| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Stories of Later American History
Author: Gordy, Wilbur Fisk, 1854-1929
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Stories of Later American History" ***
This book is indexed by ISYS Web Indexing system to allow the reader find any word or number within the document.
HISTORY***
Transcriber's note
There are a few phonetic descriptions:
' is a stress mark,
[=e] is an e-with-macron
and [=a] is an a-with-macron.
STORIES OF LATER AMERICAN HISTORY
by
WILBUR F. GORDY
Formerly Superintendent of Schools, Springfield, Mass.; Author of "A
History of the United States for Schools," "Elementary History of the
United States," "American Leaders and Heroes," "American Beginnings in
Europe," "Stories of American Explorers," "Colonial Days," and "Stories
of Early American History"
With Maps and Illustrations
[Illustration: Pioneers on the Overland Route, Westward.]
Charles Scribner's Sons
New York Chicago Boston
Copyright, 1915, by Charles Scribner's Sons
PREFACE
This book, like "Stories of Early American History," follows somewhat
present volume covering the topics outlined for Grade V, while the earlier
one includes the material suggested for Grade IV.
It was the plan of that committee to take up in these grades, largely in a
biographical way, a great part of the essential facts of American history;
and with this plan the author, who was a member of that committee, was in
hearty accord. This method, it is believed, serves a double purpose. In
the first place, it is the best possible way of laying the foundation for
the later and more detailed study of United States history in the higher
grammar grades by those pupils who are to continue in school; and in the
second, it gives to that large number of pupils who will leave school
before the end of the sixth grade--which is at least half of all the boys
and girls in the schools of the country--some acquaintance with the
leading men and prominent events of American history.
It is without doubt a great mistake to allow half of the pupils to go out
from our public schools with almost no knowledge of the moral and material
forces which have made this nation what it is to-day. It is an injustice
to the young people themselves; it is also an injury to their country, the
vigor of whose life will depend much upon their intelligent and patriotic
support.
With this conviction, it has been the author's desire to make the story of
the events concrete, dramatic, and lifelike by centring them about
leaders, heroes, and other representative men, in such a way as to appeal
to the imagination and to influence the ideals of the child. In so doing,
he has made no attempt to write organized history--tracing out its
intricate relations of cause and effect. At the same time, however, he has
aimed to select his facts and events so carefully that the spirit of our
national life and institutions, as well as many of the typical events of
American history, may be presented.
It is confidently hoped that the fine illustrations and the attractive
typographical features of the book will help to bring vividly before the
mind of the child the events narrated in the text.
Another aid in making the stories vivid will, it is intended, be found in
"Some Things to Think About." These and many similar questions, which the
teacher can easily frame to fit the needs of her class, will help the
pupil to make real the life of days gone by as well as to connect it with
the present time and with his own life.
In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge my deep obligations to Mr. Forrest
Morgan, of the Watkinson Library, Hartford, and to Miss Elizabeth P. Peck,
of the Hartford Public High School, both of whom have read the manuscript
and have made many valuable criticisms and suggestions.
WILBUR F. GORDY.
HARTFORD, CONN.,
April 15, 1915.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. PATRICK HENRY
II. SAMUEL ADAMS
III. THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON
IV. GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION
V. NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES IN THE SOUTH
VI. JOHN PAUL JONES
VII. DANIEL BOONE
VIII. JAMES ROBERTSON
IX. JOHN SEVIER
X. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
XI. THE NEW REPUBLIC
XII. INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE NEW REPUBLIC
XIII. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
XIV. THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER
XV. THREE GREAT STATESMEN
XVI. THE CIVIL WAR
XVII. FOUR GREAT INDUSTRIES
INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS
Pioneers on the Overland Route, Westward
George III
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry Delivering His Speech in the Virginia House of
Burgesses
William Pitt
St. John's Church, Richmond
Samuel Adams
Patriots in New York Destroying Stamps Intended for Use in
Connecticut
Faneuil Hall, Boston
Old South Church, Boston
The "Boston Tea Party"
Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia
John Hancock
John Hancock's Home, Boston
A Minuteman
Old North Church
Paul Revere's Ride
Monument on Lexington Common Marking the Line of the Minutemen
Concord Bridge
President Langdon, the President of Harvard College, Praying for the
Bunker Hill Entrenching Party on Cambridge Common Just
Before Their Departure
Prescott at Bunker Hill
Bunker Hill Monument
George Washington
Washington, Henry, and Pendleton on the Way to Congress at
Philadelphia
The Washington Elm at Cambridge, under which Washington took Command
of the Army
Sir William Howe
Thomas Jefferson Looking Over the Rough Draught of the Declaration
of Independence
The Retreat from Long Island
Nathan Hale
British and Hessian Soldiers
Powder-Horn, Bullet-Flask, and Buckshot-Pouch Used in the Revolution
General Burgoyne Surrendering to General Gates
Marquis de Lafayette
Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin
Winter at Valley Forge
Nathanael Greene
The Meeting of Greene and Gates upon Greene's Assuming Command
Daniel Morgan
Francis Marion
Marion Surprising a British Wagon-Train
John Paul Jones
Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake
The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis
Daniel Boone
Boone's Escape from the Indians
Boonesborough
Boone Throwing Tobacco into the Eyes of the Indians Who Had Come to
Capture Him
James Robertson
Living-Room of the Early Settler
Grinding Indian Corn
A Kentucky Pioneer's Cabin
John Sevier
A Barbecue of 1780
Battle of King's Mountain
George Rogers Clark
Clark on the Way to Kaskaskia
Clark's Surprise at Kaskaskia
Wampum Peace Belt
Clark's Advance on Vincennes
George Washington
Washington's Home, Mount Vernon
Tribute Rendered to Washington at Trenton
Washington Taking the Oath of Office as First President, at Federal
Hall, New York City
Washington's Inaugural Chair
Eli Whitney
Whitney's Cotton-Gin
A Colonial Planter
A Slave Settlement
Thomas Jefferson
"Monticello," the Home of Jefferson
A Rice-Field in Louisiana
A Flatboat on the Ohio River
House in New Orleans Where Louis Philippe Stopped in 1798
A Public Building in New Orleans Built in 1794
Meriwether Lewis
William Clark
Buffalo Hunted by Indians
The Lewis and Clark Expedition Working Its Way Westward
Andrew Jackson
"The Hermitage," the Home of Andrew Jackson
Fighting the Seminole Indians, under Jackson
Robert Fulton
Fulton's First Experiment with Paddle-Wheels
The "Clermont" in Duplicate at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909
The Opening of the Erie Canal in 1825
The Ceremony Called "The Marriage of the Waters"
Erie Canal on the Right and Aqueduct over the Mohawk River, New York
"Tom Thumb," Peter Cooper's Locomotive Working Model, First Used
near Baltimore in 1830
Railroad Poster of 1843
Comparison of "DeWitt Clinton" Locomotive and Train, the First Train
Operated in New York, with a Modern Locomotive of the New
York Central R.R.
S.F.B. Morse
The First Telegraph Instrument
Modern Telegraph Office
The Operation of the Modern Railroad is Dependent upon the Telegraph
Sam Houston
Flag of the Republic of Texas
David Crockett
The Fight at the Alamo
John C. Frémont
Frémont's Expedition Crossing the Rocky Mountains
Kit Carson
Sutter's Mill
Placer-Mining in the Days of the California Gold Rush
John C. Calhoun
Calhoun's Office and Library
Henry Clay
The Birthplace of Henry Clay, near Richmond
The Schoolhouse in "the Slashes"
Daniel Webster
The Home of Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass.
Henry Clay Addressing the United States Senate in 1850
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's Birthplace
Lincoln Studying by Firelight
Lincoln Splitting Rails
Lincoln as a Boatman
Lincoln Visiting Wounded Soldiers
Robert E. Lee
Lee's Home at Arlington, Virginia
Jefferson Davis
Thomas J. Jackson
A Confederate Flag
J.E.B. Stuart
Confederate Soldiers
Union Soldiers
Ulysses S. Grant
Grant's Birthplace, Point Pleasant, Ohio
General and Mrs. Grant with Their Son at City Point, Virginia
William Tecumseh Sherman
Sherman's March to the Sea
Philip H. Sheridan
Sheridan Rallying His Troops
The McLean House Where Lee Surrendered
General Lee on His Horse, Traveller
Cotton-Field in Blossom
A Wheat-Field
Grain-Elevators at Buffalo
Cattle on the Western Plains
Iron Smelters
Iron Ore Ready for Shipment
MAPS
Boston and Vicinity
The War in the Middle States
The War in the South
Early Settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee
George Rogers Clark in the Northwest
The United States in 1803, after the Louisiana Purchase (Colored)
Jackson's Campaign
Scene of Houston's Campaign
Frémont's Western Explorations
Map of the United States Showing First and Second Secession
Areas (Colored)
Route of Sherman's March to the Sea
The Country Around Washington and Richmond
STORIES OF LATER AMERICAN HISTORY
CHAPTER I
PATRICK HENRY
The Last French War had cost England so much that at its close she was
heavily in debt.
"As England must now send to America a standing army of at least ten
thousand men to protect the colonies against the Indians and other
enemies," the King, George III, reasoned, "it is only fair that the
colonists should pay a part of the cost of supporting it."
The English Parliament, being largely made up of the King's friends, was
quite ready to carry out his wishes, and passed a law taxing the
colonists. This law was called the Stamp Act. It provided that
stamps--very much like our postage-stamps, but costing all the way from
one cent to fifty dollars each--should be put upon all the newspapers and
almanacs used by the colonies, and upon all such legal papers as wills,
deeds, and the notes which men give promising to pay back borrowed money.
[Illustration: George III.]
When news of this act reached the colonists they were angry. "It is
unjust," they said. "Parliament is trying to make slaves of us by forcing
us to pay money without our consent. The charters which the English King
granted to our forefathers when they came to America make us free men just
as much as if we were living in England.
"In England it is the law that no free man shall pay taxes unless they are
levied by his representatives in Parliament. We have no one to speak for
us in Parliament, and so we will not pay any taxes which Parliament votes.
The only taxes we will pay are those voted by our representatives in our
own colonial assemblies."
They were all the more ready to take this stand because for many years
they had bitterly disliked other English laws which were unfair to them.
One of these forbade selling their products to any country but England.
And, of course, if they could sell to no one else, they would have to sell
for what the English merchants chose to pay.
Another law said that the colonists should buy the goods they needed from
no other country than England, and that these goods should be brought over
in English vessels. So in buying as well as in selling they were at the
mercy of the English merchants and the English ship owners, who could set
their own prices.
But even more unjust seemed the law forbidding the manufacture in America
of anything which was manufactured in England. For instance, iron from
American mines had to be sent to England to be made into useful articles,
and then brought back over the sea in English vessels and sold to the
colonists by English merchants at their own price.
Do you wonder that the colonists felt that England was taking an unfair
advantage? You need not be told that these laws were strongly opposed. In
fact, the colonists, thinking them unjust, did not hesitate to break them.
Some, in spite of the laws, shipped their products to other countries and
smuggled the goods they received in exchange; and some dared make articles
of iron, wool, or other raw material, both for their own use and to sell
to others.
"We will not be used as tools for England to make out of us all the profit
she possibly can," they declared. "We are not slaves but free-born
Englishmen, and we refuse to obey laws which shackle us and rob us of our
rights."
So when to these harsh trade laws the Stamp Act was added, great
indignation was aroused. Among those most earnest in opposing the act was
Patrick Henry.
Let us take a look at the early life of this powerful man. He was born in
1736, in Hanover County, Virginia. His father was an able lawyer, and his
mother belonged to a fine old Welsh family.
But Patrick, as a boy, took little interest in anything that seemed to his
older friends worth while. He did not like to study nor to work on his
father's farm. His delight was to wander through the woods, gun in hand,
hunting for game, or to sit on the bank of some stream fishing by the
hour. When not enjoying himself out-of-doors he might be heard playing his
violin.
Of course the neighbors said, "A boy so idle and shiftless will never
amount to anything," and his parents did not know what to do with him.
They put him, when fifteen years old, as clerk into a little country
store. Here he remained for a year, and then opened a store of his own.
But he was still too lazy to attend to business, and soon failed.
[Illustration: Patrick Henry.]
When he was only eighteen years old, he married. The parents of the young
couple, anxious that they should do well, gave them a small farm and a few
slaves. But it was the same old story. The young farmer would not take the
trouble to look after his affairs, and let things drift. So before long
the farm had to be sold to pay debts. Once more Patrick turned to
storekeeping, but after a few years he failed again.
He was now twenty-three years old, with no settled occupation, and with a
wife and family to support. No doubt he seemed to his friends a
ne'er-do-well.
About this time he decided to become a lawyer. He borrowed some law-books,
and after studying for six months, he applied for permission to practise
law. Although he passed but a poor examination, he at last was started on
the right road.
He succeeded well in his law practice, and in a few years had so much
business that people in his part of Virginia began to take notice of him.
In 1765, soon after the Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament, he
was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, a body not unlike
our State Legislature.
PATRICK HENRY'S FIERY SPEECH AGAINST THE STAMP ACT
History gives us a vivid picture of the young lawyer at this time as he
rides on horseback along the country road toward Williamsburg, then the
capital of Virginia. He is wearing a faded coat, leather knee-breeches,
and yarn stockings, and carries his law papers in his saddle-bag. Although
but twenty-nine, his tall, thin figure stoops as if bent with age. He does
not look the important man he is soon to become.
When he reaches the little town of Williamsburg, he finds great
excitement. Men gather in small groups on the street, talking in anxious
tones. Serious questions are being discussed: "What shall we do about the
Stamp Act?" they say. "Shall we submit and say nothing? Shall we send a
petition to King George asking him for justice? Shall we beg Parliament to
repeal the act, or shall we take a bold stand and declare that we will not
obey it?"
Not only on the street, but also in the House of Burgesses was great
excitement. Most of the members were wealthy planters who lived on great
estates. So much weight and dignity had they that the affairs of the
colony were largely under their control. Most of them were loyal to the
"mother country," as they liked to call England, and they wished to obey
the English laws as long as these were just.
[Illustration: Patrick Henry Delivering His Speech in the Virginia House
of Burgesses.]
So they counselled: "Let us move slowly. Let nothing be done in a passion.
Let us petition the King to modify the laws which appear to us unjust, and
then, if he will not listen, it will be time to refuse to obey. We must
not be rash."
Patrick Henry, the new member, listened earnestly. But he could not see
things as these older men of affairs saw them. To him delay seemed
dangerous. He was eager for prompt, decisive action. Tearing a blank leaf
from a law-book, he hastily wrote some resolutions, and, rising to his
feet, he read them to the assembly.
We can easily picture the scene. This plainly dressed rustic with his bent
shoulders is in striking contrast to the prosperous plantation owners,
with their powdered hair, ruffled shirts, knee-breeches, and silver
shoe-buckles. They give but a listless attention as Henry begins in quiet
tones to read his resolutions. "Who cares what this country fellow
thinks?" is their attitude. "Who is he anyway? We never heard his voice
before."
It is but natural that these men, whose judgment has been looked up to for
years, should regard as an upstart this young, unknown member, who
presumes to think his opinion worth listening to in a time of great crisis
like this.
But while they sit in scornful wrath, the young orator's eyes begin to
glow, his stooping figure becomes erect, and his voice rings out with
fiery eloquence. "The General Assembly of Virginia, _and only_ the General
Assembly of Virginia," he exclaims, "has the right and the power of laying
taxes upon the people of this colony."
These are stirring words, and they fall amid a hushed silence. Then the
debate grows hot, as members rise to speak in opposition to his burning
eloquence.
[Illustration: William Pitt.]
But our hero is more than a match for all the distinguished men who
disagree with him. Like a torrent, his arguments pour forth and sweep all
before them. The bold resolutions he presents are passed by the assembly.
It was a great triumph for the young orator. On that day Patrick Henry
made his name. "Stick to us, old fellow, or we're gone," said one of the
plain people, giving him a slap on the shoulder as he passed out at the
close of the stormy session. The unpromising youth had suddenly become a
leader in the affairs of the colony.
Not only in Virginia, but also in other colonies, his fiery words acted
like magic in stirring up the people against the Stamp Act. He had proved
himself a bold leader, willing to risk any danger for the cause of justice
and freedom.
You would expect that in the colonies there would be strong and deep
feeling against the Stamp Act. But perhaps you will be surprised to learn
that even in England many leading men opposed it. They thought that George
III was making a great mistake in trying to tax the colonies without their
consent. William Pitt, a leader in the House of Commons, made a great
speech, in which he said: "I _rejoice_ that America has resisted." He went
on to say that if the Americans had meekly submitted, they would have
acted like slaves.
Burke and Fox, other great statesmen, also befriended us. And the English
merchants and ship owners, who were losing heavily because the Americans
refused to buy any English goods as long as the Stamp Act was in force,
joined in begging Parliament that the act be repealed. This was done the
next year.
Other unjust measures followed, but before we take them up, let us catch
another glimpse of Patrick Henry, ten years after his great speech at
Williamsburg.
ANOTHER GREAT SPEECH BY PATRICK HENRY
The people of Virginia are again greatly aroused. King George has caused
Parliament to send English soldiers to Boston to force the unruly people
of Massachusetts to obey some of his commands, against which they had
rebelled. Virginia has stood by her sister colony, and now the royal
governor of Virginia, to punish her, has prevented the House of Burgesses
from meeting at Williamsburg.
But the Virginians are not so easily kept from doing their duty. With a
grim determination to defend their rights as free men, they elect some of
their leaders to act for them at this trying time.
These meet in Richmond at old St. John's Church, which is still standing.
Great is the excitement, and thoughtful people are very serious, for the
shadows of the war-cloud grow blacker hour by hour.
The Virginians have already begun to make ready to fight if they must. But
many still hope that all disagreements may yet be settled peaceably, and
therefore advise acting with caution.
[Illustration: St. John's Church, Richmond.]
Patrick Henry is not one of these. He believes that the time has come when
talking should give place to prompt, decisive action. The war is at hand.
It cannot be avoided. The colonists must fight or slavishly submit.
So intense is his belief that he offers in this meeting a resolution that
Virginia should at once prepare to defend herself. Many of the leading men
stoutly oppose this resolution as rash and unwise.
At length Patrick Henry rises to his feet, his face pale, and his voice
trembling with deep emotion. Again we see the bent shoulders straighten
and the eyes flash. His voice rings out like a trumpet. As he goes on with
increasing power, men lean forward in breathless interest. Listen to his
ringing words:
"We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to
the God of Hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are
weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be
stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we
are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every
house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we
acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs
and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have
bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of
the means which the God of nature hath placed in our hands.... There is no
retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their
clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and
let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!
"... Gentlemen may cry peace, peace--but there is no peace. The war is
actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our
ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field!
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they
have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price
of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course
others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"
What wonder that the audience sways to his belief!
He was a true prophet, for in less than four weeks the first gun of the
Revolution was fired in the quiet town of Lexington, Massachusetts.
Undoubtedly Patrick Henry's fiery spirit had done much to kindle the flame
which then burst forth.
Not long after this, he was made commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces
(1775), and the next year was elected governor of Virginia.
When the war--in the declaring of which he had taken so active a part--was
over, Patrick Henry retired at the age of fifty-eight (1794), to an estate
in Charlotte County called "Red Hill," where he lived a simple and
beautiful life. He died in 1799.
Without doubt he was one of the most eloquent orators our country has ever
produced, and we should be grateful to him because he used his great gift
in helping to secure the freedom we now enjoy.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What was the Stamp Act? Why did Parliament pass it, and why did the
colonists object to it?
2. What did Patrick Henry mean by saying that the General Assembly of
Virginia, _and only_ the General Assembly of Virginia had the right and
the power of laying taxes upon the people of that colony?
3. Have you in your mind a picture of young Patrick Henry as he rode on
horseback along the country road toward Williamsburg? Describe this
picture as clearly as you can.
4. What did William Pitt think of the Stamp Act? Why did Parliament repeal
it?
5. Can you explain Patrick Henry's power as an orator? When did he make a
great speech in St. John's Church, Richmond?
6. What do you admire in Patrick Henry?
7. Do not fail to locate every event upon your map.
CHAPTER II
SAMUEL ADAMS
While Patrick Henry was leading the people of Virginia in their defiance
of the Stamp Act, exciting events were taking place in Massachusetts under
another colonial leader. This was Samuel Adams. Even before Virginia took
any action, he had introduced in the Massachusetts Assembly resolutions
opposing the Stamp Act, and they were passed.
This man, who did more than any one else to arouse the love of liberty in
his colony, was born in Boston in 1722. His boyhood was quite different
from that of Patrick Henry. He liked to go to school and to learn from
books, and he cared little for outdoor life or sport of any kind.
[Illustration: Samuel Adams.]
As he grew up, his father wished him to become a clergyman, but Samuel
preferred to study law. His mother opposing this, however, he entered upon
business life. This perhaps was a mistake, for he did not take to
business, and, like Patrick Henry, he soon failed, even losing most of the
property his father had left him.
SAMUEL ADAMS AN INSPIRING LEADER
But although not skilful in managing his own affairs, he was a most loyal
and successful worker for the interests of the colony. In fact, before
long, he gave up most of his private business and spent his time and
strength for the public welfare.
His whole income was the very small salary which he received as clerk of
the Assembly of Massachusetts. This was hardly sufficient to pay for the
food needed in his household. But his wife was so thrifty and cheerful,
and his friends so glad to help him out because of the time he gave to
public affairs, that his home life, though plain, was comfortable, and his
children were well brought up.
Poor as he was, no man could be more upright. The British, fearing his
influence, tried at different times to bribe him with office under the
King and to buy him with gold. But he scorned any such attempts to turn
him aside from the path of duty.
The great purpose of his life seemed to be to encourage the colonists to
stand up for their rights as freemen, and to defeat the plans of King
George and Parliament in trying to force the colonists to pay taxes. In
this he was busy night and day. In the assembly and in the town meeting
all looked to him as an able leader; and in the workshops, on the streets,
or in the shipyards men listened eagerly while he made clear the aims of
the English King, and urged them to defend their rights as free-born
Englishmen.
Even at the close of a busy day, this earnest, liberty-loving man gave
himself little rest. Sometimes he was writing articles for the newspapers,
and sometimes urgent letters to the various leaders in Massachusetts and
in the other colonies. Long after midnight, those who passed his dimly
lighted windows could see "Sam Adams hard at work writing against the
Tories."
[Illustration: Patriots in New York Destroying Stamps Intended for Use in
Connecticut.]
Had you seen him at this time, you would never have thought of him as a
remarkable man. He was of medium size, with keen gray eyes, and hair
already fast turning white. His head and hands trembled as if with age,
though he was only forty-two years old and in good health.
He was a great power in the colony. Not only did he rouse the people
against the Stamp Act, but he helped to organize, in opposition to it,
societies of patriots called "Sons of Liberty," who refused to use the
stamps and often destroyed them. In Massachusetts, as in Virginia and
elsewhere, the people refused to buy any English goods until this hateful
act was repealed.
At the close of a year, before it had really been put into operation, the
act was repealed, as we have already seen. But this did not happen until
many resolutions had been passed, many appeals made to the King, and after
much excitement. Then great was the rejoicing! In every town in the
country bonfires were lighted, and every colonial assembly sent thanks to
the King.
But the obstinate, power-loving George III was not happy about this
repeal. In fact, he had given in very much against his will. He wanted to
rule England in his own way, and how could he do so if he allowed his
stubborn colonists in America thus to get the better of him?
So he made up his mind to insist upon some sort of a tax. In 1767,
therefore, only one year after the repeal of the Stamp Act, he asked
Parliament to pass a law taxing glass, lead, paper, tea, and a few other
articles imported into the colonies.
This new tax was laid, but again the colonists said: "We had no part in
levying it, and if we pay it, we shall be giving up our rights as freemen.
But how can we help ourselves?"
Samuel Adams and other leaders answered: "We can resist it just as we did
the Stamp Act--by refusing to buy any goods whatever from England." To
this the merchants agreed. While the unjust tax was in force, they
promised to import no English goods, and the people promised not to ask
for such goods.
Then many wealthy people agreed to wear homespun instead of English
cloths, and to stop eating mutton in order to have more sheep to produce
wool for this homespun, thus showing a willingness to give up for the
cause some of the luxuries which they had learned to enjoy.
Of course, this stand taken by the colonists angered the King. He called
them rebels and sent soldiers to Boston to help enforce the laws (1768).
From the first the people of Boston felt insulted at having these soldiers
in their midst, and it was not long before trouble broke out. In a street
fight at night the troops fired upon the crowd, killing and wounding a
number of men.
This caused great excitement. The next day, under the leadership of Samuel
Adams, the citizens of Boston demanded that all the soldiers should be
removed. Fearing more serious trouble if the demand was disregarded, the
officers withdrew the soldiers to an island in the harbor.
Still the feeling did not die down. The new taxes were a constant
irritation. "Only slaves would submit to such an injustice," said Samuel
Adams, and his listeners agreed. In Massachusetts and in other colonies
the English goods were refused, and, as in the case of the Stamp Act, the
English merchants felt the pinch of heavy losses, and begged that the new
tax laws be repealed.
SAMUEL ADAMS AND THE "BOSTON TEA PARTY"
Feeling grew stronger and matters grew worse until at length, after
something like three years, Parliament took off all the new taxes except
the one on tea. "They must pay one tax to know we keep the right to tax,"
said the King. It was as if the King's followers had winked slyly at one
another and said: "We shall see--we shall see! Those colonists must have
their tea to drink, and a little matter of threepence a pound they will
overlook."
It would have been much better for England if she had taken off all the
taxes and made friends with the colonists. Many leaders in that country
said so, but the stubborn King was bent upon having his own way. "I will
be King," he said. "They shall do as I say."
Then he and his followers worked up what seemed to them a clever scheme
for hoodwinking the colonists. "We will make the tea cheaper in America
than in England," they said. "Such a bargain! How can the simple colonists
resist it?" Great faith was put in this foolish plan.
But they were soon to find out that those simple colonists were only
Englishmen across the sea, that they too had strong wills, and that they
did not care half so much about buying cheap tea as they did about giving
up a principle and paying a tax, however small, which they had no part in
levying.
King George went straight ahead to carry out his plan. It was arranged
that the East India Company should ship cargoes of tea to Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.
In due time the tea arrived. Then the King's eyes were opened. What did he
find out about the spirit of these colonists? That they simply would _not_
use this tea. The people in New York and Philadelphia refused to let it
land, and in Charleston they stored it in damp cellars, where it spoiled.
But the most exciting time was in Boston, where the Tory governor,
Hutchinson, was determined to carry out the King's wishes. Hence occurred
the famous "Boston Tea Party,"--a strange tea-party, where no cups were
used, no guests invited, and no tea drunk! Did you ever hear of such a
party? Let us see what really happened.
It was on a quiet Sunday, the 28th of November, 1773, when the Dartmouth,
the first of the three tea ships bound for Boston, sailed into the harbor.
The people were attending service in the various churches when the cry,
"The Dartmouth is in!" spread like wild-fire. Soon the streets were alive
with people. That was a strange Sunday in Puritan Boston.
The leaders quickly sought out Benjamin Rotch, the owner of the Dartmouth,
and obtained his promise that the tea should not be landed before Tuesday.
Then they called a mass meeting for Monday morning, in Fanueil Hall,
afterward known as the "Cradle of Liberty."
[Illustration: Fanueil Hall, Boston.]
The crowd was so great that they adjourned to the Old South Church, and
there they overflowed into the street. There were five thousand in all,
some of them from near-by towns. Samuel Adams presided. In addressing the
meeting, he asked: "Is it the firm resolution of this body not only that
the tea shall be sent back, but that no duty shall be paid thereon?"
"Yes!" came the prompt and united answer from these brave men.
So the patriots of Boston and the surrounding towns, with Samuel Adams at
their head, were determined that the tea should not be landed. Governor
Hutchinson was equally determined that it should be. A stubborn fight,
therefore, was on hand.
The Boston patriots appointed men, armed with muskets and bayonets, to
watch the tea ships, some by day, others by night. Six post-riders were
appointed, who should keep their horses saddled and bridled, ready to
speed into the country to give the alarm if a landing should be attempted.
Sentinels were stationed in the church belfries to ring the bells, and
beacon-fires were made ready for lighting on the surrounding hilltops.
Tuesday, December 16, dawned. It was a critical day. If the tea should
remain in the harbor until the morrow--the twentieth day after
arrival--the revenue officer would be empowered by law to land it
forcibly.
[Illustration: Old South Church, Boston.]
Men, talking angrily and shaking their fists with excitement, were
thronging into the streets of Boston from the surrounding towns. By ten
o'clock over seven thousand had assembled in the Old South Church and in
the streets outside. They were waiting for the coming of Benjamin Rotch,
who had gone to see if the collector would give him a "clearance," or
permission to sail out of the port of Boston with the tea.
Rotch came in and told the angry crowd that the collector refused to give
the clearance. The people told him that he must get a pass from the
governor. Then the meeting adjourned for the morning.
At three o'clock in the afternoon a great throng of eager men again
crowded the Old South Church and the streets outside to wait for the
return of Rotch. It was an anxious moment. "If the governor refuses to
give the pass, shall the revenue officer be allowed to seize the tea and
land it to-morrow morning?" Many anxious faces showed that men were asking
themselves this momentous question.
[Illustration: The "Boston Tea Party."]
But while, in deep suspense, the meeting waited for Rotch to come they
discussed the situation, and suddenly John Rowe asked: "Who knows how tea
will mingle with salt water?" At once a whirlwind of applause swept
through the assembly and the masses outside. A plan was soon formed.
The afternoon light of the short winter day faded, and darkness deepened;
the lights of candles sprang up here and there in the windows. It was past
six o'clock when Benjamin Rotch entered the church and, with pale face,
said: "The governor refuses to give a pass."
An angry murmur arose, but the crowd soon became silent as Samuel Adams
stood up. He said quietly: "This meeting can do nothing more to save the
country."
These words were plainly a signal. In an instant a war-whoop sounded
outside, and forty or fifty "Mohawks," or men dressed as Indians, who had
been waiting, dashed past the door and down Milk Street toward Griffin's
Wharf, where the tea ships were lying at anchor.
It was then bright moonlight, and everything could be plainly seen. Many
men stood on shore and watched the "Mohawks" as they broke open three
hundred and forty-two chests, and poured the tea into the harbor. There
was no confusion. All was done in perfect order. But what a strange "tea
party" it was! Certainly no other ever used so much tea or so much water.
Soon waiting messengers were speeding to outlying towns with the news, and
Paul Revere, "booted and spurred," mounted a swift horse and carried the
glorious message through the colonies as far as Philadelphia.
SOME RESULTS OF THE "BOSTON TEA PARTY"
The Boston Tea Party was not a festivity which pleased the King. In fact,
it made him very furious. He promptly decided to punish the rebellious
colony. Parliament therefore passed the "Boston Port Bill," by which the
port of Boston was to be closed to trade until the people paid for the
tea. But this they had no mind to do. They stubbornly refused.
Not Boston alone came under the displeasure of King George and Parliament.
They put Massachusetts under military rule, with General Gage as governor,
and sent more soldiers. The new governor gave orders that the colonial
assembly should hold no more meetings. He said that the people should no
longer make their own laws, nor levy their own taxes. This punishment was
indeed severe.
With no vessels allowed to enter or leave the harbor and trade entirely
cut off, the people of Boston soon began to suffer. But the brave men and
women would not give in. They said: "We will not pay for the tea, nor will
we tell the King we are sorry for what we have done."
When the people of the other colonies heard of the suffering in Boston,
they sent wheat, cows, sheep, fish, sugar, and other kinds of food to help
out. The King thought that by punishing Boston he would frighten the other
colonies. But he was mistaken, for they said: "We will help the people of
our sister colony. Her cause is our cause. We must all pull together in
our resistance to King George and the English Parliament." So his action
really united the colonies.
In order to work together to better advantage, the colonies agreed that
each should send to a great meeting some of their strongest men to talk
over their troubles and work out some plan of united action. This meeting,
which was called the First Continental Congress, was held at Carpenters'
Hall, Philadelphia (1774).
Samuel Adams and his cousin, John Adams, were two of the four men that
Massachusetts sent. They began their journey from Boston in a coach drawn
by four horses. In front rode two white servants, well mounted and bearing
arms; while behind were four black servants in livery, two on horseback
and two as footmen. Such was the manner of colonial gentlemen.
[Illustration: Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia.]
As they journeyed through the country the people honored them in many
ways. From some of the larger towns officials and citizens rode out on
horseback and in carriages to meet them and act as escort; and on reaching
a town they were feasted at banquets and greeted by gleaming bonfires, the
ringing of bells, and the firing of cannon. These celebrations showed
honor not to the men alone but to the cause.
The First Continental Congress, to which these messengers were travelling,
urged the people to stand together in resisting the attempt of King George
and Parliament to force them to pay taxes which they had had no share in
laying. They added: "We have the right not only to tax ourselves, but also
to govern ourselves."
With all these movements Samuel Adams was in sympathy. He went even
further, for at this time he was almost or quite alone in his desire for
independence, and he has well been called the "Father of the Revolution."
Perhaps we think of him especially in connection with the Boston Tea
Party, but his influence for the good of his country lasted far beyond
that time.
Till the close of his life he was an earnest and sincere patriot. He died
in 1803, at the age of eighty-one years. Not an orator like Patrick Henry,
but a man of action like Washington, he had great power in dealing with
men. Truly his life was one of great and heroic service to his country.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. In what respects were Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry unlike as boys?
2. Tell why Samuel Adams had great power over men.
3. What kind of man was George III? Why did he so strongly desire that the
colonists should be compelled to pay a tax to England?
4. What was the tax law of 1767, and why did the colonists object to
paying the new taxes?
5. What led up to the "Boston Tea Party"? Imagine yourself one of the
party, and tell what you did.
6. In what way did George III and Parliament punish Boston for throwing
the tea overboard? How did the colonies help the people of Boston at this
time?
7. What was the First Continental Congress, and what did it do?
8. What do you admire in Samuel Adams?
CHAPTER III
THE WAR BEGINS NEAR BOSTON
When Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, the King believed that such
severe punishment would not only put a stop to further rebellious acts,
but would cause the colonists to feel sorry for what they had done and
incline them once more to obey him. Imagine his surprise and indignation
at what followed!
As soon as General Gage ordered that the Massachusetts Assembly should
hold no more meetings, the colonists made up their minds they would not be
put down in this manner. They said: "The King has broken up the assembly.
Very well. We will form a new governing body and give it a new name, the
Provincial Congress."
[Illustration: John Hancock.]
And what do you suppose the chief business of this Congress was? To make
ready for war! An army was called for, and provision made that a certain
number of the men enlisted should be prepared to leave their homes at a
minute's notice. These men were called "minute-men."
Even while the patriots, for so the rebellious subjects of King George
called themselves, were making these preparations, General Gage, who was
in command of the British troops in Boston, had received orders from
England to seize as traitors Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were the
most active leaders.
[Illustration: John Hancock's Home, Boston.]
Of Samuel Adams you already know. John Hancock was president of the newly
made Provincial Congress.
General Gage knew that Adams and Hancock were staying for a while with a
friend in Lexington. He had learned also through spies that minutemen had
collected some cannon and military stores in Concord, twenty miles from
Boston, and only eight miles beyond Lexington.
The British general planned, therefore, to send a body of troops to arrest
the two leaders at Lexington, and then to push on and capture or destroy
the stores at Concord.
[Illustration: A Minuteman.]
Although he acted with the greatest secrecy, he was unable to keep his
plans from the watchful minutemen. We shall see how one of these, Paul
Revere, outwitted him. Perhaps you have read Longfellow's poem which tells
the story of the famous "midnight ride" taken by this fearless young man.
Paul Revere had taken an active part in the "Boston Tea Party," and the
following year, with about thirty other young patriots, he had formed a
society to spy out the British plans. I fancy that the daring and courage
called for in this business appealed to the high spirits and love of
adventure of these young men. Always on the watch, they were quick to
notice any strange movement and report to such leaders as Samuel Adams,
John Hancock, and Doctor Joseph Warren.
On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and his friends brought word
to Doctor Warren that they believed General Gage was about to carry out
his plan, already reported to the patriots, of capturing Adams and
Hancock, and of taking or destroying the military stores at Concord.
Doctor Warren quickly decided that Paul Revere and William Dawes should go
on horseback to Lexington and Concord and give the alarm. He sent them by
different routes, hoping that one at least might escape the British
patrols with whom Gage had carefully guarded all the roads leading from
Boston.
Soon Dawes was galloping across Boston Neck, and Paul Revere was getting
ready for a long night ride.
[Illustration: Old North Church.]
After arranging with a friend for a lantern signal to be hung in the
belfry of the Old North Church to show by which route the British forces
were advancing, "one if by land and two if by sea," he stepped into a
light skiff with two friends who rowed him from Boston across the Charles
River to Charlestown.
Upon reaching the other side of the river, he obtained a fleet horse and
stood ready, bridle in hand, straining his eyes in the darkness to catch
sight of the signal-lights. The horse waits obedient to his master's
touch, and the master stands eagerly watching the spot where the signal is
to appear.
[Illustration: Paul Revere's Ride.]
At eleven o'clock a light flashes forth. Exciting moment! Then another
light! "Two if by sea!" The British troops are crossing the Charles River
to march through Cambridge!
No time to lose! Springing into his saddle and spurring his horse, he
speeds like the wind toward Lexington.
Suddenly two British officers are about to capture him. He turns quickly
and, dashing into a side-path, with spurs in horse he is soon far from his
pursuers.
Then, in his swift flight along the road he pauses at every house to
shout: "Up and arm! Up and arm! The regulars are out! The regulars are
out!"
Families are roused. Lights gleam from the windows. Doors open and close.
Minutemen are mustering.
When Lexington is reached, it is just midnight. Eight minutemen are
guarding the house where Adams and Hancock are sleeping. "Make less noise!
Don't disturb the people inside," they warn the lusty rider. "Noise!"
cries Paul Revere. "You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are
out!"
Soon William Dawes arrived and joined Revere. Hastily refreshing
themselves with a light meal, they rode off together toward Concord, in
company with Samuel Prescott, a prominent Son of Liberty whose home was in
that town. About half-way there, they were surprised by mounted British
officers, who called: "Halt."
Prescott managed to escape by making his horse leap a stone wall, and rode
in hot haste to Concord, which he reached in safety; but Paul Revere and
William Dawes both fell into the hands of the British.
THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD
Meantime, the British troops numbering eight hundred men, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, were on their way to Lexington. But before they
had gone far they were made aware, by the ringing of church-bells, the
firing of signal-guns, the beating of drums, and the gleaming of
beacon-fires from the surrounding hilltops, that their secret was out, and
that the minutemen knew what was going on.
[Illustration: Monument on Lexington Common Marking the Line of the
Minutemen.]
Surprised and disturbed by these signs that the colonists were on the
alert, Colonel Smith sent Major Pitcairn ahead with a picked body of
troops, in the hope that they might reach Lexington before the town could
be completely aroused. He also sent back to Boston for more men.
The British commander would have been still more disturbed if he had known
all that was happening, for the alarm-signals were calling to arms
thousands of patriots ready to die for their rights. Hastily wakened from
sleep, men snatched their old muskets from over the door, and bidding a
hurried good-by to wife and children, started for the meeting-places long
before agreed upon.
Just as the sun was rising, Major Pitcairn marched into Lexington, where
he found forty or fifty minutemen ready to dispute his advance.
"Disperse, ye rebels; disperse!" he cried, riding up. But they did not
disperse. Pitcairn ordered his men to fire, and eighteen minutemen fell to
the ground.
Before the arrival of Pitcairn the British officers who had captured
Revere and Dawes returned with them to Lexington, where, commanding Revere
to dismount, they let him go. Running off at full speed to the house where
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were staying, he told them what had
happened, and then guided them across the fields to a place of safety.
Leaving the shocked and dazed villagers to collect their dead and wounded,
Colonel Smith hastened to Concord. He arrived about seven in the morning,
six hours after Doctor Prescott had given the alarm.
There had been time to hide the military stores, so the British could not
get at those. But they cut down the liberty-pole, set fire to the
court-house, spiked a few cannon, and emptied some barrels of flour.
About two hundred of them stood guard at the North Bridge, while a body of
minutemen gathered on a hill on the opposite side. When the minutemen had
increased to four hundred, they advanced to the bridge and brought on a
fight which resulted in loss of life on both sides. Then, pushing on
across the bridge, they forced the British to withdraw into the town.
[Illustration: Map: Boston and Vicinity.]
The affair had become more serious than the British had expected. Even in
the town they could not rest, for an ever-increasing body of minutemen
kept swarming into Concord from every direction.
By noon Colonel Smith could see that it would be unwise to delay the
return to Boston. So, although his men had marched twenty miles, and had
had little or no food for fourteen hours, he gave the order for the return
march.
But when they started back, the minutemen kept after them and began a
deadly attack. It was an unequal fight. The minutemen, trained to woodland
warfare, slipped from tree to tree, shot down the worn and helpless
British soldiers, and then retreated only to return and repeat the
harassing attack.
[Illustration: Concord Bridge.]
The wooded country through which they were passing favored this kind of
fighting. But even in the open country every stone wall and hill, every
house and barn seemed to the exhausted British troops to bristle with the
guns of minutemen. The retreating army dragged wearily forward, fighting
as bravely as possible, but on the verge of confusion and panic.
They reached Lexington Common at two o'clock, quite overcome with fatigue.
There they were met by one thousand two hundred fresh troops, under Lord
Percy, whose timely arrival saved the entire force from capture. Lord
Percy's men formed a square for the protection of the retreating soldiers,
and into it they staggered, falling upon the ground, "with their tongues
hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase."
After resting for an hour, the British again took up their march to
Boston. The minutemen, increasing in numbers every moment, kept up the
same kind of running attack that they had made between Concord and
Lexington until, late in the day, the redcoats came under the protection
of the guns of the war vessels in Boston Harbor.
The British had failed. There was no denying that. They had been driven
back, almost in a panic, to Boston, with a loss of nearly three hundred
men. The Americans had not lost one hundred.
But the King was not aroused to the situation. He had a vision of his
superb regiments in their brilliant uniforms overriding all before them.
And how did the Provincials, as the British called the Americans, regard
the situation? They saw clearly and without glamour the deadly nature of
the struggle upon which they had entered and the strength of the opposing
army against which they must measure their own strength.
The people of Massachusetts for miles around Boston were now in a state of
great excitement. Farmers, mechanics, men in all walks of life flocked to
the army, and within a few days the Americans, sixteen thousand strong,
were surrounding the British in Boston.
While the people of Massachusetts were in the midst of these stirring
scenes, an event of deep meaning to all the colonies was taking place in
Philadelphia. Here the Continental Congress, coming together for the
second time, was making plans for carrying on the war by voting money for
war purposes and by making George Washington commander-in-chief of the
Continental army, of which the troops around Boston were the beginning.
Thus did the colonies recognize that war had come and that they must stand
together in the fight.
[Illustration: President Langdon, the President of Harvard College,
Praying for the Bunker Hill Entrenching Party on Cambridge Common Just
Before Their Departure.]
Meantime more British troops, under the command of General Howe, arrived
in Boston, making an army of ten thousand men. Believing they could be
forced to leave the town by cannon planted on Bunker Hill, the Americans
decided to occupy it.
On the night of June 16, therefore, shortly before midnight, twelve
hundred Americans marched quietly from Cambridge and, advancing to Breed's
Hill, which was nearer Boston than Bunker Hill, began to throw up
breastworks.
[Illustration: Prescott at Bunker Hill.]
They worked hard all night, and by early morning had made good headway.
The British, on awaking, were greatly surprised to see what had been done.
They turned the fire of their war vessels upon the Americans, who,
however, kept right on with their work.
General Howe, now in command of the British army, thought it would be easy
enough to drive off the "rebels." So about three o'clock in the afternoon
he made an assault upon their works.
The British soldiers, burdened with heavy knapsacks, and suffering from
the heat of a summer sun, had to march through tall grass reaching above
their knees and to climb many fences.
Behind their breastworks the Americans watched the scarlet ranks coming
nearer and nearer. Powder was low, and must not be wasted. Colonel William
Prescott, who was in command, told his men not to fire too soon. "Wait
till you see the whites of their eyes," he said.
Twice the British soldiers, in their scarlet uniforms, climb the slope of
the hill and charge the breastworks. Twice the Americans drive them back,
ploughing great gaps in their ranks.
[Illustration: Bunker Hill Monument.]
A third time they advance. But now the Americans do not answer the charge.
There is good reason--the powder has given out! A great rush--and the
redcoats have climbed over. But it is no easy victory even now, and there
is no lack of bravery on the part of the Americans. With clubbed muskets
they meet the invaders.
The British won the victory, but with great loss. "Many such," said one
critic, "would have cost them their army."
On the other hand, the Americans had fought like heroes, and news of the
battle brought joy to every loyal heart. Washington heard of it when on
his way to take command of the army.
"Did the Americans stand fire?" was his first question.
"Yes," was the answer.
"Then," said he, "the liberties of the country are safe."
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Impersonating Paul Revere, tell the story of his famous ride. What do
you think of him?
2. Why did the British troops march out to Lexington and Concord?
3. Imagine yourself at Concord on the morning of the battle, and tell what
happened.
4. Why did the Americans fortify Breed's Hill? What were the results of
the Battle of Bunker Hill?
5. What did Washington say when he heard that the Americans had stood
their ground in face of the British assault?
CHAPTER IV
GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION
In electing George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental army,
the Continental Congress probably made the very wisest choice possible. Of
course, this was not so clear then. For even leaders like Samuel Adams and
John Adams and Patrick Henry did not know Washington's ability as we have
come to know it now. But they had learned enough about his wonderful power
over men and his great skill as a leader in time of war to believe that he
was the man to whom they might trust the great work of directing the army
in this momentous crisis.
[Illustration: George Washington.]
We have already learned, in a previous book, something of Washington's
boyhood, so simple and free and full of activity. We recall him, as he
grew up, first as a youthful surveyor, then as the trusted messenger of
his colony, Virginia, to the commander of the French forts west of the
Alleghanies, and afterward as an aide of General Braddock when the war
with the French broke out.
In the discharge of all these duties and in all his relations with men,
whether above him in office or under his command, he had shown himself
trustworthy and efficient, a man of clear mind and decisive action--one
who commanded men's respect, obedience, and even love.
After the last battle of the Last French War Washington had returned to
his home at Mount Vernon, on the banks of the Potomac, and very soon
(1759) married Mrs. Martha Custis, a young widow whom he had met at a
friend's house while he was on the way to Williamsburg the year before.
With the addition of his wife's property to his own, he became a man of
much wealth and at one time was one of the largest landholders in America.
But with all his wealth and experience Washington had the modesty which
always goes with true greatness. In the Virginia House of Burgesses, to
which he was elected after the Last French War, he was given a vote of
thanks for his brave services in that war. Rising to reply, Washington,
still a young man, stood blushing and stammering, unable to say a word.
The speaker, liking him none the less for this embarrassment, said, with
much grace: "Sit down, Mr. Washington. Your modesty equals your valor, and
that surpasses the power of any language I possess."
Some years rolled by and the home-loving young planter lived the busy but
quiet life of a high-bred Virginia gentleman. Meanwhile the exciting
events of which we have been speaking were crowding upon one another and
leading up to the Revolution; and in this interval of quiet country life
Washington was unconsciously preparing for the greater task for which he
was soon to be chosen.
[Illustration: Washington, Henry, and Pendleton on the Way to Congress at
Philadelphia.]
In the events of these days Washington took his own part. He was one of
the representatives of Virginia at the first meeting of the Continental
Congress, in 1774, going to Philadelphia in company with Patrick Henry and
others. He was also a delegate to the second meeting of the Continental
Congress, in May, 1775.
He filled well each place of trust; and what more natural than that the
Congress should choose as commander-in-chief of the American army this
gentleman, young, able, and already tried and proven? He was chosen
unanimously.
On being elected, Washington rose and thanked Congress for the honor,
adding modestly: "I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored
with." No doubt in the dark days of war to follow he often felt in this
way, but as the task had fallen to him, he determined to do his best and
trust in a higher power for the outcome.
[Illustration: The Washington Elm at Cambridge, under which Washington
took Command of the Army.]
He refused to accept any salary for his services, but said he would keep
an account of his expenses. The idea of gain for himself in the time of
his country's need was far removed from this great man's heart!
On the 21st of June, Washington set out on horseback from Philadelphia, in
company with a small body of horsemen, to take command of the American
army around Boston. This journey, which can now be made by train in a few
hours, took several days.
Soon after starting, Washington was much encouraged, as we have seen in a
preceding chapter, by the news of the brave stand the provincials had made
at the battle of Bunker Hill.
After three days, he reached New York, about four o'clock on Sunday
afternoon, and was given a royal welcome. Nine companies of soldiers on
foot escorted him as he passed through the streets in an open carriage
drawn by two white horses. All along the route the streets were lined with
people who greeted him with cheers.
Continuing his journey, on July 2 he reached the camp in Cambridge, and
there officers and soldiers received him with enthusiasm.
WASHINGTON IN COMMAND OF THE ARMY
Next day under the famous elm still standing near Harvard University,
Washington drew his sword and took command of the American army.
He was then forty-three years old, tall and manly in form, noble and
dignified in bearing. His soldiers looked upon him with pride as he sat
upon his horse, a superb picture of strength and dignity. He wore a
three-cornered hat with the cockade of liberty upon it, and across his
breast a broad band of blue silk. The impression he made was most
pleasing, his courteous and kindly manner winning friends immediately.
Washington at once began the labor of getting his troops ready to fight,
as his army was one only in name. For although the men were brave and
willing, they had never been trained for war, and were not even supplied
with muskets or powder.
Fortunately, the British did not know how badly off the American army was,
and were taking their ease inside their own defenses. The autumn and the
winter slipped by before Washington could make the attempt to drive the
British out of Boston.
At last, by the first of March, some cannon and other supplies arrived in
camp. Many of them had been dragged over the snow from Ticonderoga on
sledges drawn by oxen. This gave Washington his opportunity to strike.
One night, while the cannon of the American army, which was just outside
of Boston, were firing upon the British for the purpose of concealing
Washington's plan, he sent troops to seize and fortify Dorchester Heights,
overlooking Boston on the south.
Next morning when the astonished British commander, Howe, realized what
the Americans had done, he saw clearly that he must drive them from the
Heights or else leave Boston himself. But before he could send a force
across the bay, a violent storm came up and delayed the attack.
In the meantime the Americans had made their earthworks so strong that
Howe decided not to molest them. He remembered too well the Bunker Hill
affair. So with all his army he sailed away to Halifax, leaving behind
much powder and many cannon, which you may be sure the Americans lost no
time in seizing.
Washington believed that after leaving Boston the British would try to
take New York in order to get control of the Hudson River and the middle
colonies. To outwit them his men must get to New York first. This they
did.
[Illustration: Sir William Howe.]
He had not gone far in putting up defenses there when an event of profound
importance took place in Philadelphia. This was the signing of the
Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. Up to the summer
of 1776, it was for their rights as free-born Englishmen that the
colonists had been fighting. But now that King George was sending
thousands of soldiers to force them to give up these rights, which were as
dear to them as their own lives, they said: "We will cut ourselves off
from England. We will make our own laws; we will levy our own taxes; we
will manage our affairs in our own way. We will declare our independence."
So they appointed a committee, two of whom were Thomas Jefferson and
Benjamin Franklin, to draw up the Declaration of Independence. This was
signed July 4, 1776.
[Illustration: Thomas Jefferson Looking Over the Rough Draught of the
Declaration of Independence.]
It was a great day in American history, and worthy of celebration. After
that, the thirteen colonies became States, and each organized its own
government.
This act, no doubt, gave Washington good heart for the difficult work he
had in hand, but the task itself was no easier. While he was waiting at
New York for the enemy's attack, he had only an ill-assorted army of about
eighteen thousand men to meet them. General Howe, who soon arrived, had
thirty thousand men and a large fleet as well. Yet Washington pluckily
made plans to defend the city.
When Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island, had been fortified, he sent General
Putnam with half the army across East River to occupy them.
On August 27 General Howe, with something like twenty thousand men,
attacked a part of these forces and defeated them. If he had attacked the
remainder at once, he might have captured the full half of the army under
Putnam's command--and even Washington himself, who, during the heat of the
battle, had crossed over from New York. But, as we have seen, the British
were apt to "put off till to-morrow." And very fortunate it was for the
Americans.
Possibly General Howe could have ended the war at this time if he had
continued his attack. But of course he did not know that the Americans
were going to escape, any more than he had known that they were going to
capture Boston. His men had fought hard at the end of a long night march
and needed rest. Besides, he felt so sure of making an easy capture of the
remainder of the army that there was no need of haste. For how could the
Americans get away? Did not the British fleet have them so close under its
nose that it could easily get between them and New York and make escape
impossible?
[Illustration: The Retreat from Long Island.]
This all seemed so clear to the easy-going General Howe that with good
conscience he gave his tired men a rest after the battle on the 27th. On
the 28th a heavy rain fell, and on the 29th a dense fog covered the
island.
But before midday of the 29th, some American officers riding down toward
the shore noticed an unusual stir in the British fleet. Boats were going
to and fro as if carrying orders.
"It looks as if the English vessels may soon sail up between New York and
Long Island and cut off our retreat," said these officers to Washington.
The situation was perilous. At once Washington gave orders to secure all
the boats possible, in order to attempt escape during the night.
It was a desperate undertaking. There were ten thousand men to be taken
across, and the width of the river at the point of crossing was nearly a
mile. It would hardly seem possible that such a movement could be made in
a single night without being discovered by the British troops, who were
lying in camp within gunshot of the retreating Americans.
But that which seemed impossible was done, for the army was transferred in
safety.
The night must have been a long and anxious one for Washington, who stayed
at his post of duty on the Long Island shore until the last boat-load had
pushed off. The retreat was as brilliant as it was daring, and it saved
the American cause.
But even after he had saved his army from capture and once more outwitted
the British, the situation was still one of great danger. No sooner had
the Americans made their perilous escape from Long Island than the British
seized Brooklyn Heights. So just across the river from New York were the
British troops, and just below them in the harbor lay the British fleet.
THE HEROIC NATHAN HALE
With forces so unequal, a single unwise movement might bring disaster. If
only Washington could learn the plans of the British! The only way to do
this was to send a spy over into their camp. He called for a volunteer to
go inside the enemy's line and get information. Now, you know that spying
is dangerous business, for if captured the man will be hanged; and none
but a brave man will undertake it.
Probably many of you boys and girls know the name of the hero whom
Washington selected for this delicate and dangerous task. It was Nathan
Hale.
Perhaps you ask why he was chosen, and why he was willing to go.
We can answer those questions best by finding out something about his
life.
Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, a little town in Connecticut, in 1755.
His parents, who were very religious people, had taught him to be always
honest, brave, and loyal.
Nathan was bright in school and fond of books. He was also fond of play.
Although he was not very strong as a small boy, he grew sturdy and healthy
by joining in the sports of the other boys. They liked him, because, like
George Washington, he always played fair.
Later he went to Yale College, where he studied hard but yet had time for
fun. He became a fine athlete, tall, and well-built. He sang well, and his
gentlemanly manner and thoughtfulness of others made him beloved by all
who knew him.
After he left college, he taught school with much success, being respected
and loved by his pupils. He was teaching in New London, Connecticut, when
the Revolutionary War broke out.
He felt sorry to leave his school, but believing his country needed the
service of every patriotic man, he joined the army and was made a captain.
When he learned that his commander needed a spy, he said: "I am ready to
go. Send me."
He was only twenty-one, hardly more than a boy, yet he knew the danger.
And although life was very dear to him he loved his country more than his
own life.
[Illustration: Nathan Hale.]
His noble bearing and grace of manner might easily permit him to pass as a
Loyalist, that is, an American who sympathized with England--there were
many such in the British camp--and Washington accepted him for the
mission.
He dressed himself like a schoolmaster, so that the British would not
suspect that he was an American soldier.
Then, entering the enemy's lines, he visited all the camps, took notes,
and made sketches of the fortifications, hiding the papers in the soles of
his shoes. He was just about returning when he was captured. The papers
being found upon him, he was condemned to be hanged as a spy before
sunrise the next morning.
The marshal who guarded him that night was a cruel man. He would not allow
his prisoner to have a Bible, and even tore in pieces before his eyes the
farewell letters which the young spy had written to his mother and
friends.
But Nathan Hale was not afraid to die, and held himself calm and steady to
the end. Looking down upon the few soldiers who were standing near by as
he went to his death, he said: "I only regret that I have but one life to
lose for my country." All honor to this brave and true young patriot!
A TIME OF TRIAL FOR WASHINGTON
But the death of Nathan Hale was only one of the hard things Washington
had to bear in this trying year of 1776. We have seen that when the
Americans left the Long Island shore, the British promptly occupied it. On
Brooklyn Heights they planted their cannon, commanding New York. So
Washington had to withdraw, and he retreated northward to White Plains,
stubbornly contesting every inch of ground.
In the fighting of the next two months the Americans lost heavily. Two
forts on the Hudson River with three thousand men were captured by the
British. The outlook was gloomy enough, and it was well for the Americans
that they could not foresee the even more trying events that were to
follow.
[Illustration: The War in the Middle States.]
In order to save himself and his men from the enemy, Washington had to
retreat once more, this time across New Jersey toward Philadelphia. With
the British army, in every way stronger than his own, close upon him, it
was a race for life. Sometimes there was only a burning bridge, which the
rear-guard of the Americans had set on fire, between the fleeing forces
and the pursuing army.
To make things worse, Washington saw his own army becoming smaller every
day, because the men whose term of enlistment had expired were leaving to
go to their homes. When he reached the Delaware River he had barely three
thousand men left.
Here again Washington showed a master-stroke of genius. Having collected
boats for seventy miles along the river, he succeeded in getting his army
safely across at a place a little above Trenton. As the British had no
boats, they had to come to a halt. In their usual easy way, they decided
to wait until the river should freeze, when--as they thought--they would
cross in triumph and make a speedy capture of Philadelphia.
To most people in England and in America alike, the early downfall of the
American cause seemed certain. General Cornwallis was so sure that the war
would soon come to an end that he had already packed some of his luggage
and sent it to the ship in which he expected to return to England.
But Washington had no thought of giving up the struggle. Others might say:
"It's of no use to fight against such heavy odds." General Washington was
not that kind of man. He faced the dark outlook with all his courage and
energy. Full of faith in the cause for which he was willing to die, he
watched eagerly for the opportunity to turn suddenly upon his
overconfident enemy and strike a heavy blow.
THE VICTORY AT TRENTON
Such an opportunity came soon. A body of British troops, made up of
Hessians (or Germans mainly from Hesse-Cassel, hired as soldiers by King
George), was stationed at Trenton, and Washington planned to surprise them
on Christmas night, when, as he knew, it was their custom to hold a feast
and revel.
With two thousand four hundred picked men he prepared to cross the
Delaware River at a point nine miles above Trenton. The ground was white
with snow, and the weather was bitterly cold. As the soldiers marched to
the place of crossing, some of them whose feet were almost bare left
bloody footprints along the route.
[Illustration: British and Hessian Soldiers.]
At sunset the troops began to cross. It was a terrible night. Angry gusts
of wind, and great blocks of ice swept along by the swift current,
threatened every moment to dash in pieces the frail boats.
From the Trenton side of the river, General Knox, who had been sent ahead
by Washington, loudly shouted to let the struggling boatmen know where to
land. For ten hours boat-load after boat-load of men made the dangerous
crossing. A long, long night this must have been to Washington, as he
stood in the midst of the wild storm, anxious, yet hopeful that the next
day would bring him victory.
It was not until four in the morning that the already weary men were in
line to march. Trenton was nine miles away, and a fearful storm of snow
and sleet beat fiercely upon them as they advanced. Yet they pushed
forward. Surely such courage and hardihood deserved its reward!
The Hessians, sleeping heavily after their night's feasting, were quite
unaware of the approaching army. About sunrise they were surprised and
most of them easily captured after a brief struggle.
Like a gleam of light in the darkness, news of this victory shot through
the colonies. It brought hope to every patriot heart. The British were
amazed at the daring feat, and Cornwallis decided not to leave America for
a time. Instead, he advanced with a large force upon Trenton, hoping to
capture Washington's army there.
At nightfall, January 2, 1777, he took his stand on the farther side of a
small creek, near Trenton, and thought he had Washington in a trap. "At
last," said Cornwallis, "we have run down the old fox, and we will bag him
in the morning." In the morning again!
But Washington was too sly a fox for Cornwallis to bag. During the night
he led his army around Cornwallis's camp and, pushing on to Princeton,
defeated the rear-guard, which had not yet joined the main body. He then
retired in safety to his winter quarters among the hills about Morristown.
During this fateful campaign Washington had handled his army in a masterly
way. He had begun with bitter defeat; he had ended with glorious victory.
The Americans now felt that their cause was by no means hopeless. It was
well that they had this encouragement, for the year that began with the
battle of Princeton (1777) was to test their courage and loyalty to the
uttermost.
[Illustration: Powder-Horn, Bullet-Flask, and Buckshot-Pouch Used in the
Revolution.]
BURGOYNE'S INVASION
It had become plain to the British that if they could get control of the
Hudson River, thus cutting off New England from the other States, they
could so weaken the Americans as to make their defeat easy. So they
adopted this plan: Burgoyne with nearly eight thousand men was to march
from Canada, by way of Lake Champlain and Fort Edward, to Albany, where he
was to meet a small force of British, who also were to come from Canada by
way of the Mohawk Valley. The main army of eighteen thousand men, under
General Howe, was expected to sail up the Hudson from New York. They
believed that this plan could be easily carried out and would soon bring
the war to a close.
And their plan might have succeeded if General Howe had done his part. Let
us see what happened.
Howe thought that before going up the river to meet and help Burgoyne, he
would just march across New Jersey and capture Philadelphia. This,
however, was not so easy as he had expected it to be. Washington's army
was in his pathway, and, not caring to fight his way across, he returned
to New York and tried another route, sailing with his army to Chesapeake
Bay. The voyage took two months, much longer than he expected.
When at length he landed and advanced toward Philadelphia, he was again
thwarted. Washington's army grimly fronted him at Brandywine Creek, and a
battle had to be fought. The Americans were defeated, it is true, but
Washington handled his army with such skill that it took Howe two weeks to
reach Philadelphia, which was only twenty-six miles away from the field of
battle.
Howe was thus kept busy by Washington until it was too late for him to
send help to Burgoyne.
Moreover, Burgoyne was disappointed also in the help which he had expected
from the Mohawk Valley, for the army which was to come from that direction
had been forced to retreat to Canada almost before reaching the valley at
all.
[Illustration: General Burgoyne Surrendering to General Gates.]
Burgoyne was now in a hard place. The Americans were in front of him,
blocking his way, and also behind him, preventing him from retreating or
from getting powder and other greatly needed supplies from Canada. He
could move in neither direction.
Thus left in the lurch by those from whom he expected aid and penned in by
the Americans, there was nothing for him to do but fight or give up.
Like a good soldier, he fought, and the result was two battles near
Saratoga and the defeat of the British. In the end Burgoyne had to
surrender his entire army of six thousand regular troops (October 17,
1777).
Such was the way in which the British plan worked out. Of course the
result was a great blow to England.
On the other hand, the victory was a great cause of joy to the Americans.
It made hope stronger at home; it won confidence abroad. France had been
watching closely to see whether the Americans were likely to win in their
struggle, before aiding them openly. Now she was ready to do so, and was
quite willing to make a treaty with them, even though such a course should
lead to war with England.
To bring about this treaty with France, Benjamin Franklin did more than
any other man. After signing the Declaration of Independence--and you will
remember that he was a member of the committee appointed to draft that
great state paper--he went to France to secure aid for the American cause.
He must have been a quaint figure at the French court, his plain hair and
plain cloth coat contrasting strangely with the fashion and elegance about
him. Yet this simple-hearted man was welcomed by the French people, who
gave feasts and parades in his honor and displayed his picture in public
places. By his personal influence he did very much to secure the aid which
France gave us.
LAFAYETTE JOINS THE AMERICAN ARMY
Even before an open treaty was signed France had secretly helped the cause
of the Americans. She had sent them money and army supplies and, besides
this, able Frenchmen had come across the Atlantic to join the American
army. The most noted of these was the Marquis de Lafayette.
The circumstances under which he came were quite romantic. Lafayette was
but nineteen when he heard for the first time at a dinner-party the story
of the American people fighting for their liberty. It interested and
deeply moved him. For in his own land a desire for freedom had been
growing, and he had been in sympathy with it. Now he made it his business
to find out more about this war, and then he quickly decided to help all
he could.
[Illustration: Marquis de Lafayette.]
He belonged to one of the noblest families of France, and was very
wealthy. He had a young wife and a baby, whom he regretted to leave. But
he believed that his duty called him to join the cause of freedom. His
wife was proud of the lofty purpose of her noble husband, and encouraged
him to carry out his plan.
But Lafayette found it very hard to get away, for his family was one of
influence. His relatives and also the men in power were very angry when he
made known his purpose, and they tried to prevent his going.
[Illustration: Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin.]
But he bought a ship with his own money and loaded it with army supplies.
Then, disguising himself as a postboy, he arrived at the coast without
being found out.
After a long, tiresome voyage he reached the United States and went to
Philadelphia.
There Congress gave him the rank of major-general, but in accepting it
Lafayette asked that he might serve without pay.
A warm friendship at once sprang up between Washington and the young
Frenchman, and a feeling of confidence as between father and son. The
older man made the young major-general a member of his military family,
and Lafayette was always proud to serve his chief. He spent his money
freely and risked his life to help the cause of American liberty. We can
never forget his unselfish service.
At the close of the year 1777 Washington took his army to a strong
position among the hills at Valley Forge, about twenty miles northwest of
Philadelphia, there to spend the winter.
It was a period of intense suffering. Sometimes the soldiers went for days
without bread. "For some days past," wrote Washington, "there has been
little less than famine in the camp." Most of the soldiers were in rags,
only a few had bed clothing. Many had to sit by the fire all night to keep
warm, and some of the sick soldiers were without beds or even loose straw
to lie upon. Nearly three thousand of the men were barefoot in this severe
winter weather, and many had frozen feet because of the lack of shoes. It
makes one heart-sick to read about what these brave men passed through
during that wretched winter.
Yet, in spite of bitter trials and distressing times, Washington never
lost faith that in the end the American cause would triumph. A beautiful
story is told showing the faith of this courageous man while in the midst
of these pitiful scenes at Valley Forge.
[Illustration: Winter at Valley Forge.]
One day, when "Friend Potts," a good Quaker farmer, was near the camp, he
saw Washington on his knees, his cheeks wet with tears, praying for help
and guidance. When the farmer returned to his home, he said to his wife:
"George Washington will succeed! George Washington will succeed! The
Americans will secure their independence."
"What makes thee think so, Isaac?" inquired his wife.
"I have heard him pray, Hannah, out in the woods to-day, and the Lord will
surely hear his prayer. He will, Hannah; thee may rest assured He will."
Many events happened between this winter at Valley Forge and the surrender
of Cornwallis with all his army at Yorktown, but these we shall take up in
a later chapter. Washington had led his army through the valley of
despair, and never again while the war lasted was the sky so dark.
At the close of the war Washington was glad to return to Mount Vernon and
become a Virginia planter once more. But, as we shall learn further on, he
was not permitted to spend the remainder of his days in the quiet rural
life which he liked so well. For his countrymen had come to honor and
trust him as their leader, and the time was not far away when they would
again seek his firm and wise guidance.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What kind of army did Washington have when he took command at
Cambridge?
2. What was the Declaration of Independence, and when was it signed?
3. How did Washington show his ability as a general at New York? What
great mistake did General Howe make at that time?
4. What did Nathan Hale do? What do you think of him?
5. Imagine yourself with Washington in the attack upon Trenton, and tell
what happened.
6. What were the results of the capture of Burgoyne?
7. Who was Lafayette, and what did he do for the American cause?
8. Describe as well as you can the sufferings of the Americans at Valley
Forge.
9. Are you making frequent use of the map?
CHAPTER V
NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES IN THE SOUTH
We have given a rapid glance at the part which Washington took in the
Revolution. He, as commander-in-chief, stands first. But he would have
been quick to say that much of the credit for the success in that uneven
struggle was due to the able generals who carried out his plans. Standing
next to Washington himself as a military leader was Nathanael Greene.
[Illustration: Nathanael Greene.]
As you remember, the first fighting of the Revolution was in New England
near Boston. Failing there, the British tried hard to get control of the
Hudson River and the Middle States, as we have just seen. Again they were
baffled by Washington.
One course remained, and that was to gain control of the southern States.
Beginning in Georgia, they captured Savannah. Two years later in May
(1780), they captured General Lincoln and all his force at Charleston, and
in the following August badly defeated General Gates, at Camden, South
Carolina, where with a new army he was now commanding in General Lincoln's
place.
The outlook for the patriot cause was discouraging. One thing was certain.
A skilful general must take charge of the American forces in the south, or
the British would soon have everything in their own hands. Washington had
great faith in General Greene, and did not hesitate to appoint him for
this hard task. Let us see what led the commander-in-chief to choose this
New England man for duty in a post so far away.
Nathanael Greene was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1742. His father,
who on week-days was a blacksmith and miller, on Sundays was a Quaker
preacher. Nathanael was trained to work at the forge and in the mill and
in the fields as well. He was robust and active and, like young George
Washington, a leader in outdoor sports. But with all his other activities
he was also, like young Samuel Adams, a good student of books.
We like to think of these colonial boys going to school and playing at
games just as boys do now, quite unaware of the great things waiting for
them to do in the world. Had they known of their future, they could have
prepared in no better way than by taking their faithful part in the work
and honest sport of each day as it came.
Greene, being ten years younger than Washington, was about thirty-two
years old when the Boston Tea Party and those other exciting events of
that time occurred.
[Illustration: The War in the South.]
Although news did not travel so rapidly then as now, Greene was soon aware
that war was likely to break out at any time, and he took an active part
in preparing for it. He helped to organize a company of soldiers who
should be ready to fight for the American cause, and made the trip from
Rhode Island to Boston to get a musket for himself. In Boston he watched
with much interest the British regulars taking their drill, and brought
back with him not only a musket, hidden under some straw in his wagon, but
also a runaway British soldier, who was to drill his company.
When news of the battle of Bunker Hill passed swiftly over the country,
proving that the war had actually begun, Rhode Island raised three
regiments of troops and placed Greene at their head as general. He marched
at once to Boston, and when Washington arrived to take command of the
American troops, it was General Greene who had the honor of welcoming him
in the name of the army.
GENERAL GREENE IN THE SOUTH
At this time Greene was a man of stalwart appearance, six feet tall,
strong and vigorous in body, and with a frank, intelligent face. At once
he won the friendship and confidence of Washington, who always trusted him
with positions calling for courage, ability, and skill. It was not long
before he was Washington's right-hand man. So you can easily see why
Washington chose him in 1780 as commander of the American army in the
south.
When General Greene reached the Carolinas, it was December, and he found
the army in a pitiable condition. There was but a single blanket for the
use of every three soldiers, and there was not food enough in camp to last
three days. The soldiers had lost heart because of defeat, they were angry
because they had not been paid, and many were sick because they had not
enough to eat. They camped in rude huts made of fence rails, corn-stalks,
and brushwood.
A weak man would have said: "What can I do with an army like this? The
task is impossible. To remain here is to fail, so I will resign."
But General Greene said nothing of the kind. He set to work with a will,
for he believed that the right was on his side. By wise planning, skilful
handling of the army, and hard labor, he managed, with the forces at hand,
to ward off the enemy, get food supplies, and put new spirit into his men.
[Illustration: The Meeting of Greene and Gates upon Greene's Assuming
Command.]
Soon he won the confidence and love of both officers and soldiers. A story
is told that shows us the sympathy he had for his men and their faith in
him. On one occasion Greene said to a barefoot sentinel: "How you must
suffer from cold!" Not knowing that he spoke to his general, the soldier
replied: "I do not complain. I know I should have what I need if our
general could get supplies."
DANIEL MORGAN, THE GREAT RIFLEMAN
It was indeed fortunate for General Greene that in this time of need his
men were so loyal to him. Among them was one who later became noted for
his brilliant, daring exploits. This was Daniel Morgan, the great
rifleman. You will be interested to hear of some of his thrilling
experiences.
When about nineteen years old, Morgan began his military career as a
teamster in Braddock's army, and at the time of Braddock's defeat he did
good service by bringing wounded men off the battle-field. It was about
this time that he became known to Washington, who liked and trusted him.
The young man was so dependable and brave that he was steadily promoted.
When he was twenty-three, he had an exciting adventure which brought him
the only wound he ever received. It was during the Last French War. With
two other men, he was sent to carry a message to the commanding officer at
Winchester. They had still about a mile to ride when a party of French and
Indians who were hiding in the woods near the roadside fired upon them.
Morgan's comrade fell dead instantly. He himself was so severely wounded
in the neck by a musket-ball that he came near fainting and believed he
was going to die. But he managed to cling to his horse's neck and spurred
him along the forest trail.
One Indian, hoping to get Morgan's scalp, ran for a time beside the horse.
But when he saw that the animal was outstripping him, he gave up the
chase, hurling his tomahawk with an angry yell at the fleeing man. Morgan
was soon safe in the hands of friends.
[Illustration: Daniel Morgan.]
During the Revolution his services were, in more than one critical
situation, of great value to the American cause. In the campaign which
ended with Burgoyne's defeat, for instance, his riflemen fought like
heroes. General Burgoyne, after his surrender, exclaimed to Morgan: "Sir,
you command the finest regiment in the world."
Indeed, it was regarded at that time as the best regiment in the American
army, and this was largely due to Morgan's skill in handling his men. He
made them feel as if they were one family. He was always thoughtful for
their health and comfort, and he appealed to their pride but never to
their fear.
He was a very tall and strong man, with handsome features and a remarkable
power to endure. His manner was quiet and refined, and his noble bearing
indicated a high sense of honor. He was liked by his companions because he
was always good-natured and ready for the most daring adventure.
General Greene made good use of this true patriot, and not long after
taking command of the army he sent Morgan with nine hundred picked men to
the westward to threaten the British outposts. General Cornwallis, in
command of the British army in the south, ordered Colonel Tarleton to lead
a body of soldiers against Morgan.
Early in the morning of January 17, 1781, after a hard night march,
Tarleton, overconfident of success, attacked Morgan at Cowpens, in the
northern part of South Carolina. The Americans stood up bravely against
the attack and won a brilliant victory. The British lost almost their
entire force, including six hundred prisoners.
Cornwallis was bitterly disappointed, for his plan, undertaken in such
confidence, had ended in a crushing defeat. However, gathering his forces
together, he set out to march rapidly across country in pursuit of Morgan,
hoping to overwhelm him and recapture the six hundred British prisoners
before he could join Greene's army.
But Morgan was too wary to be caught napping, and, suspecting that this
would be Cornwallis's game, he retreated rapidly in a northeasterly
direction toward that part of the army under Greene.
Meantime Greene had heard the glorious news of the American victory at
Cowpens, and he too realized that there was great danger of Morgan's
falling into the hands of Cornwallis. To prevent this, and at the same
time draw Cornwallis far away from his supplies at Wilmington, he decided
to go to Morgan's relief.
Sending his army by an easier, roundabout route, he himself with a small
guard rode swiftly a distance of one hundred and fifty miles across the
rough country and joined Morgan on the last day of January.
Morgan was cleverly retreating with Cornwallis in hot pursuit. For ten
days the race for life continued, with the chances in favor of Cornwallis,
for his army was larger, besides being trained and disciplined.
This was a famous retreat. It covered a distance of two hundred miles
through the Carolinas, across three rivers whose waters, swollen by recent
rains, rose rapidly after the Americans had crossed, and checked the
British in their pursuit. When the last river, the Dan, was forded, the
chase was so close that the rear of the retreating army had a skirmish
with the van of the pursuers. Yet Greene was so alert and skilful that he
escaped every danger and saved his army.
In this trying campaign valuable aid was given by "partisans" in the
south. These were private companies, not part of the regular army. Such
companies had been formed in the south by both sides, and that is why they
were called "partisans."
MARION, THE "SWAMP FOX"
Perhaps the most noted partisan leader was Francis Marion, of South
Carolina. He was born in Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1732, and was
therefore the same age as Washington. Although as a child he was very
frail, he became strong as he grew older. As a man he was short and slight
of frame, but strong and hardy in constitution.
[Illustration: Francis Marion.]
When the British began to swarm into South Carolina, Marion raised and
drilled a company of neighbors and friends, known as "Marion's Brigade."
These men were without uniforms or tents, and they served without pay.
They did not look much like soldiers on parade, but were among the bravest
and best fighters of the Revolution. Their swords were beaten out of old
mill-saws at the country forge, and their bullets were made largely from
pewter mugs and other pewter utensils. Their rations were very scant and
simple. Marion, their leader, as a rule, ate hominy and potatoes and drank
water flavored with a little vinegar.
The story is told that one day a British officer came to the camp with a
flag of truce. After the officers had talked, Marion, with his usual
delicate courtesy, invited the visitor to dinner. We can imagine the
Englishman's surprise when, on a log which made the camp table, there was
served a dinner consisting only of roasted sweet potatoes passed on pieces
of bark! The officer was still more amazed to learn that even potatoes
were something of a luxury.
Marion's brigade of farmers and hunters seldom numbered more than seventy,
and often less than twenty. But with this very small force he annoyed the
British beyond measure by rescuing prisoners, and by capturing
supply-trains and outposts.
[Illustration: Marion Surprising a British Wagon-Train.]
One day a scout brought in the report that a party of ninety British with
two hundred prisoners were on the march for Charleston. Waiting for the
darkness to conceal his movements, Marion with thirty men sallied out,
swooped down upon the British camp, capturing the entire force and
rescuing all the American prisoners.
It was the custom of Marion's men, when hard pressed by a superior force,
to scatter, each man looking out for himself. Often they would dash
headlong into a dense, dark swamp, to meet again at some place agreed
upon. Even while they were still in hiding, they would sometimes dart out
just as suddenly as they had vanished, and surprise another squad of
British which might be near at hand. "Swamp Fox" was the name the British
gave to Marion.
With the aid of such partisan bands, and with skilful handling of his
army, Greene was more than a match for Cornwallis. He was not strong
enough just yet for a pitched battle, but he kept Cornwallis chasing
without losing his own army. That was about all he could hope to do for a
while.
But when he received recruits from Virginia, he thought it wise to strike
a blow, even though he could not win a victory. Turning, therefore, upon
his enemy, he fought a battle at Guilford Court House, North Carolina
(March, 1781).
He was defeated, but came off as well as he expected, and so crippled the
British army that Cornwallis had to retreat. He went to the coast to get
supplies for his half-starved men. Like the battle of Bunker Hill, it was
a dearly bought victory for the British.
Cornwallis now saw clearly that he could not hope longer for success in
the south, and having taken on fresh supplies, he marched northward to try
his luck at Yorktown, Virginia.
Washington, with an army of French and American troops, was at the time in
camp on the Hudson River, waiting for the coming of the French fleet to
New York. That city was still in the hands of the British. As soon as this
fleet should arrive, Washington expected to attack the British army in New
York by land, while the fleet attacked it by sea.
But the French fleet was well on its way to the Chesapeake instead of to
New York as expected. When this information came to Washington, he worked
out a bold and brilliant scheme. It was to march his army as quickly and
as secretly as possible to Yorktown, a distance of four hundred miles,
there join the American army under Lafayette, and, combining with the
French fleet on its arrival, capture the British under Cornwallis.
This daring scheme succeeded so well that Cornwallis surrendered his
entire army of eight thousand men on October 19, 1781. This important
event, which practically ended the war, we shall speak of again.
The surrender at Yorktown ended the fighting, although the treaty of peace
was not signed until 1783. By that treaty the Americans won their
independence from England. The country which they could now call their own
extended from Canada to Florida, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Mississippi River.
After the treaty of peace was signed, and the army disbanded, General
Greene went home. In 1785 he moved with his family to a plantation which
the State of Georgia had given him. Here he lived in quiet and happiness,
but only a short time, for he died of sunstroke at the age of forty-four.
His comrade Anthony Wayne, voiced the feeling of his countrymen when he
said: "I have seen a great and good man die."
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Tell what you can about General Greene's early life.
2. What was the condition of his army when he took command in the South?
How did he prove his strength at that time?
3. What kind of man was Daniel Morgan, and what do you think of him?
4. Tell all you can about Marion, the "Swamp Fox," and his ways of making
trouble for the British.
5. When did the Revolution begin? When did it end? What did the Americans
win by the treaty? What was the extent of our country at that time?
CHAPTER VI
JOHN PAUL JONES
While the Revolution was being fought out on the land, important battles
were taking place also at sea. Until this war began, the Americans had had
no need of a navy because the mother country had protected them. But when
unfriendly feeling arose, Congress ordered war vessels to be built. These
were very useful in capturing British vessels, many of which were loaded
with arms and ammunition intended for British soldiers. Powder, as you
will remember, was sorely needed by Washington's army.
[Illustration: John Paul Jones.]
Among the men who commanded the American war vessels were some noted
sea-captains, the most famous of whom was John Paul Jones.
He was of Scottish birth. His father, John Paul, was a gardener, who lived
on the southwestern coast of Scotland. The cottage in which our hero spent
his early boyhood days stood near the beautiful bay called Solway Firth,
which made a safe harbor for ships in time of storm.
Here little John Paul heard many sailors tell thrilling stories of
adventure at sea and in far-away lands. Here, also, to the inlets along
the shore, the active lad and his playmates took their tiny boats and made
believe they were sailors, John Paul always acting as captain. Sometimes
when he was tired and all alone, he would sit by the hour watching the big
waves rolling in, and dreaming perhaps of the day when he would become a
great sea-captain.
When he was only twelve, he wished to begin his life as a real sailor. So
his father apprenticed him to a merchant at Whitehaven who owned a vessel
and traded in goods brought from other lands. Soon afterward John Paul
went on a voyage to Virginia, where the vessel was to be loaded with
tobacco. While there he visited an older brother, who owned a plantation
at Fredericksburg.
For six years John Paul remained with the Whitehaven merchant, and during
this time he learned much about good seamanship. After the merchant failed
in business, John Paul still continued to follow a seafaring life, and in
a short time became a captain. But when his brother in Virginia died, John
Paul went to Fredericksburg to manage the plantation his brother had left.
It was now his intention to spend the rest of his life here, but, like
Patrick Henry, he failed as a farmer. In fact, it would seem that he was
born to be a sailor.
In the meantime he had come to be a loyal American, and when the
Revolution broke out he determined to offer his services to Congress. When
he did so, he changed his name to John Paul Jones. Just why, we do not
know.
[Illustration: Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake.]
Congress accepted his services by appointing him first lieutenant. He
proved himself so able that in the second year of the war he was put in
command of two vessels, with which he captured sixteen prizes in six
weeks.
In the following year he was appointed captain of the Ranger and sent to
France with letters to Benjamin Franklin, who was then American
commissioner at the French court, trying to secure aid for the American
cause.
At that time English vessels were annoying American coasts by burning and
destroying property. Jones got permission from Franklin to attack British
coasts in the same way, and he was allowed to sail from France in his
vessel with that purpose in view.
His plan was to sail along the western coast of England and set fire to
the large shipping-yards at Whitehaven, with which harbor, you remember,
he had become familiar in boyhood. He meant to burn all the three hundred
vessels lying at anchor there. Although he succeeded in setting fire to
only one large ship, he alarmed the people all along the coast. The
warning was carried from town to town: "Beware of Paul Jones, the pirate!"
An English war vessel, the Drake, was sent out to capture the Ranger. As
the Drake carried two more guns and a crew better drilled for fighting, it
was thought she would make short work of the American ship in a fight. But
it was just the other way, for after a battle of a single hour the English
vessel surrendered, having lost many men. The American loss was only two
men killed and six wounded.
After this brilliant victory the young captain put back to France. There
he found great rejoicing among the people, whose good-will was more with
America than with England. And as war had already broken out between
France and England, the French King was quite willing to furnish Jones
with a considerable naval force.
A DESPERATE SEA DUEL
Accordingly, in August, 1779, Captain Jones put to sea once more, this
time with a fleet of four vessels. He named his flag-ship Bon Homme
Richard (bo-nom'-r[=e]-shär'), after the Richard of _Poor Richard's
Almanac_, which you will remember Benjamin Franklin had written.
In this ship, which was old, he set out to cruise along the western coast
of Ireland, in order to capture English merchant vessels. After reaching
the southern point of Ireland, he cruised northward around Scotland and
down its eastern coast. Then he sailed up and down the eastern coast of
England, looking for merchant vessels.
At noon on the 23d of September Jones sighted a fleet of forty-two
merchantmen, guarded by two English ships of war, all sailing from the
north. He at once decided to make an attack. This took place early in the
evening, the action being mainly between the Richard and the English
man-of-war Serapis, which was a large ship, new and swift, and very much
better than the Richard.
During the first hour the American vessel got the worst of the fight and
"was leaking like a basket." The English captain, feeling sure of victory,
called out: "Has your ship struck?" Our hero, Paul Jones, shouted back: "I
have not yet begun to fight!"
As the British vessel came alongside his own for a more deadly struggle,
Jones with his own hands lashed the two together. Soon both were badly
leaking, but the fighting went on as fiercely as ever. Presently both
caught fire.
[Illustration: The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis.]
Then Jones turned his cannon upon the mainmast of the Serapis, and when it
threatened to fall the English captain surrendered. So after all it was
the English ship and not the American that "struck" the flag. But the
Richard could not have held out much longer, for even before the surrender
she had begun to sink.
When the English captain gave up his sword to John Paul Jones, he said:
"It is very hard to surrender to a man who has fought with a halter around
his neck." You see, Captain Jones would have been hanged as a pirate, if
taken. Jones replied: "Sir, you have fought like a hero. I hope your King
will reward you."
This was a desperate sea duel, and it lasted from half past seven in the
evening until ten o'clock. It was important also in its results, for it
won much needed respect for our flag and gave a wonderful uplift to the
American cause. The victor, John Paul Jones, who was loaded with honors,
from that day took rank with the great sea-captains of the world.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Tell all you can about the early life of John Paul Jones.
2. Why did the English call him a pirate when he was sailing along the
British coasts in order to destroy property?
3. What was the outcome of the desperate sea duel between the Bon Homme
Richard and the Serapis?
4. What do you admire about John Paul Jones?
5. Do not fail to locate every event upon the map.
CHAPTER VII
DANIEL BOONE
You remember that when the Last French War began, in 1756, the English
colonists lived almost entirely east of the Alleghany Mountains. If you
will look at your map, you will see how small a part of our present great
country they occupied.
Even up to the beginning of the Revolution the Americans had few settlers
west of the Alleghanies, and had done very little there to make good their
claims to land.
Yet at the close of the war we find that their western boundary-line had
been pushed back as far as the Mississippi River. How this was done we
shall see if we turn our attention to those early hunters and backwoodsmen
who did great service to our country as pioneers in opening up new lands.
One of the most famous of these was Daniel Boone. He was born in
Pennsylvania, and, like many of the heroes of the Revolution, he was born
in the "thirties" (1735).
As a boy, Daniel liked to wander in the woods with musket and fishing-rod,
and was never so happy as when alone in the wild forest. The story is told
that while a mere lad he wandered one day into the woods some distance
from home and built himself a rough shelter of logs, where he would spend
days at a time, with only his rifle for company.
[Illustration: Daniel Boone.]
As he was a "good shot," we may be sure he never went hungry for lack of
food. The game which his rifle brought down he would cook over a pile of
burning sticks. If you have done outdoor camp cooking, you can almost
taste its woodland flavor. Then at night as he lay under the star-lit sky
on a bed of leaves, with the skin of a wild animal for covering, a prince
might have envied his dreamless slumber.
This free, wild life made him thoroughly at home in the forests, and
trained him for the work he was to do later as a fearless hunter and
woodsman.
When Daniel was about thirteen years old his father removed to North
Carolina and settled on the Yadkin River. There the boy grew to manhood.
After his marriage, at twenty, he built himself a hut far out in the
lonely forest, beyond the homes of the other settlers.
But he was a restless man and looked with longing toward the rugged
mountains on the west. Along the foothills other pioneer settlers and
hunters had taken up their abode. And young Boone's imagination leaped to
the country beyond the mountains, where the forest stretched for miles
upon miles, no one knew how far, to the Mississippi River. It was an
immense wilderness teeming with game, and he wanted to hunt and explore in
it.
He was twenty-five when he made the first "long hunt" we know about. At
this time he went as far as what is now Boone's Creek, in eastern
Tennessee.
Other trips doubtless he made which increased his love for wandering; and
in 1769, nine years after his first trip, having heard from a stray Indian
of a wonderful hunting-ground far to the west, he started out with this
Indian and four other men to wander through the wilderness of Kentucky.
For five weeks these bold hunters threaded their way through lonely and
pathless mountain forests, facing many dangers from wild beasts and
Indians.
BOONE GOES TO KENTUCKY
But when, in June, they reached the blue-grass region of Kentucky, a
beautiful land of stretching prairies, lofty forests, and running streams,
they felt well repaid for all the hardships of their long journey. It was
indeed as the Indian had said, alive with game. Buffaloes, wolves, bears,
elk, deer, and wild beasts of many kinds abounded, making truly a hunter's
paradise.
They at once put up a log shelter, and for six months they hunted to their
hearts' content. Then one day two of the party, Boone himself and a man
named Stewart, while off on a hunting expedition, were captured by an
Indian band. For several days the dusky warriors carefully guarded the two
white captives. But on the seventh night, having eaten greedily of game
they had killed during the day, they fell into a sound sleep.
[Illustration: Boone's Escape from the Indians.]
Then Boone, who had been watching for this chance, arose quietly from his
place among the sleeping Indians and gently wakened Stewart. The two crept
stealthily away until out of hearing of the Indians, when, rising to their
feet, they bounded off like deer through the dark woods to their own camp.
But they found no one there, for the rest of the party had fled back home.
However, Boone and Stewart stayed on, and some weeks later they were
pleasantly surprised when Daniel's brother, Squire Boone, also a woodsman,
unexpectedly arrived with another man and joined the camp. The four were
quite contented, living and hunting together, until one day Stewart was
shot by an Indian and killed. His death so frightened the man who had come
over the mountains with Squire Boone, that the woods lost their charm for
the poor fellow and he went back home.
So only the two brothers were left. They remained together three months
longer in a little cabin in the forest. Then, as their powder and lead
were getting low, Squire Boone returned to North Carolina for a fresh
supply, leaving his brother to hold the hunting-ground.
Now Boone was left all alone. His life was continually in danger from the
Indians. For fear of being surprised, he dared not sleep in camp, but hid
himself at night in the cane-brake or thick underbrush, not even kindling
a fire lest he should attract the Indians.
During these weeks of waiting for his brother, he led a very lonely life.
In all that time he did not speak to a single human being, nor had he even
a dog, cat, or horse for company. Without salt, sugar, or flour, his sole
food was the game he shot or caught in traps.
How gladly he must have welcomed his brother, who returned at the end of
two months, bringing the needed supplies! Other hunters also came from
time to time, and Boone joined one party of them for a while.
After two years of his life in the woods he returned to his home on the
Yadkin to bring out his wife and children.
By September, 1773, he had sold his farm and was ready with his family to
go and settle in Kentucky. He had praised the new land so much that many
others wished to go with him. So when he started there were, besides his
wife and children, five families and forty men driving their horses and
cattle before them. This group was the first to attempt settlement far out
in the wilderness, away from the other settlers.
But while still on its way, the little company was set upon by a band of
Indians near a narrow and difficult pass in the mountains. Six men were
killed, among them Boone's eldest son, and the cattle were scattered. This
misfortune brought such gloom upon the party that all turned back for a
time to a settlement on the Clinch River.
But Daniel Boone was one of those who would not give up. He said of
himself that he was "ordained of God to settle the wilderness," and in the
end he carried out his unflinching purpose to make his home in the
beautiful Kentucky region.
This region had already become well known by report east of the mountains.
The Indians called it "a dark and bloody ground," for, as an old chief
told Boone, many tribes hunted and fought there, and the Indians had
roamed over it for hundreds of years.
But none of the tribes really owned the land. So it was not possible to
buy any part of it outright. Yet, to avoid strife, a friend of Boone's,
Richard Henderson, and a few others made treaties with the most powerful
tribe, the Cherokees, who said that they might settle there.
As soon as it became certain that the Indians would not make trouble,
Henderson sent Boone, in charge of thirty men, to open a pathway from the
Holston River through Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky River.
With their axes the men chopped out a path through the dense undergrowth
and cane-brakes broad enough for a pack-horse. You will be interested to
know that this bridle-path was the beginning of the famous "Wilderness
Road," as it is still called. Later the narrow trail was widened into a
highway for wagons, and it was along this way, rightly called a
"wilderness road," that in later years so many thousand settlers led their
pack-trains over the mountains into Kentucky and Tennessee.
But that is taking a long look ahead! Just now we are thinking about the
very first of these settlers, Daniel Boone and his company.
THE KENTUCKY SETTLERS AT BOONESBOROUGH
When they reached the Kentucky River, Boone and his followers built a fort
on the left bank of the stream and called it Boonesborough. Its four walls
consisted in part of the outer sides of log cabins, and in part of a
stockade, some twelve feet high, made by setting deep into the ground
stout posts with pointed tops. In all the cabins there were loopholes
through which to shoot, and at each corner of the fort stood a loophole
blockhouse. There were also two strong wooden gates on opposite sides of
the fort.
[Illustration: Boonesborough.]
After the fort was built, Boone went back to the Clinch River and brought
on his wife and children. When they settled, it was springtime, and
Kentucky was at its best. Trees were in leaf, the beautiful dogwood was in
flower, and the woods were fragrant with the blossoms of May. Do you
wonder that they loved their new home?
At first the cattle and horses were always driven into the fort at night.
Later, however, every settler had a cabin in his own clearing, where he
lived with his family and took care of his own stock. But even then in
time of great danger all went to the fort, driving their animals inside
its walls. This fort, with the outlying cabins, made the first permanent
settlement in Kentucky.
Boone was a man you would have liked to know. Even the Indians admired
him. He was tall and slender, with muscles of iron, and so healthy and
strong that he could endure great hardship. Though quiet and serious, his
courage never shrank in the face of danger, and men believed in him
because he believed in himself, while at the same time his kind heart and
tender sympathy won him lasting friendships. These vigorous and sterling
qualities commanded respect everywhere.
As a rule he wore the Indian garb of fur cap, fringed hunting-shirt,
moccasins and leggings, all made from the skins of wild animals he had
taken. This dress best suited the wilderness life.
Of course, this life in a new country would not be without its exciting
adventures. One day, some months after Boone's family had come to
Boonesborough, Boone's daughter, with two girl friends, was on the river
floating in a boat near the bank. Suddenly five Indians darted out of the
woods, seized the three girls, and hurried away with them. In their flight
the Indians observed the eldest of the girls breaking twigs and dropping
them in their trail. They threatened to tomahawk her unless she stopped
it. But, watching her chance, from time to time she tore off strips of her
dress and dropped them as a clew for those she knew would come to rescue
them.
When the capture became known, Boone, accompanied by the three lovers of
the captured maidens and four other men from the fort, started upon the
trail and kept up the pursuit until, early on the second morning, they
discovered the Indians sitting around a fire cooking breakfast. Suddenly
the white men fired a volley, killing two of the Indians and frightening
the others so badly that they beat a hasty retreat without harming the
girls.
Another exciting experience, which nearly caused the settlement to lose
its leader, came about through the settlers' need of salt. We can get salt
so easily that it is hard to imagine the difficulty which those settlers,
living far back from the ocean, had in obtaining this necessary part of
their food. They had to go to "salt-licks," as they called the grounds
about the salt-water springs. The men would get the salt water from the
springs and boil it until all the water evaporated and left the salt
behind.
Boone with twenty-nine other men had gone, early in 1778, to the Blue
Licks to make salt for the settlement. They were so successful that in a
few weeks they were able to send back a load so large that it took three
men to carry it. Hardly had they started, however, when the men remaining,
including Boone, were surprised by eighty or ninety Indians, captured, and
carried off to the English at Detroit.
For we must not forget that all this time, while we have been following
Boone's fortunes west of the Alleghanies, on the east side of those
mountains the Revolution was being fought, and the Indians west of the
Alleghanies were fighting on the English side. They received a sum of
money for handing over to the English at Detroit any Americans they might
capture, and that is why the Indians took Boone and his companions to that
place.
But, strangely enough, the Indians decided not to give Boone up, although
the English, realizing that he was a prize, offered five hundred dollars
for him. The Indians admired him because he was a mighty hunter, and they
liked him because he was cheerful. So they adopted him into the tribe and
took him to their home.
Boone remained with them two months, making the best of the life he had to
lead. But when he overheard the Indians planning to make an attack upon
Boonesborough, he made up his mind to escape if possible and give his
friends warning.
His own words tell the brave story in a simple way: "On the 16th of June,
before sunrise, I departed in the most secret manner, and arrived in
Boonesborough on the 20th, after a journey of one hundred and sixty miles,
during which I had but one meal." He could not get any food, for he dared
not use his gun nor build a fire for fear his foes might find out where he
was. He reached the fort in safety, and was of great service in beating
off the attacking party. This is only one of the many narrow escapes of
this fearless backwoodsman.
Another incident illustrates his quick wit. One day, while he was in a
shed looking after some tobacco, four Indians with loaded guns appeared at
the door. They said: "Now, Boone, we got you. You no get away any more.
You no cheat us any more." While they were speaking Boone had gathered up
in his arms a number of dry tobacco leaves. Rubbing them to dust, he
suddenly flung it into the faces of the Indians, filling their eyes and
nostrils. Then, while they were coughing, sneezing, and rubbing their
eyes, he escaped.
[Illustration: Boone Throwing Tobacco into the Eyes of the Indians Who Had
Come to Capture Him.]
These are but a few of Boone's dangerous adventures. From them all he came
out safe and for years continued to be the able leader of the settlers at
Boonesborough.
There he remained until after Kentucky was admitted as a State into the
Union (1791). Four years later he moved still farther west, led on by love
for the wild, lonely life of the forest, a life which never lost its charm
for him, even down to his last days.
He died in 1820, eighty-five years old, his long life covering a period of
very great change in the growth of our country. By that time we had become
a nation with broadly expanded boundaries.
It has been said that but for Daniel Boone the settlement of Kentucky
could not have been made for several years. However this may be, we know
that he was one of those fearless and daring men whose courage helped to
establish that part of our country long known as "the West."
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What kind of boyhood had Daniel Boone?
2. Imagine yourself to have been in his place during the weeks when he was
alone in the Kentucky forests; give an account of what happened.
3. Tell about his second capture by the Indians and his escape. Why did
they admire him?
4. What did he do for Kentucky? What kind of man was he?
CHAPTER VIII
JAMES ROBERTSON
Another pioneer who lived in Boone's day was James Robertson. Like Boone,
he came from North Carolina, and he led the way for the settling of
Tennessee very much as Boone did for Kentucky. The story of those days
shows that he was one of the most forceful and successful of the early
English pioneers who led out settlements west of the Alleghanies.
[Illustration: James Robertson.]
Born in 1742, Robertson was ten years younger than Washington. But this
boy's early life was very different from young George Washington's, for
little James was born in a backwoods cabin, and his father and mother were
too poor to send him to school. So he grew up to manhood without being
able to read and write.
But he wanted to study, and was persevering and brave enough to learn the
letters of the alphabet and how to spell and to write after he had grown
to manhood. We can be sure, therefore, that James was the right sort of
boy, and that he would have mastered books if he had been given the
chance, just as he mastered the wilderness in later life. But it is as a
backwoodsman that we first come to know Robertson and learn why he was
trusted and followed so willingly.
Although not tall, he was vigorous and robust, having fair complexion,
dark hair, and honest blue eyes that met one's glance squarely. His frank,
serious face, his quiet manner, and his coolness and daring in the midst
of danger gave him a mastery over others such as it is given but few men
to have.
Like Boone, he was noted as a successful hunter; but hunting and exploring
were not with him the chief motives for going into the wilderness. He was
first of all a pioneer settler who was seeking rich farming lands with
near-by springs, where he could make a good home for his family and give
his children advantages which he himself had never enjoyed.
Led by this motive, he left his home in North Carolina to seek his fortune
among the forest-clad mountains, whose summits he could see far-away to
the west. With no companion but his horse and no protection but his rifle,
he slowly and patiently made his way through the trackless woods, crossing
mountain range after mountain range, until he came to the region where the
rivers flowing westward had their beginning.
Much to his surprise, he found here on the Watauga River some settlers
from Virginia, who gave him a kindly welcome. He stayed long enough to
plant a crop of corn and see it grow up and ripen.
Then, late in the autumn, having decided that this was a good place for
his family, he started back home. His faithful horse was his only
companion. Some corn in his leather wallet was all the food he carried. He
trusted his rifle for the rest.
[Illustration: Early Settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee.]
All went well for a time, but in the depth of the pathless forest he
missed his way, and the mountains became so steep and rough that his horse
could not get across. Imagine his sorrow when, to save his own life, he
had to part from his dumb friend and start on alone.
Other misfortunes befell him. The little store of corn that he had brought
with him gave out, and his powder became so wet that it was useless for
shooting game. So almost his only food for fourteen days was such nuts and
berries as he could gather in his desperate search.
He was near death by starvation when he chanced to meet two hunters. They
gave him food and asked him to join them. Then, allowing him to take turns
in riding their horses, they helped him to reach home in safety.
You might think that this bitter experience would have made Robertson
unwilling to risk another journey back through the wilderness. But, as we
have said, he was not easily thwarted, and the thought of what lay beyond
the mountains made him hold the cost light.
He gave such glowing accounts of the wonderful country he had seen that by
spring sixteen families were ready to go with him to make their home
there.
HOW THE BACKWOODSMEN LIVED
Let us in imagination join this group of travellers as it starts out to
cross the mountains. Each family has its pack-horse--perhaps a few
families have two--carrying household goods. These are not so bulky as
ours to-day, for pioneer life is simple, and the people have at most only
what they need. There are, of course, some rolls of bedding and clothing,
a few cooking utensils, a few packages of salt and seed corn, and a flask
or two of medicine. The pack-horse carries also the mother and perhaps a
very small child or two. The boys who are old enough to shoulder rifles
march in front with their father, ready to shoot game for food or to stand
guard against Indians. Some of the older children drive the cows which the
settlers are taking along with them.
After reaching the place selected for their settlement, the younger
children are set to clearing away the brush and piling it up in heaps
ready for burning. The father and the elder sons, who are big enough to
wield an axe, lose no time in cutting down trees and making a clearing for
the log cabin. All work with a will, and soon the cabin is ready.
[Illustration: Living-Room of the Early Settler.]
The furniture, like the cabin itself, is rude and simple. A bedstead is
set up in a corner, a washstand is placed near by, and a few three-legged
stools are put here and there; and of course there is a table to eat at.
Places are quickly found for the water bucket, used to bring water from
the stream, the gourd dipper with which to fill it, and other small
utensils; while pegs driven into the wall in convenient places hold
clothes, rifles, skins, and the like.
[Illustration: Grinding Indian Corn.]
If our pioneers are well-to-do, there may be tucked away in some pack a
wool blanket, but usually the chief covering on the bed is the dried skin
of some animal: deer, bear, or perhaps buffalo.
There is plenty of food, though of course it is plain and simple,
consisting mostly of game. Instead of the pork and beef which are largely
eaten in the east, we shall find these settlers making their meal of
bear's meat or venison.
For flour corn-meal is used. Each family has a mill for grinding the
kernels into meal, while for beating it into hominy they use a crude
mortar, made perhaps by burning a hole in the top of a block of wood.
Bread-making is a simpler matter with them than with us, for a dough of
corn-meal is mixed on a wooden trencher and then either baked in the ashes
and called ash-cake or before the fire on a board and called johnny-cake.
Corn-meal is also made into mush, or hasty pudding; and when the settler
has cows, mush-and-milk is a common dish, especially for supper.
For butter the settlers use the fat of bear's meat or the gravy of the
goose. Instead of coffee, they make a drink of parched rye and beans, and
for tea they boil sassafras root.
Every backwoodsman must be able to use the rifle to good effect, for he
has to provide his own meat and protect himself and his family from
attack. He must be skilful also in hiding, in moving noiselessly through
the forests, and in imitating the notes and calls of different beasts and
birds. Sharp eyes and ears must tell him where to look for his game, and
his aim must be swift and sure.
But most important of all, he must be able to endure hardship and
exposure. Sometimes he lives for months in the woods with no food but meat
and no shelter but a lean-to of brush or even the trunk of a hollow tree
into which he may crawl.
Deer and bear are the most plentiful game; but now and then there is an
exciting combat with wolves, panthers, or cougars, while prowling Indians
keep him ever on his guard. The pioneer must be strong, alert, and brave.
Each family depends upon itself for most of the necessaries of life. Each
member has his own work. The father is the protector and provider; the
mother is the housekeeper, the cook, the weaver, and the tailor. Father
and sons work out-of-doors with axe, hoe, and sickle; while indoors the
hum of the spinning-wheel or the clatter of the loom shows that mother and
daughters are busily doing their part.
There are some articles, however, like salt and iron, which the settlers
cannot always get in the backwoods. These they must obtain by barter. So
each family collects all the furs it can, and once a year, after the
harvest is gathered, loads them on pack-horses, which are driven across
the mountains to some large trading town on the seacoast. There the skins
are traded for the needed iron or salt.
Often many neighbors plan to go together on such a journey. Sometimes they
drive before them their steers and hogs to find a market in the east.
A bushel of salt costs in these early days a good cow and calf. Now, that
is a great deal to pay; and furthermore, as each small and poorly fed
pack-animal can carry but two bushels, salt is a highly prized article.
Since it is so expensive and hard to get, it has to be used sparingly by
the mountaineers. Therefore the housewife, instead of salting or pickling
her meat, preserves or "jerks" it by drying it in the sun or smoking it
over the fire.
The Tennessee settler, like Boone's followers in Kentucky, dresses very
much like the Indians, for that is the easiest and most fitting way in
which to clothe himself for the forest life he leads. And very fine do
many stalwart figures appear in the fur cap and moccasins, the loose
trousers, or simply leggings of buckskin, and the fringed hunting-shirt
reaching nearly to the knees. It is held in by a broad belt having a
tomahawk in one side and a knife in the other.
[Illustration: A Kentucky Pioneer's Cabin.]
While this free outdoor life develops strong and vigorous bodies, there is
not much schooling in these backwoods settlements. Most boys and girls
learn very little except reading and writing and very simple ciphering, or
arithmetic. If there are any schoolhouses at all, they are log huts, dimly
lighted and furnished very scantily and rudely.
The schoolmaster, as a rule, does not know much of books, and is quite
untrained as a teacher. His discipline, though severe, is very poor. And
he is paid in a way that may seem strange to you. He receives very little
in cash, and for the rest of his wages he "boards around" with the
families of the children he teaches, making his stay longer or shorter
according to the number of children in school.
In many ways, as you see, the life of the pioneer child, while it was
active and full of interest, was very different from yours. He learned,
like his elders, to imitate bird calls, to set traps, to shoot a rifle,
and at twelve the little lad became a foot soldier. He knew from just
which loophole he was to shoot if the Indians attacked the fort, and he
took pride in becoming a good marksman. He was carefully trained, too, to
follow an Indian trail and to conceal his own when on the war-path--for
such knowledge would be very useful to him as a hunter and fighter in the
forests.
ROBERTSON A BRAVE LEADER
Such was the life of these early woodsmen and their families, and to this
life Robertson and those who went out with him soon became accustomed. On
their arrival at the Watauga River the newcomers mingled readily with the
Virginians already on the ground.
Robertson soon became one of the leading men. His cabin of logs stood on
an island in the river, and is said to have been the largest in the
settlement. It had a log veranda in front, several rooms, a loft, and best
of all, a huge fireplace made of sticks and stones laid in clay, in which
a pile of blazing logs roared on cold days, making it a centre of good
cheer as well as of heat. To us it would have been a most inviting spot
for a summer holiday.
Robertson was very prosperous and successful at Watauga; but in 1799,
after ten years of leadership at this settlement, a restless craving for
change and adventure stole over him, and he went forth once more into the
wilderness to seek a new home still deeper in the forest.
The place he chose was the beautiful country lying along the great bend of
the Cumberland River, where Nashville now stands. Many bold settlers were
ready and even eager to join Robertson in the new venture, for he was a
born leader.
A small party went ahead early in the spring to plant corn, so that the
settlers might have food when they arrived in the autumn. Robertson and
eight other men, who made up the party, left the Watauga by the Wilderness
Road through Cumberland Gap, crossing the Cumberland River. Then,
following the trail of wild animals in a southwesterly direction, they
came to a suitable place.
Here they put up cabins and planted corn, and then, leaving three men to
keep the buffaloes from eating the corn when it came up, the other six
returned to Watauga.
In the autumn two parties started out for the new settlement. One of
these, made up mostly of women and children, went by water in flatboats,
dugouts, and canoes, a route supposed to be easier though much the longer
of the two. Whether it was easier, we shall see. The other party,
including Robertson himself, went by land, hoping thus to reach the place
of settlement in time to make ready for those coming by water.
Robertson and his men arrived about Christmas. Then began a tedious four
months of waiting for the others. It was springtime again, April 24, when
they at last arrived. Their roundabout route had taken them down the
Tennessee River, then up the Ohio, and lastly up the Cumberland. The
Indians in ambush on the river banks had attacked them many times during
their long and toilsome journey, and the boats were so slow and clumsy
that it was impossible for them to escape the flights of arrows.
But when they arrived, past troubles were soon forgotten, and with good
heart, now that all were together, the settlers took up the work of making
homes.
However, difficulties with the Indians were not over. The first company of
settlers that arrived had been left quite unmolested. But now, as spring
opened, bands of Indian hunters and warriors began to make life wretched
for them all. There is no doubt that the red men did not like to have the
settlers kill the game, or scare it off by clearing up the land; but the
principal motive for the attacks was the desire for scalps and plunder,
just as it was in assailing other Indian tribes.
The Indians became a constant terror. They killed the settlers while
working in the clearings, hunting game, or getting salt at the licks. They
loved to lure on the unwary by imitating the gobbling of a turkey or the
call of some wild beast, and then pounce upon their human prey.
As the corn crop, so carefully planned, had been destroyed by heavy
freshets in the autumn, the settlers had to scour the woods for food,
living on nuts and game. By the time winter had set in, they had used up
so much of their powder and bullets that Robertson resolved to go to
Kentucky for more.
ROBERTSON SAVES THE SETTLEMENT
He went safely, though quite alone, and returned on the evening of January
15 (1780) with a good supply of ammunition. You may be sure he had a
hearty welcome in the fort, where all were gathered. There was much to
talk about, and they sat up till late into the night. All went to bed,
tired and sleepy, without any fear. For at that season of the year the red
men seldom molested them; and no sentinels were left on guard.
Soon all were in deep slumber except Robertson, whose sense of lurking
danger would not let him sleep. He kept feeling that enemies might be
near. And he was right. For just outside the fort, prowling in the thick
underbrush and hidden by the great trees, there lay in ambush a band of
painted warriors, hungry for plunder, eager for scalps.
They creep forward to their attack. They are very cautious, for a bright
moon lights up the blockhouses and the palisaded fort.
Suddenly a moving shadow falls upon the moonlit clearing outside the fort.
An Indian is stealthily crossing from the dark woods to the wall. There he
crouches close, to be out of sight of the inmates of the fort. Another
crouching figure, and another. One by one every feathered warrior crosses
and keeps close to the palisade.
The next move is to slide cautiously the strong bar and undo the chain
which fastens the gate. It is done skilfully enough, but the chain clanks
or the hinges creak. The wakeful Robertson springs quickly to his feet.
His keen eyes catch sight of the swift, dark figures, moving stealthily
into the fort.
"Indians!" he shouts, and off goes his rifle. Instantly every settler has
snatched the gun lying at his side. In a second the shots ring out; and
the Indians flee through the gate to disappear into the leafy woods. But
they have lost one man, whom Robertson has shot, and have killed or
wounded three or four of the settlers. Robertson, by keen watchfulness,
has saved the fort from capture and his comrades from probable torture or
death.
This was only one of many occasions in which Robertson's leadership saved
the day. After the Revolution ended (1783) the Indians were not so
unfriendly, for the English were no longer paying them for scalps. People,
therefore, became less timid about crossing the mountains, and a large
number migrated from Virginia and North Carolina to the Tennessee
settlement and made their homes at Nashville. As numbers grew larger,
dangers became less.
By this time Robertson had become well known through the successful
planting of his two settlements, and for the wisdom and bravery with which
he managed them. As a reward for his valuable services, Washington later
on (1790) made him a general in the army. In 1814 he died.
He is the kind of man we like to think of as a pioneer in the making of
our history. Sturdy and self-reliant, strong and fearless, he cheerfully
faced the unending struggle with the hard conditions of those early days.
Though his life was narrow, it cut deep in its loyalty to friends and
country.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What can you tell of Robertson's boyhood?
2. Imagine yourself as one of a group of travellers on the way to Kentucky
or Tennessee, and tell all you can about the journey.
3. Tell all you can about the food, clothing, shelter, and other
conditions of life in these backwoods settlements.
4. What sort of training did the pioneer boy receive in school and at
home?
5. Why did Robertson plant a settlement at the place where Nashville now
stands?
6. How did he save this settlement from the Indians? What do you admire
about him?
7. Are you making frequent use of the map?
CHAPTER IX
JOHN SEVIER
Another daring leader who did much to build up the settlements in
Tennessee was John Sevier.
[Illustration: John Sevier.]
Born in 1745, Sevier was but three years younger than Robertson, and was
closely associated with him in later life. Sevier's birthplace was in the
western part of Virginia, but while he was still a young boy, the family
was driven from their home by the Indians and went to Fredericksburg,
Virginia. There he went to the same school which George Washington had
attended not many years before.
John's mother had taught him to read, and at school he learned some useful
things; still he was not fond of books, and learned most from people and
what was going on about him.
He left school when he was sixteen and married before he was seventeen.
About six miles from his father's house he put up a building which was
dwelling, storehouse, and fort all in one. Here on the frontier he carried
on a thriving trade with settlers and Indians, and was so successful that
by the time he was twenty-six he was looked upon as a rich man.
He was attractive in appearance, being tall, slender, and erect, with
frank blue eyes, fair skin, and brown hair. He was a man of commanding
presence, and his athletic figure seemed well suited to the fringed
hunting-suit which every pioneer wore.
His merry disposition and great charm of manner easily won many friends;
and these he kept by his natural kindness and courtesy. He was never
happier than when entertaining generously those who came to his home. Yet
these gentle and lovable qualities did not prevent him from being a brave
and skilful warrior, who could carry terror to the hearts of his foes.
It was while he was engaged in his trading business that Sevier heard of
Robertson's settlement in the west, and became interested in it as a
possible home for himself and his family. In 1772 he decided to ride
through the forests to the Watauga settlement and find out what kind of
place it was.
Alone over the mountains and through the woods he made the journey. At the
journey's end, when he met Robertson, they became friends at once, for in
spirit and aims they were much alike. Both were brave and fearless, and
both were seeking better homes for their families.
Sevier decided to join the settlement on the Watauga, and went back to
bring his wife and two children. Returning with them, he entered heartily
into the common life of the frontier, with its many hardships and
pleasures, and soon became a prominent man in the little colony.
For a time after their arrival the settlement was not much troubled by the
Indians. The Cherokees had given their consent to have the land taken up,
and all went well for a period.
But, as we have already seen in the case of Boone, the breaking out of the
Revolution, and the action of the British in arming the Indians with guns
and rewarding them for bringing in captives, disturbed this peace and
stirred up the tribes against the backwoodsmen.
The Cherokees then broke their agreement with the settlers and in large
numbers made bold and murderous attacks upon the many back-country
settlements in southwestern Virginia, the eastern Carolinas, northwestern
Georgia, and what is now eastern Tennessee.
As Watauga was the nearest settlement to the Cherokee towns and villages,
it was likely to suffer most from the attack. Robertson commanded the
fort, with Sevier as his lieutenant. Only forty or fifty men were in the
fort when it was attacked, although it was crowded with women and
children. But these few men were resolute, well armed, and on their guard.
It was in the gray light of the early morning that the Indians stole up
for the attack. But a friendly squaw had given warning of danger, and the
settlers were ready. The loopholes opened upon the Indians and they were
at once beaten back with loss. This was the beginning of a long, dreary
siege. As the stockade was too strong to be taken by an assault, the
Indians tried to starve the colonists out. For about three weeks they
lurked about so that the people within the fort dared not go outside for
food, and had to live mostly on parched corn.
It was a weary time. As you may imagine, all became very tired of that
diet and very impatient at being kept shut up within the palisades for so
long, and from time to time some one would venture out, heedless of
warning and of danger. In running this risk, three or four men were shot
by the Indians, and one boy was carried off to an Indian village and
burned at the stake. A woman also was captured.
You will be interested in the thrilling experience of another woman. Her
name was Kate Sherrill. She was tall and beautiful, graceful and gentle in
manner, and, as we shall see, not lacking courage.
One day, taking a pitcher to get water from the river, she had ventured
some distance from the fort, when Indians dashed out of the forest and
sprang toward her. Seeing her danger, she darted swiftly back, with her
bloodthirsty foes close at her heels.
It was a race for life, and she knew it. There was not time to reach the
gate; so she ran the shortest way to the fort, caught hold of the top of
the pickets, and, by an almost superhuman effort sprung over to the other
side. She did not fall to the ground as she expected, but into the arms of
John Sevier, for he was standing at a loophole close by, and caught her.
He had witnessed her danger and helped her to escape by shooting the
Indian closest in the chase. A romance is connected with this, for we are
told that John Sevier, who was then a young widower of thirty-one, married
Kate Sherrill during the siege.
Although the Indian braves were eager for the scalps of the Watauga
settlers, they failed to capture the fort and finally went away, just as
they did from the neighboring settlements. For a while, but only for a
while, the pioneers were left free from Indian ravages.
SEVIER A HERO AMONG THE TENNESSEE SETTLERS
In spite of the danger, however, daring men kept coming to join the
pioneers at the Watauga settlements. Sevier continued to be a leading man
in that backwoods region, and when, some years later, Robertson, as you
remember, left Watauga to go to the Cumberland valley, Sevier became the
most prominent man in the colony.
He was so prosperous that he could surround himself with much comfort. He
built a rambling, one-story house on the Nolichucky Creek, a branch of the
French Broad River. It was the largest in the settlement and was noted for
the lavish entertainments given there, for Sevier was the same generous
host as of old. His house consisted of two groups of rooms connected by a
covered porch. Sevier with his family lived in one of the groups, and
housed his guests in the other. There were large verandas and huge
fireplaces, in which, during cold weather, cheerful wood-fires blazed.
[Illustration: A Barbecue of 1780.]
Here to all, rich and poor alike, and especially to the men who had
followed him in the many battles against the Indians, Sevier gave a hearty
welcome. Rarely was his hospitable home without guests, and the table was
heaped with such plain and wholesome food as woods and fields afforded.
It was Sevier's delight at weddings or special merrymakings to feast all
the backwoods people of the neighborhood at a barbecue, where an ox was
roasted whole over the fire, and where, in fair weather, board tables were
set under the trees. These were loaded with wild fowl, bear's meat,
venison, beef, johnny-cakes, ash-cakes, hominy, and applejack. Should you
not like to have been one of the guests?
During one of these merrymaking feasts (1780) news was brought that Major
Ferguson, one of the ablest officers in Cornwallis's army, was threatening
to make an attack on the back-country settlements. At once Sevier, along
with Isaac Shelby and others, set out to raise an army of frontiersmen to
march against Ferguson. Soon a thousand men were riding through the
forests to find the British force, of which every man except the commander
was an American Tory.
They came upon it in a strong position on King's Mountain. Without delay
the Americans made a furious attack. They fought with great heroism,
charging up the steep mountainside with reckless bravery.
They were divided into three bodies, one on the right of the British, one
on the left, and another in front. Sevier commanded the division on the
left. At just the right moment he led his men in a resistless rush up the
mountainside and made victory certain for the Americans. The British
raised the white flag of surrender. All of Ferguson's soldiers who had not
been killed or wounded were made prisoners.
By this victory the backwoods hunters greatly weakened the British cause
in the south and made easier General Greene's victory over Cornwallis, of
which we have already learned. Thus they took their part in winning the
nation's liberty.
[Illustration: Battle of King's Mountain.]
On returning from King's Mountain to their homes, these pioneer warriors
had to meet the Cherokees again in stubborn warfare. In his usual way
Sevier struck a swift, crushing blow by marching to the mountain homes of
his savage foes, where he burned a thousand of their cabins and destroyed
fifty thousand bushels of their corn.
In spite of this defeat, however, the Indians kept on fighting. So Sevier
determined to strike another blow. At the head of one hundred and fifty
picked horsemen, he rode for one hundred and fifty miles through the
mountain wilds and completely surprised the Indians, who did not think it
possible for an enemy to reach them. After taking the main town, burning
two other towns and three villages, capturing two hundred horses,
destroying a large quantity of provisions, and doing other damage, he
withdrew and returned home in safety. He had made the Indians afraid, and
they were quiet for a time.
These glimpses into the life of John Sevier must help you to understand
why he became a hero among all the people of the frontier. They admired
him for his brilliant leadership; they were grateful for his protection;
and they loved him as a friend. They fondly called him "Nolichucky Jack";
and when, later, the settlements became the State of Tennessee, again and
again they elected him governor, and sent him to Congress.
Without doubt few men of his day were his equal as a fighter against the
Indians. It is said that in all his warfare with them he won thirty-five
victories and never lost a battle. As we have seen, he moved with great
swiftness in attacking his foes. Through his able scouts he learned the
strength and weakness of his enemies and, before they realized what was
going on, with a wild shout he and his bold followers swept down upon them
like a hurricane, striking terror to the hearts of even the bravest.
Sevier was active in public interests even to the last years of his long
life. When eighty years old, he was at the head of a body of men who were
marking the border line between Georgia and the lands of the Indians. The
labor proved too great for his bodily strength, and the aged man died
(1815), in his tent, with only a few soldiers and Indians around him.
He was buried where he died, and a simple slab, with the two words, "John
Sevier," inscribed upon it, indicates the spot where his body rests.
In the homes of eastern Tennessee stories of his brave deeds are still
told to eager, listening children, for his memory is held dear in the
hearts of old and young alike. Tennessee owes much to this brave, loyal,
and high-minded man, who played a large part in shaping her destiny.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Why did Sevier go with his family to the Watauga settlement?
2. Imagine yourself in the Watauga Fort when the Cherokees were trying to
capture it, and give an account of what happened.
3. Describe Sevier's hospitable home, and tell something about the kind of
feast he prepared for a wedding there.
4. What kind of Indian fighter was Sevier?
5. Tell all you can about his personal appearance. What do you admire
about him?
CHAPTER X
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
Among the foremost of those who promoted the westward growth of our
country stands George Rogers Clark. He was born near Monticello, Virginia,
November 19, 1752. He came of a good family and he received fairly good
training in school. But he learned much more from life than from books.
[Illustration: George Rogers Clark.]
When twenty years old he was already a woodsman and surveyor on the Upper
Ohio, and did something also at farming. About two years later, with
measuring rod and axe, he moved on to Kentucky, where he continued his
work as a surveyor.
A deadly struggle was going on here, you remember, with the Indians, who
had been roused by the British against the backwoodsmen, and in this
struggle Clark became a leader.
Why it was that in hardly more than a year's time this young man of
twenty-four rose to a position of leadership among the settlers, and was
chosen one of their lawmakers, we shall understand when we come to see
more of his sterling qualities.
Nature had given him a pleasing face which men trusted. His forehead was
high and broad under a shock of sandy hair, and honest blue eyes peered
out from under heavy, shaggy eyebrows. His strong body could endure almost
any hardship, and his splendid health was matched by his adventurous
spirit. His fearless courage was equal to any danger, and his resolute
purpose would not give way in the face of almost insurmountable
difficulties.
His great task would have been impossible except as he possessed these
qualities, and we know that one does not come by them suddenly. They grow
by bravely conquering the fears of every-day life and not giving in to
difficulties. It was in this way that the fearless hunters of Kentucky
quickly recognized in him a master spirit.
Clark, as you may imagine, was not content to remain in Kentucky merely as
a skilful hunter and bold leader of war parties sent out to punish Indian
bands. His keen mind had worked out a brilliant plan, which he was eager
to carry through. It was nothing less than to conquer for his country the
vast stretch of land lying north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi,
now included in the present Great Lake States.
In this vast region of forest and prairie the only settlements were the
scattered French hamlets, begun in the early days of exploration, when the
French occupied the land and traded with the Indians for fur. These
hamlets had passed into the hands of the English after the Last French War
and were made the centres of English power, from which, as we have seen,
the English commanders aroused the Indians against the backwoodsmen remote
from their home settlements.
These few villages or trading-posts, which were defended by forts, were
scattered here and there at convenient places along the river courses, the
three strongest forts being at Vincennes, on the Wabash, at Kaskaskia, and
at Detroit.
Over all the rest of the wild territory roamed hostile Indian tribes,
hunting and fighting against one another as well as against the
frontiersmen.
Clark saw that if this region should be conquered the spreading prairies
could be opened up for settlement.
As the first step in carrying out his plan, he needed to secure aid from
Patrick Henry, the governor of Virginia. Early in October, 1777, he
started out on horseback from Harrodsburg, one of the Kentucky
settlements, to ride through the forests and over the mountains to
Williamsburg, then the capital of the State. So urgent was his haste that
he stopped on the way but a single day at his father's house, the home of
his childhood, and then pressed on to Williamsburg. It took a whole month
to make this journey of six hundred and twenty miles.
Patrick Henry at once fell in with Clark's plan. He arranged that the
government should furnish six thousand dollars. But as it was needful that
the utmost secrecy should be preserved, nothing was said about the matter
to the Virginia Assembly. Clark was to raise his own company among the
frontiersmen. The whole burden of making the necessary preparations rested
upon him.
CLARK STARTS ON HIS LONG JOURNEY
With good heart he shouldered it, and in May, 1778, was ready with one
hundred and fifty-three men to start from the Redstone Settlements, on the
Monongahela River. He stopped at both Pittsburg and Wheeling for needed
supplies. Then his flatboats, manned by tall backwoodsmen in their
picturesque dress, rowed or floated cautiously down the Ohio River.
They did not know on how great a journey they had entered, for even to his
followers Clark could not tell his plan.
Toward the last of the month, on reaching the falls of the Ohio, near the
present site of Louisville, they landed on an island, where Clark built a
fort and drilled his men. Some of the families that had come with him, and
were on their way to Kentucky, remained there until autumn, planting some
corn and naming the island Corn Island.
When about to leave, Clark said to the men: "We are going to the
Mississippi." Some were faint-hearted and wished to turn back. "You may
go," said Clark, for he wanted no discontented men among his number. From
those remaining he carefully picked out the ones who seemed robust enough
to endure the extreme hardships which he knew awaited them.
[Illustration: George Rogers Clark in the Northwest.]
As the success of the enterprise depended upon surprising the enemy, it
was extremely important that he press forward as secretly and as speedily
as possible. Accordingly, the men rowed hard, night and day, until they
came to an island off the mouth of the Tennessee River. Here it was their
good fortune to meet with a small party of hunters who had been at the
French settlements not long before. These men cheerfully joined Clark's
party, agreeing to act as guides to Kaskaskia.
"If you go by the water-route of the Mississippi," said these hunters,
"the French commander at Kaskaskia will get news of your coming, through
boatmen and hunters along the river, and will be ready to defend the fort
against you. The fort is strong and the garrison well trained, and if the
commander knows of your approach he will put up a good fight."
[Illustration: Clark on the Way to Kaskaskia.]
So it was decided to go by land. At one time the guide lost his way, and
Clark was angry, for he feared treachery. But after two hours they found
the right course again.
On the evening of July 4 the Kaskaskia was reached. The fort was only
three miles away, but it was across the stream. Remaining in the woods
until dusk, they rested; then, as night fell, they pushed on to a little
farmhouse only a mile from the fort. Here Clark obtained boats and
silently, in the darkness, conveyed his men across the stream.
After two hours all was ready for the attack. Clark divided the men into
two bodies: one to surround the town and prevent the escape of the
fugitives, and the other, led by himself, to advance to the walls of the
fort.
[Illustration: Clark's Surprise at Kaskaskia.]
A postern gate on the side facing the river had been pointed out by a
captive, and Clark stationed his men so as to guard it. Then he went
inside along to the entrance of the large hall where public gatherings
were held.
It was brilliantly lighted, and floating through the windows came the
music of violins. The officers of the fort were giving a dance, and young
creole men and maidens were spending a merry evening. Even the sentinels
had left their posts in order to enjoy the festal occasion.
Alone, Clark passed through the doorway and stood with folded arms, in
grim silence, coolly watching the mirthful dancers. Lying upon the floor
just inside the door was an Indian brave. As he raised his eyes to the
face of the strange backwoodsman standing out clearly in the light of the
torches, he sprang to his feet with a piercing war-whoop. The music broke
off suddenly; a hush fell. Then the women screamed, and there was a wild
rush for the door.
Without stirring from the place where he stood, Clark quietly said: "Go on
with your dance; but remember that you now dance under Virginia, and not
under Great Britain." Scarcely had he uttered these words when his men,
seeing the confusion, rushed into the forts and seized the officers, among
whom was the French commander.
Then Clark sent runners throughout the town to order the people to remain
within their houses. The simple-hearted Frenchmen were in a panic of fear.
The next morning some of their chief men, appearing before Clark, begged
for their lives. "We will gladly become slaves," they cried, "if by so
doing we may save our families." "We do not wish to enslave you," Clark
answered, "and if you will solemnly promise to become loyal American
citizens you shall be welcome to all the privileges of Americans."
On hearing these words the French people were so carried away with joy
that they danced and sang and scattered flowers along the street. By his
kind way of dealing with them, Clark made the people of the town his
friends instead of his enemies.
A little later the people of Vincennes also solemnly promised to be loyal
citizens, and, taking down the English flag, they raised the American
stars and stripes over their fort.
LIFE IN THE OLD FRENCH VILLAGES
You will enjoy a glimpse of the life in these old French villages, for it
is quite different from that of the settlements we have visited. There are
many little hamlets, like Kaskaskia and Vincennes, on the western
frontier. They have been in existence for years, but have not increased
much in strength or size.
The French people living there have never mingled with the American
backwoodsmen. They have kept by themselves, remaining for the most part
half-homesick emigrants. Many of them are engaged in the fur trade; some
are adventure-loving wood rovers and hunters, but the most of them are
farmers on a small scale.
Their little villages, composed of hovels or small log cottages, are
guarded by rough earthworks. A few roomy buildings serve as storehouses
and strongholds in times of danger. There are also little wine-shops, as
in the old country, which the French love, and in which they are always
entertained by the music of violins.
There is much gay color on the streets of these hamlets, for the Frenchmen
are dressed in bright-colored suits, made of Indian blankets. And lounging
about in cheap paint or soiled finery are lazy Indians, begging at times
and at times idly watching the boats rowing up and down the river.
We see, too, now and then, the familiar red-and-buff uniforms of the
British army officers, which are regarded with awe whenever they appear.
For you must remember that after 1763 all the French hamlets were in
British hands, and the English officers were the great men of this country
north of the Ohio.
CLARK'S HARD TASK
Although the life was gayer and easier in these French villages than in
the frontier settlements, and although the taking of Kaskaskia and
Vincennes had been easy, Clark still had a hard task before him. His small
force was made up of men who were in the habit of doing as they pleased,
and over them he had no control except through their personal liking for
him.
Furthermore, he was so many hundred miles from Virginia that he could not
hope to get any advice or help from the government for months, or perhaps
for an entire year. He must rely entirely upon himself. And we shall see
that he was equal to the situation.
Outside the villages, roaming over the great region he was hoping to
conquer, were thousands of Indians. They were hostile, bloodthirsty, and
ready to slaughter without pity. When they heard what Clark and his
backwoodsmen had done, they crowded to Kaskaskia to see for themselves.
Lurking back of their gloomy faces were wicked thoughts. Clark was in
great danger from these Indians.
But he proved himself their master also. Though carefully on his guard in
any dealings he might have with them, he always appeared to them quite
unafraid and confident that he could take care of himself. His boldness
and firmness, even when surrounded by red warriors greatly outnumbering
his own small force, had a profound effect upon them.
[Illustration: Wampum Peace Belt.]
Once he told them that he could appeal to the Thirteen
Council-Fires--meaning, of course, the thirteen States--and that they
could send him men enough to darken the land. The Indians began to fear
him and to look upon him as a mighty warrior, and when he held up to them
the red wampum belt of war and the white of peace for them to choose which
they would have, they chose peace and left the settlement.
But there was still another very serious difficulty which Clark had to
face. It caused even greater anxiety than the danger from the Indians, for
it was within his own company. You remember that when his men started out
they did not know that they were to go so far away from home. Now, when
their time of service was up, they threatened to leave him and return to
their homes. By means of presents and promises Clark persuaded about a
hundred to stay eight months longer. The others left for home.
A weaker man might have been quite helpless if left with so small a force.
Not so Clark. He had wonderful power over people, and soon the creoles of
the French villages had become so loyal that their young men took the
places of the woodsmen who went away. Clark thoroughly drilled them all
until they were finely trained for any service he might ask.
It was well he did so. For Colonel Hamilton, the British commander at
Detroit, who had charge of the British forces throughout the vast region
which Clark was trying to conquer, was a man of great energy. Soon after
getting news of what Clark had done at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, he began
preparing for an expedition against the latter place.
Early in October (1779) he set out from Detroit with one hundred and
seventy-seven soldiers and sixty Indians. By the time he had reached
Vincennes so many other Indians had joined him that his entire force
numbered about five hundred. The fort at Vincennes, as you remember,
contained only a handful of men, and it easily fell into Hamilton's hands
(December 17, 1779).
If Hamilton had at once marched on to Kaskaskia, he might have captured
Clark or driven him out of the northwest. But that same tendency to "put
off," which had already cost the British many a victory, here again saved
the day for the Americans. Because the weather was so cold, the route so
long, and the other difficulties in his way so great, Hamilton resolved to
wait until spring before going farther.
And not expecting to need his soldiers before spring, he sent back to
Detroit the greater part of his force. He kept with him about eighty of
the white soldiers and about the same number of Indian allies.
About six weeks later Clark learned from an Indian trader how small the
garrison was at Vincennes. You may be sure that he did not wait for
seasons to change. Quick to realize that this was his chance, he gathered
a force of one hundred and seventy men--nearly half of them creoles--and
in seven days he was on his way to Vincennes.
CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES
The route, two hundred and forty miles in length, led eastward across what
is now Illinois. As often happens at this season, the weather had grown so
mild that the ice and snow had thawed, causing the rivers to overflow, and
the meadows and lowlands which lay along a large part of the route were
under water from three to five foot deep.
When we remember that there were no houses for shelter, no roads, and no
bridges across the swollen streams, we can imagine something of the
hardships of this midwinter journey. Only very strong men could endure
such exposure.
Knowing that cheerfulness would help greatly in keeping his men well and
willing, Clark encouraged feasting and merrymaking as all were gathered at
night around the blazing logs. There the game killed during the day was
cooked and eaten, and while some sang and danced, according to creole
custom, others sat before the huge fires and told exciting stories about
hunting and Indian warfare. Then, warmed and fed, all lay down by the fire
for the night's rest.
As long as this lasted the journey was by no means hard; but by the end of
a week conditions had changed, for they had reached the drowned lands of
the Wabash.
Coming first to the two branches of the Little Wabash, they found the
floods so high that the land between the two streams was entirely under
water, and they were facing a mighty river five miles wide and at no point
less than three feet deep, while, of course, in the river beds it was much
deeper.
But Clark was resourceful. He at once had his men build a pirogue, or
dugout canoe. In this he rowed across the first branch of the river, and
on the edge of the water-covered plain put up a scaffold. Then the men and
the baggage were ferried across in the pirogue, and the baggage was placed
on the scaffold. Last of all, the pack-horses swam the channel, and
standing by the scaffold in water above their knees, received again their
load of baggage.
[Illustration: Clark's Advance on Vincennes.]
All then proceeded to the second channel, which was crossed in the same
way. It took three days to build the pirogue and cross the two branches of
the river.
During this time hunger was added to the other sufferings of the men, for
the flood had driven all the wild animals away, so that there was no
longer any game to shoot. Advance was slow and extremely tiresome, for the
men had to march from morning till night up to their waists in mud and
water. They were nearing the Great Wabash River.
On February 20 the men were quite exhausted. There had been nothing to eat
for nearly two days. Many of the creoles were so downcast that they began
to talk of going home. Clark, putting on a brave face, laughed and said:
"Go out and kill a deer."
But meanwhile his men, acting under orders, had built three canoes, and on
the morning of the 22d the entire force was ferried across the Wabash.
Once on the side of the river where Vincennes stood, they began to feel
more cheerful, for by night they expected to be at the fort.
It was well that they did not know what awaited them, for they had yet a
bitter experience to pass through. Almost all the way was under water, and
as they went slowly on they often stepped into hollows where the water
came up to their chins. But, guided by their bold leader, they pressed
forward until they reached a hillock, where they spent the night.
During the long hours of this trying day Clark had kept up the spirits of
his men in every way he could. In telling about it later, he said: "I
received much help from a little antic drummer, a boy with such a
fun-loving spirit that he made the men laugh, in spite of their weariness,
at his pranks and jokes."
On starting out again the next morning some were so weak and famished that
they had to be taken in the canoes. Those who were strong enough to wade
came to water too deep to walk through, and, painfully struggling, began
to huddle together as if all hope had fled.
Then Clark had to do something to rouse them. Suddenly he blackened his
face with gunpowder and, sounding the war-whoop like an Indian brave,
fearlessly sprang forward. His men plunged in after him without a word.
By dusk they were still six miles from Vincennes. Their clothing was
drenched, their muscles ached with weariness, and they were well-nigh
exhausted from lack of food. To make matters worse, the weather that day
was bitterly cold. Yet the worst experience of the whole trying march was
to come.
For before them stretched a shallow lake, four miles in extent. With
something like a score of the strongest men just behind him, Clark plunged
into the ice-cold water, breast-deep. When they had gone about half-way
across some of them were so cold and weak that they could not take another
step. So the canoes were kept busy rescuing them and getting them to land.
Those who, though weak, were still able to keep their feet, clung to the
strong and plodded forward. When they had finally reached the woods
bordering the farther side of the lake, they had not strength enough to
pull themselves out, but clung desperately to the bushes and logs on the
shore until the canoes could pick them up.
On reaching land some were so exhausted that they fell upon the ground
with their faces half buried in the water. But the stronger ones built
fires and fed them broth made from some venison they had taken from squaws
in an Indian canoe which happened along. With food and warmth courage
returned.
In the afternoon they set out again. After crossing a narrow lake in the
canoes and marching a short distance, they reached a tree-covered spot
from which they could see the town and the fort. There they made a stop
and, hidden by the trees, made ready for the attack.
There was some fighting that night, and it was continued the next day.
Then Clark demanded the surrender of the fort. Hamilton at first refused,
but, as he had only a small number of men, he had to give up both fort and
garrison. He himself was sent a prisoner to Virginia.
Clark's capture of Vincennes was the finishing stroke of his conquest. He
had succeeded in one of the boldest enterprises ever undertaken in
America. All the vast region he had set out to conquer remained under
American control until the end of the Revolution, when, by treaty, it
formally became a part of our country.
In carrying out his plans Clark had not only risked his health and life,
but he had used up all his property. In spite of the great service he had
done his country, his last years were spent in poverty. For a while he
lived alone in a rude dwelling on Corn Island, but later his sister took
him to her home near Louisville. Here, in 1818, came to an end the life of
this heroic soldier and loyal American.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What was Clark's brilliant plan?
2. Imagine yourself with him on the evening when he captured the fort at
Kaskaskia, and tell as fully as you can what happened. Tell something of
his hard task in the days that followed.
3. Can you explain how it was that he had such a powerful influence over
men?
4. In imagination go with Clark on his wonderful march from Kaskaskia to
Vincennes and give an account of your trials and sufferings.
5. How do you account for Clark's remarkable success? What do you admire
about him?
6. Are you making frequent use of the map?
CHAPTER XI
THE NEW REPUBLIC
At the end of the Revolution Washington, as we have already noted,
returned to his beautiful home, Mount Vernon, overlooking the Potomac.
Here he again took up the many-sided duties which his large plantation
made necessary for him. His busy day began when he arose at four o'clock
in the morning and ended when he went to bed at nine o'clock in the
evening. But his life was not so quiet as we might think. For he had so
many visitors that at the end of two years he wrote in his diary one day:
"Dined with only Mrs. Washington, which I believe is the first instance of
it since my retirement from public life."
[Illustration: George Washington.]
When the States, after securing their independence, united under the
Constitution to form the nation called the United States of America, they
needed a President. It was but natural that again all eyes should turn to
George Washington, and he was elected without opposition.
In his modesty he felt himself unfit to lead the American people in times
of peace. In fact, this new service was for him perhaps the hardest that
he had ever tried to render his country. Yet, as he believed with all his
heart in the new government, he decided to accept the office. He was
willing to give up his own comfort for the sake of trying to bring new
life and prosperity to his countrymen.
[Illustration: Washington's Home, Mount Vernon.]
On April 16, 1789, two days after being informed of his election, he said
good-by to Mount Vernon and started out as a plain citizen in a private
carriage on a seven days' journey to New York, which was then the capital
city of the United States.
He wished to travel as quietly as possible, but the people were so eager
to show their love for him and their trust in him that they thronged to
meet and welcome him at every stage of the journey. When he passed through
Philadelphia, under an escort of city troops, he rode a prancing white
steed, and a civic crown of laurel rested upon his head.
[Illustration: Tribute Rendered to Washington at Trenton.]
But the most touching tribute of all he received at Trenton. On the bridge
spanning the little creek which he had crossed more than once when
thirteen years before he was battling for his country's freedom was a
floral arch. Under this a party of matrons and young girls carrying
baskets of flowers took their stand. As Washington passed beneath the arch
the girls sang a song of welcome and strewed flowers in the road before
him. On the arch was the motto: "The Hero Who Defended the Mothers Will
Protect the Daughters."
When he arrived on the New Jersey side of the North River he was met by a
committee of both houses of Congress. They escorted him to a handsomely
equipped barge, manned by thirteen pilots, all dressed in white uniforms.
Landing on the New York side, he rode through the streets amid throngs of
shouting people, with salutes thundering from war-ships and from cannon on
the Battery, and bells joyfully ringing from church-steeples, to give him
a welcome.
The inauguration took place on April 30. A little after noon Washington
left his house, and under a large military escort made his way to Federal
Hall, which was the Senate Chamber.
From there he was escorted out to the balcony overlooking a large space in
the streets below, which were thronged with people. He took his seat by
the side of a crimson-covered table, on which lay a Bible.
As Washington stood up face to face with the chancellor of New York State,
who was to give the oath, a deep hush fell on the multitude below. "Do you
solemnly swear," asked Chancellor Livingston, "that you will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the
best of your ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of
the United States?"
[Illustration: Washington Taking the Oath of Office as First President, at
Federal Hall, New York City.]
"I do solemnly swear," said Washington, "that I will faithfully execute
the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
Then with deep earnestness he bent and kissed the Bible held before him,
with the whispered prayer: "So help me God!"
"Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" exclaimed
Livingston, and the excited throng took up the cry, shouting with wild
enthusiasm. Thus was inaugurated our first President.
Returning to the Senate Chamber, Washington there delivered a short
address. He was very much agitated, for he had a deep sense of the
responsibility which had been put upon him. After he had given his address
he attended service in St. Paul's Church, and then went to his new home in
New York City.
His life as President was one of dignity and elegance. It was his custom
to pay no calls and accept no invitations, but between three and four
o'clock on every Tuesday afternoon he held a public reception. On such
occasions he appeared in court dress, with powdered hair, yellow gloves in
his hands, a long sword in a scabbard of white polished leather at his
side, and a cocked hat under his arm. Standing before the fireplace, with
his right hand behind him, he bowed formally as each guest was presented
to him.
[Illustration: Washington's Inaugural Chair.]
The visitors formed a circle about the room. At a quarter past three the
door was closed, and Washington went around the circle, speaking to each
person. Then he returned to his first position by the fireplace, where
each visitor approached him, bowed, and retired.
One of his first public duties was the choosing of strong men to form his
cabinet and help him in his new tasks as President. Thomas Jefferson was
made Secretary of State; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury;
Henry Knox, Secretary of War; and Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General. John
Jay was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The new government had to settle more than one important question. One of
these related to the method of paying the State debts which had been the
outcome of the Revolutionary War. The northern States were in favor of
having the National Government take care of these debts. Washington
himself wished in this way to unite the interests of all the States as
well as have them feel that they had a share in the new government. The
southern States, however, were bitterly opposed to this plan, but they, in
their turn, were eager to have the national capital located on the Potomac
River.
Alexander Hamilton, by a clever arrangement, persuaded the opposing
interests to adopt a compromise, or an agreement by which each side got a
part of what it wished. The northern States were to vote for a southern
capital if the southern States would vote that the National Government
should look after the State debts.
This plan was carried out; and so it was decided that the capital of the
United States should be located in the District of Columbia, on the
Potomac River, and should be called Washington, after George Washington.
In 1789, the seat of government was in New York; from 1790 to 1800, it was
in Philadelphia; and in 1800 it was transferred to Washington, where it
has ever since remained.
THE COTTON-GIN AND SLAVERY
One of the most noteworthy events which occurred during Washington's
administration was the invention of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney. Whitney
was born in Massachusetts. While yet a boy he was employed in making nails
by hand, for there was no machine for making them in those days. Later,
when he entered Yale College, his skilful use of tools helped him to pay
his college expenses.
[Illustration: Eli Whitney.]
After being graduated from Yale he went south, where he became a tutor in
the family of General Greene's widow, then living on the Savannah River,
in the home which, you remember, Georgia gave her husband. While he was in
Mrs. Greene's home he invented for her an embroidery-frame which she
greatly valued.
One day, while she was entertaining some planters, they began to talk
about the raising of cotton. One of her guests said that it did not pay
well because so much time was needed to separate the seeds from the fibre.
He added that if a way could be found to do this more quickly the profits
would be far greater.
"Gentlemen," said Mrs. Greene, "tell this to my young friend, Mr. Whitney.
Verily, I believe he can make anything." As a result of this conversation,
in two or three months Eli Whitney had invented the cotton-gin (1793),
although in so doing he had to make all his own tools.
The cotton-gin brought about great changes. Before its invention it took a
slave a whole day to separate the seed from five or six pounds of cotton
fibre. But by the use of the cotton-gin he could separate the seed from a
thousand pounds in a single day.
[Illustration: Whitney's Cotton-Gin.]
This, of course, meant that cotton could be sold for very much less than
before, and hence there arose a much greater demand for it. It meant,
also, that the labor of slaves was of more value than before, and hence
there was a greater demand for slaves.
As slavery now became such an important feature of southern life, let us
pause for a glimpse of a southern plantation where slaves are at work. If
we are to see such life in its pleasantest aspects, we may well go back to
Virginia in the old days before the Civil War. There the slaves led a
freer and easier life than they did farther south among the rice-fields of
South Carolina or the cotton-fields of Georgia.
If we could visit one of these old Virginia plantations as it used to be,
where wheat and tobacco were grown, we should see first a family mansion,
often situated on a hilltop amid a grove of oaks. The mansion is a
two-story house, perhaps made of wood, and painted white. With its
vine-clad porch in front, and its wide hallway inside, it has a very
comfortable look.
Not far away is a group of small log cabins. This cluster of simple
dwellings, known as "the quarters," is the home of the slaves, who do the
work in the house and fields.
On the large plantations of the far south, there were sometimes several
slave settlements on one plantation, each being a little village, with the
cabins set in rows on each side of a wide street. Each cabin housed two
families; belonging to each was a small garden.
The log cabins contained large fireplaces, and it was not unusual for the
master's children to gather about them when the weather was cold enough
for fires, to hear the negroes tell quaint tales and sing weird songs. The
old colored "mammies" were very fond of "Massa's chillun" and liked to pet
them and tell them stories.
Sometimes the cooking for the master's family was done in the kitchen of
the "big house," but more often in a cabin outside, from which a negro
waitress carried the food to the dining-room. The slaves had regular
allowances of food, most of which they preferred to cook in their own
cabins. Their common food was corn bread and ham or bacon.
Some of the slaves were employed as servants in the master's house, but
the greater part of them worked in the fields. They went out to work very
early in the morning. It often happened that their breakfast and dinner
were carried to them in the fields, and during the short rest which they
had while eating their meals they would often sing together.
[Illustration: A Colonial Planter.]
The slaves had their holidays, one of them being at the time of
hog-killing, which was an annual festival. In some parts of the south, in
November or December, corn-husking bees were held, just as the white
people held them on the frontier. When the corn was harvested, it was
piled up in mounds fifty or sixty feet high. Then the slaves from
neighboring plantations were invited to come and help husk the corn. One
negro would leap up on the mound and lead the chorus, all joining lustily
in the singing.
[Illustration: A Slave Settlement.]
Other holidays were given the slaves on the Fourth of July and at
Christmas time. One negro tells us about the barbecue which his master
gave to him and the other slaves. "Yes, honey, dat he did gib us Fourth of
July--a plenty o' holiday--a beef kilt, a mutton, hogs, salt, pepper, an'
eberyting. He hab a gre't trench dug, and a whole load of wood put in it
an' burned down to coals. Den dey put wooden spits across, an' dey had
spoons an' basted de meat. An' we 'vite all de culled people aroun', an'
dey come, an' we had fine times."
The life of the slaves was sometimes hard and bitter, especially when they
were in charge of a cruel overseer on a large plantation. But it was not
always so. For it is pleasant to think that when they had good masters,
there were many things to cheer and brighten their lives. We know that
household slaves often lived in the most friendly relations with their
owners.
* * * * *
We must pass over many of the events which took place while Washington was
President, but you will very likely take them up in your later study.
After serving with marked success for two terms, he again returned (1797)
to private life at Mount Vernon. Here, on December 14, 1799, he died at
the age of sixty-seven, loved and honored by the American people.
Let us always remember with grateful hearts the noble life of the great
man who has rightly been called the "Father of his Country."
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. How did the people express their feeling for Washington when he was on
his way to New York to be inaugurated as President?
2. Describe one of his public receptions.
3. Who were the men Washington chose to help him in his new task as
President?
4. What effects did the invention of the cotton-gin have upon slavery?
5. In imagination visit some old plantations and tell what you can about
slave life there.
6. Why has Washington been called the "Father of his Country"?
CHAPTER XII
INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE NEW REPUBLIC
As with reverent thought we turn from the closing days of George
Washington's life, our interest is drawn to the career of another national
hero, with whom we associate the most remarkable expansion in the area of
our country.
[Illustration: Thomas Jefferson.]
Already through the achievements of early pioneers and settlers, such as
Daniel Boone in Kentucky, John Sevier and James Robertson in Tennessee,
and George Rogers Clark in the region of the Great Lakes, the country
lying between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi River had come
to be a part of the United States.
But now in a very different and much easier way the territory lying beyond
the Mississippi and stretching westward to the Rocky Mountains was added
to the national domain. This we obtained, not by exploration or
settlement, but by purchase; and the man who had most to do with our
getting it was Thomas Jefferson.
The story of the purchase is most interesting, but hardly more so than the
story of Thomas Jefferson himself.
He was born in 1743 near Charlottesville, Virginia, on a plantation of
nearly two thousand acres. As a boy he lived an out-of-door life, hunting,
fishing, swimming, or paddling his boat in the river near his home, and
sometimes riding his father's horses. He was a skilful and daring rider,
and remained to the end of his long life fond of a fine horse.
[Illustration: "Monticello," the Home of Jefferson.]
He was a most promising lad. At five he entered school, and even at that
early age began his lifelong habit of careful reading and studying. While
still but a boy he was known among his playmates for his industry and the
thorough way in which he did his work.
At seventeen he entered William and Mary College at Williamsburg,
Virginia. Here he worked hard, sometimes studying fifteen hours a day. But
for his sound body and strong health he must have broken down under such a
severe strain.
Yet this hard-working student was no mere bookworm. He was cheerful and
full of life, and was very much liked by his fellow students. Among other
friends made during his college days was the fun-loving Patrick Henry, who
with his jokes and stories kept every one about him in good humor. In time
their friendship became so intimate that when Patrick Henry came to
Williamsburg as a member of the House of Burgesses, he shared Jefferson's
rooms. Both were fond of music, and spent many a pleasant hour playing
their violins together.
We have a description of Jefferson as he appeared at this time. He was
over six feet tall, slender in body, but with large hands and feet. His
freckled face was topped by a mass of sandy hair, from beneath which
looked out keen, friendly gray eyes. He stood erect, straight as an arrow,
a fine picture of health and strong young manhood.
Thus we may imagine him as he stood one day while a law student at
Williamsburg, in the doorway of the courthouse, earnestly listening to his
friend Patrick Henry as he delivered his famous speech against the Stamp
Act. The fiery words of the eloquent speaker made a deep impression upon
young Jefferson's quick, warm nature.
Both young men were earnest patriots, but they served their country in
different ways. To Patrick Henry it was given to speak with the silver
tongue of the orator; while Jefferson, who was a poor speaker, wrote with
such grace and strength that he has rightly been called "The Pen of the
Revolution."
Before taking up his public life, it will be of interest to us to see how
he helped his countrymen in other ways. Two valuable and lasting
improvements have come down from him. The first of these was the system of
decimal currency, which replaced the clumsy system of pounds, shillings,
and pence used in colonial days. When you are called upon to work out
examples in English currency, be grateful to Thomas Jefferson that we have
instead the much simpler system of dollars and cents.
The second improvement--which was for the benefit of agriculture, in which
Jefferson always felt a deep interest--had, perhaps, even greater
importance, for it was not merely a convenience but a means of increasing
wealth. It was a new form of plough, which, sinking deeper into the soil,
vastly increased its productive power, and has been of untold value to the
people not only of our country but of the whole world.
Jefferson showed his interest in the work of the farm in another way.
While he was in France as American minister to the King he found that,
although the French ate a great deal of rice, especially during Lent, very
little of it came from the United States, because rice raised here was
thought to be of an inferior quality. The best rice came from Italy.
[Illustration: A Rice-Field in Louisiana.]
Wishing to help American rice-growers, Jefferson, therefore, went to Italy
to study the Italian method of growing it. He found that in both countries
the hulling and cleaning machine was the same. "Then," thought he, "the
seed of the Italian rice must be better."
So, doing up some small packages of the best seed rice he could find, he
sent them to Charleston. The seeds were carefully distributed among the
planters, who made good use of them, and from those seeds as a beginning
some of the finest rice in the world is now produced in our own States.
JEFFERSON'S GREATEST WORK AS A STATESMAN
But valuable as these services were to his countrymen, Jefferson's great
work in the world was that of a statesman. He first came into prominence
in the Second Continental Congress, when, you recall, the brave men
representing the several colonies decided that the time had come for the
American people to declare themselves free and independent of England.
Here Jefferson's ability as a writer did good service; for of the
committee of five appointed to draw up the Declaration of Independence
Jefferson was a member, and it fell to him to write the first draft of
that great state paper.
Congress spent a few days in going over this draft and making some slight
changes in it. In the main, however, it stands as Jefferson wrote it.
After filling many of the high offices in the country, in 1801 Jefferson
became the third President of the United States. In this lofty position
history gives us another striking picture of the man. It shows that he was
simple in his tastes, and that he liked best those plain ways of living
which are most familiar to the common people.
On the day of his inauguration he went on foot to the Capitol, dressed in
his every-day clothes and attended only by a few friends. It became his
custom later, when going up to the Capitol on official business, to go on
horseback, tying his horse with his own hands to a near-by fence before
entering the building. He declined to hold weekly receptions, as had been
the custom when Washington and Adams were Presidents, but instead he
opened his house to all on the Fourth of July, and on New Year's Day. In
these ways he was acting out his belief that the President should be
simple in dress and manner.
Many things which Jefferson did proved that he was an able statesman, but
the one act which stands out above all others as the greatest and wisest
of his administration, was the "Louisiana Purchase."
Let us see how this purchase came to be made. Before Jefferson became
President many pioneers, we know, had already settled west of the
Alleghany Mountains. Most of them lived along the Ohio and the streams
flowing into it from the north and the south. In the upland valleys of the
Kentucky and Tennessee Rivers settlers were especially numerous.
These lands were so fertile that the people living there became very
prosperous. As their harvests were abundant, they needed a market in which
to sell what they could not use.
We have seen how in the autumn it was their custom to load the furs on
pack-horses, and driving the cattle before them along the forest trail, to
make the long journey over the mountains to cities and towns along the
Atlantic coast.
[Illustration: A Flatboat on the Ohio River.]
But to send their bulky products by this route was too expensive. Water
transportation cost much less. Such produce as corn-meal, flour, pork, and
lumber had to go on rafts or flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers to New Orleans. Here the cargo and the boat were sold, or the cargo
sold and loaded on ocean vessels, which in time reached the eastern market
by a cheaper though longer route than that by land. Thus the Mississippi
River, being the only outlet for this heavy produce, was very necessary to
the prosperity of the west.
But Spain at this time owned New Orleans and all the land about the mouth
of the Mississippi River; and as the river became more and more used for
traffic Spanish officers at New Orleans began to make trouble. They even
went so far as to threaten to prevent the sending of produce to that port.
This threat greatly troubled and angered the western farmers. They
proposed wild plans to force an outlet for their trade. But before
anything was done, news came that Napoleon, who was then at the head of
affairs in France, had compelled Spain to give up Louisiana to France.
Then the westerners grew still more alarmed about their trade. It was bad
enough to have a weak country like Spain in control of Louisiana. But it
might be far worse to have France, the greatest military power in the
world at that time, own it. All this was very plain to Jefferson, and he
knew that Napoleon was planning to establish garrisons and colonies in
Louisiana.
In view of the possible dangers, he sent James Monroe to France to aid our
minister there in securing New Orleans and a definite stretch of territory
in Louisiana lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. If he could
get that territory, the Americans would then own the entire east bank of
the river and could control their own trade.
When Monroe reached France, he found that Napoleon not only was willing to
sell what Jefferson wanted, but wished him to buy much more. For as
Napoleon was about to engage in war with England, he had great need of
money. Besides, he was afraid that the English might even invade and
capture Louisiana, and in that case he would get nothing for it. He was
satisfied, therefore, to sell the whole of the Louisiana territory for
fifteen million dollars.
This purchase was a big event in American history, for you must remember
that what was then called Louisiana was a very large stretch of country.
It included all the region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky
Mountains, from Canada down to what is now Texas. Look at your map and you
will see that it was larger than all the rest of the territory which up to
that time had been called the United States.
[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES IN 1803, AFTER THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.]
NEW ORLEANS IN 1803
The people of that day did not realize the importance of their purchase.
For the most part the territory was a wild region, uninhabited except for
scattered Indian tribes, and almost unexplored. The place most alive was
New Orleans, which would have interested you keenly had you been a pioneer
boy or girl. New Orleans has been called a Franco-Spanish-American city,
for it has belonged to all three nations in turn and been under French
control twice. You remember that the French settled it. Let us imagine
ourselves pioneers of 1803, and that we have just brought a cargo down the
river.
[Illustration: House in New Orleans Where Louis Philippe Stopped in 1798.]
We find New Orleans to be one of the chief seaports of America. We see
shipping of all sorts about the town--barges and flatboats along the river
bank, merchant vessels in the harbor, and farther down some war-ships.
There are buildings still standing which are unchanged parts of the
earlier French town--for instance, the government house, the barracks, the
hospital, and the convent of the Ursulines. We notice that the walls and
fortifications, built partly by the French and partly by the Spaniards,
are but a mere ring of grass-grown ruins about the city.
[Illustration: A Public Building in New Orleans Built in 1794.]
But the city is very picturesque with its tropical vegetation, always
green, and its quaint houses, many of them raised several feet above the
ground on pillars. The more pretentious mansions are surrounded by broad
verandas and fine gardens, and scattered here and there among the houses
of the better class are those of the poor people.
The streets are straight and fairly wide, but dirty and ill-kept. The
sidewalks are of wood, and at night we need to take our steps carefully,
for only a few dim lights break the darkness. Beyond the walls of the city
we see suburbs already springing up.
Three-fourths of the inhabitants are creoles--that is, natives of French
and Spanish descent, who speak in the French tongue. We do not understand
them any more than if we were in a really foreign city. They seem a
handsome, well-knit race. But they are idle and lacking in ambition, and
for that reason are being crowded out of business by the active, thrifty
American merchants, to whom, we observe, they are not quite friendly.
Such was the New Orleans of 1803, a human oasis in a waste of forest,
which made up the greater part of the new territory. There were, to be
sure, in this trackless wilderness a few French villages near the mouth of
the Missouri River. Traders from the British camps in the north had found
their way as far south as these villages, but the great prairies had not
been explored, and the Rocky Mountains were yet unknown.
LEWIS AND CLARK'S EXPEDITION
Before the purchase was made Jefferson had planned an expedition to
explore this region, and Congress had voted money to carry out his plan.
Two officers of the United States army, Captain Meriwether Lewis and
Captain William Clark, brother of George Rogers Clark, were put in command
of the expedition.
They were to ascend the Missouri River to its head and then find the
nearest waterway to the Pacific coast. They were directed also to draw
maps of the region and to report on the nature of the country and the
people, plants, animals, and other matters of interest in the new lands.
[Illustration: Meriwether Lewis.]
In May, 1804, the little company of forty-five men left St. Louis and
started up the Missouri River, passing the scattered settlements of French
creoles. After eleven days they reached the home of Daniel Boone, the last
settlement they passed on the Missouri. Leaving that, they found no more
white settlers and very few Indians. But the woods were alive with game,
so there was no lack of food.
[Illustration: William Clark.]
Late in October they arrived at a village of Mandan Indians situated at
the great bend of the Missouri River, in what is now known as North
Dakota. Deciding to winter here, they built huts and a stockade, calling
the camp Fort Mandan. The Mandans were used to white men, as the village
had been visited often by traders from both north and south.
Although the Indians gave them no trouble, the explorers suffered greatly
from cold and hunger, game being scarce and poor in the winter season.
When spring came the party, now numbering thirty-two, again took up the
westward journey. All before them was new country. They met few Indians
and found themselves in one of the finest hunting-grounds in the world.
Sage-fowl and prairie-fowl, ducks of all sorts, swans, and wild cranes
were plentiful, while huge, flapping geese nested in the tops of the
cottonwood-trees.
[Illustration: Buffalo Hunted by Indians.]
Big game, such as buffalo, elk, antelope, whitetail and blacktail deer,
and big-horned sheep, was also abundant. It happened more than once that
the party was detained for an hour or more while a great herd of buffalo
ploughed their way down the bank of a river in a huge column.
Many of the animals in this region were very tame, for they had not
learned to fear men. Yet among them the explorers found some dangerous
enemies. One was the grizzly bear, and another the rattlesnake. But the
greatest scourges of all were the tiny, buzzing mosquitoes, which beset
them in great swarms.
The second autumn was almost upon them when they arrived at the headwaters
of the Missouri, and their hardest task was yet to be accomplished. Before
them rose the mountains. These, they knew, must be crossed before they
could hope to find any waterway to the coast. The boats in which they had
come thus far, now being useless, were left behind, and horses were
procured from a band of wandering Indians.
Then they set out again on their journey, which presently became most
difficult. For nearly a month they painfully made their way through dense
forests, over steep mountains, and across raging torrents, whose icy water
chilled both man and beast. Sometimes storms of sleet and snow beat
pitilessly down upon them, and again they were almost overcome by
oppressive heat.
Game was so scarce that the men often went hungry, and were even driven to
kill some of their horses for food.
But brighter days were bound to come, and at last they reached a river
which flowed toward the west. They called it Lewis, and it proved to be a
branch of the Columbia, which led to the sea. With fresh courage they
built five canoes, in which the ragged, travel-worn but now triumphant men
made their way down-stream. The Indians whom they met were for the most
part friendly, welcoming them and providing them with food, though a few
tribes were troublesome.
Before the cold of the second winter had set in they had reached the
forests on the Pacific coast, and here they stayed until spring, enduring
much hunger and cold, but learning many things about the habits of the
Indians.
[Illustration: The Lewis and Clark Expedition Working Its Way Westward.]
The next March, as soon as travel was safe, they gladly turned their faces
homeward, and after a fatiguing journey of about three months, reached the
Great Plains.
Then the party separated for a time into two companies, Clark following
the course of the Yellowstone River, and Lewis the Missouri, planning to
meet where the two rivers united.
This they succeeded in doing, though both parties were troubled somewhat
by Indians. The Crow Indians stole horses from Clark's party, and eight
Blackfoot warriors attacked Lewis and three of his men. But Lewis got the
better of them and captured four of their horses.
The explorers suffered no further injury, and in September, 1806, about
two years and four months after starting out, they were back in St. Louis,
with their precious maps and notes. They had successfully carried out a
magnificent undertaking, and you may be sure they received a joyful
welcome from their friends. I wonder if any of you can tell which of our
world's fairs commemorated the leaders of this expedition.
Through the efforts of these explorers the highway across the continent
became an established fact. When you think of the great trunk lines of
railroad, over which fast trains carry hundreds of passengers daily, stop
a moment and remember that it was little more than a hundred years ago
that we first began to know much about this region!
ANDREW JACKSON
The next addition made to our expanding nation was in the extreme
southeast, and with it we associate the name of another of our Presidents,
Andrew Jackson. The story of how Florida came to be a part of the United
States will be more interesting if we know something of the career of the
picturesque hero who brought about its purchase.
Andrew Jackson was born in Union County, North Carolina, in 1767, of poor
Scotch-Irish parents, who about two years before had come from Ireland. In
a little clearing in the woods they had built a rude log hut and settled
down to hard work.
But Andrew's father soon died, and his mother went with her children to
live in her brother's home, where she spun flax to earn money. She was
very fond of little Andrew and hoped some day to make a minister of him.
[Illustration: Andrew Jackson.]
With this in view, she sent him to school, where he learned reading,
writing, and a little ciphering. But the little fellow loved nature better
than books and did not make great progress with lessons. You must
remember, however, that he was far from idle and that he did many hard and
brave tasks, worth being put into books for other boys to read.
"Mischievous Andy," as he was called, was a barefooted, freckle-faced lad,
slender in body, with bright blue eyes and reddish hair, and was full of
life and fun. Although not robust, he was wiry and energetic, and excelled
in running, jumping, and all rough-and-tumble sports. If, when wrestling,
a stronger boy threw him to the ground, he was so agile that he always
managed to regain his feet.
While he was yet a lad the Revolution broke out, and there was severe
fighting between the Americans and the British near his home. He was only
thirteen when he was made a prisoner of war.
One day, soon after his capture, a British officer gave him a pair of
muddy boots to clean. The fiery youth flashed back: "Sir, I am not your
slave. I am your prisoner, and as such I refuse to do the work of a
slave." Angered by this reply, the brutal officer struck the boy a cruel
blow with his sword, inflicting two severe wounds.
Andrew was kept in a prison pen about the Camden jail. As he was without
shelter and almost without food, the wounds refused to heal, and in his
weak and half-starved condition he fell a victim to smallpox. His mother,
hearing of her boy's wretched plight, secured his release and took him
home. He was ill for months, and before he entirely recovered his mother
died, leaving him quite alone in the world.
In time, however, these early hardships passed, and some years later we
see Andrew, a young man of twenty-one, now become a lawyer. He is over six
feet tall, slender, straight, and graceful, with a long, slim face, and
thick hair falling over his forehead and shading his piercing blue eyes.
He has crossed the mountains with an emigrant party into the backwoods
region of Tennessee.
The party arrived at Nashville, where their life was very much like that
of Daniel Boone in Kentucky.
Young Jackson passed through many dangers without harm, and by his
industry and business ability became a successful lawyer and in time a
wealthy landowner.
After his marriage he built, on a plantation of one thousand one hundred
acres, about ten miles from Nashville, a house which he called "The
Hermitage." Here he and his wife kept open house for visitors, treating
rich and poor with like hospitality. His warm heart and generous nature
were especially shown in his own household, where he was kind to all,
including his slaves.
[Illustration: "The Hermitage," the Home of Andrew Jackson.]
To the end of his life he had a childlike simplicity of nature. But we
must not think of him as a faultless man, for he was often rough in manner
and speech, and his violent temper got him into serious troubles. Among
them were some foolish duels.
[Illustration: Fighting the Seminole Indians, under Jackson.]
Yet, with all his faults, he was brave and patriotic and did splendid
service as a fighter in Indian wars. After one of his duels, with a ball
in his shoulder and his left arm in a sling, he went to lead an army of
two thousand five hundred men in an attack on the Creek Indians, who had
risen against the whites in Alabama. Although weak from a long illness,
Jackson marched with vigor against the Creeks, and after a campaign of
much hardship, badly defeated them at Horseshoe Bend, in eastern Alabama.
He thus broke for all time the power of the Indians south of the Ohio
River.
Some three years later (1817) General Jackson, as he was now called, was
sent with a body of troops down to southern Georgia, to protect the people
there from the Seminole Indians, who lived in Florida. At this time
Florida belonged to Spain. Its vast swamps and dense forests made a place
of refuge from which outlaws, runaway negroes, and Indians all made a
practice of sallying forth in bands across the border into southern
Georgia. There they would drive off cattle, burn houses, and murder men,
women, and children without mercy.
[Illustration: Jackson's Campaign.]
When Jackson pursued these thieves and murderers, they retreated to their
hiding-places beyond the boundaries of Florida. But it was more than
Jackson could endure to see his enemy escape him so easily. And, although
he was exceeding his orders, he followed them across the border, burned
some of their villages, and hanged some of the Indian chiefs. He did not
stop until he had all of Florida under his control.
This was a high-handed proceeding, for that territory belonged to Spain.
However, serious trouble was avoided by our buying Florida (1819). This
purchase added territory of fifty-nine thousand two hundred and
sixty-eight square miles to the United States. It was only six thousand
square miles less than the whole area of New England.
By studying your map you can easily see how much the area of the United
States was extended by the purchase of Louisiana and of Florida. The
adding of these two large territories made America one of the great
nations of the world in landed estate.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Tell all you can about Jefferson's boyhood. What kind of student was he
in college?
2. How did he help his countrymen before taking up his public life?
3. Why did the Westerners wish the Mississippi to be open to their trade?
4. Why was Napoleon willing to sell us the whole of Louisiana? Use your
map in making clear to yourself just what the Louisiana Purchase included.
5. Why did Jefferson send Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition? What
were the results of this expedition?
6. What kind of boy was Andrew Jackson? What kind of man?
7. What part did he take in the events leading up to the purchase of
Florida?
CHAPTER XIII
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
After the purchase of Louisiana and the explorations of Lewis and Clark,
the number of settlers who went from the eastern part of the country to
find new homes in the West kept on increasing as it had been doing since
Boone, Robertson, and Sevier had pushed their way across the mountains
into Kentucky and Tennessee, twenty-five or thirty years earlier.
These pioneers, if they went westward by land, had to load their goods on
pack-horses and follow the Indian trail. Later the trail was widened into
a roadway, and wagons could be used. But travel by land was slow and, hard
under any conditions.
Going by water, while cheaper, was inconvenient, for the travellers must
use the flatboat, which was clumsy and slow and, worst of all, of little
use except when going down stream.
The great need both for travel and for trade, then, was a boat which would
not be dependent upon wind or current, but could be propelled by steam.
Many men had tried to work out such an invention. Among them was John
Rumsey, of Maryland, who built a steamboat in 1774, and John Fitch, of
Connecticut, who completed his first model of a steamboat in 1785.
In the next four years Fitch built three steamboats, the last of which
made regular trips on the Delaware River, between Philadelphia and
Burlington, during the summer of 1786. It was used as a passenger boat,
and it made a speed of eight miles an hour; but Fitch was not able to
secure enough aid from men of capital and influence to make his boats
permanently successful.
The first man to construct a steamboat which continued to give successful
service was Robert Fulton. Robert Fulton was born of poor parents in
Little Britain, Pennsylvania, in 1765, the year of the famous Stamp Act.
When the boy was only three years old his father died, and so Robert was
brought up by his mother. She taught him at home until he was eight, and
then sent him to school. Here he showed an unusual liking for drawing.
[Illustration: Robert Fulton.]
Outside of school hours his special delight was to visit the shops of
mechanics, who humored the boy and let him work out his clever ideas with
his own hands.
A story is told of how Robert came into school late one morning and gave
as his excuse that he had been at a shop beating a piece of lead into a
pencil. At the same time he took the pencil from his pocket, and showing
it to his teacher, said: "It is the best one I have ever used." Upon
carefully looking at the pencil, the schoolmaster was so well pleased that
he praised Robert's efforts, and in a short time nearly all the pupils
were using that kind of pencil.
[Illustration: Fulton's First Experiment with Paddle-Wheels.]
Another example of Robert's inventive gift belongs to his boyhood days. He
and one of his playmates from time to time went fishing in a flatboat,
which they propelled with long poles. It was hard work and slow, and
presently Robert thought out an easier way. He made two crude
paddle-wheels, attached one to each side of the boat, and connected them
with a sort of double crank. By turning this, the boys made the wheels
revolve, and these carried the boat through the water easily. We may be
sure that Robert's boat became very popular, and that turning the crank
was a privilege in which each boy eagerly took his turn.
While still young, Robert began to paint pictures also. By the time he was
seventeen he had become skilful in the use of his brush and went to
Philadelphia to devote his time to painting portraits and miniatures.
Being a tireless worker, he earned enough here to support himself and send
something to his mother.
At the age of twenty-one his interest in art led him to go to London,
where he studied for several years under Benjamin West. This famous master
took young Fulton into his household and was very friendly to him.
After leaving West's studio Fulton still remained in England, and although
continuing to paint he gave much thought also to the development of canal
systems. His love for invention was getting the better of his love for art
and was leading him on to the work which made him famous. He was about
thirty when he finally gave up painting altogether and turned his whole
attention to inventing.
He went from England to Paris, where he lived in the family of Joel
Barlow, an American poet and public man. Here he made successful
experiments with a diving boat which he had designed to carry cases of
gunpowder under water. This was one of the stages in the development of
our modern torpedo-boat.
Although this invention alone would give Fulton a place in history, it was
not one which would affect so many people as the later one, the steamboat,
with which his name is more often associated.
Even before he had begun to experiment with the torpedo-boat Fulton had
been deeply interested in steam navigation, and while in Paris he
constructed a steamboat. In this undertaking he was greatly aided by
Robert R. Livingston, American minister at the French court, who had
himself done some experimenting in that line. Livingston, therefore, was
glad to furnish the money which Fulton needed in order to build the boat.
It was finished by the spring of 1803. But just as they were getting ready
for a trial trip, early one morning the boat broke in two parts and sank
to the bottom of the River Seine. The frame had been too weak to support
the weight of the heavy machinery.
Having discovered just what was wrong in this first attempt, Fulton built
another steamboat soon after his return to America, in 1806. This boat was
one hundred and thirty feet long, eighteen feet wide, with mast and sail,
and had on each side a wheel fifteen feet across.
On the morning of the day in August, 1807, set for the trial of the
Clermont--as Fulton called his boat--an expectant throng of curious
onlookers gathered on the banks of the North, or Hudson, River, at New
York. Everybody was looking for failure. For though Fitch's boats had made
trips in the Delaware only some twenty years earlier, the fact did not
seem to be generally known. People had all along spoken of Fulton as a
half-crazy dreamer and had called his boat "Fulton's Folly." "Of course,
the thing will not move," said one scoffer. "That any man with common
sense well knows," another replied. And yet they all stood watching for
Fulton's signal to start the boat.
[Illustration: The "Clermont" in Duplicate at the Hudson-Fulton
Celebration, 1909.]
The signal is given. A slight tremor of motion and the boat is still.
"There! What did I say?" cried one. "I told you so!" exclaimed another. "I
knew the boat would not go," said yet another. But they spoke too soon,
for after a little delay the wheels of the Clermont began to revolve,
slowly and hesitatingly at first, but soon with more speed, and the boat
steamed proudly off up the Hudson.
As she moved forward, all along the river people who had come from far and
near stood watching the strange sight. When boatmen and sailors on the
Hudson heard the harsh clanking of machinery and saw the huge sparks and
dense black smoke rising out of her funnel, they thought that the Clermont
was a sea-monster. In fact, they were so frightened that some of them went
ashore, some jumped into the river to get away, and some fell on their
knees in fear, believing that their last day had come. It is said that one
old Dutchman exclaimed to his wife: "I have seen the devil coming up the
river on a raft!"
The men who were working the boat had no such foolish fears. They set
themselves to their task and made the trip from New York to Albany, a
distance of one hundred and fifty miles, in thirty-two hours. Success had
at last come to the quiet, modest, persevering Fulton. After this trial
trip the Clermont was used as a regular passenger boat between New York
and Albany.
The steamboat was Fulton's great gift to the world and his last work of
public interest. He died in 1815.
But the Clermont was only the beginning of steam-driven craft on the
rivers and lakes of our country. Four years afterward (1811), the first
steamboat west of the Alleghany Mountains began its route from Pittsburg
down the Ohio, and a few years later similar craft were in use on the
Great Lakes.
THE NATIONAL ROAD AND THE ERIE CANAL
But while steamboats made the rivers and lakes easy routes for travel and
traffic, something was needed to make journeys by land less difficult. To
meet this need, new highways had to be supplied, and this great work of
building public roads was taken up by the United States Government. Many
roads were built, but the most important was the one known as the National
Road.
[Illustration: _From the painting by C.Y. Turner in the DeWitt Clinton
High School, New York._
The Opening of the Erie Canal in 1825.]
It ran from Cumberland, on the Potomac, through Maryland and Pennsylvania
to Wheeling, West Virginia, on the Ohio River. From there it was extended
to Indiana and Illinois, ending at Vandalia, which at that time was the
capital of Illinois. It was seven hundred miles long, and cost seven
million dollars.
This smooth and solid roadway was eighty feet wide; it was paved with
stone and covered with gravel. Transportation became not only much easier
but also much cheaper. The road filled a long-felt need and a flood of
travel and traffic immediately swept over it.
[Illustration: _From the painting by C.Y. Turner in the DeWitt Clinton
High School, New York._
The Ceremony Called "The Marriage of the Waters."]
Another kind of highway which proved to be of untold value to both the
East and the West, was the canal, or artificial waterway connecting two
bodies of water.
The most important was the Erie Canal, connecting the Hudson River and
Lake Erie, begun in 1817. This new idea received the same scornful
attention from the unthinking as "Fulton's Folly." By many it was called
"Clinton's Ditch," after Governor DeWitt Clinton, to whose foresight we
are indebted for the building of this much-used waterway. The scoffers
shook their heads and said: "Clinton will bankrupt the State"; "The canal
is a great extravagance"; and so on.
But he did not stop because of criticism, and in 1825 the canal was
finished. The undertaking had been pushed through in eight years. It was a
great triumph for Clinton and a proud day for the State.
When the work was completed the news was signalled from Buffalo to New
York in a novel way. As you know, there was neither telephone nor
telegraph then. But at intervals of five miles all along the route cannon
were stationed. When the report from the first cannon was heard, the
second was fired, and thus the news went booming eastward till, in an hour
and a half, it reached New York.
Clinton himself journeyed to New York in the canal-boat Seneca Chief. This
was drawn by four gray horses, which went along the tow-path beside the
canal. As the boat passed quietly along, people thronged the banks to do
honor to the occasion.
When the Seneca Chief reached New York City, Governor Clinton, standing on
deck, lifted a gilded keg filled with water from Lake Erie and poured it
into the harbor. As he did so, he prayed that "the God of the heaven and
the earth" would smile upon the work just completed and make it useful to
the human race. Thus was dedicated this great waterway, whose usefulness
has more than fulfilled the hope of its chief promoter.
[Illustration: Erie Canal on the Right and Aqueduct over the Mohawk River,
New York.]
Trade between the East and the West began to grow rapidly. Vast quantities
of manufactured goods were moved easily from the East to the West, and
supplies of food were shipped in the opposite direction. Prices began to
fall because the cost of carrying goods was so much less. It cost ten
dollars before the canal was dug to carry a barrel of flour from Buffalo
to Albany; now it costs thirty cents.
The region through which the canal ran was at that time mostly wilderness,
and for some years packets carrying passengers as well as freight were
drawn through the canal by horses travelling the tow-path along the bank.
When travelling was so easy and safe, the number of people moving westward
to this region grew larger rapidly. Land was in demand and became more
valuable. Farm products sold at higher prices. Villages sprang up,
factories were built, and the older towns grew rapidly in size. The great
cities of New York State--and this is especially true of New York
City--owe much of their growth to the Erie Canal.
THE RAILROAD
The steamboat, the national highways, and the canals were all great aids
to men in travel and in carrying goods. The next great improvement was the
use of steam-power to transport people and goods overland. It was brought
about by the railroad and the locomotive.
[Illustration: "Tom Thumb," Peter Cooper's Locomotive Working Model. First
Used Near Baltimore in 1830.]
In this country, the first laying of rails to make a level surface for
wheels to roll upon was at Quincy, Massachusetts. This railroad was three
miles long, extending from the quarry to the seacoast. The cars were drawn
by horses.
Our first passenger railroad was begun in 1828. It was called the
Baltimore and Ohio and was the beginning of the railroad as we know it
to-day. But those early roads would seem very strange now. The rails were
of wood, covered with a thin strip of iron to protect the wood from wear.
Even as late as the Civil War rails of this kind were in use in some
places. The first cross-ties were of stone instead of wood, and the
locomotives and cars of early days were very crude.
[Illustration: From an Old Time-table (furnished by the "A B C Pathfinder
Railway Guide"). Railroad Poster of 1843.]
In 1833, people who were coming from the West to attend President
Jackson's second inauguration travelled part of the way by railroad. They
came over the National Road as far as Frederick, Maryland, and there left
it to enter a train of six cars, each accommodating sixteen persons. The
train was drawn by horses. In this manner they continued their journey to
Baltimore.
In the autumn of that year a railroad was opened between New York and
Philadelphia. At first horses were used to draw the train, but by the end
of the year locomotives, which ran at the rate of fifteen miles an hour,
were introduced. This was a tremendous stride in the progress of railroad
traffic.
[Illustration: Comparison of "DeWitt Clinton" Locomotive and Train, the
First Train Operated in New York, with a Modern Locomotive of the New York
Central R.R.]
To be sure, the locomotives were small, but two or more started off
together, each drawing its own little train of cars. Behind the locomotive
was a car which was a mere platform with a row of benches, seating perhaps
forty passengers, inside of an open railing. Then followed four or five
cars looking very much like stage-coaches, each having three compartments,
with doors on each side. The last car was a high, open-railed van, in
which the baggage of the whole train was heaped up and covered with
oilcloth. How strange a train of this sort would look beside one of our
modern express-trains, with its huge engine, and its sleeping, dining, and
parlor cars!
You will be surprised that any objection was raised to the railroad. Its
earliest use had been in England, and when there was talk of introducing
it in this country some people said: "If those who now travel by stage
take the railroad coaches, then stage-drivers will be thrown out of work!"
Little could they foresee what a huge army of men would find work on the
modern railroad.
In spite of all obstacles and objections, the railroads, once begun, grew
rapidly in favor. In 1833 there were scarcely three hundred and eighty
miles of railroad in the United States; now there are more than two
hundred and forty thousand miles.
MORSE AND THE TELEGRAPH
The next stride which Progress made seemed even more wonderful. Having
contrived an easier and a quicker way to move men and their belongings
from one place to another, what should she do but whisper in the ear of a
thinking man: "You can make thought travel many times faster." The man
whose inventive genius made it possible for men to flash their thoughts
thousands of miles in a few seconds of time was Samuel Finley Breese
Morse.
He was born in 1791, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. His father was a
learned minister, who "was always thinking, always writing, always
talking, always acting"; and his mother was a woman of noble character,
who inspired her son with lofty purpose.
When he was seven he went to Andover, Massachusetts, to school, and still
later entered Phillips Academy in the same town. At fourteen he entered
Yale College, where from the first he was a good, faithful student.
[Illustration: S.F.B. Morse.]
As his father was poor, Finley had to help himself along, and was able to
do it by painting, on ivory, likenesses of his classmates and professors,
for which he received from one dollar to five dollars each. In this way he
made considerable money.
At the end of his college course he made painting his chosen profession
and went to London, where he studied four years under Benjamin West.
Though for some years he divided his time and effort between painting and
invention, he at last decided to devote himself wholly to invention. This
change in his life-work was the outcome of an incident which took place on
a second voyage home from Europe, where he had been spending another
period in study.
On the ocean steamer the conversation at dinner one day was about some
experiments with electricity. One of the men present said that so far as
had been learned from experiment electricity passes through any length of
wire in a second of time.
"Then," said Morse, "thought can be transmitted hundreds of miles in a
moment by means of electricity; for, if electricity will go ten miles
without stopping, I can make it go around the globe."
[Illustration: The First Telegraph Instrument.]
When once he began to think about this great possibility, the thought held
him in its grip. In fact, it shut out all others. Through busy days and
sleepless nights he turned it over and over. And often, while engaged in
other duties, he would snatch his notebook from his pocket in order to
outline the new instrument he had in mind and jot down the signs he would
use in sending messages.
It was not long before he had worked out on paper the whole scheme of
transmitting thought over long distances by means of electricity.
And now began twelve toilsome years of struggle to plan and work out
machinery for his invention. All these years he had to earn money for the
support of his three motherless children. So he gave up to painting much
time that he would otherwise have spent upon his invention. His progress,
therefore, was slow and painful, but he pressed forward. He was not the
kind of man to give up.
In a room on the fifth floor of a building in New York City he toiled at
his experiments day and night, with little food, and that of the simplest
kind. Indeed so meagre was his fare, mainly crackers and tea, that he
bought provisions at night in order to keep his friends from finding out
how great his need was.
[Illustration: Modern Telegraph Office.]
During this time of hardship all that kept starvation from his door was
lessons in painting to a few pupils. On a certain occasion Morse said to
one of them, who owed him for a few months' teaching: "Well, Strothers, my
boy, how are we off for money?"
"Professor," said the young fellow, "I am sorry to say I have been
disappointed, but I expect the money next week."
"Next week!" cried his needy teacher; "I shall be dead by next week."
"Dead, sir?" was the shocked response of Strothers.
"Yes, dead by starvation!" was the emphatic answer.
"Would ten dollars be of any service?" asked the pupil, now seeing that
the situation was serious.
"Ten dollars would save my life," was the reply of the poor man, who had
been without food for twenty-four hours. You may be sure that Strothers
promptly handed him the money.
But in spite of heavy trials and many discouragements, he had by 1837
finished a machine which he exhibited in New York, although he did not
secure a patent until 1840.
[Illustration: The Operation of the Modern Railroad is Dependent upon the
Telegraph.]
Then followed a tedious effort to induce the government at Washington to
vote money for his great enterprise. Finally, after much delay, the House
of Representatives passed a bill "appropriating thirty thousand dollars
for a trial of the telegraph."
As you may know, a bill cannot become a law unless the Senate also passes
it. But the Senate did not seem friendly to this one. Many believed that
the whole idea of the telegraph was rank folly. They thought of Morse and
the telegraph very much as people had thought of Fulton and the steamboat,
and made fun of him as a crazy-brained fellow.
Up to the evening of the last day of the session the bill had not been
taken up by the Senate. Morse sat anxiously waiting in the Senate Chamber
until nearly midnight, when, believing there was no longer any hope, he
left the room and went home with a heavy heart.
Imagine his surprise the next morning, when a young woman, Miss Ellsworth,
congratulated him at breakfast upon the passage of his bill. At first he
could scarcely believe the good news, but when he found that she was
telling him the truth his joy was unbounded, and he promised her that she
should choose the first message.
By the next year (1844) a telegraph-line, extending from Baltimore to
Washington, was ready for use. On the day appointed for trial Morse met a
party of friends in the chambers of the Supreme Court at the Washington
end of the line and, sitting at the instrument which he had himself placed
for trial, the happy inventor sent the message selected by Miss Ellsworth:
"What hath God wrought!"
The telegraph was a great and brilliant achievement, and brought to its
inventor well-earned fame. Now that success had come, honors were showered
upon him by many countries. At the suggestion of the French Emperor,
representatives from many countries in Europe met in Paris to decide upon
some suitable testimonial to Morse as one who had done so much for the
world. These delegates voted him a sum amounting to eighty thousand
dollars as a token of appreciation for his great invention.
In 1872 this noble inventor, at the ripe age of eighty-one, breathed his
last. The grief of the people all over the land was strong proof of the
place he held in the hearts of his countrymen.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Tell all you can about John Fitch's steamboats.
2. Give examples which indicate young Fulton's inventive gifts. Imagine
yourself on the banks of the North River on the day set for the trial of
the Clermont, and tell what happened.
3. What and where was the National Road?
4. In what ways was the Erie Canal useful to the people?
5. Describe the first railroads and the first trains.
6. Tell what you can about Morse's twelve toilsome years of struggle while
he was working out his great invention. How is the telegraph useful to
men?
7. What do you admire about Morse?
8. Are you making frequent use of your map?
CHAPTER XIV
THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER
SAM HOUSTON
In a preceding chapter you learned how the great territories of Louisiana
and Florida came to belong to America. We are now to learn of still other
additions, namely, the great regions of Texas and California.
The most prominent man in the events connected with our getting Texas was
Sam Houston.
[Illustration: Sam Houston.]
He was born, of Irish descent, in 1793, in a farmhouse in Virginia. When
he was thirteen years old the family removed to a place in Tennessee, near
the home of the Cherokee Indians. The boy received but little schooling
out in that new country. In fact, he cared far less about school than he
did for the active, free life of his Indian neighbors.
So when his family decided to have him learn a trade he ran away from home
and joined the Cherokees. There he made friends, and one of the chiefs
adopted him as a son. We may think of him as enjoying the sports and
games, the hunting and fishing, which took up so much of the time of the
Indian boys.
On returning to his home, at the age of eighteen, he went to school for a
term at Marysville Academy. In the War of 1812 he became a soldier and
served under Andrew Jackson in the campaign against the Creek Indians. In
the battle of Horseshoe Bend he fought with reckless bravery. During that
fearful struggle he received a wound in the thigh. His commander, Jackson,
then ordered him to stop fighting, but Houston refused to obey and was
leading a desperate charge against the enemy when his right arm was
shattered. It was a long time before he was well and strong again, but he
had made a firm friend in Andrew Jackson.
Later Houston studied law and began a successful practice. He became so
popular in Tennessee that the people elected him to many positions of
honor and trust, the last of which was that of governor. About that time
he was married, but a few weeks later he and his wife separated. Then,
suddenly and without giving any reason for his strange conduct, he left
his home and his State and went far up the Arkansas River to the home of
his early friends the Cherokee Indians. The Cherokees had been removed to
that distant country, beyond the Mississippi, by the United States
Government.
About a year later Houston, wearing the garb of his adopted tribe, went in
company with some of them to Washington. His stated purpose was to secure
a contract for furnishing rations to the Cherokees.
But another purpose was in his mind. He had set his heart on winning Texas
for the United States. Perhaps he talked over the scheme with his friend,
President Jackson. However that may be, we know that some three years
afterward Houston again left his Cherokee friends and went to Texas to
live. His desire to secure this region for his country was as strong as
ever.
[Illustration: Scene of Houston's Campaign.]
At that time Texas was a part of Mexico. Already before Houston went down
to that far-away land many people from the United States had begun to
settle there. At first they were welcomed. But when the Mexicans saw the
Americans rapidly growing in numbers they began to oppress them. The
Mexican Government went so far as to require them to give up their private
arms, which would leave them defenseless against the Indians as well as
bad men. Then it passed a law which said, in effect, that no more settlers
should come to Texas from the United States, so that the few thousand
Americans could not be strengthened in numbers.
[Illustration: Flag of the Republic of Texas.]
Of course, the Texans were indignant, and they rebelled against Mexico,
declaring Texas to be an independent republic. At the same time they
elected Houston commander-in-chief of all the Texan troops. This began a
bitter war. The Mexican dictator, Santa Anna, with an army four or five
thousand strong, marched into Texas to force the people to submit to the
government.
The first important event of this struggle was the capture of the Alamo,
an old Texan fortress at San Antonio. Although the garrison numbered only
one hundred and forty, they were men of reckless daring, without fear, and
they determined to fight to the last.
DAVID CROCKETT
Among these hardy fighters was David Crockett, a pioneer and adventurer
who had led a wild, roving life. He was a famous hunter and marksman and,
like some of our other frontiersmen, was never happier than when he was
alone in the deep, dark forests.
Born in eastern Tennessee, in 1786, he received no schooling, but he was a
man of good understanding. His amusing stories and his skill with the
rifle had made him many friends, who chose him to represent their district
in the Tennessee Legislature and later in Congress.
[Illustration: David Crockett.]
Like Sam Houston, he had served under Andrew Jackson in the war with the
Creek Indians, and when the struggle with Mexico broke out he was one of
the many brave backwoodsmen who left their homes and went down to help the
Texans.
After a long journey from Tennessee, in which more than once he came near
being killed by the Indians or wild beasts, he at last reached the
fortress of the Alamo. He knew he was taking great risks in joining the
small garrison there, but that did not hold him back. In fact, he liked
danger.
The Mexican army, upon reaching San Antonio, began firing upon the Alamo.
Their cannon riddled the fort, making wide breaches in the weak outer
walls through which from every side thousands of Mexicans thronged into
it. The Americans emptied their muskets and then fought with knives and
revolvers. They fought with desperate bravery until only five of the
soldiers were left.
[Illustration: The Fight at the Alamo.]
One of these was David Crockett. He had turned his musket about and was
using it as a club in his desperate struggle with the scores of men who
sought his life. There he stood, his back against the wall, with the
bodies of the Mexicans he had slain lying in a semicircle about him. His
foes dared not rush upon him, but some of them held him at bay with their
lances, while others, having loaded their muskets, riddled his body with
bullets. Thus fell brave David Crockett, a martyr to his country's cause.
* * * * *
A few weeks after the tragedy of the Alamo, Santa Anna's army massacred a
force of five hundred Texans at Goliad. The outlook for the Texan cause
was now dark enough. But Sam Houston, who commanded something like seven
hundred Texans, would not give up. He retreated eastward for some two
hundred and fifty miles. But when he learned that Santa Anna had broken up
his army into three divisions and was approaching with only about one
thousand six hundred men Houston halted his troops and waited for them to
come up. On their approach he stood ready for attack in a well-chosen spot
near the San Jacinto River, where he defeated Santa Anna and took him
prisoner.
The Texans now organized a separate government, and in the following
autumn elected Houston as the first President of the Republic of Texas. He
did all he could to bring about the annexation of Texas to the United
States and at last succeeded, for Texas entered our Union in 1845. It was
to be expected that the people of Mexico would not like this. They were
very angry, and the outcome was the Mexican War which lasted nearly two
years.
In 1846 Texas sent Houston to the United States Senate, where he served
his State for fourteen years. When the Civil War broke out he was governor
of Texas and, although his State seceded, Houston remained firm for the
Union. On his refusal to resign, he was forced to give up his office. He
died in 1863.
JOHN C. FRÉMONT THE PATHFINDER
Still another man who acted as agent in this transfer of land from Mexico
was John C. Frémont. He helped in securing California.
He was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1813. His father died when he was a
young child, and his mother went to Charleston, South Carolina, to live,
and there gave her son a good education. After graduating from Charleston
College he was employed by the government as assistant engineer in making
surveys for a railroad between Charleston and Cincinnati, and also in
exploring the mountain passes between North Carolina and Tennessee.
[Illustration: John C. Frémont]
He enjoyed this work so much that he was eager to explore the regions of
the far western part of our country, which were still largely unknown.
Accordingly, he made several expeditions beyond the Rocky Mountains, three
of which are of special importance in our story.
His first expedition was made in 1842, when he was sent out by the War
Department to explore the Rocky Mountains, especially the South Pass,
which is in the State of Wyoming. He made his way up the Kansas River,
crossed over to the Platte, which he ascended, and then pushed on to the
South Pass. Four months after starting he had explored this pass and, with
four of his men, had gone up to the top of Frémont's Peak, where he
unfurled to the breeze the beautiful stars and stripes.
The excellent report he made of the expedition was examined with much
interest by men of science in our own country and in foreign lands.
In this and also in his second expedition Frémont received much help from
a follower, Kit Carson. Kit Carson was one of the famous scouts and
hunters of the West, who felt smothered by the civilization of a town or
city, and loved the free, roaming life of the woodsman.
[Illustration: Frémont's Expedition Crossing the Rocky Mountains.]
Before joining Frémont, Kit Carson had travelled over nearly all of the
Rocky Mountain country. Up to 1834 he was a trapper, and had wandered back
and forth among the mountains until they had become very familiar to him.
During the next eight years, in which he served as hunter for Bent's Fort,
on the Arkansas River, he learned to know the great plains. He was,
therefore, very useful to Frémont as a guide.
He was also well acquainted with many Indian tribes. He knew their
customs, he understood their methods of warfare, and was well liked by the
Indians themselves. He spoke their chief languages as well as he did his
mother tongue.
After returning from his first expedition, Frémont made up his mind to
explore the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. He
succeeded in getting orders from the government to do this, and set out on
his second expedition in May, 1843, with thirty-nine men, Kit Carson again
acting as guide.
[Illustration: Kit Carson.]
The party left the little town of Kansas City in May and, in September,
after travelling for one thousand seven hundred miles, they reached a vast
expanse of water which excited great interest. It was much larger than the
whole State of Delaware, and its waters were salt. It was, therefore,
given the name of Great Salt Lake.
Passing on, Frémont reached the upper branch of the Columbia River. Then
pushing forward down the valley of this river, he went as far as Fort
Vancouver, near its mouth. Having reached the coast, he remained only a
few days and then set out on his return (November 10).
His plan was to make his way around the Great Basin, a vast, deep valley
lying east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. But it was not long before
heavy snow on the mountains forced him to go down into this basin. He soon
found that he was in a wild desert region in the depths of winter, facing
death from cold and starvation. The situation was desperate.
Frémont judged that they were about as far south as San Francisco Bay. If
this was true, he knew that the distance to that place was only about
seventy miles. But to reach San Francisco Bay it was necessary to cross
the mountains, and the Indians refused to act as guides, telling him that
men could not possibly cross the steep, rugged heights in winter. This did
not stop Frémont. He said: "We'll go, guides or no guides!" And go they
did.
It was a terrible journey. Sometimes they came to places where the snow
was one hundred feet deep or more. But they pushed forward for nearly six
weeks. Finally, after suffering from intense cold and from lack of food,
they made their way down the western side of the mountains, men and horses
alike being in such a starved condition that they were almost walking
skeletons.
At last they reached Sutter's Fort, now the city of Sacramento, where they
enjoyed the hospitality of Captain Sutter. After remaining there for a
short time, Frémont recrossed the mountains, five hundred miles farther
south, and continued to Utah Lake, which is twenty-eight miles south of
Great Salt Lake. He had travelled entirely around the Great Basin.
From Utah Lake he hastened across the country to Washington, with the
account of his journey and of the discoveries he had made.
In 1845 Captain Frémont--for he had now been promoted to the rank of
captain by the government--started out on his third expedition, with the
purpose of exploring the Great Basin and then proceeding to the coast of
what is now California and upward to Oregon.
[Illustration: Frémont's Western Explorations.]
Having explored the basin, he was on his way to Oregon, when he learned
that the Mexicans were plotting to kill all the Americans in the valley of
the Sacramento River. He therefore turned back to northern California, and
with a force made up in part of American settlers gathered from the
country round about, he took possession of that region, marched as fast as
possible to Monterey, and captured that place also. Within about two
months he had conquered practically all of California for the United
States.
Frémont then made his home in California. On the 4th of the following July
he was elected governor of the territory by the settlers then living
there. Eleven years later the Republican party of the United States
nominated him for President, but failed to elect him. He died in 1890. He
has well been called "the Pathfinder."
Frémont's conquest of California was, in effect, a part of the Mexican
War, which began in 1846. After nearly two years of fighting a treaty of
peace was signed, by which Mexico ceded to the United States not only
California but also much of the vast region now included in Nevada, Utah,
Arizona, and New Mexico.
This region, which is called the Mexican Cession, contained five hundred
and forty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-three square miles, while
Texas included five hundred and seventy-six thousand one hundred and
thirty-three square miles. These two areas together were, like Louisiana,
much larger than the whole of the United States at the end of the
Revolution. With the addition of Louisiana in 1803, of Florida in 1819, of
Texas in 1845, and of this region in 1848, the United States had
enormously increased her territory.
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD
On the same day on which the treaty of peace was signed with Mexico
(February 2, 1848), gold was discovered in California.
Captain Sutter, a Swiss pioneer living near the site of the present city
of Sacramento--at Sutter's Fort, where Frémont stopped on his second
expedition--was having a water-power sawmill built up the river at some
distance from his home. One day one of the workmen, while walking along
the mill-race, discovered some bright yellow particles, the largest of
which were about the size of grains of wheat. On testing them, Captain
Sutter found that they were gold.
[Illustration: Sutter's Mill.]
He tried to keep the discovery a secret, but it was impossible to prevent
the news from spreading. "_Gold! Gold! Gold!_" seemed to ring through
the air. From all the neighboring country men started in a mad rush for
the gold-fields. Houses were left half built, fields half ploughed. "To
the diggings!" was the watchword. From the mountains to the coast, from
San Francisco to Los Angeles, settlements were abandoned. Even vessels
that came into the harbor of San Francisco were deserted by their crews,
sailors and captains alike being wild in their desire to dig for gold.
Within four months of the first discovery four thousand men were living in
the neighborhood of Sacramento. The sudden coming together of so many
people made it difficult to get supplies, and they rose in value. Tools of
many kinds sold for large prices. Pickaxes, crowbars, and spades cost from
ten dollars to fifty dollars apiece. Bowls, trays, dishes, and even
warming-pans were eagerly sought, because they could be used in washing
gold.
It was late in the year before people in the East learned of the
discovery, for news still travelled slowly. But when it arrived, men of
every class--farmers, mechanics, lawyers, doctors, and even
ministers--started West.
The journey might be made in three ways. One was by sailing-vessels around
Cape Horn. This route took from five to seven months. Another way was to
sail from some Eastern port to the Isthmus of Panama, and crossing this,
to take ship to San Francisco. The third route was overland, from what is
now St. Joseph, Missouri, and required three or four months. This could
not be taken until spring, and some who were unwilling to wait started at
once by the water-routes.
Men were so eager to go that often several joined together to buy an
outfit of oxen, mules, wagons, and provisions. They made the journey in
covered wagons called "prairie-schooners," while their goods followed in
peddlers' carts. It often happened that out on the plains they missed
their way, for there was no travelled road, and a compass was as necessary
as if they had been on the ocean.
[Illustration: Placer-Mining in the days of the California Gold Rush.]
Journeying thus by day, and camping by night, they suffered many hardships
while on the way. Disease laid hold of them. Four thousand died from
cholera during the first year, and many more for lack of suitable food. In
some cases they had to kill and eat their mules, and at times they lived
on rattlesnakes. The scattered bones of men and beasts marked the trail;
for in the frantic desire to reach the diggings the wayfarers would not
always stop to bury their dead.
When the gold region was reached, tents, wigwams, bark huts, and brush
arbors served as shelter. The men did their own cooking, washing, and
mending, and food soared to famine prices. A woman or a child was a rare
sight in all that eager throng, for men in their haste had left their
families behind.
It was a time of great excitement. Perhaps you have a grandparent who can
tell you something of those stirring days. The gold craze of '49 is a
never-to-be-forgotten event in our history. As the search for nuggets and
gold-dust became less fruitful, many of the men turned homeward, some
enriched and some--alas!--having lost all they possessed.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What kind of boy was Houston? What kind of man? What did he do for
Texas?
2. Tell about David Crockett's heroism at the Alamo.
3. When reading about Frémont's explorations look up on the map every one
of them. What do you think of him?
4. Who was Kit Carson, and how did he help Frémont?
5. Locate on your map every acquisition of territory from the end of the
Revolution to 1848.
6. Imagine yourself going to California across the plains and mountains in
1849, and give an account of your experiences.
CHAPTER XV
THREE GREAT STATESMEN
JOHN C. CALHOUN
The territory which we obtained from Mexico added much to the vastness of
our country. But it led to a bitter dispute between the North and the
South over slavery. For the North said: "All this territory shall be
free." The South said: "It must all be open to slavery."
[Illustration: John C. Calhoun.]
The trouble over slavery was no new thing. It had begun to be really
serious and dangerous many years before the Mexican War. To understand
why, a year or two after the close of this war, there should be such deep
and violent feeling over the question of making the territory free or
opening it to slavery, we must go back to some earlier events in the
history of the Union.
In doing so, we shall find it simpler to follow the careers of three great
statesmen, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster, who took each
a prominent part in the events.
John C. Calhoun, born in South Carolina in 1782, was the youngest but one
of a family of five children. His father died when he was only thirteen,
and until he was eighteen he remained on the farm, living a quiet, simple
out-of-door life, ploughing, hunting, riding, and fishing.
Then his brother, who had observed John's quickness of mind, persuaded him
to get an education. After studying two years and a quarter in an academy,
he entered the junior class at Yale College. Graduating in 1804, he at
once took a course in the law school at Litchfield, Connecticut, and then
returned home to complete his studies for the bar.
[Illustration: Calhoun's Office and Library.]
Calhoun's conduct in school was above reproach, and as a man he was always
steady and serious-minded. During the early years of his public life he
won much praise for his close attention to work, his stately speeches, and
his courteous manners. His slender and erect form, his dignified bearing,
and his piercing dark eyes made him an impressive figure; while, as a
speaker, his powerful voice and winning manner were sure to command
attention.
In 1808 he entered the South Carolina Legislature. This was the beginning
of his long public career of more than forty years. During this time he
served his country as a representative in Congress, Secretary of War,
Vice-President of the United States, Secretary of State, and United States
senator.
In all these many years he was a prominent leader, especially in those
events which concerned the slave-holding Southern planter. This we shall
see later, after we have made the acquaintance of the second of the
powerful trio of great statesmen, Henry Clay.
HENRY CLAY
Henry Clay was born near Richmond, Virginia, in 1777, in a low, level
region called "the Slashes." He was one of seven children. His father was
a Baptist clergyman, of fine voice and pleasing manner of speaking. He
died when little Henry was four years old, leaving but a small sum for his
family to live upon.
Henry went, like the other boys of "the Slashes," to a tiny log school
without windows or floor. The schoolmaster, who knew very little himself,
taught the boys to read, write, and cipher. But that was all.
Outside of school hours Henry shared in the farm work. He helped with the
ploughing and often rode the family pony to the mill, using a rope for a
bridle and a bag of corn, wheat, meal, or flour for a saddle. For this
reason he has been called "the Mill Boy of the Slashes."
[Illustration: Henry Clay.]
When fourteen years old he was given a place as clerk in a Richmond drug
store. But he was not to stay there long, for about this time his mother
married again, and his stepfather became interested in him. Realizing that
Henry was a boy of unusual ability, he secured for him a place as copying
clerk in the office of the Court of Chancery at Richmond.
[Illustration: The Birthplace of Henry Clay, near Richmond.]
Henry was fifteen years old, tall, thin, and homely, when he entered this
office. The other clerks were inclined to jeer at his awkwardness and his
plain, home-made, ill-fitting clothes. But Henry's sharp retorts quickly
silenced them, and they soon grew to respect and like him. He was an
earnest student. He stayed indoors and read in the evenings, while the
other young fellows were idling about the town. He was eager to do
something in the world. His opportunity soon came in the ordinary course
of his daily work. His fine handwriting attracted the notice of the
chancellor, a very able lawyer. This man was wise and kindly and had a
deep influence on his young friend.
[Illustration: The Schoolhouse in "the Slashes."]
Clay joined the Richmond Debating Society and soon became the star
speaker. He improved his speaking by studying daily some passage in a book
of history or science, and then going out into a quiet place and
declaiming what he had learned.
The chancellor knew about this, and it pleased him. He advised Henry Clay
to study law, and within a year after his studies began, when he was only
twenty-one years old, he was admitted to the bar.
To begin his law practice, he went to Lexington, Kentucky, which was then
a small place of not more than fifty houses; but Clay very soon built up a
good practice. Although he had arrived with scarcely a penny, within a
year and a half he had been so successful that he was able to marry the
daughter of a leading family. He soon owned a beautiful estate near
Lexington, which he called "Ashland," and with it several slaves.
He became a great favorite among the people of the State, largely because
he was absolutely truthful and honest in all his dealings. He was also
talented, good-natured, and friendly to all. It is said that no man has
ever had such power to influence a Kentucky jury as Clay.
Twice he was sent to the United States Senate to fill seats left vacant by
resignation, and here his power as a speaker was so marked that when it
was known that he would address the Senate the galleries were always full.
Such was the beginning of his life as a statesman. It lasted some forty
years, and during this long period he was a prominent leader in the great
events having to do with the country's future.
He filled various national offices. He was Speaker of the House of
Representatives for many years, was four years Secretary of State, and
during much more than half of the time between 1831 and 1852 he was in the
United States Senate. Three times he was a candidate for President, but
each time he failed of election.
He would not swerve by a hair's breadth from what he considered his duty,
even for party ends. "I would rather be right than be President," he said,
and men knew that he was sincere.
Living in a Southern State, he would naturally have the interests of the
South at heart. But he did not always take her part. While Calhoun was apt
to see but one side of a question, Clay was inclined to see something of
both sides and to present his views in such a way as to bring about a
settlement. Therefore he was called "the Great Peacemaker."
His most important work as a peacemaker had to do with the Missouri
Compromise (1820), the compromise tariff (1833), and the Compromise of
1850--all of which we look into a little farther on, after we come to know
something about the last and perhaps the greatest of our three statesmen,
Daniel Webster. For all three were interested in the same great movement.
DANIEL WEBSTER
Daniel Webster was born among the hills of New Hampshire, in 1782, the son
of a poor farmer, and the ninth of ten children. As he was a frail child,
not able to work much on the farm, his parents permitted him to spend much
of his time fishing, hunting, and roaming at will over the hills. Thus he
came into close touch with nature and absorbed a kind of knowledge which
was very useful to him in later years.
He was always learning things, sometimes in most unusual ways, as is shown
by an incident which took place when he was only eight years old. Having
seen in a store near his home a small cotton handkerchief with the
Constitution of the United States printed upon it, he gathered up his
small earnings to the amount of twenty-five cents and eagerly secured the
treasure. From this unusual copy he learned the Constitution, word for
word, so that he could repeat it from beginning to end.
[Illustration: Daniel Webster.]
Of course, this was a most remarkable thing for an eight-year-old boy to
do, but the boy was himself remarkable. He spent much of his time poring
over books. They were few in number but of good quality, and he read them
over and over again until they became a part of himself. It gave him keen
pleasure to memorize fine poems and also noble selections from the Bible,
for he learned easily and remembered well what he learned. In this way he
stored his mind with the highest kind of truth.
When he was fourteen his father sent him to Phillips Exeter Academy. The
boys he met there were mostly from homes of wealth and culture. Some of
them were rude and laughed at Daniel's plain dress and country manners. Of
course, the poor boy, whose health was not robust and who was by nature
shy and independent, found such treatment hard to bear. But he studied
well and soon commanded respect because of his good work.
After leaving this school he studied for six months under a private tutor,
and at the age of fifteen he was prepared to enter Dartmouth College.
Although he proved himself to be a youth of unusual mental power, he did
not take high rank in scholarship. But he continued to read widely and
thoughtfully and stored up much valuable knowledge, which later he used
with clearness and force in conversation and debate.
After being graduated from college Daniel taught for a year and earned
money enough to help pay his brother's college expenses. The following
year he studied law and in due time was admitted to the bar. As a lawyer
he was very successful, his income sometimes amounting to twenty thousand
dollars in a single year. In those days that was a very large sum.
But he could not manage his money affairs well and, no matter how large
his income, he was always in debt. This unfortunate state of affairs was
owing to a reckless extravagance, which he displayed in many ways.
Indeed, Webster was a man of such large ideas that of necessity he did all
things on a large scale. It was vastness that appealed to him. And this
ruling force in his nature explains his eagerness to keep the Union whole
and supreme over the States. This we shall soon clearly see.
SLAVERY AND THE TARIFF
Having taken this glimpse of our three heroes, let us see how the great
events of their time were largely moulded by their influence. All of these
events, as we are soon to learn, had a direct bearing on slavery, and that
was the great question of the day.
Up to the Revolution there was slavery in all the thirteen colonies. Some
of them wished to get rid of it; but England, the mother country, would
not allow them to do so, because she profited by the trade in slaves.
After the Revolution, however, when the States were free to do as they
pleased about slavery, some put an end to it on their own soil, and in
time Pennsylvania and the States to the north and east of it became free
States.
Many people then believed that slavery would by degrees die out of the
land, and perhaps this would have happened if the growing of cotton had
not been made profitable by Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton-gin.
After that invention came into use, instead of slavery's dying out, it
took a much stronger hold upon the planters of the South than it had ever
done before.
This fact became very evident when Missouri applied for admission into the
Union. The South, of course, wished it to come into the Union as a slave
State; the North, fearing the extension of slavery into the Louisiana
Purchase, was equally set upon its coming in as a free State.
The struggle over the question was a long and bitter one, but finally both
the North and the South agreed to give up a part of what they wanted; that
is, they agreed upon a compromise. It was this: Missouri was to enter the
Union as a slave State, but slavery was not to be allowed in any part of
the Louisiana Purchase which lay north or west of Missouri. This was
called the Missouri Compromise (1820).
It was brought about largely through the eloquence and power of Henry
Clay, and because of his part in it he was called "the Great Peacemaker."
But Calhoun was one of the men who did not think the Missouri Compromise
was a good thing for the country. He therefore strongly opposed it.
The next clash between the free States and the slave States was caused by
the question of the tariff, or tax upon goods brought from foreign
countries. Not long after the Missouri Compromise was agreed upon,
Northern manufacturers were urging Congress to pass a high-tariff law.
They said that, inasmuch as factory labor in England was so much cheaper
than in this country, goods made in England could be sold for less money
here than our own factory-made goods, unless a law was passed requiring a
tax, or duty, to be paid upon the goods brought over. Such a tax was
called a protective tariff.
Calhoun, who voiced the feeling of the Southern planters, said: "This high
tariff is unfair, for, while it protects the Northern man, it makes us of
the South poorer, because we have to pay so high for the things we do not
make."
You understand, there were no factories in the South, for the people were
mostly planters. With the cheap slave labor, a Southern man could make
more money by raising rice, cotton, sugar, or tobacco than he could by
manufacturing. Also, it was thought that the soil and climate of the South
made that section better fitted for agriculture than for anything else.
"So the South should be allowed," said Calhoun, "to buy the manufactured
goods--such as cheap clothing for her slaves, and household tools and
farming implements--where she can buy them at the lowest prices."
[Illustration: The Home of Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass.]
But in spite of this bitter opposition in the South, Congress passed the
high-tariff law in 1828, and another in 1832.
The people of South Carolina were indignant. So, under the guidance of
Calhoun, some of the leading men there met in convention and declared: "We
here and now nullify the tariff laws." By these words they meant that the
laws should not be carried out in South Carolina. Then they added: "If the
United States Government tries to enforce these laws on our soil, South
Carolina will go out of the Union and form a separate nation."
Andrew Jackson was at that time President of the United States. Although
he himself did not favor a high tariff, he was firm in his purpose that
whatever law Congress might pass should be enforced in every State in the
Union. When the news came to him of what South Carolina had done, he was
quietly smoking his corn-cob pipe. In a flash of anger he declared: "The
Union! It must and shall be preserved! Send for General Scott!" General
Scott was commander of the United States army, and "Old Hickory," as
President Jackson was proudly called by many of his admirers, was ready to
use the army and the navy, if necessary, to force any State to obey the
law.
In this bitter controversy Daniel Webster, then senator from
Massachusetts, had taken a bold stand for the Union. He said: "Congress
passed the tariff law for the whole country. If the Supreme Court decides
that Congress has the power, according to the Constitution, to pass such a
law, that settles the matter. South Carolina and every other State must
submit to this and every other law which Congress sees fit to make."
This shows clearly that Daniel Webster's belief was that the Union stood
first and the State second. His deep love for the Union breathes all
through his masterly speeches, the most famous of which is his "Reply to
Hayne." Hayne, a senator from South Carolina, was on the side of the South
and set forth its views in a public debate. He had declared that the State
was first and the Union second, and so powerful seemed his arguments that
many doubted whether even Daniel Webster could answer them.
But he did answer them. In a remarkable speech of four hours he held his
listeners spellbound, while he argued, with wonderful eloquence and power,
that the Union was supreme over the States.
Again the great peacemaker, Henry Clay, brought forward a plan of settling
the trouble between the two sections. By this compromise the duties were
to be gradually lowered. This plan was adopted by Congress (1833), and
again there was peace for a time.
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850
The next dangerous outbreak between the North and the South came at the
end of the Mexican War. Then arose the burning question: "Shall the
territory we have acquired from Mexico be free or open to slavery?" Of
course, the North wanted it to be free; the South wanted it to be open to
slavery.
Henry Clay tried again, as he had tried twice before--in 1820 and in
1833--to pour oil upon the troubled waters. Although he was now an old man
of seventy-two and in poor health, he spoke seventy times in his powerful,
persuasive way, to bring about the Compromise of 1850, which he hoped
would establish harmony between the North and the South and save the
Union.
On one occasion when he was to speak he had to enter the Capitol leaning
upon the arm of a friend, because he was too weak to climb the steps
alone. After entering the Senate Chamber that day, the great speech he
made was so long that his friends, fearing fatal results, urged him to
stop. But he refused. Later he said that he did not dare to stop for fear
he should never be able to begin again.
[Illustration: Henry Clay Addressing the United States Senate in 1850.]
Calhoun was no less ready to do all he could. Early in March, 1850, the
white-haired man, now in his sixty-eighth year and, like Clay, struggling
with illness, went to the Senate Chamber, swathed in flannels, to make his
last appeal in behalf of the slaveholders. The powerful speech he made,
which was intended as a warning to the North, expressed the deep and
sincere conviction of the aged statesman that the break-up of the Union
was at hand. He made a strong plea that the agitation against slavery
should stop, and that the South, which, he said, was the weaker section,
should be treated fairly by her stronger antagonist, the North.
Having made this last supreme effort in defense of the section which he
loved as he loved his own life, the pro-slavery veteran, supported by two
of his friends, passed out of the Senate Chamber.
But in spite of Calhoun's opposition, the Compromise of 1850 passed. "Let
California come in as a free State," it said. This pleased the North. "Let
the people in all the rest of the territory which we got from Mexico
decide for themselves whether they shall have slavery or freedom." This
pleased the South. It also adopted the Fugitive Slave Law, which said:
"When slaves run away from the South into the Northern States, they shall
be returned to their masters; and when Northern people are called upon to
help to capture them, they shall do so."
A month after his speech on this compromise Calhoun died. The last twenty
years of his life had been largely devoted to trying to secure what he
regarded as the rights of the slaveholders and of the whole South. He was
honest in his views. He was also sincere in his convictions that the South
was not receiving fair treatment from the North.
Henry Clay also died in 1852. Some of the qualities that gave him his rare
power over men were his magical voice, which was so deep and melodious
that many people of his time said it was the finest musical instrument
they had ever heard; his cheerful nature, which made him keenly enjoy life
and delight to see others enjoy it; and above all else his never-swerving
sincerity and honesty, which commanded the respect and confidence of all
who knew him. Men believed that Henry Clay was a true man. His popularity
grew in strength as he grew in years. His many followers proudly called
him "Gallant Harry of the West."
Webster's power as an orator was still more remarkable. His voice was
wonderful, his style was forceful, and his language was simple and direct.
But after all, it was his striking personal appearance which made the
deepest impression upon the men and women who heard him speak. It is told
that one day when he was walking through a street of Liverpool, a navvy
said of him: "That must be a king!" On another occasion Sydney Smith
exclaimed: "Good heavens, he is a small cathedral by himself!" He was
nearly six feet tall. He had a massive head, a broad, deep brow, and
great, coal-black eyes, which once seen could never be forgotten.
He, too, was faithful in his devotion to his country. To the day of his
death he showed his deep affection for the flag, the emblem of that Union
which had inspired his noblest efforts. During the last two weeks of his
life he was troubled much with sleeplessness. While through his open
window he gazed at the starlit sky, his eyes would sometimes fall upon a
small boat belonging to him, which floated near the shore not far away. By
his direction a ship lantern had been so placed that its light would fall
upon the stars and stripes flying there. At six in the evening the flag
was raised and was kept flying until six in the morning up to the day of
Webster's death.
He died in September, 1852, only a few weeks after his great compeer,
Henry Clay. His was a master spirit, and the sorrow of his passing was
well expressed by the stranger who said, when he looked at the face of the
dead: "Daniel Webster, the world without you will be lonesome."
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What can you tell about the early life of John C. Calhoun? Of Henry
Clay? Of Daniel Webster?
2. Why was Clay called "the Great Peacemaker"?
3. Why were the people of South Carolina opposed to the high tariff laws
of 1828 and 1832?
4. What was Webster's idea of the Union, and in what way did it differ
from Hayne's?
5. What was the Missouri Compromise? What was the Compromise of 1850?
6. What do you admire about each of the three great statesmen?
7. Are you making frequent use of your maps?
CHAPTER XVI
THE CIVIL WAR
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
It was thought by many that the Compromise of 1850 would put an end to the
bitter and violent feeling over the spread of slavery, but it did not. For
in the North the opposition to its extension into new States became so
powerful that in five years there had grown up a great political
party--the Republican party--whose main purpose was to oppose the spread
of slavery.
[Illustration: Abraham Lincoln.]
One of its ablest and most inspiring leaders was Abraham Lincoln. He was
born in a rough cabin in Kentucky, February 12, 1809. When he was seven
years old, the family moved to Indiana, and settled about eighteen miles
north of the Ohio River. The journey to their new home was very tedious
and lonely, for in some places they had to cut a roadway through the
forest. It took them three days to travel the last eighteen miles.
Having arrived safely in November, all set vigorously to work to provide a
shelter against the winter. The seven-year old boy was healthy, rugged,
and active, and from early morning till late evening he worked with his
father, chopping trees and cutting poles and boughs for their "camp," the
rude shelter in which they were to live until spring.
This "camp" was a mere shed, only fourteen feet square and open on one
side. It was built of poles lying one upon another and had a thatched roof
of boughs and leaves. As there was no chimney, there could be no fire
within the enclosure, and it was necessary to keep one burning all the
time just in front of the open side.
[Illustration: Lincoln's Birthplace.]
During this first winter in the wild woods of Indiana the little boy must
have lived a very busy life. There was much to do in building the cabin
which was to take the place of the "camp," and in cutting down trees and
making a clearing for the corn-planting of the coming spring.
After spending the winter in the "camp," the Lincoln family, in the
following spring, moved into the newly built log cabin. This had no
windows, and no floor except the bare earth. There was an opening on one
side, which was used as a doorway, but there was no door, nor was there so
much as an animal's skin to keep out the rain or the snow or to protect
the family from the cold wind.
In this rough abode the rude and simple furniture was very much like what
we have already seen in the cabins of the Tennessee settlers. For chairs
there was the same kind of three-legged stools, made by smoothing the flat
side of a split log and putting sticks into auger holes underneath. The
tables were as simply made, except that they stood on four legs instead of
three. The crude bedsteads in the corners of the cabin were made by
sticking poles in between the logs at right angles to the wall, the
outside corner where the poles met being supported by a crotched stick
driven into the ground. Ropes were then stretched from side to side,
making a framework upon which shucks and leaves were heaped for bedding,
and over all were thrown the skins of wild animals for a covering. Pegs
driven into the wall served as a stairway to the loft, where there was
another bed of leaves. Here little Abe slept.
Abraham Lincoln's schooling was brief--not more than a year in all, and
the schools he attended were like those we became acquainted with in the
early settlements of Kentucky and Tennessee. During his last school-days
he had to go daily a distance of four and one-half miles from his home,
with probably no roadway except the deer path through the forest. His
midday lunch was a corn dodger, which he carried in his pocket.
In spite of this meagre schooling however, the boy, by his self-reliance,
resolute purpose, and good reading habits, acquired the very best sort of
training for his future life. He had no books at his home, and, of course,
there were but few to be had in that wild country from other homes. But
among those he read over and over again, while a boy, were the Bible,
"Æsop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe," "Pilgrim's Progress," "A History of
the United States," and Weems's "Life of Washington," all books of the
right kind.
[Illustration: Lincoln Studying by Firelight.]
His stepmother said of him: "He read everything he could lay his hands on,
and when he came across a passage that struck him, he would write it down
on boards, if he had no paper, and keep it before him until he could get
paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, commit it to memory, and repeat
it."
When night came he would find a seat in the corner by the fireside, or
stretch out at length on the floor in front of it, and by the firelight
write, or work sums in arithmetic, on a wooden shovel, using a charred
stick for a pencil. After covering the shovel, he would shave it off and
use the surface over again.
The way in which he came to own a "Life of Washington" is interesting.
Having borrowed the book, he took it to bed with him in the loft and read
until his candle gave out. Then, before going to sleep, he tucked the book
into a crevice of the logs in order that he might have it at hand as soon
as daylight would permit him to read the next morning. But during the
night a storm came up, and the rain beat in upon the book, wetting it
through and through. With heavy heart Lincoln took it back to its owner,
who gave it to him on condition that he would work three days to pay for
it. Eagerly agreeing to do this, the boy carried his new possession home
in triumph. This book had a marked influence over his future.
But his time for reading was limited, for until he was twenty his father
hired him out to do all sorts of work, at which he sometimes earned six
dollars a month and sometimes thirty-one cents a day. Money was always
sorely needed in that household, the poor farm yielding only a small
return for much hard work. For this reason, just before Abraham Lincoln
came of age, his family, with all their possessions packed in a cart drawn
by four oxen, moved again toward the West. For two weeks they travelled
across the country into Illinois, and finally made a new home on the banks
of the Sangamon River.
[Illustration: Lincoln Splitting Rails.]
On reaching the end of the journey (in the spring of 1830), Abraham helped
to build a log cabin and to clear ten acres of land for planting. This was
the last work he did for his father, as he was now some months over
twenty-one and was quite ready to go out into the world and work for
himself. When he left his father's house he had nothing, not even a good
suit of clothes, and one of the first things he did was to split rails for
enough brown jeans to make him a pair of trousers. As he was six feet four
inches tall, three and one-half yards were needed! For these he split 1400
rails.
At times throughout life he was subject to deep depression, which made his
face unspeakably sad. But as a rule he was cheerful and merry, and on
account of his good stories, which he told with rare skill, he was in
great demand in social gatherings and at the crossroads grocery store. He
was a giant in strength and a skilful wrestler. This helped to make him
popular.
[Illustration: Lincoln as a Boatman.]
For some months after leaving his father's home Lincoln worked in the
neighborhood, most of the time as a farmhand and rail-splitter. But he
desired something different. From time to time he had watched the boats
carrying freight up and down the river and had wondered where the vessels
were going. Eager to learn about the life outside his narrow world, he
determined to become a boatman. As soon as he could, therefore, he found
employment on a flatboat that carried corn, hogs, hay, and other farm
produce down to New Orleans.
But tiring at length of the long journeys, he became clerk in a village
store at New Salem, Illinois. Many stories are told of Lincoln's honesty
in his dealings with the people in this village store. It is said that on
one occasion a woman, in making change, overpaid him the trifling sum of
six cents. When Lincoln found out the mistake he walked three miles and
back that night to give the woman her money.
In less than a year the closing of this village store left him without
employment, and after this he had a varied experience, first in a grocery
store of his own, next as postmaster in New Salem, and then as a surveyor.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND SLAVERY
After many trials at various occupations, he decided at last to become a
lawyer, and after being admitted to the bar, he opened an office at
Springfield, Illinois. He succeeded well in his chosen profession, and
also took a keen interest in the larger affairs of his community and
State.
In this wider field of action certain qualities of mind and heart greatly
aided him. For, in spite of scant learning, he was a good public speaker
and skilful debater, because he thought clearly and convinced those who
heard him of his honesty and high purpose. Such a man is certain to win
his way in the world. In due time he was elected to Congress, where his
interest in various public questions, especially that of slavery, became
much quickened.
On this question his clear head and warm heart united in forming strong
convictions that had great weight with the people. He continued to grow in
political favor and, in 1858, received the nomination of the Republican
party for the United States Senate. His opponent was Stephen A. Douglas,
known as the "Little Giant," on account of his short stature and powerful
eloquence as an orator.
The debates between the two men, preceding the election, were followed
with keen interest all over the country. Lincoln argued with great power
against the spread of slavery into the new States, and although he lost
the election, he won such favorable notice that two years later a greater
honor came to him. In 1860, the Republican National Convention, which met
at Chicago, nominated him as its candidate for President, and a few months
later he was elected to that office.
The agitation over slavery was growing more and more bitter, and when
Lincoln was elected some of the Southern States threatened to go out of
the Union. They claimed that it was their right to decide for themselves
whether they should secede. On the other hand, the North declared that no
State could secede without the consent of the other States.
Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven of the Southern States had carried
out their threat to secede, calling themselves the Confederate States of
America.[A] The excitement everywhere was intense. Many people regretted
that a man of larger experience than Lincoln had not been chosen to be at
the head of the government. They were anxious lest this plain man of the
people, this awkward backwoodsman, should not be able to lead the nation
in those dark and troubled days. But, little as they trusted him, he was
well fitted for the work that lay before him.
[A] Jefferson Davis was chosen president and Alexander H. Stephens
vice-president. The seven cotton States hoped that they would
be joined by the other eight slave States, but only four of
these eight seceded. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and
Missouri remained loyal to the Union.
His inauguration was but a few weeks over when the Civil War began. We
cannot here pause for full accounts of all Lincoln's trials and
difficulties in this fearful struggle. During those four fateful years,
1861-1865, his burdens were almost overwhelming. But, like Washington, he
believed that "right makes might" and must prevail, and this belief
sustained him.
Although his whole nature revolted against slavery, he had no power to do
away with it in the States where it existed, for by his office he was
sworn to defend the Constitution. "My great purpose," he said, "is to save
the Union, and not to destroy slavery."
But as the war went on he became certain that the slaves, by remaining on
the plantations and producing food for the Southern soldiers, were aiding
the Southern cause. He therefore determined to set the slaves free in all
the territory where people were fighting to break up the Union, just as
far as it was conquered by Union troops. "As commander-in-chief of the
Union armies," he reasoned, "I have a right to do this as a war measure."
The famous state paper in which Lincoln declared that such slaves were
free was called the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863).
This freeing of a part of the slaves not only hastened the end of the war
but led, after its close, to the final emancipation of all the slaves. We
should remember that the man who did most to bring about this result was
Abraham Lincoln, whose name has gone down in history as the great
emancipator.
[Illustration: Lincoln Visiting Wounded Soldiers.]
Passing over the events of the war, which we shall consider later in
connection with its great generals, let us look ahead two years.
On April 9, 1865, General Lee, as we shall see a little later, surrendered
his army to General Grant at Appomattox Court House. By this act the war
was brought to a close, and there was great rejoicing everywhere.
But suddenly the universal joy was changed into universal sorrow, for a
shocking thing happened. Five days after Lee's surrender, Lincoln went
with his wife and friends to see a play at Ford's Theatre, in Washington.
In the midst of the play, a Southern actor, John Wilkes Booth, who was
familiar with the theatre, entered the President's box, shot him in the
back of the head, jumped to the stage, and rushed through the wings to the
street. There he mounted a horse in waiting for him and escaped, soon,
however, to be hunted down and killed in a barn where he lay in hiding.
The martyr President lingered during the long hours of the sad night,
tenderly watched by his family and a few friends. When, on the following
morning, he breathed his last, Secretary Stanton said with truth: "Now he
belongs to the ages."
The people deeply mourned the loss of him who had wisely and bravely led
them through four years of heavy trial and anxiety. We are all richer
because of the life of Abraham Lincoln, our countryman, our teacher, our
guide, and our friend. And the loss to the South was even greater than to
the North. For he was not only just but also kind and sympathetic; and
only he could have saved the South from its calamities for years
afterward.
ROBERT E. LEE
Having followed a few of the leading events in the remarkable career of
our martyr President, let us turn our thoughts to the Civil War, through
which it was Lincoln's great work to guide us, as a nation. It was a
struggle that tested the manhood, quite as much as the resources, of the
warring sections, and each side might well be proud of the bravery and
skill of its officers and soldiers. Certainly each side had among its
generals some of the greatest military leaders of all time.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE UNITED STATES SHOWING FIRST AND SECOND SECESSION
AREAS]
One of the ablest generals commanding the Confederate troops was Robert E.
Lee. He was born in Virginia, January 19, 1807, his father being the
Revolutionary general known as "Light-Horse Harry." Although the records
of his boyhood days are scanty, we know that when little Robert was about
four years old the Lees removed from Stratford to Alexandria, in order to
educate their children. Here the boy was prepared for West Point Academy,
which he entered when he was eighteen. At this military school he made
such a good record as a student that he was graduated second in his class.
[Illustration: Robert E. Lee.]
Two years later he married Miss Custis, who was a great-granddaughter of
Mrs. George Washington, and through this marriage he shared with his wife
the control of large property, which included plantations and a number of
slaves.
Immediately after leaving West Point, he entered the army as an engineer,
and during the Mexican War distinguished himself for his skill and
bravery. A few years later (1852), he was appointed superintendent of West
Point Academy, where he remained three years.
At the outbreak of the Civil War he was so highly esteemed as an officer
in the United States army, that he would have been appointed commander of
the Union armies if he had been willing to accept the position. He loved
the Union, and was opposed to secession, but when Virginia, his native
State, seceded he felt that it was his duty to go with her.
[Illustration: Lee's Home at Arlington, Virginia.]
His struggle in making the decision was a painful one, as was made plain
in a letter he wrote to a sister, then living in Baltimore. "With all my
devotion to the Union," he said, "and the feeling of loyalty and duty of
an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my
hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I know you will blame me,
but you must think as kindly of me as you can, and believe that I have
endeavored to do what I thought right."
Soon after he decided that he must go with Virginia in the great struggle
which was to follow, he accepted the command of the Virginia State forces,
and within a year from that time became military adviser of Jefferson
Davis, who was President of the Confederacy.
[Illustration: Jefferson Davis.]
In 1862, the second year of the war, Lee took command of the leading
Confederate army in Virginia. General McClellan, who commanded a large
Union army, had been trying to capture Richmond, the capital of the
Confederate States. After fighting a series of battles, he approached so
close to Richmond that his soldiers could see the spires of the churches.
But as the city was strongly fortified he retreated to the James River.
During this retreat, which lasted a week, were fought what were known as
the "Seven Days' Battles."
Having thus saved Richmond from capture, Lee marched north into Maryland,
expecting the people to rise and join his forces. But they were loyal to
the Union and refused. The terrible battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg was
fought (September, 1862), and Lee was obliged to retreat to Virginia.
A few months later (December, 1862), Lee repulsed an attack of the Union
army at Fredericksburg with fearful slaughter, and in the following May he
won a victory at Chancellorsville.
"STONEWALL" JACKSON
[Illustration: Thomas J. Jackson.]
In all these battles Lee's most effective helper was General Thomas J.
Jackson, "Stonewall" Jackson, as he was called. Jackson won his nickname
at the battle of Bull Run. One of the Confederate generals, who was trying
to hearten his retreating men, cried out to them: "See, there is Jackson,
standing like a stone wall! Rally round the Virginians!" From that hour of
heroism he was known as Stonewall Jackson, and for his bravery in this
battle he was made a major-general. He was such a stubborn fighter, and so
furious in his enthusiasm that "his soldiers marched to death when he bade
them. What was even harder, they marched at the double-quick through
Virginia mud, without shoes, without food, without sleep." They cheerfully
did his bidding because they loved him. The sight of his old uniform and
scrawny sorrel horse always stirred the hearts of his followers.
[Illustration: A Confederate Flag.]
Jackson was a deeply religious man. In spirit he was so much of a Puritan
that it caused him great regret to march or to fight on a Sunday.
He was devoted to Lee and placed the greatest confidence in him. "He is
the only man I would follow blindfold," he said, and on his death-bed he
exclaimed: "Better that ten Jacksons should fall than one Lee!"
Stonewall Jackson was shot at the battle of Chancellorsville, but not by
the enemy. He and his escort had ridden out beyond his line of battle,
when, being mistaken for the enemy, they were fired upon by some of their
own soldiers, and Jackson was mortally wounded. His death was a great loss
to the Southern army.
J.E.B. STUART
Another of General Lee's very able helpers was General Stuart. He wrote
his name J.E.B. Stuart. So his admirers called him "Jeb."
[Illustration: J.E.B. Stuart.]
He was absolutely fearless. "He would attack anything anywhere," and he
inspired his men with the same zeal. He was noted for falling into
dangerous situations and then cleverly getting himself out. His men were
used to this. They trusted him completely and without question. They loved
him, too, for his good comradeship. For although he preserved the
strictest discipline, he frolicked with his officers like a boy, playing
at snowballs, or marbles, or whatever they chose, and enjoying it all
heartily.
He was so fond of gay, martial music that he kept his banjo-player,
Sweeney, always with him, and worked in his tent to the cheerful
accompaniment of his favorite songs, now and then leaning back to laugh
and join in the choruses.
[Illustration: Confederate Soldiers.]
His gay spirit found expression also in the clothes he wore. Listen to
this description of him: "His fighting jacket shone with dazzling buttons
and was covered with gold braid; his hat was looped up with a golden star
and decorated with a black ostrich plume; his fine buff gauntlets reached
to the elbow; around his waist was tied a splendid yellow sash, and his
spurs were pure gold." These spurs, of which he was immensely proud, were
a gift from Baltimore women. His battle-flag was a gorgeous red one, which
he insisted upon keeping with him, although it often drew the enemy's
fire.
Stuart was very proud of his men and their pluck. He knew by name every
man in the first brigade.
It was his strong desire that he might meet his death while leading a
cavalry charge, and he had his wish. For he was struck down near Richmond,
in 1864, while he was leading an attack against Sheridan.
He died when he was only thirty-one, deeply mourned by all his men.
GETTYSBURG
But to return to General Lee. After winning the two important battles of
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, he decided that he would again invade
the North (1863). He believed that a great victory north of the Potomac
River might lead to the capture of Philadelphia and Washington and thus
end the war.
Having marched boldly into Pennsylvania, he met the Union army, under
General Meade, at the little town of Gettysburg, not far from the southern
border of the State. There for three days the most terrible battle of the
war, and in its results, one of the greatest battles of all history, took
place. After three days of fighting, in which the loss on both sides was
fearful, Lee was defeated and forced to retreat to Virginia.
The defeat of Lee's army at Gettysburg was a crushing blow to the hopes of
the South. Lee himself felt this to be true. And, grieving over the heavy
loss of his men in the famous Pickett's Charge, he said to one of his
generals: "All this has been my fault. It is I that have lost this fight,
and you must help me out of it the best you can."
But even in the face of this defeat his officers and soldiers still
trusted their commander. They said: "Uncle Robert will get us into
Washington yet."
[Illustration: Union Soldiers.]
But the surrender of another division of the army, fighting far away on
the Mississippi River, added defeat to defeat. For the day following the
battle of Gettysburg, General Grant captured Vicksburg, the greatest
Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. The South could no longer
hope for victory.
ULYSSES S. GRANT
Before going on with the story of the war, let us pause for a little in
order to catch a glimpse of Ulysses S. Grant, the remarkable man who was
the greatest general that the North produced throughout the war.
He was born in a humble dwelling at Point Pleasant, Ohio, in April, 1822.
The year following his birth the family removed to Georgetown, Ohio, where
they lived many years.
The father of Ulysses was a farmer and manufacturer of leather. The boy
did not like the leather business, but he did like work on the farm. When
only seven years old, he hauled all the wood which was needed in the home
and at the leather factory from the forest, a mile from the village.
[Illustration: Ulysses S. Grant.]
From the age of eleven to seventeen, according to his own story as told in
his "Personal Memoirs," he ploughed the soil, cultivated the growing corn
and potatoes, sawed fire-wood, and did any other work a farmer boy might
be expected to do. He had his good times also, fishing, swimming in the
creek not far from his home, driving about the country, and skating with
other boys.
He liked horses, and early became a skilful rider. A story is told of him
which indicates not only that he was a good horseman, but that he had
"bulldog grit" as well. One day when he was at a circus, the manager
offered a silver dollar to any one who could ride a certain mule around
the ring. Several persons, one after the other, mounted the animal, only
to be thrown over its head. Young Ulysses was among those who offered to
ride, but, like the others, he failed. Then, pulling off his coat, he got
on the animal again. Putting his legs firmly around the mule's body and
seizing it by the tail, Ulysses rode in triumph around the ring amid the
cheers of the crowd.
[Illustration: Grant's Birthplace, Point Pleasant, Ohio.]
Although he cared little for study, his father wished to give him all the
advantages of a good education and secured for him an appointment to West
Point. After graduating, he wished to leave the army and become an
instructor in mathematics at his alma mater. But, as the Mexican War broke
out about that time, he entered active service. Soon he gave striking
evidence of that fearless bravery for which he was later to become noted
on the battle-fields of the Civil War.
At the close of the Mexican War, Grant resigned from the army and engaged
in farming and business until the outbreak of the Civil War.
With the news that the Southern troops had fired on the flag at Fort
Sumter, Grant's patriotism was aroused. Without delay he rejoined the army
and at once took an active part in getting ready for the war. First as
colonel, and then as brigadier-general, he led his troops, and his powers
as a leader quickly developed.
The first of his achievements was the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson,
in Tennessee, the centre of a strong Confederate line of defense. At Fort
Donelson he received the surrender of nearly fifteen thousand prisoners,
and by his great victory compelled the Confederates to abandon two of
their important strongholds, Columbus and Nashville.
After the loss of Fort Donelson the Confederates fell back to a second
line of defense and took position at Corinth. General Grant's army was at
Pittsburg Landing, eighteen miles away; not far off was the village of
Shiloh, from which the battle is now generally named. Here, early on
Sunday morning (April 6, 1862), Grant was attacked by Johnston, and his
men were driven back a mile and a half toward the river.
It was a fearful battle, lasting until nearly dark. Not until after
midnight was Grant able to rest, and then, sitting in the rain, with his
back against the foot of a tree, he slept a few hours before the renewal
of battle on Monday morning. With reinforcements he was able on the second
day to drive the enemy off the field and win a signal victory.
By this battle Grant broke the Confederates' second line of defense.
Although they fought bravely and well to prevent the Union troops from
getting control of the Mississippi River, by the close of 1862 the South
had lost every stronghold on the river except Port Hudson and Vicksburg.
[Illustration: General and Mrs. Grant with Their Son at City Point,
Virginia.]
Vicksburg was so strongly defended that the Confederates believed that it
could not be taken. A resolute effort to capture it was made by General
Grant in 1863. After a brilliant campaign of strategy, by which he got
around the defenses, he laid siege to the city itself. For seven weeks the
Confederate army held out. During that time the people of Vicksburg sought
refuge from the enemy's shells in caves and cellars, their only food at
times consisting of rats and mule flesh. But on July 4, 1863, the day
after General Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, Vicksburg surrendered to General
Grant. Four days later Port Hudson, some distance below, was captured, and
thus the last stronghold of the Mississippi came under control of the
North.
General Grant had become the hero of the Northern army. His success was in
no small measure due to his dogged perseverance. While his army was laying
siege to Vicksburg, a Confederate woman, at whose door he stopped to ask
for a drink of water, inquired whether he expected ever to capture
Vicksburg. "Certainly," he replied. "But when?" was the next question.
Quickly came the answer: "I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the
town, but _I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes me thirty years_."
General Grant having by his capture of Vicksburg won the confidence of the
people, President Lincoln, in 1864, put him in command of all the Union
armies of the East and the West. In presenting the new commission, Lincoln
addressed him in these words: "As the country herein trusts you, so, under
God, it will sustain you."
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN
In the spring of that year the Confederates had two large armies in the
field. One of them, under General Lee, was defending Richmond. The other,
under General Joseph E. Johnston, was in Tennessee, defending the
Confederate cause in that region. General Grant's plan was to send General
Sherman, in whom he had great confidence, against General Johnston, with
orders to capture Atlanta, which was now the workshop and storehouse of
the Confederacy. Grant himself was to march against Lee and capture
Richmond. The two great watchwords were: "On to Atlanta!" and "On to
Richmond!"
[Illustration: William Tecumseh Sherman.]
Early in May both Grant and Sherman began their campaigns. Starting from
Chattanooga, in Tennessee, Sherman began to crowd Johnston toward Atlanta.
In order to keep his line of supplies open from Nashville Sherman kept his
army close to the railroad, and to hinder him as much as possible, the
Confederates sent back bodies of troops to the rear of the Union army to
tear up the railroads. But so quickly were they rebuilt by Sherman's men
that the Confederates used to say: "Sherman must carry a railroad on his
back." His advance was slow but steady, and on September 2 he captured
Atlanta.
A little later Sherman started on his famous march "From Atlanta to the
Sea," with the purpose of weakening the Confederate armies by destroying
their supplies and their railroads in Southern Georgia. His army marched
in four columns, covering a belt of territory sixty miles wide. Four days
before Christmas he captured Savannah and sent to President Lincoln the
famous telegram: "I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of
Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition; also
about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton." Sherman's "March to the Sea"
was a wonderful achievement.
[Illustration: Sherman's March to the Sea.]
Let us make the acquaintance of this remarkable man. He was at this time
forty-four. Standing six feet high, with muscles of iron and a military
bearing, he gave the impression of having great physical endurance. And no
matter whether he was exposed to drenching rain, bitter cold, or burning
heat, he never gave signs of fatigue. Many nights he slept only three or
four hours, but he was able to fall asleep easily almost anywhere he
happened to be, whether lying upon the wet ground or on a hard floor, or
even amid the din and roar of muskets and cannon.
In battle he could not sit calmly smoking and looking on, like General
Grant. He was too much excited to sit still, and his face reflected his
thoughts. Yet his mind was clear and his decisions were rapid.
[Illustration: Route of Sherman's March to the Sea.]
His soldiers admired him and gave him their unbounded confidence. One of
his staff said of him while they were on the "March to the Sea": "The army
has such an abiding faith in its leader that it will go wherever he
leads." At Savannah the soldiers would proudly remark as their general
rode by: "There goes the old man. All's right."
During the trying experience of this famous march, Sherman's face grew
anxious and care-worn. But behind the care-worn face there were kind and
tender feelings, especially for the young. Little children would show
their trust in him by clasping him about his knees or by nestling in his
arms. While he was in Savannah, large groups of children made a playground
of the general's headquarters and private room, the doors of which were
never closed to them.
While General Sherman, in Georgia, was pushing his army "On to Atlanta"
and "On to the Sea," Grant was trying to defeat Lee and capture Richmond.
With these aims in view, Grant crossed the Rapidan River and entered the
wilderness in direct line for Richmond. Here fighting was stern business.
The woods were so gloomy and the underbrush was so thick that the men
could not see one another twenty feet away.
Lee's army furiously contested every foot of the advance. In the terrible
battles that followed Grant lost heavily, but he pressed doggedly on,
writing to President Lincoln his stubborn resolve: "I propose to fight it
out on this line if it takes all summer."
It did take all summer and longer. Moreover, Grant found that he could not
possibly capture Richmond from the north. So he crossed the James River
and attacked the city from the south. Yet when autumn ended Lee was still
holding out, and Grant's army settled down for the winter.
PHILIP H. SHERIDAN
At this time one of Grant's most skilful generals and ablest helpers was
Philip H. Sheridan, who was a brilliant cavalry leader. As a boy he had a
strong liking for books, and especially those which told of war and the
lives of daring men. When he read of their brave deeds perhaps he dreamed
of the days when he might be a great soldier.
At the time when he came into most prominent notice--in the summer and
autumn of 1864--he was only thirty-three years old. He was short, and as
he weighed but one hundred and fifteen pounds, he was not at all
impressive in appearance, except in the heat of battle, when his
personality was commanding and inspiring.
[Illustration: Philip H. Sheridan.]
No matter how trying the situation might be, he never lost self-control
and was always kind and friendly toward those working with him. But
perhaps his finest quality was a stern devotion to duty. He said, in
effect: "In all the various positions I have held, my sole aim has ever
been to be the best officer I could and let the future take care of
itself." Such a man, whether civilian or soldier, is a true patriot.
It was early in August, 1864, that General Grant placed Sheridan in
command of the Union army in the Shenandoah valley, with orders to drive
the enemy out and destroy their food supplies.
Sheridan entered the valley from the north, destroyed large quantities of
supplies, and after some fighting went into camp on the north side of
Cedar Creek, in October. A few days later he was called to Washington.
Returning on the eighteenth, he stayed overnight at Winchester, about
fourteen miles from Cedar Creek.
About six o'clock the next morning, a picket on duty reported to him
before he was up that cannon were being fired in the direction of Cedar
Creek. At first Sheridan paid little attention. Then he began to be
disturbed. He writes: "I tried to go to sleep again, but grew so restless
that I could not and soon got up and dressed myself." Eating a hurried
breakfast, he mounted his splendid coal-black steed, Rienzi, and started
for the battle-field of Cedar Creek, where his army was. This was the ride
that afterward became famous as "Sheridan's Ride."
[Illustration: Sheridan Rallying His Troops.]
As he rode forward he could hear the booming of cannon. Then he saw a part
of his army in full retreat, and fugitives told him that a battle had been
fought against General Early's Confederates and everything lost.
With two aides and twenty men the gallant Sheridan dashed forward to the
front as fast as his foaming steed could carry him. On meeting a
retreating officer who said, "The army is whipped," Sheridan replied: "You
are, but the army isn't."
As he pushed ahead he said to his soldiers: "If I had been with you this
morning this disaster would not have happened. We must face the other way.
We must go back and recover our camp."
As soon as his troops caught sight of "Little Phil," as they liked to call
him, they threw their hats into the air and, with enthusiastic cheers,
shouldered their muskets and faced about. Sheridan brought order out of
confusion and in the battle that followed drove Early's army from the
field in utter rout.
Great was the rejoicing in the North over this victory, and Sheridan
himself was raised to the rank of major-general.
This victory was largely due to Sheridan's magnetic influence over his
men. The following incident illustrates this remarkable power of "Little
Phil": At the battle of Five Forks, which took place near Richmond the
next spring (1865), a wounded soldier in the line of battle near Sheridan
stumbled and was falling behind his regiment. But when Sheridan cried out,
"Never mind, my man; there's no harm done!" the soldier, although with a
bullet in his brain, went forward with his fighting comrades till he fell
dead.
TWO GREAT GENERALS
Let us now return to Grant. After remaining near Petersburg all winter, in
the spring of 1865 he pressed so hard upon the Confederate army that Lee
had to leave Richmond and move rapidly westward in order to escape
capture. For a week Grant closely followed Lee's troops, who were almost
starving; all they had to eat was parched corn and green shoots of trees,
and the outlook was so dark that many had deserted and started for home.
[Illustration: The McLean House, Where Lee Surrendered.]
There was but one thing left for Lee to do. That was to give up the
struggle, for he knew the Southern cause was hopeless. An interview,
therefore, was arranged with Grant. It was held on Sunday morning, April
9, in a house standing in the little village of Appomattox Court House.
Grant writes in his "Personal Memoirs": "I was without a sword, as I
usually was when on horse-back on the field, and wore a soldier's blouse
for a coat, with the shoulder-straps of my rank to indicate to the army
who I was.... General Lee was dressed in a full uniform, which was
entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value--very likely
the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia.... In my
rough travelling suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a
lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so
handsomely dressed, six feet tall, and of faultless form."
[Illustration: The Country Around Washington and Richmond.]
The result of the interview was the surrender of General Lee and his army.
When this took place General Grant showed clearly his great kindness of
heart and his delicate feeling. He issued orders that all the Confederates
who owned horses and mules should be allowed to take them home. "They will
need them for the spring ploughing," he said. He also had abundant food at
once sent to the hungry Confederate soldiers. Never did General Grant
appear more truly great than on the occasion of Lee's surrender.
He was indeed a remarkable man in many ways. While in the army he seemed
to have wonderful powers of endurance. He said of himself: "Whether I
slept on the ground or in a tent, whether I slept one hour or ten in the
twenty-four, whether I had one meal or three, or none, made no difference.
I would lie down and sleep in the rain without caring." This, as you
remember, he did at Pittsburg Landing.
Yet his appearance did not indicate robust health. He was only five feet
eight inches tall, round-shouldered, and not at all military in bearing or
walk. But his brown hair, blue eyes, and musical voice gave a pleasing
impression. He was of a sunny disposition and of singularly pure mind.
Never in his life was he known to speak an unclean word or tell an
objectionable story. In manner he was quiet and simple, and yet he was
always ready for the severest ordeal he might have to face.
While the two great commanders, Grant and Lee, were much unlike in
personal appearance, they had certain qualities in common, for they were
both simple-hearted and frank and men of deep and tender feelings.
April 9 was a sad day for General Lee. As he stepped out of the door of
the house where the terms of surrender had been agreed upon and stood in
silence, waiting for his horse to be brought to him, he clasped his hands
together as if in deep pain and looked far away into the distance. Then,
mounting his steed, he rode back to the Confederate camp, where his
officers and men awaited his coming.
[Illustration: General Lee on His Horse, Traveller.]
On his approach they crowded about their beloved chief in their eagerness
to touch him, or even his horse. Looking upon his veteran soldiers for the
last time, Lee said, with saddened voice: "We have fought through the war
together; I have done the best I could for you. My heart is too full to
say more." Then he silently rode off to his tent.
These simple, heartfelt words to his "children," as he called his
soldiers, were like the man who spoke them. For during the entire war he
was always simple in his habits. Rarely did he leave his tent to sleep in
a house, and often his diet consisted of salted cabbage only. He thought
it a luxury to have sweet potatoes and buttermilk.
The gentleness and kindness of General Lee was seen also in his fondness
for animals. When the war was over his iron-gray horse, Traveller, which
had been his faithful companion throughout the struggle, was very dear to
him. Often, when entering the gate on returning to his house, he would
turn aside to stroke the noble creature, and often the two wandered forth
into the mountains, companions to the last.
Within a year after the close of the war General Lee was elected President
of Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia--now called Washington and
Lee University. There he remained until his death, in 1870. His
countrymen, in all sections of the Union, think of him as a distinguished
general and a high-minded gentleman.
Three years after the close of the war (1868) General Grant was elected
President of the United States and served two terms. Upon retiring from
the presidency, he made a tour around the world, a more unusual thing in
those days than now. He was everywhere received, by rulers and people
alike, with marked honor and distinction.
His last days were full of suffering from an illness which proved a worse
enemy than ever he had found on the field of battle. After nine months of
brave struggle, he died on July 23, 1885. Undoubtedly he was one of the
ablest generals of history.
The war, in which these two distinguished commanders had led opposing
sides, had cost the nation not only thousands of men, the vast majority in
the prime of their young manhood, but millions of dollars. But it had two
striking results: it preserved the Union, for it was now clear that no
State could secede at will; and it put an end to slavery. The Emancipation
Proclamation had set free only those slaves in the States and parts of
States which were under the control of Union armies; but after the war the
Thirteenth Amendment set free all the slaves in all the States in the
Union for all time. These were the benefits purchased by the terrible
sacrifice of life.
If we count those who were slain on the field of battle and those who died
from wounds, disease, and suffering in wretched prisons, the loss of men
was equal to seven hundred a day during the four long years of the war.
When it was over, a wave of intense relief swept over the country. In many
homes were glad reunions; in others, saddened memories. But at least a
united nation was cause for a new hope, and a patriotism which in time was
to bind all sections into closer union.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Tell what you can about Lincoln's early life. What kind of boy was he?
2. What was the Emancipation Proclamation? Why did not Lincoln set the
slaves free when he became President? What do you admire about him?
3. Why did Lee go with Virginia when this State seceded?
4. Tell as much as you can about Lee, Jackson, Stuart, Sherman, and
Sheridan.
5. What kind of boy was Grant? What kind of man? What do you admire about
him?
6. What were some of the important results of the Civil War?
7. When did this war begin, and when did it end?
8. Are you locating every event upon the map?
CHAPTER XVII
FOUR GREAT INDUSTRIES
COTTON
Thus far we have been considering mainly the men engaged in exploration,
in invention, or in the great national struggles through which our country
has passed. But while only a small fraction of the people, as a rule, take
an active and prominent part in the stirring events of history, many more
work hard and faithfully to furnish all with food, clothing, and other
things needful in every-day living. What these many laborers accomplish in
the fields of industry, therefore, has a most important bearing upon the
life and work of men, leaders and followers alike, in other fields of
action. With this thought in mind, let us take a brief glance at a few of
our great industries.
First, go with me in thought to the South, where the cotton, from which we
make much of our clothing, is raised. Owing to the favorable climate of
the Southern States, it being warm and moist, the United States produces
more cotton and cotton of a better quality than any other country in the
world.
No crop, it is said, is so beautiful as growing cotton. The plants are
low, with dark-green leaves, the flowers, which are yellow at first,
changing by degrees to white, and then to deep pink. The cotton-fields
look like great flower-gardens.
As the blossoms die they are replaced by the young bolls, or pods, which
contain the seeds. From the seeds grow long vegetable hairs, which form
white locks in the pods. These fibres are the cotton. When the pods become
ripe and open, the cotton bursts out and covers them with a puff of soft,
white down.
[Illustration: Cotton-Field in Blossom.]
The height of the picking season is in October. As no satisfactory machine
for picking cotton has been invented, it is usually done by hand, and
negroes for the most part are employed. Lines of pickers pass between the
rows, gathering the down and crowding it into wide-mouthed sacks hanging
from their shoulders or waists. At the ends of the rows are great baskets,
into which the sacks are emptied, and then the cotton is loaded into
wagons which carry it to the gin-house.
If damp, the cotton is dried in the sun. The saw-teeth of the cotton-gin,
as we have seen, separate the cotton fibre from the seeds. Then the cotton
is pressed down by machine presses and packed into bales, each usually
containing five hundred pounds, after which it is sent to the factory.
Various processes are employed to free the cotton from dirt and to loosen
the lumps. When it is cleaned, it is rolled out into thin sheets and taken
to the carding-machine. This, with other machines, prepares the cotton to
be spun into yarn, which is wound off on large reels. The yarn is then
ready to be either twisted into thread or woven into cloth on the great
looms.
The United States produces an average of eleven million bales of cotton
every year, and this is nearly sixty-seven per cent of the production of
the whole world. Cotton is now the second crop in the United States, the
first being Indian corn.
WHEAT
Another great industry is the growing of wheat, which is the foundation of
much of our food. Wheat is a very important grain and is extensively
cultivated.
There are a great many varieties, the two main kinds found in the United
States being the large-kernel winter wheat, grown in the East, and the
hard spring wheat, the best for flour-making, which is grown in the West.
Minnesota is the largest wheat-producing State, and I will ask you to go
in thought with me to that Middle-West region. The farms there are very
level, and also highly productive. The big "bonanza" farms, as they are
called, range in size from two thousand to ten thousand acres. Some of
these are so large that even on level ground one cannot look entirely
across them--so large, indeed, that laborers working at opposite ends do
not see one another for months at a time.
[Illustration: A Wheat-Field.]
During the planting and harvesting seasons temporary laborers come from
all over the country. They are well housed and well fed. The farms are
divided into sections, and each section has its own lodging-house,
dining-hall, barns, and so on. Even then, dinner is carried to the workers
in the field, because they are often a mile or two from the dining-hall.
The height of the harvest season is at the end of July.
In the autumn, after the wheat has been harvested, the straw is burned and
the land is ploughed. In the following April when the soil is dry enough
to harrow, the seeds, after being carefully selected and thoroughly
cleaned, are planted. For the harvesting a great deal of new machinery is
purchased every year. One of these huge machines can cut and stack in one
day the grain from a hundred acres of land. Then the grain is threshed at
once in the field, before the rain can do it harm.
[Illustration: Grain-Elevators at Buffalo.]
Through the spout of the thresher the grain falls into the box wagon,
which carries it to the grain-elevator, or building for storing grain.
Here it remains until it is loaded automatically into the cars, which take
it to the great elevator centres. The wheat is not touched by hands from
the time it passes into the thresher until it reaches private kitchens in
the form of flour.
The great elevator centres are Duluth, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Chicago, and
Buffalo. Some elevators in these centres can store as much as a million or
more bushels each. They are built of steel and equipped with steam-power
or electricity. The wheat is taken from grain-laden vessels or cars,
carried up into the elevator, and deposited in various bins, according to
its grade. On the opposite side of the elevator the wheat is reloaded into
cars or canal-boats.
In 1914 the United States produced nine hundred and thirty million
bushels, or between one-fourth and one-fifth of all the wheat produced in
the world.
CATTLE-RAISING
The third great industry is that of cattle-raising. To find the ranches we
will go a little farther west, perhaps to Kansas. A wide belt stretching
westward from the one-hundredth meridian to the foot-hills of the Rocky
Mountains is arid land. It includes parts of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, the
Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Although the rainfall here is
mostly too light to grow corn and wheat without irrigation, these dry
plains have sufficient growth to support great herds of sheep and cattle,
and supply us with a large part of our beef. Cattle by the hundred
thousand feed on these vast unfenced regions.
On the great ranches of this belt, which, we are told, are fast
disappearing, there are two important round-ups of the cattle every year.
Between times they roam free over vast areas of land. In the spring they
are driven slowly toward a central point. Then the calves are branded, or
marked by a hot iron, with the owner's special brand. These brands are
registered and are recognized by law. This is done in order that each
owner may be certain of his own cattle. In July or August the cattle are
rounded up again, and this time the mature and fatted animals are selected
that they may be driven to the shipping-station on the railroad and loaded
on the cars.
[Illustration: Cattle on the Western Plains.]
The journey to the stock-yards often requires from four to seven days.
Once in about thirty hours the cattle are released from the cars in order
to be fed and watered. Then the journey begins again.
At the stock-yards the cattle are unloaded and driven into pens. From
there the fat steers and cows are sent directly to market. The lean ones
go to farmers in the Middle West who make a specialty of fattening them
for market, doing it in a few weeks.
In the year 1910 there were ninety-six million six hundred and fifty-eight
thousand cattle in the United States. This means that there was one for
every human being in the whole country. But the number of beef-cattle is
decreasing, as the larger ranches where they graze are disappearing, as we
have said, and are being divided into small farms.
COAL
By means of these three industries--cotton, wheat, and cattle--we are
provided with food and clothing. But besides these necessaries, we must
have fuel. We need it both for heat in our households and for running most
of our engines in factories and on trains. Our chief fuel is coal.
To see coal-mining, western Pennsylvania is a good place for us to visit.
Were you to go into a mine there you might easily imagine yourself in a
different world. In descending the shaft you suddenly become aware that
you are cut off from beautiful sunlight and fresh air. You find that to
supply these every-day benefits, which you have come to accept as
commonplace, there are ventilating machines working to bring down the
fresh air from above, and portable lamps, which will not cause explosion,
to supply light, and that, where there is water, provision has been made
for drainage.
The walls of the mine, also, have to be strongly supported, in order that
they may not fall and crush the workers or fill up the shaft. In
deep-shaft mines, coal is carried to the surface by cages hoisted through
the shaft. It is sorted and cleaned above ground.
One of the largest uses of coal is found in the factories where numerous
articles of iron and steel are made. The world of industry depends so much
upon iron that it is called the metal of civilization.
[Illustration: Iron Smelters.]
The iron and coal industries are closely related, for coal is used to make
iron into steel. If you stay in Pennsylvania you may catch a glimpse of
the process by which iron is made usable.
As it comes from the mine it is not pure, but is mixed with ore from which
it must be separated. In the regions of iron-mines you will see towering
aloft here and there huge chimneys, or blast-furnaces, at times sending
forth great clouds of black smoke and at times lighting the sky with the
lurid glow of flames. In these big blast-furnaces, the iron ore and coal
are piled in layers. Then a very hot fire is made, so hot that the iron
melts and runs down into moulds of sand, where it is collected. This
process is called smelting.
The iron thus obtained, though pure, is not hard enough for most purposes.
It must be made into steel. Steel, you understand, is iron which has again
been melted and combined with a small amount of carbon to harden it.
At first this was an expensive process, but during the last century ways
of making steel were discovered which greatly lowered its cost. As a
result, steel took the place of iron in many ways, the most important
being in the manufacture of rails for our railroad systems. Since steel
rails are stronger than iron, they make it possible to use larger
locomotives and heavier trains, and permit a much higher rate of speed and
more bulky traffic. All this means, as you can easily see, cheaper and
more rapid transportation, which is so important in all our industrial
life.
Steel has an extensive use, also, in the structure of bridges, of large
buildings, of steamships and war vessels, as well as in the making of
heating equipment, tools, household utensils, and hundreds of other
articles which we are constantly using in our daily life. If you should
write down all the uses for this metal which you can think of, you would
be surprised at the length of your list.
These four great industries give us a little idea of how men make use of
the products of the farm, the mine, and the factory in supplying human
needs. Each fulfils its place, and we are dependent upon all. That means
that we are all dependent upon one another. There would be little in life
for any one if he were to do without all that others have done for him.
[Illustration: Iron Ore Ready for Shipment.]
There is something which each member of a community can do to make life
better for others. If he does this willingly and well, he co-operates with
his fellow men and assists in the great upbuilding of the nation. And the
amount of _service_ the man or woman, boy or girl can render those about
him is the measure of his worth to his neighborhood, his State, or his
country.
It is good for us to ask ourselves this question: How can I be helpful in
the community where I live, which has done so much for me? If we try to
give faithful service, working cheerfully with others, we are truly
patriotic. Are you a patriot?
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What are the four great industries taken up in this chapter? Can you
tell in what ways each of these is of special value to us?
2. Use your map in locating the cotton region; the wheat-growing region;
the cattle-raising region.
3. In what ways are coal, iron, and steel especially useful?
4. How are we all dependent upon one another? How may we be truly
patriotic?
THE END
INDEX
Adams, John
Adams, Samuel
Alamo
Anna, Santa
Antietam, battle of
Appomattox Court House, Lee's surrender at
Atlanta, capture of
Backwoodsmen, life among
Barlow, Joel
Bon Homme Richard (bo-nom'-re-shar')
Boone, Daniel
Boone, Squire
"Boston Tea Party"
Brandywine Creek
Bull Run, battle of
Bunker Hill, battle of
Burgoyne (ber-goin'), General, his invasion
Cabinet, the President's
Calhoun, John C.
Camden, battle of
Carson, Kit
Cattle-raising
Cedar Creek, battle of
Cherokee Indians
Civil War
Clark, George Rogers
Clark, William
Clay, Henry
Clermont
Clinton, DeWitt
Coal
Colonies become States
Compromise, Missouri
Compromise of 1850
Concord, battle of
Confederate States of America, organization of
Congress, Continental, first meeting of
second meeting of
Congress, United States
Continental Army
Cornwallis, General
Cotton
Cotton-gin, invention of
Cowpens, battle of
Creek Indians
Custis, Mrs. Martha
Davis, Jefferson
Dawes, William
Declaration of Independence
Donelson, Fort
Dorchester Heights
Douglas, Stephen A.
Early, General, at Cedar Creek
Emancipation Proclamation
Erie Canal
Ferguson, Major
Fitch, John
Flatboat
Florida, purchase of
France aids the Americans
Franklin, Benjamin
Frémont, John C.
French villages, old, life in
Fulton, Robert
Gage, General
Gates, General
George III
Gettysburg, battle of
Gold, discovery of, in California
Grant, Ulysses
Greene, Nathanael
Guilford Court House, battle of
Hale, Nathan
Hamilton, Alexander
Hamilton, Colonel
Hancock, John
Hayne, Senator
Henderson, Richard
Henry, Fort
Henry, Patrick
Hessians
Houston, Sam
Howe, General
Hutchinson, Governor
Independence of the United States
Iron
Jackson, Andrew
Jackson, Thomas J. ("Stonewall")
Jay, John
Jefferson, Thomas
Johnston, Albert Sydney
Johnston, Joseph E.
Jones, John Paul
Kaskaskia (Kas-kas'-ki-a)
Kentucky
King's Mountain, battle of
Knox, Henry
La Fayette (Lä f[=a]-yét)
Lee, Robert E.
Lewis and Clark's Expedition
Lewis, Meriwether
Lexington, battle of
Lincoln, Abraham;
and slavery;
and the Emancipation Proclamation;
assassinated
Lincoln, General
Livingston, Chancellor
Livingston, Robert R.
Long Island, battle of
Louisiana Purchase
McClellan, General
Mandan Indians
Marion, Francis
Meade, General
Mexican Cession
Mexican War
Minutemen
Missouri Compromise
Mohawk Valley
Monroe, James
Morgan, Daniel
Morse, Samuel F.B.
Napoleon I
National Road
Negroes
New Orleans in 1803
Nullification
Old North Church
Old South Church
Pack-horse
Partisan warfare in the South
Pitcairn, Major
Pitt, William
Pittsburg Landing, battle of
Prescott, Samuel
Prescott, William
Protective tariff
Provincial Congress
Putnam, General
Railroad
Randolph, Edmund
Republican Party
Revere, Paul
Revolution, causes of
Robertson, James
Rotch, Benjamin
Rowe, John
Rumsey, John
Scott, General
Secession of South Carolina and ten more slave States
Seminole Indians
Serapis (se-rá-pis)
Sevier, John
Shelby, Isaac
Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan in
Sheridan, Philip H.
Sherman, William Tecumseh
Sherrill, Kate
Shiloh, battle of
Slavery
Smith, Colonel
Sons of Liberty
South Carolina
Stamp Act
Steamboat
Steel
Stephens, Alexander H.
Stuart, J.E.B.
Sutter, Captain
Tariff
Taxation of the Colonies
Tea, tax on
Telegraph
Tennessee
Texas
Tories
Treaty at close of Revolution
Trenton, victory at
Valley Forge, sufferings at
Vicksburg, capture of
Vincennes
Warren, Joseph
Washington, D.C., made the national capital
Washington, George, in the Revolution
as President
Watauga
Webster, Daniel
West, Benjamin
Wheat
Whitney, Eli
Wilderness Road
Yorktown, Cornwallis's surrender at
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Stories of Later American History" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.