History of the United States

Front matter

Class ___£_Q1

Book a!

Copyright^

Preface

In the preparation of this book I wish gratefully to acknowledge the aid freely and generously given me by a number of able teachers of history and by special investigators other than those referred to in the course of the text. I am indebted for helpful criticism to Mr. Joseph Packard, formerly President of the School Board of Baltimore city; Dr. Henry E. Shepherd, formerly President of the College of Charleston; Mr. William Leigh, Jr., of St. Luke's School, Wayne, Pa.; Miss Grace M. Gallaher, of Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore; Mr. George S. Wills, formerly of the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute; and Mr. William Tappan, Principal of the Jefferson School for Boys. To Mr. Wills and to Mr. Tappan I am under special obligations for invaluable criticism in the matters of composition and style.

Others who have reviewed the manuscript in whole or in part and who have greatly assisted in securing accuracy of statement or clearness of exposition are the Rt. Hon. James Bryce l and Mr. Sydney George Fisher, to both of whom I am indebted for the reading of portions of the manuscript and for suggestions on colonial history; to Mr. H. F. Powell, formerly on the staff of the Boston Herald, a special student of past and contemporary events; and to Mr. Gamaliel Bradford, of Massachusetts, author and specialist in American biographical studies. To Professor John H. Latane, of the Johns Hopkins University, I am especially grateful for generous and most able criticism, and to Mr. Charles Francis Adams for important suggestions in nomenclature and outline.

Limitations of space forbid acknowledgment of the many kindnesses and courtesies I have received from librarians and special

discount, 1914.

vi PREFACE

students in every section of the country, with whom I was in correspondence in an endeavor to avail myself of the latest investigations on every subject discussed or touched upon in this volume. In the matter of illustrations, I would particularly acknowledge the courtesy of Mr. F. H. Meserve, Mr. Wm. J. Campbell, and Mr. Charles W. Burrows, President of The United States History Company, publishers of Avery's History of the United States and its People.

M. P. A.

Foreword

It is frequently stated that American history is less interesting than the narratives of the Old World countries. The writer has not found it so. On the contrary, during an experience of several years as an instructor in secondary schools, he found that the history of the United States could be made the most attractive subject of its kind. This was due not merely to its more intimate connection with the student, but also to the opportunities it offered for discussion and variety of viewpoint. In the whole high school curriculum it proved to be the subject best adapted to arouse the interest of an otherwise uninterested pupil.

Practical experience as a teacher seemed clearly to indicate the need of a text-book that should present the results of the latest thought and research. The class-room comparison of text readings showed confusing divergencies of treatment in respect to the most important periods of United States history. These differences were not noted in the history texts of other countries, and were due to the fact that the writing of United States history had not emerged from the formative period to the present basis, a surer and, perhaps, a permanent one. In recent years new light has enveloped the oldest narrative landmarks. For example, since certain Spanish archives have been made accessible, we have learned more about the discoveries of John Cabot and their relative importance; and, because of painstaking work in the original English records, we are compelled to discredit much of the oncetrusted narrative of Captain John Smith and to accept instead the testimony of the permanent settlers, as well as that of the founders, of the earliest English civilization in the New World. Unless recently written, no history has reaped the benefit of these labors of special investigators, to whom we are under lasting obligations.

vii viii FOREWORD

The changes in the treatment of more recent history are, however, of greater importance than the discoveries among the older records. In the past few years writers on special topics have revolutionized historical viewpoints with regard to the political and social issues that distracted the country throughout the nineteenth century. The publication, for instance, of a single volume on the attitude of one State on the subject of slavery caused an American scholar and historian of international reputation to exclaim that, in the light of this new presentation, he would have to recast the views of a lifetime. The volume referred to was issued as late as 1910.

Charles Francis Adams has said, in speaking particularly of the American historians, that they err oftenest through preconceptions, patriotism, or religious prejudices. Comparatively little error on account of religious predilections is now evident in American history, but there still exists much that is due either to strong preconceptions or to sectional prejudices. This, also, is happily disappearing under the influence of a new "era of good feeling" that welcomes light and liberality. The historian should be thoroughly national and equally fair to every section of the country. A sense of proportion must always be present, and a State or section relatively of less importance now may have been powerful in a former period and should not, in proportionate treatment, suffer with respect to the period of its predominance. In this way only is the true historical perspective obtained.

Class-room experience has demonstrated the necessity for extraordinary effort to secure greater continuity of narrative in the treatment of United States history. Commencing with the fall of Constantinople or the birth of Columbus and continuing through a succession of Spanish, French, and Portuguese explorers is not truly beginning with the history of the United States as a country founded under other auspices. In a text-book, this method has the consequence of confusing the mind of the student with a hundred details of exploration that bear no important part in the development of the United States, however much they concern

FOREWORD ix

the settlement of South America or Canada. Frequently, as much as one-seventh or even one-sixth of the text is devoted to events preceding the first English settlement. This space may certainly be used to better advantage in the real history of the United States. It is difficult enough to create, even approximately, a continuous story when the historian is confronted with thirteen different sources in English colonization alone. Therefore, for the sake of clearness, unity, continuity, and proportion, the narrative should commence with the first efforts of the colonization that was destined to shape and dominate the beginning of the republic

In this book, no unpractical or theoretical list of authorities takes up space at the end of each chapter. Brief suggestions with regard to authorities and their relative importance are presented in an appendix. Illustrations are given throughout the book, because the author had opportunity, as a teacher, to observe their practical value. Moreover, the tendency of the age in every line of work is toward more and better illustrations rather than away from them. No effort has been made to " write down" to the experience of the pupil; but special care has been taken to make the text so clear that the general knowledge of the student will be naturally enlarged and thus the task of the teacher lightened. In fact, in the preparation of this volume for high school work, the author has constantly had in mind the needs of the teacher and the interest of those who may read and discuss it in the home.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Discovery and Exploration 1

II. Early Settlements 11

Chapter I

1. Origin of the English Claim to the North American Conti= nent. — The history of the United States may be said to have had its beginning on the fifth of March, 1496, when Henry VII granted to John Cabot a patent "to seeke out" other islands or Henry virs countries across the Atlantic, where, four years earlier, joh^Cabot! land had been discovered by Columbus. Cabot's ex- 1496 plorations were to be conducted in the interest of the English, whereas Columbus had made his discoveries under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain.

Although Spain and Portugal, under the special sanction of the Pope, had already divided between themselves the whole of the New World, the shrewd English sovereign determined that England also should explore the unknown waters in the west. It was this action of Henry VII that laid the foundation for English claims and settlements in North America. Fortunately for such an outcome, it had happened that Columbus in his various voyages had not touched the shores of the North American continent, but up to this time had discovered Discoveries only the islands to the southeast. These he had called of Columbus the West Indies in the belief that they were somewhere off the coast of Asia No one seems to have suspected that a new con-

COLUMBUS

From painting in the Marine Museum at Madrid tinent and another ocean lay between western Europe and the eastern shores of Asia.

With the hope, therefore, of finding a route to India, John Cabot set sail in May, 1497, in a small vessel, manned, it is said, by only eighteen men. Partly in order to keep at a good distance _. , from the Spanish in the West Indies, who already had

Discovery of * •/

the contin- entered a vigorous protest at the English court against

ent of North ° it ■

America by his proposed voyage, he directed his course almost in a straight line to the westward. After several weeks of sailing, he came in sight of land somewhere off the coast of what is now southern Labrador. Disembarking here early in the summer of 1497, he became thereby the first of the fifteenth-century explorers to set foot upon the shores of either continent of the New World. Here he set up the English flag and began an exploration in search of the "northwest passage to India." Finding the waters dangerous by reason of fields of floating ice, he turned homeward to tell the English of a great country to the west and north of the Spanish discoveries. Among

Avery's History ^ th j ng g fo fo^ them Q f CQ( J g() pfenti-

JOHN CABOT ° ' C

From John Cassidv models, ful in the waters that they impeded the Manchester, England pr0 g re ss of his vessel; and that it was necessary "but to cast over a basket in which a stone had been put to draw up a great catch."

In England, Cabot was forthwith acclaimed as "the great

admiral" and was granted special favors and privileges, although

his immediate reward in money is set down in the note

Results of . "

Cabot's first book of the thrifty king: To hym that iounde the

voyage

new Isle, £10." But the real importance of his discovery lies in the fact that the English people came to feel that they had a share in the explorations of the New World, a fact which they never forgot and which led to their final control of North America.

ORIGIN OF ENGLISH CLAIM

This first voyage of John Cabot resulted in the fitting out of a new and larger expedition for exploration and discovery. Consequently, he was put in command of a little fleet of four or five vessels and granted a second royal patent of discovery under the English flag. Setting out in the spring of 1498, prob- gecond vov . ably accompanied by his son Sebastian, he again set age^of John foot on the shores of the New World. This time he landed on the coast of Newfoundland, whence he turned northward a second time along the coast to seek the much-desired

— ~ ir^Cabot 1407 ls r , f „ rn Lisbon? f ^ from first voytqe 1493 p.,]

first Loy«qe 1492

MAP SHOWING FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS AND THE VOYAGES OF CABOT

northwest passage to India; but somewhere off the shores of Labrador, he again encountered perilous fields of ice and felt compelled to retrace his course to Newfoundland. From Newfoundland, he sailed southward for several weeks along the great and then unknown coast of the North American continent on a voyage which has recently been called the "First American Coast Survey." It is not yet known just how far this survey or exploration extended, but it now seems probable that Cabot touched upon or passed by the shores of the present Atlantic seaboard States from Maine to Florida. 1

These discoveries of Cabot and the English in the north, unlike those of Columbus and the Spanish in the south, did not at once lead to settlement and colonization. Successive voyages Contrast be- by many seamen disclosed the fact that savage Indians rItion e s xp 'i°n dwelt in North America, and that there was not the imsouth Tmer- mediate prospect of gaining fabulous wealth in mines lca of gold or silver. Perhaps it was fortunate that such

was the case, for the English colonies that were finally established in North America were founded largely on principles of human rights, liberty, and individual freedom of endeavor; and the governments erected by them were in these respects far in advance of the old-world nations. Less hampered by ancient political customs, they reproduced and expanded English ideas under new conditions.

1 We should like to know more about this bold explorer, John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto). It now seems well established that, like Columbus (Christoforo Colombo), he was born in or near Genoa, that he later became a citizen of Venice, and that from there he went to England.

Other similarities in the lives of these two great explorers are also of interest: in their day both belonged to that group of advanced thinkers who maintained that the world was round and not, as generally believed, flat; they were both travelers, and both were endeavoring to discover a western route to India; although both came of a seafaring and commercial people, both were engaged in the service of a foreign country when they made their discoveries; both were brave and confident of their final success; and both were placed in command of skeptical crews inclined to mutiny or uprising.

Unlike Columbus, however, Cabot did not succeed in securing assistance to become the first to brave the terrors of the unknown western seas. They were alike again in that both had their enemies and traducers; but Columbus, for the most part, encountered his detractors in his lifetime, while Cabot was belittled after his death; moreover, it has now been ascertained that one of his three sons, Sebastian, was crafty and unscrupulous, and that he probably obscured his father's achievements in order to magnify his own.

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 5

2. Spanish Explorations and Attempted Settlements in North America during the Sixteenth Century. — Between the time of Cabot's voyages and the beginnings of permanent English colonization, many important events took place in Europe, and numererous expeditions were sent out to explore the western seas. Up to the end of the fifteenth century the New World had not been named, unless we except the naming of the West Indies by Columbus. What Cabot may have called the North American continent we do not know. 2 But between 1499 and 1503 still another Italian, Amerigo Vespucci (Ah-ma-ree-go Ves-poot- „ . .

Origin of

chee) , made a number of voyages to the south and west, the name

"America"

His account of these explorations was published in many languages and led to naming the new country after him. Hence the name "America," at first applied to the southern half, came in time to be used for both continental divisions of the New World.

At the end of the present chapter of exploration and discovery, there is given a reference list of a number of explorers in the employ of the different maritime nations of Europe. Few of these attempted to establish colonies in North America, and the majority of them were European adventurers who sought immediate wealth in mines of gold and silver. Even De Soto, the boldest and most daring of them all, left no permanent impress upon the country which he traversed. However, because he penetrated farthest into the territory now embraced in the United States of America, the story of his expedition may be profitably compared and contrasted with the more enduring efforts of actual colonists.

While he was the Spanish Governor of Cuba, Hernando de Soto had heard tales of gold and silver mines in the interior of the North American continent that were similar to those already

2 The name of Cabot has never been given a place upon the map of America. Cabot is the greatest of the pioneer seamen who is not so honored. Henry Harrisse, the compiler of voluminous reports from the original records of the earliest explorers, maintains that Cabot soon reached the conclusion that the new land was distinct from Asia. Cf. "The Discovery of North America," Book V chapter 4.

exploited by his countrymen in the south. Impelled, therefore, by his desire for gain, he equipped an expedition consisting of several ships, six hundred men, and some two hundred horses. He landed on the coast of the present State of Florida in 1539 and marched

inland, battling with hostile Indians from the start. Expedition of 0vercoming desperate odds of wilderness and warlike

natives, he pursued an irregular course northward for five hundred miles (see map). Thence he turned and cut his way

MAP SHOWING DE SOTO'S ROUTE WESTWARD in a southwesterly direction almost to the Gulf of Mexico, near the present site of Mobile. Not despairing, however, of finding the promised riches, he again marched inland to the north and west, until he had crossed the Father of Waters, as the Indians termed the Mississippi, and had penetrated far into the present State of Arkansas. At last the endurance and faith of his men

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 7

began to fail, and the expedition turned southward once more. On the return march De Soto died near the Mississippi River and was buried secretly in its waters. This was in May, 1542, after three years of continuous wandering in an almost trackless wilderness and through the midst of warlike Indian tribes. The rest of his band finally reached the mouth of the Mississippi in boats, and thence made their way to Mexico, which the Spaniards had conquered in 1521.

Such, briefly, is the story of a daring adventurer's search for gold, a search almost equaled in extent and danger by the expedition of De Vaca (Da Vahcah) along the Gulf coast, and of Coronado in the west. Linked with these in the story of Spanish exploration is the expedition of the celebrated Ponce de Leon (Pon-thadaLd-one), who sought, in the wilds of the New World, the realization of the old-world dreams of the fountain of perpetual youth.

During this century (1501-1600), two Spanish expeditions and one English, the latter under command of Sir Francis Drake, first explored a portion of the Pacific coast. And it was during the latter part of the same century that the Spanish began to establish colonies within the lower limits of the present United States. The letters patent of discovery and settlement of Vasquez de Ayllon (Vahsketh da Ileyone) are in- £ 5 tt1™mln < t teresting in that they led to the temporary establish- f^n, ?526 Ayl * ment of Spanish power far to the north of the other colonies of Spain. De Ayllon first sent out vessels from the West Indies to explore the Atlantic coast north of Florida in search of a shorter passage to Asia than that discovered (1522) by Magellan through the strait that bears his name. The James River and Chesapeake Bay were explored in vain for a passageway. One expedition landed on the coast of South Carolina, gave an entertainment to the natives, and then kidnapped all who came aboard the ship. This act was disavowed by De Ayllon, who set out in 1526 with six hundred men and a number of negro slaves to found a permanent Spanish colony. He landed on the coast either in

North Carolina or near the site of the later settlement of Jamestown, and built a town called San Miguel. The colony was not successful, and it was finally abandoned after three-fourths of the settlers had died from disease or Indian attacks.

Had De Ayllon been successful in establishing a permanent settlement, the whole course of American history must have been different. In that event, the London Company that founded Jamestown could not have landed their colonists without declaring war on Spain, which James I would have been loth to do; and English settlement must have been at first restricted to the region north of the Potomac.

Longfellow's attractive poem, "The Skeleton in Armor," will recall the stories of the legendary adventures of the Norsemen on the shores of the North American continent, nearly five hundred years before the landing of John Cabot in 1497. As will be recalled, Leif Ericson is the central figure of these legends of discovery. It is told in the sagas or Scandinavian stories of adventure that about the year 1000 he sailed from Norway to Iceland, and in continuing his voyage to Greenland, discovered this continent, whither he conducted a number of expeditions. One legend tells of the Norsemen having wintered their cattle free from snow, from which it might be inferred that at least one party of them attempted a settlement farther to the south. In these sagas there are also narrated such remarkable stories of wild scenes and adventures that it is impossible to separate myth and imagination from what may be fact or history. It must also be borne in mind that these stories were written some two or three hundred years after the voyages thus described were undertaken.

REFERENCE LIST OF PRINCIPAL EXPLORERS IN THE EMPLOY

OF THE LEADING MARITIME NATIONS OF EUROPE, PRIOR

TO PERMANENT SETTLEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA.

(E. English; S. Spanish; F. French; P. Portuguese. For pronunciation of

names see index.)

1492. Columbus (S.) discovers the New World, landing in the West Indies, probably at San Salvador (Watling Island), on the morning of October 12 (21, New Style). Columbus made other voyages and reached the South American continent in 1498,

EUROPEAN DATES FOR REFERENCE 9

1497-1498. John Cabot (E.) discovers the Continent of North America. See text.

1500, 1501, 1502. Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real (P.), in three voyages, explore northeastern coast. Both brothers perished, but their expeditions greatly stimulated the early fishing off the northeastern coast.

1506. Denys (F.) discovers the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

1513. Ponce de Leon (S.) names Florida peninsula and seeks the fabled "Fountain of Youth."

1524. Verrazano (F.) explores the Atlantic coast.

1526. De Ayllon (S.) attempts settlement in North America. (See text, p. 7.)

1528-1536. Pamfilo de Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca (S.) half-march and halfvoyage along the southern coast from Florida to Mexico.

1534-1535. Cartier (F.) explores the St. Lawrence River.

1539-1542. De Soto (S.) sets out from Florida to explore the continent. (See text, p. 5.)

1540-1542. Coronado marches from Mexico through several of the present southwestern States in search of "populous and wealthy cities." His expedition reached a point as far northeast as Kansas.

Other discoveries and expeditions of special interest and importance in South America:

1513. Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean after crossing the Isthmus of Panama.

1518. Cortes begins the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

1519. Magellan sails through the strait that bears his name. (Magellan was

killed in the Philippine Islands, but one vessel of his fleet was the first to circumnavigate the globe, returning to Spain in 1522.)

1543. Cabrillo (S.) explores the Pacific coast of North America.

1561. De Villafane (S.) claims Carolina for the King of Spain.

1576. Frobisher (E.) explores the northwestern waters of the Arctic Ocean in search of a passage to India.

1579. Drake (E.) explores the Pacific coast.

EUROPEAN DATES FOR REFERENCE

1485-1509. Reign of Henry VII (England).

1509-1547. Reign of Henry VIII (England).

1547-1553. Reign of Edward VI (England).

1553-1558. Reign of Mary (England).

1558-1603. Reign of Elizabeth (England).

1479-1516. Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella— to death of former— (Spain).

1492-1503. Pontificate of Pope Alexander VI.

1. Compare the use of the term "patent" as applied to Henry VIFs grant of the privilege of exploration to John Cabot with the governmental "patent" issued to protect an inventor.

2. Imagine differences of development that might have ensued if Spain had maintained her claims to North America, or if Columbus had first landed on this coast.

3. Discuss the political power of the Pope in medieval history with particular reference to the division of the New World between Spain and Portugal.

4. Cabot's reward for the discovery of a new continent was scarcely a liberal one in any event, but money was worth a great deal more at that time. Do you think that Henry VII realized the value of Cabot's discovery?

5. Should Cabot's name be memorialized in the geography or history of North America? If you think it should, could you suggest any way of doing so?

6. Read over the list of explorers given at the end of Chapter I and see if you are particularly interested in any of them and would like to look them up in a larger history or in some special account.

7. Can you name any events of interest connected with the reigns of the sovereigns given on page 9?

CHAPTER, II

3. Rival Claims of European Nations. — Although the Spanish and Portuguese had claimed the whole of the New World, the other European nations were not disposed to accept such a division without dispute. For example, Francis I, King of France, is said to have remarked sarcastically that if Father Adam had made a will to that effect, he (Francis) had not seen it. Henry VII, King of England, was less facetious but more practical. He _,

° ' c The Spanish

said little, but sent out John Cabot, because he prob- make first

' * permanent

ably foresaw that actual discovery and the possession of ?e ttieme irt the land was to be the final test of ownership by the Am e r i e a,

European nations. The time was not yet ripe, however, for English colonization; and the Spanish, who, together with the Portuguese, had acquired control of South America, were first successful in establishing a colony in North America. This they founded in 1565 at St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest settlement within the present limits of the United States. 1

4. Sir Walter Raleigh Attempts English Settlement, 1585-1587. ■ — In the meantime, both the English and the French were making profitable use of the great fishing banks off the northeastern shores of the continent, which had been discovered and described by John Cabot; but it was not until the reign of Elizabeth that Englishmen began more seriously to consider the permanent settlement of America. The leading spirit in these plans of colonization was the courtier, soldier, sailor, statesman, and author,

1 A colony of French Huguenots had established a garrison north of Florida (within the limits of the present State of South Carolina) in 1562. This was abandoned; but another colony was founded in Florida in 1564, which in turn was destroyed by the Spaniards in 1565, the year of the founding of St. Augustine. The Spanish also founded Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1582.

Sir Walter Raleigh, whose career makes a most interesting page in English history. He hoped "to plant an English nation" in America, and in 1584 he secured permission from Queen Elizabeth to make settlements upon territory not then occupied by a Chris- North Amer- tian nation. Consequently, with his customary energy, cafieV vir- he set about equipping expeditions for the colonization gima of the North American continent, whose entire length

Elizabeth called Virginia, in honor of herself as the virgin queen. He first sent out an exploring party, by whom a site was selected upon the coast of what is now North Carolina; and in land colony, 1585 the first colonists landed on Roanoke Island. These, however, fared so badly in the new land that they were glad to return to England with Captain Drake in 1586. Not discouraged by this failure, Raleigh sent out a stronger colony in 1587. This might have commenced in North America the continuous history of English colonization had it not been for the beginning at that time of the momentous struggle with Spain which resulted in the complete defeat of the "Invincible Armada." When Raleigh again had an opportunity in 1590 to turn his attention to his American venture, his second colony had disappeared. 2

Meanwhile Raleigh had exhausted his fortune in trying to establish the English

SIR WALTER RALEIGH « ° °

in America; and, in addition, he had incurred the disfavor of James I, who succeeded to the English

2 It is not known what became of these settlers, although it is conjectured that they were either carried off by, or voluntarily absorbed in, a tribe of Indians. On August 18, 1587, a granddaughter was born to John White, first governor of the colony. Her name was Virginia Dare and she was the first child of English parentage born in America. Thomas Hariot, the inventor of the mathematical signs, +, —,V, etc., accompanied the first expedition, and returned in safety to England "to prepare these and other algebraic horrors."

COLONIZING COMPANIES FORMED IN ENGLAND 13

throne in 1603. Nevertheless, he had again set the minds of Englishmen upon American colonization, which was to R esu its of be carried to a successful conclusion through the forma- ^f t t sh s tion of powerful stock companies. 3