A history of the United States and its people...

Front matter

COKflilGliT DEPOSOi o

Hay

^<nfAJ^

Preface

One of our American humorists has said that it is better not The first reto know so much than to know so many things that are not true, i""'^'"^"*- Errors accepted in childhood become articles of faith, and are not easily got rid of. The absence from this book of certain well-worn fables, which have served more than one generation of American school-children for historic facts, will be regretted, perhaps, on sentimental grounds. It does not seem worth while, however, to keep current in elementary books statements which every sound historical scholar rejects. No work of history ever yet escaped error, but I have at least tried to make this a genuine history, in harmony with the best historical scholarship of the time. Many laborious years passed in the critical study of original printed and manuscript authorities for the history of American institutions and American life have perhaps given the author of this history some right to speak with assurance on questions relating to our early history.

Next to correctness the most important feature in a book for Lucidity and the young is clearness. To achieve this one must not treat more '"*^"s*- subjects than can be handled with sufficient fullness for comprehension. Attempts to write a little about everything are fatal to lucidity. The writer for the young finds all his skill taxed to be clear and to be interesting, and the two things lie close together. One of the highest benefits that a good text-book in the hands of a good teacher can confer is to leave the pupil with a relish for historical reading.

The order in which the various topics are treated has much Arrangement to do both with the clearness and the interest of a history. In ° ^°^^^^- the strictly chronological history the reader skips from theme to theme, resuming under several dates the broken thread of now this and now that story. The relation of cause and effect is almost entirely lost, and history becomes a succession of events with little logical connection. The understanding is benumbed, the attention is but feebly roused, imagination slumbers, and

IV PREFACE,

memory gets small hold on occurrences that are presented like beads unstrung. The rigid grouping of a history by epochs is fatal to a truly logical arrangement. One of the most important of the novel features of the present history is its arrangement. Discoveries, settlements, Indians and Indian wars, colonial life, the French wars, government in colonial time and the rise of the Revolution, and other kindred topics, are severally grouped together, so that, for instance, the pupil learns about the nature of Indian life, the chief Indian wars, and the means of attack and defense used by white men and Indians in successive chapters, pursuing this general subject until it is finished. Cause and effect are thus clearly set before his mind, and history becomes a reasonable science.

/Position of Xhe reviews are not placed at regular intervals, according to a

stiff mechanical rule, but these also follow in the main the same rule of grouping as the chapters. When a chief topic is completed, there is a review, whether the chapters be many or few.

The history of The " proper knowledge of mankind is man," and the real

importance of history lies in the light that it throws upon humanity. For this reason liberal attention has been here given to the domestic and social life of the people, their dress, their food, their modes of thought and feeling, and their ways of making a livelihood. The succession of events in minor wars would only weary the attention, but the modes of attack and defense and the character of the arms of the various belligerents are essential facts in the history of man in this New World. And the story of the progress of civilization, as marked by the introduction of new inventions and by changes in modes of living, is of primary importance in any history written in the modern spirit.

A teaching This is from first to last a school-book. No other aim has

been in view in its preparation than that of making the best possible teaching book of American history. The length and arrangement of the chapters, the questions, topical and geographical studies, and skeleton outlines, as well as the reviews, are all arranged with reference to the needs of teacher and pupil. An effort has here been made to apply to history in a thorough and practical way the great Pestalozzian principle of teaching through the eye. The suggestions for blackboard illustrations.

book.

PREFACE. V"

the diagrams, the abounding illustrations, and the little maps scattered through the pages, are all part of a plan to make the facts of history visible, and by that means to render the study easily comprehensible and therefore delightful.

Instead of a few large maps in various colors and confused The maps, with many names, among which the pupil must grope painfully for the places that pertain to the events under consideration, there are in this history more maps than chapters, and every one of the smaller maps is arranged to bear upon one fact, or at most upon two or three in close relation. Only so many names are put upon each map as are necessary to make clear the event under consideration. Not only is the pupil saved from much needless toil by this plan, but maps thus arranged serve the double purpose of elucidating the narrative and impressing it on the memory at the same time, by giving it form to the eye. Each little map becomes a local diagram of some historical fact, and the form of the map will remain in the memory inseparably associated with the event to which it belongs — a geographical body to an historical soul. Educational writers have said much about the importance of teaching geography and history together. There is not, perhaps, any better device for teaching the two branches in unison than these simple and perspicuous maps, each immediately associated on the page with the single event to which it pertains.

Though the illustrations are by som^ of the best artists and The illustration^ engravers of the time, and are many of them of high artistic merit, and though they are far more abundant than is usual in books of this kind, there has been no thought of making this a mere picture-book. The illustrations are part and parcel of the teaching apparatus ; their primary use, like that of the maps, diagrams, and blackboard exercises, is to make the history visible. A very considerable body of historical knowledge of the most important kind might be acquired from these cuts alone. Illustrations of costumes, manners, implements, arms, jewels, vehicles, and inventions are valuable in proportion to their truthfulness. Those here given have been made under the author's personal supervision, and they have cost quite as much labor and study as the text itself. Many are founded on rare prints, others are from ancient original drawings not before printed, and a few

VI PREFACE.

have been carefully drawn from descriptions of contemporary writers. The device of placing many of the smaller cuts in the margin serves to make the page more pleasing to the eye, while it has rendered it possible to illustrate abundantly without unduly increasing the size and cost of the book. The author can not forbear expressing his appreciation of the liberality with which the publishers have availed themselves of so many of the resources of the modern art of illustration to enhance the value of this history. The illustrations have been made under the artistic supervision of Mr. John A. Fraser.

In " English as She is Taught,' a definition is cited from a school-boy's exercise-book to the effect that " the Constitution of the United States is that part at the back of the book which nobody reads." Since no school-boy or school-girl ever does read it, and since it is not a document meant to be construed by children, it seemed better to utilize the space for other things than to reprint the Constitution for mere clap-trap. The same remark applies to the Declaration of Independence. But I have, instead, explained the purport of the Declaration of Independence in its place, and I am sure the pupil will get far more from the account given in this work of the various departments of our government, their origin, and their operation under the Constitution, than from reading the letter of the Constitution itself.

By omitting the numbers usually placed at the beginning of paragraphs, the book has been relieved of stiffness ; by printing the subject of each paragraph in the margin, a means of reference far more convenient is provided, with the further advantage that the margins serve as a rdsiim^ of the subjects treated in the text. This feature is part of the general design of the book, which aims to keep before the minds of teacher and pupils the salient features of the topic under discussion, and thus to discourage mere memoriter study.

In giving titles of books for reading and reference, I have thought it better to mention a few accessible books rather than to bewilder the student with a long list.

E. E.

SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE BOOK.

Questions for Study follow each chapter. These are intended, in the Questions for first place, to guide the pupil in mastering his lesson, to make him test study, his understanding of the subject by analyzing and reasoning about his facts, and by associating them with related facts. The teacher will also find these questions helpful to him in preparing and hearing a recitation.

The Study by Topics which follows the questions is meant chiefly to Study by topics, aid the teacher in conducting a recitation, or, at least, a review of a recitation. The topical method of recitation develops the pupil's power of grasping and holding each branch of a subject in its entirety. But it can not be used to the exclusion of the use of questions and answers without danger of its degenerating, on the one hand, into an inadequate statement, or, on the other, into a mere repetition of the words of the text-book.

Some teachers will use now one and now the other method, testing Questions and the pupil's understanding of the subject at one recitation by questions, topics, at the next developing his power of synthesis and his mastery of language by giving him a division of the subject to be stated in his own way and with his own words, and then, when he has completed his statement, pointing out his omissions or misapprehensions.

Other teachers will prefer to combine the two plans in the same recita- ^

tion. This may be done — i. By a thorough examination of the subject by questions, followed by a topical review of the whole chapter, each division of the subject being assigned to a pupil in his turn. 2. Another mode of combining the two is by following the recitation of each topic by questions meant to bring out from the class points forgotten or obscured in the pupil's account of that branch of the subject. No recitation can fully accomplish its purpose without the use of questions at some stage.

The Skeleton Summary appended to many of the chapters will sug- Skeleton sumgest its proper use. It may be copied on papers or on slates and filled ""^ry. in by each pupil, or the teacher may have it written on the blackboard and then have the blanks filled by suggestions from the class.

The geographical facts connected with each event should be brought Geographical out distinctly. When larger or fuller maps than those in this book are ^^^'^yneeded, the atlas or the school wall-map can be easily referred to. The small maps accompanying the text may be sketched on the blackboard, as further described, or they may be used from the page.

Vlll SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE BOOK.

Blackboard. In general, the blackboard should be used wherever possible. In

particular:

1. The Study by Topics may be written on the blackboard with advantage in almost every recitation. The subject under consideration is thus displayed in a natural order. This may be done before the recitation begins, or each topic made be added as the recitation proceeds, thus constructing a visible table of the subject before the eyes of the class.

2. When diagrams are given in the book, they may be put on the board, to give a visible illustration to some proportion of size or number.

3. Word-diagrams are often useful. See, for example, pages 13 and 121. In these the location of the words or phrases helps the mind to group and the memory to hold important facts.

4. It is an excellent plan to sketch the small map on the blackboard. This should not be done elaborately or with too much attention to detail. The most useful maps of all are mere diagrams of location sketched by a pupil rudely but readily, as he might do in explaining a fact in conversation.

Pictures. The cuts, especially those illustrating life and manners, are a part of

the history, and the teacher should, by remark or question, draw attention to the facts illustrated by them.

Reviews. The Reviews which close each group of chapters may be treated as

a briefer topical recitation,- developing rapidly the salient points of the chapters reviewed. The review may also be put upon the blackboard, in sections, if not as a whole.

The school his- In the prevailing movement to lighten the labors of the pupil in

tory as a class school, historv is sometimes taueht by using the text-book for a reader.

In such cases, there should be a line of comment or question maintained

by the teacher sufficient to make sure that the chapter read is fully understood, and sufficient to impress what has been read on the memory. By writing the Study by Topics on the blackboard, a habit of thoughtful reading will be promoted. The abundant illustrations of customs and the little special maps in this book will prove of the greatest advantage to teachers using this as a reading-book. School compo- Topics for school composition are now and then suggested from the

sitions. subjects treated in the current chapter. There is a double advantage in

these : The puzzled pupil is helped to a topic for writing, while the best results of historical study are secured by giving him occasion to exercise his thoughts upon the subjects studied. The teacher will easily suggest other topics ; particularly may the pupil write ui)on the several actors in our history in those schools where access can be had to works of biography or books of reference.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. — How Columbus discovered America . . . . i

II. — Other Discoveries in America ...... 7

CHAPTER I. How Columbus discovered America

It is now about four hundred years since Columbus Trade with india

in the time of Co-

discovered America. Before that time people in Europe lumbus. knew nothing of any lands on the western side of the Atlantic. Trade with India was carried on by caravans, and travelers who had gone to China and Japan brought back wonderful stories of the riches of their cities, and of the curious people who lived in those far-away countries. In order to reach these lands of wonder and to open a trade with India by sea, the Portuguese had been for a long time pushing their discoveries down the western coast of Africa. But the seamen of that time sailed mostly in the Mediterranean, and they were timid in the Atlantic Ocean. The Portuguese sent out expedition after expedition, for seventy years, before they succeeded in discovering the Cape of Good Hope, and they had not yet got around that cape when Columbus offered to find a new and shorter way to India.

As learned men already believed the world to be coiumbus pro-

poses a new way

round, Columbus asked : K Why try to get to India and

A SAILOR OF THAT TIME.

to India.

China by going around

Africa? Why not

HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA.

False notions in the way.

--^1 sail straight to the west around the world to Asia ?

He did not know that America was in the way, and he thought that the world was smaller than it is, and he believed that he could reach the rich lands of gold and spices in Asia by sailing only two or three thousand miles to the westward. So that Columbus discovered America in consequence of two mistakes.

He first offered to make this discovery for the city

Christopher Columbus was bom in Genoa, in Italy. The date of his birth is uncertain. His father was a humble wool-comber, but Columbus received a fair education. He knew Latin, wrote a good hand, and drew maps exceedingly well. He sometimes supported himself by making maps and charts. He was well informed in geography as it was then understood. At fourteen he went to sea, and before he sailed on his great voyage he had been almost all over the known world. He had gone some distance down the newly discovered coast of Africa, with the Portuguese, and north as far as Iceland. Columbus married the daughter of a Portuguese navigator, and came into possession of his charts.

He was a man of great perseverance, and he held to his idea of sailing to the west through many long years of discouragement. He made four voyages to America, setting out on the first in 1492, the second in 1493, the third in 1498, and the fourth in 1502. Though a great navigator, he was not a wise governor of the colonies he planted, and he had many enemies. In 1500 he was cruelly sent home to Spain in chains. But Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as the people, were shocked at this degradation, and he was at once set free. His last voyage was unfortunate, and when he returned to Spain, in November, 1504, the monarchs paid little attention to him. Queen Isabella died soon after his return, while Columbus lay sick, and when the great navigator came to court the king was deaf to his petitions. Worn out with fatigue, exposure, and anxiety, the great admiral died on the 20th of May, 1506.

oi Genoa, in which he was born. **^ plan to the King of Portugal, great Atlantic Ocean seemed It was called thfe '

^-'^-Jl^s'^ those days.

Then he offered his

But a voyage on the

a dreadful thing in

' Sea of Darkness," because no one knew anything about it, and people

STERN OF

ANCIENT

WAR-SHIP.

HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA.

believed that it was inhabited by hideous monsters. As the world was round, some thought that, if a ship sailed down the sides of it, it would find it impossible to get back tip again. They said that people could not live on the other side of the world because they would be upside down.

The King of Portugal was an enlightened man, a ship sent out

secretly,

and the ideas of Columbus made an impression on him after a while. But he did not like to grant the great rewards demanded by the navigator if he should find land ; so he secretly sent out a ship under another commander to sail to the westward and see if there was any land there. The sailors on this ship were easily discouraged, and they „m_' m ^. ^ ..^r— -. returned laughing at

When ^^^mk i i^-/ Columbus found that coiumbus goes he had jJ|^^^^B^ A_ U^ been cheated, he left Portugal ^'^^l/f^^ ^^^%:'((^^'' to offer his idea to the King and ^ Queen of Spain, the

celebrated Ferdinand and Isabella. The Spanish monarchs were very busy in their war with the Moors, and Columbus, who was poor and obscure, spent about seven years in trying to persuade them to furnish him ships and sailors. At length, after he had waited so long, they refused his terms, and he set out for France, but certain officers of Queen Isabella, who believed in Columbus's theory, persuaded her to call him back and to send him on his own terms.

Columbus sailed from Spain, with three small ves- His departure on

his great voyage,

sels, on the 3d of August, 1492, and was more than two and his discovery months on the voyage. The sailors were more and more frightened as they found themselves going farther and

HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA,

THE PART OF THE WORLD KNOWN WHEN COLUMBUS SAILED IS IN WHITE.

What he had found.

His return to Spain.

farther out of the known world. They sometimes threatened to pitch Columbus overboard and return. He kept their courage up bv every means he could think of, even by concealing from them how far they had come. One night Columbus saw a light, and at two o'clock the next morning, which was the 1 2th of October, 1492, a sailor on one of the vessels raised the cry " Land ! " There was the wildest joy on the ships. Those who had hated Columbus, and wished to kill him, now reverenced him.

Instead of finding the rich cities of Asia, Columbus had come upon one of the smallest of the West India islands, which was inhabited by people entirely naked, and living in the rudest manner. He afterward discovered larger islands, and then sailed homeward.

He carried with him some gold and some of the inhabitants of the islands.

He was received by Ferdinand and Isabella with the greatest honor. They even made him sit down in their

Discoveries before Columbus. — There is some reason to believe that America may have been visited from Europe before the time of Columbus. The inhabitants of Scandinavia (the country now divided into Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) were known as Norsemen. In the old romantic tales of Scandinavia there are stories which go to show that these Norsemen, under the command of Leif, the son of Eric, in the year looi, and afterward, probably explored the coast of America from Labrador southward for some distance. Fanciful theories have been built on these stories, such as the notion that the old stone windmill at Newport, R. I., is a tower built by the Norsemen. There is also a tradition in Wales that one Madoc, a Welsh prince, in the year 1170, discovered land to the west of Ireland, and took a colony thither, which was never heard of afterward. If these stories of Leif and Madoc represent real voyages, the discoveries which they relate would probably never have been recalled to memorj' if Columbus had not opened a wide door at the right moment.

J

HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. f

presence, a favor never shown except to the greatest grandees. The people who had believed him a fool when he went away, followed him with cheers as he walked along the street.

Columbus, in his second vova2:e to America, planted l^*^"" voyage!

■^ Y . . °f Columbus.

a colony on the island of Hispaniola, or Ha3-ti. In this and in two other voyages he discovered other islands and a portion of the coast of South America, which he first saw in 1498. He never knew that he had found a new world, but lived and died in the belief that the large island of Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia.

Who discovered America? How long is it since Columbus discov- Questions for ered America? What did people in Europe know about America 400 study, years ago ? What did they know about the roundness of the world ? How was the trade with Asia carried on ? What stories were told in Europe at this time by travelers ? How did the Portuguese try to get to India at this time ? Had they reached India by sea when Columbus sailed to America ? How many years had they spent exploring the coast of Africa before they got to the Cape of Good Hope? Where is the Cape of Good Hope? What shorter route to India from Europe has been made in our time? [Ans. The canal through the Isthmus of Suez.] How did Columbus propose to get to India? In this plan there were two mistakes : what were they ? What is in the way between Spain and Asia if one sails straight to the west ? How far did Columbus think it? Is it much farther? To whom did Columbus first make his

offer? To what king did he next offer his plan ? What was the Atlantic Ocean sometimes called in that day? What kind of creatures were thought to live in it ? What foolish notion of up-hill and down-hill did men get from the roundness of the earth ? W^hat did the King of

Portugal do to find out whether Columbus's notion was correct or not? Was this fair to Columbus ? How far did this ship sail ? What

did Columbus do when he found that he had been cheated ? (How near is Portugal to Spain ?) What were the names of the King and Queen of Spain at this time ? In what war were they engaged ? How long did Columbus have to wait in order to persuade them to let him have ships? To what king was he going when Isabella called him back ? In

what year did Columbus start on his voyage ? On what day of what month did he sail? Leaving on the 3d of August, 1492, he was how

Study by topics.

O HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA.

long on the voyage? How did the sailors feel as they sailed farther and farther into the unknown "Sea of Darkness"? What threats did they make against Columbus? How did he deal with them? What day of October was it on which Columbus first saw land on this side of the ocean? The 12th of October in what year? How long ago is that? [Subtract 1492 from the present year.] Had Columbus found Asia

and its rich cities ? What had he found ? What was the appearance of the people ? How did they live ? What did he discover afterward ?

What did he take home with him ? How was he received by the king and queen ? How by the people ? Where did he plant his

first colony? Did he ever know that he had found a new continent? What did he think about Cuba ?

1. Columbus in Portugal.

2. Columbus in Spain.

3. Columbus on his voyage.

4. Columbus after his return from the first voyage.

a. Mention three false notions which made men oppose Columbus.

1. That it would be sailing up-hill coming back.

2. That there were monsters in the unknown seas.

3. That nobody could live on the other side of the world.

b. Tell what you know of two mistaken notions held by Columbus that promoted his voyage.

Skeleton sum- {Fill Up the blatiks.) — Columbus discovered America about years

"^^^y- ago. He wished to reach by sailing to the . He offered to

make this discovery for the King of , who secretly sent out a ship to

find out the truth of Columbus's idea. When Columbus saw that he was

cheated, he went to to lay his plans before the king and queen,

whose names were and . He waited in Spain nearly years.

He sailed from Spain in August, , and discovered land in the month

of . He first saw the continent of in 1498. But he died

supposing that the island of Cuba was part of the continent of .

The pupil may find out what he can of the life of Columbus.

A subject for composition may be had by the scholar's supposing himself to have just returned with Columbus from his first voyage. Let him write a letter to a supposed friend in England telling him all he can of Columbus, of the ships, of the voyage, of the Indians, and of their reception by the king and queen.

To teachers. The " Study by Topics" may always be written on the blackboard with advan-

tage, especially where there is no other blackboard exercise.

Voluntary work.

Composition.

HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA.

" Life of Columbus," by Washington Irving. The latest conclusions of the learned about Columbus and his discoveries, in Winsor's " Narrative and Critical History of America," voL ii. For the events of the time, Prescott's " Ferdinand and Isabella." For a history of the Portuguese discoveries and the Spanish colonies, Helps's " Spanish Conquest of America."

Books for reference and reading.

THIS MAP SHOWS HOW COLUMBUS FOUND AMERICA IN TRYING TO GET TO ASIA. IT ALSO SHOWS THE VOYAGES OF DA GAMA AND MAGELLAN, AS TOLD IN CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER II. Other Discoveries in America

A PART of the glory of Columbus's great discovery Naming of was taken away from him by accident. An Italian, Amerigo Vespucci [am-a-ree'-go ves-poot'-chee], whose name in Latin was written Amer'icus Vespu'cius, was with an expedition that discovered part of South

America in 1499. A false

Americus Vespucius was born in Florence in 1451. He went into mercantile life at Florence, and afterward removed to Spain a little before Columbus sailed on his first voyage. Vespucius claimed to have made four voyages to the New World, the first in 1497. But it is now believed that this first date is not correct, and that Vespucius was in Spain during all of that year. He undoubtedly went to America several times, both from Spain and Portugal. In 1503 Vespucius built a fort on the coast of what is now Brazil ; and he left there a little colony, the first in that part of South America.