A history of the United States for beginners, for use in elementary schools

Preface

This book was prepared especially for the use of children in the intermediate grades of school. However, it is, the author believes, also well adapted to use by the young as home reading. The text gives, in connected discourse, a sequential view of the leading events of the history of the United States, for which the learner is prepared by a series of easy lessons in civil government. It makes plain many causes of events that greatly interest the learner. A consideration of these gives to the mind of the child added interest in events and broadens his outlook on historical movements. The sequential presentation claimed for the book allows or compels a use of English idiom, a study of which, in connection with the effort of the child when reproducing or reciting, may be made to serve as valuable training in the use of language.

The text is intended to be suggestive in recitation of much profitable work in place geography and work, also for securing a correct view of the logic of culture geography. Geography and growth of

N vi Preface

industrial life, and, to some extent, geography and institutional life when studied aright are seen to be co-dependent.

The book was made for the purpose of furnishing the young child reading matter well within his comprehension, and hence interesting to him, which will give him a connected view of the principal movements and events of our history, to serve as sequential nuclei for the correct and ready placement of acquisitions secured by later study and reading.

Part I PAGE

A Brief Study in Government and Geography 1

State; Territorial; District; National; The President; The Inauguration of a President; Mount Vernon; George Washington.

Part II A Preparatory Historical Study, together with a Study of

Place Geography 26

The Colonies; Trouble in the Colonies; The Revolution; The Declaration of Independence; The Stars and Stripes; Peace; Trouble; A Constitution ; The. First President; The First Inauguration ; The District of Columbia and the Capital; More States; Washington Elected Again.

Part III THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

1. The Discovery of America 53

Christopher Columbus ; The New World ; John Cabot ; America.

2. Virginia 62

Sir Walter Raleigh ; Jamestown ; John Smith ; English Women; Tobacco; Plantations; Boroughs; Bond -Servants; Slaves; Indians; House of Burgesses.

(vii)

viii Contents

PAGE

o. Massachusetts 83

Puritans; Pilgrims; Plymouth; Massachusetts Bay; Boston ; Towns ; The Church ; Farms ; Slaves and Bond- Servants ; The General Court ; The Colony of Massachusetts ; Virginia and Massachusetts.

4. New York 99

Henry Hudson ; New Netherlands ; The Fur Trade ; Dutch" Towns; Landed Proprietors; Dutch Governors; Peter Stuyvesant; New York.

5. Maryland ■. 109

The Calverts; The Maryland Colonists; Baltimore.

6. New England 113

Connecticut ; New Haven ; The Two Settlements United ; Roger Williams : Providence ; Mrs. Hutchinson ; Rhode Island.

7. The Middle Colonies 118

New Sweden; Delaware a Part of New Netherlands; Delaware a Part of New York ; New Jersey ; Quakers ; William Penn ; Philadelphia; Delaware a Part of Pennsylvania.

8. Other Colonies 12G

The Extreme Northern Colonies ; The Extreme Southern Colonies; The Carolinas; North Carolina; South Carolina; Georgia.

Indian Tribes; Indian Homes; Indian W^omen ; The Indian as a Hunter; The Indian as a Warrior; The Indian Papoose; The Indians and the Colonists.

10. The French 143

New France ; The Iroquois ; King William's War ; Queen Anne's War; King George's War; French and Indian War.

11. Causes of the Revolution 152

Taxation; The Import Duty; Writs of Assistance ; The Stamp Act; Duty on Tea.

Contents ix

PAGE

12. The Revolution 1G4

The First Bloodshed; In the North; In the South; General Marion ; Marquis Lafayette ; Benjamin Franklin ; Peace ; Difficulties at the Close of the War.

13. Our Country at the Close of the War 184

Travel; Dress; The Patriotic Spirit; New States; Robert Fulton; Louisiana; Thomas Jefferson.

Causes of the War; End of the War; Andrew Jackson; George Stephenson.

15. The Mexican War 211

The West.

16. The Civil War 215

Abraham Lincoln ; Lincoln as a Young Man ; Lincoln as a Lawyer ; The Slavery Question ; Missouri Compromise ; Kansas-Nebraska Bill ; Lincoln Elected President ; The Confederate States of America ; The War ; The Emancipation of the Slaves.

17. Since the War 244

Progress of the United States ; The West ; Chicago ; Contrast.

18. Recent Territorial Expansion 260

Alaska; Hawaii; Porto Rico; The Philippine Islands.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

1. The Capitol at Washington 11

2. William McKinley 14

3. George Washington 24

4. Mohawk Indian Tomahawk and Pipe 27

5. The Flag of 1775 41

G. The Flag of 1777 41

7. Washington taking the Oath of Office 48

8. Christopher Columbus . . . 5G

9. Sir Walter Raleigh 65

10. Captain John Smith 69

11. Indian Earthenware 78

12. A Virginia Cavalier 81

13. The Mayflower 85

14. Puritan Costume (male) 94

15. Puritan Costume (female) 95

16. Dutch Costume (male) . . . . - 102

17. Dutch Costume (female) 103

18. Roger Williams 115

19. William Penn 124

20. Oglethorpe 130

21. Indian Canoe 133

22. Indian Wigv\am 135

23. Indian Woman and Papoose 136

24. Indian Weapons 138

25. Indian Earthenware 139

26. Indian Head-Dress 140

27. Indian Bows 141

(xi)

xii List of Illustrations

PAGE

28. Robert Chevalier de la Salle 145

29. King George the Third 154

30. Boston in the Time of the Revolution 163

31. The Minute Man 165

32. General Washington Reviewing his Army 169

33. Francis Marion 173

34. Lafayette 176

35. Benjamin Franklin 181

36. Old-Time Family Coach 187

37. Dress of the Time of the Revolution (male) 188

38. Dress of the Time of the Revolution Cfemale) 189

39. Robert Fulton 191

40. Thomas Jefferson 195

41. A Naval Battle of 1812 202

42. Andrew Jackson 207

43. George Stephenson 210

44. Abraham Lincoln 221

45. Eli Whitney 225

46. Robert E. Lee 236

47. General Ulysses S. Grant 241

48. Driving the Last Spike of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1869 . . 250

49. Court of Honor, World's Fair 255

50. View of Matanzas, Cuba 263

51. Admiral Dewey 267

52. View of Manila 268

53. The Flag of Today 271

LIST OF MAPS

PAGE

1 The United States facing 8

2. District of Columbia and Vicinity 20

3. Tlie Colonies facing 30

4. The North Atlantic Ocean 59

5. The United States at the Close of the Revolution 183

G. The United States in 1803 2U0

7. The United States in 1853 M'ing 212

8. The Free and Slave States faciug 228

9. The United States, Her Island Possessions and Alaska . . facing 2G0

(xiil)

A History of the United States for Beginners

Part I A Brief Study In Government And Geography

Is your home in a city, or in a little town or we do not village ? Perhaps you live in the country. ourselves

If your home is in some city or town, you aione. probably have a cousin or other friend living in the country, whom you have visited. If you live in the country, you have no doubt visited some city to see friends.

What is the largest city you have ever seen ? Is it far from your home I Perhaps you traveled a long distance on the railroad before you reached that city. Is it in the same state as the one in which you live ? What is the name of your state ? In what other states have you been? What other states can you name ! In what direction from you does each of these states lie?

A man living on an island of the sea, alone, without the companionship of other men, may

We must consult the pleasure of others.

act just as he pleases in all things. Because he is alone, what he does concerns himself only. No one else is influenced by his actions. If a man were living on the summit of a high, dreary mountain, where there were no other persons, he also might do as he pleased. No one else would be affected by his actions.

Few people, however, live on desert islands or on the summits of dreary mountains. Man seeks the society of other men. People live in communities. They live in large cities, in towns, in villages or hamlets, or on farms, with other farms close by.

Because people live in communities, each man may not act just as he i)leases in every way, for that which would suit him best might be very disagreeable to his neighbors.

At home you have breakfast at a certain hour. You have some rules or customs which all the members of the family observe. Who decides such things ? Your father and mother. They govern the home, and you must act in accordance with their decisions.

At the opening of school you and your schoolmates sing for five or ten minutes with the teacher. Perhaps you do not like singing. But the teacher, who occupies much the same position in the school -room that your father and mother do at home, knows that most of the children do like to sing, and therefore gives time to it. So you sing with the rest. The

The Good of the Greatest Number 3

teacher gives you a lesson in arithmetic lasting an hour, and a lesson in history lasting but half an hour. Perhaps you like history very much, but have great difficulty in solving arithmetical problems. You would prefer to have the history lesson last an hour, and would devote only half an hour to the arithmetic. The teacher knows the subject in which her pupils need most training at any given time in their progress. She gives the matter much thought, and does what she thinks will do the majority of her pupils the greatest good.

When driving along a road, we are expected to turn to the right, to give those whom we meet their share of the roadway. This is a custom which peoj)le in the United States have chosen to follow to avoid collisions.

There are likely to be persons in a community who are not willing to follow the customs which their fellow-citizens think are good for the entire community. It therefore becomes necessary to enforce these customs by laws, so that anyone not doing what is right may be punished. The custom of keeping to the right in driving, for instance, has been enforced by law. Consequently the person who drives to the left instead of to the right may be punished for violating a law which has been decided to be just. And also

In cities and villages people drive in the *^^^' . ^

~ -'--'- convenience

streets, while those walking keep on the side- and safety.

walks. If men were allowed to drive carriages, express wagons, and other vehicles on the sidewalks, persons walking wonld be in constant danger of being run over. If pedestrians were allowed to walk in the streets, between the curbs, drivers could make but little i:)rogress, and would have to be constantly on the alert to avoid running over some one. These are customs adopted for the convenience and safety of all. They are enforced by laws.

Boys may play ball in the park or on the common, or on a vacant lot, but they must not do so on the public streets. This is law. Windows might be broken, and little children as well as grown people might be hurt.

Thus you see that not only are there laws and customs of the home and the school -room, but that the people of a little settlement, of a village, of a town, and of a city need rules or laws to prevent constant conflict with one another. If everyone should so conduct himself as to satisfy his own desires and his own impulses, without regard to the welfare, happiness and rights of his neighbors, discord, quarreling and fighting would result. Then he who should prove the stronger, the quicker, or the more cunning, would gain his end. An absolute In somc couutrics the people are governed by a king or czar. He makes the laws, which the people must obey. The people may be compelled to do many things which they ruler.

Our Republic 5

dislike, but they must obey their ruler or be punished.

In our country we do not have an absolute '^^^ p^^p^®

^g ru.l6rs

ruler. But we must have laws. We must have a government. The people discuss matters, try to find out what will be best for the greatest number, and then pass laws, which all must obey. But your father who, perhaps, is a merchant, or your uncle who is in the big shops, or your brother who works all day in the office, cannot give his time to the making of laws. Other men, too, are busy with the affairs of life. So the people of each community choose from their numbers certain persons to make the laws for them. These men are selected by the people, who vote for the men of their choice. After they have made the laws the people are expected to observe them.

After laws have been made it is necessary The choice that they should be enforced, or executed. ^^''^''''^ Otherwise there would be no use in having laws. The people choose the most important officers, whose duty it is to see that the laws are enforced. Some of these are api3ointed by higher officers, whom the people elect. Who is mayor of your city! Do you know any other city official I Have you ever talked with the policeman, who sees that no one breaks into your house? The duty of each of these men is to enforce the laws. Do you know which men were appointed and which were elected !

The people of a town elect town officers.

The people of a city elect city officers.

The people of a county elect county officers.

The people of a state elect citizens who make the laws to govern the affairs of the state, and officers to execute them. And the people of the whole country, that is of all the states, elect men whose duty it is to make the laws by which the people of the entire nation are governed. Since the people choose the men who make the laws as well as most of those who enforce them, you see the government of our nation rests in the hands of the people themselves.

STATE

Each state The pcople of cach state, whether they live governs '^^ ^ ^^^j^ ^ towu, or a villagc, govern themselves. There are so many people in each state, however, and they are scattered over so great a territory, that it would be impossible for all the people to assemble for the purpose of making laws. The state, therefore, is divided into many districts, and the people of each district choose from among their number such men as they think will serve them best, to meet from time to time for the purpose of making the laws for their state. These men form the state legislature. The place where they assemble is the capital of the state. In some states the legislature is called by another name.

State 7

Each state legislature consists of two The branches, the upper house and the lower house, ^^s'^^^^^'*®- The manner of electing members of these two branches of the legislature differs in different states. It will be an interesting lesson for you, with the aid of your teacher, to find out how your father and brothers are represented at the capital. Find out why there are two branches of the legislature.

You see that, since the members of a state Representa legislature are chosen by the people, the meet- community, ing of the legislature is almost like a meeting of the people themselves. Each man who is sent to the state capital is a representative of a community of people; he is a neighbor or friend, a fellow-townsman of those who choose him. The men who form the legislature of a state make the laws which govern the people living within that state. Each man in the legislature has as his special care the interests of the people who choose him to be their representative.

There are forty- five states in this country, Forty-five each one of which has a government of its own. Each state has a capital city, which is the home of the government of that state. What is the capital city of your state ? Is it the largest city in the state?

The laws of the state must be enforced, or The executed, as you know. The chief officer in g^^^rBor. each state, whose duty it is to enforce the laws

His term of office.

which the legislature passes, is its governor. He is chosen by the people of his state.

In some states the governor serves only one year, while in others he is elected for a term of two years, and in others for terms of three years or four years.

Who is the governor of your state ? When was he elected? When will another election for governor take place!

The territories.

Their government.

TEKKITORIAL

In the southwestern part of the United States there are portions of the country not yet admitted to the Union as states.

There are three of these territories, as they are called, — Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

The people of each territory choose a legislature, which makes the laws by which they are governed. But the people living in a territory do not choose their own governor. He is appointed by the President of tlie United States.

DISTRICT other possessions.

Besides the forty- five states and the three territories, the United States owns six other areas of land — the District of Columbia, the Indian Territory, Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands.

105' LoD-itnde 100° West

Longitude 100" West

'5' Greenwich 90 jreeuwich

District 9

The District of Columbia is on the Potomac The Dii^trict River between the states of Virginia and Mary- of Columbia. land. The city of Washington, the cajiital of the United States, is within its territory.

The District of Columbia has neither legislature nor governor. How it is governed wo shall soon learn.

The Indian Territory is an extent of land set The Indian aside for the use of Indians, who live there pro- Territory. tected by the United States. The Indians have no government of their own. The President appoints a governor for the Indian Territory, whose duty it is to look out for the interests of the tribes.

In 1889 that part of Indian Territory which is now called Oklahoma w^as bought from the Indians and thrown open to settlement by wdiito people. A new territory, with a territorial government, was thus made. (1890.)

Alaska is governed by the laws of the state of Alaska. Oregon, but the President of the United States appoints the governor.

The Hawaiian Islands, Porto Eico, and the Hawaii. Philippine Islands have but recently come into Tiirphint the possession of the United States. The man- pines, ner by w^hich these islands shall be governed, as possessions of this country, has not yet been determined.

NATIQ-NAL

The law^s made by the legislature of any ^ndlhei^^ state or territory do not apply to the people force.

living in any other state or territory. As conditions are not tlie same in tlie various states, the laws of one state might not be at all satisfactory to the people living in another state.

But each state and territory is a part of the United States, and each state is closely allied to other states by common interests. A great many laws are needed which will apply to all states and territories taken together as a nation, as the United States.

The people of a state make the laws for that state, and the same people, as citizens of the United States, help to make the laws which apply to the whole nation.

Each state chooses a certain number of its citizens to go to Washington, the national capital, to represent it. These men assemble in the capitol building, with the men chosen by the people of every other state, to make laws which apply to every part of the United States, The which laws every one in the nation must obey.

These representatives form the national legislature, which we call the Congress of the United States, which assembles every year on the first Monday in December.

The Senate. LilvC tlic statc Icgislaturcs, Congress is composed of two houses. In the Senate, the upper house, are two senators from each state, whatever may be its size, population or location. No one of the territories nor the District of Columbia has senators to represent it. Do you

National Legislature.

National know the names of the men who represent your state in the United States Senate at Washington? For how many years is a senator elected?

The number of members in the lower house, The House, the House of Eepresentatives, differs according to the population of the various states

The Capitol at ^VASHI^;uTu^'.

respectively. The state of Nevada, for instance, although it has two senators, has but one representative in the lower house, because the population of Nevada is not now very large, state repre- New York state, because of the great number of people within its boundaries, has a representation in the lower house of 34 members sentation.

The government of the District of Cohirabia.

What the

Senate

represents.

(1899), yet it lias but two senators, like Nevada. Each of the three territories has in the House of Eepresentatives one re^^resentative or delegate, who may speak on all subjects coming before the house, but who has not the right to vote.

The District of Columbia is neither a state nor a territory, for, as it is set aside for the home of the government of the United States, it is really a part of each and every state and territory, and belongs to all the people of the United States. For this reason it has no legislature or governor of its own. It has no representation in the United States Congress. The men whom the different states send to Washington to legislate for the nation pass all the laws by which the people of the District of Columbia are governed, and the President appoints three men whose duty it is to see that such laws as Congress passes for the government of the District of Columbia are properly enforced. Each man in Congress, from whatever state or territory he may come, acts toward the District of Columbia as if it were a part of his own state or territory.

The House of Representatives is a body of men representing the people of the country.

The Senate is a body of men representing the states themselves, each as a separate political organization. Knowing this, you can understand why the states have equal representation in the

The President 13

Senate but varying numbers of representatives in the lower house. How many senators are there today in the United States Senate 1 How many states are there in the United States? How many representatives does your state send to the lower house of Congress? What is the i:)opulation of your state 1

The city of Washington is, you sec, tne homo The city of the government of the people of the United States, just as each state capital is the home of the government of the people living in that state.

of Wash ini^ton.

The legislatures of the various states and Limitations

of state legishiturcs.

ment by the people.

territories can make no laws which are in conflict in any way with the laws which the national legislature has passed.

You see, then, that our government is a gov- a govern ernment by the people, because each member of a state or territorial legislature, as well as each member of the national Congress at Washington, is chosen by the people and sent by them to work for them and for the good of all.

THE PKESIDENT

The laws which Congress passes must be The diity enforced. l' '^.^, ,

President.

The chief officer in the United States whose duty it is to see that these laws are enforced is the President. The President is to the United States as a w^hole what the governor of each state is to that state.

The governor of a state is elected by the

The election direct vote of the people; that is, every voter in of the ^i^Q g^^^^ jg supposed to cast his ballot for the

PrGSidGiit*

man he thinks best qualified to fill the position.

William McKinley.

The person receiving the greatest number of votes becomes the governor. This is not the case in the election of a President. The law of the United States provides that the President of the United States shall be chosen by men called electors, and that each state shall

The President 15

have as many electors as it has senators and representatives in the national Congress ; that is, each state has two electors and, in addition, as many as it has representatives in the lower house of Congress. These electors are chosen at an election held by the people. The electors of each state, having How been selected by the people, meet for the pur- ©lectors are pose of casting a vote for a President. They vote for the person whom they desire to make President.

When the votes have been counted, the person receiving the majority, that is, more than half of the electoral votes, is elected President. Your father, uncle or brother does not vote directly for the President, but he does vote for electors, whose duty it is to vote for the President. Your father, uncle or brother would not vote for a person to be a presidential elector unless he thought that the elector would vote as he wanted him to. So you see that, although the people of the United States do not vote directly for the President, yet the man who is the choice of a majority of the people is most likely to become President.

What is the name of the man who is now President? Can you remember when he was elected ? How long has he yet to serve 1

The President holds office for four years. Therespon- As the duties of a President are very impor- if^^^^J tant, the people are careful to see that the man president.

whom they elect to the presidency is a good man and one who is well fitted for the responsibility. The presidential election takes place once in four years, on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Before this the people discuss among themselves which of the candidates would make the best President should he be elected. Some people think one man would make the best President, others think another would be the most satisfactory, while still others may think a third would be better than either of the other two. So it is that sometimes there are three or four candidates, each of whom has among the people many who think he would make the best President. The friends of each of these men are so anxious that he should be elected that they hold inany public meetings, where speeches are made in behalf of their candidate. In many other ways, also, the friends of each of the candidates show their belief in his fitness for the high office of President.

Entrance to Althougli tliis clcction takcs placc in November, the new President does not enter on his duties as such until the fourth of March of the following year. One of the reasons for this arrangement is that the President-elect may have ample time to prepare himself for the change of his duties, and that he may without haste select those men who are to be his asso-

. , ,, ciate assistants durinsr his term of office.

And the o

oath. Before a man who has been chosen to an

Inauguration of a President 17

office begins his work he promises the people that he will obey the laws and that he will do only what he thinks is right when in that office, and that he will try in every way to perform his duty. This is the oath of office. When we hear of a man being sworn into office we know that he has taken such an oath.

THE INAUGUEATION OF A PEESIDENT

When the people of a state have chosen a inauguracertain one of their number to be the governor *''''' ""^ ^

^ governor,

of their state, it is necessary for this newlyelected officer to take the oath of office. The ceremony of swearing a governor into office is called an inauguration. Inasmuch as it is at the capital of the state that the governor does his work during his term of office, it is at the capital that he is inaugurated. This ceremony is frequently an event of much importance to the people of the state. The friends of the governor and others go from all parts of the state to the capital to be present at his inauguration. The city is gaily decorated, strains of music are heard on all sides, regiments of soldiers are marching through the streets, and in other ways the governor is made to feel that, now that he has been chosen over the other candidates to be governor, he is to have the good will and help of all his fellow citizens during his term of office. Have you

Inauguration of a ^President.

ever been present at the inauguration of a governor ?