Delightful stories from American history for young people

Front matter

' 1 " ■' .

ill, • t (

1 ' ■

PART I.— PERIOD OF DISCOVERY. Americus Vespucius 32

Columbus and Queen Isabella of

Spain 26

De Soto 36

English Explorers 33

Fate of Sir Walter Raleigh 35

King John II, of Portugal, and Columbus 24

Long Ago 15

Sir Walter Raleigh 34

The Indians 18

The White Men of Europe 22

The Boy Columbus 23

The Voyage 27

The People on the Islands 28

The Closing Year of Columbus'

Life 30

The French 33

PART II.— EARLY SETTLEMENTS. Anna Hutchinson 54

A Catholic Colony in Mar3dand. ... 67

Burning of Arcadia 88

Battle of Quebec 92

Benjamin Franklin 95

Captain John Smith 39

Colonial Customs 102

Causes of the Revolution 104

Custom House Dut}-. 108

Dutch in America 63

Daughters of Liberty 107

French and Indian Wars 81

Georgia 77

General Braddock 87

Harvard College loi

How the Colonies Grew United. . . . 103

Indian Troubles 70

John Rolfe and Pocahontas . 42

King Phillipp's War 75

La Salle 80

Mistress Annie Hibbins 55

Massasoit's Illness 75

Pocahontas 40

Plymouth Colony

Penn's Honesty with the Indians. . .

Roger Williams

Religious Troubles in America

Samuel Argall »

Swedish Colony in America

Sir Edmund Andros

The Thirteen Colonies

The Pilgrims in America

The Puritans in America

The Quakers

The Pequots

The Snake-Skins

The Jesuits

The Charter Oak

The Boston Massacre

The Boston Tea Party

The First Continental Congress. . . .

Why the Puritans Came to America.

Witchcraft in the Colonies

William Penn

Wolfe and Montcalm

Young George Washington

44 61

63 42 68

99 38 48

PART III.— AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Arnold, the Traitor, and Andr^, the

Spy 149

American Money 158

Battle of Lexington 115

Battle of Quebec '. 125

Battle of Monmouth 137

Captain Paul Jones 145

Declaration of Independence 130

1 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAOS

Emily Greiger 148

Fort Ticonderoga 119

Fine Feathers Ne'er Make Fine

Birds 128

Le Bonhon>me Richard 147

Lafayette 159

Massacre at Wyoming 142

National Hymn 162

Paul Revere's Ride 116

Robert Morris 144

Second Continental Congress 122

Speech of Patrick Henry 123

Success on the Ground of Defeat. . .

Surrender of Cornwallis

The First American Flag

The Darkest Hour in American History

The Little Black-Eyed Rebel

The Surrender of Burgoyne

Valley Forge

Washington and His Army

Washington Taking Leave of His Army

War versus Peace

PART IV.— THE AMERICAN NATION, Administration of Thomas Jefferson. 178

Aaron Burr 180

Administration of James Madison. . 186

Andrew Jackson ig8

Brave O. H. Perry 195

Battle of Niagara 199

Battle of Lake Champlain 206

Captain Bainbridge 193

Daniel Boone 168

First President of the United States. 165

Hull's Surrender of Detroit 189

John Adams' Administration 175

Martha Washington 172

Massacre of Fort Mimms 197

' ' Old Hickory " and the Baby

Our Capital City Burned

Robert Fulton and the First Steamboat

" Star Spangled Banner "

The Administration of Washington.

Tne City of Washington

Two Indian Brothers

The Constitution and the Guerriere.

The Wasp and the Frolic

The Hornet and the Peacock

The End of the War

Washington's Second Term

War of 1 8 1 2

PAGE

135 155 132

139 136 129

199 103

193 207 169 188

PART v.— THE GOOD TIMES ERA. An Old Hero Visits America 211

Andrew Jackson 2(5

Henry Clay 212

James Knox Polk 223

Monroe's Administration 209

Martin Van Buren 218

The Administration of John Quincy

Adams 213

The First Train of Cars 214

Taylor's Administration 226

The Slavery Question 227

William Henry Harrison 221

PART VI.— THE CIVIL WAR. Andersonville Prison 264

Abraham Lincoln 233

Abraham Lincoln and the Hospi;tal

at Richmond. 285

Battle of Bull's Run 243

Battle of Shiloh 249

Battles of Chattanooga and Lookout

Mountain 262

Battle of Gettysburg 266

Decline and Overthrow of the Confederacy 256

Evacuation of Riclimond 276

Fort Sumter 241

Fort Donelson 248

Grant as Lieutenant-General 273

Harriet Beecher Stowe 249

Lincoln and the People 239

Lee's Surrender 280

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Negro Song — "Ole Abe Has Gone

an' Did It, Boys." 258

National Cemetery at Gettysburg. . 267

Now for Richmond 276

Pictures of the Civil War 255

Peace and Reconciliation 288

Song — "Battle Cry of Freedom." . 243

Sharp-Shooters 259

Song — "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp.". 264

Stonewall Jackson 272

Sherman's March to the Sea 274

Sheridan's Ride 276

" The Blue and the Gray." 240

The Army of the Potomac 244

The Cotton Industry 245

The Picket Guard 247

The Story of '• Eliza. " 250

The Merrimac and the Monitor. . . . 252

The Capture of New Orleans 254

The Siege of Vicksburg 260

The Alabama and the Kearsarge. . . 270

The Swords of Grant and Lee 284

The Ford Theater Tragedy 286

PART VII.— PEACE AND PROSPERITY. Alaska

Arthur's Administration

Administration of Grover Cleveland.

Edison, the Genius of the Age

Earthquake at Charleston

Grant's Administration

Garfield's Administration

Hayes' Administration

Johnson's Administration

Johnstown Flood

No Room for Class Distinction . . . .

Our Nation To-Day

293 Sioux Indian Outbreak 308

303 Second Administration of Cleveland. 315

304 The Atlantic Cable ' 293

303 The Sioux War of 1872 295

305 The Massacre of Custer's Army. . . 296

294 The Burning of Chicago 299

301 The Telephone and the Phonograph. 303

299 The Administration of Benjamin

291 Harrison 306

307 The Battle of Wounded Knee Creek. 312

324 The World's Columbian Exposition. 316

322 The Presidential Election, 1896. . . . 318

PART VIII.— UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. Cabinet 334

President and Vice-President of the

United States 332

The District of Columbia and the

National Capital 327

The Origin of Government 330

The State Department 334

The Treasury Department 336

The War Department 338

The Navy Department 339

The Department of the Interior. . . . 340

The Postoffice Department 341

The Departmeht of Agriculture. . . . 342 The Department of Justice 343

PART IX.— UNDER BOTH FLAGS. Antietam ; 349

Home, Sweet Home 344

The Union Soldier 346

Our Noble, Heroic and Self Sacrificing Women 348

War and Peace 345

Leader of a Charge,

STORIES FROM

AMERICAN History

Long Ago.

'OUR hundrea years ago this country in which we Hve was a wilderness, mostly covered with forest trees, and unknown to the rest of the world. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River great woods grew, in which bears, wolves, wildcats, beaver and deer roamed in freedom. Beyond, wide prairies stretched to the mountains, herds of buffalo pranced over the long grass, and snakes of many colors basked in the sunshine. In

the south the sun was warm, and his rays nursed plants of every

kind, which hid the ground beneath their

rank herbage; but in the north the winters

were longer and colder than they now are,

ice often lingered all summer in the valleys,

and the land wore a dreary look.

There were at that time no towns

or villages anywhere in all the countr} ;

no ships in the harbors; no boats on

the rivers; no tall chimneys soaring upward toward the sky; no

roads; nothing but grim old v,

oaks and pines with mo^s, 'f^

grass and wild Howers under

their shade; dark rocks on

the shores, on which the

waves beat as they had beat

ever since the world began;

high hills and deep glens with the

bright heaven overhead, just as we

see it now.

i6

S Tc ^R IKS /'R OM A ME RICA X I IIS TOR V.

It is said that many years, perhaps ages, before any white man saw ^ this country races of .\ ,. 'Xyl strange men hved here, and built large towns, and fought great battles on the soil which is now ours. We know that far away to the south there were people who built fine Xl)f)^ cities, carved images, raised splendid temples to their false gods. Strange remains of old forts, with broken pieces of earthenware, have been found near the Ohio river. Some very learn- ^,p ed men have

Indian Qirl.

«7 grew and waved their branches to the winds, and died, fell and turned into coal, or else their rotten trunks served as a home for wild beasts and reptiles; that the rivers rolled downward to the sea, and the trout and salmon leaped out of the foam to catch pretty flies as they buzzed over the surface; that the snow fell, and drifted, and the ice made bridges over streams and lakes for the moose to cross; that earthquakes and volcanoes burst out now and then, tearing great holes in the ground, filling up valleys, choking up rivers, and planting islands in the midst of the waters, all in the space of a single night or an hour; but of what it pleased Almighty God to do with the human beings He had placed here to enjoy the fruits of the earth and admire those wonderful works of His we know nothing at all.

The Indians.

THE first white sailors who came here found a wild race of red people, with nothing but the skin of some animal tied round their waist, and living in a very poor sort of way. They called them Indians, because it was then supposed that America was part of India, no one in Europe having sailed around it or guessed that it was a separate continent by itself.

The Indians forced their w^omen to do all the hard work, such as digging the ground, sowing the corn and weaving mats. We know very little about these Indians or about their little boys and girls, for they knew nothing about writing, and so left no books to tell about themselves.

They used to live in tents which they called wigwams. They called the women squaws and the baby boys and girls papooses.

They were all rude and wild. The children had no schools, no books or no toys to keep them busy; so they spent their time playing about their tent or learning to hunt, fish or weave baskets.

The men spent most of their time hunting and fighting with their neighbors, with bow^s and arrows and heavy clubs made of hardwood. Long afterward, when strangers settled among them, they used small hatchets called tomahawks, and at last guns like

Dread Dangers the Sailors Feared.

20 STOR//^:S FROM AMERICAN HISTORY.

ours. With bows they were very expert. Their arrows were pointed with sharp stones or pieces of shell, and they were such good shots that they could bring down a bird or a deer at a very long distance. When they went to war, they did not fight in the open field as our soldiers do, but lurked in the woods, and shot their arrows from behind trees and stones, or sprang upon their enemies suddenly at night and beat out their brains with their clubs. When they had killed a man, they used to cut off the skin of his head with the hair on, and carried these scalps tied to their belts, and were very proud of them.

But you must not fancy because these savages wore scalps at their belts that they could not be manly fellows at times. They had no fear of death, and would not cry out or complain in the greatest tortures. Sometimes when they were taken prisoners in war, their enemies would tie them to trees and shoot arrows into their flesh, till there were a dozen sticking there all at once; or hold burning sticks to their skin till it smoked and shriveled up; but, in spite of the dreadful pain these cruel tortures must have caused, the Indian warriors would never cry or wince, but would look calmly and proudly on their tormentors. They could endure fatigue, too, and hunger, thirst and cold better than we can; and often, on their long journeys in search of game, or in pursuit of their enemies, they would spend day after day and night after night without food or shelter, and think nothing of it.

Though they were heathens and knew nothing of God or the Bible, yet they knew what honor was, and scorned to injure a stranger so long as he lay in their wigwam and ate of their corn or venison. Indeed, there are many points in the character of these poor, half-naked, ignorant Indians which might serve as a pattern to some people in our own day.

In the following pages you will see much to admire in. the life of the Indian, and also much that will cause you to rebel against his treatment of the white man who soon came to this country in great numbers.

Columbus' First Voyeg^e.

STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY.

The White Men of Europe.

WHILE the Indians were hunting in their forests and smoking their pipes around their camp-fires, the white men who hved beyond the sea, in Europe, were very busy. If you will look at a map of the world, you will see that the shortest cut for a ship sailing from Europe to India, in Asia, would be to sail straight over North America. It would be pretty hard work for a ship to do this, as you know; but, at the time iiw"'

An Imaginary Island.

I speak of, people in Europe did not know that such a country as America existed.

The ships in those days were small and frail, hardly more seaworthy than a pleasure yacht to-day.

"There is," sailors would sometimes say, "an island far out at sea, with rich fruits and beautiful flowers and great purple mountains. Rich gems and gold about its shores, and in the center on a gentle slope of ground stands the palace of the sea-god."

But, though the sailors talked of it and the poets sang of it, no one had ever seen it.