An introduction to American history; European beginnings

Preface

This volume has been prepared to meet the need of the sixth grade of the grammar school for a short and simple introduction to the history of the United States. It has followed in essential particulars the recommendations of the Committee of Eight of the American Historical Association for such an introduction. English history has been made the basis of the narrative, wherever possible, in the belief that England furnishes for us the simplest illustration of that development of European culture which should form the background of an intelligent study of our own history. In these respects the present volume resembles the author's earlier book, '' European Beginnings of American History," from which, indeed, much of the material has been drawn.

A few words of explanation and suggestion as to the use of the book may not be amiss. The chapters are of varying length and are often unusually long for a book of this grade, but it is believed that the sections will, in most cases, prove suitable for a lesson. The questions are rarely based directly upon the subject matter of the chapter to which they are appended and can seldom be answered by a reference to it. They either contain a back reference, or are designed to bring the past into some relation with our life of to-day and to stimulate outside research into subjects related to the matter in hand ; and the field of inquiry, it is hoped, will include not only dictionaries, encyclopedias, geographies, and histories, but the more lively and intimate resource of ''grown-up" information, as well. The summaries at the beginnings of the chapters contain the subjects upon which the pupil should have definite knowledge.

iv INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY

The books referred to will be found appropriate for reading in class as well as for outside reference. Interesting and fuller development of many subjects may also be found in Robinson's " Introduction to the History of Western Europe," Cheyney's '' Short History of England," and Green's " Short History of the English People."

In the History Teachers'' Magazine for May, 191 1, many valuable aids to the teaching of ancient, medieval, and English history are listed, with full directions for procuring them. A few of the fine wall pictures catalogued in this list and issued by Longmans, Arnold, and Koehler, illustrating events in English history and life in the Middle Ages, would well repay the money expended on them, for the sake of their enlivening effect on the daily lesson. Many subjects will also be found illustrated in the inexpensive Perry prints. Further interest can be aroused by the use of Rausch's excellent models. The value of the constant use of maps is too w^ell known to need emphasis here. For illuminating suggestions as to methods of history teaching, no better source could be found than the pamphlet already referred to, "The Problem of Adapting History to Children in the Elementary Schools," by Professor Henry Johnson, published by the Columbia University Press, 1908.

Both the author and the editor, Professor James Harvey Robinson, of Columbia University, wish to express here their great indebtedness to Professor Johnson for his kindness in reading the manuscript and in giving them the benefit of his long and distinguished success in dealing with the difficult problem of history in the schools. Grateful acknowledgment is also due Dr. E. P. Cheyney, Dr. P. Van Ness Myers, Dr. W. J. Long, Dr. T. B. Lawler, and Dr. W. C. Webster for permission to reproduce maps

and illustrations.

ALICE M. ATKINSON Crozet, Virginia

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. OUR DEBT TO ENGLAND

1. Immigrants i

Section i. Immigrants

Introduction. Less than four hundred years ago the vast country which is now called the United States was a wilderness of forests and prairies, of mountains, deserts, and plains. There were no cities or towns or farms ; no highways or even country roads. Where these now are, were stretches of pathless woods and prairies. No white men at all lived in this wilderness. Our great land, that extends nearly three thousand miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and is to-day swarming with millions of English-speaking people, was then inhabited only by Indians.

The first settlers. In 1607 a party of Englishmen set sail for this vast and lonely wilderness, and, landing on the shores of what is now Virginia, began a little settlement there. They called their colony Jamestown in honor of the English king, James I. This was the first permanent English settlement on American soil. It would probably have been the last if the English colonists had not been so strong and courageous, for the hardships and discouragements of the first year in the new country were terrible.

Almost every year, however, saw more Englishmen coming over to America. Little towns grew up, and farms and plantations were tilled and planted where forests had been. But the colonists had to send back to the mother country for their furniture, clocks, watches, dishes, knives, tea, sugar, hats, and materials for clothing and shoes — for almost all their conveniences and comforts, in fact. They tried to live as far as possible in the way they had lived in England, and they regarded themselves as subjects of the English king just as if they had stayed at home.

For one hundred and fifty years these English settlements grew and prospered on American soil. With the exception of a few Dutch in New York, some Swedes in Delaware, and the Spaniards in Florida, the whole eastern border of the country was English.

As the settlements increased in size and prosperity, they began to grow restless under English rule and to feel that the home government was unjust and severe and finally no longer to be endured. It was this feeling that brought about the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Revolutionary War. At the end of the war the colonies found themselves a free people, subject no longer to England. Then began the history of the republic of the United States — a history that is not yet a hundred and fifty years old.

After the establishing of the republic, immigrants continued to come to America from many countries of

English and Indians meeting in 1607

Europe, — from Ireland, Germany, Italy, — from every country whose citizens wished greater freedom or better chances of earning a living. And still to-day immigrants come across the ocean in ever-increasing numbers — from Italy and Russia, from Germany, Austria, Sweden, and many other countries.

Arrival of immigrants. Let us stop for a moment to picture the arrival of the earhest immigrants from England and compare it with that of the immigrants of to-day. It was in 1607, as we said, that the little band of Englishmen sailed up the James River in search of a home. How small the three little ships were that brought them — none of them larger than a good-sized fishing vessel ! And the men that came in them, how few they were, compared with the swarms of immigrants that are now every day crowding to our shores ! On these three little ships there were in all only one hundred five persons. When they landed on the spot where Jamestown now is, there was nothing to be seen about them but woods and water stretching away on every side. They had to provide their own shelter on these lonely shores, first clearing the thick forest to make a place for their homes. At the same time they had to defend themselves from the Indian arrows that constantly threatened their lives, and from the wild animals that lived all about them. Often they had to eat nuts and berries to keep from starving.

Let us now turn to the immigrants of to-day and see how differently they are received into our country. The greater number of them come to New York, so we will visit the harbor there to watch their arrival.

The enormous size of the ships and the great crowds that pour out of them are the first things that mark the difference between the early days and the present time.

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6 IXTRODLXTIOX TO AMERICAN HISTORY

The vessels that bring immigrants now are huge steamships as long as three or four ordinary- city blocks. They hold as many people as several large hotels. Instead of coming over once in six months or a year, as the sailing vessels did three hundred years ago, they arrive almost ever}^ day. The immigrants that swarm down the gangplanks of the ship, loaded with trunks and boxes and bundles, number sometimes five or six thousand in a day.

This great crowd of newcomers to our shores are not left free to go ashore with the other passengers. They are transported in boats to Ellis Island, in New York harbor, where they have to be carefully examined in buildings that have been provided for this purpose.

The doctors and inspectors who examine them must determine whether they are free from disease and able to support themselves, so that only those may be allowed to come in who are likely to be a help, not a hindrance, to our countr}\ There seems to be an endless stream of them as they pass up the wide stairs of the buildings on their way to inspection. As they go e\'er\- man takes off his cap, according to order, to salute the American flag that hangs above his head. Those who pass examination are allowed to leave the island and are helped to make their way to wherever they wish to go. The others are sent back to their own country-.

How the United States still resembles England. Let us suppose that among these new arrivals there were a

Frenchman, an Italian, an Englishman, a Russian, and a German. Wliich one of them would feel most at home among us? It would certainly be the Englishman.

In the first place, an Englishman understands our language and can read all the signs, newspapers, and magazines as soon as he steps ashore. Then the names of many places are familiar to him and remind him of England, such as New York, New England, New Hampshire, New Jersey, as well as Boston, Worcester, Greenwich, New London, Cambridge, and many other towns which are named after English ones.

Moreover, he finds the way we Americans live, and the things we eat and wear, and the sort of amusements and sports we enjoy, much like what he has been used to in his home in England. On the other hand, immigrants from other countries find things different from what they were used to, and they try for a while to live as far as possible in the same way in which they lived in Italy or Russia or Germany. Little by little, however, as theybecome American citizens and grow used to the ways of the Americans about them, they give up the customs they brought over from their own countries. They change more and more to our manner of living, and their children can scarcely be distinguished from the children born of American parents.

Lastly, the Englishman finds that the works of the great English writers, living and dead, are read and treasured here in the United States just as they are in England. And with the best of reasons, for do they not, most of them, belong to us, just as they do to the English ? Shakespeare is ours, and Chaucer and Milton, for the forefathers of many of us were English people when these poets were writing their immortal plays and poems. Those English authors, too, who have lived and written since the time when our country became independent of England give us as much pleasure as our own American writers. When we read " Alice in Wonderland," or " Tom Brown at Rugby," or the "Jungle Book," we do not stop to think whether it was written by an Englishman or an American. The books of each country belong to both, and they give us a pleasure that we cannot get from the wTiters of any other country.

It is no wonder, then, since our native land is still English in the many ways that we have seen, and since it was English so long a time before it became the United States, that we sometimes call England the " mother country," and feel that, of all the countries across the sea, we have a very special kinship with that one.

Section 2. England

Perhaps the first thing to be realized about this little island from which our country sprang, is how small it really is. If we compare England with our own states, we shall find it to be about the size of Illinois; and the whole United States, of which it is the parent, is almost seventy-five times as large — a small country, indeed, to be the mother of so large a republic.

West of England lies the mountainous little country of Wales, which was conquered by the English kings some six hundred years ago. To the north are the mountains, moors, and lakes of Scotland. England, Wales, and Scotland together form the island called Great Britain. Separated from England by a strip of sea is Ireland — " Erin's green isle." These two islands, with many smaller ones along the coast, are known as the British Isles, or the United Kingdom.

The climate of England is a pleasant one, mild in winter and not too warm in the summer. They have many more rainy days there than we have, and less sunshine than we are used to, but it is the frequent mists and rains that make the island so fresh and green. It is a very attractive country, and although it is not large, it has a great variety of lovely scenery whose beauty is increased by picturesque villages and ivy-covered stone churches, by stately houses, fine old castles, and the spires and towers of splendid cathedrals.

Appearance of England. The first sight that meets the traveler's view as he approaches England from the south is the line of high white chalk cliffs that rise far above the sea and gleam for many miles against the blue waters of the Channel. It is said that it was because of the lo INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY

whiteness of these cHffs that England in ancient times was given the name of Albion — a name supposed to come from the Latin word albiis, meaning " white." Writers often use it, thinking it more poetic than the word " England." Shakespeare speaks of " great Albion's queen" and the " nook-shotten isle of Albion."

Wells Cathedral, England

After the traveler lands on the island and leaves the chalk cliffs behind him, he comes to the soft rolling hills, called downs, that are peculiar to southern England. They are low hills covered with grass and are very lovely when cloud shadows pass over their slopes. The region of the downs extends over all the southeastern

II part of England — almost two thirds of the whole country. The rest is made up of a central plain and a mountainous region beyond.

In this plain the traveler will find much to charm and delight him. There are little villages with thatched

English Village Street cottages and gardens gay with geraniums and roses, ancient castles with gray towers rising above the tops of thick green trees, and beautiful old country houses set in wide parks full of oak and beech trees. On every hand he will see trees and fields and hedges, and gentle rivers flowing between the greenest of meadows and shaded by masses of green leaves. If it were not for the mining districts and the smoky manufacturing cities that have grown up in recent times, the central part of England would be the softest and most smiling country in the world. But it is a pleasure to pass from this plain, green and luxuriant as it is, with its fields and hedgerows, and find one's self in the cool, clear, mountain district to the north. There the peaks, mist-covered, the mountain torrents that fall from their heights, and the shining lakes that lie in the hollows between, all give the traveler great delight. And if he has the good fortune to be in this country in the month of August, he will have still further delight in seeing the hills covered with purple heather and yellow gorse in full flower. These are some of the many beauties of England that make it seem not too high praise to call her a '* precious stone set in the silver sea."

Questions, l. What do you know about the American Indians ? 2. What is the difference between an immigrant and an emigrant ? 3. What did you know about England before you read this chapter?

Chapter II England Before The Roman Conquest

How the earliest peoples of whom we have any traces seem to have lived. The

Ice Age. The Stone Age. The use of bronze. Iron. How we learn about these

earliest peoples. Pytheas. The manners, customs, and beliefs of the Britons.

Invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar

Section 3. The Men of the Stone Age

This island of England, so much of whose history is really ours, lies so close to Europe that it almost seems to be a part of it. Where the water is narrowest one can see across from France to England. Many thousands of years ago England was actually attached to the Continent by a strip of land. Later this land sank gradually until the sea flowed in and covered it, forming the English Channel.

We have good reason to believe that before the two countries were divided the same kind of men dwelt in both. They were savages and lived much like animals, although they could use sticks to kill game and to defend themselves, instead of having to depend upon teeth and claws, and could make a fire to warm themselves and cook their food. They also used bits of flint to cut sticks and poles, to carve their meat, and to scrape the skins which they used for garments or for covering their huts. j

Fist hatchets. For a long time the only tool they had : was the flint which they picked up. Later they learned to take a lump of flint and knock off chips with another | stone until they formed a kind of hatchet, usually about I as big as a man's fist. They used this tor chopping, cut- j ting, scraping, and even sawing, for it had a rough edge, j These " fist hatchets " are found not only in the south | of England but all over southern Europe, and in Egypt, ]

India, Japan, and ; North America. So \ the men who used the fist hatchets must . have been scattered

over the whole earth.

Fist Hatchet of the Stone- Age Men

We do not know

what other implements they had, for all traces of their huts, clothing, and wooden utensils disappeared long,; long ago, and only their curious stone hatchets remain i to tell the tale.

The Ice Age. Bones of several kinds of elephants, the | rhinoceros, and the hyena are found along with the stone hatchets in England, so we suppose that the climate of; the country was warmer then than it now is — more like | that of Florida to-day. But later it became very cold— j so cold that a great sheet of ice, or glacier, pushed!

ENGLAND BEFORE THE ROMAN CONOUEST down from the mountains of Norway and covered all England except the southern part of the island. Our own country also was covered with ice at this period down as far as New York.

How man managed to live during the Ice Age we do not know. Many of the big animals that needed a warm climate died out, and the reindeer, the bison, and the huge hairy mammoth took their places. If men had not been able to make tools and provide themselves with shelter and clothing, as well as food, they would have suffered the fate of the lower animals. They learned gradually to make arrowheads and spearheads of flint, and bone needles with which to sew together skins for their clothing. They also began to paint and carve pictures on the walls of caves. Some of these have been discovered during the past few years in France, and show surprising skill.

After the ice melted, life became easier and men made still further progress. They learned how to weave, how to make pottery, and how to cultivate grain. They tamed

Drawings found on the Walls op^ Caves horses and kept cattle. But even yet they knew nothing at all about metals and still made all their tools of stone, bone, or wood. This period is often called the Stone Age. It was in this age, probably, that the vast circle of stones, called Stonehenge, was made. These stones are so huge that it would not be easy for men, even with a modern derrick, to set them up where they are. How

Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, England

the men of the Stone Age managed to do it or why they made the circle, no one knows.

Bronze and iron. Two or three hundred thousand years may have passed between the time that the men of the Stone Age first learned to make fist hatchets of flint, and man's discovery that copper could be used for tools. Copper is an easy metal to melt and, when mixed with a little tin, becomes hard enough to make a very good hatchet or knife. This mixture is called bronze, and it seems to have been first discovered some five or six

ENGLAND BEFORE THE ROMAN CONQUEST 17

thousand years ago. Another thousand years or so passed before any one began to use iron. This has proved the best metal for tools and machinery, for steel is, of course, only hardened iron. Man's discovery that he could use iron is one of the most important that he ever made.

All that we know about the people who lived in these dim ages of the past has been learned from the pieces of flint, the jugs and vases, the beads and shells, that are found to-day in the earth, where it has been turned up in digging or plowing, or has been washed away by streams. Such remains are found, too, in caves and in the big mounds in which the men of those early times buried the dead. No books have been left by them. Indeed, no one then could read or write, and the alphabet had not even be'^n thought of.

Section 4. The Ancient Britons

By the time, however, that the people living in England had learned how to make use of iron, there were in Europe two countries, Greece and Rome, which had already advanced so far in civilization that in some ways they knew as much as we do to-day. It is in their books that we find the first mention of the people who inhabited England at this time.

Greek account of the Britons. In one of their books there is an account of the people in the southwestern part of the island, where there were tin mines. According to this writer, the Britons in this region were a friendly people. They were often visited by merchants from other countries, for whose cargoes they traded off their tin. They were clever at w^eaving cloth and could even weave plaid designs in it.

Early British Pottery

They were much given to feasting. At their banquets they sat on rushes or the skins of wild beasts, around a pot on the fireplace, or in a circle on the grass in front of little tables on which were baskets full of bread. Great quantities of meat were served, which they gnaw^ed from the bone like dogs. Fruit and vegetables they do not seem to have known. They had a minstrel to sing to them while they ate, but his music was not always soothing, it seems, for a quarrel usually took place at every

ENGLAND BEFORE THE ROMAN CONQUEST 19

feast, and some guest was pretty sure to stab another to death before the company broke up.

The Britons thought that there were many gods and goddesses to whom they ought to offer sacrifices. They beheved in all kinds of signs and omens, and in fairies, sprites, and hobgoblins. One curious belief was that in certain wells and springs there were fairies who would grant them their wishes in return for gifts dropped into the water or hung on bushes. Every sort of offering was made to these spirits — sometimes a piece of money, sometimes an egg, or a piece of cloth, or a crooked pin. Even to-day this old, old custom is followed in some remote parts of England and Ireland, where the young people still believe in '' wishing wells " and still hang rags on the bushes or drop crooked pins in the water to please the spirits of the spring.

Druids. The priests of the Britons were a powerful body of men called Druids. They made sacrifices to their gods, sometimes of human beings, whom they burned to death in wicker cages. They acted also as teachers of the young men, and settled disputes which arose among the people. The great oak trees, with mistletoe hanging from their branches, which we still see in parts of England, were held sacred to the Druids because it was under them that they performed their ceremonies. The mistletoe itself was believed to be a very precious plant, capable of healing wounds and curing diseases. There was great rejoicing when its clusters of white berries and gray-green leaves were discovered growing upon an oak tree. A Druid, clothed in a flowing white robe, climbed the tree and cut off the plant with a golden sickle, while the onlookers stood around and gazed with awe upon the solemn ceremony.

The Britons were scattered over the island in tribes, each governed by its own chieftain, who acted also as its commander in case of war with other tribes.

Wars were very frequent, especially in the more thickly settled southern regions, and different tribes were constantly engaged in fierce conflicts with one another.

Section 5. How the Romans CAME TO Britain

Julius Caesar. In the summer of 55 B.C. word came to the Britons from Gaul, the country that is now called France, that the great Roman general, Julius Caesar, who had been for many months engaged in conquering the Gauls, was getting ready a fleet of ships to take him and

Ancient Roman Vessels

ENGLAND BEFORE THE ROMAN CONQUEST 21 his soldiers over to Britain. He had heard that the Britons were sending aid to the Gauls in the war he was waging with them, and he wished to put an end to it. He desired also to learn what manner of men they might be, and what their island was like.

This alarming news was not long in spreading among the Britons. The various tribes forgot for a time their own quarrels with one another in preparations for resisting this invader of their country. It was not till late in the summer that the watchers who had been posted on the chalk cliffs saw far out on the Channel the gleaming sails of the approaching Roman ships.

As the fleet drew near, the British leaders, who had assembled their warriors on the shore, surveyed with wonder the long ships with their beaked prows and lines

of rowers ; the Roman soldiers, with their glittering lances and shields and shining helmets, as they followed the standard bearer who leaped from the foremost boat into the waves, carrying the Roman eagle ; and, above all.

Roman Soldiers the commanding figure of Julius Caesar himself, directing and encouraging his men. Such an army the Britons had never before dreamed of. Yet they were not frightened by it, and without even waiting for Caesar and his legions to reach the shore, they rushed fiercely to the attack.

The Romans finally succeeded in getting to the shore, and, after some sharp fighting, put the Britons to flight. Caesar stayed in the country only a short time, however, on account of the nearness of winter, and returned across the Channel to Gaul without having accomplished anything except the finding of the way over. Little more was done on a second invasion which he made a year later. He stayed a little longer and went farther into the interior, but he was continually driven off by the Britons, and he finally gave up and withdrew his forces again to Gaul. It was almost a hundred years before the Romans again brought an army into. Britain.

Questions, l. How do we know anything about the people who lived in the Stone Age ? 2. Do you know of any people who live to-day as the ancient Britons did ? 3. Do you know anything about the Romans ? 4. How many years is it since 55 B.C. ?

References. Cheyney. Readings in English History, pp. 10-14 (Caesar and the Britons); pp. 15-19 (description of the Britons).

Chapter III

Legendary founding of Rome. The Romans conquer all Italy. Life of the early Romans. Rome's wars with Carthage. The government of Rome. The Roman army. The imperator. A triumph. Julius Caesar. Augustus becomes the head of the Roman Empire. The civilization of the Greek people. How the Romans copied the Greek books, architecture, art, and ways of living. What our western world owes to Greece

Section 6. The Roman Republic

Rise of Rome. The soldiers who had come over to Britain with JuHus Caesar were but a small part of the Roman armies which had been engaged for six or seven hundred years in gradually conquering southern Europe, as well as portions of Africa and Asia. Every one should know something of the great Roman Empire, which grew so eager to rule the world that It wanted even the remote outlying Island of Britain.