The American Congress: a history of national legislation and political events. 1774-1895

Preface

In this book I have endeavored to give, in a concise and popular form, a clear, interesting, and valuable account of the legislative and political affairs of the American people from the colonial period to the present time — to describe faithfully the great historic measures, the leading statesmen, and the not able occurrences which have, one after the other, engaged the attention of the nation during the years of its development. The first chapter is somewhat like a prologue, and serves to inform the reader in a rapid manner of the English settlement of the country, and of the momentous events which led to the meeting of the First Continental Congress. Thereafter, the history goes on in consecutive style to narrate the movement for independence, the doings of the Revolution, the making of the Constitution, the establishment of the Constitutional Gov ernment, and all the important legislative proceedings from the First Congress of the United States to the close of the Fifty third Congress.

The origin and growth of parties, the memo rable actions of Presidents, and innumerable other matters per taining to the broad and diversified field of American politics are also described and discussed. The work is the result of patient, long-continued study of the best historical authorities, of liberal thought, of kindly disposition, and I believe it to be accurate in its statements and just in dealing with men and measures. Interwoven in the chapters are copious extracts from fa mous speeches and debates, all gathered from the official reports and presumably correct in their phraseology. The chapter-

PREFACE.

IV headings are largely descriptive of the topics under consideration. There are appendices containing a number of important state documents and other matter valuable for reference, and there is also a full index. "While pursuing the studies for this history I made frequent use of the vast and wonderfully varied historical collections to be found in the great Library of Congress and the Department of State Library at Washington. In the valuable material ex amined in these libraries were ancient documents, official re ports, letters, memoirs, newspapers, etc., not obtainable else where. Much important information was secured from this material. As this work was prepared mainly for the general reader, I have thought it well to give greater attention to the narration and discussion of events than to their philosophy.

I am in clined to think that in these pages will be found all that the general reader will require, and something, perhaps, which may be acceptable to the scholar and the well-read person. Joseph West Moore. New York, March, 1895. CONTENTS

Chapter I

The Discovery and Settlement of North America. — Historical Statement of the British Colonies on the American Continent. — The Early Colonial Gatherings known as Congresses. — The Albany Congress. — Benjamin Franklin's Plan of Union of the Colonies. — British Oppression. — The Stamp Act Congress. — "No Taxation Without Representation." — Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor. — The Boston Port Bill and other Obnoxious Measures of the British Parliament. — Great Indignation throughout the Colonies. — Proposition for a Continental Congress Page 1

Chapter II

The Colonies in 1774. — Styles of Dress and Ways of Living.— The Political Situation. — Massachusetts Defies England. — Meeting of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. — Life iu the Quaker City. — The Carpenters' Hall Occupied by the Congress. — Early Debates. — Patrick Henry's Patriotic Speech. — The Distinguished Members of Congress. — The Bill of Rights. — Union of the Colonies. — The Articles of Association. — A Petition to King George and Addresses to the People of Great Britain and British America " . . 18

Chapter III

Growth of a Strong National Spirit. — The Whigs and the Tories. — Continued British Oppression. — The Beginning of the Long Struggle for American Independence. — The Battle of Lexington. — Meeting of the Second Continental Congress in the State-house at Philadelphia. — John Hancock chosen President of the Congress.— Preparations for War.— George Washington appointed Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.— His Modest Speech of Acceptance. — The Battle of Bunker Hill. — A Final Appeal to the King. — The Appeal Rejected. — Congress Advises the Colonies to form Independent Governments 39

Chapter IV

Separation from Great Britain. — Wide-spread Discussion of the Matter. — A Strange Delay in Congress. — Common Sense, Thomas Paine's Celebrated Pamphlet Advocating Separation. — Virginia Instructs her Congressmen to Begin the Important Movement. — Richard Henry Lee's Resolutions for Independence. — A Strong Opposition Developed. — Some Forcible Speeches. — Congress Decides for Independence. — Thomas Jefferson Selected to Pre- CONTENTS VI pare a Draft of the Declaration of Independence.— His Declaration Agreed to after an Extended Debate.— Its Promulgation and Enthusiastic Reception by the People PaSe 55

Chapter V

Congress during the War of the Revolution.— The Faithful Services of Patriotic Men. — Various War Measures.— Large Issues of Bills of Credit- Depreciation of the Continental Currency.— How Congress Obtained its Authority.— Treaty with France.— French Soldiers and Sailors Aid the Americans.— Extraordinary Power Conferred on General Washington. — Adoption of an American Flag. — Migrations of Congress to Escape Capture by the British. — Lengthy Discussion of a Plan of Confederation ... 68

Chapter VI

The Congress of the Confederation.— Its Important Measures.— The Financial Difficulties during the Revolution. — Robert Morris's "Bank for the United States of North America." — Triumph of the American Cause. — The Treaty of Peace. — General Washington Returns his Commission to Congress Sitting at Annapolis. — The Historical Scene in the Ancient Maryland State-house. — Washington's Speech and President Mifflin's Reply. — Lack of Authority in Congress after the War. — The Defects of the Confederation. — Proposition for a Convention to Revise the Articles of Confederation. — The Famous Ordinance for the Government of the Northwest Territory ... 75

Chapter VII

Changing the Form of the Government. — The Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia. — An Assemblage of Distinguished Men. — The Various Plans of a "New Constitution Submitted to the Convention. — Earnest Debates during a Long Session. — The Strong Conflicting Interests. — How the New Federal System was Constructed. — The Three Great Compromises. — After Considerable Difficulty the Constitution of the United States Perfected and Signed. — Submitting the Constitution to the People. — A Factious Opposition to It.— The Constitution Ratified 92

Chapter VIII

The Beginning of the New Constitutional Government.— Dissolution of the Continental Congress.— Meeting in New York of the First Congress of the United States under the Constitution.— How New York Appeared in 1789.— The Federal Hall in Wall Street.— Organization of Congress.— The Roll of Members.— Counting the Electoral Votes for President and Vice-President. —Washington and Adams Notified of their Election.— Ovations to Washington on his Journey to New York. — His Inauguration as the First President of the United States.— His Inaugural Address 105

Chapter IX

Obtaining a Revenue for the New Government.— The First Tariff Act.— The Policy of Protection.— Establishing the Executive Departments.— President CONTENTS VII Washington's Cabinet. — The President's Power of Removal. — The Supreme Court of the United States. — How Congress Appeared during a Session. — The Compensation of Government Officials and Members of Congress.— The Mace. — Reporting the Debates. — Promiuent Statesmen. — The Federalists and the Anti- Federalists. — How the Two Great Political Parties were Formed. — Their Diverging Principles. — The "Amendment Mongers." — Ten Amendments to the Constitution Page 123

Chapter X

Trying to Make a Nation Happy. — President Washington's Social Relations with the People. — His System of Official Etiquette. — The Arduous Labors ot the First President. — The United States in 1790. — Alexander Hamilton's Plan to Pay the Public Debt. — An Exciting Discussion in Congress. — Assumption of the Indebtedness of the States Incurred during the Revolutionary War. — The "Legislative Bargain" by which the National Capital was Located on the Potomac River. — Jefferson's Political Dinner-party. — The Act Establishing the Permanent Seat of the Government 134

Chapter XI

Removal of Congress to Philadelphia. — The New Congress Hall. — The Unpopular Excise Law. — A Bank of the United States Chartered. — New States Admitted to tho Union. — First Debates about Slavery. — The Fugitive-Slave Law. — Adoption of the Party Name of Democratic-Republican. — Jefferson becomes the Leader of the New Party. — How Washington was Criticised and Abused. — Philip Freneau and his Newspaper. — American Sympathy with the French Revolution. — Washington's Declaration of Neutrality, and the Excitement it Created. — Genet's Visit to the United States . . . 143

Chapter XII

A Strong Feeling for War with England.— The Jay Treaty. — Its Ratification by the Senate and Approval by President Washington. — Great Public Disapproval of the Treaty. — The President Assailed with a Storm of Vituperation. — Washington's Farewell Address. — Administration of John Adams. —Trouble with France.— The X. Y. Z. Mission.— The Unpopular Alien and Sedition Laws. — Denunciation of these Laws by the Legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia. — Their Famous Resolutions.— Death of Washington. — The Congressional Funeral Ceremony 153

Chapter XIII

The District of Columbia.— Removal of Congress to the New Federal City on the Potomac.— Establishing the Permanent Seat of the Government.— The Agreement with the Original Landholders.— Pierre L'Enfant, the Designer of the City of Washington.— The Plan of the Capitol.— Laying the Corner-stone.— Appearance of the Federal City in 1800.— President Adams's Welcoming Speech to Congress.— Defeat of the Federalists.— Jefferson chosen President by the Ilouse of Representatives.—" Adams's Midnight Judges." —Inauguration of President Jefferson.— His Inaugural Address ... CONTENTS VIII

Chapter XIV

Ancient Official Forms and Ceremonies Abolished by President Jefferson.— How he Sent his First Message to Congress.— Democratic Simplicity.— Latrobe Appointed Architect of the Capitol.— His Meritorious Work.— Establishing the Library of Congress.— Exciting Discussion of the Yazoo Fraud.— Grave Charges Made against the Administration.— John Randolph, of Roanoke.— Amusing Stories of the Eccentric Virginia Statesman.— His Little Political Party, "the Quids."— The "Virginia Dynast}'. "— Acquiring a Vast Territory.— Purchase of the Province of Louisiana from France . . Page 187

Chapter XV

Impeachment Trial of Justice Samuel Chase.— Unsuccessful Attempt to Extend Slavery to the Northwest Territory.— Abolition of the Slave-trade.— Burr's Trial for Treason.— President Jefferson's Gun-boat System for the Navy. —Trouble -with England.— The Embargo Act. — Dissatisfaction in New England.— English Plot to Destroy the Union.— The War of 1812.— Brilliant Achievements of the American Navy.— The Battle of Bladensburg. — Capture of the City of Washington by British Troops.— Burning of the Capitol 196

Chapter XVI

Occupation by Congress of the " Great Hotel " and the "Old Capitol." — Propositions to Remove the Seat of Government. — Restoration of the Capitol. — The New Halls of Congress. — The Hartford Convention. — The Treaty of Ghent. — Creation of a Great Bank of the United States. — The Tariff Act of 1816. — Increasing the Pay of Congressmen. — Changing the Design of the American Flag. — Purchase of Florida from Spain. — Bitter Struggle over the Admission of Missouri to the Union. — Great Excitement in Congress and throughout the Country. — The Missouri Compromises .... 210

Chapter XVII

The Presidential Election of 1820.— An "Era of Good Feeling."— Objection to the Counting of the Electoral Votes of Missouri. — The Origin and History of the Monroe Doctrine. — Various Applications of the Doctrine. — A Strong Demand for a New Protective Tariff.— Heury Clay's American System. — His Famous Speech on the Policy of Protecting Home Industries. — The Tariff of 1824.— The "Scrub Race for the Presidency."— John Quincy Adams Elected President by the House of Representatives .... 228

Chapter XVIII

Brilliant Membership of Congress during the First Quarter of the Century.— The Prominent Statesmen of this Period.— The " Great Triumvirate," Clay, Webster, aud Calhoun.— Biographical Sketches and Personalities.— Eminent Legislators who Subsequently Filled High Offices in the Government. —Some Quaint Characters of the Olden Time.— Davy Crockett, the Tennessee Bear-hunter.— How he was Elected to Congress. — His Witty Sayings CONTENTS IX and Eccentricities.— The Peculiar Customs Prevailing in Both Houses of Congress page 240

Chapter XIX

Completion of the Work of Consolidating the American Republic.— The So-called "Clay and Adams Bargain."— John Randolph's Offensive Remarks. — Duel between Clay and Randolph. — Party Lines Newly Drawn. — The Democrats and the National Republicans.— The Question of Internal Improvements by the Government. — The " Historic" Tariff Revision of 1828. —Advocating Nullification.— General Jackson Elected President.— What is known as the " Great Debate in the Senate," in 1830. — Hayne's Remarkable Speech and Webster's Celebrated Reply 254

Chapter XX

The Story of Nullification. — Convention of the People in South Carolina. — Passage of the Famous Ordinance of Nullification. — President Jackson's Proclamation of Warning. — Its Revision by James Madison. — Speeches in the United States Senate by John C. Calhoun, the Leader of the Nullifiers. — Stirring Debate upon "The Force Bill." — Calhoun's Resolutions on the Powers of the Government. — The Counter Resolutions. — Webster's Constitutional Argumeut. — Henry Clay's Efforts to Preserve the Union. — The Clay Compromise Tariff Act, which Settled the Nullification Storm . 277

Chapter XXI

The Noted Bank of the United States. — Its Remarkable Development into a Huge, Uncontrollable Financial Power. — President Jackson's Opposition to ■what he termed "the Monster." — The War on the Bank. — A Severe Contest about the Renewal of the Bank's Charter. — Jackson's Veto of the Rechartering Act. — Removal of the Government Deposits from the Bank.— Clay's Senate Resolution Censuring President Jackson. — The President's Celebrated Protest. — Benton's Expunging Resolution. — How the Clay Resolution was Expunged from the Senate Journal.— Downfall of the Bank .... 294

Chapter XXII

The Distinguished Statesmen of the Second Quarter of the Century.— Members of Congress who became Presidents of the United States.— Abraham Lincoln's Noted Humorous Speech on Military Coat-tails. — " To the Victor Belong the Spoils."— What a Witty Representative Said about a Congressman's Life at this Period.— The Great Political Revolution of 1840.— The Tariff Act of 1842— The Walker Low Tariff Act of 1846.— Other Tariffs. —Annexation of Texas and the Mexican War 310

Chapter XXIII

The Slavery Question. — An Historical Review of Slavery in North America.— The Antislavery Movement.— Refusal of Congress to Receive Antislavery Petitions.— The Atherton Gag.— John Quincy Adams's Bold Stand for the Right of Petition.— Close of the Mexican War.— Exciting Discussions about CONTENTS X the Extension of Slavery to the Domain Acquired from Mexico.— The Wil mot Proviso.— Doctrine of Popular or Squatter Sovereignty.— Clay's Compromise Plan. — Webster's Speech about Secession. — The Foote -Benton Quarrel.— The Compromise of 1850 Page 333

Chapter XXIV

Renewed Agitation of the Slavery Question.— The Cuban Question.— The Kansas-Nebraska Bill Repealing the Missouri Compromise Line in Regard to Slavery.— Earnest Advocacy of the Bill by Stephen A. Douglas.— Passage of the Bill— The Terrible Bloody Struggle in Kansas.— Vehement Debates in Congress.— Formation of the Republican Party.— Banks's Speakership Contest. — Charles Sumner Assaulted in the Senate Chamber. — Prominent Antislavery and Pro-slavery Statesmen.— Kansas Admitted to the Union as a State . 350

Chapter XXV

Various Matters Preceding the Civil War.— The Dred Scott Decision.— John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry. — Secessiou Utterances in Congress. — The Presidential Election of 1860. — Abraham Lincoln Elected President. — South Carolina Secedes from the Union. — President Buchanan Defines his Position. — The Crittenden Compromise Plan. — Proposed Amendment to the Constitution Relating to Slavery. — President Lincoln's Inaugural Address. — Formation of the Southern Confederacy. — Beginning of the War . 371

Chapter XXVI

The United States in 1861. — The Thirty-seventh Congress a Distinguished Body. — Breckinridge's Secession Speeches. — Men and Measures to Carry ou the War to Preserve the Union. — The Morrill Tariff. — Financial Matters. — A New System of Taxation. — National Banks. — The Mason and Slidell Affair.— Formation of the State of West Virginia. — The Homestead Bill. — Compensated Emancipation in the Border States. — Slavery Abolished iu the District of Columbia. — Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. — The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution Prohibiting Slavery . . 384

Chapter XXVII

Continuation of the War. — Re-election of President Lincoln. — His Second Inaugural Address.— The Freedmen's Bureau.— Return of Peace.— Assassination of Lincoln.— Reconstruction of the Southern States. — President Johnson's Plan.— The Civil Rights Bill.— Warfare between the President and Congress.— Reconstruction Theories.— The Reconstruction Measure of Congress.— Pin-chase of Alaska.— The Reason for the Purchase.— Eminent Statesmen 402

Chapter XXVIII

Widening of the Breach between President Johnson and Congress.— The Tenure-of-Office Act.— No Removals from Office without the Consent of the Senate. —Johnson's Test of the Act.— Attempted Removal of Secretary Stanton from the War Department.— Non-concurrence of the Senate in the Removal. CONTENTS XI — Impeachment of President Johnson by the Ilouse of Representatives. — The Articles of Impeachment and Formal Proceedings. — Details of the Trial of the President by the Senate for High Crimes and Misdemeanors . Page 418

Chapter XXIX

Completion of the Work of Reconstructing the Southern States. — The Reconstruction Measures declared Constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United Slates. — Colored Voters in the South Outraged. — The " Ku-kluxklan." — Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. — Decision regarding the "Legal Tenders." — Unsuccessful Attempt to Annex San Domingo. — Passage of the "Force Bill." — Adjustment of the Alabama Claims. — The Amnesty Act. — The Liberal Republicans. — The Credit Mobilier Scandal Implicating Prominent Congressmen. — The Poland Committee of Investigation and its Report.— The " Salary Grab " 435

Chapter XXX

Leading Members of Congress from 1870 to 1885. — James G. Blaine, the Distinguished Republican Leader. — The Serious Charges against Him. — The Mulligan Letters. — A Remarkable Scene in the House of Representatives. — Roscoe Conkling. — The Celebrated Rencounter between Conkling and Blaine. — The "Father of the Senate" and the "Father of the House." — John Sherman's Long and Honorable Career in Congress. — Able Democrats who have Won Distinction. — The First Colored Senators and Representatives from the Southern States 450

Chapter XXXI

Disordered Condition of Affairs in the South. — Presidential Election of 1876. — The Hayes-Tilden Complication. — The Electoral Commission and its Work. —The Bland Silver Bill.— "Stalwarts" and " Half-breeds."— Conkliug's Resignation from the Senate.— The Tariff Act of 1883. — Civil Service Reform.— Morrison's Tariff Bill. — The French Spoliation Claims. — The Presidential Campaign of 1884. — The Democrats Obtain Possession of the Goveminent 469

Chapter XXXII

Various Important Measures of Legislation. — New States Admitted to the Union. — President Cleveland's Notable Message on Tariff Reform. — The Mills Tariff Bill.— Mills's Speech in Advocacy of his Low-tariff Measure.— The Presidential Election of 1888.— Return of the Republicans to Power. — The Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses. — The McKinley Tariff Bill.— McKinley's Speech on Protection to American Industries. — Passage of the McKinley Bill.— The Sherman Silver Purchase Act.— The Lodge Federal ElectionBill 482

Chapter XXXIII

The Fifty-second Congress. — The Presidential Election of 1893. — Settlement of the Behring Sea Controversy by Arbitration.— Decision of the Tribunal CONTENTS XII of Arbitration.— The Fifty-third Congress.— Repeal of the Purchasing Clause of the Sherman Silver Act.— The Wilson Low Tariff Bill.— Wilson's Speech. — Action of the Senate Conservative Democrats. — Passage of the Senate Tariff Bill. — Repeal of the Federal Election Laws.— The Hawaiian Annexation Project.— The Fall Elections of 1894 Page 497

Chapter XXXIV

The Capitol at Washington. — The Halls of Legislation. — The Apportionment of Representatives to the Several States. — Various Methods of the Houses of Congress. — Enormous Cost of the Yearly Sessions. — The Compensation and Mileage of Senators and Representatives. — A Host of Officials and Clerks. — Reporting the Proceedings of the National Legislature. — The Daily Routine of Business in the Senate. — The Executive Sessions. — Manner of Procedure in the House of Representatives. — Important Legislation of the Fifty-third Congress 509 List of Authorities 521 Appendix A. Declaration of Independence 523 Appendix B. Articles of Confederation » . 527 Appendix C. Constitution of the United States , . . 535 Appendix D. Washington's Farewell Address .......... 553 Appendix E. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation 565 Appendix F. Sessions of Congress, Speakers, etc ... 567 Index

Chapter I

The Discovery and Settlement of North America. — Historical Statement of the British Colonies on the American Continent. — The Early Colonial Gatherings known as Congresses. — The Albany Congress. — Benjamin Franklin's Plan of Union of the Colonies. — British Oppression. — The Stamp Act Congress. — "No Taxation without Representation." — Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor. — The Boston Port Bill and other Obnoxious Measures of the British Parliament. — Great Indignation throughout the Colonies. — Proposition for a Continental Congress. Foe more than a hundred years the American Congress has been in existence as a distinct, national legislative body. Its parent stock was the Continental Congress, which existed in its several forms for nearly fifteen years, during which the British colonies in North America, with the exception of Cana da and Nova Scotia, severed the ties that bound them to the mother - country and became an independent nation of free men.

Following the Continental Congress was the Congress of the United States under the Constitution, which in 18S9 com pleted its first century of arduous legislative work pertaining to the rise, progress, and development of a great republic. The story of the founding of the American Republic, and of the century of national legislation that followed, is exceedingly interesting and instructive, and no one can become familiar with it without being convinced that strong and enduring pa triotism was in the main the actuating force of the long line of able men who have guided the ship of state over the rather tempestuous sea of American politics. In the following pages this story is told with more or less of details as the case seemed to require, the purpose being to show clearly every step of the way by which the nation has reached its present political con dition.

The British colonies on the American Continent which after wards became the American nation had been established for a long time before they achieved their independence. It was in 1498, six years after Christopher Columbus had discovered the New World, that Sebastian Cabot — an Italian navigator who had been given authority by Henry the Seventh, of England, " to discover countries of the heathen unknown to Christians," and " to set up the king's banners there" — first discovered the shores of what are now the United States of America and took possession of them in the name of the British Crown. For nearly a century England made no effort to take advantage of Cabot's discovery. In 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh made an un successful attempt to plant an English colony in Yirginia, or the "virgin land," as Queen Elizabeth called her vast American possessions.

The colony was located on Roanoke Island, in Albemarle Sound ; but the first party of colonists soon became discouraged and returned to England. Other colonists were sent to the island by Raleigh, but they mysteriously disap peared, and were supposed to have been killed by the Indians. Some years afterwards Commander Bartholomew Gosnold, who discovered and gave name to Cape Cod and Martha's Vine yard, also made a vain attempt to establish a colony on the eastern coast. In 1606 James the First, the successor of Eliza beth, put the greater part of the American domain into the hands of two extensive companies, known as the London Com pany and the Plymouth Company, that were organized to found colonies in the new country, to promote trade with Eng land, and to reap what harvest they could from the " fair and fertile lands of America."

From this time the colonization of North America was be gun in earnest. At first all the country had the general name of Yirginia ; but subsequently the region on the eastern coast was called New England, and other sections received other ENGLISH SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA 3 names. The first permanent English settlement was made in the South, in 1607, by a hundred and five adventurous men who came to the New World to seek the good-fortune denied them at home. They included " gentlemen, carpenters, and laborers," as they were classed in the list of the London Company, from which they received a charter to found a colony on Roanoke Island. In the party was Captain John Smith, the famous English soldier, then less than thirty years old ; and there were also Christopher Newport, Bartholomew Gosnold, Edward Wingfield, John Ratcliffe, and John Martin, all men of distinc tion in England.

The party sailed from London on December 19, 1606, in three small vessels — the Discovery, the Good Speed, and the Susan Constant — and succeeded in reaching the West Indies in the spring. Thence proceeding in search of Roanoke Island, a great storm drove the little fleet into Chesapeake Bay. They sailed up this "Mother of Waters," as the Indians called it, and, entering the Powhatan (now the James) River, went about fifty miles west of its mouth and landed on May 13, 1607. Here they started a village, which they named Jamestown in honor of King James. Shortly after landing they elected a governor and other officials, made peace with the Indians, and took all the action necessary for the establishment of the Colony of Virginia, the first of the permanent English colonies in America. In 1620 a band of devout English people, numbering in all only one hundred and two souls, made a settlement on the "stern and rock -bound coast" of New England.

They are commonly called Puritans, but they were, in fact, Separatists or Independents, an entirely different sect. The Puritans were members of the Established Church of England, but they de sired a purer form of worship than that prevailing in the Church, which employed, under the name of Protestantism, some of the ancient ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion. The Separatists were dissenters and had no connection with the National Church. They claimed the right to worship God as their consciences dictated, and as they were persecuted in their native land a number of them fled to Holland, where they set up their altars and abiding places and lived for many years. When the tide of emigration turned towards America the Separatists, tired of life in Holland, determined to go to the new country, and accordingly secured the right to establish a colony on the banks of the Hudson River.

On September 6, 1620, the little band of Pilgrims set sail from the port of Plymouth, in England, in a small vessel named the Mayflower, and after a stormy and perilous passage arrived off Cape Cod on November 9th. When they discovered where they were they put their craft about and sailed southward for the mouth of the Hudson ; but, as a chronicler of the expedition has writ ten, " falling in with dangerous breakers, and all, especially the women, being impatient to leave the ship," they decided to return and establish themselves on the Eastern coast. They sailed around the cape and entered the harbor known now as Provincetown. Before landing, the forty-one men in the party, among whom were John Carver, William Bradford, William Brewster, Edward Winslow, and Miles Standish, signed the following " Compact of Government " ; " In the name of God, Amen. — We, whose names are under written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ire land, king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and hon or of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices from time to time as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience."

This instrument, which in substance is purely democratic, was intended to be the foundation of the future government of the colony— the Pilgrim Republic, as it was subsequently called. It contains, for the first time in any written constitution, the THE ENGLISH COLONIES 5 grand principle that government should be entirely for the good of those governed. After exploring the western shore of Cape Cod for a month, the Pilgrims, on December 11, 1620 (old style), or December 21st (new style), finally landed on a convenient rock which stood at the entrance of a fine harbor — the historic Plymouth Rock — and "finding the adjacent land promising for tillage," established a village which they named New Plymouth. Thus was the second permanent English settlement made on American soil. During the half-centur}7 subsequent to the coming of the Pil grim fathers and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, a number of other English colonies were planted here and there in the central regions of America.

Companies of Puritans founded the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, and New Haven (subsequently incorporated into Connecticut). A company under the auspices of several English noblemen founded the colony of New Hampshire. New York, originally settled by the Dutch, be came an English colony ; Pennsylvania was settled by Quakers under William Penn ; Maryland was settled by English Catho lics under Lord Baltimore. And there were also established the colonies of New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In 1690 the Plymouth Colony — the mother colony of New England — was incorporated into the colony of Massachu setts Bay. In 1733 the colony of Georgia, the last of the original thirteen English colonies, was established. French, Spanish.