The colonization of America

Front matter

ILMAN'S rlisTORiCAL Readers

THE- COLONIZATION • OP AMERICA

Shelf.....

Preface

HIS volume, like The Discovery and Exploration OF America, of which it is a continuation, is a study of the best authorities. It is intended to present to young readers the salient points in the story of the Colonization of the United States. It carries the narrative down to the time when the relations between the Americans and the mother-country were becoming "strained," and independence, though they little thought it, was not far off.

The same valued works that were used in preparing the former volume have served for this one ; but in addition to those mentioned there, the History of Mr. George Bancroft has been constantly consulted, as well as more minute records of particular states, towns, and regions. Mr. Parkman's works have been of great service ; and many books and papers issued by the Massachusetts Historical Society, the American Historical Association, and other societies of similar aim, have been used.

The writer is also under obligations to scholars who have made special studies of particular portions of the story, and have with generosity placed their time, their books,

IV PREFACE.

and their rich stores of knowledge at his disposal. The " History of New England," by Mr. Palfrey, has been a constant resort for all matters connected with that region. The author cannot sufficiently emphasize the desirability of training the young reader in the use of books of reference in connection with historical study. It is intended that the Explanations in the Index at the close of this volume shall lead to some familiarity with the l^rocess of investigation. The young reader who is awake to his study is not willing to be confined to words and expressions with which he is familiar, but wishes to go from one step to another. If he is taught to look up the meaning of the words he does not know, in the Dictionary or elsewhere, he will become more and more interested in his work, and at the same time his mind will be strengthened. It is hoped that teachers will encourage in their pupils the habit of investigating authorities and works of reference, so far as possible.

CAMBRmcE, May, 1887.

Contents

Page Chapter

I. New France ^

II. A New Religious Influence 12

Chapter I. New France

HILE the English were making vigorous movements toward founding plantations in America, the French did not forget that the name New France, or Acadie, was marked over vast regions on their maps of the continent. They remembered, too, that there were no settlements of their countrymen there. Now we are to see them try to change this state of things.

There was born in Spain, the year before Columbus made his great discovery, an enthusiastic and chivalric man who was destined to have a great influence over the fortunes of Acadie. He became

8 IGNATIUS LOYOLA. [1534.

very zealous for the Catholic church as he grew up. You will find him mentioned in history as Ignatius Loyola, though he is sometimes called St. Ignatius.

When Ferdinand and Isabella had been long dead, this man formed a great scheme for renewing his church and converting " infidels," as he called all who were not members of it. It was just after Queen Elizabeth was born in England. Loyola established a society of men called now Jesuits, every one of whom was bound to obey his leader without asking questions. They were to go where he sent them, and to do what he told them to. In a few years this society became very strong, and you have little idea of the power that its leader had. Now we have come to the time when he was to use it in America.

Henry of Navarre, the fourth of his name, was king of France. He is called the Great, because the people esteem him as the most perfect Frenchman, statesmen, and warrior. He had been a Protestant, but at the time of which I am speaking had become a Catholic, and had married a Catholic wife. We can imagine him looking over the map of America with the help of his wonderful minister the

1604.] CHAMPLAIN IN CANADA. 9

Duke of Sully, and thinking that something ought to be done to fill up the great region that Cartier had taken possession of in the days of Francis the First, more than sixty years before. In consequence of some such consultation as this, privileges were granted by the king to certain of his subjects, and they sent out men and ships to buy furs from the natives.

This was in 1603. In that year Samuel de Champlain, who had been put at the head of a company, was sent out by one De Chaste to explore the country. De Chaste died before much could be done, and then similar privileges were given to another courtier named De Monts. When Champlain returned to France he found that Chaste was dead, and the next March he was on his way to Acadie again with De Monts. They established the first permanent settlement of Frenchmen in America at Port Royal, which is now called Annapolis.

Champlain became the father of colonization in Canada. He soon took advantage of the establishment of the society of Jesuits, and encouraged them to go with him, giving them all the opportunities they wished to preach to the Indians. This was lO QUEBEC FOUNDED. [1608.

just what the Jesuits wanted, and they entered into the movement with the greatest imaginable enthusiasm. No dangers and no expenses were too great for them. They went among the Indians as friends ; they Hved with them, and in many ways strove to win them to the religion they professed. They paddled down the rivers in the Indian canoe ; they rode over the vast prairies on horseback, or trudged through the wintry woods on foot ; they were determined to brave every obstacle in carrying the cross of Christ all over the region that their king claimed.

No wonder they had great success. If you travel through Canada now, though it has been English so long, you will find churches that the Jesuits built, and you will hear the French language spoken by men, women, and children all around you. Does not this show that the French who went there first must have been very strong?

Six times did Champlain sail from France to America. He explored much of the New England coast ; of course he tried, as every one did, to get through to China by going up the St. Lawrence. He founded Quebec ; he fought with the Indians ; he traded with them ; and he planned a college to

THE FRENCHMEN IN ACADIE. II

train the young natives. The Jesuits were famous for their colleges. Champlain was devoted to his people, and did not much care for his own interests. He was followed by many other Frenchmen, who labored hard to make Acadie valuable to their country.

Chapter II. A New Religious Influence

HERE was another religious movement that had a great influence upon America. I have told you that in the reign of Henry the Eighth the English became a Protestant people; but there were some among them who did not think it Protestant enough. They were called " Puritans," because they professed to wish to have the religion of the English made more " pure " than it was. They were still members of the Church of England and loved it very much.

There were some among them, however, who broke away from the Church of their childhood and were called '' Separatists," because they thus separated themselves. This was in 1567. Men were punished in those days for not going to the parish

1608.] THE SEPARATISTS. 1 3

church ; they were even hanged for giving tracts away ; and these Separatists found Hfe in England uncomfortable. They therefore decided to leave the country. This was a grave step to take. They became pilgrims, like those of whom I have told you who went to visit the Holy Places in Palestine.

Holland was. the country that the Separatists chose for their new home, whenever they should leave England, because Protestants were allowed to do more as they pleased there, and because William Brewster, one of their chief men, had been there once with the English ambassador. When King James the First began to reign the Separatists thought they might perhaps be more comfortable in England ; but they were disappointed. Some of them made an effort to get away the same year that Smith and the others sailed for Jamestown.

They did not succeed, for the king's officers caught them and put them in prison. They were let out, and the next year they tried again. Part of them got on board the ship then, but the women and children were stopped by officers on horseback, who dashed up at the last moment. It was a pitiful scene ; there was weeping and crying on every side,

14 THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND. [1608.

and quaking for cold. The magistrates finally allowed the poor creatures to go free ; for they could not send them to their homes. They had no homes to go to, indeed. So they were allowed to go to Holland. There the families were united ; and the children began to grow up at Amsterdam, in which city they came together.

Can you imagine the condition of this little group of English people living in the midst of a foreign nation ? Not only was the nation foreign, but it was in a state of disturbance. There was more trouble than you would like to hear of; and after a while the Pilgrims thought that they must seek a home somewhere else. They first went from Amsterdam to Leyden, and then they thought of America. Could they go there? Might they not in that new land worship God as they pleased ? Might they not even do something for the honor of England from which they had been driven out ?

Twenty-seven years before this time, in 1581, a plan had been made in England for such an emigration of Separatists who had suffered for their faith. It had failed, but four persons who had set out on the voyage went from England to Amsterdam, and

1620.] THE PILGRIMS GO TO AMERICA. 1 5

the scheme was well known there at the time of the present discussion.

They thought long and carefully ; they prayed and they wept alone and together. They thought of Guiana, that Sir Walter Raleigh had so highly spoken of; of Virginia, where some Englishmen had already gone ; and they decided that Virginia was the place for them.

The Pilgrims got a patent from the Virginia Company, in 161 9, and formed a little company of their own for the purpose of founding a colony. They were not going to get gold, and in this respect they differed from all who had sailed for America before them. They thought that religion was the greatest thing in the world, and they wanted to live in accordance with what they considered right. If any one went with them, he was to be obliged to do as they did. They had a little vessel called the Speedwell, and with much prayer, and joyful singing of psalms, they went on board.

On the 2 2d of July, 1620, they sailed away for Southampton, in the southern part of England, where they were to meet the Mayflower, another and larger ship. It was the fifth of August when l6 THE MAYFLOWER OFF CAPE COD. [1620.

both vessels sailed for America ; but the smaller ship proved unworthy, and they all went to Plymouth for safety.

On the sixth of September the Mayflower set sail alone, with one hundred and two passengers, — men, women, and children. They were bound for some point near the Hudson River, within the limits of the Virginia Company. Navigation was not sure in those days, and the little ship saw land off the shores of Cape Cod, near the end of November. They were in the limits of New England, as the region had been named six years before, by John Smith.

Chapter III. The Pilgrims Find Liberty

HE Pilgrims had come over the stormy ocean to find peace and Hberty. They all felt alike in regard to religious matters, and they simply wished liberty to live according to their views. Just as we go into our houses to have peace and quiet, so they came to America to enjoy the same. They thought that they had shut out all who would be inclined to disturb them ; it did not occur to them that anybody who did not hold their opinions would ever cross the ocean to interfere with their comfort.

As the waves had thrown the Pilgrims upon a

coast that was not within the limits of the laws of

the Virginia colony, and the patent they brought with

them was of no use, they thought it important to

1 8 A SOLEMN COVENANT. [1620.

agree upon the rules that were to govern them before settnig foot on shore. They therefore drew up a covenant that all signed. In it they bound themselves to obey such just laws as should be from time to time enacted for the regulation of the colony. It is the first case in modern times of the formation of a government by mutual agreement by men who had equal rights, as they established themselves in a new country. There was to be no king, no nobility, no bishop.

This solemn and important deed done, an exploring party was sent out, and on the twenty-first of December some of the Pilgrims landed on a certain rock at Plymouth. John Smith had given the spot its name. There they decided to start their town. It was a good place for the purpose. There was a fine harbor, a plenty of sand and clay for bricks, mortar, and pottery ; sweet, fresh water abounded, and there was a hill on which a lookout and fort might be constructed. When Sunday came they all rested ; but they were very careful to write down the fact that they did not rest on Christmas, because they thought that day was improperly honored by the Church that they had left behind.

1620.] SUFFERING AT PLYMOUTH. 1 9

Their first labor was to build a fort for their cannons, and a storehouse for the provisions. Then they laid out lots for the houses they were to live in. These were of logs, of course, and had oiled paper instead of panes of glass to let the light in. It was cold, as it usually is in winter in New England, and the settlers were much interrupted. While the building was going on many of the party made the Mayflower their home, and it was not until March of the following year that they had all left her. So many had died that by that time the party was reduced by half.

They suffered much from bad food, from cold, and from wintry storms. When we imagine the half-built cabins in the snow-drifts, and remember that, as it was winter, there was no fresh vegetable food to be had ; and, as there was no other settlement near, that there was no person to give any help, it does not seem strange that the deaths were as many as one every three days.

Besides all the actual troubles, there must have been a constant fear lest the Indians, whose fires they had seen on the hills, should come stealthily upon them, and perhaps destroy them all. It was

20 THE FIRST INDIAN APPEARS. [1621.

a situation that called for all the strength of the stoutest hearts. The Pilgrims were equal to the demand. They had made up their minds that their work was an important one, and had said before they left Holland, that all great and worthy actions are beset with dangers, and that strong hearts and much courage would be needed to meet the dangers, and to perform the great acts.

By the time the Mayflower was empty of its passengers fair weather had come, and the Pilgrims were cheered by the sweet singing of birds in the woods. Then the Indians first appeared. They had stolen some tools from the settlement before, but none of them had been seen. It must have been an exciting moment when the first brown man came into the hamlet one warm mornine !

Did he come in peace ? His first word showec] that all was well. He exclaimed, in broken English, *' Welcome ! " It must have been a welcome indeed to the Pilgrims ! Miles Standish, who had been chosen captain of the men who were able to form themselves into a military band, was ready to protect all the others from attacks ; but it was not necessary, for the Indians were friendly, and remained so for

THE PLYMOUTH DEMOCRACY. 21

more than fifty years. They taught the settlers how to plant corn, and helped them in other ways.

The government was managed by all the voters. They were called freemen. They all met and made choice of a governor (who was fined if he would not serve), and a few others who were his advisers, or Council. It was very simple. A democracy, it is called ; or government by the people, because demos, in Greek, means the people.

Chapter IV. The English Puritans Make A Move

LL through the reign of James the First there was a controversy between him and his people, or the representatives of his people. He thought that as king he was a ruler directly ordained by God, just as the Bible told him king Saul had been in ancient times. The people began to think, on the contrary, that a king was a person to look after their rights and to protect them, — that he was in some sort their servant. King James said that the '' Puritans and Novelists " were sects that ought not to be allowed to exist in a well-governed land. By "Novelists" he meant persons who preached " novel " or new doctrines, such as those that he hated.

1623.] ADVENTURERS AT CAPE ANN. 2^

We have seen that as time went on some of the Puritans left the Church of their king because they were not able to agree with it. Most of them did not go out; and when James died and his son Charles the First came to the throne (in 1625) they opposed him as strongly as they had his father. After a while they put him to death, because he wished to govern them without the help of the men whom they had sent to London to Parliament to express their wishes.

Meanwhile, before James died some shipowners of the County of Dorset, which is situated on the English Channel just east of Devonshire in which Plymouth lies, formed themselves into a body called '' the Dorchester Adventurers," under the direction of the Rev. John White, rector of Trinity Church at Dorchester, for the purpose of making a settlement in New England. Mr. White wanted a place where those who went to America might have a good home, and be provided for, not only with supplies obtained by farming and hunting, but also with religious influences. The Adventurers bought a tract on Cape Ann in 1622, and the next year sent over a few persons to pass the winter there. Gloucester stands

24 ENDICOTT'S PEACEFUL SPOT. [1628.

on the spot they chose. Nothing went well, however, and the settlement was removed to Naumkeag, about fifteen miles to the southwest.

In 1628 another step was taken. The Council for New England made a grant to John Endicott and others of a tract included between lines drawn from points three miles north of the Merrimac and three miles south of the Charles River, from the Atlantic to the South Sea, as the Pacific Ocean was then called. This was a vast territory ; but as America was thought to be an island, it was not supposed to be so great as it really was.

It was understood that if the lines mentioned crossed any regions already occupied by Christians they were not included in the grant. The corporation was called ''The Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England." On the 20th of June a small party sailed for Naumkeag, and arrived safe at the beginning of the beautiful month of September. There was at first a little disagreement between Endicott's party and the men who were already on the spot, but it was easily settled, and the name of the place was then changed to Salem, which in Hebrew means peaceful. Endicott

1629.] THE SIMPLE AMERICAN WORSHIP. 2$

was put in command, as director of the colonists, for the proprietors.

The following year the Rev. Francis Higginson and others came to Salem. Higginson had great influence over the affairs of the plantation. He found less than a dozen houses, but a good deal of corn planted that appeared very well.

The colonists finding themselves free to do as they wished, did not worship according to the forms of the Church of England, but had much simpler exercises, more in keeping with the plain log houses in which they gathered. If any came among them who were not willing to do as they did, they promptly sent them away ; just as we should send a man out of our house if he would not conform to the order of the family. This was treating such persons just as the Church at home had treated the settlers.

Chapter V. An Important Meeting In Cambridge, England

WISH that I could have been In a certain apartment at Cambridge, England, on the 26th of August, 1629. There were twelve men there whom it would have been a pleasure to meet. One of them was John Winthrop. He was forty-two years old, and moved in circles frequented by men who had been associated with such persons as Lord Bacon, the Earl of Essex, and Lord Burleigh. Another was Sir Richard Saltonstall, of Yorkshire ; and there were John Humphrey, a learned and good man, son-in-law of the Earl of Lincoln ; Isaac Johnson, richest of the group, who had also married a daughter of the Earl of Lincoln ; Thomas Dudley, who had cheered for the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and had fought under Henry of Navarre ; William Vassall, a rich owner of estates 26

1629.] AN INTERESTING PURITAN MEETING. 2/

in the West Indies, and other country gentlemen of fortune, enHghtenment, and education.

These gentlemen had met to consider an important matter. They thought that the nation was in great danger ; that the king was getting more and more disposed to trample upon their rights ; and that it might be their duty to leave the country. They could go to America and be free and happy. The question was whether they could take with them the charter that had been given to the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay, and control the affairs there, far away from the king.

John Winthrop and his company thought that if they were permitted to govern the colony from London, they might from a ship in the Thames, or on the ocean, or even from distant Salem. They agreed to go to New England if the company would vote to transport the charter there too. They would not go if they were to be ruled by a corporation in England. They had higher motives than money-making, though their charter had little to say about motives. They wished to send over some colonists of high character, because they felt that too many of those who had gone to the New World were unfit to begin a nation.

28 A SIMPLE CHANGE. [1629.

Lawyers said that the charter might be transferred to those members who were wiUing to go ; and on the twenty-ninth of August it was voted that the transfer should be made. It was simply changing the place of meeting ; but it proved the laying of the foundation of a Puritan commonwealth. Probably the gentlemen who discussed the subject at Cambridge thought that a large number of the best citizens of England would in time find their way across the ocean.

Chapter VI. The Great New England Emigration

HE " Great Emigration," as the Puritans called It, had thus been solemnly planned. On the seventh of April, 1630, the ship

Arbella, with John Winthrop on board, lay In the harbor of Yarmouth, off the Isle of Wight, ready to depart. Ten other ships were also there, and there were some seven hundred passengers. They were not Separatists, they were Puritans.

England "rang from side to side" when the news of the great undertaking was noised abroad. Winthrop asked the prayers of those who remained, and he addressed a solemn farewell to England and her Church, which was expressed in very quaint and old-fashioned words of affection.

Sixty-one days brought the Arbella to the coast

30 JOHN WINTHROP AT SHAWMUT. [1630.

of Mount Desert, visited before by the French and by John Smith, and they then passed Smith's Isles (now the Isles of Shoals), and Cape Ann, after which, on the twelfth of June, the party landed safe at Salem.

Winthrop had been chosen governor, and brought the charter with him. Endicott ceased to represent the proprietors. They did not need a representative any longer. They were on the spot themselves. Salem did not suit Winthrop, and after resting a week he went away to find a better site for the settlement. On the seventeenth of June he sailed into Boston harbor, and determined that the spot on which Charlestown is now situated was the best for the purpose. He therefore removed to that point, and it became the capital.

Opposite Charlestown there was a promontory called Shawmut. As it had three hills on it, the settlers named it Trimountain. The water proved bad at Charlestown, and the settlers moved in considerable numbers to Shawmut. They found an Englishman named Blackstone on the spot, but bought his property, and he moved away to Rhode Island, where you may find his name still.

1630.] ST. BOTOLPH'S TOWN. 3 1

Shawmut was a very good place for a new settlement. It was almost surrounded by water. The isthmus connecting it with the mainland was so narrow that the water of the bay often washed completely over it, and of course it was easy to protect it from attacks on any side. Here the first General Court ever held in America was opened in October, 1630. The place was soon renamed Boston, after a town in England, but neither of the old names was ever forgotten. Boston is a contraction of St. Botolph's town. The Puritan capital thus took the name of a Catholic saint, — St. Botolph, after whom the English town was called.

Chapter VII. The Dutch Claim The Hudson River

HE French and Spanish had made many efforts to settle In the New World, but they were the only Europeans, except the English, who had tried. Now the Hollanders enter the lists. The Dutch were great traders ; they had made large sums by sending ships to the East Indies, and to other parts of the world.

In 1609 they sent out an English seaman, Henry Hudson, to see if he could not find a way to the Indies by the Northwest route. He sailed in a vessel named the Half Moon, and met the usual obstacles that have always stopped explorers in the regions of ice.

When he saw that he could not do what he wished, he determined to find his way throiigh America. He

1609.] WHY THE DUTCH MADE CLAIMS. 33

ascended the River of the Mountains, as he called the Hudson, just as Champlain had sailed up the St. Lawrence and Smith up the James, hoping to find himself coming out on the South Sea.

He went as far as the Catskill Mountains, and then returned to its mouth, where Dutch traders afterward established themselves on an island called by the Indians Manhattan. The natives had been struck with fear and wonder, when they saw Hudson's ships, and were well pleased to have him sail away.

It is said that Hudson gave the Indians their first taste of rum, a liquor which was destined to be a curse to them ever after. We read also that at about the same time Champlain, who was not far away from the Hudson River, showed the Indians how to use gunpowder, on the lake that bears his name, very near the present site of Ticonderoga. If this be true, it is not a little strange that these two implements of horror should have been placed in the hands of the savages so near together in time and place.

On the strength of these discoveries the Dutch claimed the region from Delaware Bay to Cape Cod, and called it New^ Netherland. The first settlement was made at Brooklyn, Long Island, in 1623,

34 NEW AMSTERDAM BEGUN. [1626.

though traders had bartered for furs before that. The same year a fort was built where Albany now stands, and another on the Delaware.

A few small houses had been built on Manhattan Island as early as 1613, and in 1626 the whole island was bought of the natives for a few dollars. The settlement was called New Amsterdam. Then an earnest effort was made, and villages were begun in various places in the vicinity.

The" Dutch people did not move toward the New World very willingly, however, and the government began to encourage special favorites by offering them great tracts over which they might have authority, if only they would put settlers on them, and support a clergyman, a schoolmaster, and a comforter of the sick. Such men were called " patroons," that is, patrons, or protectors, and they became very rich. The settlers did not always think them " protectors," and sometimes they rebelled against them.