An elementary history of the United States

Preface

Histories of the United States of America have been many times written, and in many ways ; so often, indeed, that some might deem there was nothing more to say, or no new way of saying it. Yet new histories are of yearly appearance, and the world does not seem tired of welcoming them. These are usually written for the old ; but why not new histories for the young, who can certainly find no more profitable reading than the story of the origin and development of their own country ?

No romance, in fact, can have more of interest and adventure, heroic eftbrts and noble deeds, than may be found in the history of the discovery and settlement of the American continent, and the birth and growth of the great republic of the United States. In the whole history of mankind there is little to surpass it in interest, and nothing in importance. To the youthful American, indeed, it^ is indispensable, and whatever else he may learn, a full and accurate acquaintance with the story of his own land should stand first in his course of study, as an absolutely requisite preliminary to the making of an American citizen.

This story is too near us to appeal to our minds with that glamour of romance which often clings to the annals of

Q PREFACE.

more remote periods. To many it seems devoid of the interest of the era of chivalry, the charm of knightly deeds and strange adventure, and takes form in their minds instead as a detail of prosy incidents and matter-of-fact events. Yet such a conception does great injustice to the true character of American history, and to the numerous instances of knightly valor and chivalrous honor which give all the interest of romance to its pages. The deeds of our pioneers have never been surpassed in daring and the spirit of adventure, the progress of discovery and settlement in this country is a story replete with attractiveness, while there is nothing more marvellous in fiction than the extraordinary progress of civilization in the region of the United States during the few centuries since settlement was first made upon its shores. History, however, in the modern sense of the word, covers a broader space than the tale of war and adventure, daring migration and political progress. There is the story of the people as well as of their leaders to tell, the home life of the masses, the record of manners and customs, invention, and peaceful development in the arts and sciences. Thus we are not alone concerned with war and the rumors of war, but also \\dth peace and the triumphs of peace ; not alone with political development, the formation of governments, the struggles of patriotism, and the growth of republicanism, but also with the details of every-day life, the description of those powerfiil influences which have made not only America but the Americans, and to which the citizens of our country owe that spirit of liberty and restless energy

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which have made them the envy of the oppressed masses of Europe, and their country the modern " wonder of the world." This inner story of the American people we have endeavored to set forth in a series of chapters descriptive of city and country life at various periods of our colonial and national history, each a picture of the people of America as they appeared at the various periods indicated. The progress of invention, striking developments of mechanical ability, religious conditions, and all that makes up the multiform life of a great people, have been described as fully as the space at command permitted, with the design of making at once a history of the American nation and of the American people, adapted in style and language to the use of the young. As such it is oflered to the school public of the United States, with the hope that it may prove a welcome addition to our historical literature.

C. M.

Part I. Explorations And Discoveries

SECTION PAGE

I. — The Voyage of Columbus II

II. — Later Voyages 18

III.— The Indians 24

IV. — French and English Settlements 30

Part II. The English Colonies

I.— Virginia 39

II. — The Pilgrims and the Puritans 45

III. — Indian Wars of New England 53

IV. — Manners and Customs of the Puritans 57

v.— New York 62

VI.— Life in New York 66

VII.— Maryland 69

VIII. — Pennsylvania 70

IX. — Life in Pennsylvania 74

X.— The Carolinas 78

XL — Life in Virginia and Carolina 80

XII.— Georgia 85

XIIL— Condition of the Colonies 90

Part I. Explorations And Discoveries

I.— THE VOYAGE OP COLUMBUS.

Pour Hundred Years ago. — The world had grown old, very old, before America was discovered. Great empires had risen in Europe and Asia, and passed away ; many millions of men had lived and died; but not half the earth was known. Men did not even know its shape. Most persons thought that the earth was flat, and that the ocean everywhere spread around the land. Sailors were afraid to go far out to sea, and most of them kept in sight of land, for no one knew what dangers might lie out on the open ocean, where man had never been. Many thought that a ship which sailed far out on the ocean would find itself gliding down a hill of waters, up which it could never climb again. Others believed that there was a region of fogs and mists, in which a ship, once lost, would never find its way out. Most of the learned men of the time refused to believe that a vessel could pass round the earth and return to its starting-point.

The Mariner's Compass. — Before this time an important discovery was made. A stone was found whicli had strange properties. It was what is now known as the loadstone, or natural magnet, and which has the power of attracting iron, and of pointing north and south. A steel needle rubbed on it acquires the same proj)erties. Hung up by its centre, one end of the ne.edle points towards the north. This was a discovery of the utmost importance to seamen. They can now, even though they are thousands of miles from land, tell by day or night in what direction they are sailing. Few things have been more useful to mankind than this little magnetic needle, known as the mamier's compass.

Marco Polo. — At the time of which we are speaking — the latter part of the fifteenth century — there was the greatest

desire to discover new countries. Travellers had been to far-off lands, and had come back with strange stories, which filled others with the love of adventure and discovery. One traveller, a Venetian named Marco Polo, had ^j^- been as far as China and

"~^^ " Japan, and brought back ex-

A SHIP OF THE NORTHMEN. . . ""pi • i

citmg accounts oi the riches and wonders of those distant lands. The ships of the Portuguese had sailed down the coast of Africa as far as the Cape of Good Hope. The bold sailors of Norway and Denmark had crossed the cold northern seas to Iceland and Greenland, and it is now thought that they had reached the shores of the American continent at a point they called Vineland. Christopher Columbus. — Among the many persons who wished to go on voyages of discovery was one whose name is known to us all, and will be as long as America exists.

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He was born at Genoa, in Italy, about the year 1435, and was named Christopher Columbus. His father was a cloth weaver; but the people of Genoa were great sailors, and Columbus was sent to sea when he was but fourteen years old, and became a very skilful sailor.

At that time India and China were known to be countries of great wealth, but they could be reached only by long and costly journeys overland. Caravans crossed the deserts and the mountains of Asia to these far-oif lands, and brought back the silks of China and the jewels and spices of India at great expense and trouble. Was there no easier way to reach those rich regions? Columbus thought there was. He believed that the earth was round, that the ocean must extend from the shores of Europe to the shores of Asia, and that if he sailed to the west across this ocean he would be sure to reach those distant lands.

He did not know how far it was round the earth, but he was sure that land lay beyond the ocean.

It was not easy to make men believe this. For eighteen long years Columbus tried in vain to get the Kings of Spain and Portugal to aid him in his plan. He grew sick at heart with delay and disappointment. At last the Queen of Spain said that he should have the ships and men he asked for. If money could not be had she would lend her jewels to pay for them. And thus it was that Columbus got his ships. Three small vessels were given him, — we call them ships, but they were little larger than the sloops and yachts which we may see every day moving up and down our large rivers. Two of them, the Pinta and the Nina, had no decks except at the

COLUMBUS.

prow and stern. Only one of them had a complete deck, the Santa Maria, commanded by Columbus himself. This vessel was ninety feet long, and had a crew of sixty-six sailors.

It seems strange to us that it took so many years to induce the rulers of a great kingdom to furnish such ships for a voyage across the ocean and the discovery of a new world. Many river merchants to-day could fit out a much better expedition at a few days' notice. Nothing could show more clearly how the world has grown in riches and enterprise during the last four hundred years.

Columbus had almost as much trouble to get his sailors as his ships. Men were afraid to go with him. Many of those who sailed Avith him were forced to do so by order of the king, and went on board his ships full of fear. There were one hundred and twenty persons in all in the expedition which set sail from the port of Palos, in Spain, on the 3d of August, 1492, one of the days to be remembered in the history of the world.

The Voyage of Discovery. — Let us stop here and think of the task before our bold mariner. He had set sail on the most important voyage that had ever been undertaken in the history of mankind. Day by day his ships left the known world farther behind them. Day by day new wonders and new terrors rose before them. They sailed far into that vast ocean upon which no soul had ever before ventured far from land. , Their fears increased as they went onward. The needle of the compass no longer pointed exactly north. The winds blew them steadily westward; but these same winds might hinder them from ever coming back. They were scared by the distance they had gone, though Columbus was wise enough not to let them know how far this was.

The men demanded to be taken back ; they almost broke

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into open mutiny, and some of them talked of throwing Cohimbus overboard and going back without him. Yet he was not to be turned from his purpose. He had set sail for India, and he was determined to go on. He was still sure that land lay beyond the seas, and that in time they would reach it.

Approach to Land. — Two months of this wonderful voyage passed away. Then the hearts of the sailors grew glad as their eyes beheld welcome signs. Land birds were seen flying about the ships. One of the men picked up out of the water a branch of a tree, on which there were fresh red

THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS.

berries. A piece of carved wood floated past them, and also some drifting sea-weed, with live crabs clinging to it. Hope now took the place of fear ; all eyes looked far ahead in search of land.

At last it came. During the night before the 12th of October a distant light was seen shining across the waters.

When morning came Columhiis, from the deck of his httle ship, gazed with joy and triumph on the green shores of the land he had so long hoped to see. There it lay before him, bright and beautiful, — a sunny island, covered with forest trees, — a scene of beauty on which the eyes of civilized man had never before gazed.

The voyage was over; the victory was gained. The greatest discovery in human history had been made. Yet he who made it never knew how great his work had been. To the day of his death Columbus believed that it was the coast of India he had reached, and he gave the name of Indians to the strange, red-skinned natives who crowded out of the woods to gaze with wonder on his vessels.

It was in this way that the natives of America came to be called Indians, after a country thousands of miles away. Little did Columbus dream of the great continent of America, with its plains and mountains, its lakes and forests, peopled then only by savages, but which was in time to become the seat of one of the greatest and noblest of nations.

The Landing- of Columbus. — At the break of day, with waving banners and ringing music, Columbus was rowed to the shore. He was richly dressed in scarlet, and bore in his hand the great banner of Spain, with its rich hues of red and gold. The captains of the other vessels bore the banner designed by Columbus himself, in the centre of which was a green cross. On reaching the shore the admiral kneeled and kissed the ground; then rising, he drew his sword, and declared that the island which he had discovered belonged to the King and Queen of Spain. The natives looked on in wonder and admiration. Tlioy did not dream of the misery all this meant for them.

The poor natives supposed that the white men had come from heaven. Columbus gave them glass beads, and in

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return they gave what they had, — parrots and balls of cotton. They wore some ornaments made of gold, and Columbus asked them by signs where gold was to be found. They pointed to the south. The sailors returned to tlieir ships and sailed south among the beautiful islands of those seas until they reached the large island now known as Hayti. Columbus named it Hispaniola. From there they sailed back to Spain.

The Reception in Spain. — The excitement in Spain was very great when Columbus and his companions returned with their remarkable story. Men heard with wonder of lands beyond the seas, inhabited by a race of red-skinned savages, and rich beyond their dreams. It was said that the sands of every river shone with grains of gold, that the meanest Indians wore ornaments of gold and jewels, and that the walls of the houses glittered with pearls. None of these stories were too wild for men to believe, and many grew eager to visit this New World of wealth and splendor.

Columbus and his men entered the streets of Barcelona in a grand procession to meet the King and Queen of Spain, The red Indians, with their decorations of tropical feathers and golden ornaments, were looked upon with wonder. The bright-winged birds, the strange-shaped parrots, the rare plants and fruits, the unknown fabrics which were displayed in the procession, all excited admiration. Columbus rode triumphantly onward, in rich attire, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of Spanish nobles, to receive the high honors bestowed upon him by the king and queen. Europe had never seen a procession like this, for never before had the wonders of a new world been shown to the eyes of the Old World, as Europe was afterwards called.

Yet this was almost the last happy moment in the life of the great discoverer. The remainder of his life was saddened by the injustice of men and the ingratitude of his sovereigns. He made three other voyages to America, and in the third voyage discovered the main-land of South America, near the mouth of the Orinoco River. From one of his voyages he was sent home in chains by his enemies. He had not even the honor of giving his name to the continent he had discovered. The name of America was taken from Amerigo Vespucci, whose account of the New World was the first to be printed. Columbus died in 1506, of a disease brought on by his hardships, troubles, and sufferings, a victim of the ingratitude of Spain. He gave orders that the chains which had been so shamefully fastened on his limbs should be buried in the grave with him.

II.— LATER VOYAGES.

The discovery of America by Columbus was the greatest event that had taken place for hundreds of years. If such a discovery should be made in our days, we may be sure that it would not be long before many vessels would be off to the new land. But in those days men were poor and news spread slowly. Ships were few and small, and kings and people had not much money. Most of what tliey had was spent in wars. Spain sent vessels from time to time to the rich islands which Columbus had discovered, but the other nations were very slow to send out ships.

The Cabots. — England was the first to follow Spain. The town of Bristol, in England, was then a great shipping port. There lived in this town a merchant named John Cabot, who was born at Venice. This man wished to go on a voyage of discovery, and got permission from the king, Henry Vn., to do so. He fitted up a ship, took with him his son, and sailed across the ocean until he reached the frozen coast of Labrador, This was in 1497.

Cabot's papers and maps are lost, and all we know of his voyage is that he found the country cold and barren, and saw a great many white bears. It is said that after his return he was called " The Great Admiral," and went about dressed in rich clothing and followed by crowds of people.

The next year his son, Sebastian Cabot, sailed to America. He also reached land at Labrador, but he kept on southward until he reached the coast of Virginia or Carolina. Like his father, he was received with honor on his return. Men called him " The Great Seaman," and Edward VI. gave him a pension. He lived to be very old, but the time and place of his death are unknown. Thus did England honor the men who discovered a continent.

The Fishermen. — N^ot long after this the daring fishermen of Europe began to make voyages across the ocean. Their fishing vessels reached Newfoundland and went on as far as Nova Scotia. One of these men, named John Denys, sailed up the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1506. But they were after fish, not honor, and did not trouble themselves to report discoveries.

Verrazano. — France did not send an expedition to the New World till 1524. Then the thought came to Francis I., the king, that he had as much right as Spain to the wealth of these distant lands. So he had a ship made ready, and gave the command of it to an Italian seaman named Verrazano, who sailed away to the north as far as Nova Scotia. He entered the harbor of Newport, Rhode Island, where he found grape-vines growing, and began to trade with the Indians.

But the red men were afraid of their visitors, and would not let them land. They let down their goods to the boats with ropes from the tops of steep rocks. We do not know what

AN ELEMENTARV HISTORY OF these goods were, but they would take nothing in exchange but knives, fish-hook,^, and tools for cutting. These savages seemed to know well what would be of use to them.

Now we may know what gave Spain, England, and France the claim to these new lands. They sent ships across the ocean and took a look at them from the sea, and then said that all the land they had seen belonged to them. As foithe Indians, no one thought that they had any claim to the country. They were looked on as little better than so many flies, that might be brushed aside by any one that was strong enough to do it.

Cartier's Voyages. — Francis I. was busy in wars with his neighbors, and did not send out any more ships for ten years. Then two ships set sail under a captain named Jacques Cartier. These ships entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where Cartier landed and set up a cross, Avdth the king's coat of arms fastened to it. This was done to claim the country for the King of France.

Cartier made two more voyages, and sailed up the great St. Lawrence River as far as where the city of Montreal now stands. He called the country Canada from the Indian word " Kannatha," which means village, but which he thought was the Indian name for the whole country.

Ponce de Leon. — While the English and French were making these discoveries the Spaniards were not They were sending ships from Spain and from the West Indies, and many discoveries and settlements were made. One adventurer, named Ponce de Leon, set out in 1512 on a romantic voyage. He had heard of a magical fountain

POiN'CE DE LEON.

idle.

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which would bring back youth to every man who bathed in its waters. As he was growing old, he was eager to find this wonderful fountain, that he might bathe in it and be young again. In his search for it he found a new country, which he called Florida. But he did not discover the fountain, and got death instead of life from his eflbrt.

Balboa. — Another Spaniard, named Balboa, crossed the isthmus which connects North and South America, and

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looked with wonder on the waters of that great Pacific Ocean which no white man's eyes had ever seen before. He had made a long and dangerous journey over mountains and through fierce tribes of Indians, but he was paid for all his trouble when he saw, from the summit of a lofty hill, the waters of that great ocean, brightly shining in the rays of the sun. Never had man made a more glorious discovery, or human eyes gazed on a nobler sight.

Three years after the death of Balboa, a Spanish fleet, under Fernando Magellan, sailed round South America, through the strait that bears his name, and came out on the waters of this great ocean. Magellan's ships were the first that ever sailed round the globe, and proved in this way that the earth is round.

Before many years had passed the Spaniards did some bold and marvellous deeds on the American continent. One captain, named Cortez, with a few hundred men, conquered the great empire of Mexico ; and another, named Pizarro, did the same in the rich kingdom of Peru. They sent to Spain great quantities of gold and silver. But the Indians were treated by them with much cruelty, and millions of the red men died of hardship before the Spaniards had been many years in their land.

Another Spaniard, named Narvaez, landed in Florida in 1528, and went far to the north. He and his comrades were in search of gold ; but instead of rich cities, like those of Mexico, they found only swamps and forests and fighting Indians, and of three hundred only four came back alive. Hernando de Soto. — There is one more Spaniard about whom we must speak, for he was the first white man whose eyes fell upon the great Mississippi Eiver, and his adventures were very interesting.

While the other nations of Europe were sending ships to look at the 'coast of the New World, Hernando de Soto was wandering far through its interior and making important discoveries.

DE SOTO.

In 1539, De Soto landed in Florida with an army of about six hundred men, and with plenty of arms and provisions. He was a soldier who had been in Peru with Pizarro, and he wished to conquer Florida as Pizarro had conquered Peru. The whole country to the far west was then called Florida, and De Soto expected to find there great cities and much gold and silver, such as had been found in Peru and Mexico. He did not dream that he would find only tribes of poor savages, with no treasures of any value to him, and that he would never leave their country alive.

De Soto's Expedition. — The overland march of the Spaniards was a long and tiresome one. The men soon wanted to go back, but De Soto would not listen to them. From time to time the Indians gave him pearls, or ornaments of gold, and this kept him fall of hope. He felt sure there must be rich nations ahead, and he kept marching on and on, seeking the gold which he never found.

The Indians were angry at seeing these strangers in their country, and at the harm done them by some of the Spaniards, and many fierce battles took place. The Spaniards were always victorious, but numbers of them were killed, and they sufiered much from the want of food.

De Soto led his army along the coast lands of the Gulf of Mexico, through tribe after tribe of Indians. These men in iron armor, with their prancing horses and shining arms, their banners and music and waving plumes, must have been a strange vision to the ignorant savages. But the natives soon found that those whom they at first took to be gods were only men, and very cruel men, and they fought them at every step.

The Mississippi. — Yet De Soto kept on. In time he reached a point near where the city of Memphis now stands. Here, to his delight, he saw before him a mighty river, the great stream now known as the Mississippi. It was with proud eyes that the Spaniards gazed on this noble stream, which they were the first white men to behold.

They soon had to cross this river to escape the Indians, and they roamed for many miles through the country on the other side. The Indians here \\^shed to be friendly, but the Spaniards treated them badly, and they became angry and tried to kill the whites.

For three years De Soto and his men had been in the wilds of America, and had found nothing but hard marching, fighting, and the pangs of hunger. At length they decided to return to tlieir own country. But the bold leader did not live to see his native land again. Worn out -with his toil, he died on the banks of the great river he had discovered, and was buried in its waters to save his body from the fury of the Indians. He was sunk in the waves at dead of night, and his followers began to build themselves boats, for they did not dare to try to return by land.

When their boats were ready they launched them on the stream, and for seventeen days they floated down its waters. For fifty days more they sailed about in the Gulf of Mexico, until they reached a small Spanish settlement, from which they were sent to the island of Cuba.

They had gone out strong in number and hope and splendid in dress and arras. They came back a few ragged and half-starved men, without gold to show, and with only battles and sufferings to tell of. And so ended one of the greatest and proudest of the Spanish expeditions in America.

III.— THE INDIANS.

Who owned the Land? — The English, the French, the Spanish, and other nations of Europe, as we have said, sent ships to America, and for a long time afterwards there were disputes and fights among them to decide who owned the land, and how it should be divided. Many good men now think that it did not l)elong to any of them, but to the old inhabitants of the country, and that the white men were little better than land pirates.

Who were these old inhabitants ? Everywhere that the white men had landed they had found tribes of red or copper-colored men, some of whom were gentle and friendly, others fierce and warlike. Before we go on with our story we must tell something about these people.

The Indians, as Columbus had named them, were found in every part of ]!^orth and South America, and had been there for a long time. Some of them were civilized, but the most of them were savages, and lived in a very rude manner. The Indians of this country which we now know as the United States were all savages, and were a fierce and cruel people, who spent much of their time in killing one another. Many of them dwelt in the forests, and lived by hunting. Others raised crops of Indian corn, and dwelt in towns and villages.