Readings in American history

Preface

The text-book American History, written for the use of high schools by A. H. Sanford and myself, "includes, as a portion of the bibliographical material connected with each chapter, Readings in American History. The present volume is the fulfillment of the promise that a limited number of sources would be collected which might be suitable for collateral reading. I am convinced, from my own experience as teacher in the secondary schools, that the judicious use of such material adds life and reality to historical study.

In making the selections I have constantly kept in mind that pupils of high-school age are ordinarily but slightly interested in constitutional documents. A. relatively large number of the extracts have been taken, therefore, from the journals and letters of persons who were contemporary with the events described. Books of travel have likewise been drawn upon extensively. Topics have been chosen in the various fields of human activity, political, industrial, social, educational, and religious, but, in general, more extended selections, from fewer sources, have been made than has heretofore been usual in similar collections.

In the preparation of the present volume I am under special obligations to Albert H. Sanford, of the La Crosse, Wisconsin, State Normal School; Edward C. Page, of the De Kalb, Illinois, State Normal School; and William V. Pooley, of Northwestern University, for reading certain chapters of

V vi Preface

the manuscript and tor their many suggestions. My indebtedness to u number of editors of special volumes and to publishers who ha\e generously permitted the use of selections is acknowledged in the following pages. As originally planned, Ciuirles AV. Mann, Professor of History in Lewis Institute, Chicago, was to co-operate with me in the choice of the readings, but liis death occurred before the work was fairly begun. His coimsel would have added materially to any merits which the volume may possess.

James Alton James.

EvANSTON, Illinois, November, 1913.

Contents

I. — The Discovery of America:

1. Voyages of the Northmen (about 1000) . 1

2. Discovery of America by Christopher

Chapter I

1. Voyages of the Northmen (about 1000)

The voyages of the Northmen to Greenland began about 985 A. D., a centurj' after their settlement in Iceland. Two colonies were founded in Greenland, known as the Western, and Eastern settlements. In the latter, at Brattahlid, was the home of Eric the Red and his wife Thorhild. They had two sons, Thorstein and Leif, afterward called Leif the Lucky. In the year 1000 Leif was in Norway, at the court of King Olaf Tryggrason, and was selected by the King to introduce Christianity into Greenland. On his journey, however, he was driven from his course by storms and came i\pon an unknown coast.

During the following decade several attempts were made to colonize this land, known as Wineland, and these voyages form the chief subject-matter of two old Norse sagas: the Book of Hauk Erlendsson (about 1300) and that known as the Flat Island Book, because it was owned for a long time by a famih' living on Flat Island off the northeastern coast of Iceland. The following account is from Hauk's Book, or the Saga of Eric the Red, and describes the voyage of Thorfinn Karlsefni. — (The Finding of Wineland the Good. Translated and edited by Ai-thur Middleton Reeves, pp. 42-52, 64-67. London, ISOO.)

About this time there began to be much talk at Brattahlid to the effect that Wineland the Good should be explored, for, it was said, that country must be possessed of many goodly qualities. And so it came to pass that Karlsefni

The voyage of Thorflnn Karlscfni and his companions.

The land of Flat Stones and Bear Island discovered.

^larchland, Keclness, and the Wonder-strands.

Thorliall, a companion of Karlsefni, goes north in searcli of Wiueland.

and Snorri fitted out their ship for the purpose of going in search of that country in the spring. . . . Tliey had in all one hundred and sixty men when they sailed to the Western Settlement and thence to Bear Jsland. Thence they bore away to the southward two "doegr" (twenty-four hours). Thence they saw lantl, and launched a boat and explored the land, and found there large flat stones, and many of them were twelve ells wide; there were many arctic foxes there. They gave a name to the country and called it Helluland (the land of flat stones). Then they sailed with northerly winds two "doegr" and land lay before them, and upon it was a great wood and many wild beasts; an island lay off the land to the southeast, and there they found a bear, and they called this Biarney (Bear Island), while the land where the wood was they called Marchland (Forest Land). Thence they sailed southward for a long time and came to a cape, and land lay upon the starboard; there were long strands and sandy banks there. They rowed to the land and found upon the cape the keel of a ship and they called the place Kialarnes (Keelness); they also called the strands Furdustrandir (Wonder-strands), because they were ^o long to sail by. . . .

It is said that Thorhall wished to sail to the northward beyond Wonder-strands in search of Wineland, while Karlsefni desired to proceed to the southward off the coast. Thorhall prepared for his voyage out below the island, hiiving only nine men in his party, for all the remainder of the company went to Karlsefni. And one day when Thorhall was carrying water aboard his ship and was drinking, he recited this ditty:

"When I came, those brave men told me,

Hero the best of drink I'd got, Now with water-pail behold mo, —

Wine and I are strangers yot.

Stooping at tho spring I've tested

All'the wine this land affords; Of its vaunted charms divested,

Poor indeed arc its rewards."

And when they were ready they hoisted sail; whereupon Thorhall recited this ditty:

"Comrades, let us now be faring

Homeward to our own again!

Let us try the sea-steed's daring,

Those who will may bide in quiet,

Let them praise their chosen land.

Feasting on a whale-steak diet,

In their home by Wonder-strand."

Then they sailed away to the northward past Wonder-strands and Keelness, intending to cruise to the westward around the cape. They encountered westerly gales, and were driven ashore in Ireland, where they were grievously maltreated and thrown into slavery. There Thorhall lost his life, according to that which traders have related.

It is now to be told of Karlsefni* that he cruised southward off the coast, with Snorri and Biarni and their people. They sailed for a long time until at last they came to a river which flowed down from the land into a lake, and so into the sea. There were great bars at the mouth of the river so that it could only be entered at the height of flood tide. Karlsefni and his men sailed into the mouth of the river and called it Hop (a landlocked bay). They found self-sown wheat-fields on the land there, wherever there were hollows, and wherever there was hilly ground there were vines. Every brook was full of fish. They dug pits on the shore when the tide rose highest, and when the tide fell there were halibut in the pits. There were great numbers of wild animals of all kinds in the woods. They remained there half a month, and enjoyed themselves and kept no watch. They had their live stock with them. Now, one morning early when they looked about them they saw a great number of skin canoes, and staves were brandished from the boats with a noise like

*For some of the various attempts which have been made to locate Karlsefni's landing-place, see Wiasor, Narrative and Critical History, vol. I, chap. II.

Karlsefni'i adventures.

First meeting with the natives.

flails, and they were revolved in the same direction in which the sun moves. Then said Karlsef ni : " What may this betoken?" Snorri, Thorbrand's son, answers him: "It may be that this is a signal of peace, wherefore let us take a white shield and display it." And thus they did. Thereupon the strangers rowed toward them and went upon the land, marvelling at those whom they saw before them. They were swarthy men and ill-looking, and the hair of their heads was ugly. They had great eyes and were broad of cheek. They tarried there for a time looking curiously at the people they saw before them, and then rowed away and to the southward around the point.

Karlsefni and his followers had built their huts above the lake, some of the dwellings being near the lake and others further away. Now they remained there that winter. No snow came there, and all of their live stock lived by grazing. And wlien spring opened they discovered, early one morning, a great number of skin canoes, rowing from the south past the cape, so numerous that it looked as if coals had been scattered broadcast out before the bay; and on every boat staves were waved. Thereupon Karlsefni and his people displayed their shields, and when they came together they began to barter with each other. Especially did the strangers wish to buy red cloth, for which they offered in exchange peltries and quite gray skins. They also desired to bu#' swords and spears, but Karlsefni and Snorri forbade this. In exchange for perfect unsullied skins the Skrt^llings would take red stuff a span in length, which they would bind around their heads. So their trade went on for a time, until Karlsefni and his people began to grow short of cloth, when they divided it into such narrow pieces that it was no more than a finger's breadth wide, but the Skrellings still continued to give just as much for this as before, or more.

It so happened that a bull which belonged to Karlsefni and his people ran out of the woods bellowing loudly. This so terrified the Skrellings that they sped out to their canoes and then rowed away to the southward along the coast.

For three entire weeks nothing more was seen of them. At the enti of this time, however, a great number of Skrelhng boats were discovered approaching from the south, as if a stream was pouring down, and all of their staves were waved in a direction contrary to the course of the sun, and the Skrellings were all uttering loud cries. Thereupon Karlsefni and his men took red shields and displayed them. The Skrellings sprang from their boats and they met them and fought together. There was a fierce shower of missiles, for the Skrellings had war slings. Karlsefni and Snorri observed that the Skrellings raised up on a pole a great ball-shaped body nearly black in color, and this they hurled from the pole upon the land above Karlsefni's followers, and it made a frightful noise when it fell. Whereat a great fear seized upon Karlsefni and all his men, so that they could think of naught but flight and of making their escape up along the ri\"er bank, for it seemed to them that troops of Skrellings were rushing toward them from every side, and they did not pause until they came to certain jutting crags, where they offered a stout resistance. . . .

It now seemed clear to Karlsefni and his people that although the country thereabouts was attractive their life would be one of constant dread and turmoil by reason of the inhabitants of the country, so they forthwith prepared to leave and determined to return to their own country.

Wineland abandoned.

The story of Leif Ericsson's expedition is told at much greater length in the Flat Island Book, from which the following is taken:

There was now much talk of voyages of discovery. Leif, the son of Eric the Red of Brattahlid, visited Biarni Heriulfsson and bought a ship of him, and collected a crew until they formed altogether a company of thirty-five men. Leif invited his father Eric to become the leader of the expedition, but Eric declined, saying that he was less able to endure the exposure of sea-life than he had been. Leif replied that he would nevertheless be the one who would be most apt to

Voyage of Leif Ericsson, from the Flat Island Book.

bring good luck, and Eric yielded to Leif s pleading and rode from home when they were ready to sail. When he was but a short distance from the ship the horse which Eric was riding stumbled, and he was thrown from his back and under his feet, whereupon he exclaimed: "It is not designed for me to discover more lands than the one in which we are now living, nor can we continue longer together." Eric returned home to Brattahlid, and Leif went on his way to the ship with his companions, thirty-five men; one of the company was a German named Tyrker. They put the ship in order, and when they were ready they sailed out to sea, and found first that land which Biarni and his shipmates found last. They sailed up to the land and cast anchor, and launched a boat and went ashore, and found no grass there. Great ice mountains lay inland back from the sea, and it was as a (tableland of) flat rock from the sea to the ice mountains, and the country seemed to them to be entirely devoid of good qualities. Then said Leif: "It has not come to pass with us in regard to this land as with Biarni, that we have not gone upon it. To this country I will now give a name and call it Helluland" (the land of flat stones). They returned to the ship, put out to sea, and found a second land. They sailed again to the land and came to anchor and launched a boat and went on shore. This was a level, wooded land, and there were broad stretches of white sand where they went, and the land was level by the sea. Then said Leif: "This land shall have a name after its nature, and we will call it Markland" (forest land).

They returned to the ship forthwith, and sailed away upon the main with northeast winds and were out two "doegr" (twenty-four hours) before they sighted land. They sailed toward this land and came to an island which lay to the northward off the land. There they went ashore and looked about them, the weather being fine, and they observed that there was a dew upon the grass, and it so happened that they touched the dew with their hands and touched their hands to their mouths, and it seemed to them that they had never before tasted anything so sweet as this. They went aboard their ship again and sailed into a certain sound, which lay between the island and the cape, which jutted out from the land on the north, and they stood in westering past the cape. At ebb tide there were broad reaches of shallow water there, and they ran their ship aground, and it was a long distance from their ship to the sea; yet were they so anxious to go ashore that they could not wait until the tide should rise under their ship, but hastened to the land where a certain river flows out from a lake. As soon as the tide rose beneath their ship they took the boat and rowed to the ship which they brought up the river and so into the lake, where they cast anchor and carried their hammocks ashore from the ship and built themselves booths. They afterward determined to establish themselves there for the winter, and they accordingly built a large house. There was no lack of salmon there either in the river or in the lake, and larger salmon than they had ever seen before. The country thereabouts seemed to be possessed of such good qualities that cattle would need no fodder during the winter. There was no frost there in the winter and the grass withered but little. The days and nights were of more nearly equal length than in Greenland or Iceland. When they had completed their house Leif said to his companions: "I propose now to divide our company into two groups, and to set about an exploration of the country; one half of our party shall remain at the house, while the other half shall investigate the land, and they must not go beyond a point from which they can return the same day, and they are not to separate." Thus they did for a time; Leif himself by turns joined the exploring party or remained behind at the house. 'Leif was a large and powerful man and of a most imposing bearing, a man of sagacity, and a very great man in all things.

It was discovered one evening that one of their company was missing, and this proved to be Tyrker, the German. Leif was sorely troubled by this, for Tyrker had lived with Leif and his father for a long time and had been very de-

Winter

quarters

built.

Adventures of Tyrker, the German.

voted to Leif when he was a child. Leif severely repriniand('(l his companions, and prepared to ^o in search of him, taking twelve men with him. They had gone hut a short distance from the house when they were met by Tyrker, whom they received most cordially. Leif saw at once that his foster-father was in li\ely spirits. Tyrker had a prominent forehead, restless eyes, small features, was small in stature, and rather a sorry -looking individual withal, but was nevertheless a most capable handicraftsman. Leif addressed him and asked: "Wherefore art thou so belated, foster-father mine, and astra}' from the others?" In the beginning Tyrker spoke for some time in German, rolling his eyes and grinning, and they could not understand him; but after a time he addressed them in the northern tongue: "I did not go much further than you, and I have something of novelty to relate. I have found vines and grapes." " Is this, indeed, true, foster-father? " asked Leif. '* Of a certainty it is true," said he, "for I was born where there is no lack of either grapes or vines." They slept the night through, and on the morrow Leif said to his shipmates: "We will now divide our labors, and each day will either gather grapes or cut vines and fell trees, so as to obtain a cargo of these for my ship." They acted upon this advice, and it is said their after-boat was filled with grapes. A cargo sufficient for the ship was cut, and when spring came they made their ship ready and sailed away; and from its products Leif gave the land a name and called it Wineland. They sailed out to sea and had fair winds until thev sighted Greenland. . . .

2. Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus

When Columbus sailed from Palos he resolved "(o write an account of all the voyage very punctually, noting from day to day all that I should do or see." The original journal has disappeared but there is an abridgment which contains many extracts from it. Columbus describes the difficulties of the voyage, the fears of the sailors and the means he used to quiet them, their joy at finding

The Discovery of Ant erica land, and the perils of the return. — (The Journal of Christopher Columbus During His First Voyage, 1492-93. Translated, with notes and an introduction, by Clements R. Markham, London, 1893.)

I left the city of Granada on the 12th day of May, in the The saiisame year of 1492, being Saturday, and came to the town of coiumbus Palos, which \s a seaport; where I equipped three vessels well suited for such service; and departed from that port well supplied with provisions and with many sailors, on the 3d day of August of the same year, being Friday, half an hour before sunrise, taking the route to the Islands of Canaria belonging to your Highnesses, which are in the said Ocean Sea, that I might thence take my departure for navigating until I should arrive at the Indies, and give the letters of your Highnesses to those princes, so as to comply with my orders.

Monday, 6th of August.

The rudder of the caravel Pinta became unshipped, and Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who was in command, believed or suspected that it was by contrivance of Gomes Rascon and Cristobal Quintero to whom the caravel belonged, for they dreaded to go on that voyage. . . .

Sunday, 9th of September.

This day the Admiral made nineteen leagues, and he ar- The ranged to reckon less than the number run, because if the "i'stances voyage was of long duration, the people would not be so terrified and disheartened. . . .

of the compass.

Thursday, 13th of September.

That day and night, steering their course which was west, Variation they made thirty-three leagues, counting three or four less. The currents were against them. On this day, at the com> mencement of the night, the needles turned half a point to the northwest, and in the morning they turned somewhat more northwest.

Saturday, 22(1 of September.

They shaped their course W. N. W. more or less, her head turning from one to the other point, and made thirty leagues. They saw some sandpipers and another bird. Here the Admiral says: "This contrary wind was very necessary for me, because my people were much excited at the thought that in these seas no wind ever blew in the direction of Spain. ..."

Thursday, 11th of October.

The course was W. S. W., and there was more sea than there had been during the whole of the voyage. They saw sandpipers and a green reed near the ship. Those of the caravel Pinia saw a cane and a pole, and they took up another small pole which appeared to have been worked with iron; also another bit of cane, a land plant and a small board. The crew of the caravel Nina also saw signs of land, and a small branch covered with berries. Every one breathed afresh and rejoiced at these signs. The run till sunset was twenty-seven leagues.

After sunset, the Admiral returned to his original west course, and they went along at the rate of twelve miles an hour. Up to two hours after midnight, they had gone ninety miles, equal to twenty-two and a half leagues. As the caravel Pinta was a better sailer and went ahead of the Admiral, she found the land, and made the signals ordered by the Admiral. The land was first seen by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana. But the Admiral, at ten o'clock, being in the castle of the poop, saw a light, though it was so uncertain that he could not affirm it was land. He called Pero Gutierrez, a gentleman of the king's bed-chamber, and said that there seemed to be a light, and that he should look at it. He did so and saw it. The Admiral said the same to Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, whom the King and Queen had sent with the fleet as inspector, but he could see nothing, because he was not in a place where anything could be seen. After the Admiral had spoken, he saw the light once or twice and it was like a wax candle, rising and falling. It seemed to few to be an indication of land; but the Admiral made certain that land was close. When they said the SalvCf which all the sailors were accustomed to sing in their way, the Admiral asked and admonished his men to keep a good lookout on the forecastle and to watch well for land; and to him who should first cry out that he saw land, he would give a silk doublet, besides the other rewards promised by the sovereigns, which were 10,000 maravedis* to him who should first see it. At two hours after midnight the land was sighted at a distance of two leagues. They shortened sail, and lay by under the mainsail without the bonnets.

The vessels were hove to, waiting for daylight ; and on The land- Friday they arrived at a small island of the Lucayos, called, be^'i^^'"" in the language of the Indians, Guanahani. Presently, they saw naked people. The Admiral went on shore in the armed boat, and Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and Vicente Yanez, his brother, who was captain of the Nina. The Admiral took the royal standard, and the captains went with two banners of the green^cross, which the Admiral took in all the ships as a sign, with an F and a Y,t and a crown over each letter, one on one side of the cross and one on the other. Having landed, they saw trees very green, and much water, and fruits of diverse kinds. The Admiral called to the two captains, and to the others who leaped on shore, and to Rodrigo Escovedo, secretary of the whole fleet, and to Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, and said that they should bear faithful testimony that he, in presence of all, had taken as he now took, possession of the said island for the King and for the Queen, his lords, making the declarations that are required, as is now largely set forth in the testimonies which were then made in writing.

Presently many inhabitants of the islands assembled. What follows is in the actual words of the Admiral in his

* The maravedi was worth about two-thirds of a cent. Columbus received this reward, because he saw the light on shore. t Fernando and Ysabel.

book of the first navigation and discovery of the Indies. "I," he says, "that we might form great friendship, for I knew that they were a people who could be more easily freed and con\erted to our holy faith by love than by force, gave to some of them red caps and glass beads to put around their necks, and many other things of little value, which gave them great pleasure, and made them so much our friends that it was a marvel to see. They afterwards came to the ship's boats where we were, swimming and bringing us parrots, cotton threads in skeins, darts, and many other things; and we exchanged them for other things that we gave them, such as glass beads and small bells. In fine, they took all and gave what they had with good will. It appeared to me to be a race of people very poor in everything.

They are very well made, with very handsome bodies, and very good countenances. Their hair is short and coarse, almost like the hairs of a horse's tail. They wear the hair brought down to the eyebrows, except a few locks behind, which they wear long and never cut. They paint themselves black, and they are the color of the Canarians, neither black nor white. Some paint themselves white, others red, and others of what color they can find. Some paint their faces, others the whole body, some only around the eyes, others only on the nose. They neither carry nor know anything of arms, for I showed them swords, and they took them by the blade and cut themselves through ignorance. They have no iron, their darts being wands without iron, some of them having a fish's tooth at the end, and others being pointed in various ways. They should be good servants and intelligent, for I observed that they quickly took in what was said to them, and I believe that they would easily be made Christians, as it appeared to me that they had no religion. I, our Lord being pleased, will take hence at the time of my departure, six natives for your Highnesses, that they may learn to speak. I saw no beast of any kind except parrots on this island. . . ."

3. Letter from Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabella Concerning the Colonization and Commerce of THE Island of Hispaniola

This letter, which was written during the year 1493, before Columbus set out on his second expedition, has been said to entitle him to the honor to be considered "the pioneer law-giver of the New World." — (The translation is the one used by W. E. Curtis in the Report of the American Historical Association, 1894, pp. 452-4o.5. A slightly different translation is given in Original Narratives of Early American History, The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot, pp. 273-277.)

Most High and Powerful Sirs: In obedience to what your Highnesses command me, I shall state what occurs to me for the peopling and settling of the Hispaniola Island and of all others, whether already discovered or hereafter to be discovered, submitting myself, however, to any better opinion.

In the first place, and in regard to the Hispaniola Island, I should suggest the number of settlers who may be found willing to go there to be up to two thousand, so as to render the possession of the country safer and cause it to be more profitable. This will aid also in facilitating intercourse and dealings with the neighboring islands.

I suggest further three or four towns to be founded at convenient places, and the new settlers or colonists to be properly distributed among said towns.

And in order to secure the better and prompter settlement of the said island, I should suggest furthermore that the privilege of getting gold be granted exclusively to those who have acquired a domicile and built a dwelling house in the town of their residence, so as to secure for them all to live close to each other and be better protected.

And also, that each town be given, as is customary in Castile, a mayor and a clerk.