Chapter X…

Chapter X

ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1817-1829.

James Monroe--The "Era of Good Feeling"--The Seminole War--Vigorous Measures of General Jackson--Admission of Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri--The Missouri Compromise--The Monroe Doctrine--Visit of Lafayette--Introduction of the Use of Gas--Completion of the Erie Canal--The First "Hard Times"--Extinction of the West Indian Pirates--Presidential Election of 1824--John Quincy Adams--Prosperity of the Country--Introduction of the Railway Locomotive--Trouble with the Cherokees in Georgia--Death of Adams and Jefferson--Congressional Action on the Tariff--Presidential Election of 1828.

JAMES MONROE.

James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, was born at Monroe's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758, and died July 4, 1831. It will be noticed that four out of the first five Presidents were natives of Virginia, and in course of time three others followed. It will be admitted, therefore, that the State has well earned the title of the "Mother of Presidents."

Monroe received his education at William and Mary College, and was a soldier under Washington. He was not nineteen years old when, as lieutenant at the battle of Trenton, he led a squad of men who captured a Hessian battery as it was about to open fire. He studied law under Jefferson, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, and, when twenty-five years old, was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was minister plenipotentiary to France in 1794, but his course displeased the administration and he was recalled. From 1799 to 1802 he was governor of Virginia, and, in the latter year, was sent to France by President Jefferson to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana. In 1811 he was again governor of Virginia, and shortly afterward appointed secretary of State by Madison. He also served as secretary of war at the same time, and, as the treasury was empty, pledged his private means for the defense of New Orleans. Monroe was of plain, simple manners, of excellent judgment and of the highest integrity. While his career did not stamp him as a man of genius, yet it proved him to be that which in his situation is better--an absolutely "safe" man to trust with the highest office in the gift of the American people. Under Monroe the United States made greater advancement than during any previous decade.

Everything united to make his administration successful. The Federal party having disappeared, its members either stopped voting or joined the Republicans. Since, therefore, everybody seemed to be agreed in his political views, the period is often referred to as "the era of good feeling," a condition altogether too ideal to continue long.

TARIFF LEGISLATION.

Shortly after Monroe's inauguration he made a tour through the country, visiting the principal cities, and contributing by his pleasing manner greatly to his popularity. The manufactures of the country were in a low state because of the cheapness of labor in Great Britain, which enabled the manufacturers there to send and sell goods for less prices than the cost of their manufacture in this country. Congress met the difficulty by imposing a tax upon manufactured goods brought hither, and thereby gave our people a chance to make and sell the same at a profit. The controversy between the advocates of free trade and protection has been one of the leading questions almost from the first, and there has never been and probably never will be full accord upon it.

THE SEMINOLE WAR.

Perhaps the most important event in the early part of Monroe's administration was the Seminole war. Those Indians occupied Florida, and could hide themselves in the swampy everglades and defy pursuit. Many runaway slaves found safe refuge there, intermarried with the Seminoles, and made their homes among them. They were not always fairly treated by the whites, and committed many outrages on the settlers in Georgia and Alabama. When the Creeks, who insisted they had been cheated out of their lands, joined them, General Gaines was sent to subdue the savages. He failed, and was caught in such a dangerous situation that General Jackson hastily raised a force and marched to his assistance.

Since Florida belonged to Spain, Jackson was instructed by our government not to enter the country except in pursuit of the enemy. "Old Hickory" was not the man to allow himself to be hampered by such orders, and, entering Florida in March, 1818, he took possession the following month of the Spanish post of St. Mark's, at the head of Appalachee Bay. Several Seminoles were captured, and, proof being obtained that they were the leaders in a massacre of some settlers a short time before, Jackson hanged every one of them.

Advancing into the interior, he captured two British subjects, Robert C. Ambrister, an Englishman, and Alexander Arbuthnot, a Scotchman. There seemed to be no doubt that the latter had been guilty of inciting the Indians to commit their outrages, and both were tried by court-martial, which sentenced Arbuthnot to be hanged and Ambrister to receive fifty lashes and undergo a year's imprisonment. Jackson set aside the verdict, and shot the Englishman and hanged the Scotchman. He then marched against Pensacola, the capital of the province, drove out the Spanish authorities, captured Barrancas, whose troops and officials were sent to Havana.

Jackson carried things with such a high hand that Spain protested, and Congress had to order an investigation. The report censured Jackson; but Congress passed a resolution acquitting him of all blame, and he became more popular than ever.

Spain was not strong enough to expel the Americans, and she agreed to a treaty, in October, 1820, by which East and West Florida were ceded to the United States, the latter paying Spain $5,000,000. The Sabine River, instead of the Rio Grande, was made the dividing line between the territories of the respective governments west of the Mississippi. Jackson was the first governor of Florida, and, as may be supposed, he had a stormy time, but he straightened out matters with the same iron resolution that marked everything he did.

STATES ADMITTED--THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE.

A number of States were admitted to the Union while Monroe was President. The first was Mississippi, in 1817. The territory was claimed by Georgia, which gave it to the United States in 1802. Illinois was admitted in 1818, being the third of the five States formed from the old Northwest Territory. Alabama became a State in 1819, and had been a part of the territory claimed by Georgia. Maine was admitted in 1820, and, as has been shown, was for a long time a part of Massachusetts, and Missouri became a State in 1821.

The strife over the admission of the last-named State was so angry that more than one person saw the shadow of the tremendous civil war that was to darken the country and deluge it in blood forty years later. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 had made cotton the leading industry of the South and given an enormous importance to slavery. The soil and the climate and economic conditions caused it to flourish in the South, and the lack of such conditions made it languish and die out in the North.

Missouri applied for admission in March, 1818, but it was so late in the session that Congress took no action. At the following session a bill was introduced containing a provision that forbade slavery in the proposed new State. The debate was bitter and prolonged, accompanied by threats of disunion, but a compromise was reached on the 28th of February, 1821, when the agreement was made that slavery was to be permitted in Missouri, but forever prohibited in all other parts of the Union, north and west of the northern limits of Arkansas, 36 deg. 30', which is the southern boundary of Missouri. The State was admitted August 21st, increasing the number to twenty-four. The census showed that in 1820 the population of the United States was 9,633,822. The State of New York contained the most people (1,372,111); Virginia next (1,065,116); and Pennsylvania almost as many (1,047,507).

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1820.

It was in the autumn of 1820, during the excitement over the admission of Missouri, that the presidential election occurred. The result is not likely ever to be repeated in the history of our country. There was no candidate against Monroe, who would have received every electoral vote, but for the action of one member, who declared that no man had the right to share that honor with Washington. He therefore cast his single vote for Adams of Massachusetts. For Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins, Republican, received 218; Richard Stockton, of New Jersey, 8; Daniel Rodney, of Delaware, 4; Robert G. Harper, of Maryland, and Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, 1 vote each. Monroe and Tompkins were therefore re-elected.

THE MONROE DOCTRINE.

South America has long been the land of revolutions. In 1821, there was a general revolt against Spain in favor of independence. Great sympathy was felt for them in this country, and, in March, 1822, Congress passed a bill recognizing the embryo republics as sovereign nations. In the following year President Monroe sent a message to Congress in which he declared that for the future the American continent was not to be considered as territory for colonization by any foreign power. This consecration of the whole Western Hemisphere to free institutions constitutes the MONROE DOCTRINE, one of the most precious and jealously guarded rights of the American nation. The memorable document which bears the President's name was written by John Quincy Adams, his secretary of State.

America could never forget Lafayette, who had given his services without pay in our struggle for independence, who shed his blood for us, and who was the intimate and trusted friend of Washington. He was now an old man, and, anxious to visit the country he loved so well, he crossed the ocean and landed in New York, in August, 1824. He had no thought that his coming would cause any stir, and was overwhelmed by the honors shown him everywhere. Fort Lafayette saluted him as he sailed up New York Bay, and processions, parades, addresses, feastings, and every possible attention were given to him throughout his year's visit, during which he was emphatically the "nation's guest." Nor did the country confine itself to mere honors. He had been treated badly in France and was poor. Congress made him a present of $200,000 in money, and sent him home in the frigate Brandywine, named in his honor, for it was at the battle of the Brandywine that Lafayette was severely wounded.

An important invention introduced into this country from England in 1822 was lighting by gas, which soon became universal, to be succeeded in later years by electricity. Steamboat navigation was common and travel by that means easy. On land we were still confined to horseback and stages, but there was great improvement in the roads, through the aid of Congress and the different States.

COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL.

The Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo and Albany, was begun on the 4th of July, 1817, its most persistent advocate being Governor De Witt Clinton. It was costly, and the majority believed it would never pay expenses. They dubbed it "De Witt Clinton's Ditch," and ridiculed the possibility that it would prove of public benefit. In October, 1825, it was opened for public traffic. It is 363 miles long, having the greatest extent of any canal in the world. It passes through a wonderfully fertile region, which at that time was little more than a wilderness. Immediately towns and villages sprang into existence along its banks. Merchandise could now be carried cheaply from the teeming West, through the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal, and the Hudson River, to New York City and the Atlantic. Its original cost was $7,600,000, and its earnings were so enormous that in many single years they amounted to half that sum. It is now operated by the State without charge to those using it.

No combination of statesmen are wise enough to prevent the occasional recurrence of "hard times." Nearly everyone has a cure for the blight, and the intervals between them are irregular, but they still descend upon us, when most unexpected and when it seems we are least prepared to bear them. No one needs a long memory to recall one or two afflictions of that nature.

THE FIRST "HARD TIMES."

The first financial stringency visited the country in 1819. The establishment in 1817 of the Bank of the United States had so improved credit and increased the facilities for trade that a great deal of wild speculation followed. The officers of the branch bank in Baltimore were dishonest and loaned more than $2,000,000 beyond its securities. The President stopped the extravagant loans, exposed the rogues, and greatly aided in bringing back the country to a sound financial basis, although the Bank of the United States narrowly escaped bankruptcy--a calamity that would have caused distress beyond estimate.

Amid the stirring political times our commerce suffered from the pirates who infested the West Indies. Their depredations became so annoying that in 1819 Commodore Perry, of Lake Erie fame, was sent out with a small squadron to rid the seas of the pests. Before he could accomplish anything, he was stricken with yellow fever and died. Other squadrons were dispatched to southern waters, and in 1822 more than twenty piratical vessels were destroyed in the neighborhood of Cuba. Commodore Porter followed up the work so effectively that the intolerable nuisance was permanently abated.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1824.

There were plenty of presidential candidates in 1824. Everybody now was a Republican, and the choice, therefore, lay between the men of that political faith. The vote was as follows: Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, 99; John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, 84; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, 37; William H. Crawford, of Georgia, 41. For Vice-President: John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, 182; Nathan Sandford, of New York, 30; Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, 24; Andrew Jackson, 13; Martin Van Buren, of New York, 9; Henry Clay, 2.

This vote showed that no candidate was elected, and the election, therefore, was thrown into the House of Representatives. Although Jackson was far in the lead on the popular and electoral vote, the friends of Clay united with the supporters of Adams, who became President, with Calhoun Vice-President. The peculiar character of this election led to its being called the "scrub race for the presidency."

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

John Quincy Adams, the sixth President, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, and was the son of the second President. He was given every educational advantage in his youth, and when eleven years old accompanied his father to France and was placed in a school in Paris. Two years later he entered the University of Leyden, afterward made a tour through the principal countries of Europe, and, returning home, entered the junior class at Harvard, from which he graduated in 1788. Washington appreciated his ability, and made him minister to The Hague and afterward to Portugal. When his father became President he transferred him to Berlin. The Federalists elected him to the United States Senate in 1803, and in 1809 he was appointed minister to Russia. He negotiated important commercial treaties with Prussia, Sweden, and Great Britain, and, it will be remembered, he was leading commissioner in the treaty of Ghent, which brought the War of 1812 to a close. He was a man of remarkable attainments, but he possessed little magnetism or attractiveness of manner, and by his indifference failed to draw warm friends and supporters around him. Adams was re-elected to Congress repeatedly after serving out his term as President. He was seized with apoplexy while on the point of rising from his desk in the House of Representatives, and died February 23, 1848.

The country was highly prosperous during the presidency of the younger Adams. The public debt, to which the War of 1812 added $80,000,000, began to show a marked decrease, money was more plentiful, and most important of all was the introduction of the steam locomotive from England. Experiments had been made in that country for a score of years, but it was not until 1829 that George Stephenson, the famous engineer, exhibited his "Rocket," which ran at the rate of nearly twenty miles an hour.

INTRODUCTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.

The first clumsy attempts on this side were made in 1827, when two short lines of rails were laid at Quincy, near Boston, but the cars were drawn by horses, and, when shortly after, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was chartered, the intention was to use the same motor. In 1829, a steam locomotive was used on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Railroad, followed by a similar introduction on the Baltimore and Ohio Road. The first railroad chartered expressly for steam was granted in South Carolina for a line to run from Charleston to Hamburg. The first locomotive made by Stephenson was brought across the ocean in 1831. The Americans set to work to make their own engines, and were successful in 1833. It will be noted that these events occurred after the administration of Adams.

THE CHEROKEES IN GEORGIA.

Most of the country east of the Mississippi was being rapidly settled. Immense areas of land were sold by the Indian tribes to the government and they removed west of the river. The Cherokees, however, refused to sell their lands in Georgia and Alabama. They were fully civilized, had schools, churches, and newspapers, and insisted on staying upon the lands that were clearly their own. Georgia was equally determined to force them out of the State, and her government was so high-handed that President Adams interfered for their protection. The governor declared that the Indians must leave, and he defied the national government to prevent him from driving them out. The situation of the Cherokees finally became so uncomfortable that, in 1835, they sold their lands and joined the other tribes in the Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi.

AN IMPRESSIVE OCCURRENCE.

One of the most impressive incidents in our history occurred on the 4th of July, when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. It was just half a century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, of which Jefferson was the author and whose adoption Adams secured.

Adams attained the greatest age of any of our Presidents, being nearly ninety-one years old when he died. He retained the brightness of his mind, his death being due to the feebleness of old age. When he was asked if he knew the meaning of the joyous bells that were ringing outside, his wan face lighted up, and he replied: "It is the 4th of July; God bless it!" His last words, uttered a few minutes later: "Jefferson still survives."

It was a natural error on the part of Adams, but Jefferson had passed away several hours before, in his eighty-fourth year. He died quietly, surrounded by friends, with his mind full of the inspiring associations connected with the day. His last words were: "I resign my soul to God, and my daughter to my country."

An important issue of the younger Adams' administration was the tariff. Naturally the South were opposed to a protective tariff, because they had no manufactures, and were, therefore, compelled to pay higher prices for goods than if admitted free of duty. A national convention was held at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1827, to discuss the question of the protection of native industry. Only four of the slave-holding States were represented, but the members memorialized Congress for an increase of duties on a number of articles made in this country. In the session of 1827-28, Congress, in deference to the general sentiment, passed a law which increased the duties on fabrics made of wool, cotton, linen, and on articles made from lead, iron, etc. The Legislatures of the Southern States protested against this action as unjust and unconstitutional, and in the presidential election of that year the entire electoral vote of the South was cast against Adams.

The "Era of good feeling" was gone and politics became rampant. The policy of a protective tariff became known as the American System, and Henry Clay was its foremost champion. Their followers began to call themselves National Republicans, while their opponents soon assumed the name of Democrats, which has clung to them ever since, though the National Republicans changed their title a few years later to Whigs.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1828.

The presidential election of 1828 resulted as follows: Andrew Jackson, Democrat, 178; John Quincy Adams, National Republican, 83. For Vice-President, John C. Calhoun, Democrat, 171; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, National Republican, 49; William Smith, of South Carolina, Democrat, 7. Jackson and Calhoun therefore were elected.

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Chapter XI

ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON, VAN BUREN, W.H. HARRISON, AND TYLER, 1829-1845.

Andrew Jackson--"To the Victors Belong the Spoils"--The President's Fight with the United States Bank--Presidential Election of 1828--Distribution of the Surplus in the United States Treasury Among the Various States--The Black Hawk War--The Nullification Excitement--The Seminole War--Introduction of the Steam Locomotive--Anthracite Coal, McCormick's Reaper, and Friction Matches--Great Fire in New York--Population of the United States in 1830--Admission of Arkansas and Michigan--Abolitionism--France and Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the United States--The Specie Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster--Presidential Election of 1836--Martin Van Buren--The Panic of 1837--Rebellion in Canada--Population of the United States in 1840--Presidential Election of 1840--William Henry Harrison--His Death--John Tyler--His Unpopular Course--The Webster-Ashburton Treaty--Civil War in Rhode Island--The Anti-rent War in New York--A Shocking Accident--Admission of Florida--Revolt of Texas Against Mexican Rule--The Alamo--San Jacinto--The Question of the Annexation of Texas--The State Admitted--The Copper Mines of Michigan--Presidential Election of 1844--The Electro-magnetic Telegraph--Professor Morse--His Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection.

ANDREW JACKSON.

Andrew Jackson, seventh President, ranks among the greatest of those who have been honored with the highest gift their countrymen can confer upon them. He was born of Scotch-Irish parents, at Waxhaw Settlement, on the line between North and South Carolina, March 15, 1767. His parents were wretchedly poor and he received only a meagre education. His father died just before the birth of his son, who enlisted in the patriot army when but thirteen years old, and was captured at the battle of Hanging Rock. When a British officer ordered the boy to clean his boots, he refused. He was brutally beaten for his stubbornness; he told the officer that he might kill him, but he could never make a servant of him.

Shortly afterward he was seized with smallpox and was abandoned to die, but his mother secured his release and nursed him back to health. She died soon afterward, and, while still a boy, Andrew was left without a single near relative. At the close of the Revolution, he took up the study of law, pursuing it in a desultory way, until his removal to Nashville, at the age of twenty-one years. He threw his law books aside when the Indians began their outrages, and we have told of his striking services as a soldier and military leader, culminating with his great victory at New Orleans, the anniversary of which is still widely celebrated. Jackson became the idol of his countrymen, and he possessed many admirable qualities. Never, under any circumstances, did he betray personal fear. He was ready to attack one man, ten men, a hundred, or a thousand, if he deemed it his duty to do so. He was honest to the core, intensely patriotic, and he either loved or hated a man. He would stand by a friend to the death, unless he became convinced of his unworthiness, when he instantly became his unrelenting enemy.

He fought numerous duels, and stood up without a tremor in front of one of the most famous of duelists. When his opponent's bullet tore a dreadful wound in his breast, he resolutely repressed all evidence of pain until he had killed his antagonist, in order that the latter should not have the pleasure of knowing he had hurt Jackson.

While carrying one arm in a sling from this wound, he led a strong force into the Creek country. When the men were close upon starvation, they mutinied. Jackson rode in front of them, pistol in hand, and declared he would shoot the first one who refused to obey his orders. Not a man rebelled. At the same time he divided all the food he had among them, which consisted solely of acorns. Nevertheless, he pressed on and utterly destroyed the Indian confederation.

Added to these fine qualities was his chivalrous devotion to his wife, the unvarying respect he showed to the other sex, and the purity of his own character. Such a man cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence upon those with whom he comes in contact. In Jackson's estimation, the only living person whose views were right upon every question was himself. He was intolerant of opposition, and merciless in his enmity of a personal opponent. He made mistakes, as was inevitable, and some of them wrought great injury; but even his opponents respected while they feared him, and the qualities which we have indicated gave him a warm place not only in the affection of his own generation but in the generations that came after him.

When his tempestuous career came to a close, Jackson retired to his home, known as the Hermitage, in Tennessee, where he passed his declining years in quiet and peace. He became a devout Christian, and died of consumption, June 8, 1845.

"TO THE VICTORS BELONG THE SPOILS."

It need hardly be said that when Jackson became President he shared his authority with no one. He made up his cabinet of his personal friends, and, on the principle of "To the victors belong the spoils," that an administration to be successful must be composed of those of the same political faith with its head, he began a system of removals from office. The total number of such removals made by his predecessors was seventy-four, some of which were for cause. A year after his inauguration, Jackson had turned 2,000 office-holders out, and, since their successors were obliged in many instances to remove subordinates, in pursuance of the same policy, it will be seen that the President adopted no halfway measures.

He regarded the members of his cabinet as simply clerks, and, when he wished to consult with trusted friends, called together a certain number of boon associates, who became known as his "Kitchen Cabinet."

JACKSON'S FIGHT WITH THE UNITED STATES BANK.

One of the President's unbearable aversions was the United States Bank. He believed that its strength had been exerted against him, and in his first message to Congress, in December, 1829, he charged that it had failed to establish a uniform and sound currency and that its existence was contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. Its charter would expire in 1836, and Congress passed an act renewing it for fifteen years. Jackson vetoed the measure, and the two-thirds majority necessary to pass it again could not be obtained.

By law the deposits of the bank were subject to the secretary of the treasury, who could not remove them without giving Congress his reasons for the step. Jackson ordered his secretary to remove the deposits, and when he very properly refused, the President removed him. He made Roger B. Taney, afterward chief justice of the United States, his new secretary of the treasury, and that pliable official promptly transferred the deposits to certain banks that had been selected.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1832.

Although the fight caused much excitement, and the action of Jackson was bitterly denounced, it added to his popularity, as was proven in the presidential election of 1832, when the following electoral vote was cast: Andrew Jackson, 219; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, National Republican, 49; John Floyd, of Georgia, Independent, 11; William Wirt, of Maryland, Anti-Masonic, 7. For Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, Democrat, of New York, received 189 votes; John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, National Republican, 49; Henry Lee, of Massachusetts, Independent, 11; Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, Anti-Masonic, 7; William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 30. On the popular vote, Jackson had more than a hundred thousand in excess of all the others in a total of one million and a quarter. It was a great triumph for "Old Hickory."

It rarely happens in the history of any country that the government finds itself in the possession of more money than it wants. It became clear, however, that not only would the public debt soon be paid, but a surplus would accrue. In view of this certainty, Henry Clay secured the passage of a bill in 1832, which reduced the tariff, except where such reduction came in conflict with home labor. Several years later, the surplus, amounting to $28,000,000, was divided among the States.

BLACK HAWK WAR.

In the year named occurred the Black Hawk War. The tribes known as the Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebagoes lived in the Territory of Wisconsin. The Sacs and Foxes made a treaty with the United States in 1830, by which they ceded all their lands in Illinois to the government. When the time arrived for them to leave, they refused, and the governor called out a military force to compel them to remove beyond the Mississippi. Black Hawk, a famous chieftain of the Sacs, left, but returned at the head of a thousand warriors, gathered from the tribes named, and began a savage attack upon the settlements. The peril was so grave that the government sent troops under Generals Scott and Atkinson to Rock Island. On the way thither, cholera, which had never before appeared in this country, broke out among the troops and raged so violently that operations for a time were brought to a standstill.

When Atkinson was able to do so, he pushed on, defeated the Indians, and captured Black Hawk. He was taken to Washington, where he had a long talk with President Jackson, who gave him good advice, and induced him to sign a new treaty providing for the removal of his people to the Indian Territory. Then Black Hawk was carried on a tour through the country, and was so impressed by its greatness that, when he returned to his people, he gave no more trouble. It is worth remembering that both Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War.

NULLIFICATION MEASURES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

South Carolina had long been soured over the tariff measures, which, while they helped the prosperity of other sections of the Union, were oppressive to her, because there were no manufactures carried on within her borders. When Congress, in the spring of 1832, imposed additional duties, she was so angered that she called a convention in November, at which her governor presided. The new tariff was declared unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, and notice was given that any attempt to collect the duties would be resisted by South Carolina, which, unless her demands were granted, would withdraw from the Union and establish herself as an independent government. Other States endorsed her action and the situation became serious.

President Jackson hated the tariff as much as South Carolina, but his love for the Union was unquenchable, and, having sworn to enforce the laws, he was determined to do it in the face of any and all opposition. Because Vice-President Calhoun sided with his native State, Jackson threatened to arrest him. Calhoun resigned, went home, and was elected United States senator.

President Jackson issued a warning proclamation on the 10th of December, but South Carolina continued her war preparations, and the President sent General Scott, with the sloop-of-war Natchez, to Charleston, with orders to strengthen the garrison in the harbor. Scott displayed great discretion, and won the good-will of the citizens by his forbearance and courtesy. The other Southern States condemned the rash course of South Carolina, within which gradually appeared quite a number of supporters of the Union. Then Clay introduced a bill in Congress, which became law, providing for a gradual reduction of duties until the 30th of June, 1842, when they were to reach a general level of twenty per cent. Calhoun, now a member of the Senate, supported the compromise, and the threatened civil war passed away for the time.

SECOND SEMINOLE WAR.

Trouble once more broke out with the Seminoles of Florida. The aggravation, already referred to, continued. Runaway slaves found safe refuge in the swamps of the State and intermarried with the Indians. A treaty, known as that of Payne's Landing, was signed in May, 1832, by which a number of chiefs visited the country assigned to the Creeks, it being agreed that, if they found it satisfactory, the Seminoles should remove thither. They reported in its favor, but the other leaders, incensed at their action, killed several of them, and declared, probably with truth, that they did not represent the sentiment of their people, and doubtless had been influenced by the whites to make their report. The famous Osceola expressed his opinion of the treaty by driving his hunting-knife through it and the top of the table on which it lay.

It being clear that the Seminoles had no intention of going west, President Jackson sent General Wiley Thompson to Florida with a military force to drive them out. The Indians secured a delay until the spring of 1835, under the promise to leave at that time; but when the date arrived, they refused to a man. Osceola was so defiant in an interview with General Thompson that the latter put him in irons and held him prisoner for a couple of days. Then the chief promised to comply with the terms of the treaty and was released. He had not the slightest intention, however, of keeping his promise, but was resolved to be revenged upon Thompson for the indignity he had put upon him.

In the month of December, 1835, while Thompson and a party of friends were dining near Fort King, with the windows raised, because of the mildness of the day, Osceola and a party of his warriors stole up and fired a volley through the windows, which killed Thompson and four of his companions. Before the garrison of the fort could do anything, the Seminoles had fled.

DADE'S MASSACRE.

On the same day of this tragical occurrence, Major Francis L. Dade set out with 140 mounted men to the relief of General Clinch, stationed at Fort Drane, in the interior of Florida, where he was threatened with massacre. Dade advanced from Fort Brooke at the head of Tampa Bay, and was not far on the road when he was fired upon by the Indians from ambush. Half the men were killed, including Major Dade. The remainder hastily fortified themselves, but were attacked in such overwhelming numbers that every man was shot down. Two wounded soldiers crawled into the woods, but afterward died. "Dade's Massacre" caused as profound a sensation throughout the country as did that of Custer and his command forty years later.

The Seminole War dragged on for years. General Scott commanded for a time in 1836, and vigorously pressed a campaign in the autumn of that year; but when he turned over the command, in the spring of 1837, to General Zachary Taylor, the conquest of the Seminoles seemingly was as far off as ever. Taylor attempted to use a number of Cuban bloodhounds for tracking the mongrels into the swamps, but the dogs refused to take the trail of the red men, and the experiment (widely denounced in the North) was a failure.

In October, while Osceola and a number of warriors were holding a conference with General Jessup under the protection of a flag of truce, all were made prisoners, and Osceola was sent to Charleston, and died in Fort Moultrie in 1838. The war dragged on until 1842, when General Worth, after it had cost $40,000,000 and many lives, brought it to an end by destroying the crops of the Seminoles and leaving to them the choice between starvation and submission.

GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMFORTS OF LIFE.

The steam locomotive, of which we have given a brief history, came into general use during the presidency of General Jackson. When he left office 1,500 miles of railway had been built, and many more were being laid in different parts of the country. It wrought a social revolution by bringing all parts of the country into close communication, making settlement easy and the cost of moving crops slight. Anthracite coal was tested in 1837, and, because of its great advantages, was soon widely used. McCormick's reaper was patented in 1834, and gave an enormous impetus to the cultivation of western lands. In the early days fire was obtained by the use of flint and steel or the sun-glass. Friction matches appeared in 1836, and quickly supplanted the clumsy method that had been employed for centuries.

On the night of December 16, 1835, New York City was visited by the most destructive fire in its history. The weather was so cold that the volunteer fire department could do little to check the conflagration, which destroyed 648 buildings, covering seventeen blocks and thirteen acres of ground. The value of the property lost was $20,000,000.

THE COUNTRY IN 1830.

The population of the United States in 1830 was 12,866,020, and the postoffices, which in 1790 numbered only 75, had grown to 8,450. The sales of the western lands had increased from $100,000 to $25,000,000 a year, a fact which explains the rapid extinguishment of the public debt.

Two States were admitted to the Union, Arkansas in 1836 and Michigan in 1837. The former was a part of the Louisiana purchase, and was originally settled by the French at Arkansas Post, in 1635. Michigan was the fourth State formed from the Northwest Territory, and was first settled by the French at Detroit in 1701.

Abolitionism assumed definite form in 1831, when William Lloyd Garrison, in his Boston paper, The Liberator, demanded the immediate abolition of slavery. Anti-slavery societies were organized in different parts of the country and the members became known as abolitionists. The South was incensed by the agitation, which reached its culmination in the great Civil War of 1861-65.

FRANCE AND PORTUGAL FORCED TO TERMS.

President Jackson impressed his personality upon everything with which he came in contact. We had been pressing a suit against France for the injuries she inflicted upon our commerce during the flurry of 1798, but that country was so laggard in paying that the President recommended to Congress that enough French vessels should be captured to pay the bill. France flared up and threatened war unless Jackson apologized. A dozen wars would not have moved him to recall his words. England, however, mediated, and France paid the debt. Portugal took the hint and lost no time in settling a similar account with us.

President Jackson, imitating Washington, issued a farewell address to his countrymen. It was well written and patriotic; but his last official act, which was characteristic of him, displeased many of his friends. The speculation in western lands had assumed such proportions that the treasury department, in July, 1836, sent out a circular ordering the collectors of the public revenues to receive only gold and silver in payment. This circular caused so much confusion and trouble that, at the beginning of 1837, Congress modified it so that it would have given great relief. Jackson held the bill in his possession until the adjournment of Congress, and thus prevented its becoming a law.

The stormy years of Jackson's presidency brought into prominence three of the greatest of Americans. All, at different times, were members of the United States Senate, where their genius overshadowed those who under other circumstances would have attracted national attention. These men were John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster.

JOHN C. CALHOUN.

The first named was born near Abbeville, South Carolina, March 18, 1782, and, graduating at Yale, studied law and early developed fine qualities of statesmanship. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1811, and became at once the leader of the younger element of the Democratic party. He was a vehement advocate of the war with Great Britain, and, in 1817, was appointed secretary of war under Monroe, serving to the close of his presidency. It has been shown that he was elected Vice-President with Adams. Elected again with Jackson, the two became uncompromising opponents, and he resigned in 1832, immediately entering the Senate, where he was accepted as the leader of the "State rights" men.

His services as senator were interrupted for a short time when, in 1844-45, he acted as secretary of State in Tyler's administration. He was determined to secure the admission of Texas and by his vigor did so, in the face of a strong opposition in the North. He re-entered the Senate and resumed his leadership of the extreme southern wing of the Democratic party. He died in Washington, March 31, 1850, while Clay's compromise measures were pending.

Calhoun ranks among the foremost of American statesmen, and as the champion of the South his place is far above any who appeared before or who have come after him. As a speaker, he was logical, clear, and always deeply in earnest. Daniel Webster said of him: "He had the indisputable basis of all high character--unspotted integrity and honor unimpeached. Nothing groveling, low, or meanly selfish came near his head or his heart."

HENRY CLAY.

Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in the "Slashes," Virginia. He studied law, and at the age of twenty removed to Kentucky, which is proud to claim the honor of having been his home and in reality his State. His great ability and winning manners made him popular everywhere. He served in the Kentucky Legislature, and, before he was thirty years old, was elected to the United States Senate, of which he was a member from 1806 to 1807. He soon became recognized as the foremost champion of the cause of internal improvements and of the tariff measures, known as the "American System." His speakership of the Kentucky Assembly, his term as United States senator again, 1809-11, and as a member of the House of Representatives in 1811, followed rapidly. Against precedent, being a newcomer, he was chosen Speaker, and served until his resignation in 1814. He was as strenuous an advocate of the war with Great Britain as Calhoun, and it has been stated that he was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent in 1814. The following year he was again elected to the House of Representatives, and acted without a break as Speaker until 1821. He was the most powerful advocate of the recognition of the Spanish-American States in revolt, and but for Clay the Missouri Compromise would not have been prepared and adopted.

Absent but a brief time from Congress, he again acted as Speaker in 1823-25. President Adams appointed him his secretary of State, and he retired from office in 1829, but two years later entered the Senate from Kentucky. For the following twenty years he was the leader of the Whig party, opposed Jackson in the bank controversy, and secured the tariff compromise of 1833 and the settlement with France in 1835. He retired from the Senate in 1843, his nomination for the presidency following a year later. Once more he entered the Senate, in 1849, and brought about the great compromise of 1850. He died June 29, 1852.

Clay's vain struggle for the presidency is told in the succeeding chapter. It seems strange that while he was indisputably the most popular man in the United States, he was not able to secure the great prize. The American Congress never knew a more brilliant debater, nor did the public ever listen to a more magnetic orator. His various compromise measures in the interest of the Union were beyond the attainment of any other man. His fame rests above that which any office can confer. His friends idolized and his opponents respected him. A strong political enemy once refused an introduction to him on the ground that he could not withstand the magnetism of a personal acquaintance which had won "other good haters" to his side. John C. Breckinridge, his political adversary, in his funeral oration, said: "If I were to write his epitaph, I would inscribe as the highest eulogy on the stone which shall mark his resting-place, 'Here lies a man who was in the public service for fifty years and never attempted to deceive his countrymen.'"

DANIEL WEBSTER.

Daniel Webster was born January 18, 1782, at Salisbury, New Hampshire, and died October 24, 1852. He was educated at Exeter Academy and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801. After teaching school a short time in Maine, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1805, and began practice at Boscawen, in his native State. Two years afterward, he removed to Portsmouth, where he speedily became a leader at the bar and served in Congress from 1813 to 1817. At that time he was a moderate Federalist. He settled in Boston in 1818, and assumed a front rank among lawyers by his argument before the United States Supreme Court in the celebrated "Dartmouth College Case," which involved the obligation of contracts and the powers of the national government. He was congressman from Massachusetts from 1823 to 1827, was chairman of the judiciary committee, and attracted great attention by his speeches on Greece, then struggling for independence, and his pleas in favor of free trade.

Webster's fame as an eloquent orator was already established. As such, he was the greatest that America ever produced, and many claim that he surpassed any who spoke the English tongue. Among his masterpieces were his speeches at Plymouth, 1820, on the bi-centennial; at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument, 1825; and his eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, 1826.

When he entered the United States Senate in 1827, he immediately took rank beside the giants, Calhoun and Clay. He was an advocate of the protective tariff of 1823, and in 1830 reached the highest point of thrilling and eloquent logic in his reply to Robert Young Hayne, of South Carolina, who asserted that any State had the right to disobey such laws of Congress as she deemed unconstitutional. Webster's speech is a classic, never surpassed in its way, and the debate won for him the proud title of "Expounder of the Constitution."

Naturally Webster opposed nullification, and he and Calhoun had many earnest contests worthy of two such masters of logic. W.H. Harrison appointed him his secretary of State, and he remained with Tyler until 1843. In 1845, he was again sent to the United States Senate, but in 1850 he alienated many of his former supporters by his speech in favor of Clay's compromise measures, He was secretary of State in 1850-52, and his death called out more addresses and testimonials than any other since that of Washington.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1836.

The following was the electoral vote cast in 1836: Martin Van Buren, of New York, Democrat, 170; William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, Whig, 73; Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, Whig, 26; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Whig, 14; Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina, Whig, 11. For Vice-President, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Democrat, 147; Francis Granger, of New York, Whig, 77; John Tyler, of Virginia, Whig, 47; William Smith, of Alabama, Democrat, 23. The vote for Johnson as Vice-President was not sufficient to elect him, but he was chosen by the House of Representatives.

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

Martin Van Buren, eighth President, was born December 5, 1782, at Kinderhook, N.Y., and died July 24, 1862. He became eminent as a lawyer, and his skill as a Democratic politician caused him to be known as the "Little Magician." He held a number of public offices, being State senator, United States senator, 1821-28; governor of New York, 1828-29; and secretary of State under Jackson, 1829-31, when Jackson appointed him minister to England, but his political opponents secured his defeat in the Senate. Becoming Vice-President under Jackson, he presided in the Senate from 1833 to 1837. Jackson was so pleased with Van Buren that he chose him as his successor. He was the Free Soil candidate for the presidency in 1848, and thereby brought about the defeat of Cass by Taylor.

The administration of Van Buren was one of the most unpopular we have ever had, and through no fault of his. A great deal of the prosperity of Jackson's term was superficial. He had been despotic, as shown in his removal of the United States Bank deposits and the issue of the specie circular of 1836. Confusion ensued in business, and an era of wild speculation followed a distribution of the surplus in the treasury among the States. The credit system took the place of the cash system, banks sprang up like mushrooms, and an immense amount of irredeemable money was put in circulation.

These institutions were known as "wild-cat banks," and their method of defrauding the public was as follows: They bought several hundred thousands of cheap bills which, having cost them practically nothing, they used in offering higher prices for public lands than others could pay in gold and silver. They trusted to chance that their bills would not soon come back for redemption, but if they did so, the banks "failed" and the holders of the notes lost every dollar.

The fraud was a deliberate one, but the establishment of the national banking law since then renders a repetition of the swindle impossible.

THE PANIC OF 1837.

Van Buren was hardly inaugurated when the panic of 1837 burst upon the country. The banks were forced to suspend specie payment, many failed, and mercantile houses that had weathered other financial storms toppled over like tenpins. In two months the failures in New York and New Orleans amounted to $150,000,000. Early in May, a deputation of New York merchants and bankers called upon the President and asked him to put off the collection of duties on imported goods, to rescind the specie circular, and convene Congress in the hope of devising measures for relief. All that the President consented to do was to defer the collection of duties. Immediately the banks in New York suspended specie payments, and their example was followed by others throughout the country. The New York Legislature then authorized the suspension of specie payments for a year. This left the national government without the means of paying its own obligations (since no banks would return its deposits in specie) except by using the third installment of the surplus revenue that had been promised to the States.

The country was threatened with financial ruin, and Congress convened in September. The President in his message proposed the establishment of an independent treasury for the custody of the public funds, and their total separation from banking institutions. Such a bill failed, but it became a law in 1840. Congress, however, obtained temporary relief by authorizing the issue of $10,000,000 in treasury notes.

The fact remained, however, that the country was rich, and though much distress prevailed, the financial stress began to lessen as more healthy methods of business were adopted. In 1838 most of the banks resumed specie payments, but the effect of the panic was felt for years. Since the distress occurred while Van Buren was President, the blame was placed by many upon the administration.

At that time the present Dominion of Canada was divided into two provinces, known as Upper and Lower Canada. Dissatisfaction with some of the features of Great Britain's rule caused a rebellion in Lower Canada in 1837. Much sympathy was felt for them in this country, and especially in New York, from which a force of 700 men seized and fortified Navy Island, in Niagara River. There were plenty of loyalists in Canada, who made an attempt to capture the place, but failed. On the night of December 29, 1837, they impetuously attacked the supply steamer Caroline, killed twelve of the defenders, set the boat on fire, and sent it over Niagara Falls.

President Van Buren issued a proclamation forbidding all interference in the affairs of Canada, and General Wool was sent to the frontier with a military force strong enough to compel obedience. He obliged the insurgents on Navy Island to surrender and pledge themselves to refrain from all unlawful acts. These vigorous measures soon brought quiet to the border, and England's wise policy toward the disaffected provinces has made Canada one of her most loyal provinces.

The population of the United States in 1840 was 17,649,453, further evidence of the real prosperity of the country. Railroad building went on vigorously, there being fully 4,000 miles in operation at the close of Van Buren's term.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1840.

The following was the presidential vote of 1840: William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, Whig, 234; Martin Van Buren, 70. For Vice-President, John Tyler, 234; E.M. Johnson, 48; L.W. Tazewell, of Virginia, Democrat, 11; James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 1.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

William Henry Harrison, ninth President, was born February 9, 1773, in Virginia, and was the son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and afterward governor of Virginia. The son graduated from Hampden-Sidney College, and took up the study of medicine, but was fond of military matters, and, entering the army of St. Clair, he displayed great bravery and skill. He helped General Wayne win his victory over the Indians in 1794, and was rapidly promoted. He became secretary of the Northwest Territory in 1798, and the following year was made delegate to Congress. In 1800, he was appointed governor of Indiana Territory, and was acting as such when he won his decisive victory at Tippecanoe, in the autumn of 1811. An account has been given of his brilliant services in the War of 1812.

He attained the rank of major-general in the regular army, but resigned in 1814. He was congressman from 1816 to 1819, United States senator from 1825 to 1828, and United States minister to the United States of Columbia, 1828-29.

President Harrison wore no hat or overcoat while delivering his inaugural. Although accustomed to the hardships of the frontier, and naturally one of the most rugged of men, he was now old and weak in body. His imprudence, added to the annoyance from the clamorous office-seekers, drove him frantic. He succumbed to pneumonia and died on the 4th of April, just one month after his inauguration. He was the first President to die in office, and an immense concourse attended his funeral, his remains being interred near North Bend, Ohio.

JOHN TYLER.

As provided by the Constitution, the Vice-President, John Tyler, was immediately sworn into office as his successor. Like many of his predecessors, John Tyler was a native of Virginia, where he was born March 29, 1790. He possessed great natural ability and was a practicing lawyer at the age of nineteen, and a member of the State Legislature at twenty-one. When thirty-five, he was chosen governor of Virginia, and was a United States senator from 1827 to 1836.

Since he was the first President not elected to the office, there was considerable discussion among the politicians as to his precise status. It was contended by some that he was chief executive "in trust," and was therefore bound to carry out the policy of his immediate predecessor. Tyler insisted that he was as much the President, in every respect, as if he had been elected by the people to that office, and in this insistence he was unquestionably right.

Tyler quickly involved himself in trouble with the Whigs. They passed an act to re-establish the United States Bank, whose charter expired in 1836, though it had continued in operation under the authority of the State of Pennsylvania. President Tyler vetoed the bill. He suggested some modifications, and it was passed again, but to the indignant amazement of his party he vetoed it a second time. He was declared a traitor and widely denounced. All his cabinet resigned, with the exception of Daniel Webster, who, as stated elsewhere, remained until 1843, in order to complete an important treaty with England then under negotiation.

THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY.

This was known as the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Our northeastern boundary was loosely defined by the treaty of 1783, and it was finally agreed by Great Britain and the United States to refer the questions in dispute to three commissions to be jointly constituted by the two countries. The first of these awarded the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay to the United States; the third established the boundary line from the intersection of the forty-fifth parallel with the St. Lawrence to the western point of Lake Huron. It remained for the second commission to determine the boundary from the Atlantic to the St. Lawrence. The question was a bone of contention for many years, and at last was referred to Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton. These two gentlemen met in a spirit of fairness, calmly discussed the matter, and without the slightest friction reached an agreement, which was signed August 9, 1842, and confirmed by the Senate.

CIVIL WAR IN RHODE ISLAND.

Rhode Island had been governed down to 1842 by the charter received from Charles II., in 1663. This charter permitted only the owners of a certain amount of property to vote. Dissatisfaction gradually grew until 1842, when two political parties were formed in the little State, one favoring a new constitution and the other clinging to the old. The former carried the Legislature, after adopting a State constitution, and elected Thomas W. Dorr governor. Their opponents elected Samuel W. King, and both placed armed forces in the field. When civil war was imminent, the national government interfered and Dorr's forces were dispersed without bloodshed. Dorr was arrested, and on his trial found guilty of treason. He was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but offered liberty on condition of taking the oath of allegiance. He refused, and, in June, 1845, was unconditionally released. Meanwhile, the general dissatisfaction with the colonial charter led to the calling of a convention, which adopted a new constitution, that went into effect in May, 1843.

THE ANTI-RENT WAR IN NEW YORK.

It has been shown that when the Dutch were the owners of New York State many of them took possession of immense tracts of lands, over which they ruled like the feudal lords in ancient England. These grants and privileges were inherited by their descendants and were not affected by the Revolution. Among the wealthiest patroons were the Van Rensselaers, whose estates included most of Albany and Rensselaer Counties. Stephen Van Rensselaer was easy-going and so wealthy that he did not take the trouble to collect the rents due from his numerous tenants, who, at his death, in 1840, owed him nearly a quarter of a million of dollars. His heirs determined to collect this amount and set vigorous measures on foot to do so. The tenants resisted, furious fights took place, and the military were called out, but the tenants remained resolute in refusing to pay rent. The disturbances continued and were known as "The Anti-Rent War." The eastern towns of Rensselaer County and the Livingston manor of Columbia County were soon in a state of insurrection, and many outrages were committed. In Delaware County, while a deputy-sheriff was trying to perform his duty he was killed. The civil authorities were powerless to suppress the revolt, and, in 1846, the governor declared the County of Delaware in a state of insurrection, and called out the military. They arrested the ringleaders, and the murderers of the deputy-sheriff were sentenced to imprisonment for life. Conciliatory measures followed, most of the patroon lands were sold to the tenants, and the great estates gradually passed out of existence.

A SHOCKING ACCIDENT.

A shocking accident occurred on the 28th of February, 1844. Mr. Upshur, secretary of State, Mr. Gilmer, secretary of the navy, and a number of distinguished ladies and gentlemen were taken on an excursion down the Potomac, by Commodore Stockton, on the steamer Princeton. For the entertainment of his guests, the commodore ordered the firing of an immense new gun that had been placed on board a short time before. It had been discharged several times, and, upon what was intended and indeed proved to be the last discharge, it exploded, killing Mr. Upshur, Mr. Gilmer, Commodore Kennon, Virgil Maxey, lately minister to The Hague, and several of the visitors, besides wounding seventeen sailors, some of whom died. Although Commodore Stockton lived many years afterward, he never fully recovered from the shock. The accident cast a gloom throughout the whole country.

ADMISSION OF FLORIDA.

One State, Florida, was admitted to the Union during Tyler's administration. Its early history has been given, it having been bought from Spain in 1819. It was made a State in 1845.

Texas now became a subject of national interest. Although the United States made claim to it as a part of the Louisiana purchase, the claim was abandoned in 1819, when Florida came into our possession. In 1821, a colony of Americans formed a settlement in Mexican territory, encouraged to do so by the home government. Others emigrated thither, among whom were many restless adventurers and desperate men. By-and-by they began talking of wresting Texas from Mexico and transferring it to the United States. There is little doubt that in this design they received encouragement from many men holding high places in the United States.

THE TEXAS REVOLUTION.

The ferment in Texas increased, and, on the 2d of March, 1836, a convention declared Texas independent. Santa Anna, president of the Mexican Republic, crossed the Rio Grande with a large force and advanced to San Antonio, where less than 200 Texans had taken refuge in a mission-house known as the Alamo, with their flag, consisting of a single star, floating defiantly above it. In this body of fearless men were the eccentric Davy Crockett, formerly congressman from Tennessee; the Bowie brothers, one of whom was the inventor of the Bowie knife; Colonel Travis, and others as dauntless as they. They had several rifles apiece, and maintained a spirited defense, night and day, for ten days, under the incessant attacks of the Mexicans. Finally, when the brave band was reduced to less than a dozen, they surrendered under the promise that their lives would be spared. Santa Anna caused the massacre of every one.

"Remember the Alamo!" became the war-cry of the Texans, and, in the following month, under the command of Sam Houston, they virtually destroyed the Mexican army and took Santa Anna prisoner. Houston was more merciful to him than he had been to the Alamo prisoners, and protected him from the vengeance of the soldiers. He was very glad to sign a treaty acknowledging the independence of Texas.

The Mexican government, however, repudiated the action of its president, and a guerrilla warfare was waged by both sides for several years without any progress being made in the conquest of the province. Texas organized itself into an independent republic, elected Sam Houston president, and secured recognition from the United States, England, and several European governments. While making no organized effort to conquer Texas, Mexico insisted that the province was her own.

ADMISSION OF TEXAS.

One of the first steps of Texas, after declaring her independence, was to apply for admission into the Union. There was great opposition in the North because its admission would add an enormous slave area to our country. For the same reason the South clamored that it should be made a State. Calhoun, who succeeded Upshur as secretary of State, in March, 1844, put forth every effort to bring Texas into the Union. Clay's opposition lost him the support of the South in his presidential aspirations. President Tyler, who favored its admission, made an annexation treaty with Texas, but the Senate refused to ratify it. Then a joint resolution was introduced, and, after a hot discussion, was passed with the proviso that the incoming President might act, if he preferred, by treaty. The resolution was adopted March 1, 1845, by the Senate, three days before the close of President Tyler's term. Calhoun instantly dispatched a messenger to Texas with orders to travel with the utmost haste that the new State might be brought in under the resolution. President Tyler immediately signed the bill, and the "Lone-Star" State became a member of the Union. On the last day but one of the close of his term he signed the bills for the admission of Florida and Iowa, but the latter was not formally admitted until the following year.

THE COPPER MINES OF MICHIGAN.

There were many events of a non-political nature, but of the highest importance, that occurred during Tyler's administration. Copper took its place as one of the great mineral productions of the United States in 1844. The Indians at last abandoned their claims to the country near Lake Superior, in northern Michigan, and the explorations that followed proved that the copper mines there are the richest in the world. Numerous companies were formed and copper-mining became the leading industry of that section. An interesting discovery was that many of the mines had been worked hundreds of years before by the Indians.

The wonderful richness of the gold deposits in California, the vast mineral resources of Missouri and Tennessee, and the untold wealth of the petroleum bed under the surface of Pennsylvania were unsuspected.

THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST OF 1844.

The presidential election of 1844 hinged on the question of the proposed annexation of Texas. It has been stated that the Whigs nominated Henry Clay, who opposed annexation. Van Buren lost the Democratic renomination through his opposition to annexation, and the Southern Democrats secured the candidacy of James K. Polk. The Abolitionists did not think Clay's opposition to annexation quite as earnest as it should be, and they placed William Birney in nomination. As a result Clay lost the State of New York, and through that his election to the presidency. The electoral vote was as follows:

James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 170; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, Whig, 105. For Vice-President, George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 170; Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, Whig, 105. This secured the election of Polk and Dallas. James G. Birney and Thomas Morris, candidates of the Liberty party for President and Vice-President, received no electoral vote, but, as stated, caused the loss of the State of New York to Clay, thereby throwing enough electoral votes to Polk and Dallas to give them success.

THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.

The convention which placed Polk in nomination was held in the city of Baltimore. A railway train was waiting to carry the news to Washington, and, as soon as the passengers could hurry on board, it steamed at the highest speed to the national capital. When the people left the cars an hour later they found, to their inexpressible amazement, newspaper extras for sale containing the news of Polk's nomination. In answer to their questions they were told that it had been received from Baltimore by TELEGRAPH.

This was on the 29th of May, 1844, and was the first public message sent by magnetic telegraph. It marked an era in the history of civilization.

Investigation seems to establish that Professor Joseph Henry, of the Smithsonian Institute, was the real inventor of the electro-magnetic telegraph, though that honor has been given and will continue to be given by most people to Professor Samuel F.B. Morse, whose relation to the telegraph was much the same as that of Fulton to the steamboat. He added to the ideas of those before him and first brought them into practical use.

Professor Morse deserves all the credit he has received as one of the greatest of inventors. He studied painting when young and became an artist of considerable skill. As early as 1832 he conceived the idea of an electro-magnetic telegraph and began his experiments. The project absorbed all his energies until he became what is called in these days a "crank," which is often the name of one who gives all his thoughts and efforts to the development of a single project. He drifted away from his relatives, who looked upon him as a visionary dreamer, and when his ragged clothes and craving stomach demanded attention, he gave instruction in drawing to a few students who clung to him.

Light gradually dawned upon Morse, and he continued his labors under discouragements that would have overcome almost any other man. He secured help from Alfred Vail, of Morristown, N.J., who invented the alphabetical characters and many essential features of the system, besides furnishing Morse with funds, without which his labors would have come to a standstill. There was not enough capital at command to construct a line of telegraph, and Morse and his few friends haunted Congress with their plea for an appropriation. Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University, gave assistance, and, finally, in the very closing days of the session of Congress in 1844, an appropriation of $30,000 was made to defray the expenses of a line between Baltimore and Washington.

The invention, like most others of an important nature, was subjected to merciless ridicule. A wag hung a pair of muddy boots out of a window in Washington, with a placard announcing that they belonged to a man who had just arrived by telegraph; another placed a package on the wires, and called to his friends to see it whisked away by lightning; while many opposed the apparent experimenting with the electric fluid, which they believed would work all sorts of mischief. Nevertheless, the patient toilers kept at work, often stopped by accident, and in the face of all manner of opposition. The first line was laid underground, and, as has been shown, carried the news of Polk's nomination for the presidency to Washington.

Professor Morse was in Washington, and the first message was dictated by Annie Ellsworth, March 28, 1844, and received by Alfred Vail, forty miles away in Baltimore. It consisted of the words, "What hath God wrought?" and the telegram is now in the possession of the Connecticut Historical Society. It may be said that since then the earth has been girdled by telegraph lines, numbers of which pass under the ocean, uniting all nations and the uttermost extremities of the world.

In the preceding pages we have done little more than give the results of the various presidential campaigns. The two leading political parties were the Whigs and the Democrats, and many of the elections were of absorbing interest, not only to the participants, but to the country at large. Several were distinguished by features worthy of permanent record, since they throw valuable light upon the times, now forgotten, and were attended in many instances by far-reaching results.

It seems proper, therefore, that a chapter should be devoted to the most important presidential campaigns preceding and including one of the most memorable--that of 1840--often referred to as the "hard cider campaign."

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XII. FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 1840

The Origin of the "Caucus"--The Election of 1792--The First Stormy Election--The Constitution Amended--Improvement of the Method of Nominating Presidential Candidates--The First Presidential Convention--Convention in Baltimore in 1832--Exciting Scenes--The Presidential Campaign of 1820--"Old Hickory"--Andrew Jackson's Popularity--Jackson Nominated--"Old Hickory" Defeated--The "Log-Cabin" and "Hard-Cider" Campaign of 1840--"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"--Peculiar Feature of the Harrison Campaign.

The presidential nominating convention is a modern institution. In the early days of the Republic a very different method was pursued in order to place the candidates for the highest office in the land before the people.

THE ORIGIN OF THE "CAUCUS."

In the first place, as to the origin of the "caucus." In the early part of the eighteenth century a number of caulkers connected with the shipping business in the North End of Boston held a meeting for consultation. That meeting was the germ of the political caucuses which have formed so prominent a feature of our government ever since its organization.

The Constitution of our country was framed and signed in the month of September, 1787, by the convention sitting in Philadelphia, and then sent to the various Legislatures for their action. It could not become binding until ratified by nine States. On the 2d of July, 1788, Congress was notified that the necessary nine States had approved, and on the 13th of the following September a day was appointed for the choice of electors for President. The day selected was the first Wednesday of January, 1789. The date for the beginning of proceedings under the new Constitution was postponed to the first Wednesday in March, which happened to fall on the 4th. In that way the 4th of March became fixed as the date of the inauguration of each President, except when the date is on Sunday, when it becomes the 5th.

Congress met at that time in the city of New York. It was not until the 1st of April that a quorum for business appeared in the House of Representatives, and the Senate was organized on the 6th of that month. The electors who were to choose the President were selected by the various State Legislatures, each elector being entitled to cast two votes. The rule was that the candidate receiving the highest number became President, while the next highest vote elected the Vice-President. The objection to this method was that the two might belong to different political parties, which very condition of things came about at the election of the second President, when John Adams was chosen to the highest office and Thomas Jefferson to the second. The former was a Federalist, while Jefferson was a Republican, or, as he would have been called later, a Democrat. Had Adams died while in office, the policy of his administration would have been changed.

There could be no doubt as to the first choice. While Washington lived and was willing thus to serve his country, what other name could be considered? So, when the electoral vote was counted on the 6th of April, 1789, every vote of the ten States which took part in the election was cast for him. He received 69 (all); John Adams, 34; John Jay, 9; R.H. Harrison, 6; John Rutledge, 6; John Hancock, 4; George Clinton, 3; Samuel Huntingdon, 2; John Milton, 2; James Armstrong, Benjamin Lincoln, and Edward Telfair, 1 each.

THE ELECTION OF 1792.

At the next election, in 1792, the result was: Washington, 132 (all) votes; John Adams, 77; George Clinton, 50; Thomas Jefferson, 4; Aaron Burr, 1; vacancies, 3. It would have been the same at the third election had the illustrious Father of his Country consented to be a candidate; but he was growing feeble, and had already sacrificed so much for his country, that his yearning for the quiet, restful life at Mount Vernon could not be denied him. So he retired, and, less than three years later, passed from earth.

THE FIRST STORMY ELECTION.

What may be looked upon as the first stormy election of a President took place in 1800. When the electoral votes came to be counted, they were found to be distributed as follows: Thomas Jefferson, 73; Aaron Burr, 73; John Adams, 65; Charles C. Pinckney, 64; John Jay, 1. Jefferson and Burr being tied, the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, where the contest became a memorable one. The House met on the 11th of February, 1801, to decide the question. On the first ballot, Jefferson had eight States and Burr six, while Maryland and Vermont were equally divided. Here was another tie.

Meanwhile, one of the most terrific snowstorms ever known swept over Washington. Mr. Nicholson, of Maryland, was seriously ill in bed, and yet, if he did not vote, his State would be given to Burr, who would be elected President. Nicholson showed that he had the "courage of his convictions" by allowing himself to be bundled up and carried through the blizzard to one of the committee rooms, where his wife stayed by his side day and night. On each ballot the box was brought to his bedside, and he did not miss one. The House remained in continuous session until thirty-five ballots had been cast without any change.

It was clear by that time that Burr could not be elected, for the columns of Jefferson were as immovable as a stone wall. The break, when it came, must be in the ranks of Burr. On the thirty-sixth ballot, the Federalists of Maryland, Delaware, and South Carolina voted blank, and the Federalist of Vermont stayed away. This gave the friends of Jefferson their opportunity, and, fortunately for the country, Thomas Jefferson was elected instead of the miscreant Burr.

THE CONSTITUTION AMENDED.

As a result of this noted contest, the Constitution was so amended that each elector voted for a President and a Vice-President, instead of for two candidates for President. It was a needed improvement, since it insured that both should belong to the same political party.

During the first term of Washington, the country was divided into two powerful political parties. Men who, like Washington, Hamilton, and others, believed in a strong central government, with only such political power as was absolutely necessary distributed among the various States, were Federalists. Those who insisted upon the greatest possible power for the States, yielding nothing to Congress beyond what was distinctly specified in the Constitution, were Republicans, of whom Thomas Jefferson was the foremost leader. Other points of difference developed as the years passed, but the main distinction was as given. After the election of John Adams, the Federalist party gradually dwindled, and in the war of 1812 its unpatriotic course fatally weakened the organization.

THE COUNTRY DIVIDED IN PARTIES.

The Republican party took the name of Democratic-Republican, which is its official title to-day. During Monroe's administration, when almost the last vestige of Federalist vanished, their opponents gradually acquired the name of Democrats, by which they are now known. After a time, the Federalists were succeeded by the Whigs, who held well together until the quarrel over the admission of Kansas and the question of slavery split the party into fragments. From these, including Know Nothings, Abolitionists, Free Soilers, and Northern Democrats, was builded, in 1856, the present Republican party, whose foundation stone was opposition to the extension of slavery. Many minor parties have sprung into ephemeral life from time to time, but the Democrats and Republicans will undoubtedly be the two great political organizations for many years to come, as they have been for so many years past.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE METHOD OF NOMINATING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.

It will be noted that the old-fashioned method of nominating presidential candidates was clumsy and frequently unfair. Candidates sometimes announced themselves for offices within the gift of the people; but if that practice had continued to modern times, the number of candidates thus appealing for the suffrages of their fellow-citizens might have threatened to equal the number of voters themselves. The more common plan was for the party leaders to hold private or informal caucuses. The next method was for the legislative caucus to name the man. The unfairness of this system was that it shut out from representation those whose districts had none of the opposite political party in the Legislature. To adjust the matter, the caucus rule was so modified as to admit delegates specially sent up from the districts that were not represented in the Legislature. This, it will be seen, was an important step in the direction of the present system, which makes a nominating convention consist of delegates from every part of a State, chosen for the sole purpose of making nominations.

The perfected method appeared in New Jersey as early as 1812, in Pennsylvania in 1817, and in New York in 1825. There was no clearly defined plan followed in making the presidential nominations for 1824, and four years later the legislative caucus system was almost universally followed. After that, the system which had been applied in various States was applied to national matters.

THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTION.

In the year 1826, William Morgan, a worthless character, living in Batavia, New York, attempted to expose the secrets of the order of Free Masons, of which he had become a member. While he was engaged in printing his book, he disappeared and was never afterward seen. The Masons were accused of making way with him, and a wave of opposition swept over the country which closed many lodges and seemed for a time to threaten the extinction of the order. An anti-Masonic party was formed and became strong enough to carry the election in several States. Not only that, but in September, 1831, the anti-Masons held a National nominating convention in Baltimore and put forward William Wirt, former attorney-general of the United States, as their nominee for the Presidency, with Amos Ellmaker, candidate for the Vice-Presidency. The ticket received seven electoral votes. The noteworthy fact about this almost forgotten matter is that the convention was the first presidential one held in this country.

CONVENTION IN BALTIMORE IN 1832.

The system was now fairly launched, for in December of the same year the National Republicans met in convention in Baltimore and nominated Henry Clay, and in May, 1832, Martin Van Buren was nominated by a Democratic convention. He was renominated at the same place and in the same manner in 1835, but the Whigs did not imitate their opponents. In 1840, however, the system was adopted by both parties, and has been followed ever since.

Our whole country seethes with excitement from the hour when the first candidate is hinted at until his nomination is made, followed by his election or defeat a few months later. Some persons see a grave peril in this periodic convulsion, which shakes the United States like an earthquake, but it seems after all to be a sort of political thunderstorm which purifies the air and clarifies the ideas that otherwise would become sodden or morbid. It is essentially American, and our people's universal love of fair play leads them to accept the verdict at the polls with philosophy and good nature.

And yet there have been many exciting scenes at the nominating conventions of the past, as there doubtless will be in many that are yet to come. Coming down to later times, how often has it proved that the most astute politicians were all at sea in their calculations. The proverbial "dark horse" has become a potent factor whom it is not safe to forget in making up political probabilities.

THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1820.

Probably the most tranquil presidential campaign of the nineteenth century was that of 1820, when James Monroe was elected for the second time. He was virtually the only candidate before the country for the exalted office. When the electoral college met, the astounding fact was revealed that he had every vote--the first time such a thing had occurred since Washington's election.

But there was one elector who had the courage to do that which was never done before and has never been done since: he voted contrary to his instructions and in opposition to the ticket on which he was elected. Blumer, of New Hampshire, explained that, as he viewed it, no President had the right to share the honor of a unanimous election with Washington, and, though an ardent friend of Monroe, he deliberately cast his one vote for Adams, in order to preserve Washington's honor distinct. His motive was appreciated, and Blumer was applauded for the act, Monroe himself being pleased with it.

"OLD HICKORY"

It is hardly necessary to repeat that this incident has not been duplicated since that day. Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory," was probably the most popular man in the country when the time came for naming the successor of Monroe. It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that when the project of running him for the presidency was first mentioned to Jackson, he was displeased. It had never entered his head to covet that exalted office.

"Don't think of it," he said; "I haven't the first qualification; I am a rough, plain man, fitted perhaps to lead soldiers and fight the enemies of our country, but as for the presidency, the idea is too absurd to be held."

But what American cannot be convinced that he is pre-eminently fitted for the office? It did not take long for the ambition to be kindled in the breast of the doughty hero. His friends flattered him into the conviction that he was the man of all others to assume the duties, and the "bee buzzed" as loudly in Jackson's bonnet as it ever has in that of any of his successors.

ANDREW JACKSON'S POPULARITY.

It cannot be denied that "Old Hickory" was a great man, and though he was deficient in education, lacking in statesmanship, and obstinate to the last degree, he was the possessor of those rugged virtues which invariably command respect. He was honest, clean in his private life, a stanch friend, an unrelenting enemy, and an intense patriot--one who was ready to risk his life at any hour for his country. In addition, he never knew the meaning of personal fear. No braver person ever lived. When the sheriff in a court-room was afraid to attempt to arrest a notorious desperado, Jackson leaped over the chairs, seized the ruffian by the throat, hurled him to the floor, and cowed him into submission. When a piece of treachery was discovered on a Kentucky racecourse, Jackson faced a mob of a thousand infuriated men, ruled off the dishonest official, and carried his point. He challenged the most noted duelist of the southwest, because he dared to cast a slur upon Jackson's wife. It mattered not that the scoundrel had never failed to kill his man, and that all of Jackson's friends warned him that it was certain death to meet the dead-shot. At the exchange of shots, Jackson was frightfully wounded, but he stood as rigid as iron, and sent a bullet through the body of his enemy, whom he did not let know he was himself wounded until the other breathed his last.

Above all, had not "Old Hickory" won the battle of New Orleans, the most brilliant victory of the War of 1812? Did not he and his unerring riflemen from the backwoods of Tennessee and Kentucky spread consternation, death, and defeat among the red-coated veterans of Waterloo? No wonder that the anniversary of that glorious battle is still celebrated in every part of the country, and no wonder, too, that the American people demanded that the hero of all these achievements should be rewarded with the highest office in the gift of his countrymen.

JACKSON NOMINATED.

Jackson, having "placed himself in the hands of his friends," threw himself into the struggle with all the unquenchable ardor of his nature. On July 22, 1822, the Legislature of Tennessee was first in the field by placing him in nomination. On the 22d of February, 1824, a Federalist convention at Harrisburg, Pa., nominated him, and on the 4th of March following a Republican convention did the same. It would seem that he was now fairly before the country, but the regular Democratic nominee, that is, the one named by the congressional caucus, was William H. Crawford, of Georgia. The remaining candidates were John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, and all of them belonged to the Republican party, which had retained the presidency since 1800. Adams and Clay were what was termed loose constructionists, while Jackson and Crawford were strict constructionists.

"OLD HICKORY" DEFEATED.

The canvass was a somewhat jumbled one, in which each candidate had his ardent partisans and supporters. The contest was carried out with vigor and the usual abuse, personalities, and vituperation until the polls were closed. Then when the returns came to be made up it was found that Jackson had received 99 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. "Old Hickory" was well ahead, but his strength was not sufficient to make him President, even though on the popular vote he led Adams by more than 50,000. Consequently the election went to the House of Representatives, where the supporters of Clay combined with those of Adams and made him President. Thus came the singular result that the man who had the largest popular and electoral vote was defeated.

It was a keen disappointment to Jackson and his friends. The great Senator Benton, of Missouri, one of the warmest supporters of "Old Hickory," angrily declared that the House was deliberately defying the will of the people by placing a minority candidate in the chair. The senator's position, however, was untenable, and so it was that John Quincy Adams became the sixth President of our country.

JACKSON'S TRIUMPH.

But the triumph of "Old Hickory" was only postponed. His defeat was looked upon by the majority of men as a deliberate piece of trickery, and they "lay low" for the next opportunity to square matters. No fear of a second chance being presented to their opponents. Jackson was launched into the canvass of 1828 like a cyclone, and when the returns were made up he had 178 electoral votes to 83 for Adams--a vote which lifted him safely over the edge of a plurality and seated him firmly in the White House.

It is not our province to treat of the administration of Andrew Jackson, for that belongs to history, but the hold which that remarkable man maintained upon the affections of the people was emphasized when, in 1832, he was re-elected by an electoral vote of 219 to 49 for Clay, 11 for Floyd, and 7 for Wirt. Despite the popular prejudice against a third term, there is little doubt that Jackson would have been successful had he chosen again to be a candidate. He proved his strength by selecting his successor, Martin Van Buren.

THE "LOG-CABIN AND HARD-CIDER" CAMPAIGN OF 1840.

The next notable presidential battle was the "log-cabin and hard-cider" campaign of 1840, the like of which was never before seen in this country. General William Henry Harrison had been defeated by Van Buren in 1836, but on the 4th of December, 1839, the National Whig Convention, which met at Harrisburg to decide the claims of rival candidates, placed Harrison in nomination, while the Democrats again nominated Van Buren.

General Harrison lived at North Bend, Ohio, in a house which consisted of a log-cabin, built many years before by a pioneer, and was afterward covered with clapboards. The visitors to the house praised the republican simplicity of the old soldier, the hero of Tippecanoe, and the principal campaign biography said that his table, instead of being supplied with costly wines, was furnished with an abundance of the best cider.

The canvass had hardly opened, when the Baltimore Republican slurred General Harrison by remarking that, if some one would pension him with a few hundred dollars and give him a barrel of hard cider, he would sit down in his log-cabin and be content for the rest of his life. That sneer furnished the keynote of the campaign. Hard cider became almost the sole beverage of the Whigs throughout the country. In every city, town and village, and at the cross-roads, were erected log-cabins, while the amount of hard cider drank would have floated the American navy. The nights were rent with the shouts of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," and scores of campaign songs were sung by tens of thousands of exultant, even if not always musical, voices. We recall that one of the most popular songs began:

"Oh, where, tell me where, was the log-cabin made? 'Twas made by the boys that wield the plough and the spade."

There was no end to the songs, which were set to the most popular airs and sung over and over again. You would hear them in the middle of the night on some distant mountain-top, where the twinkling camp-fire showed that a party of Whigs were drinking hard cider and whooping it up for Harrison; some singer with a strong, pleasing voice would start one of the songs from the platform, at the close of the orator's appeal, and hardly had his lips parted, when the thousands of Whigs, old and young, and including wives and daughters, would join in the words, while the enthusiasm quickly grew to a white heat. The horsemen riding home late at night awoke the echoes among the woods and hills with their musical praises of "Old Tippecanoe." The story is told that in one of the backwoods districts of Ohio, after the preacher had announced the hymn, the leader of the singing, a staid old deacon, struck in with a Harrison campaign song, in which the whole congregation, after the first moment's shock, heartily joined, while the aghast preacher had all he could do to restrain himself from "coming in on the chorus." There was some truth in the declaration of a disgusted Democrat that, from the opening of the canvass, the whole Whig population of the United States went upon a colossal spree on hard cider, which continued without intermission until Harrison was installed in the White House.

And what did November tell? The electoral vote cast for Martin Van Buren, 60; for General Harrison, 234. No wonder that the supply of hard cider was almost exhausted within the next three days.

PECULIAR FEATURE OF THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN.

As we have noted, the method of nominating presidential candidates by means of popular conventions was fully established in 1840, and has continued uninterruptedly ever since. One peculiar feature marked the Harrison campaign of 1840. The convention which nominated Martin Van Buren met in Baltimore in May of that year. On the same day, the young Whigs of the country held a mass-meeting in Baltimore, at which fully twenty thousand persons were present. They came from every part of the Union, Massachusetts sending fully a thousand. When the adjournment took place, it was to meet again in Washington at the inauguration of Harrison. The railway was then coming into general use, and this greatly favored the assembling of mass-conventions.

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XIII. ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, 1845-1849

James K. Polk--The War with Mexico--The First Conflict--Battle of Resaca de la Palma--Vigorous Action of the United States Government--General Scott's Plan of Campaign--Capture of Monterey--An Armistice--Capture of Saltillo--Of Victoria--Of Tampico--General Kearny's Capture of Santa Fe--Conquest of California--Wonderful March of Colonel Doniphan--Battle of Buena Vista--General Scott's March Toward the City of Mexico--Capture of Vera Cruz--American Victory at Cerro Gordo--Five American Victories in One Day--Santa Anna--Conquest of Mexico Completed--Terms of the Treaty of Peace--The New Territory Gained--The Slavery Dispute--The Wilmot Proviso--"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"--Adjustment of the Oregon Boundary--Admission of Iowa and Wisconsin--The Smithsonian Institute--Discovery of Gold in California--The Mormons--The Presidential Election of 1848.

JAMES K. POLK.

James K. Polk, eleventh President, was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, November 2, 1795, and died June 15, 1849. His father removed to Tennessee when the son was quite young, and he therefore became identified with that State. He studied law, was a leading politician, and was elected to Congress in 1825, serving in that body for fourteen years. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1839, his next advancement being to the presidency of the United States.

The President made George Bancroft, the distinguished historian, his secretary of the navy. It was he who laid the foundation of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, which was opened October 10, 1845. It is under the immediate care and supervision of the navy department and corresponds to the Military Academy at West Point.

Everybody knew that the admission of Texas meant war with Mexico, for that country would never yield, until compelled to do so, the province that had rebelled against her rule and whose independence she had persistently refused to recognize. Texas was unable to withstand the Mexican army, and her authorities urged the United States to send a force for her protection. General Zachary Taylor, who was in camp in western Louisiana, was ordered to advance into and occupy Texan territory.

Mexico had always insisted that the Nueces River was her western boundary, while Texas maintained that the Rio Grande was the dividing line. The dispute, therefore, was really over the tract of land between the two rivers. Our country proposed to settle the question by arbitration, but Mexico would not consent, claiming that the section (known as Coahuila) had never been in revolt against her authority, while Texas declared that it was a part of itself, and its Legislature so decided December 19, 1836.

General Taylor established a camp at Corpus Christi in the latter part of 1845, at the mouth of the Nueces. With nearly 5,000 troops, he marched, in January, to the Rio Grande to meet the Mexicans who were preparing to invade the disputed territory. Taylor established a depot of provisions at Point Isabel on the Gulf, and, upon reaching the Rio Grande, hastily built Fort Brown, opposite the Mexican town of Matamoras.

Some time later the Mexican forces reached Matamoras, and General Arista on the 26th of April notified Taylor that hostilities had begun. To emphasize his declaration, Captain Thornton with a company of dragoons was attacked the same day, and, after the loss of sixteen men in killed and wounded, was compelled to surrender to a much superior force. This was the first engagement of the war and was fought on ground claimed by both countries.

BATTLE OF PALO ALTO.

The Mexicans acted vigorously and soon placed Taylor's lines of communication in such danger that he hurried to Point Isabel to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy. He left Major Brown with 300 men in charge of Fort Brown. The Mexicans were exultant, believing Taylor had been frightened out of the country. But that valiant officer paused at Point Isabel only long enough to make its position secure, when he marched rapidly toward Fort Brown. Reaching Palo Alto, on the road, he found the way disputed by fully 6,000 Mexicans, who were three times as numerous as his own army. Attacking the enemy with great spirit, he routed them with the loss of a hundred men, his own loss being four killed and forty wounded.

Resuming his march toward Fort Brown, Taylor had reached a point within three miles of it, when he was brought face to face with a much larger force at Resaca de la Palma. The battle was a severe one, and for a long time was in doubt; but the tide was turned by a dashing charge of Captain May with his dragoons. Despite a destructive fire of grapeshot, the horsemen galloped over the Mexican batteries, cut down the gunners, and captured the commanding officer. Taylor then pushed on to Fort Brown and found it safe, though it had been under an almost continuous bombardment, in which Major Brown, the commandant, was killed.

WAR DECLARED BY CONGRESS.

News of these battles was carried north by carrier pigeons and telegraph, and the war spirit of the country was roused. Congress on the 11th of May declared that war existed by the act of the Mexican government, and $10,000,000 was placed at the disposal of the President, who was authorized to accept 50,000 volunteers. The call for them was answered by 300,000, who were eager to serve in the war.

GENERAL SCOTT'S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.

General Scott, as head of the army, formed a careful plan of campaign for the conquest of Mexico. Of the three divisions, General Kearny, with the army of the west, was to cross the Rocky Mountains and conquer the northern Mexican provinces; General Scott himself, with the army of the centre, was to advance from the coast into the interior of the country, making the city of Mexico, the capital of the republic, his objective point; while General Taylor, with the army of occupation, was to seize and hold the Rio Grande country. The work of mustering in the troops was intrusted to General Wool, who, some time later, established himself at San Antonio, and sent many soldiers to the different commands.

CAPTURE OF MONTEREY.

Within less than two weeks after his victory at Resaca de la Palma, Taylor crossed over from Fort Brown and captured Matamoras. Then he turned up the right bank of the Rio Grande and marched into the interior. The Mexicans retreated to the fortified town of Monterey, where they were so powerful that Taylor waited for reinforcements before attacking them. His forces amounted to 6,600 by the latter part of August, and he then advanced against Monterey, which was defended by a garrison of 10,000 men.

The city was invested on the 19th of September. Two days sufficed for General Worth to capture the fortified works in the rear of the town, and on the next day the remaining defenses on that side were carried by storm. At daylight, on the 23d, the city in front was captured by assault. The Mexicans maintained a vicious defense from their adobe houses, but the Americans, charging through the streets, battered in the doors, chased the defenders from room to room and over the housetops until they flung down their arms and shouted for mercy. The commander was allowed to evacuate the city, and fell back toward the national capital.

OTHER VICTORIES.

Taylor was about to resume his advance when the enemy asked for an armistice, saying the authorities wished to negotiate for peace. Taylor agreed to an armistice of eight weeks, but the proposal was a trick of the enemy, who spent every hour of the respite in making preparations to resist the Americans' advance. Santa Anna, who was undergoing one of his periodical banishments, was called back and given the presidency. When the armistice granted by Taylor expired, the Mexicans had an army of 20,000 in the field, and, under orders from Washington, the American commander moved forward. The first town captured was Saltillo, seventy miles southwest of Monterey. It was taken by General Worth, with the advance, on the 15th of November, 1846. In the following month Victoria, in the province of Tamaulipas, was captured by General Butler, who, advancing from Monterey, united with Patterson at this place. Their intention was to move upon Tampico, on the coast, but they learned that it had surrendered to Captain Conner, commander of an American squadron. Meanwhile, General Wool, marching from San Antonio, arrived within supporting distance of Monterey. Such was the situation when General Scott reached the army and took command.

GENERAL KEARNY'S OPERATIONS.

General Kearny, in command of the army of the west, left Fort Leavenworth, in June, 1846, on the way to conquer New Mexico and California. He had a long and laborious march before him, but he reached Santa Fe on the 18th of August, and it was easily captured and garrisoned. New Mexico was powerless, and the whole province surrendered. Then Kearny, at the head of 400 dragoons, set out for the Pacific coast, but he had not gotten far on the road when he met a messenger who informed him that California had been conquered by Colonel John C. Fremont, acting in conjunction with Commodores Sloat and Stockton. Kearny sent most of his men back to Santa Fe and pushed for the Pacific coast, with a hundred dragoons. He arrived in November, and joined Fremont and Stockton.

CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.

Fremont acquired the name of the "Pathfinder" because of his exploring expeditions in the far West. He explored a portion of the Rocky Mountains in 1842, and, in the following two years, conducted an expedition with much skill and success through the regions of Utah, the basin of the Columbia, and the passes of the Sierra Nevada. He was in charge of a third expedition in 1846, and was in California when the Mexican war broke out. He received the dispatches as if they were news to him, but there is good reason to believe that the government had sent him thither, in order that he might be on the ground and do the very work he did. He urged the pioneers to declare their independence. They ardently did so, raised the "Black Bear Flag," and gathered around Fremont, who continually defeated the superior forces of Mexicans.

The town of Monterey, eighty miles south of San Francisco, was captured by Commodore Sloat with an American squadron, and San Diego was taken soon afterward by Commodore Stockton, in command of the Pacific squadron; learning which, Fremont raised the American flag in the place of that of California, and, joining the naval commanders, advanced upon Los Angeles, which submitted without resistance. In a short time the immense province of California was conquered by what may be called a handful of Americans.

THE WONDERFUL MARCH OF COLONEL DONIPHAN.

Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan had been left at Santa Fe with his small force of dragoons. At the head of 700 men, he performed one of the most remarkable exploits of the war. Riding directly through the enemy's country for nearly a thousand miles, he reached the Rio Grande on Christmas day and won a battle; he then crossed the river and captured El Paso, and, heading for Chihuahua, was met by a Mexican force on the banks of Sacramento Creek. They outnumbered Doniphan's force four to one, and displayed the black flag, as notice that no quarter would be given. The Americans lay flat on the ground, and the first volleys passed harmlessly over their heads. The Mexicans made the mistake of believing they had been decimated by the discharge, and charged upon what they supposed were the few survivors. They were received with a withering volley, and assailed with such fierceness by the Americans that they were utterly routed. Chihuahua thus fell into the possession of Colonel Doniphan, but, since the term of the enlistment of his men had expired, he could advance no further. He then conducted them to New Orleans, where they were mustered out of service. They had marched a distance of 5,000 miles, won several victories, suffered not a single defeat, and were back again in their homes all within a year.

General Scott had landed on the coast for the purpose of marching into the interior to the national capital. In order to make his advance resistless, he withdrew the larger part of Taylor's army and united it with his own. Taylor felt he was used unjustly, for both he and Wool were threatened by Santa Anna at the head of 20,000, men, but bluff "Old Rough and Ready" made no protest and grimly prepared for the danger. The greatest number of troops he could concentrate at Saltillo was about 6,000, and, after placing garrisons there and at Monterey, he had only 4,800 remaining, but, undismayed, he marched out to meet Santa Anna. Four miles away, he reached the favorable battle ground of Buena Vista, posted his men, and awaited attack.

The Mexican commander was so confident of overwhelming the Americans that, in his message to Taylor, he assured him he would see that he was personally well treated after his surrender. General Taylor sent word that he declined to obey the summons, and the messenger who carried the message to Santa Anna added the significant words: "General Taylor never surrenders."

The American army was placed at the upper end of a long and narrow pass in the mountains. It was flanked on one side by high cliffs and on the other by impassable ravines, which position compelled the enemy to attack him in front.

BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA.

The battle opened early on the morning of February 23d, with the Mexicans swarming through the gorges and over the hills from San Luis Potosi. The first assault was against the American right, but it was beaten back by the Illinois troops; the next was against the centre, but it was repelled by Captain Washington's artillery; and then the left flank was vehemently assailed. A mistaken order caused an Indiana regiment to give way, and for a time the whole army was in danger; but the Mississippians and Kentuckians gallantly flung themselves into the breach, the Indiana and Illinois troops rallied, and the Mexicans were driven tumultuously back. In this brilliant exploit Colonel Jefferson Davis, with his Mississippi regiment, played a prominent part.

"A LITTLE MORE GRAPE, CAPTAIN BRAGG."

The next charge was upon Captain Bragg's battery, but that officer, in obedience to General Taylor's famous request, "A little more grape, Captain Bragg," scattered the Mexican lancers in every direction. The success was followed up by a cavalry charge, which completed the discomfiture of the enemy, who fled with the loss of 2,000 men.

Buena Vista was a superb victory for the Americans, but it cost them dear. The killed, wounded, and missing numbered nearly 800. Among the killed was Colonel Henry Clay, son of the Kentucky orator and statesman. The battle completed the work of General Taylor, who soon afterward returned to the United States. The glory he had won made him President less than two two years later.

Returning once more to General Scott, he entered upon the last campaign, March 9, 1847. Old army officers of to-day contrast the admirable manner in which he did his preliminary work with the mismanagement in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Impatience was expressed at his tardiness in getting his troops ready on the transports at New York. To all such complaints, the grim old soldier replied that he would embark when everything was ready and not a single hour before. As a consequence, his men landed at Vera Cruz in the best condition, there was not the slightest accident, and every soldier when he stepped ashore had three days' rations in his knapsack. Twelve thousand men were landed, and in three days the investment of Vera Cruz was complete. Then a Mexican train was captured and the troops had provisions in abundance.

CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ.

The city having refused to surrender, the bombardment opened on the morning of March 22d. The water-side of Vera Cruz was defended by the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, built a century and a half before by Spain at enormous cost. Commodore Conner assisted throughout the four days that the cannonade lasted. The success of the bombardment made the Americans confident of capturing the castle by assault, and they were preparing to do so when the authorities proposed satisfactory terms of surrender, which took place March 29th.

The direct march upon the capital now began, with General Twiggs in command of the advance. The road steadily rises from the coast and abounds in passes and mountains, which offer the best kind of natural fortifications. When Twiggs reached one of these passes, named Cerro Gordo, he found that Santa Anna had taken possession of it with 15,000 troops. The whole American army numbered only 9,000, and it looked as if they were halted in front of an impregnable position, but it must be captured or the whole campaign would have to be abandoned.

BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO.

There was no hesitation on the part of our troops, who, under the lead of the bravest and most skillful of officers, attacked with their usual energy and daring. The Mexicans made the best defense possible, but within a few hours they abandoned every position and were driven in headlong confusion from the field. They lost 3,000 prisoners, among whom were five generals, while the escape of Santa Anna was so narrow that he left his cork leg behind.

The American army pressed on to Jalapa, which made no resistance, and furnished a large amount of supplies, and Puebla, a city of 80,000 inhabitants, was occupied on the 15th of May. There the ground was high and the air cool and salubrious. The men were exhausted from their arduous campaign, and Scott decided to give them a good rest, so as to be fully prepared for the final struggle. Besides it was necessary to receive reinforcements before venturing further. Santa Anna, realizing that the critical period of the struggle was at hand, put forth every energy to collect an army to beat back the invaders.

Early in August the American army had been increased to 11,000 men, and, leaving a small garrison at Puebla, Scott set out for the beautiful city of Mexico. No serious resistance offered until they reached Ayotla, fifteen miles from the capital. There it was found that the regular road bristled with forts, and, although there was no doubt that all could be carried, the American commander wisely decided to move his army around to the south, where he could advance over a comparatively undefended route. Without any difficulty he reached San Augustine, which was within ten miles of the capital.

Had the positions been changed, a force ten times as great as the Americans could not have captured the city of Mexico, and yet it fell before a force only one-third as numerous as the defenders.

A DAY OF VICTORIES.

The fighting began before sunrise, August 20, 1847, and when night came five distinct victories had been won. The fortified camp of Contreras was captured in about fifteen minutes. Shortly after the fortified village of San Antonio was taken by another division of the army. Almost at the same time, a division stormed one of the fortified heights of Churubusco, while still another captured the second height. Seeing the danger of his garrisons, Santa Anna moved out of the city and attacked the Americans. The reserves immediately assailed, drove him back, and chased him to the walls of the capital, into which the whole Mexican force crowded themselves at night.

It was in accordance with the nature of Santa Anna that he should set 2,000 convicts loose that night on the promise that they would fight against the Americans. Then he stole out of the city, whose authorities sent a delegation to Scott to treat for peace. This trick had been resorted to so many times by the Mexicans, who never kept faith, that the American commander refused to listen to them. An advance was made, and in a short time the city was completely in our possession.

SANTA ANNA.

At Puebla there were 2,000 Americans in the hospital under charge of a small guard. Santa Anna attacked them, thinking that at last he had found a foe whom he could beat; but he was mistaken, for reinforcements arrived in time to drive him away. This terminated for a time the career of the treacherous Santa Anna, with whom the Mexican people were thoroughly disgusted.

It is proper to state at this point that Santa Anna while in command of the Mexican army made a direct offer to General Taylor to betray his cause for a large sum of money, and he actually received an installment, but circumstances prevented the completeness of the bargain. This miscreant was president and dictator of Mexico in 1853-55, was banished and returned several times, and was still plotting to recover his power when he died, in his eighty-second year.

The capture of the capital of Mexico completed the victorious campaign. The entrance into the city was made September 14, 1847, the American flag raised over the palace, and General Scott, with a sweep of his sword over his head, while his massive frame made a striking picture in front of the palace, proclaimed the conquest of the country. All that remained was to arrange the terms of peace.

TERMS OF PEACE.

In the following winter, American ambassadors met the Mexican congress in session at Guadalupe Hidalgo, so named from the small town where it was situated. There was a good deal of discussion over the terms; our ambassadors insisting that Mexico should surrender the northern provinces, which included the present States of California, Nevada, Utah, and the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico and portions of Colorado and Wyoming, as indemnity for the war. Mexico would not consent, and matters drifted along until the 2d of February, 1848, when the new Mexican government agreed to these terms. The treaty was modified to a slight extent by the United States Senate, adopted on the 10th of March, ratified by the Mexican congress sitting at Queretaro, May 30th, and proclaimed by President Polk on the 4th of July. Thus ended our war with Mexico.

By the terms of the treaty, the United States was to pay Mexico $15,000,000, and assume debts to the extent of $3,000,000 due to American citizens from Mexico. These sums were in payment for the immense territory ceded to us. This cession, the annexation of Texas, and a purchase south of the Gila River in 1853, added almost a million square miles to our possessions, nearly equaling the Louisiana purchase and exceeding the whole area of the United States in 1783.

It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that the governing of the new territory caused so much trouble that more than once it was seriously proposed in Congress that Mexico should be asked to take it back again. General Sherman was credited with the declaration that if the identity of the man who caused the annexation of Texas could be established, he ought to be court-martialed and shot. However, all this changed when the vast capabilities and immeasurable worth of the new countries were understood. The section speedily developed a wealth, enterprise, and industry of which no one had before dreamed.

THE SLAVERY QUESTION.

The real peril involved in the acquisition of so much territory lay in the certainty that it would revive the slavery quarrel that had been put to sleep by the Missouri Compromise, nearly thirty years before. The North demanded that slavery should be excluded from the new territory, because it was so excluded by Mexican law, and to legalize it would keep out emigrants from the free States. The South demanded the authorization of slavery, since Southern emigrants would not go thither without their slaves. Still others proposed to divide the new territory by the Missouri Compromise line. This would have cut California in two near the middle, and made one part of the province slave and the other free. Altogether, it will be seen that trouble was at hand.

Before the outbreak of the Mexican War, Congressman David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, introduced the Proviso known by his name. It was a proposal to purchase the territory from Mexico, provided slavery was excluded. The introduction of the bill produced much discussion, and it was defeated by the opposition of the South.

THE OREGON BOUNDARY DISPUTE.

Great Britain and the United States had jointly occupied Oregon for twenty years, under the agreement that the occupancy could be ended by either country under a year's notice to the other. Many angry debates took place in Congress over the question whether such notice should be given. The United States claimed a strip of territory reaching to Alaska, latitude 54 deg. 40', while Great Britain claimed the territory south of the line to the Columbia River. Congress as usual had plenty of wordy patriots who raised the cry of "Fifty-four forty or fight," and it was repeated throughout the country. Cooler and wiser counsels prevailed, each party yielded a part of its claims, and made a middle line the boundary. A minor dispute over the course of the boundary line after it reached the Pacific islets was amicably adjusted by another treaty in 1871.

STATES ADMITTED.

It has been stated that the bill for the admission of Iowa did not become operative until 1846. It was the fourth State formed from the Louisiana purchase, and was first settled by the French at Dubuque; but the post died, and no further settlements were made until the close of the Black Hawk War of 1832, after which the population increased with great rapidity.

Wisconsin was the last State formed from the old Northwest Territory. A few weak settlements were made by the French as early as 1668, but, as in the case of Iowa, its real settlement began after the Black Hawk War.

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE.

James Smithson of England, when he died in 1829, bequeathed his large estate for the purpose of founding the Smithsonian Institution at Washington "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." In 1838, his estate, amounting to more than half a million dollars, was secured by a government agent and deposited in the mint. John Quincy Adams prepared a plan of organization, which was adopted.

The Smithsonian Institution, so named in honor of its founder, was placed under the immediate control of a board of regents, composed of the President, Vice-President, judges of the supreme court, and other principal officers of the government. It was provided that the entire sum, amounting with accrued interest to $625,000, should be loaned forever to the United States government at six per cent.; that from the proceeds, together with congressional appropriations and private gifts, proper buildings should be erected for containing a museum of natural history, a cabinet of minerals, a chemical laboratory, a gallery of art, and a library. The plan of organization was carried out, and Professor Joseph Henry of Princeton College, the real inventor of the electro-magnetic telegraph, was chosen secretary.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.

For many years hardy hunters and trappers had penetrated the vast wilderness of the West and Northwest in their hunt for game and peltries. Some of these were in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company, whose grounds extended as far toward the Arctic Circle as the rugged men and toughened Indians could penetrate on their snowshoes.

At points hundreds of miles apart in the gloomy solitudes were erected trading posts to which the red men brought furs to exchange for trinkets, blankets, firearms, and firewater, and whither the white trappers made their way, after an absence of months in the dismal solitudes. Further south, among the rugged mountains and beside the almost unknown streams, other men set their traps for the beaver, fox, and various fur-bearing animals. Passing the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Range they pursued their perilous avocation along the headwaters of the rivers flowing through California. They toiled amid the snows and storms of the Sierras, facing perils from the Indians, savage beasts, and the weather, for pay that often did not amount to the wages received by an ordinary day laborer.

Little did those men suspect they were walking, sleeping, and toiling over a treasure bed; that instead of tramping through snow and over ice and facing the arctic blasts and vengeful red men, if they had dug into the ground, they would have found wealth beyond estimate.

The priests lived in the adobe haciendas that the Spanish had erected centuries before, and, as they counted their beads and dozed in calm happiness, they became rich in flocks and the tributes received from the simple-minded red men. Sometimes they wondered in a mild way at the golden trinkets and ornaments brought in by the Indians and were puzzled to know where they came from, but it seemed never to have occurred to the good men that they could obtain the same precious metal by using the pick and shovel. The years came and passed, and red men and white men continued to walk over California without dreaming of the immeasurable riches that had been nestling for ages under their feet.

One day in February, 1848, James W. Marshall, who had come to California from New Jersey some years before, and had been doing only moderately well with such odd jobs as he could pick up, was working with a companion at building a sawmill for Colonel John A. Sutter, who had immigrated to this country from Baden in 1834. Going westward, he founded a settlement on the present site of Sacramento in 1841. He built Fort Sutter on the Sacramento, where he was visited by Fremont on his exploring expedition in 1846.

Marshall and his companion were engaged in deepening the mill-race, the former being just in front of the other. Happening to look around, he asked:

"What is that shining near your boot?"

His friend reached his hand down into the clear water and picked up a bright, yellow fragment and held it between his fingers.

"It is brass," he said; "but how bright it is!"

"It can't be brass," replied Marshall, "for there isn't a piece of brass within fifty miles of us."

The other turned it over again and again in his hand, put it in his mouth and bit it, and then held it up once more to the light. Suddenly he exclaimed:

"I believe it's gold!"

"I wonder if that's possible," said Marshall, beginning to think his companion was right; "how can we find out?"

"My wife can tell; she has made some lye from wood-ashes and will test it."

The man took the fragment to his wife, who was busy washing, and, at his request, she boiled it for several hours with the lye. Had it been brass--the only other metal it possibly could have been--it would have turned a greenish-black. When examined again, however, its beautiful bright lustre was undiminished. There was scarcely a doubt that it was pure gold.

The two men returned to the mill-race with pans, and washed out probably fifty dollars' worth of gold. Despite the certainty of his friend, Marshall was troubled by a fear that the fragment was neither brass nor gold, but some worthless metal of which he knew nothing. He carefully tied up all that had been gathered, mounted a fleet horse, and rode to Sutter's store, thirty miles down the American River.

Here he took Colonel Sutter into a private room and showed him what he had found, saying that he believed it to be gold. Sutter read up the account of gold in an encyclopedia, tested the substance with aqua fortis, weighed it, and decided that Marshall was right, and that the material he had found was undoubtedly gold.

It was a momentous discovery, repeated nearly a half-century later, when the same metal was found in enormous quantities in the Klondike region. Colonel Sutter and his companions tried to keep the matter a secret, but it was impossible. Marshall, being first on the ground, enriched himself, but by bad management lost all he had gained and died a poor man. Colonel Sutter tried to keep intruders off his property, but they came like the swarms of locusts that plagued Egypt. They literally overran him, and when he died, in 1880, he was without any means whatever; but California has since erected a handsome statue to his memory.

For the following ten or twenty years, it may be said, the eyes of the civilized world were upon California, and men rushed thither from every quarter of the globe. There was an endless procession of emigrant trains across the plains; the ships that fought the storms on their way around Cape Horn were crowded almost to gunwales, while thousands halved the voyage by trudging, across the Isthmus of Panama to the waiting ships on the other side. California became a mining camp and millions upon millions of gold were taken from her soil.

THE MORMONS.

By this time the Mormons engaged much public attention. Joseph Smith, of Sharon, Vermont, and Palmyra, New York, was the founder of the sect. He claimed to have found in a cave a number of engraved plates, containing the Mormon Bible, which was his guide in the formation of a new form of religious belief. Although polygamy was not commended, it was afterward added to their peculiar faith, which is that sins are remitted through baptism, and that the will of God was revealed to his prophet, Smith, as it was to be revealed to his successors.

The most grotesque farce in the name of religion is sure to find believers, and they soon gathered about Smith. The first Mormon conference was held at Fayette, N.Y., in 1830. As their number increased, they saw that the West offered the best opportunity for growth and expansion, and, when there were nearly 2,000 of them, they removed to Jackson, Missouri, where they made a settlement. Their practices angered the people, and, as soon as they could find a good pretext, the militia were called out and they were ordered to "move on."

Crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, they laid out a city which they named Nauvoo. Some of them were wealthy, and, as they held their means in common, they were able to erect a beautiful temple and numerous residences. Converts now flocked to them until they numbered fully 10,000. Their neighbors were displeased with their presence, and the feeling grew into indignation when the Mormons not only refused to obey the State laws, but defied them and passed laws of their own in open opposition. In the excitement that followed, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyram were arrested and lodged in jail at Carthage. Lynch-law was as popular in the West as it is to-day in the South, and a mob broke into the jail and killed the Smith brothers. This took place in June, 1844, and the Illinois Legislature annulled the charter of Nauvoo.

The experience of the Mormons convinced them that they would never be allowed to maintain their organization in any of the States. They, therefore, gathered up their worldly goods, and, in 1846, set out on the long journey to the far West. Reaching the Basin of Utah, they founded Great Salt Lake City, which is one of the handsomest, best governed, and cleanest (in a physical sense) cities in the world.

While referring to these peculiar people, we may as well complete their history by anticipating events that followed.

In 1857, our government attempted to extend its judicial system over Utah Territory. Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, until then had not been disturbed, and he did not mean to be interfered with by any government. He insulted the Federal judges sent thither and drove them out of the Territory, his pretext being that the objectionable character of the judges justified the step. Our government, which is always patient in such matters, could not accept this explanation, and Alfred Cumming, superintendent of Indian affairs on the Upper Missouri, was made governor of Utah and Judge Delano Eckels, of Indiana, was appointed chief justice of the Territory. Knowing that he would be resisted, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston was sent thither to compel obedience to the laws.

The United States troops, numbering 2,500, entered the Territory in October and were attacked by the Mormons, who destroyed their supply train and compelled the men to seek winter quarters near Fort Bridges. Affairs were in this critical state when a messenger from the President, in the spring of 1858, carried a conciliatory letter to Brigham Young, which did much to soothe his ruffled feelings. Then, by-and-by, Governor Powell of Kentucky and Major McCulloch of Texas appeared with a proclamation of pardon to all who would submit to Federal authority. The Mormons were satisfied, accepted the terms, and in May, 1860, the United States troops were withdrawn from the Territory.

Since that time our government has had many difficulties in dealing with the Mormons. Although polygamy is forbidden by the laws of the States and Territories, the sect continued to practice it. In March, 1882, Congress passed what is known as the Edmunds Act, which excluded Mormons from local offices which they had hitherto wholly controlled. Many persons were indicted and punished for the practice of polygamy, while others abandoned it. Brigham Young, who had become governor of Deseret in 1849, and two years later was appointed governor of Utah, died in 1877, at which time he was president of the Mormon church. The practice of polygamy was never fully eradicated, and Utah, at this writing, is represented in the United States Senate by men who make no attempt at concealing the fact that they are polygamists.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1848.

The former Democrats and Whigs who were friendly to the Wilmot Proviso formed the Free Soil party in 1848, to which also the Abolitionists naturally attached themselves. The regular Whigs and Democrats refused to support the Wilmot Proviso, through fear of alienating the South. The Free Soilers named as their nominees Martin Van Buren, for President, and Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President; the Democrats selected Louis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and William O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President; the Whig candidates were General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, for President, and Millard Fillmore, of New York, for Vice-President. At the electoral vote Zachary Taylor was elected President and Millard Fillmore Vice-President.

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Chapter XIV

ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN, 1849-1857.

Zachary Taylor--The "Irrepressible Conflict" in Congress--The Omnibus Bill--Death of President Taylor--Millard Fillmore--Death of the Old Leaders and Debut of the New--The Census of 1850--Surveys for a Railway to the Pacific--Presidential Election of 1852--Franklin Pierce--Death of Vice-President King--A Commercial Treaty Made with Japan--Filibustering Expeditions--The Ostend Manifesto--The "Know Nothing" Party--The Kansas Nebraska Bill and Repeal of the Missouri Compromise.

ZACHARY TAYLOR.

General Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States, was born at Orange Court-House, Virginia, September 24, 1784, but, while an infant, his parents removed to Kentucky. His school education was slight, but he possessed fine military instincts and developed into one of the best of soldiers. His services in the war of 1812 and in that with Mexico have been told in their proper place. His defense of Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, during the last war with England, won him the title of major by brevet, that being the first time the honor was conferred in the American army.

No man could have been less a politician than "Old Rough and Ready," for he had not cast a vote in forty years. Daniel Webster characterized him as an "ignorant frontier colonel," and did not conceal his disgust over his nomination by the great party of which the New England orator was the leader. It was Taylor's brilliant services in Mexico, that made him popular above all others with the masses, who are the ones that make and unmake presidents. Besides, a great many felt that Taylor had not been generously treated by the government, and this sentiment had much to do with his nomination and election.

THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT.

The "irrepressible conflict" between slavery and freedom could not be postponed, and when, on the 13th of February, 1850, the President sent to Congress the petition of California for admission as a State, the quarrel broke out afresh. The peculiar character of the problem has already been stated. A part of California lay north and a part south of 36 deg. 30', the dividing line between slavery and freedom as defined by the Missouri Compromise, thirty years, before. Congress, therefore, had not the power to exclude slavery, and the question had to be decided by the people themselves. They had already done so by inserting a clause in the Constitution which prohibited slavery.

There were violent scenes on the floor of Congress. General Foote, of Mississippi, was on the point of discharging a pistol at Colonel Benton, of Missouri, when bystanders seized his arm and prevented. Weapons were frequently drawn, and nearly every member went about armed and ready for a deadly affray. The South threatened to secede from the Union, and we stood on the brink of civil war.

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850.

It was at this fearful juncture that Henry Clay, now an old man, submitted to the Senate his famous "Omnibus Bill," so called because of its many features, which proposed a series of compromises as follows: the admission of California as a State, with the Constitution adopted by her people (which prohibited slavery); the establishment of territorial governments over all the other newly acquired Territories, with no reference to slavery; the abolishment of all traffic in slaves in the District of Columbia, but declaring it inexpedient to abolish slavery there without the consent of the inhabitants and also of Maryland; the assumption of the debts of Texas; while all fugitive slaves in the free States should be liable to arrest and return to slavery.

John C. Calhoun, the Southern leader, was earnestly opposed to the compromise, but he was ill and within a few weeks of death, and his argument was read in the Senate by Senator Mason. Daniel Webster supported the measure with all his logic and eloquence, and it was his aid extended to Clay that brought about the passage of the bill, all the sections becoming laws in September, 1850, and California, conquered from Mexico in 1846, took her place among the sisterhood of States. Webster's support of the fugitive slave law lost him many friends in the North, and, has been stated, rendered his election to the presidency impossible.

On the 4th of July, 1850, the remains from Kosciusko's tomb were deposited in the monument in Washington, and President Taylor was present at the ceremonies. The heat was terrific and caused him great distress. On his return home he drank large quantities of ice-water and milk, though he was warned against the danger of doing so. A fatal illness followed, and he died on the 9th of July. Vice-President Fillmore was sworn into office on the following day.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President, was born at Summer Hill, New York, February 7, 1800. He learned the fuller's trade, afterward taught school, and, studying law, was admitted to the bar in Buffalo, where he attained marked success. He was State comptroller for one term and served in Congress for four terms. He died in Buffalo, March 7, 1874. Fillmore was a man of good ability, but the inferior of many of those who preceded him in the exalted office. He was a believer in the compromise measures of Clay, and performed his duties conscientiously and acceptably.

Fillmore's administration is notable for the fact that it saw the passing away of the foremost leaders, Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, with others of less prominence. They were succeeded in Congress by the anti-slavery champions, William H. Seward, of New York; Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts; and Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio. From the South, too, came able men, in Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; John Y. Mason, of Louisiana; and others. The giants had departed and their mantles fell upon shoulders that were not always able to wear them as fittingly as their predecessors.

The slavery agitation produced its natural effect in driving many of the Southern Whigs into the Democratic party, while a few Northern Democrats united with the Whigs, who, however, were so disrupted that the organization crumbled to pieces after the presidential election of 1852, and, for a time, no effective opposition to the Democratic party seemed possible.

THE NEED OF A TRANS-CONTINENTAL RAILROAD.

The population of the United States in 1840 was 23,191,876. General prosperity prevailed, but all felt the urgent need of a railroad connecting Missouri and California. The Pacific coast had become a leading part of the Union and its importance was growing every year. But the building of such a railway, through thousands of miles of wilderness, across lofty mountains and large rivers, was an undertaking so gigantic and expensive as to be beyond the reach of private parties, without congressional assistance. Still all felt that the road must be built, and, in 1853, Congress ordered surveys to be made in order to find the best route. The building of the railway, however, did not begin until the War for the Union was well under way.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1852.

When the time arrived for presidential nominations, the Democratic convention met in Baltimore, June 12, 1852. The most prominent candidates were James Buchanan, Stephen A. Douglas, Lewis Cass, and William L. Marcy. There was little variance in their strength for thirty-five ballots, and everybody seemed to be at sea, when the Virginia delegation, on the next ballot, presented the name of Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire.

"Who is Franklin Pierce?" was the question that went round the hall, but, on the forty-ninth ballot, he received 282 votes to 11 for all the others, and the question was repeated throughout the United States. Pierce's opponent was General Winfield Scott, the commander-in-chief in the Mexican War, who had done fine service in the War of 1812, and ranks among the foremost military leaders of our country. But, personally, he was unpopular, overbearing in his manners, a martinet, and without any personal magnetism. No doubt he regarded it as an act of impertinence for Pierce, who had been his subordinate in Mexico, to presume to pit himself against him in the political field. But the story told by the November election was an astounding one and read as follows:

Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, Democrat, 254; Winfield Scott, of New Jersey, Whig, 42; John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, Free Democrat, 0; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Whig, 0. For Vice-President: William R. King, of Alabama, Democrat, 254; William A. Graham, of North Carolina, Whig, 42; George W. Julian, of Indiana, Free Democrat, 0.

The Whig convention which put Scott in nomination met also in Baltimore, a few days after the Democratic convention. Webster was confident of receiving the nomination, and it was the disappointment of his life that he failed. The "Free Democrats," who placed candidates in nomination, represented those who were dissatisfied with the various compromise measures that had been adopted by Congress. The only States carried by Scott were Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President, was born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, November 23, 1804. Upon his graduation from Bowdoin College, he became a successful lawyer. He always showed a fondness for military matters, though not to the extent of neglecting politics and his profession. He was elected to his State Legislature and was a member of Congress from 1833 to 1837, and, entering the Senate in 1839, he remained until 1842, afterward declining a cabinet appointment from President Polk. He volunteered in the Mexican War, commanded a brigade, and showed great gallantry in several battles. He died October 8, 1869.

Mr. King, the Vice-President, was in such feeble health that he took the oath of office in Cuba, and, returning to his native State, died April 18, 1853, being the first vice-president to die in office. One remarkable fact should be stated regarding the administration of Pierce: there was not a change in his cabinet throughout his whole term, the only instance of the kind thus far in our history.

A TREATY WITH JAPAN.

It seems strange that until a few years, Japan was a closed nation to the world. Its people refused to have anything to do with any other country, and wished nothing from them except to be let alone. In 1854, Commodore M.C. Perry visited Japan with an American fleet and induced the government to make a commercial treaty with our own. This was the beginning of the marvelous progress of that country in civilization and education, which forms one of the most astonishing records in the history of mankind. Japan's overwhelming defeat of China, whose population is ten times as great as our own; her acceptance of the most advanced ideas of civilization, and the wisdom of her rulers have carried her in a few years to a rank among the leading powers and justified the appellation of the "Yankees of the East," which is sometimes applied to her people.

FILIBUSTERING.

Pierce's administration was marked by a number of filibustering expeditions against Spanish possessions in the West Indies. None of them succeeded, and a number of the leaders were shot by the Spanish authorities. The American government offered to purchase Cuba of Spain, but that country indignantly replied that the mints of the world had not coined enough gold to buy it. Could she have foreseen the events of 1898, no doubt she would have sold out for a moderate price.

In August, 1854, President Pierce directed Mr. Buchanan, minister to England, Mr. Mason, minister to France, and Mr. Soule, envoy to Spain, to meet at some convenient place and discuss the question of obtaining possession of Cuba. These distinguished gentlemen met at Ostend on the 9th of October, and adjourned to Aix-la-Chapelle, from which place they issued, on the 18th of October, what is known as the "Ostend Manifesto or Circular," in which they recommended the purchase of Cuba, declaring that, if Spain refused to sell, the United States would be justified "by every law, human and divine," in wresting it from her. This declaration, for which there was no justification whatever, caused angry protest in Europe and in the free States of our country, but was ardently applauded in the South. Nothing came of it, and the country soon became so absorbed in the slavery agitation that it was forgotten.

THE "KNOW NOTHINGS."

Patriotic men, who feared what was coming, did all in their power to avert it. One of these attempts was the formation of the "Know Nothing" party, which grew up like a mushroom and speedily acquired a power that enabled it to carry many local elections in the various States. It was a secret organization, the members of which were bound by oath to oppose the election of foreign-born citizens to office. The salutation, when one member met another, was, "Have you seen Sam?" If one of them was questioned about the order, his reply was that he knew nothing, from which the name was given to what was really the Native American party. It soon ran its course, but has been succeeded in its cardinal principles by the American Protective Association of the present day.

Meanwhile, the slavery question was busy at its work of disintegration. The Democratic party was held together for a time by the Compromise of 1850, to the effect that the inhabitants of the new Territories of New Mexico and Utah should be left to decide for themselves the question of slavery. In a few years the settlements in Nebraska and Kansas made it necessary to erect territorial governments there, and the question of slavery was thus brought before Congress again. The Missouri Compromise forbade slavery forever in those sections, for both of them lie to the north parallel of 36 deg. 30'. Stephen A. Douglas, however, and a number of other Democratic leaders in Congress claimed that the Compromise of 1850 nullified this agreement, and that the same freedom of choice should be given to the citizens of Kansas and Nebraska as was given to those in Utah and New Mexico. This policy was called "Squatter Sovereignty."

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE.

The bill was bitterly fought in Congress, but it passed the Senate by a vote of thirty-seven to fourteen, and after another fierce struggle was adopted in the House by a vote of 113 to 100. It received several amendments, and the President signed it May 31, 1854. Thus the Missouri Compromise was repealed and the first note of civil war sounded. The question of slavery was opened anew, and could never be closed without the shedding of blood to an extent that no one dreamed.

FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

The enforcement of the fugitive slave law was resisted in the North and numerous conflicts took place. During the attempted arrest of Anthony Burns in Boston a deputy-sheriff was shot dead, and Federal troops from Rhode Island had to be summoned before Burns could be returned to slavery. Former political opponents began uniting in both sections. In the North the opponents of slavery, comprising Democrats, Free-Soilers, Know Nothings, Whigs, and Abolitionists, joined in the formation of the "Anti-Nebraska Men," and under that name they elected, in 1854, a majority of the House of Representatives for the next Congress. Soon after the election, the new organization took the name of Republicans, by which they are known to-day. Its members, with a few exceptions among the Germans in Missouri and the Ohio settlers in western Virginia, belonged wholly to the North.

CIVIL WAR IN KANSAS.

Kansas became for the time the battle-ground between slavery and freedom. Societies in the North sent emigrants into Kansas, first furnishing them with Bibles and rifles, while the pro-slavery men swarmed thither from Missouri, and the two parties fought each other like Apache Indians. In the midst of the civil war, a territorial legislature was formed, and in many instances the majority of the candidates elected was double that of the voting population in the district. Governor A.H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, had been appointed governor of the Territory, and, finding himself powerless to check the anarchy, went to Washington in April, 1855, to consult with the government. While there he was nominated for Congress, and defeated by the fraudulent votes of the pro-slavery men.

Meanwhile, two State governments had been formed. The pro-slavery men met at Lecompton, in March, and adopted a Constitution permitting slavery. Their opponents assembled in Lawrence, August 15th, and elected delegates, who came together in October and ratified the Topeka Constitution, which forbade slavery. In January, 1856, the people held an election under this Constitution. In the same month President Pierce sent a message to Congress, in which he declared the formation of a free State government in Kansas an act of rebellion, while that adopted at Lecompton was the valid government. Governor Reeder was superseded by William Shannon. A committee sent by Congress into the Territory to investigate and report could not agree, and nothing came of it.

The civil war grew worse. A free State government, with General Joseph Lane as its head and supported by a well-armed force, was formed at Lawrence. The town was sacked and almost destroyed, May 20, 1856. On the 4th of July following, the free State Legislature was dispersed by Federal troops, upon order of the national government.

John W. Geary now tried his hand as governor. His first step was to call upon both parties to disarm, and neither paid any attention to him. Finding he could not have the support of the President in the vigorous policy he wished to adopt, Governor Geary resigned and was succeeded by Robert J. Walker of Mississippi. He showed a disposition to be fair to all concerned, but, before he could accomplish anything, he was turned out to make room for J.W. Denver. He was soon disgusted and gave way to Samuel Medary. Before long, it became evident that the influx of northern settlers must overcome the pro-slavery men, and the struggle was given up by the latter. A constitution prohibiting slavery was ratified in 1859 and Charles Robinson elected governor.

VIOLENT SCENES IN CONGRESS.

Nebraska lies so far north that it was not disturbed. Acts of disgraceful violence took place in Congress, challenges to duels being exchanged, personal collisions occurring on the floor, while most of the members went armed, not knowing what minute they would be assaulted. In May, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, for utterances made in debate, was savagely assaulted by Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, and received injuries from which he did not recover for several years. Brooks was lionized in the South for his brutal act and re-elected to Congress by an overwhelming majority.

The Republican party was growing rapidly in strength, and in 1856 it placed its candidates in the field and astonished the rest of the country by the vote it rolled up, as shown in the following statistics:

James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 174; John C. Fremont, of California, Republican, 114; Millard Fillmore, of New York, Native American, 8. For Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, Democrat, 174; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, Republican, 114; A.J. Donelson, of Tennessee, Native American, 8.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

James Buchanan, fifteenth President, was born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791, and graduated from Dickinson College in 1809. He became a lawyer, was elected to the State Legislature and to Congress in 1821. Thenceforward, he was almost continuously in office. President Jackson appointed him minister to Russia in 1832, but, soon returning home, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1834. He left that body, in 1845, to become Polk's secretary of State. In 1853, he was appointed minister to England, where he remained until his election to the presidency in 1856. He died at his home in Lancaster, June 1, 1868. The many honors conferred upon Buchanan prove his ability, though he has been often accused of showing timidity during his term of office, which was of the most trying nature. He was the only bachelor among our Presidents.

STATES ADMITTED.

Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858. It was a part of the Louisiana purchase. Troubles over the Indian titles delayed its settlement until 1851, after which its growth was wonderfully rapid. Oregon was admitted in 1859. The streams of emigration to California overflowed into Oregon, where some of the precious metal was found. It was learned, however, in time that Oregon's most valuable treasure mine was in her wheat, which is exported to all parts of the world. Kansas, of which we have given an account in the preceding pages, was quietly admitted, directly after the seceding Senators abandoned their seats, their votes having kept it out up to that time. The population of the United States in 1860 was 31,443,321. Prosperity prevailed everywhere, and, but for the darkening shadows of civil war, the condition of no people could have been more happy and promising.

THE DRED SCOTT DECISION.

Dred Scott was the negro slave of Dr. Emerson, of Missouri, a surgeon in the United States army. In the discharge of his duty, his owner took him to military posts in Illinois and Minnesota. Scott married a negro woman in Minnesota, and both were sold by Dr. Emerson upon his return to Missouri. The negro brought suit for his freedom on the ground that he had been taken into territory where slavery was forbidden. The case passed through the various State courts, and, reaching the United States Supreme Court, that body made its decision in March, 1857.

This decision was to the effect that negro slaves were not citizens, and no means existed by which they could become such; they were simply property like household goods and chattels, and their owner could take them into any State in the Union without forfeiting his ownership in them. It followed also from this important decision that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 were null and void, since it was beyond the power of the contracting parties to make such agreements. Six of the justices concurred in this decision and two dissented.

This decision was received with delight in the South and repudiated in the North. The contention there was that the Constitution regarded slaves as "persons held to labor" and not as property, and that they were property only by State law.

JOHN BROWN'S RAID.

While the chasm between the North and South was rapidly growing wider, a startling occurrence took place. John Brown was a fanatic who believed Heaven had appointed him its agent for freeing the slaves in the South. He was one of the most active partisans on the side of freedom in the civil war in Kansas, and had been brooding over the subject for years, until his belief in his mission became unshakable.

Brown's plan was simple, being that of invading Virginia with a small armed force and calling upon the slaves to rise. He believed they would flock around him, and he fixed upon Harper's Ferry as the point to begin his crusade.

Secretly gathering a band of twenty men, in the month of October, 1859, he held them ready on the Maryland shore. Late on Sunday night, the 16th, they crossed the railway bridge over the Potomac, seized the Federal armory at Harper's Ferry, stopped all railroad trains, arrested a number of citizens, set free such slaves as they came across, and held complete possession of the town for twenty-four hours.

Brown acted with vigor. He threw out pickets, cut the telegraph wires, and sent word to the slaves that their day of deliverance had come and they were summoned to rise. By this time the citizens had themselves risen, and, attacking the invaders, drove them into the armory, from which they maintained fire until it became clear that they must succumb. Several made a break, but were shot down. Brown retreated to an engine-house with his wounded and prisoners and held his assailants at bay all through Monday and the night following.

News having been sent to Washington, Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived Tuesday morning with a force of marines and land troops. The local militia of Virginia had also been called out. The situation of Brown was hopeless, but he refused to surrender. Colonel Lee managed matters with such skill that only one of his men was shot, while Brown was wounded several times, his two sons killed, and others slain. The door of the engine-house was battered in and the desperate men overpowered. The enraged citizens would have rended them to pieces, had they been allowed, but Colonel Lee protected and turned them over to the civil authorities. Brown and his six companions were placed on trial, found guilty of what was certainly an unpardonable crime, and hanged on the 2d of December, 1859.

Many in the South believed that the act of Brown was planned and supported by leading Republicans, but such was not the fact, and they were as earnest in condemnation of the mad proceeding as the extreme slavery men, but John Brown's raid served to fan the spark of civil war that was already kindled and fast growing into a flame.

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860.

The presidential campaigns that had been pressed heretofore with a certain philosophic good nature, now assumed a tragic character. The South saw the growing preponderance of the North. New States were continually forming out of the enormous territory in the West, the opposition to slavery was intensifying, and its overthrow was certain. Senator Seward had announced the "irrepressible conflict" between freedom and the institution, and the only remedy the South saw lay in secession from the Union, for they loved that less than slavery. They announced their unalterable intention of seceding in the event of the election of a president of Republican principles. The Republicans placed Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, in nomination. Jefferson Davis saw that the only way of defeating him was by uniting all the opposing parties into one. He urged such a union, but the elements would not fuse.

The Democratic convention assembled in Charleston in April, 1860, and had hardly come together when the members began quarreling over slavery. Some of the radicals insisted upon the adoption of a resolution favoring the opening of the slave trade, in retaliation for the refusal of the North to obey the fugitive slave law. This measure, however, was voted down, and many were in favor of adopting compromises and making concessions for the sake of the Union. Stephen A. Douglas was their candidate, but no agreement could be made, and the convention split apart. The extremists were not satisfied with "squatter sovereignty," and, determined to prevent the nomination of Douglas, they withdrew from the convention. Those who remained, after balloting some time without result, adjourned to Baltimore, where, on the 18th of June, they placed Douglas in nomination, with Herschel V. Johnson as the nominee for Vice-President. Their platform was the doctrine that the people of each Territory should settle the question of slavery for themselves, but they expressed a willingness to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court.

The seceding delegates adjourned to Richmond, and again to Baltimore, where, June 28th, they nominated John C. Breckinridge for President and Joseph Lane for Vice-President. Their platform declared unequivocally in favor of slavery being protected in all parts of the Union, where the owners chose to take their slaves.

The American party, which called themselves Constitutional Unionists, had already met in Baltimore, and nominated John Bell for President and Edward Everett for Vice-President. Their platform favored the "Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws." This platform was of the milk-and-water variety, appealing too weakly to the friends and opponents of slavery to develop great strength. The question of African slavery had become the burning one before the country, and the people demanded that the political platforms should give out no uncertain sound.

Amid uncontrollable excitement, the presidential election took place with the following result:

Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, Republican, 180; Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, Democrat, 12; John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, Democrat, 72; John Bell, of Tennessee, Union, 39. For Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, Republican, 180; Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, Democrat, 12; Joseph Lane, of Oregon, Democrat, 72; Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, Union, 39.

On the popular vote, Lincoln received 866,352; Douglas, 1,375,157; Breckinridge, 845,763; Bell, 589,581. Lincoln had the electoral votes of all the Northern States, except a part of New Jersey; Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee supported Bell, while most of the Southern States voted for Breckinridge. The Democratic party, which, with the exception of the break in 1840 and 1848, had controlled the country for sixty years, was now driven from the field.

SECESSION AND FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.

The hope was general that the South would not carry out her threat of seceding from the Union, and, but for South Carolina, she would not have done so; but that pugnacious State soon gave proof of her terrible earnestness. Her Convention assembled in Charleston, and passed an ordinance of secession, December 20, 1860, declaring "That the Union heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North America is dissolved." The other Southern States, although reluctant to give up the Union, felt it their duty to stand by the pioneer in the movement against it, and passed ordinances of secession, as follows: Mississippi, January 9, 1861; Florida, January 10th; Alabama, January 11th; Georgia, January 19th; Louisiana, January 26th; and Texas, February 23d.

In the hope of averting civil war numerous peace meetings were held in the North, and Virginia called for a "peace conference," which assembled in Washington, February 4th. The States represented included most of those in the North, and Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Ex-President Tyler, of Virginia, was made president of the conference. The proposed terms of settlement were rejected by the Virginia and North Carolina delegates and refused by Congress, which, since the withdrawal of the Southern members, was controlled by the Republicans.

The next step of the Southern conventions was to send delegates to Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed "The Confederate States of America," with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. A constitution and flag, both resembling those of the United States, were adopted and all departments of the government organized.

As the various States adopted ordinances of secession they seized the government property within their limits. In most cases, the Southern United States officers resigned and accepted commissions in the service of the Confederacy. The only forts saved were those near Key West, Fort Pickens at Pensacola, and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. The South Carolina authorities began preparations to attack Sumter, and when the steamer Star of the West attempted to deliver supplies to the fort, it was fired upon, January 9th, and driven off. Thus matters stood at the close of Buchanan's administration, March 4, 1861.

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XV. ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN, 1861-1865

THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861.

Abraham Lincoln--Major Anderson's Trying Position--Jefferson Davis--Inauguration of President Lincoln--Bombardment of Fort Sumter--War Preparations North and South--Attack on Union Troops in Baltimore--Situation of the Border States--Unfriendliness of England and France--Friendship of Russia--The States that Composed the Southern Confederacy--Union Disaster at Big Bethel--Success of the Union Campaign in Western Virginia--General George B. McClellan--First Battle of Bull Run--General McClellan Called to the Command of the Army of the Potomac--Union Disaster at Ball's Bluff--Military Operations in Missouri--Battle of Wilson's Creek--Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at Lexington, Mo.--Supersedure of Fremont--Operations on the Coast--The Trent Affair--Summary of the Year's Operations.

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President, ranks among the greatest that has ever presided over the destinies of our country. He was born in Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809, but when seven years old his parents removed to Indiana, making their home near the present town of Gentryville.

His early life was one of extreme poverty, and his whole schooling did not amount to more than a year; but, possessing a studious mind, he improved every spare hour in the study of instructive books. At the age of sixteen the tall, awkward, but powerful boy was earning a living by managing a ferry across the Ohio. He remained for some time after reaching manhood with his parents, who removed to Illinois in 1830, and built a log-cabin on the north fork of the Sangamon. He was able to give valuable help in clearing the ground and in splitting rails. With the aid of a few friends he constructed a flat-boat, with which he took produce to New Orleans. Selling both goods and boat, he returned to his home and still assisted his father on the farm. In the Black Hawk War he was elected captain of a company, but did not see active service.

By this time his ability had attracted the notice of friends, and at the age of twenty-five he was elected to the Illinois Legislature, in which he served for four terms. Meanwhile he had studied law as opportunity presented, and was sent to Congress in 1846. He opposed the war with Mexico, but, among such giants as Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, and others, he could not make any distinctive mark; but his powerful common sense, his clear logic, his unassailable integrity, his statesmanship and grasp of public questions, and his quaint humor, often approaching the keenest wit, carried him rapidly to the front and made him the leader of the newly formed Republican party. In 1858 he stumped Illinois for United States senator against Stephen A. Douglas, his valued friend. His speeches attracted national attention as masterpieces of eloquence, wit, and forceful presentation of the great issues which were then agitating the country. He was defeated by Douglas, but the remarkable manner in which he acquitted himself made him the successful candidate of the Republican party in the autumn of 1860.

Lincoln was tall and ungainly, his height being six feet four inches. His countenance was rugged and homely, his strength as great as that of Washington, while his wit has become proverbial. His integrity, which his bitterest opponent never questioned, won for him the name of "Honest Abe." He was one of the most kind-hearted of men, and his rule of life was "malice toward none and charity for all". He grew with the demands of the tremendous responsibilities placed upon him, and the reputation he won as patriot, statesman, and leader has been surpassed by no previous President and becomes greater with the passing years.

MAJOR ANDERSON AND FORT SUMTER.

All eyes were turned toward Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. It was the strongest of the defenses. Major Robert Anderson, learning that the Confederates intended to take possession of it, secretly removed his garrison from Fort Moultrie on the night of December 26, 1860. Anderson was in a trying position, for the secretary of war, Floyd, and the adjutant-general of the army, Cooper, to whom he was obliged to report, were secessionists, and not only refused to give him help, but threw every obstacle in his way. President Buchanan was surrounded by secessionists, and most of the time was bewildered as to his course of duty. He resented, however, the demand of Secretary Floyd for the removal of Anderson because of the change he had made from Moultrie to Sumter. Floyd resigned and was succeeded by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, an uncompromising Unionist, who did all he could to hold up the President in his tottering position of a friend of the Union. The latter grew stronger as he noted the awakening sentiment of loyalty throughout the North. An admirable act was the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as attorney-general, for he was a man of great ability and a relentless enemy of secession.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

Jefferson Davis, who had been chosen President of the Southern Confederacy that was formed at Montgomery, Alabama, early in February, was born in Kentucky, June 3, 1808. Thus he and President Lincoln were natives of the same State, with less than a year's difference in their ages. Davis was graduated at West Point in 1828, and served on the northwest frontier, in the Black Hawk War. He was also a lieutenant of cavalry in the operations against the Comanches and Apaches. He resigned from the army and became a cotton-planter in Mississippi, which State he represented in Congress in 1845-46, but resigned to assume the colonelcy of the First Mississippi regiment.

Colonel Davis displayed great gallantry at the storming of Monterey and at the battle at Buena Vista, and on his return home was immediately elected to the United States Senate, in which he served 1847-51 and 1857-61. From 1853 to 1857 he was secretary of war under Pierce. He was one of the Southern leaders, and had already been mentioned as a candidate for the presidency. He resigned his seat in the United States Senate in January, 1861, upon the secession of his State, and, being elected Provisional President of the Southern Confederacy February 9th, was inaugurated February 18th. In the following year he and Stephens were regularly elected President and Vice-President respectively, and were inaugurated on the 18th of the month.

INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

President-elect Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois, on the 11th of February for Washington. He stopped at various points on the route, and addressed multitudes that had gathered to see and hear him. A plot was formed to assassinate him in Baltimore, but it was defeated by the vigilance of the officers attending Lincoln, who took him through the city on an earlier train than was expected. General Scott had the capital so well protected by troops that no disturbance took place during the inauguration.

BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER.

The Confederate government sent General Beauregard to assume charge of the defenses in Charleston harbor. Finding the fort was being furnished with supplies, he telegraphed to his government for instructions. He was ordered to enforce the evacuation. Beauregard demanded the surrender of the fort, and, being refused by Major Anderson, he opened fire, early on the morning of April 12th, from nineteen batteries. Major Anderson had a garrison of 79 soldiers and 30 laborers who helped serve the guns. He allowed the men to eat breakfast before replying. In a few hours the supply of cartridges gave out, and blankets and other material were used as substitutes. The garrison were kept within the bomb-proof galleries, and did not serve the guns on the open parapets, two of which had been dismounted by the fire from the Confederate batteries, which after a time set fire to the officers' barracks. The flames were extinguished, but broke out several times. The smoke became so smothering that the men could breathe only by lying flat on their faces. Finally the position became so untenable that Anderson ran up the white flag in token of surrender. No one was killed on either side.

The news of the surrender created wild excitement North and South and united both sections. While the free States rallied to the Union, almost as one man, the Unionists in the South became ardent supporters of the cause of disunion. It was now a solid North against a solid South.

Three days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months, and Congress was summoned to meet on the 4th of July. Few people comprehended the stupendous work that would be required to crush the rebellion. While the South was hurrying its sons into the ranks, 300,000 answered the call of President Lincoln, who on the 19th of April issued another proclamation declaring a blockade of the Southern ports.

UNION TROOPS ATTACKED IN BALTIMORE.

Many of the Confederates demanded that an advance should be made upon Washington, and, had it been done promptly, it could have been captured without difficulty. Realizing its danger, the national government called upon the States for troops and several regiments were hurried thither. While the Seventh Pennsylvania and Sixth Massachusetts were passing through Baltimore, they were savagely assailed by a mob. A portion of the Sixth Massachusetts were hemmed in, and stoned and pelted with pistol-shots. They remained cool until three of their number had been killed and eight wounded, when they let fly with a volley which stretched nearly a dozen rioters on the ground, besides wounding many others. This drove the mob back, although they kept up a fusillade until the train drew out of the city with the troops aboard.

ACTIVITY OF THE CONFEDERATES.

The Confederates in Virginia continued active. They captured Harper's Ferry and the Norfolk Navy Yard, both of which proved very valuable to them. Their government issued "letters of marque" which permitted private persons to capture merchant vessels belonging to the United States, against which the Confederate Congress declared war.

The border States were in perhaps the most trying situation of all, for, while they wished to keep out of the war, they were forced to act the part of buffer between the hostile States. The secessionists in Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri made determined efforts to bring about the secession of those States, but the Union men were too strong. The armies on both sides received many recruits from the States named, which in some cases suffered from guerrilla fighting between former friends and neighbors.

Kentucky, whose governor was a secessionist, thought she could hold a neutral position, but the majority of the citizens were Union in their sentiments. Besides, the situation of the State was such that it was soon invaded by armed forces from both sides, and some of the severest battles of the war were fought on its soil.

THE WAR AS VIEWED IN EUROPE.

The prospect of the splitting apart of the United States was pleasing to all the European powers, with the single exception of Russia. France was especially urgent in favoring an armed intervention in favor of the Confederacy, but England would not agree, nor would she recognize the Confederate States as an independent nation, for, had she done so, the United States would immediately have declared war against her. In May, however, England declared the Confederacy a belligerent power, thereby entitling it to make war and man war vessels, which could take refuge in foreign ports. While this recognition was of unquestionable help, it would not have amounted to a great deal had not England permitted the building of swift and powerful cruisers, which were turned over to the Confederates, and did immense damage to Northern commerce.

When June arrived, the Southern Confederacy was composed of eleven States: South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. As soon as Virginia seceded (May 23d), the capital was removed from Montgomery to Richmond. It was clear that Virginia would be the principal battle-ground of the war, and the Confederate volunteers throughout the South hurried into the State.

An intelligent knowledge of the direction from which danger was likely to come was shown by the placing of troops in western Virginia to meet Confederate attacks, while soldiers were moved into southern Kentucky to defend Tennessee. In Virginia they held the line from Harper's Ferry to Norfolk, and batteries were built along the Mississippi to stop all navigation of that stream. The erection of forts along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts for protection against the blockading fleets soon walled in the Confederacy on every hand.

THE MILITARY SITUATION.

General Scott for a time held the general command of all the United States forces. But he was old and growing weak in body and mind, and it was evident must soon give way to a younger man. The national forces held the eastern side of the Potomac, from Harper's Ferry to Fort Monroe, and a small section of the western side opposite Washington. While enlisting and drilling troops, they strove to hold also Kentucky and Missouri, succeeding so well that their grip was never lost throughout the war.

With the opposing forces face to face, continual skirmishing was kept up. This had no effect on the war itself, but was expressive of the martial spirit which animated both sides. General B.F. Butler, who had great executive but slight military ability, was in command at Fort Monroe. While there he refused to surrender a number of fugitive slaves that had fled into his lines, declaring them "contraband of war." The phrase was a happy one and caught the fancy of the North.

UNION DISASTER AT BIG BETHEL.

Butler fortified Newport News, which is a point of land at the junction of the James River and Hampton Roads. Fifteen miles away was a Confederate detachment, on the road to Yorktown, where the main body was under the command of General J.B. Magruder, a former artillery officer of the United States army. The Confederate position at Big Bethel was a strong one and had a garrison of more than a thousand troops. A short distance in front was Little Bethel, where a small detachment was under the command of Colonel D.H. Hill, also a former member of the United States army.

General Pierce advanced to the attack early on the morning of June 9th. The two columns mistook each other, and not until 10 men were killed was the sad blunder discovered. An assault quickly followed, but the assailants were defeated with the loss of 14 killed and 49 wounded. Among the slain was Lieutenant John T. Greble, a brilliant West Point officer, who ought to have been in command of the brigade, with which he doubtless would have achieved a success. The incompetency of the political leader cost dearly, but the government was yet to learn that full-fledged officers are not to be found among men who have made politics their life profession.

SUCCESSFUL UNION CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA.

The only place where there were any Union successes was in western Virginia. Colonel Wallace with a detachment of Indiana Zouaves--a favorite form of military troops at the beginning of the war--made a forced march at night over a mountain road, from Cumberland, in Maryland, to Romney, where the Confederates had a battery on a bluff near the village, guarded by a number of field-pieces. By a spirited dash, the Union troops captured the position and drove the defenders into the woods. Unable to overtake them, Colonel Wallace returned to Cumberland.

This incident had important results. General Jo Johnston, one of the best commanders of the war, was at Harper's Ferry, and, fearing for his communications, he evacuated the post, and marched up the Shenandoah Valley to a point near Winchester.

GENERAL McCLELLAN.

The operations in western Virginia brought into prominence an officer who was destined to play an important part in the war. He was George B. McClellan, born in Philadelphia in 1826, and graduated at West Point in 1846. He rendered fine service in the Mexican War, after which, resigning from the army, he was for several years engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad and afterward a railroad president. He was appointed a major-general at the opening of the Civil War, and, with 15,000 troops, mostly from the Western States, he advanced against the Confederates in western Virginia under the command of General Garnett, also a graduate and formerly an instructor at West Point. Garnett held a position west of the principal line of the Alleghanies, which covered the road leading from Philippi to Beverly. Colonel Pegram was placed in charge of the hill Rich Mountain, a short distance south of Garnett.

McClellan advanced against these two positions. Colonel Rosecrans, with four regiments and in the face of a blinding rainstorm, followed a circuitous path through the woods, and charged up the elevation against a strong fire. The Confederates were driven from their position and down the other side of the hill. Colonel Pegram, finding his position turned, retreated in the direction of Beverly. Rosecrans pursued and Garnett turned to the north, aiming for St. George on the Cheat River. Pegram had surrendered with 600 men, the remainder joining Garnett, who was hard pressed by General Morris. Despite the obstructions thrown in his path, he overtook the fugitives on the 13th of July at Carrick's Ford on the Cheat River. There the Confederates were routed and Garnett shot dead at the head of his troops. The remnant of his force fled in disorder, and succeeded in reaching Monterey on the eastern side of the mountains.

The campaign in western Virginia was a brilliant Union success. A thousand prisoners, seven guns, 1,500 stands of arms, and twelve colors were captured, with slight loss to the victors. All the credit of this success was given to McClellan, and, since the North was yearning for some leader with the halo of success attached to his name, they at once proclaimed "Little Mac" as their idol, destined to crush secession and re-establish the Union in all its strength and former glory.

In September General Robert E. Lee was sent into western Virginia to regain the ground lost, but he failed and was driven out of the section by Rosecrans, the successor of McClellan. Before this took place, however, the opening battle of the war had been fought elsewhere.

"ON TO RICHMOND!"

The removal of the Confederate government from Montgomery to Richmond was unbearably exasperating to the North. It may be said that the secession flag was flaunted in sight of Washington. The New York Tribune, the most influential journal of the North, raised the cry "On to Richmond!" and the pressure became so clamorous and persistent that the government, although conscious of the risk of the step, ordered an advance against the Confederate capital. Congress, which had met July 4th, appropriated $500,000,000 for carrying on the war, and authorized President Lincoln to call out 500,000 volunteers for crushing the rebellion.

The Union army across the Potomac from Washington numbered about 40,000 men and was under the command of General Irvin McDowell. It was only partly disciplined, had a few good and many incompetent officers, was composed of fine material, but of necessity lacked the steadiness which can only be acquired by actual campaigns and fighting.

General Beauregard, with a Confederate army not quite so numerous, held a strong military position near Manassas Junction, some thirty miles from Washington, and connected with Richmond by rail. General Jo Johnston had a smaller Confederate army at Winchester, it being his duty to hold General Patterson in check and prevent his reinforcing McDowell. At the same time Patterson, to prevent Johnston from joining Beauregard, planned an offensive movement against the Confederate commander at Winchester.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

McDowell's plan was to advance to Fairfax Court-House, and then, turning south, cut Beauregard's communications. The first movement was made on the afternoon of July 16th. General Mansfield with 16,000 men remained in Washington to protect the capital from surprise. The advance was slow, occupying several days. McDowell discovered six Confederate brigades posted along the creek known as Bull Run, and he decided to begin his attack upon them. While General Tyler was sent across the stone bridge to threaten the Confederate front, Hunter and Heintzelman were directed to make a detour and attack the enemy's front and rear. Johnston, who had hurried up from Winchester, had decided to hasten the battle through fear of the arrival of Patterson with reinforcements for McDowell, but the latter, moving first, Johnston was compelled to act on the defensive.

Tyler and Hunter were tardy in their movements, but by noon McDowell had turned the Confederate left and uncovered the stone bridge. Instead of using the advantage thus secured and assuming position at Manassas depot, he kept up his pursuit of the fleeing Confederates to the woods. There, when everything seemed to be going the way of the Union array, it was checked by General T.J. Jackson's brigade, whose firm stand in the face of seeming disaster won for him the soubriquet of "Stonewall" Jackson, first uttered in compliment by General Bee, by which name the remarkable man will always be remembered.

The stand of Jackson enabled Johnston to rally the right and Beauregard the left, but matters were in a critical shape, when Kirby Smith, who had escaped Patterson in the valley, rushed across the fields from Manassas with 15,000 fresh troops. This timely arrival turned, the fortunes of the day. McDowell was driven from the plateau he had occupied, and the whole Union army was thrown into a panic and rushed in headlong flight for the defenses of Washington. Nothing could stay their flight, and the city was overrun with the terrified fugitives, who swarmed into the railroad trains, fled to the open fields beyond, spreading the most frightful rumors, while many did not believe themselves safe until at home in the North.

Had the Confederates followed up the pursuit, they could have easily captured Washington. They failed to do so, because they did not know how beaten and disorganized the Union forces were. The Union losses in this first great battle of the war were: Killed, 470; wounded, 1,071; captured and missing, 1,793; total, 3,334. The Confederate losses were: Killed, 387; wounded, 1,582; captured and missing, 13; total, 1,982.

GENERAL McCLELLAN APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

Bull Run was a bitter humiliation for the North, but it served a good purpose. The national government understood for the first time the formidable nature of the task before it. Its determination to subdue the rebellion was intensified rather than lessened, but it now went about it in the right way. Incompetent officers were weeded out, careful and vigorous measures set on foot, and, what was the most popular movement of all, General McClellan was called to the command of the Army of the Potomac. He took charge August 20th, and set about organizing and disciplining the magnificent body of men. No one could surpass him at such work, and he had the opportunity of establishing himself as the idol of the nation. That he failed to do so was clue to an inherent defect of his nature. He shrank from taking chances, lacked nerve and dash, distrusted himself, and was so slow and excessively cautious that he wore out the patience of the government and finally of the nation itself.

General Scott's old age and increasing infirmities compelled him in November to give up the command of the Union armies, and all hopes centred upon McClellan. He kept drilling the Army of the Potomac, and by the close of the year had 150,000 well-trained soldiers under his command. The impatience of the North began to manifest itself, but no general advance took place, though the Confederate line was gradually pushed back from its threatening position in front of Washington to its first position at Bull Run. The Confederacy was also busy in recruiting and drilling its forces. Knowing that Richmond was the objective point of the Union advance, the city was surrounded with formidable fortifications.

DISASTER AT BALL'S BLUFF.

On the 19th of October General McCall was ordered to occupy Drainesville, eighteen miles northwest of Washington. At the same time, General Stone was directed to keep watch of Leesburg, from which the patrols afterward reported a weak Confederate force. An advance was ordered, whereupon Colonel Evans, who had given the Confederates great help at Bull Run, concentrated his forces on the road leading from Leesburg to Washington, and, on the morning of the 21st, had assumed a strong position and was ready to be attacked.

The Union troops were ferried across the river in three scows, two skiffs, and a life-boat, which combined would not carry one-fourth of the men. When all were over they advanced to Leesburg, where no Confederate camp was found, but the enemy in the woods attacked them. Colonel E.D. Baker, a civilian officer from California, hurried across the river with 1,900 men and took command. The enemy was reinforced and drove the Unionists back. Colonel Baker was killed and the Federals fled in a panic to the Potomac, with the Confederates upon them. The fugitives swarmed into the boats and sank three of them; others leaped over the bank and swam and dived for their lives, the enemy shooting and bayoneting all who did not surrender. When the horrible affair was over, the Union loss was fully a thousand men. This occurrence was in some respects more disgraceful than Bull Run.

MILITARY OPERATIONS IN MISSOURI.

Claiborne F. Jackson, governor of Missouri, was a strong secessionist, and did all he could to take the State out of the Union, but the sentiment against him was too strong. St. Louis was also secession in feeling, but Captain Nathaniel Lyon kept the disloyalists in subjection so effectively that he was rewarded by being made a brigadier-general. Governor Jackson by proclamation called out 50,000 of the State militia to repel the "invasion" of the State by United States troops. Sterling Price, a major-general of the State forces, was dispatched to Booneville and Lexington, on the Missouri River.

Colonel Franz Sigel, with 1,100 Union troops, had an engagement in the southwestern part of the State and was compelled to retreat, but he managed his withdrawal so skillfully that he killed and wounded a large number of his pursuers. General Lyon joined Sigel near Springfield, and the Confederates, under General Ben McCulloch, retreated to Cowskin Prairie, on the border of the Indian Territory.

BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK.

Both sides were reinforced, the Unionists being under the command of General John C. Fremont, who had been assigned to the department of the West, which included Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. The two armies met early in August near Wilson's Creek. The Confederates were the most numerous, but were poorly armed and disciplined. The battle was badly mismanaged by both sides, and General Lyon, while leading a charge, was shot dead. His men were defeated and retreated in the direction of Springfield.

Missouri was now overrun with guerrillas and harried by both sides. Colonel Mulligan made a desperate stand at Lexington in September, but an overwhelming force under General Price compelled him to surrender. Price moved southward and Lexington was retaken by the Unionists, who also occupied Springfield. The Legislature sitting at Neocho passed an ordinance of secession, but most of the State remained in the hands of the Federals until they finally gained entire possession.

General Fremont's course was unwise and made him unpopular. He issued what was in reality an emancipation proclamation, which President Lincoln was compelled to modify. He was fond of show and ceremony, and so extravagant that he was superseded in November by General Hunter, who was soon sent to Kansas, and was in turn succeeded by General Halleck. The fighting in the State was fierce but of an indecisive character.

The expected neutrality of Kentucky was speedily ended by the entrance of a body of Confederates under the command of General Leonidas Polk, a graduate of West Point and a bishop of the Episcopal Church. General U.S. Grant was dispatched with a force from Cairo, as soon as it became known that Polk had entered Kentucky. Grant destroyed a Confederate camp at Belmont, but was attacked by Polk and compelled to retreat to his gunboats.

OPERATIONS ON THE COAST.

A formidable coast expedition, with land and naval forces on board, under command of General B.F. Butler and Commodore Stringham, in August, 1861, captured Hatteras Inlet and the fort defending it. Establishing themselves at that point, they made other attacks along the adjoining coast of North Carolina. A still larger expedition left Fort Monroe in November under Commodore Dupont and General T.W. Sherman and captured Port Royal. The fleet was so powerful, numbering nearly one hundred vessels and transports, that the garrisons were easily driven out of the forts, after which the land forces took possession of them. The islands between Charleston and Savannah were seized, and in September a Union fleet took possession of Ship Island, not far from the mouth of the Mississippi, with a view of aiding an expedition against New Orleans.

THE TRENT AFFAIR.

It was all important for the Confederacy to secure recognition from England and France. The Confederate government thought they could be induced to act, if the proper arguments were laid before the respective governments. Accordingly, James M. Mason, of Virginia, and John Slidell, of Louisiana, both of whom had been United States senators, were appointed commissioners, the former to England and the latter to France.

They succeeded in running the blockade to Havana, where they took passage on the British steamer Trent for England. Captain Charles Wilkes, of the steamer San Jacinto, knew of their intended sailing and was on the lookout for them. Before they were fairly on their way, Captain Wilkes stopped the Trent, and, despite the protests of the captain and the rebel commissioners, he forcibly took them off and carried them to the United States.

In acting thus Captain Wilkes did the very thing that caused the war with England in 1812. It was our opposition to the search of American vessels by British cruisers that caused that war, while England was as persistent in her claim to the right to make such search. The positions were now reversed, and England expressed indignation, and demanded the return of the commissioners and a disavowal of the act of Captain Wilkes. The position of our government was untenable, and Secretary Seward gracefully confessed it, and surrendered the prisoners, neither of whom was able afterward to be of the slightest benefit to the Confederacy.

SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS.

The close of 1861 was to the advantage of the Confederates. The two real battles of the war--Bull Run and Wilson's Creek--had been won by them. In the lesser engagements, with the exception of West Virginia, they had also been successful. This was due to the fact that the people of the North and West had been so long at peace that they needed time in which to learn war. In the South the men were more accustomed to the handling of firearms and horseback riding. Moreover, they were on the defensive, and fighting, as may be said, on inner lines.

It must not be forgotten, however, that the Union forces had saved Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri from joining the Confederacy, despite the strenuous efforts of their disunion governors and an aggressive minority in each State. Washington, which more than once had been in danger of capture, was made safe, and the loyal section of Virginia in the West was cut off and formed into a separate State. In wealth and resources the North vastly preponderated. An immense army had been raised, money was abundant, commerce thriving, the sentiment overwhelmingly in favor of the prosecution of the war, and the manufactories hummed with work made necessary by the building of hundreds of ships for the navy and the furnishing of supplies and equipments to the armies.

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