A history of the United States and its people, for the use of Schools

Front matter

COLONIAL COSTUMES EARLY PURITAN COSTUME A GOVERNOR IN THE I7T" CENT. A PURITAN Dl VI NE A DIGNITARY IN THE 18™ CENT. AN OFFICER IN THE REVOLUTION A GENTLEMAN ABOUTTHETIME AGENTLEMAN- • ■ - A r,ENTLEMAN ABOUT THE TIME OFTHE REVOLUTION. A MERCHANT OFThE REVOLUTION. A COLONIAL GOVERNOR INTHE IfPCENT. A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS PEOPLE FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS BY EDWARD EGGLESTON NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Copyright, 1888, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. The first re quirement Lucidity and interest. Arrangement of topics.

Preface

. One of our American humorists has said that it is better not to know so much than to know so many things that are not true. Errors accepted in childhood become articles of faith, and are not easily got rid of. The absence from this book of certain well-worn fables, which have served more than one generation of American school-children for historic facts, will be regretted, perhaps, on sentimental grounds. It does not seem worth while, however, to keep current in elementary books statements which every sound historical scholar rejects. No work of history ever yet escaped error, but I have at least tried to make this a genuine history, in harmony with the best historical scholarship of the time. Many laborious years passed in the critical study of original printed and manuscript authorities for the history of American institutions and American life have perhaps given the author of this history some right to speak with assurance on questions relating to our early history.

Next to correctness the most important feature in a book for the young is clearness. To achieve this one must not treat more subjects than can be handled with sufficient fullness for compre hension. Attempts to write a little about everything are fatal to lucidity. The writer for the young finds all his skill taxed to be clear and to be interesting, and the two things lie close together. One of the highest benefits that a good text-book in the hands of a good teacher can confer is to leave the pupil with a relish for historical reading. The order in which the various topics are treated has much to do both with the clearness and the interest of a history. In the strictly chronological history the reader skips from theme to theme, resuming under several dates the broken thread of now this and now that story.

The relation of cause and effect is almost entirely lost, and history becomes a succession of events with little logical connection. The understanding is benumbed, the attention is but feebly roused, imagination slumbers, and

PREFACE.

. Position of the reviews The history of civilization. A teaching book. memory gets small hold on occurrences that are presented like beads unstrung. The rigid grouping of a history by epochs is fatal to a truly logical arrangement. One of the most important of the novel features of the present history is its arrangement. Discoveries, settlements, Indians and Indian wars, colonial life, the French wars, government in colonial time and the rise of the Revolution, and other kindred topics, are severally grouped together, so that, for instance, the pupil learns about the nature of Indian life, the chief Indian wars, and the means of attack and defense used by white men and Indians in successive chapters, pursuing this general subject until it is finished. Cause and effect are thus clearly set before his mind, and history be comes a reasonable science.

The reviews are not placed at regular intervals, according to a stiff mechanical rule, but these also follow in the main the same rule of grouping as the chapters. When a chief topic is com pleted, there is a review, whether the chapters be many or few. The "proper knowledge of mankind is man," and the real importance of history lies in the light that it throws upon humanity. For this reason liberal attention has been here given to the domestic and social life of the people, their dress, their food, their modes of thought and feeling, and their ways of making a livelihood. The succession of events in minor wars would only weary the attention, but the modes of attack and defense and the character of the arms of the various belligerents are essential facts in the history of man in this New World.

And the story of the progress of civilization, as marked by the introduction of new inventions and by changes in modes of living, is of primary importance in any history written in the modern spirit. This is from first to last a school-book. No other aim has been in view in its preparation than that of making the best possible teaching book of American history. The length and arrangement of the chapters, the questions, topical and geographical studies, and skeleton outlines, as well as the reviews, are all arranged with reference to the needs of teacher and pupil. An effort has here been made to apply to history in a thorough and practical way the great Pestalozzian principle of teaching through the eye. The suggestions for blackboard illustrations,

PREFACE.

. V The maps. The illustrations the diagrams, the abounding illustrations, and the little maps scattered through the pages, are all part of a plan to make the facts of history visible, and by that means to render the study easily comprehensible and therefore delightful. Instead of a few large maps in various colors and confused with many names, among which the pupil must grope painfully for the places that pertain to the events under consideration, there are in this history more maps than chapters, and every one of the smaller maps is arranged to bear upon one fact, or at most upon two or three in close relation. Only so many names are put upon each map as are necessary to make clear the event under consideration. Not only is the pupil saved from much needless toil by this plan, but maps thus arranged serve the double purpose of elucidating the narrative and impressing it on the memory at the same time, by giving it form to the eye.

Each little map becomes a local diagram of some historical fact, and the form of the map will remain in the memory inseparably asso ciated with the event to which it belongs — a geographical body to an historical soul. Educational writers have said much about the importance of teaching geography and history together. There is not, perhaps, any better device for teaching the two branches in unison than these simple and perspicuous maps, each imme diately associated on the page with the single event to which it pertains. Though the illustrations are by some of the best artists and engravers of the time, and are many of them of high artistic merit, and though they are far more abundant than is usual in books of this kind, there has been no thought of making this a mere picture-book. The illustrations are part and parcel of the teaching apparatus ; their primary use, like that of the maps, diagrams, and blackboard exercises, is to make the history visible.

A very considerable body of historical knowledge of the most im portant kind might be acquired from these cuts alone. Illustra tions of costumes, manners, implements, arms, jewels, vehicles, and inventions are valuable in proportion to their truthfulness. Those here given have been made under the author's personal supervision, and they have cost quite as much labor and study as the text itself. Many are founded on rare prints, others are from ancient original drawings not before printed, and a few VI

PREFACE.

. The study of the Constitution. Marginal titles Books have been carefully drawn from descriptions of contemporary writers. The device of placing many of the smaller cuts in the margin serves to make the page more pleasing to the eye, while it has rendered it possible to illustrate abundantly without unduly increasing the size and cost of the book. The author can not forbear expressing his appreciation of the liberality with which the publishers have availed themselves of so many of the resources of the modern art of illustration to enhance the value of this history. The illustrations have been made under the artistic supervision of Mr. John A. Fraser. In " English as She is Taught,'' a definition is cited from a school-boy's exercise-book to the effect that " the Constitution of the United States is that part at the back of the book which no body reads."

Since no school-boy or school-girl ever does read it, and since it is not a document meant to be construed by children, it seemed better to utilize the space for other things than to reprint the Constitution for mere clap-trap. The same remark applies to the Declaration of Independence. But I have, instead, explained the purport of the Declaration of Independence in its place, and I am sure the pupil will get far more from the account given in this work of the various departments of our government, their origin, and their operation under the Constitution, than from reading the letter of the Constitution itself. By omitting the numbers usually placed at the beginning of paragraphs, the book has been relieved of stiffness ; by printing the subject of each paragraph in the margin, a means of reference far more convenient is provided, with the further advantage that the margins serve as a resume of the subjects treated in the text.

This feature is part of the general design of the book, which aims to keep before the minds of teacher and pupils the salient feat ures of the topic under discussion, and thus to discourage mere memoriter study. In giving titles of books for reading and reference, I have thought it better to mention a few accessible books rather than to bewilder the student with a long list. E. E. SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE BOOK. Questions for Study follow each chapter. These are intended, in the first place, to guide the pupil in mastering his lesson, to make him test his understanding of the subject by analyzing and reasoning about his facts, and by associating them with related facts. The teacher will also find these questions helpful to him in preparing and hearing a recitation. Questions for study.

The Study by Topics which follows the questions is meant chiefly to aid the teacher in conducting a recitation, or, at least, a review of a recitation. The topical method of recitation develops the pupil's power of grasping and holding each branch of a subject in its entirety. But it can not be used to the exclusion of the use of questions and answers without danger of its degenerating, on the one hand, into an inadequate statement, or, on the other, into a mere repetition of the words of the text-book. Study by topics Some teachers will use now one and now the other method, testing the pupil's understanding of the subject at one recitation by questions, at the next developing his power of synthesis and his mastery of language by giving him a division of the subject to be stated in his own way and with his own words, and then, when he has completed his statement, pointing out his omissions or misapprehensions.

Questions and topics. Other teachers will prefer to combine the two plans in the same recita tion. This may be done — i. By a thorough examination of the subject by questions, followed by a topical review of the whole chapter, each division of the subject being assigned to a pupil in his turn. 2. Another mode of combining the two is by following the recitation of each topic by questions meant to bring out from the class points forgotten or obscured in the pupil's account of that branch of the subject. No recitation can fully accomplish its purpose without the use of questions at some stage. The Skeleton Summary appended to many of the chapters will sug gest its proper use. It may be copied on papers or on slates and filled in by each pupil, or the teacher may have it written on the blackboard and then have the blanks filled by suggestions from the class.

Skeleton sum mary. The geographical facts connected with each event should be brought out distinctly. When larger or fuller maps than those in this book are needed, the atlas or the school wall-map can be easily referred to. The small maps accompanying the text may be sketched on the blackboard, as further described, or they may be used from the page. Geographical study. SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE BOOK. Blackboard Pictures Reviews The school his tory as a class reading-book. School compo sitions. In general, the blackboard should be used wherever possible. In particular : i. The Study by Topics may be written on the blackboard with advantage in almost every recitation. The subject under consideration is thus displayed in a natural order. This may be done before the recita tion begins, or each topic made be added as the recitation proceeds, thus constructing a visible table of the subject before the eyes of the class. 2.

When diagrams are given in the book, they may be put on the board, to give a visible illustration to some proportion of size or number. 3. Word-diagrams are often useful. See, for example, pages 13 and 121. In these the location of the words or phrases helps the mind to group and the memory to hold important facts. 4. It is an excellent plan to sketch the small map on the blackboard. This should not be done elaborately or with too much attention to detail. The most useful maps of all are mere diagrams of location sketched by a pupil rudely but readily, as he might do in explaining a fact in conversation. The cuts, especially those illustrating life and manners, are a part of the history, and the teacher should, by remark or question, draw attention to the facts illustrated by them. The Reviews which close each group of chapters may be treated as a briefer topical recitation, developing rapidly the salient points of the chapters reviewed.

The review may also be put upon the blackboard, in sections, if not as a whole. In the prevailing movement to lighten the labors of the pupil in school, history is sometimes taught by using the text-book for a reader. In such cases, there should be a line of comment or question maintained by the teacher sufficient to make sure that the chapter read is fully understood, and sufficient to impress what has been read on the memory. By writing the Study by Topics on the blackboard, a habit of thoughtful reading will be promoted. The abundant illustrations of cus toms and the little special maps in this book will prove of the greatest advantage to teachers using this as a reading-book. Topics for school composition are now and then suggested from the subjects treated in the current chapter. There is a double advantage in these : The puzzled pupil is helped to a topic for writing, while the best results of historical study are secured by giving him occasion to exercise his thoughts upon the subjects studied.

The teacher will easily sug gest other topics ; particularly may the pupil write upon the several actors in our history in those schools where access can be had to works of biog raphy or books of reference. CONTENTS.

CHAPTER pAGE I. — How Columbus discovered America . . . . i II. — Other Discoveries in America .7 III.— Sir Walter Ralegh tries to settle a Colony in America . 13 IV. — How Jamestown was Settled 19 V. — The Starving Time, and what followed . . . .24 VI.— The Great Charter of Virginia, and the First Massacre by the Indians 29 VII. — The Coming of the Pilgrims 34 VIII. — The Coming of the Puritans 39 IX. — The Coming of the Dutch 45 X. — The Settlement of Maryland and the Carolinas . . 50 XI. — The Coming of the Quakers and Others to the Jerseys and Pennsylvania 57 XII. — The Settlement of Georgia, and the Coming of the Germans, Irish, and French 62 XIII. — How the Indians Lived . . . . . . .71 XIV. — Early Indian Wars . . 79 XV. — Traits of War with the Indians 85 XVI. — Life in the Colonial Time 91 XVII. — Farming and Shipping in the Colonies . . . .98 XVIII. — Bond-Servants and Slaves in the Colonies . . . 104 XIX. — Laws and Usages in the Colonies ..... 109 XX. — The Spanish in Florida and the French in Canada . .116 XXI. — Colonial Wars with France and Spain .... 122 XXII. — Braddock's Defeat and the Expulsion of the Acadians . 128 XXIII.— Fall of Canada 135 XXIV. — Characteristics of the Colonial Wars with the French . 142 XXV. — How the Colonies were Governed . . . . .151 XXVI. — Early Struggles for Liberty in the Colonies . . .156 XXVII.— The Causes of the Revolution 161 XXVIII. — The Outbreak of the Revolution and Declaration of Independence ......... 168 XXIX. — The Battle of Trenton and the Capture of Burgoyne's Army 175 XXX.— The Dark Period of the Revolution 181 XXXI.— The Closing Years of the Revolution . . . .186 CONTENTS.

X CHAPTER PAGE XXXII.— Traits and Incidents ofthe Revolutionary War . . 192 XXXIII.— The Adoption of the Constitution 197 XXXIV.— The New Republic and its People 203 XXXV.— Home and Society in Washington's Time . . .209 XXXVI.— Washington's Presidency, from 1789 to 1797 . .213 XXXVII.— Troubles with England and France.— Presidency of John Adams 220 XXXVIII.— Election of Jefferson.— War with Tripoli . . .224 XXXIX.— The Settlement of the Great Valley . . . .231 XL. — Beginning of the Second War with England . . . 240 XLL— The Navy in the War of 1812 245 XLII.— The Army in the War of 1812 250 XLIII. — Expansion of the Union 257 XLIV. — From Monroe to Van Buren. — Rise of Whigs and Democrats ........ 264 XLV. — The Steamboat, the Railroad, and the Telegraph . .271 XLVI. — Annexation of Texas. — Beginning of the Mexican War . 276 XLVII. — The Close of the Mexican War, and the Annexation of New Territory 283 XLVIII. — The Question of Slavery in Politics .... 292 XLIX. — Break-up of Old Parties. — Approach of the Civil War . 298 L. — How the Great Civil War began ..... 304 LI. — Confederate Victory at Bull Run. — The First Western Campaign . . . . . . . .310 LII. — The War at the East. — From Bull Run to Gettysburg. 317 LIU. — Various Operations in 1862 and 1863 .... 324 LIV. — The Campaign between Nashville and Atlanta . . 330 LV. — From the Wilderness to Petersburg. — The War in the Valley ......... 337 LVI.— Close of the Civil War 345 LVII. — Traits and Results ofthe War. — Death of Lincoln . 350 LVI 1 1. — Political Events since the Civil War .... 359 LIX. — Later Developments of the Country .... 366 LX. — Population, Wealth, and Modes of Living . . . 372 LXI. — Literature and Art in the United States . . . . THE SHIPS OF COLUMBUS.

Chapter I

How Columbus discovered America, It is now about four hundred years since Columbus discovered America. Before that time people in Europe knew nothing of an)' lands on the western side of the Atlantic. Trade with India was carried on by caravans, and travelers who had gone to China and Japan brought back wonderful stories of the riches of their cities, and of the curious people who lived in those far-away countries. In order to reach these lands of wonder and to open a trade with India by sea, the Portuguese had been for a long time pushing their discoveries down the western coast of Africa. But the seamen of that time sailed mostly in the Mediterranean, and they were timid in the Atlantic Ocean. The Portuguese sent out expedition after expedition, for seventy years, before they succeeded in discovering the Cape of Good Hope, and they had not yet got around that cape when Columbus offered to find a new and shorter way to India.

Trade with India in the time of Co lumbus. A SAILOR OF THAT TIME, As learned men already believed the world to be round, Columbus asked : N Why try to get to India and Columbus pro poses a new way to India. China by going around Africa? Why not 2 PROW OF ANCIENT WAR-SHIP. False notions in the way. HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 2 Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, in Italy. The date of his birth is uncertain. His father was a humble wool-comber, but Columbus received a fair education. He knew Latin, wrote a good hand, and drew maps exceedingly well. He sometimes supported himself by making maps and charts. He was well informed in geography as it was then understood. At fourteen he went to sea, and before he sailed on his great voyage he had been almost all over the known world. He had gone some dis tance down the newly discovered coast of Africa, with the Portuguese, and north as far as Iceland.

Columbus married the daughter of a Portuguese navigator, and came into possession of his charts. He was a man of great perseverance, and he held to his idea of sailing to the west through many long years of discouragement. He made four voyages to Amer ica, setting out on the first in 1492, the second in 1493, the third in 1498, and the fourth in 1502. Though a great navigator, he was not a wise governor of the colonies he planted, and he had many enemies. In 1500 he was cruelly sent home to Spain in chains. But Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as the people, were shocked at this degradation, and he was at once set free. His last voyage was unfortunate, and when he returned to Spain, in November, 1504, the monarchs paid little attention to him. Queen Isa bella died soon after his return, while Columbus lay sick, and when the great navigator came to court the king was deaf to his petitions.

Worn out with fatigue, exposure, and anxiety, the great admiral died on the 20th of May, 1506. COLUMBUS. sail straight to the west around the world to Asia ? He did not know that America was in the way, and he thought that the world was smaller than it is, and he believed that he could reach the rich lands of gold and spices in Asia by sailing only two or three thousand miles to the westward. So that Columbus discovered America in consequence of tw< mistakes. He first offered to make this discovery for the city of Genoa, in which he was born. Then he offered his Hplan to the King of Portugal. But a voyage on the Atlantic Ocean seemed a dreadful thing in days. It was called the " Sea of Darkness," bel< niiMno one knew anything about it, and people STERN OF ANCIENT WAR-SHIP. believed that it was inhabited by hideous monsters.

As the world was round, some thought that, if a ship sailed down the sides of it, it would find it impossible to get back up again. They said that people could not live on the other side of the world because they would be upside down. The King of Portugal was an enlightened man, and the ideas of Columbus made an impression on him after a while. But he did not like to grant the great rewards demanded by the navigator if he should find land ; so he secretly sent out a ship under another commander to sail to the westward and see if there was any land there. The sailors on this ship were easily discouraged, A ship sent out secretly. and they King and returned laughing at and his notions. Columbus found that been cheated, he left to offer his idea to the Queen of Spain, the Columbus goes to Spain. celebrated Ferdinand and Isabella.

The Spanish monarchs were very busy in their war with the Moors, and Columbus, who was poor and obscure, spent about seven years in trying to persuade them to furnish him ships and sailors. At length, after he had waited so long, they refused his terms, and he set out for France, but certain officers of Queen Isabella, who believed in Columbus's theory, persuaded her to call him back and to send him on his own terms. Columbus sailed from Spain, with three small ves sels, on the 3d of August, 1492, and was more than two months on the voyage. The sailors were more and more frightened as they found themselves going farther and His departure on his great voyage, and his discovery of land. farther out of the known world. They sometimes threatened to pitch Co lumbus overboard and return. He kept their courage up by every means he could think of, even by conceal ing from them how far THE PART OF THE WORLD KNOWN WHEN COLUMBUS SAILED IS IN WHITE. they had come.

One night Columbus saw a light, and at two o'clock the next morning, which was the 1 2th of October, 1492, a sailor on one of the vessels raised the cry " Land ! " There was the wildest joy on the ships. Those who had hated Columbus, and wished to kill him, now reverenced him. What he had found. Instead of finding the rich cities of Asia, Columbus had come upon one of the smallest of the West India islands, which was inhabited by people entirely naked, and living in the rudest manner. He afterward dis- Discoveries before Columbus. — There is some reason to believe that America may have been visited from Eu rope before the time of Columbus. The inhabitants of Scandinavia (the country now divided into Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) were known as Norsemen. In the old romantic tales of Scandinavia there are stories which go to show that these Norsemen, under the command of Leif, the son of Eric, in the year iooi, and afterward, probably explored the coast of America from Labrador southward for some distance.

Fanciful theo ries have been built on these stories, such as the notion that the old stone windmill at Newport, R. I., is a tower built by the Norsemen. There is also a tradition in Wales that one Madoc, a Welsh prince, in the year 1170, discovered land to the west of Ireland, and took a colony thither, which was never heard covered larger islands, and then sailed homeward. He carried with him some gold and some of the inhabitants of the islands. His return to Spain. He WaS received by Ferdi- °f afterward. If these stories of Leif and , Madoc represent real voyages, the discov nand and Isabella With the eries which they relate would probably . . 1 ry,, never have been recalled to memory if greatest honor. They even Columbus had not opened a wide door a, made him sit down in their I the right momeM- Later voyages of Columbus.

Questions for study. presence, a favor never shown except to the greatest grandees. The people who had believed him a fool when he went away, followed him with cheers as he walked along the street. Columbus, in his second voyage to America, planted a colony on the island of Hispaniola, or Hayti. In this and in two other voyages he discovered other islands and a portion of the coast of South America, which he first saw in 1498. He never knew that he had found a new world, but lived and died in the belief that the large island of Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia. Who discovered America? How long is it since Columbus discovered America? What did people in Europe know about America 400 years ago? What did they know about the roundness of the world? How was the trade with Asia carried on ?

What stories were told in Europe at this time by travelers ? How did the Portuguese try to get to India at this time ? Had they reached India by sea when Columbus sailed to America ? How many years had they spent exploring the coast of Africa before they got to the Cape of Good Hope ? Where is the Cape of Good Hope ? What shorter route to India from Europe has been made in our time? [Ans. The canal through the Isthmus of Suez.] How did Columbus propose to get to India? In this plan there were two mistakes : what were they? What is in the way between Spain and Asia if one sails straight to the west ? How far did Columbus think it? Is it much farther? To whom did Columbus first make his offer? To what king did he next offer his plan ? What was the Atlantic Ocean sometimes called in that day?

What kind of creatures were thought to live in it ? What foolish notion of up-hill and down-hill did men get from the roundness of the earth ? What did the King of "Portugal do to find out whether Columbus's notion was correct or not ? Was this fair to Columbus ? How far did this ship sail ? What did Columbus do when he found that he had been cheated ? (How near is Portugal to Spain ?) What were the names of the King and Queen of Spain at this time ? In what war were they engaged ? How long did Columbus have to wait in order to persuade them to let him have ships? To what king was he going when Isabella called him back ? In what year did Columbus start on his voyage ? On what day of what month did he sail? Leaving on the 3d of August, 1492, he was how Study by topics, Skeleton summary Voluntary work Composition To teachers. long on the voyage ?