching to the Rio Grande on the
west. Between this country and Mexico there has always been a brisk
smuggling trade. The first Texas missions were founded by the Fran-
ciscan Fathers, who used much the same plan that the Jesuits had done
farther west. When the war of 17 18 was declared between France and
Spain, the little settlements on these distant frontiers thought it
behooved them to imitate the home countries, and war with each other.
One large expedition was fitted out to move against the French settle-
238
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
ments of the Upper Mississippi. The Spaniards lost their way and fell
in with some Indians who massacred them and took all of their arms.
After this Spain made no other attempt to settle on the land of the
Upper Mississippi. In 1728 the Spanish government transported four
hundred from the Canary Islands to Texas. A portion of these settled
at San Antonio, Texas, but the growth of Texas was ver\' slow, and the
deadly policj' of Spain took the life from the colonists.
I-OR I'URTHKR RE.A.DING:
History — Bancroft's "Histor>- of California."
Hittell's "Historj- of San Francisco."'
Help's "Spanish Conquest of America."
Kip's "Karlv Jesuit Missions in North America."
Curtis' "ChiWren of the .Sun."
CHAPTER XXXVII.
as.
SIR NATHANIEL JOHNSON IN CAROLINA — STRATEGY AT FORT JOHNSON
— RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES — MASSACRE OF 1711 — UPRISING
IN SOUTH CAROLINA THE YEMASSEES — THE BUC-
CANEERS — REBELLION AGAINST THE
PROPRIETORS.
J.FTER Governor Moore's administration in South
Carolina, which, through his ill-advised move
against St. Augustine, plunged the colony so
heavily in debt, Sir Nathaniel Johnson was
appointed to office in Moore's place. Johnson
was a man who had more of the instincts of a
general than of a ruler. His administration was
marked by one of those religious disputes which made
so much trouble in all the early colonies. It arose
from an act passed by his first assembh', taking away
the civil rights from all who blasphemed the Trinit}', or
refused to believe in the divine authority of the Bible,
and condemning them to three years' imprisonment.
Following this, came a law which required every
citizen who belonged to the assembly to conform to
the religion of the Church of England. By this law every Puritan of
whatever shade of belief was robbed of his civil rights, though these
dissenters were far greater in number than the Episcopalians. This
Episcopal minority, of course, represented the Lord Proprietors who
governed the colony. The dissenters sent John Ashe to England to
beg the protection of the Proprietors, but he got no satisfaction from
them. Another agent, Joseph Boone, was sent to England to make an
appeal to the House of Lords. They referred the petition to the Queen,
with a prayer that the wrongs of the colonists might be righted, and
Queen Anne declared the laws to be null and void.
240 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Though Johnson was so injudicious a ruler, he had some qualities
which were not to be despised. At one time, when he learned that an
attack was to be made upon Charleston by the French and Spanish, he
superintended a pretty piece of strategy, which is worth relating. On
James Island, in Charleston harbor. Fort Johnson held a few men for
the protection of the city. William Rhett was placed as admiral over
the militia of the province, which, with guns and ammunition, was put
on board six merchant vessels which were in harbor. These prepara-
tions had barely been completed when the invading fleet, consisting of
a frigate and four smaller vessels, under the command of Captain Le
Feboure, sailed up and demanded a surrender. The man who brought
the demand was blindfolded and taken from fortification to fortification.
In each one of these he saw a well-armed and uniformed force, and
never guessed that the men in each fortification were always the same,
and that they hurried quietly before his blindfolded eyes. He went
back to his commander and reported the extent of the force. Rhett
managed his little fleet of merchant vessels with such skill that Le
Feboure was unable to make a landing, and in a few days the French
retreated.
The religious difierences of the colony were not easily quieted. In
spite of the fact that John Archdale, the Quaker, was one of the
Proprietors, the Friends were at one time refused seats in the assembly.
The war of words between the dissenters and the Episcopalians was
constant. These disputes led to serious political complications. After
Johnson was removed. South Carolina was in doubt for some time as to
who was really Governor, such misunderstandings and contentions
were there. When the claimants for office tried to summon an armed
force and to move against each other, the militia quietly refused to
obey. It was not until 17 13 that Charles Eden was appointed Governor
by the Proprietors and that religious freedom was allowed to be the
right of every man in the Carolinas. During the last four years the
colonies had not only been rent by internal rebellion and bitter perse-
cutions, but by savage wars with the Indians as well. In 17 11 the
Tuscaroras succeeded in uniting in North Carolina all of the smaller
tribes, as well as the half-civilized Indians about the colonies, in a
general conspiracy against the English. On an appointed morning a
single war-whoop was given just at break of day and in every house the
servants rose against their masters. All about the villages lurked bands
of savages waiting to fall upon the .settlements in an unguarded moment.
Few Indian massacres were conducted with so much fierceness and
/a^ /^//a^.
^yLyt^d^tT-i'
THE CAROLINAS. 24I
decision. In most cases there was a blunder somewhere, but here,
unfortunately, there was none. Many hundred were killed within that
hour at day-break through all the settlements, and for three days the
tide of murder swept on from south to north, stopping at last for want of
more victims to kill. In all Indian warfare the burning of houses and
destruction of property was as much a part of the fight as the killing
of men. Governor Hyde begged Virginia and South Carolina for aid.
Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, interceded with the Indians, but
Governor Craven, of South Carolina, sent a body of militia and several
hundred friendly Indians hurriedly through the wilderness to the aid of
the sister colony. In an open battle the Tuscaroras suffered heavy loss.
The distracted remnant of settlers in North Carolina kept shut up in
their garrison. The crops they had planted with so much care were
destroyed. Little was left of the pleasant fanns and villages. The
little store of wealth which had been accumulated through the patient
years was gone, and in almost ever>' family there was mourning for the
murdered. Through the long winter of 17 13 this remnant of a colony
dragged out a wretched existence, owing what little life it had to the
protection of the soldiers from the South. A treat>' was made at last
with the Indians, and the soldiers retired to their homes. When the
Indians were freed from their presence they broke their treaty, and the
following summer was spent by both the English and the Indians in
preparations for a renewal of the war. At the close of the summer
Governor Hyde died, and Colonel Pollock was chosen Governor. He
used the best means in his power for the protection of his colony.
Realizing its limited resources and how few men it had to defend it, he
sowed division among the Indians, weakening their party. Help came
both from Virginia and South Carolina, and in an attack upon the
Indians, in the spring, many of them were killed and eight hundred
taken prisoners and carried to South Carolina as slaves.
The next colony to suffer from the Indians was South Carolina
itself. In the spring of 1715 there was a sudden uprising among the
Yemassees, the tribe who had been the allies of the South Carolinians
in their conflict with the Tuscaroras. As in North Carolina, a day was
agreed upon, and the outbreak came with horrible suddenness. More
than four hundred were murdered, and many hundred homes were
burned. There was in the whole colony only one proof of friendship
between the races. Sanute, a Yemassee chief, had a great reverence
for a bonny Scotch woman who lived with her husband upon the
frontier. After the habit of his race when they vowed friendship, he
15
242 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
had washed his face with scented water and crossed his hands upon his
breast, vowing that he should eternally be her friend. When the
massacre was agreed upon, he warned her, and she and her husband fled
to the coast. An organized force was led against the Yemassees by
Governor Craven, and the Indians were defeated, and pushed through
the wilderness across the Florida border. The Indians were now
practically driven from the Carolinas — a country full of traditions for
them and for which they had bravely fought. All the lands which had
been reser\'ed to the Yemassees were taken possession of by the colony,
but these the Proprietors wrenched from them for their own use, and
the new emigrants, hastening over to the territory which was opened
up to them, were ruined by the demands for rent and purchase money.
Governor Craven, of South Carolina, was succeeded by Robert Johnson,
a son of the former Governor, Sir Nathaniel Johnson. He took charge
of the colony under great difficulties. The Proprietors had taken away
all independent legislation from the assembly, and assumed the right to
reject and repeal all laws as they saw fit. The revenue was taken off
the imported British goods, which had been used for the support of the
colony, and the pirates who lurked about the Carolinian coast had
become so bold that it was necessary to incur the expense of open
conflict with them. The vessels of these buccaneers were so well armed
and manned that they were able to capture merchantmen within sight
of Charleston. When any person fell into their hands they extracted
a ransom from the government. The admiral of these rovers was the
famous Blackbeard, who had a squadron of six vessels under his
command. He and his dare-devil captains had a station at the mouth
of Cape Fear river. From here they could sally out upon any vessels
bound for Charleston, and thus seriously injure the commerce of the
colon}-. William Rhett, who had so cleverly managed the little fleet of
merchantmen at the time of the French invasion, was put in command
of a ship sent out to capture Steed-Bonnet, one of Blackbeard's most
dreaded allies. It had been thought almost impossible to take him, but
Rhett attacked his pirate vessel with its crew of thirty, captured them
and took them to Charleston, where they were hanged. Another of
the pirate captains, Morely, angered at his companions' fate, soon after
this sailed defiantly into the mouth of the harbor. Governor Johnson
took command of his ship himself, and went out to meet him. The
Governor's crew was triumphant, and boarded the pirate, killing ever)'
one except the captain and one of the crew. These, though bleeding
with many wounds, still refused to surrender, and were taken to
TUE CAROLINAS. 243
Charleston and hurriedly hung, that the Carolinians might have the
satisfaction of seeing them swing. A royal proclamation had been
made some time before, promising pardon to all pirates who would
surrender, and Blackbeard, with twenty of his friends, went to Governor
Eden, of North Carolina, and took advantage of this proclamation. He
rioted aboitt the village for a time, and then took to his life on the sea
again. Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, offered a large reward for his
head. Two armed sloops were fitted out and sent after him. He heard
of their coming and made preparations. His twenty-five men were
ready to fight to the death. He boarded one of the sloops, which had
got aground, with the expectation of making an easy victory, but a
large reserved force of men who had been kept below, sprang upon the
deck as the pirates poured over the sides. A hand-to-hand fight
followed, and the two captains closed upon each other. After they had
fired their pistols they fought with dirks, until Blackbeard fell. The
successful \'irginian party boarded the pirate vessels and made prisoners
of the rest of the crew. A negro had been put with a fire-brand ac the
magazine, with orders from the captain to blow up the ship as soon as
she was taken, but he was discovered, and the act prevented. Black-
beard's head was stuck upon the end of the bowsprit, and the young
commander of the Virginian troops, Lieutenant Maynard, sailed proudly
back into the Chesapeake.
South Carolina had just got this well off"her mind and was freed from
the depredations of the buccaneers, when she was threatened with
Spanish invasion. Governor Johnson promptly called for money to
prepare defences. The assembly said there was no money, and that the
tax upon imports ought to be enough. The Governor reminded the
assembly that the Proprietors had repealed the law. The assembly
replied that they had nothing more to do with the matter. There was
no Spanish invasion, as expected, but the difficulties between the Pro-
prietors and the assembly had reached a climax. The people prepared
for revolution, feeling they could stand the tyranny of the Proprietors
no longer. Governor Johnson was held in respect and affection, in
spite of the fact that he represented the hated Proprietors. His sin-
cerity and good sense had won the hearts of the people, but notwith-
standing this, they refused now to obey him or pay any attention to his
orders while he voiced the will of rulers so tyrannical and unjust. The
people elected a Governor for themselves — Colonel James Moore — and he
was inaugurated on the same day that the militia was assembled for the
revolution in Charleston. Governor Johnson had been at his plantation,
244 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
and when he came into Charleston he found the city alive with excite-
ment. Dnims were beaten about the streets, the ships were decorated
with bunting, work was given up, and in the town square stood the
militia of the whole province. Johnson tried to reason with the lead-
ing men. Some he indignantly reproved, and he ordered Colonel
Parris, who was at the head of the troops, to disperse his men at
once. This Parris refused to do, saying that he was there in obedience
to the orders of the assembly, and when Johnson insisted upon having
his commands obeyed, the soldiers were ordered to present their guns,
and Johnson was told that he came nearer at the peril of his life. No
one came to Johnson's side, and he saw that although he had not one
enemy among those around him, the cause of the Proprietors was lost.
He was led politelj' from the field by one of the leaders of the uprising,
more popular than ever, perhaps, for the courage with which he had
faced the loaded muskets of the troops. Both parties sent agents to
England to present their sides of the difficulty, and in 1721 the govern-
ment was taken away from the Proprietors and became a royal province.
Sir Francis Nicholson, who seemed to be the favorite adjuster of diffi-
culties in the colonies, was sent over by the King.
Queen Anne was dead, and George I had been King for over six-
years. Nicholson showed his usual good sense. He imderstood what
the people needed, and was nothing if not a diplomat. He secure '
peaceful relations with both the Spaniards and the Yemassees. He
signed treaties with the Cherokees and Creeks, on the west, and encour-
aged the building of churches and the laying out of parishes, sending to
England for pastors. This was not so much that he had any personal
religious enthusiasm, as that he knew the church was one of the comer-
stones of government, and that it would greatly help the people in
educational as well as religious and social affairs. There had not been
a public school in the whole province when he came, but he constantly
urged the necessity for them, and even used his private means, until at
the close of his four years of administration a fair system of education
had been begun. In 1729, both the northern and southern colonies
were purchased by the crown. Lord Carteret refusing to sell his share,
and retaining all the territory from 34° 35' to the boundarj- of \'irginia,
and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. After this, North and
South Carolina became legally two separate provinces. Burrington was
the first royal Governor of North Carolina, but in a short time was dis-
placed by Gabriel Johnson, who was appointed in 1734 and remained
Governor of the colony for twenty years. In South Carolina, Robert
THE CAROIJNAS. 245
Johnson, the Governor who had been so determined under the rule of
the Proprietors, was sent back with a royal commission. He was wel-
comed with enthusiasm, and for the four remaining years of his life
worked to restore order, peace and prosperity. The colony was a
mixed one, including English, French, Irish, Scotch and Spanish, dif-
fering in taste, religion and educational prejudices. Besides these,
were about twenty-two thousand African slaves, not to mention the half-
civilized Indians who hung about the colonies. There were a great
many white slaves at this time, and from these degraded people came
the "poor whites" of the South. With such a population as this, Gov-
ernor Johnson's difficulties were many, especially as the debts of South
Carolina were heavier than ever before. But the colony was now too
strong for its life to be again in danger. Its prosperity was assured.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Ramsey's "South Carolina."
Williamson's "North Carolina."
Fiction— W. G. Simms' "The Yemassee."
A. J. Requier's "The Old Sanctuary."
Matilda Douglas' "Blackbeard."
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
%rm jllli^s nnh l^-uia^s.
HOW GEORGIA CAME TO BE SETTLED — THE EMIGRANTS — THE WESLEY?
AND WHITEFIELD — THE MARCH OF THE SLAVES — THE
SPANISH ATTACK GEORGIA AS A
ROYAL PROVINCE.
HE English colonies of the North had been settled
b}" men who thought themselves righteous.
The most southern colony of the English —
Georgia — was settled by men who were manifestly
unrighteous. They were taken largely- from the
jails of England. It came about through a
movement for the reformation of English jails. James
Oglethorpe, a humane gentleman, taking great interest
in the poor and criminal classes of England, came to the
conclusion that in another countn- they might be made
good citizens. He procured a grant of land in the
summer of 1732, which was granted to twenty trustees
for the benefit of the poor of the kingdom, and included
all of the land between the Savannah and Altamaha
rivers. Oglethorpe was a gentleman of courtly manners
and of ver)' noble family. He was also a soldier of experience. Sub-
scriptions were obtained through England for the benefit of this colony,
and a company of people were carefully chosen from the destitute
among the large cities. They were largely laborers out of employment,
or debtors who had long been imprisoned by their creditors. Ogle-
thorpe himself took charge of the first company of emigrants. This
contained about one hundred and fourteen persons. The place which
they .selected for settlement was the site of the present city of Savannah.
Under the intelligent direction of Oglethorpe, matters went well
with the .settlement from the beginning. The people were divided into
three parties. One prepared land for cultivation, a second felled trees,
and a third built palisades. Until the town was built they lived in
FROM ALLEYS AND BV-WAYS. 247
teuts. Their first care was to prepare a batteiY' and a magazine.
Laborers were brought from Charleston to help in building, and
Oglethorpe laid out the plan of the beautiful city of Savannah, which
has been preserved to this day, and which stands as a monument to his
judgtnent and taste. Even the names of the streets are, in many cases,
the same which he gave. In a short time other colonists were sent over
from England. A treaty was made with the Indians, and local govern-
ment was established. South Carolina was most friendly to the colony,
and gave it much help. As soon as possible substantial dwellings were
put up in place of the cabins first erected. The manufacture of silk
was made one of the principal industries of the colony, and a light-house
was built on Tybee Island, ninety- feet in height. A company of
Highlanders built Fort Argyle, on the Ogeechee river, as a defence
against the Spanish. In the first year and a half the colony increased
to nearly five hundred persons. Besides the poor of England, there
came many Highlanders from Scotland, and they took most kindly to
American life, being used to hunting and to the cultivation of a sterile
soil. Their half-barbaric, picturesque garb, the music of their bagpipes,
and their love for a life in the wilderness, won the admiration and
friendship of the Indians.
There came, also, a compau}- of Salzburgers to Georgia. These
people were of a religious sect which had been persecuted for centuries.
For a time a handful of them had found comparative peace in the
valle\- of Salzburg, a province of Bavaria, but as they increased in
numbers the wrath of the church was again turned against them,
and the}' were driven from their homes, wives and husbands separated,
and children taken to be raised in the Catholic Church. Twentj'
thousand of them found refuge in Prussia. Some fled to Holland and
some to England. In England, they were kindly received, and it was
thought that a safe as}-lum might be provided for them in the American
colony. Fifty families, still living near Salzburg, accepted the invita-
tion, and marched through Gennany to the northern coast, carrying
the young and old, with their few provisions, in rude carts. When
they came through a Catholic district they were persecuted, but when
the district was a Protestant one they were treated with great kindness,
the peasants even carrying the women and children in their arms from
one town to another. It was man\-, many wear}- months before they
reached Savannah. Their industn- and their long acquaintance with
privation made them ver>' valuable to a new colony, although, like the
Friends, they did not believe in the taking up of arms, and would
248 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
furnish no men to the fighting force of the community. Lands were
given them on the Savannah river, which they selected themselves, and
named the place Ebenezer. Soon after their arrival, in the spring of
1734, Oglethorpe went to England, returning in the winter with about
three hundred persons. With him came two young men by the name
of Wesley, who stayed in Georgia but a short time. The people did
not guess at that time the lofty strain of genius which ran in them,
and which was to bring such powerful influence to bear on all
Christendom in after years. John Wesley had a church at Savannah,
and when he left, his friend, George Whitefield, who was to be no less
noted than himself, took his place there. He and Wesley had been
friends at Oxford. Oglethorpe brought with him on his second voyage
two acts of Parliament. One of them prohibited the introduction of
spirituous liquors in the colony and the other forbade the bringing of
slaves. Unfortunately neither of these laws could be enforced. White-
field fought the introduction of slaves for a time, but at length he
himself yielded to it, and worked large plantations with them, using
the money for the benefit of an orphan asylum which he built near
Savannah. His influence had much to do with the introduction of
slaves in Georgia.
A large part of the emigrants which Oglethorpe had brought over
with him were put on the Island of St. Simons, at the mouth of the
Altamaha river. The island was made formidable with forts and
batteries. The Governor made an imfortunate move against St. Augus-
tine, and was severely repulsed there. On his third visit to England he
obtained a military commission which included South Carolina as well
as Georgia. In the summer of 1739 he learned that the Spanish were
tr}-ing to make allies of the Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, who
had formerly been friendly to the English. Zomo Chi-Chi, the
friendly chief whom the first settlers of Savannah had used as an
interpreter, begged Oglethorpe to attend a council three hundred miles
northwest of Savannah, at which the chiefs were to gather. It took him
one month to go and return, going through an unbroken wilderness, which
no settler had previously entered. Not alone did he have the intenni-
nable forests of the South to pass, but the bewildering swamps as
well. He met chiefs of numerous tribes, who could bring seven thou-
sand warriors into the field, and gained such influence over them that it
was a protection to Georgia through all his life, and indeed long after that
useful life had ended. Shortly after this, the slaves of Carolina arose
and began a march toward Florida, destroying the plantations and
FROM ALLEYS AND BY-WAYS. 249
killing the whites as they went, but getting badly intoxicated, they
were surrounded by a body of militia and dispersed, a few being taken
prisoners and others killed.
In 1742 the Spaniards made up their minds to retaliate for the
English expedition against St. Augustine, and sent a fleet of thirty
vessels, with a force of five thousand men, against Georgia. Oglethorpe
got his Highland forces together from Darien, and all Indian allies who
were in reach. A force of about eight hundred men were put in the
field. Oglethorpe's action in this was gallant, though he only had a
merchant vessel of twenty guns and two schooners of fourteen guns
each. When the fleet of vessels sailed up St. Simons harbor, Ogle-
thorpe himself took command of the vessels. He put eight schooners,
with one man each, out for the purpose of harassing the vessels or of
conveying himself from one place to another. He directed the batteries
on shore as well. The fight lasted twentj' hours, and the Spanish fleet
fought their way through the fire of the batteries to the shore.
Oglethorpe spiked his guns, destroyed all the provisions, and fell back
upon Frederica, on St. Simons Island. The English were now behind
those fine defences on which they had prided themselves. The head of
the bay was difficult to navigate, and no ship could get through without
"going about." As she did so, the batteries were so placed that she
could be raked at once from three directions for three-fourths of a mile.
The Spaniards dared not attempt this, and landed the fleet four miles
below the town, with the intention of attacking the English at the rear
with their force of five thousand men. A road ran southward from
Frederica between a marsh and one of the tangled southern woods. At
one place this road had a crescent shape, with a width of about sixty
feet. The crescent ended in a wood, and here Oglethorpe left a detach-
ment of troops, with some Indian allies. The Spaniards had no
difficulty in driving this handful of men before them. Word was sent
to the general, who hurried up, met the Spaniards at the entrance of
the crescent and dro\-e them back through the wood, into the open
country beyond. Leaving a force of men there, he went back to
Frederica, fearing an attack from the front. Finding all quiet there,
he took a large reinforcement and started once more down the road.
He met his men ffj'ing before the Spaniards. He turned them back
and hurried on, for he knew that if the enemy once got through the
narrow road to the prairie, Frederica could not long stand out against
five thousand men. The Spaniards had marched on, and two or three
hundred of them la\- in the crescent of the road. The Englishmen
25^) THE STORY OF AMERICA.
had fled before them. From the rear there was no danger of attack,
and they quietly went into camp there, and began to prepare a meal.
But the rear guard of the Highlanders, who had been so far behind
that they could not aid their comrades, had leaped into the wood when
the panic had seized their fellow-soldiers. They were hidden completely
in the dense woods, and the Spaniards swept by them without dreaming
that any man either could or would enter that dark tangle. With the
Highlanders were a few Indians, who understood well this method of
warfare. The Highlanders and Indians waited in perfect silence, not
allowing one sound to escape them, until all of the arms of the Span-
iards were stacked and they were resting on the ground and quietly
taking their dinner. Then two Highland caps were raised in the air at
different points. This was the signal for attack. Fire was poured in
upon the Spaniards. The Highlanders were in no danger, for they could
not be seen, and consequentl}' could not be fought. The men in the
roadway were falling with every shot. By the time Oglethorpe had
reached the place the firing had ceased, and the Highlanders and Indians,
shouting with triumph, stood in the midst of the Spaniards, hardly
one of whom escaped. The Spaniards gave up the attempt of making
an attack by land, and were easily defeated on the water, when, a few
days later, an attempt was made to approach the town that way. The
Spanish general, in the course of a few days, put his whole army on
board his vessels, and went back to St. Augustine, persuaded that the
English force must be a heavy one. Oglethorpe promptly manned his
three boats and chased the fleet out of the sound.
In 1744, General Oglethorpe returned to England, but he never, to
the end of his ninety-six years of life, lost his interest in the colony.
After his departure from Georgia, William Stephens was appointed
president of the trustees. The colony had not kept up its first happy
promise of prosperity. The manufacture of silk and of wine had both
been unsuccessful. So much time had been spent in active warfare that
lands had been neglected, and the prohibition of slave labor caused
much discontent. The trustees, feeling that they could not govern the
people to the satisfaction of either party, gave back the charter to the
crown. For ten years after it became a royal province its growth was
slow. In 1754, when a convention of delegates from the several
Dolonies met at Albanj to form a union, Georgia was not represented.
FOR FURTHER READING;
-Jones' "Georgia."
Fairbank's "Florida."
Carpenter's "Georgia."
Jones' "Zomo-Chi-Chi."
CHAPTER XXXIX.
®l|0 Saiialiir$ nf Tlrjima*
CULPEPPER IN VIRGINIA — GOVERNOR EFFINGHAM — NICHOLSON AND
ANDROS — THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRIES
MARYLAND — THE CLERGYMEN
»/, OF VIRGINIA.
JFTER the trimiiph of Berkeley over Bacon in
\'irginia, the Ro}-alists were verj' overbearing.
Morals had become ver>^ loose. Ever}- one in
the colon}- worked for himself There was an
absence of that public pride, which was the
strength of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massa-
chusetts. In 1675, Lord Culpepper came to Virginia
with a commission for life over the province, to take
up the affairs of the colony where the proud old
Governor Berkeley had dropped them. Culpepper's
only interests in the colony were personal ones. He
oppressed the people with fresh taxes. There was an
over-production of tobacco, the only staple of the
colon}-, and therefore a steady lowering of prices.
Few towns sprung up, and the people living upon isolated plantations
could not work in unity. The Assembly clamored for the rights of the
people. They protested that a stop must be put to the over-production
of tobacco. A few head-strong men undertook to jjut an end to this
o\er-production by cutting the }-oung plants. This may be known as
tlie earliest American strike. Like most strikes, it only increased the
difficult}-. There was much distress, too, because the currency of the
colon}- was not worth its face %-alue in gold.
In 1684, Culpepper surrendered his patent and ceased to be governor.
Virginia was once more a royal pro\'ince. Lord Howard, of Effingham,
became the ruler of affairs. He levied new duties, invented new
oppressions, and hung the foolish plant cutters. Imprisonment was
common for slight offenses. Effingham repealed many laws of the
Assembly, and re\':ved laws which were hateful to the colonies. Small
252
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
rebellions were numerous during his rule, and the slave element con-
stantly increasing and growing more turbulent, threatened the lives of
the free population with insurrection. Affairs were bettered some when
Effingham went to England, and Colonel Francis Nicholson became
^=-~-^;- _-_ ^ —^~_ -_ Lieutenant-Governor. Though Xichol-
^ - son had made so foolish a figure of him-
^ --(.If in Xew York, he seemed to have a
R i[th\- nifluence upon Virginia. More
liberal, modest, and unselfish than before,
lie went to work with a will to straighten
out the complicated affairs of the colony.
He visited every part of his province,
tint he might become familiar with the
people and their condition; he gave
entertainments, and himself superin-
tended athletic sports. By his enter-
prise, a great public road was built
through the province, and a public post-
office instituted. He decided that the
best wa}- to stop the over-production of
tobacco was to encourage other industries,
and he saw to it that flax w'as grown,
leather manufactured, and that the trade
with the Indians flourished. Drunken-
ness he made a misdemeanor, punishable
\\ ith the stocks, and instituted an almost
Puritanic mode of living among the care-
less, luxurious, and wine-loving Virgin-
ians. He aided in the establishment of
■^ W lUiam and Mar\' College, which had
been established by the Rev. James
Blair, the head of the Established Church
of Virginia. This college was used then
mainly for the education of men intending to be clerg}-men, and here,
at the time of Nicholson's endowment, there were over a hundred pupils.
Though Nicholson only remained in Virginia about two years, he
made many radical improvements. Sir Edmund Andros was sent over
in his place. Like Nicholson, Andros had learned wisdom with expe-
rience. He came among the Virginians in a somewhat humbler frame
of mind than he liad when he was first set over New England. Perhaps
L \\ AI IFR
THE CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 253
the stern lessons which the Puritans taught him was not forgotten, and
in an\- event he was more likely to be popular among the Episcopal
royalists of Virginia than among the Puritan Whigs of Boston. He
brought with him the charter of William and IMary College and began
a good work in the colony by completing the post-office which Nich-
olson had started. He also encouraged domestic manufacture and intro-
duced cotton, although it did not succeed in Virginia. But the slave
trade lay like a blight upon the colony, putting a check to true
industry. A contest between President Blair, of William and Mary
College, and Governor Andros resulted in the displacement of the latter
from office, and Nicholson was called from Maryland to take his place.
When Nicholson left Virginia, after his first administration there,
he returned to England, and when a revolution in Maryland had
deposed the government of Lord Baltimore, thus becoming a royal
province, Nicholson was made the second royal Governor. In Mary-
land, now the Catholics and now the Puritans were uppermost in polit-
ical matters. In religious matters it was always liberal, and people of all
faiths were welcomed there. The conflict between the Puritans and the
Catholics was political, rather than religious. An anned revolution
was brought against the Catholic government in i6Si, and Baltimore's
government was overthrown. The Protestant assembly took upon
itself the direction of the affairs of the colony.
Nicholson ruled here with satisfaction until he was recalled to Vir-
ginia. He substituted the Church of England for the Catholic Church.
This, it can easily be imagined, was a difficult matter. There was a great
lack of clergymen in Maryland, and Nicholson had a considerable number
brought over. Public worship was forbidden to the Catholics. The
Puritans and the Quakers were not interfered with, although they were
greatly discouraged. Nicholson had a school built in each county of
the province, and a school embracing the higher branches, called King
William's School, was opened at Annapolis, in 1694. Annapolis had
been made the capital of the province by Nicholson. In a short time
ever}'one of the thirty parishes had a small librarj', in each of which
there were about fifty volumes. At Annapolis there was a larger
library, containing eleven himdred volumes. All of these books were
free to everj-one in the colony.
When Nicholson, fresh from these labors, went to Virginia, he found
that the colony had grown in his absence. It now had a po]3ulation of
forty thousand. This second rule was not so satisfactory to the people as
the first one had been. The House of Burgesses, which represented the
254 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
people, had grown ver}- strong. He had an open quarrel with the
tnembers because he desired that Virginia should contribute to the
building of forts for the protection of the northern provinces against the
Indians. The burgesses refused to give anything. Nicholson felt
that the colony was disgraced by this refusal, and said so in terms more
unmistakable than polite. He became unpopular, also, because he
took away the power of the vestries in the churches. These vestries
had the right of controlling, to an extent, the action of the clerg\'men.
These clergymen, be it said, were rather a rollicking and prodigal set.
Frequently they were not even as orderly in their private living as were
their careless parishioners. Their drinking was notorious. When
Nicholson was guilty of the error of taking away the powers of the
vestries the people felt that they were at the mercy of a lawless set of
leaders, and complaints were sent to England against the Governor.
These complaints were not all of a public nature. Nicholson had,
unfortunately, made himself ridiculous in his love suit to a lady who
refused to marry him, and he threatened the lives of her father and
brothers. A thing of this sort naturally made him many enemies.
Before he was deposed he laid out the town of Williamsburg, which
was made the capital of the colony, and here, in the second year of its
settlement, was held the first commencement of William and IMary
College. This was nearly sixty years after the first commenceuient
day of Harvard College, in Massachusetts.
Nicholson was recalled to England, and for five years the colony
managed its own aflTairs, under the couucil. Then Alexander Spots-
wood arrived, bringing with him the writ of habeas corpus. Governor
Spotswood was still young. He was full of life and ambition, with an
inborn sense of justice and a true appreciation of happiness. He set
about immediately reforming the courts, and tried to regulate the taxes.
He was interested in the colony, and assisted it by raising a large fund
for its support. He established a school for the education of Indian
children also. Young and adventurous, he was not willing to stay
cooped up in the settled part of his province, but desired to go beyond
those beautiful mountains which raise themselves in blue mists at the
west. In August, 1 716, he started from Germantown, on the Rappa-
hannock, to cross the Blue Ridge. With him, on fine horses, were a
company of gentlemen, filled with as much curiosity and gayety as him-
self Troops of hunters and servants went with them, and liquors and
provisions were carried upon a train of horses. Ever>' day this gallant
company marched and hunted. With their trumpets, their gans, aud
THE CAVALIERS OK VIRGINIA. 255
theii songs, they awoke for the first time the hoarse echoes of the moun-
tains. They crossed be} end the dividing ridge of the mountains, where
the waters parted, and took possession of the beautiful valley beyond. In
six weeks they returned, having traveled more than two hundred miles.
Spotswood, in memory of this charming expedition, founded tl.e order
of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, giving each comrade who had
accompanied him a little golden horseshoe to be worn as a badge. But
it was sixteen years after this before the Shenandoah valley, which he
and his merry companions had visited, was settled; and then the
intruders came, not from Virginia, but from Pennsylvania, and were
constituted largely of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Germans from Penn-
sylvania also scattered themselves through this fertile country.
Spotswood secured a treaty with the Indians, which gave to the Eng-
lish all of the region east of the Blue Ridge and south of the Potomac.
This treaty was of much value to Virginia. In 1722, Spotswood ceased
to be Governor, but as a private citizen he was still valuable to the com-
munity. He found beds of iron ore on his forty thousand acres of private
property, and he was the first to establish a furnace and foundry in Vir-
ginia. Following him came Hugh Drysdale. Thebuildingupof the val-
ley beyond the Blue Ridge brought many emigrants direct from Germany,
and in the first half of the eighteenth centur>' the population of Virginia
was doubled twice. A better class of men began to come, who desired
liberty and independence rather than riches, and who were willing to
work themselves, instead of depending upon the toil of unhappy slaves.
The people who came now were of the middle classes, self-respectful,
industrious, and temperate. They had neither the arrogance of those
of gentle blood, nor the viciousness of those unhappy creatures dragged
from the shmis of London. A more vigorous religious life was
apparent, too. Following Drysdale, came Governor Gooch, and he was
in power when the great preacher, Whitefield, was welcomed on his
first journey to Virginia. Governor Gooch, be it said, did not take part
in this welcoming, but the people made up for his lack of enthusiasm.
In 1736 a printing press was set up, and William Parkes published a
weekly paper at Williamsburg. The colony was no longer made up
entirely of plantations. Prosperous towns sprung up about the coast
and the rivers. Norfolk, Fredricksburg, Falmouth, Richmond and
Petersburg were founded and flourished. The life of the richer planters
of Virginia was very luxurious. The women were renowned for their
beauty and their coquetry. The men prided themselves upon their
hunting and good fellowship. The entertainments of the day were cere-
256
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
monious and stately, in violent contrast to the simplicitv' cultivated in
Massachusetts.
In IMaryland, the government had once more passed into the hands
of the Baltimore family. Now the Baltimores represented the Protest-
ant faction, having seceded from the Catholic Church. Six Lord Bal-
timores ruled over Marjland, the last of them dying in 1771. Their
rule had always been wise and manly, and when Maryland passed into
the hands of the royal government it was in a prosperous condition. In
1750 the population was about one hundred and thirty thousand. Iron
was being developed in the State, and a large number of furnaces and
forges were working successfully. Woolen, linen, tanning, shoe-
making and other trades were succeeding, but here, as in Virginia, too
large a proportion of the people were slaves; there was an over-produc-
tion of staples and an element of discontent
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction — Caruther's "Knights of the Horseshoe."
A MORAVIAN' SETTLEMENT.
CHAPTER XL.
jl l^aign of Mmtv.
THE FIRST TRIAL FOR LIBEL IN AMERICA — THE NEGRO PLOT IN
1 74 1 — THE BURNING OF "QUACK" AND THE HANGING
OF URY — THE MINGLING OF DUTCH AND ENGLISH
IN NEW YORK — THE GOVERNMENT OF
r- LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR CLARK.
:HEN Colonel Crosby came to New York, in 1732,
to act as Governor, his coming brought about a
difficulty which was the onl)' thing to make his
administration memorable. Rip Van Dam had
been attending to affairs before the Governor's
arrival, and was asked to give an equal partition of
the salars and perquisites of the office in the interval
between Crosby's appointment and his actual appearance
in New York. The popular party sympathized with
Van Dam, and, as usual, the aristocratic portion of the
city was in sympathy with the royal Governor. A suit
in equit}' was brought about, and the JVew York Weekly
Jounial laughed in rather an indiscreet way at the
Governor. Two ballads were printed whose humor was
considered to be of a libellous sort. It was decided that they should be
burned in the public square by the common hangman, in the presence
of the magistrates. The hangman burned them, but the magistrates
refused to be present. The editor of the paper was arrested and brought
to trial. The case was brought before the jun,-, and the prisoner was
acquitted. It was held that the editor said nothing which was not true.
It was perceived that to speak against people in power might not
always be wrong, and that to tell the truth, however disagreeable, was
a thing which should not be necessarily punished as an offense. This
was the first trial of the kind in this countr>', and furnished a precedent
which was long quoted.
2::,S THE STORY OK AMERICA.
Crosby only lived four years after his appointment, and George
Clark, a member of the council, quietly ruled over New York for seven
years. His administration was marked by one dark tragedy, for which
he "was not personalh- responsible an\- more than the city full of people
about him. This was what is called the negro plot of 1741, when all
New York went mad together. There were a few Spanish negroes in
the place, who, though they were freemen in their own country, had
been enslaved in New York. It was known that they were resentful,
and when a large number of fires broke out about the city the blame
was laid on them. The Governor's house was burned, and within a
few days numerous other houses were found smoking. In most of the
cases the fires were extinguished before they did much hann. But the
people became excited over the matter, and when the crowd cried that
the Spanish negroes had caused the fire, ever^'one was read)' to take it up.
It is true that the negroes had faithfully worked with the white men to
extinguish the fires, but this was not thought of All negroes found in
the streets were arrested. Vague stories, lacking foundation, spread
like wild-fire. It was thought that there was a plan to burn all of New
York to the ground. A set of disreputable people who kept a saloon of
ihe lowest order said that they knew of a conspiracy among the negroes.
.\mong these people was one young girl, ]\Iary Burton, a ser^-ant, who
had been raised in the lowest surroundings. She was met by the
dignified council and all of the most powerful men of New York, and
urged to tell the truth. Anxious to save herself from an}' blame,
frightened, and naturally vicious, it is not strange that she stated that
there was a terrible plot to burn the city and to murder and rob its
inhabitants. Ever}- member of the bar wished to plead in behalf of the
government, and not one person offered to present the cause of the
friendless and quaking negroes who were imprisoned in the jail. The
people demanded victims. They were willing to believe any story that
might be told, even that of the lying, frightened child of fifteen.
Others were found as willing as she to tell stories about the negroes,
hoping to bring themselves into favor with the judge — for ever)'
doubtful person of New York was under suspicion. A few, indeed,
thought their might be no truth in it and took pity on the poor negroes,
but these were a hopelessly small majorit)'. The negroes were wild
with fright, and confessed to crimes which they had never committed.
Standing on a pile of faggots which were presently to be lighted for their
own consuming, it is not strange that they told of others implicated in
the matter in the hope of saving themselves, but this it never did.
A REIGN OF TERROR. 259
They said that a few negroes had intended to watch tlie doors of Trinity
Chitrch on some morning, and to kill the congregation as it came out;
that they were then going to murder the rest of the inhabitants, assume
nile, and select a king from among themselves. The court believed
this ridiculous story. The most influential citizens of New York urged
punishment, and in two or three months more than one hundred and
fifty negroes were imprisoned. Over one hundred were convicted as
conspirators, twelve of them were burned alive at the stake, eighteen
were hanged, and seventy-two were transported as slaves to other
countries. In the few cases where their masters came forward and
protested their innocence, attempting to prove an alibi, the evidence
was paid no attention to whatever. The terrified negroes were ready
to confess to anything. One poor negro, named Quack, admitted that
he set fire to the Governor's house; t!',at he took a brand from the
kitchen fire and put it on a beam under the roof; that the roof did not
catch fire, and that the next day he did the same thing, pufling at the
brand until it flamed. The truth of the matter was, that a plumber
had been up on the roof with an open furnace of live coals; that the
wind was high and some sparks lodged in the shingles. As the
excitement grew the people began to fear a Popish plot. They hunted
the town over for Catholic priests, but found none. There was a rumor
that priests were coming to New York in the guise of dancing-masters,
school-masters, music-teachers, etc. One quiet school teacher, John
Urj', was arrested on suspicion. Mary Burton, the child who had
brought so much trouble on the negroes, said that he was one of the
men in the habit of frequenting the place at which she had lived, and
which was supposed to be the gathering spot of the conspirators.
Though many protested that Ur>' was an honorable and quiet man of
godly life, he was hanged. At last Mary Burton went too far, and
began to implicate gentlemen who wore "ruffles," and who offered her
presents of silk dresses. The judge and his friends thought this a good
time to bring the examination to a close.
Although this childish and abject excitement spoke so badly for
New York, it was, as a matter of fact, growing in power. It had
become the key of the colonies, so to speak. Presbyterians had come
from Ireland and Protestants from France, toward the end of the seven-
teenth century, and in 1710 three thousand of the Protestants who had
fled to England, at the invasion of the Rhenish palatinate by Louis
XIV, crossed to New York, settling upon the upper water of the Mohawk
and Schoharie creeks. The Scotch, vScotch-Irish, Dutch and English
26o THE STORY OF AMERICA.
came in large numbers to the colony, spreading over the country and
cultivating the land. School-houses were built among the villages.
New York itself wore a most attractive appearance. It had a reputa-
tion for great cleanliness and order. The beautiful Holland tiles and
bricks still held place in their house-building. The English lived with
great luxuriance and wore fashionable clothes, but the Dutch clung for
the most part to the quaint and picturesque costumes of their father-
land. The life for all was pleasant, and amusements were much more
sought by the people of New York than by those of New England.
In 1756 the population of New York City was twelve thousand. In
1738 lyieutenant-Governor Clarke founded a school for the teaching of
Latin, Greek and mathematics. The other colonies were beginning to
send their products to this port for shipment across the sea. The
royalists and common people were constantly at verbal war with each
other, but they united sufficiently to increase the mercantile value of
their place. They reluctantly took part in the movement against the
French or Indians, and gave money grudgingly. The Governor was of
warlike spirit, and felt it a shame that the people under him were so
reluctant to do their share of fighting for the defence of the confedera-
tion of the colonies, but the assembly and the militia united in
disregarding his orders, and he realized, as did De L,ancey, who
followed him, that the time had come when concessions must be made,
even by the King, to the stalwart burghers of the New World.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Brodhead's and O'Callaghan's "New York."
Fiction — F. Spielhagen's "Deutsche Pioniere.' .
J. F. Cooper's "Satanstoe."
CHAPTER XLI.
LORD BELLOMONT'S RULE OVER NEW YORK, NEW HAMPSHIRE AND
MASSACHUSETTS — DUDLEY'S RULE — THE FRENCH AND ENG-
LISH WAR OF 1 702 — TAKING OF PORT ROYAL — THE
LUMBERERS' DIFFICULTIES IN MAINE AND
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
?
'ORD BELLOMONT'S rule over New York, New
Hampshire and IMassachusetts was a pleasant one.
Though he was a member of the High Church
of England, he deferred to the Puritanism of his
colonies. The assembly refused to vote him a
salar}-, as it had done with all of the Governors
who preceded him. But the money which it
appropriated for him was considerable. The assembly
insisted that it should have the right to make such
appropriations as it pleased from year to year. The
amount depended entirely upon the popularity of the
Governor. By this means the colonies kept to them-
selves a reserve which would send any obnoxious or too
tyrannical ruler back to his own countr}-. Governor
Bellomont made an effort to check the unlawful priva-
teering of Rhode Island, for this little State had become the home of
pirates. It was not unusual for some ship, hovering about the shore, to
make out after a vessel at sea, capture it, bring it to shore, and
appropriate its cargo. The harbor was never closed with ice, as was
that of New York. The Gulf stream, flowing around the rocky shores
of Rhode Island, kept it free through all the seasons, so it became the
favorite resort of the sea rovers. Rhode Island had once had a poor reputa-
tion for harboring those obnoxious persons who dissented from the Con-
gregationalism of IMassachusetts ; it now gained a worse reputation from.
the favor it showed to the pirates.
262 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
For many a long year Connecticut and Rhode Island quarreled with
each other about boundary lines, and it was not until 1703 that Connec-
ticut was willing to accept the Pawcatuck river as her eastern line.
When Bellomont died, Stoughton became Governor for a short time,
when he also died, and Dudley was sent to manage the affairs of
Massachusetts. In May, 1695, that Board of Trade was organized in
London which regulated the colonial and commercial affairs until
the American Revolution. Its interference with trade and commercial
liberty was a constant source of vexation to the people. The detested
Randolph was again sent over as surveyor-general. Dudley tried to
carry into effect an article of the new Massachusetts charter which gave
the Governor the power to reject the nominations of the General Court.
Cotton Mather headed a strong party, which included all the leading
clergy of the province, to put Dudley from office. But Dudley also
had a strong party among the royrilists, and this dispute serk-ed to keep
up that internal dissension which Massachusetts wcr. never free from.
For five years there had been peace between the French and English,
and those terrible Indian raids upon New Hampshire and the province
of Maine had ceased. But in 1702 war was again declared between
France and England, and the French and Indians of Canada once more
felt free to vent their native hatred against the English colonies of
America. Never had the Indians been more cruel, subtle and suc-
cessful. The town of Deerfield, in Connecticut, was surprised by three
hundred French and Indians one morning in February, 1704. The
town had been guarded by sentries, for an attack was suspected; but the
savages in the woods waited until they retired at daylight, and then
rushed upon the people, who were just arising for the labors of the
day. Fift}- were killed, and a hundred of them were carried to Canada.
Among these were children, who were given to the Jesuit priests that
they might be raised in the Catholic faith.
Many of the young women were married to Indians, and with
that began the race of half-breeds, which filled the northwest with such
good trappers and guides. It was not infrequent for the children stolen
in this way to acquire such a love for Indian life that they could never
bring one back to the dull restraints of Puritan civilization. The free
woods were dearer to them than the tedious town. The delights of the
chase were preferred to the labors of the field.
The French claimed the whole of Maine as far as the Kennebec,
and had established a trading and missionary post among the Norridge-
wock Indians, who dwelt among the upper waters of the river. The
THE CLASH OF ARMS AND IDEAS. 263
French and Indians united in their efforts to keep the English east of
tlie Kennebec, and ever\- English fishing vessel found in Canadian
waters was seized upon by the French men-of-war. Governor Dudley
saw with apprehension the growing enmity of the Indians, and asked
the Norridgewocks to meet him in council. The Indians did so, prom-
ised friendship, and helped in the building of two great cairns of stone,
which was a sign of lasting friendship. All of the time that the
Indians were feigning to be in such an amiable mood, they were
preparing to seize the Governor and his suite and give them into the
hands of the French. The plan was not carried out, because a French
party expected did not arrive in time. In less than six weeks after this
an attack was made upon the settlements between the Kennebec and
the Piscataqua. All over the province the people hurried to the garrison
houses. The fields were no longer worked, except under the protection
of a force of armed men. The settlers armed themselves and went in
pursuit of the Indians, but could not find them. Several of these
unsuccesful tramps were made upon snow-shoes through the unbroken
snow of the wilderness. Colonel Church, the celebrated Indian fighter,
came up from Massachusetts with over five hundred men to protect
these northern settlements. But aside from destroying some villages and
killing a few of the enemies in chance engagements, he did little.
In the midst of winter the New Hampshire men fell upon the
Indian village of the Norridgewocks, burning the French chapel and
the wigwams. This made the Indians more unrelenting than ever.
Within a few months they attacked many of the settlements of Maine,
New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The difficulty then, as in all
Indian warfare, was that the Indians would never meet their enemies in
open field, and more danger and expense was encountered in finding
them than in fighting them. A high price was paid to ever^-one who
brought in an Indian scalp to headquarters, a man's scalp being worth
one hundred pounds, and that of a child or woman fifty pounds.
Dudley was firm in his purpose to move against Canada and
conqTier it. This seemed to him the only way of freeing the colonies
from their enemy. Colonel March was sent with a force of a thousand
men, in 1707, to reduce Port Royal, in Noval Scotia. All through the
winter and the spring the men fought in vain. They had been
reduced from one thousand to two hundred in number, principally from
the hardships of the winter in that latitude. Then came Nicholson's
campaign with the New York men, which also failed. In 17 10 the
place was taken by five regiments of troops which sailed from Boston
264 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
harbor. General Nicholson, of New York, commanded the expedition.
Only forty lives were lost among the English, and Nova Scotia ceased
to be a French province.
In 1 7 14 Governor Dudley was removed from office. The Whigs
had grown to be the stronger party, and they declared that the office of
Governor was vacant. Following him came Colonel Burgess, who sold
his commission to Samuel Shute. At the time Shute assumed authority
Massachusetts contained ninety-four thousand inhabitants. It had one
hundred and ninety vessels. In the fisheries were one hundred and
fifty smacks. Manufactories of many sorts were flourishing to the great
vexation of the English, who tried in vain to keep down colonial
industry.
About this time inoculation was first introduced in the colonies.
Boston had suffered frightfully from small-pox. At three different times
it had raged in the city. When vaccination was introduced by a
physician named Boylston, it was fought not only by the doctors, but
by the ministers as well. Cotton IMather was one of the few who
encouraged the brave physician.
Shute had the same trouble in Massachusetts which his predecessors
had had. The assembly refused to vote him a fixed salar>', and this,
as usual, was made the subject of many quarrels. The currency of the
colonies had fallen far below par, and the financial condition was gen-
erally bad. Upon the north the Indians were constantly intrigued.
The country was likely at any time to be plunged into continuous war.-
In matters of theology there was less sternness. Newspapers were
becoming more common. Jonathan Edwards was writing his books on
Calvanistic philosophy, and following him were a number of theolog-
ical writers for whom he furnished inspiration. Increase Mather, the
father of Cotton Mather, did not cease, even in his old age, to write
religious pamphlets. Benjamin Franklin at this time was writing with
versatility and vigor. A few years later than this, William Livingston,
a journalist, and Governor of New Jersey, wrote a poem on philosophic
solitude. William Smith, at one time president of William and Mar}'
College, wrote an excellent history of the first discovery and settle-
ment of Virginia. This was published in 1 747. Cotton Mather, of
course, expressed in newsj^aper and pamphlets his vigorous and com-
bative ideas on the subjects of the day.
The lumberers of IMaine and New Hampshire suffered great injustice
at this period from the King's surveyors, who went through the forests
selecting the best of the trees and marking them with a broad arrow.
THE CLASH OF ARMS AND IDEAS.
265
These the settlers were not allowed to touch. The farmers had a legal
right to the land on which these trees stood, and they resented bitterly
the stealing of their property. They were also kept from shipping
timber to foreign countries — a matter which they felt concerned no one
but themselves. In 171 8, a number of Scotch Presbyterians came to
New Hampshire. They introduced the manufacture of linen, the spin-
ning of wool and the cultivation of the potato. In 1723 Shute left foi
England, and Wentworth became Governor of New Hampshire. The
vear before this the third Indian war had broken out in the northern
provinces.
FOR FURTHER RF.ADING:
History— Drake's "Indi:
Cotton Mather's "Maen.lHa.
Thoriitiiii's '■Historical Kcla
Kuglisli CoiimiuinvcaU
if Xew England to the
FROZEN IN.
CHAPTER XLII.
raBman$ jira Jiom
Expedition of maine and new Hampshire against thit N<iF'
RIDGEWOCKS— THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN JOHN LOVELL--
WILLIAM DRUMMER IN MASSACHUSETTS — WHITE-
FIELD'S REVIVAL AND SIIIRLEY'S ADMIN-
ISTRATION — LOUISBURG — THE
SURRENDER.
ETWEEN the years 1722 and 1724 a harassing war-
fare was kept up b}- the Indians. The savages crept
in small bands about-the frontiers of Maine and New
Hampshire, falling, at the most unexpected times,
upon unprotected homes. If a woman ventured
'_ alone into her yard, she was apt to be seized by the
prowling Indians. A man journeying home in the
twilight, knew that he did so at the imminent risk of his
life. In 1724, Massachusetts and New Hampshire
decided that an expedition must be sent out against the
Norridgewock Indians. Twice before attempts had been
made to break up the settlement of these Indians.
Among them was a brave and determined man. Father
Sebastian Rasle, a French priest who had gained immense
<r the Indians. He had lived among them thirty-seven
years, and though he was a scholar, dropped his own language for that of
the Norridgewocks and adopted their manner of living. The Indians
loved him with all the intensity of their wild natures and were willing
to meet any danger in his defense.
The Englishmen knew that if they wished to succeed in subduing
the Indians, they must first capture Rasle. Twice they had failed.
On the i2th of August, 1724, they succeeded. Two hundred English-
men rushed upon the Norridgewock village when most of the warriors
were absent. Such as escaped from the rifles and swords flew into the
woods, and Father Rasle, in attempting to turn the attention of the
influence ove
''AMERICANS ARE BORN REBELS." 267
enemy from these flying women and children, was himself killed. The
Englishmen stuffed his mouth with dirt and hacked his poor old body
horribly. It wanted only this to inflame the Indians. Captain John
Lovell organized an expedition which started in April, 1725, against
the Pequawkett Indians, of Maine. The Indians lay in ambush for
Lovell, and he and eight of his men were killed. The remaining
twenty-three retreated under cover of night to the stockade, taking
with them the men who could walk. One brave-hearted fellow. Lieu-
tenant Robbins, who was mortally wounded, asked that a musket be
left beside him so that he might have one more shot before he died.
The men, after their weary march, found the stockade deserted, and in
continuing their march homeward, some of the wounded died on the
way. There were few left of the Pequawkett Indians.
But the English saw that yet sterner measures must be taken.
They concluded, therefore, to move against the French, without whom
the Indians might have lacked the courage to keep up their continuous
fighting. Some commissioners were sent to the French Governor to
inquire into his reasons for disturbing the treaty between France and
England. The Governor was entirely under the influence of t^ie Jesuit
priests, who believed that it was to the glory of their religion to fight
the Protestant Englishmen whenever they could. The commissioners
succeeded only in getting the Governor to procure the release of some
captives. A treaty was made between the English and the Eastern
Indians in 1725, and for twenty years there was comparative peace.
Thus closed the third Indian war.
New Hampshire was very anxious for a Governor of her own, who
should in no way be beholden to Massachusetts authority. It was not
until 1740 that she succeeded in getting the consent of the Crown to
such a measure and that the boundary line which divided her from
Massachusetts was definitely decided upon. Benning Wentworth, a son
of Lieutenant-Governor Wentworth, was made the first Governor. He
brought to his office all of the dignity which the New Hampshire
people could have desired. With a troop of guards about him he rode
in a pretentious coach, and lived in a house which, for those days,
was little less than princely. The story of how he married pretty
Martha Shortredge, one of his servants, is told so well b)' Mr. Long-
fellow that it would be foolish to repeat it.
In Massachusetts, William Drummer, the Lieutenant-Governor,
was looking after the forces of the colony while Shute returned to
England. Following, came Burnet, who had some bitter quarrels with
268 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
the assembly on the old question of a fixed salarj'. In 1730 Jonathan
Belcher was sent out from England as Governor. He refused to accept
the grant of money voted him by the assembly, and dismissed the
house. This had no effect upon the people, and at length the King
was obliged to yield the point and consent that Massachusetts should
do as she pleased about the payment of Governors.
This was one of the strongest steps toward national independence —
it was the greatest concession which the Crown of England had yet
made. William Shirley who succeeded him in office, was much liked.
He was the first of the royal Governors who succeeded in keeping up
cordial relations with the people. Whitefield's great religious revival,
which was shaking New England from its foundation, may have had
something to do with these amicable relations. It may seem surprising
that there was much need for a revival of this sort in Puritan New
England, but the truth was that the people had begun to feel the
reaction which naturally followed in the wake of religious discipline so
stern as that the early Puritans imposed. People had grown indifferent
and worldly, but their religious traditions made their remorse all the
more sharp, when they were awakened to a sense of their falling-off by
a man of Whitefield's eloquence. The religious excitement grew so
high that even the colde'-t could not stand out against it. The more
sensible people did not approve of this excitement, and thought it was
doing great harm to the nervous and impressionable.
In 1744 the French and English in the old country became involved
in another war. The Governor of Breton, as soon as he heard of it,
moved against a settlement of English fishermen on the island of
Canso. The French had been very jealous of the English fishermen,
and were glad of an excuse for striking a blow at them. The settlement
at Canso was destroyed and the men sent to the French fortress at
L,ouisburg. Governor Shirley at once began preparations for war. He
made up his mind to take Louisburg. This was the strongest fortress
in America. It had been twenty-five years in building, and cost
France thirty millions of livres. At the southeastern point of Cape
Breton was a walled town, two miles and a half in circumference. The
stone rampart was over thirty feet high and in front of this ran a ditch
eighty feet wide. The harbor was defended by a battery of thirt}' 28-
pounders. Upon a little island just opposite was a battery of still
larger guns. The town was entered over a draw-bridge which was
guarded by a circular battery of thirteen 24-pounders. The batteries
and six bastions could mount one hundred and forty-eight cannons.
"AMERICANS ARK BORN REBELS." 269
Shirley's preparations were made in secret. Only the New England
troops consented to join the enterprise. Shirley took with him 4,500
men. Whitefield encouraged the expedition, and his influence was
\-ery valuable. Colonel William Pepperell was persuaded by Whitefield
to take command of the expedition. The French heard nothing of the
matter. All over the provinces a da)- of fasting and prayer was held.
The troops met on the island of Canso; then, on April 29, 1744, they
sailed for Cape Breton. A part of the English landed and set fire to
some large warehouses filled with spirits. The smoke, drifting inland,
so frightened the French that they spiked the guns of their batter}- at
the bottom of the harbor, and taking boats, retreated to their walled
town. Thirteen men who were rcconnoitering found that the battery
was deserted, and took possession. As they had no flag with them, one
of the soldiers went up the flag-staff with a red coat in his teeth and
nailed it up, that the French might know they claimed possession.
The French attacked them, but were held off until reinforcements came
up, when they again retreated. On May 5th, Pepperell threw up three
batteries near the city. Guns and ammunition had been dragged
through the swamps during the past fourteen days, and these were
hurried into the batteries. Another batter}' was thrown up within a
short distance of the draw-bridge, but the town was not easily forced.
Pepperell knew that the island battery must be taken. This could
only be done by sending a fleet up the harbor. Commodore Warren,
who was cruising around outside of the bay, had captured a French
ship having sixty-four guns, six hundred men, and a quantity of
military stores on board. From the men on the captured ship, the
English learned that the French were expecting a large reinforcement.
The English decided to move at once. Pepperell tried a night attack
with his scaling ladders, but his men were repulsed with a loss of sixty
killed, and one hundred and twelve taken prisoners. The siege was
still continued from the batteries. Pepperell was getting very short of
ammunition, and some of his best guns burst. By the first week in
June, fifteen hundred of his men were sick. Commodore Warren kept
the French from carr}dng the news of the siege to Quebec. But the
French were not alarmed, and felt no great need of reinforcement.
They were well-trained soldiers; their enemies were farmers and
mechanics, many of whom knew little about the use of their fire-arms.
Pepperell built another battery within range of the island battery in the
harbor. He had nearly ruined the draw-bridge battery by this time.
Co'umodore Warren and General Pepperell decided to make an attack
270 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
together. Warren's fleet was drawn up in line and the land forces
were put in a position to attack. This was the 15th of June, 1745.
The French lost heart. The}- asked that hostilities might be suspended
and terms of capitulation made. On the 17 th of June, Pepperell
marched into the fortress at the head of his plucky men. Governor
Shirle}- hastened up and was given the keys of the place by the general.
Six hundred and seventy regular troops, thirteen hundred militiamen,
six hundred sailors and two thousand inhabitants were sent to France,
The English had lost one hundred and thirty men. The French lost
three hundred. General Pepperell was made a baronet, and was the
first American to receive that honor. Warren was made admiral.
Pepperell was also given high honors in the English army and
presented with a table of silver and a service of plate by the city of
London. For a year Louisburg was garrisoned by New England
troops.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Leaky's "England in the Eighteenth Centurv" (Chapter on Whitefield.)
POBTRY — "Whittier's "Mogg: Megone."
"WTiittier's "Mar\' Garvin."
CHAPTER XLIII.
¥5
urB0 (Dransnn
THE GROWING SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE — THE FIRST EXPEDITION
AGAINST FORT DU QUESNE — THE COLONISTS FOR AGGRES-
SION AND OFFENSE — BRADDOCK'S ILL-FATED EXPEDI-
TION GEORGE WASHINGTON'S FIRST AP-
PEARANCE — braddock's defeat
AND DEATH.
^■' N Boston, in the year 1747, there was an occur-
rence which marked the growing independence
of the colonies, and showed how near they were,
even then, to revolution. Commodore Knowles,
commanding an English man-of-war, sailed into
Boston harbor, and to supply places of some
sailors who had deserted, he took a press-gang from the
merchant vessels of Bos:ou. As soon as the people
learned that some of the Boston boys had been forced
on the King's ship, they armed themselves with clubs
and stones and hurried to the Governor's house, where
the oflicers of the ship were being entertained. All day
they surrounded the house, and in the evening the}-
became so threatening that it required the utmost efiForts
of the Governor and other influential citizens to keep them from
violence. Even then they sent brickbats crashing through the win-
dows of the council chamber, and demanded that every officer in town
belonging to the fleet should be seized and held till the Boston boys
were released. The militia was ordered out next day by beat of drum,
but the drummers were in full sympathy with the kidnaped sailors,
and refused to obey orders. The mob was made up mostly of mechanics
and laboring men, and by their authority alone the officers of the ship
were held in custody for three days. Commodore Knowles threatened
to bombard the town if the)- were not released. Governor Shirley,
272 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
disgusted with the disorderly conduct of the citizens, went to the castle
on the harbor that he might be out of a town where law was so disre-
garded. The General Court passed a series of resolutions which
expressed sorrow for the behavior of the citizens, but declared that the
House would exert themselves to redress their grievances. The militia
came out promptl}', ready, and perhaps even anxious, for conflict.
Governor Shirley returned to the city, and the Boston sailors were
exchanged for the British officers of the man-of-war. When Knowles
sailed out of the bay, everyone in Boston gathered on the wharves and
shouted at the discomfiture of the Commodore, who went back to
England with an appreciation of the fact that the people in the colonies
would do pretty much as they chose.
In 1 74S a treat}' was made between France and England which
returned to France the fortress of Louisburg, which the English had so
gallantly taken. There was not a man in the colonies who did not feel
this to be a personal insult. It seemed as if the mother country set a
low price upon the lives of her subjects. The engagement had plunged
the colonies heavily in debt, also, and it was some time before Parlia-
ment voted the money to pay it. The treaty between the countries in
the Old World had little effect upon the colonies in America. Hostilities
were kept up on the border constantly, and when open war was resumed,
in 1755, there was but little change in the attitude of the French Cana-
dian and the English settlements. The French had built a chain of
military posts along the great lakes and upon the highways of the river
system. About these grew up little settlements. They even com-
manded a part of the Mississippi. The English were pushing their
settlements westward, and in 1748 the Ohio Company was formed,
which made use of the river communication by the Potomac and the
eastern branches of the Ohio. A road was built over the mountains
from Cumberland to Pittsburg, and exploring parties were sent out in
1750 and 1751, under Christopher Gist, who was surveyor of the com-
pany. In 1753, Major George Washington, a young Virginian, was
sent out with Gist and others to visit the French forts which were
encroaching upon the land which the English considered their own.
The reports which he brought back in January, 1754, determined Vir-
ginia to fit out an expedition immediately. This was done. Washington
was made second in command under Colonel Joshua F'r>'. The French
were under Contrecoeur, who soon met a detachment of the English,
drove them from the fort which they were building and occupied it
himself. Washington, who had command of the main body of the
'THEV XTRSH TREASON WITH THEIR MILK.
273
amiy, had a gallant engagement at Great Meadows, but was defeated
and foi'ced to surrender.
It had been proved that the colonies could not work independently.
Benjamin Franklin and other of the wisest men of the colonies thought
it was best to have a union. Congress assembled at Albany. Massa-
GEORGE WASHINGTON IN HIS YOUTH.
After the painting- by C. W. Peale, and the en^avingof J. W. Paradise.
chusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York,
the Jerseys, Pennsylvania, ;\Iar\land, Virginia and North and South
Carolina sent delegates. Chiefs from six nations also met them there.
This congress wished to meet annualh', but the Board of Trade in
17
274 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
London would not permit it, thinking that it gave too much power to
the colonists. In the convention it was agreed that war with Canada
Was necessar}'.
In 1754, Edward Braddock was made Commander-in-chief of all the
fortresses in North America. Six thousand regular troops were given
bj- the Crown, ready for service, as well as the money for the purpose
of raising a colonial army. It was Braddock' s intention to march
against Fort Cumberland. Unfortunately, Braddock started from Vir-
ginia, because the road had already been built from there. But this
made his march an exhausting and expensive one. He did not
understand the nature of warfare in America, although he was a man of
much experience and bravery. He was used to the well-regulated
warfare of Europe, and could not, or would not, understand the savage
methods which the frontiersmen used, owing to the fact that the
Indians were always allies with them and they had no choice but to
employ their methods. Braddock had one thousand regular soldiers,
thirty sailors, twelve hundred provincials, a train of artillery, and
wagons and horses which Benjamin Franklin had procured for him,
beside the brave, friendly Indians. This line stretched along the narrow
road. Had the Indians chosen at any time to attack it, as it wound its
way through the great forest of white pines and the desolate mountains,
it could have cut it into a dozen pieces.
Washington was sent ahead with twelve hundred men, about half
of the force, leaving the rest with the baggage and the horses at Little
Meadows. There were not more than a thousand men under Contre-
coeur holding the French fort. Contrecceur thought that it might be
safest to surrender at once, but De Beaujeu, one of his captains, asked
permission to lay an ambuscade for the British. The Indians put on
their war-paint and followed him. The Frenchmen were wild with
enthusiasm. Braddock, proudly confident of his strength, moved on.
Washington said afterward that he never saw so beautiful a sight as the
British troops made on that morning when they were ordered as if on
dress parade, and with their flying colors, their martial music and
glittering uniforms, hastened toward the fort. Suddenly Beaujeu,
dressed in a French hunting dress and wearing a silver gorget, bounded
down hill. Behind him came the French and Indians. At a signal
the Indians disappeared. The French fired upon the English, then all
about from the hollows and the woods came the fearful shrieks of the
Indians. The English stood steady in a compact body and returned the
fire. Beaujeu was killed, but his men, fighting from behind trees and
"THEY NURSE TREASON WITH THEIR MILK." 275
in ravines, worked terrible destruction among the Englishmen, who
were fighting after European methods on the clear ground. Washington
wanted Braddock to allow the men to use the methods of the natives,
but this was not soldierly, according to Braddock' s idea, and he would
not permit it. Braddock had four horses shot under him, and was
finally wounded himself His army beat a wild retreat. A few faithful
friends carried him with them. He died, giving up his command to
Washington, and was buried at Great Meadows. The army marched
to Philadelphia.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Spark's "Life ol Washington."
Columbus' "Life of Washington."
Parkman's "Pontiac."
Fiction— C. McKnight's "Old Fort Du Quesne."
Wright's "Marcus Blair."
Thackeray's "Virginians."
CHAPTER XLIV.
FRENCH AND ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS IN NOVA SCOTIA — THE RIVALRY
BETWEEN THE SETTLEMENTS — COLONEL WINSLOW
DRIVES OUT THE ACADIANS — THE PATHETIC
EXODUS — PERSECUTION OF THE
EXILES.
IVING upon the basin of Minas, in Nova Scotia,
was a company of people called the French Neu-
trals. They were British subjects, for at this time
Nova Scotia was an English possession, but they
were constantly suspected of being in sympathy
I with the French and would take no oath of alle-
giance which did not contain a proviso that they
were never to take up arms against France. The pc .pie
"the community were very industrious and frug.:i, and
they gained wealth rapidly. Their religion held them
together, and kept them from mingling with the Prot-
estant English. The French and the English united in
holding them in suspicion, feeling that they must be
dangerous if they would give the allegiance to neither
one nation nor the other. England was anxious to have
Nova Scotia, or Acadia, settled with hearty British subjects, and in
1749, Colonel Edward Cornwallis led an expedition of nearly two
thousand five hundred persons into Chebucto harbor and settled the
town of Halifax. The nearest settlement was that of the French, on
the basin of Minas. A little cattle path ran through the woods for
twenty miles, connecting the two towns.
The garri.son was removed from Louisburg, and assisted in the work
of the young settlement at Halifax. The English imagined that their
French neighbors were setting the Indians upon an attack upon the
colony, and all through the winter of 1749 the people lived in fear of
DESOLATED ACADIA. 377
an attack. There was also a French settlement at the mouth of the
St. John, and it was feared that the two colonies would unite in a move
against the English. To avoid such danger, the English decided that
the people of Grand Pre must be made to take a complete oath of alle-
giance or else be removed altogether from communication with the
French. After several years of suspicion and dissatisfaction a crisis was
reached in 1755, when the people of IMinas begged to have the arms,
which had been taken from them, restored. There was a rumor that a
French iieet was in the Bay of Fundy and that the Acadians intended
to join the forces and attack the English garrison. The Governor
ordered the French inhabitants to send delegates to Halifax for the pur-
pose of giving the oath of allegiance. They refused to take it. It was
therefore decided that the French inhabitants should be sent out of the
province. An expedition was sent from Massachusetts, under the com-
mand of Edward Winslow. The French fortifications were taken, the
Acadian Indians disarmed, and some of the Acadians pressed into English
service. The farmers of Grand Pre were then asked to meet the English
in the little church at 3 o'clock in the afternoon to hear what the
English officers had to impart to them. The old and young men, and all
the boys often years of age, were required to be there. They assembled,
unsuspiciously, to the number of four hundred and eighteen. The
church was put under guard. Colonel Winslow told him that it was
his Majesty's instructions and orders that all lands and tenements,
cattle of all kinds, and live stock of all sorts, were forfeited to the
Crown. Only their monej* and household goods were allowed them.
It was promised that families should be kept together, and that removals
should be as easy as it could be made. The poor French farmers were
surrounded by troops, and their pra^-ers and protests were of no avail.
The men were kept in the church for some time, waiting for the arrival
of the vessels which would transport them. When they came, all the
young unmarried men were placed upon the vessels first, then all of the
young married men. Only the very young or the ver>' old were left on
shore. There was no chance for a revolt. It was many weeks before
the rest of the transports arrived in which the families were to be placed.
In the meantime, the unhappy women spent their days in packing up
their goods and arranging for departure.
Colonel Winslow grew tired of his bitter task. The weeping of the
women worried him, and their prayers were harder to face tiian the fire
of an enemy would have been. On the 21st of October the remaining
transports arrived and. the people were embarked. Tliere were at least
2-/^ THE STORY OF AMERICA.
two thousand of them, possibly more. The e.xiles were scattered
through a number of the colonies. Some of them returned to France.
There was a colony planted in Louisiana, and a few returned in time.
In Massachusetts, they were persecuted. The children were taken
from their parents and driven from town to town. Evenone refused to
care for them.
No doubt the Puritans thought that they were serving the Lord in
•^his persecution of the Roman Catholics. In Pennsylvania, the exiles
were distributed among country towns and provisions were made for
them from time to time. They were always gentle under the wrongs
which were heaped upon them.
FOR FURTHER READING;
History — Haliburton's "Historj' of Nova Scotia.**
Fiction — Mrs. Williams' "The Neutral French."
Haliburton's "The Old Judge."
De Mine's "The Lily and the Cross."
Poetry— Longfellow's "Evangeline."
CHAPTER XLV.
>\t Jfion or I^b Jixlm.
OPERATIONS AGAINST THE FRENCH IN THE NORTH — THE BATTLE AT
BLOODY POND — THE FRENCH TAKE FORTS OSWEGO AND
WILLIAM HENRY — THE ENGLISH RETAKE LOUISBURG
THE BATTLE OF CARILLON — THE ENGLISH
RETAKE OSWEGO AND CAPTURE
FRONTENAC AND DU
QUESNE.
fCENERAL plan had been laid out by the English
^ for the reduction of France in the New World.
^ The unfortunate expedition of Braddock was but
a part of this. He was to take Fort Du Quesne
and move on to Niagara. Governors Shirle}- and
Johnson met with their forces at Albany. Gov-
ernor Shirle}' was to move against Niagara, where he
was to be joined by Braddock' s men. General John-
son was to move against Crown Point, a French
garrison on the southern shore of Lake Champlain.
While Governors Shirley and Johnson were waiting
in Albany for the arrival of the last of their troops,
they received word of Braddock' s disaster. The men
were inexperienced and impatient. Fighting, they
could understand, but waiting and planning, which
is so large a part of the success of war, was distasteful to them.
Shirley was obliged to wait so long before making his attack iipoii
Niagara that a fall stonn set in. Many of his men deserted him, and
he thought it best not to venture upon so long a march, amidst the
inclemency of the coming weather, with a reduced force of men. He
learned, also, that the French, under Baron Dieskan, were intending to
attack Oswego. He strengthened that place by increasing the garrison
there to seven hundred men. The French were anxious for Oswego, for
2So THE STORY OF AMERICA,
though Forts Niagara and Frontenac commanded each end of Lake
Ontario, Oswego, upon the southern bank, held the key to the Ohio
valley. So long as this was not in the possession of the English, the
French traders were not likely to be interfered with. Dieskau was, indeed,
upon the point of moving against Oswego, when he heard of General
Johnson's intentions to move against Crown Point. Dieskau abandoned
his first intention and hurried to meet Johnson. He had two thousand
men, whom he took up Lake Champlain to Fort St. Frederick, at Crown
Point. There he waited for the English. General Johnson's forces
had been sent northward, under General Lyman, in mid-summer. They
spent their time in building a fort on the east bank of the Hudson while
they waited for General Johnson to arrive with the necessary stores and
equipments. It was the 8th of August, 1755, when General Johnson
set out to join Lyman. Ammunition, provisions and all other necessaries
of a campaign were carried fourteen miles to Lake George. Here they
were obliged to wait for their boats, but built a fort in the meantime.
Here Indians from the Six Nations joined John.son from time to time in
small numbers. Lyman's men were engaged in strengthening the
fort; Johnson encamped farther south on the lake, in a spot protected
by the lake on one side and a marsh on the other.
Dieskau left a strong party at Crown Point and marched southward,
with the intention of taking Lyman's men, thus cutting off Johnson
from his supplies. Could he do this, there would be nothing between
him and the New England border. The Indians were full of objections.
They were always reluctant about attacking forces, having a terrible
fear of cannon. They refused to believe Dieskau when he told them
that Lyman was entirely unprovided with them. Dieskau was, there-
fore, obliged to march against Johnson's camp. Johnson heard of their
approach and went to meet them. Dieskau prepared an ambush in the
shape of a horseshoe, intending, when the English marched into it, to
bring around one of the long lines and close about them, attacking
from all sides. Hendrick, the chief of the Mohawks, and a detach-
ment of Johnson's men, marched into this. Upon three sides oi'
them the French and Indians rose with a yell and fell upon them.
Blood}- Pond, on the east shore of Lake George, still marks the spot
where those unfortunate men fell. Reinforcements covered the flight
of the remnant of the English back to the rude barricade which
Johnson had hastily raised and where he had placed his few cannons
which he had brought up in boats.
The Canadian Indians would not pursue the fight when they saw the
THE LION OR THE LILIES. 281
cannons. The Mohawks, on the English side, had already fled. Their
chief, Hendricks, had been killed. The provincial soldiers, hiding
behind their barricade of trees, picked off the French regulars until
they were obliged to take to the woods. Johnson had been wounded
and Lyman took command. The French, protected by the trees, crept
up close to the breastworks, and the battle became a hand-to-hand fight.
Lyman kept the cannons busy sending a raking fire through the swamps
where the savages were lurking. The French were obliged to fly.
Johnson gave orders that his men were not to pursue them. The French
rested and began preparations for a meal, for they were half starved.
Just then a detachment of two hundred New Hampshire troops marched
down from Fort Lyman. These fell upon the French, and besides
doing much execution, got their baggage and ammunition. The French
lost about five hundred, the English between two and three hundred.
There was the greatest rejoicing in the colonies. Johnson was
made a baronet and given a large sum of money. In Albany, the
people knew that they had been saved from destruction. The English
proceeded to build a strong fort at the south end of Lake George. It
was called Fort William Henry. That and Fort Lyman were both
well garrisoned. The French took possession of the pass at Ticon-
deroga and fortified it. Governor Shirley, since the death of Braddock,
had been at the head of the English army in America. The plans
which he laid for the coming year, 1756, were a repetition of the year
before. The desire was to capture Fort Du Quesne and Crown Point;
Niagara, Frontenac, and Ticonderoga were to be taken, if possible.
The British and French governments fonnally declared war in May,
1756. Lord Loudon was made Commander-in-chief of the English
forces, and the Marquis De Montcalm was placed at the head of the
French. The Englishman was indolent and unambitious. He waited
for this thing and that, while the army in America was suffering for
his presence. Montcalm was very different. He hastened to Canada
with two thousand men and a large quantity of stores. Under his
directions the French cut off supplies intended for Oswego. They
captured small English forts, took a considerable number of prisoners,
and succeeded in winning the alliance of the Six Nations. The French
succeeded in capturing Fort Ontario, with a slight loss to themselves.
The English lost as prisoners of war, sixteen hundred men, including
eighty officers, one hundred and twenty pieces of artillery, a large
store of ammunition, and the seven armed ships and two hundred
batteaux which were to have been sent against Niagara and Frontenac.
282 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
The English, weakened by the languid and ineffectual command of
Lord Loudon, continued to be inactive. The force had dwindled, by
sickness, from seven to four thousand. Montcalm returned to Montreal
for the winter. The English plans for the next year were to confine
hostilities to a single expedition. This was to be against Louisburg,
which the English had taken once before so gallantly. Four thousand
more men were raised in the colonies. The troops met at Halifax and
were joined by Loudon with six thousand regulars, but when Loudon
learned that Louisburg was well garrisoned, he concluded to put off an
attack for a year and returned to New York. When ]\Iontcalm heard
of this, he made up his mind to move against Fort Willian Henry,
This fort had been badly situated. Some of the hills by it commanded
it absolutely, and around it were marshes and low-lying ground.
Montcalm, with fifty-five hundred Canadians and regulars, and sixteen
hundred Indians, made his way from Ticonderoga across the portage to
the upper part of Lake George. Here he divided his men. Part were
sent in batteaux and canoes down the lake with all the baggage, and
twenty-eight hundred followed the Indian's trail by the side of the lake.
These last mentioned were under the command of De Levis. Montcalm
landed on the west side of the lake, about two miles from the fort, and
demanded its surrender. Colonel Monroe, who was in command,
promptly refused, thinking that he could rely on the assistance of
General Webb's men at Fort Lyman, fifteen miles below. But Webb
had the stupidity to advise Monroe to surrender, since he could give no
aid to him unless General Johnson arrived with reinforcements. The
French intercepted this letter, learned the nature of the men they had
to deal with, and sent the messenger on his way.
General Johnson did arrive with reinforcements, but Webb would
not pennit him to give the assistance to poor Monroe, although the
common soldier^' were wild for action, and outraged at the meanness
which left him to his fate. The siege lasted for six days and Monroe
was obliged to surrender. Montcalm made liberal terms but the Indians
had been inflamed with liquor and their thirst for blood aroused.
Montcalm had promised that the troops should be marched to Fort
Lyman safely. He tried to keep his word, but the Indians broke from
all control and fell upon the Englishmen. In their panic the English
ev»n fled to the French for protection. It has never ceased to be a
subject for dispute among the friends and enemies of Montcalm, as to
whether he inspired the Indians in this treacherj' or not. Montcalm
burned Fort William Henrj' and returned to Canada.
THE LION OR THE LILIES. 283
The Indian depredations continued all along the English frontier as
far as the valley of the Shenandoah. Oswego, the key of the Ohio valley
and the great lakes, had been lost. It is true that the English held
Acadia, but the silent and desolated villages were not a proud possession.
Fortunateh', at this time, a man who was always a friend of the
American colonies came to their relief. It was William Pitt, the
English statesman. At this time he was Secretary- of State, and he
took vigorous measures for sending armies, ammunition and a general
equipment from England. He also called for a large number of
colonial soldiers. All the New England men needed was encourage-
ment and example, and they responded to the call with enthusiasm.
.\dmiral Boscawen and Sir Jeffrey Amherst were placed in command of
the forces which were called to attack Louisburg. On June 2, 1758,
these forces arrived at Louisburg, and a well-planned assault was made.
The French surrendered and the English took six thousand prisoners.
This was verj- important to the English, for there now stood nothing
between Louisburg and Quebec, the strongest and most impregnable of
the Canadian cities. New England began to take courage once more,
and looked to Brigadier-General Wolfe, who played an important part
in the engagement, for a leadership of more power. Abercrombie,
who had taken the place of the ineffective Loudon, was aiming at the
capture of Ticonderoga. With him was Lord Howe, a general of
bravery and dash, trusted by his officers and beloved by his men.
On the 5th of July, Abercrombie came up Lake George with fifteen
thousand troops, both regulars and provincials, in a fleet of batteaux.
The scarlet uniforms of his English regulars, the plaids of his Highland
troops, and the motley garb of his provincials making a picturesque
spectacle. The French had been sent to keep the English from landing.
One body of them was driven back, the other took to the woods, and
wandering there bewildered, encountered a body of horsemen, who were
also lost. In the engagement which followed, nearly all of the French
(three hundred and fifteen) were killed. The English lost heavily also,
and Lord Howe was shot. His loss was a greater disaster to the
English than twice the number of the French slain would have been.
On the 8th, a regular attack was made upon Carillon. Abercrombie
sent his regulars again and again to the deadly abatis. The huge
trunks and roots of the trees afforded the best protection in the world
for the French. Lord Abercrombie, unused to this method of defence,
did not sufficiently value its strength.
At sunset the English gave the fight up as hopeless and withdrew to
2 84 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the lake. The discouraged men encamped upon the ruins of Fori
William Henrj', and counting their numbers, found that tlie)- had lost
over two thousand. Meanv/liile, Bradstreet. with tliree thousand men,
had once more secured Oswego to the English. He then rode down the
lake to Frontenac and captured its garrison, and then returned to
Albany to join the men who remained. The third expedition which
had been sent for the recovery of Fort Du Ouesne, under General Forbes,
was successful. Forbes did not march b\' the road which Braddock
had followed, but started from Bedford, Massachusetts. With Forbes
was Colonel Washington and his Virginian troops. A great deal of
time was wasted in building bridges and leveling woods after the
manner of European warfare, which the commander followed and
Washington protested against. The march was so long that the
provisions were exhausted, and it was feared that the expedition would
have to return without having accomplished anything. The French
did not feel strong enough to venture resistance, and they set fire to their
magazine. So the English conquered almost in spite of themselves.
The key to the lakes and the Ohio valley was once more in their
possession. A terrible disaster befell the army a few days later, when
Grant's detachment of men, consisting largely of Highlanders, were
surprised by seven or eight hundred Frenchmen, and nearly all killed.
Pitt continued to send supplies and men over to America. By the 6th
of July, the English were before Niagara. The general first in
command was killed by the carelessness of one of his soldiers, and Sir
William Johnson took his place. The French knew that their garrison
was too small to hold against the besieging force, and sent to Detroit
and Presque Isle for reinforcements. These the English met and
defeated in a spirited engagement. When the French at the fort were
convinced of this disaster, they surrendered. Meanwhile, Amherst had
brought eleven thousand men to awe the little garrison of Ticonderoga.
The French did not attempt resistance, but blew up the magazine and
retreated northward. Amherst went on cautiously to Crown Point,
only to find that the French had retreated still farther north. The rest
of the year was employed by Amherst in building those massive works
on Crown Point, which are still the wonder of tourists. Rogers was
sent with his rangers against the Indians, but the great interest of the
English campaign lay with General Wolfe.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction— James' "Ticonderoga."
Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans."
Poetry— Whittier's "Pentucket"
Whittier's "St. John."
CHAPTER XLVI.
>|$ JhI^s uf ilor^.
THE EXPEDITION AGAIKST QUEBEC — THE NIGHT ATTACK AND THE
FIGHT ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM — THE DEATH OF
MONTCALM AND WOLFE — NEW ORLEANS
AND THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
' GIVEN TO SPAIN.
'HOUGH Wolfe was a man of much strength of
spirit, he suffered constantly from bodily weak-
ness. Nothing but a fierce determination to
restore the honor of the English colonies could
have kept him up through those trj'ing expedi-
tions. He rested in England for a time after
the taking of Louisburg, and then returned to prepare
for the capture of Quebec, suffering, meantime, from a
deep melancholy and a presentment of death. At the
close of June, 1759, the English forces left L,ouisburg
and encamped on the Isle d' Orleans, in the St. Law-
rence, a little below Quebec. A detachment was put on
the promontory of Point Levi, on the southern shore of
the river, and still nearer the city. Montcalm learned
of their coming, and made preparations for defence.
Rocky bluffs rose straight up from the St. Lawrence, and for years these
natural fortifications had been considered impregnable. Montcalm had
about three thousand men, in fortified camps, protecting the city. Across
the St. Lawrence was a dam, with vessels sunk behind it and barges in
front. The St. Lawrence, on the south side of the city, was about a
mile wide, and at that place was a swift-flowing river. Montcalm's
forces were much larger than Wolfe's, and the English soldiers were
inclined to the belief that an attempt against such forces and fortifica-
tions was useless. Wolfe did not depend upon strength, but on strategy.
An attack was made on the French camp near the falls of Montmorenci.
The Englishmen made a bold attack, but in the end were forced to take
286 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
to their boats and retreat. The expedition was a sorr>' failure, and at
least five hundred men were lost by the English.
The siege was kept up for another month. Little effect was inade
upon the upper town, but the lower one was almost destroyed. Wolfe was
sick and melancholy. The inaction was dispiriting to the troops.
What they desired was to force Montcalm to meet them on open fiel-d.
At length Wolfe, lying ill in his tent, hit upon a plan which made him
immortal. In the time which they had lingered there, Wolfe had
become well acquainted with the countrj', for his men had reconnoitred
faithfully. Therefore, on the night of the twelfth, a moonless night,
Wolfe rose from his bed and led sixteen hundred of his men. They
dropped silently down the river with the current, and landed beneath the
overhanging heights above the city. Up these wooded bluffs were steep
paths, and fourteen volunteers led the way while the sixteen hundred
men followed. Once they were challenged by a sentinel. A High-
lander replied, in the French tongue, that they brought provisions.
There was no other interruption. It was the Highland boys in their
plaids that sprang ashore first. They were used to mountain climbing,
and rushed up the steep. The little guard at the head of the path was
soon overpowered. When the morning light broke, Quebec was
astonished to see an English army on the Plains of Abraham, the great
table land behind the city. Montcalm hurried thither with twenty-five
hundred men.
He had been on the other side of the St. Lawrence river, and had to
cross the bridge of boats and pass through the city before he reached
the Plains. The English had already begun to intrench themselves.
The French had no time for preparations, and one gun was all they
had been able to drag after them. The Canadians crouched in the corn-
fields and began the attack, and the French regulars, in three divisions,
moved upon the centre and the flanks of the English. The French
kept up a steady fire, but the English did not level their guns until
their enemies were within a few feet. Then, of course, the fire was
deadly, and the English followed it up by a hand-to-hand attack. The
Frenchmen fell into disordered rout.
Wolfe was wounded. He had one ball in his side, and another in
his breast. Some one carried him to the rear and laid him on the grass,
where he lay almost unconscious, but when a man cried, ' 'See how they
run!" Wolfe raised himself suddenly and asked, "Who run?" When
he heard it was the enemy, he gave his last orders:
"Tell Colonel Burton to march Welb's regiment down the St
THE PATHS OF GLORY.
287
I^awrence river and cut off their retreat from the bridge." Then he
died peacefully. Montcalm was also killed, and was buried in -i cavity
of the earth made by the bursting of a bombshell. It was the burial
he had asked for. On the i8th of September, 1759, the British took
possession of Quebec, the French withdrawing their troops to Montreal.
With the opening of the river in the spring, De Levis came down
from Montreal with an armv of seven thousand men. The English
moved out with soldierly spirit, and a second battle was fought upon
the Plains of Abraham. The English were worsted, and the French
began a siege. Both forces waited in quiet for some time, expecting
reinforcements. They came to the English first, and De Levis threw
his guns into the river and retreated. On the 8th of September the
city surrendered. In the terms of capitulation were included Detroit,
Michelimackinac and all the French forts farther west. The French
fleet, which arrived upon the coast soon after, was entirely destroyed
by the British squadron. Canada, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton now
belonged to Great Britain.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Warburton's "Conquest of Canada."
Fiction— Hall's "Twice Taken."
Tiffany's "Brandon."
QUEBEC.
CHAPTER XLVII.
jt 3pIout ^nr Jfibri^.
PONTIAC, CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS — ARRIVAI. OF ROGERS' MEN AT
DETROIT — PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY — BEGINNING OF
WAR — THE SIEGE OF DETROIT — THE
BATTLE OF BLOODY
BRIDGE.
HE chief of the Ottawas, Pontiac, claimed all
^^^ the land upon the southern and western sides of
Lake Erie. He is said to have commanded his
Indians with great skill at the time of Braddock's
defeat. In 1746, he and his warriors defended
the French with bravery, against the Northern
Indians. Practically, he was the principal chief of three
great tribes, the Objibewas, the Ottawas, and the Potta-
watoniies. At the time of which we write he was a
little past the prime of life, but was still one of the most
intelligent and formidable men of his race. He was
haughty and eloquent, not lacking in statesmanlike quali-
ties, nor in a certain poetic imagination.
When the English detachment was sent to take pos-
session of Detroit, under Major Rogers, Pontiac came in
person to inquire what right he had to pass through the countr}-. He
was told of the conquest of Canada and that the party were on the wa}- to
accept the surrender of Detroit. Pontiac retired to turn the matter
over in his mind for the night, and on the following day made a speech
in which he affirmed his friendliness towards the English and prom-
ised that they should be unmolested. That he was sincere in his pro-
testations of friendship is proved by the fact that when Rogers and his
famous rangers arrived at the Detroit river, Pontiac persuaded four
hundred Detroit Indians, who were lying there in ambush for them, to
disperse. Had he not done so, this would have been the last adventure
A BLOW FOR LIBERTY. 2Sq
of tliat picturesque band of men whose exploits have been the delight
of all American boys.
But the English were never so attractive to the Indians as were the
French, and after a time the grim old savage, Pontiac, began to long
for his more entertaining friends, who had so long lived near him in
good fellowship. He could not understand why a large garrison of
Frenchmen should lay down their arms and surrender to a handful of
English rangers, and he listened with satisfaction to the tales which the
French poured into his ears. They said that the great French Father
had been asleep, but that he would awaken now and avenge the wrongs
of his children. Pontiac, solitary and gloomy, pondered upon this in
the depths of the Michigan forests, and laid plans for driving the Eng-
lish from the country. This was to be done by attacking all the forts
in a single day, as well as all the frontier settlements. He had heard
that a large French fleet was on its way down the St. Lawrence,
and he hoped to win the good will of the commander. With him, he
would march upon the older English settlements and drive the people
back across the Atlantic. Ambassadors were sped to the several
Indian nations with a red-stained tomaha-yvk and the wampum war belt.
The Senecas, Algonquins, Wyandots and some southern tribes became
allies of Pontiac. Each tribe was to dispose of the garrison nearest it
and then turn upon the adjacent settlements. On April 27, 1763,
Pontiac called a great council on the river Ecorces and addressed his
warriors there. He recounted all the wrongs the Indians had suffered
at the hands of the English, and he told of a tradition that a Delaware
Indian had been allowed to enter the presence of the Great Spirit, who
told him that his race must return to the customs and weapons of their
ancestors, give up the whisky which the white men had taught them
to use, and throw away the implements with which he had tried to
chain them to the dull drudger\' of civilization. Pontiac assured his
friends that the French were coming down the St. Lawrence with a
large fleet of soldiers who would stand by them and be their friends.
The insurrection was to be on the 7th of "Slay, and Pontiac was to lead
the attack on Detroit.
On the 1st he visited the fort with forty warriors, and danced the
the dance of peace before them. He retired to finish his plans of war.
He and one hundred chiefs were to enter the fort for the purpose of
holding a council with the commander. Pontiac was to make a speech,
and when he presented the wampum belt wrong end foremost, it was to
be the signal for the Indians to fall upon the officers and kill them.
290 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
The Indians waiting outside about the streets were to do the same
deadly work among the soldiers and citizens. The plans were well
laid, but on the 5th, one of the English women visiting in Ottawa vil-
lage to make purchases of maple sugar and venison, saw many warriors
cutting off the barrels of their guns with files. She wondered why they
could wish the barrels of their guns to be made shorter. There was
only one conclusion; they wished to hide them under the folds of
their blankets. One of the beautiful young Indian girls who were in
the habit of visiting the fort left with so much reluctance on the night
before the attack that she was questioned until she confessed the details
of the plot. Pontiac made her suffer severely afterward for this
treachery to her race.
The force of Pontiac about Detroit was from six hundred to two
thousand. The English garrison consisted of one hundred and twenty
men. The fort was a square enclosed by a palisade twenty feet high.
At each corner was a wooden bastion, with a few light pieces of artil-
ler}-, and over the gateways were block-houses. Two armed schooners
were anchored in the river.
Pontiac came at the appointed time and entered the gate with his
warriors. He saw at once that his plans had been discovered. "Why
do I see so many of my father's young men standing in the street with
their guns?" he asked. Gladwyn, who was commanding, replied,
lightly, that they had been out for exercise. Pontiac began his speech,
doubtless turning over in his mind the possibility of an attack even
now. Once he lifted the wampum belt. Gladwjn replied with a
slight movement of his hand. There was a rattle of arms at the door
and the roll of a drum. Pontiac sat down in dismayed silence. The
Indians were finally conducted to the gate by the soldiers, and ushered
out in sullen silence.
Pontiac and three chiefs came back the next day with a calumet and
told Gladwyn that evil birds had sung lies in his ear. The following
day he came with a large crowd of warriors, to find the gates barred.
He was told that he alone would be allowed to enter. The war-whoop
which his followers gave was the declaration of hostilities. Some of them
ran to the defenceless English houses outside the fort, killed the inhabi-
tants, and shook their bloody scalps at the soldiers. Pontiac' s village
was hastily moved across the ri\'er to the mouth of the creek we now
know as Bloody Run, a mile and a half north of the fort. On the loth
he began a regular siege, fighting in the usual savage manner, behind
barns and fences, keeping well out of reach of return fire. Two Scotch
A BLOW FOR LIBERTY. 29I
officers responded to Pontiac's wish to hold a council with the Eng-
lish. Both were detained as prisoners and one was murdered.
The Wyandots joined Pontiac and the siege was renewed with great
vigor. It had taken Gladw>'n some time to realize the extent of the
conspiracy. But now he removed everything about the fort which
could obstruct the sweep of his guns. He carefully economized the
provisions, and dug wells in the fort. These wells were not alone
needed to provide against thirst, but to extinguish the fires as well, for
one of the chief methods of Indian warfare was to tip the arrows with
burning tow. Under cover of darkness the friendly Indians across the
shore brought over supplies. Pontiac's soldiers had not been prepared
for sustained conflict, and before long were short of provisions. The
old chief was not lacking in dignified ideas of war and would not permit
his men to prey upon the Canadian farms. He made a large number
of promissory notes upon birch bark, which were to be exchanged for
provisions. After his disastrous war had closed it is said that he
redeemed all of these notes.
Reinforcements were on their way up Lake Erie for Gladwyn. He
knew of this, and sent one of his schooners to hasten their approach,
but the schooner missed them, and they continued to slowly creep up
the coast, not knowing of the siege, and were captured by a band of
Wyandots, who killed or took as prisoners sixty men. Only two boats
escaped.
The Indians hid in the boats which they had captured and forced
the crew to sail into the harbor. The Indians hoped to enter the fort
by this strategy. At the fort they had watched the approach of the
boats with great delight, and the disappointment when they were seen
to be laden with Indians, was almost unbearable. The two boats which
escaped hastened to Niagara and told their story. An expedition for
relief was formed. The Indians made an attempt to capture this also,
but it reached the fort in safety.
The approaches to the fort were guarded b)- the schooners, of which
the Indians stood in great fear. They made several attempts to
destroy them with fire- rafts, but were not successful. The Wyandots
and Pottawatomies exchanged prisoners with Gladwyn and sued for
peace, but the Ottawas and Ojibewas kept up the conflict. On the 29th
of July a reinforcement of two hundred and eighty men reached
Detroit, and revived the spirits of the exhausted garrison. They now
felt strong enough to march out from the fort and openly attack the
Indian camp. But the Indian never could be made to fight in fair field.
292 THE STORV OK AMERICA.
They hid behind every' tree and clump of bushes. Dalzell, who led
the expedition, could find no enemy, and after going as far as the deep-
ening twilight would permit, turned his men back toward the fort.
Then every bush, tree and hill became alive with savages who had
lain in ambush. Dalzell was killed. Rogers took possession of a house
and defended some of his men there. The cellar of the house was
crowded with women and children, and upon the trap-door, which
covered it, stood an old man who needed all his little strength and his
eloquence to keep the soldiers from rushing, in their terror, into the
cellar. Rogers held out until the batteaux, which had gone down the
river with the killed and wounded, returned. This was called the battle
of Bloody Bridge. In it the English lost fifty-nine men and the Indians
about twenty. The great desire of the i cidians was to keep supplies
from reaching the fort. One of the ?chooners returning to the fort
from Niagara was attacked in the Detroit river by a large number of
Indians, who swam silently through the water with knives in their
teeth. The crew fought them with spears and hatchets, and succeeded in
saving the boats from capture, but the captain was killed and several
men badly wounded. The boat would have been lost, had not the
mate given an order that the magazines should be fired. The Indians
understood enough English to take warning. The next expedition
^ivhich was sent to the fort from Niagara was overtaken b)- a storm.
Seventy men were lost, besides all the store of ammunition.
The Ottawas finally sued for peace, and Pontiac raised the siege in
October and returned to his melancholy forest. That portion of the
Tvar which he superintended himself had not been successful, but his
alli^r had been more fortunate. At almost ever}' fort in that country
the work of destruction had been successfulh- carried out. Forts
Sandusky, St. Joseph and Quatanoir, on the Wabash, were all captured,
and in most cases the garrison were murdered. At Michelimackinac, a
very crafty plan was laid for the taking of the fort. The Indians invited
the officers to witness a game of ball on the plain in front of the fort.
From early morning till noon the soldiers looked on, well pleased
-with the sport. Finally the ball was thrown near the gate of the fort.
The Indians made a rush for it, seized the two officers, who were stand-
ing near, and bound them, while the savages poured into the fort.
Inside were the squaws, with weapons concealed under their blankets.
These the men seized and fell upon the soldiers. vSeventeen were killed
instantly, and six were tortured to death. The English traders were
led into captivit)-. The French, quietly looking on, were not touched.
A BLOW FOR LIBERTY 293
At Prasqui, near the present town of Erie, Pennsylvania, the fort was
was besieged for two days and a half Here the Indians mined the fort
and the English were obliged to surrender. They were taken as pris-
oners to Pontiac's camp. At Fort Le Boeuf, a block-house, in which the
garrison had taken refuge, was set on fire, and the garrison of fourteen
men dug a hole in the ground in the rear and crept stealthily into the
forest, while the Indians stood dancing around in the belief that they
were burning to death. The men started for Fort Pitt, but some of
them died of hunger by the way. At Fort Venango, on the Alle-
glian)-, the garrison was butchered and Lieutenant Gordon slowly
tortured to death. Fort Pitt itself was well fortified. It had a good
supply of water and provisions, and the attack was not successful. A
command was sent out from Philadelphia, under Colonel Henry Boquet,
to strengthen the garrison at Fort Pitt. He had five hundred men with
him, mostly Highlanders. These marched through a desolate tract of
countrj' at the western part of Pennsylvania. Many settlements there
had been laid waste and the inhabitants murdered. A fierce attack
was made on him near the stream called Brush river, where the men
had encamped. His little army was entirely surrounded, and his
horses, unused to the blood-curdling shrieks of the Indians, were
unmanageable. The Scotchmen fought firmly, rather than bravely,
and their verj' lack of excitement won them the victor}'. The fight
was resumed the next da}' at the first break of light. The Scotchmen
were placed at a terrible disadvantage. They stood in an open space
in a compact mass. The Indians were dispersed through the woods
and fought from behind trees. Boquet feigned retreat. The Indians
supposed that their prey was about to escape, and made a furious
attack. This was exactly what Boquet desired. In a short time
the Indians were flying before the Scotchmen. The march was
resumed, and the force arrived at Fort Pitt, having lost eight officers and
one hundred and fifteen men.
In a short time general peace was made, but for many mouths after
the people in the frontier villages lived in terror of their lives. Two
thousand whites were killed. Several costly expeditions had been
entirely destroyed. Pontiac, still revengeful, tried to start another con-
spiracy, but failed. He was murdered in 1769 by a Kaskaskia Indian^
on the spot where St. Louis now stands.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Parkman's "Conspiracy of Pontiac."
Drama — .-V. Macomb's "Pontiac."
CHAPTER XLVIII.
S^Hr fait ]|i$ Jrulus.
THE STAMP ACT — CONDITION OF THE COLONIES — THE OPPOSITION
TO TAXATION — REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT — REFUSAL OF
THE ASSEMBLY TO PROVIDE FOR THE
TROOPS SENT OVER BY
ENGLAND.
I OR a time after the close of the war a pleasant
tranquility reigned in the colonies. George
Washington, writing to a friend in England,
confessed there was really nothing to say.
' 'Happy the people whose annals are tiresome, ' '
says Montesquieu. For a time it seemed as if
life in New England was to resolve itself into this
fortunate monotony. But the young King George HI,
in England, had ideas which brought this tranquility to
an end. He believed that the colonies were rich
enough to help him in carrying out one of his famous
schemes. He wished to build a great palace which
should rival the splendor of Versailles. To do this, it was
evident that a prodigious sum of money was necessary-.
There was no easier way to raise it than by taxing the American
colonies. In 1763 a bill was introduced in Parliament which tested the
whole question of the possible revenue to be derived from that source. It
required that stamps varying in price, none of them less than one shilling,
should be placed upon the records of all commercial transactions. An
amendment to the sugar act was also introduced. The duty on foreign
molasses was changed from six pence a gallon to three pence, and new
duties were imposed on coffee, pimento. East India goods, and wines
from Madeira and the western islands. George III was not mistaken
in thinking that there had been a rapid increase of wealth in the
American colonies. Between the years 1765 and 1775 two-thirds of
-^
o<^
.j^C.
C.«;SAR HAD HIS BRUTUS. 297
tlu- foreign commerce of Great Britain was that which she conducted
with America. Between 1700 and 1760 the value of property- in
England increased fifty per cent. William Pitt claimed that this was
due wholly to the American colonies, and said that Great Britain reaped
a profit of two millions a year from them. At this time there were
three millions of people in America, and these purchased almost every
manufactured article from Great Britain, exporting, in return, fish,
tobacco, indigo, rice and naval stores. England sent goods amounting
to two million pounds annually to New York and Pennsylvania alone.
But to the indignant Americans who turned the stamp act over in
their assemblies, there seemed to be no reason why thej- should be
imposed upon simply because the}- wei'C prosperous. That peculiar form
of lawlessness which was so much stronger and more dignified than law,
and which the people of NTew England had shown before, was
thoroughly roused now. Samuel Adams, the leader of the popular
party- in Boston, inflamed the people by his indignant eloquence. "If
our trade may be taxed, why not our lands?" said he. "Why not the
produce of our lands, and, in short, ever^'thing we possess or make use
of? If taxes are laid upon us in any shape, without our having a legal
representative where they are laid, are we not reduced from the
character of subjects to the miserable state of tributary- slaves?" Such
speeches, and James Otis' passionate pamphlet on the rights of the
colonies, filled every American with courage and a determination to
resist. Quietly, and to an extent secretly, every man in America armed
himself. The speeches of the assemblies should have fairly warned the
English ministers, but they were anxious to gratify the caprice of their
half-mad King. A Continental Congress met at New York, in which
there were delegates from the nine assemblies to consider what had best
be done. Most of the assemblies had already met in the province and
had made their individual protests. In Virginia, Patrick Henry had
drawn up his famous resolutions denouncing the right of the mother
countr}' to tax her colonies. These were wannly opposed, and Henr}-,
rising in the house, cried, "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Crom-
well, George III" — "treason!" cried the men from every part of the
house — "may profit by their example," continued Henr}-, firmly. "If
this be treason, make the most of it!"
The Continental Congress at New York was composed of the most
distinguished men in the colonies. On the roll were the names of many
men who, in the end, sided with the Crown. Among them was
General Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts who was president of the
298' THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Congress. He and several others were staunch Tories. The resohi-
tions were not impertinent, nor even passionate. They were dignified,
moderate, and absohitely firm. The thirteen articles of these resolu-
tions had a single purpose — a protest against taxation. Meanwhile,
the piles of stamp paper which were to produce this new revenue
arrived in the different sea-ports. The collectors who brought the
stamps were hung in effigy and waited on by mobs. Most of them
were compelled to resign. In Boston, the mob entered the house of
Oliver, the agent, and broke his windows. Then they gathered at the
house of his brother-in-law, Governor Hutchinson, one of the richest
men in Boston, and threw everything into the street. The militia was
called out to arrest the ringleaders, which they made pretense of doing,
but released them willingly enough, when they were ordered to do so
by the mob. The newspapers were filled with letters of protest from
private citizens. The opposition was led chiefly by the "Sons of
lyiberty," an association in New York.
The royal governors and the officers under them were very bitter.
Lieutenant Cole, of New York, swore that he would cram the stamps
down their throats with the sword. The distributor of the stamps in
Maryland was obliged to fly to New York, and was finally visited by a
delegation from the Sons of Liberty, and forced to take an oath to the
effect that he would not resume the duties of his office. In South
Carolina, the stamp act was publicly burnt, the bells of Charleston
were tolled, and the flags of the ships in the harbor were at half-mast.
Nor was it alone the young men, fond of novelty, who conducted these
proceedings. The older and more dignified took part in them with
equal enthusiasm. The colonies also took more radical and business-
like methods of resistance. They agreed among themselves not to
import English goods, and orders which had gone forward were
countermanded. The retail dealers agreed neither to buy nor sell such
goods as were brought into the country. A fair was opened in New
York devoted to domestic manufactures. That the growth of wool
might not be interfered with, it was determined that no lambs might be
used as food. No mourning goods were manufactured in America and
it was agreed that they should not be purchased. Some of the ship-
masters bringing them over were forced to return with their cargo.
In England there was a new ministry — a ministry which had not
yet made up its mind what its attitude should be toward the colonies.
For the first time in a year, William Pitt appeared in the House. His
speecli upon the situation was most sarcastic. He said that Americans
CESAR HAD HIS BRUTUS. 3OI
were the sous, not the bastards, of England, and closed his speech with
the celebrated words: "The honorable gentleman tells us that America
is obstinate; America is almost in open rebellion. Sir, I rejoice that
America has resisted. Three millions of people, so dead to all the
feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have
been fit instruments to make slaves of all the rest. " Benjamin Franklin
was present, and was examined thoroughly on the question. The
stamp act was repealed. Throughout the colonies this was received
with the greatest enthusiasm. Joy bells were rung in the churches,
liberty poles raised, and pictures of Conway and Barre hung in Faneuil
Hall. Conway was the man who had brought in the resolution for the
repeal of the act. Barre was the man, who, when the stamp act was
passing through Parliament, replied to the remark that the colonies had
been planted by the care of England, with this indignant speech:
"They planted by your care! No, your oppressions planted them in
America. They nourished up by your indulgence! They grew by
your neglect of them. As soon as you began to care about them, that
care was exercised in sending persons to rule them in one department,
and another who were perhaps the deputies of deputies to some member
of this house, sent to spy out their liberties, to misrepresent their
actions and to prey upon them ; men whose behavior on many occasions
has caused the blood of those Sons of Liberty to recoil within them!"
Statues of George III and Pitt were erected in Virginia and Mrr}land.
In New York, statues of the King and Pitt were also erected and liberty
poles raised, at the bases of which hogsheads of punch were drank.
But the people had rejoiced too soon. The habits of loyalty was
still strong in them, and they desired to have cordial relations with the
home government. They had taken the repeal of the stamp act for
more than it really meant. The sugar act was not modified, and still
collected a revenue. It was still required of the colonies that they
should provide fire, candles, vinegar, salt, bedding, utensils for cooking,
beer, cider and wine for all the troops who might be sent to America.
Again the ministry of England had changed, and now had at its head a
ma!i who was determined to tax the colonies as he pleased. He insisted
that military garrisons should be kept up in all the large colonial
towns, and that they should be supported by colonial taxation. In
June of 1768, Sir Henr>' Moore, the Governor of New York, sent a
message to the assembly, asking them to make pro\isions for the
troops, then on their way to the colony. The assembly refused. They
were willing, they said, to bear a share in the support of the troops on
302 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
their way through the province, as they had always done, of their own
free will. But they would contribute nothing to the quartering of
troops in the colony. Parliament ordered that all the legislative rights
of New York should be stopped until this command had been complied
with. The sympathy of all the colonies was with New York. At
this time port duties were levied on wine, wools and fruit, if shipped
direct from Spain and Portugal, and upon glass, paper, lead, colors and
tea. This revenue was to be used for the support of the civil officers
of the colonies. It will be remembered that the assemblies had always
insisted upon the right to care for the ro}-al governors in the way they
considered best, and that the sum given to the Governor annually,
depended partly upon the prosperity of the province, and partly upon
the benefit which the Governor had actually been during the year. A
letter of supplication was promptly sent to the King, The reply was
a letter from the Secretary of State of England, to the General Court
of Massachusetts, commanding them to withdraw the resolution which
gave birth to the letter. If they refused, the government was to dissolve
the court. The assemblies of the other colonies received word that they
would also be dissolved if they were disobedient. A letter so insulting
and patronizing showed tlie absolute ignorance which England was in
regarding the character of the American men with whom they had to
deal.
Four regiments of soldiers were then quartered in the town of
Boston. Every man was curious to know why they were there.
Americans could not grasp the idea of a standing army. They believed
that the soldiers were there for no reason but to menace the community.
The idea entertained in England, that it was a compliment to have
troops stationed at a town, could not be understood by them. This
Puritan town, forced by law into habits which were almost ascetic, and
ruled by a government which was largely religious, could not tolerate
the gayety, not to say debauchery, of the soldiers. The town had
refused to prepare quarters for them. At a town meeting it was
requested that every inhabitant should provide himself with fire-arms
for sudden danger, in the case of a war with France. There was, as
everyone knew, no likelihood of a war with France, but the fiction was
sustained, and every man obeyed the bidding. When the troops arrived,
one regiment was quartered in Faneuil Hall, another in the town hall,
and one encamped on the Common. The Irish regiments, which arrived,
a few days later, were added to those on the Common. A fleet of
eighty men-of-war, having in all over one hundred and eighty guns, was
C-BSAR HAD HIS BRUTUS. 3O3
anchored off the town. It was with difficnlty that the wisest among
the Bostonians prevented an outbreak. The people were not only
willing to fight, but they were anxious to do so.
The verj- boys shared the popular discontent. There had been quite
a quarrel between them and the soldiers, for the soldiers were in the
habit of destroying the snow-slides which the boys had prepared for
their sleds. The boys appealed in vain to the captain, and finally went
to the British general. He said: "Have your fathers been teaching
rebellion, and sent you here to exhibit it?" "Nobody sent us here,"
said one of the boys. "We have never injured nor insulted your troops,
but they have been spoiling our snow-slides so that we cannot use them
any more. We complained, and the)- called us young rebels and told us
to help ourselves, if we could. We told the captains of this and they
laughed at us. Yesterday our slides were destroyed once more, and we
will bear it no longer." The general ordered the damage repaired and
told General Gage about the matter, who said that it was impossible to
beat the notion of liberty out of people who had it planted in them
from childhood.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Biography— Loring's "The Hundred Boston Orators."
Tudor's "Life of Otis."
Wells' "Life of Samuel Adams."
Sparks' "Frauklin."
Adams' "Life of John Adams."
Wirt's "Patrick Henry."
CHAPTER XLIX.
>]^B Pnslnn M$n-
TROUBLE IN BOSTON — "THE BO?TON MASSACRE" — ^THE TEA TAX-
ATTITUDE OF GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON — THE BOSTON
"TEA PARTY' — THE BOSTON
PORT BILL.
RRITATION in Boston reached its height on
March 3, 177O. For a long time there had been
many quarrels among the common soldier\' and
the Boston .'itamen. Probabl}- there was little
choice between the ignorance and brutalit)' of
both parties, but the popular sympathies were, of
course, with the j\mericans. On the evening of the 3d,
some soldiers had agreed to hold a sort of free fight with
a company of rope-makers. In the rough hand-to-hand
fight several men on both sides were wounded. On the
following nigbt an attempt was made to renew the
squabble, and it was suppressed with some difficulty.
The soldiers were resentful and naturally had a strong
partisan fetling. On the night of March 5th, two
young men tried to pass a sentinel at the foot of Cornhill. The senti-
nel told them that they could not pass. A struggle followed and a
crowd gathered. The sentinel was snow-balled. A file of troops was
sent out to defend the sentr>-, and succeeded in getting him into the
barracks safely. But the blood of the crowd was up. The actual indig-
nities which had been heaped upon them made them anxious for
revenge, and they can hardly be criticised if their methods were petty.
Another sentinel vas espied, who had, it was said, knocked down a
Boston boy ?. few days before. The ill-nature of the mob was turned
against him. H^ tried to enter the building and escape, but found the
door locked, and was forced to call for the main guard. Six men were
sent to his -^elief. Captain Preston, the officer of the day, was at an
THE BOSTON TEA-DRINKERS. 305
entertainment in the cit)-. A messenger was dispatched for him. The
mob grew ever}- minute, and the bells throughout the city were set
ringing as if for fire. Captain Preston and six more men came on the
oTound. The men presented onl>- their bayonets by way of defense
against the mob, and fell back in front of the custom-house. Thej-
were ordered not to fire, and, in spite of the missiles and epithets hurled
at them, managed to control themselves. But when a soldier received
a severe blow from a club, he lost his sense of discipline, leveled his
gun, and fired. Seven or eight more soldiers followed his example.
When the mob had fled, three men were found dead on the ground.
Two others were mortally wounded, and six slightly. The exploit
afforded the Bostouians a certain grim satisfaction. The strain upon
their patience had ended. The longed-for opportunity for action had
come. The twenty-ninth regiment answered the beat of arms, and soon
formed in King street. From the balcony of the State House, Governor
Hutchinson, a man of old New England blood, promised that a thorough
investigation should be made. Captain Preston, before daylight, sur-
rendered himself and was placed in jail. The selectmen lost no time in
waiting upon the Governor and assuring him that the troops must be
removed from town. The Governor replied that the regiment that had
had the fight with the rope-makers might be marched to the castle.
This answer was carried to the town meeting, where the selectmen
awaited it, in the Old South Church. Samuel Adams said that if there
was authoritv for removing one regiment, there was authority to remove
two. "Nothing short of the total evacuation of the town by all the
regular troops," said he, "will satisfy the public mind and preserve the
peace of the province." Hutchinson knew the humor of the New Eng-
land men, and though all England laughed at him afterward for his
compliance, he had all the troops removed. It delayed, beyond ax'^oubt,
the War of the Revolution, just five years. Preston was tried for mur-
der, but was acquitted. Two soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter
and sentenced to be branded in the hand.
In the English cabinet it was decided that tea was still to be
retained as a subject of taxation. An efibrt was made by the wiser
members of Parliament to repeal this in less than a year after the act
had been passed, but Lord North carried it by a majority. Lord North,
who was minister, and the "Friends of the King," were now directing
English affairs. The half-distraught young King was in no position to
be either wise or generous, had he wished to be so; in truth, he was
seriously out of patience with America, and was well pleased to vent his
306 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
irritation upon her. The tranquility which had followed the removal
of the troops from Boston was soon disturbed by the poor policy of Lord
North. The Crown of England was interested in the prosperity of the
East India Company. The United States steadily refused to import tea
from England, and as a consequence the East India Company found
itself burdened with seventeen million pounds of tea in its English
store houses. To save it from bankruptcy the government lent it a
million and a half of money. The directors of the East India Com-
pany wished to be allowed to land the tea free in America. They
knew much better than the English minister the humor of the men
with whom they had to deal. The King insisted there must be one
tax to keep up the right. The tax was only three pence a pound —
half of that which was j^aid in England — but the English subject had the
right to cast his vote upon the matter. American colonies were not
represented. In this distinction la}- all the difference between slavery
and freedom. To their great chagrin the people in Boston discovered,
at this time, that their Governor, Hutchinson, was writing letters
which they considered treasonable. He talked about the establishment
of a patrician order, and in one letter said that there must be an abridge-
ment of English liberties among the people of the colony. These
letters were shown to Franklin, who was in England, and he obtained
permission to send them to America. The Massachusetts assembly
begged the King to remove Hutchinson and the Lieutenant-Governor
from office. Edmund Burke, the young English statesman, says the
council which met to consider this letter had the fullest meeting he ever
remembered. Wedderburn, a lawyer, and one of Lord North's favorites,
spoke for three hours against the petition, and turned a storm of per-
sonal abuse upon Franklin, who was present. Walpole and Pitt
made the day famous — one by an epigram, the other by a reproof
Franklin was quiet and apparently undisturbed, but he laid aside a suit
of velvet clothes which he wore that day with the remark that he would
never put them on again until Wedderburn's insults were avenged. It
was ten years before he enjoyed that privilege, and then, as Plenipo-
tentiary of America, he signed, with the English Plenipotentiary, the
treaty by which England acknowledged the independence of Franklin's
countr}-. To add to the excitement of the council in England, news
had just reached them that three cargoes of the taxed tea which had
been sent to Boston had been thrown overboard.
The Da> tmotitlt^ the first of the tea vessels, had arrived in Boston
on November 24, 1774. A town meeting was called the next da}- at
THE BOSTON TEA-DRINKERS.
307
the Old South Meeting-house. Samuel Adams moved that the tea
should not be landed, that it should be sent back to the place froin
which it came, and that no duty should be paid on it. These resolu-
tions were passed unanimously. The owner and master were directed
that they were neither to enter the tea at the custom-house nor to land
it. A watch was put on the ships, and six horsemen were appointed
to notify the country at once of an\- effort to land it by force. In every
town, it will be remembered, were a compan}- of minutemen, well
equipped and drilled, who were marksmen of no mean order.
It was understood that in twenty days from the arrival of the first
ship, the collector woiild make a formal demand for duties. The
twenty days passed and the Governor would not permit the ship to
308 THH STORY OK AMERICA.
return to London, even if she had desired to do so. Ships-of-war
crowded the channels so that no vessel without a pass could go by the
castle outward bound. The town meeting, which was held daily at the
Old South Church, had rapidly increased, and on the twentieth day
there was a throng. Messengers were sent to the Governor to make one
last inquiry as to whether he would give the pass permitting the ship
with its lading to leave the harbor or not. He refused. Samuel
Adams arose in his seat, and said, with significant emphasis: "This
meeting can do nothing more to save the country." Then there was a
rush for the wharves, and in the hurrying crowd were seen two bodies
of young men, disguised as Mohawk Indians. They took possession of
the tea ship, and bidding the captain furnish them with ropes and tackle,
they elevated the chests on board, split them open and poured the tea
into the harbor. There was no noise, no shouting or rejoicing. The
matter was too serious. Every man who stood there, gravel}- watching the
performance, knew what it meant, and that the responsibility assumed
by the act was not small. It was nearly dawn when the young men
had finished. Who they were no one to this day has ever learned.
One man named Captain O'Connor, a devoted tea-drinker, tried to
fill his pockets with the tea. Some more patriotic person seized him
as he leaped from the vessel, and Captain O'Connor left the skirts of his
coat in the hands of the man who tried to stop him. O'Connor's coat
was nailed to the whipping-post next day as a punishment for his lack of
public spirit. Boston was not the only place which refused to accept the
ta.xed tea. The ship sent to Philadelphia was stopped before she reached
the city, and the captain was forced to turn her toward home. The tea
sent to Charleston was landed, but was purposely stored in damp cellars.
It would be safe to say that not one cup of tea was ever made from that
which North tried to force upon the American colonies. On March 14,
1775, North introduced the Boston port bill, which, by way of punish-
ment for the insubordination of the place, closed the port. After June
1 8th no person was to be allowed to load or unload any ship in the
harbor. The council was hereafter to be appointed by the crown and
the magistrates by the Governor. Government was provided for Quebec
and all persons who had taken part in the late disturbance were to be
tried in England.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Bord's "Boston Massacre."
Scudders "Boston Town."
Poetry— "The Boston Tea Partv." See Ford's Poems of History.
Charles T. Brook's "The Old Thirteen. "
Philip Frenlaw's "An Ancient Prophecy."
CHAPTER L.
i^a pioah of yalmb.
tHE FIRST BLOOD OF THE REVOLUTION — THE MEN OF BILLERICA-
FIGHT AT CONCORD AND LEXINGTON — THE SIEGE OF
BOSTON — THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
' HERE was never a time when the people of the
American colonies liked to be called traitors.
Their habits of loyalty to the King of England
made them lay all blame of oppression upon the
king's ministers. The bills which had caused so
much dissatisfaction were called ministerial bills;
the army whose presence so outraged them was called a
ministerial army. Yet, if George III was determined in
anything, it was to subdue and humiliate his colonies in
America, which he deemed woefully arrogant and lacking
in reverence. Besides, from no other source, he believed,
could the treasury' of England be so easily and rapidly
replenished. The pushing of this policy on the part of
the king, and the sturdy resistance on the part of the
people, brought matters to a crisis. General Gage sent
a small detachment of soldiers to Marshfield, in Plymouth county, for
the purpose of protecting Tories there from insult. The people made
no resistance or complaint about the matter, and General Gage
gathered confidence from their apparent indifference. On the twenty-
sixth of February, 1775, he sent out Colonel Leslie with a considerable
company of men, to seize some cannon at Salem. The soldiers lauded
at Marblehead on Sunday morning, while the people were all at
church, but the news of their landing was hurriedly carried to Salem
by a messenger loyal to the American cause. The soldiers were
allowed to march unmolested through the town of Salem, but when
they came to the North Bridge, be\ond which the cannon lay, they
found that it had been drawn uji — for it was a draw-bridge. The
3IO THE STORY OF AMERICA.
people standing there qnietly told Colonel Leslie that it was a private
way, and that no one conld be allowed to nse it without the owner's
consent. Colonel Leslie's reply was to put his men on board a couple
of scows. The owners of these scows jumped into them and began to
scuttle the boats. The soldiers drove them out with their bayonets. In
this way the first blood of the Revolution was shed. There were no
further hostilities then. The minister of Salem had a short talk with
Colonel Leslie, and got him to accept a compromise. The draw-bridgt
■was lowered. Colonel Leslie and his men walked over it and back
again — but without the cannon. Then he retreated to ]\Iarblehead,
and to Boston, while about him, as he retreated, sprang up the ready
minute-men, who did nothing, however, but watch him. To detail all
the irritations which deej^ened the feeling of resentment on both sides
would be tedious. Not only was the feeling of anger steadily increasing
between the English and Americans, but a stricter line was being drawn
Ijetween the Conservatives and Radicals. A dispute as to where loyalty
ended, and treason began, divided neighborhoods, churches and families.
The Provincial Congress at Massachusetts was quietly providing arms
and provisions. The magazines of the province were at Concord and
Worcester. Almost every' town had its own little magazine. The
confidence of these little hamlets is something really amazing. What
they lacked in strength, they made up in determination. At Billerica,
a citizen had bargained with a soldier for a gun. There was an act
against trading with soldiers, and the citizen was locked up all night by
the officers of the guard, and in the morning was tarred and feathered,
without a hearing. The soldiers paraded him through the streets with
a placard, on which was written, "American Liberty; or, a Specimen
of Democracy. ' ' There were fifty voters in Billerica. These sent this
portentious paper to General Gage: "May it please your excellency, we
must tell you we are determined, if the innocent inhabitants of our
country towns must be interrupted by soldiers in their lawful inter-
course with the town of Boston, and treated with most brutish ferocity,
we shall, hereafter, use a different style of petition than complaint."
These petty defiances were really not without their effect upon General
Gage. He was fully convinced that the countr)' was a hot-bed of
rebellion, and that it could not be taught a lesson too soon. He sent
two officers to reconnoitre about Concord and Worcester, where the maga-
zines of the province were. On Tuesday evening, the eighteenth of
April, eight hundred men were given instructions to seize and destroy
the guns, ammunition and stores at Concord. The troops marched
THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS. 31!
at night. They left Boston, nnder command of Colonel Smith, embark-
ing at the water edge of the Common. They landed at Leshmoor's^
which is now called Cambridge, and marched across the salt marshes^
striking the road to Menotomy. This excursion had long been expected.
The Americans had prepared for it. Doctor Warren had returned to
Concord from the meeting of the Provincial Congress at Boston. As
soon as Gage launched his boats, Warren sent word to Hancock and
A.dams by Paul Revere. Paul Revere was a coppersmith and engraver.
He had been one of the thirty mechanics to patrol the streets of Bostoa
at night all through the winter, in order to watch the movements of the
English troops. Revere carried his message to Hancock, and passings
through Charlestown, agreed, with a number of gentlemen there, that if
the British started out by sea, two lanterns should be shown in the
North Church steeple, and if by land, one as a signal. On the night
that General Gage moved, Warren sent in great haste for Revere and
begged him to set off for Lexington. He took his coat and boots with
him for his ride and was rowed across the river to Charlestown. The
night was clear and frosty, with stars overhead. Revere found a good
horse and waited for the signals. At eleven o'clock, two lanterns were
hung in the belfr}' of the Old North Church. Revere began his famous
ride. At ever\' farm house, in every town, the people were aroused.
At Lexington he told Hancock and Adams. Here, also, he was joined
by Dr. Prescott and William Dawes. On the way, Dawes and Prescott
stopped to alarm a house, and Revere was taken prisoner by four
English officers. Dawes was also detained, but Prescott escaped ta
ride on with the news. Colonel Smith, at the head of the English
detachment, had made every effort to keep the news from spreading.
When he found that the alarm had been given, he sent to Boston for
reinforcements. As he had taken all the boats with him which were
at the command of General Gage, the reinforcements were obliged to
lEarch by land in a roundabout way. General Gage's men were not
used to rapid action of this sort, and it was nine o'clock in the morning
before they had even gathered upon the Common ready for the march.
It was ver>' different, however, with the minutemen of the colonies.
Waking and sleeping, for weeks, they had thought of nothing but such au
opportunity. The Lexington minutemen were soon drawn up in
array. They were under the command of John Parker, a veteran of the
French war. Parker saw that his men were largely outnumbered,
and tried to withdraw his men. Colonel Pitcairn, who commanded the
column, rushed forward, cr},-ing, "Disperse, rebels, disperse!" No
31^ THE STORY OF AMERICA.
other words, however carefully selected, could have so inflamed the
Americans. But there was a great desire on both sides not to have the
responsibility for beginning the war. To the last the coriimanders of
both forces ordered the men not to fire. Both commanders always
insisted afterwards that their men did not fire first. What really
happened is not known, nor does it especially matter. There was a
general firing on both sides. The shots from the Americans hurt no
one. The firing of the English killed and wounded many of the
lycxington part}'. Seven were killed and ten wounded out of the little
force of seventy, that, in the grey light of the early morning, fought on
Lexington Common. The English troops pressed on to Concord. The
whole country was alarmed and the people were rising rapidly. There
are traditions still in Middlesex and Worcester counties, of a man on a
white horse, who rode faster than any mortal man could ride, to say that
the English had left Boston and the war had begun. The minutemen
were cautious, and seeing that they were far outnumbered, they formed
upon a bold hill about eighty rods behind the village of Lexington,
near the "North Bridge." There Colonel Barrett joined them as soon
as he had done all that was possible in the way of concealing the
ammunition and supplies in the storehouse. Colonel Smith, the
English commander, began his duties by destroying three new cannons,
which Colonel Barret had been unable to remove. To this he added
the not very dignified action of breaking up some wooden spoons and
trenchers. He set fire to a number of buildings — among them the
court house. In the midst of all this, shots were heard at the North
Bridge, where the minutemen had taken their stand. Some English
soldiers had been stationed on the bridge and the ofl[icers of the
minutemen decided to drive them away. It was the Lincoln minute-
men who volunteered to clear. the bridge. "There is not a man in my
company that is afraid, ' ' .said Captain Davis. The column was ordered
to pass the bridge without firing, but if attacked, to return the fire.
They marched to the air of ' 'The White Cockade. ' ' When they were
within a short distance of the bridge the English fired three volleys.
Two captains were killed. One of them was Davis, who, had he lived,
might have done much good to the American cause. The English
were forced to retreat, and the minutemen crossed the bridge. The
militia, gathering in the town, joined as rapidly as they could the main
force upon the hill. In one way the Provincials had decidedh- the
better of the Englishmen. They knew every inch of the ground. The
fords, the passes between the hills, the irregular roads through the
THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS. 313
forest were as well known to them as if they had been the square of a
city. The way in which these determined, but raw companies of mea
poured down into Lexington never ceased to amaze the Englishmen.
As Smith marched back from Concord, he found ever}- cross-road held
by the Americans.
"They are trained," wrote General Gage, "to protect themselves
behind stone walls; they seem to drop from the skies." Smith was
badly wounded. His men returned to Lexington — a inarch of nearh-
eight miles — in two hours. The retreat from Lexington to Boston
was a rout. There was not then, and there never could be, a question
about English discipline or bravery, but now the men had no choice
but to retreat in rapid disorder. The road seemed to be lined with
men, between which the panting English had to run. Lord Percy,
with the reinforcements, met them away below Lexington and guarded
them with field-pieces, that they might rest for a time. They laid on
the ground panting, in the midst of a hollow square he formed to shield
them. The sun was going down when the)' reached Charlestown
Neck, which leads into Boston. Beacon Hill was crowded with people
watching for their return. The English posted their sentries on their
side of Charlestown Neck and the Americans rested on the other side.
The militia were ordered to lie on their arms at Cambridge. In that
dreadful march the English lost sixty-five killed, one hundred and
seventy-eight wounded and twenty-six missing. The loss of the
Americans was forty-nine killed, thirty-six wounded and five missing.
The minutemen continued to pour down. They were stationed at
Cambridge. The news of the attack at Lexington was carried from
province to province. From New York it was sent to Virginia, from
Virginia to the Carolinas, from the Carolinas to Georgia, while other
messengers carried it in haste to Maine, New Hampshire and the
"Grants," as Vermont was then called. When General Gage's forces
were taken back to the barracks at Charlestown, the American army
was in a condition to besiege Boston. All through the winter the
patriots had been lading plans for the removing of the people from
Boston in the event of a siege. They now asked permission of General
Gage to take thirty families from the town daily. This he consented
to, but the Tories of Boston finally persuaded him that if the American
Whigs all left the city, they (the English) would probably burn tlie
town. General Gage withdrew his consent to the evacuation, and the
militia were obliged to besiege a town in which their own kinsmen
■were still li\-ing. Minutemen were posted in Cambridge, just outside of
3^4 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
Charlestown Neck, and in Roxbnry. Works were thrown np on the
Charles river and on the salt marshes. The only egress from Boston
was guarded by a strong fort. General Artemas Ward, of Shrewsbur)-,
was the chief officer of the American forces. Under him were Spencer,
of Connecticut, Green, of Rhode Island, and Folsom, of New Hamjishire.
The works were all planned by Henry Knox, a young Boston book-
seller, who had long been interested in military studies. He was helped
by Gridley, a veteran of the French war. On the 4th of May there was
a rumor that General Gage intended to march out, and all the minute-
men near Boston were called into service, but nothing came of the
matter, except that General Gage was given a chance to see how large a
reserve force there was at the command of the eneni}-. On the 1 3th of
May, General Israel Putnam marched an army of thirteen hundred
men from Cambridge to Charlestown Neck, and from Charlestown to
the ferry there. On the 27th, Putnam led a skirmish at an island
northeast of Boston, in the harbor. The English, by this raid, lost a
large number of sheep and cattle, besides a sloop and several men.
There were several skirmishes of this character, in which the English
were generally worsted. The Americans desired to get all the cattle off
the islands and to provision themselves as well as possible for the
coming conflict. In two of these skirmishes alone, Gage lost thirteen
hundred sheep. On the 25th of May, Generals Howe, Clinton and
Burgoyne came over from England with large reinforcements. When
they reached Newport harbor they met a vessel, of which they asked
the news. When they learned that Boston was being held by an army
of ten thousand, and that the English garrison of five thousand was
permitting the siege to continue, General Burgoyne cried, "Ten thou-
sand peasants keep five thousand of the King's troops .shut up? Let us
get in and we will soon find elbow-room." After this, Burgoyne was
oftener called "elbow-room" than anything else.
Boston is commanded by Charlestown on the north and by Dorchester
heights on the south. Both parties were ambitious to occupy these
heights. The English general laid explicit plans for the occupation of
both of them. While the Englishmen were making their soldierly
plans, the Americans, with less system, were marching to take possession
of them. They desired to fortify Bunker Hill and command the har-
bor. After much consultation they finally fortified a spur of Bunker
Hill, which was called Reed's Farm, and from which guns could .swep
the harbor more effectually than they would if placed on the main hill.
This hill was well fortified. Colonel Gridley marked out the lines of a
THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS.
3^5
redoubt. An earthwork extended for a hundred rods to the north and
stopped at the marshy place at the north side of the hill, where the
marsh was thoug-ht a sufficient obstacle. This work was begun at mid-
night and progressed steadily and quietly by the bright moonlight. It
was some time after day-break before the commander of an English
frigate saw the new fortification, and awoke the town with the fire
3l6 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
which he opened upon them. General Gage was soon up and talking
with his officers about what had best be done. He was a brave man
even to rashness. He decided to attack the American redoubt in front.
He had been greatly reinforced since the day of Lexington, and had
with him a reliable corps of generals, in whom he placed great con-
fidence. But they were not ready to attack until the afternoon, and the
American works were being strengthened every hour. Few of the
Englishmen had been under fire, and at the first attack they broke
ranks and ran. The second attack was as fatal, but in the third a weak
spot was discovered in the American lines. This was pressed upon
from the rear as well as the front. There would still have been no
need of yielding upon the part of the Americans, had not their supply
of powder given out. As it was, the Provincial forces were withdrawn
to Bunker Hill. The English did not follow. From first to last the
patriots had conducted the matter with great discretion. They had had
the courage to stand still until the English were within a few feet of them
and to be fired upon without rephing until the}' could do so with effect.
The enthusiastic American officers, most of whom had hung over the
pages of Frederick the Great, knew almost as well what was the best
policy as if they had had practical experience. It is said that at the
battle of Prague the Prussian order was "no firing until you see the
whites of their eyes. ' ' Prescott, who had studied the memoirs of the
wars of Frederick the Great, gave this order at Bunker FT:!!, with the
added instruction to "fire low" and to "fire at their waist-bands."
That their small supply of powder held out so long was owing entirely
to this econoni}', which required far more courage than vigorous action
would have done.
The victory had been won at a terrible cost. The English had a
force at the beginning of the battle of two thousand five hundred men,
of whom one thousand and fifty-four were killed and wounded. Howe
said, "They may talk of their Mindens and their Fontenoys, but there
was no such firing there. ' ' Among those killed was the brave Warren
— who became a general on the very day of his death. In the fifty-
second company, led by Howe, every man was killed or wounded.
From that time till the close of the war, seven years later, the English
were always careful of leading their troops against entrenched men.
The American loss was one hundred and fifty killed, two hundred and
seventy wounded and thirty prisoners. In a sense, the battle of Bunker
Hill decided the war. For the future there could be no drawing back.
The English were put upon their metal. They no longer deluded them-
THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS.
3^7
selves with the belief that the\' were ttying to quell a party of dissat-
isfied farmers. It was no longer possible for any man in the colonies
to remain neutral. Personal matters were lost sight of The money,
time and brains of every one in the United Colonies were given up
aow to a struggle for the overthrow of oppression.
KOR FURTHER READING :
Poetry— Long-fellow's "Ride of Paul Revere.''
S. R. Bartlett's "Concord Fight."
Emmons' "The Battle of Bunker Hill."
Sidney Lainer's "Battle of Lexington."
Geo. H. Calvert's "Bunker Hill."
W. C. Bn-ant's "'76."
Dr.^m.v— Breckiiiriduc's "Bunker Hill."
J. Eurke'b ' Bunker Hill."
CHAPTER LI.
Jfibrl^ or ^aallj.
ETI»A,Fr ALLEN AND THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS— SURRENDER OF
TICONDEROGA — WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-
CHIEF — THE LACK OF POWDER — RECALL
OF GENERAL GAGE — SMALL
NAVAL CONQUESTS.
HE Continental Congress met on May lotli. It?
members did not icnow that far in the north Ethan
Allen and a band of Vennonters, known as the
"Green Mountain Boys," were making efforts to
help in the establishment of American independ-
ence. The country known as the New Hamp-
shire Grants, otherwise our State of Vermont, was
then a wilderness. For years it had been the site of colo-
nial strife between New Hampshire and New York, both
of which claimed the territory. The people of the grants
were without regular government and had no village.
There was not even a country store in the entire territory.
But the people had formed a league for mutual protection
against the claims of New York, This league was known
by the name of the "Green Mountain Boys." They
had a rude military organization which showed such systematic
resi; stance to the law that a price was set upon the heads of the leaders.
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, now held by the English, were consid-
ereil by the people of the grants as the gates to New York. The officers
of the Crown, who so frequently made their unjust demands on the
farms scattered about the sides of the Green Mountains, made their
headquarters at Ticonderoga, and the indignation of the Green Moun-
tain Boys was especially leveled at that garrison. The first tidings of
war that reached the North made the men anxious to do their part in
freeing; the countrv from the British tvrannv which thev had felt so
>
vj
WASHINGTCV TAKING COMMAND OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMV.
LIBERTY OR DEATH. 319
keenly. John Brown, of Pittsfield, a lawyer, and one of the leading
patriots, made a journey through the grants to Canada, for the pur-
pose of learning what the sentiments of the Canadians were in regard to
the approaching struggle. On returning to his home he felt justified
in applying to the Committee of Safety, in Boston, for help. The stores
at Ticouderoga were coveted, and Connecticut and Western Massachu-
setts were as anxious as the people of the grants to conquer the fort,
which, it was understood, was thinly garrisoned and in a decayed con-
dition. Colonel Parsons, of Connecticut, and Captain Benedict Arnold
got three hundred pounds from the treasury on their own responsibility
and set off with two men, one of whom had been an engineer in the
British service. They conveyed northward permission from the Con-
gress of Connecticut to lead the Green Moimtain Boys against Ticou-
deroga. In the meantime, Ethan Allen, who had long been the chief
of the Green Mountain Boys, had made ready for an attack. All the
roads leading to the lake were guarded to prevent any one from carrying
news to the fort. He knew nothing of the scheme which Benedict
Arnold had laid, and on May 8, 1775, started with one hundred and
forty men to go to the lake opposite Ticonderoga.
His plans had been craftily laid. A man by the name of Phelps
had disguised himself as a countryman, and entered the fort on the pre-
text of wanting his face shaved. In a manner of great stupidity and
curiosity he asked all the questions he wished, and left without being
suspected. Thirty men had been detailed by Allen to capture the
British camp and then to drop down the lake and join him. Allen had
reached the point he desired, when Benedict Arnold came hurrying to
the camp and announced that he was colonel and commander-in-chief
of all the party. The officers took him into their confidence, showed
him their plans, and tried to win his co-operation. Allen was in a
hurry for action, and feared unless they moved quickly they would not
be able to surprise the fort. Arnold insisted on taking entire com-
mand. Ethan Allen, brave, vain, and headstrong, was not likely to
yield at the head of men whom he had organized. At length it was
proposed that the two men should march together at the head of the
column. This compromise was accepted, and a force of eighty-three
men marched upon the fort. The garrison was asleep, and Allen
hastened to the quarters of Captain Delaplace. The Captain leaped out
of bed, crying: "By what authority?" "In the name of the Great
Jehovah and the Continental Congress," said Allen. It doubtless went
against the grain of the experienced soldier to yield to an uncouth,
320 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
awkward braggart, such as Allen must have seemed to him. But the
garrison was asleep, himself unarmed, undressed, and at disadvantage.
There was nothing for it but surrender. The stores and militar\-
material, including one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, were
captured. Crown Point was taken a little later.
The Continental Congress, during its session at Philadelphia, chose
as Commander-in-chief of the American forces, George Washington, of
Virginia. Artemas Ward, of Massachusetts, was to be his Major-Gen-
eral. Gates, of Virginia, his Adjutant-General. Charles Lee, an Eng-
lish officer, and Schuyler and Putnam, were also Major-Generals.
Washington and Gates hastened to Cambridge, hearing on their wa)- of
the battle of Bunker Hill. It was the 2d of July when Washington
and his friends arrived at Cambridge, and on the 4th of July he
assumed command. His hurried but thorough investigation of the
army, its plans and materials, shov/ed him that their great danger lay
in a lack of powder. In the thirteen States there was hardly enough
for one general action. The apothecary shops in New York were
searched for saltpetre. Letters were written in all directions, asking
that it might be sent to headquarters, if only in the smallest quantities.
A man of less tact than Washington might have started many feuds in
the army for he had difficulty in getting his officers and Congress to
always work in harmony. Unlike many of the men about him, he was
a gentleman of high breeding, cultivated, politic, and experienced.
The reputation which he had of being the best statesman and the
richest man in Virginia won him the admiration of the people of the
southern colonies, while, on the other hand, his directness and sim-
plicity of speech, his gravity and sensible caution, endeared him to the
northern men.
An attack from the English lines was dreaded. The Americans
feared to be outnumbered. Of the sixteen thousand seven hundred
and seventy-one New Englanders, nearly two thousand were sick or
absent from duty. The American army was divided by the Charles
river, over which there was but one small and insecure bridge. Orders
were given to keep the minutemen in the towns in constant readiness
and to sustain a thorough drill. But the English Generals had no
intention of moving. The strain on them at Bunker Hill had been
greater than the Americans guessed. The heat of the summer was
hard on the wounded. In England it was thought that Gage was inex-
cusably languid, and he was recalled and practically disgraced. These
matters hindered the attack of the English, which hindrance the
LIBERTY OR DEATH. 321
devoted New England men considered nothing less than providential.
The Americans were making every effort to procure powder, lead, cloth-
ing and tents. Benjamin Franklin was on the Committee of Safety, in
Philadelphia, and he was among the most active in the attempts to pro-
vide these necessar}- articles. Robert Livingstone, of New York, estab-
lished a powder mill so secretly that none of the English spies ronnd
about found it out until L,ivingstone made a raid on the government's
stock of saltpetre and carried it off. The Committee of Safety, in
Georgia, got hold of a supply of powder intended for the Florida
Indians. Several hundred barrels were captured from a trading vessel
in the Gulf of Mexico. An attack was made on Bennuda and a goodly
quantity secured there. In New Orleans, Oliver Pollock, an American,
was sending powder to Pittsburg by the river. As soon as the English
cruisers were taken away from the coast at the approach of autumn, the
government sent an eighty-ton vessel to Bordeaux to buy powder on the
account of "The Continent." The lead mines of Connecticut had been
worked some, and the products were now used for ammunition. By the
press of necessity a little navy was being started. On May 5th the
people of New Bedford and Dartmouth, irritated at the Falcon^ one of the
British sloops of war, which hunc about the coast, recaptured a vessel
with fifteen prisoners which the Falcon had previously secured. On
June 1 2th the Margarctta^ an armed sloop belonging to the Crown,
was taken off the main coast, as well as two other sloops of lesser size.
Jeremiah O' Brien was made marine captain b}' the Provincial Congress
of Massachusetts, and was stationed in Boston harbor to intercept sup-
plies sent to the English troops. Washington supplied armaments and
money from the Continental treasury' and six small vessels received
commissions. Both Connecticut and Rhode Island had a small vessel
in the service.
The destitution of the English troops was becoming extreme.
They were shut up in Boston by the activity of the Continental troops.
Their supplies were being carried into the camp of the enemy, and sick-
ness was rapidly increasing among them. But the forces under
Washington were rapidly growing. In six weeks they had increased
two thousand three hundred and ninety. Among them were several
companies of riflemen from Virginia — men who could hit a target of
seven inches at a distance of two hundred and fifty yards, while in rapid
motion. But the Americans were unused to camp life, and sickness
began to tell among them also. As soon as Washington received a
sufficient supply of powder to justify action he advance his works to the
32 2 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
left by fortifying Plowed Hill. This brought the circle of his lines so
that the extreme left was north of Boston. His headquarters were on
the Charles river, just beyond Cambridge. The right wing, under Gen-
eral Ward, reached Dorchester Neck, directly .south of Boston.
In October, Cape Ann, or what we now know as Gloucester, and
Falmouth, now Portland, in Maine, were burned by the English. This
was done by a fleet of armed vessels. The act seemed like a misfortune,
but in reality it raised the Americans to a full understanding of what
war meant. Previously they had hardly realized that they had laid
themselves open to attack in any direction. They had believed that
the conflict would be confined to Boston Bay. It was necessary to take
active measures for meeting the enemy upon the sea as well as on the
land. During the past few months the coast towns had been at the
mercy of the English vessels. Newport had been threatened, and was
only spared when it consented to furnish the commander of the English
fleet with provisions. Bristol was bombarded, and many houses
destroyed. A force landed on the island of Canonicut, in December,
burned houses and barns, and carried off' all the live stock. Washington
was obliged to send down a detachment of men, although he could ill
spare them. General Eee took a force of eight hundred to Newport,
and not only placed them so that they could protect a considerable
stretch of land, but so that they could keep a close watch upon the
Tories of the district as well, who were suspected of carrying informa-
tion to the enemy. It was not easy for the New Englanders to equip a
fleet of war. But the work progressed steadily, if slowly. The first
notable victory at sea was the taking of the brigantine Na;/n', loaded
with military stores. These were more than acceptable to the army.
Washington was with difficulty keeping the soldiers with him. Thr
term of enlistment of the Connecticut men had expired, and they were
anxious to return to their homes. It was found that Dr. Benjamin
Church, a member of the House in Massachusetts, was secretly writing
letters to his brother-in-law in Boston, which revealed the condition and
plans of the American army. He was expelled from the House and put in
close confinement. Washington reorganized his army and issued a general
order for the enlistment of new men. The corps of officers was pruned and
improvements were made in all respects. On January 2, 1776, the army
was practically a new one. At this time the army cari'ied the national
flag which we now have, with the exception of the number of stars,
which were then but thirteen, in accordance with the number of the
colonies. General Howe, shut up in Boston, met with many discoui-
LIBERTY OR DEATH. 323
agements. Numerous accidents befell his provision ships. Some of
them were taken by the eneni)-, and others met with severe storms and
were obliged to discharge their cargoes. He even found difficulty in
providing barracks for his troops during the winter season. He would
have been glad to evacuate, but thought he had not transports enough
to remove his force, and wrote to England for more help. He pulled
down the Old North Church Meeting-house for fuel, and was obliged to
mine for coal in Cape Breton. Faneuil Hall, to the great horror of the
Bostonians when they heard of it, was used to hold theatrical entertain-
ments in. General Burgoyne, who had at that time more fame as a
literar)- man than as a soldier, wrote a little play which he called the
"Siege of Boston." This was being performed, when a sergeant rushed
upon the stage and cried that the Yankees were on Boston Hill. The
audience laughed heartih-, thinking it a part of the performance, but in a
few moments the officers were ordered to hasten to their posts, and the
audience broke up in confusion. It was true that some of the Connec-
ticut companies had crossed the Neck, and fired the bakery of the
English at Charlestown. In the midst of such alarm Burgoyne returned
to England. The "elbow-room" which he had thought to make was
not )et his. The American Congress, from time to time, had consid-
ered the advisability of setting fire to Boston, but this Washington was
reluctant to do. He believed that if such a disaster could be avoided,
it was best to do it. General Howe himself did not permit the destruc-
tion of property more than he could help.
Washington wished to cross to Boston on the ice, but in the council
of war which he called he was outvoted. General Howe, on his part,
sent a party on the ice to Dorchester Neck, who destroyed every house
on the peninsula, and took some Americans prisoners. Washington
would never have remained so inactive had he been supplied with
powder and heavy artillery. He was almost in despair, when the
capture of the Nancy renewed his hopes, and gave him ammunition.
Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen sent down the guns they had taken
from Ticonderoga. Under the direction of Henry Knox, the cannon
were put upon fifty-two sleds and drawn by long teams of men over the
snow-covered passes of the Green Mountains and the rude roads of New
England.
As soon as these reached Washington he called out all the militia of
the neighborhood. Ten regiments reinforced him 3X once. Ward was
given the over-sight of the movement upon Dorchester heights and
entrusted the immediate command to John Thomas. The ground was
324 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
frozen and it was impossible to throw up works, but fascines were
collected and made a fair defence. On the night of Saturday, March
7, 1776, the American works opened a cannonading at the north of
Boston. This was kept ujj through the two following nights for the
purpose of occupying the attention of the English. Meanwhile John
Thomas' train, which consisted of twelve hundred men, took possession
of a high hill upon Dorchester heights. Four hundred yoke of o.xen drew
the material for the works, passing within a mile of the English sentinels,
who had no thought for anything but the cannonading at the north.
In one night the men threw up a very good defence. The works had
been planned by Gridley, who had been so successful with the plans of
Bunker Hill. When Howe's astonished eyes saw these in the morning
he thought they must have been built by twelve thousand men. The
English fleet dared not remain under fire from these guns. Howe
himself feared to attack the works. He notified Washington at once
that if he would not molest the town or the ships, he would leave
Boston peaceably. On the morning of Sunday, the 17th of March, he
sailed with his whole army, after destroying all of his property which
he could not take away. He found that in an emergency he had ship-
ping enough to carry off" his force. With Howe, sailed about eleven
hundred loyalists, to whom the cause of the King was still dear. Many
of these settled in Nova Scotia.
The few people left in Boston received the army as benefactors
when they marched in with music and flying banners. Washington
was treated with great courtesy, and the street up which he rode still
bears his name. Congress ordered a gold medal to be presented to him
— the first coin struck by independent America. Upon its face was a
picture of besieged Boston with a group of horsemen in the foreground
and the proud motto: "Hostibus primo fugatis."
Washington believed that the next point of attack would be New
York, and continued his preparations for an engagement there. For
three months the country was left with hardly a foreign soldier on its
soil.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction — H. Hagel's "Old Put."
Hawthorne's "Septimius Felton.''
Cooper's "Lionel Lincoln."
D. P. Thompson's "Green Mountain Boys."
Poetry — "Song of the Vermonters." Anon.
'y/ y^^-^
CHAPTER LII.
)\$ yinm nl jLbral^am.
THE DESIGNS KOR THE AMERICAN CONQUEST OF CANADA — MONT-
GOMERY'S MOVE AGAINST MONTREAL — ARNOLD'S FAILURE
AT QUEBEC — THE UNION OF THE FORCES — ^THE SECOND
DEFEAT AT MONTREAL — THE AMERICANS FALL
BACK UPON TICONDEROGA AND
CROWN POINT.
r the north, Arnold and Allen carried on a sort of
freebootkig together. They were ambitious to
get Lake Champlain in the hands of the patriots.
In all sea adventures Arnold was given the lead,
and under his command an English sloop was
captured. Encouraged by this, they laid a plan for
the conquest of Canada. Arnold took up his quarters
at Crown Point, and Allen remained at Ticonderoga.
Congress was timid about seconding the ambitious
designs of Arnold, and sent a committee of men to
confer with him. They found him sullen and obsti-
nate, and learned that his followers were in a state of
mutiny against the government, and willing to side
with him even at the cost of patriotism. A thousand
men had been assigned by Connecticut to garrison Ticonderoga. When
Arnold learned that these were to be commanded by Colonel Hinman,
he resigned, as he was not willing to be second in command.
The Governor of Canada was determined to retake Ticonderoga and
Crown Point. As for the Canadians themselves, they were in a state of
comparative indifference. The richer element was probably truer to the
king than were the common people. The Indians of the Mohawk val-
ley had been estranged from the Americans, and were now the allies of
the Canadians. There was a call for volunteers on the part of the
American Congress, and, meanwhile, Ethan Allen and Major John
328 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Brown were sent into the country between Lake Champlain and
Montreal, to discover the true condition of affairs there. Schuyler was
Commander-in-chief of all the northern forces, and about the middle of
August, 1775, was ready to move his troops. Altogether, these did not
number quite two thousand. Schuyler's chief subordinate officer was
General Richard Montgomery-, a young Irishman of much soldierly
experience and strong personal attractions. He was with Wolfe at the
capture of Quebec, in 1759, and had further won the confidence of the
Americans by marrying one of the ladies of the patriotic Livingstone
family. No general among the Americans was more popular with the
soldiers. Schuyler fell ill shortly after leaving Ticonderoga, and the
command devolved upon Montgomery. In the light skirmish in which
the conflict opened, Montgomery was thoroughly disheartened by the
cowardice of his soldiers. The troops were raw and undisciplined.
They suffered not alone from bodily ailment, but from intense homesick-
ness. Boston men, fighting for the protection of their homes, and in
the face of a brave and determined enemy, had plenty to keep up their
spirits. But to fight in the midst of a wilderness for the possession of a
fortification, with winter approaching, and a poor outlook for provisions,
could not but be dispiriting to men who were new to the profession of
arms, and cared little for conflict in the abstract — men who had not
even learned the value of subordination and discipline.
Allen himself, though a brave man, was a bad soldier in some ways.
He had never learned the necessity of waiting for orders, and was quick
to do whatever his impulse prompted. When he was on his way to
join Montgomery's camp, with a force of eighty Indians, he fell in with
Major Brown, who had two hundred men in his party. These two
leaders decided to attack Montreal. They had heard that there were no
more than thirty men in garrison at that point, and that the towns-
people sympathized with the Americans. The plan was for them to
attack the city with two columns of men, above and below. The
river was crossed in a blustering storm, and Allen's band, at early dawn,
stood shivering upon the river bank waiting for Brown's men, who
never came. The garrison set upon Allen, killed a number of his men,
and carried others as prisoners to England. Among these unfortunates
was Allen himself.
The American expedition against the fort of Chambly was successful.
The inhabitants round about aided in its capture. The stores of ammu-
nition and provisions were taken to the army encamped under the walls
of St. John. An attempt on the part of the English to relieve the
THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM. 329
garrison there was repulsed and the fort was finalh' surrendered,
principally because the provisions had given out. By this surrender
five hundred regular troops, the greater part of the British army in
Canada, fell into the hands of the Americans. Montgomery believed
that the time had now come to take Montreal. He posted forces so
that all communication would be prevented between that city and
Quebec. Upon both sides of the river he planted batteries. On the
13th of November he marched into the town, without bloodshed, the
Governor and the garrison having left. In the meantime, Washingtoa
had sent up a supjDorting party, numbering eleven hundred men.
These were well equipped, although, from the nature of the journey,
they could carry no field-pieces. Washington himself had outlined the
expedition. He desired them to ascend the Kennebec river, cross the
highlands that divided it from the Chaudiere, and descend that stream
to where it enters the St. Charles, nearly opposite Quebec. Wa.shington
had a hand-bill printed, which was distributed among the Canadians
for the purpose of impressing upon them the friendlj- spirit of the
Americans and begging them to join in the cause of liberty and assist
in driving the British from America. With the men who had the
country's interests most at heart the conflict in Canada was not a side
issue, but an important part of the war. They set a high value upon
that extensive and fertile country, with its magnificent rivers and
superior natural advantages.
But Washington expected far too much of Arnold and his men.
He desired them to meet Schuyler's army, which was then in motion,
and to take but twenty days for a march of two hundred miles. It
took, instead, sixty days, and the little army of eleven hundred men
had been reduced to about one-half when it reached the St. Charles.
Their boats had been swamped in the treacherous Chaudiere; they had
marched through bogs and were forced to make exhausting portages,
carrying their heavy loads with them; they had a fatal lack of
acquaintance with the country, and were out of provisions long before
they reached their destination, and were obliged to eat shaving soap,
candles, salve and dogs, even boiling their moccasins in the hopes of
getting some nourishment from them. The horrors of the march are
sickening, and not the least shocking scene was when Arnold, who had
hurried on to procure provisions, sent back cattle and other supplies to
his starving men. They ate like wild beasts, and many of them died
from the effects of their indiscretion. It took them ten days to march
the last thirty miles after they had entered Canada, for, although the
330 THE STORY OK A:\IERICA.
road was now comparatively easy, the men were too exhausted to go lar
ill a day. During that last delay, one hundred men, mostly carpenters,
had come down from Newfoundland and were busy repairing tlie
defenses of Quebec. By the time Arnold was in a position for attack,
soldiers were brought down the river and had prepared for the defense
of the city. Washington had relied upon the surprise of Quebec, but
Arnold had himself given information of his movements by a letter
which he entrusted to a faithless guide.
On the 13th of November, the very day that Montgomery entered
Montreal, Arnold took his men over the same ground that Wolfe had
taken, and in the morning had an army on the plains of Abraham,
behind Quebec. But the English did not, as Montcalm had done,
respond to the challenge. There was no revolt in the cit}' — a thing
which both Arnold and Washington had counted upon. Arnold had
not the power to make a breach in the walls near the city. The
garrison was shortly reinforced, and Arnold was obliged to break camp
and retreat to Point Aux Trembles. Here Montgomery joined him on
the 1st of December and took the command. The army now consisted
of three thousand men, with six field-pieces and five light mortars.
They encamped before Quebec. Deep snow lay over all the country,
and as it was impossible to build earthworks, Montgomery had fascines
set up. These were filled with snow, over which water was poured,
making a barricade of ice. It looked cruel and forbidding, but the
first cannonading broke it in pieces. The men were encamped there
for three weeks. Montgomery found them hard to manage, and on
Christmas day decided that an attack should be made under cover of the
first stormy night. The plans were elaborately laid. Arnold was to
penetrate the lower town, Montgomery to advance to the rocky heights
of Cape Diamond and reach the upper town by an easy communication.
Aaron Burr had charge of a forlorn hope which was to scale the Cape
Diam jnd bastion. The night of the 30th, as had been hoped, was dark
and stormy. Montgomery's men made their way over blocks of ice
and through the drifting snow till they reached the barricades under
Cape Diamond. The Americans crowded past this and Montgomery
urged on the advance, but as they neared the block-house, which was
pierced for muskets, the brave young leader was killed, just as he cried,
"Push t)n, brave boys. Quebec is ours." Two captains and two
piivates were killed at the same moment, and the Americans retreaied
in disorder. Arnold's men, under cover of the storm, had reached the
palace gate, but here at the first barricade Arnold was wounded.
THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM. 33I
Morgan, a Virginian, at tiie head of his riflemen, took the lead, and
scaled the barricade with ladders. He was knocked down once; he
mounted again at the head of his men. He carried the barricade and
drove the enemy into the houses at the sides of the street. If he could
have had reinforcements, he would have carried the day; but the odds
were too heavy. He tried to cut his way out, but was surrounded on.
all sides and obliged to surrender. He had four hundred and sixty-six
men with him at the time. The Englishmen buried Montgomery
within the city. Forty-two years later his body was given to the
Americans, who carried it, with great honors, to New York and raised
a monument to his memory in front of St. Paul's Church. His wife,
then a ver}- old woman, sat alone upon the porch of her house on the
Hudson, watching the funeral boat as it sailed by.
The discouraged army was now placed under the command of
Arnold, who begged Schuyler for reinforcements. In the course of the
winter three thousand were sent to him. The English were afraid to
risk an engagement against so heav}^ a force of men. The Canadians
took neither one part or the other, with a few exceptions. A commis-
sion, consisting of Benjamin Franklin and four other gentlemen, one of
whom was afterwards Archbishop of Baltimore, was sent to visit Canada
and see if a political union could not be made, but they had scarcely
reached Montreal when news came of a British fleet at Quebec, and
Fi'anklin hurried back to Philadelphia to urge the great need of
reinforcements. These came in ]\Iarch, under General Wooster, who
tried for two months to make an impression upon the fortifications of
Quebec. He failed, not from lack of courage, but from want of
military experience. Major-General Thomas took his place, and
decided that it was wisest to retreat. He was not permitted to do even
this unmolested. He lost one hundred men as prisoners, as well as
most of his stores and provisions. In a number of small engage-
ments which followed between detachments of both armies, the English
troops were successful. Brigadier-General John Sullivan was sent to
take the place of John Thomas, who, it was believed, retreated with
unnecessary readiness. A last stand was made and an engagement
fought, but the English had three times more men than the Americans,
and one hundred and fifty of Sullivan's men were taken prisoners.
They were obliged to fall back upon Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction* — Gleig's ".\ Day on the Neutral Ground." "In Chelsea Prison."
Drama — "The Death of General Montgomery in Storming Quebec." Anon.
CHAPTER LIII.
il^0 yakatto Jfog$.
THE FEELING IN ENGLAND — THE HIRING OF THE HESSIANS — ATTI-
TUDE OF NEW YORK — THE CONFLICT WITH THE
SOUTHERN COLONIES — THE DEFENSE
OF FORT MOULTRIE.
•V/f^^^^ \X<^ HE Parliament in England was thoroughly aroused
^l^f^St^ ^''tw ^y '■^'^ *-""^ *^° '-^^^ importance of subduing and
punishing the rebels in America. The friends of
the colonies in Parliament, Edmund Burke, Barre,
and Wilbur, protested against the measure which
voted the King and ministry all the men and
material they should need in carrying on the war, but no
opposition could stem the tide of King George's impa-
tience. He decided that the disorders in America must
be put down.
It was not so easy as he had supposed to obtain addi-
tional troops. Men could not be found in England, and
the King was forced to draw upon his garrisons in the
West Indies, Ireland and Gibraltar. Even then the
number was not sufficient for the successful carrying on
of the war, and King George was forced to beg of friendly nations fm
help. To his surprise, some of these nations which he had felt sure he
could count upon, refused him. The reply from Holland was that the
States-General considered the Americans worthy of ever}- man's esteem,
and looked upon them as a brave people, 'lefending in a becoming,
manly and religious manner those rights which, as men, they derived
from God, not from the legislature of Great Britain, and that if soldiers
were to be brought against them, the States-General of Holland pre-
ferred to see Janizaries hired rather than soldiers of a free State.
Russia, for different reasons, refused help. Frederick the Great had
little sympathy with the English movement, and practically did not
believe that a great State should have colonies which were severed from
THE PALMETTO LOGS. 333
it by natural obstacles. In short, the sympathy throughout Europe was
with the Americans. The foreign troops which George III finally
obtained were from the petty German princes. Among these men there
was little voluntary' service, but almost all, with the exception of the
oiEcers, were impressed, and a small price per head was paid by England
to the German potentates for their services. There were 29,166 men in
the German troops sent to America.
The English and Americans agreed that the campaign for 1776
must center at New York City. As soon as news of Concord and Lex-
ington had reached New York the people had taken immediate steps to
defend the city. The feeling there had, from the first, been as strong
as elsewhere. The year previous, when the British garrison there had
been ordered to join the army in Boston, the citizens consented to let
them embark unmolested, but as the troops marched down Broad street,
led by five carts loaded with arms, they were stopped by Marinos
Willett, a "Son of Liberty." He seized the first horse by the head and
brought the whole line to a stand-still. When the commanding officer
asked what he meant by the interruption, he replied that it had been
agreed that the troops should embark without molestation, but they had
not been given permission to take away anus to use against their friends
in Massachusetts. The mayor of the city and Governor Morris protested
against Willett' s high-handed proceeding, but the sympathy of the
crowd was with him, and the English were forced to leave without
their arms. He then addressed the soldiers, and said if any of them
were willing to join the ranks of liberty and desert their ranks they
should be protected. One soldier only responded to the invitation, and
was marched off with much cheering b}' the crowd.
The Americans helped themselves to the cannon at the Battery, and
placed them along the Hudson to protect the river, now that the conflict
of '76 seemed to threaten that point. Lee was ordered by Washington
to take command at New York. This was not a little alarming to the
Tories of the town, who feared that this decisive action would bring
about immediate hostilities, and that the place might be bombarded by
the English vessels lying off the coast. There were hot internal dissen-
sions in the city. The conflict between the Whigs and Tories was verj^
bitter. The Tories were powerful and rich, but the Whigs outnum-
bered them, and had on their side that fierce determination and sense
of religious right which gave them their strength from the beginning to
the end of the conflict. It must be owned that their treatment of the
Tories was not Christian. Some of the Tories were tarred and feathered,
331- THE STORY OF AMERICA.
some were waylaid, mobbed and insulted, while others were deprived
of office and driven from home. Laws were enacted which inflicted
penalties of great severity on them. It is estimated that during the
course of the Revolution more than twenty-five thousand loyalists
joined the military service and arrayed themselves against the patriots.
The defenses of the city which the Whigs prepared, were, as can
easily be imagined, accomplished under constant protest from a large
portion of the inhabitants. When Lee aissumed command of aflairs
at New York he turned all of the city into a camp of war, and
presented as bold a face toward the threatened harbor as was possible.
The works were strengthened, batteries were wisely placed, and the
streets well barricaded. On March 6, 1776, Congress divided the
southern and middle colonies into two military departments. Lee was
sent south and Lord Stirling given the command of affairs at New
York. He carried on Lee's work with the utmost vigor. Every male
inhabitant of the town was put to work on the fortifications — rather
rough work for some of the ostentatious gentlemen of New York.
Washington himself arrived in the city on April 13, and took up his
headquarters there. Families began leaving the town as rapidly as
possible and the soldiers took possession of the dwellings which they
abandoned.
The British had other plans besides the capture of New York. They
were anxious to move against the southern colonies, where they believed
submission could be easily enforced. The Governors of Virginia and
North Carolina labored under the delusion that most of the people in those
colonies were loyal to the King's cause. Each Governor was provided
with a small force to back his authority, and the King sent seven
regiments to strengthen them. These he himself selected with great
care. They were led by Earl Cornwallis, while the fleet was com-
manded by Admiral Peter Parker. When they reached America,
General Clinton was given the general command. The colonists who
stood by Governor Martin, of North Carolina, were 'Scotch loyalists,
chiefly Highlanders, who had emigrated to America after the defeat of
the Pretender, and who still held to their oath of allegiance. The son
and husband of Flora McDonald were among their leaders, and with
them were a large number of Stuarts. But the sturdy Scotch Presby-
terians in the back counties took up anns for the patriots, and the
Governor soon realized that matters were not to run as smoothly as he
had expected. As soon as the Provincial militia heard of the mustering
of ]\IcDonald's clans, they arrayed themselves to prevent them from
THE PALMETTO LOGS. 335
reaching the Governor. They were led by Brigadier-General James
Moore, who had with him many gentlemen of wealth and influence.
These walked in the ranks wnth the common soldiery, to keep up the
spirits of the men. Moore's force numbered two hundred less than
McDonald's. In the first engagement the loyalists were routed. Eight
hundred and fifty men were taken prisoners, disarmed and discharged
and fifteen hundred excellent rifles were secured, besides a quantity of
money, and, what was equally valuable, a chest of medicine. This
was practically the end of Torj-ism in North Carolina. Within two
weeks the patriots had ten thousand men in arms, these prompt meas-
ures securing peace for North Carolina until 1780. The State was at
liberty to give its aid to the other colonies.
The next attempt was upon South Carolina. From the first, this
province had felt much sympathy with Massachusetts, and was now
prompt to arise for the defense of her own border. The militia was
ready to move at the earliest call. Those on the border of North
Carolina were held in readiness to join the southern men, should it be
necessary. Colonel Christopher Gadsden and William Moultrie were in
command of the regular troops. William Thompson led a regiment of
riflemen, all of whom were excellent marksmen — the Colonel the best
of them all. North Carolina sent down a regiment to join them, with-
out even waiting to be requested. The first thing seen to was the
.securing of Charleston harbor, for it was known that Clinton could do
nothing without the aid of the men-of-war, and that these men-of-war
could do nothing unless the}' held possession of the harbor. There
were already some defences there, and these were hurriedly strength-
ened. Stillivan's Island, a long, marshy strip of ground, well wooded,
guarded the entrance to the harbor. Opposite was James Island, which
was practically a part of the main coast. Gadsden was put on James
Island and Moultrie and Thompson were put upon Sullivan's. Pennsyl-
vania had sent down a force of men under the command of Armstrong,
and these were placed near the city of Charleston: Every preparation
possible was made in the town. Warehouses were torn down that the
cannon might have full sweep. The streets were barricaded. All the
horses, wagons and boats were impressed into service, and all the lead
in the cit}- was made up into bullets, the very weights of the windows
being used. On the 4th of June, General Lee arrived and assumed
command. The brunt of affairs rested, however, upon Colonel Moul-
trie, who was working to complete his fortifications on Sullivan's
Island. His men worked upon it night and da}-. But only the two
33^ THE STORY OF AMERICA.
sides fronting the channel were completed when the enemy attacked.
These walls, however, were sixteen feet thick and guarded with
palmetto logs. Into their tough and spong)- fibres the balls could sink
without doing harm. In the centre of the fort was a marsh, which the
men left undisturbed, knowing that shells would be much less apt to
explode if they fell into it.
On the 31st of May the enemy appeared. Messengers were sent for
the militia in all direction.s. The women and children were hastened
out of the city. The slaves were set to completing the works. Every
freeman worked of his own accord. Lee, and other soldiers as well, had
little confidence that Moultrie's fort could stand out against the heavy
guns of the enemy. But Moultrie himself was confident. The land forces
of the enemy landed on Long Island, which lay north of Sullivan's.
These were to attack in the flank and rear while the fleet bombarded the
fort in front. Thompson's sharpshooters were to oppose the land
forces. The English had two 56-gun ships, five frigates of twenty-eight
guns each, a mortar ship and two smaller vessels, bearing in all two
hundred guns. The bombardment was continuotis after it once began,
the shot streaming steadih' against the side of the fort. But the spong\-
palmetto logs could not be split and the banks of sand kept them from
being dislodged. The shells, as had been expected, fell into the marsh
and seldom exploded. Colonel Moultrie was inside nursing a gouty
foot and calmly smoking as he gave orders to his intrepid men. More
gallant defense could not ha\e been made. When the flag of the fort —
a blue banner with a silver crescent, bearing the word liberty — was shot
away, Sergeant William Jasper leaped the parapet and. in the midst of
the hottest fire, replaced it on the bastion. The men aboard the ships
suflfered terribly. Three vessels ran aground, and one of them was
deserted and burned. Early in the evening the ships withdrew two
miles from the island. Clinton had directed his forces at the north side
of Sullivan's Island, but was held in check there by Thompson. A
victor)' could not have been more absolute. Moultrie was accounted
one of fhe successful commanders of the army. The fort was named
after him. and his regiment was presented with a pair of beautiful
banners.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Carrington's "Battles of the Revolution."
Coffin's "Boys of ■76."
Moultrie's "Memoirs of the American Revolution."
Ramsay's "American Revolution in South Carolina."
Poetry— Robert M. Charlton's "Death of Jasper." (See Ford's
Historical Poems.)
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CHAPTER LIV.
e fim^ of Jfibrl^.
THE GROWTH OF A DESIRE FOR IXDEPEXDEXCE— THE DECLARATION OB
IXDEPEXDEXCE — THE FORMIXG OF STATE
\ COXSTITCTIOXS.
OR a long time the people of America were
unwilling to admit, even to themselves, that the
Revolution was a war for independence. Frank-
lin himself assured Pitt, in ilarch, 1775, that,
though he had traveled in America, he had never
heard any expression in favor of independence.
Even the "Sons of Libert}-'' were unwilling to talk
about this matter, feeling that the people were not
ready to accept it. The newspapers openly denounced
the idea. Until Thomas Paine' s book, "Common
Sense," was published, the subject was almost a tabooed
one. But that pamphlet presented a strong plea for
independence. Men, women and children read it. It
was for them an education — a liberator from old preju-
ive them fresh ideas and fresh courage. The different
States began to urge Congress to take a more decided position. Samuel
Adams, "the Father of American Independence," saw that at last the
countr}- was reaching the point which he had so long been hoping for.
Resolutions were passed in each Colonial Assembly which heralded the
"Declaration of Independence." On the second day of July, 1776, the
Thirteen States, assembled in Congress, resolved unanimously "that the
thirteen colonies are, and of right ought to be, independent States."
Following this came deep deliberations. The matter was one in which
there could be no hurr>'. All knew that if the position was once taken,
it would be impossible to draw back from it. There were main- dele-
gates to the Congress who did not fully understand the situation, and
who asked that all the consequences of such a step might be fully
dices. It
340 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
pointed out to them. This John Adams did, eloquently and clearly.
At last all of the members signed the Declaration, except the delega-
tion from New York, which had not been empowered to do so. But it
is possible that there were many who signed with reluctance and regret.
John Adams was elated. He wrote to his wife that the day had been
the most memorable epoch in the history of America, and that it should
be celebrated by succeeding generations as a great anniversary festival.
"It ought to be solemnized," said he, "with pomp and parade, with
games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of
the country to the other, from this time forward forever more ;' ' and so
till now it has been, though on the fourth of July instead of the second.
Thomas Jefferson prepared the original draft of the Constitution,
although he was indebted to the resolutions passed by the several
colonies for some of his best ideas and expressions. The clause relating
to slavery, which Jefferson had written, was cut out. Had it remained,
it might have had its influence in a matter which plunged the nation
into a yet more dreadful war than the Revolution, nearly a hundred
years later. It was not until the eighth that the Declaration was read,
and printed copies distributed. A great concourse of people gathered
about the observator}' of the State House, in Philadelphia, and here the
Declaration was read to them from the balcony by John Nixon, a mem-
ber of the "Committee of Safety."
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
In Congress, July ^, i/"/6.
The Un-^nimous Declar.\tion of the Thirteen United
States of America:
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with
another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate
and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. \^'e hold
these truths to be self-evident : That all men are created equal ; that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that
among these are life, liberty, and the pursiiit of happiness; that to
secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any
form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right ot
the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government,
THE SOXS OF LIBERTY. 341
laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers in
sucli form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and
happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long
established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and,
accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed
to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolish-
ing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of
abuses and usurpation, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a
design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is
their duty, to throw off such a government, and to provide new guards
for their future security. Such has been the patient suffering of these
colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
their former system of government. The histor\- of the present King
of Great Britain is a history- of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over
these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary
for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent
should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to
attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accomodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
representation in the legislature — a right inestimable to them, and
formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom-
fortable and distant from the repository of their public records, for the
sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedh' for opposing,
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their e.xercise, the
State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion
from without and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States — for
that purpose, obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners,
refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising
the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
21
54- THE STORY OF AMERICA.
He has obstructed the administratioii of jiistice, by refusing his
assent to laws for establishing judiciar}- powers.
He has made judges dependent on his wiU alone for the tenure of
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of
officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in time of peace, standing armies, without
the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the military- independent of, and superior
lo, the ci\-il power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to OUT Constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent
to their acts of pretended legislation; for quartering large bodies of
armed troops among us; for protecting them, by a mock trial, from
ptmishment for an}- murders which they should commit on the inhabi-
tants of these States; for imposing taxes on us without our consent;
for depri^•ing us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jun."; for
transporting us beyond the seas to be tried for pretended offences; for
sbolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring pro\nnce,
establishing therein an arbitrary" government and enlarging its bounda-
ries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing
the same absolute rule into these colonies; for taking away onr charters,
abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the
forms of governments; for suspending our own legislatures, and
declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for i^s in all cases
whatever.
He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his
protection, and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns,
and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries
to complete the works of death, desolation and t^•ranny already begun,
with circumstances of cruelt\" and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a ci%-ilized
nation.
He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of
their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endea\ored
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages,
THE SOXS OF LXBERTV.
whose known mie of warfare is an nndistingnished destmctkm of all
ages, sexes and conditions.
In e\er\- stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redres in
the most humble terms. Onr repeated petitions have been answered only
bj' repeated injnr\-. A prince whose charaxrter is thns maiked by e^er}'
act which may define a tyrant, is tmfit to be the mler of a free people
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren.
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legisla-
ture to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction o\-er ns. We ha\'e
reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement
here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity', and
we have conjured them b>- the ties of a common kindred to disavow
these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and
correspondence. The\-, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and
consanguinity. We must, therefore, acqtiiesce in the necessity which
denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of man-
kind — enemies in war; in peace, friends.
We, therefore, representatives of the United States of .\menca, in
general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
World for the rectitude of onr intentions, do, in the name and In- the
authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, /ree
and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to
the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and
the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally disolved; and
that as/ree and independent States, they have full power to lev}- war,
condnde peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other
acts and things which independent States ma>- of right 60. And for
the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
Di\-ine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our
fortunes, and onr sacred honor. JOHX Haxcock.
Xew Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, ilatthew
Thomtou-
Massackusetis Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams. Rober: Treat
Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
Rhode Island, etc. — Stephen Hopkins, William Elleiy.
Connecticut. — ^Robert Sherman, Samuel Huntington. William
Williams, Oliver Wolcott.
Xeu- York. — William Floyd. Philip Li~lng5tone, Francis Lewis,
Lewis Morris.
344
TIIK STORY OF AMERICA.
Nciv /ersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hop-
kinf^n, j'jhn Hart, Abraham Clark.
Pcnnr>ylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rnsh, Benjamin Franklin.
John ]\Iorton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James
Wilson, George Ross.
Delaware. — Csesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M. Kean.
Maryland. — Samnel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles
Carroll, of Carrollton.
Virginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Harrison. Thomas Nelson, Jr. , Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter
Braxton.
North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
South Carolina. — Edward Rntledge, Thomas Hay ward, Jr., Thomas
Lynch, Jr. , Arthnr Middleton.
Georgia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton.
OLD LIBERTY BELL.
Through the countr}-, wherever the declaration was received, it
awoke great excitement. In New York, a mob pulled down the gilded
leaden equestrian statue of King George. The head was severed from
the body and wheeled in a barrel to the Governor's house. The rest
of the statue was moulded by a company of ladies into forty-two
THE SONS OF LIBERTY.
34S
thousand bullets, which were to be shot at the King's soldiers. Penn-
sylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, ^Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina
adopted State constitutions in 1776; New York, South Carolina and
Georgia in 1777; Massachusetts in 1780 and New Hampshire in 1781.
Connecticut and Rhode Island continued to use their royal charters as
the law of the States. Not till 181 8 did Connecticut adopt a State
constitution, and Rhode Island waited until 1840. Few of the consti-
tutions admitted religious liberty. The constitution of South Carolina
said "that no person shall be capable of holding any place of honor,
trust or profit under the authority of this State, who is not a member
of some church of the established religion thereof." The constitution
of Pennsylvania required ever}' member of the legislature to declare not
only his belief in the existence of a God who is a rewarder of good and
a punisher of evil, but also to believe that the Scriptures are given by
Divine inspiration. The constitution of New Hampshire stipulated
that the members of its legislature should be of the Protestant religion.
The constitution of Massachusetts provided against luxury, plays,
extravagant expense in dress, diet, and the like. Every minister or
public teacher of religion was obliged, in Massachusetts, to read the
Constitution to his congregation once a year.
FOR FrRTHER READING:
History— Winsor's "Readers' Hand-book of the Revolution."
Biography — Goodrich's "Lives of Signers of the Declaration."
Fiction— John Neal's "Seventv-six."
H. C. Watson's "Old Bell of Independence."
POHTRY — Charles Sprague's "Fourth of July." (See Ford's Historical Poem.)
HOrSE IN WHICH THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS SIGNED.
CHAPTER LV.
ilj0 ionlinintals.
WASHINGTON AT NEW YORK — ARRIVAL OF THIRTY-TWO THOUSANH
BRITISH TROOPS — OVERTURES FOR PEACE BY THE
BRITISH — BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND — THE
BATTLE OF HARLEM HEIGHTS — DE-
STRUCTION OF NEW Y'ORK —
BATTLE OF WHITE
PLAINS.
WASHINGTON was anxious to hold New York
permanently, and he believed that it could be
done. He continued the work which Lee had
begun. Governor's Island, Fort Stirling and
Long Island were well fortified and manned.
Strong works were built upon the Palisades and
three water batteries were also built along the
shore of the Hudson. By June eight}' pieces of cannon
and mortars were mounted, bearing upon the bay and
the two river channels. It was not until the last of
June that the enemy arrived. The first to come was
vSir William Howe, commander-in-chief, with his Boston
arm}-. Governor Tryon, of New York, and many
loyalists, went out to meet him. The troops followed
in one hundred and thirty ships, and by June 29th all
were in the ba}'. The}- debarked upon Staten Island, and here the
General took up his headquarters. Admiral Howe, Sir William's
brother, followed with some troops, and on August latli the Hesssian
arrived. These forces numbered altogether thirty-two thousand men.
Washington had upon his rolls about nineteen thousand. Under
Howe's command were many distinguished officers, men of high
breeding, intelligence and bravery. The English and Hessian soldiers
were well trained. De Heister, the general of the Hessians, had been
THE CONTINENTALS. 347
in many European campaigns. Among- the Hessians was a famous
company of sharpshooters, under Donop. Even those Hessians who
had come against their will and who were not used to bearing arms had
still warlike traditions, and they were surrounded by such good material
that their inexperience did not greatly lessen the strength of the force.
As for Washington's men, they were made up of farmers, merchants, min-
isters and mechanics. They were brave, but lacking in discipline and
an understanding of war. They were without uniforms, a thing which
is always depressing to the soldier, and were poorly equipped, the old
flint-lock piece being the common arm. Bayonets were few. These
men, in motlej- array, presented but a poor contrast to the elegantly
costumed Englishman, and the Hessian, with his brass-pointed cap, his
brass-hilted sword and glittering bayonet. General Washington's
headquarters overlooked the Hudson, near Varick. Admiral Howe
and his brother said that they had come bringing the olive branch of
peace, and on July 1 4th sent a flag of truce up the bay with a letter to the
commander-in-chief The generals sent out to receive this letter found
that it was addressed to George Washington, Esq., and returned it with
the remark that there was no such man in the American army. On
the 20th another flag of truce was sent up with a message to his Excel-
lency, General Washington. This was received and read with atten-
tion, but Washington could entertain no proposition for peace which
did not acknowledge American independence. An interview was held
between Lord Howe and a committee of Congress, which came to nothing,
because Howe had not been empowered by the King to admit the inde-
pendence of the colonies. On August 20th all of the British troops were
moved over to Long Island. The sight was an exhilarating one.
Nearly ninety boats and flat-boats were filled with the best troops of the
army, the glittering arms, the artillery and handsome horses, making
a. display which that harbor has never seen excelled. Fifteen thousand
men took possession of the roads of the island and occupied the Dutch
village, while General Cornwallis and Donop' s sharpshooters drove back
the Pennsylvania riflemen who had been patrolling the coast. Gen-
eral Green was in command of the Americans at Long Island, and
had surrpunded himself with strong earthworks thrown up in what is
now the heart of Brookl)-n. On what is now Washington Park stood
Fort Putnam, at the crown of the hill. The ridge of hills which lay
between the Brooklyn lines and the coast of Gravesend Bay was made
the outer line of defense by Washington. Several regiments were
brought over from New York to reinforce the Brooklyn wing. General
^y
THK STORY OK AMERICA.
Green was ill with a fever which was raging among the soldiers, and
his command fell upon General Sullivan. Early on the morning of
August 27th the American guards were unexpectedh- attacked bv the
tff^-
English. The da)' had not yet broken, and in the confusion the
American pickets retreated, ]ea\'ing their major a prisoner with the
THE CONTINEXTALS. 349
eneni, . Reinforcements soon arrived and the men held to a steady
resistance, although most of them were untried and raw. Against the
seventeen hundred inexperienced troops of Lord Stirling were placed
at least six thousand English veterans. The Americans took advantage
of an orchard near by and the heavy growth of hedges to protect them.
Stirling was making a fair defense, when Generals Clinton, Cornwallis,
Howe and Earl Percy came up with their men. These marched
well around the American lines before they were observed. Two
battalions fell into the hands of the English. The rest of the Ameri-
cans retreated toward the Brooklyn camp, fighting as they went.
General Sullivan was captured. The Hessians marched on rapidly
after the retreat had begun, attacking the broken detachments. Ten
thousand British and four thousand Hessians chased less than three
thousand Americans through the woods and over the hills of Long
Island, but most of the Americans succeeded in getting behind the
works. Stirling still held the field with an organized force. They
were surrounded and obliged to surrender to the Hessian commander,
De Heister. Two other regiments were captured as well. The English
loss was three hundred and seventy-seven officers and soldiers. The
American loss in killed and wounded was less than three hundred, but
they had given between eight hundred and one thousand prisoners into
the hands of the enemy.
On the afternoon of the 29th a council of the general officers met"
Washington, and it was decided to retreat from Long Island. For
twelve hours the troops were ferried across, in the midst of serious
interruptions. There was still doubt as to whether it would be wise to
continue the defense of New York, and at one time the Americans
thought seriously of burning it before they deserted it. For two weeks
there was comparative quiet. Had Howe chosen, he might have
destroyed New York himself, but he, as well as Washington, concluded
that it would be wiser to let it remain unharmed. Washington, after
considering how insubordinate his soldiers were becoming, concluded
not to continue the defence of New York. The men were sadly
discouraged by the disaster at Long Island, and they were neither well
paid nor well fed. The disorders were many, and some of the men
were so homesick that, though they remained faithful to their jDosts,
they could not be relied upon for \'igorous fighting. Fortunately,
Washington's call for fresh men was responded to and he was able to
allow some of his disabled men to return to their homes. On the 2d
of Februarv Washington's arm\- numbered less than twentv thousand
350 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
New York was to be evacuated on the 15th, and the activity of the
city for a few days previous could easily be observed by the English.
Howe was prompt to move his ships up closer to the city, and about lo
o'clock on the morning of the day appointed for the removal, these
ships opened fire. Under cover of this, Donop's Hessian sharpshooters
crossed to New York and chased the Americans over the fields to
Murray Hill. Washington and his men rode out in a vain attempt to
rally the militia. Even those of the men who were willing to fight,
could make no stand against the headlong and terrified rout of the
majority. Washington was worked up to one of those fierce spasms of
anger for which narrow-minded people have so often criticised him. It
is said that he drew his sword and threatened to run some fugitives
through, and that he laid his cane over many of the officers who showed
their men the example of running. He dashed his hat on the ground
and cried, "Are these the men with whom I am to defend America."
So disgusted was he and so regardless of his life, that had not one of
his attendants seized his horse's reins and turned him toward Harlem
Heights, the General would probably have fallen into the enemy's
hands. It is said that Putnam and Aaron Burr gathered up a portion
of the soldiers, and by the most extraordinar}' exertions marched up the
west side of the island through the woods and brought the men to Harlem
Heights in safety when night had falleii. Howe was close upon this
column in pursuit, and might have overtaken them, but for the
exertions of a charming Quaker lady, Mrs. Murray. The General and
his staff stopi^ed at her door to ask how long since the Americans had
passed. Mrs. Murra}- replied that they were long since out of reach,
and begged that General Howe and his followers would come in and
rest from the heat. Mrs. Murray and her daughter treated them with
cake and wine, and held the men by their quaint Quaker coquetry for
two hours. As a matter of fact the Americans had not been gone ten
minutes when Howe inquired for their whereabouts.
A terrible rain fell that night. The patriot soldiers were without
shelter. They had lost their provisions, cannons and baggage. The
generals were not in a mood for giving them much sympathy for they
felt that a more ready courage and obedience would have saved the
day. There was a brisk engagement in the morning which was fairly
well fought, and put some fresh spirit into the army. Early on the
morning of the i6th occurred the battle of Harlem Heights, in which
Washington himself directed the movements. He succeeded here in
driving the English regulars in an open field — an experience new to
THE CONTINENTALS. 35 1
the American soldiers. In this engagement tlie Americans lost four
valuable leaders. But the troops were reanimated, and Washington set
great store by the influence of this victory- upon their minds.
New York was now entirely in the possession of the English. On
the 2ist it was nearly destroyed by fire, though not intentionally.
Five hundred buildings were burned, and it is supposed that several
women and children perished in the flames. The Americans were
suspected of setting the fire and about two hniulred of them were
arrested. Most of them were discharged as soon as examined. One
man was hanged. This was Captain Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, a
patriot of great courage and influence. He had volunteered to go
within the British lines at Long Island and obtain information concern-
ing the forces of the enemy, which was absolutely necessar)- to
Washington. He was captured, and papers found upon him which
showed his purpose. He did not at any time deny that he was a spy.
He was hung without any trial, and was not even permitted to see a
clerg}man or use a Bible in his last hours. The letters he had written
to his mother and sister were burnt. History- has placed him among
the honored men of America.
There was quiet for a few weeks, and it was not until the 12th of
October that Howe was ready to renew hostile measures. The position
of the Americans at Harlem Heights had been strengthened, but the
Commander-in-chief feared that they could not be held, with the
exception of Fort Washington. This was filled with a good garrison.
The majority of the troops were scattered along the hills west of the
Brown river, which runs nearh- parallel to the Hudson. The army
were disposed here in position to face the enemy. Washington held
W'lile Plains and the' roads leading up the Hudson and to New Eng-
land. The English moved up in two columns — an impressive sight to
Wasliington and his officers, who looked down upon them from the
hills. At the time of Howe's approach the troops were disposed along
the brow of a steep declivity. The enemy came clambering straight
up the ascent, but recoiled under the hot fire with which they were
recei\ed. They made a second attempt and were again forced to
retreat, but in the third rush they were successful, and drove the
Americans before them. All through the retreat the patriots kept up
a steady fire from behind trees and fences, and at the close of the day
the loss of the English was much greater than that of the Americans.
Within the next two or three days Washington withdrew his army to a
position on the North Castle heights, which was so strong that Howe
352 THE STOR\' OF AMERICA,
did not attempt to capture it. He now turned his attention to Fort
Washington. On the I5tia of November Howe demanded a surrender
of the fort, threatening that if he was obliged to take it by assault the
garrison would be put to the sword. I\Iagaw, who was commanding
the Pennsylvanians holding the fort, replied that he preferred to defend
it. So insulting a demand for surrender would probably have deter-
mined him to this course, even if he had not previously intended it.
The fight was a hot one. The American forces were scattered over the
hills, along the shore of the river, and about the fort. All of these
were finally crowded into the fort. Magaw was obliged to surrender,
but it was upon honorable terms. The loss of the English army was
three times as great as that of the Americans. Fort Lee was also forced
to surrender. The Americans withdrew to the other side of the
Hackensack river. Howe commanded the entrance to the Hudson.
Washington believed that the British would follow their successes
about New York by an immediate attack upon Philadelphia.
FOR FURTHER READING;
Fiction— J. R. Sinims' "The American Spy."
Alden's "Old Store House."
Poetry— F. C. Finch's "Xathan Hale."
Drama— D. Fnimbell's "Death of Captain Nathan Hale."
CHAPTER LVI.
iallb %}d& nnh '^mnnu
THE JERSEY CAMPAICxN — THE BATTLE OF TRENTON — THE BATTLE OV
PRINCETON — WINTER ENCAMPMENT OF WASHINGTON
AT MORRISTOWN.
Washington left a part of his force to hold the
the posts which they still retained at the north,
and took Putnam, Green, Stirling and Mercer
southward with him. The entire force which
accompanied him was less than four thousand.
He wrote to Governor L,ivingstone, of New Jer-
sey, telling him to prepare for an invasion of
his territory, and asking the people to remove their
stock, grain and other possessions out of the reach of
the eneni)". The treatment of the people in the villages
of New York, by the English, had been merciless, and
Washington wished to prevent, as far as he could,
another scene of such desolation. Washington was
anxious about the condition of his anny. The enlist-
ment terms of his men were short, and by the first of December Wash-
ington would have but two thou.sand men with him. The two armies
moved through northern New Jerse}', Washington always a little in
advance of Cornwallis. The two Howes, as peace commissioners,
offered pardon to all who had taken up arms against the king, if they
would return quietly to their homes. This offer held good for sixty
days, and many in New Jersey and Pennsylvania accepted it. As the
British moved on through the towns, they took possession of horses,
cattle, wagons and whatever else they desired. Washington kept a
close outlook, and steadily retreated. His intention was to make a
stand for the protection of Philadelphia. Fearing that at any time he
might be forced to retreat into Pennsylvania, he had boats in readiness
at Trenton, and, to keep the English from pursuing him, he ordered
356
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
that all sorts of craft should be removed from the Jersey side, for
seventy miles up and down the Delaware river. The American force
crossed the Delaware just as the English entered Trenton. The two
armies moved southward. Congress thought it unsafe to remain in
Philadelphia, and adjourned to meet in Baltimore. Washington was in
great need of reinforcements, and kept sending commands to Lee, who
Was at the north, to join him with his forces. But Lee was envious of
Washington's position, and desired to be first in command himself. He
paid no attention to the commands, although they were imperative, and
it was a fortunate thing for the army when he was finally taken
prisoner by a compan)- of British dragoons. His command fell to
General Sullivan, who lost no time in obeying Washington's orders,
and reached headquarters just sixteen days after the first command was
sent to Lee. Howe swept on through the country, the Americans
hurr>-ing before him. The Pennsylvania and New Jersey men had gone
to their homes, their tenn of enlistment having expired. The patriot
troops Avere thoroughly dispirited. Washington felt that warm action
was necessary, even though it might be risky. He decided to fix
Christmas day as the date of an attempt upon Trenton. The British
were confident that rebellion was about put down in America. They
EATTLE FIELD AND BIVOUAC. 357
had scattered themselves widely over the countr>', parti}- to afford pro-
tection to the lojal inhabitants and partly to keep recruits from joining
the American army. The men were quartered in companies of twelve
and fifteen to a house, all through the farm district, and were given
over to plunder of the most vicious sort. Barbarians could not have
been more merciless. The wanton destruction of property was the
least of their offences. The English had acquired a thorough contempt
for Washington's army. They no longer felt fear or any need of watch-
fulness.
Situated at Trenton was Rahl, with twelve hundred men. Against
these men Washington meant to move. Cornwallis was so confident
that the campaign was over that he had obtained leave of absence, and
had already reached New York, on his way to England. It was upoji this
lack of suspicion that Washington relied for the success of his plan.
He determined to cross the Delaware at night above and below Trenton,
to fall upon Rahl and his Hessians, capture them, and recross before he
could be overtaken. That Donop and his sharpshooters, who were
below Trenton, might have their attention engaged, a body of militia
kept up a skirmish which drew off part of his force eighteen miles.
General John Cadwallader was directed by Washington to cross the
Delaware at Bristol, with a force of Pennsylvanians, and General
Ewing was told to cross directly opposite Trenton. The main column,
landing nine miles north of Trenton, at McConkey's ferry, was to be
led by Washington himself When the night came it was found unfa-
vorable. Both Cadwallader and Ewing were unsuccessful in their
efforts to cross, for the ice was piled up high on the Delaware shore.
But Washington made up his mind that he would act, even though he
was obliged to do so without support. The troops in his immediate
command he felt that he could trust. Twenty-four hundred men
composed the expedition. Most of them had seen service, and they
were led by valiant men, but the difiiculties they had to contend with
now were not common ones. There was a driving storm, which half
blinded the troops and threatened to make the guns useless. The
current of the river was swift and filled with cakes of floating ice. The
gentlemen who composed Washington's staff were filled with a ».ourage
which was almost gay. All the way across the treacherous river they
encouraged the troops in every manner possible. The boats were
manned by Massachusetts fishermen, who were natural sailors, and
among the best soldiers of the war. Washington had hoped to be on
the Jersey shore by midnight, but it was four in the morning before
358 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
troops and cannons were safely landed. It was too late to retreat, how-
ever, and there was nothing to do but to push on, although there was
no longer hope of surprising the town. The road was slippery, and
many of the men were nearly barefoot, but among the troops were the
most experienced and tried men of the army, and no complaints were
made. At Birmingham village the troops were divided, so that they
might march around the town in two columns. It was found that the
priming of the muskets had become too wet to use in many cases. Wash-
ington gave orders for the men to fight with bayonets. The Hessian
outposts were surprised. A detachment of Americans, led by Lieu-
tenant James Monroe, dashed in among them and was soon within
Trenton. Sullivan had led the men up the lower road and had
succeeded in surprising the outposts there as well. The Hessians made
an attempt to form in the streets, but Washington himself directed the
guns which cleared them away. Rahl had been indulging in Christmas
festivities through the night, and neither he nor his men were clear-
headed enough to do their best. They ran for their lives and were
checked at ever\' quarter. In a short time they were compelled to lay
down their anns. Rahl, their lieutenant, was mortally wounded, but
lived long enough to give up his sword to Washington. The Ameri-
cans took nine hundred and fifty prisoners and six guns, and killed
seventeen and wounded nearly eighty of the enemy. Their own loss
was only two killed and four wounded. By evening Washington had
recrossed the Delaware, and by the 30th he had mustered his whole
force in the neighborhood of Trenton.
Cornwallis was determined to have revenge for the Trenton aflfair.
He gathered all his available forces at Princeton, and on January 2, 1777,
marched with his seven thousand men upon Trenton. They succeeded
in cooping the Americans up there in a position which Washington
recognized at once as being very perilous. To cross the Delaware in the
presence of the enemy and retreat once more into Pennsylvania was
impossible. Between Trenton and McConkey's ferrj' lay a part of the
English army. In any position for battle his flanks could easily be
turned, for the enemy outnumbered him. In a council of war a for-
tunate plan was hit upon. It was to follow an almost unused road and
to reach Princeton secretly, if possible, in the night, and so escape from
the trap in which they were at present caught. General St. Clair
attended to all the details of preparation. Along the front of the camp
the appearance of an army at rest was kept up. The guards were
relieved, the camp fires were kept burning, and every semblance oi
BATTLE FIELD AND BIVOUAC. 359
peaceful encainpuient sustained. As a matter of fact, the troops were
quietly niarcliing along what was called the Quaker Road towards
Princeton. The ground was frozen and the artillery moved without
trouble. Washington went with them in the midst of his guard, which
was composed of twenty-one gentlemen of fortune, from Philadelphia,
who were volunteers to the army and paid their own way. In the
morning Cornwallis awoke to the realization that his prey had escaped,
and that the Trenton affair was still unavenged. But before the success
of the manoeuvre was assured there occured a brisk engagement between
General Mercer's men and a detachment of the English. This was
known as the battle of Princeton. In it the English were routed, losino-
sixty killed and many wounded, besides one hundred and fifty prisoners.
The American loss was small. General Mercer had been unhorsed, and
on refusing to surrender, was baj-oneted on all sides while he fought
single-handed with his sw'ord. He died a day or two later. Not a few
of the men died from the effects of that night march through the bitter
wind. They went without rest or provisions for two days and nights,
and all of them were insufficiently clothed. As soon as Cornwallis
learned that the enemy was at Princeton, he marched his soldiers in
hasty pursuit, and entered that town just an hour after the Americans
had left it. Washington took up winter quarters at Morristown. There
was a feeling of general satisfaction throughout the United Colonies, for
though the army had met with many disasters, it had succeeded in
holding the English well in check. It was now seated in the verj-
heart of New Jersey, which at one time everyone felt sure that the
enemy would overrun. True, Howe held New York, but he had been
obliged to abandon his plans against Philadelphia. Cornwallis and
Howe had been outgeneraled and their veteran troops had suffered
severely at the hands of the raw militia. George Washington was
recognized as a great soldier, patient, discreet, ingenious and brave.
Europe, and even England, were obliged to admit the dignity of the
American Revolution, and to recognize the fact that the world had a
new nation.
FOR FURTHER RE.\DING :
Biography— G. W. Greene's 'Life of General Green. "
Fiction — C. J. Peterson's "Kate Aylesford,"
Paulding's "Old Continental.*'
Poetry— "Battle of Trenton." (See Ford's Historical Poem.)
C. F. Ome's "Washington at Princeton."
CHAPTER LVII.
STATE OF THE AMERICAN ARMY — THE PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAJ/5N—
THE BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE — "THE PAOLI MASSA-
CRE" — THE BRITISH AT PHILADELPHIA — THE
BATTLE AT GERMANTOAVX — ■WASH-
INGTON WINTERS
VALLEY FORGE.
AT
X April, 1777, General Howe demanded of Wash-
'^ ington a return for a number of officers and
twenty-two hundred privates whom he had released
and sent within the American lines. Washington
refused to make an exchange which would be
equal in numbers, for he said that the eneni)- had
broken the spirit of the contract made concerning
prisoners. He accused Howe of great injustice and
cruelty, and said that many of the prisoners, when
released, were in so weak a state that they died before
reaching their homes, or immediately afterward. In
exchange for these suffering men, broken in body and
mind, Washington did not propose to make a return of
an equal number of able-bodied Englishmen. As a
matter of fact, the American prisoners met with terrible treatment. As
soon as they were taken they were robbed of their baggage, their
money and their clothes. Many of them were kept upon the prison
ships, which were terribly overcrowded, with only one-third tiie
allowance of food which they should have had. It is said that at least
eleven thousand five hundred men died upon the prison ships. Wash-
ington continued to refuse an equal exchange of men for the melancholy
creatures who were sent him, almost none of whom were able to be
placed in the field again. This was a great disappointment to Washing-
ton, for he was in serious need of men. The term of man\- of his
THE YEAR OF THE THREE GALLOWS. 361
regiments had expired, and in the spring of 1777 he did not have four
thousand names on his muster-roll. The difficulty of procuring
munitions of war was as serious as that of procuring men. Arms were
scarce and gunpowder almost unattainable. But for France, it is
doubtful if the war could have been carried on. In spite of her treaty
with Great Britain, France was friendly to the American cause.
Though the French minister deeply deplored to the English government
the aid which the people of France were giving to the American
patriots, he took care to remain ignorant of what was actually being
done. Large supplies of powder, cannon and field equipage were
shipped from France and allowed to leave without hindrance from the
government. Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur L,ee were
sent by Congress to France, and these asked the King to recognize the
independence of the United States. He would not do this, although
he expressed his good will and ordered two million livres to be paid
them by quarterly payments. Spain secretly joined France in helping-
the colonies, and contributed one million livres, but she was not willing
to be known in the matter.
It is not necessay to relate in detail all the numerous and unimportant
skirmishes which took place at different points between the Americans
and the English. During the spring of 1777 the English burnt a
number of villages, and Governor Tyron, who was now Major-General
of the Provincials, did some disastrous work through Connecticut.
Each of those engagements between the opposing forces has left many
interesting traditions, but to cite them all, or even the best of them,
would be a task too great to undertake. In May, Long Island was the
scene of some determined fighting, the hostilities reaching as far as Sag
Harbor. General Prescott, of the English army, was captured, and
Washington hoped that he might be exchanged for Lee, whom it will
be remembered was in the hands of the English. Lee was still believed
in by many people, although he had offered to sell himself and his
plans to the English and had for months been disloyal to his country.
By the 28th of May, Washington broke camp, moving to the southeast
that he might be in a better position to watch Howe's movements.
The patriot army had now increased to seven thousand. Sullivan was
in command of the continentals at Princeton, and the first move of
the English army was to send Cornwallis to attack this town. Sullivan
fell back and was not overtaken. Cornwallis tried to bring Washington
into action, but failed. A little later he succeeded in taking three
cannons and two hundred prisoners from General Stirling, but on the
362
THE STORV OF AMERICA.
30th the English withdrew and crossed in a body to Staten Island.
For six weeks they made no move, and Washington was unable to guess
what their intentions might be. On the 23d of July, Howe set sail
from New York, with eighteen thousand men, leaving six thousand in
the city, under Clinton. A week later the English fleet appeared in
the Delaware, but Washington had put such good obstructions there
that it again put out to sea. Washington was as anxious as he was
curious. He feared that it might be Howe's intention to move upon
Charleston, and knew that defences could not reach the city in time to
be of help. When next the fleet was hea: d of it was off the Chesapeake,
^.^2^r>Ks^..-
MARQI-IS MAKIE JOSEPH PAITL DE LAFAYETTE.
and Washington was reassured by the reilection that Howe's intention
must still be to move upon Philadelphia. At this time Washington's
army was joined by several foreign officers, who distinguished them-
selves in their devotion to the American cause. Among them were
Lafayette and Baron John De Kalb. De Kalb and Lafayette were
commissioned by Congress. Lafayette was very young— indeed he had
not yet reached his majority — and it was oulv "-'..en he assured
Congress that he had come as a volunteer and would pay his own
expenses, that he was commissioned. The very ship in which he had
THE YEAR OF THE THREE GALLOWS. 363
brought his men had been purchased and fitted out at his own expense.
Washington marched his army through Philadelphia on the 22d of
August. Howe was pushing his army through Pennsylvania. On the
loth of September Washington determined to hinder his further
progress. At this time Howe was on the bank of the Brandywine
river, commanding the principal forts. The engagement was a general
one all along the lines. The Americans were finally forced to retreat.
Their loss was three hundred killed and five hundred wounded. The
English loss was less than si.x hundred in killed and wounded.
Lafaj'ette distinguished himself, and received a wound in the leg which
kept him confined to his quarters for two months. The American
arm)' retreated the following day towards Pennsylvania and Gennan-
town. On the 15th of September it crossed the Schuylkill. Here
Howe advanced upon them. Anthony Wayne was in the American
advance and was quite willing for a battle, but a drenching rain storm
put an end to it. On the 19th of September Wayne was at Paoli, and
within sight of Howe's encampment. He saw that the army was
quietly engaged in camp occupations and told Washington that if he
would come to his aid with the whole army he believed that a deadly
blow might be dealt them. The intention was to move upon them in
the night. Wayne had fixed midnight for the time of his movement.
The watchword in his camp was "Here we are and there they go," but
it proved to be a watchword without a signification, for, two hours
before midnight Howe did exactly the thing which Wayne was
intending to do. The British fell upon the American camp, firing no
shots, but using their bayonets. The Americans were in the light of
their camp-fires, and the British in the protection of the shadow.
W^ayne's men ran in confusion through the dark woods. Nearly one
hundred and seventy were killed. This is known as the Paoli massacre.
At I o'clock that nigliL an aid-de-cainp dashed into Philadelphia
with a message from Washington that the enemy had crossed the
Schuylkill and would be in the town in a few hours. The news spread
through the town wildly and the people were roused out of their beds
to hurr)- from the place. A patrol was put in the streets to guard
against fire. It was over a week before Howe marched into the city.
His troops were received with loud cheers by the Tories.
Washington learned a few days later that Howe had sent a small
detachment to reduce the American forts on the Delaware. Washington
decided that this was a good opportunity to strike an effectual blow.
Howe's army was encamped in a long, straight line, to wiiich there
364 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
were four approaches. Washington's plan was to advance on all four
roads and engage the enemy along the whole line at the same moment.
The attack was to be made at precisely 5 o'clock on the morning of the
4th of October. On the evening of the 3d the American army left its
encampment and marched all night. They reached the points aimed
at about daybreak on the 4th. The morning was misty and they were
upon the outposts of the enemy before their approach was known.
The Americans were in good fighting mood. Their cry was to revenge
the Paoli massacre. A part of the English lines broke, and the day
might have been won, but that in the fog and smoke the Americans
mistook their own lines for those of the enemy, and did serious injury
among themselves, delaying the general movement. The battle was
lost and Washington ordered a retreat. A thousand men had been left
behind, while the English lost not more than five hundred. But Howe
was alarmed, nevertheless, and withdrew his army into the city. He
was in doubt where to take up his winter quarters. The Delaware
river was commanded by the Americans and it was not easy, therefore,
to obtain provisions. The Schuylkill was seriously impeded by
obstructions and by floating batteries along the shore. Howe sent
Colonel Donop, with his Hessian sharpshooters, to reduce Fort Mercer.
Donop made a furious assault, but both he and his lieutenant-colonel
were killed, as well as four hundred Hessians. The two British ships,
which had moved up the river to aid in the assault, ran aground. One
was blown up by the fire from the fort and the other burnt to escape
capture. But Howe still felt that he could not afford to let the enemy
retain possession of the Delaware river. On the 1 9th of November the
British fleet was brought to bear upon Fort Mifilin. The garrison
there made a sturdy fight, but could not hold out against the heavy
guns of the vessels, and they were obliged to take refuge on the other
side of the river, in Fort Mercer, having had two hundred and fifty out
of four hundred either killed or wounded. Comwallis now moved
into New Jersey, at the head of so large a force that even Fort IMercer
had to be deserted. The Delaware, below Philadelphia, was now under
the control of the British fleet. Washington took up his winter
quarters at Valley Forge, and it is said that the march of his army over
the frozen ground could be tracked bv the blood from their uncovered
feet.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Cooper's "History of the American Na^y."
Fiction— Cooper's "Pilot.''
J. R. Jones' "Quaker Soldier."
E. H. Williamson's "The Quaker Partisans."
Poetry— Carleton's "I^ittle Black-eyed Rebel.''
CHAPTER LVIII.
mlbrait ©onijucrnrs.
WASHINGTON'S CAMP AT VALLEY FORGE — NEGLECT OF CONGRESS-
THE CONWAY CABAL — GENERAL STEUBEN — BURGOYNE
IN THE NORTH — ^THE SIEGE OF TICON-
DEROGA — THE BATTLE OF
ORISKANV
{,
HE winter at Valley Forge was a dreary one.
Congress neglected the soldiers woefully. For
months the)- were left to suffer with hunger, cold,
and disease. They slept without blankets, many
of them sitting all night by their camp-fires. At
one time there were more than a thousand of
'them without shoes. Even the sick had to lie on the
ground without even a bunch of straw under them.
There were but few horses, and the soldiers themselves
drew their wood and provisions to their huts in little
carts. It was verj- seldom that the troops received any
money, and when they did, it was in Continental cur-
rency, the value of which was steadily decreasing. It
fell so low that at one time it took one hundred Conti-
nental dollars to buy a pair of shoes. The foreign officers
who had joined the camp were still faithful. Besides Lafayette and
DeKalb, were Kosciusko, Pulaski and Von Steuben. These lived in little
log huts ' 'no gayer, ' ' writes Lafayette, ' 'than a dungeon. ' ' These men
were used to courts, luxurj' and adulation, and their devotion to the
American cause was put to a severe test, although, of course, they did
not suffer the stinging privations of the common soldiery. The camp
at Valley Forge was laid out in parallel streets of log huts, built by the
soldiers. Fortunately there was plenty of building material close at
hand. This was their salvation. Had they not been well sheltered,
it is doubtful if they would have had courage to face the rigors of that
winter. Even as it was, the death-rate increased thirty-three per cent.
366
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
from week to week. Desertion was frequent, but not so frequent as one
might expect.
Congress was at York, Pennsylvania. It seemed to the men who
had the interests of the national army at heart, that Congress was
strangely neglectful and indifferent. Upon Washington's shoulders
fell the responsibility and burden of providing supplies and putting
down mutiny. His distresses were added to by the fact that he had
many enemies who were planning for his overthrow. Chief among
these was General Gates, who had conducted the latter part of a suc-
cessful campaign at the north — a -campaign in which he won more
BARON VOX STEUBEN.
credit and did less work than several other generals whose names history
has not so faithfully preserved. He was exceedingly jealous of Wash-
ington, and conspired with a man by the name of Conway for the
overthrow of the Commander-in-chief This was called the "Conway
Cabal." A conspiracy of this kind could not be conducted without
correspondence, and this made discovery almost inevitable. Through-
out the countrj' the cabal aroused universal indignation. In the midst
of these troubles Washington had the satisfaction of knowing that the
best men of the coimtry were his warm frietids, and he also perceived
TATTERED CONQUERORS. 36'/
that in spite of their privations the army was growing in effectiveness.
This was due largely to William \'on Steuben, the Prussian general,
who has been mentioned before. He had been with Frederick the
Great, and understood the management of men thoroughly. He intro-
duced the Prussian system of minor tactics, and beginning on a small
scale, he gradually brought the whole army into an admirable state of
drill. The fact that he had no personal ambition in the matter and
was moved solely by a sympathy for the soldiers and the cause they
represented, endeared him to the hearts of the men. He had a quick
temper and a brusque manner. He swore at the soldiers in German,
and compelled his aids to swear at them in English. But the men had
the sense to perceive that what they were learning would make them
formidable. They saw now, if they had never before, the necessity of
absolute obedience on the part of the soldier, and that he is valuable
only when he becomes an unthinking part of a great human machine.
In the battles which were to come Steuben was remembered with affec-
tion and tenderness when the men saw the strength they had gained
under his instruction. Stories of his bluffness, his roughness and his
profanity were told for long years after with a humor which but illy
disguised the emotion which the mention of his name awakened. So
the long months of the winter passed with Washington's men, and mean-
while, in the North, there were active hostilities.
Burgoyne, on his return to England after the end of the American
campaign in Canada, submitted to the ministry' his "Thoughts for con-
ducting the war from the side of Canada. ' ' His plans were approved,
and in March of 1777 he was given command of a force. Lieutenant-
Colonel St. Leger was to assist him by making a diversion on the
Mohawk river. The Governor of Canada was order.ed to give all the
assistance possible by adding Canadians and Indians to the expeditions.
'But the Canadians were more than indifferent; they were disinclined to
the service. It was a matter which did not concern them, and in which
they would have preferred to take no part. With the Indians, a^ can
easily be imagined, it was quite different. But Burgoyne was seriously
criticised, even in England, for the use of these savages in honorable
warfare. The plan of the campaign was for Burgoyne to get possession
of Albany, control the Hudson river, co-operate with Howe, and allow
that general to act with his whole force southward; in short, to divide
New England from the other States, and thus make their reduction
easier. But through a very slight accident, which, however, was not
slight m its consequence. General Howe was not informed of these
368 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
plans at all. Burgoyne landed with his eight thousand men off St.
John's river, with the finest artiller\' train in America. Under him
was a corps of successful officers. An English fleet was put upon Lake
Champlain, consisting of nine vessels, carrying one hundred and forty-
three giins and manned by one hundred and forty seamen.
On the 17th of June Burgoyne prepared for an attack against Ticon-
deroga. The river of St. John being the outlet of Lake Champlain, he
had easily moved down to the western shore of the lake, and arrayed
himself before the fort. Ticonderoga was still thought to be the key to
the northern colonies, and the Hnglish believed its reduction to be
necessar)-. The Americans were confident of holding the fort. General
Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, was in command of the post with a
force of three thousand men. Major-General Schuyler, who at this
time had chaige of the northern department, hastened to strengthen the
chain of posts from Ticonderoga to the Hudson and Albany. St.
Clair's force was too small to cover every explored point, and to save
some of his out-post detachments, he withdrew them. One of the posts
which he was forced to abandon was Mount Hope. This the English
General, Frazer, took possession of with heavy guns, and cut off the
communication of the Americans with Lake George. But this was a
little matter compared with an unexpected move on the part of the
British, which amazed and dismayed the Americans. South of Ticon-
deroga was a steep wooded height, which rose more than six hundred
feet above the level of the lake. This was Sugar Loaf Mountain. It
overlooked every fortified elevation in the vicinity, but had always been
neglected in former wars because it was thought to be inaccessible.
Burgoyne had with him engineers of ambition and skill, who secretly
made a path up which the artillery could be drawn to the top, and one
morning the American garrison, awoke to find the best guns of the
English army frowning down upon them. St. Clair had but one;
chance of saving his garrison and that was by leaving the fort secretly
at night. On the 6th of July, at 3 o'clock in the morning, the
troops marched out of the Ticonderoga forts and moved towards
Castleton, thirty miles southeast. The guns had been spiked, the tents
struck, the women and the sick sent hours before up the lake with the
stores, and all would have gone well if some one had not been foolish
enough to set fire to one of the houses. By the light of the blaze the
English saw the Americans retreating, and started immediately in
pursuit. All the next day St. Clair retreated through the woods and on
the morning of the 7th was attacked. He met with a heavy loss and
TATTERED CONQUERORS. 369
was obliged to retreat. Forty of his men were killed and three hundred
and fifty wounded or taken prisoners. General St. Clair made a
circuitous march of more than one hundred miles and reached Fort
Edward with the remainder of his army.
Throughout the colonies there was a feeling of deep chagrin which,
to tell the truth, was out of proportion with the disaster. In England
there was rejoicing as ill-proportioned. There was no question, of
course, but that the condition of the northern army was serious. All
the troops that General Schuyler could muster at Fort Edward by the
middle of July were barely five thousand. He called for assistance, and
Washington sent him two brigades of Morgan's splendid riflemen,
besides tents, ammunition and guns, which he could but illy spare from
his own arlny. General Benedict Arnold and General Lincoln, of
Massachusetts, were ordered to report to Schuyler. Burgoyne, for
some reason, was slow in moving, and these reinforcements had time to
reach Fort Edward without interruption. In all, the American army
at the north numbered six thousand, two-thirds of whom were Conti-
nentals, fairly armed. When Burgoyne' s soldiers began their march,
they found that the roads had been torn up, trees felled across them, all
the bridges destroyed, and the cattle driven off. Their provisions were
tardy, and the month of July had almost passed before they reached the
river at Fort Edward. -. On the 22d Schuyler abandoned this fort and
took a better position on Moses' creek, three miles below. Being
threatened here, he fell back from one point to another until he reached
Von Schaick's Island, where the Mohawk runs into the Hudson.
Burgoyne' s plan of the campaign, as has been said before, was to send
two forces southward. One of these was to march through the Mohawk
valley to Albany and join the main body. This was composed of
eighteen hundred men, under St. Leger. These reached the vicinity of
an old fortification on the Mohawk river, known as Fort Schuyler. St.
Leger demanded surrender but was promptly refused. The people of
the valley were patriotic, and at the first alarm the militia had turned
out eight hundred in number and hurried to the relief of the garrison,
which was composed of seven hundred and fifty New York and
Massachusetts Continental troops, under Colonel Gansevoort. At the
head of the militia was General Nicholas Herkimer, a sturdy German,
who had been so warm in his defence of the popular cause that his
leadership alone gave courage to the people of the valley. He sent
word to Gansevoort of his approach, and suggested that the garrison
should meet him at an appointed place. But St. Leger heard of
37° THE STORY OK AMERICA.
Herkimer's approach and intercepted him. Herkimer was marching
carelessly through the IMohawk valley where the river bends frequently
and the ground is broken with ravines, when he found himself
surrounded by Indians and Englishmen in ambush. The Americans
had entered well into the defile near Oriskany, where they were quite
at the mercy of the enemy. Herkimer was mortally wounded at the
beginning of the engagement, but he seated himself upon his saddle at
the foot of a tree, lit his pipe, and determining to die as slowly as
possible, gave his orders. No fight of the revolution was more
desperate. For a large part of the time it consisted of hand-to-hand
struggles, in which the men fought with knives, tomahawks, swords
and spears. The fight lasted for five hours, till the ground was covered
with the dead and wounded, nearly two hundred being killed on each
side. At length help came to the Americans. Gansevoort had been
reached by a messenger and sent out a sortie, composed of two hundred
and fifty New York and Massachusetts men, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Willett, of New York. This party rushed into the enemy's camp,
where only a few troops had been left in charge, capturing baggage,
stores, papers and flags and drawing the attention of the enemy away
from Herkimer's hard-pressed forces. The Indians were frightened
and soon retreated. This weakened the British so that they had no
choice but to follow. St. Leger did not, however, give up the siege of
the fort until news reached him of Arnold's approach, when the Indian
allies compelled him to abandon the siege.
This was the first check to Burgoyne's plans. The hatred of him
among the Americans had increased a thousand fold. His cruelty in
employing the Indians was everywhere condemned. The fate of Jane
McCrae was quoted as an example of the horrors which Indian alliance
involved. She was a young woman, beautiful and gently reared,
affianced at the time of her death to a young loyalist officer. She was
killed while in the hands of two Indians, and her long hair was after-
wards shown at Burgoyne's headquarters. People chose to believe that
she was killed by the Indians, but in fact she was killed by her friends,
the American soldiers, who were firing upon a party of Indians who had
captured Miss McCrae and a friend with whom she was staying, Mrs.
McNeal. Miss McCrae was buried by the soldiers who had attempted
her rescue and heedlessly caused her death.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Burgoyne's "Expedition from Canada."
Biography — Spark's "Life ot Allen."
CHAPTER LIX.
OUI
00m.
THE RAID OX BENNINGTON — GENERAL GATES GIVEN COMMAND AT
THE NORTH — THE BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM —
BATTLE OF BEMUS HEIGHTS — SURREN-
DER OF BURGOYNE.
JRGOYNE, moving his main column with slow,
military' precision, was in great need of stores, and
was delighted when he learned that abont twenty-
five miles east of his line of march, at Bennington,
in the New Hampshire grants, was a depot of
horses and stores, which the Americans had established
To marcli against this store-house was, therefore, his
intention, and he appointed for the leader of the raid
Lieutenant-Colonel Baume, a trusted German officer.
Under him was a select corps, five hundred strong, and a
party of loyalist rangers. About one hundred Indians
joined the column also. Baume started out on the
eleventh of August, and on the afternoon of the
thirteenth, then sixteen miles distant from his starting
point, wrote to Burgoyne that the rebels were now aware of the expe-
dition, but that the Tories all about the country were flocking in to him.
He complained that the Indians were uncontrollable, and added that he
had learned that the strength of the American militia at Bennington
was about eight hundred. Burgoyne concluded, on receiving this
niformation, that it would be best to reinforce Baume, and on the
fifteenth sent forward Colonel Breyman and his five hundred Brunswick
chasseurs. It was true that Burgoyne' s approach had been learned of
by the ' 'rebels. ' ' They had risen with their usual promptititde, and at
their head was General Stark, who, at the time of the Boston fight, had
gathered the farmers of the country around him and hastened to the
rescue. At Bunker Hill, and at Trenton, he had done brave work, and
now the whole region was read\- to answer to his call. The State
372 THE STORY OV AMERICA.
ordered out the militia, and gave Stark the command. His brigade
consisted of fifteen hundred militia. To these were added companies of
"Green Mountain Boys," which swelled the entire force to about
twenty-two hundred. These hastened to Bennington, many of thenj
marching by night in a severe rain. B\- the sixteenth, Stark was
ready to attack Baume's main body. There is a story that as the
general came in sight of the enemy he cried: "See there, my men;
ihere are the red coats; before night they are ours, or Mollie Stark is a
widow." The fight lasted for two hours, and the British were finally
forced to give wa)-. No road of escape was left open to them, and the
entire body surrendered. Baume was mortally wounded. The Ameri-
can militia-men, in great exultation, scattered over the abandoned camp
for the purpose of plundering it. By this greed and disorder they came
near losing all the advantage the\- had gained, for the}' were surprised
by Colonel Breyman with his reinforcements, and it was only by the
promptest action of the American officers that the English were driven
back. When night fell, it was certain that the Americans had gained a
signal victory. The)' had taken four cannon and nearly seven hundred
prisoners, with but a small loss to themselves. This was known as the
Battle of Bennington. This success at the north reanimated the spirits
of the colonies. Volunteers hastened northward to swell the victorious
army there. General Gates was given command of the northern
department, in the place of Schuj'ler, and the former general reaped
the credit of all the work Schuyler had done. Gates moved the camp
from the mouth of the Mohawk, and took possession of Bemus Heights,
twenty-five miles north of Albau)-. This site was commanding, and
capable of easy defense, and, under the direction of Kosciusko, was
strengthened by a line of breastworks and redoubts. This post held the
road to Albany, and to reach that town Burgoyne must first overcome
this obstacle. The British were still annoyed by lack of supplies, but
it was necessary that the)- should push on, and the}' hastened to attack
the Americans on Bemus Heights as soon as possible.
Gates had about nine thousand men. His position was excellent.
Upon the right was the Hudson; on the left, ridges and thick woods; in
front, a ravine and abattis. Commanding with Gates was a large
number of efficient officers, among them Arnold, and Colonel Daniel
Morgan of Virginia, with his famous rifle corps. On the eighteenth there
was a skirmish, in which a number of Englishmen, who were gathering
potatoes, were killed or captured. On the nineteenth, work began in
good earnest. Burgo}'ne mo\'ed upon Gates in three large columns.
"ELBOW ROOM." 373
Gates hastened to send out Arnold and Morgan to meet him. The
battle ground was interspersed with thick woods, occasional clearings,
and ravines. With such protection the lines were able to approach
within close range. The fight was a long and serious one; now one
side and now the other fell back. A number of the American com-
manders lost half of the men in their force. The English had four
pieces of artillery on the ground, but the Americans had none. A partv
of New Hampshire men charged upon and seized a twelve-pounder.
They were driven from it by a larger body of the enemy, but secured it
a second time, and were again forced back. Private Thomas Haynes,
of Concord, sat astride the muzzle of a piece when the enemy came up,
and killed two men with his bayonet before a bullet struck him. The
fierceness of the struggle can be imagined when it is known that thirty-
six out of the forty-eight British gunners were either killed or wounded.
The firing ceased at sunset. The Americans withdrew their fortified
lines and the enemy held the field. Neither side were victorious, but
Burgoyne had received his second check. The engagement was known
as the battle of Freeman's Farm.
The British fortified the ground which they held, and rested there
for eighteen days. In the meantime, reinforcements came to Gates.
General Stark threatened Burgoyne's communication with the north,
and Colonel John Brown, with five hundred men, had made a dash at
Ticonderoga and taken prisoners and guns. Burgoyne's constant hope
was to join the main body under Howe, and thus force Gates to fall
back. By the 2ist of September he received word that Sir Henr}-
Clinton had been sent from Howe's army with an expedition which
would sail up the Hudson for the purpose of taking the forts near West
Point, thus creating a diversion in Burgoyne's favor. Clinton succeeded
in doing as he desired, and carried both Forts Montgomen,- and Clinton
by assault. The American loss was about three hundred, of whom
• sixty or seventy were killed or wounded. The British dismantled the
forts, burned two American frigates and laid a village in ashes. General
Putnam, who was in command of the Americans at that point, retreated
farther up the river and attacked the post at Fishkill. Clinton then
returned to New York.
This had not been of such marked relief to Burgoyne as he had
hoped. The American lines were closing about him. He was short of
provisions, and he found his Indian allies restless. It was necessary for
him to either advance or retreat, and it was more in keeping with his
character to do the first. With his best generals, he took position on
374 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
Open ground within a mile of the American lines, sending an advance
around to reach the American rear. Gates was quick and cordial in his
response, sending out Morgan, with his riflemen, to begin the work.
Hardly an hour passed after the British gave battle before their whole
line was retiring in disorder. The success of the day had largely been
due to the efibrts of Arnold. There were many jealousies and enmities
in the northern division, and Arnold's impassioned and overbearing
disposition had brought him into disgrace. Gates had taken his
command from him and told him to remain in his tent, but when he
heard the firing upon the field and saw how the American lines wavered
for a time, he rushed out and took command of first one corps and then
another, rousing the troops to enthusiasm. Gates sent a messenger
ordering him to leave the field, but Arnold succeeded in avoiding him,
and continued to cheer on the men who followed wherever he led.
Even when the English were driven to their intrenchments, and the
twilight had deepened almost to darkness, Arnold and Morgan broke
through the lines and works and forced the Hessians to abandon their
position. In this last charge Arnold was wounded. Congress promoted
him to the rank of Major-General. The American loss had been small,
but the English had lost many men as well as one of their best generals,
and altogether the defeat of the English was decisive. Burgoyne
retreated to Saratoga and encamped at the north side of the Fishkill.
Gates followed him and made such a disposition of his troops as to
surround him. His line of retreat was severed; he was threatened in
the rear, and had but five days rations in the camp. Under the
circumstances there was little choice but for him to make proposals for
surrender. These he sent to the American commander, who agreed
that the British anny should march out with all the honors of war and
have free passage to England, upon condition of not serving again
during the war. The surrender included five thousand seven hundred
and sixty-three officers and men. On the 17th of October the army
laid down their arms in the presence of two majors of General Gates'
staff". For several days after, Burgoj'ue and his officers were entertained
courteously by Gates and his staff". In England, Burgoyne was severely
blamed for a blunder in which the ministry should have taken the blame
to themselves. Congress presented Gates a medal for accomplishing
what, up to this time, was the most important event of the war.
FOR FURTHER READING;
History— Burgoyne's "Orderly Book."
Felton's "Journal of American Rcvolutiou."
Biography— Spark's "Life of Stark."
F.XTiON — Cooper'.s "Chain-Bearer.'
CHAPTER LX.
Snltra anb ffiuska).
EVACUATION OF PHILADELPHIA BY THE BRITISH — THE BATTLE OF
MONMOUTH COURT HOUSE — FIRING OF BEDFORD AND
FAIR HAVEN THE WYOMING MAS-
SACRE WARFARE IN
y^J THE WEST.
. HE British forces had occupied Philadelphia for
more than eight months with a force much larger
than Washington's, but they had failed to estab-
lish themselves in the State at large. Early in the
summer of 1778 they received orders to return tc
New York, for the concentration of their forces had
become necessary. On June i8tli they began to
move, and were soon ferried across the river and marching
northward through the Jerseys. Howe had been relieved
and Sir Henry Clinton had the command. The train
was composed of fourteen thousand effective men and the
provision train was eight or ten miles long. The heat
was intense, the roads bad, and during the long march to
) New York between six and eight hundred Hessians
deserted. As soon as Washington heard of Clinton's
start he broke camp at Valley Forge and sent his men forward to
destroy bridges and delay the enemy. On the 21st the Americans
crossed the Delaware and on the 28th struck the rear of Clinton's
columns, bringing about the battle of Monmouth Court House. General
Steuben himself had reconnoitred the enemy the day before. Lafayette,
Green and Lee were given commands. The night before the 28th several
hundred men were moved up closer to the enemy, where they could be
in position to watch their movements in the morning. As soon as Clin-
ton's troops were set in motion Washington sent word to Lee to hasten
operations and force an engagement. The main army moved forward
to support the advance corps. Lee was thrown into confusion by con-
376 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
flicting reports, and it was 9 o'clock in the morning before he was
assured that the British were realh- continuing their march. The
opportunity for attack, according to Washington's plan, was lost. A
second skirmish took place between detachments of both armies, the
Americans gaining the advantage.
At this stage of the conflict Lee sent orders to Wayne to move to
the right and capture the enemy's rear guard. This looked like a
retreat to the rest of the commanders, and they left their positions and
fell back some distance, when Lee sent his tardy orders to stand fast.
By this time the entire division was in retreat. This the British saw
and were not slow to take advantage of Lee watched his detachments
retreat across the ravine and then, seeing that they were safe, followed
them, to find that Washington had come up with the main army and
taken command himself In a moment the atmosphere changed. The
vacillation of the troops was gone, and they responded to the command
of Washington's vigorous leadership. The Commander-in-chief ordered
the nearest officers to hold the ground, while he formed the main army.
The retreating troops were quick to join those in position. When Lee,
last of all, came across the ravine, Washington met him and reproached
him in terms as angry as they were justifiable. Lee's militar\' career
was practically ended. He was soon after brought to trial before a
court-martial, found guilty of disobedience to orders, misbehavior before
the enemy, disrespect to the Commander-in-chief, and was sentenced to
suspension from command for a year. The British soon advanced, but
the Continentals stood finn, and Lafayette prevented Clinton from
deflanking the position. Not until 5 o'clock in the afternoon did the
British fall back. The loss was about three hundred and fift}- on each
side. Clinton marched on to New York without further interruption,
Washington following him. The Americans encamped upon White
Plains, where they could watch the enemy. Late in July the Count
D'Estaing arrived from France with a squadron of twelve ships, carrying
four thousand troops. This fleet was intended for the relief of Phila-
delphia, but did not reach the Delaware until that city had been evacu-
ated. It finally put in at Newport, and at its approach twenty-one
English vessels were burned to avoid capture. The Continentals had
been in great hopes that D'Estaing would put in at the harbor of New
York, but he claimed that the water there was not sufficient. Not a
little dissatisfaction was felt, but this was soon forgotten in a determina-
tion to be grateful for his aid. It was decided that the French and
American armies were to co-operate in an attack upon Newport, where
SABRE AND MUSKET. 3;-
General Pigot was stationed with six thousand British and Hessians.
There were ten thousand Continentals in Rhode Island, under the
command of Sullivan. Sullivan agreed with D'Estaing that an attack
should be made on August loth, but he moved before that date and
neglected to inform the French commander of his change of purpose.
On the 9th, when the French were ready to co-operate, a fleet of
thirty-six vessels, under Lord Howe, appeared at sea, and D'Estaing
re-embarked his men and put out after them, but no battle followed, for
the fleets were overtaken by a terrible storm which scattered them.
Sullivan thought best to push on, even without the French troops. He
forced the enemy to withdraw within their lines of intrenchment,
covered his own men with earthworks, and waited for D'Estaing' s
return. The French commander, instead of returning, went to Boston
to have his fleet repaired. It was a bitter disappointment to the Conti-
nentals. Sullivan was doubtful about the safety of attacking under the
circumstances, for D'Estaing steadily refused to separate his men from
the ships. But on the 29th an engagement took place, which was
provoked by Sullivan. In the end the Americans were driven from
their positions, though with a loss of only one-fifth as large as that sus-
tained by the British. On the following day Sullivan learned that
Pigot was to be reinforced by Clinton with five thousand men, and he
therefore began a hasty retreat across the country'. Clinton finding
there were no soldiers to fight, set fire to New Bedford and Fair Haven
and all the vessels at their wharves. Howe sailed to Boston and chal-
lenged D' Estaing to battle, but he was not yet ready for sea, and when
his fleet was at length refitted he sailed for the West India station
without any further effort to help the American cause.
While these hostilities were being conducted along the coast, in the
west the Tories and the Indians were still keeping up frequent though
irregular hostilities. In the battle of Oriskany, the year before, more
than one hundred Indians had been slain, and in the tribes of the Si.K
Nations there was a thirst for revenge. Joseph Brant was the most
influential of all their chiefs. He had been educated among the whites,
and having naturally an active mind and a savage nature, was now a
most formidable leader. He was attached to the Tory interest of cen-
tral New York by a sort of relationship with Sir William Johnson.
The Tories did not disdain to use him as one of their chief allies, and
among the Whigs he was dreaded without measure. From July to
November of 1778, a merciless warfare was kept up by the Tories and
Indians on the defenseless Whigs. Tne warfare extended all along the
37^ THE STORY OF AMERICA.
valley of the Susquehanna, northward through the west of Albany.
Villages were burned, and men, women and children murdered.
Toward the last of June two forts were taken at Wyoming, and many of
the inhabitants of the valley were obliged to fly for their lives to Fort
Forty. Colonel Zebulon Butler had command of the garrison here,
and foolishly moved out against the Tories and Indians, who had a
much larger force than he. All but sixty of his three hundred men
were killed. As the news of this terrible massacre spread through the
valley, the people fled from their homes to the woods and mountains,
or sought protection at Fort Wyoming. In a little while this fort was
also surrendered on a promise that the settlers should be permitted to
return to their farms. But, as might have been expected, this promise
Avas broken and many of the farmers, with their wives and children, were
slain. About this time Joseph Brant had entered the settlement of
Springfield, at Oswego Lake, and burnt every house in the village
except one, in which he had had the humanity to place the women and
children. Two months later Brant, with a large body of followers,
destroyed the settlement of German Flats, in the valley of the Mohawk.
For ten miles not a house or field was left unmolested. Earlj- in
November a terrible fate overtook Cherry Valley, a village remarkable
for the refinement and virtue of its inhabitants. The people were
staunch patriots, and were, therefore, sure targets for Tory vengeance.
Nearly fifty persons were killed here in -the course of one day, and all
but sixteen were women and children. The fort was not taken, but
most of the buildings in the village were burned.
Still farther west the warfare was waged as mercilessly. The terri-
tory which is now the States of Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky was
then thinly settled with pioneers. It was three years since Daniel
Boone had blazed a trace in the wilderness west of Virginia. The men
who followed him were among the bravest and most enduring of
the nation. Hunting and fighting were necessary to their bare
existence. Their deeds of endurance and fortitude are among the
most romantic tales of histor)'. They had settled, unfortunately, upon
what was considered the common hunting grounds of both the northern
and southern Indians, and the savages naturally resented the encroach-
ment upon their lands. The terrible disasters which overtook the
pioneers of that region caused it to be called "the Dark and Bloody
Ground." The English added fuel to their hatred, and many of the
expeditions against the unfortunate settlers were inspired at Detroit,
Vincennes and Kaskaskia by the commanders of the garrisons there.
SABRE AXD MUSKET. 379,
Colonel George Rogers Clark, one of the hardy pioneers of Kentucky,
determined to strike at the source of this mischief Patrick Henry,
who was then Governor of Virginia, gave him aid, and Clark got.
together a band of one hundred and fifty men, and in May, 1778, went
down the Ohio. At Corn Island, by the falls of the Ohio, he built a
block-house as a depot for provisions, and leaving five men in chaige,
went on with his force, which had now increased a little. While he
was gone, these five men built cabins where Louisville now stands. He
left his boat at the mouth of the Tennessee and marched across to Kas-
kaskia. Here he surrounded and took the town. He sent the
Governor to Virginia, and exacted an oath of allegiance to the United
States from the people. Cahokia was soon taken in the same manner,
and after that Vincennes, on the Wabash. It was in the autumn of
1778 that the county of Illinois was first recognized and a civil com-
mandant appointed. Governor Hamilton, of Detroit, soon recovered
Vincennes, where Clark had left only two men in the fort. Hamilton
was not aware of this fact, and approached with eight hundred men,
demanding a surrender. The captain refused till he knew the lerms.
Hamilton conceded the honors of war, and the captain and his one man
marched out with dignity between the surprised columns of the enemy.
Late the following winter Clark marched from Kaskaskia throvigh the
swamps of that country- and retook the fort. Hamilton was sent as a
prisoner of war to Virginia. The Indians, who were always anxious to-
be on the strongest side, now became the friends of the Americans.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Moore's "Treason of Charles Lee."
Biography— Abbott's 'Life of Boone."
Stone's "Life of Brant."
Fiction— H. Peterson's "Pemberton."
Poetry— Hopkinson's "Battle of the Kegs."
Campbell's "Gertrude of 'Wyoming."
William Collins' "MoUie Pitcher at Monmouth."
ch.\pti;r lxi.
,b
m mmmt
!]|^it]^arit/'
BRITISH REDUCTION' OF GEORGIA — THE DESTRUCTION OF NEW
HAVEX — THE AMERICANS CAPTURE STONY POINT —
THE GREAT NAVAL ENGAGEMENT OF
JOHN PAUL JONES.
OWARD the close of the year the war drifted to
the South. The ministry of England still held
that the southern colonies ought to be, and could
be, subdued. Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell was
sent, with two thousand men, to reduce Savannah.
There were twelve or fifteen hundred Continent-
als at that place, under the command of General
Robert Howe, of North Carolina. He was well situated,
witli a lagoon in front, a morass on the right and the
swamps of the river on the left. The works of the town
were in his rear and he thought himself safe, but Campbell
discovered a path through the swamps, which had been
left unguarded. A detachment, led by a negro, went over
this path and turned Howe's right. At the same time an
attack was made in front, and the Americans beat a confused retreat
into the town, losing over five htmdred in killed and as prisoners, as
well as baggage and artillen,-. In a short time Campbell was in
possession of Augusta, and the people of Georgia were obliged to
acknowledge royal rule. Throughout Georgia and the other southern
colonies there had been a fierce jjartisan warfare. Nowhere else in the
colonies had there been neighborhood feuds as bitter as in those vStates.
The loyal and patriot parties were about equally divided all through
the South, and first one and then the other would be in the ascendancy.
As soon as Campbell took Augusta a company of Tories assembled for
the purpose of joining him, but they were intercepted by a band of
Whigs. Seventy men were captured, tried for treason, and five of them
THE ASSAULT ON STONY POINT.
THE "BON HOMME RICHARD." 383
were hanged. In March, 1779, five hundred North Carolina militia
were ordered to move down the Savannah towards the enemy, who had
left Augusta. The Patriots were surprised by the Tories, two hundred
men killed or wounded and the rest frightened into dispersing with as
much speed as possible. Occurrences of this sort were not unfrequent.
A party feeling existed everywhere, and neighbors whose plantations
adjoined each other waged as bitter war against one another as if they
had been denizens of different countries. The militia could not be
relied on, for they were likely at any time to leave their duties and
hasten home to the protection of their households against private
enemies.
By the nth of May the English commander was before Charleston
and summoned it to surrender. This Moultrie and the other military
leaders would not consent to, and in the engagement which followed
the English were obliged to move back upon Savannah. In the course
of the summer General Clinton sent down several expeditions for the
purpose of harassing the people. Along the Virginian coast many
merchant vessels were burned and large quantities of provisions
destroyed. General Tr>^on landed at New Haven on the 5th of July
with three thousand men. The move was an unexpected one, and
there were no soldiers to oppose him. But the people armed, and the
Yale students formed themselves into a military company, Dr.
Daggett, the president of the college, sending his daughter to a place of
safety and then shouldering his musket to fight with his pupils. He
was, unfortunately, taken prisoner. The inhabitants did all that they
could to check the progress of the enemy, but the Hessian and British
soldiers filled the town and indulged in every sort of outrage. The
houses were robbed, the men murdered and a scene of debauchery and
cruelty followed which was a disgrace to civilized soldiers. Norwalk
and Green's Farms were visited next and treated in the same manner.
Washington had placed his force so as to cover West Point. He
had recovered Stony Point, which Clinton had taken from him but a
short time previous. The attack for recovery was made at midnight on
July 15th. Every soldier had a badge of white paper fastened to his
hat, that he might be distinguished from the enemy. Each man was
to shout, "The fort is our own," as he entered the works. Between
the point and the mainland was a neck, which, at the hour of the
attack, was covered by the tide about two feet deep. While crossing
this, fire was opened upon the Americans from the guns. The
Americans had been ordered by Anthony Wayne, who led them, not to
384 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
fire, but to depend entirely on their bayonets. The English stood by
their guns crying, "Come on, ye damned rebels, come on," to which
Wayne's men cheerfully responded, "Don't be in such a hurry, my lads;
we will be with you presently" — and they were, although they had to
scramble up the steep ascent and over the abatis with the English fire
upon them. The attack was one of those impetuous ones which none
could lead so successfully as "Mad Anthony Wayne." He was struck
in the forehead with a ball, but insisted on being carried into the fort
by his men. The entire capture had not taken more than half an hour,
and by i-t the Americans gained nearly fifteen hundred prisoners, fifteen
pieces of cannon, and large quantities of stores and ammunition.
This defeat delayed Clinton's advance and caused him to postpone
indefinitely the movement upon Connecticut.
A little later than this he met with another surprise in the loss of
the post at Paulus Hook, now Jersey City. On the igtli of August,
Major Henry Lee, with five companies of southern troopers, carried
the place by assault without firing a shot. The)- were hotly pursued,
but took one hundred and fifty prisoners with them in safety. Clinton
sent out a naval expedition in August, which had an engagement near
the mouth of the Penobscot, in which they were successful. In this
affair the American colonists showed a lack of courage and judgment.
Not more than a month after this. General Paul Jones fought his
great battle upon the sea. It was the most important event of the year,
and indeed one of the most remarkable battles which ever took place
upon the ocean. The contest upon the sea up to this time had been
barely respectable. It was mostly a warfare of privateers, with plunder
for its aim. Congress had been anxious for a navy, and had made all
the eflForts possible for establishing one. But their means were limited,
and the work had been left mostly to the small frigates and privateering
vessels, who, in their way, did not a little work for the Revolution.
In the year 1777 two hundred and fifty British vessels were captured by
American cruisers before the ist of February. By the end of that year
the number taken was four hundred and sixty-seven. The most
successful of all the seamen was Paul Jones. All along the English
coast he was held in terror and dread. To him the King of France
gave an old Indiaman, fitted out as a man-of-war. This Paul Jones
named the Bo7t Homme Richard. This cruised along the west coast of
Ireland and the north of Scotland for more than a month, with two
consorts, the Alliance and the Paulus. On the 2 2d of February they
came in sight of a fleet of merchantmen under convoy of two frigates.
THE "BON HOMME RICHARD." 385
One of these, the Serapis^ carried fifty guns, the other, the Counless of
Scarhoroughy carried twenty-two. Jones gave the signal for pursuit as
they were off Flaniborough Head, on the coast of Yorkshire. He was
not altogether in good condition for fight, for his crew had been reduced
to man prizes, and hi;; prisoners were two-thirds as numerous as his
remaining crew. Besides, the Serapis was a new frigate. She had
twenty guns on each of her decks, main and upper, and ten lighter ones
on her quarter deck and forecastle. The Richard had only six guns on
her lower deck, which were all on the same side. Above these, on the
main deck, were fourteen gims on each side. She had a high quarter
and forecastle, with eight guns on these, and was of old-fashioned
build, with a high poop, so that her lower deck was but little below
her antagonist's main deck. It was after stmset, and a full moon had
arisen, when the Richard came within hail of the Serapis. Captain
Pearson, of the latter frigate, spoke the Richard twice. For answer
Jones opened fire. Unfortunately, at the ver)- first, two heav}- guns on
the lower deck burst. Many of the men were killed by the explosion.
The rest went up to the main deck. The Serapis responded to the fire
immediately. Jones pushed up closer, and as the heavy vessels swung
arotmd, the jib-boom of the Serapis ran into the niizzen rigging of the
Richard. Jones himself fastened the vessels together, and one of the
anchors of the Serapis catight the quarter of the Richard., lashing them
fast. The Serapis was so close to her antagonist that she could not
open her ports on the starboard side, and her first shots were fired
through her own port lids to free her guns. The fire from the main
deck of the Serapis, while it badly injured the Richard, had but little
effect upon the men, who, as has been said, deserted the lower deck,
where the cannonading did most execution, at the beginning. The
upper ginis of the Richard, of course, hung over the Serapis, as the
former vessel had greatly the advantage of height. Muskets were little
used, for it was night and clouds of smoke enveloped the vessels. At
length, after two hours of about equal fighting, the men in the
Ri.liard^s tops began throwing hand-grenades upon the deck of the
Serapis, and one sailor, who had worked himself out to the end of the
main yard with a bucket filled with grenades, lighted them one by one
and threw them down the hatchway of tlie Serapis. They fell among
a row of eighteen-pounder cartridges. The row was lighted, and in the
explosion which followed, twenty men were blown to pieces. Many
others were frightfully burned. Some of them were stripped naked,
leaving nothing but the collars of their sliirts and their wrist-bands
3^6 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
upon them. This roused them to desperation, and they made an
attempt to board the Richard. They were met by Jones with a spike
in his hand at the head of his men. The English were forced to fall
back. At half past ten, Pearson, of the Serapis, struck his colors, but
the fight was so equal that the men upon the Richard hardly knew,
when the cry "they have struck" came, whether it was Pearson or
Jones who had yielded. There is a story that when Pearson delivered
his sword to Jones he said : ' 'I cannot, sir, but feel much mortification
at the idea of surrendering my sword to a man who has fought me with
a rope around his neck." Naturally this reproach did not in the least
discomfort Jones. He returned the sword courteously, saying, "You
have fought gallantly, sir, and I hope your King will give you a better
ship." When Jones heard afterward that Pearson had been knighted
for his intrepid action, he remarked: "He deserved it, and if I fall in
with him again I will make a lord of him." When morning dawned
the Richard was found to be sinking. The fires on her had not been
put out, and she had been sadly torn to pieces. The wounded were,
therefore, removed to the Serapis and were followed by the crew, who
watched the gallant ^zV/zar^f sink to the bottom. The King of France
presented Jones a sword, and Congress gave him a vote of thanks.
Jones' action was the last important one between the English and the
American ships in tLe war. The French fleet was relieving the
American government from the expense of maintaining a navy. For
the most part the naval actions during the remainder of the war were
between privateers, of which there were a large number.
FOR FURTHER READING;
History — Tarleton's "Histon,- of the Southern Campaign.*'
Lee's "War in the "Southern Department."
Hawk's "Revolutionarj' History- of North Carolioa."
Drajlon's "Revolution "in the CaroUnas"
Biography— McKenzie's "Paul Jones."
Fiction— Cooper's "The Pilot."
T. Mirgge's "Paul Jones."
A. Cunningham's "Paul Jones."
Dumas' "Captain Paul."
c/^^ja^Xj /u^^-^t-u)
CHAPTER LXII.
)}p jlir Tlalians.
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE SIX NATIONS — THE CIVILIZATION OF THE
INDIANS — HUMILIATION OF THE SIX NATIONS — EXPE-
DITION UP THE MISSISSIPPI FROM LOUIS-
IANA — TRIUI\[PH OF CLINTON
IN THE SOUTH.
i^[-ASHINGTON was opposed to the movement
fi against Canada. He thought it involved an
unnecessary waste of lives and money, and it
seemed to him that the great cause would not be
materially affected by victor}- in that direction,
and that the army of the nation, feeble enough at
best, had need to concentrate its attention upon
the defense of American homes. The plan of Cana-
dian conquest had been a favorite one with Congress,
and they listened to Washington's objections with
unfeigned irritation. When at length they yielded,
it was only upon condition that an effort should be
made to take the British fort at Niagara. This Wash-
ington did not altogether approve of, but he hoped, by
sending an expedition against that fort, to severely
Dunish the Six Nations, from whose atrocities the frontier settlements
still continued to suffer. Early in 1779, preparations were made for
carrying the war into Central New York and Western Pennsylvania.
The command was given to Sullivan. The directions from Wash-
ington were that he was to seem to have Niagara as his destination, but
the punishment of the Indians was to be his sole object. These com-
mands Sullivan followed closely, never approaching within seventy-
five miles of Fort Niagara. But the spring and the summer passed
before Sullivan was able to move. Congress showed its usual indif-
frence, and the men were in no way provisioned for such an expe-
39° THE STORY OK AMERICA.
dition. At one time all the officers in the New Jersey brigade sent in
their resignations. In doing so, not even Washington could accuse
them of lack of patriotism. Their families were actually suffering for
the necessities of life, for the soldiers had received no pay for months.
The officers insisted that they must return to their homes and provide
for their families. Washington made a protest to the New Jersey legis-
lature, which brought help for the time being, and the men resumed
their duties. Before Sullivan could obtain supplies for his men he had
to indulge in reproaches to Congress which were more candid than
courteous, and which made him many enemies.
It was late in August when Sullivan was ready to move. He found
the enemy in force near Elmira. This force was placed in a position
protected on two sides by a bend in the river, and strengthened in
front by a breastwork which was artfully hidden by woods and under-
brush. Into this ambush it was expected that the American forces
would march. Joseph Brant led the Indians, and the Butlers, father
and son, fiercest among the Tories, were the commanders of the loyal
militia. The Americans knew well that should they fall into the hands
of such enemies, no quarter would be shown, and in case of defeat,
victory would be turned into massacre. But this stratagem was not
successful. A rifleman who had climbed a tall tree discovered the
whole plan, and by his discovery defeated it. Sullivan had three thou-
sand men, led by able and experienced officers. He sent a portion of
his army to face the Indians and force them into fight. Another por-
tion was sent quietly through woods and swamps for an attack on the
rear and flank. The enemy was caught in its own trap, and when the
artillery broke in upon them from the rear, crying, "Remember
Wyoming!" they took to headlong flight.
Sullivan's army resumed its march in two days, and for weeks kept
on its way leaving behind it the most utter desolation. Never before
had Indians attained such a degree of civilization. They had built
themselves towns and comfortable log huts, conveniently furnished and
surrounded by excellent orchards and fields. Sullivan spared none of
these. His relentless destruction set back the civilization of the Indian
permanently. Never since, except among the Cherokees, have they
shown the industry', frugality and self-respect which they did at that
time. Thousands of fruit-bearing trees were cut down. Two hundred
bushels of Indian corn and immense quantities of potatoes, beans and
other products of their farms and gardens were destroyed, as well as
forty villages. The Indians were left with neither shelter nor food to
THE SIX NATIONS. 391
carry them through the winter, which was close at hand, and which
proved to be one of terrible severity. It was little wonder that when
any of Sullivan's men fell into their hands they were tortured in that
manner of ingenious cruelty of which only the savage is capable. Sul-
livan went as far as the most western settlement of the Six Nations,
called Seneca Castle. From here he retraced his footsteps, having lost,
in a long series of encounters, only forty men. Upon rejoining Wash-
ington's army he resigned his commission. He had done the work
appointed him and had done it well, but the reproaches which he had
heaped upon Congress for their neglect of the national army caused
them to accept his resignation without demur.
At this time, or a little before, an expedition was undertaken from
Louisiana, which, in the final settlement between England and the
United States, probably did more than anything else towards securing
the territor}' west of the Mississippi to the United States. This expe-
dition was led by Galvez, the young and ambitious Governor of Louis-
iana. A declaration of war had been made by Spain against England.
The bonds of friendship between Spain and the United States were
therefore strengthened, and Galvez joined with Pollock, the agent of
Congress, in moving against the British forts, i\Ianchac, Baton Rouge
and Natchez. They also succeeded in capturing eight English vessels on
Lake Pontchartrain, and a few months later took Mobile. The following
year Pensacola, the last post in Florida in British possession, was also
reduced by Galvez. But for this, in the final adjustment, the United
States might have been bounded by the Mississippi river on the
west.
The war had now lasted for five years. Clinton was stfU of the
opinion that the quickest way to bring it to an end was to overrun the
thinly settled southern country and compel the people to swear alle-
giance to the King. By dividing the L^nion there, it was hoped that
the rebellion could be suppressed. The national anny was in despair.
Washington mustered only about fifteen thousand men, and of these not
more than eleven or twelve thousand were in the ranks. The time was
approaching when mau)^ of the terms of enlistment would expire. For
months the pay of the soldiers had not been forthcoming. They were
often hungr>', all were poorly clothed, and some were actually naked.
Had it not been for foreign loans, the nation could not have been sus-
tained. It was this wretched army of half-starved men which Wash-
ington had to bring against Clinton's well-cared-for troops. A common
commander would have done one of two things — he would cither have
392 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
lost heart aud surrendered, or brought on a rash attack to bring an end
to these desperate straits. But Washington's military genius was equal
to the occasion. His policy was to watch warily every movement of
the enemy, to harass, annoy, delay, and to seize those rare opportuni-
ties where a blow could be struck in safety. Clinton was lacking in
that energy which sustained Washington, and while it seemed to lie in
his power to win victor}-, he preferred to remain passive. Clinton
believed that should he make both the South and North points of
attack that he could crush either one or the other, for Washington, it
was obvious, could not divide his forces. Charleston was still in
possession of the Americans, being held by General Lincoln. The
Americans were anxious to regain Savannah, and a plan was laid by
which D'Estaing was to return from the West Indies, join with Lincoln,
and move upon Savannah for the purpose of recapturing it. They did
so, and demanded surrender. The answer of Prevost, the commander
of the fort, was one of defiance. A siege was sustained there for a
month, but as Prevost showed no signs of yielding, an assault was
made on October 9th. D'Estaing and Lincoln led the attack with
their combined force of four thousand men. The French fleet in the
harbor kept up a cannonading of shot and shell. The English had a
strong defense, and from behind the abatis and earthworks, kept up a
murderous fire. The American bravery displayed was superb. Ser-
geant Jasper, who had restored the flag to its place when it was shot
down at Fort Moultrie, was killed here in defense of his colors.
Between eleven and twelve hundred on the American side were killed,
among them Count Pulaski. The British lost less than fifty. This
ended the siege of Savannah. The French fleet set sail for the West
Indies and Lincoln retreated to Charleston. Clinton now resolved upon
energetic measures for the reduction of the whole South.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Ramsay's "American Revolution in South Carolina."
Stone's'"Border Wars of the American Revolution."
"Siege of Savannah." Anon.
CHAPTER LXIII.
Worn San /^a %vm\ Tfoui?
PLANS OF THE TWO ARMIES — SIEGE OF CHARLESTON BY THE ENGLISH
— CAPTURE OF THE AMERICAN ARMY AT THE SOUTH —
BURNING OF CONNECTICUT FARMS — ARRI-
)VAL OF ROCHAMBEAU — TREASON
''oF GENERAL ARNOLD.
HE winter of 1779-80 was one of great severity.
The sufferings of the American army at Morris-
town were almost unendurable, and even the
English, in their comfortable quarters at New
York, were not a little annoyed by the extreme
cold. The English constantly expected an attack,
-^ for the ice was so solid that the town could be easily
approached. Lord Stirling led his Continentals across
the Kill on the ice, at Elizabethtown, to Staten Island,
marched two thousand men north to the Narrows, and
burned a fortified house and several vessels. Another
party crossed the North river in sleighs, and marching
to Newark, burned the Academy and sacked some of the
houses. Expeditions of this sort ser\-ed to keep the Eng-
lish in expectation of a general attack. Clinton's ambi-
tious designs for subduing the southern colonies were not a little delayed,
and it was the middle of March before he was ready to take the final
steps for investing Charleston. ^leanwhile, the American envo}s
begged for more extensive help from France. Franklin and his asso-
ciates, who represented America in France, were doing work of as
much importance to the independence of this countr}^, as were Washing-
ton and his devoted generals. Lafayette visited France to join his
solicitations to those of Franklin. Together they persuaded the court
to send nearly six thousand men, under Count De Rochanibeau. The
expedition was a splendid one. It sailed in April, at the time that
Clinton appeared before Charleston and demanded surrender. General
Lincoln, who was in command of the American defense at that
394
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
point, sent word that lie should hold it to the last extrt:nity. This lie
did. The English fleet crossed the harbor, and closed slowly around
the city. The American troops, defending the cit}- at the rear, were
met b)- the enemy and defeated, so that all of Lincoln's available roads
for retreat were cut off. On the eighth of May the town surrendered,
and the Continental troops and seamen were held as prisoners of war.
The entire southern army of America was thus in the hands of the
British. Savannah and Charleston, the foremost seaports, were
captured and held by the enemy. The British armj- in Georgia and
South Carolina numbered nearly fourteen thousand men. Clinton's
plan of subduing the southern colonies seemed to him, and to even'one
else, only a question of time. In spite of all lessons, however, the
English continued to under-estimate the inherent patriotism of the
American heart. Clinton issued a proclamation requiring all persons
to take an active part in settling and securing his majesty's govern-
ment, and declaring that all who refused to do so should be considered
enemies and rebels. In all of the southern States there were many
who were willing to remain neutral, but comparatively few — aside, of
course, from the open Royalists — who were willing to take up arms
against their own countr}-men. In the popular protest which was
made to this proclamation, a Major James was sent to ask the com-
mander of a British post at Georgetown for an explanation of the proc-
lamation. The commander replied: "His majest}- offers you a free
pardon, of which you are undeserving, for you all ought to b-^ hanged;
but it is only on condition that you take up arms in his cause." Major
James, the American, replied that those whom he represented would
not submit to such conditions. "Represent! You damned rebel, if you
dare speak in such language I will have you hung at the yard arm."
James had no weapons, but for answer he knocked the British officer
down with a chair and left him senseless. James and his four brothers
were, after this, among the leaders of the partisans of the State.
When the news of the surrender of Charleston reached Morris-
town, it had a verj' dispiriting effect upon the troops. The English
counted upon this, and on the sixth of June, six thousand troops were
marched from Staten Island to the village of Connecticut Farms. The
militia of the country fought ever)- step of the way with them, falling
back slowly and coolly before the superior numbers of the English, but
they were unable to protect the village, and Connecticut Fanns was
burned. The wife of the Rev. James Caldwell was killed by a shot
through the window of the room where she was sitting with her
"whom can wk trust now?" 395
children. A few da\s later, when the English had undertaken another
movement, the husband of this murdered woman was among the
leading spirits of the defense. The engagement took place at Spring-
field, and in spite of the utmost efforts of the Americans the place was
taken and burnt. When the men were in want of wadding for their
guns, Caldwell distributed hymn books among them with the exhorta-
tion, "Put Watts into'em, boys!" After the burning of Springfield, the
enemy returned to Staten Island.
By the nth of July, De Rochambeau arrived in Newport with his
troops, now swelled by the addition of a fleet to twelve thousand men.
Washington wished to move at once upon New York, but many of the
French were ill from the effects of a troublous voj^age, and their
commander would not consent to action. So, to the great disappoint-
ment of the people and of the army, the autumn passed in inactivity.
As Washington was returning to his army from an interview with
Rochambeau, at Hartford, in Connecticut, his iinexpected arrival at
West Point discovered the gigantic treason of General Arnold. Arnold
was a man of proud and haughty spirit. As a soldier, his bravery and
dash were never questioned. As a gentleman and a patriot, there was
always some doubt of him in the minds of those who knew him best.
His naturally arrogant nature had been irritated by the neglectful
conduct of Congress in not paying that tribute to his ability which he
felt that it deserved. This is urged as his only motive for his treason-
able actions. For several months he corresponded with the British
Commander-in-chief, giving him all the military' and civil news which
could be of any use to the enemy. While Arnold was in command at
Philadelphia, various charges had been brought against him by the
State, for which he was taken before a court-martial. After a public
rebuke from the Commander-in-chief, he was restored to the service and
tmder pretense of being disabled from duty in the field by an old
wound, was given the command of West Point. He took this for
the sole purpose of betraying his trust and selling himself at a high
price to the English. No post in the country was of greater import-
ance to either side than that of West Point. It commanded the
navigation of the Hudson, and to a degree the communication with
Canada, as well as that between the Northern and Southern States. The
garrison by which it was held numbered more than three thousand men.
These were defended by one hundred guns. With the betrayal of the
place, large stores of provisions, ammunition, and the greater part of
the men would inevitably fall into the hands of the English, and a blow
39^* THE STORY OF AMERICA.
^%■ould be struck at the Anierican cause which would render success
more than doubtful.
In order to make the final arrangements, it was necessary that a
personal interview should be held between Arnold and some represent-
atives of General Clinton. Major Andre was the officer chosen by
Clinton, as being a man of discretion and bravery. Arnold dared not
trust any one on his own side with a knowledge of his villainy, and
determined to converse with Clinton's emissary himself. He deter-
mined, too, to take as little personal risk as possible, and after making
several ineflfectual efforts to induce Andre to come within the American
lines, he at last succeeded. It became necessary that if the plan ^\■as to
be carried out, it should be done immediately, and under stress of this
pressure Andre consented to leave the British ship, on which he had
put himself that he might be nearer to Arnold, and to come on shore
within the American lines. Hiding his uniform under a long overcoat,
he took a boat and w-as rowed to the foot of Long Clove Mountain,
about six miles below Stony Point, where he met Arnold. There,
hidden in the bushes, the conspirators talked through the night. At
dawn, Andre was taken to Arnold's headquarters and concealed there.
To escape with his news was a difficult matter. The vessel in which
he had been brought had moved farther down the river, and he was
obliged to risk a ride through the coimtn,- To provide against
suspicion, Arnold gave his confederate a pass made out to John
Anderson, which allowed him to pass White Plains and beyond.
Mounted upon a good horse, Andre began his perilous ride through the
country. He was within half a mile of Tarry-town, when he was
stopped by three men who wished to know his business and destination.
How so brilliant a man could have blundered in the carrying out of a
scheme of such paramount importance, it is not easy to see, but in the
alann of the moment he confided that he was a British officer. The
men took him to the nearest military- post. Here the pass of John
Anderson seemed to be a sufficient explanation of his presence. But
his gait betrayed the fact that he was a soldier, and the matter was
investigated.
No one was willing to believe that one of the most trusted generals
of the American army was a stupendous traitor, and it was some time
before that idea even occurred to any one. The commander of the post
to which Andre was taken wrote a letter to Arnold concerning the
mysterious person, John Anderson, and asking an explanation. When
Arnold received it he was at breakfast with two of Washington's aids.
ESCAPE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.
"WHOM CAN WE TRUST NOW?'
399
He saw that his treason would soon be known in all its enormity. He
quietly went into another room, told his wife, in a few hurried words,
of his peril, mounted a horse at his door, and riding to the river side,
took a boat. Then, tying his handkerchief to his cane as a flag of
truce, he sailed to the British ship, the Vulture. It was afternoon
before his escape was noticed.
Andre was hung. He had risked his life to oblige his commander,
and under the promise of the reward of a large sum of money. He
failed in his scheme, and received the punishment due a spy. It has
been the fashion, both in England and America, to sympathize with
him greatly because he was young, high born, scholarly and brave, but
he did not act the part of a hero in the cause in which he died. No
one who has read history can help contrasting his dramatic self-con-
sciousness — for he wrote and talked much about his sense of honor and
his bravery — with the modesty and devotion of Nathan Hale, the sp)-
who died regretting that he had not another life to give his countr\-.
Washington offered to exchange Andre for Arnold, but Clinton was a
man of honor, and would not break his word to a traitor, even to save
a man who was the victim of his plans and his friend.
The British government showed its gratitude to Arnold by giving
him a commission as Brigadier-General in the army, and 6,315 pounds
sterling in money. His wife and all of his children were pensioned,
and throughout their lives received half pay as retired officers. But
Arnold received no more respect among the English than among his
own countr>'men. Later, in the southern campaign, Cornwallis
positively refused to have him in his command. That .spirit of brilliant
daring which had distinguished him in the American army never again
showed itself In the victories which he won for the English he
showed more of the spirit of a murderer and a marauder than of a
general.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— "Trial of Benedict Arnold."
"Trial of Major John Andre."
"New York City in the American Revolution."
Tuckerman's "America and her Commentators." {French auxiliaries.)
Biography — J. N. Arnold's "Life of Arnold."
Fiction— E. P. Roe's "Near to Nature's Heart."
Poetry — Harte's "Caldwell, of Springfield."
Freneau's "Arnold's Departure."
Bradley's "Andre's Last Moments."
Drama— Calvert's "Arnold and Andre."
Lord's "Andre."
Dunlap's "Andre."
CHAPTER LXIV.
'^ l|atj0 ^m{ fctt n §mtvnV
CORNWALLIS AND GATES AT THE SOUTH — THE COMMAND OF THB
SOUTHERN FORCE GIVEN TO GENERAL GREEN — THE
BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN — BATTLE
OF GUILFORD COURT HOUSE.
FORTUNATELY no serious harm came of
Arnold's treachery, but to the people, and to
the Commander-in-chief in particular, it was
ver}' discouraging. "Whom can we trust
now?" asked Washington, sadly. It might
well be a moment of gloom, for in the South,
affairs for the time seemed hopeless. After Charleston
was taken and the army moved . through the State,
Colonel Abraham Beaufort was sent, with about four
hundred Virginian troops, to harass the enemy. He
was met by thirty cavalry and mounted infantry under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Bamastre Tarleton.
Tarleton fell upon the Americans without giving them
time for defense, and when they threw down their arms
and begged for mercy, he cruelly killed them. It was not a battle, but
a massacre, and won for Tarleton that reputation for cruelty by which
he is remembered to this day. Had not the country been filled with
partisans likely to rise at any time, this might have seemed the end of
the war in the South, but since there was not a citizen who was not
likely at any time to become a soldier, it was impossible to tell when
the country was conquered. The loyal partisans of the CaroHnas and
of Georgia were obliged to content themselves at this time by harassing
the enemy in every way possible. Sumpter, Davie, Marion and many
others were the leaders of desperate bands of men who hid themselves
in the swamps and thick woods of the southern country, and sallied
"I HAVE SEXT YOU A GENERAL." 40I
forth at unexpected moments to annoy and injure the enemy. The
camp of Marion was hid in the swamps of the Pedee, and so securely
concealed, that even his men had sometimes to search for hours before
they found it.
Cornwallis, a soldier on the old plan, used to military' precision and
well-regulated warfare, was not a little chagrined and vexed by hostil-
ities of this sort. He was never certain where he would find the enemy,
and when he did find them he could not rely upon their keeping in
battle array. They were verj- much more apt to disperse, baffle pursuit,
and only appear again when they could strike an unexpected blow.
When he learned that Baron De Kalb was marching southward
with Maryland and Delaware troops, Cornwallis was prompt in his
measures to intercept them. Gates had now been appointed by
Congress to conduct the campaign, and he hastened forward wdth
cavalr\' from Virginia and North Carolina, for the purpose of forming a
junction with De Kalb. The American anny numbered three thousand
men, most of whom were raw recruits, without discipline, sufficient
arms, or comfortable clothing. The British troops were veterans, but
were fewer in number than the Americans. Gates wished to wage
active warfare, although he must have known that his men could not
be relied upon to stand steady fire. Gates sent Marion with his men
into South Carolina on a reconnoisance, ordering him to destroy all
the bridges and boats on his way, that the British might have no means
of escaping to Charleston should they be defeated. - But Cornwallis
had no intention of being defeated. He was as anxious as Gates for
action, and with far better cause. On the 15th of August, 1780, both
armies moved, each with the intention of surprising the other. At the
first fire the Americans broke ranks and fled, but a portion of the militia
had the courage to check the advance, and the fight continued till night
forced them to desist. When morning dawned Cornwallis was able to
take in all the weakness of his opponents. He posted his best men
opposite the untried Virginia militia, who, as he expected, fired a single
shot, threw away their arms and fled. The panic spread along the
lines, and a great part of the army fled without a blow. The Conti-
nentals, under De Kalb and Gist, fought with coolness and decision,
pushing the enemy before them. But they were finally so hard pressed
that one-third of them were killed or wounded and the rest were forced
to seek safety in the woods. De Kalb, the distinguished French
commander, fell under eleven wounds. His clothing was stripped from
him by the soldiers, and it was only when he was discovered by Com-
402 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
wallis that any attention was paid to his needs. Gates' army was
practically annihilated, and the militia, who never felt under obligations
to remain in organized force, returned to their homes. Within a few
days Gates gathered together such of his men as could be found, with
the intention of forming a new army, making his headquarters one
hundred and eighty miles from his dreadful defeat.
Cornwallis determined to subdue South Carolina before Congress
could send another army. With Tarleton and Ferguson, two unrelenting
persecutors of patriots, to help him, he started out on a journey through
the State. In many of the smaller engagements all through the
southern country Cornwallis had had reason to believ-e that success
would soon crown the English arms. He therefore followed the
Americans with enthusiasm and on the 8th of October fought the battle
of King's Mountain, near the boundary line of North and South
Carolina. Here Cornwallis suffered, losing about one-fourth of his
fighting force. He sent to New York for reinforcements and spent the
time mainly in attempts to meet with Sumpter, or Marion, or some of
the other partisan leaders who waged constant hostilities. In the
autumn. Green arrived to take command of the remnant of the army
which Gates had so nearly destroyed. He came with Washington's ■
warm recommendation, but it was feared that he could do little, so
reduced was the southern army and so illy provided with necessities.
Green did not believe that the army could sustain an active campaign,
and began with a policy exactly opposite to that of Gates. His plan
was to avoid a general battle as long as possible, to delay the enemy at
every step of his progress — to tire him out, as it were. His army
moved into South Carolina in two bodies, the larger part of which was
commanded by the General himself and the other by Morgan. Green
moved steadily towards Cornwallis, and only halted when he was about
seventy miles east of him. Tarleton was sent in pursuit of Morgan,
who, it was feared, threatened the whole line of posts in the rear of the
British army. So great was his anxiety that Cornwallis himself, instead
of moving upon Green, tried to intercept Morgan. This American
general was therefore forced into an engagement. He chose a field of
open woods in which his cavalry could easily maneuvre, and behind
which there were two hills which he could use in case of need as a
protection. He posted four hundred men on the first eminence and in
front placed militia and skirmishers. On the second eminence was
Colonel Washington's famous cavalry and a corps of mounted infantry.
Behind them were the horses and militia, ready either for pursuit or
"l HAVE SENT YOU A GENERAL." 403
flight. Eight hundred men were on the field and all were so well
disposed, that when Tarleton looked at them he thought that the enemy
was at least two thousand strong. The English came on with a rush —
one of those charges which have made them famous in battle fields all
over the world. They were met with a deadly fire, and when the first
line was broken through, the second stood valiantly for a time and then
gave way. Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, charged upon the
wing, broke straight through a line and charged again from the rear.
He found himself then at the rear of the other wing of the forces, and
fell upon them there, while Morgan conducted the conflict in front.
The English prayed for quarter, and it was with much diificult>' that
the American commanders kept their soldiers from slaughtering
Tarleton's men as Tarleton's men had slaughtered so many of their
comrades. Tarleton lost six hundred prisoners out of his thousand
men; one hundred were dead upon the field; his two guns, his colors,
eight hundred muskets, one hundred dragoon horses and a large part of
his baggage train were in the hands of the enemy. Upon the i\merican
side only twelve were killed and sixty wounded. But still Green knew
that discretion compelled him to act upon the defensive rather than the
oflFensive. His orders to Morgan were, therefore, to retreat and join the
main army, which he did. Cornwallis pushed on through the State,
and Green slowly retreated before him in good order.
The American army grew, by reinforcements from the Virginia and
Carolina militia, to forty-three hundred men, but as nearly three-fourths
of this force were raw recruits, the strength of the army was not
materially added to. March 15, 1781 — the winter having been passed
by Green in eluding Cornwallis — Green made a stand near Guilford
Court House and awaited the enemy. The battle field was well chosen,
the men being under good commanders. They were well placed, and
there was no essential point of weakness except the inexperience of the
greater part of the men. The British, as usual, advanced steadily and
quickly, and as usual the American militia fired one shot and then fled.
But a few of them held their ground until the British charged with
their bayonets, then they also fled, and the conflict was left to Green's
regulars who fought desperately. Colonel Washington, with his
splendid cavalr}', was there, in which one expert swordsman cut down
thirteen of the enemy, There were many hand-to-hand encounters.
The fight was a desperate one, but Cornwallis' force was so held that in
the end the Americans retreated, though they did so slowly and in good
order. Cornwallis lost nearly one-fourth of his army. The victory
404 fHE STORY OF AMERICA.
was with the British, but they paid far too great a price for it. Green's
anny was too exhausted to venture an attack the next day and Com-
wallis, who said that he was tired of going about the Carolinas in
search of adventure, wrote a letter to his Commander-in-chief, begging
that he might be allowed to quit the Carolinas and put his army in
march for Wilmington. Green started after him in hurried pursuit,
but he was not able to overtake him.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Draper's "King^s Mountain and'its Heroes."
Fiction — W. G. Simms' "The Partisan."
C. H. Wiley's "Alamance."
Poetry — "Battle of King's Mountain."
William C. Bryant's "Song of Marion's Men."
CHAPTER LXV.
ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION — BATTLE BETWEEN CORNWALLIS AND LAFAY-
ETTE — THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN AND SURRENDER OF
CORNWALLIS — ^THE SACKING OF NEW
LONDON BY ARNOLD.
^HAT," Arnold once asked of a prisoner, "wouU
be done with me if I should be captured by the
Americans?" The prisoner replied: "If my
countr>-men should catch you, I believe they
would cut off that lame leg, which was
wounded in the cause of freedom and virtue,
and bur}' it with the honors of war, and after-
ward hang the remainder of your body on gibbets."
The answer was, probably, a reflex of Arnold's own
fears. He could no longer be relied upon for daring
attack, and was sent b}' Clinton upon marauding expedi-
tions. It was he who was selected to lead the expedition
to Virginia, the sole purpose of which was harassing
and ravaging any part of the country where he could
do so with safety to his men. Arnold had with him a force of nine
hundred. He landed at Westover, on the James river, and marched to
Richmond. Here he divided his troops, remaining, himself, in Rich-
mond, to destroy much private propert}-, militar}- stores and public
archives. The detachment which he had sent on an excursion of
destruction was met by Baron Steuben, but not checked by him.
Arnold went as far as Portsmouth, wreaking his anger and bitterness
upon the country he passed through. Congress and the Commander-in-
chief were seriously distressed. Their impulse was to send immediate
help, but this they were in a bad condition to do. Thirteen hundred
Pennsylvania men had mutinied. There had been a misunderstanding
about the term of their enlistment, and the neglect which they had
sustained at the hands of Congress irritated them beyond endurance.
4o6 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
They were not lacking, as their many hard-fought fields testified, in
patriotism, but their physical suffering, added to a sense of having been
imposed upon, was more than they covxld patiently stand. That they
were patriotic, is shown by the fact that the emissaries sent by Sir
Henry Clinton, ofiFering them aid and protection if they would join the
English standard, were delivered to the proper authorities to be
executed as spies. With a great effort the States raised a large sum of
money to quiet the complaints of the soldiers. In Februar\', Washing-
ton was able to make preparations for a campaign in Virginia, which
should oppose Arnold's progress. He sent a detachment of twelve
hundred New England troops, under Lafaj-ette. These he ordered to
the head of Chesapeake bay, wdiere they weic to embark for the lower
part of Virginia. The British fleet had been recently disabled by a
storm, and W^ashington was anxious that his French allies should seize
this time to send the whole French squadron to the bay, in aid of the
movement imder Lafayette. These started, but in an engagement with
the English were defeated, and sent back to Newport. When Clinton
heard this, he sent General Phelps, with an additional force of two
thousand men, to take command in Virginia. These followed the same
plan which Arnold's troops had done. They did not fight, but they
ravaged. Steuben was sent to pursue him, and the two generals chased
each other about the country, without either much profit or harm. The
great point with the English was to deprive Green of men and supplies.
Cornwallis was still at the south, and hoped to conquer the colonies
by moving northward from Georgia. When his force moved up to join
that of Arnold and Phelps, Eafayette was largely outnumbered, and he
fell back to make a junction with Antony Wayne, who was approaching
with eight hundred Pennsylvania men. Cornwallis had little respect
for Lafayette. So boyish was the young French general that the
Englishman could not believe that he imderstood or could apply
military tactics. But the first engagement between the forces was a
drawn battle. Lafayette's men in the retreat were maneuvred with
cleverness. The vexation of Cornwallis was added to by the fact that
Clinton begged him to send three thousand of his men northward to
jis relief. Cornwallis was ordered to put himself behind the defences
at Portsmouth, and, as soon as he started for this place, Lafayette
followed after in close pursuit. Lafayette received some severe checks,
on this march.
Green, meantime, was marching southward. One of the English
forts was taken. This success was due to the erection of a wooden
THE UNITED "STATES OF AMERICA. 407
tower of logs, so tall that it could overlook the stockade. Here the
sharpshooters could pick off the garrison without danger to themselves.
In course of time other forts were taken by the same means. Thus the
hostilities at the South progressed. They were made up mostly of
skirmishes, to which the name of battles could not be appropriately
applied, but the fighting was fierce, and the consequences marked.
The personal partisanship of the colonies grew, rather than decreased,
and all the while a net was slowly closing about the English. Green
was frequently defeated and compelled to retreat, but as the enemy fol-
lowed up his forces, they became only the more enmeshed in the web
which he was weaving about them. Washington himself crossed the
Delaware and reinforced Lafayette. Following him came Rochambeau
with his force. Clinton was mewed in New York, and, as his call for
reinforcements showed, was continually expecting an attack from Wash-
ington. In fact, Washington had been threatening that city all summer,
and his rapid movements toward the South were unknown by Clinton
for some time. De Grasse, the admiral of the French fleet, had been
requested by Washington to come from the West Indies and join him in
the Chesapeake. As Washington neared the lower part of that bay and
learned that the summons had been promptly obeyed, he rode back to
tell Rochambeau himself, waving his hat and calling to the French
commander like a child. This, he felt sure, was the herald of victory
and peace. Fifteen hundred men were carried down the Chesapeake
Bay in boats to the mouth of the James river. The rest went to
Annapolis by aid of the French frigates and then marched overland.
Washington had time to stop for a day at his beautiful home. Mount
Vernon, and to entertain Rochambeau and all the other officers for a
few hurried hours. On the arrival of this large force Cornwallis with-
drew behind the fortifications which he had built to defend Yorktown.
The American and French generals promptly laid works by which the
town might be approached — for the first time conducting a regular
siege by the system of scientific and technical warfare. On September
30th the town was surrounded. Cornwallis did all that he could to
annoy the men at work. This was the utmost that he could do. On
October 9th fire was opened by the besiegers, and one by one the
batteries and cannons of Cornwallis were rendered useless. He wrote a
letter begging Clinton to come to his help lest army and navy should
be lost. He made one attempt in the night to cross the York river and
escape, but a violent storm put an end to these plans, and on October
19th this brave general surrendered tipon honorable terms. His most
408 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
important redoubts had been carried by assault. He had been crowded
within the innermost part of his works. All avenues of escape were
shut off. There were many sick and wounded among his men, and it
would have been selfish and grossly inhuman to have required more
fighting from them. On the ver}- day that he surrendered, Clinton
sailed from New York to the relief of Yorktown, but learning that
every British soldier in Virginia was a prisoner of war, put back again.
With it he sent the history of a dishonorable triumph which he
hoped would coiinterbalance it somewhat. This triumph was that of
an expedition against New London, commanded by Arnold. Arnold
landed his force at the mouth of the Thames river on September 6th.
He divided his force in two columns and marched one column up each
side of the river. His own home had been in New London, and he
made use of his local knowledge of the town to direct the troops which
had been sent to destroy it. Cornwallis, it is said, refused to have him
iinder his command in Virginia, and it was this that caused his diversion
northward. The expedition against New London had been proposed
by the Commander-in-chief to divert Washington's attention from the
South. It was hoped that he might return to the protection of New
England. New London was surrounded and burnt. The militia of
the neighborhood gathered in Fort Griswold, but they had not nearly
force enough to man the parapets. Arnold's men were crazy with
liquor. These poured over the eartnworks and demanded surrender.
Led)ard, the American commander, ordered his men to throw down
their arms and surrender to Major Bronfield, who was at the head of
the Englishmen. That officer stabbed Ledyard with his own sword as
he surrendered it and a general massacre followed in which the whole
garrison were killed or wounded. Of these, only three had been killed
before Ledyard had given the order to surrender. The dead were
stripped of their clothing, and when preparations were made for blowing
up the magazine of the fort, the wounded were piled upon a wagon and
which, being sent rolling down the steep hill, against a tree, many of
the wounded were killed by the shock. Groton, on the other side
of the river, was also burnt, though Arnold, it is said, had the humanity
to direct that a few of the houses, belonging to old friends, should be
spared.
FOR FURTHER READING :
FiCTlo.N" — J. P. Kennedy's ■■Horseshoe Robinson."
J. P. Simms' "The Scout."
■Catherine Walton."
*' ■■ ■"Woodcraft."
■■Foragers."
■Eiitaw."
CHAPTER LXVI.
CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION^
7OHN ADAMS MADE MINISTER TO ENGLAND — THE DISBAND-
ING OF THE ARMY — THE CALL FOR DELEGATES TO
CONSTRUCT A CONSTITUTION.
HE surrender of Coniwallis did not end the troubles
of this country-. The people were neither at war
nor at peace. They were very poor, terribly in
debt, with a standing army which the}- dare not
dissolve still on their hands, and no government
except that of the Continental Congress. Com-
merce could not be conducted upon the seas without
danger. The fisheries were not yet open to Americans,
and the English still held some of the military' posts.
To remedy these troubles and bring about a condition
of greater order and prosperity, was the ambition of
every man in America; but from the outset, they were
divided as to the means. One party desired that the
country might have a general government. The other
preferred that each State should have a government of its
own, but that for safety, all should be united in a confederation. Thus,
for several years after the war, the country was in a state of half peace,
which was most unhappy in its eflfects. Meanwhile the political
disagreements of the people strengthened and multiplied. The weak-
ness of the confederation was becoming apparent. Congress had only
an advisory power. It could compel no measures and had always to
wait for the sanction of the people in ever^-thing. It was remarked at
the time that it could not even command the money to buy the quills
with which the pens for writing the laws were made. It had been
necessary for years to run the goveniment and the army upon loans.
Franklin, John Adams and the other commissoners in Europe had
11
41 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
talked constantly abont the great value of American lands, and thus
money was easily secvired from European financiers. But the money
borrowed was insufficient to meet the demands of the people, and paper
currency had been issued. In course of time two hundred million
dollars of Continental currency was sent afloat. Congress seemed to
think for a time that to make money it needed only to have a printing
press which could send out crisp sheets of paper. But this currency
fell steadily in value until, in 1779, one hundred paper dollars were
worth only two and a half dollars in silver. The last issue of the
Continental currency still exist in the large sheets in which they were
printed. The man who received the sheet from the public treasury did
not think it worth while to cut it into separate bills. The country now
needed specie, and this began to be furnished in small quantities by the
payment of gold, which the French commissaries paid for the supplies
they required for their men. Trade was slowly opening up with
Europe again, and ever}- shipment brought a little valuable coin to the
impoverished commerce of America. The right to the fisheries of
eastern waters and the right to dry fish on the uninhabited lands of the
coast were secured to the Americans by John Adams, who obtained it
with great persistence.
Scarcely had the war tenninated, when each country' charged the
other with the violation of the treaty of peace. The disputes were so
hot that it was decided to hasten the appointment of a minister
plenipotentiary to the court of Great Britain. In February, 1785,
John Adams was made Ambassador to represent the United States at
that court. Meantime, civil war on the northern American frontier had
more than once seemed certain. Vermont was determined to preserve
her independence, in spite of the claims of New York on the one side,
and New Hampshire on the other. She had asked again and again for
admission to the Union, but this had been denied her, partly because of
the jealousy of her neighbors, and partly for the reason that the
Southern States were unwilling to have a Northern State entered with-
out a Southern one to counterbalance it. Vermont had no political
existence as a distinct colony of the Crown, at the time that the thirteen
other States were created into a confederacy by the agreement of the
representatives, and it was now claimed that this was one reason why
her prayer should not be granted. The "Green Mountain Boys" felt
that if the Union owed nothing to them, they, in turn, owed nothing
to the Union. They therefore threatened to offer Great Britain terms
of peace and allegiance. Only then did Congress awaken to the danger
THE PLOWSHARE VERSUS THE SWORD. 411
which threatened. In the spring of 1781 a force of ten thousand men
from Canada threatened an invasion across the northern border.
Washington dared not spare a man from his arm}-. The panic every-
where was intense. Letters were written by certain English generals
to Ethan Allen, begging the people of Vermont to return to their
allegiance to the King, and promising, in the case of her revolt against
the United States, she would be made an independent British province.
Perhaps the people of Vermont never had any intention of accepting
this invitation, and that they only endeavored to mislead their country-
men for the purpose of making them do as they wished, but it is certain
that for a time they were considered as very dangerous and treacherous
neighbors by the inhabitants of the States. Concessions were made by
New York and New Hampshire, and Vermont was given the boundarj-
lines which she herself had drawn, so that when peace was declared
Vermont was not a British province. She was not, however, admitted
as a State to the Union till 1791.
In these years of turmoil and perplexity one of the things which
distressed Washington, and the people in general, was that the English
continued to hold New York, Charleston and Savannah. While the
enemy was still in the countn,' it was impossible for Washington to dis-
band his army, and the men, without pay and with little to eat or wea-r,
became exceedingly discontented and mischievous. They now knew by
experience what they could do by force of arms, and it is little wonder
that they plotted among themselves to bring about a -state of affairs
which would give them increased importance and comfort. Letters
were circulated in camp, setting forth the injustice with which the army
had been treated, and suggesting that it refuse to disband unless its
rightful dues were paid, and that Congress be told that this army
continue to exist and would keep its anns. A meeting was called on
the nth of March. The writers and instigators of the letters had an idea
that the army would take the position for America which Cromwell's
army took for England. The leader of this army might, as Cromwell
had done, place himself at the head of the nation. When news of
these letters reached Washington, he asked the representatives of the
army to meet him for the purpose of talking the matter over. In the
meantime, a second letter was written which was even more outspoken
than the first. When Washington met the representatives the)' had
profited by reflection, and were prepared to receive in a humble spirit
the stern rebuke which Washington gave them. After setting forth
the true nature of these letters, exposing all the sophistr}' in them, and
412 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
calling their treasonable intentions by their right names, he begged the
army to have confidence in Congress, and promised to do all that he
could himself in their behalf. Resolutions were passed which declared
that the army viewed with abhorrence and rejected with disdain the
suggestions of the letters. Washington's common sense alone saved
the country', if not from overthrow, at least from terrible disaster. The
many weary months that followed before the soldiers were allowed to
return to their homes, were endured with comparative patience. At
one time a company of eighty recruits mutinied and took possession of
the State House in Philadelphia, but in a short time this insurrection
died from its own feebleness.
On November 25, 1782, New York was evacuated by the British,
and Washington marched in with his army to take possession. A little
less than a month afterwards the Commander-in-chief met his compan-
ions in arms at Fraunces Tavern to take leave of them. It would be
difficult to imagine a scene of more dignified pathos. For years.
Washington and many of hisofiicers had been in the closest association.
They were more than comrades — they were friends — and the terrible
trials which they had undergone together, the great risks which they
had run, the difficulties which they had overcome, bound them as no
prosperous acquaintanceship could have done. Washington spoke a
few broken words of farewell, and the officers dispersed. On the 29th
of December he returned his commission to Congress, which was then
at Annapolis in public session.
On September 3, 1783, the final treaty of peace was signed at Paris,
by which Great Britain acknowledged the United States to be free,
sovereign, and independent. At this time Philadelphia was the chief
city in the country, having a population of forty thousand. This was
three times greater than that of New York and twice as large as that of
Boston. New York was still suffering from the effects of the devasta-
tion caused by the war. In New England the people were busy with
ship-building and coast trading. Throughout the Middle States
manufacturing was rapidly increasing. The Southern States were
made up of plantations worked by slaves.
Between England and America the balance of trade against this
country' was greatly increasing. Within two years after peace was
declared the value of goods imported from England into the United
States was nearly thirty million dollars, while the exports for the same
time were only between eight and nine millions. What little good
money there was in the United States was thus drawn off" to England, for
THE PLOWSHARE VERSUS THE SWORD. 413
the young manufactures of America could not, it goes without saying,
compete with those of England. In 1783 the debt of the United States
was forty-two millions, and that of the separate States, twenty millions.
There was no mint, and both Congress and States continued to issue
currency. It was in vain that Congress implored the States to provide
means for paying their debts. England, with difficulty, collected the
debts due her by the Americans, and it looked as if the States, for com-
mercial reasons alone, might be forced to yield their independence and
return to a country which would at least provide them with a government
and an exchecquer. The Congress of Delegates, which had been formed
with such haste at the breaking out of the Revolution, and which was
composed of men from all parts of the country, was not equal to meeting
the present emergencies. Washington himself, who never made a
written statement without deep thought and reflection, admitted that
Congress was not able to execute the functions of government. John
Adams wrote from England that so contemptible was America in the eyes
of Great Britain that she was not considered at all in state matters.
Thomas Jefferson was Minister to France, and was obliged to exercise
all of his ingenuity to keep America and American commerce
rightly before the French court. Since the disregard of government
was so great in the old States, it is not surprising that on the frontier
this was carried to still greater lengths. In the Wyoming country of
Pennsylvania there had long been a dispute concerning boundaries and
rights which reached a crisis in 1786. The settlers took up arms and
declared their intention to form a new State, but they were suppressed
as rioters. In the western part of North Carolina a number of counties
set up an independent government, calling themselves the State of
Franklin, but this soon came to an end through internal troubles. In
several different places efforts were made by armed mobs to prevent the
sitting of courts and legislatures, but like most mobs, these were
dissolved with comparatively little trouble. About this time Alexander
Hamilton proposed that a national convention meet at Philadelphia in
May, 1787, for the purpose of providing a new constitution which
should give strength to the Federal Government. Addresses were sent
to the legislatures asking them to send delegates to this convention. In
Congress, the party which objected to the consolidation of power was the
stronger, and this only consented to the convention on the conditioa
that it confine itself to revising the articles of confederation.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction— J. E. Cooke's "The Youth of Jefferson." "Rose Hill,"
J. P. Kennedy's "Swallow Barn."
CHAI'TKR L.W'II.
"lirsl in l[ar. ^irsl in finn."
THE FORMIXG OF THE CONSTITUTION — WASHINGTON ELECTED
PRESIDENT.
HK convention met at the time appointed,
with George Washington in the chair. The
legislative chambei was the same in which the
Declaration of Independence had been signed,
and many of the signers were then present.
The most influential men of the States were
there, many of them differing bitterly in opinion, but
all agreeing in their desire to give to the United States
a constitution which should add to its dignity and
power. The greatest cause of dispute was about the
preponderance of power. The question was: Should
power rest in the people, or in Congress? In other
words, should the general government coerce the States,
or should the States be sovereign to themselves? The
promise that the convention was only to revise the
articles of confederation as Congress desired was, of course, brought to
notice. Various plans were laid before the House by Alexander
Hamilton, and other leaders of public thought. All of these were
considered in turn. Randolph, of Virginia, and Patterson, of New
Jersey, had plans of government which were long debated upon. But
so angry and hopeless did the debates become, that even the calmest
and most judicious despaired of reaching any results. Benjamin
Franklin, an old man now, was present, and in the midst of these diffi-
culties and misunderstandings he arose and made this speech: "It is to
be feared that the members of this convention are not in temper, at
this moment, to approach the subject on which we differ, in a candid
spirit. I would, therefore, propose, Mr. President, that, without pro-
ceeding further in this business at this time, the convention shall
"first IX WAR, FIRST IX PEACE.'' 417
adjourn for three days, in order to let the present ferment pass off,
and to afford time for a more full, free and dispassionate investi-
s:ation of the subject; and I would earnestly recommend to the members
of this convention that they spend the time of this recess, not in asso-
ciating with their own party and devising new arguments to fortify
themselves in their old opinions, but that they mix with members of
opposite sentiments, lend a patient ear to their reasonings, and candidly
allow them all the weight to which they may be entitled; and when
we assemble again I hope it will be with a determination to form a
Constitution, if not such a one as we can individually and in all respects
approve, yet the best which, under existing circumstances, can be
obtained. Before I sit down, Mr. President, I will suggest another
matter, and I am really surprised that it has not been proposed by some
other member at an earlier period of our deliberations. I will suggest,
Mr. President, the propriety of nominating and appointing, before we
separate, a chaplain to this convention, whose duty it shall be
unifonnly to assemble with us and introduce the business of each day
by imploring the assistance of Heaven, and asking Its blessing upon
our deliberations." The three days were spent in the manner which
Dr. Franklin advised, and, on reassembling, the chaplain who had been
appointed appeared and led the devotions of the assembly. Dr.
Franklin addressed the house first, as everyone expected and desired
that he should do. His wisdom, experience, common sense and deep-
seated calmness gave a placidity to the convention whjch it had not had
before. With more earnest intentions the convention renewed its work.
The Constitution was finally amended. It prescribed that the laws of
the United States were, thenceforth, to be administered, not by a
confederacy or mere league of friendship between the sovereign States,
but by a government distributed into three great departments — legisla-
tive, judicial and executive; that the powers of government should be
limited to concerns pertaining to the whole people, leaving the internal
administration of each State in time of peace to its own constitutional
laws, provided, that they should be republican, and interfering with
them as little as possible in case of war; that the legislative
power of this government should be divided between the two
assemblies, one representing directly the people of the separate States,
and the other their legislatures; that the executive power of this
government should be vested in one person, chosen for four years, with
certain qualifications of age and nativity, and invested with a qualified
negative upon the enactments of the laws; and that the judicial power
^iS THE STORY OF AMERICA.
should consist of tribunals, inferior and supreme, to be instituted and
organized by Congress, the judges removable only by impeachment.
Washington signed the Constitution first, remarking solemnly as he did
so: "Should the States reject this excellent Constitution, the probability
is that an opportunity will ne\'er again be offered to cancel another in
peace; the next will be drawn in blood." With three exceptions the
Constitution was signed by all the delegates present. The convention,
however, which framed the Constitution, was not clothed with legisla-
tive power, and the Constitution was, therefore, referred to the several
States. In the summer of 1788, nine of the States ratified it. Rhode
Island was the last of the thirteen original States to accept the Constitu-
tion, which .she did in May, 1790. The year of suspense was full of
internal troubles. In New York, the brilliant young Alexander
Hamilton led the Federal party with dramatic fervor, and when his
triumph was made apparent by the ratification of the Constitution, a
great festival was held in New York City. There was a procession of
traders, merchants, artisans and professional men, who bore aloft on
their banners the names of Washington and Hamilton, and a frigate
fully manned, called the Federal ship "Hamilton," was borne on wheels
through the streets, her cannons replying to the salutes with which she
was greeted.
The first Congress met in New York on March 4, 1789. When the
votes of the Presidential electors were counted, the first choice was
unanimous for Washington. John Adams received the largest number
of votes for Vice-President. A special messenger was sent by the
president of the Senate to notify Washington of his election. This
great man was living quietly at his princely home of Mount Vernon.
His home life was very dear to him, and it was with the most painful
reluctance that he took upon himself once more the burdens of the
nation. As Washington traveled from his home in Virginia to New
York, which was now the seat of government, he received enthusiastic
greetings everywhere. At Trenton, where he had fought with such
brilliancy, a triumphal arch was thrown across the bridge which he was
to cross. The arch was supported on thirteen pillars, which were
wreathed with flowers and bore inscriptions which must have been
deeply gratifying to him. Beneath this arch stood a party of young
girls with baskets of flowers in their hands, and the}' greeted Washington
with a song which had been composed for the occasion, strewing flowers
before him as they sang. As he neared New York a delegation was
sent to meet him. A barge, with a crew of thirteen to represent the
"FIRST IN WAR, FIRST IN PEACE." 419
colonies, was for his special use, and following this, with flying flags,
came many other boats. The Governor of the State and many other
distinguished persons awaited Washington at the wharf and escorted
him to his quarters, Washington preferring to walk up the crowded
streets that he might seem to enter the city in humbleness and good
fellowship. A few days later the ceremony of inauguration took place
in the balcony of what was then the Senate chamber. This was called
Federal Hall, and it stood at the meeting of four streets, which were
crowded to suSbcation with people. Washington came on the balcony,
and the Chancellor of New York read the inaugural oath to him. After
the oath was administered, the people cried, "Long live George
Washington, President of the United States!" But this was a reminder
of kingly customs which was never repeated for any other President.
Flags were raised, cannons were fired and bells were rung, launching
in with joyful burst of song the new Republic, with a magistrate at its
head who, for wisdom, disinterestedness and pure patriotism, has never
been equaled by any following President save one. This was April
30, 1789.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— Curtis' "Flistory of the Constitution."
Frothingham's "Rise of the Republic."
Fiction— N. M. Curtis' "Doom of the Tot^ Guard.''
CHAPTER LXVIII.
HAMILTON'S POLICY AS THE FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE — INCREASE
OF AMERICAN COMMERCE — THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY
— FRONTIER TROUBLES AT THE WEST.
-e^
Alexander Hamilton was made Secretary
of the Treasury, an office hardly second in
importance to that of the President itself at this
time. If the nation was to be restored to pros-
perity, it rested upon him to devise efficient
measures. Hamilton's policy from the first was
to give notice to the Old World that the new Federal
government assumed all the obligations of the old
confederation, and provided, as that enfeebled body
had not been able to do, for their discharge. Ham-
ilton succeeded in getting the government to assume
the State debts. One of the first acts of Congress was
to pass a tariff bill, for Hamilton and many others
believed that protection was the only system possible
in that stage of national life and in the condition of
the civilized world. A national bank was started which was under
private direction, and yet served the government by making it owner
of one-fifth of the capital stock of ten million dollars and the preferred
borrower to the same amount. A hundred minor matters were attended
to by the Secretary with equal care. The sale of public lands increased,
regulations were made for the coast trade, navigation laws enacted,
revenue cutters established, light-houses built, and numerous plans
were formed for the sustaining of law and good order. A bill was passed
imposing a duty on imported domestic spirits, for the purpose of swelling
the revenue. American enterprise soon felt the benefit of these
measures. In 1787 the French government issued a decree placing
American citizens on the same commercial footing as Frenchmen, and
SIARTTXG THE WHEELS OF PROGRESS. 42I
admitting American produce free of duty. As France had a free trade
treaty with England, this act had much to do with the ceasing of com-
mercial hostilities between America and England. When war broke
out between France and England, the carrying trade of the world fell
into the hands of the United States. The trade with the West Indies
became almost wholly American, for French ships could not go there.
Spanish trade was carried on under a neutral flag and English merchants
found it safer to use American vessels. Great commercial houses came
into existence. The trade with China and East India became a source
of wealth, and the seamen of America were counted remarkable for their
enterprise and courage.
The question of slavery was one of the most iuiportant with which
the Federal Congress interested itself It was held that Congress had no
power over slavery in the States, but that it had power in the terri-
tories. By the ordinance of 1787, all the territor>' northwest of the
Ohio then belonging to the United States, and comprising what is now
the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, was to
be the home of free labor forever. Slaves had become especially valu-
able in the South by the growth of the cotton industry-. In 1793,
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. America has been the home of
many great inventions, but none of them have been of greater import-
ance than this to the Republic. It was the first key which was applied
to the unlocking of the natural capabilities of this land. Whitne\- was
the son of a Massachusetts farmer. He chanced to visit Georgia and
saw there the great difficulty with which the seed was separated from
the cotton. After a few months of hard study he invented a successful
machine which in one day, by the labor of a single hand, could do
more than was usually performed in many months by the old method.
Whitney afterward made a fortune by the invention of fire-arras. The
slave was thought to be a necessary part of the cotton trade, and there-
fore assumed an importance in American aSairs which it had never
before held. It is very interesting to note how good and bad tendencies
seemed to conflict with each other at this period of national history.
At this very time an impetus was given to public educational matters
which they had never received before. Education for all was a part of
the free government. Noah Webster began the publication of his
school books and gave his life up to the establishment of a national
literature. In these matters the young States led, rather than followed,
the older onei.. Civilization spread westward and marked its progress by
a series of triumphs over the savages and the soil. John C. Symmes
422 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
obtained a grant of one million acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio,
and on the west by the Miami, and here, in 1788-9, South Bend and
Cincinnati were settled.
The English still retained some of the frontier posts, and about
these the Indians continually flocked. They were persuaded by the
English that the Americans had no claim to any territory' beyond the
Ohio, and in truth ever)' State westward had been an encroachment
upon Indian territory. Indian warfare upon the settlers, therefore,
took on its worst form here. At no time were the settlers safe. The
man who left his home in the morning never knew whether he should
return alive to it or not, and would have felt no surprise if on returning
he should find his wife and children dead in his cabin. Several villages
were plundered and burned, and every train of emigrants was sure to
encounter danger, if not death. On the Ohio and other rivers many
tragic scenes were enacted. The Indians would watch for a passing
boat, murder the passengers, and let the boat-load of corpses drift with
the flow of the stream to the settlements below. In seven years fifteen
hundred persons were killed or captured by the Indians on the Ohio,
and twenty thousand horses were stolen. It was in vain that the
Americans sued for a treaty of peace. War was forced upon them — a
STARTING THE WHEELS Of PROGRESS. 423
war which ended in disaster the most serious ever sustained by an
American army in its battles with the Indians.
In the month of September, 1790^ General Harmar was intrusted
with the dut)- of subduing the fierce tribes on the Miami and Wabash.
The general had with him a body of three hundred and twenty regulars,
who, being reinforced by the militia of Pennsylvania and Kentucky,
formed a corps of four hundred and fifty-three men. Upon his approach
the Indians set fire to their villages, but they could not be brought to
an engagement. At length the Americans were unexpectedly attacked
and severely disabled. After this humiliation to the United States,
Congress, in the following year, 1791, strengthened the national
military force and placed in the hands of President Washington larger
means for the protection of the frontier. General St. Clair, then
Governor of the territory west of the Ohio, was appointed commander
of a large force. When Washington parted from, him he impressed
upon him again and again the danger of a surprise "You know how
Indians fight," said he; "I repeat it, beware of a surprise." St. Clair
went out into the wilderness with these words ringing in his ears, but
on the 4th of November, while the regulars were encamped on one of
the tributaries of the Wabash and the militia were resting upon a high
flat on the other side of the stream, they met with that disaster which
Washington had especially warned them against. The Indians rushed
upon them at a most unexpected moment, taking advantage of a
division of the ami)-. Nearly half of St. Clair's force were slaughtered
and he beat a headlong retreat. His militia had proved useless, and
even his regulars had been panic-stricken. The Indians, as usual, fought
from cover, and against them the fire of the Americans, aimed at random
into a dusky forest, could have little effect. The pursuit was kept up
about four miles, when, fortunately for the Americans who still
survived, their foes could no longer restrain their eagerness for plunder,
and returned to rifle the bodies of the dead soldiers. For thirty miles
the terrified Americans continued their panic-stricken flight, throwing
away their anns as they went. They left their wounded at Fort Jeffer-
son and retreated to Fort Washington, at Cincinnati. Washington
learned of the disaster with rage and agony. Never since the interview
at the battle of Monmouth did he so give way to that terrible wrath of
which he was capable. Thirty-eight ofliicers and six himdred privates
were killed or missing, and twenty-one officers and two hundred and forty-
two privates wounded. Among the camp-followers were two hundred
and fifty women, most of whom were killed or captured.
424 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
No time was lost m sending out another expedition. The iudig-
nation of the people had been roused to the highest pitch. It was
said that during the fight several British ofiicers were seen upon the
field with the Indians, who had come down from Detroit to urge on
their savage allies. The man sent out to take St. Clair's place was
General Anthony Wayne. His courage was reckless, and gained for
Irim the name of "Mad Anthony," which he was called by his soldiers
more in love than criticism. Washington himself carefully instructed
Wayne in his mode of warfare. Nearly two years passed before Wayne
had gathered his four thousand men and built the line of forts necessary
to success. He followed Washington's directions implicity during all
this time. He never permitted his army to be divided, and marched
with open files that a line might be quickly formed in the thick woods.
It was his habit to halt early in the afternoon, that the camp might be
surrounded by a rampart of logs before nightfall. His cavalry laid
waste the country for many miles on each side of the line of march.
When he had four good forts behind him to offer protection in case of
retreat, he decided to» attack. The Indians had consented to an
engagement, and on the morning of August 20th the two forces met on
the banks of the Maumee river. The action was short and decisive.
The cavalry attacked the flanks of the Indian line and the infantry
charged with the bayonet upon the centre, and as soon as they caused
a retreat, poured a volley of musket balls into their foes. Tlie Indians
were pursued until within reach of the guns of the British fort. Here
the Americans encamped for a few days, destroying all the property in
the neighborhood. Wayne's loss was comparatively small, and for a
time the Indians were effectually subdued. A treaty was made with
them in 1795, by which they ceded a large tract of land to the United
States, and from that time the more rapid settlement of the West
began.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History — Flint's "Indian Wars of the West.*'
Fiction— Gait's "Lawrie Todd."
Bird's "Nick of the Woods."
CHAPTER LXIX.
DEATH OF FRANKLIN — THE HUMOR OF WASHINGTON'S TIME — THB
J^ Oj ^ POUCY OF HAMILTON — THE PENNSYLVANIA
^ WHISKY
RIOTS.
OT long after Washington became President, one
of the greatest of Americans died — the first
scientist, perhaps, which this country had ever
produced. This was Dr. Benjamin Franklin,
-iy\>,«Y]Xfr^ ''iy^ whose early life has been told of in another part
•*\a!^\v(,/«V^ V^ of |-i^ig histor}-. In the courts of England and of
France he won a consideration which was not paid
to any other envoy from the young nation. Had he
been known for no other reason, he would have been
celebrated as the discoverer of the electric fluid in light-
ning. He had long been a student of electricity, and
fonned a theor\' that lightning and the electric fluid
were the same thing. He was vers- much laughed at
when he circulated this idea, in a little pamphlet, and
he made up his mind to prove it to the satisfaction of everyone. He
and his young son together made a great kite of a silk handkerchief,
and fastening a piece of sharpened wire to the stick, went out to fly the
kite in a thunder-storm. As a low thunder-cloud passed, the electric
fluid went down the string of the kite and when Franklin touched the
key that he had fastened to the string, his knuckles drew sparks from it,
showing that the electricity was there. In a short time he invented the
lightning rod.
In all public matters he had great influence, and he founded more
good institutions and benevolent enterprises than any American of his
time. The last public act which he performed was to sign a memorial
to Congress, in behalf of the Philadelphia Anti-Slaven.- Society, asking
the abolition of slaver}'. He lived to be eighty-four, and died on April
17, 1790. Throughout the States the mourning was universal, and
426 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
in France the Assembly went into mourning for him three days.
At this time the customs and habits of the people of this republic
were very different from those of the present day. It was a ceremonious
age — an age of display — and the traditions of royal splendor still
clung, in a degree, about the capital of the republic. President Wash-
ington was a man of great wealth, and one who believed that there
should be distinctions in men, and that honor should be paid to those
who deserved it. He desired, for instance, that the official name of the
President should be "High Mightiness," which were the words
employed in describing the Stadtholder of Holland, which at that time
was a republic. But this title was objected to, and Excellency was
substituted. Washington's levees were very stately entertainments,
and differed exceedingly from the free and easy receptions which are
at present held at the White House. Once in two weeks at precisely
three in the afternoon, the doors of the great dining-room were thrown
open. By the fire-place stood President Washington, with members of
his Cabinet and other distinguished gentlemen about him. His usual
dress was a black velvet coat, with white or pearl-colored waistcoat,
yellow gloves, and silver knee buckles and shoe buckles. His hair was
powdered and gathered in a silk bag behind. In his hand he carried a
cocked hat, and wore a long sword, with a scabbard of polished white
leather. The habit of shaking hands would have been considered too
familiar at that time, and Washington greeted each of his guests with
a courteous bow. Mrs. Washington gave brilliant evening levees,
which it was considered a great privilege to attend. Dinners and
public meetings were held in all the large towns of the nation on the
birthday of the President, and the local poets were expected to address
odes to Washington. When Washington drove to the sessions of Con-
gress, he went in a state coach, the body of which was in the shape of a
hemisphere, cream-colored, bordered with flowers around the panels,
which were ornamented with figures representing cupids, and support-
ing festoons. On great occasions the coach was drawn by six horses,
on ordinary occasions by four, and on Sundays by two only. The
driver and postillions wore liveries of white and scarlet. This display
and formality upon the part of the President influenced the whole
nation. It was, indeed, but the continuation of the state in which the
Governors had lived. The forms of politeness were very elaborate, and
the people devoted much attention and money to their dress. In
Connecticut and Massachusetts there were still sumptuary laws against
extravagance, but at this time they were not enforced. E\'«.n the
THE COURTLY TIMES OF WASHINGTON.
427
clergymen wore wigs, with gowns and bands, in the pulpit, and cocked
hats on the streets. The Judges of the Supreme Court, in winter, wore
robes of scarlet faced with velvet, and in summer, very full black silk
robes. It is still their practice to wear the latter sort. The ladies
dressed their hair with powder and pomatum, and built it to such a
great height above the head that it became necessary to have carriages
of greater height made than those which had previously been used.
At this time Sedan chairs were used as well as carriages, and in these
r^'T^^"
> GRAVE PHILADELPHIA
the grand dames were carried from place to place by two servants in
dashing liveries. The ladies themselves were gorgeous in rustling
brocades, powder, patches and jewels. These patches, which were of
black silk, were pasted upon the face, and were cut in a great variety
of fantastic shapes. There were crescents, stars, anchors and even
elephants, and a belle would sometimes decorate herself with at least
twenty of these. Gentlemen dressed as brilliantly as the ladies, and in
428 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the same sort of fabrics. If a gentleman went abroad, he appeared in
his wig, white stock, white satin embroidered vest, black satin small
clothes with white silk stockings and fine broadcloth or velvet coat.
If at home, a velvet cap, sometimes with a fine linen one under it, took
the place of a wig, while a gown, frequently a colored damask lined
with silk, was subsituted for the coat, and the feet were covered with
leather slippers of some fancy color. No gentleman's costume was
complete without a snuff-box, and on these little trifles the greatest art
was expended. A salutation between friends was immediately followed
by an offer of snuff, and a man who did not take it laid himself open to
the charge of being discourteous.
The nation still felt the influence of Puritan prejudices, and was
only beginning to tolerate the theatre, which at one time had been
considered by the stern citizens of Massachusetts as one of the worst
beguilements of Satan. Massachusetts is spoken of, because in religious
and philosophic matters she was the leader. Private theatricals, which
Washington and other fashionable people occasionally had at their
hoiises, gradually pav-ed the way for public entertainments. Musical
concerts were allowed at this time, which, in itself, marked quite a
growth in public taste and liberality, for at one time they would have
been considered the height of frivolity. Balls were popular, and some
of them were given on a very large scale. The French Ambassador
gave one in Philadelphia which was so large that a building was erected
on purpose for the entertainment. It is said that on fete days the hair-
dressers were kept so busy that ladies had to employ their services at 4
or 5 o'clock in the morning, and to sit upright all day to keep from
disturbing the head-dress.
It was thought that when the army was disbanded the country
would be filled with beggars, for it could hardly be expected that men
who had been kept without other occupation than that of arms for
eight years, would easily adapt themselves to ways of industry' again.
But they went back to their workshojDS and farms, and places were
found for them by a people who, although they were capricious, were
certainly not ungrateful. At that time the working people did not, as
now, depend upon great monopolies for support. Cloth was spun in
almost every house; tallow candles made in every kitchen. Wood
was to be had almost for the chopping, and neighbors exchanged the
produce of their farms and gardens.
Secretar>' Hamilton was doing all in his power to restore the
commercial confidence of the people and place the government on a
THE COURTLY TIMES OF WASHINGTON. 429
sure financial basis. In tn-ing to do this, he took some measures
which were very distasteful to the people. A bill drawn up by him
was passed in Congress in March, 1791, which increased the duty on
imported spirits, making it from twenty to forty cents a gallon, and
what was still more offensive to the people, laid a tax on distillation.
The people of various States, held meetings, appointed committees, and
adopted resolutions asking for an unconditional repeal. Those who
accepted the offices of collectors were treated with ever>' sort of indig-
nity. Some of them were tarred and feathered, their houses were
burned, and they were ostracized, although many of them were men of
high business and social standing. The insurrection gathered rapidly
and finally organized for resistance to the law. Under the leadership
of John Holcraft, known more widely as "Tom the Tinker," the mob
attacked several houses in Pennsylvania. The handful of militia was
forced to surrender to them, and the mob burned several houses
belonging to the law-and-order party. A few days later the mail to
Philadelphia was stopped and the insurgents took from it several letters
which gave accounts of the riot. The writers of these letters were
severely persecuted. The insurgents next summoned the militia to
meet on Braddock's Field, August i, 1794. Seven thousand came
armed and provisioned for four days, but when they were told to capture
Fort Pitt, they dispersed.
President Washington was alarmed, and fearing that the rebellion
might spread through the country-, called on New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Marj'land and Virginia for fifteen thousand men, and sent commissioners
to the scene of the disturbance, with power to arrange for peaceful
submission any time before September 14th. As these commissioners
soon returned without having come to any satisfactorj- arrangement, the
troops were put in motion with the Governors of New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, and \'irginia at the heads of their men, under the leadership of
General Henr>' Lee. Most of the disturbances were in the counties
west of the Alleghanies, and the soldiers were obliged to cross these
motmtains, suffering not a little from disease and exposure as they did
so. The insurrection died quickly upon the appearance of the troops.
Some of the leaders left the country- and some were arrested and
brought to trial. Only two were convicted of treason, and these were
pardoned bv the President.
FOR FURTHER RE.^DING:
Fiction— Charlotte Walsinghain's "Annette."
H. H. Brackenridge's "Jlodem Chivalrj'-"
CHAPTER LXX.
jl Jsmntrat,.
THE POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE YOUXG NATION — THE JAY TREATY-
ELECTION OF JOHN ADAMS TO THE PRESIDENCY —
ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS —
TROUBLE WITH
■^^ FRANCE.
HE influence of the French rebellion was strongly
felt in America, and the discontented among the
people showed a willingness to imitate, upon the
slightest provocation, the example of the French
people. The old French monarchy had been over-
thrown, and an attempt made to establish a republic
in its place — an attempt which had led to violence
and bloodshed which had never been equaled in the
history of civilized nations. This struggle Americans
watched with much interest. They were not free from a
disinterested desire to see their great ally firmly estab-
lished in a republic such as they themselves were found-
ing. Jefferson had long been in Paris, and was among
the company of brilliant fanatics whose heads were after-
wards sacrificed to the relentless commune. Of all of
them, he was the only one whose dream of power was finally realized,
and who, in later years, stood at the head of a nation. The party in
.America which sympathized with the French and had democratic sim-
plicity for their watchword, were inclined to quarrel with what was.
considered the ostentation of President Washington, as well as with the
vigorous legislative measures of Secretar)- Hamilton. The men of this
party first called themselves Republicans, and afterwards Democrats.
Samuel Adams, as well as Jefferson, belonged to this party. The party
on the other side were known as Federalists, and desired that the States
should all be governed by one central government, and that to an extent
the judicial and executive laws of England should be imitated. Wash-
A DEMOCRACY. 431
ington, Hamilton ' and John Adams were among the foremost Feder-
alists. Questions of international commerce were of the greatest polit-
ical interest at the time, and the Federalists associated themselves with
protection, while Jefferson and his friends headed the free trade move-
ment. From time to time different influences were brought to bear
upon each of these parties, and cliques or bands of partisans came up
which held individual views of some of the questions of the day. The
Democrats were especially fearful that the national governmetit would
become too powerful and destroy the rights of the States. They feared
that it might grow aristocratic and exclusive, as in European natious.
As early as 1791 a minister had been sent from England. He made
laws concerning the capture of French merchant vessels, which created
the strongest indignation among the Democrats. No minister arrived
in America from France until 1793, and the man sent was Edmund
Charles Genet, who was received with great enthusiasm by the French
party in the United States, because he was one of the "Liberators" who
had beheaded Louis XVI. He was intoxicated with the wild notions
of the French revolution, and had not the common sense to perceive
how different was the government which he was now sent to confer
with. He quarreled with the laws, threatened to head an uprising of
the people, and at last became so intolerable that the Americans were
obliged to request that he should be recalled.
The British continued to wage war upon the French vessels, and
issued an order directing cruisers to make a prize of any vessel carrj-ing
the produce of a French colony or transporting supplies to such colony.
This, of course, was a serious interference with America as well as
France, and Congress decided to stop all commercial intercourse with
Great Britain till the western posts still held by the British were sur-
rendered. Washington was anxious to avert war and in 1794 sent an
envoy extraordinary to London to negotiate a treaty of amity and com-
merce. Chief Justice John Jay was the man selected for this enterprise.
The minister for foreign affairs in England met Jay half way, and
in a short time a treaty was agreed upon, which went into operation in
February, 1796. The withdrawal of British troops and garrisons from
the western posts was agreed upon, as well as free inland navigation and
trade to both nations upon lakes and rivers, except that the United
States were excluded from the domain of the Hudson Bay Company.
There were many other particulars relating to trade by water which
need not be mentioned. Great Britain was to pay for losses by her
irregular captures by British cruisers. Citizens of either countr}- were
432 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
pennitted to hold landed property in the territory of the other, and no
private propert)' was to be confiscated in case of war. Ships of wai
were to be received in each other's ports. Citizens of either in the
other's territory were not to be molested, and criminals escaping from
one country to the other were to be delivered up. When this treaty
and all of its particulars were known about in America, it aroused the
warmest controversy. The President and most of his Cabinet were
fairly well pleased with it, but the Democrats were so incensed against
it that they proposed to nullify the law by withholding the necessary
appropriations to carry out the terms of the treaty. Their particular
argument was that it benefited England at the expense of France, and
that it was for the benefit of northern trade, and failed to provide for
the loss of slaves who fled with the British armies at the close of the
Revolution. The needed appropriations were obtained only after fierce
debates, only four votes from States south of the Potomac being given
in its favor. The South was ambitious for ascendancy, and already the
breach between the two sections became noticeable.
Washington's second administration was coming to an end. During
the eight j^ears of his government the nation had gained more confi-
dence in herself and had increased greatly in size. In 1792, Kentucky
had come into the union. This region was at first, as has been said
before, considered a part of Virginia. The Spanish government had,
at one time, endeavored to induce the Kentuckians to declare themselves
independent of tne Union, and to join Louisiana, which still belonged
to Spain, but these efforts failed. In 1796, Tennessee became a State.
This part of the country had been explored much earlier than Ken-
tucky, and, indeed, may have been visited by De Soto, long before the
settlement of the Eastern States. It was, however, settled much more
slowly than Kentucky, and the settlers came chiefly from North Caro-
lina. It was here that the attempt to establish the State of Franklin
was tried. This failed, after two or three years of unhealthy existence.
Being so near North Carolina, Kentucky could hardly fail to be a slave
State.
At the end of Washington's Administration there were si.xteen States
in the Union. The first census of the nation, which was taken in 1790,
showed a population of about four millions. Washington refused a third
election to the presidency. John Adams, of Massachusetts, who had been
Vice-President, was chosen by a small majority over Thomas Jefferson,
who, as it will be remembered, belonged to the Democratic party. In
those days the candidate who received the second number of votes in
A DEMOCRACY. 433
the presidential election was made \'ice-President, and thus Thomas
Jefferson was given that position, although he and the chief executive
differed so widely in politics. From the breaking out of the Revolu-
tion, President Adams had been one of the most unselfish of the patriots.
He had assisted in framing the Declaration of Independence, and had
been one of the Ambassadors to make the treaty with France at the
close of the war. But notwithstanding these services he was elected
against the protest of a large part of the nation. Never since has any
election been conducted with such bitterness of spirit and such public
revilement. The volcanic government of France had thrown into this
countrj- many burning brands. The young "philosophers," as they
termed themselves, could not, and would not, understand the principles
of this government. They were accomplished in vituperative rhetoric,
and astonished the moderate-speaking Americans with all sorts of wild
speeches, which were mistaken for eloquence. So troublesome did chey
become that on June i8, 1798, were passed what were known as the
alien and sedition laws. By these, naturalization was restricted and the
President was permitted to send out of the country^ such aliens as he
thought dangerous to the United States. He was permitted to give
license to aliens to remain during his pleasure, and, if he wished, to
e.xact bonds for their good behavior. Aliens who had no license might
be imprisoned, and masters of vessels who brought them might be fined
for not reporting their arrival. The sedition law made five offences
penal. These were: "Defaming Congress or the President;" "excit-
ing the hatred of the people against them;" "stirring up sedition in
the United States;" "raising unlawful combinations for resisting laws,"
and "aiding foreign nations against the United States." A wild storm
of dissent greeted these acts, which, indeed, were hardly in keeping
with the sentiments which America had always voiced, calling herself
the asylum for the oppressed of all nations. In the legislatures of
Virginia and Kentucky it was declared that Congress had acted be\ond
its constitutional powers; that the States were not bound to obe)-, and
that each State had the right to determine the question of constitu-
tionality. With these resolutions, which Vice-President Jefferson
sanctioned, the Democratic party strengthened its power. The
Democratic party urged that these laws were such an insult to France,
which had many distinguished citizens in America, that she could well
be excused for the diplomatic measures which she took to annoy
America. At one time nearly one thousand American vessels were
detained or captured by the French government, and when the American
434 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
government sent an envoy to France, the Director)' ordered him to
qnit the county. The Englisa cruisers were also exceedingly annoying,
and the commanders had no hesitancy in searching for English seamen
on board of American vessels, under which pretext they frequently
kidnaped American seamen.
Adams was constantly hampered b\ the peace policy of Jefferson,
who did not believe that war was right in the new brotherhood which
had grown out of the French commune. But Adams had determination
■enough to insist that another commission should be sent to France.
When this commission reached that country they were told that they
would be received by the Directory if they chose to make a handsome
loan to the French Republic. When the envoys refused to accept such
humiliating terms, they were ordered out of the country. Congress
determined to take a hostile attitude, and ordered the standing army to
be enlarged by twelve regiments. A navy of twenty-four vessels was
ordered, and merchantmen were allowed to ann themselves against the
French vessels of war. In theorj-, the two nations were at war, but
there were no engagements between them except among the cruisers.
Two serious conflicts took place in the West Indies. A heavy French
privateer and a French frigate were captured and sent into port as prizes.
But at this time Napoleon came into power, and everj'thing was changed.
He received a new embassy sent out by Adams with great cordiality.
The French cruisers were told to leave American vessels alone, and
America changed her aspect to one of friendship. The Federalists,
who were for war, were thoroughly dissatisfied with peaceable measures.
The President tried in vain to take a middle course which should please
both parties, and succeeded in pleasing neither of them. The unpopular
sedition law was one of the things most talked of in the election of
1800, by which the administration of the government fell into the hands
of the Democrats, to remain there for a quarter of a centur}-. But in
the meantime, there had been several occurrences of national interest
outside of this.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Biography — "Life of John Jay."
History— Carlyle's "French Revolution."
CHAPTER LXXI.
iloitarn Jfutife
things which awakened national
was the Fries insurrection of 1799.
THE FRIES INSURRECTION — SELECTION OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL —
'ij^j DEATH OF WASHINGTON — LOUISIANA —
,)/ y'l , I AARON BURR.
■^
?|MONG the
anxiety
Discontent with the window tax began to show
itself in 1798, and, in the spring of the following
year, a rebellion against it broke out in North-
ampton county, Pennsylvania. It spread rapidly,
especially among the Germans. The militia was
called out, the insurgents soon subdued, and their
leaders arrested. John Fries was tried for high
treason and found guilty after two trials, but the
President pardoned him. Fries afterwards became a
rich and respectable citizen of Philadelphia.
In the same 3'ear, 1799, the site of the national
capital was decided upon. Some of the members of
Congress were verj' anxious that the place should be New York. This
the southern members fiercely opposed, and threatened, as they always
did when in any way annoyed, to secede from the Union. There was
some thought of placing the national government at Philadelphia for
ten years, but a desire among many of the members that a permanent
site should be selected, hindered the carr>'ing out of this plan. At
last it was agreed, "that a district of territory on the river Potomac, at
some place between the mouths of the eastern branch and Connogoche-
ague, be, and at the same time is, hereby accej)ted for the permanent
site of the government of the United States." To this city was given
the name of Washington. The plan of the city was laid out by
Washington himself, and the present stately city shows how excellent
these plans were. But it was desolate enough when John Adams took
his wife to the White House, and placed her in charge of that mansion,
436 THE, STORY O? AMERICA.
which in those days was considered by many as far too elaborate an
edifice for a republican president to live in. The long, unimproved
avenues, up which few people went, the deep morasses and thick
groves, were dreary surroundings for the nation's capital and the
residence of its President. Mrs. Adams complained that so few people
lived round about that they could not even get fire-wood drawn for
their comfort. The malaria which arose from the swamps was
dangerous indeed, and the expense of keeping up such a huge building
was entirely out of proportion to the President's salary. But these
inconveniences were, of course, soon remedied. There is no question
but that the site is a beautiful one for a large city. A level plain,
three miles in length and two miles wide, extended from the banks of
the Potomac to a range of hills bounding the plain on the east. The
hill on which the Capitol stands has a noble view. This is the centre
of the city, and the avenues radiate from it, thus making the city the
shape of an amphitheatre. The institutions of government, art,
science and education stand at great distances from each other, and
have given to the city its name of "The City of Magnificent Distances."
Before the year 1799 had closed, George Washington was dead.
The party bitterness which had called down so many criticisms upon
him vanished suddenly out of sight. The nation recognized how much
it owed to his wisdom, tiprightness, unselfishness and honest pride.
Congress declared what has since passed into a proverb, that he was
"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,"
and Europe recognized the fact that one of the three great men of the
age had died. These three were Napoleon, Wellington and Washington,
and of them, Washington can safely be said to be the most disinterested.
When Thomas Jefferson followed Adams as President of the United
States, in 1801, his way was made comparatively easy for him, by the
fact that Napoleon was now at the head of the French nation. The
confused and complicated foreign conditions were altered. Especially
did this affect the West, where there had been a continual distrust
between the Americans and the Spaniards in Louisiana. Upon three
different occasions the western men had been upon the point of war, by
the authority and with the sanction of the President. One of the chief
causes of the quarrels was, that the Spanish commanders at New
Orleans refused to let the men from the territories unload any of their
exports at the New Orleans wharves. To end these troubles, Jefferson
sent Robert Livingstone to Paris, with a proposal to purchase the
island on which New Orleans stands, and the right of passage to the
A MODIiRN LUCIFKR.
437
sea. The original territory of Louisiana, be it understood, as a French
province, comprised the valleys of the Mississippi, the Ohio, the
Missouri and the Illinois. At the close of the French war, in 1763,
France ceded to Great Britain all that portion of Louisiana lying east
of the Mississippi and north of the Iberville, about a hundred miles
above Orleans; at the same time France transferred to Spain all the
rest of her territory' on the western side of the Mississippi. In 1800, the
province was returned to France by Spain. This will account for the
fact that the officers at Orleans, civil and military, were sometimes
French and sometimes Spanish. At the time referred to the Intendant
43<'^ THE STORY OF AMERICA.
of Orleaus was a Spaniard, although France was the possessor of the
province. Robert Livingstone agreed, for the United States, to pay
sixty million francs to the French nation for the province of Louisiana.
When Napoleon heard that the negotiation had been completed, he
said, with great satisfaction, "I have given England a rival." In
America there was comparative indifference in regard to the purchase.
The western men were glad to be protected from the petty authority of
the foreign officers at Orleans. But Robert Livingstone said — and no
one contradicted him — that the United States had no wish to extend
their boundaries across the Mississippi. The government took posses-
sion of the new territory by a public act on the 20th of December, 1803.
The Vice-President at this time was Aaron Burr, one of the most
hrilliant of American statesmen. When he had held the position of
Vice-President for three years, he committed the great crime which
began his downfall. He challenged Secretary Hamilton to a duel and
killed him, as both Burr and Hamilton and everyone else knew that he
would. In the election of 1804, when Jefferson was returned to office,
Burr was not re-elected, and George Clinton became Vice-President in
his stead. Burr was as restless and ambitious as ever. He had lost his
friends, but his thirst for power had only increased. It is hard to tell
just what motive actuated him when he drew about him a company of
adventurers, and sailed down the Mississippi river with all the theatrical
display and assurance of a conqueror. He and his followers were in
search of fortune, authority, and empire. No crusade of the middle
ages could have been more romantic or vaguely ambitious in its
purpose. Many people thought, and still think, that his intention was
to take Orleans and establish a western empire. Burr was a man of
verj^ rare magnetism. The man who wished to disbelieve in him must
first avoid him. He was courtly, elegant, and accomplished, haughty
with men, and suave with women. He had offended Washington by
his profligacy, and on that account had been removed from Wash-
ington's militar}' family at the time of the Revolution. As he went
through the West, he took care to arouse in the pioneers of that country
the hatred which they had so long felt against the Spaniards of Orleans.
He begged them to remember Philip Nolan, a young agent of the
American government, who had gone to Texas to collect horses for the
Spanish post at Orleans, under a pass from the Governor of Texas.
Through the treachery of the Spanish government he had been killed
and all of his companions sent to the mines — mines in which so many
unfortunates met with a mvsterious end.
A MODERN LUCIFER.
439
Burr visited Bleunerhassett' s Island, in the Ohio, not far from
Marietta. Harmon Blennerhassett and his beautiful wife were emi-
grants from Ireland. They had purchased this exquisite island, built a
fine house upon it, and lived there in state which was little less than
princel}-. Even at that time of open and prodigal hospitality, they
were celebrated for the splendor of their entertainments, and their large
circle of distinguished friends. Mrs. Blennerhassett was a woman of
queenly manners and of keen intellect, and the cleverest men and women
in the nation were glad to know her and to have the entree of her
house. Through her influence Burr won the co-operation of hex
husband, and Harmon Blennerhassett imited himself to the adventurer
and placed a large part of his fortune at his disposal. In the summer
of iSo6 Burr made the attempt which he had so long threatened. On
Blennerhassett' s Island he collected boats, provisions, arms and ammu-
440 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
nition. Here a goodly luimber of recruits joined him, and as the boats
sailed down the Ohio and the Mississippi, other confederates were
picked up by the way.
Jefferson, for many reasons, had shut his eyes to Burr's actions as
long as possible, but was now forced into publishing a proclamation
which denounced the whole scheme, and the United States Marshals of
Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky made attempts to arrest the expedition,
which, however, were not successful. As Burr neai'ed Natchez, he had
thirteen boats and sixty men in arms. Here the adventurer's party
found the militia of the territory in arms to oppose them, and the)' were
all taken to Natchez as prisoners. Burr was tried, but pronounced
guilty of no crime, which showed how thoroughly the western people
sympathized with him. Disguised as a boatman, he disappeared into
the wilderness. In the middle of January he was discovered and
arrested, and conducted to Richmond, Virginia, to be tried by the
United States on a charge of high treason. Such, however, were his
personal attractions still, that when he was placed under guard, it was
thought necessary that every man in the squad should be taken apart
and compelled to swear that no interviews should be held with Burr
upon the road, and that he should not be permitted to escape. His
trial lasted three or four weeks, and ended in a verdict of not guilty.
Burr became an exile in Europe, where he lived in great poverty
and was shunned as a felon and an outlaw. He was ordered to quit
England and while in France was kept constantly under the eyes of the
police. Weary of such existence, he returned to America and resumed
his profession of the law, but he never won the confidence or the
friendship of any of his countrymen. His daughter Theodosia alone
remained loyal to him. She was the wife of Governor Allston, of South
Carolina. When she heard that Burr was returning from France, she
set out from Charleston to meet him at New York, but the boat in
which she sailed was never heard of again. This blow was the bitterest
which Burr had endured, and the rest of his miserable life was spent
sorrowfully alone. Blennerhassett died bankrupt and broken-hearted
on the Isle of Guernsey. A few years later the beautiful Mrs. Blenner-
hassett died in New York, in the most abject poverty, and was buried
by some lowly Irish women.
A fall more profound than that of Burr's has seldom been known.
He came within one vote of being President of the United States; he
died almost, if not literally, a beggar, with whom other beggars might
have been ashamed to associate.
CHAPTER LXXII.
J)$talur $ "Sritona.
THE PIRACY OF THE BARBARY STATES — WAR WITH TRIPOLI —
A ~A EXPLOITS OF OUR NAVAL HEROES — THE
^^ i%-'4 TRIUMPH OF AMERICA.
ONSIDERING the comparative weakness and the
insignificance of the Barbarj- States, it seems
strange that for twenty years they should have
forced the United States to submit to the depreda-
tions of their corsairs. From its earliest years
the American government made a mistake in its
treatment of the semi-barbarous States of northern
Africa. As early as 1787 a treaty was ratified with
Morocco, for which Congress paid eighty thousand dol-
lars. In 1796 another was made with Algiers, by
which it was agreed to pay forty thousand dollars
for the release of thirteen Americans held as slaves
in that State, a large amount of cash besides, and
an annual tribute of twenty-five thousand dollars as
the price of exemption from further aggressions. When there chanced
to be a delay in the first remittance the Dey exacted still further tribute,
and a ship of war costing about one hundred thousand dollars, was
sent to him as a present for his daughter.
The Barbary States subsisted almost entirely by piracy, and it
was not upon the United States alone that they levied such tribute,
but upon European nations also, though, of course, England or France
at any time could easil)- have humiliated them had they taken the
trouble to do so. Thousands of Americans were taken captive and
millions of dollars were spent for ransom. It was a common thing for
notices to be read in American churches of the captivity of members of the
church in Tripoli or Algiers, and a sum of money was usually raised for
the ransom of each. It required four thousand dollars to rescue a captain
or a passenger. The Dey said that if the people of the United States
442 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
paid him tribute, they were his slaves, and acting upon this principle,
he force the frigate George Washington to carrj- his own tribute to the
Sultan. This tribute consisted partly of slaves and wild animals, and
was carried to Constantinople under the flag of the Barbary States.
This insult was more than even Jefferson, with his dislike for war, could
endure without a protest.
In 1801 Tripoli herself took the initiative and declared war before
America did so. Jefferson sent four of the six American vessels to the
Mediterranean. It was his policy to economize in every direction, and
he believed that a navy was an unnecessary expense. He thought all
that was necessary- to protect the country was a few gunboats, capable
of bearing but one gun each, which were to be kept under shelter
where they could be easily launched in case of necessity. Many small
engagements were fought in the Mediterranean which brought no notable
results. In August, Lieutenant Sterrett, in the Enterprise^ of twelve
guns and ninety men, fought with a Tripolitan vessel of fourteen guns,
off Malta The Tripolitan vessel struck after a two-hours' fight, and
then discharged another broadside when the Americans had left their
guns and were cheering for their victory. Sterrett ordered his men back
to the guns and raked the treacherous ship from end to end, not stop-
ping till the mizzen mast was shot away, the hull riddled, fifty men
killed and wounded and the colors thrown into the sea by the frantic
commander. Sterrett then ordered that the enemy should throw all
their arms and ammunition overboard. The remaining masts were cut
away, the ship completely dismantled and then left to make its way
home with a single sail. The Americans did not lose a man. As a
matter of fact the Tripolitans were not good fighters, and they relied
upon surprising their victims for their piratical successes. Their
triumphs had usually been over peaceful merchantmen, whom they ter-
rorized by their wild manner and show of blood-thirstiness. It became
frequent for the Americans to destroy their vessels and crews without
lo.ss to themselves. In July, 1802, the frigate Conste/iation bought nine
gunboats off Tripoli, and drove five of them ashore while the others
escaped into the harbor. In June of the next year there was a battle
of still greater odds. A cruiser from Tripoli, carrying twenty-two
guns, was driven into a bay seven leagues east of Tripoli. Here, with
nine gunboats about her and a body of cavalry on the beach, the /okn
Adams and the Enterprise fought at close range for three-quarters of au
hour, till the enemy's guns were silenced and her crew leaped over-
board. The Americans were about to take possession of the boat,
DECATUR'S TRIBUNE. 443
when a boat-load of Tripolitans returned to her and re-opened fire.
'Thejofni Adams replied, and the colors on the Tripolitan vessel were
taken down. A moment later all her guns were discharged at once and
she blew up with an explosion which tore her to pieces.
In 1803, the squadron on the Mediterranean had increased to nine
ships, which carried in all two hundred and fourteen guns. The
Philadelphia captured a Moorish cruiser which the Governor of Tangiers
had authorized to prey upon American commerce. Commodore Preble
entered the harbor of Tangiers with four of his fleet and asked an
explanation of the Emperor, who claimed that he was not responsible
for the act of the Governor, and renewed the treaty with the United
States.
.The PJiiladclphia struck upon a reef in the harbor of Tripoli, and
while she was in this helpless state, was attacked by gunboats, and her
commander. Captain Bainbridge, was compelled to surrender. The
Tripolitans took advantage of an unusually high tide to haul her off
and refit her. The American commodore was, of course, anxious
to repossess this valuable vessel, or, failing in that, to unfit her for
service by the Tripolitans, and Stephen Decatur successfully carried
out a strategy by which this end was reached. He ran into the harbor
one night in February, 1804, in a small prize vessel, the Intrepid. He
pretended that the ship was a merchantman which had lost its anchor,
and gained consent to make fast to the Philadelphia. At a signal his
men arose from the decks, and poured through the ports and over the
decks of the frigate. The barbarians ran shrieking to hide in the hold
or dash into the sea, and in less than half an hour Decatur had cleared
the decks, put combustibles in every part of the ship and set fire to
them. B\- the time the Philadelphia was in flames the little vessel of
Decatur was sailing away out of the harbor without the loss of a man.
On August 3d Preble entered the harbor of Tripoli with his fleet
and bombarded the town from his mortar boats. His frigates and
schooners were out where they could fire upon the batteries. Of the
gimboats, three, for different reasons, were thrown out of the combat
and the other three closed with the enemy. One of these, commanded
by Lieutenant James Decatur, a brother of Stephen, forced a Tripolitan
gunboat to yield, but as he was stepping upon deck, was treacherously
shot through the head by the Tripolitan commander. The boats drifted
apart and the enemy escaped. Stephen Decatur, in command of
another boat, was fighting with might and main. He boarded one of
the enemy's boats, and dividing his men into two parties, charged
444 '^m- STORY OK AMERICA.
around each side of the open hatcliway, calling for surrender and bayo-
neting all who resisted. When he had done his work here thoroughly,
he closed with the boat where he knew his brother had just been mur-
dered. He boarded this recklessly, and after a fierce fight, singled out
the captain who had shot his brother. He was an immense barbarian,
armed with a sharp pike. He and Decatur closed in a hand-to-hand
fight. Decatur's sword broke at the hilt, and he parried the thrust of the
pike with his naked arm. It entered his breast, but he wrenched it out,
tore the staS" away from his enemy, grappled him and rolled him upon
the deck. The savage Turk struggled to draw his poniard, but Decatur
grasped his pistol and shot his antagonist, who fell back d)'ing upon the
deck. In the midst of this, a blow was aimed at Decatur from behind
by a Tripolitan officer. This would doubtless have killed the distin-
guished commander had not a young sailor named Reuben James
stretched out his arm to receive the blow. The life of Decatur was
saved, but it was at the expense of the right arm of the young sailor.
There were eighty men in the two boats captured by Decatur, and of
these fifty-two were killed or wounded. The third boat engaged in the
struggle was commanded by Lieutenant Tripp, who boarded one of the
enemy's gunboats and by a rebound of his own boat, was left with only
ten men on the deck of the enemy. The two commanders fought each
other — the Tripolitan with a sword, Tripp with a pike. The Ameri-
can, covered with wounds, was forced to the deck, but with a sudden
renewal of strength, succeeded in piercing the Turk with his pike.
The rest of the crew surrendered. At the close of the engagement it
was found that three of the enemy's boats were sunk and three others
captured. The Americans had but fourteen killed and wounded.
A little later than this, Commodore Preble engaged in a conflict
with some of the enemy's vessels, in which he lost eighteen men.
Most of these were injured by the explosion of the magazines of one of
his gunboats. A few days later the bomb ketch Inti-epid was fitted up
as an "infernal," and one hundred barrels of powder and missiles were
put in her hold in tightly planked rooms. In the deck, immediately
above, were piled one hundred and fifty shells and a great quantity of
shot and fragments of iron. The plan was for her to be taken by a
crew of men in among the Tripolitan fleet. The combustibles were to
be fired and the men make their escape in two boats. There was a thick
haze over the water and her movements could not be seen by the
enemy. She had neared the enemy's batteries before they saw her and
opened fire. Exactly what happened has never been known, but a
DECATUR S TRIBUNE. 445
light was seen to move horizontally along her deck, then to drop out of
sight, and the next minute there was a frightful explosion, a great
shaft of fire darting up from the vessel and the blazing rigging and
canvas were lifted high into the air. The thirteen bodies of the crew
were found two days later mangled be}ond recognition. Lrittle or no
harm had been done to the enemy by the explosion of the boat.
In November, 1S04, Samuel Barron was made Commodore of the
Mediterranean squadron, which then consisted of ten vessels, carr>'ing
two himdred and sixty-four guns. The United States had never before
assembled so large a squadron. At this time America took advantage
of a national dispute among the Tripolitans to strengthen herself there.
The reigning Bashaw of Tripoli had gained the throne by deposing his
elder brother, and the United States agreed to reinstate the exiled
prince. They got together a force of adventurers from various nations
and the American flag was raised upon Derne — the first time that it ever
floated over any fortification on that side of the Atlantic. The town
surrendered, and the reigning Bashaw was frightened into making
peace. The United States no longer paid tribute, the prisoners in the
hands of the Tripolitans were ransomed, and for some time Barbary
States ceased to trouble America. But they dealt most unfairly by the
exiled prince, whom they had promised to return to his throne. Again
he was exiled, and this time without his wife and children, who were
kept as hostages by his brother for his peaceful behavior in the future.
He complained to the United States that they had left him in poverty
and wretchedness, but they paid no attention to his appeal. They were
learning lessons in statesmanship !
FOR FURTHER READING:
Biography— McKenzie's "Life of Stephen Decatur."
Poetry— C. H. Calvert's "Reuben James."
2T
CHAPTER LXXIII.
"Pfrsnnian limplitH^.'
BXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST — INTRODUCTION OF THE ST«AM«
BOAT — PASSAGE OF A LAW FORBIDDING THE AFRICAN
SLAVE TRADE — THE JEFFERSONIAN POLICY —
) MARITIME TROUBLES.
WO great enterprises marked Jefferson's adminis-
tration. One of these was the invention of the
steamboat; the other was the exploration of the
Northwest by Meriwether Lewis and William
Clarke, whom the President sent out for that
purpose. The first person to propose the steam-
boat was Thomas Paine, in 1778, during the Revolu-
tion; and in 1784, James Ramsey built a vessel, which
reached a speed of three or foiir miles an hour against
the stream, on the Potomac. James Fitch built one,
which was used on the Delaware, and predicted, to the
great amusement of everyone who heard of it, that
steamboats would one day cross the Atlantic. But
^ these boats were constructed upon a principle which
made them impracticable, and the first one built upon the present plan
was launched on the Hudson, by Robert Fulton, in 1807. Three
years before, Fulton had urged upon Napoleon, in Paris, his plans for
the steamboat. Napoleon, always progressive, was willing to witness
the trial of a boat and adopt it for the use of his nation, should it prove
successful. But the experimental vessel was built too slightly, and the
boiler and engine proved a greater weight than it could bear. They
broke through it, and sank to the bottom of the Seine. Fulton was
dismissed in disgrace, and returned to his own countr)'. The Clc--
niont, which he launched upon the Hudson, made the trip from New-
York to Albany in thirty-two hours, and back again in thirty, Fulton
said that the morning he left New York, there were not more than
"JEFPERSOMAN SIMI'I.ICITV."
447
thirty persons in the city who beheved that the boat would ever move
one mile an hour. Indeed, he was laughed at very heartily, and the
vessel was called "Fulton's Folly." But as it went up the river
against wind and tide, at the rate of five miles an hour, throwing showers
of sparks into the air and making a great roar of machinery and paddles,
the people gave a shout of applause, the first sign of encouragement
which the devoted inventor had ever received. After this, steamboats
increased rapidly, and, by the suggestion of many thoughtful men, were
greatly improved and soon in general use, although it was a long time
before an ocean steamer was ever biiilt, and it was not until 1812 that
a steamboat navigated the waters of the Ohio.
It was in 1804 that Lewis and Clarke were given their commissions
by the President, and started out with a large party to explore the
HOUSE, WASHINGTON.
waters of the Missouri river, cross the mountain range and descend to
the Pacific. For twenty-six hundred miles they pushed their flotilla
against the current of the Missouri; then, leaving a considerable por-
tion of the party to guard the boats, they crossed the mountains,
mounted on horses which they had captured, aud discovered the two
streams which are known as the Lewis and Clarke rivers. The>'
followed up these rivers to where they joined with the Columbia, and
then went on to the sea. Robert Grey, of Salem, Massachusetts, had
discovered the river Columbia in IMay, 1792, he being the first man to
carry the American flag around Cape Horn and up the Pacific ocean.
44S THE STORY OF AMERICA.
He had named the river after his ship, the Columbia Rcdiviva. Lewis
and Clarke met upon their journey with numerous Indian tribes who
had never before seen white men — many, indeed, who had never heard
of them. This journey was the first ever made by any white man to
the Pacific, north of the line of Mexico.
One important event that happened during Jefferson's administra-
tion was the passage of a law forbidding the African slave trade. It
will be remembered that this trade had existed ever since 1619, and it
was agreed when the constitution was formed that there should be no
interference with the slave trade until January i, 1808. More than a
year before that time President Jefferson called the attention of Congress
to the subject, and congratulated the members upon the fact that they
would soon be able to forbid the barbarous traffic. The debate which
followed in Congress was very long and bitter. Although no one was
in favor of continiiing the slave trade, there were wonderfully wide
differences of opinion as to the best way of putting it down. It was
argued, too, that if it was right to hold slaves at all, it could not be
wrong to import them. At length, under the lead of Joshua Quincy,
of Massachusetts, and others, a law was passed forbidding the importa-
tion of slaves from any foreign country into the United States after the
year 1807. But in spite of the law, slaves were secretly imported for
many years, until treaties were made with other maritime countries by
which the slave trade was declared to be piracy. But it must be
understood that the slave trade between the different States of the
American Union was not abolished. The only States free from it were
those which had incorporated in their charter an act forbidding slaverj^
forever within their borders.
The population of the country had nearly doubled in twenty years.
At the end of the first ten years of the century the census showed a
population of seven million two hundred and forty thousand. Wealth
was increasing in a much greater proportion. After the invention of
Whitney's cotton gin the exportation of cotton had increased from one
hundred and eighty-nine thousand pounds exported in 1791, to sixty-
two million pounds exported in 181 1. Not alone in this, but in every
direction, increase of prosperity v.'as visible. Ship-building and fisheries
were sources of great wealth. The State of Ohio was organized and
admitted into the Union in 1802, making the seventeenth State of the
Union. When its people adopted a constitution, they incorporated i'j
it some principles which were new to the world, and which were much
considered in the formation of other States. To encourage settlement.
JEFFERSONIAX SIMPLICITY. 449
they provided that for four years after any settler purchased land of the
United States no local taxes should be laid upon it, and Congress uiet
this generosity of the people with another gift, which has been made a
precedent in all similar legislation since that time. This law granted
to the State one township in each section of their survey for the estab-
lishment of its schools. This gave to the new States of America
opportunities for public education which are unequaled in the world.
Thus it came about that for that State and all which followed it, every
man who desired could lay claim to a generous portion of land, and
could have, without expense to himself, a liberal education for all of
his children.
Emigration to the Ohio valley became rapid. It no longer seemed
as far west as it had previously, though people still thought that any
man who had looked upon Lake Michigan was a very great traveler
indeed. There had been but comparatively little interest felt in that
vast stretch of western territory, but the purchase of Louisiana, which
more than doubled the area of the national territory, and the tales which
Lewis and Clarke brought back of the richness of the mysterious north-
west country, aroused an interest which had never been felt before. In
the narrative, which the explorers published, they told of finding the
buffalo so numerous that in one case a herd occupied the whole breadth
of the river a mile wide, and the party had to stop for an hour to see
the animals pass by. Trade with the Indians was another spur to
western excursions, and a New York merchant, John Jacob Astor,
started a trading post called Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia river.
But this post was afterwards sold to one of the British fur companies.
Jefferson's administration was very different in all social respects
from that of Washington and Adams. From the severity of his life
and habits we have gained the expression, "Jeffersonian simplicity."
Washington, upon his inauguration, had driven in a coach and six to
the capital, dressed in velvet and wearing costly jewels. Jefferson, on a
like occasion, rode on horseback in a dress which, though careful, was
certainly not ceremonious. When he dismounted he tied his own horse
to a post, walked unattended into the Capitol building, and read his
address. Upon his second election he did not go to the capital at all,
but set the example of sending a "message" to Congress by a secretary.
This has been the practice ever since. He did not believe in those
stately ceremonies which had graced Washington's time, and he
abolished the weekly levees, only opening his doors on New Year's day
and tlie 4th of July, at which time he welcomed any one who cared to see
45° THE STORY OF AMERICA.
hiiu. He was a strong believer in universal suffrage, and thought that
all men had a right to vote for their own rulers. The Democratic
party sustained him in this, but the Federal doubted whether it would
be safe to place the ballot in the hands of the people and leave govern-
ment to popular vote. At that time republican government, even to
the most patriotic, was a thing looked on with distrust. Jefferson was
very anxious to pay off the indebtedness of the government, and he
succeeded iti paying thirty-three millions of debt. This was largely
done by reducing the expense of government, and to this day it is a
mooted question as to whether this economy was wise or not.
A great carrying trade had fallen to America because of the European
war, which placed an embargo upon European courts. Holland, Italy
and France were largely dependent upon America for sugar, as well as
coffee. Tobacco and cotton were also largely exported. The extensive
trade of the West Indies was transacted for the most part through the
United States. So profitable did the carrying trade become that
building and maritime commerce increased in a ratio larger than that
of the population. In commercial rivalry with Great Britain, the new
nation almost equaled the old in her shipping on the seas. It was not
strange that the older nation should look on this with jealousy, and out
of this jealousy there grew a rancour which caused the seizure of many
an American merchantman. When it was proved that the ship was
neutral in the court of inquiry, it would be released, but if by chance
the cargo had been perishable, the ship owner had suffered a severe
damage for which he could obtain no reprisal.
Thus it happened that American merchantmen were constantly
obliged to submit to indignities of one sort and another. Chiefest
among these was the impressment of her seamen into the English
service, for it was quite common for English officers, seeking deserters
from the King's service, to overhaul American ves.sels and look for the
deserters, very frequently taking off with them an American-born man.
This trouble culminated in the proclamations known as the Decrees of
Berlin and Milan and the Orders in Council. By the Berlin and Milan
decrees. Napoleon declared the English Islands to be in a state of
blockade, and claimed the right to seize all vessels trading with England
or her dependencies. The English Government replied to these decrees
by the "Orders in Council" prohibiting all commerce with those parts
ot the continent of Europe which were under the dominion of France
or her allies. Practically, this meant all of Europe except Russia, and
laid American vessels open to seizure wherever they might go. The
JEFFERSOXIAX SIMPLICITY. 45I
United States protested against these blockades, and maintained that the
blockade of a port mnst be maintained by a competent force upon the
spot. This, of course, was the right and dignified position to take, but
the country' had no navy to sustain its policy, and this is where
Jefferson's econoni)- showed itself to be poor and false. He did not
even believe in fortifications for harbors, but thought they should be
protected by cannons on wheels, which could be dragged from place to
place as they were needed. Thus it was that America was obliged to
submit to these insults when native pride prompted every man in the
country to resent them. At length, however, the United States frigate
Chesapeake was overhauled at sea by an English vessel, which fired
several broadsides into the American ship. As the Chesapeake had
gone to sea without any expectation of war, the men were not able to
fire a gun, and the English officers carried off four deserters which had
belonged to their crew, but had been previously impressed from an
American ship. Jefferson forbade American harbors and waters to all
vessels of the English navy, and sent a vessel of war with a special
minister to London to demand satisfaction. The English offered
reparation, but at the same time issued a proclamation, directing
commanders to make a demand for all English seamen serving on all
foreign ships of war, and to report refusal should they meet with it.
There would doubtless have been war as a result of this, had the
Americans possessed a navy to fight with. When Congress met in
1807, it prohibited the departure from American ports of all American
vessels. No merchandise of any kind was to be exported. The people
of the United States, and particularly of the South, were foolish enough
to believe that Europe would suffer severely if it did not receive her
products, and that they were practically making war against England
without expense to themselves or danger to their fellow-citizens. But
at the North, where men were engaged in commerce, shijD-masters and
seamen were naturally dissatisfied with a measure which kept them
shut in port. It was actualh- a fact that the grass grew in the streets
and on the piers of the sea-board cities, and as week after week passed,
the depression of trade grew deeper, until the fallacy of the measure
became apparent to all, and Jefferson awoke to the realization that the
States which had been his warmest friends, rebelled against his policy.
At this time a presidential election came on.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Travels— Lewis' and Clarke's "Expedition to the Rocky Mountains."
Fiction — Mrs. Stowe's "Minister's Wooing."
J. C. Hart's ■Mariam Coffin."
CHAl'THR LXXIV.
iar
ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON — THE SOUTHERN WAR PARTY
— DECLARATION OF WAR AND POPULAR PROTEST —
THE TROUBLES ON THE WESTERN FRON-
TIER THE CHICAGO MASSACRE
— SURRENDER OF
HULL.
MADISON, of Virginia, was the next
President. He had been a member of the conven-
tion that had framed the Constitution, and had
been Jefferson's friend upon all occasions. Indeed
Jefferson may be said to have been his political
master, and he was anxious that when he left the presiden-
tial chair, the mantle should fall upon Madison. Madison
came into power at a troublous time. The foreign rela-
tions were especially unfortunate, and in the West there
was danger on the frontier. The Indian chief Tecumseh
and his brother the "Prophet" had for a long time been
tr}'ing to persuade the western tribes to give up drinking
whisky and return to the customs of their fathers.
Tecumseh held also that the treaty made in 1809, by
William Henrv Harrison, Governor of the Indiana territory, with several
of the tribes, ceded to the government lands which belonged to the
Indians. Harrison invited Tecumseh and his brother to a conference,
which barely escaped ending in a massacre. The attitude of the
Indians was so threatening after this that Harrison, with two thousand
men, ascended the Wabash and built a military post at Terre Haute.
This was in 181 1. Harrison tried in vain to open friendly relations
with the "Prophet," but when he found that he could not hope to
succeed in doing this, he marched against the Indian village and
encamped within ten miles of it, on the Tippecanoe. On the morning
WAR AGAIN.
453
of September jtli his camp was surprised by the savages. The soldiers
had the presence of mind to put out their camp-fires, that they might
not furnish so ready a target for the arrows of the enemy, and forming
in a square, fought the Indians with courage. When the sun arose the
men who were mounted made a charge which dispersed the enemy.
Harrison found the Prophet's town deserted the next day and burnt it.
At this time Henr>- Clay, of Kentucky, and John Calhoun, of South
Carolina, both young and ambitious men, stood at the head of the
southern party who desired to have war with England. New England
was anxious for a fleet, if such a war was to be undertaken, but the
southern faction consisted of the slave-holding element, and were not
willing to unite with New England in any measure, or even to accept
her advice. The plan was to invade Canada by the enlargement of the
regular army and the help of the militia. Madison desired peace, but
as another election day rapidly neared, he was informed that unless he
declared for war he would not be renominated as a candidate for the
presidency. He was a man who had long been overshadowed by others,
and his ambition now was supreme. He declared war against England
June i8, 1812.
A protest against the war was drawn up by Joshua Ouincy, of Mas-
sachusetts, and signed by thirty-eight members of the House. They
denoimced the war as a pretext to give aid to Napoleon against Eng-
land, and showed how unprepared the nation was, without either anny
or navy, to begin a contest with the strongest nation in the world, and
they pointed out to their constituents the fact that the declaration of
war was a party measure and that it was dangerous to the Union in the
extreme. The people also expressed extreme disapprobation; ministers
made it the subject of sermons; it occupied the pens of the pamphlet-
eers and was the subject most discussed in newspapers. Against the
Federalists, who took this view of the matter, the Democrats, who
constituted the war party, were greatly incensed. On June 22, 1812,
a mob sacked the oflfice of the Federal Republican^ in Baltimore, and
followed it up by doing great damage to several houses belonging to
Federalists and to vessels in the harbor. Within a month the editor
of the Federal Republican^ Alexander Hanson, once more issued his
sheet. The office was again attacked, but Hanson had taken means
for defending his property and fired upon the mob, killing one and
wounding several. When the militia was called out, instead of arrest-
ing the rioters, they arrested Hanson and his party and lodged them in
jail, where they were again attacked by the mob, who killed, in the
454 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
most wanton manner, General Lingen, and lamed General Henry Lee
for life. The ringleaders of the mob were tried, but acquitted. The
regular army at this time numbered six thousand men. To these were
added fifty thousand volunteers and one hundred thousand militiamen,
and Henr\- Dearborn, of Massachusetts, was given the command.
General William Hull, the Governor of Michigan, was appointed com-
mander in the West and was ordered to be in readiness to invade Canada
in the event of war. His intimate acquaintance with the country- made
him well aware of the danger which was run by taking a warlike atti-
tude in a territor}- where there were so many Indians. But he was not
able to impress upon the government all of the needs and conditions,
and marched from Ohio with about two thousand men, chiefly militia,
who were especially uncontrollable and insubordinate. When the
declaration of war reached him, he promptly crossed the Detroit river, a
few miles below Detroit, for the purpose of taking Fort IMalden. He
issued a proclamation promising protection to the inhabitants, but
stating that no quarter would be given to those who were fighting in
company with the Indians. The news of the declaration of war reached
the Canadian commanders before it did Hull, and the first movement
was upon the part of the English who took the fort at Michelimackinac
by surprise and compelled its surrender. The Indians, who were
always ambitious to be on the strongest side, immediately joined the
English. This filled Hull with great apprehensions, and he sent to
Captain Nathan Heald, who was in command of Fort Dearborn, where
Chicago now stands, to hasten and join him at Detroit. The Indians
about Chicago were supposed to be friendly, but their actions were per-
plexing, and Heald was anxious about the outcome. He promised the
Indians the property in the fort which he could not take away, and in
the night he destroyed the fireanns, gunpowder and liquor, which was
the articles for which they were most eager. On the morning of August
15th, he set out with fifty soldiers and the families of the village. The
party followed the road by the shore of the lake which was guarded by
a low range of sand hills, behind which the disappointed Indians were
crouched. At a point near the southern extremity of what is now the
Lake Front Park, the Indians rushed upon them with their war crj-.
In the conflict which followed, the women fought with the men, but they
were no match for the savages, and such as sur\'ived after a short but
deadly struggle surrendered. Of these, all the wounded were scalped,
for it was known that the British Colonel Proctor, at Maiden, had
offered a high price for American scalps. The children, twelve of
WAR AGAIN'. 455
them in all, had been put together in one wagon, in the futile hope that
the Indians might spare them, but the little ones were all tomahawked
by one Indian. The massacre was attended by peculiar horrors, which
are too terrible to bear description.
At about the same time Hull sent out Thomas B. Van Home to
guard a supply train. Home's detachment met a force of English and
Indians at Brownstown, and were defeated with dreadful slaughter.
Another expedition, under Lieutenant-Colonel James Miller, was sent to
open communication with the base of supplies at Racine river. These
were caught in an Indian ambuscade, but after a valiant fight for two
hours succeeded in routing the savages and returned to their boats.
They left fifty of their comrades dead behind them, but had the satis-
faction of knowing that twice that number of Indians had been killed.
Hull retreated to Detroit, where, with the eight hundred and fifty men
still left him, he made arrangements for defense. The rest of his men
had been sent on distant expeditions. On the i6th of August General
Isaac Brock, the English commander, crossed the Detroit river with over
two thousand regulars and Indians, and demanded the surrender of the
city. When Brock demanded surrender he had said that he could not
restrain his allies, the Indians, from rapine and murder, in case the
place should be carried by assault. Hull dared not rely upon his
insubordinate militia for any desperate fighting, and as he had learned
that the officers had formed a conspiracy to take away his command
from him, he decided to surrender. He knew that if he defended the
place and his enemies succeeded in defeating him, the fate of the
women and children would be terrible. Among them was a part of his
own family, and he had not the courage to ran the risk. He
surrendered without making an effort to fight, and for this was counted
a traitor, tried by court-martial and condenmed to be shot. But
Madison, remembering that he had served through the Revolution with
devotion, and feeling that the neglect of the government had much to
do with the case, pardoned him.
FOR FCRTHER READING:
History— Drake's Life of Tecumseh and the Prophet."
FiCTlos — Richardson's "Hardscrabble."
Richartifion's "Waumaugee."
CHAPTER LXXV.
WAR OF l8l2 — THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN — THE BATTLE OF QUEENS-
TOWN — NAVAL OPERATIONS — THE SIX TRIUMPHS OF THE
AMERICANS — AFFAIRS IN THE WEST — THE
5^ r^c^ CONFLICT ON THE LAKES —
/-perry's VICTORY.
.ENERAL STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER
had been given command on the Niagara
frontier, with orders to capture the heights of
Queenstown. On the morning of October 13,
1 81 2, he sent two small columns across the river.
Some of the men succeeded in landing, but
several of the boats lost their way. The regulars
charged up a hill and took position on a plateau, wait-
ing here for the attack of the enemy. The American
force was worsted and obliged to retreat to the beach.
They were here reinforced, and ordered to scale the
heights, which they did, capturing a battery at the top
of the slope. General Brock had heard of the conflict,
and had ridden at full speed from Fort Dodge. Upon
his appearance on the field the English regained courage, and made an
effort to recover their batten,-. They drove the Americans to the very
verge of the precipice. The American commander realized that a
desperate defence must be made, and he cheered on his men to such a
fierce assault that the English broke and fled down the slope. General
Brock made a brave effort to reorganize the English, but fell, mortally
wounded. Three other officers in turn took up his command, but all
fell, and a retreat was ordered. Lieutenant-colonel Winfield Scott now
reinforced the Americans, and assumed command on the heights. He
had expected that the militia would follow him, but the militia refused
to be taken out of their State, and cautiously remained where they were.
The British were quick to take advantage of Scott's unprotected
NEVER GIVE UP THE SHIP."
457
position, and charged upon liim with a heavy force. He repelled thejn
twice with the bayonet, and npon the third charge, in which the
English were reinforced, the Americans were driven to the precipice,
and let themselves down from ledge to ledge, hanging by bushes and
roots till they reached the water. The boats were not here to receive
them, and they were forced to surrender, making the entire American
loss in this action about one
thousand.
The war party were much
opposed to the use of the
navy — if the few gunboats
possessed by the Americans
could be distinguished by
that name — but, at length,
Madison was persuaded to
order out the vessels, such
as they were. The
British navy at this
time had more than
one thousand vessels,
manned by one hun-
dred and forty-four
thousand sailors. The
[United States had
twenty large war
vessels and a few
gunboats, together
carrying about three
hundred guns. The
nav}' itself was anx-
ious to take part in the war,
and one hour after consent
was given Commodore John
Rogers put to sea in the
President, and gave chase
to the English frigate Belvi-
dere, which escaped with a
loss of seven men. The Presi-
dent lost sixteen men by the
bursting of a gun, and six
45^> THE STORY OF AMERICA.
from the fire of the enemy. Rogers went on across the Atlantic,
capturing an English privateer and seven merchantmen, and retaking an
American prize. At the same time an English squadron off New
York captured several merchantmen and the man-of-war Nautilus.
Thus began the wars upon the seas. After this there were
numerous engagements, one of the most notable of which was the
victor}' of the frigate Constitution., under Captain Isaac Hull. He fought
the British frigate Gucrricre. The vessels opened broadsides upon
each other at close range, and finally grappled, both parties trjing to
board. But the sea was rough and the musketry fire unceasing, and
they were obliged to give this up. The Guerriere lost her mainmast
and foremast, and the Constitution freed herself, and got into a position
where she could take her antagonist fore and aft. The Guci-riere,
therefore, struck. The ' Americans lost but fourteen men and the
British seventy-nine, losing their ship into the bargain, for in the
morning it was found necessary to blow her up, as she was sinking. It
was said that the victory to the Americans came through superior gun
practice, which was not a little astonishing to the English, who
had especially prided themselves upon proficiency in that direction.
The Americans had placed sights upon their guns and could, therefore,
fire with great accuracy. The English, as yet, had not adopted this
plan. When Captain Hull landed in Boston he was met with a public
welcome. Triumphal arches had been raised, the streets decorated,
and he and his officers were entertained at a public dinner. In New
York and Philadelphia he met with a like recognition of his services,
and Congress voted him a gold medal, and his crew fifty thousand
dollars. At the beginning of autumn, in the conflict between the
Wasp., of America, and the Frolic, of England, the vessels grappled and
the Americans sprang on the deck of the Frolic and compelled surrender.
The Frolic carried a large crew, of which only twenty were unhurt. A
few weeks later. Commodore Stephen Decatur captured a packet with
a large amount of specie, and afterwards fell in with the frigate Mace-
donia with which he fought two hours. The Macedonia struck, and
owned to a loss of one hundred and four men. Decatur lost but twelve.
Captain Bainbridge fell in with the British frigate yia'Z'rt, off the coast of
South America, and after a fight of two hours the Java struck, having
lost every spar and one hundred and twenty men. Bainbridge' s frigate,
the Constitution, lost but thirty-four men. It was this engagement
which gave to the Constitution the title of "Old Ironsides." England
was amazed, that in the six encounters at sea the enemy should have
"never give up the ship." 459
been successful in everv- one. The war party of America was almost
amazed at the sticcess of the navy, since it had steadily objected to its
use. But the capture of three hundred British merchantmen which
were now kept in American ports, and the presence of the three
thousand prisoners belonging to them, was a matter which could not be
belittled.
Early in the winter of 181 2, a new army, numbering about ten
thousand, drawn from the Western States, was put under command of
William Henr}' Harrison, for the purpose of recovering the territory'
lost by Hull's surrender of Detroit. An advance detachment at that
time occupying Monroe, Michigan, was attacked on Januar.^ 2 2d by
fifteen hundred British and Indians, under Colonel Henrj- Proctor. The
Americans fought behind fences, but these were poor shields against the
British artiller>'. General Winchester was captured, and from what he
saw in the enemy's lines, feared that wholesale slaughter would ensue
unless the Americans surrendered. He found means to send word to
that effect, and the Americans surrendered, under Proctor's promise of
protection against the Indians. This promise was broken, and the Indians
not only killed all the prisoners, but tortured them cruelly. Harrison
now hastened to build Fort Meigs, at the rapids of the Maumee river,
and Proctor besieged this work in April, threatening, as usual, that if
the place was carried by assault the men would be massacred. The
Americans succeeded in spiking the enemy's batteries, and Proctor was
forced to raise the siege. A little later, Tecumseh, the Indian chief,
joined Proctor, and their force, five thousand strong, attacked Fort
Stevenson, on the Sandusky, where Fremont now stands. The garrison
numbered but one hundred and sixty men and possessed but one gun.
When Major George Croghan received the summons to surrender or be
massacred, he replied that when the fort was taken there w^ould be no
men left to kill. After bombarding the fort without eflfect for a long
time from their gunboats and with the field artillery-, the British
advanced to the attack on two sides at the same moment. Croghan placed
his single gun where it would sweep the ditch. He loaded it to the
muzzle, and waited till the attacking party leaped over the ditch. In
the discharge it swept down nearly ever)- man. A second column met
with a like fate and the party retreated.
The attention of the nation was turned more particularly for a time
to the lakes, where both parties were struggling hard for ascendancy.
Isaac Chauncey was the American commodore, and Sir James Yeo the
British admiral. Both countries had expended much money and pains
460 THH STORY OF AMERICA.
upon the fitting out of fleets, and here it was felt the war would be
largely decided. In April, 1813, Commodore Chauncey's fleet carried
General Dearborn and fifteen hundred men from Sackett's Harbor, and
landed them two miles west of what 'is now Toronto. At that time it
was called, York, and was the capital of Upper Canada. The expedi-
tion had for its purpose the capture of a large ship then building
at the docks, the capture of which Chauncey thought necessary'
to his success. But the ship was afloat before Chauncey and
and his fleet reached York, and nothing came of the movement. When
the Americans had landed, under protection of a well-armed schooner,
the body of English and Indians, who had withstood them, fell back
behind some fortifications. They were closely followed by the Amer-
icans, who ordered that a halt should be made till the artillery had time
to come up. While they were waiting, a magazine near the works,
containing one hundred barrels of powder, exploded, killing or wound-
ing two hundred Americans. But they rallied and pressed forward into
the town, and during the four days which they remained, fired the
government buildings. In the legislative chamber they found a human
scalp hanging as a trophy, or a reminder of their Indian allies, and this
was sent, with the speaker's mace and a British standard, to Washing-
ton. Chauncey now returned to Sackett's Harbor, landing Dearborn
and his force near the mouth of the Niagara river. Here, a month
later, Chauncey rejoined them and Fort George was taken. At this time
Yeo, the English admiral, with General Prevost, was on his way to
Sackett's Harbor, which had been left almost without defense at the
time that Dearborn was in York. The English attacked the town in
-front, while their Indian allies fought at the rear. The American
militia fled after the first fire, but the regulars and volunteers fought
until they were forced to take refuge in the log barracks. Their com-
mander ordered them to pretend to march for the boats, and General
Prevost, fearing that his escape would be cut ofi", ordered a retreat
leaving two hundred and sixty dead and wounded behind him. The
loss among the Americans was as severe in proportion to their numbers,
and their stores, which were worth half a million dollars, were unfortu-
nately burned. Several other mishaps overtook the Americans on the
Niagara frontier, and closed the campaign for the summer with as
melancholy a record of defeat as could well be imagined.
On Lake Erie, however, there was an exploit which was most
successful for the Americans. Here a squadron was commanded by
CajDtain Oliver Hazard Perry. By Avigust he was afloat with ten vessels,
"never give up the ship." 461
carrying fifty-five guns, in vigorous search of the British squadron
of six vessels, which bore sixty-five guns and was commanded
by Captain Barclay. These forces did not meet till the
middle of September. The English squadron drew up in line of
battle, but the American line was straggling, and one of the American
vessels was soon reduced to a wreck and obliged to drop out of action.
Perry left her, took a small boat, and in the midst of a fierce storm of
bullets reached the Niagara. He sailed this vessel straight through
the British lines, delivering broadsides on both sides as he went. Then
getting across the bows of the English vessels he raked two or three of
them while his smaller craft poured in grape and canister. Perry told
the outcome of the day's work in his brief despatch to General
Harrison: "We have met the enemy and they are ours — two ships,
two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."
Harrison was transported by Perry's fleet to the Canadian shore of
the Detroit river and besieged Fort Maiden. The English general set
fire to the place and retreated, and Harrison pursued him by land while
Perry carried his baggage and supplies by water. On the 5th of
October Proctor turned about and faced his pursuers, choosing a posi-
tion where he could plant his guns in a highway, and be protected on
each side by marshes. Tecumseh was with Proctor, and the Indians
and British were arrayed for the defence of the highway. Harrison
placed his mounted infantry in the front of the ranks, and faced the
Indians who were in the marsh. The horsemen moved slowly when the
bugle gave them the signal, but increased their pace till they dashed
with terrible force through the enemy, killing, capturing or scattering
the English regulars. Proctor was pursued by a dozen well-mounted
men, but escaped. Tecumseh was killed and the Indians fled. The
Americans had regained the territory of Michigan, and Harrison and
his troops returned to Buffalo. This decisive conflict was known as the
battle of the Thames. Hull, and then Dearborn, had then been retired
with their military reputations shattered, and General Wilkinson was
now put in charge of the northern forces, which consisted of Harrison's
force at Buffalo, the force at Fort George, that at Sackett's Harbor, and
the right wing of the Vermont frontier, under Wade Hampton, these
numbering altogether about twelve thousand men. Wilkinson was in
poor health, and was much more interested in a whisky bottle than in a
campaign, and therefore left his command largely to inferior officers.
It was the plan for him to move down the St. Lawrence with a part of
the men, while Hampton was to advance overland, make a junction
462 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
with liini and the whole army was to move upon ^Montreal. To make
the road easy, Chauncey drove Yeo into port and kept him there. But
notwithstanding this, the Americans met with many disasters. The
weather was bad, the boats poor, and some were driven ashore, while
others went to the bottom, causing the delay of the whole flotilla until
they could be replaced. At Williamsburg, they encountered troops to the
number of seventeen hundred. A sharp battle followed, from which
both parties retired in good order with a loss which was similar upon
both sides. The other general. Wade Hampton, was as inefficient as
Wilkinson, and he sent word that he could not make the junction
agreed upon. Upon receiving this news Wilkinson willingly went
into winter quarters. Hampton, with five thousand men, had been
successfully checked by the English Lieutenant-Colonel de Dalaberry,
who had a force of four or five hundred. In December General Drum-
mond appeared between Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the Americans
holding Fort George, which had been so expensivel}' gained the summer
before, fled at his approach, taking refuge in Fort Niagara and burning
Newark as they went. The enemy followed them and captured Fort
Niagara without meeting with any respectable resistance. They killed
eighty of the garrison, including the men in the hospital. A number
of towns were destroyed, and all the farming region laid waste, many
of the inhabitants being put to death.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Fiction — Kirkland's "Zur>'."
W. C. Iron's 'The Double Hero."
Poetry — J. G. PercivaVs "Perry's Victory on Lake Erie."
Oliver W. Holmes' "Old Ironsides."
Levi Bishop's "Battle of the River Raisiu."
CHAPTER LXXVI.
"|lus Jtigljls."
THE WAR WITH THE CREEKS — JACKSON'S CAMPAIGN — AFFAIRS ON
I THE SEA-BOARD — "YANKEE" STRATEGY —
lA the treaty of PEACE.
EFORE Wilkinson had been removed from the
southern to the northern departments, he had taken
Mobile away from the Spaniards. This he did
without resistance. It was done in accordance with
the claim that the eastern boundar)- of Louisiana
was the Perdido river. Spain denied this, and
resented the seizure of Mobile. The powerful tribe
of Creek Indians were given supplies of arms and am-
munition at Pensacola and incited against the Americans.
Tecumseh, who had since met with a warrior's death,
had been sent south to lash the Creeks by his resentful
eloquence into a still more warlike frame of mind.
Both the English and the Spaniards urged them on,
and early in 1813 they began their hostilities. In the
first encounter they were defeated, but in the second one, at Fort
Mimms, a thousand of them, under the command of a noted half-breed,
William Weathersford, besieged a stockade in which the inhabitants of
the neighborhood had taken refuge. The men and women fought
together here for many hours, and large numbers of the Indians were
killed, but the buildings were finally set on fire, and the Indians
massacred the people as usual, not even sparing the children. Only
twelve of the garrison escaped. The rest were murdered with horrible
tortures.
The Southwestern States were prompt to punish these atrocities.
The legislature of Tennessee appropriated three hundred thousand
dollars for the campaign, and placed Andrew Jackson at the head of
five thousand men. These men were composed largely of Western
464 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
pioneers, well mounted, used to forest fighting, and capable of great
endurance. Among them were Sam Houston and Davy Crockett, men
which every American schoolboy counts among his heroes. Jackson
"built Fort Deposit, on the Tennessee, as a depot for supplies, and
foraged the country thoroughly, burning every Indian village in his
way. The Indians were first met at the little village which occupied
the site of the present Jacksonville. The American detachment con-
sisted of one thousand mounted men, who gave the Indians no quarter,
killing every one of them, and taking the squaws and children
prisoners. In a later encounter they killed three hundred out of one
thousand of the eneni}-. At this time a force of about fifteen hundred
came from Georgia, while from the West came another force, so that
the Creeks had enemies upon three sides of them. The Western men,
under General F. S. Claiborne, discovered a town of refuge on the
Alabama. This was built on holy ground, and no path led to it. In it
were the women, children and the prophets. When Claiborne broke in
upon their religious rites, he found captives bound to stakes ready to be
burned. Claiborne sacked and burned the town. By this time winter
liad closed in, and the short enlistments of the men were expiring, and
therefore the operations for the year were closed.
Along the sea-board, America had met with continued disasters
through the year of 1813. Early in the spring a blockade had been
declared from Montauk Point, on the eastern extremity of Long Island,
to the mouth of the Mississippi. It was true that the British squadron
was not sufficient to guard such a vast extent of coast, but it was well
able to seriously interfere with commerce, and harass the people of the
towns. Admiral Cockburn was especially dreaded for his cruelties.
Along the shores of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina,
he waged an unsoldierly warfare upon the quiet people of the villages
and farms. His brutal sailors, half intoxicated, were allowed to over-
run the countr}', robbing, burning, and committing every outrage which
their ungoverned viciousness prompted. Cockbum's men enticed awa\-
slaves and sold them in the West Indies. But their destruction and
appropriation of property were the least of their offences.
In the course of the year Congress authorized the building of four
ships of the line, six frigates, six sloops of war, and as many vessels as
might be necessary for operation on the lakes. Besides these, a large
number of privateers were commissioned, and did some excellent
service. One of the most notable of the engagements between privateers
was between the Shannon and the Chesapeake. This happened before
'blue lights." 465
Perry's victor>' on Lake Erie, and, indeed, the vessel which Perry
fought in was the Lawrence, named after the gallant commander of the
Chesapeake, and on Perry's flag were the last words of Captain
Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship." The fight between the Shannon
and the Chesapeake took place in Boston Bay, and the American
vessel was so injured that she became unmanageable. The enemy
swarmed upon the decks and poured a terrible fire down the hatchways,
and after an engagement of fifteen minutes the ship was theirs, and
though the fight had been so brief, the Chesapeake had forty-eight
killed and nearly one hundred wounded, and the Shannon twenty-three
killed and over fifty wounded. Another naval engagement with a
pathetic ending was that of the brig En/erprise, and the English brig
Boxer. The Boxer surrendered after a fight of three-quarters of an
hour, oflF the coast of Maine. Both captains were killed and buried side
by side in Portland. There is an exciting little story told of the fishing
smack Yankee, which had forty well-armed men concealed below, but
showed on deck only three men, a calf, a sheep, and a goose. After
sailing out of New York she met with a British sloop of war, the Eagle,
which was in want of provisions, and as the Yankees drew along side,
her forty men sprang on board the sloop of war, killed a number of the
crew, drove the rest below, and took possession, sailing up the bay with
their prize. Thousands cheered them from the batter}', where they
were celebrating the anniversary of American independence. Perhaps
it is better to leave untold histories like that of the American brig
Argus, which captured an English merchantman laden with wine, to
which the crew were allowed to help themselves till they were all
drunk. They then set the prize on fire, and by this brilliant light
they were seen by the English brig Palatine, which bore down upon
the Argus and captured her. One disaster which greatly disheartened
the people was the defeat of Decatur, whose squadron was driven into
New London and kept there by the larger force of the blockaders, so
that none of these ships got to sea again while the war lasted. The
Connecticut militia gathered upon the shores in such numbers that it
was impossible for the English to capture them. But Decatur and his
officers fretted under the idleness and made more than one attempt to
break through the line of the enemy's ships. When they failed in
these attempts they complained that there were traitors on shore, who
warned the ships outside of their movements by burning blue lights.
This the people of Connecticut stoutly denied, but as they belonged to
the party which was oppo.sed to the war, they were not believed,
466 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
although their militia stood staunchly by Decatur's fleet week in and
week out. It is possible, and even probable, that upon occasions these
blue lights were burned by some traitor on shore, but it was the grossest
injustice to accuse the loyal people of Connecticut of this. It was a
time, however, of great political hatred, and the Federalists were always
afterward called the "Blue Lights."
As the year 181 4 opened, the outlook for American success was
dark. Napoleon's power had been broken, and an act was passed to
increase the regular army to sixty-six thousand men. It was evident
that if England chose, she could overrun the country with veteran
troops. But negotiations for peace now began. It was decided that
these should be conducted at Gottenburg. John Quincy Adams, James
A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell and Albert Gallatin were
appointed commissioners and instructed to insist that in the future
there should be no search or impressment by English naval commanders
upon American vessels, but to offer to exclude British seamen from
American vessels and to surrender deserters. This was practically
yielding up the cause for which the war had been fought, for had this
arrangement been made at the outset there could have been little excuse
for war. While these matters were under slow consideration, prepara-
tions for the campaign of the coming year, 1814, were continued.
FOR FURTHER READING:
CHAPTER LXXVII.
JACKSON'S CAMPAIGN AMONG THE CREEKS — DISCOURAGEMENTS ON
THE NORTHERN FRONTIER — THE BATTLE OF LUNDY'S
LANE — THE WAR ON THE SEA-COAST FOR 1814 —
THE CAPTURE AND DESTRUCTION OF THE
CITY OF WASHINGTON — VICISSITUDES
AT THE SOUTH — THE BAT-
TLE OF NEW OR-
4>^
LEANS.
p^NDREW JACKSON had been made Major-Gen,
eral, and commanded nine hundred raw recruits.
His late army had gone home at the end of their
time of service, in spite of his prayers. With
these inexperienced men he marched into the
country of the Creeks, fought two battles, and
lost a hundred soldiers. Shortly after this, his army
was increased to five thousand men, and he renewed
hostilities. At Horseshoe Bend, in the Tallapoosa,
there is a peninsula of one hundred acres, with a neck
not more than five hundred feet wide. Upon this
peninsula one thousand Creek warriors encamped, and
threw up a rude breastwork across the neck. Jackson
marched with nearly three thousand men against this
defence, sending a detachment of mounted men and
friendly Indians to the enemy's rear. After cannonading without
effect upon the breastwork for two hours, Jackson saw smoke arising in
the rear and knew that his detachment had reached the Indian village
and fired it. He then ordered his men to storm the works, and the\-
fought hand-to-hand with their enemies through the loop-holes for a
while, then leaped the defence, and charged with the bayonet. It was
seldom that an Indian asked for quarter. His idea of warfare was to
4d8 the story ok AMERICA.
kill or be killed, and he did not complain when luck was against him.
The Americans shot down the Indians as they ran to hide themselves
in the thickets, or to swim the stream, and thus for a time the Creeks
were checked.
Not so encouraging was the reopening of affairs in the North.
Wilkinson's militaiy career was ended in the beginning of the year by
two military' disasters. The Secretary of War still wished to invade
Canada by the river St. L,awrence, and to do this, proposed to take
Kingston. To conceal this movement and to make sure that no enemy
was left in the rear, Major-General Brown was ordered to commence
operations on the peninsula between Erie and Ontario. On July 2d
he compelled the surrender of Fort Erie. On the 5th he was unex-
pectedly forced into a battle, in which the British retreated, and the
Indians, disgusted at their defeat, all deserted them. Brown felt it to
be safe, after this success, to move upon Kingston along the lake shore,
and asked for the co-operation of Chauncey's fleet, assuring that admiral
that Canada could now be taken without difficulty. But this co-opera-
tion Chauncey did not give him, and Brown was forced to turn back,
upon learning that the English general; Riall, with large reinforce-
ments, was at Queenstown. Winfield Scott, now a brigadier-general,
was sent forward with a corps of observation, and as his troops came
into an open space looking upon Lundy's Lane, nearly opposite Niagara
Falls, they were met by the entire British force drawn up in line of
battle. Scott at once sent detachments to turn the wing of the enemj'
and succeeded in capturing a large number of prisoners. General
Brown was soon on the ground with reinforcements, and he saw that
the great strength of the British lay in their centers, where they had
seven guns planted upon a low hill. Colonel James Miller was ordered
to take this batter}-, and modestly answering, "I will trj-, sir," he put
his men in motion and ordered them to move cautiously through the
dusk — for it was after sunset. The men crept along the ground up to
a fence, and when their commander whispered the order, they shot
every man at the guns, and rushed forward in the face of a sharp fire
and captured them. The British made two determined efforts to retake
the battery but failed, and as the darkness deepened they retired. The
battle of Lundy's Lane was not a decisive one, but it was one of the
hardest ever fought. Of the two thousand Americans engaged, seven
hundred and forty-three were killed or wounded, and of the four thou-
sand British, eight hundred and seventy-eight. General Winfield Scott
was so severely wounded that he could not serve during the rest of the
A COUNTRY WITHOUT A CAPITAL.
469
war, and General Brown for some time was obliged to leave the com-
mand in other hands. In the meantime General Edward Gaines was
given command of the American troops, and conducted a defense
47° THE STORY OF AMERICA,
against a midnight assault, on August loth, with great success, the
English losing nearly a thousand men.-
The Americans were besieged in Fort Erie and the English brought
their parallels so close that showers of hot shot were thrown into the
fort. One of these disabled General Gaines, and Brown, though still
far from well, assumed command. On December 17th, a sudden sortie
with two thousand men was made by the Americans, overwhelming the
besiegers, dismounting the guns and destroying the works. In this the
Americans lost five hundred men and the British nine hundred. The
siege was then abandoned, and in October the Americans destroyed
Fort Erie and returned to their own shore.
In spite of these successes the Americans had gained but little. Two
thousand of their men had been buried on Canadian soil. It had been
proved that the Americans had not quite forgotten how to fight, but
nothing had been gained which was of permanent value to the country.
As the summer closed, both parties stood on the defensive on their own
side of the border. Sir George Prevost made an attempt to invade
New York as far as Crown Point, on the old path over which so many
warlike expeditions had moved, but this attempt was unsuccessful, and
Prevost abandoned his plan.
On the sea-coast the war had been one signal disaster. The block-
ading squadron was increased and the American vessels kept well in
shore, while depredations upon the coast were frequent and vicious.
The valley of the Penobscot was seized as a conquered province, being
invaded by General Pilkington, who met with no defense except that
which a half-armed and thoroughly frightened militia could give.
In August, the English fleet appeared oif Stonington, Connecticut,
and gave the inhabitants one hour to remove the women and children.
The little village was then bombarded steadily for three days, and into
it was thrown fifty tons of iron and solid shot, bombshells, etc. There
were only about a score of men to defend the town, and these mounted
three old guns and handled them so well that they kept the enemy from
landing, and inflicted a loss upon them of seventy men killed or
wounded. Seven of the defendants were wounded, but none killed.
Shortly after this, occurred that epi.sode of which the Americans are
perhaps more ashamed than of anything else in their national histor>'.
In August of 1 814 General Ross, with thirty-five hundred men, the
finest regiments of Wellington's army, appeared in the Chesapeake and
was here reinforced by one thousand marines from Cockbum's block-
ading squadron. The whole force was landed about forty miles below
A COUNTRY WITHOUT A CAPITAL. 47 1
Washington. President Madison and the Senate had been warned again
and again of the purpose of Ross' expedition, but the war party refused
to believe or listen, and when the English appeared upon the coast, but
slight defense was possible. Brigadier-General William Winder had
been placed in command of five hundred regulars, a few weeks before,
with the assurance that two thousand militia would respond to his
orders. But no effort was made to put this little force in condition to
take the field. When Ross made his undisputed arrival, he could hardly
believe that the way had thus been left open to him. He moved on
cautiously, and at length met Winder, whose militia, at the firing of
the first English rockets, fled to Washington. The President and his
Cabinet had their personal safety more at heart than any other matter,
and set the example by getting away with as much haste as possible.
The only honest defense which the British met with was from a small
band of seamen and marines, commanded by Commodore Barney and
Captain Miller. When these men, six hundred in number, were
obliged to retreat, they left six hundred dead Englishmen behind them
to show that every man had done his duty. As the British entered
Washington the Americans set fire to their own navy yard, forgetting
that the English could do no worse should they take it. The invaders
burned ever>' public ofl5ce in Washington except the patent office,
which was spared because of the assurance that it contained nothing
but private property and models of the arts, which were of general use to
the world. Admiral Cockburn, leaping into the speaker's chair as his
followers entered the halls of Congress, cried out: "Shall this harbor
of Yankee democracy be burned? All for it say, aye." The public
libraries were also burned, and the next night the invaders crept quietly
away, expecting to be severely punished for their depredations — a sus-
picion which was a compliment to the Americans not deserved by them.
The British were almost as bewildered as gratified by a success so
extraordinary, and they hastened to send an expedition against Balti-
more. The citizens of that city were warned in time, and put up
fortifications, calling out all of the available troops to repel the invasion.
When Ross landed at the head of his advance, he was picked off by a
sharpshooter and carried to his boat, where he died in a few minutes.
The three thousand volunteers, under General John Sticker, withstood
the enemy for three hours, and then fell back upon the intrenchments.
The following day they were reinforced, and the British quietly retreated
in the night. In the meanwhile, sixteen vessels moved up the bay and
opened fire upon the defences of Baltimore. For twenty-four hours
4/2
THE STORY OF AMERICA.
they poured a continuous stream of rockets and shells into the forts,
and at night sent a strong force to attack them in the rear. But this
was discovered and dispersed by a fire of red-hot shot, and the fleet
retired. There were four notable battles on the ocean during the
year, in three of which the Americans were successful. These only
showed, by contrast, how disgraceful was the fight upon shore. The
efibrt to make a conquest of Canada was as far from accomplishment as
at the beginning. The Federalists were not slow to point oiit the weak-
ness of the Administration, and to dilate upon the great injury which
it was doing to the country, and to the commercial States in j^articular.
The cost of the war was but a small item compared with the loss which
the people of New England sustained from the crushing of their trade.
There were serious thoughts of forming a Northern Confederacy, not
for the purpose of disbanding the Union, but that it might not be
tyrannized over by a faction whose policy was so disastrous. It was
questioned by great statesmen whether the Union had not been a failure,
A COUNTRY WITHOUT A CAPITAL. 473
and a coiu'ention, having representatives from all the Northern States,
met at Hartford, for the purpose of considering the new Constitution,
or of making ameudments to the old one which should prevent such
evils as they were then suffering from. Massachusetts was particularly
anxious that the legislati\-e powers of the people should rest upon a
different basis, and that the number of representatives should depend
upon the population, but nothing definite was done at the convention.
In the meantime, the British force had taken possession of the Span-
ish town of Pensacola, in Florida, and used it as a station to fit out
expeditions against Mobile and New Orleans. Here they equipped the
Indians for war, and attempted to drill them. Jackson received fresh
troops from Tennessee and Kentucky, and marched southward to meet
this new invasion. The British attacked Fort Bowyer, at Mobile, in
September, but were repulsed. They blew up the fort at Pensacola in
November, when they heard that Jackson was approaching, and left
him to take undisputed possession of the town.
Jackson now hastened to New Orleans and made preparations to
defend that port, the loss of which would give the English the com-
mand of the Alississippi. Jackson was in his element, for he was never
better pleased than when encountering difl&culties. He made up his
lack of men b}- enrolling convicts, appealing to the free negroes and
calling out the militia. He proclaimed martial law through the city,
built intrenchments, and considered ever>' possibility and exigency
which might arise. The British landed twenty-four hundred men nine
miles below the cit}-, and Jackson went down to meet them with about
two thousand men. It was on the 23d of December, when the days
were short, and night was closing before he reached the enemj', so that
the attack had to be made after dark. The armies became intermingled
and the fights were largely hand-to-hand. When the Americans with-
drew to their fortifications, after two hours of fighting, each side had
lost more than two hundred men. Almost immediately after the action
the British troops received large reinforcements, and among them was
General Sir Edward Pakenham, brother-in-law to the Duke of Well-
ington, who was to take the chief command. The situation of his
armies seemed to him unfortunate. They were on a narrow strip of
low land, bounded on one side b}- a broad river and on the other by a
morass. The enemy in front, of unknown numbers, were behind forti-
fications. Two American vessels in the river harassed the camp day
and night, and the weather was causing sickness among the men.
Pakenham brought some guns across the peninsula, destroyed one
474 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
American vessel with hot-shot and drove the other up stream. He then
erected bastions of hogsheads of sugar, behind which he mounted thirty
guns, and opened the year 1815 with this warlike action. Jackson, on
his part, used cotton bales for his bastion, and before these were knocked
out of place and set on fire, had constructed good earthworks a mile and
a half in the rear. Both sides were reinforced during the week that
followed, and both generals laid excellent plans of procedure.
On the 8th of Januar)' the English opened an attack, advancing in
two columns, and preceded by regiments bearing ladders and fascines.
Between them marched a thousand Highlanders, to support an attack
on both wings. But Jackson' s men were those of the West and South,
who, as riflemen, have never been excelled, and their aim was unerring.
The artillery- was handled with precision, and in the first discharge from
the thirty-two-pounder, the entire van of one of the British columns
was swept away. In attempting to reform his men, Pakenham was
killed, two other generals were seriously wounded, and the commander
of the Highland regiment was shot dead. In twenty -five minutes the
action was over, and the British found that they had lost seven hundred
killed, fourteen hundred wounded and five hundred prisoners, while the
American loss was but seventeen. Such a brilliant success as this might
well have raised the confidence of the American people, but at this
time news was received that peace had been concluded at Ghent, on the
24th of December, two weeks before the battle of New Orleans.
FOR FURTHER READING:
Biography— Parton's "Life of Jackson."
f iCTIo;.-— Glerg's "The Subaltern."
J. H. Ingraham's "Lafitte."
O. W. Cable's "Grandissimes."
G. W. Cable's "Old Creole Dajjs."
G. C. Eggleston's "Captain Dain."
PoETKY— Francis Scott Key's 'The Star-Spangled Banner."
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
jl Sransiani J[miatilil^.
THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING — WAR WITH ALGIERS — FINANCIAL CON-
DITION OF THE COUNTRY — THE FIRST SEMI-
NOLE WAR — THE MISSOURI
COMPROMISE.
^HEN the Treaty of Peace was at last ratified, there
came what is known as ' 'the era of good feeling. ' '
For a time the political parties were glad to»forget
their quarrels and rejoice together over the restora-
tion of peace. Everj'where there were celebra-
tions, public dinners, congratulatory speeches and
wine-drinking. In the general rejoicing, the
people did not much concern themselves that the treaty
was not a good one, and that it left matters practically
where they were before the war. Those who thought
about the matter doubtless consoled themselves that,
however weak the treaty was, England would not soon
again impose upon American vessels as she had done
previously, and that she would stand in wholesome fear
of the resistance with which an}' presumptuous step on
her part would be met.
There was one other question of foreign difficulty to be settled, and
that was with Algiers. The Dey of Algiers was dissatisfied with the
measure of the usual tribute. He declared war against the United
States and renewed his depredations upon American commerce. Early
in the spring of 1815, Decatur, his old enemy, was sent with a squadron
of nine vessels to the Mediterranean. In June, he captured an Algerian
frigate and a brig of twenty-two guns. He then anchored his whole
squadron in the harbor of Algiers and demanded immediate negotiations
for a treaty. To conduct these negotiations the Dey came on board
Decatur's ship and begged that there might be a continuation of tribute,
if only of a little powder, for fonn's sake. The Dey knew that should
47^ THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the United States refuse to pa}- tribute, all of the nations would follow
the example, and the Barbary States would no longer receive a large por-
tion of their wealth from these sources. "If you insist on receiving
powder as tribute," said Decatur, "you must expect to receive balls-
with it. ' ' The Dey yielded, and a treaty was concluded with Algiers,
followed by others with Tunis and Tripoli. Thus the United States,
the youngest of all the nations, was the first to put an end to that sur-
prising submission to the piratical Barbary States.
As might be expected, the country' was in the worst of financial
conditions, and the immediate measures of the Secretary of the Treasurj'
and of Congress were for the purpose of bettering commercial affairs.
A new national bank was chartered, with a capital of thirty-five million
dollars, and duties were raised on imports to such an extent that they
amounted almost to prohibition. The Democrats, or the Southern
element, were in favor of this policy which protected their great staple,
cottoo, but the men of New England opposed it, since it ruined the
carrying trade, which was their great source of profit, and which the
war had deprived them of for the last four years. The free-trade party
was led by Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, and the tariff party by
John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. All the flourishing sea-ports of
New England, from Portsmouth to Long Island Sound, received at this
time a blow from which they never recovered.
As another presidential election neared, the power of the Federal
party continued to wane until it was quite annihilated. James ]\Ionroe,
of Mrginia, was made President in 1817. He had fought in the Revo-
lutionary War, and had been Secretary of State under Madison.
Though an amiable man, he had but little strength of character, and
was not well calculated to manage the affairs of State. He was not
well established, when he was called upon to consider some serious
matters on the southern frontier. For a short time it looked as if
America might once more be plunged in war, end this time with Spain,
as well as England. Florida, which was still a Spanish province, was
the home of the Seminole Indians, and these savages had for many
years offered protection to the slaves who sought it. It will be remem-
bered that many years before there had been an insurrection among the
slaves of South Carolina and Georgia, and that they had fled into
Florida. There had been three generations of people since that time,
but the slave-holders of the States mentioned could never forget that
within a short distance of them were hundreds of people who were
their property. When, therefore, there was any war with the Indians
A TRANSIENT AMIABILITY. 477
of Florida, it was always practically a slave hunt, and both the Span-
iards and Seminoles were quick to aid in repulsing such movement.
When the British army left Florida, in 1814, a colonel by the name
of Nichols remained in Florida, and having much sympathy for the
Indians, he built a fort for them on the Appalachicola, near its mouth.
This he supplied with large quantities of arms and ammunition, and
returned to England, leaving the fort in the hands of the Seminoles.
It soon passed from theii hands into those of the negro refugees. Gen-
eral Edmund P. Gaines, who had charge of the southern frontier, con-
tinually complai-ned of this "negro fort," and united with Georgia in
urging the Federal government to war. There was no question but
that the fort was an excellent place of refuge for any overburdened
slaves who found a chance to escape from the lash of the overseer, and
as the slave-holders believed that the Federal government was framed
for the purpose of protecting their interests, and that their chief duties
lay in that direction, it is not strange that the Southern States should
assume the government to be willing to take up arms for the purpose
of recovering these unfortunates.
In July, 1816, a detachment of Americans was sent to attack this
fort, and some red-hot shot entered the magazine, where nearly eight
hundred barrels of gunpowder were stored. The fort was laid in ruins
instantly, and two hundred and seventy of the three hundred and thirty-
four inmates killed outright, most of the others djing from their
wounds soon after. The inmates were negroes and Indians, of both
sexes and all ages. An Indian chief and the negro commander were
among those who were not killed by the explosion, and these were
tortured to death after the Indian manner. It is not surprising that in
the year that followed, the settlers were murdered, and the settlements
robbed. The wonder is rather that the retaliations were not more
numerous. The Seminole chiefs warned the American soldiers not to
cross the Flint river, saying that the land beyond was theirs, and that
they should protect it by every means in their power. General Gaines
did not regard this warning, and marched upon the Seminole village,
burning it to the ground. The Seminoles took to the forest and
waited. A few days later a boat passed down the river carrying forty
soldiers, with some women and children. The Indians, concealed upon
the bank, killed everj' one of these except four men, who swam to the
shore, and one woman, who was kept in captivity by a chief
The command in this border war was now given to Andrew Jack-
son. Jackson paid no attention to the orders given him to call upon
29
478 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the militia of the border States through their governments, but raised a
volunteer force among his old companions-in-arms in Tennessee — all of
them magnificent fighters, and men who worshiped Andrew Jackson as
the hero of his country. On the site of the negro fort he built and gar-
risoned another, which he called Fort Gadsden. From here he advanced
toward the Bay of St. Marks, driving away without difiiculty the few Sem-
inoles who tried to intercept him. The Spanish Governor of the fort at
St. Marks could not make a defense, and Jackson marched in on the 7th
of April, hauled down the Spanish flag and raised the American in its
place. A few days before, an American armed vessel had sailed up the
bay, ran up English colors, and thus enticed on board two well-known
Seminole chiefs who were suppo.sed to have been the leaders in the
recent massacre. They were brought on shore and hung by Jackson's
orders. A strong garrison was left at St. Marks and the march was
resumed. Jackson wished to march upon and surprise the Indian
town Suwannee, which was said to be a place of resort for negro
refugees. Jackson was too late, however, for when he reached the vil-
lage he found it deserted.
At about this time occurred one of those incidents which showed
Andrew Jackson's inflexible and iron nature. At St. Marks he had
taken prisoner a Scotchman named Alexander Arbuthnot, who was a
trader with the Indians. He had a depot of goods near Suwannee, and
from his writing to his son to remove the goods to a place of safety, the
Indians were warned of the advance of the Americans. On this account
Jackson chose to look upon him as a spy. At Suwannee, Robert C.
Ambrister, an ofl&cer of the English army, who had been suspended
from duty for a year on account of fighting a duel, got into the Ameri-
can camp by mistake. It had been his intention to join the Indians.
He was therefore kept as a prisoner of war. Both these men were sen-
tenced to death. Arbuthnot was hanged and Ambrister shot. These
excutions were against all law and entirely without justification. Upon
Jackson's previous campaign he had caused six militiamen to be shot,
because they claimed that their terms of enlistment had expired, and
that they should return to their homes. The men were honest in their
claim, and were entirely innocent of any intention to offend.
When Jackson reached Fort Gadsden upon his return, he was met
■with a protest against this invasion of Spanish territory from the Gov-
ernment of Pensacola. He promptly turned back, reoccupied Pensa-
cola and took the fort to which the Governor had fled. It is said that
he afterwards regretted that he did not hang the Governor. Jackson
THE SECOND ADAMS. 479
tried afterwards to shift the responsibility of all these aggressions upon
the shoulders of Monroe, but it is not rightly known where the greater
part of the blame should be put. It was not Andrew Jackson's habit
to ask permission of any one to do what he considered his duty. Nego-
tiations for a treaty with Spain were being conducted in Washington,
and in February, 1819, they were concluded. The Floridas were ceded
to the United States for the sum of five million dollars.
The breach between the Southern and the Northern States was
widening. The value of slave labor rose as the new lands on the lower
Mississippi opened fresh fields for cultivation. Slave-raising had
become a science, and it was concluded by the economists that it was
better to use up a gang of negroes in seven years and supply their
places by new purchases, than to attempt to prolong the lives of the
gang in hand by moderate labor. The invention of the cotton gin had
also greatly increased the value of slaves, for two hundred pounds of
fibre could be freed of seeds in a single day by the gin. As it was dif-
ficult to overstock the market with this produce, thus it became almost
impossible to overstock the plantations with slaves. There was nothing
the slave-holders so much dreaded as legislative interference, and it was
their constant ambition to keep a man in the presidential chair who
should look after the interests of this wicked traflSc, and see to it that
the Northern States did not get in the ascendancy. To do this it was
necessary that they should insist that as many slave States were included
in the Union as free States. Thus, after Indiana, came Mississippi, in
1817, a free State and a slave State. After Illinois, 1818, came Ala-
bama, 1819, a free State and a slave State. In March, 1818, the citizens
of Missouri asked permission of Congress to form a State constitution,
and to be admitted into the Union. Missouri lay beyond that district
where slaver}' had existed up to this time, and Congress, and indeed
the whole country-, was divided upon the question as to whether Mis-
souri should be a slave State or not. In admitting the other slave States
to the Union, Congress had not instituted slaver}', but only allowed it to
exist. Should the government conclude to permit slaver}' in Missouri,
it would be giving official encouragement to it. When a formal bill
was entered in February, 1819, for the admission of Missouri, a New
York Congressman proposed, as a condition of admission, that from that
moment there should be no personal servitude within the State except
of those already held as slaves, and that these should be freed within a
short time. The South met this proposition with defiance and the
haughtiest indignation. The North was threatened with terrible pun-
4So THE STORY OF AxMERICA.
ishmcnt for her interference with the States of the Sonth. Even as the
question was being discussed a slave-coflle passed the Capitol, the men
being bound together with chains and the women and children walking
behind under the lash of a slave-driver. But this degrading sight served
no otner purpose than to point the paragraph of an eloquent Senator.
For many weeks the debate went on passionately, and finally, when
Maine asked for admission into the Union, the Southern men protested
that she could only be admitted on the condition that Missouri was
allowed to come in as a slave State. Had not some of the Northern
men gone over to the side of the South, slavery might have been kept
out of Missouri, but at last the Southern faction grew so strong that it
became necessary' to accept a compromise, which is known as the Mis-
souri Compromise, in which slavery was prohibited in. all that portion
■of the Louisiana purchase lying north of 35°, 30', excepting Missouri.
This compromise was only carried by much trickery, and what little
good there was in the compromise was taken out of it by the President
and the Cabinet. When the bill was brought to the President he asked
two questions. First, whether Congress had a constitutional right to
prohibit slavery in a territory. The Cabinet were all agreed that Con-
gress had such a right. Second, he wished to know if the section
prohibiting slavery "forever," referred only to the territorial condition
or whether it also applied when the Territory became a State. With
the exception of John Quincy Adams, the Cabinet claimed that this
referred only to the Territory, and that when any of these Territories
became States, they could admit slaves, should they choose to do so.
In the next session of Congress a bill was passed preventing free negroes
and mulattoes from settling in Missouri under any pretext whatever.
In short, negroes in Missouri were to have no rights — they were not
under any circumstances citizens. Thus did the Federal government
make itself responsible for slaverj', and aided in its establishment where
it had not previously existed. From this time forward the fight between
slavery and freedom was an open one.
FOR FURTHER READIn6:
Fiction — Leba Smith's "P.Iajor Jack Downing.'*
Hall's "Legends of the West."
W. G. Simms' "Guv Rivers."
W. G. Simms' "Richard Hurdis."
FALL OF TABLE ROCK.
CHAPTER LXXIX.
ant5*
MONHOE'S administration — ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY OF JOHN
QUINCY ADAMS — THE ASSERTION OF STATE SUPREMACY IN
GEORGIA — TARIFF DISPUTES ANDREW JACKSON
ELECTED PRESIDENT THE FINANCIAL
,^^ CRISIS OF 1837.
HE history of a nation is not confined to its wars
and its disasters. These, though thej' may seri-
ously disturb, cannot uproot the home life in
which the seed of the growth and evolution lies.
During IMonroe's administration the civilization
of America was becoming more profound. Educa-
tion, particularly in the Northern and Western States,
was spreading rapidly. The power of church doctrine
was decreasing and in its place was springing up a
Christianity in which there was more kindliness than
dogma. Already that private enterprise, which at a
later day made America the most convenient country in
the world, began to show itself. DeWitt Clinton dug
the Erie canal, three hundred and sixtj'-three miles long,
connecting Lake Erie and all the upper lakes with the
tide-waters of the Atlantic. Noah himself, when he built his ark, could
hardly have met with more ridicule than did Clinton when he began
this great task. The first spadeful of earth was turned on the 4th of
July, 1817, and in October, 1825, the largest canal in the world was
opened for trafiic. It ran through a rich and fertile wilderness — a
wilderness soon broken by the building up of many towns upon the
banks of the canal. Its original cost was seven million six hundred
thousand dollars.
Steamboats were gradually coming into favor. In 1818 the steamer
Walk-in-ihe-zvatcr ran regularly to Detroit from the eastern extremity
of Lake Erie. In 1819 the first passage on a steamboat was made across
484 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the Atlantic. This was by the ship Savannah^ owned and commanded
by Moses Rogers, of New London, Connecticut. He went from New
York to Savannali, from Savannah to Liverpool, and then up the
Baltic to St. Petersburg. He used both sails and wheels, depending
on his sails when the wind was favorable. When the ship appeared off
the coast of Ireland, she was supposed to be on fire, and a cruiser was
sent out from Cork to offer her relief Congress was too busy atttending
to political affairs to give any recognition to enterprise so remarkable,
and the attempt was not repeated for twenty years.
At the close of Monroe's second term of office, many candidates
for the presidential chair were before the people. The Federal party
had been crushed out and the Democratic party was in power. New
ideas were giving birth to new parties, but at this time it was hardly
apparent what form they wottld take. Throughout the North and the
West, however, there was a firm determination to put an end to
Virginia supremacy. For twenty-four years the office of President had
been held by men from Virginia, and the affairs of the entire nation had
been made subservient to those of the South. Monroe was almost lost
sight of in the midst of the controversies and agitations of the time.
His long and honorable service for his country had not won for him the
consideration and deference which it should. His yielding disposition
had made him seem contemptible, although he was a man of calm
judgment and undeniable patriotism. In his last message to Congress
he fortunately gave voice to what is known as the Monroe Doctrine,
and to this, more than anything else, is he indebted for the preservation
of his name from oblivion. This message expressed great interest in
the young South American States, some of which the King of Spain
was attempting to force into a colonial condition. President Monroe
declared that should any European power attempt to interfere in
American affairs or to deprive any country on the Western continent of
its liberty, it would be considered as a manifestation of an unfriendl}'
disposition towards the United States. Monroe also said that hence-
forth the American continents were not to be considered as subjects for
colonization in the future by any European power, meaning that
hereafter no nation of the Eastern continent should have a right to
usurp any territory upon either of the Americas, and that hereafter the
unsettled country within the acknowledged boundaries of American
States was exclusively their own, and not subject to foreign occupation.
In the presidential election which followed, John Quincy Adams,
of Massachusetts, was elected. All the previous Presidents had taken
THK SECOND ADAMS. 485
part in the revolutionary war or in the founding of the governnieut,
but John Ouinc}' Adams belonged to the generation of younger men,
and was but nine years old when his father had signed the Declaration
of Independence. The opposition to Adams drew together the party
composed mainly of Southern slave-holders with a considerable Northern
alliance. To the support of the Administration rallied all those who
were opposed to a slave-holding Democratic party, and which became
known as National Republicans, although they did not assume this
name definitely until near the close of Adams' administration. So
intensely did the Southerners fear that slavery might be interfered with,
that the Senators from the slave-holding States would not even allow
Congress to send representatives to a Congress of the South American
States, which was to meet at Panama with the purpose of defining their
relations to each other and to foreign States, political and commercial,
and the expediency of a league among themselves. They objected to
this for the reason that the emancipation of slaves might be, and
probably would be, one of the subjects discussed, and they all agreed
that it was a subject which could not with safety be talked about.
They constanth- preached the doctrine of State rights, and .seized every
opportvmit}- to uphold that theory- in the Senate. Georgia was the first
of the States to give a practical illustration of what the South meant by
vState rights. When she became a State, one condition of the cession of
her western territory to the Federal Government was, that the title to
the Indian lands should be acquired by the United States and transferred
to her. The Government had been unable to redeem this promise,
because the Creeks and the Cherokees would not part with their lands,
and had sworn to put to death any chief who should prove such a
renegade to his race as to make a treaty with the United States of
which they should be a part. However, in 1825, certain chiefs
concluded a treaty conveying these lands to the United States, and the
Creeks kept their word and put them to death. The State of Georgia
then ordered a survey of the territory occupied by the Indians, but it
was found that should they do this, it would involve the country in an
Indian war. Besides, the treaty which had been ratified by the Senate
and the President did not put the Creeks out of possession until Septem-
ber I, 1826, and it still lacked over a )ear of the time of its fulfillment.
The President, therefore, refused to consent to the survey, but the
Governor of Georgia insisted upon the right of the State to do as it saw
fit in such matters, and pretended to see in the decision of the President
a secret hostility 10 slavery. The Indians appealed to Adams and the
486 THE STORY OK AMERICA.
whole case was presented to Congress, but nothing was done. The
Administration consented to be quiet, and Georgia was allowed to do
as she pleased. Encouraged by her success at this time, Georgia sooti
asserted her power in other matters and the States of the South rejoiced
in her success.
There had been a time when the protective policy was identified
with the Southern States, but as they saw the North constantly
increasing in riches and prosperity, they concluded that the North must
be reaping more than her share of the benefits which arose from the
protection of commercial industries, and they therefore decided to
advocate free trade measures. The North had been forced to take up
industries by the ver}- protective policy which the South had advocated,
and now wished to abide by the principles of protection. Hereafter,
the question of tariff became a sectional one, the North advocating
protection and the South free trade. As a matter of fact, the North,
with its free labor, would have succeeded under any international
arrangement, while the South, with its reluctant and groveling slave
labor, could hope for nothing but a succession of economical problems.
In 1828 a comprehensive tariff bill was passed, in which the
protection on wool, iron, lead, hemp, distilled spirits and various other
articles of general importance was increased. This was made the chief
opposition to the Northern Administration.
During the closing years of Adams' administration occurred the
Black Hawk War. In 1 830 a treaty was made with the tribes of Sacs
and Foxes by which their lands in Illinois was ceded to the United
States. But they were unwilling to leave their land, and the Governor
of Illinois called out a militia force to compel them to cross the Missis-
sippi. Black Hawk, a proud and patriotic chief of the Sacs, then about
sixty years old, gathered a small force of warriors and returned in
March, 1832. In a short time the pioneers were harassed by having
their farms laid waste and their houses burned. Not infrequently the
massacre of the fanners followed. The Governor of Illinois called for
volunteers, and a force of about twenty-four hundred men was soon
marching after Black Hawk's band of one thousand. The chief fled,
but was overtaken and defeated on the Wisconsin river. The sur\'ivoi's
retreated northward and were again overtaken near Bad-axe river, on the
left bank of the Mississippi. Here many of the Indians were shot in
the water while trying to swim the stream, and others were killed on a
little island where they sought refuge. Fift}' prisoners were taken,
most of whom were squaws and children. Black Hawk, Keokuk and
THE SECOND ADAMS. 487
several other chiefs surrendered, and were taken to Washington to make
a sad acknowledgment of their subjection.
In the presidential election of 1828 Andrew Jackson was elected by
a ver}- large majority, and when the inaugural ceremonies were
performed in the following March, a larger crowd gathered in Wash-
ington from all parts of the country than had ever been seen there on a
like occasion. Calhoun, who had been Vice-President under Adams,
had been again chosen to act with Jackson. Jackson began his adminis-
tration by removing from office all who had not been his partisans — an
example which has been followed by ever}' President since, except
Cleveland. Washington made nine removals from office, John Adams
nine, JeflPerson thirty-nine, Madison five, Monroe nine, John Quincy
Adams two, and Jackson not less than two thousand. In one week he
vetoed more bills sent him by Congress than all his predecessors in office
had vetoed in forty years. He was a man of such peculiar and inflexible
character that his administration was invested with great interest. No
one could be indifferent to him or to what he ad\ised. No public man
in America had warmer friends or more bitter enemies, and if one class
exaggerated his virtues, the other doubtless exaggerated his faults. He
allowed his Cabinet to disperse and Washington to divide itself into
social cliques, because of his staunch defence of the wife of the Secretary'
of War, about whom imfortunate reports were circulated. He insisted
that this woman should be recognized in society, and forced the ladies
of Washington to open their doors to her. He defended her with that
zeal which distinguished him in everything that he took up; not alone
because her husband was a personal friend, nor entirely because it was
his natural instinct to defend a woman, however undeser\-ing, but because
his own wife had been especially unfortunate, and had met with
criticisms which saddened her life. If he could keep another from
suffering in a similar manner what his wife had, he wished to do so.
He had been married to his own wife nearly forty years, when the
discovery was made that the divorce which she had obtained from a
former husband was not legal. As soon as this was discovered, proper
legal steps were taken and Jackson and his wife were married again.
This was tortured by Jackson's enemies into a scandal, by which
Jackson, one of the purest of men, suffered no less than his wife. After
that wife was dead, it was not strange that Jackson should tn,' to vindicate
her case by defending that of another woman. He did this in his usual
imperious and overbearing way. Washington was filled with scandals;
the Cabinet was broken up; his niece, who presided over the White
488 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
House, was sent away because she would not receive the woman he was
defending, and he made himself absurd with wild fits of rage in public
when he saw some slight put upon her. These matters, small as they
were in themselves, came to have a strong political bearing, and for the
first time American politics were smirched with personal scandals.
One of the political measures which distinguished Jackson's
administration was his hostility to the United States Bank. He
suggested that a national bank, founded upon the credit and
revenues of the government, might be devised, which would be
constitutional and beneficial to the finances of the country-. The
United States Bank made a stubborn resistance, and gave all the reasons
for its existence which its advocates could invent for it. The charter
had yet five years to run, but application was made for a new one. The
President's adherents in the House demanded an investigation, and a
committee was appointed in which the majority approved its manage-
ment. After a long discussion, a bill to renew the charter passed both
Houses, but was vetoed by the President. As the two-thirds majority
necessary to pass it over his veto was lacking, the measure fell through.
Meanwhile, the time arrived for a new election. Clay was Jackson's
competitor, and was supported by the high tariff party. The anti-
Masons came into existence at this period, and they also supported Cla)-.
This party originated in 1826. William Morgan, a Mason, had written
a book which pretended to expose the secrets of the order. He was
supposed to have been killed by the direction of his official superiors,
and a party was formed which opposed the Masonic and all other secret
orders.
Jackson had a growing popularity. The revenue during his admin-
istration had far exceeded the expenditure, and the national debt was
being rapidly paid off. One reason for this was that the Democrats at
that time were opposed to the expenditure of government money for
internal improvements, and that Jackson had vetoed many bills favor-
ing such measures. The West India trade had long been a matter of
dispute between England and the United States. This was brought to
a rather unsatisfactory adjustment before the close of Jackson's first
administration and the trade was opened to Americans, but the condi-
tions were not dignified. About this time the countr}- was called upon
to consider a peculiar problem. Its revenue was much larger than it
could find any use for, and the. question was, How should it be re-
duced? The first answer which would occur to any one was that the
tariff should be reduced, but protection was a pet which could not be
THE SECOND ADAMS. 489
dnven from the arms of the American people. Mr. Clay provided ?
bill for the reduction of duties upon foreign products, except where
they came in conflict with articles of domestic manufacture. This
caused much discontent. In South Carolina, especially, it was thought
that the duties imposed were altogether too favorable to Northern
manufactures, and a convention was finally held in that State to plan
secession from the Union. It was decided that no duty should be paid
in South Carolina after a certain day, and that if the United States
attempted to force such payment, then South Carolina should organize
a separate government. Mr. Calhoun, the Vice-President of the United
States, was to be placed at the head, and medals were made with the
inscription, "John C. Calhoun, first President of the Southern Con-
federacy, ' ' and circulated among the people. The men devoted them-
selves everj-where to military' drilling, and the women made palmetto
cockades and prepared ensigns of State sovereignty. The palmetto
was the symbol chosen for the new nation. This was called "nullifica-
tion," a word which had been invented many years before by some
ingenious Southern Senators.
But though President Jackson was the hero of the Southern States,
he was too good a patriot to encourage them in such measures as these.
He issued a proclamation announcing that "to say any State may at
pleasure secede from the Union, is to say that the United States are not
a nation." He denied the right of either nullification or secession,
pointed out the absurdity of State sovereignty, and told the people of
South Carolina that if they resisted the law, they would be put down
by force of arms. He hastened to send troops to the forts of South
Carolina, as well as vessels of war, placing all under the command of
General Winfield Scott. But as usual, compromises were proposed in
the Senate and accepted which arranged matters as South Carolina
desired, and the North meekly did as she was bidden.
Another matter ^hich caused much debate in Congress was the
public lands. The sale of these was a great source of revenue, and as
the price upon them was higher than that which most emigrants were
willing to pay, emigration tended toward the extreme West, beyond the
surveyed frontier, to settle where no immediate payment was required.
The emigration from Europe straight to the Western States was very
large. In 1837, it was nearly eight>' thousand, but the next year it
was lower. This was on account of the great financial crisis of 1837,
caused largely by the existence of State banks which put afloat a larger
amount of paper currency than they could carry. The only banks in
490 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
the country- which did not suspend at this time were those few in which
the government deposited its specie, and, indeed, some of these were
involved in the ruin. Though the people were in this weakened finan-
cial condition, the treasury of the government continued to have a sur-
plus, and it was decided that all surplus over five million dollars should
be divided among the States as a loan only to be recalled at the discre-
tion of Congress. Such a thing had never been heard of before, and it
was difficult to tell how to conduct it. The manner in which it was
distributed added to the irritation which already existed in the govern-
ment, for the people of the North felt that far more than their rightful
share had been given to the people of the South. Twenty-eight million
dollars was thus given to the States, part of which spent it in public
improvements, the rest dividing it among private citizens. But all of
the financial affairs of the nation were conducted in a slipshod way,
and the close of the year 1837 found States, as well as people, burdened
with debt beyond their ability to pay. It was a period, however, when
recuperation was easy. Steam was coming into general use. The first
railway in America for passengers was chartered by the Mary-land legisla-
ture in March, 1827. This was the Baltimore and Ohio. Not until 1829,
however, did Peter Cooper, of New York, build a locomotive. By 1840,
there were nearly three thousand miles of railway in the United States.
Manufactories were rapidly increasing, and the woolen and cotton goods
made were improving in quality. It was in 1840 that Sidney Morse,
of New York, obtained a patent for his electric telegraph. The census
taken in 1830, under Jackson's administration, showed a population 01
nearly thirteen millions. Two new States were added to the Union.
Arkansas, in 1836, and Michigan, in 1837. Michigan came in as a
free Sta'tC, but Arkansas was dedicated to slavery.
FOR FURTHER READING:
History— 'Black Hawk's Life of Himself."
Moncrieff's "Men of the Backwoods."
Fiction— G. C. Eggleston's "The Big Broihe:.'
POETRV— H. R. Schoolcraft's "Talladega ."
CHAPTER LXXX.
%\t\m anb Mvn\\.
THE LITERARY HISTORY OF THE LAST FIFTY YEARS — THE
ABOLITIONISTS.
^T may be wise at this period to renew the literaty
history- of the country. Philip Freneau, a Hugue-
not by descent and a New Yorker by birth, was
the first American poet to attain eminence,
although the Revolution started into life a multi-
of ballad-writers. Philip Freneau graduated at
the college of New Jersey in 1771, where he was a class-
mate of James Madison. He published four volumes,
which were read in England as well as America.
His political burlesques were popular, but are not so well
remembered as his more serious poems. Joel Barlow
was the first American to make an attempt at a national
epic. This he termed "Columbiad. " It is stately, but
without grace. Dr. James McClurg, of Virginia, wrote
man}- romantic verses of the sort usually penned in ladies' albums at
that time.
Charles Brockden Brown was the first American novelist. The
history- of this country- had been too severe to encourage fiction. In the
South, there was a comparative indifierence to letters, and in the
North, literature took, for the most part, the form of a religious
controversy. Brown's novels were gloomy, and it is for this reason
that they are not better known. David Ramsay prepared some valuable
books, and Jeremy Belknap wrote a histor>- of New Hampshire, and a
series of biographies. The first standard book written by a New
England woman is the "Historj- of New England," by Hannah Adams.
Dr. Abel Holmes' "Annals of America" is a ver^- valuable book.
Chief Justice Marshall wrote a "Life of Washington," and William
Wirt a biography of Patrick Henr}-. John Ledyard was the first
492 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
American traveler to write a histor)- of his exploits. Dr. Benjamin
Rush wrote voluminously about medicine. Alexander Wilson was the
author of some works on ornithology; Samuel Mitchell was the first
man in this country' to write on chemistry; Benjamin Barton was the
earliest American authority on botany, and Benjamin Thompson wrote
on physics.
The theological writers of the last part of the eighteenth centur\'
and the first part of the nineteenth were very numerous. Among them
were William Ellery Channing, Henry Ware, Andrew Norton, Noah
Worcester, Moses Stuart and Leonard Woods. In later years came
Lyman Beecher, the Alexanders, President Hopkins, Professor Edward
A. Park, and many others too numerous to mention. Dr. Charles
Dodge, a Philadelphian and a graduate of Princeton College, is one ot
the most dignified of our Calvanistic philosophers, but William Ellerj^
Channing is undoubtedly at the head of the earlier schools of theological
and metaphysical writers. Later, came a more brilliant school of
theological writers. Among these were Orville Dewey, William H.
Furness, John Freeman Clark, Henry W. Bellows, Andrew Peabody
and William R. Alger. These were Unitarian writers. Theodore
Parker, Cyrus A. Bartol, Moncure D. Conway and Octavius P.
Frothingham were among the writers who started in religious work and
gradually employed their pens in secular writings. Mark Hopkins, of
Williams College, and Noah Porter, of Yale, are among the most
distinguished of our mental scientists. Thomas C. Upham, a professor
in Bowdoin, wrote a work in 1831 on the elements of mental philos-
ophy. James Marsh, president of the University of Vermont, was an
influential Transcendentalist. Lawrence P. Hiscock was a profound
writer on metaphysics as a science. Francis Wayland, president of
Brown University, was an excellent writer on political economy,
philosophy and ethics. Taylor Lewis, a professor in Union College,
was a linguist, philosopher and scientist. Each church had its staunch
denominational writers, some of whom have exerted a strong influence,
notably John McClintock, of the Methodists.
The "Knickerbocker writers" is a term applied to Washington
Irving, James Kirk Paulding, Joseph Rodman Drake and Fitz-Green
Halleck. Washington Irving was born in New York City in 1783, and
absorbed there the curious life which he has so delicately and faithfully
portrayed. At nineteen he wrote for a newspaper edited by his
brother Peter, taking up theological and social topics, and using the
name of "Jonathan Old-Style. " In 1 814 he visited Europe, where he
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.
FICTION AND TRUTH.
495
met Washington Allston, the first distinguished American painter. On
his return to New York he started the Salmagundi, a name still
preserved in New York to signify what is best in literature and in art.
In this paper the social foibles and fads were served up in a way which
was thoroughly original. A few years later, Irving gained the friend-
ship of some distinguished Englishmen, and from this time his good
fortune dated. His books sold for excellent sums, and he was the first
American to make a really excellent living by his pen. Charles Brockden
Brown was the only man before him to rely entirely upon the proceeds
brought him by his pen. Irving' s last work was his five-volumed life
of Washington. James Kirke Paulding, who was five years older than
Irving, worked upon the Sabnagiindi under Irving' s supervision,
beginning his career as a poet. In the course of his life he wrote
novels, humorous sketches and pamphlets as well, his "Dutchman's
Fireside" being the best known. Joseph Rodman Drake was a writer
of delicate touch. He was bom in 1795, and lived to be only twenty-
five years old. Fitz -Green Halleck was bom in Connecticut, in 1790,
and lived till 1867. He wrote, among many excellent poems, that of
"Marco Bozarris," known to every schoolboy. Richard Henry Dana
was a scholarly poet, and Charles Sprague, a Bostonian, wrote verses
of high quality. Francis Scott Key is especially known for the "Star-
Spangled Banner," written during the siege of Fort McHenry, in
Baltimore, during the war of 181 2. There are several other writers
who are famous for one poem. Samuel Wordsworth wrote "The Old
Oaken Bucket;" John Howard Payne, "Home Sweet Home," and
Albert G. Green "Old Grimes is Dead. " William Augustus Muhlen-
berg is the author of that tender hymn, "I would not live always."
William Cullen Bryant, the oldest of our great American poets, was
born in 1794. At ten, he was writing verses for the country papers,
and by the time he was in college was already famous as a writer. He
was but twenty-two years old when he ,wrote his celebrated poem,
"Thanatopsis. " This was published in the North American Review,
in 1816. Bryant is, as everyone knows, a poet of nature, whose verses
are as polished, though far less spontaneous, than those of Wordsworth.
He was over seventy when he added to his extensive writings a
translation of the ' 'Illiad. ' ' This is very generally accepted as the best
English Homer. Later, he published a translation of the "Odyssey."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Greenleaf Whittier were
both born in 1807. Early in his manhood Longfellow took the
professorship of modern languages at Bowdoin College, spending three
496 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
yeary in Europe to qualify himself for the position. These three years
in Europe have given us many of Longfellow's most excellent poems,
although those which are most valued by Americans are the ones which
preserve so accurately and tenderly the life of New England and the
legends of early America. In the list of his works is a most excellent
translation of the divine comedy of Dante. John Greenleaf Whittier was
a writer conscientious, true and fearless, but lacked the high art of Long-
fellow, and the sympathetic quality, although at heart he was most
sympathetic and humane. That he was a natural philanthropist and a
writer fearless of consequences, there is no need to say.
Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Connecticut, in
1809. Like Brjant, Longfellow and Lowell, he started out as a lawyer,
but soon took up medicine, studying in Europe. He is a lyrical writer
of great facility, but his prose works are more popular than his poetical
ones. His "Breakfast-table Sketches" are among the American
classics. Like Holmes, James Russell Lowell has written both in poetry
and prose. His poems have been published in numerous volumes;
some of them were elaborate and allegorical, others caustic and
humorous. At one time he was the leading American critic.
Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most picturesque figures in our
national literature. He was a melancholy man, who hated restraint o^
every sort, and who was the slave of morbid fancies and of opium
was not the first man to rise by stress of these misfortunes to a posit-'on
which more wholesome and temperate men could hardly hope to attain.
Among the painstaking, though not famous, American poecs are
James Gates Percival, Nathaniel P. Willis, George JMorris, 'idward
Pinkney, Charles Fenno HoSinan and George H. Calvert. Dr. Thomas
Dunn English was made famous by a single song, "Ben Bolt." George
H. Boker, of Philadelphia, was one of the earliest dramatic writers of
this country. C. B. Cranch was one of the most scholarly writers of his
day, and Alfred B. Street is known by his poems of nature. He was
also a painter. W. W. Storj- has joined poetry and sculpture. John G.
Saxe was the earliest of our excellent American humorists. Alice and
Phoebe Car}- were among the first women poets. Among the best
tnown of the early historians are Richard Hildreth, born in ^Massachu-
setts, in 1807; George Bancroft, author of the chief history' of the
United States, also born in Massachusetts; George Gorhani Palfrey,
author of a history of New England, and William Hickling Prescott,
the most famous and brilliant of American historians. His "History'
of Ferdinand and Isabella" was translated immediately upon its
;:^
FICTION AND TRUTH. 497
publication into five European languages. The "Conquest of Mexico,'*
"The Conquest of Peru" and "Philip IP' were not less successful. Na
historian has a higher reputation or a more dignified and eloquent style.
John IvOthrop Motlc)^ is best known for his "Rise of the Dutch
Republic," and "The History of the United Netherlands." George
W. Green's "Historical Review of the American Revolution" is the
best record of the time.
A considerable number of travelers have won distinction as writers.
Among these are Elisha Kane and Isaac Hays. James Fennimore
Cooper was the first American to write novels which could be considered
extensively popular. His works are thoroughly national, full of
romantic interest, and embody, as no other books do, the wild, free life
of the American frontier. He also wrote an able history of the United
States, a series of biographies of naval officers, and an attack on the
system of trial by jury.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804.
He was a morbid boy with a most studious tendency, and his surround-
ings were melancholy in the extreme. His mystical, elegant and
romantic novels are the natural outcome of his refined and morbid
disposition. He lived upon historic ground, saw the value of his
associations, and embodied his ideas in tales of unequaled fantas}' and
power. To mention the good American writers in fiction would be a
task too extensive to contemplate. Those who exercised a wide
influence will be mentioned later.
The early part of the century saw some orators unequaled for their
powers. The speeches of Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Henry
Clay, Edward Everett, Rufus Choate, William H. Seward, Charles
Sumner, Robert C. Winthrop, Wendell Philips and William Lloyd
Garrison are famous. William Lloyd Garrison, in 1831, established a
weekly paper in Boston called the Liberator. Its purpose was the
immediate emancipation of the slaves, and it preached, as no other
paper had ever dared to, the iniquity of slavery and the need for its
speedy termination. It was not, however, the first paper of the sort
ever published in the country. During General Jackson's administra-
tion a Quaker named Benjamin Lundy had begun a newspaper called
the Gcnuts of Universal Emancipation. This urged that slaves should
be gradually freed. Garrison had been the assistant editor of the paper,
but the religion which he preached accepted of no compromises. He
?aid in the first edition: "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I
•will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard." In all the perse-
49^ THE STORY OF AMERICA.
cutions, revilement and legislative rebuke which followed, he was true
to his word. People who sympathized with him and upheld his views
were called Abolitionists — a word which to speak even now arouses
feelings of enthusiasm and deep hatred. "Fanatic" was the kindest
and most considerate of all the names which these determined people
were called by their enemies — and their friends were few. It was
nothing new to say that slavery was wrong, and that the Republic was
inconsistent in keeping a constitution which set forth the liberty and
equality of all persons, and yet permitted three million persons within
its borders to be deprived of their liberty.
So vigorous had Southern rule been, and so craftily had its
supremacy been sustained in Congress, that it was little less than treason
to speak of the possibility of manumission. The Church, both in the
North and the South, was prompt to hold up the Divine authority for
slavery, and to quote the Bible in its defence. As the newer Southern
States were admitted to the Union and their territory opened up, slaves
were brought in great numbers from the slave-breeding States of the
Atlantic and placed here upon great sugar and cotton plantations.
These plantations had been cultivated and stocked with negroes, on
borrowed money. This money was borrowed largely from Northern
capitalists, and this was one of the many reasons why the institution of
slavery met with such staunch support in the North.
The Abolitionist were men and women of great independence and
vigor of thought. Almost without exception they were the leaders in
the communities in which they lived. Their private lives were
irreproachable, their standing in all ways honorable — the fact that they
had the moral courage to stand against the world is guarantee enough
that they were disinterested and morally brave — but they were ostracized
by the States, the Church and society as if they had been criminals or
offenders against decency. They were accused of the most injudicious
acts, which have never been proven against them. It was said that
they tried to lash the slaves, by their eloquence, into insurrection, but
the truth is that their methods were directly opposed to this, and that
their appeal was made to the conscience of the slave-holder and to the
legislators of the nation.
They were held responsible largely for the Southampton massacre,
although probably not one of the desperate men engaged in that had ever
heard of abolition, of William Llojd Garrison or of the Liberator. In
August, 1831, a negro slave named Nat. Turner led a little band of six-
men in a passionate revolt which has been dignified by the name of
FICTION AND TRUTH. 4gg
insurrection. He was a man of much force of character and a natural
mystic. He heard voices in the air and saw signs in the sky. Roaming
at night in the forests, he saw visions and portends which pointed out
his divine mission. The Bible was full of promises which he thought
pointed especially to him. He believed that he was to lead his suffering
people to freedom. But he was impractical and lacked executive fore-
sight. He took but six men in his confidence, and with them started
out to go from house to house and kill every white person within.
Beginning at Turner's own house, they killed his master, and going on
from plantation to plantation were joined by the slaves, and in forty-
eight hours killed fifty-five white persons without loss to themselves.
But the band finally became separated, and was attacked by two bodies
of white men, who succeeded in dispersing them. Thus the insurrec-
tion was quelled at the outset. The country was searched for the
offenders. Turner had escaped to the woods and lived under a pile of
fence rails for si.x weeks, marking the passage of the drearj- days on a
notched stick. He was discovered and took to the wheat-fields, where
he lived among the wheat stacks for ten days. Again he was
discovered, but escaped and kept the whole country searching for him for
some time. One day he crept from a hole beneath a felled pine tree and
stood face to face with a man who had a leveled rifle in his hand. He
surrendered, and one week later was hanged. Of the fifty-three other
negroes formally tried, seventeen were convicted and hanged, twelve
were transported and the rest acquitted.
But the fiercest retribution did not come from the law. Slave-
holders held that they had a right to do as they chose with their own
property, and to torture, punish, or execute at their will any negro in
their possession whom they suspected of offense. The terror which
spread through the South counterbalanced to a certain extent the suf-
ferings of these poor blacks. Not a slave-holder slept securely in his
bed. The consciousness of the iniquity upon which that part of the
country was built and nourished made the proprietors constantly fearful.
Every negro was watched with suspicion, and the most innocent actions
threw the white communit}' into terror. It was hardly believed in the
South that the negro was a human being, yet it was perceived now that
he was enough of a man to long for liberty, and take revenge for out-
rage. The people of the South virtually admitted all that the aboli-
tionists ever claimed, and that was that the negro was a man.
In 1832, Garrison founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society.
This was the parent of many like societies in different parts of the
500 THE STORY OF AMERICA.
country'. To resist such agitation and to act as a sop to the morbid
apprehensions of the slave-holders, President Jackson urged Congress to
pass a law excluding anti-slavery publications from the mails. This
bill was finally defeated, but not until the mails of the South had been
examined over and over again in the search for Abolitionist pamphlets
or anti-slavery expressions. Large rewards were offered in some of the
slave-holding States for the apprehension of several of the leading Abo-
litionists. Mobs became frequent wherever the anti-slavery societies
worked. A madness seemed to possess the people, and the slightest
sympathy with the blacks was severel}' punished. One man was
obliged to fly for his life in New Orleans because he offered a Bible to a
slave. A doctor in Washington was thrown into prison because a
package he received was accidentally wrapped in an anti-slavery paper.
It was frequent diversion to burn the houses of Abolitionists, and destroy
the printing office of any organ of the party. In 1836, a mob attacked
a warehouse in Alton, Illinois, where a printing press was stored
belonging to the Rev. E. P. Lovejo}^ This was the fourth time that
his printing materials had been destroyed and his paper suppressed.
This time the matter was made certain by the murder of the editor.
But they also succeeded in making him immortal, and he is known as one
of the first martyrs of the cause of liberty. As a result of this outrage
the Abolitionists won a new convert, Wendell Phillips, who, for thirty
years, exercised a unique influence in the moral history of America.
Late in the year 1836, Pennsylvania Hall, in Philadelphia, was burned
because it had been dedicated by an anti-slavery meeting, and the young
poet Whittier had read one of his unqualified poems on freedom in it.
In a few cases attempts were made to open schools for colored children
in the North, but the teachers' were always driven from the town, the
schools destroyed and the books burned. Such acts were not the work
of ruffians, but of the most dignified and influential citizens.
But nothing could stay the storm of discussion that swept over the
countr}'. Petitions by the thousand were sent to Congress, begging
that it would exercise its undoubted right of abolishing slavery in the
national domain which was imder its exclusive control and of stopping
the domestic slave trade. A handful of men, led by John Quincy
Adams, fought for these petitions, but against them were all of the
Southern and most of the Northern representatives. Adams stood to
his principles in the midst of turmoil and disapprobation which would
have silenced a weaker man. When, in 1835, William Slade asked
that a petition for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the
FICTION AND TRVTH.
5or
District of Columbia be referred to a committee, the proposal met with
an uproar in the House. The representatives from the Southern States
left the House, and this was termed the secession of the Southern mem-
oers. The word "secession" was cherished afterward. But the North
was silenced by a compromise the next day and the Southern members
consented to be appeased. Such compromises were constant, but there
was a growing determination among the citizens of the North to be
heard. Neither State nor Federal legislation could altogether quiet
them. With the exception of a few Philadelphia Quakers, there had
been, up to this period, but few men or women in the North who did
not consider it his or her duty to return fugitive slaves to their masters.
But the growing sympathy with the oppressed race changed this, and
that curious system known as the "Underground Railway" was formed,
by which fugitive slaves were helped from house to house, clothed, fed
and harbored, and sent safely to Canada.
In 1 841 occurred one of the many incidents relating to this period
which are of such interest to the student of this question. An Ameri-
c 
