Introduction to American history

Preface

"-- It is not possible for a pupil to take up the study of

y American history intelligently without knowing something

4^.^^ of the European background. Events and conditions in

Europe throw light upon the early history of the United

States. This little book is intended to furnish that Euro-

^ pean background. By making use of it the pupil will be

able to take up, in a more satisfactory way than would

) otherwise be possible, the formal study of American history

in the seventh grade. It may seem somewhat strange at

first thought that an introduction to American history

should extend so far back into the history of Europe, but

the fact is that the roots of our history strike far back into

European soil.

The book fulfills the requirements of the Committee of Eight of the American Historical Association and, in , addition, presents an introductory chapter on ''The Dawn of History." If it is desired to adhere strictly to the recommendations of the Committee the first chapter of the book should be omitted. We believe, however, that a study of this chapter will add very greatly to the effectiveness of the course.

Acknowledgments are due for the following pictures in the book: to The Commercial Museum, Philadelphia, for ''Model of a Phoenician Vessel"; to The Encylopaedia Britannica Corporation, New York, for "Xerxes Watching the Battle of Salamis" and "Phidias Building the Parthenon"; to the Mentor Association, New York, for "Coronado on the March," "Magellan Landing at the Philippines" and "Cartier at Montreal"; and to Mr. G. A. Reid, Toronto, for "The Coming of the White Man. "

James Albert Woodburn Thomas Francis Moran

iii

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Dawn of History 1

II. The Rise of the Greeks 18

Chapter I The Dawn Of History

America **The New Part." In thinking about the United States of America we should always bear in mind that our country is a part of the ^^New World." Before Columbus made his famous voyage of discovery in 1492, the great American continents, stretching almost from pole to pole, were unknown. No one had dreamed of the existence of this great body of land. Parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa had been known for centuries and these three parts are now called the ^'Old World."

The naming of this ''New Part" took place in 1507. It came about in this way. Martin Waldseemiiller, a German college professor, in writing the introduction to a geography, suggested that the newly discovered continent be named America in honor of Americus Vespucius, to whom he gave the credit of discovering it. He spoke of the continent as the ''new" or "fourth part" of the globe; Europe, Asia and Africa being the other three.

Now in thinking about this "new" or "fourth part" of the world, we should remember that the history of the New World is based upon that of the Old. The men who built homes and founded colonies in the New World came from various parts of the Old, more particularly from Europe. And they brought with them their tools and machines, as well as their knowledge of art and agriculture, of government and religion, of science and invention. The history of the Old World was thus carried over and continued in the New. The American colonist in his new home did not begin all over again. His history in the New World begins where it left off in the Old. This same thing would occur at the present time if a group of your neigh-

Rameses and His Lions Rameses, the great Egyptian king and conqueror, lived about 1350 b.c. He is represented here in a great triumphal procession with his lions at his side.

bors and friends should emigrate and make homes in some new land. They would carry with them certain parts of their civilization and we are going to learn that the American Colonists did likewise.

The Roots of American History. Since the roots of American history extend back into the soil of the Old World, we should know something of the history of this Old World if we would understand the history of our own country. We should know in a general way what men did and learned and thought, before America was discovered in 1492.

The Cradle of Our Civilization. The history of the world begins with the people of the far East or the Orient, as it is called. The cradle of the world's civilization was in the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates Rivers, two of the most wonderful and interesting river valleys in the world. Here history begins with the Egyptians and Chaldeans. Let us glance for a moment at the early achievements of these eastern nations.

The Egyptians. There was a very good reason why an early civilization should spring up on the banks of the Nile River. The climate was mild and the soil fertile and it was very easy to obtain food and clothing there. One could get a living almost without working at all. Each year when the heavy rains came in the mountains, near the sources of the river, the Nile overflowed its banks and left a layer of fertile mud over all the surrounding country. Grain was scattered broadcast in this rich loam and one of the ancient writers tells us that it was trampled into the ground by cattle, goats and sheep. The result was a bountiful harvest, almost without labor on the part of the farmer. Egypt was called ''The Granary of the Mediterranean World" and often furnished food to other peoples besides her own. You will recall the story of Joseph and the other sons of Jacob who went into Egypt to purchase corn when famine had stricken their own land.

Grain, however, was not the only crop raised by the early Egyptian. In his garden he had peas, beans, radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, and onions. In his vineyard he raised an abundance of grapes from which he made his own wine. He also raised clover for his cattle and flax for his clothing. If you could take a peep into his barnyard, you would see sheep, cows, goats, pigs, ducks, geese, and pigeons, as well as antelopes, gazelles, and storks. Chickens were not known to him and he did not domesticate the horse until a later time. Some of these animals, however, were not much like those to be found now on an American farm. The pig, for example, was very thin and scrawny, more hke the wild hogs or ^^razor-backs" which ranged at one time through our forests.

Since the water for the farmer's fields came all at once, it was necessary for him to store up a part of it for future use, so the Egyptian built reservoirs and canals and irrigated his land in much the same way that some of our Western farmers are doing at the present time. One of these reservoirs was known as Lake Moeris. It was many miles in diameter and was found to be in perfect condition when examined by a Roman engineer, two thousand years after it was built. These old Egyptians made things in a very substantial way.

As it was so easy to make a living, the Egyptian found it possible to turn his attention to other things. He was especially skillful in architecture. His buildings were, as a rule, massive and very durable. The best example of this kind of architecture is the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, which is still standing, although built about five thousand years ago. This huge structure, the largest in the world, covers thirteen acres of land and is four hundred and eighty-one feet high. It contains more than two million blocks of stone, some of them weighing more than fifty tons. Its faces were beautifully polished and its joints so nicely fitted together that they could scarcely be seen with the naked eye. Thirty years of the hardest kind of labor

Building the Pyramids

were required to build this pyramid. The blocks of stone were quarried in the mountains, dragged down to the Nile, and then conveyed on rafts to the site of the pyramid. All this was done by hand. The horse was not in use among the Egyptians and hoisting machinery was apparently not known. These pyramids were the tombs of the kings.

Upon his private dwelling, however, the Egyptian did not spend very much time or labor. He lived in a rude house, consisting of a wooden frame covered with clay, dried in the sun. These houses were very perishable. But the Temple of Karnak, one fourth of a mile long, still exists as a splendid and impressive ruin after enduring the storms of thousands of years.

In science, for a beginner the Egyptian did wonderful things. The flood washed away his boundary lines each year; hence he had need of geometry and surveying in order to fix the line fences. The clear climate and the level plains were favorable to a study of the heavens; hence, he made advances in astronomy. He calculated the length of the year to be nearly three hundred sixtyfive and one fourth days and divided it into months, thus making the calendar which, with a few minor corrections, we use to-day. He foretold eclipses, knew the points of the compass, used the decimal system, invented a good system of weights and measures, and measured time by

The "Hall of Columns," Temple

OF Karnak Only the ruins remain now of this wonderful structure. The picture shows how it must have looked in the days of Egypt's greatness.

These gigantic columns were built entirely by hand and decorated with curious pictures and writing. It must have taken the labor of thousands of men for many years.

means of the sun-dial and the water-clock. In arithmetic he used figures as high as millions, and in constructing his buildings, he used the principles of the arch, the lever, and the inclined plane.

When we review the civilization of ancient Egypt we are almost tempted to say that there is ^'nothing new under the sun." Egypt certainly made a good beginning and we should remember that the Nile River was at the foundation of her prosperity. An old Greek writer called Egypt, "the gift of the Nile," and certainly the Nile River largely made Egypt what she was.

The Chaldeans. The little tongue of land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers was occupied in very ancient times by another important people, the Chaldeans, or the Babylonians, as they are sometimes called. This is one of the most famous little strips of land in the world. It has been called, "the graveyard of empires and nations," because so many different peoples lived and died on the little peninsula.

The civiUzation of Chaldea was much like that of Egypt. The life of the people in old Chaldea was based upon her two great rivers in much the same way that the fife of the Egyptians was based upon the Nile.

Agriculture was the principal occupation and the land was made exceptionally fertile by irrigation from the rivers. In fact, the crops were so marvelously large that the old Greek historian, Herodotus, who traveled in Chaldea, said that he was afraid to tell the whole truth about them for fear people would not believe him; and Herodotus, as you may find out sometime, did not hesitate to tell some pretty big stories about what he saw.

Brick-making, next to agriculture, was the most important industry. The Chaldeans, unlike the Egyptians, did not have stone for their buildings and used brick almost entirely. These bricks were made from clay which was very easy to get in this country. Some of the bricks were dried in the sun, and others baked in kilns. On the whole, they made rather poor building material, and yet the Chaldeans built some notable buildings from them. The Tower Temple, for example, rose in the shape of a pyramid, story after story, above the plain and was used as a temple for religious worship and for observing the stars, as well.

From these rude bricks were also made the famous elevated gardens, in imitation of mountain scenery. The most noted of these were the ^'Hanging Gardens," built by the King Nebuchadnezzar for the pleasure of his queen, who formerly lived in the Median mountains and hungered for mountain scenery. These famous gardens were considered, as you know, one of the '^ Seven wonders of the world."

In science, the Chaldeans were as far advanced as the Egyptians and in some respects, more so. They were also exceedingly practical in making use of their scientific knowledge. They invented the potter's wheel and used the arch in the construction of aqueducts. They knew the use of the lever and pulley and devised a good system of weights and measures. They divided time into years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds and measured it by the sun-dial in the day time and by the water-clock at night. They predicted echpses, made maps of the heavens, and marked out the course of the sun. This was not a simple thing to do. Would you think it an easy task to go out into the night and study the stars as the Chaldeans did without teachers, books, or instruments, except those of the simplest and rudest kind? Of course, some of this was a very crude kind of astronomy, and had to do with fortune-telling by means of the stars, but we should remember that even the English people attempted

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

to tell fortunes by the stars as late as the time of Queen Ehzabeth, in the sixteenth century.

Egypt and Chaldea, then, as the ''twin sources of the world's culture" made many notable contributions to civilization which we in America are making use of at the present time. When we get our first ghmpse of these people away back in ancient times we discover that they were not barbarians by any means.

The Phoenicians. These two nations, however, are not the only ones that were prominent in the dawn of history. The Phoenicians were also important. They lived on the narrow strip of territory, one hundred and fifty miles long and ten to fifteen miles wide, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea (see map facing p. 4) . Here with their backs to the Lebanon mountains and their faces towards the sea, they came, naturally enough, at a very early time to be seafaring men. They were the sailors, traders, and colonizers of the ancient oriental world. As early as 1500 b.c, the Mediterranean was dotted with their ships — small open boats propelled by oars and sails. They almost had a monopoly of the sea. The north star was called the '^ Phoenicians' Star," because it guided the course of the Phoenicians' boats. At that time the mariner's compass which is used on all ships now-a-days was not known. In these frail

Model of a Phoenician Ship

These swift and trim little boats were the first carriers of commerce on the Mediterranean Sea. They were propelled by sails and oars and weathered many fierce gales.

vessels the Phoenicians traversed every part of the Mediterranean Sea and even ventured out at times into the Atlantic Ocean. In their trading journeys by land and sea they brought amber from the Baltic, tin from Britain, and ostrich feathers from Ethiopia.

Some of the products of Phoenicia were famous the world over. The cedars of Lebanon, for example, furnished excellent ship timber and made the tallest and the straightest masts; the glass of Sidon, beautifully colored, cut and polished, was eagerly sought everywhere; and the purple dye, made from a snail or shellfish found near Tyre, was used to color the robes of kings and queens.

The Phoenicians also took large contracts from neighboring peoples. They built ships and rented or sold them; they made a voyage around Africa for the Egyptians; they built the bridges across the Hellespont over which an army of a million Persians invaded Greece; and they furnished some of the material and did a large part of the finer work on Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.

The greatest importance of the Phoenicians, however, does not lie in what they made or in what they found out for themselves. The most important thing they did was to take the inventions and ideas of other peoples and spread them far and wide. For this reason they have been called ^'the missionaries of civilization." For example, they obtained the alphabet, probably from the Egyptians, and, having made some improvements upon it, gave it to the Greeks; the Greeks gave it to the Romans and the Romans handed it down to the Germans and other peoples of modern Europe. Thus, the Phoenician alphabet with its twenty-two characters is the basis of the alphabet which we are using to-day.

The Hebrews. The Hebrews were also an interesting

Building Solomon's Temple

The Temple at Jerusalem was one of the most famous buildings in the world. It was built by King Solomon with the assistance of skilled workmen from Phoenicia. The Phoenicians also furnished some of the buildmg material.

and important people in this early time. They were mostly shepherds and therefore different from the three peoples already described. While the civilization of Egypt and Chaldea was based on their great rivers and that of Phoenicia upon the sea, the foundation of Hebrew civihzation was rehgion. The Hebrews did very httle to advance the material civihzation of the world. They were not ^'mighty builders," like the Egyptians, or great traders like the Phoenicians; they were not famous in science or art, or invention, but they have the proud distinction of being the great moral and religious teachers of the world. Nations before them had religions of various kinds but the Hebrews were the first to worship one supreme God. This constituted a purer and more elevating form of religion than any other.

After a time the religion of the Hebrews developed into Christianity and thus became the religion of a large part of the people of the world. The Hebrews also gave us the Ten Commandments, 'Hhe noblest brief collection of the laws of right living that has come down from the ancient world.'' When we consider the writings of the Hebrews and their religious influence upon the civilized world, we must give to this nation a high place among the historic peoples of ancient times.

The country which the Hebrews occupied was known as Palestine and lay south of Phoenicia (see map facing p. 4). It was a small country, only one hundred and fifty miles long and one hundred miles wide — a mere dot on the face of the globe — and yet within these narrow bounds great things were done by such Hebrew kings as Saul, ^Hhe mighty man of valor," David, ^Hhe sweet singer of Israel," and Solomon, proverbial for his wisdom. And still greater things were done by the Hebrew prophets and teachers. Interesting stories of these great men are to be found in the Old Testament.

The Persians. And now a word about another eastern people — the Persians. These were also quite different from the other peoples already mentioned. They did not seem to care much for art or literature. Their architecture was rather poor and they did not do much in science. They were, however, noted in another direction. They

The Persian Empire were famous as soldiers and governors. They were the empire builders of their day. Persia was at first a small district of country lying near the Persian Gulf (see map facing p. 4). But under its famous kings, Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, it expanded into a great empire, extending from the Indus River on the east to the Aegean Sea on the west — a distance of more than three thousand miles.

It was from five hundred to fifteen hundred miles in width and had a population of seventy-five million — ■ three fourths as many people as there are in the United States to-day. If it could be moved to the westward, the Persian Empire would cover more than one half of the map of Europe. It embraced all of the known world except India and China on the east and Greece and Carthage on the west. The Persians, then, were the conquerors, rulers, and governors — the Romans of their day.

We are not inclined in these days to praise a conqueror who takes possession of the country of a weaker nation, but it should be said in favor of these Persians that they united the East under a much better form of government than it had ever known before. The tribes which had been warring with each other for centuries were compelled to live together in peace and harmony under Persian rule for two hundred years. With this period of peace came prosperity and advancement in civilization.

The Persians also did many things to bind together their vast empire. They made good roads — better than were ever built before. The most famous of these was the Royal Road, extending from Susa to Sardis, a distance of fifteen hundred miles. Along this famous highway there traveled great crowds of people, representing scores of surrounding tribes. Some of these people rode on tireless Bokhara ponies, or horses, while others trudged along with donkeys or camels, laden with goods for some distant market. Government messengers, mounted on swift Arabian horses, often made the fifteen hundred miles, which is nearly half way across the United States, in six days. Ordinarily it took about three months to make the journey.

An old Greek traveler marveled at the speed with which the royal messengers, changing horses and men at short intervals, could carry the mail. He thought it very remarkable that they never stopped for wind, rain, or the darkness of night. What would he say if he could see a present-day mail train like ^^The Twentieth Century Limited," flying from New York to Chicago, a thousand miles; in twenty hours? This train does not stop for rain or darkness, either.

In this brief account of these Eastern peoples among whom was the '^ cradle of our civilization" we can see how far back in the history of the world are the roots of the American life of to-day. Although these five empires and nations declined and fell centuries ago, many of their achievements are still in existence. The architecture of the Egyptian, the agriculture and industries of the Chaldeans, the commercial genius of the Phoenicians, the religion of the Hebrews and the military and governing skill of the Persians, all have lent aid to us in the United States. They ^4it the torch" of civilization and passed it on to the nations farther west. Europe now becomes the scene of action. After these eastern nations had passed away, Greece became the center of the world's civilization to the study of which we shall now turn.

1. What we know of the history of Egypt goes back four thousand years before Christ. It has been nearly two thousand years since Christ lived, making about six thousand years of recorded history. Represent on the blackboard these six thousand years by a Une, allowing one inch to each century.

2. Mark ofif the time since the birth of Christ. Call that part of the line to the left B.C. (Before Christ), the part to the right A.D. (Anno Domini, or in the Year of our Lord, meaning since Christ was born).

3. Mark off on the line the part covered since the *' New World " was known as such.

4. The United States as a nation is less than one hundred and fifty years old. Mark off on the line the part covered by United States history.

Now study your line carefully to see what it shows.

5. Tell at least one thing for which we are indebted to each of the five early nations mentioned in this chapter. Show the connection, if you can, between their daily life and ours. Think carefully.

6. What is meant by " The Cradle of Civilization " and " The Missionaries of Civilization " ?

Aegean, e-je'an Herodotus, he-rod'o-tws

Americus Vespucius. a-mer'i-ciis Israel. iz'ra-6l

v6s-pu'shi-us Karnak. kar'nak

Cambyses. kam-bi'sez Nebuchadnezzar. n6b'lJ-kS,d-n6z'ar

Chaldea. kal-de'd Palestine, pares-tin

Euphrates, u-fra'tez Tigris, tl'grls

Chapter II

^'Our laws, our literature, our religion, our art, have their roots in Greece.^' — Shelley.

While the Persians were welding together a great empire in the East, the most interesting and most important nation of the ancient world was growing up in Greece and the surrounding islands. Here was the first home of culture in Europe.

Greece, **The Heir of the Orient." Greece has been called the ''heir of the Orient"; this means that Greece inherited the civilization of the eastern nations. She developed it to a still higher degree of perfection. Greece

Greece in Ancient Times

is a peninsula jutting out into the sea. She thus came into contact with Phoenician commerce and other currents of civilization coming from the East. The journey from Phoenicia to Greece was both short and easy. It was not difficult for sailors, even without the use of the mariner's compass, to find their way from island to island and finally to the mainland of Greece. For this reason, the islands of the Aegean Sea have often been called ''stepping stones." Greece thus faced the Orient and was the first European country to profit by the civilization of the East. She was the first to extend ''welcoming hands to the bearers of the world's best gifts."

But the Greeks had also developed a most beautiful civilization of their own. They were not mere imitators. They were a bright, alert and quick people. They had good minds and lively imaginations and they lived in one of the most beautiful countries of the world. The sea, the rivers, the mountains and the lakes, combined with a transparent atmosphere and temperate climate to make living in Greece pleasant and even joyful. And so on Greek soil there grew up a freer and better civilization than any which had existed in the East. There was, as we shall see later, a greater freedom in religion, art,

government, and modes of living than the Oriental nations ever saw. It is for this reason that the people of to-day admire Greek civilization so much and have profited so largely by it.

Patriotism and Public Spirit.

In the first place, we admire the Greeks for their fine patriotism and unselfish public spirit.

The Greek was always ready to fight for his country and to sacrifice himself, if necessary, for the public welfare. We admire any man who has good principles and high ideals

A Greek Warrior and is ready to fight for them when necessary. This the Greek did.

The Wars with the Persians. There is abundant evidence of this patriotism and pubUc spirit in the wars which the Greeks waged against the Persians. When a nation is victorious in arms and has had a taste of conquest, it is very difficult for it to stop fighting. After the Persians had conquered everybody in the East, they cast their eyes towards the West and fastened them upon Greece.

Now, when one nation wishes to make war upon another, it is usually easy enough to find a cause for doing so. The Persian War began in this way. When the Persians were subduing Greek cities in Asia Minor, some years before, the Greeks of Athens — the Athenians — ■ sent assistance to their kinsmen. The result was the looting and burning of Sardis, the Persian capital. King Darius was terribly angry and it is said that he appointed a herald to cry out to him three times each day, ^^Sire, Remember the Athenians." And he did remember the Athenians.

The First Invasion (492 B.C.). He gathered together a large army and fieet and sent them against Greece. They accomplished nothing, however, as the vessels were dashed to splinters in a terrific storm off Mount Athos. Darius began his preparations anew. Before starting out a second time, however, he sent messengers to the Greek cities asking them for '^ earth and water" in token of their submission to the power of Persia. The messengers received their earth and water from the Greeks in this way: they were cast into a pit at Athens and into a well at Sparta and told to help themselves to all the earth and water they wanted. The Persian king was insulted by this, of course, and so the fight was on.

The Second Invasion (490 B.C.). The fleet and army went directly to Greece and the army was landed on the Plain of Marathon, near Mount Pentelicus and some twenty or twenty-five miles from Athens. Here, the Athenians went out to meet them and to engage them almost single-handed. Sparta had promised to give assistance and when the Persian hosts were sighted, Phidippides, a swift Athenian runner, was sent to that city over one hundred fifty miles of rugged road to notify the Spartans to hasten to the scene of the battle. The Spartans, however, declined to come, saying that it was against their law to start out upon a military expedition before the full of the moon. This probably was not the real reason for their refusal. It is likely that they were not particularly anxious to help the Athenians, their old rivals, out of a tight place.

The Athenians, therefore, with about ten thousand men, were compelled to face the victorious Persians, with five or possibly ten times that number.

The Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). The Greek hearts were strong, however, and Miltiades, their leader, used splendid strategy. He marched his men out boldly and rapidly to encounter the enemy. When about an arrow's flight distant from the Persian ranks, the Greeks broke into a run and were upon the enemy in an instant. The Persians were surprised and confused and their arrows had little effect upon the heavy armor of the Greeks. The long spears of the Greeks, on the other hand, played havoc with the Persians. The battle was soon over, and six thousand four hundred Persians lay dead upon the field. Only one hundred ninety-two Greeks were killed. Again Phidippides, although weary from fighting in the battle