A primary history of the United States. For schools and families

Front matter

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SECTION I. The Author to the Student

My Young Friend :

1. This book was written for your instruction. I was once as young as you are. I was fond of asking questions, and loved to have them answered. By this means, and by reading books and listening to conversation, I learned many useful things which, I have no doubt, you would be glad to know.

2. Among other kinds of knowledge that pleased me, was that which related to the country in which we live. It so delighted me, that I have always felt a desire for all young people to learn what I have learned, and much more.

3. If you will listen to me, I will relate a long and interesting story about the Indians, who first lived here ; and then about the great Sailors, and Soldiers, and Governors, and the hundreds of men who came here and cut down the forests, built houses and churches, and raised grain in fields and fruit in orchards.

4. Then I will tell you how^, when many thousands were here, with their wives and children, they made laws, built villages and cities, factories and ships, steamboats and railways, and made every thing appear just as you see it to-day. That story is called HISTORY. When you hear a man tell a new story, you say that is his story — it is History.

Introduction

The beautiful country we live in.

5. The story I am going to tell you, is the History of THE United States. That is the name of our countiy which we love so much. Look on the map of the world and you will see that it is now a large part of North Ajnerica, extending from the Atlantic Ocean on the east, which is between us and Europe, an J the Pacific Ocean on the west, which is between us and Asia.

6. It has almost every kind of climate. In the north t\U winters are long and cold, with much snow. In the south they are short and warm, with seldom any frost. There flowers bloom all the year round. In our country every kind of grain, and fruit, and flower in the world may grow. In some parts are high mountains and great woods ; in others, are wide plains, and wider lakes ; and in others, hills and valleys, beautiful rivers, pleasant brooks, and great meadows called prairies.

7. In some parts there are wild and fierce Indians, buftaloes and bears, wolves and panthers, elks and deer, eagles and wild turkeys, and a great many kinds of smaller animals and birds, just as there were in the whole counry before the white people, like us, came here.

8. Altogether, ours is a very noble, beautiful, and fruitful country, where every body may be happy. Here we need not be afraid of bad rulers who have power to hurt us, for if we do right nobody can injure us ; and we are at liberty to do as we please, if we do not injure our neighbors.

9. And every one born in this free and beautiful country, should be proud of it, thankful to God for it, and willing to do every thing that is right to keep it free and good.

10. When I shall have told you the whole story — told you of all the dangers, and troubles, and hard work that the people who first came here had to endure, to make it such a fine country ■; and how much others have since done to keep it so, I am sure yoj will feel glad to do all in your power to help in the good work.

11. And to make you feel so, is one great reason why I wish you to listen to the whole story attentively, that you may remember it and do well.

THE INDIANS.

How the Indians were named. Their language.

Section II. The Indians

1. I will now tell you about the Indians who lived in our country before any white people were here. Where their fathers came from we can not tell, nor do you care to know at present. They were here when the white men came from Europe, and appeared very strange to them, for they were of a reddish-brown color. They were dressed in the skins of wild beasts in the cold North, and in the warm South they were almost naked.

2. Columbus, the first great sailor who came to Indian's heap. this country, thought the Island, or the land surrounded by water, that he first saw, was in that part of Asia called India. So he called these reddish-brown, or copper-colored people, Indians. I shall tell you about that great sailor presently. The Indians were found in all parts of North America, and were all very much alike in their appearance and way of living.

3. The Indians did not all talk alike. You know the American and Frenchman call the same things by diftcrent names. The American says horse, and the Frenchman says cheval. Their word or language is different. So the Indians, in different parts of the country, spoke eight kinds of language, because there were eio;ht nations.

4. These nations were named Algonquin, Huron-Iroquois, Cherokee, Cataioha, Uchee, Natchez, Mohilian, and Dacotah or Sioux. Now these are hard words, but you must spell them or.t and remember them. 7^

Qtjestions.— 1. How did the Indians appear? How were they dressed? ?. How came they to be called Indians ? 8. What can you tell about their language ? 4. What were the nations called ?

THE INDIANS.

Indian dwellings, money, and writing.

A WIGWAM.

5. The Indians were tall and straight. They had straight black hair, fine teeth, and black eyes.

They were seldom sick, because they had plenty of exercise and ate simple food.

They lived in a sort of huts or tents, made of poles covered with the bark of trees or the skins of wild beasts. These were called wigwams.

6. The men went to war, hunted and fished ; and the women planted corn and other things, and did all the hard work. They did not have good tools to work with, for these were made of stones, shells, and bones. Their food was the flesh of the deer, bufi'alo, and bear, roasted or boiled, with beans, peas, potatoes, and melons.

7. The Indians had money, but it was not like ours. It was made of shells in the shape of long beads, which they strung on threads or fastened upon belts. So many of these pieces were worth a penny, and so many more were worth a shilling or a dollar. This money they called wampum.

8. The Indians could not write as we do, and never saw a pen or ink. They made rude pictures to describe what had been done. Here is one of wampum.

the kind. In the picture you

/^Sy^^^^^%.^^\^^^\^~-y"\>-- see human figures, a boat X X X ^ ^^^^^ ""^® paddles, and a

bear and turtle, with a fire between them. This tells the story of a fight between some Indians. One man, you see, has his head off". Then nine of them went in a boat which they call a canoe, and after that two families, one called the Bear tribe or family, and the other the Turtle tribe or family, had a council or talk, by a great fire.

9. The Indians had no schools, and the little children never had pleasant picture-books to read. Their mothers taught then?

Questions.— *>. What can you tell about their appearance and ho-ises? 6. What did they do ? What was their food ? 7. What kind of money did they have ? 8. Can you tell about their writing?

INDIAN WKITING.

THE INDIANS.

Indian weapons, sports, and burials.

to make wampum, mats, skin and feather-clotliing, and shell and bone ornaments. But I dare say they did not work much, but played nearly all day in the woods and by the pleasant brooks. They went to bed when the birds did, at sunset, and were up before the sun, and so they kept their eyes bright.

10. The Indian men loved to fight, for they sometimes felt like tigers. Forty or more of one nation would go and fight those of another nation ; and sometimes there would be hundreds on both sides.

They fought with bows and arrows, warclubs, scalping-knives, and tomahawks.

In the picture is seen a bow and arrow, a kind of war-club, tomahawks or hatchets, and a scalping-knife.

11. When the men were tired of fighting, they would sometimes become good friends, as we white people do. Then they would build a great fire in the woods, and the head men of both nations would meet around it and smoke a pipe which was handed from one to the other. This was called a calumet, or pipe of peace.

12. The Indian men played ball, fired at the mark, danced, leaped, played games, and had other amusements, but they would never let the women They were not at all polite to the women. I am

INDIAK WEAPONS.

CALUMETS.

join them.

sure that no right-minded boy, when he gets to be a man, will let

his mother, or sister, or wife, do all the hard work, while he

hunts, or fishes, or plays ; and then not

let them have any of the fun.

13. The Indians did not always bury their dead in the ground. \Yhen they did, they wrapped them in skins, and buried their bows and arrows, and other things, with them, supposing they would ecsial-plack.

Questions.— 9. What did the children do ? 10. What can you tell about Indians fighting? 11. What about their beconiinq friends? 12. What can you tell about their amusements? 13. What about their burials?

Indian religion and law. What is to become of them.

want to use them in the spirit land. They often folded the body in skins, and laid it upon a high scaffold, where wild beasts could not get at it.

14. The Indians had no churches, yet they believed in God, prayed to Him, and worshiped Him. They called Him the Good Spirit ; and they believed in an Evil Spirit. Instead of churches and meeting-houses, they had the sky for a roof; and the wind and the thunder, the singing of birds, and the roar of the storm, was their music. Then they would look up to the sun, the moon, and the stars, and believe that they saw God, for they knew of nothing greater. The Indians knew nothing of the Bible, and the religion of Jesus. They all had one belief, never quarreled about it, and were happy.

15. The Indians were governed by sachems and chiefs. The sachems were general rulers ; the chiefs were the commanders of the Indian armies. Only wise men were made sachems, and only brave men were made chiefs. These could not govern nor lead if they were not wise and brave.

16. Such, my young Friend, were the copper-colored people who lived in this country hundreds of years ago, and some of whom live here yet. Unless you live beyond the Mississippi river, you seldom see any of them now. They are nearly all beyond that river, and are becoming fewer every year.

lY. The time will come when there will not be an Indian on the earth. You may live to see that time, because they are passing rapidly away. The white man, from the beginning, has used the poor Indians badly. He has cheated and oppressed them, given them rum to take away their senses, and with swords and guns has driven them far into the wilderness.

18. God, in his wise providence, has permitted the '''hite man to take the Indian's land away from him. The Indian would not cut down the trees and raise grain, except here and there a little patch ; but the white man, as the Bible says, has made " the wilderness to blossom as the rose."

Questions. —14. What about their religion ? 15. How were they governed ? 16. Where arc they now? 17, 18. What has the white n;an done ?

Wliere the Algonquins lived. Pontiac.

Section III. Indian History

1. Now look on a map of tlie United States, and I will show you in what parts each of the eight Indian nations, of whom I have told you, lived. I would like to tell you, also, of many things that they did before" the white people came. But the story is too long for me to tell you now. You will know more about it when you grow older. Do you remember the names of the eight nations, given in verse 4 of Section 11. ?

2. The Algonquins lived in the country north and south of the great lakes which lie between the United States and Canada. They occupied nearly all of Canada, a part of New York and all of the country east of it, a part of Pennsylvania, all of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, eastern North Carolina, a portion of Kentucky and Louisiana, and all north and west of these States, eastward of the Mississippi.

3. The Algonquins, like each of the other nations, were divided into tribes, or collections of families, who often quarreled, and made war upon each other, just as brothers and sisters sometimes wickedly do, I am sorry to say. But when the white people came and treated them badly, these quarrelsome tribes became friends, and joined to fight their oppressors. For many, many years, the Indians did the white people a great deal of harm, as you will learn hereafter.

4. The greatest man of all the Algonquins was Pontiac, who ^vas a sachem and chief. He caused many of the tribes in the neighborhood of the more western lakes to join together to kill all of the white people, but did not succeed. You will hear more of this before we get through with the whole story.

5. The Huron-Iroquois lived in a much smaller portion of

QrrESTXONS.— 2. Where did the AlgonquLis live? 3. "What did <;'ie Algonquins do? 4, What cau you tell of Pontiac ?

The Huron-Iroquois and the Cherokees.

country, and were completely surrounded by the Algonquins. They dwelt in a part of Canada, in large portions of New York, and in parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, along the southern shores of Lake Erie. A few of them lived in a small part of Virginia and North Carolina.

6. The Huron-Iroquois, in the north, were divided into five tribes. These met around a great fire, at one time, and agreed to be friends forever. They formed a league, and were known as the Five Nations when the white people came. Finally those who lived in the south, and were called Tuscaroras, came north, joined the others, and then they were called the Six Nations.

v. Almost all of the Six Nations joined the British in the War of Independence, and fought the Americans. Two of their greatest men were called, by the white people, Joseph Brant and Red Jacket. The first was a great warrior, and the last was a great orator or speech-maker.

8. The Cherokees lived in the south-west. Their country was a very beautiful one, having high mountains and hills, fertile valleys, and many pleasant streams. Their dwelling-place covered the whole upper part of Georgia, and extended from the Carolina Broad river on the east, to the Alabama river on the west.

9. Because their country was so full of mountains, the Cherokees were called the mountaineers of the South. They were brave and warlike, and often had bloody battles with the Five Nations, who used to travel through the woods away down there to fight them. They, too, joined the British against the Americans, in the Revolution, but after that old war they were our friends.

10. The Cherokees lived in their beautiful country until a few years ago, when they were compelled to leave their nice farms, and settle in the wilderness west of the Mississippi. At that time they had schools, and churches, and printed a newspaper.

11. The Cherokees have fine farms, and schools, and churches

Questions.— 5. Where did the Huron-Iroquois live ? 6. What did they do ? 7. What can you tell of the Six Nations ? 8. Where did the Cherokees live ? 9. What can you tell about them? 10. Where are they nov/, and -what are they doing?

The Catawbas, Uchees, and Natchez.

in their new country, and they are now the best Indians in America. I wish you could visit them, for they would treat you kindly.

12. The Catawbas lived in a very pleasant country in parts of North and South Carolina, between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers. They, too, were very brave, but were peaceable. They seldom went away from home; but whenever quarrelsome Indians came there to fight them, they soon sent them about their business, I can assure you. Then the quarrelsome Indians would stay away.

13. The Catawbas were generally the friends of the white people, and were the good neighbors of the Americans in South Carolina in the old wars. Now there are not a hundred of them left. They could all stand in a barn. These live on the banks of the Catawba, in South Carolina. Very soon not one will be living. How sad to think of a whole nation gone forever !

14. The UcHEES lived in a warm, and very beautiful country. It extended from Augusta, on the Savannah river, across the whole State of Georgia. Their principal town was near Milledge ville. They said to the white people when they came, " We were the first inhabitants who ever lived in this country."

Even then there were very few

of them left. southeen Indians.

15. The language of the lichees was harsh, but their dispositions were mild, like the climate. They never engaged in vvar, yet they appeared to be brave. There are now a few of them among the Creek tribe of Indians, west of the Mississippi.

16. The Natchez occupied a very small portion of country, extending from the east bank of the Mississippi river, up the valley of the Pearl river to the head waters of the Chickasaw.

17. The Natchez worshiped the sun, believing it to be the

Questions.— 12. Where did the Catawbas lire? What was their character? 13. What more can you tell about them? 14. Where did the Uchees live? 15. What can you tell about them ? 16. Where did the Natchez live ?

INDIAN HISTORY.

The Natchez and the French people.

Great Spirit, as the Indians in South America did. They were proud and warlike. When, more than a hundred years ago, some French people came to live on the banks of the Mississippi, the Natchez agreed among themselves to kill them all, for they thought they had no business in their country.

MEETING OF WHITE MEN AND INDIANS. SEE PAGE 50.

18. The French people soon heard of what the Indians intended to do, and instead of waiting for the Natchez to come and attack them, they took their guns, went to the homes of the

QtTESTioNS.— 17, What can you tell about the Natchez? 18. What did the French do f

The Mobilian Tribes.

Indians, and in a short time killed nearly all of them. There are now only about three hundred of the Natchez Indians left.

19. The MoBiLiANS composed a very extensive nation, for there were a great number of tribes. They lived chiefly in the warm country along the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi river, a distance of six hundred miles.

20. Their country also extended up the Mississippi river to the Ohio fiver, and up the Atlantic to the Cape Fear river. It included the greater part of Georgia, the whole of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and part of South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.

21. In the Mobilian nation were three great leagues, composed of several tribes. These were called Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. The climate ^vas so mild that these people required very little clothing in winter, and in summer they went almost naked.

22. These southern Indians have given the white people a great deal of trouble. But I must confess that the white people have been most to blame, because they have not treated the poor Indians fairly. Of these troubles I shall tell you more hereafter.

23. Most of the Mobilians have been compelled to go to the wilderness west of the Mississippi. Many of a tribe called Semilioles yet remain in Florida, and refuse to go. They are dangerous and troublesome neighbors.

24. Nearly all that are left of these seven Indian nations are now in the country w^est of the Mississippi, between the Red and Missouri rivers. Their present country, as you will see by the map, is now called Indian Territory. I fear it will not bo theirs a great while, for white people are already going there, and will crowd the Indians out, I expect.

25. The eighth nation is composed of the northern and south- Brn Sioux, who are sometimes called Dacotahs. When the French people went into their country, two hundred years ago,

QUKSTiONS.— 10. "What can you tell of the Mohiliirss? 20. Where did they live ? 21. "What more can you tell about the Mobilians? '2'2, '?r>. What have they done, and where are they now ? 24. Where are now those seven Indian nations ? 25. What can you tell about the eighth nation ?

The Northern and Western Indians.

there were a great many of them. It is an immense country, west of the Mississippi, extending from the Arkansas river on the south to Lake Winnipeg on the north, and westward to the foot of the Rocky Mountains.

26. The northern tribes in particular, are very fierce and warlike, and have always been fighting each other. They all yet remain in the country where they were first found, because the white people have not wanted it. But the white man will soon tell them to go further west, into the wilderness, because he wishes to raise grain, and build villages and cities where their cabins and wigwams now stand. And they will go.

27. Away beyond the Rocky Mountains on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, from Mexico on the south, to the northern line of Washington Territory, there are scattered tribes of Indians, some of whom are very weak and few, while others are strong and many.

28. Tliese occasionally try to beat off" the white people who settle among them, but they always get badly beaten themselves. Year after year, these, as well as all of the other Indians in America are becoming fewer, and, as I said before, you may live

^ntil not a live Indian can be found.

29. I hope you have looked at the map attentively, while I nave been telling you about the Indians. If you have, you will know much that is useful, because these very Indians, many of them, will be mentioned again in the course of my story. And when you are older, and come to learn more of them in a larger book, you will be glad that you were attentive now.

Qttestions.— '^G. What of the northern tribes ? 27. What can you tell of the wer-tera Indians? 2S. What is their fate ?

Chapter II. The Great Sailors Or Discoverers

SEC'IION I.

THE GREAT SAILORS FROM SPAIN.

The trade with India desired.

1. Almost four hundred years ago, before there were any wliite people in America, there was a good young man named Christopher Columbus. He was born in Genoa, a city in Italy in the southern part of Europe. He studied hard at school, was much pleased with stories about the sea, and when he was old enough, he became a sailor.

2. At that time merchants, or store-keepers, in Italy, who lived near the sea, sent ships and traded with the people of that part of Asia called India, and became very rich. Their neighbors in Western Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal, wished to trade with them too. But the Italians were selfish and strong, and would not let the ships of their neighbors sail eastward in the Mediterranean Sea.

3. What must be done ? Look on the map, and I will tell you what was done. Some bold sailors Avent in ships around the southern part of Africa, which is called the Cape of Good Hope, and then sailed across the Indian Ocean to India. But this was a very long way to go from Portugal and Spain.

4. Columbus thought a great deal about the matter. He had been in a ship away up in the ocean at the north, where there is ice all summer, at an island called Iceland. I think

Qttestioxs.— 1. What can you tell about Columbus? 2. "What did Italian merchants do ■? 3. AVhat did some bold sailors do ? 4. "What can you tell about North America ?

DISCOVERIES.

The ideas of Columbus.

His efforts and trials.

NOETUMAN.

NORTHMAN'S SHIP.

as every body then he must have heard of some rough sailors of that cold country called Northmen, who, it is said, came over to America five hundred years before, in queer shaped vessels.

5. Columbus had also

got the idea into his

head that the earth was

•mm^^ round like an orange,

and not flat like a cake, as every thouo;ht it was. He thought that if the earth was round, India could be reached by sailing westward across the Atlantic Ocean, as well as sailing eastward ; and he believed it could not be half as far to it in that direction as around the Cape of Good Hope.

6. Columbus went to Lisbon, in Portugal, and told the king and other great people, what was in his mind. The king thought well of it, but most of the great people who did not know half as much as Columbus did, laughed at him, and he went away very sorrowful.

7. Columbus was poor. He had a little son named Diego, whose mother was dead. So he took his boy by the hand and started on foot for Spain, to ask the rich king of that country to let him have a ship with which to sail westward on the Atlantic Ocean in search of India.

8. Ferdinand, the King of Spain, had an excellent wife, named Isabella, who loved God and her fellow-crea-

Columbus was a Christian, and thought that he could tell the people of new countries that he might find in searching

Questions. — 5. "What thoughts had Columbus? 6. What was done in Portugal? T. What did Columbus do ? 8. What can you tell about the Queen of Spain ?

COLUMBUS.

tures.

THE GREAT SAILORS FROM SPAIN.

Departure of Columbus for America.

The Discovery.

for India, about Jesus and the Bible, and the Gospel, and so do them good.

9. Columbus told Queen Isabella all that he would like to do, in searching for India and helping the heathen. Her heart was kind, and his words brought tears to her eyes. She promised to help him even if she had to sell all the diamonds in her crown to buy a ship for him. She spoke to her husband about it. He was willing, and she fitted out two small vessels for Columbus.

10. The great sailor was now full fifty years of age, and every body thought well of him, because he had always acted right. His friends fitted out another ship, larger than those of the queen, and with plenty of company, Columbus left the town of Palos, on the Tinto river, on the 3d day of August, in the year 1492.

11. It was a hot summer day when Columbus and his men sailed down the river. But when they were out on the ocean, the breeze was cool and delightful They were soon out of sight of land, and could see nothing but water, and sky, and clouds.

12. They sailed on and on, week after week, and saw nothing but the water, and the sky, and the clouds. All but Columbus grew afraid, and wanted to go back. The common sailors even threatened to throw him overboard if he would not turn back. He trusted in God, and kept on unharmed.

13. Just at sunset on a pleasant day in October, Columbus felt sure that land was nigh. During the evening the perfumes of flowers came to his nostrils. The great sailor watched all night. In the morning all saw green forests, and soon they heard the singing of birds.

QursTiONB—O. What did Isabella do? 10. What did Columbus then do? 12. Wbat harpened on the ocean ? 13. What can you tell about seeing land ?

THE VESSELS OP COLUMBtJB.

DISCOVERIES.

Landing of Columbus.

The Indians.

OOLTTMBUS BISCOVJiEING LAND.

14. The sailors who were so afraid and so wicked, now joined with Columbus in praising God. All went on shore, among tlis beautiful shrubs and sweet flowers, and there on their knees thty sang a hymn of thanksgiving to God.

15. They were on an island not very far from the continent of America. They saw men, women, and children, hiding among the trees and bushes. These were very timid, for they had never seen wliite people before. As I have told you — [verse 2, page

Questions. — 14. What did all who were with Columbus do ? 15. What can you tell about the landing of Cohimbus ?

THE GREAT SAILORS FROM SPAIN,

Other discoveries.

Americus Vespucius

7] — Coliniibus thought this island Avas a part of India, so he called the copper-colored peopl(\ Indians. The island he named San Salvador, the Spanish words for Holy Saviour.