A history of the United States

Front matter

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Preface

For a little over a decade the plan of the Committee of Eight, of the American Historical Association, for the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, has been before the public schools of this country. It has been increasingly recognized as marking a distinct step in advance. The plan sought to give the development of our country a truer historical setting : first, by reviewing, in the sixth grade, the simpler features of the European origins of civilization, and, second, by recalling, in the seventh and eighth grades, as appropriate topics suggest, the European background, or the tendencies in European history which illustrate the influence of forces similar to those acting in American history. This textbook, together with a shorter book, entitled Introductory American History, designed for the sixth grade, seeks to carry into effect the plan of the Committee. About two- thirds of that book concern the beginnings in Great Britain and Europe of the civilization which the people of the United States share with other peoples of European race. The remainder contains descriptions of the discoveries and early settlements in America, principally in the sixteenth century. This volume for the upper grades opens with a chapter which repeats briefly the story of early discovery and settlement. The chapter may be used as a review in those schools which use the Introductory American History. Teachers who do not use that book will find in the chapter the essential facts of the period.

The authors are gratified by the wide acceptance of both books. Indeed, the use has been so large that it has become necessary to reset the books and to make new plates. This has given the authors an opportunity to revise, and in many parts to rewrite, the history in accordance with the spirit and needs of the schools after the Great War. In particular, the space devoted to the history of the colonial period has been reduced, in order to give greater attention to the history of the country since the Civil War.

It is the aim of this, as well as of the previous, edition to emphasize those matters most important for young people to know, not only that they may understand how the United States came to be what it is to-day, but also that they may interpret historically, and therefore soundly, the questions that are now pressing for solution. The authors believe that while pupils of the seventh and eighth grades should understand the elements of our political history, its more complex aspects should be reserved for later study. One of the insistent needs of effeciv PREFACE

tivc work in history is a wise jading of material. If overemphasis " : political history is avoided, space will be found to treat adequately other phases of the life and labor of the people during the different periods of our development. The success of Americans in organizing civilized life over so vast an area in three or four centuries has been a work the magnitude of which may wel awaken the interest of every pupil. With this point of view in mind it is natural that the authors constantly emphasized the westward movement.

Another factor which has received unusual attention is the geographical setting of American history. This has not been done in an incidental or perfunctory manner, but as a most important mode of presenting historical facts. The pupil has been studying geography for several years and should realize that his work is of immediate utility in the study of a kindred subject. The teacher who will turn espe-'X daily to chapter II, The New Country and Its Barriers, or to the chapters on the Revolutionary War and the Civil War will see how the geographical explanation has been utilized.

In this edition effort has been made to supplement and improve the maps. Many new illustrations have been used.

The appendix, as before, gives a summary of the principal political events, with the names of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents, and of defeated candidates for the Presidency, the dates of the admission of states, with their area and population.

The authors again wish to express their thanks to those who have aided them with helpful criticisms.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Discoverers and Explorers i

II The New Country and Its Barriers 16

Appendix

Chronological Summary of American Political History i

Population at the Beginning of the Period of Independence x

Area and Population of the States and Territories ... x

Ten Leading Cities of xii

Declaration of Independence xiii

Constitution of the United States xvi

Index xxix

LIST OF MAPS

PAGE

Map of the World, showing the United States and its Possessions

cover page 2

A Globe made before Columbus Discovered America 4

Map of the New World 7

The New World according to a Map-Maker of 1540 9

Map showing Five Famous Voyages of Exploration 15

Supposed Extent of North America 16

The Great Mountain Barrier back of the English Settlements.. . 17 Map showing Natural Features and Native Tribes of the United

States between 18 and 19

Map of Early Virginia 24

Captain John Smith's Map of New England 37

Plymouth Harbor 38

Country about Massachusetts Bay 45

New England in the Seventeenth Century 51

Parts of North America Occupied or Explored, about 1650 55

Early Settlements in Maryland 58

New Netherland in 1655 — According to the Dutch 67

West Indies .

The Middle Colonies 75

The Carolina Coast 78

Charleston Harbor 79

Settlements in Georgia 81

Map of La Salle's Explorations 88

Map of Portages in New France and the Illinois Country 93

Eastern North America at the Beginning of the French and Indian

War 122

The Ohio Country and the New French Forts 124

Route of Braddock's Expedition 128

Boston, Bunker Hill, and Charlestown 153

Reference Map for the Revolution — Northern and Middle States

facing 166

New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania 167

Mountain Trails and the Western Country 176

Reference Map for the Revolution — Southern States facing 184

Cornwallis's Wandering Campaign at the South 185

Sketch Map of Yorktown 187

vii

Vlll LIST OF MAPS

PAGE

Our Country in 1783 192

Land Claims of the Thirteen Original States facing 198

The Northwest Territory after Wayne's Victory 213

The Louisiana Purchase 230

Lewis and Clark's Route 234

The United States in 18 10-12 facing 238

Pike's Route 236

Europe at the Height of Napoleon's Power 247

Lake Erie and the Surrounding Country 251

Route of the National Road, 1812-1840 266

Map of the Erie Canal 268

The United States in 1820, showing the Missouri Compromise. . . 277

The United States in 1825 between 282 and 283

Map showing the Disputed Boundary of Maine 293

Map of the Republic of Texas 308

The Principal Western Trails 311

Territory acquired from Mexico as the Result of the War. . .facing 316

The Oregon Compromise 317

Map of the Mexican War 318

Railroads in Operation in the Northern States in i860 325

Territories from which Kansas and Nebraska were erected 342

The United States in 1861 facing 352

Map of Forts in Charleston Harbor 356

Map of Campaigns in Virginia 369

The Line of Defense in January, 1862 373

Reference Map for the Civil War, 1861-1865 between 37 4 and 37 5

Territorial Growth of the United States, 1 783-1 867 between 406 and 407

The United States, Canada, and Mexico 409

How the Country was Divided in the Election of 1896 420

Principal Railroads West of the Mississippi in 1884 424

The Advance of Population in the West, i860- 1870 426

The Advance of Population in the West, 1 880-1 890 427

The Cross-Roads of the Pacific 479

Relief Map of the Panama Canal 482

Routes Passing through the Panama Canal 483

The Balkans in 1914 499

Battle Fronts 5*5

Map showing the Effect of the Panama Canal on Trade Routes 528 Map of the United States and its Possessions cover page 3

A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Chapter I Discoverers And Explorers

The Work of Three Centuries. — The history of the United States is made up of many different histories. Each part of the country, the East, the South, the Mississippi Valley, the West, the Pacific Coast, has its separate story, as well as a share in the common story of the whole Union. We have state histories and histories of towns and cities.

The story changes not only as we go from place to place, but also as we leave our own day and go back to the days when our grandparents or great-grandparents were young, or even to the period when our history begins, three or four hundred years ago. At that time the United States was forest, prairie, and desert, the haunt of wild animals and Indians. It was an unexplored land. Its history opens, therefore, as a tale of discoveries, of long voyages over unknown seas or expeditions by strange rivers and dark forest paths. After this comes the story of early settlements or colonies along the Atlantic Coast. Then follow tales of struggle with Indians or other Europeans,

Manhattan Island as it Appeared to the First Explorers like the Spaniards and the French, who were eager to win the country for themselves. Finally the colonies unite and become the United States, no longer ruled from across the Atlantic, but an independent nation.

As many interesting events have happened since Independence Day as happened before it. There are stories of settlements beyond the Alleghenies, in the valley of the Mississippi, and of the way in which adventurous men and women crossed plains and mountains until they reached the Pacific Coast. We are told how they built towns and cities in the new lands, how they made the fertile prairies produce wheat, corn, and grass, and how they dug gold, silver, copper, and iron out of the mountains. Another part of the story explains how people in the older, as well as in the newer, states constructed railroads and canals, launched steamboats on rivers and lakes, and built up new and "great industries.

The history of our country has almost as many threads as a wonderful tapestry. It is not always easy to follow the separate threads and see what each contributes to the picture. Then, too, there are threads which belong to the story of older peoples, for much of our manner of living was learned before our ancestors crossed the seas. To understand our own history and civilization we must know something of the countries where our ancestors lived before they came to America. 1 Here we must begin with what is called the Period of Discovery.

Three Great Discoveries. — It is not necessary to describe in detail the early discoveries ; it will be enough to state briefly the main facts. The most important voyages of that period were made by Bartholomew Diaz, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan. All three wore in search of a route to the Indies, the Golden East about which Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler, had told the world. Eu-

1 See Introductory American History for a brief account of that part of its civilization which America owes to the Old World. This volume also contains a fuller account of the discoveries than is possible in the present chapter.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ropeans had usually obtained from the Venetians the spices, drugs, and silks of India, China, and the islands off the coast of Asia. The Venetians purchased them in the eastern Mediterranean, at ports where the ancient caravan routes from the East ended. In the time of Columbus it was becoming dangerous, on account of the wars, to bring eastern goods overland, and all the bolder sailors were eager to find a sea route to the Indies.

Bartholomew Diaz. — Diaz was a Portuguese captain.

Many Portuguese before him had attempted to go far enough down the coast of Africa to find the southern point, and, passing it, turn northward again toward India.

He was successful in 1487, although he did not reach India. As he had shown the way, another Portuguese captain, Vasco da Gama, eleven years later reached India and brought back to Portugal a rich cargo of spices.

Christopher Columbus. — Meanwhile Columbus, a Genoese sailor, who had once been in the service of Portugal, but now was in the service of Spain, formed a more venturesome plan. He believed that he could find his way to spicebearing islands, and even to the coasts of China and Japan, by sailing westward across the Atlantic. Many sailors in those days feared the Atlantic asa" Sea of Darkness " full of dreadful monsters, but Columbus had been on voyages with the great sea-captains of Genoa and Portugal, and no longer dreaded to go far out of sight of land.

A Famous Voyage. — With three small ships Columbus left Spain on August 3, 1492, He visited the Canary Islands,

Christopher Columbus

The oldest known picture of Columbus, in the National Library, Madrid and on September 6 turned the prows of his ships due west into the wide and unknown Atlantic. Columbus thought the earth smaller than it really is, and therefore that a voyage to the coast of Asia would be short. He also imagined that the Atlantic would contain many islands which he would find on the voyage. At first all went well, for the winds blew steadily from the east, wafting the ships along. But as the days passed, the sailors began to wonder how they

A Globe made before Columbus

DISCOVERED AMERICA This globe was made in Nuremberg in 1492, and is still preserved. It shows the Atlantic Ocean as Columbus thought of it

could return against those winds. Columbus sometimes had great difficulty in keeping them from open mutiny. For nearly five weeks he kept sailing westward. He encouraged the sailors by promises of a prize to the one who should first see land. Signs of land finally appeared, and on October 12 a small island was discovered. Columbus named it San Salvador. It was probably the present Watling Island. Columbus soon found many islands on every side. When he came upon a large body of land which the Indians called Cuba, he sent two messengers to search for the emperor of China, who, he thought, must live near. He was bitterly

A FAMOUS VOYAGE 5

disappointed when they found neither an emperor, nor cities, nor gold, nor even spices.

Misfortunes of Columbus. — When Columbus returned to Spain he was received with great rejoicing and was honored by the king and queen. He made three other voyages to America, discovering other islands in the West Indies and parts of the coast of South and Central America. As he failed to gain riches for himself or his followers, he became unpopular. Once he was taken back to Spain in chains like a common prisoner. Though his last days were

Caravels of Columbus After the model shdwn at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, i8g3

saddened by misfortune, every one now regards him as the greatest of the discoverers. He had done more than start the search for another way to India — he had also started the exploration of a New World.

Discovery of the South Sea. — In 15 13, seven years after the death of Columbus, a Spanish planter, named Balboa, discovered the Pacific Ocean, which Columbus had not even seen. Balboa and his followers marched from the shore of the Caribbean Sea through the dense forests of the Isthmus of Panama, taking twenty-two days to go forty-five miles. From the hilltops they finally discovered a vast sea stretching south and west. Balboa called it the South Sea, and this name was much used. The ocean which Balboa saw, Magellan soon afterward crossed.

Ferdinand Magellan. — Magellan was a Portuguese like Diaz and Da Gama, but like Columbus he had entered the service of the king of Spain. He hoped to find a route to the Indies past the great continent which lay across

the way that Columbus had chosen. The Portuguese were already trading not only in India, but also in the Spice Islands, and Magellan became familiar with that region while in their service. He sailed from Spain in 15 19 with five ships, and spent a year in searching the coast of South America for a passage into the ocean on the other side. At last he made his way through the strait since named for him, the Strait of Magellan, and sailed out into the Pacific or Peaceful Sea. His task was now Magellan Monument on to cross the Pacific, which was Mactan Island wider than he supposed. He suc-

This monument marks the spot ceeded, although his men suffered

where Magellan was killed in a tcrribly before they reaC hed the battle with the natives of the Phil-

ippine islands Ladrone Islands, where they ob-

tained a supply of food. Soon afterward he reached the Philippines, but was killed in a fight with the natives. One of his ships found its way back to Spain by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. Although Magellan died before the voyage was ended, the fame and honor of having sailed around the world, and having proved that America is not a part of Asia, but separated from it by a great ocean, belongs to him. The route to the Indies which he discovered was, however, not as convenient as that followed by Diaz and Da Gama.

THE NAMING OF AMERICA 7

The Naming of America. — It seems strange that America was not named for Columbus. A great river, many cities in the United States, the District of Columbia, in which Washington is situated, and a country in South America, called the United States of Colombia, are named for him, but the American continents were named for another explorer, Americus Vespucius. Americus wrote about his discoveries much more than Columbus did. The people of the day either did not know what Columbus had done, or had for-

Map of the New World Made after the discoveries of Columbus and Balboa gotten it. One of them who was writing a geography suggested that the new lands be named for Americus. This was copied from one geography into another until everybody began to call the new continents America.

A Passage to the South Sea. — When the early voyagers learned that America was not merely a group of islands off the coast of Asia, they wished to explore it, partly to find a passage to the South Sea nearer than the Strait of Magellan, and partly to find gold, silver, precious stones, and other treasures which they heard about continually. Some of these explorers accomplished great things, while others were disappointed.

DISCOVERERS AM J EXPLORERS

Cortes, Conqueror of Mexico. — Two explorers wore also conquerors. They were Cortes and Pizarro. At that time a chief named Montezuma reigned in Mexico over a people called the Aztecs. Montezuma had treasures of silver and gold in the city of Mexico, and these Cort6s undertook to capture. After fighting for two years he was victorious, lie then ruled over the country in the name of the Spanish king.

Pizarro, Conqueror of Peru. — Pizarro did in Peru what Cort6s had done in Mexico. The booty which the Spaniards seized in Peru was greater than they found in Mexico, amounting to nearly seven million dollars in gold, besides a great

View of the "South Sea" prom Panama In 1513 Balboa, a Spanish planter from the island of Espanola, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and from the hilltops along the western edge looked out southward on a vast sea which he called the South Sea.

quantity of silver. The mines of Peru, as well as of Mexie< >, were very rich, and the Spaniards were able to send silver and gold home to Spain.

De Soto, Discoverer of the Mississippi. — Two other Spanish leaders were not so successful. They were De Soto, the governor of Cuba, and Coronado, a friend of the viceroy, or governor, of Mexico. In 1539 De Soto crossed over from Cuba to Florida, which was also a part of his dominions. He had heard tales of a country rich in gold mines, whose king was sprinkled every morning with powdered gold, and lie brought together a large band of followers in order to search

DE SOTO 9

for this Gilded Man or El Dorado. The army wandered for four years, much of the time in a half -starved condition, over a region now lying within eight southern States. They treated the Indians cruelly and were often attacked by them. In these battles the Spaniards lost most of their baggage. It became necessary for them to use the skins of wild animals for clothing. Finally they discovered a great river which the Indians called the Mississippi. For another

The New World according to a Map-Maker of 1540

year the explorers wandered west of the Mississippi through the forests and swamps now within Arkansas. Here, worn out by hardships and ill with malarial fever, De Soto died and was buried secretly in the waters of the Mississippi. His followers were afraid that the Indians, if they knew of the death of the leader, would kill the whole band. The explorers sought in vain for rich treasures such as Cortes had found in Mexico and Pizarro in Peru. Scarcely half of the original six hundred survived, The remnant of the once

IO fine army built boats and floated down the Mississippi and found their way to Mexico.

Coronado, Explorer of the Southwest. — Coronado and De Soto at one time nearly met on the plains west of the Mississippi. Coronado started in 1540 from western Mexico, near the Gulf of California. He planned to find the Seven Cities of Cibola, which he hoped would be as rich in booty as

Mexico or Peru. But the Seven Cities of Cibola existed only in the imagination of the Spaniards, who believed that centuries before seven Spanish bishops, fleeing before their heathen enemies, had crossed the ocean and built seven great cities. The only cities that Coronado found were the pueblos of the Indians — gr» nips of houses made of stone and sundried clay. Coronado's army did not give up its search until it reached the region now included in Kansas. This was in 1541, when De Soto was distant only nine days' march. They then turned back, a sadly disappointed band of men.

St. Augustine, the Oldest Town in the United States. — None of Coronado's or De Soto's followers cared to settle in the lands which they had explored. They had not found that for which they were looking. The principal Spanish settlements for many years were in Mexico, Peru, and Cuba.

An Indian \'ii 1 age

After a drawing made in 1585 now in the

British Museum

ST. AUGUSTINE

II

About twenty years after De Soto's expedition the Spanish king sent Menendez to Florida to found settlements. In order to succeed he was obliged to drive away the French, who had recently built a fort near the mouth of the St. John's River. Menendez had another reason for attacking them ; he was a Roman Catholic and they were Protestants. Most Frenchmen were Catholics, but these men were Protestants. In those days Catholics and Protestants did not live peaceably together. The French called the settlement Fort Caroline, 1 after the king who reigned in France.

In the battles which took place Menendez was successful, and he either killed or drove away all the French. The settlement which he founded in 1565 was called St. Augustine, and it is the oldest town in the United States.

Spanish Emigrants and Indians. — The king of Spain did not encourage his people to cross the Atlantic to his new lands, and the result was that the settlements grew slowly. But by the year 1600 about 200,000 Spaniards were living in America. Besides, there were 5,000,000 Indians on the mainland, many of whom they had taught to live like Christian men and women. Many of these Indians were gathered in villages or " missions," where they were taught by priests or monks. Unfortunately, most of the Indians in the islands of the West Indies soon died from disease and from the hard work which the early Spanish planters and gold-seekers had compelled them to do. To take their places the Spaniards had begun to carry negro slaves over from Africa.

1 Named for King Charles, whose name in Latin was Carolus.

The Old City Gate at St.

Augustine

First French Attempts at Settlement. — Fort Caroline was not the only settlement that the French had attempted to make. Thirty years earlier, in 1534, Jacques Cartier had explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence and found the St. Lawrence River. In the following year he sailed nearly 400 miles up the great river as far as the present city of Montreal, where the Lachine or China Rapids blocked his way. Six years later he returned with a band of settlers, but the intense cold and danger from the Indians made them anxious to return to France. S<> the colony was given up.

First English Attempts. — The English had also tried to make settlements in America. In 1407. while Columbus was still living, John Cabot, another Italian, obtained a ship from the English king and sailed westward across the stormy North Atlantic. He reached the coast of North America, but just where is not known, except that it was in the region of Nova Scotia or Labrador.

For many years the English seemed to forget about the lands which he had discovered and claimed for the king of England.

But English sailors watched the Spaniards in the West Indies and in America, and envied them the riches they were gaining. During this period also England and Spain became enemies. Occasionally an English captain would plunder Spanish ships or towns just as if he was a pirate. The most famous captain in England at this time was Francis Drake, who sailed into the Pacific Ocean, robbed Spanish ships off the coast of South America, and finally found his way back to England by the route which Magellan's

Cabot Memorial Tower

Erected at Bristol, England, in memory of the first sailor from England to visit America

FRENCH AND ENGLISH EXPLORERS sailors had followed. Queen Elizabeth made him a knight to reward him for his success.

Another Englishman, Sir Walter Raleigh, made several attempts to plant a colony on the coast of what is now North Carolina. He called the region Virginia, in honor of Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen." One of these colonies, led by John White in 1587, was made up of about 150 persons, including 25 women and children. While White was in England seeking to obtain supplies and aid for the colony, the settlers were either scattered or murdered by the Indians.

No trace of them was ever found.

A Century's Success. — Thus, at the end of a century of discovery and exploration, only one settlement, St. Augustine, existed within the present limits of the United States.

Sir Walter Raleigh

After a painting in the collection of the Duchess

of Dorset

But the knowledge of the earth had been wonderfully increased. It was certain also that in a few years the men of western Europe — English, Dutch, French, and Spaniards — would rival one another in founding settlements.

1. What great work has been done by Americans in three hundred years of history?

2. In what ways were the explorers and early settlers better off than the Indians ?

3. Where did the early emigrants to America obtain their knowledge?

4. Who were the three greatest discoverers? Why did they make their voyages ?

5. Why was America named for Americus Vespucius rather than for Columbus ?

6. Who conquered Mexico? What other Indian country was conquered at about the same time ?

7. What portions of the United States did De Soto explore? Coronado? What settlement did the Spaniards make in North America?

8. How did the Spaniards treat the Indians? Who took the place of the Indians in the West Indian Islands as laborers for the Spaniards ?

9. What part of North America did the French explore ? Who was their first great explorer ? Why did he go up the St. Lawrence ? Where did he attempt to settle ? Why did he fail ?

10. What part of North America did the English explore? Who wen their explorers? Where did the English attempt to settle? Why did they fail ?

1 1. Make a list of the tools and machines which settlers had three hundred years ago and which we have now.

2. How many years ago was the first settlement made in your part of the United States? Draw a line representing three hundred years and below it a line representing the age of your town. What is the oldest building, or road, or railroad, or canal in your region?

3. Prepare a list of the principal explorers and conquerors with the places which they discovered or conquered, and the dates.

4. Study the maps of this chapter for the effect of discoveries and explorations on the knowledge of the New World. Make on the blackboard or in a notebook a copy of Behaim's globe, page 4; add coast lines and countries discovered or explored by Columbus, Magellan, Do Soto, Coronado, Cabot, and Carrier, in order to show the growth of knowledge as a result of their combined work.

1492. The discovery of America by Columbus.

1 52 1. One of Magellan's ships completes the first voyage around

the world. 1541. The discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto. 1565. The founding of St. Augustine.

FIVE FAMOUS VOYAGES

Chapter II The New Country And Its Barriers

Unexplored America. — In 1600 most of the region now included in the United States was not even explored. The followers of the unfortunate De Soto had floated down