A bird's-eye view of American history

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Discovery i

II. The Indians 14

Chapter I Discovery

A GLANCE over the United States to-day reveals a strong and prosperous nation of vast extent, with a citizenship made up of many races and a government quite unhke the governments of the nations from which they came.

A little over four hundred years ago the people of Europe had never heard of America. How did they become aware of Its existence? What sort of a place was America before that time? What has become of the native red men who once hunted and made war on the very spots where dwellings, shops, and colleges now stand? How did the United States become a nation; and why is there only one instead of several nations within Its extensive area ? When our forefathers founded this government why did they make It so unlike all others, and what is the secret of its phenomenal success? Why do foreigners who come here to Hve learn so soon to love the country of their adoption better than the land of their birth, and why do their children grow up to be Americans rather than transplanted Germans or Italians? Why do Europeans come here at all? Very few Americans go abroad to live. Is America better than Europe? If It Is, what makes It so?

To answer these and many other questions suggested by the obvious facts of the day we must first go back many years Into the past, for the discovery of America Is in large part the result of Ideas and events which stirred the minds of the people of Europe centuries ago.

The Attempt to Find a Short Sea-passage to India. — In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Christian nations were engaged in trying to get possession of the Holy Land, which was held then as it is to-day by Mohammedans. The Crusades failed to accomplish their purpose, but they were followed by great results of an unexpected sort. The Mohammedans were far in advance of the Western Christians in their civilization, and the European soldiers learned from their foes the use of many scientific Implements and articles of food and clothing, which on their return from the wars they introduced into their home communities. After the Crusades ceased a flourishing trade sprang up between Europe and Asia, the metals and woods of the former being exchanged for the pearls, ivory, perfumes, and delicate fabrics of the latter.

In 1299 Marco Polo, an Italian traveller who had spent many years in Cathay at the court of the Great Khan, the ruler of that region, published a book containing an account of the distant countries he had visited. This book was read by almost everybody of intelligence, and greatly quickened the Interest which the Crusades had already awakened in the commercial opportunities of the East.*

Gradually the trade with the Orient was monopolized by the Italian commercial cities, Genoa and Venice. There were two ways of reaching the Asiatic markets ; one was controlled by Genoa, the other by Venice. The Genoese sent their goods to Constantinople, through the Black Sea, and thence overland by trains of mules and camels to the ports on the Persian

* The term "East" included besides Palestine, Cathay (the early European name for China), India, which was indefinite, and Cipango, the country which we know to-day as Japan.

Gulf; while the merchants of Venice traded by way of Alexandria and the Red Sea. Both routes were slow, expensive, and perilous.

In 1453 the Turks, a fierce, barbarous people who had already overrun a large part of Asia Minor, captured Constantinople. The effect of this calamity was to block the former routes of travel and ruin the trade of the Italian cities. It then became necessary to find a new way to the East. The Portuguese believed that a new route might be found by sailing southward along the coast of Africa. In 1497 the Portuguese Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached India. As Genoa and Venice declined In commercial importance they were superseded by Portugal and Spain, and the Atlantic took the place of the Mediterranean as the highway of commerce.

Columbus. — Among those who studied this problem of a short sea-passage was a young sailor named Christopher Columbus. He was probably born In Genoa about the year 1446, but after 1470 lived in Lisbon, supporting himself by making maps and charts for navigators.

Columbus believed that the Eastern countries could be reached by sailing west. He was one of the few men of his day who knew that the earth was spherical. Learned men among the ancient Greeks had known it, and the Arabians were also aware of the true form of the earth. But the Europeans of Columbus's day were extremely ignorant, and believed that the earth was flat and circular like a plate. The only parts of the world with which they were at all acquainted were Europe, the British Isles, Iceland, a small portion of Asia, and the northern coast of Africa. The Atlantic Ocean was called the " Sea of Darkness," and was thought to abound with monsters of strange and hideous shape capable of devouring an entire ship and crew at a single swallow.

For seventeen years Columbus tried to interest the people of Europe in his theory, but they only laughed at him, called him crazy, and told him that if he sailed very far into the Sea of Darkness he would fall over the edge of the earth. In vain he tried to convince the kings of Portugal and Spain and the wealthy nobles. They would have nothing to do with a man who was foolish enough to believe he could reach the East by sailing in the opposite direction.

Finally Columbus determined to ask aid of the king of France. He was slowly making his way on foot to the French court when he stopped at the close of a summer day at a convent in Andalusia for rest and refreshment. The prior of the convent was an intelligent and kindhearted man. He became interested in Columbus, advised him not to go to France, but to try once more the Spanish court, and gave him a letter to an influential priest, who introduced him to Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain. The queen was soon persuaded. She was a pious Catholic, and saw in Columbus's scheme an opportunity for missionary work among heathen people. The king was slower to respond. He was also a Catholic, though not so pious as his wife, and the missionary idea did not appeal to him with striking force. But he was ambitious to extend his empire and to find new mines of gold and silver. He knew that whatever discoveries Columbus might make would belong to Spain if Columbus sailed under the Spanish flag. Thus Ferdinand and Isabella, working from quite different motives, gave Columbus men and ships, the queen even pawning some of her jewels to provide necessary funds.

On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from the port of Palos, within sight of the convent where he had received his first encouragement. His fleet consisted of three small vessels, the

Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta, The largest was not more than sixty feet long by twenty in width. For days and weeks Columbus and his men sailed on into the Sea of Darkness. The world proved very much larger than Columbus had supposed. The sailors became terror-stricken and begged their leader to turn back. At last, on the night of October nth, they saw a light made by the fires kindled by natives on the land. The next morning the intrepid admiral and his crew stepped ashore, and Columbus, planting the cross and the flag of Spain in the soil, took possession of the New World. The land on which he had disembarked was one of the islands of the Bahama group. Before returning to Spain he touched at Cuba and Hayti.

Upon his arrival in Spain Columbus was received with every mark of honor by sovereigns and people. He made three more voyages, discovering Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the islands of the Caribbean Sea, and the mainland of South America, and exploring the coast of Honduras and the Isthmus of Panama. Columbus was convinced that he had found the short sea-passage to India by way of the West. For this reason he called the islands which he had discovered the West Indies, a name which they have always retained. But as the fabled riches of the East did not appear, people grew Impatient and enthusiasm turned to disappointment. For a time Columbus was Imprisoned on a false charge, and finally died in poverty and neglect on May 20, 1506, not knowing the extent and significance of his achievement.

Why the New World was Called America. — At the time of Columbus's discovery Spain and Portugal were the two great maritime nations of Europe. Foreseeing the disputes likely to arise concerning the possession of new territory, these nations agreed to divide In advance all the unknown regions of the earth. The Pope, who by virtue of his exalted spiritual office frequently acted as arbiter for Christendom, drew a meridian three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, known as the Line of Demarcation. All lands which should be discovered east of that boundary were to belong to Portugal, and all west of It to Spain.

About the year 1501 Portugal sent out a fleet under the command of Americus Vespuclus. He sighted the coast of Brazil, and, finding It east of the Line, claimed it for Portugal. A few years later a German professor published a book on geography In which he proposed that

Brazil be called America in honor of Vespucius. As Columbus was supposed to have discovered merely a new route to India, not a new continent, the idea met with favor, and in course of time the name was applied not only to Brazil, but to all North and South America. Brazil was the only part of the New World acquired by Portugal, because it was the only part that lay east of the Line of Demarcation.

John Cabot and the English Claim. — For nearly a century after the voyages of Columbus, Spain had most of the field to herself. The rest of Europe was too busy with other affairs to quarrel with Spain over a new country. In 1497 England sent out John Cabot " to discover any heathen regions which up to this time have remained unknown to Christians." He was the first European to set foot on the continent of North America, landing in Labrador. England did not at that time possess sufficient naval strength to enforce her rights of discovery, and made no immediate attempt to take possession, but many years later the English claimed the entire North American continent on the basis of Cabot's discovery.

Spanish Explorations and Conquests. — Spanish settlements were made in the West Indies, and many adventurers went far into the mainland searching for El Dorado, the gilded land, where according to current belief mines of gold and silver waited to lavish their bursting treasures.

On Easter Day, 15 13, Ponce de Leon, a Spanish nobleman who was looking for the " fountain of youth," landed on the coast of Florida. Intelligent men of that period had faith in many follies of imagination, which even the children of this day know better than to credit. De Leon had heard and believed that somewhere in America there was a magic fountain whose waters would restore youth to aged men. He called the country Florida, after the Spanish synonym for Easter — Pascua Floriddy " flowery passover."

In the same year Balboa, another Spaniard, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean.

In 15 19 Cortez with a small army invaded Mexico and conquered that country for Spain. By 1592 the Spaniards had explored the Pacific coast from Lower California to Oregon.

In 1 541 Ferdinando De Soto, the Spanish governor of Cuba, while on an expedition through the south-west, discovered the Mississippi River.

DISCOVERY II

St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, was founded by the Spaniards in 1565, to prevent the French from making settlements in Florida.

Why North America did not Remain Spanish. — Despite a full century's undisputed right of way on this continent, there Is not to-day in the law, religion, government, or other social institutions of the American people a single elemental fact that can be traced to the authorship or moulding influence of Spain. A few physical landmarks, such as stone houses, walls, and cathedral ruins, scattered through Florida and the south-west, are the melancholy vestiges of an empire long since dissolved In the testing crucible of time. For It was written on the scroll of destiny by Immutable decree that o'er Columbia's virgin soil the " pale emblem of Castilian pride " should never wave In token of possession, nor Spanish sovereignty find enduring foothold within her spacious borders.

The trouble was, the Spaniard never came here for a wise purpose. Instead of bringing his family and settling down to clear the wilderness, till the soil, and grow up with the country, he was hunting for a sudden fortune which would enable him to return to Spain and spend the remainder of his days in idleness and ease. The followers of Cortez, Balboa, and De Soto were adventurers who were looking for gold and silver.

It was not until people came here with the Intention of remaining permanently, people who appreciated the value of agriculture, industry, and commerce, that the foundations of the United States were laid. This happened when the English, Dutch, Scotch, and Germans began their settlements on the Atlantic seaboard. Their conception of wealth was broader and their ideal of its uses nobler than the Spaniard's sordid purpose. They realized that true wealth consists not in abundance of gold and silver coinage, but in houses and lands, in farms, shops, ships, and factories, crowned by a moral exaltation that finds its certain measure in the school-house and the home.

It is the nation which produces the commodities which other nations want, and for which they are willing to exchange their money that Is truly rich. Neither Spain nor the rest of Europe derived permanent material benefit from the finding of a new world. In many respects they were worse off than before, for the discovery of America excited the spirit of greed, created jealousies and hatreds between nations, and led to devastating wars. The true gainer was America Itself. In the course of time It received some of the best men and women from the best countries of Europe. They came to make their homes, to build schools, to become farmers, merchants, Inventors, and finally to Influence the entire human race toward loftier manhood and a wider outlook by means of the freest government and the largest opportunities the world has ever known.

Note. — It is quite probable that the Northmen, a roving, piratical people from the north of Europe, visited America about the year 1000 a.d. We know that they were acquainted with Greenland. There is evidence that in that year Leif Erikson — "Leif the Lucky" — led an expedition to the mainland. A temporary settlement called Vinland was made by the Northmen somewhere on the New England coast, but its exact situation is not known. The visits of the Northmen were without important results. No one else learned from them of the existence of this continent, and they themselves seem to have forgotten it.

Chapter II The Indians

THE continents of North and South America had been inhabited for many ages before the arrival of Europeans. The origin of this early race Is unknown, but there are certain similarities In appearance, language, and tradition which suggest that the American aborigines are kindred to the people of Asia.

That the inhabitants of the New World were known as Indians was due to a mistake of Columbus who, thinking that he had reached India, called the natives Indians. The name has clung to them ever since In spite of the fact that men soon learned that America was not a part of Asia.

Appearance, Character, and Government. — The Indians had strong, lithe bodies, reddish or copper-colored skins, high cheek-bones, and straight, coarse, black hair. They had no beards. Hair does not grow on the face of the American

THE INDIANS 15

aborigine. They were swift of foot and keen of vision, and could track an enemy through the deepest forest by the print of his foot on the grass or the twigs bent by the weight of his passing body. They were fond of war and were revengeful, never forgiving an Injury but likewise never forgetting an act of kindness.

All Indians who could trace descent from a common female ancestor belonged to one clan. Each clan had Its own magistrates and warchiefs. A group of clans formed a tribe, the members of which spoke the same language. The tribe was loosely governed by a council composed of the chiefs of the clans. Its decisions bound nobody, though public opinion usually supported them.

Mode of Life. — The Indians were wild in their nature and uncivilized in their habits. Though distributed over the entire continent, they were few in numbers compared with the present white population. There were only about two hundred thousand in all the country east of the Mississippi River. There are twice as many people living in Philadelphia to-day as there were Indians in all North America in 1492. The Indians lived In villages, and their dwellings were called " wigwams " or " tepees." These consisted of small huts made of skin or bark stretched over wooden frames. They were of circular form at the base and either pointed like a cone or rounded like a dome at the top. Sometimes their dwellings were made of logs. The Iroquois Indians of New York had what they called " long-houses," large wooden buildings, a hundred feet in length, divided into twenty compartments, each compartment sheltering an entire family. If the villages were located in places which were easy to attack they were surrounded with high wooden stockades as a protection against the enemy.

The Indians made their living by hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Although uncivilized, they were by no means mere savages. They used dishes made of clay, and knew much more about farming than is generally supposed, raising beans, tobacco, pumpkins, squashes, potatoes, and " maize," or Indian corn. It was from the Indians that the white settlers learned the use of these vegetables, which more than once saved them from starvation. Colored shells, called " wampum," served for money. The dress of the Indians varied according to the season of the year. In summer they went almost

THE INDIANS 17

naked, but in winter they clothed themselves in furs and blankets. They were fond of gay colors, of ornaments, and amusements.

The Indian boat was called a " canoe." It was made of birch-bark or skins stretched over a framework of wood, and fastened together by strips of hide and the pitch of the spruce-tree. The red men were good athletes, and enjoyed running races and playing ball. Lacrosse, the favorite game of modern Canadians, is an Indian sport. Hunting, fishing, and war were the only occupations which were considered worthy to engage the attention of the men. Domestic labor was performed by the women, who were called " squaws." They were not abused, but had their rights under the crude Indian law. The women of the Iroquois nation owned land and were permitted to vote.

The natives of Mexico and Peru were superior to the rest of the Indians of North and South America. The Peruvians especially had buildings and roads, possessed rich mines of gold, silver, copper, and lead, and made beautiful ornaments of the precious metals. They pastured vast flocks and herds and had an advanced language. The Mexicans, though less civihzed than the Peruvians, were in advance of the other tribes. Both Mexico and Peru were cruelly despoiled by the Spaniards.

Warfare. — The Indians were never so happy as when on the war-path. They were brave after a fashion, but their method of fighting was hardly honorable, judged by our standards. They preferred to lie in ambush and to shoot their enemies from behind rocks and trees rather than to meet them face to face. Every warrior shaved his head except a place at the top about the size of a half-dollar, on which the long hair was allowed to remain. This single wisp of hair was called the " scalp-lock." When an Indian killed his enemy in battle or in ambush he cut this lock of hair from the dead man's body, together with that part of the scalp to which it was attached. " Scalps " were the greatest trophies of war, and the Indian who had the largest number dangling from his belt was regarded as the best warrior.

Prisoners of war were generally tortured to death by all sorts of inhuman devices, such as sticking splinters of burning wood in the flesh of the victim, or shooting his eyes out, or tying him to a stake and burning him alive. The Indians were probably no more cruel than other races of men, though their lack of refinement

THE INDIANS 19

made them appear to be. It was under the ordeal of torture that the Indian appeared at his best, for he usually died without a cry or a murmur, it being esteemed great heroism to suffer physical pain in silence.

The weapons of the Indian were the hatchet, the knife, the club, the lance, and the bow and arrow. Stone and flint were used in making some of these instruments until the white man Introduced better weapons of steel.

Religion. — The Indians worshipped many gods. Trees, rocks, plants, animals, and the forces of nature all had their ruling spirits whom the simple minds of the barbarians were ever fearful of offending and perpetually sought to placate by sacrifices and gifts. The priests and doctors were called " medicine-men," and were believed to have great power with spirits. When an Indian died he was supposed to go to the " Happy Hunting-ground." In order to protect and feed him on his journey Into the unseen country, his relatives placed the weapons of the dead warrior on his grave, together with dried meat, the immaterial counterparts of which, according to aboriginal philosophy, furnished defence and refreshment to the travelling ghost.

The Modern Indian. — The American Indian of to-day, in his barbarian state, is about what he was four hundred years ago. Wherever he has come Into touch with white men It has generally been with the worst sort of white men, and the Indian has absorbed the vices but not the virtues of his conqueror.

According to the census of 1900, there were 266,760 Indians In the United States. Nearly half of them live on Government reservations, and are fed and clothed at public expense. These " reservation Indians " are not progressing and do not care for education. Though the Indian does not seek civilization, many have yielded after It was forced upon them, and some have achieved marked success in professional and literary life.

Many children are taken from the reservations each year by the Government and placed In Indian Industrial schools, the most celebrated of which is at Carlisle, Pa.

Chapter III

WE have seen that the Spaniards were the first to visit and explore the Western world. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the French began their work of exploration and settlement in Canada. The first successful French colony was planted in Acadia, now Nova Scotia, in 1605. The city of Quebec was founded three years later.

The voyage of Cabot in 1497 resulted In England's claiming the entire North American continent on the ground that Cabot was the first European to reach the mainland. This claim had never been abandoned, although no attempt was made at colonization for nearly a hundred years. When at the beginning of the seventeenth century English enterprise turned seriously to America it found the southern part held by Spain and the northern by France. But in spite of her tardiness in entering the race for colonial possessions England had the best of It, for the portion that fell to her lot was the choicest of all. It lay along the Atlantic seaboard between Florida and Nova Scotia, and had every advantage of climate, fertility, and natural wealth. The thirteen English colonies planted In this vast central region developed later Into the United States. They naturally fall into three groups, the Southern, Middle, and New England.

Virginia (1607). — ^This name was given in 1584 to all the English territory In America In honor of Elizabeth, called the " Virgin Queen " because she was unmarried. From 1584 to 1587 Sir Walter Raleigh made several attempts to found a colony at Roanoke, within the limits of the present State of North Carolina. His efforts failed for the reason that he had no financial backing.

In 1606 a group of English capitalists, believing that a successful colony could be founded, provided there was plenty of money behind It, organized the London Company and obtained from King James I a charter which gave them authority to make settlements In the southern half of what Is now the United States. The London Company at once sent out a hundred or more colonists under the command of Captain

John Smith, an English adventurer of extraordinary abilities. They reached Amenca in the spring of 1607, and settled at Jamestown, Va., which they named in honor of the reigning king. This was the first permanent English colony in America.

The settlers were not well fitted for so serious an undertaking as the establishment of a colony. Most of them were " gentlemen," which in that day signified persons of the male sex who never worked. There were only about a dozen in the whole number who had ever done any manual labor. The colonists quarrelled among themselves and with the Indians, and many died of sickness. Had it not been for the wisdom of Captain John Smith, and a timely reenforcement from England, they would have abandoned the enterprise. But with the arrival of other settlers, who knew more about practical affairs than the first, the colony took courage and soon grew prosperous. The London Company authorized the popular election of a House of Burgesses to make laws for the community. Virginia raised large quantities of tobacco which were exported to England. The habit of smoking had been Introduced Into that country by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had learned It from the

Indians. It became so popular that Virginia was kept busy supplying the Enghsh demand for tobacco.

The Beginning of Slavery. — Toiling all day In the tobacco fields under a blazing sun was too irksome for white men. In 1619 the Treasurer^ an English privateer, called in the slang phrase of the day a " Dutch man-o'-war," appeared in Jamestown harbor with a cargo of twenty negroes, which the captain offered to dispose of in exchange for provisions. The negroes proved to be just the kind of laborers needed for heavy out-of-door work. This was the origin of African slavery In the United States. For many years a horrible trade in human beings was carried on between the American colonies and dealers who made a business of stealing black men and women from Africa to supply the demand for negro laborers. At first slavery existed in nearly all the colonies, but later It became confined to the South.

The negroes introduced by the Treasurer were not strictly slaves but servants. They were not owned by individuals, but were employed by the public, and were paid wages. In the course of a very few years, however, this form of servitude passed Into slavery. It is noteworthy that colonial Virginia was the first community in the civilized world to legislate against the slave-trade. Her opposition, expressed in thirty-three acts of assembly passed prior to 1772, proved futile because the traffic was profitable to England, which continued it in spite of protest.

Virginia was governed by the London Company until 1624, when it became a royal colony governed by the king through officials whom he appointed, although to a great extent the people continued to manage their own affairs. They had a strong spirit of independence which led them to expel a governor because they were dissatisfied with his rule.

When the English Puritans executed Charles I in 1 648, many of the '' Cavaliers," as the king's followers were called, took refuge in Virginia. Their coming greatly improved the character of the colony, for they were men of education and wealth. They built magnificent houses and devoted themselves to politics. But the great mass of people were ignorant and without influence in public affairs. Said Governor Berkeley in 1671 : " I thank God there are no free schools nor printing-presses In Virginia." The sons of rich planters were sent abroad to be educated, but the sons of poor men were not educated at all. In

1693 the colonial legislature of Virginia established the College of William and Mary for the education of the scions of wealthy families.

Maryland (1634).— As Virginia was a royal colony, the king could do with it as he pleased. Charles I was pleased to cut off a portion, which he gave to his friend Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, who named it Maryland in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria. In those days people of different religions hated and persecuted each other with a bitterness incomprehensible in this age. England was a Protestant country, and the government passed severe proscriptive laws against Roman Catholics. Lord Baltimore was a Catholic and desired to found a colony where his co-religionists could worship in their own way. But he was liberal-minded and allowed Protestants also to settle in Maryland. In fact, he could not have done otherwise, being the subject of a Protestant king. Until Pennsylvania was founded Maryland was the only place in the civilized world where Catholics and Protestants dwelt together in harmony. Later the Protestants found themselves in the majority, and then they legislated against the Catholics.